Those of us who are non-white tend to advertize it, as many of us are activists.

The dominant culture—and the dominant ethnicity on these sites is white.

how, in the comments section of a blog, can anybody
tell the color of anybody’s skin?

LocalHero:

Frankly, I strongly suspect that all the so-called left-leaning or progressive sites, including this one, are compromised by having received operating money from the US government and other Big Bad Guys.

Just one reason why they do not like having we non-white commentators around, as we do not tend to be cheerleaders for imperialism and genocide.

Hedges is not a saint of my devotion either.

bye-bye and sorry that there are no lovely parting
gifts for you…...but do enjoy the unlimited bullshit
buffet at Global Research…all the shit that you can
stuff into your sockets is yours.

Unmitigated crap like this piece is why I almost never bother to read anything on Truthdig anymore (I get Chris Hedges from other sources). I get far more insightful (read, honest) stuff from Common Dreams, Global Research and WSWS (World Socialist Web Site) and I’ll be supporting them in the future.

your nephew has good taste. I do like a biryani as well, esp w/basmati rice.

Sorry, I do not eat fish of shellfish.  Paella is out.

My nephew’s favorite dish is somewhat like paella—biryani.  It’s from India, but is also the national dish of Bahrain.  I had it in Bahrain prepared for me by an Iranian professor who worked for me.  Also fairly recently in Lisbon, which has some good Indian restaurants.

I make it every few months.

paella——

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/grilled-seafood-paella

(my way is more complicated, but you like links)

Well, my nephew helped prepare the meal for me his three sisters and a friend.

As a Slowfoodie, I have very high standards for what I eat.

Which is why spam, white is right propaganda and genocide-justifying shilling for empire are not part of my diet.

and occasionally it’s good to enjoy a meal someone prepared for you.

I always enjoy MY meals.

sorry for the incorrect spelling. hope that you enjoyed your meal.

Hettie the Hotdog:  Sure is.  That’s a recipe from their Savoring Mexico coffee table cookbook—which I recommend highly—in fact I thought highly of it when I lugged it back to Mexico from Spokane, Washington’s Goodwill store several years ago.

However, the word is POBLANO (as is from or pertaining to the city or state of Puebla) not pablano—which sounds like baby food goop.  And you forgot one of the two key ingredients:  corn.

That was the only link worth looking at that you have provided in your history of trolling, spamming and shillling for genocide on this site.

on the other hand,  MacFARQUHAR NYT wrote a decent piece about the Aleppo
bombings….if you ignore the crap from the Zionist shill and the US source.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/11/world/middleeast/blasts-in-aleppo-syria-
homs-violence-said-to-continue.html

dog___ here’s another one for you, from a site that you can like and trust.

http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/11/399718.htm

(sigh) what a moron.

not bad, Pat.

and it’s not just frogs.

some folks think that a tortured, dead Jew came back to life once upon a time.

And you homoerotic.

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/210153.php

not toad, PatH, frog

here I am with a boy looks just like you….

http://youtu.be/BG5O82YmOz4

RE: ...women kids and Syrian men… - falling mostly from attacks by
insurgent terrorists

once again, tic, you got squat - agitprop - e.g.

Two explosions have hit Syria’s northern city of Aleppo, state-run TV said
on Friday. The attack struck the security compounds, killing at least 28 people and
wounding 175 The blasts were the first in Syria’s largest city.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZQoxigZW4Q&feature=player_embedded

more to ponder:

RT News report, detailing Debka (Mossad linked) report on possible British and Qatari Special Forces on the ground in Syria.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYSAhPgFDZU&feature=player_embedded

in that report we hear reference to Russia’s problems with Islamists as well - insightful analysis suggests (and there is ample documentation to support this) that Islamists are in fact unwitting destabilization forces, run for decades now by CIA, MI6, MOSSAD - mission clear: failing states

if we could take a break from the other stuff, could you explain Fandango
rice….sounds nice.

is it pablanos, cream and cheese?

you didn’t provide a link, is this one close to what you’re cooking?

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/fiesta-rice.html

et bon appetit

moonraven,

Its called spamming. 

Anybody who puts out 1800 posts in less than 4 months without offering anything resembling a thought out comment with verifiable facts and an accompanying link
is a shill for someone.

I suspect they are a NYC zionist jew given the arrogance and wish to demonize and inflict death and destruction all arab countries while blindly ignoring Israeli meddling and threats in all of this.

Just a zionist toad.

Hettie:  Leave off the pecker projections, too.

We don’t need to know your psychosexual complexes to know that you are just a paid pieceworker here.

Shall we count your contentless posts on this thread?

Naw, this bird is off to finsih grilling Yucatan style pork ribs—which will be accompanied by Fandango rice, Thai eggplant salad, sourdough bread—and finally, corn cake. 

All from scratch and not a single Syrian among the ingredients.

We Slow Fooders are not into gobbling the leavings of the US-salaried Al Qaeda troops(sic) cipayo-ing their way around Aleppo.

yes, one imagines that ravens have a fair bit of attraction to Syria of late, there
being all those corpses to scavenge from.

the Assad goons have provided an abundance of taste treats for a little pecker to
pluck at.

Hettie:  Stop hogging the thread.

Not only do you NEVER post links to supposed documentation of your ludicrous claims, but you are also a thread hog.

