Story from Foreign Policy. (H/T Blazing Cat Fur)

Excerpt:

Mutaa is a form of “temporary marriage” only acceptable within Shiite communities, one that allows couples to have religiously sanctioned sex for a limited period of time, without any commitments, and without the obligatory involvement of religious figures. In conservative Muslim societies known for their strict sense of propriety, mutaa offers an escape clause. The contract is very simple. The woman says: “I marry myself to you for [a specific period of time] and for [a specified dowry]” and the man says: “I accept.” The period can range between one hour and a year, and is subject to renewal. A Muslim woman can only marry a Muslim man, but a Muslim man can temporarily marry a Muslim, Christian, or Jewish woman, as long as she is a divorcée or a widow. However, those interviewed for this article confirmed that Hezbollah-the “Party of God”-has allowed the practice to spread to virgins or girls who have never married before, as long as the permission of her guardian (father or paternal grandfather) is obtained.

Temporary marriage has long been practiced by Shiites around the world. However, it has recently become more commonplace in Lebanon, notably within Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut’s southern suburbs and in southern Lebanon after the 2006 war with Israel,

Hezbollah’s recent encouragement of this phenomenon highlights the compromises it had been required to make in order to remain the preeminent force among its domestic Shiite constituency.  As the party gained strength due to its effectiveness in fighting Israel, it was forced to cope with the reality that many Lebanese Shiites did not share the Iranian-inspired religious beliefs of Hezbollah’s leaders. They came to dominate a community that was shaped by the secular leftist trends of the 1970s and 1980s, and the cosmopolitan culture embodied by Beirut. Today, Lebanese Shiites are exposed to pop icons such as sexpot singer Haifa Wehbe, countless Western advertisements and programs, and technological innovations such as online dating. Allowing these Shia to balance their sexual desires with their support for the “Resistance” against the “Zionist entity” is a vital ingredient to Hezbollah’s staying power.

You may also have hear of other practices such as polygamy, wife beating, arranged marriages to children, or the raping of women sentenced to death by her jailors, just before she is executed.

You can click the links below to find out more about what I believe about love and marriage.

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BAGHDAD (Nov. 29) — Turning on their TVs during the long holiday weekend, Iraqis were greeted by a familiar if unexpected face from their brutal past: Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti.

The late Iraqi dictator is lauded on a mysterious satellite channel that began broadcasting on the Islamic calendar’s anniversary of his 2006 execution.

No one seems to know who is bankrolling the so-called Saddam Channel, although the Iraqi government suspects it’s Baathists whose political party Saddam once led. The Associated Press tracked down a man in Damascus, Syria named Mohammed Jarboua, who claimed to be its chairman.

The Saddam channel, he said, “didn’t receive a penny from the Baathists” and is for Iraqis and other Arabs who “long for his rule.”

Jarboua has clearly made considerable efforts to hide where it’s aired from and refuses to say who is funding it besides “people who love us.”

Iraqis surprised to find Saddam on their TVs responded with the kind of divided emotions that marked his reign.

“Iraqis don’t need such a satellite channel because it has hostile intentions,” said Hassan Subhi, a 28-year-old Shiite who owns an Internet cafe in eastern Baghdad.

Others said they felt a nostalgic sorrow at the sight of their late leader, a Sunni Arab.

“All my family felt sad,” said Samar Majid, a Sunni high school teacher in western Baghdad, mentioning images shown from Saddam’s execution, and pictures of his two sons and grandson.

The channel, which is broadcast across the Arab world, dredges up the sectarian divisions that Saddam inspired among Shiites and Sunnis at a time when Iraq is gearing up for crucial national elections. Iraqi politicians have been arguing over parliamentary seat distribution in a dispute that has inflamed the splits. The wrangling will likely delay the vote beyond its constitutionally required Jan. 30 deadline.

Saddam’s hanging three years ago was on the first day of Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday of the Islamic calendar. His execution — and the day it was done — remains a sore point for Saddam sympathizers still smarting over images of the defiant leader in his final moments as Shiites in the death chamber shouted curses.

