FAILURE TO LEARN FROM FAILURE: By Ghassan Kadi

FAILURE TO LEARN FROM FAILURE:
By Ghassan Kadi  7 March 2014

 One wonders if the international US policies are just hypocritical or just utterly stupid.

Thugs, including nations that act like thugs, look at their moments of “victory”- or better described as moments of infamy- as defining moment for them to construct an image of themselves, an image that makes them look big and powerful in the perspective of their own egos, an image that they use to fuel their self-proclaimed stature of grandeur and power.

In the Middle East, we have seen this happen when and after Israel won the Six-Day War of 1967. After that war, Israel defined its army as the one and only mighty power in the region, an army that has air and land superiority, an army that was invincible.

It is the rifle on the ground that controls land and streets; not fighter-jets in the skies. The thuggish state of Israel continues to refuse to acknowledge that it was never able to control that land its fighter-jets paved the way for its tanks to roll into in 1967. Israel continues to pay for the price of the technologically-won victory. But this is not all, defeat after defeat from that “great” moment in Israeli greatest military achievement, Israel seems to continue to run on the euphoria of that 1967 win.

America is neither any better nor different. America became the world’s greatest superpower in the wake of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear strikes, and even though the USSR back then was only a few years behind in developing its own nuclear capabilities and arsenal, the USA remained on top by virtue of its strong economy and ability to funnel more funds into its military research than the USSR was ever able to.
But who cares about the USSR anymore? this is now all history and the New World Order (NWO) has seen the USA as the world’s only super power; something that hasn’t happened in the history of humanity since Rome.

But let’s rewind the clock a bit and dissect the numerous, the countless military ventures of the USA that happened in between that of Nagasaki and what is happening now in the Black Sea.

America’s first venture after WWII was Korea. The result was failure and America’s loss was face-saved with Korea’s partition.

Korea’s southern eastern Asian neighbour Vietnam was much less forgiving, and America had to leave its soils with its tail between its legs; even abandoning its own native allies.

In 1982, America sent “peace-keeping” forces to Lebanon only to soon engage militarily in order coerce Lebanon to capitulate to Israeli demands. A few weeks later, a truck bomb killed 241 American Marines and soon after America picked up the pieces and left Lebanon and this was during the time of the powerful and mighty Ronald Reagan presidency. The same type of sudden withdrawal happened in Somalia in 1992 after two Blackhawks were downed in a failed attack on the HQ of General Aidid.

But no failure was thus far even close to America’s failure to attack Syria. It failed before it started, or just as it did.

Yet, America seems to continue to fly high with the belief that it is invincible. In reality, the only conflicts in which it scored any success since WWII were in areas in which it did not receive much resistance or any at all.

In Iraq, the Iraqi Army was weary of a huge array of issues, and it did not fight to defend Baghdad in 2003. Libya and Serbia were abandoned by the international community including their ally Russia, and their resolve and fight-back capabilities were weakened, but the situation in Libya is at best not one that can be seen as a case of American success. The war in Afghanistan is not one that America can claim that it has won.

So the question is, where and when did this mighty America score any real military victory ever since the end of WWII? The correct answer to this is nowhere.

During the Bay of Pigs showdown in 1961, America claimed victory over the USSR, but Cuba remained a Soviet ally and continues to be a thorn in America’s backside.

The irony of the similarity here is that booth Israel and America continue to feel that they are invincible despite the many failures they have had since the moment that clinched in their minds their fantasy of military superiority.

Israel is now unable to secure any of territory and not only what it gained in 1967. It well knows that every inch is within reach of Hezbollah’s rocket power. Whilst back in 1967 Israel defeated the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan in six days, in 2000 it retreated and left Lebanon defeated under the fire power of Hezbollah alone. Later on in 2006, it lost another war against Hezbollah and in 2009 it wasn’t even able to defeat Hamas in Gaza. Yet and yet, the arrogance of the Israeli hierarchy is still based on the post 1967 euphoria and the fantasy of invincibility.

Thugs are thugs and they speak the same language and move by the same tactics of intimidation and bullying. Not before they suffer a blow that brings them down to reality in a manner that they cannot even try to stop to pretend that they are not aware of, they will continue to believe and act as if they are powerful.

