Syria : the war is ongoing or is it the wars? And the end is not in sight!
The civil war saw an offensive by the Army of President Assad and the original rebels are now more or less concentrating on holding key cities still in their grasp such as Aleppo. Still, in the long run there is a possibility that they will be forced to the same type of resistance as is found in Iraq, terrorism from the impoverished countryside striking at the heart of controlled cities to inflict damage on the government.
The Djihad war is going strong but becoming less and less of a war as the participants cannot be identified as fighters anymore. For them too the future is likely to be that of terrorism although it’s not clear it ever was anything else. There are now so many elements in Syria that have different origins, claims and intents, different aims even as all jihadis do not see eye to eye except in the sense of the old revenge saying. Those backed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia with their ultra-conservative Wahhabi inspiration are not even always seen as Sunni by that religious majority although they “officially” are. The Ja’Farï Shias backed by Iran are a minority there as they are in Islam in general. But in all truth, their brigades are the most “efficient” on average, their Djihad is harder nosed, more brutal.
Except that is for the Al-Qaeda inspired groups who are Sunni ?
And a third war has since declared itself in the North-East where the Kurds live. That people which spreads over many countries of the Middle-East had done a good job of controlling their part of Syria until Al-Nusra, allied but not always nor fully with Al-Qaeda and the most successful group so far, attacked them. The Kurds will neither bow nor budge though.
All of which is good news for the Assad regime! The regular army is doing its job. The Hezbollah ally lost a few feathers but its help paid off in hot spots. The Kurds holding their own is fine until the rebellion is quenched and the matter can be addressed. The fighting between rebels and djihadists takes a load and combatants off its bloody hands. And the Russian support is not faltering.
http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/07/19/nato-assad-russia-and-iran-are-prevailing-in-syria/
So what now, what next?
This reports the most likely scenario : It is far too late to change the game; Syria is going to endure the hurt regardless of Bachar al-Assad keeping power or not and the only real loser is not the West although it certainly gained nothing but the Syrian population.
For all of our modern world and UN and other mantras to hide behind, we are witnessing civilians sacrificed to the Gods of War by the ( hundred ) thousands as we always did.
Great job everybody!
Hate : bad times in the USA, they don’t need the rest of the World to quarrel with anymore!
There are way more problems in-house for the World’s most powerful Nation in the middle of this 2013 summer than there are outside. Although I recently staunchly questioned the Foreign Policy of Barack Obama’s administration(s), there is one thing which was brilliant and that was the closing of the deleterious chapter of its predecessor George W. Bush. The Iraq blunder and Afghanistan intervention have and are being dealt with. For all its long-term effects such as the Benghazi Affair internally and terrorism hideout, withholding on a full-scale military action in Libya in 2011 saved more US lives than it cost. And the ( very ) light support role to France in Mali was the perfect homeopathic medicine.
America is at a crossroads. In order to save its future, the country has to salvage itself from its past and that task should not be underestimated if it has any chance to succeed! # striking examples come to mind. Each cover a different aspect of the American myth, of the founding mantras/pretenses/symptoms of its construct.
The Aboushi hate spread : Oday Aboushi is a recruit of the NFL franchise of the NY Jets. There is little as American as American football, save maybe baseball and fast food. ( No, no, guns and slavery were around before the USA came to be. ) His family is of Palestinian origin and left the East Jerusalem enclave about 40 years ago. He himself was born in Brooklyn which mind you is as American as football, more so even since the game was invented in 1869 and the borough founded in 1646, then known as Breuckelen of Dutch descent.
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/16/the-online-defamation-of-oday-aboushi/
http://www.thenation.com/blog/175216/slandering-ny-jet-oday-aboushi#
Although both pieces above do a great job of describing the ridiculous matter, let us add the statement that got the ball rolling :
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/joe-kaufman/ny-jets-player-speaks-at-extreme-anti-israel-conference/
To which MLB’s ( yes baseball raising trouble for football; America is always at odds with itself it seems which is my point ) Jonathan Mael added a since deleted tweet “The @nyjets are a disgrace of an organization. The Patriots have Aaron Hernandez, the Jets have Oday Aboushi.”
Being electronic press is just about the only thing that spares that kind of hate-mongering BS from being termed as not worth the paper it was printed on.
The answers came flying :
http://www.haaretz.com/news/sports/.premium-1.535533
Yes from both sides in the Middle-East furnace, even from Israel’s top newspaper! Which goes to show how far freedom of expression is misused in the US or to what extend the nation is divided.
Until being proud of one’s heritage is not limited to gun-toting white folks, both the First Amendment ( and 5th and 14th ) and the pretense of being an immigrant Nation of Liberty will be at risk, period.
