It was not in the 'Entertainment' section. They got the section wrong.

Posted by: arjun.sevak at July 24, 2006 8:14 AM

Or something is wrong with me. Since I read it I am laughing hard.

Posted by: arjun.sevak at July 24, 2006 8:15 AM

Who is stupid enough to trust Syria?

Posted by: Always On Watch at July 24, 2006 8:29 AM

So the Alawites will give up Al Qaeda, in the spirit of Joe "The Animal" Vellucci handing over Frank "Bananas" Buonanotte to the Feds (now played by Mr. and Mrs. America, and all those waiting ships at sea) in exchange for a little witness protection plan. So what? Oh, the Alawite generals will throw in the full membership list of the Ikhwan in Syria, too? Not surprising, because Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood would both be happy to smother in their beds every Alawite Infidel. Those "members of Al Qaeda" in Syria are no doubt members of the Al-Zarqawi school of Islamic theology, the takfiri who call all the Shi'a infidels and, in Iraq, "Rafidite dogs," so one can imagine what they think of the Mary-worshipping, hence shirk-guilty, Alawites.

That's not the point. The point, for now, is Hezbollah. Will Syria stop supplying Hezbollah and stop collaborating with Iran in other ways? This is not a matter, as many in Washington apparently think, of "the Syrians" (which Syrians? The Alawite ruling class, or the Sunni Arabs who would kill them if they could?) receiving recognition as "being central to any Middle Eastern settlement." That last phrase could only be uttered by those who fail to understand the real fears of the Alawites, and who credit them with an interest in a Middle Eastern "settlement" (i.e., a settlement of the Lesser Jihad against Israel, which cannot be "settled" but only constrained, only diminished in its capacity). More than any desire to have Syria on some supposed world stage is the desire of those Alawites to stay alive.

Recognize that. Exploit that. Make clear to them that all hell -- Sunni Arab hell -- can break lose, not least from the sinister past bankrollers who summoned the Syrians to Taif to do as they were told -- those who rule Saudi Arabia, which for the Syrians at this point is Mr. Big. And Mr. Big doesn't much care for the Iranian company Syria has been keeping, because the Iranian Shi'a are a rival gang, and need to have an asset or two removed.

Iran needs to be taught a lesson. Or two. The first lesson is what is now happening to Hezbollah as its weaponry, and hence the source of its power, is diminished. And with that diminishment comes a lessening of the fear that inhibits the Christians and the Druse and the diminished Sunni Arabs (how infuriating that the Shi'a managed to outbreed the Sunnis in Lebanon, as they did in Iraq -- just as Muslims outbreed Christians) from reasserting themselves, and the old confessional arrangement, instead of this dangerous nonsense about "democracy" (real democracy in Lebanon would end any hope for the Christians).

American policymakers should understood the nature of the Alawite regime, and the fears that have prompted that regime to be more pan-Arab than the full-fledged Muslim Arabs, more steadfast in their support of both Sunni Arabs in whatever they wish to do outside of Syria, by moving through Syria into Iraq, and in their support of Iran, in moving weaponry and agents through Syria into Lebanon. Mubarak and the Al-Saud distrust, fear, hate the Islamic Republic of Iran, not because it is fanatical in its anti-Infidel views, but because it is a danger to them and to their rule and that of those whom they hope will continue to rule. Why should this attitude not be exploited? Why should the Americans not urge Saudis and Mubarak to obtain fatwas from Al-Azhar and clerics right in Mecca and Medina, to declare the Alawites non-Muslims, and to make sure that is the topic on the airwaves and in the press for a very long time. Khaddam, the former Vice-President under Hafez al-Assad, took his stolen loot and invested it in French real estate, and from his well-fortified place in France he has refashioned himself as a "reformer" of Syria. But at least he, one of the regime's tame Sunnis, has to worry only about agents of the Alawites coming after him. But where would Bashir al-Assad and his Alawites go if the entire Sunni Arab world were to see them as Infidels, who had betrayed the Sunni Arabs and curried favor with Shi'a Iran? Where would they escape to, so that Sunnis intent on getting revenge for their half-century and more of despotic rule, would not reach them?

The only way for the Alawites to save themselves is not, as some have it, by making themselves "central to any solution of the Middle East conflict." That idea is an idea for and by idiots. Their only hope is to retreat into Syria itself, for they have lost Lebanon. And if they stick with Hezbollah, which means Iran, they will have Egypt and Mr. Big -- Saudi Arabia -- to contend with. And the Alawites have this problem. It is called Islam. They are not real, full-fledged Muslims. And the real Muslims know it. But the American government apparently doesn't realize this, or if it does, does not know what to do with that realization.

It's been figured out for it. Right here. Go to.

Posted by: Hugh at July 24, 2006 9:31 AM

To use an analogy from the Godfather: Hezbollah is Solazzo, Syria is Tatalia, Iran is Barzini.

Posted by: Balrog at July 24, 2006 11:08 AM

For as long as there isn't seperation of government and mosques, there will not be a democracy in muslim countries.

Iraq, Afganistan, Indonesia, Malasia, Turky, etc., all claim to be democratic, but the Koran dictates them all. Dhimmi, do be fooled!

Posted by: ssa at July 24, 2006 3:46 PM

Huh -- so Syria wants to be an "intermediary" between the US and Iran/Irag. Ok. But what do they want in return for this information?

Money -- Blood -- Amnesty -- Our Souls

All of the above!

To be continued....

Posted by: champ at July 24, 2006 6:16 PM