News for today's 2018

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

Alawite Symbol SECTARIAN EQUATION Julius Caesar Act 3, scene 1 William Shakespeare “Blood and destruction,” “dreadful objects,” and “pit...

IWS Babe of the Week: Our HOT IWS Friends

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Each and every Sunday on the IWS website, we typically highlight a famous actress, actresses, or celebrities <strike>who may be trending and would provide good traffic for our website</strike> whom we truly love.<br /><br />However, today?<br /><br />Because of things that have transpired over the last few days, which will remain sub rosa until Wednesday's show, we'd like to<strike> excoriate</strike>, illuminate some of the hot babes who listen to, read, and/or otherwise take out cease and desist orders toward IWS Radio, and Jay and I.<br /><br />First up...<i>The Schmoopster.</i>  This chick has been adored, canonized, and well, at the same time, made fun of on more than one occasion by Jay and Matt...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBm-1_p7p3fZpqS70bNz4JxJzRPWrS8txZXcx9tC0tCAKGaPTQEDCNRVUK1U6iZ34Nu-Wo-Q1FrLiKZ8qDd32D7tyr-4w0WmyPfPCOWfIbLYFr3QsWWChrUvIwbwSdeqTdFxr9EvLBDgs/s1600/SchmoopBanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBm-1_p7p3fZpqS70bNz4JxJzRPWrS8txZXcx9tC0tCAKGaPTQEDCNRVUK1U6iZ34Nu-Wo-Q1FrLiKZ8qDd32D7tyr-4w0WmyPfPCOWfIbLYFr3QsWWChrUvIwbwSdeqTdFxr9EvLBDgs/s400/SchmoopBanner.jpg" width="381" /></a></div><br />On deck, we have the lovely Missalicious.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVXhDJpQf678RM8Bhim2yAS1id6yTs3aIFn0lKOi6WXj97ZBn96rEbivmdczfTpGHfdxJJM4tKKWkdZSewu7HfyFv7VXcBX_aD_BF9cRQbeJm4ChQP1irL3kB2duvuWxqD6MXzBo8aoTg/s1600/Missy+Cali+Love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVXhDJpQf678RM8Bhim2yAS1id6yTs3aIFn0lKOi6WXj97ZBn96rEbivmdczfTpGHfdxJJM4tKKWkdZSewu7HfyFv7VXcBX_aD_BF9cRQbeJm4ChQP1irL3kB2duvuWxqD6MXzBo8aoTg/s400/Missy+Cali+Love.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Now Missy has done a fundraiser for us.  She also offers plentiful advice to us, such as...<br /><br /><i>"If I knew when I agreed to do your show that there would be no bagels in the Green Room, I would have told to you two cheap bastards to forget it...Uuch."</i><br /><br />Of course there is always the uber-lovely <a href="http://www.artmustdie.com/"><i><span style="color: blue;">Jo</span></i></a>.  She is so damn hot...especially when she wears ponytails and cruises the High Schools in hopes of a tawdry and illegal affair...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZKNDj95pYcVwojMVk7D26OvnSOnMdvfdD8byCaKEVNjSb7iLoRWtE7A05VKhyshFNQZgUUZkL1tZLvIB_5YIAxaYgUcKFiv3tKGvhTNtQ3agsLwsZ6UY6WLTdwgWcTRqEbAksL3xXeA/s1600/jo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZKNDj95pYcVwojMVk7D26OvnSOnMdvfdD8byCaKEVNjSb7iLoRWtE7A05VKhyshFNQZgUUZkL1tZLvIB_5YIAxaYgUcKFiv3tKGvhTNtQ3agsLwsZ6UY6WLTdwgWcTRqEbAksL3xXeA/s400/jo2.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><br />And then, we have Jayman's BFF Warrior Kat.  