World yawns as Syria enters the dark ages

 'Last Sunday, Syria’s bloody civil war entered its fifth year. If we needed a reminder about that — and, let’s face it, we do — it came on Tuesday when the criminal regime of President Bashar Assad was accused of carrying out a chlorine gas attack against a rebel-held town in northwest Syria. The attack was said to have killed at least six people, including children who were gasping for breath. Amateur videos posted online, widely regarded as authentic, showed children stripped of their clothes lying on hospital beds as doctors tried to revive them.

Even if this attack by Assad’s forces is confirmed, precious little will come of it. Earlier this month, the UN Security Council approved a resolution that threatened military action if toxic chemicals such as chlorine are used in Syria. But Russia, as Assad’s leading ally, is certain to block any action.'

Kerry ‘deeply disturbed’ by Syria poison gas reports

 I hadn't got around to mentioning Assad's latest chemical attack.* John Kerry seems only disturbed that this might impede him stitching up a deal with the Iranians that leave them in control of Syria.
*[http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/19/Kerry-says-deeply-disturbed-by-reports-Syria-used-chlorine-in-Sarmin-attack.html]

Report says nearly 650,000 besieged in Syria

 'Nearly 650,000 Syrians are living in besieged communities in the country’s civil war, more than three times the UN estimate, according to a new report that gives a graphic account of hundreds of deaths in areas the world has struggled for years to reach.

 The report says Syria’s government is responsible for the siege tactics that have led to deaths by starvation, dehydration and the lack of medical care.'

 A couple of paragraphs later, the president of the Syrian American Medical Society describes his organisation as neutral, and that we're talking about families who have nothing to do with armed groups. Which is a problem generally with reporting on Syria. If you say the problem is Assad and he must go, then you are partisan and to be discounted, if you say there are problems on all sides, then obviously we should do nothing to help the rebels in case it makes things worse.

Four difficult and revolutionary years in Syria

 'The Syrian people are no longer fighting the regime, but fighting Iran's forces and allies who rely on Russian military and political support.

 Despite that all, and after hundreds of thousands of martyrs and prisoners and millions of refugees, and despite the continuous barbaric violence, the Syrian people are still fighting for victory in a world that wanted to see them massacred. It is an immense revolution that shall continue.'

Assad shell drops next to school

 'A video by journalist Faisal Al-Qassem appears to show a Syrian school at the moments when a Syrian regime rocket lands next to it.

 In the video a teacher can be heard saying: "What is happening to us is history, history that is being written. History is documented on video. [In the past] they used to document history on paper, right? Let us document our history. In the future, if God lets us live, when you grow up, you will tell your grandsons: 'This happened to us and we were in school,' etc."

 While the teacher was talking a rocket can be heard falling nearby and the students quickly take to the ground. The plane dropped a shell that almost wiped out the school.'

Counter-revolutionary forces have pushed revolutionary aims into near-oblivion

 Joseph and his comrades seem to be replicating the faults of the far left internationally in equating the Gulf States with Assad's supporters, while believing that building some independent political force can replace the military struggle against Assad. The return of refugees, the lifting of sieges, the end to bombing, none of these things will happen without his governance being threatened. The provision of weapons to the insurgents is not a reactionary act, it may mean that reactionaries have more influence before Assad is defeated but does not mean that they would control Syria thereafter, just as the provision of Russian arms to the Republic in the Spanish civil war was not the problem, though the Stalinist influence that came with it was an unavoidable problem. This is not a matter of supporting one counter-revolutionary faction or another, but cautiously welcoming all support for the fight against Assad.

 Joseph Daher:

 'The main problem in Syria, and elsewhere in the region, has been that some among the democratic and progressive oppositions have chosen to support one of these two counter revolutionary forces, presenting them as the choice of the ‘the lesser evil’. This actually represents the road to defeat and the maintenance of an unjust system in which the popular classes in the region live. The role of a popular and democratic opposition is not to choose between different factions of the counter-revolution that are supported by various international and sub-regional imperialist actors.

 The role should be to build an independent front from reactionary forces based on democratic, social, anti-imperialist principles and opposition to all forms of discrimination while working for a radical change of society in a dynamic from below in which the popular classes are the agents of change. In Syria this means to act on two levels. First, on a humanitarian level, it means to do whatever is possible to ease the suffering of the majority of the popular masses so that they are able to regain their capacity to organise and continue their struggle for liberation and emancipation. Foremost, this means the fast return of the refugees to their homes, the lifting of the starvation sieges on “liberated” regions, an end to the bombing and destruction of towns and cities and the liberation of tens of thousands of prisoners. Secondly, on a political level, it means to gather and assist politically and economically all the democratic and popular organisations that constitute the popular movement within and outside of Syria and that still try to maintain the initial objectives of the revolution.'

What Happened in Homs

 'The mantra so tirelessly repeated by our solemn leaders, “There is nothing we could have done,” is simply not true. Without our callous indifference, cowardice, and short-sightedness, things might have been different.

