[MERGED] Hama Crackdown New Phase In Syrian Unrest

[south-lebanon]

It seems the syrian regime has finnaly had enough of the disordly behaviour occuring inside hama.

Early reports suggest over 100 killed so far, while syrian Tv is stateing that armed gang are shooting from rooftops.

2 Law Enforcement Members Martyred by Gunmen in Hama, Armed Groups Block Roads in Deir Ezzor

Jul 31, 2011

HAMA, DEIR EZZOR, (SANA)_Two law enforcement members were martyred by armed groups in Hama who set police stations on fire, vandalized public and private properties, set roadblocks and barricades and burned tires at the entrance of the city and in its streets.

Army units are removing the barricades and roadblocks set by the armed groups at the entrance of the city.

The Law-Enforcement Forces in Hama has confronted an attack targeting a security headquarters by the armed groups who used machineguns.

SANA was informed by residents in the city that armed groups of scores of gunmen are stationed on the rooftops of the main buildings in the streets of the city, carrying up-to-date machine guns and RPGs and shooting intensively to terrorize citizens.

Armed Groups in Deir Ezzor Block Roads, Put Barriers in City Streets

The armed terrorist groups in Deir Ezzor blocked some roads and created barriers in the city streets terrorizing people.

The terrorist groups also attacked the law-enforcement forces and police headquarters and stole some weapons and ammunitions.

The law-enforcement forces confronted these groups and exchanged fire with them. The law-enforcement forces are still pursuing these armed groups and deal with the situation there with suitable ways.

Inhabitants of Deir Ezzor expressed fear of these groups' perpetrations and stressed rejection of such acts that hurt the homeland, in general, and Deir Ezzor, in particular.

M. Ismael/Ghossoun

[JimJam]

They're trying to keep the momentum going, every time things seem to be calming down the opposition pull something out of its hat. They may be hoping that bigger confrontations will eventually will provoke a NATO or Turkish invasion. At least they've dropped every semblance of trying to get the Alawites, Druze and Shia on board since last week was the friday of Khalid bin Walid according to the opposition

[Schrodinger]

The 100 figure should not be trusted. There are many dead, but the [Edited Out]s are firing into the air, setting tyres and cars on fire everywhere. RPGs, machine guns are being weilded as well as cars with mounted heavy armor-piercing machine guns on them.

The army realises the seriousness of its mission, god protect these brave soldiers who are standing right at the face of satan himself, the zombies who are controlled by the hand that wants to plunge the world into darkness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Yxh6pwKME

[south-lebanon]

They're trying to keep the momentum going, every time things seem to be calming down the opposition pull something out of its hat. They may be hoping that bigger confrontations will eventually will provoke a NATO or Turkish invasion. At least they've dropped every semblance of trying to get the Alawites, Druze and Shia on board since last week was the friday of Khalid bin Walid according to the opposition

i dont think they will succeed in causeing a NATO intervention now looks very unlikley looking at lybia's outcome, and turkey has backed right off for now, they and Iran have their own problems on the Kurdish front with an escalation of violence.

Islamists(salafis) will never get along with secularist opposition, just look at Tunisia and Egypt, im afraid unrest is even brewing over there, last Friday's protest against military rule in egypt was boycotted by secularist, this spell goodnews for the military rulers of Egypt.

The 100 figure should not be trusted. There are many dead, but the [Edited Out]s are firing into the air, setting tyres and cars on fire everywhere. RPGs, machine guns are being weilded as well as cars with mounted heavy armor-piercing machine guns on them.

The army realises the seriousness of its mission, god protect these brave soldiers who are standing right at the face of satan himself, the zombies who are controlled by the hand that wants to plunge the world into darkness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Yxh6pwKME

Exactly, there is much at stake now for Syria and the entire region, It is no secret now the opposition of Bsahar al Assad are pro Israeli and it is all in the hands of the Syrian army and their supporters to either end this now or provoke a much greater greater suffering for the syrian people.

6 Army, Law Enforcement Members, Including a Colonel, Martyred by Gunmen in Hama, Deir Ezzor

Jul 31, 2011

HAMA, DEIR EZZOR, (SANA)- Six members of law enforcement forces were martyred in confrontations with armed groups in the provinces of Hama and Deir Ezzor.

Two law enforcement members were martyred by the fire of members of armed groups in Hama who set police stations on fire, vandalized public and private properties, set up roadblocks and barricades and burned tires at the entrance of the city and in its streets.

SANA was informed by the residents that armed groups of scores of gunmen were stationed on the rooftops of the main buildings in the streets of the city, carrying machine guns and RPGs and shooting intensively to terrorize citizens.

