tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77576675802742112042024-03-05T18:25:01.996+03:00Intibah and Ghassan KadiIntibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.comBlogger358125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-17059468181574136402023-02-19T15:34:00.008+03:002023-02-21T05:32:10.469+03:00A Salute, not a farewell. Ghassan Kadi February 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsaLPbAzsB4p1n0UtGMqi7UbmMid306Sjh4L_4PLA3QEwXKVCKT-lnrcWO3pipKHW2EjtfNgawh6aW0zbvHn9cSHe8Z01DRM_I5UkclcgOgmrt2AGF2NmGIswv6eHBsxCSbIBP_qATuugAQnyEwGXwP8kEKPODnqA7air3JSkVv72e_udg7k-IcQKpIQ/s984/Saker%20banner_iceland.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="984" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsaLPbAzsB4p1n0UtGMqi7UbmMid306Sjh4L_4PLA3QEwXKVCKT-lnrcWO3pipKHW2EjtfNgawh6aW0zbvHn9cSHe8Z01DRM_I5UkclcgOgmrt2AGF2NmGIswv6eHBsxCSbIBP_qATuugAQnyEwGXwP8kEKPODnqA7air3JSkVv72e_udg7k-IcQKpIQ/w400-h110/Saker%20banner_iceland.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br />https://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/<p></p><div class="post-title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">A salute, not a farewell</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">10023 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">February 18, 2023</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="https://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/#comments" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">7 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">by Ghassan Kadi for the Saker blog<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">I started following The Saker about ten years ago. I cannot be sure how and when it started, but I was formally ‘introduced’ to him in 2015 after which he began to publish my work and Intibah’s (my wife).</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">‘The Saker’, Andrei, became an instant friend and confidant. He gave me a voice when all former ‘friends’ tried to muffle me, attacked me, and even sent me death threats.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It wasn’t always a smooth track to tread. We disagreed on some issues, he declined to accept some submissions I made, but what the heck? If people and friends don’t agree that sometimes they must disagree, then they cannot claim to have a real friendship.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">With that said, he did publish most of my work even when he felt that he shouldn’t, without much regard to the backlash that this could bring upon him personally.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Andrei, The Saker, has always acted like a real hero.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In the back of my mind, I had always felt that he will always be there for me to write and make submissions to. I never stopped for one moment to think that he is also a human like all of us. This is where I feel guilty.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And in the last year or so, looking at the state of the world, at many levels, I felt that I had ran out of thoughts and ideas that can be transcribed into words that could make any impact on the sad and suicidal trajectory of a humanity that is steadfastly going towards. I felt speechless.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But this didn’t need to stop me from communicating with my friend Andrei, but it did. I didn’t even send him an Orthodox Christmas greeting.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Sometimes in life, we rotate around a fulcrum that we take for granted thinking that it will always be there for us to gravitate to and unite. And just like children believe that their parents will always be there, as adults we also tend to do this, we often forget that those fulcrums are humans, just like us, humans that may have super powers, but they remain to be humans.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">There are a few humans that I have had the pleasure to know who have super powers; and Andrei is definitely high on this list.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This is the end of an era; a big turning point in my life that the lives of many.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Andrei, my friend, you gave me the platform that enabled me to express my feelings about many injustices, mis-and-dis-information. You gave Ghassan Kadi a new lease in life at a time when his message was drowned. You judged ‘him’ and his work by their merit; not by the nasty messages you were receiving. You supported Syria to which I am extremely thankful.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">As ‘The Saker’ shuts down, so will Ghassan. Ghassan Kadi is only my pen name, and this ‘character’ will now ‘die’.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But the saker (hawk) only soars up in the sky, and when it dives down, it only does this as a prelude to soar again; soon, later, or in another realm.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It seems strange as I feel that I am writing a eulogy. This is a letter of appreciation and thankfulness to a man who is integrity-driven. I am so grateful that he can read these words because eulogies are never heard by the deceased.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Andrei, Saker, our friend, our hero, Intibah and I salute you. We look forward to seeing you around the corner in a better place.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Much Love and Respect</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Ghassan<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p><ol class="commentlist" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><li class="comment byuser comment-author-annwatson even thread-even depth-1 comment" id="li-comment-1170638" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><article id="comment-1170638" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><div class="comment-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 76px;"><span class="by-author" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 10px;">ann</span> <a class="commet-permalink" href="https://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/#comment-1170638" rel="internal nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f98e1b; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><span class="by-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">on February 18, 2023 </span> <span class="by-time" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">·</b> at 1:35 pm EST/EDT</span></a></div><div class="comment-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 76px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Hi Ghassan – your articles always were interesting – so human and easy to read and understand. And adorable Intibah who was always ready to comment on my comments. I felt so honored. She is so fiery and ready to inter-act.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">I hope Saker reopens his blog soon. I believe that even the globalists don’t want nuclear war. And the US is going to back down. They can’t fight a war they can afford and where are they going to get the ammo for it ?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Everything they need is made in China – I don’t understand this chaos the people behind Biden – aligned with the globalists are doing – is it to de-stabilize the US population perhaps ? So they won’t fight the CBDCs and all the other horrible things the globalists have planned for us</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">But I do understand Saker’s apprehension of being apprehended as a Russian spy – and its only wisdom that is driving this closure. There are many voices now – whereas at the beginning of Maidan – there was only Saker God Bless Saker</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">But I hope so much he will only come back to us soon</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Love Ann</p></div><div class="reply" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; margin-left: 76px;"><a class="comment-reply-login" href="https://thesaker.is/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fthesaker.is%2Fa-salute-not-a-farewell%2F" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f98e1b; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">Log in to Reply</a></div></article></li><li class="comment byuser comment-author-the-rider-gyn odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1 comment" id="li-comment-1170639" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><article id="comment-1170639" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><img class="comment-avatar lazy loaded" data-src="https://dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/static/avatar.png" data-was-processed="true" src="https://dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/static/avatar.png" style="border: 3px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.1) 0px 0px 5px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 5px 0px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: middle;" /><div class="comment-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 76px;"><span class="by-author" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 10px;">Julio Souza</span> <a class="commet-permalink" href="https://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/#comment-1170639" rel="internal nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f98e1b; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><span class="by-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">on February 18, 2023 </span> <span class="by-time" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">·</b> at 1:41 pm EST/EDT</span></a></div><div class="comment-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 76px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Very good. You said everything I should say.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Julio Souza</p></div><div class="reply" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; margin-left: 76px;"><a class="comment-reply-login" href="https://thesaker.is/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fthesaker.is%2Fa-salute-not-a-farewell%2F" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f98e1b; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">Log in to Reply</a></div></article></li><li class="comment byuser comment-author-james even thread-even depth-1 comment" id="li-comment-1170652" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><article id="comment-1170652" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><img class="comment-avatar lazy loaded" data-src="https://dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/static/avatar.png" data-was-processed="true" src="https://dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/static/avatar.png" style="border: 3px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.1) 0px 0px 5px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 5px 0px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: middle;" /><div class="comment-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 76px;"><span class="by-author" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 10px;">Moira</span> <a class="commet-permalink" href="https://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/#comment-1170652" rel="internal nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f98e1b; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><span class="by-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">on February 18, 2023 </span> <span class="by-time" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">·</b> at 4:10 pm EST/EDT</span></a></div><div class="comment-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 76px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">That is such a generous, well timed tribute to the Saker, thank you from th heart, and the life fulcrum you speak of, will be missed by a great many. The future is brave indeed, and we will meet again.</p></div><div class="reply" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; margin-left: 76px;"><a class="comment-reply-login" href="https://thesaker.is/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fthesaker.is%2Fa-salute-not-a-farewell%2F" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f98e1b; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">Log in to Reply</a></div></article></li><li class="comment byuser comment-author-marko odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1 comment" id="li-comment-1170664" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><article id="comment-1170664" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><img class="comment-avatar lazy loaded" data-src="https://dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/static/avatar.png" data-was-processed="true" src="https://dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/static/avatar.png" style="border: 3px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.1) 0px 0px 5px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 5px 0px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: middle;" /><div class="comment-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 76px;"><span class="by-author" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 10px;">Marko</span> <a class="commet-permalink" href="https://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/#comment-1170664" rel="internal nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f98e1b; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><span class="by-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">on February 18, 2023 </span> <span class="by-time" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">·</b> at 5:30 pm EST/EDT</span></a></div><div class="comment-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 76px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Thank you Ghassan. It was pleasure to read your articles.</p></div><div class="reply" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; margin-left: 76px;"><a class="comment-reply-login" href="https://thesaker.is/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fthesaker.is%2Fa-salute-not-a-farewell%2F" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f98e1b; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">Log in to Reply</a></div></article></li><li class="comment byuser comment-author-robert-shule even thread-even depth-1 comment" id="li-comment-1170675" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><article id="comment-1170675" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><img class="comment-avatar lazy loaded" data-src="https://dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/static/avatar.png" data-was-processed="true" src="https://dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/static/avatar.png" style="border: 3px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.1) 0px 0px 5px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 5px 0px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: middle;" /><div class="comment-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 76px;"><span class="by-author" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 10px;">Robert Shule</span> <a class="commet-permalink" href="https://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/#comment-1170675" rel="internal nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f98e1b; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><span class="by-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">on February 18, 2023 </span> <span class="by-time" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">·</b> at 10:38 pm EST/EDT</span></a></div><div class="comment-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 76px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Thanks for a great read. My feelings too.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />We all hate to see the Saker’s website go.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />But we all also know the ground is shifting, and one has to do what one has to do.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I wish the Saker the best, and much prosperity on whatever new adventures his future will bring.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />From this CNN article* posted just today, it looks like a lockdown might be on the horizon.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Sounds like the internet is going to be reigned in.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The Saker may be getting out of Dodge just in time…….. . . . .</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">*https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/18/tech/section-230-explainer/index.html</p></div><div class="reply" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; margin-left: 76px;"><a class="comment-reply-login" href="https://thesaker.is/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fthesaker.is%2Fa-salute-not-a-farewell%2F" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f98e1b; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">Log in to Reply</a></div></article></li><li class="comment byuser comment-author-robert-m-peters odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1 comment" id="li-comment-1170679" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><article id="comment-1170679" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><img class="comment-avatar lazy loaded" data-src="https://dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/static/avatar.png" data-was-processed="true" src="https://dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/static/avatar.png" style="border: 3px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.1) 0px 0px 5px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 5px 0px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: middle;" /><div class="comment-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 76px;"><span class="by-author" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 10px;">Robert M. Peters</span> <a class="commet-permalink" href="https://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/#comment-1170679" rel="internal nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f98e1b; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><span class="by-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">on February 19, 2023 </span> <span class="by-time" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">·</b> at 1:11 am EST/EDT</span></a></div><div class="comment-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 76px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Ghassan,</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Your words, most eloquent, capture my sentiments about Andrei and his blog. Since 2014 if not sometime before, I have come to the Vineyard of the Saker almost every day on which I have had access to the computer, sometimes early in the morning with my coffee or late at night with a glass of cold milk. It has been part of my physical, mental and spiritual routine for nearly ten years.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Thank you and Intibah for your work and contributions. I pray that God will bring us all back together in a time of His choosing.</p></div><div class="reply" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; margin-left: 76px;"><a class="comment-reply-login" href="https://thesaker.is/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fthesaker.is%2Fa-salute-not-a-farewell%2F" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f98e1b; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">Log in to Reply</a></div></article></li><li class="comment byuser comment-author-srbalj even thread-even depth-1 comment" id="li-comment-1170683" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><article id="comment-1170683" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><img class="comment-avatar lazy loaded" data-src="https://dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/static/avatar.png" data-was-processed="true" src="https://dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/static/avatar.png" style="border: 3px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.1) 0px 0px 5px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 5px 0px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: middle;" /><div class="comment-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 76px;"><span class="by-author" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 10px;">Srbalj</span> <a class="commet-permalink" href="https://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/#comment-1170683" rel="internal nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f98e1b; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><span class="by-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">on February 19, 2023 </span> <span class="by-time" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">·</b> at 3:49 am EST/EDT</span></a></div><div class="comment-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 76px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Ghassan, you will be missed, as will the The Saker site, I hate to call it a “blog” because it almost sounds demeaning. It is a huge loss, when I read the news Andrei was shutting it down I was not suprized considering he had warned previously it may come to that, but when I read the news it still made me feel deeply upset. Some would say, big deal, it’s only a website, there are others, there will be others, so what? Infact, normally, that is the kind of thing I would say. But not The Saker, it is so much more than either a “blog” or even a “website”, it has been my first point of call for years every time I switch on my PC & click on the internet, straight to The Saker to see what is new & interesting there, & always anticipating articles by favourite authors such as yourself, & Andrei’s. It is heartbreaking. Maybe I am being melodramatic, it is not really in my character, but it does feel like something is being lost that can not be replaced. You will be missed Ghassan.<br /><br /></p><li class="comment byuser comment-author-srbalj odd alt thread-even depth-1 comment" id="li-comment-1170683"><article id="comment-1170683"><div class="comment-content">
</div>
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<li class="comment byuser comment-author-englishman even depth-2 comment" id="li-comment-1170692">
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<span class="by-author">Englishman</span>
<a class="commet-permalink" href="http://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/#comment-1170692" rel="internal nofollow">
<span class="by-date">on February 19, 2023 </span>
<span class="by-time"><b>·</b> at 8:48 am EST/EDT</span>
</a>
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<p>Very well said, great loss for seekers of facts and truth.</p>
</div>
<div class="reply"><a aria-label="Reply to Englishman" class="comment-reply-link" data-belowelement="comment-1170692" data-commentid="1170692" data-postid="86624" data-replyto="Reply to Englishman" data-respondelement="respond" href="http://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/?replytocom=1170692#respond" rel="nofollow">Reply</a></div>
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</li><li class="comment byuser comment-author-frans odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1 comment" id="li-comment-1170711">
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<div class="comment-meta">
<span class="by-author">Longtrail</span>
<a class="commet-permalink" href="http://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/#comment-1170711" rel="internal nofollow">
<span class="by-date">on February 19, 2023 </span>
<span class="by-time"><b>·</b> at 9:14 pm EST/EDT</span>
</a>
</div>
<div class="comment-content">
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/q_dMAQ2viCg?feature=share" rel="nofollow ugc">https://www.youtube.com/live/q_dMAQ2viCg?feature=share</a></p>
<p>There is hope.</p>
<p>I love and will miss you all.</p>
<p>🕊️</p>
</div>
<div class="reply"><a aria-label="Reply to Longtrail" class="comment-reply-link" data-belowelement="comment-1170711" data-commentid="1170711" data-postid="86624" data-replyto="Reply to Longtrail" data-respondelement="respond" href="http://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/?replytocom=1170711#respond" rel="nofollow">Reply</a></div>
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<div class="comment-meta">
<span class="by-author">apiarian</span>
<a class="commet-permalink" href="http://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/#comment-1170717" rel="internal nofollow">
<span class="by-date">on February 20, 2023 </span>
<span class="by-time"><b>·</b> at 2:37 am EST/EDT</span>
</a>
</div>
<div class="comment-content">
<p>They first offer you money. Then they threaten your life. At least that’s how it went in my experience.</p>
</div>
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<div class="comment-meta">
<span class="by-author">Intibah Kadi</span>
<a class="commet-permalink" href="http://thesaker.is/a-salute-not-a-farewell/#comment-1170766" rel="internal nofollow">
<span class="by-date">on February 20, 2023 </span>
<span class="by-time"><b>·</b> at 9:26 pm EST/EDT</span>
</a>
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<div class="comment-content">
<p>Dearest Peace Warrior Andrei, “The Saker”,<br />
I struggle to adequately express my appreciation of and gratitude for a soul like you.<br />
You were present, and for sure will continue to be present, in the most
crucial time of a global transition, one where all of us in this
community know that goodness will finally overcome evil. </p>
<p>For the past decade I witnessed your selfless, no doubt exhausting
mission to lead, in a participatory and empowering manner, a global
movement, via the world-wide-web, of seekers of and contributors to the
unveiling of facts, truths and the values of a dignified Russia, a
Russia that has continued holding out the hand of friendship and
integrity towards other “partners” hell-bent on choosing the dark side
at every turn, and more so as they slip into a decline. </p>
<p>For those arrogant and mired in the illusion of feeling exceptional
and that only those of their paradigm matter, they will hopefully learn
that a mighty nation or empire is only mighty because it stands before
God and is humble. </p>
<p>Thank you, Russia, for caring for Syria in the way you did and still do.<br />
Thank you Saker, for being passionate about the nations that suffer at the hands of the failing empire.<br />
Thank you for welcoming Ghassan and I (since 2015) to contribute our
thoughts (articles) to the incredible phenomenon of the platform,
community and movement you began.<br />
And finally thank you to the readers, authors and all the supporters
who also not only cared about Russia but also Russia’s friends.</p>
<p>Your friend forever,<br />
“Intibah Kadi”<br /><br /></p><br /></div></article></li></div></article></li></ol></div>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-89302802457290569062022-03-20T22:01:00.011+02:002023-02-18T03:30:23.712+03:00IS THE PETRODOLLAR SWAYING? By Ghassan Kadi 20 March 2022 <p><span style="font-size: large;"><span data-offset-key="96bgk-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Ghassan Kadi's thoughts on the future of the<a href=" http://thesaker.is/is-the-petrodollar-swaying/"> </a></span></span><a href=" http://thesaker.is/is-the-petrodollar-swaying/" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Petrodollar</span></a></span></p><div data-block="true" data-editor="8cf7k" data-offset-key="7cirv-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7cirv-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="7cirv-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span class="py34i1dx" color="var(--blue-link)" style="font-family: inherit;">http://thesaker.is/is-the-petrodollar-swaying/
<div class="post-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: normal;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">Is the Petrodollar swaying?</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden; white-space: normal;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">28069 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">March 20, 2022</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="http://thesaker.is/is-the-petrodollar-swaying/#comments" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; text-decoration-line: none !important; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">74 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px; white-space: normal;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">By Ghassan Kadi for the Saker Blog</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The Russian special operation in Ukraine has created the potential for an avalanche of geopolitical and geo-economic changes. Some of them were bound to happen; just waiting for a trigger factor.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Is the end of the Petrodollar one of them?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">To understand the importance of the Petrodollar, we need to go back to its origin and definition.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Many articles and definitions have been given over the years to explain what the Petrodollar is all about; but none in my opinion comes close to the one explained by Mamdouh Salameh. Back in 2015, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2621599&fbclid=IwAR17UNicN2VIinNtXuP5g6odyLz5V6yAqTYapiZYKeHkPOSMw77dVv-61Qk" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">he predicted</a> that the Petrodollar might have outlived its use-by date. His prediction is perhaps now outdated, but that aside, an extract of the abstract of his article outlines the definition and the importance of the Petrodollar for the US economy</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">‘The Petrodollar came into existence in 1973 in the wake of the collapse of the international gold standard which was created in the aftermath of WWII under the Britton Woods agreements. These agreements also established the US Dollar as the reserve currency of the world. The Nixon Administration understood that the collapse of the gold standard system would cause a decline in the global demand for the US Dollar. Maintaining demand for the US Dollar was vital for the United States’ economy. So, the United States under Nixon struck a deal in 1973 with Saudi Arabia.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Under the terms of the deal, the Saudis would agree to price all of their oil exports in US Dollar exclusively and be open to invest their surplus oil proceeds in US debt securities. In return, the United States offered weapons and protection of Saudi oil fields from neighboring countries including Israel. For the Americans, the Petrodollar increases demand for the US dollar and also for US debt securities and allows the US to buy oil with a currency it can print at will. In 1975, all of the OPEC nations agreed to follow suit. Maintaining the Petrodollar is America’s primary goal’.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Do you get the picture?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The Petrodollar was meant to be a win-win agreement in which America propped up its economy, and in return supplied Saudi Arabia with security.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">As time went by, the deal became increasingly one-sided, one in which Saudi Arabia was getting the spiky end of the pineapple. The Saudis have been feeling shafted for a long time, but they did not have enough intestinal fortitude to stand up and show their dismay to Uncle Sam.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">When America asked old-school Saudi royals to jump, they asked how high. Love him or hate him, young Saudi Crown Prince Muhamed Bin Salman (MBS) is different.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Over the last few years, I have written many scathing articles about MBS’s character, ambitions, thirst for power, sneaky behind-the-scenes deals with Israel, but the biggest black mark against him will always be his war on Yemen. I will not suddenly make a 180 degree turn and start praising him. But credit must be given when credit is due.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">MBS happened to rise to power on the eve of Saudi Arabia’s failure in Syria. For fairness, this was not a war he started.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">When he took control, Saudi Arabia had already lost its war in Syria, its biggest ally in Lebanon (Hariri) proved to be a wimp and a hopeless ally despite all the support and bottomless funds he received in order to put Hezbollah under control. In Yemen, the Houthis had already taken control of the capital Sanaa. Iran was moving in on Saudi Arabia on 3 fronts; or at least this was how he perceived it.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This is not to forget the oil price war that Saudi Arabia waged on Russia. It is difficult to put all of those events in exact chronological order because they are all interwoven and happened almost concurrently. Back in 2016, Saudi Arabia decided to increase its oil production in order to drop the crude oil price and put pressure on Russia in Syria. The plan backfired and only resulted in a huge slump in the price of oil, and when MBS tried to reverse that decision and bring the crude price back up again, he was unable to.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">MBS inherited a Saudi Arabia that was teetering on the edge. He had few options to restore its image and stature. It faced bankruptcy and for the first time since its oil boom nearly a whole century ago, it fell into debt and he took drastic domestic spending cut measures.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">He had to do something.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">His American allies during the Obama Administration convinced him that defeating the Houthis was going to be a walk in the park. MBS was led to believe that his venture in Yemen will be a swift blitz, and he gave it a name to that effect; Operation Decisive Storm.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The last thing that MBS wanted was a letdown from his American allies.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The Obama Administration however proved to be either unable or unwilling to provide him with what it took to win that war.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Trump, on the other hand, made his first overseas visit as a President to Saudi Arabia. He reassured the Saudis of America’s adherence to its obligations of protecting them and canceled Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But the tables turned later on when Biden went further than Obama, making a 180-degree turn. He didn’t only threaten to cut off arms supplies to Saudi Arabia, but openly said that he is also desirous to resume talks with Iran in an attempt to resurrect the nuclear deal. In effect, Biden has breached the 1973 Petrodollar agreement and which clearly stipulates that the USA must protect Saudi Arabia.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">A couple of weeks short of the seven years anniversary, nothing can excuse MBS for putting his ego before the lives and welfare of Yemeni people. That war has raged on for so long and created massive human tragedies.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">So how do the events in Ukraine come into the picture?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">With the global repercussions of the Russian operation in Ukraine reverberating all over the world, MBS is eyeing Uncle Sam, vowing that it is <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">pay-back time</em></strong>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">America has actually requested ‘friendly’ countries to condemn the Russian action. Thus far, some, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have refrained from responding. This is an unprecedented Saudi stand.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In my <a href="https://thesaker.is/boomerang-sanctions/" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">previous article,</a> I predicted that America’s sanctions against Russia would backfire. But, is MBS’s stand now related to the sanctions against Russia? The simple answer is yes.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">America does not expect MBS to only condemn Russia and mirror the sanctions, but it also expects him to pump more oil into the global market in order to meet the shortfall created by the sanctions.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">MBS is not playing ball the way America wants him to play. He is refusing to condemn Russia, thus far refusing to lift oil production. But most seriously, he is discussing with China doing oil transactions in the Yuan (Renminbi) instead of the USD.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Whilst the talks are not about doing all oil transactions in Yuan, it is however the beginning of a new trend that may see the eventual end of the Petrodollar. This is the first serious nail in its coffin.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">If the Petrodollar collapses, quantitative easing (ie printing money) will constitute a more serious problem for the American economy.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Whilst writing the previous above-mentioned article, I did not expect that events were going to happen so quickly and that cracks alluding to the fall of the USD as the single global reserve currency were going show in less than a week. But here we are. The first steps have already been taken.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">MBS seems to be maturing enough to know how to play the game of the big boys. What is really pertinent is that the so-called Petrodollar, and what is left of its future, rest in his hands; and America has no say in this. Even as I finalize this article, news of a USD collapse is already being reported on the mainstream media. With the deployment of the Kinzhal missile yesterday, the first-ever use of hypersonic weapons in combat, we can surely be certain that the changes we are witnessing now, economic or military, are not ones that the West ever desired or envisaged.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> </p></div>
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggC5TI7MQeAYqM1nP_Lzjt4nrdlpqpJ9wYfEacQHVJiYU2uONRH70EhppPYV22fntLCsJf-DB9prn0wTd3t0zO7c73SiSbH81IRbH8MdZJ_xxUV9PQB0NQ72EcTR0DDKBy06n3W2bRGXSKVtkWO_6lQqnj_H3E6DKbPsiXkwDz7rwELvdtXf-8n2DmYg/s984/banner_iceland.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="984" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggC5TI7MQeAYqM1nP_Lzjt4nrdlpqpJ9wYfEacQHVJiYU2uONRH70EhppPYV22fntLCsJf-DB9prn0wTd3t0zO7c73SiSbH81IRbH8MdZJ_xxUV9PQB0NQ72EcTR0DDKBy06n3W2bRGXSKVtkWO_6lQqnj_H3E6DKbPsiXkwDz7rwELvdtXf-8n2DmYg/w556-h153/banner_iceland.jpg" width="556" /></a></div></div></div>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-30540051899585770402022-03-12T13:42:00.005+02:002023-02-18T03:31:41.351+03:00BOOMERANG SANCTIONS By Ghassan Kadi 12 March 2022<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ghassan Kadi considers the true implications of <a href="http://thesaker.is/boomerang-sanctions/">American sanctions</a> on Russia</span><br /></p><p><a href="http://thesaker.is/boomerang-sanctions/"><span style="font-size: medium;">http://thesaker.is/boomerang-sanctions/</span></a></p><div class="post-title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">Boomerang Sanctions</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">24035 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">March 12, 2022</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="http://thesaker.is/boomerang-sanctions/#comments" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; text-decoration-line: none !important; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">50 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">by Ghassan Kadi, for the Saker Blog</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Do Western sanctions have any chance of achieving their objectives? Perhaps we need to look back at history and see how the earliest recorded sanctions were implemented.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Before the age of electronic transfers and massive international trading and complex technology came into existence, warring factions enforced sanctions on each other by way of imposing sieges, and therefore cutting off food and water supplies to heavily fortified cities. Those cities had to ration out their supplies, and when they ran out, they often capitulated.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Much has changed since, but the only way for any sanction to work now is in the ability to deprive a nation from goods and services that are essential. But this is now easier said than done.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In today’s age of technology and all what comes with it, the world depends on a huge array of manufactured goods for its economy and the services that support that economy to run. Manufactured good are themselves made of parts often made in different countries and assembled together somewhere else. Many, if not most of those goods and parts, are made in China, and this is fact.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">How do we know that the manufacturers of American/NATO military hardware do not use parts and components that are made in China and no longer made in the West? They can be as simple as special size or shape screw, but without it, the strategic weapon cannot be assembled. And if one of the suppliers of hardware to the Pentagon suddenly wakes up to the realization that it needs the part that is made in China to put together a strategic defence weapon, what will happen then? Alternative Western productions lines can be put to work, but these things take time, and time is precious commodity in the event of a military blitz.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But here is more. Even if in peacetime an American buys a T-shirt made in America from American grown cotton, the cotton crop is highly likely to have been fertilized with urea imported from China. As a matter of fact, China controls a huge sector of the global fertilizer market, and when one controls food and its production, no other leverage becomes comparable in magnitude. Having control of the food supply is tantamount to the ancient city sieges.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The dependence of the West on China therefore is alarming, and the examples mentioned above, have been selected to demonstrate that Western sanctions against China, if ever implemented, would boomerang and hit the West in the guts.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The whole world and particularly the West are reliant on and addicted to Chinese goods. All the way from T-shirts to iPhones, a huge percentage of global consumable goods are made in China.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">China is therefore the ultimate example of where American sanctions would fail abysmally. As a matter of fact, if anything at all, a Chinese export sanction against America would bring the latter to its knees in a few weeks if not less.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What about Russia? Are American sanctions effective against Russia? Thus far, they haven’t been. Time will tell if new ones will, but Russia does not ‘need’ any American imports or franchises. Russia does not need either McDonald’s or Starbucks. It doesn’t need those fast-food chains that litter its streets. Honestly, what a manner to sanction Russia with? What is next, the Disney Channel?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It is America that needs Russian rocket engines and not the other way around. Fancy this, comparing rocket engines to hamburgers.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And with its ties with China, Russia has a huge export market of gas and petroleum crude, all the while Western EU slumps into cold nights or enormous power bills. In the last couple of days alone, the price of gas has nearly doubled.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What is pertinent here is going back to the basics and remembering that any talk of sanctions can only be effective if based on depriving an adversary from what its people 1) need and 2) want. Currently, there is no product, no commodity, no technology, absolutely nothing that is essential for the rest of the world, that the West exclusively produces and the rest of the world cannot.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The current Western sanctions on nations that refuse to follow the directives of the West do not carry any weight at all; or anything that comes close. Non-Western countries can survive without Tesla, Porsche and Ferrari cars. Earth will continue to spin without French perfumes and champaign.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">With those facts known though unspoken, the USA continues to impose sanctions on other nations by utilizing the power of the Greenback, ie US Dollar of USD for short.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But this approach is foolish to say the least, and it is bound to backfire.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">America is determined to keep the stature of the USD as the single reserve world currency. But to maintain this stature, America must make sure that the rest of the world needs to use the USD and that it has no other alternative. But when successive American administrations impose sanctions on other nations that prevent them from using the USD, they are effectively shooting their last and only remaining asset in the foot.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This is not a complex issue that requires a PhD in macro-economics to understand. It is very simple in fact. You cannot coerce people to do something by way of banning them from doing it. This is a simple logical contradiction that even children can understand.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This oxymoronic comedy of errors appears more ludicrous when we see that the USD is the only asset left that the USA can use to impose sanctions with. Do successive American administrations really believe that sanctioned and potentially sanctionable nations, are going to sit idle and starve themselves to death without taking pre-emptive measures to avert this?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">If anything, sanctions over the years have taught even small and developing countries like Cuba, Syria and Iran to be self-reliant and innovative. Those countries have produced whole ‘armies’ of technicians who are able to manufacture spare parts even for old American cars. When you see photos of 1950’s Chevvies in Cuba, rest assured that there are hardly any original made-in-America parts left in them. If an American owns such an antique model and cannot find parts for it in the US, he/she may be able to find them in Cuba.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What makes the situation more farcical is that America knows well that China and Russia are intent to replace the USD as the single global reserve currency with China having a good chance to have it replaced by the Renminbi. It is also no secret that both Russia and China have been buying huge amounts of gold, and this is not to mention that they already have an alternative to the SWIFT system (СПФС or SPFS) of international banking transfers.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Back in the days of city sieges, the Athenians built their infamous horse, the original horse that coined the term ‘Trojan Horse’ and tricked the Trojans to take it into Troy. But in the West right now, there are no such strategists.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">The current soaring fuel prices at service stations world-wide are not an outcome of the Russian action in Ukraine. They are the outcome of the sanctions.</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">These sanctions can only turn back and hurt the hand that created them. They are not arrows aimed at targets. They are boomerangs, but even boomerangs are meant to return to the hand that launched them when they miss the target. But Western sanctions are sharply-pointed boomerangs that can only hit back, and hit with vengeance, and the soaring fuel prices may just be only the beginning.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> </p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg26DnhbLqg3g47UdH2VUo91COzcHmv-E2q0mpRJJ6QXwrxLNywTXFuS-XBsU0ZDJlRqbRgwBN8l0iuS20onI-l-ZhQGc5W7jZEZOTa_qiyp_-qs_Dad6pqpqPr_TchI9EnLYjiUWCDnukT1aERstQ0XNl2nTiIPvaOt47_ZbFRrPBmndKHs2kFgjlgkw=s984" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="984" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg26DnhbLqg3g47UdH2VUo91COzcHmv-E2q0mpRJJ6QXwrxLNywTXFuS-XBsU0ZDJlRqbRgwBN8l0iuS20onI-l-ZhQGc5W7jZEZOTa_qiyp_-qs_Dad6pqpqPr_TchI9EnLYjiUWCDnukT1aERstQ0XNl2nTiIPvaOt47_ZbFRrPBmndKHs2kFgjlgkw=w562-h155" width="562" /></a></div><p></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-67337607471139065482022-03-05T23:23:00.001+02:002023-02-18T03:33:18.570+03:00LEBANON, UKRAINE AND TAIWAN by Ghassan Kadi 5 March 2022<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> Ghassan Kadi's observations of parallelism in global events. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">His article two days ago was a helpful introduction to the issue.</span></p><p><a href="http://thesaker.is/lebanon-ukraine-and-taiwan/"><span style="font-size: medium;">http://thesaker.is/lebanon-ukraine-and-taiwan/</span></a><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="post-title" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">Lebanon, Ukraine and Taiwan</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">16589 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">March 05, 2022</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="http://thesaker.is/lebanon-ukraine-and-taiwan/#comments" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; text-decoration-line: none !important; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">28 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">By Ghassan Kadi for the Saker Blog</strong></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">As the European colonialist empires were being dismantled, many nations that gained independence inherited enormous problems that remain unresolved to-date. If anything, countries like India and Pakistan are currently in a bigger state of discord than the one that led to partition and the creation of Pakistan in 1947; and this is an understatement. They are adversaries, both nuclear capable and armed to the hilt. The reunification of Greater India does not seem plausible; at least not in the foreseeable future.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">On the home front, with the French slicing Lebanon away from Syria and the creation of the independent state of ‘Grand Liban’ back in 1920, Lebanon was soon to blossom, producing a tale of substantial success. But this success came to an unceremonious end as the Civil War broke out in 1975, after which Lebanon was not only destroyed, but rendered as a failed state and one that exports instability to its neighbour Syria, to which it historically and demographically belongs.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Foreign interference, mainly from the West, turned Lebanon into a dagger pointed at Syria’s soft underbelly. Certainly, many Lebanese disagree with this statement and regard Syria, not the West, as the source of instability in Lebanon.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Almost concurrently, the origin of the creation of the modern state of Ukraine in 1922, sits with the USSR. And later, it was Stalin who negotiated having a vote for Ukraine in the UN General Assembly only to be followed by Khrushchev who gifted Crimea to Ukraine. But for a long time, Kiev was historically the capital of the Russian Empire, just like Damascus was once the capital of today’s Lebanon.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">With financial incitements and bribery, corruption became endemic in Ukraine and the West eventually turned it into Russia’s Lebanon. Not surprisingly, some Ukrainians, corrupt in nature and their cronies, only see facts from their own blurred vision and tinted spectacles, but historic and demographic facts cannot be changed.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Pending issues between Syria and Lebanon are not the business of the West or any other foreign entity. The onus is on the Lebanese and Syrians to resolve this situation which can only be achieved when Lebanon returns to its Syrian roots. Many Lebanese may need more punishment to reach this understanding and acceptance.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Likewise, the Ukrainian/Russian crisis is an internal issue that the rest of the world has no business involving itself with. It is that section of Ukrainian Western cronies who have caused the problem, and this needs to be firmly and effectively dealt with.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But the British, French, Dutch and others were not the only producers of post-imperial havoc. The USA played a huge role in this ever since the end of WWII.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Vietnam resolved the partition issue, but the cost was enormous. Korea still hasn’t, and it won’t for as long as South Korea is under the influence of the Western Hemisphere. To complicate matters more for Korea, South Korea is an enormous technological, industrial and financial success whilst the North is not. Having said that, the economic dichotomy did not stand in the way of the reunification of Germany. In hindsight, and against the divide-and-conquer doctrine, the West applauded German reunification. But one would not have to be cynical to conclude that the West regarded it as a stepping stone towards more influence in Eastern Europe and an opportunity to move closer to Russia’s borders.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">As the influence of the West is waning globally and domestically, instead of turning its focus into rebuilding its home-grown literal and virtual rust belts, the West continues to set traps for future global conflicts.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">China took back Hong Kong in 1997 because the agreement between it and the UK expired. But Taiwan is a different matter. Taiwan exists as an independent state, even though no longer unanimously recognized internationally as being such. But until the Nixon administration opened up dialogue with the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan was the UN member that represented China and even had a permanent position in the UNSC; including the Veto power.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But Taiwan became separated from the mainland only because the Nationalists (headed by Chiang Kai Shek), escaped to Taiwan after their defeat by the Communists (headed by Mao Zedong). The West saw in two Chinas a status quo that is weaker than a single united China, and one that they could use as a bulkhead against China. It therefore stood against any attempts of reunification. The argument however that the impasse between China and Taiwan is an internal and domestic issue is valid.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Chinese reunification is a matter of time. It is hoped that both parties will negotiate it peacefully instead of it involving a military takeover, one which could see a heavily armed Taiwan put up a big fight. If Taiwan thinks that the West will come to its aid and fight on its side, all it has to do is learn from Ukraine’s experience.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Whilst the parable of Lebanon vis-à-vis Syria may appear proportionally inadequate to use as an example to describe Ukraine as Russia’s Lebanon or Taiwan as China’s Lebanon, the principle applies despite the huge difference in size and military capacities of China and Russia in comparison to Syria. But this is one of the shortfalls of Western thinking, one that believes that it will forever be able to bully everyone, including other superpowers.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">For decades, statements alluding to any aspirations for reuniting states that have been divided by larger global powers were seen by the West-dominated international community as taboo, as attempts to destabilize the world. In the Levant for example, it is still almost illegal to say that Lebanon and Syria should be united. And when China says that Taiwan is a part of China, the West fumes with anger and regards the statement as one that is aimed against the national and security interests of the West. And of course, Russia is ‘not allowed’ to say that Ukraine is part of historical Russia.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Ironically however, and as the Western anti-reunification rhetoric intensifies, there has never been a better time for nations still reeling from post-colonial divisions to reunite.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Political maps constantly change and always have. India and Pakistan, and with the later addition of Bangladesh, will probably remain as separate entities for a very long time. The two Koreas will have to wait, but perhaps not for as long as India and Pakistan. Lebanon and Syria have more critical problems do deal with currently than to worry about reunification. But if anything, in being the bully and intervening between Ukraine and Russia on one hand, and Taiwan and China on the other hand, the West is inadvertently forcing both Russia and China to take affirmative action and bolster their bilateral relationship at many levels. We have thus far seen Russia saying ‘enough is enough’. Whether China employs the current state of global turmoil and the over occupation of the West with the events in Ukraine to move towards Taiwan remains to be seen.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> </p><div class="book-ads clearfix" style="background-color: white; border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 48px 0px; padding: 24px 0px;"><div id="book4" style="border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 359.15px;"></div></div></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjnPT13xJsl5dNkwLtnvY93j5mPCDH-9pmz2MXXvp9lLaRVHJlbeKiPn52utANRgjikl-2hdu7-oj5S5JBbsnAdRp6KRAcHi-0Y6G5qWq75caAWB-ANL20gHlIpAwIppXkXzrI9sTfbzjX89FLFs2vJXV7jImEpQUmIf3IFugEczYDpNuD8TQE6oZoJrw=s984" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="984" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjnPT13xJsl5dNkwLtnvY93j5mPCDH-9pmz2MXXvp9lLaRVHJlbeKiPn52utANRgjikl-2hdu7-oj5S5JBbsnAdRp6KRAcHi-0Y6G5qWq75caAWB-ANL20gHlIpAwIppXkXzrI9sTfbzjX89FLFs2vJXV7jImEpQUmIf3IFugEczYDpNuD8TQE6oZoJrw=w538-h148" width="538" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-68952431965851332502022-03-04T02:19:00.007+02:002023-02-18T03:35:55.912+03:00A MATTER OF SELF DEFENCE By Ghassan Kadi 3 March 2022<h1 style="text-align: left;">A succinct explanation of where Russia stands re Ukraine from a moral viewpoint. </h1><p><a href="https://thesaker.is/a-matter-of-self-defence/"><span style="font-size: large;">https://thesaker.is/a-matter-of-self-defence/</span></a><br /></p><div class="post-title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">A matter of self-defence</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">16230 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">March 03, 2022</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="https://thesaker.is/a-matter-of-self-defence/#comments" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; text-decoration-line: none !important; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">38 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">by Ghassan Kadi for the Saker blog</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">I am not here to write about historic, strategic and military details pertaining to the issues surrounding the Ukraine crisis. Apart from those fabricating Hollywood material, there are many excellent analysts covering these areas competently.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But as a Syrian/Lebanese, within my limited capacity, I have a duty to show support and reciprocate Russia’s support to Syria where it is due and, in this case, it is as it is one that is based on truths and moral issues that cannot be overlooked, even if Russia did not support Syria at all.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What I want to discuss is the justification and morality of self-defence.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">War is a heavily-loaded word, a word that implies man killing man, humanity fighting humanity, armies pillaging nations, creating orphans and widows, refugees, sex slaves, destroying civilizations, economies, beautiful ancient architectural icons and a whole hoard of other atrocities that often are never repaired or resolved.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But there are wars and there are wars.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">One cannot place the actions of the USA’s invasion of Iraq in the same basket as that of resistance against Nazi occupation.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">People, and nations, have the right of self-defence. Self-defence is not an act of aggression. It is an act to prevent further aggression.</em></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Not surprisingly, when the rules of the jungle prevail, just like in La Fontaine’s fables, aggressors on one hand conjure up for themselves the justification to kill, and on the other hand, they vilify the victims of their aggression when they try to exercise their right of self-defence.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The USA has been engaged in wars ever since WWII ended. Beginning with the Korean War, the West moved the theatre to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Iraq I and Iraq II, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria; not to mention other smaller wars. In reality, there was never ever any justification for any of them and the national security of the United States of America was never under threat by any of those much pooper and much less equipped nations.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What is ironic is the fact that even though the odds were always in favour of America, and this is an understatement, America never won any of those wars. Some cynics argue that America’s objectives were not about winning wars but about leaving mess and destruction behind. Whilst I partially agree with this sentiment, I cannot accept that America has intentionally invaded Iraq to hand it on a silver platter to Iran any more that it invaded Taliban’s Afghanistan to hand it back to the Taliban. Those who believe that America has always been successful in achieving its target of havoc seem to give it more kudos than it deserves. <a id="post-60351-_Hlk97194375" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"></a>I genuinely believe that America has been a total failure and that its performance as the world’s self-appointed custodian of the post WWII era had been abysmal to put it mildly.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Perhaps America could be excused for it actions during the hot Cold-War era. It was a period of uncertainty, fear, and what was behind the ‘dreaded’ ‘Iron Curtain’ left little surprises to be desired.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But, using American administration rhetoric, with the dismantling of the USSR this hot-cold War era was also supposed to cease.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Contrary to the commonly-held belief in the West, America did not win the Cold War. The Cold War ended when Gorbachev negotiated with Raegan the terms of disengagement. https://sputniknews.com/20190402/gorbachev-nato-expansion-reasons-1073764558.html</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The rest is history. The manner in which America broke all of its promises to never encroach into Eastern Europe, how it coaxed former Warsaw Pact nations to join NATO, how it positioned missiles close to Russian borders, how it pillaged Serbia, how it tried to create a puppet regime in Georgia in 2008, how it sponsored a coup d’etat in Ukraine in 2014 putting Neo-Nazis in charge, how it bombarded the Eastern provinces for eight long years, how it reneged on the Minsk Agreements, how it refused to reach a deal on Ukraine in Jan 2022, a deal that took into consideration Russia’s legitimate security concerns, are all acts of provocation that can only lead to war; a Russian war of self-defence.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Western arrogance remains high despite the fact that Russia has clearly demonstrated red lines in Georgia and Syria. But Kiev is not Damascus. Kiev was the capital of the Russian Empire long before Texas was a state of the Union.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Furthermore, Russia is not Afghanistan or Somalia. Russia is not only a nuclear superpower, but also one with weaponry that is far more advanced than the West’s.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The Western bully has been picking on the wrong would-be adversary, and for a very long time.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What is most unbelievable about the current situation is the Western European compliance with America’s stance. Americans may well be distanced from the history and internal politics of Europe, but Germany, France, Italy and Spain must surely know better, but they are behaving in a manner as if they are either totally ignorant or extremely callous.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Puppet states of Eastern Europe should look over their shoulders and see what real support Ukraine is receiving from America after America promised Ukraine the world and then hung it out to dry.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This brings us back to the issue of drawing the line between instigating war for no reason other than imperial gain and fighting legitimately for self-defence.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The West and its media are taking the line of presenting Russia as the aggressor, portraying Putin as a crazed Tzar who wants to rebuild the USSR; not only ignoring the events of 2014 onwards, but also ignoring past and present atrocities of the West that had no justification at all.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Have we forgotten Iraq’s WMD blunder?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Russia did all it could to avert a military confrontation in Ukraine.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">For eight long years, Russia refused to acknowledge the independence of the eastern provinces.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Russia continued to keep all bridges of communication with the West open in the hope of reaching an agreement to end the impasse.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Russia made it clear to America time after time, that it has red lines that cannot be crossed, including not accepting Ukraine to join NATO.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But all that America did was to ignore and continue to intimidate. When the talk about the impending Russian invasion of Ukraine was flagged on Western media, it was because America had the full intention to make sure that the January 2022 Switzerland talks with Russia must fail leaving the military option alone on the table.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The actions of Russia to neutralize and de-Nazify Ukraine are acts of self-defence. Any fair and proper court of justice would attest to this, but not in the West, where media is the echo chamber of the Western globalists and the only key to the hearts and minds of people in the West who unquestionably believe what their media dishes out.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But why are some of Russians so surprised and dismayed now by the new wave of anti-Russian propaganda? Lucky enough to visit Russia a few years ago, I found myself in an alternative paradigm; not a ‘Truman Show’ little bubble, but a huge world that did what it believed was right and didn’t give a pig’s butt (excuse the French) about what the West and Western media thought and decreed.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">I was able to see the so-called ‘iron curtain’, way after the USSR was no longer, but not from a Western xenophobic vantagepoint, but from a Russian one that did not seem to care much at all about the views and the attitude of the West.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It was disappointing to see Western franchises like Starbucks and McDonald’s, but Russia looked like a proud stand-alone nation that is big enough, strong enough and rich enough to dictate its own directive and destiny.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">If anything, a few years later, Russia is now in a much stronger position to dictate what it wants to the old ailing West and the stronger sanctions today are not going to be any more effective than previous milder ones.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">President Biden now represents the West in many more ways than one. Not only he is meant to be the leader of the so-called ‘Free World’, but at his old age, a mental state that borders dementia, he represents the global hemisphere that has lost its technical edge and rationality; not to mention economic clout.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It is very sad that the once developed West that paved the rest of the world in technology and innovation has put its leadership under the hands of short-sighted impotent leaders like Biden, Merkel (formerly), Johnson and Macron. Those weak and shortsighted leaders are pushing the West into the corner of cultural suicide.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">They represent the political legacy that led to the exodus of Western manufacturing base.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">They are the legacy that destroyed family values, cultural values as well as moral values.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">They are the ones forcing Russia to create an alternative global power with China; the West’s main and primary competitor.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But the problem with Western political leaders is that they are not serving their own people; they are serving their sponsors and their own profit and loss statements.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Nations are not corporations, and the corporate aspect of Western political leadership is bursting its own bubble. It is not ready to confront the challenges of either Russia or China, let alone both of them combined. The West continues to live in the euphoria of a bygone era in which it had the upper hand by way of being a leader in technological advances and manufacturing which are the basic foundations for strong economies. It has lost its technical edge, placing itself in a conflict it can neither win, let alone be able to fight.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The West needs to learn to accept humility as a desired value. For the sake of humanity as a whole, it needs to learn this lesson before its obstinance and arrogance leads the world into further and deeper wars and disasters.</p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgOG8zH4L9wP0iwmVdbwUcPSHj07EmYza_ScvsWEy4aOUsv82VDpf4mt0AMXItyCBmHKeTG_cgwEvawMc0ENtv-IwYGG9zWqb3citel2Gu5-8RFzooZd3mt4rAGTfgvTcYHKJ9z9CfdAdyvaPr1ZraxC_VG4ykOzJ4wKveiPL7hVNgoaBI9PxGxx0oISQ=s984" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="984" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgOG8zH4L9wP0iwmVdbwUcPSHj07EmYza_ScvsWEy4aOUsv82VDpf4mt0AMXItyCBmHKeTG_cgwEvawMc0ENtv-IwYGG9zWqb3citel2Gu5-8RFzooZd3mt4rAGTfgvTcYHKJ9z9CfdAdyvaPr1ZraxC_VG4ykOzJ4wKveiPL7hVNgoaBI9PxGxx0oISQ=w553-h152" width="553" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-68848904161183559072021-05-21T00:09:00.003+03:002023-02-19T13:46:22.608+03:00The forthcoming inevitable battle for Middle-East Peace By Ghassan Kadi 5 May 2021<p> <span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ghassan Kadi's thoughts on the latest <a href=" https://thesaker.is/the-forthcoming-inevitable-battle-for-middle-east-peace/?fbclid=IwAR1qG2PCIzDIW0PCBYzQNOsWT4q4oOJkWzSPHb32UN0VPWPTGOlmpG_YSQ0">power games</a> in the region
