Tag: Iran

Shirking Without Staving!

When President Obama tells us that choosing our leaders is up to us at a time when our leader is busy exterminating his opponents by all means under his disposal and with the help of Iran and Russia and with support of thousands of Shia recruits from Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and even Afghanistan, and at a time when Saudi, Qatar and Turkey are engaged in a tug of war over who will get to decide the leaders of the opposition, while Al-Qaeda Jihadis are busy invading and carving up enclaves for themselves in different parts of Syria, does he know how moronic he sounds? It’s like telling a girl who is being gang raped that she should take responsibility for herself and should determine her own fate! No, no, no, no! Dealing with the situation in Syria is not the responsibility of a dysfunctional institution (UN) but of the world’s viable democracies. You can shirk the responsibility, but you will never stave off the blame, nor avoid for long the inevitable fallouts.

Why nonviolence failed in Syria

NOW Lebanon | A longer version is available here.

Many people in Syria and across the world continue to wonder why the Syrian uprising took such a violent turn, despite the bravery and selflessness of so many of the early protest leaders. Indeed, the development seems to have come as a result of a sophisticated strategy implemented by the Assad regime from the outset. Understanding this strategy, rather than lamenting the situation, as so many nonviolence advocates and theoreticians continue to do, might help prevent its replication elsewhere.    Continue reading “Why nonviolence failed in Syria” →

Iran calling the shots in Syria

Now Lebanon, February 28, 2013.

Further, Iran is building a sectarian Alawite- and Shia-majority militia, Ammar Abdulhamid, a pro-democracy Syrian activist based in Washington DC, and the head of the Tharwa Foundation, tells NOW. Abdulhamid believes this new militia will seek to maintain old alliances with minority communities, loyalist Sunni clans and groups, while attempting to forge new ones in the future among potential ‘rogue’ rebel units who would be more interested in carving out turf for themselves than in the fate of the country.

“At this stage,” adds Abdulhamid, “Assad is a mere placeholder. Despite the all-too-real cult of personality that surrounds Assad in the ranks of the Alawite community, this does not ensure his long-term survival. Iran eventually wants a group that will be beholden to [it] first, not to Assad,” says Abdulhamid.