Of Maps and Men

Posted by Qifa Nabki ⋅ August 13, 2014 ⋅ 810 Comments

Filed Under Iraq, ISIS

islamicmap A few months ago, my friend Joshua Landis wrote an essay for this blog called “The Great Sorting Out,” which generated one of the more interesting discussions we’ve hosted. I’ve been thinking about Joshua’s argument ever since, and trying to make sense of what I find to be right and wrong about it. This piece at The New Yorker tries to address obliquely some of those issues, but perhaps there is more to say in a later essay as well.

Here’s the first paragraph or two. Come back here to comment, if you wish.

Iraq and Syria’s Poetic Borders

The late historian and critic Tony Judt once described Europe before the First World War as “an intricate, interwoven tapestry of overlapping languages, religions, communities and nations.” After the period between 1914 and 1945, as a result of war, ethnic cleansing, and border drawing, a new, more stable Europe emerged, in which “almost everybody now lived in their own country, among their own people.” Thirty million were uprooted and dispersed by Stalin and Hitler between 1939 and 1943, a process that was repeated after the defeat of the Axis armies. Germans, Poles, Balts, Croats, Ukrainians, Hungarians, Slovaks, Romanians, Turks, and many others were shunted around the continent. The result was “a Europe of nation states more ethnically homogenous than ever before.”

Is a similar process of nation formation taking place in Iraq and Syria today? As in Europe, borders were drawn all over the Fertile Crescent following the First World War, and many of those borders have now become notional abstractions as millions of refugees flee conflict zones in Mosul, Aleppo, Homs, and Raqqa. The demographic map of the region is in flux, and analysts have wasted little time in declaring that the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham augurs the death of Sykes-Picot, the British-French treaty that established many of the Middle East’s modern borders, its creations now unstitched and exposed in their artificiality. (continue)

Some responses from readers:

Nadim Shehadi:

Very interesting question QN, put in another way: are we in a period of nation formation like Europe was almost a hundred years ago? Or are we in a period of nation dismantling like Europe is going through now? this begs a different set of questions: are different regions subject to different trends or are there global phenomena or fashions in ideas which find variations in different regions?

So according to one sort of thinking, the Levant would be lagging behind Europe and what we see today is the Levant catching up with Europe and dividing into tidy and neatly organised ethnically homogeneous states after the evil or ignorant colonialists drew the map in a rather messy way mixing Shiias with Sunnis, Kurds, Maronites and others producing such a disordered region.

I am of the school that thinks that history does not move in such an orderly manner and the primary movers are ideas rather than material or concrete elements. The 20th century state as we know it is being dismantled globally and it is not as homogeneous as we might think it is, even in Europe.

At the end of 2011 I evaluated the year as a turning point where the 20th century was being dismantled and that there was a link between all the riots we saw that year on a global. http://nytweekly.com/columns/intelarchives/01-13-12/

Lebanon skipped the 20th century and was considered a failed state by its standards, it may now be ahead of the game while the rest of the region dismantles what they successfully achieved and have to get used to the idea of living without it. Lebanon spent most of the 20th century arguing about whether to become a ‘proper state’ or not.

Jim Reilly

Syria, Lebanon and Iraq were ideas or concepts before they became states. This was the reverse of many other state-formations, where ideas (of France, Britain, Egypt, etc.) were molded to fit political faits accomplis. The sudden creation of the post-World War I states meant that these ideas had to be given content and material form on short notice, in a haphazard fashion, and in unfavorable circumstances. The *idea* of Syria or Iraq was more attractive than the reality of the Assad family fiefdom and Saddam Hussein’s rule-by-Tikrit. And so (helped along, again, by unfavorable regional and international circumstances including foreign invasion) they both fall apart.

Benjamin Thomas White:

Josh’s earlier post was thought-provoking, but problematic. Notwithstanding his statement in the comments section that “I didn’t use the word “primordial” and I wouldn’t”, the argument rests on the assumption that the ‘nationalities’ it describes were there, waiting to be disentangled (Winston Churchill’s word for it) and sorted into nation-state boxes.
It also seems to veer into anachronism when it states that the Germans expelled from eastern Europe “had lived in these countries stretching from Poland in the north to the Ukraine and Romania in the South for hundreds of years”: this seems to assume that Poland, Ukraine, Romania, and the countries in between had actually been ‘countries’—ie, independent states—for hundreds of years. They, and Germany, had all emerged in the period since 1870.

If we want to understand what happened then, and be in a position to draw meaningful comparisons with what’s happening now, it’s at least as useful to start with the internal development and external clashes of states, and see how that affected populations and the way they understood themselves. Doing that enables us to see just how much effort states had to put, not just into massacring or expelling populations they came to consider as disloyal, foreign, or unwanted, but also into hammering populations they wanted into ‘nations’. This was done by means ranging from the schoolroom to aeriel bombardment: it’s still within, or barely beyond, living memory that teachers would beat Breton schoolchildren for speaking Breton and not French in the classroom, and Turkey’s attempts to persuade Kurds that they’re ‘mountain Turks’ have been extremely brutal into the much more recent past. (For that matter, repressive states have probably done as much as Kurdish nationalists to persuade the religiously diverse speakers of two related languages that they share one ‘Kurdish’ identity—by no means a finished process.)

Of course, the populations persecuted or expelled by one panicking dynastic empire or emergent nation-state often ended up in a state that wanted them—but this doesn’t mean that that state was simply ‘theirs’ or that they belonged to it, wa khalas. West Germany had to do a lot of work to make expellees from eastern Europe lose their Polish or Czech accents; into the 1970s Anatolian Greeks in Greece were still marrying among themselves, and not with ‘Greek’ Greeks (among whom the term ‘turkospouroi’, ‘Turkish seed’ was often used to describe the transferees), while the work of persuading Greek-speaking Cretans, say, whose ancestors had converted to Islam several centuries earlier that they were and always had been ‘Turks’ and must speak Turkish took the Turkish Republic generations—during which time some of the most emphatic missionaries of the Turkish national project were from families which only a generation or two earlier had been Circassian, Daghestani, or Balkan. More recently, post-unification Germany often used some pretty crude criteria when deciding which Russian-speaking immigrants from Kazakhstan to accept as ‘Germans’. For many modern national groups, it took the shared experience of mass displacement, occurring at one or several points across the period Josh discusses, to accelerate—if not begin—the process of political self-definition as a ‘nation’.

So Tony Judt’s point that in Europe after the late 1940s “almost everybody now lived in their own country, among their own people”, like some of Josh’s arguments, seems misguided, unless it’s hedged about in the original by qualifications (which it may be, as Judt was usually pretty sharp about these things). It ignores too much history. And I haven’t even dwelt on just how debatable it really is that the post-1945 European nation-states were mononational. In France, durable immigration from colonial possessions had already begun before the war, but the much larger part of France’s immigrant population—which by 1930 was proportionately the largest in Europe, despite France’s status as the locus classicus of the nation-state—was from other European countries: Russians, Italians, Belgians, Poles, Spaniards, Portuguese, and others, all in numbers ranging from many tens of thousands to a million (not counting those who were naturalized as French).

You might think that further east, especially east of the Iron Curtain, immigration was less a feature of post-1945 nation-states—and perhaps that’s true. But the extremely large numbers of people of each state’s ‘nationality’ living outside the state mean that it’s no truer to say that “almost everybody now lived in their own country, among their own people”. When over half a million Poles moved to Britain after Poland’s accession to the EU a decade ago, it was widely heralded (or condemned) as the largest and fastest wave of immigration in British history—but something like 700,000 Poles, mostly people who’d served in the Allied armies and their families, moved into Britain in the late 1940s rather than going, or being sent, ‘back’ to the new-look, partly relocated Poland. This influx dwarfed the ‘Commonwealth migrations’ that began at around the same time (while Britain, incidentally, continued to be a major exporter of emigrants in this period, to Australia, the USA, South Africa). A lot of Poles lived in Poland—’in their own country, among their own people’—in 1950, some of whom had out of desire or necessity passed for German during the Nazi occupation. But the number of Poles who didn’t live in Poland—the post-1945 Poland whose existence as a modern national state, albeit on a somewhat different tract of land, could only be traced back to 1919 (the same year that Alsace and Lorraine became ‘French’ after fifty years of being ‘German’)—was probably in the millions: certainly over a million between Britain and France, let alone the US, Canada, and so on.

Apologies for the very long comment: this has obviously been on my mind since I read the original post. The point is that the twentieth-century European experience (or the nineteenth-century Balkan experience) of state formation and population displacement doesn’t offer any neat lessons for what’s happening in the Levan now. The seemingly ‘solid’ post-1945 European nation-states—and, pace Nadim, I’m not convinced that they’re being dismantled right now, though they’re certainly being re-tooled—depended for their stability on American and Soviet dominance, military and diplomatic, and at least in western Europe on superpower financial backing too; more, I’d argue, than on their debatably ‘mononational’ character. The EU has—as it was intended to—provided a supranational framework for them since the cold war ended, as Alan Millward argued, though it’s had its problems recently. In the Levant at the moment there’s no prospect of either a stable, superpower-backed ‘freezing’ of the state system (one reason it’s collapsing) or of a locally-based regional framework emerging. Everything is up for grabs, including control of individual states. The clashes over and between states will be understood by the populations of the region in different ways and will affect them in different ways; different actors will try out different ideologies and practices in order to mobilize support—whether that’s machine-gunning Yazidis in the name of the Caliphate, barrel-bombing cities in the name of Syrian or Arab unity, or, heaven help us, attempting to maintain a national or international dialogue for the sake of peace and democracy.

In the meantime, QN’s short and poetic article reminds us that mental and cultural geographies don’t depend only on the existence of a state authority, and aren’t formed only by violence.

Discussion

810 thoughts on “Of Maps and Men”

A Palestinian parody on IS

Posted by Ray | September 1, 2014, 7:56 am
Who would have thought Palestinians have a deep sense of humor 🙂

Posted by Ray | September 1, 2014, 12:02 pm
Ray,

Are the Palis laughing at ISIS intolerance? That is funny. Hamas is so much more tolerant, peaceful and circumspect than the crazy ISIS jihadists. And Hamas only shoots arabs when they’re found guilty helping the zios in a makeshift military court lasting 62 seconds.

Anyway, now the Palis have to learn how to capture land instead of losing it.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 1, 2014, 12:24 pm
Indeed, Mon Captain.

So how much Land do “you” / or your Kin / factually own in Israel?

Hungry like the Wolf 🙂

Posted by Ray | September 1, 2014, 12:36 pm
Akbar,

What kind of food do you serve your guests?

Posted by Ray | September 1, 2014, 12:55 pm
Hi Ray,

I own no land in Israel. My wish is to own land in Israel like many arabs and jews do.

What food do I serve guests? That depends if it is Rosh Hashanna, Hannukka, Passover, the night after Yom Kippur or Thanksgiving.

Personally, I like anything on my Weber grill.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 1, 2014, 6:04 pm
Hi Ray,

I own no land in Israel. My wish is to own land in Israel like many arabs and jews do.

What food do I serve guests? That depends if it is Rosh Hashanna, Hannukka, Passover, the night after Yom Kippur or Thanksgiving.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 1, 2014, 6:06 pm
AP

Word is that Israel has secured some more property in the West Bank recently. Maybe now is a good time to buy.

Posted by Gabriel | September 1, 2014, 9:01 pm
Reminds me of this “gonzo journalism” piece that London-based, Israeli satirist Nimrod Kamer broadcast on “Russia Today” back in January 2013. He’s a bit hard to understand. For example, it sounds like he’s saying “Iran” but what he’s really saying is “E1”:

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 1, 2014, 10:15 pm
Gotta love that woman with the Russian accent at 2:28 who says, “You see? Jordan? That’s ours! They’re just renting it!”

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 1, 2014, 10:28 pm
Holy crap.. Someone is stealing my comedic ideas.

Maybe I should be writing skits. It certainly would be a good way for me to stop earning those dastardaly Hindustani rupees and start earning real, oops I mean Riyal, cash!

Posted by Gabriel | September 2, 2014, 2:00 am
So you don’t feed them poison?

Posted by Ray | September 2, 2014, 3:50 am
Gabriel,

Here’s an idea for a skit for you:

Girls just want to have Fun(damentalism) !

Posted by Ray | September 2, 2014, 7:03 am
The IS is also producing a remake of Kill Bill entitled … Why just Kill Bill? Kill Everyone !

Posted by Ray | September 2, 2014, 7:45 am
AIG,

I guess your prediction of weakening Hamas while strengthening Abbas has failed again.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Sep-02/269320-hamas-popularity-skyrockets-after-gaza-war.ashx#axzz3BuryMKj1

Posted by danny | September 2, 2014, 8:43 am
The best bit about the Palestinian skit on the IS is when they ask the Jordanian chap if he is Jordanian, or Jordanian/Jordanian 🙂

I wonder how long before Saad Hariri is stopped at an IS checkpoint and asked if he is Saudi, or Saudi Saudi 🙂

Posted by Ray | September 2, 2014, 9:05 am
I discovered Nimrod Kamer’s satire when, I can’t fully remember, I either drove by a defunct church here in the US that had been converted into a “Sunday Assembly”, or I saw an ad for services at a “Sunday Assembly” in a local magazine.

Either way, I was intrigued enough to search for “Sunday Assembly” on YouTube, and stumbled onto this:

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 2, 2014, 9:31 am
Akbar,

Are you Jewish? Or Jewish/Jewish?

