Category Archives: Syria

Kurdistan – Rojava

29 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Middle East, Politics, Regions, Syria

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We are fighting America’s war on terror right here on the ground,” says Kurdish fighter Dijwar Osman. “Our enemies are those al Qaeda fighters who want to destroy our 4,000-year-old Kurdish culture. These jihadists come from Belgium, Holland, Morocco, Libya, and other countries. Unfortunately, the U.S. and Turkey are on the side of al Qaeda, just like the U.S. was on al Qaeda’s side in Afghanistan during the ’80’s

Doornbos, Harrald D. and Jenan Moussa.  “The Civil War Within Syria’s Civil War.”  Foreign Policy, August 28, 2013.

This is the hard punch from the same article: “They have their own army and police here, names of towns have been changed from Arabic to Kurdish, and the Kurdish language is being taught in schools — something that was forbidden under the Assad regime.”

Call this lead still hot:

People’s Defense Units (YPG) and Women’s Defense Units (YPJ) guerrillas in Rojava are engaged in fighting al-Qaeda-linked armed groups since 15 July 2013. A remarkable part of the region has been cleared of the gang groups as a result of the resistance by Kurdish guerrillas as well as by local people supporting them in the villages, towns, districts and provinces of western Kurdistan.

Firatnews.  “The Kurdish resistance in the villages of Rojava.”  August 29, 2013.

An Islam tolerant of others may be tolerated, and for all outside its Ummah, as much seems a theme heavily argued.

However, the better nature of human nature may fit with nature: a still wild species would seem Homo sapiens sapiens in a still wild world where abundance and variety fill out to their edges every physical, political, and social niche.  There are no tribes that would regard themselves as other than a “First People” but even the Jews — perhaps simply the Jews — recognize the chosen qualities in others and unless assaulted leave each to go their way.

* * *

“Rojava Genocide”, posted to YouTube August 9, 2013.

* * *

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Peshmerga secretary-general Jabbar Yawar told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Kurdish military delegation “informed the Iraqi side of the Peshmerga ministry’s complete readiness to send its forces to any spot in Iraq to confront terrorism, in the event of the federal Ministry of Defense requesting this.”

Asharq Al-Awsat.  “Kurdish Peshmerga ready to confront terrorism across Iraq.” August 4, 2013.  

After so many years of state-related parlay, the pressure placed on the Kurds by the forces of Islamic Jihad seems to have wrested Kurdish space from state control in Syria and encouraged Kurdish martial consolidation and political solidarity in line with self-government.

While Putin plays Syria for all it’s worth — I should think the Greek Orthodox Church and the Ayatollah’s enterprise have the deepest of natural disaffinities — and Cameron plus Obama work with Qatar plus the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, history (plus a little chaos theory by way of the Al Qaeda types) may have just brought the Kurdish community an opportunity to settle down to defending itself in its own space.

We shall see.

* * *

Kurdish-inhabited_area_by_CIA_(1992)

Kurdish-inhabited area by CIA (1992). Secondary source: Wikimedia Commons.

Lest any get carried away with the above map, reference back to Wikipedia’s “Syrian Kurdistan” page may be helpful.  From that page:

During the Syrian civil war, the Popular Protection Units (YPG) were created under the administration of the Kurdish Supreme Committee to control the Kurdish inhabited areas in Syria. On 19 July 2012, the YPG captured the city of Kobanê (Ayn al-Arab), and the next day captured Amûdê and Efrîn.[6] The two main Kurdish groups, theKurdish National Council (KNC) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD), afterwards formed a joint leadership council to run the captured cities.[6] By 24 July, the Syrian Kurdish cities of Dêrika Hemko (Al-Malikiyah), Serê Kaniyê (Ra’s al-‘Ayn), Dirbêsî (Al-Darbasiyah) and Girkê Legê (Al-Ma’bada) had also come under the control of the Popular Protection Units. The only major Kurdish inhabited cities that remained under government control were Hasaka and Qamishli.[7][8]

* * *

Sky News Kurdish Women Fighters Battle In Aleppo

Although the above clip appears to have been posted to YouTube today, I believe it actually comes from Stuart Ramsay’s report for Sky News, “Syria: Kurdish Women Fighters Battle in Aleppo,” May 20, 2013.  From that source:

It is a mess, and the government with support from Hezbollah and Iran is reinvigorated, making or taking back new and old ground daily.

But the revolution is ongoing. Huge swathes of the country are outside government control and the many, many people I meet are happy with that.

Additional Reference

Colling, Andre.  “The impact of the Syrian conflict on neighbouring states.”  News24, August 27, 2013.

Hezen Parastina Gel

Huffington Post.  “Turkey Kurdish Conflict”.

Kurd Press.  “Number of Syrian in Kurdistan Region exceeds 200,000.”  August 28, 2013.

Neriah, Jacques.  “The Kurdish awakening in Syria: Could it lead to regional war?”  The Jerusalem Post, August 22, 2013.

Shekhani, Sherzad.  “Iran’s Kurdish PJAK organization is prepared to send fighters to Syrian Kurdistan.”  Kurd Net, August 5, 2013.

