The Illegitimate Will Fall

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by Ghassan Karamassad dictatorship road gaddafi mubarak cartoon

Once upon a time there used to be a pleasant village whose people led a simple but yet productive lifestyles. One day a high ranking member of the army decided that this laid back life style was not good for the villagers and so he coordinated a takeover of the government of the village.

That was over forty years ago. About twelve years ago the officer who consolidated power in his own hands , surrounded himself with co religionists and ruled as a dictator who can never be crossed died. He was very clever though, and so he made sure that a son of his, an eye doctor, would take over from him when he dies.

The dictator who would not allow any opposition or dissenters died but made sure that his successor will be his totally inexperienced eye doctor son. The Ophthalmologist continued the rule of fear started by his father but yet made many promises along the way that he would encourage social equality. Unfortunately he did not put into practice any of the informed reforms that he had promised. Actually, as opportunities presented themselves the son God became ever more convinced that his subjects are not smart enough to rule themselves. He even preached that his one party rule is efficient and that his entourage is not capable of making any wrong calls. The party was infallible and all who would oppose it are traitors and imperialist pigs.

Life under the son-God became more difficult than what it was under his father and he thought that the people in his state are enamoured of him. One day though, a number of kids were playing an innocent ball game when they decided that it was about time that they show the authoritarian authorities that they have had enough and that they will not take it any longer.

Such acts of defiance were deemed to be extremely dangerous by the absolute son God king. He ordered his subordinates to make a lesson of everyone who dared question his authority. All the kids were to be arrested, beaten and then set free.

But the unforeseen took place. Thousands upon thousands from across the country joined the young and decided that the popular saying “Live free or die” was an idea whose time has come. They organized demonstrations and adopted acts of civil defiance in the hope that such peaceful moves will demonstrate that illegitimacy must go.

But as bad luck would have it, the son God decided that he will teach all those that dared demand what was theirs in the first place,a lesson. He ordered his henchman to go out and spread fear among these youthful souls through beatings, arrests, mistreatments and the random acts of violence. When these tactics did not prove to be sufficient to dampen the spirits of the freedom fighters the son-God ordered his tanks, fighter jets, attack helicopters and cluster bombs to be used indiscriminately. They were. The result has been close to 100,000 deaths, a million wounded and the leveling of one city quarter after another over its civilian inhabitants. None of this would frighten the courageous youth anymore. They had vowed that they will not stop short of victory.

The son-God did not like any of this. Minions had dared question his authority. He ordered his personal guard to go out in the village and to wire all the building in the village with explosives. When, after almost 4 years of this mayhem, it became clear that he could no longer deny the inevitability of his demise he ordered that every single building in the village is to be blown up over all its inhabitants. He had to go out in a blaze of glory. What a meaningless loss and what a fool he was.

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168 responses to “The Illegitimate Will Fall”

  1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
    hariri assaoudi

    where wannabe political analysers fail, actually more than fail, they betray their non independent biased dependence on dollar masters by siding with parties. Painting an international war obviously extending from the gulf war the war on saddam afghanistan hizbollah and iran as a war between a democratic salafi movement and a dictator murdering his people is beyond stupidity and naivety; it is an ominous pathognomonic sign of moral bankruptcy. This oversimplification is meant to reach a certain lower street strata just to satisfy the wishes and desideratas of the boss and financial supporter. It is true a war is between two antagonising parties but unless a reporter is subjectively involved which makes him lose any credibility, he should be objective neutral non biased and reporting the news as accurately as possible. No doubt this is utopia in the middle east but coming from people who criticise Lebanon for being a land of bandits crooks and drug dealers while these people are themselves being nurtured by these crooks and drug dealers should at least be pointed at by the neutral observer just for the sake of avoiding intellectual promiscuity to rot whatever remnants are left of this great nation called Lebanon

    1. ghassan Karam Avatar
      ghassan Karam

      Hariri assaoudi,
      I am not sure that there is much left in the Lebanese political class to be saved., if there ever was much to start with. Yet the fact that part of the Lebanese political class favours the opposition while the other does not is not important to this parable. It is a story about each and all dictator. They will eventually fall. When the time comes for them to end their tyranny then they could do it in one of two ways, they could just pack up and leave , (Egypt, Tunis) or they could have a wish to go out in a blaze of glory by bringing down the temple on all its occupants. That is the tragedy.

      1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
        hariri assaoudi

        are you saying you prefer mersi to moubarak, democracy wise!!! and salafi to assad!….and assir to suleiman!

        1. ghassan Karam Avatar
          ghassan Karam

          hariri assaoudi
          Any journey needs to start somewhere. Yes it is a good thing that Mubarak, Ben Ali and Qaddafi are no longer in power. Maybe the people in each respective country would get the chance to find their voice and express themselves without fear. If the group that takes power is also disagreeable then it would also need to be opposed but the main issue is that nothing, absolutely nothing can rationalize illegitimacy, tyranny, abuse, cult of personality… Yes the fall of the Syrian regime is inevitable and no where does it say that the salafis will replace it except in the minds of those that want to protect and favour the failed dictatorship.

          1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            well, i do not think myself i want to protect the syrian regime and i myself was against syria and paid very dearly my opposition to it when others who where eating at syrian tables used to be their khizmatshis; presidents, prime ministers, ministers, MP’s and others, many of whom are now opposing assad just because their saoudi sponsors are against assad, used to shine syrian boots; lahoud, hariri, moawwad, hrawi, amine gemayyel, berri…… so please enough pepper to blur our vision; are you considering the lebanese citizen blind and idiot? do you think the lebanese citizen does not remember the days you (not you in person but the group you represent) used to shine syrian boots? your story reminds me of a herder in my village: his goat was limping because of a broken leg; he broke the other leg to stop her limping. Just a question: why were your group defending syria and eating at their table when syria was bombing us? dont tell me wrong cause your leader at that time was their khizmatshi. Why were you silent when assad was doing same massacres in Lebanon? why the sudden outburst of anti assadism while for years you agreed and supported their massacre of lebanese citizens? is it that the syrian salafi’s life is more important to your eyes than the lebanese non salafi? you can say aoun is an idiot or whatever, why did you oppose him when he started the liberation war against syria? I want to tell you a secret: assad is going nowhere, don’t tell anybody; keep it for you please. Assad the president of syria is over; assad the president of the alawi state is born; the king is dead, long live the king

          2. ghassan Karam Avatar
            ghassan Karam

            hariri assaoudi
            My opposition to dictators is not recent and if you desire to be taken seriously then stop making totally unfounded personal allegations in order to make a useless point.How do you know who I represent? Why should I represent anyone? Maybe in your world people do not say anything unless they are paid for it but this does not entitle you to make spurious allegations. You are free to accept or not accept any point of view, including mine, but what you are not free to do is make all kinds of tautological statements.

          3. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            sir; with all deepest respect to the person, the last thing i would care of is to be taken seriously on a blog where……(censured for antidictatorship reasons). Second even though you think i am attacking you personally, lot of paranoia going on here, i do not know you to do this; i am certainly attacking the group behind you, and i know for a fact this group used to be generous in distributions. Last but not least, i am not siding with any party unlike you, i hate assad family more than anybody else on earth for personal reasons, yet i find it totally absurd that people deny supporting salafism in syria when the genuine syrian rebels themselves are complaining from that; to tell us you do not feel threatened by salafism, you should either be using denial as defense mechanism, or you should be living outside Lebanon or having like geagea a private jet put at his disposition by his common master to flee away at any moment, or like 5th using scotch; yet i have to admit i am noticing with time a lot of improvement in 5th stance and 5th is starting to criticise the salafis. One remark en passant, when i say salafi it is a group that includes al quaeda, the salafis the saoudis, jbahat alnosra, liwa’ al……….. no doubt any “non salafi” salafi supporter would feel hurt by my words and my deepest apologies if my words hurt you: maybe i should put a disclaimer at the end of my texts, “any resemblance with living persons is purely hazardous and fortuitious…. The other possibility is to put at the end of certain texts, you either agree with the author or you are banned.

            Just as a post scriptum marginal note: many people do not consider certain religions like…….censured for anti dictatorship purposes, do not consider that these religions could be moderate or democratic, when the only right thing is what is transmitted from the holy and each individual or group has the right to behead you if you do not abide; non believers also called kouffars or dhimmis…..i willl let you dwell on this on your own, i feel like prophettttttt i am going to add more t’sssssss to my nick so i will censure the rest for antidictatorship purposes

          4. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            corollary: i genuinely believe assad son is the most stupid person on earth since he reached this miserable position solely by believing he can install democracy in syria; this would have never happened with his father, the real criminal but most foxy player on the middle chess game of his time. I also sincerely believe that, if the opposition did not start, pushed by the west and sunna crescent regional forces, this military rebellion, the opposition would have been in power by now for assad at that time was willing to quit, naive as he is. The west noticing power will move to the hands of the opposition, blocked the transition to democracy initiated by assad son; for the west never wanted syria to fall in the hands of the opposition-in that case assad wouldnt have resisted two years- the west wants syria divided, and this is what will happen. When i say the west, of course, i mean USA, the others are trailed behind. Mind you i sincerely believe that russia is part of the game, and that russia is the USA unofficial spokesman; hence if you want to know what america wants, listen to russia; if you want to know what america does not want, listen to israel…..The sunna syrian opposition was in power before assad father took power: democracy was at its summum; lol; a military putsh almost every week; those old enough among us remember al kouwwatly and other hanged syrian presidents; maybe kouwwatly ….kouwwat… maybe that is why geagea supports the salafis; lol

