Thursday, August 22, 2013

The End of the World Is Starting in Damascus. By Ari Shavit.

The end of the world is starting in Damascus. By Ari Shavit. Haaretz, August 22, 2013.

A Tipping Point in Syria? By Will Marshall. Real Clear Politics, August 23, 2013.

The one video from Syria’s alleged chemical weapons attack that everyone should watch. By Max Fisher. Washington Post, August 21, 2013.

Young girl affected by chemical weapons attack on Damascus, 8/21/2013. Video. ANAChannelEng, August 21, 2013. YouTube.

Syrian activists: Dozens killed in Damascus chemical attack. Video. turan utkan, August 21, 2013. YouTube


Shavit:

Can this really be happening? In the 21st century? Only a few hundred kilometers from where I’m sitting writing this piece? Can it be that only hours ago a tyrant used chemical weapons against his own people who were rebelling in the capital’s suburbs against his tyranny? Can it be that during this gorgeous summer, Arab women and children are being gassed to death by an Arab dictator?
 
The eye refuses to believe the pictures the iPad is transmitting. The mind cannot grasp the reports the iPhone is delivering. After the taboos of using artillery, helicopters and missiles on civilians have been broken, the taboo of using unconventional weapons has apparently been shattered as well. According to news reports, not far from us, in the same Damascus with which we sought to make peace, Arabs are murdering Arabs with chemical weapons.
 
True, more than 100,000 people have already been slaughtered in Syria. For two years our northern neighbor has been bleeding in a way that the Israelis and Palestinians haven’t bled in a hundred years of conflict. And there has already been a chemical weapons incident that the world didn’t really want to acknowledge.
 
But now it’s highly probable that a horrifying and unprecedented attack took place east of Damascus. If this is the case, Syrian President Bashar Assad and the Arab Spring have crossed the black line. The glorious Arab uprising that the West enthusiastically supported has become an apocalyptic event.
 
No decent person can ignore what’s happening. What is supposed to be an enlightened world cannot remain silent. Each day, the Syrian civil war is taking on the chilling connotations of the Spanish Civil War. It heralds the end of an era and delineates the coming era.
 
It’s not only innocent victims being buried in Damascus, but the concept of enlightened Arab nationalism and the hope that the West has a conscience. Women and children who were apparently gassed to death are being buried in Damascus, along with the ideal of an international community and the illusion of international law.
 
If civilians can be gassed to death in 2013, we face the end of the world. It’s the end of the world that purports to be moral and enlightened. It’s the end of the world that sought to establish a reasonable international order of which the Middle East would be part.
 
Many in the West and Israel despise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But what’s happening in Syria proves the validity of Netanyahu’s warning that the greatest danger to world peace in the 21st century is the combination of unconventional weapons and unconventional regimes. Lunatics really are insane. Barbarians are really barbaric. Huns will be Huns.
 
Those who act mercifully toward Huns bear direct responsibility for the fact that nuclear weapons are being built in Iran, chemical weapons are being used in Syria and doomsday weapons threaten the future of the Middle East. Those who underestimate the inherent danger of the Huns bear direct responsibility for the deaths of today’s victims, the Syrians, and tomorrow’s victims, the Israelis, Europeans and Americans.
 
It’s time to break free of the moral relativism, multicultural hypocrisy and political correctness that prevent us from seeing our evil neighborhood as it really is. A terrible warning siren is being sounded in Damascus. Do we hear it? Does the world hear it?







Harrowing Tales of Christian Persecution in Egypt. By Walter Russell Mead.

Harrowing Tales of Christian Persecution in Egypt. By Walter Russell Mead. Via Meadia, August 22, 2013.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on the Dangers of Multiculturalism. By Ben Cohen.

Rabbi Sacks on Multiculturalism’s Dangers. By Ben Cohen. Commentary, August 21, 2013.

Lord Sacks: “Multiculturalism has had its day. It’s time to move on.” By Daniel Finkelstein. ChiefRabbi.org, August 19, 2013. Originally published in The Times of London.

