:
Sa Feb 5 -

BOOK FAIR ARRESTS -

*The three activists who were arrested at the [Cairo] Book Fair were accused of possessing leaflets that incite hatred of the regime, a catchall charge that is frequently levelled against political activists. Sahhary was also accused of resisting arrest. The three were remanded in custody for 15 days pending investigations. The leaflets in question were invitations to a 4 February demonstration organised by the Egyptian Popular Movement for Change (EPMC) against President Hosni Mubarak's re-nomination for a fifth presidential term. All three denied the charges.*

-- Amira Howeidy --
:: Al-Ahram Weekly - Egypt ::

...

:
Sa Feb 5 -

Q8: HOT ICE ~
Here's Da Plan . . .

Kuwaiti security forces are hunting several key militant suspects after a recent spate of al-Qaeda-linked violence in the state. Militant suicide bombers had been planning to target US convoys and other US citizens in the country.

Amer Khlaif Al-Enezi confessed he had enough explosives to wire 10 cars and explode them minutes apart to confuse authorities, and the priority was for American targets, the pro-government Al-Anba Daily quoted a security source as saying...

According to Al-Anba, the group trained on using weapons and making explosives in the Kuwaiti desert. Many of them, including Al-Enezi’s brother, Nasser, trained on wiring cars in Iraq. The brother was killed in a clash on Jan 30.

The ringleader reportedly said the group’s ultimate aim was to set up an "Islamic emirate" in Kuwait...

Al-Enezi claimed that the money came from a Saudi national named Sulaiman Al-Ghamidi... And it was reported that the weapons were smuggled into Kuwait from Iraq via Saudi Arabia.

Investigations also revealed the Ministry of Interior has ordered all stationary vehicles off the road, particularly routes used by military convoys, after it was learnt that the terrorists were planning to plant explosives in trucks used to carry ice and then detonate them as the military convoys approach...

A security source also quoted Amer as telling interrogators that securitymen will not be able to arrest Mohsen Al-Fadhli alive because he always wears a belt around his waist laden with explosives...

Apparently, the trouble all started for Amer when he gave a sermon titled "Fallujah," calling on the people of Kuwait to support the people of Fallujah and criticizing the US attacks against the city...

Speaking about action taken against the former secretary-general of the Salafist movement, Hamid Al-Ali, Al-Shihab said Ali was a volunteer in the ministry and had earlier been suspended from work for posting radical ideas on the Internet...

Since then the ministry has been keeping a watch on preachers to ascertain they do not go astray... and so far, has terminated the services of 12 imams for not complying with rules and regulations set by the ministry.

-- Excerpts from an article at:
:: The Arab Times of KUWAIT ::

+ Question: Is the Al-Ghamidi allegedly identified above a member of the Saudi Al-Ghamdi Family, which has been described as rich and powerful? Is "Al-Ghamidi" a spelling variant of "Al-Ghamdi" when transliterated into English? This needs some clarification. A medical student named Al-Ghamdi blew up the mess hall in Mosul. And, it was reported, some of the 9/11 bombers were also named Al-Ghamdi. Just a puzzling point.

...

:
Sa Feb 5 -

MUSHIE MEMOIRS: FALL 06 -

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has sold the rights to his political memoir, which will feature his views on the US war on terrorism and the Bush administration, to Simon & Schuster imprint Free Press. Musharraf showed his proposal to several New York publishers before accepting this bid. Simon & Schuster is a unit of Viacom Inc. The book will be published in fall 2006, according to Reuters...

:: KuwaitTimes ::

...

:
Fr Feb 4 -

MORE INFO THAN
YOU CAN HANDLE -

*Britain's secret X-files
have revealed a flurry of
UFO activity in the last two
weeks, it was revealed today.*

:: ThisisLondon ::

...

:
Fr Feb 4 -

OPEN INTEL WEB SITES -

*On Wednesday, a visitor to ansarnet.ws posted a grainy photograph purporting to show a kidnapped U.S. soldier dressed in desert fatigues, wearing a vest and knee pads. A gun was held to the soldier's head. But the photo turned out to depict 'Cody,' a U.S.-made toy action figure...

The ansarnet.ws site, the Internet bulletin board that carried the toy soldier hoax, also features posts from Iraqi rebels and sympathizers from places like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and even Bosnia.*

:: Insurgency-friendly Web sites ::
-- By Jim Krane - AP via Detnews --

...

:
Fr Feb 4 -

WEBSITE THREATENS Q8 -

*A website statement posted Tuesday in the name of a previously unknown militant group promised to carry on its fight against the Kuwaiti government and the United States despite the arrest of a Kuwaiti Islamic militant during fierce clashes with Kuwaiti police.

There was no way to verify the authenticity of the statement, which the group noted was its first...

"Don't think even the thought that we are finished following the arrest of Sheik Amer Khlaif al-Enezi, God grant him freedom. We have only began," the group said, addressing Kuwaiti state security. "God willing, the raids will include you. You will regret it, you pigs of Al Sabah (ruling family in Kuwait), you servants of the Americans."*

:: Sarah El-Deeb - AP via Canoe ::

* * * * *
Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah dismissed the threat against Kuwait posted on an Islamist website Tuesday.

"Let them say what they wish. We will hunt them down everywhere," he told reporters after the parliamentary debate.

The Internet statement had threatened the Kuwaiti authorities with a "fierce war in which many innocent people will lose their lives."

Unless "the infidels, including America and other occupying troops" leave Kuwait, "it will be the end of your tyranny," it warned.*

:: By Omar Hasan at MEO ::

...

:
Fr Feb 4 -

Q8: THE PENINSULA LIONS -

*Meanwhile, interrogations with Amer Khlaif Al-Enezi, believed to be the leader of the so-called Peninsula Lions revealed the two fugitives Mohsen Al-Fadhli and Khalid Al-Dousari played key roles in offering protection and logistic services to members of terrorist cells by providing them food, ammunition and moving them from place to place...

"We must locate the intellectual roots of this problem, their internal and external causes, psychological and security behaviours, international policies and religious beliefs, if we want to identify such misguided ideologies and their sources," Dr Awadi continued...

"What is needed is to cut off the snake’s head, namely the masters of terror and all those who propagate for terror in mosques and the media," he [Ali Al-Baghli] said...

...liberal activist Ahmed Al-Rubei called for the questioning of political groups which harbour hardline ideology. "We want to know which political group is harbouring this ideology … We want to know from where they raised all these funds that helped them to arm"...

+ This is from a longish article with a rather dense, but informative, text and a smallish font which you may need to enlarge in order to read comfortably.

:: ARAB TIMES : KUWAIT ::
-- By Moamen Al-Masri et al --

...

:
M/Tu Feb 1 -

REACTIONS TO THE IQ CHANGE -

*American democracy is a damaged
good that the United States is trying
to spread across the world in the
interests of domination, oppression and
obscurantism,' Cairo daily Al-Akhbar said.*


:: AFP/YahooNews ::

...

:
M/Tu Feb 1 -

RIYADH MUNI ELECTIONS -

*It's election time in Riyadh. The tone in the capital and its suburbs is charged with sloganeering and promises, as the 1,828 candidates have launched the election campaign on Saturday.

A number of tents on the roadside across the city, billboards displaying candidates pictures with election slogans and voters moving from one tent to another is a common sight in the capital. All the commotion is aimed at electing half of the 14-member Municipal Council on February 10...

From the 400,000 eligible voters in Riyadh Region around 149,000 have registered in the month-long registration that ended December 23, 2004...

Almost all the candidates have launched websites announcing their election promises and plans, should they be elected to serve the community.*

-- By Shahid Ali Khan --
:: Saudi Gazette Online ::

...

:
M/Tu Feb 1 -

UNQUIET NEIGHBORS -

This is an excerpt from a background story on the Kuwait shootout below, but taken from a grassroots perspective:

*Abu Abdullah said he had wanted to record the whole incident on his camcorder but fate did not allow him. 'I returned from holidays in Dubai on Monday. As soon as we heard the police I asked my daughter for the video camera. I started shooting immediately but later realized that the battery was down. That was why I missed the opportunity,' he sighed. He said the militants, who he thinks were aged between 35 and 40, wore green track suits and sported long, thick beards. 'Those who surrendered were told by the police to come out in the open in their under wears to prevent any mishap in case they may have bombs strapped to their bodies,' Abu Abdullah told the Arab Times.
[ ... ]
What baffles Abu Abdullah was the way the militants entered the imam's residence without breaking any door. 'I don't understand how they got to know that the Egyptian imam was on vacation, headed straight here and entered the residence without breaking the doors. I think they have lived in the house before.'*

:: HOTBED FOR TERROR ::
:: ARAB TIMES :: KUWAIT ::

...

