NYT Joins War On Shia – Moon of Alabama

June 2, 2013

NYT Joins War On Shia

From a current screenshot of NYTimes.com
bigger

The above headline excludes Shiites, Alawites and several other strains of Islam from being Muslim. The NYT claims that hate preacher Youssef al-Qaradawi called on "World's Muslims". But he clearly called on Sunni Muslim only and to wage war against Shia Muslims. With characterizing this as a call on "World's Muslims" the NYT seems to agree with al-Qaradawi who excludes Shia from Muslim believe:

He denounced Assad’s Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, as “more infidel than Christians and Jews” and Shiite Muslim Hezbollah as “the party of the devil.”

Al-Qaradawi said there is no more common ground between Shiites and Sunnis, alleging that Shiite Iran — a longtime Syria ally that has supplied the regime with cash and weapons — is trying to “devour” Sunnis.

Then there is also this curious "but" in the sub-headline. What does this mean? XYZ "has been called an extremist … but has been influential" Is being influential and on the same side as U.S. policies now a valid excuse for being an extremist?

Posted by b on June 2, 2013 at 08:45 UTC | Permalink

Comments

The empires last gasp to save their diminishing position..All these Fake Sheiks who issue fatwas for dollars will be non-existent in within the next decade.
For months, the West/Zionists have been trying to compensate for their defeat/lack of progress in Syria by stoking up sectarian tensions accross the region..
No self-respecting Sunni will buy into that nonsense..If anything, majority of the Syrian army are Sunnis..The bulk of the army fighting in Al-Qussir are Sunnis. These evil Sheiks will lose any credibility they ever had. But I’m glad, the war in Syria will be the end of many thing, including wahabi/takfiri/salafism..They’ll be defeated.

Posted by: Zico | Jun 2 2013 9:04 utc | 1

why not tweet Anne Barnard and ask what she meant by her article @ABarnardNYT
and why NYT is not backing alqeada

Posted by: brian | Jun 2 2013 9:34 utc | 2

its always revealing to see religious leaders engaging in very unreligious behavior such as lying doing so to service their god…all they do is bring themselves and their god into illrepute

Posted by: brian | Jun 2 2013 9:37 utc | 3

Strictly speaking, I don’t think you can fault the headline for sectarianism; it is simply reporting verbatim what Qaradawi said. Sunni sectarians always refer to themselves as the ‘Muslims’ as though they were the only ones, as do majority (and sometimes even minority) sectarians of other faiths, ideologies, and probably even nationalities. The other quote, “extremist but influential,” doesn’t make a value judgment, just an observation. However, the article also says: “Hezbollah guerrillas are leading an assault on rebels in Qusayr.” This is a propagandistic misrepresentation. Assad & Nasrallah both have said that Hezbollah is not running the show, nor indeed could it do so, in terms of either numbers or weaponry. You didn’t give a link, AFAICS, but it’s here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/world/middleeast/syria-developments.html

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Jun 2 2013 9:38 utc | 4

Qaradawi needs to be stoned to death. What a sick fool. But, we shouldn’t underestimate his influence. Sadly, many sunni Muslims will listen to him. I would compare him to John hagee, feeding of the scumbags of society. Although, Hagee may even be moderate next to this bastard.

Posted by: Hilmihakim | Jun 2 2013 10:28 utc | 5

@4 ” The other quote, “extremist but influential,” doesn’t make a value judgment, just an observation.”
Sorry, but I can’t agree with that statement.
The word “but” makes it into a value judgement in a way that the word “and” wouldn’t have.

Posted by: Johnboy | Jun 2 2013 10:55 utc | 6

@4 R.B. – If the headline were meant to quote Qaradawi it should have used quotes sign. By not using quotes signs it accepts the statement as true.

Posted by: b | Jun 2 2013 11:21 utc | 7

I agree, b, but if it had used quote marks they would have been read as ‘sneer quotes’. Anyway, I hope you appreciate the positive point I made, viz “”Hezbollah guerrillas are leading an assault on rebels in Qusayr” is a propagandistic misrepresentation. That’s categorical.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Jun 2 2013 12:20 utc | 8

Sadly, I’m still amazed why certain humans surrender their personal autonomy, by giving any religious leader anywhere, sway over their behavior. Could we please evolve.

Posted by: ben | Jun 2 2013 13:11 utc | 9

It is both a value judgement and an observation. Such is the nature of propaganda.
“We observe that he is influential. This is proved by his ability to project his opinions through the New York Times.”

