The Death of Ideology and Beirut’s #YouStink Protests

Discussion

563 thoughts on “The Death of Ideology and Beirut’s #YouStink Protests”

This movement has the whole political class in the country shitting bricks.

Politicians from both 8 and 14 are united (for the first time!) in refusing the Minister of Environment to resign under pressure simply because they are scared shitless that if he does, the movement will move on to the next Ministry and Minister.

The bitterness and disgust is swelling by the day and what could have been calmed down with the resignation of a 71 year old incompetent and utterly useless Minister has grown to encompass the whole spectrum of Politicians.

What the garbage crises so poignantly has proven is the total neglect by Ministers of tending to and resolving the most basic of issues in the country for decades and that their appointment to Ministries is akin to them joining a Country Club.

Posted by Ray | September 2, 2015, 1:32 am
What I am hoping is that the movement has enough stamina to effect some real changes. I don’t think the ‘system’ in Lebanon is the problem, I don’t even think the rivalry between parties is the problem….the real problem has been the increasing and now almost total disregard by the government for the citizens of this country. No matter whether one is wealthy or struggling, Lebanon is a decreasingly pleasant place to live. At the forefront, an ever expanding environmental disaster that now encompasses the sea, the forests (regularly exploited for making charcoal, destroyed for buildings or the site of unregulated waste dumping), the mountains, cut up for quarry, the air, the water, the earth are all being damaged to the point where life becomes unsustainable. The trash issue has, I think, really rubbed peoples faces in it. Once could see warnings of this in the previous times Naameh was temporarily shut and huge pikes of garbage instantly developed all over Beirut. I am, frankly, glad that something has finally woken my somnolent countrymen up. I live in Beirut and am certainly happy that the garbage is being collected, even if only to me moved to Karantina, but I think it weakens peoples resolve and therefore makes me wonder if this movement has stamina.

The bottom line is also that the various sectarian leaderships have had very different approaches to their citizens. The shia are generally better provided for by Hezbollah than others and have historically been ignored by the government and expect little from it. The Christians have long had a ‘fend for yourself’ setup, although Hariri used to spread some largesse their way. The sunni are probably feeling the biggest brunt of change because Hariri seems to be unable to secure sizeable financial contributions from the Saudis and so entire swathes of the sunni population are not being paid, even his direct employees and they have fewer and fewer reasons to support him. So those who should be the supporters of what is a primarily mar 14 administration are no longer supporters, the Christians are all sick of the moribund economy and inability of the government to make even the slightest improvement to services, and the shia, I suppose, have no real reason to want these guys to stick around. Hard to see who still wants any of these people around anymore.

Posted by qusu | September 2, 2015, 1:56 am
Reblogged this on Terre Libanaise.

Posted by terrelibanaise | September 2, 2015, 3:25 am
Very weak. You say “when the FPM recently tried to smear one of the movement’s organizers, Assaad Thebian, as a cross-burning infidel, the move backfired badly” not true. you are as close to making a judgment on that as close you are to Lebanon right now. At least verify what Assaad thebian narrative on what/how he thinks. There is no way that you can give credibility to someone with such hateful trash talk and the fact..ohhh the fact that he NEVER mentions the real perpetrators of the garbage crisis: harriri -saniora – jumblatt is OBVIOUSLY orchestrated…I mean how can you NOT point to the garbage crisis itself and spend time spitting on the party leader who …blame those three? there is something amazing by those who think like you. The you stink movement focuses on those who were opposing those three who are (and kids know that) responsible for trashing us if we dont succumb to their 100’s of million of commission per year. Simplifying to that level issues again, show also your true colors as i have pointed so long ago. You want to see what you want and you rap it with sweet talk….
I will simplify like you:
“The True demagogues (with PHDs) are those who talk about big complicated issues in a simple way….so simple people can feel as smart as they are”.
You could not have talked about this issue in a more …simple way..
oups i feel so smart. Thank you sir.

Posted by George Haddad | September 2, 2015, 8:26 am
George,

If you listen to the language of the movement, you’ll see that it’s not interested in singling out the FPM. The protests have been directed at Future, LF, Jumblatt, and others as well. The biggest target thus far is Mohammad al-Machnouk, a “centrist” minister with obvious ties to M14.

If my reading is simplified, why don’t you tell me what the nuanced story is?

Posted by Qifa Nabki | September 2, 2015, 8:45 am
George Haddad,

Not to defend Assaad Thebian for his tasteless jokes, but he posted those a year ago and between his friends. He never made a statement or attacked an individual with those comments. It is his private thoughts shared among his friends. Stupid? Tasteless? Yes! But what is even worse, the reaction from the useful idiots by digging up his past ( as they always do) and taking it so personal as if the enemy is knocking on their door. I find the irrational reaction to Assaad worse than what he has posted and ironically so against the Christian values.
Secondly he has taken aim at all the political figures responsible for this mess, look it up its proven but recently he has upped the ante against Michel Aoun because the General has gone out of his way to discredit the movement. Aoun stated that the movement stole his slogans, you know slogans that have been around for centuries.
And now….. The movement is orchestrated by foreign elements.
Assaad Thebians mistake is not posting those tasteless jokes, they’re his opinion. The mistake he committed is not removing them once he became a public figure and the second is lowering himself and the movement to the petty tit for tat squabbling the Aounist camp is rebound for

Posted by Maverick | September 2, 2015, 8:49 am
*renound

Posted by Maverick | September 2, 2015, 8:50 am
Nice protest rap song there, QN! I knew you had some grittiness in you somewhere! 🙂

Anyway, that piece reminded me of the Amman, Jordan-based group “Torabyeh” and this particular song named “Ghorbah” [Alienation], whose YouTube video conscientiously comes with English subtitles:

Now granted, this song is over 3 years old and I don’t keep up-to-date, hence I’m sure there’s a QN reader out there who’s rolling his eyes right now thinking, “You’re late to the party, homeslice!” (to which I respond, “Better late than never!”)

But far from a frivolous exercise in song-sharing, I want to present this as somewhat of an ominous portent! It’s quite militant (not to mention confused with bizarre references to everyone from the Israelis to Ziad Rahbani) and makes references to not just Fatah and Hamas, but perhaps most frighteningly Nusra (conspicuously absent is any reference at all to the Hashemite Royal Family)!

Needless to say, I don’t fully endorse these lyrics at all, but still think the song is worth listening to…

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 2, 2015, 11:10 am
Samer,

They should front for Linkin Park 🙂

Posted by Ray | September 2, 2015, 12:25 pm
Ray,

Yeah, if you read the YouTube comments, everyone seems to think this song is about the Palestinian Right of Return, but I am not so convinced, least of all because nowhere in the song does anyone ever specifically sing the word, “Palestine!”

I think the lyrics are really more metaphorical and allegorical, but the pictures they paint flirt, perhaps knowingly, with descending into campy cliche and crude stereotype. That whole “nature” angle for example, about the trees getting chopped down and the orchards getting stolen, was contrived and tortured, at least in a militant context! It’s those little giveaways that convince me that these guys are more pretenders than the real thing!

Funny story: I think Netanyahu used either a still or a clip from this video in one of his election ads in Israel to depict the ISIS threat, and these guys got really angry from Jordan and threatened to sue! So yeah, that fella in the song who leaves Amman to go “to a place with no moonlight” will presumably return to civilization to make at least one appearance in court! 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 2, 2015, 12:55 pm
Samer,

In regards to the clip you linked to, remember, right or wrong, it is the policy of most arab states NOT to allow Palestinians full citizenship and rights. This policy of using the Palestinians as pawns still continues, often by keeping them alienated, angry and poor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinians_in_Lebanon

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 2, 2015, 1:15 pm
Dear Maverik,

“Tasteless jokes from a year ago” is so misleading. Saying that “he should have taken his comment off is..wow… wlak bravo for the advice!” This guy writes according to the occasion ya mavrik, time has nothing to do with what he said. So on christmas he pissed on the occasion…on easter…he took a dumb…on adha…he made the dual orgy. it happened in context my dear…your understanding of time & context is off. you just want to give him a slack…why?

why it is so benign of an issue for you? after all assaad is a tiny part of so many civil movements that care and WORK HARD everyday, but this guy was GIVEN the public platform. Digging the past is important ya maverik; so bigots (that’s what he really is) should not be allowed to be public figures…else, lets just forgive them all eh? no past..walla we start Now.
– Min zamen…jumblat did the isis in Lebanon to christian civilians …all forgiven. I love him.
– Min zamen we got from 5 billion to 60 billion debt AND with Beirut Umm el Dunya..a publicly traded Co AND with a “you should be grateful attitude” . All forgiven. I wish I can buy few shares.
– Min zamen the last president we had souleiman went from few thousand $ salary to a billionaire…
– Min zamen (6 world cups and 3 dead popes later..) Nabih berry was parliament leader..
yalla we wipe…kirmel the eyes of Assaad who is really close to the real garbage man (he said it himself) jumblat. Assaad never dared to mention HIM why?
You really have to stitch things to understand. Stitching means: cause > effect > cause > effect etc..you dont have much really …about 20 of them … starting from the day Iran Signed the deal…and then you get to Assaad…serious…stitch the events.
There’s a good word for “the logic” of how you express yourself in arabic:
istinsabi..whatever you want to defend you will find the logic…
time (past) is nothing..timing (now) is everything…. eh? mazbout…walla… mazbout… Cheers

Posted by George Haddad | September 2, 2015, 2:39 pm
Dear qifa nabki,
primo, i am a guy who like to read you..but not your analysis on the lebanese condition. You are mainstream on that issue and I mean CNN style but with an eloquent pen…
“The biggest target thus far is Mohammad al-Machnouk, a “centrist” minister with obvious ties to M14.”
really? that was indicative for you about intentions? Mohammad kermit machnouk? him? him? 🙂
I thought that because they are demanding his resignation…that should point you to the second layer. we all know who are the partners in the garbage deal. Kermit machnouk is “sign here sign there” smile” minister. resign don’t resign order taker. You must know that..no?
this u stink movement while in the building of the ministry kicked out the “green party” president who really is one of the bright spots advancing environmental issues in Lebanon. We all know how she is lobbying so hard for so long to fix this issue Why? u stink movement was given the media platform, while others (movements) who had clear objectives were put aside. I am pissed because there was a real chance to let the real young from all walks of life go down the streets and protest outside any affiliation often and everyday…but thanks to ustink hula hura…it lasted 1 week and the parties are at it again in deal making. And the garbage remains.
That; is worth looking at.

I don’t think you are a demagogue but more like just another “foreign” mind who transpose the way politics is debated wherever except Lebanon (it is unique). All the things you said you read on social media + (to come up with your analysis, from far away, as you say in original post) where coming from ….multiple sources! Lebanese style. but you chose to pick your 1 subject, i.e u stink and the assaad being vilified… and you built the ..story around it … .. story telling with 1 layer to pick on, with sooooo many things/layers where unfolding in the first street flooding night….. then you take sides by choosing the vilain which was again …FPM who vilified poor ustink and assaad. and thats not what is-happening-sir. NOT.

I read and enjoy a lot of your “other” interesting stories except the ones getting into and out ; on the lebanese political condition. You may be interesting for so many, great story telling. But…really not being rude..but you don’t get it.

Posted by George Haddad | September 2, 2015, 4:33 pm
So George, how about you tell us what actually is-happening-sir? All that I read from you is vague accusations with hints that assaad is such and and such and that the youstink movement is backed by a hidden agenda which is anti iran neuclear deal… Please, you’re blowing our minds out with the suspense of the conspiracy theories.

All I see is a movement that is trying to get at least one little victory by getting one minister to resign and then after that get established as a defacto popular movement capable of bringing some change. Are you just worried that someone might actually succeed at what the FPM miserably failed at so far? Is that all there is to the matter? Listen, I, like you, was a believer in the FPM and its ability. Today after ten years since they returned to the scene, the only thing I can say they did well is stand by HA in the 2006 war. Apart from that they have been on the decline and only thing they’ve been working on is trying to replace the other right wing reactionary Christian parties in Lebanon with their own brand of Christian reactionary leadership. If you’re happy with that then good on you. I’m not because that surely is no isla7 and tagyeer. For fuck’s sake, from 1989 until 2005/6 the FPM had supporters from all religious sects as well as non religious supporters. They lost that because of their policies. They had a chance to make change but willingly blew it off. They better simply dismantle and let the real current of change take over.

Posted by Roger | September 2, 2015, 5:50 pm
George ,

Your making a mountain out of molehill. The argument was simply about Assaad who I still believe never incited. That’s an important word. Provoke he did but incite he didn’t. His opinion, his attitude expressed amongst friends. You call him bigot which is a false accusation because he doesn’t target a single religion or sect but religion in general. Perhaps an atheist but not a bigot.

Posted by Maverick | September 2, 2015, 5:54 pm
Roger,

Oh no, you just engaged a Aouni in a dialogue about Aoun. Good luck buddy through the labyrinth. Tip: remember the string that Thesues used.

Posted by Maverick | September 2, 2015, 5:59 pm
Thanks for the tip. Won’t need a string and won’t enter that labyrinth. Arguing with a Aouni or supporters of other parties in Lebanon is like an atheist trying to convert believers which is impossible.

Posted by Roger | September 2, 2015, 6:19 pm
Just to step out of the garbage for a minute and look down upon it from on high, I keep thinking of it in terms of the lamented “Arab Spring”, and even as that movement collapsed in blood and tyranny, I could not help but think of it as parallel to the those of the revolutions of 1848. What may be most important about Lebanon’s Garbage Summer is that it never could have taken place without the Arab Spring. I don’t know what the immediate outcome of Garbage Summer will be. Maybe it will collapse in blood and tyranny, or maybe the trash will be picked up and everyone will go home and smoke the nargileh, or maybe a continuing and broader movement will flourish. Still, historian Louis Namier’s remarks on 1848 seem apt: “Most of the men of 1848 lacked political experience, and before a year was out the ‘trees of liberty’ planted by them had withered away. None the less, 1848 remains a seed-plot of history. It crystallized ideas and projected the pattern of things to come; it determined the course of the century which followed. It planned, and its schemes have been realized: but ‘non vi si pensa quanto sangue costa’.” -Sir Louis Namier, “1848: Seed Plot of History”, in Vanished Supremacies, Hamish Hamilton (London), 1958.

Posted by Sam Adams the Dog | September 2, 2015, 10:24 pm
Nothing that happens could have happened without something else happening before it. Before Tunisia there was the Green Revolution, the Beirut Spring,the Orange Revolution, etc.

Posted by Qifa Nabki | September 3, 2015, 7:32 am
To George Haddad, I just want to tell you that the president of the Green Party of Lebanon is surely not “one of the bright spots advancing environmental issues in Lebanon”.
I was a member in this party and was completely disappointed how this woman brands her name under the “green party” logo. I don’t know what is your understanding of “lobbying” but if you consider organizing promotional campaigns and events cooperating with Sukleen and other companies interested to polish their corporate names as lobbying then yes this is what she is great at.

