Armies of Liberation

It was a historic day, January 30th, 2005. It was a day the world heard from the Iraqis themselves for the first time since the war, and many myths were shattered.

One prediction of low voter turnout was predicated on the existence of rampant anti-occupation sentiment. Another was based on the terrorists’ promise of 400 suicide bombers. A third was that, after years of brutal dictatorship, Iraqis were apathetic, cowed, and not “politically mature” enough to turn out.

When the day came, some Iraqis walked thirteen miles to vote and then stood in line for hours. Many brought their children to the polls to witness the occurrence. The elderly unable to walk were carried in arms or pushed on wagons. Having voted, Iraqis danced in the streets, kissed the ballot box, wept. Many voted remembering family members who had died at the hand of Saddam’s regime.

The Iraqi elections under occupation and under credible threats from terrorists had a turnout about the same as the highest in US history, 63% in 1960. Indeed some in the media had difficulty accepting the reality of the high voter turnout. “Hollow Elections Held on a Bloody Day,” one news headline read. It was a bloody day. Twenty-five people were reported murdered, but when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a polling station in the Mansour province, the would-be Iraqi voters stayed in line and asked that the station remain open. (Read on …)

To the Iraqi People

Update: 11 pm Brooklyn Time: 7am Baghdad time
GOOD MORNING IRAQ
The sunrise looks very beautiful this morning

Update: 1pm Baghdad Time: Turnout “Heavy”

Disabled 80 year old is carried on the shoulder of a man on his way to cast his vote

“He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his
enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes
a precedent that will reach to himself.” –Thomas Paine
Federalist

72 Hours and all eyes are on Iraq

The Friends of Democracy has several contributors around Iraq reporting on election developments. Here’s one:

This is one thing that is greatly worrying me. I get this sick fear in my stomach that these Sunni Parties that are boycotting the elections are going to ruin it. They will afterwards cry that they were not fully involved, and ignore their own stupid and childish boycott!!! Just watch. The one thing that Iraq needs more than democracy right now is good leadership. Unfortunately, among the Sunnis such leadership is rare. How good can a democracy be if the leaders aren’t good. This is an issue that I have not pondered before, but that I am realizing is very important.

All hope is not lost with the Sunnis though. There are some Sunni parties that are still involved. More important is the actual participation of Sunni citizens. I see their numbers rising, and polls back me up. The existance of unified Iraqi parties, meaning ones that do not cater to a specific faction is a godsend because these will probably gain a lot of vote from Sunnis, and secular Shias and some Kurds. I hope that this will put them into power, as they seek to form a constitution that seeks equality, that is secular, and which avoids tribalism, secterianism and ethnic problems.

BLOGGERS

Healing Iraq

I had an interesting conversation with a middle-aged taxi driver who used to live in Fallujah and is now at relatives in Amiriya, Baghdad. After asking me which tribe I belong to (thus assessing my sectarian background) he started hurling abuses at the Shia, calling them Persians, Majoos (fire worshippers), rabid dogs and a handful of other descriptions that I can’t mention here. He described Allawi’s face as that of a f*ed horse and he dismissed the whole government as a band of thieves and traitors.

I didn’t argue with him but I asked him what he believed would be a viable solution to this mess. He said that resistance was the only commonsense solution. First driving out the Americans, then fighting the Shia back into submission (as in 1991).

Sunni Iraqis contend that elections are impossible to hold under occupation. Leaving aside the fact that this views conflicts with other historical examples in the region, Sunnis have never offered an alternative choice, which eventually leads one to guess that the opinion held by the Fallujan taxi driver above is precisely what they are planning to implement.

Rose in Baghdad

About the elections. I still wish to participate in it and I still think about it everyday, should I go? what if I die? who will raise my daughter after me and her father, we will go together. I hate to think that way, but still it’s impossible to have the elections in Baghdad and the Sunni triangle. I’m afraid of civil war between sunni and shia if the elections are going to be held in time. Shia clerics have their own list and they are working very well in advertising about it. I still don’t know who are on the other lists and what kind of people I’m going to vote for. they did not make any announcement about them in papers or TV they are afraid of being killed. Except Dr. Allawi’s list, whom I will not vote for, he couldn’t do anything for us till now so why should I vote for him.

