Over the Rain-Forest and the Still Water Beach

<a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotos-g1015495-Mismaloya_Banderas_Bay_South_Shore_Pacific_Coast.html"><img alt="Mismaloya Photos" src="http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/c3/b6/ee/night-of-the-iguana-set.jpg" /></a><br /><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Abandoned movie set, Mismaloya, Mexico: photo courtesy of TripAdvisor </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The programmers at Turner Classic Movies may not have planned the schedule with me in mind, but they’ve lined up a fine mix of films for me on my birthday this year.</span><br /><br /><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/AVvXsEi2PrzT6K3OHqc6ANHLd_12wZce2Jp6jbsK-oBdNkgCQqlpJ17fXIZkE8GO5g0IMDGDG_bJ2T2K64Ag-UjauXTpo3caFV37-iTRPg9JyxtZit-teuGK5i8TWKRVJqfVjL5XHHVRuEP1oO9K/s1600/Wings+of+Desire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2PrzT6K3OHqc6ANHLd_12wZce2Jp6jbsK-oBdNkgCQqlpJ17fXIZkE8GO5g0IMDGDG_bJ2T2K64Ag-UjauXTpo3caFV37-iTRPg9JyxtZit-teuGK5i8TWKRVJqfVjL5XHHVRuEP1oO9K/s320/Wings+of+Desire.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bruno Ganz in <i>Wings of Desire</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">I share my day with Sir Laurence Olivier (born May 22, 1907), and TCM has programmed some films of his that I haven’t seen, including <i><a href="http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/112933/Term-of-Trial/overview" style="color: blue;">Term of Trial</a> </i>(1962) co-starring the great French actress, Simone Signoret. Later on in the day my beloved San Francisco provides the setting for the 1955 sci-fi classic, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048215/" style="color: blue;"><i>It Came from Beneath the Sea</i></a>, in which the city is attacked by a radiation-enlarged octopus. In the evening, this month's TCM guest programmer, Deborah Winger, is set to appear. Among her choices is one film I haven’t seen but have had on my to-watch list for a long time: <a href="http://www.doubletakemagazine.org/int/html/wenders/" style="color: blue;">Wim Wenders</a>' 1987 classic, <i>Wings of Desire</i> brought its director the Best Director prize at Cannes in 1987 and won or was nominated for a raft of other awards.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Winger has also chosen to spotlight John Huston’s masterful production of Tennessee Williams' <i>The Night of the Iguana</i> (1964), one of the great film adaptations of Williams' work. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tennessee Williams had vacationed in Mexico during 1940, and his experiences at the Hotel Costa Verde outside Acapulco later formed the basis for his 1948 short story entitled <i>The Night of the Iguana</i>. Over time, the story evolved into a stage play that debuted on Broadway in 1961 starring Bette Davis in the role of Maxine Faulk, Margaret Leighton as Hannah Jelks and Patrick O’Neal as The Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon. It is Tennessee Williams' final masterpiece.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3si3bvA14jIBYQLeGpild1IM2QV-QSxOOBvWtEX7hmIGZvJ9JDeIwkC5H-mVp3-kJbgB3X214ktC-1vLHG90Wn__wTMC10ZrggZzAni1lK0GvCR7J8SHVtB8qhhIT4EnIABixVwEkTPU/s1600/leighton+williams+oneal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3si3bvA14jIBYQLeGpild1IM2QV-QSxOOBvWtEX7hmIGZvJ9JDeIwkC5H-mVp3-kJbgB3X214ktC-1vLHG90Wn__wTMC10ZrggZzAni1lK0GvCR7J8SHVtB8qhhIT4EnIABixVwEkTPU/s320/leighton+williams+oneal.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Margaret Leighton, Tennessee Williams and Patrick O'Neal</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Reverend Shannon is an alcoholic Episcopal priest locked out of his church for stirring up scandal and reduced to working as a guide on a bus tour south of the border. A new scandal involving a nubile young woman in his group of mostly biddies has consumed him. As the play begins, Shannon brings his party to the broken down hotel of his friend Maxine and her late husband Fred on the Mexican seacoast. Also staying at the hotel are Hannah Jelks, an itinerant artist, and her elderly grandfather, a 'practicing' poet.  As Shannon wrestles with his demons he forms a bond with Hannah who is also in spiritual crisis.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The stage production was rocky from the beginning, but it was also acclaimed and successful, running for 316 performances. <i>The Night of the Iguana</i> received Tony nominations for Best Play, Best Producer and Best Actress - for which Margaret Leighton won the award - and was also chosen the best new play of the year by the New York Drama Critics' Circle. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></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/AVvXsEhnmLTWc0EjIM4H0paoQk4oeop8x8ULA2zWRotFKzTAE5-BDgncq51Oda1WIg-IWbdOWlI_uG922G65uiN3L2oX45NQYdYBitex_iZbLnemRqhnPvol2ts9VFsMlRCE8g5tVQffpiKcjvAv/s1600/Bette+as+Maxine.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnmLTWc0EjIM4H0paoQk4oeop8x8ULA2zWRotFKzTAE5-BDgncq51Oda1WIg-IWbdOWlI_uG922G65uiN3L2oX45NQYdYBitex_iZbLnemRqhnPvol2ts9VFsMlRCE8g5tVQffpiKcjvAv/s320/Bette+as+Maxine.JPG" width="248" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bette Davis as Maxine Faulk on Broadway</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Legendary writer/director/producer Joshua Logan’s reaction to Bette Davis’ performance was enthusiastic: “She was svelte, handsome, voluptuous, wicked, wise, raffish, slightly vulgar – in fact, she was ideal for the part and gave the play added dimension.” But Davis was deeply unhappy in the production and began regularly missing performances. She left the show in April 1962 and Shelley Winters, who replaced her, quickly understood why Davis and her understudy, Madeleine Sherwood, had both been miserable in the part. It seems co-stars Patrick O’Neal and Margaret Leighton routinely undermined the actresses who played Maxine by using the age-old stage trick of moving slightly for a few seconds to divert the attention of the audience whenever they set up her lines. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><table align="center" 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/AVvXsEjIu2XHOjvpDtVyAtIKK0uWEHNafB82AFqrWd9g1thjsl8Ofjkl5QUawUd-EnzpDhflVVwevQcscE7ex0DGXWsc9_4cJOy7r49Wzz362rQPRPgIFX69SDq7yf9SfzfZTjcEVa61apSVcdEm/s1600/burton+and+gardner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIu2XHOjvpDtVyAtIKK0uWEHNafB82AFqrWd9g1thjsl8Ofjkl5QUawUd-EnzpDhflVVwevQcscE7ex0DGXWsc9_4cJOy7r49Wzz362rQPRPgIFX69SDq7yf9SfzfZTjcEVa61apSVcdEm/s320/burton+and+gardner.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard Burton and Ava Gardner</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The journey of <i>The Night of the Iguana </i>from stage to screen began with a call from producer Ray Stark to writer/director John Huston during the play's Broadway run. Huston, no stranger to adapting great works (<i>The Maltese Falcon</i>, <i>The Treasure of the Sierra Madre</i>, <i>Moby Dick</i>, etc.), was interested and the two quickly began working out the details of their collaboration. They agreed on casting: Richard Burton as Shannon, Deborah Kerr as Hannah and Ava Gardner as Maxine. Burton and Kerr signed on immediately but Miss Gardner required some courting. Both Stark and Huston flew to Madrid, where Gardner was then living, and spent days wining and dining her until she agreed to take the part. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Huston and Stark disagreed on one major point, Stark wanted to film in color but Huston preferred black and white for fear that the vibrant colors to be found everywhere on location in Mismaloya, Mexico (azure skies and seas, multi-hued flora and fauna) would distract from the story. Years later, in his memoir, Huston wrote, “Looking back now, I think I was probably wrong.” He was. Color could only have underscored the power of Williams' evocative meditation on the tangle of spiritual and physical yearnings that drive human life.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span id="goog_1507063323"></span><span id="goog_1507063324"></span><span id="goog_1507063326"></span><span id="goog_1507063327"></span><span id="goog_1507063328"></span><span id="goog_1507063329"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJ6l1wcotC-RFnac8HK5SjH6eF7OWilYOJCDfaxtVS9ZpJem-J45Meob9kUm5ESmAS9el7k8TUUhusCdrOxDOUxWsNmWgNlLrFdJ3AXGemIGtiONa8gAUZ6KtqIiF5_lL5UR9NLvrd8uV/s1600/huston+and+burton.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJ6l1wcotC-RFnac8HK5SjH6eF7OWilYOJCDfaxtVS9ZpJem-J45Meob9kUm5ESmAS9el7k8TUUhusCdrOxDOUxWsNmWgNlLrFdJ3AXGemIGtiONa8gAUZ6KtqIiF5_lL5UR9NLvrd8uV/s400/huston+and+burton.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Huston and Richard Burton</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">At the time location work began on <i>The Night of the Iguana</i>, Richard Burton had not yet sacrificed his talent for fame and riches. One of the great, classically trained actors to emerge from Britain in the post-war era, Burton’s finest performances were defined by depth and soul and enriched by his majestic voice, piercing blue-green eyes and potent physical presence. As Deborah Kerr observed in a diary she kept during the shoot, Burton was at his peak as an actor at this point and she agreed with Ava Gardner that </span><span style="font-size: small;">"he makes everyone else act well, he is so good himself."</span><span style="font-size: small;"> Burton’s agonized rendering of the Reverend Shannon's dark night of the soul seems, at times, a glimpse into his own conflicted nature. Though he was not Oscar-nominated for this role (it was for his performance in <i>Becket </i>that earned his Best Actor nod in 1964), Burton would be nominated a total of seven times for an Academy Award, winning none, though he was otherwise acknowledged with BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony awards. When the filming of <i>The Night of the Iguana</i> got under way in October 1963, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were living together but not yet married; their life of paparazzi-infested, glittering excess had just begun. Even so, Huston later wrote, "There were more reporters on the site than iguanas..."</span><br /><br /><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/AVvXsEi5Q3sjrUOon4TAIHVNuWz8ohm6KrlYQFU22B2pE8_sBwuBl4AYlQS9XoUwRgJwmWMibOYuiqtMPkWtpYk48rdJ06nAEI2qH2R3TU58CAol7lcAypOTXxO4LkxXc68Sc3Qq_hbX6pdJ2eGu/s1600/huston+on+set.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Q3sjrUOon4TAIHVNuWz8ohm6KrlYQFU22B2pE8_sBwuBl4AYlQS9XoUwRgJwmWMibOYuiqtMPkWtpYk48rdJ06nAEI2qH2R3TU58CAol7lcAypOTXxO4LkxXc68Sc3Qq_hbX6pdJ2eGu/s400/huston+on+set.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Huston</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div style="text-align: right;"></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/AVvXsEifkA3-EcuYb5up0GL5fxefQfxeKwO2K-3gvvdCWYP0LnBK0-df8XGWwM4R708IMnyYI9Yudqqg2dEFKWNzpgPD0g3zL5MakZIzkMkIlBjUpYuIC2XpogRwuvYv6MuRCpiaeg4kU7FwIH6U/s1600/Ava+Gardner+gorgeous+youth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifkA3-EcuYb5up0GL5fxefQfxeKwO2K-3gvvdCWYP0LnBK0-df8XGWwM4R708IMnyYI9Yudqqg2dEFKWNzpgPD0g3zL5MakZIzkMkIlBjUpYuIC2XpogRwuvYv6MuRCpiaeg4kU7FwIH6U/s200/Ava+Gardner+gorgeous+youth.jpg" width="184" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very young Ava Gardner</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Ava Gardner’s Maxine Faulk was a departure from the character as written by Williams and portrayed on the stage. Warmer and softer, Ava’s Maxine personified the “openness and freedom of the sea” Williams had envisioned, but lacked the man-eating qualities of the original. Huston, who felt Williams’ Maxine became far too devouring by the play's end, was responsible for these changes. Ava <span id="goog_1232263459"></span><span id="goog_1232263460"></span>Gardner later recalled that Tennessee was never entirely happy about Huston’s tinkering with the character but she also noted, “…anyone seeing the film knows that John’s choice was the only one that fit.” And Gardner committed herself fully to her role. In an earthy, raucous performance, she allowed herself to appear casual to the point of dishevelment. Clad in a loose serape and toreador pants through much of the film, she had lines penciled in under her eyes and her hair tied back into a loose ponytail to de-emphasize her glorious good looks. During filming, Kerr recorded a comment of Huston's that for Ava it may have been a real disadvantage to be so beautiful, "...it has made her appear publicly as someone she is not, and in her work has made her appear the kind of actress she is not." </span><span style="font-size: small;">For this performance Ava Gardner received the best reviews of her film career. Reflecting in her memoirs she wrote, “I have only one rule in acting – trust the director and give him heart and soul. And the director I trusted most of all was John Huston. Working with him gave me the only real joy I’ve ever had in movies.