Category Archives: Syria

Iraq, Syria, WMD

Syria and Iraq: On Chemical Weapons and Cluster Bombs and Their Use when Necessary…………

         

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“Syria accuses rebels of using chemical weapons. Residents of an area that has been reportedly targetted with chemical weapons in Syria were said to be showing symptoms including breathing difficulties in an incident that could cross US “red lines” on intervention in the conflict. Britain said on Tuesday it was aware of media reports about a chemical weapons attack in Syria, adding that the use or proliferation of chemical weapons there would demand a serious response from the international community. Syria’s regime accused rebel fighters of firing a chemical weapon at a town…………………”

Cute. First the FSA gangs repeatedly accused the Assad regime of using chemical weapon, that was a few weeks ago. Even some schmuck at the American embassy in Turkey got into the act and confirmed that false report, as I recall. Now the regime is returning the favor and accuses the FSA gangs of using chemicals. I never believed either side on this, the politically motivated British response notwithstanding.
Nobody has used chemical weapons in the Middle East since the 1980s, when Saddam Hussein used them against Iraqi Kurds and against Iranian forces in the war. Nobody “important” objected at that time”: it was deemed necessary and maybe even democratic (small D). Now, as for cluster bombs, the next best thing…………
Cheers
mhg

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Drones, Syria, US Foreign Policy

Washington Blasts Syria’s Lebanese Incursion, Ignores Israeli Attacks, Prepares Drones, Arabs Follow the Money…………

         

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“The CIA has stepped up secret contingency planning to protect the United States and its allies as the turmoil expands in Syria, including collecting intelligence on Islamic extremists for the first time for possible lethal drone strikes, according to current and former U.S. officials. President Obama has not authorized drone missile strikes in Syria, however, and none are under consideration. The Counterterrorism Center, which runs the CIA’s covert drone killing program in Pakistan and Yemen, recently shifted several targeting officers to improve intelligence collection on militants in Syria who could pose a terrorist threat, the officials said. The targeting officers have formed a unit with colleagues who were tracking Al Qaeda operatives and fighters in Iraq. U.S. officials believe that some of these operatives have moved to Syria and joined Islamic militias battling to overthrow President Bashar Assad..………….”

The US State Department just today blasted a Syrian air attack on the Lebanese border. The State Department never condemns Israeli air incursions and attacks over Lebanon and Syria. Now the State Department is probably preparing spin media statements for the first drone strikes against Jihadists in Syria (possibly even against regime forces in Syria). That means there will be fewer open-air village weddings in Syria, especially in treble-held areas (sort of like Afghanistan and Pakistan and Yemen and possibly Mali).
But who said politics and diplomacy are consistent anywhere?

  • After all, the Iranians blast the Bahrain regime, rightly so, but they also blast Syrian rebels and help the government.
  • The Saudis blast the rebelling people of Bahrain and support their revolting ruling family even as they support the Syrian rebels.
  • The Egyptians support the Bahrain regime and the Syrian rebels, for now.
  • The Russians support the Syrian regime but don’t give a fuck publicly about what is happening in Bahrain.
  • The Iraqis dislike the Bahrain and Syrian regimes, but they side with the Syrian regime because the Jihadist terrorists who blow up Iraqis also help the Syrian rebels.
  • The Yemenis look at the Saudis and Qataris and Emiratis and take sides accordingly. They don’t have a choice, unless they discover a lot of oil near Sana’.
  • Come to think of it, most Arabs look at the Saudis and Qataris and Emiratis and decide accordingly. That is why we still call it the League of Arab Nations, they all agree on following the petro-money and adjusting their principles, wtf they are, accordingly.


There are a few other players:

  • The Israelis can see benefits (and pitfalls) in any outcome in Syria. As far as the Israelis are concerned, the Arabs are excellent at shooting themselves in the foot and limping away. So why disrupt the pattern? Why ruin a good thing?
  • The Chines play it all close to their chest, while the abacus rings.
  • The Mafia..……… genug, genug.

Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, Syria

The Irresistible Lovable Corruptible Liberators of of Syria…………

         

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“En Syrie, l’irrésistible ascension des islamistes du front Al-Nosra………. Au point que ce groupe armé est en train de s’imposer comme le principal groupe armé en Syrie. Les origines et la composition de cette organisation très secrète restent mal connues. Certains observateurs en font une filiale de l’Etat islamique en Irak, lui-même affilié à Al-Qaida. Plusieurs témoignages recueillis dans le nord de la Syrie laissent penser que Jabhat Al-Nosra est un groupe très majoritairement syrien – autour de 80 % – sans lien organique avec Al-Qaida, mais proche sur le plan idéologique. A la différence de leurs homologues irakiens, les djihadistes syriens ont veillé à ne pas se mettre à dos la population. Par contraste, l’Armée syrienne libre (ASL), un regroupement hétéroclite de brigades fondées et commandées par des chefs locaux, a mauvaise réputation à cause des exactions commises par certains commandants : pillages de biens de l’Etat ou privés, racket, enlèvements, détournements de l’aide humanitaire ou d’armes destinées à être revendues sur le marché noir se multiplient à mesure que la Syrie s’installe dans une économie de guerre. Mais la bonne réputation des combattants du Front Al-Nosra commence à s’effriter, en partie à cause du zèle religieux de certaines recrues, notamment les étrangers.……………….”
Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Terrorism, US Foreign Policy

Iraq and Libya: Nearing a Deal on Salafi Terrorists? Giving up Virgin Houri Dreams for a Wife…………..

         

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“It was signed yesterday, Friday, in Tripoli by the Minister of Justice, Salah Al-Marghani, and his Iraqi counterpart, Hassan Shimari. Attending the ceremony were the Deputy President of the General National Congress, Juma Ateega, the Third Deputy Prime Minister, Abdussalam Al-Qadi, Minister of State for GNC affairs Muaz Khoja, Ministry of Justice Undersecretary Sharif Zahri, and the administrator responsible for the file of Libyan prisoners abroad, Sulaiman Al-Fortia. Also attending were the families of Libyan prisoners in Iraq as well as a number of Iraqi businessmen in Libya. The deal is seen as being crucial to improving Libyan-Iraqi relations. “This does not mean that Libyan prisoners will be transferred straightway,” said Taha Shakshuki of the Libyan Group for Demanding Libyan Prisoners Abroad. He said the group has been told by the Justiec Ministry that the agreement is in effect a memorandum of understanding which still requires to be approved by the Iraqi parliament. Nor will Libya prisoners be automatically transferred, he explained. Each case will to be approved by the Iraqi authorities………………”

In some ways Libya hasn’t changed that much in terms of relations with other countries. Under Muammar Qaddafi, Libya used to send weapons and money and occasionally ‘volunteers’ to commit acts of violence in other countries. That was especially true until a decade or so ago, when Qaddafi became a close friend of France and Britain and Italy and the United States. That was sometime before the colonel met Condi Rice and very likely made what he would call an “African” pass at her.
Now the new Libya sends the same bounty abroad, except the combination has changed. They send more people and weapons now than money. But the operation is not as centralized as under Qaddafi. They have also sent a lot of weapons and volunteers to the Salafi terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq. I suspect the same is true of Lebanon and other places. Now the Libyan have formed some group called Libyan Group for Demanding Libyan Prisoners Abroad to try to release those terrorists captured by Iraqi and other security authorities. Interesting that the
Libyan group does not specify Iraq or any one specific country:
apparently now they have many in various countries.
The Saudis also have a group advocating on behalf of their Salafi terrorists held in Iraq: there are many Saudi prisoners in Iraq, and you can bet none of them went there as tourists or pilgrims. Other Gulf governments, at least one that I know of, have negotiated with Iraq for the release of some prisoners, mainly tribal youth who were encouraged to go by Salafi clerics. They are given a hero’s welcome by their tribe and hopefully married off quickly to some tribal girl so that they would forget about rejoining Al-Qaeda and the dreams of all those virgin houris and wine in the afterlife.

