News for today's 2018

NEW MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD SYMBOL: R4BIA

1:02 PM Tukiyooo 0

<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/AVvXsEjZBQ6hQ8O6H-7llmOj_R9Gum6w5ZaSS_AOz78AjjcxbRgFBg8vwRD4Z9RHCDZcifpASQSovd2We7de-3zSB7U7A6Wf8UfuM9U_v3Nes3BigwTUApxm_RZxLP9tCs_wuEfzwFiOH63kRyxc/s1600/RABIA-R4BIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBQ6hQ8O6H-7llmOj_R9Gum6w5ZaSS_AOz78AjjcxbRgFBg8vwRD4Z9RHCDZcifpASQSovd2We7de-3zSB7U7A6Wf8UfuM9U_v3Nes3BigwTUApxm_RZxLP9tCs_wuEfzwFiOH63kRyxc/s400/RABIA-R4BIA.jpg" width="393" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Photo obtained from original article via Crethiplethi</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #233f55; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: #233f55; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Four-fingered hand sign:</span></span></b> Symbol of Islamic Radicalism?  </span></span></b><br /><b><span style="color: #233f55; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></span></span></b><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">By Dawn Perlmutter</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">, Director and founder of Symbol & Ritual Intelligence and Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum is considered one of the leading subject matter experts (SME) in the areas of symbols, unfamiliar customs, ritualistic crimes and religious violence.</span></i></span></div></div><br /><b><span style="color: #233f55; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">T</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">here is a new Islamist symbol appearing in protests, on social networking sites and at demonstrations throughout the MIDDLE EAST. The symbol allegedly originated as a four-fingered hand sign by pro-Morsi protesters during demonstrations in EGYPT’S Rabia al-Adawiya Square. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The hand gesture quickly evolved into an image of the hand commonly depicted in black on a bright yellow background. It is called the “R4BIA sign.” In English it is officially spelled in capital letters and the letter “A” is replaced with the number 4. It has become the symbol of the massacre of pro-Morsi supporters in Rabia al-Adawiya Square on August 14, 2013. This new sign already has its own history, legend and mysticism and it contains all the attributes that Islamists favor in their symbology, particularly martyrdom.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RABIA MEANS FOUR OR FOURTH IN ARABIC</span></b></span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The design of the symbol has been endowed with characteristics of the sacred in Islam: the color yellow used in the background signifies the golden Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the hand depicted in the color black denotes the black cloth that covers the Kaaba. <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/AVvXsEjI5KM3yrT9nZXn0S2k6rqpRZ-MAPkrblvpzYh5hIErII_puOiYA1_fwHS9cAMJ1k-mHXHOnD1LwR-VGm-Dlf_Zal_61HmCr3gGQdvAtBElBMfiF-QNZOTOm272ew8p8STxHRgEGl1-10dk/s1600/tumblr_mjx3vrzK861r7y8qko1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5KM3yrT9nZXn0S2k6rqpRZ-MAPkrblvpzYh5hIErII_puOiYA1_fwHS9cAMJ1k-mHXHOnD1LwR-VGm-Dlf_Zal_61HmCr3gGQdvAtBElBMfiF-QNZOTOm272ew8p8STxHRgEGl1-10dk/s320/tumblr_mjx3vrzK861r7y8qko1_500.jpg" width="252" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hamsa hand symbol for Muslims and Jews</td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The official R4BIA Website alleges that protesters originated the sign and explained the meaning: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“This is the ‘Rabia sign.’ ‘Rabia’ means four or fourth in the Arabic language. The name of this square comes from Rabia al-Adawiya, a blessed lady among the pious servants of Allah. She received the name Rabia because she was the fourth child in the family. The sign is used to cherish her legacy. The second reason why this sign bears significance is the fact that Mohamed Morsi was the fourth President of EGYPT after Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak. The sign was designed to remind people of his presidency. In addition, those who gather in Tahrir Square to support the military coup prefer the V sign made with the two fingers. We cannot be the same as those people. We use and spread the Rabia sign in order to distinguish ourselves from them.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FULL-FLEDGED INTERNATIONAL R4BIA MOVEMENT</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">According to the R4BIA website, the protestors who provided the explanation for the symbol were killed with hundreds of other Muslim Brotherhood supporters who had camped out in the tent city for weeks. The violent incident and the symbol that has come to represent it have been endowed with supernatural qualities. The number four has acquired mystical connotations signified by the name of the square, the succession of EGYPTIAN presidents and the birth order of Rabia al-Adawiya. The slain supporters have been bestowed with heroic status and the Islamist honor of martyrdom and are now referred to as the “Rabia Martyrs.” A new Islamist legend was born out of the blood of EGYPTIAN protesters. It would not be surprising if pilgrimages to Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque to commemorate the new martyrs occur each year on the anniversary of the violence.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ALLEGEDLY TURKEY ENCOURAGES AND SUPPORTS THE R4BIA MOVEMENT </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The symbol is quickly evolving into a full-fledged R4BIA movement. A mythology surrounding the R4BIA martyrs is emerging. One of the new myths is that the blessings of the new martyrs are responsible for spreading the symbol beyond EGYPT’S national borders to become the symbol of awakening to the global Muslim community. Although the new blessed martyrs are getting credit for spreading the message, they are receiving a lot of help from the Muslim Brotherhood propaganda machine and TURKISH Islamists. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A TURKISH website R4BIA.com has been launched in three languages, ARABIC, ENGLISH and TURKISH, explaining the origin of the symbol and promoting a R4BIA movement. R4BIA.com contains photos and videos of protesters and includes a R4BIA song whose lyrics are comprised of the writings of Sayyid Qutb, an influential leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and the father of violent Islamism.