Judging by statements from both sides of the electoral
divide, Syrians are obviously not covered neither under Obamacare nor
Romneycare. But, then, “socialism” has always been bad for us, as Assad/Baathcare
amply demonstrated.
Thursday October
12, 2012
Today’s
Death toll: 113. The Breakdown: toll includes 10 FSA members, 6
children and 4 women. 40 reported in Aleppo, 25 in Damascus and suburbs (including
5 field-executed in Barzeh), 18 in Idlib, 13 in Daraa (mostly in Maarba), 7 in
Hama, 5 in Homs, 4 in Deir Ezzor, and 1 in Lattakia (LCC).
News
Special
Reports
Crisis with Turkey
Turkey's grounding of a Syrian plane
allegedly carrying weapons from Moscow to Damascus has put Moscow and Ankara –
which have been cooperating in recent years – at odds.
With Turkey and the Syrian regime on
opposite sides of the antigovernment uprising in Syria, flare-ups like the
Turkish grounding of a Syrian jet this week carry great risk of tipping the two
into open conflict.
Forcing down a Syrian passenger plane
suspected of carrying munitions is the latest chapter in a dangerous spat
between neighbors.
ISTANBUL (AP) — The interception of a
Syrian passenger plane from Russia, allegedly carrying military gear to
Damascus, is a sign of Turkey's mounting frustration at the drawn-out conflict
and its inability to hasten regime change in its neighbor, according to
analysts.
The town of Akcakale has felt some of
the effects of its neighbour's conflict. It has been hit several times by
shells fired from across the border.
As the Assad regime loses control in
the country's north, brigades like Northern Storm have carved out spheres of
influence along the porous border. Despite their presence, however, the posts
still rely on the goodwill of the Turkish authorities to function properly. At
the end of the day, the Turks have the final say on what passes through,
including aid, weapons, and refugees.
Rebel News
To begin, not all Salafis are alike;
the concept covers a gamut ranging from mainstream to extreme. Secondly,
present-day Syria offers Salafis hospitable terrain – violence and
sectarianism; disenchantment with the West, secular leaders and pragmatic Islamic
figures; as well as access to Gulf Arab funding and jihadi military knowhow –
but also adverse conditions, including a moderate Islamic tradition,
pluralistic confessional make-up, and widespread fear of the kind of sectarian
civil war that engulfed two neighbours. Thirdly, failure of the armed push this
past summer caused a backlash against Salafi groups that grabbed headlines
during the fighting.
The capture of Maaret Al-Numan
Wednesday was a major breathrough for the rebels fighting President Bashar
Al-Assad’s forces, especially after they cut off the highway linking Damascus
with the northern city of Aleppo.
(Reuters) - In a dusty park in north
Damascus, Fatima Badr is preparing to give birth without medical care, no roof
over her head and far from the home she fled when President Bashar al-Assad's
forces bombarded her town east of the Syrian capital.
The school is in Kansafra, in a picturesque
region known for its flowing green fields and its groves of olives, cherries
and grapes. But none of that is visible from the classroom, which has no
windows. The children's previous school, in the nearby town of Jabal Zawiya,
was deserted. Abu Diyaa's video shows a gaping hole in that school's ceiling,
the battle scars of what he says was shelling by regime fighter planes.
The Syrian regime has been committed
numerous crimes against humanity using the Red Cross vehicles, secret documents
obtained by Al Arabiya revealed. The documents were obtained with the
assistance of members of the Syrian opposition who refused to elaborate on how
they laid hand on the documents.
The prime minister's office said the
initiative came from the U.S. and denied Israel had accepted it, implying the
matter was leaked to improve President Barack Obama's image in the run-up to
U.S. presidential elections.
Arabic
Press (Prepared by Steven Miller, FDD Research Associate)
On the Turkish-Syrian border near Bab
al-Hawa, which falls within Syrian territory, women and children have been
living for nearly a month under olive trees. There, a number of activists, with
help from Arab financiers, decided to establish a refugee camp for the
approximately 7 thousand people currently there. According to one activist,
"Turkey stopped receiving displaced people after their numbers inside the country
reached 80 thousand, and thousands remained [homeless] on the border. That led
us to rush to establish similar camps." Currently at the camp, which lies
150 meters inside Syrian territory, there are only 100 tents to house the
thousands of displaced persons, and the numbers of Syrians flocking to the camp
are expected to rise quickly in the near future.
Ammar Abdulhamid & Khawla
Yusuf: The
Shredded Tapestry: The State of Syria Today
Briefly Noted
By now the Obama Administration has made it clear that that, when it
comes to Syria, the ongoing slaughter is not a red line in itself. The red line
in Syria depends on the manner in which the slaughter is carried out: WMDs are
a big “no, no.” Everything else is a OK. The thinking on Libya was obviously
quite different, and so it seems is the thinking on Mali.
Video Highlights
Executions of local activists in Barzeh, Damascus City http://youtu.be/savQxYMgSVo
In Aleppo City, moving today’s dead in Boustan Al-Qasr http://youtu.be/4pmkx9ytLJA
The Cave Classrooms of Kinsafrah, Idlib Province http://youtu.be/iaTWxPH3Gw0
Al-Jazeerah English interviews FSA commander Col. Riad al-As’aad
http://youtu.be/-8DGBneXI90
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