How Syria's Bad Reputation Hurts The Innocent

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No Sympathy For the Faceless

Over the course of my lifetime I have always been told bad things about the Syrian government and its people. Being a Jewish man and having obvious sympathies with Israel doesn't help the matter. But no matter what I have been told, or even if they were true, I know in my heart that no people anywhere on the planet deserve to be butchered and oppressed. And that is exactly what I am seeing as I watch Syria burn before my eyes.

In the west there is little sympathy for a country that has been made a pariah by its government. People here in the Midwest don't think of Syria and immediately think happy thoughts. So it is understandable to me in one manner of speaking that those around me seem less than interested offering any form of support for the Syrian people. On the other hand it is a bit disheartening that people today still seem to think in the same way the German people did when it was the Jews being slaughtered.

Recently Alder's Ledge put up a video on YouTube that was meant to help raise awareness of the massacre Assad is implementing across Syria. It joins a shockingly small number of such videos on the worlds largest host of web videos. Thus making it clear that even those in countries nearby Syria are less than willing to help the Syrian people fight back against Assad's regime.

On social network sites I have run into screamers from across the globe. They are trying everything within their power to gain attention for the Syrian people. Pictures of the atrocities are making the rounds from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram. Yet people are still reluctant to offer any support for these screamers' cause.... the dead and dieing in Syria.

When it comes to the governments of the West the desire to stop the killing seems even less genuine than one might assume to find amongst the peoples of the West themselves. President Obama was more than willing to offer his support to Egypt (a revolution that has led to an even more dangerous regime than the last) and Tunisia (same results as Egypt). Obama was happy to send blood, gold, oil, and sweat to the fight to oust Gaddafi in Libya. But when it comes to a country Russia supports... Obama's spine goes limp. As does the remaining world leaders in Europe and the Middle East.

So what are we, the screamers, trying to raise awareness of? Well, take a look for yourself.





This is why we do not sleep, we do not rest, we do not remain silent. No man should be allowed to rule if this is all he has to offer his people. Assad has become a lion out to kill the old, the sick, and most of all... the children of Syria. We will not rest till Assad has paid for his sins.

Find not sympathy for these people's cause if you can not understand it. Find not sympathy for their suffering if your heart has grown so callous if can not feel empathy. Find not sympathy for their dead if you could not care for them while they were living. But for the love of G-d, look into the eyes of their children and tell you can not find sympathy for those who are about to die!

May G-d have mercy upon those who have bore witness to these sins against all mankind and yet remain silent. For we here at Alder's Ledge believe that this... this unending, relentless, and unholy silence in the face of genocide... this is the greatest sin of all.

Help Save Syria

A Video by Alder's Ledge.

We Rule The Airwaves

Attack on the Ikhbariya Television Station 

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The "Free Syrian Army" just earlier today made an assault on a pro-government television station just 20 kilometers to the south of Damascus. Armed gunmen stormed the building and killed at least three of the workers there. This attack was one of the boldest moves in recent weeks by the rebels in an attempt to make a move on a symbolic target of Assad's totalitarian rule. 


So far today more than 150 innocent civilians have been killed as the fighting in and around Damascus intensifies. The government forces, and Assad's rouge thugs, are targeting civilians and residential areas in an attempt to force rebels into firefights with civilians trapped in the crossfire. So far the Free Syrian Army has been able to avoid attacking in areas with innocent bystanders in the path of their assaults. It is Assad's use of militias and thugs (such as his Shabiha or "ghost soldiers") that has driven up the death toll in Syria. 


In addition to the intensified fighting a new murderer has entered the war against Assad. The indiscriminate killer, the IED (improvised explosive device) has been identified as a new weapon deployed by the rebel forces. Some believe that the use of this weapon is a move of desperation. I believe that the use of this weapon is a measured ploy to grab the attention of the outside world. Yes, the people of Syria are dieing now on average of 100 per day. And yes, the fighting is beginning to get desperate as the rebels attack heavier and heavier targets. But the will to fight is only growing. If the outside world does not help soon... this will be a war of attrition... of annihilation. 


The IED is not a tool to end war. It is a weapon to make war so hellish that no man would want to fight it. It kills people without warning. It's targets do not know they are in danger till it is to late. And those who live after its attack... they live with wounds that will never go away and a trauma that can not be cured. This is a weapon that has replaced that feared landmine. That is how dangerous these weapons have become. 


