suleiman, mughniyeh, arafat, and hariri. many would add jfk.

then there is the lavon affair, uss liberty, and 9-11.

to list a few from the murdering, cannibal parasites.

This is very significant …

Blair reveals Syria’s fears were well-founded

Phil Sands, Foreign Correspondent

* Last Updated: September 02. 2010 9:08PM UAE / September 2. 2010 5:08PM GMT

DAMASCUS // Syria always feared that the White House of George W Bush and Dick Cheney would invade Damascus once it had dispatched with Baghdad in 2003 and, in his newly released memoirs, the former British prime minister Tony Blair confirmed those fears were well founded.

Describing the former US vice president as an advocate of “hard, hard power”, Mr Blair said Damascus was next on Mr Cheney’s hit list.

“He would have worked through the whole lot, Iraq, Syria, Iran, dealing with all their surrogates in the course of it – Hizbollah, Hamas, etc,” Mr Blair wrote in his autobiography, A Journey. “In other words, he thought the whole world had to be made anew, and that after September 11, it had to be done by force and with urgency.”

Syria’s correct assumption that powerful US forces wanted to attack it had profound implications, domestically and in Iraq. Although no friend of Saddam Hussein, Damascus had every reason to want the American occupation to fail and, therefore, no incentive to stop Islamist militants crossing the border to fight US troops.

For years, US military officials complained that insurgents entering from Syria were among their most deadly opponents, playing a key role in undermining US attempts to build a Washington friendly Iraq.

Faced with this very real US threat, the Syrian authorities also moved to quash growing domestic dissent, arresting and jailing dozens of pro-democracy activists. That crackdown continues to this day.

Shai, what do you think?

Why Israelis Don’t Care About Peace with Palestinians

By KARL VICK / JERUSALEM Karl Vick / Jerusalem – 2 hrs 40 mins ago

Heli and Eli sell condos on Exodus Street, a name that evokes a certain historical hardship in a neighborhood that suggests none at all, the ingathering of the Jews having entered a whole new realm here. The talk in the little office is of interest rates and panoramic sea views from handsomely appointed properties selling on the Ashdod waterfront for half what people are asked to pay in Tel Aviv, 18 miles (29 km) to the north. And sell they do, hand over fist – never mind the rockets that fly out of Gaza, 14 miles (22.5 km) to the south. “Even when the Qassams fell, we continued to sell!” says Heli Itach, slapping a palm on the office desk. The skull on her designer shirt is made of sequins spelling out “Love Kills Slowly.” “What the people see on the TV there is not true here,” she says. “I sold, this week, 12 apartments. You’re not client, I tell you the truth.”

The truth? In the week that three Presidents, a King and their own Prime Minister gather at the White House to begin a fresh round of talks on peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the truth is, Israelis are no longer preoccupied with the matter. They’re otherwise engaged; they’re making money; they’re enjoying the rays of late summer. A watching world may still define their country by the blood feud with the Arabs whose families used to live on this land and whether that conflict can be negotiated away, but Israelis say they have moved on. (See pictures of 60 years of Israel.)

Now observing 2½ years without a single suicide bombing on their territory, with the economy robust and with souls a trifle weary of having to handle big elemental thoughts, the Israeli public prefers to explore such satisfactions as might be available from the private sphere, in a land first imagined as a utopia. “Listen to me,” says Eli Bengozi, born in Soviet Georgia and for 40 years an Israeli. “Peace? Forget about it. They’ll never have peace. Remember Clinton gave 99% to Arafat, and instead of them fighting for 1%, what? Intifadeh.” (See TIME’s photo-essay “Palestinian ‘Day of Rage.’ “)

But wait. Deep down (you can almost hear the outside world ask), don’t Israelis know that finding peace with the Palestinians is the only way to guarantee their happiness and prosperity? Well, not exactly. Asked in a March poll to name the “most urgent problem” facing Israel, just 8% of Israeli Jews cited the conflict with Palestinians, putting it fifth behind education, crime, national security and poverty. Israeli Arabs placed peace first, but among Jews here, the issue that President Obama calls “critical for the world” just doesn’t seem – critical. (Comment on this story.)

Another whack for the desk. “The people,” Heli says, “don’t believe.” Eli searches for a word. “People in Israel are indifferent,” he decides. “They don’t care if there’s going to be war. They don’t care if there’s going to be peace. They don’t care. They live in the day.”

Alex:
One general told me in 2004, he was close to Dick Cheney, that USA had no intention to attack Syria, my question is,what stopped USA from attacking Syria?I am Glad they did not. was it the cost? was it the intelligent service?or was it Israel?
In 2006 Syria was not involved in the war with Israel.American war planes did cross Syrian sky.There must be a secret we do not know yet.

