Category Archives: Middle East

Syria – Chemical Warhead Launch Ascribed to 155th Brigade – 4th Armored Division – Syrian Army

28 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Israel, Middle East, Regions, Syria

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The 8200 unit of the Israeli Defence Forces, which specialises in electronic surveillance, intercepted a conversation between Syrian officials regarding the use of chemical weapons, an unnamed former Mossad official told Focus. The content of the conversation was relayed to the US, the ex-official said.

 The 8200 unit collects and analyses electronic data, including wiretapped telephone calls and emails. It is the largest unit in the IDF.

Sherwood, Harriet.  “Israel intelligence ‘intercepted Syrian regime talk about chemical attack’: Information passed to US by Israeli Defence Forces 8200 unit, former official tells magazine.”  The Guardian, August 28, 2013.

Funky timing: for four or five days, not one mention of specifically “who” in the where, what, how, and why of the chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs — and today the answer seems to be unavoidable in online search and dated back to August 24 (see the Debka File citation in reference).

Nonetheless, if attributed to Maher al-Assad’s command, then the world has a figure already steeped in legendary criminal malice: there’s not much he can do to cast himself into even a darker light.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, said in March 2011 that Maher’s actions during the uprising approached “savagery,” and urged Bashar to send him into exile.

Alexander, Harriet and Philip Sherwell.  “Maher al-Assad accused of orchestrating deadly chemical weapon attack.”  The Telegraph, August 25, 2013.

Additional Reference

AP.  “Report: Russia to send marines to Syria.”  The Daily Caller, June 18, 2012.  Relayed here for the photograph that tops the piece; it actually seems to cover a Russian defensive effort to secure civilian and military assets exiting Syria a little more than a year ago.

BackChannels.  “In Foreign Affairs – Putin – Analysis from March 2013.”  March 13, 2013.

DEBKA File.  “The sarin shells fired on Damascus – by Syrian 4th Division’s 155th Brigade – were followed by rockets on Israel and car bombings in Lebanon.”  August 24, 2013.

Bryen, Shoshana.  “The Incredible Shrinking US-Israel Security Cooperation.”  June 27, 2012.

Dilanian, Ken.  “Israel may have intercepted Syrian discussions about chemical attack.”  Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2013.

Drury, Ian.  “How the West could smash Assad’s arsenal: US military chiefs draw up a list of targets with UK for precision-guided bombs and missiles.”  Mail Online, August 25, 2013.

El-Khoury, Rajeh.  “Moscow Hints at Break with Assad.”  Al Monitor, February 2, 2012.

Wikipedia.  “Unit 8200”.

Williams, Amanda.  “‘Ruthless’ brother of President Assad accused of being behind chemical weapons attack which killed 1,200 Syrians.”  Mail Online, August 28, 2013.

Staff.  “Israel TV: Chemical weapons were fired by Assad’s brother’s unit.”  Time of Israel, August 24, 2013.

Staff.  “SYRIA: Is mystery gunman President Bashar Assad’s brother, Maher?”  Babylon & Beyond, Los Angeles Times, May 7, 2011.

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Syria – Actionable

27 Tuesday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Journalism, Middle East, Politics, Regions, Syria

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Speaking after U.N. chemical weapons experts came under sniper fire on their way to investigate the scene of the attack, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the use of chemical weapons was undeniable and “there is very little doubt in our mind that the Syrian regime is culpable.”

Wroughton, Lesley and Erika Solomon.  “Syria chemical weapons attack: Kerry accuses Assad of ‘a moral obscenity’.”  Chicago Tribune, August 26, 2013.

Russia has no evidence of whether a chemical weapons attack has taken place in Syria or who is responsible, Russian President Vladimir Putin told British Prime Minister David Cameron in a telephone call, according to Cameron’s official website.

Tehran Times.  “Putin to Cameron: No evidence Syria chemical weapons attack occurred.”  August 27, 2013.

* * *

Syria stinks.

Not only does Syria stink for Syrians — keep in mind this latest imbecility takes place in a war zone that has killed more than 100,000 and displaced upwards of four million souls — but it envelopes everyone with a hand in it.

Ariel Cohen, a senior research fellow at the US think tank the Heritage Foundation, told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Monday that in response to an attack on their Syrian ally, Russia could “expand supply of dual use nuclear technology” to Iran as its nuclear energy company, Rosatom, is anxious to sell more reactors.

