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DAMASCUS/ HOMS, (SANA) – With flowers and laurel wreathes, twelve army, police and security forces martyrs on Thursday were escorted from Tishreen and Homs Military Hospitals to their final resting place.

The martyrs were targeted by the armed terrorist groups while they were in the line of duty in the governorates of Damascus Countryside, Homs and Hama.

Solemn processions were held for the martyrs as they were carried on shoulders and covered with the national flag while the Military Band was playing the “Martyr” and the “Farewell” music.

The martyrs are:

-Lieutenant Colonel, Salem Yunus al-Salem from Homs.

-First Lieutenant, Khaldoun Jamil Ghalieh from Lattakia.

-Corporal, Fadi Rajeh al-Salameh al-Naqri from Homs.

-Conscript, Abdul-Ghani Awayyed Ahmad from Deir Ezzour.

-Conscript, Fawzi Najemeddin Sheikh Mamo from Aleppo.

-Conscript, Ahmad Dahham Tirkawi from Homs.

-Conscript, Zafer Amir al-Hassan from Idleb.

-Conscript, Mohammad Abdul-Wahhab Khashan from Aleppo.

-Conscript, Jack Asaad Rustum from Hama.

-Policeman, Bilal Mohammad al-Mohammad from Idleb.

-Policeman, Ammar Assef Jabbour from Lattakia.

-Policeman, Yamen Shafiq Kirdeh from Lattakia.

Relatives of the martyrs expressed pride in their son’s martyrdom who sacrificed their lives to defend their homeland, stressing that Syria will remain steadfast in the face of the conspiracy which targets its unity and stability.

By R. al-Jazaeri

Syrian Women  Reject AL Decision against Syria, Pledge to Defend Homeland, Foil Conspiracy

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Thousands of Syrian women on Thursday gathered in Bab Touma Square in Damascus for a mass rally to express support to the comprehensive reform program led by President Bashar al-Assad, stressing Syria’s independent national decision.

The participants condemned the AL decision against Syria and rejected foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs.

Meanwhile, a woman rally was also held in the President Square in the northeastern governorate of Hasaka to express rejection of the AL decision against Syria.

The participant women voiced their rejection of foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs, stressing support to the independent national decision and the preservation of their homeland’s sovereignty.

The women condemned the Arab and international positions, which work by all means to internationalize the situation in Syria to target its positions and leading role in defending the Arab rights.

The women, in a statement read by Chairperson of the General Women’s Union of Syria Majida Ktait, denounced the Arab League’s decision, pledging to defend the homeland, foil conspiracy and all the attempts of sabotage and to participate in the making of a national epic that returns to the Arab history its brightness and preserves Syria’s role and position.

The statement emphasized that the Arabism flag will ever remain flaying high.

It underlined that conspirators against Syria use all cheap means to undermine its security and stability, exploiting the instigating media channels.

The women’s statement saluted the martyrs who have sacrificed their lives for the safety and security of the homeland.

Over the past few weeks, main squares and streets of several Syrian governorates crowded with millions of Syrian citizens to stress national unity, express support to the program process and denounce the AL decision against Syria.

By R. Raslan/ H. Said/ al-Ibrahim

Several Terrorists arrested, Amounts of Ammunition Seized in Daraa Countryside

DARAA, (SANA) – Competent authorities in Daraa on Thursday arrested a number of terrorists and confiscated amounts of weapons in the province’s countryside.

SANA correspondent in Daraa said that the seized weapons included RBG launchers, different sorts of rifles, grenades, explosive devices, pistols , shot stores, diverse ammunition, explosives and military uniforms.

Methods of training, following-up and monitoring, plans of preparing ambushes, detailed maps and plans to attack Daraa Province from different axes, sabotage public and private properties and to attack law enforcement forces’ centers in Daraa and its countryside were discovered. Small engines for generating electricity were also seized.

Armed Group Assassinates School Director in Ma’arrat al-Numan

An armed terrorist group assassinated teacher Samir Karkas, the director of al-Halhoul school in Ma’arrat al-Numan, Idleb Province.

SANA reporter quoted sources as saying that the martyr Karkas was in front of his school when two masked gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on him.

Terrorist Agha Confesses to Kidnapping, Killing Citizens, Shooting Demonstrators

The terrorist Adham Samir Hassan Agha confessed to taking part with a terrorist group in attacking law-enforcement members, kidnapping and killing citizens, as well as involvement in thefts and blackmail.

In confessions broadcast by the Syrian TV on Thursday, the terrorist said that he took part in the protests at the instigation of Sheikh Abdul Bari al-Kunn, muezzin of Riyad al-Salihin Mosque, for SYP 500 for each protest.

”The group, comprised of Abdul Bari, Mohammad al-Hassan, Abdul-Mon’em Kolko and Khaled Zaarour, opened fire five times on security checkpoints. The first was on a security checkpoint in al-Naziheen neighborhood in which Zaarour used RPG launchers while the rest were holding automatic rifles,” said Hassan Agha.

He said that he took part in 3 abductions, the first and the second were near al-Fakhoura Roundabout while the third was at Bab Dreib Roundabout, abducting two taxi drivers and slaughtering them and torturing a citizen using sharp tools in the third.

The terrorist confessed to smuggling arms from al-Qseir, including 10 RPG launchers,13 automatic rifles and 3 pump action shotguns.

He also confessed to shooting protestors in al-Insha’at neighborhood in Homs, killing scores of them, to accuse the security and the army.

By R. Milhem / Ghossoun/ M. Ismael

In an Unprecedented Move…Arab League to Discuss Sanctions on Syria Unless it Signs Legal Protocol

CAIRO, (SANA)_The Arab League Council on the Foreign Ministers’ Level in Cairo called on the Syrian government on Thursday to sign on Friday the protocol on the legal status and the AL monitors’ mission adopted by the Council in its extraordinary session on November 16th.

In an unprecedented procedure, the Council decided to call on the AL Economic and Social Council to convene on Saturday to consider imposing economic sanctions on Syria in case the Syrian government doesn’t sign the protocol. The sanctions include stopping air flights, trade exchanges and monetary dealings with the Syrian government and freezing its assets, which harms the interests of the Syrian people.

The Council called on the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition to hold a dialogue conference as stipulated by the Arab plan to move to a national unity government in order to run the transitional stage, which the Syrian people considered a flagrant interference in their internal affairs.

The Council also decided to inform the UN Secretary General to take the necessary measures to support the Arab League efforts in case Syria doesn’t sign the protocol, which is a call for foreign interference in the Syrian internal affairs.

The Syrian people express in daily rallies rejection of the AL decisions and harming national sovereignty, considering that the role of the Arab League has become a tool for foreign interference which serves the Western-Us agenda to fragmentize the region.

By M. Ismael

Media Delegation from British Channel 4…Life in Daraa Normal

DARAA, (SANA)_Johnson Miller, Head of the British media team who is on a visit to Syria, said that life in Daraa city is normal, adding that streets and markets are teeming with people and business proceeds as usual at shops.

During a tour in Daraa province on Thursday with a team from the British Channel 4 (ITN) and an editor at a Swedish newspaper, Miller said that situation in Daraa is quite normal, pledging to convey what he saw to the public opinion in his country.

The media team toured the Radio Center and the Justice Palace which were vandalized by armed terrorist groups.

Daraa Governor Muhammad Khaled al-Hannous briefed the media team on the latest developments in Daraa and the vandalism acts against private and public facilities, indicating that Syria is targeted by a conspiracy to undermine its security and stability.

He pointed to the misleading media campaigns against Syria which turn a blind eye to the security and army martyrs.

One of the citizens related to the team how he was attacked for refusing to take part in protests by armed men who hurled an explosive device at his house, smashing its glass and tearing out its gate.

By M. Ismael

 

BRICS Group of Countries  Reiterate  Call for Non-Interference in Syrian Affairs

MOSCOW, (SANA)_BRICS Group of Countries, comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have reiterated call for preventing any foreign interference in the Syrian internal affairs.

Deputy foreign ministers of BRICS countries stressed in a joint statement in Moscow on Thursday the importance of preventing any foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs unless it complies with the UN Charter, emphasizing that the sole form for solving the internal crisis is starting all-inclusive negotiations as to meet the aspirations of the Syrians.

The statement indicated to the international community’s experience in relation to the events in Libya, adding that it should be scrutinized as to illustrate whether these acts have complied with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

BRICS deputy foreign ministers called for settling Iran’s nuclear program through diplomacy , stressing that pressure and threats against Iran are futile.

By M. Ismael

Syrian Human Rights Network Condemns UN Human Rights Committee Decision against Syria

DAMASCUS, (SANA)_The Syrian Human Rights Committee condemned the UN Human Rights Committee decision against Syria, stressing that it violates the international legitimacy, human rights, international and humanitarian law and the UN Charter.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Network described the decision as the most serious as it illustrates collapse of the human rights system, reminding that it has repeatedly warned of issuing false statements on the Syrian events, which serves to politicized the supposedly-objective human rights’ work.

The network alarmed to the serious decisions of the committee against Syria, indicating that these decisions lack a clear vision and credibility, which will lead to disastrous consequences.

The statement said the legal committee at the Network is preparing a memo to be submitted to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the International Criminal Court and the UN against whoever funded, funds or is involved in escalating violence in Syria.

By M. Ismael

Secretary General of CAEU  Refutes preparing  Sanction Memorandum against Syria

CAIRO, (SANA) – Secretary General of the Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU), Ambassador Mohammad al-Rabei, refuted what was published in Asharq al-Awsat Newspaper on Thursday about preparing sanction memorandum on Syria to be handed to the Arab League (AL) Secretary General.

Rabei told SANA that such memorandums is not part of the CAEU Arab Economic Unit’s tasks and Arab League Secretariat did not ask the Council to set such a memorandum, sheet or proposal on Syria.

Rabei pointed out that Syria is an AL founding state and an active member in the CAEU, as it is one of the most keenest Arab countries on the joint Arab action, underlining that dialogue is the only solution to overcome the current crisis in Syria.

He added that he does not prefer applying economic sanctions against Syria, particularly that they will be negatively reflected on the Syrian people.

Rabei warned that targeting the economic sector (whether the agricultural or industrial sides) will lead to stopping the exports and freezing the inter-trade, and thus that will leave negative impacts on the Syrian people in general.

As part of its provocative campaign, Asharq al-Awsat Newspaper on Thursday published an article on which it claimed that it inspected a memorandum of sanctions against Syria set by the Arab Economic Unit’s Council and handed to the AL Secretariat.

By R. Milhem / Ghossoun

Democratic Korean Workers Delegation Voices Support to Syria in Face of Pressures

DAMASCUS,(SANA)- Speaker of the People’s Assembly, Dr. Mahmoud al-Abrash on Thursday reviewed the reality of the conspiracy facing Syria which seeks to divert it from its national and pan-Arab stances in support of the Arab rights and the resistance.

The remarks came during a meeting with a Delegation of workers unions from Democratic Korea.

Dr. al-Abrash indicated to the hugeness of the fierce media and political attack and the economic pressures led by some countries with the aim of destabilizing the security and stability in Syria, hailing the DPRK stances in support of the just causes of the nations and their right to live in peace.

He hailed the great role of the Syrian Arab Army who defends the security and safety of the innocent citizens and who confronts the acts of killing, sabotage and destruction of the public and private properties perpetrated by the armed terrorist groups in some areas.

He pointed out that the working class in Syria, which constitutes the future, stands in the face of the conspiratorial schemes which target this country and its national unity.

Chairman of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Democratic Korea, Hong Sang-Jung expressed the Korean people’s solidarity with Syria in face of the conspiracy and the economic and political pressures.

He stressed that the awareness of the Syrian people and their honorable history of struggle and the wisdom of their resistant leadership are able to overcome the crisis and to get out of it stronger and more immune.

He hailed Syria’s historical role in support of the nation’s issues and the world liberation movements and its stand in the face of the imperialistic and Zionist powers.

He highlighted the deep-rooted relations binding the two countries, underlining the necessity of enhancing them and coordinating the joint steps between the two sides at the international forums.

By R. al-Jazaeri /

Jordanian Government Spokesman Confirms Arms Smuggling Took Place into Syria

AMMAN, (SANA)- Jordanian Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and Government’s spokesman, Rakan al-Majali, on Thursday said that arms smuggling operations took place from Jordan into Syria, noting that his country is working to stop this.

He added in press statements that the incident which happened in the Jordanian northern city of al-Ramtha is evidence that smuggling of arms into Syria took place, pointing out that this incident was not the only one.

“We, in the Jordanian government, are concerned to be conscious of this issue,” said al-Majali, stressing his country’s rejection of allowing smuggling arms into Syria.

By H. Said/al-Ibrahim

Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Calls Upon Foreign Sides to Help in Activating Dialogue, Stop Incitement to Violence

MOSCOW,(SANA)- Deputy Russian Foreign Minister, Gennady Gatilov stressed that the foreign sides should help in activating the dialogue and should stop the incitement to violence and their calls for ignoring the initiative of the Syrian leadership in the domain of reform.

In a press statement on Thursday in Moscow, Gatilov reiterated his country’s stance in rejection of any foreign interference in Syria, warning that any interference would lead to destabilizing the security in the region.

The Russian official indicated that his country constantly works with all the sides in Syria and it calls upon them to directly start a joint work based on the initiative of the Arab League (AL).

He added that the draft resolution proposed by Russia and China on Syria is still on the table of the UN Security Council, and it includes a call for a political diplomatic settlement of the situation on the basis of stopping violence by all the sides and of starting a dialogue on the agenda of the reforms adopted by the Syrian leadership.

He expressed confidence that this stance alone can prevent the internal crisis in Syria from aggravating.

By R. al-Jazaeri

Bulgarian Delegation: What Propagated by Mass Media about Reality of Events in Syria is Completely False

LATTAKIA,(SANA)-Members of a Bulgarian delegation including academic and media figures and representatives of social and youth organizations stressed that what is being propagated by mass media about the reality of the events in Syria is completely false, denouncing the misleading media campaign facing the country.

