Syria – Actionable

27 Tuesday Aug 2013

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

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chemical attack, conflict, democracy, free press, information, journalism, money, politics, press, propaganda, subjugation, Syria

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.

* * *

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.

# # #

Syria – Gaslighting

22 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by commart in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Politics, Psychology

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chemical attack, political, politics, psychology, Syria

“There are, within some of the videos, examples which seem a little hyper-real, and almost as if they’ve been set up . . . .”

Forensics specialist Stephen Johnson quoted in Euronews, “Expert casts doubt on Syria chemical weapons footage,” August 21, 2013.

The rebels blamed the government, the government denied involvement and Russia accused the rebels of staging the attack to implicate President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Hubbard, Ben and Hwaida Saad. “Images of Death in Syria, but No Proof of Chemical Attack.” The New York Times, August 21, 2013.

No responsible nation-state actor would want to go off to war half cocked, but there are those who want to manipulate the look of their conflict to either inveigle foreign military or, alternatively, keep the same at bay — and they believe they can do it by controlling information.

Now you see it. It’s obvious. Look.

Now you don’t. It didn’t happen.

This behavior goes well with the idea of dictators and their mirrors in power as “malignant narcissists” — they’re not about being helpful to others but rather out to help themselves in the cause of their own aggrandizement.

If “Allah favors those who restrain themselves,” these are those who have lost their brakes, their self-containment, their ability to keep themselves from becoming the cause of evil. Beyond the bubbles in which those live are those still able to take one step back before going in, if they can get in with some degrees of freedom, with the methods and tools of empirical investigation.

Syria is not necessarily about two sides lying for their respective causes.

It is about darkness and the truth being in it and crying for light.

***

Something happened.

Something exceeded limits and took the lives of innocents and did so without conscience.

I’m uncertain about having seen in the news an end-to-end false flag on the rebel side.

On state television, a Syrian military spokesman rejected claims that the Bashar al-Assad regime used chemical weapons.

“The media channels of sedition and misinformation who shed Syrian blood have lied as usual that the Syrian Arab Army used chemical weapons in the suburbs of Damascus today,” the spokesman said.

RFE/RL. “U.S. Demands UN Access to Alleged syria Chemical-Attack Site.” August 22, 2013.

I’m equally uncertain about the Assad regime’s ability to tell the truth.

About anything.

Additional Reference

Rubin, Alissa J. and Alan Cowell. “France Urges ‘Force’ in Syria if Chemical Attacks are Confirmed.” The New York Times, August 22, 2013.

Wikipedia. “Gaslighting”.

Zirulnick, Ariel. “Chemical weapons in Syria: Latest suspicions revive ‘red line’ debate.” The Christian Science Monitor (via Yahoo), August 22, 2013.

# # #

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

21 Wednesday Aug 2013

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

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attack, chemical weapons, Syria

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

***

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.

# # #

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

16 Friday Aug 2013

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

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money, political analysis, politics, Qatar, rebel arms, Syria

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.

* * *

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.

# # #

Syria – A Bloody Long Goodbye to Yesterday

13 Tuesday Aug 2013

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

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political, politics, Putin, Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin may yet turn out the bad boy who knows more about good than so many goody two shoes arching up on their hind legs over the seemingly endless tragedy in Syria.

What Putin knows, I am sure, is from where has come from, the ingredients of his own frame, from poverty to KGB, from Soviet Russia to the post-Soviet FSB of his own making, from Russian heroic sports culture to the more measured testing of waters to, perhaps, restore Russian pride in empire.

Take the Tale of the Pocketed Superbowl Ring and a fast denial plus offer of complete restitution as signal of a different kind of explorer, albeit a shrewd autocrat on the make for a good deal, cash to swell out a country, a new energy industry with clout, and a little respect even from his critics.

This month’s imbroglio over anti-Gay legislation hasn’t helped Putin with either western or progressive audiences — I am certain of that — but it too may symbolize the difficulty of parting with yesterday’s story.

