Though we cannot confirm reports claiming that Bashar
Al-Assad was assassinated, we can definitely confirm that he is/was indeed an
ass. We can also confirm reports of an attempted assassination on the life of
Col. Riad Al-Ass’aad, founder of the Free Syrian army, and that the resignation
of opposition leader Moaz Al-Khatib stemmed from the fact that he was too much
of a no-bullshit man for the bullshit of Syrian opposition politics. Finally, we
can confirm the complete irrelevance of conscience and its dictates in world
politics.
Sunday March
24, 2013
Today’s
Death Toll: 139 martyrs,
including 8 women,15 children, 2 in a reported chemical weapons attack (in
Adra) and 6 under torture: 75 in Damascus and Subrubs, 26 in Aleppo, 20 in Homs,
8 in Daraa, 3 in Deir Ezzor, 4 in Idlib, 2 in Hama, and 1 in Hassakeh (LCCs).
Points
of Random Shelling: 357 points. Aerial bombardments counted in 27 points. Scud
bombing counted in 1 point. Shelling using Surface-to-Surface missiles counted
in 1 point. Shelling using cluster bombs recorded in Sarmeen in Idlib.
Thermobaric bombs recorded in Rastan in Homs. Chemical Weapon recorded in Adra
in Damascus Suburbs. Mortar shelling counted in 116 points. Artillery shelling
counted in 115 points. Rocket shelling counted for 89 points on various parts
of Syria (LCCs).
Clashes: 135. Successful rebel
operations include the liberation of many buildings in Teshreen Neighborhood
and targeting the Omayad Square and the State TV premises in Damascus City. In
Daraa, rebels facilitated the defection of more soldiers serving at the Eastern
Checkpoint in Hraak. In Raqqa, rebels targeted the Tabqa Military Airport using
two homemade rockets (LCCs).
News
Syrian
Opposition Leader Quits Post he resignation of Mr. Khatib, who has
pushed for talks between the Syrian government and its armed opponents, came
five days after the coalition elected an interim prime minister, Ghassan Hitto,
who rejects any such dialogue. The announcement threw the Syrian Opposition
Coalition into disarray. It underscored the challenges that the group still
faced in establishing legitimacy and effective leadership, evn though it was
recognized by dozens of countries four months ago as the legitimate
representative of the Syrian people. Adding to the confusion, the coalition’s
media office said later on Sunday that Mr. Khatib had agreed to stay on, while
a spokesman for Mr. Khatib said that he had not.
Syrian
rebel army chief severely wounded in car blast Reports in Arab media
say an explosive device was attached to Riad al-Assad's car; attack comes as
rift in opposition deepens.
Syrian
forces fire chemical weapons at rebels near Damascus, opposition says Opposition
sources say Syrian military used chemical arms on outskirts of Damascus,
killing two, wounding 23; no independent confirmation of attack, which follows
death of 26 in a rocket attack near Aleppo last week.
Fearing
stark future, Syrian Alawites meet in Cairo In the first meeting of its
kind by Alawites who support the revolt, delegates aimed to draft a declaration
supporting a united Syria and to invite other opposition groups to cooperate on
preventing sectarian bloodletting if Assad falls. "We are inviting all of
the opposition to confront the sectarian problem being ignited by the regime.
The last card the regime can now play is civil war and the partition of
Syria," said veteran opposition campaigner Bassam al-Youssef, an Alawite
who spent more than a decade in jail under the iron rule of Assad's father, the
late President Hafez al-Assad. As the war takes on an increasingly sectarian
bent, distancing the Alawites from Assad could be crucial for the survival of
the community, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that makes up about 10 percent of
Syria's population. "The meeting is happening almost two years late,"
a Western diplomat said. "But it will help disassociate the sect from
Assad. Every effort is needed now to prevent a wide-scale sectarian bloodbath
when Assad eventually goes, in which the Alawites would be the main
losers."
Kerry
Tells Iraq to Help Stop Arms Shipments to Syria Mr. Kerry’s visit was
the first by an American secretary of state since Hillary Rodham Clinton went
to Iraq in 2009, and it came amid growing concern over Iraq’s role in the
Syrian conflict. Flights of Iranian weapons to Syria through Iraqi airspace,
which a senior State Department official said were occurring on nearly a daily
basis, have been crucial for the government of President Bashar al-Assad of
Syria, which faces increasing pressure from rebel fighters. Mr. Kerry said he
had a spirited discussion with Mr. Maliki about the issue, but there was no
tangible sign that the Iraqis would alter their position.
"Red
line has been crossed" in Syria, Rogers says There's mounting
evidence that over the last two years the Assad regime has used "at least
a small quantity" of chemical weapons against rebel forces in Syria's
raging civil war, House Intelligence Committee chair Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said
today on "Face the Nation," adding that the time is now for U.S.
intervention… hough a senior administration official has said intelligence this
week suggests weaponized chemicals were not used in the recent strike, Rogers
said the fact that President Bashar al-Assad has ordered scud missile attacks
on civilians "in and of itself should prompt action." The
"wholesale slaughter" of Syrian rebels and civilians, he said,
"is now spilling up to the doorstep of Israel." "This is a
growing, destabilizing event in the Middle East," Rogers continued. "Our
Arab League allies talk to us frequently, and they are as frustrated as I have
seen them because of the lack of U.S. leadership at the time table."
