Political posturing and sound-bites do not a policy make, but
that’s all we are given by America’s leaders when they are not willing to lead.
This world has yet to develop effective mechanisms for managing its myriad crises
without America’s leadership. So, on we stumble onto another period of mayhem
in so many parts of the world, with Syria becoming one of the main victims to
be sacrificed on the altar of indifference. Nothing personal though, it’s just
bad timing, luck, karma, what-have-you.
Tuesday October
23, 2012
Today’s
Death toll: 202. The Breakdown: Toll includes a family from Alboukamal,
15 children and 10 women: 100 reported in Damascus and suburbs (50 in Moadamiya),
34 in Aleppo (most in a massacre at a bakery in Hanano), 25 in Deir Ezzor (7 due
to shelling of Alboukamal), 13 in Homs (most in Talkalakh), 13 in Daraa, 11 in
Idlib, 4 in Hama, 1 in Lattakia and 1 in Raqqah. Locations
of Random Shelling: 123, including 22 by warplanes, 44 by mortars,
54 by artillery, 26 by rockets, 6 by explosive barrels. Clashes between rebels and loyalists: 72, with
rebels carrying out 19 operations, mostly in Idlib Province (LCC).
News
Special
Reports
Europe must work to prevent Assad's
dirty war from unraveling the whole region.
Human Rights Watch spoke to two
cluster bomb victims in the town of Eastern al-Buwayda, as well as with
residents in the towns of Rastan, Talbiseh, al-Bab, and Qusayr, who witnessed
cluster bomb air strikes or filmed the aftermath and directly provided the
footage or photos to Human Rights Watch.
In a switch of tactics, rebels
fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad are trying to seize towns and
military positions in Idlib's impoverished frontier region by surrounding them
and slowly starving the soldiers out.
While Turkey is actively seeking
regime change in Syria, the Islamist-based Erdogan government argues that they
have no sectarian-motivated ambitions for the newly shaping majority-Sunni Arab
world. Often shown as a model to its immediate Muslim neighborhood, Turkey,
unfortunately, not only risks failing to lead by example at this critical
turning point for the region, but also underestimates critical perceptions
about its policies.
Piece by piece, Syria's rebels are
slowly expanding their arsenal and getting their hands on more advanced
weapons. The process still appears to be haphazard and improvised, far from the
reliable, organized pipeline that rebels have sought ... Assad's forces have
adapted too, although surprisingly they have at times turned more low-tech for
the needs of urban warfare against guerrillas. Rebel fighters say the most
terrifying new regime weapons are cluster munitions, which scatter
"bomblets" over a large area, and so-called "barrel" bombs.
With death lurking around every
corner, the survival instincts of Aleppo's population are being stretched to
the limit every day as the battle between Syria's rebels and the regime of
President Bashar Assad for the country's largest city stretches through its
fourth destructive month. Residents in the rebel-held neighborhoods suffering
the war's brunt tell tales of lives filled with fear over the war in their
streets, along with an ingenuity and resilience in trying to keep their
shattered families going.
While Ankara has been active in
supporting the Syrian opposition, both in political and -- according to various
reports -- military terms, and has in recent weeks beefed up its military
presence along the Syrian border and retaliated with its own artillery after
Syrian mortars landed in Turkish territory, both Obama and Romney showed little
appetite for the United States to get militarily involved in Syria.
Ahmad explained that they found
instructions online for many of the bombs but that some of their products were
Syrian innovations.
Here, and throughout a swathe of
countryside along the Turkish border, the rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA)
rule the land. But the aircraft of President Bashar al-Assad rule the sky and
almost daily, they rain death and destruction on places like Marea.
Arabic
Press (Prepared by Steven Miller, FDD Research Associate)
The Local Coordinating Committees
reported that the Syrian military escalated its operations on the outskirts of
Damascus yesterday, where it documented 100 deaths, and the Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights said that the regime opened a new front in northern Aleppo,
and is expected to increase the viciousness of its campaigns in the city. The
Observatory reported violent clashes in parts of Harasta (near Damascus)
between rebel brigades and regime forces trying to storm the city, while other clashes and regime shelling occurred in
Jadida Artouz, Zabadani-where 13 people were killed, Zamalka, and Ain Tarma.
A recent poll by the Turkish paper
Hurriyet showed that a majority of Turks reject any intervention by their
country in the Syrian crisis, despite increasing tensions in relations between
the two countries. The paper noted that it polled 1,500 people from 18
different provinces, and 51 percent responded that they want Turkey to remain
uninvolved and impartial in the conflict. One of the poll questions asked,
"Is there any role that Turkey should play in Syria after al-Assad?"
