West Asia News and Discussions

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 25 Jul 2013 07:28

Singha-ji,
the ornateness all belong to a certain style - of early Roman Jupiter temples and Judaic temple layouts. Most of the mosques in Syria-Palestine were converted churches, and at the least the grand one in Damascus is [they still claim to have the site of John the Baptist's head - and you can see the commonality of the inner dome with the picture above]. The ornateness comes from Byzantine-Roman architecture, embellished by Persian and Indian captive architects and masons.

habal · Post by **habal** » 25 Jul 2013 08:42

Philip wrote:Habal,surely Morsi's decision would go against MB's policies? The development about the tunnels to Gaza being closed down by the Egyptians indicates that the Egyptian crisis has a pro and anti-Israel dimension.

Please do note, a young iconic leader of the anti-Morsi movement who was arrested by the Morsi regime. His father is very much pro-Morsi though and was seen singing paens to Morsi on BBC or some western media. So it could very much be a generational thing.

Also another factor to note is the role played by Egyptian Deep State and allied agencies. All of a sudden after ouster of Morsi, the police which had hitherto disappeared during the Morsi regime appeared back on the streets controlling traffic, the butcher's shop had more produce and the public bakery was fully stocked. This feel-good moves were a pleasant surprise to the citizenry who opposed Morsi and felt like a deep conspiracy to those who supported him. This had happened overnight.

Egyptians are also blaming 'Syrian refugees' for taking pro-Morsi stand and participating in Pro-Morsi protests.

In Egypt, Syrians are accused of taking sides and interfering in the country's political crisis, while in Lebanon they are accused of taking the jobs of Lebanese.

Egyptian media have played an instrumental role in spreading anti-Syrian sentiment, accusing them of joining protests in support of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Morsi, removed by the army on July 3 after huge protests, rose through the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood -- a key component of the opposition in Syria.

"We must boycott Syrian shops because they use our money to terrorise us," reads one text message distributed via social networks.

"Several unemployed Syrians have been paid 300 Egyptian pounds (43 dollars) by the Muslim Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau to take part in (pro-Morsi) protests," the message adds.

The message also accuses Syrians of using weapons supplied to the rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad's regime in clashes in Egypt between pro- and anti-Morsi protesters.

The tone can be just as harsh on Egyptian television.

"If you continue to stand by the Brotherhood, the people will destroy your homes," controversial presenter Tawfik Okasha said on the privately owned Al-Faraeen channel.

"The people are not ready to accept agents or spies undermining their victory" against Morsi, Okasha added.

The massively popular ONTV, also privately owned, has aired anti-Syrian rants.

"Syrians, if you meddle in our affairs, our boots will kick you in the streets," journalist Yousef al-Husseini said.

Both Husseini and ONTV later apologised.

The anti-Assad Syrian Journalists' Association has called on Egyptians not to "generalise and stigmatise hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees".

But "right now, the Egyptians believe that being Syrian equals being Muslim Brotherhood", said Abu Yasser, a young Syrian living in Egypt.

Known best for his stinging criticism of the Brotherhood, Egypt's famous satirist Bassem Yousef has also hit out against the growing anti-Syrian sentiment, blaming "certain liberals, who hate the Muslim Brotherhood, of reproducing the same fascism and the same racism".

Cairo has now imposed new visa regulations requiring Syrians to apply for a visa.

The United Nations has meanwhile expressed concerns over reports of Syrians being deported back to their war-torn country.

In crisis situations "there is always a search for a scapegoat", said Sari Hanafi, who teaches sociology at the American University of Beirut (AUB).

"In Egypt, you have a mixture of confusion and basic chauvinism. To help explain the (pro-Morsi) movement, people are blaming the foreigners," Hanafi told AFP.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news ... pt-lebanon

habal · Post by **habal** » 25 Jul 2013 10:09

Russian ships transferring Hezbollah fighters to Syria: Idris

JULY 25, 2013 ⋅ 1:58 AM

General Salim Idris, the head of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) accused Russia of using its ships in the Mediterranean to transfer Hezbollah fighters from Beirut , Lebanon directly to the mostly Alawite province of Tartus in western Syria.

In an interview with the Turkish Anadolu News Agency he also accused Russia and Iran of supplying the Syrian army with 400 tons of ammunition every ten days.

General Idris said that he had completely lost hope in the arrival of Western military aid for the Syrian revolution.

“The Russian cargo ships stopping by Beirut port carry Hezbollah fighters to [western Syrian province of] Tartus,”

Syrian rebel supporters hope the arms shipments will begin in August and will include “a large number of small weapons,” including rifles and anti-tank weapons, Louay Sakka, co-founder of the Syrian Support Group, which backs the Free Syrian Army rebel forces, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

RiA Novosti/Ya Libnan

Syria: disillusioned rebels drift back to take Assad amnesty
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... nesty.html

By Ruth Sherlock, Beirut
8:23PM BST 23 Jul 2013
Disillusioned by the Islamist twist that the "revolution" in Syria has taken, exhausted after more than two years of conflict and feeling that they are losing, growing numbers of rebels are signing up to a negotiated amnesty offered by the Assad regime.

At the same time, the families of retreating fighters have begun quietly moving back to government-controlled territory, seen as a safer place to live as the regime continues its intense military push against rebel-held areas.
The move is a sign of the growing confidence of the regime, which has established a so-called "ministry of reconciliation" with the task of easing the way for former opponents to return to the government side.
Ali Haider, the minister in charge, said: "Our message is, 'if you really want to defend the Syrian people, put down your weapons and come and defend Syria in the right way, through dialogue'."
Mr Haider, who has a reputation as a moderate within the regime, has established a system in which opposition fighters give up their weapons in exchange for safe passage to government-held areas.

