We said we'd go. We didn't say we'd be nice.

The US attended an "anti-terrorism conference" in Saudi Arabia, but refused to put on a friendly face for representatives of the IRI regime in Tehran. In fact, Frances Townsend had some harsh words for the islamist entity. This Agence France-Presse story reports that

Delegates from the United States and archfoe Iran engaged in a "heated" exchange at a counter-terrorism conference in Saudi Arabia, the local media reported but a US official insisted the encounter was "professional."

(Hat tip: Little Green Footballs, which turns 4 today. Happy birthday LGF!)

"The exchange that took place in the first general assembly was a professional one reflecting differences in views between the US and Iranian delegations," a US embassy spokesperson in Riyadh told AFP. But the English-daily Saudi Gazette said the Iranian and US delegations at the closed-door conference were reportedly "locked in a heated exchange... when the issue of what constitutes terrorism arose." Diplomatic sources told AFP that Saturday's address by US Homeland Security Advisor Frances Townsend had prompted the head of the Iranian delegation to give a speech in response. There were no details on the content of his speech.

Read the whole thing at the link. Go Frances Townsend!

Morning Report: February 7, 2005

Erekat: Israel, Palestine to announce cease-fire. A recent news report from CNN states that Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has said Palestinian and Israeli leaders will announce a cease-fire at tomorrow's (Tuesday) summit at Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. 'Under the agreement, Israeli troops will halt incursions into Palestinian territories and Palestinian officials will urge all Palestinian factions to halt their attacks on Israel, Palestinian officials said. Erakat's statement came hours after leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority agreed to travel to Washington for separate meetings with President Bush. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- after talks with leaders from both sides -- said this is the most promising time for Mideast peace in years.' Debka reports: 'Rice announces Abbas and Sharon to go to White House in spring. At Ben Gurion airport, she disclosed a US security coordinator Lt. Gen. William Ward will be deployed to work with Palestinians, Israel, Egypt and Jordan on improvement of security in region. Rice ended two days of talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah Monday. DEBKAfile adds: General is former head of stabilizing force in Bosnia.' The BBC profiles Ward: 'Gen Ward gained a master's degree in political science from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor's in political science from Morgan State University before he was commissioned as an officer in 1971. His military service includes several overseas tours. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia, when two US Black Hawk helicopters were shot down. Nineteen US soldiers died during the now infamous subsequent rescue operation. For a year until October 2003 he commanded the Nato Stabilisation Force in Bosnia-Hercegovina. He has also toured in South Korea and Germany.' (CNN, Debka, BBC)

Debka: NATO to begin presence in Israel. Also from Debka: 'DEBKAfile’s Eilat sources report visit Sunday by NATO naval officers at Israeli Red Sea port and neighboring Aqaba in Jordan and inspection of their naval base installations. Sources expect NATO warships to begin docking in Eilat early next month, first instance of NATO sea cooperation with US as well as Israel and Jordan in Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba.' (Debka)

ITM: New tyranny "not that easy". Refuting earlier reports of an alleged statement by Sistani endorsing Shari'a law in Iraq, Omar reports: 'I chose to wait until the next news hour and of course until I chill out a little bit after the disturbing news and then I heard this update on the story "Haider Al-Khaffaf, a senior Sistani's aide says that no such statement was released". And going back to Friday's news, another senior aide of Sistani said from Kuwait that "the future constitution of the country is an issue that is left for the National Assembly to deal with".' Omar (agreeing with Baghdad Dweller) also sees a parallel with last year's infamous Resolution 137, which would have imposed Islamic law, and which was soundly rejected by the Iraqis. Omar also points to a system of checks and balances: 'there are rules and regulations that govern the writing of the constitution and these were agreed on by almost everyone (with a few reservations though) but there is a general agreement on these rules, and anyway, passing any legislation will require the approval of 2 thirds of the assembly's members.' The Belmont Club's analysis concludes that 'The question of whether it was right to deal with Chalabi or Allawi may in the end be dominated by the issue of whether it was right to trust the Iraqi people to select its leader. If that judgement is correct it is possible to be wrong in all else; if wrong nothing will avail.' (Iraq the Model, Belmont Club)

