The Committee on the Present Danger

AlterNet reports that the Committee on the Present Danger has been born again. A close look at its mission – and its financiers – shows an anti-terror, pro-Israel agenda. Just have a look at their website if you want to indulge yourself in some Elms Street nostalgia so you don't have to ponder anymore who is the bad guy : they seem to lack an enemy after "Communism" died out so their quest for finding a new global culprit has converged to this : "Islamofascism" they call it...

If you read their mission statement you just wonder who the real enemy is, indeed...

[Listening to: Francais - MBS - Rap De Maghrebins (1) - MBS feat 113 - (04:04)]

Lotfi and I went to Madame Tussaud's Museum in Amsterdam yesterday. Needless to quote Lotfi in what he was saying at the press conference with Bush of course. I was already glad Lotfi didn't put up his finger anyway - lol ! And I don't think the pope in the background was of any help either [grin]

Osama votes Bush

It indeed is Osama bin Laden who will determine the winner of the US Presidential Election in November. Read the New York Post article :
The Next Prez ? It's Osama's Call. Osama wants war. The more war the better for Bush. So Osama has already elected Bush. Chicken and egg ?

[Listening to: A Tulawin (Une Algerienne debout) - IDIR et MANU CHAO - Identites (06:01)]

Europeans: Who Are the Sexiest? Rudest? Funniest?

Reader's Digest published a survey of nearly 4,000 people in 19 european countries with some surprising answers. Read the article or the full report in pdf.

[Listening to: Arabic - Kadem El Saher - La Titnahad (1) - - (04:49)]

InstaPundit's Tunnel Vision

Okay, it isn't the first time I noticed InstaPundit's contempt towards Europe so in this post he suggests that Europe doesn't DO anything about Darfur. For the record : Belgium - yes ! y'know that tiny country in the middle of 'Old Europe' will be the first country to start humanitarian aid to Darfour (see article in Dutch in De Standaard). And, by the way, instead of sending troops the EU and US have called for support from the African Union, a pan-African body which Khartoum could not so easily brand imperialist.

So, Mr. Glenn Reynolds, don't hint at an inactive Europe please...

[Listening to: Arabic - Khaled, Cheb Mami - Wahrane Wahrane - Khaled, Cheb Mami - (04:32)]

Kirkurk-Mosul-Haifa Pipeline ?

Haaretz reports that the US Administration is checking the possibility of pumping oil from the Iraq's Kirkurk area to Mosul and then to a Haifa oil terminal, via Jordan. The Americans requested a cost estimate of repairing the old Mosul-Haifa pipeline, inactive since the end of the British mandate in Palestine in 1948.

I presume this idea wanted to avoid the old Syrian track on the Golan via a bypass through Jordan... Of course, if you consider the US government's growing anti-Syrian stance, one might foresee some additional "pressure" (jee, what an understatement) on Syria, in order to keep the old Golan pipeline track option open.

Israeli Minister for National Infrastructures, Joseph Paritzky, stated that the pipeline would cut Israel's energy bill drastically - probably by more than 25 per cent - since the country is currently largely dependent on expensive imports from Russia. This pipeline would have the added advantage of giving the US reliable access to Gulf oil other than from Saudi Arabia.

That will make a lot of people happy, particularly in the Arab world. Especially Turkey will love it because it will lose it's current transit fees for relaying Iraqi oil. Of course Jordan will be soooooo happy being in an impossible position in the Arab world, but the poor country would be quite enticed by receiving the transit fees.

As Daily Kos remarked : why does this make me nervous ? This idea could indeed be feasible in the long run when comprehensive peace in the Middle East is consolidated, but it's a powderkeg idea in the current crisis situation...

[Listening to: mbs - Khedemti - MBS - Le micro brise le silence (04:58)]

Iraq shuts al-Jazeera office

Reuters reports that Iraq's interim government has ordered al-Jazeera to close its Baghdad office for one month on Saturday.
Also on Yahoo
Hat tip : Iraqi Bloggers Central

[Listening to: Azwaw - Cheb Mami (Feat. Idir) - (05:02)]

Confidence Building Measures the Israeli Way

Reuters reports that Israel Seeks to Reassure U.S. on West Bank. Now that's presumably the best way to muster confidence among the Palestinian people I suppose ? By the way, notwithstanding the plans to enlarge it still, Maale Adumim I think has already at least five times the number of Israeli residents as the number of settlers slated to leave the Gaza Strip according to the Sharon withdrawal plan. And Maale Adumim will cutt of Palestinians in East Jerusalem completely. Supposedly that's the Israeli way of building confidence measures for Palestinian residents... pfff...

Nothing has changed...

Haaretz : Another president who won't budge the Middle East :

"Thus, the good news is that the next man to sit in the White House will do nothing contrary to the view of the government of Israel. The not-so-good news is that no matter who is elected, the Middle East is guaranteed a further four years of standstill."

Secular Blasphemy put it it this way : John Kerry is neither Michael Moore on a diet nor Jacques Chirac with three purple hearts

BBC News did a round-up of some European newspapers' comments : most papers feel that the differences between Mr Kerry's policies and those of President Bush are too narrow for him to represent a compelling alternative

[Listening to: AV8 - Arabic Hip Hop Mix (1) (04:24)]

In search of a bumper sticker

The Terror Web

The New Yorker came up with an interesting article : Were the Madrid bombings part of a new, far-reaching jihad being plotted on the Internet ?

"The day of the bombings, analysts at the Forsvarets Forskningsinstitutt, a Norwegian think tank near Oslo, retrieved a document that they had noticed on an Islamist Web site the previous December. At the time, the document had not made a big impression, but now, in light of the events in Madrid, it read like a terrorist road map. Titled “Jihadi Iraq: Hopes and Dangers,” it had been prepared by a previously unknown entity called the Media Committee for the Victory of the Iraqi People (Mujahideen Services Center)."

"The Internet document suggested that a new intelligence was at work, a rationality not seen in Al Qaeda documents before. The Mujahideen Services Center, whatever that was, appeared to operate as a kind of Islamist think tank. “The person who put together those chapters had a clear strategic vision, realistic and well thought out,” Amirah says. He told Hegghammer, “This is political science applied to jihad.”

"al-Qaeda has four different networks..."

..."This question is central to the debate about whether Muslims in Europe can integrate into their new communities or must stand apart from them. If France can be considered part of dar al-Islam, then Muslims can form alliances and participate in politics, they should have the right to institute Islamic law, and they can send their children to French schools. If it is a part of dar al-Kufr, then strict Muslims must not only keep their distance; they must fight against their adopted country."