 The Syrian citizen-journalists, like those that helped, guided, and protected us during our stay, still believed that the constant flow of atrocity videos they risked their lives every day to film and upload on YouTube would change the course of things, would shock Western consciousnesses and precipitate strong action against the regime. The people still believed that song, dance, slogans, and prayer were stronger than fear and bullets. They were wrong, of course, and their illusions would soon drown in a river of blood.

 America, traumatized by two useless and disastrous wars to the point of forgetting its own founding myth—that of a people rising against tyranny with their hunting guns, helped only by indomitable spirit and idealism—stood back and watched, petrified. Europe, weakened by economic crisis and self-doubt, followed suit, while the regime’s friends, Russia and Iran, occupied every inch of the political space thus made available.'

'We had a house and lived with dignity'

 Hadi al-Abdallah:

 'All we demanded was our own rights, our basic human rights.

 This revolution was not a mistake. We were let down in many ways; The world did not take the right decisions to end these crimes.

 In the past four years we felt abandoned on all levels but this will not make us stop, retreat or get bored. We will continue working and protecting our revolution.

 We all expected the harsh reaction from Bashar al-Assad's regime, but we did not expect the world's reaction. We were let down by the media, we were let down by humanitarian organisations and we were let down militarily.'

Regime and ISIS Agree to Share Electricity

 'The rebel-held areas were excluded from the arrangement, as power stations in the liberated areas are not supplied.'

An anniversary of horrors in Syria

 'The Obama administration, which once proclaimed the prevention of genocide a national security priority, has not even pretended to have a strategy for Syria since the collapse of a peace conference in Geneva 13 months ago. Though it is recruiting and training a few thousand Syrians to fight the Islamic State, the administration refuses to commit itself even to defending them if they are attacked by the Assad regime — much less to helping them take the offensive against Damascus. Senior officials say the White House fears a hostile reaction from Iran, which has sent troops and militia forces to fight for the regime.Mr. Kerry’s statements reflected the administration’s real policy, which is to wash its hands of Syria while hoping it can separately strike a deal with Iran on its nuclear program and collaborate with it to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq. At best, Syria’s continued agony will be the price for progress elsewhere in the Middle East. More likely, the Assad regime’s unchecked slaughter will continue to destabilize the region.'

Living on the Edge

 'I have lived with my family in Idlib, which is under regime control, since March 2012. Although we’re against the regime, we have chosen to continue living here rather than seek asylum in a liberated area.

 I work as a teacher in a rebel-held area close to Idlib. Many of its residents have fled the brutal oppression of the regime. I persevere for the sake of the children of those who can see through me the city they long for and the past they have lost. For my part, I find in them a way to assuage my guilty conscience and connect with a revolution I still long for.'

Kerry defending Syrian ‘prison’: Jumblatt

 “I have never bet on the Americans to change the regime in Syria. On the contrary, I advised all those who bet on the [U.S.] to stop.”

'I had to do procedures I'd never seen'

 I'd tend to take from this that despite all the reverses they have suffered, the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian people are one.

 'The last hospital I worked at was also destroyed by regime airstrikes. This is because the FSA depends heavily on civil services. The hospital is a main player in the presence of the FSA. If there is no hospital, the FSA doesn’t stay there because they cannot keep up their resistance activities. Any injured person will die. If there’s a hospital, they can be treated and go on with their lives.'

At least 20 dead in Syrian air raids on Damascus suburb

 'President Bashar Assad's air force bombs Douma and other rebellious neighborhoods and towns around Damascus on a daily basis.'

We have to talk to Assad, admits Kerry

 'The White House has previously insisted that Mr Assad stand down as part of a political settlement, but it is unclear from Mr Kerry's comments whether the US position has changed.'

 It's always been unclear whether American statements that Assad should go ever reflected any determination to make it so.

Authorization for the Use of Military Force Request

 'Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Martin Dempsey testified at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on President Obama’s request for authorization for use for military force (AUMF) against *ISIL.

 Bob Corker: Are we going to protect those we train to fight ISIS against Assad's barrel bomb attacks?

 Martin Dempsey: No.'

The Syrian Regime Ramps Up Bombings On Civilians

 “Every day, [Bashar al] Assad’s fighters drop barrel bombs,” 24-year-old Suliman Alhalaby, who lives in a rebel-controlled area of divided Aleppo, told The World Post over Skype. He says he’s lost 20 friends and relatives to the bombs -- cylinders filled with fuel, nails and shrapnel, and chucked out of helicopters. “It’s a horrible sound,” he explained. “Year after year, Assad is becoming more dangerous.”

 “All our people have [been] disappointed,” said Ahmad, a 27-year-old law student-turned-aid worker in Aleppo. “All the governments in the world don’t care about the suffering of my people.We know that ISIS was made by Assad to say to the international community: ‘I am fighting terrorists.’ ”

Free Free Syria

 The widow of Dr. Abbas Khan spoke at the end of the march for Syria in London today. Syrians must kill Assad before he kills all of them. Paul Conroy said that history will judge Assad and those who left Syria defenceless against him.