How she entered the ministry of environment with a bodyguard to impose herself as an intermediary in this conflict is not only arrogance per excellence but is also a clear sign that she only wanted publicity out of it.
She totally deserves the shaming she received because she is trying like all other parties to get a free ride and get a piece of this cake.

She even managed to extend her term as a president of the party by calling off the elections within her own party and considered herself wining by consensus just like your beloved Gebran Bassil. So for me she is a bigot just like Bassil and Jumblatt and Hariri and all others…

Posted by Anonymous | September 3, 2015, 8:18 am
For the record, I have no idea who this Assaad fella is, but I know enough to recognize George Haddad’s “after all assaad is a tiny part of so many civil movements that care and WORK HARD everyday, but this guy was GIVEN the public platform” statement as a dreadfully and ridiculously anti-enterprise argument!

It reminds me of that story one always hears about why, say, Indians succeed outside of India but not in India itself! The story goes that fishermen know that they can keep crabs in baskets without lids, because every time a crab tries to crawl his way out of the basket, the other crabs claw at him and drag him back in!

Let’s parse that statement a little bit. There’s the first clause, “assaad is a tiny part of so many civil movements that care and WORK HARD everyday”, to which the only reasonable response is, “So what?” Opportunities exist wherever and whenever they do regardless of who is doing what! In this case, there was enough pent-up demand to prove that needs were going unmet and therefore whoever was already in the market was not doing a good job servicing it!

Anyone willing to pay the ante should have fair access to the market, and exposure to risk should guarantee that those who doesn’t do their diligence or are sloppy in their execution slam into the wall nice and proper to learn a good lesson the hard way!

The second clause, “this guy was GIVEN the public platform”, is even more problematic! Never mind that it reeks of envy, but let’s get specific here. What exactly constitutes the public platform that Assaad allegedly enjoys? Is it merely the prestige of being a leader in a protest movement? I don’t know what the exchange rate is, but is this a lot of prestige, enough to annoy others?

And what exactly was he given and by whom? Are we talking material things here, like Ferraris and diamond rings and the sort? Who is the person behind the curtain who is dispensing all this loveliness? And why can’t we argue, just for fun, that that same person didn’t “pay” (if services were rendered then at least according to US tax laws these “givings” have to be accounted for as ‘income’ and not ‘gifts’) someone to create this whole garbage mess in the first place?

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 3, 2015, 10:24 am
Maronites and Maronism has proven itself to be what it is.

Utterly Racist.

Posted by Ray | September 3, 2015, 1:24 pm
And let me assure you, the Iranians and Hassan Nassralah have known that for a very long time and have found the right fool in Michel Aoun to fully take advantage of it.

Posted by Ray | September 3, 2015, 1:53 pm
What should they make of Maronite leadership that have danced with the French, the Syrians, the Israelis, Saddam Hussein, Yugoslavians, the Americans and the Iranians?

Posted by Ray | September 3, 2015, 2:01 pm
I forgot to mention the Saudis.

Posted by Ray | September 3, 2015, 2:35 pm
Maronites … Pure at heart.

Posted by Ray | September 3, 2015, 2:39 pm
An Israeli POV…

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4695951,00.html

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 3, 2015, 3:57 pm
It’s your point of view AP, don’t be shy, just come out and tell the world about your lover, Israel. I wonder though which of you two is on the receiving end the love making…

Posted by Roger | September 3, 2015, 4:56 pm
Roger,

Many Israelis like AIG and this guy I linked to above are VERY familiar with the complicated politics of the neighborhood, including Lebanon. They have to be.

I noticed few people on this website disagree with AIG’S conclusions. You’re free to agree, disagree, or name-call. Whatever you prefer.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 4, 2015, 9:04 am
boogeyman Iran, oooo so scaryyy..
Bye

Posted by Roger | September 4, 2015, 10:45 am
AP,

I swear you wake up on a different side of the bed every morning! 🙂

One day, you’re all like, “IRAN! HEZBOLLAH! IRAN! HEZBOLLAH!”

And the other day, you’re like, “[He’s] VERY familiar with the complicated politics of the neighborhood, including Lebanon.”

Decide how you want to play it dude, because you’re all over the place, and don’t think we’re not noticing, because we are!

If you assert that you guys “have to be [familiar]” with what you’re dealing with, then at least concede that we do too!

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 4, 2015, 10:49 am
Samer,

All I did was cut and paste a link to an opinion from an Israeli professor. If it doesn’t interest you, just ignore it. I won’t take it personally. I concede everyone has to be on their toes in this region, for sure.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 4, 2015, 11:15 am
boogeyman Iran, oooo so scaryyy..

Roger,

Not scary to you maybe, but definitely scary to Israelis. A boogeyman is an imaginary threat. Iran and Hezbollah (and Hamas) are all real threats as witnessed by past conflicts and their supply of Iranian weaponry.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 4, 2015, 11:22 am
Glad the whole conversation is ongoing. Now back to the original post that I wanted to comment in the first place to showcase something…

In the original post:
“For example, when the FPM recently tried to smear one of the movement’s organizers, Assaad Thebian, as a cross-burning infidel, the move backfired badly”

So…it backfired on whom?
Check from your binoculars from where ever you are and see the biggest rally since 2005…check how the population (that is sick of the system right?) …how they responded to the FPM manifestation. Do you see them. It was an FPM call right? no twisting here, THIS Party called for it. So if you join them TODAY …it means what?

…and when you say backfired…I understood you meant… the FPM (basic from your analysis) no?
…now ustink yesterday invited their supporters to MARCH with FPM. so …in essence ustink is going to the street to attend an FPM rally (now off course there will be a spin to their attendance, or maybe we will see CNN hosting one of them hehehe)
the subject that was “backfired on” in qifa nabki post…meant THE OPPOSITE in reality. Tada!
so…I cant be more right…you dont get it means you dont get it…in fact as we speak, the opposite is happening. I mean come on…you can see that right?
Impatiently waiting for the analysis on the biggest rally that was called by the party that “ustink” and other spat on in public forums….the FPM started to defy the system with a bloody battle a month ago…
So…nothing personal…ustink boys and all the rest who claimed independence of ALL and spat on all… are joining the rally of a specific political party >>> FPM <<< on the streets… what do you think of that? euhh just to be clear: IT-is-an-FPM-rally that was called by Aoun himself.
There will be hijacking..like always..but entre nous…we know what it means.

Guys…I am no Aouni or that …I don't "live in Lebanon" except to visit…like now; and I am NOT affiliated…but one does not have to be affiliated to ANALYZE MAZBOUT. but in case you must call me that…i will take it gladly.
they are asking the same things I want: to liberate MY vote from saado and his saudi patrons.
To allow me to make my & family and friends and society bring representative that represent …them.
that's all. The party who will demand a new electoral vote AND we elect a new parliament , then a president is my buddy…the rest..who really think that it is NOT important to renew the link between the lebanese population and their representatives before bringing another wanna-be-billionaire- in 5 years…is my enemy…and "my" I mean all those in the streets now.

Posted by George Haddad | September 4, 2015, 11:39 am
AP,

Don’t confuse and conflate this “being on your toes” business with what’s going on here! You’re not manning the ramparts of some fortress, with the sun in your face, rifle on your shoulder and sweat on your brow! You’re frivolously commenting on an Internet blog from the comfort of your home thousands of miles away from the conflict zone!

Basically, there’s no need to be so damn jittery around here! Just relax and try to be nice!

And speaking of taking things personally, we’ve already tried to communicate to you that if you want to cut and paste links here and expect others to read them, you have to sell those links with more than just “An Israeli POV…” Try to do more than just scraping by with the barest minimum while carelessly offloading the comprehension burden onto someone else…

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 4, 2015, 11:48 am
Georges Haddad, your post is illegible man, it makes not sense at all. Are you high, euphoric with the orange color maybe or something? Settle down, khod nafass.

And since you’re not in the action, and you’re far away, you have no excuse to be so blindly taken by Aoun’s current. The guy is calling for elections. In my opinion, it looks like FPM knows they are losing the populace fast and they’re panicking now. They thought maybe we better be the first to ask for elections only to tell them all later on “see, the FPM brought about the elections, not #youstink” in hopes that the people will forget that FPM which is in parliament had voted on postponing elections in the first place (along with the rest.) And if elections do take place, the FPM thinks it will be to their advantage now more than later when they’ve lost all support.

#youstink = you all stink, FPM and all the rest.

Enjoy your final days

Posted by Roger | September 4, 2015, 12:27 pm
We wish his Wise Royal Majesty, the Wise King of the Wise Kingdom and all his Companions a very comfortable and enjoyable visit to this part of the world. We also congratulate Mr. Obama for the much needed wise counsel he will gain from his audience with the Wise Royal.

Posted by Mustap | September 4, 2015, 12:31 pm
George,

When I talked about the smear campaign backfiring, I was referring quite specifically to the tactics of sectarian demagoguery that were behind that ploy. It backfired because there was a hostile reaction to it and toward the FPM from #YouStink supporters on Twitter and Facebook and in the media.

You seem obsessed with making sure that the FPM gets credit for the #YouStink movement. I believe that many things are possible in politics if one is willing to let other people take the credit, and therefore am not really interested in the Aounist priorities here. I frankly don’t care which party gets the credit; what matters to me is that some sensible policies are put in place and the waste management crisis is addressed.

Posted by Qifa Nabki | September 4, 2015, 1:29 pm
You’re not manning the ramparts of some fortress, with the sun in your face, rifle on your shoulder and sweat on your brow!

Samer,

And you are? I have just as much right to participate on this forum as you do. You’re not special.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 4, 2015, 1:55 pm
George

pardon my question: Is it the garbage smell or Kashmir Kush buddy. Incomprehensible phrases. No Capische!!

Posted by Danny | September 4, 2015, 2:08 pm
Oh, man!

There’ve really been only 3 times in my life when I’ve gotten stumped trying to understand something!

The first was a theatrical performance of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot”!

The second was a marionette show of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” in German, a language I don’t understand!

The third was the contemporary masterpiece which is George Haddad’s most recent comment on this blog!

I repeat: Oh, man! 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 4, 2015, 3:21 pm
I think that main issue here is how can the political social reality in Lebanon (the accepted version of “common sense” about the social and political situation one lives in) be changed or transformed. QN sees a certain pressure being exerted by the ustink movement on the political class (the feodal lords who head parties and are in charge of the legislators). There are of course independents as well as legislators on the margins of the parties that they belong to that may be conducive to changing the status quo but cannot do so without a “popular movement” that they can align with.

While many of us are skeptical about the possibility of holding parliamentary elections that may transform the status quo, many commenters (including myself) are hopeful that, no matter how the movement may be appropriated or sidelined, it will have lasting effects: re-alignments to accommodate popular discontent may provide a space for future voices as well as political preferences that are not quashed or ignored by the dominant ideology of fear and security worries.

The FPM is disintegrating because it is jot delivering on its lofty promises and platform (and has been acting de facto as directed by the interests of another new “family” in the overall feodal configuration. HA was only appealing to non sectarian-focused citizens when it engaged itself in social reforms and promised to undermine the feodal lords who have been tweaking the political system to serve them better. Instead, HA now is apparently (due to the wrong direction of its current leaders) aligned but on opposite sides with the M14 sectarians who are using “security” concerns to declare a state of exception from the political itself–and to follow regional foreign directives.

The garbage crisis and the collapse of services may create a counter cultural discourse that re engages the needs of civil society (beyond safety and protection). Patliamentary elections may create an opening for future voices and may more adequately represent the concerns of the new generation–but the old generation will do whatever it can to keep its control over the political system (by resolving the crisis quickly, by giving lip service or appropriating some of the demands of civil society, by rigging the voting if it comes to that, or by putting the army in charge if needs be).

Posted by Parrhesia | September 4, 2015, 4:46 pm
I did say Labyrinth but Faaaark me, that was A mind-f**k monologue on steroids with Sylvestre Stallone as voice over.

Posted by Maverick | September 4, 2015, 5:25 pm
Did anyone ask the simple question about how a cesspool normally look like?

First of all it stinks. Last but not least it’s normal to have trash in it.

Any surprises?

Did we not tell you while back it’s not a country but a cespool?

You see? We’re back to square one.

This is not a country, not a nation, never has been and never will be!

That’s what the French created 100 years ago: a cespool and the outcome is nothing but trash. Point a la ligne en francais.

Next time we tell you about how Wise the Wise King is.

Posted by Mustap | September 5, 2015, 12:32 am
Mustap,

You know who else stinks, those Backward Bedouin who refuse to take in refugees and who are killing more civilians than Houthis in Yemen.

Posted by Maverick | September 5, 2015, 1:38 am
O’ I’m surprised Mr. Maverick. It seems you’re one of those who think they’re special in comparison to those “backward bedouins”. So the cespool is not backward enough? May be it’s the light shining upon the world?

You know? The Yemenis have different opinions than yours. They’re very happy, pleased and thannkful for those “backward bedouins” who were the only ones willing to come to their rescue from the Houthies. Sana’a will be liberated very shortly thanks to the efforts of those “backward bedouins”. In fact the Yemenis themselves are very much engaged in the effort and busy clearing their country of the Houthies and doing more killing without respite.

Were there not some fools commenting here not long ago hoping the “backward bedouins” will fail in Yemen. Looks like it’s going very well and ahead of schedule. So fools who made those comments can now eat their hearts out. And it’s not true. The backward bedouins are not killing civillians. They’re killing Houthies. Soon, it’ll be the turn of HA riding the cespool of the trash.

Even Mr. Obama has a different opinion than yours about the “backward bedouins”

http://twitchy.com/2015/09/04/very-unusual-why-did-president-obama-greet-saudi-arabias-king-salman-like-this-photos/

As I alluded above, Mr. O. appears to be very very eager to get his much needed dose of Majestic Wisdom.

We understand your frustration with the Syrians. It’s clearly caused by the effect of that picture of the poor boy lying face down lifeless on the Turkish beach. But we all know who is dropping the barrel bombs on him. The refugees have a country and they don’t need to be refugees. They need to get rid of the tyrant.

Thanks to the Wise King and his Wise collegues in GCC who ordered their citizens to stop travelling to the cespool out of concern to their health.

Posted by Mustap | September 5, 2015, 10:27 am
Wise indeed they are on their health and should continue to do so.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304773104579268223173652920

Posted by Ray | September 5, 2015, 11:01 am
The cespool is so advanced that it is not aware that diabetes is a world wide epidemic,

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-09-03/china-catastrophe-hits-114-million-as-diabetes-spreads

This is the typical reaction of those who, now find themselves living in a cespool, have been led to believe they’re the light to the world and God’s gift to mankind.

