The New Dark Age

3 August 2011 — williambowles.info

Death Toll Mounts in Syria as UN Debates Resolution
Voice of America
August 03, 2011 Death Toll Mounts in Syria as UN Debates Resolution VOA News
Syrian security forces have intensified their bloody siege against anti-government protesters, sending the three-day death toll above 130 as President Bashar al-Assad’s …
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Death-Toll-Mounts-in-Syria-as-UN-Debates-Resolution-126653473.html

Mubarak on trial: Egypt, Syria, Libya and Middle East live blog
The Guardian
10.41am: More from Hama in Syria, where tanks are occupying the main central square after heavy shelling. “All communications have been cut off. The regime is using the media focus on the Hosni Mubarak trial to finish off Hama,” one of the residents …
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/aug/03/egypt-syria-libya-middle-east-unrest

US Seeks Pressure on Syria, but Options Are Few
New York Times
By STEVEN LEE MYERS and NEIL MacFARQUHAR WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is facing intensifying calls to punish Syria more forcefully for its bloody crackdown on protests, but officials say that without broader international support they have …
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/world/middleeast/03policy.html

Syria: What Is Going On in Hama?
Monthly Review
This made a determination to enter the city akin to taking a decision to accept the results of a disaster, in every sense of the word, which would spare no one, neither in Hama nor anywhere else in Syria. This description does not diminish one iota the …
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/alkadi020811.html

Gerges: Syria’s silent majority can overthrow Assad
CNN (blog)
He spoke with CNN’s Ali Velshi about the crisis in Syria. Here’s a lightly edited transcript of their conversation: Ali Velshi: Fawaz, first of all, the United Nations is taking this issue up. Does the Syrian administration care that United Nations is …
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/02/gerges-syrias-silent-majority-can-overthrow-assad/

Syria Seeks India’s Help in Obstructing Western Condemnation
International Business Times
As global outrage against Syria’s brutal crackdown against its protesters grows daily, the Damascus regime has reached out to India in order to prevent condemnation by the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU). Following the departure of the …
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/191059/20110802/syria-india-un-eu-condemnation-mekdad-krishna-assad.htm

Syria: New canary on the block
Hot Air
Omri Ceren has done an excellent and thorough treatment at Commentary this week of how bad things could get with Syria. Scenarios in which armed conflict and the use of WMD affect not just Israel but the entire region are not out of the question. …
http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2011/08/02/syria-new-canary-on-the-block/

In Syria, ‘brother of a whore’ gets tossed like trash
CNN
This scene, said to have been shot in Syria, surfaced in a video on YouTube, where images of anti-government ferment and violence have emerged consistently since unrest started in the nation in mid-March. CNN could not verify the authenticity of the …
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/08/02/syria.video/

Deepening Crisis In Somalia; Crackdown Continues In Syria
NPR (blog)
MSNBC reports: Human rights campaigners said assaults by Assad’s forces across Syria overnight and on Monday had killed 10 people in Hama, where troops and tanks began a violent operation to regain control on Sunday. — US Sues Alabama: “The Justice …
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/08/02/138919026/deepening-crisis-in-somalia-crackdown-continues-in-syria

Eunomia » Sanctioning Syria
By Daniel Larison
Kirk, Lieberman, and Gillibrand are sponsoring new sanctions legislation that would target foreign companies that do business with Syria’s oil and gas sector (via Rubin). Sen. Kirk states on his Senate website: …
http://www.amconmag.com/larison/2011/08/02/sanctioning-syria/

Nathaniel Zelinsky: Dueling Protests: Israel and Syria
By Nathaniel Zelinsky
Of all the states in the Middle East, only Israel affords its citizens the full rights of democracy, including free speech. While Arab dictators gun down their own in brutal suppression, Israelis protest fully confident in their safety …
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathaniel-zelinsky/dueling-protests-israel-a_b_915662.html

Getting Tougher on Syria | FrontPage Magazine
By Ryan Mauro
The U.S. stance towards Syria is getting tougher after the Assad regime killed at least 164 people in the past three days and staged attacks on the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is warning …
http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/03/getting-tougher-on-syria/

EU expands Syria sanctions | European Voice
eu expands syria sanctions defence minister and four others subject to travel ban and asset freeze.
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2011/august/eu-expands-syria-sanctions/71808.aspx

Bloodshed in Bab Qebli: portrait from Syria’s violent crackdown on …
By Amnesty International
An eyewitness to the Syrian military crackdown on Hama describes how a young man was violently killed on his way to a hospital.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/bloodshed-bab-qebli-portrait-syria%E2%80%99s-violent-crackdown-hama-2011-08-02

Syria’s woes paint picture of environmental migration to come …
Drought-stricken Syria may be a microcosm of a coming international problem: migration brought on by climate change.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/blogs/climate-conversations/syrias-woes-paint-picture-of-environmental-migration-to-come/