" Army spokesman Ahmed Ali said the military, which was criticized for killing at least 51 Brotherhood supporters at a protest July 8, said keeping order on the streets is an uncomfortable role for the military. "We are trained to kill and fight [a foreign] enemy," Ali said at a news conference. "This is new to us."" (Thanks Basim)
Friday, July 19, 2013
Aljazeera estimates of Syrian fighters
Comrade Amer sent me this: " regarding the al-jazeera interactive map of Syrian opposition forces, your friend counted wrong (he added totals to smaller circles, which are the constituents of the total). By their count, the total number of Syrian opposition fighters would be around 210-220 k, which sounds reasonable . However, they greatly inflated the numbers of pro-Qataris and under-estimated the pro-Nusra groups."
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Aljazeera's estimate of Syrian opposition forces
From Rusty: "Al-Jazeera's got an interactive map of the Syrian opposition forces on its
site, with detailed information on the number of forces purportedly aligned
against the regime. I was bored, so I started adding up the numbers. I
stopped around 600,000. All the little circles were making my eyes
hurt and it was becoming difficult to keep track of them all. This would make the Syrian rebels about twice the size of the regime army and the ninth largest standing army in the world (Syria is number 15), ahead of both Iran and Egypt.
These numbers seem just a teensy bit inflated to me. What do you think?"
hurt and it was becoming difficult to keep track of them all. This would make the Syrian rebels about twice the size of the regime army and the ninth largest standing army in the world (Syria is number 15), ahead of both Iran and Egypt.
These numbers seem just a teensy bit inflated to me. What do you think?"
He is well
EU's foreign minister said that she was assured that Morsi is "well". Good to know. Would she accept that assurance if some Western person is kidnapped somewhere in the region? That he is well?
Flash: the assassination of Muhammad Darrar Jimmu
Al-Akhbar Hasan `Illayq has just told New TV that the assassination of Muhammad Darrar Jimmu was not political and that his Lebanese in-laws are implicated in the crime for personal, familiar reasons.
Farah Antun's criticisms of the US in 1907
Salim sent me this cover image of the issue of Al-Jami`ah from 1908 in which the speech of Antun near Niagara Falls was published.
Himmler-Hoover
From M.: "In his biography of Hoover “Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J.
Edgar Hoover” published last year, Anthony Summers quotes Dr Harold Lief,
Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, saying that
“Hoover would have made a perfect high-level Nazi.” (p. 520) Lief suggests
various psychological traits that make Himmler and Hoover quite similar: “Like
Edgar, Lief noted, Himmler had a weak father and was heavily dependent on his
mother. He too kept precise records and diaries from an abnormally early age.
... had fixed right-wing ideas from an early age. Though a zealous officer
cadet, he tried to avoid military service. He was a chatterbox who dominated all
conversations, excessively strict with subordinates and outwardly submissive to
superiors. He denounced others at every opportunity. He cut himself off
emotionally, distanced himself from women and took an unhealthy interest in the
‘immoral’ behavior of others.” Summers also mentions the animosity between
Hoover and Eleanor Roosevelt. “'Now you see what a bastard Hoover is,’ she was
quoted as saying. ‘That’s how he covers up his Fascist attitude. You should have
seen Franklin … He said this was just another proof of the duplicity of that
smug would-be-Himmler.’”"
Even 8th graders in Beijing are being exposed to Israeli propaganda
"Eighth grade students in Beijing schools are preparing for their world history exam, and Israeli history plays a large role in what they are being taught, Yedioth Ahronoth reported." (thanks Mohammed)
WHO coverup
From Rob: "So, forgive me for spamming you tonight, but I just cannot believe this.
The World Health Organization is issuing a study on birth defects in Iraq but
has omitted from the study consideration of what the causes of the birth defects
may be. Considering the widely reported spike of birth defects in the Fallujah
area especially following the US assault there, this strikes me as an
unforgivable and, as one person quoted in the article strongly suggests,
politically motivated omission. "
Nicholas Blanford--based on his key source, Rony, in Hizbullah makes a prediction
"But if bomb attacks continue, next time bringing heavy casualties, Shiite
support for Hezbollah’s role in Syria could come into question." For the record, Blanford and Michal Young have been predicting since 2005 that Shi`ites will be drifting away from Hizbullah. (thanks Basim)
Bahraini King wins a Saudi prize for serving the Qur'an--kid you not
Bahraini King is declared by a Saudi royal outfit "Man of the Year" for the service of the Qur'an. Kid you not.
UAE helps Israel out in London
"Emirates sponsors the cable car, but details of the contract show that TfL must abide by United Arab Emirates rules on having no ties to Israel or Israeli businesses.
