Category Archives: Syria

Caliphate, Syria, U.S. Senate

Liberators of Syria: a Few Senators, a Gaggle of Absolute Potentates, and Salafis……..

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Senator Lindsey Graham was on (CNN) last evening, telling Erin Burnett that he just got back from Saudi Arabia where he met commanders and leaders of the Free Syrian Army. Commanders who are allegedly striving to free Syria from bases in the free democratic bastion that is Saudi Arabia.

I did not realize that the Free Syrian Salafi Army still survived anywhere outside the imagination of a handful of senators, and maybe some motels along the Turkish border. The FSA, which is on its last leg, and its Saudi trainers(?) told him that Assad is selling oil for ISIS, or was it buying from ISIS, or something to that effect. Maybe that is so. They also told him a bunch of other “stuff” about the region, especially Syria. They apparently forgot to tell him about the role of Turkey and the Saudis and others in the continued the growth of the terrorist Caliphate of ISIS.

Graham insisted on re-opening the file on U.S. military intervention in Syria. That is his pet project, he and Senator McCain. He seemed to be saying something to the effect that “Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, and Turkey are ready to send forces into Syria to liberate it“. Turkey? Turkey has so far refused to join the coalition: it still allows Jihadis to cross freely into Syria (including one Hayat Boumedienne). The UAE doesn’t have enough native people to patrol its own streets; unless it lends its foreign mercenaries. Saudi forces were defeated by the ragtag tribal Houthis only three years ago.

The senator added that only no-fly zones are needed from the US. No-fly zones against Bashar Al Assad, not against ISIS. A simple and reasonable demand, no?
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Revolutions, Caliphate, Humor, Jordan, Syria

Humorless Caliphate Captures a Jordanian Pilot………

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Have Yourself a Merry Little——-> Kenny G. Christmas 

Al-Manar (the favorite Lebanese network of Mr. Netanyahu) reports that Ban Ki-Moon (Moony of the UN) has asked the Caliphate of ISIS (ISIL, DAESH, WTF) to treat the downed Jordanian pilot humanely. The pilot, from humorless Jordan, was downed while bombing or trying to bomb the hell out of the humorless ISIS terrorists. So, even if the terrorists have enough sense of humor to appreciate this very ‘Christian’ request, it is highly unlikely they will comply. What was odd was the Obama administration condemning ISIS for the capture of the pilot. I am not happy about his capture either, but what were they supposed to do? Give him a medal of the First Class Order of Caliph Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi?

Moony asks them to treat the pilot humanely. He might as well ask them to give up their captured slave girls (all non-Wahhabis) and become monogamists and maybe convert and join a meg-buck church in the USA. Or maybe migrate en masse to some ashram in Auroville, India. Besides, it is not clear if the pilot had clearance from the Syrians to bomb the terrorists in their country, or if he was freelancing like the Israeli IAF often does at will.
Unfortunately, and unless the cutthroats are hard-up for ransom cash in these days of low oil prices, the only humanitarian gesture they will likely offer will be a sharp sword. Unless the pilot can convince them that he is a true Wahhabi.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Revolutions, Baath Party, Jihadis, Syria

Jihadist Revolutionary Council in Syria Adopts Old Baathist Jargon……….

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“Seventy-two Syrian rebel groups on Saturday announced a new coalition to battle the government of President Bashar Assad. But hopes that moderate rebels would dominate the meeting were dashed when extremists gained more of the 17 executive positions than had been expected. Col. Muhammad Hallak, who represented a moderate faction attending the three-day organizational meeting, accused Islamists, especially Ahrar al Sham, which is known to work closely with al Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, of capturing more positions than its influence in the rebellion deserved. A review of the names by McClatchy indicated that moderates hold only six or seven of the 17 executive positions. Hallak also expressed skepticism toward the October document on which the new group, the Revolutionary Command Council…………..”

Revolutionary Command Council: now that is a blast from the lousy Arab Baathist past. It was a common term in the old days, before the Wahhabi oil princes and shaikhs, with their tribal ideology and money, took control of Arab destiny. Before the fate of much of the Arab east from the Persian Gulf to Libya became hostage to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi (with some exceptions).

Whenever a few Baathist (or other Arab) officers staged a military coup and took power, they would immediately establish a Revolutionary Command Council. That was how it went. These Jihadis are merely using a term with which many Arabs, especially in Syria and Iraq are quite familiar.

Then there are the so-called ‘moderate’ Syrian rebels who believe in freedom, human rights, and representative government. As well as other aspects of the American way of life, except perhaps for changing attire in a phone booth. These rebels will reportedly be trained in such bastions of human freedom and representative government as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and possibly the UAE.

