Yahoo: Assad predicts disaster if West meddles in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Loc...#axzz29XoWP4hg

Syria conflict deepens sectarian rifts in Lebanon

ARSAL: This Lebanese border town has become a safe haven for war-weary Syrian rebels, a way station for wounded fighters and home to hundreds of frightened Syrian refugee families.

Residents of Arsal, a Sunni Muslim town of 40,000, say they have strong motives to help those trying to topple Syria's regime: they themselves were harassed and abused by it during three decades of de facto Syrian control of Lebanon.

But in siding with the rebels, many of them fellow Sunnis, Arsal is also deepening rifts with its Shiite Muslim neighbors in the Bekaa Valley that runs along Lebanon's eastern border with Syria. Large areas of the scenic valley are controlled by Hezbollah, the powerful Shiite militia that is supporting and - according to the U.S. and the Syrian opposition - also fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces.

For now, Lebanon's rival political and religious groups have largely tried to keep a lid on domestic tensions stoked by the conflict next door, with collective memories here still scarred by Lebanon's own 15-year civil war that ended in 1990. But any major escalation in Syria or miscalculation by the combatants' Lebanese supporters could ignite Lebanon's explosive sectarian mix.

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

CONFIRMED: The regime is sending shabiha and soldiers in cement trucks from Hama to MaaratAlNouman as a "disguise" to hide from the FSA.
7:56 PM

28 martyrs in DeirEzzor today. 19 in the Almayadeen massacre. 18 children.
9:43 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Germany has announced it is willing to start taking Syrian refugees. Europe stepping in to fill the gaps left by our Arab "brothers"
1:19 AM

The level of ignorance towards what's really happening in Syria among Americans is UNBELIEVABLE.
4:15 AM

I won't deny that when you do explain to them the situation, they are 1) very appalled that they didn't know better & 2) face turns white.
4:17 AM

https://twitter.com/javierespinosa2

Turkish officials signal their intent to accommodate up to 400,000 Syrian by June 2013, indication of escalation expected in Syria
4:27 AM

https://twitter.com/monicagprieto

UN's World Food Programme saidprices for basic provisions have nearly doubled in Syria
4:46 AM

Cooking gas, a rare commodity, is now available on the black market at a 400 per cent mark-up
4:46 AM

https://twitter.com/ZeinakhodrAljaz

Brahimi holding talks with officials in Lebanon on Syria conflict
4:49 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters have liberated an airforce defense base in abu dannah (17 miles to the east of aleppo city)
5:07 AM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

Idlib: Kafrouma: A helicopter was downed over agricultural fields south of the town
5:29 AM

http://www.lccsyria.org/10353

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The LCC managed to document 134 martyrs in Syria with the end of Tuesday, among them 17 children and 6 women. 33 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs;29 in Aleppo; 27 in Deir Ezzor, among them 20 due to the aerial shelling of Mayadeen; 16 in Idlib; 9 in Daraa; 7 in Homs; 6 in Hama; 3 in Lattakia; 3 in Raqqa; and one person from Jableh who was martyred in Hama.

Also, while the regime’s army shelled 25 areas in Syria and committed 3 massacres, the Free Syrian Army responded to the violations of the regime with 2 operations in Raqqa and in Eastern Ghota

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
34,358 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

about 6 hours ago
Syrian rebels have acquired heavy weapons that have forced the government's air force to bomb rebel-held zones indiscriminately from high altitude, France's foreign minister said before meeting rebel groups on Wednesday.

Laurent Fabius, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's harshest critics, made his comments ahead of a closed door conference in Paris with civilian members of rebel councils that run areas seized from central government control.

They included representatives from Maarat al-Numan, a town whose seizure last week cut the main route from Damascus to Aleppo.

"In a certain number of these zones, Bashar al-Assad is bombarding them with MiG fighter jets, and what is particularly horrible is that he is bombarding them with TNT," Fabius said.

"But at the same time there are now weapons that are forcing the planes to fly extremely high, and so the strikes are less accurate," he told reporters.

Amateur footage of rebels using shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missiles have emerged in recent days. - Reuters

about 4 hours ago
Arab League chief Nabil ElArabi has called on the Syrian government and the armed opposition to agree on a truce for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday that starts on October 26.

A statement from the Arab bloc said Arabi called on "the Syrian government and armed Syrian opposition to respond to calls for a truce and stop violence and military action during the days of Eid."

He also asked for international support for a truce during the four-day holiday that marks the climax of the annual hajj pilgrimage. [AFP]

about 3 hours ago
Pope Benedict is to send a delegation to Syria to show solidarity with all those adversely affected by the country's civil war.

The Vatican's Senior Advisor of Communications, Gregory Burke, said on Wednesday that the Pope wanted to send a sign to the Syrian population that they have not been forgotten.

"The Pope has decided to do this essentially as a sign of solidarity, not only with the Christians in Syria, certainly, but really as a sign for them, the Christians, but also that Syria has not been forgotten by the rest of the world," he explained.

"It's an interesting delegation. You have bishops from around the globe, chosen from different areas around the globe, and three cardinals as well. But you also have two experienced diplomats, the Vatican foreign minister and the ex-foreign minister, who has a long history of diplomatic skills." [Reuters]

about 2 hours ago
Saleh Mubarak, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, talks to Al Jazeera about the potential for an Eid ceasefire.

He says the opposition would welcome any attempt to save Syrian lives but that they don't trust the regime would honour any truce agreement.

I don't know why people keep bringing up ceasefire, it doesn't really do anying but slow down the killing for a few days at best, and give the regime some extra time and access to areas they wouldn't normally be able to get into.

4 minutes ago
Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Nsour visited al-Zaatari camp, housing Syrian refugees, on Wednesday and said work will start immediately on setting up a second camp in Mreijeb al-Fhood in Zarqa. Construction will take 60 days and the Jordanian Armed Forces will be responsible for setting up the Zarqa camp.

https://twitter.com/DamascusSYR

BREAKING: The turkish army is currently shelling Syria'n positions in response of shelling from Syria.

23 children were killed by Assad today in Syria. Over 2700 since March 2011.

Having trouble getting twitter to work at the moment....



https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Turkish army strikes back at Syria after a mortar bomb falls in Hatay's Altinozu district. Authorities say stepped up security measures.
1:12 PM

https://twitter.com/DSyrer

FSA shoots down a fighter jet in Aleppo (You can see the pilot ejecting & opening his parachute) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7t2x...ature=youtu.be
1:55 PM

Amazing how FSA manages to down an average of 1~2 planes/helicopters per day. Assad's AF will be eventually gone if they maintain this rate.
1:58 PM

Communist Activist Suhair Atassi chilling with a bunch of FSA soldiers in Tel Abyad - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtVWWwp9eJo Raqqa
2:14 PM

[visionary]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...sj_share_tweet

Syrian Rebels Get Missiles

ANTAKYA, Turkey—Some Syrian rebel factions have obtained advanced portable antiaircraft weapons, according to rebels and regional officials, a development that could alter the Syrian war's trajectory and fan U.S. concerns that such weapons could end up in the hands of anti-Western Islamist militias.