A member of law enforcement forces was martyred during confronting an attack targeting a security headquarters by the armed groups who used machineguns.

SANA correspondent said, reporting the residents of Hama city, that the armed groups were wandering the streets on motorcycles, using machine guns to impose a curfew on the citizens and setting fire to a number of public properties.

The residents told the correspondent that the groups earlier launched an attack on the Immigration and Passports Department based in al-Hader neighborhood and set a number of its cars on fire, as they also attacked the police center near intra-city bus station and burned its cars after smashing them.

A colonel, 2 army members martyred by gunmen fire in Deir Ezzor

A colonel and two army members were martyred at the hands of gunmen in Deir Ezzor province in confrontations with members of armed groups who were shooting randomly in the city's streets and setting up roadblocks.

The armed groups also attacked law-enforcement forces and emergency police station and robbed some weapons and ammunition.

The law enforcement forces confronted these armed groups and dealt with them in a suitable way leading to the death of one of those armed groups leadership member.

The army units are pursuing these groups to restore safety and security to the city.

English Bulletin

[Noah-]

Every single news outlet (mostly western) report differently on deaths... from 60 to 140... If foreign journalists are not allowed as they claim, who is reporting these figures? Salafists and Zionist agents picking up the phones and calling CNN reporting that they lost 140 men? :D

south-lebanon, it is not about NATO not wanting to intervene in Syria, they love to do so, it is about NATO members CANNOT intervene. Libya unfortunately had no friends and those who it thought were friends such as China and Russia were the first ones to vote for invention. Syria however is very different and in a very different region.

[Merdan]

the pro-israeli card is being used interestingly... i concurrently found an interestingly article:

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Jul-31/Palestinians-in-Lebanon-voice-growing-support-for-Syrian-protesters.ashx#axzz1TiRdhIOg

[Schrodinger]

After watching this video, even if the army starts using 180mm artillery I will stand by them (but they won't, because we're the good guys):

These muslim brotherhood people are rabid dogs now, put them down before they destroy the nation.

[Hussien]

And oBama is the horrified one... :o

[Schrodinger]

He is horrified that our armed forces are so strong that his [Edited Out]ty coalition of thieves and murderers cannot attack them.

That is why they use terrorism. It is a war of terrorism the wage, after all.

[Noah-]

It is really disturbing. They killed civilians (the victims don't look like army officers), call them kalb & sharmota (I believe very bad Arabic words) and dump them into the river.

I am going to repeat the same thing again that, the Syrian government needs to take care of these dogs as soon as possible. These Takfiri-Salafists showed off their wild behaviors for many years in Pakistan, in Iraq and elsewhere, no reason to wait and see or deal with them. They are enemies of Muslims, they are murderers by blood, they are tribalist people who think as the people of the times of jahilya and who are easily bought by the Zionists... No one should live under their rules or tolerate their presence.

[Merdan]

SuriComrade, the person who posted the above video says, "it was said that 60% of people supported Basha'ar (but not necessarily the government). When reforms are complete, we will see what the support is like."...

but what has become different now? people have been waiting for a decade, what gives people faith in him now after all this time?

also, what is the detention policy in syria?... are forces allowed to pick anyone up and keep them for however long?

[Schrodinger]

Merdan this kind of comment:

people have been waiting for a decade

Is not constructive and is specifically what the [Edited Out]s want you to say. Are you Syrian? No? Then please, don't try to fan the flames. A lot has already changed, people speak freely. HELL, people are throwing rocks around and saying terrible things and police just watch.

So don't give me this BULL SH*T.

Detention policy is 3 days maximum, 27 days extension without charge.

[Merdan]

Merdan this kind of comment:

Is not constructive and is specifically what the [Edited Out]s want you to say. Are you Syrian? No? Then please, don't try to fan the flames. A lot has already changed, people speak freely. HELL, people are throwing rocks around and saying terrible things and police just watch.

So don't give me this BULL SH*T.

Detention policy is 3 days maximum, 27 days extension without charge.

"don't try to fan the flames"? i asked a simple question.... is it not true that most if not all syrians like suricomrade were expecting some kind of social reforms with bashar assuming leadership? if things did change [i mean a lot of things did change], we wouldn't see bashar supporters saying they still would support reform, right?

"So don't give me this BULL SH*T".... ???

So, people can be held for a month without charge, just based on suspicion. okay.

