News for today's 2018: 10/21/12

Man High School Sucked

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Hola y’all! As you probably know by now we took a little trip down Memory Lane on I’m With Stupid this week. Well, I actually dug up my high school yearbook from my senior year and leafed through it after the show. As I went through the book it brought back all kinds of memories. Some were good. Some were bad. So, I thought I’d share them with you guys. The title for the book was “The Sky’s No Limit” and the recurring theme was “Triumph and Tragedy.”</div><br />On the first page we hit tragedy pretty hard. There’s a pic of the Challenger just after it blew up. That was definitely a defining moment of my senior year. Of course, nobody on the staff took that photo. And they don’t give any credit for it anywhere that I can see. WTF guys? You just stole the someone’s photo? <br /><br />Next we get into some triumphs. Both the school and things like MLB and NFL and what have you. Some pics get credits, some don’t. Such shoddy work! Oh hey, there’s Ronald Reagan. What’s he doing in there? Oh yea, he was president. I probably would have sneaked him onto the “Tragedy” page just as a joke. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBglZESJ0OKhj5Y-h_GWcShCdjiIiC5GdecP0M-gU8hkVEEGP-mMAwpIvuYooxy72SSUiJzP8VG_dLsKDyFHK96I3RKxM_IYc7jMrslmsmHME5MagvaFQLZe6KJIaEw03OMK7tGkv3uk/s1600/Jay+Senior+Pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBglZESJ0OKhj5Y-h_GWcShCdjiIiC5GdecP0M-gU8hkVEEGP-mMAwpIvuYooxy72SSUiJzP8VG_dLsKDyFHK96I3RKxM_IYc7jMrslmsmHME5MagvaFQLZe6KJIaEw03OMK7tGkv3uk/s320/Jay+Senior+Pic.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>And here’s the senior class! And there I am! First in my class! Well, alphabetically anyway. Man, I as a good looking dude. And so tan! And no gray hairs! Wait. Who are these people? Did I really go to school with them? <br /><br />WHOA! Flock of Seagulls Hair Chick! That was a bad choice. I bet she looks back on that senior pic with some major disappointment. <br /><br />Oh there’s the chick I thought I would marry someday. She never had any such thoughts about me though. Still hurts. *tears up a little* <br /><br />There’s one of two girls that I actually made a real effort to have sex with. Not make love to. Not be boyfriend to. But, to actually just have sex with. It didn’t happen, but we came close. I actually thought it was going to for a while, but she got smart and stopped things before she did something she would regret for the rest of her life. Good move on her part. <br /><br />And there’s the one who to this day is still the weirdest chick I’ve ever met. And that’s saying something cause I know a few weird babes. She was the OTHER one I made a real effort to have sex with. She was weird but not stupid so I never even got close with her. I remember other guys telling me “She’s not that good looking” and my saying “You just don’t understand.”  I wonder where she is today. She’s probably hanging out with her weird kids in some weird house doing weird things. <br /><br />Oh look! All the school clubs that I didn’t join. Drama, DECA, FFA, FBLA, SGA, CIA, NCAA whatever. There’s my cousin Zed teaching shop to the miscreants that the school gave up on and tried to isolate. I wasn’t much of a joiner back then. <br /><br />The golf team! I was on that team. Of course, our picture isn’t in the yearbook because they scheduled it the same day as one of our tournaments and refused to take it another time. At least they mention my second place finish at district. <br /><br />And the newspaper staff! I was the editor of The Goblin. Of course, I’m not pictured because they took that photo the same day that they scheduled the golf team photo. Jesus I went to high school with some real assholes. <br /><br />Well that’s basically it. Oh sure there’s the Homecoming dance, Colors Day dance, Sadie Hawkins dance and Prom, but I didn’t go to any of those. And then a few pages where some students were “featured” by local businesses and organizations. I wasn’t in those either. <br /><br />What a miserable time that was. <br /><br />Jayman<br /><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS </a><br /><br />In other news you should totally listen to our “When We Were 18” show from Sunday! We talked about the 80’s, TV Shows, Movies, school, jobs, babes, dreams and so much more. Definitely check it out. <br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.adobe.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" height="105" id="143577" name="143577" width="210"><param name="movie" value="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf?file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2Fplaylist.aspx%3Fshow_id%3D3910491&autostart=false&bufferlength=5&volume=80&corner=rounded&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/flashplayercallback.aspx" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf" flashvars="file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2Fplaylist.aspx%3Fshow_id%3D3910491&autostart=false&shuffle=false&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&width=210&height=105&volume=80&corner=rounded" width="210" height="105" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" wmode="transparent" menu="false" name="143577" id="143577" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><br /><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 220px;">Listen to <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/">internet radio</a> with <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid">Im With Stupid</a> on Blog Talk Radio</div><br /></div>

