US prepares $130m military aid package for Syrian rebels

 'The supplies possibly could include body armour, armoured vehicles, night vision goggles and advanced communications equipment.'

 I don't know what might happen if night vision goggles fall into the hands of al-Qaida.

"Minorities will not suffer" in post-revolution Syria

 'Nabulsi said western states were against a revolution in Syria and in order to delay the victory they produce fake insurgency groups.'

 The second half of this does tend to reduce the credibility of everything else he's saying, which is a pity.

In rebel fighter's personal story, the arc of Syria's war

 'Only then, with more and better weapons, will the rebels finish Mr. Assad and “end this situation,” adds Abu Omar. “Let God end this soon.” '

From spray-paint to civil war: Syria explained in 5 questions

 'In the summer of 2011, thousands of soldiers started to abandon the Assad regime. Coupled with civilian protesters -- who have been arming themselves -- a "rebel" opposition began to form.'

Why the left must support Syria's revolution

 'Some on the U.S. and international left cling to the idea that the regime presiding over this violence and repression is progressive--and that the uprising against it was engineered by Western governments.

 Syrians have endured the bloodiest chapter of the Arab Revolutions that swept through the region, starting in 2011. After months of mostly peaceful protests, Syria's revolutionaries--responding to the dictatorship's violent crackdown--had to develop a popular armed resistance to defend themselves and defeat the forces of the regime.

 In the litany of sins that the Syrian people have supposedly committed in their two-year-old uprising, for supporters of the regime in left groups, top on the list is aid coming from the U.S. and other Western governments to some organizations among the rebels.

 One question that comes to my mind is whether these apologists have similar criticisms about the much more substantial military aid the regime gets from Russia and Iran. But even more to the point is the issue of what these regime supporters were saying before the uprising against Assad shifted toward armed struggle.

 Where were they when, for months, Syrians gathered peacefully in the hundreds of thousands in cities around the country, only to be shot dead by Assad's forces? Did they speak up when opponents of the regime, young and old, men and women, were tortured in Assad's dungeons? Are they calling for freedom of all political prisoners and the brave young citizen reporters who are risking their lives to document the government's repression?

Or are they using any and all reports of the U.S. government's involvement in Syria as a cover for a shameful subservience to dictatorship?'

Syrian conflict threatens to spill over from Golan into Israel

 There goes the idea that the Syrian revolution is an Israeli plot. Must be the Illuminati and the lizards.

Syrian rebels' capture of oil fields increases economic pressures

 'Russia and China are Assad's strongest international backers and have used their veto power at the U.N. Security Council to prevent the international community from imposing international sanctions against Syria.

 But Seifan, the Syrian economist, said it's unlikely international companies, even Russian and Chinese ones, will want to commit huge investments to any exploration now "because they don't know what the fate of the regime will be after few months." '

Syrian Rebel Brigade Pauses to Mark Wedding

 'Laila feels it is "important that our revolution is not one of just men but of all Syrians, of all those who are free.

 I began by taking part in peaceful demonstrations, but when the revolution armed itself I followed... it was my duty," she says.'

Counterpunch: So Wrong on Syria

 Clay Claiborne is CEO of Cosmos Engineering Company. Here, he takes apart the notion that the Syrian revolution is an American plot in admirable detail.

A Subtle Shift

 Robin Yassin-Kassab:

 "Syrians need weapons to finish Assad before the crater of this disaster is too deep to climb out of."

Amman Protesters renew calls to combat corruption

 'Protesters also condemned the escalating violence in neighbouring Syria, and lauded the Free Syrian Army to continue in fighting the revolution of "the Syrian People" until the fall of Bashar Al Assad's regime.'

An Unlikely Jihadist, Denouncing Assad in Mandarin

 'The fighter briefly introduces himself and then lashes out at Mr. Assad. “People have no freedom, no democracy, no security and no respect here, not at all,” he said.

 He goes on to speak of 1,400-year-old ties between the Chinese and the Arabs, stretching back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the Tang dynasty, when the Silk Road thrived. 

