Archive for August 13, 2012
Give them more money and they will give you more respect
“He said the West’s inaction had resulted in a loss of respect among the rebels toward Europe and the United States.”
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
DAMIEN CAVE: another clueless man sent to Beirut to cover Syria
Every week I see a new name of another NYC person sent to Beirut to cover Syria for the New York Times. No background education or training is necessary. So this guy now talks to March 14 figures and has no clue that they belong to a politi…
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
armed groups in Sinai
Now that the Egyptian armed groups in Sinai are being subjected to horrific savage attacks from air and land by Egyptian military forces, will Western liberal academics and writers start publishing articles on how best to arm and support the armed Egyp…
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
Tit for tat
Turkey today downed a Syrian jet. The credit went to the Free Syrian Army. In the “Hotels wars” in 1976 in the Lebanese civil war, PLO organizations did the fighting and dying but gave the credit to a Lebanese faction (Al-Murabitun). …
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
US embassy in Beirut warning
“The U.S. Embassy has received reports of an increased possibility of attacks against U.S. citizens in Lebanon. Possible threats include kidnapping, the potential for an upsurge in violence, the escalation of family or neighborhood disputes, a…
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
Free Syrian Army battalion of beheadiings
“”we heard the worst noise we will hear in our lives: the sharpening of knives for a beheading.”"
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
Israeli racist ads on San Francisco buses: the civilized and the savages
It is good that Israeli government has become very blatant in its racism. Would the San Francisco transportation authority have allowed the apartheid government of South Africa to display ads in which it portrays its “struggle” against the …
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
Israel at Hamburg Gay Pride Parade
Khaled sent me this:”This might interest you; it has been at least 6 years since I last visited a Gay Pride event in this wretched town but on the urging of a friend, I accompanied him to this year’s parade. It was the usually hyperbole of über-commer…
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
The Committee to Protect Some Journalists
Do you notice that the torture and murder of Syrian journalists who work for official media don’t get any coverage in the Western press? Hell, even when Free Syrian Army killed a French journalists, no one in the West protested.
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
Robert Fisk is out of it: he is increasingly embarrassing himself
“”Lebanese editorials adopted a western journalistic perspective, pompously telling readers Samaha’s innocence must be assumed unless he is proven guilty”. This guy is so wrong: I challenge him to name one Lebanese editorial which adhered to th…
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
This relieves the US
“Like Muwafi, Sissi had some contact with Israel in his role as head of military intelligence.” (thanks Dina)
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
ban in Egypt
“The Egyptian Print Censorship Authority has banned the import of A History of the Modern Middle East by eminent academics William L Cleveland and Martin Bunton, now in its 12th edition.” (thanks Ali)
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
Israeli threats to destroy Lebanon
When Arabs pledge to defend their countries against Israeli aggression, Western media and governments accuse Arabs of threatening to destroy Israel. And when Israel threaten to destroy an Arab countries…Western governments and media don’t even …
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
Where are the Sufis and the liberals?
“”But observations made by German journalist Daniel Etter during a recent visit to rebel-controlled towns near the embattled city of Aleppo suggest that there is no mere “presence” of jihadists among the rebels: religiously-inspired mujahideen is wh…
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
As if we did not know: Swedish minister calls Saudi Arabia a dictatorship
“Sweden’s defence minister on Monday called Saudi Arabia a dictatorship, five months after her predecessor resigned amid controversy over Swedish plans to help the country build an arms factory. “Saudi Arabia is an authoritarian regime and an abs…
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
Lebanon and ranking
I have written before about Lebanese obsession with ranking. Please enjoy the rank of Lebanon in this list. (thanks Michele)
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
The Michel Samahah Affair
My latest blog post for Al-Akhbar English on the Michel Samahah affair.
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
This is the most humane armed movement: bodies of soldiers thrown off the window were later buried according to muslim customs
“What happened was really bad. We should respect the dead even if they were our enemies,” he added, saying that later the bodies were buried according to Muslim customs. “
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
This view–even if one does not agree with it–is rarely voiced in the Western press
“Christians in Syria were “doubtful about the future if the project to topple the regime succeeded”. The alternative was “a religious sectarian state where all minorities would feel threatened and discriminated against”, she said. Ther…
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad
If they were using Skype, why did they have to travel the globe??
“”Ford and Fred Hoff, the administration’s coordinator for Syria, have traveled the globe meeting with Syrians. Using Skype and other communication technologies, they’ve sought to maintain ties inside Syria with “technocrats,” the professional …
Posted on August 13, 2012 by As'ad