 There were about 400 people on the march, maybe a dozen from the far left.

Ghouta changes school hours to avoid regime bombings

 'The state of emergency is not limited to schools. Health clinics in Douma have also limited their operating hours from 6am to 9am., Abu Adnan, the spokesman for Douma’s Unified Medical Office told Syria Direct on Wednesday.'

My home in Syria had everything

 This is how the conflict got militarised, it was fight back against Assad or die.

 'By the beginning of 2013, existence in his village in the southern Syrian governorate of Daraa had become impossible. In March the previous year, government soldiers looking for opposition spies found the sheltering villagers and began a random slaughter. “They went along us, saying ‘You’re going to heaven’ to one man, and ‘You’re going to hell’ to another one,” says Younis. “If they sent you to hell, you were either stabbed or shot. If they sent you to heaven, they let you live. I thought I was going to die, but the soldier said I was going to heaven.”

 Eight months later, he watched most of a family die as their car drove over one of the mines the soldiers had sown around the village.

 The device itself was a small one but the family, who were fleeing a neighbouring village, had a gas cylinder in the back of the car. Younis helped drag out and bury the bodies of the mother and her four children. The father, who was driving, was hit in the leg but survived to join the Free Syria Army (FSA).'

Don't bet against President Assad

 Robert Fisk's support for Assad becomes more irrational as time goes on. If the threat to bomb Assad was hollow, why should we believe "we hate Assad," or "we supported the opposition"? The original Syrian opponents of Assad are the same ones opposing him now, it is ISIS that is largely composed of non-Syrians (or indeed Assad's support from Lebanon and Iran). The secret mythical intermediary between Assad and ISIS has been exposed as one Mr. Haswani*.

 They have taken a few villages south of Qamisleh in the wake of the Kurdish YPG doing more damage to ISIS in the area and they have collapsed without a fight**. I can't find any trace of them fighting ISIS north-east of Latakia, but rather the Free Syrian ZArmy and Ahrar al-Sham***. Maybe he's talking about the August 2013 Latakia offensive**** in which ISIS played some small part. It's soldiers have been murdered en masse when their officers abandoned them, hardly the sign of an army on a mission to destroy ISIS. There a a couple more lies to mention, that the Free Syrian Army is nothing but "supposedly pro-Western" guerrillas, and that everyone's crimes in Syria are much the same because blood sticks to everyone's hands, though of course those of the Islamists are always worse. Fisk is completely detached from reality.

 'Their threat to bomb Assad out of Damascus was hollow – and Assad’s self-confidence blossomed. Those who hero-worshipped the original Syrian opponents of Assad (brave men indeed) are now creating a new and dark scenario for us, in which Assad has all along encouraged the Islamists – indeed allied himself to Isis – via a series of secret but mythical negotiators, and in which Assad’s army fights only its internal opponents and lets Nato bomb Isis to its heart’s content. But Assad’s army is fighting Isis – south of Qamishleh, for example, and north-east of Latakia – and its soldiers have been shot into mass graves by the black-hooded men of the “Islamic Caliphate”.

 So who will win? At first, we supported the opposition and hated Assad. But now that Isis is ruling much of Syria (though few of its cities) and killing Christians and Westerners, we hate Isis even more than we hate Assad. That’s why we bomb Isis but didn’t bomb Assad. And as long as both “sides” think they can still win, the war will go on for another year or two. Or three. Which means that Assad survives. But after perhaps 300,000 dead, would that be a victory?'

*[http://notris.blogspot.com/2015/03/oil-middleman-between-syria-and-isil-is.html]
**http://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/2xmbrp/isis_collapse_in_syrias_qamishli_region_os_1280_x/]
***'The Islamist Ahrar al-Sham claimed rocket strikes on Slanfeh and Aramo, regime positions south of Dorin, while the FSA’s First Coastal Division said it had struck government posts in Dorin as well as Nabi Younes, the highest point in the region. A commander from the First Coastal Division—the largest FSA formation in Latakia Governorate—said in an interview that the regime had attacked the rebels’ mountain position to raise the morale of Assad supporters.'
[https://web.archive.org/web/20150509071732/http://syrianfreedomls.tumblr.com/post/113274798073/regime-in-new-latakia-campaign]
****[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Latakia_offensive]

‘Iranization’ of Syria

 'Although one might make the argument that Iran cannot be blamed for all these tragedies, Tehran’s support for Assad and his forces have directly impacted the militarized character, viciousness and direction of the civil war. Without the robust and unshakable support of Tehran, Assad’s fate would have resembled that of Mubarak and Ben Ali.

 As the international community, and particularly the United States, are silent and soft on Iran when it comes to its military, economic, and intelligence support of Assad, there is no pressure on the Islamic Republic to shift its support of Assad. Thus it follows that the Syrian civil war will continue, the death toll with increase, and there exists no end to the conflict anytime soon.'