:
M/Tu Feb 1 -

KUWAIT: ILLEGAL ISLAMMING -

*The Kuwaiti government decided Monday, January 31, to refer the nascent Ummah (Nation) Party's leaders to the public prosecution's office, accusing them of declaring the establishment of the Islamist party illegally and unconstitutionally.

The government further presented an official complaint to the US embassy in the Gulf emirate, expressing uneasiness over the participation of embassy officials in "an illegal" gathering or meeting, during which the party was declared, according to Al-Watan daily, citing an unnamed cabinet source.*

:: Islam Online - News Section ::

-------------------------------
+ Hmmm... this gets curiouser and curiouser. Which US embassy officials were "participating?" And why would they do that? Meanwhile, Kuwait is experiencing problems with some Qaeda guys:

*Kuwaiti security forces killed five al-Qaeda militants and captured four others, including a top leader, during a prolonged gun battle today.*

:: From TIMESONLINE ::

---------------------------------
*Among those detained was Amer Khlaif al-Enezi, a former mosque preacher who is the alleged spiritual leader of militants involved in a series of clashes with security forces this month.*

:: AFP via The Turkish Press ::

----------------------------------
+ But is al-Enezi a member of the nascent Ummah party, too? Or maybe this is what his big problem is:

*State media said among those detained was accused top Al-Qaeda militant, Amer Al-Enezi, suspected of training and helping militants go to Iraq to join anti-foreign troops fighters there.* [From Islam Online, link above]

...

:
Mo Jan 31 -

HUSH HUSH -

Great spy yarn including OBL
and the notorious London mosque--
what more could you ask for?!

They could make this into a movie.
Get me Central Casting...

:: The spy fears for his life ::
-- By Keith Dovkants --

...

:
Mo Jan 31 -

DAVOS AND THE MIDEAST -

*Some of the torch-bearers of Arab reform came to this year's World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos to debate the ripples of change stirring from the Atlantic to the Gulf. *

This is a somewhat brief recap:

:: By Paul Taylor : At Reuters ::
-- via The Jordan Times --

* * * * *

FLY ON THE WALL:

Davos, 7:30 AM, -20 degrees,
Turki Al Faisal, Sharon Stone...

If you ignore the anti-Semitic remark toward the end, the rest of this memoir is quite entertaining. I'm not generally a big fan of Jihad Al Khazen, but once in a while he writes something interesting. Face it: this combination had to produce a winner!

:: To Annoy Me ::
-- Dar Al Hayat --

...

:
Mo Jan 31 -

EXISTENTIAL ANTIDOTE -

In a dramatic address reportedly crafted
by a "neoliberal" speechwriter within
his administration, Mr. Zarqawi urged
the Iraqi people to "throw off the
oppressive mantle of self-determination."

-- From a Satire by Scott Ott --

:: ScrappleFace: Visionary Zarqawi ::

...

:
Mo Jan 31 -

SHADID'S WORLD -

Did you want to ask Anthony Shadid a question? Is there something you're wondering about?

You'll have that opportunity
Monday morning at 11 AM EST.

*Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid will be online from Baghdad on Monday, Jan. 31, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the aftermath of the elections and the latest news from Iraq.*

Be there or be square :-)

SHADID - WaPo - Live Online

And here's a link to his latest
story; it's a long one (3 pp):

:: IRAQIS DEFY THREATS...

*But for the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003, the haggard capital and other parts of Iraq took on the veneer of a festival, as crowds danced, chanted and played soccer in streets secured by thousands of Iraqi and American forces.*

...

:
Sun/Mon Overnight - Jan 31 -

A CHAPTER CLOSES -

While we're watching the end of an era in Iraq, I think we may also be seeing the end of a chapter in the Jarrar family's life. They are no longer "A Family in Baghdad." And they may never be that again.

Faiza is currently posting from Amman. Just before the election in Iraq on Friday, January 28th, she writes:

*The elected candidates are going to discuss very dangerous issue like separating mosque from state, whether religion is the only source of law, the rights for different religious and ethnic groups, the relationships with neighbouring countries including Israel, the relationship with the occupying forces and whether they will be asked to withdraw their forces from Iraq or not...*

+ Faiza seems strangely preoccupied with Israel, which suddenly pops up out of nowhere. But Iraq does not share any common borders with Israel which might as well be located on an entirely different planet. The only common link between them is fleeting: the nostalgia factor. There are some elderly Iraqi Jews who live in Israel, but they have not expressed any desire to move back to Iraq.

*I believe that the violence in Iraq is linked directly to the presence of occupation. Violence won’t stop as long as the occupying forces are inside the country...*

+ Faiza confuses the cause with the effect. The reason the Allied Forces are in Iraq is because of the violence there. They had an aggressive war criminal government which violently invaded two of their neighbors and gassed many of the people inside their own country.

*But even here in Amman, where the security situation is really stable, the number announced about the registered voters are really low...*

+ That number would be low; it was to be expected. Most of the Iraqis who went on hiatus in Amman are Sunni and many of them (but not all) are Baathists or former Saddam associates.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Raed Jarrar writes on Saturday, Jan 29: *The romantic Iraqi elections will open the doors of hell.*

+ Raed seems to be expecting civil war in Iraq, but doesn't present any evidence which suggests that prospect to him.

On Sunday, Raed posts: *It is well known all over Iraq now that if you didn't go to vote, the government will cut your monthly food rations. EVERYONE is talking about this, and EVERYONE believes it too!!! and this is one of the main reasons why millions of poor and destroyed Iraqis were dragged out of their homes today and sent to election centers in the middle of explosions and bullets. They don't give a damn about elections, they want food. Millions of Iraqis don't have the possibility of testing whether this rumor is true or false, this is about surviving. They are ready to put their lives in danger to go get their monthly food rations...*

Raed claims that the elections were illegal and asserts: *Voter Turnout Is NOT Enough to Legitimise Elections!*

He then issues what seems like a vague threat of revenge:

*Today's elections were another shameful page in the long Bush war on Iraq; these elections were another mistake that Bush and the occupying armies will pay for in the near future.*

* * * * *

Khalid Jarrar writes on Sunday: *Today was full of explosions. I didn't leave the house...*

+ That seems sensible enough. He then goes on to explain how, he believes, the voting system there operates:

*The way the voting happened, is that you go to the voting center, and you go to the man who is your ration dealer, the one who you take the ration from every month; so you tell him that you are gonna vote, he marks your name on his list, and then you vote!!!

That way the goverment will know exactly who voted and who didn't. Two dealers said that the next year's card won't be given to those who didn't vote...*

+ That sounds a bit like the Oil For Food program, doesn't it?

* * * * *

+ I feel like I've got a kind of Jet Lag from the Iraqi Elections, probably due in large part to the time difference between here and there. I've been a wreck all day, though I took a nap. I hope I recover by tomorrow.

...

:
Su Jan 30 -

CONNECTING THE DOTS -

*It may not have been apparent on the surface, but Europe's recent commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz was steeped in irony. Even while the Old World stirringly recalls the horrors of Hitler's death camps and vows never to forget the Nazi genocide of the Jews, it also embraces an increasingly -- and alarmingly -- antagonistic attitude toward the Jewish state that arose from the ashes of
World War II...

Perceptions of Israel in the United States, meanwhile, contrast sharply...

What accounts for this transatlantic values gap?*

:: In Europe... ::
-- By Robin Shepherd, WaPo (RR'd) --


:: A HISTORICAL CONTINUUM ::

...

:
Su Jan 30 -

NEW ERA OR NEW EMPIRE -

Kuwaiti Islamists have just announced the creation of the first political party in the Gulf region...

*The Ummah Party said it would endeavor to achieve political, economic and military unity among the Gulf countries to protect the region and to dispense with the foreign military presence which threatens its sovereignty and independence.*

:: Islam Online - News Section ::

* * *

So, is this (below) just a random coincidence?

*KUWAIT CITY - A fierce hourlong battle between police and suspected terrorists holed up in a residential building Sunday left a most-wanted fundamentalist, one policeman and a Bahraini resident dead, the government said.

It was the third shootout this month between security forces and suspected militants in Kuwait, a major U.S. ally that has been battling fundamentalists who oppose the presence of the American military here...

The government reiterated its resolve to uproot "this group that has lost its way" and called on more public cooperation with police.*

:: AP via Billings Gazette ::

...