Cheers
mhg

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Arab League, Arab Revolutions, GCC, Syria

Shimon Peres Blows a Shofar: Calls on Free Democratic Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and UAE and Qatar to Liberate Syria…………

         

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“The free world “cannot stand by when a massacre is carried out by the Syrian president against his own people and his own children. It breaks all our hearts,” the Zionist leader said, who launched the 16-day April attack on Lebanon in 1996 when he was a prime minister. Saying “the intervention of Western forces would be perceived as foreign interference,” Peres proposed the best option to end the conflict in Syria “might be achieved by empowering the Arab League, of which Syria is a member, to intervene.” “The Arab League can and should form a provisional government in Syria to stop the massacre, to prevent Syria from falling to pieces,” Peres advised the 754-member European Parliament!! “The United Nations should support the Arab League to build an Arab force in blue helmets,” he said…………………”

Also sprach that old warrior, Shimon Peres. Essentially blowing the shofar for the Arab despots to take up arms against their fellow Arab despot. That should be exciting. The Saudi National Guard, fresh from their defeat by the Huthis in Yemen, and Bahrain’s imported Pakistani and Jordanian mercenaries, and the UAE mercenaries imported from Colombia and Australia and the Qatari fishes from my Gulf. I doubt he meant Egypt or Libya or Tunisia or Yemen which haven’t stabilized yet. Being composed of international mercenaries, they ought to get their ‘blue helmets’ free from the UN. We could call it the Twelfth Crusade, undertaken by the democratic free illusory world of the absolute tribal oligarchs of the GCC to free Damascus from Baathist rule. Yet he ought to know better, Perez, he has defeated enough of his stronger neighbors to know better.
If I were rude and crude I’d say “it takes a thief to catch a thief”, except that the Al-Assad are amateurs in thievery and corruption compared to these would-be prince liberators of Syria.
Cheers
mhg

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Hezbollah, Lebanon, Syria, United Nations International Organizations

Shocking News: STL Hariri Tribunal is Still Alive, Barely!…………

         

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“The first shock came when a leading Lebanese newspaper published a confidential list of 17 witnesses who may testify in the murder trial of a former prime minister — showing their names, passport pictures, dates of birth and where they work. A spokesman for the United Nations-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon quickly condemned the publication, in January, as a serious breach of court rules that put the lives of those named at risk. But the response of the newspaper, Al Akhbar, which is close to the militant movement Hezbollah, was defiant. A few days later it published a second confidential list, splashing the names, pictures and personal details of another 15 possible witnesses across two pages. ………….”

The STL Hariri tribunal has undermined itself, nay discredited itself, several times over the past few years. Mainly through shoddy procedures and changing the parties that are suspect and leaking information. Not to mention its blatant politicization. Blaming the Syrian regime in leaks when relations with the West and its allies were bad, then shifting the blame away from Syria when relations with the West improved, then shifting it again, through leaks. Right now they have settled on some Hezbollah operatives, but they may change that again if a bigger “villain” materializes (but not on the Korean Peninsula). All subject to the political winds of the time. At one time there were even leaks that they were considering some top Iranian mullahs (some Gulf media once mentioned Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a possible suspect). Too bad the Gangnam-Style guy, Psy, is Korean and the guys who started La Macarena are Spaniards. I believe they both ought to be charged and punished.


It is a wonder this incompetent seemingly political tribunal is still standing, barely. Most Lebanese, except for March 14 supporters, gave up on it a long time ago. Most Arabs outside Riyadh don’t give a damn anymore.


No need to repeat the litany here. I’ll just add links to previous posts on the topic:

Lebanon: Wissam Al Hassan and the Absent Paoli of The Godfather

Hariri STL to Investigate Sabra and Shatila Massacre

UN Lebanon Hariri Tribunal to Extend its Probe to Sabra & Shatila Massacres?

Chasing Hezbollah: Desperation Time in Washington and Riyadh?

Hariri now Claims Syria Killed his Father, Will STL Drop Hezbollah Charges?

Oh Oh Lockerbie, and STL of Lebanon, and Tony Blair, and the Fab Four

Hariri now Claims Syria Killed his Father, Will STL Drop Hezbollah Charges?

Cheers
mhg

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Donkeys and Asses, Syria

Donkeys of the Middle East, Violent Warring Asses of Damascus…………..

