A terrible battle seems to be raging in Aleppo, the largest city in Syria. Aleppo did not rise in revolt for months after the initial protests began but now about half is controlled by the Free Syrian Army and Bashar al-Assad will be sending his forces to do battle. I fear for what will happen there.
Link. This Washington Post article suggests that pro-Assad Alawites are trying to create an Alawite state within Syria's borders and the recent mass massacres (Houla, Qubeir, etc.) are attempts to create predominantly Alawite enclaves. I really hope that this theory is not true.
Link. Juan Cole has an article detailing some of the recent diplomatic defections that have been occurring.
Link. An article discussing the nuances of Iraq's position regarding Syria.
Link. Love the title of this Daily Telegraph article, 'Last week's bomb attack was the rebels' own (successful) Stauffenberg plot. Could Assad still cling on?' My opinion is the sooner Assad goes away the better.
Link. Intriguing words from this Daily Telegraph article by David Blair.
But the price of reinforcing Aleppo has been high. The army [Assad's forces] appears to have abandoned large areas of rural Syria to the rebels. In the process, Assad’s new survival strategy seems to be emerging: the regime will do its utmost to hang on to Aleppo and Damascus and the highway between them. It will pay a heavy price by effectively conceding many rural areas. Yet by grimly retaining control over the country’s two major cities, Assad will hope to contain the challenge to his rule. This is not a plan for long term survival...Link. Free Saraqib learns how to govern itself free from Assad's murderous regime despite Assad's murderous shelling.
Link. This man has recently been discussing a black flag that is often thought of as Al Qaeda's flag. He says that it is actually a traditional Islamic symbol that has often been used many times by many different Muslims though history and does not necessarily indicate that the bearers are Al Qaeda.
Link. Column from The Independent's Robert Fisk. Mentions that 58% of Syrians under 24 years old are unemployed.
The sooner Bashar al-Assad goes the better. Syria does not need him. He is the problem. He is the threat to his people's well being and he needs to be overthrown as soon as possible. The regime can not survive. It threw away any legitimacy it had by murdering thousands of its own people, thus forcing the opposition to take up arms and wage an armed struggle of self defense, not just to overthrow the regime but for mere survival and to stop this insane gang of murderers from killing even more of their own people. It is just a matter of time before the murderer Bashar al Assad is thrown out with the trash.
(Source, NMSyria.)
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