"I guarantee you if Bibi comes out today & says 'we are for the Syrian revolution', he'll be the most popular man in Syria!"

"Via FLC 

Remember that this clown's father was at one time rumored to have 'irrefutable' information regarding Rafic Hariri's assassination, and as such, bozo-pere was afforded a large ISF security detail in Lebanon by none other than Saad Hariri.



"...“Israel should do something. You shouldn’t just sit on the sideline and accept the fact that the US isn’t doing enough. I guarantee you if Bibi comes out today or tomorrow and says, ‘We are for the Syrian revolution and we need to protect these people who are being butchered like animals in Syria,’ I guarantee he’ll be the most popular leader in Syria today. Why? Because there’s a huge vacuum in Syria,” he said.

“Two days ago the Muslim Brotherhood came out with a big statement saying ‘We support the revolution.’ Well hello, good morning! Seven weeks, and you support the revolution now?” Ghadry’s Reform Party is arguably the most reformminded element of the scant and disparate Syrian opposition in exile. Larger opposition factions are headed by Abdul Halim Khaddam – a former Syrian vice president who six years ago defected to Paris – and Ribal Assad, the president’s cousin, based in London. ..."The Movement for Justice and Development, an Islamist group, is also based in the UK. 

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Egypt-Gaza border opening scares Israel

Posted on May 2, 2011 by rehmat1

The military junta ruling Egypt since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, has announced to open the Rafah border-crossing with Gaza permanently within a few days. The Wall Street Jounal has called Egyptian decision a violation of an agreement reached in 2005 between the US, Israel, Egypt and the EU.

Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces General Sami Anan warned Israel against interfering with Egypt’s plan, saying it was not a matter of Israel’s concern, Army Radio reported on Saturday.

Behind the Israeli propaganda lies to scare the hell out of its western puppet regimes about the so-called ‘Jew-hating Islamists’ replacing the former Israel-friendly regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Morocco, Libya, etc. – in fact the new regimes with the exception of some cosmetic changes, have turned to be more oppressive than the ones they replaced.

Egyptian military junta, so far has not fulfilled even a single public demands;
1) cancelling Egypt-Israel peace-treaty,
2) opening borders with Gaza and recognizing Hamas as the only elected government and
3) lifting ban on the popular Islamic political party Muslim Brotherhood. Furthermore, Egypt has not opened diplomatc relation with the regional power, Iran.

Several American lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, have threatened to stop US funding to PA if the Fatah-Hamas unity government is established in Gaza and the West Bank. They have also recommended that Obama administration stop $1.5 billion annual aid to Egypt if it cancels its peace agreement with Israel.
On May 1, Professor Franklin Lamb wrote a timely article from Beirut entitled Panic in the Houses of Congress and AIPAC?.

“On April 13, 2011, more than a dozen Israel “First, last and always” US congressional leaders from both houses of Congress held an urgent conference call organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

What AIPAC operatives reportedly told the conferees was that Netanyahu is once again furious with President Barack Obama and outraged by what he sees as a vacillating US Government attitude towards Israeli needs. They were told that the Israeli PM sees real political danger for Israel in the shifting US public opinion in favor of the young sophisticated attractive Arab and Muslims increasingly seen on satellite channels from the region who remind the American public of their own ideals.

Netanyahu, the conferees were told, wants Congress to flex its muscle with the White House and deliver a strong message to President Obama that his political future is tied to Israel’s. Hence, the current “America needs Israel more than ever stupid!“ campaign is wafting from the Israel lobby across the talk radio airwaves.

Congressman Eric Cantor lamented that “Israel is badly losing the US College campuses”, despite heavy financial investments the past few years to curb American students growing support for Gaza, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, all dreaded symbols of the growing opposition to the 19th Century Zionist colonial enterprise. “Support for Palestine is skyrocketing,” he claimed. “Until Palestine is freed from Zionist occupation no Arab or Muslim is truly free of Western hegemony,” according to one assistant editor of Harvard University’s student newspaper, the Crimson….”

Benji Netanyahu during his addresses late this month at AIPAC conference and joint meeting of the US Congress is expected to include;
1) Bashing of the Islamic Republic for its support for Hamas and Hizbullah and country’s civilian nuclear program,
2) Warning against the dangers to “the peace process” of any PA-Hamas unity government,
3) Warnings about the threats to Israel from Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood – scraping peace-treaty and abandoning subsidary on gas supply to Israel,
4) the usual hasbara lie: “Israel has no peace partner to negotiate with and
5) Ben-Obama is too hard on Israel.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Israel Slams Bombing of Gas Pipeline and Palestinian Reconciliation and Egypt strongly Responds

April 30, 2011 posted by Dr. Ashraf Ezzat

“What Mr. Netanyahu is unaware of is the fact that the Arabs currently in revolt, as much as they reject both the Israeli-Egyptian natural gas deal and the Israeli inhuman blockade on Gaza, feel the same way about the Israeli-Palestinian so called peace talks”

“Egypt to officially announce its border with Gaza open in the coming few days”

Bombing of Egypt's natural gas pipeline to Isarel at Alarish terminal.

Dr. Ashraf Ezzat

With the first light of the dawn of Wednesday 27, Egypt witnessed yet another unusually turbulent day of post-Mubarak open display of anti-Israeli sentiments. Those sentiments have been long entrenched in the Egyptian psyche, though not primarily directed at the Israelis but fueled by the Israeli aggressive policy towards its Arab neighbors and above all by its ongoing criminal plan of the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian population out of their Arabic homeland.

The pro-democracy uprisings ripping through the heart of the Arab world, besides toppling dictators and corrupt regimes, and aside from being a blatant display of western hypocritical Mideast policy, have been rare historical moments for people on the Arabic street to freely speak their minds and openly express their unrestrained opinions. After all, that what democracy is all about.

Once they have managed to fully implement the famous slogan of the Egyptian uprising “the people want the regime down”, Egyptians insisted the head of the regime along with his inner circle of corrupt aides and officials put on trial and held accountable for all the crimes they committed against the Egyptian people- an unprecedented claim in all of Egypt’s long history.

