22-Jan-14 World View -- Assad's industrial strength torture

[John]

22-Jan-14 World View -- Western leaders sickened by Assad's 'industrial strength' torture in Syria

Suicide bombing in Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon kills four

** 22-Jan-14 World View -- Western leaders sickened by Assad's 'industrial strength' torture in Syria
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... tm#e140122



Contents:
Suicide bombing in Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon kills four
Putin's anti-gay campaign a high-risk appeal to Russia's 'traditional values'
Western leaders sickened by Assad's 'industrial strength' torture in Syria
Syria report shows Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin guilty of war crimes


Keys:
Generational Dynamics, Lebanon, Beirut, Hezbollah,
Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Nusra Front, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,
Syria, Bashar al-Assad, Iran,
Russia, Vladimir Putin, Charles Taylor

[Trevor]

Some people may be reacting with horror. Others, not so much. I'm already hearing a lot of skepticism about whether any of this really happened, or if these photos were simply documented in order to provide a Casus Belli to intervene in Syria. Assad's got a surprising amount of support here, and they're not going to believe any of this, no matter how overwhelming the evidence. I guarantee that when this is posted on Breitbart, you'll see plenty of comments to that effect.

[NoOneImportant]

With the most recent Beirut bombing we appear to inch closer to the conditions where the entire ME gets turned into an inferno. How long before Hezbollah retaliates for these bombings, unless they are self-inflicted by dissents within Hezbollah. If caused by Sunnis - as claimed - then Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the Caucasus may all expect to see in their immediate future a rise in the incidence of IEDs.

********************************

Regarding Assad's acts of monstrous cruelty, once again - as illustrated by Assad - the monster within, once released, knows no bounds. Assad can't hope to carry on too much longer, even if he is ultimately militarily victorious. With each atrocity Assad removes more and more of his remaining "human" facade, and reveals the stark monster within. His barbarity self-isolates him, and limits his ultimate options, much as Gaddafi did in Libya. Even if he is successful at repressing his opposition, how long may he be expected to survive in an environment where he can trust no one?

Pertaining to Assad's ultimate fate, Shakespeare's famous line from Richard III, comes to mind: "... a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse...." Assad may, as we speak, be dead and just not know it. He is rapidly approaching the point where his objective is no longer victory per se, but rather, is to take as many of his opponents with him, before he goes. The pathology of total conflict is strange: as might be expected, in this sort of conflict the prime objective is victory; but if denied victory, then the hate and anger within causes the second best objective to be to assure that the "victor" enjoys no "sweetness" in his victory - that is, to cause so much pain so that, even in victory, the victor doesn't win either.

**************

Regarding Putin being held culpable for the atrocities in Syria, why would anyone think that Putin will be held accountable for anything. The Soviets murdered 20 million Russians of all sorts, varieties, and classes including the entire Romanov family, with no one ever being held accountable. Why would Putin's actions in a backwater like Syria cause any world wide change of heart regarding Russian actions? What might give rise for concern, and be contemplated are the comments by Sergei Lavrov – the Russian Foreign Minister – pertaining to events in the Ukraine: "They show that the situation is getting out of control." Lavrov thereby makes a case that the Ukraine is rapidly declining into chaos - http://news.yahoo.com/controversial-ant ... 44431.html

Russia's approach seems to be something on the order of: we don't like the world's condemnation of events in Syria, so why don't we give 'em something else to worry about. Perhaps the Ukraine? In a world driven by power politics and ulterior motives with no America to be concerned with, the case might be made that the one event - Syria, or Ukraine - is designed to obscure, or precipitate the other.

***********************

Regarding Putin's appeal to “traditional values”, I must admit that with some surprise, as I read the article, I perceived that Putin was making an appeal that appeared to be more traditionally American, than current America. But Putin is Putin - first and foremost always the Cold War Warrior, only now wearing a suit, not a uniform. As is always the case, certainly listen to what Putin has to say... for listening is always good. But more importantly watch what he does.

