Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect (34 page)

41
. Reese Erlich and Peter Coyote, “The Murders at Al-Sukariya,”
Vanity Fair Online
, October 22, 2009,
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/10/al-sukariya-200910
.

42
. Lesch,
Syria
, p. 15.

43
. Ibrahim, interview with the author.

44
. Dr. Mahmoud al-Agassi, interview with the author, Damascus, June 13, 2006.

45
. Basheer, interview with the author.

46
. Jay Solomon and Bill Spindle, “Syria Strongman: Time for Reform,”
Wall Street Journal
, January 31, 2011,
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704832704576114340735033236
.

CHAPTER 5. THE UPRISING BEGINS

1
. Reese Erlich, “For Most Tunisians, Little Has Changed,”
Global Post
, April 29, 2012,
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/120427/tunisia-economy-sidi-bouzid-arab-spring-protests
.

2
. “Death Toll Rises as Syria Crackdown Continues,”
Al Jazeera
, May 1, 2011,
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/04/2011430174959835564.html
.

3
. Maciej Bartkowski and Mohja Kahf, “The Syrian Resistance: A Tale of Two Struggles,” Open Democracy, September 23, 2013,
http://opendemocracy.net/civilresistance/maciej-bartkowski-mohja-kahf/syrian-resistance-tale-of-two-struggles
.

4
. Nada Bakri, “Draft Reform Law in Syria Fails to Mollify Protesters,”
New York Times
, July 25, 2011,
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/26/world/middleeast/26syria.html
.

5
. Governor Mohammed Khaled Hanos and Attorney General Tayseer al-Smadi, interview with the author, Daraa, Syria, October 4, 2011.

6
. When the interviews took place in October 2011, the United Nations had estimated three thousand civilian deaths. The total number of civilian and military deaths reached over 140,000 by March 2014.

7
. Mahmoud, interview with the author, Damascus, October 2011.

8
. Ahmad Bakdouness, interview with the author, Damascus, October 5, 2011.

9
. Mahmoud Hassino, interview with the author, Antakya, Turkey, August 11, 2012.

10
. Roueida Mabardi, “Syrian Gays Edge Gingerly out of the Closet,” Agence France Presse, June 2, 2009,
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g1exXPToXhY8l9aLmQTCTD-JPCPQ
.

11
. UN Office for Human Rights, “UN Issues First Report on Human Rights of Gay and Lesbian People,” December 15, 2011,
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40743#.UyCUyfrn_gg
.

12
. Miral Bioredda, interview with the author, Antakya, Turkey, August 8, 2012.

13
. Nasradeen Ahme, interview with the author, Antakya, Turkey, August 8, 2012.

14
. Mahmoud Hassino, e-mail interview with the author, January 28, 2014.

15
. “Bashar,” interview with the author, Damascus, October 2011.

16
. Anonymous, interview with the author, Tartus, Syria, October 8, 2011.

17
. The concept that all terrorists are Muslim is accepted as fact among some American conservatives. See, for example, Tanya Somanader, “Fox Host Brian Kilmeade Says ‘All Terrorists Are Muslim' in Defense of O'Reilly's ‘Muslims Killed Us' Remark,” Think Progress, October 15, 2010,
http://thinkprogress.org/media/2010/10/15/124417/kilmeade-muslim-terrorists/
.

18
. Reese Erlich,
Conversations with Terrorists: Middle East Leaders on Politics, Violence, and Empire
(Sausalito, CA: PoliPoint Press, 2010), p. 6.

19
. Aron Lund, “Struggling to Adapt: The Muslim Brotherhood in a New Syria,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, May 7, 2013,
http://carnegieendowment.org/2013/05/07/struggling-to-adapt-muslim-brotherhood-in-new-syria/g2qm
.

20
. Ibid.

21
. Alison Pargeter,
The Muslim Brotherhood: From Opposition to Power
(London: Saqi Books, 2010), p. 101.

22
. Omar Mushaweh, interview with the author, Istanbul, August 12, 2012.

23
. Miral Bioredda, interview with the author.

24
. “Bashar,” interview with the author.

25
. Michael R. Gordon, Mark Landler, and Anne Barnard, “US Suspends
Nonlethal Aid to Syria Rebels,”
New York Times
, December 11, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/12/world/middleeast/us-suspends-nonlethal-aid-to-syrian-rebels-in-north.html/
.

