Eastern Limit of Western Power: Without Honesty There Is No DemocracyBy Tov Roy1 Year, 5 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days; embarrassing. Every day that passes without a definition of the Syrian Civil War brings another reminder that the Arab Spring is failing, even hitting back at some of its instigators.The results were feeble. Rulers were changed in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen. Egypt is the clearest failure.The revolution there led to the exchange of Mubarak – an American puppet – by President Mohamed Morsi, who is affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood.Mass protests took place in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and Sudan; minor ones in Lebanon, Mauritania, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, and Western Sahara.Shortly after the events had begun on December 2010, Western media began boasting of the success of the Western PSYWAR on the Arabs.Facebook and Twitter took pride in their help to the rebels; a senior Egyptian member of Google joined the protests. However, there was more than Western PSYWAR being implemented in new and creative ways. We saw it also in direct military involvement.At the beginning of the events in Libya, a force of British commandos was caught on the eastern side of the country and then thrown out. The event was broadcast by the CNN. Nobody was hiding the activity. Moreover, NATO helped the rebels with weapons and the enforcement of a flights ban.Thus, this action by the rebels makes no sense other than to create an image of loyalty of the mercenaries to Libya. The blatant violation of NATO’s mandate is sustained with made-up events and photographs.Russia Today (RT) published last year an excellent analysis showing the filmed takeover of the Green Square in Tripoli by the rebels—broadcast first by Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya—had been shot in Qatar with the help of actors.The examples I brought are not random. This year, Latuf published an extraordinary cartoon showing Uncle Sam jumping from Libya to Syria, with Iran as the next step.What began as a military exercise in a barely populated country was scaled up in a central—yet smallish—one. If Syria goes well, Iran would be next. Despite the commemorative posters like the one brought here, there is nothing to celebrate. At least not to the masterminds.SyriaA few days from now, 18 months from the beginning of the Syrian conflict would be commemorated. Back then, it took everybody by surprise. The Syrian president never thought it would break at all; Syria is known for its mighty security forces. Yet, help and mercenaries kept pouring from outside and the rebels survived.In the byzantine reality of the Middle East everybody expects the unexpected. The USA and NATO were probably the most surprised; they didn’t expect Bashar al-Assad to survive for so long.This is amazing due to the massive support of American allies of the rebels. The Arab League, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the European Union, and other Western governments condemned the violence and the Syrian government’s response.On August 3, 2012, the UN passed a second non-binding resolution condemning the Syrian government as well as the Security Council for failing to stop the violence.The latter was a first ever and a sign the USA is losing power there. As of now, Syria is receiving substantial diplomatic help from Russia and China. The resolution passed had been sponsored by the Saudis, who days later, on August 16, 2012, passed a suspension decision against Syria at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Out of the 57 members, only Algeria and Iran voted for Syria. The latter is trying to help also in other ways.On September 4, 2012, The New York Times, reported “Iran has resumed shipping military equipment to Syria over Iraqi airspace.” This is no news. The novelty was that the feat was done over Iraqi airspace, avoiding the larger routes used until now.The USA has lost influence in Iraq. The latter lacks an air force, thus its skies are open to others; just another example how violence backfires.The Americans have cleared the way for Iran. Iran looks too eager to help Syria. They are allies, Syria offers a comfy gate to the Mediterranean Sea, and a land link to the Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon. More important than these is the fact that Iran understands what Mr. Latuf so intelligently described in the cartoon above. If Syria falls, Iran would be the next target.

This is a stand-off like no other in the past. It transcends the borders of the involved country, creating precedents even at the UN. Diplomacy has become the main weapon used by the meek; a few days ago at the Non-Aligned Movement Summit, the Iranian and Egyptian presidents sat side by side for the first time in a generation.Egypt was elected as next president of the organization. We may be seeing a realignment of the non-aligned; this time they’ll seek out their true interests. There is no doubt that the strongest side is a hydra; its many heads attack Syria from every possible direction. It has expanded the limits of PSYWAR.It controls the media to the extent that the latter shamelessly fabricated videotaped reports knowing that nobody would complain. If looking at the details, both sides are committing unjustified crimes; yet, one side was the provoker and the attacker.Shamelessly, the hydra did so in the name of democracy. Sadly, without honesty there is no democracy. After 1 year, 5 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days of war, every day that passes without the regime surrendering to the attack is one day closer to the victory of the meek.