Man High School Sucked

Hola y’all! As you probably know by now we took a little trip down Memory Lane on I’m With Stupid this week. Well, I actually dug up my high school yearbook from my senior year and leafed through it after the show. As I went through the book it broug…

THE ALAWITES AND ISRAEL

8:18 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttWgftzJYlYVwZaKEAdkajUm3P1k3oz_cVHOlqYmfjgNJhayUHD45lpG9LTOpyI8fZcZ2kWcmEiSaDal6nydh2oGtBj5MSj-2dkFmp8dc1eM6Cr3Gw0736-HRNt-kfbcHS4e8xgZEGdXi/s1600/alawite_state_by_xumarov-d4oqpfl-750x380.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttWgftzJYlYVwZaKEAdkajUm3P1k3oz_cVHOlqYmfjgNJhayUHD45lpG9LTOpyI8fZcZ2kWcmEiSaDal6nydh2oGtBj5MSj-2dkFmp8dc1eM6Cr3Gw0736-HRNt-kfbcHS4e8xgZEGdXi/s400/alawite_state_by_xumarov-d4oqpfl-750x380.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT AMONG THE ARAB REGIMES SYRIA IS THE MOST IMPLACABLE ENEMY OF ISRAEL</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The current uprising in SYRIA is challenging the regime which has held power in the country since the 1960s. While it is impossible not to feel both sympathy for the protesters and distress at the tactics employed by the government to keep its hold on power, it is important to keep in mind the bigger picture:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The fall of the current regime would greatly increase the likelihood that SYRIA will precipitate a war against ISRAEL. While similar arguments have been made about other recent uprisings in the MIDDLE EAST, the ethnic composition of SYRIA and the history of the ruling regime there exacerbate this possibility.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It is generally believed that among the ARAB regimes SYRIA is the most implacable enemy of ISRAEL. This is a misperception. In fact, the SYRIAN regime is the only one which actually prefers – both practically and ideologically – that there be a <b>Jewish</b> state in the MIDDLE EAST, both now and in the future.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Background Information</span></u></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">See <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/syria-and-dogs-of-war.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/syria-and-dogs-of-war.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">UNDERSTAND THE ALAWITES</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Since the 1960s, SYRIA has been controlled by the <b>Alawites</b>, under the leadership of the Assad family. In order to understand the workings of the SYRIAN regime, therefore, it is necessary to better understand the <b>Alawites</b> – a highly distinctive non-Muslim sect with no theological or territorial objections to a <b>Jewish</b> state.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The <b>Alawites’ </b>religious beliefs suggest that they are pro-<b>Jewish</b> and anti-<b>Sunni</b>. They believe that two of God’s incarnations were Joshua Ben-Nun, the original <b>Jewish</b> conqueror of the Land of ISRAEL, and the fourth Caliph, Ali, who was murdered by the <b>Sunnis.</b> They believe in reincarnation, regard the <b>Pillars of Islam as purely symbolic</b>, do not fast during Ramadan or make pilgrimage to Mecca, have no mosques or indeed any public worship, celebrate Christmas, Easter and Epiphany, and traditionally wear crosses like <b>Christians</b>. In all of these respects they differ not only from <b>Sunnis</b> but also from <b>Shiites.