Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Zero Hedge | Syria

English: Protests in Damascus by women demonstrators against Turkeys annexation of the Sanjak of Alexanderetta in 1939. One of the signs reads: "Our blood is sacrificed for the Syrian Arab Sanjak." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Syrian arc 1 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having been hastled by touts at some of the more popular tourist destinations around Palmyra, I drove off in search of some quiet. After finding a nice picturesque spot to photograph, I herd a small bell tinkling in the distance. Then, from over the nearest ridge, came a flock of sheep, followed by this bedouin shepherd. He was driving his herd through the ruins to the Palmyra market! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Late nineteenth century Syrian dress. Dervish, Syrian Peasant, Young Druse Woman, Karvass (Police Officer) in Damascus. From "Zur Geschichte der Kostüme", 1880, a German book with expired copyright. Made available here: http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/history.html (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Everyday Activities of Syrian People Original caption: The Foreign element in New York, the Syrian colony, Washington Street. Drawn by W. Bengough. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dead bodies of Syrian rebels, killed by the French Army (before 1916), and placed in Marjeh Square. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: 100 Syrian pound, obverse. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: A Syrian soldier aims an AK-47 assault rifle from his position in a foxhole during a firepower demonstration, part of Operation Desert Shield. The soldier is wearing a Soviet-made Model ShMS nuclear-biological-chemical warfare masks. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Half Of Syrian Rebels Are Jihadists Fighting For Al Qaeda-Linked Groups, British Defense Study Finds

AFP reported, the analysis by defense consultancy IHS Jane's, due to be published in full later this week, puts the number of rebel forces at around 100,000. And half of this number are combatants on an ideological crusade against the west, who are partially or fully affiliated with Al Qaeda, and who will always seek a sponsor when carrying out whatever military operation is most profitable at any given moment. With Made In The USA weapons that is.

The good news: internal splintering and lack of cohesion has resulted into these fighters splitting into as many as 1,000 bands since violence flared two years ago, the study concluded. Which is also the bad news: as Putin warned in his Op-Ed, various mercenary groups armed with Western weapons can now, or at any point in the future, find a new source of funding, if and when Saudi and Qatari interest in the conflict wanes, and use these same weapons against the very source of aid: the US itself, ultimately resulting in the same snafu that converted Osama bin Laden a "freedom fighter" into the most wanted man in America.
More from AFP:

Of the rebel forces, IHS Jane's estimates that around 10,000 are jihadists fighting for groups linked to Al-Qaeda and another 30,000 to 35,000 are hardline Islamists, who differ from jihadists in that they are concentrated only on the Syrian conflict, and not on the global Islamist fight.

"The insurgency is now dominated by groups which have at least an Islamist viewpoint on the conflict," Charles Lister, author of the analysis, told the British newspaper.

"The idea that it is mostly secular groups leading the opposition is just not borne out.

"If the West looks as though it is not interested in removing Assad, moderate Islamists are also likely to be pushed further towards extremists," he warned.

The study is based on interviews with militants and on intelligence estimates.

LeisureSmith

This just in: jihadis wearing gas masks and lobbing mortars and rockets at night on August 21. (big if true)
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b14_1379369969
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=045_1379372264

Mototard at Large

Are Western Leaders “Dumber Than Dictators? – The Syrian Chemical Weapons Debacle
Speaking Truth to Stupid?
Russian President Putin is looking more like Captain Pickard while the White House and the West are looking like the gang that couldn't shoot straight.

A former American president noted that dictators have multiple advantages over democratic leaders in terms of both competition and in conflict. Their open societies and freewheeling discussions meant that democratic leaders could respond to a challenge with the most intelligent plan even under the pressure of time in a crisis.ut now, an attempt by democratic governments to control the political narrative and all information flows is dumbing down the democracies.
But now, an attempt by democratic governments to control the political narrative and all information flows is dumbing down the democracies. Politicians, bureaucrats and the generals are not allowed to think out loud or to speak. The only comments they can make are the ones force fed to them on their Blackberries by the central controller of information in their governments. One result is that democracies are throwing away the singular advantage that most democracies had over most dictatorships – brain power and discussion.
See the rest of the paper at Broken Mirrors http://www.brokenmirrors.ca/?p=181

Mediocritas

People must understand that there is a civil war within Islam that has been going on almost right from the start: Sunni vs Shia. Even if we "unbelievers" were all wiped off the face of the earth, the two divisions (and their many sub-divisions) would continue to kill each other over an ancient political schism.
Extremists from both divisions form terrorist groups however Sunni extremists are certainly the more publicly visible nutters (Al Qaeda). It is these Sunni extremists who are bolstering the "rebel" forces, supported by a Sunni Saudi Arabia against a Shia Syrian regime.
http://www.npr.org/2013/03/13/174156172/with-official-wink-and-nod-young...
America, Russia and Europe simply don't give a shit about this schism within Islam and all the violence that goes with it, until such time as the violence spills over and impacts Western interests, assets or lives. All Western powers care about is the fact that Russia has a monopoly on gas supply to Europe from the East. Europe and America want to create some competition, Russia does not. All the ethical jawboning is cute and all (and the US administration certainly handed the moral high ground to the Russian administration on a golden platter, like complete fools), but it's just a load of hot air. All that really matters here is the spice, that it flows, and who controls the flow.
.