Posted by Mustap | September 5, 2015, 11:40 am
For your eyes only Maverick. Aden is secured by two 8000 men brigades, one from Emirates and another one from KSA,

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/world/middleeast/foreign-ground-troops-join-yemen-fight.html?_r=0

Posted by Mustap | September 5, 2015, 8:14 pm
Welak 1000 mabrouk w kel iyemak farah.

I also support this move if it brings stability to Yemen but my shtick was with the dubious methods of annihilating everything in their path. There were way too many civilian casualties to call it collateral damage.
Now can they do the same in Syria?

Posted by Maverick | September 6, 2015, 10:00 am
There is still no safe substitute to winning a Military war without the use of fossil fuels, therefore the ongoing Oil war and its casualties.

Posted by Ray | September 6, 2015, 10:58 am
In it’s absence, the only alternative for defense is the use of chemical weapons. Therefore the profuse use of them by the Syrian regime as a deterrent of a ground invasion.

Warfare 101.

Posted by Ray | September 6, 2015, 11:21 am
Much needs to be imagined what the very big Iranian diaspora in the UAE makes of the latest incursion against the Shi’ites by the Saudis and Abu Dhabi in Yemen.

Posted by Ray | September 6, 2015, 11:34 am
W iyemak kaman ya Maverick.

Syria is definitely next in line. You can take that to the bank. The Wise ones can do it either directly or indirectly through proxies or both. Needless to say, proxies are available in abundance. There’s also ongoing coordination with Turkey in the North. Even Iraq is in the crosshairs either with Abadi playing along or if need be without him.

I would not characterize what’s happening in Yemen as annihilation as you put it. This is nothing but cheap Iranian propaganda, now that the mullah noses have been bloodied with them being helpless to come to the rescue of their stooges As I said above the Yemenis themselves are active players in the battle for their country. But to be honest, I don’t think when all is said and done there’ll be a Houthie left breathing. And I do not see why that should not be considered as a good thing. Why should there be among us lowly followers of Persian mullahs? Who needs Trojan horses in their midst? These same questions should asked up north including within the cespool. HA and its pathetic stooge Aoun and his pathetic followers will not escape the punishment of selling themselves to mullahs acting as their lowly vassals.

And in case you think these are the only brigades in action… nop, they’re not. Saudi ground troops crossed over in the last week to the home province of the Houthies heading towards Sa’ada, their capital. The plan is to liberate San’a and obliterate the Houthies in their own home turf. The Wise King is very Wise as you can surmise.

Posted by Mustap | September 6, 2015, 11:36 am
Mustap,

What’s the Wise King’s beef with Syria if he doesn’t consider any of their Sunni refugees worthy of sheltering in his Kingdom?

Posted by Ray | September 7, 2015, 10:48 am
The Wise King wants to settle the Syrian refugees in the cesspool especially inside the Aoun cesspool farm.

Next you need to know that the chemical weapons you hope will shelter you and other cesspololeans will be shoved up the butt of you know who? You guessed it buddy.

Posted by Mustap | September 7, 2015, 11:23 am
Mustap,

You are right. The reason Iraqi and Syrian Sunnis are suffering is due to the power of the Maronites over the whole region.

You are a certified and complete idiot!

Posted by Ray | September 7, 2015, 12:06 pm
Says who?

A Aouni cesspoolean?

Aoun represents itself only. When did it become a Maronite spokesperson?

I heard you were kicked out from Dubai when you were discovered as a fifth column.

Posted by Mustap | September 7, 2015, 1:12 pm
What’s happening in Syria? What’s up with the Rooskies? Did we agree with them on this? Or is this also an Iran deal side deal? Talk to me people!!
This behavior makes me wanna vote for Regan again 😁 what horror!! We need the White House to explain this. I’m cool if we agreed also .. Pero que tal hombre no hodas ya ya

Mustab, how come your beloved wisdoms and their side kicks don’t take the poor refugees?
And what’s up with the new killing fields in your backyard Arabs? Y’all gonna still avenge prophet Moe and deputy Amor Omar? Like your Shia “Brothers in Islam” who are avenging Moe and his cousin Amor Husein Ali? Snap out of it people!! Make a deal to oust killing from your lands quit fighting each other you tribal ” folks” هل حل بكم الجنون

And to the Bulgarian TV lady tripping refugees. SHAME ON YOU

Posted by Vulcan | September 10, 2015, 2:38 pm
Former CIA director under Obama: ‘Someone needs to lose their job’ if reports about ISIS intelligence are true”
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/former-cia-director-under-obama-132000261.html

Posted by Vulcan | September 10, 2015, 2:52 pm
Cesspool NewZ

Vulcan,

You can’t make this stuff up. Obama leads by throwing up white flags. If Reagen or any Bush knew the Russians were coming to the aide of Assad, there would be hell to pay. Geez, we once backed the Taliban against the USSR. Obama’s plan: let Iran go nuclear and pay them to do it. What?!

Trump is basically telling everyone how most Americans feel. The next US President can’t arrive fast enough…

Ben Carson, yoohoo?

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 10, 2015, 3:30 pm
Hilary for President. General Patreus VP 😀

Posted by Vulcan | September 10, 2015, 3:38 pm
Syria is a motley crew on a ship of fools in a hall of mirrors! Where there’s smoke there’s fire, the early bird catches the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese, and the grass is always greener on the other side! He who laughs last laughs loudest, yet the only sure things in life are death and taxes! Reach across the aisle, kick the can down the road, scrape the bottom of the barrel and put lipstick on a goddamn pig! Can’t turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse anyway … 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 10, 2015, 5:20 pm
Vulcan

1) Russians have always been part of the Syrian equation. After all, we are still living in a multipolar world order! It is only that recent media attention focused on the Russia military support (which has been continuous) due some “special interests” (Washington politics seems to drive media attention on particular issues nowadays).

2) It is inaccurate to describe regional struggles as a historical continuation of some imagined (and orientalist) religious wars. Contemporary national identities may be imbued by ethnic or religious significations but the main determinants of conflict are political and economic–within a cultural background. What is happening in the ME are not religious wars but political struggles–impressed on the ignorant masses as built on cultural or religious differences.

Posted by Parrhesia | September 10, 2015, 5:39 pm
On a serious note, AP please elaborate on that phrase you wrote: “pay them [Iran] to do it”

What are you talking about?

Are you talking about unfreezing funds that might have been under sanctions?

Remember that these funds belong to the Iranians! They sold their own oil and pocketed the proceeds to do with as they please! These funds are not coming out of anyone’s pocket! Not the American people, not your boy Mike Huckabee, or Tom Cotton, or anyone else …

Dude, I’m starting to doubt whether you’re even a principled conservative! I just think you like Republicans because they’re vicious and idiotic and love to perpetrate a good swindle (which undoubtedly reminds you of your cousins over there in Israel) 🙂 …

Public warning: “Why are you obsessed with Israel?”, “Is it in your nature to be rude?” and “This is my opinion and I’m free to express it” retorts coming in 3, 2, 1…

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 10, 2015, 6:06 pm
Parhesia, if what’s going on between Saudi Wahabia and Iran’s Shia culture of martyrdom isn’t religiously and ideologically driven to dominate the Middle East, I don’t know what is.
” Imagined Religous War”? ” Contemporary National Identities” ? You should really step out of the library in Boston and take a trip there, mingle with fodder while at it, to get a realistic perspective.

Posted by Vulcan | September 10, 2015, 6:39 pm
The Wise King does things wisely. You cannot ask a Wise King why you do this and you don’t do that. If the Wise King decides to put the refugees in the cesspool, then it must be wise to put them in the cesspool.

As to whether people have turned mad, far from it. People now understand the Wise course of action that the Wise King has undertaken with regards to obliterating the incursive persian mullahs through their stooges in Yemen and very soon elsewhere. I pointed out this question early on almost two years ago when I first raised the issue. We cannot allow these mullahs to have Trojan horses amongst us. Today it’s Yemen’s turn but soon it’ll be elsewhere. Assad will get his punishment soon after is liberated regardless of any roosky or mullah interventions. The Wise King will vanquish all in due time. It’s not a question of vengeance, it is a wise matter of national interests. I mean, I do not feel I can relate to a Persian mullah, nor do I see why such mullah need Trojan horses among us.

Some short-sighted commentators here were hoping that the Wise King will fail in Yemen. Now it must be clear to them this is far from what they were expecting.

Posted by Mustap | September 10, 2015, 6:49 pm
A few months ago, I hosted an old friend from the Middle East for a few days. I really bent over backwards to show him a good time!

So we’re at a rooftop bar, and everything is going swell. Great food, great drinks, great company, great everything!

And then he said it. He just came out and said it with all the conceit and confidence of a Middle Eastern jackass: “ISIS was invented by the US government to create an environment of fear and curb the liberties of the American people.”

And my enthusiasm popped, just like that! It vanished, poof! I swear I had half a mind to push that idiot off the damn rooftop right there and then … 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 10, 2015, 6:50 pm
“If the Wise King decides to put the refugees in the cesspool, then it must be wise to put them in the cesspool.”

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 10, 2015, 6:58 pm
“Wiserdom” forever!!

Do they sell Halal wine in KSA?

Posted by Danny | September 10, 2015, 8:33 pm
I always wondered why Iran and Israel don’t make peace and normalize relations, here’s a perspective on the common grounds the Jews and Persians share, from a Jewish American journalist who ventured into Tehran.

http://www.npr.org/2015/08/21/433402350/inside-iran-a-jewish-journalists-exclusive-look

Posted by Vulcan | September 10, 2015, 9:42 pm
A bit long but worth reading

http://forward.com/news/318930/a-jewish-journalists-exclusive-look-inside-iran/

Posted by Vulcan | September 10, 2015, 9:49 pm
Trojan horses? What’s up ? So..
Focus should be on irradiating religious ruling stop your dogs of war

Posted by Vulcan | September 10, 2015, 10:53 pm
hmm….

I may be open to adopting the term Trojan dogs instead of Trojan horses.

Actually, I like it. Finally, we have one thing we can agree upon.

So let’s begin circulationg the new terminology: There’re much fewer Trojan dogs in Yemen today than there were six months ago, thanks once again to the Wise King.

Posted by Mustap | September 10, 2015, 11:28 pm
Wondering Out Loud

Vulcan,

Try other news sources than NPR. NPR has a natural anti-Israel bias and is made up of the most “liberal”-minded news reporters. It is a mirror image of Fox News and is one of many reasons why Fox News is so successful.

I always wondered why Iran and Israel don’t make peace and normalize relations…

You may want to ask Samer, he’s an expert about so many things. My novice understanding is that the Iran Supreme Leader, who is elected by a tiny group of Shia clerics, does not recognize Israel like you do, and is working day and night to destroy the Jewish State militarily. His agreement with the US and the “Big 5” gives him less incentive to “make peace” with anyone.

Conversely, Israel recognizes all states, including peace negotiations with the Palestinians, even while half the Palestinians are working to destroy Israel as well. You won’t get the full story listening to NPR, unfortunately.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 11, 2015, 6:59 am
Vulcan,

Unless you’re a highly unorthodox experimental physicist, I think you’re more interested in ‘eradicating’ religious ruling than ‘irradiating’ it! 🙂

Just adding my two sense… (Get it? Aren’t malapropisms the best?)

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 11, 2015, 10:26 am
Samer, yes, eradicating, dunno how irradiating got in there lol but it kinda sounds fitting for the crazies.

Posted by Vulcan | September 11, 2015, 10:36 am
AP,

For what it’s worth, I fully recognize Israel and have great affection for the Jewish people and respect very dearly their need to have a state of their own!

You may or may not believe it, but a few years ago, I attended the wedding in a Santa Barbara vineyard, one hour’s drive North of Los Angeles (where the movie ‘Sideways’ was filmed) of my Palestinian-American cousin, whose father fled East Jerusalem during the Six Day War, to an Ashkenazi Jew with the surname of ‘Krauss’! [you probably disapprove of this ‘miscegenation’ kind of thing which makes it all the more enjoyable to relate it to you]

In fact, I recognize Israel even with the West Bank fully annexed to it, that’s how far along I am! I sneer at all the South Africa analogies because I know that South Africa is 40 times larger, 40 FRICKIN’ TIMES LARGER, than Israel plus the Golan plus the West Bank plus Gaza all put together!

So there…

Now’s where you come out and you admit that despite all this talk of a deep desire for peace negotiations, the Israelis will never allow a Palestinian state in the West Bank! So basically, at least as far as the Israelis are concerned, for better or for worse, well thought out or not, the peace negotiations are a sham! 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 11, 2015, 10:39 am
Mustcrap, NO, we don’t agree on anything.

The King and ISIS
King Salman came to Washington touting military and counterterrorism cooperation. But can the U.S.-Saudi relationship survive the House of Saud’s sponsorship of Islamic radicalism across the globe?

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/09/10/the-king-and-isis-saudi-arabia-egypt-iraq/

Posted by Vulcan | September 11, 2015, 10:57 am
“Nothing has been more corrosive to the stability and modernization of the Arab world, and the Muslim world at large, than the billions and billions of dollars the Saudis have invested since the 1970s into wiping out the pluralism of Islam — the Sufi, moderate Sunni and Shiite versions — and imposing in its place the puritanical, anti-modern, anti-women, anti-Western, anti-pluralistic Wahhabi Salafist brand of Islam promoted by the Saudi religious establishment.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/opinion/thomas-friedman-our-radical-islamic-bff-saudi-arabia.html?_r=0

Posted by Vulcan | September 11, 2015, 11:00 am
Samer,

I appreciate your more than moderate stances on Israel; I am more of a “live-and-let-live” guy as well. I think Vulcan is too. With that in mind, just cut me a break! The Iran deal sucks and all semites are going to pay for it. I didn’t even bring up Israel…

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 11, 2015, 11:16 am
AP,

You wanna know where my Palestinian cousin and her Jewish husband went on their honeymoon?

Are you ready?

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA!

LOL! 🙂

I’m telling the truth, I swear… I’ll admit that this is some pretty ‘out there’ stuff, even for me! … Why couldn’t they have gone somewhere normal like the Seychelles? 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 11, 2015, 11:27 am
Vulcrap,

You didn’t believe I was serious? Did you?

I was making fun of you.

It’s either I make fun of you which I enjoy so much. Or I mock you which I also enjoy so much.

There’s no other alternative.

Posted by Mustap | September 11, 2015, 12:05 pm
In other news, few things on the Internet are cooler than the YouTube trailer for the Performing Arts Season at the Walker Art Center. This year’s trailer came out a few weeks ago, and it features a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance by Lebanese artist and playwright Rabih Mroue, who will perform “Riding on a Cloud” this season.