</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">FRENCH MANDATE AFTER THE FIRST WORLD WAR: THE ALAWITES PETITIONED THE FRENCH FOR AN INDEPENDENT STATE</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg95d7d55Ls0zsDshBzpqp8dXeyOwGULWtyk3SRBFbhwLPbeUrx5TuVvOmKLoLcpV6XVdo8tRyKOlKuUFrqA-YvOP_bEjD3rEIrgWYy_Nk7FgzgRHevJdfE0yy2r0uU05BKr2BFu-CypXF/s1600/syria-stamp_1965064c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg95d7d55Ls0zsDshBzpqp8dXeyOwGULWtyk3SRBFbhwLPbeUrx5TuVvOmKLoLcpV6XVdo8tRyKOlKuUFrqA-YvOP_bEjD3rEIrgWYy_Nk7FgzgRHevJdfE0yy2r0uU05BKr2BFu-CypXF/s320/syria-stamp_1965064c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Persecuted as heretics by the dominant <b>Muslims</b>, the <b>Alawites</b> took refuge in the mountains of northwestern SYRIA, where they maintained a precarious autonomy. Following the establishment of the FRENCH Mandate after the First World War, the FRENCH set up an autonomous region for the <b>Alawites</b>in their homeland. The <b>Alawites</b>petitioned the FRENCH for an independent state, but their petitions were rejected and the territory was added to the <b>Sunni</b>-dominated state of SYRIA. The <b>Alawites </b>attempted to rebel against the <b>Sunnis </b>in 1946 and again in 1952, but they were put down. Undaunted, they established footholds in the officers’ corps of the SYRIAN army and the <b>Ba’ath Party</b>. They took advantage of the confusion following the collapse of the UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC to seize power in the 1960s, and they have controlled SYRIA ever since.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">PROJECT AN IMAGE OF CHAMPIONING ARABISM BY UNRELENTINGLY REJECTING ISRAEL AND FLIRTING WITH ISRAEL'S AVOWED ENEMIES</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The <b>Alawites</b> are outnumbered in SYRIA by their traditional and theological enemies, the <b>Sunnis,</b> by a margin of 70 to 12 percent. Thus, in order to legitimize their rule among the <b>Sunni</b>majority, they must publicly project an image of championing <b>Arabism</b> by unrelentingly rejecting ISRAEL and flirting with ISRAEL'S avowed enemies. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Consequently, when the ARAB states actually had some hope of defeating ISRAEL militarily, before the EGYPTIAN government entered into peace negotiations with ISRAEL in the second half of the 1970s, the <b>Alawites</b>had to actually go to war with ISRAEL in 1973 to <b>'keep up appearances'</b>. However, for the last 30 years they have adopted a much safer strategy of <b>demonstrative public rhetoric against ISRAEL</b> and any ARAB regimes which have signed peace treaties with ISRAEL, combined with broadly-publicized support for non-governmental <b>Muslim</b> groups that resist ISRAEL.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Background Information</span></u></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">: See </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">NEW ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALIST REGIME IN SYRIA IN ORDER TO REACTIVATE SAUDI ARABIA’S AND USA ARAMCO  TRANS ARABIAN OIL PIPELINE? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/01/strait-of-hormuz-and-syria.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/01/strait-of-hormuz-and-syria.html</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ASIDE FROM THE 1973 WAR, SYRIA HAS ALMOST COMPLETELY AVOIDED ANY DIRECT CLASHES WITH ISRAEL</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Nonetheless, this is all just a show. Aside from the 1973 war, they have almost completely avoided any direct clashes with ISRAEL. When confronted with a serious threat from their real enemies, the <b>Sunnis</b>, the <b>Alawites</b> have shown their true colors: In 1976, at the beginning of the LEBANESE Civil War, when it looked as though the <b>Palestinian</b>-led coalition might take control of LEBANON, SYRIA’S army went into LEBANON to save the <b>Maronite Christians</b> from defeat. Also, in February 1982, in response to a series of terrorist attacks by the <b>Muslim Brotherhood,</b> the SYRIAN army invaded the city of Hama, the stronghold of the <b>Brotherhood,</b> killing roughly 30,000 people and cowing the <b>Sunnis </b>into submission.