http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/libya-syria-and-left-islamophobia/
Libya, Syria, and left Islamophobia Filed under: Islamophobia<http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/category/islamophobia/> ,Libya <http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/category/libya/>,Syria<http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/category/syria/>— louisproyect @ 5:38 pm Pepe Escobar’s inspiration In his brilliant analysis of leftist hostility to the revolutions in Libya and Syria titled* Blanket Thinkers*<http://qunfuz.com/2012/07/16/blanket-thinkers/>, Robin Yassin-Kassab described the way that the Syrian rebels are viewed in those quarters: They are also depicted as wild Muslims, bearded and hijabbed, who do not deserve democracy or rights because they are too backward to use them properly. Give them democracy and they’ll vote for the Muslim Brotherhood, and slaughter the Alawis and drive the Christians to Beirut. Exactly. This has been on my radar screen ever since the struggle against Qaddafi got off the ground, but Yassin-Kassab’s article persuaded me to investigate a bit further. Basically what seems to be taking place is a hatred for Islamism that is reminiscent of what we heard from Christopher Hitchens and Paul Berman during the heights of the war in Iraq, but deployed on behalf of an “anti-imperialist” narrative. Perhaps the most prominent exponent of left Islamophobia is Asia Times’s Pepe Escobar. In an article on Libya titled *How al-Qaeda got to rule in Tripoli* <http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MH30Ak01.html>, Abdelhakim Belhaj became an object of hate: Abdelhakim Belhaj, aka Abu Abdallah al-Sadek, is a Libyan jihadi. Born in May 1966, he honed his skills with the mujahideen in the 1980s anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan. He’s the founder of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and its de facto emir – with Khaled Chrif and Sami Saadi as his deputies. After the Taliban took power in Kabul in 1996, the LIFG kept two training camps in Afghanistan; one of them, 30 kilometers north of Kabul – run by Abu Yahya – was strictly for al-Qaeda-linked jihadis. After 9/11, Belhaj moved to Pakistan and also to Iraq, where he befriended none other than ultra-nasty Abu Musab al-Zarqawi – all this before al-Qaeda in Iraq pledged its allegiance to Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri and turbo-charged its gruesome practices. (For what it is worth, Escobar’s article contains an ad for the Central Intelligence Agency. Talk about crowning ironies.) Escobar adds that “In Iraq, Libyans happened to be the largest foreign Sunni jihadi contingent, only losing to the Saudis.” Well, how despicable, Libyans going to Iraq to fight against the American occupation. He also considers Belhaj a rather shifty sort, “not remotely interested in relinquishing control just to please NATO’s whims.” What an ingrate. Not long after the overthrow of Qaddafi, left Islamophobes held up a magnifying glass to detect any evidence of Jihadist influence in the new Libya. Last November word went out that the al-Qaeda flag was flying over the Benghazi courthouse. Not surprisingly, this became a cause celebre for the rightwing but the vanguard of the “anti-imperialist” left got just as worked up. Voltairenet.org, a website devoted to 9/11 conspiracy-mongering and the defense of Qaddafi and al-Assad, alerted its readers through an article that included a graphic of the flag<http://www.voltairenet.org/Al-Qaeda-takes-possession-of> : Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the former Justice Minister of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya who became chairman of the National Transitional Council, announced the rebels’ intention to turn Libya into an Islamic state and implement Sharia as the only law. For some odd reason, the Libyan people were never clued in that they were about to willingly accept such a state of affairs. As it turned out, the vote for the Libyan branch of the Muslim Brotherhood was paltry, less than 9000 nationally. Today’s* Australian<http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/libyas-defeated-islamists/story-e6frg6ux-1226433058863> * explained the low total: But another reason for the strong “liberal” turnout is the “blood” factor. “I am not giving my family’s votes to the MB. Two of my cousins died because of them,” Mohamed Abdul Hakim, a voter from Benghazi, told me. He agrees that Islam should be the source for legislation, and his wife wears a niqab. Nonetheless, he voted liberal: his cousins were killed in a confrontation in the 1990s, most likely between the Martyrs Movement (a small jihadist group operating in his neighborhood at the time) and Gaddafi’s forces. But many average Libyans, including Hakim, do not distinguish between Islamist organisations and their histories. For them, all Islamists are “Ikhwan” (MB). The “stain” of direct involvement in armed action, coupled with fear of Taliban-like laws or a civil war like Algeria’s in the 1990′s harmed Islamists of all brands. A third reason for the Islamists’ defeat had to do with their campaign rhetoric. “It is offensive to tell me that I have to vote for an Islamic party,” Jamila Marzouki, an Islamic studies graduate, told