Larry Wooten stole $500 from the victims so he could buy cocaine.
HUNTSVILLE — A Texas man convicted for the slayings of an elderly couple found brutally beaten and stabbed in their home more than 14 years ago was executed Thursday.
Larry Wooten was condemned to death for the 1996 murders of 80-year-old Grady Alexander and his 86-year-old wife, Bessie, in the northeast Texas town of Paris.
The Alexanders were beaten with a cast-iron skillet and a pistol, stabbed and had their throats slit and heads almost severed. Prosecutors said Wooten robbed the couple, taking their savings of $500 so he could buy cocaine...
Gee, nice guy.
"I don't have nothing to say. You can go ahead and send me home to my heavenly father," Wooten said.
He cried as the drugs were administered and let out one final gasp as the lethal injection took effect. Nine minutes later, at 6:21 p.m. CDT, he was pronounced dead.
Hopefully for you Wooten your last judge will be in a more merciful mode than your last.
...Kerye Ashmore, a former Lamar County district attorney who prosecuted the case, called Wooten a "scary guy" with a history of violence, including a prior conviction for assaulting an elderly woman after breaking into her home. He also was a person of interest in the slaying of another elderly woman in Paris who was killed a couple of weeks before the Alexanders, Ashmore said.
"If you are going to have a death penalty, this is the kind of people you want to have the death penalty for," said Ashmore, who is now the first assistant district attorney in nearby Grayson County.
No argument there...he is a classic case. But you gotta love this.
In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Wooten's attorneys argued he wouldn't have turned down a plea bargain if he knew about additional DNA evidence that didn't become available until after his trial began.
Wooten had turned down a plea agreement of life in prison after DNA experts working for his trial attorneys believed the blood evidence didn't reliably connect him to the crime. But after the trial began, additional lab results showed the DNA evidence was stronger than originally thought, Wooten's appeals said.
...The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in March that both sides are at risk in a plea offer and there's no constitutional right to a plea bargain.
Ah, don't you just hate it when you get your ass bitten by the law...
In prior appeals, Wooten had claimed he should not be executed because he is mentally retarded. But his claim was denied as tests put his IQ between 77 and 84. An IQ of 70 is considered the threshold for mental impairment.
But you are smart enough to turn down a plea bargain...don't you hate it when you bite yourself in the ass.
Baltimore City Police Department End of Watch: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 Age: 32 Tour of Duty: 10 years
Officer Tommy Portz was killed in an automobile accident when his patrol car struck the back of a stopped firetruck on a highway. The firetruck had responded to reports of an injured person lying in the highway median strip and had stopped in the left lane to investigate.
Officer Portz's patrol car collided with the back of the stopped truck at a high rate of speed, causing fatal injuries.
Officer Portz had served with the Baltimore Police Department for just under 10 years. He is survived by his wife and three children.
One thing I've uncovered recently is that having a doctorate degree from a big name university makes you educated but it doesn't necessarily educate you. I don't know if this kid is just kidding but sorry man, you paid your fees....the rest is on you.
A third-year Boston College Law School student facing dismal job prospects and a mountain of student loan debt has offered the prestigious Hub institution a unique deal: Keep the degree ... and give me back my tuition!
In an open letter to BC Law’s Interim Dean George Brown posted on EagleiOnline— an online student-run newspaper at BC’s law school — the anonymous dissatisfied customer said soon-to-be grads are about to enter “one of the worst job markets in the history of our profession” and an “overwhelming majority” of them can’t find jobs.
“We are discouraged, scared, and in many cases, feeling rather hopeless about our chances of ever getting to practice law,” the student wrote.
An aside kid...welcome to life. It sometimes, hell often times don't work out like you plan. Get used to it
...the letter “underscores the plight” of a lot of people who have gone to expensive, private law schools with the expectation that they’d have a decent shot of landing a “good paying job” if they did reasonably well.
“Now, they have all these student loan debts that they can’t even escape in bankruptcy and their employment prospects look a lot bleaker than they looked when they were enrolled,” Reynolds said.
OK, you planned on getting a "great job" after spending a fortune at a big name law school. Now you can't get one. Well stop whining and do something and not put up crap like this. Expand your job search. You may not be able to get a "great job" or any job in the north east right now. How about you look south and west? Do some pro bono work to get a foot in the door at a good firm. Take a city attorney or county job. Again, experience and money. God forbid, you can take non-legal career for the time being. A few months ago I met a 25 year old who was working at Starbucks, studying for her bar exam and putting out resumes at local firms. If it's not obvious you ain't getting the money back.
Also, if you voted for B Hussein Obama you deserve this...I mean, how's the hope and change working out for you!
October 15, WRC 4 Washington – (National) Army set to test new ‘airburst gun’. The Army is set to test out a new weapon that could change how troops battle enemies in Afghanistan. The XM-25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System, better known as the "Airburst Gun," is a shoulder-fired gun that shoots a fist-sized round packed with an explosive warhead that detonates in the air at pre-determined ranges. Officials are calling it a cross between a grenade launcher and a mortar. The XM-25 weighs about 12 pounds, and uses laser targeting to determine a target’s range. Soldiers then dial in exactly where the round is going to land or explode. Army officials said the weapon is perfect for long-distance battles with Afghan enemies who fight from behind cover. A spokesman added that the accuracy of the XM-25 is going to change battles and "open up whole new ideas on how to use it." The Army plans to buy thousands of the XM-25 in the future, placing one airburst weapon in each infantry squad. Source: 12. October 14, United Press International
Taiwan: 6 Minesweepers To Be Built October 19, 2010
Taiwan will build six minesweepers that, along with two U.S.-built Osprey-class minesweepers Washington agreed to sell Taipei earlier this year, will be used to replace Taiwan’s aging fleet, a lawmaker said Oct. 19, South China Morning Post reported. The deal will cost more than $938 million and production is scheduled to start in 2012, the lawmaker stated, citing Defense Minister Kao Hua Chu.
Russia: 900 State Enterprises To Be Privatized By 2015 October 20, 2010
Russia plans to privatize around 900 enterprises owned or controlled by the Russian Federation or its regions by 2015, and a report on the plan will be submitted to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev immediately, Itar-Tass reported Oct. 20, citing Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. Shuvalov said the majority of enterprises are in strategic sectors, and would bring the state 1.8 trillion rubles (about $58 billion) in revenue, according to preliminary estimates. He added that regions must prepare for the privatization plan, which will bring as much revenue to the regions as the federal level, and said the Kremlin is working with the regions to determine a list of assets for privatization.
Russia: Participation In European Anti-missile Shield Considered October 19, 2010
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said his country is considering a proposal to help develop a U.S.-led anti-missile shield for Europe even though the idea worries him, AP reported Oct. 19. The statement came during talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Medvedev said he questions the need for such a missile shield — just as he did when former U.S. President George W. Bush made a similar proposal — and urged all NATO members to rethink the basic purpose of the shield.
IRAN
Iran, Venezuela: Joint Oil Company Agreement Signed October 20, 2010
Iran and Venezuela signed 11 agreements in Tehran on Oct. 20, including one that calls for the establishment of a joint oil company, Mehr News Agency reported. The other agreements call for involvement of the Venezuelan Oil Company in Phase 12 of the South Pars gas field, the construction of a refinery in Syria, cooperation in liquefied natural gas and oil tanker activities and cooperation in the petrochemical and energy sectors. The agreements were signed during the sixth session of the two nations’ joint industrial committee, where both Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were in attendance.
