
In what was the first attack on Syrian soil since 1973, Israel launched a strike today on what they believed to be a terrorist training camp near Damascus. Israel believed the camp had been used by a number of terrorist groups, specifically Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who are believed to be responsible for the most recent suicide bombing in a popular Haifa restaurant that killed 19 people.
Syria is pissed.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry insisted Sunday that the Israeli target near Damascus was actually a civilian site. In a written statement, the ministry called the overnight attack a flagrant violation in an already tense region.
The government vowed to file a complaint with the U.N. Security Council and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and has asked the Arab League to convene Sunday night.
But not pissed enough to respond militarily, immediately at least. The Syrians know that their military is incredibly antiquated compared to Israel's, and my guess is that they will attempt to take the high ground here and resort externally to issuing diplomatic complaints. It's interesting to me that Syria would be hosting training camps for fundamentalist groups like Islamic Jihad. As a secular state with a history of violent crackdowns on islamic radicalism it does not seem like a logical staging point for a militant fundamentalist group.
The article suggests that it was Iran that funded the camp and that Syria only provided land. But why? Has Syria resorted to Saudi style bribery to keep the fundies at bay? Are they more directly involved in the Israel/Palestinian conflict than was previously thought? Or was the camp, as Syria claims, just "a civilian facility?"
Another thought -- It makes me wonder, even though Israel has a history of preemptive warfare, if this latest strike will be as liberals fear, justified through the example set by the United States in Iraq.
recent discourse?
Posted by: sw at October 5, 2003 01:39 PMrecent gay?
Posted by: hjvgdxh at October 5, 2003 07:24 PMHey Trev, I heard you munched on Barbara Walters to get this 'hot lead'.
Posted by: JRuss at October 6, 2003 09:06 AMDude, her dome was intense though.
also. when are you gonna stop being a bitch and get me my shirt back, you fucking sam west lackey?
Posted by: Nostradamus at October 6, 2003 05:42 PMunappreciative fuck
Posted by: shghgfdhd at October 6, 2003 05:44 PMIts my understanding that Syria's backing of Islamic Jihad has little or nothing to do with ideology- technically Syria is still at war with Israel (Which occupies the Golan), and providing safe harbor and funding for Palestinian resistance groups is not only highly troublesome for Israel but allows Syria a level of control and authority its antiquated military and diminuitive world standing would not otherwise proffer. Iran's situation is similar- as a shiite nation, it has little philosophical affiliation with Sunni Palestinian resistance groups. Although most of its funding goes to Shiite Hezbollah, Iran also aids the Palestinian resistance to harm Israel and give it leverage over the situation. In any case, Palestinian Islamic groups are arguably more nationalist in nature than islamist anyway. Most of this is probably common knowledge, I just wanted to fill the blanks your questions left.
Posted by: Lukas Manneun at October 6, 2003 07:28 PMtrevor, the only thing that has been standing between you and the shirt from day one is your own karma. stop being a pompous cocklick and the shirt will be yours.
Posted by: sw at October 6, 2003 08:31 PMyeah, watch it.If ya'll are cool this school will be flooded with real vintage shirts. It'll be trendster liquidation. We're taking over this fucking town. Gotta listen well my friend. Some folks call us the cowboys from hell but what I want to hear right now is the people of Moscow . . . . Hey . . . .Hey . . . .Hey. . . . .Hey
Posted by: JRuss at October 6, 2003 09:40 PMSam, everyone who knows you well will agree on two things: 1) That it was a really dick move on your part regarding the shirt, and 2) That you are a dishonest raconteur (as most who tell a good story are.) It's my analysis of your character that leads me to believe that not only is it hard for you to give up the shirt to me because of your barely constrained envy of it in my possession, it's also gotten to the point where your ego has prevented you from returning the shirt to me without a percieved loss of face. See, if you gave it back now, you'd be looked down upon. It would be like admitting that you had done some misdeed in your aquisition of it. Therefore what you have done is two things: 1) You have tried your hardest to rally public support for your cause by attempting to belittle me through dramatic yet altered retellings of the original story and 2)You have created some artificial scenario in which if I had ONLY cooperated a little more, and stopped being so abrasive towards your ever-patient self, I might have earned the right to wear the coveted shirt once more. Alas, it is my "karma," that has failed me. My pomposity has finally gotten the best of me, for surely if I had managed to just be a smidgeon more complacent I would have been rewarded as generously as the rest of your lackeys. Well I apologize, for as for my karma and pomposity, the former is nothing but part of an antiquated method for societal control and is effectively irrelevant, while your accusation of the latter is simply an expression of your vulgar lust after my commendable lexicon. Consequently...keep the shirt, you'll still be a dick.