Rebel fighters have privately said that they are aware of the amnesty offer, and that some men had chosen to accept it, although they say that the numbers involved remains a small proportion of those fighting the government.
"I used to fight for revolution, but now I think we have lost what we were fighting for," said Mohammed, a moderate Muslim rebel from the northern town of Raqqa who declined to give his last name. "Now extremists control my town. My family has moved back to government side because our town is too unsafe. Assad is terrible, but the alternative is worse."
The prevalence of extremist Islamist groups in rebel-held areas, particularly in the north, has caused some opposition fighters to "give up" on their cause.
Ziad Abu Jabal comes from one of the villages in Homs province whose residents recently agreed to stop fighting the regime. "When we joined the demonstrations we wanted better rights," he said. "After seeing the destruction and the power of jihadists, we came to an agreement with the government."
Mr Haider said that he had attended a ceremony yesterday at which 180 opposition fighters rejoined the government's police force, from which they had previously defected.
Although it was not possible to verify this claim, when The Daily Telegraph previously visited the reconciliation ministry's headquarters in Damascus the office was crowded with the family members of rebels fighting in the city's suburbs who said their men wanted to return.
A ministry negotiator, who gave his name only as Ahmed, was in the process of arranging the defection of a rebel commander and 10 of his men from the Ghouta district.
"It took us three months of negotiation and this is a test," he said. "If this goes well, the commander says that 50 others will follow."
He described the steps taken to allow the return of fighters willing to lay down their arms. First, he said, a negotiator must cross the front line for a meeting on rebel-held territory. "We have to hope the rebel commander orders his snipers not to shoot us."
Would-be defectors were given papers allowing them to pass through Syrian army checkpoints, and then waited in a safe house until the officials could get their names removed from wanted lists held by the more hardline defence ministry and intelligence agencies.
The rebels "did not sign up to be part of extremist Islamist groups that have now gained influence", he said. "Now they want to come back to a normal life."

The phone rang with desperate calls from the parents of the rebels. "These mothers know that this is the last chance for their sons. If they don't give up their weapons now they will die because they are losing the battle," said Ali Fayez Uwad, the mediator.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... nesty.html

Mean-e-while some comic relief from White House

WH: Assad will be remembered as among 'the worst tyrants of his era'

Published: July 24, 2013 at 11:34 AM

WASHINGTON, July 24 (UPI) -- History will record Syrian President Bashar Assad as "one of the worst tyrants of his era," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

some more fun
this time not in Washington but by their brothers in Aleppo

Al-Qaida stages 'fun day' for kids, because al-Qaida's all about fun

1 mins ago
Hey kids, tie your shoes and brush your teeth, because we're heading to al-Qaida's children's Fun Day! And what sounds better than an al-Qaida fun day? EVERYTHING! To "win over local hearts and minds" in Syria, everyone's favorite militant Islamic organization put together a Ramadan event for children in Aleppo. And it did sound like a blast — for the guys, anyway. Men played tug of war, and the boys got to bury their faces in bowls of ice cream, seeing who could eat it faster without using their hands.Good times, al-Qaida. Good times.

http://now.msn.com/al-qaida-fun-day-hel ... n-children
http://eaworldview.com/2013/07/syria-fe ... in-aleppo/

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 25 Jul 2013 19:47

An American General Warns the Israeli Right

By Jeffrey Goldberg - Jul 25, 2013

Last weekend, Marine Corps General James Mattis, the recently retired leader of U.S. Central Command and a man known inside the White House for his sharp opinions (which is one reason he’s no longer leading Central Command) issued a very sharp opinion about Israel’s future. {The jewish/pro-Israeli lobby at work}

Speaking at a security conference in Aspen, Colorado, Mattis warned Israel that time was running out for it to reverse its West Bank settlement project.

“We have got to find a way to make the two-state solution that Democrat and Republican administrations have supported, we’ve got to get there,” he said. “And the chances for it, as the king of Jordan has pointed out, are starting to ebb because of the settlements and where they’re at, are going to make it impossible to maintain the two-state option.”

After blaming the lack of peace squarely on the settlements, he went a step further, and raised the incendiary question of apartheid: “If I’m Jerusalem and I put 500 Jewish settlers out here to the east and there’s 10,000 Arab settlers in here, if we draw the border to include them, either it ceases to be a Jewish state or you say the Arabs don’t get to vote -- apartheid. That didn’t work too well the last time I saw that practiced in a country.”

Mattis has homed in on the precise issue that alienates liberal-minded Americans and Israelis: the West Bank double standard. Although Israel, within its 1967 borders, is a democracy in which Arabs have legal and voting rights, the West Bank is a two-tiered political entity: Jewish settlers in Hebron have the rights of Israeli citizens, but their Arab neighbors -- people who sometimes live mere yards away -- are under military occupation, without the same rights. This is a politically and morally untenable arrangement, and Mattis was right to call it out.

He was wrong to blame the lack of peace solely on Israel -- the Palestinians have rejected one compromise offer after another, and the Gaza Strip, which would make up about half the future Palestinian state, is under the control of Hamas, which seeks Israel’s elimination -- but he isn't wrong to identify the settlements as an enormous impediment to compromise.

Mattis is also conveying conventional Pentagon wisdom, and this is why the settlers, and their advocates in the cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ought to be paying close attention, because they can't forever stand against the opinions of men like Mattis (who, by the way, couldn't be considered “anti-Israel” by any stretch of the imagination).

Mattis went on to make another assertion that Netanyahu’s cabinet ought to heed: “I paid a military security price every day as the commander of Centcom because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel and that moderates all the moderate Arabs who want to be with us, because they can’t come out publicly in support of people who don’t show respect for the Arab Palestinians." He went on to say that John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state who's trying to restart peace talks, "is right on target with what he’s doing. And I just hope the protagonists want peace and a two-state solution as much as he does.”

Arab rulers who complain about U.S. support for Israel to generals like Mattis are playing their American counterparts a bit: It’s very hard to imagine the Saudis and the Emiratis and the Kuwaitis and the Jordanians not taking American help -- or not providing bases to the U.S. -- because they’re upset by settlements. The Arabs uniformly fear and loathe Iran more than they fear and loathe Israel. Still, it's true that American military commanders wouldn’t have to sit through quite so many lectures about Palestinian rights if there was movement on the peace process. It's also true that men like Mattis make their own weather -- that is, whether he’s right or wrong, this is what he believes, and it would be foolish for the Israelis, a dependent power, to ignore the feelings of powerful American generals.

