Dying for democracy in Syria or for naught?

5Years later now what do you think? Then: Dying for democracy in Syria: Syria has been ruled ruthlessly by one party for nearly 50 years. Sooner or later the Assad regime will end. The international community must help the opposition by funding various opposition leaders to build political parties, so we can be ready to govern. It must help build democratic institutions and educate the population about political accountability, an alien concept to most Syrians, who have known only the anti-democratic Assad regime.

In short, we need all the help we can get to build a free, fair nation, one that represents all Syrians and respects human rights, the judiciary, international law and human life. Syrian lawyer and former judge Haitham Maleh has been awarded many prizes for his human rights activism. He lives part time in Europe and part time in the Middle East.

Aleppo blast: 'Several hurt' in new Syria unrest: At least three people were killed in the blast, which targeted a bus in the Tall al-Zarazeer district, said the opposition Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.At least four people were killed in the city on Thursday when security forces fired on protesting students.
In Damascus, two blasts caused damage on Saturday, but no-one was hurt. It is not known whether the people hurt in the Aleppo explosion were civilians or members of the security forces, a Syrian Observatory of Human Rights spokesman told AFP.

Two bombs explode on Damascus highway: Two bombs detonated on a central Damascus highway on Saturday, destroying nine cars, residents said, in a further sign that rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad are shifting tactics towards homemade explosives.

Deadly blasts have shaken major cities as insurgents seek to even the odds between their outgunned forces and the tanks, artillery and helicopters in Assad's military arsenal. On April 30, explosions blew the fronts off buildings in the northern town of Idlib, where state TV reported nine people killed and 100 wounded, including security personnel. Three days earlier, a suicide bomber killed nine, including security men, at a Damascus mosque, the Interior Ministry said.

We knew Al Qaeda has been calling its fighter to come to Syria for a Jihad against the Government and suicide bombings are their calling card but they have become the calling card in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan not because Al Qaeda is spreading but what works is. Plus you can bet Assad is killing some of his own to gain favor so he can continue and worsen the slaughter.

It is the growing rebel force of military deserters that are turning into the most potent fighting force. I tried to find figures as to how many soldiers have now defected but could not. At last count 25,000 had defected but as of late despite atrocities by pro Assad forces the defections are increasing.

Hundreds at once and by a lead force so close to the palace has got to be making Assad nervous. I wish I had saved the link but I read a story from Syria that the Alawite minority was getting nervous. Some were getting nervous in Latakia and other Alawite areas that the other religions were going to come chop off their heads.

I now believe they have reason to worry. In the beginning we knew it would take the whole military to defect were this insurrection to have a chance and it looks like it is happening despite knowing Assad followers would put them to death if caught. At the very least the rebels will in the end know they are not fighting only the Alawite minority but Lebanese and Iranian IRG.

Any way you look at it the Russian's and Chinese have drawn the line on what they view as US hegemony and with the blood of the Syrian people. Taking us on is why Putin stole himself an extended election. This is just the opening battle in the war to determine who is going to lead the way into the future. It will not be short or good. As time progresses wars do not get easier they get much worse. Be very concerned!



James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Israeli planes strike Syrian military base again targeting Russian advanced military equipment

 Israeli planes strike Syrian military base again targeting Russian advanced military equipment. How far will Putin let this go before he reacts?

 Israeli planes strike Syrian military base, U.S. official says:  An Obama administration official told AP that the attack happened overnight on Thursday, but provided no details. Another security official told the news agency that it took place in the Syrian port city of Latakia, and that the targets were Russian-made SA-125 missiles.

Another US official told CNN that the Israelis believed the base near Snobar Jableh, south of Latakia, had sensitive and sophisticated missile equipment that may have been transferred to the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah. What next?

LAST TIME "July": Israel showing she can take care of herself as Russia alerts full combat readiness

                                                             

  Israel Air strike Targeted Advanced Missiles That Russia Sold to Syria: U.S. Says.  The attack against the missiles came to light after Syrian rebels said that they were not responsible for large explosions at Latakia on July 5, and that a missile warehouse had been hit. American officials did not provide details on the extent of the damage or the number of missiles struck.