It costs Putin little to say what an audience wants to hear – whether he actually believes it or not. But people - like Putin - will always reveal what they actually believe via their actions. Listen? - certainly - but then watch intently, to see if the speaker's actions reflect the content of their verbiage. Does Putin care about children? Apparently not in Georgia, Chechnya, nor Syria.

Putin has learned well from American Democrat politicians: say first that you must “... do it for the children;” then do what ever you choose.

[gerald]

to NoOneImportant, regarding the Ukraine

A few years ago I had a tenant that escaped from the Ukraine, while it was under Russian control. She told me that the reason she got out of the Ukraine was because of the Russian policies against the indigenous Ukrainians. Such as the imposition of the Russian language and culture and the suppression of the Ukrainian language and culture. This was in conjunction with the movement of Russians into the Ukraine and giving Russians preferences and advantages over the Ukrainians for the purpose of making the Ukraine Russia. She also did not feel safe with the Russians in control.

[gerald]

to NoOneImportant, regarding the Ukraine

A few years ago I had a tenant that escaped from the Ukraine, while it was under Russian control. She told me that the reason she got out of the Ukraine was because of the Russian policies against the indigenous Ukrainians. Such as the imposition of the Russian language and culture and the suppression of the Ukrainian language and culture. This was in conjunction with the movement of Russians into the Ukraine and giving Russians preferences and advantages over the Ukrainians for the purpose of making the Ukraine Russia. She also did not feel safe with the Russians in control.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-2 ... -live-feed

The President Viktor Yanuckovich comes from the East where they speak Russian, not Ukrainian. When he tries to speak Ukrainian on TV, he does not even get the accent down correctly. This is primarily about corruption. However, his repressive laws against the protesters have only brought out more people who see the country headed back into Communism.

Following the deaths of three protesters (two from gunshot wounds) after the government crackdown overnight instigated by the increasingly hard-line President Yanuckovich, the streets are becoming markedly more tense and violent. The uprising in Ukraine is not simply one of a youthful population dismayed at not joining Europe. Similar in vein to Thailand's protests, Ukrainians have become disgusted with the corruption in government (and increasingly enraged at Yanuckovich's repressive laws against the protesters). As Martin Armstrong warned recently, "welcome the ticking clock measuring how little time we have until this whole things just goes bust." As the following images of the war-torn-looking streets of Ukraine show, perhaps that clock is closer than many think...

[NoOneImportant]

Gerald,

It sure would be nice to get a peak at some of the Nato intel regarding the Russian units surrounding the Ukraine. A life-time ago we monitored all Soviet comm that we might ID which units were where, and noted unit movement with great interest. We also monitored all Soviet photo-recon sputs, noting what they took pictures of, as it related to what the Soviets had a specific interest in.

It would be nice to get some of that archaic intel; that we might note where the Russian armor is, and what it's been doing over the last 45 days. It's cold in the Ukraine and not an ideal time for conflict... spent a year on the Black Sea, and the weather is nasty this time of year. It's not an ideal time for a military adventure, but that really depends upon the mind set of the aggressor.

The Sochi Olympics are a wild-card that may give the Ukrainians a brief reprieve, as I don't believe the Russians will do anything to jeopardize the success of the Sochi event - but you can never be sure. After the start of the Olympics, the Olympics might provide an opportune time for action in the Ukraine as all the nations participants will already be present and committed to participation in the Olympic events.

Boy this is starting to look a whole lot more like just before WWII and WWI. Lots of hot spots, everybody believing that the other guy won't fight, everybody watching the response(s) to naked aggression, and thinking about what they might be able to get away with. All the world lining up into alliances - but now all the major players are nuclear armed.

If there are any significant moves in Russian units surrounding the Ukraine - presuming, of course, that Nato still monitors Russian unit movement - look for a flurry of EU diplomatic activity in a furious attempt to resolve the Ukrainian stand off.

I just don't understand what Putin thinks he is going to do with all of these festering sores he is so anxious to integrate into the Russia - Georgia, Chechnya, possibly the Ukraine? To me it's like looking to acquire a bunch of in-grown toenails - while they may not be fatal, they sure are more than just a temporary inconvenience.