:
Su Jan 30 -

IQ ELECTION RESOLUTION:

*Polls have now closed in Iraq,
with militants failing to derail
the elections with a series of
suicide bombs and firefights.*

:: From Sky News ::

...

:
Sa Jan 29 -

Z*G CONSPIRACIES -

It didn't take long for the second shoe to drop on the Douglas Feith resignation. Sure enough, Prof Juan Cole took the ball and ran with it:

"Having a Likudnik as the number three man in the Pentagon is a nightmare for American national security..."

Did I bait him into it? Moi? Nooooo.

He doesn't need any bait; it seems to be a preoccupation with him.

But here's what General Tommy Franks had to say about Feith:

*Retired general Tommy Franks, who commanded the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, memorably referred to Mr Feith in a pep talk with military planners as "the dumbest ******* guy on the planet."*

For all of Prof Coles' conspiracy theories, Feith doesn't seem very capable of carrying out any elaborate plots, according to Gen Franks.

Who do you want to believe?

I don't know much about Feith, but I have a high regard for Gen Franks' ability to evaluate performance.

:: Informed Comment perma ::

:: Franks in The (UK) Telegraph ::

...

:
Sa Jan 29 -

HATE LIT ALLEGED -

*The government of Saudi Arabia
is spreading 'hate propaganda' in
religious tracts sent to mosques
throughout America...* group claims.

:: Katherine Clad - WashTimes ::

...

:
Sa Jan 29 -

WAHABIS THREATEN VOTERS -

In Sydney, a polling station
for Iraqi exiles had to be closed
for an hour on Saturday after a
riot broke out and a suspicious bag
prompted a bomb scare, organizers said.

:: MSNBC - Riot, bomb scare ::

...

:
Sa Jan 29 -

WEEKEND VIDEOS -

It's a tense weekend leading up to the Iraqi Elections.

Found via Live From Dallas and hunted down to get the proper links, I found two web videos by Salam Pax. In a way, they're perfect for this weekend.

As you may remember, Salam was working with BBC Newsnight, which is where they are located. Because I'm surfing on a half-speed slow connection lately, I don't regularly check Newsnight anymore, although I still have it bookmarked. Each of these two web videos runs about 10 minutes long, so get comfortable.

# SALAM EXPLAINS IT ALL:
The Iraqi Elections and thensome,
complete with Fun Facts and Car Bombs.

:: BBC NEWSNIGHT VIDEO - 20 JAN '05 ::

-----------------------------------

# SALAM GOES SOUTH:
in which he travels to Amara and shows you the cultural diversity there, including what's left of a Christian Church and an old synagogue. As far as I could make out on my lousy connection: there is no diversity there; it's on its way back to the Stone Age. God created a thousand flowers and the Iraqis have destroyed them. Look upon these ruins and weep. This is a Desecration. Yeah, it's peaceful there; it's the peace of the dead.

:: NEWSNIGHT VIDEO - JAN 26 '05 ::


+ If it weren't for Salam's usual antics, it would be depressing. But try not to think about that. It's gotta get better, right?!

...

:
Fr Jan 28 -

JAMMING THEM UP -

*The clampdown has begun and the anticipation is building... U.S. forces tonight will start (1) jamming Iraq's entire cell phone network, (2) cordoning off hundreds of roads and streets, (3) preventing travel between Iraq's 19 provinces, among other things.*

From David Shuster's Baghdad Diary,

Day 6; and there's a bonus Webcast.

:: An MSNBC Blog ::

...

:
Fr Jan 28 -

FATAL IRREGULARITIES -

"In my [TV] station, they killed my friend Dina, a female journalist... Half her face was missing. I carried Dina in my arms and go into hospital, and they say Dina is dead."

*More could die on Sunday, as reporters are being asked not only to cover the voting for their employers but also to serve as an independent monitoring force.*

:: Sharon Behn, WashTimes ::

...

:
Th Jan 27 -

MADANI about . . .

I'm not a political junkie,
but I found this bit interesting:

*The LBC Arab satellite channel ran an extended interview Sunday afternoon EST with interim Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawir...

Yawir also revealed that he had initially hoped to have a joint slate with Iyad Allawi, since the politicians on both lists are dedicated to 'civil' (i.e. non-theocratic) governance. He said he did not like the word 'secular' ('almani) to describe their stance, but preferred 'civil' (madani). He said he believed that religion is too sublime and pure to be mixed into the nitty-gritty of day to day politics...*

From Prof Cole's Sun, Jan 23rd Entry:

:: Informed Comment perma ::

...

:
Th Jan 27 -

RAED'S "SHAM ELECTIONS" -

I was very saddened to read Raed Jarrar's latest screed loosely about the Iraqi elections.

First, I was saddened to see him simply parroting secondhand nonsense: scurrilous claims that the forced removal of the Baathist war criminal regime was illegal and fantasies that the US went there to "liberate" the Iraqis. He says some other silly things and then demands that the US government pay him.

*...nothing justifies the illegal war that happened to “liberate” the country.*

No one is "liberating" the Iraqi people; they are in the process of liberating themselves. In contrast, Raed Jarrar is a zombie like a manchurian candidate, in that he just repeats what other airheads have bloviated. We hope to afford the Iraqi people the opportunity to think their own thoughts. And, so far, it looks like many of them are using that opportunity.

But then, Raed communicates in a much more honest, personal way than he has done before and, thus, we learn that the Jarrar family is not Iraqi at all; they are simply Iraqi Nationals.

*I am one of the people affected by the Iraqi political national government. I have relatives that were killed in all the wars, I have relatives that were thrown on the borders during the Iraqi Iranian war because of our Iranian descent.*

Prior to this more honest admission, we only knew that his father was a Jordanian National of Palestinian heritage. This new revelation throws a considerably different light on their family's viewpoints of the Iraqi people's situation.

I wish him and his girlfriend Niki well, even though it is quite clear at this point that he has no respect for the Iraqi people whatsoever.

Raed, it turns out, is not "in the middle." He's on the outside, looking in. And that appears to be the way he wants it.

Sham Iraqis view the exercise in
self-determination of the Real Iraqis
as Sham Elections.

I suppose that makes sense in its own futile way.

Excerpts are from Raed's:
Thurs, Jan 27th Entry

:: Raed in the Middle perma ::

...

:
Th Jan 27

FEITH RESIGNS -

*The No. 3 man at the Pentagon, Douglas J. Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy, is resigning his Pentagon position, FOX News learned Wednesday.* [--to spend more time with his family.]

So, what's the Big Deal?

This gentleman has become a magnet for some truly demonic conspiracy theories of an anti-Semitic character.

:: Feith Resigns - FOXNews ::

...

:
Th Jan 26 -

FROM REPORTERS' NOTEBOOKS -

This has become a new variation of a weblog. Are they worth reading? They may provide some extra "color" or texture as far as background features of the main stories. I expect we're going to see more of them approaching this weekend's Iraqi elections.
----------------------------------

#) Shuster's Baghdad Diary:

*If U.S. soldiers respond to any convoy ambush by going en-masse into the neighborhood, they would be looking for a needle in a haystack, because few Iraqis in these areas have shown any willingness to identify the insurgents in their midst...

There are some U.S. forces that have found Iraqis they can work with. But many American units we've seen are clearly on their own. And the glares they get from Iraqis... well, it is truly chilling.*

:: Shuster: MSNBC ::
-----------------------------------

#) Dana Lewis Notebook:

He has an informal portrait of
and interview with General Petraeus.

:: Lewis: FoxNews ::
-----------------------------------

#) Abu Harith in Hit, Iraq:

*Children in Iraq are off school at the moment...

Now, we just try to keep them safe and entertained. They have their television, their satellite TV (which they love), their computers... it keeps them diverted. Before kids would play with their kites, their paper airplanes... it's very different now!*

:: BBC Iraq Election Log ::
-----------------------------------

#) F of D - Grassroots:

Intisar reports that the "Fighters of the Army of Mouhammad" are terrorizing citizens in Babel province, especially in the northern region... Threat comes through messages left at citizens’ doors...

The fuel crisis got worse in Al Hilla, making this problem the talk of the day. Despite the students’ transportation being interrupted due to the spring holiday, the transport fares doubled during the Eid. The main cause was the rise in the price of gas today, now 750 dinars per liter.

Electricity cut-offs are still between 18 and 22 hours a day.
***************
And there's a report of the Refugee Controversy worsening in Kirkuk, where the EICI allowed tens of thousands of "refugees," who arguably are not really from that city, to register for the election.

Their correspondent in Tamm'im Providence says the Iraqi Turkmen Front is threatening to withdraw from the elections, and the Arabic United Front already has withdrawn from the elections over the controversy.