Posted by: bevin | Jun 2 2013 13:28 utc | 10

Reportedly Saudi Arabia displaced Qatar in the Coalition Follies, and now Qatar strikes back.
from al-Qaradawi’s bio:

Sheikh Dr. Yusuf Abdallah al-Qaradawi is a central figure affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. He was expelled from Egypt and found refuge in Qatar, and operates from there throughout the Muslim world. Many consider him the supreme religious and ideological authority for the Muslim Brotherhood, although he is not officially its leader.
Al-Qaradawi’s popularity among the Sunnis has grown because of the massive use he makes of electronic media, including television and the Internet. One of his most important tools is the Qatari Al-Jazeera TV channel, which broadcasts his popular program “Life and Islamic Law” (Al-Sharia wal-Hayat), viewed by tens of millions of Muslims.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2013 13:45 utc | 11

Well, this clown better be “influential” at the rate of 15-to-1, or they’re still gonna lose.
“One source said 15 rebels were killed in the fighting east of the Bekaa Valley town of Baalbek, but the exact toll would not be clear until bodies could be retrieved from the remote and rugged border area. One Hezbollah fighter also died, he said.”
The idea above that Hezbollah is fighting “side-by-side” with “Assad’s Army” “in Syria” falls apart a few paragraphs in, when it is explained that these fifteen cannibals were ambushed and killed INSIDE LEBANON while trying to fire rockets at civilian Shia areas.
Check out this tortured phrasing: “a finger of Lebanese territory which extends into Syria.” Huh, so which is it? Lebanon or Syria? A finger of Lebanon that extends into Syria? This is no description of geography that I have ever heard. It sounds more like a a couple of teenagers on a first date.
http://www.reuters DOT com/article/2013/06/02/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE95105O20130602

Posted by: guest77 | Jun 2 2013 14:06 utc | 12

The bribery of the Palestinian upper classes goes on:
in.reuters DOT com/article/2013/06/01/rohde-westbank-idINL2N0EC25E20130601

Posted by: guest77 | Jun 2 2013 14:24 utc | 13

The US elite is so incredibly stupid, they’ve lost their legitimacy to govern. Everything they were supposedly fighting to prevent – the murder of their citizens by WMD – they’ve created by working with al-Qaeda in Syria.
All to fight the same cold war battles of decades ago! We should never forget – all of these problems the US faces started with the US business elites zealous, idiotic anti-communism bunkum. When the first US citizens die in a chemical weapons attack, the blame rests with the US business elite. They sold our soul to the al-Qaeda devil for a short-term win against communism.
Iraq arrests five in ‘al-Qaeda chemical weapons plot’
Al-Qaeda planned to strike targets in Iraq, Europe and North America with chemical weapons, according to the Baghdad government.
http://www.telegraph DOT co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/10094187/Iraq-arrests-five-in-al-Qaeda-chemical-weapons-plot.html
If anyone thought what they did in Boston was extreme, we have just to imagine a chemical weapons attack on NYC. That would open the door to military dictatorship.

Posted by: guest77 | Jun 2 2013 15:24 utc | 14

“Well, this clown better be “influential” at the rate of 15-to-1, or they’re still gonna lose.”
Nicely put.
Is anyone truly surprised that the Jew York Times is so overwhelmed by the underwhelming performance of the ‘rebels’ that it has decided to promote the frothings of ‘Israel’s’ enemy-of-my-enemy (temporary) ideological brothers/useful idiots. There’s all kinds of news about Syria right now but the best the NYT can do is pointless and impotent crap.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 2 2013 15:43 utc | 15

@14 Like the fact that “Syrian” rebels have invaded Lebanon. NYT might have reported that instead of giving some random psychopath a chance to spread his fatwa.
The Guardian, at least, got the location of the clash right…
Hezbollah, Syrian rebels clash on Lebanese soil
http://www.guardian.co DOT uk/world/feedarticle/10820324

Posted by: guest77 | Jun 2 2013 16:17 utc | 16

Qaradawi’s son, BTW, is supposedly a convert to Shiisim. There have been denials of this and there has been pressure on him not to go public. Now would be a great time for him to come out, though. And he can do so in the spirit of anti-sectarianism, with warnings of the divide and conquer strategies of the enemy.

Posted by: Lysander | Jun 2 2013 16:19 utc | 17

Hhhhmmmm…It seems that about the time Hezb was slapping the @%$# out of NATO’s useful idiots, Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace were on the uptick including over Baalbeck. What were the chances of such a coincidence?

Posted by: Lysander | Jun 2 2013 16:25 utc | 18

The Angry Arab on the NYT’s laughable sectarianism pieces:

There is a hilariously comical but typically propagandistic account of the sectarian war in the Middle East. I dont know the background of Arango but I know that Ms. Barnard has no background whatsoever in the Middle East-and it shows daily-which makes her for two reason easily susceptible to Syrian armed opposition propaganda. Barnard and Arango think that the sectarian conflict began with the Syrian war and they don’t know that Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in secarian hatred against Shi’ites for decades-nay centuries ever since Muhammad ibn ‘Abdul-Wahab led his band of Jihadis northward to kill Shi’ites and to destroy their holy sites. Barnard and Arango don’t even mention that sectarianism was a deliberate policy of American occupiers. They then want to convince readers that the blatant sectarianism of the armed and exile opposition was due to Hizbullah intervention in Qusayr as if it didnt begin even before the uprising given the past sectarian hatred of the Muslim Brotherhood and its sponsors …

Posted by: b | Jun 2 2013 16:55 utc | 19

Barnard and Arango don’t even mention that sectarianism was a deliberate policy of American occupiers.
And still is.

