Jumblatt and the rest of his rabbid family of rodents need to be violently torured before execution--English style. Hariri and the rest of his **** family mafia need the same treatment.

When this Zionist **** is finally killed by his Zionist masters, and if it turns into something big, Syria should go into Lebanon and completely obliterate ANY and ALL 'Lebanese/Lebanonese (Zionists)' dissidents.

Lebanon has been one of the biggest pains in the ass in the area for too long, and I don't like how it's just allowed to be like that. All they do is cause trouble.

The sooner we can unite the Arab people and silence Zionist dissidents, the sooner, and easier, we can get rid of the Zionist mutants and 'their' country. Then, we can rebuild Palestine, the ACTUAL nation in that wedge of land. When the Zionists are gone, and Arab nations become one, or in any way united, the Arabs will be able to crush America economically and politically, as well as militarily, should the Americans try to pull off another innevitable failure of an attack on a human nation.

The end of Zion is the beginning of peace.

I'm not sure I agree with Mr Anonymous' extreme and simplistic solution. I agree though, Jumblatt is getting desperate.

"torured before execution--English style." ? Don't you mean kordaha style? Torture is the one thing we are more advanced at in the middle east.

Dude, I assure you nobody wants to unite with idiots like you. It is a shame that people like you think they represent the majority of decent people in Syria.
Jumblat might have had a bloody history but for the last couple of years he has been one of the more vocals liberal vopices in the middle east.

Sasa,This will make you and your readers proud of Bashar Asad and explain Jumblat's rants and frustration,

Published: 31/12/2006 12:00 AM (UAE)

Syria poised to assert itself
By Seth Wikas, Los Angeles Times-Washington Post



Hafez Al Assad, the father of Syrian President Bashar Assad, established Syria's primacy in the Levant and transformed a country ravaged by nearly 30 coups in 24 years into a country led by one leader for nearly 30. The elder Assad made sure that Syria manipulated events in the Middle East, and not the other way around. Seeking greater influence outside his borders, he succeeded in bringing Lebanon under his heel and made Syria a main patron of the Palestinian cause.

Although Bashar Assad does not possess the same state-building skills as his father, the US quagmire in Iraq, Syria's strong ties to rising power Iran and Damascus' support of Palestinian terrorist groups have all recently converged to offer Assad his first real opportunity to manipulate Middle Eastern affairs on a grand scale.

With Washington and Tel Aviv shutting their doors to dialogue, Assad is forging his own way ahead in Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The US and Israel think Syria will be a regional "spoiler", but neither country is offering enough or threatening enough to make Syria a "helper".

Over the past few weeks, Syria has woken up to its two most pressing problems: the continuing deluge of Iraqi refugees and a dire economic crisis. Syria's resources to deal with its 800,000 (and growing) Iraqi refugees are stretched to the breaking point, and this problem is more important for it to address than the international community's wish that Syria stop the 150 foreign fighters who cross each month into Iraq from Syria's eastern border.

Syria is also keen on stabilising this border in order to restart the Syrian-Iraqi oil pipeline. In the 1990s, oil discoveries in eastern Syria fuelled Syria's economy, accounting for more than 50 per cent of exports.

From 2000 until the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Syria illegally imported discounted crude from Iraq for its domestic needs, while exporting its own oil on the international market. By 2009, Syria could become a net importer of oil. With oil production decreasing and an economy slow to reform, the country is headed for an economic crisis.

Saving Syria, of course, is Iran, which has invested many millions of dollars in the country. This financial assistance and Iran's growing influence in the Gulf have changed a previously balanced relationship to more of a patron-client arrangement.

Syrian-Iranian ties have also changed Syria's sphere of influence in Lebanon. While Hezbollah vies for greater influence in government, and the investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri drags on, it is unclear whether Syria will regain the supreme hegemony it once had in Lebanon.

What is clear is that Syria still plays a dominant role in Palestinian politics. With Hamas leader Khaled Meshal ensconced in Damascus, Assad is a welcoming host, allowing his guest to be the main arbiter in the formation of any viable Palestinian government. Assad has indicated a willingness to conduct peace negotiations with Israel without preconditions, but the full return of the Golan Heights has been and always will be the price of Israeli-Syrian peace. At this point, such a return seems unlikely.

Like any other country, Syria does what is in its best interests. The crisis in Iraq affords Syria the opportunity to lurch forward in dealing with its economic and refugee problems, and it will use this progress as leverage against other states. While it vigorously protects key Palestinian leaders, Damascus' strong ties with Iran insulate Syria from Israeli military action. Without official Israeli or US interest in engagement, Syria continues to solidify an axis that grows increasingly impenetrable.

Assad's father would be proud.

Seth Wikas is a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

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Perusing through Google Earth, an excellent program that wastes lot of time if used at work, imagine my surprise when, looking over the Occupied territories and Syrian Jolan heights, I noticed several interesting things. Apart from the fact that somebody in Google is a hardcore closet Zionist that is. Firstly, Lake Tabarayah is firmly included within Israels border line (just about) and not included in what Google show as the Occupied Jolan heights. The Syrian border is at Lake Tabarayah, not behind it. Secondly, Jerusalem is written in its Hebrew pronunciation instead of its name al Quds and most surprisingly, is marked as the capital of Israel. I intend to follow this through with Google and have them mark that at least this information is disputable. If it is a careless error then no problem, but quite worrying if it is deliberate. If anybody knows where we can complain please let me know!

Wassim,I understand your frustration , one more note ,(rights are taken not given ) and Syria should start showing that it cares about the Golan Hights.

Hi Wassim,

Very interesting that Google have done that. I will try to find some email addresses.

When you write to them, stick to the facts, don't be angry. Quote UN resolutions, quote what Israel accepts, and what the US recognises. Show THEM as the extremists. Hopefully they'll change.