Edited August 1, 2011 by Merdan

[Basra]

The Syrian people will defeat this Western/Zionist imperialist conspiracy against their nation and these Wahhabi terrorists massacring the Syrian people will be stopped by the people's government, insha'Allah. The CIA and Zionist "Israeli" Mossad supported Wahhabi terrorists in the so-called "Ikhwan" or alleged "Muslim Brotherhood" (that was created by colonialist British intelligence in Egypt in the 1920s) will be defeated, insha'Allah. The so-called "Ikhwan" terrorists are nothing but a den of evildoers and servants of the Western and Zionist "Israeli" imperialist powers, the evil Dajjal and the evil Sufyani who will both emerge one day and who will thankfully both be defeated by the blessed Imam al-Mahdi (as) May Allah(SWT) Hasten his Reappearance. These misnamed alleged "Ikhwan" people and terrorists are truly the followers of Yazid ibn Muwaiyah(la), they must be stopped as they hate the pure Ahl al-Bayt (as) and are out to oppress and massacre all who love them and refuse to bow before the Wahhabi terrorists (with their Western/Zionist backers).

Edited August 1, 2011 by Basra

[Schrodinger]

Basra, indeed, they will be defeated here. This is their last stand and the devil brotherhood will have no where to go.

So, people can be held for a month without charge, just based on suspicion. okay.

In some European countries it is 60 days. 27 days needs a judge warrant, though what they usually do is arrested them again once they have evidence.

As for my tone, I'm sorry, but we're really sick of hearing the same rhetoric for 5 month.

Edited August 1, 2011 by Schrodinger

[south-lebanon]

the pro-israeli card is being used interestingly... i concurrently found an interestingly article:

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Jul-31/Palestinians-in-Lebanon-voice-growing-support-for-Syrian-protesters.ashx#axzz1TiRdhIOg

a pathetic article full of lies, Israel is clearly backing the trouble makers, they even made it public last Tuesday that they support the overthrow of Bashar alasad, they've choosen to show their support because they are now certain their plot is doomed to fail and Bashar will survive.

this is a great article exposing them lies,

Israel inherits the Arab Spring

By M K Bhadrakumar

After having cautiously lingered in the shade for almost eight months figuring out the meaning and dangers of the Arab Spring, Israel suddenly stirred itself on Tuesday. In an unprecedented move, Israeli President Shimon Peres called in the Arab media for a press conference and made the announcement that Israel backed regime change in Damascus.

Up to this moment, Israel had taken elaborate care not to identify with the Arab Spring. It preferred to concentrate more on the aftermath of the regime changes than on promoting the revolutionaries in the barricades. In the case of Syria, Israel was even suspected to be secretly rooting for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, seeing him as standing between Israel and the deluge of a Muslim Brotherhood takeover.

On Tuesday, Peres dispelled the strategic ambiguity at one stroke. "Assad must go. The sooner he will leave, the better it will be for his people," Peres said. The Israeli president hailed the Syrian protesters, declaring, "It is easy [for Syrians] to go out and demonstrate, but when they [syrian army] shoot you? It is amazing. Their courage and firm stance are honorable."

Peres insisted that regime change in Damascus would be in the interests of Arab-Israeli peace. He exuded confidence that a successor regime in Damascus would conclude a peace treaty with Israel - "Those who seek peace will prevail."

This is a path-breaking performance. Why has Israel chosen to shed its strategic ambiguity over Syria? Israel, after all, knows only too well that a regime change anywhere in the Arab world in today's conditions can only work against its interests. Egypt is a typical case where if and when the interim rulers hand over power to an elected government, it will have to factor in the strong popular wish for a foreign policy that distances the country from the United States and Israel.

A big majority of Egyptians will demand that their government should back off from any form of close cooperation with Israel on economic and security issues. Israel is watching with trepidation the prospect of a thaw in Egypt-Iran ties. Israel's military intelligence chief Major General Aviv Kochavi made a stunning statement recently that Iran was secretly funding Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. In short, Israel cannot afford to be sanguine about the outcome of regime change in Syria.

Peres apparently had other calculations. What emerges is that Israel has made a cold-blooded assessment that regime change in Damascus is not in the cards. Patrick Seal, well-known author and Arabist, summed up last week: "The situation has not reached a critical mass. Damascus hasn't risen, the security services haven't split yet, the economy hasn't collapsed. The regime looks weak and the opposition looks weaker. The more blood is spilt the more difficult it is to find a solution. There has to be a negotiated solution of sorts. If there is no solution there will be a civil war."

Equally, Israel would be disheartened that there is no sign of concerted international action, as happened on Libya. If anything, the bruises and humiliations they are taking from Muammar Gaddafi in the Libyan war would only make the Western powers even more circumspect about the wisdom of opening a Syrian front anytime soon.

The BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - along with Lebanon have smothered Western moves to even hold a discussion in the United Nations Security Council over Syria. The recent visit to Damascus by Arab League secretary general Nabil Elaraby showed that the regional wind is changing in favor of Assad.

