Linux Beach: September 2012

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Panetta: Unilateral U.S. Military Intervention in Syria Would Be a Serious Mistake

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"
--- Edmund Burke

Unilateral U.S. military intervention in Syria would be “a serious mistake.” said US Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta on the very day that saw the greatest number of Syrians slaughtered in the eighteen months since the Assad regime first started shooting unarmed protesters. They are still shooting unarmed protesters, only now many of those protesters have armed themselves.

Oddly, Panetta made this statement, not in response to a call for unilateral U.S. military intervention, he made it in response to a call for Arab military intervention. Nevertheless, his words were taken as an objection to any military intervention to stop the massacres:

Panetta said reports that the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, advocated Arab intervention in Syria don’t change his belief that the best approach remains international “diplomatic and economic pressure on Assad to step down.”

The word "unilateral" makes his response unresponsive. There can be no question of "unilateral" US action against Assad because France, Turkey, and a number of other countries have already signaled their willingness to go much further than the US in fighting Assad. It is the US that is holding them back. Adding "unilateral" makes his statement easy to agree with, but it is a canard, it makes it completely unresponsive to the world situation because nobody is calling for "unilateral U.S. military intervention."

But Panetta's statement raises a question: It would be "serious mistake" for who?

A "serious mistake" for the children of Syria, who keep getting their heads blown off? See video of another little girl who's brain cavity has been blown empty since Panetta's statement below the fold. Would stopping the bombing and shelling have been a "serious mistake" for her?

Would it be a "serious mistake" for humanity as a whole?

Or would it be a "serious mistake" for US imperialism, Israel and the Obama campaign?

There are different interests represented, so "serious mistake" for who? Please, you are not being clear.

Because I don't think taking down the killer who has his gun aimed at me would be a "serious mistake."

And I want the police to try to talk him out of it first, but I hope that they won't limit themselves to verbal remedies.

I don't think that using measured violence to take down a hijacker or a suicide bomber is necessarily a "serious mistake."

And I don't think this father, hugging his daughter who just had her head blown off, [picture omitted from the Daily Kos version {see note}], thinks it would be a "serious mistake."

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
--- Bishop Desmond Tutu

I know that many people look upon the US role in the Syrian Civil war as that of a neutral, or even one of benign support for the rebels.

Others see in Syria not a war between sectarian factions, but a largely non-violent popular uprising against a police state that has been forced over to self-defense and armed struggle by 18 months of regime violence.

They see an extremely uneven fight in which the Assad regime, with material and political support from its allies, Russia and Iran, is seeking to crush any but the most tame opposition with massive applications of violence that began with snipers shooting unarmed demonstrators, and when that failed to stop the protests,

Its not honorable to watch a woman being raped but if she fights back you can say "You 2 should stop fighting!" #Syria #FSA #Assad #UN
— Clay Claiborne (@clayclai) September 27, 2012

escalated to the use of attack helicopters, jet planes dropping bombs, long range artillery firing cluster munitions, and tanks fire supporting goons that go home to home and slaughter anyone they find.

Most agencies have given up trying to keep an accurate body count but many believe it is now well above 30,000. Most of these are civilians and many of them are children The UNHRC expects as many as 700,000 Syrians will have fled their country by the end of the year and there is no end in sight. This past Wednesday saw the bloodiest day of the conflict so far.

from the official Syrian Arab News Agency

Panetta: Unilateral U.S. Military Intervention in Syria Would Be a Serious Mistake
Sep 27, 2012

WASHINGTON, (SANA)- US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned against unilateral U.S. military intervention in Syria, saying taking a decision in this regard would be "a serious mistake".

The UPI quoted Panetta as saying to the reporters at the Pentagon that the call of Emir of Qatar for military intervention in Syria will not change his conviction that such an intervention would be "a serious mistake".

Panetta called however for escalating the international diplomatic and economic pressure on Syria.

H. Said

#Obama to #Syria: "I give U nothing but fine flowing words - U will get no arms - & I will prevent U getting weapons to resist air attacks"
— Alexblx (@Alexblx) September 30, 2012

To understand why the Syrians being slaughtered by their government, and people around the world desperate to see this slaughter stop, abhor Panetta's statement on the one hand; and why the Syrian state news agency would publish it approvingly and without criticism on the other, is to understand why an increasing number of people in Syria and around the world see the US position as one that is favorable to the murderous Assad regime.

The opposition knows that, at this point, only an armed response to Assad's violence can bring any meaningful relief to the Syrian people. The regime also knows that Panetta's threat of "escalating the international diplomatic and economic pressure on Syria" will not stand in their way of murdering all Syrians that oppose it.