For me, my decision till this moment is not to participate. I don’t think it worth to sacrifice my life for it, it will not make any difference and you will see. It will make things worse than before. when the Americans passed the government to DR. Alawi everyone wished that things would be better, because he is Iraqi, but things are still not, they became worse and now it is the same thing, we have many terrorists in our country and they will not leave us whether we have elections or not. and we are still not ready to defend our own country and we don’t have qualified people to do it. every thing is a mess here. Till now my balance goes to my family.

Hammorabi

Only 72 hours to go for the election in Iraq for the first time in about 50 years!

What a great occasion not only for Iraq but for the Middle East which is full with dictatorship regimes resulted in more hate and extremists.

The Iraqis will go for electing the following:

To say NO for the terrorists!
Iraqi Constitution!
Elected government for 3 or 4 years!
Elected parliament!
Freedom of talk!
Opposition parties practice without blood shed and coups!
Peace!
Equality!
Prosperity!
Strong Economy!
Friendship rather than hate with the civilised nations and states!
No wars!
No place for terrorists!
Good education!
Better health and services!
Iraq for the Iraqis irrespective of who they are except the killers and terrorists!
The Iraqi fine oil is for the people not the dictators and their gangs!
Justice!
Law above all!
No place for the mad dogs!
Just and sooner Trail for the former members of the massgraves killing fields!

The list can go for more and more!

Any one among people in the regional countries sees this wish to get same thing for his country! Many educated people we met in some of these countries told us that their governments are interfering in the Iraqi affairs to prevent this happening so as their people remains under their thumbs!

Iraq election not yet started and Abdallah the King of Jordan announced yesterday that his government considering a new plan for more power given to elected local governments. He considered dividing Jordan into regions each one of them consist many governances. Looks like the federal state of Iraq the Model!

IRAQ is heading towards the right direction with the help of our friend GWB as far as the election is not going to be biased and remains with out Interferences from any one

Iraq and Iraqis

I don’t want to exaggerate but on a scale of 10, if problems in Baghdad evaluated with 9 then it’s only 2 in Basra, and I was in Basra a little more than a month ago and I felt difference there this week for better. What really made me happy is the respect IPs are getting there which means respect for the law. And the same is happening in Samawa, Omara, Nasiriya, and Koot, (all are southern cities). On my way to Basra and my way back I didn’t see any multinational forces or any INGs, all were policemen on all check points (about 11 of checkpoints), all asking for IDs and our heading and searching the car. As usual looking at the bright side of our situation in Baghdad I felt it’s a matter of time to be just like the Iraqi southern or northern societies, we do have problems in Baghdad, the most important one of them is the people here are not respecting the law, so simply they must fear it and to enforce law you must have an elected government not a provisional one, and that’s what we are going to have in few days from now.

Election is a fact and is going to take place on the 30th of January no matter what, and may be some of us are not going to see the day after that day and loose their lives electing the right people or at least who we think right people, but it will be the price for our freedom, may be we didn’t pay enough to remove Saddam, so it is the price we are going to pay that day, the 30th of January 2005 to overcome our fears and be free people who did pay for their freedom.

Its not a dreamy words and not banner words for election campaign, I am not a candidate and I am not going to be one but after few years from now inside Iraq or any where else in the world it will be very prodding to sit beside a chimney fire and tell the story of that day to a grand sun or two, or at least to remember that day a lone and remember that we weren’t afraid of a bunch of masked head choppers who wanted to take us to dark ages where we would be slaves of evil.

Kurdistan Youngs

My mother has a cousin living in Baghdad since 1990, she is married in Baghdad too and has tow children. After all these years they came back to Sulaimani and we visited them last week. We asked them ” why did you come back to Sulaimani what happened? ” they answered ” We came back to escape from the election because we don’t feel safe in Baghdad ” and I asked them ” aren’t you going to vote it is so important”
they said ” We don’t dare to go out and vote it is very dangerous we have children and what would they do if something happens to us!…I think they are right but do you think this is the only family do that?…No I don’t think so!… The Iraqis are between tow choices now, one they have to determine their future, the other they have to protect their life, both of them are important but if you were an Iraqi which one would you prefer?……

My oped “The US Declaration of Dependence” published in The New Age, Bangladesh. (Also the Arab Times, Kuwait and Jersey GOP. )

Bangladesh is quite a impressive young country, only thirty years old. It is faced with natural disasters like the recent floods, economic challenges, and an evolving political system and civil society. There seems to be a palpable enthusiam to forge a brighter future for the country, although not quite a consensus on the best way.

