23 maj

almanar.com.lb – Battle for Qusayr: Terrorists’ Supply Routes Totally Cut

Syrian Army continued Thursday its military operation in the northern city of Qusayr and the rest of its countryside chasing the terrorist groups deployed in the area.
The second stage of the Qusayr battle was launched Wednesday, inflicting the opposition militant groups heavy losses and arresting many of their members.
Al-Manar TV correspondent reported that fierce clashes took place Thursday between the terrorists and the Syrian army in the northern quarter and western part of Basateen village.
“Qazmaniya in the eastern Ghotta was reclaimed,” he said.
“The second round will represent a great step towards resolving the battle,” he noted citing high rank Syrian source.
“The new round includes cutting off all the main routes which terrorists might use to escape the army blows; cutting off most of the terrorists’ supply routes; and dismantling mines and roadside improvised explosive devices (IED) planted by terrorists,” the correspondent added without elaborating further for security reasons.

Press TV – Israeli regime preparing for war on Syria

An Israeli military commander says Tel Aviv is prepared to carry out an attack on Syria as soon as the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad collapses.
On Wednesday, Israeli Major General Amir Eshel said the Tel Aviv regime might launch a sudden war on Syria ‘the moment Damascus falls.’

Christof Lehmann – Widening of Syria War into a Regional War with Global Implications becoming Inevitable

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has passed legislation that, if signed by U.S. President Obama, approves of officially supplying weapons to what the committee describes as “The Syrian Opposition”.
According to international law the bill implies, that the U.S.A. officially becomes a conflicting party due to the fact, that the official approval of weapons deliveries and other aid to “the opposition” is changing its status to that of a mercenary corps.
The Senate´s decision has significantly increased the likelihood of the development of a regional war with global implications and has, if it is signed by President Obama, for the foreseeable future undermined attempts to settle the war by political means.
…
Already in 2011 a whistleblower at the U.S. Special Forces at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, U.S.A. stated to nsnbc, that the USA has special forces deployed in Syria and the the USA is financing and arming the “Syrian opposition”.
…
In March, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated, that “International law does not permit the supply of arms to non-governmental actors and our point of view is that it is a violation of international law”

Scott Creighton – On behalf of “national interests”, a US Senate panel votes to arm foreign-backed al-Qaeda linked terrorists in Syria

Every single senator who voted for this bill is guilty of treason according to the NDAA 2012 which clearly states you cannot provide aid and comfort to terrorist groups associated with al-Qaeda. They offered up a bill to provide arms and a quarter of a billion dollars to groups who have openly declared their allegiance to the terrorist organization credited with the attacks of 9/11 on behalf of our “national interests” (oil companies, banking cartels, vulture capitalists, Israel). They can AND SHOULD be detained by the military and held indefinitely without access to legal representation in an undisclosed detention facility. As popular opinion across the entire civilized world has turned sharply in favor of the legitimate government of Syria and her people and against the mercenary terrorists (our destabilization campaign contractors) who are killing and maiming innocent people, the monsters in our congress, beholding to big finance and foreign nations, spew more of their caustic venom unto the world in support of “vile maxim of the masters of mankind: all for ourselves and nothing for other people.

Press TV – Syria resolute to fight terrorists, find political solution: Assad

”Syria is determined to tackle terrorism and those who support it regionally and globally, and to find a political solution to the crisis,” Assad told a Tunisian delegation on Thursday.
His remarks came after Syrian troops achieved great victories against the insurgents in the western border town of Qusayr in Homs Province.

Press TV – Militants in Syria receive 35-ton Saudi arms cargo: Top cmdr.