         

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“Donkeys are adapted to marginal desert lands. They need less food than horses. Overfed donkeys suffer from a disease called Laminitis (inflammation of the hoof). Donkey fur is not waterproof, and so should have shelter especially when it rains. Wild donkeys live separated from each other, unlike tight wild horse herds. Donkeys have developed very loud voices, which can be heard for close to 2 miles (over 3 kilometers). Donkeys have large ears to hear the distant calls of fellow donkeys, and to help cool the donkey’s blood. Donkeys’ tough digestive system can break down inedible vegetation and extract moisture from food more efficiently. Donkeys can defend themselves with a powerful kick of their hind legs. It is believed that the ancestor of the modern donkey is the Nubian subspecies of the African Wild Ass which was domesticated around 4,000 B.C. The donkey became an important pack animal for people living in the Egyptian and Nubian regions as they can easily carry 20% to 30% of their own body weight and can also be used as a farming and dairy animal. By 1800 B.C., the ass had reached the Middle East where the trading city of Damascus was referred to as the “City of Asses” in ancient texts………….”

I have posted on this once before, but the time is more appropriate now to highlight it. Damascus is still the “city of asses”, more so than ever: the four-legged and the two-legged kind. And I mean on both sides of this bloody civil war. Whether it is the secular Baathist or fundamentalist Salafi. Whether the so-called regime Shabieha or Jabhat al-Nusrah or or Al-Qaeda or Jabhat al-Hameer wal Tiouss. Or the sectarian kidnappers of the FSA. Whether supported by Russia and Iran or supported by the democratic elected shaikhs of Qatar and Saudi Arabia and the world Salafi movement.
Some years ago, I used to think that Beirut was a city of asses (I know what some of you’re thinking: no, not only that kind). That was during their civil war. Now it is Syria. Speaking of jackasses: they rule all over the Middle East and I can……. oh, well, I think I’ll leave that one to another post soon.

Cheers
mhg

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Syria, U.S. Congress

McCain’s Sidekicks: Humanitarian Aid for Syrians or Political Aid for SNC…………..

         

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”Humanitarian groups are lobbying hard against a proposal by several U.S. senators that would turn over the delivery of millions of dollars in U.S. aid to a Syrian opposition council that’s criticized as too weak and too political to handle the responsibility. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is leading the charge to require the Obama administration to give the Syrian Opposition Coalition responsibility for aid delivery. The proposal was made after a bipartisan Senate delegation visited the region last month and heard firsthand Syrians’ frustrations with the pace and scope of U.S. and other foreign assistance. The senators recommended that the Obama administration step up its support for the coalition so that the body “can visibly play a meaningful role in delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid.” Executives from leading international aid groups are urging Congress to reject the recommendation……………..”

The senators want to make the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) look good and effective and perhaps relevant. The Syrian regime knows that as much as I do: ergo, they will not cooperate. People will suffer. It is best to leave the aid issue to the ‘humanitarian’ groups. Senator McCain and his Republican sidekicks and the late unlamented Joe Lieberman (now replaced as a sidekick by some chick from New Hampshire) were probably instrumental in strengthening the Jihadis that now control the opposition’s military campaign inside Syria. Their earlier Syrian meddling was not helpful, neither will this one be.
Cheers
mhg

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Al-Qaeda, Arab Revolutions, Salafi, Syria, Tunisia

Salafis of Tunisia: All Roads Lead to Syria and Iraq and Mali and…………

         

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“The cradle of the Arab Spring is increasingly looking like the birthplace of jihadists. Long before Tunisia ousted its dictator and inspired the North African pro-democracy movement, the small, relatively prosperous country had the more dubious distinction of exporting Islamic militants. Experts say the flow of fighters is getting worse……….. Though no one knows for sure just how many Tunisian fighters have traveled abroad, evidence suggests it remains one of the top exporters of jihadists per capita. Tunisians have turned up on the battlefields of Iraq, Syria, Libya and now Mali. The 32-man militant strike team that seized a gas plant in Algeria and took dozens of foreign workers hostage was more than one-third Tunisian………………”


“The left accuses these groups of affiliation with the ruling moderate Islamist party, Ennahda, and say it has failed to root out the violence. The party denies any link or control to the groups. But it is the rise of Salafist-associated political violence that is causing the most concern in the region. Banned in Tunisia under the 23-year regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, which ruthlessly cracked down on all forms of Islamism, Salafists in Tunisia have become increasingly vocal since the 2011 revolution………… Indeed, when an al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb cell was broken up in Tunisia last year, all its members were also found to be active in another Salafist grouping – Ansar al-Sharia…………Tunisian jihadists are said to have left for Syria..….……”