:: FoD: Citizen Journalists ::

...

:
We Jan 26 -

ZARQAWI BOMBING POLLS -

During our overnight, Aljazeera TV Net has been reporting that numerous voting centers in Iraq have been blown up or shelled with Zarqawi's Year-Zero gang taking credit.

*...10 polling centres north of Baghdad were attacked overnight, police reported. A further voting station was hit in the south of the country.

The attacks across Salah al-Din province, a main area of the violence, caused severe damage to the stations, most of them located in schools, police said.*

+ I'd have to have a second source to nail down some specific hard facts. So far, with only this one source, I'd have to accept the story as tentative. We'll see what facts emerge later.

:: Aljazeera.TVNet - poll centres hit ::

...

:
We Jan 26 -

THE GO-BETWEEN:

Since the fall of Saddam everything
has changed for Iraq's Sunni Arabs...

G writes about an alleged friend's
father who's been going through
a bit of a rough patch lately.

But I can say no more...

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad: Guardian ::

...

:
We Jan 26 -

CONSPIRACY THEORIES -

Sheikha Mouza of Qatar has won a libel case against the Azzaman newspaper.

The [spurious] claims against her, made in a series of articles in 2001, ranged from "improper interference in political, judicial and security matters in Qatar to engagement in secret dealings with Israel."

Azzaman is supposed to publish an apology for the allegations in both its print and electronic editions as part of the settlement reached with her legal team. And a three-quarter million dollar financial penalty was attached, too.

The Sheikha seems to have become the target of some Byzantine conspiracy theory. Such theories are not uncommon in the Middle East where the line between poetry and history is often blurred.

:: Sheikha Wins ::
-- AFP/Yahoo --


At first it seemed so simple...

Then The Guardian wrote their story:

*Lawyers for Mr Bazzaz argued that Azzaman was raising issues of importance and it was not possible to check everything in an undemocractic and secretive country such as Qatar.*

Pardon me while I scrape myself off the floor from laughing so hard. His lawyers asserted that if it's inconvenient to verify a story, you're entitled to fabricate one?

And that's just the beginning. By the time you reach the end of this story, you'll think you fell down the White Rabbit's hole.

Whose conspiracy was that?

:: D.Pallister-Guardian: Mogul ::

...

:
We Jan 26 -

BUT WHERE'S THE SPRITZ?

Everybody and his uncle is arriving in Baghdad or trying to. The SkyGuy has landed, but his entry is blaah. This guy seems like he might be more of a live wire:

*Finally I make it to the hotel. Though well guarded, it’s a microcosm of everything that goes wrong in Baghdad.

The power goes off regularly, so often I walk from one level to the next because the elevators don't always work. For three weeks there wasn't any hot water because the boiler broke, and no one, including the U.S. Army officer who is in charge of this area, could get it fixed...

When Strosky finally got some kind of warm water to the hotel, a day later insurgents apparently blew up a water main supplying most of Baghdad. So we - along with millions of Iraqis - went from no hot water to no water at all...

The lights just went out again. And the window rattled from a distant bomb blast. It's gotta get better, right?*

-- By Dana Lewis: FoxNews --
:: Reporter's Notebook ::

...

:
Tu Jan 25 -

TEMPLATE CHANGE -

I just increased the Font size
for this blog from 12px to 16px.

I understand that in theory the ideal might be to just indicate "normal" which is supposed to be user-friendly. But I'm not much of a techno-wiz.

I don't know why, but the print seemed to be getting smaller and smaller lately and today seemed especially squished together to the point of becoming almost unreadable on a practical and comfortable level. Sooo... I decided to do something about it.

For a while, some of the text may be a bit out of kilter due to the change, and I don't have the patience to go back to fix whatever glitches may arise during the transitional period. But, in the long run, I hope the size increase will enhance the experience for both reader and writer.

I do generally try to break up large, solid blocks of print for the screen into smaller chunks which are more easily "grabbed."

Thank you for your forbearance.

...

:
Tu Jan 25 -

COUCH POTATO ALERT -

*FRONTLINE investigates the new front in the war on terror: Europe. Now home to an estimated 18 million Muslims - which some call 'Eurabia' - the continent is a challenge to intelligence services on both sides of the Atlantic, exacerbated by political divisions over the Iraq War.*

FRONTLINE (in U.S.) may be on TV
at 9 or 10 PM tonight.

Check your local schedules for PBS shows.

:: FRONTLINE: home - PBS ::

...

:
Tu Jan 25 -

FROM FRENCH HISTORY TEACHERS -

*Their outspoken book 'The Lost Territories of the Republic' opened France's eyes to classrooms where some Muslim pupils openly denounced Jews, praised Hitler and refused to listen to any non-Muslim teacher talking about the history of Islam."

Such tension has prompted Jewish pupils in these areas to switch to private Jewish or even Catholic schools...

"The problem concerns not only the Shoah but anything to do with religion," he said. "Some Muslim pupils don't accept being taught about Christian religious life, which is very important to understand the Middle Ages.

"The Algerian War is difficult, too, as is slavery," he said...*

:: By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor ::
-- Reuters via Yahoo --

...

:
Tu Jan 25 -

ZARQAWI PROPAGANDISTS -

*Mr. Naqib also issued a later statement saying that on Jan. 14 security forces captured Mr. Zarqawi's chief of propaganda, Hasam Hamad Abdullah Muhsin al-Dulaimi, known as Dr. Hassan. Mr. Dulaimi had not served long in the post; he took the job after American-led forces killed the former propaganda chief, Hassan Ibrahim, in a Baghdad raid on Dec. 13, Mr. Naqib said.*

:: Edward Wong: NYTimes ::
-- Reg Req'd --

...

:
Tu Jan 25 -

A ZARQAWI NARRATIVE -

From an account by As'ad AbuKhalil in The People's Republic of Berkeley comes this purported glimpse into the mind of Zarqawi, but, alas, the blogger doesn't give a source attribution or cite a hyperlink:

...And after the last statement by his former comrade, Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, who reminded him that he was not trained in religious sciences, Zarqawi has a complex now... He compares his gang to the movement by Muhammad against the pagans. And then he reports a few "miracles" from the battle of Fallujah: about his fighters coming across a watermelon that is so red (and out of season - he tells you); about a fighter coming across a house with containers of cold water "oddly lined up next to one another;" and about a fighter whose brains were blown up with gunfire, but the pieces were then collected together by his comrades, and then he recovered fully. He is trying to imply that God was helping his movement. But could not God's help have been more helpful? And then he cites a poem, which looks like his composition...

+Very lightly edited.

:: As'ad AbuKhalil Blog perma ::

...

:
Tu Jan 25 -

COVERING THE IQ ELECTIONS -

Many journalists are on their way
into Iraq, but some are experiencing
delays in getting there.

*The streets of the capital are full of muddy brown water from a storm at the weekend. There is now 10 hours electricity a day in the capital, compared to only two or three hours a month ago ... Mobile phones now often cease to function for hours at a time due to overloading of the system. There has also been a water shortage, blamed on sabotage, in much of Baghdad over the past 10 days ... Many from Baghdad have already left for Jordan, Syria and Dubai.*

:: Patrick Cockburn : The Independent ::


*But Baghdad residents received a boost on Sunday when water was restored to nearly half of the capital after a week-long crisis caused by sabotage of a water main.*

:: Reuters ::


*Apparently, there were "issues" today at the Baghdad International Airport. One issue was a nasty sandstorm. Another issue was that for a brief part of the day, the airport was under mortar attack.*

:: From D Shuster : MSNBC Baghdad Diary ::


And Anthony Shadid sends in a long
:: Dispatch from Basra ::


Although there may be a lot of Big Name journalists covering the event, there are also some newer hopefuls making an effort, too. And we are no longer limited to Big Media, since there are going to be some grassroots people sending in dispatches on various
kinds of weblogs.

Some of these correspondents may be good; some not very good; some may make your eyes glaze over.

It's going to be quite a weekend with satellite equipment and videophones and probably at least some glitches.

So, fasten your seat belt!

...

:
Mo Jan 24 -

GO FLY A JIHAD -

*Heavy fighting outside Baghdad International Airport prevented two Jordanian passenger planes from landing Monday, the airline spokesman said.

Royal Jordanian's planes made quick turns over Baghdad, where the airport's control tower denied the aircraft permission to land because of heavy fighting nearby, a spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

Royal Jordanian is one of three airlines running a regular passenger service to Iraq.

One of the others, Iraqi Airways, operated its afternoon flight from Iraq to Jordan on Monday.*

:: AP/Yahoo! News ::

...