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The site also contains a video showing family photos and the letter written by senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Beltagy to his 17-year-old daughter Asma, who was shot and killed during the protests. The letter will become a classic in Muslim Brotherhood propaganda, as it includes a heart rending eulogy filled with the symbolism of female martyrs as brides of paradise when her father describes her death in a dream as a wedding.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SYMBOL ALLEGEDLY ORIGINATES FROM TURKEY</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A section of the website that reveals the true significance of the R4BIA symbol and the fledgling movement posits the question: “What is R4BIA?” The anonymous web master claims the responses were compiled from a selection of interpretations provided by Muslims around the world. They read:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is a symbol of freedom</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the birth of a new movement for freedom and justice</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the birth of a new world</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the return of Muslims to world stage</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA means justice, freedom and conscience</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the place where the so-called values of the West collapsed</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA means the Egyptian heroes who became free by dying</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is Egypt, Syria, Palestine and the whole geography of Islam</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the name of those who wake all the Islamic world with their death</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the place of people who show the death is a revival</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is our daughter Asma</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the grandchildren of Hasan Al Banna</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the new name of our children who will change the world</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is a new breath to humanity</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is justice for everyone against rotten Western values</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the soul of a free man and a free woman</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the tear, the sadness, the sobbing</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the joy, the happiness, the good news</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the child, the woman, the young, the old</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is a man like a man</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is straight as an Aleef, humble as Waw</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is a pure martyrdom</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is a new world</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is Ummah</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is solidarity, togetherness, brotherhood</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is unification of Islamic World</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the shame of the accomplice of the massacres</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the end of munafiqeen who support the massacres</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the end of oil sheikhs</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the end of capitalists</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the end of Zionists</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the end of immoral press</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">RABIA is the arena of martyrdom</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is the mother of martyrs</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-small;">R4BIA is a smiling martyrdom</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; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Many activists on social media have confirmed that the sign originated in TURKEY, which officially opposed the military coup in EGYPT. TURKISH Prime Minister Erdogan was one of the first to promote the R4BIA hand sign during a speech on August 17 when he saluted crowds several times with the four-finger sign. TURKISH footballers also began to use the hand sign after scoring goals, soon after the symbol became popular on TURKISH social media. It used to take years, sometimes decades, for a symbol to achieve global recognition, however, in the age of technology, with Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and the Internet, this new Islamist sign went viral in days. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Although the R4BIA symbol may have originally signified solidarity with massacred protesters, the meaning and the imagery has rapidly been radicalized to embody the primary concepts of Islamist propaganda: honor, heroism and martyrdom in the goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate. Images of the R4BIA symbol now include the fingers being depicted as rifles, the hand holding the black flag of jihad and writing on the hand calling for an Islamic Caliphate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Perhaps many of those holding placards, wearing t-shirts and raising the four-finger salute do not understand the radical implications. Similar to movie stars and students who wear keffiyeh scarves, they may just assume it’s a cool, hip solidarity thing to do. However, there is no doubt that the Muslim Brotherhood understands the significance of disguising their true Islamist agenda, which is why they rebranded their name to the Freedom and Justice Party and removed images of the Quran and crossed swords from their logo.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The R4BIA sign is not a benign peace symbol; it is a symbol of resistance, Islamism, martyrdom, and a visual call to arms comparable to the black flag of jihad. The black hand on the bright yellow background is appropriately similar to highway warning signs that caution us against danger and indicate a hazard ahead on the road that may not be readily apparent.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></i></div>

