We don’t get reports of individual deaths anymore; it’s
always a massacre here, a massacre there, accompanied by videos of mangled
bodies and body parts, and ravaged surroundings. Mass murder and destruction in
staccato mode, quickly accelerating, continuing ad absurdum, making assertions of
common humanity seem rather meaningless if not hypocritical.
Friday August
3, 2012
Today’s Death toll: 128.
The Breakdown:
12 in Damascus City, 20 in Aleppo City, 14 in Homs City, and 14 in Deir Ezzro
Province.
Cities & Towns Under Shelling: Harasta,
Arbeen, Moadamiah, Harran Al-Awameed, Ain Terma, Zabadani, Madaya, Eltal, Dmeir,
Hameh, Yelda, Rankous, Qarrah (Damascus Suburbs), Sit Zeinab, Al-Qadam, Midan, Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, Yarmouk, Kafar
Sousseh, Mazzeh, Qaboun, Barzeh (Damascus City), Daraa City, Khirbet Al-Ghazaleh, Tafas, Bostra Al-Sham, Na’eemah,
Mseifrah, Jimreen, Hraak (Daraa), Rastan, Talbisseh, Houla, Tal Kalakh, Al-Qusayr, Al-Hosn, Al-Ghanto,
Al-Bouaydah, Old Homs (Homs Province), Hreitan, Elbab, Eizaz, Marei, Bayanoun (Aleppo
Province), Haffeh, Jabal Al-Akrad (Lattakia), Deir Ezzor City, Mouhassan, Albou Kamal (Deir
Ezzor Province), Kafar Zeiteh, Hawash,
Shahshabo, Hama City (Hama Province), Jabal Al-Zawiyeh, Ma’rrat Al-Nouman, Saraqib, Maar Shoureen,
Ariha, Kafroumah, Al-Rami, Khan Shaikhoon (Idlib).
News
U.N.
Condemns Syria's Campaign Moscow,
Damascus Blast World Body's Largely Symbolic Reprimand; Conflict Has Now
Displaced 1.5 Million, Agency Says
Op-Eds
& Special Reports
‘Crazy’
Enough to Take On Syria? Who is next in line for “mission
impossible” after Kofi Annan quit his role as international peace envoy to
Syria in the face of intractable divisions among world powers over how to end
the conflict?
Syria:
Young Fighters Prepare for Battle in Aleppo They call themselves
“the martyrs of freedom” and they tell us that they cannot wait to get in the
fight. Tonight, they are going to Aleppo, where President Bashar al-Assad said
the battle would determine the fate of Syria.
As
Conflict Continues, Assad’s Arms Under Strain With
diplomatic efforts dead and the future of Syria playing out on the battlefield,
many of the Syrian government’s most powerful weapons, including helicopter
gunships, fighter jets and tanks, are looking less potent and in some cases
like a liability for the military of President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria
banks face deposit challenge as civil war expands
Now that rebels have carried Syria's
civil war from remote villages to the capital and the commercial hub, a banking
system that survived 16 months of unrest will face its biggest test.
Syria
files reveal regime espionage Secret
files recovered in a security station in al-Bab illustrate the regime's
deep-seated culture of spying.
Bread
Is Staple As Syria Rebels Press Strategy Kamal
Hamdan, a Lebanese economist who has worked extensively in Syria, said both
sides were engaged in efforts to replace the peacetime economy with wartime
alternatives. “They are expecting a civil war that will take a long time and
you have to sustain the daily life of the areas you are controlling,” he said.
“It’s part of the game.”
Tony Badran:
The Syrian conflict’s new phase As the likelihood of
Assad reimposing his writ on all of Syria is virtually nil, at this point,
securing an Alawite redoubt and forcing a protracted stalemate represent the
best possible outcomes for the regime and its Iranian patrons. Assad might even
calculate that if he manages to hold out for a few years – and Russia’s
Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, recently expressed his belief that the
conflict could indeed last as long as the Lebanese civil war – he could expect
a negotiated settlement that takes into consideration the new facts on the
ground. From the Iranians’ perspective, both options would preserve their
foothold in Syria.
Interactive:
Tracking Syria's defections This visualisation
tracks senior military officials, members of parliament and diplomats who quit
Assad's regime.
Syrian
Activists Face Moral Toll Over Brutal Revolt Against Assad With
Kofi Annan citing the escalating Syrian violence in his resignation as U.N.
envoy, activists tell Mike Giglio they’re agonizing over their armed revolt and
the methods they’ve had to use in their revolution against Assad.
Syria conflict finds
a voice in hip-hop As the conflict in Syria rages, the
violence and chaos is finding expression among writers and musicians, including
one hip-hop act from Damascus, write Samer Mohajer and Fay Rajput in Beirut.
