Too Little Too Late!

It is said that the U.S. is behind a new initiative to form a transitional government for Syria. American officials, we are told, are doing all they can to ensure inclusivity and adequate representation of all major communities and political groups, including an attempt to bring in as many representatives of the internal opposition as possible. But by now, the fragmentation of Syria is a done deal, warlordism is all the rage, and any national government will have to act as a government-in-exile for years to come. The old political class in Syria has become largely irrelevant to the processes unfolding in the country.

Tuesday October 30, 2012

Today’s Death toll: 163. The Breakdown: Toll includes 13 children and 7 women: 72 in Damascus and Suburbs, 50 in Idlib (most in the shelling of Maaret Al-Nouman and dozens in Saraqeb and Kafar Batekh), 13 in Aleppo, 12 in Homs, 7 in Daraa, 5 in Hama, 2 in Deir Ezzor and 2 in Lattakia (LCC).

News

Syria Activists Report 23 Dead in Damascus Suburb

Syrian air force on offensive after failed truce

Pro-Assad page claims Syria and Iran engineered Hurricane Sandy

Iran Criticizes Iraq's Search of Syria-Bound Plane

Qatar accuses Syrian government of genocide after failed truce

Aussie killed in Syria celebrated

Syria rebels clash with Palestinians as envoy due in China

Syrian air force general 'killed by rebels'

Special Reports

Syria Airstrikes Target Strategic Northern City Of Maaret Al Numan

The rebel hold on Maaret al-Numan has disrupted the regime's ability to send supplies and reinforcements to Aleppo, where government forces have been bogged down since July in a bloody fight for control of Syria's largest city. Rebel advances over the past week in Aleppo have added urgency to opening the route.

Obama administration works to launch new Syrian opposition council

… over the last several months, according to U.S. officials and Syrian opposition figures, the State Department has worked to broaden its contacts inside the country, meeting with military commanders and representatives of local governance councils in a bid to bypass the fractious SNC… The new council is an attempt to change that dynamic. Dozens of Syrian leaders will meet in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Nov. 3 and hope to announce the new council as the legitimate representative of all the major Syrian opposition factions on Nov. 7, one day after the U.S. presidential election. The Obama administration sees the new council as a potential interim government that could negotiate with both the international community and the Syrian regime. The SNC will have a minority stake in the new body, but some opposition leaders are still skeptical that the effort will succeed.

Op-Eds

Jacques Bérès, combat zone field surgeon; Mario Bettati, professor emeritus of international law; André Glucksmann, philosopher; Bernard Kouchner, former minister; Bernard-Henri Lévy, philosopher, director of the review "La Règle du jeu", member of the supervisory board of "Le Monde": Enough Evasion, We Must Intervene in Syria!

It is precisely when one judges, as we do, that the dictatorship of the Assads is deservedly doomed and Islamist fundamentalism constitutes a major danger for the country's future that the duty to protect is imperative. And related to and as imperative as this duty to protect is the duty to ensure the security of all elements, all the constituant minorities of the Syrian people. What is at stake goes beyond the fate of Syria.

Ammar Abdulhamid & Khawla Yusuf: The Shredded Tapestry: The State of Syria Today

Video Highlights

The pounding of Damascene suburbs continue: Hamouriyeh MiGs take part in the pounding http://youtu.be/uDaKbRKpMlg , http://youtu.be/LF17tIqp3M8 Treating the wounded http://youtu.be/X8KS1M-5SYU , http://youtu.be/D7fXJRnyfUg Kafar Batna http://youtu.be/GfVA2vdefI0 , http://youtu.be/eKOY3xu-P5Y Ain Terma http://youtu.be/UipesebmnoU Harasta pulling the dead rom under the rubble http://youtu.be/FeCpe8YW3po , http://youtu.be/Ftz1MLQdgMA , http://youtu.be/Tu8AGsc62Jg  Buildings catch fire http://youtu.be/sP4B9jwQfOc Rescuing the wounded http://youtu.be/5cFGHtSnHqU Arbeen tanks take part in the pounding http://youtu.be/fXsY1kdG2S0  And MiGs http://youtu.be/_60cDg1l9iI Douma impact of pounding http://youtu.be/mBsYtRCT9i4 MiGs take part in the pounding http://youtu.be/83_00lXCRp8

Maraat Al-Nouman, Idlib Province, is pounded by TNT barrels http://youtu.be/0ZMIoQx0bJA , http://youtu.be/v_NHUYAu8oU

In an attempt to halt rebel advances in northern Lattakia, helicopter gunships are now taking part in the pounding of restive communities, including the town of Salma http://youtu.be/y7ktFpgJF0c , http://youtu.be/CrsbLZTgHYs