I am spending a lot of time on the Middle East right now……as a younger man I worked as an analyst/researcher for a Spanish newspaper and spent most of that time in the Middle East…..a lot of time in Jordan, West bank and Syria…..my time in Syria was in and around the town of Halab (city known as Aleppo in the west)….it is located in the northern part of the country…..the Syrian people are warm, inquisitive and friendly….so this war thing going on is a bit personal for me and have decided to write on the situation more than I normally would…..

The West is dancing a careful ballet of diplomacy for if they play this wrong it could lead to a more widespread disasters…..but there is more going on in the country than the 30 second stories reported here in the US and other western countries…….but beyond that there a a couple of stories that show some promise….

A report by Juan Cole……

The Muslim Fundamentalist Palestinian party-militia Hamas, based largely in the Gaza Strip has abruptly broken with its long-time patron, Syria.

The startling development could signal a further evolution of the organization away from violent tactics, and toward a firmer alliance with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar, under the impact of the Arab Spring. In turn that move implies cooler relations with Syria and Iran.

This could be a good sign if you are an optimist…..this could be good for the Israel/Palestine and will limit the amount of support that Assad will get from the group…..

Another interesting turn of events is that al Qeada has issued a statement……this is from an article I located on a site entitled Assyrian International News Agency………

The head of Al Qaeda is calling on Muslims across the Arab world and beyond to support rebels in Syria who are seeking to overthrow President Bashar Assad, and says they cannot depend on the West for help.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official says Al Qaeda-linked fighters already are flowing from Iraq to Syria.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to brief the media.

Okay, AQ has become almost a toothless viper and is attempting to become relevant again….but keep in mind the the US armed and funded AQ during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan……will the US make the mistake again?

There has been a loud call for jihadists to go to Syria and fight….a similar call went out during the 80’s for Afghanistan…….but they may not be welcomed as they were in Afghanistan…..

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- Reports coming in from Syria indicate that the Free Syrian Army has refused utilizing Arab jihadists, some of whom have actually arrived in Syria, in spite of this army’s modest capabilities when compared with the army of the ruling regime.

The opposition “national council” hopes that more military personnel will defect from the regular army to help the free army confront the forces of Al-Assad and end the dictatorial rule in the country with Syrian hands.

We here in the West hear about the Syrian rebels…..but who are the Syrian rebels?

To be honest……NO one is sure who they are…..for the most part they are deserters from the Syrian army, beyond that few know for sure….personally, I do not think that if Assad is overthrown that much will change….you will still have the army in control and we know from past actions…..the army does not like to give up power.

Thoughts?