Syria: "Sunni ... form Assad's chief power base"
(Sorry for light, boring posting while I am busy with some urgent personal issues.)
As predicted the consolidation of insurgent groups in Syria is continuing with the more radicals ever winning:
The Obama administration’s Syria strategy suffered a major setback Sunday after fighters linked to al-Qaeda routed U.S.-backed rebels from their main northern strongholds, capturing significant quantities of weaponry, triggering widespread defections and ending hopes that Washington will readily find Syrian partners in its war against the Islamic State.
The ousted groups were supported by the CIA and had U.S. weapons including tank-killing TOWs. Those are now in the hands of al-Nusra which already prepares to take more ground.
The Obama administration will have difficulties to further deny the obvious. The idea of training some "new FSA" gangs and to supply them with U.S. weapons is nuts. The only force on the ground in Syria that can take on the Islamic State is the Syrian army. Two days ago I smelled some turn in the media towards a more benign presentation of the Syrian government. It earlier was nearly always depicted as sectarian and as solidly run by minority Alawi. That was always wrong but it was the leitmotif of all "western" Syria reports. Here is now another Associated Press piece about Sunni refugees within Syria that challenges that view:
Sunnis, who form the country's majority faith group, form Assad's chief power base, even as the rebellion is dominated by Sunnis. Minorities, like the Alawites, Shiites and Christians, mostly support the government or have remained neutral.
It also shows that the Syrian administration is still able to govern decently:
Government services, while scrappy, still exist. Workers receive salaries, even if the local currency is falling. There is still power, though cuts are routine. Health care is still free, although residents say waits are long as doctors leave their posts.
So what is really not to like with the Syrian president Assad the readers of those AP pieces will ask themselves. Isn't he better than all alternatives?
Posted by b on November 3, 2014 at 17:44 UTC | Permalink
Free health care? No wonder the US wants Assad out.
Posted by: L'Akratique | Nov 3 2014 18:24 utc | 3
As long as these jihadis tone down the cannibalism Obama will consider them moderates.
Posted by: par4 | Nov 3 2014 18:29 utc | 4
Says a lot for secularism over religious fundamentalism...hopefully a stinging defeat for those who back these barbarians. Sunni Arabs in the Army are fighting tooth and nail to defend the secular composite of Syria, despite the narrative being in MSM propaganda rags of sectarianism tearing the country apart. Good on 'em for not falling for it.
Syrian gov and mil are doing the right thing: fighting drugged-out, terrorist thugs and child-killers which came under the guise of a "popular uprising" against the "dictator" but which was quickly seized upon by neighboring monarchies and wanna-bes with their own agenda.
Posted by: farflungstar | Nov 3 2014 18:37 utc | 5
@1 pat - i think the sectarian canard is being used and cultivated non stop.. how else to explain to the west the rationale for meddling in others affairs?
Posted by: james | Nov 3 2014 19:55 utc | 6
This past Saturday there was a NYT story, "Syrian’s Photos Spur Outrage, but Not Action," by Michael Gordon about the courageous Syrian military police photographer codename Caesar and his tens of thousands of pictures he smuggled out of the country which he says document the deaths of 10,000 prisoners by Assad.
The problem is the FBI is having trouble authenticating the photos. Out of 27,000 they received, they pulled 4,800 to compare against passport photos in the State Department database. And out of all that effort the FBI come up with seven likely matches.
So in the end codename Caesar is another codename Curveball.
Posted by: Mike Maloney | Nov 3 2014 21:02 utc | 7
Posted by: ralphieboy | Nov 3, 2014 3:37:12 PM | 10
Ulster and ralphieboy may see NATO as a saintly democractic alliance
Posted by: brian | Nov 3 2014 21:35 utc | 8
There is a movie about this fella Caesar........