Mycket värdefull artikel! – Antonio C. S. Rosa – On the Road to Damascus: An Eyewitness Report

I participated, May 1-11, 2013 in the Mussalaha International Peace Delegation to Lebanon-Syria alongside fellow TRANSCEND member Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire, from Ireland, and 15 others from eight countries. Keenly aware of my responsibility, especially to my newly made Syrian and Lebanese friends left behind, I shall try to report, describe, make sense of what I saw, heard and experienced; also offer views and insights based on interviews. However, this report will take more than one article.
…
Mairead Maguire, who talked in private with four Syrian armed combatants, said they told her they took up arms against the government because they were unemployed; one of them with five children. Al Qaida offered them money.

voltairenet.org – New US Senate bill on Syria

Press TV – Jim W Dean – US Senate violates Nuremberg precedent for waging offensive war

22 maj

english.ruvr.ru – UK sees no Syria peace deal with Assad – William Hague

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday ahead of an international conference to discuss peace efforts in Syria that only President Bashar al-Assad’s departure could clear the way for a settlement.
”It is the longstanding view of the UK that Assad needs to go, and we have never been able to see any solution which involves him staying,” Hague told a press conference in Amman ahead of a meeting of the Friends of Syria group.

Numera sägs det öppet i västmedierna att USA/väst stått för beväpningen av ”rebellerna” hela tiden!
reuters.com – As U.S. struggles with Syria policy, Senate panel backs arming rebels

Analysts say Washington could pick the right people to arm, citing success doing so in previous wars in Libya, Kosovo and Bosnia and noting that Washington has been facilitating the provision of arms to the rebels by allies for much of the Syrian conflict.

Russia Today – US Senate committee votes to arm Syrian rebels

It remains uncertain if the full Senate will vote on the legislation that calls to “provide defense articles, defense services, and military training” directly to the opposition on the ground Syria who “have been properly and fully vetted and share common values and interests with the United States.”
“I don’t think that this resolution, this bill will gain traction in the House of Representatives, and if it does we will have to wait and see if Mr. Obama signs this bill,” historian Gerald Horne told RT.
Horne believes that the Israeli lobby in Washington might sway US politicians including President Obama.
“The Israeli lobby in particular has been quite energetic and quite active in regard of lobbying for aid to the rebels, which is quite curious since if these rebels come to power, I dare say that Israel will have many sleepless nights,” Horne says.

almanar.com.lb – Battle for Qusayr: First Stage Ended Successfully, Second Stage Launched

Syrian Army continued Wednesday its military operation in the northern city of Qusayr and the rest of its countryside.
“Army units were able to restore security and stabilization to the Akkari Farm and Tal Sarr, along with chasing militants in Hamidiya town of Qusayr countryside,” state-run news agency SANA reported.

almanar.com.lb – Kerry Admits Syria Gains in Qusayr, Urges Assad to Commit to Peace

US Secretary of State John Kerry admitted on Wednesday the Syrian Army has achieved great gains in the northern border city of Qusayr, but saying they are not permanent.
Ahead of a meeting of the so-called ‘Friends of Syria’ group in Amman, Kerry called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to make ”a commitment to find peace in his country.”
In the same context, Kerry threatened if President Assad is unwilling to negotiate on peace terms, U.S. and other countries will discuss increasing support to Syrian opposition, without elaborating what kind of support they will offer.

Syrian troops advance in al-Qusayr clearing more areas of insurgents

Press TV – Syrian army destroys 2 explosive-ridden cars in Harasta

The Syrian army has destroyed two cars, loaded with 1,300 kilograms of explosives, in the Harasta neighborhood in the Syrian capital, Damascus, during an operation to flush out militants carrying out terrorist attacks in the area.

Press TV – Syria reaction to peace talks constructive: Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the Syrian government’s response to proposed peace talks is constructive.
“We value the constructive reaction of the Syrian leadership to this proposal,” Lavrov said on Wednesday in a meeting with Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Moscow.
For his part, Mekdad said that Damascus will soon decide on whether to take part in the upcoming international peace conference due to be held in Geneva in June.
“We are still discussing this question. A final decision will be taken after our return to Damascus,” Mekdad stated.
UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said on Tuesday that the Syrian government and the opposition are preparing to take part in the peace conference.