They see these repeated promises that the Obama administration will not favor military action against the Syrian dictatorship as green lighting Assad's escalation of violence against his own people.

On 6 October 2012, a large part of the anti-war movement will raise the demand:

Hands Off Syria!
Paradoxically, that is also the demand of the Assad regime and the US government. The stars are aligned.

Sorry for the profane language but this is exactly how most #Syria|ns feel at the moment fb.me/F8xGm5mW
— Victory is Near (@IbnOmar2005) September 30, 2012

#Syria #Homs:30.09.2012Duma,Damascus,todaythis is not a graphic image,its whats left a little Damascene girl.... fb.me/1JIgQQ4WX
— ??????? ?????? (@QusairRev) September 30, 2012

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

My Achilles Heel

You don't realize how important and delicate your Achilles tendon is until you damage it, which I did on my bicycle just Space Shuttle over Venice Beach | 21 September 2012

Space Shuttle over Venice Beach | 21 September 2012

about two weeks ago. It is the largest tendon in the body, it supports all of the body's weight every time you take a step, it normally doesn't get a lot of blood flow so it can take a long time to heal. The most extreme damage requires surgery and other than than it needs rest and maybe cold compresses.

Fortunately, my injury was nowhere near surgery. In fact, after the pedal hit the ankle and the initial jolt of pain, I shook it off and went on with my ride. It was days later that it got sore and troublesome. What I Iearned about it on the Internet was this was the type of pain that I should listen to rather than fight through, so I did my best to stay off my feet [and on the computer] for the next week or so. When it started to wear my patience, I decided to have a doctor take a look. I scheduled an 8am appointment on Friday and got out of the Venice Family Clinic just in time to catch a shuttle headed for LAX.

As o

ne way of makin

g some desperately needed money, I was looking forward to selling some DVDs at several events over the weekend, so in anticipation of that, I put together two new video collections on DVDs while I stayed [mostly] off my feet.

Each focuses on an "Arab Spring" uprising that became an armed struggle and a revolution. They are, of course, the same two struggles that have consumed much of my attention in the past year, the revolutions in Libya and Syria. Both are collections from the YouTube videos I have used in my diaries at the DailyKos over the past year.

I realize that not everybody can see these on-line, and now with some of them, nobody can see them on-line. I started downloading and preserving the YouTube videos I've used in my reports when I noticed that some of them were starting to disappear. They would generally be replaced by the stark message that "This video is no longer available because this account has been terminated." I think YouTube should change that message, terminated is a bad word to use in relation to activist videographers in Syria.

These two new titles are now available at Linux Beach for $12.95 each. They are the first of a number of volumes along these lines that I plan to produce.

Roseann Barr speaking at Ocean Park Church, Venice | 22 September 2012

Roseann Barr speaking at Ocean Park Church, Venice | 22 September 2012

Roseann Barr spoke at a Peace & Freedom Party rally at the Church of Ocean Park in Santa Monica on Saturday. It was a lively event and well attended, in fact, so well attended that there was no room for a separate table, although the PFP allowed me to put a stack of my most important title, Vietnam: American Holocaust, on their table.

While that event had the best attendance, I spent most of the weekend in a booth I rent a Agape Choir @ Peace-Sunday

t the Peace Fest organized by ICUPJ and a number of other Los Angeles peace groups. That took place at the Iman Center in Culver City on Friday, Saturday and Peace Sunday. I saw old friends, met some new ones and had some great conversations. Attendance was less than expected and so were my sales. After I paid the booth fees there was very little profit to show for the effort but even the fees went to a good cause.

I know that I am largely responsible for my current predicament but I have no regrets. I spent a month delving into unpublished files obtained by Wikileaks, and doing that research and writing resulted in Barack Obama's Courtship with Bashar al-Assad and the release of 26 new documents by Wikileaks. That 16,000 word effort exposed the little known and largely secret dealings between our present government in Washington and the murderous one in Damascus over a three year period. When I saw that it had been re-published by uruknet.info, a Middle East website that I have read and respected since the start of the Iraq War, I knew that it was starting to have an effect on the dialog seeking a solution to the violence in Syria simply by revealing what had been hidden and that is far more important than any hardship I might face.

The bottom-line is I still really need your support. With rent due now in a matter of days, I am still trying to piece together the nut to pay it. I have some handyman work I will be doing later today and tomorrow, and I have good prospects for computer consulting work going forward. I often think that if I got a nickel for every time someone watched Vietnam: American Holocaust, I would be on easy street, but even though Google runs ads against it, they won't allow me to, so after 400,000 free views on YouTube, I feel that I am being forced to withdraw it to the pay-per-view market.

