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Syrian regime seals restive town; mutineers remain (slaughter to ensue)
Yahoo/AP ^

Posted on 06/11/2011 8:05:35 AM PDT by nuconvert

BEIRUT – Syrian soldiers and police officers who deserted rather than fire on protesters in a restive northern city remained behind to fight against an expected all-out government assault, a resident said. Troops loyal to the regime came under sniper fire Saturday as they approached.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: assad; jisralshughour; syria; syrianopposition; syrianprotests
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I hope the Syrian opposition knows the names of these men who stayed behind. They deserve to be remembered.
1 posted on 06/11/2011 8:05:39 AM PDT by nuconvert
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To: nuconvert

And still not a word about the “reformer’s” genocide from the jug-eared moron and his “brilliant” SOS. Words can not describe how much I loathe these vile, despicable, liberals...


2 posted on 06/11/2011 8:09:17 AM PDT by Common Sense 101
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To: nuconvert

And still not a word about the “reformer’s” genocide from the jug-eared moron and his “brilliant” SOS. Words can not describe how much I loathe these vile, despicable, liberals...


3 posted on 06/11/2011 8:09:17 AM PDT by Common Sense 101
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To: nuconvert

islamist vs islamist


4 posted on 06/11/2011 8:27:04 AM PDT by onedoug (If)
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To: Common Sense 101
Words can not describe how much I loathe these vile, despicable, liberals...

Bump

5 posted on 06/11/2011 8:27:33 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Government, even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one)
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To: onedoug

nobama, the Nobel Peace Prize Winner, must start bombing immediately! This calls for the WTF foreign policy.


6 posted on 06/11/2011 8:27:59 AM PDT by hal ogen (1st amendment or reeducation camp?)
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To: nuconvert

Well, Syria is NOT our friend. Early in the Bush days, I hoped he would take them on, since they were helping our enemies in Iraq. That would have been the time to do it.

But I can’t get too worked up about this. I doubt whether the protestors will make friendlier rulers than the regime they are trying to replace. Some decent people are involved, no doubt, but it’s not usually the decent people who emerge in charge of this kind of violent revolution. It’s the Robespierres, or the Muslim fanatics.

Muslims fighting against Muslims, which is what they like to do if there are no handy churches to burn or infidels to kill. It would be futile to intervene, especially with the current government in charge and the UN waiting in the wings.

Certainly not worth our while to start war number four.

Yes, the Syrian regime is far worse than Mubarak was, or Kaddafi, for that matter. But that’s no reason to get involved in a fifth war under Grand Caliph Obama’s guidance.


7 posted on 06/11/2011 8:28:39 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Cicero

Sorry, I meant to say War number Five, since we are also heavily involved in Yemen. (And that one makes more sense than any of the others at the moment.)


8 posted on 06/11/2011 8:30:53 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: nuconvert

muzzies killing muzzies - a win - win situation, and the bonus is that they may be too occupied killing each other to go after Christians. The CIA should make sure that both sides have plenty of ammo.


9 posted on 06/11/2011 8:35:58 AM PDT by The Sons of Liberty (Psalm 109:8 Let his days be few and let another take his office. - Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin)
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To: Cicero
Wag the Weiner

Sic'em on Palin

pay no attention to the illegal drive-by wars conducted by the out of control dictator/chicago gangsta in the White House

10 posted on 06/11/2011 8:36:40 AM PDT by KTM rider ( patriot turned rebel)
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To: nuconvert

and dont think our own government would not slaughter us for confronting our out of control enslaving dictatorship in the USA, just as President Lincoln did in the Civil War


11 posted on 06/11/2011 8:45:37 AM PDT by KTM rider ( patriot turned rebel)
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To: onedoug
islamist vs islamist

The rulers of Syria are Alawite (~10% of the population), who are at best viewed as heretics by Muslims. Alawites celebrate Easter and Christmas. The revolt under way is just another in a long series of Sunni Islamist rebellions against Alawite rule. Assad's father, Hafiz, crushed a similar rebellion in the early 80's by leveling the rebel stronghold in Hama with field artillery, killing tens of thousands. Bashir would be wise to do the same - the alternative is for the Alawite community to suffer the kind of persecution Iraqi Christians are suffering at the hands of Sunni and Shiite alike. Unfortunately, the Middle East is a terrible place to be non-Muslim, meaning that where possible, Muslim minorities must do unto Muslims before Muslims do unto them.

12 posted on 06/11/2011 8:56:35 AM PDT by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)
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To: Zhang Fei; doug from upland; usmcobra; Cindy; G8 Diplomat; AdmSmith; Dog; nuconvert; ...
Good post. Alawites control the military. Syria is a very complicated place and tearing itself apart.

The unrest is spilling over into Turkey. Rumors of Turkish intervention coming out, not just from Debka but from Turkish sources.

Turkey has had it with PKK Kurdish Workers' Party fighters hiding in Syria amongst the sizable Kurdish population and attacking Turkey in cross border raids. The PKK has mostly left N Iraq due to the Turkish raids there.