What Israeli army generals know -- and what many of their political leaders don’t seem to recognize -- is that Mattis's views are commonplace in the American defense establishment. The Israeli right can only ignore this reality for so long without doing its country permanent damage.

(Jeffrey Goldberg is a Bloomberg View columnist. Follow him on Twitter.)

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 25 Jul 2013 23:07

Kati wrote:An American General Warns the Israeli Right

By Jeffrey Goldberg - Jul 25, 2013

it's all about the narrative. the long list of excuses, justifications, and "reasoning" is methodically built before the final stroke.
the process is unfolding against Israel. they better watch out.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 26 Jul 2013 11:21

GID is being helped by the ISI to recruit TTP pakis to be sent to Syria. That was what the news about Pakistani Taliban setting up an office in Syria was about.

GID also begun a campaign to recruit Yemenis who's visas have expired to go fight in Syria in exchange for money or at minimum train the rebels

habal · Post by **habal** » 26 Jul 2013 12:02

the recent Iraqi prison-break was also an attempt to recruit for Syria, I presume. It seems like the stocks are getting depleted really fast.

Problem now will increasingly be that even if weapons are made available, there will be none to pick it up.

mean-e-waqt, the Freak Syrians who were about to bring perpetual peace to the entire Syrian population, have managed to beam their light of peace on two Christian bishops. The rest have to wait for their chance.

Aleppo's kidnapped bishops: "Both killed & Turkisk authorities have killers in custody!'"

"...According to the news, the two bishops were killed and Turkish security forces arrested the three murderers in Turkish province of Konya.
It is said that the murderers have different nationalities. One of them is from Russia, the other one is from Chechenya while the third one is bearing the Syrian nationality. According to the same reports, Turkish authorities extradited three killers to their countries.

http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.in/20 ... illed.html
http://www.demokrathaber.net/dunya/suri ... 20944.html
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2013/07/t ... l?spref=bl

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 26 Jul 2013 16:08

Syrian rebels press US to send weapons fast, Kerry sees no military solution to crisis

A delegation representing the Syrian National Coalition, headed by its newly-elected leader Ahmed Jarba, met with John Kerry on Thursday at the US mission to the United Nations in New York. The statement Jarba issued following the closed-door talks described the situation in Syria as “desperate” and urged the US to start delivering on its military aid promise as soon as possible.

"The US commitment of military support to the Supreme Military Council is vital, but it needs to happen fast, and in a way that allows us to defend ourselves and protect civilians," Jarba said.

Despite the congressional approval of weapons supplies, John Kerry was cautious speaking of the Syrian crisis on Thursday, pledging commitment to its peaceful settlement.

“There is no military solution to Syria. There is only a political solution, and that will require leadership in order to bring people to the table,” John Kerry said.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Jul 2013 16:59

given that the entire history and prophets of early christendom was in egypt, ethiopia, greece, palestine-jordan-lebanon-syria region, and later eastern roman empire (constantinople), how did the italians managed to hijack and steal the whole cake? must rank as one of the greatest and most successful cultural heists in history.

islam on other hand remained true to its desert center of gravity to this day. so too all other important religions have remained true to the places of their prophets.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 26 Jul 2013 18:08

the roman empire split into two - and with it the church
one head in rome (catholic church and then western christendom), the other in constantinople (orthodox and eastern churces, i.e. originals)
the turks over ran the eastern roman empire after it fell into decay and the ponies of the ottomans were mangered in the halls of hagia sophia until the great dome was repurposed for the crescent moon

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Jul 2013 20:18

Ah the typical thoroughness exhibited by both sides. When spain and granada was reconquered every last muslim was converted back at sword point. Those who preferred to remain islamic were given a one way ticket to morocco and algeria the lucky ones or got worse treatment.
I would i imagine islam was wiped down to 0% in that era.
which is surprising because islam recognises some of the christian prophets incl jesus as their own prophets...

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 26 Jul 2013 20:23

^^^ Not really True , Christian and all denominations regards Jesus as Son of God and Son of Man while Islam recognizes Jesus ( Isa E Salam ) as a Prophet along the lines of Mohammed .... that is the fundamental difference. Though lets leave this for some other discussion.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 26 Jul 2013 20:30

almost every spanish food preparation (barring some) have some pork product in it - its to flush out any hidden moors
the name "matamoros" - killer of moors is a relatively well used title and place name in spain and in the new world
many places in spain (as well as sicily, etc.) have festivals dedicated to the defeat and slaughter of the moors
nowadays they are quant and amusing, but not so long ago they had a deadly immediacy and relevance
some of the popular street festivals in the caribbean and hispanic america can be traced to these anti-moorish celebrations

Shanmukh · Post by **Shanmukh** » 26 Jul 2013 21:19

Singha wrote:given that the entire history and prophets of early christendom was in egypt, ethiopia, greece, palestine-jordan-lebanon-syria region, and later eastern roman empire (constantinople), how did the italians managed to hijack and steal the whole cake? must rank as one of the greatest and most successful cultural heists in history.

islam on other hand remained true to its desert center of gravity to this day. so too all other important religions have remained true to the places of their prophets.

It is doubtful how much the west would have managed to `capture Christianity', if it were not for the advent of Islam. There were five major centres of Christianity under Justinian, viz, Byzantium (Constantinople), Rome, Alexandria, Antioch and Carthage. Of the five, three fell to the Muslims early in their conquests (Antioch later changed hands, it is true, but nevertheless, its importance for Christianity was gone). Byzantium was all but ruined after the battle of Manzikert (1071), so its hand was greatly weakened, and the emperor came to depend more and more on the western Franks. By default, Rome was left to take power (and by skilfully converting the Germans, Normans, Franks, and Saxons, they became very powerful) and they used that power exceptionally brutally, all the while keeping a beautiful propaganda about `love' and `peace'. It is almost Orwellian how every refinement of torture and barbarity was sanctioned in the name of a merciful, benevolent, compassionate God, who required periodic human sacrifices to pacify him.