If it were up to me the images of this war would be brought into your homes with every new cast. The entire world would be forced to watch as a mad man (the Nero of Damascus) burns his country to the ground. You would have to witness the limp lifeless bodies of children awaiting to be buried after the "Ghost" had stole their souls. No eye would be shut, no head turned away... for in the case of Syria... silence is the greatest sin of all. 


We did not learn from Bosnia. We failed to hear the cries of Rwanda. And nobody dared to think about stopping Cambodia. This is a scourge upon the earth that must be faced. It must be looked right in the eye and made clear to the world. For this crime against humanity is the darkness that must be made visible to all mankind. We must make it clear that it will never be allowed. That no king, president, or dictator has the right to kill and maim his own people as long as he keeps it tucked away within his borders. This is the age of the internet, the camera phone, of YouTube... the world is always watching. 


Help save Syria. Help force Obama's cronies in the media machine to act. Let us force them to call this "civil war" what it really is... GENOCIDE. We will not back down simply because Putin and all of Russia wants to play patty-fingers with Assad and his boys. We don't give a damn what Ahmadinejad wants to happen in Syria. And China can keep its cheap exports if this blood is what we have to pay for it. Help save Syria by telling your congressmen that you want the United States to be the defender of freedom it was founded to be. 


For bloody sakes America... just do something.

The Martyrs Brigade

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Guerrillas at War

"Iran is actively engaged in supporting the Syrian government in perpetrating the violence”, Susan Rice. United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

These two men have made their livelihoods by slaughtering their own countrymen. In Iran Ahmadinejad butchers those who protest him by deploying his snipers. The world watched as his snipers picked their target and she died looking us in the eye gasping for breath. Assad now uses those same snipers in Damascus as the fighting intensifies. 

                                      "Baniyas is the grave of the shabiha"

Assad also deploys his "Shabiha" or ghost soldiers. These are thugs who use brutal tactics and torture to try and intimidate Assad's enemies. They target women and children and only take men prisoners when they want to publicly torture their victims. This is how Assad uses terror to oppress his own nation's citizens. 


To top off his arsenal of terror, Assad uses his nation's military to kill it's own citizens. He has deployed Russian tanks (provided by Moscow under the ruse of "arms trading") into residential areas. His Russian built attack helicopters (once again provided by Putin) to spray residential areas with rockets and bullets whenever a "threat" is perceived. In other words, a public gathering of just a few civilians can be considered a "threat" to the Assad regime. 

So with the death toll rising and the "civil unrest" having no end in sight there seems to be something new coming to the surface. For the past 16 months the world has watched as an unorganized and hard to identify group of civilians has fought valiantly against Assad's oppression. We now know that this group, that has been called simply "the rebels", is getting trained and prepared for a long bloody war. 


The Idib Martyrs' Brigade now account for the majority of the rebel forces in Syria. They are on the outside perceived to be a ragtag band of guerrillas. Take a closer look and they are a battle hardened, battle field tested, and combat trained force of desperate civilians looking to live free lives in their own home country. And they are making it hard for Assad to win this war and save his image in the face of world scrutiny. 

The Martyrs' Brigade has shown that they can deploy their strength in any area at any time. And where one unit of its forces are in trouble they can deploy reinforcements in a shorter span of time than any sovereign state could do. Yet despite all their training, all their will, and all their strengths... they can't win this war alone. 


The fighting in Damascus shows us just how far these rebels are willing to take this fight. This is a battle of annihilation. Only one side is going to survive this fight. And for Assad to win this war... he will have to complete his genocidal goals while the world stands with its back turned. 

We all can see what is happening here. We can see clearly who the rebels are. We know what Assad is doing to his own people. Alder's Ledge has laid out in previous post why this amount to genocide. At the very least it is politicide and a grave violation of the basic principles of human rights. 


Wake up America. Tell Obama to stand up to Putin now while there is still something left to save in Syria. While there are people on the ground still fighting to stop the genocide.

Red Is The New Black

The Darkness Visible (Continued)

- Russian warships have been seen off the coast of Syria. It is not confirmed whether these ships are being used to patrol the coast or even shell "rebels" along the sea. It is however confirmed that these red star vessels are delivering weapons to Bashar Assad and his thugs. And the flow of weapons into Assad's army doesn't stop there.