me. Marzouki voted liberal, despite believing that Islam should be the ultimate reference for Libyan laws. “In Libya, we are Muslims. They can’t take away my identity and claim that it’s only theirs.” So much for Libya turning into a Taliban state. Without skipping a beat, the dreadful Pepe Escobar now has Syria in his sights, using the same hackneyed analysis: Syria, the new Libya<http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB14Ak01.html> A Kalashnikov in Iraq, until recently, sold for US$100. Now it’s at least $1,000, and most probably $1,500 (those were the days when Sunnis joining the resistance in 2003 could buy a fake Kalashnikov made in Romenia [sic] for $20). Destination of choice of the $1,500 Kalashnikov in 2012: Syria. Network: al-Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers, also known as AQI. Recipients: infiltrated jihadis operating side-by-side with the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Also shuttling between Syria and Iraq is car bombing and suicide bombing, as in two recent bombings in the suburbs of Damascus and the suicide bombing last Friday in Aleppo. Who would have thought that what the House of Saud wants in Syria – an Islamist regime – is exactly what al-Qaeda wants in Syria? Christopher Hitchens couldn’t have put it better. For left Islamophobes, the idea of a secular, nationalistic and populist Syria serves as a kind of rallying point in the same way that “existing socialism” in the USSR once was for a gullible left, whether or not either proposition was true. *Syria Freedom Foreve* <http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/>r, an antidote to the stupidity found in Escobar’s columns, Global Research, MRZine, Voltairenet.com et al (Counterpunch fortunately never bought into this junk for the most part), had an article titled Understand the Syrian regime and the dialectics of the Syrian revolutionary proces<http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/understand-the-syrian-regime-and-the-dialectics-of-the-syrian-revolutionary-process/>s that is most useful for separating the truth from bullshit. It explains that al-Assad, just like Saddam Hussein, was not above catering to the needs of the Islamic clergy in the interests of wielding power Machiavelli-style: The last important base of support for the Syrian regime is the high religious establishment of all sects, which has benefited the regime for the past twenty years and supported it since the beginning of the revolution. The Syrian regime and its security services established political and economic links with the religious establishment, especially from the Sunni community following the repression of the 1980s. The high religious establishments of all the sects have increasingly been presented by the regime as actors of the “Syrian civil society” in the past as soon as a foreign delegation would visit the country. The State’s behavior these past years has been in total contradiction with the official picture of a secular country. A religious vocabulary appeared more often in political discourse, along with a massive increase in the building of religious sites from the eighties until now. These government measures were also accompanied by censorship of literary and artistic works, while promoting a religious literature filling more and more the shelves of libraries and Islamizing the field of higher education. This is true particularly in the humanities and expressed itself in the rather systematic referral to religious references of any scientific, social and cultural phenomenon. Around 10,000 mosques and hundreds of religious schools were built. More than 200 conferences headed by clerics were held in cultural centres of important towns during 2007. Of course you wouldn’t know any of this if your reading material was limited to the Islamophobic left. When you are dealing with a phobia, facts do little to change the mind of the stricken. No matter how many times you might have told Howard Hughes that washing one’s hands 2 or 3 times a day was sufficient, only 25 times would suffice. No matter how many times you tell the Islamophobic left that the purpose of the struggle in places like Libya and Syria is to get rid of an oppressive regime, it will not overcome the deep belief that the real purpose is to reestablish the Caliphate, sharia law and the cult of the suicide bomber. Speaking for myself (and who else matters in the long run), this is what I think of when Islamic resistance to Bashar al-Assad is cited. I don’t find it threatening at all. In fact I am inspired by it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HUGUxGYYDuk ------------------------- Imperialistic Sins<http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/6516/imperialistic-sins> 3 <http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/6516/imperialistic-sins#comments> Jul 21 2012 by Khalid Saghieh خالد صاغية<http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/contributors/23435> [image: Listen to this page using ReadSpeaker]<http://app.readspeaker.com/cgi-bin/rsent?customerid=5919&lang=en_us&readid=rscontent&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jadaliyya.com%2Fpages%2Findex%2F6516%2Fimperialistic-sins> [image: [Central Security Forces at a protest in front of the Syrian Embassy in