http://www.2la.org/
A senior Syrian journalist reports Iraq WMD located in three Syrian sites
06 January, 2004
AFP
Nizar Nayuf (Nayyouf-Nayyuf), a Syrian journalist who recently defected from Syria to Western Europe and is known for bravely challenging the Syrian regime, said in a letter Monday, January 5, to Dutch newspaper “De Telegraaf,” that he knows the three sites where Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) are kept. The storage places are:
-1- Tunnels dug under the town of al-Baida near the city of Hama in northern Syria. These tunnels are an integral part of an underground factory, built by the North Koreans, for producing Syrian Scud missiles. Iraqi chemical weapons and long-range missiles are stored in these tunnels.
-2- The village of Tal Snan, north of the town of Salamija, where there is a big Syrian air force camp. Vital parts of Iraq's WMD are stored there.
-3-. The city of Sjinsjar on the Syrian border with the Lebanon, south of Homs city.
Nayouf writes that the transfer of Iraqi WMD to Syria was organized by the commanders of Saddam Hussein's Special Republican Guard, including General Shalish, with the help of Assif Shoakat , Bashar Assad's cousin. Shoakat is the CEO of Bhaha, an import/export company owned by the Assad family.
In February 2003, a month before America's invasion in Iraq, very few are aware about the efforts to bring the Weapons of Mass Destruction from Iraq to Syria, and the personal involvement of Bashar Assad and his family in the operation.
Nayouf, who has won prizes for journalistic integrity, says he wrote his letter because he has terminal cancer.
First Message from the Syrian source to Nizar Nayouf
"Dear Nizar.
We received confirmations that the Iraqi weapons, which were moved to Syria by the help of General Zoul-Himla Chalich are now hidden in three places inside Syria:
First place: a tunnel dug in the mountain close to the Al-Baïdah village, which is roughly two kilometers from Misyaf village. This place is under the 489 Safety cipher Documents' office control .
Second place: the factory of the Air Armed Forces in the village of Tal Sinan, between the town of Hama and Salamiyyah. This factory is under the Air Force control.
Third place: the location of Shinsar, 40 kilometers south of Homs, two kilometers east of the Homs - Damascus road. There are underground tunnels there, controlled by Brigade 661 of the armed air Forces. It is a Brigade of air Patrol. The tunnels are several tens of meters deep.
The weapons were transported in large wooden cases and barrels, under the supervision of the General Zoul-Himla Chalich and the son of his brother Assef, who works at Al-Bachaer company.
The company is owned by the Assad family and has offices in Beirut, Damascus and Baghdad.
This company also undertook the illegal Iraqi oil importation in Syria, and supplied weapons to Saddam. I will try to send you all the new information as i get .
Take care and be safe."
Second Message to Nizar Nayuf
Second messages from a Syrian Source, WMD Location
"Dear Nizar.
I have sent you another chart of the positions which tells where the weapons which were sent from Iraq into Syria, are hidden. Because the preceding chart that I sent you earlier is not clear.
Until now, the authorities in Syria did not worry of what was being published by the Dutch television news about this subject.
New information: The weapons were evacuated by the means of ambulances. Mohammed Mansoura also took part in the operation.
There are other serious, detailed pieces of information concerning the money of Saddam being moved into Syria and into Lebanon and those who took part in moving it - Syrians and Lebanese.Also there are more details about the assassination of the General Moustapha Tajer which took place last summer.
Take care of yourself.
Damascus, January 7, 2004."
News About the Weapons of Mass Destruction from around the world:
Western spies: Syria storing WMD in Sudan
Washington Times, DC - Apr 8, 2004
... of mass destruction components to Sudan so they won't be detected anywhere in Syria . ... to face heavy US and international pressure to open its WMD facilities in ...
SYRIA SMUGGLES MISSILES, WMD TO SUDAN
Middle East Newsline, Middle East - Apr 8, 2004
LONDON [MENL] -- Syria's Defense Ministry has been smuggling missile and weapons of mass ... Scud C and Scud D extended-range missiles as well as WMD components to ...
Iraq minister says Saddam's WMD carefully hidden
Reuters AlertNet -29 Jan 2004
... Iraq's foreign minister said on Thursday Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, which inspectors have failed to find, were carefully hidden but Hoshiyar Zebari said he was confident they could be discovered.
Syria Role On Iraqi Arms Is Studied(Washington Post)
Sent to Syria?(FOX NEWS)
WMD in Syria: Kay
Winnipeg Sun, Canada -
... to Syria shortly before last year's US invasion of Iraq ... officials that a lot of material went to Syria before the war, including some components of Saddam's WMD ...