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Background Information: See </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">GEO STRATEGIC NIGHTMARE</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TO BE OR NOT TO BE? </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikZgNS3bffU_HsOnWvE9o-tFE79sadkULTxMwb2M_7NyDSv7QOUyqA36OKGmBsiOqW5G1u0hamkVBMQJk28ypQdlNAcU_RfLPshnS4bdfdMUhzV9YOrKIPJRB1-dB9GygL5kCFPInyZpro/s1600/the-alawite-boook-10-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikZgNS3bffU_HsOnWvE9o-tFE79sadkULTxMwb2M_7NyDSv7QOUyqA36OKGmBsiOqW5G1u0hamkVBMQJk28ypQdlNAcU_RfLPshnS4bdfdMUhzV9YOrKIPJRB1-dB9GygL5kCFPInyZpro/s320/the-alawite-boook-10-1.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The <b>Alawites</b> are a purely ancestral religious group and like other groups of this type – <b>Jews, Maronites, Armenians</b> and <b>Druze</b>– their basic loyalty is to their own particular group rather than any larger unit they may seem to be part of. Even if members of these groups happen to speak <b>Arabic</b>, they do not necessarily understand or publicly present themselves as being '<b>Arabs</b>', doing so only when it seems to be politically expedient. Thus <b>Arabic</b>-speaking <b>Jews, Maronites</b>, and <b>Armenians</b> almost never present themselves as being '<b>Arabs</b>', while <b>Druze</b> judiciously do this in SYRIA and LEBANON but not in ISRAEL. Similarly, <b>Alawites,</b>overwhelmingly concentrated in SYRIA, naturally find it convenient and in fact indispensable to publicly claim to be <b>Arabs</b>, but this does not reflect their real loyalties.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SHIITES “MINORITIES” OF IRAN AND LEBANON JOIN FORCES WITH ALAWITE MINORITIES IN SYRIA </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Isolated by their idiosyncratic religion, the <b>Alawites </b>have, since the IRANIAN Revolution, turned to the most reliable allies they could find – the <b>Shiites</b> of IRAN and LEBANON. These groups could be convinced that the <b>Alawite</b> religion was relatively similar to their own, and were also generally isolated and desperately in need of allies. <b>The defiant attitude which these allies have shown toward ISRAEL and the UNITED STATES is of incalculable benefit, as well, to the image of the SYRIAN regime in the eyes of the Sunni masses in SYRIA</b>. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ALAWITES THEMSELVES ARE NOT THEOLOGICALLY ANTI-ISRAEL</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Nonetheless, it must be emphasized that the <b>Alawites</b>themselves are not theologically anti-ISRAEL and have no interest in imperialistic religion. A number of points emerge from this understanding of the SYRIAN <b>Alawite </b>regime. ISRAELI policymakers would be well-advised to take heed and plan their strategies accordingly:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">FROM ISRAEL’S PERSPECTIVE, IT IS FAR BETTER FOR THE ALAWITES TO MAINTAIN POWER IN SYRIA THAN FOR A SUNNI REGIME TO TAKE CONTROL THERE</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">  </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FU7B9EcyMjSBB-EnuJuJN2nIT-btbQ9xbNRvice_0atxUSayMgmm1l9GbORKcQJzBH5-Uq80T6AlXtMPIAb-kWZTgY_eOMY9lB2gMnLNwda-P3QN7QHA_LjxKOXFKWfOAJNHi7a8Ije3/s1600/250px-Alawite_falconer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FU7B9EcyMjSBB-EnuJuJN2nIT-btbQ9xbNRvice_0atxUSayMgmm1l9GbORKcQJzBH5-Uq80T6AlXtMPIAb-kWZTgY_eOMY9lB2gMnLNwda-P3QN7QHA_LjxKOXFKWfOAJNHi7a8Ije3/s200/250px-Alawite_falconer.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The <b>Alawites</b> are currently governing and politically stifling a population of 14 million <b>Arabic-</b>speaking <b>Levantine Muslims</b>. <b>These Muslims are particularly dangerous to ISRAEL because they are of the same ethnicity as the Palestinians</b> — this is not just a matter of modern pan-<b>Arab</b> ideology. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">If a <b>Sunni</b> regime were to rule SYRIA, any wide-scale ISRAELI-<b>Palestinian</b>clash, such as Operation Cast Lead, would likely trigger an emotional response, pulling SYRIA into an international war with ISRAEL, regardless of the consequences. This represents a much more serious danger to ISRAEL than the fall of the Mubarak regime in EGYPT, where popular attachment to the <b>Palestinians</b> is much more superficial.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">WHILE AN OPEN ALLIANCE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE ALAWITE REGIME IS IMPOSSIBLE</span></b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">, it is possible for the leaders of the two countries to develop tacit understandings, whereby they would essentially coordinate actions to support their countries' common goal of combating <b>Sunni </b>hegemony and radicalism.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SYRIA WILL NOT ACCEPT A PEACE TREATY WITH ISRAEL, NO MATTER WHAT THE CONDITIONS ARE</span></b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;">,</span>because it would delegitimize the regime. The <b>Sunni</b> regimes of EGYPT and JORDAN, on the other hand, could accept such treaties because there is a well established tradition within <b>Sunni </b>Islam of religious thinking being subordinate to the political decisions of its leaders. The <b>Alawites</b> do not have this luxury<b>.</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">IT IS CURRENTLY IMPOSSIBLE TO REMOVE SYRIA FROM ITS ALLIANCE WITH IRAN AND HIZBALLAH</span></b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;">.</span>The <b>Alawites</b> cannot openly ally with ISRAEL and they are not foolish enough to switch to a partnership with the <b>AMERICANS, who have repeatedly demonstrated themselves to be unreliable allies.</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ALAWITES DO NOT HAVE SUCH APOCALYPTIC WORLDVIEWS AS RADICAL SHIITES</span></b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;">. </span>The stronger the <b>Alawites</b> are, relative to their <b>Shiite</b> allies, the more they will be able to dictate the terms of the alliance, which will inevitably have a moderating influence because they do not have the same apocalyptic worldview as the radical <b>Shiites.</b> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">JUST ONE YEAR AFTER SYRIA ENDED ITS 29-YEAR OCCUPATION OF LEBANON, WAR BETWEEN HIZBALLAH AND ISRAEL BROKE OUT IN 2006</span></b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">For example, the situation in LEBANON from 1976 until 2005, when SYRIAN occupying forces were able to keep the situation there under control, was preferable from ISRAEL’S standpoint to the current situation, as there are no longer internal checks on Hizballah. It is no accident, then, that war broke out between Hizballah and ISRAEL in 2006, just one year after SYRIA ended its 29-year occupation of LEBANON.</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE ALAWITE REGIME IS IMMEASURABLY STRENGTHENED ON THE SUNNI STREET BY ISRAELI AND AMERICAN ACCUSATIONS THAT IT IS PART OF THE 'AXIS OF EVIL'</span></b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">, that it supports <b>Hizballah</b> and <b>Hamas</b>, etc. It is therefore in ISRAEL’S interest to publicly make such accusations (whether or not they happen to be true).</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Background Information</span></u></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">: See </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">INCREASED IRANIAN INFLUENCE IN SYRIA PROVOKED ISRAEL TO CHANGE ITS LONGSTANDING TACTICS REGARDING SYRIA<b> </b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/06/syria-israel-iran-and-usa.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/06/syria-israel-iran-and-usa.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">By John Myhill via</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">BESA Perspectives </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>