Kat is a nurse, and if she ever said to me that this test requires that she quickly and painfully stick a needle into my scrotum, I would still answer, <i>"Oh Yeah, Baby. Do it three times for accuracy!!"</i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5VAj_CHUBOrGoT1dK3LgRz3ucoxuNKifh027UrF3Ui9SEn7aWOfeK7sOjmwufA4Iuezp-HWBsp2LNcbkOQwKYCNN3Orne_RSiHJUmsu6LkerBQCzGEM0vNCdk_aRx0FVTogoxlQnW3WA/s1600/Kat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5VAj_CHUBOrGoT1dK3LgRz3ucoxuNKifh027UrF3Ui9SEn7aWOfeK7sOjmwufA4Iuezp-HWBsp2LNcbkOQwKYCNN3Orne_RSiHJUmsu6LkerBQCzGEM0vNCdk_aRx0FVTogoxlQnW3WA/s400/Kat.jpg" width="378" /></a></div><br />Hell...While we make fun of her often, we love when <i><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://amidlifescrises.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Dana</span></a> </span></i>escapes her mythical Accounting Meeting and joins us most Wednesdays...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8Zo0x2xPEEJp2AwlXNep8m_fV9Y4nMWELx3zQSXrqYuXcY9xLrJke1Zrp2zK2EIqJJsZX4FHzRY3rUXouV01H_tVF6_VeQAwgPBDroBOG7pl9NqY22H-AL6dmNKsuEMMcX1opRxaEtw/s1600/Dana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8Zo0x2xPEEJp2AwlXNep8m_fV9Y4nMWELx3zQSXrqYuXcY9xLrJke1Zrp2zK2EIqJJsZX4FHzRY3rUXouV01H_tVF6_VeQAwgPBDroBOG7pl9NqY22H-AL6dmNKsuEMMcX1opRxaEtw/s400/Dana.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />And then of course...There is Tamara.  Tamra is one hard nosed, hard rocking chick, who...loves the animals and tries to save all of those whom she can...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLoabnq5RBJ9qkmUf8TaBpM6nuaHotv6zkey_LPw5A_j_GgvZrcZP_Y9eRGimr_X2fewMtfFh1kAligHN2rwisTO-I-i3ylfcoCWPiuEULe7hNUDM6Cb4Kmd8vs7-yWXIq90Mkmg3ltIg/s1600/Tamra+Tree+BW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLoabnq5RBJ9qkmUf8TaBpM6nuaHotv6zkey_LPw5A_j_GgvZrcZP_Y9eRGimr_X2fewMtfFh1kAligHN2rwisTO-I-i3ylfcoCWPiuEULe7hNUDM6Cb4Kmd8vs7-yWXIq90Mkmg3ltIg/s400/Tamra+Tree+BW.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Yeah, celebrity Bitches are perceived as hot many times, but seriously?<br /><br />Jay and I are blessed with boatload of hot chicks who listen to us, and more importantly, hot chicks whom we consider our friends.<br /><br />Annnnnnd....We will be broadcasting<a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2012/10/21/when-we-were-18"> <i><span style="color: blue;">LIVE</span></i></a> today at NOON ET as we talk about when we were 18 years old.<br /><br />As Matt-Man's son Ryno will turn 18 on Wednesday we thought it to be the perfect time to re-live our glory days when we were 18.<br /><br />Join us LIVE today at NOON ET on <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2012/10/21/when-we-were-18"><span style="color: blue;"><i>BTR</i></span> </a>as we discuss our youth and you can listen and chime in as well by clicking <i><a href="http://http//www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2012/10/21/when-we-were-18">HERE.</a></i><br /><br /><i>Cheers!!</i></div>