[gerald]

to NoOneImportant --

"I just don't understand what Putin thinks he is going to do with all of these festering sores he is so anxious to integrate into the Russia - Georgia, Chechnya, possibly the Ukraine? To me it's like looking to acquire a bunch of in-grown toenails - while they may not be fatal, they sure are more than just a temporary inconvenience."

That is a very good question,-- considering the "results" of having invaded Afghanistan in 1979. "Vice News" has a very interesting video ( 2011 ) of the possible result , http://www.vice.com/vice-news/siberia-k ... ull-length. It is a bit disturbing. Apparently, Russia is the largest importer of illegal heroin in the world and it is having a devastating effect on the younger generation ( 14 - 25 ) in -some parts? - of Russia. Especially heroin's out growth Krokodil. In this video regarding Krokodil you see the vacant look in there faces, like zombies, the deplorable crumbling living conditions, and the attitude --" I do not care, I am going to fucking die in a week" Almost makes Detroit look good.

While in Moscow, several years ago, I saw in an upscale shopping district various life size dioramas showing the horrors of drug addiction. ---- hmmm

[John]

> Some people may be reacting with horror. Others, not so much. I'm
> already hearing a lot of skepticism about whether any of this
> really happened, or if these photos were simply documented in
> order to provide a Casus Belli to intervene in Syria. Assad's got
> a surprising amount of support here, and they're not going to
> believe any of this, no matter how overwhelming the evidence. I
> guarantee that when this is posted on Breitbart, you'll see plenty
> of comments to that effect.

You're right that I received a number of comments on Breitbart
supporting al-Assad, some of them ridiculing me personally. Here's
what I finally posted:

Freedom Call wrote:
> Assad is not Christian; he is Alawite and so are his troops and
> the Syrians who stand with him. Iran funds him and Christian
> Syrians side with him as only as the lesser evil.

Thank you for making that point.

This is totally bizarre to me. Here we have a community many of whom
perceive Muslims negatively, sometimes referring to all of them
universally as "murderous."

And here we have al-Assad, an Alawite Muslim who is committing war
crimes against his own people, a Muslim who used sarin gas against his
own people, a Muslim who is allied with the Muslim terrorist group
Hezbollah, a Muslim who is allied with Muslim Iran which some people
call the worst terrorist country on earth. And despite all that, when
I call al-Assad a genocidal monster, some of the same people who refer
to all Muslims as "murderous," seem to be in love with the most
murderous one of all.

This is actually very familiar. College kids in the 1960s praised Mao
Zedong as a god, even carrying copies of his "Little Red Book" in
their back pockets, and quoting from it from time to time. This was
going on at the same time that Mao was starving, torturing and
executing tens of millions of Chinese people in the Great Leap
Forward, and then again the Cultural Revolution.

There are still people today who consider Mao to be a god, and they
still praise him to the skies. And we all know that there are
Holocaust deniers who says that the evidence of the Holocaust was all
manufactured. These are all the same to me as lovers of al-Assad.

But it's still very bizarre to me.

[gerald]

John ----

"This is actually very familiar. College kids in the 1960s praised Mao
Zedong as a god, even carrying copies of his "Little Red Book" in
their back pockets, and quoting from it from time to time. This was
going on at the same time that Mao was starving, torturing and
executing tens of millions of Chinese people in the Great Leap
Forward, and then again the Cultural Revolution."

Yes John, But you must not forget that admired darling of the college kids, kids who still wear his image, Che Guevara. “The Butcher of La Cabaña”

“To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary. These procedures are an archaic bourgeois detail. This is a revolution! And a revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate.” – Che Guevara

[John]

> Yes John, But you must not forget that admired darling of the
> college kids, kids who still wear his image, Che Guevara. “The
> Butcher of La Cabaña”

> “To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is
> unnecessary. These procedures are an archaic bourgeois
> detail. This is a revolution! And a revolutionary must become a
> cold killing machine motivated by pure hate.” – Che
> Guevara

I agree, but the ones that I mentioned -- Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot (and
Stalin) and al-Assad -- conducted torture, executions and mutilations
on a massive scale.

Guevara was really nothing more than a two-bit murderer and ranter.