Democracy of the assignment of the Istanbul council

Arab affairs

Democracy of the assignment of the Istanbul council

Among the most important messages carried by the Tunisia conference tackling the situation in Syria, and for which the American decision-makers and the Gulf funds mobilized governments and committees from around the world, was the presentation of the real actual of the alleged democracy featured in the Western rhetoric in regard to the situation in Syria. Indeed, the handling of the representation of the infighting Syrian opposition movements in the conference, revealed a scandal at the level of the Western democratic claims toward Syria, at a time when the Qatari and Saudi claims are in themselves a scandal that does not require any proof. What happened was the outcome of an experience truly worth studying after a long labor which lasted an entire year. There were thus intensive attempts deployed with the participation of the American, French, British, German, Turkish, Saudi and Qatari governments and intelligence apparatuses under the headline of unifying the Syrian opposition and producing an institution that represents it and enjoys credibility on the international and Arab levels, and naturally on the Syrian domestic level.

What happened in Tunisia exposed the standards and the way the West and its agents in the region perceive democracy, i.e. as a futile and exposed cover for colonial hegemony. The Tunisia conference appointed the Istanbul council as the exclusive representative of the opposition movements and consequently asked the coordination committees domestically and abroad and all the opposition figures residing in Cairo, Tunis, Riyadh, Istanbul, Doha and Paris to file membership requests to the council which will set conditions for this membership and earn funds and weapons from the colonial Western alliance and the collaborating governments in the region. In other words, it will fully subjugate all the oppositionists seeking a share from the spoils/aid. This method in organizing the ranks of the competing and infighting Syrian opposition movements is an assignment based on an American-Western-Gulf-Turkish decision that has nothing to do with democracy.

It clearly shows that the plan targeting Syria wishes to achieve the political project announced by Borhan Ghalioun in the name of the Istanbul council that is under the control of the Muslim brotherhood organization in Syria. The West thus wishes to impose the dictatorship of its agents in the Syrian opposition movements to establish a collaborating dictatorship in the country, if the plan to topple the resisting regime were to succeed. The opposition movements whose formation is undemocratic and is determined by international and regional intelligence apparatuses cannot promise their people democracy. And the opposition movements that are assigned by colonialism and its agents to head the attack on the country are a mere Syrian version of the gangs of agent Antoine Lahd and the militias of the Lebanese Forces which collaborated with Israel during the Lebanese war.

We thank the Americans and their agents in Tunisia for having exposed that reality based on their collective enthusiasm towards the group of agents, while it would be shameful for some Syrian oppositionists to continue wagering on the possibility of seeing joint action with such a gang used by the West to control them. The Tunisia conference miserably failed as it was agreed on by all the observers, considering that the steadfastness of Syria, its people and its national state blocked the way before all the wagers and toppled the illusions, at a time when Syria is witnessing a referendum over a new constitution.

New analysis

The renewed Syria launches the Arab liberation movement

The popular referendum over Syria’s new constitution represents an important development on the Syrian and Arab levels and sets the foundations for Syria’s move towards a new political system mainly characterized by democracy, plurality and renewed institutions governed by a popular will expressed via the ballot boxes.

Firstly, the parliamentary democracy featured in the new Syrian constitution represents a new phenomenon in the Arab countries, whether at the level of the formation of the executive authority through the election of the prime minister via direct popular voting or the formation of the cabinet by the parliamentary majority. This means that the rules adopted in democratic regimes will be the ones governing the formation of the authorities, thus rendering the Syrian republic the first democratic Arab republic governed by popular will. In all the Arab countries which witnessed an action during the past year, the labor leading towards change is still obstructed due to the intensive colonial pressures and the provoked chaos activated by the foreign intelligence apparatuses and Israel to paralyze the Arab capabilities and prevent these states from ever rising again. Indeed, Libya is on the brink of civil war, Egypt is suffocated by security mayhem, political conflicts and American and Gulf pressures to protect the Camp David accord, Yemen is barely able to ensure the implementation of the settlement between the opposition and the Congress Party led by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, while in Bahrain the American-Saudi intervention blocked the way before the political solution and unleashed the hands of the monarchy to slaughter the peaceful popular revolution.