“Alquds Alarabi quotes Tunisian newssources that at least 50% of those Jihadis killed near Aleppo airport the other day were Tunisians………”

Odd that the most secular Arab state, actually what was the most secular Arab state, is now a major source of Salafi Jihadi terrorists. More than Saudi Arabia or other places closer to the heartland of Salafism in the Arabian Peninsula. Only a few years ago, France was the favorite destination for most young Tunisians fed up with things at home. It probably still is, only now many of them head east and south, to the killing fields of Arab and Muslim lands. To kill and massacre other Arabs and Muslims, based on warped doctrines and teachings of Wahhabi clerics.
For Salafi jihadis, almost all roads lead to Ba’athist Syria now, that is the prize these days. To Islamize the last remaining secular state in the Arab world, albeit a repressive police state. Preferably with the help of the hated heathens of NATO who also liberated Libya and Iraq before. These same Tunisian and other Arab Jihadis who flock to Syria to fight against the repressive regime would also flock to Bahrain to fight FOR the repressive tribal Al Khalifa dynasty. Some roads lead to the terrorist killing fields of Iraq, some to Libya, Mali, Algeria. Egypt does not need to import jihadis yet: it has plenty of the home-grown variety. They just need outside money, plenty of which they seem to be getting from “somewhere”.
Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, GCC, Hezbollah, Jihadis, Syria

Controlling Syria: is the Regime as Strong as Never? Sharing a Jihadist Paradise with Bashar Al-Assad………

         

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“Head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council Sheikh Hashem Safieddine stressed that the Syrian government is as strong as ever, and said those waiting for the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad and its possible impact on Lebanon’s next parliamentary elections are mistaken. Sheikh Safieddine’s remarks came while certain foreign countries, including the US, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are trying hard to “overthrow the Syrian government” in order to influence Lebanon’s next parliamentary elections. He noted that Lebanon’s next parliamentary elections and formation of the new government in the country “will take place while Syria’s incumbent government will still be in power”, Al-Ahd news agency reported. Sheikh Safieddine said those thinking about the collapse of the Syrian government should know that pressures cannot force it to fall, alluding that President Assad’s government will survive beyond Lebanon’s upcoming parliamentary elections……………”


He said that “the Syrian government is as strong as ever”. An odd Iranian and Hezbollah assessment. This, or a position close to it, has also been repeated by some Iranian officials over the past months. Do these Hezbollah and Iranian officials know something the rest of the world doesn’t know? Something even CNN and Wolf Blitzer and the democratic shaikhs of Qatar don’t know? Or are they being delusional? Possibly putting the best face on a bad situation? So how can it be as strong as ever if it does not control a large swath of the country and if everyone outside Damascus agrees that there will be regime change ‘at some point’ in the future?
No doubt regime change is coming but the squabble may be over the “how and when and who” of it. That “how and when and who” determines the relative winners and losers in this game that goes beyond the borders of Syria. It is probably the details they are fighting over and it is true that “the devil is in the details”.

Who will control Syria: the toothless political exiles of the Syrian National Council, or is it a Coalition, (SNC) or the heavily-armed Jihadists and Al-Qaeda affiliates? Poor, poor Syrian people: their choices are all lousy. The SNC is basically a new-old bureaucracy waiting for the West and the GCC to hand it the keys to Damascus (like the Western Allies to for the Hashemites in 1918). It is the Jihadists who are doing most of the fighting inside the country, and they know the West does not want them anywhere near the seat of power (even as some Arabs do). But they don’t have to be in Damascus to exert control. Besides, many of them are foreign Arabs and not Syrians. No doubt the Jihadists are more motivated: if they live they win, if they die they expect rivers of wine and pretty Houris as reward.
Of course, my educated, well logical, guess is that they will most likely end up consoling each other in Jehannam (hell), possibly right next door to Bashar Al-Assad. Possibly sharing a hot suite with a few of the Arab potentates who support and finance them.
Cheers
mhg

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