November 30, 2011

# Notes to Self regarding "Arab Spring" Developments.

Developments to follow up on :


- Bahrain : opposition asking for the government's resignation


- Syria : the massacres continue and ditto as in Yemen.









To be continued...naturally.

November 28, 2011

#Notes To Self regarding Syria

I am jotting these observations and thoughts down for the record and for the future. I hope I can cover all the points I jotted down in my head first - been doing nothing but reading article after article on Syria, talking to Syrian friends, both inside and outside the country, and engaging some Syrians online to get their version of events.

I am also subjected to more vile emails and over 1000 hacking attempts. Hence I feel there must be a good amount of truth in my previous post on Syria. In any event, this post is going to consist of thoughts/remarks/questions and maybe an analysis would deduct itself by itself.

This post is for me first and foremost, not for any reader. So am not too concerned here if I make sense to you or not.

1. Spoke to Syrian family who is Christian, they told me that over 150 Christians were massacred in Homs. They believe it is "armed men" who are not tied to the regime, they were told they are bearded - the family did not say it but they implied they were Islamist/Terrorist.

2. By the same token, read several reports from Christian observers who traveled to Syria during the period September - November 11, they seem to confirm that "armed groups" are killing citizens and mutilating them, according to them they visited the government hospital in Homs and can testify to that - these reporters were invited by the Syrian government, so it is very likely that they only had access to the official version.

3. On the other hand, several videos and testimonies from residents living in Homs and elsewhere attest a) the capture of Iranian Quds Brigades, Hezbollah fighters and of course the confirmation of what I stated in my previous post - namely Muqtada Al-Sadr sending his militia in.

4. According to some reports of the FSA (Free Syrian Army), the number of soldiers defecting is around 50'000, of course this can't be verified, but most of the videos I took the pain to watch of FSA all the soldiers confirm no.3 and say they have defected because they refuse orders to shoot on their own unarmed people.

5. According to other reports, those who maintain the nucleus of the armed forces and the security apparatus are directly related to the Assad family, the name of Maher Al-Assad the brother comes up frequently.

6. Also watched a video in Arabic where Rifaat Al-Assad was giving a lecture in Paris, he by the way met with Bernard Henri Levy in October/November (one of the masterminds for Libya), in that video he was talking about Hama - he of course denied his role in the massacres of Hama, but more interestingly he blamed Hama on Iraq, saying that Saddam Hussein sent Takfiris, to support the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama, and this group were anti shia, anti alawite anti ismaili. Watching this video of Rifaat Al-Assad confirmed to me the inherent sectarianism of the hardcore Alawite - of course these allegations are baloney since Saddam Hussein and his Baath were allergic to anything called Muslim Brothers or Salafists/Takfiris, furthermore in the 80's for the record, there was no such trend as takfiri/salafi, there were only the Muslim Brotherhood. The Salafist ideology came later onto the political scene. (also read an article which stated that there was a secret meeting between Sharon, Rifaat Al-Assad and US in 1982 organized by Kissinger -note Iran/Iraq war and Syria's stand)

7. So who are these armed groups currently at work in Syria - a) the Shabiha for sure b) Iranian , Hezbollah and Sadr militias c) BBC ran a video in which it also showed fighters/arms coming in from Lebanon and alluded to porous borders with Turkey.

8. On the regional level several developments I need to note :

a) the almost take over by Qatar of the Arab League
b) Libya's NTC offering help to the FAS also just read on Turkish newspaper that France training Syrian "rebels"- Got to be careful with such allegations/psyops as 1)compulsory military service in Syria and 2)FSA hardly needs training.
c) Belhadj of Libya arrested by Zintan brigades on a "special mission" to Turkey for carrying a fake passport
d) Iran stating that it has missiles that can reach Turkey, which is really a threat.
e) Turkey increasing its condemnation regarding Syria along with Qatar (more so than any Arab country I must say)
f) Russia sending a military ship to Syrian coastal waters - read the same for Iran.
g) Americans keeping a low profile on the matter
h) a rejection of any military NATO intervention and no fly zone by AL and EU
i) the Juppe France proposal for "Humanitarian Corridors" has also been rejected so far.
l) Iraq adamant about preserving the Assad regime from fear of an "Islamist" take over that will ruin its "democracy" (as per the statements of Talabani, Maliki and Zebari)And of course Lebanon.
m) Jordan also had its objections to economic sanctions vis a vis Syria - I think Jordan is trying to keep out of it as much as possible as some commentators alluded to fears of some sort of Hezbollah retaliation from inside Syrian territory.
n) Israel broke the silence only once on Syria which is kind of strange for Israel -stating that Assad's end is like that of Saddam and Gaddafi and since I have not read anything else from the Jewish state.