BBC: Somali militiamen have begun building a mosque on the site of an Italian colonial-era cemetery in Mogadishu, which they desecrated last week.

The BBC’s Mohammed Olad Hassan saw a small corrugated metal structure amid the coffins which litter the area.

He says the capital has been very tense since the armed militia group occupied the cemetery last week.

The Italian government has described the graves’ desecration as barbaric. The decision to build a mosque has been condemned by many local residents, as well as by local Islamic authorities.

The militia exhumed the human remains of some 700 graves and dumped them near Mogadishu airport.

The Daily Mail: Gayoom said he himself was a “reformist” despite criticism of his iron-clad hold on power and argued that he had been “reforming” the country since he became president in 1978. “Reform is making things better…. I consider myself a reformist because when I took office in 1978 it was so different. I began my reform program. it has been a continuing process for the past 26 years.

“Now I see that the time is right for more sweeping changes. That is why I have proposed a new package of reform in which I envisage a multi-party political system, as well as the office of the prime minister, a supreme court and also that the president should be elected directly by the people.”

We’ve been following the fate of captive Roy Hallums at the Jawa Report for many weeks. With the release of the video today, Rusty has the full report, analysis, and links to his daughters web page. Hopefully this development is a prelude to his release.

Headline on this article from the Electronic Intifada: Abbas’ PA carries out Israeli-style demolition of Gaza shops (BBC)

BBC Headline: Palestinians raze illegal shacks

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has sent bulldozers to demolish buildings put up illegally in Gaza City in the start of a
crackdown on lawlessness.

Many buildings have been illegally built on public land by militants, security men and unlicensed traders. About 200 Palestinian policemen were on the streets to protect the bulldozers.

Meanwhile, Palestinian officials said their forces would be
deployed across southern Gaza by mid-week, in a move to prevent
rocket attacks by militants.

In Kuwait, Islamist parties against terrorism start the discussion of when is violence justified, is this really a defensive jihad, which verses take precedence, and whose interpretation is correct.

Arab Times #12092: Islamic groups will meet soon to chalk out a mechanism to fight radicalism. The daily quoting a reliable source said leaflets will be distributed during the campaign containing fatwas from prominent scholars and verses from the Holy Quran and the “Hadith” (saying of the Prophet Mohammed, PBUH) which call for tolerance and shun terrorism and violence. Some scholars such as Bin Baz, Bin Othaimin and Al-Albani had earlier issued Islamic edicts saying operations carried out by some Islamic groups in Palestine are futile and useless because they harm Muslims. It has been reported 11 Islamic groups in Kuwait are against violence compared to two groups which promote radical ideologies and tend terrorism.

From the Yemen Times: Once upon a time, as the editor of The Yemen Times, I didn’t have to worry about the constructive, yet strong criticism that’s in opinion articles published in this newspaper. Such articles resulted from my belief in the regime’s commitment to democracy and freedom of expression.

Today I don’t have that belief any more.

Once upon a time I used to refrain from removing an opinion piece that I knew would trigger some anger of the embassy of an Arab country. But I knew that tolerance and understanding would prevail. So I never removed them.

Today I have to remove them and inform the writer accordingly.

Once upon a time I used to allow my journalists to do investigative stories of grave sensitivity regarding the person of the president.

Today I wouldn’t risk doing so, even if the authorities would suggest that the law would protect us.

Read the Rest.

Related: Yemen to try 26 al_qauda suspects and 800 extremeists.

It is unusual to see a country as large and as lumbering as the US reverse itself. With so much momentum propelling it toward seeking “stability” in her foreign relations, George Bush made a U-turn as nimble as any football player and is now heading for the goal of “freedom.”

During his Inaugural speech, setting the tone for his second term, President Bush shocked even the most seasoned observers by changing US policy: “So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.”

He didn’t say a policy or one policy: no, now supporting democracy is the policy, a radical change from decades, even centuries, of American priorities.

During his address, President Bush intertwined the priorities of the realists and the idealists, merging Hobbs and Locke into one word: freedom. “The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.” (Read on …)

(Transcript)

On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the durable wisdom of our Constitution, and recall the deep commitments that unite our country. I am grateful for the honor of this hour, mindful of the consequential times in which we live, and determined to fulfill the oath that I have sworn and you have witnessed.

