JG, Caesarea News Alert: Anthony Weiner Offered to Host News Discussion Program

Having acknowledged that he had inappropriate online relationships with women and indeed sent a lewd photo over Twitter, Anthony Weiner has stated that he will not resign from the U.S. House of Representatives.

This has prompted House Minority Leader Nancy "Assad is a model Arab leader" Pelosi (D-Calif.) to ask for a House ethics committee probe into whether official resources had been mishandled.

Meanwhile, I have it from a highly unreliable source that Weiner is considering an offer to follow in the footsteps of Eliot Spitzer and host a news discussion show to be entitled "The World in Briefs". Just imagine:

"You give us five minutes, and we'll give you the world . . . in briefs."

Naksa Day: Israel Responds to Syrian Casualty Figures

In response to the claims of Syrian Health Minister Wael al-Halki that 23 persons storming Israel's border with Syria yesterday were killed, and 350 were wounded, in commemoration of Yawm an-Naksa, i.e. the "day of the setback," referring to the 1967 Six Day War, Israel finally got around to responding (http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=223886):

"[Israeli Defense Minister] Barak told Israel Radio that he believed the death count was under 20.

The Army said that at least eight protesters who died in Naksa Day border clashes were killed by land mines that exploded on the Syrian side of the border, after the rioters threw gasoline bombs, which exploded in a field, starting a fire that then set off the mines."

Israel still hasn't learned that this is a "real-time" world, and this highly relevant information should have been conveyed to the media much earlier.

Golan Heights Violence: CNN Changes Its Home Page Headline

Earlier today CNN ran the following headline on the home page of its website:

"4 killed, many injured in Golan Heights protests

Four protesters were killed and nine wounded when they attempted to cross the heavily-fortified Golan Heights between Syria and Israel."

I contacted CNN:

"This [the alleged number of dead] is based upon Syrian television, which is notoriously inaccurate and attempting to distract the Arab street from what is occurring within Syria. Four died? Did a CNN reporter see the bodies? Their names please? Or does CNN also seek to participate in the incitement?"

CNN has now changed the home page headline:

"20 reported killed as protesters, Israeli forces clash

Twenty protesters were killed today in Golan Heights clashes between Israeli forces and pro-Palestinian demonstrators, Syrian TV reported."

I don't know if I am responsible for the change in the headline. However, I am surprised Syrian TV is not claiming 1,000 dead among those bussed by the Assad regime to the Syrian border with Israel to commemorate Yawm an-Naksa, i.e. "day of the setback," referring to the 1967 Six Day War.

Thomas Friedman, "Advice for China": Look to Tunisia

In his latest New York Times tour de force entitled "Advice for China" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/opinion/05friedman.html?ref=opinion), Thomas Friedman recommends that China heed the Arab Spring, which, according to Tom, is all about human dignity:

"If you want to know what brings about revolutions, it is not G.D.P. rising or falling, says [Russian historian] Aron, 'it is the quest for dignity.' We always exaggerate people’s quest for G.D.P. and undervalue their quest for ideals. 'Dignity before bread' was the slogan of the Tunisian revolution. 'The spark that lights the fuse is always the quest for dignity,' said Aron. 'Today’s technology just makes the fire much more difficult to put out.'”

Very inspiring, Tom, and I, too, seek out the assistance of Russian historians when attempting analysis of events in the Middle East. But let's also have a look at what's really happening in Tunisia. As reported by Reuters yesterday (http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE7531GQ20110604):

"Three people were killed and 90 wounded after rival clans clashed over access to jobs in the central Tunisian mining town of Metlaoui, the Interior Ministry said Saturday.

Clan members used homemade bombs, guns and iron bars against each other after a rumor spread in the town that only certain tribes would be offered jobs at the nearby Gafsa phosphate complex. Shops were looted and set on fire."

Indeed, just another example of "dignity before bread." By the way, this was not the first such "dignified" occurrence in Metlaoui since the January uprising, which was largely prompted by joblessness.

Incidentally, I just spoke over a noisy "monitored" line (my hearing has been damaged over the years, and I had trouble understanding everything that was said) with a grumpy senior official from the menacing Ministry of State Security in Beijing, who extended his gratitude to Tom for this gratuitous advice, mentioned something about a terrible haircut (What does my hair have to do with human dignity?), and mumbled "fàng pì" (I have since learned the translation) when hanging up the phone.

New York Times Editorial, "President Assad’s Bloody Hands": A New Level of Hypocrisy

In an editorial entitled "President Assad’s Bloody Hands" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/opinion/04sat2.html?_r=1&ref=opinion), The New York Times decries the failure of the United Nations Security Council to condemn the murder of civilians in Syria:

"Most appalling, the United Nations Security Council is unable to muster the votes to condemn the bloodshed much less impose sanctions. Russia, cynically protecting longstanding ties with Damascus, is blocking meaningful action and China has fallen in lockstep. India is also reluctant to act — a shameful stance for a democracy that has been bidding for a permanent seat on the Council."

Remarkably, this editorial never once mentions Obama's appointment of Robert Ford as ambassador to Syria or Obama's failure to recall him.

In 2005, Assad explicitly approved the murder by Hezbollah of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a friend of the West, and the U.S. ambassador to Syria was recalled by President Bush. Obama, however, made it the cornerstone of his foreign policy to reach out in friendship to heretofore "misunderstood" tyrannies, e.g., Iran and Syria. In furtherance of this revolutionary foreign policy, Obama repeatedly sent Senator John Kerry, who aspires to be the next U.S. secretary of state, to court Assad in Damascus.