The list of charges against Mubarak’s regime is a long one that included harming national interests, profiteering, selling government assets and public enterprises, squandering and wasting public money and shooting peaceful protesters. But the deal of exporting Egypt natural gas to Israel that Mubarak himself endorsed back in 2005 stands at the top of the list.

Pro-Zionist Mubarak.

The end of a deal.

According to the crooked deal, Egypt is to sell its natural gas with a fixed price of $1.25 per million British thermal units (Btu) – while Global gas prices in the meantime jumped to $4 per million Btu- for 15 years.
Economists estimated that Egypt wasted at least $714 million in potential revenue from the deal to date, while independent analysts opposed to the deal put the number of losses much higher, up to $8 million per day.
The fervent Egyptian protests never lost its momentum by overthrowing Mubarak. Thousands of angry protesters kept coming back to Tahrir square Friday after Friday venting out their dissatisfaction over continuing to keep Mubarak and his gang of former politicians on the loose.
Finally and to appease the enraged people specifically in regard to the gas deal, two previous oil ministers were arrested and faced legal prosecution and Mubarak himself was indicted over the suspicious deal and held under detention.
Truth of the matter is, that deal with Israel made every Egyptian feel personally affronted. Not only because of the much needed millions of dollars that went right into the pocket of Mubarak and his Zionist friends, but to the audacity of selling Egypt’s national assets and pride to a formidable foe at such a cheap price.



Mr. Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Israeli minister of national
infrastructure and Mr. Sameh Fahmy, Egypt petroleum
minister at the signing ceremony of the natural gas deal.



In was hurting the Egyptian sensibility as it dishonored the memory of thousands of fine Egyptian soldiers who willingly gave their lives in the long military conflict with Israel defending their land.

When January 25 revolution attacked the natural gas deal with Israel a spot light was thrown at Egypt’s most controversial issues; post-Mubarak Egypt’s political fabric, corruption and Israel.

Egypt has been a key player in the Arab-Israeli conflict since day one of its inauguration. It has engaged in 4 wars with Israel since 1948 till 1973 trying to hold back the Zionist military piracy, and signed a controversial peace treaty with Tel Aviv on 1979.

Mubarak and due to his 3 decades of dancing to the tunes of his Zionist allies in Israel, has transferred Egypt from the leader of the Arab camp to the pro-Zionist circus of puppets and drove the Egyptians into one of their ugliest tunnels of political inertia they have ever been through.
With Mubarak gone, and As Egypt was stripping itself of a long and shameful Zionist kippah, the country felt like coming out of this dark tunnel to the light for the first time. Egypt’s potentials for engaging in the Middle East conflict, with whole new palette of all shades of political colors, have reemerged and come back to life again.
Once the ruling autocratic party in Egypt was dissolved, the country’s political arena began to accommodate parties and groups of all political strata; socialists, leftists, liberals and of course the right wing represented by the Muslim brotherhood.

All Egyptian political blocks regardless of their background ideology agreed on one principle; the Egyptian-Israeli political relations should be conducted from an Arabic perspective that would serve both the Egyptian national security and interests while adhering to an Arabic agenda aimed at resolving the Israeli- Palestinian thorny file.

But while nationalists, leftists and liberal forces believed in conducting the Egyptian-Israeli tangled issues through open political dynamics, other parties, and due to their long history of covert operations and sort of underground organization were inclined to tackle this in a way that only the Zionist machine in Israel are familiar with.

Scenario of the hot Wednesday

At dawn break, near the northern Sinai city of Arish, some 50 kilometers away from the Israeli border with Egypt, a group of 5 masked men drove away in a 4×4 car after they bombed the terminal of the pipeline that supplied Israel with 40% of its total requirement of natural gas utilized to generate 80% of its electricity.

Leaving the place after remotely detonating the bombs, the whole terminal went up in soaring flames, frightening the nearby residents and forcing the station’s safety department to completely shut down the feed of gas to Israel

Though there have been a couple of sabotage incidents aimed at the same pipeline station in the last two months, but compared to this seemingly professional and carefully carried out operation, they were nothing more than amateurish trial to leak out gas.



Rafah, Egypt crossing point with Gaza

Later in the morning, and for the first time, scores of Palestinian syndicate professionals – doctors, pharmacists, accountants and free traders- protested at the Gaza side of Rafah crossing point- the border checkpoint with Egypt- and while raising the entwined flags of Egypt and Palestine called for putting an end to the siege long imposed on Gaza from the Egyptian side.

Before noon, hundreds of college students from Cairo University belonging to The Palestinian Revolution Supporters Group, The Islamic Work Party, Democratic Students and Egyptians against Zionists broke out of the gates of the university and headed in a big march to the Israeli embassy. They burned the Israeli flag and called for the immediate halt of gas supply to Israel, chanting “ wake up Egypt, supplying Israel with our gas is a shame for all Egyptians”

After few hours, Israeli Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau said that “though gas is one of the most important economic components of the peace treaty between the two countries signed in 1979, nevertheless, our government has to face up to the fact that Israel has to do without Egypt gas from now on”

Following the sequence of events that consequently happened throughout this hot Wednesday, From the blast at the early hours of the morning to the protests in Cairo and Gaza reaching to the solemn statements of Mr. Landau in Tel Aviv, one can’t guess twice that certain elements from Hamas in Gaza- who now regard Sinai as an accessible operational field- in close cooperation with their Egyptian right wing counterparts of the Muslim brotherhood were responsible for this bombing of the gas line terminal in Arish and the protests on both sides.
But then, this would remain purely speculative, with all the legal irregularities involved, as long as nobody claimed responsibility for it.

The new middle east

Post-Mubarak Egyptian foreign policy is bound to show some major changes of strategy. And with a figure like Dr. Nabil el-Araby, Egypt’s new foreign minister, who doesn’t distance himself from his previous calls for Arab states to sue Israel for its atrocities committed against the Palestinians, Netanyahu unreluctantly expressed his concerns over Egypt’s newly evolving and apparently anti-Israeli politics.
As the night was falling on this hot Wednesday, the last hours were yet to reveal the biggest events of that day. And as the morning started with a blast so did the evening.

