Candidate Romney says he will kill Big Bird. Problem is: President Obama
has already given him to us.
Saturday October
6, 2012
Today’s
Death toll: 105. The Breakdown: total includes 10 FSA members,
3 women and 2 children. 31 in Damascus and Suburbs, 24 in Homs (most in Houla),
22 in Aleppo, 10 in Lattakia, 9 in Idlib, 7 in Daraa, 1 in Hama, and 1 in Deir
Ezzor (LCC).
Other
Developments
Rebels in Homs City claim
to have captured Hussam Al-Assad, Bashar Al-Assad’s cousin, he was taking part
in orchestrating the crackdown in the city. Still, the intensive pounding of the
city continues.
Rebels declare Al-Akrad
Mountain, Lattakia Province, and Khirbet Al-Joz Village, Idlib Province,
completely liberated as pro-Assad militias are forced to withdraw. The battle
for Turkmen Mountain continues.
News
Special
Reports
With the Syrian rebellion has come a
rise in Kurdish autonomy. The rebels have tense relations with the Kurds, and
Turkey fears northern Syria may become a haven for the Kurdish militia the PKK.
Identity and geopolitics are not
always in tension, and at times can work in tandem to strengthen a country's
position. But this complicates things, as it's easier to ignore humanitarian
crises -- like the one in Syria -- when you are a hard-nosed realist.
Ammar Abdulhamid & Khawla
Yusuf: The
Shredded Tapestry: The State of Syria Today
The Turkish Newspaper Hurriyet published this map below showing the
distribution of major rebel groups inside Syria. Despite some huge gaps there,
especially the absence of the Syrian Martyrs Brigades, currently the largest
rebel group in the country, taken in conjunction with information provided in Shredded
Tapestry and again in my latest Op-Ed
in Foreign Policy, the map is still quite useful.
Video Highlights
Jockeying for power among rebel groups continue: here is a video
showing Lieutenant Abdurrazzaq Tlas announcing the formation of The First Division,
a new rebel movement made up of fighting battalions and brigades from all over the
country, including his former Al-Farouq Brigade http://youtu.be/4HvqhC1JK4g
But in this clip, the new commander of Al-Farouq, Abu Sayih Juneidi, declares that
Abdurrazzaq has been relieved of all his duties http://youtu.be/doP_BbCOL7A.
At issue here is a sex scandal, to which I alluded in the Shredded
Tapestry, involving Lt. Tlas. It seems pro-Assad hackers have been able
to monitor the internet account of Tlas and record his video sex chats with a variety
of women, and made some of them available online. At first, rebels in Al-Farouq
tried to ignore the story, but, according to Abu Sayih, over the last few
weeks, Assad’s intelligence services have been trying to blackmail them threatening
to release more videos, necessitating this move. Lt. Tlas is closed to the
Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi factions, who seem to back his latest move to
remain relevant, it’s not clear at this stage how serious a move the formation
of the First Division is. What is obviously wrong here is the claim that all
active groups have joined the Division, as this is nowhere near true.
From Douma, Damascus Suburbs, comes this video-clip showing the
burnt-out body of the pilot whose helicopter was brought down by rebels on
Friday http://youtu.be/EqC7yBCRElE Today,
MIGs continued their pounding of Eastern Ghoutah: Misraba http://youtu.be/skBGjmlnvZw Kafar Batna
http://youtu.be/13YeHUZlvuI
In Damascus City, the pounding of Al-Qadam Neighborhood continues
http://youtu.be/Yx3m4a8N3HM
The pounding of Nouaimah, Daraa Province, with heavy artillery continues
http://youtu.be/7vxpA0ZR1mU
In Saif Al-Dawleh, Aleppo City, the shelling leaves a building
on fire http://youtu.be/nmzuOSc6rOU
The pounding of Houleh, Homs Province, leaves many dead
including local rebels http://youtu.be/_R7dvRfP-74
Some of the tanks taking part in the pounding of the town http://youtu.be/6zOaISirgtQ
The nearby city of Rastan was also pounded http://youtu.be/2FgcKtmgI1I , http://youtu.be/f2YUC5PnRvE , http://youtu.be/5G2yjBqCCNM
Clashes take place in several neighborhoods in Homs City: Khaldiyeh
http://youtu.be/3g6KJLGnfX4 , http://youtu.be/q9kM_25SQc8 and the
neighborhood was pounded by helicopter gunships as well http://youtu.be/lvStPTabR-U In moments
of clam, black smoke can be seen rising all over the neighborhood http://youtu.be/PSTKOa6h_qE But the
pounding does not stop for long http://youtu.be/ggmw8rPkXVM
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