NEW MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD SYMBOL: R4BIA

Photo obtained from original article via Crethiplethi Four-fingered hand sign: Symbol of Islamic Radicalism? By Dawn Perlmutter , Directo...

It's Caturday

11:42 AM Tukiyooo 0

It's Caturday

Jeeze, change the cat litter already!

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken on a cool Shenandoah Valley day

10:23 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP3ICxbDvXKY748p3TMfmIB8Oc3oL0AnV_7SyYBQQL28ARqk-l70kwXKrGTZlEyXPg3UWIf4EVDdDBXczG9B-wD2rrZDHyrEKAQFfqwDMbxXFbiy-EKK_nBxfG8p79pomOJRgkdCB3PmeE/s1600/Santa+Fe+Soup+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP3ICxbDvXKY748p3TMfmIB8Oc3oL0AnV_7SyYBQQL28ARqk-l70kwXKrGTZlEyXPg3UWIf4EVDdDBXczG9B-wD2rrZDHyrEKAQFfqwDMbxXFbiy-EKK_nBxfG8p79pomOJRgkdCB3PmeE/s400/Santa+Fe+Soup+photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />It was cool this morning in the Shenandoah Valley. In fact, it was downright brisk as the thermometer hit 43 degrees overnight signaling fall is on its way and time to complete those chores that must be done before winter.<br /><br />Because of the cool in the air, it was a good morning to put the crock pot to use because there's nothing like comfort food when the temps drop. Today's offering is <a href="http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/02/crock-pot-santa-fe-chicken-425-pts.html">Santa Fe Chicken</a>, a spicy, yummy combination of chicken, tomatoes, chilies, black beans, corn, and more, and I doubled the batch to make enough to share. It's bubbling away on the kitchen counter.<br /><br />The iron skillet is ready to go on the stove top later this afternoon as I cook apples because, you know, it's that time of year when the plentiful access to local apples makes them a delicious addition to whatever you're cooking.<br /><br />The most important chore today was cleaning the chimney to the wood stove. SWAC Husband climbed the ladder and walked across the roof in his bare feet because the cool morning temps and overcast skies had prevented the tiles from becoming too hot. Carrying his tools, he made his way to the chimney where it didn't take long to clean built-up creosote from last winter's fires. Cleaned and ready to go, we're now waiting for the first truly cold snap to build the first fire of the season.<br /><br />Other chores will be taken care of today and over the next weeks as western Virginia slips closer into fall. It's a busy time of the year. Now back to work and to check the crock pot to see how that soup is doing. There will be good eating tonight.<br /><br />It's almost fall in the Shenandoah Valley....

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken on a cool Shenandoah Valley day

It was cool this morning in the Shenandoah Valley. In fact, it was downright brisk as the thermometer hit 43 degrees overnight signaling fal...

9/14/2001 ... President George W. Bush at Ground Zero

8:01 AM Tukiyooo 0

9/11/2001 George W. Bush Ground Zero New York City Terrorism 9/14/2001 ... President George W. Bush at Ground Zero

"USA! USA! USA!" Spontaneous chants roared from the crowd of rescue workers on September 14, 2001, three days after the terrorist...