</span><a href="https://thesaker.is/the-forthcoming-inevitable-battle-for-middle-east-peace/?fbclid=IwAR1qG2PCIzDIW0PCBYzQNOsWT4q4oOJkWzSPHb32UN0VPWPTGOlmpG_YSQ0">The forthcoming inevitable battle for Middle-East Peace | The Vineyard of the Saker</a></p><div class="post-title" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">The forthcoming inevitable battle for Middle-East Peace</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">17566 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">May 05, 2021</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="https://thesaker.is/the-forthcoming-inevitable-battle-for-middle-east-peace/#comments" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">34 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">by Ghassan Kadi for the Saker Blog</strong></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The alleged stray ground-to-air Syrian missile that landed near the nuclear reactor in<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-syria-missile-explodes-israel-dimona-nuclear-reactor-damascus-1.9735058" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"> Dimona</a> Israel carried many messages; both overt and covert.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And, as if the fact that this missile managed to penetrate Israel’s formidable ‘Iron Dome’ was not embarrassing enough for Israel, the official Israeli report alleged that the missile was actually Iranian-made; not Russian as initially perceived by the world.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In other words, the Israeli report is saying that its ‘Iron Dome’ has been easily penetrated by a missile that is 1) not meant to hit ground targets, 2) had already spent its fuel and maneuverability and was literally on a free fall trajectory by gravitation and not propulsion, 3) yet it penetrated the allegedly most advance air defense system in the world, and 4) above all, it was made in Iran; a nation ‘crippled by sanctions and governed by ‘fundamentalist Mullas’.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Seriously, Israel has never before admitted a defense failure that is even close to such similar proportions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Ironically, almost simultaneously, Iran <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1426268/World-War-3-fears-iran-drone-footage-aircraft-carrier-US-warship-video-vn" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">revealed photos</a> of an American aircraft carrier taken by a drone; not to forget mentioning that Iran also revealed that it has developed <a href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-again-unveils-masses-of-small-kamikaze-drones-666379" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">kamikaze drones</a> ready to attack any target within their range in the Gulf.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But the Dimona incident alone cannot be seen in isolation of the recent Russian ‘diplomacy’ initiatives in the Middle East. I have deliberately put the word diplomacy under inverted comas, because that Russian version of diplomacy has a side that proves its worth in both traditional diplomatic ways as well as ones that are unorthodox.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Russia has thus far been very tight-lipped about its objectives in the Middle East. My own analysis of it has landed me in hot water with Russian friends and media allies, and I accept their stand. Perhaps they do not want me to ‘spoil the hidden agenda’, but my role as an analyst is not going to stop, and their views, directives, and concerns will not make me feel guilty for expressing my analyses and predictions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In this portrayal of recent regional political events in the Middle east, I am relying on bits of pieces of information from here and there, but the analysis of it all is based on my own understanding of what makes sense in combining all what is currently taking place. My analysis does not represent the views of any blog, news agency or government. I have expressed similar views earlier, but events keep progressing, and in every step of the way, it seems that my initial prediction about the Russian initiative in the Middle East was accurate. So here is an updated summary of it all with a bit repetition of earlier material for the benefit of first-time readers.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Ever since Russia responded to Syria’s request to offer military aid, Russia responded with accepting the request under certain conditions; conditions that stipulate a Syrian-Israeli peace settlement agreement.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But this wasn’t all. Putin’s Russia is trying to reverse what Kissinger did to Russia some forty years ago when he catapulted the USSR out of Middle East politics and conned Egypt into accepting a unilateral peace deal with Israel in the so-called Camp David Accords.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Ever since then, Russia has been deprived of a role to play in the Middle East, none at all, until Putin sent troops into Syria and thereby changing the status quo not only in the Middle East, but also heralding the end of the single global superpower status of the post USSR USA.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The post-USSR world has seen Russia suffering from huge American-based NATO encroachments in Eastern Europe, and the current impasse in Ukraine is only one aspect of it. Former Warsaw Pact nations have gone full dipole away from Russia and in cahoots with their new-found Western ‘allies’. The Stalin era might have left a bitter taste in the palate of some East European countries, but this was a long time ago, and nations like Poland and Ukraine surely must understand and know who are their historic regional and global allies. With the era of Nazism and Fascism in the dust bin of history that Europe would like to forget, even Germany and France ought to realize that today’s Russia cannot be associated with Stalin’s-USSR any more than today’s Germany and France can be associated with Hitler and Petain.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And, if Poland wants to remained mentally entrenched in the Stalin era and forget about who liberated it from Nazi occupation, it should look further back in history and remember that the partition of Poland in the 19<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span> Century was not only orchestrated by the Russian Czars, but also in collaboration with Prussia and Austria.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">As discussed in the <a href="http://thesaker.is/russia-and-the-eu-the-ukraine-card/" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">previous article</a>, the current animosity of Eastern European nations towards Russia is not something that can be rationally explained and justified.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Back to the Middle East.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Only Russia can broker a peace deal in the Middle East, a deal that includes not only Syria and Israel, but also Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The main sticking elements in any such deal are Israel and Turkey, and to a lesser extent Iran.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In the same previous article mentioned above, I predicted a win-win scenario that Russia will broker between Iran and Saudi Arabia; one that guarantees the mutual withdrawal of Iran from Syria and Saudi Arabia from Yemen. As a matter of fact, a few days ago Saudi Crown Prince MBS announced that he wants to have a <a href="https://www.bing.com/news/search?q=MBS+Wants+Good+Relationships+With+Iran&qpvt=MBS+wants+good+relationships+with+Iran&FORM=EWRE" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">good relationship with Iran</a>. Is this a sign that this deal is closer than we think? Perhaps not, but I cannot think of any other reason.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Turkey will undoubtedly want a bite of the cherry, and I not sure how will Russia be able to diplomatically appease Erdogan without giving him too much more than what he has taken already. However, his recent stand on <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/turkeys-erdogan-voices-support-for-ukraine-amid-crisis/a-57157898" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">Ukraine</a> has put him in deep hot water with Russia and in any future bargains, he will find that his Ukraine venture will be used against him. He has deliberately introduced a bargaining chip that can be used only against himself.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This leaves Israel; how to bring Israel to the negotiating table for a deal that is unlike all previous American-brokered deals.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">All American-brokered deals have thus far been based on providing Israel with the lion’s share and the Arab party with very little; especially when it came to making deals with the Palestinian Authority. Furthermore, on top of the political and strategic gains that America delivered to Israel in all of those deals, America ensured that Israel continued to have military superiority and that Arabs would never be able to score a major military victory, even if united.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Despite the October 1973 (ie Yom Kippur War) and what followed it, all the way up to the July 2006 war with Hezbollah, and the humiliations that Israel suffered from all of those military engagements, Israel remains mentally entrenched in the euphoria of the huge Six-Day War win of June 1967 and what ensued afterwards, resulting in what can best be described as the invincible army complex.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Israel will not be prepared to sign a peace agreement with Syria while it believes that it continues to have this military superiority; the power to shape events in its favour. For Israel to change course and become more realistic, it needs either a new generation of political leaders who are more rational, or a reality check; a punishment if you wish.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This is why it is that, inasmuch as the corridors of negotiations are opening up and the tables are being prepared, so are the drums of war.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It is worthy to note here that major reconstructions have not begun in Syria yet. The underlying message here is that perhaps Syria is expecting more carnage, and that reconstruction will have to wait. Why reconstruct twice? In its current state of devastation, Syria has little to lose.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Israel, on the other hand, is in a very vulnerable situation, and the Dimona incident has exposed this gaping hole.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Syria has exercised great restraint in the face of the ongoing Israeli airstrikes. Even though an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-iran-idUSKBN1FU07L" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">Israeli jet was downed</a> a few years ago, by-and-large, Syria has remained non-respondent. We do not know exactly what is happening behind the scenes, but it seems that Israel is misreading Syria’s lack of response and seeing weakness, despite information from Russia that such is not the case. Israel will continue to act like the regional bully, refusing to sit at the negotiating table as an equal partner, unless it receives a significant hit.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This hit is not necessarily one that will cause much carnage in Israel such as civilian and military loss of life. Putin will not accept or allow such a level of devastation to be inflicted on Israel. After all, a significant fraction of Israel’s population is originally Russian. Putin, furthermore, is intent on convincing Israel that it is Russia, and not America, that can give Israel real peace with its Arab neighbours.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">To this effect, Israel only needs to lose a few fighter-jets, ten, maybe twenty, finding itself unable to defend key military and strategic land targets in order for it to realize that the days of military superiority are gone.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The Dimona incident is a forewarning, but only if Israel wants to read in between the lines. Otherwise, there will be a war in the Middle East, a war that will be intended to be contained and limited to be a punch, a powerful punch, but not a knockout.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">With this said, this is the Middle East, a very volatile region, with many volatile heads. A limited war aimed at showing who has muscle may end up spiraling out of control and into something very large. With experience of such unpredictability, Syria is presenting to Israel that a long war will bring more destruction upon Israel than it will on an already destroyed Syria.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What seems certain is that peace initiatives are on the table, but not all parties are yet convinced that they will attend such talks as equal partners before some arms are twisted and statures rattled.</p><div class="book-ads clearfix" style="background-color: white; border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 48px 0px; padding: 24px 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg26DnhbLqg3g47UdH2VUo91COzcHmv-E2q0mpRJJ6QXwrxLNywTXFuS-XBsU0ZDJlRqbRgwBN8l0iuS20onI-l-ZhQGc5W7jZEZOTa_qiyp_-qs_Dad6pqpqPr_TchI9EnLYjiUWCDnukT1aERstQ0XNl2nTiIPvaOt47_ZbFRrPBmndKHs2kFgjlgkw=s984" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="984" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg26DnhbLqg3g47UdH2VUo91COzcHmv-E2q0mpRJJ6QXwrxLNywTXFuS-XBsU0ZDJlRqbRgwBN8l0iuS20onI-l-ZhQGc5W7jZEZOTa_qiyp_-qs_Dad6pqpqPr_TchI9EnLYjiUWCDnukT1aERstQ0XNl2nTiIPvaOt47_ZbFRrPBmndKHs2kFgjlgkw=w562-h155" width="562" /></a><div id="book4" style="border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 359.15px;"></div></div></div><p><br />https://thesaker.is/the-forthcoming-inevitable-battle-for-middle-east-peace/?fbclid=IwAR1qG2PCIzDIW0PCBYzQNOsWT4q4oOJkWzSPHb32UN0VPWPTGOlmpG_YSQ0</p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-38515433081475198382021-05-21T00:02:00.005+03:002023-02-18T03:40:13.286+03:00MBS Diplomacy: Saudi Arabia's Alleged Detente With Syria is Part of Bigger Plan, Mideast Expert Says 19 May 2021<p> <br /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="f70u0-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">
Ghassan</span></span><span data-offset-key="f70u0-1-0" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"> Kadi's latest interview on <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202105191082928772-mbs-diplomacy-saudi-arabias-alleged-detente-with-syria-is-part-of-bigger-plan-mideast-expert-says/?fbclid=IwAR0PRfm4WWTohKTAB2kJ_KZr67rd22eweUxbJXZezo4QYUcnBaYecXE7IO8">Sputnik. </a>
<a href="https://sputniknews.com/20210519/mbs-diplomacy-saudi-arabias-alleged-detente-with-syria-is-part-of-bigger-plan-mideast-expert-says-1082928772.html?fbclid=IwAR0PRfm4WWTohKTAB2kJ_KZr67rd22eweUxbJXZezo4QYUcnBaYecXE7IO8">MBS Diplomacy: Saudi Arabia's Alleged Detente With Syria is Part of Bigger Plan, Mideast Expert Says - 19.05.2021, Sputnik International (sputniknews.com)</a>
</span></span></p><div class="article__header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><h1 class="article__title" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 36px; line-height: 1.05; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">MBS Diplomacy: Saudi Arabia's Alleged Detente With Syria is Part of Bigger Plan, Mideast Expert Says</h1><div class="article__info " data-nosnippet="" style="-webkit-box-pack: justify; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__info-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="convert-date m-active" data-unixtime="1621396800" href="https://sputniknews.com/20210519/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 1; text-decoration-line: none; visibility: visible;" title="News archive">04:00 GMT 19.05.2021</a> <span class="article__info-date-modified convert-date m-active" data-unixtime="1659791835" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 1; visibility: visible;">(Updated: <span class="date" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">13:17 GMT 06.08.2022</span>)</span></div></div><div class="article__announce" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="ar16x9" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1082928772" data-photoview-image-id="1082765773" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20210519/mbs-diplomacy-saudi-arabias-alleged-detente-with-syria-is-part-of-bigger-plan-mideast-expert-says-1082928772.html?share-img=1082765773" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/04/1d/1082765775_0:0:3076:2047_1440x900_80_0_1_b0c3c1a21766723ae9b39f60eecd0e81.jpg.webp?source-sid=reuters_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman smiles during a televised interview in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 27, 2021. 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margin-bottom: 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; white-space: nowrap;"><div class="the-in-carousel the-in-carousel__1676680753602 the-in-carousel__ready" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><iframe class="the-in-carousel__size-frame" name="the-in-carousel__1676680753602" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: 43.8375px; left: -6e+06px; margin: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 0; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 600px; z-index: -100;" title="frame"></iframe><div class="the-in-carousel__stage" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="the-in-carousel__frame" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="the-in-carousel__pack" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; position: relative; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; width: 300px;"><div class="the-in-carousel__item m-active" data-item="1" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: left; margin-right: -1px; max-height: 1e+06px; min-height: 1px; width: 300px;"><div class="article__author-item" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px; vertical-align: top; white-space: initial; width: 300px;"><div class="article__author-wrapper" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%; padding-right: 20px;"><div class="article__author-info" style="-webkit-box-flex: 1; box-sizing: inherit; flex: 1 1 0%; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;"><div class="article__author-name" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 5px; max-height: 1e+06px; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;">Ekaterina Blinova</div><div class="article__author-links" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 8px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="m-color-main" href="https://sputniknews.com/author_ekaterina_blinova/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="All materials">All materials</a><a data-modal-open="feedback_author" href="mailto:e.blinova@sputniknews.com" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="Write to the author">Write to the author</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__announce-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 20px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Since the beginning of this year Saudi Arabia has been involved in talks with regional players, including Qatar, Turkey, Iran, and Syria. What's behind Riyadh's diplomatic initiatives and could it help Syria overcome decade-long isolation in the Arab world?</div></div><div class="article__body" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">While <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202105161082910198-israeli-publicist-how-could-jewish-state-strike-deal-with-those-who-dont-want-it-to-exist-/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">tensions are swirling around the Gaza Strip</a>, in other parts of the Middle East longtime rivals are trying to reach détente. Last week, Iran officially confirmed that <a href="https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202105151082895460-as-rapprochement-between-saudi-arabia-and-iran-continues-will-a-deal-happen/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">it had held talks with Saudi Arabia in Baghdad</a>. Prior to this announcement it was reported that on 3 May a high-level Saudi delegation headed by the intelligence service chief Khalid al-Humaidan had <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202105041082801715-saudi-delegation-meets-with-syrian-president-in-damascus---reports/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The potential détente between Saudi Arabia and Syria has been in the making for some time. When on 16 December 2018 Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir met with his Syrian counterpart, some observers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/26/arab-league-set-to-readmit-syria-eight-years-after-expulsion" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">interpreted</a> this as an olive branch from Riyadh, given Khartoum's close ties with Saudi Arabia. In January 2021, Moscow and Riyadh agreed on the "importance of Syria returning to the Arab League as soon as possible".</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Saudi Arabia's alleged détente with Syria and preparations to reopen the Saudi Embassy in the country could open the doors to <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202103201082399378-is-syria-finally-on-track-to-return-to-the-arab-league-nearly-ten-years-after-expulsion/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Damascus' readmission to the Arab League</a> as well as reconciliations between Syria and other Arab states, according to Ghassan Kadi, a Middle East expert, blogger, and political analyst.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"The Arab World is divided as you know, but the economic power of the Saudis certainly gives them political clout", he notes, adding that Qatar is still opposed to the move. "So unless the Saudi and the Qataris are united on this front, the manner in which other Arab states choose to deal with Syria will depend on their financial support base".</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Outside the Arab world, Qatar's ally Turkey is unlikely to follow Arab nations in shifting positions over Syria, according to Turkish commentators.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">"Although Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), argues that establishing direct dialogue with Damascus would be the easiest way to reach a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Syria, it seems unlikely Ankara will make a major shift in its Syria policy for now, despite the changing conditions in the region and internationally", Sinem Cengiz, a Turkish political analyst, <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1858806" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">wrote</a> for Arab News.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="media" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1082928772" data-photoview-image-id="1082801683" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20210519/mbs-diplomacy-saudi-arabias-alleged-detente-with-syria-is-part-of-bigger-plan-mideast-expert-says-1082928772.html?share-img=1082801683" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/04/1082801685_0:0:2806:2047_1440x900_80_0_1_027379fbc24a37fb37078275a41add6b.jpg.webp?source-sid=reuters_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="MBS Diplomacy: Saudi Arabia's Alleged Detente With Syria is Part of Bigger Plan, Mideast Expert Says - Sputnik International, 1920, 19.05.2021" class="" data-source-sid="reuters_photo" data-srcset="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/04/1082801685_0:0:2806:2047_640x0_80_0_0_700f8807fc198d90ae5ffea8d4e76323.jpg.webp 640w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/04/1082801685_0:0:2806:2047_1280x0_80_0_0_9475493533ec23a20da886c0f0b2a5dd.jpg.webp 1280w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/04/1082801685_0:0:2806:2047_1920x0_80_0_0_e81b0c6705599df5c850c0f8f03a027a.jpg.webp 1920w" decoding="async" height="1401" media-type="photo" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/04/1082801685_0:0:2806:2047_1920x0_80_0_0_e81b0c6705599df5c850c0f8f03a027a.jpg.webp" srcset="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/04/1082801685_0:0:2806:2047_640x0_80_0_0_700f8807fc198d90ae5ffea8d4e76323.jpg.webp 640w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/04/1082801685_0:0:2806:2047_1280x0_80_0_0_9475493533ec23a20da886c0f0b2a5dd.jpg.webp 1280w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/04/1082801685_0:0:2806:2047_1920x0_80_0_0_e81b0c6705599df5c850c0f8f03a027a.jpg.webp 1920w" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title="MBS Diplomacy: Saudi Arabia's Alleged Detente With Syria is Part of Bigger Plan, Mideast Expert Says" width="1920" /></div></div><div class="media__description " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 3px; max-height: 1e+06px;">A picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is pictured outside the parliament building in Damascus, Syria April 18, 2021.</div><div class="media__copyright " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/docs/reuters.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;" title="© REUTERS / YAMAM AL SHAAR">© REUTERS / YAMAM AL SHAAR</a></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Riyadh is Building Bridges in the Region</h2><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">Still, "there is more to the Syrian-Saudi talks than meets the eye", Kadi notes. "They cannot be seen in isolation from the much bigger picture that goes far beyond the borders of the two countries and their bilateral relationships".</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The expert notes that these negotiations are to some extent a supplement to the Saudi-Iran talks, secretly held last month in Iraq. Kadi suggests that the Iran-Saudi talks could bring an end to the six-year Yemen conflict, given Shiite Iran's supposed influence on the Houthi rebels who have recently stepped up attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure. At the same time, Riyadh and Iran could settle their differences over Syria and find quid-pro-quo solutions in both regions.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">On 11 May, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Mecca. Cavusoglu's visit to the country was the first in several years, since the Turkish-Saudi spat over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Earlier this year, <span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Riyadh and its allies restored relations with Qatar</span>, following a years-long diplomatic crisis that erupted on 5 June 2017, when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt severed relations with the country over alleged support to some terrorist groups, something that Doha strongly denied.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Some observers allege that Riyadh has opted to mend ties with regional players as a signal that <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202102281082210429-new-dynamic-in-the-middle-east-gulf-arab-states-want-to-be-more-independent-of-us-observers-say/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">the kingdom does not consider Joe Biden's White House sufficiently reliable</a>. For their part, Saudi thought leaders and politicians are calling for "strengthening Arab and Islamic unity" and diversifying diplomatic ties.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;"><a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1850146/media" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Speaking</a> to Saudi journalist Abdullah Al-Mudaifer in late April 2021, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pointed out that while Riyadh is "in agreement with the Biden administration on more than 90 percent", it is "also… seeking to create new partnerships with everyone else, such as Russia, India, China, Latin America, African countries, and others".</blockquote></div></div></div>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-7194178978498098612021-05-21T00:00:00.005+03:002023-02-18T03:42:10.852+03:00Russia and the EU; The Ukraine Card By Intibah and Ghassan Kadi 8 April 2021<h2 style="text-align: left;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="dddhs-0-0" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Whilst</span></span><span data-offset-key="dddhs-1-0" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"> those with political nous are fighting for their lives and that of humanity on another level, Biden and his NATO businessmen are pushing to force R<a href="http://thesaker.is/russia-and-the-eu-the-ukraine-card/?fbclid=IwAR2apveqTfedmF52tzkk2KO13-qPUy6KJeZTQyofFrPXsR7wDt6lcc-Dyqc">ussia in</a>to a corner over Nazi ruled Ukraine where of course Europe can be smashed to pieces.
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</span></span></span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUgE4X2r1gHDNFZEyecQISkneA0efo809BtieWVlLtomBzGBV6R_rWxYtUnJY0RMcgP5PDVsI6g0QvCy7sWLDw5mwCGRY2iFUx7fDuAmyAjEaZP7EBRYit6lC3_6yfMRCCMI2fW3lwsDBTLdrJNdqQ9l0bSJENGBkIM2SKPp47uXL7R8nsMYz6C5AWsw=s984" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="984" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUgE4X2r1gHDNFZEyecQISkneA0efo809BtieWVlLtomBzGBV6R_rWxYtUnJY0RMcgP5PDVsI6g0QvCy7sWLDw5mwCGRY2iFUx7fDuAmyAjEaZP7EBRYit6lC3_6yfMRCCMI2fW3lwsDBTLdrJNdqQ9l0bSJENGBkIM2SKPp47uXL7R8nsMYz6C5AWsw=w547-h151" width="547" /></a></div><p><span data-offset-key="dddhs-1-0" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://thesaker.is/russia-and-the-eu-the-ukraine-card/?fbclid=IwAR2b2dnoGJL8i7Wwevlk2Lf8kjR-5vE0EhHEb7yAzS8i90wLPWGkV7DBGFs">http://thesaker.is/russia-and-the-eu-the-ukraine-card/?fbclid=IwAR2b2dnoGJL8i7Wwevlk2Lf8kjR-5vE0EhHEb7yAzS8i90wLPWGkV7DBGFs</a>
</span></span></p><div class="post-title" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">Russia and the EU; The Ukraine Card</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">14931 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">April 08, 2021</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="https://thesaker.is/russia-and-the-eu-the-ukraine-card/#comments" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; text-decoration-line: none !important; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">26 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">by Ghassan and Intibah Kadi for the Saker Blog<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">A tug-of-war game in Europe has been a strong feature of dramatic events in the region and further afield ever since the Roman Empire plus the Church split up. Which was the cause and which was the effect is subject to debate, but the split was much deeper than one that was political; the spiritual aspect of it is not to be overlooked.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The authors are not experts on this aspect of history and will therefore not dwell too much, but it suffices to say that Catholic Easter can come before Passover, even though Jesus celebrated Passover before His Crucifixion. But this anomaly does not happen in the Julian Calendar that the Orthodox Church adheres to till today; and the Orthodox community doesn’t shy away from presenting this contradiction in the Georgian Calendar that Catholicism follows.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But this article is not about the over millennium-and-a-half-old disagreement between the Western and Eastern Churches. It is about the current rift between Russia and Western Europe.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But to what extent does much of the current rift find its roots in religion? No region in the world has in recent times experienced the repercussions of this ancient divide as much as the Balkans when the former federation of Yugoslavia split, on Catholic/Orthodox religious lines, that ironically bear a huge resemblance to the borders between those of the Roman and the Byzantine Empires. The exploitation of potential cracks in the two main spheres of Islam by the Western power-block, along with its useful non-Western allies, is not to be discounted. It is easy to apply a simplistic view of the divide of the East and West upon such criteria alone, but religious difference always plays an important role, albeit psychologically. In Europe, historical factors also include that of the influence of the Ottoman Empire, the conversion of many East Europeans to Islam, divisions within the Western Church resulting in drastic conflicts and, fast forward to the much later phenomenon of the Soviet era and the lasting implications of its legacy in neighbouring countries, then the picture becomes more complex.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">No matter what is said by those countries that Russia had influence over in the post-World War II period, there is no excuse for their denial of the fact that that it was Russia, albeit under the banner of the Red Army, that liberated all of Eastern Europe, including former East Germany and all of Berlin from the Nazis. Among the allies in WWII, Russia made the biggest sacrifices, more sacrifices than all of those of the allies combined, losing tens of millions of its people, with estimates reaching up to forty million. No other nation came close to this calamitous human loss; not even Germany itself.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Yet, Russia is denied all of the accolade in winning the fight against Nazi Germany. Was it its communist USSR status that turned it into the underdog in Western written history or, was it its Orthodox heritage juxtaposed to that of a powerful-global reaching Vatican and also a ‘Christian West’, intent on subduing and dominating, all with the trappings of grabbing resources and spoils?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Clearly, Western Europe, no matter what facts on the ground exist, seems intent on expressing, in public at least, an incurable sense of apprehension, mythology and propagation of fiction when it comes to Russia. Add to this a European obedience to the dictates of America and its power-brokers in attempts to cripple Russia with sanctions, an obedience mostly gained through threats of negative consequences and blackmail if not adhered to. Not only is this broad-spectrum demonization, at least publicly, expressed by European politicians and its so-called ‘elites’, but also among most of the population of Western Europe.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">One of the authors often uses popular songs of the West and their lyrics to express specific mental mindsets in certain blocks of time and space. In 1980, British musician, Sting, wrote a song titled <a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?view=detail&mid=DC21FBDC63BAA403A3BDDC21FBDC63BAA403A3BD&q=sting+Russian+lyrics&shtp=GetUrl&shid=690c4035-067e-4d6f-a4a3-8bd55167a9c9&shtk=U3RpbmcgLSBSdXNzaWFucyBseXJpY3MgKEhEKSAoTHlyaWNzIG9uIFNjcmVlbik%3D&shdk=UnVzc2lhbnMgYnkgU3RpbmcgQ291bGRuJ3QgcmVzaXN0IGFkZGluZyB0aGUgUm9zZW5iZXJnJ3MgYW5kIE1yLiBQb3dlcnMgYWZ0ZXIgbGVhcm5pbmcgYWJvdXQgdGhlbSBpbiBjbGFzcy4gSSB0aG91Z2h0IGFib3V0IGFkZGluZyBtb3JlIHBpY3R1cmVzIGF0IHRoZSBlbmQgYnV0IGRlY2lkZWQgYWdhaW5zdCBpdC4gSSBkaWRuJ3Qgd2FudCB0byByZXVzZSB0aGUgcGljdHVyZXMgb3IgaGF2ZSB0byBicm93c2Ugb25saW5lIGZvciBhbnkgbW9yZSBvZiB0aGVtLg%3D%3D&shhk=9MPhqxOX7%2Fua4FjPCchc6wcBMoQl4vOO4YkpXs4iHe8%3D&form=VDSHOT&shth=OSH.yLxbB7LRJeN7rje21g%252FHwQ" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">Russians</a>. It was meant to be a message of peace in which Sting wondered, with obvious sympathetic sarcasm, about the state of anti-Russia propaganda, and whether some people in the West regarded Russians as robotic communist mindless machines and questioned if they loved their children like all other humans. The lyrics exemplify the popular perceptions in the West of the people and nation of Russia, even to the extent that they would ask such a bizarre question about the love of children.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And, despite the changes in Russia since the dismantling of the Soviet Union which is what the West planned for, and the emergence during the Yeltsin period of ‘bandit capitalism’ – as if that doesn’t exist elsewhere- the negative perceptions persisted, and to add to that, a palpable sense of glee at the chaos and collapse occurring in Russia. Some say, Yeltsin was wracked with guilt later on and ensured a leader who could pull the country out of this disaster; Vladimir Putin, tripping up the West’s plan with many future surprises in store. To this day, the eyes of the Western public are re-directed from any ills that their own powers may be involved in and sharply turned towards this convenient ‘bogey-man’. There was no Hollywood spin to show a ‘rehabilitated’ Russia as Putin quickly turned things around after the Yeltsin period, restoring the nation and the Federation to one of healthy self-esteem, pride, strength and a resolve to regain its place in the world, gradually rendering what the West had seen as a great ‘coup’ over Russia, to a victory that backfired.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Those in the West are at a loss to accurately elaborate on the actual cause of the current escalation with Russia and, that is because the facts don’t stack up in their favour in the honesty box when it comes to manufacturing conflict. Their exploitation of any religious divide has to an extent been successful, but more so about ensuring the encircling of Russia with hostile nations or turning around some governments of traditional Orthodox allies. There is no racial based explanation to the escalation and history of it other than Russian culture being generally one of inclusiveness and diversity, something the West has failed in and in fact abused. Russia, an old culture with at least one thousand years of existence in a paradigm of interdependence with diverse cultures and ethnicities, spanning a massive section of the largest continent that reaches the Black, Caspian, Baltic, Bering Seas, those to the north and east, and all the way to the North Pacific Ocean; how can modern day Europe and the West compare to that?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">For the old West, Europe, now mostly gathered into the entity known as the EU, their animosity cannot be explained by unresolved issues with the old Soviet Union. Nor can it be based on beliefs of clear and present dangers and threats posed by the existence of Russia. EU leaders are surely cognisant of the fact that it was NATO that broke the agreement between Gorbachev and the West and that NATO incrementally has been intimidating and threatening Russia’s security by positioning missiles in former Warsaw Pact nations, encircling Russia, and long before Russia made any attempts to counteract such measures. EU leaders, for various reasons, put aside reality and rationality and the known fact that peace and stability in Europe can only exist or have any potentiality if it is based on a mutual European understanding that Russia must be included. EU leaders clearly know, but never state it, that it is the USA that is coercing them to make a stand against their own regional and economic interests and to take actions against Russia; not the other way around as stipulated by their national interests as they claim.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">When it comes to the crunch, it is the manipulation by America, a power that aimed and succeeded for some decades in creating itself as a unipolar, all-reaching, global power, one which called the shots on anything and everything and had under its control the vanquished nations that lost out in WWII. When Europe organized itself into a union, it became far easier for America to have almost the entire sub-continent under its boot. It could not have achieved this without the demonization of Russia and re-writing of history for the consumption of the West and all under its tutelage. Just like we have witnessed over time with the ‘Empire Wars’, the strategy of co-opting into a hybrid war format Hollywood and all media has played a crucial role in building a world-wide narrative of America as the ‘world policeman’, ‘saviour’ and ‘leader of the free-world’, when in reality it played the role of raider, pirate and predator, sharing spoils with some of its more powerful ‘allies’ who in effect were nations with little sovereignty or ability to make any crucial decisions of their own.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Last but not least, from the unpragmatic military position, EU leaders know, but under duress ignore the fact that Russia has recently developed state-of-the-art hypersonic weapons that their NATO status and alliance with the USA cannot protect them against. They know that should an escalation materialize between NATO and Russia; such weapons can be used and the outcome possibly devastating for the EU itself. EU nations and, NATO as a whole, know for a fact that a war on European soil with Russia is totally and utterly unwinnable by them. Even without deploying any of the many weapons President Putin announced to the world during his famous speech of <a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?view=detail&mid=3820F0DEA7FFF5256F8A3820F0DEA7FFF5256F8A&q=1+march+2018+putin+addresses+to+the+nation&shtp=GetUrl&shid=54b7ff05-3f74-4893-804c-92c9a503ce9b&shtk=UHV0aW4gdW52ZWlscyBuZXcgbnVjbGVhciB3ZWFwb25z&shdk=UnVzc2lhbiBQcmVzaWRlbnQgVmxhZGltaXIgUHV0aW4gdW52ZWlsZWQgYSBuZXcgYXJyYXkgb2YgbnVjbGVhciB3ZWFwb25zIHRvIHRoZSB3b3JsZCwgZHVyaW5nIGhpcyBhbm51YWwgcGFybGlhbWVudGFyeSBhZGRyZXNzLiBEZWZlbmNlIGV4cGVydHMgYXJvdW5kIHRoZSB3b3JsZCB3YXRjaGVkIFB1dGluJ3Mgc3BlZWNoLCBzb21lIGNsb3NlciB0aGFuIG90aGVycywgYXMgdGhlIGFkZHJlc3MgYXBwZWFyZWQgdG8gc2luZ2xlIG91dCBSdXNzaWEncyBlbmVtaWVzLCBpbmNsdWRpbmcgdGhlIFUuUy4gSG93ZXZlciwgc29tZSBudWNsZWFyIHBvbGljeSBleHBlcnRzIHNheSBQdXRpbiBjb3VsZCBiZSAuLi4%3D&shhk=zS1mTL7FHm46DOSXBMY494AtgNf7xe9oBpYMpwWEXWc%3D&form=VDSHOT&shth=OSH.Kr679IdgjM5TmB4fhutOhA" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">March the 1<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">st</span> 2018</a>, a conventional war between the two sides gives Russia the benefit of depth of field and number of troops. Such is the hold on these nations that they act as if in denial of the obvious. What do they stand to gain? Or, is it about harm minimization under the yoke of America? And, what does Europe in particular, expect to gain from provoking or partaking in the provoking of war over Ukraine?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Again, in the usual twisting of facts, the Western media busy themselves in the post-Trump era in portraying Russia as the culprit that is escalating the crisis in Ukraine. If Russia is left with no alternative to act, deciding it must engage militarily, it is not going to be either influenced or intimidated by Western ‘fake news’. It will act based on the facts on the ground, and whatever Russia decides to do or not do, the Western media and leading figures will portray Russia as the transgressor and aggressor, and as we have recently witnessed from Biden himself, ramp up the rhetoric such as calling the President of a world power, President Putin, ‘a killer’.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Without the benefit of a crystal ball, either the situation will escalate to a level that leaves Russia with no other alternative than taking measures similar to those it took in Chechnya and Georgia, or that Ukraine will back off. The former scenario seems more likely unless the superior style of Russian diplomacy that specializes in win-win deals can find a solution. However, the current threat regarding Ukraine surely is for Russia where the line in the sand is to be drawn. Should matters descend to the irreconcilable, even though Russia is certain to score military victory, it will most definitely be subjected to more Western sanctions than the ones it is already under. No doubt, in such an event of ever more imaginative and diabolic sanctions imposed, it will draw Russia ever closer to allies the West does not approve of and new systems which the West has monopolized, will be overridden and rendered ineffective in bringing Russia to its knees.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">As for the ever creeping ‘naughty puppy’ syndrome of NATO pushing its presence in Eastern Europe one inch at a time after the breakup of the USSR, all the way from feigning reasons for missiles stationed in Eastern Europe as safeguarding the EU from Iranian missiles, to inciting and coercing former Warsaw Pact nation members to join NATO, deploying more troops in the EU, blatant support for the Ukrainian Nazis, Russia has reciprocated in measured ways. Yes, it did retake Crimea from Ukraine, but this was done within a referendum-based democratic process. Russia may have to bite the dangerous bullet and offer the persecuted regions of Ukraine the same option. Afterall, Russia’s stand in Syria in 2015 at the request of the Syrian government, has clearly signaled that the unipolar 1990’s style ‘New World Order’ is over and that there cannot be any turning back.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Russia’s patience, perseverance and confidence in superior, win-win diplomacy in time will be widely regarded with respect by the rest of the world, even quietly by the EU leaders. It is the EU leaders who will not come to the party because they are hostage to many traps and hence, it is extremely unlikely, if not impossible, given the bind they find themselves in, that they will respond to reason, diplomacy or act in their best interests. Unlike the decades America in particular has had to install or hijack institutions and conjure up scams to place ‘rules’ on the world, Russia is not yet in a strong enough financial position to implement some of its own ‘rules’ to protect her interests. No nations should be able to do this in a manner that adversely affects other nations, whether through ‘rules’, sanctions, scams or monopoly and other tools that kill without a bullet being fired or bombed dropped. These and other strategies and tactics have come predominately from a nation in a general decline; one that boasts a huge fleet of ten aircraft carriers, countless world-wide bases and almost a trillion-dollar annual war budget; the American war machine nonetheless is a technological dinosaur in comparison to the slick and advanced Russian counter-part.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">On the big geo-political level; (1) what keeps America in a position of power today is its power of the petro-dollar based global economy and all that comes with it, including control of the SWIFT-based monetary international transactions without which goods cannot be bought, sold and paid for on the international market; (2) in realistic economic sense however, it is China that is approaching the global lead if it hasn’t already at least in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms, and (3) in terms of military hardware superiority, it is Russia that leads the world in this.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In regards to the current ‘crisis’ and a possible showdown over Ukraine, Russia surely cannot have concerns over its military capacity to deal with any action. However, unless Russia has been able to safe-guard its economy, quarantining it as much as possible from being affected by further Western sanctions, then any escalation should not leave Russia subject to any intimidatory Western repercussions. The further the West pushes, the closer Russia will co-operate with China, whether that is driven on a voluntary basis or has arisen out of necessity, and, in such a rapidly changing global environment, that decision of Russia is understandable and pragmatic, providing China stays solidly by the side of Russia.</p><div class="book-ads clearfix" style="background-color: white; border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 48px 0px; padding: 24px 0px;"><div id="book4" style="border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 359.15px;"></div></div></div><p><span data-offset-key="dddhs-1-0" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-30455159327725332142021-03-17T01:13:00.001+02:002023-02-18T03:43:11.005+03:00TRADE-OFF LOOMING ON SYRIA AND YEMEN By Ghassan Kadi. 16 March 2021<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Ghassan Kadi’s <a href="Ghassan Kadi’s analysis of Lavrov’s recent visit to the Gulf region and where this diplomacy could be heading. http://thesaker.is/trade-off-looming-on-syria-and-yemen/">analysis </a>of Lavrov’s recent visit to the Gulf
region and where this diplomacy could be heading.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://thesaker.is/trade-off-looming-on-syria-and-yemen/">
