person:bashar assad

S-300 pour la Syrie et Netanyahou à Sotchi-Canossa
http://www.dedefensa.org/article-s-300_pour_la_syrie_et_netanyahou_sotchi-canossa_13_05_2013.html

• Questions insistante à propos de la livraison de S-300 russes à la Syrie. •Réponses et considérations intéressantes.

Israeli raising funds to help Syrians ’dying near us’ - Israel News, Ynetnews
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4378562,00.html

Kahana took part in an annual conference of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he raised the flag of the Free Syrian Army during a speech by an opposition activist. “While I’m here to assist the Free Syria movement, my brother Steve is on reserve service at the Golan Heights, treating injured Syrians,” said Kahana, who lives in New Jersey but has family in Israel.

The annual Soref policy conference attracts participants ranging from Middle East experts to Israeli and Arab policy makers. Speaking to Israeli reporters, two speakers affiliated with the Syrian opposition addressed the possibility of a US aerial attack against the forces of Bashar Assad’s regime.

http://www.ynetnews.com/PicServer3/2013/05/10/4616881/46168760881186408255no.jpg

Les arrestations de jeunes responsables de jet de Molotovs semblent se multiplier récemment

http://gitm.kcorp.net/index.php?id=647115

The Peninsula - 08 May, 2013

Bahraini security forces have arrested four people suspected of attacking a police checkpoint with petrol bombs south of Manama at the weekend, the interior ministry said.

“Four of the terrorists who attacked police checkpoint on Sunday evening with petrol bombs have been arrested,” the ministry said late Monday.

It said the attack took place in the district of Jari Al Sheikh, south of the capital, adding the identity of others suspected of being involved was being probed.

The alleged attack came amid frequent clashes between security forces and protesters in villages inhabited by the Shia majority of the kingdom ruled by the Al Khalifa dynasty.

Diplomatic source : Iranian FM meets Assad | Maan News Agency
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=593247

DAMASCUS (AFP) — Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, whose country is one of Syria’s closest allies, held talks with President Bashar Assad on a previously unannounced visit to Damascus on Tuesday, an Iranian diplomatic source said.

“Salehi arrived in Damascus from Amman and was received by President Bashar Assad,” the source said.

In the Jordanian capital, Iran’s top diplomat called for dialogue between the Syrian regime and “peaceful” opposition groups, warning that the impact of the conflict would affect the entire region.

Salehi’s visit comes after Israel reportedly carried out two separate attacks against Syrian sites last week.

Iran condemned those strikes and has said it is ready to train the Syrian army, which is in its third year of a conflict against rebels seeking to overthrow Assad.

Syrie-Russie-Israël-Négociations israélo palestiniennes.

Poutine met en garde Netanyahou contre toute nouvelle intervention en Syrie et fait savoir que de nouvelles armes russes pourront être fournies à Damas. John Kerry, en visite à Moscou, reçoit un discours similaire : « pas question de renverser Assad ». En préalable à la visite de Netanyahou en Chine, le Président Xi rend public ses idées sur le règlement du conflit israélo-palestinien (le « plan de paix chinois » dans l’article).

US to arm Syrian rebels: Putin’s rebuke, Chinese “peace plan” mar Netanyahu’s Chinese trip

DEBKAfile Special Report May 7, 2013, 2:19 PM (IDT)

http://debka.com/article/22957/US-to-arm-Syrian-rebels-Putin%E2%80%99s-rebuke-Chinese-%E2%80%9Cpeace-plan%E2

Negative diplomatic ricochets are pursuing Israel in the aftermath of its air force attacks on Syria. In the first place, they are seen to have had no effect on Hizballah’s successful military intervention on the side of the Assad regime or the Syrian war at large. In the second, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, while in Shanghai, was given a sharp dressing-down by President Vladimir Putin Monday, May 6, a warning that Russia would not tolerate further Israeli attacks on Damascus and would respond.

Putin did not say how, but he did announce he had ordered the acceleration of highly advanced Russian weapons supplies to Syria.
debkafile’s military sources disclose that the Russian leader was referring to S-300 anti-air systems and the nuclear-capable 9K720 Iskander (NATO named SS-26 Stone) surface missiles, which are precise enough to hit a target within a 5-7 meter radius at a distance of 280 kilometers.

In his phone call to Netanyahu, the Russian leader made no bones about his determination not to permit the US, Israel or any other regional force (e.g. Turkey and Qatar) overthrow President Bashar Assad. He advised the prime minister to make sure to keep this in mind.