Shanmukh · Post by **Shanmukh** » 26 Jul 2013 21:30

Austin wrote:^^^ Not really True , Christian and all denominations regards Jesus as Son of God and Son of Man while Islam recognizes Jesus ( Isa E Salam ) as a Prophet along the lines of Mohammed .... that is the fundamental difference. Though lets leave this for some other discussion.

Austin-ji,
Would you like to comment on these articles?

http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/orthodoxy.html

http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/gnostic.html

http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/beginnings.html

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 26 Jul 2013 23:51

nageshks , I dont take part in religious discussion ....its pretty much never ending and people end up hurting themselves and others . So each to their own belief.

Shanmukh · Post by **Shanmukh** » 27 Jul 2013 00:20

Austin wrote:nageshks , I dont take part in religious discussion ....its pretty much never ending and people end up hurting themselves and others . So each to their own belief.

I am not particularly interested in the author's general ruminations about Christianity. No - for me, the only point of interest there is that the author claims that the Christian belief in Jesus as `son of God and son of man' being a later invention, and that there are many sects of Christianity that did not and do not believe in a flesh and blood Jesus at all. Was just wondering if they (those who do not believe in a flesh and blood Jesus) are in existence today, and if so, who they are (today).

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 27 Jul 2013 06:14

Death on the Nile

In a small Egyptian town, a corpse washes ashore. And then things get really ugly.

habal · Post by **habal** » 27 Jul 2013 09:50

some theory regarding the mers-corono virus in middle-east,

Beijing's bulletin discussed a US-planned "ultimate (Middle East) solution." It's readied in case of regional nuclear war. It said Washington will attack Syria and Iran with lethal biological weapons. They're "intended to kill tens of millions of innocent civilians."

Dutch virologist Ron Fouchier revealed it. He discovered that five avian flu virus mutations spread far more easily. Doing so makes them the "most lethal killer(s) of mankind ever invented."

US capabilities were based on Russian intelligence examination of Lockheed Martin's RQ-170 Sentinel Drone. It was downed over Iranian territory.

"Russian made Avtobaza ground-based electronic intelligence and jamming system was used. Evidence showed it was equipped with a sophisticated aerosol delivery system."

Secondly it seems the CIA facilities around the globe are replete with Daoud Gilani/David Headly types from various MuNNA countries. This group is also what consist the core of al-keeda.

You see our majority is under this notion that Al Qaeda operatives are some Afghani version of our hillbillies: a bunch of primitive illiterate tribesmen clad in gauze shalwar, sporting a few feet-long beards, spitting out phlegm while marching around with pitchforks fighting the western windmills. Well, they are wrong. One look at Ali Mohamed’s qualifications and you’d have no doubt:

A highly skilled linguist who spoke fluent English, French, and Hebrew in addition to his native Arabic

A highly educated man with two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree

A major in the Egyptian army’s military intelligence unit

A citizen of United States married to an American woman from Santa Clara, California

A Drill Sergeant at Fort Bragg

A teacher at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School

This is what Ali Mohamed’s commanding officer, Lt. Col. Robert Anderson, said: “I am convinced Mohamed was “sponsored” by a U.S. intelligence service I assumed the CIA.”

And, he was right.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/07/sibe ... %E2%80%A8/

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 27 Jul 2013 13:25

Story from Riyadh that's never been published before:

In Riyadh - there's a place called Diplomatic quarter where all the embassies are and living of diplomatic officials etc.

So security is pretty tight. A Saudi policeman saw an Indian walking in shorts and so pulled his car over. Went over to the man and in Arabic started asking him where is your ID? The Indian man didn't say anything or didn't understand Arabic. So policeman was like what are you doing here in Arabic? Again Indian doesn't understand Arabic so no response. And he thought well it's strange for any person to be in diplomatic quarters - the guy doesn't understand what he's saying so best option is to take the Indian into custody.

So they put him in a room to question him. And the police mans boss who can speak English, makes a cup of tea and walks into the interrogation room.

And so policeman says: where are your papers? Indian says at home. Where do you live? Indian replies in Diplo quarters. You live in DQ??????! Indian says yes! Who are you? I'm the Indian ambassador. Policeman drops tea on the floor and runs to his office to call his boss.

The crown prince had to come and personally apologise to the ambassador and took him home. The crown prince was extremely angry that they don't have any English speaking police officers in DQ. So they have replaced all the policemen there and Indian ambassador gets a salute every time

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 27 Jul 2013 17:28

AIDS,swine flu,SARS,now MEARS...remember the 'Surat Plague" ? No coincidence that films like WWZ are being made,to prepare people for the future catastrophes.The CIA has long used /prepared for such WMD warfare for use against the "turd world",as being the only way in which our population might be reduced

Kapil · Post by **Kapil** » 27 Jul 2013 23:00

What is worrying is that Indian Ambassadors to SA are Arabists who can speak the language and understand the cultural context of where they are being posted.
A non-Arabic , shorts wearing Ambassador needs to be recalled and put in the mail room me thinks

member_27444 · Post by **member_27444** » 27 Jul 2013 23:34

If only he had worn a Sola Topeee like

saip · Post by **saip** » 28 Jul 2013 03:01

Main qualification for being Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia is that he must be a Muslim.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 28 Jul 2013 07:55

Worries Mount as Syria Lures West’s Muslims
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/world ... .html?_r=0