          5. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            another corollary: why the west wants salafis and not moderate syrian opposition? i wont bore you by details, but, if tunis, egypt and lybia ecclipsed the non religious opposition to dictators and, with support of the west salafism was brought to power, why syria would be different? the long term purpose is to build a fanatical sunna crescent to counteract the shia crescent, which ultimately will sparkle the war of wars, the mother of all wars, sunna (lead by turkey)-shia (lead by iran) war. Another major hint that non objective salafi supporter political analyser could miss, is the fact that turkey, for years considered areligious dominated by the army, fell in the hands of salafism by neutralising the role of the army; few hundred highly ranked officers jailed, in democratic jails of course, and top army officers dismissed or forced to resign

          6. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            i am replying to myself so my replies do not appear pointed to any person; i get sometimes sour when people, who claim to be lebanese, call Lebanon a shit land or a narcostate; its true all our politicians are rotten, but for gods sake dont insult our country; further, why do we put blinkers on our eyes? is it only the politicians on the opposite side that are rotten? is it true that the politicians each one of us supports are angels and saints? nope, all are rotten; we better start by sweeping in front of our door and not fall in the game of division and subdivision. What we need is a general popular awakening and not partisan splitting allowing foreign forces to infiltrate us. Why gods heavens do we need to fight in syria or send weapons to syria? Why do we need to fight for syrian politics? did we solve all our internal problems?

          7. Hannibal Avatar
            Hannibal

            THANK GOD someone put this dude where he belongs.

          8. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            good you are admitting defeat and bankrupty; you think it is God who saved you from the hole you put yourself in or someone else

          9. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            As we see below, the gums never stop flapping. Impossible for him to say ‘Kill Assad’ and let it go at that. I think we need a tape-recorder for him … with an endless-loop tape.
            It’s not that he has everything wrong, but it’s tiring to need to scroll past it all the time.

          10. Hannibal Avatar
            Hannibal

            I used to play the lottery every now and then when the jackpot to be had is at 100s of millions. I thought I may get lucky one day. But since I got this dude at my tail like the Lebanese say “chou taale3le bell sa7be enta?” I stopped playing the lottery even at mega bucks because I know I am not lucky picking that “shoe-stuck gum” from a random street.

          11. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Hehehe … He’d do well at Hyde Park, but you would be the one walking onto the sticky spot.

          12. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            i wanted to call both of you heckle and jeckle then i advised; you will be dupont and dupont; lol (read tintin by herge)

          13. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            who said this, who said that….. like the ghazal poet said: “wa hal yakhfa al kamar!” lol people can pass things on part of the people sometimes but not on all people all the time

    2. Hannibal Avatar
      Hannibal

      desideratas is wrong as desiderata is already a plural of desideratum.

      1. ghassan Karam Avatar
        ghassan Karam

        Hannibal,

        Your comment reminded me of the very popular Desiderata poem and in particular this line:

        Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

        In the late 60’s I used to carry Desiderata in my wallet:-)

      2. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        The beauty of the simplicity is in avoiding the desiderata altogether … unfortunate that ‘some’ wish to pad ‘the simple’ out to such conjectural lengths that no-one could understand anything about the basic facts. Politics at it’s worst uses that desiderata all the time.

        1. daibers Avatar

          I eated desiderata one time mr tast goood mr yu no lik desiderata mr

          1. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            hohohohohohoho … interesting thought Dab … interesting thought. 😉
            But no … I prefer the simple and direct. No sauces. 🙂

        2. hariri assaoudi Avatar
          hariri assaoudi

          dear 5th; when people cannot it is bad but when people dont want that is even worse

        3. hariri assaoudi Avatar
          hariri assaoudi

          Herding is a reminescent feature of arabic cultures which unfortunately we continue to witness in Lebanon and on this blog; it is just an extinct trait of extinct tribal societies; i would rather qualify it as vestigial since it is ineffective.Indeed as you noticed, a big herd on this blog tried to defeat one they called ignorant and dull yet they failed; the reason: read sun tzu, the art of war. Once you consider you enemy dull and ignorant, then you will lose; there is nothing more dull and ignorant than that. Morality: never underestimate your enemy not even in poetry

      3. hariri assaoudi Avatar
        hariri assaoudi

        if i said desideratas then i am wrong; just a slip of the tongue; ty for the correction

    3. AntiFSA01 Avatar
      AntiFSA01

      I have read through all you blogs and pretty much agree with most of what you say. However what amazes me is that how can people really be this ignorant and not see how non objective Ghassan is being?

  2. hariri assaoudi Avatar
    hariri assaoudi

    were wannabe political analysers fail, actually more than fail, they betray their non independent biased dependence on dollar masters by siding with parties. Painting an international war obviously extending from the gulf war the war on saddam afghanistan hizbollah and iran as a war between a democratic salafi movement and a dictator murdering his people is beyond stupidity and naivety; it is an ominous pathognomonic sign of moral bankruptcy. It is true a war is between two antagonising parties but unless a reporter is subjectively involved which makes him lose any credibility, he should be objective neutral non biased and reporting the news as accurately as possible

    1. Hariri assaoudi,
      I am not sure that there is much left in the Lebanese political class to be saved., if there ever was much to start with. Yet the fact that part of the Lebanese political class favours the opposition while the other does not is not important to this parable. It is a story about each and all dictator. They will eventually fall. When the time comes for them to end their tyranny then they could do it in one of two ways, they could just pack up and leave , (Egypt, Tunis) or they could have a wish to go out in a blaze of glory by bringing down the temple on all its occupants. That is the tragedy.

      1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
        hariri assaoudi

        are you saying you prefer mersi to moubarak, democracy wise!!! and salafi to assad!….and assir to suleiman!

        1. hariri assaoudi
          Any journey needs to start somewhere. Yes it is a good thing that Mubarak, Ben Ali and Qaddafi are no longer in power. Maybe the people in each respective country would get the chance to find their voice and express themselves without fear. If the group that takes power is also disagreeable then it would also need to be opposed but the main issue is that nothing, absolutely nothing can rationalize illegitimacy, tyranny, abuse, cult of personality… Yes the fall of the Syrian regime is inevitable and no where does it say that the salafis will replace it except in the minds of those that want to protect and favour the failed dictatorship.

          1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            well, i do not think myself i want to protect the syrian regime and i myself was against syria and paid very dearly my opposition to it when others who where eating at syrian tables used to be their khizmatshis; presidents, prime ministers, ministers, MP’s and others, many of whom are now opposing assad just because their saoudi sponsors are against assad, used to shine syrian boots; lahoud, hariri, moawwad, hrawi, amine gemayyel, berri…… so please enough pepper to blur our vision; are you considering the lebanese citizen blind and idiot? do you think the lebanese citizen does not remember the days you (not you in person but the group you represent) used to shine syrian boots? your story reminds me of a herder in my village: his goat was limping because of a broken leg; he broke the other leg to stop her limping. Just a question: why were your group defending syria and eating at their table when syria was bombing us? dont tell me wrong cause your leader at that time was their khizmatshi. Why were you silent when assad was doing same massacres in Lebanon? why the sudden outburst of anti assadism while for years you agreed and supported their massacre of lebanese citizens? is it that the syrian salafi’s life is more important to your eyes than the lebanese non salafi? you can say aoun is an idiot or whatever, why did you oppose him when he started the liberation war against syria? I want to tell you a secret: assad is going nowhere, don’t tell anybody; keep it for you please. Assad the president of syria is over; assad the president of the alawi state is born; the king is dead, long live the king

          2. hariri assaoudi
            My opposition to dictators is not recent and if you desire to be taken seriously then stop making totally unfounded personal allegations in order to make a useless point.How do you know who I represent? Why should I represent anyone? Maybe in your world people do not say anything unless they are paid for it but this does not entitle you to make spurious allegations. You are free to accept or not accept any point of view, including mine, but what you are not free to do is make all kinds of tautological statements.

          3. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            sir; with all deepest respect to the person, the last thing i would care of is to be taken seriously on a blog where……(censured for antidictatorship reasons). Second even though you think i am attacking you personally, lot of paranoia going on here, i do not know you to do this; i am certainly attacking the group behind you, and i know for a fact this group used to be generous in distributions. Last but not least, i am not siding with any party unlike you, i hate assad family more than anybody else on earth for personal reasons, yet i find it totally absurd that people deny supporting salafism in syria when the genuine syrian rebels themselves are complaining from that; to tell us you do not feel threatened by salafism, you should either be using denial as defense mechanism, or you should be living outside Lebanon or having like geagea a private jet put at his disposition by his common master to flee away at any moment, or like 5th using scotch; yet i have to admit i am noticing with time a lot of improvement in 5th stance and 5th is starting to criticise the salafis. One remark en passant, when i say salafi it is a group that includes al quaeda, the salafis the saoudis, jbahat alnosra, liwa’ al……….. no doubt any “non salafi” salafi supporter would feel hurt by my words and my deepest apologies if my words hurt you: maybe i should put a disclaimer at the end of my texts, “any resemblance with living persons is purely hazardous and fortuitious…. The other possibility is to put at the end of certain texts, you either agree with the author or you are banned.