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3945664/
Posted by: notlurking | Nov 3 2014 21:40 utc | 9
'
The Slippery Slope and the Harper Government’s Dirty Hands
There is a call for Canadians to be vigilant against an inflated terrorist threat from the ISIL. This is why Prime Minister Steven Harper and his government are doing their best to portray the events in Canada as an extension of the front in the Middle East. Redefining criminals as terrorists is helping reinforce this perception. Canadians and the citizens of other countries, however, should be vigilant over their rights and freedoms that took centuries of struggle to obtain.
Changing the criterion for the granting of citizenship is a whole different topic, but its removal is a dangerous and slippery slope. Although the claims are that these type of measures are for the greater good or public safety, the historic record has shown that the suspension of civil liberties has been used for ulterior motives.
As a final note, the same people inflating fears of terrorism in Canada have also supported it overseas. It should never be forgotten that Prime Minister Steven Harper and his cabinet supported the «terrorists» they now claim to oppose. The Harper Government tacitly encouraged Canadians to go fight in places like Libya and Syria for the sake of assisting Washington’s foreign policy of regime change. Canada even armed the militants linked to Al-Qaeda in Libya with drones and weapons in 2011 and allowed private security firms (mercenaries) to assist them. This should not be overlooked when people question how such a state of affairs has arisen.'
http://www.globalresearch.ca/ottawa-attack-isi/5409706
Posted by: brian | Nov 3 2014 23:07 utc | 10
I've always wondered how this works. Who tells them which direction to write in?
Posted by: Crest | Nov 4 2014 0:25 utc | 11
"Free health care? No wonder the US wants Assad out."
A lot of truth in this short joke, bravo. Any reading of the Arab Spring that doesn't draw a straight line out of the Cold War is seriously short-sighted. Socialist governments and states that more often than not found themselves siding with the Soviet Union fell. Old line monarchies - long term reactionary friends of the Capitalist West - were hardly touched. It is as clear as day.
As for the fact of the Syrian government being largely maintained by loyal Sunnis, the US media are the last ones to admit this. It has been quite clear to anyone paying attention. In fact, there are only a minority of "rebels" in Syria who are actually Syrian - Sunni or Shia. This should be the next western illusion to go up in smoke.
-------
@notlurking: good find. More evidence that "Caesar" and his "photos" are nothing but a media-driven sham.
Posted by: guest77 | Nov 4 2014 0:25 utc | 12
I heard something so revolting on the street today - a street vendor was blaring what sounded to me like the BBC or NPR. I heard the sentance:
Of course everything is hunky dory for the Assad Regime, as they've been trying to portray this as a battle against extremism from the beginning.
I won't go into wether anything in Syria should be described by a "serious" news outlet as "hunky dory", but I would point out that it shows the utter vapidity of such coverage coming out of the ultra-privileged media makers in the West.
What sort of psychopathy and empathy deficit leads the writer of such a sentence - paid a six to seven figure salary living in the world's top luxury cities - to believe that a nation at war for three years - a war that has killed 1% of the population, touched every city, and involves for millions of people into the daily cycle of conscription and coffins - is remotely "hunky dry" for anyone. Even people as privileged and protected as President Assad himself surely face hardships and threats to his life unimaginable to such a BBC/NPR twit who could utter such a revolting turn of phrase.
It would be only too fair to see such a brutal war brought to London or New York, to see the sons of this anchor boxed and draped under a national flag, and then, after four years of such terror as car bombs, beheadings, massacres, and public displays of cannibalism - to ask such elitist fiends how "hunky dory" they feel.
It's enough to drive you absolutely mad.
Posted by: guest77 | Nov 4 2014 0:39 utc | 13
It's amusing when Americans living in one of the most religious countries of the world, praying at public gatherings, etc, in god blessed America, promote secularism for citizens of other countries -- "terrorist thugs" -- who practices a religion other than their own. Why they are actually killing people! Americans would never do that, not much. --monumental hypocrisy
Assad's power base are quislings and other power brokers and are mostly from the Alawites. Please keep in mind that he is a dictator who is President for Life and the people of Syria, no matter their religion, have no say in his rule.
