Leftists Taking Ba'athists out for Lunch

What fun watching Alexander Cockburn and Saddam Hussein share the same "columnists"!

For those still doubting whether the toppling of Saddam by the valiant Allies is producing changes in the Arab world, consider the fact that Syria's dictator is not only under pressure inside Lebanon, but the Syrian regime is already showing cracks and signs of capitulation to Western pressures.

Consider the following facts:

* A senior FBI investigator received permission from the Syrian authorities to visit the city to question a number of people who in the mid-1990s had met with Mohammed Atta, the man who masterminded the attacks on the Twin Towers.

* Syria has at last passed on information concerning a Syrian-born businessman, Mamon Darkazli, who kept a German bank account that apparently served as Al-Qaida's financial pipeline.

* The Syrians also provided details about the activities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

* Jailed human rights activist Kamal Labwani was released a few months back after three years in prison.

* There are reports of Bashar Assad losing his grip on Syria, which had been under a totalitarian Soviet-style regime when his father was in charge.

But Bashar Assad and his Ba'athists can at least count on some devoted friends, namely the columnists at Counterpunch magazine. One of the regular columnists at Counterpunch, Kurt Nimmo, an unemployed photographer-wannabe who used to work as a film developer for Walmart (and blames the neocons for his being unemployed), seems to be leading the campaign for the anti-American Left to promote the Ba'athist colonization of Lebanon. He is now a columnist for the Web site of the Iraqi pro-Saddam Ba'athists, by the way.

Cockburn's neonazi columnist Nimmo adds:

"As well, as in Iraq, sectarian and ethnic violence in Lebanon works in the favor of Israel and the United States—once again imposing the colonial rule of divide and conquer... preventing collusion and maintaining security dependence among the vassals, and this is precisely what will happen after Syria departs. Millions of Lebanese know this and that is why they poured in the streets in record numbers, demanding Israel and the United States keep their hands off Lebanon. Syrian troops in their country are a secondary matter entirely."

Other Cockburn kooks and their fellow travelers also want to take a Baathist out to lunch. Paul Craig Roberts writes there: "Syria had absolutely nothing to gain from the assassination of former Lebanese prime Minister Hariri. In fact, the assassination was a catastrophe for the Syrian government." Robert Fisk insists Syrian troops need to stay in Lebanon to help the Lebanese defeat American aims. Fisk has never met an Islamofascist he dislikes, nor a Jew he likes. Middle East Studies "scholar" and advocate Juan Cole, the fellow who thinks that Israel's destruction is the answer (now what was that question again?), thinks the time is right to help Syria get the Golan Heights away from their legitimate Israeli owners so that Syria can end "Zionism."

My guess is that these guys will soon be sporting "I Like Bashar" lapel buttons.