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Absolutely, but where is the political will to hold Syria to account? The deterrent posed by having the world's strongest and most advanced military is attenuated by the fact that U.S. military assets are stretched thin under the burden of holding together Iraq, a country with no inherent unity. Absent that, the U.S. would not only regain the deterrent power of being more ready, willing, and able, to address global threats, but Syria's Alawite regime (categorized as a Shi'ite group, but well removed from the mainstream) would find itself occupied with a Sunni-Shi'ite jihad next door that would embolden its own Sunni majority population against its enemies both across and within the border, leaving Damascus much less able to threaten Israel and do the bidding of Iran.
From the World Tribune:
WASHINGTON — A U.S. State Dept. official said about 90 percent of the suicide attackers in Iraq came from Syria.
"It has to stop," said David Satterfield, the chief State Department adviser on Iraq. Officials said that despite numerous appeals, Syria has failed to stop the flow of Sunni suicide bombers to Iraq. They said the lion's share of suicide bombers were foreign Arab nationals who entered Syria and made their way to Iraq.
"They [suicide bombers] see Syria as a more accommodating country through which to transit across the border to come into Iraq to perpetrate their terror," Satterfield.
Satterfield said the U.S. intelligence community has assessed that between 85 and 90 percent of suicide bombers in Iraq entered from Syria. In an address to the Washington Institute on March 27, Satterfield said 90 percent of suicide bombers in Iraq were foreigners.
Tiny Minority of Extremists Alert:
Officials said North Africans and Yemenis comprised the largest element among the foreign suicide bombers. But they said Saudi nationals have become an increasing factor in the Sunni insurgency war in Iraq.
In his address, Satterfield again warned Syria to stop the flow of would-be suicide bombers and other insurgents to Iraq. He said Iraq and the United States have sought to stem the flow of insurgents from Syria to Iraq's Al Anbar province.
"It has to stop," Satterfield said. "It is not in Syria's long term interests to let this violence continue. We and the Iraqi security forces have done our best. It is a long, long border."
Over the last month, the Bush administration has resumed high-level contacts with the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad. Officials said that during the March 10 meeting in Baghdad, the U.S. delegation accused Iran and Syria of interfering in Iraq. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was expected to attend the next meeting that included Syria in April.
"We would hope that the Syrian government understands as well that its rhetoric for a peaceful and stable Iraq has to be matched by actions," Satterfield said.
Posted by Marisol at March 30, 2007 1:27 AM
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It is surprising to finally read in print what I have written about and was ignored by the entire media that Syria was doing just this. What Syria has joined in on is exporting the terrorists which would be a problem for them and allowed them to be killed in Iraq.
Syria presents a problem in the region for the al Qaeda via the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood as al Qaeda has tried to make inroads to set up their brand of Islam there, but have failed in as much as the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood have not supported Assad's nation gobbling in Lebanon and murders there.
Of course Assad is going to ship all the terrorists he can to Iraq as the last thing he wants is them on his border or in his nation. He has enough trouble juggling the al Qaeda being reflushed out of Iraq by the American sweeps which are successful and establishing them on the Lebanese border sandwhiched between Israel and Hezbollah where he can suppress their movements and hope they are destroyed in an upcoming war.
Assad is not a nice person, but he is not a dupe and his hide the terrorist operation has been going on with knowledge of everyone since the liberation of Iraq.
Posted by: Lame Cherry![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 30, 2007 1:44 AM
Poor Syria and Assad. Poor client of Iran.
Iranian regime falls and lots of associated problems disappear.
Sanctions, diplomatic and otherwise, will not force the mullahs to back off. They're already too rogue. They've successfully stifled all internal popular dissent and care nothing of world opinion.
They've not had the spanking they've needed since '79 and so they continue to misbehave.
Syria is a gnat on the world stage. Without the swamp of Iran it is irrevelant.
Focus on the disease--not just the symptom.
Posted by: turn at March 30, 2007 4:48 AM
Asalamau Laikum all,
Most things in extreme measure usually are bad. Too much eating, too much drinking and too much of a particular brand of extremism...must be bad by logical argument.
Although attached to Islam..one cannot say that it is Islam per say...other wise the majority of muslims would do it. many keep quiet simply to be not part of it.
Lets talk about my favourite lund...Zia ul Haq...he wanted to thank Allah SWT for bringing him power. He could have done it at the local mosque and very probably did. But this is also where I think he didn't have enough faith. To keep in power instead of relying on Allah SWT most merciful...he formed ISI and Taliban ...to ensure that he stayed in power.
