Assad the Warlord!

A dismal failure as president, Assad is emerging as an accomplished warlord. After all, all it takes is a willingness to kill and destroy with an air of nonchalant.

Wednesday June 13, 2012

Death tolls: Tuesday 65. Wednesday 77 (23 in Homs, 12 in Hama, 12 in Daraa, 10 in Deir Ezzor, 9 in Idlib, 7 in Aleppo, 2 in Lattakia, 1 in Raqqah, 1 in Daamscus Suburbs).

On Tuesday, most local resistance fighters withdrew from the besieged town of Haffeh, Lattakia Province, having run out of ammunition. But the situation was still tense on Wednesday despite reports that loyalist troops and militias have retaken villages surrounding the town.

In Deir Ezzor City, war conditions continue to prevail. Clashes between the local resistance and pro-Assad militias continue http://youtu.be/sWbKDHJSiA0 But reports from local activists indicate that defections are increasing, so are and casualties among loyalists. The massacre caused by the shelling of a rally on Monday leaving over 50 dead, was “avenged” on Wednesday, when attacks by local fighters left over 60 loyalist troops dead and 17 tanks destroyed http://youtu.be/hILRWjE5fJM Loyalists, however, continue to pound the city with heavy artillery and helicopters http://youtu.be/KclXHk1TBds , http://youtu.be/pm_bVUi3p5Y .

Pounding of Rural Aleppo, Old Homs neighborhoods, Rastan, Qusayr, Talbisseh on Rural Homs, and Daraa communities, and Damascene suburbs continues. Helicopters are now taking over from tanks as the main weapons for attacking specific targets in restive communities.

News

Clinton accuses Russia of supplying Syria with attack helicopters

Copters in Syria May Not Be New, U.S. Officials Say

UN observers in Syria attacked near besieged town

Angry crowds block Syria monitors in Haffeh, shots fired

Syria conflict now a civil war, U.N. peacekeeping chief says

Situation in Syria deteriorating, ICRC says

Photojournalist Robert King tells CNN's Anderson Cooper why Syria is not in a civil war but an ethnic cleansing.

Syrian forces overrun rebellious village amid signs of more powerful weapons

Citing 'Civil War,' France to Seek U.N. Vote

Revolt threatens Assad's grip on Damascus

Syria accused of war crimes by Amnesty International

Soccer and the Syrian Revolution: Gunmen kill former Syrian FA president

Op-Eds & Special Reports

Syria firestorm proving too fierce for Annan's cooling touch

Russian Helicopters to Syria a New Political Headache for Obama

Syria's Cease-Fire of the Grave: Assad, Russia and Iran are rolling over a timid West.

Inside Syria, Amnesty International finds revenge slayings

Though rebels have also been found to have kidnapped, tortured and killed Syrians fighting for the government or backing it, the vast majority of abuses were carried out by Syrian government forces and allied militias, Amnesty International said, in a widespread and systematic campaign against civilians.

Assad’s Houla Propaganda

Accurate reporting in Syria is difficult, and has been made more so by the widespread violence. And despite the existence of legitimate data furnished by Syrian citizens, there is a cottage industry of nonsensical reports presented specifically to alter the perceptions of observers. Autocratic regimes retain their own propagandists and have a cordon of “useful idiots” disseminating the former’s data for their own reasons; Syria is no different. Damascus has its “Baghdad Bobs”; they’ve just been taken more seriously. As the West sits on its hands to see what may become of Syria, analysts must be circumspect in assessing the situation.

The cannons taking part in the pounding of Homs City http://youtu.be/0gYWKJXB5_M , http://youtu.be/AoYSyXVmLuE I have asked before and I ask again, why can’t such position be struck from the air? Why can’t this crime in action that we are all watching be stopped?

The pounding of Rastan continues http://youtu.be/M71DEESe5Ds Using heavy artillery and helicopters http://youtu.be/eP3qURsstys So does the pounding of Talbisseh http://youtu.be/V0xpLm2bNxE and the old neighborhoods in Homs City http://youtu.be/H2UghNtCgIw , http://youtu.be/9ArA_PRPYKQ , http://youtu.be/ZYleI9JWHEo , http://youtu.be/tJeT2ksIE5o , http://youtu.be/4-2EZGeBByE , http://youtu.be/6_qjMQUzj_M

Nighttime in Homs City http://youtu.be/J8R8QAVS8bw Nighttime in Rastan http://youtu.be/ZZTfqdBz6GY

Rastan: children are among the victims of pounding http://youtu.be/GFgBSjA5osk Whole families continue to be victimized http://youtu.be/X0umnLIsEwI

In Bosra Al-Sham, Daraa, helicopter take part in pounding the city http://youtu.be/MkqNs3AYCy0

Assad sings of resistance as Syria burns