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March 27, 2006
Baghdad Burning Blogger in Contention for Literary Award
Riverbend, proprietor of the Iraqi blog Baghdad Burning, "is on the long list for the $74,000 Samuel Johnson Prize," according to a March 27 2006 post by Emma Rodgers at Articulate, ABC News of Australia's "daily take on arts news and events in Australia and throughout the world. River began blogging in 2003, after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Her posts have been compiled into the book Baghdad Burning : Girl Blog from Iraq .
For more, please see "Blogging worthy of non-fiction award nomination." Also see "Iraq blog up for literary prize" for background on Riverbend.
Note: This post can also be found at The Blogging Journalist, one of my other blogs.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:18 AM | Comments (0)
March 26, 2006
Abdul Rahman Should Leave Afghanistan
Abdul Rahman, the Afghan man who converted from from Islam to Christianity would do well to ask Christians in the West to get him out of Afghanistan now that an Afghan court has "dropped its case" against him. He could have been executed for converting, according to news report. If he remains in Afghanistan, I predict Rahman will be dead within a year. For more on the case, see "Afghan court drops trial of Christian, doubts his sanity."Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)
Viktor Yushchenko, What Happened?
The Independent's Andrew Osborn, writing from Kiev, Ukraine, in a March 27, 2006, dispatch, analyzes how things have gone so wrong for President Viktor Yushchenko, the leader of the so-called Orange Revolution that buoyed many Ukrainians 15-months ago. See " Yushchenko scorned as Ukraine turns its back on the orange revolution."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)
Yulia Tymoshenko's Coalition of Liberals
"Former [Ukranian] Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, whose bloc made an unexpected strong showing in Ukraine's parliamentary election, says an agreement is all but complete to form a governing coalition of liberals," according to Reuters. For more, please see "Former Ukraine PM says liberal coalition almost ready." Also see "Exit polls show Yanukovych leading in Ukraine elections."Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:31 PM | Comments (0)
Is U.S. Renewing War Against Moqtada al-Sadr?
After reading Washington Post Baghdad correspondents Jonathan Finer and John Ward Anderson's March 27, 2006, report noting that, "U.S. and Iraqi special forces killed at least 16 followers of the Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr Sunday [March 26, 2006] in a twilight assault on what the U.S. military said was a "terrorist cell" responsible for attacks on soldiers and civilians," my reaction was that the U.S. will be fighting both Sunnis and Shias this year. I think we can expect revenge by Sadr's forces.
For the Post report, please see "U.S., Iraqi Forces Target Sadr Followers in Iraq."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)
The Jeeran Blog Service and Jeeran.com
Have you ever heard of the Jeeran blog service or Jeeran.com, the "Arabic web hosting community" established in 2000? If not, see Isam Bayazidi's January 8, 2006, review of Middle Eastern blogs services headlined "Arab Blog Services: Jeeran and Maktoob."
By the way, PR Web says in a March 24, 2006 press release that "Arab Bloggers (are) Moving from Blogger.com to Jeeran" Jeeran claims to have "500,000 members."
Note: This item is also published at The Blogging Journalist, one of my other blogs.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:49 PM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2006
Study: 'Globally, Newspaper Sites Are Slow to Adopt the Blog'
Blue Plate Special.Net, a blog by "Jay Rosen, his students at NYU (New York University) and other recruits from around the web," reported March 23, 2006, that, "Globally, Newspaper Sites Are Slow to Adopt the Blog." It reveals that newspapers around the world are missing great opportunities to connect with readers and potential readers and engage in a conversation that benefits all. The report said the the "English-speaking press seems ahead" of the non-English-speaking press. Note: This post can also be found at The Blogging Journalist.Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)
March 22, 2006
Riverbend: 'I’m So Tired Of It All- We’re All Tired'
Riverbend at Baghdad Burning said in a March 18, 2006, post on the third anniversary of Britain and the United States' invasion of Iraq: "I don’t think anyone imagined three years ago that things could be quite this bad today. The last few weeks have been ridden with tension. I’m so tired of it all- we’re all tired."
For more, please see "Three Years..."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)
Eccentric Star's Roundup of Arab Opinion on Bush's Iraq Speech
Eccentric Star: A Public Diplomacy Weblog has a roundup of Arab newspaper opinion on President George W. Bush's March 20, 2006, speech on Iraq. Mr. Bush delivered it at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. See "Arab Papers Comment on Bush Iraq Speech."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:19 PM | Comments (0)
ETA's Permanent Cease-fire
John Aust at the Iberian Notes section of The Spain Herald has this to say about ETA's March 22, 2006, permanent cease-fire announcement:ETA announced today that it was declaring a "permanent cease-fire." Not good enough. They set conditions, including a referendum on Basque independence and the legalization of their front political party, Batasuna.
Aust said, "Only unconditional surrender is acceptable. ETA has announced cease-fires before and has returned to violence. And giving in to ETA's conditions is rewarding the terrorist murders of more than 800 people."
I'd be surprised if ETA offers an unconditional surrender. Maybe it will do it if the Basque region gets unconditional autonomy.
For more, please see "ETA declares "permanent cease-fire."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:03 PM | Comments (0)
Helen Thomas: Mr. President, 'Why Did You Really Go to War?'
Helen Thomas, the former United Press International White House Correspondent who now covers the White House as a columnist for the Hearst Corporation's King Features Syndicate, asked what I think was the most important question at President George W. Bush's March 21, 2006, White House news conference. She asked:
Q: I'd like to ask you, Mr. President, your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is, why did you really want to go to war? From the moment you stepped into the White House, from your Cabinet -- your Cabinet officers, intelligence people, and so forth -- what was your real reason? You have said it wasn't oil -- quest for oil, it hasn't been Israel, or anything else. What was it?
