It might be a little premature for Bashar Assad to claim victory, but he’s feeling confident enough to do so anyway.
Via Reuters:
Syria says the year-old revolt to topple President Bashar al-Assad is over, but the army again shelled opposition areas on Saturday and rebels said they would not cease fire until tanks, artillery and heavy weapons are withdrawn.
Washington and Gulf Arab states urged peace envoy Kofi Annan to set a timeline for “next steps” if there is no ceasefire, and Saudi Arabia repeated a call for rebels to be armed.
Annan has said neither measure would be helpful. The former U.N. chief’s mission has brought no respite in the killings.Syria also said it would keep its forces in cities to “maintain security” until it is safe to withdraw in line with the peace deal, which Assad has said he accepts.
The Annan plan is a plan to save Assad:
The plan is an ill-timed lifeline to a murderous regime that will exploit Mr. Annan’s diplomacy to buy time, to reload and to divide the opposition and the international community. In the end, everyone except the Assad family will be weaker for having pursued it.
The opportunity to assist a popular uprising against an anti-American and anti-Israeli Iranian proxy probably has passed, and the winners are Iran and Hezbollah.
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Hmmm… I may have to retract my earlier view that Syria would follow Egypt, Tunisia and Libya.
The question here is what would be worse, the revolutionaries taking over or Assad remaining in power? In my opinion, a real toss up with all options not being in our favor.
Well, according to Obama’s adviser Dalia Mogahed:
“To those siding w/ Assad: he cannot deliver stability, protection of minorities, or resistance to Israel. He is a killer w/o legitimacy.”
Which is funny, because the soundest reason for getting rid of him is that while we can’t be sure what will come after him (other than sectarian slaughter and Very Bad Things for non-Sunnis and non-Arabs), we do know that his removal would be a huge blow to Hezb’Allah.
But then, this is the same administration pulling this subtle, Soviet-style BS:
http://seanlinnane.blogspot.com/2011/08/obama-re-writes-history-on-bush-and.html
It goes to show the complete lack of any sort of coherence to ANY sort of set of principles in the Obama Administration as to when US forces will become involved (The difference between Libya and Syria? Oil, or in Syria’s case, lack thereof).
Notice that we haven’t heard the usual suspects (aka the “Progressives”) screaming at the top of their lungs for us to invade Syria and topple a “murderer” for the sake of “the people.” Some of them have at least some principles and have had a low murmur of “well we ought to do something” but they have been all but ignored. Why, you ask? Because that would topple a dictator who is strongly anti-Israeli and would be a death-blow to Hezbollah and Hamas forces who routinely harass Israeli forces and the Israeli public.
We were told that President Obama would be a “pragmatic” President; (paraphrasing) that he would make decisions based on what was in the best interest and would do the most good for the most people.
Pragmatism is not the word I would use to describe the fact that we’re ignoring a ticking time-bomb (Syria) when we provided support and material against one that had already effectively fizzled (Libya). Lunacy would be a better fit.
Barack Obama could have been a hero to the entire Middle East (not to mention the US), if he had simply exhibited knowledge and respect for the fundamental principles of both Islam and the Constitution. That was the essence of one of his campaign promises, and he has neither knowledge nor respect for either.
Respect for two totally and irreconcilably oppositional and antithetical sets of values?
Obama is ideologically congruent with Islam and incongruent with US Constitution and ideals. This explains his foreign policy.
He is an Islamist/Fascist/Black Supremacist/pansexualist. This explains his domestic policies.
As for Assad’s proclamation of victory – I seem to recall the same words coming from the late Mohammar Ghaddafi as bombs and mortars were flying all around Libya.
I just think he’s narcissistic to the point of pathology.
This makes it natural for him to gravitate towards the nihilism and tactics of pathologically narcissistic ideologies – his fellow travelers in a world where the truth is whatever lie you want it to be and the only moral compass is the will to further feed one’s fraudulent, narcissistic self-image.
One has to wonder how history would be different if Bad Luck Barry had supported the Green Revolution in Iran early and consistently.
But that was one of our first insights into the apparent affinity Barackah has for thug regimes. Others came quite quickly.
This is simply the latest episode.
Regime on the ropes-
“Hey, they’re just having a a vigorous debate–Sorry Nada lost that round…
Besides, remember the Shah? My hands are tied”
Instead of seizing the only global, golden opportunity–one the CIA and other operatives have been waiting 40 years for–Barry opted for:
Nuclear proliferation in the Middle-East
Possible nuclear holocaust for Israel
$4-7 gas for Americans.
….at least the Ayatollah’s are cumfy-
Barry too!
odds……
Everyone else…..not so much.
I disagree. There was no green revolution -it was just an internal power struggle .It was not even about religion & especially not about democracy.
