Persiflage & Paroxysm

In   Syria , the oldest Christian town in the world was attacked, Christians were forced to flee for their lives, even a Christian officer who defected from the Syrian Army to the rebel’s side is to be put to death by an Al Qaeda affiliate for being an infidel. In   Egypt , churches are burned, Christians are assaulted and Christian priests are worried about going out in public wearing their religious vestments. The wave of violence in the   Middle East  has targeted other minorities as well, in fact any Muslim sect not conforming to the strict interpretation of the faith Al Qaeda subscribes to, which includes moderate Sunnis, are targeted. The feeling that there is still worse to come is palpable all across the   Middle East . Fear hangs thick in the air and that fear takes on many shapes, one of those is a conservative reactionary impulse, an urge to conserve and hold on to the largely secular values and principles all Arabs seem to share and all grew up believing in, chiefly amo

After a resounding US diplomatic defeat and the effective retreat of US power in the region, whether by accident or by design (a design by Obama the left wing radical, as some right wing writers in the US claim), the Rouhani Op-ed comes hot on the heels of Putin's Op-ed at a time of changing power dynamics regionally and perhaps globally. Both Russia and Iran wish to appear as the new regional leaders, the wielders of 'soft power', enlightened and progressive, desirous of dialogue that leads to win-win deals, in other words eager diplomatic beavers, ready to sponsor dialogue between all parties in a Middle East long used to zero-sum politics. And the Arabs, they are no where to be seen on the foreign policy map, they are too busy mopping up the blood from their streets, cleaning up the wreckage of the so-called Arab Spring, still embroiled in zero-sum local tribal politics. If the US failure was in fact a success for Obama's supposed policy of disengagement from d

The emergence of Russia as a significant power in the Eastern Mediterranean acting as a counterweight to US regional hegemony has raised certain intriguing possibilities and revealed new paths that could lead to a final peace settlement across the board in the region. The Middle East tragedy has played out in many miserable acts, persisting through the cold war and beyond well into a new century that ought to hold great promise for justice and peace for the world.  Twenty years after the Oslo Peace Accords were signed the region is still in flames and in worse condition than it was on the eve of the 1991 First Gulf War. The accords were not a peace treaty signed between warring sovereign States matched in strength and power, it was a treaty between the victors and the defeated. The cold war ended favorably for Israel and disastrously for Arafat's PLO, especially after he backed the wrong horse following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces.  The accords turned the

Evolution is not extravagant, it gives a creature just enough of an advantage to dominate in a certain environment and survive. Evolution tries to conserve energy and resources when apportioning out muscles, brains, and skill sets to all creatures in this world. The question that begs to be asked then is why do we have such large brains, brains that are clearly too large for us to use fully?  It's like a child wearing his mother's high heels, they just don't fit him, it's too much shoe! We use only five percent of our brains, the rest of that capacity lies idle as far as we know. That five percent in fact is too much for us to handle. We struggle with existential issues and issues of mortality and death and have to create myths of a life after this one to sooth our ever active minds. So why would evolution be so needlessly generous (and cruel in a way) with brain power? It makes no sense. Every other animal species has just the brain power they need to get o

In an unprecedented move in the annals of diplomacy, often a sedate, stuffed shirt and highbrow affair, the Russian President addressed the American people directly through the New York Times. Former spy and lieutenant colonel in the KGB Vladimir Putin posted his NY Times article in both Russian and English on his facebook page. Thus is the world we live in, a world of instagram, tweets, facebook, and mobile phone camera footage from laymen and women used on news broadcasts instead of real journalism. The article was exceptional in many ways, not least of which the warnings it contained against the use of force by the US without UN Security Council authorization. Putin warned that the planned US strike against Syria would result in more innocent victims and would spread the conflict ‘far beyond Syria ’s borders’ and ‘unleash a new wave of terrorism’. He pointed out that this strike could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue and the Israeli-Palest

A game of chess has been played in the Eastern Mediterranean between two giants and the result is plain for all to see. The squirming and writhing and sweaty brow of the American antagonist is evidence of this. The US's chief concern is not for peace in our time or any time, nor is it too concerned about the use of chemical weapons, no, its chief concern is for its own waning, flickering power. No President wants to be the one who presides over the decline of American power. To date the Americans have been brilliant surfers, coasting along on a mighty wave that peeked with victory over Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan and post World War II economic growth. The wave is about to break and its not going to be pleasant. Syria has the dubious distinction of being the trigger for America's decline as a global policeman. The US cannot afford not to strike after all that has been said, after all the warnings they issued and after nailing their colors to the mast, otherwise they wi

To all those cheering along from the sidelines (Arab League) and hoping the US ‘limited’ strike on Syria would somehow tip the scales in favor of the Syrian opposition and the Free Syrian Army, think again! This foolhardy strike would have truly ‘catastrophic’ consequences as the Russians have warned. Iran is prepared to retaliate should the US strike Syria , but not against US military targets against Israel . An attack on Syria “means the immediate destruction of Israel ,” said General Mohammad Ali Jafari, chief of Iran ’s Revolutionary Guards. Even if Iran does not retaliate, Syria could and probably will. Many seem to think that because the regime did not retaliate against Israel whenever the later bombed targets within Syria that the regime would absorb the US hit and not strike back. The regime was always wary to maintain a tense stand off at all times with Israel, not wishing to give the US or Israel any excuse to attempt regime change in Syria, but this propos