US, French envoys warn Assad: If army storms Hama, Turkish troops march in!

[Xavier_Onassis]

It was not possible to verify the report Friday.

Iran, Les Echos said, could also provide 290,000 barrels of oil to Syria each day over the next month while helping to boost border controls to stop Syrians from fleeing the country for Lebanon with cash.

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I really doubt that this would be very useful. Odds are that most Syrians have already moved their money. Iran is having serious economic problems and constant gasoline shortages. You should quote Al Jazeera, not Debkafiles or other sources, all of which tend to be pro Zionist.

[Christians4LessGvt]

You should quote Al Jazeera, not Debkafiles or other sources, all of which tend to be pro Zionist.

You should learn to read.....
This article was clearly marked & sourced as being from Yahoo News & Reuters. (not Debka)
Rather than create debka boogeymen why not just admit your statement was dead-wrong
about Iran's support for Assad.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Iran has yet to give this aid to Syria. Maybe this is just more typical Iranian posturing. Iran and Israel are all into this typically truculent posturing.

The entire American media is pro-Zionist and always has been. Iran has no practical reason to support Syria, though perhaps the Ayatollah wants to show solidarity for a non-Sunni government there. The best sources for unbiased information will not be Israeli, American, Syrian or Iranian.

Assad will eventually have to pack up and leave, no matter what Iran does.

[Christians4LessGvt]

The entire American media is pro-Zionist and always has been. Iran has no practical reason to support Syria,

You live in a fantasy land.
No US media is credible on reporting anything in the Middle East? 
Iran has sent large amounts of military hardware, funds, advisors, to it's ally Assad.
Ahmadinejad awarded Assad Iran's highest medal of honor.
If as you say "Iran has no practical reason to support Syria"...then why do they?
Yeah sure....these guys aren't close buddies! 

[Christians4LessGvt]

Iran has no practical reason to support Syria,

Iran Praises Syria's Resistance

23/08/2009


Photo: Iran?s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, R,
and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised on Wednesday key ally Syria for its "resistance" in the face of world powers in a meeting with visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, state media reported.

"Syria's most important characteristic among Arab countries is its steadfastness and resistance," Khamenei said, noting Syria's "excellent standing" in the region.

Khamenei said "the resistance front" in the Middle East "should strengthen its cooperation and ties," the state news agency IRNA reported.

"America's blade has become blunter in the region," Khamenei added.

"The unity between Iran and Syria is the embodiment of resistance in the region," the supreme leader said.

Khamenei also branded as "very positive" Syria's improved relations with Iraq and said that unity between Iran and its western neighbours, Iraq and Turkey, and with Syria would benefit the region.

Assad arrived in Tehran earlier on Wednesday on a one-day visit during which he congratulated Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his re-election, which he said was a "lesson for foreigners," IRNA reported.

"I have come here today to cordially congratulate you and the Iranian people," Assad said, according to IRNA.

"What happened in Iran was a major event and a great lesson for foreigners, that is why they are so upset," the Syrian president said.

Assad also insisted that relations between regional allies Syria and Iran and their positions on Middle East issues should remain unchanged during Ahmadinejad's second four-year tenure.

"Iran and Syria should pursue their... policies in the region," IRNA quoted Assad as telling Ahmadinejad.

He added, the report said without elaborating, that meetings between Iranian and Syrian officials are "necessary to send a message to faraway countries and those in the region as they have a weak memory and forget the lessons they learned."

Ahmadinejad for his part said "Iran and Syria are in the same trench" and insisted that the West "terribly needs the help and cooperation" of the two regional allies.

"Every political event is an opportunity that we should fully exploit with each other's help," Ahmadinejad said, without giving details.

Assad's trip comes after France praised Syria for helping secure the release on bail of French university teaching assistant Clotilde Reiss and an Iranian employee at the French embassy in Tehran

The two were detained for their alleged role in the riots that broke out after Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election. Assad last visited Iran in August 2008.

http://www.tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=3496

[Xavier_Onassis]

Again, this is truculent posturing. It is what governments in the Middle East always do.

Alawites are a breakaway Shiite sect, and Assad is an Alawite.

As I said, with Iran's money or without it, Assad is not likely to last much longer.