Senior Arab diplomats this morning announced the Arab League has decided to
transfer Syria's seat away from Assad and to opposition forces.
Israel
fires into Syria after Golan attack on troops It was not immediately
clear whether Israel held Syrian troops or rebels responsible for what a
spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said had been a deliberate
attack on Israeli patrols in the occupied territory. Israeli forces
"destroyed a Syrian machine gun nest that fired twice in the last 24 hours
on Israeli patrols operating to safeguard the border," the spokesman, Ofir
Gendelman, said on his Twitter page.
I
flew secret missions carrying cash and weapons into Syria for Assad, pilot
reveals A former Syrian army cargo pilot has revealed how he flew
secret missions for the regime of Bashar al-Assad to carry cash and weapons
into the country in the face of international sanctions.
Daughter
of Syria's slain cleric speaks out Al-Bouti's daughter, Sumayya,
however, said that her father could not have changed his position. She said
those who killed him were "unjust" and "criminal" - but
refused to say who she thought might have been responsible for his death.
"My father's position is clear. It was based on conviction and religious
texts. He believed one should not disobey the ruler. Disobeying him may lead to
strife and strife would lead to a cycle of more disorder," she said,
speaking from Saudi Arabia.
Multiple
mortars slam central Damascus, causing injuries Multiple mortar shells
fired by Syrian armed rebels landed Sunday near the state TV's office building
and Sheraton Hotel in the heart of the capital Damascus, causing injuries and
material damages, witnesses told Xinhua. According to Xinhua reporter at the
scene, thick clouds of smoke permeated the area and heavy security forces were
deployed in the streets, cutting off all routes leading to the Umayyad Square,
where the state TV's office building is located.
Aid-filled
ambulances from Poland speed to Syria refugee crisis Poland's tiny
Syrian community -- estimated to number 500 people -- organised the aid drive because
the international community has been too slow in responding, the organiser of
the initiative said. "The world is dragging its feet in finding a solution
for the Syrian people and refugees are in a dramatic situation," Imat
Aldahari, a Syrian who has been living in Poland for two decades, told AFP as a
team of volunteers packed the ambulances purchased through donations with
medical and other supplies. "We can't wait any longer," said
Aldahari, adding that two other ambulances are due to join them in Romania.
Malta
recognises Syrian opposition Malta on Friday officially recognised the
Syrian Opposition National Coalition as the sole legal representative of the
people of Syria. In a short statement, the island nation's foreign ministry
said its position was made known during an informal meeting of EU foreign
ministers in Dublin which was being attended by Foreign Minister George Vella.
IDF
turns attention to Lebanon as Syrian army falls apart While Assad's
forces have reportedly lost some 13,000 men, and some 40,000 soldiers have
deserted, Iran and Hezbollah are gaining access to treasure trove of weapons in
Syria.
Latest Rumor
Special
Reports
Current and former
U.S. officials acknowledged that confirming a small-scale chemical weapons
attack poses technical challenges that have been compounded by limitations on
the ability of U.S. spy agencies to gather reliable intelligence, let alone air
or soil samples, inside Syria… The course Obama intends to take if confronted
with proof of a chemical attack is equally unclear. The Pentagon has prepared
calibrated options, ranging from airstrikes to sending troops to seize weapons
sites. But officials said they haven’t taken the advance steps necessary to
carry out such orders because planning has been hobbled by concerns about the
political backlash to a potential U.S. intervention as well as struggles to
coordinate with regional allies.
In
Syria’s Civil War, Doctors Find Themselves in Cross Hairs Embattled
cities like Aleppo and vast swaths of the countryside suffer from an acute
shortage of doctors and medical supplies, with the government’s deadly campaign
an important factor in prompting doctors to flee. Because of the shortage, all
kinds of people with little previous surgical experience — dentists, medical
students and nurses, not to mention car mechanics and bakers — are now
performing minor surgery. Numerous untrained volunteers have been talked
through operations to the point where they can now extract a bullet from an arm
or a leg, but not from more complicated spots like the chest or the throat.
How
Islamist Rebels in Syria Are Ruling a Fallen Provincial Capital So far,
the city has avoided the disorder of a postregime security vacuum. Very few
homes were looted. The banks and the money in them have been secured, while
government and security offices were not ransacked and the paperwork within
them was not burned. Instead the files have been collected and are being
studied. The city’s two churches in this majority Sunni Muslim area are
untouched and protected, although the townsfolk speak of Alawites being killed
just for being Assad’s coreligionists. So why and how did this happen in Raqqa?
Put simply, it’s because the regime had diluted its forces there, deploying
them to other parts of the country, and because the forces aligned against
Assad were mainly Islamists, largely outside the broad umbrella of the more
secular, loosely organized and in some cases poorly disciplined Free Syrian
Army (FSA).
My
new paper, prepared for a briefing in Washington, D.C. that took place on
January 15, 2013, is now out and is titled “Syria
2013: Rise of the Warlords.” It should be read in conjunction with my
previous briefing “The
Shredded Tapestry,” and my recent essay “The
Creation of an Unbridgeable Divide.”
Video Highlights
Founder of the Free Syrian Army, Col. Riyad al-Assaad was the subject
of an assassination attempt on the eve of March 24 during his visit to the town
of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor Province. He was rushed to the local hospital
and there are conflicting reports as to his current state, but the most
reliable ones indicate that he survived having lost a leg. It is not clear who
the perpetrators were. Mayadeen is completely controlled by Jabhat Al-Nusra http://youtu.be/WZfyZLbp6dE
Newly elected head of the provisional government, Ghassan Hitto,
paid a visit to the liberated parts of Aleppo City on March 24 where he met
with the newly elected members of the local Revolutionary. http://youtu.be/ubnsMlbT87g The
appointment of Hitto remains quite controversial, with many rebel leaders
voicing their concerns in this regard. But chatter in opposition circles points
to disagreements between Saudi Arabia and her camp within the Syrian opposition
and Qatar and her camp (the Muslim Brotherhood) who managed to impose Mr.
Hitto. Mr. Hitto himself is not affiliated with the Brotherhood, but his views
reflect an endorsement of political Islam. It is not clear to which extant this
will affect his choice of cabinet, but he is unlikely to be given much leeway
by his allies. Also, it’s not clear whether his appointment will survive for
long.
Marwan Afif, the chief magistrates for the Druze sect in Suwaida
Province announces his defection. He also declares his support for the
revolution against “the criminal regime” and says that he would join of the
Union of Free Syrian Magistrates and the Association for the Protection of
State Institutions http://youtu.be/EHjoEPR1thY
The Art of Surviving in the town of Douma, Eastern Ghoutah,
Damascus Suburbs http://youtu.be/28d1-AgGOW0
The Disaster Emergency Committee in the United Kingdom appeals
for help on behalf of Syrian refugees http://youtu.be/J4kr_Au5IHw
Clashes
Rebels in Daraa Province take control of the headquarters of the 38th
Battalion near the town of Saida, killing its commanding officer.
Dividing the spoils http://youtu.be/MOih2D_Pg74
, http://youtu.be/qbPH-TxPpcs , http://youtu.be/7wBj5D8IXBA Tour of the
facilities after liberation http://youtu.be/o-80Rb1IOx8
Loyalist prisoners http://youtu.be/BT0CAnQCZH0
Rebels vow to put the prisoners on trial in accordance with Sharia and the
international law http://youtu.be/O-HAeJOeqgU
Prisoners who were held by the loyalists and who have been liberated by rebels http://youtu.be/yE3gK5pkbjA , http://youtu.be/g8jADZfmLj0 , http://youtu.be/gFXKXV-wd0w , http://youtu.be/roCsIWmeWQ4 Rebels
exhibit the ID of Brigadier General Mahmoud Darweesh, an Alawite officer from
the town of Qardaha, the Assads’ hometown, whom they killed in the bathroom of
the facilities http://youtu.be/aXRtE12iBg0
The body of the General can be seen here http://youtu.be/IHS49Axj-EA
And here http://youtu.be/GiHZxy2F9t4
Elsewhere in Daraa, rebels take control of the main checkpoint in the
town of Yadoudah http://youtu.be/zR-o9wDXR6k
With these developments the liberation of the Daraa Province is now
half done, the next major battle will take place in the provincial capital. Meanwhile,
in Daraa City, rebels took control of the main postal office after weeks
of siege http://youtu.be/2u-HPTQh2Qo
, http://youtu.be/9kR9eK0h7os
In the province of Quneitrah along the Israeli borders, battles
between rebels and loyalists continue to rage. This leaked video shows the
bodies of rebels killed by pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/sRFssoHvV-8
Clashes between loyalists and rebels intensify on the outskirts of the
city of Hama in central Syria http://youtu.be/lykScBSboqk
In Damascus City, rebels take control of the “Music” Brigade in Jobar
neighborhood http://youtu.be/hRymRBrPmxE
Removing the dead bodies of loyalist soldiers http://youtu.be/DWdbirXnlQA
In nearby Douma, rebels claim that these wounded rebels are the
victims of a chemical weapons attack. Rebels keep insisting that some form of
chemical weapons is being used against local population in Eastern Ghoutah. We
have no way of verifying this. Reported symptoms include respiratory problems,
sweating, convulsions and drooling http://youtu.be/_OibQ0NlWuY
, http://youtu.be/-sIbN_w1sPU
On March 24, rebels targeted Syrian TV and the Omayad Square in
Damascus City with a barrage of homemade rockets http://youtu.be/Ak0RWLf2Yz4 , http://youtu.be/hXPSKPzdCBY State TV
covered the event as well http://youtu.be/TMYUjNWs_nk
In Aleppo, MiGs target positions of rebels taking part in laying siege
to the Minnigh Military Airport http://youtu.be/f4oEL3wQVKI
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