And Syria is all about the entire host of interests parting with yesterday’s story.

Putin first.

* * *

Throughout the Cold War, third world actors could and did manipulate Eastern and Western patrons to further their own parochial objectives or regional ambitions, and Baathist Iraq was no different in this respect.

Hughes, Geraint. “Who used whom? Baathist Iraq and the Cold War, 1968-1990.” The Cold War, History in Focus. Spring, 2006.

Currently, the Syrian Communist Party officially supports the Baathist regime, although it follows the Soviet line on certain key political issues. The party, for example, recently urged Arab terrorists to be “more responsible” in their political activities, and its delegation to the recent international Communist conference went along in supporting the Security Council resolution of 1967 for a political solution to the Arab-Israeli crisis. The party’s 3,000 members make it the third largest Communist Party in the Arab world, and a Communist now holds a cabinet post as minister of communications and foreign trade.

CIA Directorate of Intelligence. “Soviet Relations with the Baathists in Iraq and Syria.” Special Report, Weekly Review, June 27, 1969. Approved for Release: May 2002.

1969!

What a yesteryear.

Call it a reunion: “You haven’t changed a bit” one always says, but with these –Russia and Syria, Great Britain and Saudi Arabia, Israel and God (maybe) — time has changed them some or altered their surrounds, and the bulwarks in power and sustained relationships have been eroded, and no more so than in long neglected Syria where forty-four years of competition, cultural evolution, and diplomacy on its flanks have turned a family’s military dictatorship into a merely and deeply selfish anachronism.

While RT screams bloody murder over Islamists murdering Kurds (recently) and CNN continues hammering on Syrian jets crushing targets of uncertain military validity, few, it seems, wish to take this step away from the traps laid so many decades ago (or fourteen centuries ago for Shiite and Sunni fighters motivated by what they believe about their respective labels).

* * *

I’ve no friends for whom the end of a marriage or other long-lived relationship has been not only traumatic but life changing.

Such events are not about the one thing.

Everything comes under review, and while most don’t beat themselves up with “should have done this” and “should have done that” — and they shouldn’t — they may change some principles in what I’ve come to call “social grammar”, i.e., inevitably frozen in language, the most deeply ingrained ideas and rules by which they have maintained their own program.

Even so civil a split — cloaked in mystery and, beneath the Al Jazeera clip on YouTube, accompanied by a relatively gentle public humor — would seem to support this view.

Something has changed and done so in some unalterable way.

One floats free of the past after a while, but perhaps it takes a while to do that.

* * *

Syria’s civil war, already irreversible in its effects — more than 106,000 Syrians dead because of it; more than 1.7 million refugee in surrounding states; add some more millions for displaced and homeless; cities like Aleppo and Homs ravaged or razed — should close a chapter that in retrospect may be seen as having been about several forms of intellectual poison, an aspect of conflict I suspect Putin recognizes, being himself so public, so accustomed to the development of information and the projection of image.

This too comes from the 1969 CIA report released in 2002:

“Moscow has never had much political influence in Syria, a xenophobic country that has known little other than periodic power struggles over the past 20 years. Moscow’s virtual inability to moderate Damascus’ hard-line posture has been, in fact, the only constant factor in the shifting Soviet-Syrian relationship” (page 7).

Fourty-four years of that same old same old.

Time for a change?

* * *

No longer completely opposite the Russian course and sensibility, Cameron and Obama may have to tell Qatar that it may not always get what it wants. That too would depart from yesterday, but as much Qatar may already know, having rushed an heir to the throne.

That too may depart from yesterday’s story, one of several that have been run to ground and drowned in blood and suffering for years to come.

The World Wide Web has changed how the world experiences its one separable experiences: now we can see what we are doing in light of what we have done, and we cannot but help see all of that laid out in the sun together.