Our sources add: Since Syrian air defense teams have already trained in Russia on the handling of the S-300 interceptor batteries, they can go into service as soon as they are landed by one of Russia’s daily airlifts to Syria. Russian air defense officials will supervise their deployment and prepare them for operation.

Moscow is retaliating not just for Israel’s air operations against Syria but in anticipation of the Obama administration’s impending decision to send the first US arms shipments to the Syrian rebels.
Intelligence agencies in Moscow and the Middle East take it for granted that by the time Washington goes public on this decision, some of the Syrian rebel factions will already be armed with American weapons (…)

The Chinese president unveiled his peace plan before meeting the Israeli prime minister. This plan emphasizes, as the key to a settlement, the Palestinian right to a state on the basis of 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital. It also adopts Abbas’s preconditions for talks, including a stop to settlement activities, an end of the Gaza blockade and “proper handling” of the Palestinian prisoners issue. (…)

Errant Syrian mortar shells land in southern Golan Heights - Haaretz Daily Newspaper

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/errant-syrian-mortar-shells-land-in-southern-golan-heights-1.506738

At least three shells found in an open area just west of the Syria-Israel border; no damage or casualties reported; IDF files complaint with UN observer force on border over incident.

Three mortar shells fired from over the Syrian border landed in the southern Golan Heights Saturday afternoon, landing in an uninhabited area near Moshav Ramat Magshimim and causing no injuries or damage. On Friday, meanwhile, according to Syrian opposition figures, a 2,000-year-old synagogue was destroyed by shelling from forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.

The Israel Defense Forces has filed a complaint with the United Nations oberver force on the border. Sources within the IDF believe that the event is another incident of hostilities between the army of Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels spilling over the border.

#syrie #israël #golan

As reports of chemical weapons abound, Obama urges caution on Syria | McClatchy
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/04/26/189773/as-reports-of-chemical-weapons.html

Le degré de confiance avec lequel on peut affirmer que le régime syrien a utilisé des armes chimiques serait « faible ou modéré » selon le renseignement étasunien,

In U.S. intelligence analytical parlance, “moderate confidence” generally means that information lacks sufficient corroboration, while low confidence usually means that it’s too fragmented, it isn’t authenticated and there are major concerns about the credibility of the sources.

Mais, fait remarquer le site FAIR, il n’en faut pas plus pour que les « médias de référence » en parlent comme d’une certitude, http://fair.org/take-action/media-advisories/syria-skepticism

Juxtaposition of Israeli action and U.S. inaction on Syria puts more pressure on Obama - Diplomacy & Defense - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/juxtaposition-of-israeli-action-and-u-s-inaction-on-syria-puts-more-pressur

The widespread American backing for the reported Israel Air Force bombings of Syrian targets has three central elements: 1. Deep support for Israel and understanding of its motives 2. Revulsion with President Bashar Assad and a feeling that he had it coming and 3. A certain delight, at least among President Obama’s foes, with the new opportunity to highlight what they perceive as his shameful inaction.

After all, while Obama examines, verifies, calculates and ponders the appropriate U.S. reaction to Assad’s reported use of chemical weapons, Israel is showing the kind of resolute decisiveness that his critics say the president so sorely lacks. “While Obama dithers – Israel acts,” was one such disparaging column published Sunday.

The very same people who claimed that Obama will turn his back at the first opportunity are now derisively portraying his unequivocal support for the alleged Israeli actions as further proof of his reviled “leading from behind” policy. And the apparent ease with which Israel succeeded in penetrating what the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey has described as  the “dense and sophisticated” Syrian air defense systems has removed yet another obstacle – or excuse – for Administration’s idleness, as Republican Senator John McCain explained Sunday.

The dramatic videos and stills of thick columns of smoke and fire spouting from the mountains behind Damascus ensured that the reported Israeli raids on Damascus would receive top billing on the influential Sunday talk shows. The juxtaposition between the Israeli resoluteness and what was portrayed as Obama’s dilly-dallying fit in nicely with the current bon-ton inspection of whether the president is already a “lame duck”, so early in his second term, or will become one soon.

One should differentiate, though, between the personal, political and public persona challenges to Obama and their translation into practical actions on the ground. On a PR level, Obama is being portrayed as someone who drew a “red line in the sand” and is now trying to ignore it – and the disingenuous effort of some of his confidantes in the Sunday New York Times to retroactively describe it as an unintended off-the-cuff remark only makes matters worse. “Hoo lo gever” – he’s not a man – as Israelis would chauvinistically say, even in the eyes of those who aren’t sure of the wisdom or the necessity of an American military action.