9. on the ground these are the observations I made again and again. The protests seem to be concentrated or should I say the armed conflict (which is not really a good term because there is no equality in balance of power here) in the periphery of Damascus - like Homs, Deir Ezzor, Idlib, Hama etc (maybe to the exception of Aleppo). From the Syrians I have spoken to, they confirm to me that there are sporadic unarmed demonstrations in Damascus but mainly in the "poor areas" and that overall the security situation there is good.

10. another observation I can't sidestep, is that Assad regime does still have support mainly in Damascus and maybe Aleppo (urban elites)and those supporters that include ordinary Syrians who are neither Alawites nor Baathists, seem to believe that there is a conspiracy against Syria by US/Qatar/Israel/Turkey/Saudi Arabia/ Europe. What I find objectionable is their denial of the hideous repression taking place outside of the capital. Either they don't have access to the information or they are absolutely convinced by the official version that all the killings, torture etc are done by infiltrators.
Another observation is that these protests which started off unarmed and peaceful, seem to be concentrated in the poor provincial areas so there is definitely a class element to them - looking at several videos from Syria the statement - they live well and we are poor - comes up again and again.

11. Another thing that still leaves me quite perplexed - two years ago in November 2009, I wrote a post and mentioned at length Syria - namely a) the great rapprochement between Syria and Turkey b) Sarkozy praising a new era of trust with Syria c) the relative normalization of diplomatic contacts with the USA - an ambassador was dispatched d) the piece of news of back door diplomacy with Israel in Turkey - the latter playing the mediator and very important e) the fall out with Maliki of Iraq in which the latter accused Syria of sending in terrorists/insurgents which Syria denied and last note not to forget the bombing of alleged Syrian nuclear site.

So what went wrong since 2009 ? Of course one may argue at face value the terrible repression /crackdown against unarmed civilians which is one aspect but there is more. Definitely there is more. I believe that Syria's ouverture to Turkey and France as well as Syria's rapprochement to Saudi Arabia during the period was not well viewed by Iran, hence that (partially) explains Maliki's (Iraq's) fall out with Syria for well over 6 months. I think that Assad was quickly called back to the Iranian fold sensing Turkey's ambitions in the "New" Middle East.
(Turkey-Gaza,Syria, possibly new Egypt, Libya) (cross out Syria now)

12. Also been reading statements from the Syrian opposition - some maintain insistence on a civil non armed disobedience movement, others inside and outside are clamoring for no fly zones, and some even go so far as to call for a NATO military strike arguing that sanctions are not enough.

13. the worrisome aspect for me is the regional political recuperation of an initially peaceful, unarmed, spontaneous, valid mass protest against social injustice. One can argue that this is expected, just as other protests in the Arab world have been politically recuperated by various outside forces (an argument that is quite valid for Egypt today for example). This regional interference coupled with the brutal repression on the inside is leading to what some may call a low insurrection or low civil war that will not flare up the way it did in Iraq. I suspect that the regime will try to keep whatever "civil war" or more like a sectarian war - because it is really taking up the colors of a sectarian cleansing on the outskirts of the capital, i.e outside of Damascus and possibly Aleppo.

14. I maintain that it is in both Iran's and Israel's interest to have this kind of longish low level insurrection in Syria, I also believe that Iran is betting it will come out victorious like it did in Iraq. Insofar as Israel is concerned and also Iran by the way, and this is something that both left and right seem to miss - in the long run any dismantling of any Arab state is beneficial. Could it be that the Assad regime has resorted to such a sectarian outlook that it can't see that or could it be that events have gone so far and so much out of control that it simply can't backtrack anymore ?

15) my final note to myself - last but not least - what is the political stand to take vis à vis Syria now ? Of course condemnation of the crackdown, no doubt about it, all these videos streaming in can't all be possibly lying. And surely all these people including women and children are not terrorists or insurgents, like the regime claims. Also some of the torture is so hideous, eyes gouged out, horrible mutilation, such a reminder of the sectarian cleansing that took place in Iraq by the Shiite militias.

Also the fact that Iraq US installed puppets backed by Iran are so adamant about their "own democracy" yet support the brutal repression in Syria and call for no foreign intervention when they themselves were installed by one of the most brutal foreign interventions in contemporary history, raises all kinds of red flags for me.

