Free Syrian fighters in Aleppo (Photo: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
An engaging and English-speaking young sophisticate in shades, Yaman Hamoud divided his time between studying at Aleppo University and earning money in Dubai. He worked as an assistant at the Gap store in Dubai Mall, the acme of the city’s bling culture, next to Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
But twice earlier this year, Aleppo University was raided by security forces in response to protests. Among those arrested was a friend who was hung up by his wrists from the ceiling of his cell for three days until the skin broke and rucked up over his hands. Girls were raped, he said.
Greek police and immigrants during an identity check, August 2012 (Photo: Pantelis Saitas/EPA)
In Greece, a country of 11 million people, there are 2.5 million immigrants. Considering gray area in the statistics, there may be at least 3 million.
During the last three years, immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, and Africa have often paid between $3,000 to $5,000 per person to be transferred on Turkish ships via the Mediterranean. Usually the Turkish traffickers abandon them mid-sea close to some Greek island and tell them to swim. Needless to say, many drown. If they are fortunate, a Greek ship might help them and they will get temporary assistance from locals while the police and the State turn a blind eye. On rare occassions, they are detained in a so-called refugee camp, either a derelict school or an open space with tents without food, medication, clothes, and other care.
1955 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. About 25 political prisoners have reportedly been released today --- those freed include Nazanin Khosravani, Ali Malihi, Qasem Shole Saadi, Hamzeh Karami, Shahab Dehghan, Amir Maghamifar, and Sarang Ettehadi.
1630 GMT: The Earthquakes. The Supreme Leader's office has announced that it will give 1/3 of the donations sent to Ayatollah Khamenei during Ramadan to earthquake victims.
But the opposition website Kalemeh claims there are problems that may not be resolved by this --- it says the Revolutionary Guards have taken over control in the affected area, grabbing aid from teams providing assistance and leaving people angry about unequal distribution.
Back in 2009, at the height of mass protests that followed Iran's disputed presidential election, Facebook emerged as an important tool for protesters to share news and information. It had such an impact that the authorities even branded Facebook a weapon in a "soft war" against the Islamic republic.
As a result, users in Iran have to jump through hoops to access the social-media website today. Unbowed, they go through the hassle of going through proxy servers to circumvent the regime's efforts to block Facebook.
And this week, for those suffering from the earthquakes that struck northwestern Iran, their unsanctioned efforts were life-saving.
Insurgents in Talbiseh, north of Homs, take control of a captured T-62 tank
2207 GMT:Syria. Today has been one of the bloodiest days in weeks, according to the Local Coordinating Committees. They report that 205 people have been killed today by Assad forces:
90 martyrs were reported in Aleppo (most in Izzaz), 42 in Damascus and its Suburbs (including 6 who were executed in Douma, 6 in Qaboun neighborhood and 11 who were executed in Razi Orchids), 26 martyrs in Idlib, 29 in Homs (among them 6 martyrs from one family in Deir Baalbeh neighborhood), 7 in Daraa, 8 in Deir Ezzor, 2 in Hama and 1 in Quneitra.
This death toll includes insurgents and civilians, but does not include regime security forces or "shabiha," pro-Assad paramilitary militia. Syrian State media has long since stopped recording the regime's own deathtoll.
What is striking may be the high death toll from Azaz, which was hit by massive air raids earlier today, butthe deaths were widespread, with four provinces reporting deaths in double digits.
For the uninitiated, a "MANPAD" is a "Man-portable air-defense system" --- a weapon system capable of knocking helicopters and planes, possibly even Assad jet fighters, out of the sky. There has been another video of such a weapon in FSA possession, but that was an isolated case in Homs. This video claims to show a weapons depot in Dumair (map), a location east of Damascus where the Free Syrian Army is strong and is growing stronger. The capital city is most vulnerable from the east, and the southwest, so a weapons cache this large, especially one containing this kind of ordinance, could pose a significant threat.
The anti-aircraft guns are also valuable to the FSA. A lesser weapon was apparently responsible for shooting a MIG 23 out of the sky in Deir Ez Zor, so these weapons have proven to be effective. These guns would be even more effective at destroying the feared helicopters that Assad's military has so effectively used against FSA positions in the last several weeks. But these guns can also be used against ground targets, and even light armour.