Iran: Suspects In Stuxnet Virus Identified -Minister October 20, 2010
Iranian Communications Minister Reza Taqipur said individuals involved in spreading the Stuxnet computer virus have been identified, IRIB reported Oct. 20. The route through which the virus was spread has also been identified, Taqipur added, saying that portable and flash drives were the primary means of conveyance. Some of the individuals responsible are foreign experts, had been frequenting industrial centers and transmitted the virus intentionally; others are uninformed people who spread the virus accidentally, Taqipur said.
Iran: 20 Percent-enriched Uranium Supply At 30 Kilograms October 20, 2010
Iran’s current supply of 20 percent-enriched uranium stands at 30 kilograms (66.1 pounds) as Tehran steps up its efforts toward nuclear self-sufficiency, Press TV reported Oct. 20, citing Iranian Atomic Energy Organization chief Ali Akbar Salehi. Iran has also launched a new exploration project, Salehi said. Veins discovered in the Gachin uranium mine in Bandar Abbas are ready for extraction, which will prolong the life the of the mine, Salehi added.
Iran: Prices For Energy Resources To Increase October 20, 2010
Iran plans to increase the cost of seven different types of energy resources by early November, Mehr news agency reported Oct. 20. The prices for gasoline, diesel, kerosene, fuel oil, liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas and electricity will increase as a result of structural reforms in the Iranian economy.
Iran: No Plans To Acquire S300 From Venezuela - DM October 20, 2010
Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi has said that Tehran does not plan to buy the S300 missile system from China or Venezuela, Fars News Agency reported Oct. 20. Vahidi spoke while at a Tehran university. He denied that Russia plans to sell the S300 missile system to Venezuela, allowing Iran to get it from Venezuela, calling the reports “rumors.”
IRAQ
Iraq: 3 Natural Gas Fields Auctioned October 20, 2010
Iraq auctioned off three natural gas fields to international bidders Oct. 20, AFP reported. South Korea’s Korean Gas Corporation and Kazakhstan’s KazMunaiGaz each secured 50 percent of a joint venture to develop the Akkaz field in Anbar province, estimated to hold 158 billion cubic meters in gas reserves. Turkey’s TPAO, Kuwait Energy and the Korean Gas Corporation also secured a contract to develop the Mansuriyah field in Diyala province, believed to hold 127 billion cubic meters of gas, and TPAO and Kuwait Energy won a contract to develop the Siba field in Basra province, estimated to hold 34 billion cubic meters.
ISRAEL
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
AFGHANISTAN
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
MIDDLE EAST
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
SOUTH OF THE BORDER
Mexico: Legislator Resigns To Protect Governor October 19, 2010
Mexican federal legislator Julio Cesar Toscano Godoy said he resigned from the Party of the Democratic Revolution to prevent the “political lynching” of Michoacan state Gov. Leonel Godoy, El Universal reported Oct. 19. Toscano Godoy claimed that he would be used as an instrument for the federal government to harm Godoy and the state of Michoacan. Toscano Godoy is allegedly linked to drug trafficking cartel La Familia Michoacana.
Venezuela: Proposed Law Promotes Nationalization Of Oil Companies October 19, 2010
The Venezuelan government has drafted a law that would make it easier to nationalize assets of oil field service companies, Reuters reported Oct. 19, citing a draft of the law written by the Venezuelan Energy Ministry. Oil and gas operation assets can be subjected to measures of protection, insurance, requisition and expropriation, the draft says. If passed, the law would give the government the right to nationalize assets without parliamentary approval. Additionally, the law would allow the government to set tariffs for service companies, prohibit the relocation of assets outside the country without permission from the state and prevent recourse to international arbitration in disputes. The law is expected to be presented to parliament before the end of this year, unnamed local oil industry sources said.
South Korea, U.S.: Anti-Submarine Exercises Planned October 19, 2010
South Korea and the United States plan to hold joint anti-submarine exercises twice a year beginning 2011, one each in the East and West seas, The Chosun Ilbo reported Oct. 19, citing South Korean Adm. Kim Sung Chan, the chief of naval operations. Also, the South Korean navy will increase anti-submarine drills during the countries’ regular military exercises, and 12 South Korean ships will be fitted with a joint command and control system to access military intelligence from U.S. naval vessels. Also, by 2012, the South Korean navy will acquire 12 rigid-hulled inflatable boats for coastal underwater searches and will build anti-sub training ranges for the First and Second Fleet Commands by 2014. Also, a 14,500-ton landing ship will be built by 2018, according to Kim.
Mexico: 105 Tons Of Marijuana Seized October 19, 2010
More than 105 tons of marijuana contained in 10,000 packages were seized by Mexican authorities in the border town of Tijuana, according to the Mexican military, AFP reported. Eleven people were arrested in the operation, officials
MISC
Cuba: 1,100 Farm Supply Stores Opened October 19, 2010
Cuba has opened approximately 1,100 farm supply stores selling almost 40 types of goods and has ceased supplying these items directly to cooperatives and state farms, ANSA Latina reported Oct. 19. The project began several months ago and is intended to be a cost-cutting measure.
About 65,000 are expected to attend the Comedy Central rallies Oct. 30.
That's all you expect...after all the free publicity to counter Glen Beck's rally...this is all you can do.
The calls of nature may be particularly loud at an upcoming D.C. event if attendees don't have a place to "go."
Comedy Central organizers are having a hard time finding port-o-potties for their rallies to take place in a week and a half, after the Marine Corps Marathon planners snatched up about 800 of them for the same weekend.
Excuse me...they Marines didn't "snatch" anything. The planned for an annual event and part of the planning was for "comfort support"...they do this kinda routinely.
The organizers of Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity and Stephen Colbert's March to Keep Fear Alive, both to take place Saturday, Oct. 30, have asked the marathon staff to share the portable toilets with their 65,000 expected to attendees.
But the Marines aren't budging -- they plan to lock the toilets until the morning of their race the day after, they tell the New York Times....
You know these idiots would leave them slimy...hopefully the Marines have a guard on them!
A few months ago I was running radar and a drunk idiot almost ran me over. Then he took off in his car. Long story short we caught him 8 blocks later and I got a court order for a blood sample. Felony evading and second time DWI. He almost killed a cop.
The DA let him plea to probation even before the blood got back.
It's things like that and this that make you want to scream "Why bother!"
...Moises Mendez robbed three convenience stores, including one on Loop 494 in southern Montgomery County, and then shot at the store clerk and a Houston police officer. Now the judge who sentenced him for his crimes is being criticized by the law enforcement community for not being tough enough.
In March 2010, Mendez went on a robbery spree that ended with a wild car chase and a shootout with Houston police. The 29-year-old, who came back to this country illegally after being deported, plead guilty to charges of evading arrest, aggravated robbery and aggravated assault on a public servant. While he faced up to 99 years to life in prison, on Friday Mendez was sentenced to 37 years behind bars.
Vice President of the Houston Police Officers' Union Ray Hunt said, "He is a thug. He is a bad character. He should be put away in prison for the rest of his life."
No argument there Ray. But we are a sanctuary city.
...What's more, because his sentences will run concurrently, Mendez is eligible for parole in nine and a half years.