This time, America is playing bully with Russia on Russian soil. Ukraine is Russian and it’s only perhaps Stalin’s “greed” to give the USSR the advantage of sixteen votes in the UN General Assembly that kept Ukraine as a state that was later on “entitled” to claim independence from Russia after the USSR had fallen apart.

For Russia and its strong man Putin, Ukraine is home, and if this is not alone enough reason to foresee the outcome of this conflict, it would be just enough to remember America’s post WWII performance.

WHY NONE BUT BASHAR? By Ghassan Kadi

WHY NONE BUT BASHAR?
Ghassan Kadi
6 March 2014

This article was published, taken off and revamped to make sure its wording cannot be misconstrued and used in a manner that is contrary to its objective. Initially titled “Why Bashar”, the title too had to be reworded to emphasize that the question implies that there is no choice for Syria at the moment but Bashar.

But when we discuss the Syrian leadership, we ought to be honest and address the issues that the anti-Bashar camp uses against him. Questions relating to his rise to power, a rise that was highly controversial among many Syrian scholars and intellectuals who did not accept it lightly, asking and wondering why is it that out of more than 10 million eligible Syrian adults would this man be plucked out of medical school and groomed to be president? In their inner circles, they questioned doesn’t the nation have brain and brawn outside the Assad family? When the late Hafez Assad died with Bashar being only 34 years old, the “outrage” grew even stronger when the constitution had to be amended to allow a 34 year old to assume presidency.

To answer this and many other questions, we may get some clues from the fact that the whole West with some regional countries, including Arab countries, all rose against him. Sometimes we know people by looking at their friends, and sometime by their enemies.
What is his “secret of survival?” is perhaps the most pertinent question now and how will this shape the future?

This week , and precisely on the 8th of March, we mark the 51st anniversary of the Baath Party coup when it assumed power in Syria. That coup came after a series of coups that left Syria highly unstable and with an economy that was in total ruins. It was also followed by another series of minor in-house coups fighting over the leadership of the Baath Party, and it wasn’t until Hafez Al-Assad did his “Corrective Action” and assumed power in 1970 that Syria had the coup to end all coups.

Economic and geopolitical realities dictate that the Assad era will be seen in history as a golden era in many respects. After all, under the Assads and the stability they brought, Syria went through a huge nation-building phase that has seen bold advances in most economic sectors. The infrastructure was boosted by big projects such as the Assad Lake at the Euphrates, a modern network of roads and telecommunications and much more. On the political level Syria bolstered its position as a regional leader and adamantly refused to kowtow to Western pressure by signing a peace treaty with Israel; a treaty that would have given Israel the upper hand. Instead, it worked diligently with the Lebanese Hezbollah and helped end the Israeli occupation of Lebanon.

But not all Syrians saw these realities despite their enormous magnitude and reach. Admittedly, the era had a dark side and some people were fixated on it. Before the war started, Syria was rife with corruption. Certainly, not everyone was corrupt, but corruption existed and was expected all the way from the lowest ranking government clerks to very high-ranking personnel. Bashar however, managed to keep a clean image, and even the staunchest of his critics would say that he was a clean man but surrounded by numerous very bad elements.

This week also marks the 3rd anniversary of the tragic war on Syria. With corruption weighing in and a nation that in the eyes of its enemies had seemingly grown weary from 40 years of one-family-one-party rule, when the war on Syria started, a war that included the least likely allies all the way from Western powers to Wahhabis, not forgetting the 14th March Coalition mosaic of Lebanon, the enemies of Syria were hoping that Syrians were sick and tired of the Assad legacy and that before too long the government would capitulate.

The biggest ace up the sleeve of the conspirators was the sectarian divide. Sunni fundamentalists within and outside Syria regarded the Syrian government as an infidel Alawi (Shiite) state that has gone in cahoots with Iran and one that intends to spread Shiite Islam at the expense of Sunni Islam. Moreover, they had always vowed to revenge their brothers who were eradicated by Hafez back in 1982. But Syria had a huge list of enemies by then ranging from Israel (and its Western allies) to Saudi Arabia to Islamic fundamentalists, not forgetting the Hamlet-like character, Saad Hariri of Lebanon, who accused Syria of killing his father and rounded up all Lebanese Syria haters under a very unlikely holy alliance that included Salafists and Christian right wing militia.