“Fatah- the Palestinian political organization- has reached an agreement with its rival Hamas on forming an interim government and fixing a date for a general election” Egyptian intelligence announced on Wednesday evening. And Cairo is to invite both parties, who agreed on all discussed points, to a signing ceremony to mark this historical Palestinian reconciliation.

Benjamin Netanyahu

This Egyptian–brokered deal, which came few month away from the expected UN vote on the recognition of Palestine as an independently sovereign state- infuriated the Israeli government and considered it crossing the red line for Israel, as Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister announced.

But as Mr.Landau, said earlier that Israel would have to do without Egypt’s natural gas so did Mr. Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, who declared on response to this reconciliation that Israel would have to find herself another partner to carry on with in the Mideast peace talks.
On April 30th, And in quick response to Netanyahu’s provocative statement, Hussein Tantawi, Egyptian Field Marshal, head of the supreme military council and the Egyptian interim government announced ..

“the latest Israeli threats to the Palestinian coalition government have enraged the Arab peoples and they are totally unacceptable. And he added that the Egyptian military council is to officially open Rafah border crossing point with Gaza on permanent basis in the coming few days to alleviate the suffering of the besieged Palestinians living in Gaza”

Hussein Tantawi, Field Marshal and
head of the Egyptian supreme military council

What Mr. Netanyahu is unaware of is the fact that the revolting Arabs, as much as they reject both the Israeli-Egyptian natural gas deal and the Israeli inhuman blockade on Gaza, feel the same way about the Israeli-Palestinian so called peace talks.

The so called peace process has been nothing more than a disgusting and theatrically staged waste of time brokered by the United States to peacefully allow more Israeli settlements to be built and more of Palestinian land quietly annexed.

Israel will have to do without a whole much more than just Egypt’s natural gas in the future. The Arabs will certainly be crossing a lot of red lines in the coming days as they resketch the long advocated for- new Middle East.

A new middle East is emerging, alright, the Arabic version, that is.

For more articles by Dr. A shraf Ezzat visit his website.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

The false hope of "revolution" in Syria

Posted By May Akl Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 6:43 PM

More bloody days seem to be ahead for Syria. Security forces have apparently decided to crackdown on what they call "Salafist armed groups", while protesters who call themselves "freedom fighters" seem to have become bolder since the first Deraa incident. But in the euphoria of the so-called Arab youth revolution, assuming and even hoping that unrest in Syria will eventually lead to the collapse of the Assad regime is not only an unrealistic assumption, but a naïve theory betraying a faulty knowledge of the Middle East -- and specifically the dynamics of Syrian politics.

Similarly, assuming that the events unfolding in Syria are of the same nature as the ones that rocked the Arab world, and led to the collapse of dictatorships long supported by the West, is also a misreading of reality.

The latest April 10 ambush against a Syrian army patrol in the coastal town of Banias is proof that a Jihad-like approach is a force behind the movement demanding reforms. Despite atrocities the regimes in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, and Bahrain perpetrated against freedom demonstrators, there was no significant act of violence against national armies in these countries. More importantly, to be able to conduct such a successful ambush killing nearly 10 troops, one needs to be armed, organized, and well-trained. Indeed, this scenario does not resemble anything we are witnessing in the above cases.

In the context of these leaderless revolutions that stemmed from rightful social, economic, and political demands, the only organized and well-structured group has been the Muslim Brotherhood. For 83 years now, the aim of this widespread movement has been to instill the Quran and Sunna as the sole reference for ordering the life of the Muslim family and state. Whether it will finally succeed in doing so by claiming to embrace the hopes and dreams of the Arab youth is not to be ruled out. As such, the real beneficiaries of Arab regime changes are yet to be discovered.

While this theory has yet to be proven in Tunisia, Egypt, or Yemen, it is easier to note in Syria, where the last Muslim Brotherhood uprising was brutally crushed by Hafez Assad in Hama in 1982. But the Brotherhood in Syria, under claims of demanding reforms, does aim at overthrowing the Syrian regime. The latter has been struggling with the international community for quite some time now. And although deeply shaken by the investigation into Lebanon's Hariri assassination, the Assad regime has managed to survive tough years from 2005 until now. All of these ingredients make Syria's story a more complex and delicate one.

On April 1, a few days after the beginning of turmoil in Syria, and while on a visit to Turkey, the secretary-general of Syria's Muslim Brotherhood, Riad Al-Shaqfa, in a joint press conference with the Brotherhood's political chief, Mohamed Tayfur, said repeatedly that they didn't believe Syrian President Bashar Assad would carry through with promised reforms and predicted that protests would continue (the two men also reportedly called on the Syrian people to take to the streets). The statement proved so diplomatically costly for Turkey that its foreign ministry issued a statement a few days later, making it clear that the country did not adopt calls for instability in its neighboring country, even if such sentiments were voiced from its capital: "It is impossible for Turkey to tolerate and to approve any initiative which will harm the reform will of friendly and brotherly Syria and disrupt its stability along this critical period."
Earlier, at the end of March, Qatar-based Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, a fan of Nazi anti-Semitism who has said that Hitler was "Allah's divine punishment for the Jews", incited Sunnis in Syria on an Al Jazeera broadcast sermon to revolt against the Assad regime, and said that Assad was "a prisoner of his own religion." Giving the Syrian unrest a religious identity, it was not much of a surprise when, on April 1, Qaradawi further described demonstrators in Syria as "Jihadists."

Put in such perspective, the dynamics of the Syrian uprising are radically different than elsewhere. To the surprise of the Syrian authorities, cities where relatively significant demonstrations were held were not mainly Sunni strongholds or regions known for their historical abhorrence of the Assad regime. These demonstrations happened in multi-religious areas like the province of Deraa, considered to be the reservoir of high-ranking Baath military and state officials, such as the vice-president Farouk al Sharaa. This shows that the uprising seems to be fed by pockets of protesters (Bander Brotherhood) rather than by a large popular movement. While in Tunisia, the largest popular protest gathered nearly 10 percent of the population, the largest combined protests in Syria have amounted to barely one percent of the population. Indeed, the so-called opposition essentially failed to mobilize the Syrian population.

