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Syria: Is It the Sunnis' or Shiites' Fault?
Posted By David Kenner
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - 3:47 PM
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The Guardian appears to have come across a major scoop: a cache of 3,000 emails written by Syrian regime insiders, including President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma. The e-mails were reportedly leaked to a Syrian opposition group by "a mole in the president's inner circle," and many of them were verified to the Guardian by a number of people whose emails appear in the cache. The emails also include information -- family photographs, Assad's identity card, and a family member's birth certificate -- that would be difficult to fake.
The emails paint a picture of a Syrian leadership that is more bumbling and oblivious than villainous: On the day after the Syrian military began shelling the city of Homs, for example, Bashar sent Asma a video of country crooner Blake Shelton's song God Gave Me You. A look at the president's iTunes purchases also shows that he purchased the iPad game Real Racing 2 in February and is a fan of American singer Chris Brown.
The Assads also apparently communicate in an informal English rather than Arabic. In one email, Asma, to express her detail that Assad said he would be home at 5 p.m., writes: "This is the best reform any country can have that u told me where will you be, we are going to adopt it instead of the rubbish laws of parties, elections, media..."
The e-mails also provide hints of Iranian involvement in the efforts to suppress the uprising that has threatened Assad's rule for the past year. At one point, a media advisor provides Assad with a long memo ahead of a speech in December, saying that the points covered had been cased on consultations with "the media and political adviser for the Iranian ambassador." The same memo urges Assad to employ "powerful and violent" language to attack foreign influence on Syrian affairs.
But it's the pervasive sense that the Assads are out of touch that shines through in the e-mails, beyond anything else. Perhaps Vogue had it right all along: Asma is apparently an Internet shopaholic, buying enough luxury items to stock a Tom Wolfe novel: Necklaces of amethyst, diamond, and onyx; a Ming Luce vase; and roughly $15,000 worth of candlesticks, tables, and chandeliers -- all while the country was falling apart around her.
But while the Assads may be out of touch, it appears that at least some in their inner circle understands the gravity of the situation. In response to one e-mail from Asma about a pair of $4,000 Christian Louboutin heels, one friend replied: "I don't think they're going 2 b useful any time soon unfortunately."
leading from behind working wonders...
hehe...way to go barack...way to lead...from behind...
but we're told assad will go...eventually...uh huh...with russia and china and iran behind his, where's he going hillary? huh? where's he going barack? what happened to your "humanitarian" concerns like you claimed you had for the people of libya...only after sarko and cameron made you look bad there...
people are being SLAUGHTERED in syria and no one is helping...its insane...day after day after day....
what is wrong with this president? can he not step up to the plate? my god....
i guess he should blindly walk into quagmires like bush. Your an isreali firster who hates the US president because he puts US interests before isreali interests. Go away you buffoon everyone can see your agenda
Well realrealist, is not that simple.
Of course Assad is a butcher SOB (wife is hot though), but don't forget a fact: they are muslims so it doesn't matter how much you want to help them or be friendly with them, they will hate the US no matter what, their religion compels them to hate anything except their religion.
To use a metaphor: a lion is attacking a hyena, you can save the hyena but that doesn't mean that hyena won't attack you after you helped her.
Just my two cents
http://www.france24.com/en/20120314-prominent-members-defect-syria-national-council-opposition-snc-labwani-maleh-telli
If anyone needed an endorsement of what type of people the Assads are indeed have their answer, anyone who would busy themselves buying crap on the internet while the country they are supposed to lead is totally falling apart are NOT worthy of leading or should I say smothering & cheating the people of Syria.
The people of Syria deserve a hell of a lot better than these parasites & I hope the rest of the world gets into gear & helps the people rid themselves of these bastards.
Perhaps, but not difficult to tinker with. Has the author here actually read and examined these emails carefully and critically, perhaps wondering at the at their fortuitous revelation on the anniversary of the rebellion? The factions opposed to the regime, funded and armed by the West and Israel, are known to be casual with the truth and inventive with the spread of their misinformation, even to the point of staging ‘atrocities’ for the benefit of gullible camera crews. No, of course not. A US correspondent actually questioning evidence that so perfectly confirms his prejudices? Why, the sky would fall down. Oh, and when and under what circumstances was that picture taken? I am not an advocate for Assad, just for a bit of open-minded objectivity.