Reversing the Decay of London Undone. By Jonathan Sacks. NJBR, January 2, 2013.

The Handwriting on the Wall. By George Weigel. NJBR, January 2, 2013.

America’s Success was Just a Blip, Says Professor. By Rush Limbaugh.

America’s Success was Just a Blip, Says Professor, and It's Good That We’re Sliding Back into Normal Suckiness. By Rush Limbaugh. RushLimbaugh.com, August 22, 2013.

Leftist Policies are Failing, Not America. By Rush Limbaugh. RushLimbaugh.com, August 22, 2013.

Was America’s Prosperity an Accident of History? By Benjamin Wallace-Wells. NJBR, July 22, 2013.

Camille Paglia on Hillary Clinton. By Tracy Clark-Flory.

Camille Paglia: “It remains baffling how anyone would think that Hillary Clinton is our party’s best chance.” By Tracy Clark-Flory. Salon, August 21, 2013.

Camille Paglia: “Hillary Disqualified Herself for Presidency in Fist-Pounding Moment at Congressional Hearing.” By Noel Sheppard. NewsBusters, August 21, 2013.

Another Brutal Embarrassment for the USA. By Bill O’Reilly.

Another brutal embarrassment for the USA. By Bill O’Reilly. Video. Talking Points Memo. The O’Reilly Factor. Fox News, August 21, 2013. YouTube. Real Clear Politics.

O’REILLY: A violent subculture is now in place fueled by derelict parents, a barbaric media and apathy on the part of many politicians. The incredible violence taking place in some Chicago neighborhoods as well as mindless murderers all over the country prove this point. And until we acknowledge – acknowledge the source of the chaos, we will not be able to solve the problem.

Kirsten Powers Challenges Bill O’Reilly Over Chris Lane: “If Those Kids Didn’t Have a Gun . . .” By Matt Wilstein. Mediaite, August 21, 2013. YouTube.






Are Gun Laws to Blame for the Death of Christopher Lane?

Are Oklahoma gun laws to blame for college baseball player’s death? Video. Monica Crowley with Michelle Malkin and Richard Fowler. Hannity. Fox News, August 21, 2013. YouTube. YouTube. Real Clear Politics.

Transcript excerpt:

MICHELLE MALKIN: The dishonesty of the gun grabbers is naked here. It’s as naked as a newborn baby. He’s talking about gun control and gun confiscation laws, national registries and background checks that would do absolutely nothing to control evil thugs who will do whatever they need to do to kill and wreak havoc on people. These boys were intent on killing.
 
MONICA CROWLEY: If you’re intent on killing somebody, if you’re part of a gang, whatever your intent may be, it doesn’t matter what the weapon is. They would have found a way to acquire any kind of weapon.
 
MALKIN: Illegal alien gangs are using machetes. Black and Latino gangs are wilding and mobbing people and using their bare fists. It’s not about the weapons, it’s about the morality.


Michelle Malkin Mows Down Liberal Over Chris Lane Shooting: We Need “Gang Control,” Not “Gun Control.” By Matt Wilstein. Mediaite, August 21, 2013.

Oklahoma “thrill” killing and today’s youth. Video. Greta Van Susteren with Pat Buchanan. On the Record with Greta Van Susteren. Fox News, August 21, 2013. YouTube.







Without Politics, the Mob Rules. By Rami G. Khouri.

Without politics, the mob rules. By Rami G. Khouri. The Daily Star (Lebanon), August 21, 2013.

Knowledge about Arabs is improving. By Rami G. Khouri. The Daily Star (Lebanon), August 14, 2013.

Four Leading Arab Cities in Flames. By Rami G. Khouri. NJBR, August 17, 2013.

Close to the Edge in Egypt. By Thomas L. Friedman.

Close to the Edge. By Thomas L. Friedman. New York Times, August 20, 2013.

Another Devil We Know. By Shmuel Rosner. New York Times, August 20, 2013.

How Strong a Horse Is General Sisi? By Jonathan S. Tobin. Commentary, August 21, 2013.