THE PRESIDENT: I think your premise -- in all due respect to your question and to you as a lifelong journalist -- is that -- I didn't want war. To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong, Helen, in all due respect --
Q: Everything --
THE PRESIDENT: Hold on for a second, please.
Q: -- everything I've heard --
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me, excuse me. No President wants war. Everything you may have heard is that, but it's just simply not true. My attitude about the defense of this country changed on September the 11th. We -- when we got attacked, I vowed then and there to use every asset at my disposal to protect the American people. Our foreign policy changed on that day, Helen. You know, we used to think we were secure because of oceans and previous diplomacy. But we realized on September the 11th, 2001, that killers could destroy innocent life. And I'm never going to forget it. And I'm never going to forget the vow I made to the American people that we will do everything in our power to protect our people.
Part of that meant to make sure that we didn't allow people to provide safe haven to an enemy. And that's why I went into Iraq -- hold on for a second --
Q: They didn't do anything to you, or to our country.
THE PRESIDENT: Look -- excuse me for a second, please. Excuse me for a second. They did. The Taliban provided safe haven for al Qaeda. That's where al Qaeda trained --
Q: I'm talking about Iraq --
THE PRESIDENT: Helen, excuse me. That's where -- Afghanistan provided safe haven for al Qaeda. That's where they trained. That's where they plotted. That's where they planned the attacks that killed thousands of innocent Americans.
I also saw a threat in Iraq. I was hoping to solve this problem diplomatically. That's why I went to the Security Council; that's why it was important to pass 1441, which was unanimously passed. And the world said, disarm, disclose, or face serious consequences --
Q: -- go to war --
THE PRESIDENT: -- and therefore, we worked with the world, we worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world. And when he chose to deny inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him. And we did, and the world is safer for it.
Q Thank you, sir. Secretary Rumsfeld -- (laughter.)
The questioning continues but, as stated above, I think the above was most telling exchange, and its on the record. I recommend reading the entire White House Transcript of the press conference.
Note: This item is also posted at The Weblog Gazette.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:24 AM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2006
A Transcript of President Bush's March 20 Address in Cleveland, Ohio
During a March 20, 2006, speech at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. President George W. Bush discussed his so-called "War on Terror and Operation Iraqi Freedom." It's part of an effort to regain support for the occupation of Iraq, which is expected to last at least until 2008. Here's a White House Transcript of the speech.
Note: This item is also posted at The Weblog Gazette.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)
A Transcript of President Bush's March 21, 2006 Press Conference
U.S. President George W. Bush held a Press Conference March 21, 2006, in the James S. Brady Briefing Room in The White House. Here is a White House transcript of the conference. It may or may not be accurate.
By the way, for once during his presidency, the exchange between Mr. Bush and reporters generated substantive news. Note: This item is also posted at The Weblog Gazette.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2006
Retired General Paul Eaton: 'Rumsfeld Must Step Down'
In a March 20, 2006, New York Times article reprinted in the New York Times Company-owned International Herald Tribune and headlined "For his failures, Rumsfeld must go," Paul D. Eaton, a retired U.S. Army major general who was "in charge of training the Iraqi military from 2003 to 2004," wrote: During World War II, American soldiers en route to Britain before D-Day were given a pamphlet on how to behave while awaiting the invasion. The most important quote was: "It is impolite to criticize your host; it is militarily stupid to criticize your allies."
Eaton said, "In sum, he has shown himself incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically and is far more than anyone else responsible for what has happened to America's mission in Iraq. Rumsfeld must step down."
By that rule, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is not competent to lead America's armed forces. First, his failure to build coalitions with U.S. allies from what he dismissively called "old Europe" has imposed far greater demands and risks on American soldiers in Iraq than necessary. Second, he alienated his allies in the U.S. military, ignoring the advice of seasoned officers and denying subordinates any chance for input.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:58 AM | Comments (0)
As Expected, Lukashenko 'Wins' Belarus Presidential Election
"Thousands of people rallied in a blinding snowstorm in Minsk Sunday night [March 19, 2006] to protest what they called "fraud," after election officials predicted incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko would win a third term as president with over 90 percent of the votes," reports Christian Science Monitor Correspondent Fred Weir in a March 20, 2006, dispatch from Minsk, Belarus.
For more, please see "Cries of fraud in Belarus, but no 'Orange Revolution.'"
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:24 AM | Comments (0)
The African-American Press and the Iraq War
In her March 20, 2006, column headlined "Commentary: In Its Skepticism Over the Iraq War Three Years Ago, the Black Press Had it Right," Deborah Mathis at BlackAmericaWeb.com offers a perspective on the Iraq War from a segment of the press that is often ignored by the so-called Mainstream Media. I recommend it.
This item is also posted at The Weblog Gazette.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:09 AM | Comments (0)
The New Leaders Redefining Politics in Latin America
Associated Press correspondent Traci Carl, writing from Mexico City on March 19, 2006, describes how A new wave of Latin American leaders _ variously labeled leftist, populist, nationalist or socialist _ is redefining politics in a region where U.S.-backed, right-wing dictatorships spent decades crushing their mostly leftist opponents and supporting corporate interests amid fears of inroads by the Soviet Union and its Cuban proxy.
She said, "The wave has carried leftist leaders to power in South America's largest and richest nations, as well as impoverished Bolivia. And while once-dominant conservatives haven't vanished altogether _ right-leaning candidates are popular in Peru and Colombia _ the trend is likely to intensify with elections still to come this year in Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua and Venezuela."
For more, please see "Latin American Leftists Redefine Politics."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 12:57 AM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2006
'What Will They Show Us?': A Panama News Editorial
The Panama News contends in an editorial in its March 5 - 18, 2006 edition that, This year the Panamanian political scene is likely to be dominated by two great issues, an anticipated free trade agreement with the United States and a probable referendum on a plan to expand the Panama Canal by installing a third set of locks that's big enough to accommodate ships that are too big to fit through the present canal. On both issues battle lines have long been forming, even though in neither case have we seen any actual plan.
