Ahmad Jarba: A Moment of Truth Looms for Syria

Ahmad Jarba: A Moment of Truth Looms for Syria – WSJ.com.

Jarba makes one lame point after another, and misses the chance to frame the debate in a manner that reminds people, not shyly but starkly, of what the Assads regime has been doing for close to three years now: perpetrating genocide and in the process encouraging the emergence of terrorist networks and threatening the stability of the region. He should have also reminded leaders of the international community, especially the U.S., Russia and Iran, of their negative impact on this process due to their passivity and/or duplicity. He should have been shaming and blaming even as he shows willingness to attend Geneva 2. Russians must love Jarba. He’s been “reasonable” and the negotiations haven’t even started. Who’s his media adviser? Whoever he is, he should be fired.

Review & Outlook: Enabling Bashar

Review & Outlook: Enabling Bashar – WSJ.com.

WSJ: “Though it won’t say it publicly, the Administration thinks that’s not such a bad thing, on the view that Assad’s survival may not be the worst scenario for Syria. More than a few Republicans agree. But as we’ve noted from the start of this war, Assad’s victory would also be Iran’s, and it is Tehran that is our major adversary in the region. A credible U.S. policy would aim to inflict a strategic defeat on the mullahs, not that credibility is this Administration’s strong suit.”

But there is something else that the Administration will not say publicly but appears to believe in, namely that Iran can be transformed into an ally, and that she will be willing to pursue this possibility even at the expense of handing over control of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon to Iran. Whether the Administration convinced itself of that because she wants to justify its inaction or whether Obama and Company are true believers in this nonsense does not matter. The result is the same: the empowerment of Iran, and the end of the Levant as we know it ushering in a long period of ethnic and religious warfare. Shortsightedness is an incurable disease, but we will all suffer its consequences.

The Secret History of Hezbollah

The Secret History of Hezbollah | The Weekly Standard.

Indeed, Tony Badran. Iran’s policies and strategies have little to do with Israel and America and more to do with the usual competition/struggle involving Arabs, Persians and Kurds, or Sunnis and Shia, and the usual power politics inside each country and region. In other words, it’s an extension of our indigenous historical processes that have been going for centuries, if not millennia. Israel’s presence and US policies (not mention Europe’s, Russia’s and China’s, etc.) in the region are complicating factors at best, but the dynamics themselves are fueled by internal needs and interests. It’s about time we reexamined the modern history of our region from this perspective, and countered the ideological interpretations prevalent all around us, because they distort facts and detract our attention from focusing on the real nature of our problems, and suggesting more practical policies for handling them.

Al-Qaeda Resurgent!

As the world watches on, Al-Qaeda is gradually building a state for herself in Syria and Iraq.

November 10, 2013 | Gaziantep, Turkey

Having made its operational debut in Syria during the Summer of 2013, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a known Al-Qaeda affiliate comprised mostly of foreign Jihadists, is now actively implementing a fast-track plan for taking over governance of all areas in that country liberated from the rule of the Assad regime, taking advantage of the fractious nature of the rebel movement and the lack of international support to moderate groups. While the plan seems to be running into some trouble in the Kurdish majority areas in the Northeast where hardened PKK fighters have left their positions in Turkey and rushed to support their co-nationals, the takeover process seems to be proceeding at a deliberate pace elsewhere in the country and is picking up speed from day-to-day. The internal differences pitting ISIS against Jabhat Al-Nusra (JAN), another Al-Qaeda affiliate operating in Syria supported mostly by local recruits, and the leader of Al-Qaeda itself, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, does not seem to be having much impact operationally at this stage, although this could change in the future. Continue reading “Al-Qaeda Resurgent!” →