At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use, but by the history we have seen together. For a half century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical - and then there came a day of fire. (Read on …)

They don’t like the TV guy.

Mojtaba Bigdeli, the spokesman of Iran’s Hizbollah group, said the British government must ban the satellite channel run by Iranian exiles within 30 days or face the consequences.

“After one month, our commandos will carry out suicide attacks in London against the shameless presenter of the channel,” Bigdeli told Reuters by telephone.

Seymour Hersh has an article in the New Yorker based on anonymous sources that asserts that the US is planning to attack Iran. The US DOD responds (emphasis mine):

NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense

No. 046-05
Statement from Pentagon Spokesman Lawrence DiRita on Latest Seymour Hersh Article

The Iranian regime’s apparent nuclear ambitions and its demonstrated support for terrorist organizations is a global challenge that deserves much more serious treatment than Seymour Hersh provides in the *New Yorker* article titled “The Coming Wars.”

Mr. Hersh’s article is so riddled with errors of fundamental fact that
the credibility of his entire piece is destroyed.

Mr. Hersh’s source(s) feed him with rumor, innuendo, and assertions about meetings that never happened, programs that do not exist, and statements by officials that were never made.

A sampling from this article alone includes:
+ The post-election meeting he describes between the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not happen.
+ The only civilians in the chain-of-command are the President and the Secretary of Defense, despite Mr. Hersh’s confident assertion that the chain of command now includes two Department policy officials. His assertion is outrageous, and constitutionally specious.

(Read on …)

(Note: also known as Yemen 8, this article was written for an audience inside Yemen. And in the current situation of the harsh media crackdown, it says more obliquely what some of the other articles say more directly.

al-Zindani has been listed as a terrorist financier by the US and UN. He is also a reputed chum and spritiual advisor of UBL. The Iman University has been called a hotbed of extremist thought and is where John Walker Lind went to school, as well as other radical Islamists who have committed terrorist acts. Check out the curriculum. While this attack on the government’s media offices is different that the governments repression of the opposition and independent media, it does show the dilema Salah faces: having made a tactical allience with the Islamist party to maintain strength over the Socialists, they are now opposing what reforms he does try to make, in this case economic reform.)

The race has begun to be the first fully democratic Arab state. Elections in Iraq and in the Palestinian territories have given new hope to some in the region. Many Arab leaders say they are reforming but they need more time and more conferences. Of all the nations supposedly liberalizing, the experts say that Yemen is one of the very few that is really making progress in transferring power to its citizens.

According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, nations that are slowly democratizing tend to get “frozen.” They go a little way and make just enough reforms to calm their people. Then they stop. Some go backwards. Yemen, under his Excellency President Saleh, has had the courage and determination to keep moving forward toward democracy.

On January 06, 2005 the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring Yemen for its reforms. During the ceremony, the US Congress listed Yemen’s achievements including free and fair elections in April 2003, the inclusion of women in powerful positions, judicial reform, and wider access to modern education. The US Congressional Resolution reaffirmed the American people’s friendship with the Yemeni people and offered assistance, technical and financial, as Yemen continues the difficult march toward democracy.

Free speech is essential to democracy. One reason for Yemen’s progress may be that Yemeni journalists have long had the ability to hold government officials and other power centers accountable to the people. And that is why the continued imprisonment of Abdulkareem Al-Khaiwani is so very disturbing. (Read on …)

Boy is he guilty.

In a military trial, a jury of six enlisted and four officers deliberated less than five hours, and Graner was found guilty on four charges and could recieve upto 17 years in jail. I hope he gets the max. He was unable to produce an witnesses to corrobarate the claim that he was ordered to humiliate the detainees. The prosecutor made the case that his sick and twisted behaivor was undertaken simply for “laughs” and “for the fun of it.”

Yahoo: Charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice alleging conspiracy to maltreat detainees; dereliction of duty for willfully failing to protect detainees from abuse, cruelty and maltreatment; maltreatment of detainees; assaulting detainees; committing indecent acts; adultery; and obstruction of justice.

Graner Bio
In 1992, he was working at a county prison in Pennsylvania with guards who acknowledge beating up prisoners as a means of control.