When the war started, some Syrians didn’t know which side of the fence to take. The fundamentalists and regime haters did not need to hesitate. This was the moment they had been waiting for. Some Syrians were taken by the euphoria of the Arab Spring and took to the streets demanding democracy, political plurality and reform; legitimate demands. But when the reality of the nature of the war against Syria surfaced, true patriots knew that they were duped and that all forms of reform would have to wait until the war has been won.

It was not a surprise then that the war mongers had to import and lure fundamentalist fighters from Sunni strongholds, and the more that came in, the more patriotic Syrians realised that the conspiracy was against Syria, all of Syria.

Back to Bashar. As genuine patriots called it a truce with the government and all their qualms were set aside, they had to rally around a figure that represented the country and they found this in Bashar. He was the “devil” they knew. Almost overnight, Basher found himself surrounded by an army of supporters who would bear their chests defending him as the image of their country. On the other hand, the opposition militants scrambled to find a figure head and image to lead them, and they never found one.

Bashar steadfastly galvanized all Syrian patriots including many former political enemies and dissenters. His in-home support was further bolstered by virtue of the international alliances he managed to upgrade during the war, specifically his relationship with Russia and Iran, and of course the strong battle-savvy, battle-hardened Hezbollah.

Bashar with his serene and confident smile came to symbolize the hope of his people as well as the face and voice that united them. Just like General De Gaulle galvanized the French Resistance and became its face and image, Bashar became the image of the Syrian resolve against the war on Syria. The enemies of Syria played a significant role in Bashar’s further spike in popularity. With every call from Hillary Clinton and later on her successor John Kerry, with every call of McCain, Erdogan, Mursi, King Abdallah, the Emir of Qatar, Netanyahu, Perez, all of whom are known enemies of Syria, with every call from each of them for Assad to step down, Assad gained thousands of more supporter in Syria.

From that point onwards, Bashar became the idol because he represented unity and resolve. Any attack on him became tantamount to an attack on Syrian unity and resolve. Bashar’s face became no longer his, his person is no longer his own, he is now public property; he became the face of Syria that Syrians genuinely wanted to post on their walls and shop fronts because they sincerely want to, not to appease the Mokhabarat (Secret Service) as some might have done in the past 40 years before the war.

When the war is over and Syria wins, his future and Syria’s future will be in his own hands. De Gaulle was eventually ousted in a referendum in 1968 and in between 1945 and 1968 he was the top man at the Élysée for quite a while during which he instituted many reforms including the Fifth Republic. In the upcoming Syrian presidential elections, Bashar will win with an overwhelming majority, people will head to the election booths with a clear vision as to why they are voting .

Enemies and critics Bashar and his father have always expressed doubts and cynicism about the results of previous elections, but in the upcoming elections, Bashar’s win will be only a reflection of what was forged by resolve, perseverance, and blood. He will probably get something like 70% or even more, a figure that Bashar will remember and take to bed with him every time he goes to sleep. How many democratically elected leaders in the world can boast such a result?

Genuine Syrians who carried the banner until they fell and paid for it with their blood, their loved ones, their wives, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, they will all be euphoric when the last terrorist has been stopped in his tracks. But after the dust has settled and the guns have gone silent, they will want what is owed to them and what their beloved ones spilt their blood for. They will expect reform. They will expect an end to corruption. They will expect cronies to be stopped and held accountable. They will want to keep the portraits of Bashar in their hearts and not only on their shop fronts. The future of Syria therefore, at least the short term future, is pretty much in his hands.

So why Bashar or why none but Bashar, we may ask
Love him or hate him, he is a continuation of a political dynasty that was launched by his father over 40 years ago; a legacy that has shaped Syria’s recent history, a presidency that has withstood the war and rose victorious, and the man who will decide the future of the country, at least in the short term. No other man in Syria can rival this position and role let alone replace him. Is it still a wonder why he was plucked to become President?