The Saddam Channel debuted on Friday, the first day of this year’s Eid for Sunnis. The holiday started Saturday for Shiites. The station’s official name alternates between “Al-Lafeta” (“the banner”) and “Al-Arabi” (“the Arab”).

It is mostly a montage of flattering, still images of Saddam — some of him dressed in military uniform, others in a suit, even one astride a white horse. One image shows his sons Uday Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti and Qusay Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti smiling with their father, and another their bodies after they and Saddam’s grandson, Mustafa, were killed in a July 2003 gunfight with U.S. troops.

One prominently displayed image is that of a man burning an American flag. Another shows graves covered with Iraqi flags.

All the pictures are set against audio recordings of Saddam making speeches and reciting poetry. Patriotic songs urge listeners to “liberate our country.” None of the pictures appear to be recent, and no announcers or commentators appear or speak.

A media adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, brushed off the station and its message, and refused to comment on whether the government will seek to shut down the channel.

Al-Maliki adviser Yassin Majid said in an interview that he had not seen the channel but had heard of it. He called it “an attempt from the dissolved Baath Party to return to Iraq’s politics.” Since Saddam’s fall, Baathists have spread out around the region, mainly to Syria and Jordan but also to Gulf countries and Yemen.

Among the many mysteries surrounding the channel is where is being broadcast from.

In a telephone interview Sunday from Damascus, Jarboua said he is Algerian and that the Saddam Channel is based in Europe but refused to say where, citing safety concerns for its employees.

“There are threats that the Iraqi government will shut it down, kill its employees, that they will liquidate it,” Jarboua said.

He said he started al-Lafeta nine months ago in Lebanon, and has employees in Syria, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Ziad Khassawneh, a Jordanian Baathist who once headed Saddam’s defense team, said wealthy Iraqis living in Lebanon, Syria and other Arab countries are funding the channel. He declined to give names.

Saddam’s oldest daughter, Raghad Saddam Hussein, who lives in Jordan, has denied any connection to the channel.

One Jordan-based Iraqi Baathist said the station broadcasts from Libya and is run by followers of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam’s No. 2 and a top leader of the outlawed Baath party. Douri’s whereabouts is unknown.

Another former Baathist official said the Saddam Channel broadcasts out of Damascus. Both men spoke on condition of anonymity because they said they needed to protect the security of the channel’s employees.

A Mideast satellite expert said al-Lafeta’s operators tried to hide any clues to their identities and broadcast sites by using a variety of satellite services and frequencies. The channel airs via Noorsat, a Bahrain-based satellite service. It also has purchased a frequency on Egypt-owned NileSat, which is run by Eutelsat, a European consortium.

Some Iraqis shrugged off the broadcast as harmless.

“This channel doesn’t mean anything to people,” Muhammad Abdullah, 35, an Iraqi journalist, said in northern Baghdad. “It has no effect on the Iraqi people now.”

Saudi Arabia’s ongoing attempt to quash the Houthi rebellion on its border with North Western Yemen has been variously labelled as either a response to territorial infringements or placed in the narrative of a proxy war with Iran. However, both reasons fail to recognise the government’s domestic fears over the marginalisation of its Shi’ite population as the motivation behind their offensive.

Preserving territorial sovereignty is hardly a unique policy, there are few who would criticise the Kingdom’s decision to do so. Indeed, reinforcing the integrity of your borders is particularly pertinent when an ailing Al Qaeda have turned to Bin Laden’s ancestral home as their hosts.

The argument that Saudi’s response is an attempt to counter Iranian meddling remains unclear. While Yemen has accused Iran of arming the Houthis, no evidence has been supplied to support this claim aside from the unverified allegation a captured munitions vessel. In reality the Houthis would have little problem procuring weapons domestically.

