The situation in Syria is getting worse daily, and even President Asad admits his country is involved in a war. If the rebels take over, what will be the effect on Lebanon, Israel, and the Palestinians?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18606341

(I'm sick and tired of American elections, badly behaved American gays, and American healthcare; it's time to think about other parts of the world!)

Well, the short answer is that the region will still be a mess.

If the rebels take over, would they still have a close relation with Iran? If not, that could be a plus even if they were fundamentalist in nature.

Well, the short answer is that the region will still be a mess.

That is hard to argue with.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18851698

Officially the Red Cross has declared the conflict in Syria a civil war, and therefore subject to the Geneva Convention. I somehow don't think this will make much difference.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...e-east-18851698

Officially the Red Cross has declared the conflict in Syria a civil war, and therefore subject to the Geneva Convention. I somehow don't think this will make much difference.

Sad to say I agree....and the ideas of Kofi Annan, while paved with good intention, are also doomed to failure.

Is there any possibility that whoever ends up in control of the country will be a peaceful secularist who wants to help the people of Syria? Or are they going to be an Iranian puppet, Russian puppet, Islamic fundamentalist, or just plain want to attack Israel?

The problem is there is no such group as the "rebels". A singular, cohesive group does not exist. Religious groups, tribes, same all over the region. Hard men held the place together. Saddam, Assad bad, bad men, but without them......... chaos and eventually another brand of terrorism ( or more of the same ) that will flourish and bring death to the rest of us.

Sad init.

Has any one noticed that all the nations in the area other than Israel are systematically destabilized.Does any one notice a trend there? Just asking.

Has any one noticed that all the nations in the area other than Israel are systematically destabilized.Does any one notice a trend there? Just asking.

Well, I think that was the goal wasn't it? Don't have to think of about any monolithic region wide Arab / Islamic entity for another generation or so.

Has any one noticed that all the nations in the area other than Israel are systematically destabilized.Does any one notice a trend there? Just asking.

Well, I think that was the goal wasn't it? Don't have to think of about any monolithic region wide Arab / Islamic entity for another generation or so.

I'm not sure this benefits Israel. They had stable relations with Egypt - certainly not anymore. If anything there is more of a threat of war. Same with Syria. Some hardcore Islamists take control and Israel would have them on both the southern and northern borders.

All the countries in the region, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and whatever happens in Israel/Palestine, are artificial countries, with no traditional borders to keep within. When (not if) Syria disintegrates, who will belong where? Most of the area is Islamic of one kind or another, and the only thing they may unite about is hatred of Israel. The collapse of the Assad regime can only make things worse.

Has any one noticed that all the nations in the area other than Israel are systematically destabilized.Does any one notice a trend there? Just asking.

Well, I think that was the goal wasn't it? Don't have to think of about any monolithic region wide Arab / Islamic entity for another generation or so.

I'm not sure this benefits Israel. They had stable relations with Egypt - certainly not anymore. If anything there is more of a threat of war. Same with Syria. Some hardcore Islamists take control and Israel would have them on both the southern and northern borders.

Iannarebirth has hit the nail on the head when he said"Don't have to think of about any monolithic region wide Arab / Islamic entity for another generation

or so."

No individual country in the region poses any real threat to Israel, individually they could do some damage but not with out ensuring their own destruction. The only countries in the region that were getting strong enough to pose any threat to Israel were Iraq, and Iran, Egypt and Syria, are effectively netualised for the foreseeable future.

Iraq was used to take Iran down a peg, and when the mission was accomplished , and Iraq became a threat, Iraq was taken out of the picture, Then the Arab spring has taken care of the rest.

The only real threat was posed by a United Arab front, we all know what happened to that.

It was Alexander the Great who said "Divide and conquer "

Has any one noticed that all the nations in the area other than Israel are systematically destabilized.Does any one notice a trend there? Just asking.

Well, I think that was the goal wasn't it? Don't have to think of about any monolithic region wide Arab / Islamic entity for another generation or so.

I'm not sure this benefits Israel. They had stable relations with Egypt - certainly not anymore. If anything there is more of a threat of war. Same with Syria. Some hardcore Islamists take control and Israel would have them on both the southern and northern borders.

I'm not one of those people that ever thinks about Israel anymore. To me it's as an important a partner to the US as Bolivia or Madagascar or Poland and should be not given even a moments more consideration than those other sovereign countries.

It was Alexander the Great who said "Divide and conquer "

The Arabs have always fought among themselves. No one had to "divide" them as they are more than willing to do it without any help.

It was Alexander the Great who said "Divide and conquer "

The Arabs have always fought among themselves. No one had to "divide" them as they are more than willing to do it without any help.

