Syrians Vote In Presidential Referendum

Assad Virtually Assured Another 7-Year Term In Yes Or No Vote

(CBS)  Written for CBSNews.com by Damascus-based journalist George Baghdadi.

---

Syrians began voting Sunday in a nationwide presidential referendum to re-elect President Bashar Al-Assad who carried 97.29 percent of the last election in 2000.

Some 12 million eligible voters from Syria's total population of 18.6 million are expected to cast their ballots at 1,087 polling stations which opened at 7 a.m.

The voting, which will last for 12 hours, may be extended for three hours in case of a heavy turnout.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported "massive participation" and said the turnout in all Syrian cities and governorates was "heavy and unprecedented."

No opposition parties are allowed in Syria and Assad is the sole candidate in a "yes" or "no" referendum. It is an election Assad is sure to win. Many dissidents have condemned the process as undemocratic and said they will not take part.

In 2005, delegates of Assad's Baath Party endorsed the idea of independent political parties and relaxing emergency laws, which have been in place since 1963. Those promises have yet to be realized.

"Why I should go and bother voting where everything is pre-set. There is only one candidate and this is absolutely not a healthy process," said lawyer Haitham Al-Maleh, one of the few critics who still have the courage to talk to reporters openly after the government rounded up and arrested many in the last year.

Interior Minister Bassam Abdul Majeed is due to announce the referendum result after the Syria's parliament, the 250-member People's Assembly, meets for a special session to approve the outcome of the vote. President Assad's current term expires July 17.

Blaring horns, sirens, motorcades and rallies are the order of day and night. Syrians are staging massive daily exhibitions of fidelity and devotion for President Assad, who will start his second 7-year term.

"Bashar, Bashar, Bashar," people yell as their cavalcades of hundreds of cars, snarl traffic in this city of five million.

Everywhere you look there are colored lights and portraits of Assad – 50-foot-high canvasses hang from government buildings; poster-size pictures cover lampposts, hotel, lobbies and virtually every vehicle that moves.

It is the same in every other city, town and village in Syria. The scale of this nationwide extravaganza lionizing Assad is unprecedented.

The campaign kicked off when the People’s Assembly unanimously nominated Assad for a new term and set May 27 for the referendum vote.

Bashar Al-Assad, the 41-year-old British-educated eye doctor, took over as Syria's leader from his father, Hafez Al-Assad who died after three decades in power, in June 2000.

Assad has kept the political system he inherited from his father largely intact and maintained firm control on power while slowly opening the economy after decades of state control.

Syria has come under intense pressure from the international community over its policies, mainly in Iraq and Lebanon. Washington accuses Damascus of not doing enough to stop cross-border infiltration of Islamic militants into Iraq and of meddling in Lebanese internal affairs, charges that Syria denies.

Daily reminders of Assad's accomplishments have appeared in the official Syrian press: effusive editorials lavishing praise on the "loyal Arab leader who is dedicated to all Arab causes."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice early this month with her Syrian counterpart in the highest-level meeting between the nations in two years - a gesture toward dialogue aimed at easing their numerous disputes. The talks focused on the war in Iraq.

When the elder Assad died in 2000, negotiations between Israel and Syria had been suspended following a round of talks in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The talks faltered because of disagreements over the scope of Israel's territorial concessions. A meeting between the elder Assad and President Bill Clinton in Geneva in March of the same year failed to revive the negotiations.

[cfin5]

No other candidates.......Hmmmmmmm, wonder what it says on the ballot. Do you want to live? Check yes or no. Glad its their country and not mine.

[lars008-2009]

FASCIST NAZI ISLAM TO ENSLAVE NON MUSLIM WORLD

HAMAS MICKEY MOUSE SAYS
Islamic rule will benefit Christians and Jews
by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook - May 14, 2007
The force behind Hamas TV%u2019s controversial Mickey Mouse clone said today that his children%u2019s television program will continue to promote worldwide Islamic supremacy, for everyone's benefit, including Christians and Jews.

In a long interview on Hamas TV, Hazim Al-Sha%u2019arawi, Deputy Director of Al-Aqsa TV and one of the creators of the Hamas children%u2019s TV show Tomorrow%u2019s Pioneers, said that using the program to promote Islamic rule over other religions is actually promoting %u201Cjustice, goodness and world love.%u201D

Al-Aqsa TV and the Palestinian Authority have been under fire since PMW reported last week that Tomorrow%u2019s Pioneers was using a character named Farfur, a knockoff of Disney%u2019s Mickey Mouse character, to convey messages about Islamic supremacy as well as hatred of Jews, Israel and the U.S. Despite public statements by PA Minister of Information Mustafa Barghouti that the show would be taken off the air until it could be reviewed and revised, a new episode of the program %u2013 featuring Al-Sha%u2019arawi as one of the hosts %u2013 ran Friday.
http://pmw.org.il/bulletins_may2007.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S995NCeaUg

[socrates392]

"Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements and Sunni Arab militias in Iraq in preparation for a summer showdown with coalition forces intended to tip a wavering US Congress into voting for full military withdrawal, US officials say."