I haven’t decided which one is funnier, yet……..
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum

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Iran, Iraq, Syria

Iran in Iraq and Syria: an Unexpected Criticism………

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Happy gobblegobble, Charlie Brown……

Arab media are reporting an interesting development about Iranian relations with Iraq and Syria. They are reporting that a counselor in the Iranian foreign ministry has publicly (sort of publicly, allegedly to a minor media outlet) criticized former Iraqi PM Al Maliki and Syrian president Bashar Al Assad for the worsening mess in their countries. He reportedly blames Al Maliki for aiding the growth of ISIS (DAESH) and blames Al Assad for the worsening bloodshed. I am not sure if the media are quoting him correctly since I have not yet seen his original comments. Al Maliki is now a vice president of Iraq, and Al Assad is still the president of Syria (most of it, anyway).

This could hint at a significant Iranian policy shift or it could be just a personal comment that will then have to be refuted by other officials. But it is almost certainly credible. Time will tell, and soon.

He is also reported by Iranian sources as saying that ISIS (they call it by the Arabic acronym: DAESH) will weaken but will not vanish.

P.S.: (I have always believed and written that the original Syrian uprising went Jihadist as soon as the Islamists of the Gulf states started to send money, weapons, and Wahhabi volunteers. With the blessings of Turkish Caliph Erdogan the First. As for Iraq, deepening internal sectarianism, corrupt domestic politics, and foreign Arab meddling worsened a situation that had emerged after the first post-invasion elections.)
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum

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Caliphate, Iraq, Jihadis, Muslims, Syria

White Noise: ISIS Caliphate Beginning to Lose It? A Pivot to Elsewhere………..

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“After a week in which Islamic state (Isis) has suffered a wave of setbacks, it is determined to show that it plays a long game. On all of its active fronts, things have not been going well for the terror group. Iraq has been a particular problem: Isis appears to have lost control of one of its prized possessions, the Baiji oil refinery, following a push by Shia militias and the Iraqi military…………….”

I opined from the beginning of this Caliphate affair months ago that this Western media panic about ISIS taking Baghdad was just ‘white noise‘ (no pun intended). That they will be pushed back, eventually. But wars like this one in Iraq and Syria seesaw until a clear trend develops. Is this a sign of a clear trend? It is a trend, for now.

Other Arab media, mainly Lebanese, and a few Western outlets, have claimed that Iraqi forces and militias, reportedly advised by Iranian Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani, have pushed ISIS out of several conquered towns (possibly with Western air support?). Western media prefer to say that the bombings from the air have helped turn the tide. I suspect it is a combination of both: Western bombs from the air and Iraqi (and Syrian) boots on the ground.

P.S: Is it too much to ask that this be the last Western military campaign over any Muslim (or Arab) country? That this habit of the past couple of decades of maintaining open-ended ‘open season’ on Muslim lands be broken? That maybe perhaps hopefully the liberators take a Muslim hiatus and seek other targets? Just for variety? Some other ‘new’ target outside the Middle East might ease the possible withdrawal symptoms. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a pivot to Burma or even Myanmar.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum

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Arab Politics, Caliphate, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria

The ISIS Plot? What about the ISIS Plot? ………..

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Speaking of ISIS and the blame for its resurgence last summer. Other Middle East media have claimed that the whole ISIS surge was engineered by the Americans in order to get their forces back into Iraq through the window, after being forced to leave through the door in 2011. This recent piece here is one example. All this was supposedly done with Saudi help among some Al Anbar tribes that sided with the terrorists. The alleged goal of the plot is to reduce Iranian (and Shi’a) influence in Baghdad and increase Saudi (and Wahhabi) influence in Iraq and Syria, to start with. Thus alter the strategic balance in the Eastern Mediterranean, something Israel and the Al Saud have failed to do after years of trying. Many more Arabs believe this theory than we hear or read about in the media.