Barney Frank on Eason Jordan. Michelle Malkin recently spoke with Rep. Barney Frank (D - Massachusetts) on CNN official Eason Jordan's questionable allegations regarding US troops and reporters. Malkin writes: 'Rep. Frank said Eason Jordan did assert that there was deliberate targeting of journalists by the U.S. military. After Jordan made the statement, Rep. Frank said he immediately "expressed deep skepticism." Jordan backed off (slightly), Rep. Frank said, "explaining that he wasn't saying it was the policy of the American military to target journalists, but that there may have been individual cases where they were targeted by younger personnel who were not properly disciplined." Rep. Frank said he didn't pay attention to the audience reaction at the time of the panel, but recalled that Sen. Dodd was "somewhat disturbed" and "somewhat exercised" and that moderator David Gergen also said Jordan's assertions were "disturbing if true." I have a call in to Sen. Dodd's office and sent an e-mail inquiry to Gergen.' (Michelle Malkin via Instapundit)

France bans Iranian anti-regime rally. Iran Focus reports that French authorities have withdrawn their approval for a pro-Iranian rally in Paris, under pressure from the islamist regime in Tehran. 'Iran's main opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, issued a statement today condemning the French government's decision to ban a peaceful protest by Iranian exiles in Paris against the dictatorship ruling Iran, despite prior approval. ... The NCRI revealed from sources from within Iran that France gave into the demands of the Iranian regime to secure economic deals for French companies, adding that Tehran was spreading its dictatorship thousands of kilometres to the heart of Europe.' (Iran Focus via Free Iran)

Update

Wednesday night I got to watch the President's State of the Union speech with some folks from College Republicans and the Washington County (Oregon) Republicans. There were a couple dozen of us there: women in skirts and neat makeup, men in neckties and crisp haircuts, and, well ... me. I don't get a chance to go to the CR meetings on campus because they're on Thursday nights and they conflict with my yoga class; so this was a too-rare chance to hang out with other Republicans, which I did. A very nice young woman named Lucy gave me a lift there and back, as I'm still wheel-less for the time being.

Thursday I got my Physics exam back. Didn't do quite as well as I'd hoped, but still scored 10 points above the class average. I had a screaming headache on the day of the exam and made a lot of dumb mistakes. (Memo to self: the static charge on the INTERIOR of a conductor is zero. On the surfaces, it'll gravitate toward wherever there's an opposite charge nearby ... grrrr ...)

Thursday night I went out with a couple of friends and met the artist Shahna Lax, who does amazing work in what she calls "Judeo-Islamic art", combining Muslim and Jewish motifs. She's based near Taos, New Mexico. We met up at the coffee shop at Powell's Books, made a lot of noise, and then went on to the Blue Moon for a drink and a bite to eat. Of course I didn't bring up politics; I'm "out" as a Republican to my friends, but with new acquaintances from the left-leaning arts crowd I leave it alone. (It doesn't exactly enhance my dating life, either. But I digress.)

Friday I picked up a box of "business cards" with my name and address, along with this blog's title and URL. So now I have something to give out to friends when I casually let it drop that I "keep a little web page". The cards look really sharp - Office Depot did a nice job on these.

I'm working my way through the BBC's 'Hamlet' on DVD for the second time, and I'll probably view it a few more times this week. See, the Beeb are good for a few things! This production is 3 hours and 42 minutes long, but it's worth every minute. Amazing how every time you watch Shakespeare, you can feel as if you're watching it for the first time. I like the way Prince Hamlet channels his dead father, with Ophelia playing the same role to him that Hamlet himself did for the elder Hamlet's ghost. Hope to post something on Hamlet later.

