Apologies to Ambassador Ford
I must apologize for misquoting the British Ambassador in Damascus, Peter Ford, the other day. I quoted Ambassador Ford telling a Syrian friend that President Assad was weak and expected to fall. Ambassador Ford wrote:
Josh
In case silence is taken as consent, please note that I definitely did not say what I am quoted as saying here and it's not what I think. I'd be glad if you'd circulate this denial.
Peter Ford
Unfortunately, our mutual friend misunderstood the Ambassador, a lesson to us all.
Apologies, Joshua
posted by Joshua Landis @ 9/25/2005 02:17:00 AM
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13 Comments:
Don't worry.
We know that even if he said such a thing, in his heart, he supports Bashar as all those who love to keep the colonialist mentality.
We understand.
I found this reply by Hashem deserving to be repeated in every thread :
"Since Joshua doesn’t not have the misfortune of being oppressed by the Syrian regime, a fate which most Syrians had to endure for many years, I would have expected him to come up with something new. Ask anyone of the regime the following question: Do you think you should stay in power? Do you think the US should help you stay in power? The answer is of course clear. However, what Joshua seems to be doing is repeating the same: Keep the regime in power! Is that it? Keep them? Stealing and oppressing without a coherent policy and with no vision or understanding of how the world has and is changing. Where would that leave Syria?
How about, at least, demand a concerted effort from the international community that if there is no concrete schedule for reform and I mean real political reform, not falafel reform, then the regime will suffer the consequences and keep the pressure up. This regime only responds to threats as they have shown time and time again. They understand well what threat means, they have been practicing it for decades on others. It’s their native language.
Political prisoners have been freed? When? What did I miss? What about Mr Dalilah, Homsy, Seif et. al. If every time a credible figure appears and they imprison him/her, it would be easy to claim that there is no opposition! You see how tyrants work Joshua? You need me to explain that to you? Sorry for being patronising but I don’t think you understand. Would you accept that in your own country?
I know of few Syrians who I can be very proud of. Would they accept working for this regime? Absolutely not. So this regime is repelling many competent Syrians who can do a better job than this mob a hundred times over.
You can’t claim that we have not been patient. Bashar was given the chance by many, the US, France, and the UK and of course Syrians. He and the regime can’t hide behind the label of stability which suited them well in the past. He can’t blame the US and Israel for everything, particularly internal policy, like he did in the past. The picture is clear now, he has no intention of real reform. But my main worry is that the longer this regime is in power, the more trouble Syria will be heading towards, they are utterly incompetent.
Hashem
""
What is the program of the regime? Where is it? 5 year plan? we had 9 of them so far, all lead to more restrictions of liberty, and innovation, and produced wealth only to the cronies of the Assad family.
Local elections in 2007? We also had few of those, always lies about free elections.
Presidential elections in 2007? We had few as well, all resulted in 99.99 % approval of the eternal leader and his beloved son. We are even obliged to worship not only the late dictator, but his son, and his little son's son.
so, when you ask the oppositions for a program, the oppositions from MBs to the Tajamoh all produced programs, but that is not imporatnt to me or to the people of Syria. What is important is to have freedom first and above all. We need to kick the thieves out of power, and that is what is most important. The Syrian Oil has been out of Syria's budget since 1970. Not a penny of it gets into Syria's economy. It is reserved for the Assad family.
People like Josh use these tactics to discredit the people of Syria. The people of Syria in their majority are the oppositions, whether they are organoized or not, hether they are fragmented or not, wwhther they have a program or not. They are the oppressed, and you all should be ashamed of supporting the oppressors or asking that these oppressors stay even one more day in power:
-1 The "alternative" is Islamists.
-2- The opposition is frangmented, and do not have a program.
-3- The Reform can be from within the regime....
In fact, the two first points they use as "logic" have the purpose of leading to the third point, which is "let's have the regime reform"... all in order to keep the regime. In fact this is their only purpose.
All of the above points have been dealt with by myself, and many others. We have proven time and again that the first two points are lies, and the third has been tried for 35 years, and this regime , a regime made up of criminals, and thieves can not be reformed. How can you ask the killer of taking care of his victim?
Thanks to Hashem for his kind words, and thanks to him for his above post.
JAM
Ghassan: Syria's act of desperation and as usual it uses other people (now it is the poor Palestinians) to fight its war to protect its Mafia regime!