It was in reality about wrestling the power from the Pistachio Quango.
These guys have been there for 4,000 years fighting over pistachios & are still at it.
“The opportunity to assist a popular uprising against an anti-American and anti-Israeli Iranian proxy probably has passed, and the winners are Iran and Hezbollah.”
The press isn’t covering it that much, so I guess it’s not that important. And I don’t think the protestors look like they could be Obama’s children.
Just as I often think, “What would the media say if Bush/Palin/a Republican etc., said/did this?” … I can’t help but think, “What would the media outcry be like if Israel did something like 1% of this?”
Well, that’s that. Now, back to business as usual: enlightened world opinion can resume blaming Israel for everything wrong in the Middle East.
The opportunity to assist a popular uprising against an anti-American and anti-Israeli Iranian proxy probably has passed, and the winners are Iran and Hezbollah.
However, on the bright side, I’m reliably informed that our man-child President has found the time in his busy schedule to make a Monday night appearance on prime-time CBS TV and explain his vaunted system of round-ball “bracketology” before the final playoff game of March Madness begins.
First things first, doacha know.
“The opportunity to assist a popular uprising against an anti-American and anti-Israeli Iranian proxy probably has passed, and the winners are Iran and Hezbollah.”
Exactly as Obama always intended.
THis is but a speck in Syria’s history.
Besides at the very most only 9-11,000 people have been done in 2011-12.
This guy is a model of restraint. His father had to dust off 30,000 in a much shorter time.
Let Syria be Syria I say.
If it wasn’t for Damascus & Saulus being converted by the locals no one would have ever heard of that guy from Nazareth.
You may not like Syria but all your roads led from Damascus.
Furthermore -a question .
If the unthinkable happens & America dissolves into a similar situation
What would be the trigger?
–
who would be the protagonists?
-what would you do ?
-would you want outside intervention ?
-what would be the casualty figures?
-what would be the outcome?
I am off for a swim but maybe some brave soul will answer. Look forward to reading any replies.
I don’t agree this was a popular uprising we should have helped. Such uprisings we’ve financed so far under Obama have made the world worse and more dangerous. Aside from that, Obama views our military not as a representative of the US but an offshoot of the Soros-UN-Responsibility to Protect army paid for by chump US taxpayers. In places like Syria, Egypt, and Libya, they’re all going to be Islamist states no matter who’s in charge. When the new people take over, the only difference is they kill or drive out remaining Christians and Islamic laws become stricter. Female genital mutilation in Egypt was popular before but has become almost universal since the ‘popular’ uprising. As it is we’re spending $6 billion a month on Afghanistan for the purpose of having our military murdered sitting at their desks by our Afghan “partners.” Obama has African venues he’s working on as well. Eventually there will be no Christians left there either.
I thought so. All very well to pontificate on far away Syria but ….somehow America is immune?
Could be – hope so.
For the last decade, I have been reading/thinking/meditating on the book of Isaiah… it’s very pertinent to our current spiritual and political events.
Isaiah 13:13, the defiant words of Haylel (translated Lucifer), the rebel against God, (ironically, from the root word ‘halal’) reminded me of Assad, Mohammed and followers. “I will ascend to heaven and rule the angels. I will take the highest throne. I will preside on the Mount of Assembly far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.” recalling the words of Satan in Genesis, “You shall be like God.” and the aspirations of the builders of the tower of Babel (Babylon?).
Haylel was an usurper, a false, self-glorying, created light aspiring to replace the True Light. The same defiance against God’s Word/Way/Will is present in other Bible characters, notably some of the kings of Israel. This is the same sin that beset and inspired Mohammed, and Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, to write and concoct their own rules/way to bring glory and power to themselves. They both undertook to replace the Truth of God with a lie (counterfeits, distortions of truth, love, life), (see Psalm 62:11, Romans 1:18-32). They both strove to make followers unto themselves and their word/prophecies/way of redemption rather than to GODs Word/Commandments/plan of redemption. Both got involved in spiritual, sexual, financial, political and militant wrongdoings. Jos. Smith ran for POTUS in 1844, just 6 months before he was jailed and killed by a group of vigilantes enraged by his actions. Smith had been jailed before and run out of two states for his actions.
Interesting that Isaiah, a true prophet wrote and lived in the same approximate period BC (late 600s-early 700s) as Mohammed did in AD. By contrasting the words and actions and fruit of these three, one true Prophet of God and the other two would-be ‘prophets’, you can discern the difference between a true prophet and a false one.
A false prophet always seeks power, glory, wealth and will seek followers to his own separate/unique interpretation way/will and steal/exploit the wealth, take the power and the freedom thought/dissent/will away from those unfortunate followers.