Solomon, Ariel Ben.  “Expert: US-led attack on Syria may lead to increased Russian cooperation with Iran.”  The Jerusalem Post, August 27, 2013.

Let’s do business, shall we?

* * *

Because that’s what Syria’s about.

I happen to have the audacity to think the west wants to earn back some part of its investment in oil; Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey would seem to want to expand the Sunni side of the Islamic enterprise in the middle east; Israel could do with a weakened Iran-Hezbollah-Syria structure on its flanks; and God bless him, truly, for Christian Russia, President Vladimir Putin wants to use Iran’s errant ambitions to keep an old Soviet Era cash machine (we could call it “Cash Mir”) chugging along, Ayatollah –> Assad and Associates –> Post-Soviet, Neo-Oligarch Russia.

It wasn’t a chemical warhead that took lives in the Damascus suburbs last week.

It was the money.

Follow it from Doha to Moscow on its twinned tracks and you will have the outline of the implosion I might just refer to hereafter as “Syria Dark Star”.

Two of the world’s three most powerful states have a business interest in their relationship with the Assad regime.

Analysts say both China and Russia have their reasons to maintain good relations with Syria.

Russia is one of Syria’s biggest arms suppliers. And China ranked as Syria’s third-largest importer in 2010, according to data from the European Commission.

Yan, Holly.  “Why China, Russia won’t condemn Syrian regime.”  CNN, February 5, 2012.

What is the effect of that, information-wise?

In one video appearing in an alternative or dissenting context in World Net Daily (WND), you will see a frame referring to Saudi Arabia’s “Saudi Factory for Chlorine and Alkalais” (Sachlo) in relation to last week’s chemical attack — again: follow the money and do note, please, the production values — the addition of music and titles to what should be as straight as timely documentation gets — on two of the three videos promoted.

What’s true?

What’s not true?

The money is true — and the reportage may be consigned to following state presentations.

The sucker punch is NATO vs. Russia all over again but for no good reason apart from from the ginning of foreign trade receipts.

It’s business.

Conscience has no role in it.

With China perhaps fat, smiling, and unperturbed, that same money will loan out to the United States and others who will happily accommodate this absurd state of affairs between themselves.

As the chips make their way around the Grand and Global Poker Table, all that will be missing comes to (green shades on and lick the nub of the pen) about 355 souls permanently and about 3,245 incapacitated or traumatized souls.

BBC.  “MSF-backed hospitals treated Syria ‘chemical victims’.”  August 24, 2013.

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One has to ask of conscience and desire: are the worlds now “imaged” by CNN and RT — presented to us with many questions left unasked — anything like a world in which one should want to live?

The early 2010 “Question More” advertising campaign created for RT in Britain by McCann Erickson was highly controversial.[33]One advertisement showed American President Barack Obama “morphing” into Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and asked: “Who poses the greatest nuclear threat?” The ad was banned in American airports. Another shows a Western soldier “merging” into a Taliban fighter and asks: “Is terror only inflicted by terrorists?”[34] One of RT’s 2010 billboard advertisements won the British Awards for National Newspaper Advertising “Ad of the Month.”[35]

Wikipedia.  “RT”.

CNNi’s pursuit of and reliance on revenue from Middle East regimes increased significantly after the 2008 financial crisis, which caused the network to suffer significant losses in corporate sponsorships. It thus pursued all-new, journalistically dubious ways to earn revenue from governments around the world. Bahrain has been one of the most aggressive government exploiters of the opportunities presented by CNNi.

Greenwald, Glenn.  “CNN and the business of state-sponsored TV news.”  The Guardian, September 4, 2012.

The human rights-oriented modifications that may come to autocratic states will neither bring to them nor emulate democracy.

That’s life.

However, bending and twisting it some in journalism to suit The Money — yes, you have just been dragged from chemical weapons reports into international trade and on to integrity in journalism (even from my Second Row Seat to History) — will erode and eventually destroy democracy.

American conservatives know the litany: “Without the First Amendment, all of the others are useless.”

Add to it: without a press free of all but ambitious good conscience and readers, there will be no freedom.

Only political programs and programmers — God give them all the money they want because on this most dismal, obscene, and tragic of today’s war stories, The Money would seem the hidden alpha-omega of all motivation, coverage, and presentation — and the feckless programmed, which would be everyone else.