Taliban also instead of relying on Allah...rely on weapons...again to stay in power.
For a while this works for you...Zia was giving the Russ a bloody nose via the Amerike and the Taliban. But when the Russ went away...who is going to tell the taliban to put down their guns, ("they can become normal again")...their brothers fell in combat...hundreds of them...but they were successful...and they need more power...in essence the start to look inwards. And so we are starting to see Taliban moving eastwards more into Pak itself...the famous Lal Masjid is a good example of this...(and ofcourse this is not great for Ahmadi either...but we can talk about that later).
Assad will be in a similar quandry sooner or later...better that the extreme ones try to give a bloody nose to the Kaffur...but not in his backyard...it has to be elsewhere.
But I think sooner or later...either when Iraq is more stable...or (Allah forbid) ...if the Amerike leaves, these peoples will look inward to exercise their muscles build on the battlefield.
Assad will be in serious trouble ...he will be able to control them...Iraq and Lebonan and Syria could turn into more somalias..with the Amerike saying we don't want to be in the middle of that muddle...or perhaps the Amerike will be a spent force (in more ways than one...they could be bankrupt)
The Saud could get sucked in ...the oil supply could stop flowing to the west...and what does all this point to....
well it points to extermist elements being welcome in iraq to fight the kaffur....but didn't I just say that was a bad thing....ummmmh...the circle has just completed....
...ahh! who's going to figure this one out?
Posted by: Naseem at March 30, 2007 5:34 AM
'well it points to extermist elements being welcome in iraq to "
...They are not being welcomed by the Iraqi people.....Only Iran, Syria, and the crazed Islamic clerics welcome them....
....what will you be doing when the Crazed Islamic fighters come to your neighborhood....they are closer than you think...and they do not like you...
at March 30, 2007 6:31 AM
Catherine you sure know how to say it! how true!
Posted by: ZenaWarriorPrincess at March 30, 2007 7:22 AM
When I hear a State employee say something like It has to stop, it is clear that the statement is for domestic consumption. State employees have busied themselves subverting American interests since the day they graduated from their fancy Ivy League finishing school, maybe before.
Posted by: Alarmed Pig Farmer at March 30, 2007 8:24 AM
Maybe Condeleeza could direct them to overcome their differences.
at March 30, 2007 9:17 AM
Comments that distract because they are mere explosive expressions of fury, rather than calculated and sinuous expositions ending, possibly, in a short burst of mental disgust, and that, furthermore, disturb the visitor's eye with a PREPONDERANCE OF CAPITAL LETTERS THAT ONE CAN HARDLY STAND TO READ, will be summarily removed.
Posted by: Hugh at March 30, 2007 9:43 AM
Syria needs to go down hard.
Posted by: A_Plague_on_Both_Houses at March 30, 2007 10:04 AM
The Americans are not getting a bloody nose in Iraq - the Iraqis are, by their tens of thousands and people are beginning to think it serves them right. Just as in Afghanistan they are turning their own country into hell on earth and calling it a defeat of the kaffir. Our only real problem with Iraq is how to get out of a place we never intended to stay in, in the first place, in such a way as Iran and Syria and handed a strategic victory because we've eliminated the greatest threat to them and we don't leave behind a ready made base for all those nutty jihadis that Islam is currently in the constant process of producing. Hugh's policy of encouraging the regional ethnic and theological segments of the umma to kill each other to their heart's content sounds fine by me.
But while you are here, Naseem, I've always wondered - if your husband had said he wanted a second wife, or even a third, would you have been quite happy to acquiesce? The thought must have passed his mind at some point, you know : the old grey mare is not what she used to be and all that.There must be lots of young twenty-somethings in a comparatively poor country like Pakistan who'd have leapt at the chance of becoming the wife of a furniture shop owner. Of course there would always have been the chance of his saying 'I divorce thee' three times if you'd refused. You may never have had to face such a situation but you seem more than happy to have any other women live with such a potential problem.
Posted by: wallyUK at March 30, 2007 10:14 AM
"We would hope that the Syrian government understands as well that its rhetoric for a peaceful and stable Iraq has to be matched by actions," Satterfield said.
Dear Mr. Satterfield:
You forgot to say, "Pretty please."
