http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/20/syria-today-the-battle-for-qusayr.html Syria Today: The Battle for Qusayr<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/20/syria-today-the-battle-for-qusayr.html>
inShare Monday, May 20, 2013 at 16:35 | Scott Lucas<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/author/scott-lucas> in EA Live <http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/category/ea-live>, EA Middle East and Turkey<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/category/ea-middle-east-and-turkey> , Middle East and Iran<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/category/middle-east-and-iran> *Regime bombardment of the town of al-Qusayr, near the Lebanese border, on Sunday* http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Oofu3Mvlvwg* * *See also Middle East Today: Tunisia --- Clashes as Salafist Conference Banned<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/20/middle-east-today-tunisia-clashes-as-salafist-conference-ban.html> Sunday's Syria Today: The Back-and-Forth Fight Around Damascus<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/19/syria-today-the-back-and-forth-fight-around-damascus.html> * ------------------------------ *Sunday was marked by reports of an escalating battle for al-Qusayr, near the Lebanese border, with claims of regime advance and dozens of deaths.* * State news agency SANA declared<http://sana.sy/ara/336/2013/05/19/482932.htm>, "The Syrian army entered the city of Quseir in Homs from several points and established security and stability in most parts of the city, killing a large number of terrorists, most of them foreign nationals and arresting others." A "military source" said that "tens of terrorists threw down their weapons and surrendered while a number of them had been arrested". Opposition fighters asserted that Syrian forces were not yet inside the walls of the city. Fighters from Hezbollah were also involved in the attacks, with the Lebanese organisation, saying at least four had been killed. Qusayr is strategically important because of its position between Lebanon and Homs, Syria's third-largest city, where regime forces have been trying to maintain control since their assault on insurgent-held neighbourhoods in early 2012 killed thousands. * ------------------------------ *Deaths in Lebanese City of Tripoli* In two days of renewed fighting in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, five people have been killed<http://news.yahoo.com/tensions-over-syria-convulse-lebanese-city-again-5-191315905.html>and about 50 wounded. Clashes in Tripoli have recurred since last year between groups supporting and opposing the Syrian regime. . Syrian activists say the latest fighting was ignited by tension over the assault by Syrian force on Qusayr, near the Lebanese border. Three people were killed in the Sunni district of Bab Tabbaneh and another in the adjacent Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen. The fifth fatality was a Lebanese soldier. *Video of Hezbollah Involvement in Qusayr?* An opposition activist claims evidence of involvement of Hezbollah fighters and weapons in the battle for Qusayr near the Lebanese border: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NwyUbmDNrEA *British FM: Compelling Case for Lifting Arms Embargo* William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary, insisted today that there is a compelling case for lifting the EU arms embargo against Syria in order to provide further support to rebel groups and increase pressure on the regime. In a statement to the Commons, he said: ** *The EU should give strong support to this diplomatic process, including by agreeing further amendments to the arms embargo without taking any decision at present about sending arms to the Syrian opposition. * ** *....Changes to the embargo are not separate to the diplomatic work but essential to it. We must make clear that if the regime does not negotiate seriously at the Geneva conference, no option is off the table. * Hague added that arms would only be dispatched to rebels in coordination with other nations and only in "carefully controlled circumstances" to strengthen moderates and avoid the current trajectory of extremism and murder. *Insurgent Leader Kidnapped in Raqqa* The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has called for the release<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2013/may/20/syria-crisis-battle-for-qusair> of Abdullah Khalil, the lawyer who leads the rebel-controlled north-western city of Raqqa, who was allegedly