Turkey Refuses to Join US-led Coalition Against ISIS

Perhaps you remember how Obama named Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan as one of his best overseas friends in 2012.

You cannot possibly have forgotten how Obama and Kerry sought to force Israel to accept Turkish and Qatari mediation involving its war with Hamas this past summer.

Well, we are now being told by Lebanon's The Daily Star that Obama's friend Erdogan has decided not to participate in the coalition being formed by Obama to attack the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Yet another Obama diplomatic success is clearly in the offing . . . not.

Thomas Friedman, "Tell Me How This Ends": Tom Terrific Tells Syrians to Cooperate

It took Thomas Friedman two years to grasp the effect of the drought in Syria and its relationship to the ongoing rebellion against the Assad regime (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.co.il/2013/05/thomas-friedman-without-water.html). Obviously pleased with himself, Friedman is back today with an op-ed entitled "Tell Me How This Ends" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/opinion/friedman-tell-me-how-this-ends.html?_r=0), providing an easy as pie answer how to propel Syria, Yemen, Libya and Egypt into the 21st century:

"The only way for these countries to catch up is by people uniting to mobilize all their strength. It is for Sunnis, Christians and Alawites in Syria to work together; for the tribes in Yemen and Libya to work together; for the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafists and liberals in Egypt to do so as well, particularly in implementing the proposed International Monetary Fund economic reforms. In today’s globalized world, you fall behind faster than ever if you are not building the education, infrastructure and economic foundation to take advantage of this world — but you catch up faster if you do."

Heck, why didn't I think of that? All they need to do is cooperate! Just think: If Sunnis and Alawites in Syria, Muslims and Copts in Egypt, and Sunnis and Shiites in Yemen were all to stop hating one another, they could "catch up" with the West!

But in order to "catch up," they might also need to stop engaging in female genital mutilation in Egypt and put an end to "honor killings" of their mothers, daughters and sisters throughout the Muslim Middle East and Turkey.

Arm the rebels in Syria? Friedman also has some remarkable thoughts:

"So let’s do something new: think two steps ahead. Before we start sending guns to more people, let’s ask ourselves for what exact ends we want those guns used and what else would be required of them and us to realize those ends?"

That's brilliant, Tom. We need to "think."

Meanwhile, as reported by Lebanon's Daily Star (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/May-21/217817-hezbollah-role-in-syria-grows-more-prominent.ashx#axzz2TqlVMRsw) in an article entitled "Hezbollah role in Syria grows more prominent":

"Hezbollah was drawn deeper into Syria’s civil war as 28 fighters from the group were killed and dozens more wounded while fighting rebels, opposition activists said Monday.

The intense battle in Qusair, part of a government offensive aimed at securing a strategic corridor from Damascus to the Mediterranean coast, drove rebels from large parts of the town.

. . . .

[I]t took Hezbollah troops a few hours to take control of the city’s main square and municipal building. By the end of the day, they had pushed out rebel units, including the AlQaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, from most of Qusair, he said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by both sides."

Hezbollah vs. al-Qaeda? Kind of like Freddy Krueger from "A Nightmare on Elm Street" vs. Jason Voorhees from "Friday the 13th."

Should we just let them continue killing themselves?

All fine and good, were it not for the fact that more than 80,000 people, mostly innocent civilians, have died since the start of the uprising in Syria, which has resulted in 1.5 million refugees. (Syria has a total population of some 22 million.) That's a helluva lot of human suffering.

Think two steps ahead, as Tom suggests? Thinking is good, but that's a lot to request from a gun-shy Obama administration, which is reaping the rewards of "lead from behind" in Libya and enmeshed in domestic scandals.

US troops in Syria? No way in hell, but that doesn't mean that the US shouldn't be more proactive to stop the slaughter.

Hezbollah vs. al-Qaeda: "Freddy vs. Jason"

Did you happen to see the 2003 movie "Freddy vs. Jason," a 2003 American slasher film, which pits Freddy Krueger from "A Nightmare on Elm Street" against Jason Voorhees from "Friday the 13th"? Quite honestly I never saw it, and it's certainly not on my list. (I don't think you can pay me enough money to watch it.) So why even mention this "classic" flick?