For a perspective on how and why those battle lines have formed, please see "What will they show us?"
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:14 PM | Comments (0)
Should Law-abiding Jamaicans Be Allowed to Carry Guns?
Lloyd Williams of The Jamaica Observer reported in a March 18, 2006, article headlined "Arm private citizens": Jamaicans need more than burglar bars, overworked cops, private guards and a less than efficient 119 emergency response number to protect themselves from criminals. They need guns.
This latest call for the arming of all members of the public who qualify for firearm licences and who want and can afford the weapons, was made yesterday by Senator Prudence Kidd-Deans during the State-of-the-Nation Debate.Williams said Kidd-Deans "made the call against the background of Jamaica's worsening crime rate, noting that just when it was believed that crime had peaked, "this monster ... ascends to a higher level at the next wave".
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)
The Washington Post Editorial on Iran
Americablog.com has a March 18, 2006, post headlined "Washington Post editorial repeats, AS FACT, debunked Bush talking point about Iran supplying IEDs in Iraq."
"We are talking about the justification for getting our country into a third war here, and the Washington Post can't seem to get its facts straight - again," Americablog said.
See The Post's March 18, 2006, editorial headlined "Why Iran Wants to Talk" and draw your own conclusions.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:33 PM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2006
'The Israeli Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy'
Just World News proprietor Helena Cobban reported March 16, 2006, that John Mearsheimer, "Wendell Harrison Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago," and Stephen Walt, "Academic Dean at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University," have written a "Major new article on the pro-Israel Lobby."
The scholars' article, headlined "The Israel Lobby," is in the March 23, 2006 edition of the London Review of Books. The longer, 83-page footnoted version from which the LRB article is extracted is headlined "The Israeli Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)
Mideastwire.com Translates Interview With Abdul Halim Khaddam
Joshua M. Landis, "Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern Studies in the School of International and Area Studies at the University of Oklahoma and proprietor of the blog Syria Comment.com, has posted an Elaph interview with [former Syrian Foreign Minister and Vice-President] Abdul Halim Khaddam, who took up exile in France in 2005 after denouncing Syrian President Bashar al-Asad.
Elaph is an "Online Arabic news website providing latest news and updates, news reports and interviews," according to the site.
According to Landis, the article was translated by Mideastwire.com. In it, "Khaddam talks about his visits with [Druze Leader Walid] Jumblatt, Hizbullah, taking MEPI money, Why France isn't supporting him, Bashar's most recent speech, and how Bashar is trying to polarize Lebanese politics," Landis wrote.
The article is definitely worth reading for the light it sheds on the dynamics of Syrian politics. For more, please see "Khaddam interviewed by Elaph on March 15, 2006."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)
Juan Cole: 'Saddam Was Trying to Capture Zarqawi'
In a March 16, 2006, post headlined "Saddam Was Trying to Capture Zarqawi," Professor Juan Cole at Informed Comment noted that:The Bush administration repeatedly made the presence in Iraq of Abu Musab Zarqawi a pretext for invading the country and overthrowing Saddam Hussein. They implied that he was a client of Saddam and that Saddam had arranged for hospital care for him. Newly released documents from the captured Iraqi archives show that Saddam had put out an APB for Zarqawi and was trying to have him arrested as a danger to the Baath regime!
Cole, a "Professor of History at the University of Michigan," added:' However, one of the documents, a letter from an Iraqi intelligence official, dated August 17, 2002, asked agents in the country to be on the lookout for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and another unnamed man whose picture was attached. '
He also wrote: "The September 29, 2002 Denver Post paraphrased Cheney, "He said the evidence presented against Iraq will be long and persuasive, including more details of a relationship between Hussein's forces and the al-Qaeda terrorist network."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:57 PM | Comments (0)
'We Deserve the Scorn' of Those Who Were Against the War
Gregory Djerejian at the informative Belgravia Dispatch has a worth reading analysis of the dismal outcome of the Bush Administration's policy in Iraq. I found this section especially revealing:I had greater faith in this Administration, and they have let us down time and again. But it's too easy to say it would all have been OK but for the dumbies who effed up the show. People who supported the war, and there were many of us (on both sides of the aisle, lest we forget), had to keep in mind the abilities of those charged with prosecuting it, and the resources that would be brought to bear. We knew the Powell Doctrine had been shunted aside in favor of utopic transformationalist nostrums, and we knew that some who were listened to in the leading counsels of power had memorably declared the effort would be a cakewalk. We should have smelled the danger signals better, and we deserve the scorn of those who were against this effort from the get-go, at least those who honestly believed we were doing the wrong thing rather than just opposing anything the horrible Bushies would bring to the plate.
Also, it should be said," Djerejian wrote, "war is a tremendously complex endeavor, and while it's a cliche to state, it's very true that no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. We can beat up on the war-planners, and their arrogance and reluctance to admit mistakes makes it feel good, but their jobs are never easy ones, and those of us brandishing laptops to castigate all and sundry do well to recall this now and again."
Unfortunately, the Bush Administration and its supposedly smart advisers have joined the successive generations of aggressors, invaders and war- planners who've had to learn the hard way that very few people, especially Muslims, are willing to be ruled by foreigners. Also, it should be evident that lasting democracy can't be imposed by force just as communism couldn't be imposed by force and made to last. Just as the former Soviet had to retreat after its decades of international adventures so will the U.S. Empire. It's inevitable.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:39 PM | Comments (0)
March 14, 2006
Cobban: 'Olmert's Campaign Brings Down the Walls of Jericho
Helena Cobban at Just World News reported March 14, 2006, that acting Israeli Prime Minister "Ehud Olmert continued his election campaign today by (1) traveling to the West Bank settlement of Ariel and telling its residents they would be included inside the news borders he plans to draw for Israel, and (2) sending the IOF's tanks and bulldozers in against the PA prison in Jericho holding PFLP leader Ahmed Saadat."