More than I ever have before. I need your support to help Linux Beach continue the work of getting out the news and views of myself and others that may not turn a profit but are part of a dialog that is essential for humanity going forward. If you are in a position to make a contribution is this work, no matter how small, I urge you to do so. [I am channeling Amy Goodman here.] You may make a contribution safely via PayPal to Linux Beach here. Tax deductible contributions towards the completion of our film in progress, Vietnam: People's Victory, can be made through our fiscal sponsor, "From the Heart." Checks can be made to "Linux Beach" and sent to the address below. Even if you can only afford to buy a DVD, that would be a great help. Don't you know a school or library that still doesn't have a copy of Vietnam: American Holocaust, or anything else that tells the anti-war side of that story, on its shelves? That film, graciously narrated by Martin Sheen, which Ron Kovic called "essential viewing for all Americans" is available at Amazon, and all my titles, including the two new ones, are available at Linux Beach.

In Solidarity,

Clay Claiborne

Linux Beach Productions
Venice, CA 90291

Click here for a list of my other blogs on SyriaClick here for a list of my other blogs on Libya

305 Syrians slaughtered in bloodiest day yet

More than 305 people were killed across Syria on Wednesday according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, making it the bloodiest day yet in the eighteen month conflict. Some human rights groups put yesterday's total as high as 343 souls, according to the Telegraph.

Up to 700,000 Syrian refugees may flee their country by the end of the year UNHCR reported yesterday.

On Tuesday, the BBC reported on the systematic use of rape and sexual abuse against detainees by the Assad government:

The first thing he saw was a woman in the corner of the basement. "They were raping her. It was clear that they were raping her. There was blood coming out of her body and she just stayed in the corner."

The witness was working as an activist with a church-based human rights group when he was arrested last November.

The witness says his captors demanded that he confess to smuggling weapons and sending footage of demonstrations to foreign news organisations.

"They hit me, they kick me, they slap me and they (did) something unfriendly and offensive… I know what happens when they arrest someone. I feel like this is the end."
Alleged rape victim talks to Fergal Keane The "rapist officers" behaved like animals, the former detainee says

At first, he says, a security official began to touch him sexually. There was also an officer who watched what was happening but remained silent. Then he was attacked by a group of three officers.

"The three guys, they are like animals. I tried to protect myself but I'm just a short guy… when they were raping me, I start to say: 'Please don't do that, please don't do that.'"

5:32 PM PT:
How they died

From the Telegraph we have

The Observatory claimed 14 people on both sides were killed in a bomb attack on the army command centre in Damascus and a subsequent gun battle. The regime admitted to four security guards having been killed, and the rebels to four of their men shot dead and another, the suicide bomber who began the attack, blowing himself up.

So 14 there.

The worst single incident on Wednesday was the discovery of scores of bodies in the southern Damascus suburb of Dhiyabiyah, men of all ages who had apparently been shot in cold blood.The differing figure put on that massacre - 40, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 107 according to local activists - accounts for the disparity in the total number of deaths given.

So 40-107 murdered by the regime there. The Telegraph also speaks of:

attendant aerial attacks on civilian areas by the regime's fighter jets,

From the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights:

Homs Province: The violent bombardment by regime forces, has resumed, on the Rastan city, leading to several injuries and the destruction of some houses.

-Idlib Province: The Kafarmeed and Mhambel towns were bombarded by regime forces, leading to a number of injuries. Regime forces, raided the Ghasaniya town, and violent clashes took place in the town, between regime forces and rebel fighters, and news were received about deaths and injuries among regime forces, and the clashes are still going on.

Homs province: The Khaldiya, Jourat al-Shayyah, Sultaniya and old neighbourhoods of Homs have come under intense regime bombardment, several injuries were reported; violent explosions rocked these neighbourhoods during the bombardment. Clashes took place on the Sultaniya neighbourhood, there are reports of losses on both sides. The towns of al-Jousiya, al-Zira'a and al-Nezariya have been under violent regime bombardment.

Latakia province: The town of Balkas was violently bombarded by regime forces, no reports of casualties. Violent clashes took place in Jabal al-Turkman (turkman mountain), reports indicate regime losses.

Idlib province: The city of Kafrenbel was violently bombarded by regime forces, 1 civilian who happened to be in the marketplace was killed as a result, a woman was also killed; several houses were destroyed as a result of the bombardment. Regime forces also bombarded the towns of Khan Shaikhoun, Meghtrem, and al-Aliya, causing several injuries. The body of a young man from the city of Saraqeb was

found near the military barracks in the town of Mastouma, he was killed by a gunshot, there were marks of torture on his body. A rebel fighter from the province was killed during clashes in Aleppo. Rebel and regime forces clashes near the village of Bsanqoul, reports indicate that both sides suffered losses.