Press TV – Syria calls on UN Security Council to end Israeli violations

Gordon Duff – Syria’s failure to lose

It is increasingly obvious that a political settlement in Syria is going to be needed. Were it not for the interference of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel, and the plotting of the NATO powers, such a settlement conference would be underway.
Too many have died and each death benefits only: Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia and NATO.
What is broadly recognized is this fact; the rebel forces as they are currently configured, were they to triumph, would lead Syria into a decade of civil war, one where the current body-count, be it 50,000 or 100,000 would seem insignificant.
One might also ask why Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and their friends would back forces closely aligned with terrorism and extremism.
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There is little doubt that a globalist agenda is behind the war on Syria. This is only a stage in a broader war on Iran, followed by subjugation of Afghanistan (good luck with that) and a forced collapse of Pakistan.
The rationale, of course, involves oil and gas. As the planet has proven to be awash with oil and gas reserves, enough for centuries, particularly if alternative energy technologies continue to be suppressed, only total control of supply, delivery and active and criminal manipulation of market pricing structures can offer an adequate return.
Control of world currencies, the Federal Reserve System in the US, the failed financial system of the European Union and the IMF are required.
The methodologies, each representing an attack on the citizenry of the world, driven by outmoded Malthusianistic principles, are intended to deprive billions of basic human needs and, of course, any human rights as well.
It may all be turned around in Syria if the world finally awakens to the real threat.

Turkish Intelligence Services was aware of the bombs exploded in Reyhanli

Gendarmerie (Rural Police) Intelligence Department documents obtained by Redhack reveals that Turkish State knew about the vehicles packed with explosives that was detonated in Reyhanli/Hatay, which resulted in 51 deaths (unofficial reports confirm more than 100 dead).
Documents outline the vehicle details including plate numbers of three cars and that they were prepared by Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front in Syria on 23rd April 2013. It also gives information about Turkey registered vehicles packed with explosives, small and delicate devices that was send to Syria from Turkey.
We now know why the government censored the media reporting on the explosions took place on 11th May 2013. The documents indicate that the explosion was expected and known in advance.

Western Mercenaries Have Integrated the Ranks of Al Qaeda Rebels in Syria

Syriska rebeller besköt demonstranter

Onsdag 15 maj samlades tusentalet palestinier till en demonstration för sin rätt att återvända till flyktinglägret Yarmouk, som ligger i södra delen av den syriska huvudstaden. Hundratusentals palestinier fördrevs från Yarmouk i december förra året då lägret invaderades av Jabhat al-Nusra och andra väpnade grupper.
Trots palestiniernas vädjan om att få stå utanför den syriska konflikten har de väpnade grupperna vägrat att lämna det strategiskt belägna Yarmouk.
Sky news rapporterar att demonstrationen, med religiösa ledare och kvinnor i fronten, tågade rakt in i skottlinjen. Flera deltagare föll till marken och övriga tog skydd när kaoset utbröt.

21 maj

Press TV – Syria government, opposition to take part in peace conference: Brahimi

UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi says the Syrian government and the opposition are preparing to take part in the upcoming international peace conference.
Brahimi told reports on Tuesday at the Arab League that both the Damascus government and the opposition will take part in talks to try to resolve the conflict in Syria, which are due to take place in the Swiss city of Geneva in June, Reuters news agency reported.

english.ruvr.ru – Lavrov, Hague discuss Syria in telephone conversation

english.ruvr.ru – Israel army warns Syria of Golan unrest ‘consequences’

Storbritannien och Israel verkar inte nöjda med att det görs försök till att få till stånd förhandlingar med målet att få slut på våldet i Syrien.

Press TV – Britain conspiring to kill any hopes of breakthrough in future Syria talks

In a statement to parliament, Hague exposed a conspiracy in-the-making by telling MPs “there is a real risk that the Assad regime [the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad] will not negotiate seriously.
The Foreign Secretary also threatened the Syrian government by moaning that ”no option is off the table”, and that the UK government would keep mounting pressure on the European Union to lift an arms embargo against foreign-backed terrorists fighting the Syrian government forces.
”We must make clear that if the regime does not negotiate seriously at the Geneva conference, no option is off the table, Hague said. ”There remains a serious risk that the Assad regime will not negotiate seriously.”
Hague has resorted to the old threatening tone, even when the Syrian government and true opposition forces in the country are unanimous in calls for finding a diplomatic Syria-Syria solution to the conflict.