Additional Reference

CBS/AP.  “Fearing a U.S. strike, Syria warns of global ‘chaos’.”  August 27, 2013.

Corsi, Jerome R.  “Evidence: Syria Gas Attack Work of U.S. Allies.”  WND, August 26, 2013.

CNN Press Room.  “CNN International’s Response to the Guardian — Update.”  September 5, 2012.

Whether with CNN or RT, we have journalists working in the vicinity of the wheels of history, which for this BackChannels post seems to be a Qatar-backed Sunni-NATO alliance helped into being by the need to address the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran that is in turn supported, in part, by Syria’s geopolitical view and Russian greed (we know for Putin that cooperation is not about the endorsement of Shiite Islam as laid down by Ayatollah Khamenei).   While that plays, the journalism story plays too, for whether in Russia, the United States, or elsewhere in the world authentically or nominally subscribed to open democracy, if one cannot trust the main run of journalists to report “accurately, clearly, and completely” — add “relentlessly” — on the stories of their day, then one returns to subjugation, and whether with such power cloaked in the name of God or for the cause of Gold makes not the least difference.

Eltsov, Peter.  “Putin Stumps for the Orthodox Church in a Film Celebrating the Kievan Rus Anniversary.”  The Atlantic, July 29, 2013.

Keath, Lee and Zeina Karam.  “Syria Chemical Weapons: UN Inspectors Probe Allegations of Nerve Gas Attack.”  Huffington Post, August 26, 2013.

Stack, Liam.  “Videos Show Aftermath of Possible Syrian Chemical Attack in March.”  The Lede, The New York Times, April 25, 2013.

Walker, Peter and Tom McCarthy.  “Syria: US secretary of state John Kerry calls chemical attack ‘cowardly crime’ – as it happened.”  The Guardian, August 26, 2013.

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Lebanon – Cruelty Arrives With Two Bombs

23 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Lebanon, Middle East, Regions

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One of the bombs exploded near the Taqwa mosque as worshippers spilled out of the religious center following Friday prayers. Minutes later a second explosion struck the Salam mosque in the Mina area near the waterfront.

Al Akhbar.  “Twin bombing hits Lebanon’s Tripoli.”  August 23, 2013.

Address it, air it, channel it, deal with it, work with it: the “passions” — the underlying programming in social grammar — that surfaces in the sadism implied in the above-quoted description arrives without conscience or humanity.  Throughout the range of the Islamic Small Wars, the same would seem to serve as its most familiar motif.

What could be more cruel, more of the devil, more evil, and more inhuman than to deploy a weapon among innocents away from the field of battle and close by the sanctuary afforded by a space built and sustained on faith in God and the human relationship with the All?  Casualties of a war alive inside the hearts of killers — truly, the “warfare” of interest leaks from poisoned minds obsessed alternatively with power and hiding — today’s dead and injured in Tripoli had gone into their mosques for prayers and been made to come out at the Gates of Hell.

Additional Reference

AFP/Reuters.  “Tripoli bomb blasts ‘kill at least 27 and injure hundreds more’.”  ABC News, August 23, 2013.

AP and Times of Israel Staff.  “Twin blasts kill 27 in Lebanese city of Tripoli.”  The Times of Israel, August 23, 2013.

Charara, Nasser.  “From Tripoli to Saida, a Map of Lebanon’s Battlegrounds.”  Al Akhbar, June 24, 2013.

From earlier this year:

Jawad, Rana.  “Tripoli: French embassy in Libya hit by car bomb.”  BBC News, April 23, 2013.

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FNS – Syria – Rebels Accuse Assad Regime of Launching Chemical Attack

21 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by in Fast News Share, Islamic Small Wars, Journalism, Middle East, Politics, Regions, Syria, Uncategorized

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SYRIA Man Struggles For Air, Chemical Weapons Kill 650 In Damascus: Suspicious Timing

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Rockets with toxic agents were launched at the suburbs of the Ghouta region early on Wednesday as part of a major bombardment on rebel forces, they say.

The Syrian army says the accusations have been fabricated to cover up rebel losses.

The main opposition alliance said that more than 1,000 people were killed by the attacks.

BBC.  “Syria conflict: ‘Chemical attacks’ kill hundreds.”  August 21, 2013.

BBC correspondent Frank Gardner comments on the suspicious timing of the alleged attack — why now? — but also the horrifying and likely authentic extent of the suffering witnessed.