Secondly, in this scene dubbed by the Americans and their aides the Arab Spring, Syria is standing fast in the face of the global war and moving towards its Arab Spring under the command of President Al-Assad. The reform project proposed by President Bashar al-Assad years ago was originally based on this national state’s need for renewal and the elimination of bureaucracy and corruption while taking into account the essential developments on the political, economic, and cultural levels. The modernization and progress proposed by President Al-Assad since 2000 expressed his belief in the necessity of feeling the popular pulse and meeting the people’s needs, which is why he directly headed towards the drafting of a new constitution and the launching of a total renewal process affecting the state’s structures and institutions based on popular aspirations.

Thirdly, with the end of the referendum over the constitution and the launching of its implementation, the resisting Syria will revive its strength and its leading liberation role in the Arab nation as a civil, independent and resisting state in which all the citizens are equal at the level of their rights and obligations.

The last few months confirmed the solidity of the strategic partnership opposed to American hegemony. This partnership was established by President Al-Assad during the most difficult years in the history of Syria and the region. The battle will be decisive in order to crush the strongholds of the armed gangs and regain stability, based on which the construction process will be launched to present an archetype to all the Arabs from the Ocean to the Gulf.

News analysis

The collapse of the Saudi wager in Syria

The reaction of Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal towards the decisions of the Tunisia conference, marked the announcement of the failure of this conference and conveyed the great disappointment endured by the colonial alliance and its Arab tools in light of the great difficulties facing the plan to destroy Syria.

Firstly, while in Tunisia, the minister of the oppressive monarchy established by the Al-Saud family headed the calls to organize a military campaign to invade Syria. This did not convince anyone, especially after the leaders of NATO among the presidents and prime ministers of its member states announced their abstinence from engaging in any military venture in Syria. Certainly, this colonial alliance is not abstaining from engaging in a new war due to a conscience awakening, rather due to the fact that it is drowning in the swamp of the Western states following their defeats in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also in light of the suffocating financial crisis that has depleted the reserves of the Gulf governments ever since the Wall Street collapse. Hence, Saud al-Faisal’s yelling will not solve any among the problems facing whichever side that might even consider becoming implicated in the war on Syria. The West knows very well that Russia and China are standing firmly alongside Syria due to the partnership they enjoy with its command in the context of the strategic plan to liberate the world from American hegemony. As to the Russian fleet that is present off the Syrian coasts, it is not there to conduct any sightseeing. It is rather the spearhead of the partnership to defend the principle of international balance and reshape international relations based on new foundations.

Secondly, the West and Saud al-Faisal in particular know that Iran and the Lebanese resistance clearly announced that any attack on whichever party in the resistance system, including the Gaza Strip where Hamas is oscillating between the enticements of the West and the resistance option, will be dealt with as an attack against all the members of this system and will prompt a deterring response whose main cost will be paid by Israel. Saud al-Faisal is well aware of the fact that - in the Western calculations - Israel is more important and precious than all the Arab governments. The biggest proof for that is the American position towards the ousting of Hosni Mubarak, i.e. the most important leader in the American hegemony system throughout the last three decades. Hence, what is preventing the West from carrying out any adventure in Syria is this exact existential threat facing Israel in the event of any war that might be triggered by an adventure against Syria, Iran or the Lebanese resistance. The kingdom of the religious police is the last one allowed to talk about human rights and democracy, at a time when it is humiliatingly succumbing to foreign and Israeli will in the region. For his part, Saud al-Faisal is clearly conveying the hatred felt by the kingdom and its leaders towards Syria, due to its liberation and resistance option, but also due to President Bashar al-Assad’s deterrence of all the attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause throughout the past years, and his rejection of all the Turkish, Saudi, Qatari and French enticements and offers.

Thirdly, the Saudi rush to escalate the war on Syria is motivated by another point, i.e. the belief that the destruction of the Syrian strength will sever the strategic ties between Iran, the Palestinian cause and the resistance forces. This is being dubbed by the Saudis and their men in the media outlets as being the striking of the Syrian bridge allowing Iran to expand its influence in the region. Certainly, this Iranian influence they are tackling is the mere popular echoing of Iran’s positions in support of the Palestinians cause and in defiance of Western will, in parallel to its construction of a superior power on the economic and technical levels by use of its own capabilities. In the meantime, the Saudi kingdom of oppression is drowning in backwardness and settling for the accumulation of weapons in its warehouses, with no other task but to maintain the flow of the oil money into the treasuries of the impotent West.