The remarks came during a visit to Tishreen University in Lattakia on Thursday.

Head of the delegation, Prof. Crasi Nekochenov said that the delegation’s visit to Syria aims at inspecting the reality of the situations away from what is being broadcast by the misleading media. He described Syria as the “Jewel of the Middle East”, wondering about the fierce hostility and media falsification against the country.

He asserted that the members of the delegation will convey a true image about what they saw of events and facts on the ground.

Members of the delegation expressed support to Syria and its independent decision and to the efforts it exerts to solve the crisis it is witnessing away from the attempts of foreign interference in its affairs.

For his part Secretary of al-Baath Party at Tishreen University, Dr. Ghaleb Shihada said that the foreign pressures and the criminal acts of the armed terrorist groups are part of a sinister conspiracy aiming at diverting Syria from its national and pan-Arab stances and from its resistant role in confronting the Zionist project.

Rector of Tishreen University, Dr. Mohammad Moalla presented a detailed explanation on the university since its inception, indicating that the education in Syria for free, and that the students of the University have ranked high in the competitions held on the level of the Arab countries.

He talked about the mechanism of students exchange and dispatch between Tishreen University and the Bulgarian universities, pointing out that Tishreen University receives 15 Bulgarian students and dispatch 15 Syrian students to the Bulgarian Academy every year.

By R. al-Jazaeri /

Ambassador Mustafa: Syria’s Dealing with Events Depends on Popular Stance in the Decision-Making

DAMASCUS, (SANA)-Syrian Ambassador in Washington Imad Mustafa underlined that Syria’s dealing with the current events depends on the popular stance as a real base in the decision-making, saying that the mass popular marches in rejection of the Arab League resolutions and the foreign intervention have overturned the accounts and disturbed conspirators.

“The popular marches in Syria have imposed themselves on the news’ agendas of the US media institutions which didn’t find an escape from conveying them to keep the minimum credibility, and this formed a new awareness at the American receiver,” Mustafa said at an open dialogue session in Tishreen University.

He added that the plots of targeting Syria military in light of this scene became nearly nonsexist, considering that the reason behind the essence of crisis and pressures on Syria were Syria’s firm stance towards the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Mustafa said that confronting pressures on Syria will be through strengthening the internal situation, referring to the stances of some countries’ circumstances in dealing with Syria that uncovered the attempt of swindling Syria and containing its role under the titles of friendships, economic and trade relations.

The Syrian Ambassador pointed out to the utmost domination of the Zionist Lobby in the decision-making centers in the US where those sides effectively share in formulating policies in favor of the groups that support Israel.

He said that sanctions against Syria are not new and didn’t stop, adding “we are witnessing today feverish attack to conspire against Syria through regimes that move as a tool to act as Washington orders.

On the sanctions’ effects on Syria, Mustafa underlined that President Bashar al-Assad gave directives to build economic relations with the Asian giants to ease those effects.

By Mazen

 

Syrian News on 24 Nov 2011

Sit-ins at Raqqa and Aleppo, Gathering in Deir Ezzor in Rejection of Arab League Resolution against Syria and Foreign Interference

RAQQA/ALEPPO/DEIR EZZOR, (SANA) – Thousands from Raqqa governorate on Wednesday participated in a sit-in in front of the Raqqa Governorate building to denounce the Arab League’s resolution against Syria and voice their rejection of all forms of foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs.

Participants lit candles and carried Syrian flags and banners denouncing the attack against Syria, expressing regret over the Arab League’s stances which express the west’s desires, interests and plots.

The participants affirmed their support for the comprehensive reform process led by President Bashar al-Assad, calling for standing together in the face of conspiracies and adhering to national unity.

In Aleppo city, thousands participated in a open sit-in at Saadallah al-Jaberi Square to denounce the Arab League resolutions and the mass media warfare waged against Syria.

Leader of the National Initiative of Syrian Kurds Omar Ossi, who participated in the sit-in, affirmed that the gatherings in squares across Syria prove that the entire Syrian people reject the Arab League’s resolutions against Syria and the media onslaught carried out by Arab and international sides.

He stressed that Syria’s Kurds will defend their country and protect it from chaos and division, adding that the Arab League’s resolution is part of the western plot to divide Syria being carried out using regional and Arab pawns.

Participants in the sit-in pointed out to the scale of the conspiracy against Syria and the media war carried out against it using local allies, affirming that the Syrian people made their voices heard and showed their unity and solidarity.

Meanwhile, thousands gathered in al-Sabe’a Bahrat Square in Deir Ezzor city to reiterate their rejection of the Arab League resolutions and foreign interference in Syrian affairs.

Participants raised Syrian flags and banners denouncing the transformation of the Arab League and some Arab countries into pawns of the west which uses them as a spearhead to turn the Syrian crisis into an international issue and summon foreign interference.

The gathering included artistic performances promoting adherence to national unity and expressing Syria’s ability to confront the conspiracies through its people’s unity, its army’s strength and its leadership’s wisdom.

Participants said that the Arab League was never the voice of the Arab conscience and will, and that the League’s resolution were made to match the preplanned project against Syria.

They also questioned the Arab League’s absence from the Palestinian cause and failure to confront the Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands and attacks on the Lebanese people for 22 years.

The participants added that the gathering aims to prove to the world that Syria is cohesive and strong and will not surrender to pressure and conspiracies.

By H. Sabbagh

Terrorist Confessing to Leading Terrorist Group in Homs Countryside, Committing Murder and Abduction

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Terrorist Abdellatif Yehea al-Ukesh, a leader of a terrorist group that operated in al-Hula area in Homs countryside, confessed to committing vandalism, murder, armed theft, and abduction of citizens to extort ransoms from their families.

In confessions broadcast by the Syrian TV on Wednesday evening, al-Ukesh said that he formed an armed group under his leadership armed with assault rifles, pump-action shotguns and handguns.

Al-Ukesh, born in 1982 in Teldo in al-Hula area, said that his group operated along with two others in the same area, and that they received food and drink and money from a man called Fayssal al-Daher, and that his group forced people to close their shops at gunpoint when a strike was announced, in addition to preventing cars from entering Homs city, all while one of their members made video recordings to show that there was a general strike in the area.

He said that on the first day of Ramadan, his group attacked the political security detachment along with a group led by Haitham al-Hallak, another group from Kaferlaha led by Taher al-Yousef, and a fourth group from Tel Zahab led by Abdeljabbar al-Umaish.

Al-Ukesh said that the groups besieged the detachment until the early hours of the morning, and that several of the detachment’s personnel were wounded, and in the following morning army vehicles came and evacuated the detachment’s personnel. After that, the terrorists broke into the empty building and stole a bike from it along with its furniture and gas cylinders before torching it.

He said that the groups used assault rifles and pump-action shotguns in the attack, and that he used an assault rifle purchased from Haitham al-Hallak, adding that he joined the latter and his group when they robbed a man in al-Ghour area after receiving a tip, laying in wait then ambushing the man while on his way back to his village.

“When he approached in his car, we drew our weapons and forced him to come out of the car… we hid him and his car near al-Burj area… afterwards, Saiid al-Abbas called his brother to blackmail him and threatened to kill his brother… he demanded one million pounds in exchange for his safety, and we gave him two hours to bring them money,” al-Ukesh confessed, adding that the brother delivered the money to al-Hallak and they released the abducted man.

He went on to confess to assaulting a grocery store owner from Tasnin area in the same manner, ambushing him then abducting him and negotiating with his family from which they took 250,000 pounds which they added to the previous sum and split among themselves, with some of the money being used to purchase rifles and ammo.

Al-Ukesh said that Haitham’s group gunned down a group of unarmed civilians from al-Sheikh Badr village, murdering them in cold blood without provocation.

He also confessed coordinating with another armed group in al-Rastan to cooperate, asking that group for weapons, ammo, communication equipment and funds which they pledged to provide under the condition that they formed a detachment under any name that assumes responsibility for any of their future acts in order to claim that army defectors were responsible for these acts.

Army uniforms were provided by a man called Taher al-Yousef which al-Ukesh and his group wore and began to wander in the streets of Kaferlaha, their faces covered in scarves as to not be identified, brandishing AK-47 rifles and claiming to be defectors.

Al-Ukesh said that they gathered people around them and marched to Kaferlaha’s town square where they recited a statement on behalf of the “Free Syrian Army” and announced that they formed a detachment, noting that there were actually no defectors in the group; only armed civilians.

He said that the statement was recorded using cellphones, and memory cards were given to a man named Munzer Harfoush who possessed a Thuraya satellite phone and a satellite broadcasting system, adding that Harfoush was known in the area as the man responsible for recording and sending footage.

Al-Ukesh said that Harfoush sent the clip to al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya which broadcast them as urgent news and replayed it for several days, presenting him and his group as army defectors.

“All of that was a lie… we’re armed, hooded civilians wearing army uniforms, killing each other and our countrymen… this will lead to chaos and the country’s destruction,” he lamented, urging the people who know him and were involved in criminal activities to stop and turn themselves and their weapons to the authorities.

Al-Ukesh is a student of petrochemical engineering. He is married and has three children.

By H. Sabbagh

Delegation from the Tunisian National Committee for Support of Arab Resistance Pays Solidarity Visit to Syria

DAMASCUS, (SANA)_A delegation from the Tunisian National Committee for Support of Arab Resistance and Struggle against Normalization and Zionism started on Wednesday a 3-day solidarity visit to Syria to inspect the situation on the ground and convey facts to the Tunisian people.

Chairman of the Committee Ahmad al-Kahlawi told SANA ”We came to Syria to send a message that Syria is not alone in this crisis…Syria has always stood by the Arab nation and remained committed to the national and pan-Arab principles and embraced resistance.”

Nuri al-Sal, a journalist for the Tunisian Shuruq daily, stressed that the delegation came to express solidarity with the Syrian people, indicating that media is fabricating false news on the events Syria to sow sedition among the Syrians.

Dr. Muhammad al-Mathnati, secretary-general of the committee, said that the Syrians’ standing by their leadership against the US-Zionist campaign highlights Syria’s importance and determination to support Arab resistance, especially in Palestine.

By M. Ismael

Bulgarian Delegation in Lattakia: Security and Stability in Syria Belie Media Fabrication

LATTAKIA, (SANA)_Members of the Bulgarian delegation, who is on a visit to Syria and is comprised of academic figures, journalists and representatives of social and youth organizations, stressed that security and stability which they saw in Syria give the lies to the claims of Western media about the events, in an attempt to tarnish the image of the country.

During the delegation’s visit to Lattakia on Wednesday, Micho Demitrov, a journalist, said that who watches foreign media believes that there is a war raging in Syria, while the reality on the ground is totally different. He added that life unfolds as usual in Syria and the situation is normal in the governorate.

For his part, Professor Krasinir said that his visit to Syria enabled him to have a firsthand experience of the situation as contrary to news broadcast by media, adding that the delegation visited Tishreen Military Hospital and met injured army members , some of them with deep injuries.

Muhammad Shreitah, Secretary of al-Baath Arab Socialist Party branch in Lattakia, and Governor of Lattakia Abdul-Kader Muhammad al-Sheikh briefed the delegation on the concord among the Syrians and Syria’s tourist, natural and archeological sites.

By M. Ismael

Russia rejects any foreign intervention in the countries’ domestic affairs

MOSCOW, (SANA)-Russia on Wednesday underlined commitment to the basic principles of the international law, respect for the countries’ sovereignty and non-interference in their internal affairs.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement following talks in Moscow between Deputy Foreign Minister Michel Bogdanov and Turkish Assistant Advisor to the Foreign Ministry Hailt Cevit that the two sides discussed the situation in Syria, Libya and Egypt as well as the settlement in the Middle East.

The statement underlined the need for overcoming the crises through the peaceful political solution, based on dialogue.

Meanwhile, Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia at the UN Sergey Karev underlined his country’s rejection of exploiting the human rights’ issue as a pretext for intervening in the countries’ internal affairs.

“Russia has abstained from voting at the UN General Assembly meeting on a draft resolution about the human rights in Syria because it is not permissible to exploit the human rights to interfere in Syria,” Karev said in a statement to ITAR Tass News Agency.

He renewed his country’s rejection of any foreign intervention in Syria’s domestic affairs, adding “Syria doesn’t need preaches, but it needs a constructive help and an immediate halt of violence.”

By Mazen

Ambassador Mustafa: Syria’s dealing with events depends on popular stance in the decision-making

DAMASCUS, (SANA)-Syrian Ambassador in Washington Imad Mustafa underlined that Syria’s dealing with the current events depends on the popular stance as a real base in the decision-making, saying that the mass popular marches in rejection of the Arab League resolutions and the foreign intervention have overturned the accounts and disturbed conspirators.

“The popular marches in Syria have imposed themselves on the news’ agendas of the US media institutions which didn’t find an escape from conveying them to keep the minimum credibility, and this formed a new awareness at the American receiver,” Mustafa said at an open dialogue session in Tishreen University.

He added that the plots of targeting Syria military in light of this scene became nearly nonsexist, considering that the reason behind the essence of crisis and pressures on Syria were Syria’s firm stance towards the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Mustafa said that confronting pressures on Syria will be through strengthening the internal situation, referring to the stances of some countries’ circumstances in dealing with Syria that uncovered the attempt of swindling Syria and containing its role under the titles of friendships, economic and trade relations.

The Syrian Ambassador pointed out to the utmost domination of the Zionist Lobby in the decision-making centers in the US where those sides effectively share in formulating policies in favor of the groups that support Israel.

He said that sanctions against Syria are not new and didn’t stop, adding “we are witnessing today feverish attack to conspire against Syria through regimes that move as a tool to act as Washington orders.

On the sanctions’ effects on Syria, Mustafa underlined that President Bashar al-Assad gave directives to build economic relations with the Asian giants to ease those effects.