Iran has denied this claim and launched a thinly veiled attack on Saudi involvement; Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki stated there were “certain people who add fuel to some crises.” Going on to add: “those people should be assured that the smoke and the fire they have ignited will entangle them themselves.”

However, Tehran appears increasingly interested in the Houthis’ plight. Take Monday’s comment by Ali Larijani (speaker of Iran’s Parliament): “the deplorable events in the Islamic nation of Yemen which have intensified over the past two weeks and the Saudi interference in Yemen through repeated bombings by warplanes is astonishing.” Further, the Iranian parliament have blocked a bill on tax cooperation with Sana’a in opposition to the treatment of the Houthis

It is not unfeasible that Saudi would pursue proxy conflicts to balance against Iran. The Kingdom’s regional influence has diminished following 9/11. Indeed, it is one of the contradictions of the Bush administration’s Middle East policy that while Iran was blacklisted and marginalised, Washington inadvertently improved Iran’s standing at the expense of its regional allies.

In Afghanistan, the Taleban had a perennially poor relationship with the Iranian government. The former held nothing but contempt for the latter’s Shi’ite inspired governmental structure; tensions probably reached their peak in August 1998 when the Taleban killed eleven Iranian diplomats. Animosity between the two was so strong that Iran even offered America intelligence support in Afghanistan.

Similarly, the Islamic Republic never shared positive ties with Ba’thist Iraq. The antagonism initiated under the Pahlavi dynasty and Hussein’s anti-Iranian narratives was exacerbated by the expansionary tendencies of the revolutionary state, which culminated in a destructive eight year war – the longest of the 21st century.

Iran no longer suffers these tensions. The Ba’thist regime is gone and the Taleban are otherwise engaged. Iran now exerts greater influence in both countries and much to the chagrin of the Saudi’s, particularly in neighbouring Iraq.

The Saudis have responded by investing resources into countering Iranian influence in these countries, but they have most recently done so in Lebanon. Hassan Nasrallah’s speech on Martyrs’ Day, Tuesday 10th November, alluded to King Abdullah’s role in establishing the Lebanese unity government.

“We take positively the Syrian-Saudi summit, and we were the first to reap its fruits. We call for a Saudi-Iranian rapprochement to establish communication between the two countries.” This call for rapprochement seems unlikely given recent posturing over Yemen.

Claims of Iranian meddling are somewhat overstated and occasionally fabricated; however Khomeini’s fingerprint is detectable in many regional disputes. This may not always be overt Iranian support but rather through the imagery of the Iranian revolution and Khomeini himself serving as a role model for the oppressed. While not attempting to perpetuate the idea of a sectarian binary or ‘Shi’ite Crescent’, this imagery can be particularly powerful for Shi’ite groups in the region.

However, as Robert Worth highlights in the New York Times, the suggestion that a link between the Houthi and Iran is due to simple sectarian proclivities remains problematic. “The notion that the Houthis are natural religious allies of Iran is misplaced; Zaydism is doctrinally closer to Sunnism than to mainstream Shiism. But a raft of misleading news reports seem to be blurring that distinction.”

Iran does not appear overtly involved at the time of writing. “There is probably next to no Iranian involvement. I have seen no evidence for it and it’s really a bit too far afield,” stated Joost Hiltermann, the deputy Middle East program director of the International Crisis Group. He added: “The Iranians are just brilliant” he adds. “They play no role whatsoever, but they get all the credit, and so they are capitalizing on it.”

If true then what motivates the Saudi offensive? The unspoken reasons are the Kingdom’s insecurities about the marginalisation and oppression of its Shi’te population, who primarily based in the oil-rich Eastern province, and movements by second generation princes to assert their suitability for succession.

The on-going competition between second generation princes is part of a broader worry over succession in the Saudi ruling elite. Khalid bin Sultan is particularly eager to establish his reputation as a strong leader to aid his push for the post of Minister of Defence, which is currently held by his struggling father, who has been recovering from illness in Morocco for over a year.

