Sixteen months after the United States abandoned its loyal satrap of 30 years, President Hosni Mubarak, to champion democracy in Egypt, the returns are in. Mohammed Mursi, candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood, is president of Egypt, while the military has dissolved the elected parliament that was dominated by the Brotherhood and curbed his powers. The …
Continue reading “Has the Day of the Islamist Arrived?”
What began as a quiet day changed late in the evening when a bomb left dozens of teenagers killed or wounded at a soccer field in Hilla. Although less deadly, Turkish shelling, which left one Iraqi civilian wounded, could be more troubling politically.. Overall, at least 19 Iraqis were killed and 41 more were wounded in the attacks.
Everybody knows by now why we are stuck in Palestine. When God instructed Moses to plead with pharaoh to let his people go, Moses told him that he was unfit for the job because “I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue” (Exodus 4:10). Actually, in the Hebrew original, Moses told God that …
Continue reading “Our Muslim Brothers”
Divide et impera – a strategy employed by empires since ancient times, and perfected by the British – has been the leitmotif of American foreign policy in the Middle East since the Bush administration’s “Arab Awakening” in Iraq and the supposed success of the “surge.” I’ve written in this space about the playing of the …
Continue reading “Regime-Changers’ Report Card”
An Iraqi group monitoring violations against journalists warned of a new government decree that could force the shutting of 44 media agencies, including the BBC and Voice of America outlets. The Journalistic Freedoms Observatory obtained a document purportedly sent by the Communications and Media Commission to the Interior Ministry. At least 14 Iraqis were killed and eight more were wounded in new violence.
Turkey continued shelling border areas in Iraqi Kurdistan. No casualties or damages were yet reported, but the artillery fire panicked the area’s residents. Separately, Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi’s weeklong criticism of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earned him a request for dismissal from Maliki’s State of Law party. And, at least two Iraqis were killed and eight more were wounded in light violence.
A significant double bombing at a pet market hearkened back to the height of sectarian violence. Overall, at least 22 Iraqis were killed and 161 more were wounded across the country. Also, one Iranian pilgrim was killed and nine more were wounded in attacks in Samarra.
Bitta Mostofi on Apple’s treatment of Iranian-Americans
It cozies up to the MeK, says Richard Silverstein
The new Executive Director of Amnesty International USA – Suzanne Nossel – is a recent U.S. government insider. So it’s a safe bet that AI’s decision to seize upon a topic that dovetailed with American foreign policy interests, "women’s rights in Afghanistan," at the NATO Conference last month in Chicago came directly from her. Nossel was …
Continue reading “Amnesty’s Shilling for US Wars” 