LOL, 5 dancing Shlomos… “we are just sent there to document the event they said on TV show” Oh please don’t forget to add JFK and Brother Robert (Sirhan was patsy setup like many 911 innocents) and the young Kennedy that dropped from the sky after reportedly threatened to goes public and tell all he knows, and he did knows all the secrets. And of course, Hyder of Austria and even going back they killed the old Jewish man on the Achile Largo (That hijacking Palestinian group head thug was setup by Mossad to spy on the PLO and PFLP). Syria and Lebanon are infested with nearly a thousand intel and operative men working for the wrong side, most are not aware or knowingly working for Mossad. They think they are working for various fictitious groups and causes, even Moslem ones, ie; Top level of Lebanese forces think he is working for Kataeb, only the top head makes European contacts with the bosses secretly, many are in Syria and Lebanon upper ranking positions. They practically wired the two countries, so as the rest of the world. “Dimitri Khalezov” is a name you want to add to your knowledge base on this subject.

No secrets Majed.

The Bush admin (and the french President) really wanted Israel to attack Syria in 2006 .. check quotes in my “The Case for Syria”

So the reason they did not invade Syria was that they could not … they would have loved to.

Just imagine their hypocrisy … Do you remember how the Bush administration kept expressing its outrage that Syria is not doing enough to stop foreign fighters from entering Iraq?

They wanted Syria to help them win quickly and easily in Iraq so that they would invade and destroy Syria next!

One more proof Cheney was following Neanyahu’s Clean Break strategic document line by line

As far as “democracy promotion” is concerned, I learned everything I needed to know by watching the world’s reaction to what happened in Algeria in 1992. A free, fair, internationally observed electoral process was openly suppressed, and the world–especially the West–gave its approval.

And that was years before 9/11, when the world was still celebrating the recent collapse of the Berlin Wall.

Why Discuss,

The very last sentence is the truth: “They live (for) the day.”

I don’t believe there’s a single people, or person, on this planet that doesn’t want peace. That doesn’t see Peace as the ultimate guarantor of his/her safety and freedom. Even with arrogance and feeling of invincibility (combined with a contradictory mix of fear and paranoia), Israelis still know that peace is better for them, than non-peace. But most no longer believe peace is possible. They’ve lost hope (the kind of hope 70% had just 15 years ago), and they’ve become numb to the “peace process”. If you think about it, we’ve all become numb to it. Few of us allow ourselves to “feel” anything, when we see Israelis sitting with Arabs at some negotiation table. We’re just not willing to continue to be disappointed. Very few of us are “strong enough” to still feel something and, hence, to still push forward.

Most Israelis, undoubtedly like most Palestinians, are living “for the day”. They know their future isn’t guaranteed, and they are too apathetic to do anything about it. Except, of course, that the Israelis are living luxuriously “for the day”, whereas the Palestinians are struggling and living under Occupation.

Israelis can awaken from their numb apathetic state, but for that, you need a courageous leadership. We’ll find out soon enough whether we have that, or not.

New-York Times sept 3 2010

Syria Moves to Curb Influence of Muslim Conservatives
By KAREEM FAHIM

DAMASCUS, Syria — This country, which had sought to show solidarity with Islamist groups and allow religious figures a greater role in public life, has recently reversed course, moving forcefully to curb the influence of Muslim conservatives in its mosques, public universities and charities.

The government has asked imams for recordings of their Friday sermons and started to strictly monitor religious schools. Members of an influential Muslim women’s group have now been told to scale back activities like preaching or teaching Islamic law. And this summer, more than 1,000 teachers who wear the niqab, or the face veil, were transferred to administrative duties.

The crackdown, which began in 2008 but has gathered steam this summer, is an effort by President Bashar al-Assad to reassert Syria’s traditional secularism in the face of rising threats from radical groups in the region, Syrian officials say.

The policy amounts to a sharp reversal for Syria, which for years tolerated the rise of the conservatives. And it sets the government on the seemingly contradictory path of moving against political Islamists at home, while supporting movements like Hamas and Hezbollah abroad.

Syrian officials are adamant that the shifts stem from alarming domestic trends, and do not affect support for those groups, allies in their struggle against Israel. At the same time, they have spoken proudly about their secularizing campaign. Some Syrian analysts view that as an overture to the United States and European nations, which have been courting Syria as part of a strategy to isolate Iran and curb the influence of Hamas and Hezbollah.

Human rights advocates say the policy exacerbates pressing concerns: the arbitrary imprisonment of Islamists, as well as the continued failure to allow them any political space.

Pressure on Islamic conservatives in Syria began in earnest after a powerful car bomb exploded in the Syrian capital in September 2008, killing 17 people. The government blamed the radical group Fatah al-Islam.

“The bombing was the trigger, but the pressure had been building,” said Peter Harling, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group. “After a period of accommodation with the Islamic groups, the regime entered this far more proactive and repressive mode. It realizes the challenge that the Islamization of Syrian society poses.”

The government’s campaign drew wider notice this summer, when a decision to bar students wearing the niqab from registering for university classes was compared to a similar ban in France. That move seemed to underscore a reduced tolerance for strict observance by Muslims in public life. Syrian officials have put it differently, saying the niqab is “alien” to Syrian society.

