Middle East landscape rapidly changing

[Mike Sheehy]

This thread was started a year ago today as thousands of people assembled in Tahrir Square, Cairo, demanding the removal of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian dictator who had ruled the country for decades with an iron fist.

In a matter of weeks, he was gone and now lies in a medical hospital awaiting trial for murder. He faces the death penalty if found guilty.

Since his downfall, the country has been ruled by the military. Elections took place recently and the Muslim Brotherhood as expected, took the most seats. However, the military are still in charge.

Recently, the protests have started up again with the people demanding that the military hand over power, and step aside. Given that the Muslim Brotherhood were not behind the original protests, it comes as no surprise that they are reluctant to take over from the military. There are fears that they will rule just like Mubarak, given time.

I think it's fair to say that the Middle East landscape has changed for good in many countries. Some for the good, others to the bad.

Along with Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria, have all seen major uprising and new leaders installed in most cases.

The situation in Palestine hasn't got any better, and the occupation just keeps spreading, and the killing goes on.

Last year Israel murdered 180 Palestinians, many of them children. Not content with murdering Palestinians, they murdered people in Iran, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Somalia. They demolished over 500 homes and confiscated hundreds of acres of land in the West Bank. And the world did nothing. No sanctions, no charges.

Today, as hundreds of thousands of people gather in Tahrir Square, the Middle East is faced with another potential mass war. The excuse of hitting Iran over the assumption of a nuclear bomb / weapon of mass destruction, is a smoke screen for the real purpose of cutting off their influence in the region and their supply of OIL to China and co. Another regime change on the way..........

Given the fact that Russia and China oppose any attack on Iran, it will be very very interesting to see how this one plays out.

There are decades when nothing happens, and their years when decades happen. I think the past year has certainly seen decades worth of changes.

yes indeed, Your exultation of the uprising in Syria does not seem to extend to meaningful reform in that country ? You seem happy to support Asssad when he murders his citizens.

[thejuice]

Russia and China have drawn the line at Syria. The "West" can come no further.

Syria is Russia's client and they will have the final say in how this ends. That's how it is. All this talk about what the West and NATO ought to do is irrelevant.

While the Syrians die in great numbers, the real battle is between East and West in the corridors of power. Assad will do what he wants till Russia says stop.

[Mike Sheehy]

Russia and China have drawn the line at Syria. The "West" can come no further.

Syria is Russia's client and they will have the final say in how this ends. That's how it is. All this talk about what the West and NATO ought to do is irrelevant.

While the Syrians die in great numbers, the real battle is between East and West in the corridors of power. Assad will do what he wants till Russia says stop.

...till Russia says stop ? hmmm...I thought the US controlled the fate of all nations ?

[give her dixie]

What has been happening over the past 14 months in Syria has been horrific. Somewhere in the region of 14,000 people have been killed, and there is no sign of any meaningful ceasefire or talks on the horizon.

The massacre on Friday was another one of a long line of dark days in Syria. The sight of the bodies lined up, and the video I watched of the children, is beyond words. In this day and age, to see such barbaric acts been carried out, and see virtually nothing been done is so so wrong.

One main reason that nothing is been done is the fact Russia have used their veto in giving the UN the power to do something. To date, all we have seen is Kofi Anan going into Syria, getting a plan for a ceasefire in place, and see it ignored as the killings continue.

As pointed out above, the situation in Syria is now a East v West power play. Innocent Syrians are the price of this standoff. Iranian support for Assad is another cog in the wheel.

Assad needs to stand down, and quickly. He is a brutal dictator from a family who know no other way than bloodshed to prop themselves up.

How peace is achieved in Syria over the coming months is so hard to predict. A lot of powerful people are at play in this conflict, and they don't have the best interests of the Syrian people in mind when making decisions to prolong this blood bath.

[Mike Sheehy]

What has been happening over the past 14 months in Syria has been horrific. Somewhere in the region of 14,000 people have been killed, and there is no sign of any meaningful ceasefire or talks on the horizon.