This might be due to the fact that the Syrian people have not yet forgotten the Hama massacre and that they have not yet managed to break the barrier of fear. But that is harder to understand since, if there was a good time to break the barriers of fear, it would be now -- with the domino effect sweeping across the Arab world, and with a Syrian regime already partly ostracized by the international community and struggling to restore good international relations. And when freedom is so badly sought as we have witnessed in Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen, oppression does not stop the crowd. Various "Khaled Said" phenomena are only supposed to fuel large-scale public anger rather than hush its voice.

But just as popular revolutions cannot be stopped, they cannot be provoked, either. As such, the groups that masterminded the Syrian turmoil might have placed a wrong bet, as their assumption that the Syrian people would be quick to join them has not been borne out in fact. Ultimately, this failure could be what motivated them to resort to other tactics -- such as the ambush -- which are more likely to make these groups lose their credibility as democratic freedom fighters and foster instability.

If the fear factor is only partly responsible for preventing a fully-fledged revolt in Syria, then the Syrian people must be apprehensive of another possible reality: the unknown of a post-Assad period. As it stands, most Syrians simply think that there is no better alternative to the current regime. Despite its history and much contested policies, Syria is -- pragmatically speaking -- a country that has managed to maintain its political stability in the region. It is an indisputable key player in the region: no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to the situation in Iraq, or to the crisis with Iran or Hezbollah can be conceived without the involvement of Syria, one way or the other. This strength has fostered a nationalist feeling throughout the country. Further, Syria is a secular country where minorities are protected, and as much as they might want to see a regime change in their country, the majority of Syrians cannot accept their country becoming another Iraq -- in terms of security -- or another Saudi Arabia -- in terms of religious rule.

Another factor is that the Syrian people are generally proud of, and have high hopes for, their president. It is true that they are dismayed at the high level of corruption surrounding the president's old guards, but they do believe that he can make gradual change (which he has already started) with economic reforms to be followed by the recently announced new wave of media and political reforms, in addition to today's commitment to lift the 48-year-old emergency law. As such, they can view a gradual and smooth opening of the Syrian political system as a better and safer guarantee for a regime transition -- even as this remains a long-term project.

At the regional level, the fall of the Assad regime is very likely to have critical consequences on neighboring countries. From Turkey to Israel, going through Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, this fall would mean a radical alteration of the political, and more importantly religious, map of the Middle East. The question lies in whether these states want to see Syria fall into the hands of the Brotherhood.

At the international level, policy-makers should be able to learn from their mistakes, especially in the U.S. In its bid to cut its losses when the oppressive and corrupt regimes it supported for so long fell apart, the U.S. found itself obliged to let go of their old allies and embrace the people's movement. But in Syria, such a movement does not exist.

While exhorting Arabs to embrace reforms, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced last Tuesday that President Barack Obama would lay out a U.S. policy toward the Middle East and North Africa in the coming weeks. Hopefully, this policy will for once refrain from falling prey to its own rigid categorization -- to the black or white approach -- and rather try to understand the subtleties of situations in different contexts. Hopefully, it will also acknowledge the fact that democracy and people power can actually be used as a cover for extreme groups to access power. Indeed, extreme Islam does not always come with a turban; sometimes, it comes with a tie.

After all, Clinton hinted in late February that the U.S. administration would not oppose the arrival of the Muslim Brotherhood to power in Egypt.

It would have been more accurate to say that the US won't be able to do anything to oppose the Brotherhood's arrival to power since the group is so involved in the Egyptian people's uprising.

But it would be outrageous -- to say the least -- to think that in Syria, the U.S. position will be aligned with that of Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi; unless American realpolitik sees al-Qaradawi as a "reformist" and "freedom fighter" opposing the "dictatorship of Bashar Assad".

[THE US IS IS ONLY ALIGHNED WITH THE JEWISH STATE, THE AMERICAN REALPOILIK WOULD LIKE TO SEE SYRIAN CIVIL, THE SHORTEST WAY TO DIVIDE THE LAST RESISTANCE FORTS -LEBANON AND SYRIA. TO ACHEIVE THAT GOAL, THE USA WOULD DEAL WITH SATAN]

May Akl, a 2010 Yale World Fellow, is the press secretary of Lebanese MP Michel Aoun. She has contributed opinion essays to the Daily Star and YaleGlobal online magazine.

In case you missed it: Does Abdul Halim Khaddam Have Anything to Do with What's Going on in Syria?

'Experts' differ on role of Islamists in Syria ...

FLC

(AFP)- "... "They are certainly present but they are not directing it. This popular uprising does not depend on the old political parties," said Rime Allaf, a researcher on Syria at London-based think-tank Chatham House... "The Muslim Brotherhood has lost much of its influence since (the 1982 massacre in) Hama, and especially after they allied themselves with former vice president Abdel Halim Khaddam," Allaf said... In February 2006, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood leader Ali Sadreddine Bayanouni formed an opposition front with Khaddam.

"The Muslim Brotherhood is indeed still a political force and its popular base is concentrated in major Sunni urban areas" said Faysal Itani of London-based risk assessment group Exclusive Analysis. "However, it is neither well organised nor does it have any formal structures," he said.... Its ability to conduct a protracted insurgency as seen in the late 1970s and early 1980s is low, if not non-existent." He said that could change if the group were provided weapons and training by Sunnis in neighbouring Iraq...  

But the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 gave rise to a more radical offshoot of "jihadi" Salafists, who believe in "holy war" and made their mark through three operations, including a September 2006 attack against the US embassy in Damascus. Some analysts disagree about the role of the Brotherhood in the Syrian protest movement. "In a society repressed by the security services there have to be determined elements -- that is to say politicised -- to stir it all, like the Muslim Brotherhood, communists and others," said Bassma Kodmani, a Syrian-born researcher at the Arab Reform Initiative, which is based in Paris and Beirut."These are the backbone" of the protests," she added."

