It is time for the United States to make its choice. That was the consensus among Arab pundits regarding the Syrian crisis. Developments concerning the Israeli air strike on Syrian military facilities aggravated matters. The Syrian state media said a research centre and other sites had been hit overnight. Israeli sources retorted that weapons bound for Hizbullah in Lebanon were the target. The Israeli strike, the third this week, drew condemnation from the Arab League. Moscow, Syria's main benefactor besides Iran, would no doubt be furious, Arab commentators concurred. The Syrian Foreign Ministry statement said three military sites had been hit — a research centre at Jamraya, a paragliding airport in the Al-Dimas area of Damascus and a site in Maysaloun. Some Arab commentators argued that hitting Syrian military targets would mark the beginning of a new regional conflict. “This leaves no room for doubt that Israel is the beneficiary, the mover and sometimes the executor of the terrorist acts which Syria is witnessing and which target it as a state and people directly or through its operatives inside,” a Syrian Foreign Ministry statement extrapolated. Hazem Saghiah, writing in the London-based Pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, commented on the latest developments concerning Syria. In an article entitled “The Syrian Revolution and the question of the past,” Saghiah praised the secularist late leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. He criticised Al-Qaeda and said that it is the cause of much of the trouble in Syria today. “The current scenario in Syria is a very dark scene. Oppression and evil intentions are the culprits as far as the Syrian Revolution is concerned,” Saghiah noted in Al-Hayat. Abdallah Iskandar, also writing in Al-Hayat, lamented the deplorable situation in Syria. In an article entitled, “The battle of the Syrian coast,” he criticised the Syrian government's alleged attempts at ethnic cleansing in the Mediterranean port city of Benyas and the Syrian coast. He asserted that the Syrian forces have advocated genocide. The rush to defend the Syrian coast [by Syrian government forces] is proof of a systematic and methodological attack that is tantamount to the genocide of the majority population of Syria. It paves the way for the partition of Syria into confessional statelets,” Iskandar warned. Libyan affairs also featured prominently in the Arab media. “Some Libyan social networking websites have claimed that Muammar Gaddafi's son, Seif Al-Islam, who is being tried by the rebels in Zintan, has gone insane. According to these websites, doctors have confirmed that living under a constant state of pressure can result in a neurological condition resulting in brain death,” wrote Mshari Al-Zaydi in the London-based Pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat. “Personally, I do not find Seif Al-Islam's ‘hysteria' that surprising; nor do I believe he is faking it. I truly think that Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi is suffering from the early stages of this disease,” Al-Zaydi asserted. “It is not surprising that people in Seif Al-Islam's position lose their minds, especially after he got to grips with his fate, not to mention the fate of his family. Had he initially shown good judgement and discretion — even amid his claims that there was a global conspiracy against his father's regime — rather than attempting to demonstrate bravery, Seif Al-Islam would have been much better off. However what happened has happened,” Al-Zaydi concluded. Al-Zaydi, a Saudi journalist and expert on Islamic movements and Islamic fundamentalism, condemned the course of the Libyan Revolution and warned of the dire consequences of a vengeful policy towards political personalities of the regime of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. All the while, however, Arab pundits have been probing the course of the Arab Spring, and comparing the situation in different countries. “I am convinced that each country has its own special circumstances and that experiences cannot necessarily be translated from one country to the next, but Sudan and Egypt's experience with the Muslim Brotherhood have a lot of similarities. There are convergences in the approach of Islamists in both countries regarding how to monopolise power, circumvent opposing political forces and break pledges. Even more, the Brotherhood originates from a single ideology, despite the differences in the names of their parties and their approaches to opposition and governance,” insisted Othman Al-Mirghani in Asharq Al-Awsat. “The record of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Sudan has revealed that they are prepared to go back on any promise or commitment to the people for the sake of power. In fact, they are actively conspiring against and deceiving the public in order to implement their plans and secure power. Although the Brotherhood's experience in power in Egypt is more recent than that of the Sudanese Brotherhood, there are many indications that they are pursuing a similar course in trying to exercise control over all aspects of life and power,” Al-Mirghani observed. Al-Mirghani feared that Egypt would follow in Sudan's footsteps. “If the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood follows in the footsteps of their Sudanese counterparts, then their plans will include seeking to control the economy and restricting business in order to gain control of successful companies. In addition to this, infiltrating the military and security institutes will also be one of their primary goals,” Al-Mirghani concluded. On an entirely different note, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resumed his Gulf tour in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday, following his visit to Saudi Arabia, reported Asharq Al-Awsat. The paper reported that Abe met with senior Emirati officials and signed several agreements, including a nuclear cooperation agreement. Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and vice president and prime minister of the UAE, met with the Japanese prime minister last Wednesday. The meeting was also attended by Lieutenant General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohamed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, deputy ruler of Dubai. A spokesman for the Japanese Foreign Ministry confirmed that Tokyo signed an agreement for nuclear cooperation and technology transfer with the UAE. There were also discussions regarding renewing oil and gas distribution contracts that are set to expire in 2018. Japan, which has offered nuclear expertise to both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, is dependent on oil imports and hopes to secure long-term supply from both countries. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are Japan's largest two oil suppliers and Japan's increased reliance on them comes in light of the closure of the majority of the country's nuclear plants, in addition to reduced imports from Iran. Although Iran is being painted as a monstrosity in the region, may be these fears would come to nothing. Iran remains a regional power, but Japan's insistence on diversifying its sources of energy proves that it is possible to tinker with the existing power play in the Middle East. The Japanese would have a distaste for pumping up petroleum prices with off-balance sheet artifice.
