MK: The Syrian Electronic Army has taken issue with how things are reported in the western media. Do you and your team believe in a free and open press?
Shadow: After witnessed in Syria, we believe that most of the media organizations are politicized.
Matt talked with the Syrian Electronic Army today … and posted largely-unedited chatlogs to go with. Click for more.
Syrian rebels including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front have counter-attacked east of Damascus to retake a town that served as a conduit for arms from Jordan into the capital before it was seized by government forces last month, rebel sources said.
The rebels’ struggle to end four decades of Assad family rule has been complicated in part by internal divisions along ideological and political lines, as well as a shortage of heavy weaponry that could decisively turn the tide of conflict.
But in a rare move, brigades operating in Ghouta, a largely agricultural region on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, have united under one command to wrest back the town of Otaiba, two miles northeast of Damascus international airport.
The temporarily allied rebel brigades hope to continue their push back against those loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with the current goal being the capture of Damascus International Airport before the unified fighting force splinters into smaller militias once more.
Syria’s main armed opposition group, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), is losing fighters and capabilities to Jabhat al-Nusra, an Islamist organisation with links to al-Qaida that is emerging as the best-equipped, financed and motivated force fighting Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Evidence of the growing strength of al-Nusra, gathered from Guardian interviews with FSA commanders across Syria, underlines the dilemma for the US, Britain and other governments as they ponder the question of arming anti-Assad rebels.
John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said that if negotiations went ahead between the Syrian government and the opposition – as the US and Russia proposed on Tuesday – “then hopefully [arming the Syrian rebels] would not be necessary”.
Here’s how The Onion’s Twitter account got hacked. How? Hint: That link doesn’t actually go where it says it does.
U.N. human rights investigators have gathered testimony from casualties of Syria’s civil war and medical staff indicating that rebel forces have used the nerve agent sarin, one of the lead investigators said on Sunday.
The United Nations independent commission of inquiry on Syria has not yet seen evidence of government forces having used chemical weapons, which are banned under international law, said commission member Carla Del Ponte.
“Our investigators have been in neighbouring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals and, according to their report of last week which I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated,” Del Ponte said in an interview with Swiss-Italian television.
A total of three possible chemical attacks have been reported thus far, and several U.S. officials apparently still maintain varying levels of certainty that the Assad regime is responsible for at least one attack. That said, it will be interesting to see how the Obama Administration reacts should incontrovertible proof emerge, particularly given previous declarations that such attacks from the Syrian government would cross a “red line.”
Just as we were posting about Thursday night’s Israeli air strike in Syria, reports broke of yet another explosion within its capitol city. Syria is claiming that another Israeli attack is the culprit, causing the enormous explosion shown above, reportedly aimed at a military research center in the outskirts of Damascus. There’s more amateur video of the incident here. source
An American official claims that the missiles were being held at Damascus International Airport when the airstrike took place — Israel believed the missile were en route to Hezbollah, causing them to strike to disrupt the shipment. This is the second time in the last four months that Israel has launched such a strike against the believed transfer of weapons through Syria into Lebanon.
As Islamists increasingly fill the ranks of Syrian rebels, President Bashar al-Assad is waging an energized campaign to persuade the United States that it is on the wrong side of the war
“If the Syrian regime falls, al Qaeda wins.” That’s what Bashar al-Assad wants US officials to believe: By playing off US fears of Islamic terrorism, he’s hoping America will shift its support from the Syrian rebels to the incumbent regime, or at least withhold providing any more material support for the rebels. Because at least one rebel faction is allied with al Qaeda, it’s not an altogether crazy strategy. The regime is reportedly relying on Khaled Mahjoub, a Syrian-American businessman, to relay this message to US officials. “We are partners in fighting terrorism,” said Wael Nader al-Halqi, Syria’s prime minister.
I can’t add much to what’s already been (and will be) ...
One of the perks of being an early employee...
Over the last 90 days, the Digg...
#FMMDI (at 30 Rockefeller Plaza)
Thanks. I guess my thoughts are as follows:
1. I think...
U.S. intelligence agencies now believe that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime has used chemical weapons in its struggle to hold onto power, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday.
Hagel said that the White House sent a letter to members of Congress on Thursday morning disclosing that intelligence agencies had made that assessment, which followed a series of similar conclusions reached by Britain, France and most recently Israel.
It is believed that the White House plans to increase pressure on the U.N. to get more involved in Syria, rather than involve the U.S. military; however, as Politico notes, the use of chemical weapons doesn’t appear to be the “red line” that the Obama administration once claimed.
To the best of our professional understanding, the regime used lethal chemical weapons against gunmen in a series of incidents in recent months.Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, research division chief for Israeli army intelligence • Claiming that Syria’s Assad government has used chemical weapons against it’s people (though offering no corroborating evidence), in remarks at the Institute for National Security Studies. of Tel Aviv University. Secretary of State John Kerry says he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning, and that the leader “was not in a position to confirm” his military’s assessment. This isn’t a new concern for the United States, which has been under some international pressure to address claims to the UN by France and Britain, both allies, also suggesting that pro-Assad forces have used chemical weaponry. This has major political and diplomatic implications for America, as the administration has engaged in “red line” rhetoric on the matter of chemical weapons. source
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