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FNS – Christopher Dickey on Syria – Political Analysis – And One or Two Grandiose Thoughts

29 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by in A Little Wisdom, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Fast News Share, Islamic Small Wars, Middle East, Regions, Syria

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The other great American ally in the region, Israel, has for the most part recused itself from the Syrian conflict. Its only direct action has been to strike Hezbollah supply networks that might have carried threatening missiles into Lebanon, and to shell Syrian fighters who brought their war too close to the Israeli frontier. In fact, although Saudi Arabia and Israel are technically enemies, their interests coincide very closely in Syria. Both want to see Iran weakened, neither wants to see Assad last, and neither want to see the Brotherhood or al Qaeda take control. In such a situation, a protracted war draining the resources of its enemies is not the worst thing that could happen from Israel’s point of view.

Dickey, Christopher.  “Let It Bleed: No American Action Can Resolve the Syrian Conflict.” The Daily Beast, August 28, 2013.

We don’t put humans in zoos (except for criminals best kept in cages): some “uncontacted people” we, well, the world of scholars, try to leave alone; some primitive tribes enjoy nominal to effective state-based protective security with freedom to choose their communal way exclusively or assimilate incrementally under their own volition.

Noting that and sometimes likening Sunni vs. Shiite strife to “two mad wasps in a bell jar,” one may well view Syria’s agony and its surround of political drivers, from the post-Soviet interest of neo-oligarch Russia to the alien-to-the-west ambitions of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as taking place in a political crucible so isolated as to be compared an island or pit expressly designed for viewing Homo sapiens sapiens at its worst.

It’s not called a “theater” for nothin’.

* * *

Last Wednesday, in the hours after a horrific chemical attack east of Damascus, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons unit, demanding answers for a nerve agent strike that killed more than 1,000 people. Those conversations were overheard by U.S. intelligence services, The Cable has learned.

Schachtman, Noah.  “Exclusive: Intercepted Calls Prove Syrian Army Used Nerve Gas, U.S. Spies Say.”  The Cable, Foreign Policy, August 27, 2013.

I may disagree here with Christopher Dickey as regards the effects of a punitive strike against the Syrian military to discourage additional chemical weapons attacks: the mentality involved has long proven itself beyond criticism, conscience, and prudence.

Maher is accused of multiple human rights abuses and is considered the most feared man in Syria. Aside from the recent chemical attacks, there are several examples of horrible atrocities carried out by troops he commands. In March 2011, his fourth division lead a siege against a “group of schoolboys” who were calling for Bashar to leave. Maher ordered them all killed.

Michelson, Brad.  “Maher al-Assad: Top 10 Facts You Need to Know.”  Heavy, August 28, 2013.

About that group of schoolboys:  Chulov, Martin.  “Did Assad’s ruthless brother mastermind alleged Syria gas attack?”  The Guardian, August 24, 2013.

* * *

Theologist Thomas Berry placed man as the enabled living agent in an unfolding earth process: we’re able to live with the earth, respond to our own presence in it (as we do with anti-pollution controls, laws, and strategies).  Beside that thought I would place the idea that the World Wide Web and its social networks form a nerve-type skein around the globe’s human affairs — even “human process” — too, and we know where life is burning and where it is sweet, where correction is wanted and peace is needed.

I’ve never really liked the brand name “Google” (goes with a child’s rattling toy) nor the slogan “Islamic Awakening” but ironically, oddly, both terms may refer to an organismic acquisition of a new consciousness and conscience.  Not since God sewed skins for Adam and Even on their way out into their human journey has mankind enjoyed such an expansion of awareness.

I’ll spare you the “Pale Blue Dot” on this post.

What’s happening in Syria today: evil.

Whatever the cloaks and covers, the excuses and the temptations, it’s not what anyone wants or should want.

What is happening around Syria, whether with concerns for refugees, with “tracking” the conflict, with ideas in an Awesome Conversation taking place around the world in real time 24/7/365, that is what is wanted.

Wake up!  Wake up!  Wake up!

Additional Reference

Reilly, Jill.  “U.S. spies certain Assad used nerve gas ‘after intercepting phone call from panicking Syrian defence chief demanding an explanation from its chemical weapon military unit’.”  Mail Online, August 28, 2013.

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Syria – A Glance at Mercenaries and Russian Moves

28 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Middle East, Politics, Regions, Syria

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On 11 June 2013, President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that President Assad’s position had led to the current situation in Syria. He stated on Russian state media that:

“Syria as a country was rife for some kind of change. And the government of Syria should have felt that in due time and should have undertaken some reform. Had they done that, what we’re seeing in Syria today would have never happened.”

Russian mercenaries on rebell side in syria? (Published June 10, 2013).

* * *

Last year, the Syrian government presented the UN Security Council with lists of hundreds of foreign nationals who had been killed fighting against government forces in Syria. The lists included mercenaries from Arab countries, Europe, and Russia’s North Caucasus region, including Chechnya.