You are not just an advocate for Assad, you are an outright shill. The Free Syrian Army is NOT funded and armed by the West and Israel nor are they casual with the truth. The latter is your hero Assad's schtick. He is the one who blatantly lied to Barbara Walters that hsi forces were not involved in murdering his own people when they clearly were. There were no staged atrocities. The actual murders of men, women, and children by your hero's regime are quite well documented. Go and crawl back in your hole.
sorry freethinking neonazi.....you're wrong.
obama ran on and was elected in part because of the promise obama made of being a multilateralist whose new softer gentler more inclusive tone was going to rally nations together in the event of situations just like this.
if obama had TRUE leadership, and if his multilateral BS had really worked, it would have been EASY to cobble together a wide coalition including russia and china to stop the butchery! but obama's words were just that! words meant to DECEIVE americans into thinking a whole new world order was coming under the messiah obama.
bulldust!
It would have been easy to get Russia to take military action against its regional ally? Your warped hatred for our President, who has managed foreign policy INFINITELY better than his predecessor, has caused you to swallow your own bulldust!
and free nazi...one other thing...
tyour term firster is disgusting and racist...
as if irish americans dont care about irelands existance and as if italian americans dont care about italy's existance...etc...etc...etc...
jews care about the US AND Israel....it is possible you know...but of course, a scumbag jew hater like you doesnt care because you just hate....but like I always tell you, go fuck yourself.
No you care about isreal only. you always advocate a damaging war with iran for isreals sake. Drop the jew hater nonsense, you are an open arab and muslim hater. Im a nazi? ironic since you are probably ashkeNAZI. lol. traitorous isreali firster
and lastly, why hasn't obama called for assad to go to the ICC
WHY? You would think he could AT LEAST do that....but nooooooooo, not obie....
1. If you are faulting Obama for not making Russia and China stand on the side of the US and against their own ancient interests, you might as well fault the guy for not providing every single US citizen with a Ferrari in the past 3 years.
Obama's multi-lateralism was clearly intended to be an incremental improvement over GWB's disastrous "If you are not with us, you are against us" policy that destroyed American soft-power, and not an idealistic attempt at ushering a world of peace and love where everyone says the Lord's Prayer in Swahili.
2. While the US is a melting-pot of different peoples who hold their ancestral lands dearly, only Israel-firsters have the dubious distinction of actively influencing the American foreign policy, for the benefit of the State of Israel and to the detriment of the standing of the United States in the region.
The US is not a member of the ICC.
And the Marie Antoinette award goes to ...
Mrs Assad, you would make the last Queen of France proud!
And with a bit of luck you won't lose your head like poor Marie.
Really where is the decency in all this, going to the extent of publishing private mails? Whatever wrong is atttrinutable to Bashar, the West is aquarely part of the problem having "tolerated dictatorships" in the region all this long. Forty years plus ruling, what happens to the Kingdoms and even Iran before the Shah was booted out?
Continue on this Sectarian inspired Spring and wait for the double consequences, The consequence of having to deal with the much maligned islamists and more importantly, expose the duplicity of the West once again when the citizens of the Kingdoms rise up for their rights to Universal Franchise as we all saw in Bahrain and Yemen which is solidly supported by the "leader of the free nations".
Assad has butchered up to 10,000 of his own people and you are affronted by the indecency of publishing his e-mails? Give me a break! Syria was not an ally of the West. For the past 50 or so years, it has been an ally of Russia.
Key prominent members of SNC are defecting because the SNC was "linked to foreign agendas which aim to prolong the battle while waiting ... for the country to be dragged into a civil war."
Reported at France24, the link is below. Read the article. If you don't beleive the article, go to their facebook.
http://www.france24.com/en/20120314-prominent-members-defect-syria-national-council-opposition-snc-labwani-maleh-telli
Well, in ordinary times one might say that the United States should lead the fight against terror. But these aren't ordinary times. The U.S. is in an awful economic situation and they don't have any money to spare. So far, the only method the U.S. has for fighting terror is to launch large scale wars, such as the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan. And those wars are simply too costly in terms of money. They cannot financially afford to keep fighting the War On Terror in that manner. If they are going to fight the War On Terror, they're going to have to get much more creative. I'm not saying they should do it on the cheap. But they simply cannot get bogged down in costly never ending wars against an undefined enemy..
"Is rio orange war always forfait mobile inevitable ?"
MaximB
Israel has what it takes to do the job on their own, whether this administration backs them or not. They know how to keep their country safe and they have the guts to act. Bush was given little to no credit for reigning them in, and obama's policies have no chance of that..
"Is rio orange war always forfait b and you inevitable ?"
MaximB
Yea when president Clinton ignored them for years and look at the hole new york city has, 2 good towers and lots good people went to them!!!.
"Is rio orange war always comparateur forfait mobile inevitable ?"
MaximB
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