Without press freedom, privilege, and security in the world’s combat zones, their darkness fades to a plain and evil black.

Search string “Ghouta chemical attack” seems to work.

At the top of my list at the moment:  Al Arabiya.  “Syrian opposition: 1,300 killed in chemical attack on Ghouta region.”  August 21, 2013.

I would want to know whether any of the the satellite-enabled and watching military organizations involved worldwide have recorded data of the rockets delivering the chemical warheads involved.

If not, how was this crime — still being checked out — committed?

I have to go.  Last glance: Morris, Loveday, and Ahmed Ramadan.  “Syrian activists accuse government of deadly chemical attack near Damascus.”  The Washington Post, August 21, 2013.

Did it happen?

Did Assad do it?

Is it a false flag designed to enlarge the war on the rebel’s behalf?

Whatever you answer, prove it.

I can’t.

I’m not sure about what I’m looking at.

As most of you do, I see what’s reported, although perhaps I give the overview a little more time with attention to comparison and corroboration and spin.

***

The Russian Foreign Ministry, citing its sources, said that a homemade rocket carrying unidentified chemical substances had been launched from an area controlled by the opposition.

“A homemade rocket with a poisonous substance that has not been identified yet – one similar to the rocket used by terrorists on March 19 in Khan al-Assal – was fired early on August 21 [at Damascus suburbs] from a position occupied by the insurgents,” Lukashevich said.

RT.  “Russia suggests Syria ‘chemical attack’ was ‘planned provocation’ by rebels.”  August 21, 2013.

Turn the matter of the Hague, says I, for without an independent investigation by an an accepted neutral authority, whether detective or journalist, the little boys doing the fighting and the Big Bothers watching them and may, can, and will lie like hell in their own interests.

Additional Reference

Reuters.  “US joins calls for probe into alleged Syrian chemical attack.”  The Jerusalem Post, August 21, 2013.

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FNS – Egypt – 8-19-2013-1200EDT

19 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Egypt

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MILITANTS KILL 24 policemen in Egypt’s Sinai as country gripped by violence

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Islamic militants ambushed two minibuses carrying off-duty policemen in the northern region of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Monday, killing 25 of them execution-style in a brazen daylight attack.

Marszal, Andrew.  “Egypt violence: Islamists ‘execute 25 policemen’ in Sinai.”  The Telegraph, August 19, 2013.

***

I’ve started using the phrase “the humanity of humanity”, and with that in mind, here’s reference to a progressive piece by Ali Al Sharnoby published online with the Canada Free Press:

There were hundreds of Egyptians of all ages. All of them made it clear they were willing to kill Brotherhood members if they turned up again. About half of them were Muslims.  A few Salafists, too came to be with us as they live in the same neighborhood and refuse to attack the church.  I heard a lot of dialogues between Christians and Muslims.  I felt the warmth of real cohesion and unity against the new danger, and knew that there is no difference between our needs and destiny because everyone was there to protect the House of God.

Sharnoby, Ali Al.  “Only in Egypt: Muslims defending churches, Christians protecting mosques!”  Canada Free Press, August 19, 2013.

***

On June 30, when millions of Egyptians took to the streets to protest against now ousted President Mohamed Morsi, residents of Al Nazla marked Christian homes and shops with red graffiti, vowing to protect Morsi’s electoral legitimacy with “blood.”

Chick, Kristen.  “In Egyptian village, Christian shops marked ahead of church attack (+video).”  The Christian Science Monitor, August 18, 2013.

***

Even the $12 billion or so in aid from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait is unlikely to get Egypt through the current turmoil.

“This can’t support Egypt’s transitional period for more than five or six months – maybe a year. It can’t be counted on as the Brotherhood counted on money from Qatar during Morsi’s time,” said Adly.

Parvaz, D.  “Egypt’s fate in balance amid warnings of war: Armed conflict has been predicted by foreign commentators – but the greater threat is Egypt becoming a failed state.”  August 18, 2013.

Given the level of violence projected by Muslim Brotherhood enthusiasts against Egypt’s Coptic Christian community and the non-aligned state’s police, my estimation of Al Jazeera‘s balance and integrity in journalism has dropped a few notches.  The Qatar-backed enterprise should be at the forefront reporting the arson and bloodshed facilitated by the ragtag shock troops of conservative Islamic enterprise.

Watchers of the Islamic Small Wars as expressed in Egypt went through this about two months ago.

