The rise of Jabhat Al-Nusra in Syria is a worrying phenomenon
indeed, but their terrorist activities, the real and the mostly imagined, pale in
comparison to those currently championed by Assad and his supporters who now seem
poised to perpetrate a massacre of alarming proportions using chemical weapons.
It’s Assad’s brand of terrorism that gave rise to Jabhat Al-Nusra, and it’s his
terrorist activities that plague our lives today. So far, the world has done little
to stop Assad. Had the world lived up to its moral obligations towards Syrians
last year, we would not be steering into the abyss today. As we plan for the day
after with its myriad challenges and strife, let’s not neglect the immense challenges
still confronting us today. Assad must be stopped.
Wednesday
December 5, 2012
Today’s
Death Toll: 107, including 8 women and 6
children: 45 in Damascus and suburbs, 20 in Aleppo, 22 in Idlib, 8 in Daraa, 4
in Raqqa, 3 in Lattakia, 3 in Deir Ezzor, and 2 in Homs. Points of Random Shelling: 188. Clashes: 93. Rebels were able to
take control of the Aqraba Military Airport in
Damascus and repelled several attempts at storming towns in Eastern Ghoutah (LCC).
News
Syria
loads chemical weapons into bombs; military awaits Assad's order The
Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people and
is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad, U.S. officials told NBC
News on Wednesday.
92
Senators vote to require Pentagon to report on Syria military options The
resolution does not explicitly call for the Assad to step down in Syria, a
matter of contention when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a
resolution on Syria earlier this year. It also explicitly does not authorize
the use of military force in Syria. The legislation does say that any U.S.
military activity with regard to Syria should be done in conjunction with
allies, should not involve U.S. boots on the ground, and should minimize the
risk to U.S. forces as well as financial costs to U.S. taxpayers.
Syria's
rebels in new effort to unite ranks Final deals over the new structure
were still being hammered out late on Wednesday at a secret meeting in Turkey
which brought together a diverse array of rebel units long plagued by deep
divisions and bitter rivalries that defy coordination.
Syria
conflict threatens U.N. troops on Golan ceasefire line The U.N. force
deployed after the 1973 Middle East war, in which Syria failed to recapture the
Golan Heights taken by Israel seven years before and later annexed by the
Jewish state in a move never recognized internationally.
Russia,
Turkey discuss new ideas on Syria: Kremlin Putin and Erdogan agreed to
differ on Syria at Monday's talks in Istanbul but Russia has distanced itself
from President Bashar al-Assad and tried to position itself for his potential
exit from power.
Syria's
Civil War Spills Into Lebanon Gunmen loyal to opposite sides in Syria's
civil war battled Wednesday in the streets of the Lebanese city of Tripoli. The
fighting has killed six people and wounded nearly 60 since Monday, security
officials said.
Special
Reports
Although CBW's lethality and
indiscriminate nature gives rise to terrorism concerns, the United States
should distance itself from self-interested interventions reminiscent of the
Bush doctrine. Instead, any red lines in the Syrian sand should be drawn in
accordance with 21st century notions of international responsibilities to
protect.
On Monday, Obama strongly warned
Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad not to use chemical weapons as rebels advance on
Damascus. What is the national interest in threatening US action? Obama must
sort out the moral purpose.
Some Latin American nations voted
against a UN resolution condemning violence in Syria this year. But the region
can still send a message that the use of chemical weapons will end their
support.
Some might say this is the last thing
Syrians need now; that what they need are basic necessities like water, food
and a safe home. But any diversion from an ugly and harsh reality -- if only
for a few minutes -- could do wonders.
Acash left on Thanksgiving for Idlib, in
northwest Syria on the Turkish border, where thousands of refugees have
gathered in tents and a school building has been transformed into a field
hospital. Volunteers there ring the school’s bell to summon doctors when a new
wave of injured people arrive, some from cities and towns nearly 150 miles
away.
In an attempt to not lose a single
story that could be used as possible evidence for future war crimes trials, we
are documenting reports of sexualized violence on a live, crowd-sourced map on
Syria. We know, however, that evidence of crimes is being destroyed every day:
More than 20% of the women in our reports are found dead or are killed after
rape.
Their ferocity and fighting skills
have made the jihadist “Al-Nusra Front the dominant force in Aleppo now,”
eclipsing the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Liwa al-Tawhid, once the strongest
brigade in the city, said another, Mustafa. Islamist militants are known not
only for their discretion, but also for their selflessness in combat, prompting
protesters on Friday to urge the FSA to man the front lines instead of staying
in commandeered quarters.
Nusra first made its mark by claiming
responsibility for a series of car and suicide bombings in Damascus that killed
dozens last January and that U.S. officials later said bore the mark of the
group al Qaida in Iraq. Since then, Nusra has become essential to the rebels’
battlefield operations.
Rather than ending Syria's civil war,
the regime's fall might herald a new, more dangerous phase, and the United
States should prepare accordingly.
Ankara does not want the conflict to
escalate, but it cannot live with the civil war in Syria and the continued
cross-border shelling it breeds, accidental or not.
Amid new chemical weapons activity in
Syria, Washington must prepare for the practical implications of acting on its
warnings.
Never before has a country with
Weapons of Mass Destruction been on the verge of collapse, says an arms control
expert who argues for regional coordination to prevent a catastrophe.
Only a half-decade after Iraqi
businessmen fled civil war in their country, a second exodus is depleting
another stronghold of Mesopotamian enterprise. Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and
a key hub on the old Silk Road, is the country’s industrial and commercial
turbine.
Whatever the regime’s real intentions
with regards to its chemical weapons, the next chapter in Syria will be an ugly
one, and before it is all over, many people are going to die—from bullets and
bombs if not from sarin gas. Thanks to the boy-who-cried-wolf legacy of the
Iraq invasion and the W.M.D.-that-weren’t, it is not surprising that the
alleged Syrian chemical weapons threat has thus far failed to cause panic in
international circles. This could prove to be an unfortunate historical lesson,
for, as things stand, there is no guarantee that they won’t be deployed. And if
they are used, Syria’s conflict will become a threshold conflict in more ways
than one.
Video Highlights
The pounding of Eastern Ghoutah, Damascus with MiGs continues: Douma
http://youtu.be/Xw1IP8bK6sY , http://youtu.be/1O1iPtLrZYY , http://youtu.be/LLehie30b7Y
Rebels lay siege to the Mayadeen Military Airport in Deir Ezzor http://youtu.be/EOTfIs56WLY , http://youtu.be/336vFkQTrW0 , http://youtu.be/h_ONu1_6Lk4
Scenes from the havoc in Deir Ezzor City http://youtu.be/5RkcN26xxak , http://youtu.be/yVT7fQTaydU , http://youtu.be/Va4VZBuUMzo
Scenes from the clashes in Al-Jabal Al-Wistani in Idlib http://youtu.be/Xz_sTKeGytc , http://youtu.be/boB-VpejpNY , http://youtu.be/sTYtP-UPapY , http://youtu.be/NmDtLDvk7NM
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