"I suppose that on the scale of aggressive actions taken by Israeli PMs during election campaigns-- oh ain't Israeli "democracy" wonderful!-- this was not as bad as Shimon Peres's infamous 1996 invasion of South Lebanon," she wrote.
For more, please see "Olmert's campaign brings down the walls of Jericho."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)
British Envoy Told Blair US Postwar Iraq Strategy Was a Mess
Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor of The Guardian, reported March 14, 2006, that ""Senior British diplomatic and military staff gave Tony Blair explicit warnings three years ago that the US was disastrously mishandling the occupation of Iraq, according to leaked memos."
MacAskill said, "John Sawers, Mr Blair's envoy in Baghdad in the aftermath of the invasion, sent a series of confidential memos to Downing Street in May and June 2003 cataloguing US failures. With unusual frankness, he described the US postwar administration, led by the retired general Jay Garner, as "an unbelievable mess" and said "Garner and his top team of 60-year-old retired generals" were "well-meaning but out of their depth".
For more, please see "US postwar Iraq strategy a mess, Blair was told."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)
What Massacre?
On March 13, 2006, Free Iraq published an interesting article headlined "The Sadr city massacre ... A Black Operation by the American Intelligence?"
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)
Today in Iraq's 'Daily War News' for March 14, 2006
Today in Iraq has "Daily War News for Tuesday ,March 14, 2006" that leaves no doubt that Iraqis are engaged in a civil war whether the Bush Administration will admit or not.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)
Andrew Arato on 'A New Endgame in Iraq'
In a March 9, 2006, article in Foreign Policy in Focus headlined "A New Endgame in Iraq," Andrew Arato contends:Since the bombing of the golden-domed Askariya Shia mosque in Samarra on February 22, Iraq has been close to the outbreak of open civil war. While Iraqi leaders tried to bring calm it was clear that the masses behind them were not marching in step. As in the case of the nationalist Shiite leader Moqtadah al-Sadrs movement, elites and militants pulled in opposite directions: while some of the most violent reprisals were apparently undertaken by his followers, al-Sadr and his top leaders sought to defuse tensions with the Sunnis throughout the conflict.
"Similarly," Arato added, "the legal political parties of the Sunnis and Shiites tried to limit the conflict while their followers were in the streets. The only thing common on all sides was placing blame on the American occupiers."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)
'Seeing Baghdad, Thinking Saigon'
Stephen Biddle has an article in the March/April 2006 edition of Foreign Affairs headlined "Seeing Baghdad,Thinking Saigon." He writes:Contentious as the current debate over Iraq is, all sides seem to make the crucial assumption that to succeed there the United States must fight the Vietnam War again -- but this time the right way. The Bush administration is relying on an updated playbook from the Nixon administration. Pro-war commentators argue that Washington should switch to a defensive approach to counterinsurgency, which they feel might have worked wonders a generation ago.
Biddle added: "According to the antiwar movement, the struggle is already over, because, as it did in Vietnam, Washington has lost hearts and minds in Iraq, and so the United States should withdraw."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:00 PM | Comments (0)
AP: Milosovic's Death Leaves Serbia in a Funk
Associated Press Writer William J. Kole reported March 14, 2006 that the death of former Yugoslavian Federation President Slobodan Milosevic has stirred up mixed emotions in Serbia. He wrote:, Milosevic's death last weekend at a detention center in the Netherlands, where he was being tried for war crimes before a U.N. tribunal, has unleashed a wave of nostalgia and defensive national pride for some Serbs. For others, it has revived a sense of collective shame.
"Either way," he added, "Serbia is in a funk. Its people wonder if they'll ever break free of their reputation as warmongers, or if their country will ever shed its notoriety as a hotbed of nationalism and instability."
The Daily Telegraph of London says "Confusion and farce reign" over Milosevic's "last journey" while The Independent reports that "Milosevic son claims body and prepares for funeral in Serbia."
The BBC says "Milosevic 'to have Serbia burial.'
The Times of London zeroes in on how Milosevic may have gotten the drugs that allegedly caused his death. The paper said Milosevic "had regular access to unprescribed drugs that were smuggled into his cell under a lax prison regime, sources at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague said yesterday," March 14, 2006. See "Lax prison security' allowed Milosevic to smuggle in drugs."
The Voice of America reported March 14, 2006, that:
Chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte says Slobodan Milosevic secretly took medicines in his jail cell in what may have been a suicide attempt.Regarding Milosevic's Hague war crimes trial, the New York Times Company-owned International Herald Tribune reports in its March 15, 2006 edition that, the "case (is) closed in (The) Hague, but inquiry carries on."Del Ponte told France's Le Monde newspaper Tuesday [March 14, 2006]that Milosevic apparently decided to worsen his health in an attempt to get out of jail and go to Moscow for treatment or to take his own life.
She said she is waiting for blood test results to see what brought on the heart attack that killed Milosevic.
Del Ponte said Milosevic's death is difficult to accept and that it dealt the war crimes tribunal a nasty blow. For more, please see "Del Ponte: Milosevic May Have Taken Medicine to Kill Himself."
But she said she wants to try fugitive former Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, saying the court is now in a coma and must come back to life.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:50 PM | Comments (0)
March 13, 2006
Will U.S. Troops Get Caught Up in Iraq Civil War?
According to the March 12, 2006, edition of USA Today, the Bush administration plans to assure Americans U.S. troops won't get caught in the Middle of the mostly Shia-Sunni fight in Iraq.
Meanwhile,Today in Iraq and Informed Comment have good roundups of news on the war. Although sectarian killings are escalating the Bush Administration says the March 20, 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq has not resulted in open, sectarian warfare. It often points to the elections in Iraq to justify the invasion and political meddling in that country's affairs.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:25 AM | Comments (0)
In Iraq, the Killings Continue But Don't Blame Saddam
Christian Iraq reported March 12, 2006, that "A series of insurgent attacks in Baghdad killed at least 52 people on March 12 and left more than 125 wounded."
