The sudden reversion of Washington to a 'war on terror' pretext for intervention in Syria has confused western audiences. For three years they watched 'humanitarian intervention' stories, which poured contempt on the Syrian President's assertion that he was fighting foreign backed terrorists. Now the US claims to be leading the fight against those same terrorists.

But what do Syrians think, and why do they continue to support a man the western powers have claimed is constantly attacking and terrorising 'his own people'? To understand this we must consider the huge gap between the western caricature of Bashar al Assad the 'brutal dictator' and the popular and urbane figure within Syria.

If we believed most western media reports we would think President Assad has launched repeated and indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, including the gassing of children. We might also think he heads an 'Alawi regime', where a 12% minority represses a Sunni Muslim majority, crushing a popular 'revolution' which, only recently, has been 'hijacked' by extremists.

The central problem with these portrayals is Bashar's great popularity at home. The fact that there is popular dissatisfaction with corruption and cronyism, and that an authoritarian state maintains a type of personality cult, does not negate the man's genuine popularity. His strong win in Syria's first multi-candidate elections in June dismayed his regional enemies, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey; but it did not stop their aggression.

Syrians saw things differently. Bashar was thought to maintain his father's pluralist and nationalist tradition, while modernising and holding out the promise of political reform. Opinion polls in Syria had shown major dissatisfaction with corruption and political cronyism, mixed views on the economy but strong satisfaction with stability, women's rights and the country's independent foreign policy. The political reform rallies of 2011 - countered by pro-government rallies and quickly overshadowed by violent insurrection - were not necessarily anti Bashar.

The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and other sectarian Islamist groups did hate him, along with the secular state. Yet even these enemies, in their better moments, recognised the man's popularity. In late 2011 a Doha Debates poll (created by the Qatari monarchy, a major backer of the Muslim Brotherhood) showed 55% of Syrians wanted Assad to stay.

At least three people have been killed in a bomb attack in Peshawar in northwest Pakistan, officials say. Nine others were injured in the blast which took place in the morning near the city's railway station.

Officials said a convoy of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) was the apparent target. Peshawar has borne the brunt of militant attacks in recent years but violence has dropped dramatically since a military offensive in June.

If the convoy is confirmed as the target it would be the first major attack on the military in Peshawar since the assault was launched against militants in their stronghold of North Waziristan.

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says grenade attacks and targeted killings have already resumed in the city. Peshawar police chief Ijaz Khan told the media that 45kg of explosives had been packed in a vehicle which was remotely exploded.

Mushtaq Ghani, information minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of which Peshawar is the capital, said a woman was among the three dead in the blast.

Television pictures showed the charred and twisted frame of an Frontier Corps vehicle which was still on fire. Reports said one FC soldier was among those killed.

The dead woman was said to be travelling in an auto-rickshaw which was also hit by the explosion, and parts of its engine were strewn across the road.

The Ecuadorean president said that the new Obama-sponsored leadership centers are an obvious plan to intervene in democratic Latin America countries
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa criticized on Saturday a new U.S. government plan to intervene and weaken Latin American governments.

Correa said that Obama's intention to create six innovation centers for educating new "leaders" in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, and Asia, was clearly intended to interfere with Latin American countries.


"What they want is to intervene in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, because they say we attack freedom of speech; but go and see for yourselves who are the owners of media in United States," said Correa.

On Tuesday President Barrack Obama said that his government will support civil society in countries where freedom of speech and association are threatened by the governments.


"We're creating new innovation centers to empower civil society groups around the world," said Obama during his speech in a plenary session of the Clinton Open Initiative. "Oppressive governments are sharing worst practices to weaken civil society. We're going to help you share the best practices to stay strong and vibrant."


President Correa hit back "This is part of the conservative restoration: the insolent announcement of intervention in other countries." He added "Let us live in peace and respect the sovereignty of our countries."

Some organized "student groups" in Hong Kong tried to occupy government buildings and blocked some streets. The police did what it does everywhere when such things happen. It used anti-riot squads, pepper spray and tear gas to prevent occupations and to clear the streets.

The "western" media are making some issue about this as if "western" governments would behave any differently.


The alleged issue in question is the election of new Hong Kong chief executive in 2017. According to Hong Kong's basic law, which was implemented when Britain gave up its dictatorship over the colony, there will be universal suffrage - everyone will be allowed to vote - but the candidates for the position will have to go through some pre-screening by a commission. This is what China had promised and this is what the students, falsely claiming that China is backtracking from its promises, want to change.

Peter Lee aka Chinahand has an excellent piece on the issue at Asia Times Online. But Lee is making one mistake in that he does not consider outside influence:

Occupy Hong Kong decided to light it, starting with a class boycott and demonstrations organized by the Hong Kong Federation of Students. And, since I'm never afraid to mix a metaphor, the Hong Kong government poured fuel on the fire by pepper-spraying and teargassing it.

Who really "decided to light this"? To me the protests, and the "western" reporting about it, have the distinct smell not of tear gas but of some expensive Color Revolution perfume of "western" origin.

"You don't know whether to laugh or cry," says the Canada Palestine Association in Vancouver, in reaction to B'Nai Brith's nomination of Stephen Harper for a Nobel Peace Prize

Strong reaction to a national Jewish organization's nomination of Prime Minister Stephen Harper for a Nobel Peace Prize continues to mount.

On Friday, the head of B'nai Brith Canada announced his intention to put forward Harper's name for the world's most prestigious peace prize, for his "outstanding moral leadership" in support of Israel during its conflict with Hamas militants in Gaza.