Dokki. Image by Hossam El-Hamalawy.]] [Central Security Forces at a protest in front of the Syrian Embassy in Dokki. Image by Hossam El-Hamalawy.] Arab regimes in the post-independence era have misused the concept of imperialism to the highest levels. Because these regimes assumed power after defeating colonialism, they clung to their hostility against imperialism to justify the consolidation of power and the abandonment of all democratic mechanisms, sinking to the most horrific oppressive practices. One had to wait for the near-complete world dominance of neoliberalism and the post 9/11 wars to witness the return of discussions about imperialism, whether in demonstrations around the world or in academia’s search for a new way to describe it. Lenin’s “*Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism*,” and Rosa Luxmburg’s “*The Accumulation of Capital*” were reprinted and Hannah Arendt was taken out of the shell of her work about totalitarianism in order to remind the public of her theory that defines imperialism as a conscious choice made by the bourgeois when the capitalist system is in conflict. Even those who strongly favored the American wars on terror have explicitly used the term “imperialism” in describing what the U.S. needed at that time to ensure its supremacy. Such misuse surfaced again when the Arab uprisings crossed the borders of Syria—a country governed by a regime labeled as “resistant.” The term flourished at this political moment, exactly as it did after national liberation, since direct occupation is not an option. This time, the warped version of imperialism did not originate with the ruling regimes, but from foreign and Arab leftists who saw the Syrian uprising as an act that serves the imperialist enterprise. Some loudly proclaim that what is happening in Syria is nothing but an imperialist conspiracy led by Western superpowers in collusion with Israel, designed to overthrow the bastion of resistance. Intentionally or not, they repeat the propaganda of the Syrian regime while shaping their argument in contrast to the regime’s rhetoric. In doing so, they excuse themselves from supporting the Syrian uprising, and all other past uprisings, because the outcomes are not guaranteed with regard to the Palestinian cause. In other words, they don’t categorize the Syrian rebels as conspirators, but they withhold any support for them because their uprising will eventually benefit the imperialistic enterprise that supports Zionism. Such people tout the slogan “Palestine is our compass,” despite knowing that the world cannot be seen through one lens. Most likely, they hide behind their support for the Palestinian cause to compensate for the morally reprehensible failure to support a nation of citizens besieged by massacres. Anti-imperialism groups agree that imperialism is an economic, cultural, and governing system that inflicts harm on the dignity and living standards of most nations under its power. While Lenin’s interest in imperialism originated from his attempts to explain wars launched by superpowers defending the interests of their big companies, the new imperialism coincides with the spreading of neoliberal policies, which restructure national economies to serve the interests of imperialist states and small groups affiliated with them. But the Syrian people did not need a new imperialistic attack to make them suffer humiliation or economic plunder, or to drive them to change their ways of living and working. When the first small demonstration marched in Old Damascus as a prelude to revolution, perhaps their slogan held significant foreshadowing. The slogan, “Syrian people will not be humiliated,” was a protest against the mistreatment of a citizen by Syrian security forces. Yet individual and general humiliation has increased, while defense of national dignity is carried out by a proxy, Hizbollah, whose role has continually eroded in Syria whenever its military and political involvement deepens in Lebanon. In addition to rejecting humiliation, later slogans against Rami Makhlof, the financial giant and Bashar Al-Assad’s cousin, were no less significant. The Syrian regime did not wait for an American military intervention to implement its own version of neoliberalism, exactly as it did in implementing its own version of socialism. If imperialism is the driving force of neoliberalism, based on plundering national wealth for the interest of a small group of citizens and a handful of large companies, then the Syrian regime is guilty of this sin, even if it was for the interest of a handful of the Presidential court’s people. Usually, leftists claim moral superiority. This is likely based on their adoption of rhetoric about protecting the poor from the rich and the marginalized from the dominant. But in asserting that rhetoric, whether it is for Palestine or internationalism, they suffer from terrible moral failure—a failure they embrace with unenviable confidence and claims. What did you come to do, comrade? What are doing here? In August, at 5 o’clock, darkness falls on Prague. With these words, leftist French singer Jonathan Veira expressed his disappointment over the Soviet attack on Prague in 1968—a disappointment that scarred many European leftists. At that time, Richard Siwiec burned himself during the harvest festival in Warsaw. That was forty-three years before Muhammad Bouazizi carried out the same act of protest in Tunisia. In both cases, someone placed a red star on his hat and stood clapping on the other bank. *[This article was originally published on Jadaliyya in Arabic<http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/6235/خطايا-إمبرياليّة>. It was translated into English by Ali Adeeb Alnaemi<http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/contributors/86982> .]