"The Internet is the key issue... It erases the frontiers between the dar al-Islam and the dar al-Kufr. It allows the propagation of a universal norm, with an Internet Sharia and fatwa system."

I still have to ruminate properly on the article but it seems quite interesting and detailed indeed...

[Listening to: Musica Arabe - Chaabi Pop Du Maroc Rass - Musica Arabe - (03:37)]

At last summer has arrived in Brussels too... Beautiful weather down here and, as you see, my cat loves it ;-)

Arab Attitudes - Another Poll...

A Public Opinion Poll by the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland/Zogby International :

The US transfer of authority to Iraq is quite cosmetic
The war in Iraq brings more terrorism instead of less
The war in Iraq brings rather less democracy
The US went to war in Iraq rather for weakening and dominating the Muslim world and to protect Israel
Muslim clergy has too little a role into national politics
Al-Jazeera is watched most often
Attitudes on US are more based on US Policy in the Middle East than on US values
Iraqi people are far worse off after the war then before
Attitudes towards US are directly linked to to the US policy in the Arab-Israeli dispute

[Listening to: SPANISH- Salsa and arabic Rai Faudel and Yur - Cheb Faudel - (04:10)]

The Facts About Israel's Fence

Kafka would jump out of his tomb this instance when reading various misleading comments made upon the UN General Assembly's Resolution concerning Israel's so-called "security barrier". So here are the facts :

The resolution was adopted by a recorded vote of 150 in favour to 6 against, with 10 abstentions, as follows :

In favour : Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Against : Australia, Federated States of Micronesia, Israel, Marshall Islands, Palau, United States.

Abstaining : Cameroon, Canada, El Salvador, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Uganda, Uruguay, Vanuatu.

Absent : Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Kiribati, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Republic of Moldova, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Somalia, Tajikistan.


So the fact is that :

The General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to demand that Israel heed last month’s advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to halt construction on its security barrier in the West Bank, tear down the portions built on Palestinian land, and provide reparations to Palestinians whose lives have been harmed by the wall.

PS... Yes me too had to look up the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshal Islands and Palau ;-) no offense there...

[Listening to: Arabic - Samira Said & Cheb Mami - Yoam Wara Yoam - Samira Said & Cheb Mami - Yoam Wara Yoam (04:14)]

Greetings from Bokrijk

Get a kick from peace and quiet... If you are ever passing Belgium and you want to have a relaxing time then I would advise you to go to Bokrijk. Just have a stroll in a peaceful rural environment as it was centuries ago in Flanders. Notice the casual bee flying into the picture and some strange Algerian guy enjoying Flanders' fields in full ;-)

Is France That Racist ?

al-Ahram reports : Islamophobia and racism are alive and kicking in France (a round-up of recent events and some statistics)

The problem is that sometimes reports are just a hoax, or beefed up by the myth of victimization, especially when it is reinforced by ideology (see also AntiWar report). Pity to say that even Time doesn't have the decency to stop moralizing on it (they bluntly state that France "today is a place where such acts of anti-Semitism and racism are commonplace".

Commonplace ???

Time has a very bad taste of jokes indeed... Perhaps Time ought to be much more concerned about Sharon's aggressiveness towards the so-called "uprise of anti-semitism" in France (calling for all Jews in France to make aliya immediately) ! Of course the mythomania around anti-semitism in France was just a perfect timing for Sharon as he already planned to muster more support for aliya from French Jews anyway (20.000 were slated based on a report in March of this year). Neat coincidence indeed... So I suppose the new Zionism doesn't want to attract Jews to make aliya based on economical distress nowadays, but rather from France's riches based on biased ideological choice. I'm quite sure the Jewish community in France will respond with ample maturity, worthy of being the representatives of a great Jewish Nation (which I can't particularly say from Israel as it is run today... in fact, the way Sharon behaves is a disgrace for the Jewish Nation)

[Listening to: Arabic-Iam Taxi-Dini[Assia] - Assia - (05:06)]

Terror Alert Rising

The 9/11 Commission Report in full
Scotsman : Terrorists attempt fresh wave of US hijackings

[Listening to: kader - 3eme oeil - ...hier,aujourd'hui, demain... (04:28)]

Business as usual ?

CBS Marketwatch : Never mind the signs of rising trouble in the Middle East, but ...

[Listening to: 113 - Summum (1) - 113  (03:49)]

Prince Walid Ibn Talal

Der Spiegel : Young Saudi Arabians have been involved in many terrorist attacks throughout the world. Are your young people getting out of hand ?

[Listening to: Show Bizness - IDEAL J feat 113 CLAN & DIFERENT TEEP - Original MCs sur une mission (05:01)]

Google-Picasa-Hello-Gmail... Promising but still...

Thanks to Rob who granted me a Gmail account, being a real supporter of Google, and already using Hello, I was initiallly enthusiastic about the Google's take-over of Picasa too of course.

The Hello-stuff was better than nothing to upload some pics at my blog although I'm a bit desillusioned about the "take-it-or-leave-it" possibilities of it : some strange code is created on your blogpost and I can't figure out how to tamper it the html-compliant way for layout-reasons (the pics are just posted with your text above or underneath it but the vspace and hspace stuff doesn't work to wrap the text around your pics. A bit disappointed about it I must admit. Additionally, my Bloglines feed doesn't seem to recognize the pics either - very nasty !

So now I added the free Picasa with it. Not really THAT fancy but it organizes yours pics on your hard disk quite well, in such a way that it gave me some hints to re-organize all my picture folders.

Some hints for the Google-dudes there : make Hello a bit more html-compliant so we can make better layouts around uploaded pics, integrated it with Picasa and - of course - integrate it with my Gmail account so I can have an overview of archived pictures at my Gmail... probably I'm re-inventing hot water here coz I'm sure the Google-dudes already put that in their "business plan" already ;-)

Chaos in Palestine

Arafat's offices in Gaza have been burned down (ABC News) by dozens of militants from an extreme faction of Fatah, Arafat's main power base. Arafat's sacking of two senior security commanders didn't help at all (UK Independent) : designating one of your cousins to replace a senior security commander doesn't particularly counter accusations of widespread corruption.

Anyway, his cousin Musa Arafat effectively took command of the Palestinian security forces at a ceremony in Gaza City (BBC) ignoring all the protests because "I take my orders from His Excellency President Arafat," he said. The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a Fatah offshoot, are violently opposed to Musa Arafat. They promptly claimed an attack at a post In Khan Yunis that has been manned by members of a security service already controlled by Moussa Arafat (Reuters).

Meanwhile Ahmed Qorei is determined to quit while chaos is overtaking the occupied territories because the Palestinian Authority is becoming more and more powerless (Le Monde) . The Gaza turmoil also worries the Israeli press, fearing that the current developments will be blamed on Israel (BBC).


