Four Days Of Condor

July 14. Self-ordered online disappearance for at least a few weeks was getting more fruitful than estimated. Stuck a real long time in the web digging the dirt. My greatest hope was unfortunately not fulfilled: that in my absence from the news the gentleman looking tyrant issuing ungentle orders would have been kicked off. The first footage I studied in detail was goal keeper talent and revolution legend Abdel Basset Saroot visiting injured victims of the regime crime. 'The world is perceiving the number of martyrs only as a statistic and not as human beings.' Yep. That hits. Massacre followed by more gruesome massacre followed by insufferable gruesome massacre .. German news finally passes harsh (and necessary) criticism on Kofi Annan disavowing him as help- and harmless uncle. 'Annan said recently: if we have a problem at home we're taking place under a tree discussing as long as the problem's solved. As of now Annan should sit under that tree discussing with the trunk.' (In German).

July 15. One year and four months. Sixty nine weeks. Four hundred and eighty seven days. Seven hundred one thousand and three hundred minutes. Almost all of us expected that it would taken shorter time to overcome Assad. But, hey, with this 'friends' by his side cooking their own dirty little proxy wars with the lame rest of the world .. and not to forget with the bunch of mercenaries he's permanently hiring. Like that kind of contract killer probably seeking some extra cash for that interview: 'We grabbed her and put her into the car. We drove to an abandoned home and we both raped her. After we finished we killed her. She knew our faces and our neighbours, so she could not live.' The lowermost grade of moral disgrace. So seen the next footage caused sort of alleviation. A Free Syrian Army branch speaker presents important documents approving regime ordered crimes. Sure, the regime media will assert that those papers are fallen from the sky or spread a similar ridiculous thesis. We do not only know that. We're expecting it. Regime media employees get only paid for selling increasingly absurd explanations.

July 16. The creative contribution of a young Canadian surprised me in a very pleasant manner. 'And as the eyes of the world try to turn away the lion of Damascus has killed again.' Damn true. Too much are still closing their eyes, refuse to register the humanitarian catastrophe, nourishing their luxury problems instead of. The following read describes the psychological warfare on the regime troops. Assad's shabeeha militia isn't as invulnerable as it appeared even some months ago. 'You are bombarding your brothers, your children. Why have not you already deserted? We know who you are, where you live.' (In Spanish). And the comet tail of a turning point hushed over the sky .. the remarkable fact about this anti-regime protest is that it took place not far away from the Syrian government's main palace in Damascus. The regime's not only literally losing ground.

July 17. Damascus dawn? Al Sham rising? Something's going on around and in the meantime in the capital. Fierce clashes reported since yesterday in Al Midan and the regime media tries to stage the illusion of a quiet calm district, reported clashes only part of foreign propaganda. But - bloody blemish: gunfire shots surrounding during the spontaneous interviews. Another proof that the only quality left the regime has is their excessive inhuman brutality. For everyone not familiar with the city's districts here an interactive map showing where the clashes took place the last two days. Suddenly terms like Homs Volcano, Damascus Volcano, Operation Earthquake are rushing through the standard and social media. Could it really be that the turning point is now there? This young FSA captain seems to confirm that kind of shift explaining that all regime militia control points in Talibseh, Homs, are taken in by the revolutionaries. The Homsees know too good about how it is being hunted and shelled by regime guards. Those refugees who made it fleeing to Jordan report elaborately about their dramitic situation at home and during their escape.

One thing's for sure: the regime's definitely not getting stronger. The arms Assad's allies are still delivering are responsible for the ongoing crackdown measures. Point. The inability of sending humanitarian organizations and medical staff inside Syria, until now no official buffer zones are created, the continued indiscriminate shellings, point, point, point. But a dictator who's reliant on hiring the ruthless bottom of criminal mercenaries, who's officially cancelling a pro-regime protest, who's meanwhile probably hiding somewhere outside the presidential compound is all but a bet worth. Do we need another interview with him? For sure not. Do we want to read something about his private life? No way. Do we buy his disguise of solicitude? Never. The reciprocal conclusion of Ghandi's famous quote is ironically becoming reality in the case of Assad: first they fight you, than they laugh at you, than they ignore you, then you've lost. We all have already begun to ignore you, ya Bashar ..

