Syria Watch

Syria Revolution Digest: Tuesday, 22 January 2013

Our Identity Crisis!

As sectarian trends continue to increase and a new conflict pitting Arabs against Kurds explodes, albeit in slow motion, it is becoming increasingly clear that Syrians are going through a major identity crisis with all the trimmings. We may not have a Syria left at the end of this Revolution, but, hopefully, we will end up knowing who we are, or at least more of who we are, at this particular moment in history. Whether we end up liking and accepting ourselves or each other is a different matter. But only people who know and accept who they are, at least at a certain level, can make peace with each other and the world. So, peace will have to wait for a while in our parts, even if the price of war is high. Because the price of ignorance, especially self-ignorance, is even higher.

Today’s Death Toll: 164, including 12 women and 22 children. 71 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs, including 8 martyrs in Medira and 8 who had been field-executed in Douma; 32 martyrs were reported in Daraa; 14 in Aleppo; 13 in Homs; 11 in Hama; 11 in Idlib; 11 in Deir Ezzor; and 1 in Lattakia (LCCs).

Points of Random Shelling: 278: including 13 sites that were subjected to aerial shelling. Regime forces used barrel bombs on 3 areas across Syria and 1 area was subjected to cluster and thermobaric bombardment. 133 areas were subjected to artillery shelling; 68 areas were subjected to mortar shelling; and 76 areas reported rocket shelling (LCCs).

Clashes: The Free Syrian Army (FSA) clashed with regime forces in 126 locations, managing to down an attack helicopter flying over Koweires Military Airport in Aleppo and seizing control of the club checkpoint near the Daraa Balad gas station. The FSA also managed to target checkpoints at the oil press and canning plant with mortars, and the Hamidieh camp with homemade rockets. The FSA also destroyed a number of personnel carriers and other materiel belonging to the regime in cities and towns across Syria (LCCs).

News

Russia’s Evacuation From Syria Reflects Doubts About Bashar Assad’s Hold On Power In addition to tens of thousands of Russians permanently living in Syria, most of whom are Russian women married to Syrian men and their children, there are also an unspecified number of diplomats and military advisers along with their families. The evacuees were permanent residents not connected to the embassy.

Diplomatic options fade in Syria, as refugees pile up Daily life is mostly spent fending off the cold. There is no electricity, no heat and no running water. Few international aid workers dare to travel to Syria to help… The Turkish government is building another camp that can take up to 3,000 refugees, but that is not much comfort to the more than 40,000 Syrians who are stranded along its border.

US Senators Urge Stronger Response to Syria Crisis Republican Senator John McCain led a delegation of lawmakers that recently returned from a trip to the Middle East and Afghanistan.  At a news conference Tuesday, McCain relayed messages the group received from Syrian opposition leaders and refugees. “We heard desperate pleas for U.S. support and assistance,” said McCain… Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said, “The situation in Syria is getting increasingly dire. And it appears the Assad administration is dug in pretty hard.  So there is a real danger of the warfare prolonging, and while it prolongs having the Syrian state devolve into potentially ethnically-cleansed enclaves, and a huge vacuum left for jihadis and extremists to launch attacks from.”

Rebels in northern Syria pin hopes on airbase’s downfall The siege does underscore one important point: It has taken less than a year for Syria’s rebels to go from being hunted in their homes to now encircling and attacking some of the largest military bases in the country.

Life in Lebanon “horrible” for Palestinians fleeing Syria: U.N. Donors needed to do more to help at least 20,000 Palestinians who have already come in and more than 200 who join them every day, the chief of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Filippo Grandi, told Reuters.

Saudi says negotiated Syria settlement “inconceivable” “Damascus… which has been a city for the longest period of time, is carpet bombed. How can you conceive of the possibility of a negotiated settlement with somebody who does that to his own country, to his own history, to his own people? It is inconceivable to us,” Prince Saud al-Faisal told a news conference. He was speaking after an Arab summit focusing on economic development, which was not attended by Syria.

 

Special Reports

Richard Cohen: Obama’s failure in Syria

In retrospect, this was a war of necessity. It was necessary to avoid a regional calamity, the spread of more violence to Lebanon and Iraq. It was necessary to avoid a humanitarian disaster; great suffering that could have been avoided or at least mitigated. It was necessary to take a stand against barbarity because this is — is it not? — a basic obligation. It was necessary to intervene because we could do so at very little cost… We are talking, simply, of saving lives. It was necessary, finally, because not only must the thugs of this world be held accountable by the world community, they must know they will be held accountable by the world community… This — a furious sense of moral indignation — must return to U.S. foreign policy and be the centerpiece of Obama’s second term. This is no longer a matter of choice. It is a necessity.