Reference – Odds and Ends

Curry, Ann. “Putin’s marriage to end after nearly 30 years.” NBC Nightly News, June 6, 2013.

Malpas, Anna. “First Gagarin film turns Soviet idol into new Russian hero.” The Daily Star, June 19, 2013.

RT. “Russia won’t supply outstanding S-300s to Syria until mid-2014 – report.” August 9, 2013.

RT. “Syrian split a real danger due to wars within war.” Interview with Phyllis Bennis. August 9, 2013.

RT Russiapedia. “Prominent Russians: Vasily Zaitsev”.

Sargsyan, Irena L. “How to End the War in Syria.” The Daily Beast, August 13, 2013.

Wikipedia. “Heroic realism”.

# # #

Syria – Putin’s Blind Spot – Obama’s Misstep

06 Tuesday Aug 2013

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

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analysis, Obama, political, politics, Putin, Syria

The conflict in Syria is not complicated.

It is twisted.

It draws on an anti-human egotism and irrationality to divide its national community and set each at the other’s throat, and not only those quick to fight but families too.

As it is, Syria remains unsolvable as one would wish to promote neither a brutal dictatorship, which if Assad’s wasn’t, it has certainly become, nor the fascist vision of a humanity subjugated to men who would portray themselves as the appointees of God and would become themselves absolute powers.

Although I’ve collected below a few leads and quotes from recent news, each seeming to balance out the other, one might fault Putin a little more than Obama over Syria for having taken a deeply anomic stance that set aside the conflict’s developing human toll in death, suffering, and, not to be overlooked, social disorganization and anarchy in favor of reducing overt policy to revenues tied to military contracts.

Is that a stance worthy of an empire?

An emperor?

* * *

I suppose if I were somehow working under contract with, say, RAND, I’d feel better about not knowing the answers with regard to Syria.

In that way, of course, it’s okay if idling over a blog one fails to outfox two of the world’s most powerful politicians, their advisers, and their nation’s think-tanks.

One might also consider such a “cop out” at any level of intellectual endeavor.

Clearly, Syria is a collapsing house on fire, and sooner or later, the neighborhood will have to account for the homeless and the maimed, the destruction of economic assets, including trade relationships, the diminishment of the efficacy of state, regional, and local powers, and the dangers posed by continuing and related political anarchy and its spillovers.

Obama’s bid to approach Iran’s looming nuclear threat by way of Qatar and through Syria would seem of equal positive interest to post-Soviet Russia, and it may be and may be working out that way (remember: Russia has largely ferried away its civilian and military presence in Syria), but it has no interest in the promotion of Sunni Islam over Shiite (nor should the world at large, Sunnis and Shiites included, have that interest — perhaps that’s to be saved for another post), and it knows — and Obama should know — that attempting to develop and validate an Islamic democracy today affords a look at the span from the chartering of Pakistan to the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

It does not work.

Or it does not work sensibly or well without direct challenge.

And it does not do so because the language of Islam in its totality has not been updated (not with “invention” on lock-out) or reformed, so that good sentiment borrowed from a Jew, say, Hillel’s “whosoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whosoever that saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world” (source: Wikipedia) cannot offset the grandiose, pandering, and placating slips that disservice mankind in the name of human aggrandizement: “Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low” (Quraan 9:29 — I chose to lift from a skeptic’s web page).

Eventually, resettling Syria, not alone in this predicament, will mean introducing and strengthening other thought in the environment and that extensively and potently enough to bring Syria’s displaced back to their homes or known lands or landscapes with their heads held high but in them a different outlook on their humanity and their evaluation of political leadership.

I don’t see that happening today.

In fact, what one sees may be opposite: further exposure and subjection to criminality and humiliation for those in camps or lost on the new landscape and otherwise squeezed between these other and most evil forces come to fight within the state to sustain war without end and with an intellectual basis that proves altogether and repeatedly incoherent as regards decency in purpose.

