[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Syria and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Syria Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week`s roundup to syria@jadaliyya.com by Monday night of every week.]
Daily Updates Focusing on the Intervention and the Chemical Weapons Conversations
Syria News Update (9 September 2013)
Syria News Update (8 September 2013)
Syria News Update (5-6 September 2013)
Regional and International Perspectives
The Diplomatic Front
FULL TRANSCRIPT: President Obama’s Sept. 10 speech on Syria
Transcript of Bashar al-Assad’s Interview with CBS
A Plea For Caution From Syria An Op-Ed in the New York Times by Vladimir Putin
Barack Obama’s Answer to Putin’s Op-Ed
Russia Chess Move Stalls US Actions As Al-Qaeda Air force Pepe Escobar writes: “True diplomats are supposed to prevent wars – not pose as warmongers. American exceptionalism is of course exempted.”
Did Kerry Just Ad-Lib His Way Out of the War? Yochi Dreazen says “the Russian proposal could give the White House an out. If Assad puts his weapons under international control, Obama could claim that his threats of a strike were what caused the Syrian dictator to blink. That would allow the administration to claim victory without having to fire a shot.”
R2P and Syria: Imperialism With a Human Face B.S. Chimni argues that “what we need today is not military intervention but prudent internationalism.”
The Vision of the Coordinating Commission on the Military Strikes The Syrian Observer reposts the commission’s proposal, which outlines four major points.
Divisions Emerge Over US Statement on Syria Russia and France disagree on how Syria should get rid of its chemical weapons.
Refugee Crisis
Syrian Refugees in Lebanon From One War to the Next Mohammad Dahnoun meets with Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
How Jordan Treats Syrian at the Airport
In Egypt, A Welcome for Syrian Refugees Turns Bitter
Other
US Starts Delivering Weapons to Rebels
Lebanon at Breaking Point “According to Fafo’s study, two out of three Lebanese believe that the conflict in Syria could lead to a new civil war in Lebanon. For many, the question is not if there is going to be a war or not, but when it is going to break out.”
Ibrahim Makhous Dies in Algeria The leader of the Arab Democratic Socialist Ba`ath Party died at age 88.
Syrian Narratives
Noam Chomsky: While Syria Descends Into Suicide, Israel and the US Are Enjoying the Spectacle An interview with Noam Chomsky for Ceasefire magazine.
Inside the Syrian Revolution and What the Left Must Do A radio interview with Yasser Munif, later transcribed here and translated into Portuguese here.
Yasser Munif Asad AbuKhalil apologizes to Yasser Munif after dismissing his interview as “leftists for Qatar and Saudi Arabia."
Let Us Return to Der’a “There is no primordial “ancient sectarian differences” that must manifest itself if there is to be a democratic shift. It is the contingencies of the Syrian uprising (geopolitics, Salafi armed groups etc.) that has rendered certain sectarian discourses salient.”
Free Army Says Regime Pushed Nusra to Storm Maaloula Fahed Masri, FSA spokesman, “said that the regime is attempting to raise concerns of minorities in Syria, particularly Christians, saying the regime ‘pushed the Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to break into the Christian city of Maaloula and stir up Western public opinion against the Syrian revolution by suggesting the revolutionaries are terrorists.’”
Analysts Roundtable
Serious in Syria An roundtable with Stephen Starr, Rami Khouri, Kamran Bokhari and Janice Stein.
Chris Hedges and Rania Masri on What the Future May Hold for Syria
Syria: Breakthrough of Smokescreen? A France 24 interview with guests Leah Pisar, Meyer Habib, Joelle Garriaud-Maylam and Joshua Landis.
Syria Intervention
Syria’s Plan to Give Up its Chemical Weapons Could Make Things Worse, Not Better Max Fisher interviews Michael Doran.
The Long Road to Retaliation: Delayed Airstrikes Will Exacerbate the Regional Refugee Crisis Steven A. Zyck argues that “rapid, punitive airstrikes two and a half weeks ago, while certainly displacing some Syrians, would have been less likely to lead to larger numbers of refugees.”
Syria: The Case for Intervention Bashar Haydar says “Syria, without intervention, continues to descend towards ever greater violence, destruction, chaos, radical influence elements, and spreading humanitarian catastrophe.”
Chemical Weapons Conversation
The New Truthers: Americans Who Deny Syria Used Chemical Weapons Muhammad Idrees Ahmad is surprised that many Americans still do not buy the argument that the regime conducted the attacks.