The marginalisation of the Shi’ites is well documented in September’s Human Rights Watch report. The title of which makes the situation clear: ‘Denied Dignity: Systematic Discrimination and Hostility toward Saudi Shia Citizens.’ The report details the regular repressive measures employed by Saudi authorities: preventing religious gatherings through the closure of private prayer halls; incarcerating clerics; and routine bias in the education and judicial system.

It is the fear of the Houthis fermenting and mobilising the resentment latent in the Saudi Shi’ite population that drives the Kingdom to fortify and militarise the Yemeni border. Keen to prevent any interaction between the two communities, Prince Khaled bin Sultan the Saudi assistant defence minister, has stated that the offensive will stop once the Houthis had retreated dozen of kilometres from the border. The continued bombing this week indicates the Saudis are far from feeling secure.

A House Divided: America’s Inside Battle

 

There is one reason that should keep you, my fellow American, from sleeping at night:  Our once great Nation, The United States of America, is on longer the industrial, military, or financial leader on the world stage. No, although we might be the only country capable of claiming “Super Power”  is no longer an industrial leader, a military leader, or a financial leader on the world stage. We might be the only Superpower left on the planet…but if  this is true, why do we feel so unsettled and exposed?

America is a House Divided. Although I don’t agree with certain things “Pat Buchanan,” he has his moments; in my opinion, he nailed it when he wrote:

While America was consumed this summer with quarrels over town-hall radicals, “death panels”, the “public option” and racism’s role in the plunging polls of Barack, what happens to health care is not going to change the history of the world.

What happens in Afghanistan might. [Emphasis-Mine]

Gen. Stanley McChrystal has done his duty. He has bluntly told his commander in chief what he must have in added combat troops and warned that if he does not get them, America faces “mission failure.”

Was the commander in chief listening? Probably not, but who knows? The only time that he seems to pay attention is when there’s a sound byte or photo op attached. Maybe he did listen. My respect for him went out the window the first time that I saw him not salute the flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance. He is the final military authority in the Nation, and maybe the world, and he won’t pay homage to the Nation that allowed his family to enter the country, set up their lives, and take a shot at the American dream? He fucking fulfilled it, but he won’t respect it?  Of course, when 18 US Soldiers killed in Afghanistan were returned to US soil two weeks ago, Obama made a surprise trip to pay his respects. At first I was impressed, which is rare when it comes to Barack Obama; then, I realized it was all PR as we were one week away from Veteran’s Day.

Mohammad, Mastermind of 9/11

Yes, our house is in chaos; yet, we spend our precious resources  on Olympic bids, Harvard professors, and ensuring we’re in the history books, while the nation suffers. Meanwhile, our soldiers fight a war against radical Islamists on two separate fronts. To Obama’s credit, he did salute the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where it’s written: HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame Obama for everything, just the things in his control. His approval rating just dropped below 50%, and despite the obvious photo shoot set-ups, his PR machine is faltering. Government transparency, his gospel political promise, has been pretty much forgotten, although that may be a result of his internet accounts being hacked twice since he’s been in office.

No Pledge President

I do blame senor Obama for the Khaleed Sheik Mohammad (KSM) debacle. What kind of President decides to put KSM, a terrorist mastermind, and other 9/11 terrorists on trial in the Federal Court system? How does Eric Holder, the Attorney General, guarantee a guilty verdict and the death penalty? It’s almost like this man has never practiced law in his life, because he just offered up grounds for a mistrial, a trial that’s  going to be a mockery, or the fact that this is all part of the Obama show. It’s too bad that GW didn’t kill those bastards when he had the chance. Watching Eric Holder get grilled in front of the Senate was my favorite moment of this year. Obviously coached on what to do, what to say, and how to answer questions, Holder was crushed under the obvious stupidity of his actions. The OJ Simpson trial went off the rails; what makes Holder think that he can guarantee anything, let alone a verdict at what is supposed to be a fair trial.
At least, under Bush, I never worried that he wouldn’t take the moral high-ground, all public opinion aside, he would take the correct action. (We, all of us, loved Bush and Giuliani following 9/11…Left-wing Senators and Reps. voted to attack both Iraq and Afghanistan in case you don’t remember…If you;re bitching that I’m referring to an execution  as morally correct, you might as well stop reading here…you aren’t prepared for truth). Yes, killing those that killed thousands, to most of America, is usually considered a just punishment. Although most of America doesn’t read, or even  understand the Bible, capital punishment is approved.

