Quoted in the Christian Science Monitor
Meanwhile, exiled activist Ammar Abdulhamid interpreted the attack in a very different way:
Assad’s grip over Damascus has become tenuous at best. Rebels are able to conduct bombings and attacks even in the most secured areas aided by informants embedded within Assad’s own security establishment. The battle of Damascus is set to begin at earnest soon, in what promises to be a very bloody development.
A quote in the Guardian:
In his latest blog post, exiled Syrian activist Ammar Abdulhamid takes issue with President Obama’s “coldly articulated red line regarding the use of chemical weapons” which he says “might just translate into a green light for more frenzied killing sprees by Assad and his militias”.
Continue reading “Syria Crisis: Obama Warns on Chemical Weapons”
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”
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 Ammar Abdulhamid Archive 