Posted by: guest77 | Jun 2 2013 17:00 utc | 20

Everybody makes mistakes.
France24:

[Qaradawi] blamed himself for previously backing Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah who gained popularity after steadfastly leading his group in the fight against Israel in 2006.
“I defended the so-called Nasrallah and his party, the party of tyranny… in front of clerics in Saudi Arabia,” which is wary of neighbouring Shiite Iran and its allies. It seems that the clerics of Saudi Arabia were more mature than me,” Qaradawi said.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2013 17:05 utc | 21

The referenced “sectarian conflict” was principally instigated by the US in February 2006 with the bombing of the Al-Askaria Mosque in Samarra, Iraq.
The US has consistently used divide-and-conquer to advance its imperialistic foreign policy. The invasion of Iraq led to the Sunnis and Shia turning against each other in direct conflict. The Samarra mosque bombing occurred when it looked like the US could withdraw. The charges were set in concrete pillars by uniformed people, an all-night task accomplished in a city under full US military curfew. The destruction of the Askariya Mosque, a symbol of Shia-Sunni brotherhood. sparked a civil religious war which kept US troops in Iraq five more years and has now spread to Syria.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2013 17:13 utc | 22

Lousy NATO admit Assad have HUGE support.
http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/05/31/nato-data-assad-winning-the-war-for-syrians-hearts-and-minds/

Posted by: Anonymous | Jun 2 2013 17:27 utc | 23

The US transition toward Russia position goes MSM (CBS).

As the civil war in Syria rages on, CBS National Security correspondent Bob Orr and senior national security analyst Juan Zarate explore the options confronting U.S. policymakers, and the possibility that a solution may lie in a “political transition” rather than an armed unseating of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Of course events will be (are being) decided on the ground, not in TV studios, nor in various European cities (Istanbul, Geneva).

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2013 17:50 utc | 24

Senator John McCain on Face the Nation today–

McCain: Assad has “upper hand” in Syrian civil war
“. . .unfortunately a battlefield situation where [President] Bashar Assad now has the upper hand. . .And remember all this talk we’ve had in the past year or two. It’s inevitable that Bashar Assad will fall? Well I think we can’t make that statement today. . .And anyone that believes that Bashar Assad is going to go to a conference in Geneva when he is prevailing on the battlefield, it’s just ludicrous to assume that.”

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2013 18:07 utc | 25

Don 21
The referenced “sectarian conflict” was principally instigated by the US in February 2006 with the bombing of the Al-Askaria Mosque in Samarra, Iraq.
It turns out there was a lead-in to Samarra, led by an American called James Steele, who organised Shi’ite death and torture squads to kill Sunnis in 2004-5. Reported on by the Guardian this March: James Steele: America’s mystery man in Iraq. James Steele was there on the ground in the year before the attack on the Golden Dome, and may have thought up the idea. So the policy was not even as late as 2006, but was rather developing in 2004-5.

Posted by: alexno | Jun 2 2013 18:28 utc | 26

The situation on the ground in Syria, taken together with the lifting of the EU arms embargo, will probably increase US/UK pressure to furnish (more) arms to the anti-Syria fighting units that are not al-Qaeda affiliated.
However, furnishing arms to “good” rebels and not to “bad” rebels is impossible, as Brown Moses describes here with the spread of former arms supplies.

After just over two months from the weapons arriving in the south of the country they had began to appear in Damascus, Idlib, Hama, Deir Ez Zor, and elsewhere, and photographs and videos showed the weapons had spread beyond the Free Syrian Army. First Ahrar al-Sham, a loose collection of various Islamist and Salafist groups, posted this video showing them using two of the weapons provided by Saudi Arabia.
It’s unclear how these weapons reached the hands of these groups, but considering how closely members of the Free Syrian Army and groups like Ahrar al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra have worked together it seems unsurprising that these weapons might be sold or traded between the groups.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2013 18:32 utc | 27

