tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64761160524802136612024-03-12T18:27:24.992-07:00VFP Fails SyriaThis blog has been established for the 2015 Veterans for Peace National Conventiion, which is taking place in San Diego, 5-9 August. For 4 years VFP has ignored the suffering in Syria or worst. This is a temporary blog with posts from various sources in the hope of educating Veterans for Peace members about Syria. Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-23279051417973626852015-08-05T07:41:00.001-07:002015-08-05T07:41:03.027-07:00Critique of Proposed VFP Resolution 2015-3 Stop All Foreign Intervention In SyriaThis resolution would be laughable if <b>Veterans for Peace</b>
policy on Syria wasn't already so at odds with its goals of the
organization and the requirements of the Syria people today. The fact is
that both the tragedy of more than 200,000 slaughtered and nine million
made homeless and rise of Islamic reaction in the form of ISIS are the
direct results of the <i>"anti-imperialist"</i> policy advocated by VFP. Unlike in Libya, in Syria the <i>"anti-imperialists"</i>
have gotten what they have been demanding, no direct military
involvement from NATO and no no-fly zone. Assad has been free to
barrel-bomb civilians at will and with the military support he has
received from Russian and Iran, he has been able to bomb virtually
everyday for years now.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6gh7cI7GlYlUAq3PJ84c4P4zcgAaSbYYrBnG7lidrONWoWCrNbVx4B_cW4_iP3NoN0KC7lvfu_mUz_xBv6Jdud5lhHDEGg-Lcm95mbxs76oxnvPkKvtoYDC9DV-zf6i6oi7_Eu_Z-KFM/s1600/Homs-today.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6gh7cI7GlYlUAq3PJ84c4P4zcgAaSbYYrBnG7lidrONWoWCrNbVx4B_cW4_iP3NoN0KC7lvfu_mUz_xBv6Jdud5lhHDEGg-Lcm95mbxs76oxnvPkKvtoYDC9DV-zf6i6oi7_Eu_Z-KFM/s640/Homs-today.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
More
than 200,000 slaughtered and nine million made homeless and the rise of
Islamic reaction in the form of ISIS are the direct results. Now this
resolution proposes doubling down on the same failed policies and coming
from the same deluded fantasies about the real situation. But then this
resolution really isn't about Syria. With all they have gone through,
it should be. It really should be. But its not. It lacks any real
knowledge or concern about Syrians. It doesn't make a single proposal,
like supporting the White Helmets or refugee efforts [<span class="st">MSF</span>],
that could make a difference in the terrible situation they find
themselves in, but then this resolution really isn't about them, is it?
Its about US!<br />
<blockquote class="cite">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Resolution 2015-3</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stop All Foreign Intervention In Syria</span></blockquote>
The
title is a great one that I can get 100% behind. The fact is that
without massive foreign intervention by Russia and Iran, Assad would
have been overthrown by the popular uprising years ago. Hundreds of
thousand would not be dead, millions would not be homeless and extremist
groups like ISIS wouldn't have had a chance to grow in the gaping wound
that has become Syria. Deflections weakened the Syrian regime long ago,
since 2013 the <i>"Syrian state"</i> has been under Iranian control and
run at every level by Iranian officials. It was the massive
intervention of Hezbollah that salvaged Assad's military position when
he was on the edge of defeat and since then it has been sectarian
Iranian, Iraqi and Lebanese militias that have kept him in power.
Massive financing and weapons deliveries from Russia that has kept him
going as well. Without that foreign intervention, the Assad regime would
have been bankrupt years ago and the death toll a fraction of what it
is today.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
But this resolution doesn't oppose that foreign intervention, does it? It doesn't even get a mention.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whereas,
the U.S. has initiated several unnecessary wars resulting in the futile
loss of lives and permanent injuries to innumerable American troops and
their families, and</span></blockquote>
This has nothing to do with Syria. Yes, we know the US are imperialists but this has nothing to do with Syria.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whereas, the crisis in Syria has entered its fifth year, causing the death and injury of possibly half a million Syrians, and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whereas, the number of dislocated and refugee Syrians has reached close to a third of its population, and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whereas, the U.S. and its allies
are heavily and publicly involved in funding and supporting extremist
and terrorist groups in Syria, and</span></blockquote>
The first
two statements are true. The third simple isn't. The US has very
publicly contributed several hundred million dollars in non-lethal aid
to some moderate forces, and now has trained a <i>"rebel"</i> force of
60 to fight ISIS exclusively, not Assad. Assad and his supporters have
said from the time they started shooting the first peaceful protesters
that they have been fighting extremist and terrorist groups funded by
the US and its allies. That's where this line comes from. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whereas,
the U.S. Administration’s declared policy of regime change in Syria
(“Assad must go”) is in violation of international law and has been
facing one failure after another, an</span>d </blockquote>
Yes,
and the US Administration also has a declared policy of a Palestinian
state and the self-determination of nations. Imperialist will generally
say they are opposed to fascist dictators (“Assad must go”), even as
they cultivate them. The question is: What has Obama's real policy
towards Assad been? Hint: It hasn't been one of <i>"regime change."</i> Read <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2012/09/barack-obama-courtship-of-bashar-al_4519.html">Barack Obama's Courtship of Bashar al-Assad</a>. These people opportunistically chose to believe Obama is telling the truth when he says <i>"Assad must go"</i>
because it suits them. Since Obama's real play here is to deceived
people into thinking he opposes Assad, all the while, working to keep
him in power [Playing <i>"Good Cop"</i> to Putin's<i> "Bad Cop"</i>] , in passing this resolution, VFP will actually be giving <i>"Left"</i> cover to Obama's true position, which is to keep Assad in power no matter how many Syrian lives it costs. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whereas,
the active support of the United States and its allies for the armed
opposition in Syria has resulted in increasing violence and bloodshed,
and in strengthening the hands of extremists and terrorist groups, and</span></blockquote>
The
US has enforced an arms embargo against Assad's opposition in Syria.
They can't even buy MANPADS from Libya or China with their own money.
That's why Assad can barrel-bomb unopposed. That has greatly increased
the bloodshed. The pro-Assad fantasy that the US and it allies have been
arming the opposition doesn't explain why they lack effective air
defense weapons which could stop Assad from ravaging Syrian cities and
bring <i>"Death from Above" </i>year after year.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whereas,
only the sovereign people of Syria have the right to decide on the
nature of their government and their political system, free of all forms
of foreign intervention. </span></blockquote>
However, we won't
even mention, let alone oppose, the real foreign intervention that has
been destroying the beautiful country of Syria for four years, we will
only oppose the <i>"US intervention"</i> of our fantasies and act as if the US is responsible for this whole mess, not Assad, not Iran, not Russia, just US.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Therefore, we, Veterans For Peace, hereby resolve:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The U.S. must immediately abandon its policy of regime change in Syria;</span></blockquote>
Easily done! The US doesn't have a policy of regime change in Syria. Hasn't since Bush left office. Wake up!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The
U.S. must immediately cease all its direct and indirect, overt and
covert, support, arming, financing and enabling of all militants in
Syria, and exert all types of pressure on its allies, especially Saudi
Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Israel, to do the same;</span></blockquote>
The
US and Israel don't provide support for any militants in Syria,let
alone "all militants", Assad regime propaganda to the contrary. As far
as VFP demanding that the US, the leading imperialist power, <i>"exert all types of pressure"</i>
[does that include military pressure?] on some Arab countries not to
support a liberation struggle in another part of the Arab nation? I hope
there will be a lot of discussion before adopting such a chauvinist
policy. <br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The
U.S. must form a new alliance with countries and forces in the region
that are real combatants against terrorism and violent extremism in the
region;</span></blockquote>
I can't wait to hear who those countries are. But they aren't mentioned in the resolution so I guess I will have to wait.<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The
U.S. must positively press for dialogue and a peaceful solution for the
Syrian crisis, a process that is directed and executed fully on the
basis of the sovereign and free will of the Syrian people themselves.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Submitted by Faraz Azad</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Chair, Iran Working Group</span></blockquote>
More
empty words. The short story is that this resolution carries the same
old discredited illusions about the Syrian Revolution against the Assad
regime that the <i>"Left"</i> had trumpeted when the death toll was
still less than a thousand. They haven't even deepened their analysis,
200.000 deaths later they are content to repeat it. They want to blame
the US for everything and the naive reader could be forgiven for
thinking the Syria mess has been mainly caused by the US. <br />
<br />
This resolution calls for more of the same which means it calls for another 200,000 Syrian lives.<br />
<br />
That it will be debated at all at the 2015 Veterans for Peace National Convention is at once a Comedy and a Tragedy.<br />
<br />
<center>
<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></center>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-23649308111075899722015-07-28T07:55:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:50:39.434-07:00U.S. Shoots Down Idea of Syria Safe ZoneRepublished from <a href="http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-07-28/u-s-shoots-down-idea-of-syria-safe-zone">Bloombergview.com</a>:
<br><br>
By Josh Rogin<br>
28 July 2015<br>
<br><br>
Days after the U.S. and Turkey announced a breakthrough deal to fight together against the Islamic State, U.S. officials are insisting that -- contrary to reports -- there are definitely no U.S. plans for a "safe zone" inside Syria. In fact, there really is no "zone," and there is no plan to keep the area "safe."
<br><br>
This confusion is a microcosm of the disorganized U.S. approach to the Islamic State threat since last summer. Each incremental escalation into which the U.S. gets dragged in Syria seems poorly thought out and even more poorly explained. Until the Barack Obama administration can reconcile the different objectives among the members of its anti-Islamic-State coalition, the various partners will continue to work at cross-purposes. In this case, for the U.S., the Islamic State is the one and only priority; for Turkey, the imperative is protecting civilians from Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime and eventually forcing its exit.
<br><br>
For the last week, various U.S. and Turkish officials have been contradicting each other in public and private over whether or not the White House agreed to a safe zone inside Syria, something it has long resisted. Major U.S. newspapers even published makeshift maps showing what the anti-Islamic-State safe zone would cover. But in a conference call with reporters Tuesday, three senior administration officials made it clear that there are no U.S. plans for a safe zone, a no-fly zone, an air-exclusionary zone, a humanitarian buffer zone or any other protected zone of any kind.
<br><br>
<i>"We're not out there staking out zones and doing some things that I know have been discussed in years past -- no-fly zones, safe zones. What we're trying to do is clear ISIL,"</i> a senior administration official said. <i>"I think it's important not to confuse that with staking out these zones that you can identify with road signs and on big maps, and that's just not what's happening."</i>
<br><br>
On Monday, a White House official told an audience in a closed-door meeting at the Middle East Institute in Washington the same thing about there being no safe zone inside Syria, according to two people who were inside the meeting. The Obama administration is sending a delegation back to Turkey next week to work on exactly what the new cooperation along the northern Syria border will look like, the official said.
<br><br>
The three senior administration officials talking to reporters Tuesday insisted that the operation will be limited to clearing Islamic State forces from a 68-mile stretch of the Turkey-Syria border. But there's no talk of protecting civilians, holding population areas, or making sure the area isn't attacked by Assad's air force, which continues to drop crude "barrel bombs" on civilian areas all over Northern Syria.
<br><br>
"What we're doing is we're going after ISIL wherever we find them up there in the north," one official said. “And now we have a kind of final stretch of border to work on that we're going to work cooperatively with the Turks on that. In terms of what exactly it looks like and how it will look and what the modalities are, that's what we have to work out with them.”
<br><br>
All this confusion started on July 23, when John Allen, the retired U.S. general in charge of the anti-jihadist effort, denied that an "air exclusion zone" inside Syria was even <i>"part of the conversation"</i> he conducted with the Turks that resulted in the new agreement, which will allow American planes to use Turkey's Incirlik Air Base to strike targets in Syria and Iraq. (Allen had been trying to negotiate a deal <a href="http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-12-01/will-us-and-turkey-create-a-syria-safe-zone">that would have included</a> such a zone inside Syria since last year, but has repeatedly been stymied by the White House, which hates the idea.)
<br><br>
Yet two days later, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said this at a news conference: "When areas in northern Syria are cleared of the (ISIL) threat, the safe zones will be formed naturally. We have always defended safe zones and no-fly zones in Syria. People who have been displaced can be placed in those safe zones."
<br><br>
In the days that followed, articles in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/world/middleeast/turkey-and-us-agree-on-plan-to-clear-isis-from-strip-of-northern-syria.html">New York Times</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/new-us-turkey-plan-amounts-to-a-safe-zone-in-northwest-syria/2015/07/26/0a533345-ff2e-4b40-858a-c1b36541e156_story.html">Washington Post</a> and elsewhere stated that the U.S. and Turkey had agreed to work on a safe zone inside Syria. Some reports included maps that showed the approximate reach of the area, where Syrian civilians would presumably be protected from Assad's forces. It took until Tuesday for the Obama administration to quash any notion to that effect.
<br><br>
The key difference between what the Obama administration is saying today versus the news reports earlier this week is not whether there is an area that the U.S. and Turkey will work to clear of Islamic State fighters. The dispute is whether that area will be "safe," especially from air attacks. The White House is wary of any plan that could put it in military conflict with the Assad regime, and has made no decision to protect opposition forces or civilians from its air assaults.
<br><br>
Former officials and Mideast experts noted this week that protecting the area from Assad's bombs was key to whether or not a safe zone would actually work. Frederic Hof, a former State Department Syria official, <a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/the-northern-syria-safe-zone">pointed out</a> some of the holes in the still-murky U.S.-Turkey plan. "A marginal ground combat component is one problem faced by the coalition. Another is Assad regime aerial operations. They are major arrows in the quiver of ISIL," wrote Hof. "So although recent developments are positive, they can be potentially decisive only to the extent they transcend what's being reported: specifically in the category of protecting civilians."
<br><br>
In addition to tamping speculation about safe zones, the three senior administration officials said Tuesday that no U.S. or Turkish troops would be used to clear the border area of jihadists. "Moderate opposition forces" would do the job. They did not specify which opposition forces would be used, only that they would have to be agreed on by both Washington and Ankara.
<br><br>
That eliminates the possibility of using Kurdish forces, the most effective anti-Islamic-State troops in the region, because the Turks would veto the idea. For several days Turkey has been bombing forces of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which it considers a terrorist group. There were some allegations that it struck Syrian Kurdish forces as well. Administration officials defended the bombings on Tuesday, saying that the PKK started the latest round of violence.
<br><br>
As for the Free Syrian Army, the U.S. largely <a href="http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-12-12/syrian-rebels-see-us-abandoning-them">abandoned</a> most of its brigades in northern Syria late last year, after they suffered heavy losses to other rebel groups, including the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front. The remaining forces are busy fighting for their lives in and around Aleppo. It's unlikely that they would be able to hold the Turkish border without a lot more assistance.
<br><br>
Another group that won't be able to fill is void are the recruits from the Pentagon's $500 million "train and equip" program. After huge delays caused by vetting problems and organizational incompetence, the program has produced <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/07/admits-programme-trained-60-syrian-rebels-150707191415371.html">only 60 trained fighters</a>. They have been embedded with Free Syrian Army groups far from the Turkish border.
<br><br>
The U.S. and Turkey still haven't answered the key questions about their new anti-jihadist area, including how big it will be, who will man it, or what will happen if Assad's forces attack. Officials say the White House is trying to figure all of that now. If the past is any guide, the U.S. will likely continue its singular focus on defeating the Islamic State and decline to confront Assad or protect civilians. The Turks know that -- so, unfortunately, should those who have spent the last few days talking about <i>"safe zones"</i> inside Syria.
<br><br>
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
<br><br>
To contact the author on this story:
Josh Rogin at <a href="bbg://msg/joshrogin@bloomberg.net">joshrogin@bloomberg.net</a>
<br><br>
To contact the editor on this story:
Tobin Harshaw at <a href="bbg://msg/tharshaw@bloomberg.net">tharshaw@bloomberg.net</a>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-67758743067153214672015-07-25T18:53:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.362-07:00Response to Veterans for Peace on Syria<i>Written by <b>Andy Berman</b>, 25 May 2015, republished with permission. Andy Berman is a member of VFP Chapter 27 in Minneapolis, MN and the Committee in Solidarity with the People of Syria [CISPOS]. Earlier he was in the US Peace Corps [1967-69], the US Army [1971-73], a telecommunications engineer and Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Bell Laboratories. He became a Vietnam war resister and has been a solidarity and peace activist since then. He blogs at <a href="http://andyberman.blogspot.com/">andyberman.blogspot.com.</a></i>
<i>
</i> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">A former VFP board member</span> writes:
<blockquote>
No doubt Assad is a scumbag and a murderer. But those against him (Al Nusra and ISIS) are too. So why do you keep harping on this? What is it you think VFP should do about this? In my view we need to get the US the hell out of there, since US bombing only fuels the fire. Every day you harp on this, and it gets tiresome.
Peace,</blockquote>
Andy responds:
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4f9424e8-8e34-5517-e730-933782d444d7" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thanks for your comments and questions. You posed them very civilly and I therefore should respond to you. There have been more than a few extremely nasty insults directed my way in this vfp-all forum and in personal emails. Those I ignore (and I have the authors emails automatically sent to my spam folder). But civil discourse is definitely worthwhile. I appreciate your effort.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So here’s my response or all your concerns. It’s a bit long, but the situation in Syria is complex. Please give this serious consideration.</span></span></div>
<ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thanks for saying that Assad is a “scumbag and murderer.” Several who post on vfp-all are overt supporters of the fascist dictator. We see a lot of forwarded posts here from a group called the “Syria Solidarity Network”. That group explicitly supports the scumbag-murderer. You can see that easily at their website. At the recent UNAC conference, which our vice-president reported so positively on, there were several speakers from groups that openly support the scumbag-murderer, including the Syrian-American Forum, ANSWER, IAC, FRSO.org and others. Some of these folks have travelled to Syria to endorse the fraudulent elections last year or otherwise try to legitimize Assad. You are right. Assad is a tyrannical bastard. VFP should be clear about that. Code Pink has denounced Assad’s war crimes. We should too. We do not have to choose between Assad and US Imperialism.</span></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I am sorry to read that you find my posts about Syria “tiresome.” They are intended to give fellow VFPers reliable news reports and analysis that encourages them to rethink, to speak out and to take action to help stop this horrible war. What I find truly tiresome in vfp-all are the repetitious rants and reposts from sensationalist and conspiracy websites. And tiresome too is the knowledge that every single day barrel bombs are being dropped in Syria while so many of my antiwar friends in the US remain silent.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I am glad that you recognize that Assad is a pig, but it is also clear that your understanding is not a universal sentiment in VFP, an organization I have been part of for many years. Hence I feel the need to post material that is intended to inform my fellow VFP members that we should be very clear about Assad’s brutality. While we reject US imperial ventures around the world, it is a serious error for peace activists to support in any way tyrants that find themselves in confrontation with the US: be they Assad, Saddam, Pol Pot, Qaddafi, or anyone else. We can and should speak out against US imperialism and brutal dictators as well.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I am sure you are familiar with US Left history, and are probably aware that there were indeed US “antiwar” activists who, in the name of opposing US militarism, backed Pol Pot in Cambodia. There are other historical precedents, including those in the antiwar movement who claimed in the early 1930s that stories of Hitler’s roundup of communists and Jews was just an excuse by FDR to build up the US Navy. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I know there are a great many decent and committed peace activists in VFP. I post politely without rancor so that they may see another side of the Syria story. The position that VFP now takes, seeing only US imperialism as the source of all conflict, and concerned only with the US role, is very misguided. It does not help further the cause of peace. We should be wiser and stop seeing the world only through our “Americanist” eyes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> You ask what should VFP do about Syria, the bloodiest war on the planet. Here’s what I think we should be doing: We often issue VFP Position Statements. We should issue a position statement that includes the following:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">VFP urges the resumption of an international conference on Syria, including the parties to the conflict, Russia, Iran, and the US, and others, following the guidelines of the Geneva I protocol, which calls for a transitional government, a ceasefire, and a withdrawal of all foreign fighters.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">VFP urges the United Nations Security Council to put enforcement mechanisms in place to support the existing Security Council resolutions for full access by international aid agencies bringing food and medical aid to all parts of Syria and its resolution condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria including chlorine gas.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">VFP urges the US government to conduct serious bilateral discussions with Russia and Iran seeking to find a negotiated end to the war. We recognize that the US still has considerable bargaining power with Russia over issues of NATO expansion and economic re-integration, and considerable common interest in stopping the spread of fanatical ideologies. We recognize that the pending multiparty nuclear agreement with Iran could lead to normalization of US-Iran relations, including a settlement of the Syrian war.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In addition to our criticism of US drone strikes that often kill innocents, VFP should openly criticize the use of barrel bombs, a true weapon of terror, that is now used by the Syrian government on a daily basis, slaughtering far more innocents than US drones.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We should be listening to Syrian voices! There are Syrians and Syrian-Americans in many US cities. They have a variety of viewpoints. Most are desperate for peace, and understand that reconciliation is not possible with Assad in control. The Syrian American Council is one place to hear and contact them. The Syrian American Medical Society is a great resource for information about the humanitarian crisis. And there are many internet sites, and facebook pages where different Syrian voices are heard. I will put some links at the end of this message. If you look at them you may be surprised that Syrians in general are much better informed about the America than Americans are informed about Syria!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Syria is the deadliest war on the planet. Why are we not listening to Syrian voices?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We would not think about taking a position on African-American matters without the input of African-Americans. Yet we basically take our Syria politics from American bloggers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Another point that needs clarification is your understandable desire to get the “US the hell out of there because it only fuels the fire. “ I agree absolutely! The US track record of military intervention is not a good one. Indeed, the democratic, pluralistic part of the anti-Assad rebels has made it clear that the US bombing, supposedly aimed at ISIS, is in fact bolstering the Assad regime. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Yes, the US should get out of Syria. But so should Russia and Iran, by far the major suppliers of the weapons of war to Syria. And so should Saudi and Qatar and Hezbollah get out of Syria. VFP should not be shy about pointing the finger at all the war makers! A US pullout is a good idea, but alone it stops not one barrel bomb. It stops not one starvation siege. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The war in Syria raged for 3 years without significant US military aid to any of the parties. It would surely continue without US involvement. Far more than a “US pullout” is needed to stop this war. The war in Syria is now an international war. International action is required to end it. Our focus only on the US is lazy politics, and does not advance our sacred goal of ending war as an instrument of policy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The world has changed a great deal since the Vietnam era when Dr. King courageously said that the US was the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. Today there are other big purveyors of violence. Globalization is the new world order. Russia is no longer a socialist country. It is a capitalist oligarchy with military intervention in Ukraine and a base in Syria. Iran has 10,000 military advisors in Syria and is directing a proxy war in Yemen. Saudi bombs Yemen and invades Bahrain. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">While our emphasis as an American veterans organization should be on US military intervention, to ignore completely the military aggression of other nations is hypocritical. It betrays our commitment as international citizens. In Syria today, US military intervention is not the main cause of the massive slaughter there of the last four years or the last 50 years of brutal dictatorship. To say so is a fantasy. It is a lie.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One more point needs clarification: The nature of the anti-Assad rebels. The uprising against Assad that began in 2011 was based on massive, non-violent, secular demonstrations of young people throughout Syria. It followed directly anti-dictator uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Its demands were for an end to the 50 years brutal dictatorship of the Assad family and the establishment of a democratic, pluralistic regime.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tragically, Assad responded with extreme violence and some demonstrators moved to armed resistance. Defectors from Assad’s army founded the Free Syrian Army. And most tragically, outside powers, namely Saudi, Qatar, Iran, Hezbollah, Turkey and others have intervened massively with their own agendas, not the needs or desires of the Syrian people. A result has been the corruption of the uprising initial goals, and the rise of Islamic-based military groups in the anti-Assad forces, including Al-Nusra, the Islamic Front and several other groups, often not cooperating with each other. The democratic, secular groups, centered in the Free Syrian Army, are now only a part of the opposition. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In recent weeks, however, the anti-Assad groups have improved their military cooperation. Assad’s forces have been defeated in several key battles. The situation is now fluid. The Assad regime is far less stable. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Complicating all this is the rise of ISIS, coming into Syria from the remnants of Saddam Hussein’s disbanded Iraqi army, fueled by historic Sunni/Shia conflicts and funded by religious fanatics in the region. The conflict in Syria is now at least a three-way conflict, a bloody mess of historic proportions. There is no easy solution in sight. When the Assad regime does indeed fall, as it inevitably will, the aftermath is likely to be messy. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So what should we do? In VFP we should be watching this war closely, keeping ourselves informed and listening to all the parties to the conflict. We should stand by our basic principles, call for serious peace negotiations, condemn war crimes regardless of who commits them, and pressure our government to use diplomacy with Russia and Iran. We should be involved in fundraising for humanitarian aid to the millions of Syrians inside and outside the country who are suffering so greatly from this conflict.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thanks for listening. Go in peace,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Andy Berman, US Army 1971-73, VFP Chapter 27</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As promised are some links that can help folks get better informed about Syria:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.syriadeeply.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.syriadeeply.org/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> excellent unbiased daily news from Syria</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://planetsyria.org/en" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">https://planetsyria.org/en</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> the non-violent civilian resistance</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.etilaf.us/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.etilaf.us/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> UN reps of the political wing of the democratic resistance</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://syriatimes.sy/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://syriatimes.sy/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> mouthpiece of the dictator</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/kafrev?fref=ts" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.facebook.com/kafrev?fref=ts</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> from a Syrian city under FSA control</span></span></div>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-2137931889046373562015-07-25T08:17:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.284-07:00VFP White Paper on Syria<b>Part I: Background</b>
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The war in Syria is currently the bloodiest war on Earth, having caused over 230,000 deaths since the latest uprising began in March 2011. Half the population of Syria has been displaced from their homes.
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Four million Syrians are now refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and other nations. The conditions of life in the refugee camps are at best difficult, with a sense of hopelessness for the future widespread among the refugees. There is often hostility from non-Syrians who see the refugees as rivals for jobs and services. The conditions of life for civilians who remain in Syria are often likewise dire, with major problems of access to food and decent shelter for much of the population. Gainful employment and access to education are likewise difficult, if not impossible for many. Syria, once known for its relatively educated population now suffers a major crisis in education.
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The conflict in Syria is uniquely dangerous for all humanity because it is a multiparty conflict, involving both civil war in Syria and military intervention by numerous outside nations and entities. Weapons flow into the conflict from Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, the United States and other nations and entities. Large numbers of foreign fighters have joined the conflict from Iran, Lebanon (Hizbollah) and elsewhere. Alliances between different factions within the conflicting groups have shifted as the situations on the battlefields have changed.
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Adding to the conflict has been the occupation of a significant part of Syrian territory by the fanatical “Islamic State”. The longstanding struggle of the Kurdish population in the middle east for autonomy has also added to the complexity of the struggle. This is truly a multiparty conflict in every sense of the word.
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The Syrian war has involved the repeated use of outlawed chemical warfare and untargetable barrel bombs that claim the lives of far more civilians than combatants.
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Indeed the civilian population of Syria is experiencing the worst effects of this war, including food shortages, limited or complete lack of access to medical care, the mass destruction of housing and basic infrastructure, and the breakdown of economic activity.
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The war in Syria has aggravated relations between the United States and Russia and aggravated US relations with Iran, while a peaceful just settlement in Syria would go far towards resolving these ominous tensions.
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The Syrian people have made remarkable positive contributions to the progress of humanity since ancient times despite many eras of occupation and tyranny. In this time of great duress, they deserve the attention and heartfelt concern of all humankind.
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<b>Part 2: The US Peace Movement and the role of Veterans for Peace:
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The war in Syria, despite the horrific violence and suffering it is causing, has proved difficult for the US Peace Movement to effectively analyze and react to. The high degree of complexity in the Syrian conflict generally has baffled us and led us to simplistic views.
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Well-versed in seeing US Imperialism as a primal cause of war and conflict in the modern world, we have often responded with the implied claim that ending US involvement in the Syrian conflict is the solution or the road to a just solution. And, as a corollary, it is often stated or implied that our responsibility as US peace activists ends there. The resulting “action” taken by most of the US peace movement has often been merely raising the banners “US Out!” and “End the US War against Syria”.
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As the war continues now in its fourth year, with no viable resolution in sight, it is clear that this analysis is highly inaccurate and our response to the war in Syria has been insufficient and out of alignment with our principles as peacemakers.
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Veterans for Peace is a leading organization in the US Peace Movement. We are a recognized NGO of the United Nations. We are widely respected in the general US Peace Movement and by peace activists abroad. As men and women who have served in the armed forces, we rightfully claim a special legitimacy when we speak and work on issues of war and peace. In the US peace movement our influence is great, often greater than we think. We are looked to for leadership and we have an obligation to provide leadership.
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Our Mission Statement in Veterans for Peace commits us to “an obligation to heal the wounds of wars…and most significantly [to] working to end all wars.” By any honest measure, with regard to Syria, we have so far failed in both respects. We have not participated in any significant way in supporting the heroic efforts of humanitarian organizations to provide relief or heal the wounds of the Syrian people. We have not spoken out with a plan, a program or a valid demand to end the war in Syria.
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<b>Part 3: Proposals for action:</b>
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Given the situation outlined above, VFP must move to take action and work for peace and justice in Syria. The following proposals are offered as a suggested beginning
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1) Veterans for Peace shall call upon all its members to stay closely informed about developments in the complex Syrian conflict by seeking out news and analysis from a variety of sources with different points of view, including those of Syrians and Syrian-Americans and the reports of United Nations agencies that monitor the conflict.
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2) We will seek out ways to use our status as a recognized NGO at the United Nations to pressure widely for a just resolution to the conflict. The myriad of ways that we have and can use this status are well-documented on our web site. We call upon VFP members and chapters to review and incorporate those ideas in their work.
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3) Veterans for Peace shall publically denounces the war crimes, including torture and massacres of civilians and prisoners, that are committed in the Syrian conflict and well-documented by UN agencies and other non-partisan authorities. VFP denounces these crimes regardless of which party has committed them.
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4) Veterans for Peace urges all chapters and members to initiate or get involved in existing projects that provide medical, food and other humanitarian relief to Syrians inside Syria as well as those in refugee camps. They might include the following organizations which have done effective, non-partisan work in this area: Doctors Without Borders, Syrian-American Medical Society, White Helmets, American Refugee Committee, and Oxfam.
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5) Veterans for Peace calls upon the international community and the United Nations to press for a resumption of the stalled Geneva peace conference on Syria
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6) Veterans for Peace urges its members and chapters to speak out for a just and peaceful settlement to the war in Syria in all appropriate venues. We shall avoid simplistic slogans and analyses that ignore the deep complexities of this conflict.
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-50663970421223312862015-07-18T14:52:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.331-07:00Proposed VFP Convention ResolutionResolution on Syria - Draft 5 July 2015
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Whereas Veterans for Peace has the explicit premier goal of abolishing war
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Whereas the war in Syria is currently the bloodiest war on Earth, causing over 230,000 deaths since the latest uprising in March 2011
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Whereas the conflict in Syria is uniquely dangerous for all humanity because it is a multiparty conflict, involving both civil war in Syria and military intervention by numerous outside nations and entities, and it has involved the repeated use of outlawed chemical weapons and untarget-able barrel bombs,
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Whereas the war has created one of the greatest humanitarian crises in history, with 11 million Syrians, half the nation’s population, displaced from their homes. 4 million of them refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and other nations
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Whereas the civilian population of Syria is experiencing the worst effects of this war, including food shortages, limited or complete lack of access to medical care, the mass destruction of housing and basic infrastructure, and the breakdown of economic activity
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Whereas the origins of the 2011 uprising in Syria were guided by principles of non-violent protest, and the spirit of non-violence remains alive in Syria civil society despite Syria’s descent into horrific armed conflict
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Whereas the war in Syria has aggravated relations between the United States and Russia and aggravated US relations with Iran, while a peaceful just settlement in Syria would go far towards resolving these ominous tensions,
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Whereas the Syrian people have made remarkable positive contributions to the progress of humanity since ancient history despite many eras of occupation and tyranny, and therefore deserve the attention and concern of all humankind,
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Be it therefore resolved that:
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1) Veterans for Peace calls upon all its members to stay closely informed about developments in the complex Syrian conflict by seeking out news and analysis from a variety of sources with different points of view, including those of Syrians and Syrian-Americans and the reports of United Nations agencies that monitor the conflict.
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2) Veterans for Peace denounces the war crimes and systemic torture committed in the Syrian conflict as well-documented by UN agencies and other non-partisan authorities. VFP calls out these crimes regardless of which party has committed them.
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3) Veterans for Peace urges all chapters and members to initiate or get involved in existing projects that provide medical, food and other humanitarian relief to Syrians inside Syria as well as those in refugee camps. These include the White Helmets, the Syrian American Medical Society, Doctors without Borders, and the American Refugee Committee.
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4) Veterans for Peace calls upon the International Community and the United Nations to press for a resumption of the stalled Geneva peace conference on Syria
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5) Veterans for Peace urges its members and chapters to speak out for a just and peaceful settlement to the war in Syria, avoiding simplistic slogans and analyses that ignore the deep complexities of this conflict.
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-38348382906334214402015-05-03T18:52:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.308-07:00Calling out Bashar's Buddies on the Left by nameWhen Syrian dictator was being blamed for the sarin murders of over 1400 civilians in August 2013, these namespaces came to his defense. They had little to say about the carnage Assad was causing before the chemical massacre. As a group, they participated in the media blackout that has <i>"covered"</i> his many massacres in the two years before, and they have been silence about his barrel-bombing and killing in the year+ since. They only came out of the worm holes on Syria to <i>"raise questions"</i> about Assad's responsibility for the sarin murders, then they went back in. They have shown by their actions as well as inaction, that other than Bashar al-Assad, they could care less about the Syrian people. Here is my dishonor roll of shame. I call it Bashar's Buddylist:
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-lefts-crime-against-humanity.html">Amy Goodman</a>, Democracy Now; <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2014/05/david-swansons-dream.html">David Swanson</a>, [Some] War is a Crime; <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/12/whose-seymour-hersh.html">Seymour Hersh</a>, ex-journalist; <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/where-robert-fisks-defence-of-assad.html">Robert Fisk</a>, ex-journalist; <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-lefts-crime-against-humanity.html">Phyllis Bennis</a>, <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-lefts-crime-against-humanity.html">Tariq Ali</a>, <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-lefts-crime-against-humanity.html">Medea Benjamin</a>, Code Pink leader; <a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/whos-lying-brennan-obama-or-both">Ray McGovern</a>, Veterans for Peace, <a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/whos-lying-brennan-obama-or-both">Ann Wright</a>, VFP; <a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/whos-lying-brennan-obama-or-both">Coleen Rowley</a>, VFP; <a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/whos-lying-brennan-obama-or-both">Larry Johnson</a>, VFP; <a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/whos-lying-brennan-obama-or-both">Philip Giraldi</a>, VFP; <a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/whos-lying-brennan-obama-or-both">Thomas Drake</a>, VFP; <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-lefts-crime-against-humanity.html">Blase Bopane</a>, Office of the Americas; <a href="http://www.bethlehemforpeace.org/UNAC_Syria.htm">United National Antiwar Coalition</a>; <a href="http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/experts_dont_buy_claim_syria_used_chemical_weapons_20130618">Truthdig</a>; </span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://original.antiwar.com/Dale-Gavlak/2013/08/30/syrians-in-ghouta-claim-saudi-supplied-rebels-behind-chemical-attack/">AntiWar.com</a>; <a href="http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/EXCLUSIVE-Syrians-In-Ghou-in-General_News-Attacks-On-Journalists-Media_Israel-Syria-Conflict_Syria_Syria-130901-580.html">OpEdNews</a>; <a href="http://www.infowars.com/exclusive-syrians-in-ghouta-claim-saudi-supplied-rebels-behind-chemical-attack/">InfoWars</a>; <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014581935">Democratic Underground</a>; <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/syrians-in-ghouta-claim-saudi-supplied-rebels-behind-chemical-attack/5347487">Global Research</a>; <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/09/03/who-really-crossed-the-red-line/">Counterpunch</a>; <a href="http://friendsofsyria.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/syrians-in-ghouta-claim-saudi-supplied-rebels-behind-chemical-attack/">Friends of Syria</a>; <a href="http://www.occupy.com/author/dale-gavlak-and-yahya-ababneh">Occupy.com</a>; <a href="http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/09/02/syr2-s02.html">World Socialist Web Site</a>; <a href="http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-dale-gavlak-report-now-appears-on.html">Democracy and Class Struggle</a>; ANSWER Coalition; Party for Liberation and Socialism; Worker's World Party; International Action Center; <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/31/1235417/-Report-suggest-Rebels-gassed-Damascus-civilians-by-accident">Daily Kos</a> and many more. <i>Please use the comment section to recommend candidates for this list.</i></span></blockquote>
Where are these people now that the Assad Regime was forced to give up its sarin and has turned to committing chemical murders with chlorine?
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SNHR?src=hash">#SNHR</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash">#Syria</a> Image of a baby suffocating due to gov aviation poisoned gas barrel bomb dropped on Sraqb, Apr 29, 2015 <a href="http://t.co/OfTowFbKNR">pic.twitter.com/OfTowFbKNR</a></div>
— Syrian Network_SNHR (@snhr) <a href="https://twitter.com/snhr/status/593524018772201472">April 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Just Wednesday we have a <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/04/30/Syrian-opposition-report-chemical-attack-in-Idlib.html">new report</a> of two chlorine filled barrel-bombs being dropped from helicopters <span class="slide-caption" itemprop="caption"> in the village of Sarmin in </span> Idlib Province. Idlib city recently became the second provincial capital to slip from Assad's control. Reports <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/syria-activists-assad-regime-kills-civilians-idlib-barrel-bombs-chlorine/">say as many a 20</a> were killed in this attack.
<b>Human Rights Watch</b> issued a <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/05/13/syria-strong-evidence-government-used-chemicals-weapon">report</a> on use of chlorine gas bombs by the Syrian Government almost a year ago and the <b>United Nations</b> passed a resolution opposing there use on 16 March 2015. These mean nothing to Assad. So long as he is under Putin's protection, the UN is powerless even to fix blame let alone act to save lives.
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://syriadirect.org/news/syrian-civil-defense-director-%E2%80%98we-need-a-no-fly-zone%E2%80%99/">Syrian Civil Defense Director: ‘We need a no-fly zone’</a></span> </b></span></span>30 April 2015
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bashar's Buddies oppose this too. They want Bashar to have complete freedom to bomb civilians.</span></td></tr>
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Where are Bashar's Buddies when we need them? We need Bashar's Buddies to explain to us how he is not responsible for the chlorine gas attacks either. We need them to explain how the rebels got hold of the helicopters, because as far as anybody knows, they haven't got any. And then they need to explain how they managed to use them, since Bashar and Barack are now working together to insure they jointly have air-supremacy over Syria.
If they can't explain how the Assad regime is also innocent of these chemical murders with chlorine, they need to explain why they rushed to the defense of a mass murderer only when the chemical was sarin. If they elect to go that route, I have a song for them, sung to the tune of <i>"I shot the sheriff"</i>:
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He used the chlorine </span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But he did not cross the sarin line.</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He used the chlorine </span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But he did not cross the sarin line.</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yeah! Just because he used some green slime,</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">They want to charge him with a war crime;</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">They say they want to bring him in guilty</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For the killing of a community,</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For the life of a community.</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But we say:</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He used the chlorine </span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But he did not cross the sarin fence.</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He used the chlorine </span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But we swear it was in self-defence.</span></blockquote>
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The talents of this team in defending authorities being accused of murder is now badly needed by the Baltimore Police because they are now trying to marshal evidence of how Freddie Gray killed himself inside the police van. [Was his motive to spark more anti-police protests?] This is the sort of thing that should be right up the alley of Bashar's Buddies.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Will we now see a return to the use of chemical weapons against mass uprisings?</span></span>
After almost a hundred year ban, this re-introduction of the use of chemical weapons for the purpose of suppressing mass rebellion, while protecting property, is starting to show some legs, in spite of Assad being forced to given up his sarin. This will have tragic consequences for humanity going forward and history will long remember the silence of the <i>"Left"</i> upon its re-introduction.
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<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></center>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-58328435712027892762015-04-27T18:51:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.348-07:00The "Left's" Crime Against Humanity<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Another Left is Possible... </i></span>
Sunday, 19 April 2015, <b>CBS News' 60 Minutes</b> did its first segment about the sarin attack that killed more than 1400 people in the Damascus suburbs of East Ghouta and Moadarniyah on the morning of 21 August 2013. It failed to mention the strongest evidence of responsibility for this crime, that the sarin used came from the military stockpiles of Bashar al-Assad, <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2014/03/un-assad-sarin-used-in-attacks-lefts.html">according</a> to the UN. It did report that the rockets were of a type used only by the Assad regime and that they came from an area controlled by the Assad regime, as had many conventional rockets aimed at the same targets, and it squarely fixed the blame for these criminal murders with the Assad regime, mass murders which it called <b><i>"<a href="http://www.cbs.com/shows/60_minutes/video/jjB0zfBBBATfQeVFXtmKBRC3lcxTAg71/a-crime-against-humanity/">A Crime Against Humanity</a>."</i> </b>
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In an <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/behind-60-minutes-decision-to-show-disturbing-video/">interview</a> done before the broadcast, Scott Pelley explained why he thought it so important to present the images of this horror:
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<i>"If you don't see it, I don't believe the impact truly hits you. </i><i>Even though people will be disturbed by what they see, it has to be seen."</i>
Eyewitness cellphone videos, to be broadcast on 60 Minutes, show the aftermath of the 2013 sarin gas attack and the horror that victims of all ages suffered -- including seizures, vomiting, and respiratory failure.
...
Pelley first reported on the attack for the CBS Evening News in 2013. As images of the attack were arriving in the newsroom, he decided then to embark on a more detailed investigation of what happened for 60 Minutes.
<i>"That's not the kind of thing you want to report on for a couple of days and then walk away and never remember again."</i> </blockquote>
But that pretty much describes how the <i>"Left"</i> handled it. While most did nothing about the chemical murders, what the <i>"Left"</i> did was worst than nothing, it rushed to the defense of the killers.
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>First Responders... </i></span>
The first response of the Assad regime and its Russian backers to the reports of the nerve agent attack in East Ghouta was a flat denial that the attack had even taken place. For three days while the regime refused the UN inspectors access to East Ghouta, Syrian State TV <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-did-assad-regime-first-deny-cw.html">claimed</a> there was <i>"no truth whatsoever"</i> to the reports of a chemical attack.
<b>Democracy Now</b> has long been a leading force on the <i>"Left"</i> and the way it handled this crime against humanity was typical of the way the mainstream <i>"Left"</i> handled it, occasional voices of dissent, like mine, excepted. Democracy Now's <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/21/headlines#8211">first reports</a> on the <i>"unverified Syria chemical attack,"</i> was its first report on the bombardment of Ghouta ever, even though the Assad regime had been murdering civilians there with conventional rockets for close to a year. Host and producer Amy Goodman allowed that the attack, <i>"if confirmed,"</i> would<i> "be the most violent incident...,"</i> noted the Syrian government denial of <i>"the reported chemical weapons attack"</i> and pointed out that while video of hundreds of dead and dying children had already been uploaded to YouTube, that there <i>"has been no independent verification so far,"</i> thereby reaping propaganda value from the Assad regime's <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/22/dispatches-longest-short-walk-syria">first refusal</a> to allow independent UN <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syria-says-it-will-allow-un-to-inspect-site-of-suspected-chemical-weapons-attacks/2013/08/25/a09cf0b0-0d89-11e3-bdf6-e4fc677d94a1_story.html">access to the sites</a>, even as it ended this brief <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/22/headlines#8224">second report</a> by saying <i>"The Syrian regime is reportedly continuing its bombing of Ghouta today, making any immediate visit by U.N. inspectors highly unlikely." </i>
The Democracy Now show format is headline news followed by two or three main show segments. Two weeks would past before it dedicated one of these segments to this massive sarin attack. Two days after the attack, Democracy Now started its Syria paragraph with <i>"The Syrian government is facing growing pressure to allow an international probe of an alleged chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus."</i> Belittling the eye-witness testimony and video evidence that was starting to pile up, it was still the <i>"alleged attack"</i> and <i>"if confirmed."</i> She ended this doubtful Syrian paragraph two days after the chemical murder of over 1400 civilians by quoting <b>Patrick Cockburn</b> of <b>The Independent</b>, <i>"The evidence of chemical attack seems compelling — but remember — there’s a propaganda war on."</i> And indeed there was. Sadly, Democracy Now and most of the <i>"Left"</i> played the despicable role of supporting and promoting the propaganda of a fascist dictatorship and a criminal regime. That was the <i>"Left's"</i> crime against Humanity.
Monday, August 26 Democracy Now <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/26/headlines">reported</a> <i>"Syria has agreed to allow a U.N. inspection of the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of people near Damascus last week,"</i> and used a <b>Doctors Without Borders</b> report to falsely make it sound like they were saying only 355 people had died. The next day Democracy Now did three <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/27/headlines">headlines</a> on Syria, leading with <i>"The Obama administration is reportedly weighing a military attack on Syria following last week’s alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus."</i>
Wednesday, Democracy Now <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/28/headlines">reported</a> that the UK was proposing a UN resolution to condemn <i>"the Syrian government for allegedly using chemical weapons in Ghouta last week."</i> It goes on to <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/28/as_strikes_on_syria_loom_is">state</a> that <i>"Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem categorically denied the regime used chemical weapons."</i> We know this must be true because Moualem also said <i>"there is no country in the world that will use weapons of mass destruction against its people."</i> This speaks volumes about his knowledge of history. Democracy Now also brought on <i>"Left"</i> commentator <b>Phyllis Bennis</b>, who <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/28/as_strikes_on_syria_loom_is">told</a> us <i>"So far, no evidence has been presented as to who carried out this attack."</i> Phyllis Bennis elaborated:
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Anything is possible. It’s certainly possible the regime used these weapons. It’s also possible that part of the rebels did. We know that some of the rebel armed forces came from defectors. We have no idea whether those defectors included some defectors that might have been involved in Syria’s long-standing chemical weapons program. We also know that some of the rebels are close to al-Qaeda organizations. The Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Nusra Front, has claimed its alliance with al-Qaeda. And the idea that al-Qaeda forces may have access to these weapons is certainly a frightening but very realistic possibility. The problem is, we don’t know.</blockquote>
If it hadn't been born already, a whole new cottage industry in conspiracy theoryland was born with her words, and soon Democracy Now would be playing host to a great variety of theories, all designed to prove anybody but Assad was responsible for the chemical attacks against the people he had been bombing for months. Amy Goodman never fell for the 9/11 conspiracy theories but she would grow to like anything, no matter how bizarre, that let Bashar off the hook.