Press TV – Israeli army says its troops fired at targets inside Syria

Michel Chossudovsky – Israeli Army Vehicle Enters Syria, Israel Supports Al Nusra Rebels

According to the Syrian Military Command, an Israeli Armed unit entered Syria. An Israeli army vehicle which crossed the cease-fire line towards the village of Bir Ajam inside Syria was destroyed by Syrian forces:
“On Tuesday at 1:10 am (2100 GMT Monday), our armed forces destroyed an Israeli vehicle with everything it was carrying, which came from the occupied territories,”

Press TV – ‘US, Turkey, Israel made strategic errors on assessments of Syria situation’

An Israeli website has said in an article that the US, Turkey, and Israel had made ”strategic errors” on their assessments of the situation in Syria.
Mossad-connected DEBKAfile wrote that ”Strategic errors, which may turn out to be irreversible, because they emanated from faulty assessments shared by Israel and the Obama administration of the strengths on the Syrian battlefield.”
”To this day, the US, Israel and Turkey cling to the belief that Assad’s days are numbered and refuse to recognize the steady advances made by the Syrian army in its counter-offensive for dislodging the rebels from land they captured in more than two years of combat,” the article said.
DEBKAfile added that ”the next stage of the Syrian war” would ”evolve into a war of attrition against Israel waged from the Syrian Golan.”
”At all events, the Syrian civil conflict appears poised ready to spill over to one or more of its neighbors, starting with Israel,” it warned.
The article also acknowledged that the US and Israel had failed ”to break up the Tehran-Damascus-Hezbollah alliance.”
The report came as Tel Aviv has recently boosted military activities in the occupied Golan Heights, where clashes between Syrian forces and foreign-sponsored militants have spiked dramatically in recent weeks.
The Israeli military also has carried out three airstrikes against Syria so far this year.
This is while, the Syrian army is advancing on the foreign-militants in several battlefields across Syria.

brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk – Three Chemical Weapon Specialist Answer Questions About Chemical Weapons In Syria

Sadeq Khanafer, Hussein Mallah – Why Assad ”Wasn’t, Won’t Be” Defeated? (6/7)

In part 6 of “Why Assad wasn’t, won’t be Defeated?” we will tackle the stands of international powers towards the Syrian crisis and its shifts, as well as the potential of reaching a multi-polar world.

Finian Cunningham – ‘Western, Saudi terror hits Syria, Iraq’

You could hardly make this up: two countries sitting side-by-side, sharing the same border and sharing the same kind of horrific violence against their civilian populations.
Yet, Western governments and their dysfunctional news media defy rational thinking – and the glaring truth – by referring to the perpetrators in one country in positive tones as “rebels” while in the other country the pejorative term “terrorists” is permitted in discourse. That is what you call “doublethink” – an absurd inability to see or tell the truth.
We are talking, of course, about Syria and Iraq – two countries that share so much of humanity’s heritage of ancient civilization – that are now each being ripped apart by mercenaries with guns and bombs who have no value for human life

20 maj

Press TV – Syria seizes Israeli army vehicle used by insurgents in al-Qusayr

The Syrian army has confiscated an Israeli military vehicle used by foreign-backed militants in Syria’s strategic western city of al-Qusayr.

Covert Israeli Forces Inside Syria Within Rebel Ranks? Israeli Military Vehicle Seized: Report

Media sources confirm the seizure of an Israeli military vehicle in Al Qseir inside Syrian territory, pointing to the presence of covert Israeli forces operating within the ranks of “opposition” rebel forces.

Press TV – Sponsors of militancy in Syria legally liable: Daoud Khairallah, interview with Daoud Khairallah, professor at Georgetown University, Washington, about a video circulating of a Syrian insurgent who bit into the heart of a dead Syrian soldier

Press TV: Biting into the heart of another person be they good or bad used to be a thing of the past, but how humane and justifiable can such a thing be? Why is it that humanity has reached such a stage?
Khairallah: I don’t think humanity has reached such a stage. You can find sick people anywhere in any society. This person who did something like this, his place is either in a mental hospital or behind bars or something like this.
The problem is not he himself; the problem is those who sponsor him, fund him, arm him and support his case. The problem is a country like Qatar according to The Financial Times that has put three billion dollars into funding people like this.
. . .
Those who are supporting the carnage in Syria Those who don’t want a settlement, a peaceful settlement to the Syrian tragedy should be held liable morally, legally and in every way.

Press TV – Militants from 29 countries fighting in Syria: Assad

“Recent credible reports show that there are approximately 29 nationalities of foreign fighters engaged in terrorism activities within Syria’s borders,” he said.

European Union Directly Funds Al Qaeda Looting of Syrian oil

According to a report yesterday in Britain’s Guardian newspaper, the European Union (EU) is directly funding US-backed Sunni Islamist terrorist groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. These groups are looting oil in parts of eastern Syria that they control and then re-selling it to EU countries at rock-bottom prices.

Yusuf Fernandez – Russia Arms Syria against Threats

On 11 May, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that his country was completing its delivery of surface-to-air missiles to Syria. “Russia is not planning to sell – Russia has sold and signed contracts a long time ago, and is completing supplies of the equipment – which is anti-aircraft systems, according to the already signed contracts,” Lavrov told reporters in Warsaw.
He added that “this is not forbidden by any international laws, this is defensive weaponry. It is designed for Syria as an importer to have in this situation an opportunity to defend itself from air strikes which, as we know, is not a completely fantastical scenario”. Russian also condemned the Israeli air strikes in Damascus “as a threat to regional stability”.

Sadeq Khanafer, Hussein Mallah – Why Assad ”Wasn’t, Won’t be” Defeated (5/7)

In part 5 of “Why Assad wasn’t, won’t be Defeated?” we move to the inside and outside Syrian opposition, its components, armed groups, disagreements, as well as its political vision towards the recent events in Syria.

Syria: it’s not a ‘civil war’, it’s an imperialist war

‘Civil war’ is a totally inaccurate label for what’s going on in Syria. I think we should start calling it what it is: an imperialist war of destabilisation, where the aggressors’ fighting has been outsourced to sectarian religious terrorists. This outsourcing follows the same logic as any other type of outsourcing: it’s cheaper.
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And of course the ‘civil war’ narrative has another very important function: it contributes to our general prejudice that “these Arabs” (much like “these Africans” and “these Asians”) are inherently barbaric people who simply can’t get along. And it sends out a message that any attempt by a third world nation to follow a path of resistance to imperialism and zionism will inevitably end in murderous in-fighting – for which the civilised, sophisticated, modern imperialist states of course cannot reasonably be blamed.
So to call it a civil war is to take part in a vast deception.

19 maj

Press TV – Syria army advances on Qusayr in Homs

The Syrian army continues its operations in the central province of Homs to clear the town of al-Qusayr of the foreign-backed militant groups, Press TV reports.
Syrian forces on Sunday advanced toward the strategic town, which is located on the border with Lebanon.
The army says Syrian troops have started entering the town from every front, following weeks of battle.
Clashes have been reported between Syrian forces and militants in several districts across Qusayr. The army says it is making gains in its efforts to clear the area of terrorists.
The strategic town, which connects the capital city of Damascus to the Mediterranean coast, has been the focus of fierce clashes in recent weeks.

sana.sy – Army Eliminates Terrorists, Seizes Weapons including Israeli-Made Rocket

The armed forces’ units continued on Sunday operations against the armed terrorist groups in Hejjira, al-Qasimieh, Tal Kerdi, Adra and Jobar in Damascus countryside, inflicting heavy losses upon them.
An official source told SANA that a number of dens were destroyed in Hejjira with the weapons and terrorists inside, among them Samir Qashash and the Egyptian terrorist Yassin Shawqieh.

Press TV – Eight killed, 10 injured in Damascus bombing

At least eight people have been killed and ten others injured in a bomb attack in a neighborhood of north Damascus.
Several cars were set ablaze when a bomb concealed in a vehicle was detonated in a parking lot near a school in the Rukn Eddin neighborhood of the Syrian capital on Saturday.