* *---------------------* ** Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Divided Country Monday, July 23, 2012 at 13:29 James Miller in EA Middle East and Turkey, Iraq, Jihad Makdisi, Massoud Barzani, Middle East and Iran, Oksana Boyko, Syria *Insurgents drive a captured tank on a highway near Izaz in northwest Syria* *http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Y-KLL4IoAps* ** *See also Yemen Feature: A New Leader Emerges in Taiz<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2012/7/23/yemen-feature-a-new-leader-emerges-in-taiz-kasinof.html> Turkey Special: Ankara is Overtaken By Events in Syria's Kurdistan<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2012/7/23/turkey-special-ankara-is-overtaken-by-events-in-syrias-kurdi.html> Sunday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Fighting Reaches Aleppo<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2012/7/22/syria-and-beyond-live-coverage-the-fighting-reaches-aleppo.html> * ------------------------------ 1948 GMT: *Syria.* Very interesting news from Aleppo - BBC's Ian Pannell is in Syria, in Aleppo: ianpannell @*BBCiPannell* <https://twitter.com/BBCiPannell> Heavy fighting in #*Aleppo* <https://twitter.com/search/%23Aleppo> City. Seen govt forces shelling neighbourhoods. Reports army reinforcements moving in #*Syria* <https://twitter.com/search/%23Syria> 23 Jul 12 <https://twitter.com/BBCiPannell/statuses/227364790442528768> - ***Reply*<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=227364790442528768> - ***Retweet*<https://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=227364790442528768> - ***Favorite*<https://twitter.com/intent/favorite?tweet_id=227364790442528768> ianpannell @*BBCiPannell* <https://twitter.com/BBCiPannell> Hundreds of rebel #*FSA* <https://twitter.com/search/%23FSA> fighters moving into #*Aleppo* <https://twitter.com/search/%23Aleppo> City. Lightly armed and confident but army remains far stronger. #*Syria*<https://twitter.com/search/%23Syria> 23 Jul 12 <https://twitter.com/BBCiPannell/statuses/227400221536186369> - ***Reply*<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=227400221536186369> - ***Retweet*<https://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=227400221536186369> - ***Favorite*<https://twitter.com/intent/favorite?tweet_id=227400221536186369> These reports match what we already know from residents, activists, and videos. But here is what we did not know: ianpannell @*BBCiPannell* <https://twitter.com/BBCiPannell> #*FSA* <https://twitter.com/search/%23FSA> rebels claim control of Salah Ed Din neighbourhood in #*Aleppo* <https://twitter.com/search/%23Aleppo>. Fighting in at least 5 others. More govt shelling this PM. #*Syria*<https://twitter.com/search/%23Syria> 23 Jul 12 <https://twitter.com/BBCiPannell/statuses/227484237442465794> - ***Reply*<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=227484237442465794> - ***Retweet*<https://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=227484237442465794> - ***Favorite*<https://twitter.com/intent/favorite?tweet_id=227484237442465794> Saleh el Dine (map<https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215253448853172848529.0004c57ef3b18e5e7c276&msa=0&ll=36.227381,37.158852&spn=0.157031,0.338173&iwloc=A>) is in southwestern Aleppo, on the opposite side from today's heaviest fighting, an area where the largest protests have been, and an area that is not far from the Assad Military Academy and artillery bases south of the city: View Syria - 2012 July 23 - EA Worldview<https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=215253448853172848529.0004c57ef3b18e5e7c276&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=36.220734,37.146835&spn=0.096941,0.145912&z=12&iwloc=0004c584a522d68f117bb&source=embed>in a larger map 1858 GMT: *Syria.* Last week, during the initial wave of fighting in Damascus, a large group of Assad's soldiers reportedly defected and joined the Free Syrian Army in Qaboun, a strategic suburb in northeast of Damascus (map<https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215253448853172848529.0004c57ef3b18e5e7c276&msa=0&ll=33.551123,36.35582&spn=0.162231,0.338173&iwloc=0004c583d1dd6913180d8>). The defection turned the tide for the neighborhood, but by the weekend the FSA had withdrawn from the area, taking the fresh equipment and fighters with them in order to fight another day. Zilal, who has many contacts in Damascus, tells us that the regime has retaliated against the civilians, looting homes and businesses, and destroying as many as 20 buildings. She also shares with us this video, taken today, of the International Red Crescent building in the area. The regime has held control of the area for days, so activists are saying that this damage could only be the result of the work of regime forces or loyalists: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NxN5awehh9k 1843 GMT: *Syria.