Glancing At The Gordian Knot: Democratic Decisions And Their Fatal Consequences

Democracy obliges to act under the premise of granting the opponent the same rights to express in words his thought lines and arguments as given to oneself. But the actual world order isn't a democracy. Democratic governments are merely a part of a wild mixture of more or less repressional rulerships. To keep the democratic glasses during a conversation with the extreme wing of the oppressors' side is, sorry, I have to say that, counterproductive and in the meantime dangerous (most of all for those suffering under extreme regime violence). Conclusing the dialogue partner is on the same level of social behavior - not randomly arresting, not torturing, not murdering etc - not only revalues high-grade cold blooded criminals like Bashar al-Assad, it indirectly legitimizes the unimaginable regime crimes against humanity.

You can't resocialize someone or declare as who never was socialized.

So, please, dear representatives of our global democracies, don't treat guys like the Syrian tyrant as caring philanthropists.

No empathy for mass murderers.

Yes, in contrary to the extrovert diva among the dictators, Muammar al-Ghaddafi, Assad appears optically compatible to the world's leaders club. But that didn't and doesn't hinder him to suppress his own people in such a pain- and disgraceful way. I could not imagine sitting with someone at the dinner table. I would not be able to eat anything. I'm still asking myself how some others grown up under the gift of freedom and justice could do that. This is also a message to the free democratic press: don't try to sell us Assad and all those inhumanitarians as like-you-and-me dudes please. The conclusion that it even might be like that lets me draw for myself fatal consequences.

Neuperlacher Sonnenuntergangsimpressionen / Sunset Impressions Neuperlach

Ob die angekündigten Sonnensturmausläufer mit für dieses Abendlicht verantwortlich sind? 

Egal. Geniessenswert waren diese Momente mit Blick auf die Münchner Innenstadt schon. 

Might the last sun eruptions‘ radiation be responsible for such evening sky conditions?

Anyway. Those moments watching westwards with the city of Munich as shilouette were absolutely enjoyable.

Münchner Geflüster

Türkenstrass‘n is am jeden, sag I moi, der d‘ Stadt a weng kennt, scho a Begriff.

Mir, der I an Grossteil sei‘s Lehm‘s da verbracht hab, erst recht.

Scho so was wia da Puls der östlich‘n Maxvorstadt (Ned Schwabing, bitt‘schee!!).

War irgendwia scho aa mei Strass‘n.

Bis heit.

Bis I des Schuidl da in Rengschburg g‘sehn hab.

Hab I mir nia denkt, dass a Steigerung von da Türkenstrass‘n überhaupt no möglich sei kannt.

Hab I echt ned denkt.

Bis heit.

Jetz woaß I, wo‘s mi hi g‘wurzelt hätt, wann‘s mi zu Lebzeit‘n amoi nach Rengschburg zog‘n hätt .. da wär‘ I g‘land!

Mei ..

.. wo a recht hod, hod a recht.

Wos sogd ma jetz no? Nix mea.

Solidarity With Syria? Shown.

Regensburg. Ostengassen street festival. Never heard of it. Of the last one. The medieval core of the city is declared as UNESCO world heritage area. Been probably a dozen times here in the meantime, a visit more than worth and therefore highly recommended.

In Munich, we have a lot of churches, yes, but this pittoresque jewel on the river Danube owns besides the famous gothic twin tower masterpiece St Peter cathedral far more than a dozen recommendable examples for Christian architecture.

The street festival is more or less comparable with the Munich Tollwood festival. More or less. A remarkable number of tents in solidarity with the chased and persecuted in our world. Iran. Syria. Exactly, the country whose civilians are hindered through the regime‘s incredible disgusting violence to reinstall freedom and dignity. The better it feels to witness the increasing solidarity here in Germany with the real victims, those ones whose lives are permanently under the Damokles‘ sword becoming randomly sacrificed. Kind of death cult the Assad dynasty is celebrating since more than half a century. Based on a lethal web of security branches, the Mukhabarat, as Daddy Hafez created it to maintain his claim to eternal power. The circumstances - the official successor brother died in something they officially called accident and Maher‘s psychotic mixture of concentrated ruthlessness and extremely affective violent behavior - urged Bashar to accept becoming inthronized as the new first shabih. Instead of leading a luxury society life as a VIP doctor in the glamorous Western world what he possibly might had chosen instead of becoming a tyrant. Well, everyone realizing what kind of cruelty the Assad-Makhlouf clan uses as a tool of repression also wishes after all that he had chosen that. Day by day more and more realize that. Regime‘s strategy predictably failed: instead of uplifting international indifference worldwide awareness campaigns are multiplying; the number of those becomes bigger not only registering the suffering of other human fellows anywhere on the planet but also actively spending their time, their energy, their creative potential to raise awareness, to inform, to collect donations.