Video footage uploaded to the Internet earlier this week appears to show rebels in Aleppo using weapons that military experts and rebels say are heat-seeking, shoulder-fired missiles, the first documented instance in the conflict. Versions of the weapons—also known as man-portable air defense systems, or Manpads—have been smuggled into the country over the past two months through

https://twitter.com/blakehounshell

WSJ says "Most of the shoulder-fired missiles in rebel arsenals have come from Libya, smuggled into the country through the Turkish border"
9:44 PM

"Other shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles…have been supplied by militant Palestinian factions"
9:47 PM

"In July, the U.S. effectively halted the delivery of at least 18 Manpads sourced from Libya"
9:48 PM

This isn't the first time I've seen claims that the rebels are getting or have missles and such, but there have been a few videos showing some recently I think. On the other and there's still remarkably little evidence of usage, and most if not all aircraft that goes down still seem to be getting shot down by aa guns, not missles. That said, these could make quite a difference, and one would think there will be more to come still from taking bases in Syria if not from smugglers.


http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syr...im-they-seized

Opposition fighters in the town of Qusair in Homs province roam the streets on tank they claim they seized

Activists posted a video purporting to opposition fighters in the town of Qusair in Homs province roaming the streets on a tank they claim they seized from regime forces.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Fi-KsDeaRSM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters shot down a warplane in idlib http://youtu.be/GFgLL80iJzo
6:25 AM

an assad warplane has dropped an explosive barrel near nur al-shuhadaa mosque in aleppo city. +10 people were killed & +30 injured
10:00 AM

https://twitter.com/blakehounshell

Well this sure looks like a helicopter being shot of the sky in Syria http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6ROT...ature=youtu.be …
11:07 PM

http://www.lccsyria.org/10360

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria

Wednesday ended with 155 documented martyrs including 13 children and 8 women. The distributions were as follows: 48 in Damascus and its suburbs, including 10 martyrs executed in-field in East Ghouta; 46 in Aleppo, including those that died in the Shaar Massacre; 27 in Idlib, including those that died in the KafrNabal Massacre; 12 in Homs; 7 in Raqqa; 6 in Deir Ezzor; 4 in Hama; 3 in Daraa, and 2 in Latakia

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
34,513 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/AJELive

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for a Syria ceasefire while rejecting a Turkish plan for Assad replacement http://aje.me/S5byhP
5:35 AM

https://twitter.com/tweets4peace

People like this need 2 stay away from Syria (& they're far from Islam). FSA helped free photographer from random grp. http://bit.ly/RaPAsq
5:40 AM

https://twitter.com/Turk4Syria

Seven Syrian soldiers, one of them wounded, have fled to Hatay, Turkey.
5:20 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

from the heroes in deirezzor: liberation of the bridge (al-jisr) military compound http://youtu.be/LqjTTK9Twws
5:25 AM

resistance fighters have liberated zalebiyah square in deirezzor
5:27 AM

resistance fighters destroyed 2 tanks & a bmp vehicle near the town of basidah (idlib)
5:45 AM

resistance fighters are bombing wadi al-dayf military compound (idlib)
5:51 AM

resistance fighters ambushed & killed +35 assad troops & destroyed 2 t72 tanks in khirbat qiratah (daraa)
5:55 AM

https://twitter.com/NOW_Syria

Syrian regime forces are shelling the neighborhoods of Homs with warplanes and tanks -Al-Jazeera
6:19 AM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Massacre in MaaratAlNouman!! 10 entire families! No known numbers yet! [video of people pulling lots of bodies and body parts out of rubble]
7:05 AM

Little infant is the only survivor! MaaratAlNouman she was pulled out from underneath the rubble/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=66HahTcZjLo
7:07 AM

The massacre occurred when a shelter housing 10 families in MaaratAlNouman was shelled. Death toll still unknown. Only 1 infant survivor.
7:17 AM

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/wo...=tw-share&_r=0

Denial Is Slipping Away as War Arrives in Damascus

War has come to Damascus. Not on the scale of Aleppo or Homs, at least not yet. But the difference from just a few months ago is unmistakable. With sandbagged checkpoints every half-mile and soldiers methodically searching vehicles for weapons, simple movement is becoming impossible.

“Where is Damascus headed? Are we the next Aleppo?” Rifa asked a few days later. “How soon before our city, our markets, are destroyed?”

This is the center of Bashar al-Assad’s power, the stronghold he tried for months to shield from a popular uprising that has inexorably been transformed into a bloody civil war. As his troops battled insurgents all around the country, Mr. Assad was determined that here, at least, he would preserve an air of normalcy, of routine, of certainty that life would go on, as it had before.

Such illusions are no longer possible. The reality of war has crept into daily life, and there is a sense of inevitability. Even supporters of the government talk about what comes next, and rebels speak of tightening the noose around this city, their ultimate goal.

Damascus was once known for its all-night party scene. Now, few people venture out after dark, and kidnappings are rampant. Gasoline is increasingly scarce, and as winter approaches, people are worried about shortages of food and heating oil. Streets are closed at a moment’s notice, traffic diverted, bridges shut down. Even longtime residents and taxi drivers get lost and have to weave in and out of parking lots to avoid barriers and dead-end streets. Shelling and machine-gun fire are so commonplace, children no longer react.

****ing hell...and this is just Egypt.
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268743/con...tguid=ma4kVgfc

UN: 150,000 Syrian refugees have fled to Egypt

The U.N. refugee agency said Thursday the number of Syrian refugees who have fled their country's civil war and found shelter in Egypt has now topped 150,000 - a significant jump from last month's figure of 95,000.

The director of UNHCR in Egypt, Mohamed Dayri, said that despite the growing number of refugees in Egypt, only 4,800 Syrians have registered with the agency in Cairo. He called on Egyptian authorities to help UNHCR deal with the "rising emergency" of Syrian refugees here.

A U.N. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, suggested Syria's neighbors who have taken in refugees - Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan - are "reaching (the) saturation point," prompting an influx into Egypt, where the cost of living is cheaper.

Egypt does not share a border with Syria, but the Egyptian government allows Syrians to enter without a visa.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/secu...civil-war.html

Is the Conflict in Syria a World War Or a Civil War?