Sometimes I actually feel a little sympathy for the devil for defense lawyers. I firmly believe every man has a right to competent legal counsel. Then I hear crap like this.
Defense attorney Bill Pattillo, who represented Mendez, says his client had no violent history and believes the punishment fits the crime.
"He had a job, he lost his job," said Pattillo. "He was also trying to care of his nine-year-old daughter and some other things and I think it was the perfect storm in the sense that he took some drugs and the stress added up."
Bill, when a first time offender rapes your daughter and says "I lost my job and took some drugs..." let me know how you feel about that.
Mendez's attorney says his client will likely face an additional federal charge for being in the country illegally, which will only add to his time spent behind bars
Two words: Thank Christ! Hopefully he leaves prison a broken old man looking at immediate deportation. Or better yet an accident in prison that ends our support of this human waste.
...More recently, neighbors in Trenton, Mich., told the local news station that Petkov and her husband decorated their pickup to look like a hearse, strapped a homemade coffin on top, and drove it back and forth in front of the home Kathleen shares with her father and step mother. Petkov said it was just a Halloween prank.
No doc, this woman could bully that girl without a computer...but she uses the additional protectoin of cyperspace to go after a dying 7 year old child. She says this generates "personal satisfaction"...you are a waste of sperm Petkov. At some moment you will face a final judge and I hope this is something you will account for.
(CBS) Seven-year-old Kathleen Edward knows what it's like to die from Huntington's Disease. Last year, the debilitating disorder, which progressively destroys the mind and control of the body, took her mother's life.
Kathleen has it too.
But the disease is not her only nemesis. Kathleen is also the victim of a horrifying cyberbullying attack and the perpetrator is a 33-year-old neighbor, Jennifer Petkov.
Petkov admitted to WJBK News in Detroit that she had posted ghoulish art work of the child on her Facebook page. The picture showed the Kathleen's face - eyes closed and tongue lolling out - with a pair of crossed bones beneath it.
Petkov also admitted to posting a Photoshopped image of Kathleen's mother cradled by the Grim Reaper.
When asked why she did it, Petkov sounded a lot like a high school mean girl. "Personal satisfaction," she told the station. "Because it rubs their a-s raw."
"Cyberbullying gives people the opportunity to be more aggressive than they would allow themselves to be in person," Dr. Samuelle Klein-Von Reiche, a clinical psychologist in private practice in Manhattan, tells CBS News. "There is a weaker sense of personal responsibility. You don't have to confront someone directly."
Sergeant Sean Drenth Phoenix Police Department End of Watch: Monday, October 18, 2010 Age: 35 Tour of Duty: 12 years
Sergeant Sean Drenth was shot and killed killed while on duty near the Arizona State Capitol Complex.
At approximately 10:00 pm dispatchers and other officers were unable to reach him by radio. A search was initiated and approximately one hour later officers from the Arizona Capitol Police located his patrol car in an alley approximately one block from the Capitol Complex. They located his body nearby.
The suspect(s) in the case remain at large.
Sergeant Drenth had served with the Phoenix Police Department for 12 years. He is survived by his wife and mother.
Chaz Omar Blackshear and his girlfriend, Danielle Rene Hudson, both 21, each was charged Saturday with capital murder in the slaying of cabdriver Blaise Uzoma Nwokenaka, 50, of Bellaire, whose death was captured on video by surveillance cameras mounted on the office building where the crime occurred, police said. Nwokenaka was shot three times in the back and was left strapped in his driver's seat while his taxicab was set on fire.
On Monday, additional capital murder charges were filed against Blackshear and Hudson in the slaying of Mohammed Nabiil Elsayed, 32, of Houston, who was shot twice in the head and chest, then dumped in a drainage ditch in the Acres Homes area.
Blackshear and Hudson are believed to have reaped only $226 in cash between the two killings, including a single $1 bill taken from one victim's wallet, police said. More crimes were planned, investigators said.
Neither Blackshear nor Hudson showed any remorse for the killings of the two family men, police said Monday.
"Both people before they died expressed love for their families, and it didn't matter to them," Houston Police Department Homicide Sgt. Brian Harris said of the suspects, noting the victims' last words surfaced in the arrested couple's confessions.
HPD homicide investigator Fil Waters referred to the couple as "a would-be Bonnie and Clyde" who were emotionless about the crimes after their arrests late Friday.
"They're so callous, so evil, that they (thought they) could operate with impunity and not be brought to justice," Waters said Monday. "If the windows are the eyes to the soul, there's no soul. … The callousness between both of them was palpable."
"There was no emotional side," Harris agreed. "This was just sheer coldness."
...The couple didn't plan to stop with Nwokenaka's death. "This was not their last turn on this thing," Waters said.
You kill two men for a little of 200 dollars...it's at times like this I almost have sympathy for a defense lawyer...this is indefensible.
Surprised by arrests
Both suspects appeared surprised when Houston police, the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service arrested them at their apartment at about 9 p.m. Friday. Both confessed to their roles in the crimes and gave evidence that led police to the murder weapon, said HPD Homicide Capt. David Gott...
...Police recovered evidence indicating the couple may have been involved in other crimes before the cabdriver killings, Waters said....
Some other good news...
Both Blackshear and Hudson remain in the Harris County Jail, where they are being held without bail.
Welcome to Houston. We don't give bail for killers...some of the criminals from Katrina were shocked, shocked that they did not get bail on murder.
A few weeks ago Bartender Cabbie mentioned in a post if he has some gang bangers he passes them by. This is a perfect example why...I pray those two men RIP and hopefully these two vicious pieces of human excrement don't make it to 30.
A 23-year-old man who shot and killed a Phoenix police officer at a check-cashing store in 2007 was sentenced Tuesday to death.
A Maricopa County Superior Court jury imposed the death penalty against Edward James Rose, who fatally shot Officer George Cortez as the officer was trying to arrest him.
Rose pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in August, on the first day of his trial. On Sept. 13, the jury found aggravating factors to qualify him for the death penalty.
On July 27, 2007, Cortez, 23, the father of two boys, answered a 911 call from a check-cashing store in the 8200 block of West McDowell Road, where Rose and his girlfriend, Norma Lopez, were reported to have tried to cash a forged and stolen check. The incident was captured on surveillance video.
Prosecutors played moments of that video in court at Lopez's sentencing in April. She received 22 years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
In the video, Rose and Lopez can be seen standing at a teller's window as Lopez fidgets nervously. At that moment in the video, Lopez walks out of the store as Cortez walks quickly up to Rose and snaps a handcuff on his left hand.
Rose then pulled a .40-caliber pistol from his waistband and shot Cortez twice in the head.
Pray your next judge is more merciful you waste. Rest in Peace Officer Cortez.
This report is republished with permission of STRATFOR
By George Friedman
German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared at an Oct. 16 meeting of young members of her party, the Christian Democratic Union, that multiculturalism, or Multikulti, as the Germans put it, “has failed totally.” Horst Seehofer, minister-president of Bavaria and the chairman of a sister party to the Christian Democrats, said at the same meeting that the two parties were “committed to a dominant German culture and opposed to a multicultural one.” Merkel also said that the flood of immigrants is holding back the German economy, although Germany does need more highly trained specialists, as opposed to the laborers who have sought economic advantages in Germany.