58 historical Virginia homes open free of charge this weekend

7:35 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHt3GXCtZp5H6V_nFw1Ix3X3-XMQqZLncUtT2UyDddo6oV8YXssvrppN0QuWFYh3mzfUnTtGAJjmZMwRdPyskXlaPcjzE1HFOut0XNphICKDznIUD8iT94NtdY_sfEf2bJ8KoXYxRnuZC/s1600/Virginia+Executive+Mansion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHt3GXCtZp5H6V_nFw1Ix3X3-XMQqZLncUtT2UyDddo6oV8YXssvrppN0QuWFYh3mzfUnTtGAJjmZMwRdPyskXlaPcjzE1HFOut0XNphICKDznIUD8iT94NtdY_sfEf2bJ8KoXYxRnuZC/s400/Virginia+Executive+Mansion.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Virginia's Executive Mansion, Richmond</i></div><br /><b>Free admission to select historic homes this weekend</b><br /><br />This is a great weekend to head out and explore 58 of Virginia's historic homes <i>free of charge.</i> What a fantastic opportunity to get an up-close-and-personal look at the Commonwealth's Executive Mansion, Edgar Allen Poe Museum, the Dooley Mansion in Richmond's Maymont Park, homes of our historical figures such as Patrick Henry and Light Horse Harry Lee, taverns, the coast guard station in Virginia Beach, and many other homes and mansions from the coast to the mountains and everywhere else in the Old Dominion. Best of all, admission is waived Saturday and Sunday, September 14 and 15, 2013. <a href="http://www.historicalhomes.virginia.gov/septpromo.cfm">The listing of all 58 homes is here.</a><br /><br />Virginia is for history lovers!<br /><br />From the <a href="http://www.historicalhomes.virginia.gov/septpromo.cfm">Governor's website</a>: <br /><blockquote>In  celebration of the  Executive Mansion's 200th Anniversary, Governor  Bob McDonnell and First  Lady Maureen McDonnell declared 2013 the "Year of the  Historic Home."  There are over 120 sites  scattered across Virginia classified as  Historic Homes that span from  pre-Colonial times through the Modern  era, all of which provide an abundance of  cultural, historical, and  architectural information and promote an  understanding of, as well as  an interest in, Virginia’s story.<br /><br /><div class="closeParagraph" style="color: black;">To  further promote the  Year of the Historic Home effort, in the spring of 2013,  seven historic  homes across Richmond came together in a collaborative effort to  open  their doors admission-free to the public for an entire weekend to "Time   Travel through Virginia History." Because of the successes and benefits   experienced from the spring promotional weekend, the homes throughout  Richmond  are coming together to host this collaborative weekend in the  fall, as are over  50 homes throughout Virginia. </div><div class="closeParagraph" style="color: black;"><br /></div><div class="closeParagraph" style="color: black;">Exclusively  during the  weekend of September 14 and 15, 2013, Virginia’s most renowned  historic  homes and museums will be open free to the public, in support of  theYear  of the Historic Home. </div><div class="closeParagraph" style="color: black;"><br /></div><div class="closeParagraph" style="color: black;">"My  husband and I have  been thrilled with the excitement surrounding the Year of  the Historic  Home," said First Lady Maureen McDonnell. "The spring success of  the  Historic Home Promotional Weekend in Richmond came as a pleasant  surprise,  and promoting this initiative in September as a statewide  effort is extremely  exciting and promises great results.  We encourage  you to print your  passport and visit these historical sites, which have  been home to many of  America’s Founding Fathers, U.S. presidents, and  many other important figures."</div><div class="closeParagraph" style="color: black;"><br /></div><div class="closeParagraph" style="color: black;">A  list of the  participating homes follows as well as details of each home,and their  hours of operation on September 14 and 15, please visit our <a href="http://www.historicalhomes.virginia.gov/learn.cfm">Learn page</a>. Please don’t forget to visit our  "<a href="http://www.historicalhomes.virginia.gov/timetraveler.cfm">time  travelers</a>" page  and print your passport in order to be  granted free admission. </div></blockquote>

58 historical Virginia homes open free of charge this weekend

2013 Year of the Historic Home Bob McDonnell Maureen McDonnell tourism Virginia history Virginia Is For Lovers 58 historical Virginia homes open free of charge this weekend

Virginia's Executive Mansion, Richmond Free admission to select historic homes this weekend This is a great weekend to head out and expl...