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

30 martyrs from the massacre in MaaratAlMouman. Only 3 have been identified. The rest may never be identified due to severe disfigurement.
9:17 AM

https://twitter.com/CFKlebergTT

At least 44 killed by air strikes in MaaretalNouman, Syria, rescue workers tell AFP correspondent at scene.
9:24 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Hafez al-Assad in his rightful place. pic.twitter.com/xcJaxVbg
3:34 AM

Explosives attached to a motorcycle, blasts near al-Othman mosque in Kafarsouseh. - Damascus
9:59 AM

Smoke rising from the Ministry of Interior building in Kafarsouseh following explosion. Damascus
10:05 AM

https://twitter.com/And_Harper

Back in Jo. 401 x'd last nite. Busy day @ Zaatri with Patriach of Jerusalem & King of Morocco. Brahimi also visiting Amman.
10:48 AM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 144 thus far, including women, and children: 41 martyrs were reported in Idlib; most of them in Maaret Al-Nouman, 34 in Damascus and its Suburbs, (including 9 who were field-executed in Yarmouk Camp, 7 in Hamouria, and 4 who were field-executed in Qadam); 28 in Aleppo, (including 16 who were found in Zahra Society); 14 in Homs; 10 in Daraa, (including 7 who were field-executed in Maaroba); 6 in Quneitra; 5 in Deir Ezzor; 5 in Hama; and 1 in Raqqa
10:30 AM

[visionary]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Mid...#axzz29guVyHTI

Turkish army stages military drill near Syria border: report

Turkey's army on Thursday staged a new military drill near its border with Syria, amid heightened tensions between the two neighboring countries, Anatolia news agency reported.

The exercise in Suruc near Sanliurfa province in the southeast, which is only 10 kilometres (six miles) from the Syrian frontier, involved mostly tanks, said Anatolia, adding that it could be seen from the Syrian side of the border.

Ankara has in recent months staged a number of military drills along its border with Syria, including one in August.

The one in August involved Turkish tanks accompanied by armoured personnel carriers and tactical missile-launching platforms deployed at the Oncupinar crossing in southern Kilis province.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-...hiite-villages

In Syria, Sunni rebels besiege Shiite villages

Anyone who tries to slip out of the Shiite villages of Zahraa and Nubl is risking his life. Sunni rebel snipers stand ready to gun down anyone who dares. Roads are blocked with barricades and checkpoints.

For more than three months, Syria's rebels have imposed a smothering siege on the villages, home to around 35,000 people, maintaining they are a den of pro-regime gunmen responsible for killing and kidnapping Sunnis from nearby towns.

Al-Hajji limps from a gunshot wound he suffered in February, when a gang of Shiites from Zahraa beat and kidnapped him.

"Only when my family and others kidnapped about 20 of their own and threatened to kill them was I released," he said. He showed a photograph taken after his release, his face bruised and a deep cut across his cheek.

He pointed to a neighborhood of Zahraa in the distance and said it had been home to pro-regime snipers and machine gun nests that shot at "everything that moves" in Beyanon.

"They killed and wounded so many of us, we had to block the road," he said.

A friend, Khaled Mohammed Saraj, a 29-year-old carpenter, was kidnapped by Shiites in July while driving near Zahraa at 6 a.m.

"They kept me in an underground room for six days," recounted the father of two. Three others were also held there, he said, though their captors did not abuse them. They were eventually released in a prisoner exchange.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Pol...#axzz29guVyHTI

Hariri: Hezbollah can no longer hide its "crimes" in Syria

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri accused Hezbollah Thursday of fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces against rebels, while strongly denying the party’s charges that his Future Movement was involved in the 19-month-old bloody conflict in Syria.

“The Lebanese -- Shiites, Sunnis and Christians -- know very well, even from the mouths of senior Hezbollah officials, the nature of [the party’s] involvement in what it alleged to be ‘a jihadi duty’ alongside the machine of killings, repression, crackdown and subjugation facing the Syrian people,” a statement released by Hariri's media office.

“There is no longer anything that can help to cover up this clear crime committed by Hezbollah first against Lebanon before Syria, especially it is fully aware that the days of its ally in Damascus are numbered,” it added.

Uh oh.....
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...c9ac429b95.6d1

Jordan arrests Zarqawi cousins on way back from Syria

Jordanian authorities have arrested two cousins of slain Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as they returned home from conflict-hit Syria, a Salafist leader told AFP on Thursday.

"Border guards on Tuesday arrested Zayed Sweiti and Firas Khalailah, who are cousins of Abu Musab on their way back from Syria, where they spent five month," Mohammad Shalabi, known as Abu Sayyaf, said.

Jordanian-born Zarqawi was killed in an air strike by the US military in Iraq in 2006.

"A third jihadist, Mohammad Najmi, was also arrested with Sweiti and Khalailah. The three men decided to return to Jordan because there was no fighting against Syrian regime troops in the area the were in," Abu Sayyaf said.

"The intelligence department is currently interrogating them."

https://twitter.com/AmalHanano

Don't you love a regime that cuts off electricity all day & switches it on at night so helicopters can bomb people's homes properly?
6:09 PM

https://twitter.com/KareemLailah

Much respect to FSA in Idleb for releasing 10s of Assad's captured soldiers.
6:13 PM

https://www.facebook.com/note.php?no...42465972447210

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Thursday LCC could document 230 martyrs including 10 women and 15 children. 69 martyrs in Damascus and its suburbs most of them were in Hamorya and Saqba massacres along with 9 martyrs were field executed in Yarmouk refugees camp and 4 were field executed in Qadam. 53 maryrs in Idlib most of them in Maarrat Alnoman massacre, 35 in Aleppo including 6 were found in Jam'eyat Alzahra, 24 in Homs, 18 in Daraa including 7 were field executed in Ma'raba and 4 were field executed in Inkhel, 14 in Deir Ezzor, 8 in Hama, 6 in Qunaitra and 3 martyrs in Raqqa.

LCC could also count 134 point at which the regime army randomly shelled civilians including 22 points were bombarded by war planes. Regime forces also dropped explosive drums at 6 points which are Hamorya, Saqba, Shefoniya and Douma in Damascus suburbs, Maarrat Alnoman in Idlib and Western suburbs of Aleppo. FSA documented 36 points of clashes with regime army and fulfill 13 operations and could capture many forces of regime army
5:37 PM

[visionary]

Over 200 dead for the second day in a row again.
Hopefully the death toll isn't going up to what it was every day for a while after the bombing that killed Assad's brother in law.
Oh yeah, and crazy **** is going on in Lebanon again after another assassination, which many believe to be Assad's doing.
And of course there's the refugee crisis which only gets worse, and worse, and worse.



http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...89I0N620121019

Beirut car bomb kills leading Syrian foe

Senior Lebanese intelligence official Wissam al-Hassan, who led the investigation that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, was killed by a huge car bomb in Beirut on Friday.

Hassan was also the brains behind uncovering a bomb plot that led to the arrest and indictment in August of former Lebanese minister Michel Samaha, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in a setback for Damascus and its Lebanese allies including Hezbollah.

Saad al-Hariri, the son of Hariri, accused Assad of killing the top intelligence official.

The bomb, which exploded in a busy street during rush hour, killed seven other people and wounded about 80, officials said. The attack prompted Sunni Muslims to take to the streets in areas across the country, burning tires in protest.

Rubble and the twisted, burning wreckage of several cars filled the central Beirut street where the bomb exploded, ripping the facades and balconies off buildings.

Hassan, a Sunni Muslim from northern Lebanon, was a leading opponent of Assad within the Lebanese intelligence services.

"He is dead," an official who worked with Hassan told Reuters.