As reported by Lebanon's Daily Star (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/May-21/217817-hezbollah-role-in-syria-grows-more-prominent.ashx#axzz2TqlVMRsw) in an article entitled "Hezbollah role in Syria grows more prominent":

"Hezbollah was drawn deeper into Syria’s civil war as 28 fighters from the group were killed and dozens more wounded while fighting rebels, opposition activists said Monday.

The intense battle in Qusair, part of a government offensive aimed at securing a strategic corridor from Damascus to the Mediterranean coast, drove rebels from large parts of the town.

. . . .

[I]t took Hezbollah troops a few hours to take control of the city’s main square and municipal building. By the end of the day, they had pushed out rebel units, including the AlQaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, from most of Qusair, he said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by both sides."

Hmm.

Hezbollah vs. al-Qaeda, Freddy vs. Jason . . .

All fine and good, were it not for the fact that more than 80,000 people, mostly innocent civilians, have died since the start of the uprising in Syria, which has resulted in 1.5 million refugees. (Syria has a total population of some 22 million.) That's a helluva lot of human suffering that has gone ignored by much of the world.

A New War Between Hezbollah and the Syrian Rebels?

As reported by Lebanon's Daily Star (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2013/Feb-20/207161-fsa-says-will-hit-lebanon-in-response-to-hezbollah-fire.ashx#axzz2LMEi0Mgs):

"The rebel Free Syrian Army warned Tuesday it would strike back at Hezbollah if the party did not halt its attacks on Syrian territory.

'If Hezbollah does not stop shelling Syrian territories, villages and unarmed civilians from inside Lebanese territory within 48 hours, we will respond with our arms to the sources of its fire and silence them inside Lebanese territory,' the FSA command said in a statement.

It urged residents in the eastern city of Hermel near the border with Syria to stay away from Hezbollah’s rocket launchers and military posts.

The FSA again accused Hezbollah, a key ally of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, of 'committing massacres' in Syria with 'artillery cover from inside Lebanese territory.'"

Or in a nutshell: Assad is growing desparate in his battle against Syrian rebels, and Iran has ordered Hezbollah, its Lebanese proxy, to take immediate measures to reduce the pressure on the Syrian mass murderer. Meanwhile, as hundreds more Syrian civilians die in the fighting each week, Obama continues to watch from the sidelines.

Iranian President Ahmahinejad: Israel Is a Cancerous Tumor Soon to Be Excised

When Obama became president, one of his first diplomatic initiatives was to make overtures to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which, according to several of his close aides, had been "misunderstood" by the Bush administration. See below his naive March 2009 Nowruz address to the Iranian leadership:



You will also recall Roger Cohen's infamous series of New York Times op-eds from Iran during the first six months of 2009, declaring that Iran is "not totalitarian." And there were also the incessant guest New York Times op-eds written by Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett, imploring Obama to forge a new approach toward Iran.

When Iranians took to the streets during the July 2009 Green Revolution to bring down the Ahmadinejad regime, Obama, wishing to cozy up to the mullahs, did nothing as protesters, calling out his name, were gunned down, tortured and imprisoned.

And there have always been those from the left who denied Iranian intentions to annihilate Israel. Well, there can no longer be any denying Tehran's plans.

As reported by Lebanon's Daily Star (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Aug-17/184932-tumour-of-israel-will-soon-be-destroyed-ahmadinejad.ashx#axzz23uytDpvD), Iranian President Ahmadinejad stated yesterday:

"'The Zionist regime and the Zionists are a cancerous tumour,' he said. 'The nations of the region will soon finish off the usurper Zionists in the Palestinian land.... A new Middle East will definitely be formed. With the grace of God and help of the nations, in the new Middle East there will be no trace of the Americans and Zionists,' he said."

Even Roger Cohen would have a hard time misconstruing these words.