mardi 8 septembre 2009

A New Lebanese Government?.

Mr. Hariri presented his proposed cabinet to the President of Lebanon Mr. Suleiman, amidst cries of rejection from the Lebanese opposition. So will the President sign the formation of the proposed government?. I personally doubt it, because the price to pay may well be more than just heightened tensions between the various Lebanese political groups. But didn't prime minister designate Mr. Hariri already know that?. Certainly and without any doubt, but I think either, he had to give up on becoming the next prime minister, or keep the support of his political allies whom have been demanding the formation of a majority government; after all they had won the elections, and simply release the responsibility for any failures from hismself by throwing the hot potato into the lap of President Suleiman.

The Temptation of Dividing Iraq.

The Temptation of dividing Iraq, has always been there. Aa implausible as it was at the time, according to the KGB and the World; Mitrokhin Archive II, the resident KGB officer in Cairo Shelepin, conceived a remarkable plan to support Kurdish rebellion in Northern Iraq, and tell President Nasser of Egypt then [1961] if the rebellion succeeded, Moscow might take a benign look at the integration of the non-Kurdish part of Iraqi territory with the United Arab Republic {Egypt}, on the condition of Nasser's support for the creation of independent Kurdistan

Memories of Places in the Arab World.

I have often wondered, if certain places in the Arab world, do not have their own independent memories. Take for instance Islamic history. The Ummayad Dynasty in Damascus, set out to subdue Iraq [modern day] as well as Egypt [modern day]. The the Abbassid Dynasty, set out to subdue Damascus as well as [modern day Egypt]. The Fatimid Dynasty in Cairo, set out to subdue the other two. All belong in terms of geneology, to the family of Prophet Muhammad. Then, the Hamadani Dynasty in norther Syria and Mosul, the Boid Dynasty (Buwayhis) in Baghdad, and the Ikhshidis in Cairo, were at constant warfare with each other. All were Shiite dynasties. In modern times, Baa'th in Damascus, Baa'th in Baghdad, and Arab Nationalists in Egypt were openly hostile to each to other. The three stood for greater Arab unity. Now, Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo are at serious logger-heads with each other. I can'r find anything in common between the three regimes, except, they are based in countries with independent memories of their own.

samedi 5 septembre 2009

The New Iranian Government.

The mainly Basij and Pasdaran composition of the new Iranian government, indicates a shift away, from the powers of Qom and the Mullahs, towards more powers to the Iranian military. This forcing the Supreme Guide Khamina'i to hold the stick from the middle; albeit tilting more towards the military, either for reasons of "real plotik", or because he senses the dangers to the powers of the Mullahs and consequently to himself, or even for both reasons. If the rumors are true about his rapidly failing health; after all there is talk of his successor being the former Minister of Justice, yet, if this trend of militarisation continues and gains in strength, it could be very likely that, Ayattullah Khamina'i will be the last Supreme Guide in Iran and with with him, the concept of "Velyat-i Faqih" will go also. But, were there initially any differences between the objectives of the Mullahs and the Iranian military?. maybe not, but the last elections have shown that, it is all about power and who should be the power behind the Iranian presidency. When the military gains the upper hand, so do the military options, and when society is put primarily in the service of military options rather than religion, it means that, the mask has finally fallen of the face of the Iranian regime, exposing its real belligerent and expansionist face, with dreams of imperial ambitions.

vendredi 4 septembre 2009

Welcome friends to my blog. Please feel free to contribute with anything you like on the Middle East. At one point, I shall start contributing articles on the region for your comments.
kj