Tuesday, September 4, 2012

من طهران الى غروزني الى دمشق


A VERY GOOD PIECE
من طهران الى غروزني الى دمشق
الياس خوري

"ذكّرني الحوار الذي اجرته قناة 'الدنيا' السورية مع بشار الأسد، بالمقولة التي أطلقها مؤسس حزب الكتائب بيار الجميل في بداية الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية الطويلة. يومها وفي مواجهة الخطاب الاصلاحي الذي تبنته الحركة الوطنية، رفع الشيخ بيار شعار: النظام = الكيان.
اي ان قائد الحزب الأكبر والأكثر تأثيرا في الوسط المسيحي، وضع اللبنانيين امام أحد خيارين، اما بقاء نظام الغلبة الطائفية او اعادة النظر في الكيان اللبناني، وهي دعوة مبطنة الى التقسيم، و/او العودة الى لبنان الصغير، اي الى حدود متصرفية جبل لبنان، التي فرضتها الدول الأوروبية على الباب العالي، بحجة 'حماية المسيحيين'.
الرئيس السوري استعاد المنطق نفسه: الوطن = النظام والنظام = الرئيس!
فاذا اردت حماية الوطن من 'المؤامرة'، فأنت تدافع عن النظام البعثي، واذا وجدت نفسك في صف النظام فأنت مع الرئيس الى الأبد، من دون مناقشة. اما اذا اردت اسقاط الرئيس فأنت تُسقط النظام، واذا سقط النظام ضاع الوطن!
المعادلة الأسدية اكثر تعقيدا من المعادلة التي صاغها بيار الجميل. فالزعيم الكتائبي الراحل تكلم لغة طائفية صريحة، تستند الى خوف اقلوي متوارث، وتحوله الى اداة لتخويف الآخرين واخضاعهم. اما الرئيس السوري فانه ينتمي نظريا على الأقل الى ايديولوجية قومية عابرة للبني الطائفية، تسعى الى ايصال 'الرسالة الخالدة' التي بشّر بها مؤسس حزب البعث، ميشال عفلق، وهي رسالة توحيد الامة العربية وبعثها من السبات. اما كيف تحولت الرسالة الخالدة الى حكم ابدي متوارث، والى جحيم قمعي وسبات سياسي، والى سلسلة من الهزائم الوطنية، فتلك مسألة يجب البحث عن اجوبتها في البذور الفاشية داخل الايديولوجية البعثية نفسها من جهة، وفي استيلاء العسكريين والأمنيين على السلطة، الذي حوّل تلك البذور الى نظام ممسوك من قبل رجل واحد او من قبل مجلس العائلة من بعده، من جهة ثانية.
يحمل التماهي الكامل بين النظام والوطن التـــــهديد بتدمير الوطن او تفكيكه، وهذا هو جوهر خطاب الأسد، اما الكلام عن 'المؤامرة' و'الارهاب' فهو مجرد تغطية ساذجة لم تعـــــد تنطلي على أحد، فالديكتاتور الســــوري هو اول من عــــــرف ذلك، منذ اللحظات الأولى لاندلاع الثورة السورية، حين نزل مئات الالوف الى الشوارع في درعا وحماه وحمــص ودير الزور وريف دمشق مطالبين بحريتهم وكرامتهم، ومعلنين ان طريق الحرية الوحيد هو اسقاط النظام.
وكان جواب النظام هو المراوغة الدموية، معتقدا انه يستطيع من خلال قتل اكبر عدد من المتظاهرين القاء الرعب في قلوب الناس.
مرّ المشروع القمعي للنظام في مرحلتين:
المرحلة الأولى التي سوف نطلق عليها اسم:
المرحلة الايرانية، امتدت من بدايات الثورة، حتى قصف حمص واجتياح بابا عمرو، اما المرحلة الثانية المستمرة الى اليوم فسنطلق عليها اسم: المرحلة الشيشانية.
في المرحلة الأولى حاول النظام تطبيق الخطة الايرانية في قمع 'الثورة الخضراء'، التي اندلعت في ايران بعد 'اعادة انتخاب' احمدي نجاد رئيسا. وقد فشلت هذه الخطة، لأنها استلهمت نموذجا لا يمت بصلة الى الواقع السوري. فالثورة الخضراء تركزت في المدن، وخصوصا في طهران، وكانت غائبة عن الريف الذي حافظ على ولائه للولي الفقيه، كما ان السلطة الايرانية استندت الى شرعية سياسية مستمدة من شرعيتها الفقهية والدينية التي اسسها الخميني. اما الثورة السورية فقد اندلعت اولا في المدن البعيدة عن المركزين