The massacre on Friday was another one of a long line of dark days in Syria. The sight of the bodies lined up, and the video I watched of the children, is beyond words. In this day and age, to see such barbaric acts been carried out, and see virtually nothing been done is so so wrong.

One main reason that nothing is been done is the fact Russia have used their veto in giving the UN the power to do something. To date, all we have seen is Kofi Anan going into Syria, getting a plan for a ceasefire in place, and see it ignored as the killings continue.

As pointed out above, the situation in Syria is now a East v West power play. Innocent Syrians are the price of this standoff. Iranian support for Assad is another cog in the wheel.

Assad needs to stand down, and quickly. He is a brutal dictator from a family who know no other way than bloodshed to prop themselves up.

How peace is achieved in Syria over the coming months is so hard to predict. A lot of powerful people are at play in this conflict, and they don't have the best interests of the Syrian people in mind when making decisions to prolong this blood bath.

Its not an East v West "power play". Russia has the influence to end this now. To say the role they play is anything less is typical of the weasel words that lads like you engage in all the time.

[give her dixie]

In the past 30 minutes, former Egyptian Dictator, Hosni Mubarak, has apparently suffered a stroke, and medical teams have pronounced him "Clinically Dead".

[Mike Sheehy]

In the past 30 minutes, former Egyptian Dictator, Hosni Mubarak, has apparently suffered a stroke, and medical teams have pronounced him "Clinically Dead".

So you resurrect a month old thread to "announce" to the world an item of news that anyone with an internet connection already knows ?

newsflash for you give her dixie..the middle east conflict is not about you ok ?

[Nally Stand]

In the past 30 minutes, former Egyptian Dictator, Hosni Mubarak, has apparently suffered a stroke, and medical teams have pronounced him "Clinically Dead".

So you resurrect a month old thread to "announce" to the world an item of news that anyone with an internet connection already knows ?

newsflash for you give her dixie..the middle east conflict is not about you ok ?

Nor is this thread about you Mike, you crabbit little fcukwit.

[johnneycool]

In the past 30 minutes, former Egyptian Dictator, Hosni Mubarak, has apparently suffered a stroke, and medical teams have pronounced him "Clinically Dead".

Hate to say I was right, but the military will not relinquish power without a fight no matter the democratic will of the people.

The Arab spring is no more than a mirage for the Egyptians.

[Mike Sheehy]

In the past 30 minutes, former Egyptian Dictator, Hosni Mubarak, has apparently suffered a stroke, and medical teams have pronounced him "Clinically Dead".

So you resurrect a month old thread to "announce" to the world an item of news that anyone with an internet connection already knows ?

newsflash for you give her dixie..the middle east conflict is not about you ok ?

Nor is this thread about you Mike, you crabbit little fcukwit.

I suppose you are going to go into meltdown about your door been broken down by the brits any minute now.

f**king tosser.

[Nally Stand]

Ah dry your eyes Mike, all that hate will eat you up. Your already a humpy enough hoor as it is.

[thejuice]

Funny goings on over this docked ship in Scotland.

Are there helicopters on it or not?

West say there is, Russia says there is not.

So where does that leave either side if the other is telling the truth?

And what does it suggest about the theory there is not an east - west power play going on here?

[give her dixie]

Following this explosion today, it's fair to say that it will be a game changer in Syria.


Syria conflict: Senior officials die in 'suicide attack'

Syria's defence minister and his deputy, President Assad's brother-in-law, have died in a suspected suicide bombing at security headquarters in Damascus, state TV says.

Daoud Rajiha and Assef Shawkat were attending a meeting of senior officials at the time.

The national security chief and interior minister are said to be critically hurt.

The attack comes amid claims of a major rebel offensive on the city.

"The minister of defence was martyred by the terrorist bombing that targeted the national security building," the TV report said, adding later that Gen Shawkat was dead.

Security sources say the suspected bomber worked as a bodyguard for members of President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle.

Gen Rajiha has been defence minister for less than a year, serving previously as chief of staff, and is on a US blacklist for his role in the suppression of dissent.