Beyond this, the fact that the Free Syrian Army is capturing more and more ordnance from regime bases and arms depots is another sign that the FSA is growing stronger, and in many areas has the upper hand. Even if one MANPAD, 4 AA guns, many RPGs, dozens of small arms, and thousands of rounds of ammunition is not enough to fuel a whole war, it is enough to help resupply an insurgent fighting force whose largest limitation may be logistics. It is also enough to serve as a morale boost for the FSA, and serve the opposite purpose for the Assad military.
I spoke with BBC WM on Tuesday about the US Presidential election.
The conversation started with an easy question, in light of a series of shooting sprees causing multiple deaths, "Will gun control be a prominent issue in the campaign?" (Answer: No.)
The more challenging task was to introduce Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's choice as Vice Presidential running mate, and assess his effect on the race.
The take-away line is that Ryan --- in contrast to the 2008 candidate, Sarah Palin --- is strong on ideas; however, his strong positions on the economy and social spending are likely to bring as many problems as benefits to the GOP effort. In US politics, you whip up your party by appealing to the committed, but you win elections by persuading the "center".
There is also discussion of the geographical factor: this is the first time in decades that neither candidate on the Republican slate has come from the West or the South.
This "analysis" in the Wall Street Journal reads more as a fear-mongering, Iran-bashing article, rationalising US intervention in Syria and --- possibly --- setting up an argument for a direct move against the Islamic Republic.
Iran's influence in this conflict is obvious. It is financially, and to a lesser extent militarily, supporting the Assad regime. Its ally Russia is blocking any progress at the international level. Hezbollah is also doubling down in its support for the Assad regime. But to oversimplify this complicated conflict into a proxy war, or a sectarian conflict, or an imperial/anti-imperial struggle, or any other cliché, is to ignore the history of the entire conflict and the broader facts on the ground.
Iran News Network claims that two former Ministers have asked for a staff from the Executive, legislative, and judicial branches to be organised to manage the country, effectively taking power from the Government.
Radio Farda suggests the two ex-Ministers could be Iran Inspector General and former Minister of Interior Mostafa Pourmohammadi and former Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Today Robert Tait of The Daily Telegraph of London adds a third name and the claim that the appeal was made to Ayatollah Khamenei:
Three of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's former ministers have called on Iran's supreme leader to form an emergency "government of all the talents" that will effectively curb the president's power.
Manouchehr Mottaki, the former foreign minister, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who served as interior minister, and Davoud Danesh Jafari, the ex-finance minister, have urged the radical move in a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, citing the country's "sensitive and critical situation".
It calls for the establishment of a special cabinet of "wise men" made up of the heads of the executive, legislative and judicial branches, which would then govern Iran for the next year until Mr Ahmadinejad's term ends.
Mr Ahmadinejad would be a member of such a body as head of the executive branch. But his powers would be diluted and prestige drastically reduced....
In an editorial, [pro-Ahmadinejad newspaper] Iran criticised the former ministers' note as an attempt "to portray the country's situation as critical and justify extraordinary approaches outside legal boundaries to resolve an artificial crisis".
As the bloodshed continues, the question remains of what could be done to end it. The situation is becoming increasingly more complex, yet has reached a point where the conclusion --- the end of the regime --- is clear: the Free Syrian Army is becoming stronger, the regime is weakening rapidly (with its military reduced to acting essentially as death squads), and the fighting will continue until the regime falls.
What is needed is to speed up that process by providing maximum assistance to the rebels.
Paul Ryan's speech after he was named as Mitt Romney's Vice Presidential running mate
Last Saturday, Mitt Romney announced that Paul Ryan, a congressman from Wisconsin, would be his running mate for the 2012 Presidential election. Rep. Ryan, Chair of the House Budget Committee, is a committed fiscal conservative. As he is a darling of the Tea Party and the personification of all that is evil in Republican politics for progressives, Romney's choice has energised a campaign that was in danger of descending into a mundane commentary on the current economic health of the US.
With his pick, Romney has extended the issues at stake for voters who are concerned with the present unemployment rate or the threat of another recession to the future of the Federal Government's role in economic and social policy. This is now the election for which conservatives have been praying for decades: a referendum on their belief in a Constitutionally-limited government, allowing individuals to exercise their God-given rights without interference from the hands of the State.
Thursday, August 16, 2012 at 8:05
