As a huge chunk of human heritage gets obliterated by Assad’s
warplanes in Aleppo City and across Syria, and world leaders stick to their usual
song and dance about Assad’s loss of legitimacy and impending end, the resilience
of the Syrian people and their willingness to go on are the only source of inspiration.
Tuesday August
7, 2012
Today’s
Death toll: 170. The Breakdown: the toll includes 10 women and 18 children: 35 in Homs
(including 10 in Deir Baablbah, mostly children and 4 children and their mother
in Rastan), 33 in Damascus and Suburbs, 33 in Aleppo (including 10 prisoners who
were summarily executed), 25 inDaraa, 15
in Idlib 14 in Hama (most of whom killed in a massacre in Jarsis), 10 in Deir
Ezzor (including 4 members of the FSA), and 5 in Lattakia. (According to LCC)
Cities
& Towns Under Shelling: Harasta, Arbeen, Moadamiah, Harran Al-Awameed, Deir Al-Asafeer, Ain
Terma, Zabadani, Madaya, Eltal, Dmeir, Hameh, Yelda, Rankous, Qarrah (Damascus
Suburbs), Sit Zeinab, Al-Qadam, Midan,
Tadamon, Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, Yarmouk, Kafar Sousseh, Mazzeh, Qaboun, Barzeh,
Salhiyeh, Ruknaddine, Dafelshawk (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).
Newsflashes: *** FSA members from the Ghoutah Region claimed
that they have killed a Russian General working with the
local pro-Assad security forces. The General was taking active part in the crackdown,
they say. Al-Arabiya TV aired the report along with a photo of the general,
identifying him as General Petrovic Kojiev. No word yet from Moscow in this
regard.
News
Abdullah
warns Al Assad could seek Alawite refuge “In his mentality, he is
going to stick to his guns ... I think the regime feels that it has no
alternative, but to continue. ... I don’t think it’s just Bashar. It’s not the
individual. It’s the system of the regime. “For Bashar, at the moment, if I’m
reading the way he’s thinking, is, he’s going do what he’s going to do
indefinitely.”
Assad
Vows to Rid Syria of 'Terrorists' Syrian
state-run media report Assad said he would show no leniency in quashing the
rebellion against his government. His comments followed a meeting with Iran's
visiting national security council secretary, Saeed Jalili.
Fighting
Grows More Intense in Syria’s Largest City It was an especially violent day all over the country… But Aleppo,
Syria’s largest city, with an ancient and foreboding citadel at its center,
seemed on course to become the country’s Gettysburg.
Aleppo
strafed by shells, fear, misery The Free
Syrian Army remains ensconced in many Aleppo neighborhoods, but it has endured
a pounding from Syrian forces for days and days… Opposition forces report
warplane strikes on the Bab al-Hadid and Bab Al-Nasr areas, and shelling is
raging in the Salaheddine neighborhood.
Syria:
Mig fighter jets bomb Aleppo as rebels dig in Free Syrian Army strategy seemingly anchored more in hope than
vision as regime counter-assault intensifies
Survivor
Describes New Syria Mass Killing Together,
they painted a picture of the summary slaying of 10 men, at least some of whom
had only loose links to the armed rebels seeking to topple the regime. That
story jibes with activist claims of the increasingly brutal tactics regime
forces are using to try to crush the rebellion that has spread to Aleppo,
Syria's largest city.
Druse
from Israeli-held Golan return from Syria The evacuation, coordinated by the Red Cross, highlights the
dilemma facing Golan Druse. Many are horrified by the carnage, occasionally
taking place within earshot of their villages, but they are also hesitant to
turn against a Syrian regime to which they have remained at least outwardly
loyal.
Clinton
warns against sectarian turmoil in Syria "We have to set very clear expectations about avoiding sectarian
warfare," Clinton said, answering a question on Syria during a news
conference in the South African capital Pretoria, her latest stop in a tour of
Africa. "Those who are attempting to exploit the situation by sending in
proxies or terrorist fighters must realize that will not be tolerated, first
and foremost by the Syrian people," she added.