:
Mo Jan 24 -

JIHADI RICOCHET -

Are some Saudi clerics
exporting Jihadis to Iraq?

**Saudi clerics such as Al-Odeh and al-Hawali have issued several fatwas saying jihad is legitimate in Iraq...

Saleh al-Owfi, believed to be al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia, claimed in a Web site statement that al-Hawali had asked him not to fight at home but to go to Iraq...

Iraq as a battleground offers the solution to a quandary facing the Saudi clerics who have to both placate the kingdom's rulers and keep their radical base happy...**

:: As reported by S Faramarzi ::
-- AP/Yahoo --

...

:
Mo Jan 24 -

MORE ON MOUTHPIECE -

*Zarqawi's propaganda mastermind,
Hassan al-Dulaimi, who confessed Kurdi
had been plotting attacks on polling centres
to disrupt Sunday's vote had also been
arrested, the government added.*

:: AFP/Yahoo: top Zarqawi ops arrested ::

...

:
Mo Jan 24 -

MOUTHPIECE ARRESTED -

During the course of reporting that the "most lethal" car bomber, Sami Mohammad Ali Said al-Jaaf, has been arrested, the BBC also reports the arrest of a man described as Zarqawi's propaganda chief.

More details as they become available.

:: BBC : 'top Zarqawi ally' ::

...

:
Mo Jan 24 -

ACROSS THE POND -

# Rory McCarthy from The Guardian
drops in on Yanar Mohammed:

"The liberation should happen through
a civil and secular alternative."

The latest copy of her group's newspaper,
al-Musawat, or Equality,
shows a photo of her burning a veil.

:: R McCarthy article ::
:: Yanar Mohammed's Website ::


# William Shawcross has a superb
Op-Ed essay which, if you have a
couple of extra minutes, is worth reading.
In it he says:

"It is shocking that so few democratic
governments support the Iraqi people."

:: Shawcross Op-Ed ::


# And Jane Perrone on Newsblog
discloses that the Beeb now has three
people blogging from Iraq about the election.

:: Perrone's Newsblog Entry ::
:: BBC Iraq Election Weblog ::

...

:
Su Jan 23 -

IQ GALS: TOUGH DECISIONS -

**Both Kadhim and Maysoon al-Damluji went to the same elite high school and studied architecture together at Baghdad University. But today, their different paths underscore the dilemma faced by many Iraqi professionals as they decide whether their ambitions to build a new Iraq is worth the risk.**

:: By Scott Peterson - CS Monitor ::

+ I notice that Faiza Jarrar has a new entry posted in Arabic, but it hasn't been translated into English yet.

...

:
Su Jan 23 -

IQ GRASSROOTS ELECTION REPORTING -

Omar's new entry explains the new Friends of Democracy website, the new Arabic Blogging Tool, and the Arabic Blog Project.

:: Omar at ITM perma ::

Friends of Democracy, which I saw first via GM's Big Pharoah Blog, is a very fancy piece of work. It can be accessed in both English and in Arabic.

In English, it is a blog which features grassroots election reporting from all over Iraq. This may give us access to some pretty farflung locations, way off the beaten path, that professional journalists are not apt to get into very deeply.

:: Friends of Democracy ::

...

:
Su Jan 23 -

LIT-NETTING:

**The Iraqi writer Arif Alwan has decided to publish his new novel, Al-Adhwa'a, exclusively on the Internet. The writer told Asharq Al-Awsat the main reason behind his decision is the disappointments he found dealing with the publishers. I think it is good to see Arab writers finally take advantage of the Internet. I downloaded the novel and I will try to read it when I get back to Riyadh.**

-- Ahmed : Thurs Jan 20th Blog Entry
:: SAUDI JEANS permlink ::

...

:
Sa Jan 22 -

IRAQI PENNY DREADFUL SATURDAY

These accounts are not
suitable for sensitive readers:

*A senior official [Ali Ghalib] from the city of Tikrit who was kidnapped this month and reported dead was released alive this week after what he described as two harrowing weeks in captivity.

[ ... ]

Several days into the ordeal, the group was herded outside to witness the beheading of a fellow captive, the men said. "The guy was sitting in a chair facing a man with his face covered and holding a sword," Ghalib said. "After they read a paper saying he was cooperating with Iranian intelligence, the masked man cut off his head.*

:: K.Vick/S.S. Aldin: WaPo ::

* * *

Then, at the end of a longish article
for Saturday, Shadid adds:

*The Reuters news agency reported Friday that a group beheaded an Iraqi soldier in broad daylight in Ramadi, on the Euphrates River west of Baghdad. They left the body in the street, with the severed head placed on the torso and a note warning other Iraqi soldiers to quit, according to Reuters.

In a video posted on the Internet, insurgents loyal to Zarqawi beheaded two Iraqis who said they worked at a U.S. base in Iraq, Reuters reported.*

That Reuters report can be found
on Yahoo for Fri.

:: Shadid et al: WaPo ::

...

:
Sa Jan 22 -

THOSE OL' DEVIL TOWERS -

*'I stoned the three jamarat in less than 15 minutes,'
Nasser AbdelFattah, a 31-year-old Egyptian,
proudly said.

'Today Satan is America and Israel and I hope
that, thanks to God, we defeat them,' he added.

Abdo Abu Zeid, a 38-year-old Syrian,
had the same opinion.

'America and Israel are the devils of our day,' he said.

'In the world, there is only a great devil, it's America,'
Sukhamat Ali, a Pakistani pilgrim, also said.*

* * *

+ I believe that Mohammed Atta thought he was "stoning the Devil" when he hit the WTC Towers with his jumbo jet missile. The inherent symbolism seems inescapable. Or was it some kind of magical thinking?

Then, too, the recent slaughter of the Egyptian family in Jersey City evokes the ritual-style slaughter of Daniel Pearl which also occurred around an Eid period, as I recall.

I suspect that a kind of syncretic sect of Islam may be developing. By "syncretic" I mean somewhat like the African belief systems with a Christian facade that resulted in Santeria and Voodoo, etc., except that this one may have a Moslem facade. But I could be
wrong, too.

:: AFP/Yahoo - final hajj ritual ::

...

:
Sa Jan 22 -

BAGHDAD: ONE WEEK TO D-DAY...
The Big D / Decision Day -

Zeyad describes what's going on:

*One week to elections day and the general atmosphere in the capital is eerie, yet strikingly familiar. I suspect the streets of Baghdad will look as if a war is looming this week. There is no doubt that many Iraqis regard the date of 30 January as a day of renewed hope, one they have been awaiting all their lives, but at the same time, many others are already dreading it.*

-- From his Fri - Jan 21st Blog Entry.

:: Healing Iraq Blog ::

...

:
Sa Jan 22 -

MOSUL TRAIN STATION -

*Iraqi Intervention Forces were able to defeat
repeated anti-Iraqi insurgent attacks on a train
station in southern Mosul. The insurgents tried to
overtake the train station, but were defeated
by IIF soldiers. No IIF injuries were reported.*

:: From SBNews ::

...

:
Fr Jan 21 -

FCC CHIEF STEPS DOWN -

Michael Powell has resigned. An atronomically increasing barrage of male performance enhancement drugs and a finicky obsession with pastie ornaments distinguished his strange tenure at the agency.

The combination was troubling and leaves perplexing questions unresolved: viz; how did our broadcasting airwaves come to be so flooded with male sex chemicals, especially at dinnertime?

*Powell has praised the record fines, saying the commission was 'wielding our sword' to protect children and viewers who object to racy programming.*

But, seemingly and in stark contrast, racy commercials are just fine.

Go figure.

:: By Ted Bridis/AP/Yahoo ::

...

:
Fr Jan 21 -

UK TV STATION:

"Ban It or We'll Bomb It!" -

A hardline Iranian religious group threatened on Wednesday to carry out suicide attacks on a UK-based Iranian exile TV presenter, saying Manouchehr Fouladvand's broadcasts were inflammatory and insulted Islamic values.

Mojtaba Bigdeli, the spokesman for the 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.

"He has crossed our red lines by insulting our prophet and Islamic values," Bigdeli said.

:: From Rantburg ::

...

:
Fr Jan 21 -

IQ BOLO TIPS -

*"Many, many people tell us about the terrorists with this,'' al-Zobaidi said, tapping his black cell phone and thumbing down to show more messages.

"All the time, I hear his phone -
beep beep beep beep, beep beep
beep beep,'' said Sgt. Eddie Risner...

...mobile phone text messages allow civilians to pass on information from a discreet distance, their identities shielded from security forces and their neighbors.*

+ Recommended. Well written and informative.

