A Peek into Others' mind » September 26, 2008

« Expand/Collapse

(73 unread)

September 27, 2008
7:24
Tommy Emmanuel, Percussionist
» ‎ Little Green Footballs

[Video]
6:49
Whittle: The Economy is Passing a Kidney Stone
» ‎ Little Green Footballs

A new Bill Whittle piece in the National Review: Pain.

6:32
CBS poll of undecided ...
» ‎ War and Piece

CBS poll of undecided voters....

5:42
Presidential Debate Thread 4, the Wrap-Up
» ‎ Little Green Footballs

A thread for post-debate analysis and miscellaneous verbiage...
4:38
Presidential Debate Thread 3, with Live Video
» ‎ Little Green Footballs

Here’s another debate jam thread; we’re slowing down a bit under the traffic but all the indicators are still in the green.

[Video now disabled...]

3:59
CBS News Erases Moderate Quotes from Palin Transcript
» ‎ IRIS Blog

Please click the Digg button at the bottom of this post to expose the truth about this.

Governor Sarah Palin has given two mainstream media interviews. In both, she made multiple statements about the importance of multilateralism in foreign policy. In both, these comments were deleted by the news organizations.

After both interviews, a furor has broken out afterwards because of her hawkishness.

At two points in the video (2:58 and 5:39), segments have been removed from the official transcript.

Here are the missing pieces of the transcript:

(2:58) Couric: What, specifically, in your view, could be done to convince the new government in Pakistan to take a harder, tougher line against terrorists in that country?

Palin: At a time when new leadership comes in, that is the opportunity to forge better, tighter, more productive relationships and thats what well take advantage of with new leadership in the US and in Pakistan. And Im sure that President Zardari, too, will agree with us as we commit to the support that Pakistan needs, that other nations in the region need, in order to win this war on terrorism. (3:32)

(5:39) Couric: But what lessons do you think you have learned as youve watched this unfold in terms of implementing the democracy and the challenges inherent in that goal?

Palin: Well, one is that America cannot be counted on to do this solely, to be the savior of every other nation, but we need friends and we need allies and we need this nation-building effort and we need to forge new alliances, and that is what a new election will provide opportunity to do.

Couric: What happened if the goal of democracy, Governor Palin, doesnt produce the desired outcome, for example in Gaza, the US pushed hard for elections and Hamas won.

Palin: Especially in that region, though, we have got to protect those and support those who do seek democracy and do seek protections for the people who live there. And you know, were seeing today, in the last couple of days here in New York, a speaker, a President of Iran, Ahmadinejad, who would come on our soil and express such disdain for one of our closest allies and friendsIsraeland were hearing the evil that he speaks. And if hearing him doesnt allow Americans to commit more solidly to protecting the friends and allies that we need, expecially there in the Mideast, then nothing will.

If Americans are not waking up to understand what it is that he represents, then nothing is going to wake us up and we will be lulled into some kind of false sense of security that perhaps Americans were a part of before 9/11.(7:25)

What do each of these three Palin answers have in common? They portray her as a foreign policy moderate who seeks multilateral coalitions with allies and who advocates for human rights, caring about better lives for Middle Easterners.

Interestingly, ABC News also edited out the same kind of moderate, multilateralist comment in order to more effectively promote the misinformation that Palin was advocating a new, warmongering approach to Russia.

Katie Couric clearly hasn't learned much from the previous CBS News scandal, Rathergate.

Technical note: There may have been further editing of each of the two interviews. In both instances, we only know about the modifications because of sloppy editing. In one, the transcript is the smoking gun for the discrepancies; in the other it is the video.

Here's an analytics perspective on the deletions:

In the Gibson (ABC News) interview:

7 instances were deleted of "allies"
5 instances were deleted of "countries"
5 instances were deleted of "democracies"

In the Couric (CBS News) interview:

4 instances were deleted of "allies"
3 instances were deleted of "democracies"
3 instances were deleted of "friends"
3 instances were deleted of "nations"

(A few word variants were included.)

Please click the Digg button below to expose the truth about this.

3:56
Presidential Debate Thread 2, with Live Video
» ‎ Little Green Footballs

Here’s another thread as the debate is about to start. This time I’ve also included the C-SPAN live feed, which will apparently be showing audience reactions.

[Video moved to newer thread...]
2:59
Presidential Debate Thread 1
» ‎ Little Green Footballs

Through the magic of the innernut, here’s a live video feed from Memphis TV station WMC-TV. The pre-debate show starts at 5 pm Pacific, followed by the main event at 6 pm Pacific.

Notice that this video feed includes a chat room, but it’s not limited to LGF readers.

[Video moved to newer thread...]

2:22
Action against Moroccan preacher
» ‎ BBC News | Middle East | World Edition

Morocco shuts down an association belonging to a religious leader who said girls as young as nine years old could marry.
0:55
European hostages 'not in Libya'
» ‎ BBC News | Middle East | World Edition

A Libyan foreign ministry official says a group of European tourists kidnapped in Egypt have not crossed into Libyan territory.

0:31
Muravchik: McCain Will Bomb Iran
» ‎ LobeLog.com

I attended a debate between Harvard Prof. Steven Walt and veteran neo-conservative and American Enterprise Institute (AEI) fellow Joshua Muravchik at the Nixon Center Thursday evening. Most notable for the unfortunately abbreviated time I was there was Muravchik’s certainty that “if McCain is president, there will be an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.” The way he said this also conveyed that it could well be item number one on McCain’s agenda.

He also asserted that “McCain is by history more of a neo-con than Bush” (no quarrel there) and noted that his service as chair of the International Republican Institute (IRI), a creation and beneficiary of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), helped steer him in that direction. “I would expect from McCain policies (that) I would like,” he said just before his observation about McCain’s intentions vis-a-vis Iran.

I would have to take Muravchik’s prediction seriously given his long-time perch at AEI, McCain’s favorite foreign-policy think tank, and his long association with some of McCain’s closest advisers, including Robert Kagan with whom he has worked since their Central America days. (Incidentally, Kagan, as well as Abrams, may be vying for the National Security Advisor post in any McCain administration.) Of course, bombing Iran has been a devout and explicit wish on Muravchik’s part for nearly two years if not more, so this may be an example of wishful thinking, but I can’t help but believe his associations give him some real insight on this question. Kagan, however, has supported unconditional talks with Iran if for no other reason than to strengthen the case for eventual military action.