The US has no problem getting into bed with dictators to serve its agendas but Assad is a hindrance to US goals and must go no matter what the current crisis may be. It may be the old Commie taint of the Baath Party that drives this pathology to remove him.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Nov 4 2014 0:58 utc | 15
'Assad's power base are quislings and other power brokers and are mostly from the Alawites. Please keep in mind that he is a dictator who is President for Life and the people of Syria, no matter their religion, have no say in his rule.
The US has no problem getting into bed with dictators to serve its agendas but Assad is a hindrance to US goals and must go no matter what the current crisis may be. It may be the old Commie taint of the Baath Party that drives this pathology to remove him.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Nov 3, 2014 7:58:10 PM | 15'
1. good name 'wayout' you are
2. Assad is not 'president for life...i wish he wereL: why change a good president for one who will seek to destroy the country? (eg Yeltsin, Obama, Cameron Hollande)
3.most of the govt are sunnis, his wife is a sunni
4. US has been in bed with dictators because US IS a dictator/....President Assad is not.
5. How much say have people in EU states of US or canada etc a say in their dictators policies and rule? none
Posted by: brian | Nov 4 2014 1:20 utc | 16
free health care, that's communism. no wonder people are up in arms. they angrily demand freedom to pay for healthcare!
Posted by: radiator | Nov 4 2014 1:35 utc | 17
"Please keep in mind that he is a dictator who is President for Life and the people of Syria, no matter their religion, have no say in his rule."
And the final whisps of your credibility escape, wheezing down to nothing like the last bits of air from a leaky balloon.
Clearly Syria is full of quite a few people who have plenty to say - be they the ones taking up arms, protesting in the streets, to those rallying behind him in support of their government and their country.
Wackedoutwest's increasingly cartoonish descriptions of complicated current events are just more evidence that his "analyses" lack even the slightest credibility.
Posted by: guest77 | Nov 4 2014 1:45 utc | 18
Posted by: guest77 | Nov 3, 2014 8:45:26 PM | 18
wackedout west hasnt told one truth since hes been here...so why break that streak?
Posted by: brian | Nov 4 2014 2:10 utc | 19
As a naturalized American who was born and raised in Syria to a prominent Sunni family, I side with Assad and his government in 100% of the time.
Why? Well, I am certainly not a fan of authoritarianism and dictatorships. I am not a self-hating Muslim Sunni. And I am not in conflict with the universal human values of freedom and liberty.
I, too, want my family in Syria and all the Syrian people to enjoy freedom and liberty. But I want them to liberate themselves from the tyranny of the family, the tyranny of religion, and the tyranny of the state – in that order.
That is why today millions like me in Syria support Assad and his government. His turn has not come up yet. We have to get rid of two underlying tyrannies that are way more abusive and way more authoritarian than Assad. If anything, we need him now more than ever to remain so we can naturally evolve towards liberty.
In fact, Assad IS the conduit for liberating Syrians from the bottom two tyrannies. To succeed, history tells us that there must be a dictator on top.
That would be my kind of revolution – the emergence of a class of Syrians who value their professions and talents more than they value their religion or sect.
Speaking of religions or sects and as a member of the majority Sunni population, I wish we were taught in schools to value the diversity of Syrian sects and religions. I wish as school children someone took us on a field trip to a Druze museum to celebrate their contributions. Or to a Christian church to appreciate its parishioners and their unique rituals. Or introduced to the suffering and horrendous conditions of injustice that the Alawites have suffered throughout the time in Syria.
I wish we were taught that what makes Syria unique IS the diversity of its people’s sects and religions. I wish we were taught that these sects and religions are a source of strength and not weakness. These sects are a source for enrichment, creativity, and a sense of addition instead of subtraction. Syrians needed to know these facts.
Instead, we were taught to ignore and overlook our diverse and mosaic religious and ethnic cultures in favor of a single nationalistic Arab culture. But the two are not and should not be mutually exclusive. One does not negate the other. We can be nationalistic Arabs while we celebrate and appreciate each other’s religion and sect.
Herein lies the cardinal sin of the Baath party of Syria. Diehard, hard-core comrades who thought principles are absolutes and a know-it-all attitude coupled with severe ignorance.