Powell: Possible Iraq May Have Had No WMD - Miami Herald
WMD row: Kay's resignation sparks controversy - NDTV.com
Conflicting statements on Iraq WMD issue
CTV, Canada -
... on weapons of mass destruction," said Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's ... who would have had direct knowledge of any WMD ... or some of them are still sitting somewhere in Syria ...
Frontline: Chasing Saddam's Weapons - Washington Post
Former US weapons search team chief says Iraq's WMD in Syria
Albawaba Middle East News, Middle East -
... Kay, who last week resigned as head of the Iraq ... before the war, including some components of Saddam's WMD ... Precisely what went to Syria, and what has happened ...
Saddam's WMD hidden in Syria, says Iraq survey chief - Telegraph.co.uk
Kay says some Iraq weapons in Syria: report - ABC Online
Iraqi weapons sent to Syria: Kay - The Age
Iraq WMD's in Syria...
Crosswalk.com -
WORLD NET DAILY today breaking the story of the unlocked mystery
of where the WMD's had gone. Many months ago, military experts ...
Top US Senator: Iraq WMD May Have Gone to Syria
Washington Post, DC - Jan 21, 2004
... vowed to carry on searching for such arms in Iraq. ... I think that there is some concern that shipments of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) went to Syria ...
Fears Iraq WMD may have gone to Syria
Reuters, UK - Jan 21, 2004
... I think that there is some concern that shipments of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) went to Syria." He did not elaborate. Syria, which borders Iraq, has in ...
Fears Iraq WMD may have gone to Syria
swissinfo, Switzerland - Jan 21, 2004
... think that there is some concern that shipments of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) went to Syria." He. ... in the international community over the Iraq war. ...
Top US Senator says Iraq WMD may have gone to Syria
Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates - Jan 21, 2004
... I think that there is some concern that shipments of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) went to Syria.” He did not elaborate. Syria, which borders Iraq, has ...
Chaos Under Heaven, and More to Come
Inter Press Service (subscription), World - 13 hours ago
... administration ally, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, also suggested this week that Iraq's alleged WMD stockpiles were transported to Syria ...
Full Version: The Syria Propaganda Machine Hard At Work
Common Ground Common Sense > Issues that Affect Our Lives > Foreign Policy and National Defense > Foreign Policy & National Defense Issues Archive
early 2004????
The U.S. WMD inspectors found no evidence of this information. Their report came out last FAll 2004.
The U.S. WMD inspectors found no evidence of this information. Their report came out last FAll 2004.
Talk about cut and paste. The wording of descriptions of Iraqi and Syrian regimes is almost identical, just replace Iraq with Syria.Who paid this Shmuck!
QUOTE(FormerCIA @ Mar 3 2005, 01:04 PM)
Talk about cut and paste. The wording of descriptions of Iraqi and Syrian regimes is almost identical, just replace Iraq with Syria.Who paid this Shmuck!
It is totally cut and paste, did you see the front page. Side-by-side comparisons. It is Deja vu but insert Syria.
It makes sense to attack Syria, where will Iran go, they will be surrounded.
QUOTE(FormerCIA @ Mar 3 2005, 01:04 PM)
Talk about cut and paste. The wording of descriptions of Iraqi and Syrian regimes is almost identical, just replace Iraq with Syria.Who paid this Shmuck!
Surely, the government wouldn't, couldn't have paid for this...
Everything on the Internet is not true.
Syria believes the U.S. and ISrael has fabricated intelligence against them
Syria believes the U.S. and ISrael has fabricated intelligence against them
QUOTE(heritage @ Mar 3 2005, 01:14 PM)
Everything on the Internet is not true.
Syria believes the U.S. and ISrael has fabricated intelligence against them
Syria believes the U.S. and ISrael has fabricated intelligence against them
Like those satalite pictures, they probably replaced the name. Isn't Syria on the UN Security Council???
After the mysterious assasination of Hariri--and Syria's sudden change of attitude saying it was going to have elections and behave more democratic--it makes one wonder if the US is planning an attack on Syria--perhaps, this nonsense coming out of Syria will Bush's excuse for the attack.
BUSH PUSHES SYRIA:
Outlines U.S. strategy on Lebanon
By ROBIN WRIGHT
Washington Post
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_sho...l?article=51496
WASHINGTON - President Bush lashed out at Syria Wednesday, as the Bush administration outlined a three-pronged strategy to increase pressure on Damascus to quickly pull its troops and intelligence services out of Lebanon.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have joined the international effort behind the scenes and are now trying to broker a timetable for Syria to withdraw its more than 14,000 troops in Lebanon, preferably within the next two months, U.S. and European officials said. The Arab diplomatic effort is an attempt to prevent the confrontation between Syria and other countries from escalating.