UN:
22,000 Iraqis in Syria return home to flee war The returning Iraqis have been joined by some 3,600 Syrians who
have crossed into Iraq since July 23, when Baghdad announced it was opening its
western borders to refugees. The Syrians are being kept near the border,
evoking some complaints.
Officials:
Syria's prime minister defects from al-Assad regime "But all indications are that Hijab was probably kept in the
dark. This wasn't a man who had Assad's ear. Assad appointed him just a few
months ago. He was essentially just another Cabinet member without much power
at all."
Syria 'crumbling'
after PM's defection Western
powers have said the defection of Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab is a sign
that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad is crumbling. Mr Hijab, the most
senior Syrian figure to defect, on Monday denounced Syria's "terrorist
regime" and said he was joining the revolution.
Iranian
officials dispatched to Turkey, Syria The
Iranian foreign minister is traveling to Turkey, where he is expected to
request Ankara's help securing the release of 48 Iranians being held in Syria
by rebel forces.
Jordan's
king warns of Syrian chemical weapons threat Clinton: 'We can begin planning for the day after the Assad regime
falls.'
Livni
on Syria: 'International community is impotent' “The fact that the international community is quite, excuse me,
impotent on this issue sent a very sad and problematic message to the region.
Because the international community is being watched by extremists in the
region. It’s not only inside Syria, it’s by Iran, by other radical elements, by
Hezbollah, by Hamas.”
WHO
Warns of Severe Medicine Shortage in Syria Syria used to produce 90 percent of its medicines and drugs
locally. With battles raging in the country, the World Health Organization says
pharmaceuticals production has slowed because of less availability of raw
materials, international sanctions, increased fuel costs and instability in
much of the country.
Op-Eds
& Special Reports
Iran
Sees Syria as Priority Issue The former Iranian president says the
stakes are high for Tehran because if the Shi'ite Syrian government falls, it
not only would be a major blow to Iranian influence, but it also could mean the
Tehran government is next.
Stanching
Syria’s Bleeding: Inside a Rebel Triage Unit A medical student who
has spent months saving lives in makeshift trauma stations shares his harrowing
tale.
US
makes plans to keep post-Assad Syria intact The State Department and
the Pentagon are jointly working on plans for a post-President Bashar Assad
Syria. They hope to avoid the kind of implosion they believe occurred because
of a lack of planning for post-Saddam Iraq.
Syria’s
agony prolonged as Russia and America pursue regional agendas “You
have to understand: as an envoy, I can’t want peace more than the protagonists,
more than the Security Council or the international community for that matter,”
said Annan. “My central concern from the start has been the welfare of the
Syrian people. Syria can still be saved from the worst calamity if the
international community can show the courage and leadership necessary to
compromise on their partial interests for the sake of the Syrian people.”
Analysis:
Hamstrung Turkey's nightmares coming true in Syria Turkey's worst
nightmares are beginning to come true in Syria - a protracted sectarian civil
war on its long southern border with the emergence of a de facto
Kurdish-controlled region friendly to its main domestic foe… "They cannot
and will not intervene militarily. All they can do is help on the edges, i.e.
allow insurgents free passage, train them, help them organise
politically," Barkey told Reuters. "Still this is more than what many
others are doing."
Armenia: An Uncertain “Homecoming”
for Syria’s Diaspora Many ethnic Armenians are disgruntled after
fleeing the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo for the safety of Armenia. They say
they have been left to fend for themselves in the country they view as their
ethnic homeland. Armenian government officials, meanwhile, insist they are
doing what they can to accommodate diaspora members. Armenia: Destination Karabakh for
Armenian-Syrian Refugees? Now, some politicians from both Armenia
proper and Nagorno-Karabakh are floating a controversial remedy; encouraging
those fleeing the Syrian violence to settle in the breakaway republic.
Now
is the time for U.S. to act on Syria Our goal should be limited:
Pressure al-Assad's regime to negotiate with the rebels on major reforms but
not to hand them victory… Above all, we must warn the rebels that we shall
cease all support for them if they commit atrocities, a step we did not
undertake in Libya, resulting in some very distressing consequences.