Two Syrian officers, including General Ali Mamlouk, the head of the Syrian national security bureau, were also indicted with Samaha in an unprecedented move against the more powerful neighbor - a major player in Lebanon's affairs for decades.

The indictment said their targets included politicians and religious figures.

Hassan had been a close aide to Hariri, a Sunni Muslim who was killed in a 2005 bomb attack. He led the investigation into the murder and uncovered evidence that implicated Syria and Hezbollah, Lebanon's pro-Iranian Shi'ite Muslim group.

Hariri supporters accused Syria and then Hezbollah of killing him - a charge they both deny. An international tribunal accused several Hezbollah members of involvement in the murder.

"His (Hassan's) killing means striking the head. The (anti-Assad) officials are all exposed now and in danger of assassination. It will be easy to assassinate them now or they will have to leave the country. He was their protector," the official said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-20008421

In pictures: Beirut blast

http://www.economist.com/news/leader...vene?frsc=dg|a

The killing fields

Despite the huge risks involved, the time has come for the West and the Arabs to intervene in Syria

IS IT because America and Europe have tired of their own wars that they have started to turn their back on other people’s? The number of dead in Syria has passed 30,000. Some days over 250 bodies are added to the pile, which brings to mind Iraq at the insurgency’s peak in 2006-07. Were the next few months to stretch into years, as now seems likely, Syria’s great cities would be ground to rubble and the whole Middle East would choke on the dust.

To prevent this catastrophe, NATO needs to start making the humanitarian and strategic case for intervening in Syria. Grounding President Bashar Assad’s air force could save many thousands of lives. Giving the rebels scope to organise and train could help bring the war to an end. Speeding the fall of Mr Assad might give Syria a chance to re-emerge as a nation at peace with itself and its neighbours.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...ntion-in-syria

Turkey Urges International Intervention In Syria

"How long can this situation continue? I mean in Bosnia, now we have Ban Ki-moon [the UN secretary general] apologizing 20 years after. Who will apologise for Syria in 20 years' time? How can we stay idle?"

That's what Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu told The Guardian about the situation in Syria. He went on to say that Turkey had been deeply involved in the diplomatic effort to bring the conflict to a peaceful resolution.

"But there should be a much more concerted effort by the international community," he said. "The best way we can see now is direct humanitarian intervention."

At the same time, The New York Times reports, Turkey continued its diplomatic pursuit, joining the fray and calling for a ceasefire during the upcoming Id al-Adha holiday.

https://twitter.com/WilliamsJon

BBC World News being deliberately jammed from within Syria. Unclear who responsible, but blatant violation of international TV regulations
4:38 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters have liberated suleiman al-halabi neighborhood in aleppo city
3:57 AM

resistance fighters have liberated al-sheikh maqsoud police station in aleppo city
3:58 AM

resistance fighters defeated hezbollah's thugs & liberated the town of jouseh near the lebanese border
5:01 AM

resistance fighters have liberated a military compound between damascus & al-sayyidah zaynab. more details later. Resistance fighters have liberated ali al-wahsh street in al-sayyidah zaynab (damascus countryside). Resistance fighters have liberated fayez mansour street in al-sayyidah zaynab
5:14 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Lets be clear about one thing: I have no doubt that Assad & his stooges are behind this explosion.
11:36 AM

Info now that Wessam Hassan was targeted in explosion. Wissam Hassan was once in charge of Info Branch in the Lebanese Security Forces.
11:48 AM

Wessam Hassan was involved in the arrest of Michel Samaha (Assad stooge caught planning terror attacks in Leb).
11:52 AM

Confirmed: Major General Wessan Hassan was assassinated in the Sassine explosion today.
11:57 AM

Samir Jeajea: Wessam Hassan has sent his family to Paris, he knew what was coming.
12:05 PM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Hizbollah supporters in the Dahye neighborhood of Beirut have fired celebratory gunshots in light of Wessam Hassan's assassination. Class
4:44 PM

With the just discovered 75 bodies just now, death toll in Syria today rises to 239. Two hundred and thirty nine.
4:48 PM

https://twitter.com/BreakingNews

UN Security Council condemns 'terrorist attack' that killed senior Lebanese security official Wissam Al-Hassan - statement via @Reuters
4:52 PM

https://twitter.com/javierespinosa2

17 Lebanese killed in an ambush by the syrian army at the border,reported Voice of Lebanon radio, crisis spreading too fast
11:15 AM

Roads blocked, gunmen in Akkar, shooting in Tripoli btwn anti-syrian and alawites militias, things going out of control
12:48 PM

Streets of Beirut almost empty right now
3:48 PM

Army closed entry to Tarik al Jedid a sunny neighborhood of beirut, many military vehicles in the area. Army all over actually,small sitting I'm front of government siege in downtown Beirut
4:07 PM

Lebanese opposition ask for resignation of PM Najib mikati after blast in Beirut
4:56 PM

https://twitter.com/OnlySyrian

Good news from Suleiman alHalabi area in Aleppo ;it's under full control of FSA while FSA is moving towards al-Arqoub area
5:21 PM

https://twitter.com/samersniper

The BMB armored vehicle that was seized by FSA about an hour ago after destroying 2 army checkpoints in Qusair Homs pic.twitter.com/oY2LXXAf
5:11 PM

https://www.facebook.com/note.php?no...42958845731256

By the end of Friday the LCC managed to document 245 martyrs, including 20 children and 12 women: 86 martyrs were reported Deir Ezzor including 75 martyrs were found in the Cemetery after they were field executed, 57 in Damascus and its Suburb, 32 in Aleppo, 25 in Idlib, including 7 in Maarshourin, 14 in Homs, 11 in Raqqa, including 7 martyrs were executed by the regime forces, 10 in Daraa, 8 in Hama, and 2 in Lattakia

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
34,988 people killed so far in Syria

[Predicto]

Excellent question. It looks like Plan A, which is to do nothing, appears to continue to be this brilliant administration's only answer.

Of course it makes sense to do nothing, since doing nothing has worked so wonderfully in Syria up to this point.

We watched peaceful protests transpire calling for justice. Did nothing
We watched peaceful protest get cut down by gunfire. Did nothing
We watched gunfire expand to violent campaign against all activists. Did nothing
We watched the activists eventually pick up guns to defend themselves. Did nothing
We watched the defensive posture of activists descend into tit-for-tat violence. Did nothing
We watched the tit-for-tat violence devolve into running street battles. Did nothing
We watched the street battles deteriorate into wholesale destruction of cities. Did nothing
We watched as tanks, jets, and artillery destroyed what was left of the cities. Did nothing
We watched the wholesale destruction descended into a brutal civil war. Did nothing
We watched as the civil war spilled across the border in Lebanon. Did nothing
We watched Hezbollah get involved, possibly sparking a broader ethnic war. Did nothing
We watched as the ethnic war attracted the attention and presence of jihadists. Did nothing.
We watched as Turkey, a NATO ally, got attacked by the Syrian army. Did nothing.

Now we are watching while Turkey creeps towards a conventional war with Syria, which will certainly spark a regional war if not WWIII. And. We. Are. Still. Doing. Nothing
.
That, folks, is the definition of insanity.