I am not normally a conspiracy theory advocate, but I did dabble in the topic. I did speculate along these lines somewhere last summer. Either in a post or on Twitter, I forget. I noted the timing during a period of government change in Iraq. It sounds plausible although farfetched, given the polluted poisoned Washington air. Possible if not necessarily probable, but it is too simplistic: it assumes the other side will not counteract.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum

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Caliphate, Iraq, Jihadis, Syria, Terrorism

Volcanoes of Jihad: Disappointed ISIS Caliph Misses Some Hot Dates in Paradise………

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Caliph Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi (a k a Ibrahim Awwad) has just called for “volcanoes of jihad” in an audio message. That was after the Caliph himself reportedly missed a close American volcano last week. It was clear within hours of the reported air raid that the Caliph had survived: they would have announced it quickly and condolences exchanged. We never hide death which is a repayment on a debt that must be repaid. Even the cutthroats among us don’t do that.
He had an appointment with an American bomb that would have transported him to the arms of many comely Houris of renewable virginity (no, not surgical renewal). He would have gone to sipping Mai Tai and Chateau Paradise with dinner by the riverside. A martyr’s life, afterlife.
As it was, he was denied. He was never beamed up to the place he expects to end up in. Which is as well, since many more expect him to end up in the other warmer place where the trident would poke his posterior, herding him southward.
Better luck next time, Abu. Not that it really matters to those Chechens and others you would leave behind………..

Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum

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Corruption, Syria, Tony Blair, Uncategorized

Corruption Associates: Middle East Envoy Blair and the Royals……..

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“Tony Blair’s company is alleged to have brokered multi-million pound deals that earned £41,000 a month and two per cent commission on each transaction with an oil firm founded by a senior Saudi royal family member………The leaked 21-page contract apparently shows that the former Labour prime minister’s umbrella company, Tony Blair Associates, agreed in November 2010 to arrange deals for PetroSaudi with his senior Chinese officials contacts during his visit to Beijing that month, as reported by The Sunday Times. ………. PetroSaudi, which is registered in the Cayman Islands tax-haven to legally avoid 85 per cent oil and gas company taxes in the Middle Eastern nation, was jointly founded by Saudi businessman Tarek Obaid and Prince Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud, one of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah’s seven sons………….”

Middle East envoy. Pray tell, what has he done about the Middle East problems? (If I were rude and crude, I’d say “whatthefuck has he done” but I ain’t rude, so I won’t). Besides urging more war on behalf of his Persian Gulf benefactors, the absolute princes and potentates.

Tony Blair introduced the ‘stuff’ about New Labor. And it was “stuff” if you know what I mean. Just as Bill Clinton was touted as a New Democrat. Both terms mean moving halfway toward the right, gutting certain programs and introducing extreme deregulation that increased economic instability and widened income and wealth gaps to unprecedented levels.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum

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Arab Revolutions, Syria, U.S. Foreign Policy, Uncategorized

Valley of Christians, Valley of ISIS……….

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Allentown by Billy Joel

“For them, Allentown is Assadville, USA. Support for an authoritarian regime headed by a ruthless dictator may seem like strange position for a community so steeped in the culture of American democracy. But with Assad’s army standing as the only buffer between their ancient culture and its annihilation by ISIS—the majority of Allentown’s Syrian Christians are more than willing to overlook the contradiction………… Most Allentown residents of Syrian heritage are Orthodox Christians from the Wadi-al-Nasara region in western Homs province………..”

This Hollywood-style Caliphate and its fans do not cotton up to anyone of a different faith or a different sect. That is the main reason why many, possibly most, Syrians who are not Wahhabi-inclined stand with the Al Assad regime. Even many Sunnis, contrary to what we read and hear in the media.
That name of that place of origin of these people in Syria is telling. Wadi-al-Nasara translates from Arabic exactly to: Valley of Christians.

(P.S. As a teenager, I attended and lived in a preparatory high school in a small town not far from Allentown, PA. I never met any Syrians there, but I still had a blast as well as an education. Great people over there).
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum

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Al-Qaeda, Jihadis, Syria, US Foreign Policy

David Drugeon of Khorasan Group: a Mission Accomplished?……..

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These days we hear of some “top” terror groups and their experts only after they are bombed, possibly killed, in the field.
A few weeks ago the media reported, based on official leaks, that a leader of the Khorasan Group (they are terrorists, not a contracting or industrial company) was killed in a precision bombing in Syria. I tweeted that if he were killed, it will become acknowledged quickly. We Muslims usually don’t deny death: there are certain rites and services that will be observed publicly. As it turned out, there was no acknowledgement of his death back home, which means that he was most likely not killed at that time. So we were told that maybe another leader was hit.

Now there are reports that another leading Khorasan member, converted Frenchman David Drugeon, has been bombed to death in Idlib, Syria. This one is more difficult to ascertain: his family are French, presumably Catholic.

Was he a ‘key bombmaker’ as the officials now claim? Was it leaked so soon in the spirit of the current American popular need for “instant gratification” and the need for a “mission accomplished“? Time will tell, not anonymous ‘officials’.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum

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