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 9:35 AM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Wikileaks: The STATE Department 'secretly financed Syrian opposition groups'

US Secretly Backed ‘Syrian Opposition’

 Also Via FLC

[Link to the Original Wikileaks Cable, here, and here]

The State Department has secretly financed Syrian political opposition groups and related projects, including a satellite TV channel that beams anti-government programming into the country, according to previously undisclosed diplomatic cables. The London-based satellite channel, Barada TV, began broadcasting in April 2009 but has ramped up operations to cover the mass protests in Syria as part of a long-standing campaign to overthrow the country’s autocratic leader, Bashar al-Assad. Barada TV is closely affiliated with the Movement for Justice and Development, a London-based network of Syrian exiles.

Classified U.S. diplomatic cables show that the State Department has funneled as much as $6 million to the group since 2006 to operate the satellite channel and finance other activities inside Syria. The U.S. money for Syrian opposition figures began flowing under President George W. Bush after he effectively froze political ties with Damascus in 2005. The financial backing has continued under President Obama, even as his administration sought to rebuild relations with Assad.... 

The cables show that U.S. Embassy officials in Damascus became worried in 2009 when they learned that Syrian intelligence agents were raising questions about U.S. programs. Some embassy officials suggested that the State Department reconsider its involvement, arguing that it could put the Obama administration’s rapprochement with Damascus at risk.

Syrian authorities “would undoubtedly view any U.S. funds going to illegal political groups as tantamount to supporting regime change,” read an April 2009 cable signed by the top-ranking U.S. diplomat in Damascus at the time. “A reassessment of current U.S.-sponsored programming that supports anti-[government] factions, both inside and outside Syria, may prove productive,” the cable said.

It is unclear whether the State Department is still funding Syrian opposition groups, but the cables indicate money was set aside at least through September 2010. While some of that money has also supported programs and dissidents inside Syria, The Washington Post is withholding certain names and program details at the request of the State Department, which said disclosure could endanger the recipients’ personal safety.......... no dissidents inside Syria were willing to take the money, for fear it would lead to their arrest or execution for treason, according to a 2006 cable from the U.S. Embassy, which reported that “no bona fide opposition member will be courageous enough to accept funding.” Around the same time, Syrian exiles in Europe founded the Movement for Justice and Development. The group, which is banned in Syria, openly advocates for Assad’s removal. U.S. cables describe its leaders as “liberal, moderate Islamists” who are former members of the Muslim Brotherhood. It is unclear when the group began to receive U.S. funds, but cables show U.S. officials in 2007 raised the idea of helping to start an anti-Assad satellite channel......... 

Abdeh said the channel receives money from “independent Syrian businessmen” whom he declined to name. He also said there was no connection between Barada TV and the Movement for Justice and Development, although he confirmed that he serves on the political group’s board. The board is chaired by his brother, Anas. “If your purpose is to smear Barada TV, I don’t want to continue this conversation,” Malik al-Abdeh said. “That’s all I’m going to give you.”.....

Edgar Vasquez, a State Department spokesman, said the Middle East Partnership Initiative has allocated $7.5 million for Syrian programs since 2005. A cable from the embassy in Damascus, however, pegged a much higher total — about $12 million — between 2005 and 2010. The cables report persistent fears among U.S. diplomats that Syrian state security agents had uncovered the money trail from Washington. “It is unclear to what extent [Syrian] intelligence services understand how USG money enters Syria and through which proxy organizations,” the cable stated, referring to funding from the U.S. government. “What is clear, however, is that security agents are increasingly focused on this issue.” U.S. diplomats also warned that Syrian agents may have “penetrated” the Movement for Justice and Development by intercepting its communications. A June 2009 cable listed the concerns under the heading “MJD: A Leaky Boat?” It reported that the group was “seeking to expand its base in Syria” but had been “initially lax in its security, often speaking about highly sensitive material on open lines.” The cable cited evidence that the Syrian intelligence service was aware of the connection between the London exile group and the Democracy Council in Los Angeles. As a result, embassy officials fretted that the entire Syria assistance program had been compromised. “Reporting in other channels suggest the Syrian [Mukhabarat] may already have penetrated the MJD and is using the MJD contacts to track U.S. democracy programming,” the cable stated. “If the [Syrian government] does know, but has chosen not to intervene openly, it raises the possibility that the [government] may be mounting a campaign to entrap democracy activists.”

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 11:06 AM

• Authorities seize huge weapons consignment bound for Syria
• Syria, in the Eye of the Storm .. Secrets and Mysteries
• Sabotage Cell Involved in Syria Unrest, Jarrah Main Financer 
• Syria Awaits Action after Future Party MP ‘Implicated’
• Wikileaks: Hariri 'suggested the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood with Abdel Halim Khaddam, ... they even support peace with Israel'
  
  River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Wikileaks: Hariri 'suggested the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood with Abdel Halim Khaddam, ... they even support peace with Israel'

They even support peace with Israel'

(Original cable)

S E C R E T BEIRUT 002735

SUBJECT: LEBANON: SAAD HARIRI CALLS FOR SYRIAN REGIME

CHANGE; MAYBE IRAN TOO

REF: JEDDAH 561

1. (C/NF) In a wide ranging discussion at his Qureitem home on August 22, an effusive and provocative Saad Hariri met with senior Senate Foreign Relations staffer Puneet Talwar and poloff (notetaker).... Saad gave an oft-repeated laundry list of needs - trucks, cars, M-16s, fuel, ammunition, helicopters. How, Saad asked, can the army be expected to present an obstacle to Hizballah when it only has four hours worth of ammunition? "It's ridiculous!"... Surprisingly, Hariri described the head of the LAF's G2 intelligence bureau George Khoury (generally

described as pro-Syrian by other March 14 leaders like Walid Jumblatt) as "a good guy."...(C/NF) Saad claims (perhaps overconfidently) that 

since it was seriously depleted during the conflict.