:: By Ellen Knickmeyer ::
--AP via The Guardian --

...

:
Fr Jan 21 -

NEW 'HAVE-A-HEART' TRAP for humans...

*An Israeli newspaper reported that a young Iraqi from Kirkuk had successful heart surgery in a hospital in Peta Tikvah. The family of the young man said that they could not afford the expenses of the surgery and so went to a humanitarian aid organization that arranged for their son to be transferred and treated in Israel for free.

'I never believed that I'd visit
Israel one day,' said the young man...

~How dare he seek the help
of the Zionists to save his life!*

+ Ali at Free Iraqi has a cute story today...
-- Yeah, it's from:

The Life Can Be Complicated Dept.

:: FREE IRAQI permalink ::

...

:
Fr Jan 21 -

IS MOSUL READY-SET-GO?

*It's the rainy season in Ninewa province, and the mud sticks to your boots the way old ideas stick in your mind.

But rain also washes away the mud, and officials hope the elections Jan. 30 will wash away the old ideas governing this country.

Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq; Iraqi armed forces chief Gen. Babakir; and Iraqi ground forces commander Army Maj. Gen. Abdul Qadr led a trip to Ninewa to get the latest on the security situation for the elections...

Iraqi officials said the election will happen in Ninewa province...

"Insh'allah (God willing), we will be ready."*

-- Excerpted From Jim Garamone, AFPS --

* * *

In other news about the city via Stryker:

Allied Forces were fired upon by anti-Iraqi insurgents from Al Sabrine Mosque in eastern Mosul... Firing from a mosque clearly is a violation of the law of war.

And yesterday, terrorist insurgents attacked Al Salam Hospital in eastern Mosul, but were successfully repelled with no injuries to ISF or Iraqi civilians reported.

:: From Stryker Brigade News ::

...

:
Fr Jan 21 -

GOOD MORNING, ORANGE CITY!
~ Radio Diyala is on the Air ~

"That's your opinion."

*...to deliver a message: If Sayed didn't stop talking about the election and criticizing the insurgency, someone would come to the radio show host's house and cut out his tongue, his brother was told... Since the threat, Sayed has been sleeping at the station...

...the U.S. military does not control the station's content, said Sgt. 1st Class Rodd Coker of the 350th Psychological Operations Unit. The station is owned by the Iraqi Media Network, a property of the central government in Baghdad, which in turn was set up by the Americans...

During the special election show, the two
phone lines for listeners rang non-stop...*

From an article by Aamer Madhani
:: ChiTribune via Yahoo ::

...

:
Fr Jan 21 -

EG SHUTS IQ VOTE CENTER -

Iraqi activists said Friday Egyptian authorities
closed down a center they opened to register
the names of eligible voters for Iraq's upcoming
elections... the reason given by the Egyptian police
was that it was not licensed... Hundreds of Iraqi
expatriates had already registered their names...

There are an estimated 6,000 Iraqis in Egypt...

:: UPI via WashTimes ::

...

:
Fr Jan 21 -

MAJORITY OF IRAQIS INTEND TO VOTE -

*An overwhelming majority of Iraqis continue to say they intend to vote on Jan. 30 even as insurgents press attacks aimed at rendering the elections a failure, according to a new public opinion survey.

"Despite the efforts of the terrorists,
Iraqis remain committed to casting
their vote on election day."

Western specialists involved with election preparations said they were struck by the determination and resilience of ordinary Iraqis as they anticipate their country's first free election in half a century.*

:: Karl Vick for WashPost ::

...

:
Th Jan 20 -

LIMITED TO 'HOTEL JOURNALISM'?

*Armed with flak jackets and strict
security rules, dozens of reporters
are gearing up to leave London
to cover the historic January 30 vote.*

:: AFP/Yahoo ::

...

:
We Jan 19 -

MURDER IN MIND -

*Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
has labelled author Salman Rushdie an apostate
whose killing would be authorised by Islam,
according to a message carried by Iranian media.*

Khamenei referred to Rushdie as a
"mahdour al-damm" which is a term applied to
someone whose blood may be shed with impunity.

:: AFP/YahooNews -

...

:
We Jan 19 -

IQ BLOGGERS' P.O.V.s SOUGHT OUT -

*While Iraq's many newspapers get little notice in the American media, the country's citizen bloggers are drawing increased attention, as reporters in the United States try to gauge views within that country during the lead-up to this month's elections. One reason for the interest: Many of the Iraqi bloggers' postings are written in English, unlike the commentary in local newspapers.*

From an article by Brian Orloff
For Editor and Publisher
Carried via YahooNews

:: Turning to Bloggers ::

...

:
We Jan 19 -

CAMPAIGNING IN BAGHDAD -

*Across the courtyard was a banner:
'This is how nations begin to decide
their destiny... through the ballot box,' it said.*

The latest piece by Anthony Shadid.

:: Shadid -washpost ::

...

:
We Jan 19 -

FOR AFGHAN GALS : A RELAUNCH -

*The first radio station dedicated
to the interests of women has been
relaunched in Afghanistan."

The station was taken back on air
by its director - and one of the country's
most famous women - Jamileh Mujahed...*

:: Paul Anderson for BBC ::

...

:
We Jan 19 -

TAL AFAR INCIDENT -

The following is a dispatch from
The Stryker Brigade News:

*Two Iraqi civilians were killed when the vehicle they were driving tried to speed through a Multi-National Force patrol yesterday in northern Iraq. Soldiers of the 2nd Squadron 14th Calvary Regiment tried to halt the vehicle in Tal Afar. The soldiers used hand signals and shot to disable the vehicle before shooting at the vehicle and killing the driver and the front seat passenger. There were six uninjured children in the rear seats of the vehicle.

Military Officials extend their condolences for this unfortunate incident.

Due to the threat car bombs present to Iraqi Security Forces, Multi-National Forces, and the people of Iraq, military must take appropriate action against possible threats. Since January 1 at least five moving car bombs have detonated on ISF and MNF patrols and checkpoints.

Multi-National Forces have previously warned civilians to obey all signals given by military troops and all signs directing them how to react to checkpoints.*

:: MOSUL, IRAQ -Jan 19, 2005 ::

* * *

:: Documentary Photos at the BBC ::
-- Featured on Brits' Front Page --
-- Our Middle East Section --

...

:
We Jan 19 -

THE NEW NORMAL AD HOQ -

*ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Tuesday that the situation in Sui was normal and gas was being restored to all parts of the country.

[ ... ]

Meanwhile, thousands of Baloch tribesmen armed with weapons reached Dera Bugti after the provincial government requested the federal government to deploy federal security forces in the area. A VOA report on Tuesday said that about 20,000 to 25,000 Bugtis reached the area after FC contingents were sent to Dera Bugti. Law enforcement agencies have set up checkpoints in Sui and are monitoring people movement.*


:: Daily Times - PK ::
-- Via Rantburg --

...

:
We Jan 19 -

CONFOUNDED BELIEFS -

In a flap about an article on Iraqi Bloggers by Sarah Boxer in the NYTimes, Jeff Jarvis goes "Jarvistic" over several aspects of the piece.

Among other things...

*...CIA Tech Solutions is owned by a nice guy named Jeff Reed who donated domain hosting for a list of Iraqi bloggers, including ones quite anti-American. And if you went to his site, you'd confirm that CIA stands for Complex Internet Applications Technical Solutions...*

So far, no one as asked Mr Reed
what impelled him to give his company
such a controversial name.

Maybe Temporary Insanity.

:: BuzzMachine - perma ::

* * *

And, here's an explosive article
about political operatives being disguised
as journalists in the Middle East at the JPost.

:: Where the reporting stops ::

...

:
Tu Jan 18 -

PALTALK : MORE TROUBLE -

*An internet company is under pressure
to pull the plug on inflammatory broadcasts
by an extremist London-based Muslim cleric.*

PalTalk is the same company recently
identified in the case of the ritual-style
slaughter of the Coptic family in Jersey City.

See blog entries below about that case.

:: From This is London ::

...

:
Tu Jan 18 -

IRAQI WOMEN'S CAUCUS -

Rep Kay Granger (R-Texas) appeared on the Fox "News" TV Channel [all blondes; all the time] early this morning as the leader of the U.S. Congressional Iraqi Women's Caucus. Unfortunately, I was channel-surfing at the time and tuned in during the middle of her appearance, so I didn't catch much of it.

But there is a related deadtree article online.

Granger just returned from a
confer in Amman about this issue.