Thursday, 29 August Democracy Now ran three <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/29/headlines">headlines</a> related to <i>"last week’s alleged chemical attack in Ghouta,"</i> one saying <i>"<b>U.S. Faces New Hurdles to Military Intervention in Syria.</b>"</i> The main topic of the show that day was the rhetorical question <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/29/syria_debate_does_us_have_the"><i>"<b>Does U.S. Have the Evidence and Authority to Hit Assad for Alleged Chemical Attack?</b>"</i></a> In this segment it had <b>Tariq Ali</b> on and he made the claim that Obama's evidence for the chemical attack had come from Israel. Ignoring all the Syrian voices saying otherwise, Ali goes on to tell the Democracy Now audience <i>"virtually no one who knows the region believes that these attacks were carried out by the Syrian government."</i> He compared it to how we <i>"were lied to in the run-up to the Iraq War."</i> Just ignore the dead children.
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That same day <b>Mint Press</b> publish one of the <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/who-used-sarin-in-syria.html">most outlandish claims</a> of the now budding anybody-but-Assad industry in the form of an article titled <b><a href="http://www.mintpressnews.com/witnesses-of-gas-attack-say-saudis-supplied-rebels-with-chemical-weapons/168135/">Syrians In Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack</a></b> by <b>Dale Gavlak</b> and <b>Yahya Ababneh</b>. They claim to have interviewed some rebel fighters who said they caused the sarin deaths [in 8 locations??] when they had an accident in a tunnel with a tank of sarin given to them by Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia. As ridiculous as it sounds, its amazing how much traction this story had on the <i>"Left."</i> <b><a href="http://original.antiwar.com/Dale-Gavlak/2013/08/30/syrians-in-ghouta-claim-saudi-supplied-rebels-behind-chemical-attack/">AntiWar.com</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/09/01/which-syrian-chemical-attack-account-is-more-credible/">FAIR</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/syrians-in-ghouta-claim-saudi-supplied-rebels-behind-chemical-attack/5347487">Global Research</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/09/03/who-really-crossed-the-red-line/">Counterpunch</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/09/02/syr2-s02.html">World Socialist Web Site</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.occupy.com/author/dale-gavlak-and-yahya-ababneh">Occupy.com</a></b> and many more gave it play, but as soon as the critics got hold of it, it began to unravel. I took it <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/who-used-sarin-in-syria.html">apart in my blog</a>, a few <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/the-inside-story-of-one-websites-defense-of-assad#.jidELokp">others</a> did the same. Soon the AP reporter on the story, Dale Gavlak, was <a href="http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2013/09/statement-by-dale-gavlak-on-mint-press.html">claiming</a> she had nothing to do with it. Retractions started rolling in, starting with <a href="http://antiwar.com/blog/2013/09/20/retraction-and-apology-to-our-readers-for-mint-press-article-on-syria-gas-attack/">AntiWar.com</a> and <a href="http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/09/01/which-syrian-chemical-attack-account-is-more-credible/">FAIR</a>. Mint Press turned out to have some very mysterious financing and family ties to Iran, and practiced what <b>PJ Tatler</b> <a href="http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2013/08/31/shia-advocacy-journalism-behind-story-claiming-saudis-gave-rebels-chemical-weapons/">called</a> Shia <i>'advocacy journalism,'</i> Upon further investigation, it appeared that this story <a href="http://www.al-bab.com/blog/2013/september/yahya-ababneh-exposed.htm">originated</a> from a Russian.
Friday, 30 August 2013, Democracy Now brought <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/30/headlines">reports</a> of anti-war rallies against proposed US military action in Syria. In many of these actions, important <i>"Left"</i> organizations like <b>Veterans for Peace</b> and <b>Code Pink</b> made common cause with Assad Regime supporters and marched with the flag of the fascist regime flying over their heads. In the main discussion on Democracy Now that day, the argument was advanced that <i>"the United States is not qualified to do what it claims it wants to do, as a result of its own record in violating international law for a very long time and supporting dictators and rogue regimes and the apartheid state of Israel in opposition to all manners of international law."</i> It would seem that any reason to not attack Assad was good enough for Democracy Now. The further argument was made that if there was an airstrike, <i>"the situation can spin out of control in a very, very quick manner,"</i> as opposed to what has happened since there was no airstrike then.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "Left" responds to the chemical murders in Damascus | 31 August 2013</td></tr>
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Continuing with Democracy Now as our example, it wouldn't be until 3 September 2013 that they would refer to the sarin attack without questioning if it had even happened, as it finally the dropped the <i>"alleged"</i> and simply and accurately <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/3/headlines#931">stated</a> <i>"A report presented to the French Parliament Monday concluded the chemical attack was carried out by the Syrian government."</i> That day Democracy Now ran its first segment related to the chemical attack. It was not a report on the attack itself. Democracy Now never paid much attention to that, never ran the YouTube images like 60 Minutes. It was the first of many segments dedicated to opposing US military action against the Assad regime or attempting to exonerate Assad of responsibility.
<i><span style="font-size: large;">More Smoke & Mirrors...</span></i>
Whereas previous to this Amy Goodman's Syria coverage had been sparse, now it was coming non-stop and most of it was designed to cast doubt on Assad's responsibility for the attacks. 4 September 2013 saw <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/shows/2013/9/4">three headlines</a> related to the Syria chemical attack, including an interview with <b>McClatch</b> journalist <b>Mark Seibel</b> who had just penned <b><i>"To Some, U.S. Case for Syrian Gas Attack, Strike Has Too Many Holes."</i></b> The rest of the show was two segments, <b><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/4/as_us_pushes_for_syria_strike"><i>"As U.S. Pushes For Syria Strike, Questions Loom over Obama Claims in Chemical Attack,"</i></a></b> in which they interviewed Mark Seibel who questioned the figure of 1,429 people killed in what no one would dare continue to refer to as an <i>"alleged attack,"</i> although he thought it <i>"quite likely that there were more than 281 people killed"</i> and <b><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/4/with_focus_on_us_led_strikes"><i>"With Focus on U.S.-Led Strikes, Global Failure to Meet Syria’s Humanitarian Crisis Goes Unnoticed"</i></a></b> which is an ironic title given how little attention Democracy Now paid to Syria's humanitarian crisis before the need to go to bat for Bashar arose. This show also highlighted <b>Code Pink</b>'s opposition to any military response to the chemical massacres. <i>"We don’t want another war!"</i> I'm sure the residents of East Ghouta would agree. Unfortunately, they weren't granted the option, and while they were pleading with Obama not to renege on his promise, Code Pink leader <b>Medea Benjamin</b> sought to silent their voices, <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/4/as_us_pushes_for_syria_strike">telling</a> the world <i>"Nobody wants this war!"</i> Then they brought up Colin Powell and the false charges that Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons, as if by inference, this cast suspicious on anybody who said Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons, and ignoring the 1400+ dead people that marked the distance between weapons possession and weapons use, they demanded the same high standards and time consuming scrutiny be used in this case too and argued that nothing should be done to stop or punish these murders because how could we ever be 100% sure of anything?
The next day's Democracy Now headlines included four about Syria, including one that put the number at <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/5/headlines#953"><i>"502 Killed in Ghouta Chemical Attack."</i></a> While the attack was no longer <i>"alleged"</i>, the counting of the dead was being hotly disputed by Democracy Now, as was the responsibility for the crime. The bulk of the show was two segments about Syria, both of which argued against any military response to the chemical attacks. First, Democracy Now revealed it true internationalist spirit by embracing <b>Rep. Alan Grayson</b>'s <i>[I'm not my brother's keeper]</i> opposition to any response to the chemical attacks because we can't take action <i>"every time we see something bad in the world,"</i> never mind the promise the president made in our name. [To those who say he should have never made that promise, I say the time to have objected strongly was when he made it {<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2012/08/updated-obama-lights-assad-slaughter-in_4655.html">I did</a>}, not when it was time to pay up.] Grayson was on Democracy Now to promote the website he had just set up, <a href="http://dontattacksyria.com/">DontAttackSyria.com</a>. Now that Obama is attacking Assad's opposition in Syria, that site has gone dead. The second segment was an interview with <b><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/03/syria-for-mar15-amygoodman-has-regime.html">Rim Turkmani</a></b>, a well known <a href="http://hurryupharry.org/2012/02/29/syrian-regime-apologists-posing-as-oppositionists/">regime apologist</a> that had earlier co-chaired the <i>"British Syrian Society"</i> with Bashar al-Assad's father-in-law, Dr Fawaz Akhras, but for the purposes of this Democracy Now <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/5/debate_will_a_us_attack_help">interview</a> she was introduced as a <i>"member of the Syrian political opposition group Building the Syrian State Current." </i>
Friday, 6 September 2013 saw three Democracy Now headlines in opposition to Obama's <i>"plan to strike Syria in retaliation for a chemical attack last month in Ghouta during which the administration claims the Syrian government killed more than 1,400 people."</i> That bodycount came from the Free Syrian Army in Ghouta before it was validated by the White House, but Amy knows that <i>"administration claims"</i> are easier to deny than those of the people Assad has been slaughtering. The Syria segment of the show was <i>"about how Prince Bandar bin Sultan al-Saud — Saudi’s former ambassador to the United States — is leading the effort to prop up the Syrian rebels."</i> To hear <b>Adam Entous</b> of the <b>Wall St. Journal</b> <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/6/iran_contra_redux_prince_bandar_heads">tell</a> it on Democracy Now, the Syrian fighters are dupes of others:
<blockquote>
The Saudis and the Jordanians draw on defectors, largely, from the Syrian military, which already have a good degree of military training. And they’re brought to this base, where different intel agencies train them. And the Americans are there. The Brits are there. The French are there. The Saudis, UAE is there. And they train them, and then they send them into the fight.</blockquote>
It is also in <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/6/iran_contra_redux_prince_bandar_heads">this segment</a> that the role of Prince Bandar in gathering evidence of earlier Assad uses of sarin in Syria is first discussed in a sinister light. After Mint Press made Saudi Prince Bandar the man responsible for the chemical deaths in Ghouta, there was a lot of elaboration.
With a Congressional vote on striking Assad just days away, the following Monday saw six Democracy Now headlines about the Syria situation including <i><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/9/headlines">"<b>Report: Assad May Not Have Authorized Ghouta Attack.</b>"</a></i> Truly acting like the devil's advocate, it advanced this latest defense: Let's say, for the sake of argument, that this <i>"alleged"</i> attack took place, and say, it can be proven that the Syrian military carried out this attack; How are you going to prove my client, the Syrian Commander and Chief, actually personally ordered the attack?
The next day a group with close ties to <b>Veterans for Peace</b>, <b>Ray McGovern</b> and his <b>Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)</b> <a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/whos-lying-brennan-obama-or-both">presented</a> their theory that blamed this chemical attack on <i>"senior opposition military commanders and Qatari, Turkish and U.S. intelligence officials."</i> They claimed to have gotten this intel from old buddies still in The Company. Later, it was <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/secret-intel-source-of-ray-mcgovern.html">proven</a> that much of the VIPS material came verbatim from Yossef Bodansky, an ally of Bashar's uncle, Rifaat al-Assad.
<b>Robert Fisk</b>, writing from Damascus with a press pass from Assad, publish his own version of Assad-didn't-do-it with <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/gas-missiles-were-not-sold-to-syria-8831792.html">"<b>Gas missiles 'were not sold to Syria</b>'"</a> on 22 September. Fisk tells us that according to his Russian sources, they have identified the sarin rockets as ones they sold to Qaddafi, leading to the conclusion that the dirty deed was done by rebels who must have brought them in from Libya. Too bad his Russian sources didn't tell him sarin is not a gas and saved him that embarrassment. Co-incidentally, this new theory came just days after the UN <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/un-hints-assad-used-russian-rockets-in.html">issued a report</a> in which they identified the rockets used in the attack as Russian. I critiqued the Fisk piece in detail <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/where-robert-fisks-defence-of-assad.html">here</a>.
Los Angeles <i>"Left"</i> icon <b>Blase Bopane</b> even had Assad's nun, <b>Mother Agnes-Mariam</b>, on his Sunday morning <b>KPFK</b> <b>Pacificia Radio</b> show, 10 Nov 2013. Her theory was that the kids in the photos weren't from Ghouta, they had been kidnapped by jihadists and smuggled 300 miles to the chemical site. Furthermore they weren't even dead. They were faking, pretending to sleep. She <a href="https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/mother-agnes-mariam-footage-of-syria-chemical-attack-is-a-fraud/">said</a>:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I am not saying that no chemical agent was used in the area – it certainly was. But I insist that the footage that is now being peddled as evidence had been fabricated in advance. I have studied it meticulously, and I will submit my report to the UN Human Rights Commission based in Geneva.</blockquote>
Theories about how someone other than Assad did it were popping up on the <i>"Left"</i> like mushrooms after a Spring rain, few even shared common culprits, none have proved their case or stood the test of time, but then they didn't have to. With the mission of defending Assad in mind, it was only necessary to create <i>"reasonable doubt"</i> among people who didn't want to face the truth anyway. The goal was merely to create smoke and confusion during this critical period when it looked like serious action might be taken against Assad. That was the one thing that did what the deaths of two hundred thousand ordinary Syrians couldn't do. It forced the <i>"Left"</i> off the fence and into the fight.
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But irregardless of who the <i>"Left"</i> may think have done it, where is the sympathy for the people? Where are the protests against the inhumanity? Where are the relief campaigns for the refugee? Sadly, they are not to be found on the <i>"Left"</i> where the main task emerging from the August chemical murders was a rush to the defense of those almost certainly responsible for this horror.
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Deal of the Century...</i></span>
Tuesday, 10 September 2013, the first Democracy Now headline was <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/10/headlines"><i>"<b>Syria Accepts Russian Proposal to Surrender Chemical Weapons,</b>"</i></a> and with that even the pretense that Obama might strike Assad could be dropped. The <b>Syrian National Coalition</b> charged that this accommodation would only <i>"allow the regime to cause more death and destruction in Syria." </i>Looking at all that Assad has done with the likes of barrel-bombs and chlorine gas since he gave up his stockpiles of sarin, that prediction has been proven sadly prophetic. With the <i>"Axis of Resistance"</i> Regime safe, Democracy Now could again throttle back its attention to Syria. But the campaign to muddy the waters over who was responsible for these chemical attacks would continue on Democracy Now and on the <i>"Left"</i> for many months to come.
After President Obama threw his promise to the Syria people under the Congressional bus and it was clear that Assad would not face US air strikes for what he did, the mood turned celebratory on the <i>"Left"</i> as everybody had a party and congratulated each other over having stopped a war. The Syrians didn't attend. They were still too busy being bombed when <b>Katrina Vanden Heuvel</b>, publisher of <b>The Nation</b>, went on Amy's show and <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/16/could_russia_us_deal_on_syria">mused</a> <i>"It’s very good to see the drumbeat of diplomacy and not the drumbeat of war."</i> 16 September 2013. The <b>Violation Documentation Project</b> <a href="http://www.vdc-sy.info/index.php/en/reports/1380104782#.VTfaZJNRF8E">reported</a> 95 Syrian's killed that day.
<b>Norm Chomsky</b> was on Democracy Now for 9/11 and he had his own way of obfuscating the very big gap between weapons use and weapons possession. He <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/11/chomsky_instead_of_illegal_threat_to">argued</a> that if Syria was agreeing to give up its chemical weapons in the wake of 1400+ chemical deaths, then Israel should be made to give up its stockpiles of chemical weapons too, because they are in the same region, adding <i>"Of course, chemical weapons should be eliminated everywhere, but certainly in that region."</i>
He talked a lot about how the <i>"United States is a rogue state"</i> that <i>"doesn’t pay any attention to international law,"</i> but he leveled no such charges against the Syrian government or its Russian backers. The carnage caused by Assad, both with and without chemical weapons didn't get discussed. The main point of this Syria segment was that Norm Chomsky thought that instead of making threats against Syria in response to the chemical murders, Obama should go after Israel's chemical weapons.
A month later, Amy was still beating the <i>"make Israel disarm too"</i> drum when she had <b>Stephen Zunes </b>on to <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/10/11/chemical_weapons_watchdog_wins_nobel_peace">tell us</a> <i>"the United States blocked an effort by Syria to create a weapons-of-mass-destruction-free zone throughout the region"</i> while he spoke of <i>"the recent tragedy that took place in Syria."</i> as if no crime had been committed. More Smoke & Mirrors, all designed so we don't see that a Crime Against Humanity had been committed and act accordingly.
Democracy Now would not visit Syria again in one of its segments until December, and again it was for the purpose of raising questions about who was really behind the 21 August sarin attack. In all this time, just as before the attack, Democracy Now never did a segment on the daily horror of regime barrel-bomb and artillery attacks that so many Syrians live under, or the squalid refugee camps in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan that they have been forced into in their millions just to escape this <i>"Death from Above."</i> This has never been worth a segment on Democracy Now just as it has never been worth a protest to the US <i>"Left."</i>
<b>Seymour Hersh</b>, who won the Pulitzer Prize for <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2014/04/my-lai-and-sy-hersh-reappraisal.html">publicizing the Pentagon press release</a> on the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, appeared on Amy's show twice to defend Assad. Sy Hersh <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/12/9/seymour_hersh_obama_cherry_picked_intelligence">first appeared</a> on Democracy Now, 9 December 2013 after a hit piece he'd written finally found a home in the <b>London Review of Books</b>. It was titled <i>"<b>Whose Sarin?</b>"</i> and said Obama <i>"cherry-picked intelligence to justify a strike against Assad."</i> As scandalized as that sounds, it is undoubtedly true; if you allow that <i>"cherry-picked"</i> is just a colorful synonym for <i>"selected,"</i> then that's what you do, you select evidence to make a case. But the heart of Hersh's story was that the Obama administration had secret evidence that showed the rebels may have used chemical weapons against their own people. In the article and on Amy's show, Sy Hersh made the dramatic claim that the jihadist group al Nusra <i>"had not only the capacity and potential and the know-how, how to produce sarin, but also had done some production of sarin."</i> His most important claim was that the Obama administration knew about this and all this intelligence meant we really couldn't know who used sarin in Ghouta. Maybe al Nusra, a rebel group, did it to other opposition Syrians?
I picked it apart <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/12/whose-seymour-hersh.html">then</a>, but now a time has passed since Sy Hersh has made his claims, 17 months ago, and al Nusra has been in some pitch battles all over Syria, against the Assad regime, against the Islamic State, and against other rebel groups. If they had mastered the production and use of this terrible weapon, why would they have refrained from using it in any of these subsequent battles? Why use it just once in a failed attempt to frame Assad, as many on the <i>"Left"</i> then claimed, and then put it back on the shelf even as they lose territory to rivals?
18 December 2013 it was <b>Patrick Cockburn</b>'s turn to come on Democracy Now and <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/12/18/patrick_cockburn_us_turns_blind_eye">tell the people</a> <i>"It is clearly a proxy war. This might have started off as a popular uprising in Syria, but by now [you have] an opposition that is fragmented and really proxies for foreign powers, notably Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey."</i> The Assad regime is barrel-bombing schools, dropping sarin on neighborhoods, disappearing thousands into a horrendous gulag and Patrick Cockburn is here to talk about <i>"the criminalization of the military forces of the Syrian opposition."</i> It's not that there's not some truth to what he is saying, its that there is a whole 'nother side to what he is saying. He also told us the Free Syrian Army <i>"never really controlled much on the ground."</i> There is no truth in that, in fact they were part of the opposition coalition that just freed Idlib from regime control. The problem with Patrick Cockburn's near-Left coverage of the Syrian conflict is that it is one-sided, Assad's side.
In spite of an on-going murder rate that at times was reaching 5000/month, Democracy Now wouldn't revisit Syria again until 17 March 2014. Again it was with Patrick Cockburn, but before he is introduced, Amy <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/17/endless_war_as_syria_conflict_enters">quickly summarizes</a> all the news they didn't think worth covering earlier in greater detail:
<blockquote>
More than 146,000 people have been killed since the conflict began March 15, 2011, roughly half of them civilians. The conflict has displaced more than nine million people, with two-and-a-half million refugees living outside Syria and six-and-a-half million displaced within the country.
Last week, Save the Children reported several thousand Syrian kids have died because of a drastic reduction in access to health services, losing their lives to diseases and conditions including cancer, epilepsy, asthma, diabetes, hypertension and kidney failure. Overall, at least 10,000 children have died in violence.</blockquote>
Cockburn's message was a defeatist one for anyone wishing to see the end of the regime that had caused all this misery, <i>"Well, it’s very bad for Syria and very bad for Syrians, as you’ve just been describing. There’s a stalemate on the ground, but it’s a stalemate somewhat in favor of the government."</i>
Sy Hersh came back on Amy's show 7 April 2014 with a new theory: Turkey was behind the chemical strikes in Syria. Whereas before he said the Syrian rebels were quite capable of making their own sarin, when his claims of <i>"kitchen sarin"</i> were shown to be ridiculous, he now claimed Turkey gave it to them. He flat out contradicted the UN <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session25/Documents/A-HRC-25-65_en.doc">report</a> by saying <i>"the sarin that was recovered wasn’t the kind of sarin that exists in the Syrian arsenal,"</i> without giving the scientific basis for his claim. Sy Hersh then when on to lie about the known facts, saying sarin was easy to produce and the rockets were homemade, when sarin can not be produced outside of a major facility and the rockets were a known element of the Syrian military that had already been used many times loaded with conventional explosives. Which brings us to another important point. The murderous brutality the Assad regime has shown with conventional bombs and artillery never got discussed. This was all about defending Assad from charges that he killed with chemicals and it was clear that Sy Hersh was rooting for him. In fact Sy Hersh told us, with his great knowledge of the region, that Assad was winning and <i>"the war is essentially over."</i> That was over a year ago, but the fat lady hasn't sung yet. The Assad regime just lost a second provincial capital last month!
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Syria in the news again...</i></span>
This year Syria is making headlines again but not because of the on-going carnage caused by Assad. That would be yesterday's news if it ever was news. Syria is making headlines this year because of the role it has played and continues to play in the rise of the Islamic State or Da'ish. That's what concerns the West. It even has some now arguing for Assad as the lesser of two evils. This year Obama had no problem bombing Syria without congressional approval, and with little in the way of protest from the <i>"Left,"</i> but the target has not been bases from which barrel-bomb attacks are launched or any part of the Assad regime, it has been primarily the IS. It has also been against some forces fighting the Assad regime.
The irony of this situation is that Obama's failure to bomb Syria in the Fall of 2013 is one of the reasons why he felt forced to bomb Syria in the Fall of 2014 and the decision that the <i>"Left"</i> campaigned so hard for, not to respond as promised to the chemical attack, was one of the important factors feeding the dramatic rise of Da'ish in the year after the chemical attack.
Obama's decision not to act after his <i>"red-line"</i> had been crossed more than 1400 times may have brought relief and celebration on the <i>"Left,"</i> but it brought outrage and disillusionment to Syrians. Many felt neglected by the world; now they felt betrayed by the United States. The Free Syrian Army lost creditability, as did all west-leaning rebel groups. The jihadist groups that had always preached distrust of the West gained influence and membership.
My friends in the <b>Syrian American Council</b> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2014/06/odonnells-good-question-and-obamas-bad.html">told</a> me that it is hard to over-estimate the negative effect on the morale of the opposition of Obama's failure to take military action. <b>Jamie Dettmer</b>, of the <b>Daily Beast,</b> <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/27/exclusive-obama-cuts-funds-for-the-syrian-rebels-he-claims-to-support.html">wrote</a> about how the <i>"already high skepticism over American policy toward the war in Syria"</i> among rebel groups <i>"skyrocketed when the Obama administration failed to enforce in 2013 its “red line” against Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons."</i>
It was not a complete coincidence that Raqqa, the first provincial capital to be liberated from regime control, it was freed by a coalition of rebel groups headed by the FSA in March 2013, <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/islamic-state-files-show-structure-of-islamist-terror-group-a-1029274.html">fell to ISIS</a> in mid-October after Obama reneged on his promise in September, or that 14 chiefs of the largest clans gave an oath of allegiance to ISIS Emir Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi a short time later. 5 October 2013 <b>Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi</b> <a href="http://www.aymennjawad.org/13909/the-islamic-state-of-disobedience-al-baghdadi">writes</a> of <i>"the recent ascendancy in the Syrian jihad of ISIS and its much-vaunted emir, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi."</i> 21 November 2013 <b>EAWorldView</b> <a href="http://eaworldview.com/2013/11/syria-spotlight-jaish-al-muhajireen-wal-ansar-swears-allegiance-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi/">reported</a> <i>"</i><span style="color: \"#0148CS\";"><span class="meta"><span style="color: \"#0148CS\";"><i>many Jabhat al-Nusra fighters left to join ISIS."</i> </span></span></span>Along with Bashar al-Assad, Baghdadi and Da'ish gained greatly from Obama's decision not to bomb.
Actually, a good argument could be made that it was the combination of the political shift among opposition forces caused by Obama's betrayal, together with the safe haven in Raqqa provided by Assad, that allowed Da'ish to grow into the monster it has become. Now it has so threat<a href="http://www.aymennjawad.org/13909/the-islamic-state-of-disobedience-al-baghdadi"></a>ened to gain ground in Iraq and Syria that Obama has felt forced to carry out air strikes in both those countries of the better part of a year now.
Both the Assad Regime and the Islamic State have benefited from the <i>"me?-no?-never-mind?"</i> attitude of the <i>"Left"</i> to the struggle of the Syrian people. This <i>"Syrian Lives Don't Matter"</i> attitude has almost certainly repelled any young person with humanitarian concerns and that has been a boon to the Right, especially to Islamic-fascists like Da'ish and al Qaeda among Muslim youth.
This <i>"Left"</i> of my generation has no appeal for them. It has grown fat and senile, resting on its laurels. It longs for the simplicity of the Vietnam War when the United States was the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. That wasn't the case in 2014, but they missed the changes and they just don't know how to act when an enemy of the people pretends to be an enemy of western imperialism.
Its not that everyone on the Left supports Assad, far from it, but there is so little opposition from those that don't, that the the casual observer should be forgiven for thinking the mainstream <i>"Left"</i> is in Assad's corner. Perhaps the <i>"Left's"</i> greatest crime against humanity has been how it has shared in the media coverup, failed even to publicize the daily horror a people are being subjected to by its government because that government claims opposition to Israel. The Left is suppose to be the champions of the people internationally, and instead it denied the people's struggle, participated in the cover up, and gave comfort to the oppressor.
Not only is another Left possible, another Left is necessary!
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>A huge humanitarian crisis...</i></span>
A huge humanitarian crisis that has made news recently, because it affects Europe, has been the drowning disasters that have taken the lives of hundreds of refugees fleeing war and persecution in Africa and the Middle East in rickety, over-crowded boats that capsize in the Mediterranean Sea.
The <a href="http://www.cedipost.com/bloggers/gaddafi-on-%E2%80%9Cblack-europe%E2%80%9D-islamization-project-for-black-africans-a-response.html">EU use to pay Libyan dictator Mummar Qaddafi billions</a> to keep the African migrants at bay. He used the most brutal methods to do so, as documented in <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/node/85585">this 92-page HRW report</a>, keeping them in <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2004/09/15/closed-door-immigration-policy-shameful-vision">detention camps</a> or dumping them in the desert. Now that arrangement is gone and the biggest <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3046653/One-MILLION-migrants-waiting-sail-Europe.html">headlines</a> of the recent crisis have been made by the big boats filled with Africans like the 900 migrants that died off the Libyan coast a week ago, but the largest group risking this <i>"trip of death"</i> are Syrians attempting to cross the Aegean in smaller boats like the <a href="http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_20/04/2015_549248">100 Syrian refugees</a> rescued off the coast of Sicily on 20 April 2015, or the three Syrians killed the next day when their boat ran aground on the Greek holiday island of Rhodes. On 21 April Turkey's coastguard <a href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-rescues-30-syrian-migrants-from-sinking-boat.aspx?pageID=517&nID=81355&NewsCatID=341">rescued 30 Syrians</a> after their boat began taking on water in the Aegean Sea. On 17 April <a href="http://www.tanea.gr/relatedarticles/article/5230002/oikogeneia-metanastwn-me-dyo-brefh-diaswthhke-konta-sto-agathonhsi/">414 migrants</a> landed on Greece's Aegean shores. That same day, a vessel carrying four women, a man, and newborn twins.
These are people fleeing Assad's bombs and blockades. Will the world response be to help him enforce this blockade? For despicable <i>"Left"</i> groups like the UK-based <b>Stop the War Coalition</b>, the apparent answer is <i>"Yes."</i> They refused to let the <a href="http://www.syriauk.org/2015/04/stop-war-coalition-demands-silence-on.html"><b>Syrian Solidarity Movement</b></a> speak about Syria refugees at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/373567429511407/permalink/375485012652982/"><b>Migrant Lives Matter</b></a> protest last Saturday in London. In <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3056272/Angelina-Jolie-joined-brother-son-Maddox-arrives-LAX-urging-world-powers-aid-Syrian-refugees-powerful-United-Nations-speech.html">other news</a> on Saturday, Angelina Jolie was joined by her brother and son Maddox as she arrived at LAX after urging world powers to aid Syrian refugees. During her powerful United Nations speech on Friday, she told them <i>"We cannot look at Syria, and the evil that has arisen from the ashes of indecision, and think this is not the lowest point in the world's inability to protect and defend the innocent."
</i>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQYRccSnS3bQ29TEpjEJCUxVpGijc_gZuSTxrNM9Jl8_hbdkskCFoByhA8Kzbs3BM9SBxVVWZOQRhRYPugxdb1BSlDTozWgMUrRt_oahC_iZK0Dsk5WfH2T7kRc7024Im7c1XsCbylmE/s1600/2SyrianBabiesoff+Greece.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQYRccSnS3bQ29TEpjEJCUxVpGijc_gZuSTxrNM9Jl8_hbdkskCFoByhA8Kzbs3BM9SBxVVWZOQRhRYPugxdb1BSlDTozWgMUrRt_oahC_iZK0Dsk5WfH2T7kRc7024Im7c1XsCbylmE/s400/2SyrianBabiesoff+Greece.jpg" height="395" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two Syrian babies are carried to safety after being rescued from a boat on the coast of Italy. All 100 of the people on board survived</td></tr>
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A big part of this humanitarian crisis has its roots in the world's willingness to look the other way while a fascist dictator and his allies bring death and destruction to the people under them. We often discuss these things in Geo-political terms but it is humans who are affected. This poem has been shared widely <a href="http://act.thesyriacampaign.org/go/73?t=3&akid=170.40832.BBO0jO">in Arabic</a> in recent days and now it has been translated <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheSyriaCampaign/photos/a.608812989210718.1073741828.607756062649744/833568330068515/?type=1&theater">into English</a>. No one knows its true source or author. Some are saying it was written by a Syrian refugee before he drowned, but nobody knows for sure. This is brought to us by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheSyriaCampaign?fref=photo"><b>The Syria Campaign</b></a>, which you should support:
<blockquote>
<i>I am sorry mother that the ship sunk and that I couldn’t get there and pay off the debts from the journey,
Don’t be sad mother that they didn’t find my body, for what use could it be to you now, except for the cost of transport, the funeral and burial,
I’m sorry mother that war came to us and I had to leave like the others, although my dreams were not big like theirs,
As you know, all my dreams were the size of a box of medicine for your colon, and the cost of fixing your teeth. On that note, my teeth are now green from the colour of the moss clinging to them,
Despite that, they are still more beautiful than the dictator’s teeth,
I am sorry my dear for building you a house of illusions. A wooden cottage like the ones we saw in movies. A humble cottage far away from the barrel bombs, far away from sectarianism, ethnic loyalties and the rumours of our neighbours,
I am sorry brother that I couldn’t send you the fifty Euros that I promised you at the beginning of every month so you could have a good time ahead of your graduation,
I am sorry sister that I didn’t send you the new mobile phone that has wi-fi like the one your better-off friend has,
I am sorry my beautiful home that I will never hang my coat behind your door,
I am sorry dear divers and search and rescue workers, for I don’t know the name of the sea I drowned in,
Rest easy immigration department, for I won’t be a heavy burden on you,
Thank you dear sea for welcoming us without a visa or a passport. Thank you to the fish who will share me without asking about my religion or political beliefs,
Thank you to the news channels who will report the news of our deaths for five minutes every hour for two days,
And thank you for grieving us when you hear the news… I’m sorry I drowned.</i></blockquote>
<hr />
My blogs on Assad's use of CW in Syria:
<ul>
<li><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/12/whose-seymour-hersh.html">Whose Seymour Hersh? </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-obama-has-supported-assads-gas.html">How Obama has supported Assad's gas murder always</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/10/why-return-of-chemical-weapons-is-big.html">Why the return of chemical weapons is a big deal </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-courage-of-ghouta-in-craven-world_7.html">The Courage of Ghouta in a Craven World</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/where-robert-fisks-defence-of-assad.html">Where Robert Fisk's defense of Assad falls down </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/more-on-ex-journalist-robert-fisks.html">More on ex-journalist Robert Fisk's defense of Assad </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/mint-press-exposed-as-assad-apologist.html">Mint Press exposed as Assad apologist, AntiWar.com apologizes </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/un-hints-assad-used-russian-rockets-in.html">UN hints Assad used Russian rockets in sarin gas attack </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/breaking-new-chemical-attack-reported.html">BREAKING: New Chemical Attack reported in Syria</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/secret-intel-source-of-ray-mcgovern.html">Secret Intel Source of Ray McGovern & VIPS Revealed! </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-did-assad-regime-first-deny-cw.html">Why did Assad Regime first Deny CW Attack if Blameless? </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/witness-to-cw-attack-when-paradise.html">Witness to CW Attack: When Paradise turned to Hell.</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/media-body-count-games-less-than-500-or.html">Media Body Count Games: Less than 500 or 110,000?</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/dr-zaher-sahloul-on-cw-attacks-in-syria.html">Dr. Zaher Sahloul on the CW Attacks in Syria</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-would-assad-use-cw-with-un.html">Why would Assad use CW with UN Inspectors in Syria?</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/my-dare-to-ray-mcgovern-vips-on-syria.html">My dare to Ray McGovern & VIPS on Syria CW attack</a></li>
<li> <b><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/who-used-sarin-in-syria.html">Who Used Sarin in Syria?</a></b></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/08/assad-knows-chemical-attacks-kill.html" style="color: #436590; text-decoration: none;">Assad Knows: Chemical Attacks Kill Children First!</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/08/1300-dead-after-obama-green-lights-new.html" style="color: #436590; text-decoration: none;">1300+ Dead after Obama "Green-lights" new CW attack in Syria</a> </li>
</ul>
<center>
<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></center>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-89278155603664562412015-04-08T17:21:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.411-07:00Seymour Hersh's Believe It or Don'tRepetition is at the heart of the Assad-Putin propaganda method, what might also be called the RT method. It is widely supported by the <i>"non-(NATO) interventionist"</i> Left. You make up a lie and you keep repeating it. Lack of proof is not an obstacle, just keep repeating it. Anonymous sources won't impeach its credibility as long as you keep repeating it. Even after it has clearly been disproven, you pay that no nevermind and you keep repeating it. So given how thoroughly he has embraced this method, it should surprise no one that the latest offering from <b>Seymour Hersh</b>, <b><a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/2014/04/06/seymour-m-hersh/the-red-line-and-the-rat-line">The Red Line and the Rat Line</a></b>, London Review of Books, 6 April 2014, is essentially a rehash of his earlier LRB piece, <b><a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/2013/12/08/seymour-m-hersh/whose-sarin">Whose Sarin</a></b>?, in which he first marshalled out his collected conspiracy theories about how Assad's opposition gassed themselves and Obama knew it. I responded to that at the time with <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/12/whose-seymour-hersh.html"><b>Whose Seymour Hersh?</b></a>, and since I have already refuted Hersh's arguments in that and other pieces, it now seems that I too will have to repeat myself, so please bear with me.
Seymour Hersh brings no new evidence to the table in his new piece, in fact the main thing new is his focus on Turkey as the <i>"bad guy"</i>, a theme that is very topical with the Assad propaganda crowd these days, as can be seen from the <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2014/04/how-savekessab-covers-assads-retreat-in.html">#SaveKessab campaign</a>.
<center>
<big>Seymour Herst's Question has been Answered</big></center>
The question he made the title of that earlier piece has since been answered definitively by the United Nation on 5 March 2014 in the 7th report of the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/IICISyria/Pages/IndependentInternationalCommission.aspx" target="_blank">Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic</a>. On <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session25/Documents/A-HRC-25-65_en.doc">page 19, it says</a>:
<blockquote>
The evidence available concerning the nature, quality and quantity of the agents used on 21 August indicated that the perpetrators likely had access to the chemical weapons stockpile of the Syrian military, as well as the expertise and equipment necessary to manipulate safely large amount of chemical agents.</blockquote>
That is a very definitive answer to Hersh's question <i>"Whose sarin?"</i>, and from a very authoritative body. That is an answer to which one would think that Sy Hersh must respond to in any subsequent attempt to push his thesis that Assad is innocent and the 21 August sarin attacks in Damascus were the result of rebels using home-made sarin and home-made rockets. So how does he deal with this UN declaration?
Did I mention that ignoring inconvenient facts is another tenet of the Assad-Putin school of propaganda? So nevermind about that. Sy Hersh neither acknowledges nor responds to this UN report. He has his own source, <i>"the [anonymous] former intelligence official." </i>
In fact, practically everything in this article is based on the word of this anonymous ex-agent, <i>"the former intelligence official"</i>, a phrase he uses an astounding 31 times in this 5858 word article. All of Hersh's other sources are just as anonymous and unverifiable, like <i>"a US intelligence consultant"</i>, <i>"an American foreign policy expert"</i>, <i>"a former US official"</i>,<i>"a senior Turkish diplomat"</i>, etc. None of his sources have names.
Almost none of Hersh's claims can be independently verified because they are secrets that reference unpublished secret papers that few have seen. For example, we are told to trust information from an anonymous Russian source because <i>"the former intelligence official"</i> tells us he is <i>"a good source – someone with access, knowledge and a record of being trustworthy."</i> This only works if you trust Sy Hersh about the trustworthiness of <i>"the former intelligence official"</i> and you trust <i>"the former intelligence official's"</i> judgement about the Russian chap. In short, this article rest entirely on your trust in Seymour Hersh. We are given no way to fact check what he is telling us.
<center>
<big>The Former Intelligence Official</big></center>
Since so much is this article depends on the word of <i>"the former intelligence official,"</i> what do we know about him? Sy Hersh tell us a lot just from what he knows about a lot of matters generally kept secret. <i> </i>
<i>"the former intelligence official":</i>
<ul>
<li>Knows what <i>"many in the US national security establishment"</i> are thinking</li>
<li>Knows <i>"White House rejected 35 target sets provided by the joint chiefs of staff"</i> </li>
<li>Knew <i>"Every day the target list was getting longer,"</i></li>
<li>Knew <i>"the president had given the Joint Chiefs a fixed deadline for the launch"</i></li>
<li>Knew what a <i>"Russian military intelligence operative"</i> was passing on to <i>"British military intelligence"</i></li>
<li>Knows what US Intel knows and doesn't know about <i>"which batches [of Soviet-manufactured chemical weapons] the Assad government currently had in its arsenal"</i></li>
<li>Knows that in <i>"studies done by Western intelligence"</i> in the spring, <i>"The word “sarin” didn’t come up."</i> -- this is a remarkable statement because it implies that <i>"the former intelligence official"</i> has a comprehensive knowledge of all such <i>"studies done by Western intelligence"</i> and since no such studies are cited or linked to, we have to assume most are secret or classified.</li>
<li>Knows what <i>"the Syrian opposition clearly had learned"</i></li>
<li>Knew what <i>"the consulate’s only mission was"</i> in Benghazi </li>
<li>Knew that <i>"the joint chiefs had been sceptical of the administration’s argument"</i> and opposed the attack because they thought it <i>"would be an unjustified act of aggression"</i> [Where was this 'moral' joint chiefs of Hersh's imagination from Vietnam through Iraq?]</li>
<li>Knew how <i>"The president’s decision to go to Congress was initially seen by senior aides in the White House"</i></li>
<li>Knew what <i>"The joint chiefs asked the White House"</i></li>
</ul>
In looking at the extraordinary range of closely-held material coming from Seymour Hersh's <i>"former intelligence official"</i> we have to conclude he is someone with extremely high level access. What could be more secret than the traffic between the president and his military command? And yet Hersh's <i>"former intelligence official"</i> is all up in their business. He knows what's going on inside the White House and he knows the technical details of a number of countries' chemical weapons facilities. Sy Hersh has himself a real master spy here. Imagine what his access would be worth to foreign governments? But what does it mean that he is a <i>"former intelligence official"</i>? We aren't talking <i>"Burn Notice"</i> here, are we? Because then he wouldn't have all that fabulous access.
<center>
<big>APAP Rule #1: Don't let facts get in the way</big></center>
Other Assad/Putin AgitProp questions are raised by Sy Hersh's other unnamed sources, for example Sy Hersh says:
<blockquote>
A person with close knowledge of the UN’s activity in Syria told me that there was evidence linking the Syrian opposition to the first gas attack, on 19 March in Khan Al-Assal, a village near Aleppo. In its final report in December, the mission said that at least 19 civilians and one Syrian soldier were among the fatalities, along with scores of injured. It had no mandate to assign responsibility for the attack, but the person with knowledge of the UN’s activities said: ‘Investigators interviewed the people who were there, including the doctors who treated the victims. It was clear that the rebels used the gas. It did not come out in public because no one wanted to know.’</blockquote>
Could that <i>"person with close knowledge of the UN’s activity in Syria"</i> be Carla Del Ponte? If so, there are very good reasons why Hersh might want to keep her identity a secret. Carla Del Ponte has <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/05/carla-del-ponte-in-wikileaks-cablegate.html">a long and chequered career</a> as a UN functionary. As a member of the UN commission of inquiry in May 2013, she made <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/05/carla-del-ponte-in-wikileaks-cablegate.html">the provocative accusation</a> that the rebels were the ones using sarin in Syria. Just hours after she went on Swiss TV and said,
<blockquote>
<i>"Our investigators have been in neighbouring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals. </i>
<i>
</i> <i>"According to their report of last week, which I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated."</i>
<i>...</i>
<i>“This was use on the part of the opposition's fighters, not by the government authorities.”</i></blockquote>
her UN panel issued a statement <i>"to clarify that it has not reached conclusive findings"</i> and no such findings were included in their final report. But it doesn't matter that Carla Del Pointe spoke out-of-court and immediately had her statement rebuked, all the pro-Assad propagandists can ignore those details and continue to claim that a UN official said the rebels did it. If they make it known that they are referring to Del Pointe's statement, it has already been well exposed, but Hersh keeps his <i>"person with close knowledge of the UN’s activity in Syria"</i> a secret so we either believe Hersh or we don't.
And again we see that Hersh simply ignores evidence he doesn't like, for while he uses an anonymous <i>"person with close knowledge of the UN’s activity in Syria"</i> to put responsibility for the 19 March sarin attack in Khan Al-Assal on Assad's opposition, he ignores the official published <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session25/Documents/A-HRC-25-65_en.doc">UN findings</a>, which says the Assad regime did this attack:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
128. In Al-Ghouta, significant quantities of sarin were used in a well-planned indiscriminate attack targeting civilian-inhabited areas, causing mass casualties. The evidence available concerning the nature, quality and quantity of the agents used on 21 August indicated that the perpetrators likely had access to the chemical weapons stockpile of the Syrian military, as well as the expertise and equipment necessary to manipulate safely large amount of chemical agents. Concerning the incident in Khan Al-Assal on 19 March, the chemical agents used in that attack bore the same unique hallmarks as those used in Al-Ghouta. </blockquote>
So in both the 21 August attack in Ghouta and the 19 March attack in Khan Al-Assal, the official UN commission, using personnel and labs known to us, say that the sarin used was of a <i>"professional"</i> grade that came from Assad's arsenal and was delivered by a professional army with the expertise to handle large amounts of CW, and not the <i>"home-made"</i> sarin, delivered by <i>"home-made"</i> rockets of Sy Hersh's alternate reality. So how does Hersh deal with that gaping contradiction? Easy, in his world, that UN report doesn't exist and never gets mentioned. He has his mysterious alternate sources and he asks us to believe them instead.
<center>
<big>more madness to his method</big></center>
Frankly, I am also suspicious of this bit Sy Hersh gets from an unnamed <i>"Defense Department consultant"</i>:
<blockquote>
US intelligence has long known that al-Qaida experimented with chemical weapons, and has a video of one of its gas experiments with dogs.</blockquote>
This sounds suspiciously like the phony <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcYH-5uz91k">Syrian Rebel Gas Test on Rabbits Video</a> posted on YouTube and promoted on <b>Alex Jones' Infowars</b> with the headline <a href="http://www.infowars.com/shock-video-shows-syrian-rebels-testing-chemical-weapons/">Shock Video Shows ‘Syrian Rebels’ Testing Chemical Weapons</a> and on <a href="http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/06/02/306700/syrian-army-seizes-sarin-in-hama/">PressTV</a> and many other pro-Assad outlets. It was clearly designed to frame the rebels for testing poison gas but was so fake that it was called out by comments like <i>"this vid is total fake, and demonstrates an intent to use chemical agents and blame it on rebels"</i> and <i>"just a bunch of DESPERATE assad supporters staging a FAKE JIHADIST VIDEO"</i> on YouTube and was exposed in <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/06/more-false-reports-of-sarin-usage-by.html">my blog here</a> and by <b>Syrian Man</b> in <a href="http://youtu.be/4XPfe8vXKUA">a video critique</a>. Sy's guy has dogs dying in his video, not rabbits, so presumably it is a different video, and since it is not one that has been posted to YouTube, but is instead a secret US intelligence video, we are not in a position say whether it looks real or as fake as the rabbit video.