 *Russia Amasses ‘Full Combat Readiness’ Strategic Bombers  Russia’s large scale amassing of over 160,000 troops, naval ships, fighter planes, and strategic bombers has been virtually ignored by the mainstream media 

— with only Russian-based news services really reporting on the entire event. From the Israeli bombing of the Russian missiles to the ‘snap drills’ calling upon Russian forces to enter this period of ‘full combat readiness’, it appears that only RT has been analyzing the situation and looking at what’s going on based on military sources.

*Israeli officials have said they would not take sides in the civil war in Syria, but they have made it clear that Israel is prepared to carry out air strikes to prevent sophisticated weapons from being diverted to Hezbollah. The strike near Latakia, first reported by CNN, was the fourth known Israeli air attack against targets in Syria this year.

As you know, we are Israel's major source of advanced weapons and have recently completed a major arms deal in time for Israel to declare she can take care of herself. *US helps Israel improve 'military edge' with major arms deal

When all is said and done Israel is but a small Nation "armed to the teeth but a small nation" Israel is going over her head voicing her willingness to take on Iran and going after Hezbollah to ensure they do not get advanced weapons and now targeting Russian advanced missiles sent to Syria that would harm U.S. and Israeli interests. Add this to their warnings of an attack on Iran.

I reiterate there will never be peace in the Middle East, period! Only the UN wants it, Israel wants it her way and Iran/Syria want Israel obliterated, period. Israel and Iran have long been in preparation for this confrontation. As you know, when asked by a journalist how he felt upon returning to Iran in 1979 after 15 years in exile. Khomeini’s curt, one-word reply was “nothing” Whoa! From day one of his return to Iran Khomeini expressed no love for Iran only a love of the atom bomb. The drive even then was to possess a nuclear weapon though that desire is still denied until Iran can get their hands on one.

I have tried to give Iran the benefit of the doubt when they say their nuclear desires are peaceful knowing they could use nuclear power as an energy source for their growing population. I have always asserted that perceived need could be cover for the real goal of developing a nuclear weapon.

The nuclear program of Iran was launched in the 1950s with the help of the United States as part of the Atoms for Peace program.[1] The support, encouragement and participation of the United States and Western European governments in Iran's nuclear program continued until the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the Shah of Iran. We are so concerned about Pakistan and Iran today in regard to nuclear abilities and nuclear weapons and security. I was blown away to find out that we built the first nuclear Reactors in both Iran and Pakistan. Nuclear program of Iran - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia atoms for peace

I would have to assume this was after we overthrew the democratically elected President of Iran Mohammad Mosaddeq to install our ruthless puppet the Shah of Iran. We built and supplied Iran's first reactor because we thought we were in control. What the hell is wrong with us? That makes us personally responsible for the 1979 Revolution in Iran, the capture of our hostages, the disaster in the desert after a failed attempt to rescue them, the rise of the Revolutionary Guard, the protesters dilemma, the nuclear issue in Iran today, everything!

You know, I have long said that Iran’s civilian nuclear program is a cover for their nuclear weapons program. Now I see that Arab leaders feel the same way. They fear a nuclear arms race and I can only conclude that knowing how far along Iran is and how they feel that they are hedging their bets and it is already under way clandestinely.

On the other side there is Israel! I realized a long time ago that Israel is the world's chief war monger and we seem to do their bidding and fighting. If they get into a war with Iran we will end up coming to their rescue regardless of what they do or what Hillary says and that is sad! We should in fact take care of Jewish American's and American's and our interests in Israel and otherwise tell them in no uncertain terms they are on their own if they continue to instigate war not peace and expecting us to come to their rescue.

There is a US law that prohibits the support of countries that break the treaty in question. Vanunu's information led foreign experts to conclude that Israel had produced fissile material for as many as 200 atomic warheads thus warning other Nation's of Israel's military might. It was okay for Israel why the hypocrisy? Remember Mordechai Vanunu whistle blower of Israel's clandestine nuclear program? Uzi Eilam former head of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission said Mordechai Vanunu did Israel a favor after revealing information about an illegal nuclear program at Israel's Dimona reactor. His information proved that Israel had broken the 1968 treaty on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

There is a US law that prohibits the support of countries that break the treaty in question. Vanunu's information led foreign experts to conclude that Israel had produced fissile material for as many as 200 atomic warheads thus warning other Nation's of Israel's military might. It was okay for Israel why the hypocrisy? Remember this discussion? The US will pay the price for Israel and US nuclear lies and hypocrisy after Israel attacks!

