Syrian rebels take airbase in slow progress toward Damascus

Syrian rebels take airbase in slow progress toward Damascus Sun, Nov 25 10:52 AM EST 1 of 4 By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels said on Sunday they had captured a helicopter base east of Damascus after an overnight assault, their latest gain in a costly battle to unseat President Bashar al-Assad that is drawing nearer to his seat of power. The Marj al-Sultan base, 15 km (10 miles) from the capital, is the second military facility on the outskirts of the city reported to have fallen to Assad's opponents this month. Activists said rebels had destroyed two helicopters and taken 15 prisoners. "We are coming for you Bashar," a rebel shouted in an internet video of what activists said was Marj al-Sultan. Restrictions on non-state media meant it could not be verified. The rebels have been firming their hold on farmland and urban centers to the east and northeast of Damascus while a major battle has been underway for a week in the suburb of Daraya near the main highway south. "We are seeing the starting signs of a rebel siege of Damascus," veteran opposition campaigner Fawaz Tello said from Berlin. "Marj al-Sultan is very near to the Damascus Airport road and to the airport itself. The rebels appear to be heading toward cutting this as well as the main northern artery to Aleppo." Assad's core forces, drawn mainly from his minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that has dominated power in Syria for nearly five decades, are entrenched in the capital. They also have devastating air superiority although they have failed to prevent rebels increasing their presence on the edge of the capital and in neighborhoods on the periphery. A Western diplomat following the fighting said Assad still had the upper hand. "The army will allow positions to fall here and there, but it can still easily muster the strength to drive back the rebels where it sees a danger," the diplomat said. "The rebels are very short of international support and they do not have the supplies to keep up a sustained fight, especially in Damascus." IRAN CONDEMNS PATRIOT PLAN Iran said Turkey's request to NATO to deploy Patriot defensive missiles near its border with Syria would add to problems in the region, where Iran is pitted against mostly Sunni Turkey and Gulf Sunni powers. Iran's Shi'ite rulers have stepped up support for Assad while Sunni Arab powers helped forge a new opposition coalition this month recognized by France and Britain as the sole representative of the Syrians. Syria has called the missile request "provocative", seeing it as a first step toward a no-fly zone over Syrian airspace which the opposition is seeking to help them hold territory against an enemy with overwhelming firepower from the air. Most foreign powers are reluctant to go that far. NATO has said the possible deployment of the missiles was purely defensive. The U.S.-led Western alliance has had some talks on the request but has yet to take a decision. Turkey fears security on its border may crumble as the Syrian army fights harder against the rebels, some of whom have enjoyed sanctuary in Turkey in their 20-month-old revolt against Assad's rule. Ankara has scrambled fighter jets and returned fire after stray Syrian shells and mortar bombs from heavy fighting along the border landed in its territory. More than 120,000 Syrian refugees are sheltering in camps in southern Turkey and more are expected with winter setting in and millions of people estimated to be short of food inside Syria. Abu Mussab, a rebel operative in the area of Hajar al-Aswad in south Damascus, said the opposition fighters had given up expecting a no-fly zone. "The bet is now on better organization and tactics," he said. The video said by activists to have been filmed at the Marj al-Sultan base showed rebel fighters carrying AK-47 rifles. An anti-aircraft gun was positioned on top of an empty bunker and a rebel commander from the Ansar al-Islam, a major Muslim rebel unit, was shown next to a helicopter. "With God's help, the Marj al-Sultan airbase in eastern Ghouta has been liberated," the commander said in the video. Eastern Ghouta, a mix of agricultural land and built-up urban areas, has been a rebel stronghold for months. Damaged mobile radar stations could be seen on hilltops, with rebels waiving as they walked in the compound. Footage from Saturday evening showed rebels firing rocket-propelled grenades at the base, and what appeared to be a helicopter engulfed in flames. Last week rebels briefly captured an air defense base near the southern Damascus district of Hajar al-Aswad, seizing weapons and equipment before pulling out to avoid retaliation from Assad's air force. (Additional reporting by Dominic Evans in Beirut Yeganeh Torbati in Dubai and Ece Toksabay in Istanbul; editing by Philippa Fletcher) حقيقة ما جرى في مطار مرج السلطان تناقلت مواقع كلاب الاخوان المسلمين فديو يظهر سيطرتهم على مجموعة من الحوامات العسكرية في مطار مرج السلطان , وقد قمنا فورا بالتواصل مع مصادرنا المطلعة التي اكدت لنا انه عبارة عن مهب ط حوامات اضطراري و مكب للحوامات المنسقة اي خارج الخدمة . وبما ان الصورة اقوى من الكلمة هانحن نبرهن صحة كلامنا من الصور والفديوهات التي نشرتها الجزيرة القطرية وتنسيقيات العهر هناك مروحيتين ظهرتا في الفديو وهي بدون مراوح ( شفرات الدوران ) و هذا اكبر دليل على انها خارج الخدمة . ثانيا في المطارات العسكرية يكون البعد بين الحوامة والاخرة ١٥٠م وكحد ادنى من اجل الامان اثناء الاقلاع و الهبوط او خلال التعرض لقصف جوي لذلك لا تكدس كقطرميز مكدوس بجانب بعضها كما ظهر بالفديو وفي النهاية نقول لتنسيقيات العهر و جلاجيقها المرضى النفسيين بدل البحث عن انتصارات معنوية كاذبة , انشروا اعداد قتلاكم الحقيقية التي سقطت في داريا و المعضمية خلال الاسبوع الماضي والذي تجاوزت 2000 قتيل بدل نشر اعلانات عن مفقودين تعرفون تماما من هم وكيف واين قتلوا . {لكم التعليق لضمان بقائك كعضو بصفحتنا اكتب تعليق أو مشاركة} ================ The CIA started to flirt with the Sunni Political Islam