Turkey snubs Israel, again

For a while in the most recent period, Israel pinned hopes on the revival of its moribund security ties with Turkey and on mounting a pincer move in the downstream against Syria from the north and the south. Things were indeed looking good in recent weeks for a normalization of Israel-Turkey relations as the diplomats of the two countries worked hard to get over the bitter legacy of the Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound aid convoy from Istanbul last year that killed nine Turkish citizens.

However, it now transpires that Ankara doggedly sticks to the insistence of a formal Israeli apology, which is not forthcoming as it is tantamount to indicting the Israeli army. The Turks are now threatening that they will punish Israel.

"The ball is in the Israeli court. If it decides to apologize, then everything is fine. If not, then we will have to resort to Plan B," a senior Turkish official told Agence France-Presse. He added that Turkey was contemplating moves to bring legal action against the Israeli commandos who staged the attack on the aid convoy and could also "further downgrade its diplomatic representation and withhold agreement when Israel wants to name a new envoy to Ankara".

The Turkish Foreign Ministry came out with a statement criticizing the latest Israeli move to create new settlements on Palestinian land.

Earlier, on Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while addressing a conference of Palestinian envoys in Istanbul, said in the presence of Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas: "Unless we receive an official apology for the nine Turkish citizens killed, until the families of those victims are compensated and until the blockade of Gaza is lifted, relations between our countries [Turkey and Israel] will not normalize." He threatened to visit Gaza.

Ankara would know these are humiliating demands, which even if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might want to ponder over in a spirit of realpolitik or pragmatism, Israeli public opinion won't allow it. It is possible to discern that the Turks may just be deliberately making things very difficult for Israel to patch up the broken ties. The Turks seem to have suddenly lost the ardor for a "normalization" with Israel at the present juncture, which the Americans have been encouraging.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Turkey 10 days ago and made flattering remarks about the country's larger destiny as the leader of the Middle East. The new head of the US Central Intelligence Agency, David Petraeus, made Istanbul his first port of call after leaving his command in Afghanistan. It all but seemed Turkey would bite the tantalizing proposition to act as the beachhead for a concerted intervention in Syria.

But, Ankara carefully weighed the advantages of becoming the instigator of regime change in Damascus and seems to have arrived at the conclusion that the dangers to its own territorial integrity far outweigh whatever geopolitical advantages Washington promises. Simply put, it doesn't suit Turkey to be seen holding the Israeli hand right now. Thus, Israeli hopes of breaking out of regional isolation by reinventing an axis with Turkey over Syria are dissipating.

The clincher for Ankara is that the Syrian developments are taking a dangerous turn toward a full-fledged, no-holds-barred, Lebanon-like religious war in the 1980s, which will be a dreadful thing to happen in its backyard.

The sequence of events triggered by the gruesome killing of three families from the Alawi tribe by Salafi extremists in the city of Homs close to the Turkish border testifies to the grave consequences of the danger of derailment of the democracy movement in Syria, which Ankara has been sponsoring in recent months.

A wave of anti-Salafi resentment is sweeping over the region among Shi'ites and Alawis. The backlash is rekindling dormant religious and sectarian passions. Ankara can sense that Salafi extremists, many of them al-Qaeda affiliates and battle-hardened veterans from the Iraq war, have infiltrated the demonstrations.

If a Lebanon-like civil war erupts in Syria, it will be a matter of time before Turkey too catches fire. The Shi'ites and Alawis in Turkey (who form close to 20% of the population) will instinctively get involved in the Syrian maelstrom. Alawi-Salafi tensions are lurking just below the surface in Turkish society.

The Alawi groups in Turkey have formed an umbrella organization known as the Alawi-Bektashi Foundation, which regularly brings out reports to sensitize the world community on the alleged "rights violations targeting Alawis on the basis of inequality and discrimination" and "hate crimes" by Salafi elements associated with the Fetullah Gulen community.

The latest Alawi report titled "The Alawis as Target of the Community" details that the Gulen community of Salafis in Turkey is waging "black propaganda against the Alawis" to the effect that Alawis have "taken over the judiciary and the military; in Turkey there is a sectarian secularism; an Alawi elite is allowed to rule the Sunni masses", et al.

Kurdish backlash

But what Turkey must really guard against is the near-certain Kurdish backlash of which the signs are already appearing. Turkey's support for the Syrian opposition has already brought about some proximity between the Kurds and Damascus.

Pressed against the wall, Damascus can retaliate against Turkish interference by granting Syrian citizenship to the Kurdish settlers in northeastern Syria, especially Qamishli, which will inevitably pose serious headaches for Ankara in the long term.