The signs are all there that the nation is coming unglued. Although the murder rate changes year-to-year, one thing is certain; murders are more brutal than ever, and are often committed without serious thought to motive. People are murdered for looking at someone funny. An Islamic Psychiatrist, MajorNidal Malik Hasan decides to conduct his own cleansing by killing 14 fellow soldiers at Fort Hood. Although shot several times and paralyzed, he lives, ostensibly, to be put to death. At least Military Justice is swift and sure. Yet, our highly trained intelligence services, and the Army, weren’t able to put things together until after the murders. Like the problems encountered prior to 9/11, none of our clandestine groups collaborated; the CIA has some information, the Army had some information, and the FBI had some information. Yet, due to pride or stupidity, they don’t speak…leaving the door open for hijacked airplanes and

Zawahiri Recent Photo

Meanwhile, Pakistan has nuclear weapons. Bet you didn’t know that…but they do. And, in Peshawar, Pakistan over the last week the government’s decreed attacks on the Taliban strongholds. Although the government’s decision was supported by the populace, it’s the people who are paying the price. The Pakistani government is now in a tenuous situation as non-combatants have become the prime targets for suicide bombers. Since these, non-Koran supported and spineless attacks began:

More than 240 people have been killed and 665 injured in the wave of attacks on Peshawar, which have included a car bombing at the provincial headquarters of the ISI intelligence agency and an attack on a popular market which killed more than 100 people last month.

The city has borne the brunt of a Taliban onslaught in retaliation for the Pakistani army’s offensive in South Waziristan, where jihadi leaders have created a safe haven for al-Qaeda militants.

All have been killed in the name of  Allah. As with the aholes in the US that commit murder-suicide, it’s simply a disillusioned coward’s way out of claiming responsibility. Funny, but none of the higher-ranking Talibs seem to be that eager to meet Allah…it’s always those that are disenfranchised and disillusioned. I guess the Talib leaders don’t want paradise.

Zawahiri the Idealist

Prior to the late 1980s, there were no really no suicide bombers. For Sunnis, it was against the will of Allah. For some, “Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, has called martyrdom operations:

“the greatest of all sorts of Jihad in the Cause of Allah. A martyr operation is carried out by a person who sacrifices himself, deeming his life less value than striving in the Cause of Allah, in the cause of restoring the land and preserving the dignity. “

Yet, even in most Islamic sects, suicide is morally reprehensible and separates the Muslim from God. Radical Islamists, dealing with either fanatics or impoverished converts, have taken the Koran and corrupted it for their own purposes. Unbelievably, it was the justification of one man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, founder of al-Jihad, that pulled it off. An extremely bright surgeon trained in Cairo , Zawahiri, also known as The Teacher is the unseen force behind Jihad.

“In 1998 al-Zawahiri formally merged Egyptian Islamic Jihad into al-Qaeda. According to reports by a former al-Qaeda member, he has worked in the al-Qaeda organization since its inception and was a senior member of the group’s shura council. He is often described as a “lieutenant” to Osama bin Laden, though bin Laden’s chosen biographer has referred to him as the “real brains” of al-Qaeda. Zawahiri provided radical Muslims the ultimate jihadist’s goal: Dying for Allah. Suicide and murder, especially of innocents, are forbidden in the Koran; yet under Zawahiri’s corrupt preaching anything that goes against Muslim, or Jihad, automatically is less than Islam and Allah. Thus, voting is seen as being against Islam, and therefore Democratic nations are automatic enemies. Zawahiri, the founder of Al Jihad and Bin Laden’s founder of Al Qaeda don’t really have much in common, personally or politically.