 “However,” he says, “now the Chinese government has destroyed that traditional friendship between the Chinese and Arab people” because Chinese leaders, along with their Iranian and Russian counterparts, “sell weapons and provide financial assistance to the Assad government.” '

Reasons to remain optimistic about Syria

 'Syrians continue their struggle against tyranny. As long as they stand, there is ground for optimism.'

CIA: Syria Harboring More Than 15 Million Known Arabs

 This is from ten years ago.

Despite the misery

 Jon Snow introed tonight's Channel 4 News on Syria by saying, "Despite the misery, they [the Islamists] are gaining influence." Surely because rather than despite? Report does show the barbarity of the régime, the Syrian jets dropping Russian bombs, the corpses with hands ties found floating down the river.

 A young boy now a doctor, said something like, "at first I was shocked, now it's ordinary."

Syria's Descent

 'She ventured back a few months ago, and found her papers scattered, her money stolen, her jewellery thieved.'

 This is the point where I began to doubt Alex Thomson's report on kidnappings in Damascus. Surely when you do a runner, you take the money and the jewellery?

[Note 6/3/24, the video from which the quote is taken no longer appears on the website]

Noam Chomsky: 'No individual changes anything alone'

 Sean Doherty, I think it was, did a meeting on Chomsky about ten years ago for the SWP, where he started by pointing out that Chomsky's influence was orders of magnitude greater, and so it would be better to focus on his excellent critique of American foreign policy than their differences with him. Having said that, I think he's wrong about Syria, and the road of death is that with Assad still in charge.

 'Should the west arm the opposition? Should it intervene? "I tend to think that providing arms is going to escalate the conflict. I think there has to be some kind of negotiated settlement. The question is which kind. But it's going to have to be primarily among Syrians. Outsiders can try to help set up the conditions, and there's no doubt that the government is carrying out plenty of atrocities, and the opposition some, but not as many. There's a threat that the country is on a suicidal course. Nobody wants that." '

Syria rebels say fire mortars at president's palace

 'Syrian rebels said on Monday they had fired mortar bombs at the presidential palace, the Damascus International Airport and security buildings to mark the second anniversary of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

 Some 70,000 people have been killed over the past two years in a revolt that started with peaceful protests but descended into a civil war after Assad's forces shot and arrested thousands of opposition members.'

Hand in hand, we will rebuild

 From Bustan Al Qasr, Aleppo (Syria).

Syrians rebels 'use chemical weapon'

 Putting the last three words in quotes doesn't avoid the conclusion that it is primarily the Syrian state's version that is being reported; given that they have missiles and chemical weapons and the rebels don't, one might think a different starting point for this story would be appropriate.

 Note 6/4/15, the headline now reads, "Syrians trade Khan al-Assal chemical weapons claims".

Website of the Russian president's representative violated by Syrian hackers

 'Hackers have broken the website of the Russian president's attorneys representative in the federal circuit Russian Far East and laid out where a request to the Russian people, with a request not to support the Syrian leader Bashar Assad.

 The group that calls itself the SRES (Syrian Revolution Electronic Suite) urged not to supply heavy weapons to Syria. They asked also apologize for the site's failure.'

Syria's economy continues to suffer

 “The liberalization of the Syrian economy was always stopped by the mafias surrounding the ruling family,” said Taqi. “The family was never investing their revenues into the country, but mainly investing in the telecoms sector and ‘hit-and-run’ sectors.”

We need weapons against planes - FSA commander

 'Noting that there were few countries which supported FSA such as Turkey, Asaad said that other countries either preferred to remain silent or adopted the strategy of supporting Assad regime indirectly.

 For instance, Israel has been supporting Assad regime from the beginning, while Russia, China, Iran and Hezbollah have been actually fighting against us, said Asaad, adding that the regime would be taken down eventually.

 We need weapons to use against the planes bombing our children, and if FSA reaches the weapons, the problem will completely be solved, he said.'

Rebels take control

 'Syria rebels take control of east and west entry point of Damascus.'

Tackling impossible odds, the DIY weapons of the Syrian civil war

 'In the face of terrible losses, the rebels have fashioned an remarkable array of DIY munitions.'