Assad's
time is running out in Syria The defection of Syrian Prime Minister
Riyad Hijab is the most significant of all those who have already deserted the
Assad regime. It is a hard slap in the face to the president's prestige and a
win for the rebels, especially on a symbolic level.
Syria:
Despite prime minister's defection, Assad’s inner circle intact About
five Alawite clans, all linked through intermarriage and business interests,
control the real power bases in Syria — such as the security apparatus and the
military — and there have been no notable defections from their ranks, said Ammar
Abdulhamid, an exiled opposition member who is on the Syria Working Group
at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, a think tank in Washington. “They
control the key decision-making process in tactical terms,” Abdulhamid said of
the powerful Alawite dynasties. “The defection shows that the regime has lost
control of an old game: the Sunni fig leaf.”
The
Good, the Bad, and the Ugly About the Syrian Civil War Ammar Abdulhamid
may know more about Syria’s civil war than anyone else in the world. That’s no
exaggeration. An pro-democratic oppositionist living abroad, Abdulhamid has
functioned on a virtual 24/7 basis as the source of news and analysis about
events within Syria, always trying to be honest and accurate in his assessments
regardless of his own preferences. Barry Rubin, PJMedia Middle East editor,
interviewed Abdulhamid on the latest developments and trends.
Video Highlights
The video in which, the FSA in Damascus took credit for the killing
of the Russian General, Petrovic Kojiev http://youtu.be/CxLIl82PNuc
A video that shows defected PM Riyad Hijab sitting with local members
of the FSA in the village of Nouaimah, Daraa province, close to the Jordanian
borders. While rebels insist that the PM has already crossed into Jordan, Jordanian
authorities still deny that he did http://youtu.be/xMR98bfp7S0
Local activists report that the Finance Minister Muhammad Al-Jleilati, who had
planned to defect as well, has been arrested by Assad loyalists. But Member of
Parliament Ali Al-Bish announces his defection http://youtu.be/OP8L2AHNBIU
A fighter jet dropping a bomb on Sakhour Neighborhood in Aleppo
City http://youtu.be/9brPQyP8Gc4 Another
fighter jet in action http://youtu.be/V71Mbc--a_A
Meanwhile, the indiscriminate pounding of the Salaheddine Neighborhood
continues http://youtu.be/wVTtDaBJAzA
, http://youtu.be/b7JkgXIhOH4 , http://youtu.be/mRF2w2r1y_g Elsewhere in
the neighborhood the clashes continue http://youtu.be/kNemZ-Q-bwk
Just at the outskirts of the city, activists stumble on the site of a massacre,
where 10 people seem to have been executed on the spot http://youtu.be/ZBAfrlJyrQU
One of the cannons taking part in the indiscriminate pounding of Daraa
City http://youtu.be/V59VQflAZ7s
A helicopter gunship taking part in the pounding of Ayn Terma,
Damascus Suburbs http://youtu.be/fbjlc0n6v5k
Nearby Jisreen is pounded by mortar rounds http://youtu.be/hOJnWxkUxiU In Jisreen,
pro-Assad militias perpetrate another massacre by executing some of the local
activists on the spot http://youtu.be/I97bhClT2gU
The pounding claims the lives of two children in Kafar Batna http://youtu.be/maUeUcCIZ8E
The indiscriminate pounding of Rastan, Homs Province http://youtu.be/5oLgy02lcJg , http://youtu.be/19MFt5tsCWg keeps
claiming the lives of children: 4 children and their mother – dead http://youtu.be/lrRjSoawnfo , http://youtu.be/6oTlnphPkSQ the pounding
of nearby Talbisseh continues as well http://youtu.be/HDvaQetzOn0
The pounding claims the lives of more children in Deir Baalbah, Homs
City, http://youtu.be/RyAYTzTwPhI , http://youtu.be/HicDak6LO-k , http://youtu.be/ao-HudANboA
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