P.S.
Jrussel, I forgive you everything. EVERYTHING, even matters beyond attire, for I see now you have just been exploited as a pawn in a greater struggle.
Posted by: Nostradamus at October 8, 2003 01:38 AMWho's on the "intro-net soapbox" now
Posted by: Lukas Manneun at October 8, 2003 01:47 AMno Trevor, no fucking pawn. I had a commodity that many wanted, a fine vintage shirt regarding communists. For years I've given fine old T-shirts to girls with whom I was trying to score. Although I never ever got with any of the girls who I've given fucking dozens of shirts to, never has any conflict arisen from the fine T-shirts. Sure they were jealous of the other girls' fine fucking vintage shirts but I was never a pawn. Is the source of your drugs a pawn? The distributor of nice vintage shirts is no pawn. You just called me that to patronize me the way I patronize cunts like Rob Downey or Pat Power -- I see you've learned well, you tall bastard. I don't know where to go with this, you fucking giraffe, you arrogant fuck. You love this shit though, high comment count.
Posted by: JRuss at October 8, 2003 08:48 AM8====D-
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Trevor's Face
if everyone wore ironic vintage shirts maybe you'd all see how supergay it is
Posted by: fadhgfdasgf at October 8, 2003 08:06 PMOh saully...
Posted by: Nostradamus at October 8, 2003 08:19 PMIconic, not ironic you fucking lazy jew.
Posted by: JRuss at October 8, 2003 09:59 PMwhat the fuck is this bull shit about Operation Understanding DC. Im still not over it, since when have their been problems between Jews and Niggers?
Actually to talk about something relevant for a change, did you guys hear what happened to saul?
Ok here is how the story goes,
So Saul was eating this chilli he bought at local grocer during lunch. It was one of those frozen microwaveable chili bowls with the optional chip section for dipping. So Saul 'waved it up in mrs anderson's classroom nice and sizzlin and he ate it all up but he forgot about his diarrhea troubles so he rushed to the lavatory. He sat down and began shitting. After completion he realized he was sitting on his hand the entire time, so he had shit all over his hand, so he then attempted to wipe the shit off of his hand and on to his face. He left the lavatory with his face covered in dark brown pooo...ewww. And walked around like that in the halls of wilson high school. Not a good idea.
O wait, o thats why there's this tension between jews and blacks. O Good Fucking Job Saul.
Posted by: GRB at October 8, 2003 10:34 PMThat was incredibly vile.
Posted by: Nostradamus at October 8, 2003 10:45 PMdude that is just a variation of your story about trevor. hilarious, nonetheless.
trevor, man, i don't have to cloak my arrogance with eloquent vocabulary- but you need some schooling in the way things work.
1. if you dick me around and deride me in the public intro-net showcase, i'm less inclined to give you the shirt. i probably should have put it like that instead of in such hilarious terms. fate has made it so that i am the cockwielder in this situation.
2. i never asked for this shirt. like i said, circumstances beyond my control placed it in my posession.
3. yes, I know it is a dick move to hold on to the shirt even though, as you love to tell in your stories, you were the one who originally asked for it. yet, a dicker move would be to give you the shirt after i was told not to give it to you, going against the wishes of its proper owner, one J. Russell. who am I to give you the shirt if he doesnt want you to have it? It's not mine, I swear! I'm just holding it for a friend.