You have Israel Passport?

Posted by Ray | September 2, 2014, 9:59 am
Ray,

Why do you ask? Are you looking to convert?

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 2, 2014, 11:07 am
Convert into what?

A butterfly 🙂

Posted by Ray | September 2, 2014, 11:23 am
Ok that’s fine. If you want to convert to Judaism, just let me know.

You’ll need to learn how to eat chopped liver and gefilte fish, and that’s not always easy.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 2, 2014, 1:15 pm
They’re not always available, but when they are, I always buy these “Veggie Patch Mediterranean Spinach and Chickpea Patties” from Costco. They’re like this perfect hybrid of Spanakopita (spinach in an egg binder), hummus (chick peas) and falafel (spicy, deep-fried crust). They’re so unusual that the first time I bought them, I looked around the package only to find a “Made in Israel” label somewhere underneath. I made my peace with that knowledge, and continued to buy them anyway, because they’re delicious and nutritious …

http://www.melaniecooks.com/veggie-patch-mediterranean-spinach-and-chickpea-patties-from-costco/2029/

If I had more time to cook, I can imagine this basic formula lends itself to many improvisational possibilities. I already make a superb, baked Spanakopita.

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 2, 2014, 3:41 pm
“Mamma’s sweetheart” , “cover me” , the horses, the beards, the “peach”, the heart attack, the chicks,……and so on. The original reason for Memri to provide the English captions (Thanks ever so for real!) was to demonstrate the antisemitism of Palestinians, even Lebanese Palestinians, is evident in the suggestion of Israeli collusion with ISIS.

I thought it was needling a certain ahem segment of the Lebanese polity…more an inside joke. So classic though and brings to mind Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges and the holy of holies Monte Python.

Nimrod Kamer is so great with his elegant British gentry shooting jacket. He should have his own tv show. Just in case it’s not widely known, we are all, if we are “serious people”, supposed to boo and hiss at the very mention of Russia Today.

Nimrod could be banned/shunned for his audacity.

Posted by lally | September 2, 2014, 11:42 pm
Lally,

Yes, I sinned by linking to a ‘Russia Today’ video but in this exceptional case I reckoned that the quality of Nimrod Kamer’s satire more than compensated for the lack of quality of the TV channel hosting his content.

Forget the Internet, it’s not that difficult to find ‘Russia Today’ in the US. I see it on dedicated channels in hotel rooms. I don’t have a snazzy TV package but even I get this channel called “WorldView” (channel 76 on my Comcast/Xfinity) which broadcasts ‘Russia Today’ for at least 1 hour a day.

And if we’re going to shun people for appearing on ‘Russia Today’, I will remind you that America’s own Syria expert and frequent QN contributor Joshua Landis was hosted on its show “Worlds Apart” barely two and a half months ago. You can easily find the video on YouTube. I’m not going to link to it because it’s half an hour long and I only saw the first 5 minutes of it. I never link to videos if I haven’t seen them in their entirety, at least once.

I’m not that stern in my opinion of ‘Russia Today’ being present in the US. I watch it and I’m like, “Whatever!” I see Americans and other ‘Westerners’ on it and I’m like, “Whatever!” Leave it to the media pundits to figure this one out! 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 3, 2014, 11:01 am
The original reason for Memri to provide the English captions (Thanks ever so for real!) was to demonstrate the antisemitism of Palestinians, even Lebanese Palestinians, is evident in the suggestion of Israeli collusion with ISIS.

Sally,

MEMRI isn’t so much concerned about anti-semitism of the average Joe Schmoe. More importantly, they are concerned about anti-semitism of GOVERNMENT-controlled media, institutions, and representatives.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 3, 2014, 12:42 pm
OK! Wow! So Lally thinks MEMRI’s English subtitles are meant for her instead of for non-Arabic speakers (this presumably explains why she cynically offers gratitude for what she probably perceives to be redundant subtitles).

She sees conspiracy in the MEMRI project to bait all Palestinians as anti-semites instead of its clearly communicated and obvious goal to depict specific examples of anti-semitism in a universe of garbage Arabic television (thank God I grew up in the Arabic world at a time when we had nothing to do but read imported English books and magazines).

And finally, and most wonderfully, she sees subliminal messaging in the MEMRI project, with specific examples of targeted “needling” and “inside joke[s]”.

I think the polite way to describe what Lally is experiencing is an extreme bout of confirmation bias bordering on, yes I will go there, delusion!

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 3, 2014, 4:08 pm
I think the polite way to describe what Lally is experiencing is an extreme bout of confirmation bias bordering on, yes I will go there, delusion!

Ya think?

Thanks Samer.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 3, 2014, 4:33 pm
I don’t speak Arabic silly Samer; what a lousy lurker you are! Get up to speed.

Here’s a really fun review; or is it a parody of a review?

ISIS PARODY ON PALESTINIAN TV DEPICTS JIHADISTS AS ALLIES OF ISRAEL

by FRANCES MARTEL 10 Jul 2014 37 POST A COMMENT

“The rifts between jihadists fighting Israel in Palestine and the surging jihadist group The Islamic State (formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham: ISIS), appear to be growing. In a comedy sketch for Palestine’s Al-Filistiniya TV, ISIS jihadists are depicted as incompetent, slightly gay, and welcoming of English-speaking Jews.
The clip, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, appears to depict a day in the life of two ISIS jihadists manning a checkpoint in an unspecified Middle Eastern location. As individuals attempt to pass through, they harass each one in turn.

The first man, a Lebanese Muslim, appears at first to be safe from their wrath. He is so devout that he claims not to watch television: “It is haram.” The ISIS jihadists well-versed in Lebanese geography and even reminisce about their lives there. One of the jihadists, implying that he now engages in homosexual activity exclusively with other ISIS jihadists, tells the Lebanese man, “Back in the day, before I became an ISISsy, I used to spend time with the gals on Al-Jumayza Street.” He disagrees with the man that another street closer to him has better women: “too old-fashioned.”

The chit-chat ends with the jihadists suddenly killing the man for allegedly forgetting two prayers at the mosque.
The second man who approaches is asked an impossibly obscure doctrinal question about Islam. It is only implied he is Muslim, as his response to the question is “just shoot me.” They do.”
When they encounter a Christian, who claims to be named “Peach,” they spend so much time arguing over who gets to kill him that the man dies of an apparent heart attack, depriving both jihadists of the blessings they would have received if they would have shot him instead.

The punchline? The last man they cross– who can only speak English and openly admits to being Israeli– is allowed to pass without incident. “You’re welcome,” the jihadist says.

The last bit highlights some tensions between ISIS and other jihadist groups that have become especially prominent in the current escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine. In response to Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge,” ISIS released a statement declaring that they were simply too busy killing fellow Muslims to bother with a war on Jewish people. “The greatest answer to this question is the Qur’an, where Allah speaks about the nearby enemy–those Muslims who have become infidels–as they are more dangerous than those which were already infidels,” explained an ISIS spokesman on Twitter, who was not identified.”

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/07/10/ISIS-Parody-on-Palestinian-TV-Depicts-Jihadists-as-Allies-of-Israel“

Posted by lally | September 3, 2014, 4:49 pm
Lally my dear,

Of course I am a lousy lurker! That’s by design. Reading and responding to the comments on this blog is a frivolous borderline wasteful activity on my part and I’d check myself into a clinic before I took it more seriously than it deserves. It is also completely by design that I am aggressive and provocative towards the commenters here, because in being this way I discover more about the people that I am dealing with.

And actually, after this pleasant exchange, I finally understand what your problem is. It’s not you who’s crazy! It’s your sources that are crazy!

So let me get this straight? You’re railing off on MEMRI because of something that Breitbart wrote about one video that MEMRI translated? Doesn’t that seem a bit irresponsible to you? Don’t you feel manipulated? I’ve been in the US for half my life, and I’ve never accessed a conservative web-site for a single view nor listened to a single second of conservative talk radio! These maniacs are out there, I am all too aware! But I don’t rely on them for my information, let alone to form any of my opinions about anything!

This Breitbart review is extremely biased garbage! I saw the original video clip when it first came out and did the rounds on Twitter. I actually haven’t even seen the MEMRI translation yet (I’m sorry but I’m not going to watch the clip again whether translated or not), but I’ve seen enough MEMRI videos to be somewhat reassured that their translations are reasonably accurate and objective!

This clip contained no homo-eroticism, let alone outright homosexuality, as Breitbart claims! I’m not even gonna discuss that!

That bit at the end where the Israeli fella is allowed through completely ruined the video for me, because I thought it was in bad taste! This ‘lenient on Israel’ trope is a fairly common refrain in bitter Arabic political commentary towards the Arab World’s native oppressors. When Assad shelled Homs a while back, there were lots of tasteless commentators who were saying, “He’s attacking us when he should be directing his fire at the Golan!”

Again, this ‘lenient on Israel’ refrain is common and goes way, way back! I’m talking decades! But if Breitbart wants to read too much into it and claim it as evidence of a “rift” between ISIS and “other Jihadis” (presumably Hamas), for his own reasons (I’m sorry I didn’t follow his argument and I’m too busy to try to right now), then that’s his prerogative and problem, not yours, and certainly not mine!

My advice to you if you genuinely care about the Arab World is to cut Breitbart out of your life completely, learn Arabic, and lean on sources that are closer to the ground! Develop a comprehensive body of knowledge from a diverse set of information sources, and that way you will immunize yourself against every right-wing American moron who says something stupid about the region and its people! I’d go so far as to assert that what these right-wing American pundits do is completely gratuitous. Like dealing with casinos, the only way to win with them is not to play! They want your time and your opinion, and your duty to yourself if you care this much is to deny them both!

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 3, 2014, 6:22 pm
Here’s a really fun review; or is it a parody of a review?

Lilly,

We had a link to the skit here just yesterday. Its not that complicated. Hamas is trying to distance itself from those “barbaric” ISIS jihadists after Hamas’s glorious victory against the joos.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 3, 2014, 7:05 pm
Silly Samer. Of course I’m crazy! Hello?

Breitbart is the name of the website; the originator, Andrew Breitbart, is quite dead.
The reviewer is named Frances. That’s Frances, not Francis. She’s a chick.

I thought the “slightly gay” accusation based on the character saying, “Back in the day, before I became an ISISsy,..” (I Sissy?) was hilarious. Why didn’t the reviewer mention the butts bumping and patting as evidence of slight gayness?

You are actually depriving yourself of a great source of knowledge by imitating the Three Monkeys when it comes to “conservative” whatevers. Ever heard of the saying “know thine enemy”? i can’t tell you what excellent goodies I have gleaned over the years from my adversaries.

Spread your wings and open your eyes, Grasshopper!

Posted by lally | September 3, 2014, 7:22 pm
Samer,

Stop picking on Breitbart and right-wingers. At least now we see GWB was right about Iraq.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 3, 2014, 7:29 pm
OK, just to be clear, I started commenting here because I wanted to engage with Arabs (and yes, Jews) culturally online, try to build some kind of mutually respectful and beneficial grassroots organization (again online), so I don’t have to drive anywhere and deal with a bunch of Middle Eastern prima-donnas in the flesh (yes, this has been my bitter experience in real-life Americana!).

I certainly didn’t aim to get involved in rancorous, high-stakes American politics. That’s a very crowded arena, and frankly I’m flying by the seat of my pants here, so please excuse me while I bow out if that is indeed what’s going on here!

It seems I thought I was the player, but it turned out I was the one being played! Nice work, everyone!

As a parting note (I’m being melodramatic, I’m not really going away), Lally I have no idea who you are, but I’ve actually grown to really like you! You remind me of a time, many years ago, on a very cold Winter’s day (I live in the US Northwest), I found myself at a joint-meeting of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Mothers Against Military Madness (MAMM). I told those really nice ladies that I worked for a corporation, and they practically lynched me! I came out of that meeting thinking to myself, “Gosh these women are insane!” And I regret to say that I never went back there (although I still obviously have fond memories)! 🙂

P.S.: Also Lally, I didn’t watch the MEMRI video in such detail to detect any “slight gayness”. But I grew up in the very conservative Persian/Arabian Gulf region, where pre-marital relationships between men and women of all ages were really frowned upon, and I’ve come to regard male “slight gayness” as quite normal, provided that it doesn’t get confused with homo-eroticism or homosexuality, which it certainly is not by default! Again, if Westerners want to laugh at this kind of thing (for example, I used to benignly kiss my Arab friends on the cheeks upon meeting with them but having been thoroughly Americanized I’d never think of doing this today with anyone, Arab or not), it’s their prerogative, as long as they don’t exaggerate it and make it out to be something it’s not!

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 3, 2014, 8:08 pm
Samer.

I just was really struck at the cultural idiocy of that review in total. Which is why I “asked” if the review was also a parody. It was so bad it was good.

Your bit about the cheek kissing reminded me of how positively squirmy the American public gets over our presidents’ bowing and holding hands and dancing sword dances(?) with Arab leaders.

You were brave to face the ladies of Mamm and Madd. I can just imagine….

Posted by lally | September 3, 2014, 11:51 pm
Well I for one am enjoying the exchange between Lally and Samer.

Samer, did you by any chance play the fiddle growing up?