At another point Sy Hersh show us how a technically truthful statement can communicate a lie. He does a lot of that, for example he writes:
<blockquote>
Last May, more than ten members of the al-Nusra Front were arrested in southern Turkey with what local police told the press were two kilograms of sarin.</blockquote>
While no one can account for <i>"what local police told the press"</i>, many published reports quoted Hüseyin Avni Cos, the governor of Adana, where the arrest were made, <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/May-30/218922-turkey-police-detain-suspects-on-terrorism-links-official.ashx#ixzz2VCR5czRi">as saying</a>:
<blockquote>
<i>"We cannot reveal any organisation names right now, but their links will be evident after the questioning, there is no gas or anything of that sort captured as claimed."</i> </blockquote>
Of the twelve people originally arrested, six where released outright and six were charged with suspicion of producing sarin gas. Five of those charged had their charges dropped before trial and the last <a href="http://www.aydinlikdaily.com/Al-Nusra-Militants-Free-in-Adana-%E2%80%98Sarin%E2%80%99-Trial-1119">one was freed at trial</a>. No evidence of sarin or sarin production was ever found in spite of what certain pro-Assad newspapers claimed they were told by local police. But none of this history will stop unprincipled Assad supporters from repeating over and over again with a straight face <i>"than ten members of the al-Nusra Front were arrested in southern Turkey with what local police told the press were two kilograms of sarin." </i>If you need more details on this incident and the propaganda around it check out my blog post, <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/06/more-false-reports-of-sarin-usage-by.html"><b>More False Reports of Sarin Usage by Assad's Opposition in Syria</b></a>, 3 June 2013.
Sy Hersh's theme, that the chemical attack was a false-flag attack stage by the rebels is not original and <a href="http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/theodore-and-walid-shoebat/syrian-rebels-now-have-chemical-weapons/">goes back</a> to the very earliest gas attacks at the end of 2012, eight months before Obama's <i>"red-line"</i> was drawn.
<blockquote>
According to Russia Today, Syrian rebels have obtained chemical weapons from Libya and are planning on using them on civilians, and then blaming it on Assad. This is an effort between the Syrian rebels and their allies in Turkey, alongside cooperation with Libyan rebels under Abdel Hakim bel Haj.</blockquote>
<center>
<big>Does the name Michael Maloof ring a bell?</big></center>
While Hersh doesn't tell us who <i>"the former intelligence officer"</i> is, it does sound like it could very well be <b>Michael Maloof</b>, a former intelligence officer that writes on the neo-con website <b>WND</b>. With regards to the chemical attacks in Syria, he has been singing the same tune as Hersh. Or is it the other way round? For example, 6 months before Hersh's most recent offering, Maloof <a href="http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/truth-leaking-out-nerve-gas-points-to-rebels/#jPoFZ7iV7Q7KxkgY.99">wrote</a> in WND:
<blockquote>
Former U.S. intelligence analysts claim current intelligence analysts have told them Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was not responsible for the Aug. 21 poison gas attack on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, which killed 1,429 people, of whom more than 400 where children.
They claim the <i>“growing body of evidence”</i> reveals the incident was a pre-planned provocation by the Syrian opposition and its Saudi and Turkish supporters.
<i>“The aim is reported to have been to create the kind of incident that would bring the United States into the war,”</i> one former U.S. intelligence analysts said.</blockquote>
He also claims to have obtained classified documents that sound like the ones shown to Sy Hersh, <a href="http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/u-s-military-confirms-rebels-had-sarin/#8abpogppzfQqPaZE.99">saying</a>:
<blockquote>
in a classified document just obtained by WND, the U.S. military confirms that sarin was confiscated earlier this year from members of the Jabhat al-Nusra Front, the most influential of the rebel Islamists fighting in Syria.
The document says sarin from al-Qaida in Iraq made its way into Turkey and that while some was seized, more could have been used in an attack last March on civilians and Syrian military soldiers in Aleppo.</blockquote>
If Michael Maloof is <i>"the former intelligence officer"</i> that has been informing him, Sy Hersh has good reason for keeping his identity a secret. Michael Maloof was a Pentagon intelligence officer and part of a two-man team created after 9/11 to find links between al-Qaeda and Iraq. He had his security clearance revoked [Burn Notice?] in 2003 amidst allegations that he was involved with a Lebanese-American businessman, <b>Imad El Haje</b>, in a gun-running scheme to supply a West African civil war. Imad El Haje also <i>"approached Maloof on behalf of Syria to seek help in arranging a communications channel between Syria and the Defense Department"</i> eleven years ago. <a href="http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5165.htm">According</a> to <b>Warren P. Strobel</b> of <b>Knight Ridder Newspapers</b>, 6 Nov 2003:
<blockquote>
Those close to him contend that his clearances were pulled in retaliation for challenging the official assessment that there were no operational terrorist links between al-Qaida and Iraq.</blockquote>
So we can see that Maloof's love of conspiracy theories goes way back. But it gets worst than that because Maloof tell us who his source is and he names none other than <b>Ray McGovern</b>, a former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, and his <b>Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)</b>. I debunked their theories on how Assad didn't do it and the rebels gassed themselves in my blog post <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/my-dare-to-ray-mcgovern-vips-on-syria.html"><b>My dare to Ray McGovern & VIPS on Syria CW attack</b></a> 7 Sept 2013, and in <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/secret-intel-source-of-ray-mcgovern.html"><b>Secret Intel Source of Ray McGovern & VIPS Revealed!</b></a>, 11 Sept 2013, I show that their theory was plagiarized from one Yossef Bodansky who, <a href="http://mobile.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/09/10/how_assad_wooed_the_american_right_and_won_the_syria_propaganda_war">as it turns out</a>, is an ally of Bashar al-Assad's uncle, <b>Rifaat al-Assad</b>. Is this the ultimate source of Sy Hersh's exclusive intel?
Many others have critiqued Sy Hersh's latest piece, among the best are:
From <b>EA Worldview</b>
<a href="http://eaworldview.com/2014/04/syria-hersh-chemical-weapons-conspiracy-insurgents/">There is No Chemical Weapons Conspiracy — Dissecting Hersh’s “Exclusive”</a> by Scott Lucas 8 April 2014
<a href="http://eaworldview.com/2014/04/syria-special-dissecting-hershs-insurgents-chemical-weapons-attacks-sequel/">Dissecting Hersh’s “Insurgents Did Chemical Weapons Attacks” — A Sequel</a> by Scott Lucas 8 April 2014
From <b>Brown Moses Blog</b>
<a href="http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2014/04/seymour-hershs-volcano-problem.html">Seymour Hersh's Volcano Problem</a> by Eliot Higgins 7 April 2014
<a href="http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-does-seymour-hersh-knows-about.html">What Does Seymour Hersh Knows About Volcano Rockets?</a> by Eliot Higgins 7 April 2014
From <b>War in Context</b>
<a href="http://warincontext.org/2014/04/06/seymour-hershs-alternate-reality/">Seymour Hersh’s alternate reality</a> by Paul Woodward 6 April 2014
<a href="http://warincontext.org/2014/04/07/does-seymour-hersh-understand-how-hexamine-fits-into-syrian-sarin/">Does Seymour Hersh understand how hexamine fits into Syrian sarin?</a> by Paul Woodward 7 April 2014
Seymour Hersh as Dorian Gray by Louis Proyect 9 April 2014
From <b>Arms Control Wonk</b>
<a href="http://guests.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/4329/turkeys-syria-policy-why-seymour-hersh-got-it-wrong">Turkey’s Syria Policy: Why Seymour Hersh Got it Wrong</a> by Stein 8 April 2014
From <b>NOW</b>
<a href="https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentaryanalysis/542509-hersh-and-the-red-herring">Hersh and the Red Herring by Dan Kaszeta</a> 8 April 2014
My blogs on Assad's use of CW in Syria:
<ul>
<li><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/12/whose-seymour-hersh.html">Whose Seymour Hersh? </a></li>
<li><a class="GCUXF0KCPB" href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2014/03/un-assad-sarin-used-in-attacks-lefts.html">UN: Assad sarin used in attacks | The Left's response?</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-obama-has-supported-assads-gas.html">How Obama has supported Assad's gas murder always</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/10/why-return-of-chemical-weapons-is-big.html">Why the return of chemical weapons is a big deal </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-courage-of-ghouta-in-craven-world_7.html">The Courage of Ghouta in a Craven World</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/where-robert-fisks-defence-of-assad.html">Where Robert Fisk's defense of Assad falls down </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/more-on-ex-journalist-robert-fisks.html">More on ex-journalist Robert Fisk's defense of Assad </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/mint-press-exposed-as-assad-apologist.html">Mint Press exposed as Assad apologist, AntiWar.com apologizes </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/un-hints-assad-used-russian-rockets-in.html">UN hints Assad used Russian rockets in sarin gas attack </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/breaking-new-chemical-attack-reported.html">BREAKING: New Chemical Attack reported in Syria</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/secret-intel-source-of-ray-mcgovern.html">Secret Intel Source of Ray McGovern & VIPS Revealed! </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-did-assad-regime-first-deny-cw.html">Why did Assad Regime first Deny CW Attack if Blameless? </a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/witness-to-cw-attack-when-paradise.html">Witness to CW Attack: When Paradise turned to Hell.</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/media-body-count-games-less-than-500-or.html">Media Body Count Games: Less than 500 or 110,000?</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/dr-zaher-sahloul-on-cw-attacks-in-syria.html">Dr. Zaher Sahloul on the CW Attacks in Syria</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-would-assad-use-cw-with-un.html">Why would Assad use CW with UN Inspectors in Syria?</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/my-dare-to-ray-mcgovern-vips-on-syria.html">My dare to Ray McGovern & VIPS on Syria CW attack</a></li>
<li> <b><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/who-used-sarin-in-syria.html">Who Used Sarin in Syria?</a></b></li>
<li> <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/08/assad-knows-chemical-attacks-kill.html" style="color: #436590; text-decoration: none;">Assad Knows: Chemical Attacks Kill Children First!</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/08/1300-dead-after-obama-green-lights-new.html" style="color: #436590; text-decoration: none;">1300+ Dead after Obama "Green-lights" new CW attack in Syria</a> </li>
</ul>
<center>
<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></center>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-73410858119596542292015-03-09T18:50:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.378-07:00How Noam Chomsky cleans up Mummar Qaddafi
<blockquote>
شهداء وجرحي معركة اجدابيا اطفال وابرياء قتلهم القدافي</blockquote>
<blockquote>
http://foreignpolicy.com/2011/04/04/top-5-reasons-we-keep-fighting-all-these-wars/ Steve Walt argued in FP
<blockquote>
[Gaddafi’s] forces certainly harmed innocents while defeating rebels in urban areas, as U.S. forces have done in Iraq and Afghanistan. And he did threaten "no mercy" in Benghazi, but Gadhafi directed this threat only at rebels to persuade them to flee. Despite ubiquitous cellphone cameras, there are no images of genocidal violence, a claim that smacks of rebel propaganda. </blockquote>
On 15 March 2011, government forces advancing from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brega" title="Brega">Brega</a> (which they had captured just a few hours earlier) hit Ajdabiya with a rolling <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artillery" title="Artillery">artillery</a> barrage. Air and naval strikes also hit the city. The city had been subjected to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airstrike" title="Airstrike">airstrikes</a> for the previous three days. Rebels had stated on 13 March, that they would defend the city to the death. However, as soon as the attack started, all of the rebel forces that were not local (from Ajdabiya) were in full retreat, with some of the civilian population, toward Benghazi. Following the artillery strikes, loyalist ground troops attacked. The rebels had expected the loyalists to come in from the west, and they did. However, another separate government force had outflanked the rebels and attacked the city from the south. The loyalists quickly overran the western rebel defences and took the western gate into the city. Also, government soldiers had taken the eastern gate of the city, preventing any more rebels from retreating toward Benghazi. The city was surrounded and the junction at Ajdabiya was under government control, opening the way for them to Benghazi. After the encirclement was complete, government <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_battle_tank" title="Main battle tank">battle tanks</a> went into Ajdabiya all the way to the city center. They encountered the rebel remnants and street fighting ensued. While the fighting was going on in the streets, two old rebel air-attack fighters, sent from Benghazi, attacked the government naval ships that had been pounding the city from the sea. According to independent news sources, only one ship was hit, while the rebels claimed they hit three warships, of which two sank. After a few hours, most of the city was under government control, however, in order to avoid surprise attacks by hidden rebels during the night, the tanks retreated to the outskirts of the city. The rebels thought they had won. However, just before midnight, a new round of artillery fire hit Ajdabiya, coming from the loyalist forces that were all around the town.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-autogenerated1_11-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ajdabiya#cite_note-autogenerated1-11">[11]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ajdabiya#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ajdabiya#cite_note-23">[23]</a></sup>
On 16 March, fighting continued with neither side having the upper hand in the battle or in full control of the town.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ajdabiya#cite_note-24">[24]</a></sup> Government forces returning from the front said in interviews that rebel resistance was fierce. During the day, a force of rebel reinforcements, coming from Benghazi, came to within a few kilometers from the eastern entrance to the city before they were engaged by loyalist troops. They made a small corridor to link up Benghazi with Ajdabiya, but pro-Gaddafi troops still had a strong presence on the eastern outskirts of the city. Also, rebels had managed to retake the southern entrance to the city, while the western entrance was still under government control. Three rebel helicopters had attacked pro-Gaddafi forces on the highway at the west entrance where they were preparing for a final push into the city with more weapons, ammunition and troop reinforcements coming in from Sirte.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-fox4now1_10-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ajdabiya#cite_note-fox4now1-10">[10]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ajdabiya#cite_note-25">[25]</a></sup>
Just after midnight on 17 March, government troops attacked the southern gate of the city. After three hours of fighting they had retaken it. Later during the morning loyalist forces closed the corridor on the eastern side of the city. With this, the city was once again firmly surrounded. While the fighting was going on in Ajdabiya, more government troops landed from the sea, in an amphibious attack, at the small oil port town of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuwetina" title="Zuwetina">Zuwetina</a>, that is to the north on the road between Ajdabiya and Benghazi. The town fell quickly to loyalist forces.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ajdabiya#cite_note-26">[26]</a></sup> However, rebel leaders claimed that they had surrounded the government landing force and were engaging them.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ajdabiya#cite_note-27">[27]</a></sup> The next day the rebels claimed, several of their fighters, along with a number of civilians, were killed and 20 government soldiers captured in fighting at the port.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ajdabiya#cite_note-28">[28]</a></sup></blockquote>
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-03-18/un-clears-way-for-libya-no-fly-zone/2652494
<blockquote>
Updated 17 Mar 2011, 6:36pm
The United Nations Security Council has cleared the way for air strikes to halt Moamar Gaddafi's offensive against embattled rebel forces in Libya, with the first bombing raids possible within hours.
It approved a resolution permitting "all necessary measures" to impose a no-fly zone, protect civilian areas and impose a ceasefire on Mr Gaddafi's military.
...
The vote comes as Mr Gaddafi told Libyan rebels that his armed forces were coming to their capital Benghazi tonight and would not show any mercy to fighters who resisted them.
...
Residents in Benghazi said the Libyan air force had unleashed three air raids on the city of 670,000 and there had been fierce fighting along the Mediterranean coastal road.
Mr Gaddafi had warned those who resisted would be shown no mercy.
"We will come, zenga, zenga. House by house, room by room," Mr Gaddafi said in a radio address to the eastern city.
He warned that only those who lay down their arms would be spared vengeance to be exacted on "rats and dogs".</blockquote>
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/world/africa/18libya.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
<blockquote>
“We are coming tonight,” Colonel Qaddafi said. “You will come out from inside. Prepare yourselves from tonight. We will find you in your closets.”
Speaking on a call-in radio show, he promised amnesty for those “who throw their weapons away” but “no mercy or compassion” for those who fight. </blockquote>
17 March 2011 Saif el-Islam Qaddafi in interview with French TV:
“Military operations are over. Within 48 hours everything will be finished. Our forces are almost in Benghazi. Whatever the decision, it will be too late.”
27 March 2011, Human Rights Watch’s <a class="fp_red" href="http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/85856/the-speed-paradox" target="_blank">Tom Malinowski</a>: Washington director of Human Rights Watch.
<blockquote>
[W]e should acknowledge what could be happening in eastern Libya right now had Qaddafi’s forces continued their march. The dozens of burned out tanks, rocket launchers, and missiles bombed at the eleventh hour on the road to Benghazi would have devastated the rebel stronghold if Qaddafi’s forces had been able to unleash them indiscriminately, as they did in other, smaller rebel-held towns, like Zawiyah, Misrata, and Adjabiya. Qaddafi’s long track-record of arresting, torturing, disappearing, and killing his political opponents to maintain control suggests that had he recaptured the east, a similar fate would have awaited those who supported the opposition there. Over a hundred thousand Libyans already fled to Egypt fearing Qaddafi’s assault; hundreds of thousands more could have followed if the east had fallen. The remaining population, and those living in refugee camps abroad, would have felt betrayed by the West, which groups like Al Qaeda would undoubtedly have tried to exploit. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/15/libya-cluster-munitions-strike-misrata">Libya: Cluster Munitions Strike Misrata</a> 4/15/11
Human Rights Watch Witnesses Attack Into Residential Area
(New York) - Government forces loyal to the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, have fired cluster munitions into residential areas in the western city of Misrata, posing a grave risk to civilians, Human Rights Watch said today.
</blockquote>
I point out that the <a href="http://rt.com/news/line/2011-04-20/#id8355">UN</a>, the <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/05/201154143536127689.html">ICC</a>, <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/15/libya-cluster-munitions-strike-misrata">HRW</a> as well as numerous eye witnesses and reporters say that cluster munitions have been used on the civilian population of Misrata.
YT:Gaddafi's War Crimes in Ajdabiya, Libya. March 26, 2011.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlJxmoDpkRg&bpctr=1425486480
YT:Brave Libyans Face Gaddafi's Tank in Benghazi, Mar. 19, 2011. بنغازي
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sRqj8GwtW0
YT:Gaddafi's Forces Advance to Benghazi Before They Got Bombed, Mar. 19, 2011.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKv7lqjBAt4
Uploaded on Mar 24, 2011
This video was taken as Gaddafi's forces were advancing to take the city of Benghazi (Libya) on March 19, 2011. The convoy is shown in the area between Gmenis and Tika. The video was confiscated from a captured soldier who was with Gaddafi's military convoy. Later that evening, the French air force bombed Gaddafi's troops and saved the city from a total annihilation.
YT:Gaddafi's Military Convoy After the French Attack Near Benghazi (Libya), March 20, 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1iHgz-f_10
YT:Precision Bombing by French Air Force of Gaddafi's Military Convoy, Gymenis (Libya), Mar. 19, 2011.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZoj7MzPZ40
<span class="reference-text"><span class="citation news"><a class="external text" href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/18/3167294.htm" rel="nofollow">"UN clears way for Libyan no-fly zone"</a>. 18 Mar 2011.</span></span>
<span class="reference-text"><span class="citation news"><a class="external text" href="http://www.dawn.com/2011/03/25/nato-to-enforce-no-fly-zone-over-libya.html" rel="nofollow">"Nato takes control of enforcing Libya no-fly zone"</a>. 25 March 2011<span class="reference-accessdate">. </span></span></span>
<blockquote>
YT:More Than 200 Executed by Gaddafi Mercenaries in Tripoli (Libya) Aug. 21, 2011 طرابلس
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGFD3Z8uw7U
YT:Gaddafi's Mass Grave: 700 Dead Bodies Found in Gargerish, Tripoli, Oct. 5, 2011. طرابلس
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPlmjBTLlPY
YT:A Libyan Freedom Fighter Burned Alive for Not Saying Gaddafi is King of Kings (June 2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiIuxYiGQlA
</blockquote>
This is from <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2015/3/3/noam_chomsky_to_deal_with_isis#">Democracy Now</a> on Tuesday:
<blockquote>
<b>AARON MATÉ:</b> You spoke before about how the U.S. invasion set off the Sunni-Shia conflict in Iraq, and out of that came ISIS. I wonder if you see a parallel in Libya, where the U.S. and NATO had a mandate to stop a potential massacre in Benghazi, but then went much further than a no-fly zone and helped topple Gaddafi. And now, four years later, we have ISIS in Libya, and they’re beheading Coptic Christians, Egypt now bombing. And with the U.S. debating this expansive war measure, Libya could be next on the U.S. target list.
<b>NOAM CHOMSKY:</b> Well, that’s a very important analogy. What happened is, as you say, there was a claim that there might be a massacre in Benghazi, and in response to that, there was a U.N. resolution, which had several elements. One, a call for a ceasefire and negotiations, which apparently Gaddafi accepted. Another was a no-fly zone, OK, to stop attacks on Benghazi. The three traditional imperial powers—Britain, France and the United States—immediately violated the resolution. No diplomacy, no ceasefire. They immediately became the air force of the rebel forces. And, in fact, the war itself had plenty of brutality—violent militias, attacks on Africans living in Libya, all sorts of things. The end result is just to tear Libya to shreds. By now, it’s torn between two major warring militias, many other small ones. It’s gotten to the point where they can’t even export their main export, oil. It’s just a disaster, total disaster. That’s what happens when you strike vulnerable systems, as I said, with a sledgehammer. All kind of horrible things can happen.</blockquote>
YT:Gaddafi's Ukrainian Snipers Caught in Abu-Salim Neighbourhood (Tripoli, Libya), Aug. 25, 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xC2k22absQ
YT:Mercenaries from Chad, Niger, Mali, and Sudan Captured in Zliten, Libya, Aug. 9, 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3oBeCGCRlA
YT:Gaddafi's African Mercenaries from Chad & Mali, (Nafusa Mountain, Libya), July 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOTJwz_W2s0
YT:Mass Grave: Gaddafi Hides Bodies From His War Crimes, Joudayam (Libya) May 10, 2011 الزاوية
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAyP_lXKLVE
YT:Some Civilians Bombed By Gaddafi's Forces in Misurata (Libya), May 1, 2011. مصراته
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihyeW3F5Eik
YT:Gaddafi & Sons' Forces Massacre in Jalu, Libya on April 30, 2011. جالو
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ml8HB5vsrQ
http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2011/04/doha-summit-supports-libyan-rebels_7476.html
YT:Gaddafi's Forces Use Banned Cluster Bombs in Misurata, Libya (Apr. 16, 2011) مصراتة
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnN47Ls48vg
YT:Libyan Soldiers Loyal to Citizens Burnt by Gaddafi in February, 2011.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcX1W1bIFG0&bpctr=1425488070
Uploaded on Feb 21, 2011
Tyrant Gaddafi burnt soldiers in Benghazi, Libya who refused his orders to attack innocent citizens in Libya. About 60 were burnt with a military flame blower.
The hysterical crying of men can be heard.
http://observers.france24.com/content/20110222-charred-bodies-found-barracks-Benghazi-libya-Gaddafi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sPZA5E7DLY
After Gaddafi's forces shelled and bombed the city of Ajdabiya killing hundreds and as he approached Benghazi with the stated intention to doing the same to this city of over a million,
The rebels want NATO's help in building a free and independent Libya whereas NATO wants another North African regime that is in their pocket. Most likely this explains why they have been slow to respond to Gaddafi's merciless shelling of Misrata. They have been attacks on rebel forces or the shooting down by NATO of one of the few ancient MIGs the rebels have managed to make airworthy.
Difference on just how to play the rebels was no doubt also behind the differences among NATO allies that came out at today's Doha conference.
www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/26/libya-rebels-ajdabiya-gaddafi-loyalists
http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2011/04/doha-summit-supports-libyan-rebels_7476.html 4/13/2011
This was the view expressed at the conference by Qatar's Sheik Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani when <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/04/13/1127369/libyan-rebels-urge-stronger-us.html">he said</a><i> "And what are the rebels except civilians who have taken up arms to defend themselves in a difficult situation and an uneven battle?"</i>
Earlier this week an <a href="http://wlcentral.org/node/1642">African Union delegation</a> of five, led by South Africa's president Jacob Zuma, attempted to broker a ceasefire and a peace deal. Their 'road map' received Gaddafi's blessing because it allowed him to stay in power however it was nixed by the rebels for the same reason. Most in the opposition now see Gaddafi as a bad faith actor who can only be trusted to bring down a reign of terror on any opposition if he is allowed to remain in power and gain the upper hand. Even while he said that he was accepting the African Union peace plan, <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_libya">he continued his artillery and rocket attacks</a> against Misrata on Monday, a city he has had under siege for six weeks <i>"where conditions for civilians are said to be desperate."</i>
http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/french-jets-destroy-tanks-vehicles-1.1044348#.VPgCwzVVKlM
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/03/2011317645549498.html
<time datetime="17 Mar 2011 20:07 GMT">17 Mar 2011 20:07 GMT</time>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Air strikes have been reported from the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, and fierce clashes elsewhere, as forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi continued their offensive against opposition forces.
In a radio address on Thursday, Gaddafi called pro-democracy fighters in Benghazi "armed gangsters" and urged residents to attack them.
"You all go out and cleanse the city of Benghazi," he said.
"We will track them down, and search for them, alley by alley, road by road ... Massive waves of people will be crawling out to rescue the people of Benghazi, who are calling out for help, asking us to rescue them. We should come to their rescue."</blockquote>
http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2011/04/current-events-in-libya_3141.html
www.nbcnews.com/id/42164455/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa#.VPdg_TVVKlM
President Barack Obama said from Brazil, where he is starting a five-day visit to Latin America. "We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy."
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Earlier Saturday in Libya, Gadhafi's troops pushed into the outskirts of Benghazi after a unilateral cease-fire declared by his government failed to materialize, prompting western leaders meeting in Paris to announce the start of military intervention. </blockquote>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-78217797543441679822015-02-06T18:31:00.000-08:002015-08-04T19:47:40.393-07:00On Democracy Now today: Amy sends another Valentine to BasharThis is what Amy Goodman <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.democracynow.org/2015/2/6/headlines#268">had to say</a> about yesterday's carnage in Syria on <b>Democracy Now</b> this morning:
<blockquote>
Scores of people were killed in and around the Syrian capital of Damascus on Thursday when rebels fired a barrage of rockets into several neighborhoods and government warplanes bombed opposition-held areas.</blockquote>
Other than the fact that she has the rebels attacking neighborhoods and the regime attacking military positions, the report sounds pretty even handed. So why do I say this is pro-Assad propaganda? Because according to a more detailed report from <b>EAWorldView</b>, yesterday was one of Assad's bloodiest. 130 people were killed by the Assad regime while 6 may have been were killed by the rebel rockets Amy chose to highlight. This is typical of <b>Democracy Now's</b> shameful reporting on Syria and why I say <i>"even-handed"</i> Amy's reports on Syria are Valentines to Bashar. As Desmond Tutu famously said <i>"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."</i>
This is how <b>EAWorldView</b> <a href="http://eaworldview.com/2015/02/syria-daily-insurgents-attack-damascus-regime-kills-130-elsewhere/">reported</a> yesterday's deaths in Syria:
<blockquote>
In one of the deadliest days in Syria in months, regime operations killed more than 130 people — most of them civilians — while insurgents launched more than 100 rockets into Damascus.
The headline developments were in the capital, with the faction Jaish al-Islam firing the rockets towards military positions in southern Damascus and the regime using mortars in its own attacks, apparently seeking to discredit the insurgency. State media said at least six civilians died and scores were wounded, without giving further details of the locations.
However, almost all the deaths were from regime operations elsewhere. Even as the insurgents said they were attacking Damascus in response to Syrian airstrikes on civilians in the East Ghouta area near the capital, the bombing continued. More than 40 airstrikes were carried out on Douma, northeast of Damascus, with other deadly aerial, artillery, and mortar assaults nearby.
The Local Coordinating Committees said at least 76 people were killed and hundreds wounded in East Ghouta on Thursday. The Douma attacks left 29 dead, and another 29, mostly women and children, were killed by five airstrikes on a public market in Kafar Batna.</blockquote>
Of course, it would be highly embarrassing and quite out character for Amy to report on deaths from regime airstrikes in East Ghouta yesterday because at the time of Assad's sarin attack on East Ghouta on 21, August 2013, the only time such attacks made it to the mainstream media, Amy <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-alan-grayson-sarah-palin-are.html">paraded</a> one <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/12/whose-seymour-hersh.html">conspiracy theory</a> after <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-would-assad-use-cw-with-un.html">another</a> on <b>Democracy Now</b> to explain how Assad was being framed for the chemical deaths and those alibis look like cover stories for mass murder once it is revealed that Assad was attacking East Ghouta for many months with conventional bombs before he turned to sarin, and is still bombing and killing in East Ghouta, with conventional bombs more than a year later.
So of course, no comment from Amy.
<center>
<b>While Victoria has her Secrets, <a href="https://twitter.com/arabthomness/status/563738446582521857">this</a> bombardment of Douma is one of Amy's <i>"unmentionables."</i></b></center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6KJhMHslW2U?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Video Published on Feb 6, 2015</span></span>
<center>
<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></center>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-7184694621124273912015-01-27T18:30:00.000-08:002015-08-04T19:47:40.370-07:00With Left support, Assad continues to kill in East Ghouta<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Syrian Lives Don't Matter</b></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
This could be the sad assessment of world inaction while more that two hundred thousand Syrians have been massacred in less than four years. This has also been the silent banner of much of the Left and the so-called Peace and Just Us movement that has been quick to rush to the defense of Bashar and blame the carnage on NATO somehow. Over a year ago Assad got called out for killing with sarin after he used it on a massive scale just outside of Damascus. He then made a deal with NATO that saw him give up his chemical weapons but continue to kill with chlorine gas and everything else in his arsenal with impunity.
Eight months ago, I sat in an audience at USC and <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2014/05/david-swansons-dream.html">listened to David Swanson ridicule</a> the idea that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the chemical deaths of over 1400 people in East Ghouta. He and others who took this pro-Assad stand, probably hadn't heard of East Ghouta before the sarin attack and haven't been following the struggle there since. They just popped up to throw smoke in the air after Assad's sarin attack because that attack made international headlines. Swanson didn't mention that Assad had been killing the people of East Ghouta with conventional bombardment for more than a year before that and he probably could care less that East Ghouta remains unconquered now and Assad is still killing there big time. Nevermind. On Saturday we received <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SyrianAmericanMedicalSociety/photos/a.258039294245879.57539.187820854601057/791680937548376/?type=1">this report</a> from the Syrian American Medical Society [SAMS]:
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">More than 30 people, including 6 children, were killed in airstrikes from Syrian government planes in the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus yesterday. At the same time, Eastern Ghouta continues to experience a deadly siege - food, water, heat, and electricity are rarely available.</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SAMS is proud to support critical field hospitals, ICUs, and birth centers inside Eastern Ghouta. These doctors are among 12 we support in one field hospital, performing lifesaving emergency surgeries. In December alone, the doctors in their field hospital saw 716 trauma cases and performed over 240 surgeries.</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Join these brave doctors, and help give the citizens of Eastern Ghouta and the citizens of Syria hope: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SyrianAmericanMedicalSociety/photos/a.258039294245879.57539.187820854601057/791680937548376/?type=1">http://bit.ly/1pmh8ZR</a></span></blockquote>
Assad's slaughter in Syria continues to be ignored today, even as US war planes join him in bombing his adversaries. The Media still spikes the stories and the Left all but ignores them, and for all the coverage of ISIS you might be forgiven for thinking that the jihadists are the biggest threat to civilian life and liberty in Syria, but that is far from the case, as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheSyriaCampaign/photos/a.608812989210718.1073741828.607756062649744/781545348604147/?type=1&theater?test2">this chart</a> produced by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheSyriaCampaign?fref=photo">The Syria Campaign</a> too graphically illustrates:
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcUwcAD_8PUzO-hnTH2_V0cXPX9M8GLvZ_Ib97jS0nUeRnHb2b60fnDPTN4ArxqjXb5eJxOE3XFYhJu0G6027cR7zF-BhmsLXk80-ncEyIbH8sNmNjfLnasddxlVMjV38wZY4OGUsaJJw/s1600/Syria-Campaign-graph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcUwcAD_8PUzO-hnTH2_V0cXPX9M8GLvZ_Ib97jS0nUeRnHb2b60fnDPTN4ArxqjXb5eJxOE3XFYhJu0G6027cR7zF-BhmsLXk80-ncEyIbH8sNmNjfLnasddxlVMjV38wZY4OGUsaJJw/s640/Syria-Campaign-graph.jpg" /></a></div>
The regime of Bashar al-Assad may still have its friends on the Left, and it may not be the main enemy of Obama and NATO in Syria but it remains the main enemy of the Syria people and the main obstacle to peace in Syria and Iraq. Ignoring this reality is precisely what has led to the sorry state of affairs we see in the region today.
<center>
<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></center>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-76608316556004556872014-11-29T22:26:00.000-08:002015-08-04T19:47:40.389-07:00Yassin al-Haj Saleh: “The International left is suffering a major crisis”Republished from <a href="http://www.socialistcore.org/?p=493">Socialist Core, November 29, 2014</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Interview with Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Syrian writer and
activist. Bashar al-Assad’s political prisoner for 16 years between 1980
and 1996. He has been living in Istanbul this last year. Interview
conducted by <i>Lucha Internacionalista</i> (Internationalist Fight – LI) from the Spanish State and <i>İşçi Demokrasisi Partisi </i>(Workers Democracy Party – IDP) from Turkey.</b><br />
<br />
<b>IDP/LI:</b> Obama threatens to attack the ISIS in Syria …
and the Assad regime greets him offering itself as an ally of the West
against terror. Iran plays in the same way.<br />
<br />
<b>YH:</b> I’ve always thought that the best way to act
against the ISIS was helping Syrians against the Assad regime. Not only
because the regime is tyrannical and sectarian, but because it actually
is a terrorist regime, which uses the jihadists fascist groups and
manipulated them in Iraq and Lebanon in the years before the Syrian
revolution. I see the plans of Western attacks on ISIS — without helping
the Syrians against Assad, without addressing the political and social
roots of the struggle Syria — as another betrayal of our people, after
three years asking for help against the criminal regime. We must not
forget the shameful reaction of the West after the chemical slaughter a
year ago. The ISIS, with their inhuman ways, has capitalized much on
this way of treating such a heinous crime.<br />
<br />
<b>IDP/LI:</b> How can you explain the rapid growth of ISIS? What role did it play in the 5th column of the Syrian revolution?<br />
<br />
<b>YH: </b>There is no simple explanation for its growth.
First, they have increased the nihilistic tendencies in the
consciousness of many Syrians (and Iraqi). It’s the result of long
injustices and lack of confidence in the global institution. Second, the
ISIS has a project, a kind of “nation building”, applied with a
ruthless determination.<br />
<br />
Third, the Assad regime was glad of the rise of ISIS, an
ultra-extremist entity that lends credibility to his discourse of
fighting terrorism. It is a known fact that currently the regime
avoidsthe ISIS, attacking only the resistance against the regime.<br />
<br />
The ISIS, many of whose members were Iraqi Ba’athists, is beneficial
to the regime because it is a killing machine, although less effective
than the Assad regime, it matches and surpasses it in the brutality and
in the spectacular nature of their crimes. It destroys the popular
movements, abducts or murders activists against the regime, and this is
the only thing in the world that one can justifiably say that it is
worse than the regime itself.<br />
<br />
<b>IDP/LI:</b> Three years after the start of the
revolution, many political groups claim that the revolution turned into a
sectarian civil war. Do you agree with this idea? How do you consider
the current situation of the Syrian revolution?<br />
<br />
<b>YH:</b> It is true that there isa large sectarian
element in the Syrian struggle, which has increased its presence in the
last two years. But the world of sects is not separate from world of
classes. Sectarianism in my view is a class ideology, not an ideology of
identity.<br />
<br />
It is a tool to divide the popular movements and to protect the
social and political system established on the basis of privilege and
monopoly of power and wealth. This is true for the regime, but also for
certain groups fighting against it. They use sectarianism as a method to
mobilize people under their leadership.<br />
The situation now is very difficult. The national structure of the
fight collapsed in the past two years. We have Iranians, Lebanese,
Iraqis and others fighting the regime, and jihadists of many countries
fighting with ISIS. I think the role of the US is no less criminal than
that of Russia in planning the destruction of our country, and the role
of Israel is no less destructive than that of Iran. At the same time the
traditional opposition failed miserably when it was time to convey our
problems or at least to save the dignity of the people and the dignity
of the revolution.<br />
<br />
<b>IDP/LI:</b> It seems that resistance is concentrating in Aleppo. Is this true? What is the situation there?<br />
<br />
<b>YH</b>: Aleppo is important because it is the place with
the three factions of our struggle: the regime, ISIS, FSA and moderate
Islamic groups.<br />
<br />
It is also the country’s largest city. If the regime lost Aleppo
completely it would lose the argument that represents the unity of
Syria. It would seem that it would bring about a new era in Syria if
ISIS or the regime dominate Aleppo definitely. There are other fronts of
the fight in Deera, in the south. In eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, in
the province of Idlib not far from Aleppo, but the latter is vital for
the fate of the revolution and for any possible agreement in the future.<br />
<br />
<b>IDP/LI:</b> Are still alive the self-organizations such as the committees of the Syrian people that emerged with the revolution?<br />
<br />
<b>YH:</b> They suffered much in 2013 and 2014. Their
golden age was in 2011 and 2012. There was room for creative activities
in the levels of organization, protest, documentation, media coverage,
logistics, medical services, comfort, etc. But the dynamics of the
militarization led to a situation where these groups controlled military
activities, limiting civilians to a minimum. This benefited the fight
against the regime’s aggression, but they created power structures that
are not revolutionary.<br />
<br />
The fate of Razan Zeitoona, the famous and respected founder of the
Local Coordination Committees is exemplary at this level. Razan was
kidnapped by the Islamic Army in eastern Ghouta in December 2013. My
wife Samira al Khalil, Wael Hammada, husband of Razan, and lawyer and
activist Nazem Hammadi were abducted with Razan, without knowing
anything of them for a long time.<br />
<br />
<b>IDP/LI:</b> Comment on the role of the Syrian Kurds in the revolution.<br />
<br />
<b>YH:</b> It’s a contradictory role. The Kurdish military
power is worseenemy of Turkey than of the Syrian regime. They are
related with the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] in Turkey, the country
that myopically helped Islamic groups against the Kurds. Perhaps this
policy of the AKP [Justice and Development Party] government in Turkey
led to the arrival of thousands of jihadists to Syria.<br />
<br />
I mean to say that the Kurdish struggle in Turkey, one of the biggest
allies of the Syrian opposition, left a very bad image of the role of
Syrian Kurds in the revolution. There was never any confrontation
between the PYD [Democratic Union Party] and the regime. There are
isolationist elements in the policy of the PYD during the revolution.<br />
<br />
The right thing, in my opinion, is to make a broad alliance against
the regime and ISIS, with Kurds, Arabs and all, oriented towards the
liberation of Syria from both of them in order to build a new regime, in
which Arabs and Kurds are equal, as individuals and as ethnic groups.<br />
<br />
The greater the role of the Kurds in this struggle, the more they
will share in the future Syria. The problem is that the Kurds have not
sensitised themselveseitherto follow a pan-Kurd plan, that would keep
them together with the Kurds of Turkey and Iraq, or their own plan for
Syria, which could make common cause with other Syrians.<br />
<br />
<b>IDP/LI:</b> During the three years of the revolution,
the international left could not really build a solidarity network with
the Syrian revolution. However, while the revolution continues this
enormous task is pending. What are the tasks of the international left
to advance the Syrian revolution, what kind of specific international
campaigns can be built for the Syrian revolution?<br />
<br />
<b>YH:</b> I think that the international political left
suffers a great crisis that affects their vision of the world today,
their role, their self-awareness, their organization… The general
thinking of the left is conservative, outdated, if not reactionary. The
majority are satisfied with the positions against the US, with monsters
like Putin in Russia, Assad in Syria, the regime of the ayatollahs in
Tehran.<br />
<br />
They talk a lot against imperialism, but to my knowledge they
practically do nothing to help or even understand the persecuted
struggle against local oppressors or against imperialism and its
clients. What I find most despicable of the international left is that
they know nothing about Syria, about its history, about our struggle for
justice and freedom in the past.<br />
<br />
They always identified our country with the fascist regime of Assad,
and know very little about the regime. Do they know, for example, that
Bashar inherited his position as head of the ”Republic” from his brutal
father who ruled the country for 30 years? If this seems good, why don’t
they come to live under this cruel regime? In August 2013 they thought
their duty dictated they should be against America’s intentions to
punish the fascist regime that killed 1,466 people in one night. They
reassured the Obama administration at this time, in coordination with
“imperialist” Russia, agreeing that the criminal regime would be
disarmed of its chemical weapons, but would have international license
to kill Syrians with any other weapon. Their problem was not the war,
because this served to contain the revolution from day one, their
problem was with the punishment of the criminal.<br />
<br />
They didn’t see that the task was progressive and that the Americans
were looking for any excuse not to do so. As Syrian I find this position
as sordid and inhuman as the Obama administration position.<br />
Nor are they different from this administration. The latter
eliminated chemical weapons and allowed the regime to continue with its
murderous work, these leftists protested against an imaginary war,
against the criminal, and they never saw anything wrong with the
murderous regime! There are however some individuals and groups who
saved the dignity of the international left and represent the dignity of
the left. As Syrian and actor in this terrible struggle, I wanted to
express my deepest respect for them, in Turkey, Spain and other
countries.<br />
<br />
Interview by IDP and LI, Turkish and Spanish State sections of the IWU–FILinux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-41035544051408148752014-09-28T18:29:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.312-07:00The role of US Imperialism in Syria and the Left's DilemmaUS President Barack Obama's air war in Syria has been a long time in the making. I wrote about it more than 18 months ago in a blog post titled <b>Obama planning drone strikes against Assad's opposition in Syria</b>, 16 March 2013. I <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/03/obama-planning-drone-strikes-against.html">reported then</a>:
<blockquote>
From the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-cia-syria-20130316,0,3989647.story">LA Times today</a> we have breaking news that the Obama Administration is presently in the planning stages for direct US armed intervention into the Syrian civil war. The plan will be to intervene on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with a series of armed drone strikes against his opposition.
...
While drone strikes against Islamist militants fighting Assad may be taken in the name of saving US lives in some hypothetical future, they won't save any Syrian lives now or hinder Assad's massive <i>"Death from Above"</i> campaign against Syrian civilians. Actually, since al-Nustra has been most effective in relieving Assad of bases for his air operations and is attempting to implement a <i>"no-fly zone"</i> over Syria, any Obama attack against al-Nusra would certainly be most welcomed by the embattled Assad regime.</blockquote>
Now those strikes have come, the danger to US lives has been declared <i>"imminent,"</i> and not just drones are being used, but the whole range of the US air arsenal is being employed. I was <a href="http://notthesingularity.com/455/clay-claiborne-banned-from-daily-kos-for-speaking-truth-about-syria/">banned from blogging</a> at the <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/blog/clay%20claiborne">Daily Kos</a> for talk like that, but as I predicted, these strikes are against Assad's opposition, have not interfered with his own air campaign of bombing hospitals, schools and breadlines, and have been most heartily welcomed by the regime.
The same day Obama killed <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Sep-23/271641-eight-civilians-30-fighters-killed-in-us-led-strikes-on-nusra-front-in-syria-activists.ashx#ixzz3E8z2uYK4e">50 al Nusra militants</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RadioFreeSyria/posts/706573779427832">27 civilians</a>, including at least 6 children and 4 women, Assad continued his own devastating air campaign against those seeking to end his 42 year old dictatorship, and this US intervention was most welcomed by the Assad regime. The <b>New York Times</b> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/world/middleeast/clashing-goals-in-syria-strikes-put-us-in-fix.html?_r=0">reported</a>:
<blockquote>
A Syrian diplomat crowed to a pro-government newspaper that <i>“the U.S. military leadership is now fighting in the same trenches with the Syrian generals, in a war on terrorism inside Syria.”</i> And in New York, the new Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, said in an interview that he had delivered a private message to Mr. Assad on behalf of Washington, reassuring him that the Syrian government was not the target of American-led air strikes.
...
<i>“Of course coordination exists,”</i> said a pro-government Syrian journalist speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, who had criticized the prospect of the strikes but turned practically jubilant once they began. <i>“How else do you explain the strikes on Nusra?”</i></blockquote>
Ali Haidar, Assad's minister for national reconciliation, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/24/us-syria-crisis-minister-idUSKCN0HJ19S20140924">told</a> <b>Reuters</b> on Wednesday:
<blockquote>
<i>"As for the raids in Syria, I say that what has happened so far is proceeding in the right direction in terms of informing the Syrian government and by not targeting Syrian military installations and not targeting civilians,"</i> he said.
<i>"Notification of the Syrian government happened,"</i> he said. <i>"Confirmation that they would not target Syrian military installations, and confirmation they would not target civilians happened."</i></blockquote>
Targeting civilians is what the Assad regime does best, and having been assured by Obama that US warplanes were not entering Syrian air space to interference with that, Assad has felt free to continue his own campaign of <i>"Death from Above."</i> <b>Reuters</b> <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/09/26/uk-mideast-crisis-oil-raids-idUKKCN0HL0D220140926">reported on Friday</a>
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Assad steps up bombing as West strikes militants in Syria</big></center>
U.S.-led forces hit Islamic State bases in eastern Syria on Friday and a monitoring group said the Syrian army had intensified its bombing campaign in the west. <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/09/26/uk-mideast-crisis-oil-raids-idUKKCN0HL0D220140926">More...</a></blockquote>
From <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe">Syrian Observatory for Human Rights</a></b> we get a more detailed look at what Assad's air force has been free to do as it shares its air space with the US allies. By the numbers:
<b>Tuesday 23 September 2014</b> On the day the US strikes started, this is what Assad's air force did:
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/586934101414932">[1]:</a> Aleppo Province: Helicopters dropped 2 barrel bombs onto areas near al Imam al Nawawi mosque in the neighborhood of Tariq al Bab leading to the injury of some people. Two other barrels were dropped onto the neighborhoods of Masaken Hanano and Jabal Badro in the east of Aleppo.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/586919738083035">[2]:</a> Idleb Province: Some surface-to-surface missiles struck areas in the city of Khan Sheikhon followed by the dropping of barrel bombs onto the city killing a man, his daughter and a woman while others were injured. Helicopters dropped barrel bombs onto areas in the town of Saraqeb with no information about casualties.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/586904001417942">[3]:</a> Helicopters dropped 5 barrel bombs onto areas in the west of Khan al Shih Camp and 5 barrels onto places in Bet Sayer in the Western Ghouta, casualties were reported in Bet Sayer.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/586834484758227">[4]:</a> Idleb Province: Warplanes carried out a raid on the town of Ma’er Zayta in the southern countryside of Idleb.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/586809574760718">[5]:</a> Warplanes carried out a raid on al Dokhaneyyi area and 9 raids on the Wastelands of al Qalamun.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/586792534762422">[6]:</a> Idleb Province: Warplanes carried out 3 raids on areas in the town of Khan al Sobol, 2 raids on the town of Madaya in the southern countryside, a raid on the outskirts of al Hbet town, a raid on the southern outskirts of Ma’arret al Nu’man, a raid on the town of al Rkaya and a raid on the town of Deir Sonbol leading to the killing of 2 children from the same family in Khan al Sobol. They also attacked areas in the town of al Taman’a.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/586791581429184">[7]:</a> Daraa Province: Warplanes carried out a raid on an area in the town of Kafar Nasej.
