:
Sun - April 25 -

VIPs LMTD or UNLMTED: A town hall-style meeting has taken place at the Green Zone Convention Center in Baghdad. But not much about the structure, agenda, purposes or achievements of this meeting is clear yet from initial reports.

:: Bassem Mroue, AP via Yahoo - Iraqis Complain ::

...

:
Sun - April 25 -

Who gets to choose *WHAT'S NEWS* ?

Announced on the BBC Running Ticker across the top of the Front Page, usually reserved for "breaking news," that *Estee Lauder has died in New York in her nineties. More soon.*

Not only is this choice of headline in the worst possible taste, but it also underscores the role of the gatekeeper in the news industry.

:: TICKERED OFF - BBC ::

...

:
Sun - April 25 -

WELCOME WITH A QWERTY

*The NEA this week is unveiling 'Operation Homecoming,' in which troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will attend workshops run by such writers as Tom Clancy, Tobias Wolff and James McBride...

Gioia expects three benefits from the program:

> allowing troops a chance
... to organize and clarify their thoughts,

> establishing a historical archive and

> developing artistic talent within the military.*


:: Foxlife - Op Homecoming ::

:: DOD DefenseLINK :: NEA Project ::

:: NEA :: Operation Homecoming ::

...

:
Fri - April 23 -

UK MEDIA ROUNDUP: OIL-FOR-FOOD

This is a link to an entry on the blog called The Daily Ablution. The comment thread is worthwhile, too :-)

Although I've never been over there before, I think I may drop in again some time.

:: UK MEDIOT ROUNDOOP ::

...

:
Fri - April 23 -

IRAQI BLOGGERS: A wonderful feature piece by Cesar G. Soriano which you will probably enjoy. I'll bet some folks will even "clip-and-save" it. Yeah, it looks like it could be a keeper.

Incidentally, it's got just about everything except the parrot ("Hey, what's happening?") who, we are told, lives in a little nook under the stairs. Ooh, that very inside-baseball, maybe just too infra-deep for most readers to appreciate. Unless, of course, you are a bit obsessed...

Yes, all your questions will be answered-- even questions you didn't know you had. Read all about it here...

The world is getting to be like a small village! Small worlds... six degrees.. what will they think of next?!

:: Iraqi Bloggers - USA Today ::

...

:
Fri - April 23 -

ALJAZEERA'S PURPLE PATCH

If only the sheikh knew!

The author of this article says he sees *that the American project in Iraq is made of imperial ambition, not liberty and democracy.*

They called me "bitch" and jeered at my naked shame.

A somewhat extended op-ed piece aggregated by The UK Guardian cataloguing how Aljazeera, the Satellite TV Station, is being martyred; their noble efforts to achieve world-class status for their channel being systematically persecuted can only mean that they must be doing something right, otherwise why are such vigorous efforts being made to silence them?

*Stories of al-Jazeera's perfidy now circulate among the troops with the tenacity of urban myths.*

You might want to copy this to floppy and then read it at your convenience over the weekend. It's a bit longer than a regular news wire article.

:: Christian Parenti - Iraq's Media War ::
-- at The UK Guardian --

...

:
Fri - April 23 -

JUNK PLOY IN FALLUJAH: *Guerrillas and residents of Fallujah handed over only a paltry assortment of old and rusty weapons by Thursday, prompting U.S. military officials to warn that a shaky cease-fire in the city may soon collapse.*

Succinct situation update.

:: Junk Weapons - FOXNews ::

...

:
Fri - April 23 -

UNEXPECTED DETOUR: While transporting medicines in and out of the city of Fallujah, Jo Wilding and a group of activists were kidnapped for 20 hours by Mujahideen fighters. Wilding reportedly befriended the fighters by making a handkerchief disappear and creating balloon animals.

:: Entertains kidnappers - SMH via WND ::

...

:
Fri - April 23 -

CONSPIRACY THEORISTS SUSPICIOUS

From Juan Cole's Blog - 4/22/04 -8:47am

**Now Chalabi's nephew Salem has been put in charge of the trial of Saddam Hussein. Salem is a partner in Zell and Feith, a Jerusalem-based law firm headed by a West Bank settler, in which Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of Defense for Planning, is also a senior partner when not in the US government. You can be assured that the trial will be conducted on behalf of the Bush administration and the Neocons, and on behalf of the Chalabis. Since the Chalabis have been trying to overthrow Saddam for decades, it is hard to see how this can have even the appearance of an impartial tribunal.**

> When I first read the above entry, I felt viscerally that Cole was engaged in Jew-baiting. I don't find anything useful about the way Zell is described here. Moreover, Cole's remarks don't seem to contribute anything constructive to the public discourse and only seem aimed at cranking up the hysteria of Arabs who have not had a chance to resolve their conflicting feelings about the forcibly purged Jews of Iraq who resettled in Israel where they continue to live on today while the Iraqi Arabs have been living bottled up in dictatorship.

At the time, I made a mental note that I would try to do a little research on Zell to see if I could discover some more information about him.

The dearth of description from Cole does not give any sense of who Zell is-- does he play chess or the piano or a kazoo? Is he Mizrachi or Ashkanazic or Young Israel or Charismatic? It seems that Cole is trying to give the impression that he is sophisticated enough to be aware that the Jewish population is not monolithic. That's just fine, but it simply isn't enough.

:: Juan Cole, Informed Comment ::

:: PERMALINK to above entry ::

* * * * *

+ Subsequently, I came across another piece about Zell which seemed to shed a little more light on the basis for some people's concern:

**Salem Chalabi's ties to US
cause political transparency concerns.

According to the US newspaper The Hill, Chalabi's business partner Mark Zell runs a law firm with the US Undersecretary of Defence Douglas Feith, a key neo-conservative architect of the Iraq war. Feith's Pentagon office oversees the distribution of those reconstruction contracts.**

:: The World Today - au ::
-- Link via As'ad AbuKhalil

* * * * *

+ I did a little research on the Internet about Mark Zell. He seems like an ordinary enough person. His Biographical Profile mentions that he speaks several languages. It gives his age and educational background. At first glance, it isn't very clear why it seems like he is being vilified.

...

:
Thurs - April 22 -

OPERA PROGRAM NOTES on FALLUJAH

**Since the U.S.-led liberation of Iraq, former regime supporters have allied themselves with foreign fighters who seem to be entering Iraq via Syria, officials said... These groups intimidate the larger population of Fallujah, and these citizens seem to be caught in the middle. If the people of Fallujah cooperate with the former regime members, then coalition forces will come after them. If they cooperate with the coalition, then they will be killed. Terrorists have launched attacks against coalition forces, Iraqis supporting coalition efforts such as police and members of the Civil Defense Corps and against everyday civilians.**

This is excerpted from a background analysis of the Fallujah Situation which may help to clarify some of the elements in this machine.

:: By Jim Garamone on Fallujah ::

...

:
Wed - April 21 -

~ON THE MOVE...

From Salam Pax's latest
dispatch for The UK Guardian:

"...the 'resistance' has not got better at aiming. This is kind of lucky for the troops but has worrying consequences for the rest of the population. Second, they are not afraid to show themselves. This is new."

:: Tigris tales - The Guardian ::

...

:
Tues/Wed - April 21 -

IRAQ'S JEWISH PROPERTY

French insurance company AXA will pay compensation to Jews who were forced out of Iraq after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948...

About 130,000 Iraqi Jews left the country after Israel was established, and many allege their property was seized by authorities...

According to one study, 850,000 Jews lived in Arab countries before 1948, compared with a purported 8,000 today...

Some estimate that property left behind in Arab countries was worth $100 billion.

:: AP via YahooNews ::

...

:
Tues/Wed - April 21 -

Fallujah:
New Rules of Engagement Issued

Families that left Fallujah during the recent trouble there began to return home. An estimated one-third of the residents had fled. Fifty families were readmitted on Tuesday.

**Marines in the city were adjusting to a new situation after a week in which they shot at anyone they saw carrying a weapon. Now, new rules of engagement limit Marines to firing at anyone who aims a weapon at them, said Capt. Shannon Johnson, a change intended to make sure people handing in weapons don't get shot.**

:: Keyser & Navarro for AP via Yahoo ::

...

:
Mon - April 19 -

THE UNKNOWN FIFTH: The Coalition is reported to be willing to ease their blockade of Fallujah while demanding that residents hand in their illegal weapons.

**However, it is not clear whether the Iraqi civic leaders taking part in the negotiations are able to control the insurgents.

They have said they do not control about 20% of the population of the city, says the BBC's Dominic Hughes in Baghdad...

...should this agreement not go through, the Marines... could seize Falluja "in fairly short order".**

+ I guess the intriguing mystery is: who are the 20%? Some people seem to suspect they are foreigners from Al Qaeda or a similar group.

:: BBC ::

...

:
Mon - April 19 -

DANCING AROUND:

Fallujah Situation Press Coverage

*In recent weeks, officials have begun to strictly monitor, then check, all of the reporting of Al-Jazeera; they're going public with errors in hopes of putting pressure on the network.*

Good idea! Because even paranoids can have
real enemies :-)

+ And then there's the "casebook" concept which some journalism class could produce.

At this point, I think it's possible that Mr. Ballout may need to watch out for a few flying camels, but let's wait for some results before rushing to judgement.

:: Peter Johnson, USAT - Al-Jazeera ::
-- Link via Romenesko --

...

:
Mon - April 19 -

FALSE DIRECTIONS: In Fallujah with journalist Pamela Constable, it seems a bit like being inside a pinball machine.

**A Humvee brought cases of meal rations and water, and the troops stacked them on the road. A second vehicle arrived with two medical corpsmen, and several women rushed over. The Iraqis began to relax...

One man told the interpreters that in the morning he had heard a message broadcast from a mosque loudspeaker telling people to come out, open their shops and go back to work.

The Marines were startled at this news. For days, their psychological operations teams had been broadcasting warnings that families should leave the city or stay indoors, away from the fighting. An officer shook his head worriedly. 'You should not believe that message,' he said through an interpreter. 'It is putting people in danger.'**

:: In Fallujah - Constable - WashPost

...

:
Mon - April 19 -

MIND CONTROL: For some people this topic is just something to joke about. For people who saw the movie The Manchurian Candidate, it's something to wonder about. There used to be an educational institution outside Moscow to teach the techniques of propaganda, brainwashing and mind control. It was most certainly not a joke to them. I studied philosophy in college under a professor who was a refugee from Graz, Austria. He believed that propaganda, brainwashing, mind control and related topics were properly studied in the philosophy discipline and he obliged his students to study the rudiments.

I am always saddened when I encounter incidents of it. I consider this a form of oppression, but, ironically, the victims often are not aware that they are suffering from this problem. Care to pass the time with a game of solitaire...?

"One of the doctors said to us he was happy when Saddam was got rid of, but then everything that had gone on since was worse."

The foregoing is a piece of propaganda that's been spreading around Iraq lately. In this incident, Jo Wilding was talking to Rachel Shabi at The UK Guardian. Although I cannot ascertain whether Wilding or Shabi is the ultimate source of this cant, we are being led to believe it is Wilding. She is a nice, decent, caring, bright, and empathetic person who is well-intentioned. What makes this alarming is that she is studying or training to become a lawyer. Ideally, lawyers are not supposed to be susceptible to this kind of brainwashing. Scary!

Of course, if we call it to her attention that she is parroting a mind control canard, she will almost certainly deny it-- which is, in part, what makes this kind of operation so insidious.

:: Getting past US snipers... The Guardian ::

...

:
Mon - April 19 -

~ Blah, Blah, Blog...

A guest-edited E-panel discussion involving
Salam Pax, Rhodri Marsden and Gregor Wright.
Lotsa chattering... numerous topics.

**RM: You're right about 'The Urge'; I find myself in situations thinking, 'This'll make a good story.' Like last night, which I spent at the launch of a new brand of tequila, surrounded by men in double-breasted suits ogling scantily clad Mexican dancers. It would be ridiculous if I started forcing myself into such situations purely to have something to write about... but, thinking about it, that might have already started happening.**

> In the end, it's still all about "Man's Search for Meaning," as Dr Frankl put it.

:: Blog all about it - The UK Guardian ::

...

:
Sun - April 18 -

SHARPSHOOTERS: Jason Keyser is back and in this chapter describes some aspects of the US Marines specialists in sharpshooting doing their thing during the current siege of Fallujah:

*A black-garbed Iraqi gunman slinked over a rooftop and shimmied down a palm tree, pausing for a few seconds to grab a rifle from a comrade. A few blocks away, on another rooftop, a Marine sniper squeezed a trigger and shot the man in the leg. A second shot into his chest killed him, throwing his body out of the tree.*

:: Keyser for AP via Yahoo! News ::

...

:
Sat - April 17 -

MANSUR'S SPAGHETTI SHOWDOWN

On Danny Schechter's weblog entry of Fri, April 16th, the belief is floated that Aljazeera TV's Mansur is the only journalist reporting from Fallujah.

Not so! Pamela Constable, an outstanding journalist at the Washington Post seems to be reporting from Fallujah, as is Lourdes Navarro who writes dispatches for AP, but also reports via Satellite Voice-Link to WNBC TV. As far as Constable, I value her dispatches and have often blogged them with a link to her articles at the WaPo Online.

I am offended at the suggestion that Pam Constable is going to "spin" or fabricate her dispatches from Fallujah to butter up the Marines.

We understand that a reporter is keen to promote his own product and his own media organization, but Constable and Navarro are not just chopped liver!

Mansur has no way of knowing whether he is alone or who else is out there. Meanwhile, Mansur has made persistently shrill claims that it's all about him, which I've caught on the Aljazeera TV Net Website.

I think he should stop wasting time and space on his dispatches with these singular claims and just get on with the reports. Mansur is turning into an "unguided missile" of wayward journalism. OK, so he's the only one reporting from Fallujah who's got a chandelier hanging between his legs. But so what.

I do not think we should be discussing which journalists are there and identifying them which could endanger them or expose them to kidnapping or worse. But let's try to nail down the information for later on when it may be historically cogent.

And Mansur, don't forget to take their soccer schedule off the wall of rebel headquarters when you leave. And don't let the door hit you on the ass as you exit.

Last one to leave Fallujah, shoot out the lights ;-)

Thank you and good night.

:: The News Dissector's Blog ::

...

:
Fri - April 16 -

SIEGE: Good atmospheric article about the US Marines conducting the current siege of Fallujah. Keep yer eye on that Keyser fella for writerly potential.

:: By Jason Keyser for AP via Yahoo ::

...

:
Fri - April 16 -

BRAHIMI PLAN IN PLAY: *According to initial reports, he is suggesting a caretaker government led by a prime minister - the key figure - with a presidential council of three.

He has also supported the idea of convening a national conference to choose a consultative assembly (Majlis ash-Shura) to serve alongside the government until elections can be held.*

An introduction to some proposals.

:: BBC ::
By Barnaby Mason
BBC diplomatic correspondent

...

:
Thurs - April 15 -

LOOSE LINKS...

A couple of new blogs
I've come across while surfing lately:

:: Brian Lehrer from WNYC
-- public radio has a new blog

:: And here's Arianna Huffington's blog.