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Heavily armed pro Syrian Palestinians sneaking illegally to Lebanon
Sunday, 25 September, 2005 @ 3:55 PM
Beirut, Lebanon- The Lebanese authorities have been alarmed by a massive influx of arms and Palestinian guerrillas from Syria to Lebanon in recent days and army troops reinforced by police and state intelligence units deployed at key passes on the common border to curb the incursion, An Nahar reported on Sunday.
The infiltrators belong to Syrian-backed Palestinian factions, mainly Ahmed Jibreel's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), which maintains border bases in Deir Al Ashaer and Sultan Yacoub in the Bekaa as well as the Naameh hills south of Beirut, An Nahar said.
The army has intercepted dozens of PFLP-GC fighters trying to sneak illegally across the Bekaa with arms shipments to the Deir al Ashaer and Sultan Yacoub strongholds, the two main spots that remain a focal point of sovereignty dispute in the wake of Syria's evacuation of Lebanon in April.
Many infiltrators were sent back to Syria, but An Nahar spoke of reports that undetected infiltrators managed to bring fresh arms supplies to the Naameh base as well as the Beirut Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps.
There were earlier media reports that Jibreel's guerrillas were reactivating their Lebanon strongholds, bringing in arms and reinforcements under the guise of a rotation operation.
Jibreel, who served as a captain in the Syrian army and acquired a dual Syrian citizenship, is the most trusted Palestinian ally of the Assad regime in Damascus. All his moves are coordinated with the Syrian military intelligence apparatus, which makes the ongoing influx look like a prelude for uglier terrorist operations in Lebanon.
Syria does not want to give up on Lebanon. This is another one of their desperate moves to create instability in this country. Perhaps they know they will be named in Mehlis' report as the party behind Hariri's murder (as the Guardian has reported) and this is their way of revenge. This move by Syria may spell the end of the Assad regime. Source: Naharnet
I mentioned earlier how this regime is ready to sell everything to stay in power, and spoke of the province of Iskandarun. Here is something in Arabic however that proves that Iskandarun is officilaly sold out:
رغم أن الحكومة السورية لم تعلن إصدار خريطة جديدة لسورية تستنثي لواء الاسكندرون الذي تم ضمته فرنسا إلى تركيا عام 1939، إلا أنه يبدو أن هذه الخريطة باتت هي المعتمدة في سورية، حيث نٌشرت في صحف رسمية وعلى بعض أوراق النقد الجديدة من فئة ألف ليرة (الطبعة الجديدة ، وأخيراً تم إدراجها على الصفحة الرئيسي لموقع إدارة الشؤون المدنية على الإنترنت (http://www.civilaffair-moi.gov.sy/sf04/index.php).
وكانت صحيفة "تشرين" الحكومية قد نشرت في الأول من أيلول/ سبتمبر، ضمن تقرير لها حول البطالة وتوزيعها في المحافظات السورية، كما باتت الخريطة موجودة على الطبعة الجديدة للورقة النقدية السورية من فئة ألف ليرة.
ويشار إلى أن دائرة الشؤون المدنية، تتبع وزارة الداخلية السورية، بينما صحيفة "تشرين" حكومية وتتبع وزارة الإعلام، وعادة تلتزم الصحف الحكومية في سورية بالسياسة الرسمية للدولة، أما الأوراق النقدية فهي بالتأكيد تصدر عن الحكومة السورية، والمصرف المركزي بالتحديد.
وكانت فرنسا قد اقتطعت لواء الاسكندرون خلال فترة انتدابها على سورية، وضمته إلى تركيا عام 1939. ومنذ ذلك الوقت، ما زالت الحكومات السورية المتعاقبة تطالب باستعادة الإقليم، حتى عام 1998 حين نشبت أزمة كادت تتسبب في حرب شاملة، كانت شراراتها الأساسية اتهام تركيا للحكومة السورية بدعم حزب العمال الكردستاني الذي كان يقاتل للانفصال عن تركيا. وقد تم إبرام اتفاق أضنة الذي طُرد بموجبه زعيم حزب العمال عبد الله أوجلان من دمشق، كما تخلت دمشق عن المطالبة بلواء الإسكندرون، رغم أنها لم تعترف به حتى الآن كأرض تركية.
وفي الفترة الأخيرة، تحدثت الحكومة السورية عن تأجيل بحث المواضيع الشائكة (مثل لواء الأسكندرون مع الأتراك، لصالح القضايا الاقتصادية.