The Qatari-owned media company Al-Jazeera saw 22 members of its staff in Egypt resign on Monday over what they allege was “biased coverage” of the events that unfolded in Cairo last week.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Haggag Salama was among those who resigned, accusing the station of “airing lies and misleading viewers,” Gulf News reported Monday.

Chasmar, Jessica.  “‘We aired lies’: Al-Jazeera staff quit over biased Egypt coverage.”  The Washington Times, July 9, 2013.

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RIYADH—Saudi King Abdullah is turning out to be the most prominent foreign supporter of Egypt’s military generals in their armed push against Egypt’s Islamic movement, sending field hospitals and words of support over the weekend for what he called Egypt’s fight against “terrorism and extremism.”

Knickmeyer, Ellen.  “Saudi King Offers Support to Egyptian Military.”  The Wall Street Journal, August 18, 2013.

The western anti-Jihad and the post-communist communist 🙂 hardliners make the Kavkaz case for a “crusader west” out to destroy Islam in its totality by referencing atrocious directives in the Qurran like Sura 9:29 that can neither be dismissed (under the rules, so to speak), reconciled with contemporary multiculturalism — much less nature’s inclination as regards invention and variety everywhere, including human cultures — or, really, contextualized into a neutral (or neutered) state, but, no worry, Islam has reached this point riven with fractures and separating seams that are not healing and that language keeps from convergence.

Implied by the above cited piece, Qatar’s backing of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has not been equally engaged, so I will understate the state of affairs, by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where the “Brothers” are viewed as rivals to Saudi Wahhabism (see, for example, Walter Russel Mead’s “Useful Reminder: Saudis and Muslim Brotherhood Do Not Get Along,”  The American Interest, May 17, 2013).

Additional Reference

Garfinkle, Adam.  “Al-Sisi’s Hammer, Obama’s Nine-Iron?”  The American Interest, August 15, 2013.

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FNS – Egypt –

18 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Egypt, Islamic Small Wars, Middle East, Regions

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Euronews invited to visit Egypt’s wounded police

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Christian Churches Throughout Egypt Stormed, Torched – 8/15/13

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Maspero Youth Union’s Facebook page reports 38 churches burned and looted, 23 attacked and partially damaged, six school burned and looted, seven Coptic buildings burned and looted, six Christians dead, and seven kidnapped.

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Egypt Islamists vow new demos after deadly day of anger

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CAIRO — More violence is expected in Egypt after chaos swept through the country last week, leaving nearly 900 dead in four days of unrest and threatening to stall a political transition.

Egypt braces for more violence after deadly week

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Some 38 Muslim Brotherhood supporters died in disputed circumstances at a prison yesterday, as the leader of Egypt’s powerful army warned he would not tolerate violence, urging Islamists to change course.

Balmer, Crispian and Yasmine Saleh (Reuters).  “38 prisoners die as Egypt violence escalates.”  Irish Examiner, August 19, 2013.

***

My eyes have read 890 dead in the recent fighting.

My ears have heard 3,500 Muslim Brotherhood supporters arrested.

There’s potential for drawing down the violence in Egypt’s polarized society by dint of one side not having to prove God’s favor on the way to producing a more broad and meaningful round of elections, which I hope will neither be forgotten nor put off more than a year.

The other side has demonstrated its values in the burning and pillaging of properties of the Coptic Church and in general rioting.

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All Eyes on Qatar, Its Money, Influence, and Role in Arming Syria’s Rebels

16 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Middle East, Politics, Qatar, Regions, Saudi Arabia, Syria

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With Morsi gone, Qatar suddenly became “persona non grata” in Egypt.

Alster, Paul.  “Qatar’s Risky Overreach.”  The Investigative Project on Terrorism, August 15, 2013.

Only last week the Taliban opened an office in Doha in expectation of negotiations with the US and Afghan governments. Qatar reportedly bankrolled it to the tune of $100m.

Popham, Peter.  “Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani; The Emir from Sandhurst who’s been given the keys to the kingdom.”  The Independent, June 25, 2013.

* * *

Among the persistent questions coming out of the range of the Islamic Small Wars has been something along the lines of, “How come the USA is drone bombing the Taliban in Pakistan but supporting similar Al Qaeda-type elements on the field in Syria?”

Of course, the details count, and in Syria General Idris’s Free Syrian Army — or perhaps portions of it along the archipelago of revolutionary bands — has been fighting al-Nusra and such, but still the arms reach extremists and those bands get around the country that has become a theater of war.