What do you think we should be doing?

And how would we do it without turning an internal conflict into regional call for jihad to resist American imperialism.

These are genuine questions. I'm not being sarcastic and I'm not attacking you.

[visionary]

What do you think we should be doing?

And how would we do it without turning an internal conflict into regional call for jihad to resist American imperialism.

These are genuine questions. I'm not being sarcastic and I'm not attacking you.

I think we all have to be honest about what is happening in Syria.
It's a world war right now, even if no one wants to call it that.
Syria thinks they can not only kill as many people as they want at home, but also attack their neighbors with impunity.
The Turkish government is pulling every last hair out at the lack of support we've given them, the Qatari's and Saudis have been furious at us.
Jordan is struggling to support the refugee situation even with the help we've given them.
Lebanon is pretty much Assad's playground and anyone who tries to get in his way is taken out.
Iraq pretends to be neutral, but it's clear the government sides with Assad and probably supplies him.
Arab and European countries want to do something to help, but no one wants to lead and in many cases the US has tried to quiet down our allies and keep things bottled up in a way that only makes things worse in the long run.


We can either sit around and watch the region and the world world go up in flames, or we can support our allies and stop undermining them when they want help.
I don't know what the best plan is right now, but it seems like some sort of intervention is becoming increasingly necessary.
A Turkish-Arab enforced safe zone in Idlib is probably the best bet at this point and then we see where we go from there.
But I'm not wedded to this idea.
The main thing is to deal with the airstrikes and refugee crisis while also keeping extremists and jihadis from gaining more ground

I don't see why any limited intervention by the international community with or without UN approval would turn into an anti-US jihad,
I think we have much more to fear from an angered, rejected, and isolated Syrian population that somehow defeats Assad through increased terrorist bombings and jihadi domination. (or from the stuff we're doing in Pakistan, Yemen, or Afghanistan)

[visionary]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Pol...#axzz29o4SwgLa

Mikati ready to announce his resignation

Prime Minister Najib Mikati will announce his resignation Saturday, according to government sources who met with him following Friday’s car bomb assassination in Beirut which claimed at least five lives and left 110 wounded.

According to the sources, Mikati said he could not bear the repercussions of the attack and had already informed his Cabinet of his decision to quit. He had also communicated his intention to resign to President Michel Sleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri, they added.

After heading a security and judicial meeting at the Grand Serail later in the evening, Mikati headed to the headquarters of the Internal Security Forces General Directorate, where he was briefed on the security situation. He then returned to the Grand Serail and issued a statement saying: “I will deal with the event with the appropriate decision during Saturday’s Cabinet session.”

The sources said this “appropriate decision” to which Mikati referred would be his resignation, in light of the fact that former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of being behind the crime, and that this would demand of his Cabinet actions he would be unable to take.

The sources said Mikati’s final decision regarding his resignation would depend on the reactions of his allies as well as those of the March 14 coalition.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...b6f_story.html

U.S. steps up support of Turkey amid Syrian conflict

The U.S. government is intensifying its intelligence sharing and military consultations with Turkey behind the scenes as both countries confront the possibility that Syria’s civil conflict could escalate into a regional war, according to U.S. and NATO officials.

The Obama administration has said it wants to avoid getting drawn militarily into Syria and for months has resisted pressure from Arab allies and some Republicans to back Syria’s rebel groups more forcefully.

But as Syria’s internal conflict has increasingly spilled across its northern border into Turkey, the U.S. government has stepped up cooperation with its key NATO ally. In recent weeks, military officials from both countries have met to make contingency plans to impose no-fly zones over Syrian territory or seize Syria’s stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, U.S. officials said.

U.S. intelligence agencies were also the source of a tip that led the Turkish military to intercept and ground a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow to Damascus last week on suspicions that it was carrying Russian-made military hardware, according to U.S. officials.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/20/wo...anon.html?_r=0

Blast in Beirut Is Seen as an Extension of Syria’s War

A powerful bomb devastated a Christian neighborhood of this capital city of Lebanon on Friday, killing an intelligence official long viewed as an enemy by neighboring Syria and unnerving a nation as Syria’s sectarian-fueled civil war spills beyond its borders and threatens to engulf the region.

The blast, which sheared the faces off buildings, killed at least eight people, wounded 80 and transformed a quiet tree-lined street into a scene reminiscent of Lebanon’s long civil war, threatened to worsen sectarian tensions. By nightfall, black smoke from burning tires ignited by angry men choked the streets of a few neighborhoods in the city, which has struggled to preserve a peace between its many sects, including Sunni, Shiite, Christian and Druse.

Within hours of the attack, the Lebanese authorities announced that the dead included the intelligence chief of the country’s internal security service, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, instantly spurring accusations that the Syrian government had assassinated him for recently uncovering what the authorities said was a Syrian plot to provoke unrest in Lebanon.

“They wanted to get him, and they got him,” said Paul Salem, a regional analyst with the Carnegie Middle East Center.

But if the attack was targeted, the blast was most certainly not. The force of the explosion left elderly residents fleeing their wrecked homes in bloodied pajamas and spewed charred metal as far as two blocks. Residents rushed to help each other amid the debris, burning car wreckage and a macabre scene of victims in blood-soaked shirts.

https://twitter.com/LizSly

Meanwhile in Syria: the theme of today's protests was: "America, has your hatred not been satisfied by our blood?" 245 dead (LCCs)
7:22 PM

https://twitter.com/agh_yan

FSA releases 60 Alawites POW in Idlib as a good will gesture, only those not guilty released per statement http://sham-newspaper.com/article-aid-129.html
7:24 PM

https://twitter.com/alihashem_tv

ArabLeague SG Nabil AlArabi was hospitalised after his health condition deteriorated
7:34 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati to resign from his position following today’s events.
10:48 PM

https://twitter.com/Joyce_Karam

Best case scenario is he [Mikati] gets assigned by the President to form a national unity gov.,worst longterm vacuum, no elections
10:49 PM

violence and sectarian war didn't fit in 150 words. Although, i can't see Hizballah, strongest player, wanting this now.
11:08 PM

Hezbollah has no acceptable alternative to Lebanon PM Mikati. They have to work with him if he decides to go for national unity government
12:49 AM

[visionary]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

Lebanon PM links car bomb to crisis in Syria

Lebanon's prime minister says the deadly car bombing in Beirut has links to the civil war in neighboring Syria.

Friday's blast killed the country's intelligence chief and seven other people. Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Saturday the blast is linked to the intelligence chief's recent case, in which he exposed an alleged plot by Syria to sow chaos in Lebanon.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Pol...#axzz29qEANPYR

Mikati says suspends decision to resign

Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Saturday he suspended his decision to resign and would wait for President Michel Sleiman to consult the National Dialogue Committee on the matter.

“I am committed to my decision [to resign] until the president finalizes his consultations with the National Dialogue Committee but I am still committed to my original decision,” Mikati told reporters following a Cabinet meeting that discussed the recent assassination of the head of the police’s Information Branch, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan.