Iran is part of the problem

 Sam Hamad:

 'Iran is neither a nuclear threat or the new Third Reich. But it is stoking sectarian war in Syria on behalf of the Assad regime and reinforcing sectarianism in Iraq. These have been the most immediate factors in the current chaos that has engulfed these two countries and which threatens to engulf the entire region. Netanyahu and the US hawks that hang on his every word may not provide any solutions, as they themselves are part of the problem, but the realpolitik that lies behind this new phase in the seemingly endless and wholly destructive “war on terror”, namely the current rapprochement of the US and Iran, is yet another major blow for all those forces within the region that support freedom and democracy.'

The lights have gone out over Syria, just like our humanity

 'Filiu believes the west has contributed to creating the monster it is fighting. Not in the way some proponents of anti-western conspiracy theories like to suggest (no, Isis is not a creature of the CIA), but by abandoning the Syrian revolutionaries and failing to provide them with the support that would have allowed them to change the balance of forces on the ground.

 Filiu identifies wasted opportunities, including President Obama’s August 2013 decision to give up on airstrikes against Assad’s military after its use of chemical weapons. In early 2014 there was another lost chance when Syrian rebels expelled Isis from Aleppo, but still didn’t receive the outside help they hoped for. Filiu is convinced that by creating a vacuum, the west let radical Islamic networks based in the Gulf states become enmeshed in the Syrian quagmire – thus helping spread the ideology Isis thrives on.

 While we bomb Isis, Assad spares it and prefers to barrel-bomb Syrian civilians in the pockets of territory still controlled by the rebels fighting his rule. Filiu says Isis is winning because, unlike the west, it has a strategy – and it has galvanised many young Sunnis. Isis is proactive, the west reactive. The actions of Isis draw us into kneejerk military operations with no political strategy whatsoever.Filiu identifies wasted opportunities, includingPresident Obama’s August 2013 decision to give up on airstrikes against Assad’s military after its use of chemical weapons. In early 2014 there was another lost chance when Syrian rebels expelled Isis from Aleppo, but still didn’t receive the outside help they hoped for. Filiu is convinced that by creating a vacuum, the west let radical Islamic networks based in the Gulf states become enmeshed in the Syrian quagmire – thus helping spread the ideology Isis thrives on.

 The west started a bombing campaign after its citizens were beheaded last year in Iraq – the images of these crimes were intolerable. Yet the west failed to do anything decisive after 200,000 people were killed in Syria. If you dwell on this fact for a minute, it is hardly surprising that many young Muslims – wherever they are – are likely to conclude that western policies are racist.'

Millions Of Children Are Trapped By War In Syria

 'In the fourth year of the conflict, government forces carried out at least 1,450 indiscriminate attacks from the air, Human Rights Watch said last month.

 According to the New York-based group, these attacks often use barrel bombs, containers packed with explosives and projectiles that are dropped from helicopters.

 Life expectancy has plunged from 75.9 years in 2010 to an estimated 55.7 at the end of 2014, a U.N.-backed study has said.

 "Our organization should be running some of the largest medical programs in its 44-year history," Dr. Joanne Liu, MSF's international president, said in a statement on Wednesday. "But it's not. And the question is, why not?"

 The United Nations Security Council is "failing Syria" by not implementing its own resolutions, the NRC and 20 other aid groups, including Oxfam and Save the Children, said on Thursday.

 The unanimously passed resolutions, which authorize U.N. aid missions to enter the country without the Syrian government's consent, have been "ignored or undermined," the report said.

 "I haven't seen the Security Council so defunct since the build-up to the Iraq war in 2003," said Egeland. "I think they are not willing." '

Syria regime blamed for killing over 600 doctors

 'The Assad regime is responsible for 97 percent of medical personnel killings, it said.Attacks on medical staff and hospitals have devastated the medical infrastructure, said the report entitled "Doctors in the Crosshairs: Four years of Attacks on Health Care in Syria." '
[https://s3.amazonaws.com/PHR_Reports/doctors-in-the-crosshairs.pdf]



 'The consequences of the international community’s failure to protect Syrians from systematic and repeated violations of both human rights and humanitarian law have been devastating. Yet, one in particular stands out: the erosion of the long-established principle that neither militaries nor armed groups can target medical workers and the health care system for attacks.Since 2011, the Syrian government has systematically violated this principle and is using attacks on medical workers and facilities as a weapon of war. It began when the government interfered with and compromised health care services by arresting injured protesters in emergency rooms, but quickly escalated into bombing hospitals in opposition-held areas and detaining, torturing, and executing doctors who were adhering to medical ethics by treating the wounded regardless of their political beliefs. The doctors who have risked their lives to remain in Syria and treat the injured have been decimated by Bashar al-Assad’s forces, which consider it a crime punishable by death to provide medical treatment to “the other side.”

 As we approach the fifth year of the conflict, at least 610 medical personnel have been killed, and there have been 233 deliberate or indiscriminate attacks on 183 medical facilities. The Syrian government is responsible for 88 percent of the recorded hospital attacks and 97 percent of medical personnel killings, with 139 deaths directly attributed to torture or execution.'

Homs rebels relieved after exit but pledge return

 'He used to sell car parts and owned a cake factory, but the revolution turned him into a poet. He wrote the lyrics for several protest chants that became known in the Arab world.

 “But the regime didn’t understand the language of song and poetry, and with its violence, it pushed us into taking up arms.” Hajj Ayman'

 Some news outlets would rewrite this as ,"Western Proxies In Syria Are Used Car Dealers And Worse."

Syrian rebels free dozens from ISIS in Syria’s al-Bab

 'Abu Malek al-Babi, commander of Liwaa al-Tawheed of the FSA, said that FSA-linked “sleeper cells” have freed dozens of prisoners from IS detention centers in the city of al-Bab.'

Images of Syrian torture on display at UN

 'The pictures show 27 men (some elderly), two children and one woman in various positions, almost all displaying signs of prolonged starvation. Some had their eyes gouged out, others had flayed or badly bleeding skin. One body was entirely charred. But all of the photographs had identifiers embedded within them and the numbers of regime facilities where the people had been killed.'

Rebels' march on Damascus becomes fight for survival

 “For us, the path to saving the revolution, saving the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian people is clear – it runs from Daraa to Damascus. If we can arrive at Damascus, the whole conflict would change. It is our last best hope.”

Wrestling With the U.S. to Expose Assad

 'Despite the Obama administration’s stated policy of opposing the Assad government, the U.S. hadn’t done much to force him out. In some instances—like the removal of chemical weapons—Washington and Damascus even worked together.

 At the time, the Obama administration was sensitive about critiques of its Syria policy. Shortly after the hearing, a bipartisan group of lawmakers met with President Obama at the White House. Responding to the suggestion that he should have armed the Syrian rebels earlier, the president said that criticism was “horseshit.”

 Some in Congress believed that this attitude spilled over to Foggy Bottom, and that it made the State Department less than eager to highlight Assad’s atrocities.'

The cultural outpouring fueled by Syrian war

 'Most pundits claim that if there was a revolutionary moment it was brief and now it’s civil war. Artists and intellectuals beg to differ. With pens and brushes they have insisted on the importance of naming and representing the protests and demonstrations “revolution.” Charif Kiwan, one of the founders of the Abou Naddara documentary film production, said: “We don’t feel we are dealing with a war. We are dealing with a revolution. I don’t know what revolution is; I can’t explain what it is, but we have the feeling that we are in front of huge breakdowns, ruptures, something very violent and also very beautiful. So, we cannot qualify this. We accept the idea that it is a revolution.” '

Rebels unveil home-made Volcano cannon

 'Lacking the resources of Assad's government forces, rebels have had to improvise weapons. Mortar shells are turned on lathes in factories and fired using a variety of improvised launchers. Homemade grenades are launched from giant catapults or customised shotguns. In this gallery we look at some of the homemade munitions used by the Free Syrian Army.'

 It isn't the Saudis and the Americans fighting a proxy war, it's David v Goliath.

Syrians mark Women's Day in Idlib cellar

 'Ever since the revolution became armed, people started forgetting that women were at the forefront of protests, holding banners and screaming slogans before the men.We cannot marginalise these women and forget about them. This event was held to honour them.'

There will be a big revolution against IS

 'The increased pressure from the coalition and local Syrians has caused defections in IS’s ranks and led to numerous attempts to escape, says Abu Mujahed, a former FSA fighter and now citizen journalist in the IS-controlled city of al-Mayadin."Soon enough, in the upcoming months there will be a big revolution against IS. The revolution will happen for many reasons, including oppression against civilians, huge price increases, a lack of services and IS’s killing of young men in front of their families for no reason." '

Do we have to reconcile with Assad?

 'It is impossible for Saudi Arabia to reconcile with Assad, who has killed a quarter of a million people, in order to fight ISIS. How can we convince the 10 million displaced people - victims of Assad’s war machine - that we are giving up on them?

 When the time comes to discuss Assad’s fate, no one will care about the concept of vengeance. The focus today is on two parallel solutions: supporting the armed moderate opposition - the Free Syrian Army (FSA) - and supporting any peaceful solution based on the reconciliation of the entire Syrian people and on the maintenance of the regime without its senior leaders. A political solution cannot be fairly imposed without supporting the FSA.'

Demonstration in Rif Damascus against Jabhat al Nusra

 'A mass demonstration was organized on March 7 2015 in the town of Beit Sahem in Rif Damascus condemning through numerous slogans the various violent and repressive actions of Jabhat al Nusra in different towns (Yalda-Beit Sahem-Babbila), and called for Jabhat al Nusra members to leave these three towns, which are undergoing severe sieges imposed by Assad’s forces and militias.

 Jabhat al Nusra published a statement under the title “our headquarters and our Fronts are a red line” indicating that the demands of the protesters of the towns Babbila, Beit Sahem and Yalda can not be tolerated, and that any attack on its headquarters in the region will be answered. They finally warned that these events will drag the towns into what the Assad regime wants, brigades fightings themselves.'

Syrian regime 'behind 71 chemical weapons attacks'

 'The director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Fadel Abdul Ghani, told al-Araby al-Jadeed that the network had been given reliable reports of attacks in Rif Dimashq, Jubar Hama, Idlib, Daraa and Aleppo governorates since the agreement by Syria in 2013 to give up its chemical weapons under the terms of a UN resolution.Ghani called on the UN to "impose a ban on all sorts of weapons used by the Syrian government and prosecute the sides providing it with funds and weapons".'

Middleman between Syria & Isil new target for sanctions

 'Syria's regime is not only buying oil from Isil, but helping to operate the terrorist movement's oil and gas facilities.'

 There are also reports coming out that Assad and ISIS have co-operated to cut off the water and electricity from rebel-held parts of Aleppo.

 'In public, the two belligerents claim to be sworn enemies. Isil has vowed to topple Mr Assad and transform Syria into an Islamic "Caliphate". But the rise of the jihadist movement has served Mr Assad's interests by allowing him to pose as an essential bulwark against Islamist terrorism.

 Isil fighters captured the oilfields of eastern Syria in 2013. Since then, the regime is believed to have funded the jihadists by purchasing oil from Isil. But those links are understood to extend further than was previously thought. Instead of merely being a customer for Isil's oil, the regime is understood to be running some oil and gas installations jointly with the terrorist movement.

 Mr Haswani's company, HESCO, operates a gas plant in Tabqa, a town in central Syria which was captured by Isil last August. Officials believe this installation is being run jointly by Isil and personnel from the regime. The gas facility continues to supply areas of Syria controlled by Mr Assad. Other oil and gas fields in Isil's hands are thought to be operated by personnel who remain on the payroll of the regime's oil ministry. The oil is then sold to Mr Assad, who distributes it in areas he controls at relatively low prices, helping him to win the loyalty of local people.

 Sometimes, the regime has paid for the oil by supplying Isil-held towns with electricity.'

A long trail of blood and tears

 Hisham Melhem:

 'By focusing only on degrading (ISIS) the U.S. will end up shoring up the two Shiite sectarian regimes in Baghdad and Damascus. As long as the U.S. and its western and regional allies are not pursuing a comprehensive transitional strategy in Syria leading to the removal of the Assad regime, the very magnet that attracted (ISIS) in the first place and unless they push their Iraqi allies to seriously rein in the Shiite militias and genuinely include the Sunnis in the political life of Iraq, America’s venture in the Levant and Iraq will end tragically.

 The Obama Administration’s almost obsession with reaching a nuclear deal with Iran, and its eagerness not to provoke Iranian retaliation against American personnel in Iraq, explain in part Washington’s refusal to remove Assad from power. Americans and the rest of the world were horrified when a Jordanian pilot was immolated by (ISIS) and young Egyptian Copts were beheaded in Libya; and yet the Assad regime is responsible for killing more innocent civilians than (ISIS) could ever do, given that Assad has the industrial capacity to conduct such horrors. His primitive but lethal barrel bombs that his air force rains daily on the civilians of Aleppo, have immolated more Syrians than (ISIS) would like to claim.'

ASU student travels to Syria for humanitarian efforts

 'Biochemistry and justice studies junior Zana Alattar travelled to Syria in November 2013 with an organization called Students Organize for Syria at ASU, to provide humanitarian relief to refugees in Syria.

 “On the northern Syrian border with Turkey, there is a huge area of refugees,” she said. “People were trying to stay out of the area in Aleppo with the Assad regime. There were refugee tents with people living on the ground.”

 Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, is the site of an ongoing, years-long battle between several rebel groups and Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah, a Shi’a Islamist militant group. Since the start of the battle in 2012, more than 31,000 civilians and soldiers have died.

 “Further into the free, liberated cities are completely self-run,” Alattar said. “The Assad government cut off electricity and water from the liberated cities so (liberated citizens) had to find ways to generate electricity.”

 Rebel soldiers make up organizations such as the People’s Protection Units and the Free Syrian Army. These groups have been continuously fighting to defend Syria and have successfully liberated several cities from the Assad regime.

 Alattar, who has family who live in Syria, said the Syrian people are now facing two enemies: the Islamic State group and the Assad regime.

 “I have aunts and uncles and cousins who are living in bombed areas from the Assad regime,” she said. “The power is apparent.”

 Alattar said she believes bombing the Islamic State group will not solve the problem until the Assad regime is stopped.

 “(Bombing the Islamic State group is a) step in the right direction,” she said. “But bombing ISIS will not solve the issue. The issue rose out of the original problem, which was the Assad regime. (Stopping) ISIS is necessary, but is not entirely successful without eliminating the Assad regime.” '

Will Qatar be the new sponsor of Nusra Front?

 'Firstly, there are no “good choices” in Syria today. Qatar has surmised, it seems, that supporting or transforming the Nusra Front, is one of the “least worst” options.