The answer may reside with what economist Adam Smith referred to as “the invisible hand of the market”.

According to the Popham piece cited above and a story by Paul Waldie cited in reference, Qatar’s new minted emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has taken control of an empire that includes the following (I’ve put in associated URLs, easier to do for a blog than for print):

The strength of the money perhaps should not be underestimated, nor should the locks provided by the wildness and strength of western societies in their most popular enthusiasms.

Now on to Syria.

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From The Long War Journal:

Three groups, identified as the Ahrar al Sham (a known Syrian Islamist group that is sympathetic to al Qaeda and has fought alongside them in the past), the Ahfad al Rasoul Brigade, and the Islamic Kurdish Front, banded together and announced they would fight together with the Al Nusrah Front against the Kurdish group in northern Syria. One of those groups, the Ahfad al Rasoul Brigade, is funded by the Qatari government.

Roggio, Bill.  “Qatar-funded Syrian rebel brigade backs Al Qaeda groups in Syria.  The Long War Journal, July 26, 2013.

Posted in The New York Times:

In deals that have not been publicly acknowledged, Western officials and Syrian rebels say, Sudan’s government sold Sudanese- and Chinese-made arms to Qatar, which arranged delivery through Turkey to the rebels.

Chivers, C. J. and Eric Schmitt.  “Arms Shipments Seen From Sudan to Syria Rebels.”  The New York Times, August 12, 2013.

I’m wary about “deals that have not been publicly acknowledged” but a glance down the roster on the Syrian side of the issue — the anti-west propaganda machinery has been playing this theme hard — may suggest that the most legitimate of papers — The Gray Lady, no less — and the conservative Bill Roggio who has been on the Islamic Small Wars beat for years and others I trust (e.g., Daniel Greenfield at FrontPage) have mighty cause not to print this news: that they have nonetheless done so may lend credence to the suggestion in news that Qatar’s money has been purchasing more than pleasant residences in London.

Qatar’s participation in Syria, however it may be shaped, has had “I and my brother” repercussions:

“Saudi Arabia is now formally in charge of the Syria issue,” said a senior rebel military commander in one of northern Syria’s border provinces where Qatar has until now been the main supplier of arms to those fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

The outcome, many Syrian opposition leaders hope, could strengthen them in both negotiations and on the battlefield – while hampering some of the anti-Western Islamist hardliners in their ranks whom they say Qatar has been helping with weaponry.

Karouny, Mariam.  “Saudi edges Qatar to control Syrian rebel support.” Chicago Tribune, May 31, 2013.

I recommend reading Mariam Karouny’s article for a wrap that perfectly captures the absurd contradictions involved in maintaining the deepest and most closed of Islamic autocracies while investing in and reaching through to the world’s most liberal quarters, which I in turn interpret, in essence, as sweet talking through an expansion of cultural influence and economic power.

If one, whether as winner of a strong-armed election or a more fairly produced one, wishes to weigh potential for the redevelopment of a good state or, perhaps, a geographic defense asset in Syria, does one either trust or validate Qatari or Iranian values — or does one just put off that day of reckoning?

In its iteration of this news, Voice of Russia has gone on to note denials all around of participation by all parties mentioned in a Qatari-funded, Chinese-benefiting, Sudan-to-Turkey-to-Syria rebel-arming system.

Additional Reference

AFP.  “Qatar’s new emir in Saudi for first foreign trip.”  Fox News, August 2, 2013.

Bergin, Tom.  “UPDATE 4-Qatar buys ‘major’ stake in oild giant Shell.”  Reuters, May 11, 2012.

Eaton, George.  “How Qatar bought London: The Shard, Harrods, Barclays, the Olympics Village — Qatar owns them all.”  New Statesman, July 4, 2012.

Gower, Patrick.  “Canary Wharf Gets Nod for Eight Buildings Near London Eye.”  Bloomberg, May 22, 2013.

Gray, Melissa.  “Qatari firm buys U.S. Embassy building in London.”  CNN, November 3, 2009:

The signing of the deal is another major step in the embassy’s plans to relocate from its longtime headquarters in central London to a new site in Wandsworth, on the south bank of the River Thames.

Hobson, Sophie.  “How much of London Qatar REALLY own – pictures.”  London Loves Business, May 7, 2013.

