Whether it takes a week, a month, a year or a decade, it
does not matter, Assad’s latest initiative is his final political act. By
appearing so out-of-touch with reality, Assad has shown that he is not in
control of his own regime. He, in fact, is the puppet, his bubble long burst.
The question, therefore, is: who’s really running the show at this stage? And what
do they want?
Sunday January
6, 2013
Today’s
Death Toll: 101, including
2 children and 10 women: 28 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs,
22 in Aleppo, 14 in Daraa, 13 in Homs (most of them in Tasneen), 10 in Hama, 10
in Deir Ezzor, 3 in Idlib and 1 in Lattakia (LCCs).
Points
of Random Shelling: 294: 7 points were shelled with warplanes, 2 points with cluster bombs,
122 points with mortars, 111 points with artillery and 51 points with missile
shelling (LCCs).
Clashes: The Free Syrian Army
clashed with the regime’s army at 150 points where they managed to block
the regime forces’ attempt to storm Bustan neighborhood in Aleppo (with the
defection of several personnel from the Police Academy). They also gained
control of the Soldier’s Hotel in Khan Al-Assal and shelled Jarah Military
Airport in Maskana in Aleppo. In Deir Ezzor the FSA surround the Political
Security branch and dismantled several military machines and in Damascus
Suburbs they blocked an attempt by regime’s army to storm Eastern Ghota,
through Hteitet Al-Turkman road, and destroyed more than 15 military vehicles
and 4 tanks. In Hama, they seized a lot of ammunition and a food unit on the
agricultural road connecting between Soqailbiya and Tal Burhan. Also, they
destroyed several military vehicles and captured several regime army personnel
throughout Syria (LCCs).
Reports
from local activists confirm that the son of the newly appointed Minister of
Defense, Rustom Ghazali, one of the few Syrian officials accused in plotting
the assassination of former Lebanese PM, Rafic Al-Hariri, has been kidnapped by
rebels from his hometown in Khirbet al-Ghazali. This development led to
increase in the intensity of clashes in the area, and throughout the Daraa
Province. Authorities used loudspeakers threatening local of dire consequences
should the Minister’s not be returned unharmed. Ghazali had only days ago replaced
Mohammad Al-Shaar as Minister of Defense. Minister Al-Shaar had been injured in
a rebel attack, received treatment in Beirut then returned to Syria where he disappeared
from public view amidst increasing reports that he passed away.
News
Syria's
Assad rejects dialogue with "puppet" opposition Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad announced what he described as a peace plan on
Sunday, calling for a reconciliation conference with "those who have not
betrayed Syria", to be followed by the formation of a new government and
an amnesty. "The first stage of a political solution would require that
regional powers stop funding and arming (the opposition), an end to terrorist
operations and controlling the borders," he said in a speech in central
Damascus, his first public comments in months. "We will not have dialogue
with a puppet made by the West," he said.
Defiant
Assad's peace plan rejected by rebels In his first public speech in six
months, Assad laid out terms for a peace plan that keeps himself in power,
ignoring international demands to step down and pledging to continue the battle
"as long as there is one terrorist left" in Syria.
Defiant
Assad Says Syria ‘Accepts Advice but Not Orders’ he offered no new
acknowledgment of the gains by the rebels fighting against him, the excesses of
his government or the aspirations of the Syrian people. Mr. Assad also ruled
out talks with the armed opposition and pointedly ignored its central demand that
he step down, instead using much of a nearly hourlong speech to justify his
harsh military crackdown… Mr. Assad’s speech was a disappointment for
international mediators and many Syrians who say they believe that without a
negotiated settlement, Syria’s conflict will descend into an even bloodier
stage.
Syrian
opposition dismiss Assad call for talks amid attack on 'western puppets' Rebels
say Syrian president offered no meaningful concessions in his first public
speech in seven months.
Morsy
backs Syrian calls for al-Assad to face war crimes trial "The
Syrian people through their revolution and through the movement will -- when
the bloodshed stops -- move to a new stage where they will have an independent
parliament and a government of their choosing," Morsy, Egypt's first
freely elected leader, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in Cairo. "And then they
will decide what they want to do to those who committed crimes against them. It
is the Syrian people who decide."
Israel
warily watches shifts across its frontier with Syria Trenches lined
with coils of razor wire have been dug along the Israeli side of the Golan
frontier, and a new 15-foot-high steel fence is under construction, with plans
to extend it the length of the boundary with Syria. Surveillance of the Syrian
side, aided by cameras, also is being stepped up… Replacing a lower electronic
warning fence, the imposing new barrier, encased in rolls of barbed wire, is
intended to serve as a bulwark against infiltrators.
Special
Reports
While there’s a common perception in Western
capitals that the regime is on its last legs, there are plenty of signs on the
ground that it remains very much intact—and very dangerous. Assad’s security
forces have been forced to relinquish control of many rural areas and have even ceded the impoverished peripheries
of a number of Syrian cities, but it has escalated its attacks on areas under
rebel control in recent months, deliberately imposing a heavier toll in
humanitarian suffering. And rebels in many areas appear desperately short of
funds and military resources, despite promises of expanded support from outside
powers.
He wants to negotiate, but with whom, and over
what?
By appearing so out-of-touch with reality, Assad has shown that he is
not in control of his own regime. He, in fact, is the puppet. The question,
therefore, is: who’s really running the show at this stage? And what do they want?
Assad’s words provide few clues, but the subtext to his speech, the body
language and apparent nervousness in delivery, his clear concern for how his
speech will be viewed by his supporters as denoted by his repeated assertions
that he is not giving up the fight against the “terrorists,” his dismissal of
the external opposition coupled with his readiness to negotiate with their
backers… all these things point to the presence of a radical camp inside the
regime that seems to have taken charge of the day-to-day management of the crackdown,
keeping Assad as a necessary window dressing.
What does this radical camp want? At this stage, and judging by developments
on the ground, the only possible interpretation is that they want to buy enough
time to draw the borders of their coveted enclave, while exacting revenge
against the Sunni population all over the country through continued recourse to
scorched earth policy.
In short, our descent into hell continues.
Video Highlights
Shortly after the speech delivered by Assad, clashes took place in
several neighborhoods in Damascus City http://youtu.be/UvUNATTlasY , http://youtu.be/la_qMCdIlRM
Clashes in Deir Ezzor City intensified http://youtu.be/wyi8VPOugSY , http://youtu.be/mPr0xxS2N5Y , http://youtu.be/S_GNs-OMBh0 , http://youtu.be/O5AtC3IY2tA
Intense clashes took place in the town of Basr Al-Harir, Daraa
as well http://youtu.be/f7jfaou4plI ,
http://youtu.be/hbGDSh9zhFs , http://youtu.be/dAxaNYkyVIc , http://youtu.be/JYFZpf0JhB0 , http://youtu.be/uAsLA2aWE58 Rebels take
control of a BMP http://youtu.be/Bo4KM2HmHuk
Intense clashes took place in several neighborhoods in Homs City
as well http://youtu.be/XAinJ2fUE1o
Clashes took place around the Police Academy in Aleppo City as
well http://youtu.be/yMI1JAmefyk
Leaked video documents the use of missile launchers in the pounding
of restive cities by pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/O-djiFPf_qs
But Assad’s fighter jets kept dropping barrel bombs on Kuweirus Airport
where rebels are positioned http://youtu.be/TPFkWEVVpa0
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