"It was one of the deadliest days of violence to hit the Iraqi capital in recent weeks," the publication said. For more, please see "Over 50 Killed In Baghdad, 125 Injured."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:24 AM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2006
Helena Cobban Analyzes 'Pathetic Threats from (John) Bolton
On March 10, 2006, Helena Cobban at Just World News posted an interesting and informative analysis on the dangerous, diplomatic dance between the West and Iran over the Iran's nuclear program. It's headlined "Pathetic threats from Bolton."
Cobban's analysis is one the best I've read on the issue.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:01 AM | Comments (0)
Landis: What's at Stake in Lebanon's National Conference?'
Joshua Landis, proprietor of Syria Comment.com and an Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern Studies in the School of International and Area Studies at the University of Oklahoma, asks in a March 8, 2006, post: "What is at Stake in Lebanon's National Conference?"
It's a legitimate question, which he attempts to answer. I recommend the article.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:49 AM | Comments (0)
An Academic's Glee on Dubai Ports World's U.S. Retreat
Daniel W. Drezner, assistant professor of political science at the University of Chicago, who, "Beginning in the 2006-7 academic year... will be an associate professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, on Dubai Ports World's decision to withdraw its bid to operate six U.S. Ports:I, for one, feel much safer that Dubai Ports World won't be operating port terminals at six American ports. Yes, even though shipping experts and homeland security experts agreed that there was little risk in having DPW take over P&O, I'm glad an American company will be running things.... even if U.S. capital might be more efficient at doing something else.Drezner added:"I feel particularly safe because even though DPW has pledged to divest its ownership of American operations, Knight-Ridder reports that Congress isn't taking any chances." Well, many Congressmen are up for reelection. They had to oppose DPW's entry into the U.S. market and the White House's position on letting them manage some U.S. ports. Not doing so wouldn't play well back in the hometown newspaper. By the way, Drezner is not running for anything as far as I know. For his entire post, please see "Well, I feel much safer."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:31 AM | Comments (0)
American Future's Analysis of 'America's Iran Strategy'
Marc Schulman at the American Future blog analyzes "America's Iran Strategy." I found the March 10, 2006 post thought-provoking and recommend it.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:01 AM | Comments (0)
Is the Bush Administration Toning Down Democracy Rhetoric?
Christian Science Monitor staff writer Howard LaFranchi observed in a March 8, 2006 article headlined "US dials back the volume on 'democracy'":President Bush has begun to soften his tone on the urgency of democratizing Muslim countries, lately choosing more cautious words that some experts say are a better match with his administration's modest political goals for countries ranging from Morocco to Pakistan. The change so far is subtle. But the rise to power of Hamas, the radical Islamist group, through US-backed elections in the Palestinian territories and the difficulty of implanting democratic governance in Iraq are prompting Mr. Bush to soft-pedal his pronouncements.
LaFranchi said, "The cautious approach is likely to continue at least until the administration sorts out how to respond to the new realities, experts say - leaving the Middle East peace process and other pressing regional matters hanging in the balance."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:08 AM | Comments (0)
March 09, 2006
The Double Standard on Nuclear Weapons in the Middle East
Malcom Lagauche at uruknet.info reported in March 8, 2006 article on the U.S. and her allies ganging up on Iran over Iran's nuclear program: According to the latest news, the U.S. is increasing the pressure on Iran about the fictitious atomic bomb that it is building. This is the same bomb that Iraq was working on in 2003 prior to the U.S. invasion.
While the world turns its eyes again to the Middle East and watches a buildup to a war created by the U.S. over a mythical atomic bomb, there is one country in the neighborhood that actually has hundreds of atomic weapons; "poor beleaguered Israel," as many writers (conservative and liberal alike) refer to the only atomic power in the Middle East.Lagauche said, "Even mentioning Israel’s stock of weapons is a no-no in polite western societies. The U.S. has destroyed Iraq under the pretense of it attempting to make a nuclear weapon and it is on the verge of creating the same calamity in Iran," he added. "Ask a question about Israel’s nukes and the response is mute. In fact, most U.S. journalists won’t even entertain the thought of asking such a question."
For more, please see "Nuclear Hypocrisy."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:40 PM | Comments (0)
Recommended: 'The Country (Iraq) Has Already Collapsed'
Recommended: "The Country Has Already Collapsed," a Spiegel Online interview with "Iraq expert Marina Ottaway about chances for government legitimacy, how to establish stability in Iraq and why the police force in Iraq is a fiction."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
New York Times: U.S. Military Expanding Bagram Prison Camp
On March 7, 2006, Spiegel Online shared with its readers a New York Times article by reporters Eric Schmitt and Tim Golden headlined "A Growing Afghan Prison Rivals Bleak Guantánamo." The article reveals:While an international debate rages over the future of the American detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the military has quietly expanded another, less-visible prison in Afghanistan, where it now holds some 500 terror suspects in more primitive conditions, indefinitely and without charges. Pentagon officials have often described the detention site at Bagram, a cavernous former machine shop on an American air base 40 miles north of Kabul, as a screening center. They said most of the detainees were Afghans who might eventually be released under an amnesty program or transferred to an Afghan prison that is to be built with American aid.
The Times added:"But some of the detainees have already been held at Bagram for as long as two or three years. And unlike those at Guantánamo, they have no access to lawyers, no right to hear the allegations against them and only rudimentary reviews of their status as ''enemy combatants,'' military officials said."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:15 PM | Comments (0)
Is 'Bigotry Toward Muslims..." Growing In the U.S.?