By Mazen

China’s Ambassador: National Dialogue the Only Solution for Crisis in Syria

DAMASCUS, (SANA)_ China’s Ambassador to Damascus, H.E. Zhang Xun, reiterated here Wednesday that national dialogue is the only solution as to emerge out from the crisis in Syria, voicing his country’s desire to continue supporting Syria in all international forums.

Ambassador Xun underscored, during a meeting with Syria’s Minister of Economy and Trade Dr. Mohamad Nidal al-Shaa’r, that China supports the restoration of security and stability to Syria.

Minister al- al-Shaa’r and Ambassador Xun’ talks focused at expanding fields of industrial, economic, investment and trade cooperation between Syria and China.

By Al-Ibrahim

Mansour: Lebanon Will Not Take Part in Any Sanctions Imposed by Arab League on Syria

BEIRUT, (SANA) – Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour on Wednesday said that that Lebanon will not take part in any sanctions imposed by the Arab League on Syria.

In an interview with al-Manar TV, Mansour said that economic sanctions against Syria aren’t in Lebanon’s interest due to the nature of relations between the two countries and the agreements they signed which include security and fraternity agreements, affirming that Lebanon honors these agreements and is committed to them.

In a similar interview with al-Manar TV, Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade Nicola Nahhas said that Lebanon will never close its borders with Syria, stressing that Lebanon has direct and mutual interests with Syria, and that keeping the borders open benefits Lebanon.

By H. Sabbagh

Two Explosive Devices Dismantled in Idleb

IDLEB/HOMS, (SANA)– The military engineering units in the northern governorate of Idleb on Wednesday dismantled two explosive devices planted by armed terrorist groups near the railway in Bdama town in Jisr al-Shughour.

One of the explosive devices weighs 20 kg and the other weighs 15 kg. Both of them were set to explode by remote control.

A source at the Police Command in Idleb told SANA that a third explosive device exploded in the same place without injuries.

In Homs governorate, central Syria, an armed group on Wednesday attacked an ambulance which was ferrying a citizen to a hospital in al-Khalidiyeh neighborhood.

By H. Said

Heartily Welcomed in Aleppo, Russian Delegation Stresses Falseness of Some Media Reports on Syria

ALEPPO, (SANA)- On their visit to the northern governorate of Aleppo, members of the Russian delegation said that during their visit to Syria they have been able to confirm the falseness of the news broadcast by some satellite TV channels about the situation in various Syrian cities and areas.

The delegation, which includes parliament candidates, journalists and representatives of a number of civil, popular and student organizations, expressed solidarity with Syria against the foreign challenges facing it which aim at undermining its role and position in the region.

They stressed their rejection of all forms of foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs, which they said violates the international norms and conventions, highlighting the Syrians’ ability to solve their own problems by themselves.

“We have been to several areas in Damascus and we noticed the level of security and stability. What we saw on the ground is different from what is being reported by TV channels,” said journalist Kivork Merzian, member of the delegation which is continuing its visit to inspect the reality of events taking place in Syria away from media reports.

On her first visit to Syria, journalist Ouliana Malashenko underscored the state of calm, security and commercial activities witnessed in the Syrian cities, stressing that what some media and websites in the world broadcast on the bad situation in Syria is mere lies and fabrication.

She said she will convey the real image of the situation in Syria to the Russian people and the world’s public opinion.

Elena Jermov, a university student, said that throughout the visits to different places in Syria, she has felt the Syrian people’s love to President Bashar al-Assad, which she said makes Syria strong and able to overcome the crisis.

The Russian delegation met rector of Aleppo University Nidal Shahadeh and discussed with him various political and educational issues, with the focus placed on the pressures and challenges aimed at undermining Syria’s unity and its national and pan-Arab stances.

Shahadeh expressed the appreciation of the cadres and students at Aleppo University for the Russian role in the events in Syria which reflects an objective understanding of the situation and the Russian leadership’s stance and awareness of Syria’s pivotal role in supporting the just causes and confronting the western-U.S. plots in the region.

The delegation was received upon arrival in Aleppo on Tuesday evening by massive gathering of citizens. The visiting Russians participated in a rally of 500 cars, which headed towards Saadallah al-Jaberi Square, where they were heartily welcomed by a huge crowd of Aleppo people.

By H. Said

Delegation of the Syrian Community in Saudi Arabia: Syrians Reject AL Neglecting of People’s Will

CAIRO, (SANA) –A delegation of the Syrian community in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday handed a letter to Arab League (AL) Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi, on the absolute rejection of the Syrian people to the policy of the AL against Syria and its ignoring of their will, which rejects interference, calls for dialogue and abides by the reform process launched by President Bashar al-Assad.

Members of the delegation pointed out in the letter, SANA got a copy of which, that the AL decision against Syria is unjust and unbalanced and it overtly reflects deviation from the track and the objectives of the joint Arab action.

They added that the decision indicates the potential intentions to obliterate the Arab identity and abandon the crucial issues of the Arab nation under false pretexts.

“We call on the AL to play a genuine Arab role that seeks to launch national dialogue based on citizenship, patriotism, people’s unity, for security and stability in Syria, carrying out reforms according to what the Syrian leadership has started to implement.

The delegation called the AL for working on stopping media provocation and fabrication, as some channels have become a partner in bloodshed in Syria.

They underlined their rejection of the role played by the opposition abroad, particularly the so-called national council of Istanbul, as they deviated from the principles and objectives of the vast majority of the Syrians, rejected dialogue, overtly called for foreign intervention and sowed sedition as part of their fulfillment of foreign agendas that aim against Syria’s unity, stability, security and position.

In their letter, members of the delegation of the Syrian community in Saudi Arabia highlighted that Syria is among the main AL founders as it has maintained it and supported the joint Arab action with all strength, being the first to none in defending Arabs’ causes.

By R. Milhem / al-Ibrahim

Nine Army, Police and Security Forces Martyrs Laid to Rest

DAMASCUS/ HOMS, (SANA) – Nine army, police and security forces martyrs on Wednesday were escorted from Tishreen and Homs Military Hospitals to their final resting place.

The martyrs were targeted by the armed terrorist groups while performing their national duty in the governorates of Homs, Damascus Countryside and Daraa.

Solemn processions were held for the martyrs as they were carried on shoulders and covered with the national flag while the Military Band was playing the “Martyr” and the “Farewell” music.

The martyrs are:

•             Chief Warrant Officer Amhad Abdel Aziz al-Helw, from Homs.

•             Warrant Officer Habib Rayyez al-Khallouf, from Hama.

•             Sergeant Major Mohannad Ahmad Abboud, from Lattakia.

•             Sergeant Alaa Fawwaz al-Ahmad, from Hama.

•             Sergeant Ali Ahmad Suleiman, from Hama.

•             Sergeant Issa Ibrahim Dawood, from Tartous.

•             Corporal Abdel Kareem Abdelullah Kanaan, from Idleb.

•             Policeman Abdel Kareem Amin Sattouf, from Hama.

•             Civilian Employee Feras Adnan al-Turk, from Hama.

The martyrs’ families expressed pride in the martyrdom of their sons who sacrificed their lives to defend their homeland.

They stressed that Syria will remain steadfast in the face of all conspiracies targeting its unity and stability.

The relatives of the martyrs expressed readiness to sacrifice their lives to preserve Syria’s dignity and sovereignty, calling for prosecuting the armed terrorist groups for their crimes.

By R. Raslan/ R. al-Jazaeri

Democratic Korean Workers Delegation, Brazilian Trade Union Confederation Stress Support to Syria against Conspiracy

DAMASCUS, (SANA)- Delegation of workers unions from Democratic Korea, currently visiting Syria, on Wednesday expressed the Korean people’s solidarity with the people and workers of Syria in the face of the conspiracy which aims at destabilizing the country.

The delegation has paid a solidarity visit to the Syrian General Federation of Trade Unions to voice support to Syria in its struggle against the imperialist and Zionist forces and for restoring the occupied Golan.

Chairman of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Democratic Korea, Hong Sang-jung , said the Syrian people will overcome all the difficulties regardless of the pressures, sanctions and attempts at foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs and the media war launched by some Arab and western countries.

Sang-jung highlighted the deep and special relations between Syria and North Korea and their friendly people, hoping for boosting the bilateral cooperation and coordination between both countries’ workers unions at the international forums.

For his part, Shaaban Azzouz, chairman of the Syrian General Federation of Trade Unions, stressed the Syrian people’s solidarity with Democratic Korea and its just causes against the U.S. pressures and interferences in its internal affairs.

In another context, the 6th National Trade Union Confederation of Brazil stressed support to the peoples and workers of Syria in defending their national independent decision and rejection of foreign interference in the Syrian affairs.

The Confederation condemned in a statement, which SANA got a copy of, the sanctions imposed on Syria because of its national stances, its support to the Palestinian people in their resistance against Israel and its rejection of foreign hegemony on the region and its resources.

The Brazilian Confederation said the rallies of millions of the Syrian citizens witnessed in all the Syrian governorates have shown the Syrian people’s rejection of all forms of foreign interference and their commitment to national unity.

By H. Said

 

Syrian News on 18 Nov 2011

Lavrov: Foreign Sides Aggravate Situation in Syria to Justify Interference

MOSCOW, (SANA) – Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Thursday that foreign sides are trying to aggravate the situation in Syria to justify interference in its internal affairs.

After talks in Moscow within the framework of the Permanent Council of Russia-EU Partnership conference, Lavrov said some foreign sides are escalating tension in Syria to justify their interference in the internal affairs of Syria.

Lavrov stressed that Russia supported the Arab League initiative’s call for ending violence by all sides and sending Arab observers to Syria as well as starting dialogue.

“If some opposition representatives, with support from some foreign countries, declare that dialogue can begin only after the regime goes, then the Arab League initiative becomes worthless and meaningless,” Lavrov said.

After talks with European Union Foreign Policy Chief, Catherine Ashton, Lavrov pointed out to the steps made by the Syrian Government to solve the internal crisis, including the parties law, local administration law, elections law and constitutional reforms, adding that the Syrian opposition should not ignore these steps.

Kosachev: some countries wrongfully approach Syrian crisis

Chairman of the Committee of International Affairs of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Konstantin Kosachev, said on Thursday that some countries are wrongfully approaching the Syrian crisis as they continue their wrong messages to the Syrian people which call for violence and averting dialogue.

In an interview with Russia Today TV channel, Kosachev added such messages would make the Syrian people believe that they can get their freedom and democracy through violence not dialogue.

By F.Allafi/M.Eyon

Seven Army and Police Martyrs Laid to Rest

DAMASCUS/ HOMS, (SANA)- Seven army and police martyrs on Thursday were escorted from Tishreen and Homs Military Hospitals to their final resting place.

The martyrs were targeted by the armed terrorist groups while performing their national duty in the governorates of Homs, Damascus Countryside and Idleb.

Solemn processions were held for the martyrs as they were carried on shoulders and covered with the national flag while the Military Band was playing the “Martyr” and the “Farewell” music.

The martyrs are:

•           Chief Warrant Policeman, Imad Mustafa Mehrez, from Homs.

•           Sergeant, Hadi Ali Baladiyeh, from Hama.

•           Corporal, Youssef Abdul-Qader Arbou, from Aleppo.

•           Conscript, Abdullah Arafat Tu’meh, from Qamishli.

•           Conscript, Ibrahim Mekhlif Hamadeh, from Hasaka.

•           Conscript, Ammar Hussein al-Khudr from Raqqa.

•           Policeman, Ahmad Taleb Hamdan, from Homs

The martyrs’ families expressed pride in the martyrdom of their sons who sacrificed their lives to defend their homeland, stressing that Syria will remain steadfast in the face of all conspiracies aimed at undermining its unity and stability.

By H. Zain/ H. Said

Arresting 57 Wanted and Confiscating Weapons and Communication Devices in Qualitative Operation in Idleb

IDLEB, (SANA) – The competent authorities in Idleb province on Thursday implemented a qualitative operation in Kafr Roma to the west of Maart al-Noman, as they arrested 57 wanted and confiscated weapons and high-tech communication devices.

An official military source told SANA correspondent that the operation was carried out accurately after attacking a stronghold of a terrorist armed group in Kafr Roma according to army members’ investigations.

Army members attacked the terrorists and arrested 57 of them and confiscated weapons, high-tech communication devices and explosive materials.

In a similar context, the competent authorities clashed with a terrorist armed group in a pickup truck that tried to attack an army check point in Kansafra in al-Zawya Mountain.

An army member was injured in the attack while three gunmen were killed in the clash.

On the other hand, an official source in Maart al-Noman refuted what al-Arabia TV Channel broadcast on Thursday about armed attacks against security and al-Baath Party headquarters in the city and outside it.

The source indicated that this news is “false and it comes in the framework of the fierce misleading media campaign launched by some satellite channels to falsify facts.”

In Homs, the competent authorities arrested 8 of the most dangerous terrorists convicted of murder and confiscated cars they used in al-Sina’a area in Homs.

Armed Terrorist Groups Kill 3 Citizens in Idlib, Sabotage Public and Private Properties

The corpse of Veterinarian Haitham Azzouz, who works at Agricultural Guidance Directorate in Ma’saran town, Idleb Provuince, was found after he was kidnapped by an armed terrorist group. Asource at Idleb Police Command said Thursday that Azzouz corpse was found dead near his town with several gunshot.

In the same context, another armed terrorist grupo killd civilian Mohammad Youssef Jalloul from al-Hubit town, in Idleb, where his corpse was found near the junction of Kfar Zetta town.

Mohammed Azizi, the 62-year old, from Talmens town died after he was shot by an armed group. On the other hand, a terrorist group stormed in Ma’arrat al-Naman water unite, threatened employees, stole their mobile phones and hijacked pickup car, while another terrorist group stole the service car of Ariha electricity center.

The armed groups also burned two electric tools’ warehouse in Ariha city.

