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KESSAB, SYRIA AND HOW NEO-CONS, PSEUDO-PROGRESSIVES IN WASHINGTON UNDERMINE U.S. INTERESTS IN MIDDLE EAST
BY STAFF
- POSTED ON JUNE 2, 2014POSTED IN: UNCATEGORIZED
By APPO JABARIAN
Executive Publisher / Managing Editor USA Armenian Life Magazine
(English-language edition) Hye Kiank Armenian Weekly (Armenian-language
edition)
My recent trip to Eastern U.S. proved to be a memorable journey. One
of the highlights was serving as Master of Ceremonies at Society of
Orphaned Armenian Relief New Jersey Chapter's Mother's Day luncheon.
Another highlight was an invitation by Knights of Vartan Ararat
lodge (Greater Boston, Massachusetts) to attend the lodge's dinner in
Cambridge. As a guest speaker I was asked to make a short presentation
on Kessab Armenians' plight.
Well-known attorney Robert Avakian presented me to the audience saying
"Appo Jabarian is a public speaker, a publisher, a writer, a TV and
newspaper commentator, a multilingual communications specialist and
a professional actor. He reads, writes, and speaks fluently in five
languages; is conversational in few more."
This article features mostly remarks that I made at the KOV event.
Nestled on the southern seashores of former Armenian Kingdom of
Cilicia - now occupied by what is called Turkey, Kessab is the last
standing medieval Armenian city in the Mediterranean basin. Luckily
for Armenians, during French partition of the region, Kessab and
vicinity ended up in Syria.
Kessab is one of three independent Armenian municipalities in Middle
East - the other two are Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon; and Ainjar, Lebanon.
All three municipalities have legal status ensuring Armenian leadership
at the helm of each municipal government protected by the respective
governments of Syria and Lebanon.
As many of you may be aware, a few weeks ago, Kessab was overrun mostly
by non-Syrian foreign mercenaries and jihadists invading from Turkey.
To Ankara's dismay, strong worldwide negative reaction in world
media resulted in Turkey being dealt with a high dosage of negative
publicity as a direct consequence of its miscalculations in Kessab
and in Syria in general.
Turkey's proxy-invasion of Kessab also brought to the forefront
the fact that Ankara has been systematically financing the killing
of Armenians in Syria. Witnesses have come forward to point out
that Turkey has been offering predominantly foreign jihadists and
mercenaries "5,000 dollars for each killed Armenian and 1,000 dollars
for each killed Syrian soldier."
Kessab debacle illustrated -- while Aleppo Armenians successfully
defended their neighborhoods, Syrian government and Syrian Armenian
community were caught under-prepared for an imminent Turkish
proxy-invasion. And the time has come for all of us around the world
to take responsibility for the catastrophe in the region.
Talking about what's really going on in Syria, I must say that contrary
to what the West and its corporate-manipulated mainstream media are
claiming "that Syria is a dictatorship," the current Syrian government
under President Assad (despite its democratic shortcomings) has proven
to be a consensus government. Before the arrival of succeeding Assad
governments, Syria was subjected to short-lived governments because
of seemingly unending coups. Yes, it may not have been democratic,
but during the last forty years Syria enjoyed unprecedented political
stability and economic development protecting all Syrians - minorities
included.
Despite the ongoing crisis, Syria continues to represent one of the
healthiest civil societies in the Middle East where Syrians coming
from all religious and ethnic backgrounds maintain high level of
mutual tolerance and acceptance.
Syrian brand of Arab nationalism is the best formula for countering
jihadi Muslim extremism. If Jihadis prevail, several genocidal
campaigns against a variety of minority groups may be inevitable. So
the healthiest alternative is secular Arab nationalism.
Back in the 1960â~@²s and up until mid '70â~@²s , when walking into a
middle eastern household - Muslim and Christian alike, one would see
portrait photo of a U.S. President prominently displayed in living
or dining rooms. U.S. prestige was soaring at that time. But now,
in 2010â~@²s not only portrait photos of American leaders are gone
but the Arab street has resorted to burning U.S. flags.
During the last couple decades a chain of foreign policy blunders
were committed by mega-corporate enablers in Washington, triggering
steady decline of U.S. prestige and public opinion standing. The U.S.
faux-pas in the Syrian crisis became the 'icing on the cake.'
Before the Syrian crisis erupted with the instigation of Neo-Cons
and Pseudo-progressives in Washington and other capitals, Syria was
executing a foreign policy that maintained a fair balance between
East and West.
In a perfect world, the United States and the West in general would
have been satisfied with that kind of political arrangement. However
to the detriment of the American people, U.S. foreign policy advisors
steered toward win-or-lose-all poker policy, undermining long-term
strategic U.S. interests in the Middle East.
Gone are the days when during the short-lived post-soviet vacuum,
our planet had become a uni-polar world. Now with the re-emergence of
post-soviet Russia and its leadership of a new international alliance
of B.R.I.C.S. - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the
world has shifted to being multi-polar creating a much healthier
political environment for humanity as a whole provided that all major
powers revert to political realism.
With the onslaught of developments in the near future, the political
currency of Armenian Diaspora as a well-organized transnational
community could be on the verge of gaining great value provided that
first and foremost, Armenians recognize their own worth.
And as such, Armenians must reinvent themselves as a global community
and ensure their collective survival along with the twin republics
of Armenia and Artsakh.