...

:
Thurs - April 15 -

SUPER BOWL Blue:

>>The Cialis ads included the side effect that left some in the audience wincing but made virtually all sit up and take notice:

"In the rare case an erection lasts for more than four hours, seek immediate medical attention."

Lippert, who called mention of that particular side effect during the Super Bowl "the capper for tastelessness," said: "Now it seems like the four-hour erection thing is just going to become part of the culture."<<

+ What are the standards for "Family Viewing?" I don't think this high-powered football game is appropriate for viewing by young children, because I presume it would be too violent and because the players' costumes are too sexualized. But how does the FCC justify this?

:: Excerpted from MyWay Fiance ::

...

:
Wed - April 14 -

SNUFF MOVIES: In a gambit reminiscent of the Pakistani murder video of Daniel Pearl, Al Jazeera TV claims it "has a video showing the killing of one of four Italian hostages being held by militants in Iraq."

:: AP via Yahoo - Killed on Tape

...

:
Wed - April 14 -

CHOOSING SIDES: An astute analysis
in a sea of confusion and disorientation:

*Despite Arab television rhetoric, a few thugs taking over a couple government buildings and holy sites does not represent an Iraqi uprising...

In choosing to mediate rather than to denounce, Iraqi leaders legitimize violence as a political tool in a country that is trying to leave its bloody past behind and move toward a democratic and peaceful future.*

:: Hiwa Osman is a Baghdad-based journalist.

-- Excerpts from an op-ed in the WashTimes

:: Moderates vs. Islamists ::

...

:
Wed - April 14 -

ARAB MEDIA vs COALITION: Latest Episode

You keeping score?

The U.S. military took its complaints straight to Al-Jazeera Tuesday, when a top commander in Iraq, U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, was interviewed on the station.

Abizaid/Kimmett vs. Al-Jazeera/Al-Arabiya =

Abizaid/Kimmett ahead today because

Abizaid is fluent in Arabic.

:: by Rawya Rageh for AP via Yahoo ::

...

:
Tues/Wed - April 14 -

A BOX OF SCORPIONS: Tuesday was a rainy day here with some intermittent thunder. I am blogging this late Tues night going into Wed morning.

Earlier this evening I listened to President Bush on the radio give a speech and then answer some questions from various reporters.

The main impression I came away with was twofold:

1> The President did come off sounding like a cowboy, but that's just his personal style.

2> And the only point in his speech which bothered me was his remark that Mr Brahimi is in Iraq looking around for someone to hand the keys over to.


+ Catching up on some Iraqi blogs, I just caught this passing remark from Omar:

While searching Al-Mustansiriyah University, the American soldiers found guns, ammunition and some documents from Muqtada in which he gave orders to his followers to kill the science department's dean...

O boy! If true, this is rather devastating. Maybe it's still just a rumour. We won't know for sure unless or until such a charge appears on a bill of indictment.


+ Which reminds me, that before the Prez came on the radio, Prof Juan Cole was on Terry Gross's Fresh Air radio program. And he did a good presentation illuminating many of the nuances in this constellation of characters like Muqtada al-Sadr, et alia.

Gosh, yes, Cole did sound almost completely rational... only regular readers of his blog would know his propensity for doom-and-gloom. And, Genteel Reader, you will be relieved to learn there was no foaming at the mouth detected. So much for any rumours to the contrary.

It may well be that Dearborn, Michigan, can drive men bonkers, but Cole seems still resistant to whatever is in their water supply-- at least so far. And just think how lucky he is that he isn't at Mustansiriyah U where, if someone doesn't like what you're teaching, they drop the dime on you to get you wacked off.

Seriously, though, I have only one criticism of Cole's Fresh Air presentation. The murder of Koei was brutal, but what happened afterwards was horrific: viz, they hacked his body into pieces. Thus, I can understand why his family has been reported to be so bitter. I think Prof Cole should have mentioned the entire incident, not just the murder.


+ The further questions, of course, that linger in some people's minds, are:

> whether the horrifying hatchet murder of Koei is linked to that previously mentioned incident at Mustansiriyah U

> and is Sadr's the Unseen Hand behind it all?

...

:
Mon/Tues - April 13 -

HUNTING AMERICANS LIKE PIGS:

Interview with Mullah Omar

*Through the auspices of an influential jihadi leader, Mohammad Shehzad spoke with the Taliban supremo over the phone from Kabul. Shehzad, who had met Omar in a cave near Kandahar in October 2002, positively identified the voice.*

Link via Paul Moloney at Rantburg

:: Shehzad at Rediff ::

...

:
Mon/Tues - April 13 -

~ My Hostage Hell ~

Mr Teeley said...
there were moments when he thought
he was facing the end, describing
his time in captivity as "mental torture."

:: Hostage - Sky News ::

...

:
Mon - April 12 -

RE THE MUQTY EMERGENCY: As Zeyad alluded to in the previous entry, an unusual meeting has taken place to negotiate with al-Sadr. This AP article describes the rare gathering in al-Sadr's office with Grand Ayatollah Sistani's son, Mohammed Rida, acting as a diplomatic envoy trying to diffuse a situation that has a lot of people practically holding their breath over.

:: Abdul Hussein Yousef for AP via Yahoo ::

...

:
Mon - April 12 -

IQ BLOGGING UPDATES

+ Damned if you do and damned if you don't:

A short audio-link consultation between a Beeb reporter and Salam Pax on the current situation in Iraq... Coalition Forces are poised to arrest and detain Muqtada al-Sadr the prospect of which some Iraqis consider inflammatory. On the other hand, if the Coalition does not remove his presence from the current mix, there's bound to be trouble, too.

:: BBC REAL PLAYER AUDIO-LINK ::

* * * * *

+ Zeyad reports:

Up-to-the-minute updates on the situation
> negotiations on the al-Sadr emergency
> Gen Sanchez and the Sistani people
> plus volatile Fallujah

^Look for Tues, 4/13 3:28am Entry

:: PERMALINK :: or

:: Generic :: Healing Iraq ::

...

:
Mon - April 12 -

~ Against the Shards: Riverbend says she and her family are sleeping in the living room again as they did during the military invasion last year. They put up drapes and taped the windows in an effort to avoid getting cut by flying glass.

"The case of the Japanese hostages is especially sad- I'm so sorry for their families and friends specifically, and the Japanese people in general."

I found this remark rather mystifying. What is it about the Japanese that makes them as kidnapping victims especially and uniquely saddening? Because they look like toy dolls? Because their kimonos are so pretty? Because their tea ceremony is like a ballet? Beats me.

River gives a bit of a *Status Snapshot* with the rest of this entry.

:: Baghdad Burning: Sun, April 11 Entry ::

...

:
Mon - April 12 -

MUQTY: NO ABC's - Al-Sadr is using his black-clad Mahdi Army militia to shut down schools in Sadr City and other poor Shi'ite neighborhoods across Baghdad. In Hurriya, a working-class Shi'ite slum with a sizable Sunni minority, most of the schools have been closed since April 5.

:: Annia Ciezadlo - Mahdi Army ::
-- The Washington Times: World

...

:
Sun - April 11 -

Tie Yer Kangaroo Down... Salam Pax is coming!

The Sydney Writers' Festival
runs from May 17 to May 23.

Celebs includes V.S.Naipaul and John Dean.

And... Ta-Tah:

*The Iraqi writer Salam Pax, author of a weblog that he famously filed during the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, will hold a blogging workshop during the festival.*

Links courtesy of CharlesWT
while he was surfing at BuzzMachine.

:: From The Sidney Morning Herald ::

:: Also noted at :: The Australian ::

...