@alexno #25
Divide-and-conquer is an old, established US policy, unrelated to Steele’s death squads.
The Phoenix Program in the 60’s, the Salvador Option in the 80’s, and the Iraqi Special Police Commandos in the 00’s all involved assassination, capture and torture, which have (unfortunately) become normal military tactics.
Samarra on Feb 22, 2006 was different. It was a terrorist act meant to inflame two religious sects against each other and prolong the US occupation. And it worked as designed.
Reacting to this attack, on 22 and 23 February 2006, throughout Iraq, assailants attacked at least 184 Sunni mosques with grenades, small arms, mortars, and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), killing 12 Sunni imams and seven Sunni civilian worshippers, kidnapping 14 Sunni imams, and causing substantial damage to many of the mosques. Iraq has not enjoyed inter-sect amity since.
The bombing of the Al-Askaria Mosque and its violent aftermath ratcheted the numbers of displaced persons up to a staggering 2.7 million. In a period of about a year, five percent of Iraq’s total population fled their homes and settled elsewhere in Iraq while an additional 2 million or so fled the country entirely. It is important to underscore that this displacement was not just a by-product of the conflict, but rather the result of deliberate policies of sectarian cleansing by armed militias.
The internally displaced were the most vulnerable — and perhaps the clearest sign of the success of sectarian cleansing as entire neighborhoods were transformed. Sunnis and Shiites alike moved from mixed communities to ones where their sect was the majority. And while the displacement of Sunnis and Shiites was massive, proportionately the displacement of religious minorities was even more sweeping in effect.
Samarra was also intended to prolong the US military occupation, and it did.
SEC. GATES: “Well, what I’m saying to you is, though, you had one strategy under way until attack on the Samarra mosque. After that and the development of the sectarian violence that was being stoked by extremists — this wasn’t spontaneous — there was a shift in strategy, and instead of sending troops home, the troops that were supposed to be sent home were kept — or the troop level was kept.”

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2013 18:50 utc | 28

Guest77@13,
The Sunnis are being used in Syria like they were used in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet-supported regime of “leftist-secular,” monarchy connected, Afghan ruling class, who called in the Soviet army when the going got hot, just as Assad is doing today.
There is a direct parallel between Kabul 1979 and Damascus 2012/2013.
And the US is behind the same cabal here that produced bin Laden, Mullah Omar and the Talibans in Afghanistan, ten-fifteen years down that road post 1979.
It’s totally Machiavellian, aka the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Remember, the US did the same thing in Iran 1953 and paid for it in Iran 1979!
With friends like that once installed and in place it leads to: Cairo today, Benghazi tomorrow and Mali the day after that in the MENA, like it did Iran before and maybe Pakistan tomorrow.
What we sow now we then reap afterwards.

Posted by: Cynthia | Jun 2 2013 19:09 utc | 29

@Cynthia #28 — There is a direct parallel between Kabul 1979 and Damascus 2012/2013.
Most interesting and thought-provoking.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2013 19:13 utc | 30

@Cynthia
Indeed there is a parallel. Can the Russians help bleed the insurgents and drain the cabal financially? Hopefully, but Saudi and Quatar have very deep pockets.

Posted by: BillyBoy | Jun 2 2013 19:26 utc | 31

“Saudi and Quatar have very deep pockets.’
And they need them to purchase the political indifference of their populations, including millions of virtual slaves who perform the heavy lifting, the domestic labour and much else in these blessed lands. A handful of hard bitten syndicalist labour organisers could undermine the wahhabi house of cards in a few months.

Posted by: bevin | Jun 2 2013 21:28 utc | 32

Divide and Conquer is the ancient Imperialistic tactic to conquer new colonies; going back before the Romans. The British were past masters and the last successful practitioners in Malaya.
Americans emanating their British forefathers were successful in WWII but have not won a war since. Military Lifers are on their fifth and sixth tours of the Middle East. Marines who fought the Sunni in Fallujah would be fighting alongside their former enemies in Syria. It defies rational thought how America would flip flop from siding with one Muslim sect in Iraq to another in Syria. A Sunni Shiite Jihad ignited by American intervention would spread from Syria to Lebanon and Iraq and ultimately to the Gulf States and Pakistan.
The only way a Syrian Intervention could be pushed by War Lovers like Senator John McCain is media propaganda, denial, and strong strains of “know nothing” and “greed is good” in the American psyche.

Posted by: VietnamVet | Jun 2 2013 21:30 utc | 33

@24 John McCain: “And anyone that believes that Bashar Assad is going to go to a conference in Geneva when he is prevailing on the battlefield, it’s just ludicrous to assume that.”
Translation: Fer’ God’s Sake we have to pull the plug on that conference, but Fer’ Cryin’ Out Loud we have to make sure that Assad gets blamed for it!
After all, why shouldn’t he go to that conference even when he’s winning? Wars are mighty costly, and the front-runner can always fade in the straight, so if the opportunity comes to stop it then…. grab at the opportunity, even if you think you’re winning.
Think Bush Snr (who knew to stop when he was ahead) versus Bush Jnr (who, well, knows nothing).