السياسي والاقتصادي (دمشق وحلب)، وقد جرّ القمع الوحشي للمظاهرات في هذه المدن الى انخراط البلدات الريفية في الثورة، محولا الثورة الى ظاهرة عصية على السحق بالوسائل الكلاسيكية التي اتبعت في ايران، وقاد الى بداية الانشقاقات في الجيش والى بروز ظاهرة الجيش الحر، والى التسلح الشعبي الواسع. وبدلا من ان تُقمع الثورة، قام الريف بتحفيز العملية الثورية في المدن، حتى وصلت الى قلب دمشق، ونجحت في السيطرة على اجزاء واسعة من حلب. هذا من دون ان ننسى ان النظام لا يستند الى اي شرعية اجتماعية او سياسية او دينية.
فشل النموذج الايراني، قاد الى المرحلة الثانية من القمع، فأستعان النظام بنموذج آخر، هو نموذج سحق الشيشان وتدمير غروزني، وهو النموذج الذي صاغه 'القيصر الروسي الصغير' فلاديمير بوتين. نجح هذا النموذج في روسيا الاتحادية عبر اعتماده على القوة النارية الهائلة للمدفعية والدبابات وسلاح الطيران، وانتج تدميرا منهجيا للعاصمة الشيشاتية غروزني.
لجوء الآلة الأسدية الى هذا النموذج والحماس الروسي له يفتقد الى الحكمة، لأنه يتناسى حقيقتين:
الحقيقة الاولى هي ان بلاد الشيشان صغيرة وعدد سكانها حوالي مليون نسمة، وهي جزء من الاتحاد الروسي الكبير الذي يطوقها من كل الجهات. وان انتفاضتها كانت قومية للتحرر من الهيمنة الروسية، وسعيا وراء الانفصال. وهذا لا يشبه وعلى اي مستوى الثورة السورية التي هي ثورة شعب بأغلبيته ضد نظام حكم ديكتاتوري محلي. الثورة السورية ليست مقاومة لحكم اجنبي بل هي ثورة من اجل الحرية والتخلص من الاستبداد.
الحقيقة الثانية، هي ان 'القيصر الصغير' في موسكو خاض معركته ضد اقلية قومية ودينية ضعيفة وممستضعفة، ونجح في تصويرها باعتبارها معركة لحماية الروسيا واستعادة دورها. اما 'المملوك الصغير' في دمشق، فإنه لا يحارب شعبا آخر، ولا يجتاح مدينة صغيرة اسمها غروزني لا يصل عدد سكانها الى اربعمئة الف نسمة، بل يحارب كل المدن السورية.
الحل الشيشاني يتهاوى اليوم، كما تهاوى الحل الايراني في الأمس. واللافت ان الدولتين الداعمتين للنظام: ايران وروسيا، لم تكتفيا بتقديم نموذجيهما القمعيين، بل اغدقتا على النظام كل اشكال الدعم العسكري والمالي، ومع ذلك فهما مصاباتان بالذهول امام عجزه عن الحسم العسكري، ومحبطتان من تفكك الكثير من عناصر آلته السياسية والعسكرية.
بعد فشل المرحلة الثانية، وهي مسألة وقت ودم، سوف يُضطر النظام الى الدخول في المرحلة الثالثة، وسيكون لهذه المرحلة عنوان واحد هو السقوط والتهاوي، وسنطلق عليها اسم: المرحلة الشامية. لن ينجح الأسد حيث فشل الشيخ بيار الجميل. الادعاء الفاشي الليناني الذي روّج للتقسيم، والمستند الى خبرة تقسيمية 'شُرعنت' دوليا في القرن التاسع عشر عبر المتصرفية، تهاوى لأنه خيار مستحيل واحمق. اما تقسيم سورية او انشاء منطقة طائفية فيها، (هذا ما يروّج له البعض في الصحافة الغربية والعربية)، فهو خيار اكثر حمقا واستحالة من الخيار الفاشي اللبناني. تقسيم سورية مستحيل سورياً واقليمياً ودولياً، حتى لو كانت هذه هي الرغبة الاسرائيلية، ومشروع انشاء دويلة طائفية فيها ليس سوى وصفة للانتحار. لذا سوف يكون للمرحلة الثالثة اسم واحد هو السقوط، ومع اقتراب هذا السقوط سوف يحاول الأسديون تطبيق شعارهم 'الأسد او نحرق البلد'، وهم يقومون بذلك منذ فترة.
هذا هو معنى التصرف الأسدي الدموي الذي يقول إن الديكتاتور لن يمضي قبل ان يدمّر البلد.
وكما فشل النظام في المرحلتين السابقتين فإنــــه سيفشل في المرحلة الثالثة رغم بحـــر الــــدم والدمـــوع الذي يصنعه في كل يوم.
"