IWS Babe of the Week: Our HOT IWS Friends

Each and every Sunday on the IWS website, we typically highlight a famous actress, actresses, or celebrities who may be trending and would ...

TÜRKEI

8:20 PM Tukiyooo 0

<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/AVvXsEgXJrZ5PD9qAqtsJCMjZcIF-cbKKbtv6t0_mLtNx_tDNhjePsoaJuKFKEdVvlZ8apsgRaXhSEaj6ZHWlaOPgiSQFRyXIsHD3KEaYb8e6QeNU9Wg5MheU2qS9c3jt9IT1Jk-L_y83nDv3qK6/s1600/Ottoman_Empire_Coat_of_Arms_by_TurkForce.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJrZ5PD9qAqtsJCMjZcIF-cbKKbtv6t0_mLtNx_tDNhjePsoaJuKFKEdVvlZ8apsgRaXhSEaj6ZHWlaOPgiSQFRyXIsHD3KEaYb8e6QeNU9Wg5MheU2qS9c3jt9IT1Jk-L_y83nDv3qK6/s320/Ottoman_Empire_Coat_of_Arms_by_TurkForce.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b>Ottoman Em<span style="color: red;">pire Coat of Arms</span></b></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">MIT ALLER GEWALT</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 lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ankara ist auf der Suche nach seiner Rolle in der Region. Jetzt muss sich Erdogan mit den alten Feinden ISRAEL und KURDISTAN auseinandersetzen, will er seine Stellung im Nahen Osten wahren.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Nachdem SYRIEN im vergangenen Juni einen türkischen Kampfjet abgeschossen hatte, wurden in ISRAEL Stimmen laut, denen zufolge der Abschuss den TÜRKEN gerade recht kam: Ankara suchte nur nach einer militärischen Legitimation, um selbst eine bewaffnete Intervention in SYRIEN zu starten. </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 lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In dieses Kalkül passte der Angriff natürlich perfekt. Und sollte der Zwischenfall nicht ausgereicht haben, dann gab es spätestens mit dem tragischen Vorfall vor einigen Tagen ausreichend Zündstoff für weitere Aggressionen: Fünf Zivilisten, darunter drei Kinder, wurden bei dem Angriff auf die TÜRKISCHE Grenzstadt Akçakale durch Mörsergranaten getötet.</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 lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Prompt entschuldigte sich SYRIEN und erklärte der UN, dass es sich um einen Unfall gehandelt habe. Trotzdem war der politische Schaden zu groß, um den Vorfall mit einem Pressestatement glattzubügeln: Das Parlament in Ankara segnete kurz darauf ein Gesetz ab, dass es der TÜRKEI erlaubt, „im Verteidigungsfall“ militärisch zu intervenieren, auch jenseits der eigenen Grenze.</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="color: blue;"><b><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ANKARA UND DAS STREBEN NACH EINFLUSS</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 lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Klar ist, dass die TÜRKEN eine dominantere Rolle im SYRISCHEN Konflikt spielen wollen, sei es mit diplomatischen oder militärischen Mitteln. Diese Entscheidung ist von zentraler Bedeutung, weil sie signalisiert, worauf die TÜRKISCHE Strategie im NAHEN OSTEN hinausläuft. In letzter Zeit hatte Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan mit einer Art „neo-ottomanischen“ Plan auf sich aufmerksam gemacht, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.linkiesta.it/turchia-siria-ottomano" target="_blank"><span lang="DE-AT">den sein Außenminister Ahmet Davutoglu ausgearbeitet hatte</span></a></span><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">. Die TÜRKISCHE Strategie war es immer, sowohl wirtschaftlich als auch politisch an Einfluss zu gewinnen. </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 lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Mit Nachdruck hat die Regierung in Ankara beispielsweise die Handelsbeziehungen zu den südlichen Nachbarn intensiviert – und das nicht zufällig. Bis zur Eskalation des Konflikts vor eineinhalb Jahren sahen viele Beobachter SYRIEN als „die TÜRKEI vor 30 Jahren“, ein Land voller Potenzial. Dieses Potenzial wollte Ankara nutzen.