Increasingly desperate

A CAMP for displaced people in Atmeh is a good measure of the worsening crisis in Syria. When your correspondent last visited the town, just inside Syria’s northern border with Turkey, in September, hundreds of people were sitting under olive trees hoping to cross into Turkey. Four months later the sea of white tents stretches into the distance. Whole streets and villages from rural Idleb and Aleppo have been transplanted here—almost the only source of comfort in the relentless misery.

Syria’s Kurds: A Struggle Within a Struggle

Syria’s conflict gives its Kurdish population an opening to rectify historic wrongs and push for more autonomy, but facing internal divisions, poor ties with the non-Kurdish opposition and regional rivalries, its challenge is to articulate clear, unified and achievable demands.

Defying Common View, Some Syrian Kurds Fight Assad

A rebel commander seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, he described the choice of a cornered man. His resistance began with peaceful demonstrations, he said. When the government answered with force, his tactics changed. “It was only after they showed that they would kill us that we became armed,” he said. But there is a difference between this story and many others. Mr. Abdulkader is a Kurd, not an Arab, which means his experiences and decisions upend conventional wisdom that holds that the Kurds do not see this as their fight.

The Nonexistent Red Line

In sum: The White House wouldn’t know if Assad were about to use chemical weapons, couldn’t be sure if he had used chemical weapons, and in any case isn’t going to do anything about chemical weapons until Assad leaves. In reality then, the president has no red lines for Assad…

 

Video Highlights

A just released video shows the second rocket as it hits the University of Aleppo compound on January 17, belying the regime’s story of a car bomb attack http://youtu.be/NIZbxvrEZeM

Leaked video: pro-Assad Alawite militias in Deir Ezzor execute a young member of a local FSA unit, with the usual glee http://youtu.be/Km9V2f71rbU

Major Defection: Last week hundreds of soldiers defected from pro-Assad militias fighting in Damascus and her suburbs, most of whom came from a Sunni Arab or Kurdish background hailing from Al-Jazeerah region in Syria’s northeast (the provinces of Raqqah, Deir Ezzor and Al-Hassakeh). Today 450 of these soldiers arrived in the province of Al-Hassakeh and were warmly received by local rebels http://youtu.be/P3K77f5KKk0

Rebels in Idlib Province use homemade missiles in an attack on a local loyalist militia headquarters http://youtu.be/4Pn2ov2KouU

In Medira, Damascus, today’s fallen included many children http://youtu.be/012PyVA5q0U More people were killed in nearby Douma http://youtu.be/7WjbQRqyEZo

To the west, Assad armies keep patrolling the outskirts of the Daraya suburb http://youtu.be/Pc2HDdAqXO0 Sometimes rebels manage to take down some of these tanks http://youtu.be/DLBpKT9bSrQ But the use of MiGs gives Assad the upper hand as usual http://youtu.be/Dkvm8kp0NIg

This leaked video shows pro-Assad militias using missile launchers based in the nearby hills to pound the town of Mouadamiyah http://youtu.be/sPitF6wuTM8 and again at night http://youtu.be/YigQmQ5rqEQ

Meanwhile, the pounding of the town of Zabadani continues http://youtu.be/7negEGSKMaM

In Hama, pro-Assad militias stationed in the Hama Military Airport used missile launchers to pound nearby communities http://youtu.be/VGNDX0bkWiA , http://youtu.be/dnrxaYk0-NM

In Homs City, aerial bombardment against restive neighborhoods continues: Jobar MiG diving for the kill http://youtu.be/kF62FOqfy2s and another dive http://youtu.be/YMZv95-Sops The destruction is immense http://youtu.be/nG29Syb3ohw

Meanwhile, in the neighborhood of Baba Amr, local doctors save the life of another pro-Assad fighter they captured. The man admits that he comes from the majority-Alawite and Shia town of Mukharram. He says he was recruited by pro-Assad militias, that he is poor and that he and his children had no heating oil or food. He asks his children to forgive him in case he didn’t live to see them again. He tells them to pay attention to their school work, not believe the regime’s lies and not watch Syrian state TV http://youtu.be/vXscH1oIMeg

In this video testimony released by Islamist rebels in Ras Al-Ain, a Kurdish man is seen admitting that he is a member of the PKK and that he and his friends are working in tandem with Assad and Iranian security, including Assad’s security chief Muhammad Mansourah. Kurds from the town of Ras Al-Ain, however, belie this testimony and say the man is a local baker and that the testimony is coerced like those of captured activists paraded on Syrian state TV confessing to all sort of crimes after being tortured http://youtu.be/hohiUQBnBk4 Meanwhile, clashes pitting Arab and Kurdish rebels continue http://youtu.be/hohiUQBnBk4

 

Syrian Revolution Digest: Monday, 21 January 2013

Return of the Pink Panther!