http://thesaker.is/trade-off-looming-on-syria-and-yemen/</a><o:p></o:p></p><div class="post-title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">Trade-Off looming on Syria and Yemen:</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">14761 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">March 16, 2021</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="https://thesaker.is/trade-off-looming-on-syria-and-yemen/#comments" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; text-decoration-line: none !important; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">60 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">By Ghassan Kadi for the Saker Blog</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In the past few weeks much has happened in the area of diplomacy on the part of Russia. Russia is forging ahead after stepping up its presence in the Middle East in the past decade, taking a strong pro-active political role. Moscow during this period has been intent on consolidating its efforts in re-establishing itself as the key player in any political settlements in the Middle East. Ever since Kissinger in the late 1970’s pulled the rug out from underneath the feet of the USSR, striking a deal between Israel and Egypt, excluding the USSR and the rest of the Arab World, the political influence of Russia in the Middle East significantly waned until it came back with deciding force when Russia responded to the Syrian Government’s request for help in September 2015.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Lately, the economic crisis has deepened in Syria following the drastic Western sanctions. And specifically after the implementation of the Caesar’s Act, the Syrian currency took a huge tumble and the cost of living has soared to unprecedented levels. This left many cynics wondering and pondering what was Russia going to do in the face of the collapsed Syrian economy after having achieved an impressive military victory, taking its troops outside its former USSR borders for the first time and heralding the end of the single super power status of the USA.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">To this effect, and on the diplomatic side, Russian <a href="https://tass.com/politics/1263713" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">FM Lavrov</a> has recently visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE for talks pertaining to an array of issues. The agenda issues that transpired to the media include trade, the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, as well as issues of global and regional security, albeit vague in details as what ‘security issues’ mean.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It appears that in these meetings, discussions included the return of Syria to the Arab League and the cost of reconstruction of Syria after ten years of war, a bill touted to exceed $Bn200. Expectations have existed for some time that the Arab Gulf states will fork out a huge chunk of this cost. As mentioned above, the bottom line here is that Russia’s military success in its operation in Syria needs to be followed by political success. Partly, this is achieved within the Astana talks which include Turkey and Iran. However, the very same Arab States instrumental in the ‘War on Syria’ are also instrumental in facilitating the return of Syria to the Arab League, the reconstruction efforts in Syria and the easing of sanctions. The Gulf states have always reiterated that there will no return of Syria to the Arab League for as long as Iranian forces remain on the ground. The UAE seemed more open than Saudi Arabia to the prospects of Syria’s return to the Arab League and financing the reconstruction process.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But why would the Gulf States, the same states that spent tens of billions of dollars in order to destroy Syria, be suddenly now interested in the reversal of the process? This is a fair question to ask.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Quite unexpectantly, and almost immediately after the return of Lavrov to Moscow, a top delegation of Hezbollah, headed by Mohamad Raad, was invited to Moscow for talks. Apparently, the visit was cloaked in a veil of secrecy in Russia and was not at all covered in Western media, even though it made news in Arabic <a href="https://english-beta.almayadeen.net/news/politics/1464809/al-mayadeen-exclusive:-raad-describes-moscows-visit-as-quant" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">mainstream media.</a> It would be politically naïve to imagine that Lavrov’s visit to the Gulf has no relation to this. All issues in the Middle East are related to each other, including the war in Yemen.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">To put it succinctly, the UAE had already stepped away from the Yemen war. However, Saudi Arabia remains bogged down in this travesty and seven years on, must have come to the humiliating and painful realization that it is a war it cannot win. This is where Iran and Hezbollah can have leverage in any direct or indirect negotiations with the Saudis, and Russia is the only arbitrator who is able to communicate with all parties involved.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">All parties in the Middle East are looking for face-saving tradeoffs; at least partial and interim ones. The Saudis in particular are tired and exhausted,</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In an <a href="https://arabic.sputniknews.com/arab_world/202103131048350405-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%A8-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D8%B1%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%81-%D9%84%D9%80%D8%B3%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%83-%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%88%D9%81%D8%AF-%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%83%D9%88-/" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">interview</a> given to Sputnik Arabic, one not widely reported in other media, not even Sputnik English, Raad praised the cooperation between Hezbollah and Russia, stating that ‘the invitation we received aims to reopen the dialogue about the next phase after having reached the achievements that serve the interests of the people of the region in the recent past’ .</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This is Raad’s first visit to Moscow since 2011. Of that visit, I am not trying to speculate in hindsight of the purpose of it and the achievements of it. Furthermore, Hezbollah has not ever been party to any international dis-engagement or peace negotiations in the past, except for ones relating to exchange of prisoners. The economic demise of Syria and Lebanon, as well as the Saudi-Yemeni impasse, may well have placed Hezbollah in a position of participating in peace-deals negotiations this time.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">I am neither referring to peace deals with Israel here, nor any deal involving disarmament. Hezbollah will not be prepared to negotiate disarming itself under any political settlement either today or in the foreseeable future, and Moscow is totally aware of this.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">According to my analysis, the deal that Moscow is most likely to suggest is a mutual withdrawal of Iran and Hezbollah from Syria on one hand, and an end of the Saudi war on Yemen. It is simple, Saudi Arabia to leave Yemen and Iran/Hezbollah to leave Syria. I believe that Lavrov has already secured the Saudi acceptance of those terms, terms that will not only end the war in Yemen, but also the return of Syria to the Arab League and a possible easing of the Western economic sanctions on Syria. Had Lavrov not secured the Saudi assurance, he would not have invited Hezbollah for talks.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">A deal of this nature can potentially end the criminal human tragedy in Yemen in a manner that will portray the Saudis as the real losers in the war, and this is where they need a face-saving trade-off in Syria. In Syria, they will be perceived as winners by securing an Iranian/Hezbollah exit. But most importantly perhaps for the Saudis, this will put an end to a very costly and humiliating war in Yemen, one which is beginning to draw criticism from some quarters of the international community, including alleged talk of America considering placing arms deal embargos on Saudi Arabia.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">On the other hand, if Iran and Hezbollah end their presence in Syria, many sanctions are likely to be lifted and the severe economic pressure in Syria will be eased. Such a deal will be a humanitarian win for Syria and Yemen, a strategic win for Saudi Arabia and Iran, and a diplomatic win for Russia.</em></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What will be in it for Hezbollah will largely depend on what Lavrov has put on the table, and it seems obvious that it is Hezbollah that will need more convincing than Iran, and this is why the talks are now with Hezbollah; not with Iranian officials. Perhaps the deal already has the tacit approval of Iranian officials.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It goes without saying; Israel will be watching these developments with keen interest. Israel wants Iran and Hezbollah out of Syria. But the trade-off deal I am talking about is not one in which Israel is a direct party.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What is known at this stage is that a meeting has already taken place between the Hezbollah delegation and Russian officials. As I write this, I am not aware if other meetings are to follow and or whether or not the Hezbollah delegation is back in Lebanon.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Was the 2011 Moscow visit of Raad a prelude for Hezbollah to enter Syria? Will the 2021 visit be prelude for Hezbollah to leave Syria? We don’t know. We may never find out the actual detailed outcome of the mysterious-but-not-so-mysterious current Hezbollah visit. It may not even end up with a press release, but in the next coming days, we will find out if a Syria-Yemen trade-off is indeed looming.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> </p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA2fIxfAB_IDjuCKCaSG_aS40TAM8cTinRFCvpSW2caqDUvIAeYJeSCC35dEbU1q1UI2WyqQNAuOX5fFO8RwiCPmussQ4q7wmLJAlYKdOIkKr6W3KflguypdbJlMZn-TiXKOKqh-ifdJ1f/s969/Trade+off+Looming+on+Syria+and+Yemen+photo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="969" data-original-width="782" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA2fIxfAB_IDjuCKCaSG_aS40TAM8cTinRFCvpSW2caqDUvIAeYJeSCC35dEbU1q1UI2WyqQNAuOX5fFO8RwiCPmussQ4q7wmLJAlYKdOIkKr6W3KflguypdbJlMZn-TiXKOKqh-ifdJ1f/w323-h400/Trade+off+Looming+on+Syria+and+Yemen+photo.jpg" width="323" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-59739912505063573372021-03-10T23:04:00.004+02:002023-02-19T13:52:34.505+03:00Could Lebanon Protests Lead to a 'Coup' & How Might NATO Capitalise on the Political Crisis? Ekaterina Blinova interviews Ghassan Kadi 10 March 2021<p><span style="font-size: large;">The 45 year long, slow demise of Lebanon reached a crescendo in 2020 when the currency almost totally collapsed and society and its institutions went into free-fall, eventuating in the past few weeks into some potentially serious developments. <br /><a href="https://sputniknews.com/20210310/could-lebanon-protests-lead-to-a-coup--how-might-nato-capitalise-on-the-political-crisis-1082303020.html">Could Lebanon Protests Lead to a 'Coup' & How Might NATO Capitalise on the Political Crisis? (sputniknews.com)</a></span></p><div role="row"><div class="lzcic4wl" data-scope="messages_table" role="gridcell"><h1 class="article__title" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 36px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.05; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Could Lebanon Protests Lead to a 'Coup' & How Might NATO Capitalise on the Political Crisis?</h1><h3 class="gmql0nx0 l94mrbxd p1ri9a11 lzcic4wl" dir="auto"><div aria-hidden="true" class="oqcyycmt pipptul6 r9r71o1u lrazzd5p"><div class="article__header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><div class="article__info " data-nosnippet="" style="-webkit-box-pack: justify; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__info-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; 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line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 5px; max-height: 1e+06px; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;">Ekaterina Blinova</div><div class="article__author-links" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 8px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="m-color-main" href="https://sputniknews.com/author_ekaterina_blinova/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="All materials">All materials</a><a data-modal-open="feedback_author" href="mailto:e.blinova@sputniknews.com" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="Write to the author">Write to the author</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__announce-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 20px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Tensions continue to grow in Lebanon following the dramatic collapse of the Lebanese lira early last week, prompting people to take to the streets and protest the government's inaction. The country is teetering on the brink of explosion, warns Middle East expert Ghassan Kadi, weighing up the possible scenarios of how the situation may unfold.</div></div><div class="article__body" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">On 9 March, anti-government protesters in Lebanon <a href="https://sputniknews.com/africa/202103081082283800-protesters-block-key-highway-linking-beirut-with-lebanons-north/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">set up new roadblocks and lit tyres on fire</a> amid demonstrations over the government's inability to tackle the economic crisis and crippling poverty. On Monday, the three main roads from Zouk, Jal el-Dib, and al-Dawra to the capital Beirut were closed by demonstrators.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Previously, protests – dubbed <a href="https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201910251077151371-lebanese-protest-unlikely-to-turn-into-civil-war-unless-external-forces-derail-it/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">the Tax Intifada or the WhatsApp Revolution</a> – shattered the Middle Eastern state in October 2019. The uprising eventually led to the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri. His successor, Hassan Diab, started talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to receive a $10 billion loan to pull the country back from the economic abyss. However, on 4 August 2020 <a href="https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202008071080086752-lebanon-has-reached-critical-point-that-challenges-its-survival-as-sovereign-state-analyst-warns/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">a massive blast destroyed the country's biggest port</a> exacerbating the economic situation even further.</p></div></div></div></div></h3><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Lebanon's Economy is in Free Fall</h2><h3 class="gmql0nx0 l94mrbxd p1ri9a11 lzcic4wl" dir="auto"><div aria-hidden="true" class="oqcyycmt pipptul6 r9r71o1u lrazzd5p"><div class="article__body" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">In the aftermath of the August 2020 explosion, French President Emmanuel Macron stepped forward urging Beirut to implement a "new political order". On the surface, <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; max-height: 1e+06px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff6600; max-height: 1e+06px;">the French initiative has thus far failed</span></span>, according to Ghassan Kadi, a Middle East expert, blogger, and political analyst.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"The Macron initiative ended up with President Aoun appointing Mustafa Adib (a political outsider) as prime minister", he says. "Faced by 'chiefs' who did not comply with their promise to the Macron initiative, Adib resigned before he was able to form government. He was replaced by [Prime Minister-designate] Saad Hariri in October 2020. Five months later, he is still unable to name the cabinet and Lebanon continues to be governed by the caretaker former cabinet that resigned in August 2020".</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">On 6 March, <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202103071082274647-caretaker-lebanese-pm-warns-country-close-to-point-of-no-return-as-local-currency-plunges---report/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab threatened to quit</a> in protest at Hariri's failure to form a new government. The formation of the new cabinet is crucial for kicking off long-anticipated economic reforms in the country which would open the door to multi-billion international aid.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Addressing the nation in a televised speech, Diab warned that <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; max-height: 1e+06px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff6600; max-height: 1e+06px;">the country had "reached the brink of explosion"</span></span> after the Lebanese lira's dramatic slump. Arab News <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1820971/middle-east" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">suggested</a> last Saturday that the caretaker prime minister's retreat may further weaken the country's currency.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">"It is sufficient to say that the exchange rate of the Lebanese lira to the USD before the 1975 Civil War was 3 to 1", recalls Kadi. "It held its value during the darkest days of the war, and began to slide in 1984 reaching a low of 1,500 to 1. But it kept that value from 1989 until 2019. Then suddenly, after the popular uprising in October 2019, the lira has been on a dive, reaching 11,000 to 1 as we speak. The collapse of the Lebanese lira is a simple reflection of what has happened to Lebanon since".</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="media" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1082303020" data-photoview-image-id="1082299735" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20210310/could-lebanon-protests-lead-to-a-coup--how-might-nato-capitalise-on-the-political-crisis-1082303020.html?share-img=1082299735" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299737_0:0:2538:2048_1440x900_80_0_1_7b6b3e706ce1674a887e488a3902a3e2.jpg.webp?source-sid=afp" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="Could Lebanon Protests Lead to a 'Coup' & How Might NATO Capitalise on the Political Crisis? - Sputnik International, 1920, 10.03.2021" class="" data-source-sid="afp" data-srcset="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299737_0:0:2538:2048_640x0_80_0_0_26019c1d06f181a240f8fdf7e1e7fff6.jpg.webp 640w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299737_0:0:2538:2048_1280x0_80_0_0_13c1d64fd5eb4907d01574d24f774376.jpg.webp 1280w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299737_0:0:2538:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_67c00c25c34e99043e4fcecbf40fef01.jpg.webp 1920w" decoding="async" height="1549" media-type="photo" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299737_0:0:2538:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_67c00c25c34e99043e4fcecbf40fef01.jpg.webp" srcset="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299737_0:0:2538:2048_640x0_80_0_0_26019c1d06f181a240f8fdf7e1e7fff6.jpg.webp 640w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299737_0:0:2538:2048_1280x0_80_0_0_13c1d64fd5eb4907d01574d24f774376.jpg.webp 1280w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299737_0:0:2538:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_67c00c25c34e99043e4fcecbf40fef01.jpg.webp 1920w" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title="Could Lebanon Protests Lead to a 'Coup' & How Might NATO Capitalise on the Political Crisis?" width="1920" /></div></div><div class="media__description " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 3px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Lebanon's Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi (or Rai) greets supporters ahead of a speech on February 27, 2021 at the Maronite Patriarchate in the mountain village of Bkerki, northeast of Beirut</div><div class="media__copyright " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a href="https://ria.ru/docs/about/copyright_afp.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;" title="© AFP 2023 / ANWAR AMRO">© AFP 2023 / ANWAR AMRO</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></h3><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Maronite Patriarch: 'Do Not Remain Silent'</h3><h3 class="gmql0nx0 l94mrbxd p1ri9a11 lzcic4wl" dir="auto"><div aria-hidden="true" class="oqcyycmt pipptul6 r9r71o1u lrazzd5p"><div class="article__body" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">It appears that trouble is brewing for the present Lebanese leadership, suggests Kadi. On 27 February, Moran Mor Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, the 77th Maronite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, addressed protesters outside his headquarters: "<span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Do not remain silent in the face of corruption</span>. Do not tolerate the theft of your money, the fluid borders, the failure of the political class, the chaos in the investigation into the Beirut port explosion, or the imprisonment of the innocent", he told the gathering.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Citing sources at Bkerke Arab News <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1816976/middle-east" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">noted</a> that the patriarch had decided to speak out over concerns that the country is facing an acute political crisis. Al-Rahi's earlier attempts to reconcile President Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri failed.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The development is symptomatic given the significance of the Patriarch of the Lebanese Maronite Church in a civil reform matter, according to the Middle East analyst.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"Lebanon was 'created' in 1920 to protect Levantine Christians after five centuries of Ottoman rule", the expert recalls. "It was the then head of the Maronite Church, Patriarch Howayek who became the architect of 'Grand Liban'. The French accepted his proposal and the Maronite Patriarchs who followed him became the religious custodians of the state. In 1943, the Lebanese Constitution in Article 95 stipulated that for an interim period, the President of Lebanon as well as the Army Chief would be Maronite Christians. Other key positions were given to other religions and sects".</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">This historic interim provision is still in force in Lebanon, and the Maronite Patriarch remains a strong and influential figure in the country, according to Kadi, who highlights that <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; max-height: 1e+06px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff6600; max-height: 1e+06px;">"never before has the Lebanese Maronite Church been so vehemently against Lebanon's Maronite president".</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">"Patriarch al-Rahi is seen by many as the actual leader of the current 'revolution'", the political analyst remarks.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="media" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1082303020" data-photoview-image-id="1082299767" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20210310/could-lebanon-protests-lead-to-a-coup--how-might-nato-capitalise-on-the-political-crisis-1082303020.html?share-img=1082299767" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299769_0:0:3033:2048_1440x900_80_0_1_2706f8cfae9cc76127cf5f3e9ca9db67.jpg.webp?source-sid=reuters_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="Could Lebanon Protests Lead to a 'Coup' & How Might NATO Capitalise on the Political Crisis? - Sputnik International, 1920, 10.03.2021" class="" data-source-sid="reuters_photo" data-srcset="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299769_0:0:3033:2048_640x0_80_0_0_8e85482728273ef1f014061d8a790d39.jpg.webp 640w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299769_0:0:3033:2048_1280x0_80_0_0_933e3d04a0d0c8d49d6645b65af3769a.jpg.webp 1280w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299769_0:0:3033:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_a34b5714825ab0392c05e9db2e811388.jpg.webp 1920w" decoding="async" height="1296" media-type="photo" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299769_0:0:3033:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_a34b5714825ab0392c05e9db2e811388.jpg.webp" srcset="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299769_0:0:3033:2048_640x0_80_0_0_8e85482728273ef1f014061d8a790d39.jpg.webp 640w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299769_0:0:3033:2048_1280x0_80_0_0_933e3d04a0d0c8d49d6645b65af3769a.jpg.webp 1280w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/03/0a/1082299769_0:0:3033:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_a34b5714825ab0392c05e9db2e811388.jpg.webp 1920w" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title="Could Lebanon Protests Lead to a 'Coup' & How Might NATO Capitalise on the Political Crisis?" width="1920" /></div></div><div class="media__description " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 3px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Cars block a highway during a protest against the fall in Lebanese pound currency and mounting economic hardships, in Jal el-Dib, Lebanon March 9, 2021</div><div class="media__copyright " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/docs/reuters.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;" title="© REUTERS / ISSAM ABDALLAH">© REUTERS / ISSAM ABDALLAH</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></h3><h4 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Lebanese Army Chief Criticises Gov't's Handling of the Crisis</h4><h3 class="gmql0nx0 l94mrbxd p1ri9a11 lzcic4wl" dir="auto"><div aria-hidden="true" class="oqcyycmt pipptul6 r9r71o1u lrazzd5p"><div class="article__body" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">On the other hand, the country's military also appears to show sympathy for the protesters. Following Patriarch al-Rahi's address, Army Chief General Joseph Aoun (not related to the country's president) "spoke out for the first time since the uprising started 18 months ago", the analyst highlights. The army's top commander who was ordered by the president to clear roadblocks made it clear that he respects the people's right to protest peacefully. Speaking at a meeting with military commanders, <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; max-height: 1e+06px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff6600; max-height: 1e+06px;">Army Chief General Aoun criticised the government for its handling of the crisis</span></span>.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"The officer also is suffering and is hungry, to the officials I say, where are you going? What are you waiting for? What are you planning to do?", he said in a Monday statement, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-crisis-idCAKBN2B00NN" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">quoted</a> by Reuters.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The general also warned against dragging the army into the political conflict: "The fragmentation of the army means the end of the entity, this is impossible to let happen. The army is holding together and the experience of '75 will not be repeated", he underscored, referring to Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">On 10 March, the Lebanese Army announced that it had started clearing roadblocks set up by protesters across the country, as <a href="https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/1615361916-lebanon-army-begins-clearing-roadblocks-after-unrest-across-country" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">cited</a> by i24News.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">It is hard to predict whether the current deadlock between the government and the people will translate into some sort of a "coup", according to the analyst. At the same time, he ruled out the current tensions between the army and civilian leadership leading to a military takeover.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">"What is most likely to happen is that the Army Chief will ask the chiefs of all other security forces to form a front to present President Aoun with an ultimatum of appointing them as an interim cabinet", he hypothesised.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">However, this fragile situation "has the potential to put Lebanon back entirely inside the circle of influence of the West", Kadi suggests.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"Such an outcome will weaken the 'Axis of Resistance' and give the NATO-Israel alliance huge mileage. With that said, it is highly unlikely that an international consensus about 'saving Lebanon' can be achieved on Western interests only; especially considering that much at stake remains in Syria and that Russia has a strong position at the negotiating table", the Middle Eastern expert believes.</blockquote></div></div></div></div><div aria-hidden="true" class="oqcyycmt pipptul6 r9r71o1u lrazzd5p"><br /></div><div aria-hidden="true" class="oqcyycmt pipptul6 r9r71o1u lrazzd5p"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDBT1FeICQG5ddXOAglo_0VJCRgnA2FecgEbzrrQzpW1p77Z2TfCsR1ns1xl-SLimbK5oMuiAJx2pnu8jcLjqHuvvUSFVJiZ8PVGqdqj7oM2WeYd3HavY3iY9hueEa8QjJfyTmLUG1dCD/s961/Sputnik+10+March+21.jpg" style="clear: right; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="961" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDBT1FeICQG5ddXOAglo_0VJCRgnA2FecgEbzrrQzpW1p77Z2TfCsR1ns1xl-SLimbK5oMuiAJx2pnu8jcLjqHuvvUSFVJiZ8PVGqdqj7oM2WeYd3HavY3iY9hueEa8QjJfyTmLUG1dCD/w458-h345/Sputnik+10+March+21.jpg" width="458" /></a></div></h3><h3 class="gmql0nx0 l94mrbxd p1ri9a11 lzcic4wl" dir="auto"><div aria-hidden="true" class="oqcyycmt pipptul6 r9r71o1u lrazzd5p"><div class="g5ia77u1 jwdofwj8 pby63qed" data-testid="outgoing_group"><div data-testid="mwchat_outgoing_row" role="row"><div><div class="j83agx80 r8blr3vg"><div class="h9e7qa53 l9j0dhe7 hpfvmrgz"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><div class="lzcic4wl" data-recover="true" data-scope="messages_table" role="gridcell" tabindex="0"><div aria-owns="jsc_c_53" class="ni8dbmo4 stjgntxs ii04i59q" data-testid="outgoing_message"><div class="f2fs36ck"><div class="l60d2q6s d1544ag0 sj5x9vvc tw6a2znq l9j0dhe7 ni8dbmo4 stjgntxs qlfml3jp jinzq4gt e72ty7fz mrjvor2e jm1wdb64 qv66sw1b ljqsnud1 g6srhlxm odn2s2vf" style="background-color: #0084ff;"></div></div></div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></h3></div></div><div class="g5ia77u1 jwdofwj8 pby63qed" data-testid="outgoing_group"><div data-testid="mwchat_outgoing_row" role="row"><div><div class="j83agx80 r8blr3vg"><div class="h9e7qa53 l9j0dhe7 hpfvmrgz"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><div class="lzcic4wl" data-recover="true" data-scope="messages_table" role="gridcell" tabindex="0"><div aria-owns="jsc_c_53" class="ni8dbmo4 stjgntxs ii04i59q" data-testid="outgoing_message"><div class="f2fs36ck"><div class="l60d2q6s d1544ag0 sj5x9vvc tw6a2znq l9j0dhe7 ni8dbmo4 stjgntxs qlfml3jp jinzq4gt e72ty7fz mrjvor2e jm1wdb64 qv66sw1b ljqsnud1 g6srhlxm odn2s2vf" style="background-color: #0084ff;"></div></div></div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-29634608400140096972021-03-07T00:17:00.006+02:002023-02-18T03:45:55.434+03:00The Cancel Culture Phenomenon: Kind of Hate Hush all Over the World By Ghassan and Intibah Kadi 1 March 2021<p> <span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="b8dvh-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;">Our</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="b8dvh-1-0" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"> thoughts on the insanity enveloping the Western world</span></span></span></p><p><span face="Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #050505; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://thesaker.is/the-cancel-culture-phenomenon-kind-of-hate-hush-all-over-the-world/">Click here </a>
<br /></span></span></p><p><span face="Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #050505; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">or here</span></span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://thesaker.is/the-cancel-culture-phenomenon-kind-of-hate-hush-all-over-the-world/">http://thesaker.is/the-cancel-culture-phenomenon-kind-of-hate-hush-all-over-the-world/</a>
</span></p><div class="post-title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">The ‘Cancel Culture’ phenomenon: kind of hate-hush all over the world</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">15048 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">March 01, 2021</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="https://thesaker.is/the-cancel-culture-phenomenon-kind-of-hate-hush-all-over-the-world/#comments" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; text-decoration-line: none !important; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">40 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">by Ghassan and Intibah Kadi for the Saker Blog</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Who remembers the Herman’s Hermits and their 1967 song ‘<a href="https://youtu.be/Y1MV-Jy_Bog" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">There’s a Kind of Hush’</a>? The hush the song speaks of is a hush of love, and it was a world of dreams in the sixties in the West, despite the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights protests in the USA and other global conflicts. The peace movements were strong and vibrant, and there was hope that the peace-loving youth will have their way and make a difference; because they genuinely believed in the slogan that ‘all you need is love’.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Alas, the love-hush seems now to be replaced with a hate-hush, and it is engulfing the world, particularly the West, with unprecedented anger and vile displays of demeanour, and this seems to be part of the ‘New Normal’ that some are pushing down our throats.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Not long ago, inspired by another <a href="https://thesaker.is/where-have-all-the-flowers-and-the-peace-movement-gone/" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">song of the 1960’s,</a> the article pondered where have all the flowers and peace movements gone. In such a short period since, discord and trouble has steeply risen to unprecedented levels, where we are witnessing now an ominous step forward into the abyss and a huge fall in the trajectory of humanity.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In comparison and as an example, when the Lebanese civil war erupted in 1975, it didn’t really come as a surprise to anyone as the specter of such calamity had always hung in the air and sat on the agendas of opposing political groups, as well as on the narrow minds of religious groups that held back unsettled sectarian scores for decades, even centuries.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In hindsight, it seems unfathomable as to how did the German people become so brainwashed and vulnerable to Nazi propaganda. They incrementally discarded all the humane values they had known before, replacing them with nationalist, exclusionist and supremacist values, eventually engaging, wittingly or unwittingly, in supporting or perpetrating injustices on minority groups including Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, the disabled, just to mention a few. Shockingly, when the civil war began in Lebanon, the Lebanese people actually saw a similar phenomenon happen right in front of their eyes. The world witnessed town turning against town, suburb against suburb, neighbour against neighbour, inflicting the most horrendous crimes of maiming, sniping, torturing and killing each other. The same happened again in Yugoslavia as it fell apart.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In more ways than one, latent hatred was expected to eventually manifest itself. If and when old sentiments are not dealt with and brought to closure, such an outcome of a build-up and explosion is to be expected.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But what we are witnessing today, in the West, is something quite different; a case where many people develop boiling, seething, foaming and frothing rage and hatred against others for no apparent reason or history at all.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In America at least, there are a number of actual issues that cause rage and dismay, such as unresolved racial tensions and injustices, perceptions of stolen elections, mishandling of the Corona Virus, the economy and so on. However, these issues are dealt with so vehemently, often with grave, unjust, illegal and disproportional measures, leaving many wondering if America is teetering on the brink of a civil war.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Most striking is the alarming phenomenon of other Western countries taking on board many of the divisive American-specific issues, all with the rage and social divisions that define America’s social status quo. People make ‘all or nothing’ stands and polarity on so many issues, reaching new frenetic levels each day. Even when a legitimate reason for anger exists, the expressions of these can be increasingly extreme and irrational and treated as a defining issue, one worthy of labelling, whether in America or elsewhere.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The authors observed that many people from all different sides of the political divide, within and outside the USA, when asked, are unable to rationally express the reason behind their extremely heated stands. Such a psychological situation can destroy the West; or what is left of it. Close friends, friends who have known and loved each other for decades accuse each other of the most heinous of ‘crimes’, attach labels to each other, just because they ask simple questions, trying to understand the rationale behind their feelings.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And feelings they are, because they are not well-conceived and fact-finding-based views, and their answers provided are merely emotionally based.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In the very near past, people and friends in particular, used to have deep political discussions with peers. They disagreed quite often, but such diverse views were discussed in a civil manner with the assumption that people had the right to have different views and opinions.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In the West today however, it seems that the ‘agree-to-disagree’ principle is no longer. The current rule is ‘you are either with me or against me’. Where have we heard this before? Instead of ‘me’ it was <a href="https://youtu.be/cpPABLW6F_A" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">‘us’</a>?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Not only are we witnessing extreme and unwarranted actions between disagreeing individuals, we are also witnessing this on a collective level, one we often refer to as ‘thought-policing’. Its repercussions in recent times are rapidly morphing into what can only be described as torture ‘techniques’ such as the likes of ‘Cancel Culture’. This is exactly synonymous to the act of ‘banishment’ during the Spanish Inquisition days and the Witch-Hunt eras. Nothing much has changed, or perhaps things have gone full-circle.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In that time, ‘banishment’ meant that the banished ones lost their jobs, became socially isolated, prohibited from trading or buying goods, and quite often, this preceded being burnt alive at the stake. And, now it appears that ‘Cancel Culture’ means virtually the same thing. Whilst the victim may still be lucky enough to trade and buy commodities online, it still generally involves losing one’s job, stature, friends, memberships of associations, and facing humiliation and defamation among many other things. The only basic difference today is the absence of being put to death.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Prior to any banishment or ‘Cancel Culture’ being implemented, just like in the past where such people were branded as heretics, they are now given labels such as ‘denialists’ (disagreement with climate change theory), ‘anti-vaxxers’ (questioning the effectiveness and safety of COVID vaccines) and others. What is interesting here in all this madness, is that a person could be labelling another, only to end up themselves being labelled for something else. Someone who labels another as a ‘denialist’ may find him/herself branded as an ‘anti-vaxxer’.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What is most sinister perhaps is that, on one hand we see this violent, unexplainable, unwarranted irrational level of anger, but on the other hand, we see the West endorsing and accepting other irrational policies that can destroy it, but yet no one is batting an eyelid. Any keen observer can see that a whole myriad of changes have been imposed on the Western society, each of them alone can destroy the Western culture. Without much effort, we can see many such changes, but it suffices to mention the following:</p><ol style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Political correctness that has gone way too far and continues to erode personal freedom of expression.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The climate change debacle/hoax that elevated Greta to the level of becoming Time Magazine’s person of the year.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The destruction of Western family values.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The over-emphasis on LBGTI rights and all the changes imposed on the mainstream society, including such things as banning the use of words like mother and father.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The COVID-thing; lockdowns, conflicting information, the vaccines that we know little about, the presence of nefarious people of influence like Fauci and Gates in decision-making.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Confusing young school children with gender issues and almost encouraging them to become homosexual and/or transgender.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The silence of the public regarding the censorship regulations of Facebook and Twitter.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The silence of the public about the plans of the WEF’s ‘Great Reset”.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The growing acceptance of thought policing and compliance to the state and media.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The public indifference towards the groundless sanctions against Russia and their possible effect on global stability and peace.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The public lack of knowledge and indifference about the support of their governments to Neo-Nazis in Ukraine.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The West losing its industrial base under the watchful eyes of Western Governments.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The West suffering from a huge drop in number of students majoring in STEM subjects.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The West suffering from a growing lack of desire of young adults to have children and raise families.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Giving blanket and unconditional support to abortion, even in the absence of any medical, psychological and justifiable reasons, including late-term abortion, and considering it (ie abortion) as a human right.</li></ol><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">When people in the West are asked, why do those who do not agree with the above or accept it say nothing? The response is invariably fear, fear of being targeted and being subjected to the ‘Cancel Culture’.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Coerced to endorse the revolution of anger and phantom ideology, Westerners, especially the youth, have been socially engineered to become the corner stones of ‘controlled opposition’, all the while, they seem to have been conditioned to ‘unsee’ the real issues that threaten their survival in the future.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Coming to the crunch question; with what appears as increasing irrationality and insanity all around, have people been recently, or maybe incrementally, subjected to systemic brainwashing that renders them into such a state of irrationality, anger, volatility and blindness? If that is the case, then how was this achieved?</em></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This brings to mind the tactic of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subliminal_stimuli" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">subliminal advertising</a>, a technique <a href="https://ignitevisibility.com/7-examples-effective-subliminal-advertising/" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">developed</a> as early as in the 1950’s in which a person is subjected unknowingly to an advertisement. It can be sound-based or visual. A visual one is based on techniques like inserting a single <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/instruct/soc499/cordray/media/sublmgs.html" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">advertisement</a> frame, say of a bag of popcorn, into a movie. Movies show motion by playing a series of still frames, around twenty per second. In a single frame it is not noticeable by the conscious mind, but is picked up by the subconscious, and in this example given, will create a stimulus to buy popcorn. There is much evidence of more sinister or politically motivated subliminal messages inserted into Hollywood movies. <a href="https://www.progressiveawareness.org/research_desk_reference/legal_status_of_subliminal_communication.html" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">Legal questions</a> arose around this technique.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">From such a simple, unsophisticated technique, in the same decade, a secretive project on behaviour modification was undertaken named <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1189833/mk-ultra-declassified-cia-truth-mind-control-lsd-hypnosis-experiment" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">Project MKUltra,</a> eventually becoming the subject of an American <a href="https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/hearings/95mkultra.pdf" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">Senate Intelligence Hearing</a> . Mind-control technology took off, reaching ever new heights (or lows?), not just enhancing business and socio-political agenda, but becoming a crucial component of warfare, even with special strategies for <a href="https://www.stratcomcoe.org/social-media-tool-hybrid-warfare" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">social media</a>, to target the public and their perceptions, making them compliant or malleable and even <a href="https://www.academia.edu/37864137/The_Purple_Revolution_U_S_Hybrid_Warfare_Coming_Home_To_Roost?fbclid=IwAR0Ubp9QC9DA2XGhyYuzzFIti0iBEXUIeT7XGu5ZE8m9kDudxgn5Pg5ThBU" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">activating</a> them to the extent this discussion indicates. Intibah Kadi’s work on this is cited in the preceding link to an academic paper.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The question is where else, apart from media and social media, have such techniques been used? What kind of technology and to what extent and what ends has this been taken to? And has such systemic brainwashing that we suggest, been ramped up in these last few years when Trump was President of the USA? This is predicated on the suspicion of Trump acting at times as the <a href="https://www.academia.edu/37864137/The_Purple_Revolution_U_S_Hybrid_Warfare_Coming_Home_To_Roost" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">‘disruptor”</a> of a particular set of the ‘establishment’, or ‘swamp’ as he named it, one that either rejected him or he alienated.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This also brings to mind an old movie in 1977 by the name of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076804/" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">Telefon</a>, a fiction based on a few people who on the surface appear to lead a normal life, but in reality, are a team of professional assassins designated to kill certain individuals upon receiving a vocal message they had been hypnotized to respond to like robots.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Have we actually reached such days of a ‘New Normal’ in terms of the evident, debased level of social discourse, labeling, shaming and damning? Ironically, ‘New Normal’ is a term we hear every day, courtesy of world leaders, various officials and, of course, from the head of the World Economic Forum. Or is it ironic? Will brainwashing and behaviour modification techniques go <a id="post-52192-_Hlk65526323" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"></a><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mind-control-electromagnetic-frequency-soleilmavis-liu/" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">far beyond</a> that of what we commonly understand and well into the realms of Artificial Intelligence and Electromagnetism? And in these new realms, what extent, if any, do these play a role in these shocking days of ‘Cancel Culture’, the suspension of critical thinking and general mob-rule behaviour permitted for some in the West in recent years?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But above all, did the Western mind deteriorate naturally as a result of attrition or did social engineering cause it to devolve in a manner that fires it up chasing red herrings all the while being totally blind to what really matters? Or has it been manipulated by a devious master plan that makes any science fiction movie look like a Batman Comic?</p></div><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgUvl5UFp_l_P0i-H8wAbevKEgvcgACDJXuPl-h-f3G0tnT85qEtCCi6Qh_chCTD1k6x3bW7VrGdHISx0dhBI1hUoVBNERR-t6_fCXEqN-lJ1xgGWrsdWcjf1jaP0XqPUOTu1hfo_wXodw/s961/Cancelled.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="961" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgUvl5UFp_l_P0i-H8wAbevKEgvcgACDJXuPl-h-f3G0tnT85qEtCCi6Qh_chCTD1k6x3bW7VrGdHISx0dhBI1hUoVBNERR-t6_fCXEqN-lJ1xgGWrsdWcjf1jaP0XqPUOTu1hfo_wXodw/w400-h254/Cancelled.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-22728404454521026562021-02-27T00:39:00.005+02:002023-02-18T03:46:52.127+03:00Ekaterina Blinova interviews Ghassan Kadi and Sara Sherif. Is Biden's Khashoggi Report an Attempt to 'Blackmail' Crown Prince into Accepting Iran Nuclear Deal 27 February 2021<p><span data-offset-key="e2v4c-0-0" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Historian and political analyst, Ekaterina Blinova, interviews Ghassan Kadi and Sara Sherif on current regional issues involving the Biden US regime.</span><span style="font-size: 15px;">
</span></span></span><span class="py34i1dx" color="var(--blue-link)" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="e2v4c-1-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202102261082200380-is-bidens-khashoggi-report-an-attempt-to-blackmail-crown-prince-into-accepting-iran-nuclear-deal/">https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202102261082200380-is-bidens-khashoggi-report-an-attempt-to-blackmail-crown-prince-into-accepting-iran-nuclear-deal/</a>
</span></span></span></p><div class="article__header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><h1 class="article__title" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 36px; line-height: 1.05; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Is Biden's Khashoggi Report an Attempt to 'Blackmail' Crown Prince Into Accepting Iran Nuclear Deal?</h1><div class="article__info " data-nosnippet="" style="-webkit-box-pack: justify; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__info-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="convert-date m-active" data-unixtime="1614370412" href="https://sputniknews.com/20210226/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 1; text-decoration-line: none; visibility: visible;" title="News archive">20:13 GMT 26.02.2021</a> <span class="article__info-date-modified convert-date m-active" data-unixtime="1659791568" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 1; visibility: visible;">(Updated: <span class="date" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">13:12 GMT 06.08.2022</span>)</span></div></div><div class="article__announce" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="ar16x9" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1082200380" data-photoview-image-id="1076122931" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20210226/is-bidens-khashoggi-report-an-attempt-to-blackmail-crown-prince-into-accepting-iran-nuclear-deal-1082200380.html?share-img=1076122931" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107612/29/1076122933_0:0:2000:1372_1440x900_80_0_1_3189b2a9a70111091241d8fc21456055.jpg.webp?source-sid=ap_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; 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margin-bottom: 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; white-space: nowrap;"><div class="the-in-carousel the-in-carousel__1676681179812 the-in-carousel__ready" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><iframe class="the-in-carousel__size-frame" name="the-in-carousel__1676681179812" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: 43.8375px; left: -6e+06px; margin: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 0; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 600px; z-index: -100;" title="frame"></iframe><div class="the-in-carousel__stage" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="the-in-carousel__frame" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="the-in-carousel__pack" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; position: relative; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; width: 300px;"><div class="the-in-carousel__item m-active" data-item="1" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: left; margin-right: -1px; max-height: 1e+06px; min-height: 1px; width: 300px;"><div class="article__author-item" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px; vertical-align: top; white-space: initial; width: 300px;"><div class="article__author-wrapper" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%; padding-right: 20px;"><div class="article__author-info" style="-webkit-box-flex: 1; box-sizing: inherit; flex: 1 1 0%; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;"><div class="article__author-name" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 5px; max-height: 1e+06px; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;">Ekaterina Blinova</div><div class="article__author-links" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 8px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="m-color-main" href="https://sputniknews.com/author_ekaterina_blinova/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="All materials">All materials</a><a data-modal-open="feedback_author" href="mailto:e.blinova@sputniknews.com" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="Write to the author">Write to the author</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__announce-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 20px; max-height: 1e+06px;">US President Joe Biden has been increasing the pressure on the Saudi kingdom and its royal family over human rights issues and the death of Jamal Khashoggi. On the 2020 campaign trail, Biden vowed to make Riyadh a "pariah" unless they changed their policies. Middle East experts discuss Washington's new strategy toward the kingdom.</div></div><div class="article__body" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">On 26 February, <a href="https://sputniknews.com/us/202102261082200062-biden-administration-declassifies-intel-report-on-killing-of-saudi-journalist-jamal-khashoggi/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">the Biden administration released an intelligence report</a> linking Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The report alleges that the crown prince "approved" the assassination. Riyadh has rejected allegations that members of the royal family were aware of the plot.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and a reporter, was slain and dismembered in 2018 while inside of the Saudi embassy in the Turkish capital city of Istanbul. After a months-long investigation Saudi authorities charged eight individuals with the murder of the journalist: five were sentenced to 20 years in prison while three others received shorter prison terms. Commenting on the inquiry, Khashoggi's son Salah <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-khashoggi-son-idUSKBN1YR1NT" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">tweeted</a>: "We affirm our confidence in the Saudi judiciary at all levels, that it has been fair to us and that justice has been achieved."</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Biden Administration Exerting Pressure on the House Saud</h2><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"By touting the release of the report, Joe Biden is flagging a big red sign to Mohammed bin Salman, a threat, even a blackmail attempt if you wish, in order to give him a clear message that Biden is intent on making a US policy change in the region, and that should MBS not cooperate, he will be named and shamed", says Ghassan Kadi, a Middle East expert and political analyst.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Ahead of the intelligence report's publication, US President Joe Biden and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud held a phone conversation on 25 February discussing regional security, efforts to end the war in Yemen and "destabilising activities" by Iran in the Middle East.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Earlier, the White House signaled that it would return to "counterpart to counterpart" engagement, which meant that, unlike Donald Trump, Biden would communicate directly with the king, not with the crown prince.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Other aspects of US-Saudi cooperation have also undergone changes <a href="https://www.axios.com/austin-mbs-biden-pentagon-saudi-arabia-92e6f908-9338-4058-bb83-61b956b62b1b.html" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">according</a> to Axios. The Biden administration has declared the end of Washington's support for the Saudi-led coalition and its military operations in Yemen, and has nullified Trump's attempt to designate Yemen's Houthi political opposition movement as a terror organisation, while also putting the sale of cutting edge US weapons deal to the monarchy on hold.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Assessing the developments, the Guardian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/17/biden-saudi-arabia-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">suggested</a> on 17 February that Biden seeks to "sideline" the crown prince. The media outlet hinted at the possibility that Washington may go so far as to try to force Riyadh "to change the line of succession and demote" the crown prince. </p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"Biden wants to send a double message to Saudi Arabia: on the one hand, he confirms the continuation of the relations between the two countries, the other hand it appears that the White House rejects the Saudi crown prince," suggested Sara Sherif, a political analyst and Israeli affairs journalist at Al Dostor newspaper.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; max-height: 1e+06px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff6600; max-height: 1e+06px;">Biden is unlikely to snub the crown prince</span></span>, offered Kadi. Washington is additionally not interested in deepening the rift between the US and the kingdom, he added.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Saudi leadership and Crown Prince Mohammed appear to be interested in reducing tensions with the new US administration, according to reports. On 10 February, a Tel Aviv-based reporter for Axios, Barak Ravid, <a href="https://www.axios.com/saudi-foreign-minister-meets-bidens-yemen-envoy-b1f86a07-9b3b-447b-9b8c-b08aeeb76276.html" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">outlined</a> a number of "signals" sent by Riyadh to Washington following Biden's inauguration.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">· Saudi women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul was released from prison;</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">· Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan welcomed the appointment of Tim Lenderking, the new US envoy for Yemen;</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">· Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad announced judicial reforms to "establish civil law in the country for the first time, in addition to Islamic law".</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="media" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1082200380" data-photoview-image-id="1082179171" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20210226/is-bidens-khashoggi-report-an-attempt-to-blackmail-crown-prince-into-accepting-iran-nuclear-deal-1082200380.html?share-img=1082179171" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/19/1082179173_0:0:2000:1333_1440x900_80_0_1_8be3b82f8cbccbf21554abe11bec8e76.jpg.webp?source-sid=reuters_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="Is Biden's Khashoggi Report an Attempt to 'Blackmail' Crown Prince Into Accepting Iran Nuclear Deal? - Sputnik International, 1920, 26.02.2021" class="" data-source-sid="reuters_photo" data-srcset="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/19/1082179173_0:0:2000:1333_640x0_80_0_0_145c76cd83ecfa05a7726fa06d609839.jpg.webp 640w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/19/1082179173_0:0:2000:1333_1280x0_80_0_0_a74f42781f323c57c2c35d5ba999182f.jpg.webp 1280w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/19/1082179173_0:0:2000:1333_1920x0_80_0_0_c2fdc05a224c9a852d3e17b36a7bf89d.jpg.webp 1920w" decoding="async" height="1280" media-type="photo" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/19/1082179173_0:0:2000:1333_1920x0_80_0_0_c2fdc05a224c9a852d3e17b36a7bf89d.jpg.webp" srcset="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/19/1082179173_0:0:2000:1333_640x0_80_0_0_145c76cd83ecfa05a7726fa06d609839.jpg.webp 640w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/19/1082179173_0:0:2000:1333_1280x0_80_0_0_a74f42781f323c57c2c35d5ba999182f.jpg.webp 1280w,https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/19/1082179173_0:0:2000:1333_1920x0_80_0_0_c2fdc05a224c9a852d3e17b36a7bf89d.jpg.webp 1920w" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title="Is Biden's Khashoggi Report an Attempt to 'Blackmail' Crown Prince Into Accepting Iran Nuclear Deal?" width="1920" /></div></div><div class="media__description " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 3px; max-height: 1e+06px;">International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi walks during a meeting with head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Ali-Akbar Salehi, in Tehran, Iran February 21, 2021</div><div class="media__copyright " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/docs/reuters.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;" title="© REUTERS / WANA NEWS AGENCY">© REUTERS / WANA NEWS AGENCY</a></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Two Messages to Iran: Yemen Policy & Strike on Syria</h3><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Washington's foreign policy changes concerning Yemen should be seen not as a way to demonstrate Biden's "discontent" with the crown prince but as a measure <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; max-height: 1e+06px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff6600; max-height: 1e+06px;">"to appease Iran and to demonstrate to the Iranians that Biden is serious about resuming talks"</span></span> about the JCPOA nuclear deal, according to Kadi.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Sherif agrees: Biden's decision to remove the armed Houthi political opposition faction from the list of terrorist organizations is a "first goodwill to Iran before the start of the negotiations about the nuclear deal, and to finish the conflict which has been going on from 2015".</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The Biden administration has made it clear that the president is interested in returning to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). However, <a href="https://sputniknews.com/world/202102261082200205-state-department-admits-trumps-iran-max-pressure-was-colossal-failure-as-biden-continues-policy/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Washington and Tehran still remain at odds</a> as to who should make the first step. The Islamic republic insists that the White House must first lift all sanctions against the country. The Biden administration, however, is floating the idea of concluding a broader deal with Iran which could include the latter's ballistic missile programme.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"Any deal with Iran will not go smoothly unless America can get the acceptance of the Saudis (and Israel of course, but this is a separate issue)", Kadi suggests. "The Saudis will not accept any American policy change unless pressured, and Biden is basically demonstrating to the Iranians that he is prepared to go as far as working against the interests of Saudi Arabia."</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">While the Saudis believe that America is their ally, the Biden administration is using a stick-and-carrot approach toward the kingdom as a means of reaching its own objectives in the region, according to the political analyst.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">At the same time, <a href="https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202102261082197076-us-airstrikes-were-to-weaken-syria-strengthen-daesh-and-justify-us-occupation-of-iraq-prof-says/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">the Pentagon's 26 February strike against alleged Iranian-linked fighters</a> in eastern Syria is a signal to Iran to reduce its influence in the Arab republic in exchange for the atomic deal, Kadi offerred. This is how the Biden administration is demonstrating to regional players that Obama-era hawks are ready to "recalibrate" US foreign policy in the Middle East, he believes.</p></div></div></div><p><span class="py34i1dx" color="var(--blue-link)" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="e2v4c-1-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6lPxe2bfgJ7MF_V4ONxIUxsDb4inQRhW6diS_SWdn5fjCgjVbVeJBBNOqP-zoT28tK8tOMIfZj2_Av9Lo8lNcmWMp2I35NI_-2IXJKPFeR6IzUbIznUqlCKoGzYxvi1ecnMFK4V3iDtk/s2048/Kadis+n+Sherif+Biden+Ekaterina+Interview+27+Feb+21.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1078" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6lPxe2bfgJ7MF_V4ONxIUxsDb4inQRhW6diS_SWdn5fjCgjVbVeJBBNOqP-zoT28tK8tOMIfZj2_Av9Lo8lNcmWMp2I35NI_-2IXJKPFeR6IzUbIznUqlCKoGzYxvi1ecnMFK4V3iDtk/w210-h400/Kadis+n+Sherif+Biden+Ekaterina+Interview+27+Feb+21.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SPUTNIK 27 February 2021</td></tr></tbody></table><span class="py34i1dx" color="var(--blue-link)" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="e2v4c-1-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></span><p></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-70282650746397975342021-01-27T13:39:00.007+02:002023-02-19T13:56:12.150+03:00How Might Balance of Power Change in Syria Under the Biden Administration? 27 January 2021<p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="1kme8-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Historian</span></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="1kme8-1-0" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> and analyst Ekaterina Blinova’s article which draws from an interview with Ghassan Kadi regarding the changes in Washington DC and how Syria may be affected.</span><span style="font-size: 15px;">
</span><span style="font-size: 15px;"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/20210127/how-might-balance-of-power-change-in-syria-under-the-biden-administration-1081888136.html">How Might Balance of Power Change in Syria Under the Biden Administration? - 27.01.2021, Sputnik International (sputniknews.com)</a>