I realize you get paid by the post, but some of us are not being paid to read your US government propaganda.

The bottom line here is:  You know absolutely nothing about geopolitics, especially the Middle East.  In fact, not only are you monolingual English (and low level at that) but you have never been outside the US!

Leave some space for those of us who actually KNOW what we are writing about here.

dog____ it really won’t be to defend against NATO, it ain’t NATO troops disguised
as women kids and Syrian men getting shelled and shot in Syria.

good for you, patH you could use a laugh for yourself.

and I suppose that if the opposition groups in Syria invite 30,000 friends to fly in
for a long visit, that’ll be no one else’s business either.

after all, the sovereignty in Syria doesn’t REALLY belong to the Assad clan…..

blogdog:  I am glad someone on this thread mentioned Wesley’s Clark’s rundown on The Plan in 2001.  It was addressed and commented a few days ago in La Jornada here in Mexico, too.

The Plan has not been destroyed by anything—don’t pay attention to US government piecework poster Hettie the Hotdog—much less the disastrous invasion of Iraq—especially since the US GOVERNMENT BELIEVES THAT THE INVASION OF IRAQ WENT JUST FINE AND IS PROUD AS PUNCH ABOUT IT—referenced in Obomber’s Shit the Citizens Speech last month.

US government piecework shills and trolls abound on this site—BUT, if you do your own thinking—AND YOUR HOMEWORK—you can blow them off like the mosquitoes that they are.

They are immediately recognizable because they always write hatespeech against this poster—one who DOES DO her homework on geopolitics,  in 7 different languages, and has BEEN to the Middle East several times—including to Syria.  Recently, too.

RE: ...thousands of Iranians really being sent to
join the goon squads in Syria.

the report looks like agitprop, but if Iranian troops aid the Syrain Army it
will be to defend their ally from NATO, on its march toward Iran… e.g.

New Military Coalitions directed against Syria and Iran: Leading U.S. Officials
Flock To Bulgaria Amid Mideast War Threats

by Global Research News
Global Research, February 9, 2012

U.S. Secretary of State visited Bulgaria on February 5 to discuss that nation’s
contribution to NATO’s war effort in Afghanistan, the intensification of joint
military training and exercises, pressuring the host country into dropping
Russian-made arms in favor of Western ones and the further sabotaging of
energy deals - natural gas and nuclear - between Bulgaria and Russia.

The Standart news agency wrote that the “extraordinary visit has additionally
fed rumours about coming military operations in the Middle East and the
formation of new coalitions of the kind existing against Iraq in 2003.”

In addition to recent complementary efforts to enlist the South Caucasus
nations of Georgia and Azerbaijan in support of military actions against Iran,
and perhaps Syria as well, the U.S. and its NATO allies are adding to air and
naval bases in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf monarchies others from
which to strike Tehran and Damascus.

Rick Rozoff contributed to this report.
Global Research Articles by Global Research News

__________________________________

now, we all remember what happened when the former USSR tried to put missiles in Cuba, only a bit closer to the US than were US missiles in Turkey - now the US military assets and allies literally surround Russia; and every so-called ME enemy state, reconsideration of which nation is now viewed around the world as the most aggressive threat to peace

tic,

Then again it is between Iran and Syria and is no one elses business. 

If Syria invites the Iranians and Russians into their country, too bad, it’s none of the United States concern.

It will make the zionists squawk and me laugh.

thanks again, Pat.

I disappointed that yet again you’re better at being snide, that producing factual
information.

as I said, this is no published treaty and the sketchy reports that one exists
never mention whether Iran would be obligated to send troops to Syria to kill
Syrians.

most defense treaties deal with external threats.

surely we most hope that there aren’t thousands of Iranians really being sent to
join the goon squads in Syria.

tic,

Use your own spamming skills to find the treaty, there is more than one. 

On the other hand find a treaty or defense pact between the U.S. and Israel, there isn’t any.

on the main point, if anybody has anything about
whether 15,000 Iranians troops really are headed for
Syria…... if that’s true we’re living in interesting
times.

PatH—-see if you can dig up alleged defense
pact…I’ve heard it allegedly exists, heard that it
might not, heard that it’s really vogue….and other
stuff….never found it or anything definitive.

if you’ve got it, I would appreciate the link. thanks
in advance.

It’s called a defense pact and the U.S. lives and breathes them.

http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/93798/iran-syria-sign-defense-pact-against-39-foreign-aggression-39-.html

dog—- take a gander at this…..too weird for me.

http://youtu.be/Wn9MmQOzWXg

dismissal by ad homenim (e.g. paranoids and conspiracy theorists) is so expected of you, tic, there’s
no point in addressing it

your analysis is soft and shallow - oh, little ‘ol Dubya and those hangin round his club house had
ambitious plans alright - but they too were being played - on 9/11 little Dubya too was targeted and
given his marching orders - all one need do is look at his deer-in-the-headlights eyes in the Booker
School video, after Card whisperes in his ear - watch him worrying… “why don’t they get me
out of here?”

SOP while the nation is under attack: get the POTUS out of the public eye (the school visit and location
was out in the media) - rush him to a secret and secure location… neither happens: Airforce One lifts
off with zero fighter coverage and the call comes in: “Angel is Next!”