Professor Juan Cole at Informed Comment said in a March 9, 2006, post that:The constant drumbeat of hatred toward Muslims and Arabs on the American Right, on television and radio and in the press, has gradually had its effect. This according to a Washington Post poll. Even in the year after September 11, a majority of Americans respected Islam and Muslims, but powerful forces in US society are determined to change that, and are gradually succeeding. As they win, Bin Laden also wins, since his whole enterprise was to "sharpen the contradictions" and provoke a clash of civilizations.
These forces would do well not to antagonize U.S. born Muslims who, for the most part, have remained neutral on Middle East politics in the wake of al-Qaida's September 11, 2001 attack on the U.S.
For more of Cole's analysis, please see "Bigotry toward Muslims and Anti-Arab Racism Grow in US;Dubai and the Quran."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:44 AM | Comments (0)
Pakistani Bloggers launch 'Don't Block The Blog' Campaign
On March 8, 2006, Washington Post Blogger Jefferson Morley posted a very informative report on Pakistan's blog blockade on his World Opinion Roundup blog. He noted that, "The Pakistani Telecommunications Authority instituted the blog blockade on the orders of the Supreme Court, according to the Pakistani daily Dawn (link added)."
Morley interviewed some of those whose blogs were blocked. A "Don't Block the Blog" Campaign is underway. I highly recommend his report.
By the way, Pakistan is trying to keep citizens from reading comments on the widespread protests surrounding a Danish cartoonist depicting Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah as a terrorist. The blockade was initiated during President George W. Bush's visit.
Note: This post originally appeared in The Blogging Journalist, one of my other blogs.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:34 AM | Comments (0)
March 07, 2006
Israel Threatens Palestinian Prime Minister
Hisham Abu Taha and Maha Akeel, Arab News correspondents writing from Gaza City, reported March 8, 2006 that:Israeli leaders yesterday [March 7, 2006] threatened to murder the incoming prime minister of Palestine. Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and others in his Kadima party said Ismail Haniyeh and other Hamas politicians could be taken out if the Palestinian group resumed attacks.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz of Kadima told Army Radio that Israel would not hesitate to assassinate Hamas leaders if the group resumed attacks against Israel. Asked specifically about Ismail Haniyeh, the designated prime minister from Hamas, Mofaz said: “If Hamas... presents us with the challenge of having to confront a terror organization, then no one there will be immune. Not just Ismail Haniyeh. No one will be immune.”Arab News noted that, "Mofaz spoke a day after an Israeli airstrike on an ice cream truck killed two Islamic Jihad members and three bystanders in Gaza City. Two of those killed were children, aged eight and 14."
For more, please see "Haniyeh Could Be Murdered".
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)
Is Ismail Haniyeh Naive About the West's Protection of Israel?
"The new Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, has accused the US and Europe of hypocrisy in threatening to slash aid to the occupied territories unless Hamas meets western demands, while failing to hold Israel to a similar standard," according to Guardian Correspondent Chris McGreal in the publication's March 8, 2006 edition.
Surely Haniyeh didn't expect to be given the same consideration as Israel, which can do whatever it wants, including announce that it may assassinate him, without fear of punishment.
For more, please see "Hamas leader accuses west of hypocrisy over threat to withhold cash."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
Message to Prosecutors: All Clandestine Agents Are Trained to Lie
The BBC (and many other publications) noted that, U.S. "Prosecutors in the sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui's say he conformed to al-Qaeda training by not revealing details of the 11 September [2001] plot" to attack the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Why would he? He's an al-Qaida operative. He's no different from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency agents and British intelligence agents operating in Iraq before the March 20, 2006, invasion of that country, which had nothing to do with attacks on the U.S. If they had be caught, they would have lied too about their identity and mission.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)
Hoodwinked in Iraq?
Gregory Djerejian, proprietor of The Belgravia Dispatch, opined March 7, 2006:
As the US increasingly (and rightly) engages in quasi-affirmative action programs for Arab Sunni Iraq police units and the like--it is not hard to sense the trend I cautioned about months ago continue to accelerate--namely, a (very relative) rapprochment between the U.S. and Sunni, and a growing chill/ distancing between the US and Shi'a. Analogize, say, to the Kosovo situation. When the Kosovars (Shi'a) were liberated, they were ecstatic/grateful to their NATO liberators (US Army). When NATO then had to focus more on protecting a Serbian (Sunni) minority increasingly being persecuted by revanchist majoritarian Kosovars (Shi'a militias), the Kosovars/Shi'a quickly turned into something of ingrates, growing increasingly hostile towards foreign forces that had so recently liberated them.One has to admit that the Shias in Iraq have played a masterful game, using the U.S. occupation of Iraq to engineer their rise to power. Secondly, I have never understood the American pre-occupation with being loved, and wanting to be constantly kissed for waging war to promote its own interest.
For more of Djerejian's analysis, please see "The Specter of Growing US-Shi'a Tension?"
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)
March 06, 2006
De Menezes Relatives Seek London Meeting With Lula da Silva
Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor of The Independent of London, reports in the March 7, 2006, edition that "President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva [of Brazil] is considering whether to meet relatives of a Brazilian man killed by British police in London last July after being mistaken for a suicide bomber, diplomats said."
"The official part of Mr Lula's visit to Britain, for the signing of many bilateral agreements, could be overshadowed by a meeting with the family of Jean Charles de Menezes," Penketh wrote.
For more, please see "President may meet Menezes family during visit to Britain."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)
Jacob Zuma's Legal and Political Problems
The Website iafrica.com has several articles on former South African deputy president Jacob Zuma's legal and political problems. He is currently on trial in Johannesburg for allegedly raping a family friend.
In 2005, he was also charged with corruption. He has denied both charges. Some of his defenders reportedly think they are politically motivated.
