A Mediterranean Battlefield - Syria

[Lauren Johnson]

I don't look at the Arab Spring revolts as East-vs-West or imperialist-nationalist or even religious, but as young vs. old, and the young people aren't armed with guns and tanks and artillery, but cell phones and twitters.

This is not false, just incredibly reductionist.

[Adele Edisen]

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?c...&aid=32079
By Michel Chossudovsky

From Global Research.ca with photographs

Adele

[Magda Hassan]

Kurdish Popular Committees in Syria: we will shake the ground beneath Turkish Troops


July 28, 2012 10:41 AM
Breaking News - Agencies




[FONT=Arial !important]Syrian Army Units Cause Militants Huge Losses In Several Areas of Syria
Major General Al-Sha'ar: All Those Who Use Arms Against Syria Should Wake Up
Erdogan voices concern over the fate of his armed rebels in Syria
Russia will not agree to ship searches under new EU sanctions
Lavrov: West and Arabs militarized the Syrian opposition



The National Initiative of Syrian Kurds denounces the statements of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his threats of infiltrating the borders in northern Syria under the pretext of pursuing Kurdish activists affiliated with the Kurdistan Labor Party.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Initiative warned the Turkish government of any tampering with Syrian sovereignty or any military or security breach of border areas.
The statement affirmed that Turkey has been blatantly aggressive against Syria's people, state and leadership since the beginning of the Syrian crisis.
The Initiative stressed that Turkey has been providing all forms of logistic support including weapons, headquarters and equipment to the armed rebels.
Turkey has been involved in sabotage and the destabilization of security and stability in Syria, the Initiative said.
"Kurds, as an essential component of the great Syrian people, will defend Syria's northern side; turning these areas into a graveyard for the Turanian Turkish army… we will teach the neo-Slejuk-Turanian Erdogan and his criminal gangs and fascist army.
"Turkey has been carrying out genocide and massacres against more than 25 million Kurds a matter we will never forget, and we will make the ground shake beneath his invading hordes before they sully a single grain of Syria's sacred soil," the statement concluded.
[/FONT]http://www.breakingnews.sy/en/article/3501.html[FONT=Arial !important]
[/FONT]

[Lauren Johnson]

There seems to be slight turn in the western media coverage of Syria. Here in Germany the press has now more reports showing the "rebels" as what they really are: traveling jihadists and foreign paid rabble. Commentators on the news websites are now mostly highly critical about the usual propaganda pieces and the German government policy of supporting the SNC. There also seems to be a slight shift in international media.
Alex Thomson is in Syria for the British Channel 4. He put up a Q&A at his blog. Some excerpts:

What will happen in Aleppo? Probably what happened in Damascus the rebels will lose.
...
But the rebels look to be doing well on TV?
That's because they are winning the propaganda war better than the real war.
...
But why is the Syrian army shelling its own people?
You could just as easily ask why are the rebels using the Syrian people as human shields? It's a dirty civil war and the rebels sometimes choose to fight in residential areas.
...
So what do Syrians want?
Hard to tell. But for sure this is not Egypt there are no Tahrir Squares or vast protests against the regime.
There is no discernible sign in any of the big cities Homs, Aleppo and Damascus for example,that the people even wish to rise up against the regime.

On Twitter Thomson also said that there he observed no food shortage and that last weeks queues in front of gasoline stations in Damascus are now gone. For now the center certainly holds.

The Irish Times finds two Libyan born naturalized Irish guys fighting in Syria. There aim is an Islamic state:

According to Harati, who first came to Syria some 10 months ago for what he says was initially humanitarian work, the brigade emerged after Syrians approached him due to his experience as commander of the Tripoli Brigade in Libya last year. The Tripoli Brigade was one of the first rebel units into the Libyan capital last August. Liwa al-Umma is made up of more than 6,000 men, 90 per cent of whom are Syrian. The rest are mostly Libyans and other Arabs, including several who live in Ireland.

What will those "several who live in Ireland" and are now fighting Syria do once they come back home to Ireland?

The Guardian, which has since the very beginning been one of the worst propaganda outlets on Syria, is having second thoughts. Today's editorial is calling not for more war but for negotiations:

But what if Assad continues to hold on? For weeks, for months, even longer? That is why the second option, a return to diplomacy and, in particular, a new start by America and Russia in dealing with this terrible problem, cries out for consideration.

This may be a sign for a turning point in western coverage and media attitude towards the situation in Syria.
Posted by b on July 28, 2012 at 01:50 PM | Permalink

[Magda Hassan]

Foreign Office investigates reports of Britons among Islamist kidnappers of journalists in Syria[B]The Foreign Office is investigating reports that British citizens are among Islamist fighters who kidnapped a British photographer and his Dutch colleague in northern Syria.


Free Syrian Army soldiers turned up at the camp and demanded that they be released Photo: AP

Colin Freeman, Antakya

9:10PM BST 28 Jul 2012

John Cantlie and Dutchman Jeroen Oerlemans were held by the group for a week after they accidentally came across their camp while crossing the border from south east Turkey to report on the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

During their time in captivity they were threatened with death unless they converted to Islam, and both were shot and slightly wounded when they attempted to flee barefoot. They were freed on Thursday night after a group of Free Syrian Army soldiers turned up the camp and angrily demanded that they be released.