There was a time when Islam was united, and controlled the world from India to Spain to the boarders of the Hungarian empire.

Yes, for a while, long, long ago.

It was Alexander the Great who said "Divide and conquer "

The Arabs have always fought among themselves. No one had to "divide" them as they are more than willing to do it without any help.

There was a time when Islam was united, and controlled the world from India to Spain to the boarders of the Hungarian empire.

True but under leaders who albeit benevolent to the religions in their Empire, accepted no decent and killed and maimed at whim to maintain their power.

It was Alexander the Great who said "Divide and conquer "

The Arabs have always fought among themselves. No one had to "divide" them as they are more than willing to do it without any help.

There was a time when Islam was united, and controlled the world from India to Spain to the boarders of the Hungarian empire.

True but under leaders who albeit benevolent to the religions in their Empire, accepted no decent and killed and maimed at whim to maintain their power.

Mind you I was not there, but from what I read it was an empire that was very tolerant and at a time where Europe was in the depths of the dark ages. fostered science, art and philosophy , helped preserve the Hellenistic teachings and fueled the European renaissance .

Mind you I was not there, but from what I read it was an empire that was very tolerant and at a time where Europe was in the depths of the dark ages. fostered science, art and philosophy , helped preserve the Hellenistic teachings and fueled the European renaissance .

I don't think any of us can claim to have been there!

Yes, it did foster medicine, and preserve much of the philosophy of the Hellenistic period. But at the same time it was based on slavery, and was authoritarian and brutal almost beyond our conception.

Mind you I was not there, but from what I read it was an empire that was very tolerant and at a time where Europe was in the depths of the dark ages. fostered science, art and philosophy , helped preserve the Hellenistic teachings and fueled the European renaissance .

I don't think any of us can claim to have been there!

Yes, it did foster medicine, and preserve much of the philosophy of the Hellenistic period. But at the same time it was based on slavery, and was authoritarian and brutal almost beyond our conception.

so you were there Isanbirder? then you must have also experienced the christian brutality, slavery and authoritarian circumstances all over Europe for centuries before and after them bad Muslims were kicked out of Spain.

when was serfdom (pure refined slavery) abolished completely in Europe? when was slavery abolished in the "christian" Americas? did the Moors or Pope Lucius III establish the inquisition which was carried more than two centuries mainly in southern Europe? where the conquistadores who kept on murdering the Indio population in Central and South America Muslims or Catholics? what about the catholic/protestant war which lasted 30 years in continental Europe? shall i mention another two dozen examples or shall we just leave it and sum it up "pot, kettle, black?"

Mind you I was not there, but from what I read it was an empire that was very tolerant and at a time where Europe was in the depths of the dark ages. fostered science, art and philosophy , helped preserve the Hellenistic teachings and fueled the European renaissance .

I don't think any of us can claim to have been there!

Yes, it did foster medicine, and preserve much of the philosophy of the Hellenistic period. But at the same time it was based on slavery, and was authoritarian and brutal almost beyond our conception.

so you were there Isanbirder? then you must have also experienced the christian brutality, slavery and authoritarian circumstances all over Europe for centuries before and after them bad Muslims were kicked out of Spain.

when was serfdom (pure refined slavery) abolished completely in Europe? when was slavery abolished in the "christian" Americas? did the Moors or Pope Lucius III establish the inquisition which was carried more than two centuries mainly in southern Europe? where the conquistadores who kept on murdering the Indio population in Central and South America Muslims or Catholics? what about the catholic/protestant war which lasted 30 years in continental Europe? shall i mention another two dozen examples or shall we just leave it and sum it up "pot, kettle, black?"

Pot and kettle both black, Naam.

I would not dream of trying to defend Christianity in the cases you mention (or, as you say, dozens of others) I would defend only the belief, not the activities of many of those who have professed it. By their deeds you shall know them... know the bad ones from the good ones, that is!

Has any one noticed that all the nations in the area other than Israel are systematically destabilized.Does any one notice a trend there? Just asking.

Well, I think that was the goal wasn't it? Don't have to think of about any monolithic region wide Arab / Islamic entity for another generation or so.

I'm not sure this benefits Israel. They had stable relations with Egypt - certainly not anymore. If anything there is more of a threat of war. Same with Syria. Some hardcore Islamists take control and Israel would have them on both the southern and northern borders.

I'm not one of those people that ever thinks about Israel anymore. To me it's as an important a partner to the US as Bolivia or Madagascar or Poland and should be not given even a moments more consideration than those other sovereign countries.