Clearly, the Kurdish parties are dissociating from the Salafis in northern Syria and are signaling their willingness to work with the Syrian regime. There is some talk that if the situation deteriorates, Damascus may be left with no option but to arm the Kurdish groups to counter the Salafis.

In sum, Ankara needs to be wary that it is skating on thin ice by pushing the Syrian regime to a point of no return. The plain truth is that the Kurds will invariably take an opposing stand to the approach that Ankara adopts. Abudllah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey, lived for many years in exile in Syria.

Turkish interference in Syria has prompted prominent Kurdish leaders Jalal Talabani (Iraq's president) and Massoud Barzani (Kurdistan Region president) to voice support for Damascus. (Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has also expressed solidarity with the Syrian regime by signing an agreement for the supply of 150,000 barrels of oil to Syria.)

Again, it was a historic victory of Turkey's "coercive diplomacy" that in 1998, Ankara amassed troops on the Syrian border threatening to invade and succeeded in literally brow-beating Damascus into agreeing to "demilitarize" the border regions with Turkey - and to expel Ocalan.

Now, against the backdrop of Turkish interference in the current situation, Damascus has dispatched its special forces to the Turkish border region after a gap of 13 years.

On top of this, Damascus chose to dispatch to the border the Fifteenth Division of its army, which is predominantly manned by Sunnis and is under the command of Sunni Syrian officers - rubbishing Ankara's facile assumption that the Syrian army's Sunni officers are about to desert the regime.

On the whole, Israel has rightly assessed that the Turks are beginning to get the Syrian message and are preparing to pipe down.

Ankara is winding down anti-Syria rhetoric and is gradually reviving its old platform of "zero problems" with its tough neighbors.

The irony is that Ankara is also compelled to revive the bonhomie with Iran and launch a concerted military offensive against Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq following the killing of 13 Turkish troops on July 14 in Diyarbakir province in eastern Turkey.

In a masterly move with impeccable timing, the Iranian army began operations on July 16 against Kurdish rebels in the Kandil mountains in northern Iraq. In a parallel move, the Turkish military also since began an operation in the Iraqi territory bordering Hakkari province in eastern Turkey.

Ankara is putting on a brave face and claiming that the Iranian and Turkish operations are not coordinated. That may be so in a formal sense. Tehran is not disputing the Turkish claim, either. But the Israelis are a smart lot and can sense perfectly well what is going on - that someone is jogging Turkey's memory that it still has an unfinished Kurdish problem of its own to prioritize, where it has a commonality of interests with Syria, Iraq and Iran.

Evidently, Israel has concluded that the Syrian-Iranian axis is very much intact despite the immense pressure from Saudi Arabia on Assad to break up with Tehran; the Syrian regime is nowhere near collapse despite the concerted pressure by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France and the US; and, Qatar, which among all Persian Gulf Arab states is always quickest on the uptake, anticipates that an Arab Spring in Syria is going to be a tough call, far tougher than Libya, and Doha shouldn't aspire to punch so absurdly far above its light weight.

Incidentally, Qatar has shut down its embassy in Damascus and pulled out following the attacks on the American and French embassies and the al-Jazeera office in the Syrian capital. Most important, Israel estimates that Turkey has begun gradually backtracking from the path of interference in Syria.

All in all, the specter that haunts Israel is that if the turmoil in Syria abates, the attention of the international community will inevitably revert to the Palestine issue. Abbas is reiterating his intention to seek UN recognition for Palestine at the forthcoming general assembly session in New York in September.

Peres' stirring call is a clever attempt to stoke the fires in Syria. There would be nothing like it if a Lebanon-like civil war erupted in the golden triangle and Arabs, Kurds and Turks slaughtered one another.

At no point since the Arab Spring appeared on the Maghreb last December and took away the life of a street vendor in Tunis, could one have foreseen that the day would arrive when Israel became its standard-bearer in the Levant. The Middle East never ceases to throw up surprises.

Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. His assignments included the Soviet Union, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Turkey.

[south-lebanon]

Every single news outlet (mostly western) report differently on deaths... from 60 to 140... If foreign journalists are not allowed as they claim, who is reporting these figures? Salafists and Zionist agents picking up the phones and calling CNN reporting that they lost 140 men? :D

south-lebanon, it is not about NATO not wanting to intervene in Syria, they love to do so, it is about NATO members CANNOT intervene. Libya unfortunately had no friends and those who it thought were friends such as China and Russia were the first ones to vote for invention. Syria however is very different and in a very different region.

Believe me if NATO hit Syria it would be hell on earth in the region, and i believe NATO realise this, and thats putting aside NATO'S internal issues about who's paying for what.