The statements were striking in their bluntness and their willingness to speak of a dominant German culture, a concept that for obvious reasons Germans have been sensitive about asserting since World War II. The statement should be taken with utmost seriousness and considered for its social and geopolitical implications. It should also be considered in the broader context of Europe’s response to immigration, not to Germany’s response alone.
The Origins of the German Immigration Question
Let’s begin with the origins of the problem. Post-World War II Germany faced a severe labor shortage for two reasons: a labor pool depleted by the devastating war — and by Soviet prisoner-of-war camps — and the economic miracle that began on the back of revived industry in the 1950s. Initially, Germany was able to compensate by admitting ethnic Germans fleeing Central Europe and Communist East Germany. But the influx only helped assuage the population loss from World War II. Germany needed more labor to feed its burgeoning export-based industry, and in particular more unskilled laborers for manufacturing, construction and other industries.
To resolve the continuing labor shortage, Germany turned to a series of successive labor recruitment deals, first with Italy (1955). After labor from Italy dried up due to Italy’s own burgeoning economy, Germany turned to Spain (1960), Greece (1960), Turkey (1961) and then Yugoslavia (1968). Labor recruitment led to a massive influx of “Gastarbeiter,” German for “guest workers,” into German society. The Germans did not see this as something that would change German society: They regarded the migrants as temporary labor, not as immigrants in any sense. As the term implied, the workers were guests and would return to their countries of origin when they were no longer needed (many Spaniards, Italians and Portuguese did just this). This did not particularly trouble the Germans, who were primarily interested in labor.
The Germans simply didn’t expect this to be a long-term issue. They did not consider how to assimilate these migrants, a topic that rarely came up in policy discussions. Meanwhile, the presence of migrant labor allowed millions of Germans to move it from unskilled labor to white-collar jobs during the 1960s.
An economic slowdown in 1966 and full-on recession following the oil shock of 1973 changed labor conditions in Germany. Germany no longer needed a steady stream of unskilled labor and actually found itself facing mounting unemployment among migrants already in country, leading to the “Anwerbestopp,” German for “labor recruitment stop,” in 1973.
Nonetheless, the halt in migration did not resolve the fact that guest workers already were in Germany in great numbers, migrants who now wanted to bring in family members. The 1970s saw most migration switch to “family reunions” and, when the German government moved to close that loophole, asylum. As the Italians, Spanish and Portuguese returned home to tend to their countries’ own successive economic miracles, Muslim Turks became the overwhelming majority of migrants in Germany — particularly as asylum seekers flocked into Germany, most of whom were not fleeing any real government retribution. It did not help that Germany had particularly open asylum laws in large part due to guilt over the Holocaust, a loophole Turkish migrants exploited en masse following the 1980 coup d’etat in Turkey.
As the migrants transformed from a temporary exigency to a multigenerational community, the Germans had to confront the problem. At base, they did not want the migrants to become part of Germany. But if they were to remain in the country, Berlin wanted to make sure the migrants became loyal to Germany. The onus on assimilating migrants into the larger society increased as Muslim discontent rocked Europe in the 1980s. The solution Germans finally agreed upon in the mid-to-late 1980s was multiculturalism, a liberal and humane concept that offered migrants a grand bargain: Retain your culture but pledge loyalty to the state.
In this concept, Turkish immigrants, for example, would not be expected to assimilate into German culture. Rather, they would retain their own culture, including language and religion, and that culture would coexist with German culture. Thus, there would be a large number of foreigners, many of whom could not speak German and by definition did not share German and European values.
While respecting diversity, the policy seemed to amount to buying migrant loyalty. The deeper explanation was that the Germans did not want, and did not know how, to assimilate culturally, linguistically, religiously and morally diverse people. Multiculturalism did not so much represent respect for diversity as much as a way to escape the question of what it meant to be German and what pathways foreigners would follow to become Germans.
Two Notions of Nation
This goes back to the European notion of the nation, which is substantially different from the American notion. For most of its history, the United States thought of itself as a nation of immigrants, but with a core culture that immigrants would have to accept in a well-known multicultural process. Anyone could become an American, so long as they accepted the language and dominant culture of the nation. This left a lot of room for uniqueness, but some values had to be shared. Citizenship became a legal concept. It required a process, an oath and shared values. Nationality could be acquired; it had a price.
To be French, Polish or Greek meant not only that you learned their respective language or adopted their values — it meant that you were French, Polish or Greek because your parents were, as were their parents. It meant a shared history of suffering and triumph. One couldn’t acquire that.
For the Europeans, multiculturalism was not the liberal and humane respect for other cultures that it pretended to be. It was a way to deal with the reality that a large pool of migrants had been invited as workers into the country. The offer of multiculturalism was a grand bargain meant to lock in migrant loyalty in exchange for allowing them to keep their culture — and to protect European culture from foreign influences by sequestering the immigrants. The Germans tried to have their workers and a German identity simultaneously. It didn’t work.
Multiculturalism resulted in the permanent alienation of the immigrants. Having been told to keep their own identity, they did not have a shared interest in the fate of Germany. They identified with the country they came from much more than with Germany. Turkey was home. Germany was a convenience. It followed that their primary loyalty was to their home and not to Germany. The idea that a commitment to one’s homeland culture was compatible with a political loyalty to the nation one lived in was simplistic. Things don’t work that way. As a result, Germany did not simply have an alien mass in its midst: Given the state of affairs between the Islamic world and the West, at least some Muslim immigrants were engaged in potential terrorism.
Multiculturalism is profoundly divisive, particularly in countries that define the nation in European terms, e.g., through nationality. What is fascinating is that the German chancellor has chosen to become the most aggressive major European leader to speak out against multiculturalism. Her reasons, political and social, are obvious. But it must also be remembered that this is Germany, which previously addressed the problem of the German nation via the Holocaust. In the 65 years since the end of World War II, the Germans have been extraordinarily careful to avoid discussions of this issue, and German leaders have not wanted to say things such as being committed to a dominant German culture. We therefore need to look at the failure of multiculturalism in Germany in another sense, namely, with regard to what is happening in Germany.
Simply put, Germany is returning to history. It has spent the past 65 years desperately trying not to confront the question of national identity, the rights of minorities in Germany and the exercise of German self-interest. The Germans have embedded themselves in multinational groupings like the European Union and NATO to try to avoid a discussion of a simple and profound concept: nationalism. Given what they did last time the matter came up, they are to be congratulated for their exercise of decent silence. But that silence is now over.
The Re-emergence of German Nation Awareness
Two things have forced the re-emergence of German national awareness. The first, of course, is the immediate issue — a large and indigestible mass of Turkish and other Muslim workers. The second is the state of the multinational organizations to which Germany tried to confine itself. NATO, a military alliance consisting mainly of countries lacking militaries worth noting, is moribund. The second is the state of the European Union. After the Greek and related economic crises, the certainties about a united Europe have frayed. Germany now sees itself as shaping EU institutions so as not to be forced into being the European Union’s ultimate financial guarantor. And this compels Germany to think about Germany beyond its relations with Europe.
It is impossible for Germany to reconsider its position on multiculturalism without, at the same time, validating the principle of the German nation. Once the principle of the nation exists, so does the idea of a national interest. Once the national interest exists, Germany exists in the context of the European Union only as what Goethe termed an “elective affinity.” What was a certainty amid the Cold War now becomes an option. And if Europe becomes an option for Germany, then not only has Germany re-entered history, but given that Germany is the leading European power, the history of Europe begins anew again.