China continues to support Assad and the flow of dirty oil from the region (Iran isn't much better than Assad). Chinese warships have been spotted entering the waters off the coast of Syria. They claim to be participating in "war games" yet the other major party in these games claims they don't exist (Russia). And Europe being spineless when it comes to China... nobody is asking why these games are taking place right off the coast of Syria.

But wait... the flow of weapons doesn't even stop with Russia and China alone.

Snipers have been documented walking and being driven over the border between Iran and Syria. These are Iranian shock troops who have no dog in the fight when it comes to the rebellion in Syria. They do however have a desire to see Assad remaining in power. They do however wish to see the influence of Tehran over Damascus. And that is why Iran is sending its military over the border to invade and put into question the sovereignty or Syria. These troops are the real terrorist.

And this is where the national media and world media like to stop. If they are willing to approach this subject at all. But the weapons still keep coming... and the source is very disturbing.

In the United States we believe in a free market economy. And in no way am I going to support any move to get our government to limit or further monitor the sales of any item. After all it is our right under our constitution to own firearms. But it is not our right to arm known genocidal regimes... and that is where my emotions conflict my sense of patriotism.

The United States Department of Defense currently hold a contract with the arms dealer Rosoboronexport. This Russian company's contract is valued at around 1 billion US dollars. It is also the exact same value of the contract between the Russian government and Syria. And since in communist countries it is treason to earn profit... one can guess where these weapons end up.

In a round about sort of way... the United States has blood on its hands. This is blood that doesn't wash off no matter how much time goes by. It was the same sort of blood that empowered Osama Bin Laden in his rise in Afghanistan. It was the same sort of blood that helped broaden the base of the totalitarian regimes in Iraq and Iran. It was the same blood spilled when Saddam Hussein used US funds to gas the Kurds in northern Iraq. This is dirty money... blood money.

So why is it that the media remains silent while Obama's regime sets on the sideline profiting from the genocide in Syria? Where are the screamers who would have grown a backbone just 4 years ago under George W. Bush?

The world remains silent. The United States remains asleep. And Obama waits to jump in and support the "winning side" at the very last minute.

Everything about this sickens me. Here at Alder's Ledge we have watched and waited for someone to act. Now we have a cause. Now we have something we can do to help stop this horrible chapter in our history. We need to put pressure on our government to stop the flow of weapons to Assad and start arming or supporting militarily the "rebels" (the civilians who simply are fighting to live).

Tell Obama if he wants four more years he had better start showing some guts. We need a leader... not a coward who only waits to benefit from the suffering of others. Tell Obama to stand up to Russia, China, and Iran. Tell Obama that Assad must go.

Rest in the Shade of Trees

For a what feels like an eternity now I have been struggling with the issue of Syria. It has captivated me from the outbreak of protest in this land I know so little about. Being who I am, I was unable to turn away from what once again seemed to be the beginning of a horrible chapter in our world's history. And every day I felt a part of me dieing as I watched the images of death dance before my eyes.

It was hard to imagine Syria going on as long as it has. The bleeding of the population at Assad's hands has been something that has not been seen in the Middle East since Saddam's day's in Iraq. Yet the world seems no better prepared to stop Assad than they were when it was time to stop Saddam's slaughter of the Kurds.

As I looked around the web to see if anybody, anyone at all, felt the same way I did. For some time now it seemed that nobody else cared at all. The news media seems far to willing to down play the violence so as to benefit the United States President in an election year. Putin's media seems to know its place when it comes to his support of Assad. And Europe seems to be asleep, or worse yet... without a pulse at all, when it comes to stopping genocide.

Then I stumbled upon a glimmer of hope in the most unlikely place of all... to me at least.

For some time now Alder's Ledge has had a minor outlet on Instagram. My personal account links to the blog and many of our post are highlighted in my daily activity on Instagram. But I had no idea how many other people on that app were paying attention to Syria or genocide at all.

The main page on Instagram that Alder's Ledge follows and supports as best we can is "Faces For Syria" (@ronieyal if you want to search by name). And the concept this page uses to attract support is unique to say the least.

"This page is meant to raise awareness to the massacre in Syria. Let's get together and STOP It. Every face is a person who care. Tag #helpsavesyria"

And with that you are greeted with picture after picture of people's faces. That is all the pictures show until you scroll down and read the tags. The concept is that each person who's picture you see has offered their support by signing the petition this page links to. Like I said, unique. You not only sign a faceless petition and offer your name in support but instead show the world who you are and what you care about.

