This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

* Tension over Syria mounts as Arab League meets

* Syria’s Assad warns that intervention will cause an ‘earthquake’

* Support for Assad regime

* Is Iran dropping its support for Syria?

* U.S. economy tipping into recession

* Germany’s Constitutional Court vetoes high-speed bailout decisions

Tension Over Syria Mounts As Arab League Meets

The apparent success of the military operation in Libya following the Arab League’s unanimous request for a no-fly zone seven months ago has raised hopes among groups opposed to the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad that the Arab League, at its meeting on Sunday in Qatar, will make a similar request. The United Nations and the Arab League issued separate condemnations Saturday of violence in Syria after dozens were reported killed a day earlier in one of the deadliest single-day tolls since protests erupted more than seven months ago. The League said it had sent an “urgent message… to the Syrian government expressing its severe discontent over the continued killing of Syrian civilians,” and “expressed the hope that the Syrian government would take action to protect civilians.” Telegraph

Syria’s Assad Warns That Intervention Will Cause An ‘Earthquake’

In his first interview with a Western journalist since Syria’s uprising began, president Bashar al-Assad said:

“Syria is different in every respect from Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen. The history is different. The politics is different.

Syria is the hub now in this region. It is the fault line, and if you play with the ground you will cause an earthquake … Do you want to see another Afghanistan, or tens of Afghanistans?

Any problem in Syria will burn the whole region. If the plan is to divide Syria, that is to divide the whole region.”

Assad insisted that his army is targeting only “terrorists.” Telegraph

Support For Assad Regime

External intervention in Syria could meet with substantial opposition. Last week, there was another large pro-Assad demonstration with tens and perhaps hundreds of thousands of people, including veiled women, old men, and thousands of children with “Syria” written on their faces. The struggle in Syria now cuts through the center of the country and that many armed men now oppose the army. Robert Fisk

Is Iran Dropping Its Support For Syria?

According to an analysis by Debka, the lengthy October 23 CNN interview of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was part of the power struggle between Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and signaled a revised Iranian strategy that includes the removal of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In that interview, Ahmadinejad said,

“Nobody, nobody, nobody has the right to kill others, neither the government nor the opponents.

Our recommendation is very clear and it is a recommendation for all. for the United States: Instead of capturing or arresting people, they should hear the voice. They should listen to the people and they have things to say. And they should pay attention to their demands and needs. We say that governments must be responsible for the needs and desires of their own peoples, the security of the people and their rights. And this is general for Iran, for Libya, for Syria, for Europe, United States, Africa, everywhere. And this is a general rule for all. We have announced that many times.”

Thus, Iran and Turkey are drawing close to a rapprochement after a year of vitriolic exchanges of Iran and are developing a joint strategy.

Separately, Debka reports that Syria is laying land mines along the border with Turkey and is preparing for military intervention. Debka

U.S. Economy Tipping Into Recession

Dozens of specialized leading indexes indicate that the U.S. economy is tipping into a new recession and that there’s nothing that policy makers can do to prevent it. A new recession isn’t simply a statistical event. It’s a vicious cycle that, once started, must run its course. Certain circumstances–a drop in sales, for instance–lowers production, which results in declining employment and income, which in turn weakens sales further, all the while spreading like wildfire from industry to industry, region to region, and indicator to indicator. Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI)

Germany’s Constitutional Court Vetoes High-Speed Bailout Decisions

Germany’s Constitutional Court

Germany’s Verfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) has issued a temporary injunction banning the work of a new nine-person panel setup by the Bundestag (parliament) to make speedy decisions on proposals related to the euro bailout mechanism, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). The first committee meeting, scheduled for Friday, was cancelled. It’s feared that Germany’s parliament might take weeks or months to make the decision required to implement the EFSF, so the committee was set up to streamline decision making. But according to one opponent of the committee, “The Bundestag cannot be replaced by a nine-member committee on such important issues.” Der Spiegel