Syria and the five military choices
General Dempsey is downbeat on American intervention in Syria, and an Iraq prison break frees hundreds of jihadists
The various scenarios for US military intervention in Syria, presented by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, lead the news in Arab media Wednesday, alongside stories of a dramatic prison break in Iraq and increasing violence in Egypt.
“Five military possibilities in Syria await Obama’s consent,” reads the headline of Saudi-owned daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat, featuring a photo of Dempsey shaking hands with congresswomen before a meeting on Tuesday.
Dempsey’s pessimism regarding the success of military intervention and its high cost, estimated in the billions, is highlighted in the article.
Meanwhile, Lebanese social affairs minister Wa’el Abu-Faour tells the daily that a number of Western embassies have proposed granting Christian Syrian refugees entry visas to their countries. Abu-Faour says he has warned the countries in question against the move, claiming that discriminating between refugees on a sectarian basis will “ruin Syria’s character.”
The story also leads the front page of London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, which reports that President Obama intends to arm the Syrian rebels, thereby responding to concern voiced by a number of congressmen that Assad may prevail in the civil war which has been raging since March 2011.
But Western promises are not enough to quell the concern of the commander of the Free Syrian Army, Salim Idris. Idris told the Turkish Anadolu News Agency that he has “lost hope” in Western aid reaching the rebels, “but has not lost faith in Allah,” Al-Hayat reports.
Dramatic prison break jeopardizes Iraq’s security
“Black days await Iraq,” commented one Iraqi official to A-Sharq Al-Awsat on a prison break Sunday, in which an Al-Qaeda affiliate organization, the Islamic State of Iraq, succeeded in storming two Baghdad prisons and freeing hundreds of prisoners, including “over 500 mujahideen of the highest caliber,” according to the organization’s statement.
Dubai-based news channel Al-Arabiya displays a video of the attack on the Abu Ghraib and Taji prisons, claiming that police had begun searching for the fleeing prisoners but had not succeeded in arresting any of them.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki accused the prison guards of collaborating with the militia, while a member of the hard-line Shiite Sadrist movement, Hakim Al-Zamli, accused Maliki of lying about the collaboration of low-ranking guards, claiming that the entire security establishment in Iraq is corrupt.
“The renaissance of Al-Qaeda in Iraq is certainly connected to the closing of prospects for a political settlement there. The country’s exclusionary security policy which has instilled sectarianism has failed on all accounts,” reads the editorial.
Egypt’s top general calls on Egyptians to take to the streets
Major General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has called on Egyptians to take to the streets on Friday to empower the military and police “to fight possible violence and terrorism.”
El-Sissi’s speech comes amid rising violence over the past days, the main victims of which are supporters of deposed president Mohammed Morsi.
During his speech, dubbed by Saudi news site Elaph as “his most powerful since the ouster of Mohammed Morsi,” el-Sissi said he did not deceive the deposed president and in fact warned him of popular unrest back in March.
“Tahrir calls for a mass rally against Brotherhood terrorism,” reads the headline of independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, a staunchly anti-Muslim Brotherhood publication. Nine Egyptians were killed and 86 injured across the country in clashes between supporters and opponents of the ousted president, the daily reports.