My latest obsession is Myst, the classic computer game now in its fourth installment. Each new Myst game is prettier, fancier, and gloriouser (yes, dammit, that's a word) than the last. I've played the first game (now out as RealMyst, with real-time movement), Myst 3 "Exile", and Myst 4 "Revelation", which is just incredible. Still haven't gotten Myst 2 "Riven" yet, but that's only a matter of time. And of course there are the books!

And on a much less glamorous note, I've got to get some more housecleaning and, yes, homework done today. Will post again soon. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, go check out Jeff's post about a world that lives very close to ours.

Liberation Blog Death? Not a chance.

So, you might be wondering whether things are going to get a bit more low-key here at Dreams Into Lightning. Isn't it time to end the honeymoon? Turn down the passion a little? After all, we've just celebrated Iraq's first free election, and this blog has been running for almost 10 months now ... that's a long time in "blog years". You might be thinking that this relationship of ours has been getting cozy, comfortable ... and not very exciting. Not that the spark is gone, why no, not at all, it's just that the novelty isn't quite there anymore. Oh, a new posting every now and then, sure, to keep the magic alive. But even that might be, well ... an anti-climax.

Is that what you've been thinking? Well, perish the thought. Times may change, but Dreams Into Lightning is only just getting warmed up. There will be no Liberation Blog Death around here - the excitement is just beginning. We're going to keep up the heat on the political front and continue fighting fascism wherever we see it. But we're also going to branch out into culture, the arts, and other fun stuff. Oh, there may be occasional dry spells (as when yours truly has to study for an exam), but the party is just getting started.

So fret not, gentle reader ... the best is yet to come.

"There's just right and wrong and following your heart of hearts."

Jeff Simmermon takes stock in the wake of the Iraqi elections, in this incredibly eloquent post:

... I’ve had a guilty taste in my mouth since the inaugural protest’s cocktail of adrenaline and pepper gas wore off. I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that while the right is wrong, the left might not be right either. I looked around those protests and saw legitimately angry people who were well-fed and intentionally scruffy. Not to be presumptuous, but I didn't detect sadness and suffering ringing the eyes of most protestors. People were angry, loudly vocal, and legitimate in the depth of their feeling...but I didn't see anyone from the middle East. While I would guess that many people there had travelled, I doubt any of them had an Iraqi stamp in their passports.

This is not to discount the suffering felt by thousand of families and friends connected to those lost in the war.

Ever since I got ready to leave America, I've felt the country wobbling out of balance, like world events have been spinning out of control and America is right there at the center pulling the levers. I’ve needed the comfort that comes from answers and been really jealous of the righteous sense of stability that the religious right and Bush supporters and other stupid white people seemed to have. I took refuge in a knee-jerk liberal identity for a long time, but now it's threadbare and not as comfortable as it once was. ...

Go read the whole thing here: And I Am Not Lying, For Real - Iraqi Elections. Jeff's color scheme unfortunately makes the quotes from Iraqis a little difficult to read - use your cursor to highlight these passages, because you won't want to miss a word. Jeff, thank you for your honesty and courage.

Hat tip: the incomparable Plan 9. Thanks, Tanna.

"The Calling of Our Age"

President Bush's inaugural address can be found here.

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

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

We have seen our vulnerability - and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny - prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder - violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.

We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.

America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one.

For some time, a debate had been going on as to whether the President would continue with his bold, radical defense of the oppressed peoples of the world, or whether he would begin to listen to the so-called "realists" in Washington who advocated moral compromise. Here - as the President's nomination of Dr. Rice confirms, and Richard Perle's words testify - there can be no doubt where he stands. (Try counting the number of times the words "ideal", "idealist", "idealism" appear in the speech.) Here, the President has committed himself and the Nation to the high road.

From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication, the issues and questions before our country are many. From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?

Go read the whole thing at the link.

No Apologies from Perle

Richard Perle is in the mood for kicking something, not kissing it, as this wonderful interview in Die Welt makes plain. (And a big danke schoen to Davids Medienkritik.)