The clause came to light this week, raising “serious concerns” according to Amir Ofek, spokesman at the Israeli embassy.
But when Mr Johnson was made aware of the stipulation he asked TfL to renegotiate the contract.
The mayor's official spokesman said: "The mayor was unaware of the clause in question, the details having been drawn up by TfL officials. When he was told about the clause yesterday he asked Sir Peter Hendy to speak to Emirates.
“Following those discussions Emirates agreed to remove the clause and re-work the wording. The mayor is pleased Emirates has moved quickly to clarify the situation."
The sponsorship deal is worth £36 million over 10 years."
The clause came to light this week, raising “serious concerns” according to Amir Ofek, spokesman at the Israeli embassy.
But when Mr Johnson was made aware of the stipulation he asked TfL to renegotiate the contract.
The mayor's official spokesman said: "The mayor was unaware of the clause in question, the details having been drawn up by TfL officials. When he was told about the clause yesterday he asked Sir Peter Hendy to speak to Emirates.
“Following those discussions Emirates agreed to remove the clause and re-work the wording. The mayor is pleased Emirates has moved quickly to clarify the situation."
The sponsorship deal is worth £36 million over 10 years."
AJE
From Ali: "Hello As'ad, ever since news of the assassination broke I have been checking Al
Jazeera English and they have not mentioned it at all. You would think an
incident like this, especially in the context of the Syrian situation, would be
newsworthy."
Is the Egyptian coup really a coup? From John Kerry
From Adam: "Although it isn't long, this
UPI piece on Kerry's view on the military coup in Egypt is extremely
revealing, exposing of course the blatant hypocrisy of the current
administration, and well, pretty much every arab and western government. Here a
couple of snippets I found the most interesting:
"Egypt may have dodged a civil war by ousting President Mohamed Morsi, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, refusing again to call the ouster a coup.
'What complicates it obviously is that you had an extraordinary situation in Egypt of life and death, of the potential of civil war and enormous violence, and you now have a constitutional process proceeding forward very rapidly. So we have to measure all of those facts against the law,' Kerry told reporters in Amman, Jordan..." That's right, not only is a not a coup, but it's "an extraordinary situation", and somehow the non-coup coup averted civil war and "enormous violence".
And how complicated is the situation? Well, apparently we need the administration lawyers to explain to us what's really happening:
"I'm not going to rush to judgment on it," he said. "I'm going to wait until our lawyers have done their homework on it."
U.S. law requires the Obama administration to stop its more than $1.5 billion in annual aid if it decides the ouster was a coup."
And what could it have been that happened if not a coup? Well, that's not so clear, but here's one opinion:
"Judeh offered his opinion on the question, saying a military coup is when the military takes over, which he said was not what happened in Egypt. By contrast, he said, the military intervened "to put the constitutional process back on track.'"
So who exactly is in control of the Egyptian government if not the military? I'd be curious to know. And because of the situation's uniqueness we're not supposed to "pass judgment":
"And I think that we've got to give them the benefit of the doubt," he said. "They know best. The military in Egypt has been the guarantor of peace and stability in many twists and turns in Egypt's contemporary history."
When have we ever seen the U.S. give other's "the benefit of the doubt" because "they know best"? Well, obviously whenever it suits them. "
"Egypt may have dodged a civil war by ousting President Mohamed Morsi, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, refusing again to call the ouster a coup.
'What complicates it obviously is that you had an extraordinary situation in Egypt of life and death, of the potential of civil war and enormous violence, and you now have a constitutional process proceeding forward very rapidly. So we have to measure all of those facts against the law,' Kerry told reporters in Amman, Jordan..." That's right, not only is a not a coup, but it's "an extraordinary situation", and somehow the non-coup coup averted civil war and "enormous violence".
And how complicated is the situation? Well, apparently we need the administration lawyers to explain to us what's really happening:
"I'm not going to rush to judgment on it," he said. "I'm going to wait until our lawyers have done their homework on it."
U.S. law requires the Obama administration to stop its more than $1.5 billion in annual aid if it decides the ouster was a coup."
And what could it have been that happened if not a coup? Well, that's not so clear, but here's one opinion:
"Judeh offered his opinion on the question, saying a military coup is when the military takes over, which he said was not what happened in Egypt. By contrast, he said, the military intervened "to put the constitutional process back on track.'"
So who exactly is in control of the Egyptian government if not the military? I'd be curious to know. And because of the situation's uniqueness we're not supposed to "pass judgment":
"And I think that we've got to give them the benefit of the doubt," he said. "They know best. The military in Egypt has been the guarantor of peace and stability in many twists and turns in Egypt's contemporary history."
