Insurgents Named Responsible for Syrian Massacres

Stephen Lendman

Photo: 14-year old Malik Ahmed Suleiman after he was strangled to death for supporting Bashar al-Assad.

A Syrian documentary aired on June 9, and a June 7 report by Germany's leading broadsheet provide more evidence. Both refutes Western and scoundrel media misinformation. More on the latter below.

On May 10, suburban Damascus suicide bombings killed 55 and injured hundreds. The attack happened near Syria's military intelligence complex. Children were killed. So were drivers and others heading for work.

At the time, SANA state media said rescue workers collected "15 bags of limbs and torn-off body parts" from the scene. The blasts also destroyed 105 cars.

Western reports spuriously blamed Assad. He had nothing to do with it, other insurgent massacres, daily attacks, targeted assassinations, and Western-sponsored terrorism.

On June 10, SANA state media's documentary discussed the Damascus incident. It pointed fingers the right way. It named Western-recruited Jabhet al-Nasra terrorists responsible. They also carried out earlier attacks.

Jordanian terrorist Abu Musaab, Syrian Mohammad Ali Ghazi, and an Iraqi called Marwan "supervised the operation." Others involved included "Mohammad Ahmad Kamaleddin, a Syrian from Serghaya, Yasser, another Syrian, and an Iraqi known as Allawi."

Testimonies were aired. Medical student Abdullah said the Yousef al-Hajer terrorist organization recruited him to participate. He met Iraqi insurgents involved. They were affiliated with Al Qaeda.

Abdullah was enlisted to help make explosives. He didn't know for what purpose. He said Jabhet al-Nasra is active throughout Syria. It works cooperatively with Free Syrian Army elements. Their mission is violence and destruction to destabilize Syria and oust Assad. Recruits were deceived to go along.

On air footage also showed al-Qassa'a security camera evidence. "(F)our booby-trapped cars....targeted al-Jamarek, Kafarsousseh, al-Qassa'a and the Criminal Security Department in al-Jamark."

"The documentary showed that the terrorist AbdulSalam Awwad al-Ali al-Hayyawi, nicknamed Abu Omar al-Shami from Deir Ezzor,23 years old, was the one who carried out al-Midan terrorist bombing using a 30-kg explosive-laden belt on April 27th."

It also "revealed that the explosives used in the terrorist bombings were manufactured at a blacksmith shop in Akraba, owned by the terrorist Said Mahmoud Hamada,36 years old, nicknamed Abu Salah, who was a senior member of Jabhet al-Nasra. He recruited an Iraqi explosives' expert called Taha."

On June 7, the Frankfurther Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) published an article titled "Again massacres in Syria." The English translation was choppy. Nonetheless, it pointed fingers the right way.

Anti-Assad elements were interviewed. They claimed responsibility. FAZ kept their names confidential. At issue is potential reprisals.

It said most Qubeir victims "were of a family. While the rebels accused the regime militias of murder, the state television made a 'terrorist group' responsible for the massacre."

It replicated Houla May 25 killings. "(C)redible witnesses" "reconstruct(ed)" events. They refuted Western and Assad opposition element claims.

"(I)nsurgents attacked the three roadside inspections of the Syrian army" near Houla. They're responsible for protecting villages.

"Rebels (got a) 300-million-dollar fund." An "expatriate" Doha-based "businessman" supplied it. "Mustafa Sabbagh, president of the Syrian Business Forum in exile, presented the fund."

"Wael Mirza, Secretary General of the Syrian opposition National Council, said half" the amount was spent "and partly flowed to the Free Syrian Army."

In Houla area fighting, "three villages....were sealed off from the outside world."

"According to the eyewitnesses to the massacre," those killed "almost exclusively" were pro-Assad Alawite family members. Several dozen members of one family were slaughtered.

"Killed were also members of the Alawite family Shomaliya and the family of a Sunni member of parliament, because (he) was considered" pro-Assad.

The National Review calls itself "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."

On June 9, it headlined "Report: Rebels Responsible for Houla Massacre," saying:

FAZ's new report blamed Houla killings on "anti-Assad Sunni militants, and the bulk of the victims were members of the Alawi(te) and Shia minorities, which have been largely supportive of Assad."