What follows is what I’ve snagged off the web while constructing these thoughts.

* * *

BEIRUT — Human Rights Watch says the Syrian military is firing ballistic missiles into populated areas where it is battling rebels, killing hundreds of civilians.

The U.S.-based group said in a report released Monday that it has investigated nine apparent missile attacks that killed at least 215 people, half of them children, between February and July.

AP. “Syria Conflict: Military Firing Ballistic Missiles Into Populated Areas, Killing Hundreds of Civilians: Watchdog.” Huffington Post, August 5, 2013.

Comment on Qusayr:

“The devastation is evident everywhere. According to the government telecoms chiefMtanios al-Shaer, “The terrorists destroyed everything 24 hours before the town was liberated, and caused damage of a billion Syrian pounds ($57 million).”

Hafiz, Yasmine. “Syria Conflict Destroys Churches & Mosques, Desecrates Icons (PHOTOS).” Religion, Huffington Post, August 6, 2013.

Activists and local opposition groups in Syria accused regime forces for using poisonous form of gas in the city of Douma and Adra, outskirts of Damascus.

According to the local media offices, Syrian army has launched a series of attacks on these two big cities on Monday. More than 400 people have been hospitalised showing symptoms of convulsion, shortness of breath, profuse sweating and frothy sputum, activists said.

Al Jazeera. “Activists in Syria claim poisonous form of gas was used by regime forces in an attack on Douma and Adra.” Video included, not vetted. August 5, 2013.

“No solution can be reached with terror except by striking it with an iron fist,” Assad said.

. . . .

He accused the Syrian National Coalition of “being on the payroll of more than one Gulf country,” and of “blaming the (Syrian) state for terrorism rather than blaming the armed men,” or rebels.

Al Aribya. “Assad’s solution to Syrian conflict: striking ‘terror with iron fist’.” August 5, 2013.

* * *

Charles Lister, an analyst at IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center, has said that “There is no doubt that as a distinct single entity, Syria has ceased to exist… Considering the sheer scale of its territorial losses in some areas of the country, Syria no longer functions as a single all-encompassing unitarily-governed state.”

Rieser, Bennett. “War in Syria: Nation Suffers 3-Way Divide.” WebProNews, August 5, 2013.

President Bashir Assad will be winning until he loses; alternatively, he may hold out and win on that level, but his Syria won’t be that which he inherited.

Additional Reference

Amnesty International. “Aleppo satellite images show devastation, mass displacement one year on.” August 7, 2013.

Blake, Matt. “The wasteland: Horrifying aerial pictures show full scale of destruction of Syrian city of Homs.” Mail Online, July 31, 2013.

Borri, Francesca. “I want to talk about Syria, not just my role as a freelance journalist.” The Guardian, July 26, 2013. As long as I’m updating reference, I thought I would include this as mere mention (plus a comment) of the journalist has brought me some recent traffic. One day, perhaps starting with Margaret Bourke-White, I will have to write about peripatetic women journalists in war zones. They are great people!

Defense World. “Syria Buying Russian Weapons With American Dollars.” August 6, 2013.

Dreyfuss, Bob. “Russia’s Stake in Syria’s War.” The Nation, August 6, 2013.

Kroth, Olivia. “Syria’s optimism for 2013.” Pravda (English), January 25, 2013.

Mackey, Robert. “Stunning Images of Destroyed Syrian City.” Blog. The New York Times, July 31, 2013.

Skelton, Charlie. “The Syrian opposition: who’s doing the talking?” The Guardian, July 12, 2013:

“The sand is running out of the hour glass,” said Hillary Clinton on Sunday. So, as the fighting in Syria intensifies, and Russian warships set sail for Tartus, it’s high time to take a closer look at those who are speaking out on behalf of the Syrian people.”

Sky News. “Syria: Dramatic Images of Destruction in Homs.” July 30, 2013.