"Moral clarity has been lost across much of the world, with terror, hatred and antisemitism filling the void," said Frank Dimant, CEO, B'nai Brith Canada, in a statement.

"More than any other individual, he has consistently spoken out with resolve regarding the safety of people under threat - such as opposing Russian aggression and annexation of Ukrainian territory - and has worked to ensure that other world leaders truly understand threat of Islamic terrorism facing us today," Dimant added.

The news was more than a representative of the Canada Palestine Association could bear.

"With nominating him, you don't know whether to laugh or cry," said Hanna Kawas, Vancouver chairperson of the organization, on Sunday.

"It's outrageous."

The Russian Duma has passed the final reading of a law forbidding holders of foreign passports from controlling or owning more than 20 percent of any media outlet. The law, proposed just ten days ago, will extensively affect Russia's publishing sector.

"The freedom of the press is guaranteed by our Constitution, and won't be affected," said Mikhail Margelov, one of the 430 deputies who voted to support the law, with only two voting against.

"The law is designed to protect our national interests, to safeguard the sovereignty of our media, and our country."

"The information war against Russia has its own laws, and has forced our hand," said Vadim Dengin, one of the authors of the new legislation, which was proposed by the three minority parties in the Russian parliament.

If, as expected, the law ratified by the upper chamber of the Russian parliament and Vladimir Putin, it will come into force in January 2016, though existing foreign-owned companies will have until 2017 to re-organize their ownership structure. Media that violate the law can be shut down, although not without a court order.

Activists accuse fracking firm Ineos of taking a "bribes and bulldozers" approach to shale gas exploration in the UK, as it offers affected landlords and communities a 6 percent future profit share.

In a bid to replicate the industry's progress in the US, where the sharing of shale gas profits is commonplace, Ratcliffe hopes to incentivize landowners and residents to agree to fracking in their neighbourhoods.

"We think this is a game changer for Britain," Ratcliffe said in a company statement. "Giving 6 percent of the revenues to those living above our shale gas operations will give them a real stake in the success of the venture and encourage the development of the whole shale gas industry".

His offer would amount to £375 million for residents in an exploration area over the lifetime of the project, divided between £250 million for homeowners and landowners directly above the wells and £125 million for nearby communities.

Ineos calculates that each of the 200 wells in an exploration area would generate £1.3 million for home and land owners and £600,000 for the community.

The offer to locals is more generous than the 1 percent figure the industry has already committed to.

Landowners, environmental groups and a stricter planning system have delayed the fracking agenda in the UK.

US-led coalition airstrikes destroyed grain silos and other targets in parts of northern and eastern Syria dominated by Islamic State, killing civilians while only wounding ISIS fighters, according to an organization monitoring war in Syria.

The overnight bombings hit mills and grain storage facilities in Manbij, a militant-held town in northern Syria. Coalition forces possibly mistook the structures for Islamic State holdings, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Monday.

The US military responded to the claims later Monday morning, according to Reuters, saying that Islamic State vehicles were adjacent to the grain storage facility, and that there is no evidence of civilian casualties.


The United States and Arab allies have conducted airstrikes against Islamic State and other jihadist groups in Syria since last week, and in Iraq since last month. The stated goal of the coalition's bombing campaign is to cripple Islamic State operations, including bases, combat forces, and supply lines. Islamic State, an Al-Qaeda splinter group that reportedly has as many as 30,000 fighters in the region, has come to control large areas of Syria and northern Iraq since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. The group is also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Washington's hegemonic position is being threatened by a new global movement that is fast becoming reality, with the BRICS group being a very important component of creating a truly multipolar world, Don DeBar, of CPR News, told RT.

On Sept. 26, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the US for his first official visit after a nine-year visa ban over allegations that he failed to stop anti-Muslim rioting when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat. In 2005, he was denied entry to the US under a 1998 law barring entry to foreigners who have committed "particularly severe violations of religious freedom."

As part of his five-day trip, Modi addressed the UN General Assembly. He will also meet with the CEOs of 17 multinationals, including Google, Boeing, IBM, PepsiCo and MasterCard, and a have private dinner with US President Barack Obama. Modi's visit promises to be extremely important for the future development of Indian-US relations.

From the Jewish Journal two days ago. "David Brooks' son is in the Israeli army. Does it matter?"

One of the more interesting nuggets buried in a long, Hebrew-language interview with New York Times columnist David Brooks in the recent Ha'aretz magazine is the revelation, toward the very end, that Brooks's oldest son serves in the Israel Defense Forces.

"Brook's connection to Israel was always strong," the article reports. "He has visited Israel almost every year since 1991, and over the past months the connection has grown even stronger, after his oldest son, aged 23, decided to join the Israel Defense Forces as a "lone soldier" [Ed. Note: a soldier with no immediate family in Israel].

"'It's worrying,'" says Brooks, 'But every Israeli parent understands this is what the circumstances require. Beyond that, I think children need to take risks after they leave university, and that they need to do something difficult, that involves going beyond their personal limits. Serving in the IDF embodies all of these elements. I couldn't advise others to do it without acknowledging it's true for my own family.'"

This is now the third Times reporter/writer whose son has gone into the Israeli Defense Forces. Famously Ethan Bronner, of course - whose son's service was disclosed not by the NYT but by EI - and a third person I will not identify (I know the individual personally, the beat didn't involve the Middle East, the son left before long).