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May 19, 2013
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 Dozens of Deaths Reported in Syrian ClashesPosted on Dec 20, 2011
The bloody battles between the Syrian government and its own people took a turn for the worse early this week, with reports of mass civilian and military casualties emerging Tuesday despite the ongoing ban on foreign media within Syria’s borders, according to the BBC. —KA
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By kodimirpal, January 21, 2012 at 1:00 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
We Should Never Support American Based NATO Intervention
Should the Muslim Ummah oppose and condemn foreign intervention in Syria or any Arab land? . Is it necessary to assume that all those calling for it in Syria under the current conditions are part of a Western conspiracy?.
Let us imagine a scenario that destroyed millions in Iraq and destroyed an ancient civilization by the brutal policies of the United States
The United States’ has a false self-image supporting democracy: if it can engage in promoting democracy, that’s all the better. If not, promoting dictatorship to serve its interests This is because the objective was never to create democratic regimes, but compliant ones.
Does the Ummah want to proceed from the best interests of, say, the United States’ or Israel’s foreign policy establishments and their proponents?
Downfall of authoritarianism is rational and just. ( no second thoughts on this)But we must be necessarily very suspicious when it is the likes of Cheney and Elliot Abrams behind the call for democracy.
But for the United States, Israel, some European countries, Saudi Arabia and its minions in Lebanon and the Gulf, it is the Syria-Hezbollah-Iran axis that constitutes the most formidable challenge.
An Iran-strike would also confront Turkey with a dilemma. Turkey would have to balance conflicting desires in the Middle East.
Supporting the demise of the Syrian regime by any means, including external military intervention, is extremely reckless if the objective is to save Syrian lives or set the stage for a post-regime path of self-determination.
Moreover, the external factor will reignite another local and regional struggle rather than simply end domestic authoritarian rule and pave the way for democratic development.
One can be moved by the urgency of saving Syrian lives today, but if this is the ultimate purpose, and if Syrians’ self-determination is the desired outcome, one can easily see the perils of military intervention.
As for the question of no-fly-zones that is considered the ask by many, as opposed to full scale military intervention, it has become safe to say that a no-fly zone is a code of sorts for more active military intervention in practice, as the case of Libya makes clear.
Report thisBy doughboy, December 21, 2011 at 5:59 am Link to this comment
The unfolding story that is not being reported on in the corporate media is the US
Report thiset al behind the scenes work to overthrow the Syrian government. The reports of
thousands killed by government forces and mass defections come mostly from
opponents of the regime, and are not independently verified. Even the CIA has not
accepted these stories [read Philip Giraldi’s article in The American Conservative].
Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davitoglu, has stated that his country will invade
Syria under the guise of humanitarian work when Ankara is given the “Green Light”
from the West. NATO planes are landing in Iskenderum bringing in weapons and
volunteers from Libya to attack Syria. American, British and French military
personnel are training rebels and providing communication equipment and
intelligence. American soldiers leaving Iraq have been transferred to Jordan on its
border with Syria. American naval task force is gathering within striking distance
of Syria. Our allies like Saudi Arabia and Jordan are funneling money and arms into
Syria. Given our relationship with “democracy” loving Gulf kingdoms and are
growing movement to war with Iran, the real facts about the Syrian Arab Spring
and our championship of freedom are not being seriously examined by the
mainstream media. The potential of a bloodbath that will follow the collapse of
Bashar al-Asad’s government is not a concern of Washington, London, Paris and
their followers.
By blogdog, December 21, 2011 at 2:36 am Link to this comment
Israel? ...calls for looking beyond straw-man distractions:
The Al Qaeda Insurgency in Syria: Recruiting Jihadists to Wage NATO’s
“Humanitarian Wars”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26351
by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
[...]
What triggered the crisis in Syria?
It was not the result of internal political cleavages, but rather the consequence
of a deliberate plan by the US-NATO alliance to trigger social chaos, to
discredit the Syrian government of Bashar Al Assad and ultimately destabilize
Syria as a Nation State.
Since the middle of March 2011, Islamist armed groups covertly supported by
Western and Israeli intelligence have conducted terrorist attacks on government
buildings and acts of arson.
Amply documented, trained gunmen and snipers have targeted the police, the
armed forces as well as unarmed civilians.
The objective of this armed insurrection is to trigger the response of the police
and armed forces, including the deployment of tanks and armored vehicles with
a view to eventually justifying a “humanitarian” military intervention, under
NATO’s “responsibility to protect” mandate.
The Nature of the Syrian Political System
There is certainly cause for social unrest and mass protest in Syria:
unemployment has increased in recent years, social conditions have
deteriorated, particularly since the adoption in 2006 of sweeping economic
reforms under IMF guidance. The later include austerity measures, a freeze on
wages, the deregulation of the financial system, trade reform and privatization.
(See IMF Syrian Arab Republic — IMF Article IV Consultation Mission’s
Concluding Statement,
http://www.imf.org/external/np/ms/2006/051406.htm, 2006).
Moreover, there are serious divisions within the government and the military.
The populist policy framework of the Baath party has largely been eroded. A
faction within the ruling political establishment has embraced the neoliberal
agenda. In turn, the adoption of IMF “economic medicine” has served to enrich
the ruling economic elite. Pro-US factions have also developed within the upper
echelons of the Syrian military and intelligence.
But the “pro-democracy” movement integrated by Islamists and supported by
NATO and the “international community” did not emanate from the mainstay of
Syrian civil society.
The protests largely dominated by Islamists represent a very small fraction of
Syrian public opinion. They are of a sectarian nature. They do no address the
broader issues of social inequality, civil rights and unemployment.
The majority of Syria’s population (including the opponents of the Al Assad
government) do not support the “protest movement” which is characterised by
an armed insurgency. In fact quite the opposite.
Ironically, despite its authoritarian nature, there is considerable popular support
for the government of President Bashar Al Assad, which is confirmed by the
large pro-government rallies.
[...]
Report this