<b>Wednesday 24 September 2014</b>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/587465788028430">[8]:</a> Helicopters dropped barrel bombs onto areas in Handarat Camp. Two barrel bombs dropped near the Central Prison of Aleppo. A woman died while other were injured due to air raids launched on the town of Qbasin near the city of al Bab.
Most telling about the unity that has developed between the US air force and Assad's is that in one case the SOHR had to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/587443524697323">report:</a> <i>"It is unknown till the moment whether the aircrafts that attacked the area are affiliated to the Syrian regime or to the International-Arab Coalition." </i>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/587432728031736">[9]:</a> Deir Ezzor Province: Warplanes attacked areas in the village of al Shola with no information about casualties. They also carried out a raid in the vicinity of Deir Ezzor airbase.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/587416821366660">[10]:</a> Helicopters dropped 7 barrel bombs onto the city of al Rastan with no information about casualties.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/587270454714630">[11]:</a> Helicopters dropped 2 barrel bombs onto areas in the town of Allatamneh.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/587104414731234">[12]:</a> Helicopters dropped 4 explosive barrels on al-Zabdani, no reports of losses.
<b>Thursday 25 September 2014</b>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/587617804679895">[13]:</a> 8 civilians ( 3 children and a woman ), killed by aerial bombardment on Duma, a man killed by regime's bombardment on Duma, a woman killed by air strikes on Arbin, and a man from al-Abada town.
Apparently, in the first days of US air strikes, Assad didn't entirely trust the US promise that he could carry on with his usual routine. The SOHR <a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/587795524662123">reported:</a><i> "The provinces of Deir Ezzor, al Raqqa, al Hasaka, Homs, Aleppo and Idleb have witnessed a significant reduction in the regime’s aerial bombardment, where the rate of strikes has declined since the beginning of the International- Arab Coalition aerial strikes 2 days ago. There have been only few sorties during the last two days while aerial bombardment stopped completely in some provinces."</i> That changed as his confidence built that the US was not going to interfere with his carnage.
<b>Friday 26 September 2014</b>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588349971273345">[14]:</a> Homs Province: Helicopters dropped 4 barrel bombs onto the city of al Rastan causing the death of 7 people while others were injured.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588187541289588">[15]:</a> A man was killed by aerial bombardment on Ein Terma in eastern Ghouta.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588162437958765">[16]:</a> Homs Province: Helicopters dropped 4 barrel bombs onto the city of al Rastan causing the death of 5 men while 5 others at least were injured.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588099624631713">[17]:</a> Al Qunaytera Province: Warplanes carried out a raid on the town of Swisah in the southern countryside causing material damages to people’s properties. They also attacked areas in the villages and town of the countryside of al Qunaytera.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588099541298388">[18]:</a> Daraa Province: Helicopters dropped several barrel bombs onto areas in the town of Alma causing material damages to people’s properties, while 2 other barrels fell onto the town of Tafas and a barrel onto the town of Bosra al Harir killing a man and a woman in Tafas. Warplanes carried out a raid on Daraa al Balad in the city of Daraa and a raid on the town of Syada.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
The regime achievement in Daraya - Damascus Rif <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash">#Syria</a> <a href="http://t.co/zPV2RQJfMh">pic.twitter.com/zPV2RQJfMh</a>
— yalla souriya (@YallaSouriya) <a href="https://twitter.com/YallaSouriya/status/515421984944291840">September 26, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588086994632976">[19]:</a> Lattakia Province: Warplanes carried out 2 raids onto areas on the outskirts of Salma town and other areas in the villages of al Akrad Mountain.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588001851308157">[20]:</a> Rif Dimashq Province: Helicopters dropped 2 barrel bombs onto the city of al Zabadani yesterday night.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588000071308335">[21]:</a> Helicopters dropped yesterday night 2 barrel bombs onto the city of Ankhel and a barrel onto the town of Otman.
<b>Saturday 27 September 2014</b>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588675737907435">[22]:</a> Hama Province: Warplanes carried out raids onto the towns of Kafar Zayta and Allatamneh with no information about victims.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588764231231919">[23]:</a> Idleb Province: Warplanes carried out a raid on places near the town of Abo al Dohur and a raid on places on the road of al Debsheyyi- Abo al Dohur, amid bombardment on al Debsheyyi area by the regime forces. They also carried out a raid on the northern outskirts of the city of Khan Sheikhon.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588762897898719">[24]:</a> Helicopters dropped 2 barrel bombs onto areas in the town of Otman followed by launching shells on the town by the regime forces.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588755134566162">[25]:</a> Rif Dimashq Province: Warplanes carried out several raids on the Wasteland of the town of Qara.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588751547899854">[26]:</a> Deir Ezzor Province: Warplanes carried out 2 raids on the vicinity of the airbase of Deir Ezzor.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588750847899924">[27]:</a> Hama Province: Helicopters dropped barrel bombs onto areas in the village of al Masasnah in the northern countryside.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588742847900724">[28]:</a> Warplanes carried out a raid on an area in the city of al Bab in the east of Aleppo, initial information reported the injury of some people.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588678391240503">[29]:</a> Idleb Province: Aircrafts carried out 3 raids on the villages of al Taman’ah, al Hbet and Hafsarjeh as well as a raid on the northern neighborhood of the city of Ma’arret al N’man causing material damages to people’s properties.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588677304573945">[30]:</a> Deir Ezzor Province: Warplanes carried out 2 raids on the Granaries Area on the outskirts of al Husayneyyi as well as 2 raids on areas near the School and the Club in the city of Mo Hasan. They also strafed areas in the village of al Jnayneh.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588675737907435">[31]:</a> Hama Province: Warplanes carried out raids onto the towns of Kafar Zayta and Allatamneh with no information about victims.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588673321241010">[32]:</a> Daraa Province: Warplanes carried out a raid on an area on the town of Aqraba with no information about casualties. Helicopters dropped a barrel bomb onto the northern neighborhood of the city of Nawa, 2 barrels onto areas in the town of Deir al Adas, 2 barrel onto the northern neighborhood of the city of Bosra al Sham and 2 barrels onto the city of Ankel.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/588593167915692">[33]:</a> Helicopters dropped 4 barrel bombs onto the city of Darayya and 2 barrels onto the eastern mountain of the city of al Zabadani causing material damages. A woman died of wounds due to the regime’s bombardment on the city of Doma.
<b>Sunday 28 September 2014</b>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/syriahroe/posts/589119587863050">[34]:</a> Helicopters dropped 2 barrel bombs yesterday night onto the eastern mountain of al Zabadani city.
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<b>This happened before the first US bombs fell on Syria.</b>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash">#Syria</a> A bloody Sunday yesterday for Syrian children,SNHR has documented Sunday 21 September, 26 children get killed <a href="http://t.co/DYz4DMjhWz">pic.twitter.com/DYz4DMjhWz</a>
— Mahmoud Albasha (@Mahmoud_Bashaa) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mahmoud_Bashaa/status/514071008517820416">September 22, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<big>This is the daily slaughter that the US Media and the US Left have been ignoring for years.</big></center>
Assad could be finding it increasingly difficult to get his pilots to bomb their own people. Last month, he <a href="http://aranews.net/2014/08/pro-assad-forces-execute-military-pilots-refusing-orders/">executed three military pilots</a>, two of them Alawites, for refusing orders. This may be another reason he welcomes the intervention of US pilots who historically have shown few qualms about bombing foreigners.
The Obama may have intervened in Syria to fight <i>"terrorism"</i> but as we have seen from its assaults in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, the US has never considered aerial bombardment of civilians terrorism.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ANSWER & Code Pink Protest Syria Bombing at the White House | 9/24/2014</span></span></b></td></tr>
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Of course, these weren't the air strikes they were protesting. In more than three years, and two hundred thousand Syrian lives later, they have never seen the need to protest Assad's air strikes. In fact <b>ANSWER Coalition</b> has long been outspoken in its support for the Assad regime, and now <b>Code Pink</b> is standing with them.
With their pro-Qaddafi, pro-Assad, pro-Putin interpretation of anti-imperialism in the 21st century, and their demonization of all those who disagree with them, they have succeeded in reducing the anti-war movement to a shadow if its former self.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Washington, DC March against the Iraq War - 15 September 2007</span></span></b></td></tr>
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The <b>Free Syrian Army</b> and other opposition forces that have been under Assad's daily aerial bombardment for years have long pleaded with the NATO powers to provide them with modern air defense weapons so that they could put an end to Assad indiscriminate bombing campaigns. No such weapons have been forth coming. They were also terribly disappointed when Obama reneged on his promise to strike Assad if he used banned chemical weapons to increase his kill rate. Now that Obama has intervened in Syria on the side of the regime, they are speaking out against it.
Zaman al Wasl, founder of the FSA sees in Obama's intervention an attempt to crush the Syrian opposition and Syrian Arab Army defector, Colonel Raid al-Asaad, was downright pessimistic about Obama's <i>"War on Terror"</i> in Syria, <a href="https://www.zamanalwsl.net/en/news/6704.html">telling Zamam al-Wasl</a> the <i> "Syrian revolution will be eliminated under this pretext." </i>He should learn from the Vietnamese experience; that is more easily said than done.<i> </i>
The fact that Assad's supporters back Obama's intervention while his opposition opposes it, gives you the real skinny. <b>SYRIA:direct</b> <a href="http://syriadirect.org/rss/1580-syria-direct-news-update-9-24-14">said</a> 24 September 2014:
<blockquote>
Harakat Hazm, a moderate-leaning rebel coalition that has received aid from the United States, called the strikes an act of <i>“aggression towards national sovereignty</i>” in a press release widely <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hazzmmovement.offical/photos/a.244055095718447.1073741828.244048325719124/258835124240444/?type=1">circulated</a> Tuesday on social media websites.
Foreign intervention <i>“will harm the revolution, especially seeing as the international community continues to ignore revolutionary forces' calls for weapons,”</i> the group said, adding that <i>“the only side to benefit... is the Assad regime, without any real strategy to bring about its downfall.”</i></blockquote>
Even as the pro-government news network <b>Damascus Now</b> cheered on the US air strikes, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dimashq.now/posts/593394314">calling</a> this a historic moment, in which <i>“happiness was etched on the faces of the majority of Syrians, because they found international support towards eradicating a cancer which has been rooted in the diseased Syrian body,”</i> referring to the rebels.
<b>Michael Karadjis</b> <a href="http://links.org.au/node/4072">writes</a> in his well researched and very informative:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Syrian rebels overwhelmingly condemn
US bombing as an attack on revolution</big></center>
25 September 2014
...
In particular, given the grave situation in Aleppo, where the revolutionary forces are being jointly besieged from the south and the north-east by Assad and ISIS, the fact that the first US attacks were on JaN inside Aleppo – where JaN is playing an important role in the epic defense of the rebel-held, working-class, half of that city, alongside the FSA and other Islamist groups – is perhaps the most blatant attack on the revolution possible.
...
The Assad regime must be very pleased with having acquired for itself a new air force. <a href="http://links.org.au/node/4072">More...</a></blockquote>
These developments pose a serious dilemma for the US <i>"anti-imperialist"</i> Left that has long maintained that the Syrian rebels were a <i>"US backed" </i>attempt to overthrow one of the essential partners in the <i>"axis of resistance"</i> to US imperialism.
<b>Is the US Left going the way of the 9/11 Truth movement - increasingly irrelevant to anyone?
</b>
For years now it has largely ignored the growing conflict in Syria and when it has spoken out, it has been to oppose what it believed was US support of opposition to the Syrian government and military support for the rebels, but now, after three and a half years of conflict, when that military intervention comes in the familiar form of air strikes, and it is being welcomed by the regime and condemned by its opposition, there can be little doubt which side Obama is on.
A year ago they took to the streets, wrote their congresspeople and made as much noise as they could to oppose air strikes threaten against the Assad government for killing more than 1400 Syrians with sarin. Really they were demanding that Obama do what he intended to do all along, which was nothing. They spread 9/11 like conspiracy theories, but this time about how the government didn't do it. And when Qbama sent the matter to congress for a vote he knew he was going to lose, they hailed it as a great victory and a testimony to their growing strength.
18 months ago when I was blogging at the Daily Kos and saying that in spite of his fine words, Obama supported the Assad regime and was working to undermine the Syrian revolutionaries, that he was playing <i>"good cop"</i> to Putin's <i>"bad cop"</i>, I was roundly criticized. Now it must be becoming increasingly obvious, even to them, that by opposing the Syrian insurgency, the <i>"anti-imperialists"</i> have been supporting the imperialist game all along.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Why Now? US Airstrikes on Syria <a href="http://t.co/dmPhRSksgr">http://t.co/dmPhRSksgr</a> <a href="http://t.co/jIgKkkTwvN">pic.twitter.com/jIgKkkTwvN</a>
— Global Revolution TV (@GlobalRevLive) <a href="https://twitter.com/GlobalRevLive/status/515710315036549120">September 27, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Like I've been saying for a couple of years now:
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/09/barack-obama-courtship-of-bashar-al_4519.html">Barack Obama's Courtship of Bashar al-Assad</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/02/barack-obama-courtship-of-bashar-assad_6351.html">Barack Obama's Courtship of Bashar al-Assad Exposed!</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/08/updated-obama-lights-assad-slaughter-in_4655.html">Obama "green lights" Assad's slaughter in Syria</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-obama-helps-assad-us-tried-to-start.html">How Obama helps Assad: US tried to start war between FSA & al Nusra Front</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-obama-has-supported-assads-gas.html">How Obama has supported Assad's gas murder always</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/10/obamas-real-syria-policy-endless-war.html">Obama's Real Syria Policy: Endless War</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-courtship-continues-obama-stopped.html">The Courtship Continues: Obama stopped French strike on Assad</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/09/the-courtship-continues-obamas-new-gift.html">The Courtship Continues: Obama's New Gift to Assad</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/09/how-obama-helped-assad-kill-with-poison.html">How Obama Helped Assad Kill with Poison Gas in Syria</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/08/win-win-for-assad-as-obama-response-to.html">Win-Win for Assad as Obama Response to CW Mass Murder Put on Hold</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/08/obama-denied-gas-masks-to-assads-victims.html">Obama Denied Gas Masks to Assad's Victims</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/08/obamas-dilemma-and-assads-opportunity.html">Obama's Dilemma and Assad's Opportunity</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/08/assad-redline-and-obama-greenlight_2292.html">Assad's Redline and Obama's Greenlight!</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/breaking-chemical-weapons-use-reported_2829.html">Chemical weapons use in Syria, Has Obama's red-line has been crossed?
</a><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/ap-weighs-in-on-obama-green-light-for_1624.html">AP weighs in on Obama's Green Light for Assad's slaughter in Syria</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/syria-obama-moves-assad-line-back-as_1581.html">Syria: Obama's moves Assad's "red line" back as SOHR reports 42,000 dead!</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/secstate-john-kerry-and-his-friend_6865.html">SecState John Kerry and his <i>"dear friend"</i> Bashar al-Assad</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-obama-manpads-for-you-policy-in_8827.html">How Obama's <i>'No MANPADS for you'</i> policy in Syria is backfiring </a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/01/more-thoughts-on-obama-manpads-for-you_1371.html">More thoughts on Obama's 'No MANPADS for you!' policy</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/02/obama-did-cia-betray-assad-opposition_1831.html">Obama: Did the CIA betray Assad's opposition in Syria? </a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/03/obama-planning-drone-strikes-against.html">Obama planning drone strikes against Assad's opposition in Syria</a>
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<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></center>
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<big> </big></center>
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<big>PS: The Lockheed Martin F-22 saw its first combat flights this week over Syria. It is a very expensive aircraft, costing $178 million each, but that pales in comparison to the next generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at $337 million a piece. The electronics design magazine ECN writes <i>"according to one estimate, the money spent on the program could buy every homeless person in the U.S. a $600,00 mansion."</i> </big></div>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-44277307959119697802014-06-24T18:24:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.319-07:00Phyllis Bennis twists reality to fit politics on DNPhyllis Bennis actually <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2014/6/24/should_obama_go_to_tehran_how">said this</a> on <b>Democracy Now</b> Tuesday:
<blockquote>
In Syria, both countries [Iran and the United States] have an interest in tamping down the violence, even though they have differences over what the real threat might be. Iran, in Syria, is still supporting the Syrian regime; the U.S., of course, opposes the Syrian regime. But both Iran and the United States say that they are against ISIS, I-S-I-S, the leading force in Syria that is opposed to the Syrian regime. So, the U.S. and Iran, in that context, are on the same side.</blockquote>
This is another good example of how those in the <i>"anti-imperialist"</i> camp twist reality to fit their twisted politics. Phyllis Bennis makes two, shall we say, dubious claims in the above statement 1) Iran is interested in tamping down the violence in Syria, and 2) ISIS is the leading force that is opposes the Syrian regime.
These two statements represent a break from reality that is so serve that I really don't know where to begin except to say they illustrate why it is so hard to build unity or even carry on a rational conversation with these <i>"anti-imperialist"</i> neighbors, but let me at least try.
If <i>"tamping down the violence"</i> means to Phyllis Bennis destroying any movement for democracy in Syria, slaughtering anyone who opposed the Assad regime so that there is no longer any armed resistance, and bringing the violence back to were it was for most of 40 years, through arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and murder in Assad's detention centers, then she may be able to make the argument that both the Assad regime and its Iranian backers are interested in <i>"tamping down the violence,"</i> because after three years and 160,000 of his people's lives it should be clear to even a moron that Bashar al-Assad would rather take that road to <i>"peace"</i> than give up his <i>"presidency."</i>
If on the other hand, one wishes for the Syrian people and the whole region, the peace that comes with justice, then we must acknowledge that Iran is one of the greatest purveyor of violence in this conflict. Second only to Russia, it has enabled Assad's carnage with political, economic and military support. It is first in putting foreign <i>"boots on the ground"</i> in Syria. It has its own Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps fighting for Assad in Syria, and it has, let us say, <i>"encouraged"</i> both Hezbullah and Iraqi Shiite militias to be Assad's shock troops. Those forces don't exactly have a reputation for <i>"tamping down the violence."</i> As a matter of fact, it has been widely reported for over a year now that Iranians are pretty much peopling and running the Syrian state. Phyllis Bennis suggests that Iran has an interest in <i>"tamping down the violence"</i> in Syria, but that's not what the Iranians say. They say their future is joined at the hip with the continuation of the Assad regime. In other words they say what the other regime supporters say <i>"Bashar al-Assad or we burn the country."</i> I'm sure Phyllis Bennis knows that. Why else the <i>"tamping down"</i> metaphor?
So much for her not so veiled support for Bashar al-Assad and the Iranians. Shall we now turn to her attack on the Syrian Revolution? The view that all of Assad's armed opposition are Islamic jihadists is also an Assad regime talking point but ISIS is definitely not <i>"the leading force"</i> in Syria.
I know there is a peculiar definition of <i>"the leading force"</i> among some on the Left that allows them to think a small group can be <i>"the leading force"</i> regardless of its size or disconnect from the mass struggle because they have the <i>"right"</i> ideology. If Phyllis Bennis thinks ISIS is leading this struggle ideologically, she must also see the struggle to overthrow the Assad dictatorship as a reactionary counterrevolution.
But as a practical matter there is no way ISIS has been leading this revolution. First it is formally only about a year old, it has a relatively small number of fighters and they haven't been fighting the Assad regime. They have been fighting the Free Syrian Army, the Islamic Front, even Jabhat al Nusra, in fact every rebel group that the mind of Phyllis Bennis has them leading. Also the <b>National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces</b> <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://tinyurl.com/kp7mx3v&hl">issued a memo</a> on 10 February 2014 titled <i><b>"ISIS & the Assad Regime: From Marriage of Convenience to Partnership"</b></i> in which they said:
<blockquote>
Since the FSA declared war on this group on 3rd January 2014 and took over many of their bases, significant evidence has been uncovered which has confirmed circulating testimony and rumors about the links between the regime and ISIS.
This memo is just a small sample of testimony from FSA fighters that describe events on the ground where regime forces have been protecting and assisting this group. Accounts go further, saying that regime forces are intimately intertwined with this group, whose objectives are one and the same: to destroy moderate Opposition forces and establish control over as much of Syria as possible.</blockquote>
So there's that.
As for her assertion that <i>"the U.S., of course, opposes the Syrian regime,"</i> I have already dealt with that at length:
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-obama-has-supported-assads-gas.html">How Obama has supported Assad's gas murder always</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/10/obamas-real-syria-policy-endless-war.html">Obama's Real Syria Policy: Endless War</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-courtship-continues-obama-stopped.html">The Courtship Continues: Obama stopped French strike on Assad</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/09/the-courtship-continues-obamas-new-gift.html">The Courtship Continues: Obama's New Gift to Assad</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/09/how-obama-helped-assad-kill-with-poison.html">How Obama Helped Assad Kill with Poison Gas in Syria</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/08/win-win-for-assad-as-obama-response-to.html">Win-Win for Assad as Obama Response to CW Mass Murder Put on Hold</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/08/obama-denied-gas-masks-to-assads-victims.html">Obama Denied Gas Masks to Assad's Victims</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/08/obamas-dilemma-and-assads-opportunity.html">Obama's Dilemma and Assad's Opportunity</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/09/barack-obama-courtship-of-bashar-al_4519.html">Barack Obama's Courtship of Bashar al-Assad</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/02/barack-obama-courtship-of-bashar-assad_6351.html">Barack Obama's Courtship of Bashar al-Assad Exposed!</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/08/updated-obama-lights-assad-slaughter-in_4655.html">Obama "green lights" Assad's slaughter in Syria</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/08/assad-redline-and-obama-greenlight_2292.html">Assad's Redline and Obama's Greenlight!</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/breaking-chemical-weapons-use-reported_2829.html">Chemical weapons use in Syria, Has Obama's red-line has been crossed?</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/ap-weighs-in-on-obama-green-light-for_1624.html">AP weighs in on Obama's Green Light for Assad's slaughter in Syria</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/syria-obama-moves-assad-line-back-as_1581.html">Syria: Obama's moves Assad's "red line" back as SOHR reports 42,000 dead!</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/secstate-john-kerry-and-his-friend_6865.html">SecState John Kerry and his "dear friend" Bashar al-Assad</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-obama-manpads-for-you-policy-in_8827.html">How Obama's <i>'No MANPADS for you'</i> policy in Syria is backfiring </a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/01/more-thoughts-on-obama-manpads-for-you_1371.html">More thoughts on Obama's 'No MANPADS for you!' policy</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/02/obama-did-cia-betray-assad-opposition_1831.html">Obama: Did the CIA betray Assad's opposition in Syria? </a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/03/obama-planning-drone-strikes-against.html">Obama planning drone strikes against Assad's opposition in Syria</a>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-obama-helps-assad-us-tried-to-start.html">How Obama helps Assad: US tried to start war between FSA & al Nusra Front </a>
<center>
<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></center>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-285260469140313002014-05-10T18:23:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.292-07:00Benghazi Benghazi minted its own coin in 480 BC even before it became a city of Rome. Mummar Qaddafi treated it as a back-water and it became the wellspring of the revolution that overthrew him. After Qaddafi's troops started shooting protesters in Benghazi, they started shooting back. When soldiers in the Katiba compound started shooting at the passing funeral procession of a protester shot earlier, the outraged people didn't stop until they had taken the compound, using bare hands, bulldozers and a car bomb to breach the walls. When Qaddafi sent General Abdul Fatah Younis to get Benghazi back, he defected and Qaddafi never regained control of the city.
To most Americans, Benghazi means the attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. It means the scandal around who said what when that has played out in the media and numerous congressional hearings over the years. The Republican Congress is just about to start another one. Friday, House Speaker John Boehner <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/09/us-usa-politics-benghazi-idUSBREA4714E20140509">appointed</a> seven Republicans to a brand new special committee to investigate <i>"Benghazi."</i> At the heart of all these hearings is the allegation that what Obama and Clinton were really doing in Benghazi was, in the <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/2014/04/06/seymour-m-hersh/the-red-line-and-the-rat-line">words of</a> Seymour Hersh, <i>"responsible for getting arms from Gaddafi’s arsenals into Syria,"</i> and the most dangerous weapon from that arsenal is the man portable air defense system, or MANPADS. They are shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles that are light enough to be used by one man and very deadly.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SA-7 MANPADS</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ever since the US government started handing out MANPADS like party favors to Afghan mujaheddinin the 1980's so that they could shoot down Soviet helicopters, there has been tremendous fear that these one-man anti-aircraft missiles would fall into the hands of terrorists and be used to shoot down airliners. <a href="http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/26/reading-the-refuse-counting-col-qaddafis-heat-seeking-missiles-and-tracking-them-back-to-their-sources/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0">Since 2003</a>, the US government has carried out programs, through a mix of agencies, in more than 30 countries that have overseen <a href="http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2011/07/20110719142600eiznekcam0.5927698.html?distid=ucs#axzz1T8uT9BgF">the destruction of more than 32,500 missiles.</a>
Even before Tripoli fell, the U.S. had an operation going in Libya designed to limit the spread of Qaddafi's sophisticated weapons arsenal. Highest on the list were any chemical or biological weapons Qaddafi may have held out on after he voluntarily ended his WMD programs a decade ago, there were none, and his large stock of MANPADS. Libya had around 20,000 of the infrared tracking Soviet designed SA-7 MANPADS.
As the tide of battle turned in Libya and Qaddafi's weapon depots, including his store of MANPADS, started to fall into rebel hands, the Libyan situation began to receive greater attention from the US arms collection efforts. More than a month before Tripoli fell, the US was giving $1.5 million to two international organizations - the Mines Advisory Group from Britain and the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action - to get their help in securing this stockpile of MANPADS. In June 2011, the US sent teams to four countries bordering Libya - Algeria, Chad, Mali, and Niger to talk to them about border security and missile identification.
In late 2011, <a href="https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33142.pdf">a bilateral agreement</a> on weapons abatement was signed with the National Transitional Council [NTC] and a US government Quick Reaction Force of expert civilian personnel was embedded with Libyan military units. By January they had already inspected over 120 storage areas and 1,500 bunkers, accounting for over 5,000 MANPADS.
Andrew J. Shapiro, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, became the White House point man on the Libyan MANPADS problem. A week before Qaddafi was killed, he <a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/us-terrorists-seeking-missing-libya-missiles">told AP</a> that the issue of securing the weapons was a priority for President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying <i>“We know that terrorist groups have expressed interest in obtaining these weapons.”</i> Already the State Department had sent 15 specialists to Libya to find and secure the weapons. Shapiro said that the US had allocated $30 million to the effort and soon he would be increasing the number of specialist working on it to 50. A year later, a source <a href="http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/01/exclusive-dozens-of-cia-operatives-on-the-ground-during-benghazi-attack/">would tell</a> CNN that 35 people, divided between CIA and State Department, were working the Benghazi mission, 21 out of the annex when it was attacked on 11 Sept. 2012. A 42-year-old former Navy SEAL named Glen Doherty was one of the four killed along with Ambassador Christopher Stevens that night. He was <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/glen-doherty-navy-seal-killed-libya-intel-mission/story?id=17229037#.UGXzzq6QSEd">interviewed by ABC News</a> two months <i>before</i> the attack about his work for the State Department which he said was going out into the field, tracking down MANPADS and destroying them.
In an email, the State Department <a href="http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/01/exclusive-dozens-of-cia-operatives-on-the-ground-during-benghazi-attack/">told CNN</a> that the mission was to help the new Libyan government destroy weapons deemed <i>"damaged, aged or too unsafe to retain."</i> Long before the consulate attack that would reveal the existence of this annex and its purpose, on 12 Dec 2011, Shapiro announced that the Libyan-US EOD teams had collected and destroyed 5,000 MANPADS. It is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/23/world/africa/us-seeks-program-to-buy-up-missiles-loose-in-libya.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">rumored</a> that many of them were collected through a US financed <i>"buy-back"</i> program and the amount dedicated to the overall program was increased to $40 million, but however they got them, <a href="http://defense-update.com/20111212_libyaus-eod-teams_manpads_5.html#.U2aQFld7Qhs">they said</a> the weapons were blown up at sea near the village of Sidi Bin Nur, east of Tripoli.
Since the Benghazi 9/11 attack, another theory about the true purpose of the CIA mission in Benghazi and what happened to all those MANPADS has been embraced by a curious alliance of extremes on the Left and the Right. This theory is that what the CIA was really doing in Benghazi was running guns and insurgents to Syria and that's were the MANPADS ended up, sent to Syria by the CIA. As CNN <a href="http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/01/exclusive-dozens-of-cia-operatives-on-the-ground-during-benghazi-attack/">reported</a> in August:
<blockquote>
Speculation on Capitol Hill has included the possibility the U.S. agencies operating in Benghazi were secretly helping to move surface-to-air missiles out of Libya, through Turkey, and into the hands of Syrian rebels.</blockquote>
<center>
<big>The Arab Spring's Two Violent Revolutions</big></center>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">May they meet again soon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
While the Arab uprising taking place in the Spring of 2011 shook almost every country in North Africa and the Middle East, only two of them were run by governments that didn't hesitate before using military power against unarmed protesters. They were the mutually supportive regimes of Mummar Qaddafi in Libya and Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
Qaddafi ordered his army to open fire as soon as peaceful protesters took their demands for democracy to the streets of Benghazi and other cities on 17 February 2011. Already, on that day, he was shooting protesters <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2011_Libyan_civil_war_before_military_intervention#cite_note-aljaz_libya17Feb-17">from helicopters</a>. Within a week, Qaddafi's forces had gunned down more than two thousand people, <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2011/07/february-21st-tripoli-long-night_4518.html">including 700 protesters in one night</a> in the now aptly named Martyr's Square in Tripoli.
How easy it is for some to cackle now about what a <i>"mess"</i> Libya is today, post Qaddafi, which saw <a href="http://www.libyaherald.com/2014/01/24/643-people-killed-in-2013-congress-report/#axzz30xK3UDnR">643 people killed in 2013</a>, and forget about the horror it was under Qaddafi, or the bloody course he was undertaking, and that is the right word, before the UN and NATO intervened to put an end to his air assaults and curtail his artillery bombardments. To see a full exposition of what Qaddafi had in mind for Libya we need look no further than Syria, where Assad and his friends have enjoyed a free hand to suppress the rebellion by any means available. Assad is reported to have <a href="http://t.co/vXfgla56Yz">used poison gas to kill some 30 times</a> since the August sarin attack with no new international sanctions. Syrians haven't enjoyed the protection of an internationally imposed <i>"no-fly"</i> zone and they haven't been allowed access to modern anti-aircraft weapons, so Assad has been able to use his air force with impunity. The estimated 30,000 lives lost in the war to rid Libya of Qaddafi now recedes into the shadows of the rising toll of the murderous Assad's attempt to cling to power.
The official <i>"Day of Rage"</i> for the Syrian protest movement was a month after Libya on 15 March 2011, but already protests had been breaking out in February in concert with those in Libya. From the very beginning, the two revolutionary movements enjoyed close ties and grew up as brothers-in-arms. There has been strong support for the Syrian Revolution from the Libyan people and official support from the Libyan government no sooner than they obtained their own victory.
Thousands attacked the Russian Embassy in Tripoli when it vetoed the Arab League-sponsored Security Council resolution condemning Assad's brutal crackdown. They <a href="http://www.libyaherald.com/2012/02/06/libya-apologies-for-russian-embassy-attack/#axzz30xK3UDnR">took over the embassy</a> and replaced the Russian flag with the flag of the Syrian Revolution. The NTC apologized and helped Russian security men restore order. Four days later, they gave Assad's diplomats <a href="http://www.libyaherald.com/2012/02/10/assads-diplomats-thrown-out/#axzz30xK3UDnR">72 hours to leave the country</a> and became the first country to turn the Syrian Embassy over to the Syrian National Council. This was all before Libya celebrated the second anniversary of its revolution on 17 February 2012.
The revolutionary Libyan government has voted hundreds of millions of dollars in support of the Syrian cause and hundreds of Libyan revolutionaries have gone there to join the fight. Ashour Bin Khayal, who was heading up Libyan foreign affairs around the time of that 2nd anniversary, <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0976ef5e-5248-11e1-a155-00144feabdc0.html#axzz30xXOtSyp">told FT</a> about the <i>"problem"</i> of Libyan fighters going to Syria:
<blockquote>
<i>“Actually, we cannot stop anyone from going to Syria. People want to go and fight with the Syrians; no one is going prevent them. Officially, we don’t have this stance; but we cannot control the desire of the people.</i>
<i>
</i> <i>“Libya took a very revolutionary step to recognise the Syrian National Council. Those who are fighting the regime in Syria, we are supporting them.</i>
<i>
</i> <i>“The Syrian regime is pushing the country toward a stage that no one wants. They are doing the same as Gaddafi did. The regime will fall sooner or later.” </i></blockquote>
While Assad supporters and the Western media paint Libyans going to Syria with the same jihadist brush they apply to all foreign Arab fighters, the truth is that many support their cousin's struggle for entirely secular reasons and the plain truth is that many, like Che Guevara, are more comfortable carrying on the armed struggle elsewhere than settling into the duller routine of building the revolution at home. Che has become a very popular figure in Libya.
This support for the struggle in Syria meant that US government plans to collect and destroy Libya's post-Qaddafi stock of excess heavy weapons had some serious competition. Not only did Qaddafi's African mercenaries, the ones some <i>"anti-imperialists"</i> claimed never existed, take the weapons Qaddafi had given them, along with whatever they could loot, and go back to Mali and other places, there was popular support for sending weapons to Syria. As the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/22/world/africa/in-a-turnabout-syria-rebels-get-libyan-weapons.html?pagewanted=all">reported</a> a year ago:
<blockquote>
Many of the same people who chased the colonel to his grave are busy shuttling his former arms stockpiles to rebels in Syria. The flow is an important source of weapons for the uprising and a case of bloody turnabout, as the inheritors of one strongman’s arsenal use them in the fight against another.</blockquote>
Qatar, the Arab country that financed much of the arms purchased by those fighting Qaddafi, has been financing much of these arms transfers as well. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/22/world/africa/in-a-turnabout-syria-rebels-get-libyan-weapons.html?pagewanted=all">According to the NY Times</a>, the arms are put on ships or Qatar Emiri Air Force fights, then distributed through a network of intelligence agencies to Syrian opposition leaders in Turkey, which in turn issue them to their fighters on the ground. <i>“It is just the enthusiasm of the Libyan people helping the Syrians,”</i> Fawzi Bukatef, former Libyan brigade leader and ambassador to Uganda told the NY Times.
One such ship was the <span id="articleText">Al Entisar</span>, a Libyan ship that docked in the Turkish port of Iskenderun, 14 September 2012. It was <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article3537770.ece">reported by</a> the Times of London that among <i>"more than 400 tonnes of cargo the vessel was carrying were SAM-7 surface-to-air anti-aircraft missiles and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs)."</i> The delivery was organized by the Libyan National Council for Relief and Support formed to help free Syria. <span id="articleText"><span class="focusParagraph">Abdul Basit Haroun, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/18/us-libya-syria-idUSBRE95H0WC20130618">who says</a> he is behind some of the biggest shipments of weapons from Libya to <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">Syria</span>, confirms that the first weapons shipment was smuggled aboard the Libyan ship delivering aid last year but says now arms are flown <i>"above board"</i> into border countries on chartered flights. Haroun said:</span></span>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span id="articleText">"We are doing two great things, the first is that we are taking guns off the street. The mission is so popular that we get 50 percent discounts on weapons."</span></i></blockquote>
While it was widely reported that this ship was loaded with MANPADS for the rebels, these alleged SA-7s never showed up in Syria.
More of the collected weapons have come from the revolutionary brigades than from the Libyan government. For years now, people have been clamoring for the Libyan militias to give up their heavy weapons. This is how they are doing it. A year ago Fawzi Bukatef said Libyan militias had been shipping weapons to Syrian rebels for more than a year. <i>“They collect the weapons, and when they have enough they send it,”</i> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/22/world/africa/in-a-turnabout-syria-rebels-get-libyan-weapons.html?pagewanted=all">he said</a>. <i>“The Libyan government is not involved, but it does not really matter.”</i>
One person that was involved was Abdelhakim Belhadj. He was head of the Tripoli Military Council and had been a founder and leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. He has been an anti-Qaddafi activist since the 1980's. After he escaped from Libya, the CIA, with an assist from MI6, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2328753/Rendition-case-involving-Libyan-Abdel-Hakim-Belhadj-suing-British-Government-heard-secret.html">special renditioned him</a> back to Qaddafi's <i>"detention."</i> In September 2011, with Tripoli already liberated and Qaddafi on the run, Belhaj took time <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/sep/27/revolution-belongs-to-all-libyans">to write</a> about the founding of the LIFG in the Guardian:
<blockquote>
It was 20 years ago that I left my hometown, Tripoli, in search of refuge. Colonel Gaddafi's security apparatus had the country in an iron grip; the eyes of its agents were everywhere. No one was safe. I have lived in many countries since, dedicating all my efforts to one objective: the overthrow of the dictatorship in order to bring about real change in our country. A change that would guarantee a dignified life, freedom and justice.
It was clear to me by the end of the 80s that it was impossible to bring about change in a country whose ruler does not believe in plurality of opinion, will not allow a peaceful transition of power, and forces his people to live on low incomes despite the country's wealth. Those in opposition faced all kinds of repression. Even the right to religious freedom was violated – saying prayers in the mosques could land one in prison. Faced with this reality, there was no option but to resort to arms, and I and others founded the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/sep/27/revolution-belongs-to-all-libyans">More...</a></blockquote>
He didn't have long to reminisce. Qaddafi was killed in October and by November Belhadj was off on his newest adventure, meeting with Free Syrian Army leaders in Istanbul and on the Turkish-Syria border about how the new Libyan government could best provide weapons and other provisions to their brothers-in-arms in Syria. Ruth Sherlock, reporting from Tripoli for The Telegraph <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8919057/Leading-Libyan-Islamist-met-Free-Syrian-Army-opposition-group.html">wrote</a>:
<blockquote>
Mr Belhaj also discussed sending Libyan fighters to train troops, the source said. Having ousted one dictator, triumphant young men, still filled with revolutionary fervour, are keen to topple the next. The commanders of armed gangs still roaming Tripoli's streets said yesterday that <i>"hundreds"</i> of fighters wanted to wage war against the Assad regime.</blockquote>
This is how Libyans came to be the majority of the foreign fighters against Assad in Syria. They had the revolutionary spirit, they had the real world combat experience and they had the weapons. They brought the weapons with them.
<center>
<big>Was the US arming Syrian rebels?</big></center>
While there is no evidence that the United States sold weapons to the Syrian opposition, bought weapons for the Syrian opposition, gave weapons to the Syrian opposition, or played any role in getting the weapons to Syria, there is plenty of evidence pointing to US President Barack Obama's use of the CIA and US influence in the crucial border countries of Turkey and Jordan to play a critical gatekeeper role in the weapons funneling process. The New York Times broke the news of this network on 21 June 2012 <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?pagewanted=all">with the headline</a>:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition</big></center>
A small number of C.I.A. officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government, according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers.
The weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some antitank weapons, are being funneled mostly across the Turkish border by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries including Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood and paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the officials said.
The C.I.A. officers have been in southern Turkey for several weeks, in part to help keep weapons out of the hands of fighters allied with Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, one senior American official said. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?pagewanted=all">More...</a></blockquote>
Perhaps the headline should have more accurately said the CIA was involved in steering arms <i>away</i> from the Syria opposition because that is what it was doing. The US was using its influence to stop the flow of any weapons to <i>"unapproved"</i> opposition groups and stop the flow of certain heavy weapons, such as MANPADS, to all opposition groups, without itself contributing a single weapon. Less than two months later, 13 Aug 2012, an article in the Australian echoed the same view and <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/cia-polices-weapons-entry-to-syria-as-spooks-invade-turkey/story-fnb64oi6-1226448705909#">reported</a> on the opposition response:
<blockquote>
Despite mounting calls in Washington for a more aggressive US military role in Syria, the CIA has been quietly working along its northern border with Turkey to limit the supplies of weapons and ammunition reaching rebel forces, Syrian opposition officials say.
<i>"Not one bullet enters Syria without US approval,"</i> one official complained in Istanbul. <i>"The Americans want the (rebellion) to continue, but they are not allowing enough supplies in to make the Damascus regime fall."</i></blockquote>
Apparently Obama's CIA and State Department were successful in keeping Libyan MANPADS out of Syria because to that point not a single aircraft had been shot down by Assad's opposition with a MANPADS.
Another FSA officer, Ahmad al-Fajj, a brigadier-general in the Syrian Arab Army before his defection, was interviewed by AFP in Atmeh on the Turkish border, 25 Sept 2012. Faji <a href="http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=440420#ixzz27aHWy8yg">said</a>:
<blockquote>
“The free peoples of the world – Europeans, Americans – must understand that their governments are indirectly responsible for the killings in our country.”
“We asked all the arms dealers and traffickers in the region to sell us anti-aircraft missiles. They told us they needed the green light from the CIA and Mossad, and the light was red.”
“They won’t sell us anti-tank weapons for the same reason. All we have to defeat [Assad’s] tanks are the RPGs we manage to retrieve from the enemy.”</blockquote>
In spite of these problems, MANPADS, specifically the older Soviet SA-7 models popular with both Qaddafi and Assad, did start to show up in Syrian rebel hands around the middle of 2012, although there aren't documented reports of a regime warplane being brought down with one <a href="http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/videos-from-syria-appear-to-show-first-confirmed-hit-of-aircraft-by-surface-to-air-missile/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0">until 27 November 2012</a> when a Syrian Air Force Mi-8 helicopter was brought down by a surface-to-air missile that most likely came from a SA-7.
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-secret-cia-mission-in-benghazi-2013-8">Business Insider</a> attempted to use <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=207339451554040920317.0004c89f0709c9c8605d5&msa=0&ie=UTF8&t=m&ll=34.524661,37.946777&spn=6.334307,9.338379&z=6&source=embed">a sourced map</a> created by journalist Damien Spleeter of MANPADS sightings in Syria to prove their theory that the Syrian opposition was receiving MANPADS from Libya. To make their point, in <a href="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5194fd9feab8ea935100000a-569-427/syria-2.png">the version of Spleeter's map they published</a>, they add a red tag noting the Turkish port of Iskenderun <i>"where the massive SA-7 shipment docked," </i><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-secret-cia-mission-in-benghazi-2013-8">according to them</a>, and they removed <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=207339451554040920317.0004c89f0709c9c8605d5&msa=0&ie=UTF8&t=m&ll=34.524661,37.946777&spn=6.334307,9.338379&z=6&source=embed">Spleeter's details</a> of the MANPADS sightings. With those details we can see that of the 20 MANPADS sightings documented, <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=207339451554040920317.0004c89f0709c9c8605d5&msa=0&ie=UTF8&t=m&ll=34.524661,37.946777&spn=6.334307,9.338379&z=6&source=embed&dg=feature">only 6 involved complete MANPADS</a> and only 2 document MANPADS being fired. So this map, rather than indicating a massive shipment of complete SA-7s arrived from Libya, indicates rather that some MANPADS in various conditions were being captured or purchased in Syria and a few had been pieced together good enough to be used.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is this Abdelhakim Belhadj?</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20HVWMLA_wM">This video</a>, posted to YouTube on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20HVWMLA_wM">26 Apr 2012 </a>shows a brigade that has defected to the FSA near Rastan with what appears to be a complete SA-7 in what may be the earliest show of a MANPADS in the hands of the opposition. There are a number of videos that surfaced during the Summer of 2012 in which militias are posing with their weapons and a SA-7 appears. One wonders if there was only one SA-7 and a list going around <i>"sign up to reserve SA-7 for group photo with your unit."</i> Such videos can be seen with the Rastan al-Hamza brigade <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRJnStU4izg">27 Jun 2012</a>, Sahaabi Dujana Battalion <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRJnStU4izg">8 Aug 2012</a>, and most interesting is the 2 minute video of the Abu Bakr Brigade, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADBqZbNjU8I">15 Aug 2012</a>, because someone who looks like Abdelhakim Belhadj is first seen posing with the brigade and its one SA-7, and then he is seen showing off a storehouse of weapons in crates and on shipping platforms. Curiously, there are anti-aircraft guns and weapons of all sort in the display of what appears to be a new shipment, but there are no MANPADS in the storehouse, just the one in the brigade photo op. This supports the idea that someone was stopping MANPADS from getting through.
However, what the Syrian rebels couldn't get from Qaddafi's horde, via the Benghazi pipeline, they were starting to get from Assad's horde through base and weapons depot seizures. In <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDmeX5cy70c">this video, 06 Oct 2012</a>, Abu Bakr brigade is showing off the weapons they captured from the Syrian Battalion 591 Air Defense, Brigade 55 in East Ghouta, and here, for the first time, we see a number of SA-7s.
The important thing to understand about these MANPADS is that they typically come in four parts and unless you have all four parts, you don't have a working weapons system. Those four parts are the launch tube, the grip, the battery and the missile. There is also the question of battery life and many of the older SA-7s were thought to be past their useful life. In addition, where are dummy units and training units. You have got to know exactly what you are dealing with. It was clear that the rebels were getting a few MANPADS, but many of the early sightings were missing important parts and so probably not usable while others looked to be complete systems.
On 14 Oct 2012 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aRRCJCgHqg">a video was posted</a> of a missile being fired at and missing a jet over Aleppo. The poster says this is the first use of a thermal imaging rocket by the rebels. The next day C. J. Chivers <a href="http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/heat-seeking-missiles-in-syria-the-sa-7-in-action-with-rebels/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&smid=tw-share&_r=1">wrote</a> in his New York Times blog:
<blockquote>
This blog had documented the <a href="http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/the-3-step-method-to-analyzing-video-of-weapon-systems-in-syria/">part-by-part appearance in rebel hands of one old heat-seeking system</a>, known as the SA-7. Since midsummer there have been occasional sightings of full systems but none, as far as we know, showing the system in actual use.
