I'm Deadly Syria, And Don't Call Me Shia

Don't feel bad if you were not sure whether to support the US planned intervention, (or more accurately MORE PUBLIC intervention), in Syria. Don't even worry if the whole mess confuses you. I've been doing my best to follow it and still think there is plenty I have yet to discover. But I have found a few things that have cleared it up somewhat for me. And Syria agreed to put its chemical weapons in international hands so if the idea of blowing some Syrian infrastructure up, (along with a few people), was actually about discouraging chemical warfare, hey, no more need to do it, right? Well this thing is not so simple and I am not convinced that the thought of launching a few cruise missiles Syria's way was the farthest thing from the minds of the powers that be BEFORE there was news of chemical weapon use.

Consider the report by Dale Gavlak, an Associated Press correspondent who was told by some Syrian rebels that THEY detonated the chemical weapons by mistake. The rebels received the weapons via Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar Bin Sultan and were not trained well in their usage. Some soldiers got curious, fiddled with the wrong buttons and BLAMMO! Rather than a red line in the sand for the rebels or the Saudi suppliers it seems ignoring this report and believing some other mystery intel that the public isn't privvy to that confirms the Inglorious Bashar el Assad troops did it is the way to go. The soldiers told Gavlak! That seems at least as credible as any story I have heard saying Assad's troops were the culprits. Particularly after hearing that the Saudis are interested in using the US as a kind of invader-for-hire. They basically said attack Syria and we'll foot the bill. But that is sometimes the problem: we have to hear our news from media sources that juuuust might have a GUNTOTHEIRHEAD ... I mean a bias. The best of the best Anderson Cooper. We KNOW he's not keeping anything from us after he honestly and forthrightly admitted to being gay. He was recently on Letterman talking about Syria and Letterman asked him how Russia and China could be okay with this crazy butcher Assad. Cooper just mentioned that Russia, China et. al. sell arms to the Assad gov't. No mention of the US and Israel and Saudi Arabia and Turkey and so on doing the same with the rebels. No mention of the reasons why. You telling me I know the trillion bazillion dollar reason and A C doesn't? I think he just knows better than to bring it up. But I don't. I brung it up in another post. Give it a read.

And now I'm reading reports out of, also biased sources, (Russian and Lebanese newspapers), that Prince Bandar has been negotiating with Russia to stop supporting the Assad regime. In return they will give Russia control of the global oil market and safeguard Russia's gas contracts and military bases in Syria. Some leaked transcripts of a closed door meeting between Prince Bandar and Vlad Putin also revealed that Bandar promised the full support of the US. Also, and this gives you a better idea of the kind of negotiations we don't get to see, it was hinted that the threatened Chechen terrorist attacks on Russia's Sochi Olympics just might happen if there is no agreement reached. Those terrorists are controlled by Bandar allegedly and well they just might not be reigned in if we don't get what we want from you. Putin's response was, "We believe that the Syrian regime is the best speaker on behalf of the Syrian people, and not those liver eaters." This in reference to the rebel soldier footage that showed one Jihadist eating the heart and liver of a Syrian soldier. Liver eating, baby torturing, yes, these are the troops, the largely Al Qaida troops, that the US has been supplying since the rebellion began. Greed can sure make for strange bedfellows! Unfortunately, Chechen terrorism might now be a demonstration sport at the upcoming Olympics.

Are you going to even try to tell me that these "freedom fighters" will not go all Rwandan on their enemies if they win? THIS is the major concern of the Bashar government troops. They say they aren't all that worried about US cruise missiles, they are worried that if the Sunni Muslim rebels win, the mostly Alawite Muslim Bashar regime will be massacred. Since 1970 when Alawite President Hafiz Al Assad came into power in Syria, Alawites have been strategically inserted into most positions of power in government. The Alawite dominated Bashar regime, run by the Alawite Assad family represents a controlling minority in Syria much the same as the Tutsi minority control of the Hutus in Rwanda which led to the massacre of half a million people in 1994. Now I am not an expert on the various factions of Islam but the Alawites are not really Shia, the traditional enemy of the Sunni sect. They are actually a Sunni branch but they have some beliefs that the Sunnis regard as infidellish? The Alawite beliefs are actually kept secret to all but their converts so that adds to the mystery. But I have read that the government, yes, the Bashar El Assad government that has been painted as the villains in this squabble, are pretty okay with religious freedom in Syria. I've read that Alawites sometimes celebrate Christmas, Easter and the Epiphany and even, gasp, drink alcohol! sacramental wine in some ceremonies. Alawite means followers of Ali. The Alawite belief in God being made flesh is another bone of contention here. In fact neither Shia or Sunni Muslims would back them up on this. Alawites reckon that Ali, God made flesh, created Muhammad the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets. They also reject the Qur'an and all the traditional prayers associated with Sunni teachings. And interestingly, they believe in reincarnation although, and I'm not makin' this up, women, who do not have souls, cannot be reincarnated. They don't get to learn the secret Alawite doctrine either. If you get transformed successfully seven times you can return to your place among the stars. If you are not such a good Alawite in one incarnation you might return as a Christian. Infidels return as animals.