RIA Novosti.  “CIS Security Services to Track Syria Mercenaries.”  May 15, 2013.

Russia evacuated 116 Russian citizens and nationals of other ex-Soviet states on two planes belonging to the emergencies ministry which flew them from the Syrian port city of Latakia, the ministry said on Wednesday.

The flights came as expectations grow of Western military action against president Bashar al-Assad’s regime over claims it used chemical weapons in an attack outside the Syrian capital last week.

AFP.  “US and allies build case for Syria military action, Russia evacuates citizens.”  August 28, 2013.

Yet Russia continues to vote with the Palestinians at the United Nations, to invite Hamas to Moscow, to help Iran with its nuclear programme and to sell missiles to Syria, which then end up in the hands of Lebanon’s Hezbollah. In truth, a degree of disconnect has marked Russia’s relations with Israel ever since its foundation in 1948.

The Economist.  “Vladimir Putin and the holy land: Warmer relations with Israel do not stop Russia backing Syria and Iran.”  March 16, 2013.

* * *

Russia has been (quietly) channeling civilian and military assets out of and away from Syria for some time, so while its talk supports the Assad regime, its walk appears in the other direction.

Whatever Russia’s true underlying stance may be — I happen to think it has to do with making money at the moment — its interests may reside more with the wild, wild west than with the interests of Islamic theocracies (and also more with the Greek Orthodox Church and Russia’s own grand heroic mythos than with emulation of foreign comic book inventions).

While Russia plays around with what it wants “Syria Next” to look like — because “Syria Dark Star” (as I like to call it) has had its bridges leading back to the recent past burned, most of them by its itself through relentless bombing and tank campaigns — it has become a general war zone for all comers.

Here is a Wikipedia listing for detailing armed strength on the rebel side (not including third-way Kurdish forces):

Syria Free Syrian Army: 50,000[4] – 80,000[25]

Syria Syrian Islamic Liberation Front: 37,000[4] (by May 2013)
 Syrian Islamic Front: 13,000[4] (by May 2013)
 Al-Nusra Front: 6,000[4] (by June 2013)
 Foreign Mujahideen: 10,000 (by August 2013)[26]

One might ask whether in its post-Soviet existence, Mother Russia has any obligations to Syria’s constituency in its entirety, and if so, what those might be, and what it needs to do to fulfill the obligations of the relationships, that as opposed to merely fulfilling arms deliveries contracts.

On 11 June 2013, President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that President Assad’s position had led to the current situation in Syria. He stated on Russian state media that:

“Syria as a country was rife for some kind of change. And the government of Syria should have felt that in due time and should have undertaken some reform. Had they done that, what we’re seeing in Syria today would have never happened.”[67]

Wikipedia.  “Russia’s role in the Syrian civil war”.

(I’d quote from source “67” but it wants me to subscribe.  If it were just one outlet or a few, maybe, but for the fast overviews I’ve been doing, I will need a sponsor with deeper pockets than my own and as good an attitude about looking at what “conflict, culture, language, and psychology” look like worldwide from the Second Row Seat to History, the common shared news platform provided by the World Wide Web).

Additional Reference

Meichtry, Stacy and Gregory L. White.  “Russia Counters EU Threats on Syria.”  Wall Street Journal, May 28, 2013.

The Mideastwire Blog.  “Russia says manpads in Syria theatre.”  October 24, 2012.

The Voice of Russia.  “US, Turkey worried by Syria mercenaries.”  August 8, 2013.

Syria – Chemical Warhead Launch Ascribed to 155th Brigade – 4th Armored Division – Syrian Army

28 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Israel, Middle East, Regions, Syria

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The 8200 unit of the Israeli Defence Forces, which specialises in electronic surveillance, intercepted a conversation between Syrian officials regarding the use of chemical weapons, an unnamed former Mossad official told Focus. The content of the conversation was relayed to the US, the ex-official said.

 The 8200 unit collects and analyses electronic data, including wiretapped telephone calls and emails. It is the largest unit in the IDF.

Sherwood, Harriet.  “Israel intelligence ‘intercepted Syrian regime talk about chemical attack’: Information passed to US by Israeli Defence Forces 8200 unit, former official tells magazine.”  The Guardian, August 28, 2013.

Funky timing: for four or five days, not one mention of specifically “who” in the where, what, how, and why of the chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs — and today the answer seems to be unavoidable in online search and dated back to August 24 (see the Debka File citation in reference).

Nonetheless, if attributed to Maher al-Assad’s command, then the world has a figure already steeped in legendary criminal malice: there’s not much he can do to cast himself into even a darker light.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, said in March 2011 that Maher’s actions during the uprising approached “savagery,” and urged Bashar to send him into exile.

Alexander, Harriet and Philip Sherwell.  “Maher al-Assad accused of orchestrating deadly chemical weapon attack.”  The Telegraph, August 25, 2013.

Additional Reference

AP.  “Report: Russia to send marines to Syria.”  The Daily Caller, June 18, 2012.  Relayed here for the photograph that tops the piece; it actually seems to cover a Russian defensive effort to secure civilian and military assets exiting Syria a little more than a year ago.

