More Jingoism at the Washington Post

"If the fighting continues to spread, important U.S. allies, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey, could be destabilized; both are indirectly backing Sunni fighters. The fragile political order in Iraq, bought with thousands of American lives, could collapse. Al-Qaeda could acquire new recruits and sanctuaries across the region. The best means of preventing this, as State Department Middle East experts have been pointing out for months, is to accelerate the downfall of the Syrian regime. There are several ways of doing that, short of direct military intervention: materiel aid to the rebels is one. Now that its refusal to take that step has led to the very consequences it warned of, the administration would be wise to reconsider. "  Washpost editorial

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The Washington Poat and New York Times fed us this kind of jingoistic nonsense before we invaded Iraq.  The claim was made that Iraq = Nazi Germany.  Today Kurdistan - Tomorrow the Sudetenland!  What rot!  and they are doing the same thing again.  In those days Judy Miller and Michael Gordon led the charge in NY but the Washington Post was not far behind.  Today ,the neocon Post editorial page apparently cannot wait for the day when American infantry will bleed and die in Syria.  The unholy trio of McCain, Graham and "Deputy Dog" Lieberman seem eager supporters of that aspiration.

The Post admits that Saudi Arabia and Turkey are material supporters of the Sunni jihadi insurgents in Syria.  Turkey and Saudi Arabia are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim in their populations.  The Post nevertheless thinks that Turkey and Saudi Arabia will be de-stabilized if fighting continues.  Well. if that is so, let Saudi Arabia and Turkey stop supporting the insurgency.

Sunni Turkey has announced that it will give permanent sanctuary to al-Hashemi, the condemned Sunni VP of Iraq.  What a surprise! Not!  I did not think for a moment that the pious Sunni Turk, Erdogan, would deliver a kinsman of the prophet (Al Hashimi) to die on a scaffold in Baghdad at the hands of the Shia.

If there are any people left in the State Department who have a clue about the Middle East they should  all hold up their hands!   Oh!  There's one over there!  pl 

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/us-stands-by-as-syrias-violence-spreads/2012/09/10/e8c36246-fb71-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_story.html

Comments

[Jose]

The bigger, IMHO, threat is Turkey becoming more Wahhabi in their outlook as a result of cooperation with Saudi Arabia.

Remember Pakistan cooperating with the Mujahedin in the 1980's and the multiple changes to the Pakistani ISI and Company-grade officers at the time.

[Medicine Man]

Interesting how the punditry flirts with the truth by acknowledging Turkey and SA's involvement with the insurgents in Syria but doesn't go so far as to spell out the implications. Their employment must depend on that shortsightedness.

[mbrenner]

I see little point in critiquing the substance of the editorial since all its asserted 'facts' are wrong; its premises unjustified; its logic non-existent; and it's dishonest in masquing the truth that it began with a conclusion dictated by its commitment to the Netanyahu view of the world. This is a crude political act - nothing more. It should be analyzed as such.

[Medicine Man]

Col.: Is there any substance to the Post's claim that the insurgency in Syria could destabilize SA and/or Turkey? While I think you're right to skewer the logical fallacies on display, I have wondered for some time if the Saudis might be playing with fire encouraging rebellion the way they are. Though ostensibly Whabbist, might not the rulers of Saudi Arabia be vulnerable to challenge from fundamentalists in their own country?

[The beaver]

Colonel

Erdogan has likened the violence in Syria to the battle of Karbala:
http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/09/07/turkey-pm-erdogan-compares-syria-violenc?videoId=237594830

Later on it was reported that he said that his remarks was misconstrued but this is not the first time that he has referenced Karbala ( last yr when NATO was urged to help the rebels in Libya)

[turcopolier]

MM

Only if their jihadi allies do not win and they can be accused of not supporting them enough. pl

[John Adamson]

This week's Bloomberg Business week has a lead article by Jeffrey Goldberg which is essentially neocon propaganda.

The article didn't amaze me, but the fact that Mr. Goldberg's status as an US-Israeli dual was not disclosed did surprise me.

Actually, I shouldn't have been surprised. The media are fundamentally dishonest when it comes to promoting Israel's interests. Maybe I'm naive, but I would expect better from Bloomberg.

[Tony]

"Only if their jihadi allies do not win and they can be accused of not supporting them enough."

What if Iran and Iraq fed up with SA and Turkey and decide to return the favor by instigating violence in those countries? just a thought!

[Petrous]

As always, this is another excellent post about the ME and the one sided optics used by some of our leading papers to look at the events there. Do the guys advocating the sacrifice of our sons and daughters in foreign wars ever pause and think for a moment about what they preach. Or because most of them have no stake in the volunteer army nary a thought is given to the lives at risk?

Why in the world would it matter to the stability of Saudi Arabia or Turkey if Bashar Assad stays? Is antagonizing Iran worth the spillage of our, or anybody else's blood? Saudi Arabian Procrustean gerontocrats would be better off thinking about their own internal weaknesses, and how their own demise might blossom by sowing the seeds of sectarian hatred all over the region. Turkey also seems to forget that the meddling in Syria could have consequences not only for its Kurdish population (the most oppressed of the region) but for the more than half a million Alawiis living in Turkey. Most all of whom are strong supporters of the Alawite president of Syria.

[Babak Makkinejad]

In fact, Ayatollah Khamenei, in a speech 2 weeks ago observed that other countries could experience a similar situation as Syria if arms are given to their protestors and malcontents.

At the time, I considered that to be a warning and a threat.

[Ishmael Zechariah]

Tony,

This is already happening in Turkey. Erdogan, who did his military service as a private manning the canteen of his unit, is learning that playing "Ataturk" is not that easy. Pity he did not learn this when he tried to ride.
http://okans.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/ata-nasil-binilir/

Ishmael Zechariah

[Pirouz]

lol, Colonel I think it's spelled "Deputy Dawg".