</span></span></span></p><div class="article__header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><h1 class="article__title" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 36px; line-height: 1.05; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">How Might Balance of Power Change in Syria Under the Biden Administration?</h1><div class="article__info " data-nosnippet="" style="-webkit-box-pack: justify; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__info-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="convert-date m-active" data-unixtime="1611723600" href="https://sputniknews.com/20210127/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; 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-webkit-box-pack: center; align-items: center; background: url("/i/svg/telegam_blue_circle.svg") -8px -2px no-repeat; border-radius: 6px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; font-family: "Noto Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 19px; justify-content: center; line-height: 1; margin-left: 6px; max-height: 1e+06px; min-height: 40px; padding: 4px 10px 0px 38px;"><a class="" href="https://t.me/sputnik_africa" rel="noopener nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="Africa">Africa</a></div></div></div><div class="article__author" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; white-space: nowrap;"><div class="article__author-item" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px; vertical-align: top; white-space: initial; width: 300px;"><div class="article__author-wrapper" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%; padding-right: 20px;"><div class="article__author-info" style="-webkit-box-flex: 1; box-sizing: inherit; flex: 1 1 0%; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;"><div class="article__author-name" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 5px; max-height: 1e+06px; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;">Ekaterina Blinova</div><div class="article__author-links" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 8px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="m-color-main" href="https://sputniknews.com/author_ekaterina_blinova/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="All materials">All materials</a><a data-modal-open="feedback_author" href="mailto:e.blinova@sputniknews.com" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="Write to the author">Write to the author</a></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__announce-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 20px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The return of Obama-era Middle East hawks in the new Biden administration spells danger for Syria, notes Ghassan Kadi, a political analyst of Syrian descent, adding there's not much room for manoeuvre left for Washington in the region.</div></div><div class="article__body" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">On 20 January, Damascus sent its first message to newly sworn-in US President Joe Biden. Addressing a virtual session of the UN Security Council Syrian permanent representative to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari urged the White House to "stop acts of aggression and occupation", withdraw American troops from the region, and halt any attempts "to threaten Syria's sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity".</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Trump's Withdrawal from Syria Reversed</h2><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">To assess the current balance of forces in the Syrian Arab Republic one needs to take a look where each major player stands, according to Ghassan Kadi, a Middle East expert and political analyst of Syrian descent. In reference to the Syrian government, Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the US coalition, he says: </p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"As far as the military forces are concerned, there is no doubt in my opinion that Damascus and Russia have the upper hand now and in the foreseeable future".</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The new administration's official foreign policy agenda does not envisage withdrawing US troops from the region anytime soon. Quite the contrary, it vows to:</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">· "recommit to standing with civil society and pro-democracy partners on the ground";</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">· "ensure the US is leading the global coalition to defeat ISIS* and use what leverage [the US has] in the region to help shape a political settlement to give more Syrians a voice";</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">· "press all actors to pursue political solutions" as well as "recommit the United States to lead on humanitarian issues".</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Ahead of Biden's inauguration, a US convoy of 60 vehicles including trucks loaded with weapons entered the Syrian province of Hasakah from Iraq, the <em style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Syria Times</em> <a href="http://www.syriatimes.sy/index.php/news/national/53178-us-occupation-forces-bring-in-further-reinforcements-to-their-illegal-bases-in-syria" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">reported</a> on 13 January citing local sources in the town of Al-Swedeyeh.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Even if Biden puts more boots on Syrian soil, it won't be in significant numbers to change the balance of power, according to Kadi, who believes that Washington will have to re-engage in dialogue with Russia and Turkey to proceed with its Middle Eastern agenda. Moscow's <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202010051080664275-how-russias-five-year-long-involvement-in-syria-war-changed-balance-of-power-in-mid-east--beyond/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">five-year operations in Syria</a> as well as its partnership with Ankara and Tehran have considerably changed the region's status quo since the beginning of the 10-year war, he believes.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="media" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1081888136" data-photoview-image-id="1078514192" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20210127/how-might-balance-of-power-change-in-syria-under-the-biden-administration-1081888136.html?share-img=1078514192" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107851/41/1078514194_0:0:3072:2048_1440x900_80_0_1_4db9bda9f7e7abaa79ea25b7cda934ec.jpg.webp?source-sid=ap_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="How Might Balance of Power Change in Syria Under the Biden Administration? - Sputnik International" class="" data-source-sid="ap_photo" data-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107851/41/1078514194_0:0:3072:2048_600x0_80_0_0_2a3966d2c95153c3eed673dc99420dab.jpg.webp" media-type="photo" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107851/41/1078514194_0:0:3072:2048_600x0_80_0_0_2a3966d2c95153c3eed673dc99420dab.jpg.webp" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title="How Might Balance of Power Change in Syria Under the Biden Administration?" /></div></div><div class="media__description " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 3px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Russian forces in the city of Amuda, north Syria</div><div class="media__copyright " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;">© AP Photo / Baderkhan Ahmad</div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Will Biden Resolve US-Turkish Divide?</h3><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">However, if the Biden administration manages to mend fences with Turkey and drive a wedge between Moscow and Ankara that will change the situation on the ground, according to Kadi.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"A softer American stance towards Turkey would mean to [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan that America supports him against the Kurds, and Erdogan has made it clear to Trump and Obama before him, that you are either on my side or the Kurds", the political analyst notes.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Under this scenario, Ankara would also expect Washington to lift the <a href="https://sputniknews.com/world/202012151081467422-us-sanctions-have-shaken-all-values-of-alliance-with-washington-turkish-defence-minister-says/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">December sanctions over Turkey's acquisition of the Russian-made S-400</a> missile defence systems as well as Turkey's return to the Lockheed Martin F-35 programme, among other issues. Still, this does not appear to be the case, as Anthony Blinken – former senior Obama official and Biden's new secretary of state – told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on 19 January that the incoming Cabinet would maintain restrictions on Turkey and <a href="https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202101211081840603-former-turkish-spy-biden-cabinet-showed-it-is-not-planning-to-cooperate-with-ankara-on-s-400-issue/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">did not rule out them being expanded</a> in the future. Similarly, it is unlikely the Biden administration will withdraw support from the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) given that Blinken has long been a vocal proponent of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/opinion/to-defeat-isis-arm-the-syrian-kurds.html" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">arming</a> Kurdish militias.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">There are other signs indicating that US-Turkish tensions may escalate even further under the new administration, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/31/what-the-biden-presidency-means-for-turkey-and-erdogan-post-trump.html" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">according</a> to CNBC. The news agency recalled that in a January 2020 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/01/17/opinion/joe-biden-nytimes-interview.html" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">interview</a> with <em style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">The New York Times</em> Biden called Erdogan an "autocrat" and suggested the US could support Turkish opposition leaders "to be able to take on and defeat Erdogan". "Not by a coup, but by the electoral process", the then-presidential contender specified. This remark was subsequently denounced as "interventionist" by Turkey.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="media" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1081888136" data-photoview-image-id="1081791475" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20210127/how-might-balance-of-power-change-in-syria-under-the-biden-administration-1081888136.html?share-img=1081791475" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/01/11/1081791477_0:0:3058:2048_1440x900_80_0_1_c0de4d2302c58ddea981c242d98a7de1.jpg.webp?source-sid=afp" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="How Might Balance of Power Change in Syria Under the Biden Administration? - Sputnik International" class="" data-source-sid="afp" data-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/01/11/1081791477_0:0:3058:2048_600x0_80_0_0_c57ffcb75ab94af4e92500d089d98bab.jpg.webp" media-type="photo" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/01/11/1081791477_0:0:3058:2048_600x0_80_0_0_c57ffcb75ab94af4e92500d089d98bab.jpg.webp" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title="How Might Balance of Power Change in Syria Under the Biden Administration?" /></div></div><div class="media__description " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 3px; max-height: 1e+06px;">A picture taken on November 10, 2019, shows an Iranian flag in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, during an official ceremony to kick-start works on a second reactor at the facility. - Bushehr is Iran's only nuclear power station and is currently running on imported fuel from Russia that is closely monitored by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.</div><div class="media__copyright " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a href="https://ria.ru/docs/about/copyright_afp.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;" title="© AFP 2023 / ATTA KENARE">© AFP 2023 / ATTA KENARE</a></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><h4 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Washington and Tehran</h4><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Biden's plan to return to the Iran nuclear deal, howev er,may have a positive impact on the situation in Syria, according to Kadi.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"If Biden eases the tensions with Iran, then this could have a positive flow-over effect on his relationships <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202010301080917918-us-is-methodically-ruining-syrian-economy-but-damascus-has-tools-to-avert-the-pressure-prof-says/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">with both Russia and Syria and possibly ease sanctions</a>", suggests the Middle East expert. "On the other hand, this will upset Israel and possibly Turkey unless Iran will be prepared to reciprocate by pulling out of Syrian affairs, and also unless Biden simultaneously strikes a deal with Erdogan that appeases the latter".</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Tehran is calling upon the White House to restore the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/iran/2021-01-22/iran-wants-nuclear-deal-it-made" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">According</a> to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Washington "can begin by removing all sanctions imposed since Trump assumed office and seek to re-enter and abide by the 2015 nuclear deal without altering its painstakingly negotiated terms".</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">For its part, the Biden administration has made it clear the US is "a long way" from reviving the deal and that it will be preceded by consultations with Israel and the Gulf monarchies. In addition, Washington is planning to include Iran's ballistic missile programme in the forthcoming talks, something that Tehran strongly opposes.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The Islamic Republic has gradually suspended its compliance with the nuclear deal's limits since 2019 in response to Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the agreement in May 2018.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="media" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1081888136" data-photoview-image-id="1080023918" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20210127/how-might-balance-of-power-change-in-syria-under-the-biden-administration-1081888136.html?share-img=1080023918" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/07/1f/1080023969_0:0:3071:2048_1440x900_80_0_1_a74a39ee4b3d1e65ddf39e2378958410.jpg.webp?source-sid=ap_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="How Might Balance of Power Change in Syria Under the Biden Administration? - Sputnik International" class="" data-source-sid="ap_photo" data-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/07/1f/1080023969_0:0:3071:2048_600x0_80_0_0_50f94a7cf3d7899d8062e8a20bd4d627.jpg.webp" media-type="photo" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/07/1f/1080023969_0:0:3071:2048_600x0_80_0_0_50f94a7cf3d7899d8062e8a20bd4d627.jpg.webp" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title="How Might Balance of Power Change in Syria Under the Biden Administration?" /></div></div><div class="media__description " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 3px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Israeli soldiers work on tanks in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights near the border with Syria, not far from Lebanon border, Tuesday, July 28, 2020.</div><div class="media__copyright " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;">© AP Photo / Ariel Schalit</div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><h5 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Syria, Israel, & Gulf States</h5><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">When it comes to other regional players, including Israel and the Gulf nations, Kadi does not see them doubling down pressure on Damascus in the near term. While the Jewish state continues to attack alleged Iranian military positions in the region, the political analyst does not rule out some sort of peace deal between Damascus and Israel, akin to the Abraham Accords, in the distant future.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"Realistically, Syria has long walked away from the concept of the 'full liberation of Palestine' and the 'eradication of Israel'", the political analyst says, suggesting that the return of the occupied Golan Heights to Syria and the return of the West Bank to Palestinians are Syria's prime objectives. "In September 2020, a senior Syrian Statesman Mehdi Dakhl-Allah clearly said that a peace deal between Syria and Israel is closer than anyone thinks", Kadi remarks.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">When it comes to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, the political analyst suggests they may potentially end up joining reconstruction efforts by Damascus. However, a lot is hanging in the balance with the advent of the Obama-era foreign policy operatives, according to him.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Still, he believes that Russia will continue to play the role of a powerful broker that will prevent the region from sliding into chaos.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"Since Russian troops entered Syria, I have been saying that President Putin had a comprehensive peace plan in mind that brings all parties to the negotiating table; and this is because Russia is the only major power that is on relatively good terms with all parties involved", Kadi concludes.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">*ISIS (Daesh, Islamic State) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and many other countries.</em></p></div></div></div><p><span data-offset-key="1kme8-1-0" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">
</span></span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="1kme8-1-0" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Y1-WAdWwobo-Qc9pb09PHQkzHqY0JMNH4GzrMjkGtvmuEgMX2HcaH-nJHUynw8gdb4z74yiu6NzV7eHZv_RXXEMEZlCyZ8GLWIuDzyGAKURM6ivXXTTAzDeo0f9AQef14EmEapry_KW0/s707/How+Might+Balance+of+POwer+Change+in+Syria.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="707" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Y1-WAdWwobo-Qc9pb09PHQkzHqY0JMNH4GzrMjkGtvmuEgMX2HcaH-nJHUynw8gdb4z74yiu6NzV7eHZv_RXXEMEZlCyZ8GLWIuDzyGAKURM6ivXXTTAzDeo0f9AQef14EmEapry_KW0/w440-h304/How+Might+Balance+of+POwer+Change+in+Syria.jpg" width="440" /></a></div><br /><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-26334350851489500082020-12-08T11:13:00.014+02:002023-02-19T14:53:12.454+03:00AFTER TRUMP THE FLOOD By Ghassan and Intibah Kadi. December 8 2020<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A look into the contradictions of so-called progressive movements and how they soon will fall apart as an alliance. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://thesaker.is/after-trump-the-flood/?fbclid=IwAR1_Hr5VigSa5bpHKGDsEc4q9Hc49QaFGUrE5lww4fBvv0TaNrQJEhAASnc">http://thesaker.is/after-trump-the-flood/?fbclid=IwAR1_Hr5VigSa5bpHKGDsEc4q9Hc49QaFGUrE5lww4fBvv0TaNrQJEhAASnc</a></span><br /><br /></p><div class="post-title" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">After Trump the flood:</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">23055 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">December 08, 2020</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="http://thesaker.is/after-trump-the-flood/#comments" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; text-decoration-line: none !important; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">67 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">by Ghassan and Intibah Kadi for the Saker Blog</strong></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Whether there was indeed voter fraud and rigging, and I personally believe there was and at a huge scale, it seems that, by hook or by crook, Joe Biden will become the next President of the United States of America; and we should prepare ourselves for this, regardless of our political points of view and inclinations.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The presence of Biden in the Whitehouse will definitely change course on a number of issues, both domestically within the USA and overseas, but the objective of this article is to shed a bit of light on what is likely to happen to the current pro-Biden camp and the diverse array of supporters who have helped elevate him to this position.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In more ways than one, I have always seen in Syria a microcosm of world politics and conflicts. Long before the enemies of Syria decided to launch their attack in March 2011, the masterminds of the conspiracy put the most unlikely allies together, only united by their hatred of Syria. Back then I called them the ‘<a href="https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-anti-syrian-politics-by-ghassan.html" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">Anti-Syrian Cocktail’</a>. Those allies each had their own agenda regarding Syria and had nothing in common other than their desire to remove President Bashar Al-Assad from office. Among the issues they disagreed on was his replacement, how to share the spoils, not to mention the alternative political system to install, Syria’s future position in the region, international alliances, and so forth.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">With a whole array of enemies, Trump inadvertently caused a rounding up of a very loosely-united anti-Trump-cocktail; only united by their hatred of him. So, let’s face it and acknowledge it; they will never let him win the November 2020 elections. Though only united by their hatred of Trump, there are too many of them, they are powerful; extremely powerful, and they are very determined to get rid of him by any means possible, legal, illegal, using tactics like bribery, intimidation, threats, thuggery, and they have no one to fear because, collectively they have given each other impunity, covering each other’s backs and producing a culture where criticizing them is taboo. Crucially, the ‘law’ and the media are on their side.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">With the exception of the Clintons and Bidens perhaps, the other Democrats have their traditional political opposition to Trump, even when they see and know he is making good decisions. This is the golden rule of political duopoly. But the Clintons and the Bidens have personal dirt on them and even blood on their hands that they want to keep the lid on in order to avoid prosecution and possibly even jail. They are likely to remain united after a Trump loss, but the same cannot be said about other odd couples.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Most of the other November 2020 Biden supporters are destined to be on a collision course, and they will soon enough realize that their differences are much stronger than what united them and that they were taken for fools. None will be disappointed more than the so-called ‘Progressives’.</em></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The definition of the term progressive has morphed quite significantly over the last decade or so. Currently, it seems to include any one who stands up against Trump; and this is the primordial cause of the confusion and reason for future conflict between them. In reality, what defines the term ‘progressive’ in any existing progressive movement can be totally different from that of another movement; and the difference is not necessarily marginal. Being ‘progressive’ in the 21<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">st</span> Century implies the presence of a very specific agenda or slogan that may or may not be compatible with other ‘progressive’ agendas.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Take the Assange supporters for example. The moment they wake up from their deep slumber, they will realize that the man they supported to become President is actually the leader of the political party that has put Assange in jail for exposing his party’s dirt. I hope that Trump pulls the rug from underneath their feet and pardons Assange before the 20th of January 2021. But will this show the Assange supporters who is who? Not necessarily because if they wanted to open up their eyes and see, they would have seen from day one that Assange’s biggest enemy is none but Hillary Clinton and that she is the one responsible for his demise; not Trump.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But the Assange supporters did not play a major role in the elections; at least not directly, and at least not as much as their closest ‘progressives’; the peace activists.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The Democrats and their cohorts have portrayed Trump as a warmonger. When peace activists eventually see that Biden will have to serve his warlord masters and start new wars across the globe, they will have to think again. He is already touting hiring well known hawks in key positions in his forthcoming cabinet and team of advisors, with his <a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/12/01/retired-army-general-may-be-bidens-pick-defense-secretary.html" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">Defense Secretary</a> reportedly selected.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">When it comes to street power however, none has been more powerful and effective as the combination of BLM and the environmentalists.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">BLM activists have just fallen a tad short of blaming Trump for an American five-century long history of racism. But how much do BLM activists really care about Climate Change and specifically about Greta-type environmental vision of how the world should run? Moreover, most environmentalists, if not all of them, are anti-vaxxers. When they see that Biden is the trump card for the vaccine empire, they may wish they didn’t take to the streets to unseat the Trump card they had in the Whitehouse. If there is/was one person standing up against the malevolent “Gates vaccine”, it has to be Trump, and the single-issue anti-vaxxers are against Trump. Try to make sense of this.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This is not to forget and ignore that the Climate Change activists will soon find out, the hard way, that Biden will not come clean on the zero-emission promise; not only because he doesn’t want to, not only because he goes to bed with the petro-dollar lobby, but also because he does not have the alternative technology to replace fossil fuel with.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In and out and in between the BLM and Climate Change activists, what do the Climate Change activists have in common ideologically with BLM and at what stage will they break ranks and decide to go against one another? What will happen after either one of them accuses the other, rightfully I must say, that they have been used as pawns by the ‘Deep State’?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And who said that the BLM has more in common with the LBGTI community and activists than it does with the gun lobby? Sections of the BLM likely also love guns.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And speaking of Greta, for how much longer will she able to keep up the fallacy that her agenda and those of her friends Soros and the World Economic Forum (WEF), and its members that include Monsanto, are actually compatible?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And for the right or wrong reasons, who is to guarantee that the tens of millions of Trump supporters are going to sit and accept that the election win of Biden is legitimate and that they have to swallow it? Will this cause social strife, violence on the streets, even worse perhaps civil war and much more? We don’t know. What we do know is that a controversy about election results should have been dealt with in total transparency in order to put all concerns to rest. But this is not happening, and it is not going to happen because a decision has been made against Trump dictating that he must lose.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But the after-Trump-effect is not necessarily going to affect only America. Right-wing politics, including the extreme version of it, have been on the rise in the world, and especially in Western Europe. And if the Neo-Nazis look threatening because their ideology is based on a very dark chapter in human history, what do we really know is on the agenda of the forces that have combined the very diverse elements of the anti-Trump cocktail in order to serve its objective(s)? What is it really that they want?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Hitler was at least clear about his mission statement. He wanted an Aryan Third Reich to rule the world for a thousand years. The rest of the world did not have to wonder and ponder about his intentions. He sent a very clear message to rest of the world, a message clear enough to unite the West with the Bolsheviks against him.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But today, we have an invisible driving force that has managed to put together an array of the most unlikely partners in order to fight a common cause. Do we not at least ask the question ‘why?’</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In the case of Syria, the answer to the ‘why’ question was to topple Assad, albeit without having a plan that went further, at least as a united coalition. It would have been impossible for the plotters and planners to each disclose what they had in mind. In reality, they did not have any plan at all other than replacing him with a void. Fast-forward; the get-rid-of-Trump plan is very similar; get rid of him without having a plan so as to ensure all participants are pleased and appeased, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">because the plan seems to also be based on replacing Trump with chaos and anarchy</strong>.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The irony here is that the anti-Trump-cocktail is not only comprised of his political opponents, mainstream media, social media, but also includes government agencies such as the DOJ, the CIA, the FBI and even some American Republicans.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Briefly put, Trump has been chosen to lose, but after him, the flood is imminent. The current allies who lobbied against him will very shortly come to the realization that they are no longer united, and some will even turn into enemies fighting over the spoils of the win.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In more ways than one, they will harvest the fruit of the seeds they planted, and they will rightfully deserve all consequences. A Biden win is the most befitting ‘punishment’ of the anti-Trump cocktail.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Apart from the hapless American populace, the biggest loser of this all is the international stature of America as the leader of the so-called Democratic Free World. In a fitting blowback for these pernicious actors, Trump would have proven without a shadow of doubt, that the Deep State is so deep and powerful, powerful enough to mobilize its own enemies to serve it. At that point, to quote the rhetoric of the “Great Reset” agenda, but again, as blowback, things will never be the same again for these dangerous characters.</p></div><p>Also published on some other sites as below:<br /><a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/after-trump-flood" target="_blank">https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/after-trump-flood</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.dailyhandle.com/after-trump-the-flood/">https://www.dailyhandle.com/after-trump-the-flood/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://newlevellers.blogspot.com/2020/12/after-trump-flood.html">https://newlevellers.blogspot.com/2020/12/after-trump-flood.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://trulytimes.com/after-trump-the-flood.html">https://trulytimes.com/after-trump-the-flood.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://understandingdeeppolitics.org/after-trump-the-flood/">https://understandingdeeppolitics.org/after-trump-the-flood/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://rielpolitik.com/2020/12/13/68961/">https://rielpolitik.com/2020/12/13/68961/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://uprootedpalestinians.wordpress.com/2020/12/08/after-trump-the-flood/">After
Trump the flood: | UPROOTED PALESTINIANS: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM (wordpress.com)</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://dawsoncountyjournal.com/blog/2020/12/13/after-trump-the-flood/">https://dawsoncountyjournal.com/blog/2020/12/13/after-trump-the-flood/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://realverifiednews.com/after-trump-the-flood/">https://realverifiednews.com/after-trump-the-flood/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.colbynews.com/after-trump-the-flood/">https://www.colbynews.com/after-trump-the-flood/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://tradeforprofit.net/2020/12/after-trump-the-flood/">https://tradeforprofit.net/2020/12/after-trump-the-flood/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://finanz.dk/after-trump-the-flood/">https://finanz.dk/after-trump-the-flood/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://news.stknews.com/news?s=us&n=6947680">https://news.stknews.com/news?s=us&n=6947680</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://thedailycoin.org/2020/12/14/after-trump-the-flood/">https://thedailycoin.org/2020/12/14/after-trump-the-flood/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=%22By+Ghassan+and+Intibah+Kadi+Recording+a+Thousand%22&d=4842232165631440&mkt=en-AU&setlang=en-US&w=c3vKl3ZwzNiZ_hv1imIbF1mD2OM_YZYn">https://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=%22By+Ghassan+and+Intibah+Kadi+Recording+a+Thousand%22&d=4842232165631440&mkt=en-AU&setlang=en-US&w=c3vKl3ZwzNiZ_hv1imIbF1mD2OM_YZYn</a><o:p></o:p></p><br /><div class="post-title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">After Trump the flood:</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">23049 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">December 08, 2020</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="https://thesaker.is/after-trump-the-flood/#comments" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">67 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">by Ghassan and Intibah Kadi for the Saker Blog</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Whether there was indeed voter fraud and rigging, and I personally believe there was and at a huge scale, it seems that, by hook or by crook, Joe Biden will become the next President of the United States of America; and we should prepare ourselves for this, regardless of our political points of view and inclinations.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The presence of Biden in the Whitehouse will definitely change course on a number of issues, both domestically within the USA and overseas, but the objective of this article is to shed a bit of light on what is likely to happen to the current pro-Biden camp and the diverse array of supporters who have helped elevate him to this position.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In more ways than one, I have always seen in Syria a microcosm of world politics and conflicts. Long before the enemies of Syria decided to launch their attack in March 2011, the masterminds of the conspiracy put the most unlikely allies together, only united by their hatred of Syria. Back then I called them the ‘<a href="https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-anti-syrian-politics-by-ghassan.html" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">Anti-Syrian Cocktail’</a>. Those allies each had their own agenda regarding Syria and had nothing in common other than their desire to remove President Bashar Al-Assad from office. Among the issues they disagreed on was his replacement, how to share the spoils, not to mention the alternative political system to install, Syria’s future position in the region, international alliances, and so forth.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">With a whole array of enemies, Trump inadvertently caused a rounding up of a very loosely-united anti-Trump-cocktail; only united by their hatred of him. So, let’s face it and acknowledge it; they will never let him win the November 2020 elections. Though only united by their hatred of Trump, there are too many of them, they are powerful; extremely powerful, and they are very determined to get rid of him by any means possible, legal, illegal, using tactics like bribery, intimidation, threats, thuggery, and they have no one to fear because, collectively they have given each other impunity, covering each other’s backs and producing a culture where criticizing them is taboo. Crucially, the ‘law’ and the media are on their side.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">With the exception of the Clintons and Bidens perhaps, the other Democrats have their traditional political opposition to Trump, even when they see and know he is making good decisions. This is the golden rule of political duopoly. But the Clintons and the Bidens have personal dirt on them and even blood on their hands that they want to keep the lid on in order to avoid prosecution and possibly even jail. They are likely to remain united after a Trump loss, but the same cannot be said about other odd couples.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Most of the other November 2020 Biden supporters are destined to be on a collision course, and they will soon enough realize that their differences are much stronger than what united them and that they were taken for fools. None will be disappointed more than the so-called ‘Progressives’.</em></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The definition of the term progressive has morphed quite significantly over the last decade or so. Currently, it seems to include any one who stands up against Trump; and this is the primordial cause of the confusion and reason for future conflict between them. In reality, what defines the term ‘progressive’ in any existing progressive movement can be totally different from that of another movement; and the difference is not necessarily marginal. Being ‘progressive’ in the 21<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">st</span> Century implies the presence of a very specific agenda or slogan that may or may not be compatible with other ‘progressive’ agendas.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Take the Assange supporters for example. The moment they wake up from their deep slumber, they will realize that the man they supported to become President is actually the leader of the political party that has put Assange in jail for exposing his party’s dirt. I hope that Trump pulls the rug from underneath their feet and pardons Assange before the 20th of January 2021. But will this show the Assange supporters who is who? Not necessarily because if they wanted to open up their eyes and see, they would have seen from day one that Assange’s biggest enemy is none but Hillary Clinton and that she is the one responsible for his demise; not Trump.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But the Assange supporters did not play a major role in the elections; at least not directly, and at least not as much as their closest ‘progressives’; the peace activists.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The Democrats and their cohorts have portrayed Trump as a warmonger. When peace activists eventually see that Biden will have to serve his warlord masters and start new wars across the globe, they will have to think again. He is already touting hiring well known hawks in key positions in his forthcoming cabinet and team of advisors, with his <a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/12/01/retired-army-general-may-be-bidens-pick-defense-secretary.html" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">Defense Secretary</a> reportedly selected.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">When it comes to street power however, none has been more powerful and effective as the combination of BLM and the environmentalists.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">BLM activists have just fallen a tad short of blaming Trump for an American five-century long history of racism. But how much do BLM activists really care about Climate Change and specifically about Greta-type environmental vision of how the world should run? Moreover, most environmentalists, if not all of them, are anti-vaxxers. When they see that Biden is the trump card for the vaccine empire, they may wish they didn’t take to the streets to unseat the Trump card they had in the Whitehouse. If there is/was one person standing up against the malevolent “Gates vaccine”, it has to be Trump, and the single-issue anti-vaxxers are against Trump. Try to make sense of this.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This is not to forget and ignore that the Climate Change activists will soon find out, the hard way, that Biden will not come clean on the zero-emission promise; not only because he doesn’t want to, not only because he goes to bed with the petro-dollar lobby, but also because he does not have the alternative technology to replace fossil fuel with.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In and out and in between the BLM and Climate Change activists, what do the Climate Change activists have in common ideologically with BLM and at what stage will they break ranks and decide to go against one another? What will happen after either one of them accuses the other, rightfully I must say, that they have been used as pawns by the ‘Deep State’?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And who said that the BLM has more in common with the LBGTI community and activists than it does with the gun lobby? Sections of the BLM likely also love guns.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And speaking of Greta, for how much longer will she able to keep up the fallacy that her agenda and those of her friends Soros and the World Economic Forum (WEF), and its members that include Monsanto, are actually compatible?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And for the right or wrong reasons, who is to guarantee that the tens of millions of Trump supporters are going to sit and accept that the election win of Biden is legitimate and that they have to swallow it? Will this cause social strife, violence on the streets, even worse perhaps civil war and much more? We don’t know. What we do know is that a controversy about election results should have been dealt with in total transparency in order to put all concerns to rest. But this is not happening, and it is not going to happen because a decision has been made against Trump dictating that he must lose.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But the after-Trump-effect is not necessarily going to affect only America. Right-wing politics, including the extreme version of it, have been on the rise in the world, and especially in Western Europe. And if the Neo-Nazis look threatening because their ideology is based on a very dark chapter in human history, what do we really know is on the agenda of the forces that have combined the very diverse elements of the anti-Trump cocktail in order to serve its objective(s)? What is it really that they want?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Hitler was at least clear about his mission statement. He wanted an Aryan Third Reich to rule the world for a thousand years. The rest of the world did not have to wonder and ponder about his intentions. He sent a very clear message to rest of the world, a message clear enough to unite the West with the Bolsheviks against him.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But today, we have an invisible driving force that has managed to put together an array of the most unlikely partners in order to fight a common cause. Do we not at least ask the question ‘why?’</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In the case of Syria, the answer to the ‘why’ question was to topple Assad, albeit without having a plan that went further, at least as a united coalition. It would have been impossible for the plotters and planners to each disclose what they had in mind. In reality, they did not have any plan at all other than replacing him with a void. Fast-forward; the get-rid-of-Trump plan is very similar; get rid of him without having a plan so as to ensure all participants are pleased and appeased, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">because the plan seems to also be based on replacing Trump with chaos and anarchy</strong>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The irony here is that the anti-Trump-cocktail is not only comprised of his political opponents, mainstream media, social media, but also includes government agencies such as the DOJ, the CIA, the FBI and even some American Republicans.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Briefly put, Trump has been chosen to lose, but after him, the flood is imminent. The current allies who lobbied against him will very shortly come to the realization that they are no longer united, and some will even turn into enemies fighting over the spoils of the win.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In more ways than one, they will harvest the fruit of the seeds they planted, and they will rightfully deserve all consequences. A Biden win is the most befitting ‘punishment’ of the anti-Trump cocktail.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Apart from the hapless American populace, the biggest loser of this all is the international stature of America as the leader of the so-called Democratic Free World. In a fitting blowback for these pernicious actors, Trump would have proven without a shadow of doubt, that the Deep State is so deep and powerful, powerful enough to mobilize its own enemies to serve it. At that point, to quote the rhetoric of the “Great Reset” agenda, but again, as blowback, things will never be the same again for these dangerous characters.</p></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkDvCsRasuOd0265rOttRlBEM75-IHEAIdd2zprewvElEl5fBRm2q62hFqcq6rkQqbW3InNr2T-Pr_tdOYpGtBPGPbU-XdVGL0RyVsz9tdYwlnRjhamOqUqsrtCx6cmHhJXflYQdWnSslt/s2048/Flood+.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1301" data-original-width="2048" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkDvCsRasuOd0265rOttRlBEM75-IHEAIdd2zprewvElEl5fBRm2q62hFqcq6rkQqbW3InNr2T-Pr_tdOYpGtBPGPbU-XdVGL0RyVsz9tdYwlnRjhamOqUqsrtCx6cmHhJXflYQdWnSslt/w400-h254/Flood+.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-34976759927869424612020-11-24T11:19:00.004+02:002023-02-18T03:52:03.182+03:00THE GREAT RESET: No pasaran By Ghassan and Intibah Kadi 24 November 2020<p>THE GREAT RESET: No pasaran By Ghassan and Intibah Kadi 24 November 2020</p><p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">A
must read, as we are at one minute to midnight with this.</span><br />
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<!--[endif]--></span></p><p><a href="http://thesaker.is/the-great-reset-no-pasaran/"> <span face="Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #f1f0f0; cursor: pointer; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://thesaker.is/the-great-reset-no-pasaran/</span></span></a></p><div class="post-title" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">The Great Reset; ‘No pasarán’</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">22354 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">November 24, 2020</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="https://thesaker.is/the-great-reset-no-pasaran/#comments" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; text-decoration-line: none !important; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">39 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">by Ghassan and Intibah Kadi for the Saker Blog</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The revolving results and aspirations of having a clear outcome of the American Presidential elections are bringing many related issues to the surface. Perhaps none bigger than the heightened call by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for a ‘Great Reset’.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The mission of the WEF, stated beneath its logo reads that it is: ‘Committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas’.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This is a vague mission statement that is riddled with logical and philosophical flaws.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What does ‘improving the state of the world’ exactly mean? There are many issues in the world that can be improved, and not all of them are based on economics for an economic forum to attempt to improve. Consider freedom of speech for example, freedom of information, the abuse of information in the form of mis-information and dis-information, just to name one example. Have we not seen that this very aspect has reached unprecedented heights in the American elections?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">When the WEF invited Greta Thunberg to attend the January 2020 meeting, not only did it endorse her concept of climate change, but it also advertently ignored the counter-theory which is actually supported by many climatologists and scientists in other related areas. So how can the state of the world be improved if science is hushed up and theories are accepted for fact without proof?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">By way of its mission statement and putting it into practice therefore, the WEF does not seem to take much notice of the importance of correct information and, on the contrary, works against it. Is this improvement of the world or moving it backwards towards the dark ages?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And talking about Greta, according to the mission statement, she ‘qualified’ to participate and be engaged even though she is not a leader in either business, politics or academia. She must then, by definition, be considered by the WEF as a ‘leader of society’. But even if we assume that she is a leader in this capacity, realistically what kind of input can she make in reaching and implementing realistic recommendations in order to improve the world? Was she only invited to mesmerize and recruit the youth?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But Greta is not the only oddity. Guess who else was there in January 2020? George Soros. Actually, Soros has been a repeat contributor.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Soros is definitely a huge business person and I have no problem with him fitting the qualification criteria. But isn’t Mr. Soros one of the main reasons behind many of the problems and issues facing humanity and which the WEF proclaims the desire to improve?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">How can one invite the butcher to the ‘Save the Sheep’ forum?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This brings in the issue of morality.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Who gave the WEF the moral mandate to decide what is good and bad for the rest of the world? This again takes us back to the flaws of the mission statement. The statement does not make any mention of morality and/or the engagement of renowned ethicists in the membership panel.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Whilst many may have some reservations about Mandela, he was nonetheless an ethicist and a moralist over and above being a political and community leader. He was once invited and he gave an address to the 1992 WEF forum in Davos. But people of the caliber of Mandela, and they are far and few between, should be more than just occasional guests. They should be on a permanent panel of elders who inform and advise policy and legislation action based on moral value. Will the world be able to find enough ‘perfect’ humans to empanel and assign such a huge task to? Certainly not. No one is perfect, but a group of wise elders is certainly more trustworthy than a pact of globalists.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The WEF can amend its mission statement and come clean and admit that it is comprised of the elites who are the actual reason behind the world problems and not the ones to offer solutions. To be able to be truthful to its mission statement however, it must not base its criteria and recommendations on economics and economics only.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">We have taken recent interest in the WEF because the term <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/?fbclid=IwAR1jQO1l6S4ZM7PEe21QiPLa7Espjlm2uh33ovefznJdK-MRZcO1KYzQA1E" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">‘Great Reset’</a> [1] has jumped up from almost nowhere, <a href="https://www.rt.com/news/506887-trudeau-great-reset-conspiracy-reveal/" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">suddenly</a> [2] becoming almost everyone’s mantra. It took us a while to realize that the term actually refers to a new book by the name of ‘COVID-19 The Great Reset’ written by none other than Dr. Klaus Schwab, the 82 y/o founder and ongoing CEO of the WEF ever since its inception in 1971. The above WEF link includes toward the end of the document an interesting diagram which summarizes the Great Reset plan, titled “<a href="https://intelligence.weforum.org/topics/a1G0X000006OLciUAG?tab=publications" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">The Great Reset Transformation Map”.</a> [3]</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And what is exactly the position of Dr. Schwab? How can he take the wiser-than-thou stand and proclaim to be the saviour of the world? Under which mandate is he allowed to tell governments, people, all people of all nations, cultures, religions and political views to follow his vision of how to create a better new world?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">A most eloquent, smooth speaker, but it doesn’t take much probing to see that Schwab is at best either a megalomaniac or a fool, but he definitely displays archetypal symptoms of megalomania, and in a very dangerous attire. When Mao declared his short-sighted Cultural Revolution, he was seen in the West as a new Hitler. But ironically the same West sees Schwab as a saviour.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Don’t listen to these words, hear him speak about what he calls the ‘fourth industrial revolution’. He claims that the steam engine heralded the first revolution, mass production the second, and computers the third. And now, according to him, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">the fourth industrial revolution is about ‘a fusion of our physical, digital and biological identities’</em></strong> This is an <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=CVIy3rjuKGY." style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">hour-long video,</a> [4] and if readers cannot listen to it all, they can find those exact words at the 15m:45s mark. And what is our ‘digital identity’ by the way?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Actually, he is perhaps neither a megalomaniac nor a fool, but a freak, the kind of villain that jumps straight out of Batman comics. Alongside the Penguin and the Joker, Schwab should be locked up behind bars, dressed in a straight jacket and pumped to the hilt with antipsychotic drugs, but he is not. He has appointed himself as an advisor to global political leaders, and those buffoons take him seriously.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The man has not been elected by anyone, he does not represent anyone, he seems to not have consulted with anyone elected to speak on behalf of citizens. If this is not what defines a dictator, what does? The WEF is actually his own lovechild, and its name gives it a guise of legitimacy, but it is in fact an NGO just like any other. It neither has any official structure nor the power to generate binding policies. And Soros is not the only shady dude ever invited to speak at the forum.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Schwab is the person who invites whom he chooses. Over the years, the guest list included movie stars and rock stars, but the ‘permanent’ members are CEO’s of big business with turnovers in the billions. We are only talking about some <a href="https://www.weforum.org/about/our-partners" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">1000 “leading” companies</a> [5] among millions worldwide who are given a “platform”. They are the biggest pollutants and profiteering culprits on the face of the planet. They are also the biggest benefactors; they donate millions of dollars annually to support the WEF.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Other members include the Saudi royals, the Ford Foundation, Mastercard Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, Monsanto, just to name a few. One would have to have rocks in his/her head to even imagine that those people and the globalist entities they represent get together in order to discuss how to make the world a better place for the underprivileged. He/she would have to be delusional to believe that those rascals convene for any reason other than bolstering their grab-hold of global wealth and monopoly of power.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This is not to mention the irony of Monsanto and Greta being on the same forum.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">If anything, the WEF is the biggest known organization that is comprised of the elite of the elite, the culprits behind the inequity and injustice in this world. It is perhaps the biggest wolf in sheep’s clothing on the prowl.</em></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But how will the ordinary man and woman on the street respond to the concept of being part human part machine? And what is more frightening here is; how seriously are world leaders going to take Schwab’s recommendations and how will they implement them in democratic countries in which changes much smaller than what he is recommending require referendums? Furthermore, what will be the ‘fate’ of individuals and nations that do not heed and comply with his directives? Will they be sanctioned? Will non-compliant individuals be able to find jobs or keep existing ones? Will non-compliant nations face trade sanctions?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Many ideologies have come and gone, but none in recent times, since the various versions of Marxism, including Maoism, tried to portray itself in a manner that attempts to sound rational and pragmatic. We must exclude religions here, because religions are based on faith, they are spiritual beliefs, and they are not only and specifically based on and aimed for social reform. But this ‘Great Reset’ theory is very different from any of its predecessors. On the surface, it is based on living frugally in order to protect the environment and generate greater social justice [6], and this does not sound like a bad idea. But at a deeper level, it is a call for thought policing and control of individuals and robbing them of their choices; including their own identity.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Did pre-COVID humanity go wrong to the extent that it needed a great reset?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Well, we only have to look at the trajectory of humanity to realize that it was (still is in fact) unsustainable. All we need to look at is one major aspect; population growth. We simply cannot expect the trend in population growth to go unchecked especially when coupled with increases in affluence and higher standards of living in some countries. If anything, that trend has been generating a huge growing gap between the haves and the have-nots. But even with this knowledge, humanity did not flinch at the news and images of wide-spread famines and literally thousands dying on a daily basis because of their inability to find food; all the while the ‘other half’ is dying from being overweight and overfed.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Whilst some evil-minded people think that the practical way out of this dilemma can be achieved by implementing different modes of eugenics, the voices of compassion have become less audible, and at best, ignored even muted.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Did the pre-COVID world need a reset? Definitely. Many of its founding determinants have been based on injustice, shortsightedness, divisiveness, lack of good old values, the inability of being sustainable; just to name a few.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">When millions cannot find food to eat and clean water to drink yet others fly half the way across the world to attend a baby shower, something must be amiss and a reset is way overdue.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But what is it that the vision of the WEF and its <a id="post-50871-_Hlk57008121" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"></a>‘Bible’ (COVID-19 The Great Reset) have to offer in order to provide the world and future generations with a brighter new direction?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It doesn’t take long to see that within the WEF “Great Reset” <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/?fbclid=IwAR1jQO1l6S4ZM7PEe21QiPLa7Espjlm2uh33ovefznJdK-MRZcO1KYzQA1E" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">article</a> [7] there are clear indications that what it is attempting to do is to create more compliant robotic individuals and draw the world and its population deeper into the abyss.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The WEF “Great Reset” article is carefully written and worded in a manner that by the time the reader builds a huge deal of trust in the writer, trust in his intentions, and eventually reaches the recommendations, he/she finds that there is no reason, none at all, to disagree with any of its recommendations. If you examine the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/?fbclid=IwAR1jQO1l6S4ZM7PEe21QiPLa7Espjlm2uh33ovefznJdK-MRZcO1KYzQA1E" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">diagram</a> [8] in the article titled “The Great Reset Transformation Map”, you will find it is very telling.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Even a quick analysis of the WEF principles and modus operandi shows that the whole ethos is based on individuals and companies the practices of whom have led the world to the current state of loss and despair and entrapment that it is in. Certainly, the cause cannot be the cure; not in this instance.</em></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The paper is a blatant endorsement of the Neo-Left, its agendas and attempts to break down cultural values that glue society together, and turn the world into an obedient slave camp.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Apart from the frightening Schwab’s definition of the fourth industrial revolution, the actual recommendations for the ‘Great Reset’ are quite alarming and unsettling to say the least. It promotes digital currency. How does this restore hope in this new world? This is not to mention encouraging the use of robots, drones, and exponentially increasing reliance on technology instead of aspiring to reinstate the good old values of morality that have worked for millennia.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The words morality, honesty, care, compassion, kindness, happiness, courage, generosity, charity etc., are not mentioned even once in the document; not even a single one of them. Why, one may ask? What is it that drones can do to save humanity from an impending disaster that none of the above innate human values can?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Actually, when it comes to human values, Schwab shamelessly argues that as in the future there will be less cooperation based on shared values with an increasingly multipolar world emerging, relationships will have to be based on shared interests; not values (<a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=CVIy3rjuKGY." style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">see at 40:00 min</a>)[9]. For him not to believe in the goodness within humanity, he surely must have deeply-founded psychological disorders. We should pity him, but not if he wants to dictate to us how to lead our lives.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What is more concerning about the man is that he asks, almost demands, that all that he proposes must be implemented now and without any further delay, because he argues that the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/?fbclid=IwAR0mopYBCzLzdhyVdkl9f8dAqueTw6IQjLhsxhKCWt4XmUPPiUbqyvnyOmU" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">COVID crisis</a> [10] is giving humanity an opportunity that must not be missed. During a recent visit to India, it was reported that Schwab has said that the country now has the opportunity in <a href="https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/general-news/schwab-hails-indias-policy-in-covid-19-fight-says-has-potential-to-shape-global-agenda.html" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">leapfrogging</a> [11] to a more digital and sustainable economy.