Q: Will President Bush continue on the same course in
his second term or will he listen to people
who advise him to rely more on soft power than on
military force?

A: We don’t want to emulate the Europeans.  The
Europeans employ soft power day and night.  They
cannot get enough of it.  That isn’t our role. Our
role is not to pretend – as the Europeans pretend –
that soft power can change North Korea’s Kim Jong Il
or the mullahs. ...

Q: A primary European criticism of the America
concerns its behavior with respect to international law.
Europeans regret that the US deliberately undermines
the world order created by Roosevelt and its
institutions, such as the UN.

A: What world order?  The UN passed 17 resolutions
against Saddam Hussein and did nothing to enforce
them.  It was weak and ineffective.

And it just gets better. Go read the whole thing at the link.

But in case you're really pressed for time, The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler sums it up very nicely in just four lines.

Morning Report: February 2, 2005

Memories of an African genocide. Reflecting on the UN's refusal to recognize the killing in Sudan as "genocide", Mamamontezz recalls an encounter with survivors of another crime against humanity: 'I approached the man and asked him if he wouldn't mind answering a few questions about Rawanda. I didn't have to ask...he said it was all true. His wife showed me what was left of her left hand--her thumb, index, and middle finger. I also noticed sever burn marks on her face, but knew better than to inquire. The man unbuttoned his collar and showed me where a Hutu had tried to slit his throat. The man told me he only survived because he thought that since he was going to die, it was better to fight like a man, than die like a dog.' (Mamamontezz)

Allawi slams ABC insult. Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was "disappointed and insulted" by statements from producers at ABC News, Allawi's office said. ABC had suggested that Allawi's refusal to grant an interview to Peter Jennings ' equates to the prime minister not being caring about American soldiers or being grateful for the United States’ leading role in the coalition', according to this Fox News item. (Fox)

Dean likely to lead Democrats. According to this New York Times article, Howard Dean may succeed in his quest to become the next leader of the Democratic National Committee: 'Dr. Dean's dominance was secured after Martin Frost, a former representative from Texas, whom many Democrats viewed as the institutional counterpart to Dr. Dean, dropped out after failing - in what had become an increasingly long-shot effort - to win support from national labor unions. The A.F.L.-C.I.O. announced instead that it would remain neutral, freeing its affiliate members to do what they wanted, which proved in many cases to be boarding the Dean train. "It's a fait accompli, it's over: Dean's going to be it," said Gerald McEntee, head of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, who runs the umbrella political organization for all the unions in the A.F.L.-C.I.O. Actually, the final word rests with the 447 members of the Democratic National Committee, who will vote on Feb. 12 in Washington on a successor to Terry McAuliffe. And Dr. Dean faces a last obstacle, the candidacy of Donnie Fowler Jr., a Democratic operative from South Carolina. Fowler aides said they hoped to benefit from the appearance of this as a two-man race with an opponent with a history of sometimes unorthodox political behavior. Still, they acknowledged that the possibility of a real competition was dimming.' (New York Times via College Republicans)

Debka on Rice, Israel, Palestine. A new analysis by Debka looks at US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's stated policies toward Palestine and Israel. 'New US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice’s upcoming visit to the Middle East next week has galvanized the region’s leaders into a frenzied round of travel and summit consultations. The centerpiece summit will bring together Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) at Sharm al Sheikh next Tuesday. Jordan’s King Abdullah has also been invited.' Debka notes the points of disagreement between Washington and Jerusalem: 'Amid this flurry of movement, nothing has happened to change the fundamentals at stake between Israel and the Palestinians. Rice made this clear on Monday, January 31, ahead of her visit to the region and at the previous Senate hearings before her confirmation last week: “Without a viable and contiguous Palestinian state that represents the aspirations of the Palestinian people – meaning enough land to function well - there will be no peace for either Palestinian people or Israelis.” This statement does not address the concerns troubling Jerusalem. ... ' Read the full article at the link. (Debka)