Syrian President Bashar Assad is expected to hold talks Thursday in the Saudi capital of Riyadh to discuss the proposal and his plans, a State Department official said.
Bush warned Wednesday that the world is now "speaking with one voice when it comes to making sure that democracy has a chance to flourish in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East."
As one prong of its strategy, the administration is raising its own voice publicly against Syria's three-decades-long domination of Lebanon in daily statements from the president and top officials, while sending stern diplomatic messages behind the scenes through U.S. envoys to Damascus. The White House is also making clear it is prepared to consider new sanctions against Damascus if it does not respond.
Lebanonhas rapidly become a centerpieceof the Bush administration's effort to promote democracy in the Middle East - as Syria has increasingly become the target of U.S. scorn and pressure. Stephen Seche, the deputy in charge of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, delivered a tough message to the Syrian government Tuesday, U.S. officials said.
Collaboration with European allies is the second prong of the U.S. strategy. Bush, appearing Wednesday at Anne Arundel, Md.,Community College, applauded a new joint U.S.-French effort that he said declared "loud and clear to Syria: You get your troops and your secret services out of Lebanon." The effort was announced in London on Tuesday by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier.
U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen is also expected to travel soon to Syria and Lebanon in an attempt to signal international unity behind demands that Syria comply with U.N. Resolution 1559. Passed last September, it calls for an end to all foreign forces in Lebanon and for free and fair elections.
The third prong of the U.S. strategy is working with Arab allies who have influence on Syria, said a senior State Department official returning with Rice from London Wednesday. Egypt, which accounts for more than half the Arab world's population, and oil-rich Saudi Arabia have particular clout in dealing with Syria, U.S. officials said.
"Syria listens to them in a way that is distinct from our bilateral relations or in dealing with Europe, so it's an important element," said a second senior U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive diplomacy. "The sense we get is that everybody realizes the Syrians are digging themselves into a hole and the point is to help them find a way to help dig themselves out. The key players in the Arab League, working in the name of the Arab League, can do that."
Syria, the official added, is now "trying to cut a deal - do something to get out from under the pressure but not cave. You can see them poking around the edges to find a weak spot, anything less than total withdrawal."
The Arab League summit in Algeria from March 22 to 23 is also expected to take up the Syrian issue, U.S. officials say. "What we're seeing is an emerging consensus that the status quo is untenable," the senior U.S. official said. "We will be working to encourage the Arab League, including Algeria, to impress upon Syria the importance of withdrawing. Egypt and Syria are already trying to persuade Syria to leave."
Outlines U.S. strategy on Lebanon
By ROBIN WRIGHT
Washington Post
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_sho...l?article=51496
WASHINGTON - President Bush lashed out at Syria Wednesday, as the Bush administration outlined a three-pronged strategy to increase pressure on Damascus to quickly pull its troops and intelligence services out of Lebanon.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have joined the international effort behind the scenes and are now trying to broker a timetable for Syria to withdraw its more than 14,000 troops in Lebanon, preferably within the next two months, U.S. and European officials said. The Arab diplomatic effort is an attempt to prevent the confrontation between Syria and other countries from escalating.
Syrian President Bashar Assad is expected to hold talks Thursday in the Saudi capital of Riyadh to discuss the proposal and his plans, a State Department official said.
Bush warned Wednesday that the world is now "speaking with one voice when it comes to making sure that democracy has a chance to flourish in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East."
As one prong of its strategy, the administration is raising its own voice publicly against Syria's three-decades-long domination of Lebanon in daily statements from the president and top officials, while sending stern diplomatic messages behind the scenes through U.S. envoys to Damascus. The White House is also making clear it is prepared to consider new sanctions against Damascus if it does not respond.
Lebanonhas rapidly become a centerpieceof the Bush administration's effort to promote democracy in the Middle East - as Syria has increasingly become the target of U.S. scorn and pressure. Stephen Seche, the deputy in charge of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, delivered a tough message to the Syrian government Tuesday, U.S. officials said.
Collaboration with European allies is the second prong of the U.S. strategy. Bush, appearing Wednesday at Anne Arundel, Md.,Community College, applauded a new joint U.S.-French effort that he said declared "loud and clear to Syria: You get your troops and your secret services out of Lebanon." The effort was announced in London on Tuesday by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier.
U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen is also expected to travel soon to Syria and Lebanon in an attempt to signal international unity behind demands that Syria comply with U.N. Resolution 1559. Passed last September, it calls for an end to all foreign forces in Lebanon and for free and fair elections.
The third prong of the U.S. strategy is working with Arab allies who have influence on Syria, said a senior State Department official returning with Rice from London Wednesday. Egypt, which accounts for more than half the Arab world's population, and oil-rich Saudi Arabia have particular clout in dealing with Syria, U.S. officials said.