            Just as a post scriptum marginal note: many people do not consider certain religions like…….censured for anti dictatorship purposes, do not consider that these religions could be moderate or democratic, when the only right thing is what is transmitted from the holy and each individual or group has the right to behead you if you do not abide; non believers also called kouffars or dhimmis…..i willl let you dwell on this on your own, i feel like prophettttttt i am going to add more t’sssssss to my nick so i will censure the rest for antidictatorship purposes

          4. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            corollary: i genuinely believe assad son is the most stupid person on earth since he reached this miserable position solely by believing he can install democracy in syria; this would have never happened with his father, the real criminal but most foxy player on the middle chess game of his time. I also sincerely believe that, if the opposition did not start, pushed by the west and sunna crescent regional forces, military rebellion, the opposition would have been in power by now for assad at that time was willing to quit, naive as he is. The west noticing power will move to the hands of the opposition, blocked the transition to democracy initiated by assad son; for the west never wanted syria to fall in the hands of the opposition-in that case assad wouldnt have resisted two years- the west wants syria divided, and this is what will happen. When i say the west, of course, i mean USA, the others are trailed behind. Mind you i sincerely belive that russia is part of the game, and that russia is the USA unofficial spokesman; hence if you want to know what america wants, listen to russia; if you want to know what america does not want, listen to israel…..The sunna syrian opposition was in powerbefore assad father took power: democracy was at its summum; lol; a military putsh almost every week; those old enough among us remember al kouwwatly and other hanged syrian presidents; maybe kouwwatly ….kouwwat… maybe that is why geagea supports the salafis; lol

          5. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            another corollary: why the west wants salafis and not moderate syrian opposition? i wont bore you by details, but, if tunis, egypt and lybia ecclipsed the non religious opposition to dictators and, with support of the west salafism was brought to power, why syria would be different? the long term purpose is to build a fanatical sunna crescent to counteract the shia crescent, which ultimately will sparkle the war of wars, the mother of all wars, sunna (lead by turkey)-shia (lead by iran) war. Another major hint that not objective non salafi supporter political analyser could miss, is the fact the turkey, for yeras considered areligious dominated by the army, fell in the hands of salafism by neutralising the role of the army; few hundred highly ranked officers jailed, in democratic jails of course, and top army officers dismissed or forced to resign

          6. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            i am replying to myself so my replies do not appear pointed to any person; i get sometimes sour when people, who claim to be lebanese, call Lebanon a shit land or a narcostate; its true all our politicians are rotten, but for gods sake dont insult our country; further, why do we put blinkers on our eyes? is it only the politicians on the opposite side that are rotten? is it true that the politicians each one of us supports are angels and saints? nope, all are rotten; we better start by sweeping in front of our door and not fall in the game of division and subdivision. What we need is a general popular awakening and not partisan splitting allowing foreign forces to infiltrate us. Why gods heavens do we need to fight in syria or send weapons to syria? Why do we need to fight for syrian politics? did we solve all our internal problems?

          7. José Jalapeño Avatar
            José Jalapeño

            THANK GOD someone put this dude where he belongs.

          8. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            good you are admitting defeat and bankrupty; you think it is God who saved you from the hole you put yourself in or soeone else

          9. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            As we see below, the gums never stop flapping. Impossible for him to say ‘Kill Assad’ and let it go at that. I think we need a tape-recorder for him … with an endless-loop tape.

          10. José Jalapeño Avatar
            José Jalapeño

            I used to play the lottery every now and then when the jackpot to be had is at 100s of millions. I thought I may get lucky one day. But since I got this dude at my tail like the Lebanese say “chou taale3le bell sa7be enta?” I stopped playing the lottery even at mega bucks because I know I am not lucky picking that “shoe-stuck gum” from a random street.

          11. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Hehehe … He’d do well at Hyde Park, but you would be the one walking onto the sticky spot.

          12. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            i wanted to call both of you heckle and jeckle then i advised; you will be dupont and dupont; lol (read tintin by herge)

          13. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            who said this, who said that….. like the ghazal poet said: “wa hal yakhfa al kamar!” lol people can pass things on part of the people sometimes but not on all people all the time

    2. Hannibal Avatar
      Hannibal

      desideratas is wrong as desiderata is already a plural of desideratum.

      1. Hannibal,

        Your comment reminded me of the very popular Desiderata poem and in particular this line:

        Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

        In the late 60’s I used to carry Desiderata in my wallet:-)

      2. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        The beauty of the simplicity is in avoiding the desiderata altogether … unfortunate that ‘some’ wish to pad ‘the simple’ out to such conjectural lengths that no-one could understand anything about the basic facts. Politics at it’s worst uses that desiderata all the time.

        1. daibers Avatar

          I eated desiderata one time mr tast goood mr yu no lik desiderata mr

          1. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            hohohohohohoho … interesting thought Dab … interesting thought. 😉
            But no … I prefer the simple and direct. No sauces. 🙂

        2. hariri assaoudi Avatar
          hariri assaoudi

          dear 5th; when people cannot it is bad but when people dont want that is even worse

        3. hariri assaoudi Avatar
          hariri assaoudi

          Herding is a reminescent feature of arabic cultures which unfortunately we continue to witness in Lebanon and on this blog; it is just an extinct trait of extinct tribal societies; i would rather qualify it as vestigial since it is ineffective.Indeed as you noticed, a big herd on this blog tried to defeat one they called ignorant and dull yet they failed; the reason: read sun tzu, the art of war. Once you consider you enemy dull and ignorant, then you will lose; there is nothing more dull and ignorant than that. Morality: never underestimate your enemy not even in poetry

      3. hariri assaoudi Avatar
        hariri assaoudi

        if i said desideratas then i am wrong; just a slip of the tongue; ty for the correction

    3. AntiFSA01 Avatar
      AntiFSA01

      I have read through all you blogs and pretty much agree with most of what you say. However what amazes me is that how can people really be this ignorant and not see how non objective Ghassan is being?

  3. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Great, Ghassan. The best stories of history are the ones kept simple and straightforward, and in the later Fairy Tales, the children learn the lessons of life sooner in that simplicity. Some writers, such as the Brothers Grimm, had a knack for it … but your first chapters here are going well … 🙂

    1. ghassan Karam Avatar
      ghassan Karam

      I have a two year old granddaughter for whom I am constantly reading the popular tales and books. Obviously the Brothers Grimm are there but I have learned to appreciate Dr. Seuss especially some of his classics: Horton Hears a Who and the Lorax…

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        Yes … been there too Ghassan … seems to be me who prefers the Grimms 😉 And the grandsons are not up to an age for ‘1000 and 1 Tales’ yet … I’m not sure my daughter will allow that 4-volume Complete Unabridged set for them either. Hehehehe.
        What I fear most is that they will end up on computer-screens and not buried in books as I was … flashlight under blanket trying to finish great tales in one night. Immagination flies better from a page.

        1. Patience2 Avatar
          Patience2

          I’ve never missed an episode of ‘Grimm’ on TV, …but… I think it’s not for the faint of heart(or small children)…….

    2. hariri assaoudi Avatar
      hariri assaoudi

      is this what you call democracy: the ape in the middle and all around applauding regardless of what he says and regardless of whether they understand or not; lol

  4. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Great, Ghassan. The best stories of history are the ones kept simple and straightforward, and in the later Fairy Tales, the children learn the lessons of life sooner in that simplicity. Some writers, such as the Brothers Grimm, had a knack for it … but your first chapters here are going well … 🙂

    1. I have a two year old granddaughter for whom I am constantly reading the popular tales and books. Obviously the Brothers Grimm are there but I have learned to appreciate Dr. Seuss especially some of his classics: Horton Hears a Who and the Lorax…

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        Yes … been there too Ghassan … seems to be me who prefers the Grimms 😉 And the grandsons are not up to an age for ‘1000 and 1 Tales’ yet … I’m not sure my daughter will allow that 4-volume Complete Unabridged set for them either. Hehehehe.
        What I fear most is that they will end up on computer-screens and not buried in books as I was … flashlight under blanket trying to finish great tales in one night. Immagination flies better from a page.

        1. Patience2 Avatar
          Patience2

          I’ve never missed an episode of ‘Grimm’ on TV, …but… I think it’s not for the faint of heart(or small children)…….

    2. hariri assaoudi Avatar
      hariri assaoudi

      is this what you call democracy: the ape in the middle and all around applauding regardless of what he says and regardless of whether they understand or not; lol

  5. Fauzia45 Avatar
    Fauzia45

    Simple and clear!Great!Yes ,Ghassan,Some dictators choose ,¨jets,tanks,bombs,etc. ¨,for they lose track and sight and that is the only road they can see!!!!

    1. ghassan Karam Avatar
      ghassan Karam

      And that is a double jeopardy. (A blind dictator).

  6. Fauzia45 Avatar
    Fauzia45

    Simple and clear!Great!Yes ,Ghassan,Some dictators choose ,¨jets,tanks,bombs,etc. ¨,for they lose track and sight and that is the only road they can see!!!!

    1. And that is a double jeopardy. (A blind dictator).

  7. MeYosemite Avatar
    MeYosemite

    I like the graphics who did that?

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Copy to desktop … spread around the net. 🙂

  8. MeYosemite Avatar
    MeYosemite

    I like the graphics who did that?

