Washington admits Bashar al-Assad’s ouster not on the cards

• Le Monde published an op-ed by Swiss journalists Patrick Vallélian and Hammouche Sid Ahmed who were with French national Gilles Jacquier when he was killed. The authors rekindle the conspiracy theory that official voices had already dropped. Above all, their piece opens the door for provocations.
They attribute to professor Boris Dolgov (Russian academician and authority on Syria, who was received in Damascus and whose writings have been published by Voltairenet.org in Russian and English) statements that he did not pronounce. This is particularly bizarre since the authors pretend not to know him, when in reality they met him twice in Damascus and even spoke with him at length.

• Michael Jansen in The Irish Times continues his account of the effects of the conflict on the population. Today, he shows that it is the poor who suffer the most from "sanctions" which were imposed by the West allegedly to help them.

• Anne-Marie Slaughter, policy planning director at the US State Department, published an opinion column in The Australian. She points to the rise of Turkey in recent years (since the Davos incident and the Freedom Flotilla) and considers that it that must now move from words to action: Ankara must support the Syrian rebels, and even attack the Damascus regime with the help of NATO.

Photo of the day

© Associated Press

A young man poses in front of a burning pipeline. It’s Khaled Abu Salah, an opponent from Homs who is well known for his videos. Last week, he was portrayed as wounded and dying.
According to the authorities, the pipeline was sabotaged by the "terrorists", while the London office of the Muslim Brotherhood claims it was shelled by the "regime."
A first question arises as to why the Syrian authorities would have destroyed their own pipeline, thereby magnifying the impact of the Western embargo which they are under.
The second question is why an opponent who holds the government responsible for the sabotage would be posing proudly in front of the blaze.

Cartoons of the day

© The Saudi Gazette

The Saudi Gazette published a classic propaganda cartoon to demonize al-Assad.

© Mana Neyestani, Le Monde

Le Monde has chosen to present Bashar from beyond the grave, brewing a beverage with the blood of the condemned.
Yet, during the ten months of civil strife and war, the Syrian government never hanged its opponents.
Moreover, to assimilate a political leader with a vampire feeding on the blood of his enemies is generally considered as a classic anti-Semitism statement. It applies this time not a Jewish leader, but to an Arab, who are also Semites.