:
Sun - April 11 -

G IN G2: Ghaith's latest Baghdad Blog for
The UK Guardian.

"It's God's will that brought the Americans here to topple Saddam. We should thank God, not the Americans."

A One-Year *Compare Notes* kind of riff.

:: We wanted this...

...

:
Sun - April 11 -

EASTER SUNDAY: Good morning; it's a Christian holiday here in the US for those who celebrate the Resurrection of the Christian Messiah.

Here are some briefs on the situation going on in Iraq:

+ Fallujah - The ceasefire appears to be holding with only sporadic shooting reported. The lull has allowed hundreds more residents to leave the battle zone.

+ Baghdad - Insurgents shot down a US Apache helicopter in West Baghdad on Sunday, the military said. The fate of its two-member crew was unknown. Heavy fighting was taking place in the area for the third straight day. Insurgents also fought US troops in Baghdad's northern, mainly Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah.

+ Karbala - Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are in Karbala and other Shi'ite cities to mark Arbaeen. Ceremonies last until tonight.

+ Nasiriyah - Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi made a surprise visit to Italian troops in this southern city, which saw fighting with al-Sadr followers earlier last week, but has largely become quiet in the meantime.

:: SKY NEWS UK ::

:: FOX NEWS US ::

:: WASH TIMES ::

:: US President's Easter Message

...

:
Sat - April 10 -

Gossamer Time: Salam leaves an all-too-brief note on his blog today which says he's going on hiatus, but he doesn't say for how long. I don't like it. What if something happens to him? Like, what if he gets kidnapped by a fanatical crackpot taxi-cab driver and then sold into white slavery on the bourse by the pouf-pound in trade for a dozen or so Rolex Presidents? Who would even try to redeem him? These are the burning questions.

:: Where is Raed ? ::

...

:
Sat - April 10 -

UFO IDENTITIES: More information (or is it??) about those two Arabs from Jerusalem being held hostage by Iraqis.

'We are a religious faction,' a masked man said in the tape. 'We have captured spies who belong to the Zionist enemy...'

And there is a lot of important stuff to spy on them for: their best recipes for chicken, kabob, and mamoul. And what about their secret formulas for Goretex, Kevlar, and Tang?!!

:: The 2 Hostages - Haaretz ::

...

:
Sat - April 10 -

THE FUNGIBLE "PALESTINIANS"

Fadi Ihsan Fadal is a Syrian-born Canadian...

*his family believes Fadi
was forced to say he was an Israeli.*

"But he has nothing to do with Israel"

"I am Nabil George Yacub,
an Israeli working for RTI"

>>"Razuk's status remains unclear."<<

Razuk is mentioned only once in this article,
and there is no explanation of who or what Razuk is.
He is like a UFO who just flew in here. ???

:: Armed Iraqis hold foreigners hostage ::
--From Aljazeera TV Net --

...

:
Sat - April 10 -

On patrol in Fallujah...

with Pam Constable and the US Marines.

'The situation out there is totally different than anything we prepared for.' One of his men guffaws. 'We call this aggressive civil affairs,' he jokes.

:: P.Constable - 'Expect Snipers...' ::
-- Washington Post --

* * * * *

They Paved Over Paradise
...and Put Up a Round-About...

Anthony Shadid in Baghdad & Firdaus Square...

A friend looked on. "We live in a city of ghosts," he said. He paused, then repeated the phrase. "A city of ghosts."

About half of Baghdad's population used to be Jewish until they were forcibly driven out. There must be many ghosts there.

Some of those informally interviewed by Shadid this time round seem to be substituting their own failure to get rid of Sadam with the self-hypnosis that they could vanquish the United States. There seems to be a form of very irrational hysteria going around Iraq like some crazy form of flu.

When Atta and those fellows flew those jumbo jets into the office buildings, it must have been the Devil that told them to destroy themselves. And why are these folks creating such havoc? Does that really make any more sense?

By the way, I think *AS* is going to take a hiatus for a few months to put a book together, maybe a compilation of his IQ pieces.

:: Shadid - 'Seething' - WaPo ::

...

:
Fri - April 9 -

VOICE LINKS: As It Happens is a Canadian CBC radio program which has been running One Year Anniversary programs interviewing Iraqis. One of the interviews is said to be with "Firas" the Blogger. The link to this radio program seems to be provided by some Scandinavian fans of the English-language Iraqi Blogosphere.

:: As It Happens via 6 Degrees of Blog ::

...

:
Fri - April 9 -

HEARTS ON THEIR SLEEVES: Raed gives his take on the centralized gathering that had been previously publicized:

*The Friday Prayer at Um Al Ma'arek mosque was enormous... thousands and thousands of Iraqis came from all over Baghdad... and for the first time Iraqis have both Shia and Sunni speeches at the same mosque. The Supreme Sunni Board decided to ask Iraqis to go on strike next week. Majid, my brother, was there too. He says that when AsSadr representative gave his speech, people were shouting and yelling: Yes, Yes for AsSadr. I think this would confuse the Sunni/Shia vision of Bush and Bremer.

Tomorrow will witness the Shia marches to Karbala, which AsSadr will try to invest it as much as he can, to add more Iraqis to the uprising. AlMahdi Army is controlling the city of Karbala completely.*


>> I don't think this would confuse the Sunni/Shia vision of Bush and Bremer. What IS confusing here on this blog is that Raed ordinarily claims he identifies himself as being "Palestinian," but over the last few entries he has posted here, he has listed the various hostages and conspicuously omitted that poor, hapless pair of Christian Arabs from Jerusalem. Hel-loooh, Raed! Whaaat abooot the "Palestinian" Hostages, hmmmm? Yes, we can see how deeply ingrained that "Palestinian" identity is, especially in an emergency! Onward and upward...

:: Excerpts from Raed in the Middle ::

...

:
Fri - April 9 -

BAGHDAD MOSQ'orama:

"Friday, the Muslims sabbath, and the mosques of Baghdad will NOT be available for the noon prayer. The mosques announced that the Friday prayer of tomorrow is going to be in the central mosque, for all Sunnis. Um AlMaarek mosque, thousands and thousands are going to be there."

:: from Raed in the Middle ::

...

:
Fri - April 9 -

THE WHISTLING BABYLONIAN: *In the year since Saddam Hussein was deposed, insurgents have killed 9 former Iraqi weapons officials.*

The Case of THE WHISTLING BABYLONIAN is a prospective database project, looking for a curious geek, and inspired by the movie The Night of the Generals.

Who is killing the scientists of Iraq? Some physicians seem to have been picked off, too.

:: 'Iraqi scientists silenced' - WashTimes: OP-ED

...

:
Fri - April 9 -

MOSLEM FRIDAY: Good morning. It's Christian Good Friday on the NorthEast Corrider of the US. But in the Middle East, Friday is the day for prayers at the mosque and for clerics to give their sermons.

In a message read out by an aide in the main mosque in the central shrine town of Kufa, Moqtada al-Sadr said:

I address my enemy Bush. You are now fighting an entire nation, from south to north, from east to west, and we advise you to withdraw from Iraq.

The warning came as US troops ended their humanitarian break of 90 minutes in Fallujah and resumed their offensive there.

The rest of this article gives a recap of recent developments in Iraq, but events have been moving quickly there, and the situation remains quite fluid.

:: Al-Sadr Issues Ultimatim - Sky News

...

:
Thurs/Fri - April 9 -

ANOTHER X-FILE FLICK: David Duchovny has disclosed that a second big-screen installment of The X-Files is in the works. Though he doesn't know the plot, Duchovny indicated that Chris Carter has agreed to the story premise.

:: Second 'X-Files' Movie ::

...

:
Thurs - April 8 -

WITCH HUNTS:

+ Men who roll up their trouser
legs and exchange silly handshakes...