So for all you who read this blog I would like to offer you a chance to sign the petition (and if you are on Instagram please follow "Faces For Syria"). All you have to do is click the link below and fill in the blanks. You can also help spread the word by sharing this blog post on Facebook and joining our open group there. Or follow us on Twitter.

Remember.... Read, Share, and Scream with us.

http://m.ipetitions.com/#petition/stop-the-killings-in-syria

The Voiceless

Listen To Those Who Suffer Most.

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Here at Alder's Ledge we have tried for weeks now to give a voice to the voiceless. We have tried to scream atop our lungs to paint a picture the world does not want to see. Now it is time that we join you in listening to those who we so often forget. The children who this genocide has hurt most.



Now that you have a face to put to the victims... now that you have a voice to listen to... you can't say you just plain didn't know. You might not think that these children are suffering, after all they are lucky enough to have made it out... but they can't go home. Everything they knew was taken from them. Their strength should elicit your own.

Click the buttons below and share these post. Put them on your Facebook page, your Twitter account, or email them to others. We want the world to know. We must all scream for these children. We must scream for those who died in and are still dieing at the hands of evil men.

The Abyss

And No Way Out

Amnesty International finally showed up to the theater of war in Syria only to simply throw their hat into the ring. We should appreciate their calling of Bashar Assad's actions as "crimes against humanity". But we can not accept that this is all we are going to get out of the world as Syria burns. This can not be all we are willing to do as innocence is snuffed out by the evil we can clearly see before us.

Even worse is the call by Amnesty International to impose a full arms embargo upon Syria. Of course we should support an embargo when it comes to Bashar Assad and his goons. And yes we need to stop the flow of Russian weapons into the Syrian Army's arsenal. But we can not accept the same results we saw in Bosnia when we allowed the Serbs dominance by disarming the Bosnian peoples. We must start arming the Serbian Free Army if we are not going to intervene with a military force large enough and willing enough to stop the fighting.

Unlike in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur we can not rely upon unarmed blue helmets standing around. It didn't work in Rwanda, in fact it only took ten dead blue hats before the Hutu controlled everything. No amount of tin stars could stop the militias in Rwanda when they weren't even armed upon arriving in country. In Bosnia our soldiers were able to stand and watch the killings happening right under their noses. This strategy is broken and has never worked.

If the United Nations is allowed to take on this task they will have to be willing to accept casualties. Brave men will have to die so that others may live. It is really just that simple. But sadly the United Nations has never had a stomach to take on a rouge state that is willing to kill indiscriminately. And they are definitely never going to be willing to accept casualties on their side of the intervention.

Last night we watched as the Syrian Army and its Shabiha ran through al-Haffeh. This was just one of the "rebel enclaves" that Syria added to its latest offensive. And yet the world's media refuses to admit what happened last night after the Syrian Army claimed control. We all know that the Shabiha went through the town trying to drudge up any "rebels" who weren't quick enough in fleeing. And we all know that innocent people were rounded up and killed. But the world remains silent.

Valiant "rebels" in the Syrian Free Army however report that they fought long enough and brave enough to hold off the Syrian tanks so that as many innocent civilians could flee. The world press reports that these "rebels take crazy risk" and "fight fanatically" in the face of much larger forces. We have even seen comparisons of David and Goliath. But nobody wants to admit that these so called rebels had never resorted to the AK 47 till after Assad chose to start bombing their homes.

If they are in fact crazy enough to stand in the face of a mad man like Assad and his "Ghost" soldiers... why not arm them?

Uncle Barry in the White House was willing to arm the Libyan rebels. He was even willing to use our military to bomb the Libyan military to help "level the playing field". Yet when it comes to Syria this coward king we call president chooses to wait on the sidelines to see how things will play out. And if all truth be told, Barack is afraid to stage what he sees as a proxy war against Russia.

And yet if Russia wants to fund genocide than we do need to stage a war against the Kremlin. We need a president that is willing to stiffen up his spine and pull his chin up. We need a president that is willing to tell Putin that we the free people of the world will not remain silent in the face of evil like him and Assad. This is Genocide. And it must be stopped.


As I write this Assad's forces are pillaging  the Latakia region in Syria. They are going door to door looking for targets of opportunity. Any innocent women and children that the Shabiha decide to kill are open game for Assad's blood lust. And all we can do is keep the pressure on our leaders to do something... if anything... to stop this genocide.