BackChannels.  “In Foreign Affairs – Putin – Analysis from March 2013.”  March 13, 2013.

DEBKA File.  “The sarin shells fired on Damascus – by Syrian 4th Division’s 155th Brigade – were followed by rockets on Israel and car bombings in Lebanon.”  August 24, 2013.

Bryen, Shoshana.  “The Incredible Shrinking US-Israel Security Cooperation.”  June 27, 2012.

Dilanian, Ken.  “Israel may have intercepted Syrian discussions about chemical attack.”  Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2013.

Drury, Ian.  “How the West could smash Assad’s arsenal: US military chiefs draw up a list of targets with UK for precision-guided bombs and missiles.”  Mail Online, August 25, 2013.

El-Khoury, Rajeh.  “Moscow Hints at Break with Assad.”  Al Monitor, February 2, 2012.

Wikipedia.  “Unit 8200”.

Williams, Amanda.  “‘Ruthless’ brother of President Assad accused of being behind chemical weapons attack which killed 1,200 Syrians.”  Mail Online, August 28, 2013.

Staff.  “Israel TV: Chemical weapons were fired by Assad’s brother’s unit.”  Time of Israel, August 24, 2013.

Staff.  “SYRIA: Is mystery gunman President Bashar Assad’s brother, Maher?”  Babylon & Beyond, Los Angeles Times, May 7, 2011.

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Syria – Actionable

27 Tuesday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Journalism, Middle East, Politics, Regions, Syria

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Speaking after U.N. chemical weapons experts came under sniper fire on their way to investigate the scene of the attack, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the use of chemical weapons was undeniable and “there is very little doubt in our mind that the Syrian regime is culpable.”

Wroughton, Lesley and Erika Solomon.  “Syria chemical weapons attack: Kerry accuses Assad of ‘a moral obscenity’.”  Chicago Tribune, August 26, 2013.

Russia has no evidence of whether a chemical weapons attack has taken place in Syria or who is responsible, Russian President Vladimir Putin told British Prime Minister David Cameron in a telephone call, according to Cameron’s official website.

Tehran Times.  “Putin to Cameron: No evidence Syria chemical weapons attack occurred.”  August 27, 2013.

* * *

Syria stinks.

Not only does Syria stink for Syrians — keep in mind this latest imbecility takes place in a war zone that has killed more than 100,000 and displaced upwards of four million souls — but it envelopes everyone with a hand in it.

Ariel Cohen, a senior research fellow at the US think tank the Heritage Foundation, told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Monday that in response to an attack on their Syrian ally, Russia could “expand supply of dual use nuclear technology” to Iran as its nuclear energy company, Rosatom, is anxious to sell more reactors.

Solomon, Ariel Ben.  “Expert: US-led attack on Syria may lead to increased Russian cooperation with Iran.”  The Jerusalem Post, August 27, 2013.

Let’s do business, shall we?

* * *

Because that’s what Syria’s about.

I happen to have the audacity to think the west wants to earn back some part of its investment in oil; Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey would seem to want to expand the Sunni side of the Islamic enterprise in the middle east; Israel could do with a weakened Iran-Hezbollah-Syria structure on its flanks; and God bless him, truly, for Christian Russia, President Vladimir Putin wants to use Iran’s errant ambitions to keep an old Soviet Era cash machine (we could call it “Cash Mir”) chugging along, Ayatollah –> Assad and Associates –> Post-Soviet, Neo-Oligarch Russia.

It wasn’t a chemical warhead that took lives in the Damascus suburbs last week.

It was the money.

Follow it from Doha to Moscow on its twinned tracks and you will have the outline of the implosion I might just refer to hereafter as “Syria Dark Star”.

Two of the world’s three most powerful states have a business interest in their relationship with the Assad regime.

Analysts say both China and Russia have their reasons to maintain good relations with Syria.

Russia is one of Syria’s biggest arms suppliers. And China ranked as Syria’s third-largest importer in 2010, according to data from the European Commission.

Yan, Holly.  “Why China, Russia won’t condemn Syrian regime.”  CNN, February 5, 2012.

What is the effect of that, information-wise?

In one video appearing in an alternative or dissenting context in World Net Daily (WND), you will see a frame referring to Saudi Arabia’s “Saudi Factory for Chlorine and Alkalais” (Sachlo) in relation to last week’s chemical attack — again: follow the money and do note, please, the production values — the addition of music and titles to what should be as straight as timely documentation gets — on two of the three videos promoted.

What’s true?

What’s not true?

The money is true — and the reportage may be consigned to following state presentations.

The sucker punch is NATO vs. Russia all over again but for no good reason apart from from the ginning of foreign trade receipts.

It’s business.

Conscience has no role in it.

With China perhaps fat, smiling, and unperturbed, that same money will loan out to the United States and others who will happily accommodate this absurd state of affairs between themselves.