Admitting that there is little to be done now to combat Hizballah's trumpeting of "victory" over the Israelis, since very survival means victory for Hizballah, Saad believe that once the triumphant afterglow has worn off, people will see only the destruction wrought by Hizballah's unilateral action against Israel. "In a week, two weeks," predicted Saad, "when it starts raining, and the economy's crumbling. Then people will be annoyed with Hizballah.".... 

Hizballah's missile stockpile is no longer such a deterrent 

8. (C/NF) Saad said he has completely shut down communication with Hizballah. "I want them to change their attitude and give up their weapons. Else they will have a problem with me." When Talwar asked if Saad intends to return to the negotiating table with Hizballah, Saad dismissed the idea and quipped, "What? The national dialogue? 

You want me to sit in the same room with Hassan Nasrallah while the Israelis know exactly where to find him?!"  

(courage like never seen before!)

10. (S/NF) Looking to the East, Saad said that the regimes in Syria and Iran are the biggest obstacles to peace in the region. The USG has tried for years to bring about a "change in regime behavior" in Syria, to no avail. Saad argued that nothing is really being done about Syria. Saad urged that now is a golden opportunity for the international community to "weaken" Bashar. The USG needs a clear, new policy to isolate Syria. "My belief is, if you don't isolate Syria, if you don't put a blockade, they will never change." By subduing Syria, you remove Iran's main bridge for playing the troublemaker in Lebanon and Palestine. "If you weaken Syria," Saad suggested, "then Iran has to work alone." The Saudis and other Arab states have all had enough of young Bashar, according to Saad, and no longer want to try a conciliatory approach to the Syrian regime. After Bashar's recent speech threatening civil war in Lebanon, they are no longer interested in "talking" with Damascus. Saad said he had hear this directly from the Saudis, and that Prince Bandar is delivering this message in Washington now (Comment. It is also interesting that Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal made similar comments, but about Iran specifically, during an 8/22 meeting with Ambassador Oberwetter, as reported in reftel.

End Note).

"The Saudis and Egyptians have turned. Look into that." When Talwar asked what the United States could do to increase the pressure on Syria, Saad suggested forging ahead on the special tribunal with international character on the Hariri assassination and organizing international sanctions on Syria.12. (S/NF) Getting a little more animated as the conversation continued, Saad argued that the Syrian regime  lived on conflict. It will only stop if we get rid of the regime."

13. (S/NF) If the regime were to fall in Syria, who would be there to fill in the vacuum?..., Saad suggested that the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, in partnership with ex-regime figures like Abdel Halim Khaddam and Hikmet Shehabi ("though he's still close to the regime"), could step into the void. Saad claimed that the Syrian Brotherhood is similar in character to Turkey's moderate Islamists. "They would accept a Christian or a woman as President. They accept civil government. It's like Turkey in Syria.

needs to be gotten rid of entirely. "This regime has always 

They even support peace with Israel." Saying that he maintains close contact with Khaddam (in Paris) and Syrian Muslim Brotherhood leader-in-exile Ali Bayanuni (in London), Saad urged us to "talk to Bayanuni. See what he's like. You will see wonders.".....

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 11:26 AM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Wikileaks: Hariri to Talwar: "A partnership between the 'Brotherhood & Khaddam' ... They support peace with Israel"

Via FLC

(Original cable/tomorrow)

On 24 August 2006 (06BEIRUT2735),  Saad Hariri, met senior staff member of the Committee on Foreign Relations in the U.S. Senate, Puneet Talwar, ... Through most of the meeting, Hariri  talked about regional affairs, especially in Syria. In his view, the Syrian and Iranian regimes are  major obstacles to peace in the region. He said that the U.S. government tried hard «to change the behavior of these regimes» but to no avail.... According to Hariri circumstances were  «propitious for the international community to weaken Bashar». Hariri believed that the U.S. Government «needed a new & clearer policy towards isolating Syria»,  and added that « if  you did not isolate & blockade Syria, they will not be changed... and by coercing Syria you eliminate the Iranian bridge to troublemaking in Lebanon & Palestine»..... " The Saudis and other Arabs, are fed up with young Bashar, and are no longer prone to use a conciliatory approach with the Syrian regime. After Bashar's last speech, in which he threatened civil war in Lebanon, they are no longer interested in talking to Damascus». Saad said that «he heard this directly from the Saudis, and Prince Bandar was actually conveying this message to Washington». 

Hariri was asked as to who can fill the vacuum in the event of regime change in Damascus, he replied by suggesting a «partnership between the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, and some of the old regime personalities such as Abdul Halim Khaddam and Hikmat Shihabi («although the latter is still close to the regime») to fill the void». Hariri went on to vouch that the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood movement in Syria «similar in its moderation to the Islamists in Turkey. who would could accept a Christian or a woman as president and that they support peace with Israel». Hariri said he maintains strong links with  Khaddam and the exiled Syrian Muslim Brotherhood's leader Ali al Bayanouni, pressing the Americans to talk «with Bayanouni & see for yourselves ... you will be pleasantly surprised»..."

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 10:22 PM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Does Abdul Halim Khaddam Have Anything to Do with What's Going on in Syria?

Does Abdul Halim Khaddam Have Anything to Do with What's Going on in Syria?

Is Saudi Arabia Showing George W. Bush How to Run the Regime-Change Table in the Middle East?

Saudi Arabia has engaged in some extremely public and forceful pushback against Middle East unrest in general and Iran in particular on the issue of Iran.

In some quarters, it’s being called the Saudi counter-revolution.

Is the pro-Iran/pro-Hezbollah Assad government in Syria the next Sunni domino?

Iran’s Press TV certainly thinks so.

In an op-ed entitled Saudi Arabia, Jordan Behind Syria Unrest, the authors write:

Saudi Arabia, which often bows to US and Israel's policies in the region, tried to destabilize Bashar al-Assad's government by undermining his rule.

To this end, Saudi Arabia paid 30 million dollars to former vice president Abdul Halim Khaddam to quit Assad's government.