When you are the President of the United States, to condemn means to act, that’s why President Obama cannot even bring himself to condemn Assad’s proliferating crimes, for he is simply unwilling to act. His “better half” might like bright red, but he seems partial to pink himself, at least when it comes to his thinly drawn lines. It’s not that the President is afraid or indecisive. No. He is simply ideologically indifferent to the suffering of others. Since America is not the cause of what is happening in Syria, then, and from his perspective, America has no responsibility there. Case closed, but Hell just opened its doors, and its demons may not be so discerning.

Today’s Death Toll: 110 (including 8 children and 6 women)

31 martyrs were reported in Aleppo, 26 in Damascus and its Suburbs, 17 martyrs in Homs, 12 martyrs in Daraa, 9 martyrs in Idlib, 9 martyrs in Hama, 3 martyrs from Raqqa who martyred in Daraa and 2 martyrs in Deir Ezzor  (LCCs).

Points of Random Shelling: 260

21 points that were shelled by warplanes, 4 points using TNT barrels, 4 points using cluster bombs, 2 with vacuum and phosphorus bombs; 124 points were shelled with heavy artillery; 78 points were shelled with mortars; 56 points were shelled with missiles (LCCs).

Clashes: FSA rebels clashed with regime forces in 113 locations, during which they liberated the Almashlab checkpoint in Raqqa, and targeted a youth building housing shabiha in Hama. They also repelled several attempts by regime forces to storm Daraya and Eastern Ghoutah (LCCs).

 

News

Moscow Is Sending Planes to Lebanon for 100 Russians Leaving Syria It was not clear whether the news signaled the beginning of a large-scale evacuation. Russia has an estimated 30,000 citizens in Syria, including government and military personnel, private contractors, and tens of thousands of women married to Syrian men. Around a dozen Russian ships are in the Mediterranean off the coast of Syria for naval exercises and could, officials have said, be used to evacuate Russian citizens.

30 pro-regime forces killed in Syria blast A suicide car bomb exploded Monday outside the headquarters of a local government-sanctioned armed group in Syria, killing at least 30 armed people loyal to embattled President Bashar al-Assad, according to an opposition group and state-run television. The blast occurred at an old carpet factory in the eastern Hama countryside that was being used by the local People’s Committee group, according the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Arab League: Syria Envoy Mission Makes No Progress Nabil Elaraby, addressing Monday’s opening session of a two-day Arab economic summit in Saudi Arabia, proposed that the gathered heads of state call for an immediate meeting of the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Syria and establish a monitoring force to ensure compliance with the truce.

Syria Assembles New Paramilitary Force Aided by Iran Syrian regime has assembled a new paramilitary force, many trained by Iran, to fight what is becoming a guerrilla war… The force, dubbed the National Defense Army, gathers together existing popular committees of pro-regime civilian fighters under a new, better-trained and armed hierarchy, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, according to AFP.

Atrocities Plague Syria, Over 3,500 Children Killed “Media reports today (Friday) from the scene of mass killings in the village of Hasawiya outside Homs said whole families were among the dead in horrific circumstances,” said Maria Calivis, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Assad’s mother leaves Syria Ms Makhluf’s ‘‘departure from Syria is another indication of Assad losing support even from within his family”, said Ayman Abdel Nour, head of the newly-formed group Syrian Christians for Democracy and editor-in-chief of opposition news website all4syria.com.

Earlier

Largest Russian naval exercise in post-Soviet era

Non-lethal chemical weapons used in Syria, Le Monde says

Syria says talk of Assad’s removal unacceptable

 

Special Reports

The pickings of war
The border zone between Turkey and Syria has become crucial to the economic survival of many Syrians. As refugees flee, activists bring in vital food and medicine, fighters smuggle in weapons, and entrepreneurial types make money from the war. As soon as a Turkish police patrol clears off, horses trot Turkish gas into Syria. A Syrian man hustles his sheep in the other direction, for sale in Turkey. Generator providers and bread sellers do well too.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: Does Anyone Give a Damn About Syria?
The United States is the world’s strongest nation with the loudest voice. Can’t President Obama speak out? I know we’re not ready to invade Syria or impose a no-fly zone. Americans don’t have the stomach for another war, or an invasion. But does that absolve us from simply condemning the slaughter in the strongest possible terms?