I note that your Tripoli Post, a Christian Lebanese newspaper is about two years out of date. 23/08/2009 is the date on this.

I don't give the Iranian regime too long, either.

The US is a close ally of Israel, that makes it an enemy of Syria. Iran has been pissed off at the US ever since the days of the Ayatollah. An enemy of an enemy is a friend, they say. These posed photos are the political equivalent of Barbie-Sue in her prom dress.

[Christians4LessGvt]

I note that your Tripoli Post, a Christian Lebanese newspaper is about two years out of date.

And I note that the date of this article...being around 2 years
old...has no bearing on the point that Iran is and has been a
major supporter of Assad for years.

XO I hope you are correct about the departure of both regimes,
but I am not convinced the new regimes would be much of an improvement,
but I suppose any improvement would be a plus.

I think Obama's grand scheme is to "Turkey-ize" the Muslim countries.
Obama wants to use Turkey as a model....that Muslim countries can be democratic & secular
We're a long way from that today....but it may be do-able.
Instead of the Bush vision of American-izing the backward Muslim world
it may in fact be more realistic to try and Turkey-ize them.
I think Obama thinks the Muslim Brotherhood might be a player in making this happen.
We'll see......

[Xavier_Onassis]

It would be a great thing if every Middle Eastern country had a Turkish style democracy. But neither the US nor Turkey can make this happen. Syria and Iran could have worse regimes than they have now, but the fact is that both have oppressive and rather incompetent governments that seem to be preventing progress toward the potential of their people.

If Obama does all he can to help this happen, then he is on the right track. The US has supported brutal dictatorships (Mubarak, the Shah, the Sauds) for far too long. I suppose we still support the Saud family because if left to the male electorate, anyone they elected would be worse from the standpoint of both Israel and Big Oil than the Sauds are.

If Saudi women were more liberated and given the right to vote, then that could change everything there, but I do not see this happening anytime soon.

More demonstrations in Syria this Friday. I do not see how Assad can stay in power, since all his resources are being used to repress the people.

He perhaps should return to eye surgery, he was said to be good at that.

[Plane]

If Saudi women were more liberated and given the right to vote, then that could change everything there, but I do not see this happening anytime soon.

What changed about America when the US extended the vote to women nationally?

I think that is when we stopped electing ugly men as president.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I think that is when we stopped electing ugly men as president.

Lyndon Johnson was handsome? Effective, yes, but he was pretty ugly.

Tall, yes, he was over 6'5", but handsome?

Harding, FDR, JFK, Reagan, and Clinton were handsome. Coolidge, Hoover, Ike, Carter, both Bushes and Obama were about average.

If you look at earlier presidents, I don't think they were more or less handsome or ugly than later ones.

We have stopped electing bald guys and fat guys, and of course, short guys and guys with squeaky voices.
I don't think McKinley, Taft, Monroe or TR would be elected these days.

[Plane]

Lyndon Johnson was handsome? Effective, yes, but he was pretty ugly.

Tall, yes, he was over 6'5", but handsome?

The only time he was elected he had incumbent advantage.

IHarding, FDR, JFK, Reagan, and Clinton were handsome. Coolidge, Hoover, Ike, Carter, both Bushes and Obama were about average.

If you look at earlier presidents, I don't think they were more or less handsome or ugly than later ones.

We have stopped electing bald guys and fat guys, and of course, short guys and guys with squeaky voices.
I don't think McKinley, Taft, Monroe or TR would be elected these days.

So you basicly agree with me?


Going one further , Saudi Women would vote much as Saudi Men would unless the issue involves gender directly.

But you had better not be ugly.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Saudi women might or might not vote as Saudi men do. They have been oppressed for far longer, after all. American women were not arrested for driving or showing their hair and mouths in public before Wilson was president.

I do not know whether Saudi women tend to be as fanatical about religion as Saudi men. Islam seems to be more a man's religion. Christianity tends to be more a women's thing. In Mexico, churches are filled with women even when nothing is going on. There are usually very few men except for mass.

Saudi men do not have a vote for anything significant as of now. The Saudi king not only rules the country, but he owns it as well.

I do not think that women as a group vote for more handsome candidates, but clearly some do.