Syria: The Assassination Campaign And Its Historic Example

June 21, 2012

The foreign supported rebels in Syria, armed by the CIA in consultation with the Muslim Brotherhood, do not only wage a war against the Syrian army and government.

They also wage a silent assassination campaign by death squadrons who, day by day, kill more or less prominent Syrian intellectuals and functionaries who support the Syrian government. That campaign has been going on for many months now without any western media reporting on it. A typical recent incident:

Brigadier Ghassan Abu al-Dahab, a doctor and the head of the Harasta clinic, was assassinated in front of his house in Damascus by the blast of an explosion device that was planted under his car, Syria's Arab News Agency SANA said.

The assassination came as part of a series of attempts made recently against senior army officers.

Another Syrian, Abdul-Qoudous Jbarah, was killed in his house in the Damascus suburb of Sayeda Zainab, said SANA, adding that terrorists broke into his house Wednesday and shot him and wounded his brother.

The Syrian news agency SANA calls this a campaign against "national and scientific expertise and intellectuals":

In the framework of targeting the national and scientific expertise and intellectuals, an armed terrorist group on Monday assassinated Doctor Adnan Tawfik al-Samitt in Daraa.

SANA reporter quoted a source at Daraa Province as saying that the armed terrorist group shoot dead Dr. al-Samitt with their machineguns near his house at al-Qusour Neighborhood in Daraa city.

Another example:

In the framework of targeting the national expertise, an armed terrorist group on Thursday detonated an explosive device in the car of the master of Jaber bin Hayyan school in Aleppo, Mohammad al-Freij, causing his martyrdom.

SANA reporter quoted a source in the province as saying that al-Freij was martyred when the explosive device went off as he was getting on his car in front of his house in Hanano area.

This modus operandi is well known to Syrians. Such an assassination campaign was also implemented during the six years of terror and insurgency the Muslim Brotherhood waged against the Syrian government between 1976 and 1982:

Islamist militants targeted prominent figures in the Ba'th Party and armed forces, particularly high-ranking 'Alawis. But through the 1970s, violence broadened to include assaults on government facilities and public symbols of Ba'thi rule, including district party offices, police stations and military encampments.
…
Armed struggle against the Ba'thi leadership in Syria peaked at the close of the decade, with the execution of eighty-three 'Alawi cadets at the military academy in Aleppo in June 1979, a cluster of mass demonstrations and boycotts in Aleppo, Hama and Homs in March 1980, and a failed attempt to assassinate President Hafiz al-Asad later that year.

Elder Syrians have seen a situation like today's one. A like insurgency by the same ideological forces was waged 35 years ago. I do not know, but suspect, that that insurgency also had foreign support.

But that insurgency ended after a decisive battle the government fought against insurgents occupying parts of a city:

Six years of armed struggle culminated in the February 1982 confrontation between the Muslim Brothers and the Ba'thi regime in the long-time Islamist stronghold of Hama. Militants proclaimed a popular uprising and seized control of several neighborhoods in the heart of the city. It took elite military and security forces two weeks to crush the revolt, during which time between 5,000 and 20,000 civilians were killed and the central business district and historic grand mosque were razed to the ground.

That campaign in Hama is today often cited as a mark for the "brutality" of the Baath regime. Never mentioned though is that the Hama "massacre" was the culmination of a six year long fight against a bloody terror campaign.

Considering that history I still believe that the Syrian government and population will show the same resilience against the current Muslim Brotherhood's terror campaign that it demonstrated some 30 years ago.

Posted by b on June 21, 2012 at 17:31 UTC | Permalink

Comments

It reminds me of this here
“A little known aspect of the tragedy engulfing Iraq is the systematic liquidation of the country’s academics. Even according to conservative estimates, over 250 educators have been assassinated, and many hundreds more have disappeared. With thousands fleeing the country in fear for their lives, not only is Iraq undergoing a major brain drain, the secular middle class – which has refused to be co-opted by the US occupation – is being decimated, with far-reaching consequences for the future of Iraq.
Already on July 14, 2004, veteran correspondent Robert Fisk reported from Iraq that: “University staff suspect that there is a campaign to strip Iraq of its academics, to complete the destruction of Iraq’s cultural identity which began when the American army entered Baghdad.”
The wave of assassinations appears non-partisan and non-sectarian, targeting women as well as men, and is countrywide. It is indiscriminate of expertise: professors of geography, history and Arabic literature as well as science are among the dead. Not one individual has been apprehended in connection with these assassinations.
According to the United Nations University, some 84 per cent of Iraq’s institutions of higher education have already been burnt, looted or destroyed. Iraq’s educational system used to be among the best in the region; one of the country’s most important assets was its well-educated people.
This situation is a mirror of the occupation as a whole: a catastrophe of staggering proportions unfolding in a climate of criminal disregard. As an occupying power, and under international humanitarian law, final responsibility for protecting Iraqi citizens, including academics, lies with the United States.
With this petition we want to break the silence.
1. We appeal to organisations which work to enforce or defend international humanitarian law to put these crimes on the agenda.
2. We request that an independent international investigation be launched immediately to probe these extrajudicial killings. This investigation should also examine the issue of responsibility to clearly identify who is accountable for this state of affairs. We appeal to the special rapporteur on summary executions at UNHCHR in Geneva.”
http://www.brussellstribunal.org/Academics.htm
Anybody knows if this assassination spree was cleared up?
Look b. Syria is a dicatorship and a police state, that does not legitimize all means of fighting the state, but it legitimizes the fight per se (or resistance, if you want to call it that)
Even Russia’s Lavrov analyzes Syria as a minority ruling a majority.
http://www.rt.com/news/lavrov-syria-exclusive-394/
“I would just repeat what I said: it’s for the Syrian people to decide who should rule them, how they should live. The main thing for the external players is to ensure that they all sit down at the negotiating table to discuss their future, where the minority and the majority will feel safe and included into the political system, otherwise the groups that now support president Assad, and there are quite a number who do so, would be in the opposition to the ruling majority and the war and violence would continue, but the positions of the participants would be shifted. This is something that might happen if people insist on one-sided approaches to the crisis and on imposing something on the Syrians.”
Lavrov is right in saying that a majority not guaranteeing minority rights would be no improvement.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 21 2012 18:22 utc | 1

