Archive for April 18, 2012

Aleppo in the New York Times

A reader sent me this:  ”I was born in Aleppo, Syria. The city does not have an indigenous Alewite community. You have christian neighborhoods, Sunni/ Kurdish neighborhoods, and some mixed Christian, Sunni/ Kurdish neighborhoods. I have a cousin w…

Posted on April 18, 2012 by As'ad

Saudi diplomat in Yemen

Saudi government said that it won’t negotiate with the captors of the Saudi diplomat in Yemen.  Of course, it won’t negotiate.  He is not a Saudi prince.  If he was, the government would have negotiated and offered millions in ransom.

Posted on April 18, 2012 by As'ad

UAE continues to expel Lebanese

UAE continues to expel Lebanese people. (thanks Jamal)

Posted on April 18, 2012 by As'ad

This deserves a Nobel prize, in chemistry or in anything else

Map of Lebanon made from Arabic sweets.   ِAmbassadors are supposed to work on relations between states and on providing analysis of political developments but the Lebanese ambassador in Saudi Arabia figured that arranging Arabic sweets is f…

Posted on April 18, 2012 by As'ad

Bahrain update

From Angry Arab chief correspondent in Bahrain:  ”The Formula 1 race begins in 3 days. In preparation the regime is raiding houses in various areas and has arrested 100s. The funny thing about F1 is that the debate centered on whether it is safe f…

Posted on April 18, 2012 by As'ad

What will happen to royal puppets like us?

Hasan Bin Talal, the royal reject from Jordan.  ”the United States should not turn its back on the Middle East.”

Posted on April 18, 2012 by As'ad

testing

“”The military tested at least 250 chemical and biological agents during the Cold War, including potentially lethal nerve agents like VX and sarin, incapacitating drugs like BZ, tear gas, barbiturates, tranquilizers, narcotics and hallucinogens.”"

Posted on April 18, 2012 by As'ad

King of Jordan

“The N.J. governor did not meet with any leaders of the Palestinian Authority during the trip. After Israel, the Christie family spent a weekend with King Abdullah of Jordan.”

Posted on April 18, 2012 by As'ad

Nasrallah interview

I have not seen the whole interview with Nasrallah but read one account in which Nasrallah talks about a future Palestinian state in which Jews and Arabs coexist.  This is to my knowledge a first for an Islamist leader (of the Shi`ite or Sunni var…

Posted on April 18, 2012 by As'ad

Adonis

This is an interview with Adonis who–like George W. Bush–really really loves freedom and would like you to know that about him.  He offers demeaning generalizations about the Iraqi people and their culture but when he was asked about Saudi Arabi…

Posted on April 18, 2012 by As'ad

Is there an end to the heroism of US occupation troops? "U.S. troops posed with body parts of Afghan bombers"

“Two soldiers posed holding a dead man’s hand with the middle finger raised. A soldier leaned over the bearded corpse while clutching the man’s hand. Someone placed an unofficial platoon patch reading “Zombie Hunter” next to other remains and took a pi…

Posted on April 18, 2012 by As'ad

Not in the mainstream press: "Syrian activists to rebels: Give us our revolution back"

““Our revolution has been stolen from us by people who have their own agenda,” says a singer who uses the pseudonym ‘Safinas’ because she still lives in Damascus. “We are not violent people. We want to get back to the real thing. It was a cle…

Posted on April 18, 2012 by As'ad

Al-Akhbar-leaks: Syria

Apparently, hackers were able to obtain correspondence belonging to leaders of the Syrian National Council.  Here is a fawning pathetic letter from former secularist, Burhan Ghalyun, to Saudi Al-Faysal.

Posted on April 18, 2012 by As'ad