0:27
Debate Live Streaming on C-SPAN
» ‎ Little Green Footballs

The presidential debate will be streamed live tonight at 9 pm Eastern on C-SPAN. Anyone know of an embeddable live stream?

0:10
Times (UK): Russia to build missile defence ...
» ‎ War and Piece

Times (UK): Russia to build missile defence shield and renew nuclear deterrence. NYT: Russia to provide Venezuela $1 billion military loan for arms purchases....

September 26, 2008
23:45
Identifying the Next National Security Threats
» ‎ Counterterrorism Blog

In January 2009, the next administration will enter office facing a wide range of serious national security threats. At the top of this list will undoubtedly be Iran’s budding nuclear program, the terrorist threat posed by al Qaeda and its affiliates, and the unstable situation in Pakistan.

While it’s hard to argue that these should be the top priorities, as the last eight years have made clear, in today’s world, the threats to the US can evolve rapidly. New threats can emerge quickly and top-tier threats can fade.

The next administration’s success in the national security arena will certainly be judged in part by its ability to tackle the most obvious threats confronting the US. Equally important, however, will be its ability to accurately identify and appropriately respond to those threats that are emerging as well as those which are in decline. This is not an easy task, particularly for a large, plodding bureaucracy such as the US government, which is often slow to adapt.

The possibilities of what the next serious threat could be are almost endless. Will the threat of a crippling cyber-attack grow, as some experts are predicting? Will a new rogue regime or terrorist group appear on the scene which has the capability to inflict major damage to the US? Will terrorist groups move closer to acquiring WMD capabilities? Could climate change have far reaching national security consequences in the years ahead? And on the flip side, could, as some senior US government officials are predicting, al Qaeda be defeated within a matter of years?

The primary responsibility for getting this right will likely fall to the US intelligence community, as the US national intelligence strategy of 2005 makes clear. One of the five key pillars of the strategy is “anticipating developments of strategic concern,” in part through the newly created strategic analytic unit in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The strategy also states that to succeed in this effort, the IC must have expertise on “every region, every transnational security issue and every threat to the American people.”

For the intelligence community, anticipating the emerging threats - while challenging -- may be easier than mobilizing to address them. The primary responsibility for driving and focusing the sprawling IC against new threats and away from declining threats will fall to the Director of National Intelligence. This will not be an easy task.

If the DNI, for example, becomes convinced that an entirely new threat looms large on the horizon, will he or she be able to order the 16 agencies of the IC, including the Department of Defense agencies, to make the necessary changes in focus and prioritization? And if the DNI determines that an intelligence community agency has essentially ignored his instructions, will he or she take aggressive action to bring the agency into line?

While the DNI possesses far more powers over the IC agencies than his predecessor in that position, the Director of Central Intelligence, the authorities are still limited in scope. This is particularly the case because most of the intelligence offices, such as State, Treasury, and Department of Homeland Security, are located within Cabinet agencies and their primary reporting lines are to a Cabinet secretary, not to the DNI (though a new executive order does give the DNI some additional power over all intelligence agency heads).

Furthermore, mobilizing the IC may be the easy part in comparison to persuading policymakers to dramatically shift course. The resistance that the IC would likely encounter from policymakers would not be without reason. Intelligence is hardly a science, and is often vague, contradictory, difficult to interpret, and sometimes wrong. Making significant policy changes based on this type of incomplete intelligence picture is risky. Devoting resources and time to a threat which turns out to be overstated will divert focus away from the many serious threats facing the US. But not doing so can present even greater risks, as the September 11 story made clear.

So how can the next administration try to get this difficult balance right and make sure that it’s prioritizing the most serious threats, whether existing or emerging? There are a few keys to success. First, the IC must make sure it’s well positioned to identify new threats. As the intelligence strategy outlines, this requires having broad expertise across the board, including personnel with the necessary language abilities and cultural understanding. Beyond the difficulties in finding and obtaining security clearances for people with these unique backgrounds, the IC’s task will likely be made even harder by policymakers pushing the IC to devote additional resources to their respective priorities. Pushing back against this pressure will often be difficult, but necessary.

Second, it is critical for the IC to explain to the policymakers in great detail what they know and what they don’t know - not just on the National Intelligence Estimates, but when presenting any intelligence picture to policymakers. It can sometimes be difficult for the IC to admit its gaps, but this is key for decision-makers to know and understand as they engage in their policy deliberations.

Third, the next administration should resist the urge to centralize intelligence analysis further. While some of the intelligence analysis taking place at the various IC agencies may appear to be redundant or overlapping, it is important for policymakers to hear divergent views and perspectives. The “Groupthink” phenonemenon is much less likely to occur with this set-up in place.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, the IC must maintain its independence from policymakers. This will undoubtedly be difficult, particularly since the DNI reports to the President and is his chief intelligence advisor. It is a tough balancing act for the IC leadership, trying to satisfy policymakers’ demands and needs for intelligence support while at the same time providing them with an unvarnished intelligence picture. Difficult though it may be, it is a balance that must be struck.

One way to make this more achievable might be to make the intelligence leaderships more obviously non-political. Giving the DNI and the director of the National Counterterrorism Center 10 years terms, similar to the FBI Director, specifically so that they are not tied to the Presidential cycles, might be one good step towards achieving that important goal.

22:59
Peter Stone: "J. Steven Griles, the former ...
» ‎ War and Piece

Peter Stone: "J. Steven Griles, the former No. 2 official at Interior who recently finished serving a 10-month jail sentence for obstruction of justice in the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal, has very quietly returned to K Street life. Sources say...

21:39
Image of the Week: Unusual SA-5 Site
» ‎ IMINT & Analysis

UNUSUAL SA-5 SITE
The image above depicts a former S-200 (SA-5 GAMMON) site near Novosibirsk in Russia. This site has a very unusual layout. It would appear that the S-200 site has been constructed on top of a former S-75 (SA-2 GUIDELINE) position. While various SAM systems have often taken over the locations of legacy systems in many nations where the legacy systems have been supplanted by newer weapons (a perfect example of this would be Russia's deployment of S-300P systems on former S-25 sites), this deployment is interesting insofar as it represents an unusual S-200 site layout. Most Soviet-era S-200 sites featured a minimum of two 6-rail launch areas, to a maximum of five in some locations. This is the only Russian-soil S-200 site to feature a single launch area, likely due to the fact that the launch positions were constructed within the boundaries of the former S-75 site.

ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION

Feel free to discuss the current Image of the Week at the IMINT & Analysis Forum Image of the Week discussion thread found here.

SOURCES

-Overhead imagery provided courtesy of Google EarthAuthored by Sean O'Connor Visit geimint.blogspot.com for the article in its entirety.

21:34
Islamist 'Students' Mock Holocaust on Jerusalem Day
» ‎ Little Green Footballs

While Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was meeting with journalists, Code Pink, and loony leftist religious leaders in New York, back home in Iran they released with great fanfare a depraved new book full of cartoons mocking the Holocaust.

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iranians chanted “Death to Israel” on Friday as Islamist students unveiled a book mocking the Holocaust in an Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day annual parade to show solidarity with the Palestinians.

The book “Holocaust,” published by members of Iran’s Islamist Basij militia, features dozens of cartoons and sarcastic commentary. Education Minister Alireza Ali-Ahmadi attended the official launch of the book in Tehran’s Palestine Square.

The cover shows a Jew with a crooked nose and dressed in traditional garb drawing outlines of dead bodies on the ground.

Inside, bearded Jews are shown leaving and re-entering a gas chamber with a counter that reads the number 5,999,999.

Another illustration depicts Jewish prisoners entering a furnace in a Nazi extermination camp and leaving from the other side as gun-wielding “terrorists.”

Yet another shows a patient draped in an Israeli flag and on life support breathing Zyklon-B, the poisonous gas used in the extermination chambers.

UPDATE at 9/26/08 11:45:58 am:

Al-Quds Day in Pakistan.

21:21
um jihad
» ‎ Body on the Line

Her name was Um Jihad. She was one of the first people we met from Nahr el Bared refugee camp who had sought refuge for herself and her family in Shatila refugee camp in Beirut. She is the woman sitting down in the photograph above. Everyone fleeing the Lebanese army’s war on the camp had [...]

20:54
Video: UN General Assembly applauds Ahmadinejad
» ‎ Israel Matzav

Here's the true face of the United Nations. This is from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's anti-Semitic speech at the UN General Assembly earlier this week. Note the reaction of those present. Let's go to the videotape. The applause - and a hug from the President of the General Assembly - start at 3:05. Sickening.

20:53
Politico:According to one GOP lawmaker, some House ...
» ‎ War and Piece

Politico:According to one GOP lawmaker, some House Republicans are saying privately that theyd rather let the markets crash than sign on to a massive bailout. For the sake of the altar of the free market system, do you accept a...

20:37
Shooting delays UN Syria inquiry
» ‎ BBC News | Middle East | World Edition

The UN inquiry into Syria's nuclear activities has been delayed by the assassination of a key contact, the UN says.

20:26
You must register to vote in the US Presidential election
» ‎ Israel Matzav

Some of you may have noticed some new advertising at the top of this blog. Israel has the largest community of American expatriates in the world. Some 23% of American expatriates worldwide live in Israel. But if you want to vote in the US Presidential election you must register and you must do it by October 6. Vote From Israel is a non-partisan (unlike me), nonprofit dedicated to getting

20:19
What Media Double Standard?
» ‎ Little Green Footballs

Earlier this week the networks threw a major tantrum when the McCain campaign tried to limit their access to Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s meetings with foreign officials.

Today, Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden met with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and completely excluded the press.

And not a peep from the mainstream media.

MILWAUKEE - Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden met with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on Friday but didn’t let reporters in as the pair posed for photographers at the beginning of the session.

The decision to allow only photographers, and no reporters, into the meeting briefly at its start recalled a similar move by Biden’s Republican counterpart, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, earlier this week. Some of the reporters that cover Palin’s vice presidential campaign protested and got the restriction dropped.

UPDATE at 9/26/08 2:42:05 pm:

ABC News says the AP report is wrong, and the press did get access to Biden’s meeting: Political Radar: Biden Meets With Saakashvili, Pledges American Support.

Biden and Saakashvili met privately for about 45 minutes, but, despite an Associated Press report to the contrary, members of Biden’s traveling press pool were in fact permitted in for a five-minute portion beforehand, giving reporters a chance to hear from the two long-time friends.

20:16
HLF Trial Update: Enter the Brotherhood
» ‎ Counterterrorism Blog

DALLAS - After two days of background, prosecutors in the Hamas-support trial against five former officials at the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) got to the heart of their case Thursday, presenting evidence that the charity was the fundraising arm of a vast Muslim Brotherhood plan to help Hamas and to infiltrate the United States.

In doing so, they showed how two active national organizations, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and its parent, the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) were both tied to the Muslim Brotherhood and to HLF.

The Brotherhood is an 80-year-old Egyptian religious and political movement that seeks to instill Sharia, or Islamic law, as the controlling basis for society throughout the world.

In court papers filed in July, prosecutors spelled out ISNA's and NAIT's connections to the case:

"During the early years of the HLF's operations HLF raised money and supported HAMAS through a bank account it held with ISNA and NAIT," prosecutors wrote earlier this summer. "ISNA checks deposited into the ISNA/NAIT account for the HLF were often made payable to "the Palestinian Mujahideen," the original name for the HAMAS military wing. From that ISNA/NAIT account, the HLF sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to HAMAS leader Mousa Abu Marzook; Nadia Elashi (defendant Ghassan Elashi's cousin and Marzook's wife), Sheikh Ahmed Yassin's Islamic Center of Gaza, the Islamic University, and a number of other individuals associated with HAMAS."
In court Thursday, FBI Agent Lara Burns pointed to translated bank records showing a letter written in Arabic requesting payments to defendant Ghassan Elashi and Shukri Abu Baker.
ISNA and NAIT have petitioned the court to have their names removed from a list of unindicted co-conspirators in the case. Prosecutors pointed to those bank records and other exhibits in justifying the designation. The original petition was filed in June but U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis has not ruled on the request.

Burns also explained that HLF was part of an alliance of Brotherhood-connected groups in America, called the Palestine Committee, which was created to advance the Hamas agenda in the United States.

