Since the beginning of the armed phase of the revolution, Assad
never bothered trying to get his own captured soldiers, irrespective of their
backgrounds, but, today, he was willing to release over 2,100 prisoners in
exchange for 48 Iranian captives. These priorities of his might give us a “hint”
as to who is really in charge in Syria at this stage. The demons within are legion,
so are the demons without. Snowfall notwithstanding, we are already in the lowest
depths of hell, and we’re fighting our way out.
Wednesday
January 9, 2013
Today’s
Death Toll: 92, (including
9 children and 4 women): 29 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs,
27 martyrs in Aleppo, 14 martyrs in Hama, 7 martyrs in Idlib, 8 martyrs in
Homs, 4 martyrs in Daraa and 3 martyrs in Deir Ezzor (LCCs).
Points
of Random Shelling: 180: 2 points were shelled by warplanes, Cluster Bombs were used in Taftanaz
and Omar Oil Field in Deir Ezzor, 86 points were shelled by artillery (the
fiercest was reported in Damascus Suburbs), 51 points by missiles and 42 points
by mortars (LCCs).
Clashes: The FSA clashed with regime
forces in 77 locations (the fiercest clashes were reported in Damascus
Suburbs, Idlib and Aleppo), the FSA stormed several buildings in Taftanaz
Military Airport and targeted its main building, the FSA blocked many attempts
by the regime forces to storm Daraya and Mouadamiya in Damascus Suburbs and
Basr Al-Harir in Daraa (LCCs).
News
Syria
releases 2,130 captives to rebels in exchange for 48 Iranian prisoners “Assad
proved he is an Iranian puppet because he agreed to release over 2,000 in
return for 48 Iranians,” said Louay Moqdad, a Free Syrian Army spokesman. “He
did not care about Syrian officers who are also detained with us.”
Syria
opposition welcomes Brahimi comments criticizing Assad Brahimi earlier
told the BBC a speech by Assad on Sunday was a "lost opportunity" to
end the crisis in Syria and that Assad's initiatives to end the violence were
"sectarian and one-sided". He also said the Assad family's more than
40-year rule was "too long".
U.S. Government
Assistance to Syria U.S. assistance includes vigorous diplomatic
support of the newly formed Syrian Opposition Coalition, humanitarian assistance
to help those affected by the conflict, and non-lethal support for local
councils and civil society inside Syria.
Special
Reports
The Humanitarian Front
The UN warns it cannot feed some 1
million displaced Syrians, many in war zones with few bread supplies. A global
response to this humanitarian crisis might help diffuse differences over
political solutions.
The rebels’ hope for a quick victory
in Aleppo has given way to the reality that there is no end in sight to this
war. Though the rebels recently seized the Sheikh Suleiman Air Base and the
Infantry School on the outskirts of Aleppo, the regime still controls large
swaths of the city itself and regularly shells rebel-held zones. The creation
of a new government-in-exile and a unified military command means little to
families on the front lines, fervently hoping the next shell will not land in
their living room. The new National Coalition offers them neither the
necessities or the security they pine for.
In a crowded makeshift camp, tens of
thousands of exiles face an ever more dire existence as temperatures plummet.
Mike Giglio reports from Syria. Plus, see exclusive photos from Syrian refugee
camps.
It is a very cold winter at the Domiz
camp in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. It has been raining for hours. The
place is muddy and very cold… From a vantage point, the camp looks more like a
settlement of tents. Around 30,000 people live in the camp alone. An average of
500 people come in every day, so you can predict that the influx is only
growing. The UN refugee agency is stretched. It provides waterproof tents and
non-food items. It has different phases to house the refugees after the transit
in tents.
Although Turkey and the United States
both want Assad to go, the two countries are in different places. For
Washington, Syria is a smoldering conflict, and Americans abhor the Assad
regime. But Washington fears the unknown after Assad, and is reluctant to get
dragged into a war in another Muslim country…. For Ankara, the Syrian conflict
is a conflagration next door that needs to be extinguished now. Assad has to
go, and fast. Many reasons drive the Turkish calculus. First, there is the
uptick in Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) attacks. As soon as Ankara took sides
against the Assad regime in August 2011, Damascus retaliated, allowing the
Turks' archenemy, the PKK, and its Syrian franchise, the Democratic Union Party
(PYD), to operate on its territory again.
The Syrian civil war threatens the
country's neighbors. Turkey plans to protect itself with Patriot missiles, but
other countries are also worried about the potential collapse of the Syrian
state.
Sheik Ahmad Assir’s skyrocketing
popularity is threatening to turn some members of Lebanon’s primarily moderate
Sunni population more extreme, forcing the country’s long simmering sectarian
tensions to a boil. Assir is the most high-profile of Lebanon’s Salafists — an
ultra-orthodox branch of Sunni Islam. His status is buoyed by the neighbouring
war in Syria, which has devolved into a mostly sectarian fight between Sunnis
and Shiites.