Let’s give the last words to those concerned :
In a stark contrast comes our Post of yesterday : The Free Jahar idiosyncrasy.
https://dlofr.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/women-justice-and-islam-the-hero-the-victim-and-the-idiots/
the last part of which concerned itself with the on-going infatuation of thousands of American teenage girls over the surviving boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Here, again under freedom of speech and again in the electronic media, we find the opposite kind of misuse of that right. Whereas Mr Kaufman and Mr Mael used it for wrongly supposed hate, those kids use it for wrongly supposed love and / or truth. To defend a killer on the sole account of his looks is exactly the kind of utter immoral stupidity against which a responsible press was meant to warrant the public and which has disappeared with Internet. Yes, expressing opinions is now easier than ever and that is a good thing. But expressing any opinion without the filter of reflection, that of turning one’s tongue seven times in ones mouth before hand which used to be the “prerogative” of speech is now creeping into written format. And since that is now done under the cover of instantaneity and anonymity, the level of the discussion has and will yet dramatically decrease.
It thus brings to mind 2 comments. First, maybe, just maybe, there is a mistake in the fact that the First Amendment covers BOTH freedom of religion and of speech? Seeing how the one often comes under attack by the other, it would be wise to separate the two and allow them to be pitted at each other? This might take off some of the dual personality à la Mr Hide and Dr Jekill of which the USA is often accused [ even by the author and although it is certainly not a uniquely American trait as reading Internet comments in other lands can show ] ? And second, for any debate to take place and yield proper results, it needs an arena and moderation ( both meanings ).
The lack of either is evident in the girls case but not only … which brings us to our third case.
The Zimmerman Trial aftermath.
I covered the Zimmerman trial in 2 posts only. One was an analysis just before it ended in jury deliberation :
https://dlofr.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/race-fear-guns-and-law-the-zimmerman-trial-dissected/
and the other was a post verdict comment. The latter then tied in to one last post after President Obama expressed himself broadly on the matter of what has now reverted logically to the Trayvon Martin case for both are different. It is in fact for that reason that it ties in to today’s inquest into hate in America and the modern debate forms as found above. For if my initial comment on the United States’ coming of age is to hold, if the turning to internal problems view to yield changes is to succeed, some conditions will have to be met first?
As we just saw, debating is a two-way street at minima. Proponents have to let each other speak.
and contrarily to what often happens, they also have to listen. That is why from presidential elections down to school clubs, debaters are under the control of a moderator. What’s more, a context has to be drawn unless all from the stage down to the audience have extreme or infinite general knowledge that permits any reference to be introduced. Last but not least, there has to be a time limit to it or the arguments may vanish from the participants memory before the reasoning they are part of can be integrated ( alternatively, the whole thing can be recorded to allow timelessness of review ). Alas, that is the opposite of what Twitter and the likes stand for.
That is why I only wrote three times on the case of Trayvon vs George. Facts are held within the analysis. as such, it could not be done any other time than at the closing of its due judicial process course, i.e. when the jury left the courtroom to deliberate. Occurrence, instruction, treatment had to precede conclusion. Similarly, I could only offer a one report on its verdict. Yes, admittedly it includes my opinion on it but that’s because I could not voice that before the result was in just as you can’t agree to someone’s opinion yourself until you have let them finish their sentence, i.e. expressing it! Anything else is not impolite, it is merely stupid and meaningless. And still similarly, I could not come back to show the validity of that analysis before it had taken its place in History which it only did when the President located it in context by way of that speech.
( And yes, I was smugly glad that he confirmed it overall. )
In fact, by virtue of the fact that a Black President was able to express personal accounts in the matter, which derives directly from the fact that he was elected, it is the first time that the debate of racism can be fully opened in the US. That contradicts the illogical comments heard to the effect that no President before had ever spoken ( or done so so bluntly ) about the race divide
heard from the Right-wing press ( Huh? Except Abraham Lincoln, maybe? ).
Only now can the race question in that case be opened. Only under this President can it be opened in full and honestly. Still, it can! And if the conditions are set and the debate launched …
then my assertion that it is the coming of age for the USA will make sense, now won’t it?
And if it does, it will contradict the idea that America sees itself as better than others. Although of course, details like the non-action over guns after Sandy Hook and despite the majority of the population being in favor cast a show of a doubt on that? So fingers crossed!
Israel : John Kerry’s nail biting good willed attempt.
That one will be shorter! John Kerry’s intense work in the Israeli-palestinian conflict is one great balance to the overall quieter foreign involvement of the US in general. Again, it ties to the preceding point of view. To have a meaningful debate, there has to be a table for all sides to sit around. It is that table that Secretary of State Kerry is trying to set.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21274061
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22608104
http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Kerry-unveils-4-billion-Palestinian-economic-plan-314436
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/01/us-israel-palestinians-vandalism-idUSBRE9600KL20130701
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23287787
The only drawback so far is this. While there have been immense windows of opportunity opened recently by Israel up to considering 1967’s borders as a basis for discussions, this declaration by Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu is contra-productive :
He suggests that a bi-national state is not acceptable while asking for the Palestinians to make concessions and for a referendum to take place.