Arafat is indeed at a crossroad now : either he takes reforms seriously or the general Palestiinian opinion might turn against him. The main question is : who can replace Arafat ? Nobody can, I fear, so there might be anarchy looming in the occupied territories....

[Listening to: Dalida-Egiptian song. Edrient anunk sung tartunkt (remix) - Dalida - Salma Ya Salam - 7elwa Ya Baladi (04:57)]

Didn't do any posts during the day because I was in Bruges with my friend Lotfi.

Dutch face serious terror threat

Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep reports that four of the Netherlands' 12 provinces face a serious threat of possible terrorist attacks. The country's Interior Affairs Minister Johan Remkes said on Thursday that the heightened alert and related security measures announced last week are to remain in full effect for the time being. His statement contained the first detailed remarks from the Dutch government about the heightened terror alert which has been in place since Friday last week. Furthermore, the Netherlands is the only country in Western Europe where a heightened warning for terrorist attacks has been issued (see article).

Reportedly, the Bin Laden deadline towards Europe has influenced the decision to raise the state of alert in certain parts of the Netherlands. Tourists will certainly notice beefing up security measures at the country's main civilian air hub, Amsterdam Schiphol airport.

See also the AIVD report : Verhoogde terroristische dreiging (in dutch)

[Listening to: MAROC Arabic&Rai - Takfarinas - Zaama Zaama (1) - Tafkarinas - (03:24)]

Breaking the Silence

Israeli soldiers give visual and written accounts of their experience in Hebron. A compilation of testimonies by IDF soldiers who served until recently, or are still actively serving, in the West Bank city of Hebron. (Source : Electronic Intifada)

See also the photo essay of an independent journalist Jon Elmer who compiled a series of photographs from his three month stay in the West Bank and Gaza (Source : The Dominion)

[Listening to: ARABIC--Fairuz - Sa-altak Habibi - Fairuz - title (05:26)]

'Secret film shows Iraq prisoners sodomised'

CodeWarrierz has an interesting round-up of the abuse of children in the Abu Ghraib prison. Even if only a small part of it is true it certainly demands a thorough and independent investigation...

[Listening to: Wahran - Cheb Khalid - Arabic (04:42)]

Human Development Report 2004 : Belgium is an example !

UNDP released yesterday it's Human Development Report 2004.

The report, Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World, was launched in public ceremonies here today with Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and Administrator of the United Nationas Development Programme (UNDP) Mark Mallow Brown. Belgium, where the Flemish and Walloon populations have long struggled to forge a working compact, is cited by the report as an example offering valuable lessons for other multicultural states.

Almost every major democracy that is ethnically or linguistically diverse practices some form of asymmetric federalism : Belgium, Spain and the Swiss Federation are prominent examples. The success of federal arrangements depends on careful design and the political will to enhance the system's democratic functioning. What matters is whether the arrangements accommodate important differences, yet buttress national loyalties.

The top 10 this year are Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, Iceland, United States, Japan and Ireland.

Jee... quite a few countries from the "old Europe" in there setting examples ;-)

Terrorism and US Elections

No postponement is reportedly needed, just bedlam at the polls and a low turnout on the West Coast is Bush's plan for victory... (Thanks to Cryptome)

Terje Roed-Larsen

UN envoy to the Middle East Terje Rød Larsen uttered some harsh criticisms to the Palestinian leadership's commitment to security reforms lately. The BBC reports that he has been described as "unwelcome" in Palestinian territories by a senior aide to Yasser Arafat. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan backs him though. Palestine Chronicle reports though that this senior aide overreacted a bit as the Palestinian UN Observer Nasser Al-Kidwa said Wednesday that statements by Palestine Nation Authority (PNA) officials that the UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen is not welcome in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) reflect “real anger” but there is no official decision to ban his entry, adding that it is “definitely” safe for Larsen to visit the OPT. So the Palestinians are defintiely downplaying the damaging row with the UN...

UPDATE July 16 : The Jerusalem Post reports that the armed wings of Fatah and Islamic Jihad on Thursday issued warnings to UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen to stay away from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The power struggle continues with the PA...


Oh yes, meanwhile the Bin Laden deadline towards Europe has been reached ! See this post for some elaboration (Southern Watch blog).

'The future is bright', consultants assure Osama

In a stunning report leaked to openDemocracy, a consultancy firm has advised al-Qaida that Osama bin Laden should allow himself to be captured by the US.

Asked by al-Qaida's senior management to carry out an independent analysis of their campaign, consultants at SWISH (South Waziristan Institute of Strategic hermeneutics) claim that an 'incompetent' Bush administration actually benefits al-Qaida, and recommend that al-Qaida consider short-term tactics designed to aid the Bush campaign. They suggest that "although the martyrdom factor should not be underestimated," the detention or capture of Osama bin Laden could help greatly, "especially if this could be arranged within a month or so of the US election."

Other findings from this report include:

the key factors that have aided al-Qaida's recent progress

details of the poor decisions by the US that have inadvertently benefited al-Qaida's cause

five actions that, if carried out by the west, would present 'a serious threat to the integrity and viability of the al-Qaida strategy'

The report concludes: "the future looks bright. Any actions that you can take to ensure that your opponents continue with their current policies will be to your advantage"

Read the full report here

UPDATE Jul 15 : Relax... just settle yourself in your most favorite chair with your favorite pet on your lap (might be your wife of course) and enjoy this very romantic roundup !

The Israeli Security Barrier

MideastWeb came up with an analysis of the Wall very much to my likening : the fence is bad but the ICJ ruling too. The fence/wall/barrier is bad because it arbitarily divides up neighborhoods and villages (as the Israeli High Court has noted). On the other hand, the ICJ ruling is bad because unavoidably some UN resolutions will follow which will muster even more Israeli national will to counter the UN (most reports already give 80% Israeli support for the wall).

Chemical Warfare In Palestine ?

Occasionally one might stumble on reports of Israel's use of highly toxic unknown chemicals against Palestinian civilians, but so far, the international human rights community has steadfastly ignored these reports. Electronic Intifada published a round-up of reports that indeed seem to be factual.

I just wonder what the motive is of our silence...

America Wake Up !

If it weren't for the fact that at lot is at stake I would have been rolling on the floor laughing my guts out : U.S. Mulling How to Delay Nov. Vote in Case of Attack.
What a terrible lethal joke it is...

UPDATE 12 July : More info here thanks to truthout.