Sad.
Posted by: MikeA | Nov 4 2014 4:15 utc | 20
'I, too, want my family in Syria and all the Syrian people to enjoy freedom and liberty'
nice but nowhere on earth do these exist..not even in USA
Posted by: brian | Nov 4 2014 4:21 utc | 21
you started well mike:
As a naturalized American who was born and raised in Syria to a prominent Sunni family, I side with Assad and his government in 100% of the time.
....
but it didnt last.
Sad
Posted by: brian | Nov 4 2014 4:23 utc | 22
Interesting article over at foreignpolicy.com that supports b's thesis:
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/11/03/exclusive_washington_cuts_funds_for_investigating_bashar_al_assads_war_crimes
Apparently the Obama Administration has abruptly stopped funding "NGO"s that attempt to demonize Assad, and have shifted all those funds to "NGO"s that attempt to do likewise to ISIS.
Hmm, that would suggest that the Americans see this as a zero-sum game, not one where everyone is a bad guy.
Posted by: Johnboy | Nov 4 2014 4:30 utc | 23
brian @21, I agree but to a point. I live in a neighborhood of at least 10 different churches and synagogues in my immediate vicinity. None of them presents a threat to me and I feel no obligation to attend any of them. There certainly is a less pronounced tyranny of religion here. And same for the tribe/family tyranny.
I also got my job based on my resume and qualifications. I did not need any support from my family, mosque, or sect. Yes, some people still use these contracts, but it is not the mandatory as in some illiberal places on earth.
But yes, nowhere on earth do the utopian values of freedom and liberty exist. But relative liberty is better than none. This can only be achieved by a viable, strong, and educated middle class. (I am not talking about democracy).
Posted by: MikeA | Nov 4 2014 4:31 utc | 24
'None of them presents a threat to me and I feel no obligation to attend any of them. There certainly is a less pronounced tyranny of religion here'
youre in the USA..conflict and chaos are created not there(tho they can occur, witness Ferguson, and are spontaneous racism) but elsewhere.
USA has liberty if youre white..or look white enough
Posted by: brian | Nov 4 2014 4:50 utc | 25
@MikeA.. thanks for sharing your perspective. much appreciated.
Posted by: james | Nov 4 2014 4:54 utc | 26
B- Two days ago I smelled some turn in the media towards a more benign presentation of the Syrian government.
you catched the right smell:
"The U.S. State Department plans to cut its entire $500,000 in annual funding next year to an organization dedicated to sneaking into abandoned Syrian military bases, prisons, and government facilities to collect documents and other evidence linking Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and its proxies to war crimes and other mass atrocities during the country's brutal civil war, according to the recipient of the assistance and a senior U.S. official."
Posted by: Some1 | Nov 4 2014 10:21 utc | 27
@brian # 24
Yes, the US is fine if one has the right skin color, religion and ethnicity, but it is also the place where native peoples were virtually exterminated, Japanese-Americans were arbitrarily imprisoned, and the largest prison population in the world is composed mainly of people of color.
(If you read Pepe Escobar et al, you would think that Washington's top priority was pumping out lurid stories of Baathist atrocities to fan the flames of war in order to prepare for "regime change". It does not matter that this is pure bullshit.)
The U.S. State Department plans to cut its entire $500,000 in annual funding next year to an organization dedicated to sneaking into abandoned Syrian military bases, prisons, and government facilities to collect documents and other evidence linking Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and its proxies to war crimes and other mass atrocities during the country's brutal civil war, according to the recipient of the assistance and a senior U.S. official.
Posted by: Louis Proyect | Nov 4 2014 14:30 utc | 29
Recent (ineffectual) US and friends bombing attacks in Syria and Iraq are shown here. Senator McCain isn't a fan of the current US war: “Jabhat al-Nusra’s victory over moderate opposition forces in northern Syria over the weekend serves as strong authentication that the administration’s current strategy in Syria is a disaster," McCain said in a statement.
If that link doesn't work go here to Mark Collins' blog and scroll down.