Harry points to a timely link for the currently craven longing for some already time-tested conspiracies that "explain it all." Yes, that's why we're in the mess we're in, but there's something we can do about it.

:: Harry's Place ::


+ Fart Patrol

*The FCC investigation was prompted by a listener in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who complained about a Stern program that included discussion of sex accompanied by flatulence sounds.*

:: J.D. Salant for AP via Yahoo ref'd by Drudge.


> Isn't there a "Right Not To Be Offended?"

I don't think so.

But maybe someone will invent one.

...

:
Thur - April 8 -

DROOL ALERT FOR NITPICKERS: Prof J.Cole has graciously volunteered a close (and expert) translation of Ayatollah Sistani's Genuine and Authentic Fatwa on the insurgency situation. Try not to drool on your keyboard, but for some people only every word will do... we know.

The Prof adds a touch of Analysis to which I would just add a note of background explanation. Their system is not adversarial like ours. Their ideal model is conciliatory. The ideal verdict of a majlis, judicial forum or tribunal leaves each side with the feeling that they got something out of the verdict, particularly some form of validation. Thus, you note his approach of seemingly even-handedness.

:: If the sometimes loopy BLOGSPOT LINK
-- doesn't work, look under Thurs, April 8th 7:59am.

...

:
Thurs - April 8 -

Whassup widdah Christians? The Arabs who are being held hostage in Iraq appear to be
Christian Arabs.

G has undertaken an addition to
The G2 Blogging Stable.

Link courtesy of Letter From Gotham.

Lotsa G's... Gee Wizzz!

:: Ghaith's Baghdad blog ::

...

:
Thurs - April 8 -

TALKS UNDERWAY: *Talks are under way with Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militiamen and supporters have taken up arms against occupation forces in Iraq.

Adnan Pachachi, a member of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) told Aljazeera on Thursday they are discussing ways to end the rebellion.*

Aljazeera.Net - Talks under way ::

...

:
Thurs - April 8 -

~~ More on Hostages ~~ Especially has a lot more info aggregated about the Arabs whose citizenship is in dispute.

:: FOXNews - Hostages Seized in Iraq ::

...

:
Thurs - April 8 -

SISTANI URGES QUIETUDE: Ayatollah al-Sistani, Iraq's most senior Shi'ite leader, broke a three-day silence yesterday with an appeal for an end to the violence provoked by recent insurrectionists.

Issuing a formal statement decrying "any action that disturbs order and prevents officials from carrying out their duties," he also condemned "the methods used by occupation forces in the current escalating situation in Iraq."

:: Sharon Behn at the WashTimes ::

...

:
Thurs - April 8 -

IQ HOSTAGES BEING HELD: *Iraqi insurgents kidnapped eight South Koreans, three Japanese and two Arab Israelis, and captors armed with automatic rifles and swords threatened in a video released Thursday to burn the Japanese alive if Tokyo does not withdraw from the U.S.-led coalition within three days.*

:: Jason Keyser - AP/sfgate::

...

:
Wed - April 7 -

RECAP IRAQ: *A senior US general in Iraq has vowed to destroy the militia of a radical cleric behind a wave of attacks against Coalition forces.*

Succinctly up to speed this morning, courtesy of

:: 'War of Words' - Sky News ::

...

:
Wed - April 7 -

SENTIMENTAL SNAPSHOTS: *Yesterday, Iraqis in Lebanon marched through the streets of southern Beirut, chanting anti-U.S. slogans and carrying pictures of Sheik al-Sadr as well as leaders of the Palestinian militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas.*

:: Clashes By Sharon Behn - WashTimes

...

:
Wed - April 7 -

ECHOES OF TET: *Muqtada al-Sadr, who ordered his fanatical militia to attack coalition troops, is being supported by Iran and its terror surrogate Hezbollah, according to military sources with access to recent intelligence reports, reported by Rowan Scarborough.*

"This is their Tet offensive," according to one retired Air Force general.

:: Iran, Hezbollah support al-Sadr - WashTimes

...

:
Tues/Wed Overnight - April 7 -

EURABIA DEBUTS: A new book by journalist
Oriana Fallaci that hit bookstores in Rome Monday accuses Europe of becoming a province of Islam, a colony of Islam... and a stage in Islamic expansionism.

:: New Fallaci Book ::
-- By Alessandra Rizzo for AP via Yahoo

...

:
Tues/Wed Overnight - April 7 -

People are Talking About...

A KURDISH LEADER DECLARED IN TEHRAN THAT THE TRAVEL OF ISRAELIS TO KURDISTAN DOES NOT EMBARRASS THE KURDISH LEADERS. ALL JEWS OF IRAQI ORIGIN ARE ALLOWED TO COME TO VISIT THEIR RELATIVES. HE EXPRESSED THE HOPE THAT KURDS WILL BE ALLOWED TO VISIT THEIR RELATIVES IN ISRAEL. HE SAID IF ARIEL SHARON WAS OF IRAQI ORIGIN HE WOULD BE ALLOWED TO VISIT TOO.(AL-ZAMAN, IRAQ, 4/5/04)

:: From the MEMRI Ticker - April 5, 2004 ::

...

:
Tues/Wed Overnight - April 7 -

Through the Smoke and Mirrors...

Rantburg posts a hard-hitting op-ed piece by Victor David Hansen called The Mirror of Fallujah. And he doesn't pull any punches. Something about this piece really grabbed me-- no, there were a few things maybe.

...

:
Tues - April 6 -

~~ What They've Been Saying...

An excerpt follows from a Highly Specialized blog.

*She also notes that the Coalition shut down al-Sadr's newspaper last week but fails to say why...

Not only is the threat posed by al-Sadr's militia far from "alleged", it appears to be linked to the sort of religious extremism that has bred terrorism throughout the region. But for some reason, the BBC doesn't appear interested in exploring the terror angle...

"people [are] asking whether the whole strategy for the future of Iraq is unravelling."

I don't know which "people" he is referring to. If he means the BBC, then "people" have been asking this question for 12 months.*

+ Is the BBC and its news your obsession, too? There are a few blogs devoted to the issue. And this is another. Perhaps, now, you have found some more Kindred Souls to commiserate with.

:: Last Night's BBC News Blog ::

...

:
Tues - April 6 -

NIEMAN LECTURE: Anthony Shadid at Harvard on March 11, 2004.

If you're a fan of Shadid, it's a must-read. But it's a bit long-ish, so you may want to 'copy-to-floppy' and read it later offline at your convenience.

:: Reporting From the War Zone: At what cost?

...

:
Mon - April 5 -

"VERBATIM" - Sometimes it's especially important to refrain from jumping on a rushed translation. Sometimes it's better to have more than one translation. And sometimes interpretation should be carefully used.

Sadr's recent discourse has been translated as "terrorize your enemy."

Anthony Shadid, who speaks Arabic, translates the text as "intimidate your enemy."

Next question: Did Sadr say "violations" or did he mean "transgressions?"

Inquiring minds want to know :-)

*Sadr issued a statement calling on his followers to stop the protests, saying they were futile. But he added: "Intimidate your enemy... It is not possible to remain silent before their violations."*

:: SHADID at WaPo :: Protests Unleashed

...

:
Mon - April 5 -

Getting up to speed this morning...

:: Basra Siege at Sky News ::

:: U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in Baghdad
-- and the rest of :: Iraq Situation at FoxNews ::

:: Marines have :: Fallujah under lockdown ::

...