Syrian rebel groups sought to buy materials for chemical weapons, prosecutors say Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News claims that “a public prosecutor completed his indictment as part of the probe into the chemicals seized in the southern province of Hatay on Sept. 12, claiming that jihadist Syrian rebel groups were seeking to buy materials that could be used to produce highly toxic sarin gas.”
Intercepts Caught Assad Rejecting Requests to Use Chemical Weapons, German Paper Says
Poisoned Gas Used in Ancient Syria? Eerie Evidence of Lethal Chemical Warfare
Maher al-Assad: Syrian Leader’s Brother is Most Ruthless in Family, Analysts Say CNN accuses Maher al-Assad to be involved in the chemical weapons attack, once again playing with the “mystery” surrounding the leader of the Syrian army’s fourth armored division.
This is the Speech Obama Would Give on Syria if He Were Brutally Honest Max Fisher provides an alternative version to Obama’s speech.
Syria’s Insurgency Beyond Good Guys and Bad Guys according to Charles Lister
Three Syrian-Americans Reflect on the War The reflections of Abdulmonam Alikaj, Jomana Qaddour and Ramah Kudaimi.
How Assad Wooed the American Right, and Won the Syria Propaganda War David Kenner, reflecting on the impacts of Assad’s interview with Charlie Rose, says “Assad has always been able to skillfully parry Western journalists` criticisms of his regime -- and, at times, it has won him positive international coverage.”
US-Led Syria Strike Could Target Military Airfields Prior to the news that Syria would get rid of its chemical weapons, Nicolas Nassif argued that “the strike on Syria is a matter of when, not if.”
A Dilemma for Syria’s Minorities Peter Galbraith argues that “the Syrian opposition has not even tried to win the support of the country`s minorities. There is no program, or even meaningful discussion, of how a post-Assad regime might protect Syria`s Alawites from retribution.”
I Met Bashar al-Assad. He Was Pretty Cool. Nick Taranto about meeting Bashar and Asma al-Assad in 2008.
Inside Syria
La Femme Dans La Revolution syrienne, Vue Par Des Femmes Revolutionnaires The coordinating committee from Salamiyeh publishes this piece titled “the woman in the Syrian Revolution as seen by female revolutionaries.”
How Assad chose his killing fields: The greatest threat to the Syrian leader lies on his doorstep – in the district of Ghouta which was targeted by his chemical weapons Kim Sengupta reports from Syria.
Syrian Media Address Potential Strike “This episode, which featured such guests as a retired army officer, an expert in international law and another lawyer, all loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, alleged that “terrorists” from the Nusra Front had used sarin gas in Syria.”
Witness to a Syrian Execution: “I Saw a Scene of Utter Cruelty” A photographer for the Times describes a day in Aleppo, where he witnessed and documented the public execution of four men at the hands of ISIS fighters.
11 Morts Dans le Bombardement d’un Hopital On a bombing in Aleppo’s Al-Bab.
Life Slowly Returns to Devastated Qusayr Marah Mashi reports from the city, which was the site of heavy battles in the last months.
Damascus Shelters Ready for War Ahmad Hassan says that “the majority of public parks in Damascus contain underground shelters, including some that were built in the past few years, and others that have been around since the 1970s, specifically, since the 1973 October War.”
Candles Are not for Romance in Maarat al-Nu’man “The biggest part of Maarat Al-Nu’man where Rahmoun lives has been shrouded in darkness for about a year, ever since nearby fighting damaged the power distribution stations in the city and the nearby town of Bseeda.”
Aleppo Rebels Angry As Diplomacy Seems to Let Assad Off the Hook Martin Chulov reports from Aleppo.
Battle for Syria Christian Town of Maaloula Continues
A Normal Working Day in a Syrian Field Hospital: Deciding Who Receives Oxygen and Who Dies Abdul Karim Jaafar reports from Raqqa.
At Aleppo’s Central Prison, Detainees Languish in Shadows of a Fight Mohammed al-Khatieb reports from Aleppo.
Syrian Rebels Should Try Kidnappers, Freed Journalist Says The story of Domenico Quirico.
Arts and Social Media
Viewpoints: Five Writers Reflect on Syria and the Arab Spring Samar Yazbek shares some thoughts on Syria.
Rory Peck Awards - 2013 Finalists Announced Olly Lambert’s Syrian Across the Lines is amongst the finalists in the features category.