Posted by: Johnboy | Jun 2 2013 23:47 utc | 34

NYT has published an article by Julian Assange
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/opinion/sunday/the-banality-of-googles-dont-be-evil.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
the banality of some of the commentators makes the NYT look like a model of journalism

Posted by: brian | Jun 2 2013 23:50 utc | 35

Posted by: bevin | Jun 2, 2013 5:28:35 PM | 31
what ever led Allah to put oil under the saudi/qatari lands!

Posted by: brian | Jun 2 2013 23:51 utc | 36

@34
He is exactly correct.
You can see all over the world how the work of the State Department goes hand in hand with Google – like Wael Gohnim (sp?) in Egypt through the rest of the Arab Spring. And I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the tech companies support Democratic campaigns through more than just donations (what political campaign wouldn’t drool over the information Facebook, Google, and Twitter has?) It was interesting to read how Scmidt’s book disowns the Egyptian revolution they helped to spark – but of course they would. They were just testing the waters in Egypt, they have their eyes set on a bigger prize: China and Russia.
Assange personal future will be dramatic, no doubt. The Unites States will either turn him or do their damnedest to destroy him – he will have to decide which road he takes. But whatever he does, Personally, I think at this point he is already one of the most important characters on the world scene, and probably one of the most intelligent and far sighted as well. If he goes over to the dark side, it will be a real loss. But considering his recent statements – as well as the support he’s gotten and the things he’s seen done to other heroes like Bradley Manning – I don’t think it is likely.
“What Lockheed Martin was to the 20th century, technology and cybersecurity companies will be to the 21st.” Exactly – expressions of US political and military power across the globe – nothing more.
“Without even understanding how, they have updated and seamlessly implemented George Orwell’s prophecy. If you want a vision of the future, imagine Washington-backed Google Glasses strapped onto vacant human faces — forever.” Brilliant.

Posted by: guest77 | Jun 3 2013 0:52 utc | 37

John McCain: “And anyone that believes that Bashar Assad is going to go to a conference in Geneva when he is prevailing on the battlefield, it’s just ludicrous to assume that.”
The exact opposite is, of course, true: nothing is more likely than that Assad will race to the conference table at Geneva or elsewhere. It is his opponents who are afraid of rational, public negotiations. That McCain cannot see this is a indication both of the vast quantities of KoolAid he has imbibed over the years and the stupidity of the American media which has come to believe that the lies it uncritically publishes are the truth.
The US political class (which, in the Senate, just voted 99-0 to back an Israeli attack on Iran) refusing to listen to critics, has become, effectively, an irrational agency incapable of understanding the consequences of its actions.

Posted by: bevin | Jun 3 2013 1:18 utc | 38

I suppose — no, I know — that what McCain meant by “go to a conference” is that Assad would go to Geneva and concede something. Surrender. That’s the normally expected routine for the U.S. — think Iran. That’s because the U.S. is the world hegemon, don’t you know. The most powerful country in the world doesn’t go to a conference to concede anything, but to accept abeyance. Pay tribute, that sort of thing.
So no conference will occur otherwise, and Assad can be blamed.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 3 2013 2:04 utc | 39

The conference, be careful you could catch the new virus; odd that it stemming in the Gulf and infected persons are from Britain, France, Germany and Italy.44 lab-confirmed cases worldwide, half of them fatal, with 30 infections in Saudi Arabia and the rest spread across Jordan, Qatar, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and the listed Euro land above.
In tune, a bit of ‘Dubstep’ – novel coronavirus, or nCoV-EMC, had been re-dubbed the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS CoV). I do notice the larger part of this are Against Assad, not that he has engineered a virus attack, but more likely someone was messing with viruses and just could have messed-up.
Get this “The virus was identified in September last year, three months after a scientist took a sample from Saudi Arabia to the Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands. There was a lag of three months where we were not aware of the discovery of the virus, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Health Minister Ziad Memish told the Geneva meeting. He said it was taken out of the country without permission and Saudi Arabia only learned of its discovery from ProMED, a US-based internet-based reporting system, BTW – It started in Jordan, the Italian contracted this in Jordan! but conflicting as the first case is supposed to be in France who died from the infection, which he contracted after visiting Dubai.
Are we seeing here a bit of Germ warfare? Falls under WMD -Chemical and biological weapons and all stocks of agents and all related subsystems and components and all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities.
Note: There has been very little transmission of the infection between individuals who did not visit the Middle East but interacted with sick travelers when they returned.
The WHO has not made any travel or trade restrictions for countries with reported infections. “When traveling, it’s important to avoid close contact with individuals who show symptoms of the illness. It’s also advisable to avoid consuming uncooked or undercooked meats, unwashed fruits and veggies and drinking beverages with any unsterilized water” – So it is an airborne and water borne virus including food contamination, bit different from avian flue.
OK, no one fly and avoid Dubai Airport…
Keep safe and stay healthy..

