Syria’s Assad accused of boosting Al-Qaeda with secret oil deals – Telegraph.
Finally, Western intelligence agencies are beginning to publicly admit and confirm what activists on the ground have been saying for months now, namely that Assad and Al-Qaeda are collaborating against rebel groups. So, Assad says one thing, does another. Surprise, surprise.
Yes, it’s genocide. Yes, there are concentration camps. Indeed, war tribunals are needed, and Assad and his top officials should end up there. You can blame the opposition for their bungling and fear the extremists, those who were borne out of the ashes and those exported to and imported into our land, as much as you want, but the methodical genocidal venture unleashed by the Assad using the vestiges and institutions of the State, and with Iranian and Russian backing, is unparalleled. The two main sides of this conflict are not on the same moral plane. As for Al-Qaeda, it’s a third party that has inserted itself into the situation by manipulating the two main parties in pursuit of her own agenda. She is neither an ally of the rebels nor of the regime. She is in it for herself. And if she is maintaining its own detention camps and carrying out executions, the main victims in this case are often the rebels, the pro-democracy activists and their families as well. Assad is a carrying out a large-scale genocide in his turf, Al-Qaeda is attempting to do the same on a much smaller scale in theirs, and rebels and activists are fighting for their survival in both the regime-held areas and in the so-called “liberated” territories.
It’s really strange how everything conspired from the very beginning to undermine moderates and support the rise of extremism among the protesters. Assad and his allies needed this, and they worked assiduously for it, but what did the others, Turkey, Saudi, Qatar, U.S., hope to achieve? What do they hope to achieve? Perhaps exactly what’s happening today. The “mistakes” that led to this are simply too numerous and consistent to be ascribed to chance. No, I am not endorsing some conspiracy, but the political agendas that crisscrossed the Syrian map have always been intricate and complex. There is always a bargain involved in supporting regime change in a country like Syria. In this case, there were simply too many of them. The opposition failure to understand this and to be more proactive about it helped pave the way as well to this worst of outcomes. And it’s far from over.
U.N. Reports Mass Executions in Northern Syria – NYTimes.com.
Caught between the Assad Regime and Al-Qaeda, moderation loses its significance, the international community its legitimacy, and hope its usefulness. If we soldier on at this stage, it’s more out of spite than hope. Who know? Perhaps the victories that are often attributed to hope owe more to tenacity and spite. Be that as it may, the one certainty I still have is that this fire is bound to burn us all. No one is immune, irrespective of what some believe, or like to believe.
The Ammar Abdulhamid Archive 