And there you have it, the day unfolds exactly in line with a military coup scenario, as the POTUS
rushes off to show himself at Offut, US Nuclear HQ - and where he is told to announce the War of Civilizations - a coup
d’etat by the shadow faction - their ultimate plan: fail states - no winning anything and NATO is now
their enforcer

NATO’s mission is to fail states - pursued in service to the global finance oligarchy in whose service
Washington’s shadow faction also serve -

call it conspiratorial - of course, it is, but don’t call me paranoid - I’m far too insignificant for anyone
to be ‘out to get me’ - there is absolutely no role for me in any of my analyses; notwithstanding the
fact that the global finance oligarchs are the worst enemies of all under classes everywhere and of
course that includes you

so, re-holster your ad hominem piece before you even start shooting and think about your real
enemies

dog—- yes, even paranoids have enemies and
conspiracy theorists can point to all sorts of plans.

But the plan that Clark talks about was destroyed by
the ruinous failure of the invasion of Iraq. had the
Iraq invasion succeeded as the idiots envisioned,
then yes they were going to wheel into Syria.

It failed, they could not, and they left office in
shame and tatters.

Things evolved far differently than the “planners”
would have liked.

this is pretty much a whole different ball of shit.

tic, get real - you saw the video where Wesley Clark reported learning of the decade-long wholesale
regime-change plans for the region

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBgRAWHJ89U

the whole thing was planned long ago: something like, “...a window of opportunity to clean out the old
Soviet client states…”

of course anti-war resistance was building against the neocon juggernaut, so we got a left cover
operative, the Obomber, who’s accelerated the operation - if they get their war, they may perish more
than they did in Iraq

you can’t defend them - it’s naked aggression - even when it looks like a so-called color revolution -
as Tarpley calls it, the post modern coup

blad—western interference in this present conflict came after commencement. I
was not saying that no one has EVER had commerce with Syria.

Ah, the old Definitive Sample of One gambit.

Plenty of information is availble if you can read a couple of other languages (and reading Arabic is not necessary) and have the habit of thinking critically when slathered with imperialist propaganda.

Give me a break here, please.

Moonraven, Sorry but these are my own observations, taken mainly from a talk with an expat Syrian. Of course we both could be mistaken and corrected in thought if further info comes to light.

Fullblad:

There is no civil war in Syria.

You have been suckered again by folks like Hettie the Hatespeech shill.

Hetrochromatic, When has Syria not been interfered with? Maybe at the dawn of civilization. Since then it’s been almost continual; Persian,Greek,Roman,Turcks,Crusaders,Mongols,French,Russian and who knows who I’ve left out. The main problem in this dispute is the Assad Sunni’s governence over Shiahs who want to be let in. Rather than having a compromise you have protests and demands meet with violence and now civil war. An underlying theme is the barbaric treatment of the Plaestinian peoples by the extremist right wing policies by Israel and it’s international backers. There are many hands with spoons stirring the Syrian pot.

Hettie:  Please tell us how much you get from your Uncle Sam for these piecework posts justifying invasion, genocide and resource theft?

blad—- ““While violence on this scale is completely disgusting, it is what is to be
expected when there has been this much foriegn national interference.”“

the mass murdering by the Assad clan predates foreign interference…....your
assertion there is counterfactual.

How many times have we all seen these scenarios of powerfull countrys involvements or worse in the affairs of smaller nations for their own percieved benefits. If not for the these interferences over the decades perhaps the world would have witness to a much calmer middle east with actual democracy having taken root.

The troubles in Syria are much like those in Iraq with tensions along Sunni versus Shiah and clan lines. All these tentions are always made worse with the involvement of foreign nations seeking advantage for usually misguided policies with certainty of unpredicted outcomes often at odds with the intended result or benefits.

While violence on this scale is completely disgusting, it is what is to be expected when there has been this much foriegn national interference. The answer it seems will be too much death, misery, destruction, and of course some form of blowback before this crsis plays out. The whole situation is really so very very sad and will unfortunately repeat itself in the future due to the meddeling of the powerfull corporate interests, their nation states and of course the prime ingredient greed. The world really needs to change.

dog——did you read the report?

it certainly isn’t in line with the claims of anybody….

and you’re right to the extent that it’s entirely low-key rather than some hyped-
out media thing.

the AL report is in sharp contradiction with MSM reports and massive agitprop - just as we saw in Libya

finally something is breaking through - report at 16:40
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/7/a_struggle_for_regional_supremacy_syria

I’m not IMax and am not fond of baba ganoush….....

now do us all a favor and live up to your earlier announcement that you were
leaving the thread, flea-bird.

Ah, you thank others for links, but you present none.

The mere thought of you trying to pass yorself off as someone who knows about the Levant is simply laughable.

You wouldn’t know baba ganoush from bob white.

thank you for the link to the Report…..

I would like to the last thing written before the recommendations….......

.....” 82.  Since its establishment, attitudes towards the Mission have been
characterized by insincerity or, more broadly speaking, a lack of seriousness.
Before it began carrying out its mandate and even before its members had
arrived, the Mission was the target of a vicious campaign directed against the
League of Arab States and the Head of the Mission, a campaign that increased
in intensity after the observers’ deployment. The Mission still lack the political
and media support it needs in order to fulfil its mandate. Should its mandate be
extended, the goals set out in the Protocol will not be achieved unless such
support is provided and the Mission receives the backing it needs to ensure the
success of the Arab solution.”———

The entire report contains several mentions of the insufficiency of of what the
group was allowed to see and the insufficiency of the time that they were
allowed inisde of Syria…..