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Copy to desktop … spread around the net. 🙂

  9. Sebouh80 Avatar
    Sebouh80

    Concerning the Syrian Crisis of the past two years, I think what is needed at the moment more then ever is a genuine scientific analysis not a diatribe. The analysis should indicate the causes of the two year long Syrian upheaval, and the future prospects for Syria and the region. More importantly especially taken into light the emboldened emerging Sunni militant groups like Al Nusra Front and Ahrar al Sham brigades and many other radical factions that have become deeply embroiled in the Syrian internal conflict. Therefore, we can conclude that based on the evidence provided on the ground if these Western and Arab Gulf backed militant groups capture Damascus and the entire Syria they will thus no doubt lay the foundation for a new dictatorship in place of the old Baathist dictatorship. This is a very important observation. In the past, whenever I attempted or raised these kind of questions the author either declined to answer back or provided strawman responses. Bottom line, we need to look beyond the narrow confines of “The Illegitimate Will Fail”.

    1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
      hariri assaoudi

      hello sir; allow me, for the sake of the discussion, to answer you even though i agree with most of what you said; let me start by telling you i understand your grievance and assure you that myself, i am barely tolerated in here since as you know, most brag what they lack most, in this particular case i am referring to democracy. Allow me first to be the advocate of the devil and to defend the author: if i give you food to work for me, and you criticise me because you do not agree with my opinions, i will stop providing you with nurture and you become hungry; so please try to be understanding and indulgent with the author, who seems to be honest at the base however, as most of us, have to satisfy his employer and his hunger.
      Now going to the core of the topic, as i repeated many times here, i hate assad, however as a lebanese, i do not care if it is assad dictatorship or rifaat or hafez of bashar or shahabi or anyone else so long as this involves syria. Salafism, is far beyond a dictatorship; it is a universal movement that encompasses every inch of this universe which they believe belongs to their salafi deity. The syrian non salafi opposition never dared for the past 40 years to even try to say aye, i have pain; only suicidal warriors, can achieve the destruction of syria as it is now; so all the bla bla bla of democracy is rubbish and salafism is taking over parts of syria as planned by usa; the proof is that many rebels are stopping ther rebellions; they realised how stupid their action was and that their action is profiting to salafis. The danger of salafism is first of all in syria since any non salafi will have to pay the jizya. Salafism, with the help of some illuminatis who did not learn from the experience of 35 years of lebanese war, as well as with the help of some traitors and sold agents, will invade part of Lebanon again exactly like american computers drew it; the purpose is to polarise the area between shia and salafi radicalism; this salafi movement will expand to jordan, morocco algeria, north africa and the gulf area; sawfa yankalib al si7r 3ala al sa7er; saoudi arabia, kuwait, emirats, dubai bahrayn, qatar….all will be involved; revival of the ottoman empire, ashmel for non salafis and war against iran; all involved countries will be shuttered into pieces including iran turkey and the gulf; the new middle east will be born, greater middle east till pakistan and afghanistan, america will have the petroleum, europe will get rid of turkey applying to enter the european union thus demographically destabilising it, europe will also be relieved of the belt of terrorism and radicalism surrounding it from africa passing by the gulf thru the middle east till the balkan; russia will get the gas and petroleum of the previous ex USSR like khazistan and others and geagea will have a sit rida canton in gidress; lol

      1. ghassan Karam Avatar
        ghassan Karam

        hariri assoudi,
        Maybe you know something that I do not? Who is my employer? Please contact them on my behalf and have them send the funds that they owe me 🙂

        1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
          hariri assaoudi

          i am glad you are starting to take it with a smile; i am not here to attack you personally; i am just totally opposed to your policy, which unfortunately, knowingly or unknowingly, at least to my opinion, is serving the salafis and their wahhabi representatives in Lebanon, which are notorious to have distributed lumps bumps and humps of money; anyhow i am not here to judge you; i am again glad you are taking it bi rooh ryadyyeh (see ryad comes again and again); my father was a great notorious surgeon in Lebanon: he used to say: “anyone can operate but you become a surgeon only when you can take the heat of it”. I willl say as a corollary: anyone can write, including this child hannybully, but you become a writer when you can take the heat of it (criticism).

          1. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            You sure you wanted to use the word ‘notorious’ ?? 😉 Poor Dad. 🙂

          2. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            you are absolutely right; more than notorious: it was their pathognomonic feature; their landmark; their cornerstone; their feature par excellence; their registered trademark…..

          3. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            when i say salafis i frequently include or even sometimes exclusively refer to their brothers and allies in 14th of march

          4. Hannibal Avatar
            Hannibal

            The problem is that you have no clue what is the difference between criticizing someone’s ideas and personally attacking them. That shows immaturity.
            The fact that you mention me in every post of yours is enough proof that you have a fatal attraction to me but I told you many time I am straight and do not swing that way.
            Gay bars are plenty in Lebanon go get someone there and enjoy your life rather than aimlessly pursuing an unavailable person. 😛

    2. ghassan Karam Avatar
      ghassan Karam

      Sebouh,
      Your “observation” is fear mongering par excellence.

      1. Sebouh80 Avatar

        On the contrary Professor Karam, this is not like the CIA in the 40s and 50s when they used Propaganda as a fear tactic to disseminate that pretty soon the Bolsheviks will be coming to the US and destroy our so called moral values. Seriously though, your friends in the opposition like Mr.Michel Kilo and Mr. Manaf Tlass have absolutely no weight inside Syria. The power struggle today in Syria is between the foreign sponsored Militant reactionary groups and the Syrian regime under President Bashar Assad. Finally, on number of occasions in the past you have said that the Baathist regime has failed in every respect. Fair enough, also we have to remember in this respect that the factions representing the Syrian opposition did not offer anything new that might somehow convince the majority of Syrian people. This reminds me of a son that rebelled against an abusive father, but in the end turns out as bad as the father due to the same discipline that he received from him.

        1. ghassan Karam Avatar
          ghassan Karam

          But that is where you go wrong Sebouh. No matter what kind of a person the son turns out to be, nothing can excuse the father for being abusive. History tells us that dictators will fall especially when the oppressed rise. Its strange when a self described Marxist can find a way to justify a dictatorship just because the dictator is opposed by the West.:-)

          1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            sorry mr Karam but you got two opposite approaches thus one of you is inevitably wrong and i believe it is you on at least two issues: one minor and one major. The minor one is that you claim history tells you dictators will fall; wrong; castro-ism is still there at the door of usa and usa does not move; china, turkey, saoudi arabia, bahrayn, quatar, dubai, emirate, jordan, north africa….. oops i forgot there is no petroleum in cuba, thus so bad for the cuban they will have to endure che guevara for ever. Oops mr Karam, those dictators in egypt tunis and lybia who left were the friends and allies of the BIG DEMOCRACIES; you seem to have forgotten we as free american government we used to support them financially and militarily; omg, we did not pay attention to the fact they were dictators. And now we, democratic west and their arabic suite, replaced them by worse dictators. Mr Karam, did you forget when syria occupied Lebanon and was was bombing it on a daily basis? You seem to have forgotten that USA allowed them to step into Lebanon!!! You seem to have forgotten USA allowed syria to enter the christian enclave!!! Mr Karam it seems your memory is very selective. Anyhow mr Karam that was your minor error. Lets go to the core now; bashar inherited power from hafez by forced elections; oops i forgot bush also inherited power from his father; the queen of england will do same soon, king of jordan, morocco. oops these are our friends thus democratic. You spoke of people upheaval bringing down dictatorships; omg; are you serious? we are not anymore in the era of La Bastille in France!!! People’s life in our democracies is cheaper than cattle. Try to hit a man in new york and compare to the cost you will pay if you kill a cow by your car; you will realise what i am talking about. Let go serious now; bashar reached this advanced phase because he naively believed in democracy and, if the syrians were left alone, syria would have been now a democratic country under a different president. But this does not arrange american interests. All has been planned since years. Hafez, a real fox, wanted to have bassel as president; they said he died in a car accident; joke. CIA killed him. bashar was trained as ophtalmologist in the UK. MI5, and 6 and CIA have worked him very well. Hafez would have eradicated any rebellion from day zero and things would have finished by now. Despite this hafez anticipated this by preparing the alawi state, which is why bashar resisted till now. Who ever killed the big shots around bashar cannot but be a superpower. The purpose is to weaken bashar. This same party, which i suspect is either israel or usa or under their orchestration, should have no problem to do same to assad; but they will never do it because, on one side they do not want assad to leave and on the other side the alawis and the christians will be massacred if he departed; the druze will be defended by israel. The purpose of this is to reshape the shia crescent and to create a salafi crescent and to ignite the mother of all wars between both; allahu wa akbar

        2. Prophettttt Avatar
          Prophettttt

          Greeting Sebouh, I totally agree with your analysis. If I may elaborate on your thought, I’d add the following: A militarized revolution, lead by religious fanatics ,and being supported by dictators who oppress their own people does not promise much for the Syrian people. I believe that the Syrian people understand that well, and may prefer the dictatorship they have over the fanatic dictatorship they would have. They understand that these Arab dictators cannot give what they don’t have. Arab dictators are punishing one of their own for their own reasons,and they are willing to fight to the last syrian.
          People can lecture us about idealism all day long,but the reality on the ground speaks diffrently.We don’t live in ideal world,and we will never do.As sad as it is, this is reality .

  10. Sebouh80 Avatar
    Sebouh80

    Concerning the Syrian Crisis of the past two years, I think what is needed at the moment more then ever is a genuine scientific analysis not a diatribe. The analysis should indicate the causes of the two year long Syrian upheaval, and the future prospects for Syria and the region. More importantly especially taken into light the emboldened emerging Sunni militant groups like Al Nusra Front and Ahrar al Sham brigades and many other radical factions that have become deeply embroiled in the Syrian internal conflict. Therefore, we can conclude that based on the evidence provided on the ground if these Western and Arab Gulf backed militant groups capture Damascus and the entire Syria they will thus no doubt lay the foundation for a new dictatorship in place of the old Baathist dictatorship. This is a very important observation. In the past, whenever I attempted or raised these kind of questions the author either declined to answer back or provided strawman responses. Bottom line, we need to look beyond the narrow confines of “The Illegitimate Will Fail”.