Monday, September 3, 2012

Al-Jazeera Video: Syria's Aleppo under renewed bombardment


"The Syrian city of Aleppo has come under renewed government shelling, opposition activists say. At least 34 people are reported to have been killed following a military bombardment in the rebel-held al-Bab area. Al Jazeera's Dominic Kane reports. Warning: Discretion is advised, as some viewers may find images in this report distressing."

Guardian Video: Thousands of Syrians seek refuge in the Zata'ari camp in Jordan

Thousands if Syrians, many of them children, have escaped from the conflict at home and are now at the Zata'ari camp in Jordan. Rae McGrath of Save the Children explains how they are trying to give enjoyment back to the children and Nasim Abu Zaid, a young mother, describes what life was like before they arrived in the camp

Harriet Sherwood
guardian.co.uk, Monday 3 September 2012

Al-Jazeera Video: ما وراء الخبر-استهداف مبنى قيادة الجيش السوري2/9/2012

Al-Jazeera Video: Fight spreads in Syria's northwest mountains


"Near the town of Kasab, tucked into the wooded ridges of northwest Syria, camouflaged rebels attack a government checkpoint with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms. It's the latest skirmish in a spreading fight near the Turkish border, a region where many people identify ethncially as Turkmen and have felt treated unfairly by their fellow Syrians. Rebels here tell Al Jazeera they are taking out government mines and planting their own as they fight for access to the Mediterranean Sea, but that they lack medical supplies. Sue Turton reports."

Syria army destroys houses in "collective punishment"; Just Like the Israeli Army!!



"(Reuters) - Syrian army bulldozers razed houses in western Damascus on Monday, pursuing what activists called collective punishment of Sunni Muslim areas hostile to President Bashar al-Assad.

In northern Syria, 18 bodies were found in the rubble of a house bombed by a Syrian warplane in the rebel-held town of al-Bab and 13 more are missing, an opposition watchdog group said.

Bulldozers backed by combat troops demolished buildings in the poor Tawahin district, near the Damascus-Beirut highway, activists and residents said.

"They started three hours ago. The bulldozers are bringing down shops and houses. The inhabitants are in the streets," said a woman who lives in a high-rise building overlooking the area.

Syrian authorities restrict independent media access, making it hard to verify accounts of the conflict from both sides.

Troops forced residents to erase anti-Assad graffiti and write slogans glorifying the president instead, activists said.

"This is an unprovoked act of collective punishment. The rebels had left, there are no longer even demonstrations in the area," said Mouaz al-Shami, a campaigner collecting video documentation of the demolitions.

"The regime can't stop itself from repeating the brutality of the 1980s," he said, alluding to mass killings and wholesale destruction in the city of Hama in 1982 under Assad's father, the late Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria for 30 years......"

Why is Iraq now immune from criticism over appalling human rights record?



Despite at least 96 executions in Iraq this year and well-documented human rights abuses, the world remains silent

Haifa Zangana
guardian.co.uk, Monday 3 September 2012

".....So what kind of human rights are observed in the "new Iraq"? Hardly any. The list of abuses is long and the tip of the iceberg is waves of arbitrary arrests (over 1,000 monthly), torture and executions. All are barely noticed by the world media and the US and British official silence is rather convenient to cover up the crimes and chaos they created. From time to time, they break their silence but only to justify their act of aggression. Recently, when Archbishop Desmond Tutu pulled out of a seminar in protest over the presence of Tony Blair, a statement was issued by Blair's office to justify the morality of his decision to support the United States' military invasion of Iraq.....