THE ALAWITES AND ISRAEL

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Use Zoom.it to display group photos on a blog (e.g. Google Teacher Academy NY cohort)

3:11 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Often when you are at a life-changing professional development event, such as the recent Google <span style="font-size: small;">T</span>eacher Academy in New York, you want to have a group photo to remember the occasion and the people - and you may want to display it on a blog or website. </span>Zoomit is the perfect tool to use for this. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here is the example and then I'll tell you how to go about it:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><script src="http://zoom.it/RVea.js?width=auto&height=400px"></script> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. First you need to put your photo somewhere on the web so as to obtain a web link. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Open http://zoom.it/ and add your photo link to the prescribed space at the bottom of the page. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. Click on 'Create' and your photo appears. You can now zoom in and out. The best is to have a good quality photo for this. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. Get the embed code and put the photo on to your blog or website. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why not try Zoom.it?     </span></div>

30 days of web tools Website reviews Use Zoom.it to display group photos on a blog (e.g. Google Teacher Academy NY cohort)

Often when you are at a life-changing professional development event, such as the recent Google Teacher Academy in New York, you want to have a group photo to remember the occasion and the people - and you may want to display it on a blog or website.…

SYRIA AND THE DOGS OF WAR

2:57 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUMeq3oPYQwM1x-lC_mZQJq146R5xnDGtgUpqjpK8q-BWYBnjcfZ525sd7C3Hqe4rRVFsDa6UQiaJ73TJeSiNFDG23llGbntAI71lcMAZEDmVRHk1_DQ97sVqHgV3NYnMfWbqPa9RzAhMb/s1600/the-alawite-boook-10-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUMeq3oPYQwM1x-lC_mZQJq146R5xnDGtgUpqjpK8q-BWYBnjcfZ525sd7C3Hqe4rRVFsDa6UQiaJ73TJeSiNFDG23llGbntAI71lcMAZEDmVRHk1_DQ97sVqHgV3NYnMfWbqPa9RzAhMb/s320/the-alawite-boook-10-1.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alawite Symbol</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;"> <span style="color: red;">SECTARIAN EQUATION</span></span></span></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Julius Caesar<br />Act 3, scene 1<br />William Shakespeare</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Blood and destruction,” “dreadful objects,” and “pity choked” was the Bard’s searing characterization of what war visits upon the living. It is a description that increasingly parallels the ongoing war in SYRIA, which is likely to worsen unless the protagonists step back and search for a diplomatic solution to the 17-month old civil war. From an initial clash over a monopoly of power by SYRIA’S Baathist Party, the war has spread to LEBANON, TURKEY, and IRAQ, ignited regional sectarianism, drawn in nations around the globe, and damaged the reputation of regional and international organizations.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ONCE LOOSED, THE DOGS OF WAR RANGE WHERE THEY WILL.</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Although the regime of Bashar al-Assad ignited the explosion with its brutal response to political protests, much of the blame for the current situation lies with those countries, seeing an opportunity to eliminate an enemy, that fanned the flames with weapons and aid: the UNITED STATES, TURKEY, SAUDI ARABIA, and QATAR, plus a host of minor cast members ranging from JORDAN to LIBYA.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The results are almost exactly what RUSSIA and CHINA predicted when they warned about trying to force regime change without a negotiated settlement: an opening for radical Islamists, a flood of refugees, and growing instability in a region primed to erupt.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The war has claimed between 20,000 and 25,000 lives and wreaked havoc on a number of cities, including, Aleppo. Just who those casualties are is in dispute. While it is undoubtedly true that the Damascus government’s use of heavy weapons in urban areas has killed and wounded many civilians, the opposition has carried out extrajudicial executions of SYRIAN soldiers and Assad supporters as well.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT “FOREIGN FIGHTERS” ARE INVOLVED—MOSTLY ISLAMIC JIHADISTS FROM SAUDI ARABIA, IRAQ, LIBYA, JORDAN, AND TURKEY</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-qCSo9GK_te-tYAZWxmblGGljBaF6rspTX_xCjkgYKcN94Vh3zKQlDnGsAUnOBZpl26qaXabVIc7b3draU-nHDJCV9T1VL6z_RXUON3CafxSNfc7cx1nj5nW5cmnmw7GhIkb2KB8IOxt/s1600/127848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-qCSo9GK_te-tYAZWxmblGGljBaF6rspTX_xCjkgYKcN94Vh3zKQlDnGsAUnOBZpl26qaXabVIc7b3draU-nHDJCV9T1VL6z_RXUON3CafxSNfc7cx1nj5nW5cmnmw7GhIkb2KB8IOxt/s320/127848.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“This is an asymmetrical war, and there is a degree of expansion of violations of international law by both sides that seems to be escalating,” says <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/world/middleeast/relief-crisis-grows-as-refugees-stream-out-of-syria.html?_r=0">Kristalina Georgieva</a>, UN commissioner for crisis response.