I fail to see how this news could have "stunned" anybody but the most liberal State Dept. hack. Prior to the invasion, Assad met with representatives of the government of Iran and announced that their response to an invasion would be to "Lebanonize" Iraq.

And then there's that whole caravan of trucks leaving Iraq for Syria just before the war. I never have gotten a satisfactory explanation for that.

BTW, both of them are without nuclear wewapons, for now. Unless that's what was in those trucks.

I've been thinking about this the past few days, and I'm not quite sure how to say it, but ... I think I might be the link messiah.

That's what I'm going to call the new blog. "Link Messiah." With a graphic of a magical talking lion nailed to a cross.

Hugh Hewitt's gonna love it!

That's what I'm going to call the new blog. "Link Messiah."

Has it occurred to you that you're fucked if you teach Ace how to use an RSS feed?

Yes, it has. I've already told him too much, frankly.

On the other hand, I get maybe half the links from non-RSS sources. Ace will never find those. Too lazy.

SWILP: Link or post news story, would u?

Ace will never find those. Too lazy.

I wouldn't be so sure. Competition is a wonderful thing. Could get Ace to actually roll off the Thai hooker and read some shit.

We wouldn't be competing. I'd be linkblogging, he'd be commentary-blogging.

We wouldn't be competing. I'd be linkblogging, he'd be commentary-blogging.

It's actually kind of sweet to learn that you are so naive.

Cuz, we both know that you couldn't help yourself. You would start throwing in comments.

At first, just the occasional one-liner introduction. Then maybe a few comments, maybe just a short essay. Then maybe a quick photoshop, just for kicks.

If you don't want to blog, STAY AWAY. Maybe there is a twelve-step program you can join.

Stay away? Ace is within a half-dozen or so hat tips of just getting it over with, and renaming this thing Allah of Spades. Allah will be the lead blogger, and Ace will have VIP guest status.

Allah,
Make it whatever, and however you want. That's the only way it'll work.Good luck to you.

I tells ya, I hear about civil war between Shia and Sunni, as they hate each other. I read about conflict between Iraqi Shia, and Iranian Shia, then watch reports about arms smuggling between them.

Syria appeals to Iraqi Shia to start a conflict to help keep an Iraqi Sunni in power. Syrian Leader sends no help to assist Iraqi Shia (now there, my freinds, is a pure tried and true Chickenhawk!), and retires to more important things, like planning assassinations.

This is the middle east today.

Maybe we should have just sparked chaos and let them all fight it out.

As-Sistani is smart enough to know which side to support. Even if he doesn't like Americans, he knows that order and stability will only let the Shiites attain and maintain control of their own affairs, which cannot be guaranteed if a major civil war rages on. Additionally, we have proven to be genuinely interested in working with as-Sistani.

I'm not surprised, though, that Assad would have reached out to as-Sistani. The ruling elements in Syria are Shiite (albeit Alawite, compared to Iraq's Twelver Shiites). It would be expected that they would somehow reach out to as-Sistani (who is basically the Shiite overlord). Now, what I would like to know is whether Syria had any involvement with as-Sadr.

Besides, if there is a civil war, I can't honestly say I could tell which side would win. After all, the Sunnis have a track record of putting down the others' opposition.

And SYRIA is still a memeber of the UN and they are still sponsors of terrorists

Isn't Syria - irony of ironies - in charge of the UN's human rights branch?