I must admit Israel's hypocrisy and lies are a plan I have discussed often and I have to disagree with Eliam's final assertion. He says an attack on Iran's nuclear program would be counter productive. I beg to differ! The General hit the nail on the head though and does not know it. I have long asserted that Israel would attack Iran's nuclear interests and we would come to her rescue.

That is a fact that is why I find his final statement troubling and prophetic. He correctly said One strike is not practical. In order to delay the Iranian program for three to four years one needs an armada of aircraft, which only a super-power can provide. Only America can do it. Bingo! You know from numerous discussions here that Iran is involved in every Middle Eastern country not just Yemen, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia where they have corrupted elections for Shiite interests in Iraq, backing rebels in Yemen, and instigating attacks on Saudi oil fields. Bush freed Iran to instigate far and wide and they are.

Israel is not going to back down. When all is said and done they know the US will be there for them.  I am sure the US plans to come to Israel's rescue and do it largely from the Gulf with numerous carrier fighter groups and they are finished with their 30000 pound bunker buster behemoth to take out underground facilities. Both sides are locked and loaded and Syria is happening at the same time. That is no accident, all we can hope for at this time is to minimize these disasters as much as possible and keep them from turning this into WW3.

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

First Syrian in space defects from Assad regime even as Prime minister defects

Iran won't abandon Assad

First Syrian in space defects from Assad regime: Before crossing into Turkey, Gen Faris visited the headquarters of the Free Syrian Army in his home town of Aleppo in a show of solidarity with rebel forces battling Assad's troops in Syria's commercial capital. The Anatolia news agency reported that it was the general's fourth attempt to defect.


Gen Faris was born in 1951 in Aleppo, where the Syrian army and air force was pounding rebel positions on Sunday ahead of a threatened ground assault on the northern city. A graduate of the Aleppo's military pilot school in 1973, he joined a Soviet crew on the orbiting space station Mir in 1987, for which he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and also received the Order of Lenin.

Top Sunni Exits Syrian Regime; 

Syria crisis: prime minister 'defects' - live updates: Live• Riyad Hijab defects to Jordan, official claims • State TV appoints caretaker PM after Hijab's 'sacking' • Bomb hits third floor of Damascus state TV building • Rebels in Aleppo braced for major assault

Hijab's replacement has already been appointed, Reuters reports. I have the names of the 2 other Ministers also, but was told to keep on hold. There are 2 other Ministers with Hijab, not 3.

Aleppo rebels wait anxiously for Bashar al-Assad's elite to attack: "We have many more weapons than we used to have," he said. "The regime is running away and they are tired, so tired. Even more than us. I would say that of the force they are bringing to fight us, only 20% are brave and committed to battle. "We had around 120 defectors this morning alone."

If the consistent rumours among rebel ranks are right, the Free Syrian Army will need many more men to defend its gains in Aleppo in the coming days. Rebel commanders across northern Syria say the rump of the regime's army, including all its key divisions and units, is travelling north from Damascus, Hama and Idlib to join the battle. "We are expecting them on Tuesday," said a rebel colonel from Idlib, who has sent spotters to monitor the progress of the regime reinforcements. "They are sending the Republican Guards."

Syrian Forces Continue Aleppo Assault: Syrian state media say a bomb has exploded at the state television building in Damascus, wounding several people. The station remained on the air Monday following the blast, which ripped through the third floor of the building. A pro-government, private TV station, which itself was hit with a deadly blast in June, broadcast images of the building's damaged walls, wires dangling from a collapsed ceiling and people walking through smoke-filled hallways.
Syrian opposition activists are reporting continued attacks by government forces in the northern city of Aleppo Monday.

* Forget it Assad the game is up! Your die hard followers now want you dead and gone and even the Shabiha your hand picked murderers are abandoning you trying to melt back into the countryside they have helped to destroy in your name. Syria as you and your father knew it is gone. Only God knows what will happen now before it spreads throughout the middle east and no one will like it.

* It would behoove Russia to cut its losses and evacuate its people and evacuate its sub base but it will not. With China and Russia both with at least 11 powerful warships in the area along with hundreds of fighter jets and soldiers I absolutely believe they plan on hanging around and fighting for their last naval hold in the middle east. Putin is done cutting and running!

*Putin and Iran are ready to fight for their last significant ally Syria, the bull in the "China"shop is China. Right now China is with Russia but when all is said and done I think it behooves China to side with the west and the Syrian people then when the dust settles if it is as vicious as it may be China will be able to be in a position to take advantageous of it. With its push in the South China seas that is the common sense thing to do!