In 1994, he made a fellow prison guard sick by spraying Mace into his coffee.

In 1997, he was accused by his wife of threatening to kill her.

In 1998, when he was working as a guard in a state prison, he was accused by one inmate of slipping a razor blade into his food.

And in 2001, he was accused by his now-ex-wife of grabbing her by the hair, dragging her out of a bedroom and trying to throw her down the stairs.

According to Transparency.org, Bangldesh is one of the most corrupt countries. The new commission set up to address the problem is having problems already as those who want to maintain their priviledges obstruct its progress. Corruption denies equal rights and stalls the economy. The Independent:

The Commission’s wings have been skilfully clipped at birth when a number of important subjects were excluded from the schedule of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, so much so that even some of the powers that the Bureau of Anti-Corruption used to enjoy have not been incorporated in the schedule of the new law. For instance, major economic offences have been kept outside the purview of the Commission. Offences under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act of 1947, offences pertaining to currency smuggling, Money Laundering Act of 2002 and Passport Offences Act of 1952 as amended in 1973, have been excluded from the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004.

Arab Times Kuwait Editorial: Following the death of Arafat and for the first time in history we saw a clean election where a group of Arabs elected their rulers even under occupation. We are happy for the Palestinians because they have elected their leader in a direct election, not through a parliamentary majority. We congratulate Abu Mazen for winning a clean election. We also thank the “Angel of Death” for taking the soul of Arafat, who made us live this wonderful democratic experience.

TEHRAN, Jan. 12– Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi issued a special order for following up the dossiers of webloggers, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Speaking to IRNA, Jamal Karimi-Rad added that Shahroudi has ordered that the dossiers be taken away from preliminary courts and that he be kept informed about the treatment of webloggers.

Referring to the meeting between some webloggers and Shahroudi on Tuesday, Karimi-Rad said, “Shahroudi has ordered that the claims of these webloggers be examined and, if there is evidence, those who have violated their rights be dealt accordingly.”

Oddly enough, my article Yemen in the Spring published at World Press was picked up by Iran Daily. This is the second time they have found something on the web that I wrote about press repression in Yemen and republished it in Tehran.

At my daughter’s elementary school they are having a fund raising project called The Wave. The idea is the send a wave of friendship to the tsunami victims. The children are encouraged not only to donate their allowance but also their snack money. So at snack time most children bring their money to the collection box instead of the snack counter.

While the over half a billion in private donatations from the American people is welcomed, it seems thats all they want from us. Since its all America’s fault anyway, and God hates us, why should it be surprising that terrorists are more warmly received than the US Marines and Australian troops. Tell me again how the hostility between the Islamic world and America is all our fault. Oh yes, now I remember, we’re Infidels, so its our fault for not being Muslim and we’re the racists. Islamophobia my foot. Anglophobia is the much bigger problem. And as a result, the victims of all faiths will have less recovery assistance.

I hadn’t considered this before:

Socially, West Bankers see themselves as the upper echelon of Palestinian society; they are educated and come from money.

And, there are geopolitical and economic differences between the two societies. As journalist Nicholas Jubber writes, “the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are divided by their unequal economies, distinct dialects, and cultural animosities forged by their pre-1967 experiences under separate regimes - Nasser’s Egypt and King Hussein’s Jordan.”

In terms of an extended social network, West Bankers do not rely on their “Palestinian brothers” in Gaza but rather on families and friends in Jordan. And Gazans do the same with Egypt.

Jonathan Schanzer points out that there is little intermarriage between the two sectors of Palestinian society, a factor that he calls “another dividing line.”

Argues Schanzer, “While traditional marriages arranged between tribal chiefs are no longer popular among Palestinians, one study notes that ‘kinship-based marriage arrangements now exist as a way to preserve the continued identity of dispersed communities.’ These communities derive from specific, smaller areas of the former Palestine and, by nature, do not cross the West Bank-Gaza divide.”

A Catch 22 for both Musharaff and the US.

I’m not just linking this becasue the guy’s name is Michael Novak, no relation.

The famous AP photograph of a killer in Baghdad shooting a pistol into the head of one kneeling election worker, while another lies crumpled on the street, throws a burst of illumination onto the face of our enemy.

It is the face of Muslim fascists murdering Muslim liberals.