Two videos recently posted on YouTube suggest that what had been expected is now occurring.</blockquote>
The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL4LKuJnQGQ">second video, 15 Oct 2012</a>, Chivers referred to shows two guys on a motor bike with a SA-7. There are at least 20 other YouTube postings that show MANPADS in opposition hands, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_UXL3UAW7U&feature=player_detailpage&list=PLPC0Udeof3T5aSHelR-x51n0iGDr14Nl_">Brown Moses maintains a list</a>, before a plane is finally brought down with one, including videos of the same man with the more advanced <a href="http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/new-type-of-shoulder-mounted-surface-to.html">SA-16</a> and <a href="http://twitpic.com/bcyyg5">SA-24</a> and a SA-7 being fired on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItILHFTON6o">20 Nov 2012</a>. A week later a Syrian Mi-8 helicopter was brought down by a missile and it looked like the rebels had scored their first MANPADS kill of the conflict, <a href="http://youtu.be/kPAVv837seA">27 Nov 2012</a>. The day after that first MANPADS kill, 28 Nov 2014, the Guardian <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/28/syria-middleeast">reported</a>:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Just as the clamour for supplying the Syrian opposition with sophisticated new weapons looked to be reaching a tipping point in the Gulf and the west, the rebels have clearly got hold of some arms of their own.
...
the rebels' principal backers, in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have been chafing ever more loudly against the US veto on supplies of sophisticated, potentially decisive weapons such as shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles (widely known as Manpads – an acronym for man-portable air-defence systems) to the rebels.</blockquote>
With a rising death toll from Assad's aerial bombardment, they were growing impatient with <i>"the US veto"</i> against the modern air defense weapons. The Guardian continues:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"We did this as a favour to Obama,"</i> a Gulf source said. <i>"But now Obama has been re-elected, there is a question of whether we should still be bound by such an undertaking."</i> Shoulder-launched missiles could be bought in Pakistan or in Africa, the source added.
So far, there is no evidence that any of the ground-to-air missiles used to date have come from outside Syria, according to Peter Bouckaert. Emergencies director for Human Rights Watch.
<i>"Everything we have seen so far has been captured from Syrian army bases. We have kept a close watch on what has been coming out of Libya but we have seen no surface-to-air missiles from there used in Syria,"</i> Bouckaert said.</blockquote>
The Guardian said the shoot-down <i>"could mark a turning point in the conflict"</i> but by-and-large, Obama's prohibition on MANPADS for the rebels held. While YouTube would record many other sightings, both of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFkKHH0IMAQ">SA-7</a> and more advanced <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1r5IsWaEec">SA-24</a> [<a href="http://damspleet.com/post/43888322344/in-this-video-posted-online-on-february-22-2013">Damien Spleeters work</a>] in the hands of the opposition, it would be more than eleven weeks before another of Assad's warplanes was brought down by one, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZahQLI5rLw">14 February 2013</a>, when the Free Syrian Army shot down a Syrian fighter jet over Homs, Idlib. A few days later, a Hip transport helicopter was also <a href="http://www.military.com/video/aircraft/downed-aircraft/rebels-down-saa-helo-with-manpad/2188836503001/">shot down over Menagh Airbase</a> and on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beso3I7Yd1A">5 March 2013</a> FSA shot down an aircraft over Aleppo airport. They did this with a new type of MANPADS and from a new source. They were Chinese made FH-6 MANPADS and we know they weren't captured because Assad didn't have any. Brown Moses <a href="http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/first-sightings-of-foreign-manpads-in.html">reported</a> on these Chinese MANPADS sightings. An opposition source <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/01/syria-crisis-european-countries-rebels">told the Guardian</a>:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"These were not weapons that had been captured from Syrian army bases as before. These were released from the Turkish warehouses. These are weapons the opposition had purchased previously but had not been allowed to take across the border."</i>
<i>"Before, 23mm was the maximum calibre for anti-aircraft guns permitted and we were allowed to bring in RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] but not armour-piercing shells."</i></blockquote>
This statement completely characterizes the US role in <i>"funneling arms to the rebels"</i> in a nutshell. They weren't helping them obtain arms at all. While thousands of Syrian civilians were being murdered by Assad warplanes, the US has put itself in a position where it could deny the Syrian opposition air defense weapons which it had already purchased!
25 March 2013 the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/world/middleeast/arms-airlift-to-syrian-rebels-expands-with-cia-aid.html">described</a> the CIA arms control program and the rebel complaints:
<blockquote>
From offices at secret locations, American intelligence officers have helped the Arab governments shop for weapons, including a large procurement from Croatia, and have vetted rebel commanders and groups to determine who should receive the weapons as they arrive, according to American officials speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Still, rebel commanders have criticized the shipments as insufficient, saying the quantities of weapons they receive are too small and the types too light to fight Mr. Assad’s military effectively. They also accused those distributing the weapons of being parsimonious or corrupt.
“The outside countries give us weapons and bullets little by little,” said Abdel Rahman Ayachi, a commander in Soquor al-Sham, an Islamist fighting group in northern Syria.
He made a gesture as if switching on and off a tap. “They open and they close the way to the bullets like water,” he said.</blockquote>
The newspaper also explained that the US got involved so that it could control a process that was going to happen anyway. <i>“These countries were going to do it one way or another,”</i> the former official said. <i>“They weren’t asking for a ‘Mother, may I?’”</i>
<blockquote>
The American government became involved, the former American official said, in part because there was a sense that other states would arm the rebels anyhow. The C.I.A. role in facilitating the shipments, he said, gave the United States a degree of influence over the process, including trying to steer weapons away from Islamist groups and persuading donors to withhold portable antiaircraft missiles that might be used in future terrorist attacks on civilian aircraft. </blockquote>
Apparently possible attacks on civilians targets wasn't a reason for withholding MANPADS from Washington's proxies in Afghanistan, but now, while Assad is killing thousands of civilians from the air, they are used as an excuse to allow him to continue. Never mind that MANPADS are already available on the black market. Three months later, 29 June 2013, The New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/world/middleeast/sending-missiles-to-syrian-rebels-qatar-muscles-in.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">reported</a> that Qatar was defying the banned, or at least making a show at defying the ban:
<blockquote>
As an intermittent supply of arms to the Syrian opposition gathered momentum last year, the Obama administration repeatedly implored its Arab allies to keep one type of powerful weapon out of the rebels’ hands: heat-seeking shoulder-fired missiles.
But one country ignored this admonition: Qatar,
Since the beginning of the year, according to four American and Middle Eastern officials with knowledge of intelligence reports on the weapons, Qatar has used a shadowy arms network to move at least two shipments of shoulder-fired missiles, one of them a batch of Chinese-made FN-6s, to Syrian rebels who have used them against Mr. Assad’s air force.
...
The shipments were small, the Western officials and rebels said, amounting to no more than a few dozen missiles. </blockquote>
Other sources <a href="http://newsmotion.org/tags/fn-6">reported</a> that these missiles didn't work too good:
<blockquote>
Normally effective anti-aircraft missiles, the arms supplied by Qatar have been reportedly plagued with technical problems, including the batteries running out of power, the targeting systems not working, and the missiles failing to reach their targets.</blockquote>
Still the rebels continued to work with what they had. On <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x6ROTEfJc8">13 May 2013</a> FSA's Ahfad al-Rasul Battalions shot down an aircraft over Abu al-Dhuhur airbase with an older SA-7 and on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHqC-A1BVn8">10 June 2013</a>, a sixth Assad warplane, another helicopter, was brought down with a MANPADS, this time a SA-24, near the town of Nubl, northwest of Aleppo. On <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8pzFe2u43s">20 July 2013</a> FSA 9th Division shot down a jet with a SA-7 and on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61daM7IE6SE">18 August 2013</a> Ahrar al-Sham shot down a jet with a FN-6. It would be more than two months before a ninth warplane was brought down by a rebel MANPADS on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-7Z3No7GzA">26 Oct 2013</a>. That last one used a rigged battery pack strapped to the shooters leg, indicating that the problem of dead battery packs had been overcome. Most recently a helicopter was shot down with a rocket on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnPPKTnY2Ms">1 April 2014</a>. I may have missed a downed aircraft or two in my survey of the open source intelligence, but the point is, it is a very small number given the thousands of sorties Assad has flown against civilian targets. Beyond a few dozen funky MANPADS supplied by Qatar, there is little indication that they have received these weapons from other outside sources. The Wall St. Journal <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304703804579382974196840680?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304703804579382974196840680.html">reported</a> 14 Feb 2013:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Earlier in the conflict, rebels managed to seize a limited number of Manpads from regime forces. But they quickly ran out of the missiles to arm them, the Western diplomat said.</blockquote>
This is how effective Obama's sanction against MANPADS for the Syria opposition has been, in a war in which the Assad regime has made unlimited use of its air supremacy to indiscriminately slaughter civilians, especially children, in liberated areas, they have managed to bring down only ten of Assad's aerial death delivery systems with the sort of advanced technology that would be available to them without US interference. This is how the Obama administration has been <i>"helping"</i> the Syrian opposition overthrow the dictator he keeps saying should step down. This has been the result:
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the oldest cities on Earth | Aleppo. Syria | <a href="https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/463649916544626689/photo/1">6 May 2014</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
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<center>
<big>Seymour Hersh and the Right-Left Alliance </big></center>
The legend that Obama's CIA was secretly running and provisioning the Syrian insurgency out of a back office in Benghazi owes its success to a trifecta of support. First we have Obama's often made remarks that Assad should resign and his vocal support for Assad's opposition. Second, there is Assad and his followers, that have always maintained that he was the victim of a proxy war in which terrorists were being ramrodded by the US, NATO, and the Gulf states. This line is also followed by many on the Left. Finally there are those on the Right who hate Barack Hussein Obama and would like use Benghazi to label him as the president that gave weapons to al-Qaeda. Since Hilary Clinton is likely the next Democratic presidential candidate, they would like to tar her with the same brush.
The key to a good lie is to use the truth as much as possible and then add little twists as necessary to pervert the meaning. In the case of the Benghazi lie agreed upon, it was only necessary to belittle or ignore the weapons destruction function of the Benghazi operation, take the Libyans and other Arabs out of the driver's seat of the Syrian arms train, convert the CIA role in Turkey and Jordan from that of switch operator to engineer and ignore the real lack of MANPADS in rebel hands. All the other stuff works for them. The CIA was carrying out a secret program at a secret location in Benghazi and it did have to do with Libyan weapons. Benghazi was the center of both Libyan government and private support logistics for the Syrian Revolution, and the CIA did have agents in Turkey and Jordan that were involved with these arms transfers. Eventually, a few MANPADS did show up in Syria.
One of the most prominent examples of this theory comes from Seymour Hersh's <i>"The Red Line and the Rat Line"</i>, 6 April 2014. Hersh's version <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/2014/04/06/seymour-m-hersh/the-red-line-and-the-rat-line">goes like this</a>:
<blockquote>
The Obama administration has never publicly admitted to its role in creating what the CIA calls a ‘rat line’, a back channel highway into Syria. The rat line, authorised in early 2012, was used to funnel weapons and ammunition from Libya via southern Turkey and across the Syrian border to the opposition. Many of those in Syria who ultimately received the weapons were jihadists, some of them affiliated with al-Qaida. (The DNI spokesperson said: ‘The idea that the United States was providing weapons from Libya to anyone is false.’)
In January, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on the assault by a local militia in September 2012 on the American consulate and a nearby undercover CIA facility in Benghazi...A highly classified annex to the report, not made public, described a secret agreement reached in early 2012 between the Obama and Erdoğan administrations. It pertained to the rat line. By the terms of the agreement, funding came from Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia and Qatar; the CIA, with the support of MI6, was responsible for getting arms from Gaddafi’s arsenals into Syria.
...
The annex didn’t tell the whole story of what happened in Benghazi before the attack, nor did it explain why the American consulate was attacked. ‘The consulate’s only mission was to provide cover for the moving of arms,’ the former intelligence official, who has read the annex, said. ‘It had no real political role.’
Washington abruptly ended the CIA’s role in the transfer of arms from Libya after the attack on the consulate, but the rat line kept going. ‘The United States was no longer in control of what the Turks were relaying to the jihadists,’ the former intelligence official said. Within weeks, as many as forty portable surface-to-air missile launchers, commonly known as manpads, were in the hands of Syrian rebels. On 28 November 2012, Joby Warrick of the Washington Post reported that the previous day rebels near Aleppo had used what was almost certainly a manpad to shoot down a Syrian transport helicopter. </blockquote>
So in the Sy Hersh version there is no mention of the weapons destruction program that predated the Libyan situation, the US and Turkey have the power to make agreements binding Qatar and Saudi Arabia to fund projects, and the Obama administration is the main force behind regime change in Syria. He makes that clear when he <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/7/sy_hersh_reveals_potential_turkish_role">discusses</a> the <i>"rat-line"</i> with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In effect, you could almost say that, in his own way, Obama—you can call it shrewd or brilliant. He was almost channeling Saudi Arabia and Qatari and the Turks to get something done we wanted done, which was to have the opposition defeat Bashar al-Assad. And that’s what it was. </blockquote>
No need to involve the Syrians in this equation. If Obama wants to see the opposition defeat Bashar al Assad, he certainly has a funny way of showing it. When the US imperialists were going for regime change in Afghanistan in the 1980's, they had no problem giving their proxies the latest MANPADS. If they really wanted to see Assad defeated, Syrian planes would be swatted from the skies with them now.
After more than three years of struggle against the fascist Assad regime, the tragic facts on the ground expose the lie that the US and NATO really do want to see and end to the Assad Regime or that they are secretly funding and supplying the opposition. So Sy Hersh thinks the Obama administration has provided the Syrian rebels with boat loads of MANPADS. Well, where are they?
<center>
<big>In Conclusion</big></center>
In February, the Saudis again proposed providing the Syrian opposition with MANPADS. The WSJ <a href="http://www.phantomreport.com/saudis-agree-to-provide-syrian-rebels-with-manpads">reported</a> <i>"The Saudis have held off supplying them in the past because of U.S. opposition,"</i> and the US still objected. Late last month, Foreign Policy <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/04/29/how_do_you_teach_an_old_gun_new_tricks">said</a>:
<blockquote>
Saudi Arabia has stockpiles of the weapons but is waiting for U.S. permission to send them into Syria, a step the White House has so far refused to authorize.</blockquote>
Now the White House is saying that they may allow the opposition to have MANPADS if they can be outfitted with fingerprint scanners and GPS systems to keep them from being misused, but this will take time to design and implement. Given that such solutions have been proposed for many years now, to talk about having to create them now before the weapons can be given to the Syrian rebels is just another delaying tactic. Meanwhile Assad keeps bombing and the people keep dying. FP <a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/cia-s-resolve-to-track-weapons-complicates-push-to-arm-syria-rebels-1.280822">concludes</a>:
<blockquote>
If the administration ultimately signs off, only small numbers of MANPADS would be sent Syria at one time, raising doubts about whether such a modest amount of arms would help turn the tide of the war. The technical challenges with the GPS locks may provide a convenient excuse for the administration to avoid having to answer that question and sending the missiles at all.</blockquote>
So far America's legacy in Syria is Obama's policy and that shameful legacy is that when a fire was consuming the Syrian house, we held back the fire hose. The Syrian National Council estimates that at least <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/american-can-stop-the-barrel-bombs-in-syria/2014/05/07/f3a24554-d498-11e3-95d3-3bcd77cd4e11_story.html">20,000 people</a> have been killed by Assad's barrel bomb attacks since March 2011. Allepo has been so heavily bombed this year that on 22 February 2014, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution demanding an end to the barrel-bombing. Even the Russians supported it. Using satellite photos, Human Rights Watch was able to <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/03/24/syria-unlawful-air-attacks-terrorize-aleppo">identify</a> at least 340 distinct damage sites in the 113-day period before 20 February 2014. The resolution made no difference, it had no teeth, the bombing continued. In the 40 days between 22 February and 2 April HRW <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/04/28/syria-new-barrel-bombs-hit-aleppo">identified</a> an additional 85 impact sites in liberated neighborhoods. The Violations Document Center <a href="http://www.vdc-sy.info/index.php/en/martyrs/1/c29ydGJ5PWEua2lsbGVkX2RhdGV8c29ydGRpcj1ERVNDfGFwcHJvdmVkPXZpc2libGV8ZXh0cmFkaXNwbGF5PTB8c3RhdHVzPTF8cHJvdmluY2U9Nnxjb2RNdWx0aT0xM3xzdGFydERhdGU9MjAxNC0wMi0yMnxlbmREYXRlPTIwMTQtMDQtMjJ8">reported</a> that aerial attacks killed 651 civilians in Aleppo province between the pasting of the UNSC resolution and 22 April. And while Assad continues to slaughter civilians from the air in violation of the UN resolution, he faces little in the way of threat from MANPADS on the ground. Only one of his warplanes was brought down by a MANPADS in this whole period.
In a Washington Post <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/american-can-stop-the-barrel-bombs-in-syria/2014/05/07/f3a24554-d498-11e3-95d3-3bcd77cd4e11_story.html">opinion piece</a> titled <i><b>"America can stop the ‘barrel bombs’ in Syria"</b></i>, 8 May 2014, Mohammed Alaa Ghanem argues:
<blockquote>
It would not take much for the United States to make a difference. A man whose neighborhood has endured numerous bombings reports that, after one regime helicopter was shot down by opposition forces, all attacks from the air ceased for 15 days. So a slight increase in the opposition’s capacity to target helicopters could have an enormous payoff in lives saved.</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.syriadeeply.org/articles/2014/05/5364/u-s-upgrades-status-syrias-opposition-mean/">On Tuesday</a> the US upgraded the Washington offices of the Syrian National Coalition to <i>"foreign mission"</i> status. While that is well short of diplomatic recognition, it is progress. Now SNC President Ahmad Jarba <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/05/09/Syrian-opposition-chief-opens-high-level-talks-in-U-S-.html">is in Washington</a>, DC for high level talks. Better and heavier weapons for those fighting Bashar al-Assad are sure to be on his shopping list. MANPADS would be the single most game changing and life saving thing the opposition needs. In this age of smart guns, there are many ways to make sure they aren't misused. Barack Obama should lift his ban against MANPADS for the people Assad is bombing.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Positive meeting with <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnKerry">@JohnKerry</a> yesterday at the <a href="https://twitter.com/StateDept">@StateDept</a> <a href="http://t.co/faIQNadanN">http://t.co/faIQNadanN</a> + <a href="https://t.co/MliTxlR8hv">https://t.co/MliTxlR8hv</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Syria&src=hash">#Syria</a> <a href="http://t.co/Q810qmmP2d">pic.twitter.com/Q810qmmP2d</a>
— Ahmad Jarba (@A_Jarba) <a href="https://twitter.com/A_Jarba/statuses/464778860043993088">May 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></center>
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<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/01/my-libyan-diaries_786.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Libya</a></big></center>
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Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-1135348990513467672014-04-23T18:22:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.273-07:00How Seymour Hersh confuses Syria with LibyaIn his <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n08/seymour-m-hersh/the-red-line-and-the-rat-line">most recent</a> essay, <b>The Red-line and the rat line</b>, Seymour Hersh argues that the 21 August sarin attack in Syria was a <i>"false flag"</i> carried out by the opposition in the hopes that it would bring the US into the war. He says Obama had information pointing to this and Hersh uses the yard stick of NATO Libyan intervention to argue that Obama's failure to intervene similarly in Syria indicates that he knew he had no legitimate case for intervention. Hersh writes:
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Why did Obama delay and then relent on Syria when he was not shy about rushing into Libya? The answer lies in a clash between those in the administration who were committed to enforcing the red line, and military leaders who thought that going to war was both unjustified and potentially disastrous.</span></blockquote>
He makes the same argument a different way in <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1312/09/cg.02.html">a recent CNN interview</a>:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">HERSH: And then the question then is if it's such a wonderful case he has and they're so sure, why so quick to walk away? Why say after a little heat, why say that we're going to go all of a sudden, he's a constitutionalist? The guy who invaded Tripoli without one worry about the War Powers act, all of a sudden he's a constitutionalist and wants to go to Congress? </span></blockquote>
Because Sy Hersh thinks Obama is as supportive of regime change in Syria as he was in Libya, he concludes Obama's failure to take military action against Bashar al-Assad after the chemical attack can be taken as de-facto proof that the President knew that the Assad regime really wasn't responsible for the sarin attack.
His logic simply makes no sense and shows how far he is willing to stray from rational thought in his effort to prove Obama <i>"knows"</i> Assad didn't do it.
Since Obama intervened in Libya near the very beginning of that conflict and the use of chemical weapons never became an issue, the answer to why he hasn't treated Syria in the same manner cannot possibly be explained by events almost three years after the killing began and after probably twenty times the number of deaths that sparked the Libyan intervention. Since Sy Hersh brings up the yard stick of Libya to measure Obama's Syria response by, he must first explain this almost three year delay in intervention before he can use events around Obama's red-line bluff and the August sarin attack to explain why these might be reasons for <i>further</i> delay. Remember, the kick-off date for the Libya Revolution, was 17 February 2011, and less than 5 weeks later and within a week of the start of the uprising in Syria, French warplanes were stopping Qaddafi's armor from doing to Benghazi what Assad has been able to do to Homs, Idlib and Aleppo. US warplanes were only a few days behind them. So Hersh can't possibly explain why Obama or NATO failed to protect the people of Syria with a similar resolve in 2011, 2012 or two-thirds of 2013 by spinning a tale about administration conflict over the red-line in September 2013. It simply isn't logical.
First you have to understand why Obama failed to intervene militarily even after a hundred thousands deaths, before the August sarin attacks added another thousand or so to the death count. Then you can go into why that attack failed to make him change his tune, in spite of his red-line bluff. Hersh operates under false assumption that Obama has not only been in support of regime change, but actively promoting it. Sy Hersh may believe that because that is the way Obama has always talked about Assad, but actions speak louder than words. When it comes to the Syrian opposition, Obama plays <i>"good cop"</i> to Putin's <i>"bad cop,"</i> that's why he talks a different way, but <a href="http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/923/re6.htm">he started working with Bashar al-Assad the same week Obama became President-elect in November 2008</a> and he would really like to see that regime survive. So would Israel. That is why he has failed to take any military action against Assad, or provide anything more than token support for the opposition, not just after the 21 August 2013 sarin attack, but also for the two and a half years before it.
Obama never planned to carry out a military attack against Assad the way he did against Qaddafi. Obama never expected his bluff to be called. When Obama made his famous <i>"red-line"</i> statement, <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/08/updated-obama-lights-assad-slaughter-in_4655.html">I said it was a green light</a> to keep killing big time without chemicals. That was the role it played until Assad called Obama's bluff by finally using <i>"a whole bunch of chemical weapons."</i> Then for Obama it became a matter of finding a way to weasel out of his promise. Going to Congress gave him that out. It simply makes no sense to take Obama's failure to change his policy as proof that this continued unwillingness to act against the Syrian regime shows Assad is innocent.
Barack Obama has been in Bashar al-Assad's corner all along:
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-obama-has-supported-assads-gas.html">How Obama has supported Assad's gas murder always</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/10/obamas-real-syria-policy-endless-war.html">Obama's Real Syria Policy: Endless War</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-courtship-continues-obama-stopped.html">The Courtship Continues: Obama stopped French strike on Assad</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/09/the-courtship-continues-obamas-new-gift.html">The Courtship Continues: Obama's New Gift to Assad</a></span> </li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/09/how-obama-helped-assad-kill-with-poison.html">How Obama Helped Assad Kill with Poison Gas in Syria</a></span> </li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/08/win-win-for-assad-as-obama-response-to.html">Win-Win for Assad as Obama Response to CW Mass Murder Put on Hold</a></span> </li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/08/obama-denied-gas-masks-to-assads-victims.html">Obama Denied Gas Masks to Assad's Victims</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/08/obamas-dilemma-and-assads-opportunity.html">Obama's Dilemma and Assad's Opportunity</a></span></li>
<li><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/09/barack-obama-courtship-of-bashar-al_4519.html">Barack Obama's Courtship of Bashar al-Assad</a></span></b></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/02/barack-obama-courtship-of-bashar-assad_6351.html">Barack Obama's Courtship of Bashar al-Assad Exposed!</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/08/updated-obama-lights-assad-slaughter-in_4655.html">Obama "green lights" Assad's slaughter in Syria</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/08/assad-redline-and-obama-greenlight_2292.html">Assad's Redline and Obama's Greenlight!</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/breaking-chemical-weapons-use-reported_2829.html">Chemical weapons use in Syria, Has Obama's red-line has been crossed?</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/ap-weighs-in-on-obama-green-light-for_1624.html">AP weighs in on Obama's Green Light for Assad's slaughter in Syria</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/syria-obama-moves-assad-line-back-as_1581.html">Syria: Obama's moves Assad's "red line" back as SOHR reports 42,000 dead!</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/secstate-john-kerry-and-his-friend_6865.html">SecState John Kerry and his "dear friend" Bashar al-Assad</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-obama-manpads-for-you-policy-in_8827.html">How Obama's <i>'No MANPADS for you'</i> policy in Syria is backfiring </a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/01/more-thoughts-on-obama-manpads-for-you_1371.html">More thoughts on Obama's 'No MANPADS for you!' policy</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/02/obama-did-cia-betray-assad-opposition_1831.html">Obama: Did the CIA betray Assad's opposition in Syria? </a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/03/obama-planning-drone-strikes-against.html">Obama planning drone strikes against Assad's opposition in Syria</a></span> </li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-obama-helps-assad-us-tried-to-start.html">How Obama helps Assad: US tried to start war between FSA & al Nusra Front </a></span></li>
</ul>
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<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></center>
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<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/01/my-libyan-diaries_786.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Libya</a></big></center>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-59708320303110572422014-04-13T18:21:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.353-07:00After Hersh lays smoke screen, Assad lobes gas bombs<table align="center" bgcolor="#FCE6CF" cellpadding="10" style="width: 564px;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><big>The Blogosphere is a Battlefield</big></span></center>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Karl Marx famously quoted Carl von Clausewitz to the effect that war is the continuation of politics by other means. It should also be said that propaganda in times of armed conflict is war by other means. Even though the strength of the contending armed bodies is critical in war, their propaganda efforts among their own forces, against the enemy forces, and towards international observers, play an extremely important role as well. That is why I say <a href="https://www.facebook.com/clayclai/posts/10201504937055416?stream_ref=11">the blogosphere is a battlefield</a>. Certainly Assad understands that, and so does Putin. They both see the value of creating and promoting a narrative designed to justify their aggression. They both see the value of demonizing their opposition, creating smoke screens, muddying waters, and creating distractions. Today, to a large extent, these goals are accomplished with the help of the Internet, and they both have created sophisticated machinery and spent a lot of money on political support for the Assad regime.</span></td></tr>
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<big>Sy Hersh goes on the warpath again ahead of new regime attacks </big></center>
Seemingly out of the blue, Bashar al-Assad's most prominent defender came out with a new 5,000 word essay again attempting to absolve the Assad regime for past chemical attacks. Even though the muzzled UN came as close as allowed to <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2014/03/un-assad-sarin-used-in-attacks-lefts.html">putting the blame</a> on the regime when it said that the sarin used in both Ghouta and Khan Al-Assal came from the Assad arsenal and was used by a large chemical weapons component of a professional army, Seymour Hersh's <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/2014/04/06/seymour-m-hersh/the-red-line-and-the-rat-line">rehash of the old arguments</a> put forth again on 8 April 2014 in the London Review of Books, reopened a discussion that many had thought settled.
His piece became like a call to action for Assad supporters everywhere to renew the claims that Assad didn't do it, repeat all the Fall conspiracy theories, and try to build unity among the conflicting versions. For example, Mint Press came out in support of Hersh, in spite of the fact that they had been supporting a <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/mint-press-exposed-as-assad-apologist.html">version</a> of how the rebels gassed themselves that involved untrained rebels in a tunnel bungling a big tank of sarin given to them by Saudi Prince Bandar. Hersh's current version has the Turks ramroding al Nursa, and using missiles, no Bandar, no tank, no tunnel. But nevermind about that, these Assad supporters are flexible, the main point is that Assad didn't do it and the rebels did. That is why all those that had formerly promoted a version that had the CIA and/or Qatar masterminding the chemical attacks were as quick as Mint Press to jump on the Hersh campaign bus.
As a result, just when the UN's 5 March report had done so much to clear the air and settle the question of responsibility, at least for the two most deadly sarin attacks, Hersh comes along, completely ignores the UN report, and leads the charge in another smoke and mirrors attack with his pro-Assad LRP propaganda bomb and they have been successful in raising a lot of dust and confusion.
Many of us on the other side of this battle in the blogosphere have been writing tooth and nail to discredit this latest Sy Hersh piece as well as his whole Assad-didn't-do-it thesis, but he is like a giant of journalism while we are the Lilliputians. He dismisses us as bloogers. We are working hard to clear the air, but every time the Hersh piece is reprinted or regurgitated, it is like another smoke grenade going off.
Now we know why this propaganda war is so important, because in the past few days the reports have been coming in that Assad is again killing with poison gas, now the laying of smoke before these operations makes strategic sense.
Was the timing of these new chemical weapons attacks, less than a week after the publication of the latest Sy Hersh defense of Assad, a coincidence, an opportunistic move on the part of Assad or was it part of a plan?
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
A victim of Assad’s poisonous gas attack on Kafr Zaita <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Hama&src=hash">#Hama</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Syria&src=hash">#Syria</a> 12-04-2014 <a href="http://t.co/QjU4389XpZ">http://t.co/QjU4389XpZ</a> <a href="http://t.co/YkYcP5elrE">pic.twitter.com/YkYcP5elrE</a>
— Syrian Revolution (@RevolutionSyria) <a href="https://twitter.com/RevolutionSyria/statuses/455156134928592896">April 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></center>
Below are some of the latest pieces on the chemical attacks:
From <b><a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/poison-gas-claims-complicate-syrian-civil-war-1.277738#.U0sLA6r-W9g.twitter">Associated Press</a></b>:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Poison gas claims complicate Syrian civil war</big></center>
By Bassem Mroue
April 12, 2014
BEIRUT — Both sides in Syria's bloody civil war said Saturday that a rural village fell victim to a poison gas attack, an assault that reportedly injured scores of people amid an ongoing international effort to rid the country of chemical weapons.
What exactly happened Friday in Kfar Zeita, a rebel-held village in Hama province some 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Damascus, remains unclear and likely won't be known for some time. It took United Nations weapons inspectors months to say it was likely some chemical weapons attacks happened last year, including an August attack that killed hundreds and nearly sparked Western airstrikes against President Bashar Assad's forces.
But online videos posted by rebel activists from Kfar Zeita echoed earlier images that sparked a world outcry, showing pale-faced men, women and children gasping for breath at a field hospital. They suggest an affliction by some kind of poison — and yet another clouded incident where both sides blame each other in a conflict that activists say has killed more than 150,000 people with no end in sight.
The main Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, said the poison gas attack hurt dozens of people, though it did not identify the gas used.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that relies on a network of on-the-ground volunteers, said the gas attack happened during air raids that left heavy smoke over the area. It reported that people suffered from suffocation and breathing problems after the attack, but gave no further details.
State-run Syrian television blamed members of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front rebel group for the attack, saying they used chlorine gas to kill two people and injure more than 100. It did not say how it confirmed chlorine was used.
Chlorine, one of the most commonly manufactured chemicals in the U.S., is used to purify drinking water. But as a gas, it can be deadly, with the German army using it in warfare in World War I. The Geneva Protocol of 1925, which Syria signed, banned its use in battle. <a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/poison-gas-claims-complicate-syrian-civil-war-1.277738#.U0sLA6r-W9g.twitter">More...</a></blockquote>
From <a href="http://eaworldview.com/2014/04/syria-chemical-warfare-regime-uses-chlorine-gas-kafrzita-hama-province/"><b>EA WorldView</b></a>:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Regime Uses Chlorine Gas on Kafrzita in Hama Province</big></center>
By Scott Lucas
April 13, 2014 12:16
On Saturday, we compiled videos of a claimed chemical attack on Kafrzita in Hama Province, probably from this airstrike and its <i>“yellow-tinged cloud”</i>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/i9x_6tCqQL4?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
<b>See <a href="http://eaworldview.com/2014/04/syria-regime-poison-gas-attacks-near-damascus-hama-province/http://">“Poison Gas” Attacks Near Damascus & in Hama Province</a></b>
To our surprise, Syrian State media admitted the attack, although they claimed — despite the airstrike — that it was the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra Front who was responsible, using chlorine gas that killed two people and injured more than 100.
Now Eliot Higgins, <b><a href="http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/evidence-chlorine-gas-was-used-in-kafr.html">on his Brown Moses blog</a></b>, puts together audio-visual and photographic evidence. His conclusion is that, even as the Assad regime claims it is shipping out its chemical weapons for destruction, only the Syrian military could have carried out Friday’s attack with <i>“poison gas”</i>. <a href="http://eaworldview.com/2014/04/syria-chemical-warfare-regime-uses-chlorine-gas-kafrzita-hama-province/">More...</a></blockquote>
From <b><a href="http://www.syriadeeply.org/articles/2014/04/5111/week-review-chemical-attacks-battlefield-shifts-assad/">Syria Deeply</a></b>:
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<center>
<big>Week in Review: Amid New Chemical Attacks and Battlefield Shifts, Assad Looks Ahead</big></center>
April 13th, 2014
by Lara Setrakian
Even by Syrian war standards, this was a brutal week.
By the end of it, reports had surfaced of a poison gas attack in the central Syrian town of Kafr Zeita. One hundred people were left sick from exposure; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/world/middleeast/damascus-and-rebels-trade-blame-in-gas-attack.html?ref=syria&_r=1" rel="external">the Syrian regime and rebel forces blamed each other</a> for the incident. In weeks past,<a href="http://www.syriadeeply.org/articles/2014/04/5036/doctors-report-chemical-attacks-eastern-damascus/" rel="external">Syrian doctors told us of repeated small-scale chemical attacks</a> around Damascus – a signal that the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26979101" rel="external">chemical destruction plan</a> brokered by the U.S. and Russia last year hasn’t stopped the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield.
Then there are the more conventional forms of destruction, which seem to be accelerating in pace. On Wednesday <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iran-sends-syria-30000-tons-food-supplies-23247030" rel="external">two car bombs struck an Alawite neighborhood of Homs</a>, killing at least 25 people. \<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/04/syria-rebels-advance-aleppo-city-2014412101712303691.html" rel="external">Rebels are advancing on government-held areas of Aleppo</a>, Al Jazeera reports, while the Los Angeles Times profiled the practically <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-c1-syria-aleppo-mood-20140411-dto%2c0%2c3916136.htmlstory#ixzz2ya9dOzK1" rel="external">apocalyptic scenes of life</a> for Aleppines, struggling to get by in a once-prosperous city. <a href="http://www.syriadeeply.org/articles/2014/04/5111/week-review-chemical-attacks-battlefield-shifts-assad/">More...</a></blockquote>
From <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27001737"><b>BBCNews</b></a>:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Claims of new poison gas attack in Syria</big></center>
12 April 2014
<b>The government and opposition forces in Syria have accused each other of using poison gas in an attack on a village on Friday.
</b>
State TV said the jihadist Nusra Front group launched the attack on Kafr Zita in Hama province, killing two people and injuring dozens of others.
But opposition groups quoted doctors as saying that an attack by regime planes led to suffocation and poisoning.
There was no independent verification of either of the claims.
<i>"Regime planes bombed Kafr Zita with explosive barrels that produced thick smoke and odours and led to cases of suffocation and poisoning,"</i> said Rami Abdel Rahman, from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27001737">More...</a></blockquote>
From <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/world/middleeast/damascus-and-rebels-trade-blame-in-gas-attack.html?ref=world&_r=0"><b>The New York Times</b></a>:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Damascus and Rebels Trade Blame in Gas Attack</big></center>
12 April 2014
By Anne Barnard and Ben Hubbard
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian state television and antigovernment activists reported Saturday that poison gas had been used in a rebel-held village in the central province of Hama, with each side blaming its enemies for an attack they both said sickened more than 100 people.
The attack took place Friday evening in the village of Kfar Zeita, sending streams of choking patients, including children, to poorly equipped field hospitals, according to local medics and videos posted online. Opposition activists said government helicopters had dropped improvised bombs on the village, covering it with a thick smoke that smelled of chlorine.
While the opposition reported the attack soon after it happened, Syrian state television first mentioned it the day after in an urgent news banner during a broadcast. It blamed the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, for the attack, adding that two people were killed and more than 100 others affected by the gas. A subsequent banner announcement said the Nusra Front was preparing two more chemical attacks. It was the first time since last year that both sides agreed that toxic weapons had been used. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/world/middleeast/damascus-and-rebels-trade-blame-in-gas-attack.html?ref=world&_r=0">More...</a></blockquote>
From <a href="http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2014/04/evidence-chlorine-gas-was-used-in-kafr.html"><b>Brown Moses Blog</b></a>:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Evidence Chlorine Gas Was Used In A Second, Failed, Chemical Attack On Kafr Zita </big></center>
Sunday, 13 April 2014
On April 11th, reports supported by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eDHqQIZsDM&list=PLPC0Udeof3T7yySO0dNQ2aNDO4Wuzb5JB">video</a> from the town of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafr_Zita">Kafr Zita</a>, Hama, claimed to show the aftermath of a chemical attack on the town. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kafrzita2011">Reports</a> claimed helicopters had dropped a "barrel bomb" containing a toxic gas on the town, with the below video claiming to show the attack as it happened. <a href="http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2014/04/evidence-chlorine-gas-was-used-in-kafr.html">More...</a></blockquote>
<center>
<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></center>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-4230149964535542572014-04-12T18:20:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.315-07:00Mỹ Lai and Sy Hersh, a Reappraisal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6z1fhj8TnOP6BzOCX_ok8Qvmr_qIOsBFAmKMEgFt8V6SDM9lWYGZLcGN0b7CjWWhoHlosaVyTNilprsbAbbVhp5W0iSXdmvEZNAG8xqfbbzQPzCRMbSE_nuyioOugILYEcgBjJJRyTuI/s1600/VAH-Danang-400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6z1fhj8TnOP6BzOCX_ok8Qvmr_qIOsBFAmKMEgFt8V6SDM9lWYGZLcGN0b7CjWWhoHlosaVyTNilprsbAbbVhp5W0iSXdmvEZNAG8xqfbbzQPzCRMbSE_nuyioOugILYEcgBjJJRyTuI/s1600/VAH-Danang-400.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
I made a documentary about the Vietnam War five years ago, <b><a href="http://vietnam.linuxbeach.net/">Vietnam: American Holocaust</a></b>. Since I wanted it to be the ultimate Vietnam War documentary, I got the guy who narrated and starred in <b>Apocalypse Now</b> to do the voice-over. I made it because too many educated Americans will tell you 58,000 people died in the Vietnam War, when the real number is closer to three million, give or take 50,000. The <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1393024/synopsis">tag line</a> I have used to promote the film has been <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=starred#q=%22The+Vietnam+War+was+a+My+Lai+every+week%22"><i><b>"The Vietnam War was a Mỹ Lai every week."</b></i></a> Since most people know about the Mỹ Lai massacre, it is an easy way to say what the film's message is. The month after I released the film, <b>Nick Turse</b> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/my-lai-month#">published an article</a> in <b>The Nation</b> titled <b>A Mỹ Lai a Month</b> about <b>Operation Speedy Express</b>, in which 10,889 Vietnamese were killed at the cost of only 267 American lives, which made much the same point.
That point, already known to the Vietnamese, most serious students of the Vietnam War, and certainly most combat vets, is that the only thing really outstanding about the Mỹ Lai massacre is the amount of attention it received.
Consider this relatively unknown massacre related by, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Camil">Scott Camil</a>, a decorated Vietnam combat Marine who <a href="http://vietnam.linuxbeach.net/files/VAH-Screenplay.doc">testifies in my film</a>. Why is it any less deserving to be known to the world and remembered throughout history?
<blockquote>
In Operation Stone we were sitting up on the rail road trestle with a river on each side. There's another company behind each river. And like the people were running around inside. And we were just shooting them and the newspaper said Operation Stone like World War Two movie. We just sat up there and wiped them out, women, children, everything. Two hundred nine-one of them.</blockquote>
Was this not worthy of Pulitzer Prize winning reportage? Certainly Operation Speedy Express was because it clearly wasn't a simple case of a Lieutenant and his company going off the reservation.
I have long been of the opinion that the US imperialists, even in their limited wisdom, understood they could never obliterate the people's memory of the many atrocities of the Vietnam War, so they allowed one to become famous, they allowed one to be publicized and prosecuted, in the hopes that the public memory of the generalized and pervasive massacres that was the Vietnam War, would be resolved down to the memory of this one atrocity, and in this they have been largely successful. I believe this is the proper context to view Seymour Hersh's Pulitzer Prizing winning reporting on the Mỹ Lai Massacre.
When Sy Hersh asked <i>"Why did the Army choose to prosecute this case?"</i> <a href="http://pierretristam.com/Bobst/library/wf-200.htm">the answer</a> he got from his <i>"military source"</i> was:
<blockquote>
<i>“The Army knew it was going to get clobbered on this at some point, If they don’t prosecute somebody, if this stuff comes out without the Army taking some action, it could be even worse.”</i></blockquote>
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The Mỹ Lai massacre took place on the morning of 16 March 1968 in the Vietnamese village of Son My. In Vietnam, it is properly known as the Son My massacre, but the US army wrongly had it marked Mỹ Lai on the map, and they don't easily admit mistakes so we call it the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre">Mỹ Lai massacre</a>. According to surviving villagers, the 504 unarmed civilians victims included men, women, children, and infants. Some of the women were gang-raped and their bodies mutilated.
The <a href="http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/Myl_hero.html">real American heroes</a> at the Mỹ Lai massacre were helicopter pilot <b>Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, Jr</b>, and his crew. They were proving close-air support over Son My for the ground troops. When he saw that innocent civilians were being massacred, he became an interventionist. From <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre">Wikipedia</a>:
<blockquote>
Thompson then saw a group of civilians (again consisting of children, women, and old men) at a bunker being approached by ground personnel. Thompson landed and told his crew that if the soldiers shot at the Vietnamese while he was trying to get them out of the bunker that they were to open fire at these soldiers. Thompson later testified that he spoke with a lieutenant (identified as Stephen Brooks of the 2nd Platoon) and told him there were women and children in the bunker, and asked if the lieutenant would help get them out. According to Thompson, <i>"he [the lieutenant] said the only way to get them out was with a hand grenade"</i>. Thompson testified that he then told Brooks to <i>"just hold your men right where they are, and I'll get the kids out"</i>. He found 12–16 people in the bunker, coaxed them out and led them to the helicopter, standing with them while they were flown out in two groups.
Returning to Mỹ Lai, Thompson and other air crew members noticed several large groups of bodies. Spotting some survivors in the ditch, Thompson landed again. A crew member entered the ditch and returned with a bloodied but apparently unharmed child who was flown to safety.</blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hugh Thompson</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
</td></tr>
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When Thompson got back to base he reported the massacre to his superiors. He told his platoon leader:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"If this damn stuff is what's happening here," you can take these wings right now 'cause they're only sewn on with thread."</i></blockquote>
At a time when the official Army line on Mỹ Lai was <i>"U.S. infantrymen had killed 128 Communists in a bloody day-long battle."</i>, Thompson stuck to his story and made it official. That meant being interviewed by a full colonel and the beginning of a record that would make this massacre hard to ignore. Thompson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for saving the child but he refused it because it was accompanied by a fabricated account of how they saved the child from <i>"intense crossfire."</i>
Another hero of Mỹ Lai was a 21-year-old soldier by the name of <b>Tom Glen</b>. Six months after the massacre, he wrote a letter to <b>General Creighton Abrams</b>, who was then commander of all US forces in Vietnam, in which, after describing the brutality he had witnessed, said:
<blockquote>
<i>"It would indeed be terrible to find it necessary to believe that an American soldier that harbors such racial intolerance and disregard for justice and human feeling is a prototype of all American national character; yet the frequency of such soldiers lends credulity to such beliefs. ... What has been outlined here I have seen not only in my own unit, but also in others we have worked with, and I fear it is universal. If this is indeed the case, it is a problem which cannot be overlooked,... "</i></blockquote>
<b>Colin Powell</b>, then a young major, was assigned to investigate Glen's complaint and came back with the verdict: <i>"In direct refutation of this portrayal is the fact that relations between Americal Division soldiers </i><i> and the Vietnamese people are excellent." </i>[the soldiers who committed the Mỹ Lai massacre were from the Americal Division.] Still, the record was building.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ron Ridenhour</td></tr>
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Finally, there was <b>Ronald L. Ridenhour</b>, SP5, a former door gunner and the first real investigator of the Mỹ Lai story. He <a href="http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/Myl_hero.html">said</a> that after he first heard about it from a friend:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I spent the remainder of my time in Vietnam trying to locate people who had been there and of course part of it was easy because I was going straight to the divisional LRRP company. Four or five people who had been my friends in Hawaii and had gone to Charlie company had transferred into the divisional LRRP company within a week or ten days after the massacre. So I was able to go in and talk with them and two of them were very good friends.
...
On my first five missions, of the six men who were on our team, four of them had been at Mỹ Lai. I was going out with these guys and gathering this information. I would go and talk to them and I would try to find each of them, get each of them in a one-on-one conversation.</i></blockquote>
One of his friends, <b>Michael Terry</b>, was later interviewed and quoted by Sy Hersh. This is how Ridenhour found <b>Sgt. Michael Bernhardt</b>, a witness Sy Hersh would cite 28 times in his first three articles on the massacre:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The one thing I needed that I didn't have was somebody who had been there, who was a witness and who had not participated. I didn't have any reason necessarily to believe my friends wouldn't be honest when they were asked about it. On the other hand, they had participated in this terrible crime and maybe they wouldn't. So I felt I needed somebody that I could count on and I knew of such a man, his name was Michael Bernhardt. </i></blockquote>
Bernhardt wasn't easy to contact because the Army was keeping him on point out in the boonies, trying to get him killed before he could speak out. When he finally got some alone time with Bernhardt, and found that they were of like minds about the massacre, Bernhardt told him his plan was to go around and assassinate the officers involved <i>"one by one"</i>, to which Ridenhour responded: "<i>So why don't we try my plan. I'm gonna get an investigation going." </i>
Once Ridenhour had assembled the facts and witnesses, he sent a letter to 30 members of Congress demanding an investigation. All but three of the recipients of Ridenhour's letter put it in the circular file. Those three, to their credit, were Congressman<b> Mo Udall</b> and Senators<b> Barry Goldwater</b> and <b>Edward Brooke</b>. Udall pushed for a House Armed Services Committee investigation.