Posted by: kev | Jun 3 2013 2:38 utc | 40

Great News. The liberation of Aleppo is near. The Syrian Army has cut supply lines and Hezbollah has surrounded key areas of the city: “In Syria, Hezbollah forces appear ready to attack rebels in city of Aleppo”
Hezbollah Commander says, “We are going to go after strongholds where they think they are safe. They are going to fall like dominoes.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/hezbollah-boosting-assads-forces-in-northern-syria/2013/06/02/3bb59c7e-cb9e-11e2-8f6b-67f40e176f03_story.html

Posted by: Hilmi Hakim | Jun 3 2013 5:38 utc | 41

That’s because the U.S. is the world hegemon, don’t you know. The most powerful country in the world doesn’t go to a conference to concede anything, but to accept abeyance.

At least they seem to think that they are the kings.
Well, they aren’t anymore.
Syria clearly demonstrates it: zusa isn’t calling the shots anymore.
It remains to be seen whether zusa has at least the power to not have its actions dictated by israel.

Posted by: Mr. Pragma | Jun 3 2013 5:55 utc | 42

@ALL
For all German speakers I recommend following brilliant article in ‘National Journal’
KRAFTPROBE
http://globalfire.tv/nj/13de/politik/kraftprobe_im_weltherzland.htm
…Auf Befehl der USA und Israel begannen die Aufständischen in Syrien schiitische Dörfer auf beiden Seiten der libanesischen Grenze zu beschießen. Die schwerbewaffneten Banden in Syrien unternahmen alles nur Vorstellbare, um die libanesische Hezbollah zum Eintritt in den Krieg zu provozieren. Sie kidnappten libanesische Geschäftsleute und griffen schiitische Heiligtümer in Syrien an. Nachdem die Moschee, in der Hujr ibn Adi Al-Kindi und sein Sohn begraben liegen, geschändet wurde, mussten Hezbollah und die irakischen Shia-Brigaden in den Konflikt eingreifen, um die heilige Sayyidah Zynab Moschee zu beschützen.
Dank Russland sind die Mörder in Sorge, dass das Opfer Syrien den Spieß umdrehen könnte!
“Der republikanische US-Senator John McCain, Mitglied im Komitee für Auswärtige Beziehungen der US-Streitkräfte, besuchte vergangene Woche heimlich Syrien. Nach seiner Rückkehr drängte er Präsident Barack Obama, sofort militärisch in die Syrien-Krise einzugreifen. McCain sagte: ‘Je länger die USA warten, desto rascher nähern wir uns einem Zusammenbruch in Syrien. Leider haben wir eine militärische Lage, in der Bashar Assad jetzt die Oberhand hat. Es ist unwahrscheinlich, dass er abtreten wird, und das ist es doch, was die USA und ihre Verbündeten vom ihm verlangen. Es ist grotesk zu glauben, Bashar Assad nehme an der Genfer Friedenskonferenz teil, wo er sich gerade militärisch durchsetzt.'”
Die von USrael bezahlten Mörderbanden haben in Syrien nicht nur heilige Stätten der Schiiten vernichtet, sondern sogar viele hochrangige sunnitische Geistliche, die der syrischen Regierung nahe standen, ermordet. Außerdem vernichteten sie zahllose christliche Kirchen. Über die Hinweise iranischer Geschäftsträger im diplomatischen Dienst, dass die USA, Israel und Saudi Arabien die Schändung von Heiligen Stätten in Syrien befehligen sowie Minderheiten massakrieren lassen, wird in der Regel im Westen nur gelacht…

Posted by: Tehran | Jun 3 2013 7:27 utc | 43

Speaking of Germany … I wonder if this could somehow be shut down …
US drone attacks controlled from military bases in Germany

Posted by: john francis lee | Jun 3 2013 8:00 utc | 44

USA continuing the policies of the Luftwaffe? or perhaps far worse

Posted by: brian | Jun 3 2013 8:07 utc | 45

‘That’s because the U.S. is the world hegemon, don’t you know. The most powerful country in the world doesn’t go to a conference to concede anything, but to accept abeyance.’
the most powerful country in the world? thatd be Israel!
“I don’t care if Americans think we’re running the news media, Hollywood, Wall Street or the government,” Jewish columnist Joel Stein wrote in the Los Angeles Times in December 2008. “I just care that we get to keep running them.”
Netanyahu: “I know what America is. America is a thing you can move
very easily, move it in the right direction. They won’t get in the way.”
On October 3, 2001, I.A.P. News reported that according to Israel Radio (in Hebrew) Kol Yisrael an acrimonious argument erupted during the Israeli cabinet weekly session last week between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his foreign Minister Shimon Peres. Peres
warned Sharon that refusing to heed incessant American requests for a cease-fire with the Palestinians would endanger Israeli interests and “turn the US against us.” Sharon reportedly fired back at Peres, saying:
“Every time we do something you tell me Americans will do this and will do that. I want to tell you something very clear, don’t worry about American pressure on Israel, we, the Jewish people control America, and the Americans know it.”
http://rense.com/general91/nnet.htm