Local Syrian-Americans rally to help their war-torn homeland

 "The Syrian people are not the victims of a natural disaster; it's not an earthquake or tsunami that we're here to address," Ayloush said. "It's an ongoing process of killing and massacres that will not end until the Syrian people are given the chance or the tools to defend themselves."

Two years later, Syrian revolutionaries reflect on their cause, the costs

 "I know that the choice now is better than if we didn't have any revolution."

Syria: the story behind one of the most shocking images of the war

 'Why did the bodies of 110 men suddenly wash up in
the river running through Aleppo city six weeks ago?

"This is a message from the army; every time the FSA will step forward, we will kill more civilians. Now the families of each victim are going to join the FSA." '

Desperate, some fleeing Syria turn to prostitution

 This guy isn't helping.

 ' “I insist that the Syrian women in Zaatari and elsewhere are practicing prostitution because they like it or got used to it, not for money, or for the sake of their poor families,” Ghassan Jamous, a spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army in northern Jordan, says.'

Syria's women: Fighting a war on two fronts

 "I was with the revolution from the start, the revolution is one line, it's not Islamist, it's for all Syrians, and Syrians are from all sects. At the end, the revolution's original ideals are going to endure because we are here, those that started it will be there at the end," she adds. "If something happens and this changes it means it's our fault because we gave up."

Prospects for Syria's revolution

 'On the other side is a traitorous and opportunistic left, part of which takes a centrist position between the dictatorships and the rebellious masses and another part of which openly and brazenly stands with the dictatorships against the popular revolutions.

 The pretexts to justify this betrayal of the popular revolutionary cause are many, but all equally bankrupt. There is the tired excuse of "anti-imperialism," as if Russia and the United States are not both imperialist countries. And there is the excuse of the "Islamist danger," as if the revolutionary processes are mere fruit that should ripen according to our whims and mechanically fall into the hands of the left--otherwise, they are not revolutions.'

Running the Town of Qusayr Without Assad

 “If we were able to form this council amid all these hellish conditions, there is a very good chance that there will be better days ahead once this regime is no more.”

Refugees number a million, says UN

 It wasn't so long ago that apologists for Assad were pointing to the Alawis who'd got out of the country as the real refugee crisis, whereas the truth is that the government supporters who have left have travelled comfortably with money and passports, while those shelled by Assad's forces are the ones struggling and dying.

 And still I hear the BBC News tell me that the problem is how to stop weapons getting in the hands of extremists.

Help

 Douglas Alexander telling the House of Commons now that the arms embargo against the Syrian opposition shouldn't be lifted, but the Russians should be prevailed upon not to sell arms to the régime. The problem is that there might be some unsavoury types who end up with weapons.

The last thing Syrians need is more arms going to either side

 'Rather than the combatants' benefactors, 24 million Syrians are victims of the escalating arms deliveries to all sides.'

 It is a slander on the Syrian revolutionaries for Charles Glass to compare them with a government that is firing Scud missiles at its own citizens.

 Forming a Non-intervention Committee was a way in the 30s to make sure that the Spanish Republicans didn't get the arms they needed to defend themselves against the fascists.

Syria is a Civil State for All Syrians

 'The message is the same all across the country.'

'Conscience' of Syrian Revolution Faces Challenge from Islamists

 'Islamists from Jabhat al Nusra stage their own protest in the town. Until recently, the group has been reluctant to appear in public.'

Syrian rebel put his dreams on hold in civil war

 "I'm happy with the battles and the people I've gotten to know," Qadi said. "These are the best moments of my life."

Fighting Shortages, Syrian Civilians Take Reins in Rebel Areas

 “The old people think Bashar Assad is very strong and he will never leave,” he said. “But we think they are not thinking the right way, because we see every day that he is vanishing and going away.”

The victory of the revolution takes two revolutions

 “The victory of the revolution takes two revolutions: One against the regime strangling freedom, another against those awaiting its victory to steal.”

Syrian rebels advance despite regime attacks

 'It is stopping the Islamic resistance, not the success of the revolution, which preoccupies US policy on Syria.

 Many Syrians feel abandoned and have little faith in any outside help. They point out that the Assad regime receives a steady supply of weapons, cash and fuel from Russia and Iran, while they are subject to a weapons embargo.