Mikati said during consultations with Sleiman prior to the Cabinet session the president advised him not to resign at the present time “so as not to plunge the country into a state of paralysis.”

“The president has asked me for a period of time to allow him to consult with the members of the National Dialogue Committee,” Mikati said.

The prime minister admitted that his position was complicated by perceptions that the Sunni community in Lebanon was being targeted.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...89J06U20121020

Turkish retaliatory fire has killed 12 Syrian soldiers: report

Turkey's military has fired on Syria 87 times, killing 12 Syrian soldiers and destroying several tanks in retaliation for Syrian shells and mortars landing on Turkish territory, a Turkish newspaper reported on Saturday.

Turkey has been carrying out a series of retaliatory strikes against President Bashar al-Assad's forces fighting rebels along the border since Syrian shelling killed five Turkish civilians in a Turkish frontier town at the start of October.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/20/wo...n.html?hp&_r=0

Syrians Place Booby-Trapped Ammunition in Rebels’ Guns

The government of Syria, trying to contain a rapidly expanding insurgency, has resorted to one of the dirty tricks of the modern battlefield: salting ammunition supplies of antigovernment fighters with ordnance that explodes inside rebels’ weapons, often wounding and sometimes killing the fighters while destroying many of their hard-found arms.

The practice, which rebels said started in Syria early this year, is another element of the government’s struggle to combat the opposition as Syria’s military finds itself challenged across a country where it was not long ago an uncontested force. The government controls the skies, and with aircraft and artillery batteries it has pounded many rebel strongholds throughout this year. But the rebels continue to resist, mostly with small arms.

Doctored ammunition offers an insidious way to undermine the rebels’ confidence in their ammunition supply while simultaneously thinning their ranks.

“When they do this, you will lose both the man and the rifle,” said Ghadir Hammoush, the commander of a fighting group in Idlib Province who said he knew of five instances in which rifles had exploded from booby-trapped ammunition.

The practice has principally involved rifle and machine-gun cartridges, but also the projectiles for rocket-propelled grenades and perhaps mortar rounds, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen rebel leaders in Syria and many fighters, as well as an examination of shattered rifles and the contents of a booby-trapped cartridge. The tactic is highly controversial, in that it is potentially indiscriminate.

The primary source for doctored ammunition has been the Syrian government, which mixes exploding cartridges with ordinary rounds on the black markets through which rebels acquire weapons, the commanders said.

Some booby-trapped ammunition may also have entered Syria from Iraq, where during the most recent war the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency secretly passed doctored ammunition to insurgent groups, several American veterans and officials said.

The United States runs a similar program in Afghanistan, trying to undermine the Taliban. The United States has provided humanitarian and communications aid to the Syrian rebels, but has refused to supply weapons of any kind.

https://twitter.com/alihashem_tv

PM Mikati: we took several important decisions in our cabinet sessions. PM Mikati: we asked the ministry of communication to hand to the investigation team the communication data. Mikati: today I call on forming a national unity government
7:23 AM

Mikati: I told the president that history taught me that patriotic decisions means paying heavy prices. Mikati: I told the president that I want to resign, but I'll put the decision on hold
7:28 AM

Mikati links the Samaha case to the assassination of Wissam AlHasan
7:31 AM

Mikati: my sect is being targeted
7:36 AM

Lebanese PM Najib Mikati said he we will stop going to the government HQ and will avoid taking decisions
7:43 AM

[visionary]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,7129788.story

Syria activists adapt to new roles as relief volunteers

When Hytham was released from a Syrian prison in the spring after his third incarceration for being an opposition member, he expected to return to the streets with thousands of other activists to call for the fall of the government.

Instead, he found an opposition landscape that had been transformed from one of demonstrations and peaceful dissent to that of an armed uprising.

Now Hytham, who graduated from medical school last year, volunteers in the field hospitals that dot Damascus and its suburbs, treating civilians injured in government shelling and airstrikes and rebels wounded in fighting. He moves carefully through the city and its myriad checkpoints, smuggling desperately needed medicine and medical supplies.

"Those our age are focused on the actual work, providing humanitarian aid or working in the field hospitals, or maybe have even joined the Free Syrian Army," said Hytham, once a member of the group Freedom Days, which promotes peaceful forms of dissent. "The days of the protests were nicer, but I still feel like I am giving something to the revolution."

Like Hytham, who for safety reasons did not want to use his real name, most activists have made a difficult transition: No longer demonstrators, they now risk their lives as relief volunteers amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in a conflict that has claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.

An estimated 1.2 million Syrians have been displaced, and an additional 1 million are in urgent need of assistance because they have run out of money for food and other necessities, according to the United Nations. The country is facing a "critical shortage" of medicine, the World Health Organization says, and the humanitarian situation is expected to worsen as winter approaches.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syr...oys-five-homes

Activists this morning say shelling by fighter jets on the town of Maarat al-Numaan destroys five homes

Activists said on Sunday morning that shelling by fighter jets on the town of Maarat al-Numaan in Idlib has destroyed five homes.

They have sent us two new videos from there. The first purports to show a fighter jet shelling on the town. The second shows the damage caused by the shelling on the ground.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...822475786.html

Opposition calls for 'day of rage' in Lebanon

Lebanon's opposition March 14 coalition has encouraged a massive turnout for Sunday's funeral for the slain intelligence official Wissam al-Hassan, and for a "day of rage" against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Saad al-Hariri, leader of the opposition, has urged all of Lebanon to attend the funeral in central Beirut, an appeal which could transform the ceremony into a powerful political rally.

Friday's bombing, which according to officials left two others dead and scores more wounded, has added to fears of renewed sectarian violence in the country, still scarred from a long civil war.

Protests erupted in several Lebanese cities the day after three people, including Hassan, a senior security official opposed to the Syrian regime, were killed in a car bombing in the Lebanese capital.

"Every one of you is personally invited tomorrow to Martyrs' Square to the prayers for Wissam al-Hassan," Hariri said in a statement broadcast by Future Television on Saturday.

"All of Lebanon, which Wissam al-Hassan protected from the plots of Bashar al-Assad and Ali Mamlouk ... exposing himself so that you would not be blown up."

Hariri was referring to the Syrian president and a Syrian general indicted in August over an alleged bomb plot in Lebanon.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...queeze-658496/

Syria's wealthy businesses feel civil war squeeze

Syria's wealthy, long cultivated by President Bashar Assad as a support for his regime, are seeing their businesses pummeled by the bloody civil war. Factories have been burned down or damaged in fighting. International sanctions restrict their finances. Some warn that their companies are in danger of going under, worsening the country's buckling economy.

Mr. Assad may not have lost the backing of Syria's business elite, but some are losing faith. Many of those who can have fled abroad, hoping to ride out the turmoil, which is now in its 19th month and is only getting worse as rebels and regime forces tear apart the country in their fight for power.

Several businessmen interviewed by The Associated Press say resentment is growing against Mr. Assad over the crisis -- but they also aren't throwing their lot in with the rebellion. They are hunkering down, trying to salvage their companies.