The victims were public servants of the people of Iraq. They were election workers– agents of the will of the people. They sprang from the millions proud and eager to vote for the first time in their lives.

To kill election workers is a great sin against the will of the people. It is a cardinal sin against human rights, like killing a judge.

Here’s the article link: worth a read.

Yemen Times: The study shows that over 60% of the children sent abroad come from families with eight or more members. The majority of families live on less than $108 a month, and some that were interviewed or were involved in group discussions during the study said that there are very few opportunities for work in their hometowns. The study also pointed out that in some cases, children working abroad can increase the family income significantly, even as high as doubling what a family can live on. ..Over 25% of deported children that were interviewed said that they faced threats, such as hunger and getting lost, and it is reported that a large number of children were beaten and robbed while being trafficked. It was also found that nearly 65% of children trafficked had no place to stay and ended up living on the streets. The study was unable to carry out a complete assessment on sexual exploitation.

From the dauntless and couragous Kuwaiti editor Ahmed al-Jerallah:
EVEN as the Palestinian Authority, Iraq and Lebanon head for elections to ensure the legitimacy of their governments and supremacy of their political structure Kuwait is racing in the opposite direction. Compared to these countries, which are heading to the ballot boxes only now, Kuwait had an elected Parliament, the first of its kind in the region, 40 years ago. We were the first country in the region to have a Constitution which makes people the source of authority. While enjoying the privileges guaranteed by the Constitution we have negated the meaning of democracy and misused the freedom for our personal interests, creating disputes and fuelling political differences in the process. (read the rest here)

CIA Factbook: chief of state: Amir JABIR al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah (since 31 December 1977)
head of government: Prime Minister SABAH al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah (since 13 July 2003);
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister and approved by the monarch
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the monarch

Legislative: unicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-Umma (50 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 6 July 2003 (next to be held NA 2007)
election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - Islamists 21, government supporters 14, liberals 3, and independents 12; note - all cabinet ministers are also ex officio members of the National Assembly

Scotsman via Jihad WAtch:

BRITAIN closed its embassy in Yemen yesterday due to security concerns and warned that “terrorists” were in the final stages of planning attacks against Western targets in the Arab state.

“The British embassy will be closed on 5 January in response to specific security concerns,” an embassy advisory said, but did not elaborate.

“As at 30 December, there is specific information that terrorists are in the final stages of planning attacks against British targets and other Western targets in Yemen,” it said. …The impoverished country, the ancestral home of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has co-operated closely with the US-led “war on terror” and has arrested hundreds of al-Qaeda suspects since the 11 September, 2001 attacks.

(Read on …)

The dead are still swelling in the debris. Orphans have little protection and millions are thirsty and homeless. Barely two weeks have past, and the name calling and finger pointing has begun.

For the first days our hearts were beating as one in stunned horror. The world was suddenly too quiet: 150,000 voices were stopped talking. Eighty thousand noisy children didn’t make a peep. Our bickering was muted at the horror of the gaping silence.

It didn’t last long.

How much aid, when and why was it proposed, who is really delivering the water: it’s not a month yet and opinion makers all over the world are using the disaster and the international response to justify their viewpoints, the same viewpoints that existed before the destruction: we have learned nothing.

Yet we have a new responsibility: we need to stand together for decades, to commit our loyalty to a generation devastated. “We” meaning Muslim and Christian, Shiite and Sunni, Hindu, Jew, Buddhist, Sikh, and Sufi. Our help is needed, nothing less will do. All the orphaned children, hundreds of thousands, are now ours, all of ours. (Read on …)

Its like watching a slow motion car crash as John Kerry defines himself as a cross between Jimmy Carter (senile yet hostile left wing election monitor) and Micheal Moore (hyperbolic left wing idiot). The good news: Kerry is finally going to introduce legislation. The bad news: Its a polarizing political stunt.

Dear Jane,

No American citizen should wake up the morning after the election and worry their vote wasn’t counted. No citizen should be denied at the polls if they are eligible to vote. And, as the greatest, wealthiest nation on earth, our citizens should never be forced to vote on old, unaccountable and non transparent voting machines from companies controlled by partisan activists.