during the days of the cold war. The Afghan Mujahideen, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Hamas were embraced and supported by the CIA, MI-6, German BND, Saudi Intelligence and the Jordanian regime; in order to fight communism. The Sunni fundamentalists were effectively used to toppling the government of communist Dr Najeeb Ullah in Kabul before hanging him on 27.09.1996. Hamas was established in 1987 with the tacit blessing of late King Hussein of Jordan and his Western allies, mainly to neutralise the effects of leftist-oriented Palestinian organisation, the likes of the PLO, the PFLP and PFLP-general command. Similar to Al-Qaeda, Hamas drifted away from what the USraeli wanted them to be; a Political Islam at the Service of Uncle Sam. But within the Sunni Islamic fundamentalists there are still elements connected to the USraelis while being finance by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States. These elements are currently implementing USraeli designs by promoting the premises that Israel is a friend and Iran as the enemy. In the process, they are justifying attacks on the anti-USraeli Shiats in Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Bahrain. It is a well known fact that Arabs don’t have clear strategies or effective tactics. The Sunni fundamentalists need allies if they ever try to re-direct their weapons at the US-supported Israeli criminals and not at their fellow citizens. As it is recently shown in Gaza, it was the Iranians and not the Saudis who supplied Hamas with weapons and training. There is no need at all to kill shiat or to antagonize Iran, because that is exactly what the US-Israeli strategists wanted us to do. If the West wants to limit the role of Iran and Hizbullah, it should work to force the Israelis to implementing 39 UN Security Council Resolutions they are in breach of, lifting the siege they imposed on Gaza, releasing the thousands of Palestinians from prisons and stopping the building of illegal settlements. Anything short of ending the occupation is a mere waste of time, money and valuable lives on both sides. How many more conflicts and truces are needed before the USraelis realise that keeping the status quo is becoming extremely costly and dangerous to everyone.. Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times. 14 November 2012 - 06:55 AM For some reason, you forgot to mention Indonesia, the largest non-Arab Muslim country. Islam and Mohammed did introduce ideas not known, let alone practiced, by other religions, that is the equality between all people infront of God. Until today, the Imam during prayers turns left and right to see that the faithfuls are standing in one line. In Judaism, Jews believe that they are God's selected few. The Hindi religion divides people into 17 castes depending on what they do. Naturally the ones who don't get their hand dirty, the Brahmas, are ranked on top. Christianity didn't address this issue and Christians went to enslave blacks and to intitutionalise apartheid. For this reason, many of the oppresses minorities, slaves and the untouchables, became Muslims. Have you ever wondered why Indonesians embraced Islam while no conqueror went there to convert them? In addition Islam, recognised Judaism and Christianity. Until today, Jews don't recognise neither Christianity nor Islam while Christians don't recognise Judaism or Islam. The Muslims believe that all the prophets cited in both the Torah and the Bible. Talking about the truth: There are 1.5 billion Muslims who recognise Judaism and Christianity. But Christians mention the 12 Million Jews who don't recognise them and ignore the 15 billion Muslims who do. It is the Jewish money that started to distort history and bribe historians. It was only in 1964 that the Catholic Church had exonerated the Jews and rehabilitated them. Can you possibly imagine that In the coming one hundred year there will be three times as many Muslims as there are today!!!!! - Hamas and Jesse Ventura: Sacrifices the way forward Posted 14 November 2012 - 11:57 PM Mr Jesse Ventura believes that the shooting of four innocent students at the Kent University Campus by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970 shocked America and lead to the end of the Vietnam war. At the time, the students were demonstrating against Nixon-Kissinger's attempt to extend the Vietnam war to Cambodia. Following the shooting, four million US students went on strike that opened the eyes of the rest of the nation. Mr Ventura advised the 'Occupy Movement' to make sacrifices in order for the nation to hear their warnings of the danger of the mafias controlling the US Banks and its Financial institutions. Similarly, Hamas knows that the International community will remain silent about the Israeli siege of Gaza and their daily atrocities against the Palestinians unless sacrifices are made. President Mahmoud Abbas has failed and the peaceful approach will never end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands,, stop the illegal Jewish settlements or force the Israelis to abide by 39 UN Security Council Resolutions, they are in breach off. The fighting in Gaza couldn't come at a worst time for the Israelis and for their American mentors: who are currently financing and arming Islamists in order to depose Assad in Syria and in trying to direct the world attention to Iran's Nuclear capabilities. Since the West will never arm Hamas fighters with Stinger anti Aircraft Missiles to defend against the Israeli warplanes, the way it is currently doing in Syria, the Arab street will punish all the Pro-West Kings, Sultans, Sheiks and Emirs currently in power, one at atime. It is natural to conclude that the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi will not be the last if the US continues its current policy of double standards and selective morality. Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times =====================