Given Russia's sudden exit from supporting the Assad regime, it's likely a plan and ultimatum has been put to Putin.

Iran is to be isolated and contained.

The Muslim Middle East is to be a Sunni hegemony.

Israel will be defended at whatever cost to Shia states.

The Ukraine war is to end and Russia will only have negotiating powers on territory retention that it can prove it can hold.

MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 9^th, 2024 at 10:44am:

Given Russia's sudden exit from supporting the Assad regime, it's likely a plan and ultimatum has been put to Putin. Iran is to be isolated and contained. The Muslim Middle East is to be a Sunni hegemony. Israel will be defended at whatever cost to Shia states. The Ukraine war is to end and Russia will only have negotiating powers on territory retention that it can prove it can hold.

And China is watching.

Syria is a pile of rubble, so is Gaza.

Who wants to rule those two dumps?

Captain Nemo wrote on Dec 9^th, 2024 at 10:59am:

Syria is a pile of rubble, so is Gaza. Who wants to rule those two dumps?

Syrians and Palestinians.

It’s all quite fascinating. I’m far from a being an expert on the Middle East.
I have heard the rebel leader talk that he wants peace with all neighbours and especially mentioned Israel.

I can only hope that his words aren’t empty and peace returns to their lands.

I'd bet the Biden Administration and Trump are in lockstep with a Middle East plan and ultimatum to Putin.

Biden is probably more at ease working with Trump on this than he would have been with Harris who was, at best, a DEI pick but chosen as much for her inabilities and incompetencies as her ethnicity and gender, if not more.

MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 9^th, 2024 at 10:44am:

Given Russia's sudden exit from supporting the Assad regime, it's likely a plan and ultimatum has been put to Putin.

Erdogan gave an ultimatum to Assad which he rejected.

Last time the terrorists tried to overthrow Assad Russia bombed the crap out of them.

These terrorists led by Erdogan realised Russia was weakened by war in Ukraine and likely unable to defend Syria like last time.

They would have realised Iran is a paper tiger who wouldn't defend Syria after Iran let Israel destroy Hamas and Hezbollah.

This is what happened in Syria last time they tried to overthrow Assad.

---

Baronvonrort wrote on Dec 9^th, 2024 at 4:20pm:

MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 9th, 2024 at 10:44am: Given Russia's sudden exit from supporting the Assad regime, it's likely a plan and ultimatum has been put to Putin. Erdogan gave an ultimatum to Assad which he rejected. Last time the terrorists tried to overthrow Assad Russia bombed the crap out of them. These terrorists led by Erdogan realised Russia was weakened by war in Ukraine and likely unable to defend Syria like last time. They would have realised Iran is a paper tiger who wouldn't defend Syria after Iran let Israel destroy Hamas and Hezbollah. This is what happened in Syria last time they tried to overthrow Assad.

The way things are going for the Shi'ite Iranian Islamic Republic's leading Mullahs, they'll all be dead and beheaded by this time next year. They're lucky if they have 10% support of the Iranians.

They could only fight Israel by proxy without risking a declaration of war...

Well, it's over now... Hezbollah will be a dead force before the Syrians are through disinterring and desecrating the corpses of dead al-Assads.

Expect mass desertions and defections soon from Iran's IRGC as they cut deals and get out of it before it all comes crashing down.

Hamas is the next pig to the slaughter.

Iran's only hope is that the US and the region keep the Islamic Republic on life support while Syria settles.

MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 9^th, 2024 at 4:37pm:

Baronvonrort wrote on Dec 9th, 2024 at 4:20pm: MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 9th, 2024 at 10:44am: Given Russia's sudden exit from supporting the Assad regime, it's likely a plan and ultimatum has been put to Putin. Erdogan gave an ultimatum to Assad which he rejected. Last time the terrorists tried to overthrow Assad Russia bombed the crap out of them. These terrorists led by Erdogan realised Russia was weakened by war in Ukraine and likely unable to defend Syria like last time. They would have realised Iran is a paper tiger who wouldn't defend Syria after Iran let Israel destroy Hamas and Hezbollah. This is what happened in Syria last time they tried to overthrow Assad. The way things are going for the Shi'ite Iranian Islamic Republic's leading Mullahs, they'll all be dead and beheaded by this time next year. They're lucky if they have 10% support of the Iranians. They could only fight Israel by proxy without risking a declaration of war... Well, it's over now... Hezbollah will be a dead force before the Syrians are through disinterring and desecrating the corpses of dead al-Assads. Expect mass desertions and defections soon from Iran's IRGC as they cut deals and get out of it before it all comes crashing down. Hamas is the next pig to the slaughter. Iran's only hope is that the US and the region keep the Islamic Republic on life support while Syria settles.