Posted by Gabriel | September 4, 2014, 12:53 am
Yes I did! I wasn’t very good, mind you, because I never practiced, but I could at least fake a vibrato! OMG, do you know me? Please be discreet! 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 4, 2014, 1:15 am
Samer,

Well it doesn’t help that you use your full name. Do I know you. I think I do. I could ask more prying questions to settle the issue once and for all. If it’s any consolation, it only means you potentially know me too.

Lally,

The review by Frances says nothing really above and beyond what many Arabs say today… That ISIS is some wacky creation meant to (and here you have to pick leanings), either:

– Justify the need for the Bashars/Saddams etc to rule the Arab world, lest the extremists run amok.

– Justify the need for more American intervention.

Whatever else the conspiracy theorists say to date, we can be certain of two things. First, that Isis has yet to attack Saudi Arabia. And second, Isis is more concerned about “Syraq”, than Israel.

Frances’ review is neither bad nor good. Just irrelevant.

Posted by Gabriel | September 4, 2014, 1:36 am
The ISIS Lookalike Contest Continues

Looks like BB was right. Hamas’s fingerprints were all over the 3 teenager abduction and murder.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4567528,00.html

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 4, 2014, 6:52 am
Dayum. I was just enjoying the humor & whimsy of it all, do not really care about deeper messages implied or obvious. As for the conspiracy theories surrounding ISIS…take your pick..there is something for everyone.

Factoid maybe? Per ISIS; the US is the Great Satan and Iran is the Lesser version.

So far tho, I have yet to gather any subscribers to my own dark musings that the MEK slithers unseen beneath it all…..

Posted by lally | September 4, 2014, 12:04 pm
Isn’t it ironic that Sunnis all over the Levant and North Africa are able to receive citizenship in Europe and the US easier than they are able to in any Arab Gulf country?

#JustAsking

Posted by Ray | September 4, 2014, 1:58 pm
MEK?

Posted by Gabriel | September 4, 2014, 3:55 pm
Ray, with all due respect you’re so ignorant, hackneyed and unoriginal I was able to meticulously trap you with no effort at all on my part!

Yes, I have a very Arabic name and 95% of people I meet these days immediately assume that I am Muslim, which I am completely fine with and make absolutely no effort to pre-empt. But it seems in your magnificent, sectarian expertise, you’ve gone even further to tag me as a Sunni! Way to go, homeslice!

But would you believe me if I told you that not only am I 100% Christian, but that I’m actually 50% Maronite on my mother’s side? Would you believe this, or would you have some kind of meltdown?

Maybe you don’t have Christian Nassers in Lebanon, but look a few miles south of your border, and you should find plenty of Christian Nassers in the region around Nazareth and the Jezreel Valley (Murj Ibn Amer). This Galilee territory is now Israel’s Northern District of course. Before that, according to its present overlords, apparently it was nothing, and nobody lived there!

Would you also believe me if I told you that around World War I there were Maronites as far north as Turkey, and even until 1948 and perhaps afterwards there were thriving Maronite congregations at least as far south as Jerusalem? Do you really believe that Maronites lived for thousands of years around Mount Lebanon without bothering to venture a few miles either north or south?

Where am I going with this? Basically, my mother is Maronite but doesn’t consider herself Lebanese! Let me ask, is this even possible without the universe imploding unto itself and swallowing us all in a super-massive black hole?

I basically grew up to constant taunts and torments from Lebanese Christians that I shouldn’t really exist, that I am a living testament to cowardice and betrayal, that my ancestors should have fought the Israelis even if it meant them being totally annihilated and me never being conceived. But enough about me …

Let me ask you this: All those Christian Chaldean refugees currently in Lebanon who fled ISIS in Mosul, are they going to receive Lebanese nationality? Apparently, according to your doctrine, people emigrate according to religion, the Sunnis should go to the Gulf and so Lebanon presumably is where the Christians should go!

So let’s see, are you going to put your money where your mouth is and naturalize those guys? Or will you circle your wagons and cut them off, and tell them that they should have stayed put and fought ISIS in Mosul (presumably without any US assistance)?

Let me also ask this: Assuming that you do decide to naturalize them in your religious Christian largesse, would your allies in Hezbollah (you’re so stupid I am going to assume that you’re a Aounist) let you do this? Wouldn’t that disrupt the “delicate, sectarian balance” of Lebanon? Wouldn’t some Shiite somewhere, anywhere between Beirut and Baghdad and perhaps even beyond, wet his pants in rage?

So basically, you can’t even influence immigration policy in your own backyard, but you “just ask” why Europe and the US are taking Sunnis? Let me counter the question, why the f*ck not? Let me blow your mind: Not only are there Levantine Sunnis in America, wait for it, there are Saudi Arabian Sunnis in America too! Oh my God! Is the sun still rising in the East and setting in the West? Some of them even practiced medicine at the Mayo Clinic before deciding to become artists! You want proof? It’s right here, buddy:

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 4, 2014, 5:59 pm
Samer,

Where is the only place in ME where the Christian community is GROWING?

Hint: It is sometimes referred to as The Apartheid State™.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 4, 2014, 8:36 pm
Gabby…Mujahedin el khalk. A pet project of Lally. Has the Ice melted?

Samer, Ray is just a “funny” random dude. If I were you I’d leave him alone.

Posted by danny | September 4, 2014, 8:47 pm
Danny

The Ice needs to move to Canada. He can keep his form for far longer.

Yes I thought the reference was to the Khalq. I need to brush up on my reading, I thought the movement was long dead.

AP

There’s apparently a huge outflux of Christians from various Middle Eastern localities. It’s good to know there is a hone for them there. Is Bibi planning new WB developments to house them all?

Samer,

Oh my interest seems to be piqued more and more.

Posted by Gabriel | September 4, 2014, 9:52 pm
Samer, you guessed well, Ray, aka r2d2, Peter in Dubai, is a dumb Aouni who has been banned from here on several occasions for his sectarian, bigoted, misogynist rants, pay no attention to this imbecile.

Posted by Vulcan | September 5, 2014, 3:17 am
It’s astounding the conclusions some people here make.

Samer did not get my point.

Posted by Ray | September 5, 2014, 6:56 am
There’s apparently a huge outflux of Christians from various Middle Eastern localities. It’s good to know there is a hone for them there. Is Bibi planning new WB developments to house them all?

Gabriel,

I am enjoying the little spats between the arab participants here: sunni, salafi, Aouni, Marionite, Christian, yellow jacket, etc. I am also enjoying Samer’s posts and reading about the Maronites. Why would Maronites be taunted by other Christians? I thought Maronites ARE Christian.

Yes, it is good to know there is a home for Christians in Israel. There is a home there for muslims as well, as they make up over 20% of the population. Therefore, BB’s job isn’t just protecting jews, it’s protecting all Israelis.

OK, so as far as WB settlements are concerned, that, of course, is defined as anything over the Green Line™.

( I use the ™ symbol for those little Middle East “rules and axioms” that most observers can’t imagine not existing.)

That includes the most holy site of Judaism like the Western Wall (aka Wailing Wall) and the entire Old City of Jerusalem, Hebron (the tomb of the patriarchs and burial place of Abraham), etc. There are several communities also in the WB like Gush Etzion and Ariel. The WB also includes the road along the Jordan river that connects Beit Shean to Masada.

My wife has a cousin who lives in Efrat (WB). To my knowledge, any Israeli who wants to live there can, including christians and muslims. Israel is sort of strange in that way. There are many towns the are solely christian, muslim and jewish, and they prefer to keep it that way. Then there are cities where the population is very mixed. Haifa is the most culturally diverse town where christians, jews and muslims all live peacefully together.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gush_Etzion

In my opinion, part of “post-zionism”, is the ability of Israel to treat all her citizens equally. Now that Israel is fairly strong, modern and protected, it is doing a fairly good job of creating a tolerant, 21st century state. I think that’s pretty good, especially when the surrounding states are moving further into the Middle Ages.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 5, 2014, 7:42 am
AP,

So Israel will take in those Christian refugees.

And Samer is Palestinian. Is Israel offering to take them back in. It will help the PR campaign on growing Christian population there.

Posted by Gabriel | September 5, 2014, 8:13 am
Gabriel,

What Christian refugees? Israel takes in a few refugees every year, but Israel is already inundated with illegal foreign workers and high unemployment.

Frankly Israel isn’t interested in “PR campaigns”, especially for those who have been ignoring these campaigns for the past 60 years and who only require “PR campaigns” from Israel and none from other countries.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 5, 2014, 9:20 am
Mosul, Syria. Lots of places.

You seemed to be giving Samer a pep talk on how welcoming Israel is to the Christian community. I thought I’d give you a helping hand on the topic.

Posted by Gabriel | September 5, 2014, 9:33 am
Gabriel,

I never used the term “welcoming”. I used the term “growing”. Anyway, I will enjoy reading more from Samer.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 5, 2014, 10:06 am
Gabriel and Akbar Palace,

I want to nip this in the bud before it grows any further! Please don’t exploit the very personal information that I provided here to score cheap political points against one another!

If this thing blows up in my face and starts to look like cyber-harassment or cyber-bullying, I promise you I will seek legal protection.

So please, I kindly ask, chill out, relax, and talk about something, or someone, else!

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 5, 2014, 11:23 am
Samer,

You didn’t answer my question about Maronites vs. the rest of the christian community. Of course you don’t have to.

And BTW, what’s wrong with “cheap political points”? 😉

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 5, 2014, 11:38 am
cyber harassment lol….

Posted by danny | September 5, 2014, 1:19 pm
Legal protection!!?

Posted by Vulcan | September 5, 2014, 2:02 pm
Today’s ME Deja Vu Article of the Day

Obama says key allies ready to join U.S. action in Iraq

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-says-key-allies-ready-join-u-action-184811257.html

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 5, 2014, 3:20 pm
UH OH.

Samer, are you threatening QN?

Posted by lally | September 5, 2014, 3:23 pm
Looks like the sectarian open season on the Sunnis of Iraq is now over on this blog. Good men and women.

I guess it will resume after the next journalist video.

Anyway, this is pathetic.

But what’s more pathetic is the lonely zionist terrorist desperately trying to get responses.

Mashallah.

Posted by 3issa | September 5, 2014, 4:35 pm
…lonely Zionist terrorist…

Threesa,

When you take away the aggregious Zionist terrorism away from the peaceful ME, you are left with aggregious Islamic and authoritarian terrorism the kills orders of magnitude more Arabs, muslims and christians.

But we thank you for you selective gall and outrage. It sure beats doing anything constructive.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 5, 2014, 7:08 pm
OK now you can move on with your life. Please pack up (or at least tell your pals who tried the exotic adventure to pack up). Terrorists.

Posted by 3issa | September 5, 2014, 7:22 pm
Iraqi Sunni bashing season over?!

I didn’t get the memo! 🙂

Issa,

You shouldn’t confuse criticism of Islamism with criticism of Sunnis. It’s sort of like the distinction you personally draw between criticizing Jews versus criticizing Zionists.

Posted by Gabriel | September 5, 2014, 11:19 pm
Bashing sunnis? Berserkers are berserkers the world over. Sect matters not at all.
……..

aka.MEQ

First of all, they are a cult and I have problems with cults, especially successful ones. Big problems. This one is Scientology on meth. Scientology likes to accumulate hollywood stars, the rev Moon just wanted vast numbers, Mme prefers to collect influential politicians, elites and retired generals to her cause and does so with great ease. I know how these outfits work and this group is masterful.

I have noted that they have the quickest reaction force I’ve ever seen to articles or whatever about the entity. Their operatives are so fast in response w/ their messaging that one can only think they have been somehow monitoring the innerwebs for keywords 24/7 for quite some time.

The singleminded laser focus on their enemies is particularly ferocious and their ability to manipulate governments to do their will is uncanny.

Always best to begin with testimonials from those bearing witness:

http://www.vice.com/read/masoud-banisadr-mek-cult-184

Posted by lally | September 5, 2014, 11:50 pm
Isn’t it obvious the mullahs want MEK to look like a cult because they themselves are THE cult?

Give us something to believe which is far less obvious. This piece of vice sh*t is a huge ibsult to human intelligence.

But people are people and Joanne Rivers would tell you people are stupid if she were alive. Now that she’s dead people are becoming smarter as you can see.

Posted by Mustap | September 6, 2014, 12:28 am
Awww 3issaw, are your feelings hurt? Don’t worry, IS will make it up for you soon, with few more beheadings and mass executions of dirty infidels and heretics.

Posted by Vulcan | September 6, 2014, 12:38 am
A second Lebanese Army Soldier apparently has been “beheaded” by the IS in Lebanon.

What kind of code of honor do these animals possess ?

Posted by Ray | September 6, 2014, 12:24 pm
Lally,

Not sure why you’ve taken such an interest in the MEK. I was reading online that the movement started by being some Marxist Islamist movement and that it’s more morphed into some anti Islamist grouping.

Which branch do you think is rabble rousing?

PS religions are little more than cults that have achieved far more respectability than they deserve.

Is the current figurehead for the movement so appealing that he can attract a following?

Posted by Gabriel | September 6, 2014, 5:00 pm
Gabe.

To me, the political/religious/self-improvement/whatever aspects of cults are beside the point. I have seen them up close enough to be deeply repulsed by the ease by which control of the “self” is demanded and so gladly surrendered.

So many of them are also killers of one sort or another.

(One California outfit, Synanon, decided to put a live rattlesnake in the mailbox of the attorney giving them grief. Whimsical, no?)

The good MEQ widow(?) Mme’s followers are thought to have been the cycle-riding agents of death that targeted Iranian scientists.

