Exceptional documentary by Talal Derki: "Return to Homs". Main character is the charismatic Abdul Baset Saroot, one of the many young men who took on the Syrian regime, 2011-13.

Syria: background on sectarian divisions

Lindsay Gifford reflects on ethno-sectarian minorities and the worsening of inter-sectarian relations in Syria.

Syrian refugee numbers understate the immensity of the dislocation that has already occurred

Over 300,000 Syrians are refugees outside of their country, in addition to large numbers in Jordan, Iraq, Turkey and Lebanon, there are sizable numbers of better-off Syrians in the Gulf, esp. in the UAE.  What we are lacking are reliable estimates of internal refugees.  As a benchmark, it should be kept in mind that internally displaced persons and external refugees in Iraq (c. 2006-7) reached one seventh of the population of the total population (approx. 28m. vs. 23 m. in Syria) of Iraq, of whom about sixty percent were internally displaced.  That is a reminder that for every one of the 300,000 Syrians who have probably fled their country, there are probably another 300,000 or so who have sought shelter in Syrian villages and towns.  In other words, when considering the numbers of refugees, one should probably assume that the reported numbers are only a fraction of the human dislocation that has occurred to date.

"Any rally or march...at any public place...shall be deemed a riot..." /s/ Bashar al-Asad, August 29, 2011

From a cache of documents carried to Turkey by defecting intelligence official Abdul Majid Barakat.

The Shattered Nation: Protest, Violence and Social Fragmentation in the Syrian Uprising

Paulo Pinto, April 3, 2012 at Boston University

In Bashar al-Asad's Circle: Hadeel al-Ali

The emails released by the Guardian reveal that Bashar al-Asad's confidantes and advisers include a couple of young Syrian women who attended college in the U.S. and who had developed expertise in PR and social media.  Among other tasks, these inner circle advisers kept Bashar appraised of what was being said (and by whom) on social media, especially Facebook. Hadeel al-Ali [هديل العلي], who posted the above snapshot of a young Bashar on Facebook, is one the advisers.  Another is Sheherazad Ja'afari, the daughter of Syria's ambassador to the UN, who is cited on a previous post.

Al-Ali, who is likely in her mid-twenties, attended Montana State University from 2006-2008.  Here is her posting in the Alumni Directory:

AL-ALI, Hadeel

Political Science, Undergraduate Student, 2006-2008

[email address omitted]

Favorite memories: Oh I have a lot of lovely memories of Bozeman, such as Music on Main, Sweet Pea Festival, almost breaking my leg learning how to ski:), hiking to my favorite "M", Food Bazaar, amazing landscape, gorgeous mountains, the friendly people of Bozeman, having OIP staff as a wonderful family and great friends, attending President Obama's speech and shaking his hand (!), wearing my cowboy boots and hat and feeling like a local :). Well, finding a second home in America pretty much summarizes it all... Thank you Bozeman!

I am currently working on finishing my last year of English Literature at Damascus University. I am also teaching English as a second language at Arab International University, in addition to being a part-time volunteer with the UNHCR/UNICEF.

Alan Berger's thoughtful piece on Syria

"FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE called states the “coldest of all cold monsters.’’ Anyone doubting the truth of Nietzsche’s dictum need only contemplate the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad and the complicity of his backers in Tehran and Moscow — and then ponder the hesitation of onlooker states to accept what a UN resolution has called their “responsibility to protect’’ civilians from Assad’s tanks, artillery, and snipers."

Berger concludes by with a prescription for a democratic, pluralist states with guarantees for minority community, of course including the 'Alawis.  The dilemma is that the Syria regime has systematically decimated civil society in the Syria with the result that the sinews of a participant political system need to built de novo.  As in Iraq and in Libya, it is not that the people would not wish to live in a freer, even democratic society, but the prospects are problematic, except insofar as political institutions are constructed along sectarian or kinship lines.  The legacy of these rapacious regimes is a deformed political space, and only time, and trial and error may rehabilitate that space.

Two noteworthy essays on Syria with opposite conclusions

Joshua Landis arguing that Bashar al-Asad will ride the tempest and survive, and Peter Harling and Sarah Birke concluding that the regime has maneuvered into a cul de sac while majority of Syrians are thinking beyond the present regime and are unwilling to go back.

Emile Nakhleh in the Financial Times on inevitable intervention in Syria

"So what should be done? The assistance should begin with establishing a haven for the opposition and the military personnel who defect from the regime, as in northern Iraq in 1991. Food, water, clothes, medical supplies and technical equipment should be dropped into the safety zone. Ankara would have to play a critical role in planning, and ultimately in maintaining and supplying the zone, as it would almost certainly have to be contiguous to Turkey.
"If Syrian forces violate the sanctuary, the west should arm the opposition and work with military defectors to organise more effective resistance. If that fails to deter the regime’s brutality and more deaths occur, the west should consider putting a limited number of “boots on the ground”, beginning with the “liberated” zone."