As the chips make their way around the Grand and Global Poker Table, all that will be missing comes to (green shades on and lick the nub of the pen) about 355 souls permanently and about 3,245 incapacitated or traumatized souls.

BBC.  “MSF-backed hospitals treated Syria ‘chemical victims’.”  August 24, 2013.

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One has to ask of conscience and desire: are the worlds now “imaged” by CNN and RT — presented to us with many questions left unasked — anything like a world in which one should want to live?

The early 2010 “Question More” advertising campaign created for RT in Britain by McCann Erickson was highly controversial.[33]One advertisement showed American President Barack Obama “morphing” into Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and asked: “Who poses the greatest nuclear threat?” The ad was banned in American airports. Another shows a Western soldier “merging” into a Taliban fighter and asks: “Is terror only inflicted by terrorists?”[34] One of RT’s 2010 billboard advertisements won the British Awards for National Newspaper Advertising “Ad of the Month.”[35]

Wikipedia.  “RT”.

CNNi’s pursuit of and reliance on revenue from Middle East regimes increased significantly after the 2008 financial crisis, which caused the network to suffer significant losses in corporate sponsorships. It thus pursued all-new, journalistically dubious ways to earn revenue from governments around the world. Bahrain has been one of the most aggressive government exploiters of the opportunities presented by CNNi.

Greenwald, Glenn.  “CNN and the business of state-sponsored TV news.”  The Guardian, September 4, 2012.

The human rights-oriented modifications that may come to autocratic states will neither bring to them nor emulate democracy.

That’s life.

However, bending and twisting it some in journalism to suit The Money — yes, you have just been dragged from chemical weapons reports into international trade and on to integrity in journalism (even from my Second Row Seat to History) — will erode and eventually destroy democracy.

American conservatives know the litany: “Without the First Amendment, all of the others are useless.”

Add to it: without a press free of all but ambitious good conscience and readers, there will be no freedom.

Only political programs and programmers — God give them all the money they want because on this most dismal, obscene, and tragic of today’s war stories, The Money would seem the hidden alpha-omega of all motivation, coverage, and presentation — and the feckless programmed, which would be everyone else.

Additional Reference

CBS/AP.  “Fearing a U.S. strike, Syria warns of global ‘chaos’.”  August 27, 2013.

Corsi, Jerome R.  “Evidence: Syria Gas Attack Work of U.S. Allies.”  WND, August 26, 2013.

CNN Press Room.  “CNN International’s Response to the Guardian — Update.”  September 5, 2012.

Whether with CNN or RT, we have journalists working in the vicinity of the wheels of history, which for this BackChannels post seems to be a Qatar-backed Sunni-NATO alliance helped into being by the need to address the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran that is in turn supported, in part, by Syria’s geopolitical view and Russian greed (we know for Putin that cooperation is not about the endorsement of Shiite Islam as laid down by Ayatollah Khamenei).   While that plays, the journalism story plays too, for whether in Russia, the United States, or elsewhere in the world authentically or nominally subscribed to open democracy, if one cannot trust the main run of journalists to report “accurately, clearly, and completely” — add “relentlessly” — on the stories of their day, then one returns to subjugation, and whether with such power cloaked in the name of God or for the cause of Gold makes not the least difference.

Eltsov, Peter.  “Putin Stumps for the Orthodox Church in a Film Celebrating the Kievan Rus Anniversary.”  The Atlantic, July 29, 2013.

Keath, Lee and Zeina Karam.  “Syria Chemical Weapons: UN Inspectors Probe Allegations of Nerve Gas Attack.”  Huffington Post, August 26, 2013.

Stack, Liam.  “Videos Show Aftermath of Possible Syrian Chemical Attack in March.”  The Lede, The New York Times, April 25, 2013.

Walker, Peter and Tom McCarthy.  “Syria: US secretary of state John Kerry calls chemical attack ‘cowardly crime’ – as it happened.”  The Guardian, August 26, 2013.

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FNS – Syria – Rebels Accuse Assad Regime of Launching Chemical Attack

21 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by in Fast News Share, Islamic Small Wars, Journalism, Middle East, Politics, Regions, Syria, Uncategorized

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SYRIA Man Struggles For Air, Chemical Weapons Kill 650 In Damascus: Suspicious Timing

***

Rockets with toxic agents were launched at the suburbs of the Ghouta region early on Wednesday as part of a major bombardment on rebel forces, they say.

The Syrian army says the accusations have been fabricated to cover up rebel losses.

The main opposition alliance said that more than 1,000 people were killed by the attacks.

BBC.  “Syria conflict: ‘Chemical attacks’ kill hundreds.”  August 21, 2013.

BBC correspondent Frank Gardner comments on the suspicious timing of the alleged attack — why now? — but also the horrifying and likely authentic extent of the suffering witnessed.

Without press freedom, privilege, and security in the world’s combat zones, their darkness fades to a plain and evil black.

Search string “Ghouta chemical attack” seems to work.

At the top of my list at the moment:  Al Arabiya.  “Syrian opposition: 1,300 killed in chemical attack on Ghouta region.”  August 21, 2013.