Senator McCain isn't a fan of the current US war: “Jabhat al-Nusra’s victory over moderate opposition forces in northern Syria over the weekend serves as strong authentication that the administration’s current strategy in Syria is a disaster," McCain said in a statement.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Nov 4, 2014 10:06:10 AM | 29
Anyone that would attempt to build any useful or rational analysis based on the flawed presumption that words spoken by John McCain regarding Syria have any basis in reality, or are of any use in discerning the "truth" of the US's intentions in Syria/Iraq, needs their head examined.
The only sane reaction to a McCain statement like the one referred to above is make sure to laugh at the person presenting it as noteworthy and then think : "What's that slimy duplicitous psychopathic blood-thirsty little monster up to now?"
Posted by: JMcC | Nov 4 2014 16:30 utc | 32
In Merka, money trumps race, cf Lebron James, Oprah, Obama, M Jordan, Beyonce... Plenty whites live under bridges.
Money also underpins Freedom© and Liberty™ They are in direct proportion in the Home of the Depraved. Don't forget, North America, it's vast resources intact, fell into the hands of the Europeans for the price of a few bullets. At the start of the Industrial Revolution. Cash fairly flooded the continent.
Posted by: ruralito | Nov 4 2014 16:55 utc | 33
@JMcC #31
Senator McCain, as a result of today's election, might gain an important Senate chairmanship in a Republican Senate. Now you might not think much of McCain, but your statement that anyone who disagrees with you "needs their head examined" should lead you to some self-examination, in light of circumstances. Especially since you probably don't appear on as many Sunday talk shows, or gain any other national exposure, to the degree that Senator McCain does.
Especially since you probably don't appear on as many Sunday talk shows, or gain any other national exposure, to the degree that Senator McCain does.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Nov 4, 2014 12:15:50 PM | 33
Ah that explains your persistent symptoms of acute mental illness
You watch too much TV.
switch it off.
The fact that this psychopath is beamed out on the idiot-box, and is treated as if he is not a raving psychopathic monster, is reason enough to conclude that his words have little or no connection to reality
Posted by: JMcC | Nov 4 2014 17:25 utc | 35
On a lighter note, University of Arizona instructor Musa al-Gharbi is taking some flak for his comments: “It would not be a stretch to say that the United States is actually a greater threat to peace and stability in the region than ISIS — not least because U.S. policies in Iraq, Libya and Syria have largely paved the way for ISIS’ emergence as a major regional actor,” al-Gharbi wrote in the article titled, “How Much Moral High Ground Does the U.S. Have Over ISIS?”
@JMcC #34
You missed the point, which is not whether or not I listen to McCain, but that millions do.
No don, you missed the point.
This is McCain being McCain
Its "dog bites man" not "man bites dog"
Criticising O'Bomber 's "Syria Strategy" is exactly what he did the last time too. Fooled ya last time too.
Tsk tsk. Will ya never learn?
Posted by: JMcC | Nov 5 2014 8:58 utc | 39
Don, you're getting blindsided by the ol O'Bomber vs MadDog McCain "good cop/bad cop" routine.
Yet again.
Lol
Too much exposure to WWF-like preprogramming i guess.
Theres a reason its called "the idiotbox" don :)
Posted by: JMcC | Nov 5 2014 9:04 utc | 40
The comments to this entry are closed.
What a turnaround.
It has always been the case that the opposition has characterised the battle as sectarian - for the simple reason that the minority opposed Assad. To mobilise the majority (Sunnis) would require a transformation of an insurgency and faux revolution into one that would stir the Syrian masses; one that pitted Sunni against Shia. It failed. Assad's wife is Sunni. His Foreign Minister is Sunni. Assad retained the support of the prominent Sunni cleric, Sheikh Mohammad Said Ramadan al-Buti. So they murdered him.
And when the Syrians refused to bite on the sectarian bait set by Saudis, Qataris and Turks, a chemical cloud fell on Damascus to justify an intervention.
But again they failed.
Posted by: Pat Bateman | Nov 3 2014 18:12 utc | 1