Star Tribune. “Senators press Pentagon to end helicopter contract with Russian arms exporter tied to Syria.” August 5, 2013:

WASHINGTON — Twelve Republican and Democratic senators are calling on the Pentagon to cancel all contracts to buy helicopters for Afghan security forces from a state-run Russian arms exporter that is a top weapons supplier to the Syrian government.

Ya Libnan. “Russian ships transferring Hezbollah fighters to Syria: Idris.” July 25, 2013 (bold italics mine):

General Salim Idris, the head of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) accused Russia of using its ships in the Mediterranean to transfer Hezbollah fighters from Beirut , Lebanon directly to the mostly Alawite province of Tartus in western Syria.

In an interview with the Turkish Anadolu News Agency he also accused Russia and Iran of supplying the Syrian army with 400 tons of ammunition every ten days.

Wikipedia. “List of heritage sites damaged during Syrian civil war”.

Bloody Syria May Turn Out Putin’s Problem After All

22 Monday Jul 2013

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

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humanitarian needs, NATO, Obama, political responsibility, politics, Putin, Syria

Displaced: six million.

You know I didn’t want to see that number.

Dead: 93,000 estimated

Not that I’m happy with that one either.

For the time being, Obama and NATO may be taking the heat in relation to the assembly of Syria’s civil war and its mix of ends, including the neutralization of Iran, and interests, including expansion of Sunni influence in the middle east.

However, the old Soviet relationship with the Assad regime and whatever updates or transformations have attended Vladimir Putin’s time at the helm of the Russian Ship of State will most certainly haul Putin back to the hot lights on the world stage.

At this time, he has gotten the Russian Navy out of Tartus and enabled Russian civilian citizens in Syria to leave en masse over time.

If Putin wishes to promote Russian influence with the Syria to come, if he wishes to one day leave a good record of his accomplishments for Russia (that as opposed to having the phantoms of his enemies emerge to steal that light from him), he’s going to have to intercede soon on behalf of the humanity affected, and this especially in light of measures taken to equip the Assad regime to remain at war to this point.

This is not to ascribe to Putin responsibility for Assad excesses or rebel barbarism, which latter he has used well to embarrass Obama; it is to suggest he take some measures in concert with others to damp the Syrian furnace or, alternatively, involve Russia immediately in broad humanitarian amelioration of the effects of the war.

This next I’ve copied from “The Embassy of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”:

15.07.2013

On supply of Russian humanitarian aid for Palestinian refugees in the territory of Syria

On July 11, two aircrafts of the Emergencies Ministry of Russia delivered 70 tons of urgent humanitarian aid to Latakia for Palestinian refugees in the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, including food and other essentials.

The government of Palestine, as well as the Palestinian refugees with deep gratitude perceived this Russian humanitarian action effected with proper level of security on behalf of Syrian authorities.

The Russian Federation will continue providing required humanitarian aid to the friendly Palestinian people both in the bilateral format and in the line of specialised international organisation.

Has this movie not been shown before?

I thought it had ended about 21 years and seven months ago even though to some it would seem like only last week — or as if it didn’t happen at all.

Be that as it may, while the world, much less “the government of Palestine” (which one?) most certainly appreciates the shipment to Syria of other than shore-to-ship missiles, one might expect a little more effort on general terms from the modern Putin-guided (one way to put it) democracy.

Reference

AP. “Activists: 75 Syria rebels dead in Damascus.” USA Today, July 22, 2013.

BBC. “Syrian conflict: ‘Troops kills [STET] 13 family members’.” July 21, 2013.

Bright, Arthur. “Syria death toll climbs as West label civil war a stalemate.” The Christian Science Monitor, July 22, 2013.

Solomon, Erika. “Syrian opposition forces fighting each other.” World News / Reuters, July 21, 2013.