Homs Province: Intense clashes are taking place in the areas of Jobar and al-Sultaniya and in the neighbouring Naqeera village, the clashes are accompanied by violent regime bombardment. The towns and villages of al-Dar al-Kabira, al-Ghento, al-Nezariya, Jousiya and al-Zira'a are also under regime bombardment.

Latakia Province: Violent clashes are taking place in the villages of the Turkman mountain, the area wes under bombardment earlier by Syrian regime forces. There are reports that the army has begun a military operation in northern Reef Latakia, which is mostly outside the control of the regime, mostly the Kurd and Turkman mountains.

Final death toll for Wednesday 26/9/2012: More than 300 Syrians were killed. 26/9/2012 marks the single bloodiest day so far since the beginning of the uprising.

The dead include: 189 unarmed civilians (13 were children) , 22 rebel fighters, 4 defected soldiers, and 49 regular soldiers
55 were killed in Reef Dimashq (40 bodies were found in several parts of the Thiyabiya town, the SOHR has docu

mented 29 names so far, they include women and children*); 44 were killed in Deir Izzour province (20 civilians and 3 rebels were killed when regime forces stormed the al-Joura neighbourhood*); 26 were killed in Damascus (17 civilians were killed by pro-regime gunmen in Harat al-Turkman , Barzeh neighbourhood, the dead include 8 women and 3 children); 30 killed in Aleppo province (5 civilians were killed when a rocket landed on the regime-loyal al-Sleimaniya neighbourhood); 14 were killed in Hama province; 7 in Dera'a province; 8 killed in Idlib province; 27 were killed in Homs province (13 men were shot and killed by regime forces in the al-Bayyada neighbourhood).
There are further reports of tens of unidentified bodies in the al-Thiyabiya town of Reef Dimashq. There are also more reports on deaths in the Joura neighbourhood of Deir Izzour
Information was received of 28 unidentified persons, 6 in the Hajar al-Aswad neighbourhood; 5 in Rankous; 17 in Hama province
A journalist from the Press TV channel was shot and killed during the clashes by the General Command of the Armed forces in Damascus.
*9 men killed on Tuesday by regime fire in Ibti', Reef Dera'a, were only documented by the SOHR today. 1 civilian from Hayyan was also documented today*

There is a saying: "A single death is a tragedy. A thousand deaths is a statistic."
In a nut shell, that is why some insist that, in this visual video age, these deaths be shown in all their gory detail, and also why others rail against them, and try to suppress them with cries of war-porn. To its credit, YouTube won't be silenced by such cries, and neither will I.

Regime guards beating prisoners to death. Extremely Graphic.

If you read my diary yesterday, then you know that I am hardly in a position to take time out to write this now.

But I do anyhow, because I am terribly afraid that if I don't, the plight of these poor people won't even get a mention in the Daily Kos.

Why is that? There is even a core group of Kossacks that are trying hard to shut me up or have me banned. First they came at with bogus charges of copyright violation. They set themselves up as 3rd party volunteers, policing what they suspected [falsely] was my violation of other people's copy rights.

Then, when I refused to let dry statistics tell the story, they charged me with "war-porn", a term usually applied to the grotesque trophy pictures soldiers kept of their victims, not works like Schindler's List, or pictures from the Jewish holocaust. [Please look at the picture that accompanies the Telegraph article above and tell me why it is not "war-porn", and if it is, write angry letters to the editor and try to shut them up.

I was born 3 years after the end of that holocaust, and grew up in a world that asked itself how it could have ever allowed that to happen, and promised that it would never happen again.

Now what are they telling me?