Khaddam sought asylum in France in 2005 with the aid of Saudi Arabia and began to plot against the Syrian government with the exiled leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Relative of Saudi King Abdullah and former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri

Khaddam, who is a relative of Saudi King Abdullah and former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, used his great wealth to form a political group with the aim of toppling Bashar al-Assad.

The triangle of Khaddam-Abdullah-Hariri is well-known in the region as their wives are sisters.

Khaddam's entire family enjoys Saudi citizenship and the value investment by his sons, Jamal and Jihad, in Saudi Arabia is estimated at more than USD 3 billion.

Therefore, with the start of popular protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain, the Saudi regime saw an opportunity to drive a wedge between Tehran, Damascus and Beirut axis.

Due to the direct influence of the Saudi Wahhabis on Syria's Muslim Brotherhood, the people of the cities of Daraa and Homs, following Saudi incitement and using popular demands as an excuse began resorting to violence.

It is reported that the United States, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia formed joint operational headquarters in the Saudi Embassy in Belgium to direct the riots in southern Syria.

Abdul Halim Khaddam, who held the highest political, executive and information posts in the Syrian government for more than 30 years, is said to have been transferred from Paris to Belgium to direct the unrest.

The reason for this was that based on French law, political asylum seekers cannot work against their countries of origin in France and therefore Khaddam was transferred to Brussels to guide the riots.

Jordan equipped the Muslim Brotherhood

Jordan equipped the Muslim Brotherhood in the two cities with logistical facilities and personal weapons.

Although, Bashar al-Assad promised implementation of fundamental changes and reforms after the bloody riot in the country, the Brotherhood followed continued to incite protesters against him.

The Syrian state television recently broadcast footage of armed activity in the border city of Daraa by a guerilla group, which opened fire on the people and government forces.

It is said that the group, which is affiliated to Salafi movements, obtained its weapons from Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Because Syria's ruling party is from the Alevi tribes associated with the Shias, the Brotherhood, due to its anti-Shia ideas, has tried for three decades to topple the Alevi establishment of the country.

Hence, the recent riots in Syria are not just rooted in popular demands and harbor a tribal aspect and Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the US are directing the unrest for their future purposes.

Press TV aside, Abdul Halim Khaddam — who used to be Hafez al-Assad's right hand man/fixer before coming up short in the succession struggle — is insisting he’s just letting human nature and pent-up demands for freedom drive events in Syria without any help from him.

In this recent picture, Khaddam looks quite comfortable in his plush Parisian digs, purportedly purchased through the generosity of his brother-in-law, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and/or acquired as the result of his own billionaire-level business acumen.

So maybe he’s just kicking back and letting politics take its course inside Syria.

Of course, in his own words he’s “working around the clock to set an executable plan to achieve [his] targets”, but we’re led to believe that relates to the political struggle after popular unrest has kicked the props out from under the Assad regime.

He’s also willing to foment anti-Iranian and anti-Shi’a sentiment, something that would please his alleged patrons in Riyadh.

Photo: AP/Hussein Malla

In 2006, Khaddam had this exchange with an interviewer:

A pro-reform activist in Lebanon holds an Arabic placard reading 'Freedom is the freedom of the nation and the citizen', as she stands in front of the Syrian embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday April 12, 2011.

Q: What are you current priorities? Do you want to reform the regime, reform it, or topple it?

A: This regime cannot be reformed so there is nothing left but to oust it.

Q: But how will you oust it?

A: The Syrian people will topple the regime. There is a rapidly growing current in the country. Opposition is growing fast. I do not want to oust the regime by military coup. A coup is the most dangerous type of reform. I am working to create the right atmosphere for the Syrian people to topple the regime.

In another interview in 2006 — the year he optimistically expected the Assad regime to fall — Khaddam elaborated on the theme.

Gulf News: On January 14, you announced you would form a government-in-exile that would take over power when the government of President Bashar Al Assad collapsed, but nothing has happened since then. I have contacted opposition forces in London and Washington who welcomed your move but said they have not heard from you. What happened to the government-in-exile idea and are you going to cooperate with the existing opposition forces or form a government of your own supporters?

Abdul Halim Khaddam: I am working with different opposition forces which exist inside Syria and in exile. We are discussing the formation of a government-in-exile. Its main task will be to fill the power vacuum in the country and be in action after the collapse of the regime in Damascus.

I am discussing my proposal directly with the leaders of opposition factions or through mediators. We are looking to foster and strengthen cooperation among different opposition factions, including Muslim Brotherhood, which are banned by law in Syria since 1980. We will announce a programme for a democratic change in Syria that will include all the topics and the issues to be handled by the opposition in the next stage.

We are working round-the-clock to set an executable plan to achieve our targets and to benefit from the blunders committed by the regime in recent years. The regime has handcuffed itself through a chain of fatal mistakes which will help the opposition overthrow the totalitarian regime and launch a democratic era.

Khaddam also beat the anti-Iran and anti-Shi’a drum in 2007 — a worrisome combination for Assad, who as a member of a small Shi’a-esque minority sect, the Alawites, reigns over a Sunni majority — an interesting inversion of the situation in Bahrain where Sunni sheiks lord it over a disgruntled Shi'a majority):

Khaddam speculated that Assad's regime was being infiltrated by Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with Iranian intelligence agents having penetrated the Syrian political and security circles. He pointed to an agreement between Syrian and Iranian security organs, a mutual defence agreement signed in 2006 between Tehran and Damascus and a "broad co-ordination between the security organs in the two countries which covers Lebanon and Syria".

Khaddam accused the Iranian ambassador to Damascus of leading the Shi'itisation process in Syria, saying: "Shi'itisation is a political phenomenon carried out by the Iranian ambassador to Damascus with the objective of creating a political situation that is tied to Iran, and this activity is dangerous as it lays the ground for sectarian strife in Syria".

At the very least, Khaddam showed more message discipline that an organization called the Reform Party of Syria. The only conspicuous achievement of the group mentioned on its Wikipedia page was an endorsement of Nicolas Sarkozy for President (of France).

