Testing… 😉

Juan Cole on Negroponte, Lebanon and al-Qaeda.

“Radical Salafi Jihadis are rare in Lebanon, where the Sunni population is probably about 20 percent of the 3.8 million population (i.e. 760,000 persons).”

I would even argue that radical Salafi Jihadis are almost always statistically insignificant. Nethertheless they can do much damage.

“There have been a handful of religious radicals among the Palestinians in the camps, one of whom appears to have assassinated former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri after having fought the Americans in Iraq.”

There were some rumous that Ahmed Abu Adas had fought in Iraq, but these early reports seem to have been wrong. When he disappeared on 16 January 2005, an unidentified caller indeed told the mother that Adas “wanted to go to Iraq”.
Secondly, DNA evidence seems to indicate that the suicide/”suicide” bomber wasn’t him but somebody else (Brammertz II, §50).

“Sunnis who attacked the Danish embassy in Beirut over the caricatures of the Prophet may have included some Salafi Jihadis, though that was probably a relatively spontaneous act of an urban crowd.”

It was an urban crowd from Tripoli which went on the rampage in Beirut.

Professor Cole also has the BBC Monitoring translation of Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s speech.

Ups… *Nevertheless… 😀

It would be nice to have the possibility to delete/edit one’s own comments, like on the old blog. Does the new software have such an option?

New SPIEGEL interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Asad:

“America Must Listen”
SPIEGEL

US to blame for attack on its embassy-Syria’s Assad
Reuters

Interestingly, US intelligence agencies may agree with that assessment:

Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat
NYT

Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Hurting U.S. Terror Fight
WP

Website

Congrats on the new format Josh, I liked the new “globalized” interface (with the auto-translation).

On Bayanouni, I do agree that Khaddam is now manipulating the MB. Bayanouni is now trying to compensate his severe loss of supporters among Syrian Muslims with Alawites under the advise of Khaddam.

The MB has made an irreparable mistake among Syrian Muslims by aligning himself with Khaddam. Blindly adopting the anti-Syria Lebanese rhetoric and appearing on Future TV is also not helping him all among Syrians in general and Sunnis in particular.

To assess how bad the damage to the MB’s credibility and popularity is, one can look at the following recent example: Few days ago Bayanouni called for a “day of rage” against the pope’s remarks on Islam in Syria last Friday after the Friday prayer. Syrian Sunnis I spoke to said they are satisfied with the pope’s “apology” and are “not going to allow politicians to exploit their religion”. Instead, Friday afternoon, after the prayers all Syrians I know (Muslims and Christians alike) gathered in festive atmospheres and were glued to TV screens waiting for Hasan Nasrallah’s speech.. and he did not disappoint them.

Ironically, some Alawites are now starting to think positively about the Khaddam/Bayanouni alliance. Many because they are feeling that they are loosing the “exclusive advantages” that they had under Hafez. Khaddam was always good at exploiting religious feelings and sectarian manipulation as a political power tool. After all, he has been very well trained in Lebanon during the civil war.

I am reading this as follows: Bashar is being increasingly perceived by Syrians as a national non-sectarian leader. His unrivaled and growing popularity among Sunnis in Syria and his slightly diminishing popularity among Alawites are clearly indicating that, unlike how they saw his father, Syrians are seeing Bashar as a “national leader” and not a “sectarian” one.

I understand what you mean Idaf, that Khaddam/Bayouni are trying to grab support wherever they can. But Khaddam brings absolutely no Alawi constituency with him. He has less than zero support in the Alawi community. They hate him more than the rest of the country.

Khaddam/Bayouni was seen as a dream union to double support. It may, in fact, have done the exact opposite. Now Alawis hate Bayouni too, and Takfiris hate Khaddam as well.

Khaddam never did know how to play the power game.

testing

i have been readin ur blog for about a year now, and frankly i always tought that it i shouoldn’t put a comment because it is very well showen ur ties with the syrian regime. i can tell you this Mr Joshua, ther isn’t a honest syrian that likes Bashar or his goverment. I am suni, and i always considered Khaddam as my leader. AND HE STILL IS. so befor spreading ur lies for dollars, think about those poor syrians that dream of democratie, the honest men that sacrfice everything for their country. You should be ashamed of urself

A lot of people forget that Abdul-Halim Khaddam was one of the rising figures in the pre-Hafez Assad “Baathist” regime, and that he joined the winning faction of the new Hafezist era immediately after.

My first personal impression when listening to his own words during an interview on a local Arabic radio did not impress me at all about the personality of a Foreign Minister like Khaddam.

I am not at all minimizing the importance of a central figure like Khaddam at all; but any public figure staying in power for such a long time would become a shrewd politician if he has a minimum of brain. Nothing to do with his “genius”…

Moreover, Khaddam and consorts embezzled, as all the others, the government, made money from their powerful positions, and for sure his tears upon late Rafik Hariri’s tragic death reflected more the closeness and sudden stoppage from benefitting from the Lebanese PM largesses anymore.

Does he have really an agenda for Syria?

I doubt it, after he proved to all that he had a part in his constant embezzlement from Syrian coffers!

His legacy? He was instrumental in implementing the brilliant Hafez Assad machiavellian strategy! So all the credit to his former boss, not to himself at all!

His new alliance with the MB? He does not have any other alternative, and a divorce is looming at the horizon!

Then, what future to Syria? A reform from inside, with more freedom, justice and transparency! No need for Khaddam or MB to be part of it, unless their part is a constructive, purely nationalistic, sincere and definitely an honest one.

Any true political change inside Syria is impossible without MB’s participation.In a pluralistic parliamentarian system, the brotherhood could expect 30-40% of the syrian vote.Also,We sould not underestimate the importance of pro liberal trend in the syrian society,it was the major political force during pre-baath democratic era.

you are a big liar mester bayanouni ;i think you forgot when you killed the womens and the childrens of alawi in 1980 and a lot of innocent people bye bonbing and chooting ; that is the truth about you

[…] – Bayanouni link up here and about Bayanouni’s changing language on the Alawites, here. Also see Anthony Shadid’s 2005 Washington Post article here. Posted by Joshua at 1:25 pm | […]