<blockquote>“Hardly a day goes by when our senses are not bludgeoned by some new outbreak of terrorism in the Middle East.  Despite our best efforts at making and keeping the peace, political, economic, and religious tensions often lead to unrest, violence, and riots.”
<p style="text-align: right;">-Jim Bakker in “Prosperity and the Coming Apocalypse”</p>
</blockquote>

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad praised his soldiers for taking on what he called “armed terrorist gangs” and said that the current battles between his forces and rebels will determine the fate of the country.

Al-Assad did not appear in public to deliver the statement himself but released a written declaration. Al-Assad has not appeared in public in two weeks.

Some of the latest reports of violence include attacks for the first time near two Christian areas in the Old City of Damascus. The UN reports that fighter jets were firing on rebels in Aleppo while the state run media claimed they inflicted “heavy losses” and that they were “mopping up” the remnants of the rebel forces.

Rebels, however, appear to still have control over large parts of the city of Aleppo. Rebels denied a report from NBC that they have obtained Turkish surface to air missiles in an attempt to reduce the air attacks.

“Had we acquired such weapons,” Free Syrian Army political adviser Bassam al-Dada told al-Arabiya TV, “ we would have seen the difference on the ground.”