وعادة ما يستشهد الإسرائيليون عند تطرقهم لقضية الجولان السوري المحتل؛ بتطور الأوضاع في الاسكندرون، في إشارة إلى إمكانية تخلي دمشق عن مطالبها في استعادة الهضبة المحتلة في حال تعرضت لضغوط أو صفقات كتلك التي تمت مع الجانب التركي.
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JAM
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Here is a great argument used by those who want to keep the status quo, or at best claim that the regime should be given another chance to reform:
- Syria is not a democratic culture. Its educational system does not encourage democratic culture(free exchange of ideas!), and in fact, we have seen it to be encouraging man worship, and the authoritarian rules.
Therefore, we must not allow for a change in the regime. This is dangerous!
When Syria becomes a democratic culture, then, and only then can we ask for the toppling of this regime, but as long as the Syrians are savages or they only respect the Authoritarian rules, we must encourage them to accept the Authoritarian rule until it reform itself, and start spreading and establishing the democratic culture!
For now, we see the opposition fragmented, unable to stand on its feet, has no program, and also does not respect the other's opinion. The Opposition must prove that it does respect the other's opinion (onions.. meaning that it must respect the regime's opinion), otherwise, this opposition is doomed to be condemned by us, and we wish it that it stay in opposition (jails usually).
Has Josh or his ilks taken any course in logic?
Or are they just bull shitting the readers? And they know they are lieing?
JAM
News:
Even a great Lebanese TV interviewer, Ms. My Shediak was the object of assassination this morning in Juneh, Lebanon.
I wonder if Josh and his friends can tell us who had introduced the assassination work to Lebanon in 1970 and on!?
http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/Politics/2005/9/93124.htm
The following post is part of the previous thread posted. Worth repeating here again considering the news we are receiving about a deal with Assad being finalized with Bedouin and African help.
TO WHOME IT MAY CONCERN
...If the United State bargained with this regime and failed to cease on the lifetime opportunity that is given now, to have a democratic cooperative government in Syria with the help of all the worlds countries, it will result in Assad making all those false promises to Israel and the United States that he neither can fulfill, or the least, act upon. In the mean time, further enrage the Sunni Moslems of Syria to the point that they will violently overthrow the U.S.Backed regime with the help of host of disfranchised interests including the Palestinians radicals, the Arab Moslem radicals, the Iraqi Baathists radicals, the Syrian Moslem Radicals, The Lebanese Christians and Sunni Moslems, the Shia of Lebanon and Syria, including Hizbullah, and strike a deal with Russia and Iran.
The outcome of this kind of coalition is clear. Russia, will gain a strong foothold in the Middle East that will quickly expand to the entire region. Iranian revolutionary guards, including millions of martyrs will be stationed in south of Lebanon and the Golan.
Arab insurgency in Iraq will force the United States to evacuate from Baghdad, Saigon style. Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Sudan and Saudi Arabia, for a start, will be controlled by Moslem Parties and forces, Israel will be totally surrounded by hostile forces and the balance of power is shifted to a Musleman-Rusky axis. Whereby the West and the East is more than 85% dependant on this axis for energy resources.
Syrian Republican Strategists forecast that within 3-4 years of the fall of the Western/Saudi/African supported Alawites-Baathists dictatorship regime in Damascus, The west will loose total influence and control over the entire region from Casablanca to Bora Bora. The price of oil barrel will top $300 per barrel, to the benefit of the worlds number one oil exporter, Russia, second exporter the an Arab-Islamic confederacy, and third exporter, Islamic Republic of Iran. The implication for the West is far more reaching economically than strategically as no Western or Asian economy can sustain a nation at these levels of oil prices. Not to mention that most western countries, especially in the United States are heavily in public and private debt with deficits already in the Trillions of Dollars, personal bankruptcies at record levels and mortgage payments consuming large parts of personal income that it will leave little discretionary income to fuel an economy let alone expand it.....
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Well that is a nice lesson on ethical journalism Josh. I doubt that we'll see any excuse on the angry Arab's blog.
Note that it doesn't mean anything. Even if the British ambassador said that privately, he would still have issued a public denial.
JAM, May Chidiac is a good journalist but she's pro-LF (it might change some prejudices here). A few days ago she hosted a show in which people discussed about a Syrian implication in Hariri's assassination.
In case some are wondering about who's destabilizing Lebanon, PFLP-CG of Jibril (a puppet Palestinian organization, I assume that most Syrians know which Palestinian organizations are independent and which are manipulated by the regime) is sending weapons from Syria to Lebanon.
To Abu Zayd and JAM, thank you both for your kind words. I appreciate your comments.
Best regards
Hashem
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