UNITED STATES OF AMERICAS’ SYRIAN DILEMMA

7:27 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9bZxp6YHQHjng2l09E-p6qo1gG4NAjWyR3m5ntioDRoB-Dtxo9NfBrzIWFw360Luu7iI4k3eucmyxe66oVmQFpdQjbaqup-Bp37mxCJvsqB-vM2ZA9I2toScI06RQHuFk5j6-R69VbOZ/s1600/608-00456666em-A-conceptual-illustration-of-a-world-chess-game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9bZxp6YHQHjng2l09E-p6qo1gG4NAjWyR3m5ntioDRoB-Dtxo9NfBrzIWFw360Luu7iI4k3eucmyxe66oVmQFpdQjbaqup-Bp37mxCJvsqB-vM2ZA9I2toScI06RQHuFk5j6-R69VbOZ/s640/608-00456666em-A-conceptual-illustration-of-a-world-chess-game.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">STRATEGIC SYRIAN “CHESS GAME”: RUSSIA VERSUS USA?</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By M K Bhadrakumar <br /><br />When Kathleen Trola McFarland, the familiar Fox News national security analyst who served in national security posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations and was an aide to Henry Kissinger at the White House, wrote that "Vladimir Putin is the one who really deserves the Nobel Peace Prize", she obviously had the SYRIAN crisis in mind. <br /><br />McFarland wrote, "In one of the most deft diplomatic maneuvers of all time, RUSSIA'S President Putin has saved the world from near-certain disaster." <br /><br />She went on to narrate how Secretary of State John Kerry's famous gaffe in London took wings and "the off-hand phrase was picked up by Putin, became a Kerry Proposal and ultimately the Obama peace plan..." </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Following up on her train of thought, it is easy to see how by the time this momentous period draws to a close Putin could doubly ensure his claim to a Nobel. <br /><br />The point is that a major highlight of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shanghai Cooperation Organization's</b> annual summit gathering in Bishkek, KYRGYZSTAN, promises to be an event on its sidelines - the scheduled "bilateral" meeting between Putin and his IRANIAN counterpart, newly elected Hassan Rouhani. The Putin-Rouhani meeting in Bishkek is a scheduled one, planned well in advance. Both statesmen are vastly experienced in international diplomacy. <br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RUSSIA’S NEXT GEOPOLITICAL COUP: IRAN?</b></span><br /><br />This will be Putin's first meeting with the newly elected Iranian president. The Rouhani presidency has aroused worldwide interest as presaging a meaningful US-IRAN engagement, and Rouhani has been signaling in many ways Tehran's renewed interest in negotiating with the West - through policy pronouncements, cabinet appointments or sheer diplomatic "body language". Rouhani has pledged that the revival of the IRANIAN economy is his priority for which he would seek a favorable external environment. <br /><br />The USA seemed to realize the limits to utilize its military power to intimidate or vanquish IRAN. Yet, like in the case with SYRIA, Obama is vacillating and is unable to take the leap of faith. It is a carbon copy of the dilemma he faced over SYRIA. <br /><br />War weariness amongst the AMERICAN public, pressure from the hawkish regional allies and their lobbies in the US, a dangerous regional milieu, an adversary's proven grit to retaliate against aggression, overwhelming international opinion favoring dialogue - all the ingredients are there. <br />Is Russia about to “help” the USA to make up their mind? <br /><br />As in the case of the RUSSIAN plan on SYRIA'S chemical weapons, there is a two- to three-year-old RUSSIAN blueprint already lying for a starter - an incremental approach of IRAN responding to the international community's concerns and the US step-by-step dismantling the sanctions regime and allowing IRAN'S full integration as a regional power. </span></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information: </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RUSSIA’S SYRIAN BIO CHEMICAL WEAPON REMOVAL PLAN</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/russian-forces-take-syrian-chemical.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/russian-forces-take-syrian-chemical.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/12/russian-forces-take-syrian-chemical.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/12/russian-forces-take-syrian-chemical.html </a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/12/russian-forces-take-syrian-chemical.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/12/russian-forces-take-syrian-chemical.