This isn’t to say that Germany must follow any particular foreign policy given its new official view on multiculturalism; it can choose many paths. But an attack on multiculturalism is simultaneously an affirmation of German national identity. You can’t have the first without the second. And once that happens, many things become possible.
Consider that Merkel made clear that Germany needed 400,000 trained specialists. Consider also that Germany badly needs workers of all sorts who are not Muslims living in Germany, particularly in view of Germany’s demographic problems. If Germany can’t import workers for social reasons, it can export factories, call centers, medical analysis and IT support desks. Not far to the east is Russia, which has a demographic crisis of its own but nonetheless has spare labor capacity due to its reliance on purely extractive natural resources for its economy. Germany already depends on Russian energy. If it comes to rely on Russian workers, and in turn Russia comes to rely on German investment, then the map of Europe could be redrawn once again and European history restarted at an even greater pace.
Merkel’s statement is therefore of enormous importance on two levels. First, she has said aloud what many leaders already know, which is that multiculturalism can become a national catastrophe. Second, in stating this, she sets in motion other processes that could have a profound impact on not only Germany and Europe but also the global balance of power. It is not clear at this time what her intention is, which may well be to boost her center-right coalition government’s abysmal popularity. But the process that has begun is neither easily contained nor neatly managed. All of Europe, indeed, much of the world, is coping with the struggle between cultures within their borders. But the Germans are different, historically and geographically. When they begin thinking these thoughts, the stakes go up.
IRAN Namibia: Mine Considers Moves On Iranian Stake
Namibia’s Rossing Uranium Limited mine, majority-owned by Rio Tinto, said it is considering how to proceed on a stake held by the Iranian government in light of U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran, Reuters reported Oct. 18. A company spokesman said in a letter dated Oct. 15 that the company is in communication with the Namibian government on how to deal with the sanctions. Iran has owned a 15 percent stake in the mine since 1975. An unnamed U.N. Security Council official said Resolution 1929 would only apply to new stakes, but another diplomat said mining firms are under pressure to distance themselves from Iran.
Iran: Domestically Made Destroyer To Be Deployed October 18, 2010
Iran is due to deploy its first domestically made destroyer, Jamaran, in international waters as part of its strategy to defend the country’s interests abroad, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari said, Fars News Agency reported Oct. 18. The destroyer will be deployed 10 degrees north of international waters soon, Sayyari said.
IRAQ NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
ISRAEL
Israel: Forces Move Toward South Gaza October 18, 2010
Israeli forces supported by three tanks, three bulldozers and reconnaissance aircraft moved from Kissufim military base toward the border with Al-Qarara in southern Gaza, KUNA reported Oct. 18.
Syria: IDF To Monitor New Flotilla October 17, 2010
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is monitoring a Syrian aid flotilla expected to depart Syria for the Egyptian port of al-Arish, The Jerusalem Post reported Oct. 17. The flotilla is not expected to attempt to reach Gaza, but the IDF has made preparations for the flotilla, according to an IDF source.
Egypt: Israeli Settlements May End Peace Talks October 16, 2010
Israeli building permit approval for 238 new housing units in East Jerusalem is a provocative step and a sign the direct peace talks could collapse, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Oct. 16, Haaretz reported. If Israel does not respect the freeze and continues West Bank settlement building, Arab nations may seek U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state, according to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, AP reported.
AFGHANISTAN Afghanistan: NATO Restricting Taliban Supplies October 18, 2010
Afghan and foreign forces have choked supply routes for the Taliban, leading them to increase illicit taxation on civilians to supply their operations, a NATO spokesman said Oct. 18, AP reported. Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz said insurgents are getting faulty weapons and ammunition and have begun to blame NATO. The Taliban are extorting money from farmers in the northern province of Kunduz to fund the insurgency, Blotz said.
Afghanistan: Iran Joins High-level Discussions October 18, 2010
Iran has joined senior Afghan, U.N. and NATO officials in high-level talks on Afghanistan, unnamed officials said Oct. 18, AP reported. U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said Washington has no problem with Iranian participation in the talks as Iran and Afghanistan share a long and porous border. Iran’s participation in the discussions will be limited to Afghanistan; anything discussed will neither affect nor be affected by other bilateral issues, Holbrooke said.
Craft beer and local wines go on sale after 4 p.m. The idea is to offer drinks and a wider variety of savory food that will attract customers after the morning espresso rush.
The store closed in July for the renovation, which also includes a circular coffee bar that brings customers closer to the baristas.
The Olive Way store is one of Starbucks Corp.'s percolators for ideas that could someday spread to the Seattle-based chain's other locations. Company officials have declined to say how soon elements from the shop might appear elsewhere.
Hey, as a cop we have lots of Starbucks that give us free drinks...I wonder? :<)
Chris Matthews is a former staffer for the liberal Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O'Neal so of course he can be an objective journalist in the world of ABC/CBS/NBC/MSNBC/PBS/NYTIMES/WP et all. Now you gotta love this quote from Matthews on the recent saving of the 33 miners in Chile.
Host Chris Matthews: “The message coming out of the Tea Party people, and lot of them are good people, is every man for himself, basically. ‘No more taxes, no more government, no more everything. No more safety net. No more health care for everybody. Everybody just get out there, make your buck, save it, screw the government, move on.’ Right? You know these people, if they were every man for himself down in that mine they wouldn’t have gotten out.”
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: “That’s exactly right.”
Matthews: “They would have been killing each other after about two days.”
Now I've often said B Hussein Obama (the oracle in Matthew's screwed up brain) is not qualified to run the night shift at a McDonalds. Now the TEA Party is much more for free enterprise and liberty from government and bureaucratic abuse. Well, Daniel Henninger wrote an excellent piece on this and how we had the assets to save those men.
It needs to be said. The rescue of the Chilean miners is a smashing victory for free-market capitalism.
...Wonder Land Columnist Daniel Henninger and Americas Columnist Mary Anastasia O'Grady analyze the Chilean rescue. ."The basic idea is that if we put our blind faith in the market and we let corporations do whatever they want and we leave everybody else to fend for themselves, then America somehow automatically is going to grow and prosper."
Uh, yeah. That's a caricature of the basic idea, but basically that's right. Ask the miners.
If those miners had been trapped a half-mile down like this 25 years ago anywhere on earth, they would be dead. What happened over the past 25 years that meant the difference between life and death for those men?
Short answer: the Center Rock drill bit.
This is the miracle bit that drilled down to the trapped miners. Center Rock Inc. is a private company in Berlin, Pa. It has 74 employees. The drill's rig came from Schramm Inc. in West Chester, Pa. Seeing the disaster, Center Rock's president, Brandon Fisher, called the Chileans to offer his drill. Chile accepted. The miners are alive.
Wait, he offered his drill...you mean a government bureaucrat didn't put out a request for bids with racial and sex set asides, err affirmative action. What?????
Longer answer: The Center Rock drill, heretofore not featured on websites like Engadget or Gizmodo, is in fact a piece of tough technology developed by a small company in it for the money, for profit. That's why they innovated down-the-hole hammer drilling. If they make money, they can do more innovation.
This profit = innovation dynamic was everywhere at that Chilean mine. The high-strength cable winding around the big wheel atop that simple rig is from Germany. Japan supplied the super-flexible, fiber-optic communications cable that linked the miners to the world above.