New website traces African-American history. A new website by the Schomburg Center of the New York Public Library offers a fresh take on African-American history: 'The transatlantic slave trade has created an enduring image of black men and women as transported commodities, and is usually considered the most defining element in the construction of the African Diaspora, but it is centuries of additional movements that have given shape to the nation we know today. This is the story that has not been told. In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience presents a new interpretation of African-American history, one that focuses on the self-motivated activities of peoples of African descent to remake themselves and their worlds. Of the thirteen defining migrations that formed and transformed African America, only the transatlantic slave trade and the domestic slave trades were coerced, the eleven others were voluntary movements of resourceful and creative men and women, risk-takers in an exploitative and hostile environment. Their survival skills, efficient networks, and dynamic culture enabled them to thrive and spread, and to be at the very core of the settlement and development of the Americas. Their hopeful journeys changed not only their world and the fabric of the African Diaspora but also the Western Hemisphere.' In Motion: the African-American Migration Experience offers access to an enormous database of documents relating to the transatlantic slave trade, the domestic slave trade, Caribbean migration, and other chapters of African-American history. (NYPL via CNN)

U.S. Hostage Identified

The identity of an American soldier held hostage by Islamist militants has been confirmed, according to knowledgeable sources.

What if?

Mark Brown of the Chicago Sun-Times comes in from the cold.

Maybe you're like me and have opposed the Iraq war since before the shooting
started -- not to the point of joining any peace protests, but at least
letting people know where you stood.

You didn't change your mind when our troops swept quickly into Baghdad or
when you saw the rabble that celebrated the toppling of the Saddam Hussein
statue, figuring that little had been accomplished and that the tough job
still lay ahead.

Despite your misgivings, you didn't demand the troops be brought home
immediately afterward, believing the United States must at least try to
finish what it started to avoid even greater bloodshed. And while you
cheered Saddam's capture, you couldn't help but thinking I-told-you-so in
the months that followed as the violence continued to spread and the death
toll mounted.

By now, you might have even voted against George Bush -- a second time -- to
register your disapproval.

But after watching Sunday's election in Iraq and seeing the first clear sign
that freedom really may mean something to the Iraqi people, you have to be
asking yourself: What if it turns out Bush was right, and we were wrong? ...

Go read the rest of the column here: What if Bush was right?

(Thanks to the person at the Portland State chapter of College Republicans who e-mailed this item.)

And please, please take two seconds to drop Mr. Brown a nice e-mail thanking him for having the courage to speak up. You and I both know that there are plenty of good, decent people out there who were against the war, and who might now be having second thoughts. If they see that there are other people in the same situation, it'll be easier for them to think clearly. It's a good thing that some people are starting to see the light - it will be an even better thing when we can all work together for a better Middle East and a better world.

Nobody needs to "do penance" - we just need to talk to each other, listen to each other, and work together.

Sudan Action

You already know that genocide is taking place in Sudan. The Untied Nations knows it, too, but they won't use the G word, because that would mean they'd have to DO something.

Well, YOU can do someting. Send a message to the UN and tell Kofi Annan to get a clue. Go to the anti-slavery website iAbolish and sign the petition to the UN:

In October, the UN belatedly responded to outrage over atrocities in Sudan by launching a commission. The commission had three months to determine whether genocide was occurring in Sudan. Today, four months later, the report has not been issued.

But on Friday the Los Angeles Times reported that the UN has found "no evidence of crimes against humanity with an ethnic dimension" in Sudan. Instead, it will only condemn "individuals who may have acted with a 'genocidal intention.'"

Reuters is also reporting that Sudan's Foreign Minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, claims the regime he represents will not be cited for genocide. "We have a copy of that report and they didn't say there is a genocide," Ismail told journalists.

I write to urge the UN not to forsake its heritage. The UN was founded after World War II to ensure that the international community would act to stop genocide. But now months are going by and the UN is standing by.

