Al-Thyabeyyeh: A new atrocious massacre committed by Al-Assad forces as 104 bodies were found, most of them for elderly, women, and children, The victims were slaughtered with knives, their bodies mutated. Further, Al-Assad forces stormed the town reinforced with tanks. There is a fear of committing new massacres against civilians in the town. (Source from Revolutionary Command Council in Damascus Suburbs, 26 September, 2012.)This terrible massacre proves once again the utter disregard for human life that the Assad regime has planted and nurtured among themselves. Assad must be stopped. His forces will only do this again in a futile attempt for them to remain in power for just a little longer.
The Complete Legal Documentation of the Daraya Massacre. Speaking of massacres here is a detailed account of the Darayya massacre. It includes the names of 524 of the slain. This report is from the Syrian Network for Human Rights - London, as presented by the Damascus Center for Human Rights.
Other links:
Hand in Hand for Syria. UK based charity focused on Syria. Here is a BBC news report that mentions this NGO.
Homs Up to Date. Facebook page focusing on Homs.
The Revolting Syrian. That is revolt as in revolt against authority.
It includes an eloquent arguement for funding
Link. Washington Post article that suggests that Hezbollah are sending fighters to prop up the Assad regime. I feel very sorry for any Hezbollah soldier fighting for Assad in Syria, if this rumor is true. They fight for a doomed cause. They are lied to and told that the Syrian people love Assad, that they are fighting 'foreigners'.
History Repeats Itself as Tragedy. Foreign Policy article detailing a Pentagon report on the 1982 Hama Massacre.
Makeshift Arms Production in Aleppo Governorate. New York Times report analyzing the rise of makeshift arms production in Aleppo Governorate.
Insufficient Respect. A blog that devotes a lot of its time to the Syrian revolution. Includes this eloquent argument for arming the Free Syrian Army.
One real alternative is arming the FSA with modern anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, and lots of ammunition. This will almost assure their victory. Since there is a war going on, we may also be sure that the FSA will commit war crimes and human rights violations - just like, for instance, the Allies in World War II.
Another real alternative is not arming the FSA. In this case, perhaps Assad would win, and certainly the struggle will go on much longer. Régime forces will continue to operate for months or even years. The certainties here are that the régime will commit war crimes and human rights violations many orders of magnitude more vicious and more extensive than anything perpetrated by the FSA. If Assad wins, repression incorporating these crimes will go on indefinitely.
There are no other real alternatives. The FSA will never conduct itself with Ikea-level innocuousness. The Syrian régime will never, in the heat of war, attain a level of basic humanity that it never reached in peacetime. Neither side will ever compromise because because both sides face an enemy absolutely determined to destroy them. And because this is a world of adults, not children, 'we' will never find allies in Syria 'we' can trust, nor will the orgy of violence become an orgy of nonviolence. Finally, the hand-wringing West will not suddenly be overcome with lust for empire and conquer Syria with a crusading army. These ideas, like negotiating with Assad, can arise only within a determined effort to deny reality.
May Assad soon be overthrown so that the people of Syria will be able to live in peace again.
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