Archive for July 30, 2012

FLASH: IRAQI WMDS FOUND. FINALLY

I am not making this up.  John Bolton has found Iraqi WMDs in…Syria and wants the US to move to secure them. (thanks Laure)

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

Activists on Skype

Of course, the word “activist” in Syria has no meaning anymore. There is an armed conflict.  Activists have either been killed by the regime, or imprisoned, or they have been marginalized by the armed conflict.  And when Western media refer t…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

Propaganda in the New York Times

“A broad fatwa issued via Ahrar al-Sham against all Alawites was so widely condemned by other fighters that it was later diluted to focus on government figures”. Of course, MacFarquhar like almost Western reporters who write on Syria, believes whatev…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

Here, the New York Times tell you that Al-Qa`idah in Syria is more moderate, unlike Al-Qa`idah in Iraq

It is getting comical in this piece by Neil MacFarquhar:  “Abu al-Khatab, in his late 20s, said he was a former fighter for Al Qaeda in Iraq before he joined Ahrar al-Sham. “I agree with Al Qaeda on certain things and disagree on others,” he…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

Why Syria is heading towards a vicious civil war, like Lebanon

I said this on Facebook the other day: that one of the ways I can predict that Syria is heading towards civil war is the way young Syrians fight and clash on FB (including on my wall).  It is very much like the vicious fights among Lebanese. …

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

Mr. `Ar`ur

By the way, I could be mistaken–I never am, of course–but is this the first time that `Ar`ur has been mentioned in the New York Times?  This is a highly influential fanatic nut in the Syrian uprising and now he makes a passing appearance?  …

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

NATO secularism

“Some Syrians who seek a more secular revolution blame the lack of Western support for driving the rebellion into the arms of the extremists”.  So if only NATO would bomb Syria there would be more secularism as in the Islamist state of new Libya…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

Lincoln Brigade in Syria? I would have released the pigs from barn, if this is true

“Not all foreign fighters are jihadists, either. One Libyan-Irish fighter, Mahdi al-Harati, who helped lead the battle for Tripoli, Libya, organized a group of volunteers for Syria, noted Thomas Pierret, a lecturer in contemporary Syrian Islam at th…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

secular?

“What began as a largely peaceful, secular protest movement in March 2011″.  This sentence is of course false on more than one count.  The Syrian people did protest spontaneously against the repressive regime and NOT at the behest of BHI as s…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

Irony of the US

Don’t you like it when you hear right-wing Christian fundamentalist nuts in the US, like George W. Bush, complain about the lack of Arab secular progressives? 

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

Peter Harling

““You have secular people and very moderate Islamists who join Salafi groups because they have the weapons and the money. There tends to be more Salafi guys in the way the groups portray themselves than in the groups on the ground.””  I mea…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

The Prophet’s Flag? or Al-Qa`idah’s?

“The groups demanded to raise the prophet’s banner — solid black with “There is no god but God.””  Somebody needs to tell the New York Times that what it calls the “prophet”s banner” is none other than the flag of Al-Qa`idah.  What an…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

Tell me more about the selection process

“United States intelligence officials have helped select the recipients, according to American officials.”  I mean, really.  Not one paper has mocked this standard reference to the role of US intelligence agencies.  But did the CIA not p…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

How to read the New York Times

When I read the long articles in the New York Times these days, I realize that you have to basically look for one sentence that basically is the most important one in the whole article. The sentence is usually standing by itself and in passing.  L…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

Syria: Shameful Performance of Western Media

My latest blog post for Al-Akhbar English on the shameful performance of Western media toward the Syrian conflict.

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

Commander-in-chief of the Lebanese Army

“Kahwagi also said the Lebanese Army would continue to confront Israel until the liberation of the occupied Shebaa Farms, Kfar Shouba and Northern part of the village of Ghajar.“Confrontation will continue with this enemy to foil its criminal plan…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

On Asalah

Angry Arab correspondent on Bahrain sent me this about Syrian singer, Asalah (see post from yesterday):”About Asala – The woman has Bahraini citizenship. The question is why. As far as I know, she hasn’t lived in Bahrain. According to Bahrain’s (unfa…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

`Umar Sulayman

On the mysterious (?) death of `Umar Sulayman.  (thanks Yusuf)

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

Thierry Meyssan: in Tishrin

Do you know that Meyssan writes a regular column for Tishrin newspaper?  Munaf Tlas must have recruited him for the job.  He was a specialist in cultivating ties with conspiracy nuts and right-wingers in France.

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad

The prince has analyzed

“Saudi Interior Minister Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz on Monday described prominent Shiite cleric Nimr Nimr, detained in the kingdom’s Eastern Province, as mentally ill.  “Nimr Nimr is someone who stirs sedition… The way he speaks reflects a m…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by As'ad