That would be a mistake. Israel is more than "our only ally in the region which is a democracy". They are also a buffer. In the same way that Saudi Arabia and others like to use Israel to deflect their citizens' attention away from things at home, Israel is also useful to Western countries. If not for Israel, where would the Islamo-nuts focus their "intentions"? Only the naive would think that with Israel out of the picture Islam would become a true religion of peace.

/

That would be a mistake. Israel is more than "our only ally in the region which is a democracy". They are also a buffer. In the same way that Saudi Arabia and others like to use Israel to deflect their citizens' attention away from things at home, Israel is also useful to Western countries. If not for Israel, where would the Islamo-nuts focus their "intentions"? Only the naive would think that with Israel out of the picture Islam would become a true religion of peace.

Israel a democracy? Israel is an Apartheid state ,

Israel and our support of it , plays a very large part in the creation of " Islamo-nuts", if it was not for our support of Israel we might have less of a need for a "buffer"

AS far as I l know no Islamic countries armies are occupying any western countries.

/

That would be a mistake. Israel is more than "our only ally in the region which is a democracy". They are also a buffer. In the same way that Saudi Arabia and others like to use Israel to deflect their citizens' attention away from things at home, Israel is also useful to Western countries. If not for Israel, where would the Islamo-nuts focus their "intentions"? Only the naive would think that with Israel out of the picture Islam would become a true religion of peace.

Israel a democracy? Israel is an Apartheid state ,

Israel and our support of it , plays a very large part in the creation of " Islamo-nuts", if it was not for our support of Israel we might have less of a need for a "buffer"

AS far as I l know no Islamic countries armies are occupying any western countries.

"Islamic countries armies" are having a difficult time occupying their own country, let alone occupying a western country.

/

That would be a mistake. Israel is more than "our only ally in the region which is a democracy". They are also a buffer. In the same way that Saudi Arabia and others like to use Israel to deflect their citizens' attention away from things at home, Israel is also useful to Western countries. If not for Israel, where would the Islamo-nuts focus their "intentions"? Only the naive would think that with Israel out of the picture Islam would become a true religion of peace.

Israel a democracy? Israel is an Apartheid state ,

Israel and our support of it , plays a very large part in the creation of " Islamo-nuts", if it was not for our support of Israel we might have less of a need for a "buffer"

AS far as I l know no Islamic countries armies are occupying any western countries.

Israel is not an apartheid state. Israeli Arab citizens have the same rights as Jews. They vote and some are elected to office. In Israeli hospitals, Jews and Arabs work side by side. If you are talking about the west bank, the Arabs there are not Israeli citizens. As Jimmy Carter clarified the situation in Israel is not about racial discrimination, it is about land. Not saying there aren't severe issues from the DEMOCRATIC Israeli government, but that apartheid canard is simply another tactic to delegitimize the state of Israel by people who don't like it, often but not always because they do not like Jews.

P.S: Yes of course I am a Zionist but I am NOT a racist. Demonizers of Israel's meme that all Zionists are racists is a dirty lie. Many Zionists including most American Jews are very liberal and progressive on race issues. Some Zionists are racists. Some Palestinians are racists. Some of all peoples are racists. I consider anyone who supports the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state, the right of return of the Jewish PEOPLE to their homeland after 2000 years to be Zionists. That's over 90 percent of all Jews.

Israel a democracy? Israel is an Apartheid state.

What a load of crap. Israel offered the Arabs citizenship after they defeated them in 1948 - even though the Arabs started and lost the war. The ones who accepted it and made peace have the same rights as everyone else in Israel.

Israel a democracy? Israel is an Apartheid state.

What a load of crap. Israel offered the Arabs citizenship after they defeated them in 1948 - even though the Arabs started and lost the war. The ones who accepted it and made peace have the same rights as everyone else in Israel.

oh wait..........

Just the facts Jack.

I won't pretend that the video isn't Israeli government propaganda BUT the core truth of its message is totally true -- the powers that be on the Palestinian side, the people and the leaders does not accept the existence of the state of Israel. So looking at Israeli mistakes/overreach over the years, to be fair, you need to consider those in the perspective of the core issue for Israel, the survival of its state and the importance of its survival to the Jewish people.

I won't pretend that the video isn't Israeli government propaganda

Propoganda simply means information, athough it can also be biased or misleading. The thing that I respect about most of the Jewish/Israeli websites is that they use honest facts, figures and authentic historical info to support their points of view. The same is not true of their enemies who often rely on blatant lies.

I have posted links and videos about the history of Israel from Jewish sources many times and can not remember once that anyone could prove that it was not factual, no matter how much they desired to.