The Cultural Front
Sites in Syria dating as far back as
Christ as are being leveled at alarming rates.
Update from an aid worker based in Beirut
We still go a couple of days a week to Damascus unless the situation
is too bad. Actually it is getting pretty bad also inside Damascus now, they
were firing rockets from helicopters right over us last time I was in and the
rockets they fire on Daraya and Mu’adamiyah among other places sometimes fly
right over us. I saw some of the effects of the carpet bombing of Harasta from
the old city – SANA ran a great article about how “Damascus lovers” still go
the restaurants in the old city to hang out – they just forgot to mention that
the whole town closes down to checkpoints at sunset, that traffic effectively
closes down after 7 and they take away young men for the army at the
checkpoints, that shooting is heard from places all over the centre when it is
dark and there are army snipers on the roofs, and that the shabiha roam the
streets of the old city for fear of FSA infiltration. Not exactly the romantic
atmosphere for “Damascus lovers”….
Nada Bakos, a former Central Intelligence Agency, has this to say about
Al-Nusra’s plans in Syria:
Al-Nusra
is using some of the same tactics as al Qaeda in Iraq (e.g., suicide bombings,
kidnappings and car bombs), but it appears to be trying to strike a balance
Zarqawi was unwilling to make: Not only does it seem to be avoiding
alienating—if not antagonizing—the larger population, but it also is providing
the people of Syria with a range of goods and services such as food, water and
medical care—basic necessities that people need to survive in the best of
times, let alone when their country is in the throes of a civil war.
If
this becomes a trend, it might signal that al-Nusra aspires to be more like
Hezbollah or Hamas, organizations that defy neat categorization based on the
range of social, political and military activities they engage in and the
resultant legitimacy they have in the eyes of their constituencies…
My
read of al-Nusra, however, is that, like Zarqawi, it does not aspire to be a
political player and is unlikely to settle for a political role in the new
government. Instead, it may aim to play the spoiler for any transitional
government and use its resources and political violence to empower and
encourage other like-minded extremists. With time and opportunity, al-Nusra
could not only add to regional instability in the Middle East, but also
rekindle global jihad.
However, information obtained from a variety of local activists in Syria
indicates that Al-Nusra is seriously establishing its own political council
with representatives in the local government emerging throughout the liberated
territories in the north and the northeast. As such, the recommendation made by
Bakos to use the “designation of al-Nusra [as a terrorist group] as both a
stick and carrot, cajoling and encouraging it to enter into mainstream politics
when (or if) the Assad regime falls” sounds like something that the Obama Administration
could try soon, considering that “the opportunity for meaningful U.S.
intervention might have passed.”
Video Highlights
As snow falls, Syrian families in Damascus wait for the release of
their loved ones in accordance with the prisoners swap agreement between rebels
and authorities http://youtu.be/2A91LMqNRBE
The first few are released http://youtu.be/v2FEfkTrIv0
, http://youtu.be/whnXryohVKY
Rebels from Jabhat Al-Nusra bring down a helicopter gunship n
the town of Alboukamal on the Iraqi borders, and arrest its 6-member
crew http://youtu.be/R_nORNTHaOM Meanwhile,
an affiliate of Al-Nusra distributes gas cylinders in the village of Shmeitiyeh
http://youtu.be/QwlvhRyO3P8
Clashes around the military airport in Deir Ezzor continue http://youtu.be/hDN4BxLphNE
Rebels take control of Wadi Obeid oilfield in Raqqah Province http://youtu.be/wD2iEsv8mdI
Rebels affiliated with Ahrar Al-Sham attack the military airport
at Taftanaz in Idlib Province http://youtu.be/-hqq3_sP0oQ
, http://youtu.be/G2qFSeJ97a8 Rebels use
a confiscated armored vehicles to storm over the airport fence http://youtu.be/QFhr8zVGJqY
Intense clashes between FSA rebels and loyalist militias continue in Basr
Al-Harir, Daraa http://youtu.be/li9L5VuwUIc
, http://youtu.be/23kuh7HeQpM
FSA rebels in Aleppo continue their siege of the police academy http://youtu.be/MyTZ2y8x_Uw
Snow http://youtu.be/_IMwo6OPPz0
does not prevent the continuing pounding of restive neighborhoods in Old
Homs http://youtu.be/4Pe_HPV8hiI
Snowfall http://youtu.be/JVXtD36EpJU
does not prevent clashes in parts of Damascus City http://youtu.be/HzDrqs-bpsc
Children in Al-Zaatari Camp in Jordan try to fix their fallen tent
http://youtu.be/Biko44LrpeI
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