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As I am listening, or trying to listen to Al Assad (Syrian president) side of the story, it is blatantly obvious that CNN who took the footage from Syrian state television DOES NOT want people to understand what he is talking about:
Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com - Syria's president discusses violence in his country.
Basically the translation of Syrian president to english is so horibly bad on CNN video that I have little doubt it's done PURPOSELY with intent so that people could not understand his side of the story (in other words to cover their ass, but be able to claim that they showed his side as well) - he mentions terrorists bombarding his city. and I have to wonder when I add up the facts, of how the axis of good (US/Israel/NATO) has bombarded other countries in the area, that they are in fact capable of terrorizing other nationsAs I am listening, or trying to listen to Al Assad (Syrian president) side of the story, it is blatantly obvious that CNN who took the footage from Syrian state television DOES NOT want people to understand what he is talking about:
Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com - Syria's president discusses violence in his country.
I'm on dial up so I can't view it.
Can you give me more details? If I want a better perspective on anything going on in the ME I go right to Al Jazeera.
Basically the translation of Syrian president to english is so horibly bad on CNN video that I have little doubt it's done PURPOSELY with intent so that people could not understand his side of the story (in other words to cover their ass, but be able to claim that they showed his side as well) - he mentions terrorists bombarding his city. and I have to wonder when I add up the facts, of how the axis of good (US/Israel/NATO) has bombarded other countries in the area, that they are in fact capable of terrorizing other nationsAs I am listening, or trying to listen to Al Assad (Syrian president) side of the story, it is blatantly obvious that CNN who took the footage from Syrian state television DOES NOT want people to understand what he is talking about:
Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com - Syria's president discusses violence in his country.
I'm on dial up so I can't view it.
Can you give me more details? If I want a better perspective on anything going on in the ME I go right to Al Jazeera.
The attack could be a sign that armed members of the opposition, who have carried out attacks on the military elsewhere in the country, are trying to step up action in the tightly controlled capital, which has been relatively quiet compared to other cities. SANA news agency reported that three gunmen opened fire at Brig. Gen. Issa al-Khouli Saturday morning as he left his home in the Damascus neighborhood of Rukn-Eddine. Al-Khouli was a doctor and the chief of a military hospital in the capital.
Capt. Ammar al-Wawi of the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group that wants to bring down the regime by force, denied involvement in the assassination, which came a day after two suicide car bombers struck security compounds in Aleppo. Such assassinations are not uncommon outside Damascus and army officers have been killed in the past, mostly in the restive provinces of Homs and Idlib.
Assad's regime says terrorists acting out a foreign conspiracy to destabilize the country are behind the uprising, not people seeking to transform the authoritarian regime. The Syrian government says more than 2,000 soldiers and police officers have been killed since March. Violence in other parts of the country left at least 17 people dead as regime troops pushed into rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs and seized parts of the mountain town of Zabadani, north of Damascus.
The U.N. estimates that 5,400 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began in March. But that figure is from January, when the world body stopped counting because the chaos in the country has made it all but impossible to check the figures. Hundreds are reported to have been killed since. Syria's turmoil began with peaceful protests against Assad's rule, sparking the fierce regime crackdown. But it has since grown more militarized as army defectors and armed protesters formed the Free Syrian Army.
More Syrian army general assassinated in Damascus - Yahoo! News
Such a change would have been unheard of a year ago, and Assad's regime is touting the new constitution as the centerpiece of reforms aimed at calming Syria's upheaval. But after 11 months of bloodshed, with well over 5,000 dead in the regime's crackdown on protesters and rebels, Assad's opponents say the referendum and reforms are not enough and that the country's strongman must go. "The people in the street today have demands, and one of these demands is the departure of this regime," said Khalaf Dahowd, a member of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, an umbrella for several opposition groups in Syria and in exile. Assad's call for a referendum, set for Feb. 26, also raises the question of how a nationwide vote could be held at a time when many areas see daily battles between Syrian troops and rebel soldiers.
Regime forces on Wednesday battered rebellious neighborhoods in the central city of Homs, pushing ahead with one of the deadliest assaults of the crackdown that activists say has killed hundreds in the past two weeks, aimed at crushing a city that has been a stronghold of dissent. Black smoke billowed from an oil pipeline in the city that was hit in the fighting, with each side blaming the other for attacking it. Activists reported at least eight killed across the country on Wednesday.