18 percent supported a Turkish role as mediator between Syrian factions, while
7 percent supported Turkish economic aid to Syria.
Ammar Abdulhamid & Khawla
Yusuf: The
Shredded Tapestry: The State of Syria Today
My take
on the Great Debate as it pertains to Syria:
On Syria, close
observers felt neither candidate presented a serious plan toward resolving the
bloody civil war that threatens to destabilize the entire Middle East. “In
Obama’s case, this is quite disheartening because he’s been following the
situation and been involved in it from the beginning,” said Ammar Abdulhamid, a
fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “It’s as if he’s putting
together a eulogy rather than a policy.” While Mr. Abdulhamid credited Mr.
Romney with doing “some good posturing” on Syria policy, he added that it was
“not clear if Romney is going to bring a coherent policy other than saying
we’ll throw some weapons at the problem and hopefully it will solve itself.”
The fact that the two candidates’ views on Syria were so much alike was
also noted
by Max Fischer:
Just how similar
were the two candidates’ statements on Syria? Here are some of their comments
side-by-side to give you a sense. The remarkable overlap, sometimes
word-for-word, is a reminder of both Syria’s urgency and its difficulty.
Tellingly, Romney strained to portray the crisis there as a failure by the
Obama administration, but seemed unable to articulate a different approach.
Video Highlights
In Moadamiah, Damascus City, children are among the victims of a
new massacre http://youtu.be/_7DO44nAOvY
, http://youtu.be/YhlAyp5Nu4Y , http://youtu.be/-CFPWPmYMxQ , http://youtu.be/NxPCLf-KDtQ , http://youtu.be/Ikq7ZCrwOTk More victims
http://youtu.be/44x4BGEaKEE
Tanks taking part in the pounding of neighborhoods in Damascus City
& Suburbs: Qaboun http://youtu.be/Yh_aO2tezlo
Zamalka http://youtu.be/cM3R_j1wonA
In nearby Douma, rescuers come under fire as they try to pick up the
wounded http://youtu.be/cIgj7jhosSE Nearby
Harasta is pounded as well http://youtu.be/yAFURdOW65U
MiGs take part in the pounding of Saqba http://youtu.be/_uewWmYeQRs
Massaken Hanano, Aleppo City: a massacre at the bakery http://youtu.be/8lKYOs049jY , http://youtu.be/ZUlwfbk7WDg The jet that
carried out the raid http://youtu.be/kKm1r9LFzEs
In Aleppo City, local rebels used improvised missiles in their
attack on loyalist headquarters http://youtu.be/HjLn99pAnDE
Elsewhere in the city, MiGs continue to pound restive neighborhoods http://youtu.be/T8OGAoH_hgA
A new massacre in Alboukamal, Deir Ezzor Province http://youtu.be/_40xx4muX0E
A unit affiliated with the secular-leaning National Unity Brigades
takes control of the Research Center on the western outskirts of Damascus City http://youtu.be/DTn0nKzwYGc
MiGs continue their pounding of Ma’arrat Al-Nouman, Idlib
Province http://youtu.be/E4lZyofuG7w ,
http://youtu.be/Cw4bAZcBWqw
In Homs City, targeting mosques and minarets remain part of the
modus operandi of pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/nlfIE8nVC8Q
Warplanes pound nearby town of Al-Qusair http://youtu.be/t2lEMfPN544 , http://youtu.be/OoFRn2TtdKM The pounding
of Rastan continues as well http://youtu.be/w6RfjwuWjII
, http://youtu.be/fkEsbfzphZ0 In Tadmor/Palmyra,
a group of defectors declare the formation of a Revolutionary Military Council http://youtu.be/h1IPNJNEVvo
Local rebels in Anadan, Idlib Province, members of a unit named
after Late Lebanese PM, Rafic Al-Hariri, among other fighting units, repel an attack
fro pro-Assad militias coming from the Shiite villages of Zahrah and Nabbol http://youtu.be/amSgDCj3ka8 , http://youtu.be/MUj7Sy5MkaY , http://youtu.be/gJpGfm4mAgA Meanwhile, a
group of lawyers, doctors, engineers and intellectuals forma local ruling council
http://youtu.be/uXVPJZueL7Y
Leaked video shows the pounding of Kafar Shams, Daraa
Province http://youtu.be/kwOTAty_65U
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