The Estimated Death Toll In Syria

These are figures from two groups closely associated with the issue at hand.

Devling Deeper Into The Darkness

The Darkness Visible Continued

Currently the United Nations is broken. Their so called "peace keeping" goals in Syria is failing miserably. The country of Syria is enduring the worst case of what can only be described as genocide. Yet the world has turned away and thrown their money behind some good will UN policy that will never stop a single death in Syria.

The lion is on the prowl today as I write this. The Butcher of Damascus is at this moment using Russian provided attack helicopters to strike villages around Homs and Homs itself. Bashar al-Assad will use Iranian provided snipers to keep these areas under his control. Innocent civilians will be killed before I can finish this post.

Many of you have simply ignored this subject for many reasons. One being that you think that this "civil war" is not or can not be called Genocide. So for the last time I will define why Syria has been added to the long list of genocides in our wretched past.

Bashar al-Assad belongs to an Islamic sect known as Alawite Shia. The vast majority of his country's population however are Shiite Muslims. This has been one of the major motivators in al-Assad's brutality against his own people. And that is why, plain and simple, this is genocide.

Now onto what is happening and why the world isn't watching.

The Butcher of Damascus has been employing the use of mercenaries from within his country and beyond his borders. The most feared of all are the Shabiha (in Arabic, "Ghost"). These are the "clean up crew" in Bashar's bloody war against his own citizens.

Shabiha have been described as "steroid fueled gorillas" who wield AK 47s and machetes. And due to the "come and get it" policy Bashar's bank account has had for the last six months, the Shabiha are now fiercely loyal to the Bashar regime.

According to the handful of accounts leaking out of the locked down country the Shabiha move into a town or village that has just been shelled or bombed out by the Syrian military. Any helpless women and children are usually targeted first by the Shabiha. Next the men who have survived the attacks by the Bashar military are marched out by the "Ghost" and killed as brutally as possible. This exact method is seen in Darfur by the Janjaweed (in Arabic, "Devils on Horseback").

In other attacks Damascus's Nero has used his newly found toys (Russian provided) to cover the streets by hovering overhead. During this time the Iranian provided snipers move in and take up post throughout the city. Next comes the Syrian paramilitary forces who attack any points of resistance the population may be able to provide. Finally the the death squads move in and flush the city of any Shiite Muslims and feed them into sniper fire while butchering any that try to flee or resist.

Most of the time however Bashar's forces use artillery and attack helicopters to strike random villages to subdue any organizing that might be taking place. Random appearances of these Russian attack helicopters also serve to keep the level of terror up in and around Damascus itself. They also are used to light fires in villages that Bashar fears "rebels" might be passing through.

Paranoia has earned Bashar the title Nero. His fear of his own people has led him to this point. He is leading a campaign to destroy his own countrymen. And nobody is doing a thing to stop it.

The United States is suffering from the cowardice of its President. Obama was willing to help topple other leaders in the region when they were already on their way out. But now he is faced with a real threat to our promise "Never Again". Now Obama sets back and waits to see how this fight will play out. And maybe, just maybe, if the Free Syrian Army can fight back against Bashar.... then Obama just might "help".

This is the symptom of having a President who is only out to make a name for himself. You get cowards like Bashar and Obama.

As for Europe, the French started this "Peace Keeping" plan with the goal of bringing about some form of glory for Paris. In stopping genocide their is no glory to be found. When we stopped the Nazis their was only the sickening reality of what mankind was capable of. It is not a pleasant task and yet it is the most important responsibility we have ever been charged with.

This is the weak point in European glory seekers. This sort of tiptoeing through the minefield is all we can expect when the Europeans are unwilling to stand up to Russia and Iran. Let alone their lack of spine when it comes to military intervention in Syria.

So who is fighting for Syria?



The Free Syrian Army, an army of civilians organized to defeat the oppression of Bashar al-Assad, are the only force attempting to protect the innocent. They are however the excuse used to label this as a "civil war". It appears that anytime a populace arms itself to defend against aggression the world takes the opportunity to step back and claim ignorance.

Here at Alder's Ledge we will be constantly updating you on this genocide. We will continue to scream for those the world has left voiceless. Check in with us on FaceBook and here on the blog. Bare witness and share every post. It is important that we not remain silent as innocent Syrians suffer at the hands of the Nero of Damascus.