What should the United States Do?

(I have also posted the article below at my space at Newsvine). The topic for debate this week on the Creative Syria Think Tank is, so far, only Murhaf Joueijati and I have sent contributions, but there should be more to come soon. My contribution is posted below, and can also be accessed here, for those interested in voting.

What should the United States and the other relevant regional powers do to stop the bloodshed in Lebanon. Continue reading “What should the United States Do?” →

Of Cats and Guilt

First posted on my short-lived blog Tharwalizations.

The cat-and-mouse game between regular armies and “resistance” fighters has always had a heavy toll on the civilian population and the basic infrastructure of the countries involved. It has always served to undermine the potential for democracy as well. Still, a democracy did emerge out of the rubble in Germany and Japan following WWII, and one hopes that this may still be the case for Lebanon as well, albeit all indications point to the possibility that the wrong elements might end up running things in Lebanon, once the dust settles. The elements will lord over a virtual desolation, but they will be the lords. Continue reading “Of Cats and Guilt” →

The Price of Arab Optimism! Or, Wagging Israel!

What would you do if you an embattled Arab leader and suffering from major crises at home and wit the international community and you know you simply cannot own up to your mismanagement and your corruption, not to mention the mismanagement and corruption of those around you? You stir up trouble with Israel of course, knowing that your people are either stupid enough and/or cowardly enough to play along. As such,Israel is really the best thing that has ever happened to Arab dictators. Well, that and oil, in some instances. Continue reading →

The Whirling Dervish of the Apocalypse!

There are many young people starving for hope in Lebanon, Syria and across the region, and Hassan Nasrallah’s latest speech was aimed squarely at them. No. it did not offer them hope in the real sense for which they are aspiring, jobs and such, but it did promise them victory, and in their desperate and empty lives, the promise of victory and the call of battle can indeed excite, especially when the leader involved seems to have a certain hard-won credibility in this regard. Continue reading →