As the Assads and
their militias continue to kill with impunity, irrespective of the presence of UN
monitors, it’s about time world leaders began consulting their own conscience for
guidance on what needs to be done. For now, their inaction speaks louder than
their words of support and condemnation. Moral support is greatly appreciated
when it comes from a former President, but for those currently in office, only their
actions carry any meaning.
Wednesday May 16, 2012
Death toll: 35
including 20 in Shammas Neighborhood in Homs City. Meanwhile, the pounding of
the nearby town of Rastan continues in preparation for an invasion expected to
take place within the next 48 hours.
On Tuesday, Assad death
squads perpetrated a massacre in the town of Khan Shaikhoon, in which 28 locals
were killed. The massacre took place even as a team of UN monitors led by
Robert Mood was in town.
Other attacks on Tuesday
left 10 dead in Homs City, 6 in Tartous, 6 in Rural Damascus, 6 in Hama, 6 in
Deir Ezzor, 2 in Daraa and 1 in Quneitrah.
News
Syria's
Assad: Nations that sow chaos will suffer (Questions:
does Bashar Al-Assad listen to his own words? Well, if did he wouldn’t accuse
Al-Qaeda if anything, because to him it does NOT
exist)
Family
wins $323 million against Iran, Syria over terrorist attack (And
guess who will end up paying for it, not to mention all of Assad’s crimes!)
Op-Eds & Special Reports
A useful study of the various Syria opposition
groups, coalitions and key independent figures by Swedish researcher Aaron
Lund.
Two massacres in the bag, another to come!
Having
executed a massacre in the town of Khan Shaikhoon in Idlib Province on
May 15, pro-Assad death squads perpetrated a new one in Shammas Neighborhood
in Homs City on May 16, and are now said to getting ready to storm Rastan
to repeat their feat on an even grander scale.
The
Khan Shaikhoon Massacre: Protester come under fire, bodies get strewn in the streets
http://youtu.be/1ICl747gjjQ Some of the
martyrs http://youtu.be/iL4cOoMlshA More
victims http://youtu.be/1EcUe4AXV2Y ,
http://youtu.be/1HI6a0uA640 People clean up and remain defiant http://youtu.be/1yS-VZnQ5Mc Shortly
after the massacre, the regime accused locals of kidnapping the monitors, but
one of them is seen here saying that this was not the case http://youtu.be/IQDky-lIYYE In response to the massacre, the local unit
of FSA attack and destroy the loyalist checkpoint responsible for the attack http://youtu.be/5kyt7PYmrQY Today, the UN monitors left the town after
spending the night under the protection of the locals http://youtu.be/lB99Uv10s6g They take
their damaged vehicle with them http://youtu.be/S_hTj25oU6Q
Shammas
Neighborhood’s Massacre: executed by pro-Assad death squads http://youtu.be/SABdgB3C85Q
, http://youtu.be/-TJaxvRGHr8
Kosovo Fallouts
The
fallouts from our trip to Kosovo, with Bashar Al-Assad himself now weighing in.
In an interview
with a Russian TV station, Assad says (below is an English translation of in
French original):
President Bashar
al-Assad confirmed reports that rebels had attended training Syrian military
camps in Kosovo.
"We have
information confirming that a Syrian opposition group traveled to Kosovo to
gain experience in the field of armed intervention in a step to bring NATO to
Syria," said the head of the Syrian state in an interview with the Rossiya
television channel 24.
Mr. Assad says that he
has obtained this information from reliable sources (probably my blog).
Regarding
my part in the affair, the report went to note that:
In late April, the
Serbian news agency, Tanjug, referred to an announcement by Syrian exiled
Syrian opposition member, Ammar Abdulhamid, that the rebels would use the
experience of the Liberation Army Kosovo (KLA) to fight the regime of Bashar
al-Assad. According to Mr. Abdulhamid, members of the opposition have promised
to recognize Kosovo's independence in case of coming to power in Damascus. Pristina
confirmed to be in contact with the Syrian opposition, but refuted allegations of
training fighters.
In related
news, Al-Hayat published the Arabic translation of Veton Surroi’s article
“Lessons from Kosovo,” here. For her part, Asharq Al-Awsat refers to the
Russian Foreign Ministry’s objections to the visit here.