Of Course We Are All Potential Terrorists

The thin line between taking precautions and harass the innocent... Read this article about a free-lance writer taking the plane and casually scribbling the word "bomb" in the margin of a newspaper.
Thanks to Political Animal (Watch what you write buddy) and Body and Soul (Only foreigners and writers are terrorists).
And the Peking Duck even thinks they would consider it preposterous in China...

The Abu Ghraib Horror : Even Children !!!

Hold your breath... if you think the Abu Ghraib story is a disgrace to say the least then this story reported by Report Mainz will surely agonize you : Also children have been mistreated in Abu Ghraib ! The article is in German... (try Babelfish if you don't understand German)

Also a Norwegian report and a partial translation from the initial German TV report.

US Electoral Timetable For Catching Terrorists

Ok everyone, the New Republic Online claims that US officials want to catch or kill top figures of al-Qaeda through a neat timing to boost Bush's electoral campaign. This July surprise ought to be 26-27-28 July, the first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Boston. Reportedly, the US administration is mainly pushing Pakistani authorities to come up with real results at the timing stated and certainly before the November polls.

Seemingly the Pakistani authorities will abide by it, considering that there are already reports of beefing up military search operations in Pakistan.


Gross... so everyone on watch for 26-28 of July if they'll deliver... and if they do everyone will know what's behind it... everyone ? I just hope American voters will...

al-Jazeera Developments...

In an earlier post I remarked already some noticeable shifts in opinion at al-Jazeera. Well, reasononline came up with some additional information :

"a number of Al-Jazeera employees are seriously considering joining the new BBC Arabic-language television station"

But on the other hand : I saw good old al-Jazeera back today so I wonder what is really happening...

What do Palestinians think nowadays ?

Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) came up with some poll results on Palestinian public opinion that might be interesting.

The most watched television channel : al-Jazeera

Fateh might still win local elections but it's very close !

Differring views at how serious the Palestinian Authority is about holding elections

A whopping 75% supports introducing women quota between 25-30%

Yasser Arafat would still have an absolute majority voting for him for presidency

Absolutely "NO" to Sharon's disengagement plan

... and a lot more ! just have a look

Pentagon Tried to Censor Saddam's Hearing

Robert Fisk reports that US military officers censored the media coverage of Saddam's hearings last Thursday. And rather blatantly you might say after reading the article...

Just handover that guy effectively into REAL Iraqi custody so he can be done with quickly but pleaaaaaaaaase don't start-up this kind of stalinistic make-believe. The Iraqi people won't believe it and we, westerners, won't either - I hope. Or am I talking like an "old European" again ?

Pssssss... I just hope all those nasty Fisk-haters won't find my blogpost here because a few of them seem to be in a raging cut-throat mood !

al Qaeda has become mainstream

Thanks to Dean's World I found a very disturbing Washington Post article that exactly corroborates my sentiments about the Arab press in general during the last weeks.

I had this awkward feeling already for weeks myself : a large part of the Arab media doesn't particularly condemn the horrible beheadings we have been seen recently and, slowly but definitely, starts to condone the political statements that are supposed to be related to the al Qaeda network. It confirms my eerie feeling, while chatting with some Arab friends in the Middle East, that even moderate Arab intellectuals tend to silently approve of this development. It is one thing to agree to some or more extent with the political arguments of terrorists but it is a scary leap forwards to start approving the violent means of a terrorist network to make its point.

Or to say it with the words of Betsy : It is so depressing to read about what the Arab media says or doesn't say about the brutality of terrorists' beheading prisoners and other acts of terrorism.

It also struck me the same way that even al-Jazeera, being the generally-aknowledged litmus test of a free independent Arab press, is sliding away into this slippery path too (see the link here in this post to a very good book on al-Jazeera).

NATO chief offers a bleak analysis

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer predicted a gloomy picture on the future of Iraq and Iran if the US and the international community didn't come up with a common agenda (read the report). An article which is very much to the point indeed, stating exactly the state of mind in Europe today towards the US. But probably this will be considered again as an "old Europe" whining, pfff...

How media get Iraq wrong

Iraqi veterans see quite some discrepancy in what they saw themselves and what they read in the media :

"We are reprinting things from people we barely know, from a safe location dozens of miles away from the fighting."

So much for Iraqi sovereignty

The Guardian reports :

American commanders will risk launching high-profile military actions at targets in Iraq even if they go directly against the wishes of the new Iraqi government, a senior US general said yesterday.

I suppose that's the practical consequence of getting full Iraqi sovereignty just a couple of days ago... Sooooooorry if I sound too cynical. No further comment needed for most people with a brain I suppose.

As if the Iraqi didn't know themselves : of course they do !

"We cannot separate anymore..."

Rob made a HaloScan-comment in an earlier post and wondered why I could somewhat understand Israeli occupation in a strictly-military point of view although politically it's a bottomless pitfall. So here comes my 2 eurocents...

The building of outposts and, as such, the expansion of Israeli settlements within the occupied territories serves at first the dream of Eretz Israel (Greater Israel) which is part of religious thinking within parts of the Israeli community. I won't elaborate on the religious motivations but suffice to say that a large part of Israeli settlers are triggered by this motivation and, subsequently, create facts on the grounds by occupying land, say, for biblical reasons. In general there isn't the political will to stop these settler's initiatives and therefore the Israeli army finds itself in a situation to defend these outposts which most of the time evolve into larger settlements. It takes military resources to defend the perimeter of those outposts AND the lines of communication towards the heartland (also called the settler's roads). So, in this story, military deployment started at the tactical level simply to defend the settlers and their roads towards the mainland.

Most Israeli governments additionally motivated Israeli's to settle in the territories mainly through financial incentives. So basically an Israeli settler is religiously and/or financially motivated to go there. Why did various Israeli governments came up with financial incentives ? Well, of course partly for religious endeavours but also for military-strategical reasons : settlements give some territorial depth to the defense perimeter of the mainland - on the condition of course that there is territorial continuity between the settlements. Don't forget that historical Palestine is territorially VERY small so depth is crucial (Hey ! I can tell because I'm living in a country myself that barely reaches the dimensions of a handkerchief :-)

Additionally, settlements might be political trumpcards : they can be part of the bargaining chip during negotiations - y'know, keep 2 and give up 2 as a 'gesture'. Religiously-motivated settlers of course won't agree of giving up, but financially-motivated ones might... if the price is right (f.i. the 300.000 USD per family offered at settlers in Gaza to move out voluntarily).