After watching this video, even if the army starts using 180mm artillery I will stand by them (but they won't, because we're the good guys):

These muslim brotherhood people are rabid dogs now, put them down before they destroy the nation.

rabid dogs are more dignified than that, truely a disgusting video, this is the same thing they did in Iraq, Syrian military must quickly extinguish this spotfire before in engulfs the country, remember the arabs are funny people, i believe many of them still do consider savages like zarqawi and osama binladen as honarable jihadist.

[Schrodinger]

Arabs are pure trash. I am not Arab, neither are any Syrians or Lebanese people.

We should change our language, our lettering system, completely isolate ourselves from these barbaric people.

I hope one day, they make the mistake of provoking Iran, so that their entire region is turned to ash.

[Merdan]

a pathetic article full of lies, Israel is clearly backing the trouble makers

first of all, it's not lies, the kid from sabra was gunned down. and it is also a fact that the west's plan was woo syria to their corner, as that was the "re-engagment" of "improving ties" between syria and the us was green-lighted by israel... that's why the west and israel remained kind of silent since march... shimon peres only declared that when? last week? looks like their plan of re-engagement is not going to work out... for so many months the arabs didn't say anything, and the u.s. and israel didn't either. also, there is no doubt at the level of hatred being sowed in your country by sectarianism... aren't the sunnis up and tripoli protesting and the shias in the south are protesting for?.. this is flaring up tensions everywhere, and the palestinians are coming around to sympathize the opposition that's what the article was saying.... a month ago or so, anti bath palestinians were gunned down causing an uproar. nobody from the outside would have anything to take advantage off, if it wasn't for the syrian government themselves.

"Turkey snubs Israel, again

turkey's fm said sunday's attacks were unacceptable.

"If a Lebanon-like civil war erupts in Syria, it will be a matter of time before Turkey too catches fire.

lebanon would catch on fire too, wouldn't you agree?

"Clearly, the Kurdish parties are dissociating from the Salafis in northern Syria and are signaling their willingness to work with the Syrian regime.

the kurds have been slow to enter to the demonstrations. you know why? because they're smart.. actually syrian kords are determined to be syrians, i.e. they want to be a part of syria generally.... they knew that if they came out very early, it might have been perceived that they want to separate... actually, the reason why they boycotted the istanbul meetings was that it was under syrian arab republic, not syrian republic, if anything, they're skeptical of pan-arabism. they want a united syria.. and the bath regime has been aloof to their concerns and have given them empty promises.. that's why for the last month you've been seeing big demonstrations (enough for the army to use weapons on them) in Qamishli, Hassake, Amouda, etc.

The plain truth is that the Kurds will invariably take an opposing stand to the approach that Ankara adopts.

does the author know anything about kords? and specifically syrian kords? syrian kurds want a better life in syria for kurds, if turkey takes that same position, it can develop good will that will help turkey's own kurdish question, much like how it's goodwill with iraqi kurdistan has eased things through the last 6-7 years.

"Turks are beginning to get the Syrian message and are preparing to pipe down

comments made by turkey's fm a couple days ago show that is not the case neccessarily

The Middle East never ceases to throw up surprises.

i'll give the author that...

Edited August 1, 2011 by Merdan

[Schrodinger]

first of all, it's not lies, the kid from sabra was gunned down

"Lie and lie and lie until you believe your own lies"

Really have we not heard enough baby incubator stories?

Turkey is going to be wiped off the face off the Earth, god willing, the mongol scourge will finally be erased by God's armies, Syria, Iran and Russia.

Edited August 1, 2011 by Schrodinger

[Schrodinger]

"áÇÊÒÇá ØÇÆÝÉ ãä ÃãÊí ÙÇåÑíä Úáì ÇáÍÞ áÇíÖÑåã ãä ÎÐáåã ÍÊì íÃÊí ÃãÑ Çááå¡ æåã ÈÇáÔÇã"

That day might be closer than ever.

[south-lebanon]

first of all, it's not lies, the kid from sabra was gunned down. and it is also a fact that the west's plan was woo syria to their corner, as that was the "re-engagment" of "improving ties" between syria and the us was green-lighted by israel... that's why the west and israel remained kind of silent since march... shimon peres only declared that when? last week? looks like their plan of re-engagement is not going to work out... for so many months the arabs didn't say anything, and the u.s. and israel didn't either. also, there is no doubt at the level of hatred being sowed in your country by sectarianism... aren't the sunnis up and tripoli protesting and the shias in the south are protesting for?.. this is flaring up tensions everywhere, and the palestinians are coming around to sympathize the opposition that's what the article was saying.... a month ago or so, anti bath palestinians were gunned down causing an uproar. nobody from the outside would have anything to take advantage off, if it wasn't for the syrian government themselves.

im not denying that the kid was gunned down, what i deny is that the death of the kid will be the catalyst of palestinian rift with assad, not that palestinians in Lebanon are strangers to stupidity and anti Baath palestinians have existed for many years in Lebanon, at 1 stage in the Lebanese civil war the pro and anti alasaad palestinians fought 1 another forceing yasser arafat to abandon his attempt his return to Lebanon.

turkey's fm said sunday's attacks were unacceptable.

major backdown compared to 2 months ago

lebanon would catch on fire too, wouldn't you agree?