Bypassing Senate confirmation and seeking to avoid public scrutiny by acting while many were on holiday, Obama appointed Robert Ford as ambassador to Syria at the end of December 2010 (see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/29/AR2010122904168.html). This move has now backfired on Obama, leaving him in a quandary how to clean up the mess.

The New York Times Editorial additionally states:

"After the killing began, the United States and Europe imposed sanctions — mostly travel bans and asset freezes — on certain key regime officials while exempting Mr. Assad. Only later did they add his name to the list. The rhetoric is stiffening. On Thursday Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton declared that Mr. Assad’s legitimacy is 'if not gone, nearly run out.' But some American and European officials still buy the fantasy that Mr. Assad could yet implement reforms."

Assad's legitimacy has "nearly run out"? Hillary's rhetoric is "stiffening"? Hillary's declarations are as stiffening and useless to the protesters in Hama as a bottle of Viagra. Recall Hillary's declaration in late March in which she sought to shield Assad from disapproval (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/27/ftn/main20047627.shtml):

"There is a different leader in Syria now, many of the members of Congress of both parties who have gone to Syria in recent months have said they believe he's a reformer."

Once again, the U.S. ambassador to Syria should have been recalled months ago without consideration for what the United Nations Security Council does or does not do. Shame on Obama, shame on Hillary, and shame on The New York Times!

Obama, Recall Ambassador Ford from Syria!

Sixty-three protesters were murdered throughout Syria yesterday by Assad's security forces, but mostly in Hama, in the worst outbreak of violence since the beginning of unrest in this country. The horror came as no surprise (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.com/2011/05/civil-war-in-syria-beginning-of-end-for.html).

Homework: Go the website of the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria (http://damascus.usembassy.gov/). Although there is a very lovely picture of Ambassador Robert Ford, do you see any mention of the violence sweeping Syria?

Now click on "News & Events" in this website. Do you see any mention of unrest? I don't. Sickening.

Bypassing Senate confirmation and seeking to avoid public scrutiny by acting while many were on holiday, Obama appointed Robert Ford as ambassador to Syria at the end of December 2010 (see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/29/AR2010122904168.html). It's high time for Obama to acknowledge his mistake in reaching out to the world's most barbarous regimes and immediately recall Ambassador Ford.

David Brooks, "The Depravity Factor"

Bless you, David Brooks!

I am usually critical of almost everything that finds its way onto the op-ed page of The New York Times; however, Brooks's "The Depravity Factor" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/opinion/03brooks.html?_r=1&ref=opinion) was a startling exception.

Brooks tells us that there won’t be peace so long as depraved regimes, such as Syria and Libya, and depraved organizations, such as Hamas, are "part of the picture." He tells us "to focus on the nature of regimes, not only the boundaries between them." And he concludes that the "Arab reform process," rather than negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, "is the peace process."

Brooks begins:

"By now you have probably heard about Hamza Ali al-Khateeb. He was the 13-year-old Syrian boy who tagged along at an antigovernment protest in the town of Saida on April 29. He was arrested that day, and the police returned his mutilated body to his family a month later. While in custody, he had apparently been burned, beaten, lacerated and given electroshocks. His jaw and kneecaps were shattered. He was shot in both arms. When his father saw the state of Hamza’s body, he passed out."

Here is a link to the video that the boy's family placed on the Internet and to which Brooks refers. THE PICTURES OF THE DEAD BOY ARE GRAPHIC AND HORRIFYING, AND DO NOT VIEW THIS VIDEO, WHICH UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD BE SEEN BY CHILDREN, IF IT IS APT TO CAUSE YOU MENTAL DISTRESS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7flXwSv9aQ0

I would add that this is far from the only graphic evidence of the brutality of the Assad regime (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.com/2011/04/assad-hillarys-reformer.html), and I have been calling upon the Obama administration to recall the U.S. ambassador to Syria for the past two months, but to no avail (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.com/2011/04/recall-us-ambassador-to-syria-now-shame.html). Bypassing Senate confirmation and seeking to avoid public scrutiny by acting while many were on holiday, Obama appointed Robert Ford as ambassador to Syria at the end of December 2010, and Obama is reluctant to acknowledge his mistake (see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/29/AR2010122904168.html).

Brooks states:

"World leaders have tried sweet-talking Syria, calling Bashar al-Assad a friend (Nancy Pelosi) or a reformer (Hillary Clinton)."

But among Americans, Pelosi and Clinton are not the only ones who should be ashamed. Consider the conduct of Senator John Kerry, whose special relationship with Assad was scrutinized by The Boston Globe (http://articles.boston.com/2011-04-28/news/29483723_1_assad-senator-john-kerry-damascus):

"Kerry, a leading proponent of the Obama administration’s controversial attempt to improve relations with Syria, has publicly warned Assad not to kill his own people. But Kerry has not called for him to step down, as he did with embattled leaders in Egypt and Libya."

Kerry wants to be the next secretary of state?

And what about Jimmy Carter, who has often met with Assad and bragged that he has known the Syrian leader since he was a college student (see Peggy Shapiro's "Assad: Fooled us twice, shame on us": http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/03/assad_fooled_us_twice_shame_on.html).

Today, I am expecting a bloodbath in Syria when Syrians leave the mosques and confront Assad's security forces, which are being assisted by thugs from Hezbollah and counterinsurgency experts from Iran. As I have stated in the past, Assad's days are numbered, notwithstanding the indifference of the Obama administration to this human tragedy.

[To my "friends" from Assad's security apparatus in Damascus who regularly read this blog: Time to start packing your bags, boys.]