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">If we want to be cynics, which we are, we would conclude that those who design and run the WEF do not only sleep in the same bed as those who have destroyed the world, THEY ARE the ones who destroyed it, and yet have the audacity to say they are trying to save it. Unfortunately many follow them and take them at face value.</em></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The great reset humanity really needs is one that takes it back to its roots, its values that include freedom of choice and expression. It needs a reboot, not just a reset, and definitely not the reset that is pre-set by maniacal dictators who wish to create implantable <a href="https://summit.news/2020/11/16/klaus-schwab-great-reset-will-lead-to-a-fusion-of-our-physical-digital-and-biological-identity/?fbclid=IwAR2IU4eIRZsXgplVnFHifWLY7fs5i-9uwCDRnqqt_vnNZPLICmL3Gk6LYvk" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">microchips</a> that can read one’s mind<a id="post-50871-_Hlk56971073" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"></a>. [12]</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">To the likes of Dr. Schwab, the world population must rise, even against their leaders if they must, and together chant ‘no pasarán’</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> </p><ol style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a id="post-50871-_Hlk57023672" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"></a>“Now is the time for a great reset”; Klaus Schwab, 3 June 2020, World Economic Forum; <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/?fbclid=IwAR1jQO1l6S4ZM7PEe21QiPLa7Espjlm2uh33ovefznJdK-MRZcO1KYzQA1E" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/?fbclid=IwAR1jQO1l6S4ZM7PEe21QiPLa7Espjlm2uh33ovefznJdK-MRZcO1KYzQA1E</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">‘Great Reset’ trends on Twitter after Trudeau speech on Covid-19 hints it’s not just a ‘conspiracy theory’, 16 Novemner 2020, RT. <a href="https://www.rt.com/news/506887-trudeau-great-reset-conspiracy-reveal/" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">https://www.rt.com/news/506887-trudeau-great-reset-conspiracy-reveal/</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Great Reset Transformation Map<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><a href="https://intelligence.weforum.org/topics/a1G0X000006OLciUAG?tab=publications" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">https://intelligence.weforum.org/topics/a1G0X000006OLciUAG?tab=publications</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">“World Economic Forum Founder Klaus Schwab on the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Streamed live on 13 May 2019 at Chicago Council on Global Affairs.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=CVIy3rjuKGY" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=CVIy3rjuKGY</a>.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Our Partners” World Economic Forum <a href="https://www.weforum.org/about/our-partners" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">https://www.weforum.org/about/our-partners</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Searching through WEF site and speeches many references exist regarding living more simply to save the environment and the word “redistribution” often is associated with this. Further research is required by the interested reader to determine whether this implies a redistribution of wealth and what exactly that entails.. <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/10/can-redistributing-wealth-also-be-good-for-growth/" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/10/can-redistributing-wealth-also-be-good-for-growth/</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Of the WEF, Ken Moelis, Founder and CEO of Moelis & Co. told the Wall Street Journal’s Matt Murray.“ “Davos would do better thinking of growth, rather than redistribution,” (toward the end of video)<a href="https://www.wsj.com/video/moelis-davos-should-focus-on-growth-not-wealth-redistribution/C3EC8119-09F4-4CBE-909E-8D59CED4D321.html" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"> https://www.wsj.com/video/moelis-davos-should-focus-on-growth-not-wealth-redistribution/C3EC8119-09F4-4CBE-909E-8D59CED4D321.html</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Now is the time for a great reset”; Klaus Schwab, 3 June 2020, World Economic Forum; <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/?fbclid=IwAR1jQO1l6S4ZM7PEe21QiPLa7Espjlm2uh33ovefznJdK-MRZcO1KYzQA1E" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/?fbclid=IwAR1jQO1l6S4ZM7PEe21QiPLa7Espjlm2uh33ovefznJdK-MRZcO1KYzQA1E</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Schwab, 3 June 2020, Ibid.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Schwab, 13 May 2019, Chicago Council on Global Affairs 40:00 min</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Schwab, 3 June 2020, Ibid.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Schwab Hails India’s Policy In COVID-19 Fight; Says ‘has Potential To Shape Global Agenda’, 25 October 2020, Brigitte Fernandes, RREPUBLICWORLD.com <a href="https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/general-news/schwab-hails-indias-policy-in-covid-19-fight-says-has-potential-to-shape-global-agenda.html" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/general-news/schwab-hails-indias-policy-in-covid-19-fight-says-has-potential-to-shape-global-agenda.html</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Klaus Schwab: Great Reset Will “Lead to a Fusion of Our Physical, Digital and Biological Identity”, 16 November 202, Joseph Paul Watson, <a href="https://summit.news/2020/11/16/klaus-schwab-great-reset-will-lead-to-a-fusion-of-our-physical-digital-and-biological-identity/?fbclid=IwAR2IU4eIRZsXgplVnFHifWLY7fs5i-9uwCDRnqqt_vnNZPLICmL3Gk6LYvk" style="background: transparent; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(214, 34, 36) !important; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">https://summit.news/2020/11/16/klaus-schwab-great-reset-will-lead-to-a-fusion-of-our-physical-digital-and-biological-identity/?fbclid=IwAR2IU4eIRZsXgplVnFHifWLY7fs5i-9uwCDRnqqt_vnNZPLICmL3Gk6LYvk</a></li></ol></div><div class="book-ads clearfix" style="background-color: white; border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 48px 0px; padding: 24px 0px;"><div id="book4" style="border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 359.15px;"></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhrWfgUhUk-5RoeGpQ5uaQDjq7rPYz5oIW965g72a72mFQcMS_H5oPcER4Gr-4c72hV5ZfFBATksJe9vPdxOTjQ2WTOFvXQr45Wo4rggZbqQakBhl6xRUpvgpDGfNbVJ72dAUrOspr-6F1/s1298/Tidal+Wave.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="1298" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhrWfgUhUk-5RoeGpQ5uaQDjq7rPYz5oIW965g72a72mFQcMS_H5oPcER4Gr-4c72hV5ZfFBATksJe9vPdxOTjQ2WTOFvXQr45Wo4rggZbqQakBhl6xRUpvgpDGfNbVJ72dAUrOspr-6F1/w400-h225/Tidal+Wave.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-61226950975623558372020-11-23T01:11:00.003+02:002023-02-18T03:52:48.944+03:00THE FASCIST NEO-LEFT AND THE TRUMP FACTOR By Ghassan Kadi 21 November 2020<p> </p><h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Roboto Slab, serif;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Fascist neo-left and the Trump Factor.</span></span></h1><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDp-kg-xGKuhXCplhoAw_dPqP4LT3C8WfeTZlCvZo8T6ntuwMRl3yxsv4dhcWbPN_suToM4qvGRDeixSxxpTLCkuLRTEdmKjUQtKDcOIOpTU25_mxImAS5w-jN0MNWVmBWRCDLM9tWb4f/s159/OIP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="155" data-original-width="159" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDp-kg-xGKuhXCplhoAw_dPqP4LT3C8WfeTZlCvZo8T6ntuwMRl3yxsv4dhcWbPN_suToM4qvGRDeixSxxpTLCkuLRTEdmKjUQtKDcOIOpTU25_mxImAS5w-jN0MNWVmBWRCDLM9tWb4f/w280-h273/OIP.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;"><br /><a href="http://thesaker.is/the-fascist-neo-left-and-the-trump-factor/">http://thesaker.is/the-fascist-neo-left-and-the-trump-factor/</a><br /></h1><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">The Fascist neo-left and the Trump Factor</h1><h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;"><div class="post-title" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div class="entry-meta" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">15316 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">November 21, 2020</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="https://thesaker.is/the-fascist-neo-left-and-the-trump-factor/#comments" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; text-decoration-line: none !important; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">48 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">by Ghassan Kadi for the Saker Blog</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Nearly three weeks after the American elections, Americans and the world in general, are still none-the-wiser; not knowing who really won and if the votes have all been legitimate or otherwise.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And the man who is supposedly trying to make America respectable again, yes, Joe Biden, started his ‘tenure’ ironically by presenting his own disrespect by breaking the law and declaring himself as ‘president elect’ and establishing an illegal entity in the name of the ‘Office of President-Elect’.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">There are serious accusations that allege that dead people have voted, that boxes of late illegal ballots (all voting for Biden) suddenly appeared from no-where, that the Dominion machines have been deliberately rigged in a manner that favoured Biden, that ballot observers from the Trump camp were not allowed to scrutineer, and much more.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Whilst all of the above points are considered allegations from the legal point of view, the Democrat camp should not be concerned at all if it has nothing to hide. If anything, if it is serious about restoring America’s respect in the eyes of the world, it should encourage transparency and investigations that prove without a single speck of doubt that they are all false. But that same camp that refused the legitimate results of a Trump win four years ago and then fabricated stories like Russiagate and others, is now urging the whole world to believe that the alleged Biden win is legitimate and that there was no interference.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Apart from allegations, what each of us knows for fact is that the media, especially social media, especially Facebook and Twitter have been instrumental in restricting and censoring posts and comments that favour Trump. At the same time, they implemented a blackout relating to the serious allegations of corruption about Biden and his family. If this is not interference in the election results, then what is?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Given the reach and power of social media, and given that most people are not interested in fact-finding, Facebook and Twitter have been engaged in a deliberate campaign of choosing what they allowed to be published and preventing others based only and only on their political views vis-à-vis the American elections.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Once the dust settles one way or the other, if there is any justice left in this world, social media personnel who have forged and implemented those policies must face trial.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What is most ironic about this whole new world that is everything but brave, is that the filthy rich and corrupt are cloaking themselves with the attire of the Left. There is really nothing left of the original Left in today’s Left.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Many, if not most of today’s ”Lefties” are inclined towards the current version of the political Left without really discerning that much has changed since the days of Castro and Guevara.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Today’s Left does not represent the working class.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Today’s Left is not concerned with achieving social justice.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Today’s Left is not concerned with ending capitalism and feudalism.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Today’s Neo-Left, is the consortium of globalists who own sweat shops in developing countries. They are the war-mongers, the arms dealers, the foot soldiers of thought police and they insist that your six-year-old children and grandchildren must learn about subjects like gender fluidity instead of learning history.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The devolution of the former political Left has been taking place for at least three decades, since the collapse of the USSR perhaps and the emergence of the so-called ‘New World Order’. But the 2016 Trump election has fast-tracked the process. George Soros who has an axe to grind with Communism became overnight the principle benefactor of most post-USSR Left movements. For better or for worse, it was as if he wanted to make sure that he contained the Left in a manner that deviates it from its original ideology. But he is not alone, and he is probably not doing this only and only because of political conviction. His ‘bigger’ partners, whether he is aware of their presence or not, have got a much bigger fish to fry; the fish of global control.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But is globalism what it appears to mean or is it a new form of hegemony? Let us not get into this herein. This will be the subject of the next article. Enough to say that what seems to surface from the actions and agendas of globalists is that they are adamant about destroying Western values; including democracy.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">When my wife and I were in Russia on the 70<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span> Anniversary of Victory over Nazi Germany, we were in total awe watching the Eternal Regiment on Nevski Prospect in St. Petersburg. Men and women proudly, silently and dignifiedly marching carrying photos of family members who perished fighting the Nazi malice. What was most amazing was seeing young boys and girls giving flowers to the elderly as a mark of respect. This is because students in Russia study history. The young generations must never take for granted the privileges they have. If they do not understand and respect the sacrifices of their forebears, they will never be able to realize what their own obligations are for today and the future. Many Americans do not know what the 4<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span> of July stands for any more than they know how many States there are in the Union. Children growing up in the West have no idea, no idea at all, how and why they live in affluent countries with public services and government-financed welfare.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And when the million man/woman march was over many hours after it started, we could not see a single empty drink can dumped on the street, not even cigarette butts. And then we remembered that a few days earlier when we were in Moscow admiring among other things, the subway/metro stations, we did not witness any evidence of vandalism or graffiti either on the carriages or in the stations.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">A far cry from what we see in the West, because to be proud of who one is has become taboo in the West; courtesy the neo-Left and their henchmen.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Personally, I used to feel concerned of what the armed Right-wing Evangelicals might do if they have it their way. But despite their heavy public display of weapons, I didn’t see any evidence to show that they have taken to the streets for the purpose destroying shops and looting. In saying this, and I am not saying that the pro-Trump militias are incapable of perpetrating organized violence, but recently thus far they haven’t. If anything, with all the BLM-associated violence and the attacks Trump supporters have recently faced, the armed conservatives have thus far displayed a huge degree of self-control and abidance by the rules of the law. They argue that their presence is to protect private and public property, and evidence seems to stack up in their favour.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">On the other hand, and despite the bias of mainstream media, videos have emerged showing BLM supporters not only looting, but also terrorizing those who disagree with them and refuse to put their fist up in show of support.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Today’s Neo-Left activists are the ones using Nazi tactics; not the other way around. They are the controlled opposition and the foot soldiers of the thought-police; and these are undeniable facts. If anything, the Trump factor has enhanced their exposure.</em></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">And if you resurrect Guevara and catapult him into today’s political world without giving him a crash refresher course, he would not know which side of the political divide is which. If anything, he may think that it is the other way around</em></strong>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In the event of a Biden win that Trump’s supporters may see as unfair, they may be driven to become violent, I don’t know. What I do know is that I have seen serious and concerning rowdy violent behaviour from the Left that makes me now feel that I am more fearful of organizations such as Extinction Rebellion than I am from the armed Evangelicals.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">When the late and great Martin Luther King Jr. made his historic ‘I have a dream’ speech, he did not dream of a day when angry mobs would use the excuse of human rights in order to loot and pillage, gang attack supporters of their political opponents, and break the law and Constitution.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And when John Lennon sang ‘Give Peace a Chance’ and ‘Imagine’, he was hoping that one day political leaders would take heed and start putting their hearts before what they can achieve militarily.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Among other things, the thing with Trump is that he is/was not a politician. What drove him from being a profiteering tycoon to a man who wants to end American wars in the world is not something I can explain or understand. Clearly though, even if he is merely running America as a corporation, he must realize that it is not in America’s interests to be constantly engaged in expensive wars that do not have any benefit for America itself. If this is pragmatism from a profit-and-loss business perspective, then I don’t have any problems with this. I want to see American troops pulling out of conflict regions in the world. They have no business in Japan, South Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq and my beloved Syria to name a few places.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The thing about Trump is that he is not even a typical die-hard Republican. The archetypal Republicans are not a bunch of ‘nice guys’ either. How can anyone forget the legacy of the GOP? How can we forget George W Bush’s war on Iraq and his lies about the alleged Iraqi WMD’s? And what about his gang of infamous neo-cons; Perle, and Wolfowitz; not to forget Cheney, McCain, and many more from the gung-ho Republican Right that invaded both Afghanistan and Iraq, killed at least a million civilians and only ended up creating more problems than the ones they claimed they needed to resolve?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Whether Trump wins or loses the legal battle against what looks like a huge body of evidence of electoral fraud at different levels, between now and January the 20<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span> 2021, unlike what the social media brainwashers want people to think and believe, he is not a ‘presidential candidate’, he remains to be the President of the United States of America and he remains to be the Commander in Chief.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">To this effect, in as much as the POTUS is domestically building up a huge legal case against the alleged win of Biden, he equally seems to be preparing for the worst-case scenario on international matters. He is working on the contingencies of losing by seemingly making serious efforts into ending wars and the presence of American troops overseas. May he be successful doing this if he is true to his word.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But Mr. President, if you really want to clean up the slate as much as possible in case you lose the legal battle against the corrupt who serve the Deep State, you must then remember that partial withdrawals do not end wars. A drawdown is not a withdrawal. Stand by your promise and let history festoon you as the man who ended all of America’s wars overseas. For even if you leave one soldier, yes Mr. President, one single American soldier on the soil of Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, or any other place on earth where his presence is not legitimately requested by the people of that land, then you will be remembered in history as the man who faked withdrawals of American troops; and you despise fake actions Mr. President, don’t you?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Last but not least Mr. President, you must at least stop the oil theft from Syria, repeal the Caesar Act, and pardon Assange.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Assange Mr. President is the victim of your enemies. His ‘crime’ was to expose the dirty works of Hillary. How can you not drop all charges against him?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">And Mr. President, should you win the legal battle and prove that your opponents have cheated the public, you MUST then clean up the swamp with an iron fist and a high pressure hose. Zuckerberg, the Clintons, the Bidens, CNN, as well as officials that helped fabricate stories about you. The whole gamut of filthy lying manipulators must face justice and the next four years will be a case of now or never.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The electoral issues are something for the American legal system to decide; provided that the system continues to have the power to reach a decision that is lawful and not dictated by the party machine of the Democrats, their cohorts and henchmen with Facebook, Twitter and Google being on the top of the list.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Martin Luther King Jr. would now be saying I’m having a nightmare, I am having a nightmare because in the name of social justice, in my name, protestors are attacked, shops are looted and elections are getting rigged.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The failings of the Neo-Left do not mean that the neo-Right, Trumpism, is always or even necessarily sometimes right by default. What is pertinent is that the choice between the former and traditional Right and Left has now morphed into a choice of discerning right from wrong, and it is the Neo-Left activists who are behaving like Fascists, courtesy the Trump factor.</p><div class="book-ads clearfix" style="border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; margin: 48px 0px; padding: 24px 0px;"><div id="book4" style="border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 359.15px;"></div></div></div><br /><br /></h1><div><br /></div>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-1801528090057237362020-11-16T14:08:00.028+02:002023-02-18T03:54:09.093+03:00Obama's Failed Mid-East Policies Likely to Make a Comeback if Biden Wins. Ghassan Kadi Sputnik Interview. 16 November 2020<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIRpFpwhXSVTbhrlDjv4djd9E2D_Ayr0dR1zpRbLNri0GL7kkpEVspDOD1wuv-ZxN9OaDAAgZcxiMBYXBn8sBpaFEIyvjkOnxhuKy8xVQFo63JkjDsHywmJn9qwmrvDn8Eq9KnvYufkY3y/s2048/Fire.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIRpFpwhXSVTbhrlDjv4djd9E2D_Ayr0dR1zpRbLNri0GL7kkpEVspDOD1wuv-ZxN9OaDAAgZcxiMBYXBn8sBpaFEIyvjkOnxhuKy8xVQFo63JkjDsHywmJn9qwmrvDn8Eq9KnvYufkY3y/s320/Fire.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ghassan's latest interview with Sputnik on the situation regarding the US elections and its possible implications for Syria</span></span><p></p><span class="py34i1dx" color="var(--blue-link)" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="dpgnf-1-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/us/202011161081181303-obamas-failed-mideast-policies-likely-to-make-a-comeback-if-biden-wins-presidency-analyst-says/">https://sputniknews.com/us/202011161081181303-obamas-failed-mideast-policies-likely-to-make-a-comeback-if-biden-wins-presidency-analyst-says/</a>
<div class="article__header" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px; white-space: normal;"><h1 class="article__title" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 36px; line-height: 1.05; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Obama's Failed Mideast Policies Likely to Make a Comeback if Biden Wins Presidency, Analyst Says</h1><div class="article__info " data-nosnippet="" style="-webkit-box-pack: justify; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__info-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="convert-date m-active" data-unixtime="1605526920" href="https://sputniknews.com/20201116/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 1; text-decoration-line: none; visibility: visible;" title="News archive">11:42 GMT 16.11.2020</a> <span class="article__info-date-modified convert-date m-active" data-unixtime="1669287837" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 1; visibility: visible;">(Updated: <span class="date" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">11:03 GMT 24.11.2022</span>)</span></div></div><div class="article__announce" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="s405x229" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1081181303" data-photoview-image-id="1080957609" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20201116/obamas-failed-mideast-policies-likely-to-make-a-comeback-if-biden-wins-presidency-analyst-says-1081181303.html?share-img=1080957609" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/0b/02/1080957611_0:0:3070:2048_1440x900_80_0_1_6cd68ad1ecad13a9412b21f1f2cf8388.jpg.webp?source-sid=reuters_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; 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box-sizing: inherit; height: 43.8375px; left: -6e+06px; margin: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 0; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 600px; z-index: -100;" title="frame"></iframe><div class="the-in-carousel__stage" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="the-in-carousel__frame" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="the-in-carousel__pack" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; position: relative; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; width: 300px;"><div class="the-in-carousel__item m-active" data-item="1" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: left; margin-right: -1px; max-height: 1e+06px; min-height: 1px; width: 300px;"><div class="article__author-item" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px; vertical-align: top; white-space: initial; width: 300px;"><div class="article__author-wrapper" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%; padding-right: 20px;"><div class="article__author-info" style="-webkit-box-flex: 1; box-sizing: inherit; flex: 1 1 0%; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;"><div class="article__author-name" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 5px; max-height: 1e+06px; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;">Ekaterina Blinova</div><div class="article__author-links" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 8px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="m-color-main" href="https://sputniknews.com/author_ekaterina_blinova/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="All materials">All materials</a><a data-modal-open="feedback_author" href="mailto:e.blinova@sputniknews.com" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="Write to the author">Write to the author</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__announce-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 20px; max-height: 1e+06px;">If Joe Biden finds his way to the White House the world is likely to witness the continuation of Barack Obama's interventionist policy in the Middle East and North Africa, suggests Mideast expert and political analyst Ghassan Kadi.</div></div><div class="article__body" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px; white-space: normal;"><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">As the US mainstream media calls former Vice President Joe Biden the projected winner of the 2020 presidential race, the Democratic nominee's foreign policy team has come into the spotlight.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The American press has named former Bill Clinton and Barack Obama administration officials Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, Colin Kahl, Michele Flournoy, and Susan Rice, among those who could be tapped to shape the potential administration's foreign strategy in the coming four years in case Biden wins.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Biden's Foreign Policy Team: 'a Horror Show'</h2><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"Globally speaking, a Biden administration will push for easing the tension with China and the EU NATO states, up-scaling the rhetoric against North Korea and imposing more sanctions on Russia, Iran, and Syria for any reason they can conjure up", says Ghassan Kadi, a Middle East expert and political analyst of Syrian descent.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Biden's foreign policy team has <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/31/inside-biden-campaign-foreign-policy-team/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">brought</a> together over 2,000 people, including 20 working groups, to determine his foreign policy agenda and "turn back" some of President Donald Trump's foreign policies. Supporters of Bernie Sanders, however, have expressed concerns over Biden's inner circle <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/feature/just-how-good-joe-biden%E2%80%99s-foreign-policy-team-170216" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">mostly</a> consisting of Clinton and Obama administration veterans who previously endorsed US military interventions in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. </p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">In August 2020, over 275 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, most of whom had previously pledged allegiance to Senator Sanders, wrote an open letter which called Biden's foreign policy entourage "a horror show" of aides with long records of backing "disastrous" US military invasions.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">"We ask you not to rely on foreign policy advice from those who may have a conflict of interest as a result of their relationships and lobbying on behalf of merchants selling weapons and surveillance technology", the letter read as <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/biden-foreign-policy-dnc_n_5f2adbd3c5b64d7a55ed7fd7?guccounter=1" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">quoted</a> by the Huffington Post.</p><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Biden Aide Kahl: Advocate of US Military Deployment in Syria</h3><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">If Biden wins the presidency, the US will not withdraw from Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan anytime soon, believes Kadi. He does not rule out an increase in the US military contingent in Syria under a potential Biden administration, adding that the former VP is unlikely to engage in a dialogue with Damascus.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"The simple answer is no, not because they shouldn't, but because they will be too arrogant to realise that there is no way out of the stalemate without negotiations", the Middle East expert believes. "If anything, any new adviser or team of advisers will push to demonstrate that Trump's policy in Syria was wrong, they will likely be advocating sending more troops into Syria".</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">For instance, Colin Kahl, an informal adviser to the Biden campaign, is known for his "<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0163660X.2013.791081" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">progressive engagement</a>" strategy which envisaged the long-term deployment of a "right-sized" US military contingent to Mideast countries in the aftermath of the Arab uprising to oversee "democratic reforms" there.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Kahl, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East from 2009 to the end of 2011, was largely regarded as the architect of the Pentagon's response to the Arab Spring – a series of armed rebellions that spread across the Arab world in the early 2010s and later hijacked by terrorist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood*, al-Qaeda*, and later Daesh* in some Arab states.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Responding to the GOP criticism of Obama's strategy in the Middle East and North Africa, Kahl <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/colin-kahl-arab-spring_n_1916934" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">insisted</a> in 2012 that the radical jihadist uprising would eventually be replaced by an alliance between "moderate Islamists" and secular Arab parties, something that has never occurred, nearly a decade after the initial events.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Obama's critics argued that his administration's foreign policy was marred by grave mistakes, including the drastic increase in the US military presence in Afghanistan which only exacerbated the ongoing war, the invasion of Libya which <a href="https://sputniknews.com/interviews/202010201080828375-gaddafi-gets-ready-to-return-to-libyas-political-arena/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">turned a once flourishing country into a failed state</a>, and the support of so-called "moderate" Islamists in Syria which translated into a nine-year war. </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Since Donald Trump assumed the presidency Kahl has repeatedly subjected the president's Mideast policy to criticism. He lashed out at Trump for the latter's decision to immediately withdraw from Syria after the defeat of Daesh* terrorists: according to Kahl, Washington's goals in the Arab Republic were not limited to thwarting the terror threat.</p><div class="ria-tweet" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-align: center;"><blockquote align="center" class="twitter-tweet" data-link-color="#069" data-twitter-extracted-i1676681608563989256="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p dir="ltr" lang="en" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">At the beginning of Trump's term, the US had 3 cards to play to influence the Syria endgame:<br style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;" />—Aid to the opposition<br style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;" />—Conditional reconstruction assistance<br style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;" />—Troops & allies controlling 1/3 of the country & key oil/gas resources<br style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;" />Trump has now given them all away for...nothing.</p>— Colin Kahl (@ColinKahl) <a class="link_tw" href="https://twitter.com/ColinKahl/status/1075506413760405504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;">December 19, 2018</a></blockquote></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">In contrast, the former national security adviser hailed Biden's plan to preserve limited military contingents in the Middle East and Afghanistan.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">However, according to Kadi, the situation on the ground in the Middle East and beyond has changed dramatically over the past few years. Besides this, Syria is <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202010051080664275-how-russias-five-year-long-involvement-in-syria-war-changed-balance-of-power-in-mid-east--beyond/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">no longer a crumbling state like it was five years ago</a>.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"If [Kahl] really wants to have 'progressive engagement' with the Syrian people, he should then support the idea of withdrawing from Syria unconditionally because America simply has no business in Syria or legitimacy for its presence", he stresses.</blockquote><h4 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Let's Not Jump the Gun, Withdrawal May Still be on Trump's Table</h4><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Touching upon Trump's failure to pull out from the Arab Republic, the analyst refers to some Pentagon officials deliberately misleading President Trump about the actual size of the US military contingent on the ground and covertly disrupting his strategy.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Jim Jeffrey, outgoing US special representative for Syria and special presidential envoy for the Western coalition against Daesh (ISIS),* told Defense One on 12 November <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202011131081158526-what-withdrawal-senior-official-boasts-about-openly-lying-to-trump-to-keep-us-troops-in-syria/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">how they tricked the president</a> while maintaining the US military presence in the region.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">That does not mean, however, that that's how the story ends, says Kadi adding that the 2020 US election is not over yet.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"Let us not jump the gun", the Mideast expert says. "The official results of the US presidential elections are still to be known. Furthermore, it has been touted that in preparation for an outcome that declares Trump a loser, he is possibly pulling the carpet from underneath Biden's feet and planning to withdraw American troops from a number of overseas posts including Syria".</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Last Monday, Trump sacked Secretary of Defence Mark Esper, replacing him with National Counterterrorism Centre Director Christopher Miller. Top White House counterterrorism official Kash Patel, who was reportedly dispatched <a href="https://sputniknews.com/us/202010191080812255-top-us-official-traveled-to-syria-for-talks-with-damascus-on-us-citizens-release---report/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.3); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">to Damascus earlier this year at Trump's behest</a>, was appointed as chief of staff to the acting head of the DoD.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Miller, who is known as an advocate of ending America's overseas wars, recently wrote a letter to all Pentagon employees: "We met the challenge; we gave it our all. <a href="https://sputniknews.com/us/202011141081167810-newly-appointed-pentagon-chief-says-time-to-come-home-signalling-likely-troop-drawdown/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Now, it's time to come home",</a> the acting US defence secretary stated, falling short, however, of providing any specific schedule. </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">*The Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaeda, and Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) are terrorist organisations banned in Russia and many other countries.</em></p></div></div></div></span></span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Many thanks to Bogdan Stoican for his Translation into Romanian </span></div><div><span class="py34i1dx" color="var(--blue-link)" face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="dpgnf-1-0"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Traducere:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Dacă Joe Biden își găsește drumul spre Casa Albă, este
probabil ca lumea să asiste la continuarea politicii intervenționiste a lui
Barack Obama în Orientul Mijlociu și Africa de Nord, sugerează expertul din
Mideast și analistul politic Ghassan Kadi.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">În timp ce mass-media din SUA îl numește pe fostul
vicepreședinte Joe Biden, câștigătorul proiectului cursei prezidențiale din 2020,
echipa de politică externă a candidatului democrat a intrat în centrul
atenției.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Presa americană i-a numit pe foștii oficiali ai
administrației Bill Clinton și Barack Obama pe Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan,
Colin Kahl, Michele Flournoy și Susan Rice, printre cei care ar putea fi
exploatați pentru a contura strategia externă a potențialei administrații în
următorii patru ani, în cazul în care Biden câștigă.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Echipa de politici externe a lui Biden: „un spectacol de
groază”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">„La nivel global, o administrație Biden va face presiuni
pentru ameliorarea tensiunii cu China și statele NATO ale UE, extinderea
retoricii împotriva Coreei de Nord și impunerea de sancțiuni asupra Rusiei,
Iranului și Siriei din orice motiv pe care îl pot invoca”, spune Ghassan Kadi,
expert în Orientul Mijlociu și analist politic de origine siriană.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Echipa de politică externă a lui Biden a reunit peste 2.000
de persoane, inclusiv 20 de grupuri de lucru, pentru a stabili agenda sa de
politică externă și pentru a „întoarce” unele politici externe ale
președintelui Donald Trump.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">sținătorii lui Bernie Sanders, totuși, și-au exprimat
îngrijorarea față de cercul interior al lui Biden, format în special din
veterani ai administrației Clinton și Obama care anterior au susținut
intervențiile militare americane în Orientul Mijlociu, Africa de Nord și Asia
Centrală.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">În august 2020, peste 275 de delegați la Convenția Națională
Democrată, dintre care majoritatea promiseră anterior loialitate față de
senatorul Sanders, au scris o scrisoare deschisă care numea anturajul politicii
externe a lui Biden „un spectacol de groază” al asistenților cu înregistrări
lungi de susținere „dezastruoasă” a SUA invaziile militare.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">„Vă rugăm să nu vă bazați pe sfaturile de politică externă
din partea celor care ar putea avea un conflict de interese ca urmare a
relațiilor lor și a lobby-ului în numele comercianților care vând arme și
tehnologii de supraveghere”, scria scrisoarea citată de Huffington Post.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Biden Aide Kahl: Avocat al desfășurării militare americane
în Siria</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Dacă Biden câștigă președinția, SUA nu se vor retrage din
Siria, Irak sau Afganistan în curând, crede Kadi. El nu exclude o creștere a
contingentului militar american în Siria în cadrul unei potențiale
administrații Biden, adăugând că este puțin probabil ca fostul vicepreședinte
să se angajeze într-un dialog cu Damasc.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">„Răspunsul simplu este nu, nu pentru că nu ar trebui, ci
pentru că vor fi prea aroganți pentru a-și da seama că nu există cale de ieșire
din impas fără negocieri”, crede expertul din Orientul Mijlociu. „În orice caz,
orice nou consilier sau echipă de consilieri va face presiuni pentru a
demonstra că politica lui Trump în Siria a fost greșită, probabil că vor pleda
să trimită mai multe trupe în Siria”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">De exemplu, Colin Kahl, un consilier informal al campaniei
Biden, este cunoscut pentru strategia sa de „angajament progresiv” care
prevedea desfășurarea pe termen lung a unui contingent militar SUA „de mărime
corespunzătoare” în țările din Orientul Mijlociu după revolta arabă să
supravegheze „reformele democratice” acolo.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Kahl, care a ocupat funcția de secretar adjunct adjunct al
apărării pentru Orientul Mijlociu din 2009 până la sfârșitul anului 2011, a
fost în mare parte considerat arhitectul răspunsului Pentagonului la Primăvara
Arabă - o serie de rebeliuni armate care s-au răspândit în întreaga lume arabă
în începutul anilor 2010 și ulterior deturnat de grupări teroriste, precum
Frăția Musulmană *, al-Qaeda * și mai târziu Daesh * în unele state arabe.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Răspunzând criticilor GOP asupra strategiei lui Obama în
Orientul Mijlociu și Africa de Nord, Kahl a insistat în 2012 că răscoala
jihadistă radicală va fi în cele din urmă înlocuită de o alianță între
„islamiștii moderați” și partidele arabe laice, lucru care nu a avut loc
niciodată, aproape un deceniu după evenimentele inițiale.<o:p></o:p></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Criticii lui Obama au susținut că politica externă a
administrației sale a fost afectată de greșeli grave, inclusiv creșterea
drastică a prezenței militare a SUA în Afganistan, care a exacerbat doar
războiul în curs, invazia Libiei care a transformat o țară odată înfloritoare
într-un stat eșuat și sprijinul a așa-numiților islamiști „moderați” din Siria
care s-au tradus într-un război de nouă ani.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">De când Donald Trump a preluat președinția, Kahl a supus în
mod repetat politica președintelui din Orientul Mijlociu la critici. El l-a
atacat pe Trump pentru decizia acestuia din urmă de a se retrage imediat din
Siria după înfrângerea teroriștilor Daesh *: potrivit lui Kahl, obiectivele
Washingtonului în Republica Arabă nu s-au limitat la a contracara amenințarea
teroristă.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">În schimb, fostul consilier pentru securitate națională a
salutat planul lui Biden de a păstra contingente militare limitate în Orientul
Mijlociu și Afganistan.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Cu toate acestea, potrivit lui Kadi, situația de pe teren
din Orientul Mijlociu și nu numai s-a schimbat dramatic în ultimii ani. În
afară de aceasta, Siria nu mai este un stat care se prăbușește, ca acum cinci
ani.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Trump trebuie (și probabil asta urmărește) să scoată toți
militarii americani existenți în Siria în calitate de agresori. Odată scoși,
Siria va prelua controlul asupra întregului teritoriu de nord-est, ocupat,
acum, parțial, de trupe americane sprijinite de kurzi iar revenirea militarilor
americani pe teritoriul sirian ar fi considerată o agresiune directă și va avea
drept urmare un răspuns militar clasic din partea Siriei. Care, cum spune
autorul în final, nu mai este un stat care se prăbușește. Mai mult, Siria nu
mai este lipsită de aliați puternici.<o:p></o:p></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></span></div>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-23246115366861377282020-10-21T01:15:00.002+03:002023-02-19T14:02:23.153+03:00How Russia's Five-Year Long Involvement in Syria War Changed Balance of Power in Mid East & Beyond. Sputnik Interview 5 Oct 2020<p><span style="background-color: #f7961d; color: white; font-family: Sputnik; font-size: 40px; font-weight: 700; word-spacing: 3px;">How Russia's Five-Year Long Involvement in Syria War Changed Balance of Power in Mid East & Beyond</span></p><div class="nc684nl6" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">An interview with Ghassan Kadi and Basma Qaddour.</span></b></span></div><p><a href="https://sputniknews.com/20201005/how-russias-five-year-long-involvement-in-syria-war-changed-balance-of-power-in-mid-east--beyond-1080664275.html">How Russia's Five-Year Long Involvement in Syria War Changed Balance of Power in Mid East & Beyond - 05.10.2020, Sputnik International (sputniknews.com)</a><br /><br /></p><div class="article__header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><h1 class="article__title" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 36px; line-height: 1.05; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">How Russia's Five-Year Long Involvement in Syria War Changed Balance of Power in Mid East & Beyond</h1><div class="article__info " data-nosnippet="" style="-webkit-box-pack: justify; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__info-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="convert-date m-active" data-unixtime="1601870400" href="https://sputniknews.com/20201005/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 1; text-decoration-line: none; visibility: visible;" title="News archive">04:00 GMT 05.10.2020</a> <span class="article__info-date-modified convert-date m-active" data-unixtime="1668522011" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 1; visibility: visible;">(Updated: <span class="date" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">14:20 GMT 15.11.2022</span>)</span></div></div><div class="article__announce" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="ar16x9" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1080664275" data-photoview-image-id="1057820257" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20201005/how-russias-five-year-long-involvement-in-syria-war-changed-balance-of-power-in-mid-east--beyond-1080664275.html?share-img=1057820257" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/105782/02/1057820258_0:0:3072:2048_1440x900_80_0_1_5a484cff9d852c871ddc3e305e53e14e.jpg.webp?source-sid=rian_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="Russian pilots of the Su-34 at the Hmeimim base in Syria. 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margin-top: 8px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="m-color-main" href="https://sputniknews.com/author_ekaterina_blinova/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="All materials">All materials</a><a data-modal-open="feedback_author" href="mailto:e.blinova@sputniknews.com" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="Write to the author">Write to the author</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__announce-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 20px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Five years ago Russia became involved in the Syrian civil war, prompting an abrupt U-turn in the situation on the ground and ending the spread of Islamist terrorism in the country. Middle East expert Ghassan Kadi and Syrian journalist Basma Qaddour have taken a look at the Russo-Syrian strategic partnership's achievements and plans.</div></div><div class="article__body" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">On 30 September 2015, Russia started an air operation against Daesh* in Syria in response to a request for military help from the Arab Republic's legitimate government headed by President Bashar al-Assad.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"We all know that thousands of people from European countries, Russia, and the post-Soviet region have joined the ranks of the so-called Islamic State, a terrorist organisation that – I want to stress again – has nothing to do with genuine Islam", President Vladimir Putin <a href="http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/50401" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">told</a> a special summit of government members on that day. "There is no need to be an expert to realise that if they succeed in Syria, they will inevitably return to their own countries, and this includes Russia."</blockquote><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Russia's Involvement Became a Game Changer</h2><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The Russian involvement became a turning point for Syria, which has been engulfed by civil war since 2011. As a declassified <a href="https://www.judicialwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Pg.-291-Pgs.-287-293-JW-v-DOD-and-State-14-812-DOD-Release-2015-04-10-final-version11.pdf" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">document</a> compiled by the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in 2012 indicated, the major forces driving the insurgency in the Arab Republic were the Salafists, the Muslim Brotherhood*, and al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)* that "supported the Syrian opposition from the beginning, both ideologically and through media". At that time the US and EU signalled their sympathy with the so-called "moderate" Syrian rebels and urged Assad to step down.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">In September 2014, the US intervened in Syria under the pretext of the war against Daesh (ISIS/ISIL)*, a terrorist organisation that emerged out of AQI. The US military led a coalition of several regional and external players – including forces from the UK, France, Jordan, Turkey, Canada, Australia – and provided support to the Syrian rebels and the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the ground.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Apart from the invasion by the US-led coalition, tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of fighters poured into Syria from Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, recalls Ghassan Kadi, a Middle East expert and political analyst of Syrian descent.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"They were heavily armed and trained", he stresses. "Without the use of targeted air power, eliminating such forces would have been a very difficult task to perform on the ground."</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">There was a considerable likelihood that the terrorists were going to win, the Middle East expert continues. If the jihadists prevailed, the political, constitutional and demographic nature of Syria would have changed "from that of tolerance, secularism and inclusivity, to that of a Wahhabi Sunni fundamentalist, one that does not even tolerate Sunnis who don’t adhere to this tradition", according to Kadi.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">By September 2015, jihadi groups had moved very close to the Syrian capital, Damascus, which was nearly two-three weeks away from falling to foreign-backed terrorist groups, echoes Basma Qaddour, a Syrian journalist and head of the news department at The Syria Times.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Moscow's military move of 30 September 2015 came as a "huge turning point", according to the observers.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"The biggest role that Russia played militarily was in the use of its air power and expertise on how to fight in a dense urban environment", notes Ghassan Kadi. "This tipped the balance of power against the invaders and in favour of the Syrian Army."</blockquote></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="media" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1080664275" data-photoview-image-id="1031521140" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20201005/how-russias-five-year-long-involvement-in-syria-war-changed-balance-of-power-in-mid-east--beyond-1080664275.html?share-img=1031521140" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/103152/11/1031521141_0:0:1136:720_1440x900_80_0_1_00572e06f3c55ff76240852707391baa.jpg.webp?source-sid=not_sputnik_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="How Russia's Five-Year Long Involvement in Syria War Changed Balance of Power in Mid East & Beyond - Sputnik International" class="" data-source-sid="not_sputnik_photo" data-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/103152/11/1031521141_0:0:1136:720_600x0_80_0_0_b2f3e42b6379435795e31b5db07a8539.jpg.webp" media-type="photo" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/103152/11/1031521141_0:0:1136:720_600x0_80_0_0_b2f3e42b6379435795e31b5db07a8539.jpg.webp" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title="How Russia's Five-Year Long Involvement in Syria War Changed Balance of Power in Mid East & Beyond" /></div></div><div class="media__description " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 3px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Russian Air Force's long-range aircraft hit ISIS targets in Syria</div><div class="media__copyright " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;">© Photo : Russian Ministry of Defense</div> / <div class="media__copyright-item m-buy" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a href="http://sputnikimages.com/images/item/2742646" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;" target="_blank" title="Go to the mediabank">Go to the mediabank</a></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">What Goals Have the Russo-Syrian Alliance Achieved?</h3><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">By December 2017, the Russo-Syrian coalition <a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/56472" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">eliminated</a> 60,318 jihadists, including 819 terrorist leaders, and liberated 1,024 settlements, most notably the strategic cities of Aleppo, Palmyra, Akerbat, Deir ez-Zor, Meyadin and Abu Kemal.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Backed by the Russian Aerospace Forces, the Syrian Arab Army eliminated Daesh's major strongholds, with Idlib remaining the only jihadi hotbed in the country. Thus the Russian military presence on the ground and successful anti-terrorist aerial campaign made any prospective full-scale NATO offensive irrelevant, according to Ghassan Kadi. </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">After the deployment of the military police in the Arab Republic to monitor a cease-fire in new de-escalation zones in July and agreeing with Damascus on the formation of a permanent grouping at the Tartus naval facility and the Hmeimim airbase, President Vladimir Putin announced the withdrawal of the Russian troops to their permanent bases in December 2017. However, Moscow continued to provide support to Syria: in general, the Russo-Syrian coalition has liquidated <a href="https://sputniknews.com/world/202009291080614574-russian-servicemen-killed-over-133000-militants-in-syria-defence-minister-says/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">more than 133,000 jihadi militants</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">In parallel with its military effort, Russia, together with Iran and Turkey, arranged peace talks between the Syrian government delegation and opposition forces in Astana in late December 2016. In subsequent years, the Astana format of negotiations led by Moscow, Tehran and Ankara helped to lower the intensity of the clashes on the ground by concluding ceasefire deals and founding four de-escalation zones in the war-torn country.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"Here we can point out to the fact that the Astana peace talks aimed at a post-war Syrian order as an effective alternative to similar efforts within the United Nations", Basma Qaddour underscores, referring to the Geneva peace talks on Syria held since June 2012 under the auspices of the UN.</blockquote></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="media" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1080664275" data-photoview-image-id="1076922110" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20201005/how-russias-five-year-long-involvement-in-syria-war-changed-balance-of-power-in-mid-east--beyond-1080664275.html?share-img=1076922110" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107692/21/1076922161_0:0:3057:1993_1440x900_80_0_1_4fc222fbdee861f0e8893a1f73110df0.jpg.webp?source-sid=rian_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="How Russia's Five-Year Long Involvement in Syria War Changed Balance of Power in Mid East & Beyond - Sputnik International" class="" data-source-sid="rian_photo" data-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107692/21/1076922161_0:0:3057:1993_600x0_80_0_0_41ad2be45d656267434103b9aeb43e29.jpg.webp" media-type="photo" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107692/21/1076922161_0:0:3057:1993_600x0_80_0_0_41ad2be45d656267434103b9aeb43e29.jpg.webp" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title="How Russia's Five-Year Long Involvement in Syria War Changed Balance of Power in Mid East & Beyond" /></div></div><div class="media__description " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 3px; max-height: 1e+06px;">President of Russia Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a joint press conference after the 5th Trilateral Summit in Astana format on the Syrian crisis</div><div class="media__copyright " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;">© Sputnik / Aleksei Nikolskiy</div> / <div class="media__copyright-item m-buy" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a href="http://sputnikimages.com/images/item/6011631" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;" target="_blank" title="Go to the mediabank">Go to the mediabank</a></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><h4 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Obstacles in the Path to Restore Peace & Order</h4><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Still, the reconciliation process is largely hampered by the US and Turkish military presence in the region, argues Qaddour, stressing that these foreign players must pull out of the Arab Republic. Touching upon the issue of the US-SDF military bases in the region, the journalist suggests that <a href="https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202009111080426378-us-hindering-syrias-recovery-should-either-pull-out-or-face-arab-resistance-syrian-journo-says/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">the Syrian popular resistance is likely to squeeze them out from these areas</a>. In August 2020, Syrian tribal leaders in Deir ez-Zor and Aleppo called upon <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202008211080234048-arab-tribes-pledge-to-take-action-against-american-occupiers-in-northeastern-syria/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">the US and their Kurdish proxies to leave the region</a>.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"The problem is that US-backed 'Syrian Democratic Forces' (SDF) militia in eastern Syria are currently in control of approximately 70% of Syria's national oil resources and a number of valuable gas facilities. The eastern Euphrates is under the control of US occupation forces and SDF militia," says Qaddour.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">In addition to this, Idlib is still controlled by terrorist groups, she points out, stressing that as many as 85% of terrorists in Idlib are affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)*. Kadi echoes the journalist's concerns: "Apart from non-Syrian fighters who were either killed or fled, the remaining actual Syrian fighters are all in the Idlib region, hence any reconciliation talks will have to wait until the region is fully back under the control of the Syrian Government", he notes.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Turkey, which supervises the Idlib de-escalation zone, has vowed to separate the moderate opposition from terrorists, liberate the M4 highway and form a security corridor around this highway. According to Moscow and Ankara, these agreements are being gradually implemented.