"Syria listens to them in a way that is distinct from our bilateral relations or in dealing with Europe, so it's an important element," said a second senior U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive diplomacy. "The sense we get is that everybody realizes the Syrians are digging themselves into a hole and the point is to help them find a way to help dig themselves out. The key players in the Arab League, working in the name of the Arab League, can do that."
Syria, the official added, is now "trying to cut a deal - do something to get out from under the pressure but not cave. You can see them poking around the edges to find a weak spot, anything less than total withdrawal."
The Arab League summit in Algeria from March 22 to 23 is also expected to take up the Syrian issue, U.S. officials say. "What we're seeing is an emerging consensus that the status quo is untenable," the senior U.S. official said. "We will be working to encourage the Arab League, including Algeria, to impress upon Syria the importance of withdrawing. Egypt and Syria are already trying to persuade Syria to leave."
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=7210
U.S. gives Israel “go-ahead” to strike Syria
3/2/2005 4:45:00 PM GMT
Bush’s administration gave Israel the go-ahead to attack Syria in retaliation to Tel Aviv bombing that took place last weekend, killing 5 Israelis, the Hebrew daily ‘Yediot Ahronot’ reported.
Also, the U.S. didn’t ask Tel Aviv to exercise self restraint, as in past cases vis-à-vis the Palestinian commando raids, the newspaper added.
‘Yediot Ahronot’, moreover, said that the Israeli ambassador to Washington discussed with a senior U.S. official intelligence information obtained by the Israeli intelligence service claiming that Jihad Resistance Movement had masterminded the Tel Aviv blast from inside Damascus.
In his meeting with his Belgian counterpart in the occupied Jerusalem, the Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom said he had tabled an official request to the Belgian government to include the Lebanese Hezbollah Movement in the European list of “terror groups”.
The Israeli chief diplomat claimed that Hezbollah was financially supporting the Palestinian resistance groups and planning various military attacks targeting the Israeli occupation forces.
Washington has stepped up its pressure against Damascus, calling on it to immediately pull its troops out of Lebanon and accusing it of having hands in Tel Aviv bombing.
Attending 'Supporting the Palestinian Authority' meeting in London, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice claimed that she had "firm evidence" that Syrian-based Jihad movement was " involved in planning" the Tel Aviv attack.
"There is firm evidence that Palestinian Islamic Jihad, sitting in Damascus, not only knew about these attacks but was involved in the planning," Rice told ABC News.
"And so the Syrians have a lot to answer for," Rice said. "We don't know the degree of Syrian involvement, but certainly what is happening on the territory of Syria, in and around Damascus, is clearly threatening to the different kind of Middle East we're trying to grow.
"We will be prepared to talk with others ... with the Israelis, with the Palestinians, with others in the region about this."
Meanwhile, a Bush administration official made a similar statement in Washington, claiming that the United States had obtained "firm evidence that the bombing on the 25th of February was not only authorized by Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders in Damascus but that PIJ leaders also were actively involved in planning."
However, the official refused to state the evidence, only saying it was based on "U.S. intelligence."
U.S. gives Israel “go-ahead” to strike Syria
3/2/2005 4:45:00 PM GMT
Bush’s administration gave Israel the go-ahead to attack Syria in retaliation to Tel Aviv bombing that took place last weekend, killing 5 Israelis, the Hebrew daily ‘Yediot Ahronot’ reported.
Also, the U.S. didn’t ask Tel Aviv to exercise self restraint, as in past cases vis-à-vis the Palestinian commando raids, the newspaper added.
‘Yediot Ahronot’, moreover, said that the Israeli ambassador to Washington discussed with a senior U.S. official intelligence information obtained by the Israeli intelligence service claiming that Jihad Resistance Movement had masterminded the Tel Aviv blast from inside Damascus.
In his meeting with his Belgian counterpart in the occupied Jerusalem, the Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom said he had tabled an official request to the Belgian government to include the Lebanese Hezbollah Movement in the European list of “terror groups”.
The Israeli chief diplomat claimed that Hezbollah was financially supporting the Palestinian resistance groups and planning various military attacks targeting the Israeli occupation forces.
Washington has stepped up its pressure against Damascus, calling on it to immediately pull its troops out of Lebanon and accusing it of having hands in Tel Aviv bombing.
Attending 'Supporting the Palestinian Authority' meeting in London, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice claimed that she had "firm evidence" that Syrian-based Jihad movement was " involved in planning" the Tel Aviv attack.
"There is firm evidence that Palestinian Islamic Jihad, sitting in Damascus, not only knew about these attacks but was involved in the planning," Rice told ABC News.