For the entire story, click here to visit the IPT's website.
19:42
The Truly Alarming News From Afghanistan
» ‎ Counterterrorism Blog

Perhaps the single biggest deterrent to a successful insurgency or armed movement is the civilian population. If they are with the insurgency, the armed group will endure, if not necessarily prevail. Without popular support, or at least tolerance, the group will wither.

So it is really alarming to read the Washington Post story about the growing nostalgia for the Taliban in Kabul and other areas under government control in Afghanistan.

Much has been written about how the Taliban is gaining ground, the role that the poppy/opium trade plays in financing the group, the help received from Pakistan's ISI etc. But none to me indicates the depths of the problem there as this changing attitude in what should be the progressive areas where radical Islamism is not a popular concept.

"The government is weak, and it has an enormously high level of tolerance for crime, abuse and corruption," said Nader Nadery, an official of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. "If you have power and money, you don't have to account for your actions. Instead of the rule of law, there is a state of impunity, which is one of the factors contributing to the growth of the Taliban."

It is unlikely the dithering and debate in NATO and among U.S. agencies will be the answer.

It is a testament to how badly botched the Afghanistan project is (the weak Karzai government, the rampant corruption, the uncontrolled crime, and, of course, the soaring drug trade) that it would cross people's mind to wax nostalgic for the Middle Ages. My full blog is here.

19:42
Kevin Drum: Pass the ...
» ‎ War and Piece

Kevin Drum: Pass the bill....

19:11
Israeli settlers offering $ for murder of Jewish Peace Now members via flyers
» ‎ Sabbah's Blog

These are, what we today call TERRORISTS… let’s call them by the name they deserve: Israeli terrorists!

A pipe bomb that exploded late on Wednesday night outside the Jerusalem home of Zeev Sternhell, a Hebrew University professor, left him lightly wounded and created only a minor stir in a nation that routinely experiences violence on a much larger scale.

But Mr. Sternhell was noted for his impassioned critiques of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, once suggesting that Palestinians “would be wise to concentrate their struggle against the settlements.” And the authorities found fliers near his home offering nearly $300,000 to anyone who kills a member of Peace Now, a left-wing Israeli advocacy group, leading them to suspect that militant Israeli settlers or their supporters were behind the attack.

If so, the bombing may be the latest sign that elements of Israel’s settler movement are resorting to extremist tactics to protect their homes in the occupied West Bank against not only Palestinians, but also Jews who some settlers argue are betraying them. Radical settlers say they are determined to show that their settlements and outposts cannot be dismantled, either by law or by force.

Via: NYT

18:56
The Debate Is On
» ‎ Little Green Footballs

Word is that John McCain will be participating in the presidential debate tonight after all.

Meanwhile, lots of people emailed to complain that Internet Explorer 6 was balking at loading LGF. It appears to be an interaction with the new ShareThis feature. I’ve made a code change that may fix it; if you’ve had the problem and it’s now fixed, please post a comment and let us know.

UPDATE at 9/26/08 9:47:46 am:

Good news — the same code trick that lets ShareThis work properly with IE6 also works with our popup calendar.

So you die-hard Internet Explorer users now get the ‘Daily Archives’ feature that other browsers have. It’s the button in the left column, right below the ‘Blogs’ menu, labeled ‘Daily Archives’ (oddly enough).

UPDATE at 9/26/08 9:53:10 am:

The trick: I simply moved the <script> tag that loads the ShareThis Javascript file out of the <head> section of the page and into the <body>, if the browser is Internet Explorer. This gets around a bug in IE that causes it to crash if certain operations are attempted before the page is completely loaded. From a code purist standpoint, it’s not very elegant; but it works, which is more important.

17:24
"Putting Country Last." I plugged it in ...
» ‎ War and Piece

"Putting Country Last." I plugged it in an update below, but go read John Judis' TNR piece. As a colleague notes, John is among the most restrained and sober political journalists around and he never engages in the kind of...
16:38
Bailup Blowup. More from my Hill friend:Let's ...
» ‎ War and Piece

Bailup Blowup. More from my Hill friend:Let's be clear about what happened. I heard David Wessel on NPR talking about typical congressional gridlock. That is not it at all. The most conservative faction of Republicans - the faction whose extreme...

16:22
Protest over West Bank refuse tip
» ‎ BBC News | Middle East | World Edition

Palestinians protest in the West Bank against what they fear is an Israeli plan to re-open a controversial rubbish dump.

15:48
Poles Apart
» ‎ Israellycool

Karma’s a b*tch.

The daughter of the radical Islamic cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed is a pole dancer, it emerged last night.

Yasmin Fostok, 27, has admitted rebelling against her father’s strict Muslim beliefs by performing semi-naked in London bars and nightclubs.

She lives as a single mother in South East London, bringing up her three-year-old son conceived during an arranged marriage to a Turkish man which has since collapsed.

Miss Fostok, who left the Bakri former home in North London four years ago, said: ‘I don’t get on with my dad. I don’t agree with his views - I just get on with my life and that is it.’

It has been reported that Miss Fostok regularly works in bars in the West End and has toured other countries as a podium dancer with a troupe called Ibiza Untouched.

She is also thought to work a fire-eating routine into her act and performs semi-naked inside cages.

She has dyed her hair blonde, has several tattoos of her name on her ankle and a dragon on her back and changed her Muslim name Youssra to Yasmin to try to conceal her identity.

She said: ‘I don’t normally do topless work but I’m willing to go topless if the venue is right.’

Last night her father said: ‘If this is true I am deeply shocked.’

Speaking from Lebanon, where he has lived since being exiled from the UK three years ago, he added: ‘She was brought up properly in the Muslim faith but she is free to make her own choices in life. But I am still shocked.

‘I haven’t spoken to her for a long time, because I believed she was living with her family in Turkey. But I knew nothing of this.

‘She should not seek forgiveness from me, she should seek forgiveness from God.

‘If she has done these things she will be judged on Judgment Day. But God will forgive her anything except becoming a non-Muslim.’

Miss Fostok grew up in North London with six other children of Bakri and her mum Hanah.

She remained a devout Muslim in her teens wearing a veil and covering herself from head to toe.

Her marriage came unstuck after she became disillusioned by the strict Muslim principles.