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1FAl4nQmnkZnc3CVIV2V2CaJr8pY1CBOkJn-ULhVU6uJVp21KWBch4yYyZmVqZeu9LE1OhlOdWgdM8qYteb_0xF0Wg0ab5qbfQBGEeY4k6_BB9T9qpJxm-kXEtWE72PHlS6z7JCRwmYLn/s1600/ava+and+deborah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1FAl4nQmnkZnc3CVIV2V2CaJr8pY1CBOkJn-ULhVU6uJVp21KWBch4yYyZmVqZeu9LE1OhlOdWgdM8qYteb_0xF0Wg0ab5qbfQBGEeY4k6_BB9T9qpJxm-kXEtWE72PHlS6z7JCRwmYLn/s400/ava+and+deborah.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1232263433"></span><span id="goog_1232263434"></span>Hannah Jelks is an intriguing entry in Deborah Kerr's filmography. Kerr portrayed sensitive ladies of delicacy and reserve to perfection, but Hannah was slightly different, a "Thin-Standing-up-Female-Buddha," in Tennessee Williams' words. Down-on-her-luck, adrift in Mexico and living by her wits and intuition, the spinster has only her remaining dignity, the care of her 97-year-old grandfather and her paintbox to keep her going.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As the international press descended on the set, Kerr admitted that she was beginning to "feel more and more like Hannah in this movie." Reporters insisted on quizzing her for 'dirt' on Burton, Taylor and others, and, in her diary, she quoted Hannah's sentiments, "Nothing human disgusts me unless it is unkind or violent." Kerr added, "I do loathe and detest unkindness and violence and gossip and troublemaking and envy and malice."</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">On the day filming of <i>The Night of the Iguana</i> ended in late 1963, Deborah Kerr put down her thoughts in her journal, "It's funny how you get so close to a bunch of people on a movie. It is constant making and breaking of emotional relationships - some of the people you work with and get to know so closely, you may never see again." An interesting reflection, coming on the heels, as it did, of completing a film about the redemptive power of human connection.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">It was on an evening in 1940 while in Mexico, that Tennessee Williams watched the sun set on a tree of golden lemons. He would later write a poem about it that provided inspiration for the story that became a play and then a film.  The poem was revised slightly and incorporated into <i>The Night of the Iguana</i>.  Here, Cyril <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Delevanti, who portrayed Nonno in the film, recites the verse popularly known as <span style="color: blue;">"</span><a href="http://youtu.be/8eW6v7zoUNk" style="color: blue;">Nonno's Poem</a><span style="color: blue;">"</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> (click title to view). </span></span><br /><br /><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/AVvXsEitKApfhg3kQ98LKYcU8zOJiNGeHVRjT3eFquEGNCdrj21NYVvaaOmdtlH7IysTagp4X-pYauw8lfrCYQluJGQdxdV_p_AizNls7vRL-I_4O36GVxDkern2wPoKkWdW9h6eSWlcbDAJpKQ0/s1600/hannah+and+nonno+arrive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKApfhg3kQ98LKYcU8zOJiNGeHVRjT3eFquEGNCdrj21NYVvaaOmdtlH7IysTagp4X-pYauw8lfrCYQluJGQdxdV_p_AizNls7vRL-I_4O36GVxDkern2wPoKkWdW9h6eSWlcbDAJpKQ0/s400/hannah+and+nonno+arrive.jpg" width="322" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cyril Delevanti and Deborah Kerr</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">John Huston spent many, many years of his life in Mexico, and was living not far from Mismaloya, in Las Caletas, while working on his autobiography in the late 1970s. Sixteen years had passed since the making of <i>The Night of the Iguana</i> and the location site was now deserted. All that remained were the ruins of the buildings constructed for his film. Huston wrote, "No one - other than an old man who passes there on an occasional trip between Las Caletas and Vallarta - seems to give a damn what happens to the place. He would like to see it torn down and given back to the iguanas. The old man is me of course."</span></span><br /><br /><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/AVvXsEgoyarEYIRxOur8BW2E-nPTbAxPkyNQT1uiWq-DIvsnbVc3BHCKJ5rv5X3-bXfnxFv0Winr-_YWp9NtgO45zrUJ31wvtKqIJMVRa7eiYuh_XREEGYLZyK48uWlzHPN5LSXBHJTL833zNb_Q/s1600/huston+living+in+Mexico+1979.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoyarEYIRxOur8BW2E-nPTbAxPkyNQT1uiWq-DIvsnbVc3BHCKJ5rv5X3-bXfnxFv0Winr-_YWp9NtgO45zrUJ31wvtKqIJMVRa7eiYuh_XREEGYLZyK48uWlzHPN5LSXBHJTL833zNb_Q/s400/huston+living+in+Mexico+1979.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Huston in Las Caletas, 1979</td></tr></tbody></table><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">...I was at the</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Hotel Costa Verde <span style="color: #f1c232;"><span style="color: #38761d;">over the rain-forest and the still-water beach</span> </span>which were the off-stage background for </span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Night of the Iguana</span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">.</span></i><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">~ Tennessee Williams, </span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Memoirs </span></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><u>Sources</u></b>:</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>An Open Book </i>by John Huston, McMillan (1980)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Ava: My Story</i> by Ava Gardner, Bantam (1990)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis</i> by Ed Sikov, Henry Holt (2007)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Deborah Kerr Personal Collection</i>: <a href="http://www.deborahkerr.es/" style="color: #cc0000;">http://www.deborahkerr.es</a></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>