Christof Lehmann – Growing Protests against Syria War and Erdogan Government in Turkey

On 19 May Turks traditionally celebrate Turkey´s independence and the father of modern Turkey, Kemal Ataturk. Today and yesterday Turks protested against the AKP´s and the Erdogan government´s illegal war on Syria and demanded that the government should resign. During protests in Reyhanh, where terror bombs killed dozens on 11 May, Poice attacked protesters with batons, water cannons and tear gas.
. . .
The Erdogan government is increasingly coming under fire for its state-sponsorship of radical islamist terrorist organizations, for waging a de-facto although undeclared war against Syria, for endangering the national security of Turkey, and for being ultimately responsible for the bomb blast in Rayhanh. The protesters were calling for that the responsible should be held accountable for the bombing.
The Workers Party´s Deputy Chairman Bayram Yurtçiçek stressed in his speech, that the “terror camps” in Hatay should be closed and that the terrorists should be deported.
The refugee camps in Hatay have since more than one year been documented to serve as hubs for the recruitment, training, financing, arming terrorist organizations and for other logistic operations related to Turkey´s war by proxy.

Finian Cunningham – Turkey bogged down in terror quagmire

Scott Creighton – Destabilization Campaign in Turkey Over Iranian Oil Sanction or Part of Larger Caspian Sea Basin Game?

a protester in Turkey said this: “We’ve been living together for years (Syria and Turkey). America and Israel are trying to pit us against each other to steal the petrol in the region.”

english.ruvr.ru – Syrian militants used chemical weapons in Aleppo – official

Damascus has evidence that Syrian militants used chemical weapons, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said in an interview with Russian television on Sunday.
He referred to the possible use of chemical weapons by terrorists based outside Aleppo, where dozens of people were killed by militants using chemical warfare agents earlier this month.

Israel Mulling Plot to Assassinate Syrian President Bashar Al Assad

The Israeli regime’s security bodies are working on a plot to assassinate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by the help of terrorist groups and armed rebels in the country after Damascus showed strength and months of resistance against the terrorist attacks orchestrated by US, Israel and their Arab partners, the Israeli media reported on Tuesday.
The Israeli Vala news website reported that the Israeli security and spy agencies were shocked at Assad’s resistance against two years of terrorist and sabotage operations against the country and are mulling other ways to topple him.

Press TV – Gunmen kidnap father of Syrian deputy foreign minister

Gunmen have abducted the 80-year-old father of Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad in the country’s southern province of Dara’a.
The office of the Syrian deputy foreign minister confirmed that the kidnapping was carried out in the village of Ghossom on May 18.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the kidnapping. However, the foreign-backed militants in Syria have targeted the families of Syrian officials over the past months of turmoil in the country.

Adam Larson – Syria : One Year After the Houla Massacre. New Report on Official vs. Real Truth

A week from now it will be one year since the world first heard about the horrors of a place in Syria called “Houla.” On the afternoon and evening of Friday, May 25, 2012, a reported 108 civilians were massacred there. They were executed inside their homes, with guns and “sharp tools,” and maybe a little bit from shelling as well. As the reader might recall, most of the victims were entire families, included some 49 younger children and even babies.
. . .
The questions recognized as standing on May 26, 2012 can and should be revisited a year later, because a year later is now, and it seems that the questions weren’t answered right the first time. This report will hopefully add to the effort to end the magic spell that’s spilled so much blood, and let truth finally get its chance to be the basis upon which the world acts

18 maj

Press TV – Three killed, five injured in Damascus bombing

Press TV – ‘Video shows Israeli special forces in Syria’

Fox News has published a video allegedly showing Israeli special forces on a mission inside the Syrian soil.
The American news network added that it ”captured, for the very first time, Israeli commandos coming back from inside Syria on a mission.”
The report does not specify how or where the film has been captured. But it appears to be near the occupied Golan Heights. Israel has recently boosted military activities in the area.
The video raised some concerning aspects of Israel regime’s role in the 26-month-old conflict in Syria.

english.ruvr.ru – Accusations of Syria’s use of chemical weapons could be used as a pretext to intervention – Assad

In an exclusive interview for the Argentinian newspaper Clarín, shared with the Observer, Bashar al-Assad says he welcomes attempts at dialogue, but believes that western states are looking for ways to fuel the violence, rather than stop it, and are seeking to topple his regime regardless of the toll.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks to Argentinian newspaper Clarin about the ongoing civil war in Syria.

