Time to Think

A Game Changer in The Middle East #313

By Hank Silverberg

The fall of the Assad regime in Syria has changed the entire picture in the Middle East. I am not an expert on the subject; in fact, there are very few of those, but from what I have seen over the years, I can write this. No one is mourning the overthrow of the brutal Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, except maybe Russia's Vladmir Putin, who had extended a helping hand to al-Assad for decades and has now lost that bargain.

The rebels in Syria who deposed al-Assad are not a cohesive bunch. Some had been Al-Quida, some are Kurdish insurgents, and still others had different motives. It is not clear if they will be able to form any kind of stable government there in the near future, making things a bit more dangerous in the region for all their immediate neighbors and the allies who support them. Those direct neighbors with common borders include Iraq, which has a fragile government; Lebanon, which is still infested with Iran-backed Hezbollah, and Turkey, which has been resisting Kurdish independence. And then there is Israel, which is already fighting a brutal war on two fronts in Lebanon in the north and Gaza in the south.

The other loser in the overthrow of Al-Assad may be Iran, which had been using Syria to funnel weapons and warriors to Hezbullah in Lebanon. That may be harder now. The Israelis certainly hope so. As Syria's government collasped, and Hezbollah started to retreat its forces into Lebanon, Israel launched an attack on them, messing up their plans to strengthen their brethren in Lebanon. Jordan, the other country on Syria's border has been struggling with more than a million refugees who have food insecurity and may or may not want to return to Syria with the current conditions.

A half million Syrians died under the brutal regime of al-Assad, and the 13 year-long civil war to oust it. Thousands more have been refugees.

The unstable situation prompted Iraq, Israel and Turkey to send troops to their borders with Syria to prevent the rebel forces from causing more trouble though the potential of border clashes remains viable.

(Source: Geology.com)

President-elect Trump says it's not our business and we should let it play out. But it's not that simple.

There are 900 or so American troops on the ground in Syria who have been fighting the remnants of ISIS. There are also two Russian military installations on Syrian territory, including a huge naval base.

Al-Assad rushed out of the country to visit his buddy Vladamir Putin, who basically gave up on Syria. Putin's military is so stretched in fighting Ukraine it has "borrowed" 12,000 North Korean troops to help bolster its war effort there.

Mr. Trump, who thinks America First and the isolationism it implies is a good idea, is going to find out the hard way that it's not.

He needs to talk to his old buddy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for some tips.

Foreign policy is just not as simple as waiting it out to see what happens.

News You May Have Missed

What's In A Name?

When I first started looking for work as a jounanlist way back in 1977, the advisors would tell you not to put a picture on your resume so that employers would not know what race you were.

They even told some folks with Jewish sounding names to make them less ethnic if possble, like some of our grandparents did when they landed at Ellis Island. But that was the 1970's when racism of all kinds was still rampant in this country.

Now, it seems some things have not changed.

A survey out this past week from the Anti-Defamation League (see the Link) indicates a Jewish name or one that sounds Jewish, will hinder job searching for Jewish or Israeli-Americans.

The study was an experiment. Leading labor economists were asked to submit duplicate applications with identical information in response to job postings. But there was one exception. One set of resumes included names suggesting the applicants were either Jewish-American or Israeli. The other set with identical qualifications with western European- sounding names. There were 3,000 emails sent out all over the United States. Fictional applicannts named Rebecca Cohen, Kristen Miller and Lia Avraham, all with the same resume with slight differences in the name of a deli where they had once worked. Identical cover letters were also sent, except for the applicant's name.

They listed Martinellis Italian Diner, Eli's Jewish Diner and Deli, and Zev's Israeli Diner and Deli respectively as part of their previous job experience.

https://www.adl.org/resources/report/jewish-and-israeli-americans-face-discrimination-job-market

The results? The positive responses were 3.4% lower for resumes with Jewish-American sounding names and 4.9% lower for Israeli-American sounding names. That was compared to people with surnames that were Irish or Italian, or other western European type names.

This is even more startling when you note that most initial responses to job applications is done by algorythems in computers whicc had to be programmed to make the decision.

Such discriminaiton is against the law.

Of course. this is not done in a vacuum. The Jewish sounding respondents got more job offers in New York City and Philadelphia on average than in the rest of the country.

Another survey done earlier this year, also by the ADL, called the Online Hate and Harrassment Survey, found that 41% of Jewish people have changed their online behavior in the past year to avoid being recognized as Jewish, and many have removed Stars of David from their visiable jewelry, or have taken off their head covering in public places.

Predicting The Political Future?

Over the last few decades, Virginia has been a good barometer for politics. It's been red, blue and purple at times. Currently the Democrats hold a slight edge in the General Assembly, 21-19 in the Senate, and 51-48 in the House, while Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin is nearing his last year in a one-term limited four years in office.

That kind of majority in the past has prevented Youngkin from doing much of what he wanted with his conservative agenda on things like abortion.

But there are two special elections set for January

(Virginia Capitol Building)

7th, and campaign weary national Democrats are hoping two victories for Virginia Democrats in Senate Districrt 32 and House Distrtic 26 can keep their majority in place and be a launching point for the 2026 midterms nationwide.

Both elections are in purple, fast growth Loudon County in the western D.C. suburbs, which used to be solid red but has turned purple as its population goes up.

The State Senate race in District 32 pits current Democratic Delegate Kanna Srinivasn against Repuiblican Tumay Harding.

While the Delegate race in House District 26 pits J.J. Singh against Republican Ram Venkatachalam.

If the Democrats do well and turn out well, in the special election that firms up control in the General Assembly, Younkin's lame duck year as Governor will not move along any conservative agenda, and Virginia could be the first state to strike back at the so-called "red wave" of 2024.

Dumbest Quote of The Week!

This week's dumb quote comes from Oklahoma Republian Senator Markwayne Mullin. He was on CNN with Jake Tapper on Sunday, and Tapper asked him about the widely reported allegations that Defense Secretary nominee Peter Hegseth has a drinking problem. Mullin's response referred to Hegseth's combat experience:

"They’ve had a lot of experience that the regular population doesn’t. They have these memories, these thoughts, these sounds, the smells that are still coming back to them and they turn to drinking with their buddies. That doesn’t mean that they had a drinking problem.”

Tapper responded by noting that needing an alcoholic drink at 10 a.m. is “a drinking problem.”

Mullin's response to that?

“Well, then there’s a lot of politicians that have a drinking problem. There’s probably a lot of media that has a drinking problem too.”

Maybe that's true, Senator Mullin. But they don't run departments with a $726.8 billion budget and more than 1.2 million employees and have to make quick life and death decisions at a moment's notice. Do we really want a Secretary of Defense who can't hold his liquor?

(You sugestions and comments are welcome)

My recent book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at: HankSilverberg@gmail.com for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with my signature)