How
'pro-regime' Aleppo became one of Syria's biggest battlegrounds Aleppo
was long regarded as immune to the uprising sweeping the rest of Syria, but the
deaths of several students helped galvanize a dormant opposition.
Syrian
rebels ignore world's fears in struggle for Aleppo Battle
for Syrian city appears to be nearing decisive phase with reinforcements
continuing to bolster Free Syrian Army
Q&A:
What options are left in Syria? CNN's Tim Lister
weighs in on what options the United States might have, where the U.N. goes
from here and what are likely scenarios for the battle for Syria's two biggest
cities.
Whispers
of peace in Syria With the resignation of Kofi Annan as
UN peace envoy, Syrians must now find their own solution. Reports show a
'silent majority' quietly turning against Assad – and toward peace.
Syria
opposition plans for post-Assad era The Syrian National
Council is deep into organizing an alternative to the regime of President
Bashar Assad that could include those already in state institutions or even the
ruling Baath Party, a senior member of the opposition group said Friday… Basma
Kodmani: "Manaf Tlass, he has been a decent person. He has behaved in a
respectable way, and he definitely should be part of a big plan of transition
and organizing the opposition," she said. "Whether he is in a
position to play a leading role, I think that is a different story ... He needs
to part of the opposition before he can say `I will lead the opposition.'"
Syrian
Shadow Boxing In a year of diplomatic duels between
Moscow and Washington at the United Nations over Syria, is the Obama
administration actually getting what it wants?... “the bloody standoff may
portend a protracted conflict that not only harms American and Russian
interests in Syria, dealing a blow to the Obama administration's efforts to
reset relations with Moscow, but which may condemn Syrians and their neighbors
to a long and bloody war.”
Safe Zones and Summary Executions
Only through the establishment of safe zones can revenge killings and
summary executions be minimized. Towns and villages controlled by rebels at
this stage are under siege and under constant shelling by Assad’s heavy
artillery, helicopter gunships and now even MiGs. This situation is not ideal
for holding prisoners over longer periods of time, or ensuring their safety.
Rebels who can barely feed themselves and who have to continuously fight
against incursions by pro-Assad militias cannot afford to take many prisoners, yet,
they cannot just afford to let prisoners go and have to face the again in the
battlefield. Unless rebels have secure places to which they can transport
prisoners of war, their decisions in this regard will be dictated by the
prevailing chaotic and emotional conditions in the battlefield, and the
requirements of basic survival.
We have been clamoring for the establishment of safe zones in Syria for
over a year now, because such zones offer safety and security not only to
civilians running away from Assad’s oppression, but also to prisoners of war
captured by the rebels. Those who are truly concerned about decreasing
violations and infringements of basic rights should help us establish the
necessary conditions that can minimize such occurrences. By helping rebels establish
safe zones in liberated areas of Syria, international conventions regarding
treatment of prisoners of war can be respected and transitional justice
processes can begin at earnest, creating a credible alternative to warzone
justice.
By continuing to oppose the idea of safe zones, targeted airstrikes and
arming rebels, western leaders are saving themselves many headaches, but they
are not saving Syria. Eventually, rebels will force Assad out of Damascus and
Aleppo, but the two oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world will be
left in ruins, and Assad will still be there in his enclave along the coast,
and the war will still go on. Those who think they can wait
until Assad is gone and that the only thing “a coalition of the willing”
can do at this stage is to “begin preparing for the massive task of stabilizing
and rebuilding Syria once al-Assad is gone” are delusional. Assad’s designs are
clear: he intends on staying as player in the field, one way or another. Russia
and Iran are unwavering in their support of him, because so long as he remains
in charge of even a sliver of Syria, their interests are served. You can’t
rebuild an Aleppo or a Damascus once they are destroyed. And if we wait until
these scenarios begin to play out at earnest, the same experts advising
nonintervention today will have more reasons to advise the same tomorrow.
For that’s what it is all about really: Syria is another Sykes-Picot
state that many experts are already willing to consign to the dustbins of
history. What yesterday’s intervention produced, today’s nonintervention
destroys, the human cost of it all notwithstanding.