"And so the Syrians have a lot to answer for," Rice said. "We don't know the degree of Syrian involvement, but certainly what is happening on the territory of Syria, in and around Damascus, is clearly threatening to the different kind of Middle East we're trying to grow.
"We will be prepared to talk with others ... with the Israelis, with the Palestinians, with others in the region about this."
Meanwhile, a Bush administration official made a similar statement in Washington, claiming that the United States had obtained "firm evidence that the bombing on the 25th of February was not only authorized by Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders in Damascus but that PIJ leaders also were actively involved in planning."
However, the official refused to state the evidence, only saying it was based on "U.S. intelligence."
Ironically, the Syrians have been very helpful in the fight against Al Qaeda. Well... if you call allowing us to bring them people to torture "helpful". But Assad has self-interest at heart there. He has no more love for Al Qaeda than Saddam did. Of course, BushCo will claim that AQ is in Syria, too, just like they were in Iraq.
Makes me wonder if that bomb that took out Hariri wasn't planted by someone else and blamed on the Syrians.
Makes me wonder if that bomb that took out Hariri wasn't planted by someone else and blamed on the Syrians.
QUOTE(Big Blue State Bitch @ Mar 3 2005, 07:31 PM)
Makes me wonder if that bomb that took out Hariri wasn't planted by someone else and blamed on the Syrians.
Hmmmm....Like the C..I...A or the MOSSAD take you pick.
No, it was not the CIA or MOSSAD. In fact, I don't even think it was Syria. I think it was someone acting on Syria's behalf, but very inept people. It was a verry sloppy job, and the investigation was even sloppier.
I am printing this, at a little risk to the Syrian Intellectual that wrote it. I will not put the URL here, but only say that if you want to hear the rest of what he has to say do the following:
go to google first
then http://
amarji.
blogspot.com
The reason I don't want to establish a "click through" or have anyone go directly from this page to his is because he has been interrogated by Syria, and he is leaving Syria for Lebanon to escape the persecution. He is also one of the founders of a very good site called bitterlemons.org
Here are his thoughts:
Heretical Questions!
American warships are said to be coming our way. What does that mean? Is it really going to happen? Can nothing be done to help prevent the situation from reaching this bloody climax?
The window of opportunity on a peaceful rational settlement is quickly closing. Can they see this here? Can they move that fast? Can they divorce themselves, for once, from wishful thinking? Is it still feasible?
Can we still hope that cooler calmer wiser heads can prevail? Is any really around? Have there ever been such people around?
Did we really have the right to hope that things will be somehow different for us? That we can somehow manage to avoid the same mistakes of our neighbors, our brothers and our fathers? That we can somehow learn from history? That we can actually see history for what it really is, not for what we wish it to be? But can we really see anything for what it really is through the thick veils of fear, apprehension and ignorance that we insist on wearing?
Or has our fate been sealed from the cradle?
American warships are said to be coming our way. But I don’t know what to expect really: catastrophe or salvation?
But then we are all born soaked in blood.
What type of birth defects will we suffer from this time around I wonder, seeing that, once again, our delivery is quite premature?
Monday, March 21, 2005
The Thin Heretical Line!
American policies are not set in stone. There have been thousands of documents like Clean Break that never amounted to anything but wishful thinking. They were either shelved in favor of other policy options or were simply overtaken by events. Those in the Middle East who fear the “ominous” content of Clean Break should realize that the implementation of it, no matter how influential its authors seem to be at this stage, could, nonetheless, be seriously undermined through the adoption of a more pragmatic and proactive attitude by the regimes and parties concerned.
Dealing with US policy with a sense of fatalism will only justify the basic claims and arguments of the Clean Break advocates, namely that most ME societies, especially traditional Arab societies, along with the ruling regimes they have spewed and regurgitated over the years, are simply irreformable, irredeemable, unsalvageable, and, in short, incapable of working out their own salvation. As such, external interference is a must even if, on the short to intermediate run, it means chaos. For a chaotic dynamism is much better, from their view, than static nihilism.
In all this, America, regardless of where it is located with regard to this at a given moment, is all too simply and earnestly seeking to achieve its own interests. What else?
For politics, frequent recourse to moral justifications notwithstanding, is an amoral science par excellence. Only victims of this science tend to complain about its nature and applications. The beneficiaries, on the other hand, will simply state that this is the way things have been since time immemorial.
For instance, all Arab nationalists are willing to condemn American imperialism but none is willing to condemn the Arab imperialist experiment that took place under the banner of Islam. We can all understand the special circumstance and context of the imperialist ventures of our forefathers, but we are completely unwilling to fathom the logic behind the imperialist ventures perpetrated against us at any given moment, so long as we remain the victims thereof. This is only natural of course. No one likes to be a victim.
