Archive for May 28, 2012
Osman III
Of all the Ottoman Sultans, Osman III was the most photogenic in my opinion.
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Al-Hakim Bi Amr-il-Lah
He became caliph at age 11. I am no fan of the man and he was very eccentric but he had a bad press by historians. No need to get into it: no time.
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
The West and the Rest
I have admitted to my secret pleasure of reading and enjoying the writings of Nial Ferguson, despite his conservative bent and his hostility to Arabs and Muslims, and his fanatic devotion to Israeli militarism. But his last book, Civilization: Th…
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Carter is not bothered by electoral fraud having been a champion of Sadat, the anti-Semitic unrepentant Nazi dictator
“”I don’t think the mistakes and errors and improprieties that we have witnessed in the last few days will have a negative impact on the runoff,” he told reporters. However, he stressed that his center is only able to make a “limited” judgment on the e…
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Human Rights Watch plagiarizes from New York Times
Look at this passage: it has been used in Neir MacFarquhar’s articles on the Hula massacre. Human Rights Watch could not even notice how offensive to `Alawites and Shi`ites this passage is: ”All of the witnesses stated the armed men were pr…
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Meet Ms. Nonoo
“After months of requests, Nonoo, 47, had finally consented to a one-on-one interview, the only one she granted to The Post during the writing of this article. Conditions: The interview could last only 30 minutes; a representative from Qorvis, a Washin…
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Iran sanctions
“In fact, a careful reading of the legislative text of the sanctions shows that the sanctions have very little to do with Iran’s nuclear program and everything to do with regime change. For instance, the U.S. sanctions can only be lifted after the p…
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Zionist hypocrites
As if there have been more people than Zionists who worked for decades to stifle debates and to ban speakers and to veto attendances. ““Anti-Israeli elements have embarked on a campaign of intellectual terror which rejects everything that aca…
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Arabs and Iranians
Krim sent me this: ”From the blog of Lt Col Rick Francona (he was a NBC military analyst):”In early 1988, the Defense Intelligence Agency prepared an assessment that concluded Iran would likely emerge victorious if the conflict continued anoth…
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Anti-Alawite bigotry in BBC
“If that is the case, it is possible the killers were drawn from a string of largely Alawite villages to the south of Houla region. Fearing reprisals, some residents there have apparently been donating blood to help the approximately 300 injured.” &…
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Best beaches in the world
I concur with the number 1 beach selection. Absolutely.
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Saudi propaganda in the Guardian
I saw this link on Brian Whitaker’s Twitter’ page. But this was borrowed from the Saudi website, Al-Arabiyya (which posts and invents bizarre Iranian claims on regular semi-weekly basis). And the headline does not go with the alleged statem…
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Hostages in Syria
No Western attention to Lebanese hostages taken by Free Syrian Army gangs in Syria. Meanwhile, Amal thugs in Lebanon continue to attack Syrian workers in Lebanon.
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Lebanon on the brink (II)
My latest blog post for Al-Akhbar English: ”Lebanon on the Brink, II” (French translation).
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Zionism is always racism
“Yet for the four years he applied to all five of Israel’s medical schools, Hijazi was repeatedly rejected. Officials told him he kept failing the pre-admission personality interview, but the 25-year-old Arab Israeli suspects another reason: He believe…
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
The treaty
“The peace treaty remains a lynchpin of US/Middle East policy and, despite its unpopularity with many Egyptians, was staunchly upheld by President Hosni Mubarak until his overthrow last year in a popular uprising.”
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
BBC lies and fabrications
“Photographer Marco di Lauro said he nearly “fell off his chair” when he saw the image being used, and said he was “astonished” at the failure of the corporation to check their sources.The picture, which was actually taken on March 27, 2003, sh…
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Who do I believe on Syria?
I woke up and saw pictures on Facebook from opponents of the Syrian regime showing what is alleged to be closure of shops in Damascus in protest against the Syrian regime. Yet, on pro-Syrian regime, NBN TV (of the Amal movement), I saw pictures o…
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Hamdin Sabbahi and the educated youth of Egypt
I noticed that Western media did not bother to write about the political significance of the strong showing of leftist Nasserist candidate, Hamdin Sabbahi. I was looking at the voting behavior in Egypt and it is very significant that he did very …
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad
Bashshar is still missing
What is amazing about Bashshar Al-Asad is the extent to which he is missing. He has time to hold long meetings with insignificant Lebanese pro-Syrian regime politicians but has no time to address the Syrian people. He either does not care o…
Posted on May 28, 2012 by As'ad