Ava Gardner Cyril Delevanti Deborah Kerr John Huston Laurence Olivier Ray Stark Richard Burton TCM Tennessee Williams The Lady Eve (author) The Night of the Iguana Wim Wenders Wings of Desire Over the Rain-Forest and the Still Water Beach

Abandoned movie set, Mismaloya, Mexico: photo courtesy of TripAdvisor The programmers at Turner Classic Movies may not have planned the sche...

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ARGENTINA and AFRICA

<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></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/AVvXsEgN1QmjmuNdQF0EiSofvhxukc8oUu_HkO2_cw5X3cwtQvlqLDjNm15gZ38m8fiDQWgHtv6MxFxhTaa8qPdtWvslOIb7w5Zi1G9qoU3uMoqjbO4u19SQe2VFLPd5fkga4s8bg4ByRRT9tI-3/s1600/africa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN1QmjmuNdQF0EiSofvhxukc8oUu_HkO2_cw5X3cwtQvlqLDjNm15gZ38m8fiDQWgHtv6MxFxhTaa8qPdtWvslOIb7w5Zi1G9qoU3uMoqjbO4u19SQe2VFLPd5fkga4s8bg4ByRRT9tI-3/s400/africa.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">AFRICA IS FORECAST TO EMERGE AS THE FASTEST-GROWING REGION IN THE WORLD OVER THE NEXT 20 YEARS.</span></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ARGENTINA'S </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> WISE FORESIGHT</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><i>Spanish version of this article will follow in due course</i> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">GEOPOLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS ON ARGENTINE</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">   PRESIDENT'S LATEST STATE VISIT TO ANGOLA</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ARGENTINA’S foresight in seeking economic ties with AFRICAN counties such as ANGOLA, SOUTH AFRICA etc. will prove to be priceless in the not too distant future for ARGENTINA, because AFRICA is the “rising continent” that many countries seem to have neglected for various reasons. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SUB SAHARA AFRICA, EMERGING MARKETS OF TOMORROW</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In 2012, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA is rapidly coming of age as an economic region and as an investment destination. The so-called "frontier" markets of today's AFRICA will be the emerging markets of tomorrow.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Over the next five years, according to the IMF, seven economies in SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA are expected to be among the ten fastest growing economies in the world. In 2011, the economy of GHANA grew by 13.7%, while ETHIOPIA'S grew by 8.5%. Elsewhere, the MOZAMBIQUE economy grew by 7.5%, NIGERIA and ZAMBIA by 6.8%, and the Democratic Republic of CONGO by 6.5%. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ARGENTINA seems to be one of the countries that understand what this means, and the opportunity it presents. ARGENTINA has what AFRICA needs most: Nutritious food supply, agriculture technology and engineering know-how, water and health care, mining industry know-how to name but a few. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">AFRICA: ENORMOUS ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ARGENTINA, just like AUSTRALIA could jump the bandwagon and benefit from the mining boom. There are around 200 AUSTRALIAN mining companies with operations in AFRICA, and they are involved in projects valued in excess of $45 billion. ARGENTINA on the other hand herself experiences a mining boom that will boost its economy, thus ARGENTINA could increase its presence on the continent by providing professional services, education and infrastructure projects.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A perfect example for the emerging market trend in AFRICA is AUSTRALIA. Following Two-way trade between AFRICAN countries and AUSTRALIA is reaching $5 billion a year, and has been on an upward trajectory for several years. </span></span><br /><br /><div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">AFRICA IS FORECAST TO EMERGE AS THE FASTEST-GROWING REGION IN THE WORLD OVER THE NEXT 20 YEARS.</span></b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Seeking economic ties with the continent augurs well for the future, both for AFRICA and ARGENTINA. AFRICA is forecast to emerge as the fastest-growing region in the world over the next 20 years. To realize this growth, it will have to nurture a number of key competitive advantages: the world's richest mineral and energy deposits, the most arable land, and what is predicted to be the </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">youngest population in the world by 2050</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">. </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ARGENTINA</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">S current prosperity is largely due to its own resource boom. By mid-century, that boom may well have extended to AFRICA and helped drive a huge wave of supplementary development, raising living and education standards throughout the continent. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">According to inside sources ARGENTINA is planning to establish liaison offices for international trade in various AFRICAN countries. AFRICA, the continent will be looming large on more than just ARGENTINA</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">S investment radar in the coming decades. And if we can keep economies open for multilateral investment, this will present an opportunity for everyone.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">DEROGATIVE COMMENT BY RENOWNED ARGENTINE JOURNALIST <span style="color: blue;">JORGE LANATA</span> ON CURRENT STATE VISIT TO ANGOLA BY ARGENTINIAN PRESIDENT</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">In view of above mentioned facts, it seems strange that a renowned ARGENTINE journalist such as JORGE LANATA, criticized the ARGENTINE President, who visited ANGOLA in order to increase economic ties between the countries and generate bilateral business ventures.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">ACCORDING TO LANATA, ARGENTINA SHOULD FOCUS ON ECONOMIC TIES WITH EUROPE AND THE USA RATHER THEN AFRICA!!</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">When allegedly asked by a journalist what he, LANATA thought about ARGENTINA</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">S AFRICAN venture he condemned the ARGENTINE government and responded in a derogative way: “This is our future”?, referring to ARGENTINA</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">S Economic and Geopolitical focus on AFRICA, instead of EUROPE and the USA!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">In view of the current economic growth Africa is experiencing, such comment seems rather inadequate to say the least, or show rather decisive ignorance, lack of objectivity and Geo- and Eco-political know-how. </span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z0UMb4F8tSE?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">See:  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Angola">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Angola</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.angolaglobal.net/en/news-about-angola/Angola-will-be-fifth-in-the-ranking-of-African-economies/773">http://www.angolaglobal.net/en/news-about-angola/Angola-will-be-fifth-in-the-ranking-of-African-economies/773</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-09/angola-economy-to-grow-estimated-7-in-2012-as-oil-output-gains.html">http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-09/angola-economy-to-grow-estimated-7-in-2012-as-oil-output-gains.html</a></span></div>

