Shaken and Stirred in the Middle East

Adam's Apple

Senior Member
Apr 25, 2004
4,092
449
48
Shaken and Stirred
By Josh Manchester, TCS Daily
July 20, 2006

The US invasion of Iraq has so shaken and stirred the Middle East that some exceptionally strange things are happening. More importantly, these things unequivocally favor the US in influencing the outcome of the Israeli-Hezbollah War now taking place in Lebanon.

What sorts of strange things? Well, consider an Arab League meeting in Cairo over the weekend, where a fight of sorts broke out. Jed Babbin described it best:

"This meeting began with the Lebanese foreign minister Fawzi Salloukh proposing a resolution condemning Israel's military action, supporting Lebanon's 'right to resist occupation by all legitimate means' ... The Lebanese draft also called on Israel to release all Lebanese prisoners and supported Lebanon's right to 'liberate them by all legitimate means.' ... The Syrian foreign minister, Walid Moallem, strongly supported Lebanon and Hizballah. But an historic obstacle was raised that blocked the Lebanese endorsement of terrorism.

"The Saudi foreign minister, al-Faisal, led a triumvirate including Egypt and Jordan that, according to the AP report, was '...criticizing the guerilla group's actions, calling them 'unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible acts.'' Faisal said, 'These acts will pull the whole region back to years ago, and we simply cannot accept them.' . . . The Arab leaders are frightened that the acts of the terrorists they have coddled for decades might have consequences for them. And they are very frightened of what Iran may do next.'

These regimes would most certainly not be afraid of what Iran may do next if Saddam Hussein still ran Iraq, providing for the Arab world a deterrent against Iran.

In fact, this leads to the second strange event of late: Saddam's own comments, as reported in Deutsche Presse-Agentur, about the war in Lebanon:

"Toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has issued a warning to the Syrian leadership 'not to go too far in its alliance with Iran,' blaming Tehran for the current flare-up of violence in the Middle East, the head of Saddam's defence team claimed Tuesday ... 'I am convinced that the Iranian and US agendas have met in Iraq and elsewhere in the Arab world and Arabs are now placed between the US-Israeli hammer and the Iranian anvil,' Duleimi quoted Saddam as saying."

for full article:
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=072106B
 
On the same topic:

Arab World's Awakening Brings Hope
By Michael Goodwin, The New York Daily News
July 19, 2006

With bombs and rockets falling and civilians getting killed in three countries, it is hard to see any good news in the Mideast. But amid the carnage, there is hope. Like a ray of sunshine piercing the darkness, some Muslims are beginning to awaken to the danger of the Islamic extremists in their ranks.

A handful of Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia, are openly criticizing Hezbollah for starting the war with Israel. In the annals of Arab versus Jew, it is rare for any Arab country to publicly air the family's dirty laundry, especially during a war. Yet that is what Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and several smaller Persian Gulf countries are doing. The Saudi foreign minister, speaking at an Arab League conference, called Hezbollah's attacks "inappropriate and irresponsible" and warned they "will pull the whole region back to years ago and we cannot simply accept that."

The awakening is even spreading to Iraq, where The New York Times reported that Sunnis, the fiercest opponents of our troops, now say they want Americans to stay to protect them from other Muslims. Some Sunni leaders want us to send more troops, according to The Times, which recounted this scene at a Baghdad mosque: "When an American convoy rolled in recently, a remarkable message rang out from loudspeakers of the Abu Hanifa Mosque, where Saddam Hussein made his last public appearance ...

"'The American Army is coming with the Iraqi Army - do not shoot,'" the voice said ... "'They are here to help you.'" Wow! Say it again: "The Americans are here to help." That's music to my ears.

for full article:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/col/goodwin/story/436187p-367451c.html
 

New Topics

Forum List

Back
Top