J. Sainsbury plc.  “Major shareholders”.

Khalaf, Roula and Abigail Fielding Smith.  “Qatar bankrolls Syrian revolt with cash and arms.”  Financial Times, May 16, 2013.

Kollewe, Julia.  “Olympic Village snapped up by Qatari ruling family for £557m: UK taxpayers left £275m out of pocket after deal is reached by Olympic Delivery Authority.”  The Guardian, August 12, 2013.

Neate, Rupert.  “Qatar’s London assets.”  Dawn, June 28, 2012:

“It’s not all about luxury, however. The Qatar Investment Authority also owns 20 per cent of Camden market in north London, via its holding in the property group Chelsfield.”

Milmo, Dan.  “Qatar buys 20% stake in Heathrow operator.”  The Guardian, August 17, 2012.

Ormsby, Avril.  “Qatar investor buys UK department store Harrods.”  Reuters, May 8, 2010.

Pipes, Daniel.  “The Scandal of U.S.-Saudi Relations.”  National Interest via Daniel Pipes Middle East Forum, Winter 2002/03.  This piece is now about 10 years, a little more: it may be worth a look-see into how much has changed or not changed.

Reuters.  “Dubai, Qatar hold key to LSE’s future: Holding 36.1% stake, the two emirates become the largest shareholders in London exchange.”  Emirate 24/7,  July 1, 2011.

Ridley, Kirstin and Steve Slater.  “Barclays fights UK watchdog findings on Qatar deal.”  Reuters, July 30, 2013.  Excerpt:

Qatar Holding invested 5.3 billion pounds ($8 billion) in Barclays in June and October 2008, helping it avoid a government bailout and associated stringent re-payment terms and conditions imposed on bailed-out rivals Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Smith, James B.  “US-Saudi relations: Eighty years as partners.”  Arab News, August 16, 2013.

Thesing, Gabi.  “Sainbury Reports 3.6% Increase in Fourth-Quarter Sales.”  Bloomberg, March 19, 2013:

Sainsbury rose to 376.4 pence, the highest since March 4, 2011, and was up 2.2 percent at 373.2 pence as of 10:10 a.m.

The shares have gained 23 percent in the past year. Speculation of a bid by Sainsbury’s largest individual shareholder, the Qatar Investment Authority, for Marks & Spencer Group Plc (MKS), may revive takeover speculation for Sainsbury and boost the stock further, according to Exane’s Gwynn.

Waldie, Paul.  “From the Shard to Heathrow, Qatar stakes a claim on London.”  The Globe and Mail, March 11, 2013.

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Egypt – Where the Center Has Not Held, Not Yet

15 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Egypt, Islamic Small Wars, Middle East, Regions

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The torture process starts once a demonstrator who opposes President Mohammed Morsi is arrested in the clashes or is suspected after the clashes end, and the CSF separate Morsi’s supporters from his opponents. Then, the group members trade off punching, kicking and beating him with a stick on the face and all over his body. They tear off his clothes and take him to the nearest secondary torture chamber, from which CSF personnel, members of the Interior Ministry and the State Security Investigations Services (SSIS) are absent.

Jarehi, Mohamad.  “Al-Masry Al-Youm Reports on Brotherhood Torture Chambers.”  Al Monitor, December 7, 2012.

*

At least one protester was incinerated in his tent. Many others were shot in the head or chest, including some who appeared to be in their early teens, including the 17-year-old daughter of a prominent Islamist leader, Mohamed el-Beltagy. At a makeshift morgue in one field hospital on Wednesday morning, the number of bodies grew to 12 from 3 in the space of 15 minutes.

Kirkpatrick, David D.  “Hundreds Die as Egyptian Forces Attack Islamist Protesters.”  The New York Times, August 14, 2013.

It appears Egypt’s polarized politics knows no language for accommodation, compassion, or compromise, and it may also lack the wherewithal needed to control the amplitude of state violence against constituents on those occasions when riot suppression or the conclusion of a reasonable period of mass protest may be warranted.

* * *

Bishop Anba Suriel, the bishop for the Coptic Orthodox Church in Melbourne, wrote on his Twitter micro blog, “over 20 separate attacks on churches and Christian institutions all over Egypt.”

Weinthal, Benjamin.  “Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi supporters torch Egyptian churches.”  The Jerusalem Post, August 15, 2013.