Anyone who reads the recommendations will note the stress placed upon those
things.

Independent Report Contradicts Western Portrait of
Syria

Specifically, over 160 monitors from the
Arab League – comprised of both allies and mortal
enemies of Syria – toured Syria and published a
report on January 27th showing that the situation has
been mischaracterized.

Initially, the report noted general cooperation by
the Syrian government:

The Mission [i.e. the Arab League investigative team]
noted that the Government strived to help it succeed
in its task and remove any barriers that might stand
in its way. The Government also facilitated meetings
with all parties. No restrictions were placed on the
movement of the Mission and its ability to interview
Syrian citizens, both those who opposed the
Government and those loyal to it.

The report noted that the media has greatly
exaggerated the amount of violence in Syria:

The Mission noted that many parties falsely reported
that explosions or violence had occurred in several
locations. When the observers went to those
locations, they found that those reports were
unfounded.

The Mission also noted that, according to its teams
in the field, the media exaggerated the nature of the
incidents and the number of persons killed in
incidents and protests in certain towns.

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/independent-report-shows-that-syrian-government-violence-has-been-exaggerated.html

The report (pdf):
http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/Report_of_Arab_League_Observer_Mission.pdf

My final comment today on this situation:  In an interview on the below-referenced site James Petras takes to task the dummies on the left who have once again been suckered by the imperialists’ use of “cipayos” (in this case folks that LOOK like Syrians but are really Al Qaeda goons from the Magreb, or folks from Iraq or Lebanon or the Gulf with maybe even a few Syrains-for-hire into the bargain) to make conflicts look like civil wars when they are really invasions.

http://www.aporrea.org/ideologia/n198442.html

moonie——you carry a flea circus wherever you go. try flapping yer wings and not
yer yap.

and take in a birdbath ev’ry onceta while.

dog___ No. NARY a single “impartial observer” says that half the current dead are
“insurgents”. There were no insurgents to speak of until after the Assadists had
murdered more than 1000 unarmed people.

Robert Fisk has written a much better piece than this pile of coldwar crapola—explaining why Assad was not leaving anytime soon.  It was published in La Jornada in Spanish translation yesterday.  http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2012/02/07/mundo/022a1mun

If you are monolingual, track it down in The Independent, its origin.

And no, for those of you who can’t seem to keep your jingoism from jingling, he was not supporting Assad.

As a little aside, when I popped into a search engine to look for the article before I added yesterday’s date the first article that came up was one by Fisk NINE YEARS AGO:  Why Is Syria in the US Sights?

Think about that.  Think about what I have already written on this thread about the US’s employees in Al Qaeda.  Start using a few of those little grey cells instead of jerking your jingo bells for the genocidal imperialist machine.

jeff N,
“collabors”, eh? i think i had a stupiditi attack when i coined that word. i also toyed with using the word “colabors”.
as for using the word “godologists”, doesn’t sacerdotal class- and to a much lesser degree also their semantic
serfs/prisoners—study god? [or ‘god’, or as i say, goddevil]
alas, it should be the other way around—god for a change studying priests, ulema, rabbinate, et al.
it seems to me that the label “godology” is by far more enlightening than “theology”; thus its use instead the one i
coined—and with deliberation! [ok, u gotta s’mtime laugh about the whole damn thing]
but even i am a godologist. and, if i may brag, a lot better one than that any priest.
yes, i often wonder if people picked what is protreptic [what is educational] in our posts—oops, mine [nothing is ever
solely mine]?
many do, tho. and the ones who attack my personhood because of what i say prove it!
but thanks for ur advice.
just remember i finished last in both of my only two elementary classes i attended. and even my wife often says to me,
Bob, don’t talk so stupid—talk so that everybody can understand u and not just me!

“Moonraven,

I’ve enjoyed shawarma, kibbeh and Syrian bread.”

Not in Syria, you haven’t.  You are not fooling me.  I have eaten all of those in offbeat spots like Quito, Ecuador, too.

But I would also be willing to bet that I am the only one posting on this thread who has spent any time in the Middle East, much less in Syria.

And as for Hettiethotpants:  You wouldn’t know a dictatorship if it bit you in the shorts.  You are living under one, and too dense to even notice. Every time you vote you pledge to turn over your civil rights to be trampled under the jackboots of fascism.

Why don’t you clowns try to get jobs.  I understand the circus is making a comeback.

RE: ...The Assads are well into 5 figures murdered…

and by impartial estimates, at least half of the current death toll is at the hands of insurgents - if they
continue escalating their terrorist attacks on the general population, provoking even more aggressive
defense of that population by the Syrian Army, the aggregate death toll may eventually match what NATO
achieved in Libya (estimated at 50K on the low side)

essential to keep these things in perspective - imagine the US Army response to an armed insurgency,
funded by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), for example - a terrorist campaign on the
Mexican Border, sniping at civilians on the streets of US border towns, blowing up police stations, bombing
busses, oil and gas pipelines, etc.

certainly US citizens would expect protection by their government from an SCO-sponsored armed
insurgency, just as Syrians do from this NATO/Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-sponsored armed
insurgency; exactly what the Arab League Observer Mission reported

the ALOM team took their mission seriously from a humanitarian perspective and didn’t play Yes Men to the
Globalist agenda, why they’re now being denounced by NATO’s most vicious troika of all time: Sharkozy,
Cameruin and Obomber, who, with the help of their water boy Fog Rusemachen, have descended through
the genocide of their Libyan campaign to join the underworld pantheon of most reviled war criminals

again, essential to keep these things in perspective

balkas, your comments would be much more coherent if you didn’t use “words” like “godologits”, “collabors”, or “feindschaft=foeship”...  Also, there seems to be an issue with your spacing.. I’m not sure why it just starts new lines in the middle of your sentences.