Posted by: brian | Jun 3 2013 8:12 utc | 46

Qatar-Turkey Plot to Explode Bashar Assad’s Plane Foiled
Jun 2, 2013
A joint plot by Qatar and Turkey to explode the plane carrying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was thwarted by the timely information given by the Jordanian intelligence agency to the Syrian security officials.
Jordan’s intelligence agency disclosed the assassination plot on Assad’s life, informing their Syrian counterparts that terrorists intended to cause a blast in Assad’s private plane at Latakia airport, the Lebanese al-Diyar newspaper reported on Sunday, quoting the ambassador of one of the Arab countries who asked to remain anonymous.
Based on the plot, the terrorist al-Nusra Front fighting against Syria were ordered to ambush the plane carrying the Syrian president with missile attacks.
The terrorists wanted to target the plane with Sam-7 missiles, which were supplied to the terrorists by Qatar via Turkey, near Latakia airport, the newspaper reported.
In a relevant report, the British newspaper Financial Times published an investigation in May which revealed that Qatar spent billions of dollars in the past two years to fund the Syrian terrorist and rebel groups.
“Qatar has spent about three billion dollars in the past two years to support the opposition in Syria, which far exceeds what provided by any other government. However, the Saudi Arabia competes now in leading the bodies providing Syrian opposition with weapons,” the paper said.
“The cost of the Qatari intervention in Syria only represents a very small part of the international investment of Qatar,” it added.
FT claimed that Qatari support for the Syrian opposition overwhelms the western support.
The UK daily also noted that during scores of interviews it made with militant opposition leaders at home and abroad, along with senior western and regional officials, everyone stressed the growing role of Qatar in the Syrian crisis, and this has become a controversial issue.
The paper pointed out that “the small state with huge appetite” is the largest donor of aid to the Syrian opposition, offering generous grants for dissidents, amounting fifty thousand dollars per year for the dissident and his family, according to some estimates.
Sources close to the Qatari government said that the total spending on the Syrian crisis reached $3bln, while the armed opposition and diplomatic sources said the amount of Qatari assistance reached one billion dollars at most.
“According to the Institute for Peace Research in Stockholm which tracks the arms supply to the Syrian opposition,” the paper added, “Qatar is the largest arms exporter to Syria, where it funded more than 70 cargo flights of weapons to neighboring Turkey between April 2012 and March 2013.”
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.
Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.
The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.
In October 2011, calm was almost restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US, its Arab allies and Turkey sought hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots to topple President Bashar al-Assad, who is well known in the world for his anti-Israeli stances.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9202246628
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=491153297624378&l=b0f469f67e

Posted by: brian | Jun 3 2013 8:18 utc | 47

off topic a bit but this soon after Belsen…
Workers at a cemetery restoration project in Jaffa have discovered six mass graves with hundreds of skeletons of Palestinians killed during the 1948 Nakba and the 1936 uprising, thus corroborating oral testimony by eyewitnesses of massacres and hasty burials in Jaffa and the surrounding area. Israeli commentators are already frantically arguing the victims could have been killed by the British, other Arabs, or pretty much anyone else as long as they weren’t Jewish. Awful. Warning: Grisly images.
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2013/06/02/nobody-prayed-for-these-people-diggers-find-nakba-era-mass-graves/

Posted by: brian | Jun 3 2013 9:10 utc | 48

Sharmine Narwani ‏@snarwani 2h
In #Syria opposition fakes stuff to frame government; in #Turkey, government fakes stuff to frame protestors: http://youtu.be/ovLwE3Nf0Gg

Posted by: brian | Jun 3 2013 9:13 utc | 49

17,000 new mosques built under Erdogan
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2013/02/19/Turkey-17-000-new-mosques-built-Erdogan_8274135.html

Posted by: clubofrome | Jun 3 2013 14:51 utc | 50

From link @ 35 to Assange piece in NYTimes —

The authors fantasize about the future of “well resourced” revolutionary groups. A new “crop of consultants” will “use data to build and fine-tune a political figure.”
“His” speeches (the future isn’t all that different) and writing will be fed “through complex feature-extraction and trend-analysis software suites” while “mapping his brain function,” and other “sophisticated diagnostics” will be used to “assess the weak parts of his political repertoire.”
OMG. that’s how they came up with Obama’s speeches? And campaign rhetoric?
Sure sounds like was maybe the beta testing?