* The death toll is once again over 100<http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=501000629927078&set=a.221856221174855.74557.217848338242310&type=1>, according to the LCCS: The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 111 so far, among them 25 bodies found in Barzeh and 12 unidentified bodies, which had been tortured and burned, in Mouadamyet Al-Sham. 50 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, 20 in Daraa, 14 in Aleppo, 7 in Homs, 7 in Deir Ezzor, 6 in Hama, 5 in Idlib, 1 in Latakia and 1 in Raqqa. 1750 GMT: *Syria.* Time for a quick check of the headlines from Damascus - the CFDPC, a network of activists who cover Damascus and the surrounding areas, post this report<http://www.facebook.com/CFDPC/posts/376569255744380> : Signs of destruction in a house in the Mashrouh area of Barzeh in Damascus ( map<https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215253448853172848529.0004c57ef3b18e5e7c276&msa=0&ll=33.55799,36.332817&spn=0.162218,0.338173&iwloc=A>) after it was hit by a tank shell; electricity and water were cut off 5 days ago and tanks shell the area everyday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BXpCF7voRuU The CFDPC also posts a series of videos showing large amounts of regime soldiers <http://www.facebook.com/CFDPC/posts/456121417754377> in Nahre Eshe (map<https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215253448853172848529.0004c57ef3b18e5e7c276&msa=0&ll=33.533668,36.300201&spn=0.162264,0.338173&iwloc=0004c582beb73917c38f0>), some of whom reportedly raided civilian homes<http://www.facebook.com/CFDPC/posts/416899421689921>. There is also a picture gallery of the Midan district<http://www.facebook.com/CFDPC/posts/446466728726799>( map<https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215253448853172848529.0004c57ef3b18e5e7c276&msa=0&ll=33.510055,36.301575&spn=0.081154,0.169086&iwloc=0004c582cf3041c55fc62>), and the images are striking - this is a relatively important and central neighborhood of the capital, but it looks like a war zone. The big news, however, is Mezzeh. The area, just west of the center of Assad's power (map<https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215253448853172848529.0004c57ef3b18e5e7c276&msa=0&ll=33.55799,36.332817&spn=0.162218,0.338173&iwloc=0004c582fc0ae555c278c>), has been heavily shelled today, and regime troops have reportedly entered the area. Al Jazeera posts this report, along with an unverified video claiming to show bodies<http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syria/opposition-group-responds-massacre-damascus>, via the Revolutionary Leadership Council of Damascus: "A horrifying massacre against humanity was perpetrated today in Mazzeh No one can imagine that such crimes, full of hatred and rancor, can be committed in our time. What happened today is that many civilians were brutally killed by regime forces, they underwent summary execution. All bodies bear signs of torture, most of them received at least eight bullets, some of them particularly in the eyes, some of them were killed then run over by cars." A second video reportedly shows widespread destruction in the area<https://www.facebook.com/R.L.C.Damascus/posts/424618337590928>. It has also been shared by one of our contacts, Zilal<http://www.twitter.com/zilal1>, who is watching Damascus very closely: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yge6uKlb7Js 1706 GMT: *Syria/Lebanon.* Al Jazeera offers up a story<http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153>that is a testament to how chaotic Syria has become, as well as how weak the Assad regime is in its current state: Michel Sleiman, the Lebanese president has delivered "a letter of protest" to Ali Abdel-Karim Ali, the Syrian ambassador to the neighbouring country after violations of the two nations' shared border over the weekend. Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from the Lebanese capital says Sleiman's protest shows "growing concern in Lebanon" that the tensions in Syria may spill over across the sharted porous border. Our correspondent said Sleiman's protest shows "how weak the Syrian government has become in the eyes of the people neighbouring countries", particularly because the Lebanese president had not protested the measures taken by the Assad government until this point. 1605 GMT: *Syria.* The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria now report that 82 people have been killed today<http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=500949689932172&set=a.221856221174855.74557.217848338242310&type=1>, including 20 people, reportedly arrested yesterday, whose bodies have been found in Barzeh and 12 unidentified bodies found in the Mouadamieh district, two important sections of Damascus. The geographical breakdown of the dead is as follows: 44 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, 11 in Daraa, 10 in Aleppo, 5 in Homs, 4 in Deir Ezzor, 4 in Idlib, 2 in Hama, 1 in Lattakia and 1 in Raqqa. Despite the rising violence in Aleppo, most of the deaths are in Damascus, where the fighting is far more intense than government reports suggest. There is another story, however, that has gone under-reported by both EA and the larger