These are not such outrageous religious beliefs to me. Except maybe the woman thing though I have been rejected by, I mean MET some soulless chicks in my day. But this, and the desire to have majority control, Sunni government, is what the Free Syrian Army, the rebels, believe they are fighting for. If this had even a little bit to do with the war, why would Israel, America and many other nations be backing the rebels who are the people they, (tell us they), believe to be responsible for so much terrorism in the world? It IS why they have, until now, been backing them SECRETLY. If the US government was outraged about the chemical weapons, maybe Senator John McCain wouldn't have been found playing online poker during a debate on military intervention in Syria. The one and only slightly redeeming motive behind the people who are orchestrating this proxy war would be that if these folks in Syria are willing to kill, torture, massacre, eat liver over reasons such as these then maybe they almost DESERVE to be taken advantage of. Because somehow I just can't imagine an Al Qaida rebel soldier, even after his country has been devalued by the war and bought up cheaply by vulture capitalists, saying, "Geez, maybe Allah is trying to show us that we really shouldn't have been murdering our fellow Muslims and countrymen over religious differences." "So fuck 'em! Steal their land and resources and make ourselves swacks of cash!" That is what this war is about. I think the people of Syria could bone up on religious and other kinds of freedom. They should be consequenced for the use of chemical warfare too. But the percentage of people living below the poverty line in Syria is a reported 19% compared to 1% before the war. Millions have fled their country. Hundreds of thousands have been killed. Who knows how many have been tortured? I was recently watching the movie, "Dubyuh" and in that movie Penis Cheney is talking about the plan to do exactly the same thing in Iraq. He says, "We won't own it but we'll control it." This punishment certainly doesn't fit the crime. But someone with billions of dollars at stake, (or more likely TRILLIONS), in Syria will try to justify to themselves, and us, that it does.

I mentioned the "Clean Break" strategy in my previous post about Syria. I feel I should probably get into that in more detail here to let you know how long the strategic and economic schemers have been planning exactly what is happening right now in the middle east. And I thought it might interest you to know the kind of people who are running/ruining the world. The document is actually called, "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm", 1996. Richard Perle was the main author/strategist behind the Clean Break. He was a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defence and member of the Defence Policy Board Advisory Committee, chairman of that board under Bush Jr. in 2001 at which time he got dramatic budget increases for missile defense programs. So he has some political influence in the government. As do all of the co-authors of this document. Let's see how he has used that influence, shall we? Perle resigned, or was forced to resign, from the Defence Advisory Board in '03 due to conflict of interest. It was discovered that his venture capital company, Trireme Partners, which invested in technology, goods and services related to homeland security, and was registered in November of 2001, just two months after 911, was benefitting from increased threats to homeland security. I'm not suggesting he had anything to do with the 911 attacks but he sure did conveniently cash in on them! And he was definitely using his position on the advisory council to make a huge push to increase fear of a threat to national security and massive new investment IN it. For example, he advised the air force to lease 100 767 aircraft refueling tankers from Boeing, a $20 million stake holder in Trireme. He even joined forces with fellow neoconservatives Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, (another contributor to the Clean Break plan), to promote war on Iraq after 911 and headed the sinister sounding "Office of Special Plans." Along with Ahmed Chalabi and David Wormser, (Clean Break contributor), Perle created all kinds of bogus fabrication about Hussein's Al Qaida and Bin Laden ties, not to mention the WMD's in order to push the US into war in 2003. Flynt Leverett of the Bush Nat'l Security Council said, "There were constant efforts to pressure the intelligence community to provide assessments that would support their views. If they couldn't get what they wanted out of the intelligence community, they simply created their own intelligence." Through all of this he just got richer and richer, but none of that is what constituted conflict of interest.