Armed Terrorist Group Storms Houses and Terrorizes People in Damascus Countryside

An armed terrorist group claiming to be security members caused chaos in some areas in Damascus, robbed citizens and terrorized them before falling in the hands of the security in Damascus countryside.

Hussein Khalaf Khalaf, from Kamishli who lives in Rukneddin, said that he and his friend Muhammad Mudar Jawdat and other men broke into houses in Jairoud, Damascus countryside, posing as security members claiming to be searching for secret documents against the state.

In confessions broadcast by the Syrian TV, Khalaf confessed to storming homes in Jairoud, al-Nabk and Yabroud in Damascus countryside and stealing weapons, money and valuable possessions.

He added that his group stormed a house of a doctor in Jaramana in Damascus and stole SYP 125 thousand.

Ahmad al-Muhammad, a driver who lives in Rukneddin, said that he was engaged in burglary acts, taking advantage of the events in Syria. He admitted that they stole a sum of SYP 400 thousand.

Muhammad Mudar Jawdat confessed that he was the ‘mastermind’ of most of the group’s operations.

By R. Milhem / Ghossoun/M. Ismael

Five delegations visit Hama, inspect reality in the city

HAMA, (SANA)-Delegations from China, Russia, Spain, German and Cuba visited Hama on Thursday to inspect situation in a number of public and private utilities that witnessed acts of sabotage, fires and looting at the hands of armed terrorist groups including The Justice Palace and the Officers’ Club.

Members of the delegations also visited several private hospitals which some misleading channels claimed they were destroyed by the army.

During the tour, the delegations met the Attorney General Ismael Sharefa who asserted that the city still suffers from some spots that witness armed incidents activated by a number of instigating and fabricated channels to spread chaos and target officers and soldiers.

“The authorities do its best to tackle and confront acts of terror and overcome them,” Sharefa told the visitors, adding that during the acts of disorder, the terrorists looted big amounts of money and assets that belong to citizens.

He estimated the looted money and materials at one billion SYP.

Representative of the Chinese delegation said “we are following with big concern the development of situation in Syria… we came here to inspect the reality of events without counterfeit or fabrication.”

Later, Hama Governor Anas al-Na’em met the delegations and provided them with CDs that reveal the real events witnessed in Hama.

By Mazen

Adviser to Iranian Islamic Revolution Leader Critizes AL Decision against Syria

TEHRAN/ MOSCOW, (SANA)- Adviser to Supreme Leader of the Iranian Islamic Revolution, Ali Akbar Velayati, criticized the Arab League (AL) decision against Syria saying it was not subject to agreement as it was opposed by important countries.

“The AL through its stance stands by the Western countries and the Zionist entity,” said Velayati in a statement to the Iranian News Agency IRNA on Thursday, adding that it is necessery that the AL does not turn into a tool in the hand of the US and Israel.

“The AL opposition to a goverment which stands in the face of Israel will neither change Syria’s approach, nor will it weaken it,” Velayati pointed out, adding that the decision contradicts the demand of the Islamic Nation and the Arab people.

Russian Researcher: AL Decision Is a Huge Mistake

For his part, Russian political researcher at Moscow State University Alexei Pilco, said that suspending Syria’s membership in the Arab League is “a huge mistake” as it is so stupid and harmful to impose sanctions on Syria at the current circumstances while very complicated internal political operations are taking place inside it.

In a statement to SANA correspondent in Moscow, Pilco said “Syria is able to solve its problems by itself, and the attempts to exert foreign pressures on it and to incite the opposition not to engage in dialogue with the authority are invalid,” underlining the necessity of contributing to holding a comprehensive Syrian national dialogue to end the crisis in the country.

“Syria has always been an important player for Russia in the Middle East as it occupies an important position in the Russian strategy in the region,” Pilco said, expressing confidence that Russia’s stance regarding Syria is firm and will not change and that Russia will not yield to any pressures by the US and the Western countries.

He added that the Syrian opposition is not homogeneous as there are extremist opposition parties which were being exploited by foreign powers, highlighting the importance of neutralizing these parties and holding dialogue with the opposition components that are ready to hold such dialogue.

By H. Zain/ H. Said

DAMASCUS, (SANA)– The authorities concerned confiscated a large number of highly advanced communication means and satellite devices found with the armed terrorist groups and the members working with the seditious and instigative TV channels targeting Syria.

The first group of the confiscated devices included handheld two-way simplex system communication devices operating in the very high and ultrahigh frequency (VHF/UHF) ranges.

The devices were confiscated in a number of tension areas as they were used to ensure communication between the terrorists and criminals and organize the course of their movement to carry out attacks against the law enforcement personnel.

The devices operate by wireless scanning of the frequency ranges to pick up the calls of the security and law enforcement forces and monitor the movement of their personnel.

The second group included Thuraya satellite mobile phone sets which were used for satellite communication among the terrorists and those who work with them and between them and the misleading satellite TV channels and the external sides.

SIM cards for the Thuraya phones, charged through Arab and foreign providers, were used by the terrorists to avoid the monitoring of the authorities.

With the development of the crisis, various advanced generations of these devices appeared, such as Thuraya mobile phones powered by AB internet, which allows the possibility of connecting these devices to the internet via computer and transmitting text documents, photos and videos via satellite at high speed.

These devices were illegally infiltrated across the border from Arab countries and foreign developed countries and parties, on top the U.S.A. and Israel.

The information found in these devices included the phone numbers of all the misleading satellite channels- al-Jazeera, al-Arabiya, BBC, France 24 and others- and the phone numbers of Arab and foreign personalities involved in the events, in addition to tendentious and biased messages stored in advance.

The third group included Iridium satellite devices operated by the U.S. military satellite communication network made up of 66 satellites covering the globe which provides audio and data transfer services of different advanced generations.

The devices were used by the terrorists and agents during the events.

The group also comprised Iridium satellite phone accessories, which are antenna placed on the vehicle’s surface and connected to a phone inside the car via a cable since most satellite communication devices need Line-of -Sight between the phone and the satellite.

The fourth group included the global Inmarsat mobile communication satellite systems which operate by directing concentrated radiations towards certain points on the earth to provide voice and digital calls, videos and internet services with high accuracy and speed.

Such systems are used by the UN organizations and the embassies in Syria. There has been an increase in the number of these systems which are being imported to Qatar in unusual quantities before and during the events, which raised several question marks.

 

The fifth group seized a bulk which, after technical examination, was found to be a kind of an Israeli-made antenna operating on very special frequency ranges for satellite communication, which is part of an integrated satellite communication system using a network of US military satellites to provide high speed internet services to transfer data.

Unlike the previously mentioned communication systems, these systems are not commercially marketed as they require the authorization and approval of the Ministry of Defense in the manufacturing countries. The existence of these devices in Syria indicates the clear involvement of these countries; particularly that diplomats and politicians from these countries have announced intention to back the terrorists in Syria with advanced internet and communication systems.

The sixth group included radios with advanced audio players that were used by the armed terrorist groups and saboteurs to create chaos and confusion. These devices store audio clips including recorded slogans and sounds to be replayed during the gatherings near the mosques and in the crowded markets to film them as anti-government protests.

Most of these equipment and advanced devices are illegal and prohibited since they have been used without getting license from the General Telecommunications Establishment. The use of these systems and devices violate the regulating rules and legislations which guarantee that such use must not affect the security of Syria or undermine the state’s position and those responsible for possessing, importing and illegally investing them should be held accountable, as it is the case in any country in the world.

These devices can be classified, according to the circumstances Syria is going through, the places where they were seized, the sides which communicated through them and the purposes for which they were used to transfer information, fabricate events and plot to undermine the country’s position and security, as falling under the crime of espionage and treason.

The high cost of the seized satellite systems in terms of the equipment or the subscription confirms the big financial support provided to the terrorist and criminal groups and the involvement of some instigative satellite channels in providing these equipment.

Cellular coverage on the borders with neighboring countries has also been exploited by the terrorist groups to ensure cell phone calls and internet services benefiting from the coverage of neighboring countries, which reached between 30 and 50 km in a flagrant violation of agreements signed between Syria and these countries which set the limits of the overlapping coverage area between 1 and 3 km.

This violation can be put within the plan of some of these countries in supporting the terrorists in Syria during the events through raising the signal levels to maximum limits.

Authorities clash with terrorists.. One Policeman and a Teacher Martyred in Idelb

Idleb, (SANA)- Policeman Mohammad Katran was martyred Tuesday at the industrial area in Idleb after two gunmen on motorbike shot fires at him.

A source in Idleb said martyr Katran was mending his car at the industrial city when the two gunmen shot fire at him and escaped.

Meanwhile, the Engineering Units in Idleb dismantled an explosive device near Kfar Roma town while two other bombs exploded, injuring 4 law enforcement members.

A source at the Police Department stated that the competent authorities clashed with an armed terrorist group in the same town, arresting terrorist Hisham Digheim.

It added that another armed group killed teacher Mohammad Shahada while he was crossing Sirmin town last night.

1,180 Detainees Involved in Events in Syria Released

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – 1,180 detainees who are involved in the recent events in Syria and didn’t commit murder was released on Tuesday.

553 detainees involved in the events were released on November 5th on occasion of Eid al-Adha

Russian Foreign Ministry: Moscow Informed Syrian Opposition about its Stance in Rejection of any Foreign Interference

MOSCOW,(SANA)- Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov received on Tuesday a delegation of the Syrian opposition abroad which is currently in Moscow upon an invitation by the Russian Society for Solidarity and Cooperation with Nations of Asia and Africa.

In a press statement, the Ministry added that the delegation was informed about Russia’s stance which calls for adhering to a constructive stance to overcome the issues raised in Syria today, implementing reforms that would serve the interests of all the Syrians, and preventing the foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs.

In its statement, the Ministry indicated that the Russian side clearly called upon all the Syrian opposition groups, which reject violence as a means for achieving political goals, to immediately participate in the Arab League’s initiative on settling the internal Syrian crisis through launching dialogue between the Syrian authorities and the opposition.

Umakhanov Calls for Starting Dialogue between Syrian Government and Opposition

Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of Russia Ilyas Umakhanov stressed the need for a peaceful internal dialogue in Syria.

Umakhanov’s remarks came during the council’s meeting with representatives of the Syrian opposition abroad.

He added that the talks dealt with the situation in Syria, peaceful cooperation and means of holding a wide internal dialgoue with the support of the Syrian society, ending violence and avoiding escalating the confrontation in the country.

Umakhanov reiterated the need for stoping the killing, in refrence to the armed groups that have commited illegal and terrorist acts.

He said that the situation in Syria should be solved peacefully without any foreign interference, adding that Russia is interested in initiating dialogue between the Syrian authority and the opposition.

Umakhanov highlighted the strong economic and military cooperation between Syria and Russia, indicating that the Russian leadership, the Russian public opinion and the Council’s members are carefully monitoring what is happening in Syria.

Bogdanov Stresses that Overcoming Crisis in Syria without any Foreign Interference

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov called for exerting more efforts to implement the Arab League initiative and achieve a political settlement in Syria through ending all forms of violence and starting an open dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition.

Bogdanov’s statment came during his meeting with Syria’s Ambassador in Moscow on Tuesday at which the situation in Syria was discussed.

Bogdanov stressed Russia’s stance which calls for overcoming the internal crisis by the Syrians themselves through dialogue and reforms without any foreign interference.

Iran, Algeria and Iraq Reiterate Rejection of Foreign Interference in Syria’s Internal Affairs

TEHRAN, (SANA) – Iran and Algeria on Tuesday Reiterated rejection of any foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs, underlining the importance of resolving the problems that are facing the country through dialogue.

Iranian media said Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi affirmed in a phone call with Algerian counterpart Mourad Medelci the importance of Syria’s position in the region.

He stressed the importance of holding more consultations to find the required ground for solving the problems in Syria with the concentration on confronting foreign interference along with achieving reforms in the country.

Salehi said that the current situation in Syria and along with the matter of a foreign interference could be solved in the framework of the political regime in Syria.

For his part, the Algerian Minister highlighted Syria’s role in the region, stressing the importance of consultations and solving problems through dialogue.

Iraqi Government Stresses Rejection of Economic Sanctions on Syria

The Iraqi Government stressed on Tuesday its rejection of imposing economic sanctions on Syria and internationalizing the Syrian crisis.

The Iraqi Government Spokesperson, Ali al-Dabbagh, reiterated in a statement that the Iraqi Cabinet stressed during its meeting today that the Arab League’s resolution on suspending the membership of Syria does not solve the Syrian crisis.

According to AFP, al-Dabbagh expressed his government’s concern over the repercussions of the situation in Syria on the security and interests of Iraq and the region.

Earlier, Ali al-Dabbagh described the voting process on the AL resolution as “unacceptable and double-standard”, calling on the Arab League to be the place where problems are solved.

National Committee Assigned to Preparing a New Constitution Holds 3rd Meeting

 

 

DAMASCUS, (SANA)-The national Committee assigned to preparing a new constitution for Syria held today its 3rd meeting headed by Chairman Mazhar al-Anbari in Damascus.

The committee discussed the basic principles of the new constitution that deal with the political and constitutional system, economic, social and political domains related to the State of Law, plurality, electoral system, local administration, independence of judiciary and other basic principles.

During the last two meetings, the Committee held discussions on some visions and suggestions to regulate the work mechanism of the Committee and formulate a new constitution.

Syrian People Continue Protests against AL Decision against Syria

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Syrian people continued on Tuesday their protests against the Arab League decision on suspending the membership of Syria.

Outside the Arab League Office in Damascus, hundreds of Syrian people gathered to express their rejection of the decision, highlighting their support to the independent national decision.

“We came here today to tell the Arab League that the resolution is categorically rejected by the Syrian people, and it will never weaken Syria; rather it will increase the Syrian people’s resolve to be committed to their Syrian identity, Arabism and leadership,” a protester told SANA reporter.

At the Umayyad Square, Syrian ladies, who cut their hair, resumed, for the second consecutive day, their open sit-in in rejection of the AL resolution.