For some years to come, all eyes will be on this gallant man, the son of the wisest and most successful nation-builder in the Arab World.

PUTIN’S ULTIMATE TEST: Ghassan Kadi 21 February 2014

PUTIN’S ULTIMATE TEST:

Ghassan Kadi
21 February 2014


The world has already shifted from the single polarity of the post-USSR era of the so-called “New World Order” into a multipolar world in which the traditional stakeholders of the global wealth (ie Western nations) are falling heavily under debt. Needless to say their currencies, the US Dollar and the Euro are under severe threat. This Western predicament is further enhanced by the economic rise of the BRICS nations.

But this is not all. Militarily-speaking, the rise of China has been crowned recently by building its own aircraft carrier. There is little doubt that several more will be built. Chinese naval vessels are gallivanting around the China Sea posing real concerns for Japan, America’s regional ally and protectorate. The Chinese are little intimidated by the US-Japanese defence treaties and are simply doing what they believe is going to serve China’s interest, and in a manner as if the USA does not exist at all.

 India’s rise to military superpowerhood is not to be overlooked either. Apart from its nuclear capabilities, the Indian fleet is a force to be reckoned with.

 But of course history repeats itself, and more so frequently in this time and age. America’s biggest military rival will remain to be Russia, at least for a while yet being the nuclear power that it is and possessing superior military technology.

 Putin’s Russia has already dug the first stake into the heart of the New World Order five years ago, in Georgia to be exact. Later on, even though Russia did not veto the UNSC no fly resolution in Libya, Russia made a loud and clear message to the Americans that Syria is a red line that Russia will not allow them to cross. As a result, America suffered a huge humiliation and its dreams of bombarding Damascus into smithereens were put to rest when in last September Russia shot down a US missile heading towards Damascus and diverted another one by hacking into its system.

 Some observers deny this incident, but no observer with any level of vision can deny the sudden backdown of America not only from attacking Syria, but also how it went into negotiations with the Iranians.

 Any political observer who does not see and recognise those momentous events is either in deliberate denial or suffers from lack of clear vision. But to take this hysteria to the extent of promoting that there is a joint American-Russian-Iranian conspiracy against Syria is vexatious, stupid and even possibly malicious.

The West is so bemused by the Russian rise that it tried to mobilize all it can to use the Sochi Games as a political football by capitalizing on the gay rights issue. Apart from the anti-Russian antics by Western gay activists, the American NGO known as “Russia Freedom Fund” is an organization that receives tax-deductable donations. When tax deductions are granted, this stipulates government subsidies. Now why would the American government give this organization a tax deduction status if it does not see this as part of its media war campaign against Russia?

But this is not all again. The West is taking confrontation with Russia to territories that Putin is going to be very unhappy with; Ukraine.

 The events of Ukraine mimic and mirror what happened in Daraa, Syria three years ago almost to every detail. Snipers are aiming at demonstrators and police personnel. Money is being paid for people to demonstrate. Dissent groups are being financed by the West.

 Even Pussy Riot fit into the anti-Russian evil Western web.

The events in Ukraine are not any less serious than the Russian incursion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. That event happened at America’s door steps, and now the Americans are hotting up the Cold War by taking this challenge to Russia’s door step.


The question is whether or not there is enough patriotism and clear vision among the Ukrainians like there is among the majority of Syrians who stood by their army and president.

The events of Ukraine can prove to be Putin’s ultimate test. The way out of it needs extreme skill, strength and determination. Thus far, Putin has come out from each skirmish unscathed and smiling. For the sake of world peace and order, one should hope that he comes out as a victor.

 

"BEFORE" OR "AFTER" By Ghassan Kadi 18 February 2014

“BEFORE” OR “AFTER”


Ghassan Kadi
18 February 2014

Less than 24 hours after September 11, I called a friend of mine who lived in Manhattan. At that time, no one had yet been allowed anywhere near Ground Zero and the wars of Afghanistan and Iraq had not yet happened and not even September 11was called September 11. Yet, the event was clearly a huge one, and during the conversation, with clarity, I remember saying to my friend that this day will be marked in history as a turning point and that in the future, we will be referring to events in terms of being “before or after”.