Territorial depth at the perimeter of your mainland buys you time in case the shit hits the fan, certainly if your forces are somewhat thin and you opt to maneuver on internal lines through keeping the larger reserve units at the center, which through necessity was the option the Israeli army had to take in their wars with the Arabs (my favorite book is on the left here). The problem in the Israeli case is that you don't buy time at all because those bufferzones are to be defended themselves. These settlements certainly trigger enmity among local Palestinians and heat up things considerably. Settlers alone can't defend themselves properly against attacks rising, so more military forces are needed just to defend the settlement's perimeter. Subsequently most of the time you won't find any larger reserve unit anymore at your center because most of your troops are thinly spread along the perimeters of your bufferzones. There goes your neat solution of maneuvering on internal lines of course... How to get back a larger reserve unit at the center ? By having less troops needed at the settlement's perimeters. How can you do that ? Through building walls to stop infiltrations at your perimeter of course... Again a military solution... But what happens with the Palestinian mind ? They become even more upset so attacks rise even more.... And... And... And...

Rob, the truth is that historical Palestine is so small and both Israeli and Palestinian communities are territorially so much intertwined nowadays that it would be utterly insane to try to separate both.

I had the great honour to talk privately once with Yitzhak Rabin just before the Oslo Agreement went public in which at a certain point pondering about "green lines", "demarcations" and the-like, he sighted : "We [Israeli's and Palestinians] simply cannot separate anymore"

Exactly, they are doomed to live together... or continue to suffer. But who am I...

Of course Saddam

Would anyone have predicted it otherwise ? Saddam Hussein refuses charges against him.

Also : Reuters [1] [2]

So far for arab solidarity

Algerian authorities have provisionally frozen the activities of al-Jazeera without giving explanation : see report.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika didn't like a recent debate at al-Jazeera at which his national reconciliation programme was questioned... Really shameful considering the large Algerian audience that favors al-Jazeera... Just hope it'll be a temporary ban though.

It's a long and arduous path towards democracy...

See also for more details : Le Monde (in french)

Why Saddam in Iraqi custody ?

DEBKA came up with an interesting analysis :

"there was more than meets the eye about the instant handover of the deposed president to his newly-sovereign successor and the foot-dragging on his trial. What Allawi did not tell the media is that he aims to keep Saddam and his circle under tight control and on tenterhooks, as hostages of the new regime."

Saddam Hussein in Iraqi custody tomorrow

Saddam Hussein and 11 others (among them Tariq Aziz and Ali Hassan Majeed "Chemical Ali") will stay in physical custody of American troops though.


Arraignments are on Thursday so that will be interesting to monitor I think. Up till now I couldn't find who the other 9 are (I don't think Comical Ali will have the possibility to steal the show up there - lol !)


Additional sources : BBC | Reuters

La francophonie !

You didn't have enough yet of juicy French-bashing ? Read this one : France's secret dirty wars.

Foreign policy : follow the money ;-)

Ain't he sweet ?

Remarks by PM Blair on transfer of Iraqi Sovereignty, Hilton Istanbul, Turkey :

And that's why it's important to see this as a whole picture. The fact
is, if Iraq becomes a stable and democratic country -- and I'm not
underestimating for a single instant the difficulties in doing that,
incidentally -- but if it does, that is a huge blow to the propaganda and
to the effort of the extremists. That's, in fact, why sometimes I think
they have a clearer idea of how important it is to stop us, than sometimes
the Western world has of why it's so important that we get there with Iraq
and with the Iraqi people.

And so the Greater Middle East Initiative and the idea of spreading
democracy there, resolving the Israeli-Palestinian issue on the basis of
two states, both democratic states -- because what we want for the
Palestinians is not just their own state, we want a democratic state for
them, where they have proper freedoms, as well.

So I think that you can see this as part of an evolving strategy, where we
realize we've got to be prepared to take tough security measures and tough
action where necessary, but we know that that is not all that it's about.
It's also about trying to show that there is a value system there that
isn't related to any religion or one religion, one civilization. It's
about these basic values of humanity, that wherever they're implemented
and tried, you get greater security. Because, basically, democracies --
well, they have to fight sometimes when they have to defend themselves,
but they don't have the same aggressive intent that these unstable or
extreme or fanatical regimes do.

There are thin lines between vision, dream and propaganda... Strong convictions can overwhelm and scare... Well, I said I won't comment on this... have to go to work anyway.

Early handover in Iraq

Why didn't I come up with this one : in a surprise move sovereignty was handed over to the Iraqi government (see report). That's one way to avoid the foreseeable attacks at the former official handover date and... it gives schwung to Bush in Istanbul. Official handover... hmmm... does this really change the real power balance ?

Read some comments : Roger L. Simon | Michel Rubin | Robert Alt | BBC News

Comments may heat up y'know... Do we really have to take this serious ?

For those of you who want to know who the 2 friends are (and not the ducks;-) here they are : from left to right Clark and Lotfi. Look at my photo album at the side bar on the right to see more pics of them !

Ok sorry dudes I didn't have any post today coz I went to Luxemburg with 2 NICE friends. No-no, those 2 ducks on the pic or not the friends but they are sweet anyway.

Iraq going worse...

.....

As if the situation wasn't already precarious : About 100 Die in Rebel Attacks in Five Iraq Cities. And seemingly the number of casualties is still rising as I'm writing this. Additionally, the Iraqi prime minister becomes a target too... It's quite clear that terrorist groups intend to beef up their attacks in order to mess up the official handover. The longer American troops have to stay because of the security situation the more anti-Americanism can be instilled within the Iraqi people. And I don't see Iraqi security forces tackling the problem efficiently in the foreseeable future. One of my teachers in earlier days always said : "Well, boy, if you wanna start something you better know beforehand how to end it too..."

Hotmail counters Gmail too...

BBC News : The basic Hotmail account will reportedly be beefed up to 250 mB [grin]

Oh, by the way, barely having my Gmail-account myself thanks to Mike (see my earlier post), I already have the honour of granting Gmail-invitations myself. Supposedly every 3 to 4 mB of usage grants you 6 invitations I've the impression.

So if you are still looking for one and you have a blog... just email me with a link to your blog and the email address to send the invitation (you find my email address through my profile-link at the upper right of the page). Vanity isn't completely strange to me so I wouldn't mind being mentioned at your blog once you got an invitation ;-)

First Egypt, now Jordan ?

Middle East Report article "Jordan No Option". The so-called Jordanian option pops up again... that would be a powderkeg in my opinion. More later... have to go to work this morning ;-)

And this evening I noted that the Iranian President confers with the Jordanian premier. Mmmm... things are moving wouldn't you say ?

What is it all about ???

BBC News reports that

"many people in Britain think the Palestinians are occupying Israeli territory and not the other way round" !