She now lives in Catford in a ground-floor flat.

Her father sparked outrage for his preaching of hate when he praised the 9/11 bombers and said he would ‘never condemn Osama bin Laden or any Muslims.’

Mohammed has recently been in the news for his threats to kill Paul McCartney if he played in Israel.
Spread the Word:

15:32
Register to Vote - NOW!!!
» ‎ The Muqata

-- Public Service Message --

Forget about voting in Israel, Elections for President of the US are coming up quickly.

If you are an American living in Israel and want to exercise your right to vote, you MUST register in advance.

If you don't register, you can't vote. Period.

And registration ends Monday, October 6, 2008. That's in a week!!!!!

Here is how to register:

(1) Go to the Vote from Israel site.

(2) Enter your name and other info to get the registration form.

(3) The form is a PDF.

(4) Fill it out.

(5) PRINT IT OUT. You can not email it. PRINT IT OUT.

(6) Sign it.

(7) Drop it off by October 6 at one of the convenient drop-off points listed on the site.

(8) Wait by the mailbox, and get your voter info.

(9) Vote!

Americans in Israel - Register to Vote before it is too late.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

15:26
Backstage at the UN
» ‎ Persian Journal

Backstage at the UN
15:26
Democrats give Ahmadinejad reason to smile
» ‎ Persian Journal

Democrats give Ahmadinejad reason to smile
15:26
Iran to launch first satellite soon
» ‎ Persian Journal

Iran to launch first satellite soon
15:26
Iran plays up its peacemaker role
» ‎ Persian Journal

Iran plays up its peacemaker role
15:26
Israeli minister urges West to isolate Iran, admires Arab countries
» ‎ Persian Journal

Israeli minister urges West to isolate Iran, admires Arab countries
15:26
Iran president says nuclear bomb seekers, 'politically backward'
» ‎ Persian Journal

Iran president says nuclear bomb seekers, 'politically backward'

15:26
On Olives & Sake: The Written Episodes of My Life: On Hope
» ‎ Syria Planet

Almost a year ago, I was sitting in the office of the head of the Political Security apparatus in Damascus, to get an approval for a new passport instead of that stolen in Thailand. I was sitting there, listening to him as he read out loud my father’s file, and counted the number of arrest warrants with his name. That was less than a week after my parents’ death.
He rolled up in his big fancy leather chair, and said, “What exactly guarantees, that if we do give you a new passport, you wont go and turn out to be an asshole like your father?” I closed my eyes, swallowed myself, and let my uncle do the talking.
2 days later, I walked out of the immigration bureau of Homs with a brand new passport, and the freedom to leave anytime I wanted. Less than a week later I was boarding a plane to Egypt and eventually back to Japan.

That flight was probably the worst, and darkest two hours I’ve ever had to go through. My sense of abandonment was the only individual thing I could put my hands on. Everything else was just blurry, and painful.
I looked around as I was leaving and couldn’t think of a single reason for me to come back. I couldn’t find any part of me in anyone or anything here. I remember thinking back then of what a pathetic, deformed and fragile generation I was representing.
Followed by the most terrible year of my life in Japan. I had to literally deconstruct my own sense of identity. This pathetic, deformed and fragile identity that grew through years of the most honest forms of make-believe and doublethink. One that promised to collapse under any pressure, to leave me, at 21, completely naked and defenseless, sitting in a plane heading nowhere.
I’ve hit rock bottom this last year. The feeling that took over me at these moments was one of utter homelessness. There was not a single place where I felt any sense of belonging, not even within myself.

Now, as I look back at last year, I realize that I’ve completely come a full circle since that October. While I am nowhere closer to reconstructing my own sense of identity, I do feel like I already have the means to do it. And it will take years before I fully comprehend why and how this happened, this sudden collapse of everything I knew as part of me.
During the last month I spent here, a tremendous amount of recovery happened. Walking through the narrow alleys of the old city of Tartous tempted me to venture into the few old houses that still survive in my own Latakia, to talk to their people and listen to their stories. The little camel arcs that I saw while I was walking through this strange mix of new ugly facades and old rocks felt like they were filling a real empty spot in my mind.
I felt so close to this place, I felt like we were going through the same exact crisis. My Latakia too had a collapse in its own sense of identity. It wasn’t sudden, and it was more like someone shattering a fine china plate, but the end result was almost the same. I, like many others now, was living on the very edge of the cliff. The whole country is living off the edge of a cliff.

The only thing that I can see clearly around me is this collective lack of belonging. This collective collapse of everything people were building as their identity. Not many are conscious of what is happening, but even them, you can see them desperately trying to hold on to anything that may be saved.
It is truly sad to see this happening, in a sense. But it also offers a real chance to truly change. To try to reconstruct together our own national identity, just as we do with our own personal one. To start critiquing ourselves, and our world more consciously. To dust off our own layers and layers of cement and ugly facades and look what’s underneath. To read our own history more critically, and reconnect with it. To regain a long lost sense of dignity and humanity. To try and let this generation recognize its problems, and express them.
It’s a monumental challenge. But it doesn’t seem like any of the people in power is willing to recognize it. Everybody seems happy to just surrender this place and its people to this strange mix of old wooden language, mazot and mega projects.
View Original
15:26
Mariyah's Blog: In the Shelter of Dreams
» ‎ Syria Planet

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Walking through the hallways of her mind, the long gauze curtains of memory fluttered images in front of her of the people she knew, the people she loved, and the people she was hiding from. As each silken projection caressed her skin – her face, her hands – she could feel the essence of their souls. To some she reached out a hand and ran her fingers along the delicate threads of illusion – hoping to feel something more human, more tangible. To others she danced by shyly afraid that if she touched she would leave a part of herself, afraid they would see more of her than she wanted them to.

The gentle breezes whispered familiar voices in her ears – songs of her mother, prayers of her grandfather, kind words of a dear friend, enticing murmurs of someone unknown. Softly, in the distance, the ethereal notes of a long forgotten tune raised and dropped and glided through the hallways toward her. She watched the music wrap around the ghostly reflections of her life and then wash over her like a wave of comfort. She was stranded contentedly in the recesses of her own mind. She wanted to stay there forever – lost in her past lost in everything that made her happy.