Desperate fanatics are drawn to one another, and in this case, each man had something the other wanted: Bin Laden stole his entire “belief system” and Zawahiri basically needed the money, which, at the time their paths crossed, Bin Laden possessed. Al Jihad became a part of Al Qaeda three years prior to 9/11. The terrorist organization now had a brain with a purpose. Soon, America would feel the effects of fanatic martyrs and launch two wars that would last from 2001 to present day.

Obama runs for cover: uses Iran and Al-Qaeda for self-defense
IN RESPONSE TO PUBLIC UPROAR AGAINST OBAMA’S MISHANDLING OF FT. HOOD MASSACRE

Article: The Post & Email

Today is Obama’s unlucky day, and the overwhelming wave of public outcry at his mishandling of the Ft. Hood Massacre has led him to run for cover, using Iranian and al-Qaeda agents for self-defense.

YahooNews, a we’ll-print-anything-to-run-cover-for-obama news outlet, is pushing 2 reports this morning to this effect.

In the first report, “AP Source: Gitmo 9/11 suspects to NY for trial”, Devlin Barrett of the AP informs the world that Obama will move several Al-Qaida terrorists to New York City, and put them on trial in a civilian court. This information was leaked to the AP, by someone in Eric Holder’s department. Barrett says that Holder will make an announcement this morning.

Uh, does ANYONE in the BHussein Obama Administration remember what happened the LAST TIME those Al-Qaeda terrorists were New York City? Anyone? It wasn’t fucking pretty.

In the second report featured by YahooNews, “Obama orders review of possible Fort Hood signs” two AP reporters, indicate that Obama has ordered an investigation of why warning signs of Hasan’s proclivities were ignored.

Then to avert anger over this Sunni Muslim who committed the massacre for purely religious motives, Obama has given the Justice Department the go-ahead to seize 5 Shiite Mosques and a NYC Skyscraper tied to Iranian intelligence and terrorism-promotion activities in the U.S.A.. The Jerusalem Post reprints the AP report on this move.

Seeing that Obama worshiped in a Sunni Mosque as a boy, and seeing that his whole family is Sunni, according to his sister Maya, this attempted seizure will only inflame the Islamic world with internecine strife.

Though other news outlets, such as CBS, are reporting these events, the Associated Press, after the gaff last month of being associated with a report which named Obama as Kenyan-Born, has evidently considered it their duty to be extra-devout in running cover for Obama on the Islamic issue.

What’s really being defend here, though, is not National Security, but rather Obama’s rapidly declining poll numbers.

To belittle the horrific nature of the Ft. Hood Massacre, to deny its association with the authentic nature of Islam, and to play games with issues of National Security to defend your political image, all indicate that Obama, having usurped the Presidency for his own power and glory, uses his pretense of authority for his own power and glory.

Glory? This man has no glory. He has no power. He certainly has no power over me.

Obama runs for cover: uses Iran and Al-Qaeda for self-defense
IN RESPONSE TO PUBLIC UPROAR AGAINST OBAMA’S MISHANDLING OF FT. HOOD MASSACRE

Article: The Post & Email

Today is Obama’s unlucky day, and the overwhelming wave of public outcry at his mishandling of the Ft. Hood Massacre has led him to run for cover, using Iranian and al-Qaeda agents for self-defense.

YahooNews, a we’ll-print-anything-to-run-cover-for-obama news outlet, is pushing 2 reports this morning to this effect.

In the first report, “AP Source: Gitmo 9/11 suspects to NY for trial”, Devlin Barrett of the AP informs the world that Obama will move several Al-Qaida terrorists to New York City, and put them on trial in a civilian court. This information was leaked to the AP, by someone in Eric Holder’s department. Barrett says that Holder will make an announcement this morning.