One correspondent suggested to me this morning that Egypt would follow Syria in its self-destruction, but I’m not so sure considering that Mubarak with his plans to install a dynasty are today long gone (seems like it) and even with the excessive force displayed by Egypt’s military in the latest fighting, the qualities of a Maher al-Assad and his wanton aerial bombing sprees are not in it.

The fascist theocratic ambitions of the Muslim Brotherhood have been made plain at every passage since Mubarak’s overthrowing, from lies told to win elections to publicizing the possession and use of the old regime’s torture chambers — a flagrant act of intimidation unsuited completely to the values inherent in the concept of a democratically self-governed and modern state — to, finally, acts of war, of seeming allowance of crime with impunity, against Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority, not to mention some bold anti-Semitic ranting on the side.

* * *

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

The Second Coming (Yeats)

Mere mention of “the center will not hold” would summon to the English mind the above poem (in Yeats’s vision, “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold”), but it seems in Egypt at the moment that there is a political center, a broad class of more moderate constituents, i.e., those who turned out by the millions to demand, in essence, Morsi’s resignation or that the army remove him, that seems itself helpless to defend itself against the nefarious methods of the Muslim Brotherhood through other than martial power.

That much is not — indeed, has not been — the fault of the moderate.

Reference

Al Aribya.  “Egypt police say will use live ammunition to repel attacks.”  August 15, 2013.

Al Aribya.  “Egypt’s Brotherhood vows to bring down ‘military coup’.”  August 15, 2013.

Ashraf, Fady.  “Four journalists reported dead in Wednesday’s violence.”  Daily News Egypt, August 15, 2013.

Elbaradei, Mohamed.  Jay Roddy, Translator.  “Updated: Mohamed Elbaradei’s Official Resignation.”  Amira Mikhail (blog), August 14, 2013.

Fahim, Kareem and Mayy El Sheikh.  “Fierce and Swift Raids on Islamists Bring Sirens, Gunfire, Then Screams.”  The New York Times, August 14, 2013.

Hendawi, Hamza and Maggie Michael.  “Egypt Protests: Clashes Between Security Forces, Protesters Turn Deadly in Cairo (LIVE UPDATES).  Huffington Post, August 14, 2013.

Ibrahim, Raymond.  “Christians Should “Convert, Pay Tribute, or Leave,” Says Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Candidate?”  Gatestone Institutde, May 30, 2012.

JTA.  “Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood tops anti-Semitic rhetoric list.”  Haaretz, December 28, 2012.

Gabbay, Tiffany.  “Egyptian Reporter Given A Disturbing Look Inside the Muslim Brotherhood’s ‘Torture Chambers’.”  The Blaze, December 10, 2012.

Hoffman, Bill.  “Walid Phares: Egyptians Mad at US Embrace of Muslim Brotherhood.”  Newsmax, August 14, 2013.

Loveluck, Louisa and Damien McElroy.  “Ten-year-old Christian girl shot dead as violence returns to Egypt’s streets.”  The Telegraph, August 14, 2013.

Nawara, Wael.  “Brotherhood’s Scorched-Earth Strategy Provokes More Bloodshed.”  Al Monitor, August 14, 2013.

Sabra, Hani and Bassem Sabry.  “Morsi is Not Arab World’s Mandela.”  Al Monitor, August 12, 2013.  This article deals with a serious snit as well as a serious issue involving either perception or integration or both:

However, Karman’s recent comparison of deposed Egyptian leader Mohammed Morsi to Nelson Mandela, one of the most influential and inspirational figures of the latter half of the 20th century and whose name is synonymous with courage, struggle and wisdom, is astoundingly wrongheaded. Mandela remains a global moral authority. Morsi is not worthy of such praise — not even close.

I list it here because it conveys what is represented in the pro-Morsi part of Egypt’s turmoil.

Morsi’s infamous November 2012 presidential decree, which established him as above the law and forcefully installed a political ally as prosecutor-general, was ultimately used to ram through a divisive constitution. The bloody clashes that followed and the sequence of events that ensued left Egypt dangerously polarized and the January 2011 revolution in tatters.

Szoldra, Paul.  “Egypt Orders Mass Arrests of Muslim Brotherhood Members.” Business Insider, July 3, 2013.

trustedsource11 – Political Violence in Egypt (Video Channel).  “Egyptian policement killed inside their police station by Muslim Brotherhood *Graphic*.”  Live Leak, August 14, 2013.

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