When have we ever seen the U.S. give other's "the benefit of the doubt" because "they know best"? Well, obviously whenever it suits them. "
Aljazeera journalism
From Mohannad: "Have a look! It had been a while since I had watched Al-Jazeera Arabic. How
indicative it is of the network's demise that it invites to a debate about
Syrian regime forces regaining momentum a buffoon supporting the revolution who
states while showing his hands to the camera that they bare the evidence of a
chemical weapon attack. While the other guest is an Iranian and obviously a
state operative! The programme is chock full of bleeps. Tabloid TV,
regrettably."
The numbers' game in Egypt
Fahmy Huwaydi on the exaggeration of the "revolution" crowd in Cairo. (thanks Yusuf)
urination on Muslims
"American Marines were capture on camera and in combat uniform
urinating on the bloody bodies of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan." "Channel 9
asked Chamblin if the team thought about how the behavior could put other
American troops in danger. "No," he said. "And if anything, it was more of a
psychological effect on the enemy because if an infidel touches the body,
they're not going to Mecca or paradise. So, now these insurgents see what
happens when you mess with us." "But do I regret doing it? Hell no," Chamblin
said, adding he would do it again."
defections?
Do you notice that we don't hear of defections from the Syrian regime anymore, notwithstanding the defection a few months ago of a deputy to an assistant to the deputy of a certain director general of a ministry. I remember how excited you all were at the time.
climate control
"The CIA would not say why it had decided to fund the project at
this time, but the US government's apparent interest in altering the climate
isn't new. The first big use of weather modification as a military tactic came
during the Vietnam War, when the Air Force engaged in a cloud seeding program to
try to create rainfall and turn the Ho Chi Minh Trail into muck, and thereby
gain tactical advantage. Between 1962 and 1983, other would-be weather engineers
tried to change the behavior of hurricanes using silver iodide. That effort,
dubbed Project Stormfury, was spearheaded by the Navy and the Commerce Department."
Anne Barnard knows an `Alawite symbol when she sees one
"Mr. Haidar, a large, muscular man with a shaved head and a tattoo of an Alawite symbol, the sword of Imam Ali..." My father, a non-practicing Shi`ite twelver, had a replica of the sword displayed on the wall. Does that mean that he was an Alawite but his family did not know it, Ms. Barnard?
How long will this charade continue for?
Every week or almost every day, there is a story about a new effort to reunifiy the various elements of the Saudi and Qatari Syrian opposition.
crimes of the regime and its gangs
Ibrahim Amin of Al-Akhbar writes about the crimes and corruption of Syrian regime goons and gangs.
Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty
An Egyptian soldier sought permission from Israel, per the terms of the lousy treaty, to use the rest room. Permission was granted by Israel. Sisi celebrated.
standing up for Israel and its massacres
"During a confirmation hearing today that was largely a test
of her willingness to submit to foreign policy dogma, Samantha Power repeatedly
asserted her commitment to "stand up for Israel and work tirelessly to defend
it" against the "disproportionate" criticism she said it receives at the United
Nations. "I commit to you wholeheartedly to go on offense as well as playing
defense on the legitimation of Israel and we'll make every effort to secure
greater integration of Israeli public servants in the UN system," said Power,
President Obama's nominee for Ambassador to the United Nations, implying that
she would support Israel's bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council." (thanks Amir)
racist trash in Al-Arabiyya
Another example of racist trash in Saudi media; the example from Al-Arabiyya, the news station of King Fahd's brother-in-law. But what do you expect from princes who still hold slaves?
The Communist Party of Turkey versus the Communist Party of Egypt
From Ali, the Angry Arab's correspondent in Turkey:
"Who is from Egypt, who is from Turkey?
"Who is from Egypt, who is from Turkey?
