Great Proposal from Russia to Syria to Avoid a War

It is a great proposal that Russia gave to Syria to avoid a war. Russian foreign minister stated that Putin told Syria to put its chemical weapons under international control in order to avoid US military strikes. And the Russian president, through his foreign minister, told Syrian authorities to go even further by destroying all its chemical weapons and becoming a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
One has to say that this proposal could avoid US strikes on Syria and a non ending war, like the one former president Bush started against Iraq. Not to mention the financial cost of such a war for the US.
As a lot of Americans are against any war in Syria, which is a good news, they will be relieved if Assad accepted. Of course, that would need a strict control on the chemical weapons and the opening of all its sites to international experts to see that Syrians are serious about their decision. Americans don't see any threat, at least directly, from Syria even if the country doesn't accept the Russian proposal. And it is true that there is no threat against Americans, which is the same situation than with Saddam Hussein. In this case, it was the madness of George Bush that lead to a non ending war in Iraq. Everybody knew at the time that Hussein did not have any weapon of mass destruction but that was the false reason Bush gave to justify the war. And ten years after what is the result: a destroyed country, Iraq, people killed including American troops, and a financial crisis in the USA and in the world that is only starting to end. Americans paid a high price for a war that was not necessary and a lot of them remember this terrible reality and don't want to repeat the same mistake in Syria.
One can understand that a strong country would like to help people killed or repressed by their own government. But the super powers are divided and they cannot come to agreement in such situations. China, Russia are against any military strikes against Syria as well as British people. Prime minister Cameron asked the British parliament that did not allow his government to participate to any strike or war in Syria. Other countries, like Brazil, India, Australia, Canada and South Africa gave a negative answer to the US proposal to strike Syria. So what now? The US would go alone to a war that will not bring anything positive to the country? I hope that Obama will not make this mistake. It will be a big and long mistake that will not bring anything good to the Americans.
Now the question of Assad stays open: what can we do? A large chunk of his people don't want him and have been fighting against the loyal troops. As much as 110,000 deaths since April 2011 when the uprising started. It is more than enough and Assad should understand that his regime cannot rule anymore without taking into account his opponents. But what is the solution?

The Situation in Syria is Worrying

What can we do about Syria? The president Assad is killing his people, that is a fact. The problem today is that a lot of people got involved in this conflict which is not any more a Syrian conflict. Too many different interests, Arabs and non Arabs, are now claiming that they side Assad or his opponents, the Syrians who are opposed to his ruling. So it is hard to really understand what is happening and what could be the solution for this bloody problem.
Then there is the chemical attack on the forces against Assad, called by his regime "rebels" and "terrorists". A lot of things have been said about the use of chemical in Syria and apparently doctors and UN inspectors who were allowed to inquire about this, claimed that indeed it is true. Western intelligence also claimed that Syrian government used chemical against opponents and a lot of tests have been conducted leading to believe this terrible fact. Intelligence also said that they intercepted communications between senior officials in Damascus stating this fact.
As the same time some countries, like Russia, said that it was the rebel forces who used the chemical in order to attract international attention to the problem and to provoke a military action against Damascus and Assad. The only sure thing that one can say is that the problem is becoming hard to ignore and even harder to sort out.
What is sure is that Assad's regime has never been a democratic one but on the contrary a dictatorship like so many regimes in the region. If the opposition has all rights to demand a change in the regime, it is also helped by external forces that have nothing to do with establishment of a democracy but other ideas in mind that are difficult to apprehend.
At the same time there is one key question we can ask ourselves: can the international community let a regime kills its own people without reacting? This situation is, unfortunately, very old and has been happening for years and there is no sign that shows that it will end sometime soon.
The other question is about any international intervention: which country or organization has the right to attack another country because of what is been done to the people? We all have the example of Iraq that is still in turmoil and where the situation is as bad as it has been since US invasion of the then Hussein's country. I don't have any idea on what we could and should do. Pressuring Assad, could be the best solution but unless Russia forces him to stop attacking his opponent and sit around a table to negotiate, nothing will be possible. At the same time, everybody knows who rules Russia and what kind of regime he imposed in his country. It looks like a catch 22 situation. Let's hope that something good will happen shortly to stop this bloody repression of Syrian people by their own regime.