A lady who cut her hair told SANA, “What we did is an old Arab tradition that women used to do to show disrespect of men. Today we did that to show that we, as Arab women, are ashamed to have such an Arab stance which contributed to issuing the resolution against Syria.”

In the cities of al-Bab and Manbej in Aleppo province, tens of thousands of people gathered to express their condemnation of the AL resolution and their rejection of foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs.

The people stressed the importance of national dialogue, pointing out that the Syrian people took to the street immediately after the Arab League resolution was announced to send a message to those who want to ignite sedition among the unified Syrian people.

They reiterated their support to the comprehensive reform process and independent national decision to preserve the sovereignty of Syria.

Arab Student Organizations Condemn AL Decision

The Arab student organizations at Damascus University issued a statement condemning the decision of the Arab League to suspend Syria’s delegation’s participation in its meetings and stressing their standing by the steadfast Syrian people and the Syrian leadership to foil the conspiracy against Syria.

They described the decision as “irresponsible, saying with this decision the Arab League poses new dangers to the Arab national security and provides the appropriate cover to the colonialist powers seeking to fragment the Arab world, loot its resources and undermine the unity of its people and land.

The Arab organizations affirmed that Syria agreed on the AL Initiative and adhered to it from the first moment as it has also announced its cooperation with any sincere Arab effort.

They said that the decision came to put an end to the joint Arab action through the Arab League’s deviation from its main objective in that “instead of being an arbiter in the conspiracy against Syria, it has acted as an adversary from the start and turned blind eyes to all the painful facts and events that took place in Syria.”

“In its latest illegal decision which violated the AL Charter, the Arab League confirms that it has become a hostage to a group of reactionary powers implementing a foreign agenda to undermine Syria’s steadfastness and its noble pan-Arab principles of defending the Resistance and the Arab Right,” the organizations concluded.

Al-Shaar: Police and Security Apparatus Determined to Arrest Armed Terrorist Groups

DAMASCUS, (SANA)-Interior Minister Mohammad al-Shaar said that the law enforcement and securtiy members are intensifying their efforts to arrest the armed terrorist groups who perpetrate acts of sabotage, loot private and public properties and kill innocents.

Meeting officers and students at Basel al-Assad Academy for police sciences, al-Shaar underlined that Syria recognizes the volume of conspiracy to which it is exposed due to its siding with resistance and its support to the Arab causes.

He added that the misleading media campaign and the fabricated news againstt Syria aim at producing an unrealistic image about Syria and creating a negative stance at the Arab and international public opinion.

Gulf Cooperation Council Considers Holding Urgent Summit to Deal with Syrian Crisis Futile

RIYADH, (SANA) – The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said on Tuesday that holding an urgent Arab summit at this time is futile, a stance reflecting the lack of proper consideration of the dangers facing Arab joint action.

In a statement, Secretary General of the Council Abdul Latif al-Zayyani said that the GCC affirms support and commitment to the Arab League’s resolution regarding the Syrian crisis.

Syria called on Sunday for holding an urgent Arab summit to deal with the Syrian crisis and consider its negative repercussions on the Arab situation.

 

Surrounded by the Turkish veteran member of NATO in the north, the Israeli NATO partner and the navy fleets of the member states patrolling the Mediterranean in the west, the alliance’s Jordanian partner in the south, and in the east hosting a NATO mission in Iraq, which is expected to develop into the 12th Arab partner, and lonely swimming in a sea of the Arab and Israel strategic allies of the United States, the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad stands as the Yugoslavia of the Middle East, that has to join the expansion southward of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as well as the “new world order” engineered by the U.S. unipolar power, kicked out as the odd regional number, or join Iraq and Libya in being bombed down to the medieval ages.

Following its latest military success in opening the Libyan gate to Africa, the U.S. – led NATO seems about to recruit its 13th Arab “partner,” thus paving the way for the United States to move its Africom HQ from Germany to the continent after removing the Gaddafi regime, which opposed both this move and the French – led Mediterranean Union (MU), a removal that is in itself, for all realpolitic reasons, a threatening warning to the neighboring Algeria to soften its opposition to both Africa hosting Africom and NATO expanding southward and to drop off whatever reservations it still has to the revival of the MU, which lost its Egyptian co-chair with President Nicolas Sarkozy with the removal of former president Hosni Mubarak from power in Cairo.

The U.S. and NATO are poised now to shift focus from Arab North Africa to the Arab Levant to deal with the last Syrian obstacle to their regional hegemony. The U.S. administration of President Barak Obama seems now determined to make or break with the al-Assad regime, distancing itself from decades long policy of crisis management pursued by predecessor U.S. administrations vis-à-vis Syria, which stands now in the Middle East as former Yugoslavia stood in the wake of the collapse of the former Soviet Union when a series of ethnic and religious wars wrecked it, creating from its wreckage several new states, until the Serbian core of the Yugoslav union was bombed by NATO in 1999 to make Serbia now a hopeful member of the alliance.

However international and regional strategic geopolitical factors are turning Syria into a border red line that might either herald a new era of multipolar world order, which puts an end to the U.S. unipolar order, if the U.S. led alliance fails to change the Syrian regime, or completes a U.S. – NATO total regional hegemony that would preclude such a long awaited outcome, if it succeeds:

* Internally, the infrastructure of the state is strong, the military, security, diplomatic and political ruling establishment stands coherent, unified and potent, and economically the state is not burdened with foreign debt and is self-sufficient in oil, food and consumer products. Imposing a complete suffocating economic and diplomatic siege on the country seems impossible. What is more important politically is the fact that the pluralistic diversity of the large Syrian religious and sectarian minorities deprives the major and better organized Islamist opposition of the Muslim Brotherhood of the leading role it enjoys in the protests of what has been termed the “Arab Spring” in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen.

* Contrary to western analyses, which expect the change of regimes by the “Arab Spring” to be a motivating drive for a similar change in Syria, the changes were bad examples for Syrians. The destruction of the infrastructure of the state, especially in Iraq and Libya, and leaving their national decision making to NATO and U.S., at least out gratefulness to their roles in the change, is not viewed by the overwhelming majority of the Syrians, including the mainstream opposition inside the country, as an acceptable and feasible price for change and reform. The Arab Egyptian veteran and internationally prominent journalist, Mohammed Hassanein Heikal, in an interview with the Qatar based Aljazeera satellite TV Arabic channel, cited these bad Iraqi and Libyan examples as alienating the Syrian middle class in major city centers away from supporting the protests demanding change of regime; he even accused Aljazeera of “incitement” against the Syrian regime of al-Assad.

* This overall internal situation continues to deter outside intervention on the one hand and on the other explains why the opposition has so far failed to launch even one protest of the type that moved out millions of people to the streets as was and is the case in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen, especially in major population centers like the capital Damascus, Aleppo, both which are home to about ten million people.

* Moreover, the resort of a minority of Islamists to arms allegedly to defend the protesters has backfired, alienating the public in general, the minorities in particular, and highlighting their external sources of funds and arming, thus vindicating the regime’s accusation of the existence of an outside “conspiracy,” but more importantly diverting the media spotlight away from the peaceful protests, weakening these protests by driving away more people from joining them out of fear for personal safety as proved by the dwindling numbers of protesters, and dragging the opposition into a field of struggle where the regime is definitely the strongest at least in the absence of external military intervention that is not forthcoming in any foreseeable future, a fact that was confirmed in the Libyan capital Tripoli on October 31 by NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen: “NATO has no intention (to intervene) whatsoever. I can completely rule that out,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

* Geopolitically, it is true that western powers after WW1 succeeded in cutting historical Syria to its present day size, but Syrian pan-Arab ideology and influence is still up to historic Syria, and is still consistent with what the late Princeton scholar Philip K. Hitti called (quoted by Robert D. Kaplan in Foreign Policy on April 21, 2011) “Greater Syria” — the historical antecedent of the modern republic – “the largest small country on the map, microscopic in size but cosmic in influence,” encompassing in its geography, at the confluence of Europe, Asia, and Africa, “the history of the civilized world in a miniature form”. Kaplan commented: “This is not an exaggeration, and because it is not, the current unrest in Syria is far more important than unrest we have seen anywhere in the Middle East.” The change of the regime in Syria will not bring security and stability to the region; on the contrary, it will open a regional Pandora box. Syrian President al-Assad was very well aware of this geopolitical reality when he told Britain’s Sunday Telegraph recently in a weekend interview that Syria “is the (region’s) fault line, and if you play with the ground, you will cause an earthquake”.

* The regional repercussions of a sectarian civil war in Syria are a deterrent factor against both militarization of pro-reform peaceful protests and foreign military intervention in support thereof. Therefore, when NATO and the U.S. pressure or encourage their regional allies in Turkey and the GCC Arab countries to foment Sunni sectarian strife in the Syrian ally of Shiite Iran as a prelude to civil war, their only pretext for military intervention, they are in fact playing with a regional fire that will not save neither the perpetrators nor the “vital” interests of their NATO-U.S. sponsors.

* Regionally, Iran’s possible loss of its Syrian bridge to the Mediterranean, while its routes to the strategic sea could easily be closed via the Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the Red sea and the Suez Canal by the fifth and sixth U.S. fleets as well as the by fleets of the NATO member states and Israel, and pro- U.S. governments overlooking these sea lanes, is an Iranian red line the trespassing of which could create a situation fraught with potential risks of regional war eruption.

* Regionally also, less a U.S. – NATO decision to go to an all out war on Iran and Syria, military intervention in Syria would not be on the agenda unless guarantees are in place that Israel will be out of reach of expected Iranian and Syrian retaliation.

* The timing of the U.S. – NATO shift of focus on Syria coincides with a deadlocked Palestinian – Israeli peace process and the failure of Barak Obama administration to deliver on its promises to its Arab allies, thus alienating the most moderate among them, namely Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is still being pushed to a collision course with the American sponsor of the process by the U.S. – led international campaign against his overdue bid to secure the recognition of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations.

The failure of the U.S. peace mediator applies more counterproductively to the Syrian – Israeli peace making. Al-Assad regime came to power in a coup d’etat with the precise aim of engaging the U.S. – sponsored peace process in the Middle East. More than forty years later the United States has yet to deliver. This failure erodes the influence of the moderate pro-U.S. Arabs, stands as the biggest obstacle to building a U.S. – Arab – Israeli front against Iran, which is an American and Israeli regional priority, and adds ammunition and forces to the Syrian protagonist. Abbas’ reconciliation accord with the Syrian – based Hamas is a good example to ponder in this context; another is the Palestinian leader’s latest pronounced option of dissolving the self-ruled Palestinian Authority under Israeli military occupation, which would be a death blow to the Arab – Israeli peace process.

* This failure of the U.S. “sponsorship” was a major contributing factor to the changes of the “Arab Spring” in a chain of pro-U.S. Arab regimes in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen. However this failure vindicates Syria’s “resistance” ideology, justifies its strategic defensive coordination with Iran, reinforces the popular support for both countries in the region, and gives credibility to the argument of the regime in Damascus that the U.S. and NATO are fueling Syrian protests in the name of change and reform, but in fact exploiting these protests to “change the regime” and replace it with one that is more willing to accept the Israeli – U.S. dictates for peace making.

* The scheduled withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq by the end of the year is another regional adverse factor against military intervention in Syria. This withdrawal is leaving Iraq unquestionably under a pro – Iran ruling regime. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was on record in opposing regime change in Syria precisely because of the Iranian influence. Iraq is now overtly replacing Turkey as a strategic depth for its Syrian western neighbor, providing a strategic link between the allies in Damascus and Tehran, after Turkey’s U-turn on its “strategic cooperation” with Syria, its U-turn on its nine-year old “zero problem based relations” with Arab and Islamic neighbors, and its subscription to NATO and U.S. plans for Syria as a member and ally respectively.

* Internationally, the latest Russian and Chinese vetoes at the UN Security Council is indication enough that the U.S. – NATO endeavor to change the Syrian regime has trespassed another red line. Loosing its navy facilities in Syria would leave Russia out of the Mediterranean Sea and render it a U.S. – NATO lake. China whose competitive edge in Africa is being challenged following the change of regime in Libya would view the fall of Syria to become a U.S. – NATO launching ground against Iran as a real threat to its similarly competitive partnership with Iran. Chasing Beijing also out of Iran will render the emerging Chinese economic giant at the mercy of NATO partners if they succeed in securing their control over Iran and Syria because such a control will secure also their control of both strategic oil reserves in the Middle East and central Asia. This is absolutely a Chinese red line.

* Diplomatically, U.S. – NATO plans of military intervention in Syria has been denied any cover of United Nations legitimacy by the Russian and Chinese vetoes. Legitimacy of the Arab League is still lacking; freezing the membership of a member state, like was the case with Libya, needs consensus, which is not forthcoming.

TWO OPTIONS

This is the geopolitical strategic context in which the Syrian pro-democracy transformation is desperately trying to survive the U.S. – NATO undemocratic means of coercing Syria into compliance. Both mainstream opposition inside the country and the ruling regime are almost in consensus on reforms and fundamental changes that will move Syria to what is being now termed as “the second republic” through dialogue.

Both this opposition and the regime are on record against the militarization of the peaceful popular protests demanding reform and change and more adamantly against foreign intervention whatever form it takes, but both are seeking internal national unity as well as foreign support for a package of reforms inclusive of lifting the martial law, limiting the role of intelligence arms of the state to national security, empowering the civil society, curbing political and economic corruption, political pluralism, competitive elections, changing party, electoral and media laws, balancing the executive – legislative power, promoting judiciary and rule of law, and more importantly ending the constitutional Baath Party monopoly of power. Carnegie Endowment in its “Reform in Syria: Steering between the Chinese Model and Regime Change” of July 2006 proposed most of the reforms. In less than six months, President al-Assad has already issued successive presidential decrees enacting all these reforms.