Syria and the risk of Somalisation
If the crisis continues, Syria risks not so much division into hostile states as happened in Yugoslavia, but control by warlords who will persecute the Syrian people.

Andrew J. Tabler: A Syria Strategy for Obama
First, Washington should use Patriot missile batteries in an offensive capacity against regime aircraft — and deploy them defensively against SCUD and Fatah 110 missiles targeting opposition-dominated areas along Syria’s borders with Turkey and Jordan… Second, Washington should provide a package of intelligence-sharing, military training, and other security assistance to mainstream nationalist, non-extremist groups that have been vetted by Western countries, both to increase their military capabilities and in exchange for any chemical weapons captured from the regime’s stockpiles… Third, Washington and its allies should provide local communities supporting mainstream groups that cooperate with Washington’s program to secure chemical weapons with a larger civil assistance program. Large swaths of Syrian urban and rural areas have been ravaged by war, and the task of providing services and rebuilding basic infrastructure will be extensive.

Michael Doran and Salman Shaikh: The Road Beyond Damascus
To stave off disaster and play a leadership role in shaping Syria’s future, the United States should provide lethal assistance to the Syrian opposition, forge a genuine national dialogue that includes Alawis and Christians, and create an International Steering Group (ISG) to oversee and lend support to the transitional process, including the creation of an international stabilization force to provide protection to Syrian civilians. You will need to engage directly with President Putin to overcome already weakening Russian resistance to these essential endeavors.

My bout with the flu coincided with many important turns in the Syrian crisis: the bloodiest week on record since the beginning of the Revolution with close to 800 dead, the intensification of the ethnic cleansing campaign in Homs (city and province), the opening of a new front in the war pitting Islamists rebels against Kurdish fighters, and the intensification of battles in Western Ghoutah in Damascus, especially in the suburbs of Daraya and Mouadamiyah, to name but a few.

UN-Insanity: Before we delve in our coverage of past events, however, it is important to highlight the insanity of a recent plan by the UN to deliver aid to the Syrian Regime. It is something out of theater of the absurd. The UN plans aims to transfer “$519,627,047 to cover the period of January 1, 2013 to the end of June, 2013”  as an effort aimed at “supporting the Government of Syria’s efforts in providing humanitarian assistance to the affected populations.” As to why would the UN expect a government that has spent billions over the last 2 years trying to pound these very population into submission be excepted now to reverse course and begin delivering aid to the people it seeks to subjugate, no explanation is provided. This is simply unbelievable. By funding Assad, the UN will be officially joining the war against the Syrian people, not helping them. Opposition activists have been signing petition and making calls to officials trying to convince them to put a freeze on this plan, but so far, to no avail. Assad might have been right about the Cosmic Conspiracy after all, but it is not against him, it’s against the people.

Ethnic Cleansing in Homs was marked by an intensification of aerial raids and ground bombardment of restive neighborhoods in Homs City and a series of attacks and massacres in surrounding villages and towns, including a massacre against over 100 residents that took place last week in the village of Haswiyeh:

Forces loyal to President Bashar Assad swept through a small farming village in central Syria this week, torching houses and shooting and stabbing residents in an attack that killed up to 106 people, including women and children, activists said Thursday. The assault on Haswiyeh outside the city of Homs took place on Tuesday, but was only coming to light two days later as the scale of the killings became more apparent. The attacks appeared to have sectarian motives and bore a resemblance to the attack last May on the nearby village of Houla that killed 108 people and drew international condemnation of the Assad regime.

Government, as usual, continue to blame “terrorists,” but activists tell a different story and the victims just happen to be Sunnis. One villager told the BBC the army was present at the time of the deaths.

Soon after Haswiyeh, another massacre took place. This one was in Kafar ‘Aya on the outskirts of Bab Amr neighborhood in Homs City http://youtu.be/BjLkvHhgmpQ Treating the wounded http://youtu.be/26SR8xaEnfI ,http://youtu.be/FGMQ_GxE5ws Some doctors have to struggle to keep themselves from falling apart as they watch more and more bodies being brought in http://youtu.be/rywPZBeUIIk But for some children, help has come too late http://youtu.be/J876gDvU0rA

Today, another massacre took place in Baba Amr, 20 people were killed, including a family that was set on fire. We see their bodies in this video, but we see as well an injured member of Alawite militia said to be responsible for the attack. He was treated, and according to Dr. Mohammad Al-Mohammad, he will not be killed and will be taken a prisoner http://youtu.be/vqAdJuzEo4k

Divisions and increasingly rivalry among rebel groups as well as a more coordinated campaign by pro-Assad militias took their toll over the city and the province over the last week, but over the last couple of days, rebels have managed to regroup and are now pushing back.