Without warning silence flooded every corridor. The soft breezes rushed out through the windows like a gale and in their absence the drapes hung lifeless from their rods. She had forgotten in her contentment that not all that lingered there in her mind was fond, not everything was friendly. A chest bound in a thousand locks and chains opened effortlessly before her revealing only a darkness – one that wasn’t entirely unfamiliar but one she had hoped to forget. As the darkness seeped from the chest she watched as her body began to disappear starting at her feet and moving slowly and steadily upward. When her eyes were engulfed in nothingness she awoke to a world awash in sunlight. As she sat on the edge of her bed, the promise of a new day staring at her from outside the window, nothing had really changed. She still felt invisible.

View Original
15:26
هلوسة و شخبرة: عن آلية مسك اللجام
» ‎ Syria Planet

لماذا تُغلق أفواه و تُترك أفواه أخرى ؟ من يُمسك اللجام ليرخيه مرة و يشده مرة أخرى؟

ليس سرابا : والذي يعرض على القناة الفضائية السورية يتطرق و بشكل صريح تماما لأزمة "تهمة تهديد الوحدة الوطنية" و يد الرقيب التي تلاحق كل من تسول له نفسه ليتحدث في مواضيع ، قد يراها أفق الرقيب و من على كرسيه المهترأ تهديدا لأمن الوطن و المواطن السوري و الوحدة الوطنية .
شُدهت تماما لرؤية هذا لطرح في حلقة اليوم، النقاش الذي دار بين الشخصيات:
المتمثلة 1- بمشيل المسيحي الذي يريد أن يقف في وجه فاكس أرسل له من المخابرات يطالبونه بتغير طرح مجلته و إلا سيتم إغلاقها حماية للوحدة الوطنية في سوريا .
2- النقاش الذي دار بين الموظفين ، الجميع خالفه بقراره : لأنه مو ئد هالفوتة ، وهنن جماعة ما بيرحموا، و أنه ينتحر، وأن البلد في وقت لا يسمح لهكذا وقفات.
3- الموظفة التي رأت أنه لا مجال للانتظار ، وليس هناك من توقيت "يسمح " وتوقيت "لا يسمح" لنقف في وجه هذا التعسف.
4 – جلال المسلم: صديق ميشيل الحميم، نصح صديقه بالتروي قليلا ، حتى تهدأ الأمور ، وحتى لا يخسر كل شيء دفع واحدة.
اعتقد أنه أي من الوسائل المرئية والمقروءة في سوريا لم تتجرأ لتناقش هذه الأزمة ، تركيبة هذه التهمة ككل ، آليتها و كيفية استخدامها ، مدى قانونيتها أو دستوريتها سورياً، كما فعلت حلقة اليوم .

بقعة ضوء أيضا يطرح بشكل شبه يومي، عودة نشاط المخابرات في سوريا إلى سابق عهده. جماعة تلبس الزي الأسود الأنيق، تمسك من تريد من المواطنين ذوي الملابس المهترئة و تجرهم من قفاهم ، ليختفوا من على وجه الأرض!!
أو عائلات تمضي حياتها في رعب في قبو تحت الأرض خوفا من "البلاء الأعظم" لأنهم قاموا بشيء ما و ينتظرون محاسبتهم.

هل أصبحت الدراما السوريّة هي آخر ضوء في العتمة . أم أن الأمر مقصود رقابيا و حكوميا؟
لماذا تغلق أفواه و تحاكم ؟ و أفواه أخرى تُترك على مصراعيها. أجزم تماما لو أُخذت مفردات النقاش التمثيلي الذي دار اليوم ووضع في قالب مقال نقدي، لاختفى صاحب المقال غدا! أو لو قام أحد من على شبكة الانترنت بترك تعليق يحمل هذا النقد، لجُر غدا للتحقيق؟!!

ليس سرابا يطرح أيضا: 1- حاجة الوطن لتغيير المناهج التعليمية على أساس خلق المواطن المدني وليس العلماني.
2- زواج مسلم من مسيحية والمساس بالمقدسات
3- الحجاب و كيف ينظر أليه .
4 نظرة الأقليات إلى الأكثريات في سوريا.
5- عدم نقد النظام حاليا لأننا في وقت مهددون به من الخارج .
6- واليوم أخيرا "تهمة المساس بالوحدة الوطنية".
View Original
15:26
Getting Started: YA BATTEEEEEL!!!
» ‎ Syria Planet
The following dialogue took place in Damascus on September 25, 2008...the characters and names are all real ppl. I didn’t make anything up...
- Manar: Carole r u Shameiyh*?!
- Carole: No am not!
- Manar: Good cuz I hate Shwaam* I can’t stand them at all!
- Carol: well my grandma is Shamieyh*...
- Manar:!!
- Carloe (in prompt justification): but she’s NNNNNNN* I hate them too u know!
- Manar (smiling): once a Shami* proposed to me and I refused though the poor thing and his mom did everything they can...but my dad told them NNNNN** (with a sneaky smile all over her face)...
- NNNNNN*
Now myself being a damascene am not gonna say how I felt about it...and I have no idea where the hell those two girls r from...but am wondering if I was in Homs* around at least a dozen of ppl. wont I assume that at least one of those ppl. is Homsi*?! I wonder how he w’d feel if I said in front of him that I hate Homsi* ppl.?! and most important I wonder what w’d he do about it?!!!
I must say here that I don’t have anything against homsi ppl. on the contrary I think they r very nice ppl.

IT’S A DAMN SHAME
__________________________________
*Shwam: damascene ppl. =the native inhabitants of Damascus city the capital of Syria
*Shameiyh: female damascene - *Shami: male damascene
*NNNNN: the sound coming from the vacuum cleaner guy approaching behind my back
*Homs: a Syrian city- *Homsi: a male from Homs
View Original
15:26
Levantine Dreamhouse: American Presidential Elections and the Clash of Civilizations
» ‎ Syria Planet

Right wing pamphleteers and propagandists are in full swing to try to defeat Obama's bid for the presidency. Attacking his race is not politically correct in the U.S., at least not publicly or directly. So the propagandists have found the perfect alternative target with the confluence of their push for a perpetual war on terror (defined narrowly to apply only to Arabs and Muslims who don't tow the American line) with Obama's connection with Islam and his Arabic middle name. You see, smearing Arabs and Muslims doesn't ruffle anyone's feathers here, except, of course, if you happen to be Arab or Muslim.