Samsung of South Korea supplied a cellphone that has its own projector. Jeffrey Gabbay, the founder of Cupron Inc. in Richmond, Va., supplied socks made with copper fiber that consumed foot bacteria, and minimized odor and infection.
Chile's health minister, Jaime Manalich, said, "I never realized that kind of thing actually existed."
The profit = innovation dynamic was everywhere at the mine rescue site.
That's right. In an open economy, you will never know what is out there on the leading developmental edge of this or that industry. But the reality behind the miracles is the same: Someone innovates something useful, makes money from it, and re-innovates, or someone else trumps their innovation. Most of the time, no one notices. All it does is create jobs, wealth and well-being. But without this system running in the background, without the year-over-year progress embedded in these capitalist innovations, those trapped miners would be dead.
Some will recoil at these triumphalist claims for free-market capitalism. Why make them now?
Here's why. When a catastrophe like this occurs—others that come to mind are the BP well blowout, Hurricane Katrina, various disasters in China—a government has all its chips pushed to the center of the table. Chile succeeds (it rebuilt after the February earthquake with phenomenal speed). China flounders. Two American administrations left the public agog as they stumbled through the mess.
I got into a running debate with a leftist on a friend's blog and he insinuated I lived a shelter life. I had to point out to this idiot (as some of you know) I have a chronic illness that can blind, paralyze or kill me. But due to the work of private medical companies there are treatments available now that should allow me to live a normal life. Thanks to the private sector, not an Obamacare death panel I have that hope. Thanks to multiple people pursuing their own private interest they have developed these assets like that drill bit and were able to handle this problem.
Another thing that shows a community organized and a real leader. When the mine collapsed in May Chilian President Sebastian Piñera knew the company could not handle it and had the national oil company run the event. They used private assets to save these men and one thing you don't see around there is lawyers.
In April 2010 the Deepwater Horizon exploded and where was B Hussein Obama...fund raising and play golf. The feds have primary responsibility by law but that didn't stop him. Now the Dutch offered to help us with skimmers and other assets three days into the spill. "Thanks, but no thanks" said BO. Waiving the Jone's act would piss off his union thug masters. When the public pressure got too much Obama finally moved, waiving the Jones Act and accepted offers of assistance in late summer...but he did send the lawyer Eric Holder to see who he could sue. Maybe if he had thought of sending specialist from the Corps of Engineers that would have been useful. But he wanted to know "who's ass to kick".
And this idiot will actually get some people voting for him...damned.
Missouri State Highway Patrol End of Watch: Friday, October 15, 2010 Age: 47 Tour of Duty: 17 years Badge Number: 970
Sergeant Joe Schuengel was killed in a helicopter crash while returning to Spirit of St. Louis Airport in one of the department's traffic enforcement helicopters.
He had dropped off several other troopers and was returning to the airport when the Bell 206B helicopter experienced a probable mechanical failure. It is believed he was able to maneuver the aircraft to avoid nearby houses before crashing into a residential street on Horseshoe Ridge Road.
Residents and responding officers immediately responded to the scene, but Sergeant Schuengel had been killed on impact.
Sergeant Schuengel had served with the Missouri State Highway Patrol for 17 years and is survived by his mother and three sisters
Last week while I was on patrol I stopped a homeless man for jaywalking.I really wanted to check if he had warrants but when I asked him for an ID he was unsure but he said, “I got this”.
He handed me a new voter card.The address was a homeless shelter that a lot of street people use to get their mail.
Now if I was living on the street hoping I could make dinner tonight and where I would sleep, I really doubt I would be worrying if Bill White or Rich Perry was governor.But someone got him down to the Registrar of Voters and helped him get registered.Something tells me they are leftist and will gladly transport these people to the voting booth in a few weeks…probably get them some lunch while they are at it.
I’ve often said I believe in universal suffrage but things like this make me question that. Here is someone being used by liberals (let’s be honest, that what is happening) to influence the vote for something like a dinner.Now he has no real ties to this area he’s registered in and therefore doesn’t give a damn if they vote for someone competent.
Maybe a requirement that you actually pay income or payroll taxes …something to make sure if you vote you have some real interest in what happens after an idiot is elected.
As I collapse in my bed at the Naval Support Activity-New Orleans I was checking my emails before taking a nap. My friend Linda T sent me this email with a bunch of political cartoons I zipped through...but the last one says it all:
You may recall the Reagan funeral in 2004. One thing that is not well known. As the Commander-n-Chief a riderless horse with the boots on backwards follows the caisson carrying Reagan's casket.
Those were his boots, not something picked up from a store just for the service.
USA
U.S.: Defense Department Preparing For Release Of 400,000 Leaked Iraq War Reports October 15, 2010
The U.S. Defense Department said Oct. 15 that it was preparing for WikiLeaks to release around 400,000 secret military reports on the Iraq War, AFP reported. The leaked reports were pulled from an Iraq-based “tactical reports database” that contained tactical reports and unit-level reporting, a Pentagon spokesman said, adding that the department does not know how many or which documents will be released. He said a 120-person taskforce was set up several weeks ago to peruse the database of reports and determine the possible impact of their release, saying the department is concerned that the leaked reports compile “significant activities,” such as attacks against coalition troops, or Iraqi security forces, civilians and infrastructure.
U.S.: Turkey In Talks About NATO Missile Defense System - DM October 15, 2010
Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said on Oct. 15 that Turkey was negotiating over the proposed NATO missile defense system, Anatolia reported. He denied that the United States is pushing Turkey to make a decision, adding that the U.S. project has become a NATO issue. He said one concern is how the NATO missile shield would affect his country’s missile system. He said the multibillion-dollar deal could bring significant cost reductions for Turkey.
South Korea and the United States will conduct a regular air force training exercise Oct. 15-22 to increase interoperability among pilots, according to South Korea’s air force, Yonhap reported Oct. 14. About 50 fighter jets, including F-15Ks and KF-16s from South Korea and U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcons and KC-135 Stratotankers will take part in the eight-day drill, officials stated. More than 250 pilots will be mobilized for the “Max Thunder” drill to be staged over the western airspace of the Korean Peninsula, according to the statement.
RUSSIA
Russia, Venezuela: Energy Deals Made October 15, 2010
Russia and Venezuela have signed an agreement to build and operate a nuclear power station in Venezuela, Interfax reported Oct. 15. The news agency also reported that the Russian energy and Venezuelan oil ministries signed a deal to support TNK-BP acquisition of BP assets in Venezuela. Also, it was reported that Gazprom and Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) signed an agreement to build a liquefied natural gas facility in Venezuela; Rosneft will buy a PDVSA stake in Ruhr oil for $1.6 billion; and Rosneft and PDVSA signed an agreement on Rosneft acquiring 50 percent of Ruhr Oil.
IRAN
Iran: Plans Made For More Nuclear Facilities October 15, 2010
The deputy chief of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Behzad Soltani has said a special research reactor will be built in Arak in the next three years for the production of radiological medicines, state-run Iranian radio reported Oct. 15. Soltani said Iran intends to develop the ability to produce fuel for a nuclear power plant like Bushehr and to develop another nuclear power plant.