Today, we often hear and use the term “before September 11” and “after September 11” without stopping twice to think that it was only a few minutes that changed the world.

Today also, we are witnessing another history-changing event. It is not one of such short duration, but its outcome, either way, is going to have an effect that will change history.

Ironically, we do not refer to the Levant today as “the Levant of after Sykes-Picot”; but in reality it is. Little has changed since the winners of WWI (ie British and French) divided the spoils of the war and partitioned the Levant. Even an event as big as the inception of Israel did not in effect change that formula and/or the borders of the newly created states of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq.

But this post Sykes-Picot formula is likely to change. It will change once we start talking about “before” or  “after the war against Syria”. Historically, Syria has been under attack by many nations over the centuries, but apart from the Crusaders, there has never been a time during which Syria/the Levant has been under such a Biblical onslaught. This is utterly unprecedented.

As the struggle is becoming more and more transparent for those who were refusing to see it in the beginning, the most obvious facet of this war is that it is a war between fundamentalist Islamism and secular nationalism. Divides of this nature are often least spoken about in most nations. They get ignored and shoved away in fear of creating tension and divisions. Even in the United States itself, the schism between the ultra-Right religious fundamentalists and the liberal sector of the community is not one that anyone wants to bring out to the open. The divide will continue and fester, and it may never have a total blowout.

In Syria however, the gloves are off and it is already an all-out war. Reportedly over 140 thousand people have already been killed and more to come. A vicious war of this extent cannot and will not end with half measures and resolutions that are meant to be politically-correct.

This is a war that will have clear edge decisive endings. There will be outright winners and outright losers.

If the fundamentalists win, they will not stop at Syria. They will be unstoppable; they will want to overtake Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. One of their organizations already calls itself ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). They have already declared what is their agenda is and what they will do to the current Sykes-Picot borders.

 

 

Fundamentalist Islamic movements have been on the move for a few decades now. Their ultimate objective is to turn the whole world to Sharia law. If they capture Syria, the rest of the Levant will fall like chess tokens, and the rest of the Islamic World will eventually follow suit.

Their win in the Levant will fuel similar actions in the whole Islamic World all the way from Morocco to Indonesia, those states which will be under threat of being overtaken by revolutions seeking the establishment of Sharia law.

 

 

This is a critical time for Islamic fundamentalism; it will either gain momentum after the war against Syria or it will be stifled.

On the other hand, the liberal voices in the Levant have been feeling the threats of the Islamists for decades, and for all those decades they played the diplomatic game that American liberals are now playing with the TEA party. But should the Syrian liberals win, they will want to make sure that they have obliterated fundamentalism from its core. There will be no half measures, no diplomacy, and no holy shrines for the Islamists to hide within.

Syria will not be able to live in peace if it kicks them out of its own borders only. They will have to be chased up in Lebanon. Syrian troops will have to enter Lebanon invited or otherwise kissing the Sykes-Picot accord goodbye. With the aid of Hezbollah and Lebanese liberals, the Islamists will have to be crushed in Lebanon. The same will apply to Jordan and Iraq. The Islamists will have no place to hide in except Saudi Arabia, and the tide will change against their favour in the rest of the Islamic World.

 

If this leads to an all-out war between Syria and Saudi Arabia, then Syria will have no option but to keep chasing them up even if it had to crush them in their final resort, the Shrine of Mecca.

No one can foresee the future, and the above scenario may remain totally hypothetical. That said, there is little doubt that the outcome of the war will be decisive and that we will be talking about the course of history in terms of “before” or “after the war against Syria”.

BANDAR'S LAST STAND By Ghassan Kadi 24 December 2013

BANDAR’S LAST STAND

By Ghassan Kadi
24 December 2013

Indications are that the USA is intent about fighting real fundamentalist terrorism at its grass root levels. After two failed wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, America was fooled By Saudi Arabia to believe that it can use those same terrorist elements to topple the government in Syria, and thus giving Hezbollah and Iran a very painful blow from which they cannot recover. The USA was led to believe that it can easily later on turn around to cull out the Islamists in Syria.

The plot did not work. Assad remains standing and the terrorists are becoming more powerful and more radicalized and out of control.