Christof Lehmann – UN General Assembly Resolution on Syria demonstrates why the UN Should be Abolished

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a highly politicized, non-binding draft resolution on Syria. The resolution contradicts the reality on the ground and the political reality pertaining Syria, contradicts the purpose and Charter of the United Nations, endorses international, state-sponsored terrorism, and obstructs a political solution to end the war on Syria.
The success of the resolution lies in the fact that it is one of the clearest yet demonstrations of the depth of the systemic crisis of the United Nations, for the fact that the United Nations has turned into an instrument of neo-colonialism and imperialism, and that human rights advocates, peace advocates, advocates for international law and justice and progressives, such as the International Progressive Organization are seriously mistaken if they suggest, that it would be safe to salvage and reform the United Nations.
The UNGA resolution on Syria ought to become the basis for discussing a new approach to a global community of sovereign nations.
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I would like to end this editorial with a quote of the Russian Ambassador to NATO Alexander Grutchko who described the situation in Syria and its causes and the illegality in solving the crisis better than anyone else when he said:
“Someone here in Brussels made a most profound point by saying that if you are holding a hammer, you should not think that every emerging problem is a nail. We think the world has ample opportunity to engage in energy cooperation and to ensure energy security without making use of military-political organizations as an instrument”.

Franklin Lamb – UN General Assembly Vote Reflects Shift In Syrian Public Opinion

Over the past four or five months it has become increasingly clear that public opinion in Syria is shifting for reasons that include, but are not limited to the following:
While inflation at the grocery stores in probably the most common complaint heard from a cross-section of society here, the population is adapting somewhat to higher prices and it appears to credit the government for efforts, some successful, to soften the impact of the illegal US-led sanctions that target this same Syrian population for purely political reasons to achieve regime change.
While Syrians demand dignity and freedom from oppressive security forces and an end to corruption, as all people do in this region and beyond, they are witnessing a return to near normalcy with respect to supplies of electricity, benzene, mazout fuel oil, bus schedules, schools, and a host of public services such as garbage collection, street sweeping, park maintenance, and sympathetic traffic cops who are rather understanding of short-cuts taken by drivers and pedestrians due to “the situation”.
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As noted above, this trend has accelerated since the UN General Assembly vote with last weeks which did not go as planned on the biased and politicized non-binding draft resolution on Syria.
The public reaction in Syria and across the Middle East is substantially that the “Friends of Syria” non-binding GA resolution contradicts the reality on the ground, backs terrorism in Syria and hinders the international efforts to help achieve a political solution to the crisis in this country. Only 107 states voted in favor of the resolution, 12 against while 59 countries, mostly from Africa and Latin America, abstained from voting.
One reason the vote fell short of the 130 favorable votes that the basically same resolution garnered the past two times is that it is widely viewed as ignoring the crimes and atrocities committed by the armed jihadist groups in Syria and the flow of thousands of international terrorists backed by the West, the Gulf states and Turkey who provide them with weapons and money. According to the Russian delegate, backed by several other speakers, “the resolutions ignores all the terrorists’ heinous crimes and denounces what it called the escalation of the attacks by the Syrian government”.
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After Qatar’s ambassador spoke in favor of the resolution his country drafted (and re-drafted several time), Ja’afari revealed that there existed an e-mail, from the representative of the Syrian opposition given to Syria’s embassy in Qatar, showing Qatar’s involvement in the kidnapping of UN peacekeepers by the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade. He read out a phone number from the e-mail as several Gulf diplomats grimaced or scowled, and three left the Chamber.
Visibly stunned, the UK Permanent Representative Lyall Grant called the whole matter “deeply confusing”. Another Permanent Representative, from a militia contributing country, said that if true, it’s “very problematic.” The reasons include the fact that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had just thanked Qatar for its roles in the release of the UN Peacekeepers the earlier kidnapping of whom the Qatari government may have planned, paid for and executed.
Meanwhile, Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson Martin Nesirky said he would not disclose any more about the “negotiations to free the peacekeepers or who was behind the crime.”
Score a major diplomatic victory for Syria’s UN Ambassador al-Jaafari as public opinion shifts in favor of the Assad government and both pressure as well as optimism build in the run-up to the Geneva II conference being organized by the White House and the Kremlin.