I actually attended his last performance at this venue, many years ago, which was called “Looking for a Missing Employee” and centered around the Lebanese Civil War. I went into the show hoping for the best and really, really, really wanting to like it, but I’m sorry I just didn’t! In fact, I struggled to sit through the whole thing! I really do appreciate this avant-garde stuff but I’m also highly critical of it…

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 11, 2015, 12:06 pm
SAMER NASSER ontological answer to AP

YOU:
“For what it’s worth, I fully recognize Israel and have great affection for the Jewish people and respect very dearly their need to have a state of their own!”
MOI:
That’s cool ghandi, now if you also “respect” “very dearly” YOUR “COUSINS” PEOPLE NEED to a state THEY HAD……you will be awarded the nothingness person of the year. here nothing.there nothing.

YOU:
“In fact, I recognize Israel even with the West Bank fully annexed to it, that’s how far along I am!”
MOI:
can’t get “longer” than that dude. That’s called big time Stockholm syndrome. guaranteed man. I just saved you diagnostic $.
But don’t thank me. get well..inchalla.

YOU:
“….I sneer at all the South Africa analogies because I know that South Africa is 40 times larger, 40 FRICKIN’ TIMES LARGER,:
MOI:
It’s 40TIMES bigger!! That explain you >> “sneering” the analogies..it’s because it’s bigger ◔_◔.
One can’t compare human rights issues when a country is 40 TIMES BIGGER…hehehe…that convinced me of the above said syndrome. Also gave dictators of “big” countries a great angle they never thought of…”come on people ..what’s a few thow dead and imprisoned?…we are a huuuuge country”
…I hear you

Loved how you end it with the smily dude…you’re like a total submissive pup. yepyepyep

man…to be respected you have to be respectful to yourself first….And I bet you 1000 to 1 that Israelis Do not and will never respect someone like you…guaranteed dude
I bet you that AP guy will not reply to you “much” after that submission. Nothing to talk to you about…the I-shit-in-my-pants-flag was out from you.

he …said it best:
O rage… O désespoir … O vieillesse ennemie
N’ai-je donc tant vécu que pour cette PUTAINE DE MONSTRUEUSE infamie ?

NB: I WILL NOT read your replies…yepyep yourself again for all to read. What you wrote is indefensible even for an Israeli…for real hehehe

Posted by George (no handle) Haddad | September 11, 2015, 3:32 pm
Mustap and Vulcan

If you try my patience, you’re both gone for another month. Mesheh?

Posted by Qifa Nabki | September 11, 2015, 3:57 pm
Thanks Vulcan for your advice. I will try to learn from “experience” but I am not sure that it will make my theoretical analyses more “true”. It is much easier, indeed, to talk of Wahabi versus Shia ideologies than to analyze complex social realities. Cheers!

Posted by Parrhesia | September 11, 2015, 5:43 pm
An update on the ustink movement.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2238c7a039664f22917c0196d44b31cc/protests-planned-lebanon-government-dialogue-kicks

Posted by Parrhesia | September 11, 2015, 5:47 pm
What I wanna know is why the FSA in the south of Syria was dropped like a sack of shit, cut off from foreign funding and assistance almost overnight when these lads are the last bastion of hope from the moderate camp, a thousand times more effective than any CIA trained misfit. Sometimes I wonder about the West and what exactly do they want in Syria. It’s not like time is on their side. The refugee debacle has the potential to spiral out of control and create fissures no one can stop. The Russians are creeping in, the Iranians are ready to go shopping and the Arabs are just that. Fucking Arabs. Heck even Sisi is supplying the regime with weapons.
All this could have been avoided if a No Fly Zone was enforced and assisting the FSA, and for the love of God, stop the barrel bombs.
I’m no conspiracy theorist but if there ever is one, it’s not a conspiracy against Assad and Co, it’s actually the exact opposite.

Posted by Maverick | September 11, 2015, 5:47 pm
Parrhesia,,

It’s simple; Recycle bitches!
A whole lot of money, waste, energy, environmental impact can be saved or avoided if they recycle.
I’m no expert, but please listen to Paul Abi Rached who is captivating in his passion, his expertise and the simplicity of his solutions.

Posted by Maverick | September 11, 2015, 5:54 pm
George Haddad,

Sorry to break it to you dude, but your writing is crap! Take the time to fix it and then come back and try to convince me about anything! This process of repair will help you realize that you being how you are right now came at a tremendous opportunity cost, and you’ll be forced to question if it was worth it! This reckoning will hurt, I guarantee that, but it’ll be good for not just you but all the pitiful people out there who might hopelessly look to you for responsibility or accountability… 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 11, 2015, 6:12 pm
George Haddad,

To be correct, Palestine was never an independent nation or country. It will take the cooperation of both Israel and the Palestinian people to pull it off. It can’t be forced. And of course, the Palestinian people deserve a state, if they can live in peace with a Jewish state.

If there were more enlightened arabs like Samer and others on this forum, the ME would become the new China, with overwhelming growth and prosperity.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 11, 2015, 6:34 pm
AP,

OK! Wow! I had to read George Haddad’s comment several times to better understand what he was saying about Palestine and Palestinians! I totally missed it at first. It came across as poorly formatted gibberish!

But yeah, this is run-of-the-mill commentary for Lebanese people named George! He’s infuriated because any capitulation on Palestine might mean that Lebanon has to absorb Palestinian refugees. That’s the long and short of it right there. These guys want the Palestinians on the front lines in the war against Israel, at any cost (which is convenient for them of course since the cost is not theirs to bear anyway). Any other arrangement sends them into a frightful panic because they feel they’re somehow being jilted…

P.S.: I know I might come across as reckless, negligent and cavalier on some of these matters, but I’m making a deliberate attempt to protect my family’s privacy (my own is mine to do with as I please) and so this blog will never know to what extent we have struggled for the region, albeit always completely peacefully, in perfectly good faith and as private citizens with no political influence or governmental authority…

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 11, 2015, 7:16 pm
Maverick, there is no conspiracy. If there is anyone to blame it’s the Wise Arabs, they decided that all the money and help should go to the ISIS type salafist misfits, it wasn’t a U.S. decision. After all these deaths and after ISIS is knocking on their doors, the Saudis and Egyptians are now meeting with Assad’s reps. Go figure.

Parhesia, the whole world is describing this as a sectarian blood bath and you’re talking about “complex social realities” ? With all due respect, this is none sense.

Posted by Vulcan | September 11, 2015, 10:28 pm
QN, loud and clear, my bad, I should have resisted, but I don’t know if you noticed, we were doing just fine when he was gone.

Posted by Vulcan | September 11, 2015, 10:32 pm
It’s academic tunnel authoritarianism, when comparing the open calls for killing and enslaving others because they belong to different sects and religion or non religion clearly expressed on many occasions by the racist person named Mustap, to statements that contain linguistic foul and foolish expressions of dismay and disapproval and rejection, expressed by me and many other silent readers.
You can’t not compare. Dr. You need to grade us here too. On any scale.

Bonwee Jo swee swaf

Posted by Vulcan | September 11, 2015, 11:12 pm
A self declared ‘intellectual’, non-tunnel ‘visionary’ and ‘non-authoritarian’ named Vulcan who never fails to engage in conspiracy theories of his own that fit his own racist bigotry such as continually throwing unfounded statements about some imaginary role of the most honorable and most wise government of the KSA in the so-called creation and/or support of terrorist groups, while at the same time the narcissict always hastens and never fails to come forward in defense of the most notorius and worst criminal regime in history that is the Assad regime as well as its likewise criminal backers. Refer to this ‘non-authorittarian’ quick response to Maverick just few comments above, who simply made self-evident remarks of observations regarding the hypocricy of western countries (particularly the USA) vis-a-vis the criminality of Assad.

It makes you wonder if you can rely on the veracity and intellectual acumen (if there’s any to be called as such) of such bigotted racist, not to mention that we’re completely in the dark as to the level of this individual’s actual intellectual accomplishmens, whether achieved through academic pursuits or actual life experience or expertise.

From my own personal experience, I am always careful when I’m dealing with an individual or individuals who originate in this small corner wasteland of the Middle East (which seems to be more appropriately referred to nowadays if not always as the cesspool). The pretenses and bombastic and exaggerated claims to knowledge are built right into the genes and are integral part of a psychy suffering from a severe sense of downtrodenness which seeks to compensate by such ridiculous and laughable claims.

Normally, these guys are referred to in local linguistics as فهلويون. The locals have not yet developed a complete uneerstanding of what conspiracy theories are meant to accomplish. It’s amazing, however, how a local فهلوي, fullfils the role of the more well known conspiracy theorist.

Posted by Mustap | September 12, 2015, 12:23 am
You are simply lying to cover yourself Mustap, you are transparent and a weakling. I never ever defended Assad or his criminal acts as you claim in any of my posts. You are new here. On the other hand we all read your support for Saudi ISIS.

Posted by Vulcan | September 12, 2015, 1:26 am
LoL @ “unfounded statements about some imaginary role of the most honorable and most wise government of the KSA in the so-called creation and/or support of terrorist groups”

Posted by Vulcan | September 12, 2015, 1:36 am
The Saudis are a brutal and despotic regime whom have no conception of democracy or freedom yet we support these filth. Saudi Arabia is the leading state sponsor of terrorism, spending billions worldwide to propagate their evil and extreme Wahhabi ideology that has inspired such terrorist groups as Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab, Ahrar Al-Sham, Boko Haram, ISIS, Jabhat Al-Nusra, Jundallah, Taliban, etc. These groups have killed and maimed innocent people, in particular, Muslims who oppose their ideology. Many people forget that 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi nationals. None of them were from Iran, Iraq, Syria, or Yemen. For a much safer world, the Saudi regime must collapse and be tried for their crimes against humanity.

Posted by Vulcan | September 12, 2015, 2:07 am
These are known facts to many people in the world. Not my words or theories.

Posted by Vulcan | September 12, 2015, 2:09 am
When I see four disjointed consecutive comments within minutes of each others full of gibberish made by the Vulcan, then I can immediately deduce the state of confusion of the mind of the subject in question. I can also immediately deduce the cause which is none but the truth(s) behind the preceding comment. And finally, it makes clear the pretenses you’ve been hiding behind were nithing but that – empty, hollow, vacuous…

I’ll tell what. Try not to get your eyes to look above their brows, when it comes to the most honorable and most wise KSA. Since you’re فهلوي you must know what it means. All فهلويون understand the saying العين ما بتعلى فوق الحاجب.

It (the eye) may end up suffering from skewed vision, simply due to straining of the muscles, or even worse it may cause tunnel vision further up in the head. I’m sure you don’t want that. Or perhaps, it’s already happened, but the confused mind isn’t aware.

Go play somewhere else. Your mask has fallen or more appropriately was forced to fall.

Posted by Mustap | September 12, 2015, 3:25 am
Many people forget that 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi nationals. None of them were from Iran, Iraq, Syria, or Yemen.

Vulcan,

From my perspective, the whole concept of ME terrorism started with the Palestinians. It was a local conflict that stretched across international boundaries but only affected Israel.

Now ME terrorism is affecting everyone in the ME; arabs more than jews.

Who is responsible? The KSA doesn’t call for Israel’s destruction, but Iran does. The KSA or Saudis or Gulf arabs funded the 9-11 terrorists. Why? Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi funded Palestinian terrorists. Syria funnels arms to Hezbollah. The terror business is the ME’S greatest export.

The only way to solve the problem is to somehow get these governments away from families and self-elected leaders.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 12, 2015, 9:18 am
“From my perspective, the whole concept of ME terrorism started with the Palestinians. It was a local conflict that stretched across international boundaries but only affected Israel.”

That’s really rich! It was your goons who uprooted and tossed out thousands of Palestinians from their ancestral lands. The Jews suffered the Holocaust but they gained a country. Stop your self indulging drivel.

You and the resident ISIL rep should rekindle your dormant romance! Iran and Persians are more civilized than any or your dear Israeli Jews or KSA man eaters!

Posted by Danny | September 12, 2015, 10:09 am
” from my perspective, the whole concept of ME terrorism started with the Palestinians”

AP,

Did you mean Palestine, not Palestinians? Groups like the Irgun or The Stern Gang come to mind which technically were the first terrorist groups.
But let’s try to be objective here and admit that both Zionist and Palestinian groups had nationalism as their reason d’être while ISIS and al Qaeda have a much more broader aim so let’s not pin the whole ME terrorism on Palestinians, seriously.

Posted by Maverick | September 12, 2015, 10:14 am
From my perspective, Trojan horses and those behind them are the root causes of terrorism plaguing the Middle East and elsewhere. Those who talk about civilized this and un-civilized that are side tracking the issue towards a non-relevant discourse, not to mention that knowing where the side trackers come from immediately disqualifies them from offering a worthy opinion on who is and who is not civilized.

Therefore, when the Wise Kingdom engages in a concerted effort to eliminate the Trojans, it is first and foremost wisely ensuring its own national interests and subsequently presenting to the entire world an invaluable service by enhancing its security.

The war on Trojans must be waged with vigor and without respite. Thanks once again to the unprecendented Wisdom of the Wise King.

Posted by Mustap | September 12, 2015, 10:41 am
AP,

You display some serious naivety, not to mention historical ignorance, when you state that KSA never calls for the destruction of Israel yet Iran does. To understand why this is, you need to be keenly aware of how we got here in the first place, and how basically a tiny country called Lebanon became the staging ground for the “resistance” against Israel.

I don’t want to go into a long post here, yet still want to be complete, coherent and explanatory, so bear with me while I try my best.

It wasn’t until the relatively recent oil booms that the Gulfies developed any clout at all in the region. Until then, all the heft belonged to Abdul Nasser/Sadat/Mubarak in Egypt and the Baathists in Syria and Iraq (who later degenerated into the maniacal Assad and Hussein dynastic regimes). The Gulfies, with American security assistance, basically just wanted to make sure that the region’s troubles didn’t impact them too much.

When Egypt lost the Sinai and then groveled for over 10 years to get it back, it learned its lesson and got out of the anti-Israel game. The Hashemites of Jordan were never really in the game to begin with. The Syrians lost the Golan and then decided to go proxy by turning Lebanon into a battlefield, not as much to support Palestinians but to spite exclusivist, separatist Maronite Lebanese (and yes, the Syrians were assisted in this regard by the Egyptians and indeed, crazy Gaddafi and Saddam).

When Israel invaded Lebanon in the early 1980’s and kicked the PLO out of the country (although it’s important to note here that the PLO and Hafez Assad never got along, which is where other organizations like PLFP-GC come into the picture), the Syrians realized that with a newly emboldened, not to mention devout, revolutionary Iranian Islamic republic, they could find a new proxy in Lebanon in the form of Hezbollah to keep the resistance going against Israel.

The Lebanese accepted this wager at the time because South Lebanon was under occupation by the Israelis and the Lebanese were sure that there was no other way to get it back other than to support some type of asymmetric, geurrilla warfare against Israel’s infrastructure there.