Mr Cantlie has not yet spoken of his ordeal, but Mr Oerlemans told Dutch media that some of the gang, which is reported to have been between 30 and 100 strong, had "Birmingham accents".

A source close to the incident told The Sunday Telegraph that there possibly at least six men with British-sounding voices, including one with a heavy south London accent.

"Nobody is quite sure yet how many, but these people generally travel in small groups of about half a dozen," the source said.

The camp members also reportedly included people from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Chechnya, with no Syrians present. The source added that "round 40 per cent" of them apparently spoke English, although it was not clear what nationalities they were.
The possibility of British nationals or residents being present among the group will be of concern to the Government, which has done much in recent years to try to stop British-born Asians and Arabs enlisting with foreign jihadist movements.
The reports come amid growing concern that groups of Sunni extremists and al-Qaeda factions are attempting to join the rebel movement in Syria.
Speaking to Dutch media, Mr Oerlemans said that he and Mr Cantlie spent much of their time blindfolded. He told the NRC Handelsblatt newspaper: "One of the black jihadists freaked out and shouted: 'These are journalists and now they will see we are preparing an international jihad in this place.'"
The group accused them of being spies, and considered holding them for ransom, said Mr Oerlemans. He added: "As soon as Assad has fallen, these fighters want to introduce Islamic law, Sharia, in Syria."
Mr Cantlie and Mr Jeroen, who were lightly wounded in the arm and hip respectively, are now understood to be returning home.
[/B]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...Syria.html

[Magda Hassan]

A pro-Syrian Arab diplomatic source confirmed that Turkey has received, during the past couple of hours, a strict Iranian letter warning it of "changing the game rules" in Syria.

In an interview with Syrian daily al-Watan, the Arab source said that this warning comes as a clear response to the latest threats posed by Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyeb Erdogan, claiming that his country will target Kurdish combatants inside the Syrian territories.
Also, the Ankara-based Arab diplomat, whose country's government supports the Syrian al-Assad regime, said that Ankara had been preparing, in agreement with Washington, for a military interference in the Syrian crisis; under the pretext of Kurdish population.

However, Iran drew a line for the Turkish dreams, and informed it that any attack on the Syrian territories will witness a harsh attack; as Iran might put into force the mutual defense agreement signed with Syria, the source iterated.
Furthermore, the Arab diplomat went on to say that Turkey agreed with the US that a limited military interference in North Syria, especially in Aleppo, might introduce a buffer zone to be protected by the gangs funded and armed by Turkey, in cooperation with Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

The said scenario however would be implemented only if the Syrian refugees in that area were evacuated, especially as they have become a burden on Erdogan's government; although they were supposed to be exploited to lead a UN resolution, imposing international sanctions on Syria.
http://www.english.moqawama.org/essaydet...Q.facebook

[Peter Lemkin]

Has anyone else noted that the US [as well as other nations] has the capability to produce accurate photos and intelligence as to what is REALLY going on in Syria and various battles within it - but are acting as if they get their news from the MSM......someone doesn't want us to know or see what is really going on!!! Wonder why.....

[Lauren Johnson]

Has anyone else noted that the US [as well as other nations] has the capability to produce accurate photos and intelligence as to what is REALLY going on in Syria and various battles within it - but are acting as if they get their news from the MSM......someone doesn't want us to know or see what is really going on!!! Wonder why.....

Another non-barking dog!

[Ed Jewett]

Turkey's Hatay Province, Mossad, CIA spy hub: Turkish MP

A member of Turkey's parliament says the country's Hatay Province on the border with Syria has become a hub for swarms of CIA and Mossad spies infilterating into Syria freely.


The legislator of the Republican People's Party, Refik Er-Yilmaz, said that thousands of CIA and Mossad agents are currently in the province and are moving freely in the area, Turkish media reported.

He noted that local people in the province are getting agitated over the presence of the strangers.

Turkish police remain mute spectators as the spies carry various types of identification, Er-Yimaz went on to say.

He also accused the authorities of allowing American and Israeli troopers on Turkish soil without any approval from the parliament.

Er-Yilmaz's comments came after the deputy of the Republican People's Party, Osman Faruk Logoglu, on Monday blamed Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party for fomenting the unrest in Syria.

Logoglu criticized the Turkish government for aggravating the situation by sending military forces and vehicles towards the Syrian border.

The former Turkish ambassador to the United States also criticized Turkey's foreign policy towards its neighbor, saying it has been irrational and unsuccessful.

Syria has been the scene of unrest since March 2011. The violence has claimed the lives of many people, including large numbers of security forces.

Damascus blames "outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups" for the unrest, asserting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.

AO/HN/HJL/IS

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2012/07/31...a-spy-hub/

[Magda Hassan]

*Contains Graphic Images of rebel atrocities* The truth about the campaign of terror, kidnapping and murder undertaken by the 'Free Syrian Army.

The truth about the Syrian rebels could hardly be more different to the portrayal they receive from incompetent Western politicians and media. Far from being freedom fighters and frightened civilians they are ruthless heavily armed Jihadists known to have carried out thousands of murderous atrocities and terrorist attacks.

Their objectives are completely contrary to those attributed to them by the West. Rather than seeking to bring about democracy in Syria they are attempting to create a primitive seventh century Islamist Sharia state the realisation of which involves slaughtering anyone who objects.