kidnapped by an armed group on Sunday. Khalil had been imprisoned in Raqqas military intelligence prison until rebels took over the city earlier this year and he was released under a general amnesty. *Syrian State Media: Army 'Restored Stability' to East Qusayr* ** Syria's state news agency, SANA, is reporting that<http://sana.sy/ara/336/2013/05/20/ara/336/2013/05/20/483134.htm> the Syrian army has "restored security" to the eastern part of Qusayr, after "wiping out a large number of terrorists". Previously, SANA had said Assad's forces had captured "most parts" of the city. SANA cited a "military source" as saying that Assad's forces had dismantled a number of "improvised explosive devices" planted by "terrorists" --- the term used by the Syrian government to describe the insurgency --- in the downtown market area. The report added that the Syrian army is now attempting to rout insurgents from "hideouts in the north and south of the city". *BBC: Shia Fighters Enter Syria From Iraq To Aid Assad* ** The BBC's correspondent in Baghdad, Aleem Maqbool, reports that<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22594072> Shia fighters are crossing into Syria from Iraq to assist Bashar al-Assad's forces. Maqbool reports an interview with one man who claimed to have recruited and prepared some of the "thousands" of Iraqi Shia fighters who have crossed over the border into Syria. *The Battle for Qusayr* Reports continue of fierce fighting in Qusayr<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22592627>, near the Lebanon border and 18 miles southwest of Homs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kwh4qdYV4xA State news agency SANA claims the army has taken control of most of the town, killing more than 100 "terrorists". Activists deny that Qusayr had been captured, while saying that about 50 people have died in heavy shelling since Sunday and that Hezbollah fighters are among regime casualties. Opposition sources have said at least 40,000 people were in the town, but many may have fled amid weeks of regime attacks. *Casualties* The Local Coordination Committees claim that 125 people were killed on Sunday, including 56 in Homs Province --- most of them in the battle for al-Qusayr --- 26 in Damascus and its suburbs, and 14 in Aleppo Province. The Violations Documentation Center <http://www.vdc-sy.info/index.php/en/> reports that 60,934 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since March 2011, an increase of 167 from Sunday. Of the deaths, 47,574 were civilians, a rise of 111 from yesterday. *Optimistic Headline of the Day* State news agency SANA proclaims<http://sana.sy/eng/21/2013/05/20/483006.htm>, "[Prime Minister] Al-Halqi: Government Determined to Restore Splendor to Tourism Sector". The article did not say which sections of Syria will soon be seeing a surge in splendid tourism. Syria Analysis: How The Media is Expanding the Simplistic Narrative of "Al Qa'eda"<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/19/syria-analysis-how-the-media-is-expanding-the-simplistic-nar.html> inShare4 Sunday, May 19, 2013 at 7:06 | Scott Lucas<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/author/scott-lucas> in EA Live <http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/category/ea-live>, EA Middle East and Turkey<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/category/ea-middle-east-and-turkey> , Middle East and Iran<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/category/middle-east-and-iran> *Scott Lucas and Joanna Paraszczuk write:* ** For weeks, we have noted how the media and "experts" have used one paragraph from the statement of a leader of the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra --- ripping it out of context of the rest of the statement, let alone developments on the ground or an understanding of the Syria conflict --- reducing the group to the simplistic tags of "Al Qa'eda-linked" or "Al Qa'eda affiliate". For weeks, we have tried to knock down that too-easy and misleading narrative, offering a full translation of Jabhat al-Nusra's original Arabic statement and evaluating the complex political and social situation in Syria, especially in the north, and discussing how the media has created a misleading myth of "Al Qaeda" that precludes any deeper understanding of the nuanced reality on the ground in Syria and elsewhere. However, the simplistic story that Al Qa'eda is "taking over Jabhat al-Nusra" persists. Indeed, for some journalists, that easy narrative is no longer enough. Consider, for example, an article on Friday by Mariam Karouny of Reuters, "Syria's Nusra Front eclipsed by Iraq's Al-Qaeda<http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/17/us-syria-crisis-nusra-idUSBRE94G0FY20130517> ". *The most feared and effective rebel group battling President Bashar Assad, the Islamist Nusra Front, is being eclipsed by a more radical jihadi force whose aims go far beyond overthrowing the Syrian leader.