Which gets us to where we are today. Basically, there is nowhere to stage the resistance against Israel other than from Lebanon, to the extreme detriment of the Lebanese. He who controls Lebanon gets to manage the “resistance” narrative, but screaming from the pulpit doesn’t always mean actually doing anything to resist. The whole resistance concept has been co-opted and politicized and turned into a means to bludgeon any of its opponents not necessarily in Israel but domestically in Lebanon and Syria too.

Now granted, these resistance guys may genuinely believe that they stand a chance at liberating so much as a square nanometer of Palestine, or they may be playing a con-game. No-one is quite sure, because they’ve perfected the art of the maniacal “poker-face”. Is it a bluff? Look into those crazy eyes! How can you tell? 🙂

Which brings us back to the KSA. As long as the situation stands as it is, the KSA has no incentive to take over the role of Israel-antagonist from Iran, as long as Iran controls Syria and Lebanon. If this situation changes and KSA starts to have more of a dominant role in not just Lebanon but Syria, then pressure might start to ramp up against KSA to assume more of a hostile stand against Israel (since Assad and Iran will no longer be there to “front” and relieve the militant pressure on KSA).

This will no doubt put KSA in a very awkward position. They might think, “OK! We now have Lebanon, but what the f*ck do we do about Israel?”

In which case, I’m sure the Americans will have an extremely moderating effect by urging, “If you so much as throw a dirty look at the Israelis across the border from Lebanon, you can kiss our support goodbye!”

But would this be enough to stabilize the situation? The fact that it hasn’t already happened means there are powerful forces out there who don’t necessarily think so!

But you also have to look at it from the perspective of KSA! These guys are very shrewd and I’m sure have already decided that all this drama, not to mention expense, is simply not worth the trouble!

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 12, 2015, 11:53 am
A long post made short (original expressed, but un-delivered intention of an author who consistently confuses self and others):

1) So-called revolutionaries (Nasser/Baath/None-sense etc…) in Arab world are proven discredited after almost a century of wasted time, energy and human tolls. Harken back to discredits at your own risk.

2) Wise Kingdom and its Wise Gulf colleagues have well defined and historically consistent policies which put national interests first and foremost above all including discredited ideologies of so-called Arab Nationalism (an imported left over ideology from colonial bygones, the final destination of which is the history dustbin).

3) And speaking of history: Faysal made Nasser a minion puppet after almost a decade of Nasserite futile pursuits. Nasser literally kneeled to the late Wise King in order for Nasser to save any shred of left over honor he may or may not have.

Again, same advise is given to you: Do not let your eyes attempt to see what it is not made to see, or as put above do not look above you eyebrows. العين ما بتعلى فوق الحاجب

Posted by Mustap | September 12, 2015, 12:43 pm
Finally proof that God exists and and his existence has been manifested by the prophets of the Wise moves of the Most Wise of the Wise that do not indulge in any of what they profess.

Posted by Ray | September 12, 2015, 1:00 pm
Mustap,

For a guy who once went ballistic on this blog on libertarian grounds when I complained about his conduct, you’ve got a lot of hypocritical nerve instructing me “not to look above [my] eyebrows” (whatever that even means)!

I’ll look wherever I want, thank you very much, and from my vantage point, your precious Wise King is flailing just as badly in the real world as you are on this blog! (Consider this honest assessment a favor from me to you…)

And please, spare me the Arabic proverbs! I’ve heard enough of them over a lifetime to absolutely no benefit, and in the aggregate I’ve decided that not only are they worthless, but the people who dabble in them are stupid!

So there… 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 12, 2015, 1:29 pm
Proof strike you head. What proof? and profess what?

It only proves that the cesspool in which you live and which colonials created for you to live in had no influence on the authenticity of a Wise Kingdom which was, still is and always will be the expression of an authentic civilization which you will have to spend eons before you achieve anything that would be 1% of it. In other worlds, yours and likewise of those discredits are artificial artifacts that are bound to fade into oblivion in the presence of authenticity.

The advise to you is to continue tending to the Aouni farm (they call the trade husbandry) and again do not strain your eyes into looking higher than they can see.

Posted by Mustap | September 12, 2015, 1:36 pm
Mustap,

It’s actually really cute how you’re deploying this “wisdom that one cannot see” schtick as a “deus ex machina” plot device. But this kind of thing only works in the theater, it doesn’t work in real life! I fear you might be confusing the two as a dissociative coping mechanism in response to trauma that you might have either witnessed or suffered in the past (which may or may not pertain to Syria)! I’m trying not to be presumptuous here because that can get really annoying, but I won’t lie to you dude, the signs of your personal distress are obvious…

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 12, 2015, 1:49 pm
Samer,

Do you really expect me to take your so-called assessment of me at face value? I didn’t assess you neither did I call you stupid. But may be you are. I’m not sure. I still have to assess you before I burst into similar stupid tirades like yours and make conclusions. You see, your claims to mastery of the English language are beginning to peel off into another scandalous bogus claim not unlike the many others I warned against in a previous comment. After all, you originate not too far off from the cesspool where pretending and making obfuscated claims are the norms. Calling a tirade stupid is definitely different than calling a person stupid. I’m sure you would agree. But again I could be wrong due to ongoing assessment.

I’m beginning to think that you’re a hoax and despite your pretenses to having shed the shackles from olden world, you seem to exhibit the same characteristics known to inflict the vast majority of that world, namely short temper, bursts of anger, name calling etc….. You see? I’m assessing you bit by bit. But I haven’t jumped to conclusions yet.

So before you give us your personal opinions and assessments of persons and calling them names why don’t you go and work on your Office Suite skills? I heard there’s new version coming up and you need to catch, an endeavour we usually delegate to novices and beginners in our realm.

So, before you

Posted by Mustap | September 12, 2015, 1:50 pm
Samer, Maverick, and Danny,

I guess I feel comfortable enough to share my feelings in cyberspace. And so thanks for raking me over the coals from my last post, which, admittedly was just me talking from my gut as a usually do.

Yes, Israelis carried out paramilitary activities against unarmed civilians during their war of independence. Once these groups merged with Haganah, this activity became official government defence. Of course, Israelis are still deemed terrorists today for ANY attempt at self defence, which most of us know is ridiculous.

Israelis don’t bomb jccs in Argentina, don’t blow up skyscrapers in the US, don’t blow up buses or restaurants in Bali. The key is that Israeli “terrorism” is almost always directed in the direction of fire or at military targets.

Getting back to the KSA conundrum, it seems like today’s terrorism is sunni vs shia, and it all stemmed from propping up Assad. Why is Syria so important? Because it is a sunni majority country that is being taken over by Iran. Yemen and Iraq as well. Can you blame the KSA for being fearful of Iran’s intentions?

As far as the KSA is concerned, they took more of a back-seat role in resisting Israel. Is that statement true, and if so, why?

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 12, 2015, 5:03 pm
AP,

I’ve already kind of answered your final question, but I’ll reiterate here:

KSA took a back-seat role in resisting Israel because the staging ground for resistance was Lebanon and KSA was beaten there by Syria which was right next door and more culturally attuned to the Levantine Arab problem of how to accommodate the Zionist project in its midst.

Once the PLO was removed from Lebanon, then the Shiites of the South became the natural successors to the local resistance project, and they had no problem at all getting Iranian assistance, and they used it very shrewdly to rise up in Lebanon and overcome what some would argue was a disadvantaged and disenfranchised historical status there.

Saudi influence in Lebanon is a recent, post-Civil War phenomenon which I associate with the Rafik Hariri/Solidere (downtown Beirut reconstruction)/Future Movement (political party and media apparatus) era. I will remind you that Hariri made his billions working as a contractor in Saudi Arabia with very close ties to the Saudi Royal Family.

Moving on, yes Syria is majority Sunni, but Yemen and Iraq are not. Iraq is Shiite majority and the Sunni minority is distributed between Arabs and Kurds.

Yemen, from what I understand, is fairly even split between Sunnis and Shiites, but the Shiites are of a “Zaidi” sect which is different from what exists in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

Yemen is complicated, as is the South Eastern coastline of the Arabian peninsula in general. Oman, for example, which almost never makes the news, is a country the geographical size of Poland with a tiny population of around 4 million people who are mostly Sunni, but the Sultan is… wait for it… Abadi! What is an Abadi? I’m sorry, I don’t really know, but I think of Oman as being strictly neutral in this whole Sunni v. Shiite/KSA v. Iran business…

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 12, 2015, 6:30 pm
AP,

The fact that Iran engages in state sponsored terrorism, supporting groups like HA or aiding Assad the butcher, or openly calling for the elimination of Israel, does not make Saudi a civilized secular peace loving democracy. I don’t know if you are uninformed or you just chose to not notice, but in the past 2 decades or so, it’s Saudi sponsored Wahhabi Salafi groups that have been engaged in most terror acts, from Afghanistan to Iraq to Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria and the USA. Groups like Taliban, Al Qaeda, AQAP, and AQ in Iraq, that morphed into ISiS, BocoHaram, Al Nusra, Jund Al Sham, Fath Al Islam, Hamas, all are Sunni Wahabi Salafi terror organization that are bent on ” cleansing” the Middle East from anyone who isn’t practicing their sick religion, or doesn’t bow down to their Islamic Imperialistic goals. that include Jews, Christians, Shia and Sufi Muslims and basically any religous minority in the Middle East. Don’t think Israel or the Jews will be spared.

just because they see eye to eye on the Iranian threat, Israelis should never trust or cooperate with the Saudi Wahabia scum.

Posted by Vulcan | September 12, 2015, 8:16 pm
AP,

Let’s have some fun! There’s a “terrorism theorist” at Northeastern University in Boston named Max Abrahms who tweets at @MaxAbrahms!

Do me a favor and peruse his timeline and please let me know what the hell he’s advocating, because I can’t figure it out!

From what I gather, he spends his time basically blasting Al Qaeda and ISIS as a threat to the US, which they are, but then he seems to think Assad is a counter-terrorism asset, which is where I start to frankly get disgusted (here is where he approaches insufferable Ted Cruz/Rand Paul political territory).

But get this? When Putin moves to bolster Assad, which would presumably be a good thing under the Max Abrahms doctrine, Max Abrahms asserts that Putin is humiliating Obama! WHAT? This is not what humiliation looks like! Humiliation would be Obama rushing to embrace Assad out of fear that Putin would beat him to it… THAT would be humiliating!

Abrahms also seems to lament the humanitarian suffering in Syria but then adopts the Peter King/Mike Huckabee posture that refugees from Syria have to be vetted for links to terrorism before being allowed into the US (a process which would presumably take forever, lead nowhere and not address the crisis’s urgency) and even hints that Europe might be facing a problem with its acceptance of Syrian refugees. Okaaaaaaay!

This is pro-Assad punditry right here, plain and simple! That’s what it is! It whirls around in aimless fury and tries to masquerade as something else, but only a fool can’t see where it’s going by default and how hypocritical it is!

These guys, no matter where they are in the world, want us to basically perversely celebrate Assad by ritually denouncing him but keeping him right where he is, all the while dehumanizing and ignoring his victims!

And then they have the cheek to assert that it is actually Obama who doesn’t have a strategy for Syria! Unbelievable! Get the f*ck outta here, Max Abrahms, you spineless, venal, vacuous buffoon… You’re an embarrassment to America!

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 12, 2015, 8:58 pm
The Wise Kingdom knows very well these desperate voices that keep on spewing venom and express hateful jealousies of its successes and its exalted status within the Middle East as well as the entire world. These voices will keep on barking for quite sometime until they get consumed by their own hate and venom or lose the ability to continue to bark. They will keep on spreading unfounded propaganda and lies and will achieve nothing at the end of the day but their own despair, perishing from their own spite and loathing from their self inflicted failures, an end they will share with their fellow Trojans.

In the meantime the successes of the Wise Kingdom will continue to multiply, and the supreme national interests of the Kingdom will be safeguarded by the Wisdom of its Wise rulers and the support of its enlightened people. The Wise Kingdom pays no heed to such irrelevant voices of hatered and jeolousy. It only pays attention to its own interests.

Posted by Mustap | September 12, 2015, 9:02 pm
“Non-interventionists” like to argue that those who “fueled the conflict” in Syria have a responsibility to accept the refugees that resulted from it.

According to that logic, I’d argue that if Assad wins this thing, his defenders have to go and live under his rule in Syria! And if his only merit is exterminating terrorists, then they have to get their hands dirty in that trade as well. And should they ever pick up the phone and dial 911 for assistance in an emergency (or “foreign interference” to use their preferred lingo), it must be assured that absolutely nobody pick up on the other end under any circumstances and they be left to their fate…

Goddamn it, it’s a Saturday night! What the hell am I doing commenting on this blog? 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 12, 2015, 9:53 pm
It appears as if the French Francois Holland shares the same opinion as the Wise King regarding the refugees. Mr. Holland may be open to settling the refugees in the cesspool, it seems. Obviously, Mr. Holland recognizes after 100 years the grave errors committed by his ancestors in creating a cesspool. The images of trash spread all over this French created cesspool must be powerful reminder for those who feel the guilt inherited from their forefathers. The question that may now arise is this. Was Aoun better off in France instead of wasting 10 years in the cesspool?

Posted by Mustap | September 12, 2015, 10:11 pm
Now that the Iran deal will pass, all eyes will turn to Israels next move, to which President BO has already given his tacit approval.

“The IDF is preparing for the next confrontation with Hezbollah, which was dangerously close to breaking out in the winter, with new tactics, like creation of artificial cliffs to prevent infiltrations.”

http://www.ynetnews.com/home/0,7340,L-3083,00.html

Posted by Vulcan | September 12, 2015, 10:22 pm
Vulcan,

You’re editorializing and embellishing! Nowhere in that Ynetnews article you linked to was BO mentioned, his “tacit approval” or the Iran deal.

It just said that a war could break out anytime due to hypothetical, future border clashes (and requisite retaliations) that escalate, and that the IDF had “new tactics” (which frankly did not come across as all that innovative or impressive).

I don’t read the Israeli press nearly as much as I used to in my younger years, but isn’t this kind of article boilerplate and on a recurring, perpetual schedule? The Israelis are always preparing for the next Lebanon war, but they can’t prosecute it without a casus belli…

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 13, 2015, 12:11 am
AP,

You are obviously very ignorant of your own race’s history and need to catch up and read some books.

Israelis blew up the very same people that granted them a Jewish homeland in Palestine to begin with all over the Middle East and Europe in Restaurants, Cafes, Hotels and Embassies.

In fact, it was the French that supplied them with the bomb making techniques, weapons, logistics and intelligence during the Great Carving up of the Middle East Cake which the entire region and its people still suffer from to this day.

It is only right that what the Colonialists created 100 years ago is now slowly but surely coming to haunt them with the Exodus of Syrians, Iraqis and North Africans in the hundreds of thousands flooding into Europe.

As to the Whiskey drinking Holy Saudis and that Cesspool of Gulf Arab Royal Bullshit , it is only a matter of time before their own subjects will roast them at the stake in what will make for good TV footage.

