Saturday, June 9, 2012

Rebels Responsible for Houla Massacre

It was, in the words of U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan, the “tipping point” in the Syria conflict: a savage massacre of over 90 people, predominantly women and children, for which the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad was immediately blamed by virtually the entirety of the Western media. Within days of the first reports of the Houla massacre, the U.S., France, Great Britain, Germany, and several other Western countries announced that they were expelling Syria’s ambassadors in protest.

But according to a new report in Germany’s leading daily, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), the Houla massacre was in fact committed by anti-Assad Sunni militants, and the bulk of the victims were member of the Alawi and Shia minorities, which have been largely supportive of Assad. For its account of the massacre, the report cites opponents of Assad, who, however, declined to have their names appear in print out of fear of reprisals from armed opposition groups.

According to the article’s sources, the massacre occurred after rebel forces attacked three army-controlled roadblocks outside of Houla. The roadblocks had been set up to protect nearby Alawi majority villages from attacks by Sunni militias. The rebel attacks provoked a call for reinforcements by the besieged army units. Syrian army and rebel forces are reported to have engaged in battle for some 90 minutes, during which time “dozens of soldiers and rebels” were killed.

“According to eyewitness accounts,” the FAZ report continues,

More @ NRO

2 comments:

  1. Yes indeed !,any excuse !,the fact that the country is broke and can no longer afford to police the entire world ,will not stop them !.The bankster`s and arm`s manufacturer`s will have their war!.It has only been put on hold till after the upcoming U.S. election``s. One can just envision our benevolent Fuehrer Obama or Obamney standing around the sand table`s planning the great Syrian/Iranian Blitzkreig!. How many more of America`s son`s must be fed into the meatgrinder til the butcher`s bill is paid?!.

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  2. Repulsive. A war in every country and then they'll be happy.

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