But Asharq Also notes that Russia’s arms supplies to Syria continue, quoting
assertions in this regard by the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister.
President Bush: “America
does not get to choose if a freedom revolution should begin or end in the
Middle East, or elsewhere. It only gets to choose what side it is on,” he
added.
Well,
President Bush, already showed us what side he is on, I just hope President
Obama chooses the right side as well. No, not by offering meetings and words,
one looks for more from the Acting President, but by adopting more proactive approaches to
dealing with this deepening crisis, and we have already presented our own plan
in this regard, and we can help flesh out each one of the points it contains. We just
hope that the Obama’s Administration’s policy on Syria “matures”
in time to save the country, and perhaps the region.
We were
also proud to have join us via Skype Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy
activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
When Suu Kyi appeared on
the big screen above the stage, she too offered her support to Abdulhamid’s
home country. “I would like to say to the people of Syria, we are with you in
your struggle for freedom,” she said. Asked if she had a solution to the
violence in Syria that has claimed more than 12,000 lives in the last 15
months, Suu Kyi replied, “If there was an easy answer, I think Syria would be
at peace now.” But Suu Kyi said she’s hopeful about peace abroad and at home.
ABC also
noted that I have actually been invited to introduce President Bush and speak
about the situation in Syria:
Abdulhamid, founder of
the Tharwa Foundation and one of the earliest dissident voices behind the
Syrian uprising, introduced Bush today, emphasizing the importance of fearless
activism. “The price of activism could be the death of the human body. But the
price of silence could result in the death of human spirit, a far greater price
to pay,” Abdulhamid said. “All of us here today join you in hoping and praying
for the end of violence and the advance of freedom in Syria,” Bush told
Abdulhamid as he took the stage.
He singled out Syria,
where the government of President Bashar al-Assad has killed thousands to
squelch opposition. “All of us here today join you in hoping and praying for
the end of violence and the advance of freedom in Syria,” Mr. Bush told Ammar
Abdulhamid, a prominent Syrian opposition figure invited to speak at the event.
More
Coverage:
Here is a link
to my page in the Freedom Collection.
Here is a
link to the full text of my
speech.
Video Highlights
In Deir
Ezzor City, locals manage to trap a tank and turn it upside down http://youtu.be/1EcUe4AXV2Y
Towns
and suburbs across Syria come under fire at night: Kafar Batna,
Rural Damascus http://youtu.be/zdbsPqb68MM
Aleppo Road Neighborhood, Hama City http://youtu.be/KVd1e02hzvM
Daraya, Damascus http://youtu.be/FMDj7xYJ5xI
Martyrs: Daraya,
Damascus http://youtu.be/NrRD73ikPn0 Ghanto
http://youtu.be/Bw4-GxFKJrI Ma’ardis,
Hama http://youtu.be/BNPkt2zrOZw Ghuweiran,
Hassakeh (funeral) http://youtu.be/DihGSjCOUZk
Eltaman’ah, Hama http://youtu.be/zNBmcfOl8Kc
Khaldiyeh, Homs City http://youtu.be/o8DKKF3-RSM
Al-Karameh, Hama City http://youtu.be/SDChOS23SsI
Kafrenbel, Idlib http://youtu.be/mi6_7R2dLwM
Shaghour, Damascus City http://youtu.be/QpxIRFJQryE
Midan, Damascus City (funeral) http://youtu.be/-rvnZXTNAEY
Rastan, Homs Province http://youtu.be/ZDysD7Ee14I
The
pounding of Homs City continues: Hamidiyeh http://youtu.be/yF9OAcn9mN8 Jouret
Al-Shayah http://youtu.be/TKY_YKVAnQ4
The nearby
town of Al-Hosn also come under heavy pounding http://youtu.be/rUL4dsTyKIw The sporadic
pounding of Rastan continues http://youtu.be/X6_79MRN1lQ
Tanks
pound their way into Khan Shaikhoon, Idlib http://youtu.be/h1O6YJaL5FA
UN monitors
pay a visit to the town of Courine, Idlib http://youtu.be/mNIubxo5g5I Others visit
Daraa City http://youtu.be/fv62WBTg6iI
And others Al-Hraak, Daraa under the protection of the local unit of the
FSA http://youtu.be/6SNN-Do5-G0
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