I would want to know whether any of the the satellite-enabled and watching military organizations involved worldwide have recorded data of the rockets delivering the chemical warheads involved.

If not, how was this crime — still being checked out — committed?

I have to go.  Last glance: Morris, Loveday, and Ahmed Ramadan.  “Syrian activists accuse government of deadly chemical attack near Damascus.”  The Washington Post, August 21, 2013.

Did it happen?

Did Assad do it?

Is it a false flag designed to enlarge the war on the rebel’s behalf?

Whatever you answer, prove it.

I can’t.

I’m not sure about what I’m looking at.

As most of you do, I see what’s reported, although perhaps I give the overview a little more time with attention to comparison and corroboration and spin.

***

The Russian Foreign Ministry, citing its sources, said that a homemade rocket carrying unidentified chemical substances had been launched from an area controlled by the opposition.

“A homemade rocket with a poisonous substance that has not been identified yet – one similar to the rocket used by terrorists on March 19 in Khan al-Assal – was fired early on August 21 [at Damascus suburbs] from a position occupied by the insurgents,” Lukashevich said.

RT.  “Russia suggests Syria ‘chemical attack’ was ‘planned provocation’ by rebels.”  August 21, 2013.

Turn the matter of the Hague, says I, for without an independent investigation by an an accepted neutral authority, whether detective or journalist, the little boys doing the fighting and the Big Bothers watching them and may, can, and will lie like hell in their own interests.

Additional Reference

Reuters.  “US joins calls for probe into alleged Syrian chemical attack.”  The Jerusalem Post, August 21, 2013.

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All Eyes on Qatar, Its Money, Influence, and Role in Arming Syria’s Rebels

16 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Middle East, Politics, Qatar, Regions, Saudi Arabia, Syria

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With Morsi gone, Qatar suddenly became “persona non grata” in Egypt.

Alster, Paul.  “Qatar’s Risky Overreach.”  The Investigative Project on Terrorism, August 15, 2013.

Only last week the Taliban opened an office in Doha in expectation of negotiations with the US and Afghan governments. Qatar reportedly bankrolled it to the tune of $100m.

Popham, Peter.  “Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani; The Emir from Sandhurst who’s been given the keys to the kingdom.”  The Independent, June 25, 2013.

* * *

Among the persistent questions coming out of the range of the Islamic Small Wars has been something along the lines of, “How come the USA is drone bombing the Taliban in Pakistan but supporting similar Al Qaeda-type elements on the field in Syria?”

Of course, the details count, and in Syria General Idris’s Free Syrian Army — or perhaps portions of it along the archipelago of revolutionary bands — has been fighting al-Nusra and such, but still the arms reach extremists and those bands get around the country that has become a theater of war.

The answer may reside with what economist Adam Smith referred to as “the invisible hand of the market”.

According to the Popham piece cited above and a story by Paul Waldie cited in reference, Qatar’s new minted emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has taken control of an empire that includes the following (I’ve put in associated URLs, easier to do for a blog than for print):

The strength of the money perhaps should not be underestimated, nor should the locks provided by the wildness and strength of western societies in their most popular enthusiasms.

Now on to Syria.

* * *

From The Long War Journal:

Three groups, identified as the Ahrar al Sham (a known Syrian Islamist group that is sympathetic to al Qaeda and has fought alongside them in the past), the Ahfad al Rasoul Brigade, and the Islamic Kurdish Front, banded together and announced they would fight together with the Al Nusrah Front against the Kurdish group in northern Syria. One of those groups, the Ahfad al Rasoul Brigade, is funded by the Qatari government.

Roggio, Bill.  “Qatar-funded Syrian rebel brigade backs Al Qaeda groups in Syria.  The Long War Journal, July 26, 2013.

Posted in The New York Times:

In deals that have not been publicly acknowledged, Western officials and Syrian rebels say, Sudan’s government sold Sudanese- and Chinese-made arms to Qatar, which arranged delivery through Turkey to the rebels.

Chivers, C. J. and Eric Schmitt.  “Arms Shipments Seen From Sudan to Syria Rebels.”  The New York Times, August 12, 2013.

I’m wary about “deals that have not been publicly acknowledged” but a glance down the roster on the Syrian side of the issue — the anti-west propaganda machinery has been playing this theme hard — may suggest that the most legitimate of papers — The Gray Lady, no less — and the conservative Bill Roggio who has been on the Islamic Small Wars beat for years and others I trust (e.g., Daniel Greenfield at FrontPage) have mighty cause not to print this news: that they have nonetheless done so may lend credence to the suggestion in news that Qatar’s money has been purchasing more than pleasant residences in London.

Qatar’s participation in Syria, however it may be shaped, has had “I and my brother” repercussions:

“Saudi Arabia is now formally in charge of the Syria issue,” said a senior rebel military commander in one of northern Syria’s border provinces where Qatar has until now been the main supplier of arms to those fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

The outcome, many Syrian opposition leaders hope, could strengthen them in both negotiations and on the battlefield – while hampering some of the anti-Western Islamist hardliners in their ranks whom they say Qatar has been helping with weaponry.