media for the past week or so - the fighting in Daraa province. Daraa, south of Damascus, is the location where the revolution started, but because of its proximity to Damascus, Jordan, the Golan Heights, and Lebanon, it is an area that the government has continuously suppressed since the start. The military appears determined to ensure that the Free Syrian Army do not gain a foothold here, a location that, if it fell to insurgent hands, would put Damascus in a pincer and would open yet another front in this civil war. Despite the lack of insurgent gains in Daraa, the ongoing action there is noteworthy in that it requires huge amounts of the governments resources. In a far less calculating analysis, however, Daraa has paid dearly for its support of the opposition. Many lives have been lost, and the lives of the survivors is more desperate by the day. 1515 GMT: *Syria.* National Public Radio (NPR) has a reported in northern Syria, in the town of AlTima (map<https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215253448853172848529.0004c57ef3b18e5e7c276&msa=0&ll=36.351633,36.97998&spn=0.627119,1.352692&iwloc=0004c580d9fad7996c974>), west of Aleppo and on the border with Turkey. She has been talking with the townspeople about several topics<http://www.npr.org/2012/07/23/157202104/in-free-syrian-village-a-plea-for-u-s-help>- including the FSA's offensives, and the possibility of more support from the US and its allies. This town, like so many in Idlib and Aleppo provinces, is completely controlled by insurgents. Protected by the town's remote location, fighting elsewhere, and the shadow of Turkey's weapons just across the border, the town illustrates the reason why the FSA has won there and is now on the march. But this conflict is likely far from over, and as some residents reflect, many are hoping that the US will intervene and push this teetering regime over: * You can't send troops, you can't enforce a no-fly zone, they say. We know that. But why not send more weapons? The rifles and rocket-propelled grenades we're getting from Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar are not enough, they say. Why not help us coordinate our operations, like NATO advisers did in Libya? One resident later tells me he has seen two undercover Americans passed through here. He says one gave the rebels a couple of high-end sniper rifles. The other was interested in the types of helicopters used by the Syrian regime. * 1357 GMT: *Syria.* Checking with more sources, it appears that the military did temporarily retreat from eastern Aleppo, but the LCCS warns that this was only temporary<http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=500904813269993&set=a.221856221174855.74557.217848338242310&type=1> : Military reinforcements, consisting of 5 tanks, are heading in the direction of Sakhour and the eastern neighborhoods. 1347 GMT: *Syria.* We'll only touch on this lightly today, but we've been thinking about several scenarios that have been haunting our sleep - what if the Free Syrian Army succeeds, and the people who defeated Assad are in control of the country? What if Assad wins, but Syria is embattled in years of civil war? What if the Syrian insurgency eventually does win, but it takes years of intense fighting, and a high death toll, to topple the regime? What will the average Syrian think about the world? NPR reports: Steve Inskeep @*NPRinskeep* <https://twitter.com/NPRinskeep> Syrian, told by @*kellymcevers* <https://twitter.com/kellymcevers> that US intervention unlikely: "We won't forget that you forgot about us." @* MorningEdition* <https://twitter.com/MorningEdition> 23 Jul 12 <https://twitter.com/NPRinskeep/statuses/227391563351875585> - ***Reply*<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=227391563351875585> - ***Retweet*<https://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=227391563351875585> - ***Favorite*<https://twitter.com/intent/favorite?tweet_id=227391563351875585> 1333 GMT: *Syria.* Another video shows a destroyed tank in the Sakhour district of Aleppo (map). http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mYveGEqb9cM What's striking - with 1 tank reportedly captured, and 2 destroyed, there are no signs of regime reinforcements or gunfire in this video. The regime forces have either retreated or have been entirely destroyed in this battle (likely the former). Looking at our map of the fighting in Syria's largest city<https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215253448853172848529.0004c57ef3b18e5e7c276&msa=0&ll=36.219349,37.191467&spn=0.314093,0.676346&iwloc=0004c57f09a83d0ed99f0>, which we will update throughout the day the fighting is happening in the west, perhaps the opposite direction than we would have predicted. The FSA is strongest in the suburbs to the northwest, and will likely be advancing towards the city from the direction of Haritan. Fighting in eastern districts of Aleppo could draw Assad forces away from the advancing insurgents in the suburbs, and potentially puts Assad forces in a pincer if FSA reinforcements arrive. There are also reports that regime forces have started deploying snipers in these areas, and casualties are mounting as a result. Snipers being deployed is a sign that the regime may be trying to wear the FSA down, but it's also a sign that the FSA *may *hold some ground for the rest of the day. Clearly, the Free Syrian Army fighters in the area were stronger than the regime anticipated, and if Damascus is any indication the military will likely retreat and rethink its approach before making another serious attempt to reclaim these districts. This video shows a field hospital that has been set up in eastern Aleppo to treat injured FSA fighters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=u2Vo6lw2SPo James Miller takes over today's live coverage. Thanks to Scott Lucas for getting us through to the afternoon. 