"If Moustapha's recall is true ... no telling how it will affect "Friday-Lunch-Club"...'"

Tony Badran's long overdue retirement from idiotic blogging, along with his 'sources', does not come a second too soon. Their platitudes & dreams of a region of conquered & subdued Arabs has wilted faster than the Beirut-Damascus highway 's capacity nowadays, where most of Badran's 'allies' are lining up as required by today's newly found pragmatism (AND YES, DEFEAT!)!

The praetorian zionists of mount Lebanon have been harping these same tired stories from the same tired 'sources' for the last 5 cataclysmic years. The prisismic window through which they see things is looking more like the ATT coverage map, as seen by Verizon...

Just glad that this 'expert-analyst' reads FLC... Had it not been for Politico shortly linking to his post-mortem tremors, no one we know would have seen his penmanship... (Update: Link by Politico was severed)

"Imad Moustapha's days in DC might be numbered. Rumor is that once the US sends an ambassador back to Syria, Imad Moustapha will be sent home.

A very well-informed source in Washington tells me that they've heard State Department officials declare openly that Moustapha has "zero credibility in this building" and that "all meaningful diplomatic communication [with Syria] is through [Syrian FM Walid] Moallem." It is in this context that Moallem's deputy, Faysal Mekdad, was invited to DC a few months ago.

I had noted before that rumors had it that Moustapha's standing in Damascus was shaky, especially for his mischaracterization of the Obama administration's approach to Syria, which he portrayed to his boss as a fait-accompli walk in the park. To that effect, my source adds that they think that Moustapha staying in DC was allowed by Assad "at Moustapha's repeated requests to remain" and "over Moallem’s repeated objections." (Imagine that: President Assad 'softened' by his Ambassador's 'requests'. This is the same Assad who, according to Badran and his ilk,single handedly saws havoc in the whole region!)

The rumor mill is now churning that the State Department has finally sent the name of the new US ambassador to the White House for approval. However, from what I've heard, the names listed by Josh Rogin in this report are inaccurate, though obviously I cannot say for sure. They are indeed names that are making the rounds in Washington, but a number of good sources tell me that neither Walles nor Khoury is the actual pick.(Stick to Moustapha ya Badran!)

If the rumor of Moustapha's recall is true, then there is no telling how this will affect the standing of Moustapha's American circle -- the various analysts, journalists, bloggers (e.g., the "Friday Lunch Club") and academics, the Syrian ambassador has used over the past few years to put through the Damascus regime's message. Presumably, some frequent visitors to the Syrian embassy, like Seymour Hersh or Robert Malley, have their own outlets to the Assad family (including the ICG's Peter Harling's office in Damascus), but others, like University of Oklahoma professor Joshua Landis are wading in deeper water. Since Landis' position in Washington policy circles was a function of his proximity to Moustapha, as the Syrian ambassador's stature sunk so did Landis' and the invitations to speak around town became much less frequent (especially when it was realized that Landis had no added value, as he merely brought what Moustapha fed him). Now with Moustapha's departure possibly imminent, it's not clear if Landis is going to be making an exit as well, or if Moallem's new charge will find a use for the Norman, OK-based blogger."