Uh, does ANYONE in the BHussein Obama Administration remember what happened the LAST TIME those Al-Qaeda terrorists were New York City? Anyone? It wasn’t fucking pretty.

In the second report featured by YahooNews, “Obama orders review of possible Fort Hood signs” two AP reporters, indicate that Obama has ordered an investigation of why warning signs of Hasan’s proclivities were ignored.

Then to avert anger over this Sunni Muslim who committed the massacre for purely religious motives, Obama has given the Justice Department the go-ahead to seize 5 Shiite Mosques and a NYC Skyscraper tied to Iranian intelligence and terrorism-promotion activities in the U.S.A.. The Jerusalem Post reprints the AP report on this move.

Seeing that Obama worshiped in a Sunni Mosque as a boy, and seeing that his whole family is Sunni, according to his sister Maya, this attempted seizure will only inflame the Islamic world with internecine strife.

Though other news outlets, such as CBS, are reporting these events, the Associated Press, after the gaff last month of being associated with a report which named Obama as Kenyan-Born, has evidently considered it their duty to be extra-devout in running cover for Obama on the Islamic issue.

What’s really being defend here, though, is not National Security, but rather Obama’s rapidly declining poll numbers.

To belittle the horrific nature of the Ft. Hood Massacre, to deny its association with the authentic nature of Islam, and to play games with issues of National Security to defend your political image, all indicate that Obama, having usurped the Presidency for his own power and glory, uses his pretense of authority for his own power and glory.

Glory? This man has no glory. He has no power. He certainly has no power over me.

Dear Syria,

I am your President Bashar al-Assad. I was popularly elected at the age of 34, under the auspices of the Baath Party and my father, your previous President.

I am part of the Aluwite miniority clan, but, as unwilling as the Sunni Muslim majority was, I had a 97.2% support rate in the 2001 referendum. We exhibited that we were popularly selected, unlike other states like Bahrain or Jordan which have hereditary transfers of power. We were uncontested in this respect, and, having commanded the respect of all our people, I moved immediately for political reform.

When I was first elected, I took rapid action for a “New Deal” on rights. Over 600 political prisoners were released, most of them Islamists, and removed martial court and political prisons. I didn’t do those anymore. I gave the press some liberties, with sweeping conditions that they adopted our pan-Arabic stance. I believe the press necessarily enlighten the people of what their state is, and how their state responds to issues. The other parties have shown support for us by voluntarily curbing their newspapers.

I believe that we must join in solidarity in our unified fight against the Western forces of Satan. It is a national duty – Israel and the US constantly want to subert and destroy all that we hold dear, and we must prohibit them from doing so. It is in our interest, and indeed, in my interest too, therefore, to ensure that no Western concepts take root. I have banned democracy and its need for accountability and reform, as well as the civil society and its net of rights. These are solely Western concepts, and we cannot condone them if we are to protect our 4000-year-old superior heritage.

Some dissidents, agents of the West, have asked: why Lebanon? I have been trying to explain to us all, in the mist of martial law, that we had to assume responsibility of Lebanon as a natural political step, not because it generated profit for us by providing employment, but because our good ally, Iran, provides us with state cash in return for temporarily loaning space for Hezbollah operations. This organisation is crucial in our fight against the West, which we are winning. Iran’s nucleic rise means they can soon manufacture peaceful weapons, to make battle against the scarce US stockpiles and useless satellites.

We are of Arabian and Muslim ancestry, and we must continue to make the right foreign policy decisions for the right domestic reasons. We reject all US allies – Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Turkey – a conspiracy which we shall never forgive or forget. It is in our interest to maintain our cultural superiority. We will continue the good fight.

Once, in one of their many failed bids to conquer the entire Middle East, Israel was in desperation to succumb Golam Heights to us. They had mismanaged the region so badly, we knew at that point, they had given up in their quest. How could the cowards ever succeed in dominating the entire world with heretic ideology, if they had not even managed to administer, let alone govern, Golam Heights. It was then that I poured grace and mercy on the Israelis – to relieve them of their burden of governing not just Golam Heights, but also help them manage 20 km into their territory. It was a sincere action on my part to relieve the oppressed – by proposing this, Syria was in fact alleviating Israel’s chronic political situations.