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">US NO LONGER OPPOSES IRAN'S INCLUSION IN ANY GENEVA 2 TALKS ON SYRIA</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><br />The US and IRAN are warily probing each other's intentions, and any keen observer of the three-decade old stand-off would sense that the diplomatic idiom is changing. The US no longer opposes IRAN'S inclusion in any Geneva 2 talks on SYRIA. <br /><br />Tehran too has taken a highly nuanced position on the issue of SYRIA'S chemical weapons. It has held a delicate line that, alas, the wily GULF ARAB sheikhs trapped Obama. In an extraordinary interview with Press TV (IRANIAN Media outlet!), IRAN'S savvy Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I think that a number of groups, people inside the UNITED STATES, and interests outside the UNITED STATES, wanted to put the president of the US - whom I believe was reluctant to start the war - into a trap, a trap which he had unfortunately laid down for himself; and that was to get him involved in a war in order to address a hypothetical issue of the use of chemical weapons by the government of SYRIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IRAN has been quick to express solid support for the RUSSIAN plan on SYRIA'S chemical weapons. <br /><br />Suffice to say, the meeting in Bishkek between the RUSSIAN and IRANIAN presidents has a regional backdrop. An engagement of the SYRIAN regime by the Obama administration becomes inevitable once the RUSSIAN plan is fleshed out and advances to the implementation stage. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SYRIAN REGIME FIRM IN THE SADDLE</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/01/syria-assad-firm-in-saddle.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/01/syria-assad-firm-in-saddle.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">SYRIAN REGIME LIKELY TO SURVIVE UPRAISE</span> (<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">June 2011</span>)</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/syrian-regime-likely-to-survive-upraise.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/syrian-regime-likely-to-survive-upraise.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">ASSAD FIRMLY IN CHARGE IN SYRIA</span> (<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">March 2012</span>)</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/syria.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/syria.html</a></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">SYRIA SWITCHING PERCEPTION - INTERNAL POWER STRUGGLE </span>(<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">May 2012</span>)</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/syria-switching-perception.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/syria-switching-perception.html</a></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">For one thing, the RUSSIAN plan simply has to go hand in hand with a Geneva 2 process. Its implementation is going to be a long haul. It took four years for Washington to take out of GERMANY the US' cold-war era stockpiles of 100,000 chemical weapons stockpile. When the operation began in 1986, a six-year timeline for implementation was envisaged. </b><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IMPLEMENTING THE BC WEAPON REMOVAL PLAN, ESTABLISHED STATE STRUCTURES ARE OF VITAL IMPORTANCE</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That is to say, there is going to be a critical necessity for the established state structures in SYRIA to be around for a while if only for the implementation of the RUSSIAN plan. Put differently, the "regime change" agenda gets pushed to the backburner and whatever democratic transition is possible in the civil war conditions cannot but involve the SYRIAN regime.<br /><br />Tehran, no doubt, is keenly watching. RUSSIA'S firm stance on SYRIA during the crisis period since the US began assembling an armada in the EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN cannot but impress IRAN, for which regime change in Damascus also has existential overtones. <br /><br />This is where it will see that a revival of the strategic partnership with RUSSIA is an imperative. From IRAN'S viewpoint, it is the RUSSIAN connection that would be a "force multiplier" when it begins to negotiate with the "P5+1" (the US, BRITAIN, FRANCE, RUSSIA and CHINA plus GERMANY) format and with the US directly. <br />Rouhani would weigh in that even as his credibility as a negotiator is rising in Western eyes, his capacity to negotiate significantly gains out of a strengthening of the IRAN-RUSSIA relations at this juncture. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RUSSIAN AND IRANIAN OVERLAPPING GEO STRATEGIC FOCAL POINT: CENTRAL ASIA, THE CASPIAN, CAUCASUS AND THE MIDDLE EAST</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here, it takes two to tango. Looking back, Putin's visit to IRAN in 2007, the first by a Kremlin leader since Joseph Stalin's in 1943, had raised high hopes of a historic turn in the bilateral relationship and of a new template in the geopolitics of the vast space the two countries overlap in and around the "Heartland" - CENTRAL ASIA and the CASPIAN, CAUCASUS and the MIDDLE EAST. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information: </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">US OBJECTIVES IN CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS </span></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/europe-and-caucasus-europe-fails-to-tap.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/europe-and-caucasus-europe-fails-to-tap.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">CASPIAN BASIN: INCREASED FOCAL POINT OF WEST AND EAST</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/the-caspian-region-future-war-zone.