Under pressure from Russia and the turn of events, the USA had to make a U-turn realizing that Iran can play a big role in stabilizing the region, rather than destabilizing it. This angered both the Israelis and the Saudis. The Americans will have an uphill battle with their Israeli friends no doubt. They may even finally come to the understanding that supporting Israel is creating enemies and insecurity for America. But the question herein is what will they do with their Saudi friends?

America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is based, or should we say was based on two foundations; the former’s need for oil, and the common political enemy; ie the Iran/Syria/Hezbollah triangle.

This is at best a loveless marriage of convenience that has perhaps run its course. Even with all of its hypocrisies and double standards, America must find in its friendship with Saudi Arabia a major embarrassment. Among other things, this is the state where democracy is all but non -existent, a state that does not allow women basic rights including driving, and a state that does not allow churches to be built on its sand.

More importantly, this is the state that fosters, trains and finances Islamic terrorism. This has become more prominent after the fall of Bin Laden, a foe of the Saudi royal family, and Bandar Bin Sultan appointing himself as a Al-Qaeda surrogate financier. In doing so, Bandar was not only thus far able to use the group to fight for his agenda in Syria, but he managed to stifle their terrorism within Saudi Arabia itself and which threatened and crippled the kingdom with a series of explosions and attacks that spanned for nearly quite a few years that followed Operation Desert Storm on Iraq in 1991.

As the political alliance between the USA and Saudi Arabia is waning and coming to an abrupt and unsavoury end, the future of the economic alliance does not seem much rosier, at least not on the long run.

On one hand, the Saudis are tight-lipped about the amount of their oil reserves. The Americans have always expressed great dis-ease about this. On the other hand, the huge shale oil American deposits are tipped to eventually render America needless of importing Saudi oil and may in fact enable it to become a net exporter.

As far as the Saudi/American relationship is concerned, it is not exactly the time for the Saudis to play hard ball.

Saudi Arabia now seems to be isolated in its stand on Syria. The master mind of Saudi foreign politics, Bandar Bin Sultan dreamt of toppling the Assad government and to have it replaced by a fundamentalist Islamic regime and thereby isolating Iran and weakening Hezbollah. His dreams did not come to fruition and instead ended with America easing off sanctions against Iran and seemingly resolute on reaching a deal with Iran to stamp out fundamentalists.

Domestically, Bandar’s gamble with the USA and playing the game of the big boys is highly likely to shatter his dream to become the first grandson of the founding king Abdul-Aziz to assume the throne. All Saudi monarchs have thus far been the direct children of the founding father, but they are all getting very old and the squabble over the lineage cannot be age-based any longer. Bandar wanted to achieve victory over Iran in Syria and become the unrivaled successor of the throne.

All of this has vanished and the Saudi royal family will soon have to find itself having to choose between Bandar and perhaps the very survival of the royal family and the kingdom’s status quo.

More than two years into the war in Syria, after many temptations given to Russia and two humiliating visits to Putin, a series of false flags attacks in Syria which neither resulted in any UNSC resolutions let alone a unilateral American intervention, anguish is growing within Saudi Arabia resulting from his gambles, Bandar now realizes that he has painted himself into a corner.

Turkey has almost totally abandoned him, and Jordan is growing more concerned about its own interests in this fast-changing world. Qatar wiped its hands clean and gave him the captaincy of the Titanic. Israel cannot support him more overtly than it already does.

The only supporters he has left are the Islamist fighters in Syria and his cohorts in Lebanon (the so-called March 14th Coalition). The formers are losing ground under the Syrian Army on daily basis despite some setbacks. The latters do not stand a chance against the might of Hezbollah should they opt to rekindle the fire of civil war in Lebanon.

It must be said that the March 14th Coalition has been beating up the drums of civil war for a long time. They are bracing for orders from Bandar to light up the fire.

After all of his abysmal failures, what new tricks will Bandar try to, or effectively can pull out of his sleeve? To answer this question one has to be able to answer how far will a filthy rich psychopath go? His hinchmen in Syria are already at war. Will he give the go ahead to their Lebanese counter-part? The recent developments in Lebanon make this scenario look likely, but what achievements will Bandar receive as a result? Those groups cannot be put in the ally basket. Mercenaries would be a better description.