In March of 2003 the New Yorker published an article describing a meeting between Perle, arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, and Saudi businessman Harb Zuhair in which Perle, (allegedly), offered to influence American foreign policy in Saudi Arabia in exchange for investment in his company, Trireme. The US Dept. of Defense Inspector General, (and golf buddy of Perle no doubt), determined the conflict of interest provision was NOT violated because Perle was only working 8 days a year at the D of D at the time. How many days of influence do you need to broker a deal? Trireme dissolved in '05 probably because people were beginning to think this company run by the man with the nickname, "Prince of Darkness" might be a little crooked.

He was also co-chairman and director of Hollinger Inc., Conrad Black's creation that got him jailed for fraud. And he's a non-executive director of Autonomy Corporation, a subsidiary of HP. Autonomy specializes in pattern recognition technology and knowledge management apps. What this means is they design programs that "understand" unstructured information. Programs that infer what the user wants and find other information that might be of interest. GREAT for increased post 911 internet and phone policing!

It might be a good time now to mention Perle's 2004 book, "An End To Evil: How to Win the War on Terror." In it he defends the 2003 invasion of Iraq, suggests ways to abandon all Israeli/Palestinian peace processes, invade Syria and implement strict U.S. domestic surveillance including biometric I.D. cards. These are fingerprint, face, DNA, palmprint, eye scans, even voice and odoour recognition technologies that, (what do you know!), use Autonomy-type pattern recognition and knowledge management.

Yeah, that's right, "INVADE" Syria. Between '96 and '04 Syria went from being "rolled back" to "invaded" in the plans for world domination drawn up by this intrepid group of Jewish, Zionist Neoconservatives. First of all there are a couple more influences that need to be explained. I promise I'll get to the details of the Clean Break that have been carried out to the letter but I want to give an idea of the details behind their motivation and not simply call it greed. Zionism first. Theodor Herzl wrote a book called Der Judenstaat that envisioned an independent Jewish state in the 20th century. Detractors see Zionism as a racist abandoning and/or expulsion of all other races and a retreat into a homeland closed off from everyone. This is far from original in our world for some reason, but it is one of the few movements away from multiculturalism that might be GAINING momentum. It is not new though. Evidently Ibn Saud once talked to FDR about setting up a Jewish homeland in Germany as punishment for what they did to the Jews.

A "neoconservative" has been described as a liberal who has been mugged by reality. Perle once said, "If you got into the world of international affairs and looked with some rigor at what was going on in the world, it was really hard to be liberal and naïve. WOW I got the TWO dots over the I! I love my new computer! Because liberal and naïve go hand in hand and not hoarding unspendable quantities of cash while a billion people on the planet have exactly nothing, is childishness! I don't think these assholes have been mugged by reality, they've clearly been mugged by greed. I wish greed had given them a much harsher mugging but that's just me.

Okay, now the provisions of the Clean Break plan and let me warn you, if you can't stand pure evil euphemistically worded in business or strategic terms, this is NOT the document for you! 1. Rather than pursue comprehensive peace with the entire Arab word, concentrate on (Israel), Jordan and Turkey to destabilize and "ROLL BACK" those entities that are threats to all three. 2. "Hot pursuit" anywhere within Palestine territory and promoting alternatives to Yasser Arafat's leadership. 3. Self-reliance and strategic cooperation with the US. 4. Terminate aid in order to promote economic reform. 5. The containment of Syria by engaging in proxy warfare and highlighting their possession of WMD's. 6. Economic "reform" is a necessary starting point toward rebuilding Zionism. 7. "Seize the strategic initiative" along Lebanon's northern border and engage with Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. 8. Strike Syria's drug money and counterfeiting infrastructure in Lebanon. 9. Remind the world of the nature of the Syrian regime. (Occupying Lebanon in violation of treaty, terminated Lebanese sovereignty, Hama massacre in '83). 10. Remove Hussein in Iraq to foil Syria's "regional ambitions." 11. Protect Jordan's King Hussein with some tangible "security" and shift their economy away from dependence on Iraq by persuading the US business community to invest in Jordan. 12. Support a Hashemite control of Iraq to wean the S. Lebanese Shia away from Hezbollah, Iran and Syria.

