Saturday 25 August 2012



The Child Victims Of Syria's Civil War

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Members of the Free Syrian Army in Damascus suburb of Saqba (file photo)

Syria fighting heightens fear in Damascus


"There are really two groups of people in Damascus - those who have benefited from the regime who fear the loss of their livelihood and businesses if the government falls, and those who see clearly the damage the regime has done."
Bab Touma (July 2012)

Syria's minorities drawn into conflict


"The regime is doing everything it can to divide and rule, but luckily there are still wise people around."

Tuesday 21 August 2012

Robert Fisk: 'They snipe at us then run and hide in sewers'

Image result for Robert Fisk: 'They snipe at us then run and hide in sewers'

 Robert Fisk does point out the range of the insurgency's weapons, originating in such salafist strongholds as Sweden and Belgium, but this seems to combine the possibility of gullibility with reliance on hearsay:

 "So many Aleppo citizens talked to me, out of earshot of soldiers, about armed "foreigners" in their streets along with Syrians "from the countryside" that the presence of considerable numbers of non-Syrian gunmen appeared to be true."

Monday 20 August 2012

Pursued by violence, pawns in Syrian conflict await an endgame

Free Syrian Army fighters in Saqba, Damascus


 "We asked the FSA to come and protect us. When they arrived, some were local people whom I knew, others were outsiders. People gave them food but they didn't sleep in our houses. For five or six days they were there but when word came of a government offensive they withdrew so as not to have ordinary people get hurt," he said.

 Gives a lie to the subtitle of Jonathan Steele's article:'Criticism of FSA tactics is building,' I recall that 'Building the Syrian State' has been saying much the same all along. Somebody with more focused counter-knowledge might be able to conclude definitively that this piece is absolute rubbish.