——-”.....which decided that it is the best to work with one + billion muslims in
order to
continue to lord it over the 99%? .....“____

you took a wrong turn or three around there

so, are christian and islamic godologits uniting like never before? or is it just the
world’s onepercent—and without christians being aware or suspicious of it?-
which decided that it is the best to work with one + billion muslims in order to
continue to lord it over the 99%?
but does the seemingly collabors between onepercenters and sunni islam have a
price?
and what the price might be? continuing emnity [feindschaft=foeship] between it
and iran? and end of israel as a state for jews only?
actually, as far as law and order and structure of society in islamic lands and in
many others go, they differ only in degree and not in kind. so, it makes sense to
unite and work together against equality, etc.

so, can we expect also some cooperation between talibans [excellent cops] and
the !%? thanks

from the article: ...After the Iraq withdrawal and the struggling mission in
Afghanistan, the U.S. seems rather weary of getting too involved in another
country with complicated conflicts and blurred front lines…

clearly he missed this:

US Troops Begin Operations on the Jordan-Syria Border
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29960.htm
By Sibel Edmonds

December 12, 2011——According to first-hand accounts and reports
provided to Boiling Frogs Post by several sources in Jordan, during the last few
hours foreign military groups, estimated at hundreds of individuals, began to
spread near the villages of the north-Jordan city of “Al-Mafraq”, which is
adjacent to the Jordanian and Syrian border.

[...]

and more recently this:

Arab League Report Provides Evidence CIA, MI6, Mossad Behind Violence in
Syria
http://counterpsyops.com/
By Kurt Nimmo at Infowars.com

Excerpts from the Arab League observers’ report on Syria make it clear that the
establishment media is only telling part of the story and exaggerating violence
by the al-Assad government and its police and military.

The report mentions an “armed entity’ that is killing civilians and police and
conducting terrorist attacks targeting innocent civilians. Casualties from these
attacks are attributed to the al-Assad government and used to build a case
against Syria in the United Nations.

[...]

hetero, I agree, I don’t think it is on the agenda, and hopefully it won’t have to be.  With rising tensions though, I think its important to keep in mind that our usual “remedy” may very well be worse than the disease, especially given the results of similar interventions in Iraq, Libya, etc.  Apparently there is the same result when we aren’t involved though, such as Egypt.  I guess the bottom line is if you live in the Middle East, you’re f*cked.

The Assads are well into 5 figures murdered Pat… by
any reasonable estimate….

Y’know it’s possible that the Assads have killed more Syrians onside Syria since 1970 then the Israelis have killed Palestinians in Israel/Palestine in that time.

Its possible?

Proof, facts or your wild ass conjecture you know your usual BS?

The US needs to stay out of it and quit wasting our money over there.

didn’t say that you had, Jeff, merely alluded to your
idea that we were aiming to bomb a la Libya.

I don’t see that on the agenda at present and such
action will not happen until the Assad clique murders
another thousand or so.

What is on the agenda is pushing the Syrian government
to induce the Assads to leave before they all end up as
Gaddafi did.

Well hetero, I didn’t say that the US is bombing Syria now did I?  I realize you have an insatiable urge to immediately discredit every comment made on this website, but do me the courtesy of making the correct appraisal of the argument before you go off with your senseless banter.

I’m not sure how this vague “initiative” by Turkey that involves no definitive details other than a continued alliance with the west gives much sway one way or the other on the situation.

The US isn’t bombing Syrians, the Syrian government is
doing that….and probably not for all much longer.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syrian-president-at-
dead-end-erdogan.aspx?
pageID=238&nID=13262&NewsCatID=338

I think the old physicians adage of ‘do no harm’ applies here for the US and its allies.  There doesn’t seem to be any coherent leadership in the opposition, at least at this point anyways.  So, for the west to induce some kind of Libya style bombing in an area with the amount of geopolitical significance that Syria has seems at the very least premature, and most likely would result in total chaos. 

The continual supply of arms flowing into both sides of this fight seems to ensure a long, bloody battle in either case.  Providing food and a safe shelter for refugees seems like about all that can be done from our end at this point.  In the meantime, Russia appears to be making efforts, effective or not, towards a negotiation between Assad and the opposition regarding political reform, etc.  Don’t see that there is much need for the US right now though, absent some hidden political agenda (which I’m sure exists).

No, it’s not…but there’s absolutely zero ethical
argument for defending the Assad dictatorship.
Y’know it’s possible that the Assads have killed more
Syrians onside Syria since 1970 then the Israelis have
killed Palestinians in Israel/Palestine in that time
period.