Sincerely,
sheik yer booty
at March 30, 2007 10:59 AM
"This has to stop," said Mother Condoleeza.
Posted by: Ynkedoodl2 at March 30, 2007 11:21 AM
There are aerially-scatterable mines that could be seeded along the entire Syrian-Iraqi border, (except for selected checkpoint bottlenecks) to reduce this possbility.
And rumors of released poisonous creatures spread through the marketplaces in the region by operatives ("Allah help us, the evil Yankee dogs have set loose vipers, scorpions, and fatal genetically-engineered insects!", etc.) to at least give some pause the invading jihadists.
Psy-ops helped win WW II far more than is understood (inflatable tanks and trucks photographed by the Nazi surviellance planes before D-Day confused their estimates of armored troop positions and strength).
Screw with these screwballs' minds.
NOW!
(a nod to Hugh's recent Strunk and White-ish suggestion)
Posted by: profitsbeard at March 30, 2007 11:31 AM
(extremist elements) are not being welcomed by the Iraqi people...
I don't buy this, exsgt. It takes some minutes to properly set an IDE explosive, and road shoulders are always visible.
As far as I'm concerned, millions of loyal Iraquis have watched IDEs being set, and have remained mum 99% of the time.
Loyal to the Ummah, that is.
There is only one reason Iraq can't be fixed: It is populated by Moslems.
Posted by: Alarmed Pig Farmer at March 30, 2007 11:52 AM
Taliban also instead of relying on Allah...rely on weapons...again to stay in power.
And the rest of the evile Ones.. all they have to do is rely on the Fifth Column in our Western countries.
POLOticians
MSM
Judiciary
Educational System
Most of these people are anti-Christian but they sure love to lay down our arms.
Posted by: Allahfanculo at March 30, 2007 12:02 PM
Most things in extreme measure usually are bad. Too much eating, too much drinking and too much of a particular brand of extremism...must be bad by logical argument.
And some things, like cyanide and venom from a baby coral snake are, like Islam, best not ingested at all.
Although attached to Islam..one cannot say that it is Islam per say...other wise the majority of muslims would do it. many keep quiet simply to be not part of it.
No no no. Islam has always been at war, expanding itself by murder and the threat of murder, and at no time were the majority of Moslems actively engaged in carrying out Islamic sacramental rites (murder, kidnapping, extortion, rape, robbery, you know the list).
Islam is a nation that, like any country at war, has its 90% back home providing material and moral support to the 10% on the front lines. My use of the word moral is reserved here, for Moslems go beyond amorality and are anti-moral, as we can all agree.
Lets talk about my favourite lund...Zia ul Haq...he wanted to thank Allah SWT for bringing him power.
A simple thank you note to the Director of the CIA would’ve sufficed.
Posted by: Alarmed Pig Farmer at March 30, 2007 12:09 PM
Check out the video of the Iranian Commander's map showing the position of the boarding and detainment of the British soldiers. Their choice of icon: SKULL AND CROSSBONES!
(Go to the CCN page for this story and click on the javascript button "Iran offers its version...")
So, is this an accusation that the British were engaging in Piracy? Or an admission that the Iranian boats were doing so?
Posted by: Archimedes2 at March 30, 2007 12:43 PM
Hugh
Apologies in advance for engaging with Naseem, but I couldn't let this one go.
their brothers fell in combat...hundreds of them...but they were successful...and they need more power...in essence the start to look inwards. And so we are starting to see Taliban moving eastwards more into Pak itself...the famous Lal Masjid is a good example of this...Given that the very pretext of Pakistan's existence was the fact that Muslims couldn't co-exist with Hindus (or other Infidels for that matter) in a Hindu state, and that an Islamic state was needed instead, why does it really make a difference (except to unfortunate Infidel minorities who for whatever reason failed to leave Pakistan for India) which 'lunds' end up ruling Pakistan? (incidentally, was Begum Benazir a lund? or a chode? Given that as PM, PPP was known as perpetually pregnant PM, I think the latter).
Bottom line - I agree with wrathofasma yesterday that Pakistan is better off being taken over by the Lashkar e Toiba/Taliban/MMA/Jaish e Mohammed/ Sipah e Sahaba/Lund e GhanTa/.... That way, India would be forced to end their chutia politics of Hindu-Musalman-bhai-bhai (Hindus & Muslims are brothers... gawwk) and both India and US would be forced to confront a nuclear terrorist power in the only way they can.
With nukes.