However the U.S. – NATO axis of “the responsibility to protect” advocates are persistent on creating facts on the ground that would empower them for foreign intervention and place them in a position to trade their support of this reform package internally in exchange externally for Syrian foreign policy agenda, which has nurtured during four decades of al-Assad rule a network of regional and international alliances that enabled Syria to maintain a defense option in its 44-year old struggle to liberate the Israeli – occupied Syrian Golan Heights and to stand steadfast against dictating conditions on Damascus to make peace with Israel on Israeli terms.

These adverse factors leave the U.S. and NATO with two options:

First pressuring NATO member, Turkey, to discard its nine-year old “zero-problem based relations” with its regional neighbors to what Liam Stack described in the New York Times on October 27 as “hosting an armed opposition group waging an insurgency … amid a broader Turkish campaign to undermine Mr. Assad’s government” in its southern Syrian neighbor, which is the same reason why Turkey has been for years waging military incursions into Iraq and why Ankara was on the brink of war with Syria late in 1990s.

Second, to escalate the militarization of the peaceful protests. On August 14, 2011, Israel’s Debka Intelligence news reported that developments in Syria point to a full-fledged armed insurgency, integrated by Islamist “freedom fighters” covertly supported, trained and equipped by foreign powers. According to Israeli intelligence sources: NATO headquarters in Brussels and the Turkish high command are drawing up plans … to arm the rebels with weapons for combating the tanks and helicopters … NATO strategists are thinking more in terms of pouring large quantities of anti-tank and anti-air rockets, mortars and heavy machine guns into the protest centers … The delivery of weapons to the rebels is to be implemented “overland, namely through Turkey and under Turkish army protection … According to Israeli sources, which remain to be verified, NATO and the Turkish High command, also contemplate the development of a “jihad” involving the recruitment of thousands of Islamist “freedom fighters”, reminiscent of the enlistment of Mujahideen to wage the CIA’s jihad (holy war) in the heyday of the Soviet-Afghan war … Also discussed in Brussels and Ankara, our sources report, is a campaign to enlist thousands of Muslim volunteers in Middle East countries and the Muslim world to fight alongside the Syrian rebels. The Turkish army would house these volunteers, train them and secure their passage into Syria!

The editorial board opinion of The Washington Post on September 28, 2011 had a foresight: “The appearance of such forces is not to be welcomed, even by those hoping for an end to the Assad regime.”

However, the U.S. and NATO seem now in a race against time in pursuing exactly that goal through those two options to preclude the implementation of the Syrian package of reforms, until the ruling regime is coerced into compliance to trade their support of these reforms for the current Syrian foreign policy agenda.

But because the Syrian foreign policy, like the foreign policy of all countries, serves the internal prerogatives in the first place, which is in the Syrian case the liberation of Syria’s Israeli-occupied lands, Syria is not expected to comply. Therefore the Syrian “resistance” continues, and the regional conflict as well.

Nick Cohen wrote in The Jewish Chronicle on August 30 this year: “Syria is a story that cries out for coverage. But it is not receiving the play it deserves.” Cohen was and is still right, but he has yet to address Syria from a completely different approach.

By Nicola Nasser

Nicola Nasser is a veteran Arab journalist based in Bir Zeit, West Bank of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. nassernicola@ymail.com

Since Sep. 11, I often hear Americans indignantly calling for a reformed and progressive Islam even though it is unimaginable that they would call for certain changes within Judaism, for example. Thomas Friedman has called for a war “within Islam,” and has written plenty on the subject. But who cares what Thomas Friedman has to say.

Calls for reform within Islam ignore the fact that there has been a reformist and progressive Islam that dates back to the 1950s and 1960s: it was the Islam that was promoted and supported by Egypt’s Nasser regime.

Back then and for much of the Cold War, there was a civil war within Islam: Saudi Arabia and the other pro-American dictatorships of the Middle East supported and promoted a reactionary and conservative Islam defined by the standards of Wahhabism—one of the most intolerant and exclusionary religious movements in Islam.

Nasser, on the other hand, promoted a very different Islam. His was an Islam that supported gender equality and promoted women and fought obscurantism. Nasser used Egypt’s foremost religious institution, the al-Azhar, through his ally, cleric Mahmud Shaltut, to push for a reformed and enlightened Islam.

It was under Nasser that al-Azhar opened its doors to women, and ended the takfir (declaration of infidelity) of Shiites by the highest religious establishment.

Shaltut and Nasser never made the distinction between Sunnis and Shiites (it is unthinkable that Nasser would ever speak in such language given he avoided any sectarian language about Muslims and Christians). But Nasser did not have only Saudi Arabia and its wealth against him: He also had to contend with the US and Western governments.

In the service of Israel and taking into account Cold War interests, the US supported the reactionary version of Islam and the creation of Muslim organizations backed by Saudi Arabia because it was more worried about communism and leftism.

The US fought fiercely against Nasser’s progressive Islam because it was in the same camp with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies who promoted conservative values and doctrine.

It was in the context of this war between the two Islams that the violent groups emerged. Nasser marginalized and even expelled those fanatic clerics of the Muslim Brotherhood who would later inspire Al-Qa`idah and other such groups. All those reactionary clerics who did not subscribe to the progressive views and interpretations of Shaltut fled Egypt and were hosted by Gulf monarchies who hired them as educators, advisors, clerics, and TV personalities (in the case of Yusuf Al-Qaradawi in Qatar for example).

Many of those reactionary clerics were instrumental in setting up constitutions (Hasan Turabi advised several of the Gulf states) and in injecting Islamic laws (or conservative interpretations of Islamic laws) into their body politics and society.

This war went on for years, and Nasser scored big in this battle: some new republics and old ones (Libya, Syria, and Iraq) were influenced by Nasser. Even Syrian Muslim Brotherhood leader Mustafa Sibai was on the defensive and wrote a book titled “The Socialism of Islam.” The Ikhwan were made to look like apologists for a dead order. Nasser (accurately) associated that Islam with its sponsor: Saudi Arabia. It was the Islam that serves colonialism, he argued.

But Nasser died in 1970. Sadat (with an eye on Washington), released all the Islamist extremists from jail and unleashed them on Egyptian college campuses. This gave rise to the most militant clerics: people like Aymad Dhawahiri and Umar Abdurrahman. Sadat (and his Saudi allies) wanted the Islamists to go after the leftists and the Arab nationalists. Secularism was dealt a severe blow: its towering and most credible sponsor, Nasser, was dead. (Of course, Nasser could—and should—have gone further in his secular advocacy but he was constrained by virtue of the religious one-upmanship that his enemies were engaged in and by virtue of deep conservative religiosity in Egyptian society).

After the 1970s, we entered into the Saudi era and it translated into a victory for reactionary Islam. That Islam received another boost in the 1980s, when the US devoted billions and weapons to sponsor it in Afghanistan. The rest is distorted history.

By As’ad AbuKhalil

11 November 2011

@ alakhbar english

I have been arguing with some friends in the Middle East. Some wonder about my decision to go against Arab opposition groups even before they have a chance to reach power. I remind people that the Baath Party was an opposition group, and it too promised freedom and justice and even the liberation of Palestine.

We should not wait for the gallows to be mounted in order to express fierce opposition to opposition groups that have exhibited various signs of intolerance, deception, and subservience to reactionary forces. This applies to different opposition groups throughout the region.

It should be stated at the outset that no Arab regime deserves support – all of them lack electoral legitimacy, and all have violated the rights of their people. And all have failed in the larger issue of standing up to Israel and its occupation and war crimes. Furthermore, not a single Arab regime is free of corruption. But opposition to all Arab regimes without exception, should not lead one to endorse all Arab opposition groups without exception.

Many Arab opposition groups have been nothing but tools for some Arab governments. The Syrian Baathist regime, for example, used to sponsor its own version of Iraqi opposition groups, while Iraq did the same with some Syrian opposition groups.

Moreover, Gulf money has tainted more than one Arab opposition group. The case of the NATO-backed transitional council in Libya, the NTC, is now too fresh in our mind: the massacres and war crimes that have already been committed by the NTC justify opposition to it, even before it seized power.

It has proven itself to be unqualified to fit into the paradigm of new Arab governments based on the rule of law and freedom. This tool of NATO has even inexplicably requested the extension of the NATO mandate, when the latter justified its mission by reference to a UN Security Council resolution that spoke about defending civilians from the Gaddafi regime.

The Gaddafi regime fell, and Gaddafi was sodomized, tortured, and killed, but the Council that promised to bring democracy to Libya still wanted NATO to defend it – from its critics presumably.

Many opposition groups in the present-day Arab world are mere tools of tyrannical Arab governments. The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood has been close to Saudi Arabia for more than a decade, while the Libyan Transitional Council has been supported and armed by Qatar. An-Nahda’s leader, Rashid Ghannoushi, inaugurated his electoral victory with a visit to Qatar.

In other words, some Arab opposition groups may promise democracy and rule of law, while they carry the agenda of a sponsoring tyrannical government. The role of Saudi Arabia and Qatar is not hidden from the formation of the Syrian National Council. And the “president” of the Syrian Monitor of Human Rights – based in London and probably the most cited source on news on Syria in the world – Rami Abdul-Rahman, told the mouthpiece of Prince Salman, Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat: “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques is the most influential Arab leader in the Syrian street, more than any other Arab leader, for he enjoys the love and appreciation from sections of the Syrian street.”

That a president of a human rights council could be a fan of the Saudi King and its propaganda sheets, tells volumes about the political orientations of this group.

No, we should not wait until several Arab opposition groups reach power before we go after them. The writings on the wall are clear: some of those groups are intolerant, sectarian and carry reactionary agendas. It is our duty, if we truly care about the welfare of the Syrian or Libyan or Tunisian people, to speak out against those opposition groups who promise to take the people from one form of tyranny to another.

There are worrisome signs on Arab horizons – the Arab counter-revolutionary forces are regrouping and trying to hijack what began as genuinely popular movements. There is a danger that the Arab counter-revolution replaces one tyrannical regime with one that is both tyrannical and subservient to its own agenda. We can’t afford to stay silent: not about the tyranny of the current regimes, nor the tyrannies that are being prepared by the GCC to prevail in the Arab world.

By As’ad AbuKhalil

3 November 2011

@ alakhbar english

Not yet 30, Evan Knappenberger has already lived several lives.  His story destroys the U.S. government’s case against whistleblower Bradley Manning, exposes the toxic mix of fraud and incompetence that creates U.S. war policies, and highlights the damage so often done to soldiers who come home without visible injuries.

Knappenberger, seen in this video , was trained as an “intelligence analyst” at the U.S. Army’s Intelligence Training Center at Fort Huachuca, Arizona in 2003 and 2004, the same school attended by Bradley Manning.  In April of this year, the PBS show Frontline , responding to an article Knappenberger had published, flew him to Los Angeles on a private jet, and interviewed him for four hours.

Knappenberger told Frontline that he, like Manning, had had access to the U.S. government’s SIPRNet database when he had been in Iraq.  Knappenberger told Frontline that 1,400 U.S. government agencies put their information on SIPRNet, and that 2 million employees were given access to it.  SIPRNet has secret blogs, secret discussions, and its own secret Google search engine.  At one point, the Pentagon encouraged gambling on SIPRNet on the likelihood of future terrorist attacks.  Knappenberger also pointed out that the United States had given the Iraqi Army access to the database, knowing full well that many members of the Iraqi Army were also on the U.S. target list as enemies fighting U.S. troops.

Knappenberger was in Iraq in 2006, but said he believes the practice of sharing SIPRNet with the Iraqi Army began in 2005.  The U.S. Army ran cables to laptops in Iraqi command posts, and gave each post a CPOF (command post of the future) super computer.  Each Iraqi command post had access to everything Bradley Manning allegedly leaked to Wikileaks.  At some point in 2006, the U.S. Army decided to get serious about security by assigning two U.S. soldiers with security clearances to guard each site.  Each soldier was on guard for 12 hours and off for 12.  Another step taken to boost security was the creation of passwords to access SIPRNet, but because no one could remember the passwords they were written on sticky notes and stuck to the backs of the computers.  Knappenberger says he had the password on the back of his computer and has read that every computer in Manning’s unit had it too.

So, Knappenberger related this kind of information to Frontline for four hours and says that for three or four months afterwards he expected to go to prison for violating nondisclosure aggreements. He popped a lot of PTSD pills and gained a huge amount of weight as a result of nervousness, he says.  Then, the day before he expected the Frontline story to air, he says, the show told him it would not be airing.  Frontline was afraid of being held liable for inducing Knappenberger to violate his nondisclosure aggreements.

Knappenberger has made the same information public without any charges being brought against him.  Frontline would simply have made it more public.  Like Bradley Manning, Frontline would not have provided enemies of the United States with tools to be used against us.  Rather, like Bradley Manning, Frontline would have informed more of us what our government was doing in our name.  And some of what it has been doing is extremely hard to look at without turning away.

This past January, Knappenberger says he testified on the record, via telephone, to the office of the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner on the topic of torture.  Knappenberger was not qualified to “interrogate” people, but Donald Rumsfeld’s reorganization of the Army found ways to put non-combat troops into combat roles.  Used to test this model was Knappenberger’s First Special Troops Battalion.  These cooks, military police, signals and chemical specialists, clerks, and analysts were called on to fight terror and spread freedom.  Knappenberger says his platoon sergeant was a payroll specialist who “got his legs blown off in combat he was never trained for,” while a first sergeant “got his head blown off, and he was an intel geek.”  Knappenberger says his roommate was a specialist in fixing radios who lost his hearing and suffered traumatic brain injury on an IED squad.

