The Russian Proposal: Opportunity or Trap?

Published on NOW: September 10, 2013

This article published yesterday in NOW elaborates on a recent Facebook status, but it is obviously dated now after the Obama’s speech. Things are moving quickly and writing on current affairs is not easy. Still, the argument is the same: if President Obama truly believes in what he is peddling – that Assad needs to be punished, and eventually ousted – then, he needs to find a way to retrieve the initiative and launch his heralded limited strikes which, knowing the fragility of the Assad regime, will have a major impact on the conflict. Continue reading “The Russian Proposal: Opportunity or Trap?” →

Syrian President Showing Renewed Confidence

Quoted by Associated Press.

Syrians opposed to Assad accuse him of encouraging and planting extremists in the ranks of the rebellion, including releasing hundreds of jihadis from prison early in the uprising, knowing full well that they were bound to take up arms against it. Ammar Abdulhamid, a Washington-based Syrian pro-democracy activist and director of the Tharwa Foundation, said that while the regime has probably lost control over these cells by now, their presence has helped it achieve its goal… Abdulhamid said that if groups like al-Nusra increase their profile in Syria, there will be a greater willingness among some Western leaders to listen to Assad’s argument again. “The mantra of ‘Either us or the extremists’ is slowly but surely regaining some of its popularity and relevance in decision-making circles in the West,” he said.

Why nonviolence failed in Syria

NOW Lebanon | A longer version is available here.

Many people in Syria and across the world continue to wonder why the Syrian uprising took such a violent turn, despite the bravery and selflessness of so many of the early protest leaders. Indeed, the development seems to have come as a result of a sophisticated strategy implemented by the Assad regime from the outset. Understanding this strategy, rather than lamenting the situation, as so many nonviolence advocates and theoreticians continue to do, might help prevent its replication elsewhere. Continue reading “Why nonviolence failed in Syria” →

Syria’s Civil War Could Drag On Much Longer

February 14, 2013 | Voice of America

Iran and Russia remain reliable donors to Assad’s war effort, according to Syrian dissident and expatriate blogger Ammar Abdulhamid. “Without continuing arms supplies from both countries, and funds from Iran and Iraq, the regime would have collapsed by now,” he says.