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Politisch wollte man sich gleichzeitig als Musterbeispiel einer islamistisch-demokratischen Alternative zum IRAN darstellen. Die Abstecher türkischer Handelsflotten in den Gaza-Streifen zahlten auf diese Taktik ein: Primär waren die Fahrten als humanitäre Expeditionen zum Nutzen der Palästinenser geplant, aber natürlich wollte Ankara damit auch ISRAEL diskreditieren und für seine Vormachtstellung in der Region werben. Zudem hoffte man in der TÜRKEI darauf, die Beziehungen zu RUSSLAND zu verbessern: Neben Kooperation in Energiefragen (die TÜRKEI ist die Schlüsselstelle zwischen Ost und West) träumte Erdogan schon lange von engerer politischer Zusammenarbeit, ungeachtet der zahlreichen Kriege, die beide Länder in den vergangenen Jahrhunderten angezettelt haben.</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="color: blue;"><b><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">GESCHEITERTER NEO-OTTOMANISMUS </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 lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Doch allen Bemühungen zum Trotz ist der Neo-Ottomanismus gescheitert. Es ist immer deutlicher geworden, dass der „ARABISCHE Frühling“ kaum frühlingshaft war, und außerdem eher „islamistisch“ als arabisch. Es ist ein Islamismus, aus dem sich kein konfessionsübergreifendes Bekenntnis zu Frieden und Liebe ableiten lässt, sondern der lokal (beinahe auf Stammesebene) verharrt. In ÄGYPTEN, TUNESIEN und LIBYEN werden vor allem Eigeninteressen verfolgt – auf die TÜRKEI schaut dort niemand. In den anderen Ländern der arabischen Welt, in den alten sunnitischen Königreichen, mit oder ohne Ölreichtum, regiert ohnehin schon seit dem Ende der „richtigen“ arabischen Revolution 1918 der Konservativismus.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></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/AVvXsEiCviYVViVOUwo4WMOrcSyy5FBQ6AJu_hudHkYZb-KppnqPG4NonTE9bxvatyTXKqgdOuy62AQPuTK6mtXeC6v02qJNMIvsXyz6_PXuk58NSgNvIMHmXJjFKCZh2cf9Wgxh1Bc8xlxZDRmV/s1600/flotilla02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCviYVViVOUwo4WMOrcSyy5FBQ6AJu_hudHkYZb-KppnqPG4NonTE9bxvatyTXKqgdOuy62AQPuTK6mtXeC6v02qJNMIvsXyz6_PXuk58NSgNvIMHmXJjFKCZh2cf9Wgxh1Bc8xlxZDRmV/s320/flotilla02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ein Zwischenfall illustriert die Machtlosigkeit der TÜRKEI: Als ISRAEL die Handelsflotte auf dem Weg von der TÜRKEI nach Gaza stoppte, sprang aus der Kontroverse nicht einmal etwas für die TÜRKEI heraus. <b>Neben Friedensaktivisten waren auch mehrere Vertreter der Muslimbrüder an Bord</b>. Zwar gibt es auch unter den Islamisten gemäßigte Fraktionen, doch die Einstellung der Muslimbrüder ist zumindest zweifelhaft. Konservative Quellen </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/muslim-brotherhoods-flotilla" target="_blank"><span lang="DE-AT">aus den USA</span></a></span><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> und </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://jcpa.org/text/Turkey_Muslim_Brotherhood.pdf" target="_blank"><span lang="DE-AT">aus ISRAEL</span></a></span><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> behaupten, dass es den Muslimbrüdern vor allem um das Knüpfen von Kontakten zur Hamas gegangen sei. Egal ob die Vorwürfe stimmen: ISRAEL war verärgert und die TÜRKEI konnte keine eigenen Erfolge vorweisen.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">GELD STATT ABENTEUER</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 lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">An diesem Beispiel wird auch deutlich, wie eng politischer und wirtschaftlicher Erfolg der TÜRKEI verzahnt sind – und welche Rolle ISRAEL spielt. Nach der Verschärfung der Sanktionen gegen den IRAN und nach dem Ausbruch mehrerer Bürgerkriege in der Region war ISRAEL das einzige Land, das weiterhin blühende Handelsbeziehungen mit der TÜRKEI hatte – und das, obwohl Erdogan sein Bestes tat, um eine enge Zusammenarbeit zu verhindern. Fröhlich </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/122840/premier-says-turkey-suspended-all-military-aareements-and-commercial-relations-with-israel.html" target="_blank"><span lang="DE-AT">erklärte er im September 2011</span></a></span><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">, dass er dabei sei, „jedes militärische oder wirtschaftliche Abkommen mit ISRAEL zu suspendieren“. Der bilaterale Handel boomte trotzdem und stieg im Jahr 2011 sogar über die Marke von vier Milliarden US-Dollar. Mehr noch: Bis die israelischen Streitkräfte eines der nach Gaza fahrenden Schiffe, die „Mai Marmara“, am 31. Mai 2012 angriffen, wuchs der ISRAELISCH-TÜRKISCHE Außenhandel um mehr als ein Drittel. Tourismus ist da noch nicht einmal mit eingerechnet: Eine halbe Million junger ISRAELIS verbrachte ihren Urlaub bisher jedes Jahr in den TÜRKISCHEN Massenressorts voller Fastfood und Nachtclubs. Jetzt ist diese Zahl auf 60.000 gefallen – zum Missfallen der Unternehmer in Bodrum oder Antalya: Ihnen geht es um das Geld ISRAELISCHER Touristen, nicht um waghalsige maritime Abenteuer der eigenen Regierung. </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><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Hintergrund Informationen</span></u></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">:</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Israeli Exports to Turkey rise 42% to equal exports to Germany</span></i></b></span><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/01/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil.html"><span lang="EN-US">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/01/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil.html</span></a></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html</a></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.economywatch.com/economy-business-and-finance-news/turkey-israel-economic-relations-continue-despite-tensions-16-08.html">http://www.economywatch.com/economy-business-and-finance-news/turkey-israel-economic-relations-continue-despite-tensions-16-08.html</a></span></i></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: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The two countries recently signed a cooperation agreement relating to the protection of natural gas drilling sites</span></i></b></span><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></i></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: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The visit comes against a backdrop of worsening relations between ISRAEL and TURKEY following the May 2010 <b>TURKISH flotilla incident, which is cited as the official reason for the rift between the countries but in reality it has always been because of the gas and oil findings</b>and TURKEY’s double edged strategies of recent past. </span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html</a></span></i></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="color: blue;"><b><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">DIE ÖKONOMISCHE SITUATION MACHTE ES NUN SOGAR NOTWENDIG, DIE HALTUNG GEGENÜBER DER KURDISCHEN MINDERHEIT ZU ÜBERDENKEN</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><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/AVvXsEjKM0omjut_4DVNm-pyaHQPGjmJdofNkMUfwGHKIRKccLnrUjGubgfWhLjRcKaSVfPBlJdM0oEjl5NXdAx0nsHIqLZXCEinbA5ZczZEFe143Ougpxk_p7uSxlGdqIAQotKUZQogZuwY0Lzx/s1600/photo+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKM0omjut_4DVNm-pyaHQPGjmJdofNkMUfwGHKIRKccLnrUjGubgfWhLjRcKaSVfPBlJdM0oEjl5NXdAx0nsHIqLZXCEinbA5ZczZEFe143Ougpxk_p7uSxlGdqIAQotKUZQogZuwY0Lzx/s400/photo+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Im Übrigen genießt die TÜRKEI einen Exportüberschuss gegenüber ISRAEL. Es wäre wenig durchdacht, diesen wachsenden Markt – einen der wenigen funktionierenden Märkte in der Region – zu gefährden. Die ökonomische Situation machte es nun sogar notwendig, die Haltung gegenüber der KURDISCHEN Minderheit zu überdenken. Die TÜRKEI versucht, sich vor allem mit den im IRAK lebenden KURDEN gut zu stellen, und überdenkt daher auch die Behandlung der KURDISCHEN Minderheit im eigenen Land. Dank der föderalen Struktur des IRAKS können nun auch Ölabkommen ausschließlich mit dem NORDIRAK getroffen werden, ohne sich mit den chaotischen Strukturen der Zentralregierung in Bagdad auseinandersetzen zu müssen. TÜRKISCHE Firmen beziehen das Öl von IRAKISCHEN Kurden, raffinieren es und verkaufen es dann zurück oder pumpen es in Richtung der eigenen Verbraucher.