It’s getting quite hard keeping track of it all: the cluster
bombs and sectarian sentiments, the incendiary minds and arid hearts, the
shifting red lines in our overloaded brains, the hypocrisy of it all. Yet, chronicling
our irrelevance is an important part of the struggle. Tomorrow needs to know
who the real heroes were, and who the imposters… and which emperors had no
clothes, which emperors betrayed us all.
Wednesday
January 16, 2013
Today’s
Death Toll: 183, including
18 children and 9 women. 50 martyrs were reported in Damascus and Damascus
Suburbs, 37 in Homs, 25 in Aleppo, 23 in Idlib, 15 in Hama, 16 in Daraa, 9 in
Raqqah, 5 in Latakia, and 1 in Hasakeh (LCCs).
Points
of Random Shelling: 331: including 20 points that were shelled by warplanes, 6 points
using cluster bombs, 5 points using TNT barrels, and 2 points with vacuum
bombs. Also, 135 points were shelled with heavy caliber artillery, 86 points
were shelled with mortar, and 77 points were shelled with rockets (LCCs).
Clashes: FSA rebels clashed with regime forces in 145 locations. Rebels managed
to successfully bring down 3 regime fighter planes, 1 in Al-Ramdan near Dumair
city, 1 in Damascus suburbs, and 1 Talbeeseh in Homs. The FSA also seized
control of Kuwairis military airport in Aleppo, and repelled regime attempts to
storm Busr Al-Harir in Daraa, as well as in Daraya and Mouadamieh in Damascus
Suburbs (LCCs).
News
U.S.
Shoots Down Secret Report That Syria Used a Hallucinogen Weapon State
Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland has denied the report, saying that the
Foreign Policy story ”did not accurately convey the anecdotal information that
we had received from a third party regarding an alleged incident in Syria in
December.” “At the time we looked into the allegations that were made and the
information that we had received, and we found no credible evidence to
corroborate or to confirm that chemical weapons were used,” she added. That’s a
major deal, because the international community has repeatedly told the Assad
Regime in Syria that the use of chemical weapons is beyond unacceptable. The
White House issued a statement along similar lines.
The
Case of Agent 15: Did Syria Use a Nerve Agent? what happened? Was the
mystery gas in fact sarin, or a nerve agent like it? Did its use alter the
dynamic of the Syrian conflict in fundamental ways? The brief answer to all of
these questions is: so far, hard to say.
Syria
to Receive More International Food Aid The World Food Program currently
provides food aid to 1.5 million needy people inside Syria. WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin says
the agency has not been able to expand its operation because only the Syrian
Arab Red Crescent has been authorized to distribute food. But last week, she
says, the Syrian authorities gave the agency a list of 110 non-governmental
organizations that can help distribute food.
Out of this list, she says WFP has chosen 44 groups with whom it will
work. Cousin says this will enable WFP to scale up its operation to feed an
additional one million people.
Iran
gives Syria $1bn import credit line While the agreement is not a direct
cash transfer to bolster Syria’s depleted foreign exchange reserves, it will
allow Syrian importers credit to source consumer supplies from Iran at a time
when it is hard for them to do so from many other countries.
Special
Reports
Since mid-2012, Human Rights Watch and
others have reported several times on civilian casualties caused by Syrian use
of air-dropped cluster bombs, but Latamneh and other recent attacks are the
first known instances of Syrian use of ground-based cluster munitions. The
rockets were apparently launched from the vicinity of nearby Hama airport,
which is under government control.
The immediate impact of the Syrian
conflict on Jordan’s fragile polity is twofold: The influx of refugees into
Jordan, and the outflow of jihadists from Jordan into Syria to join the fight.
An international criminal court
investigation may split the United Nations – but it would change the civil
war's political dynamics
Let’s be frank here: There are no red
lines for this president when it comes to projecting U.S. military force. And
if he won’t act when Syria is at issue, no realistic observer thinks he would
act against Iran.
Video Highlights
In Anadan, Aleppo, rebels fend off an attack by pro-Assad
militias http://youtu.be/2MPHc-ErHKo
The town of Zabadani continues to be pounded http://youtu.be/G33rhMsVzNE Meanwhile, the
towns of Eastern Ghouta continue to be pounded by MiGs http://youtu.be/8JsIkMYrpXA
People in the town of Rastan, Homs, rush to save the injured in
the aftermath of an aerial raid http://youtu.be/HV4iqlCAsb8
Some of the dead http://youtu.be/2-lKwcsD3RQ
A thousand thanks but, oh my heart.
ReplyDeleteyoum byoum. lazmt 2olak, al-khbaar sa"b ktiir ktiir.
Syrian Arab Army = Jihadist Rat Extermination Services.
ReplyDeleteIf you are so sure that the Western/Al Qaeda Alliance campaign against the government and people off Syrian is a legitimate struggle, why are you hiding in the American Empire? Why don't you have the courage to go and fight in Syria, and risk death in the cause?
Hypocrisy or cowardice?