ARGENTINA and AFRICA

AFRICA IS FORECAST TO EMERGE AS THE FASTEST-GROWING REGION IN THE WORLD OVER THE NEXT 20 YEARS. ARGENTINA'S  WISE FORESIGHT Spanish ver...

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TURKEY: EVERYONES ENEMY?

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font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";} </style><![endif]--> <br /><br /> <div style="color: red; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqNL_V5QDkHYob-dKoI0pnc4vbgoBu_WDHdm07nFu3W20KugJIU3lHFaeR013j3awR0pyB8Iz6YAvMVYTrlxeuTkq6UA18xnRVXozTiE4kXaHQK95iZyp-BfgdfZmuB2TjdeJIbia5GfuV/s1600/77454165turkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqNL_V5QDkHYob-dKoI0pnc4vbgoBu_WDHdm07nFu3W20KugJIU3lHFaeR013j3awR0pyB8Iz6YAvMVYTrlxeuTkq6UA18xnRVXozTiE4kXaHQK95iZyp-BfgdfZmuB2TjdeJIbia5GfuV/s400/77454165turkey.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b> </b></span></div><div style="color: red; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="color: red; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>TURKEYS CURRENT MIDDLE EAST POLICY MAKES ENEMIES WITH EVERYONE</b></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: 8.5pt;">By Barry Rubin</span><br /><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“Countries may vary, but civilization is one, and for a nation to progress, it must take part in this one civilization. The decline of the Ottomans began when, proud of their triumphs over the West, they cut their ties with the European nations. This was a mistake which we will not repeat.” — Kemal Ataturk, 1924</i></span><br /><br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Spinning in his grave, indeed, for now his successors not only think they can revive a TURKISH-ruled imperium, but have made the very mistake of turning their backs on the West, which the republic’s founder rightly saw as the downfall of that earlier incarnation of his country. I’d change Ataturk’s wording slightly: the Ottomans turned their backs on the modern world then being developed in the West while still forming alliances with EUROPEAN powers.</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";">Once upon a time there was a country named TURKEY whose republic was created by Kemal Ataturk, who famously said: “Peace at home; peace abroad.”</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";">He and the TURKISH people had seen their Ottoman Empire collapse after failing to modernize, engaging in chauvinistic nationalism (under the Young Turks), and entering an unnecessary war that led to 20 percent of its population dead and the country prostrate.</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";">And so Ataturk and his colleagues saved the country based on two basic principles: at home, joining Western civilization through modernization and secularization; abroad, avoiding foreign ambitions and conflicts. Whatever their faults, they did a remarkable job. TURKEY made steady progress far in excess of what happened in IRAN or the ARABIC-speaking world.</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";">But then came the regime of the Justice and Development Party. Pretending to be moderate and democratic, it was actually a radical Islamist party seeking to — if I may coin a phrase — fundamentally transform TURKEY. This regime was not moderate but merely patient in achieving its radical goals.</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/AVvXsEh4O2J0JuzzLqbvsEPVPRGBpT-O8H8brs6OuSlP67Vp7wMtRK2QaBN0Au5K54sJ3r1y1XqY5sqZoNNvmNyflFeOvH7xNOoJgiQw8zrXOlzIzlEvhjh2rcI6PS6o-kx1LqA1CfL4UBy_R2a1/s1600/110711a3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4O2J0JuzzLqbvsEPVPRGBpT-O8H8brs6OuSlP67Vp7wMtRK2QaBN0Au5K54sJ3r1y1XqY5sqZoNNvmNyflFeOvH7xNOoJgiQw8zrXOlzIzlEvhjh2rcI6PS6o-kx1LqA1CfL4UBy_R2a1/s400/110711a3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It insisted that under its rule TURKEY would be everyone’s friend and no one’s enemy. And President Barack Obama thought this would be a great model for the MIDDLE EAST. In fact, though, the regime didn’t see everyone as an equal friend. It preferred the company of IRAN, SYRIA, Hamas, and Hizballah.</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";">Soon, as events developed in the region, the veneer of modesty boiled away and the aggressive ambition was revealed. And that ambition was expressed most clearly by the devious Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to parliament in late April: </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="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We will manage the wave of change in the MIDDLE EAST. Just as the ideal we have in our minds about TURKEY, we have an ideal of a new MIDDLE EAST. We will be the leader and the spokesperson of a new peaceful order, no matter what they say.</span></b></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";">Wow. Off with the “everyone’s buddy” image and out comes the raving would-be dictator over the MIDDLE EAST. But the problem is that there are these people called “ARABS” who don’t want to be bossed around by a TURK, even if they both are Sunni Muslims. In addition, those ARABS have their own ambitions. So when they hear stuff like this they become even more angry and suspicious.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No matter what they say,” intones Davutoğlu, a man who has gone even further in addressing his party’s convention in a closed meeting, where he said that somebody ought to run the MIDDLE EAST so why not him and his colleagues. </span></span></b></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";">Since his speech was reported in a U.S. embassy message, it was available to the White House. Yet it has been Obama’s naiveté about TURKEY that has even further puffed up the arrogance of such people.