*...20 women candidates - representing different parties, religions and perspectives - are braving a hostile insurgency and an uncertain future in Assembly elections that will usher in a post-U.S. Iraq. Assembly members will have the daunting task of writing a new Constitution.

The meeting [was] held in Amman because of safety concerns in Baghdad.*

From an article by Maria Recio, KR
Via the Billings Gazette -
:: Iraqi women candidates ::

...

:
Mo Jan 17 -

RITUAL-SLYLE SLAUGHTER update -

Trophies may have been taken from the Coptic Armanious family found in a ritual-style condition in Jersey City.

*Sources said Hossam Armanious' wallet had been emptied and his pockets were turned out when he was found along with his wife and two daughters, bound with fatal knife wounds to their throats.

Investigators also found his daughter's purse emptied out, and no cash in the house except a penny on the floor by their bodies.*

Items such as a driver's license or library cards may be scanned and then posted on Cult websites.

:: From NYPost ::
-- By E Calabrese and L Greene --

...

:
Mo Jan 17 -

CYBERSPACE ANOMALIES -

**I really have to go to this UNESCO conference on Freedom of Speech in Cyberspace which will be held in UNESCO headquarters in Paris, on 3-4 February.

At least to embarrass the Iranian delegation which will be arrogant enough to take part in such conference, even with its horrible record of freedom of speech in Cyberspace, and also to inform the UN and its members about the vast and heavy Net censorship in Iran.**

:: From HODER - perma ::

...

:
Mo Jan 17 -

CRANK PHONE CALLS and more -

*Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi simply smiled during the live television show when a man called to praise terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The Iraqi leader then moved on, offering to find information about a woman's detained son and see why a student didn't get into the graduate program of his choice.*

:: IRAQ THE MODEL perma ::

* * *
On a more serious note, Omar has posted some information about a "Direct Action" being taken by the Iraqi Intelligencia to reject Al-Jazeera's efforts to stir the pot.

Instead of just moaning about AL-JAZ behavior in vague generalities, there is some incisive analysis of the specifics of what the channel is said to be doing.

:: IRAQ THE MODEL perma ::

...

:
Sun - Jan 16 -

RITUAL-STYLE SLAUGHTER IN NJ -

*Hossam Armanious, 47, who along with his wife and two daughters was found stabbed to death in his Jersey City home early Friday, would regularly debate religion in a Middle Eastern chat room...

The married father of two had recently been threatened by Muslim members of the Web site...

"You'd better stop this bull---- or we are going to track you down like a chicken and kill you..."

The ... killer not only slit Sylvia's throat, but also sliced a huge gash in her chest and stabbed her in the wrist, where she had a tattoo of a Coptic cross.

The FBI has been called in to the case; they are investigating it as a possible hate crime.*

:: NY Post - D Montero and SC Friedman ::

...

:
Sun - Jan 16 -

QUESTIONS FOR FCC's POWELL -

*Does the Radical Right "Born-again"
"Christian" crowd have pictures of you in
a compromising position with Satan???!!!*

The foregoing is an excerpt from some very funny messages evidently sent to FCC chief Michael Powell which were compiled and then posted on BuzzMachine.

How many other governments in the world tolerate impertinent feedback from its citizens? In some countries joking itself can result in a death sentence for blasphemy or some other crime.

Or someone like the State Security Police, if not vigilante death squads, can show up at your house, drag you outside, take you away so you disappear mysteriously, or simply put a bullet in your head.

But, fortunately, nothing like that will happen to you here in the U.S. in the 21st Century. Right?

Ever since the Salman Rushdie Riots in the streets of Manhattan, several years before the bombing of the World Trade "Twin Devil" Towers, the possibility of deadly reactions to people exercising their freedom of expression has grown, rather than diminished.

Although the remarks Jeff Jarvis reproduced on his weblog were cheeky, witty or facetious, all the news this weekend about people expressing themselves is not as funny as those. See next blog entry.

:: BuzzMachine - permalink ::

...

:
Sat - Jan 15 -

IRAQ VOTING LINKS -

Here are some links
I've picked up along the way:

:: Iraq Out-of-Country Voting Program ::

:: Friends of Democracy ::

:: Iraqi Election Diatribes ::

+ Enjoy!

...

:
Sat - Jan 15 -

THE AMMAN ALTERNATIVE -

Faiza Jarrar has updated her blog. In this new entry, dated Tues - Jan 11th, which was posted in English today, Faiza says she's taking an open-ended "vacation" in Amman.

She's probably better off there for a while.

This entry is rather mellowed out for Faiza who's spending some of her time alone reading. And it's a relatively good piece by her.

So, it looks like the expatriate Iraqis currently taking a hiatus in Jordan will probably vote in Amman.

Certainly, the Sunnis among them, will feel at least a little safer there.

This option may constitute a substantial number of Iraqi votes.

:: A Family in Baghdad: perma ::

...

:
Sat - Jan 15 -

SHMOOZING AT THE SHAHBANDAR -

Anthony Shadid drops into
the famous Baghdad cafe to get a feel
for their state of mind at the moment.

If you're partial to Shadid's writing,
you'll want to catch this piece.

:: Shadid - washpost - Cafe Debate ::

...

:
Sat - Jan 15 -

PREDICTIONS FOR 2005 -

We Bloggers have been urged to
give some predictions for the coming year.

Here's my only prediction:

I predict that in 2005, or soon thereafter, a Kurdish Media Mogul will emerge who will establish a new Bookstore/Superstore in the Kurdish area of Iraq.

This establishment will sell books, magazines and other printed matter, but will be based on the newer bookstore business model which embraces DVD movies and CD music inclusively. I don't know whether this new mogul will go into partnership with someone like Richard Branson or go it alone. But this enterprise will be financially successful and a lot more-- it will have profound ripple effects.

First, it will attract shoppers from all over the region. And, while they are visiting the Kurdish area, they will also patronize other businesses up there such as restaurants. This will spread the store's financial success to make the entire Kurdish area more prosperous. The Kurds may even build more amenities for their new visitors as a result.

The store will be unique insofar as their security provisions. In order to enter the store, shoppers will have to pass through an airport-type screening machine portal and undergo a search for weapons and body-bomb vests, etc. Security will be very tight-- the tightest security of any bookstore on the planet. Shoppers may even have to submit to iris identification and more.

Why all this security? Because this bookstore will incite a frenzy among the Control Freak Islamofascists. It will represent everything they hate the most, especially because they can't control the freer flow of information it represents.

The Control Freak jihadi terrorists will issue fatwa after fatwa about it and several manifestos characterizing it as apostasy. They will repeatedly threaten anyone patronizing it. And they will repeatedly try to attack it.

As a result, this establishment will become the chief flashpoint of the conflict for the jihadi terrorists in the region.

But try as they might, the Islamofascist terrorists will never gain control over this Information Media Vortex because, as they say: information wants to be free.

This establishment will become a beacon of freedom for the entire Middle East region.

And, while it may represent everything the terrorists hate most, eventually, it will vanquish them.

* * *

What do you think?

Is this scenario: possible,
probable, plausible or a non-starter?

Just something to think about.

...

:
F/Sat - Jan 15 -

SMALL WORLDS -

When last heard from Faiza Jarrar was still in Jordan, but she has posted since then in Arabic which has not been translated into English yet. The following is from her last translated entry of Wed - Jan 5th, '05:

*Good morning...

I am still in Amman... the weather is cold and rainy...but it is beautiful.

Things in Baghdad are still unsettled, and unencouraging. I do not know whether to go back, or remain here. What is the point of returning, with the security state still bad, and not being able to help people?

We are afraid of moving within the route of the Society, or any other, lest we should become well-known faces, and thus easy targets for criminals.*

:: A Family in Baghdad - permalink ::

* * *

But in an atmospheric dispatch from Amman by Trudy Rubin dated Jan 12th, Rubin has tea with a woman named Faiza, who is an Iraqi engineer married to a Jordanian, who may well be Faiza the Blogtresse.

:: Rubin Dispatch ::

* * *

Is her son Raed still in Jordan, too?
Nope. He is currently visiting Iran with Niki.

:: Raed's Blog ::

...

:
F/Sat - Jan 15 -

THE VOTING DISEASE COULD SPREAD -

*Allawi cannot get Iraqi votes; but now Israelis will be allowed to vote for him. In the new Middle East, Israelis will be voting in all Arab elections to ensure that only US/Israeli puppets are voted in. Cheer for democracy.*

:: From As'ad AbuKhalil's Blog ::
-- Dated Wed- Jan 12, '05 --


+ LOL! I can't help it, but I find
his paranoia about this issue very funny.

...