Ordinary people lacking the background because of the media's virulent BNS (Breaking News Syndrome)... It's commonplace to put the blame on the media, but let's face it : where do you find decent background information on any lingering conflict in the world ? It take's quite some effort to find quality in-depth information properly nowadays and, seemingly, more and more people are not up to it anymore. News volatility and oneliners rule... I thought it clear that it was Israel occupying some territories... for security reasons and I may somewhat concur with it from a strictly military point of view being a military officer, but politically it's a tremendous pitfall - that's what I learned the hard way. Okay, I know it's only my 2 eurocents but look at this note from marcland, hmmm.... to put it diplomatically : stretching the meaning of the article ? Hey, just see the bright side of it : blogging is all about opinions isn't it ? Try to have a nice day, though...

...

If you can't beat them...

Khaleej Times reports : Hamas scrambles for role in running post-Israel Gaza Strip.

Seemingly Hamas is not only lobbying for posts in the Palestinian security forces but also in the education and health ministries. So putting Hamas into the bath might smoothen the sharp edges, right ? A decent Hamas with government responsibilities...

I don't believe it. Even if they would get some posts within the Palestinian Authority, no way they gonna stop their attacks outside the Gaza Strip anyway. It would mean that the Palestinian Authority as a whole would be fully criminalized then...

Hamas suffered a lot of casualties recently so they are just bargaining somewhat in my opinion. Save face indeed...

Meanwhile, in this report from Israel Insider Shimon Peres laid out conditions for joining Sharon's government.

Time to chill ;-)

Palestinians Work on Power-Sharing Plan

So things are indeed moving within the various Palestinian security forces : Palestinians Work on Power-Sharing Plan. And the role of Egypt is more and more clear too. But why was Arafat sending envoys to Damascus then ? To be continued...

UPDATE Jun 19 : from AFP through Yahoo! News

"Hamas and Islamic Jihad will approve the Egyptian initiative if the Palestinian leadership makes them an attractive enough offer, which is to say giving them an acceptable share of power in Gaza"

This is the real Sharon

So what is the real purpose of the Gaza witdrawal plan ? Digging a moat between the Gaza Strip and Egypt ?
No further comment...
A must read !

CIA and Mubarak

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that the CIA director meets with Egypt's president to discuss Egypt's role in the Gaza withdrawal plan.

The Trojan Horse to get Islamid Jihad and Hamas to jump the bandwagon and reorganize the Palestinian security apparatus ? While Arafat plays Excalibur looking for the Holy Grail in Damascus. Just wait till Harry Potter comes on the scene (and I don't mean the European Union for that matter : we are too busy to ruminate on our EU poll results - could it be China ?). Am I mixing up history here or is history being made ?

No serious... Compare this stuff with DEBKA's article "Arafat Turns to Damascus to Get Egypt out of His Hair" I wrote about in an earlier post...

Any bets on Egypt vs. Syria ???

I've got Gmail !!!

What a promising blogosphere it is...

I was barely dreaming about Gmail (see my yesterday's post) and then, during my morning ritual of reading email and having coffee, I splattered most of my coffee all over my keyboard (quite sticky with sugar) : a new bloggermate sent me a Gmail invitation :-))))

Now that's what I call international solidarity indeed.... You wanna know how I got it ?

Can you imagine ? I'm barely introduced in Blogger Universe while looking around for blogs that interest me.

Very quickly I notice that trackbacking is a neat way of getting known bit by bit (that's why I added HaloScan here) and so I stumble upon a guy with an interesting blog : Mike Rodriquez's Online Journal (All the Pages are My Days). Having read Mike's post "Sometimes I Wonder" I trackback on it. He notices my excerpt, looks at my blog, and reads about my Gdream - lol !!!

So this bloggerdude sent his invitation with the note :

please consider this an international gesture of good will ... as we say, love our country, hate our president. :-)

thanks for the trackback ping on the germany in the 30s. I agree, it's not that bad, and we can help ensure it doesn't get that way by raising questions and being aware.

take care,

mike

THANK YOU MIKE !!! And be on guard for extreme right...

And what about Gmail ?

Rumours, facts, threats, anger, love, hate, awe, devotion, worship... jee it's as if Gmail triggers the best and the worst of humankind's emotions (just look at all those feelings right now at Technorati - i'm sure, even if you've found my link at a far later stage then when I was posting this, that the discussion is still up and running).
Okay, I must admit that I'm on one of those swap-lists too... I'm just too curious notwithstanding the critics and the fact that Yahoo started the battle too. Some bloggers who very recently moved to Gmail already regretted it because of the Yahoo counter-attack... I wonder what will come out of this battle, but one thing is sure : I don't think that Gmail can afford lingering on far longer with the competition breathing in their necks.
PS. This was just a thought of mine so I might get that invitation through my Blogger login in the long run. Dreams aren't forbidden until further notice - lol !

Iraqi public opinion poll

For those who weren't convinced yet that anti-American sentiments are not going away : read this report or see the slide show.
And if you don't like polls (or some poll results) you might get some comfort from Abu Aardvark.
Would you stay somewhere you are definitely not welcome ?

HaloScan

Just added the HaloScan comment and trackback stuff to my blog. Seems to work quite well...

Arafat's dynamics...

DEBKA-file reports that Arafat turns to Damascus to get Egypt out of his hair.

[...] "to defeat Sharon’s plan and keep the Egyptians out of Palestinian affairs."
[...] "a plan for joint Syrian-Palestinian task forces [...] to neutralize the unified Palestinian security force that Egypt and the British MI6 with US backing are striving to create on the West Bank and Gaza Strip."

But will it keep Arafat alive and kicking ?

Meet Joe Blog

"Why are more and more people getting their news from amateur websites called blogs? Because they're fast, funny and totally biased"

Some comment from Dean's World |

Syria is moving ?

Haaretz reports that Syria is reportedly planning on erasing a clause from its national convention which forbids recognition of Israel... (based on al-Watan) Also on al-Bawaba and al-Sharq al-Awsat (in Arabic).

American pressure ?

EU election disaster

Low turnouts and big gains for opposition parties spread dismay among senior European politicians. This apathy seems to be a general behavior, especially in the largest country among the newcomers : Poland had only a 20% turnout.
Okay, my country Belgium had the highest turnout (90%) but voting here is compulsory so... And the 12th consecutive progress of extreme-right (Vlaams Blok) in our elections is particularly worrisome... again ! Another sign of the ever-growing anti-politic feelings among Flemings. Being a Fleming myself I don't feel particularly proud of it.
Some comments on Belgian results or do you like a more cynical approach ?
Detailed Belgian results (in Dutch)
Some blogging comments (in Dutch)
Live from Brussels invites you to comment in English too...

I'm voting today !

Today it's the final day of EU parliament vote.