Not happening with Trump.

After Jan 20 it's goodnight.

Before we all get too pissed on the vodka of an Arab Spring 2.0, what happened to the Arab states that were involved in the 1.0 version.

Of the six nations directly affected by AS1.0—Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, and Syria—only one, Tunisia, has maintained a more democratic state since 2011.

The other five countries’ political rights and civil liberties over the 13 years since 2011, AS1.0 resulted in significantly fewer political rights and civil liberties.

The chances that al-Assad's downfall, replaced by groups directly spawned from al Qaeda and ISIS, will lead to AS2.0, are extremely low.

The Sunnis in Syria will make ISIS great again for a while and the ayatollahs in Iran get toppled.

The region produces either stable autocracies or psychopathic ones.

There ain't much in-between.

Tunisia must be a land of lotus-eaters.

MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 10^th, 2024 at 9:54am:

The region produces either stable autocracies or psychopathic ones. There ain't much in-between. Tunisia must be a land of lotus-eaters.

And the most stable autocracies in the region are nearly all monarchies.

Arab tribal instinct seems to gravitate the people towards chieftains-cum-monarchs whose right to rule is ordained by birthright... and Allah... of course!

Fascinating.

I have read a little that all these Middle East countries were simply drawn up by British?

Is that a fact?

It’s difficult me too fully understand how and why everything has come to be.

They seem too hate each other .

What is with the Kurds?

Why are they our allies one week and enemies the next?

Daves2017 wrote on Dec 10^th, 2024 at 10:36pm:

Fascinating. I have read a little that all these Middle East countries were simply drawn up by British? Is that a fact? It’s difficult me too fully understand how and why everything has come to be. They seem too hate each other . What is with the Kurds? Why are they our allies one week and enemies the next?

The Ottoman Empire was arbitrarily ripped apart by European powers, but the region was not united prior to European meddling.

Arabs are tribal and, like all tribal societies, blood feuds and rivalries can persist for generations.

Add to that the Shia-Sunni, and other, religious divides, and ethnic rivalries, such as, say, among Arabs and Persian or Turkic peoples, - and nevermind military dictatorships persisting for decades - and you have a region permanently on a knife-edge between minor skirmishes and total war.

Even in the time of Mohammed, the region was a seething cauldron. Islam was Mohamed's unifying solution, but, like all intended monolithic religious/political/societal unifying solutions, they succeed only until the inevitable schisms occur... then it becomes a matter of which sect will prevail.

Thank you.
I really need to study up on all this.
It’s such a amazingly tragic part of the world.

That I simply have very little education of.

Daves2017 wrote on Dec 10^th, 2024 at 11:04pm:

Thank you. I really need to study up on all this. It’s such a amazingly tragic part of the world. That I simply have very little education of.

It's easy for many to blame the West for it all... but then the West has never had a history of kumbaya coexistence either.

Even the idea of a European Union was met with scepticism, if not outright derision, by most of the world... Another Holy Roman Empire that was neither holy nor Roman!

MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 10^th, 2024 at 9:54am:

The region produces either stable autocracies or psychopathic ones. There ain't much in-between. Tunisia must be a land of lotus-eaters.

In Homer's Odyssey, the land of the Lotus-Eaters is located in the Mediterranean Sea, west of the island of Cythera. However, some say the island of Djerba, off the coast of Tunisia, is the actual location of the Lotus-Eaters.

MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 10^th, 2024 at 9:28pm:

MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 10th, 2024 at 9:54am: The region produces either stable autocracies or psychopathic ones. There ain't much in-between. Tunisia must be a land of lotus-eaters. And the most stable autocracies in the region are nearly all monarchies. Arab tribal instinct seems to gravitate the people towards chieftains-cum-monarchs whose right to rule is ordained by birthright... and Allah... of course!