Knappenberger says that recruiters had told him he’d do desk work.  But he also says that when he joined up he was ready to kill people.  He ended up doing double duty.  There would be 10 or 12 hours at your normal job, he says, followed by 8 hours on a combat job.  Knappenberger’s combat job was not a shooting one.  It was his duty to tell others where to shoot, what to blow up, whom to kill.  Knappenberger at age 20 was one of three “intel” people in his unit at Camp Taji north of Baghdad, the other two being women aged 25 and 26.  None of the three had experience, but they took over for eight well-trained veterans who had been there for two years, and some of whom even spoke Arabic.  The 26-year-old woman in charge was a drone pilot now placed in charge of a combat area with 100,000 people around Camp Taji.  Many FREs (former regime elements) lived right outside the base.

As the only male, Knappenberger says he was assigned to do the questioning of suspects brought in.  Lacking any census, the only database of individuals Knappenberger possessed came from the oil-for-food program.  A friend had found the information in Baghdad and typed it in.  When someone was pulled over, soldiers would radio to Knappenberger who would search for them in the database.  Usually they’d be released.  If someone was caught “with a bloody knife or a tube of mortars” Knappenberger says, “they’d be brought in.”  But without really good evidence they could not be booked for lack of space.  So, good evidence had to be obtained within 24 hours.  The method of choice was coerced confession.

Knappenberger told me they used sensory deprivation on these suspects.  They blindfolded them, put bags on their heads, handcuffed them, sat them on the cold ground in their underwear, etc.  In one case that he described to me, they drove a man in circles around the base blindfolded in a truck, put him on the ground, and gave him a cigarette.  The man “freaked out because he thought he’d been driven to the middle of nowhere to be executed.  But we never told him that, so it was legal.”  The more common approach, Knappenberger said, was to tell someone you would drop him off in the middle of the market and give him $100.  This would amount to framing someone with turning in others, and the penalty would likely be death . . . for the individual and for his family.  “We’d show them pictures of dead bodies and say ‘This is what’s going to happen to you,’ and we’d talk about their wives and girlfriends.”  Knappenberger says he did not engage in physical abuse, but that others did while he literally turned his back.  Iraqi interpreters, wearing masks, hit, slapped, grabbed hair, etc.  Turning your back was understood by the U.S. Army as making you a non-witness, Knappenberger says.

This went on from January to March, 2006, until “I finally got into trouble.”  Afraid that a prisoner would file a complaint after being booked, Knappenberger’s boss promoted him from the tactical to the operational command staff.  Knappenberger’s new job, too, provides a window into the madness of war.

Knappenberger came up with an analysis of likely weapons caches.  Some were in junk yards and other random sites.  But the largest was in a munitions depot supposedly guarded by the Iraqi Army.  The further one moved away from this depot, Knappenberger found, the fewer weapons caches were found.  Similarly, Knappenberger identified likely locations of ethnic killings as Iraqi Army checkpoints.

The Oil Protection Force, a special unit of the Iraqi Army, was headquartered in one of the hottest spots for IEDs in all of Iraq, Knappenberger says.  “We were paying them and they were stealing oil out of the pipeline they were supposedly guarding.”  When Knappenberger’s unit arrested the head of the Oil Protection Force for leading a Sunni militia against U.S. troops, within an hour, he says, a DIA helicopter arrived and “the guys in suits took him and put him back out on the streets.”  Shortly afterwards the pipeline blew up and burned for 30 days.

Another Iraqi whom Knappenberger had an interesting encounter with is Ali Latif Ibrahim Hamad el Falahi.  “I spent eight months trying to find that guy,” he says.  Knappenberger met Falahi at a civil affairs dinner at a sheik’s house his first week in Iraq and spoke with him for about an hour.  Three days later, Christian Science Monitor reporter Jill Carroll was kidnapped .  Knappenberger says Falahi was “the suspect” and was “our number two target for a year and a half” as he engaged in ethnic cleansing, decapitation, and ambushing Shiite units in the Iraqi Army.  “I spent 8 months trying to have him killed.  We killed dozens of people trying to find him.  We had a gunship fly around his orchard because of heat signals there.  Thirteen people died there, none him.”  Falahi was reportedly later killed in the same sheik’s house after failing to set off a suicide vest beside a U.S. soldier.

“I think about that guy every day,” says Knappenberger.  “We raided his house.  I had his diary translated.  I had a whole file on this guy.”  Remarkably, Knappenberger recognizes humanity in Falahi, saying “I don’t think he was a bad person because I didn’t get that vibe from him when I talked to him.”  Knappenberger uses the example of Hitler to suggest that there is good in the worst of people.  Of Falahi he says, “He did very bad things.  He killed a lot of people.  There were even allegations that he was raping women.  But before the Americans came he was just a hardworking farmer taking care of his aunt.”  Falahi had gone to his Imam and argued over how to get Americans to leave without violence, says Knappenberger.  “Falahi and his nephews went through Camp Taji and took a bunch of weapons the day Saddam disappeared.  And it was supposed to be for protection.  They set up a militia to guard the village.  They had check points on the road in and out.”  Then the United States armed the Shiites as the new Iraqi Army, and Paul Bremer cut out the Baath Party and banned possession of over 30 rounds of ammunition per family.  “That’s when he got radicalized.”

Evan Knappenberger says he began as an Ayn Rand fan, an atheist and a Republican (and you thought Karl Rove was the only atheist Republican!).  Knappenberger has since turned against Ayn Rand and rightwing politics including war, and gone religious .

Evan says that he found the Army to be “a pretty socialist institution,” in which people are encouraged to protect their friends as a way to motivate them to kill.  But, he says, “I was willing to kill without that.”  Why?  As revenge for 9-11, he says, and as an expression of hatred that Evan says he harbored even before 9-11.  He remembers reading Readers Digest as a kid and learning about “terrorists who want to kill us.”  In the end, Evan says he did not shoot anyone.  But he prepared packets of information on targets, including maps to their homes, photos of them, the reasons they were targets, and what was to be done to them (kill/capture, exploit, source, etc.)  Artillery officers, who Evan says are “notoriously stupid,” became a targeting cell, and whatever he told them (“This guy is bad.  This is where he lives.”) they would work from to plan bombings and raids.

My impression from speaking with Evan Knappenberger is that what turned him against war and militarism, even more than the SNAFU experience in Iraq, even more than the gradual exposure of the lies that launched the war, and more than the “socialism” within the military, was coming into contact with radical inequality of wealth and power within the Army, mirroring our society at large.

On a two-week leave, completely exhausted, in the middle of his year in Iraq, Evan flew back to Charlottesville, Virginia.  On the last leg from Atlanta, he was one of two people in uniform on the plane.  The other was a JAG general with a gold watch and a leather briefcase but no combat patch.  Evan, in contrast, hadn’t had a shower in a week, and it showed.  Apparently the two of them regarded each other with mutual contempt.  While on leave, Evan attended a jobs fair in Crystal City for people with security clearances like his.  At lunch time, he says, lots of officers came over from the Pentagon looking for high-paying jobs.  “I was the lowest ranking person in the room.  And the thing that really shocked the hell out of me: You go six months in Iraq and the highest ranking person you see is a colonel.  And I’m in a room full of generals and sergeant majors of the army and chief warrant officer fives, and not one of them had a combat job in the whole big ball room — not one of those m—– f—— had been in a combat zone for 30 days to get a combat patch — or if they did they weren’t proud of it.  And these were the people making the decisions and making my life hell — and that had a lot to do with turning me against the war.”

Another factor was the unfairness of the policy of stop-loss.  The Army had messed up Evan’s paperwork when he had shipped out, delaying him, and as a result his date for completing his contract just barely made it into the group the Army chose to hold over for additional “service.”  To avoid being stop-lossed, Evan cut a deal with his commanders that would allow him to be honorably discharged for minor misbehavior.  However, a brand new division commander gave Evan a general discharge, eliminating his GI Bill and other benefits.  Evan says it took him three years to get any disability coverage from the V.A.

Evan still has PTSD, as well as a skin problem he attributes to toxic chemicals and garbage burned in open pits in Iraq by the U.S. Army.  On tower guard duty adjacent to such a pit, Evan says he lost his sense of smell and coughed up a black substance.  “That whole year was like a nightmare,” he says.  “Getting mortared every night.  Rockets coming in.  The first couple of times I got shot at on guard duty I had no idea what was going on. . . .  I thought it was bats. . . .  I got so used to getting mortared.  I was at the airport getting ready to leave and was in the portapotty when a siren went off.  Then there were booms and after the last boom dirt clods falling on the portapotty.  I walked out, doing up my belt, and there was a major and a sergeant major under a truck face down in the mud.  And the guy screams at me: ‘Get to the bunker!'”  Evan’s response was a casual “Whatever.  It’s over now.”

In April of 2007, Evan Knappenberger came back to Charlottesville.  He says he’d been dating long distance and had a bad break up on the phone while driving.  He just kept driving for three months, living out of his car and spending his Army money.  He ended up in Bellingham, Washington, where he met a woman at a peace vigil and married her in October.  The marriage has “almost been ruined a few times by PTSD.”

Evan has done a lot of antiwar activism in Bellingham, including helping AWOL soldiers make it to Canada.  He built and did guard duty on a tower in Bellingham and then in Washington, D.C., to protest the stop loss policy.  I organized a press conference for his mother in Charlottesville.

Evan was nothing if not outspoken.  This included informing an Ohio couple that their son was dead, despite a government coverup and propaganda campaign.  In 2004 Iraqis produced a video of a U.S. soldier, Matt Maupin, held hostage, and then another of him being killed.  According to Knappenberger, the DIA used facial pattern recognition and a study of the blotches on his uniform and was 100% certain that Maupin had been executed.  But the military told the media to suppress the video, and the U.S. media complied.  Maupin’s parents campaigned for Bush’s “reelection” in the swing state of Ohio in ’04 because “John Kerry wants to leave Matt behind,” even though Knappenberger says the government knew that Matt was dead.  As part of the public relations push, Maupin was repeatedly promoted in rank, and his pay was placed in an account for when he was found.

Evan saw the video in 2006.  In 2007 he told a Washington Post reporter who filed a FOIA and was told the information was classified.  So, in September 2007, Evan says he told Maupin’s parents, who were reluctant to believe him.  An hour later, an Army intelligence officer called Evan and threatened him with jail.  According to Knappenberger, he replied, “If you tell the parents I won’t have to.  If you don’t I will.”  Meanwhile, says Knappenberger, “the poor dad was putting together a team to go find Matt.”  Maupin’s dad, Evan says, told him “I’ve got Andrew Card’s number.  I’m calling him right now.”  Two weeks later he was allowed to watch the video at the Pentagon.

One’s heart breaks for those parents and so many others like them, and for the vastly greater number of Iraqis whose loved ones have been killed by U.S. loved ones.  One’s heart breaks for Evan Knappenberger as well.  He says he is committed to nonviolence, but it is a process he is working at.  He grew up in a violent culture and was trained to use and value violence.  Since getting out of the Army, he has repeatedly been accused of threatening violence.  He recounted to me an incident in which he threatened President Bush with violence.  He has threatened rightwing war supporters with violence in blog posts.  Evan’s been hospitalized twice for PTSD.  He’s had an on-again off-again relationship with antiwar groups like IVAW (Iraq Veterans Against the War).

During what Evan describes as a “really bad breakdown” in January 2009, he showed up at the V.A. hospital in Seattle.  It was full, and he was told to come back Monday.  He called a senator, and had an appointment within an hour.  Within another hour, he says, he was loaded up with antidepressants and on the street.  Four weeks of antidepressants later, he had a worse breakdown that landed him in jail following an attempted suicide and what he says was an unfounded charge of “unlawful imprisonment” of his wife, which he pled to a misdemeanor.

Despite everything our society places in the way of it, Evan Knappenberger has obtained an associate’s degree and is working on a bachelor’s.  After a troubled but useful contribution to Occupy Charlottesville (he says he quit, others say they evicted him), Evan is headed back to Bellingham to work on his marriage and his mortgage payments.  I wish him well and thank him for speaking out.

By David Swanson

David Swanson is the author of ” When the World Outlawed War ,” ” War Is A Lie ” and ” Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union “

 

 

November 18-20, 2011: Thousands of social justice activists from across the Americas will occupy the main gates of Fort Benning, Georgia to call for an end to U.S. militarization and for the closure of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly the School of Americas, 

“The SOA provides the military muscle to protect the greed of the 1% at the expense of the 99% throughout the Americas.” said Father Roy Bourgeois, the founder of SOA Watch. “The surge of social justice activism in the U.S. is fueling the call for the closure of this notorious institution.” 

In August 2011, 69 Members of the House of Representatives delivered a letter to President Obama, calling on the President to shut down the Western Hemispheric Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly the School of Americas (SOA) by executive order. The 69 Representatives including Representative John Lewis from Georgia, Representative Ron Paul from Texas and Representative James McGovern from Massachusetts. To read the letter, visithttp://soaw.org/docs/ObamaLetter.pdf 

On November 4, Representative McGovern introduced H.R. 3368, the Latin America Military Training Review Act, in the House of Representatives. The bill calls for the suspension of the SOA/ WHINSEC and an investigation into the connection between U.S. military training and human rights abuses in Latin America. 

By SOA Watch

SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement that works for the closing the School of the Americas and a change in U.S. foreign policy – www.SOAW.org

 

 

 

 

[This is an expanded version of remarks at an Occupy Austin teach-in, October 30, 2011.]

There’s one question that pundits and politicians keep posing to the Occupy gatherings around the country: What are your demands?

I have a suggestion for a response: We demand that you stop demanding a list of demands.

The demand for demands is an attempt to shoehorn the Occupy gatherings into conventional politics, to force the energy of these gatherings into a form that people in power recognize, so that they can roll out strategies to divert, co-opt, buy off, or — if those tactics fail — squash any challenge to business as usual.

Rather than listing demands, we critics of concentrated wealth and power in the United States can dig in and deepen our analysis of the systems that produce that unjust distribution of wealth and power. This is a time for action, but there also is a need for analysis. Rallying around a common concern about economic injustice is a beginning; understanding the structures and institutions of illegitimate authority is the next step. We need to recognize that the crises we face are not the result simply of greedy corporate executives or corrupt politicians, but rather of failed systems. The problem is not the specific people who control most of the wealth of the country, or those in government who serve them, but the systems that create those roles. If we could get rid of the current gang of thieves and thugs but left the systems in place, we will find that the new boss is going to be the same as the old boss.