The Mail & Guardian online also has lots of coverage.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)
Mbeki to Receive Iraqi Delegation
South African President Thabo Mbeki "will receive a courtesy call from a delegation of visiting Iraqi parliamentarians on Tuesday," March 7, 2006, announced the South African "Department of Foreign Affairs," according to iafrica.com.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)
Mr. Jumblatt Comes to Washington
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt of Lebanon is in Washington for "talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other high ranking officials in the U.S. administration," Ya Libnan (O Lebanon) reported March 6, 2006.
Ya Libnan said "Rice invited Jumblatt to the U.S. to reaffirm her government's support to the anti-Syria March 14 coalition ..." For more, please see "Jumblatt in U.S. on official visit."
The blog From Beirut to the Beltway has a report on Jumblatt's March 6, 2006 speech at the Brookings Institution.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)
Hamas and Fatah: Can They Co-exist?
"Hamas has signalled that it will take a confrontational approach in dealing with rival Fatah whom they defeated in January's Palestinian parliament election," contends Aljazeera.Net in a March 6, 2006 article headlined "Hamas votes to revoke Abbas powers."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:31 PM | Comments (0)
Robert Kaplan: 'We Can't Force Democracy' in the Middle East
I've read several of Atlantic Monthly national correspondent Robert D. Kaplan's books and regularly read his articles although I usually don't agree with the conclusions in most of his articles on international affairs. Yet, I've often recommended his books and articles to acquaintances because I think he's worth reading.
On that note, I recommend an article published in the March 2, 2006 issue of The Washington Post headlined "We Can't Force Democracy: Creating Normality Is the Real Mideast Challenge."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:12 PM | Comments (0)
Did al-Jaafari Make a Deal With Turkey? Some Kurds Think So
The Arab Monitor reported in a March 6, 2006, dispatch from Baghdad that, "Kurdish leaders have decided to oust Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafaari for his recent briefing with members of the Turkish government."
The publication said, "Mahmoud Othman, a leading figure of the Kurdish nationalist establishment, and President Jalal Talabani voiced out their concerns that al-Jafaari might have reached an understanding with Turkey regarding the future of the city of Kirkuk, which Kurdish secessionists are claiming as the capital of a future South Kurdistan."
"What triggered our dismay was the exclusion of Kurdish representation in the delegation that visited Turkey with Jafaari," Othman was quoted as saying. "We suspect there were negotiations and perhaps secret agreements, which are not in the interest of the Iraqi Kurds, without disclosing that similar talks are being held between leading Western powers and President Talabani himself with opposite intentions."
For more, please see "Kurdish establishment of Iraq tries to oust Prime Minister."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:59 PM | Comments (0)
Iraq's Parliament Scheduled to Convene March 12
As Scott Peterson,The Christian Science Monitor's Baghdad correspondent noted today, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani declared March 6, 2006, that U.S. occupied Iraq's new but divided parliament will meet for the first time on March 12, 2006.
"But an event that was expected to bring a glimmer of hope - and the formation of a US-backed unity government - is instead being overshadowed by a perfect political storm," Peterson wrote, adding:"While Iraq's leaders are battling over the post of prime minister, sectarian bloodshed has left more than 500 dead over the past two weeks. Party militias are exerting more control over the streets, and Iraqis are fed up with a weak government and collapsing services."
Well, they got the parliament they elected thanks to U.S. President George W. Bush.
For more, please see "Iraqi leadership crisis grows."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:45 PM | Comments (0)
Is U.S. Training One Side in a Potential Iraqi Civil War?
The New York Times' Edward Wong notes in a March 6, 2006 article that:For much of the war in Iraq, U.S. military commanders have said their most important mission here was to prepare Iraqi security forces to take over the fight against the Sunni- led insurgency. But with the threat of full-scale sectarian strife looming larger, they are suddenly grappling with the possibility that they have been arming one side in a prospective civil war.
If Bush Administration officials and U.S. military personnel in Iraq are only now reaching that conclusion they haven't learned a thing. It's just as naive as thinking that the Iraqis would welcome U.S. invaders and occupiers with open arms in March 2003. Only fools welcome occupiers, especially those who don't know when to go home. Besides, why should the Shias show loyalty to U.S. forces? They're Iraqis, not Americans.
For more of The Times article, please see " U.S. faces latest trouble with Iraqi forces: Loyalty."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:30 PM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2006
Baghdad Burning's Sayid Awards
River Bend at Baghdad Burning has posted an Iraqi "Oscar Special." She prefers to call it the "Sayid Awards!"
It's about the characters performing daily in Iraqi politics including "Best Actor" George W. Bush, whose act of invading Iraq on March 20, 2003, unleashed forces that have caused the deaths of thousand of Iraqis.
For more, please see "And the Oscar Goes to..."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:49 PM | Comments (0)
This is Good Advice For U.S. Political Parties
John Aust of Iberia Notes, which is now affiliated with The Spain Herald, reported March 3, 2006, that:There has been a good bit of talk recently trying to persuade both major parties, the PP (People's Party) and the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers Party), to tone down their incendiary rhetoric. It's a positive trend. Maite Pagaza, a respected leader of the victims of terrorism movement, told both sides to shut up and work together against ETA, and at least the PP has paid her lip service. Rajoy announced that he was willing to hold talks with the PSOE in order to make a new agreement between the two parties against ETA, and he may not be sincere, but I hope he is.
"That doesn't mean we can't make fun of the Socialists, though, Aust added."
For more, please see "Both parties should tone it down: an Iberian Notes classic."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:18 PM | Comments (0)
Guyana Defense Force Asks U.S. to Help Recover Stolen AK-47s
"The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) has asked the United States Army for help to recover 33 high-powered AK-47 rifles and five pistols stolen from the weapons storage bond at Camp Ayanganna, GDF Chief-of-Staff Brigadier Edward Collins told the Sunday Chronicle" of Guyana, the publication reported March 5, 2006, in an article headlined "GDF asks U.S. for help".