The RPS, although referred to by the World Tribune (itself the perhaps less than authoritative mouthpiece of the politically-wired Soka Gakkai cult in Japan) as "authoritative", appears to have jumped the shark with its recent backgrounder. It stated:

Iran has deployed its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria to bolster Syria's defense. The Washington-based opposition group said the IRGC contingent in Syria includes 10,000 troops, with headquarters in the northern province of Homs.

"In essence, the IRGC now occupies Syria and has become its de facto ruler," RPS spokesman Farid Ghadry said. "Syria has become the 32nd province of Iran."

Who is killing whom in Syria

Photo: SANA/Handout

Leaving levity aside, the references to Abdul Halim Khaddam caught my eye because of a sad, sober post by Josh Landis, one of America’s premier Syria-watchers, on his blog, Syria Comment:

The Syrian revolution struck home yesterday. My wife, Manar Qash`ur [Kachour], burst into tears last night as she read the Facebook page that has kept her updated on events in her hometown, Latakia. Lt. Colonel Yasir Qash`ur, who was Manar’s cousin and 40 years old, was shot in Banyas on Sunday. He was one of two Lt. Colonels and 10 military personnel killed – more were wounded. Yasir’s funeral was held in the village this morning – Monday. My brother-in-law, Firas, and father-in-law, Shaaban, both attended.

...My father-in-law said on the phone this morning that it seemed that supporters of ex-Vice President Khaddam, who was from Banyas, were behind the attack. It is said that they had set a trap for the military unit. All this is speculation, however. We know precious little about who is killing whom in Syria. Allegations are numerous. Real knowledge is scarce.

There is a widespread enthusiasm for acknowledging the popular character of the demonstrations against Assad.

Funeral of Staff Sgt volunteer Ali Ahmed Ali in the coastal town of Banias.

There is intense unease about exploring the role of armed provocateurs in trying to foment more extreme anti-government unrest.

Al-Jazeera to an almost ludicrous extent

Al Jazeera — which appears an enthusiastic cheerleader for the Syrian protests, even as it seems to show a willingness to hew to the Saudi line in downplaying reporting on the anti-Sunni crackdown in Bahrain — did run a video segment on Inside Story, Syria: Conspiracies and Condemnation.

Judging from the version on Youtube, it was originally called Conspiracy over Syria Protests; perhaps that title was considered to give excessive credence to the government’s claims.

To an almost ludicrous extent, the moderator, Nick Clark, tried to get his three panelists to comment on video footage aired on Syrian state TV that showed a white Honda riding down a street in some Syrian town with guys firing automatic weapons out the window.

The panelists admitted in passing that it was plausible that gunmen had joined the anti-government protests.

Nobody was willing to discuss the implications, preferring to treat the footage of gunmen — true or not — as simply an attempt by the government to misdirect attention away from the genuine protests, and to emphasize that the Syrian state media — and by implication, the government — had lost credibility.

That white car, with “a chap hanging out firing a machine gun”, as Clark put it ...zero traction.

The possibility that the gunmen were pro-government irregulars has subsequently been floated in the media courtesy of pro-demonstrator spokespeople.

Gunshots fired on crowd
Photo: YouTube video

Death of dozen soldiers in ambush

A similar vow of omerta seems to apply to the ambush of the Syrian Army patrol that killed Josh Landis's in-law.

One would think the death of nearly a dozen soldiers in an ambush would be considered a remarkable development, considering that the death of equivalent numbers of demonstrators is a world media event.

It’s also rather shocking that, in an acknowledged authoritarian state like Syria, somebody could come up with the wherewithal to mount a successful attack on a rather sizable military patrol.

But even in news for Banyas, the reports of an ambush are virtually a non-story, as the media concentrates on the crackdown instead.

On Josh Landis’ site, a pro-demonstrator commenter advanced the story that one member of the unit had killed the rest of the soldiers in a fit of patriotism, rather than fire on demonstrators.

If reports in Syrian media are truthful, this would have been a remarkable display of determination and marksmanship. In addition to nine dead, twenty three were wounded. Admittedly, Nidal Malik Hasan killed and wounded more at Fort Hood, but those victims were on base and unarmed; the Syrian soldiers were on patrol and presumably within reach of their weapons.

The pro-democracy slaughter line seems less likely than the story of one of the survivors:

Mazin Fittimi reported that he was sitting in the front part of the convey when armed men ambushed and rained them with bullets and grenades from nearby buildings and water sewage canals at 'Al-Qwz Bridage'.

In the Arab press, Khaddam asserted that his home town of Banyas had a long history of repression, persecution, discrimination and marginalization and “don’t need anyone to guide them”.

We’ll see.

Whether or not Khaddam is Saudi Arabia’s Chalabi for Syria doesn’t get a lot of airing in the regional press.

Whether or not he has assets in his home town that would mount an attack on a government convoy is apparently not a matter of widespread interest.

And that doesn’t even go into the matter of Rifaat Assad, Hafez Assad’s brother — and Bashar Assad’s uncle — who tried to take over in a coup and was exiled to France. Rifaat is also married to one of King Abdullah’s sisters.

So that means that the former Number 2 and Number 3 in the Syrian regime are both eager to see Bashar fall on his behind; and both are close to Saudi Arabia, which now appears to be, more than ever, willing to take positive action to sideline its enemies.

Photo: SANA/Handout

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad waving at supporters after addressing parliament in Damascus, April 1st 2011

Of course, the Assad regime, as the al Jazeera panel pointed out, has been counterproductively coy and vague about the conspirators it claims are dead-set on undermining the government.

Is the Syrian government just blowing smoke? Trying to build a persuasive case before they name names? Afraid to provoke an open breach with the Saudi and Jordanian governments by publicly accusing Khaddam and Rifaat Assad?

Is Syria trying to get the word out indirectly through the willing, eager, but less than respectable outlet of Iran and Press TV instead? [You mean compared to the less than respectable war-bugling US press and New York Times? Ehhhhmmmmn ChinaMatters.blogspot.com — Kewe TheWE.cc]

These questions might be worthy of some more media attention.