2025 will be interesting.

Stay tuned.

Posted by Ray | September 13, 2015, 10:25 am
Cesspool is a trade mark for a specific place where Aoun is residing (currently). Do not violate trade mark rules.

But, you’re making progress realizing that what you’re suffering from today is the result of the errors of your loving mother, France, 100 years ago. At least Holland realizes it.

Who said a Aouni cannot add one to one?

Posted by Mustap | September 13, 2015, 10:34 am
Mustap,

I really don’t get why ipso facto I am labeled an Aouni when I am born “unbaptized” to an Austrian Protestant and happen to be an Atheist living in Lebanon?

Posted by Ray | September 13, 2015, 10:41 am
Are you saying all Aounis must be baptized, must not be born to Austrian Protestants and must not be atheists and must live in the Cesspool?

I understand now why they say Aounis cannot add one to one. You must be the exception.

Posted by Mustap | September 13, 2015, 10:49 am
Whatever suits you, dude.

I have no sympathy for Aounists and would appreciate your excluding me from that phenomena.

Appreciated and Good night from Shanghai.

Posted by Ray | September 13, 2015, 11:41 am
So, I understand then you’d prefer I call you an FPM?

In other words, you prefer to be a rebel who broke ranks with the ‘royals’?

I wouldn’t blame you for that. Who wants to be called Bassilian all of a sudden after he’s been a Aouni for so long?

Posted by Mustap | September 13, 2015, 12:15 pm
Mustapha ya mustapha
Aoun is your nightmare, you see him everywhere, you see him in everything that does not look like you or talk like you. You see him in every failure that your brothers-in-thoughts steps into. You see him in your dreams, in EVERY POST people write here. Get a life, or a job. or a girl. Hell own 4 while you can.

I am officially big time Aouni. I saw the muslim politicians fighting over the garbage commission from each other. we know them all by name and the % they each make.
They, fight over GARBAGE..and Aoun still come up in your posts even if no one talks about …him.
The garbage crisis is nothing but a smelly poetic justice and the start of the downfall of everything you represent. You smell that. I can read it in your posts.

Aouni and very proud because your kinds are against him. Specifically!..because people like you are against him. and I met so many in beirut. You guys are full of it, arab this arab that; the Umma mumma bs type.
The end is near, your thought-patrons are back to camels soon and goats in front and women in the back (oops they still do it).
and those few thousands billions, they will stay where they are >> US treasury.
Quadafi case study?
do-you-see-the-near-future?

Aoun is the problem eh? You actually DONT DARE to speak outside the christian hate zone.
The Lebanese christians massively back Aoun, and your hate is of the worst kind because you know that christians supports Aoun. You are an anti christian camouflaged under “Aoun”. This is who you are! a christian hater.

It is my dearest wish that lebanon get shopped in pieces, I just want to see you deal with your Umma and cousins of isis…live with the chariaa…stand up. shut up. sit down. do this. do that. be poor. be rich. you know the drill right? You have rights in Lebanon because christians exist here in power AND powerful. like it or not. Review ALL the arab countries how they operate with their citizens (they call them subjects). ALL of them!

You are A muslim nazi full of envy of everything but his reality. You dislike yourself and bitch about anyone who is comfortable in his own skin.
Times of the deshdasha arab type in the near east is over.
save you iranian bs that will come up. I care less about them then the harem leaders you like. We are here for ever. Our villages have names that date back 4000 years ago. We are the early land owners. We have an identity, we are Lebanese. It’s because you don’t have any; you stick it to christians.

Posted by George Haddad | September 13, 2015, 1:17 pm
لك يا جورج مبروك عليك عون واللي عشكل عون
لك روح ولا انتا مين لتحكي عاسيادك العرب
قال عون قال
بعدين حبيبي انتا شو بتعرف عني غير هالكلمتين اللي بقولون هون
قال عم ينصحني العوني اني شوفلي شغلي
بدك شي وظيفي او شي واسطة لاعطيك وظيفي؟
Or while at شي غرل فرند ازا كنت محروم؟

Posted by Mustap | September 13, 2015, 1:49 pm
Since when did attacking Aoun become attacking Christians? I think he does a good job himself in undermining Christians himself. Good thing most Christians don’t buy his hypocrisy and he’s left with only a residue of supporters who see him as a saviour. Aoun stopped being a Aouni a while back and the avalanche of ridicule towards him of late is testimony to his ridiculous behaviour and his sheer hypocrisy. Enough with the defensive sectarian BS. If I attack Patriarch Rai or Sayed Nasrallah, it’s not because of their religion or sect, it’s because they are political and what they say and do affect millions. You can’t have the cake and eat it too.

Posted by Maverick | September 13, 2015, 2:48 pm
Maverick some people worship figures in the Middle East the idea of self evaluation and criticism of sect or religion or national or the idols they worship, is foreign and scary to them, and it evokes irrational hostility because it makes them face their own hipocricy, racism and corruption. Leaders presidents kings etc. all are saints and hero sent buy their Gods in the Sky and his destiny. Their whole existence and politics and actions are based on ideology, that at its core, is fear and superstition and hostility to other mankind and grandiose superiority complex evolving from inferiority complexes and worshiped senses of persecution among each other and among the nations of God and his prophets.. Imagine… Let’s not even approach the social habits. Or their daily corruption ..ya walatah…
حدث و حرج مش ولا حرج

Posted by Vulcan | September 13, 2015, 3:59 pm
Good Morning America

Posted by Vulcan | September 13, 2015, 4:14 pm
Identity politics. Welcome to the clusterfuck that is the ME.

But you would expect more from the learned Aouni, I mean most are educated and are not tribal or at least have an individualist streak. It really is a phenomenon.

Posted by Maverick | September 13, 2015, 5:09 pm
There is a huge difference between opposing someone’s political choices and the act of defamation that takes place here every time the word Maronite public opinion & Aoun comes around. It make this bunch jump on the bandwagon of ridicule (ya haram the poor level).
You are a big time christian basher and hater. And i am taking my time to stick it up to you.
Because you know already that Aoun represent our society more than any other, and you keep degrading “him” and putting the persona into some kind of low level that points mainly to yours.
It’s not about policy disagreement or choices or alliances…it about “him” and what he represent.
Only him is the subject of your juvenile ridicule splashed all over your posts.
And all this ridicule is met with a poker face towards…example Saad harriri, who has so many legitimate reasons for ridicule and way more….or the president of the future party, seniora who has exceeded them all in $ gluttony and corruption.
nonono, all the “other” guys are correct…It’s Aoun the target of that….low level
If JeaJea was the number 1 in the christian polls. It would be the same. You will throw shit on him and do the same and go to the same juvenile level. I even think it will be worse with Jeajea; and you would bring all the civil war time stories about him.

It’s so clear and elementary …you are just a big time lebanese christian hater and you vent on the person that represent them and whenever you have the chance; you do it. Even if his name do not come up in the argument; you make the link (it happened just few posts away). N’importe quoi!
so clear…and that applies to many who write frequent posts here.
I know where my allegiance is. It’s lebanon. don’t know about yours or who you are and I don’t care.

Posted by George Haddad | September 13, 2015, 5:45 pm
You’re right, well, at least Aounis are not armed.. There’re many other examples, I’ll let you pick from the armed bouquet in the neighborhood and their “holy men, Intellectuals and Elites”, for more evident clusterfark!!

Posted by Vulcan | September 13, 2015, 6:12 pm
who u talking to, Haddad?

Posted by Vulcan | September 13, 2015, 6:16 pm
George Costanza,

What on earth are you talking about. Aoun is not Jesus. I can criticise his policies, his demeanour, his personality, his actions all in the name of politics without even going any where near the Maronite sect, faith or Maronites.

This reminds me of a Seinfeld Episode.

Posted by Maverick | September 13, 2015, 6:45 pm
Ok George may be you should go back to the archives and read what I said anout the idiot Saad and even his late father.

In any case, you’re only sticking it up to yourself and your own butt and Aoun’s for that matter. I don’t think you’re doing a good job if I was your intention.

I will not answer to your charged so-called Christian emotions mixed up with the defense of an idiot (yes big time idiot) Aoun. If he’s what’s left representing your Christian faith, then I must say you’re in big big trouble.

And pleeeeeeze don’t capitalize on the garbage piles to try to veer the protesters in your direction. We’ve seen your miniscule crowds when idiot called for demonstrations. But hey as they say may be there’s a blessing in disguise. You know what they say in your neck of the wood: every dog barks best near his own garbage pile. So, go ahead and bark near your own cesspool. And bring Aoun along for even louder barks. Or is it Bassil now?

Posted by Mustap | September 13, 2015, 6:46 pm
Samer, Vulcan,

Thanks for your responses.

Samer,

This Abrams guy sounds like an academic nut case. They’re a dime a dozen.

Vulcan,

I understand that KSA is heavily into the “terror” game. The point is they’re playing this game everywhere except Israel.
Maybe that is to appease the US, I don’t know. And the KSA doesn’t broadcast their terror expertise like the “Resistance Pros” in Lebanon, Syria and Iran. They tend to quietly fund jihadis.

It seems the Arab – Israeli conflict is just a cover for sunnis and shiites to control the ME. I suppose I have a natural pro-sunni stance because most arab-israelis are sunni and Iran is so vocal, extreme and soon-to-be nuclear.

Happy New Year to QN from Jewish America;)

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 13, 2015, 7:30 pm
AP,
It’s a competition, each extreme faction actually boasts howmuch they hate Israel more, it’s the litmus test for loyalty to Islam and Arabism. Both Shia and Suni extremists are degenerate fanatics when it comes to Jews and Israel.

Shanah Tovah!

Posted by Vulcan | September 13, 2015, 8:59 pm
Thanks.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 13, 2015, 11:03 pm
An update on the war against the Trojans:

The Arab coalition forces on the ground supporting the Yemeni armed forces have advanced into Ma’arib, the neighboring province of the capital Sana’a. Plans are going according to schedule and progress is made by the hour.

There’s also great progress in the north inside the Sa’ada province, the stronghold of the Trojans, while Arab coalition airforce continues to pound positions of the Trojans in the capital and along the coast especially in the port city port of Hudeida. All of the south of Yemen as well as all of the east and most of the central provinces have now either been cleared of Trojans or are undergoing mopping up operations.

Posted by Mustap | September 13, 2015, 11:18 pm
“Egypt is so fucking on edge right now it’s a wonder why anyone thinks a tourist visit is a good idea. Holy shit…”

Posted by Vulcan | September 13, 2015, 11:40 pm
Mustap, are you in the Saudi Military? Or leading from your living room?

Posted by Vulcan | September 13, 2015, 11:49 pm
Your leader, Antoine, is dead. Aren’t you in mourning?

Posted by Mustap | September 14, 2015, 12:01 am
Fall outs from the war on the Trojan horses of Yemen:

The backers of the Trojan horses of Yemen have, in the last few days, issued contradictory statements with regards to the fate of their so-called ambassador in Yemen.

One spokesperson of the Trojan backers/creators (Mardiyya Afkham) ascertained, recently, that the ambassador, Hussein Naknam, has left Sana’a in order to enjoy a vacation in Iran. Today another spokesperson, Hussein Abd Al-lahyan contradicted Afkham by saying that the ambassador is back home for medical treatment. In either case, the departure coincided with major developments that are seen to be of momentous consequences. The Yemeni government has also accused the Iranian embassy of turning into a nest for running operation Trojan horse. Lahyan’s explanation for the fleeing of the ambassador in the middle of the decisive battle seems to be intended to avoid the scandalous interpretation of Afkham’s statement which would mean that a Trojan horse is totally on his/her own when the hour comes.

Back in Iran, Qassem Suleimani, who is well known for his love for photo-ops strutting in Iraq with spread out Persian hoopoe feathers, seems to have lost favor with the powers-to-be or more accurately powers that count in Qom due to his inaccurate assessment six months ago of potential Arab reaction to his plan to launch operation Trojan Horse in Yemen. The report which he presented to those powers dismissed any such possible reaction asserting that operation Trojan horse will be a total success with no negative impacts whatsoever. Suleimani also seems to have suffered additional setbacks in Iraq in recent meetings he conducted with the Iraqis trying to impose his will on what he perceived as Iranian assets in this so-called American ‘liberated’ Cesspool. It is not clear at this point in time if Suleimani’s career is in total jeopardy.

Furthermore, the rumors of so-called Roosky military incursions into Syria seem to have taken another turn in the minds of pundits’. It is now theorized that the Roosks may have decided to become more assertive in their involvements for several reasons. The most important reason is to put the brakes on the brash behaviour of the Iranians after the so-called nuke deal. It seems that the Iranians have given signals which indicated to the Roosks that they are being ignored now that the Iranians have a deal. Whatever the reason may turn out to be, the so-called Assad (lion) is no longer roaming freely in a forest kingdom. Instead it is a securely tamed caged lion.

Posted by Mustap | September 14, 2015, 10:51 am
The purebred Arabian stallions trample on the Trojan horses, while the loyal Salukis outrun the distant cousins of the Trojan horses, the Trojan dogs!

The American eagle can’t outmaneuver the desert falcon, while the Russian bear hopelessly tries to snare the wily and quick Gulf barracuda!

The Syrian lion gets impaled by the Arabian oryx, while the Lebanese cedars shrivel in drought as the nurturing palms thrive in briny adversity and the marsh reeds of the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates hardily march on in climatic despair!

The Jewish matzo ball has no chance against the robust biryani with its infinite complexities that date back in time to the birth of the universe itself…

HAPPY MONDAY, EVERYONE!

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 14, 2015, 2:50 pm
good one lol

Posted by Vulcan | September 14, 2015, 4:27 pm
QN,

Please remind Samer that disparaging remarks against Jewish Matzo Balls is hurtful and obnoxious.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 14, 2015, 6:18 pm
how’s it goin .. What’s on the news.. Nothing to be proud of in the Arabia 😁

Posted by Vulcan | September 14, 2015, 11:27 pm
The whole shabang

Posted by Vulcan | September 14, 2015, 11:27 pm
How’s the campaign General Mustap

Posted by Vulcan | September 14, 2015, 11:29 pm
Sorry for the delay.

The Emirati Brigades are now on their way advancing towards Sana’a. Marib has been secured.

Did you attend your leader’s funeral? Where was he burried? No one wants him in the cesspool.

I have a problem with matzos and cedars being included among the sovereigns of the universe especially the purebreds. OK think about. Not a single mare in the entire world but was made to be blessed by this breed, the greatest service to the human kind in its entire history, thanks to the great southern wind. But cedars and matzos? They make total nonesense. These two items shouldn’t even make it to any such list. Now that I have more evidence to make more assessments of the author, I’m leaning towards a conclusion of branding him as gullible.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m all for biryanis. Who can deny the relevance of the proven ultimate graveyard of empires? But matzos!! Pleeeeeeze…. c’mon what a dull stockholm syndrome manifestation displayed by none other than a Palestinian gullibly believing he’s been assimilated into a yankee?

