Barrel Bombs in Deraa Kill 18 Civilians

Aleppo isn’t the only Syrian city being bombarded by barrel bombs; activists in Deraa report that air raids killed at least 18 civilians there this week.

Via wire syndicate, al-Bawaba reports that the strike was near a school, and that the Britain-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights “said the casualty figure was likely to rise, due to the severe nature of some of the injuries. It said five women and four children were killed by the bomb, near the village of Mzairib.

“The Observatory said a barrel bomb was dropped on the Palestinian refugee camp in the town, and activists said at least 15 of the victims in Tuesday’s strikes on Deraa were Palestinians. Activists posted videos showing the devastation and residents’ attempt to retrieve survivors from under the rubble. In one particularly gruesome piece of footage a man holds the shredded body of a little girl killed in the Mzairib attack and shouts, ‘These are the results of the Geneva conference!’

“Fighting between regime troops and rebels also took place in several parts of Deraa province, while barrel bombs struck the villages of al-Jiza and Yaadouda, the Observatory said. Helicopters also dropped barrel bombs on Daraya and Khan al-Shih, near Damascus, several rural areas of Qunaitra province, the Idlib town of Khan Sheikhoun and the city of Aleppo, where there were unconfirmed reports of civilian casualties after two neighborhoods were hit.”

As Syria Security Threat Expands, Obama Mulls Policy Options

As threats to national security increase, there could be changes in the Obama administration’s Syria policy.

“U.S. officials say al-Qaida-linked militants are squeezing moderates out of the insurgency and carving out havens for potential terrorist plots against the United States,” the AP reports. “The accelerating U.S. national security threat is leading the administration to take a fresh look at previously shelved ideas, including more robust assistance to Western-backed rebels.

“They are also are looking at newer, more far-reaching options, including drone strikes on extremists and more forceful action against Assad, whom President Barack Obama told to leave power 30 months ago. Obama’s top aides plan to meet at the White House before the week’s end to examine options, according to administration officials. They weren’t authorized to talk publicly on the matter and spoke only on condition of anonymity.”

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday that “we have to examine what the alternatives some might be proposing are and whether they’re in our national security interest” and “expressed concern about stepped-up intervention leading to ‘unintended consequences.’”

A Syrian Spymasters’ Conclave in Washington

Washington Post editorial writer David Ignatius weighs in on a two-day meeting this week in Washington between Western and Arab intelligence forces that support the Syrian opposition. He refers to the gathering as a “spymasters’ conclave.

“The spymasters’ conclave featured Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, Saudi Arabia’s minister of the interior, who will now supervise the kingdom’s leading role in the covert-action program. He replaces Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi intelligence chief, who has been suffering from a back ailment and whose leadership of the program was seen as uneven,” he writes.

“Prince Mohammed’s new oversight role reflects the increasing concern in Saudi Arabia and other neighboring countries about al-Qaida’s growing power within the Syrian opposition. As interior minister, he coordinates the kingdom’s counterterrorism policy, which gives him close ties with the CIA and other Western intelligence services.

“The Washington gathering was also attended by spy chiefs from Turkey, Qatar, Jordan and other key regional powers that have been supporting the rebels. Sources said these countries agreed to coordinate their aid so that it goes directly to moderate fighters rather than leeching away to extremists of the al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaida affiliate, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“It’s too early to tell whether this makeover is cosmetic or signifies real changes on the battlefield. But it’s an attempt to bolster the chronically weak moderate opposition, which lost ground over the past year to both President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and the jihadist fighters close to al-Qaida.”

On Life in Today’s Damascus

Anne Barnard of the New York Times writes a National Geographic piece on the rhythm of daily life in today’s Damascus.

“Beneath the remnants of a Roman colonnade, Mohammad Ali, 54, wielding a hefty Polaroid he has been carefully keeping going for a quarter century, shoots a photo of a grim-faced family taking a breather from war-torn Aleppo. His usual clients—tourists, foreign students, and well-dressed families out for a stroll—are long gone. Today many of the families browsing the bright blue Iranian pottery and bouquets of colorful shawls are Syrians forced from homes in outlying neighborhoods that have become battlefields,” she reports.

“They live crammed into rented rooms, shop fronts, and offices in the capital’s shrinking zone of safety. In the city center, men with guns patrol the streets; they belong to the growing neighborhood militias that some residents trust and others fear. Bracing for the unknown, fearing the worst, sinking into economic hardship, the Old City hunkers behind ancient walls that are reclaiming, metaphorically for now, their original role as fortifications. Beyond the walls military checkpoints create another barrier, keeping rebels out of government-held central Damascus.”

Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team:

HRW: New Deadly Cluster Munition Attacks

BBC: Lebanon Dances Into the Abyss as Syria Conflict Crosses Border

Reuters: Al Qaida Linked Group Claims Beirut Bombings

Guardian: ‘There’s No Help Left’: The Syrian Refugee Camp That is Becoming a Township

AP: Syria Drives Rebels From Site of Alleged Killings

AP: As Syria Threat Expands, Obama Mulls Options