Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Istanbul this weekend to talk with Turkish officials about a post-Bashar Assad future for Syria. Clinton says it’s urgent to plan for a transition and make sure Syria’s institutions remain intact. She’s also warning against a sectarian war. But some Syrian exiles say the U.S. has done too little, too late and its messages won’t be heard as the warring factions become more radicalized. Continue reading “Calls Grow For U.S. To Intervene In Syrian Conflict”
Category: Syrian Politics
Syria: Despite Prime Minister’s Defection, Assad’s Inner Circle Intact
A quote in the Christian Science Monitor:
About five Alawite clans, all linked through intermarriage and business interests, control the real power bases in Syria — such as the security apparatus and the military — and there have been no notable defections from their ranks, said Ammar Abdulhamid, an exiled opposition member who is on the Syria Working Group at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, a think tank in Washington.
“They control the key decision-making process in tactical terms,” Abdulhamid said of the powerful Alawite dynasties. “The defection shows that the regime has lost control of an old game: the Sunni fig leaf.”
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly About the Syrian Civil War
Interviewed by Barry Rubin, PJ Media
Ammar Abdulhamid may know more about Syria’s civil war than anyone else in the world. That’s no exaggeration. An pro-democratic oppositionist living abroad, Abdulhamid has functioned on a virtual 24/7 basis as the source of news and analysis about events within Syria, always trying to be honest and accurate in his assessments regardless of his own preferences. Barry Rubin, PJMedia Middle East editor, interviewed Abdulhamid on the latest developments and trends. Continue reading “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly About the Syrian Civil War”
White House Dismisses Reports of Aid to Syrian Rebels
A quote in VOA:
Syrian human rights activist Ammar Abdulhamid, with the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, says his contacts in Syria tell him there is no evidence of a surge in aid to the rebels.
“I do not really see any intensification of these efforts. I see a lot of leaks, it seems to me, that were sort of primed to show that something is being done. But the reality is, so far on the ground, we have not detected any real involvement by the U.S. in the ongoing military operations in the country,” Abdulhamid said. Continue reading “White House Dismisses Reports of Aid to Syrian Rebels”
The Ammar Abdulhamid Archive 