Syria: Kurdish troops betrayed by U S Government

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/28/world/middleeast/syria-kurds-turkey-manbij.html

Germany Tells White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer That Hitler Comparisons Are Never A Good Idea

You should probably just shy away from comparing anyone or anything to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, if you ask the German government.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s administration had to remind White House press secretary Sean Spicer of this on Wednesday after he suggested a day earlier that as monstrous as Hitler was, even he didn’t“sink to using chemical weapons.

The comment, comparing Syrian President Bashar Assad with the Nazi leader, came as Spicer was defending President Donald Trump’s decision to strike a Syrian air base. The White House is accusing the Syrian government of launching last week’s chemical attack on civilians in the rebel-held town of Idlib.

Read More: Germany Tells Sean Spicer That Hitler Comparisons Are Never A Good Idea | The Huffington Post

Syria-Turkey: Kurds carve out autonomy as war rages - Erika Solomon

In the northeast corner of Syria, a pocket of stability is emerging amid the country’s raging civil war. Here the talk is of building, not bombing.

Local Kurdish leaders have launched projects to revive normal life and encourage people to stay. They are creating a regional administration, producing cheap fuel, subsidizing seeds for crops and trying to restore electricity to an area that had lost power for nearly 24 hours a day. And so far they are fighting off the forces of both President Bashar Assad and the rebels who want to oust him.

“We have no power or water. Food is short,” said Hardin, a 30-year-old teacher, shivering as cold rain began to fall at the funeral of a Kurdish fighter.

“But before, our minds and spirits were repressed. Now our dreams are becoming reality. This is the Kurdish moment. Going back to the way we were is not an option. It would be a betrayal of those who sacrificed their lives.”

The 30 million Kurds spread across Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey have been the world’s largest ethnic group without an independent homeland. Only the Kurds in Iraq, who displaced Iraqi forces in the 1990s when a U.S. and British no-fly zone was in place against Saddam Hussein, have carved out an area of real autonomy.

Now some of Syria’s 2.2 million Kurds sense an opportunity to take another step toward the long-term dream of creating an independent state of “Kurdistan.”

Recently, on the eve of peace talks in Switzerland, Kurds in Syria declared a provincial government in the area, after international powers rejected their request to send a separate delegation.

Local leaders insist they have no plans for secession but say they are preparing a local constitution and aim to hold polls early this year. This is not independence but “local democratic administration,” they say.

Read more: Kurds carve out autonomy as war rages | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

Syria's Assad: Removing chemicals a sensitive operation but syas he will comply with demands - by Melanie Eversley

Syrian President Bashar Assad wants to cooperate with diplomatic agreements that would compel his country to be rid of chemical weapons within a year, but there are technical issues to consider about such a sensitive operation, he said Wednesday night during an interview on Fox News.

Facing questions at the presidential palace in Damascus, from former U.S. representative Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and Fox News senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot, Assad said during the hour-long conversation that his government is committed to the agreement hammered out in talks with Russia.

"It's a very complicated operation technically and it takes a lot of money," Assad said, later elaborating that the price tag would be about $1 billion because the chemicals would be detrimental to the environment.

Read more: Syria's Assad: Removing chemicals a sensitive operation

Middle East: France recognizes Syrian opposition coalition - by John Irish

France broke ranks with its European allies on Tuesday by officially recognizing Syria's new opposition coalition and said it would consider arming the rebels once they created a government in waiting.

Syrian opposition groups struck a deal in Doha on Sunday to form a broad coalition to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad after 20 months of an uprising against his rule.

Arab and EU foreign ministers welcomed the formation of the coalition at a meeting in Cairo on Tuesday as an important step forward, but stopped short of recognizing it.

"I announce today that France recognizes the Syrian national coalition as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people and as the future government of a democratic Syria making it possible to bring an end to Bashar al-Assad's regime," Hollande told a news conference in Paris.

Read more: France recognizes Syrian opposition coalition - chicagotribune.com

Syria's Assad appears on TV after bombing

Syrian President Bashar Assad made his first appearance Thursday since a bomb killed some of his top lieutenants, looking calm and composed on state TV even as his forces turned parts of Damascus into combat zones and rebels seized two of the country's border crossings.

The unprecedented attack on Assad's inner circle Wednesday, along with the government's inability to crush the rebels after five days of intense clashes in the Syrian capital, point to an unraveling of his grip on power after 16 months of violence.

"It is a war going on here, literally a war," said a 25-year-old woman in the Muhajereen neighborhood. The sounds of battle had kept her up all night and she stayed home from work because she feared random gunfire, she added.

Rebels overtook a Syrian army outpost near the Syrian-Iraq border after clashes that killed 21 Syrian soldiers, he added.  In addition, amateur video posted online showed rebels taking over the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey,

Read more: Syria's Assad appears on TV after bombing  | ajc.com

With smuggling choked, Syrian rebels feel shortage of heavy weapons - by Elizabeth Kennedy

Mohammad Nizar says he and his fellow rebels have the will, the fervor and the money to bring down Syrian President Bashar Assad. What they lack, he says, is the firepower.

“If I make a phone call, I’ll have maybe 2,000 Stingers,” Nizar said, then acknowledged he could not get the shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles because the government is choking off all the main smuggling routes into Syria.

Small arms purchased on the black market are being smuggled in, but for all the international community’s talk of helping the rebels to bring down Assad, no government is known to be arming them.

Read more: THE DAILY STAR :: News :: Middle East :: With smuggling choked, Syrian rebels feel shortage of heavy weapons

Syria: Russia and China veto UN resolution on Syria - by Anita Snow

Russia and China have vetoed a Security Council resolution backing an Arab League peace plan that calls for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down. The other 13 council members, including the US, France and Britain, voted in favor of the resolution aimed at stopping the ongoing violence in Syria.

The vote took place as Syrian forces pummeled the city of Homs with mortar and artillery fire that activists say killed more than 200 people in one of the bloodiest episodes of the uprising against Assad's regime. The UN says more than 5,400 people have been killed over almost 11 months in a Syrian government crackdown on civilian protests.

In Europe, protesters reacted by forcing their way into the Syrian diplomatic base in Athens, while similar scenes played out at embassies in Berlin, Cairo and Kuwait yesterday. Angry scenes erupted outside the Syrian embassy in London today just hours after a number of demonstrators were arrested for storming into the building.

For more: Russia and China veto UN resolution on Syria - Middle East - World - The Independent

Syrian troops retake control of suburbs outside Damascus - Is Assad ready to pack his bags?

Syrian troops reasserted control Monday of rebellious suburbs outside Damascus, retaking some districts amid stiff resistance as the opposition reported dozens killed in fierce fighting.

Armed rebels were falling back to avoid the government’s onslaught, said opposition activists, as regime tanks and troops pulled into rebel bastions near the capital.

“We’ve entered the stage of street war,” said an opposition activist in the Damascus suburb of Duma, who asked not to be named for security reasons. “Today, one side is gaining control, tomorrow the other side. Today, the regime is in control.” The increase in violence came as diplomats in New York prepared to debate Syria’s future.

On Tuesday, the United Nations is scheduled to consider an Arab League plan, backed by Western nations, that calls for Syrian President Bashar Assad to relinquish power as part of a transition to a unity government and the holding of new elections. The Syrian government has condemned the blueprint as an affront to its sovereignty.

For more: Syrian troops retake control of suburbs outside Damascus - latimes.com