Video Highlights
These soldiers captured by rebels in Daraa Province say they were
forced into service. They hail from all parts of Syria, including Aleppo, Hama
and Damascus Suburbs, all are Sunnis: the cannon fodder for Assad’s war http://youtu.be/eeN0HLbmYxw
A smuggled video from the town of Kafrenbel, Idlib province, shows
how Assad troops use civilians as human shields, forcing them to chant
for Assad http://youtu.be/KfV1Cd2FVgQ
A local activists speaks to a NBC reporter and his Arabic interpreter
explaining that, as an activist, he is not a neutral observer but he does not
fabricate news: “there is something more powerful than fabrications” http://youtu.be/lBUba-3Ghjo He says that he wants to speak out more on
camera now in order to correct mistakes. Newer figures are emerging on the
scene who exaggerate the number of the dead in certain circumstances, not
realizing that this hurts the credibility of all their work http://youtu.be/lBUba-3Ghjo The
interview took place in the town of Marayan, Jabal Al-Zawiyeh Region,
Idlib Province. At one point, the activists turn the table on their guests and
interview NBC correspondent Richard Engle. His description of how different
towns are attacking the convoys sent by Assad as reinforcements to loyalist
troops besieging Aleppo City is pretty telling
In Hama City, an attack on the local neighborhood of Bab
Qibli begins even as some of the local rebels are performing prayers http://youtu.be/p5hA4oiNJRo
Battles in Aleppo City intensified after rebels took control briefly of
the local state TV and Radio headquarters. Eventually, MiGs were called in and
they took part in pounding the complex and surrounding areas http://youtu.be/GtbVAr17sj0 , http://youtu.be/1m73d9-DLmA , http://youtu.be/dfDZXorvQIw , http://youtu.be/qfD57S9lxOw MiGs took
part in the pounding of Salaheddine Neighborhood as well http://youtu.be/S4KIb00JYGA , http://youtu.be/rJgN3qg7i5Q , http://youtu.be/pInIMYodWhY The
neighborhood was pounded with heavy artillery as well http://youtu.be/ILRBYeXOMyQ A victim of
sniper fire lies in the street http://youtu.be/62tc6ZDqNbw
Another http://youtu.be/Of-5ecsdPCk
In other parts of the city, rebels take part in cleaning the city and
collecting the trash, as Al-Jazeerah correspondent looks on http://youtu.be/VYg6QHAyyYU While
attention shifted over the last few days to the issue of retribution killings,
the main story remains that of summary executions by pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/aPWe4nczUCA
In the nearby city of Elbab, the local Brigade affiliated with
the FSA promise to join the fight for the liberation of Aleppo City http://youtu.be/efTnEogchXU
The pounding of Deir Ezzor City intensifies http://youtu.be/mt2ks_T1N-A , http://youtu.be/3VFkxTA3piM So do the
clashes http://youtu.be/Bbsm0ZeTEak ,
http://youtu.be/38FglyKPkRk Dead
bodies of locals fill the street, activists unable to retrieve them on account
of sniper activities http://youtu.be/rWdHdt51J-o
A local rebel addresses the camera promising liberation and victory even as the
clashes continue http://youtu.be/ErWX4gI35Z8
Due to lack of media attention to their plight, local activists produced their
own reportage of the situation in their city (Arabic) http://youtu.be/_54onApAU74
In the nearby town of Mayadeen, local rebels manage to “liberate”
a local security station in an early dawn raid http://youtu.be/OBVI8cNHJxU , http://youtu.be/xdTwxuB-R_U taking over
some tanks in the process http://youtu.be/WTpkzI5HJZo
, http://youtu.be/RSd1P9pb4mg , http://youtu.be/M-YNgt6FD7Y
The pounding of Rastan, Homs Province, continues http://youtu.be/bjNPMIQyVVk and of Houla
http://youtu.be/aUClSOf8tyI , http://youtu.be/CXuZFjkaKb0
The pounding of Tadamon Neighborhood, Damascus City, leaves many
injured http://youtu.be/NDabwEpTf2k
and dead http://youtu.be/4DB522oZBjI
, http://youtu.be/GDHNaEzfLnk
The adjacent neighborhoods of Assaly, Dafelshawk, Yarmouk, Al-Qadam and
Al-Hajar Al-Aswad were pounded as well: Assaly http://youtu.be/zN-6oBsCOZA , http://youtu.be/Wd5rtXS2v78 The adjacent
suburbs of Saqba and Houmriyeh in Eastern Ghoutah Region were
also pounded http://youtu.be/KjyNPUwNOlo
To the West, the pounding of the towns of Zabadani and Madaya
continues http://youtu.be/SMzlj-v1MME
The pounding of Bosra Al-Harir, Daraa Province (August 2) leaves
many dead, including local rebels http://youtu.be/m9bo3vgfNQM
, http://youtu.be/73Wasz309jQ , http://youtu.be/NVE2WxJyEMs , http://youtu.be/26BhAJOnzKw
In Lattakia Province, the village of Ouwaynat in Jabal Al-Akrad Region
continues to be pounded http://youtu.be/20ZEl6QTwHA
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