U.S. public opinion, after all, is far from convinced that the U.S. should lend a helping hand to the Syrian rebels and is only slightly more favorable towards a military effort against Assad’s chemical arsenal. Even the most hawkish of Republican lawmakers are wary of a hasty decision to arm the rebels, lest “we replace one terrible dictator with a terrible ideological movement which is aimed at our destruction” as New York Congressman Peter King said Sunday. And everyone, but everyone, agrees that there should be no American “boots on the ground”, under almost any circumstances.

Americans are tired of the toll taken by Iraq and Afghanistan – 11 soldiers were killed over the last weekend alone – and are widely aware of the crippling economic burden that these two wars have placed on the U.S. economy for many years to come. Obama knows full well that public support for a campaign in Syria is limited - and that the same people who are now egging him on will be the first to blast him when things go wrong.

And if and when that time comes, rest assured, Israel will also be asked to explain how and why it got the U.S. embroiled in yet another Middle East quagmire. By then, the widespread support and universal applause for Israel’s initial forays into Syrian skies will be long gone and forgotten.

Former Bush administration official: Israel may be behind use of chemical arms in Syria - West of Eden Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
►http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/west-of-eden/former-bush-administration-official-israel-may-be-behind-use-of-chemical-ar

Retired U.S. Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, who once served as Secretary of State Colin Powell’s Chief of Staff, believes that the chemical weapons used in Syria may have been an Israeli “false flag” operation aimed at implicating Bashar Assad’s regime.

Wilkerson made his astounding assertion in an interview on Current TV, the network once owned by former Vice President Al Gore and recently purchased by Al-Jazeera.

Wilkerson said that the evidence that it was Assad’s regime that had used the chemical weapons was “flaky” and that it could very well have been the rebels or Israel who were the perpetrators. Asked why Israel would do such a thing, Wilkerson said: “I think we’ve got a basically geostrategically, geopolitical inept regime in Tel Aviv right now.”

Israel confirms Syria strike, says hit Hezbollah-bound missiles | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR
http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/May-04/215993-israel-suspected-of-launching-airstrike-into-syria-cnn.ashx#axz

Israel has carried out an air strike into Syria, targeting a shipment of missiles bound for Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon, an Israeli official said on Saturday.

Article apocalyptique dans le New York Times : Islamist Rebels’ Gains in Syria Create Dilemma for U.S.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/world/middleeast/islamist-rebels-gains-in-syria-create-dilemma-for-us.html

Across Syria, rebel-held areas are dotted with Islamic courts staffed by lawyers and clerics, and by fighting brigades led by extremists. Even the Supreme Military Council, the umbrella rebel organization whose formation the West had hoped would sideline radical groups, is stocked with commanders who want to infuse Islamic law into a future Syrian government.

Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of.

(C’est moi qui souligne cette dernière phrase.)

Ne pas se méprendre : ça ne veut pas dire que c’est plus vrai que lorsque le New York Times ment dans l’autre sens… Mon intérêt ici, c’est à nouveau de remarquer qu’il y a d’un côté l’habituel discours assez simple et binaire des dirigeants (avec spectaculaire alignement du gouvernement français), mais qu’il y a aussi, quasiment depuis le début, nombre de tribunes totalement contraires dans les médias. Certes loin d’être majoritaires, mais beaucoup plus forts et présents que pour d’autres guerres. Et ces discours hétérodoxes (pendant que les gouvernements occidentaux refont le coup des armes de destruction massive) débarquent au NY Times. C’est assez curieux.

Côté #entrapment, le FBI vient de monter une opération particulièrement perverse : créer un vrai-faux site de recrutement de jihadistes américains pour aller combattre en Syrie. Mais comme cela signifie rejoindre le Front al-Nusra, affilié à Al Qaeda, c’est interdit. Et hop, le FBI peut à nouveau exhiber sa superbe prise d’un véritable faux terroristislamiste fabriqué sur mesure par ses propres services.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fbi-ill-man-planned-join-syrian-extremists

Tounisi, a U.S. citizen, was snared in an Internet sting after contacting a sham website set up by the FBI that purported to hook up would-be fighters with terrorists, the federal complaint says.

La Syrie, ou la boucle est bouclée
http://www.dedefensa.org/article-la_syrie_ou_la_boucle_est_boucl_e_13_04_2013.html

• L’archi-neocon Daniel Pipes recommande d’aider Assad contre les islamistes. • Terminus de la logique guerrière.