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

* Rebels use captured tank to attack airbase, pound military airport

Rebels Bombard airport and military base in Aleppo

Syrian rebels pound military airport: Growing in numbers and clout, Syrian rebels battered a military base near Aleppo as the battle for the nation's most populous city raged Thursday. Rebels used tanks seized in previous clashes with government troops to pound the Menagh military airport, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.The base is north of Aleppo, Syria's commercial capital. The main military airfield in the region is southeast of the city.

* Rebels use captured tank to attack airbase: Syrian rebels turned the gun of a captured tank against government forces on Thursday, shelling a military airbase expected to be used as a staging post for army reinforcements in the battle for Aleppo.More than 180 people were killed in Syria on Wednesday, 133 of them civilians and 45 of them members of Assad's forces, according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The rebels' morale was boosted when they turned a government tank's gun on the Menakh airbase 35 km (25 miles) north of Aleppo - a possible staging post for army reinforcements.

"We hit the airport using a tank that we captured from the Assad army. We attacked the airport a few times but we have decided to retreat at this time," a rebel fighter named Abu Ali told Reuters. The pro-opposition Observatory said government forces at the airbase had used artillery and rocket launchers to bombard the town of Tel Rifaat, which lies between the airbase and Aleppo, Syria's commercial center.

The rebels are consolidating areas they control in Aleppo, attacking police posts and minor military installations with some success. They claim to have seized three police stations this week. "When the streets were clear we found the bodies of at least 35 men," a resident, who gave his name as Fares, said by phone from Jdeidet Artouz, southwest of Damascus. Almost all of them were executed with bullets to their face, head and neck in homes, gardens and basements."


* Forget it Assad the game is up! Your die hard followers now want you dead and gone and even the Shabiha your hand picked murderers are abandoning you trying to melt back into the countryside they have helped to destroy in your name. Syria as you and your father knew it is gone. Only God knows what will happen now before it spreads throughout the middle east and no one will like it.

* It would behoove Russia to cut its losses and evacuate its people and evacuate its sub base but it will not. With China and Russia both with at least 11 powerful warships in the area along with hundreds of fighter jets and soldiers I absolutely believe they plan on hanging around and fighting for their last naval hold in the middle east. Putin is done cutting and running!

*Putin and Iran are ready to fight for their last significant ally Syria, the bull in the "China"shop is China. Right now China is with Russia but when all is said and done I think it behooves China to side with the west and the Syrian people then when the dust settles if it is as vicious as it may be China will be able to be in a position to take advantageous of it. With its push in the South China seas that is the common sense thing to do!

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Syrian chargé d'affaires in London resigns as even the Shabiha flee Aleppo

Highlights: The Syrian chargé d’affaires in London has resigned saying he is no longer willing to represent a "violent and oppressive" regime. Video showing rebels celebrating on captured tanks and removing supplies. Colonel Abdel Naser, the commander in charge of the battle told the Guardian's Luke Harding that his troops seized eight tanks and 10 armoured vehicles, as well as mortars and lots of weapons.

 He said one rebel fighter was killed. The rebels now control a strategic land corridor in northern Syria from Turkey all the way to Aleppo's outskirts. • A Syrian brigadier general who was deputy chief of police in Syria's Latakia region, has defected to Turkey. The official says the general was among a group of 12 Syrian officers who crossed into Turkey late Sunday.

An Iranian official was assassinated in Syria, The Shabiha are abandoning Assad and Russia says they could evacuate their people but that is a Ruse!

The Free Syrian Army claims to have overrun two police stations in Aleppo, and other rebels say a key checkpoint north of the city, Syria's commercial capital, has also been captured. The fight for Syria's second city has become the focus of the 16-month-old rebellion against president Bashar al-Assad. Middle East correspondent Matt Brown, who is just outside Aleppo, says if the rebels lose the city, they may well lose the uprising. He says because of that, rebels are trying hard to up the ante.Today I’ve been looking at what I’d guess you’d call a production line for an urban insurgency.