WASHINGTON — A rising number of radicalized young Muslims with Western passports are traveling to Syria to fight with the rebels against the government of Bashar al-Assad, raising fears among American and European intelligence officials of a new terrorist threat when the fighters return home.ore Westerners are now fighting in Syria than fought in conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia or Yemen, according to the officials. “Syria has become really the predominant jihadist battlefield in the world,” Matthew G. Olsen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, told a security conference in Aspen, Colo., this month. He added, “The concern going forward from a threat perspective is there are individuals traveling to Syria, becoming further radicalized, becoming trained and then returning as part of really a global jihadist movement to Western Europe and, potentially, to the United States.”Classified estimates from Western intelligence services and unclassified assessments from government and independent experts put the number of fighters from Europe, North America and Australia who have entered Syria since 2011 at more than 600. That represents about 10 percent of the roughly 6,000 foreign fighters who have poured into Syria by way of the Middle East and North Africa.Most of the Westerners are self-radicalized and are traveling on their own initiative to Turkey, where rebel facilitators often link them up with specific groups, terrorism experts say. Many have joined ranks with the Qaeda-aligned Nusra Front, which American officials have designated as a terrorist group.
“The scale of this is completely different from what we’ve experienced in the past,” Gilles de Kerchove, the European Union’s counterterrorism coordinator, said at the conference in Aspen.European and other Western intelligence agencies are rushing to work together to track the individuals seeking to cross the border into Syria from Turkey, though several American officials expressed frustration that Turkey is not taking more aggressive steps to stem the flow of Europeans going to fight in Syria.Hans-Peter Friedrich, Germany’s interior minister, is pushing for an European Union-wide registry for all foreigners entering the bloc as one of the measures that will help better track returning radicals.The German authorities have so far focused domestic efforts on preventing people suspected of being radicals from leaving the country. In the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, the security authorities this month identified 12 people thought to be radicals, who they said had given “concrete indications” that they were planning to leave for Syria.A precise breakdown of the Western fighters in Syria is difficult to offer, counterterrorism and intelligence officials said, but their estimates include about 140 French citizens, 100 Britons, 75 Spaniards, 60 Germans, and as many as a few dozen Canadians and Australians. There are also fighters from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands, according to a study in April by the International Center for the Study of Radicalization, a partnership of academic institutions based in London, which estimated that 140 to 600 Europeans had gone to Syria.Only about a dozen Americans have so far gone to fight in Syria, according to American intelligence officials. Nicole Lynn Mansfield, 33, of Flint, Mich., a convert to Islam, was killed in May while in the company of Syrian rebels in Idlib Province.Eric Harroun, 30, a former Army soldier from Phoenix, was indicted in Virginia by a federal grand jury last month on two charges related to allegations that he fought alongside the Nusra Front. In February, he bragged about his involvement, posting a photo on his Facebook page saying, “Downed a Syrian Helicopter then Looted all Intel and Weapons!”About 30 French citizens have returned from the front lines in Syria, according to Mathieu Guidère, a professor at Université Toulouse II and an expert on Islamic terrorism. He said most had been stopped by the domestic intelligence service and held for lengthy questioning under a law passed last year that allows charges to be brought for having traveled to terrorist training camps or combat zones where terrorist groups are involved.Many who end up staying join the Nusra Front, which often divides them into groups by nationality.Recently, the Dutch authorities arrested a 19-year-old woman suspected of recruiting young Dutch Muslims to fight with Islamic extremists in Syria.In April, the Belgian authorities raided 48 homes across the country and detained six men implicated in what prosecutors described as a jihadist recruitment drive for the insurgency in Syria. Some of the men have since been released, Eric Van Der Sypt, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor, said by telephone on Friday.

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 28 Jul 2013 08:42

http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/ ... 05344.html

Europe's Biggest Terror Threat: Syria

Rachid Wahbi came to Syria from a Spanish slum, rushing toward death.

And he didn't plan to die alone.

Facing a camera hours before the end, the bearded, 33-year-old cabdriver wore a black headdress and a black flak vest and held an AK-47 rifle. He spoke in hesitant classical Arabic with a north Moroccan accent. He said he had studied his target and, God willing, his action would end in triumph. He wished the glory of martyrdom for his fellow fighters in the al-Nusrah Front, al-Qaida's Syrian branch.

When the cameraman asked about his mother, the Spaniard became emotional.

"I want to thank my mother because she inspired me," Wahbi said, according to a translation by the Spanish national police. "Mother, you must be happy because God will reward you."

The al-Nusrah propaganda video shows Wahbi disguised in the helmet and uniform of a Syrian soldier as he hugs a comrade and climbs into a truck packed with explosives. The truck bears down on an army outpost. An explosion thunders. A column of smoke, seen from multiple camera angles, climbs toward the sky.

Wahbi killed 130 people in that suicide bombing on the al-Nairab military base in northern Syria on June 1 of last year, according to Spanish authorities. And the numbers get grimmer.

Five holy warriors from Spain have died in Syria, three in bombings that killed another 100 people, police say. Last month, Spanish police stormed the hillside ghetto where Wahbi lived in Ceuta, a Spanish territory in North Africa, and arrested a ring of extremists who are charged with sending as many as 50 fighters to Syria. Indicating a threat much closer to home, the accused leader had previously been acquitted of plotting attacks on targets in Spain with a group linked to al-Qaida and a former Guantanamo inmate.

"The global jihad has prioritized the Syrian conflict as its principal front," said a top Spanish intelligence official who requested anonymity because of the continuing investigation. "And it has directed its subsidiaries to move combatants to the zone. What worries us is that this experience could serve as preparation, as training to return to European countries and carry out attacks at home."

Hundreds of Europeans and thousands of other Sunni Muslim foreign fighters have made Syria the new land of jihad. The migration complicates an already delicate calculus in Washington and in European capitals that are aiding the fractious rebel coalition in Syria. European security chiefs see the flow of extremists to and from Syria as their top terrorist threat. It also raises concerns that European militants radicalized by or returning from the Syrian conflict could strike U.S. targets overseas or travel across the Atlantic.

"Imagine this: Between 2001 and 2010, we identified 50 jihadists who went from France to Afghanistan," said a senior French counterterror official who also requested anonymity. "Surely there were more, but we identified 50. With Syria, in one year, we have already identified 135. It has been very fast and strong."

narrative changing or what?

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 28 Jul 2013 12:16

Is 'global jihad' on good or bad side of "new world order"'s PRISM?

