Article

2003-10-25 Syria-Lebanon

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Posted by Paul Moloney 2003-10-25 9:28:56 AM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 "...Sheik Ghassi â known as Abul Qaqa, the name of one of the early followers of the Prophet Muhammad and the Arabic word for the sound of clashing swords â ..."

..First, is there ANYBODY in this part of the world who doesn't have a freakin' alias?
Secondly, I'm gonna ask Sheik Gassy - I mean, Ghassi - to hold up his Koran and see how well it deflects a Mk84 JDAM.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2003-10-25 10:28:16 AM|| 2003-10-25 10:28:16 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 "Abul Qaqa"? I hope the 'q' is pronounced like a 'k'.

Seriously, who's surprised? Syria's been using the religious loons to wage a proxy war, and now the snake's looping back to strike them.

Posted by Robert Crawford 2003-10-25 11:03:23 AM|| [http://www.kloognome.com] 2003-10-25 11:03:23 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Abul Qa-Qa? Can't imagine anyone can take him seriously with that name.

Posted by Steve White 2003-10-25 5:55:57 PM|| 2003-10-25 5:55:57 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 Now that Baathism has fallen flat on its face, Assad is turning to Islamist private armies to bolster his rule. What he is doing is like someone breeding poisonous snakes in his own backyard - getting bitten is only a matter of time.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2003-10-25 6:14:26 PM|| 2003-10-25 6:14:26 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Ba'athism was always such a wanky ideology - you're only an Arab if you have faith in the 'eternal mission' of the Arab Nation etc etc. Even fellow Arabs like Fouad Ajami were of the opinion that Aflaq was full of shit.
But in the course of an interview, he suggested that Islamic rule here would be something organic once everyone realized that the faith can solve the countryâs problems. Wasn't that Ali Belhaj's line: How will you reduce the tax burden if the FIS come to power? You'll pay women salaries to be housewives - where will the money come from? What will you do about the foreign debt? Ah, there will be an islamic solution!
Seriously though, has the boy Asad never heard about what happened to Sadat? Isn't it slightly daft to encourage a Sunni revival when most (all?) Sunnis see Nusayris (Alawites) as disgusting heretics?

Posted by Dave 2003-10-26 6:31:15 PM|| 2003-10-26 6:31:15 PM|| Front Page Top

02:52 Qaraqul
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