Daraya, Western Ghoutah, Damascus Suburbs: Pounding by MiGs http://youtu.be/n1pqLRyJHJM ,http://youtu.be/N_2OZByFhMw Incendiary Cluster Bombs are used http://youtu.be/r8hyXC72BGI Missiles and rockets are also used http://youtu.be/Y3n2AN8V6zY The destruction http://youtu.be/TqrMQO0DnwI Collecting the dead from under the rubble is a daily routine http://youtu.be/bjwqlYqWeQk and a nighttime activity as well http://youtu.be/ETrjvMGAJz8 But Assad pro-Assad ground troops continue to be held at bay http://youtu.be/f3R5hNqJSYk And many are killed http://youtu.be/QTjOxNtc3wc Nearby Mouadamiyah was not spared http://youtu.be/UzSwZRs84d8 , http://youtu.be/gz3A0PG72vo

And the pounding of Eastern Ghoutah went on all throughout this period http://youtu.be/483jCFljkkM ,http://youtu.be/mgi354EH_gg , http://youtu.be/RD-z1YNRxSk Pulling bodies from under the rubble in Hamouriyeh http://youtu.be/xQL3XXQ550w , http://youtu.be/_DMFubmxIvs Mayhem in Arbeen http://youtu.be/qRh4BLEZpg8

On the overall course of battles in Damascus, I had this to say to Mike Giglio of the Daily Beast a few days ago:

“I think the rebels have been forced to halt their push into Damascus for now, on account of the brutal bombardment of host suburbs by the regime,” says Ammar Abdulhamid, a U.S.-based dissident and fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies… But most analysts expect that Assad will soon face another push from the rebels in Damascus—and that the capital will remain battered by conflict for months to come. “The battle is not over,” says Abdulhamid of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “As usual, in a few weeks, after reconsidering their tactics, regrouping and acquiring some more supplies, a new drive [by the rebels] will begin. Giving up is simply not an option for either side.”

Serekanye/Ras Al-Ain: Islamist rebels deployed tanks in their fight against Kurdish militias in town and reportedly shelled civilian neighborhoods. The Kurdish militias are members of the so-called YPG or local protection units established by residents in cooperation, as many believe, with PYD, the Syrian offshoot of the PKK in Turkey. Islamist rebels seem to have moved into town weeks ago specifically to contain what they consider to be growing separatist threat by the local Kurdish population and have been supported by some local Arab tribes. Meanwhile, Kurdish groups across the Kurdish-majority areas in the northeast remain too divided to pose any such threat, and have been calling for some form of administrative autonomy. Kurds have also been concerned over the increasing Islamization of the Revolution as most Kurds remain staunchly secular. The rebels are reportedly to be coordinating their moves with members of the Syrian National Council and the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as certain tribal leaders, including Nawaf Al-Bashir. Jabhat Al-Nusra is involved as well, but mostly through its affiliates.

Further underscoring the ideological divide on this issue among revolutionaries, most YouTube networks dedicated to the revolution, such as Sham News Network bill their videos of the clashes: “clashes between FSA and Assad militias.” Naturally, Kurdish sites refer in their coverage to “terrorists” or Erdogan and Nawaf Al-Bashir Brigades”

 

Videos

Islamist rebels deploy tanks http://youtu.be/8Z2_hbkiY_Y , http://youtu.be/aoml_qrBuyg and arrest and beat local civilians who are obviously unarmed accusing them of being PKK members http://youtu.be/fd3zTmXZkTg Some of the Kurdish fighters involved in the clashes http://youtu.be/dYDN1D8nZF8 Rebels saving an injured colleaguehttp://youtu.be/UdBc9ZD854I Local Kurds saving an injured civilian http://youtu.be/ZBvUmQ52V7E

Clashes from the point of view of rebels http://youtu.be/ey2qUVaTeWk Use of the agreed revolution’s flag in this clip, rather than the black banner of Islamist groups, indicates that not only Islamist groups are taking part in the clashes on the side of the rebels, tribal groups are involved as well, perhaps at this stage leading the chargehttp://youtu.be/fsdwydb4QLI

As part of the increasing propaganda campaign meant to incite rebels against Kurds, this is one of the video clips being circulated through social media, it shows PKK fighters in Turkey mocking the Islamic prayer ritualshttp://youtu.be/BRZTtpmJJ1E

This Week in Syria Deeply : 18 January 2013

Syrian Revolution Digest: Wednesday, 16 January 2013

Tired Baby, Tired!