</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";">Sounding like another man who wanted to become the dictator of the MIDDLE EAST — EGYPTIAN President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who once said that those who didn’t like him running things could “go drink the Nile” — Davutoğlu says:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I’d like to advise those who are criticizing TURKEY: Go to Cairo. Go to Tripoli. Go to the streets of Beirut, Tunisia, Jerusalem, and ask about TURKEY’S policy on SYRIA. They will hug you and express their appreciation for TURKEY’S honorable policy.</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Yes, this regime has supported the overthrow of its former close ally in SYRIA in order to install an Islamist regime friendly to Ankara. <b style="color: red;"><span style="color: red;">It has even </span>obtained full support from Obama for creating an anti-American government in Damascus.</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/AVvXsEibnubPIBZXqol_DX_3IewkwigyE24pxh86A1rxcOpiYPlX5qmghItUQnR2JzFla44y1cLbUxUbum7BeFchbFdQmNkz99tmdfjASuXPKrYghdYDCWjPInEsaQeLDA5ad_1l3xpky95ZN4Af/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibnubPIBZXqol_DX_3IewkwigyE24pxh86A1rxcOpiYPlX5qmghItUQnR2JzFla44y1cLbUxUbum7BeFchbFdQmNkz99tmdfjASuXPKrYghdYDCWjPInEsaQeLDA5ad_1l3xpky95ZN4Af/s320/images.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";">After the foreign minister spoke, an opposition leader, Osman Korutürk, explained that he was just back from Cairo for a regional conference of parliamentarians and did not find such a love and worship of TURKEY there. On the contrary, they were not thrilled with the idea of TURKEY dominating SYRIA, or anything else in the area for that matter.</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="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The increasingly power-drunk behavior of TURKISH leaders</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> may go unnoticed by a worshipful Obama, who touts the “TURKISH model,” but the ARABS have been alienated by such attitudes. Having also threatened ISRAEL, GREECE, and CYPRUS, while partly antagonizing IRAN — though the Ankara regime continues to break trade sanctions with Tehran, sabotage totally accepted by the pliant Obama administration — the TURKISH leaders have destroyed their own foreign policy. While this regime began with a realistic chance of being everyone’s friend, it has now made itself everyone’s enemy.</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";">Regarding domestic governance, the power-drunk arrogance is also increasingly contradicting democratic practice. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan once said that democracy was like a trolley. You ride it until you get to your destination and then get off. Presumably that’s at the point where you have consolidated power to the point you can do whatever you want and have turned TURKEY into an ISLAMIST state.</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";">Speaking in Adana and threatening retaliation to Kurdish PKK terrorist attacks, he abandoned the pose of moderation and pluralism to threaten:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We have four fundamental principles. And these principles are:</span></span></div><ol start="1" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">One people</span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">One flag</span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">One religion</span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">One government</span></span></li></ol><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">While there are echoes here of traditional TURKISH centralization under the old republic established by Ataturk, the third principle shows not only the abandonment of TURKISH secularism but its replacement by Islamic rule. Where Erdogan is willing to compromise is that he left off the demand for one language, accepting some use of the KURDISH language.</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";">Thus, TURKEY, which had done so well for decades under pragmatists, has now fallen under the sway of megalomaniacal ideologues who believe that they can impose Islam on TURKEY and TURKEY on the region.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNKI5xmZpha581kB411LkfCuO42I_9qgvVniKXwNavlnwWMEPSvY-Q93g81w-xFtisVeZc1HaPT6papb1lQ4RNcamHgbW4DuJKpjZxEYqtX1fIs4acaN4fR8OtjjdloTmpZ3qqNuhFltbj/s1600/157644680-20191400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNKI5xmZpha581kB411LkfCuO42I_9qgvVniKXwNavlnwWMEPSvY-Q93g81w-xFtisVeZc1HaPT6papb1lQ4RNcamHgbW4DuJKpjZxEYqtX1fIs4acaN4fR8OtjjdloTmpZ3qqNuhFltbj/s320/157644680-20191400.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Meanwhile the regime is arresting scores of former high-ranking officers, destroying the army that used to protect secularism. The time will come when it appoints Islamists or opportunists who act as if they were Islamists to the top commands.</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";">And the U.S. government has finally given some tiny indication of dissatisfaction with TURKEY’S hostile policy toward ISRAEL. Obama and the top officials have done nothing while the Islamist regime has behaved as if ISRAEL is its worst enemy in the world and sided with radical terrorist groups that seek ISRAEL’S extinction. Of course, this statement of mild dissatisfaction was dragged out of a junior official by critical members of Congress and was narrowly limited. </span></span></div>

TURKEY: EVERYONES ENEMY?