Sometimes The Future is Not as Bright as It Appears

Where am I going? Sometimes it is hard to see what it is going to happen. Sometimes, in one's lifetime, it is a wall that one has in front of him. It is the case for me these days. Since the incident I went through, I don't know where I am going to. It seems that there is nothing for me in the future. It seems that I don't have anything in view and that nothing will happen. It is not a call for help or a desperate call but I feel that there isn't anything that will happen to me, at least something positive. I will not give up nor stop trying to find jobs or consulting missions but it is a hard moment to go through. And I have to realize that in a few days I'll have more work to do and therefore I'll be busy and we'll make more money. I still hope that the project with News Group International will take place and that I'll be working with them. I still hope that a company will hire me. I still hope that I'll get consulting missions. It seems to me that the incident I went through was a warning that I have to take seriously. Of course, I'll do all the tests to understand, or try to understand what has happened to me and to cure it. I do think that it is my head that is inventing things that are happening to me and that I am still living in the USA. I do love the USA and hope to go back there for good but for the moment as I am here I must try hard to find other income and a good job. I need also to make enough money in order to be able to have our own apartment. We need to be at home, to have a normal life and also to be able to travel. Because I love traveling and since I have been here I haven't been able to travel for leisure. The money problem is serious and it makes our life miserable. However we shouldn't let ourselves be influenced, negatively, by the situation. At the same time, I need to overcome my health problem by seeing the future more brightly than it appears.
This coming month, I'll have more work and I'll be able to do what I wanted to do: to rent an apartment and to live peacefully with my wife.
How hard it has been for the last 12 years. Once again, I made a mistake by leaving the USA for something that I saw quickly as a scheme organized by an incompetent and mythomaniac person. The other mistake is to have stayed in Morocco when I realized that nothing good would come out from the project. I should have gone back to the USA, find a job and bring my wife there.
Now 12 years or so after, I am here and even though I don't like France and French, I am here and I must get over it and work hard. I need to go on looking for good things to do, more money to make and live more happily than now.
Plus what the USA gave me is optimism. I will never give up looking for a better job in order to make more money and to get rid of our problems.

So what is going to happen in the Middle East?

So what are the most powerful countries in the world going to do? Are they going to attack Syria? Are they going to warn it again and stay still? Nobody can say for sure. It seems to me that they will be attack on the country, probably on very specific targets, but it is not clear who is going to conduct them. My best guess is the United States and probably with the UN behind them. To be perfectly honest I would like to be on Obama's shoes at this moment and take a decision in one way or the other.
I am not in favor of Bachar Al Assad, obviously. On the contrary I am against him and his regime.But what can the international community do? Can we let him kill his people just because they want to oust him and his regime? No. But he doesn't want to stop and talk with his people whom he calls "terrorists". Finally what we called the "Arab Spring" has been a total failure in all the countries. Yes dictators have been overthrown and I don't think that they are a lot of people who are missing them. But if we look at the result, it has been a disaster.And what makes the result worse is that the people elected after the fall of the dictators are not better. At least once they get to power and start putting their politics into action. What surprises me, and sadly of course, is that instead of going forward and creating great institutions and governments, Arab countries are building worst regimes than those they had. And for the moment there is not a lot of democracy emerging.
One can only hope that things would go better but it is only a dream. And once again the famous Martin Luther King's speech, "I have a dream", a speech that he said 50 years ago, is still "a dream" in Arab countries. So maybe the question is: when will Arab countries have a man like Martin Luther King or Gandhi or even Nelson Mandela. A great man or woman, of course, who will only fight for the freedom in Arab countries and the rise of democracy. A real democracy like ancient Arabs knew very well.
So let me finish by saying "I have a dream. I have a dream where Arabs from all countries will struggle for only one reason: freedom and democracy. For all." But that is only a dream.