    1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
      hariri assaoudi

      hello sir; allow me, for the sake of the discussion, to answer you even though i agree with most of what you said; let me start by telling you i understand your grievance and assure you that myself, i am barely tolerated in here since as you know, most brag what they lack most, in this particular case i am referring to democracy. Allow me first to be the advocate of the devil and to defend the author: if i give you food to work for me, and you criticise me because you do not agree with my opinions, i will stop providing you with nurture and you become hungry; so please try to be understanding and indulgent with the author, who seems to be honest at the base however, as most of us, have to satisfy his employer.
      Now going to the core of the topic, as i repeated many times here, i hate assad, however as a lebanese, i do not care if it is assad dictatorship or rifaat or hafez of bashar or shahabi or anyone else so long as this involves syria. Salafism, is far beyond a dictatorship; it is a universal movement that encompasses every inch of this universe which they believe belongs to their salafi deity. The syrian non salafi opposition never dared for the past 40 years to even try to say aye, i have pain; only suicidal warriors, can achieve the destruction of syria as it is now; so all the bla bla bla of democracy is rubbish and salafism is taking ovrer parts of syria as planned by usa; the proof is that many rebels are stopping ther rebellions; they realised how stupid their action was and that their action is profiting to salafis. The danger salafism is first of all in syria since any non salafi will have to pay the jizya. Salafism, with the help of some illuminatis who did not learn from the experience of 35 years of lebanese war, as well as with the help of some traiotors and sold agents, will invade part of Lebanon again exactly like american computers drew it; the purpose is to polarise the area between shia and salafi radicalism; this salafi movement will expand to jordan, morocco algeria, north africa and the gulf area; sawfa yankalib al si7r 3ala al sa7er; saoudi arabia, kuwait, emirats, dubai bahrayn, qatar….all will be involved; revival of the ottoman empire, ashmel for non salafis and war against iran; all involved countries will be shuttered into pieces including iran turkey and the gulf; the new middle east will be born, greater middle east till pakistan and afghanistan, america will have the petroleum, europe will get rid of turkey applying to enter the european union thus demographically destabilising it, europe will also be relieved of the belt of terrorism and radicalism surrounding it from africa passing by the gulf thru the middle east till the balkan; russia will get the gas and petroleum of the previous ex USSR like khazistan and others and geagea will have a sit rida canton in gidress; lol

      1. hariri assoudi,
        Maybe you know something that I do not? Who is my employer? Please contact them on my behalf and have them send the funds that they owe me 🙂

        1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
          hariri assaoudi

          i am glad you are starting to take it with a smile; i am not here to attack you personally; i am just totally opposed to your policy, which unfortunately, knowingly or unknowingly, at least to my opinion, is serving the salafis and their wahhabi representatives in Lebanon, which are notorious to have distributed lumps bumps and humps of money; anyhow i am not here to judge you; i am again glad you are taking it bi rooh ryadyyeh (see ryad comes again and again); my father was a great notorious surgeon in Lebanon: he used to say: “anyone can operate but you become a surgeon only when you can take the heat of it”. I willl say as a corollary: anyone can write, including this child hannybully, but you become a writer when you can take the heat of it (criticism).

          1. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            You sure you wanted to use the word ‘notorious’ ?? 😉 Poor Dad. 🙂

          2. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            you are absolutely right; more than notorious: it was their pathognomonic feature; their landmark; their cornerstone; their feature par excellence; their registered trademark…..

          3. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            when i say salafis i frequently include or even sometimes exclusively refer to their brothers and allies in 14th of march

          4. José Jalapeño Avatar
            José Jalapeño

            The problem is that you have no clue what is the difference between criticizing someone’s ideas and personally attacking them. That shows immaturity.
            The fact that you mention me in every post of yours is enough proof that you have a fatal attraction to me but I told you many time I am straight and do not swing that way.
            Gay bars are plenty in Lebanon go get someone there and enjoy your life rather than aimlessly pursuing an unavailable person. 😛

    2. Sebouh,
      Your “observation” is fear mongering par excellence.

      1. Sebouh80 Avatar
        Sebouh80

        On the contrary Professor Karam, this is not like the CIA in the 40s and 50s when they used Propaganda as a fear tactic to disseminate that pretty soon the Bolsheviks will be coming to the US and destroy our so called moral values. Seriously though, your friends in the opposition like Mr.Michel Kilo and Mr. Manaf Tlass have absolutely no weight inside Syria. The power struggle today in Syria is between the foreign sponsored Militant reactionary groups and the Syrian regime under President Bashar Assad. Finally, on number of occasions in the past you have said that the Baathist regime has failed in every respect. Fair enough, also we have to remember in this respect that the factions representing the Syrian opposition did not offer anything new that might somehow convince the majority of Syrian people. This reminds me of a son that rebelled against an abusive father, but in the end turns out as bad as the father due to the same discipline that he received from him.

        1. But that is where you go wrong Sebouh. No matter what kind of a person the son turns out to be, nothing can excuse the father for being abusive. History tells us that dictators will fall especially when the oppressed rise. Its strange when a self described Marxist can find a way to justify a dictatorship just because the dictator is opposed by the West.:-)

          1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            sorry mr Karam but you got two opposite approaches thus one of you is inevitably wrong and i believe it is you on at least two issues: one minor and one major. The minor one is that you cklaim history tells you dictators will fall; wrong; castro-ism is still there at the door of usa and usa does not move; china, turkey….. oops i forgot there is no petroleum in cuba, thus so bad for the cuban they will have to endure che guevara for ever.

        2. Prophettttt Avatar
          Prophettttt

          Greeting Sebouh, I totally agree with your analysis. If I may elaborate on your thought, I’d add the following: A militarized revolution, lead by religious fanatics ,and being supported by dictators who oppress their own people does not promise much for the Syrian people. I believe that the Syrian people understand that well, and may prefer the dictatorship they have over the fanatic dictatorship they would have. They understand that these Arab dictators cannot give what they don’t have. Arab dictators are punishing one of their own for their own reasons,and they are willing to fight to the last syrian.
          People can lecture us about idealism all day long,but the reality on the ground speaks diffrently.We don’t live in ideal world,and we will never do.As sad as it is, this is reality .

  11. Prophettttt Avatar
    Prophettttt

    Ghassan, My only disagreement is with your over simplified approach to dictatorship and legitimacy. I need not restate my opposition to dictators on this blog; Last time I did criticize Arab dictators, my comments were removed by the Admin of this blog. lol
    About a year ago, you published an article on this page that discussed legitimacy and dictatorships, and we disagreed then as well.
    The question remains the same; what determines whether a regime or a leader is legitimate or not, what are the criteria and who sets them? Is the legitimacy of leader or a regime determined only by election or through democracy?
    We know that so many forms of governments existed and ruled throughout history that were not elected, yet were considered to be legitimate as long as they were strong enough to survive. Monarchies are considered by international standard to be legitimate, even if they are extremely oppressive to their own people. Many elected officials and leaders are considered legitimate, even if their elections are fixed or deemed unconstitutional.
    Your approach is too idealistic and simple, and it does not take into consideration the fact that the Syrian regime, as oppressive as we think, was and still legitimate .Qadafi was a legitimate leader in the eyes of international community and laws until he became weak, the same goes for Mubarak, until the day He resigned, He was considered the legitimate leader of Egypt. No one cared if their own people considered them to be legitimate or not.
    The same international community championing freedom for Syrian people have always considered the Syrian regime as a legitimate regime, knowing that it was oppressive. They still consider the House of “Saud”, who removed the name of a country and replaced it with their own, to be legitimate rulers because they “respect” the so called “Saudi law” of power transfer.
    Assad would have lost the approval of Syrian majority had the Syrian revolution remained peaceful, and not allowed itself to be manipulated by the other Arab dictators. The so called Arab league is in fact a league of dictators who are behaving like a mob trying to punish another mob lieutenant, yet the poor Syrian people are paying the ultimate price. We have yet to know if the majority of Syrian wants Assad to go anymore. A year ago, they may have wanted him to go, but I doubt that now because the majority fears the alternative.
    I understand that legitimacy is determined by the consent of the people governed, and that is where the fanatics and those dictators who support them gave Assad the opportunity to say that He was elected, and only the Syrian people have the right to remove him next time He runs for election.
    Yes very tricky and destructive situation and it cannot be approached with simplicity.

    1. ghassan Karam Avatar
      ghassan Karam

      Prophettttt
      As you might have noticed from reading the above the emphasis was not on legitimacy, though it is fundamental. The above short narrative is attempting to suggest that an illegitimate dictator who does not realize that his time has come and who will insist on fighting to the last supporter is arguably the worst combination for the state in which these events are taking place. Assad will eventually go but he has already caused a destruction valued at the annual GDP of Syria whose GDP per capita will plunge this year and the next below $2000 per capita. That is one of the poorest countries in the world and will make the efforts at recovery very difficult. If no one can force him to leave in a year or so then I am not sure that his forces are going to leave any physical structure standing. This is about both blood and treasure and both are argue convincingly that he has to go.