With pressure growing, the Army knew they needed a <i>"fall guy",</i> and after spending nearly a year investigating what had become known, even whispered in the halls of Congress, as the <i>"Pinkville incident"</i>, they charged one man, <b>Lt. William Calley Jr.</b>, <i>"with premeditation murder"</i> of 109 <i>"Oriental human beings"</i> on 6 Sept 1969. He would become the only person ever convicted in this massacre. They also <a href="http://www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/001082.php">issued</a> a short press release which was generally ignored.
It is only now, after the Army had built its case and charged Calley [a more cynical person might say, <i>"After the Army had perfected its cover story."</i>] that <b>Seymour Hersh</b>, the official hero of record in the Mỹ Lai massacre, comes onto the stage. He was alerted to the Calley court marshal by <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Cowan">Geoffrey Cowan</a> </b>of <b>The Village Voice</b>. Geoffrey Cowan had earlier been active in the 1964 <b>Mississippi Freedom Summer</b> and had set up the first civil rights newspaper in Mississippi. He became an anti-war lawyer and was working on the anti-war presidential campaign of <b>Senator Eugene McCarthy</b> in 1968 <a href="http://prezi.com/y1tmbh2p_4kc/seymour-hersh-star-in-journalism-history/">when Sy Hersh was its press secretary.</a>
After he received Cowan's tip, Hersh called a trusted friend, a former defense official, and asked <i>"What did this guy Calley do?"</i> From the retired US Army colonel he got <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/chi-040623hersh-story.html#page=1">the story</a> the Army wanted to put out:
<blockquote>
<i>"This Calley is just a madman, Sy just a madman! He just went around killing all those people. Little babies!"</i></blockquote>
After receiving a small grant from <b>The Fund for Investigative Journalism</b>, Hersh did extensive interviews with Calley's lawyer and finally Calley himself. Hersh later wrote of the 15 hr. interview in which Hersh plied Calley with booze:
<blockquote>
<i>"It was silly of him to speak with me, but he just wanted to talk. He went all night."</i></blockquote>
Calley was a 20-year-old soldier facing capital murder charges talking to an experienced reporter without his lawyer present, but he was by no means innocent, and such tactics certainly could have been justified had Hersh's motive been to end that devastating war, but Sy Hersh <a href="http://www.onthemedia.org/story/131080-40-years-later-hersh-on-my-lai/transcript/">admitted 40 years later</a>:
<blockquote>
<i>"I’d like to tell you that I thought, oh my God, this is going to kill the war, it’s going to hurt the war effort. But really, fame, fortune and glory raced through my mind. What a story!" </i></blockquote>
Sy Hersh was getting the story that made him and he was exposing an atrocity, but he was also helping the Army build its case against a scape-goat, and helping to shape the memory the military wanted people to have of the war. <i>"Yes, there were a few atrocities, but we took care of that."</i> His stories ran in 33 newspapers. This is how Sy Hersh became the instrument by which the Mỹ Lai massacre became public knowledge in November 1969. He was rewarded with a Pulitzer Prize and a job at the New York Times. At the time, Hersh <a href="http://www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/001082.php">boasted</a> <i>"I'm a fucking celebrity!"</i>
If I am right about the role that the exposure of the Mỹ Lai massacre was intended to play in the media and the American psych, then Sy Hersh was a good choice to get the scoop because unlike David Halberstam, Dan Rather, Peter Arnett, Barbara Gluck, Bob Simons and many other war correspondents, he lacked experience in Vietnam. Sy Hersh covered the story from the point-of-view of the court marshal, and he covered it initially in three stories from three locations, Fort Benning, GA on 13 November 1969, Washington, DC on 20 November 1969, and Terre Haute, IN on 25 November 1969. He reports on it not as an example of the kind of wholesale slaughter that was the Vietnam War, but in isolation from any other massacre.
In his <a href="http://pierretristam.com/Bobst/library/wf-200.htm">first article</a> about Calley, Hersh quotes another officer defending Calley on the basis that what he did was nothing out of the ordinary:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"There weren’t any friendlies in the village. The orders were to shoot anything that moved.”</i> Another officer said <i>“It could happen to any of us. He has killed and has seen a lot of killing. ..Killing becomes nothing in Vietnam." </i></blockquote>
A few paragraph later Hersh writes of Calley:
<blockquote>
Friends described Calley as a <i>“gung-ho Army man ... Army all the way.”</i> Ironically, even his stanchest supporters admit, his enthusiasm may be somewhat to blame. <i>“Maybe he did take some order to clear out the village a little bit too literally”</i> one friend said <i>“but he’s a fine boy.”</i></blockquote>
Sy Hersh should have known that the order<i> "Kill anything that moves" </i>was often given and often taken very literally. Here's another example from my film <a href="http://vietnam.linuxbeach.net/files/VAH-Screenplay.doc">as told</a> by Vietnam vet Jamie Henry:
<blockquote>
19 women and children were rounded up as Viet Cong Suspects--and the lieutenant that rounded them up called the captain on the radio and he asked what should be done with them.
The captain simply repeated the order that came down from the colonel that morning. The order that came down from the colonel that morning was to kill anything that moves, which you can take anyway you want to take it. When the captain told the lieutenant this, the lieutenant rang off. I got up and I started walking over to the captain thinking that the lieutenant just might do it because I had served in his platoon for a long time. As I started over there, I think the captain panicked, he thought the lieutenant might do it too, and this was a little more atrocious than the other executions that our company had participated in, only because of the numbers. But the captain tried to call him up, tried to get him back on the horn, and he couldn't get a hold of him. As I was walking over to him, I turned, and I looked in the area. I looked toward where the supposed VCS were, and two men were leading a young girl, approximately 19 years old, very pretty, out of a hooch. She had no clothes on so I assumed she had been raped, which was pretty SOP (that’s standard operating procedure for civilians), and she was thrown onto the pile of the 19 women and children, and five men, around the circle, opened up on full automatic with their M-16s. And that was the end of that.</blockquote>
I believe one of the effects of an almost obsessive focus by the media on the single massacre at Mỹ Lai has been to drown out the knowledge of these hundreds of other atrocities, larger and smaller, that gave the war the character of a holocaust in which more than 3 million human beings, <i>"Oriental"</i> or not, were slaughtered by Americans.
The real American heroes of the Son My Massacre are first and foremost the ordinary soldiers who refused such orders and sometimes even offered armed resistance, and then those who refused to let the massacre be covered up. As Hersh reported at the time:
<blockquote>
Interviews have brought out the fact that the investigation into the Pinkville affair was initiated six months after the incident, only after some of the men who served under Calley complained. </blockquote>
One of those soldiers was Sgt. Michael Bernhardt, who told Sy Hersh:
<blockquote>
<i>“The Army ordered me not to talk, but there are some orders that I have to personally decide whether to obey; I have my own conscience to consider."</i></blockquote>
These soldiers didn't receive any prizes or fancy new jobs for their troubles, but they should have.Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-10363110454165854222014-04-10T18:18:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.267-07:00Seymour Hersh's chemical weapons fetishThe Assad regime had Ghouta under siege and been killing the civilians and fighters in this resistive community with conventional shot and shell for almost a year before the sarin gas attack of 21 August killed over 1400 people including 400 children, and immediately after that poison gas attack, they continued the slaughter by conventional means. For example the Violations Documentation Center <a href="http://www.vdc-sy.info/index.php/en/reports/chemicalmassacrefollowup#.U0cowtsr2PI">reports</a> the local opposition media center was attacked the next day:<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The day following the massacre, on 22-8-2013, the fighter jets, by two air raids, shelled the Coordination office itself. The office has also been shelled by <i>"FozdiKa"</i> that left it heavily damaged.</blockquote>
While none have the audacity to claim that someone other than the Assad regime is dropping barrel bombs on Aleppo, Homs, Idlib and other opposition areas, that those aren't regime war planes and helicopters that have been bombing <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/12/aleppo-school-bombed-as-more-killed-by.html">schools</a>, hospitals and <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2012/11/breaking-assad-troops-wipe-out_392.html">playgrounds</a>, or that regime artillery hasn't been shelling these areas for more than two years, a wide range of observers from both the far right and the phony left, have come forward to support Assad's claim that he didn't do the sarin attack. Perhaps this is because precisely one year before this attack, in a statement that <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2012/08/updated-obama-lights-assad-slaughter-in_4655.html">gave Assad a green-light</a> to continue the slaughter by these conventional means, US President Barack Obama threaten a serious response if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad crossed his redline and used chemical weapons to increase the slaughter.
Probably Assad's most prominent defender against the charge that he was also responsible for the sarin gas attack that <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-did-assad-regime-first-deny-cw.html">his regime initially denied even happened</a>, has been the noted journalist Seymour Hersh, who found a home for his poorly sourced arguments twice in the London Review of Books. Both of these lengthy essays promote Assad's thesis that the opposition gassed their own people in the faint hope that Obama would honor his <i>"red-line"</i> pledge and attack Assad.
Between the 21 August sarin gas attack and Sy Hersh's first defense of Assad for those attacks, <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n24/seymour-m-hersh/whose-sarin">Whose Sarin?</a>, 19 December 2013, some 10,176 civilians and opposition fighters were killed without the use of poison gas, and between that essay and his second one, <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n08/seymour-m-hersh/the-red-line-and-the-rat-line">The Red Line and the Rat Line</a>, 7 April 2014, another 10,670 Syrians have been slaughtered, none by poison gas. These figures have been compiled from <a href="http://www.vdc-sy.info/index.php/en/about">VDC</a> <a href="http://www.vdc-sy.info/index.php/en/reports/categories/monthly-statistical-reports">monthly</a> and <a href="http://www.vdc-sy.info/index.php/en/reports/categories/weekly-statistical-reports">weekly</a> martyrs reports. The VDC says these figures only account for those killed by regime forces. They list the regime's army deaths separately. They also use a very conservative methodology in their count. For example they only claim <a href="http://then,%20vdc%e2%80%99s%20activists%20in%20the%20eastern%20gouta%20documented%20932%20martyrs,%20including%2039%20unidentified%20ones./">932 martyrs</a> killed in the 21 August chemical attacks whereas most other sources say between 1400 and 1700 died, they say only <a href="http://vdc%20has%20documented,%20since%20the%20beginning%20of%20the%20revolution%20in%20march%202011%20till%20the%20end%20of%20march%202014%20%2891,923%29%20martyrs,%20%282,408%29%20of%20which%20died%20in%20march%202014./">91,923</a> opposition civilian and fighters, and 12,809 regime forces have been killed since the beginning of the revolution in March 2011, whereas the <a href="http://www.syriahr.com/index.php?option=com_news&nid=17296&Itemid=2&task=displaynews#.U0bl49sr2PJ">Syrian Observatory for Human Rights</a> says 150,345 were killed by the end of March 2014. Most likely either of those figures represents a serious undercount of the dead, given that <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2014-01-23-inside-syrias-slaughter-houses">an estimated 50,000</a> are missing, or in Assad's prisons, and we know <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2014/01/is-assad-running-largest-death.html">from recent reports</a> that 11,000, and probably many more of those thought to be in detention are already dead.
Many very good critiques of Sy Hersh's denial of Assad's responsibility for the sarin gas attacks have taken him to task for failing to prove his case, I have written two myself, and those are listed, along with many others, at the end of this piece. The purpose of this essay is not to add more proofs of Assad's responsibility for the poison gas attacks, but put that in a larger context and to point out that most of those killed in the Syrian conflict have been killed with conventional weapons and the vast majority of those have been killed by the Assad regime, so no matter how you slice it, Hersh et al are defending a mass murderer while ignoring all those murders by non-chemical means.
The same people who deny Assad's responsibility for the chemical attacks would also have you believe that the hundred thousand plus non-chemical deaths are more or less equally divided between the combatants, but this is simply not the case. Just this week Reuter <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/08/us-syria-crisis-un-rights-idUSBREA371UM20140408">reported</a> what Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said:
<blockquote>
Pillay said monitors in her office and investigators with the U.N. commission of inquiry in Syria, led by Paulo Pinheiro, had consistently blamed both parties to the Syrian conflict for human rights violations <i>"but you cannot compare the two."</i>
<i>"Clearly the actions of the forces of the government far outweigh the violations (by rebels)," </i>Pillay told reporters<i>. "It's the government that is mostly responsible for the violations and all these perpetrators should be identified and can if there's a referral to the International Criminal Court."</i></blockquote>
So even if Sy Hersh et al, were successful in their attempts to absolve Bashar al-Assad of the chemical deaths, there can be no doubt that the man they are defending is a mass murderer many times over. Between his two LRB articles, Hersh has spent over ten thousand word denying Assad's responsibility for the chemical attacks without saying anything about his wholesale slaughter by other methods. Sy Hersh has turned Assad's chemical weapons attack into something of a fetish, as if disproving Assad culpability for those 1400 deaths makes him less of a mass murderer.
I am reminded of Bob Marley's song <i>"I Shot The Sheriff"</i> but in Sy Hersh's version it goes like this:
<center>
<big>Assad shot the children, but he didn't gas no families. </big></center>
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Many others have critiqued Sy Hersh's thesis, among the best are:
From <b>EA Worldview</b>
<a href="http://eaworldview.com/2014/04/syria-hersh-chemical-weapons-conspiracy-insurgents/">There is No Chemical Weapons Conspiracy — Dissecting Hersh’s “Exclusive”</a> by Scott Lucas 8 April 2014
<a href="http://eaworldview.com/2014/04/syria-special-dissecting-hershs-insurgents-chemical-weapons-attacks-sequel/">Dissecting Hersh’s “Insurgents Did Chemical Weapons Attacks” — A Sequel</a> by Scott Lucas 8 April 2014
From <b>Brown Moses Blog</b>
<a href="http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2014/04/seymour-hershs-volcano-problem.html">Seymour Hersh's Volcano Problem</a> by Eliot Higgins 7 April 2014
<a href="http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-does-seymour-hersh-knows-about.html">What Does Seymour Hersh Knows About Volcano Rockets?</a> by Eliot Higgins 7 April 2014
From <b>War in Context</b>
<a href="http://warincontext.org/2014/04/06/seymour-hershs-alternate-reality/">Seymour Hersh’s alternate reality</a> by Paul Woodward 6 April 2014
<a href="http://warincontext.org/2014/04/07/does-seymour-hersh-understand-how-hexamine-fits-into-syrian-sarin/">Does Seymour Hersh understand how hexamine fits into Syrian sarin?</a> by Paul Woodward 7 April 2014
<a href="http://warincontext.org/2014/04/09/seymour-hersh-as-dorian-gray/">Seymour Hersh as Dorian Gray</a> by Louis Proyect 9 April 2014
From <b>Arms Control Wonk</b>
<a href="http://guests.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/4329/turkeys-syria-policy-why-seymour-hersh-got-it-wrong">Turkey’s Syria Policy: Why Seymour Hersh Got it Wrong</a> by Stein 8 April 2014
From <b>NOW</b>
<a href="https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentaryanalysis/542509-hersh-and-the-red-herring">Hersh and the Red Herring</a> by Dan Kaszeta 8 April 2014
From <b>Linux Beach</b>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2014/04/seymour-hershs-believe-it-or-dont_8.html">Seymour Hersh's Believe It or Don't</a> by Clay Claiborne 8 April 2014
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/12/whose-seymour-hersh.html">Whose Seymour Hersh?</a> by Clay Claiborne 9 December 2013
From <b>Al Monitor</b>
<a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/04/turkey-not-supporting-jabhat-al-nusra.html">Seymour Hersh gets it wrong on Turkey</a> by Rasim Ozan Kutahyali, 10 April 2014
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<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></div>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-10788430495543281002014-03-12T22:02:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:47:40.271-07:00The Conscience of SyriaRepublished from <a href="http://bostonreview.net/world/postel-hashemi-interview-syrian-activist-intellectual-yassin-al-haj-saleh">Boston Review.</a><br />
<br />
<br />
An Interview with Activist and Intellectual Yassin al-Haj Saleh<br />
Danny Postel<br />
Nader Hashemi<br />
Yassin al-Haj Saleh<br />
March 12, 2014<br />
<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yassin al-Haj Saleh is often called the conscience of the Syrian
revolution. Born in Raqqa in 1961, he was arrested in 1980, while a
medical student in Aleppo, and imprisoned for his membership in a
left-wing organization. He remained a political prisoner until 1996,
spending the last of his <a href="http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/9744" target="_blank">sixteen years behind bars</a> in the notorious desert-prison of Tadmur (Palmyra).</span><br />
<br />
Saleh has emerged as one of the leading writers and intellectual
figures of the Syrian uprising, which began three years ago this week.
In 2012 he was given the Prince Claus Award (supported by the Dutch
Ministry of Foreign Affairs) but was<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/syrian-writer-in-hiding-unable-to-collect-award/story-fn3dxix6-1226467895126" target="_blank"> unable to collect it</a>,
as he was living in hiding in Damascus. Now living in exile in Turkey,
Salehwrites for a variety of international Arabic-language publications.
Along with a group of Syrians and Turks, he recently established a
Syrian Cultural House in Istanbul called <i>Hamish</i> (“margin” or “fringe”). Saleh has published several Arabic-language books, most recently <a href="http://www.cihrs.org/?p=8177&lang=en" target="_blank"><i>Deliverance or Destruction? Syria at a Crossroads</i></a> (2014).<br />
<br />
<i>—</i><i>Danny Postel and Nader Hashemi, co-editors of </i><a href="http://www.bostonreview.net/br-book/syria-dilemma" target="_blank">The Syria Dilemma</a>.<br />
<hr />
<br />
<b>For many in the West, the situation in Syria looks very
confusing. On August 31, 2013, for example, President Obama said the
“underlying conflict in Syria” was due to “ancient sectarian
differences.” It is often heard – both in official foreign policy
circles and among leftists and antiwar activists – that there are “no
good guys” in the Syrian conflict, that all sides are equally bad, and
therefore there is no one to support. What do you think of this stance?
How would you respond to those who say there is no one to support in
Syria?</b><br />
<br />
Actually I find it confusing that many people in the West find our
situation in Syria confusing. Is it a matter of information and
knowledge? I tend to think that it is a matter of politics. Confusion
could be a function of a certain position toward our struggle: inaction,
which in my opinion is the worst kind of action, not from our
perspective as Syrians but also from a regional and international
perspective, not to mention humanity and human solidarity with the
oppressed.<br />
<br />
Sectarian differences? What a subtle analysis! When an armed
structure uses the supposedly national army, media organs, and resources
to kill its own people when they oppose its tyrannical rule—this can
hardly be considered a sectarian conflict. We’re not talking about just
any structure—we’re talking about the repressive state apparatus of the
Assad regime. It thus becomes absurd to explain the Syrian struggle in
sectarian terms. To the best of my best knowledge, states are not sects,
are they?<br />
<br />
I am by no means turning a blind eye toward sectarian tensions and conflicts in Syrian society. Many writers, <a href="http://www.lb.boell.org/web/52-801.html" target="_blank">myself included</a>,
have written about sectarianism in Syria. My main conclusion is that
sects are politically manufactured entities, and sectarianism is a
political tool for controlling people, a strategy for political
domination. It certainly is not a matter of social “differences” but
rather a method for guarding social privileges and transforming a
struggle against tyranny and manipulation into sectarian strife, a <i>fitna</i>. The word <i>fitna</i>
has religious echoes about it, and it is remarkable that the ‘secular’
Bashar Assad used it sixteen times in his first speech after the
beginning of the revolution on March 30, 2011.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">Culture can be a strategic field for our struggle for freedom and against fascism, both the Assadist and Islamist versions.</span></blockquote>
<br />
Even now, after more than a thousand days of the Syrian struggle, it
is still a tremendous political and ethical mistake to say that all we
have are bad guys. The regime is essentially criminal and has no
solution whatsoever to Syria’s many problems. I think those who says
Syria’s sides are equally bad are the same people who believe in that
despicable slogan of <i>realpolitik</i>: a devil you know is better
than a devil you don’t know. Meaning the devil you know isn’t really a
devil after all. It’s only the devil you don’t know who is the bad guy.
This is bad politics, devoid of knowledge, devoid of human values.<br />
<br />
<b>The Slovenian leftist philosopher Slavoj Žižek wrote an article for <i>The Guardian</i> </b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/06/syria-pseudo-struggle-egypt"><b>characterizing Syria as a "</b><b>pseudo-struggle</b></a><b><u>"</u></b> <b>lacking a radical emancipatory voice. What do you make of that criticism?</b><br />
<br />
Firstly, he ignores how the Islamic faith can be a liberatory tool.
This is a contradictory phenomenon to be sure, but a real one. Religion
and religiosity can fuel emancipatory mobilization. Secondly, he fails
to say anything about the origins of this situation in the
country—extreme political poverty in particular (no right to freely
gather, even in private places, no free speech or publishing). Thirdly
and most importantly, the stance of Žižek and others like him does not
help secular Syrians who are struggling against the regime. In fact this
position serves to weaken us, and to make both the regime and the
Islamists stronger. In effect they are saying that people who are
interested in mass emancipation have nothing to do with
"pseudo-struggles" and the right thing for them to do is to stay away
from those struggles. This is irresponsible and insensitive to human
suffering. Their recommendation—and I think this is the real criterion
for evaluating the analyses of "leftists"—is not that secular Syrians
like us distance ourselves from the struggle, but worse: it is
effectively to side closer to the regime. The regime is not only
responsible for the pains of the Syrians over the past few decades, but
also for the ascendance of the jihadi groups that Žižek complains about.
The problem is not that such writers ignore something important about
Syria, it is that they are ignorant of nearly everything about the
miserable country.<br />
<br />
<b>Give us a sense of your political biography. You were born in
Raqqa in 1961. What were your political and intellectual influences as a
young man? In 1980 you were arrested for your political activism and
spent 16 years behind bars. What exactly were you arrested for? What was
your group doing in that period? What was Syrian political life like at
that time?</b><br />
<br />
I was a member of one of the two communist parties in Syria when I
was a student at the University of Aleppo, the Syrian Communist
Party-Political Bureau. It opposed to the regime of Hafez Assad, and was
struggling for democracy. I was influenced by thinkers like the two
late Syrians Yassin al Hafez and Elias Murqus, and the Moroccan
historian and political theorist Abdallah Laroui. To those of us seeking
a better understanding of our social and historical situation, they
offered a non-dogmatic Marxism with an orientation to our society and
cultural problems. Under their influence, I decided I wanted to be a
writer. We found ourselves enthusiastic about the Euro-communism of the
1970s and critical towards the Soviet Union. But our political identity
was mainly built on our experiences of struggle against the tyrannical
rule of Assad, the father. It combined a traditional leftist affiliation
with a deep commitment to the people and an aspiration for freedom.<br />
<br />
Before 1980 one could hardly speak of a political life in Syria.
There was an alliance of seven parties, including the official Communist
Party (who relied heavily on the Soviets). The alliance, the National
Progressive Front (NPF), was under the leadership of the Ba’ath Party,
and it was supposedly the frame for political life in Syria. Actually it
was the frame for political death. Other groups who were steadfast in
opposing the regime were sent to jail. So prisons and NPF have been the
political institutions in the country for forty-one years now.<br />
<br />
At the political level, we harshly condemned the regime and
considered it to be responsible for the “social and national crisis”
that broke out in the country between 1979 and 1982. At that time, the
regime of Hafez Assad showed increasingly fascist tendencies—organized
violence against any independent social or political activities,
building “popular organizations” to contain society, from school
children to universities to women to trade unions. It also fostered
entrenched, widespread nepotism with a blatant sectarian element in it,
and created a cult of Assad via its media, military, educational
institutions, and in public spaces (statues, banners, photos, songs,
“spontaneous marches”). In a few years, this led to a big political and
social crisis and a violent struggle between the regime and the Muslim
Brotherhood. By the time the regime won this battle through bloody
means, which was widely ignored at the international level, it was
already on its path of crushing all the remaining forms of political and
cultural life.<br />
<br />
The Syrian Communist Party-Political Bureau denounced the outburst of
fascism and spoke in favor of a democratic change to enable Syria to
avoid violence and to open the political system to the people’s
organizations and initiatives. We took active part in the protests in
many Syrian cities in 1980. I was myself a participant in those protests
at the University of Aleppo. Afterwards, I was forced to live in hiding
for two months until I was arrested on December 7, 1980. I was only one
of hundreds of members arrested. I was less than twenty years old at
that time and spent sixteen years in prison. [Syrian opposition leader]
Riad at-Turk spent nearly eighteen years in solitary confinement.<br />
<br />
After prison I became a writer and participated in many activities of
the opposition. Sixteen years in prison is a long time, but it was a
formative experience for me as a public intellectual and as an ethical
agent in the struggle for change. At the same time, it was an
emancipatory experience; through suffering, learning, and struggle I
broke out of some of my internal prisons: that of narrow political
affiliation, of rigid ideology, and that of the intellectual's ego.
Perhaps the second most important influence on my political identity is
the revolution that began in March 2011 and the open-ended and
multi-leveled struggle that is going on in the country. I stayed in
hiding in Damascus for two years, and for another six months in other
parts of the country. My role was that of an intellectual and writer,
not of a politician or a political activist. In the coming years, I
intend to work on the cultural dimensions of the Syrian revolution since
I believe culture could be a strategic field for our struggle for
freedom and against fascism, both the Assadist and Islamist versions.<br />
<b>Speaking of that “struggle for freedom and against fascism, both the Assadist and Islamist versions,” in </b><b><a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/syria-s-opposition-frustrated-by-its-reluctant-allies-1.1534968" target="_blank">a piece you wrote for the <i>Irish Times</i></a> </b><b>in
late September, you described the jihadi elements in Syria as “enemies
of the revolution” and you claim that they “in reality are more
threadbare and less cohesive than the impression from afar portrays
them.” It is false, you contend, to assert “that what is good for the
jihadis is bad for the regime.” You say, “What is true is that what is
good for the revolution, the Free Syrian Army and the democratic
activists inside and outside of the country, is bad for the regime and
the jihadis.” </b><br />
<br />
<b>Can you elaborate on this point a bit for those who might
find it puzzling? To what extent are the democratic forces in Syria now
engaged in a war on two fronts – one against the regime, and one against
the jihadis? If the Assad regime were to collapse in the coming months,
would there not be a second war in its aftermath between the democratic
forces within the revolution and the jihadi elements? To what extent is
that war already taking place? Doesn't this double-bind in which
Syria’s democratic forces are caught call for <i>more</i> solidarity
from internationalists on the outside rather than the defeatist turn
away from the Syrian conflict that one finds more prevalent of late?</b><br />
Jihadi groups only started to appear in Syria many months after the
beginning of the revolution. The worse the situation became for the
majority of people, the better the conditions became for extremist
jihadis. When the social environment is being destroyed and dozens of
people are being killed every day all over the country while the world
is just watching—this is the perfect world for nihilist groups. Their
very doctrines are built on the assumption that the world is evil and
plotting against them, as Arabs or Muslims. By the way, this paranoid
worldview is shared by both the Assadist regime and the jihadi groups.<br />
<br />
It should be clear by now that the regime is happy with the
appearance of these groups because they enable it to sell the narrative
of “war against terrorism” to those who are ready to buy it in the West
and elsewhere. Some prominent figures in Western intelligence and
diplomatic circles are now calling for coordination with the Assad
regime against terrorism. Having such a marketable commodity [the “war
on terror”] enables engagement with influential international powers,
something the regime constantly depends on to refresh its international
legitimacy and renew its mandate for ruling the country. Staying in
power “forever” is the highest aim of the Assad dynasty.<br />
<br />
So it is expected that the regime will do its best to secure the
production of this commodity on a massive scale. One needn’t revert to
speculations or conspiracy theories about possible hidden ties between
the regime and some of these groups. On January 21, based on Western
intelligence information, <i>The Telegraph</i> published <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10585391/Syrias-Assad-accused-of-boosting-Al-Qaeda-with-secret-oil-deals.html">an article about secret cooperation</a> between the regime and al-Qaeda, especially in relation to oil in the eastern part of the country.<br />
<br />
Up until mid-autumn of 2013 I was in Raqqa, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/feb/19/raqqa-syria-town-islamists-video">where the formal headquarters of ISIS</a>
[the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaeda splinter group]
were based in the enormous building of the local government. Though the
regime fighters decided it was strategically vital to attack a school in
the first days of October 2013, killing around twenty students, and its
helicopters dropped barrel bombs on civilian neighborhoods, the ISIS
building was never targeted.<br />
<br />
The best way to combat the fascist jihadi groups is to bring about
radical change in Syria by getting rid of the regime that has ruled the
country for forty-four years.The disappearance of the regime, with all
its machinery of brutality and humiliation, will provide national and
democratically minded Syrians and moderate Islamists with the mechanism
to confront extremist and expansionist organizations such as the ISIS.
This might trigger a process of tolerance and reconciliation among
various Syrian parties and make the voices of reason and forgiveness
heard—things that sound impossible now. While I was in Eastern Ghoota
between April and July 2013, one day a member of the Civil Defence Units
who was in charge of washing the dead and placing them in coffins,
while carrying in his two hands a terribly mutilated body, looked into
my eyes and said: “<i>Istath</i> (learned man), how could we deal with
those who did this to the child? How could we live with them?” I had no
words to say at that time. It is impossible for “<i>Istaths</i>” like
us to do anything useful while the public killer is still in his post,
progressing in his job of torturing, starving, bombing, and killing on a
daily basis.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">“<i>Istath</i> (learned man), how could we deal with those who did
this to the child? How could we live with them?” I had no words to say
at that time.</span></blockquote>
<br />
It is not only that the regime is benefitting from reactionary
fascist groups openly expressing their enmity toward the revolution.
Those forces who have adhered to the revolution are the ones who have
been confronted by those nihilist groups. You perhaps know that the
beginning of this year witnessed many battles against the ISIS in which
many moderate groups participated, and the outcome was that the ISIS was
pushed away from all of Idlib and many districts of Aleppo. This took
place despite the war the regime is waging against these same districts.
This is to say that with only one enemy to fight, it would be much
easier for Syrians to fight parties like ISIS.<br />
<br />
The general social law in Syria for the last three years, and indeed
during the whole nightmarish Assadist decades, has been that extremism
nurtures extremism. It is vital for the country that the source of
extremism is dried up: the fascist regime has a whole complex industry
of killing its wretched people, and the whole world now knows after the
leakof 55,000 photos of 11,000 brutally tortured bodies. Sending this
thuggish junta to the dungeon of history will be the first step towards
the country’s recuperation. Only then can there be a dynamic of
moderation and inclusion, leading to the isolation the most extremist
groups. No moderation is possible in Syria without justice for the
Syrian people. The relation between the concepts ‘moderation’ and
‘justice’ is clear in Arabic: The word <i>I’tidal</i> (moderation) is derived from <i>Adl</i> (justice); accordingly, injustices foster extremism.<br />
<br />
What internationalist parties all over the world need to know is that
there is nothing progressive or anti-imperialist or secular about the
regime. It is a fascist regime, a deeply sectarian and deeply corrupt
junta that is prepared to commit every crime to stay in power. In an
interview on the day the Geneva II meetings began, an anchor from Sky
News asked Assad adviser Buthaina Shaaban about the 11,000 killed in the
regime’s factories of death. Her answer was: “And what about the fate
of the Christians? Don’t you care about the fate of Christians? Do you
know that eleven nuns are still kidnapped?” This is representative of
the mindset of the regime. Commenting on the chemical massacre of August
21 in Eastern Ghouta, Shaaban said that those killed were children from
coastal villages (meaning: Alawis) kidnapped, brought to al Ghouta, and
gassed! Even the French colonialism that dominated Syria between the
two world wars was not as efficient in its divide and conquer policy as
the regime is.<br />
<br />
It is also clear that the imperial powers are doing their best not to
cause the regime to fall, or even to weaken it. Actually they’ve done
exactly the opposite: they have not helped the Free Syrian Army or the
Syrian National Council in establishing no fly zones and safe zones,
which those groups have asked for since the autumn of 2011. Not a single
Stinger missile was acquired by the FSA, though the regime has been
using its jet fighters for more than eighteen months now.<br />
<br />
<b>Would you agree that the situation you describe is
reminiscent of the Spanish Civil War, in which the democratic forces
within the revolution (the POUM, anarcho-syndicalists, independent
socialists) were fighting Franco's fascists on one front but over time
also found themselves fighting the Stalinists as well, who spent as much
if not more energy attacking the independent and democratic forces of
the revolution as they spent battling Franco? Do the democratic forces
in Syria today find themselves in something of a parallel situation?</b><br />
<br />
Things are more complex in Syria today than they were in Spain three
quarters of a century ago. It is not only that our jihadi “Stalinists”
are a burden on the revolution (they are enemies of the revolution
indeed); it is also that some of them are suspected of secret
cooperation with the regime, and that the regime is doing its best to
boost the cause of those who are supposedly its enemies. Besides, only
the worst of our “Stalinists” and of course the fascist regime have
foreign volunteers; we do not have democratic or republican foreign
volunteers, as was the case in Spain. Perhaps the military weakness of
the democratic powers in Syria is the main difference. Democrats in the
country did not resort to arms to defend the people, even though many of
them supported the popular struggle against the Assadist fascists. This
is one reason—indeed the most important reason—why various sorts of
Islamists are in leading positions in the armed resistance. The other
reason is that the regime arrested or killed or exiled those who were in
leading positions in the uprising. While this is good for the
Islamists, it says a lot about the “secular” regime and its alleged
opposition to fundamentalists. It is like Franco cultivating the Spanish
Communist Party in order to blackmail Europeans and Americans into
engaging and cooperating with his regime.<br />
<br />
In the end Franco was a dictator, a very brutal one, but with a
vision of Spain and its greatness derived from the vocabulary and ideals
of the European Right at that time. In comparison, Bashar is not a
nationalist in any meaningful sense; he is only a mass murderer, and he
and his gang have no vision or any ideal whatsoever of Syria or of
Syrian nationalism. His only sacred principle is power—staying in power
until he dies, and leaving his post, not to just any young Juan Carlos
but to his son, who is not coincidentally named Hafez.<br />
There is a big resemblance, however, between the course of the Syrian
revolution and war and those of Spain—the role of the democratic
Western powers towards the two cases: short-sighted, hesitant, lacking
in vision and courage,counter-productive, and very selfish. This is
harmful for us Syrians, as much as it was for Spaniards at that time,
and days will prove that it will be harmful for the world at large.<br />
<b><a href="http://www.bostonreview.net/world/bosnia-and-syria-intervention-then-and-now" target="_blank">Michael Ignatieff has argued</a> </b><b>that
one reason intervention has not happened in Syria is because of the
failure of the Syrian opposition. Comparing Bosnia to Syria, he
observes:</b><br />
<blockquote>
<b>Intervention will not occur until interveners can identify
with a cause that democratic electorates in Western states can make
their own. In the former Yugoslavia it was the Bosniak Sarajevans who
understood this clearly and helped to mobilize the outrage in Western
countries that eventually made intervention possible. They had always
stood for a tolerant, multi-confessional city and in retrospect they did
a heroic job in making their cause Europe’s own. Intervention finally
occurred in 1995, at least in some measure because international opinion
identified the Bosniaks as a worthy victim who could be assisted in the
name of a general defense of "European values." The massacre in
Srebrenica and the market bombing in Sarajevo were triggers for
intervention, but the ideological ground had been prepared in the West
by Sarajevan suffering in the siege. For the moment, the Syrian
opposition has failed in making their cause a universal claim.</b></blockquote>
<b>Can you comment on this argument? Do you agree that the Syrian opposition has failed in this regard?</b><br />
<br />
Well, the Syrian opposition has failed in translating Syria’s
dreadful suffering into universal meaning. I noticed this myself when I
came to Turkey. The Syrian politicians and activists here either deal
only with official Turkish bodies or live within their own isolated
communities. They hold sit-ins in various cities in Turkey, but with
banners and slogans written only in Arabic, thus failing to reach the
Turkish community with their message. It seems that the same holds true
in France, where there is a well-established Syrian community with many
intellectuals living there.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Syrian struggle says a lot not only about the Syrian opposition’s
failures, but also about the failures of a Western-centric approach.</span></blockquote>
<br />
I think one reason there is a monologue rather than a dialogue is the
default mode of interaction among Syrians: we have really lived for
half a century in solitude. Probably ninety percent of Syrians have
never known any political formation other than the Ba’athist regime, and
perhaps more than 80 percent have known only the atrocious Hafez Assad
and his horrendous son Bashar. Furthermore, in Syria and in the Arab
world at large, there is a deep resentment toward the West because of
contemporary traumatic experiences with the big Western powers: the
Palestinian issue is a major symbol of the rift between the two worlds
and a dynamic source of Arab hostility to the West. It is also one
source of hesitance in asking for Western help. Nevertheless, Syrians
have been realistic enough to ask for Western help since the summer of
2011, even before they took up arms to defend themselves and even before
they resorted to God as the only strategic depth from whom they demand
support.<br />
<br />
I would add that only recently, perhaps in the last few months, an
increasing number of Syrians have begun to think that their cause, the
Syrian cause, is a global one that requires them to think in global
terms, to be interpreted in the same context of the liberatory struggles
of the peoples of Eastern Europe or of South Africa. Things are
changing at this level in my opinion, and maybe we shall see more
Syrians fighting for their cause in the global arena.<br />
<br />
But to come back to Ignatieff’s observation, I think the Syrian
struggle says a lot not only about the Syrian opposition’s failures, but
also about the failures of a Western-centric approach. The
Western-centric approach expects the oppressed and the weak to view
Western powers as if they are the conscience of the world, or the just
sage you need to convince of the righteousness of your cause, and if you
are patient enough and eventually win him over, he will act according
to the principles of justice and human rights. I am afraid that this
narrative is a fable. Palestine is a case in point here. The whole world
knows very well about the plight of the Palestinians, and they know
very well who the colonial power is that persists in eating away
Palestinian land and resources, indeed their very existence. For
Palestine, we have a 23-year-old “peace process,” the most ridiculous in
history!<br />
<br />
What choice do we have when a regime kills its own people with
chemical weapons and the greatest power on earth is content with taking
only some of the weapons from the hands of the criminal and without any
sort of punishment? What conclusion will the war criminal draw from this
other than that he can go ahead with his killing, using other weapons?
Is it possible to interpret the American stance as saying “It’s OK to
kill certain kinds of people. They are not the wrong people to kill. Why
should we trouble ourselves and intervene on <i>their</i> behalf?”<br />
<br />
By the way, military intervention was not indispensable and only few
Syrians asked for it. What Syrians hoped for was some sort of military
support, with which they would have achieved the task themselves. And I
think this is exactly what influential powers did not want to see
happen. It’s also important to state that the United States was not only
reluctant to intervene in Syria, but it also pressured other
parties—France, Turkey, and some Gulf states—not to offer efficient arms
to the Syrian rebels. The present stalemate is not an inherent
characteristic of Middle Eastern conflicts; it is something engineered
by our putative American “friend,” the superpower. This is what
Ignatieff’s approach misses.<br />
<br />
What I want to say in summary is that however grave the deficiencies
of the Syrian opposition are—and they are grave—it has been impossible
for us to convince the “international community” that we are “victim(s)
who are worthy to be assisted in the name of a general defense of
‘European values.’" I am afraid that when it comes to the Middle East,
the Europeans are the first ones to abandon their proclaimed values.
This must change, because only nihilist groups like al-Qaeda prosper
under such circumstances.<br />
<br />
<i>Image courtesy of Yassin al-Haj Saleh.</i>Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-13355540809411941932014-03-02T17:18:00.000-08:002015-08-04T19:47:40.276-07:00Bringing David Swanson's imagination back to realityThis is the reply I will post to David Swanson's <a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/oppose-force-save-starving-syrians">Oppose Force to Save Starving Syrians</a> assuming my account, which <i>"is currently pending approval by the site administrator"</i> is accepted and I am allowed the privilege of commenting. But since I have already researched the matter before I discovered the review requirements, I will post to my blog in any case. David Swanson says in this piece:
<blockquote>
I find it hard to imagine people on the ground while NATO dropped thousands of bombs on Libya pointing to the sky and remarking <i>"Check out the air cover!"</i></blockquote>
David, you don't have to imagine it, you can hear it here clearly:
<center>
<big><a href="http://youtu.be/VUys_sztVFM">TRIPOLI - CHEERING FOR NATO - 24/05/2011</a> </big></center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VUys_sztVFM?rel=0" width="640"></iframe>
This video was posted by the <b><a href="http://fgmovement.org/">Free Generation Movement</a></b>, a civilian activist group that operated in Tripoli throughout the revolution. You can read about the kind of thing they did during the revolution in my blog post dated 29 June 2011, titled <b><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2011/06/tripoli-burn-notice_7165.html">Tripoli Burn Notice</a></b>, which describes a campaign in which these courageous youth waged a non-violent struggle that put them in mortal danger, burning or defacing the massive billboards and signs of self-glorification that Mummar Qaddafi had placed all over Tripoli. In that blog, you will also find a video that shows the Tripoli morning traffic blaring their horns of support as FGM burned a huge Qaddiffi portrait by the highway.
The description accompanying the video of people cheering from the roof tops as they watched NATO planes coming in to bomb Tripoli, reads as follows:
<blockquote>
Uploaded on May 23, 2011
IN TRIPOLI, AS NATO UNDERTAKES ITS MOST INTENSE BOMBING OF THE CAMPAIGN, LOCALS COME OUT TO SHOW THEIR APPRECIATION BY CHEERING AND WHISTLING. ROOFTOPS ARE FULL OF PEOPLE WATCHING IN APPRECIATION.
LATER, SECURITY ROAM THE STREETS SHOOTING IN THE AIR TO SILENCE AND INTIMIDATE....
THEY SHOULD KNOW BY NOW....TRIPOLI CAN NEVER BE SILENCED.</blockquote>
<b>Libya 17th February</b> <a href="http://archive.libyafeb17.com/2011/05/video-tripoli-whistling-cheering-for-the-nato-air-strikes/">reported</a> the same thing, another Tripoli resident <a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/print.php?storyid=14715">said </a><i>"When NATO bombs at night, I hear my neighbors clap and cheer 'bravo,'" </i>
A.H. alqaidi <a href="http://tv.globalresearch.ca/2011/07/libya-ground-scenes-tripoli-july-2011">said</a>, 16 July 2011:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When NATO Bombards Tripoli, the people there cheer, because they have become certain that the bombs are not meant for them, but for the dictator's power centres. </blockquote>
I know that sounds ridiculous to you because you think Tripoli was bombed like Vietnam or Iraq, but the people of Tripoli knew that they weren't being bombed, just Qaddafi's forces, and they hated Qaddafi. The fact is that in the whole NATO campaign, less than a hundred non-combatant civilians were killed. As I <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2012/03/un-nato-killed-60-civilians-in-libya_1168.html">reported</a> on 5 March 2012, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/03/03/world/africa/united-nations-report-on-libya.html">a comprehensive study by the <b>United Nations</b></a> found that NATO killed just 60 civilians in its campaign over Libya. A <b>Human Rights Watch</b> <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/05/14/nato-investigate-civilian-deaths-libya">investigation</a> of civilian deaths in Libya dated 14 May 2012 could document only 72 unintended civilian deaths caused by NATO. A <b>New York Times</b> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/world/africa/scores-of-unintended-casualties-in-nato-war-in-libya.html?pagewanted=all">report</a> that pre-dates either of those, written by C. J. Chivers and Eric Schmitt and dated 17 Dec 2011 put the number of unintended civilian casualties resulting from NATO's seven month air campaign at between 40 and 70. Added to that, care was taken so that infrastructure wasn't harmed, like taking out tanks hidden under a bridge without taking out the bridge, so that Libya suffered no electrical or utility outages as a result of NATO bombing and housing, manufacturing, and oil production weren't impacted by bomb destruction after the war.
So yes, the people of Libya demanded international protection from Qaddafi's slaughter, just as people in Syrian are demanding now. In the case of Libya, it saved them from the sort of carnage that continues to take its toll on Syrian civilians that have lived and died under three years of Assad's aerial assaults.
David Swanson, you had a preconceived idea about what was going on in Libya, based on your lack of knowledge of real events, your imagined <i>"socialist"</i> Mummar Qaddafi, and in your fantasy that all of this was part of some grand conspiracy; a 5-year plan first revealed to Wesley Clark in 2001. You <a href="http://davidswanson.org/content/prediction-20-years-war-libya">predicted</a> the civil war would last 20 years, it was over in less than a year. You <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/apr/21/libya-muammar-gaddafi">claimed</a> NATO used depleted uranium but none was ever found. You <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/apr/21/libya-muammar-gaddafi">said</a> <i>"that Gaddafi has a great deal of support,"</i> but few Libyans mourned his passing. You said the CIA had sent Khalifa Hifter to Libya from Virginia to run the rebels but he never got <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalifa_Belqasim_Haftar">higher than third</a> in command and is retired now. You <a href="http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2011/05/david-swanson-60-more-days-in-libya-obama-does-bush-lawyers-proud-640135.html">opposed</a> <i>"the West’s efforts to impose a puppet government on Libya by force,"</i> which is to say, you opposed the popular democratic revolution which is currently rebuilding the state institutions from scratch, and you just knew that any NATO air campaign could only lead to massive death and destruction for civilian.
All of this was wrong, but by far the biggest mistake to date, was that after the success of the revolution and the people had their first national vote and elected a government, after NATO flew home without ever having set a boot on the ground, after anyone could tour the country and look for bomb damage and the dead that went with them, and even when Qaddafi's mass graves were being discovered, you stuck to what you imagined things would be like in Libya and you looked for brand new reasons to trash the revolution like claiming that violence is off the scope even through the murder rate is 10% what it is in Venezuela.