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/the-caspian-region-future-war-zone.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE WINNING FORMULA TO DESTABILIZE RUSSIA’S CAUCASUS AND THE MIDDLE EAST </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/09/dagestan-syria-comes-to-russia.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/09/dagestan-syria-comes-to-russia.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">POLITICAL DYNAMICS IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS AND IRAN’S PRIORITIES IN THE REGION</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/06/israeli-azerbaijani-alliance-and-iran.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/06/israeli-azerbaijani-alliance-and-iran.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">RELATIONS BETWEEN IRAN AND AZERBAIJAN HAVE NEVER BEEN ROSY</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/05/israel-azerbaijan-and-iran.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/05/israel-azerbaijan-and-iran.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />But in the event, these hopes remain unfulfilled. Putin left the Kremlin in 2008. During Dmitry Medvedev's presidency once the RUSSIA-US "reset" appeared and the IRAN question became a real-time talking point between the two powers, the calculus of RUSSIAN-IRANIAN ties changed. <br /><br />Indeed, the pro-Western groups of the RUSSIAN elite gained ascendancy in the Kremlin. Soon, a transactional dispute arose over RUSSIA'S non-fulfillment of the contract for supply of S-300 missiles to IRAN. RUSSIA insisted it acted under the UN sanctions, but Tehran saw the "hidden hand" of the USA. Meanwhile, the steady worsening of the situation around the IRAN nuclear issue introduced limits to engaging that country, given the international ramifications. <br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">IRAN A “PIVOTAL STATE”?</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It stands to reason that unlike Medvedev, perhaps, Putin himself is acutely conscious that IRAN is what AMERICAN geo-strategists would call a "pivotal state". <br /><br />Interestingly, it didn't cross Putin's mind at all that the former president, Mahmud Ahmedinejad, was already a "lame duck" when they met in the Kremlin in July on the sidelines of the CASPIAN summit. Putin plunged with gusto into substantive discussions regarding ways to revive and strengthen a RUSSIAN-IRANIAN alliance, including a RUSSIAN-built second nuclear power plant in IRAN. <br /><br />Equally, Tehran would have noted the huge shift in the respective RUSSIAN approaches to the regime-change agenda in LIBYA (March 2011) and in SYRIA today. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information:</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RUSSIA’S AND CHINA’S STANCE ON SYRIA: A RESULT OF THE LIBYAN FIASCO </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Middle-East/Russia-Set-To-Lose-Billions-In-Libya.html">http://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Middle-East/Russia-Set-To-Lose-Billions-In-Libya.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/09/libya-doomed-from-day-one.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/09/libya-doomed-from-day-one.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Paradoxically, the Rouhani presidency brings IRAN much closer to RUSSIA in its "de-ideologized" foreign-policy outlook. Indeed, RUSSIA doesn't view the world through any ideological "EAST-WEST" prism. Nor is it enchanted by the ideas of "resistance" and "justice" that fired up Ahmedinejad, but which Rouhani is gradually relegating to the backburner. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is inconceivable that, like Putin's RUSSIA, which scrupulously avoids the Soviet overreach, Rouhani's IRAN also will ever set aside national interests as the paramount consideration in foreign policy even while involved in regional security issues. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rouhani is also wedded to globalization and neo-liberal policies as RUSSIA is, and both see innovation of the economy as the core objective of national policies. Putin's priority has seemed to be always to work toward an equal partnership with the West, and windows of opportunity. The approach of Rouhani, who arrives on AMERICAN soil in a few days to attend the UN General Assembly session in New York, seems similar. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In sum, both IRAN and RUSSIA are in a frame of mind that is conducive to reviving their strategic partnership. The only way Obama can stall a Nobel for Putin seems to be by pre-empting the Kremlin from launching yet another irresistible peace plan. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Ambassador <b>M K Bhadrakumar</b> served as a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service for over 29 years, with postings including India's ambassador to Uzbekistan (1995-1998) and to Turkey (1998-2001).</i></span></div>

UNITED STATES OF AMERICAS’ SYRIAN DILEMMA

STRATEGIC SYRIAN “CHESS GAME”: RUSSIA VERSUS USA? By M K Bhadrakumar When Kathleen Trola McFarland, the familiar Fox News national security...