The latest and what appears to be the most concerted effort to influence the election is the distribution of DVDs of the a documentary called Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West. The documentary, produced by an Israeli-Canadian, features such luminaries as Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson and Alan Dershowitz, all self-proclaimed experts on Islam and terrorism, and well known for their inflammatory Islamophobic views. Millions of these DVD were distributed free of charge as an advertising supplement in numerous newspapers. The distributors targeted newspapers in swing states that can go either democratic or republican in any given campaign.

Whether hate and fear mongering win the day remains to be seen. The events shaping the elections are rapidly changing. With the American economic juggernaut looking like the Titanic, the average voter may be more terrified by the real prospect of loosing their job than the distant hyperinflated fear of terrorism.
View Original
15:26
Arabdemocracy: شيعة ضد حزب الله.. لبنان ساحة اختبارات
» ‎ Syria Planet

وائل عبد الرحيم

خلال ثلاثة أعوام واكثر استطاع "الاعتراض الشيعي" على حزب الله أن ينتج رموزاً يمثلون – على قلّتهم – علامات فارقة في الخارطة السياسية والثقافية في لبنان، وجذبت هذه الحالة دعماً إعلامياً غربياً وتمويلاً أميركياً بخلفيات اجتماعية لا تُخفي ضرورة العمل على "اختراق" الساحة الشيعية في هذا البلد.

30.9% نسبة التمويل الرسمي الأميركي التي قدمتها المؤسسة الوطنية من اجل الديمقراطية The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) للجمعيات اللبنانية ذات الطابع الشيعي من عام 2002 حتى عام 2005 (751 ألف دولار من أصل 2425049 دولار قُدّمت مباشرة للجمعيات اللبنانية).
ودلالات هذه الأرقام تصبح معبّرة إذا رُبطت بالأهداف المعلنة التي حدّدتها المؤسسة التابعة لوزارة الخارجية الأميركية والتي تتمحور كلّها حول ضرورة دعم الآراء المختلفة والتوعية على الديمقراطية في مناطق الجنوب اللبناني او في اوساط الجمهور الشيعي في لبنان.
لا تشكّل هذه الأرقام وحدها دليلاً على توجّه اميركي وغربي مضطرد نحو تقديم الدعم المالي والإعلامي والسياسي لمجموعات شيعية لبنانية تناصب حزب الله وحلفائه العداء. لكن آراء لمحللين وسياسيين اميركيين أعلنت صراحة وجود حاجة إلى تنمية أصوات الاعتراض الشيعي اللبناني. الاعتراض الشيعي تعبير يُراد به الحديث عن خصوم حزب الله في الوسط الشيعي منذ بداية الأزمة اللبنانية الأخيرة.. وهو طبعا لا يشمل الحديث عن الاعتراض الديمقراطي على الاستئثار الحزبي والحركي بين شيعة لبنان خلال العقود الأخيرة. وهو، على ما يبدو، نموذج صغير للاختبارات التي تجريها الإدارة الأميركية على المجموعات الطائفية والعرقية في الشرق الأوسط.

حالة فرضتها ظروف "ثورة الأرز"
منذ 14 شباط 2005 حينما اغتيل رئيس الوزراء اللبناني الأسبق رفيق الحريري، وانقسم لبنان إلى معسكري آذار، باتت الحاجة إلى "الاعتراض الشيعي" أكثر إلحاحاً. وإذا كان الاعتراض الشيعي معقله في الجنوب اللبناني بشكل خاص (يوم كان اليسار الجنوبي أكثر توحّداً)، فإن الأوضاع الناشئة عن اغتيال الحريري تطلبت تغييراً في المهام والأدوار.. في الواقع كانت الحاجة إلى اختراع اجتماعي – سياسي لمعترضين شيعة من نوع آخر أكثر ضجيجاً وأقلّ تمثيلاً – (بانتظار الصحوة المنتظرة من أحد ركني الثنائية الشيعية نبيه برّي).
فاليسار الجنوبي الذي يضمّ أحزاباً وشخصيات ديمقراطية ووطنية، بات متهماً من فريق 14 آذار بالخضوع لأجندة سورية - إيرانية ربطاً بمواقفه التي تتمسك بدعم المقاومة في مواجهة إسرائيل وبرفض أي نظام وصاية غربي ولا سيما الأميركي – الفرنسي، ودون اعتبار لواقع ان اليسار اللبناني كان احد الخاسرين الأساسيين من النظام الذي ساد لبنان بين عامي 1990 و2005 وحكمته الوصاية السورية المشار إليها من تحالف 14 آذار / مارس.
لكن الاعتراض الشيعي الذي تلا اغتيال الحريري لم يشمل اليسار.. فليس المطلوب حركة اعتراض وطنية ديمقراطية متمايزة أو مستقلة في مواقفها عن التيارات التي تعصف بالمنطقة.
خرج اليسار من المعادلة السياسية.. أفسح المكان للسياديين لطرح البدائل.. ثم ذاب هذا اليسار بفصيله الأبرز (الحزب الشيوعي) في قوى 8 آذار اصطفافاً لم تنجح في إخفائه "المواقف النقدية" المنطلفة من قاعدة التحالف اللينينية الشهيرة (نقد الحليف!) وهي القاعدة التي اعتمدها أساسا خلال تحالفه "الالتحامي" مع الحزب التقدمي الاشتراكي خلال الحرب الأهلية.
وتتالت محاولات تظهير حالة شيعية متميزة عن فريق 8 آذار بدأت باجتهادات أفراد انضووا صراحة ضمن لجان تنسيق "ثورة الأرز"، ثم بالتجمع الشيعي اللبناني المتعثّر، ووصولاً إلى مواقف بعض رجال الدين والأكاديميين والمثقفين والناشطين خلال حرب تموز / يوليو الأخيرة، واخيراً ظهر تجمع يطلق على نفسه "التيار الشيعي الحرّ"، وصولاً إلى توزير ابراهيم شمس الدين في حكومة السنيورة العتيدة.
ومن كان يطرح نفسه ديمقراطياً في السابق، ألحق بصفة الديمقراطية وصف "شيعي حرّ".. بهذه الطريقة يرشّح كل طامح نفسه للأدوار التي يمكن ان تستجدّ في حال وصلت الأمور بالبلاد إلى حدّ الطلاق النهائي بين "أكثرية" 14 آذار والفريق الآخر الذي تتزعمه ثنائية حزب الله – امل.

