Article

2012-07-06 Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Assads childhood friend, a trusted military chief, defects

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Steve White 2012-07-06 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11129 views ] Top

#1 Didn't Tlas senior write a particularly vile antisemitic book concerning "Jewish Blood Libel"? If so, I hope his stay in Paris is short with a quick trip to the morgue a la Mossad.

Posted by borgboy 2012-07-06 01:18|| 2012-07-06 01:18|| Front Page Top

#2 This would pretty much spell the end of it for Assad, at least with any alliance he had with certain Sunnis.

Posted by crosspatch 2012-07-06 01:36|| 2012-07-06 01:36|| Front Page Top

#3 Dictators don't have any friends. They can't afford them.

Posted by mojo 2012-07-06 13:22|| 2012-07-06 13:22|| Front Page Top

#4 From the BBC:

Gen Tlas has been under a form of house arrest since May 2011 because he opposed the security solution that the regime has been implementing, sources say.

My guess is that anyone Sunni Arab in any kind of senior role is a figurehead supervised by an Alawite (political) commissar. In other words, he gets a slice of the graft but not the power associated with his position.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2012-07-06 17:01|| 2012-07-06 17:01|| Front Page Top

#5 Dictators don't have any friends. They can't afford them.

They don't get much in the way of retirement benefits either. No gold watch for Assad. Well, I used to say Qdaffy should have found himself a nice little dacha on the outskirts of Moscow. But he waited too long to go for it. Maybe someday soon we'll get to see if Pencilneck is any smarter.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2012-07-06 18:32|| 2012-07-06 18:32|| Front Page Top

#6 Maybe someday soon we'll get to see if Pencilneck is any smarter.

If he can get Russia to ward off a NATO intervention, he will crush the rebels. Gaddafi's mistake was in cosying up to the West; his comeuppance was a matter of time after that. The world has discovered that the West will support a Hitler as long as he comes to power via the ballot box.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2012-07-06 23:40|| 2012-07-06 23:40|| Front Page Top

23:40 Zhang Fei
23:13 Rambler in Virginia
23:11 Rambler in Virginia
23:07 SteveS
23:04 SteveS
22:34 Procopius2k
22:19 rjschwarz
22:12 Besoeker
21:42 Redneck Jim
21:35 Thing From Snowy Mountain
21:34 Redneck Jim
21:26 Frank G
21:24 Glenmore
21:21 Dale
20:51 Secret Asian Man
20:46 Barbara
20:46 swksvolFF
20:28 Thing From Snowy Mountain
20:19 gromky
20:15 rammer
20:07 Frank G
20:04 trailing wife
20:02 Frank G
19:49 Dale