Here are my related diaries on Syria:
Syria: Secret source of rebel arms revealed
BREAKING: Amnesty on Syria - Assad Regime guilty on indiscriminate slaugther
Syrian Revolution Digest shows "disgusting" photos!
Syria: The Killing Field the World is Learning to Live With
Barack Obama's Courtship of Bashar al-Assad
LIVE VIDEO: “World Silence is Killing #Syria” Rally in #DC
Free #Syria responds to Robert Fisk
UPDATED: #Assad: "#Syria doesn't need a green light!"
#Obama opposes French support for #Assad's opposition in #Syria
BREAKING: Amnesty site hacked, Assad propaganda posted
BREAKING: 630 Slaughtered in new massacre in Syria
Special message from Syrian children to Obama
Assad's Redline and Obama's Greenlight!
General Meade at Gettysburg
Tell US gov't to stop endangering Syrian activists
UPDATED: #Obama "green lights" #Assad's slaughter in #Syria
Syria: Turning Battlegrounds into Playgrounds
BREAKING: Bashar al-Assad is alive as deaths in Syria reach 25,000
The Left and the Arab Spring
Iran increasing its intervention in Syria
Syria: Images from the Battle of Aleppo
Fears grow of WMD attack in Syria
UPDATED: FSA says it killed Russian General in Syria
BREAKING: Syria releases new images of Bashar al- Assad | Are they fakes?
NOT BREAKING NEWS: Just another massacre in Syria
UPDATED: Syrian prime minister defects
Syria: FSA says Iranian pilgrims really Republican Guard
Syria: Aleppo under Siege!
BREAKING: UN votes to condemn Assad Regime as Reuters posts false story on Syria
BREAKING: Kofi Annan resigns as envoy to Syria
Syria: Bashar al-Assad not heard from on Armed Forces Day!
BREAKING: Senior Syrian diplomat to Armenia defects
BREAKING: Big Explosion hits #Damascus #Syria
UPDATED: Syria's Charge D'Affaires Quits London Post
BREAKING: Ground assault on Aleppo begins!
BREAKING: Protests across Syria in spite of Assad regime violence
ALEPPO: Step outside the Matrix and witness the Horror
UPDATED: US fears massacre in #Aleppo, #Syria
BREAKING: Reports of clashes between Jordan Army & Assad's Syrian army
BRAKING: Obama stops Putin from re-arming Assad in Syria
Syria: Foreign meddling increases as crisis builds
BREAKING: Aleppo, Syria bombed with fighter jets
BREAKING: Syria issues a correction, it has no WMD to use
BREAKING: Arab League asks Assad to step down!
Bashar al-Assad: New images released as slaughter continues in Syria
no blood for oil
BREAKING: Activists report toxic gas attack in Deir ez-Zor, Syria
Glenn Greenwald sees Islamist Terrorism as main issue in Syria
Will Syria's Assad make a chemical attack in Damascus on Saturday?
BREAKING: I know where Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is!
BREAKING: Massive Fire near #Assad's Presidential Palace in #Damascus, #Syria
BREAKING: Is Syria's Bashar al-Assad dead or dying?
BREAKING: Damascus explosion kills Defense Minister, other key figures
The battle for Damascus is coming
BREAKING: General Strike in Damascus
BREAKING: Intense fighting reported in Damascus now!
BREAKING: Syrian defector spills beans as important new defection reported.
Does Syria's Assad have something on Kofi Annan?
Tremseh Massacre in Syria: What we know
BREAKING: ~227 reported massacred by Assad's forces in Tremseh, Syria today!
Syria: Is Assad regime on the verge of collapse?
BREAKING: Russian Warships reported in Syria
BREAKING: #Russia changing on #Assad but not as fast as conditions in #Syria
UN Observers say violence in Syria is ‘Unprecedented’
BREAKING: Defection of major Assad insider reported in Syria
BREAKING: WikiLeaks releases 2.4 million #Syria emails
When did "Never Again" become "Whenever?" | #Douma
BREAKING: Incredible mass rally in Aleppo, Syria today!
BREAKING: HRW releases torture report on Syria
BREAKING: Syrian General defects with 293 to Turkey
BREAKING: Items not in the MSM on Syria
My response to Phyllis Bennis: Where is the non-violent opposition in Syria?
BREAKING: Syrian Air Force attacks Douma, 10m from Damascus, thousands flee
BREAKING: As Syria Burns, UN Blows More Smoke
BREAKING: Kofi Annan to propose Syrian unity gov't sans Assad!
BREAKING: Douma, Syria under massive attack, another massacre feared
BREAKING: Another mass defection from Syrian army
BREAKING: #NATO says No War in #Syria shoot down of #Turkey jet
NATO meetup tomorrow as more defect from Syria
BREAKING: Turkey calls for NATO consult on downing of jet by Syria
BREAKING: Senior Syrian Officers Defect
UPDATED: Russia reported to be preparing to evacuate from Syria
BREAKING: Syria fighter pilot defects
BREAKING: Britain stops Russian ship carrying attack helicopters for Syria
BREAKING: Russian troops headed to Syria
Qaddafi forces Strike Back in Libya
BREAKING: UN suspends mission in Syria
Libya & Syria - two videos - no comment
BREAKING: Russia denies supplying Syria with NEW attack helicopters
Syrian people rise up against the massacre
Another "Houla style" massacre in Syria
Fake Houla Massacre Photo: Was the BBC set up?
Idlib, Syria protest today on anniversary of Kent State killings
BREAKING: Massive protests in Syria following Friday pray
Syria is bleeding
Syria: Ceasefire faltering as mass protests breakout

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Please help me continue my work with WikiLeaks

It is clear from US government pronouncements since the beginning of the public demonstrations in Syria that the Obama Administration wants the leadership in Syria to survive.