The Arab file

Palestine

The soldiers of the Israeli occupation are continuing to violate the Al-Aqsa mosque alongside Jewish extremists, which provoked the eruption of confrontations between Palestinians stationed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the occupation’s police. In the meantime, the occupation aircrafts are still launching raids against the Gaza Strip from time to time, thus leading to the injuring of many citizens.

The head of the settlement’s council Naftali Benet, proposed a plan to annex more than 60% of the West Bank to Israel, grant the Israeli nationality to 2% of the Palestinians in the Bank and place the Gaza Strip under Egyptian responsibility following its severance from the West Bank, without allowing any Palestinian refugee to enter the region under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Iran

Israeli Chief of Staff Beni Gantz, said that all “It is important that we exploit the full range of our capabilities in regard to Iran,” adding: “We must follow the developments in Iran and its nuclear project, but in a very broad manner, taking into account what the world is doing, what Iran decided, what we will do or not do.”For his part, American Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey cautioned that any Israeli attack on Iran will undermine stability in the entire region. The Iranian commander of the armed forces responded by saying: “Iran will adopt a preemptive measure against its enemies if it feels that its national interests are at stake.”

Syria

On the field, the security forces are continuing to pursue the elements of the terrorist gangs, thus arresting a number of them while others surrendered to the relevant authorities on their own. Politically, President Bashar al-Assad met with the head of the foreign relations committee in the Russian Duma, Alexi Pushkov, who confirmed Russia’s support of the ongoing reforms in Syria and the necessity of sustaining the efforts to reach a political solution to the crisis based on dialogue between all the sides and far away from foreign intervention. He also stressed the importance of security and stability in Syria as a key part of stability of the Middle East region and the world, expressing his country’s rejection of any foreign intervention in Syria’s domestic affairs. For his part, President Al-Assad expressed his appreciation of the position of the friendly Russian people and command towards Syria.

During the so-called Syria’s Friends conference which was held in Tunisia on Friday, the Gulf States called for a more powerful intervention against President Bashar al-Assad. The Tunisian president thus proposed the dispatch of a joint Arab-international peacekeeping force to Syria while Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal called for the increase of the pressures on President al-Assad, adding that the only solution to the crisis would be the transfer of power, whether voluntarily or by force, and that the idea of arming the Syrian opposition was excellent.

On Sunday, all the Syrian provinces witnessed a popular referendum over the new constitution draft which guarantees democracy and plurality in the country. The Syrian television channels covered the various polling centers and quoted participants in the process as saying they supported this new constitution and the Syrian state’s reform course that was launched by President Bashar al-Assad. They assured that their participation in this referendum conveyed their rejection of the foreign and domestic attempts to undermine the Syrian state’s security and stability.

Israeli file

The Israeli papers issued this week tackled the visit of American National Security Adviser Tom Donilon and Intelligence Chief James Clapper to Israel to meet with the political and military command, tackling the American warning to Israel and assuring that these repeated warning served the Iranian interests. Maarev quoted the French Le Figaro as saying that Jordan will post land-to-air Patriot missiles which will help protect the Israeli airspace. For its part, Haaretz shed light on the letter which President Shimon Peres intends to convey to American President Barack Obama in regard to his opposition of any military attack on Iran, and his statements in which he assured that the threats being issued by Israel towards Iran could be relinquished.

The Israeli warnings then addressed the intensification of Hezbollah’s presence in Africa, quoting Israel’s representatives at the United Nations Ron Prosor as saying that Hezbollah was transferring weapons and funds via the African continent where it has formed sleeper cells, and calling on the countries around the world to deter Hezbollah’s activities and its main financier Iran.

Lebanese affairs

News analysis

Pietton failed causing Chevallier’s return to negotiate.

