Tag Archives: Syria

Better than Bombs (The Fall of the Assad Regime) (Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed)

Posted on September 16, 2013 by zjb

Much better than bombs. Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed is no dove or accomodator when writing about Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Quite the opposite. Here he is writing in the Saudi based Asharq Al Awsat (English). Backed up by … Continue reading →

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American Liberalism (Syria) (Yom Kippur)

Posted on September 13, 2013 by zjb

Famous in among Jewish art aficionados, almost all the adult figures in Maurycy Gottlieb’s 1878 painting of Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur are looking around this way and that. They are either introspecting or missing the main … Continue reading →

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Putin + Assad

Posted on September 11, 2013 by zjb

Holy crap, what a most revolting spectacle, the op-ed of Vladimir Putin, the butcher of Chechnya in the New York Times. What you get is pure obfuscation, this claim that it’s not clear who gassed those people, or that denial … Continue reading →

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Hands off Assad (Unbelievable Stupidities)

Posted on September 9, 2013 by zjb

  I think the smartest argument against a U.S. intervention is that nobody in the U.S. or Europe wants to see it happen, and that the U.S. is hated deeply throughout the Arab world. At least let’s be honest about … Continue reading →

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Rosh Ha’Shanah Days of Awe (Syria)

Posted on September 4, 2013 by zjb

It’s the week after Labor Day and the Jewish New Year, the new year of creation, which comes early this year, is suddenly upon us. I know that these are the Days of Awe, but the rolling catastrophe that is … Continue reading →

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Syria Intervention? (Joshua Landis — Syria Comment)

Posted on August 28, 2013 by zjb

Regarding a very limited intervention in Syria, here’s the current thinking by Joshua Landis at Syria Comment. It’s the most sensible thing I’ve seen so far. The problem is that I don’t think the position stakes out alternative nightmare scenarios … Continue reading →

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Into Syria (No Vision)

Posted on June 20, 2013 by zjb

To intervene or not to intervene, that was the question. But now what, now that the Obama Administration is about to get a U.S. toe into Syria? I’m betting the U.S. decision had nothing to do with chemical weapons and … Continue reading →

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Hezbollah — Part of the Global Left?

Posted on May 26, 2013 by zjb

Reading this article about Hezbollah fighting in Syria and up to its waist in blood, it made me wonder if a certain philosopher still believes that Hezbollah is a social movement that is “progressive,” “on the left,” and “part of … Continue reading →

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It’s Impossible to Talk about Islam (Syria After Boston)

Posted on April 24, 2013 by zjb

No doubt I’m overstating it, but it sometimes seems that an honest discussion about Islam is impossible in the United States, and certainly not now, at least for the time being after the terrorist attack in Boston. In both the … Continue reading →

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Syria (Rebel Destruction of Holy Sites) (Against Political Theology)

Posted on March 12, 2013 by zjb

Important article by Matthew Barber  explaining the shift in thinking at Syria Comment, a blog run by Joshua Landis, for which and for whom I have boundless respect and admiration. Barber explains how Syria Comment has tried to come to … Continue reading →

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