But also by the same token Qatari/AL EU US interference does not go down well with me.
Insofar as the Arab League is concerned - my question is - how come they suddenly woke up after decades of sleep when it came to Syria - why did we not see the same efforts vis à vis Gaza, or Iraq (with their silence) and as for Libya -where we clearly saw AL backing a NATO intervention.

I do note the different tone vis à vis Syria, the long process of sanctions as opposed to a direct military intervention - I believe this is due to the fact that Syria contrary to Iraq is backed by Russia and more importantly by Iran and its proxies in Iraq and Lebanon. Which was not definitely not the case for Iraq (weakened after a decade of sanctions and with no backing whatsoever), and the same parallel goes for Libya (also Libya was quickly isolated even though the Russian paid lip service to Gaddafi when in effect they went ahead and recognized the NTC) They did not put up a similar fight as they are doing for Syria. That is for sure.

The other thing that gnaws at me - another parallel with Iraq - in 2003, many antiwar, left, liberal progressive (which for me don't mean anything anymore by the way) went ahead with the slogan - not to the US no to Saddam. Is it possible to use the same slogan for Syria today - and say no to NATO no to Assad seeing what happened to Iraq ? By saying no to US no to Assad are we not saying yes to Iran or yes to Israel or yes to Turkey ? This is a valid question.

But also what are the families of these poor people on the inside to do ? Just go on being massacred like sheep ? Who will stop the carnage if there is no backing ? The only hope would be an independent patriotic Syrian Resistance that is visionary enough not to fall in either camp.
Quite a few Syrians are banking on that. I for my part will refrain for the moment from more notes on Syria - I shall be a quiet observer and jot down more notes for the record, bearing in mind all the above. And before finishing off - I must also note that pro Assad supporters online give their 100% support to the Bahrain protesters (who are funded/backed by A.Chalabi Iraq, Sadr Iraq, Hezbollah Lebanon, Qatar and Iran) and wish for the downfall of "Sunni" Saudi Arabia, and the genocide of all Sunnis - if that is not sectarianism I don't know what is.

November 20, 2011

The Complexity of Syria.

A dangerous and complex situation in Syria, very dangerous indeed. But then so are all situations when it comes to the Arab world.

This is an attempt to make sense, and to infuse some light into what will prove to be a dark chapter of Syrian history. I am not sure I will succeed but I will try. I shall base my analysis on my various readings plus testimonies from the Syrians I have encountered.

Nearly a 40 year rule by the Alawite clan of the Assad family. Alawites are a branch of Shi'ism, and very difficult to penetrate i.e to access full knowledge of their belief system. A strange combination of Shiism and Druze ideology. Alawites are a minority in Syria, originally from the lower echelons of society. Their rise to power under the Assad rule and their grip on key sectors of government was ensured by placing their own people in key positions, as one Syrian acquaintance said - they have infiltrated Syrian society like an octopus. This is how the Alawites of Syria were able to maintain power for so long seeing that they are a indeed a small minority.

True, secularism was the order of the day and Syrian society was a secular one. Denying that would be a blatant lie. However, when the regime felt that the noose is tightening around its neck, due to genuine popular protests against repression plus a dire economic situation where roughly 3 Million Syrians live in abject poverty and privileges are only accorded to the elite related to the Assad clan, the regime resorted to its inherent sectarianism, emboldened by its special ties to Iran and Hezbollah of Lebanon.

A regime cannot continue such a brutal crackdown on its own citizens unless it follows one of two options either : a) a nihilistic approach which basically says - on me and my enemies - a popular Arabic saying, translated as " we will burn it all down" or b) it pertinently knows that it will eventually get away with it.

The other scenario is a little more complicated and I think this is the one, one needs to reflect on. By persevering in its destructive course of action - the current Syrian regime which has been reduced to a small clique directing events - is actually inviting foreign intervention.

I personally believe that Bashar Al-Assad has lost control of his inner government. I say "inner" government because this is how things are in Syria. The key sectors in particular the armed forces and the security apparatus have an operating system of their own and are directed by the inner clique that is hardly ever public - back corridor operations.

It is said that the old partisans of Assad the father, are the ones who are controlling Syria today, that includes Maher Al-Assad, Bashar's brother.

I think that Bashar Al-Assad as a figure has become cannon meat. As we say in Arabic - he is placed in the mouth of the cannon and when that cannon fires, he will be the first to go. This does not mean that the whole regime will go with him, regimes when backed as in the case of Syria have amazing powers to shed skins and acquire new ones as we shall see later on.