:
F/Sat - Jan 15 -

Catching Up -

We had thunderstorms late Fri afternoon,
so I ate an early dinner and then fell asleep.

Meanwhile, two topics caught my attention Fri.

1 : Thomas Sowell had a good Op-Ed in the local newspaper:

Disagreements are inevitable whenever there are human beings but we seem to be in an era when the art of disagreeing is vanishing. That is a huge loss because out of disagreements have often come deeper understandings than either side had before confronting each other's arguments.

2 : Greta Van Susteren has been criticized by others on the Internet for failing to clearly state up front that Regan Books, which is publishing Amber Frey's tome, is owned by the same corporation which owns the Pay-TV Fox News Station which is Greta's employer.


:: Thomas Sowell Op-Ed ::

:: Gretawire Blog ::

...

:
Thu - Jan 13 -

SAUDIS FEAR BLUE-EYED JIHADISTS -

*The advent of blue-eyed jihadists is symptomatic
of Al-Qaeda's response to the US-led war on terror,
including its mutation into a more decentralized
organization which has made it all the more potent...*

:: Saudi Gazette Online ::

...

:
Thu - Jan 13 -

IQ: ONE DAY AT A TIME -

*This is an account of a normal day
in Manhal's life, if 'normal' is the right word
to describe anything that happens in Baghdad.*

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad - The Guardian ::

...

:
Thu - Jan 13 -

ANOTHER SAUDI BOOGYMAN IN IQ -

The man behind the blowing up of a gasoline tanker in the Al-Mansur district of Baghdad on Christmas Eve has been arrested.

He is a Saudi national with ties to Al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The head of the interior ministry's special commando forces said the suspect confessed to 13 other operations, had links with neighboring countries and received payment for the operations.

:: AFP via Yahoo! News ::

...

:
Thu - Jan 13 -

IQ VOTE:

There's no such thing as Israel -

Then how about Jooo-Land???

Yet another link to help clarify whether
and which Joooz can vote in the Iraqi elections.

You needed some clarification on that, didn't you?!

You know there are Arabs simply
plotzing about this whoopty-doo issue.

So, as a matter of Public Interest,
we present this AFP link for all
those nail-biters out there whose
dishdashes are in a dervishwhirl
over who-who-who will win
the non-existent Israeli vote.

And we don't want to keep you
in suspense any longer which would
give you unnecessary hyper-tension.

Without further ado, here it is:

:: The AFP dispatch via Yahoo ::

Oh, and by the way,
there are Arabs who vote
in the Israeli elections.

...

:
Thu - Jan 13 -

BLOGGER DOWN FOR A WHILE -

Just a note.

I was getting a 404 Not Found when
I tried to post the entry below.

But it seems fixed now.

...

:
Thu - Jan 13 -

IQ : THE JEWISH VOTE -

More on the topic in the entry below:

*Tens of thousands of Israelis
of Iraqi descent have the right
to vote in the Jan. 30 elections...
but it's hard to find anyone interested
in actually casting ballots.*

:: From the Seattle PI ::

...

:
Thu - Jan 13 -

IQ VOTE:

The People Speak For Themselves -

Omar from the ITM Blog
has posted the messages
of Iraqis and a few others
from a BBC forum.

:: IRAQ THE MODEL ::
-- PERMALINK --

...

:
Thu - Jan 13 -

IQ VOTING : MISUSE OF RELIGION -

*'The IEC has received many complaints
from political entities - over some lists using
religious symbols and fatwas in their electoral
campaign which goes against the rules signed by the
entities,' the Electoral Commission said in a statement.*

+ Looks like they weren't kidding!

:: From Aljazeera TV Net ::

...

:
Thu - Jan 13 -

IRAQI VOTING:

from the Life Can Be Complicated Dept ~~

*Israelis of Iraqi origin can vote in Iraqi elections...

'I call on everyone who lives in the free states to come and vote, to provide a counter balance to the voters from other countries,' said Mithal al-Alousi, the Iraqi politician who visited Israel last year and is today the secretary general of the Democratic Party of the Iraqi nation. He was referring to hundreds of thousands of votes that will come from ballots posted in Iran.

Some 130,000 Jews emigrated from Iraq to Israel after it's establishment, decimating one of the oldest Jewish communities in the Arab world.*

:: Haaretz ::
-- From an article by Yoav Stern --

...

:
Thu - Jan 13 -

~~ People Are Talking About ~~

This topic seems to have hit a nerve
on the local radio talk show circuit in SoFlo:

*A New York-bound British Airways plane
was forced to change course over the Atlantic
and head back to London after US authorities
said they would not allow one of its passengers
to land, the airline said.*

:: AFP via YahooNews ::

...

:
Thu - Jan 13 -

IQ RECONSTRUCTION : BREMER -

*The decisions by U.S.-led forces in Iraq to disband Saddam Hussein's army and bar senior Baathists from government jobs after "we liberated Iraq" were the "right decisions," Paul Bremer, former U.S. administrator in Iraq, wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday...

Bremer said the coalition's objectives in Iraq went beyond 'regime change' and President Bush made clear that the U.S. led forces were going to help Iraqis create 'a New Iraq'...*

:: BREMER - Reuters via WASHPOST ::
-- Reg may be Req'd --

...

:
Tue - Jan 11 -

MOSUL MESS HALL BOMBER update -

*The name 'al-Ghamdi' should ring
bells; the family is large, and three of its
members were involved in the 9/11 assault.*


More information from Stephen Schwartz.

:: Mosul Massacre ::

...

:
Tue - Jan 11 -

POTATO CHIP CRYPT... more on -

*Last week, Alhurra-- an Arabic-language television station that is funded by our government-- broadcast a taped interview with a terrorist named Moayad Ahmed Yasseen, the leader of Jaish Muhammad (Muhammad's Army). He was captured nearly two months ago in Fallujah during the liberation of the city...

Soldiers... came across the dead bodies of fighters from Chechnya, Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Afghanistan, and so on...

We killed more than a thousand terrorists in Fallujah, and nearly an equal number surrendered, many of whom provided our military with useful information. Presumably Yasseen's information has been exploited before letting the Syrians and Iranians know that he has told us all about them.*

* * *

+ I don't know the sources of the author's information. And I must have missed the memo which he says was circulated around the Internet about what went on inside Fallujah. Or did I? I really don't remember reading an "inside" report. If I came across it, it couldn't have made much of an impression on me. Certainly, I don't remember encountering any mention of bodies being stored in a potato chip factory. This anecdote recounted by Ali (see entry below) has me a bit skeptical still. Due to the "Fog of War," I think it will take a while for some solid facts to emerge about the Fallujah situation.


:: From Circle Squared ::
-- By Michael Ledeen at NRO --

...

:
M/Tues - Jan 11 -

EPILOGUE TO FALLUJA -

Dr Ali Fadhil recently went on an investigative junket to Fallujah to witness its residents' fate.

His journal of this dangerous post-siege journey appears at The UK Guardian.

Some excerpts follow:


*They took prints of all my fingers, two pictures of my face in profile, and then photographed my iris. I was now eligible to go into Falluja, just like any other Fallujan...

The Americans had said that there had been a big military victory, but I couldn't understand where all the fighters were buried...

The US military say they have hundreds of bodies frozen in a potato chip factory 5km south of the city, but nobody has been allowed to go there in the past two months, including the Red Crescent.*


This account is not suitable
reading for sensitive people.


:: Dr Ali Fadhil - The Guardian ::

...

:
Mon - Jan 10 -

THE VIPER IN THEIR ZOO -

Abbas Kadhim has another essay in this past weekend's edition of Al-Ahram.

He begins by characterizing the American military presence in Iraq as "one of the worst imperialist adventures in recent history."

"It all began," he says and then proceeds to unfurl a truly wicked pack of lies.

The chain of events at hand began with the mass murder of three thousand of my neighbors on 9/11.

Nor is this any sort of "imperialism."

Saddam Hussein was a War Criminal who violated several counts of the Nuremberg Bill of Indictment. We had every legal right to forcibly remove him, which we did, and to forcibly reconstruct the Iraqi government, which we are doing. End of story.

Kadhim's essay is the reflection of a thoroughly amoral personality in which no distinction is drawn between fact and fantasy. His essay is populated by imaginary villains of his own creation who are never named because if he named them, they could successfully
sue him.

If Mr Kadhim despises America so much, what is he doing here?

I can only guess.

* * * * *

Yes, Kadhim has a right to express his opinion.
And I have a right to criticize it.


"The remedy for bad talk is more talk."


:: Looking back to look ahead ::
-- by Abbas Kadhim --

:: Abbas Kadhim Blog ::

...