The headline is misleading “at times” …
Syria rebels divided, at times violent

One of northern Syria’s most powerful and best-armed commanders, Al-Sheikh boasts more than 1,000 fighters, and they don’t shy away from rougher tactics themselves. They have released prisoners in bomb-laden cars and then detonated them at army checkpoints — turning the drivers into unwitting suicide bombers.
…
While the regime has been brutal, so have some of the rebels — another cause of concern for the West.
Opposition activists filter most information about the rebels sent outside the country, making it hard to get an accurate picture. But several groups said they had sent captured soldiers “to Cyprus,” which in rebel shorthand means execution. So many poor Syrians have died trying to reach the island that the phrase “send to Cyprus” has become synonymous with “put to death,” usually by gunfire.
One group said it had killed two brothers caught collaborating with the regime — one during interrogation, the other by firing squad.
…
The group was still high on a recent attack that had destroyed a military camp nearby. In the end, they photographed the dead bodies of 35 soldiers, drove off a tank they now park under a tree in the village graveyard and held trials for five captured soldiers. All were found guilty of killing other Syrians.
“They traveled to Cyprus,” al-Sheikh said with a grin. “On a fast plane.”

Posted by: b | Jun 21 2012 18:39 utc | 2

Thanks b, as always, when the situation becomes chaotic, we can rely on you to put it all in perspective.

Posted by: Alexander | Jun 21 2012 18:43 utc | 3

more on the assassination of Iraqui intellectuals
– the Jalili report thinks it is the “El Salvador option”
http://indexresearch.blogspot.de/2006/05/iraq-assassination-of-academics-jalili.html

Posted by: somebody | Jun 21 2012 19:00 utc | 4

this here is agenzia fides (Vatikan info) on rebels using civilians in Homs as human shields
http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=31760&lan=eng
A faction of the rebel army holed up in the city does not want them to evacuate to avoid the Syrian army to take favorable positions with military means. As reported to Fides by the Orthodox Christian priest Fr. Boutros Al Zein, “among them there are about 400 Christian civilians, mostly elderly and women, victims of authentic kidnapping, blocked in the streets of Al Bustan Diwan and Hamidiyyeh. Civilians – he explains – were collected and directed towards the border of these two streets, becoming human shields to prevent the attack of regular Syrian forces.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 21 2012 19:27 utc | 5

somebody, I also thought of Iraq just a few lines through b’s post; an important post, as Alexander underlined

Posted by: claudio | Jun 21 2012 19:33 utc | 6

Could someone remind me again exactly how what the US/ CIA is doing is not a war crime?

Posted by: Eureka Springs | Jun 21 2012 19:58 utc | 7

The US regime has decided international law doesn’t apply to them. Of course it’s a war crime, that’s why they have to have Assad killed and not brought to trial. Any on record evidence implying the guilt of foreign states will be admissible as evidence in an eventual trial against western and Arab leaders involved in instigating the revolt.

Posted by: Alexander | Jun 21 2012 20:11 utc | 8

The MB received help from the Hashemite king during the 1979 uprising that lead to the Hama killings. I remember reading this sometime ago but forget where. It may have been Patrick seale in his book about hafiz Assad. It would make sense since if I recall it was also about the time king Hussein was trying to crush the Palestinians in Jordan.

Posted by: ana souri | Jun 21 2012 20:32 utc | 9

@8, everybody wants to give Merka a pass because the Secretary of State is a ~~gorgon~~woman, and the Prez is black(ish). But these are the same narrow categories MLKjr condemned when he asked for us to be judged by the content of our character.

Posted by: ruralito | Jun 21 2012 21:13 utc | 10

ana souri #9
King Hussein “crushed” the palestinians in September 1970. it is called black september.
He helped MB for a different, simpler, reason. his CIA/MOSSAD handlers told him to do so.

Posted by: erraticideas | Jun 21 2012 21:17 utc | 11

As Syria has teamed with Iran, yes Jordan would help the enemy of its enemy, and maybe Saddam Hussein, too
http://www.ndu.edu/inss/docuploaded/SH-SHTP-A-001-167_English.pdf
“Saddam and Ba’ath Party Members Discussing the Status of the Party in the Arab World and Potential Cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood”
“…The danger of Khomeini [Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran] taking advantage of the religious current in the Arab world is that in general we seem to be politically with the regimes [as opposed to Islamists] since we have a regime and a state. It is the same for Khomeini in general because he doesn’t have another choice and he doesn’t have [allied] regimes. I mean it is obvious for us that he is not against Syria and Libya [the regimes] even though Muslims are mistreated in both places. There are religious, political, and Islamist movements mistreated in both places too yet he is the rulers’ friend. It is true that we recognize this situation, but we have to understand that when a religious current emerges in Saudi Arabia with whom we are friends, it [the religious current] is psychologically closer to Iran than to Iraq. So what would happen if we additionally engaged with them [Islamists] in conflict? It will be a case for Iran against Iraq, regardless of the other issues. [Saddam is saying that despite their ideological differences, Islamic movements would be closer to each other than to any other type of regime]”

Posted by: somebody | Jun 21 2012 21:27 utc | 12

and sometimes even Wikipedia helps to understand fundamental hostilities in the Middle East
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab%E2%80%93Iran_relations
Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its first supreme leader declared that, “The concept of monarchy totally contradicts Islam.” Therefore Arab leaders developed a hostile attitude towards the Islamic republic of Iran. Khomeini’s idea of supporting the mustaz^afeen (those who are wronged or oppressed) as opposed to the mustakbareen (those who are arrogant) led to many problems with neighboring countries due to some Arab regimes being judged by Iranian jurists to be among the mustakbareen. Ayatollah Khomeini was open about his intention to export the revolution to other parts of the Muslim world. Thus, during the early 1980s, Iran was isolated regionally and internationally. This diplomatic and economic isolation intensified during the Iran–Iraq War in which almost all neighboring Arab states, except Syria, supported Iraq logistically and economically on moral grounds. According to some observers, Saddam Hussein fought on behalf of other Arab states that viewed the Islamic Republic as a potential threat to their stability.[2]

Posted by: somebody | Jun 21 2012 21:36 utc | 13

An eg of the lies they feed the media: from b’s comment post:
‘Almost all the rebels the AP journalists met were from Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority, and many consider the fight a religious cause. When asked what they are fighting for, most said they are fed up with corruption, harassment by security services and a system that gives preference to members of the ruling Baath party and the Alawite sect, to which Assad belongs. The word they used most often was dignity.
“If I go to the beach, I don’t want an Alawite to call me a dog and I can’t respond,” said Ahmed Salim, 27, who left the police for the rebels in October. “I don’t want to be treated like an animal. I want to be treated like a human.”
Most fighters said they did not target other sects, only those who had fought for the regime.
There was little evidence of rebel attacks on civilians, but they were often merciless with regime troops. For most, the fight to topple Assad has become personal after they have been chased from their cities, their friends and relatives killed. Many frequently flip through “martyr” photos on their cellphones for inspiration.’
In fact Houla massacres were committed by these insurgents…the pro-assad civilians ‘sent on very fast planes to Cyprus’.
these insurgents may consider their fight religious but the effect is to make islam a monstrous religion. As usual the role of ‘journalists’ is to soften the image of the insurgents by justifying the atrocities…they did the same in Libya

Posted by: brian | Jun 21 2012 22:03 utc | 14

‘
Look b. Syria is a dicatorship and a police state, that does not legitimize all means of fighting the state, but it legitimizes the fight per se (or resistance, if you want to call it that)
somebody @1
what utter bull…syria is not a dictatorship, it has the support of most of its people, the insurgents as we see above try to justify their atrocities by crying they were repressed… that was done in Libya as well..its called Public Relations …its no surprise to see Somebody acting just like one of the AP PR men

Posted by: brian | Jun 21 2012 22:06 utc | 15

True that the Brotherhood committed vicious acts of terror against the Baathists in the early 70s, but also true that the Baathists ruled with an iron fist from the early 60s so it’s an issue of which first started with the violence. By the end of the 70s, the Baathists made it a capital crime to be a member of the Brotherhood, which increaed the Brotherhood’s terrorist attacks on the Baathists. In 82, the Baathists’ scorched earth attack snuffed out the Brotherhood concentrated mostly at Hama.
A not very pretty picture of what happened at Hama:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hama_massacre
From b’s #2: >>> While the regime has been brutal, so have some of the rebels — another cause of concern for the West.>>>
There is no doubt about the rebels’ brutality, but here at least, it’s recognized that the regime is also brutal.

Posted by: www | Jun 21 2012 22:42 utc | 16

No matter how you slice it, the fact that Russia caved into the cabal and turned back their helicopter resupply ship enroute to Syria is bad news. On many levels- not just for Syria, but for Russia as well. Sends a message not just of abandoning Syrian ally but of a weakened, enfeebled Russia.

Posted by: file2 | Jun 21 2012 22:51 utc | 17

This reminds me of the buildup to the war against Serbia in 1999. In the previous 2 or 3 years the Kosovo Liberation Army assassinated about 200 Serbian policemen in the province. Finally the Serbian Army responded and in the course of a few months killed a few hundred of the Albanian terrorists. The US propaganda machine whipped up Genocide! Claimed 20,000 people had been killed. Even showed aerial photos of the mass graves. Then it was war. Of course, the bodies of those 20,000 could never be located. But Clinton distracted the nation from Lewinski for a few months. And to this day progressive democrats think this was a good humanitarian war.

Posted by: ToivoS | Jun 21 2012 22:57 utc | 18

Posted by: ToivoS | Jun 21, 2012 6:57:47 PM | 18
yes indeed

Posted by: brian | Jun 21 2012 23:20 utc | 19

file2. I think that you are wrong and that you expect Russia to engage in the same game that the US is playing. It cannot and won’t. The US is atypical in that it really doesn’t engage in diplomacy, just threats and violence.
In this case the Russian ship returned to port in obedience to its insurance company’s instructions. We know that the insurance company was bowing to government pressure and that the government in question (British) has the policy of doing whatever Washington orders. But for the Russian government to intervene in a commercial contract, for no real purpose (the helicopters may be useful but they are not critical (and, if they were, there are other ways of getting to Syria than the long Baltic-Mediterranean route)would give the matter an importance it doesn’t have, while confirming the gist of Hillary’s lies about Russian arms.
Russia is actually succeeding very well in lowering tensions, not ramping up the war of words which Washington would welcome and allowing world opinion to reach the conclusion that the situation in Syria is actually complex. That among the “rebels” are the very forces (al qaida as the US calls them)that Washington pretends are so threatening and dangerous that it has had to suspend the Constitution and Geneva Conventions and re-introduce torture to defend against them.
It is a mistake to fall into the trap of taking US hype seriously: most of these threats are aimed at the domestic audience, perhaps even to impress pretty interns on Capitol Hill. The truth is that, excluding Grenada and Panama, most countries are quite capable of defending themselves against the US military.
What we are seeing in Syria now, and it is spreading into Lebanon and Iraq, is a US backed wahhabi campaign of terror, much like the “contra” campaign against Nicaragua. A dirty war designed to impoverish and de-stabilise society to the point that the neutral populace will throw its weight against the governments and back the terrorists simply because they promise peace. It is a crude threat and the US only believes it will work because it is such a racist regime that it doesn’t regard Arabs (just as it never regarded Latin Americans) as humans capable of dignity, patriotism and courage.
Incidentally add to those assassination campaigns the disappearances in Argentina (thousands of young intellectuals tortured and killed, the Trade Unionists and Peasant organisers in Colombia and millions more, in the tradition of Joe Hill.
Educating America is the heavy burden the world must bear until it grows up and forgets the dream of ruling the world, militarily, so that it can be looted by American corporations.

Posted by: bevin | Jun 21 2012 23:24 utc | 20

“The Salafist leader Mohammad Shalabi, also known as Abu Sayyaf, told Al-Hayat that a general preference is emerging in the ranks of al-Qaeda to fight in Yemen instead of Iraq and Syria. This is because of “the clarity of the issue and the strong presence of al-Qaeda supporters in that country.”
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2012/05/jordanians-fight-with-al-qaeda-i.html

Posted by: nikon | Jun 22 2012 0:41 utc | 21

At the top of his post above, ‘b’ once again disseminates a rumour from an anonymous chatterer that the governments of USA and Turkey are covertly participating in smuggling weapons to the Syrian rebels. Once again I don’t believe such rumours. Here are some recent news items with a bearing on this ongoing disagreement I have with ‘b’ (and Alexander).
First, here are two quotes from Obama from the past few days, in both of which I interpret an ethic of wanting to reduce violence. Obama and Putin issued a joint statement on Syria on 17 Jun 2012 which states: “In order to stop the the bloodshed in Syria, we call for an immediate cessation of the violence and express full support for the efforts of the UN and Arab states joint special envoy Kofi Annan, including on moving forward on political transition to a democratic pluralist political system that would be implemented by the Syrians themselves in the framework of Syrian sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.” http://en.rian.ru/world/20120619/174110800.html . On 20 Jun 2012 Obama said after meetings with Russia and China about Syria: “It’s my personal belief, and I shared this with them, I don’t see a scenario in which Assad stays and violence is reduced.” http://bigstory.ap.org/article/putin-syrian-people-must-decide-their-leadership
Next, a question raised by RT.com on 21 Jun 2012: “We often see, especially lately, the Syrian government pointing the finger at others for supplying guns to terrorists. Who are these “others”, could you name the countries?” Answer by the well-informed Syrian government spokesperson Bouthaina Shaaban: “I don’t know.” http://www.rt.com/news/syria-democracy-struggle-shaaban-259/ . In fact, the Syrian government has no evidence that foreign powers are arming the rebels. It knows the Saudis and Qataris have said they’d like to, and it knows that no other foreign government has said the same, and it knows that it is illegal in each of the countries bordering on Syria to bring weapons from that country into Syria. Please don’t forget that the smuggling of weapons into Syria is a violation of written law on both sides of the Syrian border, all around the border.
Next, on 21 Jun 2012 the Arab League’s Deputy Secretary-General, Ahmed Ben Helli, said the calls of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to take military intervention into Syria and arm the Syrian opposition were not the Arab League’s consolidated position. “Arab countries being sovereign states may decide themselves how to deal with that crisis,” he said. “Many still remember the Libyan experience and in this situation no one wants to repeat military intervention. I guess this option has not been considered neither in Russia nor in the AL, U.S. or Europe,” he said. No U.N. resolutions on Syria have ever envisaged military support for the opposition nor military intervention into the crisis in that country, he pointed out. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-06/21/c_131668497.htm .
Next, here’s a repetition of something I posted on this board on 16 Jun 2012 and which continues to impress me:

In a public opinion poll in Turkey sponsored by an Istanbul-based Center for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies (“EDAM”), and conducted between May 5 and June 5 among a representative sample of 1,500 people across the whole of Turkey, 57% said they were against Turkey intervening militarily in Syria in any way, while 35% said they were in favour of intervening militarily in one way or another (by arming the rebels, or by setting up protected zones on Syrian territory, or by an all-out nationwide attack on Syria), and the remaining 8% had no opinion. Only 8% favoured the option of arming the Syrian rebels. Among those who said they were supporters of Turkey’s ruling AKP political party, the majority said they were opposed to military intervention of any kind, and only 6% said they favoured the option of arming the rebels. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turks-oppose-syrian-conflict.aspx?pageID=238&nID=23220&NewsCatID=341
AFP @ http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/43570-poll-turks-oppose-direct-intervention-in-syria
The original poll report by the organization that sponsored it (“EDAM”) is in English language at http://www.edam.org.tr/document/Edam2012Survey2.pdf
In addition to the Turkish public opinion poll just mentioned, the EDAM organization carried out a survey among Turkey’s foreign policy expert community with the participation of 200 opinion makers. 200 “experts” is a lot you know. 67.5 % of the experts stated their preference for the continuation of political and diplomatic initiatives. 21 % preferred the option of non-interference of any kind (no sanctions, etc.). Thus, in total, anti-military-interventionist preferences were stated by 88.5 % of the expert participants. 6.5 % of the expert community preferred the option of establishing safe haven zones within Syria under the protection of Turkish troops, 3.5 % preferred arming the Syrian rebels, and 1.5 % preferred the option of a full nationwide military attack against the Assad government. http://www.edam.org.tr/document/Edam2012Survey2.pdf
You should take this as another ground for not believing the rumours that the Turkish government is secretly helping to arm the Syrian rebels. Don’t forget it would be a violation of current Turkish law.

Next, as linked to by ‘b’ yesterday, an Associated Press reporter on the ground in northwestern Syria interviewed a rebel and published it on 21 Jun 2012:

Commander Maan Dahnin said a Kalashnikov rifle now costs $1,500 and bullets are $4 each. That’s why when they lined up for target practice, most fighters fired only a few times. Some weapons come from neighboring Iraq, though many are duds, and some from Turkey, he said. The best come from corrupt officers in the Syrian army itself, Dahnin said. For now, his group’s 1,000 men never gather in one place, so that if they are shelled or come under fire, not everyone will die. Meanwhile, they focus on roadside bombs built with dynamite, sugar and fertilizer and detonated by remote control. Like most rebel commanders, Dahnin said his group gets no outside support. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ap-impact-syria-rebels-divided-times-violent

Posted by: Parviziyi | Jun 22 2012 3:11 utc | 22

Posted by: Alexander | Jun 22 2012 3:49 utc | 23

I guess you won’t be impressed by the statements of Clinton this spring, that ‘we shouldn’t worry, the weapons will find their way to the rebels’, or the Lutfallah shipment of arms that were seized, or the numerous stashes of guns the government has uncovered in rebel dens.. Or me thinking that not everything get intercepted on the borders..
Posted by: Alexander | Jun 21, 2012 11:49:40 PM | 23
======================
so its ok to ship weapons to islamic terrorists when they serve US interests..and noone will stop them….unlike russian repaired helicopters to Syrias govt…
i keep seeing a cabal of political oilgarchs working together to commit atrocities while penalising those who try to prvent them..and the media/HR organisations serves to label to parties to the public.
Are all these instititions of state and business full of corrupt adn devious people?

Posted by: brian | Jun 22 2012 4:18 utc | 24

Posted by: nikon | Jun 21, 2012 8:41:04 PM | 21
to fight for whom in Yemen? how is it these guys are able to move about a vast region? what happened to the terrorist watch lists? or are those reserved for real political activists?

Posted by: brian | Jun 22 2012 4:20 utc | 25

Confusing post, Parviziyi. Are you saying you don’t believe the US is arming the rebels or that no one is arming them?

Posted by: www | Jun 22 2012 4:23 utc | 26

@ Alexander #23 : I already said on this board on 13 Jun 2012: “I have observed with my own eyes at Youtube in June that a non-tiny number of the Syrian rebels are better armed now than they were in March or April. And I’ve read a couple of reporters on the ground in Syria who affirm the same.” Here’s from one of those reporters, also dated 13 Jun 2012, on the ground in northwestern Syria: “The improved supply of weapons to the rebels is clearly evident, both to reporters traveling in rebel-held area and in the rising death toll among Syrian security forces in clashes with the rebels.” http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/06/13/152238/syrian-rebels-now-using-efps-in.html . On the whole the rebels are still poorly armed.
I don’t know where the improved supply of weapons has come from. On 1 Apr 2012 (plus or minus a day) the government of Saudi Arabia announced an intention to pay “salaries” to the Syrian rebels, and set aside an initial allocation of US$100 million for it. So I find it easy to suppose the improved weapons supply can have been financed by the Saudis at least in part, even though I really don’t have any further info. However, I argue there’s absolutely no intelligent basis for believing that any government of a NATO country is directly facilitating it. White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on 21 Jun 2012 that the US does not provide “lethal aid” to the Syrian opposition. “We provide non-lethal assistance to the opposition,” he said. I say there’s no intelligent basis for thinking he’s misinformed or lying. Same goes for the government of Turkey.

Posted by: Parviziyi | Jun 22 2012 9:04 utc | 27

#20 said: It is a mistake to fall into the trap of taking US hype seriously: most of these threats are aimed at the domestic audience, perhaps even to impress pretty interns on Capitol Hill. The truth is that, excluding Grenada and Panama, most countries are quite capable of defending themselves against the US military.
Even Russia and China are no match for US military machine, much less Libya, Iraq or Egypt. As for threats aimed at domestic audience? More farce. Most of domestic audience couldnt care less about these issues, as the politicos well know. The threats are a a prelude to war and as sophisticated powerful psyops are themselves an act of war. Historically, a majority of the threat campaigns they wage do come to fruition. Not one of the major (overt) attacks on other countries has happened without this being prepped by demonization beforehand.

Posted by: file2 | Jun 22 2012 9:09 utc | 28

Omar Bakri Muhammad is currently recruiting jihadis in north Lebanon for the fighting in Syria. He was interviewed by American journalist, Pultitzer prize winner, Ron Suskind for his book, “The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an age of Extremism.” Omar Bakri admits to his connections with British intelligence.
This quote is taken from pg. 200-202:
Ron Suskind: “But there’s a hidden dimension to it all, which I glimpsed when we(author and Bakri) chatted in the hotel lobby two years back. A British intelligence officer told me that Bakri had helped MI5 on several of its investigations….After Bakri finished one of his long explanations…I mentioned his secret assistance to police. He became flustered. “I’m upset you know this,” he said grimly, as one of his deputies looked on from a distance. Of course, such a disclosure would have undermined his credibility among young radical jihadists, his constituency. I asked, then why do it, why help the police? He paused. “Because I like it here ,” he said. “My family’s here. I like the health benefits.”
A few months later, the July 7, 2005…and all such backdoor arrangements were off….(he went to Lebanon, although Suskind mistakenly says Libya)
On the phone…He says the British government, “whether they admit it or not,” misses him, too.”We were able to control the Muslim youth,” he says on the grainy mobile phone connection from Tripoli. “The radical preacher that allows a venting of a point of view is preventing violence. Now many of us are gone or in jail, and we’ve been replaced by radical jihadis, who take the youth underground. You don’t see them until the day they vent with the bombs.”
Bakri enoyed his notoriety and was willing to pay for it with information he passed to the police…It’s a fabric of subtle interlocking needs: the Brits need to be in a backchannel conversation with someone working the steam valve of Muslim anger; Bakri needs health insurance.”
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-World-Story-Truth-Extremism/dp/0061430625/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262899082&sr=8-

Posted by: brian | Jun 22 2012 11:42 utc | 29

@brian #14
Good point about the lies of the “rebels” and how the Western MSM validates and supports those lies rather than questioning them. Note how the AP story simply takes claims made by the “rebels”, for example a rebel claims that he “left the police for the rebels in October” and simply repeats those claims without verifying them in any way. Another “rebel” claim AP repeats as absolute truth is that the rebels “do not target civilians”, also without verifying it.
And of course these terrorists claim a right to “dignity” which apparently means they have a right to murder anyone they disagree with at any time. And also, the Syrian army does not have a right to fight back against those who want to murder Syrian troops and destroy the Syrian government. Can anyone here imagine the AP reporting the opinions of “insurgents” in Iraq or Afghanistan in a similar manner? The arrogance and complete lack of self conciousness is breathtaking.

Posted by: Jim Steel | Jun 22 2012 12:10 utc | 30

And anyone notice the absurdly obvious lies by the two terrorist commanders that the AP spoke to that claim they used to own, respectively, a barber shop and a grocery store? When you run a barber shop and a grocery store you do not magically become skilled commanders of 100s of armed terrorists a few months later.

Posted by: Jim Steel | Jun 22 2012 12:25 utc | 31

Why not just use alCIAda?

Posted by: dahoit | Jun 22 2012 12:46 utc | 32

#28;Maybe Panama and another third world rape victim country can’t stand up to US,but you can bet the Russians and Chinese would kick our raised on Ritalin troops in a NY minute,despite our delusions of grandeur.The Afghans and the Iraqi resistance of a thousand guys in pajamas did pretty well,neh?How about them Vietnamese?Drone on all one wants,but boots count,and our boots is worn to a frazzle.
I’m almost wishing for a military coup of patriots myself,to rid US of the Ziomonsters.

Posted by: dahoit | Jun 22 2012 12:58 utc | 33

Video – 25 seemingly unarmed Syrian soldiers and/or civilians dead, ambushed or assassinated by the rebels.

Posted by: b | Jun 22 2012 13:05 utc | 34

Things not so rosy for the regime especially that these bad tidings are from a pro-Assad Lebanese paper, al-Akhbar:
“… Syrian officials make no secret of the fact that the most potent weapons – artillery, tanks, missiles, machine guns and helicopters – have been used to confront the armed opposition. But a recent phenomenon has begun worrying the regime and the army, and especially military intelligence: soldiers going over to the ranks of the opposition, either the Muslim Brotherhood or the Free Syrian Army (FSA), and taking their tanks with them. While there have only been a few such cases of defectors conveying heavy weaponry and equipment that could have a big impact on the conflict, it is feared that precedents have been set and more could follow. Military intelligence has thus taken additional precautions to prevent such material from reaching the opposition, and to pre-empt breaches in the cohesion of the army and its bases and barracks.
Syria’s Lebanese allies also believe that the threatened internationalization of the Syrian crisis has already happened, and that the regime and its opponents have lost the ability to control it. This belief is not confined to Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian partners, but has also been reflected by Syria’s number one adversary in Lebanon, Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader Walid Jumblatt. He has recently seemed more cautious in his treatment of what is happening in Syria. He, too, has been reassessing his attitude to the country and its regime, and while he is certainly not set to re-embrace them, he has become more apprehensive about the possible fallout on Lebanon from the escalation of the war there.
… Implicit in this meeting of minds between Hezbollah and Jumblatt is that a solution to the Syrian crisis lies in an American-Russian deal, not with the Arabs or the West, nor with the regime or its opponents.
… Other information, of a different nature, from sources inside and outside Syria, indicates that the long-serving former Syrian Defense Minister, Mustafa Tlass, is living in Paris for reasons that go beyond health, and that his children Firas and Nahida are there too, working against the regime. Former chief of staff Brigadier-General Hikmat al-Shihabi is also said to have left Damascus less than two months ago and settled in the French capital. Although he has taken no stand against Assad or the regime he spent decades helping to build, one of his sons also lives there and actively opposes it.
The significance of this is that it relates to historic figures, veteran pillars and protectors of the regime. By now disowning it or turning against it, they make the burden of the Syrian president’s inheritance heavier still.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria-no-longer-syrian-hands

Posted by: www | Jun 22 2012 13:09 utc | 35

Yes, because information that claims the the Syrian defense minister is in Paris is very credible. Yep, no problem with any information from that source at all is there?

Posted by: Jim Steel | Jun 22 2012 13:25 utc | 36

@Brian (29)
Omar Bakri was and is excluded by the British authorities from the UK, after he left to goto Lebanon. UK said he was “persona non grata” and is not allowed back in to the UK. He was more of a wind bag, who liked to blow his own trumpet and the media loved him for it. He had no real following in the UK Muslim community – he claimed he was a “Shaikh” – but when challenged by other Muslim scholars, he said he never claimed he was “shaikh” in terms of being a Islamic scholar, but this term was used by his supporters as a sign of affection and respect (“sheikh” can also be used in this context).
When he returned to Lebanon, he was arrested by the authorities at the request of the SYRIAN govt. So he has got axe to grind with the govt. in Damascus – what better way then to give bombastic, fiery secterian speeches and interviews and encourage naive youngsters, who are either looking for moral/spiritual guidance are now been brain washed to sacrifice themselve at the alter for a “free” Syria (this guy does not believe in freedom as you, I, the US and most of the world, understand it).
Forutnately in the UK, the youth he was indoctrinating, could not do much but unfortunately, for the Lebanese/Syrian youth – they can easily buy a gun and cross the border to take pot shots at Syrian troops. What a loss of life!
I have seen various news outlet interview him, inlcuding Al Jazeera – you should hear what he has to say about Isreal/Jews!
And just so you all know – this is a man who declares Jihad against the Syrian govt. but back in 2006 – when Isreal was destroying Lebanon, you know what he was doing??? He was caught trying to sneak on board a British warship, which was sent to evacuate UK nationals – being a non-UK national – he got kicked off. The UK press had a field day over that!!! (BTW they all hated him then, suddenly they now love/like him – I wonder why??????))))
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4144792.stm

Posted by: Irshad | Jun 22 2012 13:35 utc | 37

Things are getting more interesting in Syria:
Breaking News: Turkish warplane shotdown over Syria – pilots captured:
http://www.rt.com/news/turkey-contact-aircraft-sea-498/

Posted by: Irshad | Jun 22 2012 13:41 utc | 38

Jim, I made it obvious by stating that the article appeared in a pro-Assad paper. All the French papers reported that he’s been there since March. If you don’t like it, show where it’s said that he’s back in Damascus. BTW, he’s retired from active duty after having been the world’s oldest serving general.

Posted by: www | Jun 22 2012 13:44 utc | 39

Jim, the man in Paris is not the current defense minister, but the former defense minister.

Posted by: www | Jun 22 2012 13:53 utc | 40

And my point still stands that what the paper reports here is baseless rumor. Thus, its repetition of the old made up “activists said” story about “defections” in the Syrian Army and so forth is also false until proven true.

Posted by: Jim Steel | Jun 22 2012 14:06 utc | 41

Re: vidio linked to by b @ 34 — Can anyone here translate?
It looks like most of the bodies were dragged and some had even been piled one atop the other. A few have clothings missing.
Could the weapons have been stolen by the killers? Along with some clothing to use to create false flag attacks or for getting close to government sites or checkpoints?

Posted by: jawbone | Jun 22 2012 16:06 utc | 42

Ack @ 32 — as soon as I hit Post, I remembered I hadn’t proofread….

Posted by: jawbone | Jun 22 2012 16:11 utc | 43

Posted by: www | Jun 22, 2012 9:09:45 AM | 35
akhbar was purchased by qatar awhile back according to source in beirut

Posted by: file2 | Jun 22 2012 17:20 utc | 44

File2, are you sure you don’t mean the Beirut Daily Star?

Posted by: www | Jun 22 2012 18:19 utc | 45

>>>Re: vidio linked to by b @ 34 — Can anyone here translate?>>>
I asked a friend to help with the translation and she said that the narrator in the video repeats the same assertion 3 times: Western Allepo Hillside (the location)- Assad’s Shabiha (the corpses)
As to the title on top, it says: Nour al-Dine Zanaki’s Phalangists (who did the killing)- Assad’s Army of Dogs and Shabiha that tried to destroy the Western Allepo hillside with their tanks and military aircraft (the corpses).

Posted by: www | Jun 22 2012 18:49 utc | 46

…because information that claims the the Syrian defense minister is in Paris is very credible. Yep, no problem with any information from that source at all is there?
Mustafa Tlass (EX- def min Syria) arrived in Paris on 12 May this year, reported amply in F press. I found it very curious.
all what follows is from intertubes:
Tlass had a fight with Shawkat (bro-in-law of Bashar) and pissed off. With the authorization of the Syrian Gvmt. Press announced it as ‘not a defection.‘
from AFP: http://tinyurl.com/c2u3flb
Tlass is on the EU sanctions list since 2011.
Which seems to have very a-hem variable meanings, but usually includes no visa – no fly.
Which no doubt is why the French will not confirm his presence.
List: http://tinyurl.com/cerzp3r
His children: Firas – in bizness, metals, food, dairy, coffee, banking, international investment and more – Bashar opened up Syria to Intl. banks – and Manaf (Syrian Army officer), plus two daughters.
Manaf was relieved of his Milit duties, Republican Guard, in 2011. Either because he refused to kill Syrians, or other family quarrels. From Albawaba:
http://tinyurl.com/824gdjx
Abdul Razzaq Tlass, a nephew of Tlass, defected and joined the FSA (goog on his name for wiki entry.)
a blurb interview, not boring, from The Syrian:
http://tinyurl.com/7f3h839
Of course, I wish, indeed I affirm that the Syrian Army after victory will be an army that works only to protect the country and its people without any political aspirations for its individuals. … that would be the FSA.
The point is:
Family insider quarrels at the top of the Syrian State, the different, clashing, roles of the relatives, deciders, key players., biz managers, Army, etc. all from the same class, circuit, family or associated nexus, their vicious fights, played a tremedous role in the downfall of Syria,
Factions scrabbled for domination in one way or another, outside support, influence, image, leaving windows of oppo for thugs who can then also get into the game.

Posted by: Noirette | Jun 22 2012 19:23 utc | 47

www @ 46 — T/U for the info.
NPR has posted an AP article about the video and the Syrian state comments, along with those of “activists.”
A top of the hour news summary earlier this afternoon said that a video showing dead Syrian soldiers was getting a lot of attention on the web.
BTW, this use of the word is going to give activism a whole new and negative connotation.

Posted by: jawbone | Jun 22 2012 19:47 utc | 48

Posted by: www | Jun 22, 2012 2:19:30 PM | 45
no, i heard akhbar (cant verify its true). info stood out like a red flag. daily star is still owned by the NYT consortium unless i’m behind on that update

Posted by: file2 | Jun 22 2012 21:06 utc | 49

Posted by: dahoit | Jun 22, 2012 8:58:37 AM | 33
is that why Russia turned its fully LEGAL resupply ship to syria around? Russia has had its paratroopers training WITH US troops in Denver, Colo since before may 20. no, not a conspiracy- visit norad site and denver post.
china was given eminant domaine on hillary’s first visit to china in 2009 as collateral on American national debt. china now building a city the size of amsterdam south of boise and another city slated for michigan. i doubt a genuine rebuke of america is coming from either of these two ‘opponents’ anytime soon. sorry.

Posted by: file2 | Jun 22 2012 21:15 utc | 50

>>> Mustafa Tlass (EX- def min Syria) arrived in Paris on 12 May this year, reported amply in F press. I found it very curious. >>>
Noirette #47, Mustapha Tlass by exception in Baath’s upper echelons comprised mostly all of Alawites is a Sunni Muslim. According to Malbrunot on the Figaro blog, Tlass’ first trip to Paris in early March was for about a week. It’s said that his son, General Manaf Tlass, in charge of the Republican Guard, has been sidelined for months because he refused to open fire on the Sunni rebels. The families of the sons of Mustapha Tlass are reportedly living in Dubai. Mustapha’s other son, Firas, as you mentioned became a very succesful businessman with Assad’s help. He has now become an internet critic of Assad. Also living in Paris, is Mustapha’s daughter, Nahed.

Posted by: www | Jun 23 2012 5:13 utc | 51

>>> info stood out like a red flag>>>
It sure is a red flag, file2 #49, since Akhbar critizes Qatar’s actions on Syria and Salafism in general. But Akhbar is also critical of Syria’s intransigence in reacting to needed reforms in the country. On the other hand, a while back, the Daily Star was bailed out of its financial problems by Hariri and I read somewhere that now Qatar owns part of it. This makes more sense since the Star is anti-Assad and it carries the coluns of 3 Americans that are naturally pro-American in their writing, David Ignatius, Rami G. Khoury and Michael Young.

Posted by: www | Jun 23 2012 5:31 utc | 52

June 22, 2012 – Syria: Most Wanted BOY; 5 Million Bounty on Rayan’s Head
Yesterday evening (June 19) the terrorists tried again to kill him. It was not the first time. They failed once again but they have killed his 2 Brothers Yazan Mohammad and Murhaf. Why do they want to kill him? Answer: Because he is a symbol for free Syria and it’s future and has lead several pro Bashar Al-Asad rallies in Damascus. This is the “Freedom” which the terrorists are asking for.
Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNwCuflbSsY

Posted by: brian | Jun 23 2012 7:51 utc | 53

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