 Secondly, the Nusra Front has pledged to concentrate its efforts on removing the Bashar al-Assad government, as opposed to attacking the “far enemy” (ie Western states). On this point, the Nusra Front is aligned tightly with Qatar, which also is implacably against the government and fundamentally believes that the situation in Syria will only improve if he is removed.

 This idea is also reflected in the Nusra Front’s composition, which is far more Syrian-dominated than the foreign jihadist-magnet that is IS.

 This is why Qatar is hoping to bring the Nusra Front in from the cold. If the state can get the group to eschew its al-Qaeda affiliation and adhere to a broadly moderate Islamist platform, Qatar can officially commence, with Western blessing, the supply of one of the most effective fighting forces in Syria.'

Sanctions target backers of Islamic State and Assad regime

 If they really wanted to stop the violence, the British government and the EU would give Syrians the weaponry they need to defend themselves from Assad, and then there could be meaningful negotiations about the ending of his rule. Still, better than nothing, and a million miles better than those who claim it is the sanctions on the régime and the support for the opposition that destabilises Syria.

 “We have also agreed to target individuals supplying oil to the regime, including George Haswani, a middleman buying oil from [Islamic State] on behalf of the regime. This listing gives yet another indication that Assad’s ‘war’ on Isis is a sham and that he supports them financially.
These sanctions show that EU is united in its condemnation of Assad’s brutal policies. We will continue applying pressure to the regime until it reassesses its position, ends the violence and engages in meaningful negotiations with the moderate opposition.”

ISIS: Managers of Savagery

 Muhammad Idrees Ahmad:

 'Patrick Cockburn’s The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution is a high-altitude polemic that blames the IS’s rise on U.S. and Saudi support for the anti-Assad rebellion. It has little or nothing to say about IS ideology or composition. Acting more as an advocate than an observer, Cockburn argues for rapprochement with the Assad regime.

 But to make his case, Cockburn dispenses with proportion and distinction. Though in successive reports the U.N., Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have indicted the Assad regime as by far the leading perpetrator of violence in the conflict, Cockburn’s account is devoted almost entirely to opposition atrocities. (He reports exclusively from regime-held areas.) Regime repression does receive cursory mention, but Nazi analogies are reserved for the opposition.

 Cockburn makes no mention of the divergent interests and active rivalries between IS and Syria’s nationalist opposition. For him, to assist the opposition is to assist the IS.

 To support this claim, he quotes “an intelligence officer from a Middle Eastern country neighboring Syria” who told him “ISIS members ‘say they are always pleased when sophisticated weapons are sent to anti-Assad groups of any kind because they can always get the arms off them by threats of force or cash payments.’” (Cockburn quotes many anonymous intelligence officials in the book but on no other occasion does he grant the country anonymity. Might it be because the “country neighboring Syria” is Iraq, a key Assad ally?)

 Yet this bias is the least of the problems in Cockburn's reporting—he also embellishes. On page 76 of his book, he writes about Adra: “I witnessed JAN forces storm a housing complex by advancing through a drainage pipe which came out behind government lines, where they proceeded to kill Alawites and Christians.” This would be the first independent verification of a story that had briefly surfaced before disappearing in a swirl of contradictory claims. The Russian broadcaster RT had even used fake pictures in its report on the incident.

 Yet Cockburn was nowhere near Adra. This is confirmed by an unimpeachable source: Patrick Cockburn. He first reported on the incident in his January 28, 2014 column for The Independent. But instead of being personally present, the story about rebels advancing through a drainage pipe is attributed to “a Syrian soldier, who gave his name as Abu Ali.” Cockburn appears to have pulled a Brian Williams.'

The Syrian Regime Is Responsible for the Crisis in Yarmouk & No One Is Talking About It

 'I am now haunted by images of its ravaged buildings, children feeding themselves on grass and stray cats, and scrawny bodies starved to death. Since July 2013, an estimated 200 people have died, and many others have been left without food or medication, leading to escalating incidents of starvation. This is in addition to the approximately 300 Palestinians killed under torture in the regime’s prisons, and the 900 who have died from shelling in the camp. There has been no drinkable water in Yarmouk for over one year and a half.

 It is no surprise that, since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, the little media coverage Yarmouk has received in mainstream outlets, including from the BBC and theGuardian, has centered primarily on the unfolding humanitarian crisis. By focusing on this aspect of the story, however, mainstream reporting on Yarmouk has failed to highlight the Syrian regime’s role in facilitating the crisis in the camp.

 Indeed, this a-historical representation of the humanitarian crisis in Yarmouk has worked significantly to the advantage of the Syrian regime. Along with a number of foreign pro-Syrian regime outlets, mainly from Iran and Russia, the Assad government has blamed the humanitarian crisis in Yarmouk entirely on a few radical opposition groups inside the camp. The regime’s allied foreign media outlets have claimed that Syrian-Palestinians have always backed the regime. To support this narrative, these outlets have selectively relied on a handful of pro-regime Palestinian factions in Syria. Together, both pro-regime and mainstream media outlets have ignored the experiences of Palestinians who do not support the regime (though for different reasons), effectively concealing the truth behind the suffering under which Yarmouk’s population lives today.'