Despite U.S. concerns, little prevents Islamists from joining Syria fight| McClatchy
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/04/08/187983/despite-us-concerns-little-prevents.html#storylink=omni_popular

L’administration Obama peut bien exprimer verbalement ses préoccupations sur les extrémistes islamistes qui combattent en Syrie, mais ni les autorités américaines ni les alliés régionaux n’ont pris de mesures importantes pour endiguer le flot des djihadistes dans les rangs des rebelles.

Les corridors de passage des djihadistes - principalement via la Turquie, mais aussi par la Jordanie et l’Irak - sont un secret de polichinelle, d’après les entretiens ce mois-ci avec des combattants et des témoins, ainsi que des analystes qui ont suivi de près le soulèvement de deux ans contre le régime du président Bachar el-Assad.

Il serait difficile pour les agents de renseignement turcs et occidentaux de ne pas repérer les combattants étrangers - ils demeurent dans des maisons sûres, recrutent ouvertement des camarades et se singularisent souvent par un accoutrement et des habitudes distinctives - et pourtant il n’y a eu aucun effort manifeste pour réprimer leur présence dans les villes frontalières.

...

McClatchy n’a pu trouver la moindre mention publique faisant état d’une arrestation de djihadiste présumé par les autorités à la frontière turque ou tout autre signe prouvant que les Etats-Unis faisaient pression sur la Turquie afin qu’elle se montre plus vigilante aux lieux de passage ....

...

« C’est un peu comme Lincoln s’exprimant sur Grant : Je n’en ai rien à faire si c’est un buveur, il se bat », a déclaré un ancien responsable du gouvernement américain avec une vaste expérience du Moyen-Orient,...

...

L’ordre règne à Raqqa.

Rappel que Raqqa (à une centaine de kms de la frontière avec la Turquie) est, pour le moment, la seule capitale de province tombée aux mains des opposants au régime d’Assad (première semaine de mars) et qu’en dépit de la situation elle est efficacement administrée par ceux qui l’ont prise : les islamistes du Front al-Nusra et d’autres formations qui n’appartiennent pas non plus à l’Armée libre syrienne (ALS). Les commerces sont ouverts, les pillages ont été largement évités, les bâtiments religieux préservés, les services assurés, les administrations intactes, etc. La Brigade de Sécurité pour Raqqa y veille avec attention. L’auteur de l’article affirme que des membres de l’ALS n’ont pas été autorisés à entrer dans la ville craignant qu’ils se livrent au pillage. Des membres de l’ancien régime (le gouverneur notamment) attendent d’être jugés par des tribunaux islamiques.

How Islamist Rebels in Syria Are Ruling a Fallen Provincial Capital
By Rania Abouzeid / Raqqa CityMarch 23, 2013

http://world.time.com/2013/03/23/how-islamist-rebels-in-syria-are-ruling-a-fallen-provincial-capital

“Raqqa city was once dubbed the “hotel of the revolution” because it became home to hundreds of thousands of people displaced from fighting elsewhere who sought refuge in a place considered firmly in the grip of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Earlier this month, however, the city in north central Syria, which was late to the antigovernment revolt, became known for something else: it is the first and only provincial capital that Assad’s regime has completely lost — with the rebels taking control of it within the span of a week. The regime will likely lose the entire province within days. There are only three remaining regime outposts in this vast eastern tribal area that extends all the way to the Turkish border: there’s Division 17 a few kilometers outside the city; the military airport at Tabqa about 40 km to 50 km away; and Brigade 93 in Ain Issa, some 70 km away. All three positions are under heavy rebel attack and government counterattack.”

#Raqqa #Jabhat_al_Nusra

Syria accuses rebels of setting fire to oil wells amid internal disputes - Middle East - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/syria-accuses-rebels-of-setting-fire-to-oil-wells-amid-internal-disputes-1.