The same ex-official in the previously linked interview I posted above is a bit of a skeptic perhaps but he did have hide for his life, so…:

“There was an accusation that the US was training MEK in Nevada to be used as assassins. Do you believe this?

No I don’t believe this. What is the average age of MEK members now/ I think it is about eighty. What do you want to do with people this old? I don’t think so. Probably not even spying. The only use they might have for them may be in relation to some terrorist activities in Thailand and in Europe where they say Iran or Hezbollah are committing terrorist attacks against Israeli embassy or the personnel of the Israeli embassy. Probably they could use MEK to discredit the Iranian government or even Hezbollah because Politically I don’t believe they use these tactics at this point, it would be political suicide for them. There was a story in the United States that came to the media and vanished about someone who was going to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in the United States. It’s possible they can create this news with MEK members to work against the Iranian government, but no real action.”

http://mondoweiss.net/2013/11/interview-former-mojahedin.html#sthash.4bjq3jt7.dpuf

Posted by lally | September 7, 2014, 1:13 am
Lally my dear,

Only a paranoid halfwit like you would have interpreted what I did there as threatening QN instead of trying to cover my own butt!

Seriously, don’t you know Gabriel and Akbar Palace by now? If I let them, they would have dragged this thing out for three months and generated hundreds of comments out of it! And the tragedy would have been that at the end of it, neither of them would have budged and nothing would have been reconciled or accomplished. I am fine with this of course and they are free to do as they please, as long as it’s not my bullet-ridden corpse stupidly rotting away in the middle of the street, in the crossfire of their conflict!

I realize that I came across as hysterical but that’s because I don’t do one-liner contributions here, because I don’t browse here frequently enough to sustain a conversational pace with anyone. So I do my comments “in bulk”, and yes I try to make them as forward-looking as possible by trying to predict where a more natural and spontaneous conversation might otherwise go.

I won’t lie, I am an IT professional and I LOVE the Internet and see it as man’s greatest short-term hope for averting the disastrous consequences of climate change that are poised to ravage Earth’s human societies within the next several decades. When it comes to efficiency, nothing beats the Internet. Our cities need to stop growing! Our highways need to stop widening! Our airports need to stop adding runways! And we need to transfer as much of our human intellectual activities moving forward as possible onto the Internet.

But I do realize that this is very risky and quite precarious. Which is why I am very interested in where the Internet and the law intersect, at least here in the US. Whether it’s Target corporation paying out billions of dollars to credit card companies for its own cybersecurity breaches, Jennifer Lawrence preventing her leaked nude photos from getting on the front pages of Internet news sites, or traumatized teenage girls apprehending perverts who’ve managed to hack into their webcams, I am very interested in seeing how this all plays out both technically and legally, and how authorities and scholars deal with it.

Moving on, I will admit that while it didn’t occur to me previously, now that you’ve outed yourself as pro-Hezbollah, anti-Israel, anti-MEK (whatever that is!), and anti-US neocon, I am starting to think that you might be Iranian! Could it be that Lally is your nickname and that your real name is Laleh? I know that Laleh is a very common name for Iranian girls, and that it’s Persian for “tulip”!

And lastly, honestly I am drowning with work and personal obligations here in real-life and so I don’t think I can sustain this pace of contribution to this blog for too much longer. I am going to go quiet for a while and revert back to, yes, lurking here! Please continue to make it fun and interesting! 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 7, 2014, 4:39 pm
Samer,

Do you honestly believe I would have let it stretch out for hundreds of comments with AP?!

You really aren’t doing a good job lurking.

Posted by Gabriel | September 7, 2014, 5:46 pm
Stop guessing Samer. We all know Lally. You’re right she’s pro hezbollah and we all know that but she’s not Iranian. She’s Lebanese from the south who used to live in south Beirut and she was probably a neighbour of Amal Saad Ghorayeb. She just moved recently to Manhatten or Brooklyn and she loves to brag about her newly acquired Jewish friends, who she claims are also pro-hezbollah, just like all Lebanese who don’t know what to brag about when they run out of things to brag about.

Posted by Mustap | September 7, 2014, 5:52 pm
Gabriel,

I was exaggerating and trying to justify my own over-reaction! Don’t be insulted! No I don’t honestly believe that, but you gotta admit that you do have quite an endurance for a good fight here, and that your adversaries, when equally motivated, do a reasonably good job of roping you in for a while! My zen advice to you? Spend less time sparring and more time training! Control your emotions and try to build skill and discipline. That’s how you make it count! 🙂

Mustap,

Thanks for painting quite the portrait of Lally! If this is who she truly is, then I wouldn’t worry too much about her! These presumably financially independent Arabs who fart around in the big cities of the West do a pretty good job of spinning their wheels, wasting their time and accomplishing nothing. 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 7, 2014, 6:47 pm
Wait, hang on a sec? If Lally is South Lebanese or South Beiruti or whatever, how come she told me earlier in this thread that she doesn’t speak Arabic? I stupidly believed that, and it threw me off big-time! (but I’m not going to bother tracing the narrative details so people who don’t know what I’m talking about can easily figure it out!)

Anyway, not that it matters! It doesn’t! For the non-Arab/American/Western professors and Middle East foreign policy types who presumably lurk around here and read the garbage that we type, you should realize, if you don’t already know, that Middle Easterners SPECIALIZE in this kind of deceit and duplicity! It’s actually quite amazing to be initiated into this sordid kind of thing!

Simply put, this blog is not safe! It’s got such a gross, madhouse feel.

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 7, 2014, 7:27 pm
Samer,

I recall many things Lally said that turned out to be untrue.

She linked a huge number of Arabic articles that you can go back and check in the archives.

She speaks very good Arabic.

She likes to do a bit of camouflaging. That’s part of a very complex character.

She likes Hassan Nasrallah, Qasem, Suleimani, the Ayatollah, Ahmed Challabi, Bashar Assad, Aoun and the whole works.

But she doesn’t like the Mujahedeen (MEK) and their Mme. for obvious reasons as you can see. She also doesn’t like the Gulfies and of course she doesn’t like me.

Posted by Mustap | September 7, 2014, 7:37 pm
Mustap,

No offense, but I’d be surprised if anyone likes you around here!

For one thing, you’re a raging anti-semite! I don’t want to argue with you about it because you’re very adversarial and stubborn, but you need to get over this, FAST, especially if you are currently anywhere in North America as I suspect you are (USA or Canada), and want to advance in these societies.

Then you need to discipline yourself, because I don’t know what it is that’s up with you, but you’re completely out of control! You come across as a boiling pot of rage! 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 7, 2014, 8:05 pm
Samer,

You think I care about the Vulcans, the Dannys, the Lallys, the Gabriels ……. I enjoy the adversial aspect of it.

I just like their empty pretenses and their shallow arguments. Where else can you get the good laughs that you get here? I know I can drive any one of them to frenzied responses very easily and enjoy every bit of it.

You need not worry about my own standing in north american societies. It is very very well taken care of.

Mind you however. I’m not anti semite without arguing about it.

Posted by Mustap | September 7, 2014, 8:30 pm
For one thing, you’re a raging anti-semite!

I’ve never heard of a Palestinian accuse someone of being an anti-semite. Pinch me.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 7, 2014, 9:49 pm
Samer,

Most people here are quite transparent.

I don’t know if Lally has middle eastern roots or not. She said she doesn’t, there is no reason to not take her word for it.

She’s actually one of the best read and most sophisticated posters here and sadly not posting more often- whether or not one agrees with her views.

Also, a correction is in order. Because I am convinced that Mustafa is in fact Iceman, I have to be extremely clear on the point that I actually like the fellow- berserker though he may be. And I am convinced that with a bit of love and attention, he’ll flower to his full humanistic and tolerant potential.

Posted by Gabriel | September 8, 2014, 12:27 am
Mustafa ya Habib albi,

Why don’t you go ahead and drive a frenzied response out of me.

🙂

Posted by Gabriel | September 8, 2014, 12:42 am
In the spirit of full disclosure here, my real name is Shirley Levine, born and raised in Brooklyn Heights NY. I’m a Liberal Conservative and I learned Arabic because I frequently vacation in lovely Beirut. 😉

Posted by Vulcan | September 8, 2014, 2:15 am
Hi, My real name is Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and I was born in Forest Hills, NY. I support the Obama Administration, higher taxes, Obamacare, safe havens for illegal immigrants, socialism, strict gun control, and legalization of all drugs except for alcohol. Thank you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Wasserman_Schultz

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 8, 2014, 7:28 am
My name is Michel Aoun and I love the iceman. 😀

Posted by danny | September 8, 2014, 7:57 am
Ladies and gents,

Can we stop the personal attacks please? There isn’t going to be a post for at least a few days, and in the meantime you might all go out and get some air. No sense hanging around here.

Thanks.

Posted by Qifa Nabki | September 8, 2014, 8:33 am
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/variety/2014/09/07/Lebanon-s-Burn-ISIS-flag-challenge-goes-viral.html

Posted by Gabriel | September 8, 2014, 6:11 pm
Gabriel,

Geez, several comments from that article are AGAINST burning the ISIS flag. It’s “haram”….

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 8, 2014, 7:28 pm
You should respond.

Ask the offending commenter if they are OK with burning Israeli flags, given that it represents a desecration of religious symbols.

Posted by Gabriel | September 8, 2014, 8:02 pm
Gabriel,

Yes, well it’s a known fact the Israeli flag is the ass wipe of choice for islamists, resistance pros, BDSers and ME academics around the world.

But your suggestion is duly noted;)

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 8, 2014, 8:59 pm
Riffi = Lebanese Sunni

Lebanese Sunni = Hariri

Hariri = Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia = Wahabism

Wahabsim = Intolerance

Intolerance = IS

Posted by Ray | September 9, 2014, 1:11 pm
No room for Salafist or Sufi Muslims in the Arab Gulf region?

Posted by Ray | September 9, 2014, 1:26 pm
When Mecca will be reduced to the size and influence of the Vatican, modern Arabs will most probably prosper and perhaps lead the way forwards to magnificent things.

Posted by Ray | September 9, 2014, 1:40 pm
When Mecca will be reduced to the size and influence of the Vatican, modern Arabs will most probably prosper and perhaps lead the way forwards to magnificent things.

Ray,

I get what you’re saying, but I think it’s more general than that. I think “moderate” arabs have do demand freedom and democracy, plan for it, and anoint a competent and vocal leadership promoting this.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 10, 2014, 1:31 pm
I see lots of expressions of love that will melt away at the very first change of seasons.

Sorry guys, I have never been to the freezer despite your assertions, and the obvious attempt to associate me with the Norsks. But it doesn’t bother me anymore. It’s become part and parcel of listening to irrelevant comments – a price one has to pay for the giggles. I’m willing to live with that.

I’m saying that despite all the apparent temptations that you guys are offering.

Speaking of anti-Semitism, I fail to see how I can be anti-myself. Besides, I don’t believe in this Zio/Jewish crap of being a self hater. I could hate anything but myself. That’s just being honest, and human as the fans of war criminals would like to talk about. That’s another issue one needs to resolve: how can you be human and be a fan of a war criminal? Worse how can you be human and want the war criminal to become a president of a country with the unwelcome and undesired possibility that such a criminal may for one reason or another which has to do with state functions sit in one and the same room with the Wise King? How can we imagine such an outcome as humans?

May be the resident Zios can explain to us how that works, i.e. being a self hater. I just can’t. The only explanation I can come up with would be that present day Zios who claim to be Jews are in fact not Semites but members of a race that originated in East Asia sometime in the past. I would appreciate any insights on this. That’s as much as I will argue charges of being anti-Semite levelled on me for no obvious reasons whatsoever by Samer.

May be Samer should concentrate more on his one’s and zero’s rather than on who is and is not anti-Semite and in need of social skills. I do like his ideas, however, about saving the environment through the internet but I just don’t see how practical it can be. I must confess that I am in an industry which contributes lots and lots and lots to degrading the environment, but we’re coming up with far reaching and more practical solutions to this problem than shuffling one’s and zeros’ and requiring 20000 personnel to replacing one light bulb as he and his colleagues are adept at doing. We are actually reducing CO2 content in the atmosphere here in NA by some very novel and mega projects, but NOT through the use of the internet. Please convince me otherwise of your ideas: How did I improve the environment by using the internet in making this comment?

Posted by Mustap | September 10, 2014, 2:12 pm
On another note, Sec. Kerry is on a Middle East tour where he may drop by to a royal desert ranch to begin his tutoring in the sword parade. I’m not sure how he may hare being an ex-hippie and a war deserter.

But, the best part is the one played by Netenyaho, ever trying to inflate his underpants by stuffing them with pieces of cloth. His latest attempt was to insinuate that direct flights between his terrorism sanctioning entity and the Wise Kingdom are now taking place on schedule! One can never imagine how far a legitimacy depraved maniac is willing to go!

Posted by Mustap | September 10, 2014, 2:41 pm
Ted Cruz booed off the stage by a minority of christian Resistance Pros™ who seem to ignore that their enemy is also Israel’s enemy. Oh well, vivre la difference….

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/09/10/Ted-Cruz–Opposition-to-Israel-Led-to-Me-Leaving-Event

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 11, 2014, 7:07 am
The Two Faces of Mustache

Mustache said above:

May be the resident Zios can explain to us how that works, i.e. being a self hater. I just can’t. The only explanation I can come up with would be that present day Zios who claim to be Jews are in fact not Semites but members of a race that originated in East Asia sometime in the past.