Okay these are just some. I should probably explain the last one first. Hashemites trace their ancestry to Hashim Ibn Abd al Manaf the great grandfather of the prophet Muhammad. Hussein of Jordan was a Hashemite related to King Faisal I, who was king of Iraq and Syria and had the blood of Muhammad in his veins. This is important to some of the practicing Muslims over there. I have read that good old Dick Cheney is scheming to unite Iraq and Jordan under the present king Abdullah of Jordan, Hussein's son and a Hashemite. This retro-religious thinking won't go over well with the present Assad regime but it is expected that once he is toppled, the "allies" can put a true zealot into power who will be appeased by the blood of Muhammad in Abdullah's veins. Jordan has been well protected and supported by American military and economic influence for some time now.

I explained how Turkey has been a key ally of the natural gas interests in "Pipeline-istan" in my last Syria post.

The U.S. have been the Rosco P. Coultrains of the middle east along with Israel, hotly pursuing Palestinians in Lebanon, Syria or wherever, and where in the world is Yasser Arafat? Oh yeah, he's dead. Died mysteriously in 2004. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Sheath stated in a document called "The Price of Kings," "I have no doubt he was assassinated." Arafat's French doctors said that whatever toxic chemical was in his body did not register on their toxicology table. It was poison they didn't have in their labs. His personal physician was denied access to Arafat during his fatal "sickness" by Arafat's wife, Suha, and I still don't think an autopsy has been performed.

Keeping countries "self-reliant", or poor and terminating aid makes them easier to "roll back" and control.

Syria is contained and engaged in a proxy war only imaginary WMD's were not highlighted as in Iraq - chemical weapons were.

What does "reform" mean? They are economically "reforming" the whole region and dividing up resources in government and large corporation boardrooms as we speak.

Strategic initiative is another fine euphemism!

Perhaps some of the proposed targets for missiles are Syrian drug and counterfeiting locations. They would be called "terrorist infrastructure" though or something like that.

We have all been reminded of the Syrian massacres perpetrated by Assad governments. Jon Stewart call it "The Inglorious Bashar" regime.

Hussein permanently removed from Iraq! WMD's still not found.

The last two go together only it's Abdullah, not Hussein in Jordan any more.

Anyhoo, I hope this makes the situation over in Syria a bit clearer and it makes future events not-so-shocking. It's depressing as hell, eh?

Survivor Time

Call me a Survivor geek but I am already psyched for the new season! I 've been reading bios and watchin vids and I even have a premature prediction or two. I usually wait for an episode before making predictions but I am pretty sureof one of this episode's players having too big a target on his ass to last. So let's start with him and his loved one.

Colton and Caleb. The mandatory token gay contestants they are NOT! Colton just might be my least fave of all time. And I'm not alone. Where to begin? He made some alliances on his first Survivor appearance and the power brought out the petty, racist, elitist, egotistical scumbag side of him. He called one black contestant "ghetto trash" and mentioned that he only associates with one black person: his housekeeper. He complained that he was surrounded by people he would have nothing to do with in his normal life. Yet he came back as a villain on the heroes/villains season. He backstabbed Monica and her and her ex NFL hubby are already targetting him for that. He also voted out Candice on H vs. V so her and her hubby John will be easy allies for Mon and Brad. And I doubt Gervase and Marissa will be unaware of his racism. Marissa cites as her hero the first black person to blah blah blah so race is important to her. So he has 6 enemies before jumpin out the copter. His personality will undoubtedly make him more and despite Probst saying that he has grown we might have a 19-1 vote at the end of episode 1. Caleb will have to fend for himself but Probst thinks he will do well. He will have to overcome resentment at everyone voting off his fiance. He'll be on his own and bitter. He'll need a great game!