:
Mon - April 5 -

IRAN CONNIVANCE ALLEGED: *"Hajj Saeedi" went on to say that the Iranian intelligence plan for turning Iraq into a second Iran is extensive and the focus is at present on recruiting thousands of Shi'i youths for the stage during the parliamentary elections would be held in Iraq.*

> From the text of a report by Ali Nurizadah in London published by London-based newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat on 3 April.

:: Iran va Jahan ::
-- version of a BBC Monitoring Report - dated April 3rd.

* * * * *

"Last April, an Iranian cleric, Kadhem al-Husseini al-Haeri, issued a religious edict and distributed it to Shiite mullahs in Iraq, calling on them 'to seize the first possible opportunity to fill the power vacuum in the administration of Iraqi cities.'

The edict, or fatwa, issued April 8, 2003, showed that Shiite clerics in Iraq are receiving significant direction from Iran.

Haeri wrote: "We hereby inform you that Mr. Moktada al-Sadr is our deputy and representative in all fatwa affairs."

It added: "His position is my position."

:: J.Farah at WND: Iran declares war on US ::

+ Some interesting theories and possible intrigues are floating around the Internet which some believe constitute a facet of background to the seemingly peculiar current behavior of Muqtada al-Sadr.

...

:
Sun/Mon Overnight - April 5

~~ SIEGE REPORTED IN BASRAH ~~

While waiting for my routine computer maintenance rituals to finish up, I was listening to the Beeb.

BBC World Service is reporting at 1:30-1:45AM DST that there is a siege currently going on at the Governor's Palace in Basrah by Muqty's Mahdi Militia.

They have a list of demands... groups like this usually have a manifesto of some kind and a Minister of Propaganda and (Dis-)Information, etc. Since Muqty cuddled up to Hamas, you can be sure that if he's short on the docs, they can supply him with plenty to fill in any gaps. And let's not forget about Hizb'llah, too.

Who can sleep at a time like this? I seem to recall that some of our Iraqi Bloggers are supposed to be in Basrah. Well, if you're reading this, try to stay off the streets and keep your head down, especially if you don't belong to their cult. If you're a Christian or some other minority, try to stay out of their way altogether.

If you have access to BBC on the radio, you can probably stay up-to-date by listening to that.

Tah Tah For Now.

...

:
Sun - April 4 -

MUQTY: BUSY-BUSY-BUSY! Looks like Muqty the Mullah Menace has been very active today, Sunday. He called for some sort of demonstration and organized a melee. Among other things:

Around 200 members of Sadr's militia, the Mehdi Army, beat their chests, waved swords, and chanted denouncements outside CPA HQs. His zombie army was then ordered to "immediately head over to the Mohsen Al-Hakim Mosque in Sadr City." Which they evidently did.

Al Sadr's supporters also reportedly took over several police stations in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad, and television footage showed the gunmen driving through the area in the police cars they had seized. [I wonder if they were doing "donuts," like they do in Newark... hmmm...]

And a lot more! The reporters haven't done a final round-up yet. Maybe they'll have a tentative round-up for the dinnertime 6:30pm TV Evening News and then an adjusted round-up for the 11pm news.

As this Muqty disruption continues, I am thinking that the prospect of Muqty taking a long, luxurious vacation somewhere lush and tropical is beginning to look more and more appealing. To me, at least. This reminds me of the Taliban Foreign Minister: viz, after his vacation, he quieted down tremendously.

These are just a couple of diverse news sources that will give you an idea of some of the chaos and disorder that has been purportedly emanating from the Muqty Vortex:

:: Wassup wid Muqty from Islam Online ::

:: Keeping Up With Muqty from CBS NY TV ::

...

:
Sat - April 3 -

KALIPHA KANOODLING: The often repeated Sykes-Picot canard and the collapse of the Ottoman empire once again inform the current discourse.

"Just say the word, Moqtada, and we'll resume the 1920 revolution," they chanted, invoking an uprising against British rule.

In his Friday sermon, which was tape-recorded, Muqtada al Sadr said that neither the United States nor the United Nations supports peace and Islam in Iraq.

"From here, I declare my solidarity with the solidarity between Hezbollah and Hamas," Sadr said. "May they consider me their striking hand in Iraq, whenever necessity requires it."

Is this situation headed into the direction of Jim Jones and The People's Temple or what???

This is really more about Empire than about Religion per se. But I wonder how many people, who may have been sentimentally devoted to his father, realize they are being noodled around.

Sounds like Muqty needs a vacation somewhere tropical and lovely... somewhere he can get away from it all and relax... how about Cyprus or Thailand or some South Sea Island?

I don't mean him any harm, but I'm getting tired of and exasperated from his grousing. This is not 1920 by any remote stretch. If he wants to stay in the Middle Ages, he can go live in Iran next door.

I'm sure the chess players at the Pentagon are trying to work out some strategy about *what to do with Muqty* at this very moment.

Meanwhile, can we get another translation of his remarks for some possible additional nuances?

:: Iraqi Cleric Urges Action Against US ::
-- By Sewell Chan at the WashPost --

...

:
Fri - April 2 -

BEEB - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

+ Latest Controversy is swirling around
Orla Guerin over her report on the 16-year-old would-be suicide bomber.

+ Natan Sharansky, Israel's minister for diaspora affairs, has written to the BBC accusing Guerin of anti-semitism vis a vis that dispatch.

+ Just a reminder that Malcolm Balen, a former news editor, was appointed by the BBC to monitor their Middle East coverage.

:: The Guardian story ::

* * * * *

> On the OUTLOOK Radio Programme - Thursday's Edition - late last night on the East Coast US from the BBC World Service...

> Heather Payton is in the old city of Algiers with Radio Algeria presenter Rym Terbeche. And the two women tour the Kasbah.

> Although I may have been half-asleep during this segment, nevertheless, I found it outstanding.

> Recommended!

:: Come wiz me to zhee Kazbah :-)

...

:
Fri - April 2 -

NAKED CAME THE HOAX - They're Baaack!!

*...Using the pseudonym Penelope Ashe, an imaginary "demure Long Island housewife," they cranked out a chapter apiece of what became Naked Came the Stranger, a fiction rife with ice cubes applied to prostates and couples flagrante delicto at the Throgs Neck Bridge tollbooth...

...The news media went berserk. McGrady juggled his fellow journalists more vigorously and skillfully than the book’s heroine did her numerous boxer, doctor, gangster, and rabbi inamoratas...

Reading Naked today, we can all sensuously drift back to a time when concupiscence was still big news, boozing reporters ran the newsroom, and a nonexistent yet demure Long Island housewife stepped out of her housedress and flashed a more innocent America.*

:: Excerpted from Crass Act ::
-- by Tim Appelo at the Seattle Weekly --

...

:
Fri - April 2 -

~More on Fallujah Content:

*The different approaches taken by television and the Internet show how the proliferation of raw news available to anyone with a computer and Internet connection has altered decision-making for traditional media outlets. Up until about a decade ago, news-magazine editors and nightly news producers were information gatekeepers whose decisions strongly influenced what viewers could see and hear. Viewers now can seek out controversial images on the Internet even if mainstream news outlets avoid them...*

:: Excerpted from a good article ::

-- by Julia Angwin and Matthew Rose
-- at WSJ via Poynter Online- Romenesko

...

:
Fri - April 2 -

~Graphic Content from Fallujah: How the American media, including newspapers and TV, treated the "horrific" images from the ambush and its aftermath. Two articles at Editor and Publisher, one from AP and the other homegrown, discuss the ways in which this disturbing material has been presented to its domestic audience.

*The images were aired widely around the world, but American television largely deemed the images too graphic.

"Quite honestly, it doesn't need to be seen in full in order to convey the horrors of this despicable act," said Steve Capus, executive producer of NBC Nightly News.*



:: IMAGE TREATMENT - AP ::

-- :: Geraci - a related story ::

...

