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2005-02-24 Syria-Lebanon-Iran

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Posted by PlanetDan 2005-02-24 9:42:49 AM|| || Front Page|| [7 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 AlG is nothing more than a Kool Aid stand.

Posted by .com 2005-02-24 10:08:10 AM|| 2005-02-24 10:08:10 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Daniel Pipes reviews this column's author Patrick Seale's book Assad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East. http://www.danielpipes.org/article/31
Seale is a talented political writer whose first book, The Struggle for Syria (1965) remains a minor classic of Middle East studies. All the more pity, then, that he sold out to become the Syrian regime's leading apologist in the West. Passages in Asad of Syria recall the old talent, for Seale can write deftly about the subject of his biography, Hafiz al-Asad, as well as the whole course of Syrian history. Also, Seale turns up much new information about Asad's life before he became president of Syria in 1970.

But two-thirds of the book deals with events since 1970, and here Seale provides not much new information and few insights. He paints a picture of Asad so hagiographic, the reader can only hope it was as painful for Seale to write as it is to read. Seale obsequiously swallows every lie put out by the hacks in Damascus, accepting even the claim that Nizar al-Hindawi, the man who tried to blow up an El Al plane in 1986, was a double agent controlled by Israel. With cruel audacity, he deems Asad-who in 1982 called out the air force to bomb the Syrian city of Hama, killing tens of thousands-a man who seems to "abhor violent confrontations." Similarly, he presents Asad, the Arab ruler with the greatest number of Arab enemies, as a "statesman" who best "represents the Arabs' aspirations to be masters of their own destiny."

Why does a university press consent to publish so obvious a whitewash? Was it naive or complicit? California is hardly the first university press to endorse Middle East thugs (Columbia University Press in recent years has made a sub-specialty of lauding the PLO), but Asad of Syria is perhaps the most disgraceful book yet to appear under the imprimatur of a major scholarly house.

Posted by ed 2005-02-24 10:14:48 AM|| 2005-02-24 10:14:48 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 To kill Hariri at this critical moment would be to destroy Syriaâs reputation once and for all and hand its enemies a weapon with which to deliver the blow that could finally destabilise the Damascus regime, and even possibly bring it down.

Unless they were able to frame someone else for Hariri's death, something al-G is trying to help with.

Posted by Steve from Relto 2005-02-24 11:46:09 AM|| 2005-02-24 11:46:09 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 What a crock. I've been looking for a deeper meaning since Chirac seems to creepily be assisting us and I actually think there must be more to this story.

But even though I am hungry for scraps, the only thing Al Guardain left me with was a feeling that someone is desperately trying to get the nut-bag crowd to point away from Syria, Hezbollah, Al Q, by carelessly blaming their usual suspects, "far right Christians" and of course, Joos. But apparently even Al Guardian realized saying there were plenty of suspects to go around, but then just blaming the Christians and Joos was just a bit too obvious, even for their faithful, so to come up with a third to round out their "plenty of other suspects" they create another suspect almost cute in it's "complexity" - Islamists. But not Islamists because they are, you know, Islamists .... but because Syria was so mean to them, repressing the Muslim Brotherhood.

Poor Syria. Working so hard to put down the Islamist threat and doing so well until the Joos and Americans messed things up for them by killing Harari. If it hadn't happened they could all still be flying kites in their beautiful suburbs.

What I like about this is that if the Al Guardian puppets are being forced to grovel with such drivel as this, then it's clear that whoever killed Harari understands they are up the creek without a paddle.

Posted by 2b 2005-02-24 5:40:16 PM|| 2005-02-24 5:40:16 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 I like the way that Dr Charles Krauthammer responded when asked about Hariri and Syria as suspect:

"If they didn't do it I'll stand on my head."

Chuck knows.

Posted by .com 2005-02-24 6:13:51 PM|| 2005-02-24 6:13:51 PM|| Front Page Top

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