The biggest effect of Wednesday's bombings near Army Staff Headquarters and the invasion of the building by insurgents is psychological: "How can President Assad and those who have held power for decades claim to protect their people when they cannot even protect themselves?"
Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 14:12 | James Miller in EA Middle East and Turkey, Journalism and Media, Middle East and Iran Insurgents use a BMP armoured vehicle to attack regime tanks in Jabal Zawiyah in Idlib Province
This is a stalemate, but it is a corrosive one, one that constantly eats at the strength of the Assad regime, while the humanitarian crisis and threat to infrastructure grows with every exploding barrel bomb and tank shell. The "massacres" and the escalating death toll bear out the claims made by the opposition that the regime does not believe that it is winning this fight.
Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 12:29 | James Miller in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran
Footage from Al-Manar TV of the aftermath of Wednesday's bombings and attack by insurgents on Army Staff HQ in Damascus, with gun battles and bodies of three opposition fighters inside the building
See also Syria Analysis: Huge Stories, Small Headlines, and the Future of Insurgency
EA Video Analysis: Syria --- An Introduction to "The Grind of the Conflict"
Wednesday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Double Explosion Hits Army Staff HQ in Damascus
2037 GMT: Iraq. CNN's Ivan Watson reports on thousands of internally-dsiplaced Syrians, camping out and sleeping in the dirt because they cannot cross the Turkish border:
Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 10:13 | Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran See also Our 1st EA Video Analysis: The Sound, Fury, and Insignificance of Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
An eight-minute introduction to the situation in Syria, with the analysis of a conflict that is beyond any possible political resolution and will only be settled when either the regime or the insurgents have a decisive military advantage --- given this will not happen in the foreseeable future, the "grind of the conflict" takes over.
One note about the close of the commentary: when we filmed this, I was working with Monday's figure toll of "only" 123 people slain by security forces. Yesterday, that number was 343.
EA Video Analysis, Syria Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 12:15 | Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Smoke this morning above Army Staff Headquarters in Damascus after two explosions
See also Syria 1st-Hand: The Insurgents' PR Quest for Ammunition in Aleppo
Tuesday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "The Situation Has Gone from Bad to Worse"
1820 GMT: Syria. In his address to the United Nations General Assembly, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has upheld his initiative of a four-nation contact group --- Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran --- and declared, "The bloodshed in Syria and the humanitarian crisis that has unfolded, must be stopped."
A full English-language text of the speech has been posted.
1720 GMT: Syria. Back from a long break for a business meeting to find the official casualty figure for today's double bombing near Army Staff Headquarters is six dead –-- t four security guards and two suicide bombers --- and 14 wounded.
Security has been increased in the area of the explosions with roadblocks and checkpoints. A resident said, "Most of the people who work at governmental institutions could not go to work today."
Meanwhile, the Local Coordination Committees report one of the bloodiest days in the 18-month conflict, with 290 people killed by security forces. The 162 dead in Damascus and its suburbs include a claim of 107 people slain in a mass killing in al-Thiabieh. There are also 37 killed in Deir Ez Zor Province, 26 in Homs Province, and 25 in Daraa Province.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 10:23 | Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
Insurgent with empty ammunition boxes in Aleppo (Photo: Iskandar Kat/AFP/Getty)
The rebel plan for the assault on Aleppo had been simple, Abu Mohamed said. They were told by the leadership that if they took the fight to the heart of the city, the supply lines would flow. But three weeks after the rebels entered the town, the ammunition for a front stretching from the Saif al-Dawla boulevard in the north to the Salah al-Din neighbourhood in the south-west had dwindled to 600 bullets and six RPG rockets. The lines were close to collapse.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 5:57 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Live Coverage has been re-titled and moved to the top of the homepage, "Double Explosion Hits Army Staff HQ in Damascus".
Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 18:57 | James Miller in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Insurgents watch regime aircraft shell Sheikh Ali in Syria's Aleppo Province on Monday
2004 GMT: Syria. There are still more late-breaking reports of artillery shelling in many towns across Daraa province, Aleppo, Idlib province, and around Damascus. However, none of the reports is as interesting as the claim that several additional large explosions have rocked Jubata al Khashab, in Quneira province, near the Golan Heights (see update 1420).
The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. Yet to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see when the image of Jesus Christ is desecrated, churches are destroyed, or the Holocaust is denied. Let us condemn incitement against Sufi Muslims, and Shiite pilgrims. It is time to heed the words of Gandhi: “Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.” Together, we must work towards a world where we are strengthened by our differences, and not defined by them. That is what America embodies, and that is the vision we will support.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 7:21 | Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran AFP with insurgents in Aleppo on Monday
James Miller spoke with Monocle 24's The Daily last night about the state of the insurgency in Syria, as the Free Syrian Army declares that it has moved its command inside the country and the regime claims it is facing 5000 foreign fighters.
Miller opens, "Foreign fighters are still a small percentage of the insurgency, but the number is quickly growing," before explaining the shifting patterns of the conflict.
And will the Free Syrian Army achieve a unified command? "Not any time soon."
To get to the discussion, open The Daily homepage, click on the programme for 24/9, and go to the 1:04.42 mark.