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Damascus government has developed its own spin on the casualties, claiming they are not SYRIANS but “foreign fighters.” There is no question that “foreign fighters” are involved—mostly Islamic jihadists from SAUDI ARABIA, IRAQ, LIBYA, JORDAN, and TURKEY—but most of the insurgents are SYRIANS. Truth is always the first casualty in a war, particularly a civil one in which the protagonists are not always easy to define.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The fighting has produced a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/world/middleeast/syria.html">refugee crisis</a> that, while nowhere near the catastrophe generated by the 2003 U.S. invasion of IRAQ—when 4 million fled their homes—has still sent hundreds of thousands of people into neighboring countries. At last count, the UN had registered almost 250,000 refugees, some 80,000 in TURKEY, 70,000 in JORDAN, close to 57,000 in LEBANON, and over 16,000 in IRAQ.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SECTARIAN EQUATION </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rEco6KL1RcPvKI3IWgyf65jNL-USGLlKf9flmSnK8FE0MJoN_YlP_NesBQs9VoWJnotBUQttUMzisq6qmkju65wiC99aiKtYmzYsbWgGgWerToPoGP_QkHCE16Fmm_ww-m7r7sjEPKit/s1600/640px-Alawite_flag.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rEco6KL1RcPvKI3IWgyf65jNL-USGLlKf9flmSnK8FE0MJoN_YlP_NesBQs9VoWJnotBUQttUMzisq6qmkju65wiC99aiKtYmzYsbWgGgWerToPoGP_QkHCE16Fmm_ww-m7r7sjEPKit/s320/640px-Alawite_flag.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Latakiya-sanjak-<b>Alawite</b>-state-French-colonial-flag.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The uprising has also become increasingly sectarian. SYRIA has one of the most complex mélanges of ethnicities and religious identities in the Middle East. Although most SYRIANS are Sunni Muslims, there are sizable minorities of Druze, a variety of Christian sects, and Alawite Muslims. <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#%21topic/communist-university/ObzHBfMQyzM">The Alawites</a>, among them the Assads, have dominated the SYRIAN military since FRENCH colonial days. The sect is associated with Shiism, although it has a <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jun/09/storm-over-syria/?pagination=false">pre-Islamic history</a> that is deeply rooted in the country’s western mountains.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">According to reporting by foreign media, jihadists are playing an increasingly powerful role in the fighting. “The Islamist groups, which are superbly financed and equipped by the GULF STATES, are ruthlessly seizing decision-making power for themselves,” Randa Kassis, a member of the opposition SYRIAN National Council told <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/opposition-group-leader-randa-kassis-on-islamist-fighters-in-syria-a-844622.html"><i>Der Spiegel</i></a>. “SYRIANS who are taking up arms against the dictator but not putting themselves under the jihadists’ command are being branded as unpatriotic and heretics.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: red;"><i>DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS</i></span> REPRESENTATIVES RECENTLY STATED TO <i>REUTERS</i> THAT 60 PERCENT OF TREATED WOUNDED IN SYRIA WERE FOREIGN FIGHTERS.</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">While the SYRIAN National Council and the Free SYRIAN Army disavow the more extreme jihadists, the latter hold the whip hand because of their support from SAUDI ARABIA and QATAR, the main source of weapons and funding. The rising number of car bombings is the signature of such al-Qaeda-affiliated groups as the al-Nusra Front. Speaking in JORDAN on September 9, al-Qaeda leader<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/09/syria-car-bomb-kills-17-aleppo_n_1868835.html">Abu Sayyaf </a>called for a jihad against the secular Assad regime.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">French surgeon <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/world/middleeast/syria-criticizes-frances-support-of-rebels.html">Jacques Beres</a>, a founder of the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders who recently returned from treating wounded in SYRIA, told <i>Reuters</i> that 60 percent of his patients were foreign fighters. “It’s really something strange to see. They are directly saying that they aren’t interested in Bashar al-Assad’s fall, but are thinking how to take power afterward and set up an Islamic state with Shariah law to become part of the world emirate.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The surge of extremism is not restricted to SYRIA. IRAQ has been convulsed by bombings aimed at the Shiite community, killing over 300 people between July 21 and August 18. On September 9, nearly 400 people were killed or wounded in 13 IRAQI cities. Alawites have been targeted in TURKEY and Shiites in LEBANON, the latter in a replay of sectarian attacks five years ago in Tripoli by the SAUDI-funded Fatah al-Islam.