The Nouri al-Maliki government in Iraq with its human rights outfits is following the same path. Its human rights concerns remain focused on the crimes of the previous regime. So do most of the intellectuals and politicians involved in the scramble for seats and favours in Baghdad. People who for years before the invasion of 2003 were highlighting human rights abuses as a reason to invoke war as a prelude to democracy and transparency are now either totally silent or actively covering up the current abuses, despite glaring evidence from international human rights organisations....."

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Al-Jazeera Video: Double bombing strikes heart of Syrian military

إيران وسوريا وأسئلة التصعيد العسكري والسياسي



"...
لقد قلنا وسنظل نقول إن البرنامج الأكثر فاعلية في السياق السوري إلى الآن هو البرنامج الإسرائيلي الذي أيقن استحالة بقاء النظام، فذهب نحو خيار تدمير البلد من أجل إشغاله بنفسه لعقود، مما يعني تخلصه من بعض إزعاجات النظام السابق من جهة، وعزله لإيران على نحو يسهِّل أمر التعامل مع برنامجها النووي من جهة أخرى، في ذات الوقت الذي قد يستجد فيه في سوريا وضع غير مزعج، مدة ثلاثة عقود قادمة على الأقل.

كل ذلك ليس قدرا بحال، فالثورة الرائعة التي قدمت أعظم التضحيات لن تستسلم لخيارات الأعداء، وهي قادرة على حسم المعركة على غير ما يشتهي العدو، كما أن الشعب السوري لن يكون مطية لأية مخططات أجنبية لا تنسجم مع مصالحه من جهة، وروحه القومية والإسلامية من جهة أخرى.
"

Al-Jazeera Video: ضغوط على اللاذقية لتسجل الحرائق بفعل مجهولScorched Earth Policy by the Butcher of Damascus


"قال مصدر بمديرية الإصلاح الزراعي بمدينة اللاذقية للجزيرة إن المديرية تتعرض لضغوط من قبل السلطات السورية تطالبها بتسجيل الحرائق التي أتت على جبلي الأكراد والتركمان على أنها حرائق بفعل مجهول. وقال المصدر الذي التقته الجزيرة بتركيا إن السلطات السورية سحبت جميع عربات وآليات الإطفاء إلى مدينة اللاذقية، قبل أيام من إقدامها على قصف وحرق الغابات والأحراش بريف اللاذقية.
تقرير : ناصر شديد
"تاريخ البث : 02/09/2012

Lies!


A GOOD COMMENT
By Michel Kilo
Uruknet.info

"There are three lies that are being repeated by western politicians and experts whenever the issue of Syria is brought up in order to justify their reluctant positions towards its crisis, or to defend themselves by finding and fabricating Syrian specific "difficulties" that are impossible to overcome or deal with given the resources, capabilities, plans and measures that are available to countries of the world. These lies claim....

Sects did not emerge under "al-Baath" Party. Sectarianism, indeed, has developed thanks to its policies. This is the problem facing our country nowadays, among a whole lot of other problems sponsored by the allegedly secular party that has counted on sectarianizing the state, the government and their institutions in order to save its skin in case the people rose against it. And there it is, desperately trying to utilize the regional and sectarian grudges it has sown into the souls in order to shatter popular unity and transform the struggle for freedom into a mad sectarian fight among Syrians.....

I am definitely not calling for a military intervention, but emphasizing that an intervention has not occurred, not because of the strength of the Syrian Army, but because whoever possesses the decision to intervene in Syria wants the regime to continue destroying Syrian cities and villages in order to drop it out of the balance of power and control in the region for a very long time. And since this is being performed by the regime’s army, no one will put an end to the destruction before it completes its objective. Then they would enter to expel Assad claiming that Syria’s army is flimsy, untrained, weak, and lacking any of the elements of power.....