* *Al-Qaedas Iraq-based wing, which nurtured Nusra in the early stages of the rebellion against Assad, has moved in and sidelined the organization, Nusra sources and other rebels say.* *Al-Qaeda in Iraq includes thousands of foreign fighters whose ultimate goal is not toppling Assad but the anti-Western jihad of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri a shift which could extend Syrias conflict well beyond any political accord between Assad and his foes.* Let's review. In early April, the erroneous narrative was that the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had taken control of Jabhat al-Nusra --- an assertion rejected by the JAN statement, which clearly and unequivocally asserted its autonomy over operations in Syria. Karouny actually notes this, "[Al-Nusra leader Abu Mohammad al-Golani] said he had not been consulted and..insisted his fighters would continue to operate under their own Nusra Front banner." This sentence, however, is swept aside by Karouny's "bigger" story, drawn from shadowy, unnamed "sources within the insurgency": 1. "In a direct challenge to Golani, Baghdadi traveled from Iraq to a town in Syrias Aleppo province, where he was joined by Arab and foreign jihadis who had formerly fought for Golanis Nusra." 2. "The foreign and Arab wing is now operating formally under the banner of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, while many Syrian Nusra fighters have dispersed to join other Islamist brigades." 3. Thus, the previously scary "Al Qa'eda-linked" Jabhat al-Nusra has been usurped by the even scarier "Al Qa'eda in Iraq" with "thousands" of foreign fighters in Syria. In the process, the possibility of a story that would have offered valuable context and insight is lost. Consider: 1. The significance of the statements in early April was not that the Islamic State of Iraq was taking over Jabhat al-Nusra, but that the Syrian faction --- while expressing respect and shared Islamic and Jihadi values --- was rejecting that attempt at "foreign" control while emphasizing its local significance and scope. 2. ISI may or may not have responded with an attempt to seize the movement inside Syria with an influx of fighters. However.... 3. ....the statements gathered by Karouny --- which are rendered vague because we do not know the affiliation and hence the ideology and vested interests of the "rebel commanders" she has used as sources --- are not necessarily accurate reports of that ISI attempt. Because we do not know who the sources are, we cannot know their context and therefore we cannot evaluate their statements. It is possible that they are a public-relations line aimed at creating the spectre of al-Baghdadi inside Syria commanding thousands of fighters. Without context, it is impossible to evaluate the "truth" because Karouny offers no evidence, apart from these anonymous statements --- except for what she says is "a telling video published this week [in which] masked fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant executed three men they said were officers from Assads Alawite minority sect in the eastern town of Raqqa". Ahh, that video.... Last week, footage was put out on YouTube by a group calling itself the Islamic Network of Raqqa (ÔÈßÉ ÇáÑÞÉ ÇáÇÓáÇãíÉ), apparently showing the execution of three pro-regime militia in Raqqa. Before the trio were shot, a masked man shouted out a statement through a megaphone. At the end of the declaration --- which is made not in any local dialect of Arabic but in Fusha (Modern Standard Arabic) the speakers declares that he is speaking for the "Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham". Hours later, the blogger Brown Moses put out a post<http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/the-islamic-state-of-iraq-and-al-sham.html> --- which he publicised heavily on Twitter<https://twitter.com/Brown_Moses/status/334422732345315328> --- declaring: *This is the first time that a statement like this has been made by The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham inside Syria. It seems to be a very significant event, almost a coming out party for the organisation in Syria, and executing three men for alleged crimes they had no direct hand in seems to be making a statement of intent.