The massacre followed insurgent/Syrian army clashes. Anti-Assad elements initiated them. Dozens were killed on both sides. Fighting raged for 90 minutes.

It was a diversion. Eyewitnesses said Houla killings occurred at the same time. Pro-Assad loyalists were targeted.

Russian journalist Marat Musin revealed the same thing. Based on firsthand observations and eyewitness testimonies, he refuted Western misinformation and lies.

Western-enlisted death squads bear full responsibility. Government forces and/or so-called pro-Assad shabbiha had no involvement.

FAZ's account said the same thing. Qara, Syria Monastery of St. James members collected their own eyewitness testimonies. They confirmed what Marat and FAZ reported.

The National Review said:

"According to monastery sources cited by the Dutch Middle East expert Martin Janssen, armed rebels murdered 'entire Alawi(te) families' in the village of Taldo in the Houla region."

In early April, Mother Agnes-Mariam de la Croix warned about rebel atrocities "being repackaged in both Arab and Western media accounts as regime atrocities."

She cited a Homs massacre. According to a monastery web site account (published in French), "rebels gathered Christian and Alawi(te) hostages in a building in Khalidiya and blew (it up) with dynamite."

They blamed Assad. Mother Agnes-Mariam said:

"Even though this act has been attributed to regular army forces....the evidence and testimony are irrefutable: It was an operation undertaken by armed groups affiliated with the opposition."

These accounts and other credible evidence point fingers the right way. Western-enlisted death squads bear full responsibility for months of Syrian killings and overall violence. Assad had nothing to do with them. Nonetheless, he's wrongly blamed.

Fabricated accounts substitute for truth and full disclosure. Public support is enlisted for war. Western profiteers want it. Pentagon officials say they're ready.

Joint Chiefs head General Martin Dempsey appears often on Fox News. Claiming Assad atrocities, he threatens military action. So do Obama officials. Media scoundrels promote it. Top UN officials regurgitate it.

Former Secretary-General Kofi Annan and current one, Ban Ki-moon, are trusted imperial tools. Annan's so-called peace plan is sham cover for what's planned.

He and Ban hold Assad responsible "for grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law."

Ban said his government "lost all legitimacy. The trail of blood leads" directly to him and close associates. Culpability is ignored. Victims are blamed, not perpetrators.

The "trail of blood leads" to Washington, not Damascus. Ban reports in for orders. His comments sound pre-scripted. Obama speech writers likely wrote them. Dutifully he repeats him.

Like conspiratorial administration officials, he bears direct responsibility for months of Western-instigated violence. He's equally culpable. He's guilty of crimes of war and against humanity.

How many more will die before bloodshed ends? How great a body count is tolerable? Is Syria in ruins acceptable? Are wars without end defensible? Perhaps nuclear weapons are planned for the next one.

Einstein and Bertrand Russell once thought using them was unthinkable. Both forthrightly opposed war. Russell once said:

"Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race, or shall mankind renounce war?"

Einstein put it another way, saying:

"I know not what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

Leaders with these views are sorely lacking. America had none in modern times. World peace hangs in the balance. So does human survival.
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Stephen Lendman: I was born in 1934 in Boston, MA. Raised in a modest middle class family, attended public schools, received a BA from Harvard University in 1956 and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of PA in 1960 following 2 years of obligatory military service in the US Army. Spent the next 6 years as a marketing research analyst for several large US corporations before becoming part of a new small family business in 1967, remaining there until retiring at the end of 1999. Have since devoted my time and efforts to the progressive causes and organizations I support, all involved in working for a more humane and just world for all people everywhere, but especially for the most needy, disadvantaged and oppressed. My efforts since summer 2005 have included writing on a broad range of vital topics ranging from war and peace; social, economic and political equity for all; and justice for all the oppressed peoples of the world like the long-suffering people of Haiti and the Palestinians. Also co-hosting The Global Research News Hour, occasional public talks, and frequent appearances on radio and at times television. I also am a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. I live in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit my blog site sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Lendman News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday - Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national issues. All programs are archived for easy listening. My new book "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War" can be ordered HERE.
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Images/Captions: Uprooted Palestinians
URL: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2012/06/11/insurgents-named-responsible-for-syrian