Look for a run up to Turkish intervention after the coming elections. Turkey has already seen thousands of refugees from Syria and are very worried they will stay.

BTW, reports are that Muslim Brotherhood money from Egypt is buying weapons for jihadists in Syria. Reports are that 120 Syrian troops were killed by those jihadists the last 3 days in NW Syria near Latakia, home of UBL's in-laws and cousins, the Ghanems.

13 posted on 06/11/2011 10:20:37 AM PDT by gandalftb (Fighting jihadists is like fighting an earthquake, harden yourselves.)
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To: gandalftb; Zhang Fei; Cicero; no-to-illegals; Marine_Uncle; FARS; SunkenCiv; All

The continuation is long and detailed. Additional info: the Turks have been preventing journalists from interviewing refugees in the well set up and isolated compounds. There is a presidential election in Turkey this weekend and that is suggested as a reason for Turkish secretive behavior in a situation that actually makes them look good.

Meanwhile I have continued to monitor the situation in Libya and am posting here an interesting article with a lot of details. Some are from inside Tripoli which gives a sense of the mood there. Gasoline is now around $5 a quart, there is enough for the utilities and maybe 6,000 autos per day in this city of 1 to 2 million. The tremendous heat of summer with the need for refrigeration and air conditioning will be a severe test for the regime.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/africaandindianocean/libya/8570258/Rebel-gains-spark-battle-for-west-of-Libya.html


14 posted on 06/11/2011 1:25:08 PM PDT by gleeaikin
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To: gandalftb
This is a Sunni revolt against Alawite rule, possibly aided by Ikhwan infiltrators in the Syrian military, some of whom are showing their true colors. I have to wonder to what extent Syrian rebels are being aided by the Iraqi Sunni insurgents who fled American firepower in Iraq. This could be a case of blowback for Assad - in not sealing the border and allowing Syrian Sunnis to fight on behalf of their religious brethren in Iraq, he has created a cadre of Sunni rebels who are expert at guerrilla warfare. What didn’t work against overwhelming American firepower has a much better chance of working against the Syrian military. Which is why Syria’s Alawite rulers will have to resort to the same measures that Hafiz Assad once did, if it wants to put down this insurgency - the leveling of rebel strongholds with artillery and tanks.

While Assad isn't all that sympathetic a figure, from the standpoint of his actions against American interests, the specter of a Hamas state replacing him isn't exactly pretty either. Since antiquity, states have traditionally dealt with recalcitrant subjects by driving them elsewhere (a la most of Arabia with respect to Christians) and/or importing more obedient ones (a la Bahrain). My guess is that the Alawites are dealing with their Muslim problem by convincing the rebellious ones to move to a country more accommodating to their particular denomination - newly Islamist Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan or Iraq.

15 posted on 06/11/2011 2:49:50 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)
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To: gleeaikin
Meanwhile I have continued to monitor the situation in Libya and am posting here an interesting article with a lot of details.

Decades from now, observers will look back at the Anglo-French intervention in Libya as the watershed that led to the birth of a ring of nuclear states around Europe. The Libyan intervention is as unfavorable to Western interests as the Suez Canal intervention (scotched, unfortunately, by Eisenhower) was favorable to it.

16 posted on 06/11/2011 2:59:19 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)
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To: gleeaikin

From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alawi


In 1970, then-Air Force General Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite, took power and instigated a “Correctionist Movement” in the Ba’ath Party.[30] His coming to power has been compared to “an untouchable becoming maharajah in India or a Jew becoming tsar in Russia—an unprecedented development shocking to the majority population which had monopolized power for so many centuries.”[27]


17 posted on 06/11/2011 3:13:59 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)
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To: Zhang Fei; All

I can see your reasoning (North Korea), but it all depends on whether the arab countries do in fact get nukes. Pakistan is certainly learning the dangers of their own terrorists, and I understand that Israel blew up a nuke shipment to Syria from N. Korea. Even the Russians may be getting nervous. I’m sure some will try, but will they be allowed to succeed?

Meanwhile, I just heard a radio report from the Turkish border. He interviewed a man who had just escaped with his wife, 10 children, and 4 horses from a hamlet two villages above the town under seige. Assad’s tanks pulled into the lower village and shot every house with tank shells, then they moved out into the fields and destroyed the orchards and field crops. Figuring his village was next, the refugee grabbed his family and fled to Turkey. He believes that a scorched earth plan is being implemented prior to destroying the town. If so, the refugees will be in Turkey for quite a while.


18 posted on 06/11/2011 3:18:12 PM PDT by gleeaikin
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To: gandalftb

Thanks gandalftb. I’ve always gotten a smile out of the term “restive”. Sounds festive. Means “rioting”. :’) Some festivals are a riot, so, apropos.


19 posted on 06/11/2011 6:52:31 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
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To: gleeaikin

Thanks gleeaikin. (blush)


20 posted on 06/11/2011 8:55:54 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
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