La bataille pour Damas ? CBS News rassemble, à son tour, des informations qui tendent à démontrer que la grande offensive sur Damas (la sixième ?) est en vue. Si les financements qataris et saoudiens de fourniture d’armes à destination de l’opposition syrienne étaient largement médiatisés, en revanche l’implication des Etats Unis et d’autres Etats occidentaux était assez peu commentée. Ce n’est plus le cas puisqu’on dispose désormais d’un grand nombre de commentaires de presse sur les types d’armes exportées vers la Turquie et la Jordanie, sur le rôle de la CIA qui interviendrait pour s’assurer que ces armes finissent entre des mains « modérés et légitimes » (Kerry en marge d’une réunion de l’opposition tenue en Italie) et qu’elles rééquilibrent l’effort militaire fourni par l’Iran à Assad, enfin, sur l’abondance des matériels militaires qui arrivent en Syrie en préparation à une offensive finale sur Damas.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57576722/ap-master-plan-underway-to-help-syria-rebels-take-damascus-with-u.s.-approv

CBS/AP/ March 28, 2013, 5:26 AM
AP : "Master plan" underway to help Syria rebels take Damascus with U.S.-approved airlifts of heavy weapons

“Mideast powers opposed to President Bashar Assad have dramatically stepped up weapons supplies to Syrian rebels in coordination with the U.S. in preparation for a push on the capital of Damascus, officials and Western military experts said Wednesday. A carefully prepared covert operation is arming rebels, involving Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, with the United States and other Western governments consulting, and all parties hold veto power over where the shipments are directed, according to a senior Arab official whose government is participating. His account was corroborated by a diplomat and two military experts. Saudi Arabia and other regional powers have been arming Syria’s rebels for months, but the scale and coordination with the West — and the suggestion by the AP’s sources that the effort is linked to a plan for the rebels to try and seize Damascus — represents a potentially significant escalation in the civil war.”

#Syria #weapons_supplies #escalation #battle_for_Damascus #Croatian_arms #Qatar #Turkey #Jordan #chemical_weapons #Kerry

Le désordre précédant en grandes pompes la cause du désordre...
http://www.dedefensa.org/article-le_d_sordre_pr_c_dant_en_grandes_pompes_la_cause_du_d_sordre_29_0

• La crise syrienne, une curieuse situation. • Le désordre post-Assad se développe sans nécessité de la chute d’Assad.

La Syrie, ou le désordre précédant sa cause
http://www.dedefensa.org/article-la_syrie_ou_le_d_sordre_pr_c_dant_sa_cause_29_03_2013.html

• La crise syrienne, une curieuse situation. • Le désordre post-Assad se développe sans nécessité de la chute d’Assad.

Mideast states, US step up arms shipments to Syrian rebels
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/mideast-states-us-step-arms-shipments-syrian-rebels

Mideast powers opposed to President Bashar Assad have dramatically stepped up weapons supplies to Syrian rebels in coordination with the US in preparation for a push on the capital of Damascus, officials and Western military experts said Wednesday.

Four sources, including an Arab official, a diplomat and a military expert, described a system in which Saudi Arabia and Qatar provide the funding for the weapons. Jordan and Turkey provide the land channels for the shipments to reach the rebels, while all coordinate with the US and other Western governments on the shipments’ destinations.

All must agree for a shipment to go through. The Arab official said some of the arms are being purchased from Croatia, or from US draw-downs in unspecified European countries. He said other sources were black market arms dealers across Europe and the Mideast.

A carefully prepared covert operation is arming rebels, involving Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, with the United States and other Western governments consulting, and all parties hold veto power over where the shipments are directed, according to a senior Arab official whose government is participating. His account was corroborated by a diplomat and two military experts.

Assad’s Israeli friend

Haaretz Daily Newspaper

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/assad-s-israeli-friend.premium-1.512146

Along with the smiles and backslapping last week in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama also revealed their disagreements over Syria. At their joint press conference the president had harsh words for Bashar Assad, saying the Syrian president “must go.” Netanyahu settled for mentioning the carnage in the neighboring state without naming those responsible or saying anything about political change in Damascus.

For the past three years Netanyahu was Assad’s silent ally. With the Syrian regime becoming destabilized, its borders breached and the struggle for its future rupturing the region, Israel had the back of the tyrant from Damascus. It made no deterrent military moves, did not openly support the Syrian opposition and did not even use the horrors in Syria for obligatory propaganda like “Arabs murder Arabs and the hypocritical world does not care, and we are criticized for much less.” Netanyahu made do with general statements about the “breakup” of Syria and warnings against chemical weapons and missiles falling into the hands of terrorists.

Alliances between states do not require meetings between leaders, exchanges of ambassadors and declarations of support and affection. Mutual interests that the parties understand and act upon are sufficient.

Islamists, secular rebels battle in Syria over Nusra Front’s call for Islamic state | McClatchy
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/03/26/186970/islamists-secular-rebels-battle.html

Des combats meurtriers entre rebelles syriens à la frontière turque.