State of Mind

What is happening in the Middle East right now? Will we go to war? What is Syria doing to its citizens? It is too easy just to say that they are terrorists and that the government has to get rid of them. What are the western countries going to do? A war is unlikely and it could be very tricky. One goes to war but cannot get out of it.
This year has been a very bad year for me and I do hope that things will bet better from now on. I still want to move out from here and two countries attract me: England and the United States. England is easier because I am a European and therefore I can live and work there without any problem. The USA is more problematic as I don't have the greencard nor the Passport. But it is still the place I would like to go and live in.
But bottom line I need to stop worrying and getting tense for no reason. In fact things are getting better, work wise. I am going to give regular lessons  at an engineer school and I have already 30 hours of English I am going to give plus the Arabic lessons that start this coming Friday. So we'll have more money shortly and then we'll be able to have our own apartment.

At the same time, I need to sort out my health problems. Mainly that strange feeling I have during the day. As if I was going to faint. I think it is just something in my head and that needs to be sorted out. Next week I have the first test done, the electroencephalogram which should give the doctor information about what is happening in my head. Then I need to do the magnetic resonance imaging.
I do think that I have to be as relaxed as possible in order to get better. Otherwise, this starts getting in my head and it has to stop.

Arab Spring: Where are we Two Years after it Started?

Almost two years that the Arab Spring started, it is interesting to do an overview of what it brought to the region and to the world. First some Arab countries got rid of their presidents-heads of state who were ruling with an iron fist and no democracy for the people. Obviously everyone will name Tunisia, Egypt and Lybia. Those three countries are now free to elect new presidents and members of their parliaments and governments. It is, whatever some people might think, a great step ahead as it showed that Arabs were and are searching for democracies to live in. The former stance that some western countries were saying about the lack of maturity of Arab people, although completely false, is no more valid. Goverments interests were above what the Arab people were really looking forward to: living in peace and in a "normal" regime that would take their interests, their needs and their opinions in account.
However, a lot of other Arab countries are still living in tough dictatorships or at least regimes that don't give the people a lot of freedom to express themselves. Corruption and favoritism are still very much in use in those countries that d oone speaks about Algeria, Bahrein, Mauritania and to a lesser extent, Morocco.
Syria's situation is the most difficult one in the Middle East with, for the moment, no hope for any peaceful solution.
So what could the other Arab people do in order to stop the bloodshed in Syria and try to help the other countries to change their regimes, peacefully if possible?
First they have to understand that not one single country, western mainly, will help them. They have to start their revolution themselves.
Second they must unite in their country to show only one opposition to the regimes.
But no solution will be found if the people don't start speaking loud against their regimes and showing that they only want fairness, equality and responsibility from their leaders.
Is it a dream? Probably as the worst political dictators have been overthrown. But one thing remains: corruption. It seems that it still is the cancer that eats a lot of Arab countries and their leaders and regimes. So maybe the best solution would be to fight against corruption first before looking for democratic regimes. The only danger would be that other Arab people would stop fighting for their rights thinking that their leaders will never give up power. And they should think of the famous song by the late Freddy Mercury and the Queen: "The Show Must Go On".

US Presidential Elections

Obama has been re-elected for a second term president of the USA. Well, after all it is well deserved. Obama has been a good president and he will probably a good one after his last term. He did things and tried hard to do others. No president can fulfill all his or her promises. What a lot of people forget is that in a democracy a president is not the only one who makes laws. He has to work with his own party and also with a chamber whatever we call it. In the US, a president has to work with the Congress, the House and the Senate. The Congress is not always on the same political side than the president, and that is fortunate. Otherwise we are in a dictatorship. And a president cannot just ignore the Congress and all the elected people who might be against his proposals. Once again, we are in a democracy and not in a dictatorship. And the other good thing of this election is that having a president who is black is not an accident but it is now almost normal. Now the US must, in the future of course, have a woman president, a Latino, Asian, Arab American president and not to forget a Native president. But it is already a very good sign to have an African American president.
I am happy for the USA.