Syria’s civil war leaves its cities, economy and cultural heritage in shambles

Quote in The Washington Post.

“In terms of infrastructure, major parts of Syria have effectively been bombed back to Ottoman times,” said Ammar Abdul-Hamid, a Syrian activist and a Washington-based fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies…

“We have a long way ahead before we put the country back together again,” Abdul-Hamid said. “But once we do, and we will, it will be our achievement.”

After Assad: What’s Next for the Future of Syria?

Quoted in the Time:

If Syria is allowed to fracture, each ethnic group hunkering down, says Ammar Abdulhamid, an exiled Syria opposition leader in Washington, “it won’t be easy to put humpty dumpty back together again. It would take decades of instability and violence to sort itself out. And that is what we’re most worried about.”

Syria: Civilians in Homs Trapped While UN Runs

Quoted by Rhonda Parker, Examiner.com

Syrian in exile and Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies out of Washington D.C., Ammar Abdulhamid, has been calling for more active international intervention in Syria, and added another addendum in his Syrian Revolution Digest Syria report last night.

Syrian Uprising Shifts Toward Suicide Bombings. Al Qaeda’s Handiwork?

Quoted by Nicholas Blanford, The Christian Science Monitor

“The only Al Qaeda cells that operate in Syria are those manipulated by Assad’s security apparatuses,” said Ammar Abdulhamid, a US-based Syrian opposition activist in an online newsletter emailed today. “The suicide bombings are directly staged or facilitated by them. Issues pertaining to the timing and the real beneficiaries, and everything we know about the Assads’ involvement in terror networks, all point in this direction.”

Mr. Abdulhamid’s post carried a YouTube link that quotes Walid Muallem, Syria’s foreign minister, telling a news conference in Damascus in December that suicide bombings would not be an “embarrassment” for the government but would bestow “credibility” upon its claim that it is under threat from Islamist militants.

Are you awake yet Mr. President?

Because you see. Mr. President, the world is not exactly standing still while you revel in “thy golden slumber,” and it does not stand still while your learn your way around. Realities in that little piece of dysfunctional paradise, AKA, the Middle East, continue to shift, and guess what? As they do so, they make a mockery out of the very principles you espouse.

Engagement you say? “Engage this!” they say.

Heretical Nuances!

This is a link to some very interesting interview in Damascus with one of the leaders of the Iraqi Sunni insurgents. It shows very clearly how openly the Assads support the insurgents. Still, I seriously doubt whether this revelation will have much influence over the ongoing debate over engaging the Assads, seeing that pro-engagement groups will point to it as an additional reason for why the US should engage the Assads, while those who stand against engagement will see in it a further evidence of why the Assads should be punished rather than engaged.