My contribution to this process of sharpening analysis comes in lists of three, with lots of alliteration. Whether you find my analysis of the key questions compelling, at least it will be easy to remember: empire, economics, ecology.

Empire: Immoral, Illegal, Ineffective

The United States is the current (though fading) imperial power in the world, and empires are bad things. We have to let go of self-indulgent notions of American exceptionalism — the idea that the United States is a unique engine of freedom and democracy in the world and therefore a responsible and benevolent empire. Empires throughout history have used coercion and violence to acquire a disproportionate share of the world’s resources, and the U.S. empire is no different.

Although the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are particularly grotesque examples of U.S. imperial destruction, none of this is new; the United States was founded by men with imperial visions who conquered the continent and then turned to the world. Most chart the beginning of the external U.S. empire-building phase with the 1898 Spanish-American War and the conquest of the Philippines that continued for some years after. That project went forward in the early 20 th century, most notably in Central America, where regular U.S. military incursions made countries safe for investment.

The empire emerged in full force after World War II, as the United States assumed the role of the dominant power in the world and intensified the project of subordinating the developing world to the U.S. system. Those efforts went forward under the banner of “anti-communism” until the early 1990s, but continued after the demise of the Soviet Union under various other guises, most notably the so-called “war on terrorism.” Whether it was Latin America, southern Africa, the Middle East, or Southeast Asia, the central goal of U.S. foreign policy has been consistent: to make sure that an independent course of development did not succeed anywhere. The “virus” of independent development could not be allowed to take root in any country out of a fear that it might infect the rest of the developing world.

The victims of this policy — the vast majority of them non-white — can be counted in the millions. In the Western Hemisphere, U.S. policy was carried out mostly through proxy armies, such as the Contras in Nicaragua in the 1980s, or support for dictatorships and military regimes that brutally repressed their own people, such as El Salvador. The result throughout the region was hundreds of thousands of dead — millions across Latin America over the course of the 20 th century — and whole countries ruined.

Direct U.S. military intervention was another tool of U.S. policymakers, with the most grotesque example being the attack on Southeast Asia. After supporting the failed French effort to recolonize Vietnam after World War II, the United States invaded South Vietnam and also intervened in Laos and Cambodia, at a cost of 3-4 million Southeast Asians dead and a region destabilized. To prevent the spread of the “virus” there, we dropped 6.5 million tons of bombs and 400,000 tons of napalm on the people of Southeast Asia. Saturation bombing of civilian areas, counterterrorism programs and political assassination, routine killings of civilians, and 11.2 million gallons of Agent Orange to destroy crops and ground cover — all were part of the U.S. terror war.

On 9/11, the vague terrorism justification became tangible for everyone. With the U.S. economy no longer the source of dominance, policymakers used the terrorist attacks to justify an expansion of military operations in Central Asia and the Middle East. Though non-military approaches to terrorism were more viable, the rationale for ever-larger defense spending was set.

A decade later, the failures of this imperial policy are clearer than ever. U.S. foreign and military policy has always been immoral, based not on principle but on power. That policy routinely has been illegal, violating the basic tenets of international law and the constitutional system. Now, more than ever, we can see that this approach to world affairs is ineffective, no matter what criteria for effectiveness we use. An immoral and criminal policy has lost even its craven justification: It will not guarantee American dominance.

That failure is the light at the end of the tunnel. As the elite bipartisan commitment to U.S. dominance fails, we the people have a chance to demand that the United States shift to policies designed not to allow us to run the world but to help us become part of the world.

Economics: Inhuman, Anti-Democratic, Unsustainable

The economic system underlying empire-building today has a name: capitalism. Or, more precisely, a predatory corporate capitalism that is inconsistent with basic human values. This description sounds odd in the United States, where so many assume that capitalism is not simply the best among competing economic systems but the only sane and rational way to organize an economy in the contemporary world. Although the financial crisis that began in 2008 has scared many people, it has not always led to questioning the nature of the system.

That means the first task is to define capitalism: that economic system in which (1) property, including capital assets, is owned and controlled by private persons; (2) most people must rent their labor power for money wages to survive, and (3) the prices of most goods and services are allocated by markets. “Industrial capitalism,” made possible by sweeping technological changes and imperial concentrations of capital, was marked by the development of the factory system and greater labor specialization. The term “finance capitalism” is often used to mark a shift to a system in which the accumulation of profits in a financial system becomes dominant over the production processes. Today in the United States, most people understand capitalism in the context of mass consumption — access to unprecedented levels of goods and services. In such a world, everything and everyone is a commodity in the market.

In the dominant ideology of market fundamentalism, it’s assumed that the most extensive use of markets possible, along with privatization of many publicly owned assets and the shrinking of public services, will unleash maximal competition and result in the greatest good — and all this is inherently just, no matter what the results. If such a system creates a world in which most people live in poverty, that is taken not as evidence of a problem with market fundamentalism but evidence that fundamentalist principles have not been imposed with sufficient vigor; it is an article of faith that the “invisible hand” of the market always provides the preferred result, no matter how awful the consequences may be for real people.

How to critique capitalism in such a society? We can start by pointing out that capitalism is fundamentally inhuman, anti-democratic, and unsustainable.

Inhuman: The theory behind contemporary capitalism explains that because we are greedy, self-interested animals, a viable economic system must reward greedy, self-interested behavior. That’s certainly part of human nature, but we also just as obviously are capable of compassion and selflessness. We can act competitively and aggressively, but we also have the capacity to act out of solidarity and cooperation. In short, human nature is wide-ranging.  In situations where compassion and solidarity are the norm, we tend to act that way. In situations where competitiveness and aggression are rewarded, most people tend toward such behavior.

Why is it that we must accept an economic system that undermines the most decent aspects of our nature and strengthens the cruelest? Because, we’re told, that’s just the way people are. What evidence is there of that? Look around, we’re told, at how people behave. Everywhere we look, we see greed and the pursuit of self-interest. So the proof that these greedy, self-interested aspects of our nature are dominant is that, when forced into a system that rewards greed and self-interested behavior, people often act that way. Doesn’t that seem just a bit circular? A bit perverse?

Anti-democratic: In the real world — not in the textbooks or fantasies of economics professors — capitalism has always been, and will always be, a wealth-concentrating system. If you concentrate wealth in a society, you concentrate power. I know of no historical example to the contrary.

For all the trappings of formal democracy in the contemporary United States, everyone understands that for the most part, the wealthy dictate the basic outlines of the public policies that are put into practice by elected o fficials. This is cogently explained by political scientist Thomas Ferguson’s “investment theory of political parties,” which identifies powerful investors rather than unorganized voters as the dominant force in campaigns and elections. Ferguson describes political parties in the United States as “blocs of major investors who coalesce to advance candidates representing their interests” and that “political parties dominated by large investors try to assemble the votes they need by making very limited appeals to particular segments of the potential electorate.” There can be competition between these blocs, but “on all issues affecting the vital interests that major investors have in common, no party competition will take place.” Whatever we might call such a system, it’s not democracy in any meaningful sense of the term.

People can and do resist the system’s attempt to sideline them, and an occasional politician joins the fight, but such resistance takes extraordinary effort. Those who resist sometimes win victories, some of them inspiring, but to date concentrated wealth continues to dominate. If we define democracy as a system that gives ordinary people a meaningful way to participate in the formation of public policy, rather than just a role in ratifying decisions made by the powerful, then it’s clear that capitalism and democracy are mutually exclusive.

Unsustainable: Capitalism is a system based on an assumption of continuing, unlimited growth — on a finite planet. There are only two ways out of this problem. We can hold out hope that we might hop to a new planet soon, or we can embrace technological fundamentalism and believe that evermore complex technologies will allow us to transcend those physical limits here. Both those positions are equally delusional. Delusions may bring temporary comfort, but they don’t solve problems; in fact, they tend to cause more problems, and in this world those problems keep piling up.

Critics now compare capitalism to cancer. The inhuman and antidemocratic features of capitalism mean that, like a cancer, the death system will eventually destroy the living host. Both the human communities and non-human living world that play host to capitalism eventually will be destroyed by capitalism. Capitalism is not, of course, the only unsustainable system that humans have devised, but it is the most obviously unsustainable system, and it’s the one in which we are stuck. It’s the one that we are told is inevitable and natural, like the air we breathe. But the air that we are breathing is choking the most vulnerable in the world, choking us, choking the planet.

Ecology: Out of Gas, Derailed, Over the Waterfall

In addition to inequality within the human family, we face even greater threats in the human assault on the living world that come with industrial society. High-energy/high-technology societies pose a serious threat to the ability of the ecosphere to sustain human life as we know it. Grasping that reality is a challenge, and coping with the implications is an even greater challenge. We likely have a chance to stave off the most catastrophic consequences if we act dramatically and quickly. If we continue to drag our feet, it’s “game over.”

While public awareness of the depth of the ecological crisis is growing, our knowledge of the basics of the problem is hardly new. Here is a “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity” issued by 1,700 of the planet’s leading scientists:

That statement was issued in 1992, and since then we have fallen further behind in the struggle for sustainability. Look at any crucial measure of the health of the ecosphere in which we live — groundwater depletion, topsoil loss, chemical contamination, increased toxicity in our own bodies, the number and size of “dead zones” in the oceans, accelerating extinction of species and reduction of bio-diversity — and the news is bad. Remember also that we live in an oil-based world that is fast running out of easily accessible oil, which means we face a huge reconfiguration of the infrastructure that undergirds our lives. And, of course, there is the undeniable trajectory of climate disruption.

Add all that up, and ask a simple question: Where we are heading? Pick a metaphor. Are we a car running out of gas? A train about to derail? A raft going over the waterfall? Whatever the choice, it’s not a pretty picture. It’s crucial we realize that there are no technological fixes that will rescue us. We have to acknowledge that human attempts to dominate the non-human world have failed. We are destroying the planet and in the process destroying ourselves.

Facing a Harsh Future with a Stubborn Hope

The people who run this world are eager to contain the Occupy energy not because they believe the critics of concentrated wealth and power are wrong, but because somewhere deep down in their souls (or what is left of a soul), the powerful know we are right. People in power are insulated by wealth and privilege, but they can see the systems falling apart. The United States’ military power can no longer guarantee world domination. The financial corporations can no longer pretend to provide order in the economy. The industrial system is incompatible with life.

We face new threats today, but we are not the first humans to live in dangerous times. In 1957 the Nobel writer Albert Camus described the world in ways that resonate:

“Tomorrow the world may burst into fragments. In that threat hanging over our heads there is a lesson of truth. As we face such a future, hierarchies, titles, honors are reduced to what they are in reality: a passing puff of smoke. And the only certainty left to us is that of naked suffering, common to all, intermingling its roots with those of a stubborn hope.”

A stubborn hope is more necessary than ever. As political, economic, and ecological systems spiral down, it’s likely we will see levels of human suffering that dwarf even the horrors of the 20 th century. Even more challenging is the harsh realization that we don’t have at hand simple solutions — and maybe no solutions at all — to some of the most vexing problems. We may be past the point of no return in ecological damage, and the question is not how to prevent crises but how to mitigate the worst effects. No one can predict the rate of collapse if we stay on this trajectory, and we don’t know if we can change the trajectory in time.

There is much we don’t know, but everything I see suggests that the world in which we will pursue political goals will change dramatically in the next decade or two, almost certainly for the worse. Organizing has to adapt not only to changes in societies but to these fundamental changes in the ecosphere. In short: We are organizing in a period of contraction, not expansion. We have to acknowledge that human attempts to dominate the non-human world have failed. We are destroying the planet and in the process destroying ourselves. Here, just as in human relationships, we either abandon the dominance/subordination dynamic or we don’t survive.

In 1948, Camus urged people to “give up empty quarrels” and “pay attention to what unites rather that to what separates us” in the struggle to recover from the horrors of Europe’s barbarism. I take from Camus a sense of how to live the tension between facing honestly the horror and yet remaining engaged. In that same talk, he spoke of “the forces of terror” (forces which exist on “our” side as much as on “theirs”) and the “forces of dialogue” (which also exist everywhere in the world). Where do we place our hopes?

“Between the forces of terror and the forces of dialogue, a great unequal battle has begun,” he wrote. “I have nothing but reasonable illusions as to the outcome of that battle. But I believe it must be fought.”

The Occupy gatherings do not yet constitute a coherent movement with demands, but they are wellsprings of reasonable illusions . Rejecting the political babble around us in election campaigns and on mass media, these gatherings are an experiment in a different kind of public dialogue about our common life, one that can reject the forces of terror deployed by concentrated wealth and power.

With that understanding, the central task is to keep the experiment going, to remember the latent power in people who do not accept the legitimacy of a system. Singer/songwriter John Gorka, writing about what appears to be impossible, offers the perfect reminder:

By Robert Jensen

Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin and board member of the Third Coast Activist Resource Center in Austin, one of the partners in the community center “5604 Manor,” http://5604manor.org/ .

He is the author of All My Bones Shake: Seeking a Progressive Path to the Prophetic Voice, (Soft Skull Press, 2009); Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity (South End Press, 2007); The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege (City Lights, 2005); Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity (City Lights, 2004); and Writing Dissent: Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream (Peter Lang, 2002).

Jensen is also co-producer of the documentary film “Abe Osheroff: One Foot in the Grave, the Other Still Dancing,” which chronicles the life and philosophy of the longtime radical activist. Information about the film, distributed by the Media Education Foundation, and an extended interview Jensen conducted with Osheroff are online at http://thirdcoastactivist.org/osheroff.html .

Jensen can be reached at rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu and his articles can be found online at http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/index.html . To join an email list to receive articles by Jensen, go to http://www.thirdcoastactivist.org/jensenupdates-info.html .