I’ve been looking at improvised explosive devices, home-made bombs being made, mixed up and set in I guess what are five or seven litre paint tins with the detonators in them. We saw a man mixing the powder for that. And they were what military professionals call shaped charges. So they’re designed in such a way that the metal at the front of them shoots out and can penetrate armour like the tanks that the regime’s been using. We’ve also been hearing about them capturing tanks from the Syrian government forces. But what I was seeing today was them getting anti-aircraft guns ready that they’ve seized from a very important military base nearby. Several of them have already been put on the back of trucks and sent into the battle for Aleppo.

The bodies of soldiers were strewn along the airport road. Gasoline was not available or was prohibitively expensive. A catastrophic battle loomed between armed rebels and government forces. It was time to get out of Aleppo, Syria. “It was very bad,” said an Aleppo businessman who escaped with his family to Lebanon, one of thousands of Syrians of varied economic backgrounds who have fled their strife-ridden homeland in recent weeks.

“There is no traffic police and no garbage collectors,” said Ayman, in his mid-40s, dressed in light blue track pants and a T-shirt, as he fiddled with his cellphone in the hotel lobby. “Cars were driving in the wrong direction near Saadallah al-Jaberi Square. The police are sitting inside police stations and don’t open the door.” Among those fleeing, Ayman said, were plainclothes government enforcers known as shabiha. The opposition circulated photos of suspected Aleppo-based shabiha on Facebook, a not so thinly veiled threat.

Live Updating:Syrian chargé d'affaires in London resigns - Monday 30 July: • The Syrian chargé d’affaires in London has resigned saying he is no longer willing to represent a "violent and oppressive" regime. Khaled al-Ayoubi was the most senior Syrian diplomat serving in London. His departure was announced by the UK Foreign Office, which described it as "another blow to the Assad regime". It urged others to follow his example.• Rebel fighters claim to have captured the Hryatan military base and Anadan checkpoint, north-west of Aleppo. Video showed them celebrating on captured tanks and removing supplies.

Colonel Abdel Naser, the commander in charge of the battle told the Guardian's Luke Harding that his troops seized eight tanks and 10 armoured vehicles, as well as mortars and lots of weapons. He said one rebel fighter was killed. The rebels now control a strategic land corridor in northern Syria from Turkey all the way to Aleppo's outskirts. • A Syrian brigadier general who was deputy chief of police in Syria's Latakia region, has defected to Turkey. The official says the general was among a group of 12 Syrian officers who crossed into Turkey late Sunday. The brigadier general's defection raises the number of generals to have defected and crossed into Turkey since the start of the 17-month-old uprising to 28, according to AP. Latakia is the de facto capital of the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast,

Opposition sources said Wednesday that an Iranian diplomat was assassinated in Damascus. No further details were available.

Meanwhile, gunfire and explosions were heard Tuesday night in several neighborhoods of Damascus.Early Wednesday, an explosion and gunfire were heard in Baghdad street and in Bab Touma, the Christian quarter of the capital, according to the Local Coordination committees (LCC). According to the LCC, the area of Tadamoun, in the south of the capital, was targeted by mortar fire early Wednesday morning.
"Until late Tuesday night, sounds of explosions and gunfire were heard intermittently in several neighborhoods, including Kafar Sousse (south)," said an AFP journalist . Limited clashes were resumed Monday in Damascus including Kafar Sousse after a rebel attack which included RPG rocket firing against an army checkpoint.

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Wednesday released his first public statement since four of his top security officials were assassinated two weeks ago, marking armed forces day. In the press release, Assad said that the Syrian army's battle with rebel forces would determine the fate of his country, and praised soldiers for confronting what he said were "criminal terrorist gangs." "The fate of our people and our nation, past, present and future, depends on this battle," Assad, who has not spoken in public since four of his top security officials were assassinated two weeks ago, said in the written statement.

* Forget it Assad the game is up! Your die hard followers now want you dead and gone and even the Shabiha your hand picked murderers are abandoning you trying to melt back into the countryside they have helped to destroy in your name. Syria as you and your father knew it is gone. Only God knows what will happen now before it spreads throughout the middle east and no one will like it.

* It would behoove Russia to cut its losses and evacuate its people and evacuate its sub base but it will not. With China and Russia both with at least 11 powerful warships in the area along with hundreds of fighter jets and soldiers I absolutely believe they plan on hanging around and fighting for their last naval hold in the middle east. Putin is done cutting and running!

*Putin and Iran are ready to fight for their last significant ally Syria, the bull in the "China"shop is China. Right now China is with Russia but when all is said and done I think it behooves China to side with the west and the Syrian people then when the dust settles if it is as viceous as it may be China will be able to be in a position to take advantageous of it. With its push in the South China seas that is the common sense thing to do!