Aras and Vytas. I will never forgive Aras, (who I still call Arse), for stealing Panama from the most deserving non-winner EVER : Terry. Danielle blindsided Terry because she knew she had a better shot against Aras in the final two to get even ONE vote. So Aras won because he was the weaker survivor. However, he DID make it to the final three and he is well liked so he could do it again. Vytas seems self-absorbed from the little I've learned about him. Self described wit of Penner, likeability of Arse and flirtatiousness of Parvatti. But he was a heroine addict that people hated, Aras says. So like Colton we shall see how much he's grown.

Candice and John. Candice is not as much of a throw-in as people might think. She was on a tribe way back with the Yul/Becky Korean alliance and switched tribes cuz she thought she was way down the pecking order. Let's be fair, she WAS! But after that nobody trusted her and she was even a villain on H vs. V. No wait! She was an H! Because Probst saw what I saw: courage to jump off the tribe divided by race on the season divided by race. Yul ended up winning btw. I think she might be good but John is one of Probst's early faves and I think he might be one of mine. His only weakness might turn out to be his unshakable trust in his wife. Would THAT be fun if he eventually got blindsided by Candice!

Gervase and Marissa. Gerv was the laziest survivor ever! Said he ws saving strength for challenges but as I recall not a standout especially in swimming challenges. He said that nothing is dumber than a woman except maybe a cow. Maybe why he is teamed with his niece not wife or girlfriend. Marissa doesn't have an impressive resume. Likes to party though and Probst likes the way she separates herself from Gerv. Not much between them methinks.

Kat and Hayden. Kat lasted MUCH longer than she should have in her Survivor season. Then cried like she was ripped off when she left. Blew challenges. and used her age as an excuse. She is young and hot so glad to see her back but has no chance. Her boyfriend, however has won a reality show already. Hayden won Big Brother 12 and is one of Probst's early picks. He can't wait to compete with or against Kat and watch the relationship grow. Hah. Not if it's against.

Laura and Ciera. Can't wait to see Laura again! I remember liking her as the only one savvy enough to see through Russel Hantz's crap and being voted off for it. But not before he tried to ally with her , wasted some immunity idolsand she won several immunity challenges. This gal is good. Almost thwarted super villain Russel's plans and if she had ANYone to work with that season, probly would have. Probst is all excited about her daughter. Preggers at 17,against gay rights, (Colton killer #7?), and quite the go-getter. Lists inspiration as her DAD! Slap!!! I think Mom may just be teaching her some hard life lessons. Either way a colourful pair. Threat might be recognized early though.

Monica and Brad. No Sherlock Holmes sleuthing necessary here, Monica wants redemption for her railroading that was orchestrated by Colton. She won't last long afterwards because she is too loud and hubby Brad would like nothing more than to sacrifice himself to achieve that end. Brad could be a good player if not for the NFL career that has paid every bill for his family if they all live to be 100. He doesn't need the dough and won't hide that. I want him to stick around longer than he likely will though. I think.

Rupert and Laura. I still like the big bear-like, baby-talking pirate even if he can't build a shelter to save his life. He DID win a mil though as people's fave so he no longer needs money. He's dropped 50+ lbs. and looks lean and reay. Jeff Probst seems to think his wife will be a hindrance though. His idolization of her saying she's better than him at everything is sweet but doubtful. If she gets turfed early I don't think Rupe will be long for the game without her. And I think that may happen early because there should only be ONE Laura and we know which one that is. I would hate to see Rupert cry and give up but he is only there for his wife I reckon. And she could go early.

Tina and Katie. Tina won Survivor once and got ousted first because of that on her second appearance. She might have a few extra days because of Colton but no reason to think she won't go early again. However, since there are so many people who don't need the cash we could see an old and rich alliance or two. Her daughter Katie seems very strong willed. Lists a strong, independant woman who takes no crap as her hero. Also likes yoga and ukulele. Arse and bro like yoga. Hmmm... Less feminism and more ukulele and she could last.

Tyson and Rachel. Come on! Where did he find this decoy? Will this be the season Tyson finally makes the not so shocking announcement that he is gay? At least he will be fun to have around. He will do his best to split up the pairs and some look to be imminently splitable. Rachel is the most under the radar player so far. I have watched video and read profiles and she seems to be playin it close to the vest. Like the imposter she is! Haha. She and Tyson both believe they deserve the money though. That is a turn-off.

So I want Laura and John to win but think it might be Aras and Hayden. Should be fun!