And by the way lol is now out fashion. It’s been demoted. It’s now hehehehe….
FYI.

Posted by Mustap | September 15, 2015, 12:35 am
Akbar Palace comment to QN about nasser
“Please remind Samer that disparaging remarks against Jewish Matzo Balls is hurtful and obnoxious.”
Go AP go…show them how to talk…train them what not to say even about food. I am catching up with you. I am learning the angles.
Matzo balls are Jewish food, But Akbar Palace seized the moment to remind proud arabs lurking here that >> Insulting ethnic food is correlated with the people that made them. and everyone understood THAT! …and all went shhhhhhhhh.

QN: If Akbar Palace complaint about “Samer hummus head” for his matzo ball remark works, I ask you that it should work for the racist and obnoxious continuous remarks about lebanese christians directly by many here and often camouflaged under Aoun bashing and who he represent.
fair no?

Posted by George Haddad | September 15, 2015, 9:01 am
George; dude get a life! Squeeze some Orange with Yellow Lemon. Good combo!

Iceman. What’s up with the wise pilots’ mission in Syria. You have not enlightened us about that war yet! While you are at it; give it a go about the wise nomads escapades on Mars. Vulcan is getting bored.

I will get the popcorn.

Posted by Danny | September 15, 2015, 9:15 am
Sorry dude. I cannot comment on the Syrian mission now. It’s top secret.

I’m working on another script on the latest in the art of Christian bashing. Coming out soon.

Posted by Mustap | September 15, 2015, 9:48 am
Danny: was this your answer ya bahli? bahli w mkattar…”dude get a life?” Astal min hek ma fi.. how old are you? from all the none sense written here, you chose to tell me to get a life? for what ya mastoul? for not liking my opinion?…you felt power saying that ya bahli (wanna be bahli actually)?
Danny bahli boy t(-_-t)

Posted by George Haddad | September 15, 2015, 1:00 pm
George,

I was joking about Samer’s comment! R U that serious? You and Samer can say whatever you want about matzo balls, but I would advise trying them first.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 15, 2015, 3:16 pm
AP,

You should not have to explain the sarcasm to George lol. 😀

He gets it! …Full of Aouni expired rancid drivel…

It is OK George. I comprehend you totally. Keep on expressing your valued opinions. It is illuminating. 😛

Posted by Danny | September 15, 2015, 4:25 pm
Iceman,

Popcorn is ready and the beers chilling. 😀

Posted by Danny | September 15, 2015, 4:26 pm
What’s wrong with Aoun? The “Free Patriot Movement” sounds very American.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 15, 2015, 7:51 pm
The most important question which faces the Cesspool, IMHO, at this point in time is not how much the garbage piles may increase or decrease in height. This is all irrelevant nonsense. The Cesspool needs, above all, an experienced garbage collector, YES A GABAGE COLLECTOR. It should go without saying. But above all he must be a believer in the power of the Cross and the glory of the Crucifixion and who has gained the absolute trust and and blessings of the disempowered Christian believers, whose power was usurped on a moonless night and when the ONE and ONLY was locked up in the loving mother’s embassy while the silver traders completed the treacheoureous transaction. Yet even after all these yea s there are still disbelievers, plotters and Iscariots who call him an IDIOT, desecrating the faith by name calling him.

Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees hypocrites because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people. For your numerous sins you will receive greater condemnation (execuse my alterations. Hope the meaning is understood).

You shut the door of the kingdom in the face of the people. And you pretend you make long prayers only to devour what’s not yours (again my slight understood alterations).

And yet you call the ONE and ONLY shameful names. Shame on you.

So, who is your gabage collector who will guide you to the Kingdom? Who will baptize you and cleanse you from trash in the cleansed rivers north and south of City (on the hill)? Who has the courage to utter the holy name which you should immediately recognize as it begins with the Alpha followed by the Omega?

Truly, none of you can. Why? Pride and stubborness covered your eyes and sealed your souls from him. You cannot see him neither can you call his name. The cesspool is thus your abode. Trash is your company. Unholy water is your baptism. Your souls will breath nothing but pollution. And yet, you dare to ask for a garbage collector other than him!

Posted by Mustap | September 15, 2015, 9:18 pm
This Mad Orange Man is using the same scare tactic of a “conspiracy” by Europe to naturalize poor and destitute Syrian victims and refugees in Lebanon. aoump of the orient. ( must be related to Americas official Orange Man..While Europe takes on hundreds of thousands of victims of butchery by the dogs of war. Somebody should tell this “Christian” leader about the teachings of Christ?
Oh altawteen min jadeed.. Racist Mofo.

Posted by Vulcan | September 16, 2015, 12:10 am
Racist People.

Posted by Vulcan | September 16, 2015, 12:11 am
Evolution mofarkers!!
When will the Arabs/Muslims leave tribalism?
What century?
What more do they want?
When will they admit total failure?
And rework themselves… Try to be real..stop conspiring against each others and everyone around you, before you accuse the world of conspiracy.
#%^* #%^

Posted by Vulcan | September 16, 2015, 12:30 am
That brings us to you Mustap the orange man of this blog.

Posted by Vulcan | September 16, 2015, 12:31 am
AP
I did not think your were joking…and i do like matzo balls, had them in Montreal so many times in my college buddies houses. It was not about that 🙂 …and I was joking too, like I do usually in my posts, but i make sure i inflame some guys here, full of cliche, and who don’t know on which feet to stand on.

Posted by George Haddad | September 16, 2015, 6:45 am
Well, you know GH, coming down to earth now after reading about all the wonderful things of the Aoun promised sacraments, especially in these trashy times in your neighborhood I still think the guy is total, certified big time idiot.

Call me iscariot, brutus or whatever name comes to mind, I cannot rationally believe he’s anything but idiot. And further, any rational guy must see that immediately.

I also still believe he (Aoun) reprensents no one but itself. He does not represent the faithful at large. I mean I cannot help ignore the miniscule size of the orange crowd when he idiotically called for demonstrations that had nothing to do with garbage collection couple weeks ago.

I’m not sure if he has a different strategy now.

Posted by Mustap | September 16, 2015, 8:13 am
GH,

Ok, glad you liked the Matzo Ball soup. They should be light and fluffy.

Ok, just want tell the forum here that my wife’s niece’s husband and his friend just returned from Dubai and Abu Dhabi via Emirates Airline. The funny thing is that they are orthodox jews. They wore ball caps instead of yarmulkas. I need to find out how he liked the trip.

He’s one of those types that searches Hi and low for deals, so they got a private room on an Airbus 380 with a shower. Pretty nice!

“That’s one small step for Man. One giant leap for Mankind.”

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 16, 2015, 8:54 am
Mustap!
You say:
“…I also still believe he (Aoun) represents no one but itself. He does not represent the faithful at large”

Just STOP it! Stop this LIE! stop! this have been going on for 10 years. At every turn. Aoun does not represent but himself! are you kidding? who are you fooling? You think JeaJea will go to Rabieh for what? because the Patriarche latest commissioned survey few weeks ago confirmed it. We are behind him because of what WE DONT WANT. Not because of anything else.

AOUN is >> The failure of the saudi tutelage on lebanon. God dammit! and less about his alliances for OUR society. This is Our society ya moustapha. We live in a plural society ya moustapha.
We believe >> To each his own <>”To all; their 1 way…of life”. The impresario society rules and the Taboo reigns king
and all this time we were fighting with everything we got to KEEP our “Individualist”…way of life.”
You spend 1 day hearing the conversation around a card game..and you will get it. We are not like you but we share our love to Lebanon.

But the saudi tutelage that started after Taif; FORCED the “unacceptable cultural shift”. And what you see today is the christians taking the opportunity to get rid of that tutelage. CAN YOU SMELL THE GARBAGE?? Do you know anything about soukline and how we got here?

When you flood any society with money and lots of it….bad apples start to control and get away with it. Look what they have done in 20 years: they turned Beirut into a stock and into a sadistic pleasure backyard to please testosterone filled people. Their unleashed their taboos on us. They turned every public institution into a revenue pipe for their “guards”.
You don’t have ANY qualification to state what you said above. You are a lier and you know it. You are a horn of a propaganda that keeps going thanks to a herd like you.
You don’t WANT to understand why we back Aoun and his decisions.
We understand that we have been sold to an Arab tutelage (and of the worst kind). We understand that what we are facing today are 2 directions: solidify the past 20 years. Or rebel against that.
That’s Aoun.
We fight to survive the long term like we have been doing for 1500 since the early attacks by muslims on mount Lebanon. You guys want to recapture some sort of past glory that really existed for few hundred years only. The UMMA. We have a big conflict and it shows. We do not want the same things with the difference that you and your likes want to enforce “their thing” on us.

When we understood that the USA “interest” is NOT aligned with our existence, we knew what to do.
We knew what to do. Our society is unique and that pisses you of. No uniqueness is tolerated from the dominant arab culture today.

Aoun is the #1 christian leader in Lebanon wether you like it or NOT. He has a carte blanche from the majority to navigate and get our way of life and our future BACK. Just stop trashing people with false facts.

Posted by George Haddad | September 16, 2015, 11:53 am
Hey dude. I didn’t say just he ‘represents no one but itself’. You’re missing the most important point:

I said he is a total, certified and big time idiot. Actually, everyone thinks he’s an idiot. If everyone thinks so then it must true. No?

As far as I can recall history, I don’t see in those books your way of life being the norm in mount cesspool prior to 100 years ago. Who is the liar here? Ask Waleed Beyk. He’s been around those rocks much longer than you by at least a thousand years. Can you deny that? Go argue with Waleed. For me I don’t care about few trashy rocks. You want to fight with trashed rocks, go fight with Waleed, it’s your call.

But listen now. Let’s be honest here. The Wise King has agreed with Holland to settle the refugees in the cesspool. They’re planning to put them in the Rabieh, Haret Hreyk, and surrounding hills. What do you say to that?

If you want my honest opinions (no lies here or stabbing in the back. It’s just plain simple honest). I cannot argue with the Wise King. He must have very Wise reasons to agree with the French to put 1.5 million refugees in a cesspool. And I have to recognize the absolute Wisdom of this decision. As I think you should as well.

Posted by Mustap | September 16, 2015, 12:37 pm
George Haddad,

Really quick note but in perfectly good faith. To quote Zach Gallifanakis’s great character from ‘The Hangover’, “You better check yourself, before you wreck yourself!” Don’t flatter yourself into thinking that a lot of what you’re arguing is anything more than frivolous and morally hazardous nonsense!

First things first, don’t fall for the revanchist angle of what Aoun is doing! He’s cooked and done, having thrown his lot in with Hezbollah and Assad and being in deep denial as to the region’s true circumstances! Neither Aoun nor his mediocre people (Bassil and Sehnaoui, seriously?) are ever gonna get anything back!

So what are they doing? They’re playing a reckless, ethically dubious contrarian game for profit, that’s what! As you noted, they put their fat, ugly asses on the market a while ago and got no bids (because in a contemporary context, they’re worthless), so they took a swig of the crazy juice and figured they might as well slum with the weirdos in the extortionist, obstructionist, nihilist trenches! Hooray!

Like that Kim Davis idiot who tried prosecuting a religious argument against a disenfranchised minority from deep within the apparatus of government, the Aounists deeply confuse the “distress of privilege” with a genuine, libertarian grievance. They play the existential victim and resort to greatly exaggerated mythologies that they fraudulently try to pass off as accurate, historical narratives!

This whole trope of Christian Lebanon’s 1,500 year struggle for independence against the Sunnis of Arabia is pure fiction, partly because the entire notion of Christian Lebanon is a relatively recent construct and this whole idea of Sunni Arab influence there is even more recent still!

Historically, Lebanon is actually more Druze than anything else! Dating back to the 1000’s, the Druze were in charge in alliance with the Ottomans! This began to change as Egypt went Mamluk, and as Fakhreddine’s quest for Lebanese independence in the 1600’s was thwarted by the Ottomans and their Syrian vassals! The Christians of Lebanon got their big break at the expense of the Druze when Mamluk Egypt fell to Napoleon in 1799 and Napoleon invaded all the way to Acre in Palestine before aborting and being summoned back to France!

Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman renegade, then took over Egypt and basically continued the struggle against Ottoman Syria, which culminated in the First Lebanese Civil War of the 1860’s, which pitted the Christians against the Druze, and prompted France’s intervention in the Middle East to protect its minorities!

Moving on to the start of the most recent Lebanese Civil War, wasn’t it the Egypt-inspired Nasserists as well as the “leftist” and “progressive” Druze Kamal Joumblatt who formed the main opposition to conservative, Maronite Lebanon in the decades leading up to 1975?

Where am I going with this? Well, today’s Sisi is allied with Assad, while Hezbollah have taken over the resistance, leftist narrative from Jumblatt and are far more powerful than the PSP ever was!

And these are Aoun’s allies! How will that help Aoun get anything back? Simple answer, it won’t! So what will it accomplish? It will allow Aoun to try to advance at the expense of the Sunnis, that’s what! Which incidentally is why Aoun and his people can’t stop shutting up about the damn Sunnis! It’s a squeeze: a low-class, aesthetically disastrous and utterly offensive squeeze!

But will it work? Let’s see! The Sunni Arabs have hundreds of millions of people and trillions of dollars worth of annual economic output, while the Aounists have Gebran Bassil and Nicolas Sehnaoui posting stupid tweets and Hezbollah and the SAA firing rockets in Zabadani and the Qalamoun! Hmmm…

I won’t lie to you man, it doesn’t look good for your corner… It doesn’t look good at all…

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 16, 2015, 2:36 pm
Correction:

I’d normally let this go but it’s bugging me enough to be explicit here:

Third paragraph from the bottom, replace the phrase “can’t stop shutting up” with either “can’t shut up”, or “can’t stop talking”, depending on your preference!

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 16, 2015, 3:38 pm
AP,

Interesting that you used the word “yarmulka” in your earlier comment about your friends traveling to the UAE!

From what I understand, “yarmulka” is a Yiddish word but it’s been replaced today by the more modern, and perhaps more appropriate, Hebrew word “kippa”! Is that true?

I attribute your perhaps vestigial usage of the Yiddish to your, how can I be polite about this, maturity! 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 16, 2015, 3:44 pm
Well, today’s Sisi is allied with Assad

Really? Are you talking about the Egyptian strongman/President? How did you conclude this.

I use the word yarmulka and kippah interchangeably. You’re right, they are Yiddish and Hebrew, respectively. Or you can talk like a “goy” and call it a “beanie”;)

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 16, 2015, 4:11 pm
AP,

We’re past the point in the Middle East where the only way one can devote enough time to keep up with developments is if they’re paid to do so, and since this is neither my job nor vocation, I proceed with the full knowledge that I am drinking from the proverbial firehose of information and therefore must resort at times to speculation at the risk of being completely wrong on certain things.

