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Ear to the Ground

27 Dead as Violence Escalates in Homs

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Posted on Feb 8, 2012
AP / Local Coordination Committees in Syria

A house damaged by the Syrian government’s shelling of the Baba Amr neighborhood in Homs on Wednesday.

Bashar al-Assad’s government rained more than 200 bombs on the opposition-controlled city of Homs on Wednesday, killing an unconfirmed 27 people and demolishing homes. The Russian and Chinese governments maintained their policy of nonintervention while leaders of Western and Arab nations scrambled to decide how, if at all, to get involved.

On the question of intervention, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said: “We of course condemn all violence regardless of its source, but one cannot act like an elephant in a china shop. Help them, advise them—limit, for instance, their ability to use weapons—but do not interfere under any circumstances.”

China decried criticism of its vote against a failed U.N. resolution calling for the resignation of Assad—whose regime, according to the U.N., has killed an estimated 6,200 Syrian civilians as of Feb. 5 in an effort to suppress an uprising—as “extremely irresponsible” and “totally unacceptable.” —ARK

The Guardian:

Tanks and heavy artillery were used on an unprecedented scale, according to witnesses. More than 200 rockets fell in the space of three hours on just one part of Homs, the opposition-controlled suburb of Baba Amr, residents said.

One activist, Raji, speaking from a basement inside Baba Amr, said Syrian forces were now using a heavier artillery round with devastating effect. In addition to the 27 people killed , he said many people were lying dead under the rubble of their houses. There were also reports that 18 premature babies had died in hospital after power cuts caused their incubators to fail, according to the BBC. State TV denied the reports.

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brewerstroupe's avatar

By brewerstroupe, February 9 at 11:26 am Link to this comment

Proper link:

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/independent-
report-shows-that-syrian-government-violence-has-been-
exaggerated.html

The Mission [i.e. the Arab League investigative team] noted that the Government strived to help it succeed in its task and remove any barriers that might stand in its way. The Government also facilitated meetings with all parties. No restrictions were placed on the movement of the Mission and its ability to interview Syrian citizens, both those who opposed the Government and those loyal to it…..

The Mission noted that many parties falsely reported that explosions or violence had occurred in several locations. When the observers went to those locations, they found that those reports were unfounded…..

Since it began its work, the Mission has been the target of a vicious media campaign. Some media outlets have published unfounded statements, which they attributed to the Head of the Mission. They have also grossly exaggerated events, thereby distorting the truth…..

Such contrived reports have helped to increase tensions among the Syrian people and undermined the observers’ work.

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zoskia's avatar

By zoskia, February 9 at 9:05 am Link to this comment

Three defectors described to Human Rights Watch incidents of summary executions and deaths from torture, involving 19 victims. Lieutenant-Colonel “Ghassan,” who served in the Presidential Guard, said that around August 7, he witnessed a summary execution of a detainee at a checkpoint in Douma:                                 
I was stationed at a checkpoint in the Abdul Ra’uf neighborhood in Douma. My shift was supposed to be from 4 p.m. to midnight. I arrived at 3:45 p.m. and immediately heard screams and sounds of beatings from an abandoned building near the checkpoint. I went in, and it turned out that Colonel Mohamed Saker, who had the shift at the checkpoint before me, had arrested someone from the “wanted” list. I wanted to take over right away to stop it, and said it was my shift. But Saker said, “No, be patient, we’ll deal with him first.”

  Seven soldiers were beating the man whom they had arrested. When I came, he was still alive. He was screaming, and the soldiers were swearing and laughing. It lasted for about five minutes longer, and then he died. He stopped moving, and I saw blood coming out of his mouth.

  When I took over, I informed Khadur [commander of 106th brigade of the Presidential Guard, Brigadier General Mohamed Khadur] that we had a fatality. He ordered us to leave the checkpoint and the body behind. We went back to headquarters. Somebody must have picked up the body. People saw us coming out of that building.

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By heterochromatic, February 9 at 8:21 am Link to this comment

yeah, brew, that’s right. those nice Assad guys aren’t really blowing up
neighborhoods with tanks and stuff. those are actually very sturdily constructed
ice-cream trucks cruising around.

the Arab League Report didn’t say a damn thing about the situation being
mischaracterized. that’s a load of shit.

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By Howard, February 9 at 3:32 am Link to this comment

and , yes;  AIPAC is responsible for the sun coming up in the east.
  Imagine those Syrian citizens wanting some basic human rights.  The absolute nerve of those people.

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brewerstroupe's avatar

By brewerstroupe, February 9 at 3:31 am Link to this comment

Independent Report Shows that Syrian Government
Violence Has Been Exaggerated

While the Western media act like the
Syrian government is wantonly and indiscriminately
killing its own people without provocation, an
independent investigation has found a different
reality on the ground.

Specifically, over 160 monitors from the Arab League
– comprised of both allies and mortal enemies of
Syria – toured Syria and published a report on
January 27th showing that the situation has been mischaracterized.

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By heterochromatic, February 8 at 4:13 pm Link to this comment

If only the US and the west wasn’t so horrible, the happy-go-lucky Assad clan
wouldn’t be forced to kill all the Syrian citizens who think that they should have
human rights.


Mostly I blame AIPAC….......not only for every death here but also for every
homosexual strangled to death by the Iranian government.

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