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Arabica Robusta

Neocons vs. the 'Arab Spring' » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names - 0 views

  • “Washington must stop subcontracting Syria policy to the Turks, Saudis and Qataris. They are clearly part of the anti-Assad effort, but the United States cannot tolerate Syria becoming a proxy state for yet another regional power,” wrote Danielle Pletka, vice president of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (Washington Post, July 20).
  • Pletka was the biggest supporter of Ahmad Chalabi, the once exiled Iraqi, who she once described as “a trusted associate of the Central Intelligence Agency (and) the key player in a unsuccessful coup to overthrow Saddam Hussein” in the 1990s (LA Times, June 4, 2004).
  • Although the destruction of an Arab country is not a moral issue as far as the neocons are concerned, the chaos and subsequent violence that followed the US war in 2003 made it impossible for warring ‘intellectuals’ to promote their ideas with the same language of old. Some reinvention was now necessary. Discredited organizations were shut down and new ones were hastily founded. One such platform was the Foreign Policy Initiative, which was founded by neoconservatives who cleverly reworded old slogans.
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  • The ‘experts’ included Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), another pro-Israel conduit in Washington. It was established in 1985 as a research department for the influential Israeli lobby group, AIPAC, yet since then it managed to rebrand itself as an American organization concerned with advancing “a balanced and realistic understanding of American interests in the Middle East.”
  • Still, the neocons want much more. The bloodbath in Syria has devastated not only Syrian society, it also brought to a halt the collective campaigns in Arab societies which called for democracy on their own terms. The protracted conflict in Syria, and the involvement of various regional players made it unbearable for the neoconservatives to hide behind their new brand and slowly plot a comeback. For them, it was now or never.
  • The timing of the letter, partly organized by the Foreign Policy Initiative, was hardly random. It was published one day before the first ‘Friends of Syria’ contact-group meeting in Tunisia, which suggests that it was aimed to help define the American agenda regarding Syria. Signatories included familiar names associated with the Iraq war narrative – Paul Bremer, Elizabeth Cheney, Eric Edelman, William Kristol, and, of course, Danielle Pletka.
  • With the absence of a clear US strategy regarding Syria, the ever-organized neoconservatives seem to be the only ones with a clear plan, however damaging.
mehrreporter

Obama skeptical on Syria intervention - 0 views

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    President Barack Obama, in an exclusive interview with PBS News Hour said he has not made a decision about intervention in Syria, stressing that he is not interested in an open-ended conflict in Syria.
Arabica Robusta

Refugee Crisis: The Stunning Collapse of Syria's Safe Spaces - FPIF - 0 views

  • The number of Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) already rivals the scale of the displaced in countries like Afghanistan and Somalia, which have endured much longer-running conflicts. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 2.8 million refugees have fled Syria for nearby countries, including Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Turkey. 6.5 million remain internally displaced.
  • Compounding matters for Syria’s refugee women, more than 145,000 of them now run their households alone because their husbands remain in Syria or have lost their lives, according to the UNHCR
  • The vetting methodology was not disclosed, leaving it unclear how the administration would distinguish between so-called “moderates” and Islamist extremists (who, as Juan Cole has pointed out, are likely to secure many of the arms sent by Washington, regardless of who gets them initially). Neither did the administration explain how adding more weapons to an already militarized conflict would hasten its end.
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  • Syrians have still found ways to return a tiny semblance of normalcy to refugee camps across the region, such as opening their own food stands, hair salons, and dress shops. Being industrious is a trait Syrians have always taken great pride in.
mehrreporter

Rouhani condemns application of chemical weapons in Syria - 0 views

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    The president has expressed concern over the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
mehrreporter

Iran Regrets UN's Retraction of Syria Conference Invitation - 0 views

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    The Iranian foreign ministry voiced regret over the UN's withdrawal from its earlier position on Tehran's presence in the International Geneva II conference on Syria, reminding that Iran has never requested participation in the international gathering.
mehrreporter

We would rather like it if US attacks Syria: Senior Clergy - 0 views

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    Iran Senior Clergy has said that his country will be rather happy if the US attacks Syria .
mehrreporter

US attack on Syria to be retaliated - 0 views

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    Lawmaker says that if the US attacks Syria the Dimona nuclear power plant and Sandi Arabia's oil zones will be attacked .
mehrreporter

Not attacking Syria to discredit threats against Iran: Blix - 0 views

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    Former IAEA Director General expresses his ideas on Syria and reasons for a probable US attack.
mehrreporter

US dispatches forces to Syria by ambulance : TV manager - 0 views

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    PressTV CEO has said that the US transfers forces to Syria via Turkey and Jordan by ambulance.
mehrreporter

Iran warned against conveyance of sarin to Syria 8 months ago - 0 views

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    Minister of Defense says that the US is currently not powerful enough to establish a military balance in Syria.
mehrreporter

Russia to consider new UNSC resolution on Syria, if it meets int'l law :Lavrov - 0 views

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    Russia is prepared to consider a new resolution on Syria by the U.N. Security Council, if it meets principles of international humanitarian law, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with Algerian counterpart Ramtan Lamamra here on Tuesday.
mehrreporter

Syria: Any Military Intervention will Escalate Violence in Mid East - 0 views

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    Amran Al-zabi, Syria's information minister says, America's military intervention in Syria will escalate violence in the Middle East.
mehrreporter

Saudi princes plead against Bandar for failure on Syria - 0 views

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    Sources say that 17 Saudi princes have pleaded against Secretary General of the National Security Council Bandar bin Sultan for not being able to pursue their goals regarding Syria.
mehrreporter

Turk politicians: Erdoğan's insistence on attack on Syria is a pompous show - 0 views

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    Former Turk diplomats believe that Erdoğan's insistence on attack on Syria has met failure against the Russian plan and the Justice and Development Party is at a dead end.
mehrreporter

Clergy call for support of Syria - 0 views

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    Directors of Islamic schools seminaries across country have stressed their support for Syria.
mehrreporter

Jordan: 4 vehicles destroyed on Syria border - 0 views

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    Jordan's state-run news agency says border guards opened fire on four vehicles trying to enter illegally from Syria after they ignored orders to stop, without saying whether anyone was killed or wounded in the incident.
mehrreporter

Decision by Hezbollah to join war in Syria is a - 0 views

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    The decision by Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group to join the civil war in neighboring Syria and fight along President Bashar Assad's forces was a historic and moral ``mistake'' toward the Syrian people, a leading Lebanese politician has said.
mehrreporter

Link-up between Yemen and Syria Islamists of 'extreme concern': US - 0 views

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    US Attorney General Eric Holder said Sunday that intelligence suggesting bomb makers from Yemen have teamed up with militants in Syria was "more frightening than anything" he had seen before.
mehrreporter

France mounts Iraq strikes as jihadists advance in Syria - 0 views

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    BAGHDAD, Sept 20, 2014 (AFP) - France mounted its first air strike to beat back the Islamic State group in Iraq on Friday, even as jihadists across the border in Syria seized dozens of Kurdish villages in a lightning offensive.
mehrreporter

Hundreds of battalions fight in Syria: lawmaker - 0 views

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    Iran MP Quddoosi has said that Iranian forces fight the battle in Syria.
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