:
Thurs - April 1 -

APRIL FOOLS' DAY: Every year folks use this day to debut parodies of websites. This was the only one such I came across today:

:: Poyntless Online - Romanesko ::

I didn't sleep much last night. And I was in very low operating energy all today. Then, I finally took a nap. And I am feeling a little better now, but I hope I get back up to normal speed for the weekend!

...

:
Wed - Mar 31 -

~~ Fallujah Ambush ~~

A convoy reputedly consisting of foreign contractors was ambushed in Fallujah, Iraq. And, according to first reports, the corpses of the murdered personnel may have been descrecrated.

First reports often contain mistakes and should be considered only conditional until later verified.

This dispatch contains graphic descriptions which are not suitable for sensitive readers.

If you are sensitive, you should stop reading HERE and do not click through on the hyperlink provided.

:: AFP DISPATCH via The Australian ::

...

:
Tues/Wed - Mar 31 -

FLOYD on HAWZA:

"To say this is not to deny the reality of the on-the-ground problems that a newspaper such as Al Hawza can cause or augment."

* * * * *

Sorry, disagree.

It is denying the reality of the on-the-ground "problems" and Great Harm including Murder and Mayhem that Muqty and his Minions are clearly intent on causing.

:: Abrams op-ed at Newsday ::

...

:
Tues - Mar 30 -

ESCHATOLOGIES: Arriving in U.S. bookstores today is one of the most popular contemporary apocalyptic narratives.

Glorious Appearing: The End of Days

is the final installment in a 12-part Left Behind series on the End of the World by evangelical Christian authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.

:: Left Behind finale ::
-- By Julia Duin at The WashTimes

...

:
Tues - Mar 30 -

~~ INEXORABLES & IMPONDERABLES ~~

It had to happen! A psychiatrist has now opened a "roundtable" discussion blog for Frustrated IraqiBlog Readers called

CryMeARiverbend [blog] with the tagline:

"Analysis of Certain Iraqi
Blogs Which Don't Allow Comments"

It may not be politically correct, but I found some of the responses and remarks funny. Also interesting: an amazing number of people actually care about these Iraqis!!

:: via Raed who now has his own blog :: Raed in the Middle :: in case I haven't mentioned that before.

:: CryMeARiverbend ::

...

:
Tues - Mar 30 -

MORE ON COOKE: *Cooke died at his home in New York at midnight, a spokeswoman at the BBC's press office said.*

:: FOXNews - Cooke ::

...

:
Tues - Mar 30 -

LAST LETTER: *Broadcaster Alistair Cooke, whose weekly Letter from America ran for more than half a century, has died at the age of 95.*

:: from Sky News ::

...

:
Mon - Mar 29 -

IRISH SMOKING BAN: Ireland's ban on smoking in the workplace has started today, Monday. It includes the country's 10,000 pubs.

"My dad died last year of lung cancer, and he only smoked once a year at Christmas..."

Opinion polls suggest a strong majority supports the ban in this country of 3.9 million, where about 30 percent of adults smoke. Feelings run deep on the issue.

:: IRISH BAN by Pogatchnik for AP via Yahoo

:: Forest ::

...

:
Mon - Mar 29 -

A "One Year" Reminiscence of the Iraq War

Everyone is sharing their memories of a year ago, so I thought I would, too. One of my most vivid and enduring memories of the military invasion sometimes seems like it must have come from a newsreel or video tape clip, but it was actually from an old-fashioned newspaper dispatch. In some ways, I can only compare it to radio reports from World War II such as those of Edward R. Murrow.

Listen now to those "thrilling days of yesteryear..." If you listen hard, you can hear a lone bagpiper on the bridge... He is piping his regiment into battle, as he has done for many generations... Listen to the piper on the bridge... [from the archives of this blog]

* * *

Monday Midday, April 7th, 2003

Bagpipes play as Black Watch takes Basra

*On the other side of the bridge over the Shatt al-Basra canal, Lieutenant William Colquhoun had unpacked his bagpipes and sat on the turret of his Warrior waiting for the order to advance. [snip] As he began to play, the sound of Scotland the Brave drifted across the bridge towards the city, competing with the clatter of rotor blades as four Cobra helicopters raced in to join the attack.
[. . .]
And on and on it went, the battle raging across the city from dawn till dusk... Basra was falling into British hands at last.*


:: Excerpted from an old-fashioned piece of war reportage by Gethin Chamberlain with the Black Watch Regiment in Basra for The Scotsman newspaper.

...

:
Sun - Mar 28 -

*We're losing the art of public interaction...
The spaces - from a public park to a forum for public exchange - where social debate and contemplation can take place are eroding before our eyes.*

A very worthwhile "think" piece that deserves much wider circulation and reprinting or perhaps syndication in the United States, too.

Recommended.

:: Will Hutton at The Observer ::

...

:
Sun - Mar 28 -

BUZZING THE FRENCH: A Luxor MD-83 airplane made a 1.2-mile deviation as it came in for landing and overflew the urban center of Nantes at an altitude of 660 feet, a "very low altitude and completely abnormal trajectory" with respect to its normal flight path...

Luxor Air's flying rights in France have been suspended during an investigation into this March 21 incident, according to Michel Wachenheim, director-general of France's Civil Aviation Authority...

:: Luxor Banned :: AP via Yahoo

...

:
Sun - Mar 28 -

IRAQ'S MEDIA FAILURE: Yes, this is another one of those fun-filled "End of the World as We Know It" articles from Aljazeera TV Net.

This week, US occupation administrator Paul Bremer announced the creation of two commissions which will regulate publicly-owned media to ensure its quality and that it is free from political control.

From that point on, the rest of the article just rollicks along.

And when is some clever writer going to learn how to parody their institutional style?

:: Roshan Muhammed Salih ::

...

:
Sun - Mar 28 -

ARAB LEAGUE'S FAILED SUMMIT
AND THE FRANKFURT REPERCUSSIONS

The Arab League summit meeting scheduled to begin Monday has been cancelled.

In Tunis on Friday, the League's director, Amr Moussa, told reporters "What we need is a partner..."

In fact, Moussa and the League had entered into an agreement with the Frankfurt International Book Fair for this year to produce or find or gather books, novels, poetry, literature, or some sort of cultural materials from the Middle East or Arabphonic countries that could be featured there.

Moussa's failure to to convene the Monday meeting implies his failure to fulfill his responsiblity in the upcoming Frankfurt partnership as well.

Media corporations today are not just in the business of books. They tend to be conglomerates with a hub of other interests such as movies and TV mini-series, too.

The recruited Arab League states now in severe disarray are disempowering themselves from the opportunity to narrate their own stories the way they want. Plus, they come off as not being very reliable-- who wants to invest large sums of money in partners who are not going to be there?

The power to narrate one's own story is a golden plum that was just dropped into the lap of the much vaunted Arab League which obviously has lost its way. Clearly, the promotion of literacy and cultural expression is the natural direction the League should be taking at this point in time.

Will the next Arab League headline read:
Moussa Stiffs Frankfurt?

It's beginning to look that way.

:: Arab League Summit ::
-- By Daniel Williams - WashPost

...

:
Fri - Mar 26 -

OSAMA & ME: The BBC is presenting a program of snip-and-save memoirs of Osama Bin Laden from people who have had first-hand, primary contact with him and a direct perception of him.

:: BBC - Osama Remembered ::

...

:
Fri - Mar 26 -

THE TERRORISTS NEXT DOOR: *Hamas invested millions of dollars during the past decade in real-estate projects nationwide, including suburban Maryland, as part of a scheme to raise cash to fund acts of terrorism...*

...much of the cash routed through banks in Virginia and New Jersey to Dubai, UAE... significant amounts of cash from the real-estate ventures were used in furtherance of Hamas terrorist operations.