The United States record of veto’s at the U.N. is nothing to be proud of.

http://www.krysstal.com/democracy_whyusa03.html

Moonraven,

I’ve enjoyed shawarma, kibbeh and Syrian bread.

loonie——flap off.

Syria is an ugly dictatorship that’s headed by fascist
thieves and killers.

IMax:  Just how much time have you spent in Syria?

You are phoney as a three-buck-bill.

US government shill alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My thoughts are always with the Syrian people first.  For decades Syria’s dictatorial leadership has enjoyed little passionate support.  Syrians, until recently, have had zero ability to effect change without putting a great many lives in danger while the world, yet again, turns its collective back.

Second, it seems to me, would be to consider Syria’s immediate neighbors.  Syria is despised by all but Iran.  It’s universally understood within the U.N. diplomatic corp that Syria is otherwise surrounded by leaders who, for several independent and varied reasons of their own, relish an end to the Assad era.

Third in my mind but first in the world of diplomacy is Syria’s decades long and largest benefactors.  Which, again within U.N. corridors, specifically means Chinese and Russian security/economic interests.  Neither Russia or China have a history of putting lives or human-rights before their own interests.  This remains true no matter how one personally feels about the U.S. - or the West in general.

Last are the combined interests of Europe, the United States and, of course, Israel.

The Syrian people want Assad out, the Arab League wants Assad out, Europe and the United States want Assad out and Israel vacillates between wishing Assad gone while simultaneously fearing the instability that will obviously be created by the vacuum.  Russia and China has, as is their way, voted in their own best interest.

Geopolitics aside, any personal grievances with the United States or Israel aside,  all the many conspiracy theories and talk of ‘Western Imperialism’ aside, overall this latest turn of events is unfortunate for the people of Syria and the Middle East region as a whole.

-

Nothing on this planet is as simple as putting the U.S. and Russia in a room together making global decisions.

it does seem that the goddologists have won in libya, morocco, bahrain, yemen, and iraq.
will the godologists also win in syria? if lavrov is telling us the truth or is thereabouts, then
my ‘prediction’ that the egyptian protest would utterly fail was a good one. i also expected
that the armed fundamentalists in libya would succeed.
libyan fundametalists new ‘better’ than just to protest; so, they resorted to warfare in order to
reestablish the old order of the kings farouk, abduallah, hussien, faisal, et al.
and they are very faithful to US law and order.
this must be disconcerting to zionists. i do not think islamic goddologists would soften their
stance towards these invaders.
if theocrats win in syria that’s going to mightily gladden jordan’s king and all islamists. but
jordan may want payback of some kind.
with jordan’s law and order strengthened, one should expect waning of the israeli influence
and import to christian lands.
and what if West decides to also make peace with hezbollah? and how about hamas?
so, zionists in US better pray assad continues to rule syria. now, if najibullah would would
once again rule afgh’n….
thanks

This article is just western jingoism—sucker bait.

The US government has had their Al Qaeda goons in this manufactured civil conflict since the get go—and now it has escalated because more Al Qaeda goons have been deployed from Libya—and replaced with at least 12,000 US army troops that were evacuated from Iraq.

In Lebanon, a huge stash of dollars, arms, special passports and credit cards was impounded by the Lenanese government from a plane that came from the US via Brazil.  Some of the folks it was destined to fund and arm for the manufactured civil war in Syria have been arrested, but not all.

Al Qaeda goons continue to enter Syria via Lebanon.

http://www.aporrea.org/internacionales/n198370.html

YOUR tax dollars at work.  You folks need to inform yourselves instead of sucking up this Cold War Redux propaganda.

salome—-that comment was too foolish to work

The Petrodollar, Iran, and Gold—What You Need to Know
| Marin Katusa | FINANCIAL SENSE (1/24/2012)
http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/marin-
katusa/petrodollar-iran-gold-what-you-need-to-know

Some excerpt from above:

Tehran Pushes to Ditch the US Dollar

The official line from the United States and the
European Union is that Tehran must be punished for
continuing its efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.
The punishment: sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, which
are meant to isolate Iran and depress the value of its
currency to such a point that the country crumbles.

But that line doesn’t make sense, and the sanctions
will not achieve their goals. Iran is far from
isolated and its friends - like India - will stand by
the oil-producing nation until the US either backs
down or acknowledges the real matter at hand. That
matter is the American dollar and its role as the
global reserve currency.

The short version of the story is that a 1970s deal
cemented the US dollar as the only currency to buy and
sell crude oil, and from that monopoly on the all-
important oil trade the US dollar slowly but surely
became the reserve currency for global trades in most
commodities and goods. Massive demand for US dollars
ensued, pushing the dollar’s value up, up, and away.
In addition, countries stored their excess US dollars
savings in US Treasuries, giving the US government a
vast pool of credit from which to draw.

We know where that situation led - to a US government
suffocating in debt while its citizens face stubbornly
high unemployment (due in part to the high value of
the dollar); a failed real estate market; record
personal-debt burdens; a bloated banking system; and a
teetering economy. That is not the picture of a world
superpower worthy of the privileges gained from having
its currency back global trade. Other countries are
starting to see that and are slowly but surely moving
away from US dollars in their transactions, starting
with oil.