# # #

Syria – Glimpses

19 Friday Jul 2013

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

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civil war, Syria

I don’t know what to watch or what to look for in Syria today: unsettled borders with Lebanon and Turkey? The impact of the war on children? On journalists? The count in refugees and the too familiar hardships with which they are forced to live, courtesy of the Great Cock Fight about nothing?

If you take it cold in numbers — “An average of 6,000 Syrians a day have fled their war-torn country since the beginning of 2013 . . . .” — it only numbs reasoning.

Six is a news story.

Six thousand is a small epic, already remote.

Six million, that most noted among dismal figures, yaws the mind into the unfathomable.

***

Kamal Hamami, the FSA commander, was killed as he went to a meeting of al Qaeda-backed rebels to discuss joint operations against the Syrian army, a U.S. official said, confirming Middle East press reports.

Hamami had opposed the al Qaeda-linked rebels and said there was no place for them within the opposition forces.

He was killed in Latakia province . . . .

Gertz, Bill. “Al Qaeda Rebels Kill Free Syrian Army Commander: Assassination triggers third front in Syrian civil war.” The Washington Free Beacon, July 19, 2013.

***

What do you do with that snippet of news?

Do you recall the Al Qaeda-type infiltration of a small refugee camp in Lebanon and the group’s effort to fund themselves by robbing a bank, thus also revealing themselves?

The razing of Nahr al-Bared took place in 2007.

When the fighting broke out between Lebanese Defense Forces and “Fatah al-Islam”, close to 30,000 Palestinian refugees were bused away, and because under a pan-Arab compact, Lebanon had agreed not to enter the camp — if you don’t already know how this story goes, you will roll your eyes or shoulders or both at what happens next — Lebanon’s military cordoned the camp, positioned tanks where needed, and took it apart, “built it down”, round after round after round. Only at the end, and to reach hold-outs beneath the ground, was the site bombed (Shawish, Hesham, “Helicopters pound militants with 400-kilogram bombs at Nahr al-Bared,” The Daily Star, Lebanon, August 20, 2007).

There’s a side trip down a damned memory lane — I almost forget I was thinking about Syria.

Additional Reference — Actually, An Overview

Aikins, Matthieu. “Commuting to Syria.” Men’s Journal, July 2013: “The killings and kidnappings of journalists covering the conflict in Syria have become so prevalent that most now live across the border in Turkey.”

Arfaqui, Jamel. “Libyan Weapons Fuel Syria Bloodshed.” Megharebia (Washiington DC), All Africa, July 18, 2013.

Atassi, Basma and Mohammed Haddad. “Interactive: Mapping Syria’s rebellion.” Al Jazeera, July 19, 2013.

Al-Samadi, Tamer. “Jordan: Salafist Leader Foresees Post-Assad Conflict With Secularists.” Al-Monitor, July 15, 2013.

Bracken, Amy. “A Wheelchair View of the Syrian Civil War.” The World, July 18, 2013.

Caldwell, Maggie, Niclas Hammarstrom/ Kontinent, zReportage, ZUMA Press. “The Last Days of a Rebel-Held Hospital in Syria.” Mother Jones, December 2012.

Committee to Protect Journalists. Syria page.

Dettmer, Jamie. “Doubt Over Syrian Steps to Control Hyperinflation.” VOA, July 12, 2013.

Gordts, Eline. “Zaatari Refugee Camp Photos Highlight Enormity of Syria’s Refugee Crisis.” Huffington Post, July 18, 2013.

Himelfarb, Joel. “Israeli Doctors Quietly Treating Syria War Victims.” Newsmax, July 8, 2013.

Jones, Dorian. “Turkey Alarmed at Syrian Border Fighting.” VOA, July 18, 2013.

Karim, Sharif. “Hezbollah Regions Targeted As Syria War Spreads to Lebanon.” Al-Monitor, July 18, 2013.

Kullab, Samya. “Desperate Syrian refugees turn to sex work in Lebanon.” Al Bawaba, July 17, 2013.