It’s getting quite hard keeping track of it all: the cluster bombs and sectarian sentiments, the incendiary minds and arid hearts, the shifting red lines in our overloaded brains, the hypocrisy of it all. Yet, chronicling our irrelevance is an important part of the struggle. Tomorrow needs to know who the real heroes were, and who the imposters… and which emperors had no clothes, which emperors betrayed us all. 

Today’s Death Toll:183 (including 18 children and 9 women)

50 martyrs were reported in Damascus and Damascus Suburbs, 37 in Homs, 25 in Aleppo, 23 in Idlib, 15 in Hama, 16 in Daraa, 9 in Raqqah, 5 in Latakia, and 1 in Hasakeh (LCCs).

Points of Random Shelling: 331

including 20 points that were shelled by warplanes, 6 points using cluster bombs, 5 points using TNT barrels, and 2 points with vacuum bombs. Also, 135 points were shelled with heavy caliber artillery, 86 points were shelled with mortar, and 77 points were shelled with rockets (LCCs).

Clashes: FSA rebels clashed with regime forces in 145 locations. Rebels managed to successfully bring down 3 regime fighter planes, 1 in Al-Ramdan near Dumair city, 1 in Damascus suburbs, and 1 Talbeeseh in Homs. The FSA also seized control of Kuwairis military airport in Aleppo, and repelled regime attempts to storm Busr Al-Harir in Daraa, as well as in Daraya and Mouadamieh in Damascus Suburbs (LCCs).

News

U.S. Shoots Down Secret Report That Syria Used a Hallucinogen Weapon State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland has denied the report, saying that the Foreign Policy story ”did not accurately convey the anecdotal information that we had received from a third party regarding an alleged incident in Syria in December.” “At the time we looked into the allegations that were made and the information that we had received, and we found no credible evidence to corroborate or to confirm that chemical weapons were used,” she added. That’s a major deal, because the international community has repeatedly told the Assad Regime in Syria that the use of chemical weapons is beyond unacceptable. The White House issued a statement along similar lines.

The Case of Agent 15: Did Syria Use a Nerve Agent? what happened? Was the mystery gas in fact sarin, or a nerve agent like it? Did its use alter the dynamic of the Syrian conflict in fundamental ways? The brief answer to all of these questions is: so far, hard to say.

Syria to Receive More International Food Aid The World Food Program currently provides food aid to 1.5 million needy people inside Syria.  WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin says the agency has not been able to expand its operation because only the Syrian Arab Red Crescent has been authorized to distribute food. But last week, she says, the Syrian authorities gave the agency a list of 110 non-governmental organizations that can help distribute food.  Out of this list, she says WFP has chosen 44 groups with whom it will work. Cousin says this will enable WFP to scale up its operation to feed an additional one million people.

Iran gives Syria $1bn import credit line While the agreement is not a direct cash transfer to bolster Syria’s depleted foreign exchange reserves, it will allow Syrian importers credit to source consumer supplies from Iran at a time when it is hard for them to do so from many other countries.

 

Special Reports

The gruesome toll of deadly cluster bombs in Syria
Since mid-2012, Human Rights Watch and others have reported several times on civilian casualties caused by Syrian use of air-dropped cluster bombs, but Latamneh and other recent attacks are the first known instances of Syrian use of ground-based cluster munitions. The rockets were apparently launched from the vicinity of nearby Hama airport, which is under government control.

Jordan is Living Dangerously as Syria Burns
The immediate impact of the Syrian conflict on Jordan’s fragile polity is twofold: The influx of refugees into Jordan, and the outflow of jihadists from Jordan into Syria to join the fight.

Referring Syria to the international criminal court is a justified gamble
An international criminal court investigation may split the United Nations – but it would change the civil war’s political dynamics

Obama shows there are no red lines on Syria
Let’s be frank here: There are no red lines for this president when it comes to projecting U.S. military force. And if he won’t act when Syria is at issue, no realistic observer thinks he would act against Iran.

 

Video Highlights

In Anadan, Aleppo, rebels fend off an attack by pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/2MPHc-ErHKo

The town of Zabadani continues to be pounded http://youtu.be/G33rhMsVzNE Meanwhile, the towns of Eastern Ghouta continue to be pounded by MiGs http://youtu.be/8JsIkMYrpXA

People in the town of Rastan, Homs, rush to save the injured in the aftermath of an aerial raid http://youtu.be/HV4iqlCAsb8 Some of the dead http://youtu.be/2-lKwcsD3RQ

Syrian Revolution Digest: Tuesday, 15 January 2013

We Don’t Need No Education!