The problem here, however, is that victimary mentality leaves no room for creative solutions, where such solutions are most sorely needed. Complaining about the cold is not going to make me any warmer. While fighting off the cold with my bare skin is not the smart thing to do. This region is going to witness a lot of pressures from the US in the days, months and years to come. Complaining about the perceived double standards and the injustice of it all will not help. While butting head with the US is simply an exercise in futility, especially when the regimes involved continue to wallow under the dark shadows of illegitimacy and the people are so alienated and powerless.
So, and while America may not be the solution, it is definitely not the real problem, but a mere symptom or a manifestation thereof. Indeed, America would not have had any reason to come here had we been able to fathom and accept the nature of the world around us and its continuingly changing realities, and had we been able and willing to accommodate ourselves to that.
This region has been in a serious crisis mode ever since it was pulled into the modern world from the medievalistic temporal enclave in which it long buried itself, and yet no one has yet attempted to manage this crisis in view of minimizing losses and maximizing potential advantages.
Rather, the political, economic and intellectual elites have, for the most part, busied themselves simultaneously denying and exploiting this crisis to their immediate advantage. Still, let’s not waste any time blaming them here, for in reality they could not have behaved differently. Elites, after all, are but products of their own societies and often suffer from the selfsame problems and handicaps they tend to diagnose and attempt to treat.
One of these problems is that of our self-image which continues to be shaped by medievalistic realities, realities that are no longer relevant today, realities that could never again be relevant, no matter how long we wait or how hard we pray.
We need to be realistic here so as to avoid reaching the breaking point, for breaking is not inevitable. We need to redefine our understanding of many “basic” concepts, such as sovereignty, national identity, and, more importantly perhaps, national resources. Indeed, and all through recorded history, these things have consistently been nothing more than pipe-dreams.
For the real practical meaning and application of these concepts has always depended on existing power relations between the various states and empires involved. The stronger parties interfered, expropriated, dabbled and imposed, while the weaker relented, complained, rebelled, and surrendered or were destroyed. There were times where resistance was indeed possible and others when it was not.
In this, resistance based on a realistic assessment of one’s own potential and of what is actually at stake was the only resistance that managed, eventually, to succeed. Meanwhile, resistance based on denial has only paved the way for destruction, and though it did serve, at times, as a symbolic testament for something whose real meaning continues to be disputed.
But ours is not the time for such symbolic testaments. And we should know. The last fifty years or so of our “modern” history have been replete with such testaments, but what did they really bring us so far but shame? Nonetheless, we might still be able to give some meaning and dignity to some of these testaments (the Palestinian struggle for statehood, for instance) provided we make the necessary compromises to achieve so today. If not, then all the sacrifices made, all the sacrifices we were compelled to make, were for nothing.
Accepting reality and dealing with it as such, involves walking a thin line between two types of fatalisms: one calling for blind nihilistic resistance, and the other for an equally blind nihilistic surrender. For you simply have to work with what you have, or what you can get at this stage, in order to improve your lot. Else, your choices are narrowed to being either a victim or a perpetrator. For as long as you think like a victim or a perpetrator, you cannot stop being one.
Fatalism is not simply an admission of weakness but is often a reflection of a serious lack of understanding, imagination and gumption, a lack of the desire and willingness to change. Indeed, fatalism is often a stark manifestation of a wishful strand of thought to the effect that a certain crisis could be averted so long as it is, and its deleterious effects upon our social, cultural and spiritual fabric, is ignored.
Some might say that in the age of human rights, things should be better than this, that we deserve better than to have to put up with such dreary amoral understanding and practice of life and politics. Indeed, this should be so. This is indeed part and parcel of the struggle to reach a greater, deeper and downright better sense of humanity. But this is the story of the human adventure itself, isn’t it? This is the essence of our continued being. None of us is likely to ever live to see the day when this dream is fulfilled. We always have to make do with something that is much less.
To what extant less? Different people will always have different answers. Always.
As such, this rambling of mine will probably convince no one of anything really, and might indeed harden people in their erstwhile stances. Still, I needed to make it. Some people write their testaments in the sand or air, I write mine in bytes. Let the misunderstandings come.
I am printing this, at a little risk to the Syrian Intellectual that wrote it. I will not put the URL here, but only say that if you want to hear the rest of what he has to say do the following:
go to google first
then http://
amarji.
blogspot.com
The reason I don't want to establish a "click through" or have anyone go directly from this page to his is because he has been interrogated by Syria, and he is leaving Syria for Lebanon to escape the persecution. He is also one of the founders of a very good site called bitterlemons.org
Here are his thoughts:
Heretical Questions!