One young businessman said his family factory in the suburbs of Damascus was damaged Wednesday, with windows blown out and part of the ceiling was destroyed when warplanes hit rebels in a neighboring building. Its several hundred employees had to hide in the basement until fighting eased enough that they could be bused out to safety.

"I feel that they are both just as bad as each other," he said of the rebels and the government. "I could have died today because they [the rebels] were across the street from us, and they [the planes] could have bombed us."

Syria's economy has been heavily hurt by the conflict, which activists say has left more than 30,000 dead. Inflation has risen to at least 36 percent. The currency has dropped around 50 percent, now trading at 75 pounds to the dollar on the black market, according to the factory owner. The government estimates economic losses at $34 billion -- almost half the gross domestic product -- though the opposition puts the losses at nearly three times that amount. Fuel shortages have become widespread as the regime burns through hard currency to import diesel and oil at the same time that it finances the war effort.

Though the economic blow has been hard, "we are not at the stage that the rug has been pulled from under the regime," said Anthony Skinner, head of Middle East and North African division at Maplecroft political risk consultancy.

Mr. Assad so far has been able to keep his head above water with financial support from top ally Iran, he noted.

https://twitter.com/martinchulov

Lebanon police chief says slain intel chief, Wissam al-Hassan to be buried next to Rafiq Hariri - such is his status in anti-Assad bloc
10:51 AM

https://twitter.com/ZeinakhodrAljaz

Turkey PM says Yemen's power transfer deal, which allowed Yemen President to step down is no longer suitable model for a solution in Syria
11:03 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Four children and two others have been found under the rubble in Saqba, Damascus. Four of the six are refugees from Homs.. RIP
10:31 PM

Shelling on Jdaydet Artouz has started. Military reinforcements reading to enter. Damascus
12:25 AM

Army has started to enter Jdaydet Artouz - they were spotted near the Royal Palace (a wedding hall) across street from bakery.
12:43 AM

Security forces and army have shut down the three main entrances to Jdaydet Artouz. People not being allowed in or out.
12:30 AM

http://www.lccsyria.org/10379

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The LCC managed to document 123 martyrs for Saturday, among them 6 women and 5 children. 67 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, including 14 in Saqaba and 10 in Erbeen; 19 in Aleppo; 14 in Deir Ezzor; 9 in Homs; 7 in Idlib; 4 in Daraa; and 3 in Hama

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
35,111 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

LEBANON

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20017397

Beirut funeral for Wissam al-Hassan followed by clashes

Protesters have been trying to storm the HQ, after a new call for Prime Minister Najib Mikat to resign. Police have fired warning shots and tear gas.

Friday's attack also killed one of Mr Hassan's bodyguards and a woman nearby.

Opposition figures have blamed neighbouring Syria for the attack.

Many have protested against Syria and its Lebanese allies amid fears the Syrian conflict could spill over.

"Really, we are waiting for the fall of the regime in Syria. Until that happens, there can be no peace in Lebanon," one woman in Martyrs' Square said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...89K08N20121021

Angry mourners march on Lebanon PM office, demand he quit

Angry mourners marched on Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati's offices in central Beirut on Sunday, breaking through an outer security barrier and scuffling with police who fired tear gas in response.

"Mikati leave, get out," chanted hundreds of protesters following the funeral of a slain intelligence chief.

They also chanted slogans against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who they accused of being behind the killing of Wissam al-Hassan.

https://twitter.com/RulaAmin

Hassan will b buried next to Rafiq AlHarriri's grave site here at Martyr sq in downtown Beirut
7:46 AM

Prayers for Hassan at Muhamad al Amin mosque ... Crowd outside is not as big as March 14th had hoped ..some already leaving
8:32 AM

Rafic Harriri was killed in a carbomb in 2005,then Hassan was in charge of Harriri security in his chief of protocol, Hassan could have easily been in Harriri's car,but he wasn't 7 years later he is killed by another car bomb
8:36 AM

Violence at the lebanese PM office as mourners headed to the grand serail to demand the govt resigns, teargas and gunshots
9:40 AM

Lebanese army deploys more troops, APC's and troops around the grand serail
9:43 AM

https://twitter.com/LeShaque

Oh dear! The Syrian independence flag is involved in the clashes at Hasan's funeral. #Lebanon
9:25 AM

I don't want to sound like a politician but it looks like the funeral protest was infiltrated by saboteurs. These guys came ready.
9:27 AM

All hell has broken loose at Hasan's funeral.
9:30 AM

Some idiots at the funeral tried to storm the Grand Serail and ended up in clashes w/ security forces
9:59 AM

https://twitter.com/oh_bergine

Saad Hariri asking for the people to go back to their houses. We are peaceful not violent. We want this gvt 2 resign in a peaceful manner
9:54 AM

Saad Hariri: I asked my own security to protect the Serail
9:56 AM

https://twitter.com/monicagprieto

Shooting in Tripoli, clashes in Beirut. Saad Hariri calls on March 14 supporters to withdraw from streets
9:59 AM

Saida/Beirut road blocked by demonstrators, clashes in Tripoli and Beirut, militias showed up in Naameh, Lebanon on the edge (again)
10:04 AM

Protesters block Nejmeh Sqaure in South Lebanon’s Sidon with burning tires (so how sheikh Ahmad Assir intends to get back this afternoon?)
10:12 AM

Situation much better in DownTown Beirut, calm around Gran Serail now, but degenerating in Saida, Tripoli, Naamah and Zahleh
10:33 AM

SYRIA

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters arrested a captain & 2 soldiers in suleiman al-halabi in aleppo city
5:20 AM

resistance fighters destroyed a tank & killed & injured many assad troops near the town of kafr rouma
5:24 AM

resistance fighters destroyed 2 military tanks south of ma`arrat al-nu`man
5:22 AM

resistance fighters destroyed 5 military vehicles & killed +15 assad troops in al-sheikh sa`id in aleppo city
10:13 AM

heavy clashes continue in al-zabadani. resistance fighters control most of the city
10:23 AM

[visionary]

I'm a bit um...skeptical about this:
http://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/56574/re...-leave-lebanon

REPORT: Tens of thousands of Syrians leave Lebanon following Ashrafieh explosion

A Syrian national justified his return to Syria by stating that he found in Syria security which was lost in Lebanon, adding that "they prefer to die in their country instead of dying in Lebanon".

A few days were enough to lead tens of thousands of Syrian national to return back to their country, as they flocked to al-Masnaa crossing point, which witnessed the departure of more than 36 thousand Syrians over the last few hours.

This unprecedented move went in line with disorganization in completing official and legal procedures, making the General Security members to ask the Lebanese Army for assistance.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...89K0CK20121021

Jordan foils Qaeda plot, arrests 11 militants : state TV

Jordan foiled a major plot by an al Qaeda-linked cell to destabilize the key U.S. ally's security by bombing shopping centers and assassinating Western diplomats, state television said on Sunday.