As it is on a mid-july Sunday here in Regensburg where the weather is remarkably varying. A strong westerner carries permanently cloud formations in all sizes under the blue summer sky. Some clouds are even as huge and misty dark grey producing a quarter hour rain storm with rapidly decreasing temperatures. But mainly the sun‘s shining, it‘s pleasantly warm here at the river bank.

ASSAD2012 - MOST WANTED - STOP HIM NOW is printed on post card sized stickers all around here. Since Friday the activities‘ coordination council of the Protestant students Regensburg where Germans and Syrian expats engage themselves side by side is offering delicious food specialites from the crisis shaken country and helium-pumped up balloons as a symbol of hope and compassion.

After a rainy-wet opener a summerly sunny Saturday followed granting both the tent owners and tenants crowds of visitors. This Sunday the number of visitors is not estimated as high but the demand for Falafel burger, Bulgur skewer etc is permanently on a constant level.

The German-Syrian team looks more than satisfied. The collected money will be used to finance urgently needed medics. Medics which stop the pain and fasten up the injuries‘ healing process. Injuries caused by gun ammunition, grenade and rocket shells, cluster bombs, nail bombs, caustic or intoxinating chemical substances and according to the last massacres caused by knives. Caused by the regime militia. But each single one of us can try to heal the injuries burned in the Syrian civilians‘ souls facing the world community‘s indifference, its‘ passivity, its‘ inability to act as one, its‘ tactical hesitating as well as its‘ cold blooded calculating of selfish interests. By active awareness.

Solidarität mit Syrien? Gezeigt.

Regensburg. Ostengassenfest. Noch nie vorher davon gehört. Von ersterer schon. Selbst ich als kirchenarchitektonisch verwöhneter Münchner komme nicht umher, die Vielfaltigkeit der Gotteshäuser, die sich in der von der UNESCO zur Welterbezone erklärten Altstadt geradezu drängen, beeindruckt zur Kenntnis zu nehmen.

Das Ostengassenfest lässt sich grob geschätzt mit dem Münchner Tollwood-Festival vergleichen. Grob geschätzt. Auffällig viele Aktionsstände in Solidarität mit den Verfolgten in aller Herrenländer. Iran. Syrien. Genau, das Land, in dem die Zivilbevölkerung seit einem Jahr und vier Monaten mit unvorstellbar abscheulicher Gewalt seitens des herrschenden Regimes an der Wiedererlangung von Freiheit und Würde gehindert wird.

Umso schöner, hier in Deutschland ebenjene Solidarität mit den wirklichen Opfern, den syrischen Bürgern miterleben zu dürfen, deren Leben zum Spielball des Staatsterrors unter dem Befehlskommando einer durchtriebenen Dynastie mutierten. Seit Vater Hafez vor mehr als einem halben Jahrhundert die Macht an sich riss und einen lebensverachtenden Sicherheitsapparat schuf. Sohn Bashar, der seine Inthronisation dem abrupten Ableben des einen sowie der von sämtlichen Skrupeln befreiten Impulsivität des anderen Bruders zu verdanken hat, wäre möglicherweise lieber im reichen Westen herumjettender Society-Doktor geblieben. Ich denke mal, alle, die wahrnehmen können, mit welcher Grausamkeit der Assad-Makhlouf-Clan seine Stellung zu zementieren versucht, wünschen sich heute ebenso, dass er das getan hätte. Und es werden tatsächlich immer mehr. Das Kalkül des Regimes geht nicht auf; anstatt die globale Gleichgültigkeit zu schüren, steigt die Anzahl der weltweiten Initiativen von Menschen, denen es nicht nur nicht mehr egal ist, ob auf einem anderen Flecken der Erde Mitmenschen leiden müssen, die sich eben auch aktiv einsetzen, um in ihrem Rahmen das Notwendige und darüber hinaus zu leisten vermögen. 

So auch hier in Regensburg an einem Sonntag Mitte Juli, dessen Wetter als mannigfaltig in Erinnerung bleibt. Wolkenfelder verschiedenster Formationen rauschen über den Sommerhimmel, einige tiefgrau und mitunter so groß, dass mit einem mehrminütigen kräftigen Guss die Temperaturen um ein paar ordentlich gefühlte Grad herunterkühlen. Doch überwiegend scheint die Sonne, es ist angenehm warm, hier, an der Donaulände. 