Video 25 min – Bashar al Jaafari reveals: ”Qatar implicated in UNDOF kidnappings” – May 16. 2013 (en översättarröst kommer igång efter 2 min, men jag tycker att det är svårt att höra)

Russia Today – Teargas v stones, bottles: Hundreds of protesters clash with Turkish police near Syrian border (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

nyhetsbanken.se – Kannibalism förklarad

‘Neo-Ottomanism driven Turkey does NATO’s job, adds fuel to Syrian fire’, Turkish police have fired gas at protesters in a town near the Syrian border – which was the scene of a deadly double car bombing a week ago… Journalist Manuel Ochsenreiter, who’s covered the Syrian crisis extensively, says Ankara’s aggravating the conflict.

17 maj

english.ruvr.ru – Syrian crisis: outcome crucial for the whole world

The only way to end the Syrian crisis is a negotiated political solution and the Geneva-2 international conference gives a perfect ground for such talks. The Syrian issue topped the agenda of a meeting between Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the Black Sea city of Sochi.

english.ruvr.ru – Putin, Cameron discuss results of Syria talks in a phone call – Putin’s spokesman

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and British PM David Cameron have discussed the results of Syria talks they had with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama respectively, Putin’s spokesman has said.
The leaders agreed to table the issue of Syrian conflict ahead of the upcoming G8 summit in the UK on 17 and 18 June, 2013.

english.ruvr.ru – Including Syria Air and ad-Dunya TV channel into US terrorist list is ”absurd” and ”stupid”

May 16, the US Department of State reported that it had included Mohammad al-Golani, Head of the Syrian organization the Al-Nusra Front that is acting on the side of the rebels, in the list of terrorists. At the same time, four officials of the Syrian government, as well as two companies – the Syria Air and the ad-Dunya TV-channel – were also included in the list of terrorists for the sake of “balance”. Geyda Abdel Latif, General Director of the Syria Air, and Husam Hassan, editor-in-chief of the news department of the Syrian ad-Dunya TV channel shared their opinion on the news with the Voice of Russia.
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And here is a commentary given to the Voice of Russia by Editor-in-chief of the news department of the Syrian ad-Dunya TV channel Husam Hassan:
The United States have always had their own notion of democracy… But to accuse us, the journalists, of terrorism – excuse me, but it is pure stupidity! What is going on after all? Several Syrian civil organizations, which are existing for dozens of years and have a respectable reputation, are included in the list of terrorists. What for? We do not blow up civilians, do not kill people allegedly in the name of freedom, as Mohammad al-Golani (Head of the Al-Nusra Front) does. So, why do they equate us with him?

Phil Greaves – The CIA, Qatar, and the Creation of Syria’s Jabhat al Nusra

A recent interview given by: an ‘anonymous’ Qatari security official, has shed further light on CIA-led covert arms shipments to militants fighting in Syria. In this Reuters article, the security official and several ‘anonymous’ rebel Commanders confirm that Qatar has “tightened coordination of arms flows [plural] to Syria,” under alleged concern of weapons ending up in the hands of Al Qaeda linked Islamic extremist militants; the very militants as noted previously, that have continually formed the spearhead of the insurgency against the Syrian Government:

zerohedge.com – Mystery Sponsor Of Weapons And Money To Syrian Mercenary ”Rebels” Revealed

The tiny gas-rich state of Qatar has spent as much as $3bn over the past two years supporting the rebellion in Syria, far exceeding any other government, but is now being nudged aside by Saudi Arabia as the prime source of arms to rebels.
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The small state with a gargantuan appetite is the biggest donor to the political opposition, providing generous refugee packages to defectors (one estimate puts it at $50,000 a year for a defector and his family) and has provided vast amounts of humanitarian support.
In September, many rebels in Syria’s Aleppo province received a one off monthly salary of $150 courtesy of Qatar. Sources close to the Qatari government say total spending has reached as much as $3bn, while rebel and diplomatic sources put the figure at $1bn at most.
For Qatar, owner of the world’s third-largest gas reserves, its intervention in Syria is part of an aggressive quest for global recognition and is merely the latest chapter in its attempt to establish itself as a major player in the region, following its backing of Libya’s rebels who overthrew Muammer Gaddafi in 2011.

Christof Lehmann – Erdogan´s White House Visit. White-Wash of War on Syria and Iraq