I found the statements of communist party of Turkey and Egypt on the coup in Egypt and the roadmap of the army:
Communist Party of Egypt: (...) The announcement of the future roadmap program on which all political forces, revolution youth, the armed forces and heads of the main religious institutions in Egypt, Sheikh of Al-Azhar and the Pope of St. Mark Church, reflecting a national consensus not a stranger to the nature, traditions and identity of our civilized nation (...) source:
vs
Communist party of Turkey: (...) In the end, pro-American Morsi has left and been replaced by pro-American general Sisi and his civilian friends (...) But for a real victory, the people of Egypt should unite around a true revolutionary program and get rid of their pro-American seculars, pro-American Islamists and pro-American liberals.(...) Source: "
Communist Party of Egypt: (...) The announcement of the future roadmap program on which all political forces, revolution youth, the armed forces and heads of the main religious institutions in Egypt, Sheikh of Al-Azhar and the Pope of St. Mark Church, reflecting a national consensus not a stranger to the nature, traditions and identity of our civilized nation (...) source:
vs
Communist party of Turkey: (...) In the end, pro-American Morsi has left and been replaced by pro-American general Sisi and his civilian friends (...) But for a real victory, the people of Egypt should unite around a true revolutionary program and get rid of their pro-American seculars, pro-American Islamists and pro-American liberals.(...) Source: "
Subhi Al-`Umari and Lawrence of Arabia
From a reader: "i came across this short text about my grandfather soubhi alomary and i
just want to correct one think .. he is actually syrian from damascus
and not iraqi and he wrote 3 books (autobiography )about his role in
arab great revolution and the faisal reign in damascus and his time
spent with Lawrence ..he did recieve 4 death penalties by the ottomans
and french and british and syrian military court in 1957 ..he served as
an MP from 1949 to 1957 (his memories about the 40s and 50s was banned
from being published by the syrian regime (Assad the father)"
Syrian democracy on the march
The leader of the "progressive"--and even leftist in some accounts--wing of the Syrian exile opposition, Michel Kilu, flew to Saudi Arabia to take orders from Prince Bandar. And do you dare ask me why I fiercely oppose those gangs that are as bad as the Syrian regime?
Egyptian Ministers
I was reading the bios of the various Egyptian ministers and one of them had a partnership with Jamal Mubarak. Yet, the New York Times today said that all the ministers are leftists and liberals--by liberal Western media mean pro-Saudi and pro-Mubarak.
Muhammad Darrar Jimmu, again
Look. There was an enmity (rhetorical) between Jimmu, the propagandist for the Syrian regime who was gunned in Lebanon yesterday and me. We clashed and criticized each other bitterly but there is an injustice here: I did not see one Western media group or one human rights organization condemn his assassination at the hands of Fee Syrian Army gangs. I am told that the man never carried a gun in his life and worked in journalism but there was no protest or even news coverage in Western media. Imagine if he was a journalist against the Asad regime who was killed in Lebanon. Can you imagine the international outrage?
Democracy in Syria
If you think about it: Western governments closely coordinates with the Saudi princes over plans to democratize Syria. It is not as absurd as it seems if you realize that Western governments have no plans or interests in the democratization of Syria.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
The crime of Muhammad Darrar Jimmu
An official Syrian armed opposition site states that Jimmu was killed (partly?) because he drank water during Ramadan:
Himmler for Homeland Security
Somebody should write a book on that: I do believe that had Himmler not swallowed the poison, he would have been a perfect candidate to assume a leading role in the US intelligence-security apparatus after WWII. I mean, Hoover would have really appreciated his skills and talents in repression and bureaucratic ethnic/racial exclusion and control.
The new Egyptian government
I can say that more than half of the new Egyptian cabinet are fulul. Enjoy them.
Saudi government expels
Saudi government (according to Al-Watan, the mouthpiece of Prince Khalid Al-Faysal) expelled Syrian doctors who were accused of sympathy with the Syrian regime. Kid you not.
Whiskey and Ramadan can mix...in Lebnon
A giant whiskey add next to a "Glorious Ramadan" sign in Beirut. (thanks Ali)
"To the person who stole my car"
Somebody in Lebanon (Tripoli) posted a banner in which he called on the person who stole his car to contact him to return the car in return for a "large sum" of money. Kid you not.
(thanks Shih-Yu)following American orders
""An Afghan accused of torturing and murdering civilians while
working for US special forces denies the charges and says he followed American
orders, according to a report obtained by AFP on Tuesday." "Instead he blamed
the murders on three Americans, whom he named as Dave, Hagen and Chris, and whom
he said were fluent in Afghanistan's two main languages Dari and Pashto.""
Canadian science
""Aboriginal children were deliberately starved in the 1940s and
'50s by government researchers in the name of science. Milk rations were halved
for years at residential schools across the country. Essential vitamins were
kept from people who needed them. Dental services were withheld because gum
health was a measuring tool for scientists and dental care would distort
research. For over a decade, aboriginal children and adults were unknowingly
subjected to nutritional experiments by Canadian government bureaucrats."" (thanks Amir)
The Kingdom of Horrors
From Basim: "Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday new rules to protect the rights of
foreign domestic workers, most of whom are from South Asia, but stressed they
must "respect" Islam and "obey" their employers.
Basim
PS Middle East Online is a website that routinely parrots the GCC line as
evident by their headline for this story."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
