Apr
21
Noise Pollution
Filed Under culture, links, Egypt | Leave a Comment
Michael Slackman is one of the better journalists covering Egypt. He manages to capture some of the absurd realities which make Cairo one the most fascinating cities in the world, and his latest article in the NYT delves into the abundance of noise which is characteristic of the city:
While noise is never cited as a reason for the spasms of violence, it is a silent enemy that makes the pressures of life that much harder to cope with, people on the streets here said.
“The noise bothers me, and I know it bothers people,” said Abdel Khaleq, driver of a battered black and white taxi as he paused from honking his horn to stop for passengers.
“So why do you do it?” he was asked.
“Well, to tell you I’m here,” he said. “There is no such thing as logic in this country.”
And then he drove off, honking.
Apr
20
Iranophobia?
Filed Under Ridiculous, links, Iran, U.S, Iraq, News | 1 Comment
In comments made last week, U.S Secretary of State Condolezza Rice stated her aim to gather support from Arab nations in an effort to counter Iran’s “nefarious influence” in Iraq. Rice, who is scheduled to attend a conference on Iraq in Kuwait next Tuesday, said she would push for more Arab support of Iraq in terms of financing and an increase of Sunni participation in the country’s politics:
“What they need to do is confirm and work for Iraq’s Arab identity,” she said. “That in and of itself will begin to shield (Iraq) from influences of Iran that are nefarious influences,” Rice said at a news conference.
She also said Iraq’s Arab neighbors could help encourage the Sunni minority to participate more fully in the political process in Iraq and to offer Baghdad much-needed debt relief, which has been slow in coming.
In response, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has accused the Secretary of “Iranophobia”:
“Regarding Rice’s statements, these statements are not something new. American officials follow the policy of Iranophobia,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters in a weekly news conference.
“We see the developments in Iraq today are the outcome of the U.S. administration’s illogical policies. The American officials want to externalise the problems they are facing inside Iraq,” he said, adding U.S. policies in Iraq had failed.
Apr
13
Casualty of War
Filed Under culture, links, U.S, Iraq | Leave a Comment
We hear so often of the casualties of the Iraq war, mainly in its human toll. Yet Iraqi society and culture at large has suffered tremendously as well, one instance of which was the looting of the Iraqi National Library and Archives 5 years ago:
The sacking of the library that began April 11, 2003, was a bad one. The current Director of Iraq’s National Library and Archive, Dr. Saad Eskander, estimates that over three days, as many as “60 percent of the Ottoman and Royal Hashemite era documents were lost as well as the bulk of the Ba’ath era documents…. [and] approximately 25 percent of the book collections were looted or burned.” Other Iraqi manuscript collections and university libraries suffered similar fates.
Since then, Iraqis have once again tried to rebuild their library. The occupying powers have played along, but like so much about the Iraq War, their effort has been marked by ineptitude, hypocrisy and a cruel disregard for Iraqi people and culture.
Mar
30
Here’s the video, via MEMRI, which features an interview clip aired on Iraqi television last month. Come for a glimpse at how important the Imam Mahdi is to a Shiite, and stay for the prophetic “Adnan and Lina” cartoons which signal the coming of WWIII:
Interviewer: Didn’t you ever try to meet the son of the Imam?
“Abu Sajjad”: I often asked to meet him, but they said it was impossible. So I asked to have a look at his picture, but they said that any cell phone or camera that takes his pictures burns up.
[…]
He said: “I’d like to show you one of the signs that the Imam has come, so that you will be sure that the Imam is here with us, and that the Day of Resurrection is imminent.” He wanted me to be fully convinced. What he showed me was very strange. He switched on the TV, and played me “Adnan and Lina” cartoons which said that World War III would break out in 2008. He said that this was one of the signs that in 2008, the Imam Al-Mahdi would come. I began to have my doubts. True, I am not that educated, but I’m not that naïve either.
Mar
25
Articles Worth Your Time
Filed Under links | Leave a Comment
A couple recommended articles for some evening reading or to go with tomorrow morning’s cup of coffee. Independent writers from Iraq cover stories you’ll never hear or see in the mainstream media, and these two are among the best:
Dispatches From Iraq
Michael Totten - The Liberation of Karmah, Part I
“Lieutenant Colonel Sattar was captured and held by Al Qaeda for over a year,” he said. “He was beaten and thrashed before they eventually let him go. And the guy who captured him was his cousin. The culture here – they lie, they deceive, they steal, they don’t trust each other. In order to survive. That’s what Saddam Hussein’s era bred in them. If they wanted to survive and do well, they had to go behind everyone’s back. After 20 or 30 years of Saddam, they can’t break away over night.”
Michael Yon - Stake Through Their Hearts
“There are no guarantees, but this could be the endgame for major combat operations in Iraq. Combat is likely to heat up in Mosul and western Nineveh by about May. There likely will be some reports of increased US and Iraqi casualties up here, but this does not mean that we are losing ground or that al Qaeda is resurging – though clearly they are trying. If there is an increase in casualties here as we go into the summer of 2008, it is because our people and the Iraqi forces are closing in. We have seen just how deadly al Qaeda can be. This enemy is desperate. They know they are losing. They are not likely to go out easy. The enemy is smart, agile and adaptive. Likely they will land some devastating blows on us, but at this rate, our people and Iraqi forces appear to be driving stakes through al Qaeda hearts faster than al Qaeda is regenerating.”