      1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
        hariri assaoudi

        sorry mr karam but, as a non biased neutral observer, i do not see assad leaving soon; actually his departure will entail the massacre of the alawis, christians and, oh not the druze, israel will protect them. Where your logic abutts major obstacles is when you attribute all the losses to him; did you expect him to leave!!! i did not and as a matter of fact he would be a real criminal if he does. Now, again from the neutral observers point of view, those who started this should have calculated the price; its very onerous. This is a confirmation that those behind this cannot be syrians; those syrians among them are the radicals, the outlaws and some of the wannabe leaders. Those who started this are alone responsible of the consequences regardless of who is right and who is wrong; let me make it clearer for you: you steal my house but you got 25 criminal bodyguards protecting you; if i send my two sons to get you out of my house and you kill them, should i cry and say: oh the criminal he killed my sons!!!! no sir, if i send my sons to recuperate my house i should be sure of the outcome and if the outcome is bad then i cannot blame except myself; and the case of syria is not exactly as bad as my case yet i hope i made myself clear; it is just simple logic; now if you want to make arabic poetry and diatribe out of it, al khaylou wallaylou wal bayuda’ou ta3rifouni…..that is something else

        1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
          hariri assaoudi

          corollary: even if assad wants to leave the americans wont allow him; even if he dies from an infarct, the american will create a double of him; so i reassure you again and again, bashar assadism is staying till america decides of the opposite which personally i do not have indices that it will be soon; N.B. bashar assadism is alawism, different from assadism which is syria the arabism

          1. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            Let me put it this way; Even if Bashar Assad wants to defect, The regime establishments would not allow him. The Syrian Army , Security establishments , the Baath Party establishments, and all the middle level employee and up ,they all remember what happened to the Iraqi establishments and government loyalist after the American invasion .Only a naive person thinks that these people are fighting for the sake of Assad. It’s a matter of survival , not a blind loyalty to dictatorship.. This explains why the regime is still intact for the most part.
            The dismantling of Iraqi Army and security establishments, and the de-baathification process in Iraq were good lessons, the Syrian establishments remember very well, and they won’t place their necks at the butcher table easily.
            The other big factor in this equation is the role of the imported fanatics ,and the fear they put in the hearts of the majority of syrian people.. Most middle class Syrians support the regime out of fear of the alternative, and I blame them not anymore.
            Don’t take this comments as a support for the regime,but it is a simple reality that everyone has to understand.

          2. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            fully agree with you and i said this before here

      2. Prophettttt Avatar
        Prophettttt

        Ghassan,Let’s put Legitimacy aside,and move reality upfront,and I promise to keep it simple .
        I stopped using the term “revolution” when discussing the Syrian mess,almost a year ago.
        If you’re suggesting that his departure after two years of war will result in a Syria which is free and democratic,then you’re definitely too optimistic if not totally wrong.
        The entire equation has changed since last time you and I agreed that He will fight,and eventually go. The world is divided into two blocks ,and both fighting it out to the last Syrian.
        It is no longer a revolution against a dictator,and it is no longer a revolution seeking freedom and democracy.It is in fact a war fought by international and regional players who have no interest in what the majority of Syrians want,and surly freedom and democracy are not on their list of goals.
        Let’s get realistic,and forget about the simple ideals that do not exist in this world any more,and may have only existed in our dreams.
        I agree with you that He can not rule any more,but disagree that He will leave . I also disagree with you that the majority of his people want him to go anymore.
        As for the damage to Syrian economy and infrastructure;both the regime and the opposition are responsible for it. The Arab regimes who are funding this war are also responsible for the damage as well as the thousands of victims who have fallen so far,and you need to acknowledge that as well for the sake of objectivity .
        Two years ago I commented on one of your articles on this subject ,and simply said that If this uprising is allowed to be hijacked by fanatics and imported militants,It would cease to be a revolution and it would become a true war ; A war that would be costly and long,and the biggest looser would be the Syrian people.It didn’t take long to get there,but it will take long to get out of this mess,and unfortunately it will take ( many) thousands more lives before Syria can get out of this mess.
        I think that the majority of Syrian people want nothing but peace and stability.They want their lives back. The Opposition with all of its fanaticism, atrocities,and corruption,along with the newly born sectarianism do not look promising to the average Syrian,and that should be taken into consideration when analyzing the Syrian mess.

        1. AntiFSA002 Avatar
          AntiFSA002

          Well said Prophet, I agree with most of what you have said. However I disagree with you saying Assad should not rule the country.
          Why should he not rule. I mean you said it yourself, The majority of the people want him, and it should be the peoples decision.

          1. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            Anti, Forgive me, but you misread what I said. I did not say that He should not rule, I concluded in my analysis that He can no longer rule,as if nothing has happened. You’re right, I did state that the majority of his people may not want him to leave anymore,when two years ago,I may have thought differently.

          2. AntiFSA002 Avatar
            AntiFSA002

            Your rite brother, You did say that and I apologise for misquoting you. 🙂

          3. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            No worries,and no need for apologies,It happen to all eager readers.lol

          4. AntiFSA002 Avatar
            AntiFSA002

            As you probably noticed, I get ahead of myself sometimes. Should listen to my wife and take a deep breath before I react. lol. Must be the middle eastern blood.

          5. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            Listening may not be always fun, but it can be safer,lol

          6. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            Anti, Take a look at an image of our sad history.It makes you speechless,and angry.

          7. AntiFSA002 Avatar
            AntiFSA002

            The sad thing is it will never change. How stupid we middle easterners are to allow the west to dictate how we live, yet we believe that we make our choices out of free will. All we know, (and when I say we I am generalising) is Allah Akbar kill kill kill. Ya Harram the middle east.

          8. IraniAngel Avatar
            IraniAngel

            dont be that pessimistic.. once the economical woes of the west have brought it down to its knees the enitre world will prosper, just be patient

          9. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Pictures worth a thousand words.

          10. IraniAngel Avatar
            IraniAngel

            i agree, but you have to keep in mind that a picture does lie sometimes when photoshop is involved. thats why we all believe that the ameriCANCER’s actually made it all the way to the moon while in reality the shots showing them there were taken in a military site in the desert of nevada or arizona or somewhere else….

          11. Hannibal Avatar

            yeaaaa right and the space station is actually in my backyard. lol

          12. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            You have an international back-yard ?? Wow … no wonder ‘they’ are jealous. 😉

          13. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Or somewhere …. hahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahaa

          14. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            where is the camel please? mr karam will be angry to have misrepresented his arabic culture; can you add the camel evolution in a third set of pics since 1896 till now; i bet the camel made a lot of improvement; maybe the camel is behind the new locomotion discoveries as undercover agent, so salafis do not mount it anymore

          15. IraniAngel Avatar
            IraniAngel

            the upper right column should say the same thing as the upper left column with exception of the dot on top of the letter of ‘gh’… i leave it to your imagination to figure out what it then means…

          16. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            Excluding yourself,lol. You get no argument from me.

          17. Persistent Avatar
            Persistent

            Isn’t this the truth! We have the brain, the talent and the man power to go with it but we are not allowed to use it in a positive and productive way as it represents a threat and a challange to our rulers. To the contrary, we seem to do well when we are given the opportunity abroad. We are busy playing God by being dismissive of other religions as opposed to applying ourselves for the good of all beings.
            Sad indeed….

          18. Hannibal Avatar

            Sad indeed… Look at us in foreign lands giving it our best inventions… lol

          19. ghassan Karam Avatar
            ghassan Karam

            Prophettt,
            Sad but true.

          20. Hannibal Avatar

            rite? or right? it makes a big difference… Sa3sa3

        2. 5thDrawer Avatar
          5thDrawer

          Well Prophet … contemplate this …..

          Everyone enjoys making up their theories. How about an Evolution, rather than a Revolution?
          We may be living through it. Just as Neolithic society changed, this could be the next major shift. And … How wonderful is THAT to contemplate?

          On the Orkney Islands north of Scotland, about 5000 years ago, at fairly well the end of the remarkable stone age, and the beginning of bronze, on a narrow bridge of land leading northward to the believed place of the passage of souls, a heavily walled religious city of several buildings which aided that passage was levelled in a short span of time; 10,000 head of cattle were sacrificed and their bones left there in one building; and a whole stone-age obviously-homogenous society of a great size (10,000 cattle feed at least 10x that number) which had built the various stone structures around the British Isles for the sake of their beliefs, such as Stonehedge, simply covered the downed buildings with soil and walked away – never to return. Neolithic man disappeared – and his religion of that time with him.
          Obviously they had not worked up to a written history to leave behind. We still dig to discover what we can of it. But the advent of bronze, as well as perhaps a shift in knowledge and an influx of more advanced (and probably less societal) peoples caused an ‘age of man’ to end fairly abruptly – at least in Britain. Perhaps smartly, they could see the changes coming, and just decided to give it a swift end. We won’t know that … but we know they existed … just as Pompei did. The artifacts are well preserved and numberous.
          Will the history of ‘Syria now’ last 5000 years? Will some future creatures burrow through the dust to discover the ruins? We cannot know that either.
          But Imagine … A Major Shift is happening here. Perhaps it’s simply another age of man passing … with us in it. Wonderful.
          And a Universe beckons … perhaps we’ll get there before the next mass extinction? (There have been 5.)
          Certainly won’t be the ones who believe living to kill is a human’s only path to follow. And it’s a much better theory to contemplate.

          1. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            I thought you want us to keep it simple.lol

          2. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Well Prophet, that didn’t seem to go over well … so, I take a long view … 😉
            One never knows … until we can read back. :-)))
            Maybe a different view can shake up some of the dinosaurs here ???