4. man, i don't want this shirt. it's a hoodoo. a cursed cotton rune. it brings bad luck and I need to get it out of my house.
so, in the words of LAURYN hill, "bitch, you actin' out of place"
you wanna go get a burrito?
Posted by: sw at October 8, 2003 10:53 PMactually the word i was looking for IS "ironic"... "iconic" implies something different entirely
Posted by: rafdfasfdasd at October 8, 2003 10:55 PMFor the benefit of all concerned:
i·con·ic
adj.
1. Of, relating to, or having the character of an icon.
2. Having a conventional formulaic style. Used of certain memorial statues and busts.
AND
i·ron·ic
adj.
1. Characterized by or constituting irony.
2. Given to the use of irony. See Synonyms at sarcastic.
3. Poignantly contrary to what was expected or intended: madness, an ironic fate for such a clear thinker.
Sam West -
In response to your points.
1) At the completion of my argument, I stated my will that you maintain your possession of said shirt. Therefore your first point is irrelevant.
2) While I may believe that you technically may not have asked directly for said shirt, you certainly were not disinclined to accepting it once it was proffered to you. Therefore your supposed lack of responsibility is questionable.
3) This was redundant. I do not currently want the shirt. Do what you please.
4) While your final point was contradictory to your previous sentiments, I will propose a solution to your problem. I think the world would better be served if it were burned.
As for the burrito. Of course.
Just for good measure, I'll quote my own superstar, Tupac (Thug Angel - R.I.P.):
"We gotta start makin' changes."
ugh, i knew i should have left in my original point 6: you dont turn down a gift, you rude bastard. if somebody gives you a present, you dont look them in the face and say "um, no." ... rude bastard.
look, your arguments are transparent. you want the shirt, otherwise you wouldnt have spent the last week lamenting over why you don't have it.
Posted by: sw at October 8, 2003 11:20 PMYou're arguments are sounding increasingly more desperate, friend. Contrary to what you believe, I'm beyond the shirt. I simply use it as ammo when you irritate me with your judgements of karma and whatnot. Also. I am not lamenting. Do you see me dejectedly listening to slit-your-wrists-emo and wistfully illustrating graphic deaths of reds in my English notebook? No. Am I pondering the philisophical implications of its withdrawl from my possession? No. In fact, I have dismissed them. It is YOU who have been doing exactly that, with your talk of karma or voodoo, or whatever you and your heathen brood practice. Please cease putting words in my mouth and desist your attempts to vindicate your behavior, for I assure you, they are futile.
Posted by: Nostradamus at October 8, 2003 11:30 PMgah... *Your
Posted by: Nostradamus at October 8, 2003 11:32 PM"also. when are you gonna stop being a bitch and get me my shirt back, you fucking sam west lackey?"
that was two days ago...
Posted by: sw at October 8, 2003 11:33 PMExactly my point. Two days ago you say. Two days ago I was in a different mindset. My mindset has since evolved into one more condusive to the actions of "the bigger man," -- effectively demonstrated through my consequent disregard for the shirt's fate.
Posted by: Nostradamus at October 9, 2003 02:19 PMall are invited to enjoy pizza with Dahlgren's 5th pd. class at some point in the next few weeks. You can take your slice pick from a number of toppings but you must stay and listen to my discussion with Tom Vladeck about philosophy. I will be playing the part of Spinoza and Tom will be playing the part of Locke. And no one is gonna be Leibniz, haa man that guy didn't do shit, He thought he invented calculus but didn't and he decided that everything in the universe was made out of units called Monads, he did not go into further detail about what a Monad is.
Posted by: GRB at October 9, 2003 06:36 PMhey shut the fuck up jrussel
Posted by: sdbfsgfgfd at October 12, 2003 05:35 PMTwo 'L's, faggot.
Posted by: JRuss at October 13, 2003 04:57 PM