But Mustache said a few months ago:

Akbar Palace,

I believe threesa must find the legendary iceman and they both should sit down to figure out a way out of the Arabic diglossia based on the song of the snowman. While you and I should sit down and find out a way on how to reconcile the two living semitic languages, Arabic and Hebrew. After all, on his recent visit to Israel, the Pope of Rome and Bibi engaged in a heated debate on what language Jesus spoke, with Netenyahoo insisting it was Hebrew while the Pope was adamant it was Aramaic. To me, they were all Semitic languages and that’s how they should be looked at.

I still don’t understand why non-Semites are so eager to sow dvisions among Semites even in the name of who they consider their own god.

Posted by Mustap | May 31, 2014, 2:07 pm

AND

Akbar Palace,

I believe our common problem with Iran goes much deeper than one could imagine.

It is a clear case of two races that cannot coexist. I mean we, the Semites (Jews and Arabs, ONLY descendants of the Great Patriarch) and them the Aryans who at one point in time produced the most hated criminal in history seeking to exterminate the Semites for no reason but jealousy and spite. You know that Nietzsche was a fan of zarathustra, the so-called prophet of the Aryans.

Of course, the Iranians will not admit to it. But they will offer lies, deceptions and dissimulations, etc….. I’m sure when it comes to it, the Wise King will never hesitate to make the right choices which will ensure that the descendants of the Patriarch are treated respectfully as they should.

Posted by Mustap | May 6, 2014, 1:35 pm

(too weird and creepy for me folks)

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 11, 2014, 10:19 am
I must have missed all this discussion. Boy oh boy did I miss some juicy stuff.

So Mustafa knows the iceman after all.

And I’m impressed. He uses big words like diglossia. Mustafa, a cunning linguist.. Who knew?

Posted by Gabriel | September 11, 2014, 10:33 am
An Untold Lebanese Refugee Story

AP

You should add the above comment to the list.

Posted by Gabriel | September 11, 2014, 11:34 am
Today’s “9-11″ QN Quiz Question:

Who said the following:

“To begin withdrawing before our commanders tell us we are ready would be dangerous for Iraq, for the region and for the United States.”

“It would mean surrendering the future of Iraq to Al Qaeda.”

“It would mean that we’d be risking mass killings on a horrific scale.”

“It would mean we allow the terrorists to establish a safe haven in Iraq to replace the one they lost in Afghanistan.”

“It would mean we’d be increasing the probability that American troops would have to return at some later date to confront an enemy that is even more dangerous.”

Winner gets a free bumper sticker, “Friends don’t let friends vote Democrat”

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 11, 2014, 11:54 am
Good NewZ for ISIS haters

Kerry gets permission to protect the Middle East again. One of Kerry’s aides responded that after difficult negotiations, the ME states promised not to blame the US when the ME collapses again after the US leaves the region…

http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-calls-baghdad-government-heart-fight-against-islamic-025928003.html

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 11, 2014, 3:17 pm
So. Will the US of A be supporting the FSA proxy General Idriss as he teams up with the Nusra Front and ISIS in addressing the balance of powers in the Levant?
My fellow Americans might be a bit confused that some bloody beheaders are considered kosher and worthy of our trea$ure. If they are updated on this little discrepancy, that is.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Sep-08/269883-frustration-drives-arsals-fsa-into-isis-ranks.ashx#axzz3D4JaGvai

Gabe…thnks!

Posted by lally | September 11, 2014, 11:37 pm
Lally,

Didn’t you get the memo? It’s all shit including your beloved yellow jacket ragamuffins. The ME has more flavors of khara than anywhere else in the world.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 12, 2014, 7:49 am
“General Idriss”? Lally you have missed the memo…He’s sunbathing in Antalia.

Posted by danny | September 12, 2014, 8:15 am
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Zionist stooge, booed in Washington for supporting terrorist Israel,

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/11/politics/cruz-booed-off-stage/index.html?hpt=po_c2

The American people are not as hopeless as it seems. They’re beginning to wake up to the dangers of the enemy within.

Posted by Mustap | September 12, 2014, 8:54 am
I chopped his head off and forced a plane into a US skyscraper but the joos are really to blame for it NewZ

Mustache,

Here is some factual information to help you in your new mission to access blame.

Mazal tov.

http://www.antisemitism.org.il/eng/Arab_Anti_Semitism

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 12, 2014, 12:03 pm
Mazal Tov to you resident zio aghbar.

When will you zios stop this so-called holocaust industry of sucking the world out of its common sense?

It’s been over 70 years and you’re still mourning? it’s way way overdue, don’t you think?

But it looks like zios intend to milk it nice and dry for all its worth. How cheap and hypocritical? Who the F**k cares what some German morons did long ago?

And you still want to hold the whole world guilty by association? Suck my…

Is it not sufficient that you rob a whole people, which had nothing to do with your German morons, of its homeland?

And who cares how Descartes defines anti-Semitism?

I’m a Semite by birth, unlike many of you so-called Jews, and no one can rob me of this just to satisfy his or her own retarded mindset of how things should be defined.

In other words my great great great grand father is Shem ibn Noah.

Who the hell is your grand father?

Posted by Mustap | September 12, 2014, 1:01 pm
Why are the Zios sending their agents to areas of trouble?

Why are they apparently staging videotaped beheadings using their own agents of so-called Islamist morons to broadcast to the world as a sensational propaganda?

And why are Zios staging the burial of an apparent victim with no body around to verify the death and to do PROPER burial?

Is it because the holocaust industry that’s been going on for almost 70 years, securing huge profits, financial and political, to its Zio beneficiaries, is now losing its lustre and finding very few sympathizers among the gullible, and is in urgent need to be replaced with a freshly refurbished industry?

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/09/12/sotloff-was-israeli-agent-his-execution-staged-analyst/

Posted by Mustap | September 12, 2014, 1:22 pm
Israeli arabs march against ISIS; blame the usual suspect(s)…..

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4570349,00.html

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 12, 2014, 1:28 pm
Oops!!

http://m.thefiscaltimes.com/fiscaltimes/#!/entry/obamas-war-and-the-dawn-of-the-iranian-decade,5412c8da025312186c4be7a3/1

Posted by Vulcan | September 12, 2014, 1:42 pm
“Saudi Beheads Three by the Sword”

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/147233-saudi-beheads-three-by-the-sword

The face of civilization of the wiser bunch. Now we all know where ISIS merry men are trained!

Posted by danny | September 12, 2014, 3:50 pm
By upholding the Law, the Wise King is ensuring convicted criminals receive their deserved punishment. We applaud the Wise King for so effectively dealing with such criminals keeping the Wise Kingdom free of such undesireables.

The Wise King would have no choice but to approve a similar punishment on a convicted criminal such as the mountainous illiterate, Geagea, if by some unfortunate turn of events the Lebanese made him a so-called president and then he had to travel to the Wise Kingdom on some official business.

We’re counting on the fact that the Lebanese are not as foolish as they sometimes appear to be.

Posted by Mustap | September 12, 2014, 4:43 pm
“Western technicians at Dhahran Air Base like to joke that the only aircraft the Saudis can keep in the air by themselves is a model of a British Tornado on a pedestal at the gates.
Indeed, the entire Saudi military arsenal—including the world’s biggest fleet of American F-15s outside of the U.S. and Japan—couldn’t function without the several hundred mostly American and British technicians who keep the royal family’s tanks, ships, artillery and warplanes in working order.”

http://www.newsweek.com/saudis-tip-toe-war-isis-269674

Posted by Vulcan | September 13, 2014, 12:58 pm
Saudi military is one of the most potent militaries in the entire Middle East as was clearly manifested in the most recent maneuvers, “Saif Abdullah”, and witnessed by high ranking military experts from all over the world,

http://newswatchpakistan.com/2014/04/largest-military-exercise-held-in-saudi-arabias-history/

It is obvious that Zios and their stooges such as the poster above are quite jealous and it is their constant habit to resort to unfounded propaganda to satisfy their foolish envious egos.

The caravan is moving, but dogs are left behind to bark.

Bark on.

Posted by Mustap | September 13, 2014, 2:14 pm
What a relief.

I wonder when the Wise Kingdom will use its formidable army against the heretics in ISIS.

Posted by Gabriel | September 13, 2014, 7:06 pm
More details on the superior capabilities of the Saudi Military, thanks to the visionary Wisdom of the Wise King.

” The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has wisely used its military acquisition programs to leverage investments as offsets to build its domestic industry from scratch. In this perspective, Saudi Arabia has particularly made impressive strides in oil, aerospace and defense technologies.”

http://www.opfblog.com/16398/saudi-armed-forces-military-exercises-sword-of-abdullah/

Once the Sword of Abdullah is unsheathed, then the mullahs and their terrorist stooges including their ISIS protectorates need to be on the lookout for safe havens. They’ll find none.

Dogs (Putin, Suleimani and Ass-ad), however, always bark. Their barks are getting louder and louder by the day.

Lally is no where to be seen these days. Probably engaged in some modern latmiyya parade, while the sword parade is in progress. Surprisingly, Kerry proved to be a good student despite his shaky past.

Posted by Mustap | September 14, 2014, 1:15 pm
Aha!

At last; here is all the casus belli that Israel needs in order to unleash it’s eagerly anticipated genocidal war on Lebanon:

Photp released by IDF of #Hez combatant carrying a rifle near the #Israeli border in violation of the 2006 agreement http://t.co/I6cY6yxkOh—
Yossi Melman (@yossi_melman) September 14, 2014

Posted by lally | September 14, 2014, 1:15 pm
I feel more comfortable by the moment. Why with the joined efforts of the Pakistani and the Saudi militaries… We are all in very good hands. The former wiped out the scourge of the Taliban, and the latter sure to flush out the Western and Jew creation that is I-Sissy.

Posted by Gabriel | September 14, 2014, 2:24 pm
Cobras must come out 100% clean of any Zio stains if ever they can hope to have the slightest chance of getting saved.

Time is ticking. Tik tok tik tok….

Posted by Mustap | September 14, 2014, 3:01 pm
What is that Hezzie doing near the Israel border, Lally?

Starting the lattmiyeh parade?

Posted by Mustap | September 14, 2014, 3:04 pm
Didn’t you get the QN memo?

Kindly watch your language lest he shut the thread down.

As for the stain remover, which should I be getting? The zio-stain tide stick? Or the Jew-stain tide stick.

I want salvation.

Posted by Gabriel | September 14, 2014, 3:08 pm
If in doubt why not try both?

Salvation can then be assured.

Tik tok tik tok…

Posted by Mustap | September 14, 2014, 3:10 pm
Mustafa,

Such an approach is typical of what extremists do.

I would like to attain salvation but remain somewhat pragmatic.

I’m looking to you for direction. WWMD?

(This is no reference to Bush WMDs, just a question: what would Mustafa do).

Posted by Gabriel | September 14, 2014, 5:08 pm
Oh sinnerman, where you gonna run to?

(Do you want to confess?)

Posted by Mustap | September 14, 2014, 6:17 pm
Gabriel,

What do you think of this article? Do you agree with the author?

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4570874,00.html

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 14, 2014, 8:29 pm
OK kids! Here it is in the flesh! Booscary to the IDF!!!!!!:

Follow

Peter LernerVerified account
‏@LTCPeterLerner
#IDF spotted armed #Hezbollah gunmen on our northern border, I wonder what they are planning. pic.twitter.com/NbZNTUbU8d
Reply Retweet Favorite More

RETWEETS
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11:14 AM – 14 Sep 2014 Flag media

Is that a picnic/ice chest of some sort? Sheesh, who knew the Hezzies are so casual? If the IDF is THE model, perhaps it’s understandable that LTC Peter & co confused those random Lebanese guys for “professional” soldiers.

Posted by lally | September 14, 2014, 11:55 pm
#IDF spotted armed #Hezbollah gunmen on our northern border, I wonder what they are planning. http://t.co/NbZNTUbU8d—
Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) September 14, 2014

Posted by lally | September 14, 2014, 11:59 pm
So you’re saying Hassan Qasemi Suleimani is playing Mickey on Hallooween?

How about that? Lattmiyyeh with Santa Barbara flavour?

😆

Posted by Mustap | September 15, 2014, 12:50 am
Today’s anti-semitic newsclip comes from Iraqi government TV….

And we’re supposed to be helping these turds?

http://www.memri.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4491.htm

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 15, 2014, 7:56 am
Mr. Obama seems to lack the finesse of saying less and doing more, which makes him liable to falling to propaganda ploys ready to be launched by those who want to capitalize on an inexperienced President.

Instead of saying he will destroy Assad’s air defenses if they threaten US aircraft flying missions over Syria, why doesn’t he just go ahead and do it?

How else is he going to give teeth to an emerging coalition? Doesn’t he realize that taking these defences out will immediately inflate his air force arsenal by at least 1000 modern jet fighters ready to fly from nearby bases? In other words, the GCC and Jordanian air force will become available for battle over Syria’s air space; in which case Obama’s aircrafts may go freely after Baghdadi, while the GGC and the Jordanian warplanes will go after Assad.

What’s Big O. waiting for? Does he really believe that training 5000 Syrians will do him any good in the immediate future?

Posted by Mustap | September 17, 2014, 9:39 am
So according to Al Amin rag, the new alliance against IS is the alliance of occupation, colonialism and criminal Imperialism, only because it didn’t include Assad and Khameni’i and it didn’t flirt with them in the media.