TAL ABYAD, Syria — Two Syrian rebel groups – one seeking an elected civil government, the other favoring the establishment of a religious state – are battling each other in the city of Tal Abyad, on the border with Turkey, in a sign of the tensions that are likely to rule this country if the government of President Bashar Assad falls.

Four people were killed Sunday in fighting here between the Farouq Battalions, which favors elections, and Jabhat al Nusra, or the Nusra Front, which the United States has declared an al Qaida-affiliated terrorist group. Since then, Farouq has been massing men here in an example of the growing friction that’s emerged in recent months as Nusra has captured strategic infrastructure across Syria’s north and east, including oil and gas installations, grain silos and a hydroelectric dam.

Raqqa province, where Tal Abyad is, and Hasaka province, to the east, are poverty-stricken but vital to Syria’s agriculture. Hasaka and Deir el Zour province to the south are the center of the country’s oil industry.

“They want to control the border crossing here,” said Abu Mansour, a member of Farouq in Tal Abyad. Like other rebels, he uses a nom de guerre to hide his identity from the government.

The rivalry between the groups is a reminder of how divided Syria’s rebel factions are and how inaccurate it is to refer to the anti-Assad forces as if they were a single group, with a single goal. Indeed, while news stories for months often referred to rebels as the Free Syrian Army, that term is more an idea than an organization. Instead, the rebel movement comprises dozens of groups whose ideologies have only one common goal: the toppling of the Assad regime.

IDF turns attention to Lebanon as Syrian army falls apart
Haaretz Daily Newspaper

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-turns-attention-to-lebanon-as-syrian-army-falls-apart.premium-1.511719

The Israel Defense Forces has responded to the changing reality in Syria by adjusting its focus and training of forces to deal with Lebanon, rather than with Syria.

While the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad have reportedly lost some 13,000 men during that country’s civil war and some 40,000 soldiers have deserted, Iran and Hezbollah are gaining access to the treasure trove of weapons in Syria. “They are trying and in some cases succeeding to obtain air defense capabilities, shore-to-sea missiles, surface-to-surface missiles and other capabilities,” Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi told the Herzliya Conference recently. “Hezbollah and Iran understand that Assad’s fate is sealed, and they’re preparing for the day after.”

So is the IDF, which is changing the assignments of some of its northern divisions to focus more on Lebanon. For example, last week two reserve brigades - one an armored brigade and the other an infantry brigade - practiced maneuvers for operating in Lebanon after years in which they had focused exclusively on the Syrian arena.

Rival Islamists loom large over Syria | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Mar-19/210649-rival-islamists-loom-large-over-syria.ashx#axzz2O5NOvvxX

There are now an estimated 80,000 Syrian Islamist fighters engaged in battle, as well as approximately 18,000 foreign Islamist militiamen, according to sources. This includes some 2,000 fighters who are members of the Uighur ethnic group, a Muslim minority of Turkic heritage who live mostly in China.

The Nusra Front, along with several other Islamist groups, have designs on turning post-revolution Syria into an Islamic caliphate.

Syria’s refugee brides: “My daughter is willing to sacrifice herself for her family”
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/03/22/young_brides_displaced_by_syria_conflict_sought_by_older_grooms.html

Her daughter Aya is their best hope.

“My daughter is willing to sacrifice herself for her family,” Nezar says. “If the war had not happened I would not marry my daughter to a Saudi. But the Syrians here are poor and have no money.”

Nezar’s daughter is 17. The Saudi groom is 70.

[…]

Grasping for the security of a husband and home, hundreds of girls are being sold into early marriage. […]

“If you see how Syrians here live you will see why they marry their daughters to whoever will take them,” Um Majed says. “People are poor and they will do anything to pay the rent.”

The surplus of desperate Syrian refugees means marriage has become a buyer’s market with some grooms offering as little as $100 cash for a bride.

The legal age of marriage in Jordan is 18 but some religious clerics will marry underage girls for a small fee. This puts the girls at even greater risk for exploitation because some of Um Majed’s clients want a temporary union lasting a few weeks or months after which the girl is returned to her parents.

In other words, it is religiously sanctioned prostitution.

“One of my brides has been married three, four times,” Um Majed says. “She is 15.”

[…]

She admits the marriage market is hazardous. Most of the potential grooms offer a few dollars to leer at her daughter.

“You are already selling your daughter, you might as well sell her to someone decent,” she says.

Nezar cuts the meeting short. Aya is having belly-dancing lessons to increase her appeal to the elderly groom.