Robert Fisk: Look East and See the Real Winner

Robert Fisk is a pro-Hariri, anti-Assad writer. Here, he sadly admit that "President Bashar al-Assad is not about to leave office. “Not, maybe, for quite a long time,”" Why? Look East and read the geopolitics map

Robert Fisk: Look East and See the Real Winner

Local Editor

The English writer Robert Fisk, stressed in his article in The Independent British daily on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is not about to leave office. “Not, maybe, for quite a long time,” he wrote. “Newspapers in the Middle East are filled with stories about whether or not this is Assad's "Benghazi moment" – these reports are almost invariably written from Washington or London or Paris – but few in the region understand how we Westerners can get it so wrong.” The veteran journalist from Maidstone, Kent, attempted to justify the Russian position regarding Syria’s situation by remembering the American blind to the suffering of Palestinians “when more than 1,300 were killed in Israel's onslaught on Gaza.” In his article, Fisk expressed beliefs that the destruction of the Alawite-led government in Syria will be a sword in the soul of Iran. He wrote the following: "Look at the Middle East now from the windows of the massive presidential palace that overlooks the old city of Damascus. True, the Gulf has turned against Syria. True, Turkey has turned against Syria (while generously offering Bashar exile in the old Ottoman empire). But look east, and what does Bashar see? Loyal Iran standing with him. Loyal Iraq – Iran's new best friend in the Arab world – refusing to impose sanctions. And to the west, loyal little Lebanon refusing to impose sanctions. Thus from the border of Afghanistan to the Mediterranean, Assad has a straight line of alliances which should prevent, at least, his economic collapse.” Fisk also admitted that “the trouble is that the West has been so deluged with stories and lectures and think-tank nonsense about the ghastly Iran and the unfaithful Iraq and the vicious Syria and the frightened Lebanon that it is almost impossible to snap off these delusional pictures and realize that Assad is not alone. That is not to praise Assad or to support his continuation. But it's real,” he concluded.

Source: Al-Manar Website

Meanwhile, Haneyya discusses Palestinian developments in Kuwait after Qatar and Bahrain, and Fawzi Barhoum denying claims spread by Al-Arabiya channel that there were disputes within the Movement over the Doha declaration.
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!