Sic Semper Tyrannis

Syria scorns UN-brokered talks with rebels - CBC News

"There will be no dialogue with the opposition before the army crushes the rebels, the Syrian regime said Monday, the latest sign that President Bashar Assad is determined to solve the crisis on the battlefield even if many more of his people have to pay with their lives. "There will be no dialogue with the opposition prior to the Syrian army's imposition of security and stability in all parts of the country," Information Minister Omran al-Zoebi told reporters at a news conference in Damascus. "  CBC News

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Could this be any clearer?  Brahimi sould take his ego andgo  home to the Riviera.  pl 

The picture is of a Latin Christian school in Aleppo inth "bad old days' of Ottoman rule. 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/09/03/syria-bombing.html

"Writers and artists protest 'Brotherhoodisation' of Egypt's constitution " Al-Ahram

"Writers Bahaa Taher, Mohamed Salmawy, Saad Hagras, Nabil Abdel Fattah Salwa Bakr, visual artist Mohamed Abla, and publisher Mohamed Hashem were among the protesters. The protesters argue that the members of the current Assembly are not elected and do not represent the wide range of Egyptian society. The protesters said that the Assembly is part of the Brotherhoodisation of the country, as its members only reflect the views of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood, they charge, is consolidating its grip and monopolise the next constitution to conform to their views. The first leaked draft of the articles on freedoms show signs that the new constitution might hold onto the times of censorship and actually put new constraints on freedoms of creativity and expression. "  al-Ahram.

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Those who think the trial and prison sentences of the women's band in Russia were justified will probably be on the side of the constitution drafters in Egypt.  After all, free speech is a "seamless garment."  If it is not sacred, then it is nothing.

in Egypt free speech is well on its way to "free speech=nothing important."  pl

 

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/5/51867/Arts--Culture/Writers-and-artists-protest-Brotherhoodisation-of-.aspx

"U.S. intervention in Syria appears unlikely, say officials" Washpost

"... the Obama administration is resisting scattered calls in Europe and from the Free Syrian Army rebels to provide weapons and to establish an internationally protected humanitarian corridor or a buffer zone for displaced Syrians inside their country. “The bottom line is that [such protected areas] would necessitate a no-fly zone,” a second administration official said. No humanitarian organization would enter Syria without guaranteed protection from air attacks and, the official said, “that would require taking out Syrian air defenses. This is a very slippery slope.” "  Washpost

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Who are these officials?  NSC staffers?  I think that the US  government will face a great crisis after the November election.  Will a vctorious BHO decide to deliver maximum lethal and non-lethat aid to the jihadi rebels?  Will Romney the First press BHO to do this in his remaining months in office?  You tell me.  pl

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-intervention-in-syria-appears-unlikely-say-officials/2012/09/02/c1cd4e9a-f2bb-11e1-a612-3cfc842a6d89_story.html

Another guerrilla triumph in Syria

"The explosion took place in Abu Rummaneh, a well-guarded upscale area in
central Damascus where the Ministry of Defense and other government buildings are located.

A truck bomb exploded in the same high-security zone on Aug. 15, injuring at
least three people. Four senior government officials also were killed in a bomb
blast in Damascus on July 18. "  Washpost

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(irony alert) These are some bad assed guerrillas.  They are getting their butts kicked all over the country.  Their sympathisers are being rooted out of sympathetic neighborhoods and then shot in the streets and still, they can infiltrate army headquarters in the capital and set off truck bombs.  I am impressed.

The "guerrillas" seem to have missed Assad again.  What a shame.  The timing would have been grand. I can see the scene on national TV with BHO on the stage at Charlotte to announce that once again a terrorist leader has been eliminated from the world, and this time by his own people.

I feel sure the jihadis will try again soon.  pl

http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Sep-02/186423-syria-tv-terrorist-bombing-in-damascus-wounds-four.ashx#axzz25LJrtobw

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syrian-rebels-bomb-regime-army-base-4-injured/2012/09/02/e48a86ec-f508-11e1-86a5-1f5431d87dfd_story.html

Syria air base attacks and the cyberwar against SANA

"In recent days, the rebels have reported downing several helicopters and at least two fighter aircraft involved in attacks against opposition fighters and civilians. While videos have been posted online and broadcast, the details have not been independently verified."  Businessweek

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I see four coffins.  How much damage did the jihadi attacks on an airbase really do?  We know nothing of that other than the statements of the jihadis.  pl

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"The Syrian Arab news agency SANA is hard to reach lately, obviously under DDoS-attacks by global enemies of free speech, just like Mein Parteibuch was shot down by the global arrogance forces warring against free speech, freedom and human dignity. To make important news messages from SANA available though SANA is under DDoS Mein Parteibuch will syndicate selected internationally important English language SANA news items. "  abovetopsecret

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There have been a series of cyberattacks on the website of the Syrian Arab New Agency (SANA)  Who could or would do that?  The jihadis?  Maybe.  The Israelis"  Possibly.  The US?  Most likely.  This is the age of info ops.  The US believes it can win wars by denying access to information.  It is the expressed policy of the US to bring down Assad's government in the foolish belief that this will undermine Iran.  I vote for the US as culprit.

Why am I still able to publish this blog?   It is because I am judged to be insignificant and ineffective.  pl

 

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-09-01/syrian-forces-clash-with-rebels-near-airbases-as-fighting-rages

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread860889/pg1

 

 

 

The fall of the House of Nagl (COIN)

"Nagl, once called the Johnny Appleseed of COIN, who reveled in his role as face man, tutoring reporters with practiced bookish charm on the “the new way of war,”  and burnishing his personal story to convince everyone that he was a counter-insurgent before his time — a modern T.E. Lawrence — is packing up for good. Turns out that despite all the high hopes, the COINdinistas hit the brass ceiling with a smack, especially once it became clear that the magic they sold was a bag of beans. Among them is Michele Flournoy, who in 2007 founded The Center for a New American Security, the COIN-inspired, Democratically-charged think-tank which would become a feeder of the Obama administration. Flournoy was appointed Under Secretary for Defense Policy and the highest-ranking woman at the Pentagon in 2009. But not long after Obama appointed Leon Panetta — a career politician and bureaucrat, not a COINdinista — to Secretary of Defense, she left, citing family reasons. Her anticipated rise to Defense Secretary was thwarted as counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan, thanks to Commander Petraeus and COIN disciple Gen. Stanley McChrystal, became a huge albatross around the President’s neck."  American Conservative

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I debated this guy on the prospect of COIN success in Afghanistan.  That was three years ago in NY City.  This was a creepy "debate" in the IQ2 series.  IMO the audience was stacked, the moderator understood the desired outcome and our side (Steve Clemons, Ralph Peters and I) lost by a small margin.  The transcript is on the blog somewhere.  I recommend that you read the unedited transcript.

After the debate I told Nagl over a drink that I was a practitioner of COIN in the 20th Century with a lot more resources than he would ever get.  The efforts then pretty much failed as he would fail and he should get off the boat before it sank.  He waved me off.  Now he is done, finished.  Good.

COIN was/is a colonial doctrine for putting down revolts in countries or colonies that one OWNS.  The inputs in time, money and blood are too high to be borne on any other basis.  pl

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/learning-to-eat-soup-with-a-spoon/