Thus begins a political assessment of the situation from the PR firm of Brown Lloyd James written for the Syrian government. It is in my latest major article on the politics surrounding the Syrian revolution, titled Barack Obama's Courtship with Bashar al-Assad and republished by The North Star, Linux Beach and uruknet.info.

This 16 thousand word paper took me a month to research and complete. It details the almost 3 year history of secret negotiations between the Obama administration and the Assad regime that started even before Obama took office, beginning just days after he was elected, and continuing even as Assad begin shooting protesters in the streets.

It is the first fruit of an investigative partnership I have entered into with WikiLeaks that has given me access to the 5 million unpublished emails of global intelligence firm Stratfor. As a result of this research another 26 documents from that collection were published by Wikileaks and made available to the public at the same time I published the article.

If you want to understand what motivates me, click for this tweet. The little girl with no head was alive not too long ago.

If you have been following my writings at the DailyKos, you know that my blog has become one the best sources of news on the struggles of the Syrian people and the extent of Assad's slaughter. This is news that has virtually disappeared from the mainstream media and is seriously under-reported in the left press.

Because I see brave Syrians dying everyday, I have continued reporting on, and supporting their struggle even though it has put my personal welfare in jeopardy.

I have also been reporting stories about the Libyan revolution that you won't see anywhere else. My more recent piece, Seven Libyans Injured Defending US Embassy, reports on the Libyans that attempted to defend the US consulate in Benghazi and paid dearly for it, and on the mass rallies across Libya that protested the attack on the US ambassador. This is another story that is missing from the mainstream media and even hard to find in the left press, as is the critical, but supportive commentary of my Women and the Libyan Revolution.

Although in the past year, my filmmaking has necessarily taken a back seat to my writing, I am still doing work in that area too. I have collected more that three hundred videos shot in Syria. Many of these are no longer available on YouTube or other Internet sites because the accounts have been "terminated." Last week I talked with David Zieger [Sir! No Sir!] about turning these into a documentary. Also last week, I volunteered for WestDoc so that I could seek funding and help in completing the sequel to Vietnam: American Holocaust[387,718 views on YouTube], Vietnam: People's Victory.

A few weeks ago Wikileaks opened the Syria Files, 3.5 million emails found in accounts of high-ranking Syrian officials, to me for research and publication, but as things stand now, I won't be able to do any work with these, or even continue my coverage of the of the Syrian and Libyan revolutions unless I receive support from you.

I am very much at the end of my rope now and as the end of the month looms, I don't have money to make the next rent payment and don't know how I'm going to earn it.

So now all my time must be consumed in looking for work and fund raising. I only hope that I haven't waited too long to start bailing.

Although I am obviously concerned for my own health and welfare, I know that I will somehow survive. I am more concerned that the work I am doing in support of these brave people fighting for their freedom, won't get done.

Since this work, the work that I have mainly been doing in the past year, is not work that anyone will pay me to do, I am reaching out to you to help me continue this work.

Any amount you can spare will be greatly appreciated, not only by me but by those in Libya and Syria that appreciate my work, some of which have been recently translated.

I am completely non-sectarian and accept all denominations. Checks can be made out to "Linux Beach." You may also make a donation via PayPal. Tax-deductable contributions towards the completion of Vietnam: People's Victory can be made through my financial sponsor "From the Heart"

Please help me carry on this work.

In Solidarity,

Clay Claiborne,
Linux Beach
116 Rose Ave #9
Venice, CA 90291
(310)581-1536

Click here for a list of my other blogs on Libya

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Syria: Secret source of rebel arms revealed

What I want to do with today's dairy is to highly recommend the writings of C. J. Chivers on the arming of the Syrian opposition.

Local Arms Production in Syria’s Aleppo Governorate, Part II.

We were working in Syria and without Internet much of last week and until this morning, so we lost the chance to link to the second part of this examination until now. Here is the link. Remember: this is not about looking at weapons for the sake of looking at weapons. It is about looking at weapons to see what they might tell us of larger things.

In this case, they deliver a social message, (a steel, aluminum and explosive version of the political cartoon, above) and they suggest a long war. Why? Because this insurgency is mature. By the time fighters have become supported by an underground industry that is producing weapons like this, they are a long way from standing down. The crackdown by the government of President Bashar al-Assad has had the opposite of its intended effect. Rather then quell the rebellion, it has given the rebellion emotional fuel.