Or does it depend on need to do basis as per requirements?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 29 Jul 2013 00:27

Waiting for Captain America

by Gary C. Gambill
National Post
July 26, 2013

http://www.meforum.org/3562/waiting-for-captain-america
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In April, Jordan's King Abdullah came to Washington and passionately urged the United States to become "captain of the team" supporting Syrian rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Assad. Though he got his wish with the Obama administration's June 13 announcement that it will begin providing direct military aid to the Free Syrian Army, the diminutive monarch has a strange understanding of teamwork. When the Los Angeles Times subsequently published an article detailing how CIA instructors were on the ground in Jordan training rebels, the king's prime minister told reporters straight-faced that there is "no training … whatsoever of Syrian opposition forces" in Jordan, and insisted that his government is "not interfering in the incidents under way in Syria."

The rebels' other major Arab sponsors display similar duplicity. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been willing to covertly arm and equip Syrian rebels, but unwilling to do so openly, even as they urge Washington to pick up the banner and run with it.

The trend is not new. For decades, Sunni-led Arab governments shied away from openly challenging Tehran and its proxies, while privately pressing the United States to contain and roll back the so-called "Shiite crescent" stretching from Iran through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon.

Though partly attributable to concerns about strong popular sympathies for the Iranian-led "resistance" axis and restive Shiite minorities at home, the tiered statecraft of Arab leaders also reflected hard-nosed politico-strategic calculations geared more toward leveraging American pressure than adding to it. The Saudis, for instance, discretely encouraged the Bush administration's high-profile efforts to pull Lebanon out of the Syrian-Iranian orbit from 2004 to 2008, while maintaining courteous diplomatic relations with Tehran (and with Assad, apart from one 18-month interlude) and making low-profile efforts to support their local clients.

Political constraints are even less of a factor for Arab leaders now that the Sunni Arab street has been brought squarely into agreement with them on the perils of Iranian regional ambitions. Concerns about Iranian subversion of Arab Shiites may discourage open participation in a bloody sectarian war, but they don't explain why Arab governments haven't been doing everything possible covertly to support the rebels.

Given ample resources, a rebel coalition drawing support from Syria's two-thirds Sunni Arab majority is sure to eventually win a war of attrition against pro-regime forces recruited primarily from Alawites comprising one-eighth of the population. The problem is that they haven't been given ample resources – least of all money (the most important resource of all in a country with less and less of a gun shortage). Lack of funds is the main reason why the rebels still field substantially fewer combatants than the regime by most estimates, despite their enormous demographic advantage.

The reluctance of Arab regimes to support the rebels full throttle owes much to their anticipation that America will eventually intervene to stem the regional spillover (an expectation entirely consistent with the Obama administration's gradually deepening commitment to the rebel cause over the past two years). Their primary concern is not to accelerate the inevitable collapse of Syria's minoritarian autocracy – it is to reap the greatest possible share of the spoils from it, at the least possible expense. This means giving various insurgent factions enough arms and financing under the table to win their respective loyalties and keep them fighting until America steps in, but not enough to enable an outright rebel victory.

Although Arab leaders are telling Washington that a larger American footprint in Syria will facilitate a peaceful solution to the war, their privately expressed faith in the palliative impact of U.S. intervention in the Arab world is disingenuous. Arab leaders aren't waiting for Captain America because they think he will save the day. They are waiting because they want someone else to take responsibility for the horrific violence they know will yet be required to decisively defeat their enemy.

Gary Gambill is an associate fellow at the Middle East Forum.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 29 Jul 2013 22:32

X-Posting.

Looks like Ramanaji missed the jist of this thread completely and thinking on communal lines.

GCC (+Dubai) are strategic partners of India and are trying very hard to make India super duper power. They also are investing $T. Sonia Gandhi, the mother INC, always make smart decisions with deep understanding of GCC real-heart (not the fake one they show thru AQ or Mafia).

ramana wrote:This is part of the pattern of corruption under the 2Gs.

http://www.newsinsight.net/ThenewSwitze ... age=page-1

The new Switzerland
Dubai has become the hottest destination for political black monies from India.

By Gautam Sen (26 July 2013)

London: New forms of racketeering have been institutionalised by India’s political elite, with a huge proliferation of the disturbing phenomena during United Progressive Alliance rule. As India’s economy has grown, the greed of its political and bureaucratic elites has ascended new heights. They are compromising India’s well-being and security on a scale that will lead to easily foreseeable devastating consequences. Bureaucrats and politicians have taken to extorting payments from businesses by ruthlessly wielding state power. One major industry that has become a conduit for laundering the proceeds of high crime is India’s airline sector. The ownership of some airlines is unclear, as Arun Shourie’s bombshell statement in the Lok Sabha revealed in August 2001. It is suspected they are being fronted on behalf of Indian politicians and international terrorists engaged in war against India and its people. Some of these people live in security and comfort in Pakistan and their dual operational headquarters is the United Arab Emirates, most particularly Dubai. This is the city whose privileged Arab denizens espouse shameless racial contempt towards South Asians and justify, according to the London Guardian, the appalling treatment of migrant labour that created the glitz and prosperity of Dubai by asserting, "We need slaves to build monuments. Look who built the pyramids -- they were slaves."

A stratagem to launder and bring black money back into India is through investments by beneficiaries of corrupt favours in shell companies owned by nominees of senior politicians or via donations to fictitious charitable activities of their relatives. The Aircel Maxis scandal has blown this type of criminal activity wide open but the scale is truly staggering. Almost all business deals, unfailingly subject to regulatory approval, oblige payments to key political families, whether they are for contracts to provide seats on Air India’s Boeing fleet, from a firm deemed unsuitable by Boeing itself, or for the entry of foreign direct investment into India in retail. Scams and outright robbery have become so brazen that exempting members of Indian political families from airport security and customs’ scrutiny is leading to extraordinary malfeasance, from importing foreign and counterfeit currency to exporting stolen heritage artefacts. It is pertinent that knowledgeable insiders indicate it is not Switzerland where the proceeds of Indian crime, including extortion by politicians, are concealed. Contrary to the mystifying obsessions of some, who rail against black money, it is Hong Kong, Singapore and, most of all, Dubai where the proceeds of global crime are secreted. Indian businessmen in Hong Kong express exasperation at the regularity with which they are approached by Indian politicians to invest sums in excess of £5 million.

