Daily Archives: May 22, 2008

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Quick Notes..

Just a few words about the development of this blog and other miscellany for the new readers

1- The printing feature is now fixed. To print a post, just click on the printing icon below it for a printer-friendly format. Sorry for taking so long.

2- I’m very excited that the number of subscribers to the RSS feed of Beirut Spring has reached 400 today. That’s still a small chunk of the daily readership, so if you’re still not subscribed, find out why you should and why everyone else is using RSS.

3- Remember, If there’s a post that you wish to share on Facebook (like for example the 1960s elections graphic), all you need to do is click on the little facebook icon under the post, and if you’re signed in in facebook, it will be automatically posted

4- If you have questions or contributions, remember that you can always send them to my email address: mustapha [at] beirutspring [dot] com

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Beirut Pundit Smells Regional Package Deal

Lebanese veteran pundit Rajeh El Khoury suspects a grand regional bargain behind the Doha accord.


Should we be thanking Bush and Ahmedinejad for this coffee? (Reuters)

In today’s article in Annahar, Mr. Khoury couldn’t help but notice a deluge of good news in the region, citing 5 specific items:

1- The miraculous birth of the Doha accord

2- The simultaneous announcement in Damascus, Ankara and Tel Aviv of Syrian-Israeli indirect peace talks

3- The finishing off of the Mahdi Army in Iraq and the advancement of American Tanks into Sadr city

4- The swiftness with which the US denied Israeli reports of an imminent bombing of Iran

5- The Announcment at dawn (US time) by Washington that it supports both the Doha accord and the Israel-Syria negotiations

Mr khoury concluded that “something” could be in the works between America and Iran and Syria.

That would be Ironic since the American administration doesn’t support Israeli-Syrian dialogue. Besides, George Bush got himself into hot waters at home when he made a point from the Israeli Knesset that talking to Iran is similar to appeasing the Nazis.

But perhaps there really is a secret “grand bargain” and that Mr. Bush is a conspirator par excellence who really knows how to throw good smoke screens.. Thoughts?