He is believed to be an Orthodox Christian - a rarity in the Alawite-dominated Syrian military and government.

Gen Shawkat is considered a top security chief and a member of the inner circle of the regime. He is married to Mr Assad's sister Bushra.

The attack comes as UN chiefs have been trying to persuade China and Russia to agree tougher measures on Syria, ahead of a Security Council vote on Wednesday on imposing sanctions.

UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met Chinese leader Hu Jintao in Beijing.

The UN has until Friday to renew the mandate for observers in Syria, although a vote is expected in New York on Wednesday afternoon.

Western nations want a new resolution threatening measures short of the use of force.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18882149

[seafoid]

The Israelis will miss the Assads. They were very compliant enemies really.

[give her dixie]

The Israelis will miss the Assads. They were very compliant enemies really.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-s-favorite-arab-dictator-of-all-is-assad-1.352468

As strange as it sounds, everyone in Israel loves Arab dictators. When I say everyone I mean both Jews and Arabs. The favorite dictator of all is president Assad. As Assad junior inherited the oppressive regime in Syria, so did both Jews and Arabs transfer their affection for the dictator from Damascus from Assad senior to his son.

Following the intifada in the Arab states, Bashar al-Assad maintained in an interview to the Wall Street Journal that the situation in Syria is different, adding that Syria is not like Egypt. He also emphasized that Syria was not susceptible to sliding into a similar situation, because it was in the "resistance" front and belongs to the anti-American, anti-Israeli axis.

Well, Assad is right. The situation in Syria is indeed different. The Syrian regime is more like Saddam's defunct regime. The Ba'ath Party that ruled Iraq and the one still ruling Syria both held aloft flags of pan-Arab national ideology. But slogans are one thing and reality is another. All the ideological sweet talk was only talk. For the Ba'ath Party, both in Iraq and in Syria, constituted a political platform to perpetuate tribal, ethnic oppression.

Indeed, the situation in Egypt is completely different. If we put aside the Coptic minority, then Egyptian society is homogenous religiously and not tribal at all. The demoted Egyptian president, Mubarak, never had a tribal-ethnic crutch to lean on. The Egyptian army is also different and not at all like the Syrian or Iraqi armies.

For example, when the United States invaded Iraq, the Iraqi army splintered into its tribal and ethnic fragments. The soldiers took off their uniforms and each joined his tribe and ethnic community. Saddam too adhered to those tribal codes. He did not flee Iraq but went to hide in the well-protected areas of his tribesmen. This is what happens in these societies. In the land of the cedars, as soon as the civil war broke out, the Lebanese army dissolved into its ethnic components and disappeared.

True, Syria is not Egypt. Syria is also different in terms of the price in blood inflicted by the tyrannical Syrian regime. The Syrian tribal government is based on the force exercised by the security branches ruled by the tribesmen and their interested allies.

Inherently, a tribal regime of this kind will always be seen as a foreign reign. This kind of reign can be called tribal imperialism, which rules by operating brutal terror and oppression. This is underscored when a minority tribe rules, like in Syria. Thus every undermining of the government is seen as a challenge to the tribal hegemony and a danger to the ruling tribe's survival. Such a regime by its very nature is totally immersed in a bloodbath.

Both Assad senior and Assad junior advocated resistance against Israel. This slogan was hollow, serving the regime merely as an insurance policy against any demand for freedom and democracy. The Syrian "resistance" government has not uttered a peep on the Golan front since 1973. Instead, the "resistance" regime was and still is ready to fight Israel to the last Lebanese, and if that doesn't do the trick - then to the last Palestinian.

As voices in Israel have recently spoken out in favor of Hamas' continued rule in Gaza, so many Israelis are worried these days over the Syrian regime's welfare. Astonishingly, not only Jews are praying secretly for the Damascus regime's survival, but many in the Arab parties as well. These parties' leaders have been dumbstruck, their voices have been muted and no outcry has been raised against the Syrian regime's massacre of civilians.

All the hypocrites, Jews and Arabs alike, have united. It seems Assad has wall-to-wall support here, as though he were king of Israel