Indeed - and the west, in its relentless pursuit of upwardly mobile social equalities - steadily got rid of the divine right of kings etc - until we are down to discussion of the divine right of elected government ... something AlboCorp is doing its very best to bring to public attention... sometimes you have to relentlessly kick a sleeping people to awaken that sleeping giant..... and Albo is the epitome of such kickers....

Why - the man can't even come out and say that any students who harass other students for their ethnicity will be de-funded and ordered out of the houses of learning to ply their trade at street level.... and if they play up out there it will be deportation or exile... sure makes The Park and Gon'Mo look like Paradise, don' it?

Why are we continuing to offer inside running to easy life and good income to people who hate on our Jewish population for no reason of their own?

De-fund them NOW and boot them out!  You have one hour to pack your tents and piss off or you will be rounded up like the usual suspects you are and processed OUT of this university ... and I've got news for you - the 'student council' does not run this place - **coughs** .......... (let that one hang in the air for a moment or ten) ......... they are an advisory body only (touche`!)!

Sir Grappler Truth Teller wrote on Dec 11^th, 2024 at 9:09am:

MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 10th, 2024 at 9:28pm: MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 10th, 2024 at 9:54am: The region produces either stable autocracies or psychopathic ones. There ain't much in-between. Tunisia must be a land of lotus-eaters. And the most stable autocracies in the region are nearly all monarchies. Arab tribal instinct seems to gravitate the people towards chieftains-cum-monarchs whose right to rule is ordained by birthright... and Allah... of course! Indeed - and the west, in its relentless pursuit of upwardly mobile social equalities - steadily got rid of the divine right of kings etc - until we are down to discussion of the divine right of elected government ...

It is the instinctive way humans outsource certainty - to a ruler who has, by birthright, the blessing of a god.

The next best certainty option is the rule of a high priest - a pope, an ayatollah...

A vestige of divine right that still exists within the British monarchy (and likely many others) is that the monarch can never be wrong - the sovereign is infallible.

Democracy may give us all agency but the price we pay for it is to live with ineradicable uncertainty.

It is likely the reason that democratic ideals cannot be easily imposed on a people and usually takes generations - even hundreds of years - to take root in the collective psyche.

With revelations of the Assad regime's depravity, the Iranian leading mullahs best be looking for asylum countries quick smart.

There is no moral or religious justification for having supported Assad.

There's a bullet with Iran's Islamic Republic's name on it.

Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis are destined for a last stand within the next few months... and then annihilation.

Saudi Arabia is destined to lead the Middle East.

MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 11^th, 2024 at 9:26am:

Sir Grappler Truth Teller wrote on Dec 11th, 2024 at 9:09am: MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 10th, 2024 at 9:28pm: MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 10th, 2024 at 9:54am: The region produces either stable autocracies or psychopathic ones. There ain't much in-between. Tunisia must be a land of lotus-eaters. And the most stable autocracies in the region are nearly all monarchies. Arab tribal instinct seems to gravitate the people towards chieftains-cum-monarchs whose right to rule is ordained by birthright... and Allah... of course! Indeed - and the west, in its relentless pursuit of upwardly mobile social equalities - steadily got rid of the divine right of kings etc - until we are down to discussion of the divine right of elected government ... It is the instinctive way humans outsource certainty - to a ruler who has, by birthright, the blessing of a god. The next best certainty option is the rule of a high priest - a pope, an ayatollah... A vestige of divine right that still exists within the British monarchy (and likely many others) is that the monarch can never be wrong - the sovereign is infallible. Democracy may give us all agency but the price we pay for it is to live with ineradicable uncertainty. It is likely the reason that democratic ideals cannot be easily imposed on a people and usually takes generations - even hundreds of years - to take root in the collective psyche.

That uncertainty only applies to those schooled and steeped in it - those of us of the tougher breed, known in other circles as 'reactionaries' - a total misnomer for those truly revolutionary in their thinking and approach to things - know the difference and work towards it every day.

I've circled around a full explanation of the way in which all 'revolutionaries' - when successful - then become rapidly what they sought to throw out... it takes a different breed to approach things differently. History repeats itself over and over - I note that you did not include 'elected government' in your discussion of divine right... you don't imagine I called St Anthony - Albanese I The Mad - for no reason, did you?