Lebanon would certainly catch fire, thas why im hopeing for a quick end to this, otherwise it will be unimaginable how ugly this can spiral.

the kurds have been slow to enter to the demonstrations. you know why? because they're smart.. actually syrian kords are determined to be syrians, i.e. they want to be a part of syria generally.... they knew that if they came out very early, it might have been perceived that they want to separate... actually, the reason why they boycotted the istanbul meetings was that it was under syrian arab republic, not syrian republic, if anything, they're skeptical of pan-arabism. they want a united syria.. and the bath regime has been aloof to their concerns and have given them empty promises.. that's why for the last month you've been seeing big demonstrations (enough for the army to use weapons on them) in Qamishli, Hassake, Amouda, etc.

I totaly disagree the kurds are not entering because they distrust the salafis more, they would much prefer alasaad rather then saudi affiliated regime, plus iraqi kurds like jala talabani and barzani are supporters of alassad, i believe the Syrian kurds are sencing an opportunity to mend bridges with alasaad and gain stronger rights, something Turkey iss frieghtened of.

does the author know anything about kords? and specifically syrian kords? syrian kurds want a better life in syria for kurds, if turkey takes that same position, it can develop good will that will help turkey's own kurdish question, much like how it's goodwill with iraqi kurdistan has eased things through the last 6-7 years.

not a chance, Turkey has most to loose out of any country in the case of good relations with kurds, ever looked at a map of kurdistan, any Turkish goodwill to the kurds is 1 step closer to the realisation to the establishment of a kurdish state which will tear Turkey apart. look at the population 11.4 million Kurds living in Turkey , and only 1.4 million in Syria. The kurds pose a far greater threat to Turkey then they do to Syria, this is why they are to scared to confront Syrian regime, making Syrian kurds stronger will spread a larger problem to their country.

comments made by turkey's fm a couple days ago show that is not the case neccessarily

Turkey threatened war 2 months ago, now he is only condeming Syria, seems like a major backdown to me.

Edited August 1, 2011 by south-lebanon

[Schrodinger]

They still want war, they had to reshuffle their military heads. Don't worry, they're driving themselves into suicide, but unfortunately we will all pay as a result, because the end goal from this entire episode is to spark world war 3. There's no way these little ragtag RPG/gun-weilding [Edited Out]s can threaten Syria's military.

[Schrodinger]

By the way, that video of the body dumping was taken in Hama.

[Hussien]

It is really disturbing. They killed civilians (the victims don't look like army officers), call them kalb & sharmota (I believe very bad Arabic words) and dump them into the river.

I doubt that they are civilians... maybe undercover officers... who knows? But thats all besides the point. You cant commit such horrific act and still expect to be called human no matter who your opponents are or how highly you disagree with them. Its 2011 and not the year 2.

They still want war, they had to reshuffle their military heads. Don't worry, they're driving themselves into suicide, but unfortunately we will all pay as a result, because the end goal from this entire episode is to spark world war 3. There's no way these little ragtag RPG/gun-weilding [Edited Out]s can threaten Syria's military.

I dont know what happened to Turkish leadership. I had pinned high hopes on them....... all of a sudden they turned all ugly.

[Schrodinger]

It was a high level deception, the Turkish leadership.

[Merdan]

not a chance, Turkey has most to loose out of any country in the case of good relations with kurds, ever looked at a map of kurdistan, any Turkish goodwill to the kurds is 1 step closer to the realisation to the establishment of a kurdish state which will tear Turkey apart. look at the population 11.4 million Kurds living in Turkey , and only 1.4 million in Syria. The kurds pose a far greater threat to Turkey then they do to Syria, this is why they are to scared to confront Syrian regime, making Syrian kurds stronger will spread a larger problem to their country.