TURKEYS CURRENT MIDDLE EAST POLICY MAKES ENEMIES WITH EVERYONE By Barry Rubin “Countries may vary, but civilization is one, and for a ...

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SYRIA: SWITCHING PERCEPTION

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font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMd5eb6X39hNDghNTQxaQLLHMOdyTz2XNuny6ICC0Pfij6pIaIIfssoRCH_MvZAXrWOF-j7RcIGDW43uFHfmcuk7g_zaGPt6Zaz6sJ9yZDb7IK4uKiE2tk2waKnCXxspzcyveuJyF0TW58/s1600/89755433-saudi-arabias.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMd5eb6X39hNDghNTQxaQLLHMOdyTz2XNuny6ICC0Pfij6pIaIIfssoRCH_MvZAXrWOF-j7RcIGDW43uFHfmcuk7g_zaGPt6Zaz6sJ9yZDb7IK4uKiE2tk2waKnCXxspzcyveuJyF0TW58/s320/89755433-saudi-arabias.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">SYRIA AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY: A SUDDEN SWITCH IN PERCEPTION? </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Since the beginning of the SYRIAN crisis <i>Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring</i>claimed that the crisis in SYRIA seems to have been triggered by foreign entities, and only partly by its own people. Knowing the SYRIAN mentality and political structure of the country, <i>Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring</i> has stressed that the entire uproar in SYRIA bears the signature of foreign Sunni entities that seek to topple the Shiite (Alawites) dominated SYRIAN Government. Nevertheless mainstream media under political influence and lobbies have portrayed the SYRIAN crisis as that of a bloody suppression by the SYRIAN government. Dissident groups, with bases in the UK, never tired of manipulating the conflict, with the help of SAUDI ARABIA and QATAR, who for their own reason have been trying to gain influence in SYRIA. Granted ASSAD is no saint. After all SYRIA is dictatorship, but regardless of this fact ASSAD managed to keep certain stability in the country. Something ISRAEL always preferred over other scenarios. (See related articles below)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">UN ALLEGES AL QAIDA INVOLVEMENT IN SYRIA</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">In a curious turn of events, the UNITED NATIONS suddenly openly admits that in most likelihood Al-Qaida is present in SYRIA and thus causing the turmoil, with the help of SAUDI ARABIA and QATAR. Something <i>Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring </i>has analyzed and indicated month ago. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Furthermore <i>Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring </i>mentioned some time ago that SYRIA has a large amount of missile that can be armed with chemical and biological warheads. RUSSIA on the other hand suddenly reiterates that SYRIA has a large arsenal of chemical and biological warheads and in combinations with Iran’s nuclear ambitions and possible possession of nuclear warheads, could trigger a large scale conflict in the region, should foreign entities try to intervene in SYRIA and IRAN. See: </span><span lang="DE-AT"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/given-fact-syria-does-possess-chemical.html"><span lang="EN-US">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/given-fact-syria-does-possess-chemical.html</span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">TURKEYS INVOLVEMENT </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">For the first time the UN alleges that Al-Qaida was behind the Damascus bombing that killed approximately 55 people. According to know sources these Al Qaida members entered SYRIA via TURKEY, which complicates the situation for TURKEY, who has been conducting rather double edged sword politics over the last couple of years and thus annoyed not only its allies but also neighboring MIDDLE EASTERN ARAB countries, who see TURKEYS current moves as an effort of becoming a NEO-OTTOMAN empire, no matter at what cost.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">On the other hand the recent UN statement will strengthen Assad in his claim that foreign entities are behind the turmoil in SYRIA and cause an even wider rift between SYRIA and TURKEY.</span></span></div><h1 style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>INTERNAL POWER STRUGGLE</span></span></h1><h1><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In view of above switch in perception, it seems increasingly likely that the Assad regime will survive the conflict. What is rarely mentioned about the current Syrian conflict though is that this also an internal conflict and power struggle of Assad clan, namely with</span><span> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Rifaat al-Assad.</span></span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Via Wikipedia: <b>Rifaat al-Assad</b> played a key role in his brother's takeover of executive power in 1970, dubbed the <b>Corrective Revolution</b> and ran the elite internal security forces and the <b>Defense Companies (Saraya al-Difaa)</b> in the 1970s and early 1980s. He had a pivotal role throughout the 1970s and, until 1984, many saw him as the likely successor to his elder brother.</i></span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>In February 1982, as commanding general of the SYRIAN Army, he allegedly commanded the forces that put down a MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD (Sunni) revolt in the central city of Hama, by instructing his forces to shell the city, killing thousands of its inhabitants (reports range from between 5,000 and 40,000, the most common suggestion being around 15-20,000). This became known as the <b>Hamas Massacre</b>.</i></span><br /><br /> <div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>RIFAAT AL-ASSAD APPALLED FOR BEING BYPASSED BY HIS CLAN </i></b></span></div><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>When Hafez al-Assad suffered from heart problems in 1983, he established a six-member committee to run the country. Rifaat was not included, and the council consisted entirely of close <b>Sunni Muslim loyalists</b> to Hafez, who were mostly lightweights in the military-security establishment. This caused unease in the <b>Alawi-dominated officer corps</b>, and several high-ranking officers began rallying around Rifaat, while others remained loyal to Hafez's instructions. Rifaat's troops, now numbering more than 55,000 with tanks, artillery, aircraft and helicopters, began asserting control over Damascus, putting up posters of him; he was clearly launching a bid to succeed his brother. </i></span><br /><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>Tensions between forces loyal to Hafez and those loyal to Rifaat were extreme, but by early 1984 Hafez had returned from his sick bed and assumed full control, at which point most officers rallied around him. In what at first seemed a compromise, Rifaat was made vice-president with responsibility for security affairs, but this proved a wholly nominal post. Command of the <b>'Defense Companies'</b> was transferred to another officer, and Rifaat was then sent abroad on "an open-ended working visit". His closest supporters and others who had failed to prove their loyalty to Hafez were purged from the army and <b>Baath Party</b> in the years that followed.