But this is not sufficient of an analysis, because it does not take into account the other regional players - namely Iran, Turkey and Israel plus the other Arab countries in particular Qatar.

Since the fall of Iraq and now Libya thanks to Western intervention and occupation, it is clear that the Western Zionist agenda for the Arab region (Iran is not Arab) is first and foremost the doing away of secular, progressive regimes or what started off as progressive regimes. Regime change also means ERADICATING any ideological roots that are essentially anti-imperialistic (even if flawed) and born out of the colonial experience. That was the case for Iraq's brand of Baathism and Libya's popular Jamahiriyah.

These regime changes were followed by two distinctive traits 1) a replacement by parties that claim to be Islamic (i.e deriving their political ideology from Islam) and 2. a period of intense sectarian, ethnic, civil strife that completed the initial destruction triggered by these Western interventions.

In this Western agenda for these regimes (Iraq and Libya), there are other regional players that are also prominently competing for influence and power. In the case of Iraq it was - Iran and Israel, and in the case of Libya it was Turkey and Qatar. The preceding is an important point to bear in mind because you simply can't divorce the developments in any particular Arab country without placing them in a geopolitical context.

Getting back to Syria which is the initial subject matter. Drawing observations like the ones above from Iraq and Libya, one can also conclude that the West has an agenda for regime change in Syria. One can also add that regional players, notably Iran, Turkey and Qatar (again) are vying to either maintain, enhance or change the current regime.

This does not mean that the popular protests in Syria are all externally induced by foreign powers, nor does it mean that they are not justified, nor does that diminish the brutality of the regime crackdown, but it does mean that Syria is not an island and that regional attempts at power grabs are reflected internally.

Iran needs to keep its grip on Syria for several reasons, one of which is power continuity in Lebanon Iran will not give up Syria easily, hence the amazingly lax ultimatums that are given to the Assad regime by the Arab league and the International community. It is clear that meddling with Syria by flexing too much muscle will trigger Iran's (and Hezbollah's) wrath. Hence the "diplomatic" approach was favored which was clearly not the case for Iraq nor Libya where brute power was employed to achieve regime change.

Turkey and Qatar on the other hand are coaxing regime change in Syria. Not because they particularly care for the Syrian people, but since Iraq was generously given to Iran, by the U.S, Turkey in particular feels it's being thwarted in its plan for regional supremacy. The conflict or the competition for regional influence between Turkey and Iran is reflected in Syria.

Qatar on the other hand has also plans to become the major Arab player - superseding the role traditionally allocated to Saudi Arabia - and that too is part of the new American agenda for the region - the gradual isolation of Saudi Arabia.

One can see Qatar's rise to power through its machinations overt and covert in Lebanon (with its ties to Hezbollah) as the mediator of peace, with Israel as the first Gulf country who openly invited Tzipi Livni in 2006, with Bahrain where it's meddling in favor of regime change in collusion with Iran and the Bahraini opposition, in Libya where it openly supported and participated in NATO's operations, in Tunisia where it has extended a lifeline to the Ennhada Islamic party which is now in power after the fall of Ben Ali. Moreover, Qatar has excellent bilateral ties with Iran and nearly 40% of its economy is jointly owned with Iranian investors from the Islamic republic. And last but not least, Qatar is now the US Arab prodigal child to be nursed into full fledged political adulthood.
Qatar if you want is like a parasite trying to grow two legs. And the US will ensure it does.

So where does that leave Syria ?

All what I have mentioned above is reflected in Syria, be it within the regime or in the Syrian opposition to the regime.

Let's start with the Syrian opposition. The Syrian opposition has different voices and not one. Some want Turkish interference, some want Western intervention, some refuse categorically either. And one cannot deny the "Islamic" coloring to certain parties of the opposition. A reminder of the "Islamic" Shiite parties in Iraq and its Libyan variant.

Inside Syria, the same is true. Army soldiers are defecting including a few Alawites and Druze (as per the latest news) and are joining the protesters. Some of the protesters HAVE BECOME armed, allegations that they are armed by Turkey may have some truth in it, but the reality is that defectors from the Army are taking their weapons with them. That explains how a few protesters are armed today which was not initially the case when the protests/uprising started. However the majority of the protesters remain unarmed and are civilians.

What's happening on the regime front? Important developments to be well noted.