Six months ago Barack Obama called for Bashar al-Asad to step out of the way, so what is new about U.S. policy vis-a-vis Syria is not regime change lite, but an inching forward to intervention in Syria. The modality will be "humanitarian relief" but the effective delivery of aid cannot be done without security.  Since neither the Syrian government nor the fractious opposition can or will provide security, someone else will have to be involved. This means there will be a level of military intervention that will likely only increase with time. This may be the right answer, but we should not confuse ourselves about the slippery slope that follows, even if the initial involvement is limited to "safety zones" as Emile Nakhleh suggests, or the more elaborately sketched "no-kill zones" promoted by Anne-Marie Slaughter.  Absent a willing government in Damascus, any attempt to effectively bring a halt to the reprehensible violence in Syria will require armed intervention no matter the euphemism that is employed. 

Sealed report documenting the case for crimes against humanity by Bashar al-Asad and others

"The United Nations has drawn up a list of the most senior officials in the Syrian regime, including, it is claimed, President Bashar al-Assad himself, who it says should be investigated for ordering "crimes against humanity" and other gross human rights violations."

November 2011 report the UN's Human Rights Report.

Fitting remembrance of Marie Colvin from Jim Muir

The dauntless Marie Colvin falls in Baba Amr, Homs after filing yet another no holds barred report--“a complete and utter lie that they are only targeting terrorists…the Syrian army is simply shelling a city of cold, starving civilians.”

Links to Marie Colvin's last TV interview on February 22, just hours before she and Remi Ochlik were felled by Syrian fire.  Other pertinent connections are found in the Telegraph piece.  On February 21, 2012, she was featured on the BBC giving a first hand and trenchant account of persistent, indiscriminate Syrian tank and artillery fire.

Remi Ochlik, the 28-year old French photojournalist, was killed at Colvin's side.  His photographs from Libya were honored last month with a first prize from World Press Photo and much of his work may be viewed at his website.

Reports from the scene suggest a purposeful efforts by the Syrian forces to target anyone--whether seasoned correspondent or citizen-journalist attempting to get news out of the city.  "Abu Abdu al-Homsi, an opposition activist, said the Syrian Army had cut phone lines into the city and were bombing any buildings where they detected mobile phone signals."

Just the day before, Rami el-Sayed the Syrian blogger whose videos regularly gave lie to Syrian government claims that its forces were not targetting civilians or pursuing a scorced earth strategy.



"He was killed because his pictures portrayed truth..."  Allah yirhamu.

In a tribute on Bambuser, his call for action was posted:

"Babaamr is facing a genocide right now. I will never forgive you for your silence. You all have just give us your words but we need actions. However our hearts will always be with those who risk their life for our freedom. I know what we need! We need campaigns everywhere inside Syria and outside Syria, and now we need all people in front of all embassies all over the world. In a few hours there will be NO place called BabaAmr and I expect this will be my last message and no one will forgive you who talked but didn't act."

Lenore Martin's reflection on Turkish-Syrian-Iranian relations is a reminder that among the reverberations of the upheaval in Syria may be a realignment on the Kurdish question

While often unnoticed, even in usually informed commentary, there have been periodic indicators of Iranian-Turkish cooperation vis-a-vis Kurdish nationalist insurgents.  As Lenore Martin notes, both Syria and Iran might seek to stoke the Kurdish insurgency against Turkey as a riposte to Ankara's recent hostility to the al-Asad regime.

Does the Arab League now have attention of Bashar al-Asad? Equally important, will the elites of Damascus and Aleppo rethink their tacit support for the regime?

"The people want international protection, an air embargo and relief from the murderer."

Libyan Victory Lends Momentum to Syrian Rebellion in Idlib: "Congratulations Libya: Soon in Syria"

October 21, 2011

"Attention: you are in Baniyas, not in Israel. Down with the system!"

Amnesty International details Syrian abuses in a town bordering Lebanon

"The brutal methods used in a devastating Syrian security operation in the western town of Tell Kalakh may constitute crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said today in a new report.
"Crackdown in Syria: Terror in Tell Kalakh documents deaths in custody, torture and arbitrary detention that took place in May when Syrian army and security forces mounted a broad security sweep, lasting less than a week, against residents of the town near the Lebanese border."

PDF download of full report.

Very useful piece on Hatay (Alexandretta), where 11,000 Syrians have taken refuge

Human Rights Watch on Crimes against Humanity in Syria

The report may be downloaded in full (for free) in English.  The Summary and Conclusions are available in Arabic.

[Added: Hamza Ali el-Khatib is the 14-year old whose savage murder has enflamed anger against the Syrian regime.  Links to relevant social media may be found here.]

Bashar al-Asad, December 2010--irony intended

Remarks in Damascus to visiting faculty and students from Univ. of California-Berkeley:

“I do not know if people would call me a dictator,” Assad said, when asked to comment on his
leadership style. “Go out into the streets and ask the people if I am their dictator."

“I appreciate different points of view in my government,” he said, in response to an inquiry about his early push for progressive reform in Syria, a push that came to a curious halt a number of years ago. The question suggested that perhaps Assad is contending with beneficiaries of the status quo. “I’m concerned with how to bring the whole society to the [political] middle or left,” he said. “And yes, not everyone agrees with me.”