In the case of Libya you <a href="http://www.worldbeyondwar.org/libya/#sthash.e1ncMh9d.dpuf">predicted</a> <i>"The result of NATO joining the war was probably more killing, not less."</i> An examination of the truth about what did happen and an comparison to what is happening in Syria, where the death toll is 140 thousand and counting since both revolutions started three years ago, shows that almost certainly is not the case. But now you oppose any foreign intervention in the Syria civil war, so you can't possibly own to an honest evaluation of recent Libyan history, instead you imagine things are just the way you have always imagined them.
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<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></center>
<center>
</center>
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<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2013/01/my-libyan-diaries_786.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Libya</a></big></center>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-48750057496146154712014-02-10T17:01:00.000-08:002015-08-04T19:47:40.327-07:00Man behind the Curtain for al-Qaeda in Syria is AssadSyrian President Bashar al-Assad wanted the recent Geneva II peace conference to focus on terrorism. He says terrorism is the main problem and the looming danger in Syria and he knows he has an audience in the West. If we look back on Assad's past, we can see that he has always had a curious history with terrorists, rhetorically fighting them here, utilizing them there, setting them up, making whatever use of <i>"the terrorist"</i> he can to advance his position. Never has that been more true than in the last three years in Syria.
This post will review the current threat to the Syrian revolution posed by the two major Islamist terror groups, Jan al-Nusra [JAN] and the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant [ISIS]. We will look at their origins, including early connections to Baathists and Assad, before examining his regime`s use of staged <i>"terror attacks"</i> and phony reports. Then we will look at the history of the Assad regime with these groups and some of their leading personalities and review the evidence that has accumulated to date that points to a close and controlling relationship between Bashar al-Assad and important elements within ISIS and JAN.
ISIS and JAN have had some success in terrorizing the population in liberated areas, stoking sectarian fires, and creating a second front for those fighting for a democratic Syria. Bashar al-Assad has had some success in packaging their <i>"work produce"</i> into his <i>"devil-you-know"</i> sales kit and sent his team off to Geneva to sell all the world's powers on how Bashar is the best thing for terrorism since sliced ... From <a href="http://world.time.com/2014/01/27/syria-assad-geneva-al-qaeda/#ixzz2sVDyHuB3" style="color: #003399;"> Assad Regime Working With Al-Qaeda</a>, <b>Time</b>, 27 Jan 2014:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Regime representatives maintain that the biggest threat to Syria—and the region—is the growing influence of al-Qaeda-linked terror groups among the rebels. <i>“We have to agree on a formula where all terrorist organizations should be fought by all Syrians and be expelled,”</i> Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/24/world/middleeast/Syria-Peace-Talks.html?_r=0" target="_blank">told the New York Times</a>, <i>“Those who are financing, supporting, arming and harboring terrorists should be made accountable.”</i></blockquote>
This post is for those that still think he might be right. I hope to show you that this ain't Kansas, and it certainly ain't Oz. and when it comes to the terrorists in Syria, Bashar al-Assad is the man standing behind the curtain.
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;">Terrorists to the Rescue</span></center>
The Islamists terror groups al Nusra and ISIS have done more in the past year to improve Assad's future prospects than two Hezbullahs and a fist full of Iraqi Shite militia. They have terrorized Syrians in the liberated areas, <i>they only work in the liberated areas</i>, and they have made refugees of Syrians the regime couldn't.
They have turned Assad's original <i>Big Lie</i>, that he was fighting extremists, into the truth. They have been lumped in with the revolutionary opposition as <i>"the rebels,"</i> a view promoted by Assad and his deputies, and adopted by everyone looking for a reason to look the other way and let Assad get on with the grisly business of brutally putting down all opposition.
Their heinous acts fuelled the rationalization that we have no standing to do anything about the thousands of children being slaughtered because <i>"both sides"</i> are <i>"committing war crimes,"</i> <i>"both sides"</i> are equally bad, etc. What if it turns out that one side is committing war crimes on both sides of the conflict? Have you considered the extent to which that might be true? It is, after all, one of the oldest tricks in warfare.
<b>
Sarah Birke</b>, <b>The New York Review of Books</b>, 27 Dec 2013, <a href="http://www.nybooks.com./blogs/nyrblog/2013/dec/27/how-al-qaeda-changed-syrian-war/">wrote a very comprehensive piece titled</a> <b>How al-Qaeda Changed the Syrian War.</b> I shall refer to it often<b>. </b>She says this is how they've changed the conversation:
<blockquote>
Talk to any Syrian you meet on the Syrian-Turkish border these days, and in less than five minutes the conversation is likely to turn to Da’ash—the Arabic acronym for the rebel organization known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, or ISIS. Linked to al-Qaeda, the fearsome group has swept across northern Syria, imposing sharia law, detaining and even beheading Syrians who don’t conform to its purist vision of Islam, and waging war on rival militias. In early December, the group killed a foreign journalist, Iraqi cameraman Yasser Faisal al-Joumali, who was reporting in northern Syria. Even using the word Da’ash—seen as derogatory by the group’s members—is punishable by eighty lashes, a twenty-three-year-old wounded fighter from a rival Islamist group told me from his bed in a Syrian-run makeshift clinic in Turkey.
...
ISIS’s real power comes from the fear it seeks and manages to inspire. The group has shown zero tolerance for political dissent. Many Syrians I met along the border mentioned with horror ISIS’s execution of two young boys in Aleppo due to alleged heresy. The kidnappings of local activists and journalists has deterred dissent while also whipping up anti-ISIS sentiment. The group has blown up Shiite shrines, but has also shown few qualms about Sunni civilians getting killed in the process. Beheadings have become common. Father Paolo dall’Oglio, an Italian Jesuit priest who has lived in Syria for thirty years, and who campaigns for inter-religious tolerance, is missing, abducted by ISIS during a visit to the city of Raqqa in late July. As with dozens of others who remain in captivity,</blockquote>
She also described the sectarian violence the ISIS brought with them when they occupied the opposition stronghold of Raqqa:
<blockquote>
Consider the eastern city of Raqqa, which was first captured by various rebel forces in early March 2013. When I visited that month, the city was ruled by a coalition of militias, and it was possible to move around as a woman without a headscarf. I met with an Alawite nurse who worked alongside Sunni peers. And I talked to Abdullah al-Khalil, a prominent lawyer before the war, who as head of the local council continued to pay street cleaners salaries and was trying to secure enough money to keep other services going.
But within two months, ISIS was firmly in charge. The group beheaded three Alawites in the city’s central square, and established sharia courts and policing. Abdullah al-Khalil, the head councilman, was himself kidnapped by ISIS or its allies. Women have been told to cover up, smoking banned, and girls and boys segregated in school. Minorities have been hounded out of the city, and foreign journalists and aid workers are no longer welcome: dozens are currently in ISIS captivity. </blockquote>
Even though Assad has been unable to retake Raqqa, all the gains of the revolution have been reversed and people find themselves under a new regime worst than the old regime. In another area <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303819704579318732940300704?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303819704579318732940300704.html">we are told</a> by Sam Dagher and Maria AbioHabib in the <b>Wall St. Journal</b>, 14 Jan 2014:
<blockquote>
ISIS took full control of the town of Al-Bab, east of Aleppo, from rebels on Monday, said opposition activists who fled the area.
These activists said ISIS fighters sweeping through the southern section of Al-Bab on Sunday detained military-age males and confiscated laptops and cellphones to check for links to Syrian rebel factions.
Many in Al-Bab said they fear executions by ISIS similar to those it carried out on Sunday in the neighboring province of Raqqa, which is now largely under the group's control.
ISIS members captured and executed as many as 100 fighters from an Islamist rebel faction called Ahrar al-Sham on Sunday on the outskirts of the city of Raqqa, activists said.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">cui bono? </span></div>
From Assad's point of view, this is all good, and it is having the desired effect as this quote from the Sarah Birke <a href="http://www.nybooks.com./blogs/nyrblog/2013/dec/27/how-al-qaeda-changed-syrian-war/">piece</a> indicates:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A rebel fighter, a nineteen-year-old from Aleppo, said. ISIS has also changed Syrians’ view of the war. <i>“If the choice is between ISIS and Assad, I’ll take Assad,” </i>says a Syrian friend who enthusiastically supported the protests. </blockquote>
Not only is it causing many Syrians to rethink their objections to his rule, it is causing the West to re-think Assad too. <b>Ibrahim Fayyad</b> <a href="http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/opinion/picking-sides-in-syria-assad-or-alqaeda_21000">observed this</a> in <b>Your Middle East</b>:
<blockquote>
The rise of Islamists in Syria is changing the way Western governments look at the conflict. In the West, Syria is increasingly becoming a <i>“security issue”</i> rather than a <i>“humanitarian tragedy”</i>. This is not a simple change in terminology; neither is it a change in depicting what’s happening in Syria. It’s actually a change in policy priorities that would necessarily trigger policy changes towards the Syrian conflict.</blockquote>
The invasion and occupation of liberated areas by these Islamist extremists has forced open a second reactionary front for the revolution. They now must fight these Islamist extremists as well as the Assad regime. <b>Doha Hassan</b>, <b>NOW</b>, <a href="https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/520161-isis-is-the-child-of-the-regime">wrote</a> about one such confrontation between the ISIS and local protesters in a 11 Nov. 2013 piece titled <a href="https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/520161-isis-is-the-child-of-the-regime"><b>ISIS is the child of the regime</b></a>:
<blockquote>
Many protests were organized in response to ISIS’ bringing down the crosses atop the Our Lady of the Annunciation Church and the Martyrs’ Church. ISIS responded by shooting at these protests and arresting those taking part in them. Nawfal recounts: <i>“I carried a cardboard on which I had drawn a cross and crescent side by side with the expression ‘State of Evil.’ A young man aged about 16 with a Tunisian accent attacked me, saying, ‘This woman is defending the houses of infidels and Christians. She is an infidel like them and should be killed.’ A car with Tunisian armed men on board then came and the men surrounded me and loaded their guns, shoving them straight in my face.”</i></blockquote>
ISIS has been especially hard on activists and journalists. Wherever they get control, their repression mirrors that of the regime. Novelist <b>Robin Yassin-Kassab</b> argues that ISIS is not a rebel group:
<blockquote>
ISIL should not be considered part of the revolutionary opposition. It has fought Free Syrian Army (FSA) divisions as well as Kurdish groups; it has assassinated FSA and more moderate Islamist commanders and abducted revolutionary activists. It serves the regime's agenda by terrifying minority groups, deterring journalists, and influencing the calculations of men like the former US ambassador to Syria Ryan Crocker who wrote (from a deficit of both information and principle, and with stunning short-sightedness): <i>"We need to come to terms with a future that includes Assad - and consider that as bad as he is, there is something worse."</i></blockquote>
Assad's openly brutal murderous regime is on the verge of getting the nod from the world's powers because they fear the devil seemingly looking to replace him. That is why it is important to expose the hand of Assad inside the devil suit of al Qaeda in Syria.
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;">Origins of the Evil Twins</span></center>
Both ISIS and JAN are spin-offs of the Islamic State of Irag [ISI] which was widely known of as al Qaeda in Iraq [AQI] before it anointed itself with statehood and changed its name. AQI got its start after the US toppled Saddam Hussein and it won recruits by killing US soldiers in Iraq. It was able to pretty well establish itself in Anbar province and part of the reason for that was that Anbar province has a long border with Syria and all through the war, Bashar al-Assad provided safe haven in Syria for these al Qaeda terrorists. Writing about the Iraq War in the <b>Washington Times</b>, <b>Rowan Scarborough</b> <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/19/al-qaeda-rat-line-from-syria-to-iraq-turns-back-ag/?page=all#pagebreak">says</a>:
<blockquote>
Mr. Assad allowed al Qaeda operatives to set up a <i>“rat line”</i> through his country and into northeastern Iraq. Hundreds of young terrorists, many recruited from North Africa, took airline flights into Damascus and joined networks ready to sneak them across the border.
...
[Retired Army] Gen. [John M.] Keane, recalling briefings he received in Baghdad, said the Assad regime actively promoted the flow of terrorists into Iraq.
<i>“Syria intelligence services facilitated the movement of al Qaeda fighters from Damascus airport to the eastern border of Syria,”</i> he said.
At Damascus airport, he said, they were easy to pick out: <i>“Bearded. One-way ticket. Very little luggage.”</i></blockquote>
This is the kind of operational intimacy Bashar al-Assad had with al Qaeda in Iraq in the last decade. Commenting on the rapid grown of ISIS & JAN in Syria today, Brian Fishman, CTC, 26 Nov 2013, <a href="http://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/syria-proving-more-fertile-than-iraq-to-al-qaidas-operations">notes</a>:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The dramatic growth of al-Qa`ida affiliates in Syria is a direct result of its pre-existing networks in Iraq. These networks were built in 2004 and 2005, became nearly dominant in 2006 and 2007,</blockquote>
ISIS also has strong ties the Baathish party of Saddam Hussein and its military. Radwan Mortada in <b>al Akhbar</b>, <a href="http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/al-qaeda-leaks-baghdadi-and-golani-fight-over-levant-emirate">tells us</a> about that leadership:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The page indicates that the ISIS leadership council is 100 percent Iraqi, saying that Baghdadi[ISIS leader] would not accept any other nationality, since he does not trust anyone. The number of people in the council always changes, ranging between eight and 13 people. The leadership of the council is held by three former Iraqi army officers who served during the regime of Saddam Hussein.
They are commanded by a former Iraqi army colonel called Hajji Bakr, who joined ISIS when it was under the command of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi (killed in 2010). Hajji Bakr was appointed as a consultant to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Hafs al-Muhajir, after providing them with military information about combat plans and communication methods with former Baath commanders.</blockquote>
The Assad family history of collaborating with jihadists goes back even farther than that; back to daddy Hafez Assad. In the 1970's and 1980's Syria and Syrian occupied Lebanon became a safe haven for some of the most violent terror groups in the region and beyond. This is what the US State Department <i>"1995 Patterns of Global Terrorism"</i> <a href="https://www.fas.org/irp/threat/terror_95/tersst.htm#Syria">had to say about Syria</a>:
<blockquote>
Syria provides safe-haven and support for several groups that engage in international terrorism. Spokesmen for some of these groups, particularly Palestinian rejectionists, continue to claim responsibility for attacks in Israel and the occupied territories/Palestinian autonomous areas. Several radical terrorist groups maintain training camps or other facilities on Syrian territory and in Syrian-controlled areas of Lebanon, such as Ahmad Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP-GC), which has its headquarters near Damascus. Syria grants basing privileges or refuge to a wide variety of groups engaged in terrorism. These include HAMAS, the PFLP-GC, the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Japanese Red Army (JRA).</blockquote>
We can see that Bashar al-Assad is well versed when it comes to playing both sides of the terror games. This becomes even more apparent when you look at some of the phony terrorist attacks he has spawn.
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;">Assad's "Terrorist Attacks" Matrix Hat Tricks</span></center>
This list of suspicious regime terrorist claims is by no means complete or inclusive. These are just some that we know about, but they should be enough to open one's eyes as to the deceitful character of the Syrian government:
<ul>
<li><b>Dec 2011<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">:</span></span> Suspicious explosions declared "jihadist terrorists" by regime in minutes.</b></li>
<center>
</center>
<b>Michael Weiss</b> <a href="http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/syria%E2%80%99s-regime-involved-damascus-bombings">writing</a> for <b>World Affairs</b>, criticizes the snap conclusions made by the Assad regime and Guardian reporter Jonathan Steele that al Qaeda has behind a Damascus bombing that took place on 23 Dec 2011: </ul>
<blockquote>
Steele might wish to revisit the Assad regime’s narrative that Bin Ladenist forces are now setting things off in Damascus in coordination with not only the Syrian opposition but the United States and Israel. Surely a Guardian contributor will have found it suspicious that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem last week predicted that an al-Qaeda attack would occur in the country on the eve of the much anticipated arrival of an Arab League team of observers. Al-Moallem’s deputy, Faisal Mekdad, wasted no time lamenting his boss’s prediction come true: <i>“On the first day after the arrival of the Arab observers,”</i> Mekdad <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16313879">told</a> the BBC shortly after the explosions were reported, <i>“this is the gift we get from the terrorists and al-Qaeda. But we are going to do all we can to facilitate the Arab League mission.”</i>
I love the use of the word <i>“facilitate”</i> in that sentence. As the prominent Syrian oppositionist Ammar Abdulhamid <a href="http://syrianrevolutiondigest.blogspot.com/2011/12/syrian-christmas.html">writes</a> on his Syrian Revolution Digest blog, the whole purpose of Friday’s al-Qaeda Surprise story was to distract the world from witnessing yet another massacre in Idleb Province, this one focused on the village of Kafar Ouaid, where an estimated 95 people were killed in the time it took for Western eyes and ears to train on Damascus.
...
According to the Syrian state media, suicide bombers drove two cars rigged with explosives to points just outside two hard-to-reach facilities: the State Security Administration building and the Military Security base in Kafarsouseh, a neighborhood in central Damascus. These facilities are preceded by several military checkpoints, and any person or vehicle desiring access to them will need to carry a special permit. Cars also tend to be searched thoroughly before being able to roll right on up to the doorstep of secret police headquarters. When a terrorist attack is perpetrated, it takes oodles of man-hours of forensic analysis and data-gathering to determine the party responsible and the methods used. Not so in Syria. The regime’s Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported in an impressive 13 minutes that al-Qaeda was the culprit and that a man called Munir al-Binjali <i>“conducted”</i> the attack. The only problem is, al-Binjali is alive and well in Saudi Arabia, not blown to bits in Damascus.
Ah, but temporal contradictions are no match for Baathist logic. Syrian television cut straight to one of its many dolled-up talking heads, who reassured a troubled nation of the <i>“arrest of the terrorists who blew themselves up today.”</i></blockquote>
<ul>While al Qaeda is usually in the habit of taking credit for its attacks, especially when they are as audacious as this one, upon hearing that they were being blamed, the al-Qaeda–linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which are based in Lebanon,<a href="http://www.islamistgate.com/159"> issued a communiqué</a> stating: </ul>
<blockquote>
<i>“The mujahideen have no connection whatsoever to these sinister bombings [in Damascus] … Those who are truly responsible are the beneficiaries, the Assad regime and its intelligence agents.”</i></blockquote>
<ul>
<li><b>May 2012: Video: State security caught fabricating evidence of phony arms seizure.</b></li>
<center>
<big>Al Arabiya News Exposes Assad Phony Terrorist Arms Seizures</big></center>
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="435" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gmtIbwh9zgQ?rel=0" width="500"></iframe></center>
<b>All Voices</b> has provided <a href="http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/12175004/video/92464022-syria---al-arabiya-news-exposes-assad-phony-terrorist-arms-seizures---dirty-cop-sells">this English language description</a> of the video: </ul>
<blockquote>
Syria - Corrupt Syria cops sell video clip of themselves planting fake arms evidence to smear pro-democracy movement. - 15000 lira was earned by one dirty cop who sold a hidden video of other dirty cops opening packages of brand new weapons and then putting them in a pile with a bunch of weapons allegedly seized from the pro-democracy protesters. Yes - The Syria security forces are so dirty they even will make hidden videos of each other committing crimes and evil acts and then sell the video for money.</blockquote>
<ul>
<li><b>May 2012: Regime forces massacre 108 civilians in Houla and blame al Nusra.</b></li>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houla_massacre">Houla</a> was the site of one of the first well publicized massacres in Syria. 108 people were killed, including 34 women and 49 children. Assad said it was al Nusra. <b>Koert Debeuf</b>, <a href="http://blogs.euobserver.com/debeuf/2014/01/21/assad-is-the-problem-not-the-solution/">writing in</a> <b>eurobserver</b>, tells how Assad folded the emergence of real terror groups into his narrative: </ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Even though there were no armed rebels during the first months of the revolt, Assad kept on repeating that the protesters were nothing more than terrorists and extremists. He must have been very happy when in January 2012 finally the first Jihadist group, Jabhat Al Nusra, appeared. He could use them as the reason for bombing Baba Amr (Homs) to the ground in February 2012 and (falsely) blame them for having perpetrated the massacre of Houla (Homs) in May of the same year.</blockquote>
<ul>The regime said al-Nura did the massacre although <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19273284">UN</a>, <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/05/27/syria-un-inquiry-should-investigate-houla-killings">HRW</a> and <a href="http://www.amnesty.ie/sites/default/files/file/2012-06-14%20Deadly%20Reprisals%20-%20Deliberate%20Killings%20and%20Other%20Abuses%20by%20Syria%27s%20Armed%20Forces.pdf">AI </a>investigations, among many others, blamed regime forces. Many eyewitness reports left no doubt who was responsible, like <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/06/03/218366.html">this 3 June 2012 report</a> in <b>Al Arabiya News</b>: </ul>
<blockquote>
<b>Syrian air force officer defects, tells horrors of Houla massacre</b>
...
Raslan, who served until last Saturday in the Syrian Air Force in the strategic port city of Tartous, said he had been in Houla on leave when the town was shelled just after 1 p.m. last Friday. It was then invaded by a civilian and gang-like militia, known as the Shabiha, he said.
Raslan said he was in his house, around 300 meters from the site of the first massacre in the village of Taldous, when several hundred men, whom he knew to be Shabiha members, rode into town in cars and army trucks and on motorbikes.
<i>“A lot of them were bald and many had beards,”</i> he told The Observer. <i>“Many wore white sports shoes and army pants. They were shouting: ‘Shabiha forever, for your eyes, Assad.’ It was very obvious who they were."</i>
<i>“We used to be told that armed groups killed people and the Free Syria Army burned down houses,”</i> he said. <i>“They lied to us. Now I saw what they did with my own eyes.”</i></blockquote>
<ul>The Assad regime has insisted all along that <i>"terrorists"</i> committed the Houla massacre and <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/11/syrian-american-council-takes-on-la.html"><b>Mother Agnes-Mariam</b></a> has backed it up on this, just as Assad's nun has backed his story that jihadist terrorists used sarin gas in Damascus in August. The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19273284">UN</a>, <a href="http://www.amnesty.ie/sites/default/files/file/2012-06-14%20Deadly%20Reprisals%20-%20Deliberate%20Killings%20and%20Other%20Abuses%20by%20Syria%27s%20Armed%20Forces.pdf">Amnesty International</a> and <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/05/27/syria-un-inquiry-should-investigate-houla-killings">Human Rights Watch</a> all looked into the Houla massacre and came to the conclusion that the regime did it, nevertheless the regime stuck to its story as expressed in this <b>New York Times</b> headline: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/world/middleeast/assad-condemns-houla-massacre-blaming-outside-terrorists.html?_r=0">Assad Condemns Houla Massacre, Blaming Terrorists.</a>
<li><b>Jul 2012: Defecting ambassador tells of Damascus false flag terrorist bombs.</b></li>
<b>Nawaf Fares</b>, formerly Syria's ambassador to Iraq, defected in July 2012. He was <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/07/20127141447200200.html">interviewed</a> by <b>James Bay</b> of <b>Al Jazeera</b> live on <b>Inside Syria</b>. Among the many interesting things he said was that <i>all the large explosions in Damascus were not the work of terrorist but of the regime.</i> He said the explosion that struck the intelligence headquarters, most people got a 15 minute notice to get out of the building. that's how he knew it was the work of the regime. He said they had also done this sort of thing in Iraq. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xxjZwIxOVFE">[Al Jazeera video now blocked in the US]</a>
<li><b>Sep 2012: Defector from Assad's PR team tells how they fabricated news.</b></li>
<b>Abdullah al-Omar</b> is a defector that claims he worked in the press office of the presidential palace in Damascus, as part of a 15-person team under the direction of long-time government spokeswoman and presidential adviser <b>Bouthaina Shabaan</b>. After he defected in Sept 2012, <b>CNN</b> conducted a four hour interview with him and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/09/world/meast/syria-propagandist-defects/">reported:</a> </ul>
<blockquote>
<i>"Our job was to fabricate, make deceptions and cover up for Bashar al-Assad's crimes,"</i> he said.
...
During a four-hour interview in Istanbul, al-Omar described in detail some of the propaganda methods used by pro-government media.
During the government's artillery bombardment of the rebel-held neighborhood of Baba Amr in the city of Homs, loyalist women were brought in and disguised as locals for government television interviews, he said.
<i>"The women would say that the massacres against men, women and children were perpetrated by armed gangs, when it was actually the Syrian regime, security forces and the Shabiha"</i> -- the pro-government militia -- <i>"who were behind these horrendous acts,"</i> al-Omar said.
These claims are backed by the accounts of residents of Homs, who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal at the hands of Syrian security forces.
<i>"I remember that day as if it was yesterday, when state TV showed Assad parading through Baba Amr, not a single resident was from the area,"</i> said a native of Homs, now exiled to neighboring Lebanon. <i>"They brought them from neighboring towns from the countryside so they could pretend he was getting a hero's welcome, that he was greeted as a beloved leader, when in reality everyone in Homs knew he was behind the destruction of every house and the killing of every innocent civilian on Homs and every other city in Syria."</i>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=s2PLHsp4rYE">[Al Jazeera video now blocked in the US]</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li><b><span style="font-size: small;">Jan 2013: Defected TV reporter tells how phony video about fake kidnapping was made.</span></b></li>
<b>Adham Saif al-Din</b>, writing for <b>Asharq Al-Awsat</b>, 4 Jan 2013, spoken to an anonymous <i>"Syrian regime media defector, who previously worked at the pro-Assad Addounia TV"</i> and <a href="http://www.aawsat.net/2013/01/article55239260">reported</a>: </ul>
<blockquote>
Al-Arabiya published a video, leaked by the same media defector, which shows a young Syrian woman – her features blurred to protect her identity – relating the story of how she was kidnapped by Syrian rebels in the city of Harasta in Rif Dimashq governorate. Following this, we see a clip of one of the young men confessing to his part in this kidnapping; the only problem is that the story is a complete sham. In fact, the compete video clip shows the young Syrian woman – her features uncovered – relating the same story, only this time smiling and stumbling over her lines.
The Syrian defector informed Asharq Al-Awsat that <i>“the scene will have been pre-prepared at one of the security branches. Following this, Syrian state media correspondents will go to record confessions with the speaker being prompted in what he must say to harm the Syrian revolution and revolutionary forces.”</i>
He added <i>“the large number of security branches and their lack of coordination means that sometimes blatant contradictions appear on television such as with regards to the killing of Sarriya Hassoun, the son of Syrian Grand Mufti Ahmed Badreddin Hassoun. Syrian state television broadcast the confession of two separate terrorist cells – telling two different stories – regarding Sarriya Hassoun’s death. Of course, both stories highlighted the aspects that the Syrian regime wanted highlighting.”</i> </blockquote>
<ul>
<li><b>Aug 2013 PressTV used phony video to sell a fake jihadist terror attack story.</b></li>
<a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/08/irans-presstv-promotes-fake-syrian.html">Iran's PressTV Promotes Fake Syrian Rebel Massacre Video</a> is a blog post I wrote about another false charge of Islamic terrorism in Syria made this August by Assad and friends: </ul>
<blockquote>
The PressTV video does depict the very ugly scene of three men being burned alive but this didn't happen in Syria, and it wasn't done by <i>"the al-Qaeda-affiliated group al-Nusra Front militants"</i> as the pro-Assad propaganda outlet claims. That video came from Iraq and was posted on-line 09 April 2011, almost two years before the events <b>PressTV</b> claims it is showing. It shows up as <a href="http://zandiq.com/video/0000000047.shtml">a link</a> in a posting to the <a href="http://www.islam-watch.org/">Islam Watch website</a> on 9 April 2011 with the title <a href="http://www.islam-watch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=713:islamic-barbarism-gays-burned-alive-in-iraq">Islamic Barbarism: Gays Burned Alive in Iraq</a>. The link leads to <a href="http://zandiq.com/video/0000000047.shtml">a video posted on Zandiq.com</a>. </blockquote>
<ul>
<li><b>Aug 2013 Phony al Nusra massacre at Tal Abyal sold with phony pictures.</b></li>
I broke this story when I showed that a photo which many Assad supporters, like the <a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920514001077">FARS News Agency</a>, were claiming to be of children massacred by al Nusra in Tal Abyad, Syria on 5 Aug 2013, was actually a picture of children killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan a year before and credited to Daniel Berehulak of Getty Images and published on 23 July 2012. See <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/08/breaking-news-assad-iran-you-lie-on.html">BREAKING NEWS: Fake Photo Exposes Assad Regime Lie about Rebel Massacre in Tal Abyad</a> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlJHuonFCKvbJ3CCsMpSwJ36ftbAMs2ga-DhkaQO3SE0F-ieAEgaJskW3awqPpTgRc3chCCte2wz4r8-pYsjTjhyaS4AugV3XOlfH9kehf5PhGV-qxMzCaKFa_LsMv_IlGhgKVwtBDgxU/s1600/13920514000484_PhotoI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlJHuonFCKvbJ3CCsMpSwJ36ftbAMs2ga-DhkaQO3SE0F-ieAEgaJskW3awqPpTgRc3chCCte2wz4r8-pYsjTjhyaS4AugV3XOlfH9kehf5PhGV-qxMzCaKFa_LsMv_IlGhgKVwtBDgxU/s1600/13920514000484_PhotoI.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids killed in Afgan drone strike in 2012. Picture used for Tal Abyad massacre claims</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<li><b>Dec 2013 In Adra, another phony jihadist terrorist attack sold with fake pictures.</b></li>
This fake massacre was backed up by a whole series of phony pictures including four showing piles of bodies, one of a burial ceremony, one of Adra refugees and even one of a jihadist raising a severed head. I got busy on Google and found <i>"prior art"</i> for all of them. Every picture that the Assad people claimed to be of the massacre in Adra turned out to be of another time and another place. I published my findings in <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/12/fake-adra-massacre-photos-expose-bloody.html"><b>Fake Adra massacre photos expose bloody hands on Left</b></a>. </ul>
<ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwQY_1XP7xOGZrXBYeyfYEEO2tdNbqM843jqzeFkwwgsLHOCuOLo4A9Jseuocbg82nYUHEgMN4a51DQN3QReus1HbaEiEA6MaEamSIrZkIz3nh7CvNqgUa3g6UzeEOKzO31CkSR5_R8o/s1600/Fake_Adra-7AB.alalam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwQY_1XP7xOGZrXBYeyfYEEO2tdNbqM843jqzeFkwwgsLHOCuOLo4A9Jseuocbg82nYUHEgMN4a51DQN3QReus1HbaEiEA6MaEamSIrZkIz3nh7CvNqgUa3g6UzeEOKzO31CkSR5_R8o/s1600/Fake_Adra-7AB.alalam.jpg" width="560px" /></a></div>
</ul>
This history of lies and fabrication should alert us to the fact that nothing reported by the Assad regime can be taken at face value. This caution also applies to state run Russian and Iranian outlets like RT and PressTV.
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Assad Regime's Long History with Jihadists</span></center>
The Assad family has had an association with Islamist extremists that goes back to his father's time. <b>Farid Ghadry</b>, a Syrian writer from Aleppo recalled recent history <a href="http://ghadry.com/2013/12/assad-is-al-qaeda/">in a piece</a> titled <b>Assad is al-Qaeda</b>, 19 Dec 2013:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
During the Iraq War, Assad trained, supplied, and facilitated al-Qaeda’s terror against US troops causing over 4,400 casualties and 32,000 wounded. In response, the US chose not to confront him. Not one shot was fired to weaken Assad with the exception of one raid on the Syrian-Iraqi town border of Bou Kamal that netted an al-Qaeda facilitator recruited by the Assad regime to wreak havoc on US troops. </blockquote>
During the Iraq War the Assad Regime enjoyed close contact and a good working relationship with some of the same forces, and even some of the same personalities, that it now claims are <a href="http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_09_19/No-civil-war-in-Syria-country-being-attacked-by-Al-Qaeda-Assad-8914/">80-90% of the people it is fighting</a> against in Syria.
After the US withdrew from Iraq, Assad had these al Qaeda terrorists locked up, saying they were a threat to state security. He also announced that he was now a willing partner in the US <i>"War on Terror"</i> and began cooperating with the CIA's torture and special rendition programs. Using Seymour Hersh as a conduit, he <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/04/06/090406fa_fact_hersh">sent a message</a> to Obama [6 Apr 2009]:
<blockquote>
Assad, in his interview with me, acknowledged, <i>“We do not say that we are a democratic country. We do not say that we are perfect, but we are moving forward.”</i> And he focused on what he had to offer. He said that he had a message for Obama: Syria, as a secular state, and the United States faced a common enemy in Al Qaeda and Islamic extremism. </blockquote>
So we can see that long before the popular uprising, Assad was already selling himself as a partner in fighting the same people he had recently given safe haven to.
After the mass protests for democracy broke out in March 2011, Assad started letting these Islamists out of prison. He declared a series of amnesties and put over a thousand Islamists and jihadists back on the streets. Many of these former prisoners soon found themselves in the ranks, even in the leadership, of ISIS and al Nusra. In the article <a href="http://www.nybooks.com./blogs/nyrblog/2013/dec/27/how-al-qaeda-changed-syrian-war/">already cited</a>, Sarah Birke says:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Syrian lawyers have documented how in the early weeks of the revolt, the regime let out Islamist prisoners from Saidnaya prison—probably to foment radical Islamism within the opposition. </blockquote>
After mass democracy protests broke out in March 2011, Assad declared three separate amnesties between March and June of 2011. Al Jazeera <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/06/2011621944198405.html">reported</a>, 21 Jun 2011:
<blockquote>
Bashar al-Assad, Syria's president, has ordered a new general amnesty for all crimes committed in the country up until June 20, in another apparent attempt to calm months of protests against his rule.
The state news agency, SANA, announced the move on Tuesday, nearly a month after Assad issued a similar amnesty for all political crimes.
<i>"President Assad has issued a decree granting a general amnesty for crimes committed before the date of June 20, 2011,"</i> SANA reported, without giving details.
The president ordered a reprieve on May 31 for all political prisoners in the country, including members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Hundreds of detainees were released, according to rights groups.</blockquote>
That last was a big deal because in Assad's Syria, mere membership in the Muslim Brotherhood could get one the death penalty. Bashar al-Assad said these amnesties were meant as concessions to the democracy movement, but that explanation just doesn't stand up to scrutiny because while he was releasing Islamic terrorists and even common criminals from his prisons, he was shooting unarmed peaceful protesters in ever increasing numbers.
One ex-prisoner has been able to identify other ex-prisoners in the ranks of ISIS and al Nusra. His story was told in the <a href="https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/520161-isis-is-the-child-of-the-regime">NOW piece</a>:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Activist Maher Esper says: <i>“I saw prisoners who were with me in the Saydnaya prison in most YouTube videos since the emergence of Nusra, ISIS, and other Islamic brigades.”</i> Syrian regime forces arrested Esper in 2006 and sentenced him to seven years in prison, five of which were spent at the Saydnaya prison before he was encompassed in the presidential amnesty issued at the start of the revolution.
Esper asserts, <i>“There’s a person I saw in a video in which fourteen Raqqa clans pledged allegiance to ISIS, he used to sleep on the bunk directly above mine. The regime released those individuals despite their involvement in murders, even in prison. All those I saw became members or leaders of ISIS (like Nadim Balous), al-Nusra (like Baha’ al-Bash), Jaysh al-Islam (like Zahran Alloush), Ahrar al-Sham (like Hassane Abboud), or Suqur al-Sham brigades (like Ahmad Issa al-Sheikh).”</i></blockquote>
It is recognized that some of those released in these amnesties eventually found new homes in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIS] and al Nusra Front, and given his past cozy relationships with these people, it is very easy to imagine that some of them became his covert agents and are working for him still.
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;">How ISIS treats the Media</span></center>
In <a href="https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/520161-isis-is-the-child-of-the-regime">ISIS is the Child of the Regime</a>, <b>Abd Hakwati</b> recounts how ISIS treats the media and relates a very important admission from an ISIS jihadist:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>“They asked for my ID and if I was working with the Free Syrian Army or the [Syrian] Military Council,”</i> said cameraman Abd Hakwati, recounting how a masked man arrested him at a roadblock at the entrance of the supposedly-liberated city of Raqqa. The man said through an Iraqi accent, <i>“You cannot enter Raqqa before you get the emir’s approval.”</i>
Hakwati goes on: <i>“A while later, another masked man came over and asked me which institution I was working for and what media channels I communicated with. He noted the address of the person I was going to see in Raqqa and why I was going there, and then allowed me to go in. I felt like I was entering a foreign land for the first time, as though we were back under the Syrian regime with all its tyranny and repression, albeit in an extremist Islamist form.”</i>
This is the violence of the Assad regime-bred Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), which spread its doctrinal control by the sword in regions that were once known as <i>“liberated.”</i> In early 2012, Hakwati took his camera and started shooting short documentaries in northern Syria. <i>“A masked man came in Deir Ezzor’s Mayadin and pulled me by the hair, insulting me and threatening to slaughter me. He took me to the Religious Committee. My friend tried to intervene by telling them, ‘We are sons of the same revolution,’ but the masked man answered, <b>‘I have nothing to do with this revolution of yours.’”</b></i></blockquote>
The <b>NOW</b> piece <a href="https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/520161-isis-is-the-child-of-the-regime">continues</a>:
<blockquote>
ISIS increasingly had recourse to kidnapping activists, media professionals, and photographers. In so doing, it is acting exactly like the Syrian regime by arresting and killing anyone with a camera. For instance, it recently kidnapped photographer Ziad al-Homsi on October 28, 2013 in the Raqqa province.
Homsi is an activist from Douma whose father is detained in regime prisons and whose mother is besieged in Moadamiyah in the Damascus Province. The names of many media professionals and journalists who disappeared in the liberated areas were published, only to find out later that they are being held by ISIS, such as journalist Obeida al-Batal, the Orient News crew in Idlib Province, Lebanese journalist Samir Kassab, the Sky News crew in Aleppo, and others. Far from stopping at kidnappings, ISIS started killing media professionals, the latest such murder being that of journalist Mohammad Said in Aleppo.</blockquote>
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Phony War: ISIS versus Assad</span></center>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Tridni Valka</b> <a href="http://www.autistici.org/tridnivalka/syria-the-struggle-continues-day-of-rage-against-al-qaeda-assad/">tells us</a> of the war that has broken out between the Free Syrian Army and ISIS, and how artillery support given to ISIS by the Assad regime allowed them to retake a position:</span>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"On the military front a full scale war is also being waged against ISIS. On 3 January groups affiliated to the Free Syrian Army as well as the newly formed Islamic Front and Jaysh Al Mujahidiin started to engage in fierce battles with ISIS, driving out the group from many strongholds in the north, and capturing a large number of ISIS fighters. As of 7 January, twitter reports from activists suggested that ISIS had been driven out of 10 locations in Aleppo, 6 locations in Idlib, 3 in Deir Al Zour and 1 in Hama.
Some areas liberated from ISIS, such as Manbej and Binnish have been subjected to fierce shelling by the Assad regime following rebel takeover, leading in the case of Binnish to ISIS being able to retake the town and increasing speculation of military coordination between ISIS and the regime.
ISIS has shown it is not leaving without a fight, committing a massacre against FSA troops in Rastan. On 6 January ISIS executed 50 prisoners it was holding in detention in Aleppo including women and activists as well as executing detainees in Harem, Idlib before pulling out of the area. There are also concerns that ISIS withdrawal from some areas, whilst bringing in reinforcements from elsewhere, may be indicative that they are now preparing a counter-offensive.”</i> </blockquote>
<b>Peter Clifford</b> <a href="http://www.petercliffordonline.com/syria-news-3">tells us</a> how the ISIS [ISIL] helped the Assad regime strengthen a position. These are things allies normally do for one another:
<blockquote>
After ISIL removed all moderate Opposition forces from around the besieged Division 17 Government-held base near Raqqah city and allowed the regime to re-supply their troops there, the voices claiming the Jihadists are in league with Assad continue to grow.
Liberated ISIL prisons have been found to contain many fighters from moderate brigades, but not one single Syrian Army soldier or a member of Assad’s security services.
Nor do ISIL headquarters and buildings, very obvious with their black flags and banners, seem to be the target of regime war planes.</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_KsghfuCvEEU0Y8DjHEvEenEgJ1TYzbfQRuqahCtKE1YHXPJ66zYwoLzMuYuWfCOatkbyeV8tgipyLv_u_0jS7jzlfCnIdz7gmImENF9F0xfnx__GKLCbIWbiLqeukt1Dd4E7Zhg-UHs/s1600/ISIS-HQ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_KsghfuCvEEU0Y8DjHEvEenEgJ1TYzbfQRuqahCtKE1YHXPJ66zYwoLzMuYuWfCOatkbyeV8tgipyLv_u_0jS7jzlfCnIdz7gmImENF9F0xfnx__GKLCbIWbiLqeukt1Dd4E7Zhg-UHs/s1600/ISIS-HQ_.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>This shouldn't be hard for Assad's planes to find!</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The ISIS headquarters in Raqqa has become the iconic sign of collusion that everybody remarks on. While every civilian and FSA institution in Raqqa gets bombed, it remains untouched. Its becoming an embarrassment to them. Sooner or later they will be forced to bomb it just to save face.<b> “Day of Rage Against Al-Qaeda & Assad”</b> <a href="http://www.autistici.org/tridnivalka/syria-the-struggle-continues-day-of-rage-against-al-qaeda-assad/"> says</a>:
<blockquote>
“(…) when the regime has carried out onslaughts against Raqqa and Aleppo, its attacks have been on civilian (mainly working class) neighbourhoods and not on ISIS positions or headquarters. The ISIS headquarters in Al Raqqa are stationed in the largest building in the city so they are not difficult to miss, but instead regime airstrikes target schools killing students. ISIS has acted as a scapegoat for the regime’s attack on a popular uprising. Assad’s prisons are full of secular, civilian, non-violent activists whilst Al Qaeda affiliated prisoners were released in the early days of the revolution.” (Idem)</blockquote>
In <a href="https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/520161-isis-is-the-child-of-the-regime">ISIS is the Child of the Regime</a> Nawfal, an activist, tells us what happened when she visited the Raqqa ISIS HQ after an air raid :
<blockquote>
On September 29, 2013, 15 students at Raqqa’s Commerce School were killed in a regime air raid. “I went to the ISIS headquarters and was showered with insults leveled by masked Tunisian men,” says Nawfal. “So I fled to a female friend’s house. ISIS is currently after me and its emir has ordered my killing and threatened my family. What I don’t understand is why the regime bombed the school rather than the security centers housing ISIS and the Nusra Front.”</blockquote>
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;">How Assad Finances the ISIS</span></center>
<b>Radwan Mortada</b> in <b>al Akhbar</b>, 10 Jan 2014, <a href="http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/al-qaeda-leaks-baghdadi-and-golani-fight-over-levant-emirate">describes</a> how ISIS gets money to operate:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
confiscating the belongings of Shia, Christians, other non-Muslims, and regime collaborators, even if they were Sunni. In addition, they took over oil sources, energy and fuel plants, government factories, and any other financial source owned by the Iraqi state. That which they were not able to completely confiscate, they would threaten to kill their owners or blow up the company, unless they paid monthly protection money under the moniker of taxation. Installing checkpoints on the long highways, they also collected money from commercial trucks.</blockquote>
They also get significant foreign contributions, Sarah Birke <a href="http://www.nybooks.com./blogs/nyrblog/2013/dec/27/how-al-qaeda-changed-syrian-war/">notes</a>:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Fundraising campaigns on Twitter by such figures as the Kuwaiti Sheikh Hajjaj al-Ajmi indicate that significant money is coming to ISIS from private donors in the Gulf.</blockquote>
In other words, they get money from all the usual terrorist sources. Funding by selling Syria's very ample oil and gas resources is where Bashar al-Assad comes in. The <b>New York Times</b> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/world/middleeast/rebels-in-syria-claim-control-of-resources.html?_r=0">reported</a> 29 Jan 2014:
<blockquote>
Control of them[oil fields] has bolstered the fortunes of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, and the Nusra Front, both of which are offshoots of Al Qaeda. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is even selling fuel to the Assad government, lending weight to allegations by opposition leaders that it is secretly working with Damascus to weaken the other rebel groups and discourage international support for their cause.
...
American officials say that his government has facilitated the group’s rise not only by purchasing its oil but by exempting some of its headquarters from the airstrikes that have tormented other rebel groups.
The Nusra Front and other groups are providing fuel to the government, too, in exchange for electricity and relief from airstrikes, according to opposition activists in Syria’s oil regions.</blockquote>
The <b>Telegraph</b> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10585391/Syrias-Assad-accused-of-boosting-Al-Qaeda-with-secret-oil-deals.html">broke this story</a> nine days earlier, as I <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2014/01/bashar-al-jihad-how-assad-finances.html">reported in this blog</a> at the time:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Syria's Assad accused of boosting Al-Qaeda with secret oil deals</big></center>
<i>Western intelligence suggests Bashar al-Assad collaborating with jihadists to persuade West the uprising is terrorist-led
</i>
By Ruth Sherlock, in Istanbul and Richard Spencer
7:53PM GMT 20 Jan 2014
The Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad has funded and co-operated with al-Qaeda in a complex double game even as the terrorists fight Damascus, according to new allegations by Western intelligence agencies, rebels and al-Qaeda defectors.
Jabhat al-Nusra, and the even more extreme Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS), the two al-Qaeda affiliates operating in Syria, have both been financed by selling oil and gas from wells under their control to and through the regime, intelligence sources have told The Daily Telegraph.
...
<i>“Assad’s vow to strike terrorism with an iron fist is nothing more than bare-faced hypocrisy,”</i> an intelligence source said. <i>“At the same time as peddling a triumphant narrative about the fight against terrorism, his regime has made deals to serve its own interests and ensure its survival.”</i>
Intelligence gathered by Western secret services suggested the regime began collaborating actively with these groups again in the spring of 2013. When Jabhat al-Nusra seized control of Syria’s most lucrative oil fields in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, it began funding its operations in Syria by selling crude oil, with sums raised in the millions of dollars.
<i>“The regime is paying al-Nusra to protect oil and gas pipelines under al-Nusra’s control in the north and east of the country, and is also allowing the transport of oil to regime-held areas,”</i> the source said. <i>“We are also now starting to see evidence of oil and gas facilities under ISIS control.”</i> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10585391/Syrias-Assad-accused-of-boosting-Al-Qaeda-with-secret-oil-deals.html">More...</a></blockquote>
Cui bono, (who benefits) is a favored question. <i>"Who pays?"</i> is another. It tells us who works for who and with al Nusra and ISIS receiving millions from Assad through the oil pipeline, it should be obvious who they work for.