... that's soo interesting, you're thinking exactly like an ultra nationalistic turk... this kind of "they're our worst enemy" is not approach taken by the akp, unlike what we saw last couple of decades (but yeah, not everything is perfect if you read the news).. but akp is a business party, they are the biggest partner to.. iraqi kurdistan.... but the main point, it's not fair to say syrian kords have exactly the same visions as turkey's kords or even irani kords or even the same within the each group... if you look at "separation sympathies".. you're not going to much if at all any from syria kords. syrian kords, stronger? they don't have much to begin with.

also, being worried of syrian military incrusion into one's territory doesn't constitute threatening war, would you agree? i mean if i remember, today's zaman reported that there wasn't a chance of incurrision into syrian territory but the events had become worrisome.

bashar and recep were chums, business partners.. turkey had already all but lost their investment activity in libya..... they were literally calling bashar and pleading for him too stop. this is no doubt bad for business...

but now, what happened? let's be honest, the west and turkey.. bet on syria.. so, it's interesting to see backlash against turkey now.

Edited August 1, 2011 by Merdan

[Schrodinger]

but now, what happened? let's be honest, the west and turkey.. bet on syria.. so, it's interesting to see backlash against turkey now.

LMAO

http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/251912

[Merdan]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

where's the actual arab and french documents please?

[south-lebanon]

... that's soo interesting, you're thinking exactly like an ultra nationalistic turk... this kind of "they're our worst enemy" is not approach taken by the akp, unlike what we saw last couple of decades (but yeah, not everything is perfect if you read the news).. but akp is a business party, they are the biggest partner to.. iraqi kurdistan.... but the main point, it's not fair to say syrian kords have exactly the same visions as turkey's kords or even irani kords or even the same within the each group... if you look at "separation sympathies".. you're not going to much if at all any from syria kords. syrian kords, stronger? they don't have much to begin with.

also, being worried of syrian military incrusion into one's territory doesn't constitute threatening war, would you agree? i mean if i remember, today's zaman reported that there wasn't a chance of incurrision into syrian territory but the events had become worrisome.

bashar and recep were chums, business partners.. turkey had already all but lost their investment activity in libya..... they were literally calling bashar and pleading for him too stop. this is no doubt bad for business...

but now, what happened? let's be honest, the west and turkey.. bet on syria.. so, it's interesting to see backlash against turkey now.

i dont know nothing about ultra nationlist turks, im only thinking logicaly, for you to say the intrest of Turkish kurds and Syrian Kurds are not the identical, may only be slightly true, but their aspirations are the same, why would you think that the empowerment of kurds in Syria as haveing no effect on the kurds in turkey when the whole Arab unrest from Tunisia to Bahrain is linked to 1 person who set himself alight, tunisians and Bahrainis are totaly differnt people yet this event supposedly sparks the catlyst for domino affect revolutions right round the arab world. here were only talking about the same ethnicity who share the same borders with the same cause.Not to mention that were talking about a rival government that would be only willing to fasilitate the unrest to teach their neighbour a lesson about why not to meddle in your neighbours affairs.

I believe the turks made a mistake when they provoked Syria and now everyone knows their bark is bigger than their bite.

[south-lebanon]

This is for all those who think we live in a dreamworld;

former pentagon official admits unrest is being cultivated from outside.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIcaPd5W6WA

[Schrodinger]

OK I'm not going to lie to you, this is going to be extremely, extremely ugly but if you want to discuss Hama with me you have to view it.

This is what the "peaceful" demonstrators do to the people they catch,

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f75_1312292145

This is the face of Salafists, below traitors, below animals, even the devil has more respect for humans than this. Hama is now a great hell than hell itself.

I'm still shaking from viewing it and it has been almost an hour, so please I advise you, stay out of our problems.

[Awaiting_for_the12th]

^^ i dont think i have heart to view it so i didnt see it

[Fink]

Schrodinger ,

You can't win a war against your own people unless you want even your closest friends to turn against you. The idea that 99% of syrians are with Assad is a joke.

[Marbles]

Schrodinger ,

You can't win a war against your own people unless you want even your closest friends to turn against you. The idea that 99% of syrians are with Assad is a joke.

+1

There are extremist militant elements among the genuine protestors whose main purpose is to create large scale mayhem, backed by Salafi forces who are probably funding them. But to lump all protests as a function of extremist Salafist agitation is just plain dishonest and denying the obvious. While Assad may have the support of the majority of people (we never know as there have been no elections for decades), the fact is that there is a large section of Syrian population which is fed up of Baathist rule of the dad and the son.

All of these kids who are obsessed with defending Assad and his policies should look into the mirror. They were at the front ridiculing Mubarak, Ben Ali and Saleh when people in those countries came on the streets to protest. But look at them hiding behind convoluted rationale to keep supporting Assad, who is another dictator of the same league, save that, by some arrangement of fate, he is "our" boy.

It reminds me of an ex-US presidential aide who once remarked about Mubarak: He said: "Mubarak is a SOB but he is 'our' SOB".

Indeed. . .

Edited August 2, 2011 by Marbles