Mar
25
Nasrallah Makes Another Speech
Filed Under links, Iran, Lebanon, Politics, War | Leave a Comment
Hezbollah’s secretary general and Khamenei protege Hassan Nasrallah delivered a speech via video link in Beirut this Monday, which has been described as his “most moderate” speech to date. That’s probably in reference to his comments on Lebanon’s domestic troubles and promising to strive for a comprimise in the country’s battle of politcal wills. His message to Israel though, not so moderate:
Nasrallah said the elimination of Israel was possible since following its withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 and its “defeat” in the 2006 summer war, the “myth” of its “invincible” army had been shattered.
“Can Israel be eliminated? Yes and a thousand yeses, Israel can be eliminated,” he said.
“I want to remind you that an Israeli war is no longer a picnic. An Israeli war has become very costly because there is in Lebanon the strength, will and education of the resistance as well as the blood of the resistance’s martyrs,” he said, drawing cheers from the crowd, who gathered at a rebuilt complex destroyed during the Second Lebanon War.
Nasrallah added that UN-mediated negotiations with Israel for a prisoner swap were continuing.
“Although the Israelis have killed the pillar of the resistance, we did not halt the negotiations on a prisoner exchange,” he said, disclosing that meetings were recently held with UN mediators.
“We will not stop the negotiations … because we want to achieve one of the aspirations of martyr Imad Mughniyeh, that is, to see our prisoner brothers free among their parents and loved ones,” Nasrallah said.
The speech marked the end of a 40 day mourning period for terror-hero Imad Mugniyeh, whose martyrdom Hezbollah has embraced with passion. He did seek to calm fears of a civil war as other leaders have regularly been doing:
In his speech on Monday, Nasrallah went out of his way to reiterate that his party was irrevocably committed to a political solution to the impasse. The sayyed has made this point before, but given the preponderance of armed might at his disposal, it is important for him to repeat this pledge at every opportunity - and especially when tensions are high. Given Nasrallah’s reputation as a man of his word, this has already served to soothe a widespread sense of foreboding that the failure of the upcoming Arab League summit would presage a new and more dangerous phase of the contest.
Mar
17
First Church In Saudi Arabia?
Filed Under links, religion, Reform, Saudi Arabia, News | 3 Comments
The Vatican looks set to open a church in Saudi Arabia, which as you may well know would be the first of its kind. King Abdullah traveled to the Vatican to meet Pope Benedict last November, and this has apparently been in the works since then.
Qatar just opened its first church a few days ago.
Mar
9
Pressuring Syria
Filed Under Syria, links, Terrorism, U.S, Lebanon, News | Leave a Comment
While North Korea and Iran continue to make nice with the Assad regime, pressure has been issued in the form of creating a watchlist of ships who stop at Syrian ports. The decision signals what most believe to be a reaction to Syria’s meddling in Lebanon:
The decision, which could put pressure on businesses trading or shipping through Syria, was a further blow to long strained ties that had held out brief hopes of improvement last November when the United States courted Syria for the launch of new Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
Syria was placed on a so-called “Port Security Advisory List” amid “concerns about the connections between Syria and international terrorist organizations,” the State Department’s deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.
The move allows the Coast Guard “to impose some additional port security measures to ships traveling to or arriving in US ports that have previously been either departing from Syria or have called on Syrian ports,” he said.
Casey added he understood the measures would affect any ship that has visited Syria during its last five ports of call, but referred reporters to the Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for further information.
Also, an unnamed Egyptian official has claimed that the recent developments in Gaza have served Syrian interests in diverting attention away from its actions in Lebanon:
According to Egyptian sources, the heads of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, currently based in Damascus, are the only ones authorized to make a decision regarding a cease-fire with Israel, and it is possible that the Syrian government is behind the failure of truce negotiations thus far. “All the evidence points to the fact that Syria wants to divert attention from Lebanon and point the spotlight on Gaza,” the Egyptian official said.
The current escalation [of violence] in the Palestinian arena serves the Syrian interests,” they said, explaining that the embarrassment caused by continuing violence in Gaza to Arab Leaders may prompt the Arab nations to send high-level representation to the upcoming Arab summit hosted by Syria later this month, after having threatened that state leaders will not attend if Syria continues to interfere in the political crisis in Lebanon.
The Egyptian accusations against Syria are directly linked to rising tensions in the Arab world currently. The absence of Arab leaders from the Arab summit will cause great embarrassment to Damascus, as the host country, and likely prevent the success of the summit.
The Egyptian officials added that they had frozen efforts to mediate a truce between Israel and the Palestinians until after the Arab summit at the end of March. They said that Suleiman, who is responsible for the mediation efforts, will accompany Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak this week to Poland and Dakar, which will prevent him from advancing truce negotiations.
Mar
4
Debate On Iran Nuke Pursuit Ongoing
Filed Under links, Iran | Leave a Comment
“The presentation caught no one’s attention more than the Iranian representatives in the room, who deny Iran is developing atomic weapons. As they whipped out cellphone cameras to photograph the screen, Iran’s ambassador, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, nearly shouting, called the evidence baseless fabrications, the diplomats said, and warned that the agency was going down “a very dangerous road.”
Suddenly, the confrontation with Iran had reignited.“
Mar
4
Young Iraqis Losing Their Religion?
Filed Under links | Leave a Comment
Atheer, a 19-year-old from a poor, heavily Shiite neighborhood in southern Baghdad, said: “The religion men are liars. Young people don’t believe them. Guys my age are not interested in religion anymore.”
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