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;">Assad's Input Looms Large in </span><span style="font-size: large;">ISIS & JAN</span></center>
Captured al-Qaeda fighters have also been a source of information leading to the conclusion that there is a direct command relationship between the Assad regime and these hard line Islamists groups. <b>Al-Arabiya</b> <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/21/Al-Qaeda-detainees-reveal-ties-with-Assad.html">published a piece</a> about this 20 January 2014 that detailed ISIS returning defectors to the Assad regime and carrying out bombings on regime orders:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Al-Qaeda detainees reveal ties with Assad</big> </center>
Al Arabiya News Channel aired a video on Monday showing detained members of al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Syria, with some telling stories that suggest links to the Syrian regime.
...
Ever since the fighting broke out many in both sides were killed or detained. Some of those al-Qaeda members who fell to rebels’ hands said ISIS had ties with the Syrian regime.
<i>“It happened once that a Syrian regime officer and 11 others defected and drove their vehicle through Masila [north of Raqqa]. We received ordered to arrest them and hand them over back to the regime,”</i> a detained al-Qaeda member said.
He said ISIS was behind a bombing that destroyed Raqqa’s train station last year. “We received orders from Commander Abu Anas al-Iraqi to bomb the train station. We were also ordered to fire on ambulances and civilians trying to reach the victims,” he said.
Abu Anas al-Iraqi leads an al-Qaeda brigade in the province of Raqqa. He is nicknamed al-Iraqi after his country Iraq, where he used to work as an intelligence officer, according to another detainee.
<i>“Abu Anas is financed directly by the regime, through Iran and Iraq. His brigade is specialized in kidnappings, car bombs and targeted assassinations of FSA members,”</i> the detainee said. <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/21/Al-Qaeda-detainees-reveal-ties-with-Assad.html">More...</a></blockquote>
While much of the collaboration between the jihadists and the government may be chalked-up to happy coincidence, there is a growing body of evidence that points to a much more direct command and control relationship between the Assad regime and at least a section of the ISIS. SOC member <b>Michel Kilo </b><a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/01/michel-kilo-syria-opposition-regime-terrorists-isis.html">told <b>al Monitor</b></a> of evidence that some leaders in the ISIS are Syrian special services officers:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>“There are photos that have been found of several emirs of ISIS with [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad,”</i> said Kilo, who spoke with Al-Monitor on the sidelines of the Geneva II talks.
<i>“The pictures were taken before they became emirs in ISIS, when they were all officers in the Syrian special service. There are documents sent by the special service to ISIS telling them to capture or kidnap people in Raqqa and Jarabalus, and these documents will be published. And you will see how the regime fabricated these extremist groups that did not exist in our country at the beginning of the revolution.</i>
<i>“Without a doubt, we will use this as an argument during the negotiations,”</i> Kilo warned. <i>“We have officers who have defected from the [Syrian] special service who worked to create these terrorist organizations; people who used to work with al-Qaeda. They know the names and the dates and what they have done along with the directions they were given. All this is documented. The chief of the cabinet of [special security adviser to Assad] Mr. Ali Mamlouk defected one year ago, and he has documented this. If [Syrian Foreign Minister] Walid Moallem will talk about terrorism, he will receive a true lecture about terrorists. And you shall see.”</i> <a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/01/michel-kilo-syria-opposition-regime-terrorists-isis.html">More...</a></blockquote>
And we even have it from the horse's mouth, or lion's roar, we might say. The <b>National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces</b> <a href="http://www.etilaf.org/en/press/assad-admits-to-having-groups-fighting-within-the-ranks-of-opposition.html">reports</a>:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Assad Admits to having Groups Fighting <i>“Within the Ranks of Opposition”</i></big></center>
Press Statement
Syrian Coalition
Istanbul, Turkey
December 5, 2013
Arab newspapers reported that lawyers from the Jordanian bar association stated that during a meeting, Assad mentioned to them that he has <i>“allies and fighters working for him even within the ranks of opposition.”</i>
These remarks, by the head of the regime, shed light on some of the violations that took place in liberated areas. Some groups with agendas, that do not serve the Syrian people’s interests, still work for the regime and receive support from it, while claiming to be fighting against it. These groups continuously take actions that have adverse effects on the revolution. Furthermore, they pose a threat not only to Syria but to the whole region. <a href="http://www.etilaf.org/en/press/assad-admits-to-having-groups-fighting-within-the-ranks-of-opposition.html">More...</a></blockquote>
We are now far past the point at which anybody can credibly claim ISIS and al Nusra are a part of the opposition to Bashar al Assad, let alone, hold up their acts as actions for which the opposition should be blamed.
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;">How the Revolutionary Opposition is Fighting ISIS</span></center>
As the fight against the Islamist extremists has developed along with the fight against the regime, so has the realization that they are extensions of the regime that pretend to be within the opposition. Sarah Birke <a href="http://www.nybooks.com./blogs/nyrblog/2013/dec/27/how-al-qaeda-changed-syrian-war/">notes</a>:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
ISIS’s rapid growth is subject to much conjecture. The most common speculation I encountered was that ISIS is a creation of Damascus, or its ally Iran, intended to fragment the opposition and ruin the revolution. <i>“Simply, we see it as an extension of the regime,”</i> Khaled Kamal, a sheikh from Latakia now based in Antakya said. </blockquote>
The Syrian opposition is now also beginning to officially reflect this position. From Al Arabiya we have <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/02/Opposition-group-Jihadists-serve-Syrian-regime-s-interests-.html">this report</a>:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Syrian opposition: Jihadists ‘serve Assad’s interests’</big></center>
2 January 2014
Syria’s opposition National Coalition described on Wednesday al-Qaeda-linked group in the country of having ties to the Syrian regime, and accused it of serving the government’s interests.
The strong criticism against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) comes after the group reportedly tortured and killed an opposition doctor in northern Syria.
<i>“The Coalition believes that ISIL is closely linked to the terrorist regime and serves the interests of the clique of President Bashar al-Assad, directly or indirectly,”</i> Agence France-Presse quoted the Syrian opposition group as saying in a statement.
<i>“The murder of Syrians by this group leaves no doubt about the intentions behind their creation, their objectives and the agendas they serve, which is confirmed by the nature of their terrorist actions hostile to the Syrian revolution,”</i> it added.
It called on rebels who had joined ISIL to abandon the group and for the <i>“prosecution of the leaders of this terrorist organization along with the criminals of the regime.”</i> <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/02/Opposition-group-Jihadists-serve-Syrian-regime-s-interests-.html">More...</a></blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoA4DswIV1cw2VB5DOzLA1prfCLTL_INdXxZClS_XCMIu9d5s_H95hUd7V0v6oU13Q4U7U1iC57-HPHGuGgiWArqSS3ZWn5s7JFHEumTrUsfj-YH8EHAv6m7rs5W-uTfWThVOkyhtyeO8/s1600/kafranbel-on-alien-isis.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoA4DswIV1cw2VB5DOzLA1prfCLTL_INdXxZClS_XCMIu9d5s_H95hUd7V0v6oU13Q4U7U1iC57-HPHGuGgiWArqSS3ZWn5s7JFHEumTrUsfj-YH8EHAv6m7rs5W-uTfWThVOkyhtyeO8/s640/kafranbel-on-alien-isis.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kafranbel on terrorist ISIS</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The fight between ISIS and just about everybody else in opposition ranks has also broken out into fierce armed struggle which has taken over 2300 lives.The <b>Los Angeles Times</b> <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-syrian-rebel-infighting-20140105,0,2285747.story#ixzz2paMChB5S">reported early progress</a> in the fight against the ISIS:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"The rebels have achieved tremendous progress against ISIS in all the points of conflict, liberating more than 80% of the Idlib countryside and 65% of Aleppo and its countryside"</i> said Abu Bakr, a media activist for the Sham News Network in Raqqa.</blockquote>
After those initial successes, ISIS was able to regroup, counter-attack, and regain some of that ground, but now the military battle against the ISIS is making progress. al Arabiya <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/21/Al-Qaeda-detainees-reveal-ties-with-Assad.html">reported</a> 21 Jan 2014:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There has been heavy fighting between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The fighting broke out last month after reports that ISIS, the al-Qaeda affiliate, was enforcing a strict version of Shariah in the areas it controls and was carrying out mass executions of fellow rebel fighters it accuses of apostasy.
The FSA, joined with other moderate rebel groups, declared a war on ISIS, accusing it of cooperating with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and of seeking to divide rebels.</blockquote>
And the ISIS is calling for <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/19/ISIL-reaching-out-to-Syrian-rebels-urges-end-to-infighting-.html">a truce</a>, 19 Jan 2014:
<blockquote>
<i>“Today, the (Islamic) state is reaching out to you to stop fighting us, to focus on fighting the nusairiyah,”</i> the voice in the message, purportedly that of ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, said, using the term often used by jihadists when referring to the Syrian regime.
The remarks mark a shift for ISIS, which said earlier this month it would <i>“crush”</i> opposition fighters and considered members of the Syrian National Coalition and the military command of the Free Syrian Army to be <i>“legitimate targets.”</i></blockquote>
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;">Now even al Qaeda is Breaking Up with ISIS</span></center>
<b>BBC News</b> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26016318">is reporting</a> even al Qaeda Central is throwing Baghdadi's ISIS under the bus:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Al-Qaeda disavows ISIS militants in Syria</big></center>
3 Feb 2014
Al-Qaeda has insisted it has no links with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), which has been locked in deadly clashes with rebels in Syria. An online statement purportedly from the group's general command said ISIS was <i>"not a branch of al-Qaeda".
</i>
Last May, Ayman al-Zawahiri rejected an attempt by the Iraq-based group to merge with the al-Nusra Front in Syria. Since then, ISIS has been condemned for attacking fellow rebels and abusing civilian supporters of the opposition. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26016318">More...</a></blockquote>
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;">In Conclusion</span></center>
Although Bashar al-Assad claimed his opposition was mobbed-up with al Qaeda from the beginning, there had been no large al Qaeda presence in Syria in the years before the popular democratic uprising began in March 2011. Assad encouraged the creation of these groups by letting over a thousand Islamists out of prison and sending his own agents in. Most likely he worked networks he created with them during Iraq War to bring in foreign jihadists. He has been giving them a pass militarily and been paying their expenses.
They have given Assad's story about fighting terrorist legs. They have given Assad and the media stories about rebel beheadings and other atrocities. They have raised sectarian conflict and cost the revolution a lot of friends, They have terrorized the people and caused them to flee from liberated areas. Their methods are similar to the regime's, but worst, and cause many to see Assad as the lesser of two evils. They have also discouraged foreign support for the struggle against Assad.
It is no accident that the actions of ISIS are so beneficial to the Assad regime, they are Assad's agents within the revolution. They must be expelled and then defeated, along with the Assad regime, as is happening now.
For too long, many observers of the conflict in Syria have looked upon it as a two-sided struggle with Assad and friends on one side and everybody else, i.e. <i>"the rebels,"</i> on the other side. This was usually accompanied by a view that blamed <i>"the rebels"</i> for all the atrocities the Assad regime claimed they did as well as all the atrocities actually committed by ISIS and al Nusra. This in turn has been used to support the <i>"both sides are bad"</i> reason for doing nothing about the slaughter in Syria.
It should now be clear to all that the simplistic equation for Syria is wrong. It is a complex, many-sided struggle, but this complexity, or the wool that Assad seeks to pull over our eyes, does not give us good cause to abandon the people.
<big><i>The existential question of our time is human extinction. Syria is a test we are failing</i></big>
This <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/syrian-rebel-allies-strike-blow-against-isil-201421010399969807.html">just in</a>:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Syrian rebel allies strike blow against ISIL </big></center>
al Jazeera
10 Feb 2014 13:38
Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have withdrawn from Syria's oil-rich eastern province of Deir al-Zor, activists and rebels said, after days of heavy fighting with rivals.
"The ISIL fighters have almost completely withdrawn from Deir al-Zor. The fighters are moving to Hassaka and Raqqa (provinces)," a source from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat Nusra told the Reuters news agency on Monday. <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/syrian-rebel-allies-strike-blow-against-isil-201421010399969807.html">More...</a></blockquote>
<center>
<big><a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com//2012/12/my-syria-diaries_1014.html">Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria</a></big></center>
Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-50801714974543318872014-01-05T16:58:00.000-08:002015-08-04T19:47:40.335-07:00Bashar al-Jihad: Is ISIS a child of the regime? <blockquote>
<big>I did not fear them, I used to tell them they are the regime’s men with a beard and mask.</big>
--<a href="https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/520161-isis-is-the-child-of-the-regime">Souad Nawfal</a>, one of the first activists in Raqqa</blockquote>
Bashar al-Assad is one smart mass murderer. He has been saying all along that he is fighting al Qaeda and not a revolutionary movement of the Syrian people while at the same time letting al Qaeda leaders, many of them known terrorists and murderers, out of his prisons so they can provide <i>"leadership"</i> to the al Qaeda like groups, the ISIS and al Nusra, that are proving to be a boon to him and a plague on the democratic opposition.
Assad also has a history of attacking the Free Syrian Army more that he attacks these jihadist groups, while they have a very spotty record of attacking the regime. Assad also has a practise of bombing Syrian civilians in schools, hospitals and breadlines while leaving the camps and headquarters of these groups untouched.
This strategy is working well for the regime. It has caused many that claimed to support the struggle for democracy in Syria to turn their backs on the revolution in the name of <i>"stability,"</i> claiming that the victory of his regime is essential for the <i>"war on terror."</i> It has allowed US President Barack Obama to come out of the closet with <a href="http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2012/09/barack-obama-courtship-of-bashar-al_4519.html">his support for Bashar al-Assad</a>. He is quickly manuvering to openly put the United States openly on Assad's side.
Shamefully, it has been used by much of the US Left to defend the genocidal regime as better than the only alternative they chose to recognize. Shamefully is has been used my much of the US Left to turn its back on the most important revolution of the 21st century to date.
Here is a collection of some of the most recent articles on these important developments.
From Al Arabiya we have <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/02/Opposition-group-Jihadists-serve-Syrian-regime-s-interests-.html">this report</a>:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Syrian opposition: Jihadists ‘serve Assad’s interests’</big></center>
2 January 2014
Syria’s opposition National Coalition described on Wednesday al-Qaeda-linked group in the country of having ties to the Syrian regime, and accused it of serving the government’s interests.
The strong criticism against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) comes after the group reportedly tortured and killed an opposition doctor in northern Syria.
<i>“The Coalition believes that ISIL is closely linked to the terrorist regime and serves the interests of the clique of President Bashar al-Assad, directly or indirectly,”</i> Agence France-Presse quoted the Syrian opposition group as saying in a statement.
<i>“The murder of Syrians by this group leaves no doubt about the intentions behind their creation, their objectives and the agendas they serve, which is confirmed by the nature of their terrorist actions hostile to the Syrian revolution,”</i> it added.
It called on rebels who had joined ISIL to abandon the group and for the <i>“prosecution of the leaders of this terrorist organization along with the criminals of the regime.”</i>
It has also accused the group of abandoning the fight against the regime and instead battling other opposition fighters and civilians.
The Coalition has long accused the Syrian regime of hijacking and <i>“stealing”</i> the uprising by supporting extremist groups. <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/02/Opposition-group-Jihadists-serve-Syrian-regime-s-interests-.html">More...</a></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kafranbel on terrorist ISIS</span></td></tr>
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NOW published <a href="https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/520161-isis-is-the-child-of-the-regime">this revealing report</a> back in November:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>ISIS is the child of the regime</big></center>
<i>The Assad regime helped establish the most repressive jihadi groups by releasing its leaders from prison, say activists
</i>
Doha Hassan
November 11, 2013
<i>“They asked for my ID and if I was working with the Free Syrian Army or the [Syrian] Military Council,”</i> said cameraman Abd Hakwati, recounting how a masked man arrested him at a roadblock at the entrance of the supposedly-liberated city of Raqqa. The man said through an Iraqi accent, <i>“You cannot enter Raqqa before you get the emir’s approval.”
</i>
Hakwati goes on: <i>“A while later, another masked man came over and asked me which institution I was working for and what media channels I communicated with. He noted the address of the person I was going to see in Raqqa and why I was going there, and then allowed me to go in. I felt like I was entering a foreign land for the first time, as though we were back under the Syrian regime with all its tyranny and repression, albeit in an extremist Islamist form.”</i>
This is the violence of the Assad regime-bred Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), which spread its doctrinal control by the sword in regions that were once known as <i>“liberated.”</i> In early 2012, Hakwati took his camera and started shooting short documentaries in northern Syria. <i>“A masked man came in Deir Ezzor’s Mayadin and pulled me by the hair, insulting me and threatening to slaughter me. He took me to the Religious Committee. My friend tried to intervene by telling them, ‘We are sons of the same revolution,’ but the masked man answered, ‘I have nothing to do with this revolution of yours.’”</i>
...
On September 29, 2013, 15 students at Raqqa’s Commerce School were killed in a regime air raid. <i>“I went to the ISIS headquarters and was showered with insults leveled by masked Tunisian men,”</i> says Nawfal. <i>“So I fled to a female friend’s house. ISIS is currently after me and its emir has ordered my killing and threatened my family. What I don’t understand is why the regime bombed the school rather than the security centers housing ISIS and the Nusra Front.</i>”
According to numerous studies and reports, regime prisons are the womb that birthed the extremist Islamists who have become today’s leaders of ISIS, Nusra, and others.
Activist Maher Esper says: <i>“I saw prisoners who were with me in the Saydnaya prison in most YouTube videos since the emergence of Nusra, ISIS, and other Islamic brigades.”</i> Syrian regime forces arrested Esper in 2006 and sentenced him to seven years in prison, five of which were spent at the Saydnaya prison before he was encompassed in the presidential amnesty issued at the start of the revolution.
Esper asserts, <i>“There’s a person I saw in a video in which fourteen Raqqa clans pledged allegiance to ISIS, he used to sleep on the bunk directly above mine. The regime released those individuals despite their involvement in murders, even in prison. All those I saw became members or leaders of ISIS (like Nadim Balous), al-Nusra (like Baha’ al-Bash), Jaysh al-Islam (like Zahran Alloush), Ahrar al-Sham (like Hassane Abboud), or Suqur al-Sham brigades (like Ahmad Issa al-Sheikh).”</i> <a href="https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/520161-isis-is-the-child-of-the-regime">More...</a>
<a href="https://now.mmedia.me/lb/ar/nowspecialar/519709-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%B4-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%B1%D8%AD%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%88%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%87-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%AE%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AC%D9%88-%D8%B3%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%AF" target="_blank">This article is a translation from the original Arabic</a>.</blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Kafranbel on <a href="https://twitter.com/islamic_front">@islamic_front</a>: Alloush: "ISIS killed 50 of my men." <a href="https://twitter.com/HassanAbboud_Ah">@HassanAbboud_Ah</a>: "You make a stmt, I'll tweet." <a href="http://t.co/RzLieAskhY">pic.twitter.com/RzLieAskhY</a>
— Omar (@omarsyria) <a href="https://twitter.com/omarsyria/statuses/419099241940672512">January 3, 2014</a></blockquote>
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EA Worldview has <a href="http://eaworldview.com/2014/01/syria-isis-alien-invaders-say-kafranbel-activists/">this report</a> on the most recent Friday protest in Kafranbel:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>ISIS Are Alien Invaders, Say Kafranbel Activists</big></center>
By Joanna Paraszczuk
January 3, 2014 12:03
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Activists in the village of Kafranbel in Idlib province, noted for their creative and artistic anti-Assad banners, turned their attention to the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham in today’s Friday protest.
Banners accuse the faction, mainly consisting of foreign fighters, of being “alien invaders”, while others called on the Free Syrian Army to intervene and expel ISIS.
The criticism of ISIS comes after the extremist faction stormed media offices in the town last Saturday evening.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"The enemies have multiplied but there is one revolution and it lives on." </i></td></tr>
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Activists said the raids targeted a radio station, Radio Fresh, and a nearby media center.
An activist told Lebanese outlet The Daily Star that fighters from ISIS abducted six media workers, but released them after two hours of detention.
ISIS militants also smashed up both the radio station and the media center, stealing or destroying computers, cameras, radio and Internet equipment and pro-uprising banners.
The activist told the Daily Star that the attack from ISIS came hours after the station broadcast an item with interviews that included several women discussing their personal lives and problems as divorcees.</blockquote>
<center>
<big>A mass demonstration chanting against ISIS and Assad regime in Aleppo | <a href="https://twitter.com/syriahr/statuses/419110394100060160">3 Jan 2014</a></big></center>
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War in Context was onto <a href="http://warincontext.org/2013/10/06/by-accident-or-design-isis-is-helping-assad/">this story</a> back in October:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>By accident or design, ISIS is helping Assad</big></center>
October 6, 2013
By James Traub
...
ISIS appears to have up to 8,000 soldiers in Syria, a tiny number compared with the 100,000 or so rebel fighters. But the group’s medieval ideology, as well as its pathological obsession with enforcing Islamist rectitude in the towns and cities its soldiers have infiltrated, has made it a source of terror. One evening I was sitting at an outdoor cafe where a grizzled man was steadily smoking a hookah and shooting jets of tobacco smoke through his nostrils. He called himself Abu Abdul, and he was a fighter with a brigade affiliated with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the <i>“moderate”</i> forces backed by the West. We talked about the jihadists. Then he said something else. “He asks that you not mention the name of his brigade,” my interpreter said. <i>“Everyone is scared of ISIS.”</i>
President Bashar al-Assad has received two enormous gifts in recent months. The first is the Russian-brokered deal to remove Syria’s chemical weapons, which distracted attention from his relentless campaign to kill and terrorize his enemies and also compelled Western governments to work with him as the country’s legitimate ruler. The second is ISIS, which has also deflected attention away from the war between the regime and the rebels and has vindicated as nothing else could Assad’s persistent claim that he is confronting, not political opponents, but “terrorists,” as his foreign minister, Walid al-Muallem, recently <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/09/syrian-fm-defends-government-at-un-201393013504653211.html">claimed</a> at the United Nations.
For this reason, it has become a fixed conviction in Antakya that ISIS functions as a secret arm of the regime. This sounds like an all-too-understandable conspiracy theory, yet even Western diplomats I’ve spoken to consider it plausible, if scarcely proved. In the summer of 2012, Assad released from prison a number of jihadists who had fought with al Qaeda in Iraq and who are thought to have helped formed ISIS. Reporters, activists, and fighters also note that while regime artillery has flattened the FSA’s headquarters in Aleppo, the ISIS camp next door was left untouched until the jihadi group left; the same is true in the fiercely contested eastern city of Raqqa. ISIS, for its part, has done very little to liberate regime-held areas, but has seized control of both Raqqa and the border town of Azaz from FSA forces. <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/10/04/everyone_is_scared_of_isis_syria_rebels?page=full">More...</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%BA%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A_%D8%A8%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%A3%D9%87%D9%84_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%85&src=hash">#دولة_البغدادي_بعيون_أهل_الشام</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%A9_%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%88_%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%B6%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%AF%D8%B1&src=hash">#جمعة_أبو_ريان_ضحية_الغدر</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7&src=hash">#سوريا</a> 2 <a href="http://t.co/lwpLSynepn">pic.twitter.com/lwpLSynepn</a>
— مزمجر الشام (@saleelalmajd1) <a href="https://twitter.com/saleelalmajd1/statuses/419192708407001088">January 3, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Here's <a href="http://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/atareb-aleppo-province-03-01-2014-there-are-unconfirmed-reports/">another interesting clue</a> from Yalla Souriya as to which side ISIS is really on:
<blockquote>
Atareb, #Aleppo province, 03-01-2014: There are unconfirmed reports from Aleppo province that immediately after the FSA drove ISIS forces out of Atareb earlier today, regime heavy artillery forces bombed the town after not doing so for some time, with locals suggesting that this provides further evidence of the regime’s interdependent relationship with the group.</blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
ISIS's counter-ultimatum is that in 24 hours they'll let Assad march on Aleppo. As <a href="https://twitter.com/THE_47th">@The_47th</a> has said, no wonder Assad never bombs ISIS HQs.
— Zedd Rebel (@ZeddRebel) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZeddRebel/statuses/419531321963065344">January 4, 2014</a></blockquote>
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The New York Review of Books <a href="http://www.nybooks.com./blogs/nyrblog/2013/dec/27/how-al-qaeda-changed-syrian-war/">ran this comprehensive piece</a> 27 December 2013:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>How al-Qaeda Changed the Syrian War</big></center>
Sarah Birke
...
Since its appearance last April, ISIS has changed the course of the Syrian war. It has forced the mainstream Syrian opposition to fight on two fronts. It has obstructed aid getting into Syria, and news getting out. And by gaining power, it has forced the US government and its European allies to rethink their strategy of intermittent support to the moderate opposition and rhetoric calling for the ouster of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. After months of shunning Islamist groups in Syria, the Obama administration has now said it may need to talk to the Islamist Front, a new coalition of hard-line rebel groups, in part, because they might prove a buffer against the more extreme ISIS. Ryan Crocker, a former top US State Department official in the Middle East, has told The New York Times that American officials, left with few other options, should quietly start to reengage with the Assad regime. In December, US and Britain suspended non-lethal assistance to rebel groups in northern Syria after one base fell into Islamist hands.
<i>“Syria is now viewed as a security problem, not one about ousting Bashar and helping the Syrians get what they want,”</i> a Western diplomat in Istanbul told me.
...
ISIS’s rapid growth is subject to much conjecture. The most common speculation I encountered was that ISIS is a creation of Damascus, or its ally Iran, intended to fragment the opposition and ruin the revolution. “Simply, we see it as an extension of the regime,” Khaled Kamal, a sheikh from Latakia now based in Antakya said.
While there is little evidence of any direct ties to the Syrian government, it is true that Assad has done all he can encourage the impression that the rebels are foreign-sponsored “terrorists” attacking the regime. And he has helped that come about. Syrian lawyers have documented how in the early weeks of the revolt, the regime let out Islamist prisoners from Saidnaya prison—probably to foment radical Islamism within the opposition. While ISIS wages battles against the regime, including currently in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, Aleppo, and Qalamoun, near Damascus, the goal of defeating Assad appears to be secondary to consolidating their own rule in rebel-held areas.
<a href="http://www.nybooks.com./blogs/nyrblog/2013/dec/27/how-al-qaeda-changed-syrian-war/">More...</a></blockquote>
<center>
<big>Protest on Friday in Kafar Taharim in support of FSA and opposition to both Assad & ISIS</big></center>
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<center>
<big>Islamist militants dispersed a protest in Kafar Taharim with live fire.</big></center>
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Making a revolution is never easy and every revolution must be ready to deal with the type of trickery and deception that the Syrian Revolution.
<b>UPDATE 6 Jan 2014:</b> The LA Times is <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-syrian-rebel-infighting-20140105,0,2285747.story#ixzz2paMChB5S">reporting</a> that the democratic opposition is already making substantial progress in its fight against the jihadist:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Al Qaeda-linked group routed in Syrian rebel infighting</big></center>
By Nabih Bulos
January 5, 2014
AMMAN, Jordan -- Infighting among Islamist anti-government groups operating in northern Syria continued for a third day, as rebel factions engage in a large-scale rout against an extremist Al Qaeda affiliated group.
Jaysh Al-Mujahideen (the army of the Mujahideen), a new coalition of presumably moderate Islamist groups, as well as factions affiliated with the Western-backed Free Syrian Army and the Islamic Front consolidated their gains against the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) in what activists are hailing as a <i>"second revolution."</i> The Turkish government reacted with a shutdown of the vital Bab Al-Salameh crossing on the Syrian border.
<i>"The rebels have achieved tremendous progress against ISIS in all the points of conflict, liberating more than 80% of the Idlib countryside and 65% of Aleppo and its countryside"</i> said Abu Bakr, a media activist for the Sham News Network in Raqqa.
Another activist agreed, saying that <i>"the presence of the State of Baghdadi is finished,"</i> in reference to the group's shadowy leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, adding that many of its headquarters have been handed over to the Nusrah Front, another Al Qaeda affiliated group that is nevertheless viewed as more moderate. <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-syrian-rebel-infighting-20140105,0,2285747.story#ixzz2paMChB5S">More...</a></blockquote>
The National <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/fabrication-of-syrian-terror-groups-is-working-for-the-assad-regime">published this article</a> 4 Jan 2014:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Fabrication of Syrian terror groups is working for the Assad regime</big></center>
None of the Syrian regime’s achievements matches its fabrication of the fundamentalist-terrorist groups that it pretends to fight and protect the Syrians from, opposition figure Michel Kilo wrote in the London-based newspaper Asharq Al Awsat.
Such radical organisations did not exist in Syria before the revolution. The regime decided to create them, with the most successful one being the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the writer said.
The ISIL has offered valuable services to the Syrian regime. It has undermined the Free Syrian Army (FSA), taken areas controlled by it and subjected the citizens to sectarian tyranny. This has started to persuade the people to accept a return to Mr Al Assad’s dictatorship, he added.
The ISIL has also undermined the people and groups who began the revolution, and which the regime’s intelligence services could not counter initially.
Civil forces, particularly the Union of Syrian Democrats, that are struggling to keep the goal of democracy alive, have also been weakened by the ISIL. The Union of Syrian Democrats was created by a variety of civil organisations and figures in an attempt to provide a unified political platform that reflects the wide civil and democratic grassroots groups that want an end to division among democracy advocates.
Since its inception at the hands of outsiders, the ISIL has targeted areas that had already been liberated by the FSA, which left those places to fight in others. The ISIL had only a few overseas fighters in the beginning, so they took as their base Ar-Raqqah city after violently forced out the FSA.
After crushing The Grandsons of the Messenger and The Eagles of the North using car bombs, the ISIL has threatened other organisations to provide it with fighters and its share of the spoils of war or else it would destroy them.
Moreover, the ISIL has issued religious edicts declared as apostates the FSA, the Syrian National Coalition, the democrats, and Islamists who reject its methods, threatening to kill all of them – and have killed or arrested some.
They have also terrified non-Muslims by kidnapping Christian priests including bishops Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi and Father Paolo.
Finally, the ISIL has sought to win over the population using food assistance, and fighters using money and weaponry. In particular, it has recruited the regime’s Shabiha militias and embarked on hunting down the FSA, the democrats and journalists using lists provided by the regime’s intelligence services.
Syrian forces fighting for freedom must not be blamed for the acts of the ISIL, which is only fighting the enemies of Al Assad regime and the principles they are battling for, the writer concluded. <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/fabrication-of-syrian-terror-groups-is-working-for-the-assad-regime">More...</a></blockquote>
<b>UPDATE 10 Jan 2014:</b> Peter Clifford Online <a href="http://www.petercliffordonline.com/syria-news-3">added this info</a> to this discussion today:
<blockquote>
Moderate Opposition positions were also attacked by Assad’s war planes between Atareb and Urem al-Kubra and also on the road north-east of Aleppo between Al-Bab and Bzaa, give rising to an increasing suspicion that somehow, in some devious way, ISIL is linked to the Assad regime.
These accusations have been appearing for some time on the Internet and have gained strength since repeated barrel-bombing of civilians in Raqqah but not once an attack on ISIL’s very obvious headquarters buildings around the city.
Moderate Opposition fighters have also discovered the passport of an ISIL commander in recaptured Jarablous, Abu Hafas Al-Masri, which clearly contains an entry visa for Shia Iran – rather odd for a supposedly Sunni fighter.
It is also reported that since January 3rd ISIL has carried out 14 cars-bomb or suicide bomb attacks against the moderate Opposition – an intense record that it has never attempted against the Assad regime.
The allegations of secret collaboration between ISIL and the Assad regime have been repeated this week by the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, although he disingenuously lobbed the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, the PYD, Turkey’s arch enemy, into the mix as well.</blockquote>
<b>UPDATE 13 Jan 2014:</b> The New York Times reported <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/13/world/middleeast/syria-rebels-turn-against-most-radical-group-tied-to-al-qaeda.html?_r=0">this story</a> today:
<blockquote>
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<big>Syria Rebels Turn Against Most Radical Group Tied to Al Qaeda</big></center>
12 Jan 2014
By Anne Barnard
BEIRUT, Lebanon — As a government warplane soared over the northern Syrian city of Raqqa recently, a fighter from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the country’s most radical group linked to Al Qaeda, watched from behind an antiaircraft gun mounted on a pickup truck. Fighters and activists from rival insurgent factions urged him to fire. He did not.
The others were incredulous, recalled one, who supports the Nusra Front, a rival group that has Al Qaeda’s official stamp of approval as its representative in the fight against President Bashar al-Assad. But the man on the truck replied, <i>“We are here to establish the Islamic state, not to fight Assad.”</i> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/13/world/middleeast/syria-rebels-turn-against-most-radical-group-tied-to-al-qaeda.html?_r=0">More...</a></blockquote>
This might also be a good time to <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/does-obama-know-hes-fighting-on-alqaidas-side-8786680.html">remember the words</a> of ex-journalist Robert Fisk, now that they show how clearly he has corrupted the truth in support of Assad by printing regime talking points as news. [Thanks to Basel Abdulla for remembering this]:
<blockquote>
<center>
<big>Does Obama know he’s fighting on al-Qa’ida’s side?</big></center>
<b>‘All for one and one for all’ should be the battle cry if the West goes to war against Assad’s Syrian regime</b>
27 August 2013
By Robert Fisk
If Barack Obama decides to attack the Syrian regime, he has ensured – for the very first time in history – that the United States will be on the same side as al-Qa’ida.
Quite an alliance! Was it not the Three Musketeers who shouted <i>“All for one and one for all”</i> each time they sought combat? This really should be the new battle cry if – or when – the statesmen of the Western world go to war against Bashar al-Assad.
The men who destroyed so many thousands on 9/11 will then be fighting alongside the very nation whose innocents they so cruelly murdered almost exactly 12 years ago. Quite an achievement for Obama, Cameron, Hollande and the rest of the miniature warlords.
<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/does-obama-know-hes-fighting-on-alqaidas-side-8786680.html">More...</a></blockquote>
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Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-88465052378183732802013-12-10T11:59:00.000-08:002015-08-04T19:47:40.404-07:00My Fallen IdolsI just penned a post that was highly critical of <b>Seymour M. Hersh</b>, a man that has always been a hero to me. When Colin Powell was the army major covering up the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre">My Lai massacre</a>, Seymour Hersh was the young reporter that broke the story. Yesterday, I basically called him out for trying to cover up a massacre with his attempt to blow smoke over who slaughtered people in Ghouta with sarin.
Seymour M. Hersh has become just the latest addition to my list of fallen idols. Fallen because they missed the changes. Fallen because in the crucial battles of our age, they chose to stand on the wrong side of the barricades.
With each one came a sharp pain and a deep sorrow. And so it is with Seymour M. Hersh.
The first of note was <b>Fidel Castro</b> in his support for Qaddafi. That was a most deeply felt pain because before that, I don't think I had ever disagreed with Fidel on anything. But I had been closely following developments in Libya beginning a month before 17 Feb and I just knew what I knew and I knew that Fidel didn't know what he was talking about and for whatever reasons, had opted to support a fascist tyrant against his people. You can read my blogs on Libya to see what I knew.
After him followed <b>Hugo Chavez</b> and local groups I had enjoyed good working relations with, <b>ANSWER-LA</b> and <b>IAC</b>, although, of course, they were never idols.
<b>Cynthia McKinney</b> and <b>Dennis Kucinich</b> added themselves to the list, as did a number of journalists, most recently <b>Robert Fisk</b> and <b>Seymour Hersh</b>.
Each has come as a blow. And yet I know what I know. I don't know why they made a wrong turn, I don't know why they have chosen the fascist dictator over the people.
I just know, that's not me.
So I shed a tear for what they once were and move on.
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Linux Beachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359697432337570913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476116052480213661.post-73390957300095193452013-12-09T11:57:00.000-08:002015-08-04T19:47:40.374-07:00Whose Seymour Hersh?When considering various opinions as to what is going on in <b>Syria</b> today, I find it extremely useful to know where the commentator stands with regards to the regime of <b>Bashar al-Assad</b>. Does he support or oppose it? After all, whatever the conflict in Syria has become, it began in the spring of 2011 as a mass struggle to overthrow the Assad Regime. Many believe, myself included, that it remains, at heart, a struggle to overthrow this 43 year old dictatorship.
None can read my blog and not know that I am a strong advocate of the overthrow of the Assad Regime. Given its totalitarian, police state methods, its wanton use of torture, rape and mass murder as tools of social control and its criminal indifference to the lives and welfare of its youngest citizens, the Syrian people can certainly build a better government.
<b>Seymour M. Hersh</b>, on the other hand, wants to see Assad prevail in the current struggle. He <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/12/9/seymour_hersh_obama_cherry_picked_intelligence#">told</a> <b>Amy Goodman</b> as much on <b>Democracy Now</b> this morning while discussing <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/2013/12/08/seymour-m-hersh/whose-sarin">his new piece</a> in the <b>London Review of Books</b>, <b>Whose sarin?</b>:
<blockquote>
inside the [intelligence] community, for the last year, it’s been known that the only game in town, whether you like it or don’t like it, was Bashar, because otherwise the—what we call the secular anti—the opposition to Bashar, the legitimate, non-radical, if you will, dissenters, people from within the army, people—civilians who didn’t like the lack of more social progress, etc., etc., they were overrun, even by—we know that beginning in early in the year. We knew they were being overrun by jihadists. And so, the only solution, it seemed to me, for—it seems for the government at the time, the people I know—and I’ve talked to people about this for years; it’s been more than a year of talk—is, the only solution for stability was Bashar. You have to just like it or don’t like it.
Israel, which—don’t forget, Damascus is, what, 40 miles, 45 miles from the Golan Heights and 130 miles south of—north of—northeast of Tel Aviv, easily within range of any missiles. The Israelis are not going to tolerate a jihadist government inside Syria, or even any area that the jihadists will claim as an area of sharia law. They’ll hit it. The only potential for stability was to keep Bashar there, or at least to get him in a position where maybe he’d be willing to negotiate some sort of collaborative government, which seems to be the only sensible theme right now.</blockquote>
It would seem that many who are <i>"not going to tolerate a jihadist government inside Syria"</i> are more than willing to tolerate a return of the complete domination of Syria by a murderous and criminal gang in the name of <i>"stability." </i>What they might see as a return to stability would most likely mean a bloodbath of retribution inside of Syria, but they don't mind about that because they are outside of Syria so that kind of <i>"12 Years a Slave"</i> stability is just fine with them.
They didn't too much mind that the Assads ran Syria as a brutal police state for four decades so long as he brought stability to the region. They've never had a problem with it and they don't have a real problem with Assad carrying on as he always has in the future. Apparently this is also Seymour Hersh's view.
He agrees with Assad that the only real choice for Syria's future is between the jihadists and his regime, and given those choices, he favors the Assad Regime.
It is important to understand that this is were Seymour Hersh is coming from in evaluating <b>Whose sarin?</b>, because, for all of Seymour Hersh's historic accomplishments, it is little more than another poorly written and poorly sourced piece designed to muddy the waters as to who is responsible for the sarin gas attack in Ghouta on 21 August this year. It was so poorly sourced that it was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/08/seymour-hersh-syria-report_n_4409674.html">rejected</a> by the <b>Washington Post</b> and <b>The New Yorker</b> before ending up in the LRB.
The LRB piece makes the case that the sarin attack that killed more than 1400 people in Ghouta on 21 August could have come from the opposition and that the Obama administration cherry picked the intelligence when it came to the hasty conclusion that the Syrian military was responsible for the attack.
Hersh doesn't make the claim that Assad didn't do it and he doesn't make the claim that such and such opposition force did do it. He argues that the Obama administration was about to go to war with Syria when it couldn't possibly know the Assad regime had carried out the attack.
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<big>Seymour M. Hersh's history with Bashar al-Assad</big></center>
In the early months of the Obama presidency, Seymour M. Hersh <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/04/06/090406fa_fact_hersh">wrote a piece</a> that was sourced well enough to be published in The New Yorker, 6 April 2009. It was titled <b>SYRIA CALLING</b>, with the subtitle <i>"The Obama Administration’s chance to engage in a Middle East peace."</i> The article argues that Obama's best chance for a Middle East peace deal is a peace between Bashar al-Assad and Israel.
Hersh was one of the first to pick up on the shift in Syria policy between Bush and Obama, a shift that most of the Left is still blind to, as proven by their willingness to use Bush era statements to prove Obama policies toward Syria.
<blockquote>
"A major change in American policy toward Syria is clearly under way. "
writes Hersh:
A former American diplomat who has been involved in the Middle East peace process said, “There are a lot of people going back and forth to Damascus from Washington saying there is low-hanging fruit waiting for someone to harvest.” A treaty between Syria and Israel “would be the start of a wide-reaching peace-implementation process that will unfold over time.”</blockquote>
Seymour Hersh didn't miss that because he was very active in promoting it. From the article we gather that Seymour M. Hersh had direct contact with Bashar al-Assad:
<blockquote>
President Assad was full of confidence and was impatiently anticipating the new Administration in Washington when I spoke to him late last year in Damascus</blockquote>
and
<blockquote>
In his e-mail after the Gaza war, Assad emphasized...</blockquote>
and
<blockquote>
In his e-mail, Assad praised the diplomatic efforts of former President Jimmy Carter.</blockquote>
and
<blockquote>
The official Syrian position toward Iran, which Assad repeated to me, is... </blockquote>
Assad felt he could speak frankly with Hersh, and showed that he knew not to take Obama's verbal threats too seriously:
<blockquote>
During the long campaign for the White House, Obama often criticized Syria for its links to terrorism, its “pursuit of weapons of mass destruction,” and its interference in Lebanon, where Syria had troops until 2005 and still plays a political role. (Assad dismissed the criticisms in his talk with me: <i>“We do not bet on speeches during the campaign.”</i>) </blockquote>
Bashar al-Assad has even used Seymour M. Hersh as a conduit in his duplicitous deals:
<blockquote>
At an Arab summit in Qatar in mid-January, however, Bashar Assad, the President of Syria, angrily declared that Israel’s bombing of Gaza and the resulting civilian deaths showed that the Israelis spoke only <i>“the language of blood.”</i> He called on the Arab world to boycott Israel, close any Israeli embassies in the region, and sever all <i>“direct or indirect ties with Israel.”</i> Syria, Assad said, had ended its talks over the Golan Heights.
Nonetheless, a few days after the Israeli ceasefire in Gaza, Assad said in an e-mail to me that although Israel was <i>“doing everything possible to undermine the prospects for peace,”</i> he was still very interested in closing the deal.</blockquote>
Seymour Hersh knows that Assad is no saint. Two years before the Arab Spring came to Syria, he wrote:
<blockquote>
One issue that may be a casualty of an Obama rapprochement with Syria is human rights. Syrians are still being jailed for speaking out against the policies of their government. Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director for Human Rights Watch, said that Assad <i>“has been offering fig leafs to the Americans for a long time and thinks if he makes nice in Lebanon and with Hamas and Hezbollah he will no longer be an outcast. We believe that no amount of diplomatic success will solve his internal problems.”</i> The authorities, Whitson said, are <i>“going after ordinary Syrians—like people chatting in cafés. Everyone is looking over their shoulder.”</i></blockquote>
And two years ago before the Arab uprising and before 126,000 Syrians died in the struggle to overthrow Assad, Seymour Hersh was channelling Assad's theme that he is a necessary evil in the fight against Islamic extremism in Syria, just as he does today. Then he said:
<blockquote>
Assad, in his interview with me, acknowledged, <i>“We do not say that we are a democratic country. We do not say that we are perfect, but we are moving forward.”</i> And he focussed on what he had to offer. He said that he had a message for Obama: Syria, as a secular state, and the United States faced a common enemy in Al Qaeda and Islamic extremism. </blockquote>
In <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/02/direct-quotes-bashar-assad.html?printable=true&currentPage=all">another New Yorker piece</a> almost a year later, Seymour Hersh gives us a clue as to the sort of things Assad had to offer Obama. Saying <i>"I spoke to Bashar Assad, the president of Syria, this winter [2010] in Damascus,"</i> he then goes on to complain about deficiencies in the transcript:
<blockquote>
One note: a transcript of our talk, provided by Assad’s office, was generally accurate but it did not include an exchange we had about intelligence. A senior Syrian official had told me that, last year, Syria, which is on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, had renewed its sharing of intelligence on terrorism with the C.I.A. and with Britain’s MI6, after a request from Obama that was relayed by George Mitchell, the President’s envoy for the Middle East.</blockquote>
So we can see that Seymour Hersh has enjoyed a long relationship with Bashar al-Assad, and his willingness to overlook a certain level of brutality towards the Syrian people because he views Assad as the only alternative to Islamist terrorism, is not new.
The factual arguments that Seymour Hersh makes in <b>Whose sarin?</b> are plagued with very serious problems and it is ironic that he accuses the Obama administration of cherry-picking the intelligence because he cherry picks his <i>"facts"</i> and ignores other. His core argument is that both al Nusra Front, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, two al Qaeda linked groups in the Syrian opposition, know how to make sarin, US intelligence knows this and therefore the Obama administration had no business blaming the Assad regime for the attack without first ruling out the possibility that it came from the jihadists.
There have been denials from US government that Hersh's information is correct and they know these groups can produce sarin. And while advocates of the view that the opposition gassed its own people want us to think sarin is easily produced, Bashar al Assad <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/19/defiant-assad-claims-government-did-not-use-chem-weapons-vows-to-abide-by/">told Dennis Kucinich</a> <i>"anyone can make sarin in his house,”</i> chemical weapons experts tell us this is far from the case.
One source on this subject who is not afraid to backup his intelligence with his name is David Kaszeta, a former officer in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps and former member of the U.S. Secret Service. Kaszeta has 22 years working with chemical weapons and he says:
<blockquote>
That statement should be met with disbelief. </blockquote>
I'll refer you to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-10/no-you-can-t-make-sarin-in-your-kitchen.html">this link</a> for the details as to why he says that.
Also, according to the UN report, the sarin they found was of a military grade and very unlikely to be produced outside of a government laboratory. Also Hersh ignores the defectors that have come forward to testify about Assad's use of chemical weapons, defectors from his CW special forces. Also he ignores the fact that the area that was attacked with chemical weapons was under attack by Assad forces for months both before and after the sarin attack with conventional weapons.
I will leave it to others to pen a detailed critique of the <i>"facts"</i> and arguments Seymour Hersh makes in this latest defense of Assad. I just wanted to point out why he is going this.
Seymour M. Hersh wants Assad to win.
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