ABOUT THE POLITICAL CARTOON

By Habib Haddad. AlHayat. Aug. 5, 2012

The Do-It-Yourself Weapons of the Free Syrian Army

From C.J.Chiver's blog at the NY Times:

Syria’s Dark Horses, With Lathes: Makeshift Arms Production in Aleppo Governorate, Part I
September 19, 2012, 12:58 pm

There are many indicators of the stubborn determination and evolving organization of the fighting groups in Syria seeking to unseat President Bashar al-Assad. One of them is this: the development of local arms-producing industries in Syrian cities and the countryside. In a war in which the antigovernment fighters have sought outside support and been disappointed by what has been offered, especially from the West, the society that produced the fighters has also undertaken the production of matériel for guerrilla war, a social project of such a scale that it has contributed to the armed opposition’s momentum and confidence this year. The progression is both intriguing and relevant to those seeking to understand the Free Syrian Army, as the loosely organized antigovernment fighters are called. This is not just for the view that local production provides of latter-day warfare with do-it-yourself arms. It offers insights into something else — the social forces within an uprising that is reordering the Middle East.

At War will highlight samples of the work of arms-producing tradesmen in Tal Rifaat, a small city on the agricultural plain north of Aleppo, doing so both in the interest of illuminating the origins and choices of makeshift weapons and to underline the meaning, promises and risks inherent in a such a collective project. I gained access to several tradesmen and different categories of weapons. Beginning today, At War will examine the industry’s evolution and look at two locally made items, and will continue in the next installment with more weapons and a set of conclusions about what they mean. More...

Here is part two:

Syria’s Dark Horses, With Lathes: Makeshift Arms Production in Aleppo Governorate, Part II
September 20, 2012, 1:38 pm

On Wednesday, At War dove deeper into the underground industry in one part of Syria that this year has been producing improvised weapons for fighting groups seeking the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. That post focused on a machine-gun turrets and an artillery piece, known as Dadool, both of which were designed and made in Tal Rifaat, a small city north of Aleppo.

This arms production suggests a mix of determination and a scarce supply of powerful weapons, as people do not naturally engage in making weapons when they are otherwise available. Today we continue the line of reporting, examining local mortar and rocket production, and then discuss the messages implicit in this endeavor. More...

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Libya: This is what democracy looks like - protesters take over HQ of Ansar al-Sharia

When gunmen that are widely suspected to be from the armed Islamic militia Ansar al-Sharia, used protests against the Islamaphobic video as cover and diversion for an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that resulted in the death of the US ambassador and three other US citizens, it greatly angered the people of Benghazi. US Ambassador Christoper Stevens had been highly regarded by the Libyan people because of his support for them in their struggle against the 42 year dictatorship of Mummar Qaddafi.

The Islamic protest and militia attack on the consulate pushed many people's frustrations with the rule of the Islamic militias and revolutionary brigades to the breaking point. Whereas, just after the defeat of Qaddafi, these brigades were celebrated all across Libya, with the passing of time the perception of their role has changed. Now people are demanding an end to these independent armed groups, after the election of the General National Congress in July, Libyans have more and more demanded that the only armed groups be the regular army and the police.

There has much talk that the present Libyan government was too weak to bring these armed militia to heel, but one of the chief goals of the revolution has been to deliver power to the people and on Friday people in Benghazi flexed their muscles.

This Friday there were mass demonstrations across Libya demanding that these armed militia be disband. In Benghazi, the birthplace of the revolution, ten thousand protesters stormed the headquarters of Anshar al-Sharia and took it over. Reuters wrote:

Hundreds of men waving swords and even a meat cleaver chanted "Libya, Libya", "No more al Qaeda!" and "The blood we shed for freedom shall not go in vain!"

"After what happened at the American consulate, the people of Benghazi had enough of the extremists," demonstrator Hassan Ahmed said. "They did not give allegiance to the army. So the people broke in and they fled."

"This place is like the Bastille. This is where Gaddafi controlled Libya from, and then Ansar al-Sharia took it over. This is a turning point for the people of Benghazi."

Things got ugly when the protesters move on to confront two other militias that operated under the authority of the General National Congress. The Rafallah Sahati Brigade was responsible for guarding a large cache of weapons and the February 17th Brigade was responsible for guarding some important prisoners. Five protesters were killed and twenty-four injured as these brigades initially tried to defend their positions by resorting to live fire before abandoning their positions.