          3. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            Staying out of dinosaurs’ way,lol
            Dancing elephants are dangerous enough.

    2. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      But it WAS simple … in that simple beginning. The fate of some children, for being children, began it.
      It was an affront to all that is human.
      The complicated is the ‘why’ of it’s expansion and continuance.
      Let us assume that no matter which ‘type’ of governing goes on, it is the ‘general happiness’ of the citizens which allows it. The Benevolent Dictator idea … accepted by all when applied to all … seems to succeed and is recognized in that. Perhaps only King Solomon pulled it off well. ? But we were not there to say with great proof … and the ‘thoughts’ of humans was not quite so expanded at the time either. It seemed, I suppose, to ‘his people’, that all was well and fair, and he survived long enough to be noted in history.
      After his death … well ….
      Vlad The Impaler ruled in the opposite manner … although I suppose at the time no-one was happy.
      One could say there was ‘equality’ in that.
      Eventually a system we call democratic evolved – after so many ‘uprisings’ some brains considered there could be a better way for ALL of us to get along. We know we don’t agree on much, but getting along in life is easier if we can allow a system which – for the most part – seems ‘fair’ and has some of Solomon’s wisdom in it. We agree to disagree and wait 4 years to attempt a change – for the better.
      If anyone can possibly believe Assad has such love from his people that he always gets around 95% in a vote – as the head of ‘one party’ rule – then one must also assume all Syrians are nuts.
      And THAT the ‘international’ (chuckling at the same time) was willing to recognize.
      When he began to level the place and treat the citizens to Medieval Harmony … well, ‘the international’ noted that perhaps not all Syrians were so obtuse after all.
      And thus, it is also Assad’s fault that the packs of other idiots ran in to join the fray.

      Addendum. If Saudis want to live like that, well …. hohohohoho …

      1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
        hariri assaoudi

        i think you said many UPRISINGS; in syria it is downrising; lol

  12. Prophettttt Avatar
    Prophettttt

    Ghassan, My ony disagreement is with your over simplified approach to dictatorship and legitimacy. I need not restate my opposition to dictators on this blog; Last time I did criticize Arab dictators, my comments were removed by the Admin of this blog. lol
    About a year ago, you published an article on this page that discussed legitimacy and dictatorships, and we disagreed then as well.
    The question remains the same; what determines whether a regime or a leader is legitimate or not, what are the criteria and who sets them? Is the legitimacy of leader or a regime determined only by election or through democracy?
    We know that so many forms of governments existed and ruled throughout history that were not elected, yet were considered to be legitimate as long as they were strong enough to survive. Monarchies are considered by international standard to be legitimate, even if they are extremely oppressive to their own people. Many elected officials and leaders are considered legitimate, even if their elections are fixed or deemed unconstitutional.
    Your approach is too idealistic and simple, and it does not take into consideration the fact that the Syrian regime, as oppressive as we think, was and still legitimate .Qadafi was a legitimate leader in the eyes of international community and laws until he became weak, the same goes for Mubarak, until the day He resigned, He was considered the legitimate leader of Egypt. No one cared if their own people considered them to be legitimate or not.
    The same international community championing freedom for Syrian people have always considered the Syrian regime as a legitimate regime, knowing that it was oppressive. They still consider the House of “Saud”, who removed the name of a country and replaced it with their own, to be legitimate rulers because they “respect” the so called “Saudi law” of power transfer.
    Assad would have lost the approval of Syrian majority had the Syrian revolution remained peaceful, and not allowed itself to be manipulated by the other Arab dictators. The so called Arab league is in fact a league of dictators who are behaving like a mob trying to punish another mob lieutenant, yet the poor Syrian people are paying the ultimate price. We have yet to know if the majority of Syrian wants Assad to go anymore. A year ago, they may have wanted him to go, but I doubt that now because the majority fears the alternative.
    I understand that legitimacy is determined by the consent of the people governed, and that is where the fanatics and those dictators who support them gave Assad the opportunity to say that He was elected, and only the Syrian people have the right to remove him next time He runs for election.
    Yes very tricky and destructive situation and it cannot be approached with simplicity.

    1. Prophettttt
      As you might have noticed from reading the above the emphasis was not on legitimacy, though it is fundamental. The above short narrative is attempting to suggest that an illegitimate dictator who does not realize that his time has come and who will insist on fighting to the last supporter is arguably the worst combination for the state in which these events are taking place. Assad will eventually go but he has already caused a destruction valued at the annual GDP of Syria whose GDP per capita will plunge this year and the next below $2000 per capita. That is one of the poorest countries in the world and will make the efforts at recovery very difficult. If no one can force him to leave in a year or so then I am not sure that his forces are going to leave any physical structure standing. This is about both blood and treasure and both are argue convincingly that he has to go.

      1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
        hariri assaoudi

        sorry mr karam but, as a non biased neutral observer, i do not see assad leaving soon; actually his departure will entail the massacre of the alawis, christians and, oh not the druze, israel will protect them. Where your logic abutts major obstacles is when you attribute all the losses to him; did you expect him to leave!!! i did not and as a matter of fact he would be a real criminal if he does. Now, again from the neutral observers point of view, those who started this should have calculated the price; its very onerous. This is a confirmation that those behind this cannot be syrians; those syrians among them are the radicals, the outlaws and some of the wannabe leaders. Those who started this are alone responsible of the consequences regardless of who is right and who is wrong; let me make it clearer for you: you steal my house but you got 25 criminal bodyguards protecting you; if i send my two sons to get you out of my house and you kill them, should i cry and say: oh the criminal he killed my sons!!!! no sir, if i send my sons to recuperate my house i should be sure of the outcome and if the outcome is bad then i cannot blame except myself; and the case of syria is not exactly as bad as my case yet i hope i made myself clear; it is just simple logic; now if you want to make arabic poetry and diatribe out of it, al khaylou wallaylou wal bayuda’ou ta3rifouni…..that is something else

        1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
          hariri assaoudi

          corollary: even if assad wants to leave the americans wont allow him; even if he dies from an infarct, the american will create a double of him; so i reassure you again and again, bashar assadism is staying till america decides of the opposite which i personally i do not have indices that it will be soon; N.B. bashar assadism is alawism, different from assadism which is syria the arabism

          1. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            Let me put it this way; Even if Bashar Assad wants to defect, The establishment would not allow him. The Syrian Army , Security establishments , the Baath Party establishments, and all the middle level employee and up ,all remember what happened to the Iraqi establishments and government loyalist after the American invasion .If any one thinks that these people are fighting for the sake of Assad is really naive. This explains why the regime is still intact for the most part. The other factor that plays a big role is the fear of the religious fanatics taking over . Most middle class Syrians support the regime out of fear of the alternative, and I blame them not anymore.

          2. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            fully agree with you and i said this before here

      2. Prophettttt Avatar
        Prophettttt

        Ghassan,Legitimacy aside,and reality upfront,and I promise to keep it simple .
        I stopped using the term “revolution” when discussing the Syrian mess,almost a year ago.
        If you’re suggesting that his departure after two years of war will result in a Syria which is free and democratic,then you’re definitely too optimistic if not totally wrong.
        The entire equation has changed since last time you and I agreed that He will fight,and eventually go. The world is divided into two blocks ,and both fighting it out to the last Syrian.
        It is no longer a revolution against a dictator,and it is no longer a revolution seeking freedom and democracy.It is in fact a war fought by international and regional players who have no interest in what the majority of Syrians want,and surly freedom and democracy are not on their list of goals.
        Let’s get realistic,and forget about the simple ideals that do not exist in this world any more,and may have only existed in our dreams.
        I agree with you that He can not rule any more,but disagree that He will leave . I also disagree with you that the majority of his people want him to go anymore.
        As for the damage to Syrian economy and infrastructure;both the regime and the opposition are responsible for it. The Arab regimes who are funding this war are also responsible for the damage as well as the thousands of victims who have fallen so far,and you need to acknowledge that as well for the sake of objectivity .
        Two years ago I wrote in one of my comments on an article of yours that,the day the justified civil revolution was hijacked by the fanatics and imported militants, was the day the Syrian revolution ceased to be a revolution,and became a true war ; A war that would be costly and long,and the biggest looser would be the Syrian people.It didn’t take long to get there,but it will take long to get out of this mess,and unfortunately it will take many thousands more lives before Syria can get out of this mess.

        I think that the majority of Syrian people want nothing but peace and stability.They want their lives back. The Opposition with all of its fanaticism, atrocities,and corruption does not look promising to the average Syria,and that should be taken into consideration when analyzing the Syrian mess.

        1. AntiFSA002 Avatar
          AntiFSA002

          Well said Prophet, I agree with most of what you have said. However I disagree with you saying Assad should not rule the country.
          Why should he not rule. I mean you said it yourself, The majority of the people want him, and it should be the peoples decision.

          1. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            Anti, Forgive me, but you misread what I said. I did not say that He should not rule, I concluded in my analysis that He can no longer rule,as if nothing has happened. I also stated that the majority of his people may not want him to leave anymore,when two years ago,I may have thought differently.

          2. AntiFSA002 Avatar
            AntiFSA002

            Your rite brother, You did say that and I apologise for misquoting you. 🙂

          3. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            No worries,and no need for apologies either,It happen to all eager readers.lol

          4. AntiFSA002 Avatar
            AntiFSA002

            As you properly noticed, I get ahead of myself sometimes. Should listen to my wife and take a deep breath before I react. lol. Must be the middle eastern blood.