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Rebels kill seven pro-Assad militiamen after convoy carrying observers for protection was hit, 40 killed in 2 huge Damascus explosions?

Rebels kill seven pro-Assad militiamen: Syrian rebels killed at least seven pro-government militiamen in a Damascus suburb on Wednesday, activists said, and a large explosion hit a convoy accompanying United Nations ceasefire observers in the southern province of Deraa. The Damascus attack with rocket-propelled grenades on a bus carrying the fighters through the suburb of Irbin prompted the army to seal off the area and respond with shelling, activist Mohammad Saeed said. They were carrying observers to protect Assad's murderers so good!

Damascus carnage points to al-Qaeda:More than 50 people are dead and some 370 wounded after a pair of massive bombs exploded during the morning rush hour near a military intelligence building in Damascus, the deadliest attack since the Syrian uprising began 14 months ago.The blast fuelled fears of an expanding Islamic militant element among the forces seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

We knew Al Qaeda has been calling its fighter to come to Syria for a Jihad against the Government and suicide bombings are their calling card but they have become the calling card in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan not because Al Qaeda is spreading but what works is. Plus you can bet Assad is killing some of his own to gain favor so he can continue and worsen the slaughter.

It is the growing rebel force of military deserters that are turning into the most potent fighting force. I tried to find figures as to how many soldiers have now defected but could not. At last count 25,000 had defected but as of late despite atrocities by pro Assad forces the defections are increasing.

Hundreds at once and by a lead force so close to the palace has got to be making Assad nervous. I wish I had saved the link but I read a story from Syria that the Alawite minority was getting nervous. Some were getting nervous in Latakia and other Alawite areas that the other religions were going to come chop off their heads.

I now believe they have reason to worry. In the beginning we knew it would take the whole military to defect were this insurrection to have a chance and it looks like it is happening despite knowing Assad followers would put them to death if caught. At the very least the rebels will in the end know they are not fighting only the Alawite minority but Lebanese and Iranian IRG.

Any way you look at it the Russian's and Chinese have drawn the line on what they view as US hegemony and with the blood of the Syrian people. Taking us on is why Putin stole himself an extended election. This is just the opening battle in the war to determine who is going to lead the way into the future. It will not be short or good. As time progresses wars do not get easier they get much worse. Be very concerned!



James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Syrian uprising shifts toward suicide bombings. Al Qaeda's handiwork? Assad? (+video):

Fresh attacks target symbols of Syrian state power: In fresh attacks on symbols of state power, twin suicide bombs exploded Monday near a government security compound in northern Syria and rockets struck the central bank in Damascus, killing nine people and wounding 100.

The regime and the opposition traded blame, accusing each other of dooming a United Nations plan to calm violence that has largely failed so far. The head of the U.N. observer mission acknowledged that his force cannot solve the country's crisis alone and urged both sides to stop fighting. The attacks are the latest in a series of suicide bombings that started in December and have mostly targeted Syrian military and intelligence positions.

Syrian uprising shifts toward suicide bombings. Al Qaeda's handiwork? (+video): Twin suicide bombings today in the restive city of Idlib in northwest Syria left at least eight people dead and suggests that the nascent insurgency against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad could be shifting to jihadist tactics that have been a hallmark of conflicts in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.

Violence erupted in two Syrian provinces on Tuesday, with a rights group reporting 10 civilians dead in an army mortar attack and 12 soldiers killed in a fire-fight with rebel gunmen: An activist on the Turkish border, Tareq Abdelhaq, said 35 people had been wounded and that some were being carried 25 km (15 miles) along mountain tracks to receive emergency treatment in refugee camps dotted along the frontier.

"Some are being smuggled over the border to Turkey. They had to carry the wounded and go through the mountains to avoid checkpoints on the road," Abdelhaq said. "One guy died on the way. He was 19 years old and had very bad injuries." In the eastern Deir al-Zor province, troops hit back with mortar and heavy machinegun fire after losing a dozen of their own to insurgents, killing at least one villager and destroying a school.

We knew Al Qaeda has been calling its fighter to come to Syria for a Jihad against the Government and suicide bombings are their calling card but they have become the calling card in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan not because Al Qaeda is spreading but what works is. Plus you can bet Assad is killing some of his own to gain favor so he can continue and worsen the slaughter.