</i></span><br /><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>Although he returned for his mother's funeral in 1992, and for some time lived in SYRIA, Rifaat was thereafter confined to exile in FRANCE and SPAIN. He nominally retained the post of vice president until 1998, when he was stripped of this. He had retained a large business empire both in SYRIA and abroad, partly through his son Sumer. However, the 1999 crackdown, involving armed clashes in Lattakia, destroyed much of his remaining network in SYRIA; large numbers of Rifaat's supporters were arrested. This was seen as tied to the issue of succession, with Rifaat having begun to position himself to succeed the ailing Hafez, who in his turn sought to eliminate all potential competition for his designated successor, his son Bashar al Assad.</i></span><br /> <br /><span style="font-size: large;"><i>In FRANCE, Rifaat has loudly protested the succession of Bashar to the post of president, claiming that he himself embodies the "only constitutional legality" (as vice president, alleging his dismissal was unconstitutional). He has made threatening remarks about planning to return to SYRIA at a time of his choosing to assume "his responsibilities and fulfill the will of the people", and that while he will rule benevolently and democratically, he will do so with "the power of the people and the army" behind him.</i></span><br /> <br /><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Rifaat's son Sumer is the head of a minor <b>pan-Arab TV channel</b>, the <b>Arab News Network (ANN</b>), which functions as his father's political mouthpiece. He also claims to run a political party, of uncertain fortunes. Rifaat himself heads the <b>United National Group</b> (<span>al-tajammu` al-qawmi al-muwahhid</span>), which is another political party or alliance; it is known to have self-professed members among Rifaat's fellow exiles from SYRIA, but neither can be considered an active organization, even if they will regularly release statements in favor of Rifaat's return to SYRIA and protesting president Bashar al Assad. </i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Further, Rifaat founded the <b>Arab Democratic Party in LEBANON</b> in the early 1970s, a small Alawite sectarian/political group in LEBANON, which during the LEBANESE Civil Way acted as an armed militia loyal to the SYRIAN regime (through Rifaat).Ali Eid the general secretary of the party today, supports the SYRIAN president Bashar Al-Assad.</i></span><br /><br /> <div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>RIFAAT AL ASSAD’S TIES TO SAUDIA ARABIA<span>  </span></i></b></span></div><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>Numerous rumors tie Rifaat al-Assad to various foreign interests.</i></span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>Rifaat is considered close, by some observers, to <b>King Abdullah of SAUDI ARABIA</b>. Abdullah is married to a sister of Rifaat's wife, and Rifaat has on occasions—even after his public estrangement from the rulers in SYRIA—been invited to SAUDI ARABIA, with pictures of him and the royal family displayed in the state-controlled press.</i></span><br /><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>It is claimed that Rifaat is reputed to have turned even to ISRAEL asking for assistance, and that he has initiated contacts with exiled representatives of the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD. After the IRAQ war, there were press reports that he had started talks with US government representatives on helping to form a coalition with other anti-Assad groups to provide an alternative SYRIAN leadership, on the model of the IRAQI National Congress. Rifaat has held a meeting with the former IRAQI Prime Minister, the director of the <b>US Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare</b>, has stated that Rifaat enjoys support from both AMERICA and SAUDI ARABIA; he has been featured in the SAUDI press as visiting the royal family in 2007. The Bashar regime remains wary of his intentions and carefully monitors his activities.</i></span><br /><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>Rifaat was mentioned by the influential AMERICAN think tank Stratfor as a possible suspect for the 2005 bombing that killed LEBANESE ex-prime minister Rafiq Harari and the string of attacks that has struck Beirut after the subsequent SYRIAN withdrawal. The goal would be to destabilize the SYRIAN regime. However, there has been no mention of Rifaat in the UNITED NATIONS reports on the crime.</i></span><br /><br /> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">(See <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/syrien.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/syrien.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="DE-AT"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/syria-iran-north-korea-and-istanbul.html"><span lang="EN-US">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/syria-iran-north-korea-and-istanbul.html</span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="DE-AT"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/syria-full-out-propaganda-war.html"><span lang="EN-US">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/syria-full-out-propaganda-war.html</span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="DE-AT"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/syrian-missiles-will-pre-empt-any.html"><span lang="EN-US">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/syrian-missiles-will-pre-empt-any.html</span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="DE-AT"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/syria.html"><span lang="EN-US">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/syria.html</span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="DE-AT"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/news-about-syria-information-or.html"><span lang="EN-US">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/news-about-syria-information-or.html</span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/06/assad-dilemma.html%20">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/06/assad-dilemma.html </a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/truth-nothing-but-truth.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/truth-nothing-but-truth.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/01/syrias-destiny-sealed.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/01/syrias-destiny-sealed.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><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></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/06/syrian-regime-likely-to-survive-upraise.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/06/syrian-regime-likely-to-survive-upraise.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/06/nato-rules-out-military-intervention-in.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/06/nato-rules-out-military-intervention-in.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/08/food-for-thought.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/08/food-for-thought.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/11/syria-international-war-mongering-or.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/11/syria-international-war-mongering-or.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/11/food-for-thought.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/11/food-for-thought.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/12/as-i-see-it.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/12/as-i-see-it.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html</a>)</span></span></div>

SYRIA: SWITCHING PERCEPTION

SYRIA AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY: A SUDDEN SWITCH IN PERCEPTION?  Since the beginning of the SYRIAN crisis Geopolitical Analysis and ...

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