Middle East Discussion

Given the confirmation of chemical weapons being used in Syria, it seems this move from the US was inevitable.

Reckon that tourism may have taken a downturn since I was in Syria

Jesus! You must have a bad head for Assad to censor it.

My solution to this is to develop a way of running cars on radioactive oil.

I’ve been reading up on Syria lately and I’m starting to wonder about this “chemical attack”. Does the West actually have any evidence of Assad’s forces knowingly using chemical weapons against his own people?

Further, it doesn’t make a shred of sense to me as to why he would all of the sudden use poison gas on his people. He was winning, ISIS and other terrorists groups are on the run, the US were leaving them alone somewhat. I’ve listened to Dr Ron Paul comment about this and he seems convinced that Assad wasn’t responsible. I’ve also listened to an independent British journo who has lived there for 7 years and is married to a Syrian and his version of the events is that a military airstrike against a chemical weapons factory held by the rebels was the reason for the outbreak of gas.

Don’t think I believe the Western media here.

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Even for those that doubt the ‘conspiracy theory’ that it wasn’t a deliberate gas leak, we sure as hell were informed by the media surprisingly quickly who done it.

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WADA were comfortably satisfied that there was a chemical attack.

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An interesting read.

A theocratic regime has made Shiites less observant: Few attend the ever-shrinking supply of functioning mosques. The numbers here are striking: Mr. Parsa relates that “a Revolutionary Guard commander, Zia Eddin Hozni, recently announced that about 3,000 of the country’s 57,000 Shiite mosques, or only 5 percent, were fully operational during the year.” As of 2012, nearly half of them “lacked clerics and prayer leaders.” In a clerical state, fewer and fewer young men want to become clerics, Mr. Parsa’s statistics show. Young women from traditional families are declining to take mullahs as mates. (Even at the end of the Soviet Union, the communist elite never lost their cachet as marriage partners.) Clerics trying to tell citizens to behave properly have been beaten severely. Their desire to serve in parliament has waned, as has the people’s willingness to elect them. In 1980, 60.7% of the deputies in the Majles—the Iranian parliament that rubber-stamps the theocracy—were clerics. After the 2016 elections, their number had declined to 5.5%.

That’s a good thing.

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The only democracy in the Middle East hey…

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It actually is however this bill is troubling and not a good idea.

Religious apartheid eh.
Go Benny you lying, thieving, immoral carnt.
And this is the state, and the people, who claim to be constantly persecuted.

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Democracy doesn’t work in a theocracy.

Have a look at the USA for example.

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Good point.

This bill passed the knesset today.

Makes you wonder where they would be today if that nutjob hadn’t shot Rabin…

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They were crazy to give ultra-orthodox Jews so much power and so few obligations. My understanding is that there are government handouts for them.

Pretty much the consequence of successive minority coalition governments buying votes, seats and power through promises/compromises made to ultra-orthodox parties…

Just like here, a right wing Party wins the democratic election.

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