In Belgium we also have regional elections at the same time, so as a Fleming (Dutch speaking) in Brussels (large majority French speaking) i had to make my point at the ballot in order to secure my position as a member of perhaps the most institutionally subsidized minority in the world - lol !

I won't elaborate on the complexity of our institutions (you might enter here AYOR if you have the guts, but I advize you to read it in Dutch or French because the English translation is awkwardly insufficient, if ever).
Complex as Belgian institutions are, just to comfort you I'll whisper you a secret : Belgians don't know themselves how this little country is organized but, astonishingly, it works... and that's what count isn't it ;-)

This morning I was already awake pretty early, which is exquisitely rare in the annals of this humble writer who cannot possibly categorize himself being the perfect morning guy. I suppose it was my enthusiasm for election day that made my biological clock wake me up at such an inhumanely early hour.

And there I went at starting hour to the ballot : bureau 75 in the "Pedagogisch Centrum Vlaesendael" in Neder-over-Heembeek, which is part of Brussels. I regretted my early start the moment I went into the building. Some PC problem started the, yes, electronical (wow ! progress they call it) voting day with some delays already : one might instantly vote extreme for lesser frustrations pfff...

Anyway, at last, I made my point (I mean my minority voting point) and yes I'm rather liberal (link in dutch only) if that's what you wanted to know...

And the results will be ? ... insh'allah

Blog-only Diet

Steve Outing wonders in The Blog-only News Diet if one might quit reading the mainstream news media in favour of perusing blogs to grasp current events. He also makes a round-up of the best blog sources.

I found this through InstaPundit.

Presumably the mainstream media won't go away that easily.

In my experience to get a real overview of current affairs you still have to look up a few newspapers. But blog reading is a fine way to find refreshing opinions, whether based on objective argumentation or sheer frustration. It makes your personal newsgathering all the more colourful and exciting.

And those first-person blogs makes you able to "sniff the local smell" far better don't you agree ?

WMD in Iraq...

The discussion about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq still continues.
Also : Mind of Mog | Hud's Blog-O-Rame | Rantingprofs | The Gamut
Background documentation and a lot of links of press coverage and editorials at CEIP for those who want more...

Is U.S. like Germany of the '30s?

Jee what a question ! See Andrew Greely's article in the Chicago Sun-Times. Hmmm... don't exaggerate things I would say. You can't compare Bush with Hitler notwithstanding some parallelism.

Iraqi bloggers in the spotlight

BBC News Online got a "aha Erlebnis" : Iraqi bloggers grab global interest.

"Written by ordinary Iraqis keen to tell the world about life in the troubled country, the sites are also attracting the attention of a global audience keen to learn about the lives of local civilians."

Well, you can certainly count me in ! And thanks to all those Iraqi bloggers : some people DO care you know...

Gaza Timetable

The Jerusalem Post published the timetable of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Jewish settlers might get compensation up to 300.000 USD per family if they leave voluntarily rather then being enforced to be evacuated later on. Full compensation would only be paid once appropriate compensation laws have been passed planned next November.
Or is it an exercise in deceit ?

Read this ! Raed wants you to...

Raed Jarrar is emphasizing the importance of the Iraqi Civilian War Casualties website :

"In respect to their sacred memory, I would appreciate it if you could spend some minutes reading the database file when I publish them, read their names, and their personal details, and think about them as human beings, friends, and relatives -- not mere figures and numbers".

DO IT !

G8 and the Middle East

Well, this "Great Middle East" (in the view of Bush of course) got a luke-warm reaction from good "old Europe" : see article in Le Monde (in french).
Also : BBC | al-Jazeera | Khaleej Times | Haaretz | The Guardian
And have a look at this way of thinking... raw but to the point.

Erez industrial zone to be closed

Israeli factories will be evacuated from the Erez industrial zone as a consequence of the Israeli government's decision in principle to withdraw from the Gaza Strip (see article).

Raed is pondering

Jarrar Raed ponders about Iraq in this world and in another. A must read for everyone...

Comments on Sharon's plan

Political Animal | Israeli's | Palestinians |

Israel pull-out of Gaza at last ?

So I wonder if Sharon's planned pull-out of Gaza will hold in the long run : schwaye schwaye min fadlak because the Israeli government voted in principle to dismantle all Gaza settlements and four West Bank settlements, but its implementation will be postponed until next year. Okay, the four-stages plan is slated to be completed by the end of 2005 but each stage needs the Israeli Cabinet's approval. Sharon's original plan reportedly was to be implemented in one stage so these 4 phases seem to have been the negotiated bottom-line in order to get the plan voted.
The opposition Labour party withdrew a parliamentary no-confidence motion scheduled for today, but Sharon's position is still very weak. Now wait for Mubarak's move as Arafat accepted the Egyptian security proposals.
Concurrently, the largest-ever conference on aid for Palestinian refugees has opened in Geneva. At last it's moving again...
See also some juicy DEBKA-information on Egyptian moves (is this stuff propaganda or not ?)

Bush's Erratic Behavior

Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides
Also : He's cracking...

US looks in Asia for support

Rumsfeld urges Asians to join war on terror, seemingly because "some Europeans countries" don't follow blindly ? Rumsfeld even compared those critical European countries to the Chamberlain attitude vis-à-vis Hitler. So I suppose that's what he calls "the old Europe" : thank you Mr. Rumsfeld, why would you need enemies with such an ally...
Needless to say, he also emphasized the growing danger of terror in Asian countries too. Of course, one might be vigilant without being scared blindly (and reacting conformingly) but I suppose such countries would be part of "the old Asia" - lol !
Can you imagine, there was already people in an Asian "Chamberlain" country protesting during Rumsfeld visit. Old Asia is alive and kicking !!! Join the common sense club...
See also IISS : Shangri-la Dialogue (with links to full speeches of the IISS Director, Singapore PM, Japan Defense Agency, MOD Australia, MOD Korea and also the full speech of Rumsfeld of course.

Islamophobia ?

Islamophobia Alert ! Read the BBC report. Of course, don't overdo it, just compare it to white extremism and you might see things a bit more in perspective. Such articles could be published in most European countries and exaggerate things even more. The discussion is alive and kicking, though, read some comments at Dhimmi Watch.

Goodbye Mr. Arafat ?

This article in Pravda by Vasily Bubnov (original in Russian) comments on the waning power of Yasser Arafat, not in the least by the latest Egyptian moves.
I just wonder what will happen with Fatah, the powerbase of Arafat. Egyptian competition vis-à-vis Syria about the control of Fatah ? There seems to be a consolidation of the Palestinian factions ongoing under Hezbollah and its sponsors Syria and Iran which could be countered with Mubarak...