All the evidence suggests that bribery was the catalyst that allowed FDI into Indian retail, permitting entry to players whose known behaviour suggests they are latter day counterparts of the marauding East India Company. Numerous legal disputes and instances of political protest against them can be discovered from a cursory scan of the Internet. The stipulations and provisions that will supposedly regulate their conduct and obligations do not matter one whit because once established within India they will buy the legislation necessary for a malleable political environment and illegitimate profiteering. It might be noted that the moment the prime minister and a totally untrustworthy Central Bureau of Investigation fail to find evidence of corruption in a particular instance, it points to the involvement of the most powerful in the land. More to the point in the case of the proposed Etihad purchase of equity in Jet Airways is the UAE’s reputation as the financial counterpart to the operational terror hub that is Pakistan, with which it enjoys the most intimate ties. Significantly, like another organisation, popular in Pakistan for charitable work, which has promised a war of annihilation against India, Etihad Airways is also involved in good works in Pakistan.

The UAE origin of Etihad Airways exhorts urgent and searching scrutiny of its proposed acquisition of equity in Jet Airways to enter the Indian market. Unfortunately, investigation of the Jet Airways-Etihad deal by official agencies, particularly the Central Bureau of Investigation, suggests that political families, who will be the key beneficiaries of the purchase, are covertly organizing the basis for a clean chit to it. The long-term profitability of the Indian airline market is guaranteed since air travel within the country will grow by leaps and bounds in coming decades. The resulting huge proceeds may well accrue to hostile agencies that will use them to continue waging war against India. One negative outcome will be to further undermine Air India, which has already led to huge costs for the taxpayer, because politicians have interfered wilfully with its operations to make it less and less attractive to customers. Yet, in its unseemly haste to plug the balance of payments deficit, the United Progressive Alliance is rushing headlong into an array of murky international financial deals that will do untold long-term harm to the Indian economy though the corrupt will of course benefit.

Perhaps calling an election soon will be prudent since so much worse is in prospect for the Indian economy and its people by the time of its scheduled final date. A regime in disarray and fearful of the exposure of its serial acts of illegality and constitutional improprieties is capable of making arbitrary compromises to save itself. Foreign agencies known to collect evidence of such misconduct assiduously are likely pressing India to make concessions on a number of critical issues and effectively surrender national interests. In the meantime, Mumbai is becoming a mere outpost of Dubai’s criminal reach rather than dominating the ocean rim that separates them, as it should by virtue of sheer size. Its starlets rush there to entertain and Indian politicians to hide ill- gotten riches, betraying vital national interests to the very people waging war against their own country, in a form of sell-out with few historical parallels.

Dr Gautam Sen has taught Political Economy at the London School of Economics.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 29 Jul 2013 23:17

^ if above is correct, what for Tharoor got his Rs 50crore?

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 29 Jul 2013 23:31

This is hilarious - Politicians choosing to do their illegal deals in Dubai is extrapolated to blaming GCC for India's ills. Switzerland was used for the last 5 or 6 + decades - and no one blamed Swiss for this (not much protest by RamaY ji in the EU thread).

And our resident genius blames Dubai/GCC for politicians parking their illegal funds - Not the system/Police or Anti corruption units for allowing the illegal activity to take place in the first place.

Well, fortunately I don't think readers are this stupid. Even article highlights other locations - HK, Singapore etc.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 30 Jul 2013 01:17

No body is blaming GCC/Dubai, for they are the bigoted societies that act in their self-interests and enjoy any dhimmi that come crawling for their Dinars.

Dhimmis are criticized when
- They proclaim these bigot-nations are some benevolent and friendly people who are interested in building a super power empire out of India.
- They say strategic partnership with their slave-masters is in Indian interests. T
- The dhimmi claims that UPA Govt's compromises to those bigot-nations is done with Indian Interests in mind.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 30 Jul 2013 01:44

link
Swiss has special deal - in the form of court judgement- with USA about sharing details of tax evaders. For others there is common secrecy laws with exceptions made for about 130 countries for sharing of info.

There is no country in the world that has more than 130 different exceptions to its own secrecy rules and special deal with superpower USA.

So how did USA persue the Swiss to logical end in spite of secrecy laws?

If Swiss are not to be blamed for their own secrecy laws then who else is and why would the Swiss go all the way to reach judicial decision specially for USA and then not generalize it for others?

Guess Dubai has nothing called 'secrecy laws' to begin with! Who will tell them only and then pursue legalities to get the Dubai people off their own facilities offered to foreigners?

Simple to blame corrupt people only, why blame Dubai people when the Dubai people even don't define what it is properly.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 30 Jul 2013 02:41

The Dubai Immigration is under watch by Indians.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 30 Jul 2013 06:33

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 30 Jul 2013 06:39

Khaldiyeh in Homs has fallen to SAA. Homs will be cleansed soon. Battle for Aleppo will start a bit later.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 30 Jul 2013 07:13

maybe the west wants to keep syria burning, to flush out their sleeper cells sending fighters there which would otherwise escape detection.
but once the conflict reaches a stagnation point, all these veteran jihadis are going to come back and start a fire at home!

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 30 Jul 2013 10:05

Ah RamaY ji,
when will you ever learn : corruption is always by non-state actors! Especially if its a Gulf nation. See Dubai is onlee one among many places mentioned - therefore Dubai is not a place of corruption. You can onlee criticize a country for non-state-actors acting inside it - if you have criticized every other similar nation before with greater intensity. If crime happens that spans a non-Gulf country with a Gulf-country, then the blame must be laid at the door of the non-Gulf country.