And what did their Sharon do? That reincarnation of the devil, that messenger of Hell, so blatantly rejected our offers. They disagreed so vehemently when all we were doing was showing compassion, giving the weak excuse that they would have no water supply. Which man -  let alone an entire state – in the right mind, would throw us that stupid reasoning? They were stalling the negotiations, even betraying their America. Who can trust them?

It is this government’s considered policy to ensure that we keep our Arabian tradition which saw us through the past millennium and made us the cultural hub of the world. I urge you, in view of keeping the peace, to support us. We are the government who will protect us against the Western hegemony and their continued pursuit to conquer the entire Middle East. It will only be a matter of time before we remove them altogether – with Israel wiped off – then the Arab nations will rejoice in the name of our fatherland and our god.

Unity by Islam. Strength by faith. Syria by Baath.

Always and forever -

Your President,

Bashar

(I wrote this a very, very long time ago – that means December last year. Renyan will take care to correct any factual errors, should they appear, because he knows about this. This was written all in one sitting – I had researched quite a bit into him after reading some BBC articles. Unless you’ve been living under a rock in a cave on a mountain under the sea floor, you should have heard of this guy.)

I’m watching the neocons and other Liberals on a pundit shouting show talk about how important Pakistan’s national security is to the US. This is like saying that the good-feeling properties of smoking tobacco are vital to the health of someone suffering from emphysema.

Pakistan’s government, and especially its military, is a mortal enemy of the US. They are one of the top state sponsors of terrorism, behind only Saudi Arabia. They put the Taliban in charge in Afghanistan, years ago. They overthrew their own democratically elected government. They ARE “Islamic extremists”.

And yet, all along, the idiots running US foreign policy have done nothing but facilitate this evil. We have sent them millions of dollars per year, becoming billions of dollars per year after the 9-11 attacks which, apparently, the Taliban government installed by Pakistan helped accomplish.

It was not terribly surprising for the Bush administration to continue the neocon policy of supporting our enemies in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, rewarding them for funding and teaching the terrorists who attack us…but it’s disappointing to see that the Obama administration is doing the same.

Tarpley: Alqaeda is the ‘CIA Arab Legion’

As expected the government of Iran is blaming the US and Great Britain for the attack in Iran that left five members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard dead. According to a member of the Revolutionary Guard Iran has evidence that shows how the US, Great Britain, and Pakistan are to blame for the violence.

For those who do not know, five members of the Revolutionary Guard were killed it two attacks that reportedly left 42 dead and 28 injured. A group that calls itself the “Children of God” took responsibility for the attacks. The “Children of God” consists of Sunni Muslims which are an extreme minority in the Shiite-dominated Iran.

It is unfortunate that so many innocent people were killed in those cowardly attacks. But Iran’s decision to turn the terrible bloodshed into a political drama with the US and Great Britain is just wrong. If Iran has any credible evidence to support its seemingly baseless claims it should show what it has immediately. Otherwise, it will demonstrate what we all already know. Iran is more interested in trying to score cheap political points with its fractured citizenry than it is in solving the problems of terrorism.

US-Backed Terrorist Group Kills Iran Military Officers
Bankrolling and arming Al-Qaeda offshoot part of 2007 White House directive to destabilize Iranian government

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
October 19, 2009

The U.S. government effectively attacked Iran yesterday after its proxy terror group Jundullah launched a suicide bomb attack against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard at their headquarters in Pishin, near the border with Pakistan.

The timing of the bombing that targeted Iranian Revolutionary Guard members yesterday was clearly orchestrated to coincide with talks between representatives from Iran, Russia, France, the U.S. and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna today concerning Iran’s nuclear intentions.