Karouny, Mariam.  “Saudi edges Qatar to control Syrian rebel support.” Chicago Tribune, May 31, 2013.

I recommend reading Mariam Karouny’s article for a wrap that perfectly captures the absurd contradictions involved in maintaining the deepest and most closed of Islamic autocracies while investing in and reaching through to the world’s most liberal quarters, which I in turn interpret, in essence, as sweet talking through an expansion of cultural influence and economic power.

If one, whether as winner of a strong-armed election or a more fairly produced one, wishes to weigh potential for the redevelopment of a good state or, perhaps, a geographic defense asset in Syria, does one either trust or validate Qatari or Iranian values — or does one just put off that day of reckoning?

In its iteration of this news, Voice of Russia has gone on to note denials all around of participation by all parties mentioned in a Qatari-funded, Chinese-benefiting, Sudan-to-Turkey-to-Syria rebel-arming system.

Additional Reference

AFP.  “Qatar’s new emir in Saudi for first foreign trip.”  Fox News, August 2, 2013.

Bergin, Tom.  “UPDATE 4-Qatar buys ‘major’ stake in oild giant Shell.”  Reuters, May 11, 2012.

Eaton, George.  “How Qatar bought London: The Shard, Harrods, Barclays, the Olympics Village — Qatar owns them all.”  New Statesman, July 4, 2012.

Gower, Patrick.  “Canary Wharf Gets Nod for Eight Buildings Near London Eye.”  Bloomberg, May 22, 2013.

Gray, Melissa.  “Qatari firm buys U.S. Embassy building in London.”  CNN, November 3, 2009:

The signing of the deal is another major step in the embassy’s plans to relocate from its longtime headquarters in central London to a new site in Wandsworth, on the south bank of the River Thames.

Hobson, Sophie.  “How much of London Qatar REALLY own – pictures.”  London Loves Business, May 7, 2013.

J. Sainsbury plc.  “Major shareholders”.

Khalaf, Roula and Abigail Fielding Smith.  “Qatar bankrolls Syrian revolt with cash and arms.”  Financial Times, May 16, 2013.

Kollewe, Julia.  “Olympic Village snapped up by Qatari ruling family for £557m: UK taxpayers left £275m out of pocket after deal is reached by Olympic Delivery Authority.”  The Guardian, August 12, 2013.

Neate, Rupert.  “Qatar’s London assets.”  Dawn, June 28, 2012:

“It’s not all about luxury, however. The Qatar Investment Authority also owns 20 per cent of Camden market in north London, via its holding in the property group Chelsfield.”

Milmo, Dan.  “Qatar buys 20% stake in Heathrow operator.”  The Guardian, August 17, 2012.

Ormsby, Avril.  “Qatar investor buys UK department store Harrods.”  Reuters, May 8, 2010.

Pipes, Daniel.  “The Scandal of U.S.-Saudi Relations.”  National Interest via Daniel Pipes Middle East Forum, Winter 2002/03.  This piece is now about 10 years, a little more: it may be worth a look-see into how much has changed or not changed.

Reuters.  “Dubai, Qatar hold key to LSE’s future: Holding 36.1% stake, the two emirates become the largest shareholders in London exchange.”  Emirate 24/7,  July 1, 2011.

Ridley, Kirstin and Steve Slater.  “Barclays fights UK watchdog findings on Qatar deal.”  Reuters, July 30, 2013.  Excerpt:

Qatar Holding invested 5.3 billion pounds ($8 billion) in Barclays in June and October 2008, helping it avoid a government bailout and associated stringent re-payment terms and conditions imposed on bailed-out rivals Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Smith, James B.  “US-Saudi relations: Eighty years as partners.”  Arab News, August 16, 2013.

Thesing, Gabi.  “Sainbury Reports 3.6% Increase in Fourth-Quarter Sales.”  Bloomberg, March 19, 2013:

Sainsbury rose to 376.4 pence, the highest since March 4, 2011, and was up 2.2 percent at 373.2 pence as of 10:10 a.m.

The shares have gained 23 percent in the past year. Speculation of a bid by Sainsbury’s largest individual shareholder, the Qatar Investment Authority, for Marks & Spencer Group Plc (MKS), may revive takeover speculation for Sainsbury and boost the stock further, according to Exane’s Gwynn.

Waldie, Paul.  “From the Shard to Heathrow, Qatar stakes a claim on London.”  The Globe and Mail, March 11, 2013.

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Syria – A Bloody Long Goodbye to Yesterday

13 Tuesday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Eurasia, Islamic Small Wars, Middle East, Politics, Psychology, Regions, Russia, Syria

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Russian President Vladimir Putin may yet turn out the bad boy who knows more about good than so many goody two shoes arching up on their hind legs over the seemingly endless tragedy in Syria.

What Putin knows, I am sure, is from where has come from, the ingredients of his own frame, from poverty to KGB, from Soviet Russia to the post-Soviet FSB of his own making, from Russian heroic sports culture to the more measured testing of waters to, perhaps, restore Russian pride in empire.