The campaign carries risks for a secular government that has fought repeated, violent battles with Islamists in the past, most notably in 1982, when Mr. Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad, razed the city of Hama while confronting the Muslim Brotherhood, killing tens of thousands of people. For the moment there has been no visible domestic backlash, but one cleric, who said he was dismissed without being given a reason two years ago, suggested that could change.

“The Islamists now have a strong argument that the regime is antagonizing the Muslims,” he said.

The government courted religious conservatives as Western powers moved to isolate Syria amid accusations that it was behind the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, in 2005. The government appointed a sheik instead of a member of the ruling Baathist party to head the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and allowed, for the first time, religious activities in the stadium at Damascus University.

As the country emerged from that isolation, it focused on domestic challenges, including the fear that sectarian tensions in the region could spread — a recurring fear in Syria, a country with a Sunni majority ruled by Alawites, a religious minority.

The government also focused on conservatives. “What they had nourished and empowered, they felt the need to break,” said Hassan Abbas, a Syrian researcher.

The details of the campaign have remained murky, though Syrian officials have not been afraid to publicize its aims, including in foreign media outlets. In an interview with the American talk show host Charlie Rose in May, Mr. Assad was asked to name his biggest challenge.

“How we can keep our society as secular as it is today,” he said. “The challenge is the extremism in this region.”

Mr. Assad has in the past singled out northern Lebanon as a source of that extremism.

“We didn’t forget Nahr al-Bared,” said Mohammed al-Habash, a Syrian lawmaker, referring to battles in that region three years ago between Lebanese forces and Fatah al-Islam. “We have to take this seriously.”

Beginning in 2008, the government embarked on its new course when it fired administrators at several Islamic charities, according to the former cleric, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared reprisal by the government.

The clampdown has intensified in recent months. Last spring, the Qubaisiate, an underground women’s prayer group that was growing in prominence, was barred from meeting at mosques, according to members. Earlier this summer, top officials in Damascus Governorate were fired for their religious leanings, according to Syrian analysts.

Other moves underscore the delicacy of Mr. Assad’s campaign — or perhaps send mixed signals. A planned conference on secularism earlier this year, initially approved by the government, was abruptly canceled for no reason, according to Mr. Abbas.

“Secularism is their version of being secular,” Mr. Abbas said.

Another episode can be seen as a concession to Islamists, or a sign of just how comfortable the conservatives have become. A proposed rewrite of Syria’s personal status law, which governs civil matters, leaked last year, retained provisions that made it legal for men to marry girls as young as 13 years old. Under pressure, including from women’s groups, lawmakers abandoned the draft law.

“There are limits to what they can do,” Mr. Harling, the analyst, said of the Syrian government. “They will try things out and pedal back if things go too far. It says a lot about how difficult it is — even for a regime that is deeply secular itself and whose survival is tied to the secular nature of Syrian society.”

Nawara Mahfoud contributed reporting.

This doesn’t sound like a Netanyahu that wants to waste time. To do that, all he had to do was utter the same mantras all over again. There’s growing concern within certain circles inside Israel (settlement-supporting ones), that Bibi’s creativity, as well as recent “slip-up” calling it The West Bank (rather than Judea and Samaria), are indicative of someone ready to do what others before him could not. Also, the fact that Tzipi Livni remains quiet nowadays, worries the coalition. Lieberman should fear her silent support which could, overnight, turn into his physical replacement should he threaten to quit in protest.

Not wishing to sound overly-optimistic, but the carefully planned words sounded by Netanyahu are intended, almost without a doubt, not only at Obama’s ears.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-creative-thinking-can-remove-obstacles-on-the-way-to-mideast-peace-1.312277

Syria soon connected to Iran electricity power grid?

Iran’s power grid connected to 7 other states

Source: Press TV

Iran’s electricity network has integrated to power grids of seven neighboring countries to meet their energy demands, says Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjou.

Iran ranks the 19th largest producer and 20th largest consumer of electricity in the world.

Iran’s electricity grid is currently connected to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, Namjou told IRNA on Sunday.

The Iranian minister further pointed out that Tehran also plans to connect its national power network to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Earlier this year, Namjou said that Russia, India, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Syria and Oman are the new countries that have asked Iran for electricity.

According to the Iranian minister, the Islamic Republic has the capability to turn into a regional electricity hub.

“Iran exchanges electricity with most of its neighbors and many of them are interested in increasing their electricity exchange with Iran” Mehr news agency quoted Namjou as saying.

Iran plans to connect its power grid to Russia via Azerbaijan as well as linking to the Persian Gulf states via sub-sea cabling.

The minister also stated that Iran has attracted more that 1.1 billion dollars in investment to build three new power plants.

“Germany has invested $445 million in construction of the Pareh-Sar combined cycle power plant, while the UAE has invested $720 million in construction of the Esfahan gas power plant and the Fars combined cycle power plant,” Namjou concluded.