1240 GMT: *Syria - UPDATED*. A dramatic image in this video from Aleppo --- at the 2-minute mark, a tank is set on fire in the Sakhour district (map<https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215253448853172848529.0004c57ef3b18e5e7c276&msa=0&ll=36.218518,37.183571&spn=0.078524,0.169086&iwloc=0004c57f09a83d0ed99f0>). According to activists, 1 tank has been captured and 2 destroyed<https://twitter.com/HamaEcho/statuses/227355013557665792> : http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=906bBic-LXA An 8-minute clip of street fighting in the Hanano district (map<https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215253448853172848529.0004c57ef3b18e5e7c276&msa=0&ll=36.234858,37.191467&spn=0.157016,0.338173&iwloc=0004c57f316196394549b> ): http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zkqy4R-N4e0 1236 GMT: *Syria*. Oksana Boyko of Russia Today sends a message and photograph: Oksana Boyko @*OksanaBoyko_RT* <https://twitter.com/OksanaBoyko_RT> In #*Damascus* <https://twitter.com/search/%23Damascus> military hospital 98 soldiers - most in their late teens or early 20s - died in the last 2 days #*Syria* <https://twitter.com/search/%23Syria> pic.twitter.com/nOW9LimW<http://t.co/nOW9LimW> <https://twitter.com/OksanaBoyko_RT/statuses/227366301771890688> 23 Jul 12 <https://twitter.com/OksanaBoyko_RT/statuses/227366301771890688> - ***Reply*<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=227366301771890688> - ***Retweet*<https://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=227366301771890688> - ***Favorite*<https://twitter.com/intent/favorite?tweet_id=227366301771890688> 1229 GMT: *Syria*. A resident of Damascus has told *The Guardian* that Syrian forces have cleared almost all the capital of insurgents, saying the Midan section, site of almost a week's fighting, "is back to normal" and noting the regime campaign encouraging people to return. The resident said the nearby neighbourhood of Mezzeh was not fully under regime control, with an orchard on the eastern side of the district used as an insurgent hideout. He added: * Militia are getting more and more weapons and money from outside. They are getting stronger and that's clear. Nobody knows what will happen in the future.* 1157 GMT: *Iraq*. The death toll from this morning's bombs (see 0825 GMT) is now at least 89<http://gulfnews.com/news/region/iraq/nearly-90-killed-in-attacks-across-iraq-1.1052475>, with at least 223 wounded. In Taji, 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Baghdad, six explosions --- including a car bomb --- went off near a housing complex, followed by a blast that hit police who had arrived at the scene. At least 32 people, including 14 police officers, were killed with 48 injured. Two car bombs in Shi'a areas in and near Baghdad killed 11 people and wounding 73. In Kirkuk, five car bombs killed six people and wounded 17, while explosions and gun attacks on security checkpoints around Diyala Province, killed six people, including four soldiers and policemen, and wounded 30. Two car bombs parked near a military checkpoint killed five people and wounded 22 in the town of Khan Bani Saad, 30 kilometres (19 miles) northeast of Baghdad. Gunmen killed four soldiers and wounded five in an attack on a checkpoint in the town of Udhaim, 90 kilometres (56 miles) north of the capital. 1124 GMT: *Syria*. Massoud Barzani,the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, has said it is training Syrian Kurdish fighters<http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/07/201272393251722498.html>who will be sent back to the country to defend their territory. “A good number of the young Kurds who fled have been trained. We do not want to interfere directly in the situation but they have been trained." Barzani said the fighting force, made up largely of Syrian Kurds who deserted the army and made their way across the border, would take its orders from a new high committee between two major Kurdish opposition groups in early July. “They have not been sent to Syria. They are still here - if this high committee requires them to go they still could --- if not they will wait for the situation to be sorted out because these people are from these areas and they will go back eventually,” Barzani said. “This was aimed at filling the vacuum that will be created.” 