Posted by lars008 at 04:41 PM : May 27, 2007

Hey Lars008, how would you know if Iran is forging secret links with Al-Qaida? Unless you are working for Iran!? I knew it! It puts all your incoherent babblings in an entirely new light!

[hamiltongrad]

What a joke.

[hhkeller]

Who do think is smarter?
Assad
Bush
or Chavez

[lars008-2009]

McCain is right...

bomb bomb bomb%u2026 bomb bomb iran...

Iran's secret plan for summer offensive to force US out of Iraq

Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements and Sunni Arab militias in Iraq in preparation for a summer showdown with coalition forces intended to tip a wavering US Congress into voting for full military withdrawal, US officials say.

"Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq and it's a very dangerous course for them to be following. They are already committing daily acts of war against US and British forces," a senior US official in Baghdad warned. "They [Iran] are behind a lot of high-profile attacks meant to undermine US will and British will, such as the rocket attacks on Basra palace and the Green Zone [in Baghdad]. The attacks are directed by the Revolutionary Guard who are connected right to the top [of the Iranian government]."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2085195,00.html
Iran says close to reaching its "ultimate goals"
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2339794220070524?feedType=RSS&rpc=22

[lars008-2009]

Appeal for Redress
Sign this Appeal.
This site is an Appeal For Redress in support of our mission in Iraq.
An Appeal For Redress is an authorized means for active duty military to submit a grievance to Congress. It can be signed by Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard military personnel.
It is authorized by DoD Directive 1325.6 and DoD Directive 7050.6.
The wording of the Appeal for Redress is:
As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.
If you are active duty, reservist or national guard, please Sign this Appeal.
Most service members fully support the war in Iraq and feel calls to retreat by Congress and attacks by our media on our conduct and mission act to motivate our enemy while demoralizing our support at home, directly increasing the threat we face and resulting in greater American casualties. This Appeal for Redress provides a way in which individual service members can appeal to Congress to fully support us and actively oppose media attacks on our mission and our morale.
This Appeal will be delivered to members of Congress.
http://www.appealforcourage.org/

[starleo146]

Ioweinat3:00pm That was great made my day

[lars008-2009]

NOW CAN WE KILL THEM???
If they can kill us, we can kill them

Hizbullah Deputy Sec-Gen Sheikh Naim Qassem: We Have Jurisprudent Permission to Carry Out 'Martyrdom' Operations, Fire Missiles on Israeli Civilians From Ayatollah Khomeini
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD154907

if it is ok for fascist nazi islamic muslims to kill all non muslims everywhere.... is it ok for the non muslims to kill all fascist nazi islamic muslims???

Switching Sides: Inside The Enemy Camp

But then in 2000, well before his arrest, something happened which would make Abas question everything he believed in: a fatwa, a religious edict, was issued by Osama bin Laden.

"It should be understood that killing Americans and Jews anywhere found are the highest act of worship and the highest form of good deeds in the eyes of Allah," Simon quotes bin Laden.

Abas and his fellow commanders were ordered to read the fatwa to their men and make sure they carried it out. The others obeyed, but Abas refused. It was his moment of truth. He firmly believed that jihad was to be fought only on the battlefield in defense of Islam; he had always been taught that the killing of civilians had nothing to do with holy war and that it was forbidden.

The fatwa justified killing non-Muslim civilians everywhere.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/04/60minutes/main2761108.shtml?source=RSSattr=60Minutes_2761108

[lars008-2009]

NONE OF US IS FREE UNLESS ALL ARE FREE!!!

WHY IS IT NOT ONE MUSLIM COUNTRY GRANTS EQUAL RIGHTS TO NON MUSLIMS???

FASCIST NAZI ISLAM SAYS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATES ISLAM LAW...

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

For example, in 1981, the Iranian representative to the United Nations, Said Rajaie-Khorassani, articulated the position of his country regarding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by saying that the UDHR was "a secular understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition", which could not be implemented by Muslims without trespassing the Islamic law.

http://www.un.org/terrorism/
http://www.un.org/terrorism/strategy-counter-terrorism.html
http://www.un.org/

But the accepted assumption in India is that most of India's Muslims were converted to Islam through the sword. Meaning the Indians were given an option between death or adopting Islam. The third option was getting examined in Islam religion along with heavy taxes- Jeziya (poll tax) and Kharaj (property tax).

http://adaniel.tripod.com/Islam.htm

this is what fascist nazi islam calls peace....

are you ready to live under islam rule as a non muslim???

apartheid fascist nazi islamic style

Rights of Non-Muslims in an Islamic State
http://www.sullivan-county.com/id3/islamic_state.htm