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Hintergrund Informationen</span></u></b><b><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">:</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/double-dealing-in-iraq-and-syria.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/double-dealing-in-iraq-and-syria.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY'S GAMBLE ON KURDISTAN OIL</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html"><span lang="EN-US">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html</span></a></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 lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Doch allen TÜRKISCHEN Annäherungsversuchen zum Trotz haben KURDISCHE Organisationen – und vor allem die PKK – weiterhin wenig Sympathie für Ankara. Die PKK argumentiert, dass es trotz einiger Zugeständnisse keine Einigung bei den wirklich wichtigen Fragen von politischer Repräsentation und Autonomie gibt. Vorigen August hat die Organisation sogar eine TÜRKISCHE Polizeistation nahe Sirnak mit Granaten angegriffen – und das ist lediglich ein Beispiel für die seit Jahren wachsenden Spannungen. Es überrascht nicht, dass jetzt Gerüchte laut werden, SYRIEN habe die KURDISCHEN Rebellen unterstützt und ihnen beispielsweise Waffen geliefert oder Ausbildungslager organisiert.</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="color: blue;"><b><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">DIE TÜRKEI UND DIE REALPOLITIK</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 lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Und RUSSLAND? Erdogan war sicherlich bewusst, dass er sich in der SYRIEN-Frage nicht auf Moskau verlassen kann, gerade wegen der russischen Interessen in der Region. Israel zu schwächen würde ihm deshalb nicht dabei helfen, die Fühler bis nach JORDANIEN oder ÄGYPTEN auszustrecken. Vielmehr würde es dazu beitragen, die Position der Hisbollah im SÜDLIBANON zu stärken – also genau die Gruppe, die Assad als IRANISCH-RUSSISCHE Puppe im Amt hält. Es ist kein Zufall, dass der IRAN Hisbollah neuerdings mit technischem Know-how für den Bau von Drohnen unterstützt, um damit über ISRAELISCHES Gebiet zu fliegen. Auch in SYRIEN sollen Hisbollah-Kämpfer </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-calls-for-ceasefire-to-extract-its-fighters-from-syria-rebels-report/" target="_blank"><span lang="DE-AT">für das Assad-Regime aktiv sein</span></a></span><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Insgesamt muss die TÜRKEI sich immer mehr von ihren „neo-ottomanischen“ Plänen verabschieden und der Realpolitik zuwenden. Für Erdogan gilt es, sich mit alten „Feinden“ ISRAEL und KURDISTAN auseinanderzusetzen, um den Schlüssel für den Nahostkonflikt zu finden. Eine solche Lösung ist politisch und wirtschaftlich heikel – umso mehr, seitdem wir </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21552216" target="_blank"><span lang="DE-AT">die Wahrheit</span></a></span><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> über die TÜRKISCHE Wirtschaft und die hohe Inflationsrate kennen. Es wird sich noch herausstellen, ob der Versuch, eine islamische Nationalidentität aufzubauen und das kemalistische Jahrhundert hinter sich zu lassen, eine realistische Perspektive ist.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>ByStefano Casertano</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Via The European</i><span lang="DE-AT" style="mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;"></span></div>