Posted by: Infidel Pride at March 30, 2007 12:46 PM
Naseem wrote:
"Most things in extreme measure usually are bad. Too much eating, too much drinking and too much of a particular brand of extremism...must be bad by logical argument."
That was the smartest post I have ever seen from you. The entire problem in the Middle East is just too damned much Islam. If that could be offset, we'd all be somewhere else, enjoying life to a much greater degree.
Naseem wrote:
"But I think sooner or later...either when Iraq is more stable...or (Allah forbid) ...if the Amerike leaves"
There is no "if", Naseem, only when. America will be essentially gone from Iraq sooner rather than later. Once that occurs the proverbial you-know-what is going to hit the fan all throughout the region.
Wait a minute...methinks we have a tangible solution to the original problem of there being just too damned much Islam.
I was starting to like you Naseem. Too bad you're a racist, you know, with that "wuslim" slur that you oft utter here.
at March 30, 2007 1:55 PM
Archimedes2 said
Or an admission that the Iranian boats were [engaging in Piracy]?
It's like deja vu all over again, but this time it's not the shores of Tripoli, but the suburbs of Tehran.
The media was quick to jump all over the Thomas Jefferson supposed link to the Ellison-Swearing-In-On-Qur'an story; I wonder why they don't mention the historical link of Thomas Jefferson to this latest case of piracy and kidnapping? It's another excellent opportunity to teach and inform the infidels about Islamic history, and as usual, it is being squandered.
at March 30, 2007 3:18 PM
Very simple solutions.
Right now Syria isn't feeling any pain. Once the bombings start happening in Syria then they will seal up their borders.
Also let the Jihadists know that their families will pay a direct price for their actions.
Posted by: Mekoots at March 30, 2007 3:30 PM
Don't worry, Nancy Pelosi will solve all our problems!
Unilateral: Pelosi to meet with Assad next week in Syria; Update: “A really bad idea,” says White House
http://hotair.com/archives/2007/03/30/unilateral-pelosi-to-meet-with-assad-next-week-in-syria/
Posted by: s at March 30, 2007 4:50 PM
March 30, 2007
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1UMomtDHieo&mode=related&search=
US Nuclear Strike on Iran - Martial Law Declared in US
REMINDS ME OF MAX HEADROOM!!!
ANOTHER NICE THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON??
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD152207
I LIKE TO CALL THEM GIZERS ON THE MARCH!!
A GREAT OLD B&W MOVIE WHICH COVERS A LOT OF WHAT IS GOING ON?
“The Americanization of Emily”
@ least this movie was done long after WW2 but if you listen to the coward he see’s Europe then as we see them today and yet the coward said how the American haters are blaming our coke bottles today it is blamed on Mickie D’s or the mouse??
So I see even cowards can stand their ground once and a while!!
Yes even the Mother has her point about the books to be written after by the Generals and say how it never really needed to be fought. [ yet should we forget about the merchant ships that had been sunk] OR (today the whole in NYC)
YES WE SEE THIS BUT DURING THE WAR YES WE COULD HAVE DONE A DRESNEN TO THE WHOLE COUNTRY OF IRAQ AND BEEN LESS HUMAN WHAT THE HEY??
Seams we have plenty of cowards today Generals who say no it should be done this way I want the money for my guys this shows nothing new. But this time is different we have retired generals on TV 24-7 crying the 1st day saddam[FOUND IN A HOLE DON’T SHOOT I’M A YELLOW COWARD (now dead)] army is so good we will need 10,000 body bags WELL THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN so then it was we are in a quagmire WELL WE WEREN’T then it was oh but a civil war BUT IT AINT now it is we aint taking care of our wounded WELL WE ARE.
Then it is we support the troops BUT THEY DON’T
Oh we hear we are helping by cutting the funding Oh we are helping by not sending re-enforcement YET WE HEAR FROM THESE SAME PEOPLE HOW BROKEN WE ARE THAT THE GUYS ARE TO TIRED TO DO THE JOB. Also not true.
Yet when you follow the money you find many of these anti- are sleeping with the enemy.
Now we hear from the same people oh we really needed to go after iran but if we do they will be screaming OH NO?
Me I say it is time to pull our troops home from 2 other wars that have long been over let the Europeans defend themselves and S.Korea after all if you want to save money here is a hell of a lot. Again we see them in the Streets saying yanks go home. Is this not a problem for the dimmicrats and the armed chair generals YES FOLLOW THE MONEY??