Now, now, Benjamin, buddy? Asking for concessions from an oppressed people is akin to holding hostages for ransom, don’t you think? On top of which you want them to gather the money themselves but without allowing them to go to the bank? Come on! Stop the mantras and try to make sense, please? Similarly, I hope that you meant for referendumS to be held? You can’t very well ask for something and not agree to it for yourself, now can you? And by the way, if there are concurrent referendums held in both Nations that agree to peace … will you abide by it or find that too close to a bi-national state for comfort, hum?
I have immense faith in the opinion of Israelis; the question seems to be, do you? And to go further, states are as neighbors so that, as I explained here, legality apart, if the good people of Palestine and Israel outnumber the hateful ones as I sincerely believe and wrote about [ ], it is in their hearts that bi-nationality will exist and flourish as a seed to a world where people consider themselves brothers and sisters over all barriers, ideological or otherwise? And there’s little you nor anyone can do against that love filled outlook! Just sayin’ 😀
https://dlofr.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/israel-palestine-finding-a-culprit-and-a-solution/
Turkey : The bridge over the Bosphorus between
East and West or a Nation torn by ambition?
Turkey’s riots have somewhat calmed down. Somewhat, mind you, not entirely! The clashes are not wholly centered on Istambul but they are not gone either.
http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diren-Türkiye/638685752826349
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1eIwKyAr7kttfZYypH030w
http://www.aljazeera.com/pressoffice/2013/07/clone.of.201372124047315882.html
A few things are interesting though such as the fact that whenever Prime Minister refrains from mouthing off, things grow quieter? That should help him understand the correct way to use power and medias, i.e. whatever it takes to get the job done, even if that happens to be playing it humble or making concessions. It runs contrary to his authoritarian style but heck, not every one can be a Putin. Besides, check this piece my good man and see what others think of your noise making :
To show how true that is, check this then :
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/20/turkey-wedding-protest_n_3629057.html
If you do not get the humorous message that your excessive use of police force ( even though that marriage location was likely a disguised form of protest, admittedly ) getting the US Fox/right and Huffington Post/left to agree carries, I guess 2+2=4 and simple governance is out of your mental reach by now!
Read that al-Jazeera piece linked to up there again, man! In short, Turkey is way too ambitious.
Not in the absolute for of course everyone should attempt to push back their limits … albeit not exceed their grasp?
Keeping the lid on Syria for instance! The best way to do that is to succeed in your peace talks with the Kurds, even the PKK as it seems they are more willing than before? Which in turn would allow you a better stance to the Syrian quagmire in its North East as alluded to up first or as suggested down below for another group?
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/turkeys-alawite-opening
Alawite opening’ LOL, sweeping the rug off from under Bachar’s feet and securing another dissenting group within your own borders, how nice would that be? 😎
In the same vein, do secure your micro-revolt to protect your gas investments and economy?
The only real problem you face is trying to do it all at once! It is a great Turkish flaw of seeing themselves too good and too big. You just cannot control your population and control your economy and control international affairs, Cyprus on top of Alawites /Syria on top of the Kurds all on top of the Middle-East as a whole! It just can’t be done, mate.
But in sequence? Heck, why not!
A- Stay silent or at least discreet and control your police. B- Sign a reasonable treaty to quell the Kurds. B- Pamper the Alawites. C- Keep the ultra-discreet cooperation with Israel even if it means cold shouldering the US a tad for a while. D- Those 3 will allow you to have a foothold in Syria no matter who overcomes ( m,well save Iran supported brigades but that’s a safe bet ) E- Fix your gas Domination by partnering in the Cyprus mega-pipeline at a loss if needed F- getting a legal advantage for turkish Cypriots in return!
Then you can gloat about non-political or military stuff like this :
5 out of not 30 total done worldwide, that’s not too shabby/third world now is it?
Then you name the next bridge of Istambul : the Constantinople-Erdogan Arch, forever linking your name to a great historical figure and to inter-religious dialogue / peace promotion … and if all that has been done fast enough, you can turn to Europe and suggest a trade the EU might just not be able to pass on, namely : get Greece kicked out and Turkey in as a tit for tat?
He He, be honest, don’t tell me that I have not just made your wildest dreams come true?
Good day poor Tayyip and all, peace and sarcasm out, The Real Tay! 😉
*
P.S. Yes that title was a shameless pun but I believe that this Post earned it? 😎
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