Every piece of criminality might happen in Dubai, but because it is Dubai - all such criminality is the fault of non-state actors, and the state itself has absolutely no knowledge or benefits from such activities. Onlee in this case it is not unpatriotic to blame Indian state for such lapses - for non-Gulf countries, blaming the Indian state in any way is a criminal and unpatriotic offense : because it is a criticism of the ruling Indian government, which is equivalent to criticizing the nation.

Shall I also add the :lol's in anticipation?

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 30 Jul 2013 10:08

http://www.forbes.com/sites/riskmap/201 ... -diminish/
Slowly But Surely, US Incentive For Keeping Gulf Oil Flowing Will Diminish

The Persian Gulf has roiled the world regularly since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 – through an Iran-Iraq war, the Gulf War, bombings in Saudi Arabia and Yemen of US military targets, the Iraq War in 2003 and in 2011 the Arab Spring. In each cases, crises spawned in the Gulf sent shudders through global markets, sending the price of oil sky high and prompted US presidents to order naval task forces based half a world away to put to sea.Yet by 2030, the incentives will have changed. Yes, the US Navy is still watching, warily. And because oil remains a global commodity where prices everywhere are vulnerable to small disruptions, America remains concerned about any problem that might disrupt the flow of oil and gas through the narrow Strait of Hormuz – the bottleneck that could in an instant take Saudi, Iraqi, Qatari, Kuwaiti and other energy supplies off the market. But it’s not the disaster it was in, say, 1991.Over the next decade and a half the fleets that really care will no longer fly the Stars and Stripes. More than likely, warships from a host of Asian countries – Japan, China, India and others – will be regular visitors to the Gulf by that time. It will be these nations, not the US or its European allies, who have the greatest stake in preventing a calamity that could damage their economies.

For Americans, this may come as quite a relief. For decades, ever since Britain’s Royal Navy lost command of the seas after World War II, the US Navy has provided something of a free public utility by ensuring that global commerce is free to travel on the long, exposed sea lanes connecting major economies. In effect, American task forces are the Coumadin of the global economic circulatory system, preventing blockages and, occasionally, identifying potential tumors to be excised more urgently.But South and East Asia is facing a very different future. For China, the figure in 2030 is 75 percent. For South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, the percentage is even higher. India’s suppliers are slightly more diverse, but even there over 60 percent of imports will flow from the Gulf in 2030.Sliced a bit differently, the data leads IEA to project that Asian economies will be importing 90 percent of Persian Gulf oil by 2030. Indeed, higher prices for oil precipitated by a Gulf crisis – at some point – actually becomes a benefit to a country producing as much oil as the US will in 2030.“From a strategic perspective, the “Achilles heel” of China is its over-whelming dependence on Persian Gulf energy imports to fuel its rapidly growing economy,” says Samir Tata, a former U.S. intelligence analyst and author on naval issues. “The sea lines of communication over which these vital oil and gas imports are transported by tanker … and the choke points linking them are controlled by the US Navy.”The Obama administration’s “pivot” to Asia may be the beginning of an end to this free ride. Given the costs – both financial and political – of maintaining the US Fifth Fleet’s carriers, escorts and submarines in the Gulf, and the continuing pressure in Washington to curb expenditures, it may not be long before Asian nations have to figure out a way to guarantee their own oil supplies.This means a very different reality on the high seas. Nature is always a threat in the deep ocean, of course, but since World War II commerce has not feared political threats except in specific places relatively close to shore – the Red Sea off Somalia or the Gulf of Guinea on Africa’s West Coast, for instance.That may change over the next several decades as new players start acting on new incentives.China’s disputed claims to areas of the South and East China seas have garnered headlines of late, but the management of the vital energy sea lanes through the Indian Ocean and its multiple bottle necks is a probably a more important factor behind the growth of naval budgets in the region in recent years.After all, China’s disputes with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and others over territorial waters is about oil and may exist beneath them. National pride, of course, also plays a role.But the vast stretches of Indian Ocean that all these nation’s oil and gas imports must traverse is, to put it in the lexicon of national security, a “clear and present danger.”

The most publicized manifestation of this trend was the launch last year of China’s first aircraft carrier, a refitted Soviet Navy leftover renamed Liaoning.Regionally, Indian military leaders have also expressed concerns about a system of port projects along Indian Ocean basin funded or partly owned by China. Referred to in India’s press as the “string of pearls,” these port facilities stretch from Myanmar to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan – with Chinese contractors also building major port facilities in Tanzania and Mozambique. India has also been alarmed by the increased activity of Chinese submarines in nearby waters.Of course, Chinese companies are involved in port operations around the world – including the Panama Canal. China denies it wants to encircle India – a charge that frequently appears on Indian op-ed pages. Its navy’s expansion has proceeded at a pace that’s hardly surprising given the extent of its economic growth. And naval experts agree China’s navy is no match for Japan’s, would probably struggle against India’s relatively modern and larger fleet, and certainly cannot challenge the US Navy’s regional dominance.Some regional strategists are hoping that the existence of a common threat to their interests – the risk of an interruption in Gulf oil flows – might foster cooperation rather than competition. So far, that’s simply not been the case. If anything, the region appears as fearful of China as losing its energy supplies.Last month, Japan and India announced they would hold regular naval maneuvers together in the Indian Ocean – augmenting the annual US-led naval maneuvers that have been held – without China – since 2007.Naval spending is also rising in Australia, Vietnam, the Philippines and South Korea, too. While few in official circles will say so publicly, as much of this spending is directed at the threat of Chinese domination of these vital sea routes and in the mutual interest all these nations have in securing them against interruption. The plans across the region include six carriers, dozens of powerful surface warships and over 100 submarines at a cost of some $220 billion by 2030.That’s a regional armada that should keep Somali or Indonesian pirates at bay, to be sure. But it could also turn a reason for cooperation into a casus belli.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 30 Jul 2013 10:11

By 2030-35, Hindu Mahasagar will be brimming with all sorts of big Naval Sharks, Whales, Magarmachs and other predators. IF current GOI policy make us loose one decade of economic progress, we will end up paying serious price for undermining our Internal external threats developing now.