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Comment by <i>Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring</i></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">: <span style="color: blue;">It should be notes that many times Alawites are confused with Alevis from TURKEY. For more information see: </span></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Alawites in Syria and Alevis in Turkey: Crucial Differences</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3284/alawites-syria-alevis-turkey">http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3284/alawites-syria-alevis-turkey</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ANKARA IS DISCOVERING THAT THE DOGS OF WAR ARE RANGING UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE TO HOME</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">While TURKEY’S Islamist Prime Minister Recep Erdogan is playing a <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/27/us-syria-crisis-centre-idUSBRE86Q0JM20120727">key role</a> in the war by supplying the rebels, Ankara is discovering that the dogs of war are ranging uncomfortably close to home. IRAQI-based KURDS, who have long fought for an independent state made up from parts of TURKEY, IRAQ, SYRIA, and IRAN, have stepped up operations against the TURKISH military, and the TURKS are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/world/middleeast/turkey-strengthens-forces-on-syrian-border.html">apprehensive</a>that SYRIA’S KURDS might join in. TURKEY’S “Kurdish problem” might explain why Erdogan has toned down his rhetoric against SYRIA, though the explanation might also be simple politics—Ankara’s involvement in the SYRIAN civil war is not popular with the average TURK.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“TRIGGER HAPPY” FRENCH AND ITS RIPPLE EFFECT IN THE LIBYA SAGA</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The conflict has also damaged the UN, though that is mainly fallout from the organization’s role in the overthrow of the Gaddafi government in LIBYA. Moscow and Beijing backed UN Security Council intervention in LIBYA because they were assured that there would be an attempt to negotiate a political solution. <a href="http://www.fpif.org/articles/malis_war_the_wages_of_sin">The AFRICAN Union</a> (AU) had already begun such talks when the FRENCH started bombing and the war went full-tilt.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The AU is still unhappy with the UNITED STATES, FRANCE, and BRITAIN over LIBYA, and the AFRICAN organization’s warning that the collapse of LIBYA might fuel instability in other areas of the continent appears to be coming true. The current war in MALI is a direct result of the massive number of weapons that poured into the rest of AFRICA following the LIBYAN war, as well as the empowering of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, an extremist group that played a role in overthrowing Gaddafi.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As intractable as the SYRIAN war looks, there is room for a political resolution, but only if the protagonists and their supporters stand down. The Damascus government will have to recognize that one-family rule went out with feudalism, and that its opponents have real grievances. On the other side, the opposition will have to drop its insistence that there will be no talks until the Damascus government resigns. A zero-sum approach by either side will simply translate into a continuing war.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirWCfan7xcnPHRC0oWfFckHl0qlKNHcSEArtE0asaIUGAXjbHja3HqDtB1cdexG19RSzPvfUbDLKXWTdh5t7ycDHJyK5xKHVV7L0KLyClnSQGdnw_mfR-XTvp8YwCT1U7xhmpB7PYq8cba/s1600/SS72212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirWCfan7xcnPHRC0oWfFckHl0qlKNHcSEArtE0asaIUGAXjbHja3HqDtB1cdexG19RSzPvfUbDLKXWTdh5t7ycDHJyK5xKHVV7L0KLyClnSQGdnw_mfR-XTvp8YwCT1U7xhmpB7PYq8cba/s400/SS72212.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> But this will also mean countries fueling the opposition with guns and supplies will have to back off as well. And those nations that constantly talk about the threat of “terrorism” need to confront the extremists’ financers.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The US and ISRAELI obsession with IRAN has led Washington to turn a blind eye to the dangers posed by SAUDI policy,” writes <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3908aff0-b576-11e1-ab92-00144feabdc0.html#axzz26rNQMeZJ">Anatol Lievan</a>, a war studies professor at King’s College, London, which “has helped lay the basis for Islamist extremism in PAKISTAN and elsewhere.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Comment by <i>Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring</i></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">: <span style="color: blue;">These are not obsessions but calculated strategies by all parties involved in order to gain geopolitical and economic bargaining powers and other leverages, which will be agreed upon behind “closed doors”. Furthermore one should not forget that the USA (officially) and ISRAEL (unofficially) are close allies with SAUDI ARABIA. Thus they are fully aware of SAUDI policies.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Other countries affected by the war, including LEBANON and IRAN, need to be brought into the process as well.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Lastly, the role of regional and international organizations needs to be reconfigured. The LIBYA war damaged the AU, the ARAB LEAGUE, and the UN because the political process was hijacked by NATO and Gaddafi’s enemies. The UN can play a key role in bringing peace, but not if it serves the interests of one side over the other.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Conn Hallinan via fpif</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

SYRIA AND THE DOGS OF WAR

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SYRIA AND THE DOGS OF WAR

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