American warships are said to be coming our way. What does that mean? Is it really going to happen? Can nothing be done to help prevent the situation from reaching this bloody climax?
The window of opportunity on a peaceful rational settlement is quickly closing. Can they see this here? Can they move that fast? Can they divorce themselves, for once, from wishful thinking? Is it still feasible?
Can we still hope that cooler calmer wiser heads can prevail? Is any really around? Have there ever been such people around?
Did we really have the right to hope that things will be somehow different for us? That we can somehow manage to avoid the same mistakes of our neighbors, our brothers and our fathers? That we can somehow learn from history? That we can actually see history for what it really is, not for what we wish it to be? But can we really see anything for what it really is through the thick veils of fear, apprehension and ignorance that we insist on wearing?
Or has our fate been sealed from the cradle?
American warships are said to be coming our way. But I don’t know what to expect really: catastrophe or salvation?
But then we are all born soaked in blood.
What type of birth defects will we suffer from this time around I wonder, seeing that, once again, our delivery is quite premature?
Monday, March 21, 2005
The Thin Heretical Line!
American policies are not set in stone. There have been thousands of documents like Clean Break that never amounted to anything but wishful thinking. They were either shelved in favor of other policy options or were simply overtaken by events. Those in the Middle East who fear the “ominous” content of Clean Break should realize that the implementation of it, no matter how influential its authors seem to be at this stage, could, nonetheless, be seriously undermined through the adoption of a more pragmatic and proactive attitude by the regimes and parties concerned.
Dealing with US policy with a sense of fatalism will only justify the basic claims and arguments of the Clean Break advocates, namely that most ME societies, especially traditional Arab societies, along with the ruling regimes they have spewed and regurgitated over the years, are simply irreformable, irredeemable, unsalvageable, and, in short, incapable of working out their own salvation. As such, external interference is a must even if, on the short to intermediate run, it means chaos. For a chaotic dynamism is much better, from their view, than static nihilism.
In all this, America, regardless of where it is located with regard to this at a given moment, is all too simply and earnestly seeking to achieve its own interests. What else?
For politics, frequent recourse to moral justifications notwithstanding, is an amoral science par excellence. Only victims of this science tend to complain about its nature and applications. The beneficiaries, on the other hand, will simply state that this is the way things have been since time immemorial.
For instance, all Arab nationalists are willing to condemn American imperialism but none is willing to condemn the Arab imperialist experiment that took place under the banner of Islam. We can all understand the special circumstance and context of the imperialist ventures of our forefathers, but we are completely unwilling to fathom the logic behind the imperialist ventures perpetrated against us at any given moment, so long as we remain the victims thereof. This is only natural of course. No one likes to be a victim.
The problem here, however, is that victimary mentality leaves no room for creative solutions, where such solutions are most sorely needed. Complaining about the cold is not going to make me any warmer. While fighting off the cold with my bare skin is not the smart thing to do. This region is going to witness a lot of pressures from the US in the days, months and years to come. Complaining about the perceived double standards and the injustice of it all will not help. While butting head with the US is simply an exercise in futility, especially when the regimes involved continue to wallow under the dark shadows of illegitimacy and the people are so alienated and powerless.
So, and while America may not be the solution, it is definitely not the real problem, but a mere symptom or a manifestation thereof. Indeed, America would not have had any reason to come here had we been able to fathom and accept the nature of the world around us and its continuingly changing realities, and had we been able and willing to accommodate ourselves to that.
This region has been in a serious crisis mode ever since it was pulled into the modern world from the medievalistic temporal enclave in which it long buried itself, and yet no one has yet attempted to manage this crisis in view of minimizing losses and maximizing potential advantages.
Rather, the political, economic and intellectual elites have, for the most part, busied themselves simultaneously denying and exploiting this crisis to their immediate advantage. Still, let’s not waste any time blaming them here, for in reality they could not have behaved differently. Elites, after all, are but products of their own societies and often suffer from the selfsame problems and handicaps they tend to diagnose and attempt to treat.
One of these problems is that of our self-image which continues to be shaped by medievalistic realities, realities that are no longer relevant today, realities that could never again be relevant, no matter how long we wait or how hard we pray.
We need to be realistic here so as to avoid reaching the breaking point, for breaking is not inevitable. We need to redefine our understanding of many “basic” concepts, such as sovereignty, national identity, and, more importantly perhaps, national resources. Indeed, and all through recorded history, these things have consistently been nothing more than pipe-dreams.
For the real practical meaning and application of these concepts has always depended on existing power relations between the various states and empires involved. The stronger parties interfered, expropriated, dabbled and imposed, while the weaker relented, complained, rebelled, and surrendered or were destroyed. There were times where resistance was indeed possible and others when it was not.
