It is a given in Middle Eastern politics that whenever a politician is feeling the heat, the default tactic for distracting people from whatever woes are pissing them off is to start throwing wild accusations at Israel. For extra added points they can even accuse the ‘Zionist entity’ of whatever it is that you are in fact doing.
Given that Israel had the opportunity to kill Yassir Arafat a thousand times over once he became a (more or less) regular political figure with a regular address in Palestine and a daily routine, for Assad of Syria to start suddenly claiming that Israel assassinated Arafat, a man who was well known to be sick and old and who was really an increasingly irrelevant figure towards the end, strikes me as the sort of thing that would be done by a man who is frantically looking to divert attention away from something else (like maybe his propensity to bump people off in Lebanon).
The Israelis are usually pretty upfront about their willingness to conduct assassination against their enemies, so perhaps it is time the Israeli airforce paid Assad a visit and when asked why they killed him, they should reply “Why not? We wanted to give folks in Lebanon something to smile about and in any case we would have been accused of killing him anyway regardless of how he eventually snuffed it”.
The Israelis should go in there and whup his sorry assad.
Not a patch on “Dassault folks” for punning, I’m afraid.
Deleted by admin: Off-topic. Please do this sort of thing via e-mail
Terror summit in Syria
Bashar, Amadijihad, Hamas, PFLP-CG, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah’s Nasrallah meet in Damascus. I kid you not.
Quick! Somebody tells Bush! This is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity!
As I’m in favor of complete deregulation with regards to all drugs, and the reinclusion of commercial speech into the 1st Amendment, there is nothing I might say that this fellow could allow himself to hear. Sorry.
Assad-lite is similar to the malignant dwarf in North Korea—a second generation dictator who is way out of his depth. He’s not long for his throne, or this world, most likely.
Iran is a serious concern, but only because the anti-US nature of “official” world opinion precludes most effective types of action in response to their continuous provocation.
We’re giving our betters in Europe the chance to do their diplomatic dance, but, really, it’s all for show. The US will do what it decides to do for what it perceives as being in its best interests.
I doubt the fifth column domestically, or the collectivist leaders of world opinion, will support any assertive action from our side, regardless of the circumstances.
I truly fear that the mullahs in Iran may not realize who they’re playing chicken with, as the Japanese didn’t awhile ago. The end results might look pretty similar, also.
It is odd that so many people keep forgetting how utterly ruthless we can be when provoked. Too bad.
veryretired – I don’t think it’s just “when provoked”. Americans are practical people. Possibly the most pragmatic people in the world. They employ the means to get the job done. This is the point that a lot of peoples miss when they’re whining about America. End of the day, America will do what it deems is necessary.
So many topics in a single post…
Syria – complete basket case, hardly matters. I have a feeling that Syria may be the next country to be ‘adjusted’ rather than Iran, because the place is in such chaos.
NHS stuff. Interesting blog actually, and he has been so good as to reply to HJ’s comments: http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com/2006/01/dr-crippen-accused-of-being.html
Drug advertising is absolutely hilarious. I am not a clinician, but amuse myself at work looking at the adverts in medical journals. Drug advertising is a tradeoff – the fees paid by advertisers fund a large chunk of medical activity, but the adverts themselves result in at best an increased cost of drugs, or at worst, both that and a lower standard of care. I suspect the balance is currently in the favour of doctors rather than drug companies however.
Deleted by admin: Off-topic.
Then don’t. Can we keep this on-topic please.
Verity,
If the Persians are dumb enough, maybe they’ll blow up a French subway or something. Then we can all sit back and let the Eiffel boys do the job.
Yeah, right.
Wha………?
There is no bigger fan of the United States than me. Where on earth did you get your fanciful comment from? This is quite offensive.
A [successful] French attack on Iran, unlikely as it may be, would be the best option for everyone really.
[Sorry, accidentally knocked post before I’d finished]
Can’t see the French attacking Syria however – no nukes involved so it would require proper fighting.
I would hardly describe a nucleaqr attack on Iran which would probably kill hundreds of thousands if not millions of people as the “best” option, particularly as it would only happen after some similar horror was visited on France!
Nor would (or indeed, did) I.
The rumour is that Chairman Arafat died of A.I.D.S.
However, given the growing strength of strict Islam among the Arabs (Christian Arabs in the area are virtually nonexistant outside Lebanon, these days), they would be prepared to say anything rather than admit that.
Of course, conservative Chrisitians would not be too happy with homosexuality (or rather bysexualality in Chairman Arafat’s case) either.
General Constantin Munteneau, Romanian liaison officer to the PLO
quoted in Efraim Karsh’s ‘Arafat’s Wars'(Link)
If I offended you, Verity, I am sorry, but I don’t understand what it was that did it. This thread is so chopped up I don’t want to continue with it any further.
Very retired – I’m with you. I have no sense of direction or argument here. (I thought you were responding to an imagined insult to America, which assuredly was not the case.) Anyway, as you say, this thread is a mess and I am also getting out. Next thing you know, we’ll have a baying mob on our hands. Pax and, as a fan of your posts, I hope you feel the same.
I have a feeling that Syria may be the next country to be ‘adjusted’ rather than Iran, because the place is in such chaos.
The Iranians are a lot closer to becoming a nuclear power.
Whatever happens to Assad will be done in a way that does not preclude dealing with the mullahs.
We need a few more divisions. If all they accomplish is keeping bastards from thinking they can get away with something because we’re busy elsewhere, they will be well worth it.