So will the American People get out of their armed chairs and remember there is a hole in NYC and that containment wasn’t working and really show support or let the dimmicrats make more holes because of Hunter
Spider Killer
GOD BLESS THE USA AND HER FIGHTING FORCES AND ALL WHO FIGHT WITH HER AMEM
at March 30, 2007 6:21 PM
Catherine you sure know how to say it! how true!
Posted by: ZenaWarriorPrincess at March 30, 2007 07:22 AM
I DISAPREADED OR whatever seams that a dimmicrat works for Mr Spencer and does not want some things to be exposed??
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/015842.php#comments
THw5kds, thanks very much for your comments, they refreshing in light of the fact some on this site openly advocate walking away from Iraq and Iraqis like this one;
(Iraqi MP Iyad Jamal Al-Din) Muslims say God bless America (MUST SEE)
Iraqi MP Iyad Jamal Al-Din proves Muslims can "get it" - we might not be able to help Iraq become a melting pot but the Al-Dins can, but only if we stay so the political debate can continue.
Leaving will ensure their voices will be silenced, and the Iraqi people will suffer under another evil totalitarian regime.
JL
Posted by: Jesse at March 28, 2007 06:03 PM
YES IT MUST STOP!!
here is a must see!!
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/015842.php#comments
THw5kds, thanks very much for your comments, they refreshing in light of the fact some on this site openly advocate walking away from Iraq and Iraqis like this one;
(Iraqi MP Iyad Jamal Al-Din) Muslims say God bless America (MUST SEE)
Iraqi MP Iyad Jamal Al-Din proves Muslims can "get it" - we might not be able to help Iraq become a melting pot but the Al-Dins can, but only if we stay so the political debate can continue.
Leaving will ensure their voices will be silenced, and the Iraqi people will suffer under another evil totalitarian regime.
JL
Posted by: Jesse at March 28, 2007 06:03 PM
2 Gold Stars for you Jesse!!!
OT
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54932
ON CAPITOL HILL
Feinstein quits committee under war-profiteer cloud
Report documents military contracts for firms owned by senator's husband
: March 28, 2007
10:05 p.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
another must read
http://www.metroactive.com/metro/03.21.07/dianne-feinstein-resigns-0712.html
Feinstein Resigns
Senator exits MILCON following Metro exposé, vet-care scandal
By Peter Byrne
SEN. Dianne Feinstein has resigned from the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee. As previously and extensively reviewed in these pages, Feinstein was chairperson and ranking member of MILCON for six years, during which time she had a conflict of interest due to her husband Richard C. Blum's ownership of two major defense contractors, who were awarded billions of dollars for military construction projects approved by Feinstein.
SO WHY WAS THAT PERSON FIRED IN CALF??
WHO WAS BUDDY'S WITH WHO??
Part of the American Tribe
Squirrel Hunter
Spider Killer
GOD BLESS THE USA AND HER FIGHTING FORCES AND ALL WHO FIGHT WITH HER GIVE THEM STRENGTH, WISDOM, SIGHT, AND COURAGE TO DESTROY ALL ISLAMIC TERRORIST AND ALL WHO SUPPORT THEM EXPOSE THE MONSTERS FOR WHO THEY ARE AMEN
at March 30, 2007 6:48 PM
Feinstein may have quit, but now we have Pelosi leading a Congressional Delegation to Syria, Lebanon and Israel. What the ****??!!
Posted by: spinoneone at March 30, 2007 8:26 PM
"U.S. says most Iraq bombers via Syria"
Yawn.
Does anyone, anyone, think bush al-saud or the arabist state dept will do anything substantive?
Of Course Not.
U.S. terror mosques will continue to be built, US soldier's lives will continue to be wasted every day, the "war" on "terrorism" and the "surge" will continue to cost billions and accomplish exactly nothing, bush al saud and condi reich will continue to create the next muslim terror state carved out of the Holy Land, and bush al-saud cronie baker will continue to defend the saudis against the 9/11 victims.
Posted by: Arm A. Geddon
at March 30, 2007 11:47 PM
Syria is around 75% Sunni, while Iran is about 90% Shia.Iraq has 15% Sunni and maybe 60% Shia.It's interesting to get your ME map out and see who's who.I'm beginning to think like a lot of the posters here about getting the hell out of Iraq as soon as possibile, and letting the body parts fly where they may.If Iraq can hold their own, so be it.