1117 GMT: *Syria*. An interesting passage in the first-hand account of the BBC's Paul Wood <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18950700> from an insurgent-held town near Damascus: * The men showing us around are with the Free Syrian Army (FSA). There is another, rival armed group here: the Salafis --- hardline Islamists. They are the biggest group in this town, because they are getting guns and money from outside while the FSA is relatively poor. There are even two rival media centres attached to each group. Abu Mohammed is with the Free Army's. "We want a civil state," he says. "We have Christians here. What would happen to them under Sharia?" The Salafis are calling for an Islamic emirate, he goes on. "But that is not the time for that. Now is the time to finish the regime."* 1109 GMT: *Syria*. Insurgents try to repel a regime attack near Jabal al-Zawiya in the northwest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=d2GqchRgtas Claimed footage of insurgents capturing a regime tank in the Sakhour section of Aleppo (map<https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215253448853172848529.0004c57ef3b18e5e7c276&msa=0&ll=36.218518,37.183571&spn=0.078524,0.169086&iwloc=0004c57f09a83d0ed99f0> ): http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VTqcgWvm4c0 A LiveStream this morning showed Free Syrian Army fighters on the streets<http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syria/live-footage-showing-free-syria-army-fighters-streets-tareeq-al-bab-neighbourhood-aleppo>of the Tareeq al-Bab neighbourhood of Aleppo ( map<https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215253448853172848529.0004c57ef3b18e5e7c276&msa=0&ll=36.208823,37.184944&spn=0.157068,0.338173&iwloc=0004c57ef3b3154886861> ). 1055 GMT: *Syria*. Back from an academic break to find the declaration from Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi that Damascus will not use chemical weapons <http://www.sana.sy/eng/21/2012/07/23/432909.htm> in the internal conflict. The spokesman declared<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/arab-league-offers-assad-safe-exit#overlay-context=article/arab-league-offers-assad-safe-exit>, "No chemical or biological weapons will ever be used, and I repeat, will never be used, during the crisis in Syria no matter what the developments inside Syria. All of these types of weapons are in storage and under security and the direct supervision of the Syrian armed forces and will never be used unless Syria is exposed to external aggression." Makdisi asserted, "Syria will never use<http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=278557>(chemical weapons) against Syrians no matter what." Earlier today, the Arab League offered President Assad a "safe exit"<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/23/assad-offered-safe-exit-arab-league>for him and his family if he gave up power. A meeting of foreign ministers of the League's members also promised $100 million for Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries. The European Union strengthened its arms embargo<http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/23/us-syria-crisis-eu-idUSBRE86M08220120723>and increased sanctions against the Assad regime, imposing asset freezes and travel bans against 26 more officials and banning EU companies from doing business with three more Syrian entities. In addition, under new embargo rules, EU governments will also be required to search airplanes and ships suspected of carrying weapons or other banned equipment into Syria. 0825 GMT: *Iraq*. At least 39 people have been killed<http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/23/us-iraq-bomb-idUSBRE86M06M20120723>and 118 wounded in bombings today. The explosions included a car bomb and a suicide attack in and around the Iraqi capital Baghdad, as well as four car bombs in the northern oil city of Kirkuk. On Sunday, at least 17 people were slain by bombs across the country. 0640 GMT: *Syria*. The Local Coordination Committees report that 111 people were killed by security forces <http://www.lccsyria.org/9513> on Sunday, including 65 in Damascus and its suburbs. 0540 GMT: *Syria*. Most headlines this morning are focusing on the clashes in Damascus and the largest city Aleppo, with regime forces trying to clear areas of insurgents, more than a week after the Free Syrian Army attacked the capital. However, there is a significant story building beyond the two cities. While President Assad's military have tried to deny the opposition both territory and the symbolic victory of a presence in the regime's heartland, the Free Syrian Army and Kurdish forces have been claiming a series of towns in the northwest and northeast of the country. The FSA may not have the forces to hold all its gains --- the Syrian military retook two of three posts on the Iraqi border, occupied last week by the insurgents --- but there is no sign that the Kurds will be dislodged. Indeed, this weekend the two largest Kurdish groups announced plans to appoint a ruling council to run affairs in the area. Instead, the regime appears to be trying to hold larger towns and cities. Fighting was reported through the weekend in Qamishli in the Kurdish northeast, and Deir Ez Zor, Syria's seventh largest city, may soon be contested. The big prizes of Homs and Hama will be out of reach of a direct offensive by the Free Syrian Army, but the opposition will be hoping to build strength among the residents, hoping to erode support for an Assad regime shaken after last week's attacks and Damascus bombing. Article originally appeared on EA WorldView (http://www.enduringamerica.com/). 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