Posted by: jawbone | Jun 3 2013 18:24 utc | 51

The SNC continues to disintegrate: Key bloc quits Syria opposition, slams leaders

BEIRUT: A key bloc within Syria’s main opposition National Coalition announced its withdrawal from the body on Monday, accusing some leaders of misusing funds and being motivated by personal ambition.
The Syrian Revolution General Commission said in a statement: “We are withdrawing from the Coalition… because it is taking initiatives far removed from the true revolution and cannot represent the revolution in an authentic way.”

Posted by: b | Jun 3 2013 18:38 utc | 52

Is Kerry starting to get it?
“The Unites States can push and cajole … but in the end, the people on the ground, are going to have to decide that that’s something they are prepared to engage in,” he added.
http://news.yahoo.com/u-came-syrian-peace-effort-kerry-says-162413673.html

Posted by: dh | Jun 3 2013 19:28 utc | 53

17,000 new mosques built under Erdogan
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2013/02/19/Turkey-17-000-new-mosques-built-Erdogan_8274135.html
Posted by: clubofrome | Jun 3, 2013 10:51:05 AM | 50
Allah joins hands with Mammon in Erdogans new Ottoman empire

Posted by: brian | Jun 3 2013 22:01 utc | 54

MSM upset that Syrias govt delights in turkeys real uprising
an eg of their disconnect from reality:
‘Erdogan enjoys broad support in Turkey and there’s no sign that his government is in any imminent danger. But as long Istanbul’s Taksin Square and Gezi Park are packed with protesters, the pestering from Syria is likely to continue. “We wish the Turkish people stability and calm,” said Zoubi.’
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/06/syria-delights-in-turkish-unrest/
no hint of condemnation by this fellow. AND no Ergogan doesnt enjoy broad support…not even from his owbn party

Posted by: brian | Jun 3 2013 23:03 utc | 55

Alexander Marquardt ‏@MarquardtA 24 May
Woolwich: “witness said he was recently seen…encouraging an audience to go to Syria to fight.” (via @nasseratta5)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/may/23/suspect-michael-adebolajo-woolwich-jihad?CMP=twt_gu …
suggestive

Posted by: brian | Jun 3 2013 23:14 utc | 56

id blame the media for alot of the middle east carnage:
ABCmews ‘coreespondent’ Marquardt writes:
‘The country that crushed its own peaceful protests, sparking a war that has left almost 100,000 dead, has termed the Turkish unrest “popular protests.”
“I’m sure [Assad] is exceedingly happy” about Erdogan’s woes, said Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center.
Turkey has staved off symptoms of the Arab Spring in large part due to an economic boom, Salem said, but the protests show he too is not immune.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/06/syria-delights-in-turkish-unrest/
and this is what british muslims read! they then feel justified on going on jihad to syria…but not to turkey or saudi, cause the media never writes of very real repression there

Posted by: brian | Jun 3 2013 23:24 utc | 57

@dh#53:
This clearly looks like a signal from Kerry that the Obama administration is pulling back on Syrian intervention:

The peace conference that Kerry hopes to convene aims to implement an agreement hammered out 11 months ago, also in Geneva, that called for an end to the violence and the formation of a transitional government by “mutual consent.”
Kerry said he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had spoken on Friday and remained committed to trying to arrange the peace conference, known as Geneva II, but said whether it happens was up to the parties on the ground.
“Now when that ripens, when that becomes a reality, is going to be decided by events on the ground and the participants themselves,” Kerry added at the news conference with Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski.
“The Unites States can push and cajole … but in the end, the people on the ground, are going to have to decide that that’s something they are prepared to engage in,” he added.

A day later, the French try to bring Obama back to his “red lines” by claiming that tests prove that Sarin definitely was used in Syria. Obama administration claims that it still wants more proof.

Posted by: Rusty Pipes | Jun 4 2013 20:46 utc | 58

“and this is what british muslims read! they then feel justified on going on jihad to syria…but not to turkey or saudi, cause the media never writes of very real repression there..”
Given the terrible anti-islamic biass in the British media it is surprising that muslims there believe what it tells them. Much of the problem lies in the fact that wahhabi influence in Europe allows muslims at one and the same time to be against the US/UK and to die for them. That is Bandar’s genius: to harness the “blowback” and divert it into the faces of shi’ites, nationalists and socialists. These young muslims are killing themselves for zionism and imperialism. And the gangsters of the gulf, who are laughing all the way to the casino and the brothel where they toast al wahhab in the cocktail lounge.

Posted by: bevin | Jun 4 2013 21:05 utc | 59

@59
‘Given the terrible anti-islamic biass in the British media it is surprising that muslims there believe what it tells them. Much of the problem lies in the fact that wahhabi influence in Europe allows muslims at one and the same time to be against the US/UK and to die for them’
not at all….people including muslims tend to believe whats in the press esp when they have no first hand evidence of its truth

Posted by: brian | Jun 6 2013 0:32 utc | 60

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