ASSAD2012 -MOST WANTED -STOP HIM NOW ist auf den postkartengrossen Stickern, die kreuz und quer verteilt kleben, zu lesen. Seit Freitag serviert die Arbeitsgruppe der evangelischen Studentengemeinde Regensburg, in der sich Deutsche und ansässige Syrer engagieren, kulinarische Spezialitäten aus der von Regimewillkür gepeinigten Region und bietet Luftballons zum Steigenlassen als Zeichen der Hoffnung und des Mitgefühls an. 

Einem verregneten Start ins Wochenende folgte am Samstag durchgehend warmes Sommerwetter, das dem Ostengassenfest einen zufriedenstellend hohen Besucherandrang bescherte. An diesem Sonntag ist die Zahl der Festbesucher vergleichsweise überschaubar, doch die rege Nachfrage nach Falafel, Bulgur & Co. verzeichnet keinen nennenswerten Schwund. 

Sehr zur Freude der deutsch-syrischen Solidargemeinschaft, deren Spendeneinnahmen der Finanzierung von dringend benötigten Medikamenten zugute kommen. Medikamente, die Schmerzen stoppen und Wunden lindern. Wunden, verursacht durch Pistolen- und Gewehrmunition, Nagelbomben, Granatsplittern, Streubombenpartikeln, chemischen Kampfstoffen und seit den letzten Massakern vermehrt durch Messerstiche. Verursacht durch die Regimemilizen. Die Wunden jedoch, die sich in den Seelen der Syrer durch die Gleichgültigkeit, die Unfähigkeit der gemeinsamen Zusammenarbeit, das taktierende Zögern sowie das berechnende Kalkül der Welt eingebrannt haben, können wir alle jederzeit versuchen zu heilen: durch aktive Anteilnahme.

Clans And Cartels

Every comparison of Bashar al-Assad's heired family empire with other dynasties or whatsoever might ultimately end as a disgraceful insult of the last mentioned. So let me be clear straight in the beginning that the following comparison I'm sketching is not to be regarded as an impertinence towards the ones I'm figuring out besides the Syrian regime. Otherwise I risk to end with a cut-off head or a dozen of deadly gunshot wounds somewhere in the outback. That's not what I want.

The Assad clan and the drug cartels from the Mexican meth producing families to the Colombian cocaine barons have a lot in common. In both cases the top heads representing their dynasties are dressed in good-shaped expensive clothes, both prefer good-looking women at their side, both are emperors over their felt natural-given rights to defend their rulership even taking a lot of people's lives; the first one as highest representative, the other ones as businessmen. Both are dealing with the death balancing it as necessary side-effect of their actions to keep up the - family affairs.

The main difference between both clan systems is that no official in the world would or could tolerate any kind of exile or promoted exit strategy for a drug baron while Assad is up to now flattered to choose a safe haven taking all the money with him he needs to contain his family's luxury life.

Imagine that offer would have been given a lot of years ago to Pablo Escobar, the drug lord legend of South America. Officials from all over the world would have wooed him with the guarantee of granted safety for all his ones even including the worst contract killers among his tribe. Imagine the gigantic global outcry; mothers who've lost their children to overdoses or gang shootouts would had protest enormously loud side by side with frustrated DEA agents and other opponents of the organized drug crime.

I don't know the exactly number of victims Escobar had accounted for during his reign as head of the cocaine cartel. Possibly the dark figure might been a similar number than the one of Assad's victims up to now. Possibly much times lower. The drug related crimes of El Patrón are separatedly seen exactly the same than the power maintaining related crimes of the first shabeeh. But while the first ones are clearly regarded as an absolute no-go the last mentioned crimes are tried to sell to the public perception as justified sacrifices.

And that is the point where my inner logic refuses to accept that as given. Sorry, but there's no difference if a teener playing at the street corner is taken down by a regime sniper's bullet or during a drug related shootout. In both cases a young life ends abruptly and a mourning family is left demanding justice for their brutal loss.

To catch the responsible drug dealer who fired the deadly shot at the minor is in almost all civilizations a moral duty. But where is the moral duty of the world to demand an extensive investigation in the child murdering caused by a ruthless regime crony? To take the regime top to responsibility for such random crimes? Where?

As long as Assad stays in power with the help of the global representatives my inner logic stays to refuse that there exists some kind of global justice. And being confronted with the crucial question whom of both I have to choose pardoning his deeds I would take a deep breath before deciding myself for the Colombian.