Posted by: HawkWatcher at March 31, 2007 12:45 AM
A bit more on dealing with Syria's Alawite regime:
Fitzgerald: What to do about the Alawites
"The Alawites who rule Syria constitute 12% of the population. Though they make up the officer corps, still -- there are those pesky non-Alawites among the men to worry about. When "real" Muslims massacred 82 Alawite miltary cadets at a graduation ceremony, as part of an anti-regime, anti-Alawite campaign, Hafez al-Assad surrounded Hama, an Ikhwan center, and told his troops to kill anyone who moved. Twenty thousand were killed.
Talis pater, talis filius? Not quite. Bashir the son is a most myopic ophthalmologist. He may think that he is safe as long as he lets Sunnis use Syria as a point of entry into Iraq to fight the good fight (and any fight that directs Muslim interest and energies away from the Alawites of Syria, disguised as "Ba'athists," is a good fight), and simultaneously lets Syria be used the other way, as a place through which Iranian weaponry, money, and agents are delivered to Hizballah in Lebanon. In such a way do the Alawites hope, by giving at the office, to stay in power (and to keep those reliable Armenian drivers and other Christians whom they can trust).
But is this true? What if the Israelis inflict a severe defeat -- not merely severe, but one seen as humiliating, to the regime? Then the agitation would begin. Not agitation from the would-be Chalabis -- Ghadry et al, or the false "reformers" like Hafez al-Assad's former aide and Vice-President, the Sunni Muslim Kaddam, now working from the safety of his French pleasure-dome (bought with the loot his years in office permitted him to accumulate, which now allows him to pretend to be a "reformer" when what he really wants is to return to power, this time as Mr. Big). Every Alawite house has a picture of Mary. Every Alawite village is known. Do the Alawites want a bloodbath, or do they want to decide now to retreat into their own Syrian redoubt and no longer do Iran's bidding, or for that matter the bidding of Sunnis, deciding instead to preserve themselves and save their weaponry, for a war within Syria to preserve themselves from the real Muslims?
So far Bashir al-Assad's eagerness to assuage Muslims, both Sunni and Shi'a, outside Syria, appears to have worked. He is still in power. Alawite generals still strut about. But for how long, if their forces are damaged and humiliated by the Israelis? How long did Gamal Abdel Nasser last, after the Six-Day War?
In that vast Pentagon, is there anywhere an office devoted to tracking those potential sources of weakness and internecine warfare, in the camp of Jihad and Islam? For example, is there a special office designed to do nothing but figure out ways to use the peculiar vulnerability of the Alawites for American advantage? For those Alawites must prove to both Sunnis and to Shi'a that they are true Muslims despite their Mary-worship, despite the Syrian government closing on Christmas, despite the Good Friday processions that, incredibly for a supposedly "Muslim" country, actually take place publicly without incident (because the Alawite officers have the army in place to protect those Christian processions from the real Muslims, some of whom have resigned themselves to accepting these things). That office should be dedicated to obtaining not the "friendship" of the Alawites (for god's sake, put that idiotic goal out of your mind) but rather their cooperation, by threatening to encourage others -- Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia -- to use their propaganda machines to harp on this little matter of the Alawite despots who have murdered Sunnis, genuine Muslims, and continue to hold them in thrall. The Alawite rulers may think we would never do this, but that is only because they fail to realize that at this point, if the Alawites behave so as to promote the worst and most violent and most potent of Muslim armed groups, they should not expect their worship of Mary to get them off the hook.
Last year they lost Lebanon as a place to exploit financially. Now they have, in their insensate willingness to fulfill Iranian bidding and thereby to risk everything, have figuratively lost their heads. If they do not come to their senses, Americans, not with help from their "Sunni Arab allies" but rather from Sunni Arabs who have their own reason for cutting Syria's ties with Iran, should make sure that they will be in danger of turning that figurative loss into a literal one -- and not far in the future. Surely they know that. Surely they know what happened to those Alawite military cadets in Homs. Surely they know their local Muslims, and what is just beneath the surface, and what could so easily be made to come out, to the great chagrin of those Alawite officers who would suddenly lose control of their maddened men.
Why risk it? Why risk everything? Hizballah is in trouble. Iran is going to be in bigger trouble. Why should the Alawites of Syria risk all?
Posted by Hugh at August 8, 2006 08:31 AM]
at March 31, 2007 8:17 AM
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