الاستقلالية الشيعية خياراً؟
يدرك 14 آذار الذي كان ممسكاً بالسلطة في لبنان أنه من الصعب عليه تقبل اندماج أجسام ضئيلة في نسيجه وإن يكن تحت عنوان الاعتراض الشيعي.. فتركيبة القوى التي تشكل هذا التحالف لا تسمح له باستيعاب مغامرة كهذه لا سيما أن الاعتراض المشار إليه هنا لا يتمتع بالتمثيل الشعبي الحقيقي. لكن هذا لا يمنع التحالف الطائفي من استخدام "الاعتراض الشيعي" على اوجه مختلفة. يمكن الاستخدام من باب الضجيج – وهو استخدام مشروع بالمعايير السياسية - . فتدور الآلة الإعلامية لتحالف 14 آذار على وقع الاعتراض الشيعي وبأدوات "الاعتراض الشيعي" ودون مشاركة طبعاً للاعتراض الشيعي في أي قرار مصيري.
لكن الاخطر ليس الاستخدام الإعلامي للاعتراض الشيعي من قبل 14 آذار، بل استخدامه من التحالف إياه لتشويش الحليف الدولي وتضليله.. أسلوب جرى تعلّمه من النموذج العراقي (تقارير احمد الجلبي – فؤاد عجمي للإدارة الأميركية عشية حرب العراق). في تقارير الجلبي – عجمي ولوبي المعارضة العراقية عشية الحرب توقعات وتنبؤات لم يتحقق منها شيء (ما خلا سقوط نظام لم يكن تراهن على صموده إلا قلّة معميّة). ودفع الأميركيون ثمن هذه النصائح حتى باتوا اليوم يتحدثون صراحة عن هزيمة مدويّة في العراق، ونبذوا الجلبي ومعارضته معتبرين أنهم تعرّضوا لخديعة.
جدّد الحلفاء اللبنانيون نصائحهم، مستفيدين من اعتبار الإدارة الأميركية لبنان احد النجاحات القليلة في الشرق الأوسط.
حاولوا إيهام صنّاع الرأي والأوساط القريبة من دائرة القرار في واشنطن بإمكانية قيام البديل الشيعي المعتدل المستقل عن المحور – الإيراني السوري. حاولوا استصدار قرار بمنع كلّ تسوية في لبنان، وباستمرار الاندفاعة فيه على أساس ان "ثورة الأرز" هي إنجاز إدارة بوش اليتيم.
أصبح مقال رأي او مقابلة تلفزيونية أو موقف كاتب جديراً بإعلائه إلى مصاف الفعل السياسي المؤثر.
لم يعد مستغرباً في مرحلة ما ان تقرأ في الصحف والمجلات الأميركية بعد كلّ زيارة او جهد استثنائي لرمز من رموز التحالف الآذاري في لبنان عن "الاعتراض الشيعي" كحالة أقلويّة لكن شديدة الاحترام والهيبة في لبنان.
حتى كانت احداث 7 أيار / مايو التي جرت على وقع المتغيرات في المنطقة ولا سيما المتغير في العلاقة السورية الفرنسية بسكوت ضمني من جانب الإدارة الأميركية، فاظهرت ان الاندفاعة إلى الحسم التي كان فريق 14 آذار ولا سيما وليد جنبلاط وفؤاد السنيورة ينظّران لها لا اساس لها على ارض الواقع.

حالة أقلوية تستأهل الدعم؟
"شيعة ضد حزب الله"، عنوان مقال كتبه المستشار السابق في وزارة الدفاع الأميركية David Schenker مباشرة بعد حرب تموز ونشرته The Weekly Standard الأميركية (13/11/2006) قبل احداث أيار 2008 بنحو عامين، وفيه يستعرض مواقف "الاعتراض الشيعي" ليخلص إلى ضرورة دعم هذه الأصوات الاعتراضية وتشجيعها.
تحدث Schenker عن ثلاث شخصيات شيعية تشكل جزءاً من حالة "الاعتراض" الحالي على حزب الله. المحامي محمد مطر الذي يقاضي الشيخ عفيف النابلسي بتهمة إصدار الأخير فتوى يحرّم فيها على كلّ شيعي دخول الحكومة أو القبول بمنصب وزاري بعد اعتكاف الوزراء الشيعة في كاون الأول / ديسمبر 2005، والأستاذة الجامعية منى فياض التي نشرت في 8 آب 2006 - في فترة العدوان الإسرائيلي – مقالاً في صحيفة النهار اللبنانية بعنوان "ان تكون شيعياً اليوم" وتبدي فيه اعتراضها على حزب الله وأدائه خلال الحرب، والأستاذ لقمان سليم الذي (ووفقاً لـSchenker) "يدير جمعية غير حكومية ممولة من الاتحاد الأوروبي" ويبدي بدوره انتقادات لحزب الله. والجامع بين الثلاثة تحدّثهم بصفتهم الشيعية.
ويبدو أن التعاطي الإعلامي الغربي – والأميركي بشكل خاص – ما فتأ يركّز على أربع شخصيات باررزة في الاعتراض الشيعي: مفتي جبل عامل السيد علي الأمين، والدكتورة منى فياض، والمحامي محمد مطر، والناشر لقمان سليم.
يتحدث مقال نشرته صحيفة Christian Science Monitor الأميركية (15/12/2006) عن أن بعض الجهات الشيعية اللبنانية بدأت تطرح الأسئلة علانية عن أحادية حزب الله، وتتخوف من طموحات الحزب التي قد تلتقي مع المحور السوري – الإيراني وتعرّض مصالح الشيعة في لبنان على المدى الطويل للضرر. ويسمي المقال الشخصيات الأربع المشار إليها.
وتنقل الصحيفة عن الأمين أن تصرفات الحزب لا تصب أبداً في مصلحة الشيعة ولا في مصلحة لبنان.
ومع أن الصحيفة تلاحظ ان الأصوات الشيعية التي تعارض حزب الله لا تزال قليلة،

A Peek into Others' mind » September 26, 2008

Feeds

(73 unread)