- First there is the local militia - the shabiha. Remember what I said earlier on, the Alawites are a small minority in Syria. The Shabiha receive reinforcement in men from the following a) Hezbollah of Lebanon 2) Iranian Quds Brigades 3)and this is the latest piece of news given by someone from Damascus - the militia of Jaysh Al Mahdi of Muqtada al Sadr arriving by bus loads into Syria. I need to remind the reader that Jaysh Al-Mahdi of Muqtada Al-Sadr is one of the biggest Shiite militias in Iraq and was responsible for massive sectarian cleansing of non Shias during the so-called "civil war" in Iraq that reached its apogee in 2006-2008.

- Secondly this reinforcement from Iran and its proxies make sense because of: a)army defection b)the need to keep Damascus in the hands of the regime - notice most of the killing is being done on the periphery of the capital and not in the capital. One reason for this is that (again according to my Syrian sources) the bulk of the Shabiha are spread throughout the capital and are quick to nip any protests with a swift crackdown without having to move tanks and men. c)it is a known strategy in warfare that if you lose the capital you lose the battle, hence the necessity to keep a tight control over Damascus.

- Thirdly the reinforcement by Iran means a preparation for a sectarian war. Is it in the interest of Iran to have a civil war in Syria ? My answer is yes it is. Just like it was in the interest of Iran to have a civil war in Iraq in which it guaranteed the outcome through its 33 armed Shiite militias plus its own revolutionary guards. It's called power leverage. Hezbollah a few days ago was on high alert and asked for mobilization of its men. Today we hear that Jaysh Al-Mahdi is arriving in Syria. These are two sure signs that something is about to be prepared on a full scale.
Is it in the interest of Israel to have a civil war in Syria ? Naturally it is. Ehud Barak for the first time today after a relatively long silence on Syria stated - "Bashar Al-Assad has only a few more months, his fate is that of Hussein and Gaddafi."

- Fourthly, the question to pose is what about Turkey ? Will it find itself relatively excluded again like it was in Iraq or will it be able to also have a piece of the pie but this time without NATO intervention like in Libya ?

As I said, am trying to shed some light and I don't have all the answers. I am also aware I did not cover everything like for instance the repercussions of a highly possible sectarian war in Syria on Lebanon and Iraq and I also have left out Russia.

However, despite the limits of this post, something rings true - and I must give credit where credit is due - someone on Twitter said to me, in reference to Syria - Iran will not be happy until the word Arab is erased from every Arab country's dictionary. He is right on that count. What he forgot to mention is that the same goes for Israel.

N.B: What is also interesting to note and keep in mind - from U.S occupied Iraq, through one of its puppet spokesman H.Zebari, Foreign Minister, pledging unconditional support for the Assad regime. Bear in mind that U.S/Iran installed Iraqi puppets are vehemently anti Baathists, yet U.S/Iran installed Iraqi puppets have no qualms supporting the Syrian Baath regime.

November 15, 2011

Cut & Silence

Am surrounded by a strange kind of Silence...

From my experience, I can recognize two kinds of Silence. One is because one chooses to be silent, either you don't have anything to say, or you're just enjoying the Quietness in a peaceful sort of way. The other kind of Silence is very difficult to describe in words. The only words I can find to describe it -- a murdered Silence.

It's like when you have been badly beaten up, thrashed, shaken in the fibers of your soul, and you are left in that room alone after the event --and everything goes dead silent. It's like the aftermath of a battle in a war zone, when the cannons have stopped, you've survived and you look around and there's nothing but debris, rubble and that strange silence -- a silence that is in between life and death. Not quite the silence of the cemeteries - of Death, neither the silence of Peace.

A strange kind of Silence, because the horror cannot be described in words. What to do with all this horror that keeps seeping in bits and pieces, adding itself to the reservoir of horrors that you have already stored inside of you ? Where do you put it, where do you file it, how do you classify it ? but more importantly how do you accept it, incorporate it, digest it ?

I have no answers, so I fall into that strange kind of Silence.

In the old days when people could not read and write, they went to the market place and there was always a literate man who would be sitting behind a low small table, with a pot of ink and some paper. You dictated your letter and he would faithfully write it down for you. They called him the "kateb" - the one who writes...

Sometimes if the text was a standard one,or if the client did not really know what to say in a letter - he would use carbon copy papers - the modern equivalent of cut and paste.

It would go like this :

Dear X,
Hope you are well, we have missed you, everyone is fine and asking about you. Your absence weighs on us, so does your Silence. Give us a sign, send us a picture.

Tonight, with that strange kind of Silence surrounding me - I will do like the "kateb" - use carbon copies - use cut and paste...cut and paste...cut and paste...