What's at stake in the battle for Aleppo?

 'Rebels say IS militants aren’t taking on Assad’s forces, despite being in a strong position to menace their supply lines into the city. “When they first showed up, they claimed that they would lead the revolution to victory against the criminal regime, but then they turned on us in order to establish their so-called caliphate,” says Free Syrian Army fighter Hassan al-Halebi, who is fighting IS near the village of Telalin.

 He says rebel forces have been “split into two camps: one dedicated to fighting the regime and the other dedicated to fighting IS. We’ve lost many fighters.” He adds, “IS has killed the revolution in every area that comes under their control.” '

Regime airstrikes kill 30, including seven students

 'A missile fired by a regime jet allegedly targeted a school in Armanaz village in Idlib that left three teachers and seven students dead, the Syrian Revolution General Commission said in a statement.any students were also wounded in the attack and the school’s building also sustained heavy damage. Also, a regime helicopter targeted opposition-controlled Kadi Askar area in Aleppo that left at least 20 civilians dead and scores others injured, the commission said. 

 Syrian National Coalition President Khaled Khoja and French President Francois Hollande met Thursday and agreed that removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his regime from power is the key to countering terrorism in Syria and the only way for any international peace initiative to succeed."Khoja told reporters that it is "quiet hard" to accept the plan suggested by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura as "the Syrian regime keeps breaching all the international peace initiatives.'

Syria Revolution Anniversary Events Around The World

 'Some of the flyers.'

How Yarmouk camp became the worst place in Syria

 Jonathan Steele's story includes a fair amount of unanswered disinformation about the Syrian opposition and their supporters: the SNC want Obama to bomb Damascus, the West oppose a truce in Yarmouk because they support the opposition's interim government, the Free Syrian Army is backed by western governments. But it should still be easy to see how appalling the endorsement of starvation as a war tactic by a PFLP-GC supporter of Assad is.

 “It was a mistake to break the siege. If we had continued by another week, hunger would have forced them to give up.”

Blast 'hits Aleppo intelligence HQ'

 Great news. Syrian air force intelligence isn't an "elite agency" with "a reputation for brutality" as the BBC has it, but the most extreme of torturers* of a state of torturers. Much of Aleppo hasn't been "devastated by two years of fighting", but by Assad's bombing. Assad's forces haven't been making "steady advances" around Aleppo, their latest offensive has been decisively beaten back.** And the BBC ends with suggesting that the UN envoy's proposal for a local ceasefire is the answer to all this bloodshed, without mentioning that it has been rejected by all the rebel groups as a way to prolong Assad's tyranny.

*[http://notris.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=air+force+intelligence]
**[http://eaworldview.com/2015/02/syria-feature-opposition-clears-assad-forces-villages-attacked-failed-aleppo-offensive/]

The Ordeal of Syria’s Healthcare Professionals

 'In Syria, civilians as well as healthcare personnel, medical facilities, and ambulances are deliberately and routinely targeted as part of the military strategy of the Syrian government. In an attempt to provide ongoing care to the injured, health workers have opened makeshift field hospitals in homes, factories, and farms, often moving from place to place as they suffer damage or destruction. Only two of the facilities where the individuals interviewed for this report worked escaped attack during their tenure, and one of those was hit after the physician interviewed had left. However, as these field hospitals are hidden, even the extensive documentation of attacks on health workers and facilities in Syria inevitably underreport the extent of attacks.'

Many Syrians Have Been Displaced Multiple Times

 'Ms. Abu Maghara left Aleppo in July after a barrel bomb struck near her building, sending shrapnel and glass tearing through the house and the family cowering for cover. The next day, she, her children and her in-laws got on a minibus and headed back to Al-Bab, her hometown about 25 miles northeast of Aleppo, which has been under Islamic State control for more than a year.

 Once she got there, she was unable to leave the house without a male relative escort. Outside she had to abide by a strict dress code on women and her young children risked witnessing the brutal punishments publicly meted out by Islamic State. She said her 12-year-old son didn’t speak or eat for two days after he saw a man being beheaded by the militants in a public square.

 If she didn’t leave the house, she told herself, she would be safe. But 10 days after the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, Al-Bab was struck 16 times by government planes. More than a month later, the U.S. and its allies in the anti-Islamic State coalition began airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria [and non-Islamic State areas, in fact on anywhere where there are rebels/civilians present].

 For months in Al-Bab, Ms. Abu Maghara and her children braced against the regular attacks until Nov. 11. That night, a barrel bomb dropped by regime aircraft struck their home, destroying all but the room they were sleeping in. In the dark of night, neighbors pulled them out of the rubble.

 A day later, the family was back on a minibus to Aleppo.

 “The people are moving around. They don’t know where to go,” she said. “There is only safety outside of Syria, but living outside of Syria requires money. Everyone else remains in Syria.” '