mowaten

Blasts Kill 54 near Syria Capital

"why did you not complain about egypt? yemen? tunis? because they were a pro-west govt? "

okay first you're doing a very common shortcut between all these case which are totally different. the all-inclusive term of "arab spring" is erroneous because each had its own circumstance and went down differently. in tunis there was no fighting, it was massively peaceful and very quick, unexpected. in egypt there was repression by the regime but protesters did not arm up and call for foreign intervention, they did not resort to violence, and it was massively supported by the people. millions went down in tahrir square and no regime in the world can hold against that, so it went down.

Blasts Kill 54 near Syria Capital

i did however say at the time that the muslim brotherhood would probably be the one winner, and people used to answer that "no way! this is a fear tactic used by moubarak blablabla" but we see how it turned out... morsi is now even more a dictator than moubarak, and allah yse3ed the egyptians today who are protesting but facing much harsher repression than under moubarak...

in lybia again, it was totally different, it was a foreign war in disguise, things that happened so fast, rebels being massively armed alsmot instantaneously, the no fly zone, the massive NATO bombing from battleships and fighter-bombers, indicates there was prior planning.
but lets not open all these topics and focus on syria, and will be totally honest with you:

Blasts Kill 54 near Syria Capital

when you say "why did you not complain about egypt? yemen? tunis? because they were a pro-west govt? "
yes there is a point there, a crucial one. you can be either pro-west, or pro arab, and when you're an arab country, there is something profoundly wrong with one of the two (i let you guess which one ;))

Blasts Kill 54 near Syria Capital

so yes, i do not like bashar, i dont hate him as much as you do this is true, but i do not like him either. however yes it is true that given the geopolitcal context, and how crucial the battle against imperialism is, and how so few arab nationalists remain (saudi and gulf states are sold out from inception, jordan sold out long ago, egypt went down after the war with israel, iraq was brutally smashed to smithereens...)
only one arab state remains (iran not counting as arab) and it is syria. (lebanon is a special case, more a reflection of a mixture of the above-cited countries (and can hardly be counted as either arab, or non-arab for many reasons you are certainly familiar with)

Blasts Kill 54 near Syria Capital

so bottom line is, there is this one country still standing, and it's facing a concerted action, massively backed by the west and sold out arab countries, to take it down. so yes, despite me not liking assad, and even disregarding how much i despise the fanatical freaks who are behind the rebellion, i think we shouldnt let it go down. in the same time, i support progress, i support a progressive, constructive, transition towards democracy, not burning the country down under false slogans. this is why even if the constitution was not perfect, i think it should have been accepted by rebels, and built upon, discussed, negotiated. there was always time after that to work towards bashar's exit. look at what the path they chose led: blood, chaos, destruction. is that what any syrian could have wished for?

Cabinet's Political Bickering Continues on Thorny Electricity Issue

arzak let's not argue over tiny details, but just this: the transfer was not made, "funds were allocated" is what the article says. when the finance ministry allocates the funds, it should inform the receiving institution that "funds have been allocated and here are the steps needed to proceed..." or else how are they going to know? they should have heke out of nowhere opened an account and burn a candle hoping the funds will appear in it by miracle?

Cabinet's Political Bickering Continues on Thorny Electricity Issue

also note that safadi is miqati's minister, and miqati had blocked the question because he had some economic interests at stake and wanted things to be laid out more favorably for him. after months of tensions the project was adopted, not like he wanted, but i'm pretty sure he still holds a grudge. he could be revenging now through safadi, by hindering basil's project and trying to make him look bad.

HRW: Syria Rebels Using Children in Battle

poor kids, sacrificed on the bloody altar of the wahhabi hostile takeover attempt...

Cabinet's Political Bickering Continues on Thorny Electricity Issue

surely EDL (not even the ministry) should open the account, but the point is, when you ask for funds to be allocated, and you've been asking that for months, when they allocate the funds they should inform the recipient! or else there is no way for them to know besides crystal balls and coffee cup reading..

Cabinet's Political Bickering Continues on Thorny Electricity Issue

at least m8 is advancing, albeit slowly, towards upgrading the electricity situation in lebanon.
in 19 years of hariri father and then m14, no such progress was made. it's easy to criticize those who are trying to do something despite the difficulties, but m14 shouldnt forget to have some decency when they have been sitting steady on their bottoms doing nothing.