Sir Grappler Truth Teller wrote on Dec 11^th, 2024 at 1:30pm:

MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 11th, 2024 at 9:26am: Sir Grappler Truth Teller wrote on Dec 11th, 2024 at 9:09am: MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 10th, 2024 at 9:28pm: MeisterEckhart wrote on Dec 10th, 2024 at 9:54am: The region produces either stable autocracies or psychopathic ones. There ain't much in-between. Tunisia must be a land of lotus-eaters. And the most stable autocracies in the region are nearly all monarchies. Arab tribal instinct seems to gravitate the people towards chieftains-cum-monarchs whose right to rule is ordained by birthright... and Allah... of course! Indeed - and the west, in its relentless pursuit of upwardly mobile social equalities - steadily got rid of the divine right of kings etc - until we are down to discussion of the divine right of elected government ... It is the instinctive way humans outsource certainty - to a ruler who has, by birthright, the blessing of a god. The next best certainty option is the rule of a high priest - a pope, an ayatollah... A vestige of divine right that still exists within the British monarchy (and likely many others) is that the monarch can never be wrong - the sovereign is infallible. Democracy may give us all agency but the price we pay for it is to live with ineradicable uncertainty. It is likely the reason that democratic ideals cannot be easily imposed on a people and usually takes generations - even hundreds of years - to take root in the collective psyche. That uncertainty only applies to those schooled and steeped in it - those of us of the tougher breed, known in other circles as 'reactionaries' - a total misnomer for those truly revolutionary in their thinking and approach to things - know the difference and work towards it every day. I've circled around a full explanation of the way in which all 'revolutionaries' - when successful - then become rapidly what they sought to throw out... it takes a different breed to approach things differently. History repeats itself over and over - I note that you did not include 'elected government' in your discussion of divine right... you don't imagine I called St Anthony - Albanese I The Mad - for no reason, did you?

Doubt (uncertainty) is ineradicable and ubiquitous. Outsourcing it to a ruler from birthright or a priest doesn't eliminate it from society - it just lifts the burden of judging ourselves by the decisions we would otherwise have to make.

An elected government is the epitome of societal uncertainty. Nearly half the people at any time disagree with elected rulers' decisions, and even those who generally agree quibble endlessly over detail.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GebULLNWYAEnt-7?.jpg

Frank wrote on Dec 11^th, 2024 at 2:12pm:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GebULLNWYAEnt-7?.jpg

We Love You, Trump!’: Syrians Dance in the Streets Following Sanctions Lifting


One participant in the celebrations, identified as taxi driver Mohamed Dibou, told the National that the celebrations in Damascus resembled those in December when Assad fled the country and that citizens were “very optimistic” that they could rebuild their country after over a decade of war.

“President Trump is very humane, we love him,” he added.





So all those Syrian refugees are now going back to rebuild, yeah??

UK's Elizabeth was anointed like Solomon. Putin leads the Third Rome's Church. Israel is the people of God. Muslims rule by Allah's mercy (peace be upon him). Catholics are the ones. The Universal Dharma rules India. Elvis lives and blesses America and Trump was chosen to save it.  Bobby is right.

chimera wrote on May 16^th, 2025 at 11:16am:

UK's Elizabeth was anointed like Solomon. Putin leads the Third Rome's Church. Israel is the people of God. Muslims rule by Allah's mercy (peace be upon him). Catholics are the ones. The Universal Dharma rules India. Elvis lives and blesses America and Trump was chosen to save it.  Bobby is right.

Muslims rule or not by Allah's will (peace be upon him)... peace emanates from Allah... it cannot be upon him.

'Examples of Allah's mercy include the provision of sustenance, the guidance of the righteous'.
Muslim Senator Fatima Payman has put religion back on the front page after revealing she asked Allah for guidance. Have mercy.
The phrase "peace be upon Allah" (Arabic: السلام على الله) is a form of salutation used in Islam to express respect and reverence for God. It is not a prayer for peace on Allah, but rather a greeting acknowledging His perfect nature and peace.
The Rainbow Serpent is a powerful, often benevolent, creature associated with peace. Canberra has mercy, peace and rainbows.
The influence of Hellenistic Greek art and a preference for subjects from Greek mythology characterize Syrian mosaics well into the Christian period,  mosaic pavements with various versions of the rainbow style cover entire floors of a church in Kaoussie, a suburb of Antioch,