Having said that, the fact that you latched onto my comment about Sisi and Assad doesn’t surprise me as I suspect you’ve been fed a Fox News diet of Ted Cruz-esque commentary that Sisi is one of America’s men in the Middle East!

It might be a stretch to assert that Sisi is allied with Assad, but he’s definitely not as opposed to him as countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey!

From what I understand, Sisi, having toppled Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from power in Egypt (which culminated in the Rabaa massacre of several hundred defenseless people), is extremely wary of Qatar and Turkey who have historically supported and championed the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt!

By extension, Sisi thinks that he and Assad, while they might not necessarily be friends, share similar “terrorist” enemies! You really need to study these groups to tell them apart though. For example, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is very different from ISIS in Libya, Syria and the Sinai, which are different from Jabhat Nusra or Ahrar Al Sham in Syria!

But regardless, when a country like Saudi Arabia which is very much hostile to Assad tries to recruit Sisi to help topple Assad in Syria, Sisi doesn’t oblige!

To conclude, I’m not impressed with Sisi at all! He’s unscrupulous, thuggish, messy, unprincipled, inscrutable, selfish, unintelligent… But hey, this sounds like most Middle Eastern leaders, who will undoubtedly argue that they live in a “tough neighbourhood” and therefore must do unsavory things to keep their hardened enemies at a safe distance!

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 16, 2015, 6:14 pm
I suspect you’ve been fed a Fox News diet of Ted Cruz-esque commentary that Sisi is one of America’s men in the Middle East!

That’s an order of magnitude better than NPR.

It might be a stretch to assert that Sisi is allied with Assad…

You contradict yourself, so I won’t argue with it.

I am disappointed with Sisi like you are. I was hoping his military leadership was going to be temporary.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 16, 2015, 10:53 pm
Looks like we will make a deal with Russia.

Posted by Vulcan | September 17, 2015, 12:15 am
The ongoing state-sponsored Jewish terrorism in and around the Jerusalem Aqsa Mosque must not continue, and steps must be taken to obliterate such terrorism

A Jew has no business whatsoever in or around a strictly Muslim place of worship and must not come anywhere near it.

The Wise King is taking steps to ensure such state sponsored Jewish terrorism will be fought with vigor and determination.

Posted by Mustap | September 17, 2015, 9:50 am
AP,

Firstly, the rules of objectivity and analysis require that if you want to use a quantitative phrase like “order of magnitude”, that you associate it with robust, reliable, statistically relevant data for validation and confidence. Otherwise, it’s just meaningless hyperbole.

Secondly, on my apparent “contradiction” on the nature of the alleged Sisi-Assad alliance, what I did there was explicitly disclaim to what extent I was speculating (since I am not an Egypt expert by any means) but also implicitly change the context from a Aounist to a regional one!

This becomes pertinent if one imagines a prospective Aoun-Assad split! Far from being purely hypothetical, this actually has happened before. I am not an expert on the “Liberation War” that Aoun launched against Syria in the late stages of the Lebanese Civil War, but I know that 1) Aoun was supported by Saddam Hussein who despised Hafez Al Assad, and 2) even then it was a disaster for Aoun!

This is what Lebanese are referring to, by the way, when they talk about Aoun being holed up in the French embassy in Beirut and then living in exile in Paris for 15 or however many years!

Anyway, bringing it back to Sisi, while yes Sisi might not be allied with Assad per se, in my humble opinion there is no chance that he will back Aoun against Assad! This is partly because in a certain mindset it is Hezbollah and Assad that are counter-terrorism assets, not the Aounists! But also because a Aoun who is brandishing himself as an anti-Sunni Christian will presumably find few friends in a Sunni-dominated Egypt dealing with its own sizeable and restless Christian minority, even if that Egypt despises the Muslim Brotherhood, mistrusts Qatar and Turkey, and is reluctant to participate in Saudi Arabia’s regional campaigns!

Anyway, I’ve written enough and tried to be as universally understood as possible, so I’ll end here and leave the rest to your imagination…

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 17, 2015, 10:25 am
Speaking of contradictions, this is actually what bothers me about US politicians like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. On the one hand, they profess alarm at the declining state of Middle Eastern Christianity, but on the other, they back the likes of Sisi and Assad, who while, sure, are relatively better for Christians than, say, Al Qaeda and ISIS, are not absolutely good for Christians at all!

This puts Christians in quite the pickle in the region (not that I especially care about Middle Eastern Christianity in the abstract). If they back the dictator, they are despised. If they try to separate, they are despised. If they try to arm themselves, they are despised. If they get foreign assistance, they are despised. If they degenerate and turn out as stupid as the Middle Eastern average, they are despised. No matter what they do, they are despised.

And yet, if you ask, say, a Saudi, to consider building a church in his country, right there before your very eyes he’ll have a meltdown! And even if he’s progressive he’ll say something manipulative and evasive like “Dude, I can’t vote and don’t have property rights, but you are worried about a place of worship!” which puts the entire conversation in a deep chill for the indefinite future…

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 17, 2015, 10:53 am
Firstly, the rules of objectivity and analysis require that if you want to use a quantitative phrase like “order of magnitude”, that you associate it with robust, reliable, statistically relevant data for validation and confidence. Otherwise, it’s just meaningless hyperbole.

Samer,

I agree. Back up statements with facts. Yes, good idea. We all give our opinions here, and if anyone wants to see factual info, we should comply or concede we have no factual info, er, it was my gut feeling!

I find that 98% of what people write here is “gut feeling”. That’s just the way it is.

Anyway, bringing it back to Sisi, while yes Sisi might not be allied with Assad per se, in my humble opinion there is no chance that he will back Aoun against Assad!

Yes, perhaps Sisi IS allied with Assad, but I’ve never heard anything about it. Provide a link if you know of any.

My understanding of the relationships across the ME is that Egypt is fairly allied with the KSA, and, therefore, both countries are pretty anti-Assad.

As far as Aoun is concerned, I know very little about him. He leads a rather large Christian political group that is aligned with Hezbollah. My understanding is that Lebanese Christians can either be “March 8” or “March 14”. And yes, I wouldn’t want to be a Christian living in the ME today. There are no “Christian States” for a safe haven.

Like I’ve said before, the worst Republican beats the best Democrat (for me) because of ideological reasons. That being said, I did catch a glimpse of the Republican debate, and I am slowly forming favorites in this large field of candidates. Rand Paul is at the bottom because he is an isolationist at heart like his father. His father is an avowed anti-Zionist which comes our rather clearly in his book:

“Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom”

My father always told me, “The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree”, so Rand gets blacklisted. Judging from his opinions he is Ron Paul Light.

Cruz is FINE as far as I’m concerned. I like Carly Fiorina but if we’re going to judge Donald Trump on his bankruptcies, we need to also look at how see ran HP. These business people win no points with me; I don’t trust them. I liked Marco Rubio. I liked his demeanor, his body language and what he was saying. Ben Carson is a little too meek.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 17, 2015, 12:51 pm
One quick comment on this so-called GOP debate: None of the contenders possessed or showed any Wisdom. It’s unfortunate that America has been reduced to micky mouse governance with micky mouse contenders to govern on one hand (GOP no-Wisdom charlatans) and completely dishonest and outright liars on the other (so-called Democrats).

This is a clear sign that America is finished, or perhaps it never was a real power to contend with. It was all based on Hollywood movies, daily shows empty talkers who never tire from deceiving the gullible of the people at large.

Poor Americans. Perhaps the Cesspooleans are more fortunate.

Posted by Mustap | September 17, 2015, 1:39 pm
In my humble opinion, as a Jewish Christian Shia Suni Muslim Budhist, I believe the Jews should be allowed to freely enter to pray or chant in the Temple Mount aka Al Aqsa mosque. Eventually anyone of any religion should also be allowed to visit Mecca, to pray, chant or just for sight seeing, I think the world is heading this way, no matter what the bigots do, or try to do.

Posted by Vulcan | September 17, 2015, 4:21 pm
We Arabs have no right to criticise the Whole American enterprise from a superior standing when we can barely stand on our feet, even if it is from a moral and ethical premise. All we ever do is talk dignity yet give no rights whatsoever to the average man.

Posted by Maverick | September 17, 2015, 4:26 pm
In my humble opinion:
A Jew has no business to be in or around the Aqsa Mosque.
A Jew near the Aqsa Mosque is a state-sponsored terrorist.
No one but a Muslim will ever be allowed in Mecca.

The above will be valid for ever.

Posted by Mustap | September 17, 2015, 4:33 pm
Let us pray we get saved by the Wisdom of Arabia, for it has demonstrated its holy purity in governance, equality and human rights.

Posted by Vulcan | September 17, 2015, 4:37 pm
Go ahead. I’m saying Amen……………………

Posted by Mustap | September 17, 2015, 5:07 pm
OK class, it’s time for our English lesson, and today we are going to study proper nouns. Are you ready? Let’s go!

Colombia: country in South America
Columbia: university in New York
Columba: wife of Jeb Bush
Coulomb: unit of electric charge

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 17, 2015, 5:18 pm
If the U.S. acquiesce to Russian demands and sit down with Al Assad, it would be the nail in the coffin of what’s left of the Syrian people’s dignity. As if the Syrians haven’t had enough already, of the world treating them like they’re not from this planet.What a crock of shit the Syria policy has been from the U.S.
Create an international coalition to bombard ISIS, yet they grow stronger. Meanwhile ignore the quarter of a million dead, 8 million displaced, the refugee crisis, the torture chambers and the chemical warfare at the hands of that brutal regime who haven’t broken a sweat in trying to contain ISIS. Yes, let’s sit down and talk. Let’s also beg the North Korean psychopath to stop his nuke program. That will work.

Posted by Maverick | September 17, 2015, 5:55 pm
Maverick,

You sound like a Republican. That’s why I agree with you 100%.

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 17, 2015, 8:45 pm
Maverick,

Please see my comment @1:39PM.

America is finished or it’s as if it’s never been. Only charlattans are left to run the show.

We need the Wise ones more than ever.

Posted by Mustap | September 17, 2015, 10:28 pm
AP,

When I’m sounding like a republican, or wishing that intervention is better than withdrawal, or even that Dubya is better than Obama, then there must be something very very fucking wrong.

Mustap,

Criticise American Foreign policy all you like but please don’t patronise the whole American enterprise. The Syrians especially the Sunnis are risking life and limb to reach the West, not their brethren in the Gulf.

Posted by Maverick | September 18, 2015, 4:16 am
what’re you talking about Maverick? More than 1.1 million Syrians are in KSA over 500000 entered after 2011. They’ve been given special treatment unlike any other nationality. Their kids get free education. They’ve recently been allowed to work freely in the private sector, again unlike any other nationality.

Same thing is happening in other Gulf states. Emirates alone gave 1.1 billions to Syrian refugees.

Criticizing the Gulf on this issue is the most hypocritical of all.

But to say the American enterprise is working and therefore shouldn’t be criticized is like failing to see what’s in the pudding. Obama is probably greatest American tgere will be. Reason for his greatness because he knows America is finished and he’s working based on that reality. After him, there’s only the charlattans.

Posted by Mustap | September 18, 2015, 7:18 am
…then there must be something very very fucking wrong.

Maverick,

You know my opinion. Obama had to prove GWB was wrong by withdrawing forces and letting the ME go to pot. All Obama has really done is prove GWB was right, we should have stayed.

We’ll make a Republican out of you one day…

Posted by Akbar Palace | September 18, 2015, 7:50 am
So Saudi Arabia took in Syrians who transferred their savings and could afford flying there, wow how generous, and their kids are getting free Wahabi education too, impressive.

It’s funny when people pontificate about the decline of America while they exult the Wisdom of a rotten backwater that is practically and literally falling apart. Don’t worry about America, it’s the stench emanating from your neighborhood you should be concerned with.

While your at it, hand in your green card or Canadian citizenship and go see if the Saudis will grant you citizenship for all that groveling you practice here.

Posted by Vulcan | September 18, 2015, 10:10 am
AP,

Just remember that when the trillions of dollars of expenditure come due for America’s unilateral military adventurisms abroad, they have to be financed by selling US treasury bills at auction, and it’s foreigners who buy these things (in return for competitive export access to the US market), not Republican Joe the Plumber, the schmuck who doesn’t even want to pay for health insurance for his pitiful, low-paid employees!

You think the US has leverage over foreigners with its markets? Ha ha! Dude, I work in IT, and I am terrified by how all hardware supply chains eventually lead to Asia (and increasingly software too)! Those guys have the money and they have the manufacturing plants! They don’t need the US any more than the US needs them!

So please, don’t flatter yourself and insult our intelligence with this excessive bombast and bravado of yours! Just lay low and vote for Carly Fiorina come election-time, and then cry yourself to sleep when she doesn’t win! 🙂

Posted by Samer Nasser | September 18, 2015, 10:25 am
Stop whining, Vulcan. Your ilk don’t even deserve to inhale and exhale the air while uttering the word Saudi Arabia.

So, you think Wise KSA is after the petty cash of destitute Syrians? What a whole frickin bunch of crap you’ve been taught by your protégés?

Saudi education system is the best in the entire world without any exception. The Syrian kid who is enrolled in this system is the luckiest among any refugee kid, Syrian or otherwise. S/he will get the best education there is anywhere in the world. Any Syrian refugee who went to Arabia is by far light years ahead of any other lingering behind barbed wires in Germany, Austria, Norway or any other so-called western entity.

Besides, Turkey spent 7.6 billion on refugees. What did pathetic America do? It played double-faced games to keep butcher Assad in power. O’ yes I forgot. America spent 500 million dollars to train CIA assets to fight its own war, which is totally unrelated to the interests of the Syrian people, and produced a mighty army of well equipped fully operational brigades consisting of one soldier per brigade. Yes, that’s 100 million dollars per one-man brigade. O yes, I also forgot. America is still working on sugar coating its accomplishments against an entity it claims to be fighting in Syria. A whole army of editors are working on producing progress reports that will magnify the accomplishment to avoid embarrassment. Yes, that’s all it did. And you know why it only got 5 men in its camp from among Syrians? It’s because no Syrian trusts or believes America. Even yet, those poor Syrians already know even before any gullible American may know America is finished and destined to the dustbin. They don’t want America and they don’t want to have anything to do with it. Had the US stayed on the sidelines and never even bothered to play its dirty games, Assad would be gone by now and there will be NO refugees. Rest assured that those those Syrians heading to Europe and may be eventually to America are the potential gullibles who will seamlessly fit into the miserable mainstream of gullibles. So, in the end America is getting what it wants most: gullible citizenry.

So, keep your lips zipped and know America for what it really is: a backyard full of crap.

Posted by Mustap | September 18, 2015, 11:09 am

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