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="media" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1080664275" data-photoview-image-id="1078337473" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20201005/how-russias-five-year-long-involvement-in-syria-war-changed-balance-of-power-in-mid-east--beyond-1080664275.html?share-img=1078337473" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107833/74/1078337475_0:0:3072:2048_1440x900_80_0_1_51fa9eb2da6fed6407a58eaf7c8664ce.jpg.webp?source-sid=ap_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="How Russia's Five-Year Long Involvement in Syria War Changed Balance of Power in Mid East & Beyond - Sputnik International" class="" data-source-sid="ap_photo" data-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107833/74/1078337475_0:0:3072:2048_600x0_80_0_0_6053ace20fcf10333f9bea114c242971.jpg.webp" media-type="photo" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107833/74/1078337475_0:0:3072:2048_600x0_80_0_0_6053ace20fcf10333f9bea114c242971.jpg.webp" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title="How Russia's Five-Year Long Involvement in Syria War Changed Balance of Power in Mid East & Beyond" /></div></div><div class="media__description " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 3px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Turkish and Russian patrol near the town of Darbasiyah, Syria</div><div class="media__copyright " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;">© AP Photo / Baderkhan Ahmad</div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><h5 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Russia to Help Syria Revive Post-War Economy</h5><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">However, at the present moment, reconciliation seems to have taken a step back from centre court, as the major issue to deal with at the moment is the economy, Kadi points out, citing the Syrian oil issue and Washington's Caesar Act strangulating the country.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"The Western-centric order has made it almost impossible for nations to trade and interact without reliance on the greenback, the Internet and the SWIFT banking system", the Middle Eastern expert says. "Any nation that finds itself under Western sanctions risks being isolated and falling under the mercy of even further sanctions such as the Caesar Act."</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Under these circumstances, <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202009071080389731-russian-and-syrian-foreign-ministers-hold-a-joint-presser-in-damascus/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Damascus is expanding business ties with Russia</a> to facilitate economic recovery. During the Russian delegation's September visit to Syria, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-syria-russia-fm-meetings-lands/syria-seeks-russian-investment-as-u-s-sanctions-hammer-economy-idUKKBN25Y19A" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">told</a> the press that Moscow had presented a package of economic proposals to the Arab Republic in July in order to tackle the post-war crisis and US sanctions. It is expected that these proposals will be sealed in December 2020.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The economic difficulties and the pressure exerted by the West have prompted regional players, most notably Syria and Iran, to form new alliances and economic partnerships, notes Kadi.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">According to him, the US sanctions policy is doomed as "the West is no longer the centre of manufacturing even of advanced commodities". The political analyst suggests that in the foreseeable future nations such as Russia, China, Iran, Syria, in theory, will be "capable of supplying each other with all of their basic needs without having to resort to Western imports".</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The Syrian civil war and subsequent events on the ground have once again proven that the days of the post-Cold war Western-centric world order are over, echoes Basma Qaddour.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"The US pushes an anti-world agenda in order not to face the difficult reality that it is no longer the world’s only superpower and it has to adapt to an increasingly multipolar world", she concludes.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">*Al-Qaeda, Daesh (ISIS/ISIL), the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) are terrorist groups banned in Russia. </em></p></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjigH6F6eYN8-HaFDyoiz6Y06ETLm3p71DhhNMMHz4FjbFAO-Wa8oVt0AqahxfQ0l6rkUY_IlwxvooSyFym1TagvXUTdvVtM9hNc45ZX5iwHfsAlQEPkLazJE9FDmk2G7bXELN4k6aD2HXi/s2048/pexels-ylanite-koppens-697662.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1363" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjigH6F6eYN8-HaFDyoiz6Y06ETLm3p71DhhNMMHz4FjbFAO-Wa8oVt0AqahxfQ0l6rkUY_IlwxvooSyFym1TagvXUTdvVtM9hNc45ZX5iwHfsAlQEPkLazJE9FDmk2G7bXELN4k6aD2HXi/s320/pexels-ylanite-koppens-697662.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-76780146749428678302020-09-01T15:24:00.007+03:002023-02-18T03:56:22.585+03:00LEBANON'S DILEMMA; A REVOLVING IDENTITY CRISIS By Ghassan Kadi, Edited by Tony Seed 1 September 2020 <p><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/09/01/lebanons-dilemma-a-revolving-identity-crisis/?fbclid=IwAR2RfyADHHIMmYAprYh27La5oU9q6r68XneJboKbdtay9exBxmUKhy9XJJ0">https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/09/01/lebanons-dilemma-a-revolving-identity-crisis/?fbclid=IwAR2RfyADHHIMmYAprYh27La5oU9q6r68XneJboKbdtay9exBxmUKhy9XJJ0</a></span></p><div class="entry-meta" style="background: rgb(245, 245, 245); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #333333; display: inline; float: left; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 6px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 · 9:11 AM</div><div class="jump" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #333333; display: inline; float: right; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/09/01/lebanons-dilemma-a-revolving-identity-crisis/#comments" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="meta-nav" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">↓ </span>Jump to Comments</a></div><h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 33px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/09/01/lebanons-dilemma-a-revolving-identity-crisis/" rel="bookmark" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">LEBANON’S DILEMMA – A revolving identity crisis</a></h1><div class="entry entry-content" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1.7em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 549px;"><img alt="File:Proclamation of the state of Greater Lebanon.jpg" height="341" scale="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Proclamation_of_the_state_of_Greater_Lebanon.jpg" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="539" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On September 1, 1920 French General Henri Gouraud proclaimed from the porch of the Pine Residence in Beirut the creation and independence of the state of Greater Lebanon under the colonial mandate of the League of Nations represented by France. France also received Syria which it separated from Lebanon, while Britain was awarded Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq.</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This series of five articles was originally written in January and February this year by Ghassan Kadi. We are publishing it today on the occasion of the centenary of Lebanon to enlighten readers on the historical role played by French colonialism in the sectarian divide-and-rule strategy of the Levant (Greater Syria) and the internal forces in motion at that time and their role today. France and Britain together separated the region into Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq by secret agreement (Sykes-Picot) during World War I, which they received following the war with the defeat of Ottoman Turkey and Germany as “trustee”. The series also brings out the character of the internal institutions established in Lebanon on September 1, 1920 by the armed forces of France.<span id="more-35457" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is at a time when the Trudeau government is once again using “aid” to meddle in the internal affairs of another country following the massive explosion of August 4th based on the claim that the “institutional reforms” demanded by Macron of France are the condition for rebuilding Beirut and the country itself. On September 1, François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued a statement hailing the 100th anniversary of the founding of the colonial “Grand Liban.” He declared “While this is a significant occasion worth celebrating, it also marks a turning point for the country…. We reiterate that international assistance must be accompanied by reforms and impunity must end.” Not only that, the Trudeau government claims that its intervention is so that “they can have a government that is based on equality, inclusivity and prosperity for all” at a time when the liberal democratic institutions in Canada are mired in deep crisis where emergency powers rule the day. Ghassan Kadi provides information evidencing that a return to being a pro-Western puppet state under the claim of human rights is by no means the sole alternative before the Lebanese people in renewing their national identity. This the Trudeau and other governments do not want discussed. – TS</p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 21px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; color: green; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I. A revolving identity crisis</span></span></h3><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Abstract for Section 1: </span><em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There is a deeper side to the current street uprisings in Lebanon than just corruption. It is a matter of defining Lebanese identity, the outcome of which is a Syrian matter. Historically, Lebanon did not start to have a state-like political entity of its own till the 17th Century. Since then, Lebanon had strong ties with the West and emerged as an independent Arab state with Western orientation, unlike other Arab states. But this has all changed and very unexpectedly. It is important to understand this history in order to be able to understand the present and its possible effects on the future as shall be discussed in subsequent articles.</em></p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There is a deeper side to the current street uprisings in Lebanon than just corruption. Whilst corruption of Lebanese politicians have left the country virtually bankrupt, the identity of Lebanon is once again under the microscope and the countless number of Lebanese flags that have been flown across Lebanon and by the diaspora Lebanese is a testimony to this.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The outcome of defining the identity of Lebanon however is not far from Syria; both strategically and geopolitically. For this reason, any whichever way the uprising pans out, its repercussions will spill over and one way or another, and will have an effect on the future of the Axis of Resistance.</p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 511px;"><img alt="" height="376" scale="0" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/c7fdc-deiralqamar-fakhredinepalace.jpg" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="501" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fakhreddine’s capital, Deir Al Kamar, in Palmyra located in present-day Syria.</p></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 511px;"><img alt="" class="" height="668" scale="0" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/b3f53-fakhreddine-ii600803.jpg" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="501" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fakhreddine</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Historically, Lebanon did not begin to have a state-like political entity of its own perhaps until Prince Fakhreddine established a state within the Ottoman state. He built a very powerful one hundred thousand strong army, fought and won against the Ottomans and declared autonomy in the early 17th Century. He had substantial connections with the West; especially the kingdom of Tuscany. His reign spread over all of today’s Lebanon and extended outside its current coastal borders, as far as Palmyra (Tadmor) east in today’s Syria. His castle in Palmyra still stands overlooking the ancient city as a testimony of his might.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Non-Arabs are excused when they make statements that allude to lack of knowledge of Lebanon’s national identity, and this is because the Lebanese themselves are yet to agree what their national identity is. As a matter of fact, most of Lebanon’s problems, most of its past and present strife, are all related to this identify confusion and this is the argument that those articles will try to expand on and defend.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="395" scale="0" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/07f31-phoenician2b.jpg" style="clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="504" /></p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To understand the position of Lebanon vis-à-vis Syria we need to go back to the early beginnings. During the Phoenician era in the second and first millennia BC, there was no such thing as a united Lebanon, but instead, there were a few independent coastal city kingdoms. And those city kingdoms were spread all along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean in what is Lebanon today, Syria and of course as far south as Palestine.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Roman era witnessed strong ties between the Levant (Lebanon included) and Rome. It was once said that the Orontes (a Lebanese/Syrian river) flows into the Tiber. As a matter of fact, four Roman Emperors were of Levantine descent.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="221" scale="0" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/17deb-byzantine2bsouk2btiles2bbeirut.jpg" style="clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="502" /></p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">During the Byzantine era, the cities flourished, especially Beirut, but it was decimated by a powerful earthquake in 551 AD. By the time of the Muslim conquest, most people were Orthodox Christians, and many converted to Islam. And even though Christians were not persecuted as such, many took refuge in the rugged mountains in order to be left alone and avoid paying tax to the Muslim governments of Damascus and later on Baghdad.</p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 192px;"><img alt="" height="200" scale="0" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/fc28c-saint-maroun-edited05.jpg" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="182" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Saint Maroun</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Later on Saint Maroun, the Patriarch of the Maronite Church, moved his parish from the Homs district in Syria, where he was born and bred, to Mount Lebanon, again seeking refuge and isolation.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By-and-large, the Muslim population became more concentrated in the coastal cities of Beirut, Tripoli and Saida, whilst Christians occupied the hills. But the hills also were home for the Druze who were persecuted around the 10th Century. This narrative is not about who came first, because both the Maronites and the Druze have been in Lebanon long enough to claim ownership of their homes and identity. The bottom line here is that the central areas of Mount Lebanon of Zawyeh, Kisrwan, Maten, and Shouf which are in today’s Lebanon were home primarily to Maronites and Druze. The northern regions of Danniya and Akkar became eventually predominantly Sunni Muslim, whilst the southern district (Jabal Amel) and the Bekaa areas became Shiite.</p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 760px;"><img alt="French postcard showing four Christian men from Mount Lebanon, late 1800s." height="462" scale="0" src="https://www.historytoday.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/03_french%20post%20card%20showing%20four%20Christian%20men%20from%20Mount%20Lebanon%20%28in%20Syria%20at%20that%20time%20%E2%80%94%20late%201800s%29%20with%20their%20full%20set%20of%20weapons._0.jpg" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="750" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">French postcard showing four Christian men from Mount Lebanon, late 1800s.</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Even though Lebanon continued to have a special status within the Ottoman Empire, its internal sectarian strife was to colour and steer its destiny. By 1843, the divisions between the Maronites and the Druze seemed irreconcilable leading to bloody conflict and massive killing to the point that the Ottomans decided to split Mount Lebanon into separate Maronite and Druze enclaves. But this did not stop the mayhem, and by 1861, after years of killing and pillaging, Western powers were successful in coercing the Ottomans to give Lebanon a political system that reunited the divided people under the auspices and protection of the West. A state was established that was restricted to Mount Lebanon’s Maronite and Druze areas. This version of Lebanon (Small Lebanon) did not include the predominantly Sunni major cities of Beirut, Tripoli and Saida, nor did it include the northern (Sunni) and southern districts (Shiite) of the mountain range.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img class="alignleft" scale="0" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/6674a-university2bst2bjoseph.jpg" style="display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-right: 7px; max-width: 100%;" />Of pertinence here is the issue of the emergence of Western influence on and within Lebanon. Beginning with Fakhreddin’s ties with Tuscany in the early 17th Century, European missions began to appear in Lebanon. They established badly needed schools because Ottoman Turkey left the Levantines illiterate, other than what was taught in local religious-based schools. </p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Before too long, in the mid-19th Century, institutions of higher education were established, the two most prominent of which were the French St. Joseph Jesuit University and the American Syrian Evangelical College. The latter was renamed the American University of Beirut (pictured below).</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="286" scale="0" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/0af73-american2buni.jpg" style="clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="508" /></p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There were many reasons therefore behind Lebanon’s special status if compared to other post WWII newly-created independent Arab states. The higher percentage of Christians in Lebanon was a huge catalyst for its openness to the West. This is not only because those Christians wanted to look away from Turkey and towards the West, but also because the West itself was interested in establishing a foothold on Ottoman-controlled territory.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Whether the interest in Lebanon on the part of the West was of a religious nature or not, whether the West saw in Lebanon a part of the Holy Land lost to Ottoman Turkey, and whether the West wanted to “use” Lebanese Christians to hit back at Turkey is not the point I am trying to debate here. What is important is the fact that before the current borders of Lebanon were drawn in 1920, and long before the French Mandate was established after the end of WWI, Lebanon already had strong ties with the West; the kind of ties that no other Arab region or state-to-be had.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In stark contrast, the young independent states of Egypt and Syria in particular, had a strong aversion towards the West.</p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_2016" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 510px;"><a href="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/nasser1956-resized.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2016" class="size-full wp-image-2016" data-attachment-id="2016" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="<p>President Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt</p>
" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}" data-image-title="Nasser1956-resized" data-large-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/nasser1956-resized.jpg?w=500" data-medium-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/nasser1956-resized.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/nasser1956-resized.jpg" data-orig-size="1167,840" data-permalink="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/1984/07/01/the-suez-crisis-of-1956-canada-the-peacemaker-a-myth/nasser1956-resized/" height="360" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/nasser1956-resized.jpg" srcset="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/nasser1956-resized.jpg?w=500&h=360 500w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/nasser1956-resized.jpg?w=1000&h=720 1000w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/nasser1956-resized.jpg?w=150&h=108 150w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/nasser1956-resized.jpg?w=300&h=216 300w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/nasser1956-resized.jpg?w=768&h=553 768w" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="500" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-2016" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">President Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Their political views and aspirations developed a diametrically opposite passion towards the West as that of Lebanon. And as Lebanon was growing closer to the West and reaping the benefits of capitalism and free trade, other Arab states that were once the centre of the Axis of Resistance gravitated towards the Soviet Union and the anti-Western rhetoric.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lebanon was then seen as a Western vassal state; even some Lebanese shared those views. But after the creation of Israel in 1948, the stature of Lebanon in the eyes of the Arab World changed from that of dislike, to that of putting it at the centre of serious accusations of treason. Former Egyptian President Nasser and his media outlets did not spare a single occasion without making statements to the effect of saying that Lebanon and its government, politicians and institutions is akin to the second worse thing to having another Israel within the Arab World.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The transformation that Lebanon had and which put it at the epicentre of the Axis of Resistance in only a few decades was totally unforeseeable back in the 1950s and 60s. In the coming chapters, we shall see how this metamorphosis happened and how it can affect the region in the near future.</p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 21px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; color: green; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">II.</span></span></h3><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 1210px;"><img alt="Beirut, late 19th century, by Félix Bonfils." height="396" scale="0" src="https://www.historytoday.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/05_Beirut%2C%20Lebanon%2C%20sometime%20in%20the%20last%20third%20of%20the%2019th%20century.%20Maison%20Bonfils%20was%20the%20extraordinarily%20prolific%20venture%20of%20the%20French%20photographer%20Fe%CC%81lix%20Bonfils%20%281831%E2%80%9385%29.jpg" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="1200" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Beirut, late 19th century, by Félix Bonfils.</p></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 516px;"><img alt="" height="349" scale="0" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/0f182-post2bcard2bbeirut2b1960.jpg" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="506" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1960s postcards of Beirut</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Abstract for Section 2: </span><em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lebanon has seen many recent changes in the last few decades. Formerly a neutral Western-oriented country, Lebanon capitalized on its system of free economy and western style freedom to become the economic and touristic hub of the Levant. The sectarian undertone however was never far away, and that division had people divided over their definition of their identity and loyalties. Some Lebanese consider themselves independently Lebanese, others as Syrians, others as Arabs and some as international. But the current street uprisings seem to be taking traditional rivals into a different direction; one that is endorsing the independent Lebanese identity.</em></p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lebanon played a very insignificant role in all the initial Arab/Israeli wars all the way up to and including the Tishrin/October/Yom Kippour 1973 war, but its destiny was set to change. As a small country that was once neutral enough to earn the title of the Switzerland of the East, it ironically soon morphed to become the centre of resistance and opposition to the NATO-sponsored Israeli roadmap.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Back in the mid to late 1950s, Nasser’s Egypt was the central Arab state confronting Israel, and after Nasser’s triumph in the 1956 Suez war, it was unthinkable that only a quarter of a century later, Egypt would sign a peace agreement with Israel and that the neutral, small, Westerly-oriented Lebanon would turn into the spearhead keeping Israel at bay.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">With this new pivotal role, the current civil uprising in Lebanon is therefore potentially a regional turning point; and not one affecting Lebanon only.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So why did Lebanon rise and fall so dramatically and so quickly?</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And apart from the prevalent corruption that is behind today’s uprising, what is the underlying cause of unrest? This is what I shall try to explain very succinctly.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Back in the 1940s and 1950s, Lebanon was the only Arab state that had free economy and openness to the West. As the oil money started to pour into Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, the Arabian Peninsula was very underdeveloped and Lebanon became the obvious route for transit of goods back and forth from the West to the developing Gulf. Even if a Saudi Sheikh wanted to import Italian furniture to fill his palace with, it was shipped to Beirut and then carried on Lebanese trucks to Saudi Arabia. But this is not all, a fair chunk of Iraqi oil used to be piped to the Lebanese coastal city of Tripoli (not to be confused to Libya’s Tripoli) and carried by tankers from there onwards to Europe and other destinations.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That same period also witnessed a huge exodus of tertiary-educated Lebanese technocrats and professionals who went to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf as doctors, engineers, technicians and business people, sending back into Lebanon millions of dollars annually. Last but not least, with its open free economy, open banking system, gorgeous climate, bars, cabarets, brothels and a spectacularly located casino, Lebanon became the favourite tourism hub for rich Arab tourists who lived under strict Islamic rule that banned all of the above.<br />During this period, Lebanon was abuzz with action; all the way from musical carnivals to opera performances, rock concerts, you name it. During the filming of the movie <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lawrence of Arabia</em> in Jordan back in 1961, actor Peter O’Toole used to fly to Beirut every weekend, and when asked why do it so often knowing that he could only stop there for a short while, he said “because it’s worth it.”</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In how many countries in the world could one do water skiing and snow skiing in the same day at venues that are only an hour drive away from each other? The gorgeous and versatile nature of Lebanon plus its rich history did not only attract Arab tourists, but Western tourists as well. And whilst one had to run and hide in fear of getting arrested in other Arab states if he stumbled on an American Dollar, exchange shops filled the streets of Lebanon’s cities and touristic venues. One could almost buy a falafel roll with Travellers Cheques.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To add to all of the above, Beirut in particular had a huge number of hotels all the way down from six stars resorts to ones that suit every budget. Restaurants and food shops were plentiful offering same range of pricing as hotels did. One could buy Scotch Whiskey and American cigarettes at a much cheaper cost than in Scotland and America. And though gambling was only legal at the Casino, the police turned a blind eye to illegal gambling venues that were scattered everywhere.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And as if the above was not enough, Lebanon was a tax haven and investors found in it a good business base to invest and “hide” money. Syrian businessmen in particular moved huge sums of money and gold into Lebanon after Syria became socialist. This was how Lebanon earned the name of Switzerland of the East, but over and above what land-locked Switzerland has to offer, despite its snow peaked mountains, Lebanon’s winter is never too cold and it has a 200 Km coastline. Its mild summer did not only attract Arab playboys, but also Arab families. Hilltop towns were constantly inundated by Arab holiday makers who were escaping the scorching desert summer heat back in their homelands.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Moreover, Lebanon was the only Arab state that allowed free journalism, freedom of speech and political freedom. It eventually became the refuge of most Arab political activists who were persecuted in their own countries.</p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 2058px;"><img alt="" height="364" scale="1.5" src="https://i0.wp.com/dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Beirut-vs.-Beirut.jpg" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Beirut-vs.-Beirut.jpg?zoom=2 1.5x" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="485" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Artist: Walid Zbib, 1990</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As the capital of both beauty and vice, during this golden era, the exchange rate of the Lebanese Lira to the USD was two to one, respectively. At this juncture, and just to step forward in time for a moment, the current rate exceeds two thousand to one and slipping.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lebanon was simply and briefly the envy of the Arab World as well as Israel. After all, Israel could have played a similar role and competed with Lebanon, but the boycotts left it in its box of exclusion and seclusion, and the once very busy port of Haifa lost its transit business to the port of Beirut.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So how did this amazing story of success turn into such a huge failure?</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On the surface, we can blame the whole story of failure on sectarianism. Lebanon was never able to bypass this problem that divided its people and destroyed its economy. What we see today on the streets however marks a whole new change and rejection of this status quo, and a deeper look reveals that loyalty could well be taking a new form, and this is because underneath the façade of sectarianism, there is the deeper issue of identity.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Many nations have identity problems, and sometimes there is a sectarian undertone to it as in the Balkans for example. But Spanish people and Catalans are both predominantly Catholics yet identity issues remain unresolved.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But unlike say Croatia where the identity confusion was between two options Croatian or Yugoslav, identity in Lebanon provides three options: Lebanese, Syrian and Arab. This is not to forget the all-inclusive Marxist international one. Indeed, Lebanese youth grew up witnessing a community the members of which identify themselves either as Lebanese, Syrian, Arab or international.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The advocates of Lebanese identity and nationalism were originally predominantly the Lebanese Christians, or Maronites to be specific.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The advocates of Syrian identity are the followers of Antoun Saadeh (a Lebanese) who established the Social Syrian National Party (SSNP) and which advocates the Syrian identity where Syria is the historic Greater Syria and which includes all of today’s Syria plus Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Palestine. Members of this political party are quite secular and belong to all religions and sects.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The advocates of Arab nationalism are predominantly Muslims (with a Christian minority) and they were and are followers of the former Egyptian President Nasser and/or the Baath Party (the founder of which is Christian by the way).</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The advocates of international identity are the Communists who at one stage were very numerous and quite strong.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">With all of the above said, with or without socio-political ideas like Communism, pan-Arabism and/or Greater-Syria-nism , Lebanon is definitely not a stand-alone nation like say France. Lebanon is historically and geographically the mountainous region of Syria. Its current borders have been drawn by the French General Gouraud in 1920. But since 1920, even the borders of France itself have changed, and so did the borders of many other nations, and this alone does not mean much.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When Lebanese-American historian Phillip Khuri Hitti wrote his book about the history of Lebanon, he did not name it “History of Lebanon”. He named it “Lebanon in History”. After all, with its metamorphosis from ancient Phoenician city kingdoms to being part of empires, revolving borders and restructuring, Lebanon did not have a history that was independent from the history of its region. This in itself brings us back to the present and emphasizes that whichever way the current uprising ends, it will have its repercussion waves spreading all over the region.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Before I end this I must emphasize that personal freedom in Lebanon came with a societal cost. Not only one could walk into an exchange shop and buy US dollars, but a few doors up or down one could buy any amount of world-renowned locally-grown Hashish. The pharmacy next door would sell antibiotics and morphine without a doctor’s script. Another shop would sell Kalashnikovs (AK47), M-16 assault rifles, you name it. The kind of freedom Lebanon “enjoyed” was closer to lawlessness and even anarchy than responsible right of self-determination. When the Lebanese Army barracks of Tripoli were ransacked in 1976, the loot was sold by street vendors and it included items like mortar shells. Who in his right mind would buy a mortar shell and what for? In Lebanon they do and they display it in their living rooms like trophies.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Actually, the black market price of a Kalashnikov is seen as an economic indicator. It is also seen as a security indicator except that it goes up on two opposite trigger factors; demand preceding strife and the occasional government crackdown.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">My wife, a Westerner, was flabbergasted as she was in a sewing machine shop when suddenly a man wielding a Kalashnikov walked in. She thought it was a hold up, but apparently the man knew the shop owner and he was asking for a bit of oil to lubricate some parts on his Kalashnikov. Such is Lebanon.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As Lebanon lost its Switzerland of the East title during the civil war and as it made a U-turn from almost total neutrality to becoming the centre of the Axis of Resistance, the twists and turns did not come by easily, and the Lebanese people remain divided as to how to define themselves, what identity to accept and uphold, and what position in the world they belong to. For better or for worse, the “Lebanese” Lebanese identity is currently becoming more demographically acceptable by Lebanese Sunni Muslims who by-and-large repudiated it not long ago. Their values and aspirations are finding congruencies with those of their traditional rivals, ie the Christian Maronites who are also finding commonalities with a much older rival and foe; the Druze.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The cycles of violence and destruction seem to have taken the traditional Lebanese Maronites, Sunnis and Druze to a common denominator, an intriguing fact, given that it was the rivalry and differences between those same groups that destroyed Lebanon back in the civil war and dethroned it from Switzerland of the East title. But the cycle of intrigue is not over yet. It is as if Hezbollah alone was not the only unexpected wildcard, the uprising is adding more unknowns and speculations and another cook to meddle with the brew that already has many more cooks than it can handle.</p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 21px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; color: green; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">III. The Birth of “Grand Liban”</span></span></h3><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_17323" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 730px;"><a href="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/1920-09-13-general_gouraud_marching_in_aleppo.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-17323" class="wp-image-17323 size-full" data-attachment-id="17323" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="<p>French General Gouraud marches through Aleppo. Just as British General Allenby had taken a stroll in the old city of Jerusalem and declared, “Today the Crusades have come to an end,” his French counterpart in Syria, upon taking Damascus went straight to the tomb of Salahuddin. Standing at that most green-draped of tombs in the Ummayad mosque and, in what must be one of the most inflammatory statements in modern Middle East history, Gouraud placed his boot on his grave and declares to the tomb: “Saladin, we have returned.” Or: “Look Saladin, we are back!”. Another account has him declaring “The Crusades have ended now! Awake Saladin, we have returned! My presence here consecrates the victory of the Cross over the Crescent.”</p>
" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="1920.09.13.General_Gouraud_marching_in_Aleppo" data-large-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/1920-09-13-general_gouraud_marching_in_aleppo.jpg?w=500" data-medium-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/1920-09-13-general_gouraud_marching_in_aleppo.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/1920-09-13-general_gouraud_marching_in_aleppo.jpg" data-orig-size="720,469" data-permalink="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2013/01/11/syria-french-colonizers-have-not-accepted-the-loss-of-their-colony/1920-09-13-general_gouraud_marching_in_aleppo/" height="469" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/1920-09-13-general_gouraud_marching_in_aleppo.jpg" srcset="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/1920-09-13-general_gouraud_marching_in_aleppo.jpg 720w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/1920-09-13-general_gouraud_marching_in_aleppo.jpg?w=150&h=98 150w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/1920-09-13-general_gouraud_marching_in_aleppo.jpg?w=300&h=195 300w" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="720" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-17323" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">French General Gouraud marches through the deserted streets of Aleppo on September 13, 1920. Just as British General Allenby had taken a stroll in the old city of Jerusalem in 1917 and declared, “Today the Crusades have come to an end,” his French counterpart in Syria, upon taking Damascus went straight to the tomb of Salahuddin. Standing at that most green-draped of tombs in the Ummayad mosque and, in what must be one of the most inflammatory statements in modern Middle East history, Gouraud placed his boot on his grave and declared to the tomb: “Saladin, we have returned.” Or: “Look Saladin, we are back!” Another account has him declaring “The Crusades have ended now! Awake Saladin, we have returned! My presence here consecrates the victory of the Cross over the Crescent.”</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Abstract for Section III: </span><em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Grand Liban” – as the French called it – is Lebanon in its current borders as compared to the much smaller version that was comprised of the Maronite and Druze areas only. The new state was announced on September 1, 1920 and the Maronite Church under Patriarch Howayyek played a big role in the decision making. The move was opposed by the Syrian National Congress. The battle of Maysaloun followed and France entered Damascus forcefully after the glorious defeat of the Syrian Army and the martyrdom of its leader Yusuf Al-Azma. Residents of the Lebanese Coastal cities of Beirut, Tripoli and Saida (predominantly Sunnis) refused the new entity and regarded it as a Western vassal.</em></p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The brazen role of the Turkish Army in the current situation in Idlib serves as a good reason to remember that ever since the battle of Marj Dabiq in August 1516 and which eventuated in the fall of all of Syria to Ottoman troops, Turkish military presence did not completely leave Syrian soil and historically Syrian cities such as Adana and Antioch are technically still under Turkish occupation.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The battle for Syrian sovereignty has therefore been going on for centuries, and it certainly did not end. It is much more ancient than the loss of Golan and even the creation of Israel. Syrian territory has been chipped away and taken violently by invaders at times when Syria was weak and unable to defend herself.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But whilst the Israeli occupation of the Golan, and to a lesser extent the Turkish occupation of the Iskenderun and Cilicia provinces, are easy to identify as being foreign, the chipping away of Lebanon is more subtle, because Lebanon is meant to be an independent Arab state that enjoys good relationships with Syria. In reality however, Lebanon has historically been a part of Syria, and when the French drew its current map, the move was opposed by the Syrian Government as well as by a majority of civilians on both sides of the borders.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On the 1st of September 1920, French General Gouraud announced the birth of Grand Liban (Grand/Great Lebanon) in its current borders. Back then, it was questionable as to whether or not this new state was to see its first centenary. As we approach this landmark, the question remains viable even though we are only less than a year away.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When Gouraud drew the map, one of his objectives possibly was to establish a state in which there was no overwhelming majority. He might have thought that instead of having a state that is comprised of Maronites and Druze only, by adding Sunni and Shiite elements to the demographics, the population would be so diverse that no single party would be strong enough to cause strife.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It can also be argued that a bigger and a stronger Lebanon would be stable and a better French ally in the future.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Others will argue that his objective was to divide and conquer Syria and that the exact location of the Lebanese borders did not mean anything to him. There is no doubt that this theory holds a lot of ground, especially that the creation of the independent state of Lebanon was in itself an attempt to fragment and weaken Syria. The issue at hand here however is the placement of the border line he chose. It is about trying to answer the question of why did he include the Sunni and Shiite regions? Why did he not leave them both or at least one of them with Syria? What made him choose those particular borders for Grand Liban?</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Whilst it is true that the Sykes/Picot accord divided the Levant (Greater Syria) between British and French-controlled territories, it would be right to say that it was by French, not British, action that Lebanon was split away from Syria and given independence. With all of the above said, the Maronite Church played a huge part in the creation of Lebanon, if not the biggest part, and the French only needed to be convinced, and as they did they complied and delivered.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To put it bluntly, as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, the Maronite Church wanted to secure that Lebanese Christians will not ever fall under Muslim rule again. The head of the Church back then was Patriarch Elias Butros Al-Howayyik. He was a strong and outspoken opponent of Turkey and was in fact persecuted by the Ottomans and put under home arrest. He was only released after the Vatican and France intervened.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A clear distinction however must be drawn between patriotic Levantine Christians and the position of the Maronie Church at that time. Certainly, Christians in general and Maronites in particular did not unanimously agreed with the vision of Howayyek and it would be unfair to even try to speculate what percentage did. As a matter of fact, many leaders of the political Lebanese and Syrian Left have been Christians. Patriotic Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian and other Arab Christians remain till today as an integral part of the heart and soul of the Axis of Resistance. And back a century ago, during the period known as the cultural awakening, most Syrian and Lebanese patriotic writers, poets and journalists of influence were Christians.</p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_36303" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 510px;"><a href="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.map-of-the-arab-kingdom-of-syria-declared-on-8-march.png" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36303" class="wp-image-36303 size-full" data-attachment-id="36303" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="1920.Map of the Arab Kingdom of Syria, declared on 8 March" data-large-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.map-of-the-arab-kingdom-of-syria-declared-on-8-march.png?w=500" data-medium-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.map-of-the-arab-kingdom-of-syria-declared-on-8-march.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.map-of-the-arab-kingdom-of-syria-declared-on-8-march.png" data-orig-size="1033,860" data-permalink="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/09/01/lebanons-dilemma-a-revolving-identity-crisis/1920-map-of-the-arab-kingdom-of-syria-declared-on-8-march/" height="416" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.map-of-the-arab-kingdom-of-syria-declared-on-8-march.png" srcset="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.map-of-the-arab-kingdom-of-syria-declared-on-8-march.png?w=500&h=416 500w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.map-of-the-arab-kingdom-of-syria-declared-on-8-march.png?w=1000&h=832 1000w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.map-of-the-arab-kingdom-of-syria-declared-on-8-march.png?w=150&h=125 150w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.map-of-the-arab-kingdom-of-syria-declared-on-8-march.png?w=300&h=250 300w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.map-of-the-arab-kingdom-of-syria-declared-on-8-march.png?w=768&h=639 768w" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="500" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-36303" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Map of the Arab Kingdom of Syria declared on March 8, 1920.</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1922.french-mandate-of-syria-map.png" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-36304" data-attachment-id="36304" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="1922.French-Mandate-of-Syria-Map" data-large-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1922.french-mandate-of-syria-map.png?w=500" data-medium-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1922.french-mandate-of-syria-map.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1922.french-mandate-of-syria-map.png" data-orig-size="725,599" data-permalink="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/09/01/lebanons-dilemma-a-revolving-identity-crisis/1922-french-mandate-of-syria-map/" height="413" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1922.french-mandate-of-syria-map.png" srcset="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1922.french-mandate-of-syria-map.png?w=500&h=413 500w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1922.french-mandate-of-syria-map.png?w=150&h=124 150w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1922.french-mandate-of-syria-map.png?w=300&h=248 300w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1922.french-mandate-of-syria-map.png 725w" style="border: 0px; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="500" /></a></p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Leading up to WWI and after long sectarian strife, the state of Small Lebanon (Mount Lebanon without the coastal cities) was created and put under Western protection as we have seen in previous articles. As the war broke out and Turkey and the West were on opposite sides of the fence, Turkey abolished the special status under which Mount Lebanon was, put the area under siege and prevented any food supplies from entering. Purportedly, one third of the civilians died from starvation. It was an act of Ottoman revenge because the Ottomans did not like the Western intervention into the affairs of its territories and putting Mount Lebanon under special privileges.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If anything, the harsh treatment and starvation made the Maronite Church more determined to seek total independence from anything that was reminiscent to the past; and this included Syria because Syria has an overwhelming Muslim majority. In brief, they wanted Lebanon to become a Christian-controlled state with a Western outlook and very little to do with its own region.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So why was it exactly that Patriarch Al-Howayyik insisted that the big coastal cities of Beirut, Tripoli and Saida be added to the new state knowing that they have a Sunni majority? No one really knows other than speculating that in forming a new state that has a powerful Maronite Church and political entity, one that guaranteed that the head of state (ie President) and Army Chief are both Maronites, will be able to survive and bring protection and security to the Christian population. Perhaps he also thought that a larger Lebanon with major cities and ports will be more economically viable.</p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 517px;"><img alt="" height="233" scale="0" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/0b70f-syrian2bdemonstration2b1002byears2bback2bwith2bstar2bof2bdavid.jpg" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="507" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the 1920s Syrians display cultural and religious diversity and harmony.</p></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 512px;"><img alt="Syrian National Congress, Damascus 1919-1920.jpg" height="341" scale="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Syrian_National_Congress%2C_Damascus_1919-1920.jpg/250px-Syrian_National_Congress%2C_Damascus_1919-1920.jpg" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="502" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Syrian National Congress held in Damascus, Syria in May 1919.</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As the Patriarch was doing his bid trying to convince the French that Lebanon needs to be independent and modelled on his own vision, quite at the opposite pole the “Syrian National Congress” was convened in Damascus, Syria in May 1919. In its final report, the Congress concluded that “there be no separation of the southern part of Syria, known as Palestine, nor of the littoral western zone, which includes Lebanon, from the Syrian country.” The Congress declared independence and appointed King Faisal as head of state. Reading in between the lines it is clear to see that an independent Lebanon was perceived to be almost as unacceptable as the creation of Israel.</p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_36263" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 508px;"><a href="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/2.1920.syria_.french.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36263" class="wp-image-36263 size-full" height="348" loading="lazy" scale="0" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/2.1920.syria_.french.jpg" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="498" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-36263" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Independence did not last long. France and Britain had secretly agreed to divide the Middle East into French and British ‘spheres of influence’. In 1920, French troops landed on the Syrian coast, threatening to occupy the country. The Syrians decided to resist. At the town of Maysaloon, on the outskirts of Damascus, the ill-equipped Syrian army was defeated, and Defence Minister Gouraud was killed in the battle, which marked the beginning of 26 Years of French mandate over Syria.</p></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_36259" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 508px;"><a href="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.syrian-soldiers-at-at-the-battle-of-maysalun.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36259" class="size-full wp-image-36259" data-attachment-id="36259" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="<p>Syrian soldiers at at the battle of Maysalun</p>
" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="1920.Syrian soldiers at at the battle of Maysalun" data-large-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.syrian-soldiers-at-at-the-battle-of-maysalun.jpg?w=498" data-medium-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.syrian-soldiers-at-at-the-battle-of-maysalun.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.syrian-soldiers-at-at-the-battle-of-maysalun.jpg" data-orig-size="498,348" data-permalink="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/09/01/lebanons-dilemma-a-revolving-identity-crisis/1920-syrian-soldiers-at-at-the-battle-of-maysalun-2/" height="348" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 498px) 100vw, 498px" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.syrian-soldiers-at-at-the-battle-of-maysalun.jpg" srcset="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.syrian-soldiers-at-at-the-battle-of-maysalun.jpg 498w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.syrian-soldiers-at-at-the-battle-of-maysalun.jpg?w=150&h=105 150w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1920.syrian-soldiers-at-at-the-battle-of-maysalun.jpg?w=300&h=210 300w" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="498" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-36259" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Syrian soldiers at at the battle of Maysalun</p></div><div class="wp-caption alignleft" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: left; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 7px 10px 0px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 172px;"><img alt="" height="200" scale="0" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/b8650-yusuf_al_azma.jpg" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="162" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yusuf Al-Azma</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The French response was brutally swift, and it was meant to crush what they saw as a rebellion. A modern French army of 12,000 men equipped with tanks and supported by warplanes was sent to enter Damascus and forcefully if needed. But the former capital of the Omayyad Empire was not going to greet the invaders with roses. Army Chief/Minister of Defence Yusuf Al-Azma was sent with very ill-equipped few hundred soldiers and few volunteers to make a mark in history. They knew they had no chance of winning, but they wanted to die standing. The heroic defeat in which Al-Azma himself was killed remains as one of Syria’s greatest stories of glory.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Syrians will never forget Maysaloun.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It was only a few months later, in December that French General Gouraud announced the birth of “Grand Liban”. In his speech, he referred to Maysaloun as a battle that the French have fought to save Lebanon, and perhaps in retrospect it was; but not from foreign invaders as he put it.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">With the declaration of “Grand Liban” as a separate entity, two opposite passions developed across the borders between Lebanon and Syria, and those passions deepened over the decades. In Syria, a growing concern that Syrian territory has been chipped away bit by bit.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">First of all, Turkey kept the district of Cilicia, then Lebanon was created, then the French gave away the district of Iskenderun to Turkey as a sweetener, and last but not least, Palestine was chipped away and Israel was established. It is little wonder why patriotic Syrians galvanized behind President Assad to thwart the greatest of all attacks back in March 2011, but this is another story.</p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 1210px;"><img alt="Population map of Syria and Lebanon, c.1935." height="939" scale="0" src="https://www.historytoday.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/01_Population_map_Syria_%26_Liban_1935%28Wiki%29_1.jpg" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="1200" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Population map of Syria and Lebanon, c.1935.</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lebanon was seen in Syria as a Western vassal, a love-child of the West and a byproduct of sectarianism; and in more ways than one, it was.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On the other side of the coin, when Lebanon eventually became independent, to the Maronite Church and political establishment, independence was mostly seen and celebrated as independence from Syria; though Syria historically was neither a culprit nor foreign.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Patriarch Al-Howayyik finally got what he wanted and Lebanon became a stand-alone state in its current borders.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The declaration of “Grand Liban” had a mixed response. Those who wanted an independent Lebanon, who were mostly Christian Maronites were celebrating. However, city dwellers who were mostly Sunnis were revolting.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Not only did the people of Beirut, Tripoli and Saida, in all of their religions and sects, refuse to be sliced away from Syria, but they also did not want to belong to a state that will forever be a Western puppet; or at least this was how Lebanon was seen in their eyes. They took to the streets demanding Syrian unity, secularism, and upholding the resolutions reached by the Syrian National Congress, but to no avail. The decision was already made and the battle of Maysaloun was already lost.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Many if not most of the Sunni Lebanese partaking in the current street uprisings brandishing Lebanese flags have no idea at all that a hundred years ago their great grandparents took to the streets denouncing the precursor of this same flag. This part of history is not taught in schools in Lebanon, but in Syria, every man woman and child knows that Lebanon was taken away from Syria by the treachery of the West and complicit action of certain Lebanese groups.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Back in the 1920s, the Syrian identity of Lebanon was not questionable and if anything, it was the Lebanese identity and nationhood that was repudiated and even ridiculed by most. Among other legacies that still live on, it is very obvious in the writings of Gibran Kahlil Gibran, a Maronite who considered Lebanon as a part of Syria.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Much has changed over the last century, and the Lebanese did not stop to wonder and ponder what their real identity is.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Does the current uprising reveal any change? This is what we shall try to examine in the upcoming articles.</p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 21px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; color: green; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">IV. The emergence of the role of Lebanese Shia</span></span></h3><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_36342" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 514px;"><a href="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/map.political-lebanon-.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36342" class="wp-image-36342" data-attachment-id="36342" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Map.Political Lebanon" data-large-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/map.political-lebanon-.jpg?w=420" data-medium-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/map.political-lebanon-.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/map.political-lebanon-.jpg" data-orig-size="420,349" data-permalink="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/09/01/lebanons-dilemma-a-revolving-identity-crisis/map-political-lebanon/" height="419" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 504px) 100vw, 504px" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/map.political-lebanon-.jpg" srcset="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/map.political-lebanon-.jpg 420w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/map.political-lebanon-.jpg?w=150&h=125 150w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/map.political-lebanon-.jpg?w=300&h=249 300w" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="504" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-36342" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The sectarian parliament imposed by the French colonialists, known as the confessional system.</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Abstract for Section 4: </span><em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The 1943 Lebanese constitution was reached by consensus mainly between the political Maronite and Sunni leaders; all in accordance with the initial plans of Patriarch Howayyek. The constitution stipulated that the main positions of power were given to the Maronites, these are namely the position of the President and Army Chief. The Sunnis got the position of the Prime Minister, the Druze had the army’s Chief of Staff and the Shia got the token position of the Leader of the House. Furthermore, Christians were given bigger representation in the Lebanese Parliament at the ratio of 11 Christian members versus 9 Muslim members. Those figures were subdivided to include sects, with the Maronites receiving the lion’s share.</em></p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The political Maronite establishment was eventually represented by a number of political parties; the most prominent of which is the Kata’eb Party (aka the Phalangists). This party trained and armed militia groups and played a major part in the Lebanese Civil War that devastated Lebanon in the 1970s and 80s.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), which has been mentioned in previous articles, remains thus far the only political party in the Levant that calls for the unity of Greater Syria. Soon after its establishment in 1932, it gained much popularity both within Lebanon and Syria. But this popularity started to dwindle after the highly charismatic Egyptian President Nasser rose to prominence advocating pan-Arab nationalism.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In 1952, Camille Chamoun was elected as president of Lebanon. He was a staunch supporter of an independent Lebanese identity. He became very unpopular amongst Muslim Nasserites and the Left. And after the declaration of union between Egypt and Syria in 1958 under the name of the United Arab Republic, Lebanese Nasser sympathisers saw an opportunity for Lebanon to join the union. In lieu of following the footsteps of their fathers by taking to the streets asking for Syrian unity, they demanded Arab unity instead.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In another twist of fate, looking at what is happening in the streets of Lebanon now, the grandchildren of the Lebanese Arab nationalists are now at the forefront, brandishing Lebanese flags, advocating Lebanese identity and demanding Lebanese sovereignty.</p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_36345" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 511px;"><a href="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/under-chamoun-gemayel-hoped-for-us-military-intervention.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36345" class="wp-image-36345" data-attachment-id="36345" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="<p>Under Chamoun, the Falangist leader Gemayel hoped for US military intervention</p>
" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Under Chamoun, Gemayel hoped for US military intervention" data-large-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/under-chamoun-gemayel-hoped-for-us-military-intervention.jpg?w=465" data-medium-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/under-chamoun-gemayel-hoped-for-us-military-intervention.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/under-chamoun-gemayel-hoped-for-us-military-intervention.jpg" data-orig-size="465,323" data-permalink="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/09/01/lebanons-dilemma-a-revolving-identity-crisis/under-chamoun-gemayel-hoped-for-us-military-intervention/" height="348" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 501px) 100vw, 501px" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/under-chamoun-gemayel-hoped-for-us-military-intervention.jpg" srcset="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/under-chamoun-gemayel-hoped-for-us-military-intervention.jpg 465w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/under-chamoun-gemayel-hoped-for-us-military-intervention.jpg?w=150&h=104 150w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/under-chamoun-gemayel-hoped-for-us-military-intervention.jpg?w=300&h=208 300w" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="501" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-36345" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Under Chamoun, the Falangist-Maronite leader Gemayel hoped for US military intervention</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Back to the Chamoun era; civil unrest followed in 1958 and, finally President Chamoun asked the West to act on its promise to protect the integrity of Lebanon. The US Sixth Fleet was sent, Chamoun finished his term, and Army Chief Chehab was elected as president.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The tenure of Chamoun’s presidency however, marked the beginning of what is commonly termed as Lebanon’s “golden age”, the centre of beauty and vice which was discussed in a previous chapter. The Chehab period provided Lebanon with much needed stability to build on Chamoun’s era and Lebanon’s economy prospered.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When war broke out between Syria, Egypt and Jordan against Israel in June 1967, which later on became known as the Six-Day War, Lebanon was basically a spectator. All participating Arab states lost territory to Israel but Lebanon did not because it did not partake in the conflict. In the eyes of many Arabs, Lebanon was a Western implant, a pariah state, second worst only to Israel.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This was all to change, and so unpredictably. Lebanon was suddenly unable to remain isolated from its surroundings and the Arab/Israeli conflict reached its door step.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It all began when the PLO started to have a presence in Lebanon in the late 1960’s. As a result, in the closing days of 1968, Israel launched a brazen attack on Beirut airport and destroyed 13 airliner jets that belonged to the national carrier, Middle East Airlines, setting them alight. The international response was that of outrage. Lebanon was not meant to be part of the conflict and French President De Gaulle put a ban on French arms sales to Israel. This was the first military Israeli attack on Lebanon, but it was not going to be the last.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Only a year later, and after being pushed out of Jordan, the PLO moved into south Lebanon. This resulted in a number of skirmishes with the Lebanese Army but, later on in November 1969, Egyptian President Nasser brokered a deal between the PLO and the Lebanese Government which allowed the PLO to move its major base for its operations against Israel to Lebanon. Rachid Karami, the then Lebanese Prime Minister, refused to be the Lebanese official to sign the document. He did not want his endorsement to be seen as that of a Sunni leader compromising the sovereignty of Lebanon. Instead, the Army Chief, Emille Boustany (a Maronite), was asked to go to Egypt to ratify the agreement.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The agreement became known as the “Cairo Agreement” and it was successful in easing the tension between the Lebanese Army and the PLO, but it opened a Pandora’s Box to other tension and conflict.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Proponents of Lebanese identity, <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">i.e.,</em> the Maronite political establishment, accused the PLO for creating a state within a state and blamed it for dragging Lebanon into confrontation with Israel; a matter that did not concern it. The Lebanese Left disagreed and argued that Lebanon could not bury its head in the sand and pretend that the Arab/Israeli conflict did not include Lebanon and that – with or without the presence of the PLO – Lebanon would eventually be dragged into taking its rightful place in history.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By the mid 1970s, the division in Lebanon over the issue was so intense that it was ripe for a civil war, and that was exactly what happened.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Four and a half decades later, Lebanon is still reeling from the outcome of that Civil War and all the identity issues that have been tugging it in different directions; one advocating for it to be in the bosom of the West, and the other to be at the forefront of resistance. In 1975 however, no one ever imagined that there would be a Lebanese force as mighty and organized as Hezbollah; a force that changed all formulations and predictions and redefined Lebanon.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This takes us back to the Lebanese Shia. Up until the mid to late 1960s, the literacy rate among Lebanese Shia was low, and they mostly lived in neglected villages in the Bekaa Valley or South. The living situation there was very dire, and many Shia moved to live in poorer outskirts of Beirut. Their situation there was not much better, but at least there were work and education opportunities.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Back when the Lebanese constitution was agreed to and written, the Shia were the underprivileged sector of the Lebanese community, the neglected ones, or the “Mahroumin” (the deprived ones) as the leader, Imam Moussa Assader, eventually named his movement. In a move that is akin to other Lebanese sects, Assader urged the Shia to take arms. He was renowned for saying “arms are the ornaments of men”.</p><div class="wp-caption alignleft" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_36340" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: left; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 7px 10px 0px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 247px;"><a href="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1982.map_.israeliadvance.gif" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36340" class="wp-image-36340 size-full" data-attachment-id="36340" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="1982.Map.IsraeliAdvance" data-large-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1982.map_.israeliadvance.gif?w=237" data-medium-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1982.map_.israeliadvance.gif?w=237" data-orig-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1982.map_.israeliadvance.gif" data-orig-size="237,257" data-permalink="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/09/01/lebanons-dilemma-a-revolving-identity-crisis/1982-map-israeliadvance/" height="257" loading="lazy" scale="0" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1982.map_.israeliadvance.gif" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="237" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-36340" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Israeli invasion, 1982</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Mahroumin movement eventually morphed into Amal (meaning hope), and eventually, Hezbollah rose to existence as a splinter group after the Israeli invasion of 1982, all of which shortly followed the disappearance of Imam Moussa Assader in Libya in 1979.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Without going much into details, what is pertinent here is that when the Lebanese Civil War broke out in 1975, it was between the Right wing predominantly Christian militia on one hand, and the PLO and Lebanese Left on the other hand. And even though the Left had many members and leaders who were Shia, the Shia as a group were not a party to the conflict.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By the mid to late 1970s, friction started to develop between different PLO factions and the people of South Lebanon who are mainly Shia. I will deliberately avoid the argument of taking sides here not only because there are many sides to it, but also because the issue at hand is the actual conflict and not its causes. Either way, by the time the Israeli invasion of Lebanon took place in June 1982, many Lebanese houses flew white flags and greeted the Israelis almost like liberators. Some readers, especially those who have never been to Lebanon will disagree, but I have experienced and seen this with my own eyes. In no time at all however, the Israeli occupation revealed its true nature and the initial attitude towards it by those Lebanese dissolved within weeks and the resistance started to take form.</p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_27017" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 1610px;"><a href="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-alain-mingam-gamma-rapho-via-getty-images.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27017" class="wp-image-27017 size-full" data-attachment-id="27017" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="<p>Surviving Palestinian civilians returning to the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila after the massacre carried out by Phalange-linked militiamen, Beirut, Lebanon, September 21, 1982. | Alain MINGAM/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)</p>
" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images","camera":"","caption":"LEBANON - SEPTEMBER 21: The massacre of Palestinians in Sabra and Shatilah in Beirut, Lebanon on September 21, 1982 - Surviving families returned to the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila near Beirut to assess the extent of the massacre of 300 to 1500 Palestinians by Christian militiamen . The killong took place while the Israeli army was stationed around the Palestinian refugee camps. (Photo by Alain MINGAM\/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)","created_timestamp":"401414400","copyright":"2011 Gamma-Rapho","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"The Massacre Of Palestinians In Sabra And Shatilah In Beirut, Lebanon On September 21, 1982.","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="The Massacre Of Palestinians In Sabra And Shatilah In Beirut, Lebanon On September 21, 1982." data-large-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-alain-mingam-gamma-rapho-via-getty-images.jpg?w=500" data-medium-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-alain-mingam-gamma-rapho-via-getty-images.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-alain-mingam-gamma-rapho-via-getty-images.jpg" data-orig-size="1600,1000" data-permalink="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2018/09/18/sabra-and-shatila-new-revelations/the-massacre-of-palestinians-in-sabra-and-shatilah-in-beirut-lebanon-on-september-21-1982/" height="1000" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-alain-mingam-gamma-rapho-via-getty-images.jpg" srcset="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-alain-mingam-gamma-rapho-via-getty-images.jpg 1600w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-alain-mingam-gamma-rapho-via-getty-images.jpg?w=150&h=94 150w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-alain-mingam-gamma-rapho-via-getty-images.jpg?w=300&h=188 300w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-alain-mingam-gamma-rapho-via-getty-images.jpg?w=768&h=480 768w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-alain-mingam-gamma-rapho-via-getty-images.jpg?w=1024&h=640 1024w" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="1600" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-27017" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Surviving Palestinian civilians returning to the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Beirut after the massacre carried out by Phalange-linked militiamen, September 21, 1982. The massacre was organized by Israel after the Reagan administration gave it the “green light” to invade Lebanon earlier that year | Alain MINGAM/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1982.sabra-and-shatila.jps_.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-36265" data-attachment-id="36265" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="1982.Sabra and Shatila.JPS" data-large-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1982.sabra-and-shatila.jps_.jpg?w=300" data-medium-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1982.sabra-and-shatila.jps_.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1982.sabra-and-shatila.jps_.jpg" data-orig-size="300,225" data-permalink="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/09/01/lebanons-dilemma-a-revolving-identity-crisis/1982-sabra-and-shatila-jps-2/" height="369" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 492px) 100vw, 492px" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1982.sabra-and-shatila.jps_.jpg" srcset="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1982.sabra-and-shatila.jps_.jpg 300w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/1982.sabra-and-shatila.jps_.jpg?w=150&h=113 150w" style="border: 0px; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="492" /></a></p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_27015" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 510px;"><a href="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-sharon-bettmanngetty-images.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27015" class="wp-image-27015 size-full" data-attachment-id="27015" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="<p>Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon riding in an IDF armored personnel carrier to link up with Lebanese Christian forces in East Beirut, Lebanon, June 15, 1982 | Bettmann/Getty Images</p>
" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Bettmann Archive","camera":"","caption":"Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, r, in combat helmet and flak jacket rides in APC leading his troops to a hookup with Christian forces in East Beirut. Israel has virtually cutoff Palestinian guerrillas and Syrian troops in Beirut.","created_timestamp":"392947200","copyright":"This content is subject to copyright.","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Defense Minister Ariel Sharon","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Defense Minister Ariel Sharon" data-large-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-sharon-bettmanngetty-images.jpg?w=500" data-medium-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-sharon-bettmanngetty-images.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-sharon-bettmanngetty-images.jpg" data-orig-size="1600,1110" data-permalink="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2018/09/18/sabra-and-shatila-new-revelations/defense-minister-ariel-sharon/" height="347" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-sharon-bettmanngetty-images.jpg" srcset="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-sharon-bettmanngetty-images.jpg?w=500&h=347 500w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-sharon-bettmanngetty-images.jpg?w=1000&h=694 1000w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-sharon-bettmanngetty-images.jpg?w=150&h=104 150w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-sharon-bettmanngetty-images.jpg?w=300&h=208 300w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/sabra-sharon-bettmanngetty-images.jpg?w=768&h=533 768w" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="500" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-27015" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Israeli Defence Minister Ariel Sharon riding in an IDF armoured personnel carrier to link up with Lebanese Falange Christian forces in East Beirut, Lebanon, June 15, 1982 | Bettmann/Getty Images</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the late 1980s, the Civil War was coming to an end, and as Lebanon was already decimated, the Maronites, Sunnis and Druze were all growing battle weary after fighting each other, the Shia began to take a more leading role. Justified by the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon, Hezbollah rose to prominence as a liberating force.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In hindsight therefore, as the Maronites, Sunnis and Druze were fighting over the division of power and how to split the spoils, they inadvertently not only weakened themselves, but also ended up empowering the forgotten group; the Shia.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hezbollah proved to be a formidable force capable not only of engaging in guerrilla warfare with Israel, but also actual battle. For that reason, it gained unprecedented support and respect, not only within Lebanon, but also within the entire Arab World and beyond.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When the war on Syria took form, Hezbollah proved to have the power of a regional player, and not only that of a domestic one. Its involvement in Syria was instrumental in turning the tide in favour of the Syrian Government. All the while, as Syria and Hezbollah were scoring military victories within Syria, the Saudi/American influence in Lebanon was fading. The so-called 14th of March coalition was already fragmenting and losing momentum.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The once Western vassal has made a 180 degree turn and Lebanon catapulted itself right out of the Western sphere of influence. Not only it was no longer the Switzerland of the East, but it became the heart and centre of the anti-Israel Axis of Resistance.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As the Civil War in Lebanon was winding down in 1989, the warring parties met in Taif, Saudi Arabia, to reach an agreement. The agreement (known as the Taif Agreement) did not declare clear winners and losers, but stipulated that Muslims have equal number of members of Parliament to replace the former 11-9 ratio of the 1943 constitution. Later, the Lebanese Forces were disarmed, and their leader Samir Geagea was imprisoned.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Clearly, the traditional political Maronite establishment was seen as the undeclared loser of the war.</p><div class="wp-caption alignright" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: right; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px 7px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 166px;"><img alt="" class="" height="156" scale="0" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/f23ec-aoun.jpg" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="156" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Michel Aoun</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Almost in parallel to the rise of Hezbollah to prominence, former Lebanese Army Chief Michel Aoun attempted to gain popularity amongst Lebanese Christians by blaming his political rivals,<em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> i.e.,</em> the Phalangists and their off-shoot, “The Lebanese Forces”, for the dilution of the Christian power in Lebanon and the loss of the Civil War to the Left. According to his argument, the traditional Maronite political establishment has failed its obligation in protecting the position of the Lebanese Maronites, as stipulated by Patriarch Howayyek. He offered himself and his movement to replace the failed traditional Maronite political powers and to be the proper protector of the Maronites. This move split the Maronites and allowed him to challenge the traditional leaders and their political parties.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As a former enemy of Syria living in exile in France for 15 years, Aoun approached Hezbollah as a potential political ally and, Hezbollah in return, negotiated peace for him with the Syrian Government. All of this happened whilst Hezbollah was also entering the Lebanese political game and having elected members of parliament and eventually ministers.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Lebanese political system is not a two-party system. The closest resemblance it has to a two-party system is that it is based on two coalitions of many minor parties. But those minor parties change sides quite often. It was therefore essential for both Aoun and Hezbollah to forge a strong alliance because, each of them alone, has control of no more than 15 per cent of the seats. They however, managed to rally up a majority, and eventually Aoun was elected as President in 2016.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Forward to the present moment, traditional Sunni, Maronite and Druze leaders are now all united in their anti-Hezbollah stance. In more ways than one, they seem as if they wish they could wind back the clock to the pre-Civil War days when their power-sharing excluded the Shia. The current street uprising however is presenting a new phase; as we shall see in the next chapter of this series.</p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 21px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; color: green; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">V. A century-long “Mark Time”</span></span></h3><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_36343" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 510px;"><a href="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/haitham-moussawi..jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36343" class="wp-image-36343 size-full" data-attachment-id="36343" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="<p>2015.02.16.A Lebanese woman waves Hezbollah’s flag in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburb. Al-Akhbar\Haitham</p>
" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Haitham Moussawi." data-large-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/haitham-moussawi..jpg?w=500" data-medium-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/haitham-moussawi..jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/haitham-moussawi..jpg" data-orig-size="780,498" data-permalink="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/09/01/lebanons-dilemma-a-revolving-identity-crisis/haitham-moussawi/" height="319" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" src="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/haitham-moussawi..jpg" srcset="https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/haitham-moussawi..jpg?w=500&h=319 500w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/haitham-moussawi..jpg?w=150&h=96 150w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/haitham-moussawi..jpg?w=300&h=192 300w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/haitham-moussawi..jpg?w=768&h=490 768w, https://tonyseed.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/haitham-moussawi..jpg 780w" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="500" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-36343" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A Lebanese woman waves Hezbollah’s flag in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburb, in February 2016 | Al-Akhbar\Haitham</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Mark Time” is a military march term that means marching in place without moving forward, and this is what Lebanon seems to be doing despite the many steps it took in lifting its position in the past and its mark in history recently.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The victories of both Hezbollah and Aoun came at an economic cost to Lebanon even though Lebanon was not placed under Western sanctions as such. The newly appointed Lebanese cabinet is not even able to approach friendly neighbours for financial assistance because it is tainted with corruption. Corruption however has been used as an excuse to sideline the Lebanese Government, but this is because of its close links with Hezbollah, and not because of corruption alone.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As the spearhead of the Axis of Resistance, Lebanon was not only trying to lick its wounds after a decade and a half of devastating civil war, but it was no longer a tourist and banking hub for visitors and investors alike. Furthermore, many Lebanese from different religions and sects did not want Lebanon to morph into such a status and preferred to see Lebanon returning to its former “glory” even if this meant kowtowing to the American/Israeli roadmap.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The power imbalance between the Israeli war machine and the Syrian army might have changed in favour of Syria as the war on Syria has managed to create a much more advanced Syrian Army. Prior to this development however, Syria did not have the advanced military hardware to engage in a conventional war with Israel directly, and Lebanon became the recipient of Syrian and Iranian military aid given to Hezbollah to resist Israel at an asymmetric, non-conventional level. This angered the anti-Syrian/Iranian sector of the Lebanese community even further.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By 2016, the American/Israeli/Saudi camp had lost its ground in Lebanon and Lebanon was, in theory, on the verge of capitalizing on a hard-earned victory that was achieved against all odds. The battle not yet won however, was the one against corruption, and this is shaping up to be the biggest challenge thus far.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The economy is in ruins and Gibran Bassil (Aoun’s son-in-law), has purportedly amassed $11 Bn in stolen monies from the Lebanese public and public purse, but he is not alone. Virtually all traditional Lebanese political leaders are now accused of major theft and it is believed that there is a total of $800 Bn in looted monies. The state debt is in excess of $15 Bn, the coffers of the central bank are almost empty, and the Government is unable to meet its debt repayment commitments. Adding insult to injury is the fact that there is a huge untapped gas deposit recently discovered off the coast and within national waters, but the government is too inept to capitalize on it to inject the economy with badly needed funds.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As the Lebanese anger spilt into the streets demanding all politicians to be held accountable, one would find it very surprising if the West did not see in the phenomenon a window of opportunity to jump onto the band wagon and find another foothold in Lebanon; one that is on the surface endorsed by the legitimate will of the people in their battle against very corrupt government officials and establishment.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Consumed by anger, a sense of being deceived and robbed clean, the Lebanese people felt more united than ever, and they have been able to express their unity under the banner of the Lebanese flag; the same flag that was repudiated and ridiculed two generations ago.<br />But does this mean that the majority of Lebanese people have had an “awakening” and finally realized that they are all Lebanese and that there is no further need to squabble over their identity? Does this mean that the majority of Lebanese have by now endorsed Patriarch Howayyek’s vision and that they fully uphold the Lebanese identity and political integrity and total independence from anything Syrian or Arab? On the surface, the easy answer that comes to mind is yes, but at a deeper level, this is not the case; and this is neither unrealistic nor pessimistic to say.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What is uniting the protestors at a political level is, in reality, their aversion to Syria, Hezbollah and Iran. Because Hezbollah is a political ally of Aoun and has senior ministers in the cabinet, the mainstream media rhetoric is hijacking the anger, making Hezbollah, Syria and Iran appear as if they are the cause of all mayhem and corruption.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">One must be honest here and state that the corruption has taken place under the watchful eyes of Hezbollah and it either should have stopped it if it was able to, or stepped aside. It did neither. That said, the culprits behind public theft are the traditional Sunni, Maronite and Druze leaders; and this includes virtually all of the so-called 14th of March Coalition politicians, <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">i.e.,</em> the Hariri camp. Shiite Amal leader, Nabih Berri, has also been named as a huge benefactor of corruption. Furthermore, not a single Hezbollah official has been named or caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but the street anger is focused against Hezbollah and its leadership. There are also accusations that Hezbollah has been sending thugs to hit and intimidate protestors and videos were produced to prove it, but in reality, none of these accusations can be adequately corroborated.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Is Hezbollah at fault in all of this? As I have indicated in some Saker <a href="http://thesaker.is/the-heading-of-the-rolling-heads-of-lebanon/" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">articles</a>, I believe that Hezbollah’s biggest mistake was to enter Lebanese politics. Lebanese politics is a piece of dirt, and dealing with it soils one’s hands, irrespective how careful one is. But even if the resistance wing of Hezbollah decides to quit politics now, and leave the people’s representation in the hands of allied politicians, it cannot wind back the clock.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It must be emphasized repeatedly that the Lebanese uprising is legitimate in as far as its demands for reform and holding politicians accountable for their theft. Apart from the agitators and implants sent to wreak havoc, those who took to the streets plus those who stayed at home and supported them in their hearts and minds are all united. But they are united by this common interest only.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At a deeper philosophical level however, the divisions within the Lebanese people are still there; only the players and their aspirations have changed. If we go back to 1920, the main proponent of Lebanese identity and independence was only the section of the Maronites who were supportive of Howayyek’s model. The Lebanese Left did not exist back then, but patriotic Lebanese from Maronites, other Christians, as well as Muslims were all against it. They wanted to be reunited with Syria. Nearly half a century later in 1975, on the eve of the Civil War, the identity rift was between the Right wing Maronite militia on one hand, and the PLO and the Lebanese Left on the other hand. The former regarded Lebanon as a part of the West and the latter regarded Lebanon as a part of the Arab World and that it had an obligation towards Palestinians.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Apart from standing up against corruption and the utter failure of the state and its political custodians, today’s uprising continues to be about the definition of Lebanon and its regional place. The divisions today are between the Axis of Resistance and the proponents of the West. The players have changed slightly, but they are still playing the same game that divided their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents before them.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Those now flying Lebanese flags continue to have the traditional Right wing Maronite establishment at their core, but this time they include some who have almost overnight become vehemently Lebanese. They are mainly the section of the Sunnis who are anti-Hezbollah and anti-Syria sympathizers. But the Christian voice itself has now been split between that of the traditional Maronite establishment and the supporters of Frangieh and Aoun. Frangieh, a Maronite leader, the grandson of Lebanon’s President Suleiman Frangieh at the time the Civil War commenced, is vehemently pro-Syria, pro-Hezbollah and against the Right wing “Lebanese Forces”. And though he is a political rival of President Aoun, the two are united on the same political platforms.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And if one dissects the passion of Sunnis who are anti-Syrian, anti-Hezbollah and anti-Iran, one can clearly see the sectarian undertone of aversion towards anything that is perceived as Shiite.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On the other side of the divide, the Axis of Resistance has Hezbollah at its centre (which is Shiite), supported as per above by two Christian leaders; Aoun and Frangieh, and by what is left of the Lebanese Left which includes Lebanese of all religions and sects.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It would be therefore inconclusive to say that a century after its inception, the people of Greater Lebanon have come of age and are united in endorsing the identity that Patriarch Howayyek and French General Gouraud had stipulated for them. If anything, the divisions now run deeper.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How will the uprising in Lebanon pan out is anyone’s guess, what is obvious however is that as Lebanon is poised to enter its second century, and as it turned from a pro-Western puppet state into the centre of the Axis of Resistance, the West is making another bid to pull it back under its belt by supporting the uprising allegedly in the name of human rights and giving the people what they want. If Lebanon goes the full circle, it will be to the detriment of the Axis of Resistance, but on the other hand for the hand of the West to be kept at bay, Lebanon will not be able to survive unless major reform is implemented and the economy is back on track.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sadly, few among those squabbling are truly addressing the real identity question of Lebanon. They are looking everywhere in search of their identity and <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">raison d’etre</em> but ignoring the truth.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">These articles are not intended to vouch for the SSNP and its argument that promotes the unification of Greater Syria, but with or without the SSNP, Lebanon is part of Syria and this is a historical and demographic fact.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In my personal view, the problems of Lebanon will not be resolved until Lebanese people come to the realization that they are not superior to Syrians as many of them think, but that they are the same people. The presence of the Syrian Army in Lebanon between 1976 and 2005 provided an excellent opportunity to bring the hearts and minds of Lebanese and Syrians back together. In hindsight, it was a wasted opportunity that ended up deepening the fissure instead of healing it. </p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Either way, Lebanon had had its run as an independent nation state and it failed. Until someone comes with a magic potion, its infrastructure has been relegated, it remains heavily in debt and polluted, and its people remain divided in their loyalties.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">THE END</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Slightly edited for spelling and grammar by TS, with the addition of maps and photos (not all!).</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ghassan and Intibah Kadi are <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">analysts of Middle East affairs and contributors to this blog</span>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ghassan Kadi, a native of Beirut, is the author of </span></em>An Epic of Integrity: The Chronicles of the War on Syria<em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> (June 2016). <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Visit Intibah and Ghassan Kadi’s <a href="http://intibahwakeup.blogspot.ca/" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">website</a>.</span></em></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBxT7lKcYjzBQTDH5yn-BFXpf2sXeENdLAAFh0zjQXpjnByhZumxGhdmOuKiT603Jn1ygzOI1HbTBxMNX-wmhCu1WAhvAcXX7Jd-g4KjgHLligv2GoDZQqVbtrc-Rf4ECWCgxFa3UMPHW/s1936/Beit+Sanine+Steps.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="1288" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBxT7lKcYjzBQTDH5yn-BFXpf2sXeENdLAAFh0zjQXpjnByhZumxGhdmOuKiT603Jn1ygzOI1HbTBxMNX-wmhCu1WAhvAcXX7Jd-g4KjgHLligv2GoDZQqVbtrc-Rf4ECWCgxFa3UMPHW/w333-h500/Beit+Sanine+Steps.jpg" width="333" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-61602726083135641312020-08-30T04:47:00.003+03:002023-02-18T03:57:18.912+03:00 Popular Uprising Against US-led Intervention in Northeast Syria Will Escalate, Analyst Foresees. Interview with Ghassan Kadi, 25 August 2020 <p><span style="font-size: large;">Popular Uprising Against US-led Intervention in Northeast Syria Will Escalate, Analyst Foresees. Interview with Ghassan Kadi.</span></p><p><a href="goog_1222393694"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></a></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202008251080266837-popular-uprising-against-us-led-intervention-in-northeast-syria-will-escalate-analyst-foresees/">https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202008251080266837-popular-uprising-against-us-led-intervention-in-northeast-syria-will-escalate-analyst-foresees/</a></span></p><div class="article__header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><h1 class="article__title" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 36px; line-height: 1.05; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Popular Uprising Against US-led Intervention in Northeast Syria Will Escalate, Analyst Foresees</h1><div class="article__info " data-nosnippet="" style="-webkit-box-pack: justify; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__info-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="convert-date m-active" data-unixtime="1598356800" href="https://sputniknews.com/20200825/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 1; text-decoration-line: none; visibility: visible;" title="News archive">12:00 GMT 25.08.2020</a> <span class="article__info-date-modified convert-date m-active" data-unixtime="1666212143" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 1; visibility: visible;">(Updated: <span class="date" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">20:42 GMT 19.10.2022</span>)</span></div></div><div class="article__announce" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="ar16x9" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1080266837" data-photoview-image-id="1077230177" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20200825/popular-uprising-against-us-led-intervention-in-northeast-syria-will-escalate-analyst-foresees-1080266837.html?share-img=1077230177" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107723/01/1077230179_0:0:3073:2048_1440x900_80_0_1_4c2de22fd1f8765cf2061fd527f33a4a.jpg.webp?source-sid=ap_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt=" US Army, soldiers surveil the area during a combined joint patrol in Manbij, Syria (File) - Sputnik International" data-source-sid="ap_photo" media-type="ar16x9" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107723/01/1077230179_0:160:3073:1889_600x0_80_0_0_a1890e992979faf7b40db5425ec99403.jpg.webp" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title=" US Army, soldiers surveil the area during a combined joint patrol in Manbij, Syria (File)" /></div></div><div class="media__copyright " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;">© AP Photo / Spc. 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flex: 1 1 0%; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;"><div class="article__author-name" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 5px; max-height: 1e+06px; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;">Ekaterina Blinova</div><div class="article__author-links" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 8px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="m-color-main" href="https://sputniknews.com/author_ekaterina_blinova/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="All materials">All materials</a><a data-modal-open="feedback_author" href="mailto:e.blinova@sputniknews.com" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="Write to the author">Write to the author</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__announce-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 20px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Trouble is brewing for the US-led coalition forces, with unidentified groups sporadically attacking American outposts, convoys and bases over the past several months in northeastern Syria. Ghassan Kadi, a political analyst of Syrian descent, shed light on the emerging popular resistance against US-backed militants within the country.</div></div><div class="article__body" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">On 20 August, prominent members of Arab tribes in the northeastern Syrian city of Aleppo and <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202008211080234048-arab-tribes-pledge-to-take-action-against-american-occupiers-in-northeastern-syria/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">vowed to support a popular resistance against US troops and their 'proxies'</a>, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who have been maintaining illegal bases in the oil-rich regions of Eastern Syria.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Thursday's statement came on the heels of the Arab Al-Uqaydat tribal summit in Deir ez-Zor Governorate which held the US-led coalition responsible for murdering tribal sheikhs in the area. Syrian tribal leaders gave the US military and the SDF a month to pull out of the region.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Meanwhile, <a href="https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202008191080208481-how-local-arab-uprising-in-northeast-syria-may-wipe-us-forces--their-sdf-proxies-out-of-the-region/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">the number of sporadic attacks against American and allied SDF military installations</a> and convoys on the ground is soaring. On August 18, three small Kaytusha rockets <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202008181080209725-three-rockets-strike-us-base-in-syrias-deir-ez-zor/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">exploded near a US Conoco base in Deir ez-Zor Governorate</a>.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">US Occupation Disrupted Supply Chains & Looted Syrians Resources</h2><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"What we are seeing is probably <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202008181080205985-anti-us-protests-grip-hasakah-qamishli-in-wake-of-attack-on-syrian-troops--photos-video/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">the beginning of an uprising against the US-led foreign intervention</a>," suggests Ghassan Kadi, a Middle East expert and political analyst of Syrian descent. "Don’t forget that people of the Al-Hasakah, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and Qamishli governorates have suffered immensely under ISIS (ISIL/Daesh)* and fought to liberate themselves from it, only to find themselves under another occupation that is based on American hegemony that is looting their resources and preventing the supply chain of food and basic necessities from reaching them. Needless to mention the huge drop in the Syrian Lira, which is causing an enormous increase in the cost of living."</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The political analyst believes that the "Arab tribal militia" is perhaps more accurate and descriptive than the other term that is sometimes used, namely, the "Popular Resistance of the Eastern Region" aka "Popular Resistance in Raqqa". The latter is a paramilitary group headquartered in the province of Raqqa.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">"This is an organised group that was formed under a different name by Suleiman Al-Shwakh," Kadi explains. "Al-Shwakh was assassinated in Damascus in August 2019 and his murder remains unsolved. He was a Syrian War veteran who had fought in Aleppo and Palmyra."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Still, the emerging resistance movement in northeastern Syria appears to be bigger than that, the expert believes. </p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"The spontaneous demonstrations of citizens of the region who are blocking US military routes with their bare hands is a stark indication that those citizens do not have to belong to an organised group to show their anger at the presence of those troops," he underscores.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Meanwhile, the same day when three missiles struck near Conoco, a Russian military convoy returning from a humanitarian mission was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) near the At-Taim oil field, about 15 km outside the city of Deir ez-Zor. <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202008181080207189-russian-general-killed-two-troops-injured-in-roadside-blast-in-syria/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">The blast claimed the life of a Russian major-general</a> and left two troops injured.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">However, according to Kadi, if the IED that killed General Asapov was built and placed by a northeastern resistance group, "then this would mean that this was a tragic accident", as the emerging resistance in northeast is not anti-Russian.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">In the aftermath of the deadly explosion, <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202008191080211157-russian-investigative-committee-opens-case-over-death-of-russian-general-in-syria/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">the Russian Investigative Committee opened a case</a> over the death of the major general and the injury of the two soldiers.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="media" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1080266837" data-photoview-image-id="1072337186" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20200825/popular-uprising-against-us-led-intervention-in-northeast-syria-will-escalate-analyst-foresees-1080266837.html?share-img=1072337186" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107233/71/1072337187_0:0:4000:2672_1440x900_80_0_1_a747ea54aa298059a3e35057ff816ba0.jpg.webp?source-sid=ap_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="Popular Uprising Against US-led Intervention in Northeast Syria Will Escalate, Analyst Foresees - Sputnik International" class="" data-source-sid="ap_photo" data-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107233/71/1072337187_0:0:4000:2672_600x0_80_0_0_0fc84306869ac4750525e2d97c77527a.jpg.webp" media-type="photo" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107233/71/1072337187_0:0:4000:2672_600x0_80_0_0_0fc84306869ac4750525e2d97c77527a.jpg.webp" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title="Popular Uprising Against US-led Intervention in Northeast Syria Will Escalate, Analyst Foresees" /></div></div><div class="media__description " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 3px; max-height: 1e+06px;">A view of the city of Deir ez-Zor, Syria, Friday, Sept. 15, 2017</div><div class="media__copyright " data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;">© AP Photo</div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Trump Appears to be Lesser Evil for Syria Than Biden</h3><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">"Whether the attacks on American and possibly SDF locations escalate into something bigger or not is anyone’s guess," the Middle East expert opines. "What does seem to be most likely is that they are not going to stop. History clearly shows that guerrilla warfare against occupiers can be effective and even if it remains sporadic, it almost invariably comes at a huge cost to the occupier. That said, my guess is that it will escalate."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">One might wonder whether the anti-American resistance is being coordinated by some extraterritorial regional players. Responding to this question, Kadi notes that though the resistance, be it in under the wing of the organised Popular Resistance of the Eastern Region, tribal leaders or individuals, will take help from any sympathiser and supporter, as it is home-grown and grass-root in the first place.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"Sooner or later, American troops will have to leave Syria. They'll either choose to leave or the'll be forced to," he stresses.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Still it remains unclear how the US' Syria strategy will change after the 2020 elections and whether Donald Trump will deliver on his promise and withdraw American military personnel from the region if he wins in November.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"I believe that despite all the inexcusable and unforgivable atrocities of the Trump administration in Syria, and which include looting Syria’s oil, burning wheat crops, allowing Turkey to deprive the Al-Hasakah region from water for domestic use, just to name a few, Trump is the lesser evil", Kadi opines.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">He does not rule out that the US incumbent president "was pushed to take actions he did not want to take and would rather withdraw".</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">"As for what a Joe Biden win can result into, with his weakness and diminishing mental faculties, he will most likely be a very pliable yes-man, putty in the hands of the deep state, its hawks, cronies, henchmen and beneficiaries," the analyst concludes.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">*Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and many other countries.</em></p></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6L_tWc_dCrBLlYEOKJVzr_qfMJMp00BunZP6HsUn4QDZqOnj7zHn9TF6ptVr04N839lqf_TOa6Pps-hYXADxKdSTpk5wYvEjltvSLYDKMJoRi0fjGTa3w19AD_R-_nygIZyaccce9NJMl/s3291/156810914_752428035457609_7529566903021227088_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="3291" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6L_tWc_dCrBLlYEOKJVzr_qfMJMp00BunZP6HsUn4QDZqOnj7zHn9TF6ptVr04N839lqf_TOa6Pps-hYXADxKdSTpk5wYvEjltvSLYDKMJoRi0fjGTa3w19AD_R-_nygIZyaccce9NJMl/w400-h116/156810914_752428035457609_7529566903021227088_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-21379607246692696532020-08-21T04:14:00.002+03:002023-02-18T03:58:26.561+03:00THE HEZBOLLAH - FRANCE TWIST By Ghassan Kadi 20 August 2020<p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Ghassan Kadi's latest thoughts about the visit of France's Macron to Lebanon.</span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /><br /><a href="http://thesaker.is/the-hezbollah-france-twist/"> http://thesaker.is/the-hezbollah-france-twist/</a></span></p><div class="post-title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">The Hezbollah-France Twist:</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">14324 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;">August 20, 2020</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="https://thesaker.is/the-hezbollah-france-twist/#comments" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; text-decoration-line: none !important; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">14 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">By Ghassan Kadi for the Saker Blog</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The intriguing twists and turns following the catastrophic explosion at Beirut’s Sea Port have thus far had international repercussions, beginning with the visit of French President Marcon to Beirut just three days after the disaster; a visit that could hardly be classified as a visit of a foreign head of state to another country.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Marcon did not go to Lebanon just to meet with Lebanese President Aoun, even though the two did meet.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Macron met with the political leaders of Lebanon; aka the traditional power brokers, including the heads of militia who have steered Lebanon into the 1975-1989 civil war, destroyed the state that was once called the Switzerland of the East, and continued to rule Lebanon thereafter, leading to its almost total demise.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Macron’s visit left behind major pointers:</p><ol style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">With the arrogance of a returning colonial head, he literally told the Mafia leaders that he does not trust them. He announced that foreign aid will not be handed to Lebanese authorities and that they all benefited from the collapse of the Central Bank and that they know that he knows that.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">He shunned the Lebanese President Aoun at his news conference that followed his meeting with him and had him literally pushed away. This humiliation is forever etched on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVYUeCSbuxM" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">film</a>.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">He promised to return to Lebanon on the 1<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">st</span> of September, the centennial anniversary of Lebanon in its current political and geographical form. He gave the leaders until that date to resolve the endemic problem of corruption otherwise he would bring in a new pact.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">What was least reported about his visit was his insistence that Hezbollah was represented in his <a href="https://www.almada.org/%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%8A%D8%AC%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%B9-%D9%85%D8%B9-8-%D9%85%D9%85%D8%AB%D9%84%D9%8A-%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%82%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5/?fbclid=IwAR0EJ_I5lyIFoWVtBRwyqvnwGpDhqn3FTUhOyC7ZDF7QAQ3z7kVaY63p7Vw" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">meeting</a> with Lebanon’s political leaders.</li></ol><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">According to international law, French President Macron has no business interfering with Lebanese politics. Reality stipulates otherwise. What Marcon said to Lebanese leaders on the August 7 visit is tantamount to saying that France created Lebanon a hundred years ago, then left it later in Lebanese hands, but the Lebanese failed, and that the leaders have until the 1<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">st</span> of September 2020 (the centenary of the State) to fix it. Either way, Marcon will be back on the 1<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">st</span> of September to recreate Lebanon with or without them.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">A few days after his departure, Western frigates steamed into Beirut’s devastated Sea Port and without any coordination with what is left of the Lebanese authorities.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">With the military vessels came aid, medical aid in the form of field hospitals, medicines, as well as food and fuel aid, all of which are most welcome and needed by Lebanon. Of note was the ‘miraculous’ international attention and focus on a country and people who have been robbed by their own leaders and punished by the West for having Hezbollah involved in the political process of administering the country.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It would be foolhardy to assume that the Beirut Sea Port disaster and the decision for the UAE and Israel to formally establish a diplomatic relationship a few days later were events that were connected and deliberately planned and timed. Such initiatives take much time to develop. That said, the Beirut disaster might have lubricated some rusty deadlocks and facilitated some movements, decisions, and possibly generated some unforeseeable domino effects.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Whichever way seen, the situation in Lebanon reached a breaking point, perhaps only salvageable by way of radical measures including steps to save its people from certain famine.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">As a secular Syrian/Lebanese Levantine who is patriotic and endeavours to see the Levant united, strong and in a position of self-determination, I cannot see a more important political objective to pursue other than achieving the ability of self-determination. After all, this is what all self-respecting people demand and expect.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In the following few paragraphs, I am stating historical facts that do not necessarily reflect my point of view.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Egypt took upon itself the slogan of ‘total liberation of Palestine’ during the era of Egyptian President Nasser from 1952 to 1970. But his successor, Sadat, was the first to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1978. Nearly a decade earlier however, Jordan expelled the PLO from its territory, inadvertently sending its fighters to Lebanon. In 1969, and after a number of clashes between the Lebanese Army and the PLO, a deal was brokered by Egyptian President Nasser between the Lebanese Government and the PLO and which allowed the PLO to use Lebanese soil to launch attacks on Israel. That was known as the Cairo Accord.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">For better or for worse, the Cairo Accord marked the end of Lebanon as a neutral state and put it in the forefront of confrontation with Israel.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">If we apply the above to the politics and political positions within Lebanon, please allow me to put on the hat of the devil’s advocate and speak on behalf of the anti-Axis of Resistance sector.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">As other Arab states have walked away from their roles in being defendants of the Palestinian cause and sold out to the Western Road Map one way or another, many Lebanese who have lived and were brought up with the concept that Lebanon was/is the Switzerland of East, neither accept nor understand why it suddenly became the spearhead of resistance against the Israeli/American/NATO-based influence of hegemony.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">If we add to this predicament the modus operandi of Israel and its Western backers, where adversaries and potential ones are given ultimatums to comply to their agendas or face decimation, then Lebanon has been placed in a very dangerous position, and in reality, it was.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Prior to this, after two decades of Arab-Israeli wars, Lebanon remained neutral. Even during the 1967 so-called Six-Days-War, Lebanon maintained its neutral stance and did not partake. With Egypt signing a peace treaty with Israel, and Jordan following, the Axis-of-Resistance was transformed and reduced to the North-East borders of Israel; ie the Syrian/Lebanese-Israeli borders.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Many Syria haters condemn Syria for not opening its borders for direct confrontation with Israel since 1967. What those critics fail to understand is that Syria was not equipped sufficiently to fight a conventional war with Israel; especially after the dismantling of the USSR. Syria however did everything within her power to provide the Axis-of-Resistance forces in Lebanon with all support possible to engage in asymmetric wars with Israel, and the investment paid dividends; the most impressive of which was the liberation of South Lebanon from Israeli forces in May 2000.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Many Lebanese will disagree with the above and proclaim that Lebanon was left alone. In more ways than one, they are right given that, notwithstanding Syria’s support, all of the military confrontations actually took place on Lebanese soil. This ultimately meant that the entire onus of the Arab cause of confrontation with Israel has been thrown on the shoulders of the little state of Lebanon.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Many Lebanese are supportive of this view, including pro Axis-Of-Resistance Lebanese who feel that they have been sold out by Arab complacency and treachery.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In reality, Arabs have to make up their minds and do this collectively. They must either decide to resist the American/Israeli Road Map or agree to endorse it. Neither stand is being taken where instead they stand on a half-way mark; a mark that does not hurt them, but is devastating Lebanon.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Recently, the Arabian Gulf states publicly made direct and indirect indications of desiring peace with Israel. However, they lacked the fortitude to sign peace agreements despite often working together covertly and at times overtly. In the last few days, the United Arab Emirates decided to break the mould and establish reciprocal diplomatic relationships with Israel. This came as no surprise.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Of interest is that Lebanese President Aoun appears to be capitalizing on this event in order to extract himself out of the corner he painted himself in.