* Brown Moses does not appear to have followed up this declaration with investigation of ISI and the situation in northern Syria. Instead, on Friday, he handed over his blog<http://brown-moses.blogspot.nl/2013/05/jabhat-al-nusra-and-islamic-state-of.html> to Oxford student Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, which extrapolated from this and a few other videos to jump to this sweeping and dramatic conclusion: "All this evidence suggests that JANs name and symbols are beginning to be replaced by that of ISI, and this trend has become particularly apparent in the east of the country." Really? Well, no. Brown Moses' assertion is based on the following assumptions: 1. That he has not seen many JAN videos from eastern Syria recently, hardly proof that JAN is not operating in the area; 2. That he has seen some ISI propaganda videos; and 3. The Raqqa footage. But that Raqqa footage shows a few men invoking the name of "Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham". It shows no more than this: it does not show "thousands" of fighters in the area, it does not show evidence of organised command beyond the execution of three fighters, and does not offer conclusive evidence of systematic operations. Perhaps these men are part of a far larger ISI effort. Perhaps, however, they are a small faction invoking the name. The fact --- inconvenient as it may be --- remains that without further, in-depth research, we simply cannot draw a conclusion. All we can do is take the evidence at face value, and if we want to find out more, we must undertake additional investigations. What's more, there was a significant sequel to the executions. Far from those killings establishing ISI control of Raqqa, they were met by protests by local residents that same night. Brown Moses chooses to ignore that event. To her credit, Karouny does not --- "After the shootings there were only muted chants of support for the fighters and activists said that small protests broke out at night condemning the execution and calling on the fighters to fight Assad instead of executing people" --- however, she immediately reverts back to the fear of ISI's "influence" and its "ultra-radical agenda". So instead of asking the substantial question --- did ISI respond to these protests with further incursions of fighters into Raqqa, trying to take control of political affairs and "security"? --- and finding no sign that this has occurred, the accounts opt for the far easier, and headline-grabbing sensational proclamation that "Al Qa'eda in Iraq" is eclipsing Syrian Islamist factions. And so this scary and dramatic --- but overly simplistic and likely inaccurate --- picture continues to take over from the harder-to-understand reality of events inside Syria, with judgements formed on incomplete, and perhaps misleading, data rather than on an appreciation of the complexities of this ongoing conflict. ------------------------------- Monday, 20 May 2013 Evidence Of Iranian Arms Provided To Syria In The Past 18 Months<http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/evidence-of-iranian-arms-provided-to.html> In the past week Iran has been accused of violating a UN Security Council ban on weapons exports, including sending arms to Syria<http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/17/us-iran-sanctions-un-idUSBRE84F14520120517> The new report, submitted by a panel of sanctions-monitoring experts to the Security Council's Iran sanctions committee, said the panel investigated three large illegal shipments of Iranian weapons over the past year. "Iran has continued to defy the international community through illegal arms shipments," it stated. "Two of these cases involved (Syria), as were the majority of cases inspected by the Panel during its previous mandate, underscoring that Syria continues to be the central party to illicit Iranian arms transfers." The following video from Agraba, Damascus, shows a very rare example of evidence that supports those accusations Here we have a unexploded 107mm rocket, typically launched by Type-63 multiple rocket launchers<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_63_multiple_rocket_launcher>, a system used widely by both sides in the conflict. It's claimed in the video that this has been fired by government forces, and appears to be fully intact. 