In this, resistance based on a realistic assessment of one’s own potential and of what is actually at stake was the only resistance that managed, eventually, to succeed. Meanwhile, resistance based on denial has only paved the way for destruction, and though it did serve, at times, as a symbolic testament for something whose real meaning continues to be disputed.
But ours is not the time for such symbolic testaments. And we should know. The last fifty years or so of our “modern” history have been replete with such testaments, but what did they really bring us so far but shame? Nonetheless, we might still be able to give some meaning and dignity to some of these testaments (the Palestinian struggle for statehood, for instance) provided we make the necessary compromises to achieve so today. If not, then all the sacrifices made, all the sacrifices we were compelled to make, were for nothing.
Accepting reality and dealing with it as such, involves walking a thin line between two types of fatalisms: one calling for blind nihilistic resistance, and the other for an equally blind nihilistic surrender. For you simply have to work with what you have, or what you can get at this stage, in order to improve your lot. Else, your choices are narrowed to being either a victim or a perpetrator. For as long as you think like a victim or a perpetrator, you cannot stop being one.
Fatalism is not simply an admission of weakness but is often a reflection of a serious lack of understanding, imagination and gumption, a lack of the desire and willingness to change. Indeed, fatalism is often a stark manifestation of a wishful strand of thought to the effect that a certain crisis could be averted so long as it is, and its deleterious effects upon our social, cultural and spiritual fabric, is ignored.
Some might say that in the age of human rights, things should be better than this, that we deserve better than to have to put up with such dreary amoral understanding and practice of life and politics. Indeed, this should be so. This is indeed part and parcel of the struggle to reach a greater, deeper and downright better sense of humanity. But this is the story of the human adventure itself, isn’t it? This is the essence of our continued being. None of us is likely to ever live to see the day when this dream is fulfilled. We always have to make do with something that is much less.
To what extant less? Different people will always have different answers. Always.
As such, this rambling of mine will probably convince no one of anything really, and might indeed harden people in their erstwhile stances. Still, I needed to make it. Some people write their testaments in the sand or air, I write mine in bytes. Let the misunderstandings come.
QUOTE(heart @ Apr 3 2005, 03:41 PM)
American policies are not set in stone. There have been thousands of documents like Clean Break that never amounted to anything but wishful thinking.
Baloney! When Feith corrupted the pentagon with his OSP lie factory, it was to dupe the US people into accepting exactly his warlike prescriptions from Clean Break.
I cite Eric Margolis of the Toronto Sun.
http://bigeye.com/fc090604.htm
QUOTE
"In 1996, Feith and Perle wrote a policy plan, `A Clean Break,' for Israel's then Likud prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for Greater Israel, destruction of Iraq and Syria, and ending peace talks with Palestinians. This became the Magna Carta of the Greater Israel, pro-Sharon neoconservatives.
Feith ran the Pentagon's notorious Office for Special Plans (OSP). Its sole function: channel false information about Iraq concocted by Ahmad Chalabi and a special unit in PM Sharon's office to the White House and US media. The OSP lie factory turned out most of the disinformation that led to war with Iraq. According to a senior Israeli general, `Israeli intelligence was a full partner with the US and Britain in developing a false picture of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction capability.'
Feith, Wolfowitz and Perle were key backers and financers of Chalabi, a convicted swindler with well-established links to Mossad. The neocons planned to make Chalabi the new ruler of Iraq. Chalabi's carefully crafted lies about Iraq provided the White House with pretext for war.
Feith ran the Pentagon's notorious Office for Special Plans (OSP). Its sole function: channel false information about Iraq concocted by Ahmad Chalabi and a special unit in PM Sharon's office to the White House and US media. The OSP lie factory turned out most of the disinformation that led to war with Iraq. According to a senior Israeli general, `Israeli intelligence was a full partner with the US and Britain in developing a false picture of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction capability.'
Feith, Wolfowitz and Perle were key backers and financers of Chalabi, a convicted swindler with well-established links to Mossad. The neocons planned to make Chalabi the new ruler of Iraq. Chalabi's carefully crafted lies about Iraq provided the White House with pretext for war.
And Antiwar.com
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j021903.html
As a result, President Alfred E. Newman sent American troops to die in Iraq for Israeli formulated goals.
Sorry NOEL...go to http://www.bitterlemons.org and/or go to the blog of the Syrian in Damascus that wrote this piece. I'm just trying to get voices from Syria in on this discussion because they can't speak freely. Is that okay with you, or does it upset your preconceieved notions of who is to blame too much?
If you are unlucky enough to be interrogated by the Syrians' THIS is what you end up looking like...and this is quite common and this means you didn't do anything worth worse abuse:
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.