The westerners know that the battles in Syria are being led by Army officers who have never been affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and fought by hundreds of thousands of ordinary Syrians, whom it is impossible for Al-Qaeda to have succeeded in recruiting and leading just in the past few months. Yet, as an excuse for not acting to stop the official madness that is storming its people in all cities, towns and villages, you see them today exaggerating divisions among Syrian people and the strength of the regime and transforming Al-Qaeda into a scary beast that is holding the revolution in Syria.

Dear Gentlemen: Use a different needle to weave. For if your interests require intervention, you would have said that Syria is unified by its diversity and awaiting the intervention; and that its army is dilapidated and helpless, and its revolution is clean of any trace either of "Al-Qaeda" or any other organization!"

Original Comment in Arabic

Venezuela’s Oil Refinery Blaze: Seven Good Reasons to Suspect Sabotage


By James Petras

"Only 43 days before the Venezuelan presidential election and with President Chavez leading by a persistent margin of 20 percentage points, an explosion and fire at the Amuay refinery killed at least 48 people - half of those were members of the National Guard – and destroyed oil facilities producing 645,000 barrels of oil per day....

Given Washington’s declared enmity and designation of Chavez as “a threat to hemispheric security” and faced with the utter failure of its other policy tools, the resort to violence and, in this specific case, sabotage of the strategic petrol sector emerges as the policy of choice. Washington, by revealing its resort to clandestine terror, represents a clear and present danger to Venezuela’s constitutional order, an immediate threat to the life blood of its economy and of the democratic electoral process. Hopefully, the Chavez government, backed by the vast majority of its citizens and constitutionalist armed forces will take the necessary comprehensive security measures to ensure that there is no repeat of the petrol sabotage in other sectors, like the electrical grid. Public weakness in the face of imperial belligerence only encourages further aggression....."

Truthdigger of the Week: Ali Abunimah


TruthDig

"Many journalists become grudgingly used to the fact that their reporting has little to no visible effect on the course of world events. For a moment last month, Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the pro-Palestinian news and opinion site The Electronic Intifada, wasn’t one of them.

Abunimah is almost singularly responsible for The Guardian newspaper’s dismissal of former George W. Bush speechwriter Joshua Trevino from the historically liberal paper’s opinion pages. He was one of the loudest and clearest voices to speak out when the hire was announced in mid-August. One year earlier, he told readers, Trevino had encouraged the Israeli military to kill American activists aboard a flotilla that was set to defy the country’s embargo against the shipment of goods into the Gaza Strip.

“Dear IDF,” Trevino tweeted in June 2011, “If you end up shooting any Americans on the new Gaza flotilla—well, most Americans are cool with that. Including me.” Poet and author Alice Walker, Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein and Joseph Dana of The Nation magazine were among the American citizens aboard the flotilla.

“Something has gone badly wrong at The Guardian,” Abunimah wrote in his central piece criticizing the paper’s choice, published at Al-Jazeera. “In the name of ‘robust debate,’ the venerable left-leaning liberal newspaper has effectively given its stamp of approval to speech that goes beyond mere hate, speech that clearly crosses the line into incitement to murder unarmed civilians and journalists. What lies behind this worrying development, and what does it tell us about the state of media in general?”......"

Libyan Weapons Arming Regional Conflicts

By Mel Frykberg

"....Meanwhile, Jihadists in Syria are being supported by possibly hundreds of former Libyan rebels, many of them from Gharyan, 80km south of Tripoli. The men from Gharyan reportedly joined the ranks of the FSA after the city’s mufti Sheikh Sadik Gharyan called on Libyans to stand by their brothers in Syria.

Islamist Abdul Basset Abu Arghob, an oil engineer by profession, who commanded the Gharyan Brigades during the revolution, said he had considered going to fight in Syria.

“I decided against it in the end as there is so much work to be done in Libya. But many of my comrades have gone to fight in Syria as we believe the war there is part of a holy Jihad against bad regimes in the region and it is our duty as Muslims to help our brethren,” Abu Arghob told IPS.

One of the most prominent Libyan fighters in Syria is Mahdi Al Harati who used to command the Tripoli Revolutionary Brigades, one of the first Libyan brigades to enter Syria in August last year.

Al-Harati said that victory in Libya and the support of world organisations for Libya encouraged him to pass his experiences on for the benefit of Syrians.

