Some promises were never meant to be made, because people seldom
have the audacity to keep them. To kill with impunity will always be a normal part
of our lives. Somewhere they will always be a massacre that we are willing to
ignore. What’s happening in Syria is not unique: it’s just history, and after
so many decades of living outside of it, it has finally broken through to us, with a
vengeance.
Wednesday
September 19, 2012
Today’s
Death toll: 161. The Breakdown: 72 in
Damascus and suburbs (including 30 in Hajar Aswad, 20 were slaughtered in Jobar
and 3 were field executed in Qadam), 32 in Aleppo (most in Manbej), 25 in Hama (most
in Huwaija village and Masha’ Arba’een neighborhood), 10 in Deir Ezzor (most in
Almouhassan), 5 in Daraa, 3 in Idlib, 2 in Latakia and 1 in Homs (LCC).
News
Special
Reports
There's growing unease about the
security of Syria's undeclared chemical weapons, which is reputed to be the
fourth largest stockpile in the world.
On the outskirts of the northern
city of Aleppo, the teachers just stayed home. The schools had been transformed
into shelters for residents displaced by fighting, and in any case, one teacher
said, there were more “more pressing concerns” than school.
(Reuters) - An explosion of
separatist violence in Turkey's Kurdish southeast is fuelling criticism of the
government's bellicose rhetoric on Syria and dampening what little public
appetite there is for intervention in its crisis-torn neighbour.
In a war in which the
antigovernment fighters have sought outside support and been disappointed by
what has been offered, especially from the West, the society that produced the
fighters has also undertaken the production of matériel for guerrilla war, a
social project of such a scale that it has contributed to the armed
opposition’s momentum and confidence this year.
The Syrian government has always
blamed the uprising on foreign terrorists, despite months of peaceful protests
by ordinary citizens that only turned violent after repeated attacks by security
forces. The transformation of the conflict into an open war has given an
opening to the foreign fighters and extremists.
Faced with a glutted market for its
liquefied natural gas, Qatar eyes development of Syrian gas fields as a huge
opportunity, if Assad can be forced from power.
As fighting drags on, Aleppo has
gone from Syria's affluent business hub to an edgy, apocalyptic city where life
and commerce have yielded to homicidal mayhem.
Op-Eds
Focusing on Al Qaeda’s potential
for exploiting the Syrian conflict distracts from the rapidly mounting costs of
US inaction. If the US continues to sit on the sidelines as the human toll
rises, it could face a decidedly anti-American government in Damascus,
jihadists in power or not.
The only way to turn the tide
against the Assadist forces is by both equipping the FSA with heavier weaponry,
and providing the FSA with greater support in the form of eventual intervention
by aerial and some ground forces.
Ammar Abdulhamid & Khawla
Yusuf: The
Shredded Tapestry: The State of Syria Today
Why the Surprise? Of course Iran has been supplying
weapons to Assad through Iraq. Who else would do it? How could Assad making the
ability to maintain his troops without such support? Why is that news?
While human rights organizations are busy documenting the war crimes in
Syria, they should bear in mind that adding few rebels to the list does not
complete the picture, not by a long shot. They should include as well, the names
of Russian, Iranian, Iraqi and Lebanese officials as well. We may never be able
to bring all of them to justice, but it’s always good to have these names for
the history books. We should never forget the names of those who are actively facilitating,
profiting from or perpetrating the crimes currently taking place in Syria.
Video Highlights
More deaths and slaughter in Damascus City, as regime militias keep
pounding restive neighborhoods: Al-Hajar Al-Aswad http://youtu.be/vu3hpIIK5kk , http://youtu.be/dC_kteVy2YQ MIGs take
part in bombing the suburb of Mleihah http://youtu.be/QU9DYQUV6ZQ and Hamouriyeh
http://youtu.be/xRlONccFgK4 and Saqba
http://youtu.be/L4vt0XfqTG0 and many
other neighborhoods and suburbs in the southern and eastern parts http://youtu.be/Xyd_t6Xqn_U , http://youtu.be/z__7juHUy4o Helicopter
gunships were involved as well http://youtu.be/duqHiprl_xQ
Black smoke covered the skies over Damascus http://youtu.be/Rr89TrsfcVw , http://youtu.be/ED5i_FuKdK8 , http://youtu.be/br9ZyDOjuHA , http://youtu.be/3dQHXtYjPec
In nearby neighborhood of Jobar, the bodies of summary
executions’ victims line the streets http://youtu.be/OVBAlH4Dt58
Some were killed in their home http://youtu.be/H0fcyqyFXtk
Locals come to identify the bodies http://youtu.be/hpE21soJxBI
, http://youtu.be/GWLBwK0Niio
In Aleppo Province, fighter jets bomb the town of Manbij http://youtu.be/D-R-K1_3XDA
The inhabitants of the town of Tal Abyad, Raqqah Province, and
nearby villages undertake a mass exodus http://youtu.be/OowAvp7Qu5g
, http://youtu.be/IjASc1ynNFQ as
Assad’s fighgter jets begin to target their communities following the “liberation”
by armed rebels of the border crossings with Turkey http://youtu.be/r3g59jadR5E , http://youtu.be/0poh-F44l4U Destroying
Assad’s posters http://youtu.be/PoeTEaAzjnE
The pounding of restive neighborhoods in Aleppo City also continued: Kallassah
http://youtu.be/3uKBAjhqXiw , http://youtu.be/I-SnKjxvZec
The ethnic cleansing of the last remaining Sunni villages in Sahel
Al-Ghab Region continues with an attack on Al-Huwaijeh Village in
Hama Province: The pounding http://youtu.be/QiO3S65a3lY
, http://youtu.be/iBXmDueJ5UU A father
grieving the passing of his family http://youtu.be/Urpr4UzaL6c
Retrieving bodies from under the rubble http://youtu.be/h1zhEr9m8kA
Rescuing the injured http://youtu.be/J7mcI6QCp-o
Saving two children from under the rubble http://youtu.be/IU5XnrIGHLc
Rescuing another little girl http://youtu.be/lXTTOTKj7BE
But not all children made it alive http://youtu.be/rf4SkggOyt4
Saving a woman http://youtu.be/VfR3goh4HQo
One of the helicopters that took part in the pounding http://youtu.be/OlyNE-Kr0Ww Some of the
martyrs http://youtu.be/A2zCbQrjt1M The
nearby village of Hawash was also targeted http://youtu.be/G2U4vkadlK8
The pounding of the town of Almouhassan, Deir Ezzor Province, http://youtu.be/9lrngyZ5emg , http://youtu.be/Xc1f1YUQ15M
The metal industry is still a thriving business. From ancients swords to powered engines, it still brings more money, well, especially now if you have rotary table tailstock to help with the raw materials.
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