MESOP SYRIA News Roundup: Tuesday, April 22
Rebels withdraw, cite lack of manpower in Jeb al-Jandali –
Rebels withdrew from recently captured Jeb al-Jandali neighborhood east of Old Homs Tuesday due to “the lack of enough rebels to cover the space,” a pro-opposition activist told Syria Direct Tuesday. Rebels had captured Jeb al-Jandali Saturday in their first advance from Old Homs since Syrian government forces encircled the 13 neighborhoods in June 2012.
Non-Intervention in Syria Was a Grave Mistake
By James Snell is Contributing Editor of The Libertarian / Huffington Post
20/04/2014 – As a third, blood-soaked year of the conflict in Syria draws to a close, and with the number of estimated deaths continuing its ever upward climb, it is increasingly apparent that avoiding military action in the region was the wrong thing to do. Far from being a moral decision by the West to avoid another ‘adventure’ in the Middle East, it appears that the lamentable lack of action in Syria has led to more bloodshed, not less. But not only that: this act of apparent international indifference has also made us, in the West, morally complicit in all the horror and brutality and misery that has occurred in the country since David Cameron’s meek admission of defeat in August.
MESOP FLASH : 7 MINUTES AGO …. By Madame Psaki
U.S. examining use of toxic chemical in Syria
21-4-2014 – WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has indications of the use of a toxic chemical, probably chlorine, in Syria this month and is examining indications that the Syrian government was responsible, the U.S. State Department said on Monday.
COMMENTARY / SYRIA FACTOR IN IRAQI KURDISH POLITICS
Vager Saadullah I think KRG is doing that to prevent PYD from getting financial and military support from PKK in Qandil and its alliances in Kurdistan region since PYD and PKK don’t let PDK-S work in Rojava and also KRG and specially PDK believe that PKK is supporting Asad’s regime through PYD. And often said there is official gates, why PYD and PKK insist not to use it?!!!
The Syria Factor in Iraqi Kurdish Politics
By: Wladimir Van Wilgenburg Monday, April 21, 2014 – Recently, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq began to dig trenches on the border between Syria and Iraq, saying they were needed to protect the KRG against smugglers and “terrorist groups.” But some Iraqi Kurdish parties protested, a sign of how events in Syria are helping to stoke tension between the political parties in the KRG.
POLICY FORUM REPORT – THE SYRIAN CONFLICT: WHERE STRATEGIC INTEREST AND HUMANITARIAN URGENCY INTERSECT
TODAY’S MESOP OPINION : OUTLOOK SYRIA / KURDISTAN : AN U.S AMBASSADOR & A MEMBER OF THE BRITISH CORNER STONE TROTZKYITE LABOUR FAMILY MILIBAND
PolicyWatch 2241 – April 21, 2014 – Featuring David Miliband & Robert Ford
On April 17, 2014, David Miliband and Robert Ford addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Miliband is president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee and former foreign secretary of the United Kingdom. Ford is a former U.S. diplomat who recently retired after completing four years’ service as ambassador to Syria. The following is a rapporteur’s summary of their remarks.
MESOP SYRIA NEWS ROUNDUP – Monday, April 21
Old Homs rebels advance for first time since June 2012
Rebels encircled in the 13 neighborhoods of Old Homs have advanced, moving into Jeb al-Jandali neighborhood after detonating a car-bomb east of the pro-government National Defense Force militia stronghold of a-Zahra’a, activist Ahmed Yasseen told Syria Direct Monday from inside one of the encircled neighborhoods.
GOOD ELECTIONS & BEST OF ALL LIES
21-4-2014 – MESOP – Homs Governor Says Syria Ready for “Good Elections:” Talal al-Barazi, governor of Homs, declared that the city is ready for “relatively good elections.”
MESOP ANALYSTS & THE FUTURE OF ASSAD’S SYRIA
I) Rather than showing an irreversible tilt in favour of the regime’s forces, the latest fighting seems to have consolidated territories held by each side. True, Mr Assad faces a less imminent threat to his strongholds, but he lacks the manpower to extend any of his gains very far. Syria remains in effect partitioned into zones held by the government and a patchwork of opponents. Short of far more potent intervention by outside forces, it is hard to see any early military resolution to the conflict,” writes the Economist.
II) “The administration’s Syria strategy is largely one of avoidance: big money for humanitarian assistance, box-checking for the nationalist opposition, incautious rhetoric to issue warnings and broadcast concern. In terms of civilian protection, consequences for friends and allies, and Russian-abetted Iranian power projection, it is a strategy that has been risky in the extreme, and all in the name of risk-avoidance. Were Syria designated a core interest, options long on the table centering on the creation, multilateral support for, and defense of a governmental alternative in non-regime Syria would be pursued with discipline and determination. It is not too late to do so. It is too late only when we decide it is; when we decide to consign Syria’s fate to criminals and terrorists,” writes former ambassador Frederic C. Hof for the Atlantic Council.
III) “The National Coalition has been unable to provide credible political leadership and strategic direction, and it has failed to build effective administrative structures and a continuous presence in liberated areas of Syria. It has no prospect of overcoming these shortcomings in the future, given its dysfunctional internal dynamics and total dependence on continued recognition by the Friends of Syria for political status and survival. The coalition is living on borrowed time,” writes Yezid Sayigh for the Carnegie Middle East Center.
THE GERMAN KURDISH CHAPTER – DAS GUTE BEISPIEL : HILFE FÜR ALLE SYRER
Über uns: Die Hilfsorganisation, Barada Syrienhilfe e.V., steht für unmittelbare und direkte humanitäre Hilfe für die syrischen Krisenopfer.
Die humanitäre Lage in Syrien ist seit Ausbruch der Revolution 2011 dramatisch, viele Syrer sind auf der Flucht, die Lebensgrundlage zahlreicher Städte und Gemeinden wurde zerstört, die Infrastruktur, Krankenhäuser und Schulen sind zu großen Teilen zerstört. Wir von der Barada Syrienhilfe haben dabei das Ziel, über unser breites persönliches Netzwerk innerhalb Syriens humanitäre und medizinische Hilfe zu leisten. Die kulturelle und religiöse Vielfalt Syriens spiegelt sich in unserem Leitbild: „Christen und Muslime – Hand in Hand gemeinsam für Syrien“. Infos + Spendenkonto : http://www.barada-syrienhilfe.de/
« neuere Artikel / next articles ältere Artikel / previous articles »