“After many Syrians approached me asking for my help, I felt it was time to do more and due to the great success of the Tripoli Brigades we felt it was time to act,” said Al-Harati."

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll




Do you expect that Brahimi's mission will succeed in ending the violence in Syria?

With over 500 responding, 94% said no.

Israeli Official: Obama ‘Will Make Netanyahu Pay’ If Reelected


Many Israeli officials aren't taking the Obama administration's signals very well

Antiwar.com

"Some Israeli security officials are trying to downplay the Pentagon’s decision to significantly scale back its participation in a US-Israeli military exercise, even though it was pretty clearly meant as a signal that Washington doesn’t support Israel’s march to war with Iran.

“Israel has no idea why the Americans decided to reduce the number of troops it will send to the drill,” one security official told the Jerusalem Post. “The ties between the US and Israeli armies are strong, and we would have known if the reduction had something to do with any tensions between Jerusalem and Washington.”

The exercise, scheduled to begin in September, will include only about 1,200 US troops, as opposed to the initially planned 5,000.

Other Israelis clearly see the move for what it is. “Basically what the Americans are saying is, ‘We don’t trust you,’” another senior Israeli military official told Time magazine.

“I think they don’t want to insinuate that they are preparing something together with the Israelis against Iran – that’s the message,” says Israeli analyst Efraim Inbar.

A rift has been growing between the administrations of Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu over whether to launch an unprovoked war of choice against Iran for a nuclear weapons program it doesn’t even have.

“The US elections are in two months, and there is no doubt that President Barack Obama, if he is reelected, will make Netanyahu pay for his behavior,” said an Israeli security cabinet member. “It will not pass quietly.”"

Aftermath of Latest Rise in Gasoline Prices in Jordan, by Emad Hajjaj


Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Syria - Buffer zone raises tough questions

Libya: Stop Attacks on Sufi Sites


Protect Religious Sites, Investigate Crimes

Human Rights Watch

"(Beirut)– The Libyan government should urgently deploy security forces in numbers sufficient to protect Sufi religious sites and announce that people who attack these sites will be held accountable for these crimes.

In recent weeks, armed groups motivated by their religious views have attacked Sufi religious sites across the country, destroying several mosques and tombs of Sufi religious leaders and scholars. The government’s security forces have failed to stop the attacks and, in some cases, have stood by while the attacks took place, a pattern apparently endorsed by the interior minister. Authorities have made no arrests, as far as Human Rights Watch has been able to determine.

“The government has failed both to protect sites sacred to Libyan Muslims who follow Sufi practices and to arrest those who have destroyed the tombs,” said Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Inaction and impunity can only encourage further attacks.”

Mainstream Islamic scholars consider Sufism a practice of Islam that emphasizes esoteric and mystical elements. The followers pray over tombs of saints and ask for blessings, practices that some conservative Muslims reject as idolatry....."

Kept in the dark – the murky world of enforced disappearances


Amnesty International

"For more than a year, 67-year-old Abd al-Akram al-Sakka has been missing in what amounts to an enforced disappearance – a crime under international law.

Despite desperate pleas from the elderly imam’s relatives, the Syrian authorities have not revealed any information about his whereabouts or the conditions of his detention.

In fact, they never even acknowledged his arrest – the only thing his loved ones can be sure of is that on 15 July 2011, around 20 members of Syria’s Air Force Intelligence arrived at his house in the Damascus suburb of Daraya and whisked him away.

The imam’s son-in-law Haytham Al Hamwi– who now lives in exile – recently told Amnesty International about his family’s anguish and the lack of information around al-Sakka’s disappearance since the Syrian uprising began in early 2011.

“Disappearance means that you don’t know anything about them, and even if you know anything – you are always worried that this information is not OK,” Al Hamwi said.

Last September, the Syrian authorities also detained his father Muhammad Yassin Al Hamwi, a shopkeeper, and his brother Muhammad Muhammad Al Hamwi in conditions amounting to enforced disappearance.

They were held incommunicado for five and six months, respectively, before being released earlier this year. During that time, their family did not know whether they were dead or alive. No charges were brought against them, but it is believed they were arrested for taking part in anti-government protests....."