Take the Tale of the Pocketed Superbowl Ring and a fast denial plus offer of complete restitution as signal of a different kind of explorer, albeit a shrewd autocrat on the make for a good deal, cash to swell out a country, a new energy industry with clout, and a little respect even from his critics.

This month’s imbroglio over anti-Gay legislation hasn’t helped Putin with either western or progressive audiences — I am certain of that — but it too may symbolize the difficulty of parting with yesterday’s story.

And Syria is all about the entire host of interests parting with yesterday’s story.

Putin first.

* * *

Throughout the Cold War, third world actors could and did manipulate Eastern and Western patrons to further their own parochial objectives or regional ambitions, and Baathist Iraq was no different in this respect.

Hughes, Geraint.  “Who used whom?  Baathist Iraq and the Cold War, 1968-1990.” The Cold War, History in Focus.  Spring, 2006.

Currently, the Syrian Communist Party officially supports the Baathist regime, although it follows the Soviet line on certain key political issues.  The party, for example, recently urged Arab terrorists to be “more responsible” in their political activities, and its delegation to the recent  international Communist conference went along in supporting the Security Council resolution of 1967 for a political solution to the Arab-Israeli crisis.  The party’s 3,000 members make it the third largest Communist Party in the Arab world, and a Communist now holds a cabinet post as minister of communications and foreign trade.

CIA Directorate of Intelligence.  “Soviet Relations with the Baathists in Iraq and Syria.”  Special Report, Weekly Review, June 27, 1969.  Approved for Release: May 2002.

1969!

What a yesteryear.

Call it a reunion: “You haven’t changed a bit” one always says, but with these –Russia and Syria, Great Britain and Saudi Arabia, Israel and God (maybe) — time has changed them some or altered their surrounds, and the bulwarks in power and sustained relationships have been eroded, and no more so than in long neglected Syria where forty-four years of competition, cultural evolution, and diplomacy on its flanks have turned a family’s military dictatorship into a merely and deeply selfish anachronism.

While RT screams bloody murder over Islamists murdering Kurds (recently) and CNN continues hammering on Syrian jets crushing targets of uncertain military validity, few, it seems, wish to take this step away from the traps laid so many decades ago (or fourteen centuries ago for Shiite and Sunni fighters motivated by what they believe about their respective labels).

* * *

I’ve no friends for whom the end of a marriage or other long-lived relationship has been not only traumatic but life changing.

Such events are not about the one thing.

Everything comes under review, and while most don’t beat themselves up with “should have done this” and “should have done that” — and they shouldn’t — they may change some principles in what I’ve come to call “social grammar”, i.e., inevitably frozen in language, the most deeply ingrained ideas and rules by which they have maintained their own program.

Even so civil a split — cloaked in mystery and, beneath the Al Jazeera clip on YouTube, accompanied by a relatively gentle public humor — would seem to support this view.

Something has changed and done so in some unalterable way.

One floats free of the past after a while, but perhaps it takes a while to do that.

* * *

Syria’s civil war, already irreversible in its effects — more than 106,000 Syrians dead because of it; more than 1.7 million refugee in surrounding states; add some more millions for displaced and homeless; cities like Aleppo and Homs ravaged or razed — should close a chapter that in retrospect may be seen as having been about several forms of intellectual poison, an aspect of conflict I suspect Putin recognizes, being himself so public, so accustomed to the development of information and the projection of image.

This too comes from the 1969 CIA report released in 2002:

“Moscow has never had much political influence in Syria, a xenophobic country that has known little other than periodic power struggles over the past 20 years.  Moscow’s virtual inability to moderate Damascus’ hard-line posture has been, in fact, the only constant factor in the shifting Soviet-Syrian relationship” (page 7).

Fourty-four years of that same old same old.

Time for a change?

* * *

No longer completely opposite the Russian course and sensibility, Cameron and Obama may have to tell Qatar that it may not always get what it wants.  That too would depart from yesterday, but as much Qatar may already know, having rushed an heir to the throne.

That too may depart from yesterday’s story, one of several that have been run to ground and drowned in blood and suffering for years to come.

The World Wide Web has changed how the world experiences its one separable experiences: now we can see what we are doing in light of what we have done, and we cannot but help see all of that laid out in the sun together.

Reference – Odds and Ends

Curry, Ann.  “Putin’s marriage to end after nearly 30 years.” NBC Nightly News, June 6, 2013.

Malpas, Anna.  “First Gagarin film turns Soviet idol into new Russian hero.”  The Daily Star, June 19, 2013.

RT.  “Russia won’t supply outstanding S-300s to Syria until mid-2014 – report.”  August 9, 2013.

RT.  “Syrian split a real danger due to wars within war.”  Interview with Phyllis Bennis.  August 9, 2013.

RT Russiapedia.  “Prominent Russians: Vasily Zaitsev”.

Sargsyan, Irena L.  “How to End the War in Syria.”  The Daily Beast, August 13, 2013.

Wikipedia.  “Heroic realism”.

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