The massacre at Aleppo University will not deter her students from remaining active supporters of the revolutionary ethos and nonviolent ethics. Some dig in their heels, others dig up their graves – the Revolution goes on.

Today’s Death Toll: 237 (including 15 children and 10 women)

99 martyrs were reported in Aleppo, most of them due to the shelling of the University; 65 in Homs most of them in Houla and Hasouba; 31 in Damascus and its Suburbs, 17 in Hama, 15 in Daraa, 6 in Idlib, 2 in Deir Ezzor and 2 in Raqqa  (LCCs).

Points of Random Shelling: 351

including 24 points that were shelled by warplanes, 5 point using cluster bombs,1 point with barrel bombs, 138 points using mortar, 120 points with heavy caliber artillery and 62 using rockets and missiles (LCCs).

Clashes: 143 (LCCs).

 

News

Blasts at Aleppo university kill more than 80 people, activists say Anti-regime activists trying to topple President Bashar Assad’s regime said his forces carried out two airstrikes. Syrian state media, for its part, blamed rebels fighting the Syrian government, saying they fired rockets that struck the campus… The competing narratives of the two blasts at the city’s main university highlight the difficulty of confirming reports from inside Syria… The scale of destruction in videos shot at the site, however, suggested more powerful explosives had been used than the rockets the rebels are known to possess.

Video purports to show Syrian officers begging al-Assad for help “I urge you, Mr. President, are the Syrian officers considered to be nothing and less important than some Iranian citizens?” Raeidi said, his voice cracking, “Or (does) the foreign policy … force us to remain victims and remain in captivity?” He adds, “Thanks for listening.”

Mass Grave Found in Aleppo Amid Fierce Fighting Like so much of the Syrian civil war, this slice of horror will remain a mystery. One can glean only so much from the tip of a pallid nose. The bodies would have been buried by now, with no autopsy or investigation, catalogued only in the minds of those who in this particular atrocity happened to lose a loved one. As a journalist, I could do little but snap a few photos. The story, whatever it is, will be entombed with the victims under a slab of concrete.

Russia says against referring Syria crisis to war crimes court Permanent U.N. Security Council member Russia said in a Foreign Ministry statement on Tuesday that an effort by dozens of countries to refer the Syrian crisis to the International Criminal Court was “ill-timed and counterproductive”.

Moscow suspends consular operations in Aleppo “The operations of the Russian Federation’s Consulate General in Aleppo have been suspended,” the statement said. “Regarding all issues, contact the consular department of the Russian Embassy in Damascus.”

Arming Syria rebels an option – Hague “Our efforts are directed at a peaceful political solution. We are sending some practical help to opposition groups, but not arms, and we have taken no decision to change that, but we do want the flexibility to change that if necessary,” he said.

Report says Assad residing on warship Syrian President Bashar Assad and his family have been living on a warship, with security provided by Russia, intelligence sources told a Saudi newspaper.

Syrians set for ballot in Turkish refugee camps Syrians head to the polls this week to elect new local administrators from among their peers at refugee camps in Kilis in southeastern Turkey

 

Special Reports

Grim Situation Starts To Lift In Aleppo, Syria
The situation in the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo is much less dire than it was a month ago. Food stalls are full of produce, albeit at much higher prices than before, and the bread crisis has been somewhat averted. The fighting is now centered on airbases on the outskirts of the city.

Kurdish Fighters Hope to Balance Islamist Forces
Saladin Brigade, which includes Arab members in its ranks, says its alliance with Islamists is a way to pay its dues to the revolution. Its leaders hope to bring down the Assad regime and play an influential, and moderating, role in a future Syria. “We want a civil, democratic government which treats everyone equally,” said Colonel Shawqi Othman, 43, who heads the brigade.

‘Humanitarian emergency’ as Syria runs low on medical care, food
The vast majority of displaced Syrians now aren’t in camps; instead, they’re “urban refugees,” the IRC said. And because most of them fled their previous lives with few belongings and little money, many have built up crushing debt. The IRC heard accounts of desperate women trading sex for food, children being forced to work in exploitative or dangerous jobs and families selling girls into early marriage to reduce household numbers or pay rent.