107mm rockets are manufactured in a number of countries, but the markings on this example strongly indicate it was manufactured in Iran. First here's reference images of the 107mm rocket manufactured by China and Iran <http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VhM36o9Z7cE/UZoUgl9iB-I/AAAAAAAABYY/7U2dbo7ddWk/s1600/Chinese+example+2.jpg>Chinese 107mm Rocket (Source <https://twitter.com/CAT_UXO>) <http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ctw5ZMv_Dp4/UZoUgX6wY0I/AAAAAAAABYU/EnhsPt8iDDQ/s1600/Chinese+example.jpg>Chinese 107mm Rocket (Source <https://twitter.com/CAT_UXO>)<http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SWYgCH0J5mk/UZoVEtqFy2I/AAAAAAAABYs/1N50mPdDT7A/s1600/Iranian+107mm+Rocket.png>Iranian 107mm Rocket (Source<http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/indian-army/24605-indian-counter-terror-operations-pictures-67.html> ) <http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KhONfMoxeHc/UZoVDX23FTI/AAAAAAAABYk/zO52FUWHTdc/s1600/Iranian+Example+1.jpg>Iranian 107mm Rocket (Source<http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1173/818509514_059a81ff06_o.jpg> )Note the colouring of the rocket, as well as the marking. Here's the rocket from the video <http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1zccN1yOaMY/UZoVfSEiXLI/AAAAAAAABY0/ev1PuwpECiQ/s1600/Iranian+107mm+Rocket+1.jpg> <http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N9wpi_0F87Y/UZoV9tt-4tI/AAAAAAAABZE/KI3yY2wbi7Y/s1600/Iranian+107mm+Rocket+2.jpg> <http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c9jzlf0VvBA/UZoWQhdsUHI/AAAAAAAABZM/lSB2sjPlzbk/s1600/Iranian+107mm+Rocket+3.jpg> <http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VItIy0cza0Q/UZoWlUmyvII/AAAAAAAABZU/OOpJoFuEcmw/s1600/Iranian+107mm+Rocket+4.jpg> <http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wncLRdYQ7tE/UZoW1ug929I/AAAAAAAABZc/40uZ_DuCzyU/s1600/Iranian+107mm+Rocket+5.jpg> It's very clear the rocket in the video is a perfect match for the Iranian examples, and what's extremely interesting is the date of manufacture, which can be clearly seen in this screenshot <http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WKf5-kbo-0A/UZoX5KWif2I/AAAAAAAABZs/4tmf0zw6_og/s1600/Iranian+107mm+Rocket+Date.jpg> Now, unless the reports of an Iranian time machine are true<http://news.nationalgeographic.co.uk/news/2013/13/130412-iranian-time-machine-time-travel-grandfather-paradox/>, it appears what we have here is an Iranian rocket manufactured in 2012, during the Syrian conflict, and the arms embargo, that has managed to find it's way into Damascus. With at 10km range it seems unlikely these rockets have flown from Iran to Syria under their own power, so this is very strong evidence that Iran has been arming Syria during the conflict, despite UN sanctions. *Related Articles* The Syrian Opposition's Latest Missiles and Rockets<http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-syrian-oppositions-latest-missiles.html> New Anti-Tank Weapons From The Former-Czechoslovakia Appear In Syria<http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/new-anti-tank-weapons-from.html> Evidence Of Jabhat al-Nusra With Croatian Weapons<http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/evidence-of-jabhat-al-nusra-with.html> Croatian Weapons Arrive In Homs<http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/croatian-weapons-arrive-in-homs.html> ----------------- Turkey Snap Analysis: Will Syria & Reyhanli Protests Undermine the Government?<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/20/turkey-snap-analysis-will-syria-reyhanli-protests-undermine.html> inShare Monday, May 20, 2013 at 7:39 | Ali Yenidunya<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/author/ali-yenidunya> <http://www.radikal.com.tr/fotogaleri/turkiye/reyhanlida_gaz_bombali_mudaheleden_kareler-1134001-9> ------------------------------ Since the double car bombing on 11 May that killed at least 46 people in Reyhanli, kilometres from the Syrian border, there have been a series of protests in the city calling on the government to resign due to its Syrian policy. In the latest show of opposition, 1500 people gathered in the town hall and marched toward police barriers, clashing with security forces. This, however, was far from an "anti-Turkish" protest. In contrast to student-led demonstrations in Ankara and Istanbul, Reyhanli residents waved Turkish flags, showing their loyalty and love for the country if not for the government. For the protesters, it is the government's Syrian policy which is a threat to the nation. Can this movement, building on concern over Syria, challenge Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "one state, one nation, one flag" motto? 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