FA in oudtom oudna!

And the so called Lebanese cofferment, decided they wont “participate” in the alliance, after their mini foreign ministewr called for nuclear intervention against the extremists.

And the Saudis are on vacation still.

Fuck the ay-rabs

Help Beirut is killin’ meh

Cheers

Posted by Vulcan | September 19, 2014, 3:06 am
Maybe they should learn a lesson from the Scotsmen and Women.
Stick a fork in that Haggis!

god bless William Wallace

Posted by Vulcan | September 19, 2014, 3:48 am
Today’s ME Phrase of the Day

“No boots on the Ground”

Thanks for your time. You are now free to return to your regularly scheduled activities.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 19, 2014, 10:59 am
ET go Home….

http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2014/08/27/101952789-129515754.530×298.jpg?v=1409181212

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 19, 2014, 3:46 pm
Gee, awfully quiet around here. And this makes sense, especially when the Arab world is imploding as badly as it is. Not much to chat about, except perhaps how to find a Visa to the nearest western country.

Just finished watching the 60 Minutes segment about ISIS. King Abdullah of Jordan was crying about fighting ISIS. Seems that Egypt is all in too. Israel supports this fight, naturally.

Leon Panetta was interviewed extensively, as the liberal 60 Minute interviewer threw Obama under the bus, while exclaiming the virtues of Obama’s past enablers like Hillary and Panetta himself.

But since no government is willing to commit troops, talk of defeating ISIS is hot air. And no one is willing to discuss what happens IF we defeat ISIS. What despot is going to rule Syria and Iraq? The answer is permanent American and international military bases there until these countries learn to govern and protect themselves.

But again, no use talking about this until the world gets serious.

Ok. Back to the QN “Cone of Silence”.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_of_Silence

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 21, 2014, 9:02 pm
Enters Mr E Prince, for the right contract he will take care of IS with his boots on the ground.

Semper Fi

Posted by Vulcan | September 22, 2014, 1:17 am
With the help of HE the Sheikh of course!

Posted by Vulcan | September 22, 2014, 1:19 am
Sheikh Antar Bin Shaddad the Third

Posted by Vulcan | September 22, 2014, 1:20 am
Cry Havoc…!

Posted by Vulcan | September 22, 2014, 1:23 am
Any King who speaks English is OK by me…

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4573713,00.html

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 22, 2014, 7:42 am
RIP

Posted by Vulcan | September 22, 2014, 7:27 pm
Vulcan. Unless Msr le Prince can field a skilled and coordinated and disciplined bunch of Chechens, les mercs are afraid to die, unlike their putative enemies. Have the mercs faced that kind of adversary? They are the worst.

I am hopeful that those who fight wars for a living have their way insofar as who they prefer to be next to in the foxhole. It should be those warfighters with the best record. Screw politics. The royal WE appear to want them fighting on our side, if not on our team.

Hopefully, if need be, you will know when to get the eff out of Dodge.

Posted by lally | September 22, 2014, 10:52 pm
If I gotta fight, I’ll pick you in the trenches with I, oh dearest Set Lally :;))

Long live the Alliance

Posted by Vulcan | September 23, 2014, 2:03 am
It should surprise no one that the Wise King has acted so forcefully in order to make this world a safer place to live in by leading his Arab colleaguess and convincing a reluctant US President to carry a necessay fight into Syrian airsoce.

Thanks to the Wisdom of his Majesty, the operation was so successful that friends and foes were seen scurrying helplessly in order to figure out where they may fit in the new order created by this momentous action. For example, professional terrorist regimes, such as those of Assad and Netenyaho, found it very expedient to create the diversion of playing the same old same old resistance mantra by staging an air fight and actually downing an Assad fighter jet hoping that such diversion will rekindle the resistance discourse and stealing the lime light of the event by appealing to the base emotional urges of misinformed masses. So, once again, we see the two terrorist regimes of Assad and Netenyaho acting in concert to misinform, misguide and divert. The Wise King was quick, however, to call the bluff indicating it will fool no one but those already fooled.

On the other hand, it was very clear that the knees of the mullahs were experiencing spasms of uncontrollable jerking, knowing full well that they may be the next target. The chief mullah who is visiting NY expressed outrage to the Assad terrorist over the apparent passive behaviour of his air defenses. Obviously, the chief mullah is upset over the losses suffered by his creation, the ISIL outcasts.

The Wise King has finally succeeded in instilling in a reluctant and passive President the virtues of participating in the long sought after Sword’s Parade which was performed flawlessly on its debut. If things go as planned, the President will leave the White House with a better legacy than he has so far built, and will be remembered as a slow learner but yet a competent performer.

Assad’s air force and defenses are not too far away from the cross hairs of His Wise Majesty. After taking on the Jayvees, the Kobe Bryants are next, in this case the terrorists of the Assad machine and the mullah sttoges of HA.

Posted by Mustap | September 23, 2014, 6:51 pm
May Allah bless the wise king. We owe him gratitude.

Posted by Gabriel | September 23, 2014, 10:18 pm
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/khorasan-muhsin-alfadhli–the-man-leading-a-terror-group-more-feared-by-us-officials-than-isis-9748404.html

Holy Moly.

Al Qaeda, Al Nusra, Khorasan, ISIL, Taliban

I’m losing count. Anyone else having a hard time keeping up?

Posted by Gabriel | September 23, 2014, 10:24 pm
Gabby, It’s a freaking chameleon… But the CNN viewers are happy along with the subjects of the not so wise old fart residing in his Gold plated hole.

If you’d like to keep up please contact Wolf.

BTW it has been estimated that about 15,000 of the head choppers in Syria/Iraq are of Saudi nationality. Another beautiful moment for the “wiser” nation. 😀

Posted by danny | September 24, 2014, 7:52 am
Going back to our nation; isn’t it so funny how far mafia clan chiefs would go the slap in the face they have gotten publicly? trying somehow to show that Assad and Obama are kissing cousins lol.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Sep-24/271804-frangieh-coalition-strike-on-isis-coordinated-with-syria.ashx#axzz3DraReeQv

Off course this was preceded by the this gem: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Sep-24/271814-airstrikes-are-not-hitting-syrian-army-or-civilians-proceeding-in-right-direction-syrian-minister.ashx#axzz3DraReeQv

Off course the great negotiator Kerry just announced AGAIN that they are training “moderate” Syrians to fight off the murderer Assad. Bad news for the yellow-jackets!

Posted by danny | September 24, 2014, 8:25 am
ooops

…would spin the slap…

Posted by danny | September 24, 2014, 8:27 am
I’m losing count. Anyone else having a hard time keeping up?

Gabriel, Danny,

With so many jihadis, terror groups and resistance pros, don’t you think the UN and/or the US should set up PERMANENT military bases in Syria and Iraq?

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 24, 2014, 10:14 am
Gabriel,

I just remembered/realized that back in 2011, the half-Jewish/half-Lebanese, Montreal-based pop duo ‘Chromeo’ made a music video which can serve as a prescient metaphor for the Middle East’s 2014 problem of highly fecund, rapidly proliferating and difficult-to-isolate Jihadist movements 🙂 :

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 24, 2014, 10:56 am
Akbar Palace,

In response to your suggestion that the US or the UN set up permanent military bases in Syria and Iraq, I present to you Austin Powers’ response to Ivana Humpalot here 🙂 :

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 24, 2014, 11:01 am
Samer,

I’m with you. If it’s broken, don’t fix it. Complain and point fingers. Nice strategy.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 24, 2014, 12:14 pm
Refer to comment @ 8:25 AM above.

We continue to see midgets trying to reach heights they can never attain even if they get the chance of going in and out of their mother’s womb. Foolishness knows no bounds.

Ask yourself midget: can your eyes directly gaze and see above your eyebrows?

Or for that matter can your criminal fan see beyond the mountain caves he is confined within?

Posted by Mustap | September 24, 2014, 1:06 pm
Akbar Palace my hapless darling,

I am neither complaining nor pointing fingers, so don’t try to bait me as such.

You, on the other hand, seem to have no problem dictating to others that they should draft into some military, travel and base overseas, incur the gargantuan expenses of securing and supplying themselves, and inflict horrible levels of traumatic violence on people many of whom are innocent, to solve a problem which is not really theirs to solve.

By now it’s a given around here that you have no empathy or love for the Arabs, which is fine by me! I’m an Arab, and I can’t even stand these guys most of the time! The Arabs are so divided, unreliable, untrustworthy, callous, fickle, capricious and craven that I can’t even state with full certainty and confidence that I know who “my people” among them are at any given moment. This is my personal problem to deal with, not anyone else’s. 🙂

But do you have any empathy at all for the United States where you live? Have you any idea what the finances of this country are like, how exhausted its military class is?

Maybe you should get off your computer and go talk to the less fortunate people who would end up basing in Syria and Iraq as you seem to want. At the very least, it’ll be good physical and social exercise for you. God forbid it’ll be you or someone you cherish who’ll be the one doing the soldiering in these hellish places. I take it as a given that you intend to stick someone else other than yourself with this military task.

The US is basically check-mated on the world stage by China in the South China Sea, Russia in the Ukraine, and the 1.5 billion Muslims in the Islamic World who can’t seem to control the millions among them who have very funny ideas swirling around in their heads and who whether knowingly or not either motivate or enable tens of thousands of the most radicalized to viciously act on those ideas.

The US has tried to intervene in the Middle East many times before, and every time it has been a disaster. The people there have a knack for such corruption that they can profit from even the most dire circumstances. They also have tremendous endurance for hardship and tolerance for dreadfulness, which means they will wait out the United States, as long as it takes. The US has to pull out and come home at some point, after all.

For some reason, Middle Easterners are not on board with the Western project. I honestly don’t understand why, but that’s probably a testament to my mediocre intelligence. But I at least figure that America can’t force them to think and behave, and more importantly sacrifice, in ways that they don’t seem to want to. It can’t entice them. It can’t coerce them. It’s a monstrous fool’s errand to even attempt it.

I honestly think your problem is that you’re emotionally and ideologically married to Israel and so you feel that you have a huge interest in the Middle East, which is fine. But you probably think that 300+ million other Americans, tens of millions of whom are living in circumstances that can best be described as hellish, are as invested as you in the Middle East, and I think you will rudely discover that this is not the case at all. And neither you nor your ideological idol Charles Krauthammer can really do anything about this. The days of political evangelism are over. Everybody is blabbing these days, saying whatever they want, it’s getting very cacophonous and the game is getting quite crowded. What’s happening in politics is that the best people are dropping out in disgust. They can’t stand the rancor, hostility and confusion anymore.

Anyway, I don’t want to get drawn into a long, convoluted discussion here. I am not trying to convince you or anyone else of anything. I guess I just come here to be amused, and to provide some amusement in return! 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 24, 2014, 1:22 pm
Akbar Palace,

Quick, belated apology for the “hapless darling” designation above. These phrases are never meant personally and they spill out of me in caustic sarcasm but upon later, calmer introspection I realize they probably come across to my readers as abrasive, offensive obnoxiousness. So, sorry!

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 24, 2014, 2:02 pm
Main stream America and the Arab people face the same challenges and share the same destiny. They both face the challenge of fighting Zionism, an ideology which thrives on parasitic behaviour.

Main steam America can learn a big deal from the Arabs in this regard.

Posted by Mustap | September 24, 2014, 2:25 pm
I guess I just come here to be amused, and to provide some amusement in return! 🙂

Samer,

Join the club and thanks for the reply. Like you, the amusement factor is really the only thing I can rely on here. One in a Blue Moon, we get into informative discussions, but, I guess, this is far and few between.

But you probably think that 300+ million other Americans, tens of millions of whom are living in circumstances that can best be described as hellish…

“Hellish”? This is relative. Whether I like it or not, we take care of the poor better than most places in the world. For example. My mother past away recently and she didn’t have a penny to her name. For the past 5 years, she was cared for in her home, with the help of aides 12 hours/day, 7 days a week. Hospital and doctors visits, drugs, diapers, ambulance and hospice services all covered 100% by the US government (MEDICAID and MEDICAID WAVER). Half the US working-age population doesn’t work (92 million), and so the other half pays. OK, so the US debts increases, but that’s just a number.

My interest is America First despite the rumors elsewhere. The US has to protect herself and has a strong interest maintaining stability in areas where the US does business. I have promoted the option of running away from the ME and not everyone was on board with that. Then there is the option of leading the fight against these violent jihadists, and again, not everyone (including yourself) is on board with that too.

My feeling is that if we left our forces in Iraq, despite what the Iraqi “leadership” and Obama wanted, we wouldn’t have the mess we are dealing with today.

Now, whether or not you think the above has anything to do with Israel, you are free to speculate. IMHO, it has more to do with stability of the region, including the Gulf states.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 24, 2014, 3:34 pm
ooooh…Poetic daesh.Who would’ve known head choppers could visualize and dream. 😀

Posted by danny | September 24, 2014, 4:11 pm
Akbar Palace,

I recognize that you were smeared by a mean-spirited anti-semitic attack there, which not only served to put you on the defensive but also tainted my argument by association and made me regret even posting it in the first place.

To begin with, you don’t need to rationalize your Zionism to me. I am on board with it and understand it completely. I have met enough people living in America who long to be in places outside of America (and perhaps hold idealized notions of those places), that I think everyone should be afforded this luxury, including Jews who thankfully now have a state of their own that they can direct their longing towards. This is fine with me.