It is the growing rebel force of military deserters that are turning into the most potent fighting force. I tried to find figures as to how many soldiers have now defected but could not. At last count 25,000 had defected but as of late despite atrocities by pro Assad forces the defections are increasing.

Hundreds at once and by a lead force so close to the palace has got to be making Assad nervous. I wish I had saved the link but I read a story from Syria that the Alawite minority was getting nervous. Some were getting nervous in Latakia and other Alawite areas that the other religions were going to come chop off their heads.

I now believe they have reason to worry. In the beginning we knew it would take the whole military to defect were this insurrection to have a chance and it looks like it is happening despite knowing Assad followers would put them to death if caught. At the very least the rebels will in the end know they are not fighting only the Alawite minority but Lebanese and Iranian IRG.

Any way you look at it the Russian's and Chinese have drawn the line on what they view as US hegemony and with the blood of the Syrian people. Taking us on is why Putin stole himself an extended election. This is just the opening battle in the war to determine who is going to lead the way into the future. It will not be short or good. As time progresses wars do not get easier they get much worse. Be very concerned!



James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

video of Syria burying rebel alive as Syrian forces, rebels clash in Latakia when 100's of armed Syrians defect

Syrian troops video'd burying rebel alive, Rebels attack Syrian soldiers from sea, several killed, ‎Hundreds of soldiers defected from the Syrian armed forces on Sunday in the outskirts of Damascus and in the port city of Latakia,

Rebels attack Syrian army from sea, several killed: ‎Gunmen in inflatable dinghies killed several security officials in an attack on a military unit on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, state media said on Saturday, the first seaborne assault reported during the revolt against the government of President Bashar Al Assad as the Lebanese navy intercepted three containers of weapons destined for Syrian rebel forces on board a ship originating from Libya.

Syria’s official Sana news agency said several gunmen and soldiers died in fighting that followed the coastal attack near the northern port of Latakia, 35 km south of the Turkish border.

Syrian forces, rebels clash in Latakia: At least 10 military defectors died during clashes in a village in the Damascus countryside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Three civilian fatalities were reported in various cities, including Homs, where a man died after a gang supporting the regime attacked him with knives, according to the London-based Syrian Network for Human Rights.

Defectors also clashed with forces in the coastal city of Latakia, where a presidential palace is located, according to the observatory. The new attacks came a day after a bomber struck near a mosque in the capital of Damascus, killing nine people -- most of them government forces, Syrian state-run media reported. It described the attack in Midan district as a "terrorist bombing."

Hundreds of soldiers defected from the Syrian armed forces on Sunday in the outskirts of Damascus and in the port city of Latakia, where large explosions were heard near the presidential palace, the Syrian Media Center reported. Sima Malaki, spokesperson of the center, which represents the Syrian opposition, said dozens of soldiers defected from an army unit that was positioned near the presidential palace in Latakia.

The official news agency SANA reported that “one of the military units stationed off the coast of Latakia thwarted an attempt by an “armed terrorist group” trying to infiltrate from the sea,” quoting an unnamed military source. The Syrian Observatory for Human rights and activists confirmed that clashes broke out between Syrian troops and armed opposition forces in the village of Borj Islam near a presidential palace early Saturday morning. Activist Sema Nassar said the fighting began as “officers and soldiers of a military base near the presidential palace ... deserted with their weapons.”

I tried to find figures as to how many soldiers have now defected but could not. At last count 25,000 had defected but as of late despite atrocities by pro Assad forces the defections are increasing. Hundreds at once and by a lead force so close to the palace has got to be making Assad nervous. I wish I had saved the link but I read a story from Syria that the Alawite minority was getting nervous. Some were getting nervous in Latakia and other Alawite areas that the other religions were going to come chop off their heads.

I now believe they have reason to worry. In the beginning we knew it would take the whole military to defect were this insurrection to have a chance and it looks like it is happening despite knowing Assad followers would put them to death if caught. At the very least the rebels will in the end know they are not fighting only the Alawite minority but Lebanese and Iranian IRG.

Any way you look at it the Russian's and Chinese have drawn the line on what they view as US hegemony and with the blood of the Syrian people. Taking us on is why Putin stole himself an extended election. This is just the opening battle in the war to determine who is going to lead the way into the future. It will not be short or good. As time progresses wars do not get easier they get much worse. Be very concerned!



James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com