Syria’s rebels: A bloody tit for tat
On January 9th Thaer al-Waqqas, the local commander of the northern Farouq brigade, was killed in Sarmada, his hometown. Locals say he was shot by a Tunisian fighter. Mr Waqqas was involved in the killing in September of Firas al-Absi, aka Abu Mohammed, a Saudi-born Syrian jihadi who had teamed up with foreign fighter friends from Libya to Afghanistan… The brigades have always competed for their members’ loyalty and for turf; now they must also jockey for the support of Syrian civilians who are beginning to differentiate more strongly between the various groups.

Preparing for the New Syria
Sooner or later, the war will end and Syrians will have to sit down and talk about the future of their state. Here’s a roadmap.

Syrian Rebels Find Hearts and Minds Elusive
“The opposition is in fact helping to hold the regime together,” said Peter Harling, an analyst with the International Crisis Group who meets in Syria with people on all sides of the conflict. “It seems to have no strategy to speak of when it comes to preserving what’s left of the state, wooing the Alawites within the regime or reaching out to those who don’t know who to hate most, the regime or the opposition.”

It seems only tricks can get us notice: The 6 Best Dresses At The Golden Globes.

Syria Dropped Hallucinogen Weapon on Rebels, Secret Cable Says
The Syrian military used an exotic chemical weapon on rebels during an attack in the city of Homs, some U.S. officials now believe.

The conclusion — first reported by Foreign Policy’s Josh Rogin and laid out in a secret cable from the U.S. consul general in Istanbul — contradicts preliminary estimates made by American officials in the hours after the December 23 strike. But after interviews with Syrian activists, doctors, and defectors, American diplomats in Turkey have apparently rendered a different verdict. It’s important to note, however, that this was the conclusion of a single consulate within the State Department, and there is still wide disagreement within the U.S. government over whether the Homs attack should be characterized as a chemical weapons incident….

Something horrible happened in Homs on December 23. Exactly what that horrible event was still isn’t clear.

Exclusive: Secret State Department cable: Chemical weapons used in Syria
The cable, signed by the U.S. consul general in Istanbul, Scott Frederic Kilner, and sent to State Department headquarters in Washington last week, outlined the results of the consulate’s investigation into reports from inside Syria that chemical weapons had been used in the city of Homs on Dec. 23… To date, the administration has not initiated any major policy changes in response to the classified cable, but a Deputies Committee meeting of top administration officials is scheduled for this week.

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A before-and-during for 16-year old Tariq Shahoud. This picture was smuggled from the security headquarters where he is still held.  Children like Tariq are often used to blackmail their parents, becoming source for income for security officers.

 

Video Highlights

We are the children of Syria – A video http://youtu.be/Of9dkAVzaFw

Aleppo University Bombing: First video showing the second missile hit http://youtu.be/SFigDPLRmu4 “Video filmed from a distance seconds after the University complex was attacked by Syrian Military Aircraft, trail of jet fighter is seen clearly in the sky.” http://youtu.be/Ge501gDA6y8 Aftermath http://youtu.be/Ej4ITWVeWKQ ,http://youtu.be/EOK5IxuJqHw

In the town of Maadan, Raqqah, rebels shell pro-regime positions forcing them to withdraw http://youtu.be/kP9qtHQpoLw , http://youtu.be/5YL7d8F9OWo , http://youtu.be/WG7qlzvaeok

In Houleh, Homs, shelling left many children injured and terrified http://youtu.be/rU8EXXlwDSI ,http://youtu.be/Yy2NY1PYwNE and leaves some dead http://youtu.be/ez_LOiXpsOo , http://youtu.be/KEIdC1qVQJA Anger and grief of locals as the bodies of their loved ones lay strewn in the streets http://youtu.be/_7I94qfI8e8

The pounding of the town of Rastan, Homs, continues http://youtu.be/4xCTmbpRNQQ , http://youtu.be/tscNnPW-P9M Talbisseh is pounded with incendiary cluster bombs http://youtu.be/iWnuICP_6T8 ,http://youtu.be/wGpAb4M6v38

In Elbab, Aleppo local look for bodies under the rubble in the aftermath of a bombing raid http://youtu.be/geBxy6nqQIo , http://youtu.be/QfBYULRwRV

The pounding of the town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta, Damascus, continues http://youtu.be/_AEZSGDWuaE ,http://youtu.be/J-2omdmU-Gc Some of today’s dead http://youtu.be/MZroQ7oP1uo

The pounding touches neighborhoods inside Damascus City as well, including Qaboun http://youtu.be/D_soOOC_tXM , http://youtu.be/TaiwovsvS_U