TÜRKEI

Ottoman Em pire Coat of Arms MIT ALLER GEWALT Ankara ist auf der Suche nach seiner Rolle in der Region. Jetzt muss sich Erdogan mit den alt...

IRAN

6:38 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLypZf8sKLIdwrq8uj1RUrAvuKqLciG0SHRrzCwAYEovfELZBmazn9iRj481gO8wnwOpimmTyPDbOOeP3uXkThp06Su3ewZnM1uGqa-THE2daPym8pMwrx1Rdrh-KTBcFwUWKY1NRFuge/s1600/6a00d83451608369e200e552e6415c8834-800pi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLypZf8sKLIdwrq8uj1RUrAvuKqLciG0SHRrzCwAYEovfELZBmazn9iRj481gO8wnwOpimmTyPDbOOeP3uXkThp06Su3ewZnM1uGqa-THE2daPym8pMwrx1Rdrh-KTBcFwUWKY1NRFuge/s320/6a00d83451608369e200e552e6415c8834-800pi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">WEAPON FOR CHANGE - DEMOGRAPHY</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><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";"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">WHILE THE U.S. PURPORTS TO HAVE A STRATEGY FOR NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS, WHY IS THERE NO STRATEGY FOR WOOING THE YOUNG IN IRAN?</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"Death to AMERICA" has been the rallying cry of IRAN'S Islamic Revolution since the late 70s, and images of IRANIAN radicals chanting the regime's favorite slogan have made a lasting impression in AMERICAN minds.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But there is a huge misunderstanding in the West about IRANIANS as religious fanatics. For many young IRANIANS, hatred of their own government is all consuming, and they stand fiercely against the corrupt religious regime. So why wouldn't we consider anyone who hates the current IRANIAN regime as possible allies?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SEVENTY PERCENT OF IRAN'S 74 MILLION PEOPLE ARE UNDER 35</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">and have no real memory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Fifty percent of the IRANIAN population is under 25 and very well educated. Many of these young people joined the democracy protests in 2009, but were severely beaten and are now afraid to speak out against their country. While the 2009 demonstrations didn't lead to an EGYPT-style revolution, they did permanently alter the landscape of IRANIAN politics.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2h2drJtntKgiiLfDUWhAExhze0ZeJfsxJl71Sp1zSnNbufmNjPTOZDxopEt2bnaw0lWe2MxNRUV5JE5mWnFLbt7BiPX6JVPouEXcowDlnGZJqEU0mEA-_tr1K5J7xg9RFucws7SOVXBg1/s1600/popiran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2h2drJtntKgiiLfDUWhAExhze0ZeJfsxJl71Sp1zSnNbufmNjPTOZDxopEt2bnaw0lWe2MxNRUV5JE5mWnFLbt7BiPX6JVPouEXcowDlnGZJqEU0mEA-_tr1K5J7xg9RFucws7SOVXBg1/s640/popiran.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">To the dismay of the IRANIAN government, and despite their strong arming tactics, their youth often look upon the UNITED STATES, if not warmly, at least with some jealousy. Many young IRANIANS have access to the Internet and satellite television, which is banned but still widely used. And they long for what AMERICANS enjoy: freedom, liberty, equality and justice. They often describe themselves as the "burnt generation," and many young IRANIAN bloggers say they await the opportunity to once again take to the streets to express their disapproval of their spiritual leadership's aggressive policies.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">IRAN IS ONE OF THE MOST TECH-SAVVY SOCIETIES</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Broadcasting Board of Governors conducted a phone survey in March and reported that over one third of IRANIANS watch satellite television. The IRANIAN police go house to house and take the dishes away, but most do not issue any fines. Pirated music, videos and video games are also widespread. Many IRANIAN youths push the legal limits sometimes to a breaking point. Millions go to websites such as Facebook that are blocked by the government but accessible to anyone with some technical knowledge. IRAN is one of the most tech-savvy societies in the developing world, with an estimated 28 million Internet users, led by youth.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">According to the UNITED STATES Institute of Peace, "IRANIAN youth are among the most politically active in the 57 nations of the Islamic world and represent one of the greatest long-term threats to the current form of theocratic rule. IRAN'S youth are increasingly pivotal to elections. After the 1979 revolution, the voting age was lowered to 15, but later raised to 16 then 18, as the theocrats recognized the youth's political power. The young constitute nearly 40 percent of the electorate, a number expected to grow over the next decade. Whether they vote, and how, will be a major factor in the 2013 parliamentary elections, the regime's next official test."</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">IRAN is one of the youngest societies in the world, skewing politics, the economy and social pressures, and the sheer number of well-educated youth is one of the biggest threats to the current regime. But even with a university degree, it takes two to three years to find a job, and many are chronically unemployed, left frustrated, angry and ready for change. According to the IMF, IRAN has one of the world's highest rates of brain drain.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table 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/AVvXsEja17z19k-87FWHXuvRhhJcuDcE2-MYEQ43e6l00eN2FfqBEnnX5RIsAqeo6IOsExW05JGTrJpzFMNojjEEpOPwGp7rGYp8Kja0ZqhmScGQZVd3Cq-TwDyb7fFxlN7hEd4nL_8UJJB606el/s1600/Youth-Unemployment-in-Iran.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja17z19k-87FWHXuvRhhJcuDcE2-MYEQ43e6l00eN2FfqBEnnX5RIsAqeo6IOsExW05JGTrJpzFMNojjEEpOPwGp7rGYp8Kja0ZqhmScGQZVd3Cq-TwDyb7fFxlN7hEd4nL_8UJJB606el/s640/Youth-Unemployment-in-Iran.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Youth unemployment in Iran</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In April, <i>Al Arabiya News</i>reported, "The increasing infighting between Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad has given even more hope to the many young IRANIANS in the pro-democracy movement. The infighting between these leaders is more than an indication of their lack of popular support. It is a sign of their weakness and myopia, not to mention a golden opportunity for young reformers to swoop in. It may happen during the next presidential election in mid-2013 or it may happen sooner, but whatever the case, sometime soon political power will land in the laps of young IRANIANS. When it does, change will follow. In the meantime, the children of the Islamic Revolution are still stirring, and as the old chaps fight among themselves, young women and men are setting the stage for a new day in IRANIAN politics."</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Rising education, erosion of government restrictions on information and an expanding middle class are the key to change in IRAN. Given some time to let the young mature and have children of their own, IRAN could become more like TURKEY in the future.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">So while the U.S. purports to have a strategy for nuclear negotiations, why is there no strategy for wooing the young in IRAN?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A war with IRAN will only strengthen the hatred IRANIANS have for the West, including the on-the-fence burnt generation. The West should consider using the IRANIAN youth—not bombs—as their weapon for change.</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; 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 Teri Schure</span></div>

IRAN

WEAPON FOR CHANGE - DEMOGRAPHY WHILE THE U.S. PURPORTS TO HAVE A STRATEGY FOR NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS, WHY IS THERE NO STRATEGY FOR WOOING THE...

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