...through BMI Inc., a defunct Secaucus, N.J., investment firm founded by Soliman S. Biheiri, an Egyptian and Hamas supporter...

...project known as Barnaby Knolls, financed by... BMI Real Estate Development Inc... ICE agents refer to the project as "Hamas West..."

+The Green In Between - What looks, at first glance, like a dangerous rabbit warren of shell corporations and cut-outs-- a type of intrigue that used to be popular in screenplays during the Sixties. This story, too, seems to have the ingredients for an exciting movie.

:: Hamas linked to area housing ::
-- By Jerry Seper - WASHTIMES

...

:
Thurs - Mar 25 -

HABEAS CORPUS: Although photos of Hossam Abdo, strapped with a suicide bomb belt, were splashed all over the front pages of Israeli newspapers Thursday, those photos were glaringly absent from the Palestinian press, and the Palestinian Authority did not issue any condemnation of the incident.

According to figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs, there are more than 300 Palestinian minors behind Israeli bars.

And how many Arabs of all ages
are confined behind "Palestinian" bars?

You'll never know because they
don't have the right of habeas corpus. So,
stick it in your ear and blow it out your nose!

This is an interesting AFP article, perhaps by a budding intellectual. Let's hope he or she doesn't suffer a "crisis de conscience" and have a complete nervous breakdown from this assignment. (The French don't usually identify their reporters or stringers by name.)

:: Concern over minors' human rights ::
Yahoo> World> Middle East > AFP

...

:
Thurs - Mar 25 -

ANOTHER BAGHDAD BOB: *The boy, identified
as Husam Abdu from Nablus, was shown on TV screens around the world, with an explosive belt strapped to
his waist.*

"We know for sure this is a fabricated story from A to Z," said Yaqub Shahin, Director-General of the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information.

In an interview with Aljazeera TV.net, Shahin accused Israel of seeking to justify slaughtering Palestinian children by spreading the false impression that they are used as human bombers.

"Their goal is to besmirch Palestinian childhood so that when they slaughter the children, the world won't feel sorry for them," he said.

:: Fabricated child-bombers ::

...

:
Thurs - Mar 25 -

Hussam Abdo & The Yellow Robot

Physicians for Human Rights condemned the militants' use of children, publicly acknowledging that:

it is "illegal."

:: Ali Daraghmeh for AP ::
-- MyWay via Drudge

...

:
Thurs - Mar 25 -

New Salam Pax Video Segment

BBC Newsnight 24 March - Salam at:

The Shia Ashura Festival in Karbala.

For video, click on *video - latest programme* on upper right.

If you're handy at working the fast forward and other controls, I believe that Salam's segment was at about 32 minutes in. And he may have described it at 13 minutes long.

:: BBC NEWSNIGHT ::

...

:
Thurs - Mar 25 -

~~Is it really a year now??~~

Everyone was laughing...

Who can believe it?? It seems like yesterday…

Events are still living in our memory…

We enter the sitting room to drink "Chai" after we finish our lunch... and I remember the afternoons we used to sleep in this room during the war… kids on the floor, and me on the couch.

During one of those occasions a huge explosion happened and caused something like an earthquake which also shattered the quietude of that afternoon.

I raised my head. My eyes and Raed’s stared at each other with panic, while the parrot hiding under the stairs yelled out like a stupid woman:

"Haaaa? Shako Makooooo?" (What’s going on?) !!!

So everyone started laughing in a very loud voice! In fact, she repeats that question all day long and no one notices, but at that particular moment… it was like a scene from a comedy show...

:: An excerpt :: from the "One Year" Reminiscences of Faiza Jarrar at the blog A FAMILY IN BAGHDAD.

Drop in once in a while... there's usually something doing over there.

...

:
Wed - Mar 24 -

DEAD END: An Israeli military source confirmed to AFP the arrest of a 12-year-old Palestinian child with a suicide belt at Harawa checkpoint.

"Move away, I am carrying an explosive belt," he told Palestinians queueing at the checkpoint, several witnesses said.

On March 15, the IDF said it arrested a 10-year-old boy at the same checkpoint, who was unknowingly carrying 10 kilos (22 pounds) of explosives.

:: AFP-Yahoo ::

...

:
Wed - Mar 24 -

CHASING DEMOGRAPHICS: Danny Schechter, usually at MediaChannel, turns in an op-ed to Newsday on the current Howard Stern fracas.

*With 8 million listeners (and acolytes) in the white-male demographic so prized by the White House, Stern has turned into an adversary considered dangerous by the very Republicans he had once supported.
[ ... ]
Stern's intensity and talent could give the anti-Bush movement and radio listeners a voice that it has long missed: someone who connects with working-class males and knows how to temper his earnestness with humor. And someone who also stands up for the right thing, just as Larry Flynt has struck a blow for the First Amendment against other know-nothings.*

:: D.Schechter at Newsday ::

...

:
Tues - Mar 23 -

LOOSE LINKS: Jane Perrone at The Guardian weblog points us in the direction of a new blog to watch.

"It's called Wires and is by a woman called Fiona, who is going to Baghad to install a TV studio in the Palestine Hotel. So far she has only just arrived in Iraq, but this is definitely a blog I am going to keep an eye on: the writing's good and I am intrigued to find out how she gets on."

...

:
Tues - Mar 23 -

Bloggus Interruptus That Was: Was unable to log on to the Internet yesterday. Back on today :-)

...

:
Sun - Mar 21 -

IRAQI ARCHITECT: For the first time in its 25-year history, the coveted Pritzker Architecture Prize has been won by a woman, Baghdad-born Zaha Hadid. She is currently based in London, and at 53, is one of the youngest Pritzker laureates.

:: By Dean Goodman - Reuters via Yahoo

...

:
Sun - Mar 21 -

WHAT THEY SAID: "Janet Jackson's breast was not the catalyst, but the excuse," Robert Rutan writes in an op-ed for the Sunday Miami Herald on the issue of Censorship. What do you think? Do you agree with Rutan or disagree with him on this point?

:: Airwaves are under assault ::

...

:
Sun - Mar 21 -

JIHAD WITHIN THE U.S. - A newspaper op-ed piece that recaps what's been going on here on the homefront. And it's a useful pitstop.

*...it will be interesting to see how much attention such stories receive as the election season kicks into high gear.*

A related issue involves becoming aware of potential efforts of jihadists to control our Freedom of Expression and curb our First Amendment rights.

:: From Robert Spencer at the NYPost ::

...

:
Sun - Mar 21 -

STERN AND BRUCE: In the entry posted below, Frank Rich alludes to Lenny Bruce in his discussion of Howard Stern, who *has taken on the free-speech martyrdom mantle of Lenny Bruce,* according to Rich. Is that a valid comparison? It could be argued either way.

I was not a fan of Bruce, nor do I have any special impetus to defend scatology. But an interesting sidebar to the aforementioned mantle follows:

...In the early 1960s, prosecutors from California to New York repeatedly tried to nail Lenny Bruce on obscenity charges. In one instance, Los Angeles authorities set out to nab Bruce for his ribald Yiddish shtick. But the law said that in order for someone to be guilty of obscenity, there had to be a complainant who actually understood the offending words. So they tracked down a Jewish sheriff and sent him undercover, armed with a notebook. Once they had the hard evidence, they bagged Bruce, cuffed him and carted him off to the slammer...

Questions have been raised as to why others are not being fined for the use of language similar to Stern's. So far, perhaps, no one has registered a complaint with the FCC. But sometimes, as the anecdote cited above illustrates, things are not just that simple.

...