French Ambassador Denis Pietton visited Baalbek. But in fact, the French ambassador went to the North Bekaa region to accompany a French diplomatic-security-military mission which headed with diplomatic vehicles belonging to the embassy towards the Lebanese-Syrian border, specifically to an area close to the province of Homs. There are soldiers, officers and technical experts affiliated with the French military intelligence on Syrian soil, some of whom impersonating journalists to infiltrate Syria via Lebanon in an illicit way.

Firstly, Pietton was in Baalbek to cover his actual mission, i.e. to evacuate the dead and wounded among other French elements participating in the formation of the armed gangs following the defeat which affected these gangs in Homs at the hands of the Syrian Arab army that is liquidating the terrorist strongholds and trying to restore stability to Syria. During the last few months, multiple Western reports tackled the direct French interference in Syria, as well as Lebanon’s use as a platform for this interference. Moreover, numerous reports spoke about French officers supervising the organization of the armed gangs in the Lebanese North, as well as their training, in preparation for their introduction into Syria. At this level, the murder of French journalist Jacquier revealed that many agents from the French apparatuses headed to Syria via illicit ways or through smuggling paths, while claiming to be reporters and journalists. Some of them are connected with the French intelligence apparatuses that provide them with the names and addresses of the leaders of the terrorist gangs, to whom they convey messages and with whom they coordinate while introducing sophisticated communication devices and countless pieces of information and instructions in the context of the attack on Syria in the media and on the field.

Secondly, what is actually happening is that a superpower such as France is relying on smuggling paths to introduce its agents into Syria, using the same roads to evacuate them when the going gets tough. All the attempts of the French mission which was dispatched on the Lebanese-Syrian border to evacuate the agents and the corpses of those who were killed among them failed. But what was noticeable was the arrogance of Sarkozy’s government and that of his Foreign Minister Alain Juppe in tackling this issue, while claiming it was related to correspondents trapped on the battlefield while in fact they snuck into Syria without the authorization or knowledge of the Syrian authorities.

The French despair and the failure of the attempt led by Pietton from Hermil were not distant from the decision to reinstate the French ambassador to Damascus on Friday night, considering that the evacuation of the corpses and the wounded and the search for missing agents have become governed by talks with the Syrian authorities that closed most of the border passageways. Pietton failed in his smuggling attempts and Chevallier was summoned to negotiate. However, the bitter truth which will face other capitals in Europe and the region will be related to the way they will negotiate with the state against which they conspired to evacuate the agents that have fallen under its control.

Lebanese file

Minister of Labor Charbel Nahhas placed his resignation at the disposal of the head of the Change and Reform bloc General Michel Aoun who said: “The resignation reached me and its handling will be with the government and not with me,” adding: “We are awaiting the ratification of the transportation allowance to proceed.” Minister Gibran Bassil presented the resignation to the prime minister, following which the premiership announced it has decided to accept this resignation after consultations between the prime minister and President of the Republic Michel Suleiman. Minister Nicolas Fatoush signed the transportation allowance decree based on the decision issued by the Cabinet, and Judge Salim Jreysati was appointed as Minister of Labor as per the decree signed by President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon saw the renewal of its term for an additional three years starting on March 1, as it was stated by the deputy spokesman for the United Nations Eduardo Del Buey. He added that through this step, Ban Ki-Moon was confirming the United Nations’ commitment to the efforts deployed by the STL to expose the truth in regard to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and twenty two others and the presentation of those responsible before justice. Following the end of the term of STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, it was learned on Sunday that Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for former Yugoslavia, Canadian Judge Norman Farrell, will be the next STL prosecutor.

On the other hand, Hezbollah’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah stressed the importance of upholding Lebanon’s stability in the face of those wishing to generate anarchy in the country, indicating that those who wanted to lead Syria, Libya and Iraq towards civil war were determined to spread mayhem in Lebanon. Sayyed Nasrallah then wondered: “Why this insistence on rejecting the solution in Syria and on adopting the anarchy option in the country? Whom does it serve? Why are they demanding freedom in Syria and rejecting it in other states?” He then stressed that the United States was trying to spread anarchy, indicating that the army, people and resistance equation will protect the country, and calling for the protection of the current government to uphold security and political stability.