Amendments to the constitution once were a key demand by the opposition at the start of Syria's uprising, when protesters first launched demonstrations calling for change. Assad has also talked of holding parliament elections after the referendum. But after months of the regime's fearsome crackdown, the opposition dismisses any talk of reform, saying that they don't believe Assad will really loosen his iron grip on power and that his ouster is the only solution. Russia, a top Syrian ally, has presented Assad's reform promises as an alternative way to resolve Syria's bloodshed. Earlier this month, Moscow and Beijing vetoed a Western- and Arab-backed resolution at the U.N. Security Council aimed at pressuring Assad to step down.
The current Syrian constitution enshrines Assad's Baath Party as the leader of the state. But according to the new draft, "the state's political system is based on political pluralism and power is practiced democratically through voting." The draft also says the president can hold office only for a maximum of two seven-year terms. Assad, who inherited power from his father, has been in power for nearly 12 years. His father, Hafez, ruled for 30 years. The Syrian constitution has been amended in the past -- most crucially, to allow Assad to take power in 2000. After his father's death, Parliament quickly lowered the presidential age requirement from 40 to 34 so that the ruling Baath party could nominate Bashar Assad. His appointment was sealed by a nationwide referendum, in which he was the only candidate. The new draft reinstates the requirement of 40 and mandates that any presidential candidate must have lived continuously in Syria for at least a decade. That would to rule out the candidacy of Syrian dissidents who have lived in exile out of fear for their lives.
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Assembly spokeswoman Nihal Saad said Wednesday that the vote will take place Thursday afternoon. There are no vetoes in the 193-member world body and U.N. diplomats said the resolution, which already has 60 co-sponsors, is virtually certain to be approved. While General Assembly resolutions are nonbinding, they do reflect world opinion on major issues and supporters are hoping for a high "yes" vote to deliver a strong message to President Bashar Assad's regime. The diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions have been private, said Arab countries on Tuesday rejected amendments to the nonbinding resolution proposed by Russia, which has been one of Syria's strongest backers. The amendments, obtained by The Associated Press, are similar to the last-minute amendments Moscow proposed to a Security Council resolution aimed at stopping the brutal crackdown in Syria. When the resolution's sponsors rejected those amendments, Russia and China vetoed the resolution on Feb. 4.
In a letter to the assembly's 193 members, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin highlighted two amendments. One called on "all sections of the Syrian opposition to dissociate themselves from armed groups engaged in acts of violence" and urged countries with influence to prevent continued violence by such groups. The other demanded that the withdrawal of all Syrian armed forces from cities and towns -- which is called for in the Arab League plan -- take place "in conjunction with the end of attacks by armed groups against state institutions and quarters of cities and towns." Diplomats said the Arabs and their Western supporters couldn't accept these amendments because they seek to equate the Assad regime's crackdown on civilian protesters with the opposition that rose up to confront the violent attacks. The proposed resolution does condemn "all violence, irrespective of where it comes from, and calls upon all parties in Syria, including armed groups, to immediately stop all violence or reprisals" as called for by the Arab League. The General Assembly resolution was finalized by Arab nations a day after U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay address the world body and decried Syria's escalating crackdown on civilian protesters. She warned that the Security Council's recent failure to take action has emboldened Assad's government to launch an all-out assault to crush dissent.
The proposed resolution makes no specific reference to the Arab League's call Sunday for the Security Council to authorize a joint Arab-U.N. peacekeeping force for Syria. It notes past Arab League decisions and makes five demands -- that the Syrian government stop all violence, release all those detained during the unrest, withdraw all armed forces from cities and towns, guarantee peaceful demonstrations, and allow unhindered access for Arab League monitors and international media. The draft resolution strongly supports the Arab League's decision to facilitate a Syrian-led transition to a democratic political system, including by starting "a serious political dialogue between the Syrian government and the whole spectrum of the Syrian opposition." It asks the U.N. and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to support the Arab League's efforts to promote a peaceful solution to the crisis, including through appointment of a special envoy to Syria. If approved, the resolution would be the second adopted by the General Assembly on Syria in two months. On Dec. 19, the assembly voted 133-11 with 43 abstentions to condemn human rights violations by Assad's government and call for an immediate end to the violence.
Read more: UN General Assembly Schedules On Syria | Fox News