26
. Senator John McCain, “Statement by Sen. John McCain concerning the Grave Situation in Syria,” June 8, 2013,
http://www.mccain.senate.gov//files/16/95/33/f169533/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=259635e5-f898-046e-4c63-3cf88c4c523f
.

27
. Elizabeth O'Bagy, “The Free Syrian Army,”
Middle East Security Report
9, March 2013.

28
. Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, “How to Start a Battalion (in Five Easy Lessons),”
London Review of Books
, February 21, 2013.

29
. Hassan Hassan, “The Army of Islam Is Winning in Syria and That's Not Necessarily a Bad Thing,”
Foreign Policy
, October 1, 2013,
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/10/01/the_army_of_islam_is_winning_in_syria
.

30
. “Syria: Jaysh Al-Islam Rejects Geneva II Conference,”
Asharq Al-Awsat
, November 12, 2013,
http://www.aawsat.net/2013/11/article55322150
.

31
. John Hudson, “US Weighing Closer Ties with Hardline Islamists in Syria,”
Foreign Policy
, December 17, 2013,
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/12/16/us_weighing_closer_ties_with_hardline_islamists_in_syria#sthash.b9QyA3KZ.dpuf
.

32
. Joshua Landis, “Who Are Syria's Big Five Insurgent Leaders?” Syria Comment, October 1, 2013,
http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/biggest-powerful-militia-leaders-syria
.

33
. “Islamists Kill 15 Alawite and Druze Civilians in Syria—Activists,” Reuters, December 12, 2013,
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/12/us-syria-crisis-adra-idUSBRE9BB0PM20131212
.

34
. Lund, “Struggling to Adapt.”

35
. Hudson, “US Weighing Closer Ties with Hardline Islamists in Syria.”

36
. Anne Barnard, “Jihadist Leader Envisions an Islamic State in Syria,”
New York Times
, December 19, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/20/world/middleeast/jihadist-leader-envisions-an-islamic-state-in-syria.html
.

37
. “Syria's Rebels: 20 Things You Need to Know,” CNN, September 7, 2013,
http://www.ozarksfirst.com/story/syrias-rebels-20-things-you-need-to-know/d/story/zm3cWsQD3UC54FnSi8LOtQ
.

38
. Aron Lund, “Major Salafi Faction Criticizes Jabhat al-Nosra,” Syria Comment, May 4, 2013,
http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/major-salafi-faction-criticizes-jabhat-al-nosra/
.

39
. “Iraqi al-Qaeda and Syrian Group ‘Merge,'”
Al Jazeera
, April 9, 2013,
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/04/201349194856244589.html
.

40
. Ben Hubbard, “Al Qaeda Cuts Ties with Jihadist Group in Syria Involved
in Rebel Infighting,”
New York Times
, February 4, 2014,
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/world/middleeast/syria.html
.

CHAPTER 6. CHEMICAL WEAPONS, MILITARY OFFENSIVES, AND STALEMATE

1
. Liz Sly, “Syrian Rebel Leader Says Any American Strike on Regime Targets Should Be ‘Powerful,'”
Washington Post
, September 4, 2013,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syrian-rebels-say-any-american-strike-on-regime-targets-should-be-powerful/2013/09/04/fa1784ea-15a2-11e3-961c-f22d3aaf19ab_story.html
.

2
. “Government Assessment of the Syrian Government's Use of Chemical Weapons on August 21, 2013,” Office of the Press Secretary, the White House, August 30, 2013,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/30/government-assessment-syrian-government-s-use-chemical-weapons-august-21
.

3
. “Syria: John Kerry's Statement in Full,”
Telegraph
, August 30, 2013,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10277442/Syria-John-Kerrys-statement-in-full.html
.

4
. Rick Gladstone and C. J. Chivers, “UN Implicates Syria in Using Chemical Arms,”
New York Times
, September 16, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/world/europe/syria-united-nations.html
.

5
. C. J. Chivers, “Data in Gas Attack Points to Assad's Top Forces,”
New York Times
, September 17, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/world/middleeast/un-data-on-gas-attack-points-to-assads-top-forces.html
.