Another challenge that requires immediate focusing are the safety
and security of fellow Armenians no matter where they are. Today,
we're dealing with the plight of Armenians in Kessab, Aleppo and
other parts of Syria. Heaven forbid, tomorrow maybe elsewhere. Are
we well-prepared?
http://www.armenianlife.com/2014/06/02/kessab-syria-and-how-neo-cons-pseudo-progressives-in-washington-undermine-u-s-interests-in-middle-east/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
BY STAFF
- POSTED ON JUNE 2, 2014POSTED IN: UNCATEGORIZED
By APPO JABARIAN
Executive Publisher / Managing Editor USA Armenian Life Magazine
(English-language edition) Hye Kiank Armenian Weekly (Armenian-language
edition)
My recent trip to Eastern U.S. proved to be a memorable journey. One
of the highlights was serving as Master of Ceremonies at Society of
Orphaned Armenian Relief New Jersey Chapter's Mother's Day luncheon.
Another highlight was an invitation by Knights of Vartan Ararat
lodge (Greater Boston, Massachusetts) to attend the lodge's dinner in
Cambridge. As a guest speaker I was asked to make a short presentation
on Kessab Armenians' plight.
Well-known attorney Robert Avakian presented me to the audience saying
"Appo Jabarian is a public speaker, a publisher, a writer, a TV and
newspaper commentator, a multilingual communications specialist and
a professional actor. He reads, writes, and speaks fluently in five
languages; is conversational in few more."
This article features mostly remarks that I made at the KOV event.
Nestled on the southern seashores of former Armenian Kingdom of
Cilicia - now occupied by what is called Turkey, Kessab is the last
standing medieval Armenian city in the Mediterranean basin. Luckily
for Armenians, during French partition of the region, Kessab and
vicinity ended up in Syria.
Kessab is one of three independent Armenian municipalities in Middle
East - the other two are Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon; and Ainjar, Lebanon.
All three municipalities have legal status ensuring Armenian leadership
at the helm of each municipal government protected by the respective
governments of Syria and Lebanon.
As many of you may be aware, a few weeks ago, Kessab was overrun mostly
by non-Syrian foreign mercenaries and jihadists invading from Turkey.
To Ankara's dismay, strong worldwide negative reaction in world
media resulted in Turkey being dealt with a high dosage of negative
publicity as a direct consequence of its miscalculations in Kessab
and in Syria in general.
Turkey's proxy-invasion of Kessab also brought to the forefront
the fact that Ankara has been systematically financing the killing
of Armenians in Syria. Witnesses have come forward to point out
that Turkey has been offering predominantly foreign jihadists and
mercenaries "5,000 dollars for each killed Armenian and 1,000 dollars
for each killed Syrian soldier."
Kessab debacle illustrated -- while Aleppo Armenians successfully
defended their neighborhoods, Syrian government and Syrian Armenian
community were caught under-prepared for an imminent Turkish
proxy-invasion. And the time has come for all of us around the world
to take responsibility for the catastrophe in the region.
Talking about what's really going on in Syria, I must say that contrary
to what the West and its corporate-manipulated mainstream media are
claiming "that Syria is a dictatorship," the current Syrian government
under President Assad (despite its democratic shortcomings) has proven
to be a consensus government. Before the arrival of succeeding Assad
governments, Syria was subjected to short-lived governments because
of seemingly unending coups. Yes, it may not have been democratic,
but during the last forty years Syria enjoyed unprecedented political
stability and economic development protecting all Syrians - minorities
included.
Despite the ongoing crisis, Syria continues to represent one of the
healthiest civil societies in the Middle East where Syrians coming
from all religious and ethnic backgrounds maintain high level of
mutual tolerance and acceptance.
Syrian brand of Arab nationalism is the best formula for countering
jihadi Muslim extremism. If Jihadis prevail, several genocidal
campaigns against a variety of minority groups may be inevitable. So
the healthiest alternative is secular Arab nationalism.
Back in the 1960â~@²s and up until mid '70â~@²s , when walking into a
middle eastern household - Muslim and Christian alike, one would see
portrait photo of a U.S. President prominently displayed in living
or dining rooms. U.S. prestige was soaring at that time. But now,
in 2010â~@²s not only portrait photos of American leaders are gone
but the Arab street has resorted to burning U.S. flags.
During the last couple decades a chain of foreign policy blunders
were committed by mega-corporate enablers in Washington, triggering
steady decline of U.S. prestige and public opinion standing. The U.S.
faux-pas in the Syrian crisis became the 'icing on the cake.'
Before the Syrian crisis erupted with the instigation of Neo-Cons
and Pseudo-progressives in Washington and other capitals, Syria was
executing a foreign policy that maintained a fair balance between
East and West.
In a perfect world, the United States and the West in general would
have been satisfied with that kind of political arrangement. However
to the detriment of the American people, U.S. foreign policy advisors
steered toward win-or-lose-all poker policy, undermining long-term
strategic U.S. interests in the Middle East.
Gone are the days when during the short-lived post-soviet vacuum,
our planet had become a uni-polar world. Now with the re-emergence of
post-soviet Russia and its leadership of a new international alliance
of B.R.I.C.S. - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the
world has shifted to being multi-polar creating a much healthier
political environment for humanity as a whole provided that all major
powers revert to political realism.
With the onslaught of developments in the near future, the political
currency of Armenian Diaspora as a well-organized transnational
community could be on the verge of gaining great value provided that
first and foremost, Armenians recognize their own worth.
And as such, Armenians must reinvent themselves as a global community
and ensure their collective survival along with the twin republics
of Armenia and Artsakh.
Another challenge that requires immediate focusing are the safety
and security of fellow Armenians no matter where they are. Today,
we're dealing with the plight of Armenians in Kessab, Aleppo and
other parts of Syria. Heaven forbid, tomorrow maybe elsewhere. Are
we well-prepared?
http://www.armenianlife.com/2014/06/02/kessab-syria-and-how-neo-cons-pseudo-progressives-in-washington-undermine-u-s-interests-in-middle-east/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress