While some seem to have perfected the art of killing with
impunity, others are busy perfecting the art of watching them with impunity. Ours
is the Golden Age of Impunity.
Wednesday
April 10, 2013
News
U.N.
talks with Syria on chemical arms probe at "impasse" Syria
and the United Nations have been exchanging letters for weeks but the two sides
are far from agreement on how the investigation should be run, diplomats said
on condition of anonymity.
Syria
refugees struggle outside Jordan camps Thousands of Syrians who fled
homeland live in abandoned buildings and struggle for humanitarian aid.
Israel
may be operating in Syria: Troops are allegedly working to identify wounded
Syrians and administer basic medical care A senior Israeli source told
GlobalPost that wounded Syrian rebels who have received medical care in Israel
“are transported across the border only once they are positively identified and
receive initial emergency medical treatment while still on the other side,”
meaning on Syrian soil. This indicates a much higher level of activity by
Israel in rebel-held lands than has previously been acknowledged. It also is a
sign that Israel is willing to put some of its own personnel in significant
peril in order to retain some semblance of order at the national boundary line.
Israel
indicts Arab citizen for joining Syria's insurgency An Israeli official
said Hikmat Massarwa's case was the first of its kind. Indicted for unlawful
military training, travel to a hostile country and contacts with foreign
agents, he could be jailed for up to 15 years if convicted. Massarwa, 29, was
arrested on March 19 upon returning from Syria, where he helped set up a rebel
base and underwent weapons training, Israel's Shin Bet domestic intelligence
service said in a statement.
Human
Rights Watch - Syria: Aerial Attacks Strike Civilians The 80-page
report, “Death from the Skies: Deliberate and Indiscriminate Air Strikes on
Civilians,” is based on visits to 50 sites of government air strikes in
opposition-controlled areas in Aleppo, Idlib, and Latakia governorates, and
more than 140 interviews with witnesses and victims. The air strikes Human
Rights Watch documented killed at least 152 civilians. According to a network
of local Syrian activists, air strikes have killed more than 4,300 civilians
across Syria since July 2012. “In village after village, we found a civilian
population terrified by their country’s own air force,” said Ole Solvang, a
Human Rights Watch emergencies researcher who visited the sites and interviewed
many of the victims and witnesses. “These illegal air strikes killed and
injured many civilians and sowed a path of destruction, fear, and
displacement.”
Move
to Widen Help for Syrian Rebels Gains Speed in West In Washington,
administration officials said President Obama had not yet signed off on a
specific package of measures, but had agreed in principle to increase
assistance to the military wing of the Syrian opposition that could include
battlefield gear like body armor and night-vision goggles, but not arms. “Our
assistance has been on an upward trajectory, and the president has directed his
national security team to identify additional measures so that we can increase
assistance,” a senior administration official said.
Special
Reports
Syria
rebel group's dangerous tie to al Qaeda The fact that al-Nusra has
publicly aligned itself with central al Qaeda is worrisome. A long-term safe
haven for this group in Syria could be the prelude for the formation of an
organization with the wherewithal to attack the West, just as al Qaeda's sojourn
in Afghanistan when it was controlled by the Taliban prepared the group for the
9/11 attacks. Second, al-Nusra is widely regarded as the most effective
fighting force in Syria, and its thousands of fighters are the most disciplined
of the forces opposing Assad. Al-Nusra is also the first al Qaeda affiliate to
take a page out of Hezbollah's book and operate not only as an effective
fighting force but also as a large-scale provider of services, for instance,
distributing enormous quantities of desperately needed bread in the areas of
Syria that the group controls. Finally, al-Nusra is the first jihadist group
for many years that has chosen to merge with al Qaeda at a time when it is
having significant success on the battlefield. Al Qaeda's North African
franchise, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, as well as the Yemen-based al Qaeda
in the Arabian Peninsula, both announced their affiliation with al Qaeda only
when they were struggling for resources and exposure.
Tensions
Emerge in Al-Qaida Alliance in Syria The apparent tensions between
Jabhat al-Nusra and al-Qaida in Iraq emerged on Wednesday, when Nusra leader
Abu Mohammad al-Golani appeared to distance himself from claims the two groups
had merged. Instead, he pledged allegiance to al-Qaida's leader, Ayman
al-Zawahiri. Al-Golani said he was not consulted about the merger and only
heard about it through the media. He did not deny the two groups had united,
but remained vague, saying the announcement was premature and that his group
will continue to use Jabhat al-Nusra as its name.
Sisters
in Arms Join the Fighting in Syria “We see women rebels fighting in the
Kurdish areas, in Aleppo, in Homs,” said Rami Abdul-Rahman, founder of the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in Britain. Women
are holding positions both on the battlefront and behind the lines, he said. This
reflects a new strand in the Syrian civil war, according to commanders,
opposition politicians, journalists, aid workers and activists. Women on both
sides are seeking a bigger military role and are finding ways around cultural
barriers that keep them from the battlefield.
Hamas,
Hezbollah Take Opposite Sides in Syria Traitor or not, Middle Eastern
politics is well known for its complexities and elusive alliances. Meshaal made
the right choice if he is to survive in this seething region. This is
realpolitik at its best: What do you do, and how do you do it, when the ground
beneath your feet is in flames and you have no choice but to leave and find
another patron to offer you shelter? When it comes to that, Hassan Nasrallah
could learn a lesson or two from Meshaal.
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.”
Quickly Noted
My take on the recent exchange between head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (the Islamic
Republic of Iraq), Abu Bakr Al-Bahgdadi, and Abu Muhammad Al-Jolani, head of Al-Qaeda’s
affiliate in Syria Jabhat Al-Nusra.
As Jabhat Al-Nusra looks to consolidate its hold on Deir Ezzor and
Raqqa provinces, Al-Baghdadi feels that he is being left out. He makes his announcement
referring to Al-Nusra as an extention of his group to put Al-Jolani in place. But,
Al-Jolani, while acknowledging that Al-Qaeda in Iraq was indeed its initial
benefactor, reassures his allegiance to Al-Qaeda leader, Al-Zawahiri. By doing
this, he puts himself on equal footing with Al-Baghdadi and asserts his
independence. But the incident proves Al-Nusra’s connection to Al-Qaeda and creates
problems for her on the domestic scene.
Video Highlights
Pro-Assad militias perpetrate a new massacre in the town of Sanamein
in Daraa province. Locals say members of Hezbollah and Iraqi Shia fighters were
involved. After particularly intense pounding, around 1,500 troops entered the
city and set fires to homes killing over 40 people, including women and children,
Many were killed with knives: some of the dead http://youtu.be/Tbs3L4EBRQw
, http://youtu.be/SPe0rnsVeK8 burnt
out homes http://youtu.be/oQCu_Dw2W8c
, http://youtu.be/gWPi4hkCRFM
No comments:
Post a Comment