6
. “Syria: Thousands Suffering Neurotoxic Symptoms Treated in Hospitals Supported by MSF,” Doctors Without Borders, August 24, 2013,
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/syria-thousands-suffering-neurotoxic-symptoms-treated-hospitals-supported-msf
.

7
. David E. Sanger and Eric Schmitt, “Allies' Intelligence Differs on Details, but Still Points to Assad Forces,”
New York Times
, September 3, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/world/middleeast/allies-intelligence-on-syria-all-points-to-assad-forces.html
.

8
. Zeina Karam and Kimberly Dozier, “Lingering Doubts over Syria Gas Attack Evidence,” Associated Press, September 9, 2013,
http://news.yahoo.com/lingering-doubts-over-syria-gas-attack-evidence-072755287.html
.

9
. Gwyn Winfield, “Modern Warfare,” CBRNe World, February 2014,
http://www.cbrneworld.com/news/ake_sellstrom_interview_now_available#axzz30rhCd2Ky
.

10
. Adam Entous, Nour Malas, and Rima Abushakra, “As Syrian Chemical Attack Loomed, Missteps Doomed Civilians,”
Wall Street Journal
, November 22, 2013,
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303914304579194203188283242
.

11
. Seymour M. Hersh, “Whose Sarin?”
London Review of Books
, December 19, 2013,
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n24/seymour-m-hersh/whose-sarin
.

12
. As seen in a YouTube video of the chemical-weapons inspectors' press conference. Sellstrom's comment begins at 15:55.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CFn9pWNKeI
.

13
. Winfield, “Modern Warfare.”

14
. Richard Lloyd and Theodore A. Postol, “Possible Implications of Faulty US Technical Intelligence in the Damascus Nerve Agent Attack of August 21, 2013,” Document Cloud, January 14, 2014,
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1006045-possible-implications-of-bad-intelligence.html
.

15
. C. J. Chivers, “New Study Refines View of Sarin Attack in Syria,”
New York Times
, December 28, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/world/middleeast/new-study-refines-view-of-sarin-attack-in-syria.html
.

16
. Robert Fisk, “Gas Missiles ‘Were Not Sold to Syria,'”
Independent
, September 22, 2013,
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/gas-missiles-were-not-sold-to-syria-8831792.html
.

17
. Eliot Higgins, “Sy Hersh's Chemical Misfire,”
Foreign Policy
, December 9, 2013,
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/09/sy_hershs_chemical_misfire
.

18
. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Facts about Sarin,”
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/sarin/basics/facts.asp
.

19
. Dr. Yasuo Seto, “The Sarin Gas Attack in Japan and the Related Forensic Investigation,” Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, June 1, 2001,
http://www.opcw.org/news/article/the-sarin-gas-attack-in-japan-and-the-related-forensic-investigation/
.

20
. Dan Kaszeta, “Industrial and Economic Aspects of Sarin: Why Poor Quality Is Not an Indicator of Non-state Manufacture,”
Brown Moses Blog
, November 6, 2013,
http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2013/11/industrial-and-economic-aspects-of.html
.

21
. Dr. Bassam Barakat, interview with the author, Damascus, November 15, 2013.

22
. “United Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic,” December 12, 2013,
https://unoda-web.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/report.pdf
.

23
. Sergey Batsanov, phone interview with the author, Geneva, February 14, 2014.

24
. Reuters, “Syrian Rebels May Have Used Sarin,”
New York Times
, May 5, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/world/middleeast/syrian-rebels-may-have-used-sarin.html
. A partial video of her interview can be viewed at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQPMqsxpHSE
.

25
. Reuters, “Turkey Arrests 12 in Raids on ‘Terrorist' Organization,” May 30, 2013,
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/30/us-syria-crisis-turkey-idUSBRE94T0YO20130530
.

26
. “Iraq Claims Foiling al-Qaeda Nerve-Gas Plot,”
Al Jazeera
, June 2, 2013,
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/06/20136117362322130.html
.

27
. F. Michael Maloof, “Classified Document Shows Deadly Weapon Found in Home of Arrested Islamists,”
WorldNetDaily
, September 11, 2013,
http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/u-s-military-confirms-rebels-had-Sarin/
.

28
. See the Institute for Policy Studies profile of Maloof at
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/maloof_f_michael
.

29
. Maloof, “Classified Document Shows Deadly Weapon Found in Home of Arrested Islamists.”