Tomorrow, members of Congress will meet to certify the results of the 2004 presidential election. I will not be taking part in a formal protest of the Ohio Electors. (Read on …)

Abbas Denounces Israel After Tank Fire Kills 7 Youths

In paragraph four we learn: The troubles began when Palestinians fired four mortar rounds in the morning, wounding an Israeli civilian in an industrial zone on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said. One shell nearly hit a school bus carrying children in northern Gaza, the military added.

In paragraph thirteen we learn: The militants hid behind a building, then re-emerged and cut loose with additional mortar fire, he said. About 15 minutes later a tank fired a second shell, but the militants had left the area, leaving only the farm workers, Mr. Aldaabalah said.

Perhaps the better headline would have been: Israeli tank returning fire from “militants” hiding among children accidentally kills seven poor strawberry pickers. God rest their souls. This happens a lot.

OK stop laughing. Yemen is on the internatinal committee with the UK and Canada that is charged with providing technical assistance and support for Iraqis elections. Iraqs in Yemen though will not be able to vote in the election.

“This is Yemen’s award for its success in democracy,” according to Abdu Al-Janadi, head of the media sector of the Yemen Supreme Commission for Election and Referendum. And yes, Yemen is one of the most “reform minded” of the Arab states, in that it holds a lot of conferences on “reform.”

America’s premier election monitor extrodinair, Jimmy Carter, is MIA regarding this election that will greatly impact US national security and the fate of millions in Iraq, in the region and in the world. Instead we get Yemen. (Read on …)

Death of Free Speech
Death of a Free Press

September: Editor Abdulkareem al-Khaiwani imprisoned for a year at hard labor for insulting President Saleh.

October: Three papers closed: Al-Shurra as a punitive measure, Al Hurriye’s liscence was suspended for an indefinite period on the official grounds that it had changed its logo without permission, and the third because it was a day late with an application.

Editor Sadiq Al-Jarrash of Al-Zajil independent newspaper attacked and beaten Oct 20th.

Mohammed Salem Al-Sagheer, editor and owner of the printing press in Yemen murdered Dec 6.

Four journalists convicted of criticising the Saudi regime and given suspended sentences Dec 27th.

Now January 6, two more journalists imprisoned and sentenced to two years at hard labor:

Yemen’s press freedom has slipped again by the latest judicial court verdict against two journalists, the Editor-in-Chief of Al-Hurriya newspaper Abdulkareem Sabra and one of the newspaper’s reporters Abdulqawi Al-Qubati. They both got two-year jail sentences with hard labor…

While some countries never really started reforms, in Yemen its like an abortion of a democracy fetus, because they were so far along and now its gone back to zero, the baby dead on the ground, because without free speech, its all just window dressing. Son of a bitch.

This Daily Star oped argues that empowered Iraqi Shiites may have a moderating influence on Iran: “Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leading light of the Iranian Revolution of 1978-1979, made a significant departure from the normal pattern of Shiite leadership. He forcefully stated, in a doctrine known as Wilayet al-Faquih, that religious leaders should hold temporal power in the absence of the 12th Shiite Imam, Mohammad al-Mahdi, who disappeared more than a thousand years ago, but who, Twelver Shiites believe, will one day return.

Every other grand ayatollah in the Shiite world disagreed with Khomeini at the time of the revolution. Some of these religious leaders living in Iran paid for their opposition with house arrest or execution. Although Sistani would be foolish to voice direct opposition to the fundamental philosophy of the government of Iran at this sensitive time, it is clear that he is not interested in holding state power himself, and the hawza, the influential colloquy of religious scholars in Najaf, is of a similar disposition.”

In Sunni majority Yemen, many Shiites live in the largely ungoverned tribal region. They are heavily armed and anti-US and anti-Israel. A few months ago, there was a limited rebellion against the Yemeni government.

The government brutally put it down. In addition to sending troops, President Saleh bombed his own country for many days. Official estimates are 400 civilians were killed. Rumors are several thousands of civilians were killed. There was a widespread popular outcry in Yemen about these tactics.

Adbulkarim Al-Khaiwani’s newspaper al-Shoura published an oped reflecting the popular sentiment. It was harshly critical of the government and its handling of the rebellion. This is al-Khaiwanis crime: publishing an oped criticizing the death of civilians. (Read on …)

(10,000 rifles and submergable vessels) To the pro al-Qaeda Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Philipines in 1999 and 2000 according to newly uncovered documents.