What I meant to say was that this comes at the expense of you caring about the Middle East in ways that most other Americans don’t. It’s like when I meet Africans or Indians who care deeply about their regions’ problems and I am blissfully ignorant of everything they’re talking about.

When I tried to suggest that you won’t be the one fighting on the American side in what might be American bases in Syria and Iraq, you being Jewish had absolutely nothing to do with it on my end. I was, in a way, making a self-evident remark, as I don’t think anyone who contributes here comes from the military classes. In a way, we’re all very bourgeois. Personally, I have never had military training and have never even handled a firearm, so when I express pacifist ideas, I’m coming from a very non-hypocritical place as someone who never wants to experience or have anything to do with military combat. I realize this is problematic in today’s violent and oppressive world, and trust me, I struggle with it. But what I don’t do is stumble into a “caste system” mentality where I expect other people to deal with warfare and me somehow not to. So don’t take what I did there personally. I was mocking all of us, including myself.

Of course “hellish” is relative and I recognize that America does a good job of caring for its poor. Please accept my condolences for what your mother recently endured. I don’t have a good handle on the statistics of how many Americans work versus don’t, but what I was doing there was suggesting that a lot of Americans fall through the cracks of the system. I wasn’t really talking about old people on Medicaid, which honestly I know nothing about. I was thinking more about migrant workers, the underemployed, unemployed and homeless, hungry kids in the public school and foster care system, people living in cars and trailers, etc.

Again, I’m not an expert on poverty in America, but I think you might be setting the poverty baseline significantly higher than it actually is. I was also hinting at the dreadful problems that many returning military veterans deal with, from PTSD to life-long medical needs, employment and inter-personal issues to significant disability and disfigurement, etc.

And lastly, you tried to corner me as an American non-interventionist in the Middle East, and I wouldn’t describe myself as such. There’s nothing I want more than for the Middle East to find peace, happiness and security. But what I don’t want is for the US to do everyone’s work for them to the extent that they can profiteer. Yes, the stability of the Gulf States is important, and I think those states are well secured at this point. But they definitely have room for political improvement, and I certainly don’t want the US to overspend its own resources trying to address the Middle East’s problems while the region’s own beneficiaries prefer instead to race their Ferraris and Lamborghinis up and down London’s Park Lane while carrying on with business as usual.

Anyway, I’ve written enough today and gotten myself into enough trouble. As hard as I try to be universally understood here, I feel that’s a mission impossible. So what I should do instead is get back to work and let some of this stuff blow over. 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 24, 2014, 5:46 pm
Samer,

Thanks for response. I appreciate your concerns, your point-of-view, and your tolerant disposition.

Frankly, I have been trying to feel out the “arab” POV on American intervention in the ME, and for the past several decades, the answer seems to be overwhelmingly to stay out. When the US retreats from the ME, the ME falls further into ruin, and no matter which direction the US military goes in the region, the US is at fault.

So really, the US has to do what is in our best interest and learn to ignore the haters and whiners.

I know I come off being anti-arab and this has more to do with how the Arab world has affected life in Israel, the US and the instability in the region. I am also encouraged by tolerant/moderate arabs like yourself who show me that the Arab world isn’t just a huge homogeneous conglomerate of jew-haters as depicted in their government controlled media.

If the US has permanent bases in Germany, Italy and Japan, it seems to me the ME needs similar fixes.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 25, 2014, 10:56 am
Akbar Palace,

I was going to let you have the last word but I have a few comments in response to what you wrote.

First, I definitely think you’re overplaying the “US retreat” and “ME falling into ruin” angles, and your correlations between the two are definitely dubious.

The truth is, the US hasn’t been in retreat in the Middle East since winning the second world war in the mid-1940’s.The Persian Gulf waters through which around 20% of the world’s oil flows do not secure themselves, and the US already I think has significant military facilities in countries like Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Oman.

To the extent that the US has retreated at all, it “retreated” from Saudi Arabia after Gulf War I, but even then it only moved a few miles across the border into a neighboring Gulf country.

I think the Gulf is in a good place developmentally, and the stability provided by the US military really helped in that regard, and should be properly credited. However, the flea in the ointment is that the Gulf is still politically retarded. This is a sensitive subject and I won’t pretend to be an expert on it so I’ll refrain from commenting further, other than to note that it’s a large, regional problem.

To the extent that I am tolerant of Israel, it’s because frankly I’m fed up of the violence and am searching for another way. I was born in the late 1970’s during the Lebanese Civil War. I dealt with that but even at a young age was also exposed to the Iraq/Iran War (1980-1988), the First Palestinian Intifada (1988?), and Gulf War I (1990/1991).

As I approached high school graduation, I applied to “read” (the British word for “study”) medicine at Trinity College in Cambridge University in the UK, and was actually invited for an interview. I found myself in front of a bunch of British professors who grilled me on subjects like [European] music, art and literature. Needless to say, I bombed that interview big-time.

I wanted to scream at my interviewers, “HELLO! I come from the Middle East! You want me to know anything about ART?”

Perhaps fortuitously, I was rejected and found myself in America, which turned out OK. I came to the US in 1996 and have been here ever since. Thankfully, I missed the regional Middle East drama of the second Palestinian Intifada (2000?), 2003’s Gulf War II and the horribleness that occurred in Iraq over the next several years.

I actually took a sabbatical year in 2006 and spent it back in the Arab World, where I got to experience the July War between Hezbollah and Israel from a relatively close angle. It was horrible and so depressing. I didn’t like anything I saw in the region that year, and so by early 2007, I came running back to the US, and I’ve been here ever since.

This proved prescient on my part since I basically didn’t have to live through the Israeli assault on Gaza in 2009, the Arab Spring of 2011, and all the dreadfulness that has occurred in the region since then, ESPECIALLY in Syria and its neighboring environment.

On the subject of Israel, I have made my peace with it completely. I recognize that Israel’s formation and security have been traumatic for the region, especially for the Palestinians and the Lebanese. I have hopes that the Lebanese will no longer have to suffer due to being so close to Israel, and also that the Syrians eventually won’t have to either. The Jordanians and Egyptians seem pretty okay with Israel, so that rounds everybody out. I recognize that there is a huge issue with the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, and frankly I am not sure what a suitable outcome is there. I am definitely not in favor of a return of Palestinian refugees into these territories, since those territories are already very stressed as they are. I also realize that there’s absolutely no hope of those refugees ever returning to Israel or of Israel ever being militarily “liberated” and reverting to its pre-1948 Arab identity.

I sympathize with the conservative Israeli argument that there is not enough room for two states between the Mediterranean and the Jordan. For example, when I learned that the Palestinians rejected a capital in Ramallah but instead demanded one in East Jerusalem, I looked up the distance between Ramallah and East Jerusalem, and discovered that it was 8 miles! 8 FRICKING MILES! Honestly, that’s when I kinda lost interest in the two-state solution. I don’t think it will ever happen, for the simple reason that it doesn’t benefit either the Israelis or the Palestinians.

On the subject of the Jews, I reject anti-semitism completely, and also reject the narrative that Jewish Israelis are “foreign settlers”. The way I see it is there are around 6 million Jews in “greater” Israel, and at least 1 million are native to the Middle East (Moroccans, Yemenis, Ethiopians, Iraqis, etc.) and can’t be described as “foreigners” at all.

Even if one wants to bait the remaining 5 million as foreign settlers, I think the accounts are pretty well settled by realizing that these guys came from the West, and it’s probably fair to reason that for every one Western Jew who ended up in the Middle East, at least 10 Middle Easterners have relocated to the West. So all in all, I don’t see a problem with these “foreigners” at all. But again, one would have to be wilfully blind not to recognize that there are huge political issues at play between Jews and Arabs in Israel. You are probably aware of this stuff already, so I’ll spare you the details, especially since I’ve written enough already and should probably start to wind down here.

On a final note, I will add that the US military presence in Germany was to stem the encroachment of the USSR into Europe. The presence in Japan was supposed to stem the encroachment of the Sino-USSR bloc into Southeast Asia and the Pacific Rim. The USSR was never really a problem in the Middle East, except perhaps in Egypt and Yemen, but never in the Gulf per se. Also, the Arabs are definitely not of the same caliber as the Germans and Japanese. The Germans and Japanese are far more disciplined than the Arabs and perhaps more importantly also far more committed to the Western project. I sort of can understand how US bases were relatively successful in Germany and Japan (don’t forget though that the Okinawans have historically complained bitterly about the conduct of US troops on their territory), but that Arabs would have a problem with this kind of thing. Even then, we can’t speak for all Arabs, since some are obviously perfectly fine with the arrangement.

I have other things I want to say about the region, on subjects like climate change, resource depletion and global competitiveness, but I’ll end here.

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 25, 2014, 12:28 pm
“By now it’s a given around here that you have no empathy or love for the Arabs, which is fine by me! I’m an Arab, and I can’t even stand these guys most of the time! The Arabs are so divided, unreliable, untrustworthy, callous, fickle, capricious and craven”

You will always have job security in north America. Congratulations!

Moving on. Here is an illustration of why the Syrian refugees in Lebanon are problematic. As especially disgraceful “journalists” with agendas pretend that the poor widdle refugees are victims of the mean old LAF (and Hezbollah phantoms!!!!!!) raids….ask if any western or pseudo western country would tolerate terrorist symps within to rally to the cause of the beheaders. No no and no.

American feds would route ’em out and round ’em up.

PS. The source of this video is the proud news agency of Daesh record.

Posted by lally | September 25, 2014, 12:53 pm
Samer,

I think QN and the rest of us here are lucky to have you as a participant. No argument with your words above, and equally interested in reading about your experiences.

While you reminded me of the many US bases in the Gulf States, can we Americans really afford an “Islamic State” controlling Iraq and Syria in the heart of the ME? Should we let these sunni jihadists fight it out with the Shia jihadists in Iran, Lebanon and with their ally Assad?

The US promoted the Iran – Iraq War in order to keep the terrorists busy. Should the US apply the same strategy by ignoring ISIS? Give me a concrete solution. What advice would you give Obummer?

BTW, Happy 5775 to all the yahudi out there.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 25, 2014, 1:12 pm
Lally,

Job security in North America???? Hahaha! That’s funny!

If I wanted job security, I’d move back to the Middle East and hang out with your know-nothing, profiteering kind! Maybe I’d get to ride around in a fancy BMW SUV and scream at some random stranger, and ask him if he knows who I am and who my father is! 🙂

Anyway, things here always seem to revert to the crazy and the maniacal! I’m out for now! I’ve tried here. I really have! But I can’t stomach it!

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 25, 2014, 1:15 pm
Akbar Palace,

I am in no position to advise anyone on the Middle East, especially Obama, and I have no authority or credentials in this area short of my own passionate interest and bitter experience.

But against my better judgement, I’m going to entertain you by elaborating a little on what I think Obama is doing. I know you are not a fan of his administration, but I happen to think quite highly of it and I actually do think it knows what it’s doing!

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. Nobody uses the word “democracy” anymore and frankly I stopped using it years ago. What bothered me at the time was hearing the really asinine cliche about “freedom being a very precious thing that must be paid for with blood”. I’ll admit, this scared me off! Die for liberty? No thanks!

So yeah, I realize that others are far more passionate about liberty than me and are prepared to sacrifice more, but I find that I spend more time thinking about things like “security”, “development”, “progress”, “happiness” and “improvement”.

Where am I going with this? Basically, I know that a lot of us really wanted to have seen the Assad regime toppled by now, but by now we all probably reckon that Assad is going to survive in at least the short-term of the next few years.

I think it’s unfair to blame Assad’s survival on American inaction. Basically, I think America could not have “liberated” Syria from Assad while turning a blind eye to the increasing authoritarianism of the region as a whole, which America is really powerless to politically stem or reverse. Toppling Syria under these circumstances, as tantalizing a prospect as it appeared and as badly as some of us wanted it, would have been very destabilizing, especially to Lebanon, which is the basket case that everyone must consider when worrying about the Western Levant (not to mention the singular and very exceptional concern which is Israel).

So what is the American plan? The American plan is to stabilize the region. Basically, from Egypt’s Western border to Kuwait on the Persian Gulf, the Sunni world, as authoritarian as it is, is stabilized. Iran, again as authoritarian as it is, seems stabilized too. Shiite-dominated Iraq, as dysfunctional as it is, from the South all the way to Baghdad, seems stabilized.

Now the plan is to stabilize the region from Baghdad all the way to the big cities in Western Syria. This means targeting ISIS, which is what is currently happening.

To get this plan going, the US administration had to set up some detente and balance-of-power relationship between Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia. I think the greatest proof that it succeeded here is that Saudi warplanes seem to be flying over Iraqi airspace to bomb ISIS targets in Syria with impunity.

So this is what is happening right now, and it seems to be working. ISIS seems to be on its way to oblivion.

The big question now is what will happen from the big Syrian cities like Homs, Damascus and Aleppo all the way to the Syrian and Lebanese coasts (a region I will from here on describe as the “Western Levant”)? Another related question is, how much does it really matter?

I think the Western Levant is going to continue to fester for a while, but it won’t impact anyone other than the people living in it, and the greatest challenge is going to be cleaning it up and sorting it out, with all the complications of the different religions, ethnicities, identities and affiliations that live there.