Addtional articles : Profiles in Terror | Middle East Intelligence Bulletin | National Review Online | Jerusalem Post

Geneva Conventions Outdated ?

Alan M. Dershowitz states his opinion at the Baltimore Sun :

"The time has come to revisit the laws of war and to make them relevant to new realities. If their ultimate purpose was to serve as a shield to protect innocent civilians, they are failing miserably, since they are being used as a sword by terrorists who target such innocent civilians. Several changes should be considered :"

Read his op-ed

Never thought it through properly and I must say he does make a point.

The Expanding Blogosphere

How much impact does blogs have on mainstream political reporting ? An interesting comment of Rachel Smolkin, an AJR (American Journalism Review) senior writer. I found the report through this article of Political Animal.
She notices the following political blogs :

"There are the rock stars of political blogging--Glenn H. Reynolds (www.instapundit.com), Andrew Sullivan (www.andrewsullivan.com), Joshua Micah Marshall (www.talkingpointsmemo.com) and Mickey Kaus (www.kausfiles.com)--moody maestros who stroke their keyboards more quietly but no less fervently than Coldplay's Chris Martin."

There are more links to be found there so read the report.

Iraq and the Arab illusion

This article translation is a must read really. How comes that Arabs in general again and again indulge themselves in sheer illusion ? They certainly deserve better ! There is still a lot of work to do for Arab media but I fear that this article won't be found in the "respectable" Arab newspapers. Freedom of expression hmmmm...

Iran going fruitcake ?

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Official Threatens Suicide Operations : some excerpts...

[...] "Tehran's secret strategy aimed at taking over the Arab and Muslim countries by means of helping revolutionary forces and organizations"

"Haven't the Jews and the Christians achieved their progress by means of toughness and repression? We have a strategy drawn up for the destruction of Anglo-Saxon civilization and for the uprooting of the Americans and the English."

"The global infidel front is a front against Allah and the Muslims, and we must make use of everything we have at hand to strike at this front, by means of our suicide operations or by means of our missiles. There are 29 sensitive sites in the U.S. and in the West. We have already spied on these sites and we know how we are going to attack them."

I wonder if this article is true... have to check if the MEMRI-site has good credentials. Anyone with an opinion on MEMRI ?

Update May 31 : I had my doubts about MEMRI and I'm not the only one. Read this article : Brian Whitaker investigates whether the 'independent' media institute that translates the Arabic newspapers is quite what it seems

Iraq-Vietnam Comparison

You stumbled already on a lot of blogs in which people compared the Iraq débacle to the Vietnam quagmire ? Well, the Strategic Studies Institute published a report written by Dr. Jeffrey Record and W. Andrew Terrill.

The report concludes rightly that the differences between the two conflicts greatly outnumber the similarities, especially in the strategic and military dimensions of the two wars, but that some similarities are noticeable in two aspects of the political dimensions of it: attempts at state-building in an alien culture, and sustaining domestic political support in a protracted war against an irregular enemy.

Lessons learned... or not ?

Hey, even Tom Clancy remarks that "good men make mistakes" ;-)

Military security and more...

Political Animal gave some really good comments on the main question in Iraq :

" Was the very idea of bringing democracy to Iraq ill-conceived, or did the problem lie in our implementation ? "

Being a military officer I found quite some instances where the concept of "Security" was almost exclusively narrowed to the notion of "Military Security"... You know : "we ought to have more troops there than we'll have security". That's the first and typical flaw. But even if you take into account all aspects of security, the problem still remains that security as a conditio sine qua non for democratization in Iraq might be a compulsive precondition but not necessarily sufficient. Okay, I know, we already over-simplifly the problem statement (as if the Bush administration's motive was the democratization of Iraq ;-)

I do advise to read the article, ponder about his conclusion as quoted hereunder and perhaps add your 2 cents to the panoply of comments already there :

"Well, it means that democratization via military occupation is impossible in Iraq. I'd like to be talked out of this gloomy view, but it's going to take some mighty good arguments. Any takers ?"

BlogWar in Iraq ?

Whether you are an American soldier or three Iraqi brothers you can have your own blog to comment on developments in Baghdad while being in Baghdad. Or you could be a sweet woman or a dentist hey you could be anyone : it all adds up... "First person only" blogs (or "second closest" blogs - see the comment of Tim) are great ! Perhaps not the most objective but certainly the most penetrating.

Pics of the frontline

Those Moblogs are awsome ! The US Army is prohibiting digital camera's among their troops now because of compromising pictures that were published about the Abu Graib Prison - I wonder if this will be effective. Still, quite some pictures are to be found and I don't think this will go away that easily. It's child's play to get your own Yafro Moblog wouldn't you say ?

Raed in the Middle

Lol !!! Bush in the picture again... Raed doesn't like him seemingly [grin] : Read the joke

Blogs are overwhelming

It definitely is. I'm casually perusing heaps of bloglinks today and i'm flabbergasted !

Some ten years ago when i started to discover the internet it was already clear that journalism on the net was something to look forward to, but who could have predicted that virtually anyone would have the possibility to start publishing his thoughts in such a slick and smooth manner.

Professional journalists have come a long way since then, even my favorite local Flemish newspaper De Standaard (in Dutch) couldn't resist the temptation of having his own blog.

There is a a vast panoply of blogs to find though, so i wonder how to find the jewels hmmmm.... I found Blog Search Engine quite neat at first sight, particularly because of the categories it offers, but i must admit that the categories at Blogarama are more abundant. Also Intelliseek's BlogPulse seems interesting but i have to try it out a bit more to be sure : anyone who used it already substantially ? this portal-like "automated trend discovery system" sounds sexy though...

One thing is sure : i took the right blog-environment here at Blogger :-) It definitely IS smooth and slick. And if you don't believe me I can assure you that I'm not the only one who finds Blogger quite neat.

Introduction

Although I'm very much interested in political developments in the Arab world I must admit that my knowledge of the Arab language is largely insufficient. Needless to say, i was very much delighted with Aljazeera.Net in English for that matter. Not that i don't trust western media of course.... but, you know, perceptions differ to say the least...

Why this interest in the Arab world you might ponder ? I'm an officer in the Belgian Army and, as such, in the beginning of the 90s, had the opportunity of being a military observer for UNTSO (United Nations Truce Supervision Organization) in the Middle East. In short : i'll never forget the smell of Gaza. And this was the time when the Oslo Agreement still gave some hope... things must be far worse now compared to some ten years ago.

Still, after a decade being back in my homecountry, I still feel very close to the Middle East. And that's why i started this blog. I'm not sure how it'll evolve... let's see.... insh'allah...