I shall cut words and paste them...glue them to the page like a school kid preparing some decorative card for the coming holidays...

And by doing so I am elbowing that strange kind of Silence, pushing it sideways, to make room for my cut and paste...cut and plastered, cut and glued, cut and kept, cut and dangling, cut and hanging...cut and silenced.

And like the "kateb" in the market place I shall faithfully replicate what am told...

Dear X,
In March of 2007, I witnessed SSG Platt shoot and wound an Iraqi national without cause of provocation. The Staff Sergeant said that he suspected the Iraqi be a “trigger” man. We had not been attacked and we found no evidence on the man to support the suspicion. As the Iraqi lay bleeding on the ground, PVT Smith requested to administer first aid to the Iraqi. SSgt Platt said no and “let him bleed out".

Dear X,
In June of 2007 1SG Spry caused an Iraqi male to be stopped, questioned, detained, and killed. We had no evidence that the Iraqi was an insurgent or terrorist. In any event when we stopped he did not pose a threat. Although I did not personally witness the killing, I did observe 1sg Spry dismembering the body and parading of it while it was tied to the hood of a Humvee around the Muhalla neighborhood...I have a photo that shows 1SG Spry removing the victim’s brains.

Dear X,
On another occasion an Iraqi male was stopped by a team led by Sgt Rogers as he walked down an alleyway. The Iraqi was detained and questioned then with his hands tied behind his back, SGT Rogers skinned his face.

Dear X,
1ST Spry shot a young Iraqi teenager who was about 16 years old. The shooting was unprovoked and the Iraqi posed no threat to the unit. He was merely riding his bicycle past an ambush site. When I arrived on the scene I observed 1SGT Spry along with SSG Platt dismember the boy’s body.

Dear X,
In August of 2007, I responded to radio call from SGT Rogers reporting that he had just shot an Iraqi who was trying to enter through a hole that the platoon had blown in a wall to allow them observation of the area during a security patrol. When I arrived, I saw a one armed man who was still alive lying on a barricade. The man was about 30 years old. He had an old Ruger pistol hanging from his thumb. It was obvious to me that the pistol was placed there because of the way it hung from his thumb. The Iraqi was still alive when I arrived. The Iraqi was still moving. I was asking why they shot him again when I heard Sgt Hoskins say “he’s moving, he’s still alive.” SPEC Hoskins then moved to the Iraqi and shot him in the back of the head. SSG Platt and SGT Rogers were visibly excited about the kill. I saw them pull the Iraqi’s brains out as they placed him in the body bag.

Dear X,
On many occasions I observed SGT Temples, SSG Platt and SGT Rogers beat and abuse Iraqi teenagers, some as young as 14, without cause. They would walk into a house near areas where they suspected we had received sniper fire, then detain and beat the kids.

Dear X,
I am enclosing these pictures for the memory, the remembrance, the souvenir...

November 9, 2011

The Shabiha - A Sample of a Syrian Regime Thug.

The other day on Twitter, I tweeted some fresh info I had just received - namely that 9 people were massacred in Homs, Syria - on the day of the Eid, among them 2 girls and one woman. These were no protesters, they were unarmed and they were targeted by Shabiha snipers while crossing the streets.

I will not go into the tens of videos that are streamed daily on of the brutality of a regime who despite its tanks, air power, and weapons is still powerless in the face of a brave people who are daily risking their lives and exposing the utterly vile nature of the beast.

So in response to that particular tweet, I had someone calling himself a "Syrian Knight" a supposedly "patriotic" Syrian on Twitter, obviously on government payroll and most likely part of the Allawite clique respond to me in the following :

I must also add that a few other Syrians and Lebanese are openly calling for THE GENOCIDE of SUNNIS in Lebanon and Syria and also for the assassination of Saad Al-Hariri while claiming that all these Sunnis are nothing but "Islamists." (i.e Wahabis, Salafists i.e pro-Saudi). And like typical criminal psychopathic Fascists, they end their tweets calling for murder -- with smiles and winks.

Needless to add that these people claim to be pro-Palestinian, and anti-Zionists. If you really need to know their true affiliation - they are pro-Allawite, pro-Hezbollah and pro-Iran.

In the past I have received many rape and death threats - some of a very ugly nature. Whenever possible I have pursued these people (in my own way). So if anyone has any information on this "Syrian Knight" please contact me. Also this particular post is to show the reader a small sample of the kind of murderous psychopathic Fascists the brave people of Syria are up against.