If the US dollar loses its position as the global
reserve currency, the consequences for America are
dire. A major portion of the dollar’s valuation stems
from its lock on the oil industry - if that monopoly
fades, so too will the value of the dollar. Such a
major transition in global fiat currency relationships
will bode well for some currencies and not so well for
others, and the outcomes will be challenging to
predict. But there is one outcome that we foresee with
certainty: Gold will rise. Uncertainty around paper
money always bodes well for gold, and these are
uncertain days indeed.
...

Curley——-thanx we needed some asshole extolling the genius of Gaddafi. 
you may die happy now, having amused us.

Yup, thass a good argument. If the US isn’t sincere , then it’s cool for the Assad
dictatorship to kill as many Syrian citizens as insist on having some political
rights.

The pretense that our interest in the Syrian turmoil has to do with support for
democracy and/or concern for civilians belies the real intention of destroying a
recalcitrant regime.  First, we have, and still do, align ourselves with dictators and
other authoritarian governments.  Whether a Batista in Cuba or a Somoza in
Nicaragua or a shah in Iran or a Mubarak in Egypt, we do not let our “democratic”
sensibilities interfere with our foreign policy pursuits.  Bashar al-Asad is not “our
man in Damascus,” and therefore needs replacing.  Second, American-Syrian
disagreements are not solely the product of the success of the Asads.  Decades
before Hafez would come to power, Damascus and Washington were not on good
terms.  Syrian purchase of Soviet arms in the 1950s, rejection of US proposals to
divide water resources with Israel, its union with Egypt, tensions over Lebanon
resulting in President Eisenhower ordering marines into Lebanon, as well as
support for Palestinian guerrillas all preceded Hafez al-Asad’s rise to power in
November 1970.  Third, twenty-five years of neocon efforts to reconfigure the
Mideast has become, and remains, the dominant policy for both Democratic and
Republican administrations.  Identifying Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraq, Syria and Iran as
roadblocks to our dominance in the area as well as calling for these entities to fall
has come to fruition.  The Iraq war of 2003 removed Saddam.  The 2006 Israeli
attack on Hezbollah dealt them a major military setback.  The Israeli military
attacks and economic strangulation of Gaza has crippled Hamas.  Discontent
towards the Asad regime now offers regime change.  The drive to war with Iran is
in the wings.  Fourth, we are not concerned about the repercussions of the
collapse of Bashar.  Prior to his father gaining power, Syria was a basket case—
sectarian and regional divisions, revolving governments, coups, failure of local
elites to develop a national sense, etc. were the hallmarks of Syria.  Through brutal
methods, the Asads did turn Syria into a regional player of importance.  It was a
country that could take an independent course when it was beneficial—angered
the Soviets when Syria came to help the Lebanese in 1975, angered Iran when
Syria opened negotiations with Israel, Syria joined the 1990-91 coalition against
Saddam, etc.  A recent survey conducted by Qatar—an enemy of Syria—discovered
that a majority of Syrians support Bashar.  The Arab League investigation declared
that an armed insurrection—funded and supplied by outside forces—are the
major factor in the escalating violence and death.  Our hands and those of our
allies play the role in providing these arms and equipment.  There are those
Syrians who want a democratic and secular country.  But the powers that are
taking a presiding position are religious radicals that would return Syria to the
chaos and political division of decades ago.  But Syrian territorial disintegration
and internal bedlam appears to be the real goal of our policy in our quest for
dominance of the oil producing Mideast.

Patrick,

What do you think of the situation in Syria of late?

Israel sucks!  Syria may suck too, but Israel really really sucks.

LOL

Readers here may find more info regarding these Syrian
plots at below:

(1) As Anger Over Russian Syria Veto Mounts, Putin
“Briefly” Leaves Europe In The Cold (2/5/2012)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/anger-over-russian-
syria-veto-mounts-putin-briefly-leaves-europe-cold

(2) Security Council Showdown on Syria (2/4/2012)
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/02/security-council-
showdown-on-syria.html

(3) Run-up to proxy war over Syria (2/6/2012)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/NB07Ad01.html

(4) Syria and those ‘disgusting’ BRICS (2/6/2012)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB07Ak02.html

(5) Exposed: The Arab agenda in Syria (2/4/2012)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB04Ak01.html

It’s disgusting to watch all the naked plots for
regime changes such as in Libya, attacking Iran
through Syria… all in the ultimate pursuant to the
PETRO-DOLLAR very existence!!!

For the very foundation to comprehend all of these
world affairs, one may wish to refer to below book.

TRAGEDY AND HOPE: A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN OUR TIME
(1966) by CARROLL QUIGLEY
http://bit.ly/xo9I7S (pdf, 5.42 mb)

Somehow one of the most revealing books ever published
slipped through the editorial of offices of one of the
major publishing houses in New York and found it way
into the bookstores of America in 1966.

Professor Quigley was an extraordinarily gifted
historian and geo-political analyst. The insights and
information contained in his massive study open the
door to a true understanding of world history in the
19th and 20th centuries. It is a work of exceptional
scholarship and is truly a classic. The author should
have received a Nobel Prize for his work.

In 1961 Carroll Quigley published “The Evolution of
Civilizations”. It was derived from a course he taught
on world history at Georgetown University. “Quigley
coupled enormous capacity for work with a peculiarly
“scientific” approach. He believed that it should be
possible to examine the data and draw conclusions. As
a boy at the Boston Latin School, his academic
interests were mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
Yet during his senior year he was also associate
editor of the Register, the oldest high school paper
in the country. His articles were singled out for
national awards by a national committee headed by
George Gallup.