          5. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            Listening may not be always fun, but it may be safer,lol

          6. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            Anti, Take a look at an image of our sad history.It makes you speechless,and angry.

          7. AntiFSA002 Avatar
            AntiFSA002

            The sad thing is it will never change. How stupid we middle easterners are to allow the west to dictate how we live, yet we believe that we make our choices out of free will. All we know, (and when I say we I am generalising) is Allah Akbar kill kill kill. Ya Harram the middle east.

          8. IraniAngel Avatar
            IraniAngel

            dont be that pessimistic.. once the economical woes of the west has brought it down to its knees the enitre world will prosper, just be patient

          9. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Pictures worth a thousand words.

          10. IraniAngel Avatar
            IraniAngel

            i agree, but you have to keep in mind that a picture does lie sometimes when photoshop is involved. thats why we all believe that the ameriCANCER’s actually made it all the way to the moon while in reality the shots showing them there was taken in a military site in the desert of nevada or arizona or somewhere else….

          11. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            hahahahahahahhahahahahhaha

          12. José Jalapeño Avatar
            José Jalapeño

            yeaaaa right and the space station is actually in my backyard. lol

          13. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            You have an international back-yard ?? Wow … no wonder ‘they’ are jealous. 😉

          14. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Or somewhere …. hahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahaa

          15. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            where is the camel please? mr karam will be angry to have misrepresented his arabic culture; can you add the camel evolution in a third set of pics since 1896 till now; i bet the camel made a lot of improvement; maybe the camel is behind the new locomotion discoveries as undercover agent, so salafis do not mount it anymore

          16. hariri assaoudi Avatar
            hariri assaoudi

            where is the camel please? mr karam will be angry to have misrepresented his arabic culture; can you add the camel evolution in a third set of pics since 1896 till now; i bet the camel made a lot of improvement; maybe the camel is behind the new locomotion discoveries as undercover agent, so salafis do not mount it anymore

          17. IraniAngel Avatar
            IraniAngel

            the upper right column should say they the same thing as the upper left column with exception of the dot on top of the letter of ‘gh’… i leave it to your imagination to figure out what it then means…

          18. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            Excluding your self,lol

          19. Persistent Avatar
            Persistent

            Isn’t this the truth! We have the brain, the talent and the man power to go with it but we are not allowed to use it in a positive and productive way as it represents a threat and a challange to our rulers. To the contrary, we seem to do well when we are given the opportunity abroad. We are busy playing God by being dismissive of other religions as opposed to applying ourselves for the good of all beings.
            Sad indeed….

          20. José Jalapeño Avatar
            José Jalapeño

            Sad indeed… Look at us in foreign lands giving it our best inventions… lol

          21. Prophettt,
            Sad but true.

          22. José Jalapeño Avatar
            José Jalapeño

            rite? or right? it makes a big difference… Sa3sa3

        2. 5thDrawer Avatar
          5thDrawer

          Well Prophet … contemplate this …..

          Everyone enjoys making up their theories. How about an Evolution, rather than a Revolution?
          We may be living through it. Just as Neolithic society changed, this could be the next major shift.
          And … How wonderful is THAT to contemplate?

          On the Orkney Islands north of Scotland, about 5000 years ago, at fairly well the end of the remarkable stone age, and the beginning of bronze, on a narrow bridge of land leading northward to the believed place of the passage of souls, a heavily walled religious city of several buildings which aided that passage was levelled in a short span of time; 10,000 head of cattle were sacrificed and their bones left there in one building; and a whole stone-age obviously-homogenous society of a great size (10,000 cattle feed at least 10x that number) which had built the various stone structures around the British Isles for the sake of their beliefs, such as Stonehedge, simply covered the downed buildings with soil and walked away – never to return. Neolithic man disappeared – and his religion of that time with him.
          Obviously they had not worked up to a written history to leave behind. We still dig to discover what we can of it. But the advent of bronze, as well as perhaps a shift in knowledge and an influx of more advanced (and probably less societal) peoples caused an ‘age of man’ to end fairly abruptly – at least in Britain. Perhaps smartly, they could see the changes coming, and just decided to give it a swift end. We won’t know that … but we know they existed … just as Pompei did. The artifacts are well preserved and numberous.
          Will the history of ‘Syria now’ last 5000 years? Will some future creatures burrow through the dust to discover the ruins? We cannot know that either.
          But Imagine … A Major Shift is happening here. Perhaps it’s simply another age of man passing … with us in it. Wonderful.
          And a Universe beckons … perhaps we’ll get there before the next mass extinction? (There have been 5.)
          Certainly won’t be the ones who believe living to kill is a human’s only path to follow. And it’s a much better theory to contemplate.

          1. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            I thought you want us to keep it simple.lol

          2. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Well Prophet, that didn’t seem to go over well … so, I take a long view … 😉
            One never knows … until we can read back. :-)))

          3. Prophettttt Avatar
            Prophettttt

            Staying out of dinosaurs’ way,lol
            Dancing elephants are dangerous enough.

    2. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      But it WAS simple … in that simple beginning. The fate of some children, for being children, began it.
      It was an affront to all that is human.
      The complicated is the ‘why’ of it’s expansion and continuance.
      Let us assume that no matter which ‘type’ of governing goes on, it is the ‘general happiness’ of the citizens which allows it. The Benevolent Dictator idea … accepted by all when applied to all … seems to succeed and is recognized in that. Perhaps only King Solomon pulled it off well. ? But we were not there to say with great proof … and the ‘thoughts’ of humans was not quite so expanded at the time either. It seemed, I suppose, to ‘his people’, that all was well and fair, and he survived long enough to be noted in history.
      After his death … well ….
      Vlad The Impaler ruled in the opposite manner … although I suppose at the time no-one was happy.
      One could say there was ‘equality’ in that.
      Eventually a system we call democratic evolved – after so many ‘uprisings’ some brains considered there could be a better way for ALL of us to get along. We know we don’t agree on much, but getting along in life is easier if we can allow a system which – for the most part – seems ‘fair’ and has some of Solomon’s wisdom in it. We agree to disagree and wait 4 years to attempt a change – for the better.
      If anyone can possibly believe Assad has such love from his people that he always gets around 95% in a vote – as the head of ‘one party’ rule – then one must also assume all Syrians are nuts.
      And THAT the ‘international’ (chuckling at the same time) was willing to recognize.
      When he began to level the place and treat the citizens to Medieval Harmony … well, perhaps not all Syrians were so obtuse after all.
      And thus, it is also Assad’s fault that the packs of other idiots ran in to join the fray.

      1. hariri assaoudi Avatar
        hariri assaoudi

        i think you said many UPRISINGS; in syria it is downrising; lol

  13. Persistent Avatar
    Persistent

    Mr. Karam,

    I respect your subjective opinion on this matter but what I find appalling is that a man of your caliber does not recognize the danger in concuring and endorsing a morally and politically bankrupt ideology driven and supported by oppressive regimes who share the same ideology. This ideology is homogeneous in nature and does not acknowledge any diverse opinion and bent on obliteration of anyone that stands in its way irrespective of the cost. It is a pure hate ideology against ALL opposing sides!!

    If my memory serves me correctly, aren’t those the same folks that the west supported against the soviets and then turned on them in places such as NY city, London, Somalia and….., aren’t those the same folks that the west fought in Iraq and continue to fight in Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, etc..aren’t those the same folks that the french are currently fighting in Mali?

    Objective and credible media outlets have rightfully recognized those thugs for what they are, even the US have listed one group on their terror list, the fight for freedom is a camouglage for their barbaric and murderous behavior. How can those thugs and their backing regimes give the people democracy when they do not understand the concept. If those thugs are to succeed, I believe we are all in trouble and heading toward the dark and stone ages, and please don’t tell me this is fearmongering talk….

    I must agree with Prophet as he has alluded on many occassions, had the revolution stayed peaceful, the situation in Syria would be different now. The militaralization of the revolution has given the regime a new life and I am afraid we are nowhere near a resolution, the suffering and destruction will continue for now. The continuation of this madness is giving the monarchies a sense of security for now.

  14. Persistent Avatar
    Persistent

    Mr. Karam,

    I respect your subjective opinion on this matter but what I find appalling is that a man of your caliber does not recognize the danger in concuring and endorsing a morally and politically bankrupt ideology driven and supported by oppressive regimes who share the same ideology. This ideology is homogeneous in nature and does not acknowledge any diverse opinion and bent on obliteration of anyone that stands in its way irrespective of the cost. It is a pure hate ideology to ALL opposing sides!!

    If my memory serves me correctly, aren’t those the same folks that the west supported against the soviets and then turned on them in places such as NY city, London, Somalia and….., aren’t those the same folks that the west fought in Iraq and continue to fight in Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, etc..aren’t those the same folks that the french are currently fighting in Mali?

    Objective and credible media outlets have rightfully recognized those thugs for what they are, even the US have listed one group on their terror list, the fight for freedom is a camouglage for their barbaric and murderous behavior. How can those thugs and their backing regimes give the people democracy when they do not understand the concept. If those thugs are to succeed, I believe we are all in trouble and heading toward the dark and stone ages, and please don’t tell me this is fearmongering talk….

    I must agree with Prophet as he has alluded on many occassions, had the revolution stayed peaceful, the situation in Syria would be different now. The militaralization of the revolution has given the regime a new life and I am afraid we are nowhere near a resolution, the suffering and destruction will continue for now. The continuation of this madness is giving the monarchies a sense of security for now.

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