Six Millions Displaced By War in Syria A photo gallery on the refugee crisis inside and outside Syria.
If Syria Disarms Chemical Weapons We Lose the War A particularly memorable interview by Syrian Girl, a YouTube personality who has become known for her staunch defense of the Syrian regime.
Poll: Majority of Americans Approve of Sending Congress to Syria A satire from the Onion
Syrian Electronic Army Denies Being Attacked by Anonymous
Filmmaker Turned Freedom Fighter Matthew Van Dyke made a documentary about the Syrian rebels earlier this year called “Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution”
Video on the Syrian Revolution From “Brazil...This is the Syrian Revolution” and “Veto”
The Creative Syrian Revolution
Why I Fight for a Free Syria Fotini Christia interviews a Free Syrian Army fighter at the Turkish border and creates a graphic story about his experience.
A Secret Plot in Syria “An illustrated account of the 1949 coup—possibly CIA-assisted—that plunged the country into decades of political turmoil.”
Hacker Rivalry Heats Up Over Syria
Policy and Reports
The Inside Story of How a Fake PhD Hijacked the Syria Debate An in-depth look at the case of Elizabeth O’Bagy, who was just fired for the Syrian Emergency Task force.
Know Your Rights Advisory: Attention Syrians in the United States A document aimed at helping Syrians in the United States who have recently been the object of further scrutiny from the FBI.
U.N. Report Will Point to Assad Regime in Massive Chemical Attack says Colum Lynch.
Syria Death Toll: More Than 110,000 Dead in Conflict, NGO Says
Divided Town of Deir Ezzour is a Microcosm of Syria’s Bitter Conflict An update by Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International`s Senior Crisis Researcher.
Economy and Agriculture
What do Syrians Eat? Food and the War Economy Eckart Woertz argues that “In the end the long-run viability of Syria will depend on economic recovery, it will not be decided by the military victory of whatever side.”
How Could a Drought Spark a Civil War? An NPR report.
Lebanon Has Overcome the Effects of the Global Economic Crisis, but Can it Rescue Its Economy From the Repercussions of the Crisis in Syria? Robin Moger translates this useful piece by Hassan Alhaff.
Nusra Front Militia’s Control of Syrian City Gives it Economic Clout Roy Gutman reports from Ash Shaddadi “a city of 70 000, has become the nightmare that many fear if Syria’s radical Islamist forces triumph in this country’s civil war.”
Lebanese Canned Goods Get Wartime Boost “Sources in the Syndicate of Lebanese Food Industrialists (SLFI) believe that the Syrian crisis created an opportunity to increase local productive capacity and expand penetration in Arab markets.”
Arabic
المرأة في الثورة، بعيون نسوية ثورية
A group of women from Salamieh Coordination Committee shed light on the role of women in the Syrian revolution.
Samir Aitah writes that all Syrians are responsible for the current situation in the country.
نهاية الوصايا الأمريكية على العالم؟
Saadallah Mezraani on US foreign policy today.
العرب والأزمة السورية: سفر الخروج من الجغرافيا بعد التاريخ
Mostapha Allabbad on the current local, regional and global realities surrounding the Syrian struggle.
كيف نجح الأسد في استمالة اليمين الأمريكي وكسب الحرب الإعلامية
This is a translation of an article published in Foreign Policy by David Kenner on how al-Assad had the support of the “American right” and was therefore able to “win” the “propaganda media war.”
تفكيك «منطق» العدوان على سوريا
Alaa Allami deconstructs the “logic” of the offense on Syria.
التدخل العسكري الخارجي والتفكك الانفجاري للبنية الداخلية
Mohammad Sayed Rasas analyses the historical effects of foreign military intervention on the internal infrastructure in different countries and contexts.
Tarek Azizeh writes about the roles of some Syrians in “international jihad.”
الجيش الحرّ» يرفض المبادرة الروسيّة والمعارضة الداخليّة ترحّب بها»
Al-Akhbar reports that the Free Syrian Army refuses the Russian initiative while the “internal opposition” welcomes it.
"أحدث انتصارات الممانعة و"الثورة
Allam Ahmad provides his own analysis on the “resistance” regime and their reaction to the Russian initiative.
التنظيم الذاتي للنضالات الشعبية في سوريا بوجه النظام والجماعات الإسلامية؟ نعم هذا موجود!
A translation of Joseph Daher’s piece on the popular resistance in Syria.