Bandar is highly unlikely to sit quietly in a corner and behave himself. But if he keeps causing more havoc, the next question may not be what will he do, but rather how will he be dealt with? If it comes to this, his peers and who is left of his allies may see him as a liability. In war games, assets deemed as liabilities get tagged as being disposable. The avenues of disposal are countless.

Bandar has already taken his last stand when the USA was forced to abort its attack on Syria.

(Sharmine Narwani wrote a very elaborate and balanced article about the seismic shift that is happening currently in the Middle East. The article is a highly recommended read. link below).

http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/sandbox/security-arc-forms-amidst-mideast-terror-0



Originally published here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=576912935718191&set=a.108568162552673.13501.100001984705808&type=3

CLAP IN QUSAYR, AND TRIPOLI ECHOES. By Ghassan Kadi 26 May 2013

CLAP IN QUSAYR, AND TRIPOLI ECHOES.
By Ghassan Kadi
26 May 2013

Any major political event that happens in Syria reverberates in Lebanon, and vice versa. And to understand how a Syrian Army win in Qusayr can echo in Tripoli Lebanon, we have to go back to the drawing board of Lebanese politics.

Ever since the Republic of Lebanon has been an independent entity, politics in Lebanon has been a combination of democracy and feudal hierarchy. Not only the Lebanese Parliament is based on sectarian representation, with quotas that are meant to give fair per-capita representation of different religions and sects, but the leaders themselves are in reality feudal leaders who pass on their leadership to the eldest son.

Sectarian and feudal as it was, it was kept “functioning” as the feudal lords had some role to play in attracting votes. Those feudal lords had to compete with their local competitors with the aim of attracting votes to put them in the Parliament.

No less competitive was the competition between Sunni leaders, both within their own electorates and regions, and also nationwide.

The position of Prime Minister (PM) in Lebanon is exclusive to Sunnis (according to the Lebanese Constitution). Ever since independence, this position has been the outcome of a game of musical chairs played in between the prominent Sunni families of Solh (of Beirut), Karami (of Tripoli), Salam (of Beirut) and few other minor ones.

The change from one PM to another did not mean much, but the same could be said even about Western democracies. Recent events have shown that not even Obama was able to implement real change. However, the change in the leadership and the person of the PM in Lebanon did a lot of good and as times it meant that certain reforms and/or changes had to be implemented, and the competitiveness between the legacy leaders kept the population buzzing with news of failures and scandals, and it was difficult for any politician to find a façade to hide behind.

Moreover, apart from swinging voters (who would have to be minorities in Lebanon), political loyalties were often based on personal acquaintances with the actual leaders. Those leaders had to have “open salons” for their constituencies where they often offered sweets and refreshments and people went there asking for special favours; such as fixing the village roads and even personal ones such as finding jobs for their children. Those loyalties were very personal and very strong, and quite often, the hardcore loyalists were prepared to put their lives on the line in protection of their leaders.
Then suddenly, this delicate, archaic, but somehow functional system was hit with a political atom bomb; the Hariri bomb.

Rafik Hariri was a self-made billionaire. He was an entrepreneur who was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. When he wanted to get into the political scene in Lebanon, he did not have a legacy to capitalize on, he had to create one. He spent hundreds of millions of dollars on national projects including rebuilding Beirut’s CBD which was ravaged during the Civil War. His Hariri Foundation sponsored the tertiary education of thousands of students. He did do a lot of good things which no traditional politician has ever done. But at the same time, he rose to political power by bringing into Lebanon the American style of campaigning with an open and overt corruption that his son Saad was later on better able to be shameless about.

At leadership level, Saad Hariri has literally bought the Sunni leadership legacy with the power of money. The Karami legacy in Tripoli under the leadership of the patriarch Omar Karami did not kowtow to him, but Hariri managed to create a split in this family and found splinter groups who are now pro-Hariri Karami’s. The other Beiruty and/or Sunni legacies had to either tow the Hariri line or simply vanish.

Even prominent and highly respectable Sunni politicians (such as ex: PM Salim Al-Hus) have lost their seats, and Hus had to lose his seat to a virtually unknown bimbo named Ghonwa Jalloul to the outrage of many Lebanese.