The very least you can do is be honest about the problem. The Sudanese government is sending forces to destroy villages, abduct women and children into slavery, murder civilians, and forcibly starve hundreds of thousands. The Sudanese military has bombed villages and then prevented African Union peacekeepers from investigating.

Please do not hide from the word "genocide." If the UN cannot be clear about the problem, then it cannot provide a solution. The Sudanese regime has clearly committed acts of genocide and continues to do so. Sudan's leaders must be held accountable by the international community.

The UN should say the truth. Otherwise, the truth will be that the UN is broken.

Go do this now. Click on the link, and tell the guys at Turtle Bay to get serious.

Haim Harari: At the Eye of the Storm

You may be wondering why I don't spend more time covering the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in this blog. After all, the dispute between Palestine and Israel is the central issue in the Middle East, right?

No; I don't think that it is. And neither does Israeli physicist Haim Harari, whose article The View from the Eye of the Storm attracted some well-deserved attention in the blogosphere recently. I'm getting around to Harari a little bit late, but the article is just as relevant now - in the wake of the Iraqi elections - as it was last spring.

Why do I put aside Israel and its own immediate neighborhood? Because Israel and any problems related to it, in spite of what you might read or hear in the world media, is not the central issue, and has never been the central issue in the upheaval in the region. Yes, there is a 100 year-old Israeli-Arab conflict, but it is not where the main show is. The millions who died in the Iran-Iraq war had nothing to do with Israel. The mass murder happening right now in Sudan, where the Arab Moslem regime is massacring its black Christian citizens, has nothing to do with Israel. The frequent reports from Algeria about the murders of hundreds of civilian in one village or another by other Algerians have nothing to do with Israel. Saddam Hussein did not invade Kuwait, endangered Saudi Arabia and butchered his own people because of Israel. Egypt did not use poison gas against Yemen in the 60's because of Israel. Assad the Father did not kill tens of thousands of his own citizens in one week in El Hamma in Syria because of Israel. The Taliban control of Afghanistan and the civil war there had nothing to do with Israel. The Libyan blowing up of the Pan-Am flight had nothing to do with Israel, and I could go on and on and on.

The root of the trouble is that this entire Moslem region is totally dysfunctional, by any standard of the word, and would have been so even if Israel would have joined the Arab league and an independent Palestine would have existed for 100 years.

Harari goes on to say:

I should also say a word about the millions of decent, honest, good people who are either devout Moslems or are not very religious but grew up in Moslem families. They are double victims of an outside world, which now develops Islamophobia and of their own environment, which breaks their heart by being totally dysfunctional. The problem is that the vast silent majority of these Moslems are not part of the terror and of the incitement but they also do not stand up against it. They become accomplices, by omission, and this applies to political leaders, intellectuals, business people and many others. Many of them can certainly tell right from wrong, but are afraid to express their views.

He then develops the idea that today's terror/fascism structure rests on four "pillars": (1) the use of suicide-murderers by wealthy elites; (2) the use of propaganda to incite, and to conceal, the killing of innocents; (3) the channeling of money through three "concentric spheres" - (a) the innermost circle of the terrorists themselves, (b) the infrastructure of preachers, planners, and supporters who make a "very comfortable living" supporting the killers, and (c) the outer circle, which serves as the guardian, and consists of "religious" organizations, "news" media, and "educational" and "welfare" institutions, and provides the ideological environment needed to nurture the terrorist apparatus; and finally (4) the fourth pillar is the total anarchism, atavism, and nihilism of the terrorist movement:

The civilized world believes in democracy, the rule of law, including international law, human rights, free speech and free press, among other liberties. There are naïve old-fashioned habits such as respecting religious sites and symbols, not using ambulances and hospitals for acts of war, avoiding the mutilation of dead bodies and not using children as human shields or human bombs. Never in history, not even in the Nazi period, was there such total disregard of all of the above as we observe now.

Go take a few minutes to read Harari's article. I'm planning to post more on it soon.