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Beaten, abandoned and shunned, in a recent address, Aoun hinted to the possibility of negotiating <a href="https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/lebanons-president-says-country-could-consider-peace-with-israel-638806" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">peace with Israel</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Aoun has a long history of a revolving door when it comes to changing allies and enemies. As Army Chief in the early 1980’s, he was an ally of the Christian Militia (Lebanese Forces) and jointly fought the Syrian Army presence in Lebanon. Later that decade, he turned against the ‘Lebanese Forces’ and, in the midst of a sectarian civil war, engaged himself in a bitter Lebanese Christian Maronite versus Christian Maronite battle, causing much devastation to an already shattered Beirut and neighbouring areas. This was just before he was forced into exile in France by the Syrian Army, only to return to Lebanon fifteen years later as an ally of Syria and Hezbollah in 2005.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In his ascendance to the Presidency in 2016, an achievement finally reached at the age of 80, unlike others who virtually inherited the position from their elders, Aoun displayed, at least publicly, a spark which many interpreted as coming from the fact that he, independently, built his own political career.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Senile as he may appear, and under the influence of his highly corrupt son-in-law, Gebran Bassil, he is possibly still capable of finding alternative ways to survive, at least for the continuation of his legacy that could see his son-in-law at the presidential helm.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">According to a private political source from a friend who is well connected, away from the public eye, some negotiations are underway between France and Hezbollah. The insistence of France to have Hezbollah represented in the wider meeting of Lebanese leaders with Marcon was only meant to be an introduction for further talks, and specifically to more bilateral talks that involve France and Hezbollah. According to the friend, Macron is trying to push for a French initiative that breaks the deadlock between Hezbollah and the West. The details of such talks are not clear yet, but all parties to be involved will be asked to accept certain concessions.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">As a matter of fact, it has been reported recently that Macron has told Trump that the American sanctions on Lebanon are <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/08/08/Macron-told-Trump-that-US-sanctions-on-Lebanese-groups-counterproductive-Official" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">counterproductive</a>. This makes one wonder if this is an attempt on the part of Macron to bolster his initiative with credibility and support from Hezbollah. With this said, Macron will have to take a very long shot to be trusted by Hezbollah, if this is achievable at all.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In the meantime, President Aoun is quite aware of this and is feeling excluded and abandoned, even by Lebanon’s traditional ‘mother’; ie France. He is in desperate need to resurrect his position.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In touting peace talks with Israel, Aoun seems to be making three pertinent statements. He is signaling to Hezbollah that he is prepared to sever his political alliance with them, but more importantly, he is signaling to the whole West, primarily to the USA, that he is a viable negotiation partner, desirous to sign a peace treaty with Israel. He knows how such words resonate to American foreign policy architects. Most importantly perhaps, Aoun is signaling to Macron that it is pay-back time. He is showing Marcon the finger and reciprocating his ‘undiplomatic’ demeanour, presenting to him that he is prepared to marginalize Marcon and France as a whole by directly talking to America, leaving France out of a new historic Middle East peace deal.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Such a desperate attempt may lure America to sit at the negotiating table with Aoun, but it will not resolve the anger and agitation against the leadership regarding the numerous domestic problems leading up to the Sea Port disaster and what followed.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Will the USA swallow Aoun’s bait and go out of its way to save his hide? No one knows. What seems inevitable is that, with or without any warming up of relations between France and Hezbollah, Hezbollah is undertaking much <a href="https://www.asasmedia.com/news/386695?utm" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">restructuring</a> and reinvention. Hezbollah leadership is quite aware that the time of its political alliance with Aoun is over one way or another, and is currently considering the implementation of many changes, albeit their details remain unclear.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The events of the next few weeks, especially following the upcoming second visit of Macron on the 1<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">st</span> of September, will be pivotal in deciding the fate and roles of all stakeholders and entities that have held the fate of Lebanon in their hands.</p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwu-E4hBk9F1bkut5PSwKJr8dpW1Oa-CVeFSWGqlW4xlTdbBIqVibFrNo_cQhBmOKblPYO8IhH-9GTcoefMB_dm0pf-6sCuW90VYXIrGLFMw7k51D4uIQa0I2ZjwlR_VhKGqJQf-Fc7mSb/s1936/IMG_0166.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1288" data-original-width="1936" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwu-E4hBk9F1bkut5PSwKJr8dpW1Oa-CVeFSWGqlW4xlTdbBIqVibFrNo_cQhBmOKblPYO8IhH-9GTcoefMB_dm0pf-6sCuW90VYXIrGLFMw7k51D4uIQa0I2ZjwlR_VhKGqJQf-Fc7mSb/s640/IMG_0166.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-46688537038477029112020-08-21T03:58:00.006+03:002023-02-18T03:59:25.559+03:00Lebanon’s future: Lebanon’s Mutasarrifate Take II By Ghassan Kadi and Edited by Tony Seed <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0HSDwC9QmDQPiBmFnNJKH3xODD-GAGiib_iPFEPIew_mTiB44_vcO0IzajXFJjkRb1_KVVvSiTzKu55TqYGUduG3zFJpmY8eqylaeubJOs0-fgD-zDeMW-ve-HUcQMs-bvLZCpv8smH5A/s1936/IMG_7597.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1288" data-original-width="1936" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0HSDwC9QmDQPiBmFnNJKH3xODD-GAGiib_iPFEPIew_mTiB44_vcO0IzajXFJjkRb1_KVVvSiTzKu55TqYGUduG3zFJpmY8eqylaeubJOs0-fgD-zDeMW-ve-HUcQMs-bvLZCpv8smH5A/s640/IMG_7597.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: georgia, "bitstream charter", serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 33px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/08/13/lebanons-future-lebanons-mutasarrifate-take-ii/" rel="bookmark" style="border: 0px; color: #1873a1; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lebanon’s future: Lebanon’s Mutasarrifate Take II</a><br /><div class="entry-meta" style="background: rgb(245, 245, 245); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #333333; display: inline; float: left; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 6px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">AUGUST 13, 2020 · 1:51 PM</div><div class="jump" style="border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #333333; display: inline; float: right; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/08/13/lebanons-future-lebanons-mutasarrifate-take-ii/#comments" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="meta-nav" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">↓ </span>Jump to Comments</a></div></h1><h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 33px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/08/13/lebanons-future-lebanons-mutasarrifate-take-ii/" rel="bookmark" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lebanon’s future: Lebanon’s Mutasarrifate Take II</a></h1><h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: georgia, "bitstream charter", serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 33px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="entry entry-content" style="border: 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1.7em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; color: green; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ghassan Kadi’s thoughts about the crisis facing Lebanon</span></span></p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="The Fall and the Fall of Hariri" class="alignleft" height="110" scale="1.5" src="https://i1.wp.com/dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Ghassan-Kadi-864x400_c.jpg" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/dxczjjuegupb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Ghassan-Kadi-864x400_c.jpg?zoom=2 1.5x" style="display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-right: 7px; max-width: 100%;" width="237" />(August 10) – Most of the current instability in the Levant and the whole Middle East is inadvertently and inadvertently a result of the obsession about Israel’s security; both from the Israeli as well as the American sides. That said, many of the region’s problems are deep-rooted and go back to times before Israel was created and before America had any influence.<span id="more-35379" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the middle part of the Nineteenth Century, and whilst the entire Levant was under Ottoman rule, sectarian strife between Lebanese Maronites (a regional Catholic sect) and Druze (regional esoteric Muslim-based faith) left thousands savagely butchered, towns decimated, and civilians displaced. The strife escalated in 1860-1861, and as it was obvious back then that the Ottoman Empire was not far from its demise, the West was looking for half an opportunity to interfere in the Levant; and under the guise of protecting the Lebanese Maronites, coerced the Ottomans to give Mount Lebanon autonomy, under the auspices of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lebanon_Mutasarrifate#Creation_of_the_Mutasarrifate" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">West</a>.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img class="aligncenter" height="402" scale="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/1860_in_Lebanon.jpg?1597590986498" style="clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="503" /></p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This all happened prior to WWI, before Sykes Picot, and before any single Western nation could make a claim on Lebanon. The decision had then to be reached by consensus. This is why it was jointly reached by France, Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia. The Ottomans had no choice but to accept and dilute their influence in the region by giving the West a post within the Ottoman Empire.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The French proposed that the ruler should be given the title of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plenipotentiary" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Plenipotentriary</a>, and the word was translated to a Turkish word of Arabic origin, Mutasarrif, but that person was appointed by the West; not by Turkey, and the political entity itself was called the Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For readers interested in my take and analysis on Lebanon’s recent history in a more detailed but concise narrative, they can go to this <a href="https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2020/02/lebanons-dilemma-revolving-identity_27.html" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">reference</a>. In brief, Grand Liban (Greater Lebanon) was created by the French under the demand of the then Maronite Patriarch Howayyek in 1920. It was meant to give Lebanese Christians a sense of security, and to be a neutral country in the Middle East; with a Western outlook.</p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 608px;"><img alt="" class="" height="698" scale="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Garnier%2C_F._A.%2C_Turquie%2C_Syrie%2C_Liban%2C_Caucase._1862._%28C%29.jpg?1597590559166" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="598" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mutasarrifate of Lebanon, 1862</p></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 99%; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 810px;"><img alt="" height="1412" scale="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Mount_Lebanon%2C_Ottoman_Syria_1914.png/800px-Mount_Lebanon%2C_Ottoman_Syria_1914.png?1597590719745" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="800" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mutasarrifate of the Ottoman Empire, 1861–1918</p></div><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This article will not discuss the geopolitical changes that have happened since. They are in the link above. That said, with the many changes over the last century, the situation in Lebanon has become untenable.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In summary, and among other things, Lebanon has to find a way to deal with Israel, with Syria which is the heart of the axis of resistance and support of Hezbollah, its Arab neighbours who are predominantly against Syria and Hezbollah, devise a united policy as to the status and level of the presence of Hezbollah, find a way out of the current financial collapse and redefine the country’s position as either a neutral country or a spearhead of resistance.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But this is easier said than done not only because of the political divisions, but also because of the endemic corruption of its Mafia lords; Lebanon’s ruling elite and their cronies.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">These are the family lines of the same lords that led Lebanon into the civil war. They all have little armies, real armies; some with tanks and artillery. The Lebanese Army is incapable of crushing them, and even if it attempts to, it will have to attack them all at once; not one at a time without risking being accused of impartiality and giving favours.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Those leaders are accused of having thieved $800 Bn from Lebanon and siphoned it overseas. And in as much as they loathe each other, they equally need each other because the existence of each of them is contingent upon that of the others.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Much has been blamed in the past on the disunity of the Lebanese themselves, but when literally millions took to the streets in October 2019, they were united, they carried the slogan of ‘kellon yani kellon’ (all of them means all of them). But before too long, meddlers and thugs were set up inside their camps wreaking havoc and disunity. The protestors were hoping that the Lebanese Army would make a move and start arresting the leaders and the cronies implanted amongst them, but the army itself is bogged down in the same game of dirty politics and loyalties.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In simple terms, the Lebanese people can become united if they have the will and they have done so in the past. They have learned this lesson the hard way, but they simply do not have the means and the power to dislodge the ruling families who control everything; all the way from daily bread to election results.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The country has been struggling for years with mountains of rubbish that the government has not been able to process, electricity shortages, water shortages, soaring unemployment just to name a few problems. It is little wonder why the economy collapsed and the Lira lost nearly 80% of its value in the last few months. Add to this COVID-19, the Caesar Act, and now the Beirut Sea-Port explosions.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Of interest to note is that the latest events in Lebanon have been capitalized on to raise the level of dissent against Hezbollah. According to some, Hezbollah was blamed for everything; even including the sea-port disaster.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sometimes however, disasters offer silver linings. The cries of Lebanese citizens in the streets of major cities did not generate any global compassion, but after the massive blast, there seems a change in this respect.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Many nations have come forward and offered to assist the Lebanese people, and their governments are not shying away from stating that they will not entrust this aid to the Lebanese Government for distribution to those in need. This is because the whole world, not only the Lebanese people, no longer trust Lebanese officials.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Thus far, among a list of nations, aid and offers of aid came from Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the USA, and ironically, even from<a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284745" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Israel</a> .</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But no aid offer has thus far come close to that of France. French President Marcon did not only make a promise, but he also visited Lebanon and walked on Ground Zero (thereby shooting the concept of nuclear attack in the guts) and made a very intriguing yet audacious promise. He promised Lebanon a ‘<a href="https://www.axios.com/emmanual-macron-beirut-visit-lebanon-explosion-71aef35b-97d2-4669-82ad-e1b0cfc6aab4.html" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">new political pact’</a>.</p></div></h1><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 21px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; color: green; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What does a ‘new political pact’ exactly mean?</span></span></h3><h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: georgia, "bitstream charter", serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 33px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="entry entry-content" style="border: 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1.7em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This promise harks back to the days of colonization when France did not only actually draw the map of the new state of Lebanon and gave it a constitution that was shaped on France’s own, but it also goes back to the days when the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate was created, does it not?</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Macron went further and promised to return to Lebanon on the 1st of September 2020, a very ominous date indeed, a date that marks the centenary of the declaration of Grand Liban.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But Lebanon is no longer under French mandate, and France is unable to receive such a mandate without international support. That said, as unbelievable as it may sound, more than fifty thousand Lebanese have signed a <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2020/08/06/over-50-00-sign-petition-calling-for-france-to-take-control-of-lebanon" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">petition</a> asking France to take control of Lebanon for the next ten years. And speaking of former colonizers, if such a poll was taken for the return of Turkish rule, perhaps more would sign it as the popularity of Erdogan is growing within the Sunni street.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is not to say that Lebanese people want to be ruled by a foreign entity. It is simply because they are feeling beaten, robbed, hungry, terrorised, so helpless and have lost total faith in their own leaders and political process and are desperately screaming out for help from outside.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If the events of 1860-1861 have generated enough Western ‘sympathy’ to ‘help’ the people of Lebanon, then the events of 2020 are much more prominent and offer a much bigger opportunity and lure for a new-style intervention.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But once again, France cannot get away with doing this alone. With Russia already on the ground in Syria and America looking for a new role in Lebanon, France would have to get them on board somehow. It is plausible that a new international conference that of course includes Russia but also Turkey, but not Iran, may soon be convened to discuss the political future of Lebanon.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This time, the West will have a significantly larger incentive than the one it had back in 1861, because this time around, it will have one small eye on Lebanon, and the bigger eye on the security of Israel, as well as seeing in this an opportunity they have not been able to achieve by other means in order to reach a deal that stamps out Iranian influence and presence just at the door step of Israel’s borders.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If the international community were serious about helping the Lebanese people and the Lebanese Army, it is quite capable of freezing the assets of the corrupt leaders and repatriating those funds to jump-start the economy again. Lebanon has a huge wealth of highly qualified professionals, many of whom currently are unemployed, and are desperately needing work in a country that desperately needs rebuilding. But would they be trusted, given their miserable track record, and who would they be answerable to if they breached the agreed mandate?</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But such a plan, devised by an international conference would not bear fruit unless it puts teeth into the decision, sending troops to disarm the relatively small militia of the corrupt politicians, forcefully if needed. Theoretically, and with good intentions, this is conceivable. However, since when has such an operation ever been genuinely executed and free of abuse and various stakeholder’s pursuing their nefarious agendas. How could we forget Libya? That said, the intervention in Libya was NATO-based, the presence of Russia and possibly China in any international agreement over Lebanon will add more balance.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><blockquote style="background: rgb(245, 245, 245); border-color: rgb(187, 187, 187); border-image: initial; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px; color: #666666; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.7em; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 10px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 7px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; color: green; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But no one will be able to disarm the formidable army of the true resistance, Hezbollah, any more than Hezbollah will agree to lay down its weapons.</span></span></p></blockquote><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But no one will be able to disarm the formidable army of the true resistance, Hezbollah, any more than Hezbollah will agree to lay down its weapons.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">According to my analysis and predictions, it appears likely that some type of intervention will occur to cleanse the country of the political elite and their private interest militias. The pact will draw a line somewhere in South Lebanon, keep an area under Hezbollah’s control, and have Hezbollah to agree to leave Lebanese politics. This would be the biggest concession that Hezbollah will agree to, if it does. This will not give Israel all of what it wants, because such an outcome will not safeguard it from Hezbollah’s rockets, however Israel cannot expect more than that, if it does.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Russia may use this ‘opportunity’ to reach a way out of the deadlock and find a political settlement with the USA over their differences in Syria. But for this to happen, Syria will also need to agree to remove Iranian influence and presence from Syrian soil, as this fact has caused so much growing divisiveness in the region and provided an excuse for further Israeli aggression and US presence in Syria.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Most ironically in this particular context, even Chairman Nasrallah referred to silver linings in his latest speech on the 8th of August 2020, following the sea-port disaster. He said “from the womb of the tragedy, opportunities are born, and that <a href="http://almanar.com.lb/7062970." style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">international discussions</a> emerging from this incident are an opportunity that must be capitalized upon by the Lebanese.” I do not profess to know what Chairman Nasrallah meant, but he did add that all of those who are hedging their bets on the failure of the resistance will eventually fail.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lebanon has probably gone the full circle, and the age of Mutasarrifate Take II is possibly only around the corner.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If Marcon is true to his word, for better or for worse he needs to act fast because he knows that the condition of the Lebanese people is dire. But no doubt, given his country’s history great skepticism prevails.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tragically, such an outcome will catapult Lebanon right back into the age of Western custodianship. Depending on its fine details, and unless it stipulates the lifting of sanctions on Syria, its outcome may have serious further economic repercussions on Syria. Furthermore, it will take away many of the achievements of the Axis of Resistance, realistically however, such an outcome is not far-fetched.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The murderous, greedy, filthy and corrupt Lebanese political leaders would not have only destroyed Lebanon’s economy, but also returned it to the doldrums of the age of colonization.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ghassan and Intibah Kadi are <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">analysts of Middle East affairs</span>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ghassan Kadi, a native of Beirut, is the author of </span></em>An Epic of Integrity: The Chronicles of the War on Syria<em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> (June 2016).<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Visit Intibah and Ghassan Kadi’s <a href="http://intibahwakeup.blogspot.ca/" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; color: #1c9bdc; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">website</a>.</span></em></p></div></h1><p><br /><a href="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/08/13/lebanons-future-lebanons-mutasarrifate-take-ii/?fbclid=IwAR1xBgLCtLtWWLUBzsGSYSRI_pxXh7_OTAJV9swHSk97cqCm_ZJLu0eKG2U"> https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/08/13/lebanons-future-lebanons-mutasarrifate-take-ii/?fbclid=IwAR1xBgLCtLtWWLUBzsGSYSRI_pxXh7_OTAJV9swHSk97cqCm_ZJLu0eKG2U</a></p><p><br /></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-68487062445322981572020-08-16T13:53:00.005+03:002020-08-16T13:56:12.020+03:00Introduction by Tony Seed: The Speculations by everyone but the Lebanese Resistance and the Lebanese Public on the Beirut Explosions. By Intibah Kadi <p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/08/14/the-speculations-by-everyone-but-the-lebanese-resistance-and-the-lebanese-public-on-beirut-explosions/"> https://tonyseed.wordpress.com/2020/08/14/the-speculations-by-everyone-but-the-lebanese-resistance-and-the-lebanese-public-on-beirut-explosions/</a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidVS9c_huqRevh1JBXeEgI69EuQ7B7T3e9zftYo8Z3APs1PKkJeXrgnPBsQzToMvJut8hV58o1wyHOxyQcc8RotRZDwYuxcC_kxHgm0HOJciL8auttulx-QTzmoJId41EB7wYLq9OcLLH0/s1935/Port+Cropped.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="1935" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidVS9c_huqRevh1JBXeEgI69EuQ7B7T3e9zftYo8Z3APs1PKkJeXrgnPBsQzToMvJut8hV58o1wyHOxyQcc8RotRZDwYuxcC_kxHgm0HOJciL8auttulx-QTzmoJId41EB7wYLq9OcLLH0/w512-h195/Port+Cropped.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-39764213046461854952020-08-12T14:17:00.007+03:002023-02-18T04:03:37.730+03:00LEBANON'S FUTURE: LEBANON'S MUTASARRIFATE TAKE II: By Ghassan Kadi. 10 August 2020<h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "roboto slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Lebanon’s future: Lebanon’s Mutasarrifate Take II:</h1><p>Ghassan Kadi 10 August 2020<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://thesaker.is/lebanons-future-lebanons-mutasarrifate-take-ii/?fbclid=IwAR3OVe525CTlhaWh41xKOuGupmvfxYZTpf0kuzR9kxUZwdlvTqgDfI7iHkE">http://thesaker.is/lebanons-future-lebanons-mutasarrifate-take-ii/?fbclid=IwAR3OVe525CTlhaWh41xKOuGupmvfxYZTpf0kuzR9kxUZwdlvTqgDfI7iHkE</a></span></p><div class="post-title" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 2px;">Lebanon’s future: Lebanon’s Mutasarrifate Take II:</h1></div><div class="entry-meta" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); border-top: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><span class="post-views" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">8737 Views</span><span class="post-date date updated" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;">August 10, 2020</span><span class="post-comments" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 6px 14px;"> <a href="https://thesaker.is/lebanons-future-lebanons-mutasarrifate-take-ii/#comments" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) !important; text-decoration-line: none !important; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">17 Comments</a></span></div><div class="post-content" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Most of the current instability in the Levant and the whole Middle East is inadvertently and inadvertently a result of the obsession about Israel’s security; both from the Israeli as well as the American sides. That said, many of the region’s problems are deep-rooted and go back to times before Israel was created and before America had any influence.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In the middle part of the Nineteenth Century, and whilst the entire Levant was under Ottoman rule, sectarian strife between Lebanese Maronites (a regional Catholic sect) and Druze (regional esoteric Muslim-based faith) left thousands savagely butchered, towns decimated, and civilians displaced. The strife escalated in 1860-1861, and as it was obvious back then that the Ottoman Empire was not far from its demise, the West was looking for half an opportunity to interfere in the Levant; and under the guise of protecting the Lebanese Maronites, coerced the Ottomans to give Mount Lebanon autonomy, under the auspices of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lebanon_Mutasarrifate#Creation_of_the_Mutasarrifate" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">West</a>.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This all happened prior to WWI, before Sykes Picot, and before any single Western nation could make a claim on Lebanon. The decision had then to be reached by consensus. This is why it was jointly reached by France, Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia. The Ottomans had no choice but to accept and dilute their influence in the region by giving the West a post within the Ottoman Empire.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The French proposed that the ruler should be given the title of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plenipotentiary" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">Plenipotentriary</a>, and the word was translated to a Turkish word of Arabic origin, Mutasarrif, but that person was appointed by the West; not by Turkey, and the political entity itself was called the Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">For readers interested in my take and analysis on Lebanon’s recent history in a more detailed but concise narrative, they can go to this <a href="https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2020/02/lebanons-dilemma-revolving-identity_27.html" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">reference</a>. In brief, Grand Liban (Greater Lebanon) was created by the French under the demand of the then Maronite Patriarch Howayyek in 1920. It was meant to give Lebanese Christians a sense of security, and to be a neutral country in the Middle East; with a Western outlook.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This article will not discuss the geopolitical changes that have happened since. They are in the link above. That said, with the many changes over the last century, the situation in Lebanon has become untenable.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In summary, and among other things, Lebanon has to find a way to deal with Israel, with Syria which is the heart of the axis of resistance and support of Hezbollah, its Arab neighbours who are predominantly against Syria and Hezbollah, devise a united policy as to the status and level of the presence of Hezbollah, find a way out of the current financial collapse and redefine the country’s position as either a neutral country or a spearhead of resistance.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But this is easier said than done not only because of the political divisions, but also because of the endemic corruption of its Mafia lords; Lebanon’s ruling elite and their cronies.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">These are the family lines of the same lords that led Lebanon into the civil war. They all have little armies, real armies; some with tanks and artillery. The Lebanese Army is incapable of crushing them, and even if it attempts to, it will have to attack them all at once; not one at a time without risking being accused of impartiality and giving favours.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Those leaders are accused of having thieved $800 Bn from Lebanon and siphoned it overseas. And in as much as they loathe each other, they equally need each other because the existence of each of them is contingent upon that of the others.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Much has been blamed in the past on the disunity of the Lebanese themselves, but when literally millions took to the streets in October 2019, they were united, they carried the slogan of ‘kellon yani kellon’ (all of them means all of them). But before too long, meddlers and thugs were set up inside their camps wreaking havoc and disunity. The protestors were hoping that the Lebanese Army would make a move and start arresting the leaders and the cronies implanted amongst them, but the army itself is bogged down in the same game of dirty politics and loyalties.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In simple terms, the Lebanese people can become united if they have the will and they have done so in the past. They have learned this lesson the hard way, but they simply do not have the means and the power to dislodge the ruling families who control everything; all the way from daily bread to election results.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The country has been struggling for years with mountains of rubbish that the government has not been able to process, electricity shortages, water shortages, soaring unemployment just to name a few problems. It is little wonder why the economy collapsed and the Lira lost nearly 80% of its value in the last few months. Add to this COVID-19, the Caesar Act, and now the Beirut Sea-Port explosions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Of interest to note is that the latest events in Lebanon have been capitalized on to raise the level of dissent against Hezbollah. According to some, Hezbollah was blamed for everything; even including the sea-port disaster.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Sometimes however, disasters offer silver linings. The cries of Lebanese citizens in the streets of major cities did not generate any global compassion, but after the massive blast, there seems a change in this respect.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Many nations have come forward and offered to assist the Lebanese people, and their governments are not shying away from stating that they will not entrust this aid to the Lebanese Government for distribution to those in need. This is because the whole world, not only the Lebanese people, no longer trust Lebanese officials.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Thus far, among a list of nations, aid and offers of aid came from Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the USA, and ironically, even from<a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284745" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;"> Israel</a> .</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But no aid offer has thus far come close to that of France. French President Marcon did not only make a promise, but he also visited Lebanon and walked on Ground Zero (thereby shooting the concept of nuclear attack in the guts) and made a very intriguing yet audacious promise. He promised Lebanon a ‘<a href="https://www.axios.com/emmanual-macron-beirut-visit-lebanon-explosion-71aef35b-97d2-4669-82ad-e1b0cfc6aab4.html" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">new political pact’</a>.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What does a ‘new political pact’ exactly mean?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This promise harks back to the days of colonization when France did not only actually draw the map of the new state of Lebanon and gave it a constitution that was shaped on France’s own, but it also goes back to the days when the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate was created, does it not?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Macron went further and promised to return to Lebanon on the 1<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">st</span> of September 2020, a very ominous date indeed, a date that marks the centenary of the declaration of Grand Liban.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But Lebanon is no longer under French mandate, and France is unable to receive such a mandate without international support. That said, as unbelievable as it may sound, more than fifty thousand Lebanese have signed a <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2020/08/06/over-50-00-sign-petition-calling-for-france-to-take-control-of-lebanon" style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">petition</a> asking France to take control of Lebanon for the next ten years. And speaking of former colonizers, if such a poll was taken for the return of Turkish rule, perhaps more would sign it as the popularity of Erdogan is growing within the Sunni street.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This is not to say that Lebanese people want to be ruled by a foreign entity. It is simply because they are feeling beaten, robbed, hungry, terrorised, so helpless and have lost total faith in their own leaders and political process and are desperately screaming out for help from outside.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">If the events of 1860-1861 have generated enough Western ‘sympathy’ to ‘help’ the people of Lebanon, then the events of 2020 are much more prominent and offer a much bigger opportunity and lure for a new-style intervention.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But once again, France cannot get away with doing this alone. With Russia already on the ground in Syria and America looking for a new role in Lebanon, France would have to get them on board somehow. It is plausible that a new international conference that of course includes Russia but also Turkey, but not Iran, may soon be convened to discuss the political future of Lebanon.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This time, the West will have a significantly larger incentive than the one it had back in 1861, because this time around, it will have one small eye on Lebanon, and the bigger eye on the security of Israel, as well as seeing in this an opportunity they have not been able to achieve by other means in order to reach a deal that stamps out Iranian influence and presence just at the door step of Israel’s borders.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">If the international community were serious about helping the Lebanese people and the Lebanese Army, it is quite capable of freezing the assets of the corrupt leaders and repatriating those funds to jump-start the economy again. Lebanon has a huge wealth of highly qualified professionals, many of whom currently are unemployed, and are desperately needing work in a country that desperately needs rebuilding. But would they be trusted, given their miserable track record, and who would they be answerable to if they breached the agreed mandate?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But such a plan, devised by an international conference would not bear fruit unless it puts teeth into the decision, sending troops to disarm the relatively small militia of the corrupt politicians, forcefully if needed. Theoretically, and with good intentions, this is conceivable. However, since when has such an operation ever been genuinely executed and free of abuse and various stakeholder’s pursuing their nefarious agendas. How could we forget Libya? That said, the intervention in Libya was NATO-based, the presence of Russia and possibly China in any international agreement over Lebanon will add more balance.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">But no one will be able to disarm the formidable army of the true resistance, Hezbollah, any more than Hezbollah will agree to lay down its weapons.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">According to my analysis and predictions, it appears likely that some type of intervention will occur to cleanse the country of the political elite and their private interest militias. The pact will draw a line somewhere in South Lebanon, keep an area under Hezbollah’s control, and have Hezbollah to agree to leave Lebanese politics. This would be the biggest concession that Hezbollah will agree to, if it does. This will not give Israel all of what it wants, because such an outcome will not safeguard it from Hezbollah’s rockets, however Israel cannot expect more than that, if it does.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Russia may use this ‘opportunity’ to reach a way out of the deadlock and find a political settlement with the USA over their differences in Syria. But for this to happen, Syria will also need to agree to remove Iranian influence and presence from Syrian soil, as this fact has caused so much growing divisiveness in the region and provided an excuse for further Israeli aggression and US presence in Syria.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Most ironically in this particular context, even Chairman Nasrallah referred to silver linings in his latest speech on the 8<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span> of August 2020, following the sea-port disaster. He said “from the womb of the tragedy, opportunities are born, and that <a href="http://almanar.com.lb/7062970." style="background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c424e; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;">international discussions</a> emerging from this incident are an opportunity that must be capitalized upon by the Lebanese” I do not profess to know what Chairman Nasrallah meant, but he did add that all of those who are hedging their bets on the failure of the resistance will eventually fail.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Lebanon has probably gone the full circle, and the age of Mutasarrifate Take II is possibly only around the corner.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">If Marcon is true to his word, for better or for worse he needs to act fast because he knows that the condition of the Lebanese people is dire. But no doubt, given his country’s history great skepticism prevails.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Tragically, such an outcome will catapult Lebanon right back into the age of Western custodianship. Depending on its fine details, and unless it stipulates the lifting of sanctions on Syria, its outcome may have serious further economic repercussions on Syria. Furthermore, it will take away many of the achievements of the Axis of Resistance, realistically however, such an outcome is not far-fetched.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The murderous, greedy, filthy and corrupt Lebanese political leaders would not have only destroyed Lebanon’s economy, but also returned it to the doldrums of the age of colonization.</p><div class="book-ads clearfix" style="background-color: white; border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 48px 0px; padding: 24px 0px;"><div id="book4" style="border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 359.15px;"></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjew9DiF0THDs1bwRr4kXMGLvoiTy02UxtDJrjTg_R1lCkj_V2AT2J5pl79ZSYfWwLVgtV9aBfi60TuMi7K09W6gfprX1XGRKLxKxfFO17qlCDVylsdhKUZJ8brtDb1bLmeZyNK9VtxXNO/s1936/IMG_7753.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="1288" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjew9DiF0THDs1bwRr4kXMGLvoiTy02UxtDJrjTg_R1lCkj_V2AT2J5pl79ZSYfWwLVgtV9aBfi60TuMi7K09W6gfprX1XGRKLxKxfFO17qlCDVylsdhKUZJ8brtDb1bLmeZyNK9VtxXNO/s640/IMG_7753.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757667580274211204.post-17413189059390774592020-08-07T13:59:00.009+03:002023-02-19T14:54:52.053+03:00Sputnik Interview with Ghassan Kadi on Future of Lebanon after Port Explosion. 7 August 2020<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ghassan Kadi's interview with Ekaterina Blinova on the state of Lebanon after the explosions at the Beirut port. <br /><br /><a href="https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202008071080086752-lebanon-has-reached-critical-point-that-challenges-its-survival-as-sovereign-state-analyst-warns/?fbclid=IwAR1hX47R9PA8LvFvDN5uxY-VNUU1B4xKD6CdkLsYjGVJbP8vkePuOtGW8xk"><br />https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202008071080086752-lebanon-has-reached-critical-point-that-challenges-its-survival-as-sovereign-state-analyst-warns/?fbclid=IwAR1hX47R9PA8LvFvDN5uxY-VNUU1B4xKD6CdkLsYjGVJbP8vkePuOtGW8xk</a></span><br /><br /></span></p><div class="article__header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><h1 class="article__title" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 36px; line-height: 1.05; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Lebanon Has Reached Critical Point That Challenges Its Survival as Sovereign State, Analyst Warns</h1><div class="article__info" data-nosnippet="" style="-webkit-box-pack: justify; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__info-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="convert-date m-active" data-unixtime="1596772800" href="https://sputniknews.com/20200807/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 1; text-decoration-line: none; visibility: visible;" title="News archive">04:00 GMT 07.08.2020</a> <span class="article__info-date-modified convert-date m-active" data-unixtime="1659790983" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 1; visibility: visible;">(Updated: <span class="date" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">13:03 GMT 06.08.2022</span>)</span></div></div><div class="article__announce" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="s405x229" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1080086752" data-photoview-image-id="1080067907" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20200807/lebanon-has-reached-critical-point-that-challenges-its-survival-as-sovereign-state-analyst-warns-1080086752.html?share-img=1080067907" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/08/05/1080067958_0:0:3072:2048_1440x900_80_0_1_d3a8070e77a30e62a2ee2ca301900b76.jpg.webp?source-sid=ap_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; 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white-space: nowrap;"><div class="the-in-carousel the-in-carousel__1676682238365 the-in-carousel__ready" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><iframe class="the-in-carousel__size-frame" name="the-in-carousel__1676682238365" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: 43.8375px; left: -6e+06px; margin: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; opacity: 0; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 600px; z-index: -100;" title="frame"></iframe><div class="the-in-carousel__stage" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="the-in-carousel__frame" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="the-in-carousel__pack" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; position: relative; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; width: 300px;"><div class="the-in-carousel__item m-active" data-item="1" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: left; margin-right: -1px; max-height: 1e+06px; min-height: 1px; width: 300px;"><div class="article__author-item" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px; vertical-align: top; white-space: initial; width: 300px;"><div class="article__author-wrapper" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%; padding-right: 20px;"><div class="article__author-info" style="-webkit-box-flex: 1; box-sizing: inherit; flex: 1 1 0%; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;"><div class="article__author-name" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 5px; max-height: 1e+06px; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;">Ekaterina Blinova</div><div class="article__author-links" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 8px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a class="m-color-main" href="https://sputniknews.com/author_ekaterina_blinova/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="All materials">All materials</a><a data-modal-open="feedback_author" href="mailto:e.blinova@sputniknews.com" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; margin-right: 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s; vertical-align: top;" title="Write to the author">Write to the author</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__announce-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 20px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The Tuesday explosion in Beirut’s port has pushed Lebanon to the edge, sparking the question whether the country is able to overcome the crisis, says Middle East expert and political analyst Ghassan Kadi, explaining why a money injection is not enough to save the country's economy.</div></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"></span></p><div class="article__body" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: PT_Root_UI, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 600px;"><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/world/202008051080067996-deadly-beirut-blast-all-you-need-to-know/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">The Beirut blast</a> has exacerbated the economic dilemma faced by the Lebanese government headed by Prime Minister Hassan Diab. Prior to the devastating explosion that almost completely destroyed the country's biggest port, the Lebanese authorities defaulted on sovereign debt repayments in March 2020 and held negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for receiving a $10 billion loan to reinvigorate the country's slumping economy.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">However, the talks “hit the rocks” in July 2020 as the parties involved failed to reach a compromise on a programme for Lebanon's domestic reforms. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-05/lebanon-explosion-seen-adding-urgency-to-talks-with-imf-lenders" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">According</a> to Bloomberg, the Tuesday tragedy may elevate the pressure on Diab to resume talks with international lenders and investors and embark on reforms.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Hassan Diab Gov't Has Made Little if Any Progress</h2><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"I am not even sure if Lebanon as we know it is going to outlive this crisis, let alone ponder into how it will manage to find a way into redevelopment", says Ghassan Kadi, a Middle East expert, blogger, and political analyst.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">He is not surprised by the previously stalled IMF-Lebanon talks: "The IMF and all former benefactors and creditors who have helped Lebanon in the past have lost their faith, knowing beforehand that any monies offered as donations or credit was going to fall into the pockets of corrupt politicians", the analyst highlights.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">In an October 2019 interview, the Mideast expert bemoaned the fact that <a href="https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201910251077151371-lebanese-protest-unlikely-to-turn-into-civil-war-unless-external-forces-derail-it/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">the country's successive governments had failed to fully rebuild the economy</a> following the 1975-1989 civil war due to sweeping corruption and nepotism. October's nationwide protests eventually led to the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Still, the country has not made much progress under his successor, Hassan Diab, according to the analyst.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"Hassan Diab seems to be operating from the position of political survival which is in its own strange, because he came into the political scene from nowhere, and with little or no hope of any political future", Kadi notes. "So one would think that this having-nothing-to-gain-or-lose status quo of his should have put him in a position of making bold reform decisions. But he did not produce much at all".</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The analyst is inclined to think that Diab is "either incapable of meeting the needs of the protestors or simply thinking of his own political future in a system that is ruled by cronies and mafia mentality".</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Just a day before the Beirut explosion, Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti quit, saying that there was "an absence of a real will to achieve the comprehensive and structural reform demanded by the national and international community", and that Lebanon was "sliding toward becoming a failed state".</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="media" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1080086752" data-photoview-image-id="1080084616" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20200807/lebanon-has-reached-critical-point-that-challenges-its-survival-as-sovereign-state-analyst-warns-1080086752.html?share-img=1080084616" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/08/06/1080084618_0:0:3072:2048_1440x900_80_0_1_e8d60969efe4e1c3109efec494cbb11a.jpg.webp?source-sid=reuters_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="Lebanon Has Reached Critical Point That Challenges Its Survival as Sovereign State, Analyst Warns - Sputnik International" data-source-sid="reuters_photo" data-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/08/06/1080084618_0:0:3072:2048_600x0_80_0_0_8835403d26225e4fe8decdab36b2b530.jpg.webp" media-type="photo" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/08/06/1080084618_0:0:3072:2048_600x0_80_0_0_8835403d26225e4fe8decdab36b2b530.jpg.webp" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title="Lebanon Has Reached Critical Point That Challenges Its Survival as Sovereign State, Analyst Warns" /></div></div><div class="media__description" data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 3px; max-height: 1e+06px;">A general view shows the damage following Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon August 6, 2020</div><div class="media__copyright" data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/docs/reuters.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;" title="© REUTERS / Bader Helal">© REUTERS / Bader Helal</a></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;">Dire Economic Situation</h3><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">It's particularly hard to bring the Lebanese economy back on track, according to the analyst: "Even before the explosion, the economy was in tatters", he says. "The Lebanese Lira lost approximately 80% of its value in the last few months".</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Currently, Lebanon's national debt amounts to nearly 170% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Besides this, the country's government budget deficit reached 11.4% of the country's GDP in 2019. With soaring inflation and surging unemployment, the country's poverty rates could rise from 30% to 50%, as the World Bank <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2019/11/06/world-bank-lebanon-is-in-the-midst-of-economic-financial-and-social-hardship-situation-could-get-worse" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">warned</a> in November 2019.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">In addition, "the country is under the tight noose of the Caesar Act, the local industries are at a stand-still, the cost of living is soaring and public servants are not getting paid as regularly as they should be, private companies are shedding their employees", the Mideast expert elaborates.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">The US Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act (Caesar Act), which came into force on 17 June 2020, targets entities conducting business with the Syrian government as well as Syrian industries, firms, and individuals. Given the longstanding ties between Lebanon and Syria, the US sanctions regime has exacerbated the situation even further for the small Mediterranean state of six million people.</p></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="media" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media" data-media-tipe="photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px; position: relative;"><div class="media__size" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="photoview__open" data-photoview-group="1080086752" data-photoview-image-id="1080082335" data-photoview-sharelink="https://sputniknews.com/20200807/lebanon-has-reached-critical-point-that-challenges-its-survival-as-sovereign-state-analyst-warns-1080086752.html?share-img=1080082335" data-photoview-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/08/06/1080082337_0:0:3499:2048_1440x900_80_0_1_b351f4eb859a4fedf4eb7aa7ea485e83.jpg.webp?source-sid=reuters_photo" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: zoom-in; max-height: 1e+06px;"><noindex style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"></noindex><img alt="Lebanon Has Reached Critical Point That Challenges Its Survival as Sovereign State, Analyst Warns - Sputnik International" data-source-sid="reuters_photo" data-src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/08/06/1080082337_0:0:3499:2048_600x0_80_0_0_8d9d78526ab538adc170a6c487a7d418.jpg.webp" media-type="photo" src="https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/08/06/1080082337_0:0:3499:2048_600x0_80_0_0_8d9d78526ab538adc170a6c487a7d418.jpg.webp" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 1e+06px; max-width: 100%;" title="Lebanon Has Reached Critical Point That Challenges Its Survival as Sovereign State, Analyst Warns" /></div></div><div class="media__description" data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 3px; max-height: 1e+06px;">People walk near the site of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon August 6, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher</div><div class="media__copyright" data-nosnippet="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="media__copyright-item m-copyright" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; max-height: 1e+06px;"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/docs/reuters.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #878787; max-height: 1e+06px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease 0s;" title="© REUTERS / Aziz Taher">© REUTERS / Aziz Taher</a></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article__block" data-type="text" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;"><div class="article__text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; max-height: 1e+06px;"><h4 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: Sputnik, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 15px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Lebanon is Not a Poor Country at All</h4><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Kadi foresees that the Beirut port blast <a href="https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202008051080064512-russia-to-deploy-mobile-hospital-in-beirut-to-provide-assistance-to-victims-of-devastating/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(255, 150, 0, 0.12); border-radius: 2px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #ff9600; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 5px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">may earn Lebanon a lot of sympathy</a>. He adds, however, that "any would-be donor or helper will find it very hard to trust any Lebanese official with such funds".</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">Even if potential foreign lenders fork out, the influx of money is unlikely to improve the situation unless the problem of corruption and capital flight is solved, according to the analyst.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">To begin with, Lebanon is not a poor country at all, but it has been "robbed" clean by corrupt politicians and their cronies over decades, he highlights.</p><blockquote class="marker-quote1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 0px 6px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; margin: 20px 0px; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 57px 20px 28px; position: relative;">"The ruling families that controlled Lebanon prior to the civil war have remained virtually unchanged with a few additions and omissions", Kadi notes. "Add to this the outcome of the 1975-1989 civil war, the serious unresolved outdated infrastructure crises, the ongoing disunity of the Lebanese people on local and regional politics, among other serious problems. When one combines all of the above, one can clearly see that Lebanon has reached a critical point that challenges its survival as a sovereign state".</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">This does not mean that there's no way out, the Mideast expert points out:</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">· <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; max-height: 1e+06px;">First</span>, if the hundreds of billions of dollars presumably deposited in Western banks by corrupt Lebanese politicians could be returned to the country, it would help solve the financial dilemma.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">· <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; max-height: 1e+06px;">Second</span>, add to this the fact that the Lebanese coast is rich in natural gas.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">· <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; max-height: 1e+06px;">Third</span>, Lebanon also has a huge human resource of elite professionals in all fields of science and technology. They have been a significant part of the backbone of the development of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. Businesses and jobs can be created for the unemployed professionals, but this time it will be to rebuild their own country.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-height: 1e+06px;">So, there are ways to tackle the crisis, the analyst sums up, adding that the only question is: "Who will do this?" </p></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinwFWW8J40ullKNLU8cxSIoZPfcL5cczLa8k-wmkFrCll4AbrmkBYA__G32EMLuvrwG_FJvXxho05UV9iiYJsGaZzXp7-_K3s7cKeHOl4lAva5uIP3VtDPs-zGZSjI8_iBb2L-kzPT6ksf/s1936/IMG_7343.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="1288" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinwFWW8J40ullKNLU8cxSIoZPfcL5cczLa8k-wmkFrCll4AbrmkBYA__G32EMLuvrwG_FJvXxho05UV9iiYJsGaZzXp7-_K3s7cKeHOl4lAva5uIP3VtDPs-zGZSjI8_iBb2L-kzPT6ksf/s640/IMG_7343.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Intibah Wakeup Kadihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07727824947793145656noreply@blogger.com0