Security forces detained 11 suspects in connection with a plot going on since June to carry out attacks in the capital Amman using smuggled weapons and explosives brought from Syria, according to security officials cited by television.

"Their plans included getting explosives and mortars from Syria," a security source told Reuters.

The attacks, aimed at western and commercial areas, would likely have resulted in the death of thousands, according to Jordanian authorities.

The security source said the suspects had manufactured explosives "aimed at inflicting the heaviest human losses possible."

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/...#axzz29vA8XF5l

A war chest for Syria’s opposition

Left on its current course, America’s sensibly cautious policy toward Syria is unfortunately going to come to an unhappy end: The jihadist wing of the opposition will just get stronger and gain more power to shape Syria’s future.

But what’s the right alternative? How can the U.S. help the Syrian opposition while avoiding another costly military intervention in the Muslim world?

If the U.S. helped coordinate funding, the Free Syrian Army would have several advantages: A better organized opposition might defeat the regime, it would be better able to govern a post-Assad Syria, and it could help the U.S. control Syria’s chemical weapons. That’s a trifecta – three good things in one.

The Obama administration took a small step in this direction last summer by authorizing the Syrian Support Group to help the rebels. Leaders of the group fanned out inside Syria looking for army defectors who could establish new military councils to coordinate the flow of weapons and money. When I was inside the country, I met the councils’ commanders for Aleppo, Hama and Idlib – who seemed like solid military leaders. They just didn’t have enough guns or money to distribute.

Closer links with the rebels have helped fill the intelligence gap. For example, a Free Syrian Army representative sent a report to the State Department in late September that warned: “What we were worried about a few months ago is in the process of happening right now; extremists are more visible. ... This is due to lack of support to moderate groups.”

The funding situation has improved slightly this month. About two weeks ago, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are said to have created a small “Gulf Fund” to be disbursed by the military councils. The commanders will be paid $150 for each named fighter (including the serial number of his weapon). Col. Abdul-Jabbar Akidi in Aleppo is receiving about $2.5 million under this program; Col. Afif Suleiman in Idlib is getting about $4.5 million. The U.S. should consider adding money for nonlethal assistance, including training, communications and intelligence.

The right next step is to gather into one pot all the official contributions, lethal and nonlethal, from the U.S. and its Arab and European allies. Then let the Free Syrian Army commanders distribute the money and weapons to fighters, in ways that will build discipline.

You don’t have to sign off on this whole war chest to agree that it’s time for the U.S. to experiment with strategies that could produce something other than the bad outcome that’s now ahead.

http://nytweekly.com/columns/intelar...CVppfE.twitter

APPLYING THE LESSONS OF IRAQ TO SYRIA

There is no doubt that the Iraq war experience is not to be repeated. This conviction is driving policy toward Syria, but the West has learned the wrong lessons from the Iraq example. The United States military intervention in 2003 and the chaos and waves of sectarian killing that followed in Iraq haunts the West into indecision, and irreparable damage is being inflicted on Syrian society.

The world stands by and watches while the Syrian regime violently represses the uprising, increasing sectarian tensions and radicalism, while sanctions erode the economy and weaken the middle class. The longer this lasts the closer Syrian society will move toward fulfilling President Bashar al-Assad’s prophecy that his regime’s fall would be worse than “tens of Afghanistans.”

There is a different lesson to be learned from policy toward Iraq before 2003, the period when Saddam Hussein was “engaged,” became an ally of the West by fighting Iran and was kept in power even after his invasion of Kuwait for fear of the unknown if he fell.

From 1991 to 2003, the West allowed the Baath Party of Saddam Hussein to drive Iraqi society back to the Stone Age and contributed to the process with policies of containment. Sanctions punished the Iraqi people while strengthening the regime. Saddam flourished under the oil-for-food program by distributing oil coupons to his supporters in Arab countries and financing his lobbyists in the West. Devaluation of the currency meant that the middle class was driven to poverty and those who were lucky to emigration.

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

assad's thugs have executed 6 people in the town of al-taibah (daraa)
2:02 PM

defection of brigadier general abdul razzaq aslan http://youtu.be/rBlCLK12-6g
2:16 PM

resistance groups join ahfad al-rasoul brigade in al-raqqah http://youtu.be/HCEkKKbY8gw
2:44 PM

a report says assad's forces have captured the military commander of ahfad al-rasoul brigade. the brigade didn't comment
3:16 PM

15 troops have defected to resistance fighters near the town of kafr takharim
3:19 PM

https://twitter.com/Brown_Moses

The opposition in Aleppo invent a new weapon, a shotgun grenade launcher http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb1eKOpwioQ
3:36 PM

The rebels have done a lot of inventing with slingshots, homemade tank-cars, remote controlled cars and other things, of course that isn't to say that they all work particularely well.

[visionary]

LEBANON

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...89K0IV20121021

Gunfire in southern Beirut, ambulances heard

Gunmen armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades exchanged fire in southern districts of Lebanon's capital Beirut on Sunday night, security sources said, and residents could also hear the sound of ambulance sirens.

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Intense gunfire next to my family in Beirut. Lebanon
5:40 PM

Most of the shooting is from sniper fire.
5:59 PM

Gunfire coming from the Arab University Engineering Faculty and from the Sports area near the Cola intersection.
5:56 PM

Breaking: Lebanese army has clashed and chased after group of armed men in Cola.
6:39 PM

New TV: Ambulance sirens heard - entering Tareeq Jdeede and Cola to treat any wounded.
6:40 PM

SYRIA
https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss

There is now a Jesus Christ Brigade in Damascus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lBgO...&feature=share
4:13 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Massacre in Albarra in JabalAlzawiyah Idlib!! They were all residents that fled MaaratAlNouman! Thats where my family went!
4:41 PM

Al7amdillah no one from my family was martyred during this massacre in Albarrah. But all these people are like family as well.
5:03 PM

5 names were released from the massacre in #Albarrah. They were all from the Matar family.
4:52 PM

https://twitter.com/AlexanderPageSY

BREAKING: regime forces have just opened fire on a peaceful sit in that began 10 minutes ago in Midan area of central Damascus.
7:24 PM

BREAKING: protesters who just attempted to sit-in by al mushtahid area of Midan were opened fire upon leaving 2 civilians dead Damascus
7:26 PM

Plz RT: 100s of protesters in Midan area just now met with heavy gunfire 3 civilians now confirmed to be killed, dozens wounded
7:32 PM

BREAKING: Midan area in central Damascus has just witnessed an extreme deployment of military elements, situation very tense
7:34 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

Local Coordination Committees

The LCC managed to document 135 martyrs by the end of Sunday, including 6 children and 8 womens; 70 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs "including 8 martyrs in Sbina and 9 martyrs in Harasta", 23 in Aleppo,19 in Idlib, 6 in Homs 3 of them were martyred in Damascus suburbs, 5 martyrs in Daraa,4 in Raqqa, 3 in Qunaitera, 3 in Lattakia and 2 in Qamishly
5:53 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
35,246 people killed so far in Syria