 This is why many revolutionaries have welcomed the Islamist brigades as allies, even if they do not share their vision of a future Syria.

 One rebel commander said, “We can thank god that we are indebted to no one.” '

Was Syria ever the secular, non-sectarian state we are led to believe it was?

 'For provincial types, "secular" has come to mean flashy, worldly, corrupt and finally brutal, and for them Sharia means a more honest and decent society, as much as anything else. This is not a good thing – I wouldn't want to be an ambitious young woman growing up in Syria today, or one of the many perfectly decent, god-fearing middle-aged Muslim men I know who like a quiet tipple of Scotch before bedtime – but they will be victims of the dictators' dishonesty and refusal to reform as much as of Saudi fundamentalists.'

Syria democracy in action defies dangers in Deir Ezzor

 ' "We want a democratic state, not an Islamic state. We want a secular state run by civilians, not by mullahs," he said.
Free Syrian Army rebel fighters were forbidden from taking part in the vote.

 "It is an opportunity for civilians to have their say. We soldiers must fight against regime, that's our job," said Abu Obeida, a rebel commander.'

Arts Of Revolution

 "I cut the missile at its end, and emptied the cluster bombs inside it."

Zaatari refugees torn between revolution, security

 “When we left Syria five months ago the Free Syrian Army had a shortage of arms. Had we stayed in Syria, we would have been a burden,” he said.

 “Now, they have got the weapons. I can join their ranks to fight against the oppressive regime.”

Syria’s Agony: Situation and Outlook, Winter 2013

 'The country’s naturally diverse, cosmopolitan culture means that after regime collapse the street crowds will probably reappear amid the rubble demanding the pluralism and non-sectarianism they endorsed in 2011. There are good reasons to suppose that the Islamists and their agenda will swiftly deflate among a people that will have paid so much for a new dawn. The outlook, however, will darken with perpetuation of the agony.'

London Event: 'Syria Through a Lens' Screening (28 February 2013)

 'Syria Through a Lens highlights the life, activism, and films of the late Syrian filmmaker Bassel Shahade. On 28 May 2012, Bassel was killed during a government assault on Homs, where he had been filming the aftermath of the violence in Houla.'

Omar Aziz: Rest in Power

 'He was not a son of the Facebook generation, but at the age of 63, his enthusiasm, ambition, and swashbuckling energy were matched by none of the twenty-somethings on the scene.

 At a time when many activists were forced to flee, he chose to relinquish his safety in the United States and return to Syria to participate in the popular uprising that has swept through the country.

 At a time when most anti-imperialists were wailing over the collapse of the Syrian state and the “hijacking” of a revolution they never supported in the first place, Aziz and his comrades were tirelessly striving for unconditional freedom from all forms of despotism and state hegemony.'

Syria's strategic stalemate, made worse by US inaction

 'Not only is the Obama administration no longer convinced that Syria's armed rebellion is about to topple President Bashar Al Assad, a rebel military victory does not even appear to be Washington's preferred outcome.'

A Botched Mass Defection

 'There were 23 officers in our unit, and 20 of them were Alawites. The Alawites didn’t consult the colonel, a Sunni, on security matters. They didn’t trust us.'

The country formerly known as Syria

 Underclass meaning workers and peasants. An interesting point, which it would be nice to have expanded on.

 'A hardened and increasingly sectarian underclass on each side—disenfranchised mainly Sunni rebels and the regime’s mainly poor Alawites—is bearing the brunt of the battle. Middle-class Syrians and secular activists are leaving in droves.

 The uprising, which is now a full-blown civil war between Mr Assad’s forces and the opposition, has brought new freedoms. Young Syrians are no longer afraid to deride the regime openly. Even within the security forces, people discuss politics. “We all say things we wouldn’t have dared talk about in our own homes before,” says Aisha, a mother of four from Idleb province, in the north-west. Neighbourly bonds have sometimes grown strong amid the bloodshed. Altruistic bravery is common. Women risk their lives to smuggle medicine to rebel areas through the regime’s checkpoints, because the soldiers are less likely to search them. In Damascus people sleep ten to a room, welcoming relations who have fled from more dangerous areas.'