The predictable continues to happen in Syria, as world
leaders hold on to their well-rehearsed befuddlement, wringing their hands, while
fate wrings our necks.
Tuesday April
9, 2013
News
Syria's al-Nusra
Front 'part of al-Qaeda' Al-Qaeda in Iraq has confirmed for the first
time that a prominent jihadist group fighting in Syria is part of its network. The
al-Nusra Front is at the forefront of the armed opposition to President Bashar
al-Assad's regime. The leader of the Iraqi wing of al-Qaeda said that al-Nusra
is battling for an Islamic state in Syria. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of the
Islamic State in Iraq, added that both groups were merging. He said: "We
announce the abolition of the Islamic state of Iraq's name and Jabhat
Al-Nusra's name and their amalgamation in one state under one name: The Islamic
state in Iraq and the Levant."
Libya
arms fueling conflicts in Syria, Mali and beyond: U.N. experts The experts
said transfers of arms to Syria - where a two-year-old civil war has killed
more than 70,000 people - had been organized from various locations in Libya,
including Misrata and Benghazi, via Turkey or northern Lebanon. "The
significant size of some shipments and the logistics involved suggest that
representatives of the Libyan local authorities might have at least been aware
of the transfers, if not actually directly involved," the experts said.
Syria 'death video'
of Sheikh al-Bouti poses questions A video currently circulating on the
internet, purporting to show the explosion on 21 March that killed Sheikh
Muhammad al-Bouti in a Damascus mosque, raises many questions about the death
of a man who was more familiar to Syrian TV viewers than anybody other than
President Bashar al-Assad.
Special
Reports
In
Syria, some brace for the next war The capture last month of the city
of Raqqah, Syria’s first provincial capital to fall under opposition control,
consolidated the gains of an assortment of mostly Islamist-inclined groups
across three northeastern provinces. Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad
cling to just a tiny number of scattered bases and could be ejected anytime. Yet
even as the regime continues to hold out, schisms are emerging among rebel
groups over ideology, the shape of a future Syrian state and control of the
significant resources concentrated in this long-neglected but crucial corner of
the country.
Syria's
Jihadists face test of government in eastern city Hardline Islamist
brigades patrol streets abandoned by police. A religious court has replaced a
collapsed judicial system, and minorities have fled, according to civic
activists in Raqqa, the largest city to fall to the opposition since the
uprising against four decades of Assad family rule broke out in March 2011. The
Jihadist show of force coupled with the absence of the Western-backed Syrian
National Coalition, the main grouping of the political opposition, could
consolidate an Islamist sweep in the north and east of the country. But the
experience of Raqqa, where there have been demonstrations and strikes, shows
that Islamist rule has got off to a difficult start.
Why
Turkey Won't Attack Syria The government doesn't want to boost the
stature of the military, it has a big Alawite community, and plenty of other
reasons.
A
Very Busy Man Behind the Syrian Civil War’s Casualty Count He has been
called a tool of the Qatari government, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Central
Intelligence Agency and Rifaat al-Assad, the exiled uncle of Syria’s president,
Bashar al-Assad, among others. The Syrian government and even some rebels have
accused him of treachery. “Rami’s objectivity is killing us,” said Manhal
Bareesh, an activist from Saraqib who knew him before the war. But he and other
activists in Syria credit him with working hard to document all the cases, and
not hesitating to document potential war crimes.
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
Two days ago, this Scud missile fell on the village of Salhabiyeh
in Raqqah Province, but failed to explode http://youtu.be/gxPDvik9w6k
The pounding of restive neighborhoods in east and south Damascus City
continues: Jobar http://youtu.be/Ce5sCtCFIS4
, http://youtu.be/PcOEXoycaj0 Al-Hajar
Al-Aswad http://youtu.be/tmxSVglOgZQ
, http://youtu.be/IlnSmOKjO2M Al-Madniyeh
http://youtu.be/RouNVgSjnAk
Meanwhile warplanes continue their bombardment of the towns and suburbs
of Eastern Ghoutah http://youtu.be/Pa0XcZgP5u8
But sometimes, pro-Assad militias are too eager, and accidents happen in which
they end up hurting each other http://youtu.be/Cj6tiRzUXII
Tanks keep trying to pound their way into the town of Daraya,
west of Damascus City http://youtu.be/pAmXIxa4SVw
, http://youtu.be/haIdMXOCjec , http://youtu.be/lC0DLSepJ-I , http://youtu.be/OuOZWmVLECo , http://youtu.be/eU8_JwVbiaI Meanwhile,
tanks lay siege and continue their pounding of the nearby town of Moadamiya
http://youtu.be/dpjsvuDRuBE , http://youtu.be/y8HGRkBbBw8
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