What I worry about is how the economies of this region will rebound in the future. Take what is now ISIS-held territory in cities like Raqqa and Deir El Zour. The oil was never going to last and as of recently the US-led coalition has bombed all its oil-producing and refining assets anyway. In a warming climate, this region is drying up fast, and a fast-growing Turkey is diverting the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates upstream, leaving less to trickle down to Syrians and Iraqis.

So climate change and resource depletion are very real concerns. What also worries me is that I think the Western Levant might end up being a backwater, “no man’s land”, buffer zone between the Sunni world and the Shiite world. If this happens, the advantage definitely lies with the Sunnis. All the Jordanians and Gulfies have to do is economically “link up” with Turkey and they can squeeze the Western Levant and pinch it off over time. But do they really have an economic incentive to do this?

This might not affect the Shiites as much because they’ll have a backdoor to Southern Iraq and Iran. But it’ll definitely impact the Druze, the Christians, the Alawites, etc. So those guys might rally around some kind of “Assad-like” proxy in the future, if it’s not Assad himself. They might even try to claim the Western Levant as theirs, and recruit partisan paramilitaries like Hezbollah to their cause in an attempt to stem what they will probably perceive as Sunni encroachment.

Which, in a way, will take us completely full-circle to how we ended up in this Syria situation in the first place. All likelihood will be on blood being shed and liberty being sought, but in the presence of gratuitous, regional levels of violence and authoritarianism, Western outsiders will be reluctant to do anything without being branded and slammed as hypocritical. Russia and China, as usual, won’t care because those countries are militarily hyper-focussed only on their “near-abroad”.

So basically, the key to establishing complete regional stability lies in the Western Levant. But I am not sure that anyone, whether in the Obama administration or out, really knows what to do here. Whatever anyone does, it’ll be very messy.

Anyway, that’s my amateur analysis of the situation, written in haste so therefore probably fraught with error. Take it, or flush it down the toilet. Either way is fine with me. 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 25, 2014, 3:34 pm
I know you are not a fan of his administration, but I happen to think quite highly of it and I actually do think it knows what it’s doing! … So what is the American plan? The American plan is to stabilize the region.

Samer,

“Stabilize the region”, like the US did after the “surge”? During Obama’s presidency, the ME has become more unstable than any time in its history. But I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Let’s see how stable the ME will be when Obama leaves office.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 25, 2014, 5:45 pm
Happy 5775 to all the non-yahudi out there who can skip this menu and condolences to all the yahudi who have to eat the stuff:

Posted by lally | September 25, 2014, 8:49 pm
Lally,

As the preeminent goyishe yahudi expert here on QN, we congratulate you on your choice of youtube videos. I admit to having a few laughs on that one. But yes, to be considered a real yahud, you have to eat every one of those foods without wincing. You actually have to like each them.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 25, 2014, 10:18 pm
Why is Rouhani such a big liar?

Can anyone believe a word he says?

He looks like he believes his lies.

May be that’s why he’s a good liar.

Posted by Mustap | September 26, 2014, 2:43 pm
Jee-Zeus, does Samer write a lot.

On another note… Long Live the Wise King. Ridding us of this scourge called Daesh.

Posted by Gabriel | September 26, 2014, 4:13 pm
It has now been confirmed that the Wise King has delivered over 80% of the bombing raids in Syria, with the US delivering a meagre 20%. On the other hand, Mr. Obama has been observed to be doing a lot of oratory bombings whenever the occasion presents itself to him in front of the cameras. It is clear that the leader in this war on terror is none but the Wise King. To underscore this fact, the Wise King has recently expressed his gratitude to Mr. Obama on becoming a partner (albeit in a minor status) by joining the coalition led by the Wise King. Mr. Cameron will soon receive similar expressions from His Wise Majesty if and when Cameron musters the guts to act on his Parliament’s decisions.

As for Mr. Obama, his long orations need to be matched by concrete actions if he is to be taken more seriously by friend or foe. He also needs to say more about the need to put an end to the Assad’s anomaly and take concrete steps to take him out of the equation if he wants to maintain his favorite status with His Wise Majesty,

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentaryanalysis/564132-assad-has-good-reason-to-be-happy

At least this is what the experts think.

Posted by Mustap | September 26, 2014, 5:43 pm
Mutsap. Those are not MENA “experts” any more than are the PNACERS who determined that America simply must invade Iraq.

A much more accurate description would be a well-funded polemicist.poseur on teevees and dubious media everywhere.

Say, QN.
What happened to the promised interview about the LAF? It would seem timely.

Posted by lally | September 27, 2014, 10:10 pm
So, who would you call a MENA expert, lally?

Patrick Seale? Seymour Hersh?

Posted by Mustap | September 29, 2014, 4:05 pm
It has now been confirmed that the Wise King has delivered over 80% of the bombing raids in Syria…

Anyone have confirmation as to how many innocent civilians or Palestinians have been killed from these raids? Believe it or not, I haven’t seen any reports on this.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 29, 2014, 8:59 pm
AP,

There’s a Memri video of an alleged clip from aljazeera that is floating around that says that most casualties are civilians.

But given the Israelis are going through a bout of wise kingdom envy… Who knows! Maybe it was all a Spielberg production.

The wise kingdom doesn’t kill civilians.

Posted by Gabriel | September 29, 2014, 9:24 pm
… Or maybe the civilians all died from the remaining 20% bombing

Posted by Gabriel | September 29, 2014, 9:25 pm
Gabriel,

Yes, well we had a running count everyday of innocent people killed in Gaza with no distinction of how many were combatants.

Now it seems no civilians killed and all the dead are evil ISIS jihadists. Go figure.

The only civilians killed by the wise kingdom are petty thieves, adulterers, and evil drug users.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 29, 2014, 10:02 pm
Lets not leave out another in a long series of Wise Kingdoms. Lets talk Turkey (and MEMRI):

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8149.htm

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 29, 2014, 10:24 pm
I found a very wise person in the Wise Kingdom:

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/804/8095.htm

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 29, 2014, 11:07 pm
The Wise Kingdom is very much aware of the envious Jews and their plots. This envy will naturally grow day by day. Let them be consumed by their own spites.

The Wise Kingdom is causing zero civilian casualties, because the Wise King ordered his sky-knights to ensure they hit ONLY combatants and they complied 100%.

The wise king also consulted with Obama on means and ways by which the American pilots can improve their performance by htting the intended targets without causing any civilian casualties. There will be zero tolerance and no Netenyaho-like war crimes like the ones we witnessed not long ago in Gaza.

We are in the process of setting the new standards for modern warfare.

Now, it has been confirmed that 80% of bombings over SYRIAN based targets were conducted by the Royal Airforce of his Wise Majesty. Check your sources again.

Posted by Mustap | September 29, 2014, 11:18 pm
Here you go dumbass

“In addition to the more than 4,000 US military flights in less than two months, Arab coalition partners have undertaken roughly 40 flights in the operation”

http://www.afp.com/en/node/2890514

Posted by Vulcan | September 30, 2014, 2:44 am
Suddenly, 80% has dropped to 1%. Let’s all give the USA a big round of applause for, once again, changing the baby’s dirty little diaper.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 30, 2014, 7:18 am
Here you go dumbasses feeling good about US of A

4000 sorties dropping LESS than 20% of all munitions.

40 sorties dropping 80% of all munitions.

Looks like US pilots are there for the tour and the useless burning of jet fuel.

Posted by Mustap | September 30, 2014, 7:44 am
يا غبي

If it wasn’t for the intel, guidance and operational support provided by the 4000 US sorties, your illiterate royal jocks would have dropped the bombs over Madagascar probably.

Posted by Vulcan | September 30, 2014, 9:27 am
يا اهبل

If the world is to rely on US intel, it would be over long long ago. Ask your prez.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/obama-says-u-s-intelligence-underestimated-developments-in-syria-1411918072

Thankfully, we have a Wise King in this world and brave KSA pilots who can take care. The world prefers wisdom over wishy washy so-called US intel, and US pilots on tour duty.

Posted by Mustap | September 30, 2014, 9:40 am
Admit it, this operation isn’t going to amount to anything. Let me guess, the nice holy ISIS murderers are going to employ the same methods as their friends in Aza: use the civilian population for cover and cannon fodder.

Uh oh….

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 30, 2014, 10:37 am
Today’s QN ME Quagmire Question of the Day:

How does the coalition determine if farmers are civilians or ISIS without the use of “boots on the ground”?

http://news.yahoo.com/special-report-wheat-warfare-islamic-state-uses-grain-111833405.html

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 30, 2014, 11:03 am
Mustap,

What’s your stance on women’s rights in the Wise Kingdom?

Posted by Ray | September 30, 2014, 2:06 pm
The women of the Wise Kingdom are none of your business.

Posted by Mustap | September 30, 2014, 2:16 pm
Thank you.

I have no further questions.

Posted by Ray | September 30, 2014, 2:28 pm
Girls Night Out NewZ

The Wise Kingdom is an “open-air prison” for that half of that population.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 30, 2014, 3:14 pm
Resident terrorist zionist had no qualms befriending a Lebanese Saudi money worshipper… simply because he was openly pro zionist terrorism. He even claimed that the Israeli regime was not an enemy but only the evil persians – who, btw, like the Arabs, have a long history and a real civilisation in contrast with the apartheid thieves regime (not the Jews) who boasts only 70 years of massacres and racism. Now you are embarrassed because the saudi worshipper cannot any longer support the open crimes and murders of the zionist entity, because it will contradict his pro-arab anti farsi blablabla. But rest assured that there is no such thing as a saudi diplomacy, let alone an army, it’s just a network of cousins basically. They still have slightly more legitimacy than the zionist enterprise. Anyway, zionist AP, you are no better than you ex boyfriend.

And for the enlightened self-declared non sectarian muslims or the genetically superior phoenicians adding more light to the West, don’t even bother responding. The White Man already gave you your enlightenment credentials (EC) and everybody knows that Walmart accept only one EC at a time.

Honestly, I can’t think of one contributor here who is not a :
Western Light worshipper
Medieval Saudi worshipper
Hezbi Khamenei worshipper
Assadi Butchery worshipper
or an outright zionist thug…

Having said this, it’s still an interesting blog when the zionist trolls refrain from posting BS articles.

Your friend the Moroccan … (hey Glorious Sons of Phoenicia, any joke about Couscous maybe ?)

By the way, I’m sure you didn’t miss the latest one from the valiant foreign minister of Lebanistan…

With affection.

Posted by 3issa | September 30, 2014, 6:39 pm
Kouskous? Sounds erotic.

Here’s our idiot FM in action.

IMBASIL!

Posted by danny | September 30, 2014, 7:57 pm
Threesa,

You seem mad at the whole world. Take a deep breath, and join one of the many muslim terror organizations. There’s one for every zio-hater.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 30, 2014, 8:25 pm
Issa

Out of curiousity, where do you and I fit in these categories.

Posted by Gabriel | September 30, 2014, 11:01 pm
One commonality to fundies everywhere is at it’s core, they share fear of the female……..heh:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4574844,00.html

In the comments, some of the ladies threatened they would strip naked to scare the hareidi in the aisles; there were numerous suggestions that they should start singing to clear the plane prior to take-off.

Posted by lally | September 30, 2014, 11:01 pm
Lally,

I saw that article, and the rift between the ultra-religious (in Israel) is both sad and funny. How do the ultra-religious travel within the US? As crazy as some of these people are, they are constrained by law in Israel as well as everywhere else in the world. If accommodations can’t be made, they will have to find another mode of transportation or pay for a whole row of seating or maybe they’ll have to create their own airline. At one time, they used to fly Tower Air instead of El Al because Tower would make more ultra-religious friendly. They pay almost twice for glatt kosher food, so paying more is something these people are used to. When I lived in Israel I used to see lots of arguments when riding buses.

Posted by Akbar Palace | October 1, 2014, 8:53 am
Boys Night out in the sky. What’s wrong with that?

Posted by Mustap | October 1, 2014, 11:39 am
Gabriel, with all due respect I would picture you as a good candidate for Western Light follower. You are surely a good person but the souvenir I have from you is one of a Canadian or American member of the Lebanese diaspora admonishing the far away locals about how backward the Middle east could be, and at the same occasion reassuring the western audience that the Light has indeed reached few chosen natives. Correct me if I’m wrong but what I keep from your posts is that you see the Middle easterners (specifically the 99.99% following a religion) as stubborn in not embracing the Western project where its just so easy to shut up and forget about what makes up your identity and human dignity. As far as I’m concerned, I put myself in the category of the Stubborn Indigenous.

By the way, Angry arab aka the anarchist pro yellow jacks (only a lebanese could be capable of reconciling the two), had a funny one today lol
http://angryarab.blogspot.fr/2014/10/lebanese-in-laws-of-george-clooney-will.html?m=0

Posted by 3issa | October 1, 2014, 5:54 pm
So Much Resistance, I almost got electrocuted NewZ

…admonishing the far away locals about how backward the Middle east could be…

Threesa,

What gave you the impression the Middle East is “backward”? I’m appalled!

…embracing the Western project…

Where have I seen this word before? “Project”? It must be wesistance parlance for anything deemed temporary. Meanwhile, I’ve seem a lot of “projects” come and go in the ME, and they’re mostly self-appointed, tin-pan dictators.

Posted by Akbar Palace | October 1, 2014, 7:52 pm
Comrade Vulcan. Are you back home safe?

Posted by lally | October 1, 2014, 8:05 pm

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