At Harvard, biochemistry was to be his major. But
Harvard, expressing then a belief regarding a well-
rounded education to which it has now returned,
required a core curriculum including a course in the
humanities. Quigley chose a history course, “Europe
Since the Fall of Rome.” Always a contrary man, he was
graded at the top of his class in physics and calculus
and drew a C in the history course. But the
development of ideas began to assert its fascination
for him, so he elected to major in history. He
graduated magna cum laude as the top history student
in his class. [Introduction: Michael L. Chadwick]

I guess Syria is Russia’s Israel.

I’ve always admired Syria for trying to help stop Israel’s exterminating theiving dishonest and
immoral occupation of Palestine.
I see how much USA supports Israel to divide and conquer.
If this is the best the world can do, we’re fkkkd.
And we deserve it .
Too bad about all the rest.
FTW in a nut shell.
Glad I’m old.
See you with “NOOT on the moon”.
Then the extermination begin.
Iran should build a wick so if they are attacked by USA/Israel , the oil goes kaboom and it just gets shittier.
How weird can it be that Obama needs Ron Paul?

the bottom—-the Arab League report more than
sufficiently supported the contention that Assad’s
goons were killing innocent people.

what did you read in it that allows you to say
differently?

you find that the Arab League demand that Assad step
down is an indication that the League and the report
sees Assad in a favorable light?

curiouser and curiouser.

Yes, like Robespierre115 says. Read Pepe Escobar’s Asia Times article.

Also the Arab League sent a mission to investigate, but when the their report did not sufficiently support the NATO/GCC agenda, the it was shelved. Read it here. http://www.innercitypress.com/LASomSyria.pdf

This is truly old imperialist wine in new bottles, including some new bottles in the form of the Gulf monarchies, ie, hereditery dictatorships, crying crocodile tears over the lack of democracy in Syria, when their people lack any political rights at all.

the US and the EU and the Gulf Council Arabs and the
Turks certainly are talking the opportunity to support
the overthrow of the Assad family of fine fascist
products in Syria,

These terrible opportunists are usually this flimsy
pretext of a few thousand innocent and unarmed
protesters being murdered by the employees of Bashir
Assad. So unfair of them.

Russia isn’t exactly isolating itself. Most of the developing world agrees with Moscow’s stance considering the US and NATO are taking advantage of the Syrian conflict to justify another imperial adventure. For example the Obama regime is pretty quiet about Bahrain, Honduras etc.

This new piece by Pepe Escobar at the Asia Times has some important insights:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB07Ak02.html

Some excerpts:

Russia has its own geopolitical reasons to consider Syria a red line; Syria hosts Russia’s only naval base in the Mediterranean, in the port of Tartus; and Syria buys Russian weapons. But in fact all the five BRICS - plus the overwhelmingly majority of the developing world - are in synch; forget about regime change-enabling UN resolutions, promoted by the usual suspect Western trio US-Britain-France and - the summit of hypocrisy - devised by the “democratic” House of Saud and Qatar.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be in Damascus this Tuesday to meet with President Bashar al-Assad and discuss a serious plan to try to end the bloodshed. Lavrov has calmly explained the reasons for the Russian veto.

He had sent Russian amendments to the draft resolution directly to Clinton; “The rationality and objectivity of these amendments should not cause anyone’s doubt.” But to no avail; the resolution remained “unilateral” - demanding nothing from Syrian anti-government armed groups. Lavrov stressed, “No president with self-respect, no matter how treated, will agree to surrender inhabited localities to armed extremists without resistance.” Imagine if Homs was in Texas.

Still, the SNC now holds Moscow and
Beijing “responsible for the escalating acts of killing and genocide”, and facilitators of a “license to kill”. Lavrov is imperturbable; “We have repeatedly said that we are not protecting Assad but international law. The prerogative of the UN Security Council does not envision interference in internal processes.”

Homs: Who’s killing whom?

Syria’s UN ambassador Bashar Ja’afari strongly denied the opposition’s accusation of regime forces bombing the Khadiliya neighborhood in Homs with tanks and artillery and killing over 200 people - arguing that “no sensible person” would launch such an attack the night before the UN Security Council was discussing a resolution. Without any preliminary investigation, France called it a “massacre” and a “crime against humanity”. Like France’s performance during the Algerian war?

To understand what’s at stake, it’s crucial to keep in mind who’s defecting from the Syrian army. Syria’s top military - also members of the Ba’ath Party - are almost all Alawis, the folk Shi’ite sect (10% of the overall population). They are not defecting.

The defectors are overwhelmingly Sunni troops (70% of the overall population); they are forming militias, Libya-style, heavily infiltrated by mercenaries weaponized by the GCC, and fighting government troops. The government’s response has been to target the neighborhoods where the families of these defectors live. The center of Homs nowadays is controlled by the rebels.

If two of the “great powers”—U.S. and Russia - could manage to get together and plead with Assad to climb down, that would be a good thing, right? And if ten or twelve other nations in the area also signed onto the suggestion, that would make it stronger? And if a few prominent mullahs would cooperate? Then the “opposition” might be convinced to go along with such a suggestion, right?  Both lives and faces might be saved, right?  Why not?