Archive for March 9, 2012
a government in exile for Syria is shaping up
I really believe that with the last defector, a Syrian government-in-exile is shaping up. I mean, we have a reimbursement government clerk, and we have a sports announcer, and now the assistant to the deputy Minister of Oil. If we can only …
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
The Strike on Iran
My weekly article for Al-Akhbar: “The Strike on Iran”.
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
the defector and corruption charges
Comrade Amer sent me this: ”Did you notice that the latest Syrian defector – in his very defection speech – warned the masses that the regime will invent corruption charges against him? ” How did he know, one wonders.
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
what are those stories?
A construction worker by day and an ER physician by night: ”Abu Berri, a construction worker by trade who said that for several months he served as a kind of emergency physician at a makeshift clinic in Baba Amr.”
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
from Comrade T. on Bahrain
Comrade T. sent me this: ”Yesterday, March 8, at 3 pm Beirut time, and on the French Canal Plus,an item of news that might interest you: the Bahraini Royal Family just bought, for 46 million Euros, the most expensive triplex in Paris, on the Ave …
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
hitting an Ethiopian maid in Lebanon
On Video: hitting an Ethiopian maid in Lebanon. (thanks Jonathan)
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
"the most senior defector"
It is hilarious that Western media are having a field day with the defection of the assistant to the deputy of the Syrian oil minister. They are all stressing that he is “the most senior” defector thus far. Of course, he is the most senior …
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
views on domestic violence
“THE United Nations collects data on attitudes among women to domestic violence. The numbers are not drawn from the same surveys, so should be compared with that in mind. Also, some countries are not covered by these datasets. Unfortunately attitudes …
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
Another indication of the inevitable demise of the state of Israel
“That number fell by 70 percent the following decade, as the number of Jews living in threatened communities dwindled. Last year, only 17,500 immigrated to Israel, one of the lowest totals in the state’s history.”
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
Prince Nayif: something is fishy
I noted to my alert readers that when Prince Nayif left the Kingdom, Saudi media mentioned that he was met at the airport in Riyadh by various princes but did not mention his destination. That raised my suspicions. Many readers in Morocco n…
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
Syrian regime TV
Resumed watching Syrian regime TV (academics don’t like to say watch TV or movies, they say “monitor” or examine), since my return from Michigan. Today, I watched as a kooky “expert” went on to talk about Jewish thought and the Talmud. I fa…
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
An Israeli "expert" humiliatingly kicked out from the University of Amman
“A university official met with the protesters and promised to cancel the Ben-Gurion University lecturer’s appearance so as not to disrupt the conference. Protesters bragged they succeeded in cancelling “the Zionist’s lecture” on Facebook. Another lect…
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
Stop the presses. The Syrian National Council is getting money
It is hilarious that supporters of the Syrian National Council around the world still stick to the propaganda line that the Council is funded purely by Syrian people’s donations. Well, the supreme leader of the Council (deputized by the Muslim Br…
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
AIPAC festival
My latest blog post on AIPAC festival for the Al-Akhbar English.
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
The flight of Syrian Kurds in the New York Times
The New York Times has a long story about the flight of Syrian Kurds into Iraq. The headline says: “Syrian Kurds flee Into Iraq Refugee Limbo”. I mean, the headline makes it look like all of Syrian Kurds have fled to Iraq. But if you stay p…
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
The sneaky ways of the New York Times
I have been alerted that since I mocked the New York Times for promoting the rank of the defector to Minister, the paper has sneakily changed the headline to “Syrian official.”
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
Assistant to the assistant of the Syrian Minister
Al-Quds Al-`Arabi states that the defector was a deputy to the assistant of the Syrian Minister.
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
Dennis Kucinich
So US Representative Dennis Kucinich lost in the primary election. I have no faith in the US Congress or its members but this one was very atypical and unrepresentative. He was in a category of his own. If he only had more charisma, h…
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
What is the evidence? The evidence is "reports"
“The expanded Iranian role in the conflict has been underscored by reports, supported by US intelligence findings, that an Iranian operative was recently wounded while working with Syrian security forces inside the country.” Is it possible that w…
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad
Interesting: very interesting
I happen to notice that Nir Rosen’s piece on the Islamists in Syria did NOR run on Aljazeera.net but ran instead in Foreign Policy. My own observation about that is:interesting. Very interesting. Now on substance, I am not comfortable to wr…
Posted on March 9, 2012 by As'ad