IRAQ
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
ISRAEL
Israel: Settlement Construction Authorized October 15, 2010
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized construction of 214 housing units in the northeastern Jerusalem neighborhoods of Pisgat Ze’ev and Ramot, Ynet reported Oct. 15. There is no Jerusalem settlement freeze, according to sources who said the Prime Minister’s Office tries to prevent Netanyahu from being surprised by construction when the timing is sensitive. Housing Minister Ariel Atias said the United States will tolerate the tender and not turn it into a crisis. A Jerusalem portfolio holder in Fatah Hatem Addel Kader said Israel’s decision undermined U.S. efforts to avoid peace talk deadlocks and ”hammers the final nail in the negotiations’ coffin.”
AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan: More Taliban Operatives Want To Talk - Envoy October 15, 2010
U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has said an increasing number of Afghan Taliban associates have been reaching out for negotiations about ending the war, but the move has not led to formal talks, AP reported Oct. 15. He attributed Taliban interest in talks to stepped-up military pressure on the militant group.
MIDDLE EAST
Iran: Tehran Voted In As President Of OPEC October 14, 2010
Iran has been elected as the president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for the first time in 36 years, Iranian Deputy Oil
Minister Mohammad Ali Khatibi said Oct. 14, citing Mehr news agency. The 12-member cartel voted in Vienna on Oct. 14. Iran holds the post until 2011.
Gotta love this quote...." China may also have been wary of having itself grouped with Russia and Iran on this tour. Washington conservatives have created a buzzword for this grouping of countries, VIRUS (short for Venezuela, Iran, and Russia). "
Venezuela: Russia To Deliver 35 Tanks October 15, 2010
Russia will soon supply Venezuela with a shipment of 35 tanks, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at an Oct. 15 meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, RIA-Novosti reported.
United States Coast Guard Office of Law Enforcement End of Watch: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 Age: 23 Tour of Duty: 3 years
Petty Officer Shaun Lin died during a training exercise in the James River, near Newport News, Virginia.
He was attempting to transfer from a 25-foot small boat to the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Frank Drew when he fell from a ladder into the water near the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge Tunnel.
His body was recovered the following evening after an intensive search by Coast Guard and local police and rescue dive teams.
Petty Officer Lin had served with the United States Coast Guard for three years and was assigned to MSST New York.
End of Watch: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 Tour of Duty: 4 years Cause of Death: Vehicular assault
Patrolman Karl McDonough was killed when his patrol car was struck by a vehicle being operated by a drunk driver.
Patrolman McDonough and another officer were on patrol and were traveling south on Zaragoza Road. As they passed through the intersection at Saul Kleinfeld Drive, their patrol car was struck by the other vehicle. The patrol car was pushed into a light pole and Patrolman McDonough was killed. His partner was seriously injured.
The driver was arrested and charged with intoxicated manslaughter.
Patrolman McDonough had served with the El Paso Police Department for four years.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Beirut on Oct. 13 for his first official visit to Lebanon since becoming president in 2005. He is reportedly returning to the country after a stint there in the 1980s as a young Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officer tasked with training Hezbollah in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. A great deal of controversy is surrounding his return. Rumors are spreading of Sunni militants attempting to mar the visit by provoking Iran’s allies in Hezbollah into a fight (already the car of a pro-Hezbollah imam who has been defending Ahmadinejad has been blown up), while elaborate security preparations are being made for Ahmadinejad to visit Lebanon’s heavily militarized border with Israel.
Rather than getting caught up in the drama surrounding the Iranian president’s visit, we want to take the opportunity provided by all the media coverage to probe into a deeper topic, one that has been occupying the minds of Iranian, Syrian and Hezbollah officials for some time. This topic is the durability of the Iran-Hezbollah-Syria alliance, which STRATFOR believes has been under great stress in recent months. More precisely, the question is: What are Syria’s current intentions toward Hezbollah?
The Origins of the Alliance
To address this topic, we need to review the origins of the trilateral pact, starting with the formation of an alliance in 1979 between secular Alawite-Baathist Syria and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Ideologically speaking, the Syrian Alawite elite represent an offshoot of Shiite Islam that the Sunnis consider apostate. They found some commonality with the Shiite clerical elite in Tehran, but there were also broader strategic motivations in play. At the time, Syria was on a quest to establish the country’s regional prowess, and it knew that the first steps toward this end had to be taken in Lebanon. From the Syrian point of view, Lebanon is not just a natural extension of Syria; it is the heartland of the Greater Syria province that existed during Ottoman times. Since the days of Phoenicia, what is modern-day Lebanon has been a vibrant trading hub, connecting routes from the east and south to the Mediterranean basin. For Syria to feel like it has any real worth in the region, it must dominate Lebanon.
A civil war that had broken out in Lebanon in 1975 (and lasted through 1990) afforded Syria such an opportunity. The main obstruction to Syria’s agenda at the time, besides Israel, was the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) under Yasser Arafat, whose vision for a unified Palestine and whose operations in Lebanon ran counter to Syria’s bid for regional hegemony. The PLO, in fact, was one of the main reasons Syria intervened militarily in Lebanon in 1975 on behalf of its Maronite Christian allies. At the same time, Syria was looking for an ally to undermine the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, with whom the Syrian Baathists had a deep-seated rivalry. An alliance with Iran would grant Syria some much-needed individuality in a region dominated by the Arab powers Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Coming off the success of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and going into what would become a long and bloody war with Iraq, Iran was also looking for a venue to counter the Baathist regime in Baghdad. In addition, Iran was looking to undermine the Pan-Arab vision, establish a presence in the Levant and promote its own Islamic vision of government. In opposition to Israel, Hussein and Arafat, Iran and Syria thus uncovered the roots of an alliance, albeit one that was shifting uneasily between Syrian secularity and Iranian religiosity.
The adoption of Hezbollah by the two unlikely allies in 1982 was what helped bridge that gap. Hezbollah, an offshoot of Amal, the main Shiite political movement at the time, served multiple purposes for Damascus and Tehran. Syria found in Hezbollah a useful militant proxy to contain obstructions to Syrian influence in Lebanon and to compensate for its own military weakness in comparison to Israel. In the broader Syrian strategic vision, Hezbollah would develop into a bargaining chip for a future settlement with Israel once Syria could ensure that Lebanon was firmly within Syria’s grasp and was therefore unable to entertain a peace deal with Israel on its own.
The Iranians saw in Hezbollah the potential to export its Islamic Revolution into the Arab world, a strong binder for its still new and shaky alliance with Syria and a useful deterrent in dealing with adversaries like Israel, the United States and Saudi Arabia. So, Iran and Syria set out to divide their responsibilities in managing this militant proxy. Iran was primarily in charge of bankrolling, training and enforcing the group’s ideological loyalty to Tehran with IRGC assistance. Syria was in charge of creating the conditions for Iran to nurture Hezbollah, mainly by permitting IRGC officers to set up training camps in the Bekaa Valley and by securing a line of supply for weapons to reach the group via Syria.
But the triumvirate did not get off to a very smooth start. In fact, Hezbollah and Syria clashed a number of times in the early 1980s, when Syria felt the group, under Iranian direction, went too far in provoking external intervention (and thus risked drawing Syria into conflict). If Hezbollah was to operate on Syrian territory (as Syria viewed it) in Lebanon, Syria wanted Hezbollah operating on its terms. It was not until 1987, when Syrian troops in Lebanon shot 23 Hezbollah members, that Hezbollah fully realized the importance of maintaining an entente with Syria. In the meantime, Hezbollah, caught between occasionally conflicting Syrian and Iranian agendas, saw that the path to the group’s survival lay in becoming a more autonomous political — as opposed to purely militant — actor in the Lebanese political arena.
