Blanford On How The STL Could Hurt Syria
In the pile of items that I have been meaning to get to is the possible Syrian portfolio of indictments to be handed down by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) after its investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The Tribunal has already handed out indictments for four Lebanese men, … Read more
The Danger of Flower Throwing
In response to the news that US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, was welcomed by flower-throwing protesters when he visited the city of Hama on Thursday and Friday, Mustapha, of the Beirut Spring Blog, recalled the fickle nature of flower throwers: in 1982, Lebanese southerners greeted the invading Israeli army with flowers. While this seems … Read more
The Party of God and Bringing Down Lebanon, Part II
I just finished summing up the STL indictment of four men in connection with the 2005 assassination of then Prime Minister Rafik Hariri of Lebanon, noting that the STL may not be finished with its indictments. For now, the situation in Lebanon is truly wait and see. Hezbollah could be simply sacrificing these four men … Read more
The Party of God and Bringing Down Lebanon
So the big news today is the indictment of four Lebanese men by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) which was set up in 2007 to investigate the murder of then Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. This is big news, of course, because this initial indictment could spread to include senior members of both Hezbollah and … Read more
Pawlenty: Like Brad Pitt in Achilles
Tim Pawlenty, the republican governor of Minnesota, presented his views on the Middle East and his contempt (natural for a Presidential candidate) for the current policy for the region adopted by the White House. Unsurprisingly, Pawlenty gave an over-simplified version of events that highlighted the importance of Israel and the evils of Iran while blasting … Read more
Will Assad Fall?
In the western media, the uprising in Syria is getting very little coverage. Partly due to the strict domestic situation in Syria in which the state is to some extent able to control the flow of information; partly due to the mass of attention devoted to the ongoing war in Libya; and partly due to … Read more
The Day of Martyrs Answers No Questions
Seven more Syrians died yesterday at the proclaimed ‘Day of Martyrs’ throughout Syria, bring the total number of dead to 75 since the clashes began in earnest two weeks ago. Yesterday, protests were held in the Damascus suburb of Douma, Al Sanameen, Daraa, Latakia, Homs, Baniyas and Kamishli. Meanwhile, for the first time, the Kurdish communities … Read more
And Then There Was Syria
As NATO takes control of the western intervention efforts in Libya and the Saleh regime in Yemen seems certain to fall any day, an increasing number of eyes have been turning to Syria where the largest protests since the 1982 Hama massacre have been stunning the country and the government. Tensions have escalated in the … Read more
International Intervention on Crazy Qaddafi?
Over the last three days Colonel Qaddafi has given two speeches and his supposedly sane son Seif gave one of his own. The latest Qaddafi tirade was disturbing and humorous. Talking to perhaps fifteen people, Qaddafi crowed on about hallucination pills, talked about himself in third person and more often than not seemed genuinely lost. Here in … Read more
Like Frogs That Refuse To Jump Out Of A Pot Of Hot Water
America is losing its grip on the Middle East. This, of course, has been apparent for a while now to those who spend their free time tracking the rise of the resistance movement or the sandy foundations of American regional policy. The rise of Hezbollah (vis-a-vis March 14) and Hamas (vis-a-vis Fatah) as well as the … Read more