One of his Akkar MP’s (Muin Merhibi) has recently lost his cool and brandished his AK47 and emptied its magazine in the air in defiance of a Lebanese Police check point.

At the hierarchal political level, Hariri makes it clear to his puppet MP’s and regional leaders that he wants numbers and not necessarily brains within his ranks. All they have to do is to follow his orders, unquestioned.
Other self-made leaders in Lebanon have gained support and loyalists in the past by having charisma and their ability to round up people with agendas of reform, promises of freedom from feudalism, etc…. but Hariri cannot even speak. His only asset is his deep wallet.

At street level, Hariri has literally bought votes for cash, and even sent free return tickets to Lebanese ex:pats who live in places as far as the USA and Australia to go and vote for his candidates nationwide. The loyalty of this new age of loyalists is not based on personal relationships that connect the leader with the community. They are only on money. That said, there is a new form of loyalists, those who have an Islamist fundamentalist agenda, and they are using Hariri’s money to have free access to arms so they can go and fight their Jihad wars in Syria and prepare for their Jihad war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Hariri has also bought a huge percentage of the religious Sunni leadership and when, for example, Malek Shaar, the Mufti of Tripoli opens up his mouth to speak, he would only be regurgitating the words and emotions of Hariri.

More can be said about this dangerous Mafiosi, Saad Hariri. But in relation to the recent developments in Tripoli, he is the only reason behind the perpetuation of the fighting. The blood is on his hands. This is the only place where he is able to vent his hatred on Shiites, and the only reason this is possible is because Jabal Mohsen is a tiny area that is totally surrounded from all angles by his thugs. And in the wake of the advances of the Syrian Army in Qusayr, he sent his thugs to retaliate in the hope of taking over the Alawi region of Jabal Mohsen. They failed and failed abysmally.

In doing this, he is truly playing with fire in the most dangerous manner possible. If this Tripoli conflict is not resolved, and if the Jabal Mohsen community capitulates, Hariri thugs will march in and kill every man woman and child.

If the Jabal Mohsen militia reach the enough-is-enough point and start attacking rather than defending (as their leader Rafaat Ali has said recently), then the fire will be highly like to spread to engulf all of Lebanon.

Among other hate-mongers, in Saida South Lebanon Hariri has his puppet Sunni Imam, Ahmed Al-Asir who has been making it very clear that he wants to fight Hezbollah and kill Shia. This half-wit is waiting for half a signal from his ulterior master Saad Hariri to send the South into a blood bath.
Ironically and sadly, Hezbollah does not only need to focus on averting Israeli danger, but also to deal with those sectarian war mongers and blood thirsty Jihadists.

What is more ironic, is that Hariri and his Jihadist policies are all happening with the blessings of the West, the same West that is mourning the innocent slain British soldier.

Originally published here: Screen shots provided to prove this is Ghassan Kadi's work. It was stolen and republished elsewhere (see below these screen shots for details)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/283089981710448/permalink/599521460067297/

This work of Ghassan Kadi's was taken and presented on "Arabi Souri's" website as his own. He did not seek Ghassan's permission and put himself as the author. In the comments section a USA-Israeli dual national who co-writes Syrianews.cc with "Arabi Souri" heaped praised on the article. What other writings of Kadi over all these years has been plagiarised word for word and presented  as "Arabi Souri's" own?

http://www.syrianews.cc/clap-qusayr-tripoli-echoes/
Screen shots from Arabi Souri's website of the work he passed off as his own.

And the USA-Israeli who helps write Syrianews.cc praised the article which was presented as the work of her colleague "Arabi Souri" but is in fact the work of Ghassan Kadi.
"Arabi Souri" who actually lives in Dubai now uses this profile.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100018002822192

A DEBATE WITH FSA SUPPORTERS February 2013

A Debate on Vonvo 26 February 2013 (mainly with Mary Rizzo)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/283089981710448/permalink/560120787340698/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAIJObseuuw
Discussions on Facebook in The Syrian Revolution The Untold Story. Some profiles are deactivated so are not captured on the screen shots.