I thought Guyana was an independent country capable of handling its internal affairs.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:59 PM | Comments (0)
Portia Simpson Miller: Jamaica's Prime Minister Designate
Garfield Myers, editor-at-large South/Central Bureau for The Jamaica Observer, has an informative article in the March 05, 2006, edition on Portia Simpson Miller, the woman who will be Jamaica's next prime minister. To read it, please see "Portia's grass roots appeal revives voters' interest."
Also see the Jamaica Gleaner's "Portia joins ranks of female world leaders."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)
News.com.au Poll: 'Australia a Racist Country'
Paul Colgan reports in the March 6, 2006 edition of News.com.au that, "Almost two-thirds of Australians believe there is underlying racism in the country and four in 10 people believe it can be described as a racist nation, according to a NEWS.com.au poll."
For more, please see "Australia a racist country: poll."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:40 PM | Comments (0)
MEND's Conditions For Releasing Remaining Hostages
The Vanguard of Lagos, Nigeria, says "The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), which freed, Wednesday night [March 1, 2006], six of the nine foreign oil workers it took hostage February 18, [2006] has handed out 16 conditions to the Federal Government for the release of the remaining three hostages in its custody and proper negotiation between the Ijaw and the Federal Government on the way out of the emergency in the region."
For more, please see "Militants List 16 Fresh Conditions On 3 Hostages."
Also see "Nigerian oil fuels Delta conflict." Aren't most major conflicts these days about oil and other national resources?
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:21 PM | Comments (0)
Will KBR Dismantle Japanese Defense Agency Camp in Iraq?
The Japan Times reported March 5, 2006 that the Japanese Defense Agency "is considering hiring" the Texas-based firm "KBR -- a subsidiary of U.S. giant Halliburton Co. for which U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney once served as chief executive officer --" to "dismantle the Ground Self-Defense Force's camp in Samawah, Iraq, after the troops pull out by late May, informed sources said Saturday," March 4, 2006..
The Times said, "It would be the first time the Self-Defense Forces have contracted work to a private military contractor in connection with an overseas deployment." See "Japan may hire controversial firm to dismantle camp in Iraq."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)
Asia Times Online: 'Delhi All Ears In The Indian Ocean
Sudha Ramachandran, described by Asia Times Online as "an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore," India, reported March 3, 2006 that:India is reportedly planning to set up a high-tech monitoring station in northern Madagascar to tackle piracy and terrorism, while keeping an eye on China and the sea lanes that are so critical to Delhi's economy and security. The station in Madagascar, a large island in the southern Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, will enable India to keep an eye on growing terrorist activities in East Africa and piracy in the waters off the East African coast.
Ramachandran said, "It would be the first such facility New Delhi has opened in another country, though India has a monitoring station in Antarctica that is meant for scientific observation and experimentation."
For more of Ramachandran analysis, please see "Delhi all ears in the Indian Ocean."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)
Yemen Court Acquits Alleged Former Iraqi Intelligence Officers
Arab News correspondent Khalid a-Mahdi reported March 5, 2006 that, "A Yemeni court of appeals yesterday [March 4, 2006] acquitted" Ahmad Salman Al-Zabidi, Ahmad Muthana Al-Aani, Muhammad Mahdi Abdul-Rahmanand Ali Rashid Al-Saadi, "four alleged former Iraqi intelligence officers, of plotting to blow up the US and British embassies in Yemeni capital in 2003."
For more, please see "Yemeni Court Acquits 4 Iraqi Ex-Officers of Bombing Plots."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 04:35 PM | Comments (0)
Helena Cobban Interviews Hamas Women MPs
Helena Cobban at Just World News reported March 5, 2006 that, "I've had some interesting conversations since coming here (to Gaza). Yesterday I conducted an interview with Ghazi Hamad, the managing editor of the Hamas weekly, Al-Resalah. Here's their online edition.) Today I interviewed two of the six newly elected Hamas women MPs, Jamila Shanty and Mariam Farhat (Um Nidal)."
"I also interviewed Khaled Abdel-Shafi, the head of the UN Development Program's Gaza office," she wrote.
For highlights, please see "Discussions in Gaza."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 04:22 PM | Comments (0)
Joshua Landis: 'Is Syria Wiggling Its Way Out of Isolation?'
Joshua Landis, the proprietor of Syria Comment.com, asks in a March 3, 2006 post: "Is Syria wiggling its way out of isolation?"
Why the question? It's based on the positive reception Syria's minister of information received in Spain March 1, 2006, and the visit of high level European Union delegation to Syria.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 04:13 PM | Comments (0)
The Lebanese 'National Dialogue'
The blog From Beirut to the Beltway has a very informative analysis of Lebanese "National Dialogue" day 2 and the "false expectations" the blog's writer, an anonymous Lebanese journalist--I'd also remain anonymous if I were a Lebanese journalist and worked in Beirut--thinks the dialogue is generating.
For more, please see "National Dialogue day 2 and false expectations."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 04:01 PM | Comments (0)
Can al-Jaafari Survive Sunni, Kurdish Pressure to Step Down?
The Associated Press reported March 5, 2006 that, "Sunni Arab and Kurdish politicians [in Iraq] turned up the heat Sunday [March 5, 2006] on Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to abandon his bid for a new term, while leaders of Iraq's Shiite majority struggled to paper over growing internal divisions."
I predict that a civil war is inevitable and that the Bush Administration, if it keeps U.S. troops in Iraq, will take sides just as the Reagan Administration took sides in the Lebanese civil war in 1982 and President Eisenhower in the 1958 civil strife in Lebanon.
For more, please see "New Heat on Iraq's Al-Jaafari to Step Down."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)
The Blogging Journalist
The Blogging Journalist, one of my other blogs, is updated. Its a "Weblog on Blogging by Professional Journalists, Citizen Journalists and Pundits in an Era of Changing Media." On that note, there is a link to the Sunday Observer's "The age of permanent net revolution."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:27 PM | Comments (0)