Many are saying that the attacks on these two brigades was instigated by elements of the old regime in an attempt to free the prisoners and gain access to weapons. A Libyan army colonel was also kidnapped and on Saturday the bodies of six soldiers that had been guarding him were found near one of the brigade headquarters. This indicates that things are still far from settled in Libya but now the people are resolutely demanding an end to this chaos and violence and are vowing a second revolution if that is what is necessary to rid the country of these independent armed groups.

These brigades occupy a very contradictory position in post-revolutionary war Libya. On the one hand, they have been largely responsible for creating an atmosphere of chaos and lawlessness, on the otherhand, the new government, with it's own army and police very weak, has been forced to rely on them to provide security. As the WSJ Online wrote:

The Rafallah Sahati Brigade kept security in Benghazi during national elections this year and guards a large collection of seized weapons at its compound, which was once a Gadhafi residence. Ansar al-Shariah protects Benghazi's main Jalaa Hospital, putting a stop to frequent attacks against it by gunmen.

On Saturday, armed Rafallah Sahati militiamen—weary from the clashes the night before—guarded the entrance to their compound, standing next to charred cars. The fighters, some in military uniforms, others dressed in Afghan Mujahedeen-style outfits, were indignant.

"Those you call protesters are looters and thieves," said Nour Eddin al-Haddad, a young man with an automatic rifle slung on his back. "We fought for the revolution. We are the real revolutionaries."

Activists and protesters want the militias to disband and the army and security forces to take control. Benghazi lawyer Ibrahim al-Aribi said that if the government doesn't act, "there will be a second revolution and the spark will be Benghazi."

"We want stability and rule of law so we can start building the state, but the Tripoli government appears to have not yet quite understood people's demands," he said.

The Tripoli Post reported:

The other armed groups whose bases were stormed by civilian protesters is the Rafallah Al Sahati and the 17 February Brigade of Benghazi.

In a speech via radio, the President of the National Congress Mohamed Magarief called on the protesters and the armed groups not to resort to violence.

He called on protesters to differentiate between the unofficial militias and the real revolutionary brigades which helped secure the city and authorized to do so by the government.

The Libyan public have been demanding the dismissal of the large number of armed groups which emerged since the collapse of the Gaddafi regime last year.

In Derna, long reputed to be a hot-bed of Islamic militancy in Libya, two of the main Islamic militias abandoned their five bases and announced that they were disbanding on Saturday in response to the protests on Friday. Reuters wrote on this:

The Abu Slim and Ansar al-Sharia militias' announcements were apparently motivated by events in Benghazi, where Ansar al-Sharia, a group linked with last week's deadly attack on the U.S. consulate, withdrew from all its bases in the city late on Friday amid mass demonstrations in support of the government.

Those demonstrations in Libya's second city, also in the east, erupted into violence when the crowd turned against another group that had sworn support for the government.

"The militia in Derna saw what happened last night and they decided: we will not kill our brothers. So they disbanded," Siraj Shennib, a 29-year-old linguistics professor who had been part of protests against the militia, said by telephone.

"They said they no longer exist as militias in Derna. They will go home and leave security to the interior ministry and army."

Shennib said anti-militia protesters had been maintaining a vigil against the groups in Derna for 10 days, and the protests became much larger after a car-jacking three days ago. Residents blame the militia for creating a climate of insecurity.

"The people started coming because it has reached the limit. They are saying: we've had enough," he said. "It was a very peaceful operation. We are happy and we appreciate the effort the militias have done to save people from conflict."

Libyan LANA news agency quoted commanders from both militias as saying they were disbanding and vacating their compounds.

Then late Saturday, Mohammed al-Megarief, the head of the Libyan national assembly, held a press conference and announced that all the armed militias not under government control would be disbanded. Al Jazeera English reported:

"We're disbanding all the armed groups that do not fall under the authority of the government. We're also banning the use of violence and carrying of weapons in public places. It's also illegal to set up checkpoints. We've instructed the appropriate government agencies to ensure that these directives are implemented," he said.

Armed forces in the capital, Tripoli, gave the militias two days to withdraw from government buildings in and around the city that they have occupied since the fall of Gaddafi's regime.

Commander-in-chief Yussef al-Mangush said on his Facebook page on Sunday that the armed forces had dislodged a militia from a military complex on the highway to Tripoli International Airport, arresting militiamen and confiscating their weapons.

"We will carry out these kind of operations for the next two or three weeks until we dislodge all armed groups not under the authority of the State," an army officer said.

The authorities also decided to put in place an "operations room" in Benghazi bringing together the army, forces of the interior ministry and defence ministry brigades comprising former rebels.

They have called on the army to impose its authority by putting its own officers at the head of brigades born out of the 2011 revolt, which escalated into civil war and toppled Gaddafi's government.

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