A Syrian Setback
The Iran-Hezbollah-Syria alliance operated relatively smoothly through the 1990s as Hezbollah gradually built up its political arm and as Syria kept close watch on the group through its roughly 14,000 troops and thousands of intelligence agents who had remained in Lebanon since the end of the civil war. In 2000, with Iranian and Syrian help, Hezbollah succeeded in forcing Israel to withdraw from Lebanon’s southern Security Zone, an event that greatly boosted Hezbollah’s credentials as a Lebanese nationalist actor.
But fresh challenges to the pact came with the turn of the century. The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, in particular, was a defining moment for both Iran and Syria. The two allies felt enormously uncomfortable with having the world’s most powerful military on their borders, but they were also presented with an immediate opportunity to unseat their mutual archrival, Saddam Hussein. Iran and Syria also had different endgames in mind for a post-Hussein Iraq. Iran used its political, militant and intelligence links to consolidate influence in Iraq through the country’s Shiite majority. In contrast, Syria provided refuge to Iraq’s Sunni Baathists with the aim of extending its sphere of influence in the region through a secularist former-Baathist presence in Baghdad. The Syrians also planned to use those Sunni links later to bargain with the United States for a seat at the negotiating table, thereby affirming Syrian influence in the region.
But before Syria could gain much traction in its plans for Iraq, its agenda in Lebanon suffered a serious setback. On Feb. 14, 2005, a massive car bomb in Beirut killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, a powerful and vocal opponent of Syrian authority in Lebanon. The bombing is strongly believed to have been orchestrated by elements within the Syrian regime and executed by members of Hezbollah. While a major opponent of the Syrian regime was thereby eliminated, Syria did not anticipate that the death of al-Hariri would spark a revolution in Lebanon (which attracted the support of countries like France and the United States) and end up driving Syrian troops out of Lebanon. The vacuum that Syria left in Lebanon was rapidly filled by Iran (via Hezbollah), which had a pressing need to fortify Hezbollah as a proxy force as war tensions steadily built up in the region over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Though Syria knew it would only be a matter of time before it would return to Lebanon, it also had a strategic interest in demonstrating to the Israelis and the Americans the costs of Syria’s absence from Lebanon. The regime wanted to show that without a firm Syrian check on Hezbollah, disastrous events like the 2006 summer confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel could occur.
The Syrian Comeback
It has now been more than five and a half years since the al-Hariri assassination, and there is little question that Syria, once again, has reclaimed its hegemonic position in Lebanon. The Syrian intelligence apparatus pervades the country, and Lebanese politicians who dared to speak out against the Syrian regime are now asking for forgiveness. In perhaps the most glaring demonstration of the political tide shifting back toward Damascus, Saad al-Hariri, the son of the slain al-Hariri and Lebanon’s reluctant prime minister, announced in early June that Lebanon had “made a mistake” in making a “political accusation” against Syria for his father’s murder. The message was clear: Syria was back.
That message did not necessarily sit well with Hezbollah and Iran. Syria wants to keep Hezbollah in check, returning to the 1990s model when Syrian military and intelligence could still tightly control the group’s movements and supplies. Iran and Hezbollah have also watched as Syria has used its comeback in Lebanon to diversify its foreign policy portfolio over the past year. Saudi Arabia and Turkey, for example, have been cozying up to Damascus and have quietly bargained with the al Assad regime to place checks on Hezbollah as a way to undermine Iran’s key proxy in the Levant. As long as these regional powers recognize Syria’s authority in Lebanon, Syria is willing to use those relationships to exonerate itself from the al-Hariri assassination tribunal, rake much-needed investment into the Syrian economy and, most important, re-establish itself as a regional power. Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s decision to visit Beirut alongside Saudi King Abdullah was a deliberate signal to Hezbollah and Iran that Syria had options and was not afraid to display them.
This does not mean Syria is ready and willing to sell out its Hezbollah and Iranian allies. On the contrary, Syria derives leverage from maintaining these relationships and acting as the bridge between the Shiite revivalists and the Sunni powers. Syria has illustrated as much in its current mediation efforts among the various Iraqi factions that are torn between Iran on one side and the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey on the other. But if we go back to reviewing the core reasons Syria agreed to an alliance with Iran and Hezbollah in the first place, it is easy to see why Hezbollah and Iran still have a lot of reason to be worried.
Syria’s priority in the early 1980s was to achieve suzerainty in Lebanon (done), eliminate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein in Iraq (done) and remove any key obstacles in Lebanon that could challenge Syria’s authority. In the 1970s, that obstacle was the PLO. Today, that obstacle is Hezbollah and its Iranian backers, who are competing for influence in Lebanon and no longer have a good read on Syrian intentions. Hezbollah relies heavily on Syria for its logistical support and knows that its communication systems, for example, are vulnerable to Syrian intelligence. Hezbollah has also grown nervous at the signs of Syria steadily ramping up support for competing militant groups — including the Amal Movement, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, al-Ahbash, the Nasserites, the Baath Party and the Mirada of Suleiman Franjiyye — to counter Hezbollah’s prowess.
Meanwhile, Iran is seeing one of the key prongs in its deterrent strategy — Hezbollah — grow increasingly vulnerable at a time when Iran is pressed to demonstrate to the United States and Israel that the costs of an attack on its nuclear installation are not worth incurring. The Iranian competition with Syria does not end in Lebanon, either. In Iraq, Syria is far more interested in establishing a secularist government with a former Baathist presence than it is in seeing Baghdad develop into a Shiite satellite for the Iranians.
For now, Syria is adroitly playing both sides of the geopolitical divide in the region, taking care to blend its reassurances toward the alliance and its primary negotiating partners in Saudi Arabia with threats of the destabilization that could erupt should Syria’s demands go ignored. Syria, for example, has made clear that in return for recognition of its authority in Lebanon it will prevent Hezbollah from laying siege on Beirut, whether they are ordered to do so by Tehran as part of an Iranian negotiating ploy with the Americans or whether they act on their own in retaliation against the al-Hariri tribunal proceedings. At the same time, Syrian officials will shuttle regularly between Lebanon and Iran to reaffirm their standing in the triumvirate. Behind this thick veneer of unity, however, a great deal of apprehension and distrust is building among the allies.
The core fear residing in Hezbollah and Iran has to do with Syrian intentions moving forward. In particular, Hezbollah would like to know if, in Syria’s eyes, the group is rapidly devolving from strategic patron to bargaining chip with every ounce of confidence that Syria gains in Lebanon. The answer to that question, however, lies not in Syria but in Israel and the United States. Israeli, U.S. and Saudi policymakers have grown weary of Syria’s mercantilist negotiating style in which Syrian officials will extract as much as possible from their negotiating partners while delivering very little in return.
At the same time, Syria cannot afford to take any big steps toward militant proxies like Hezbollah unless it receives firm assurances from Israel in backchannel peace talks that continue to stagnate. But Syria is also sensing an opportunity at its door: The United States is desperate to complete its exit strategy from Iraq and, like Israel, is looking for useful levers to undermine Iranian clout in the region. One such lever is Syria, which is why the mere idea of Israel and Syria talking peace right now should give Iran and Hezbollah ample food for thought.
This report is republished with permission of STRATFOR
