Mohammed: A Response to Cindy Sheehan

Mohammed Fadhil at Iraq the Model writes this message to Cindy Sheehan:

I realize how tragic your loss is and I know how much pain there is crushing your heart and I know the darkness that suddenly came to wrap your life and wipe away your dreams and I do feel the heat of your tears that won't dry until you find the answers to your question; why you lost your loved one?

I have heard your story and I understand that you have the full right to ask people to stand by your side and support your cause. At the beginning I told myself, this is yet another woman who lost a piece of her heart and the questions of war, peace and why are killing her everyday. To be frank to you the first thing I thought of was like "why should I listen or care to answer when there are thousands of other women in America, Iraq and Afghanistan who lost a son or a husband or a brother…”

But today I was looking at your picture and I saw in your eyes a persistence, a great pain and a torturing question; why?

I know how you feel Cindy, I lived among the same pains for 35 years but worse than that was the fear from losing our loved ones at any moment. Even while I'm writing these words to you there are feelings of fear, stress, and sadness that interrupt our lives all the time but in spite of all that I'm sticking hard to hope which if I didn't have I would have died years ago.

Ma'am, we asked for your nation's help and we asked you to stand with us in our war and your nation's act was (and still is) an act of ultimate courage and unmatched sense of humanity.
Our request is justified, death was our daily bread and a million Iraqi mothers were expecting death to knock on their doors at any second to claim someone from their families.
Your face doesn't look strange to me at all; I see it everyday on endless numbers of Iraqi women who were struck by losses like yours.

Our fellow country men and women were buried alive, cut to pieces and thrown in acid pools and some were fed to the wild dogs while those who were lucky enough ran away to live like strangers and the Iraqi mother was left to grieve one son buried in an unfound grave and another one living far away who she might not get to see again.

We did nothing to deserve all that suffering, well except for a dream we had; a dream of living like normal people do.

We cried out of joy the day your son and his comrades freed us from the hands of the devil and we went to the streets not believing that the nightmare is over.
We practiced our freedom first by kicking and burning the statues and portraits of the hateful idol who stole 35 years from the life of a nation.
For the first time air smelled that beautiful, that was the smell of freedom.

The mothers went to break the bars of cells looking for the ones they lost 5, 12 or 20 years ago and other women went to dig the land with their bare hand searching for a few bones they can hold in their arms after they couldn't hold them when they belonged to a living person.

I recall seeing a woman on TV two years ago, she was digging through the dirt with her hands. There was no definite grave in there as the whole place was one large grave but she seemed willing to dig the whole place looking for her two brothers who disappeared from earth 24 years ago when they were dragged from their colleges to a chamber of hell.

Her tears mixed with the dirt of the grave and there were journalists asking her about what her brothers did wrong and she was screaming "I don't know, I don't know. They were only college students. They didn't murder anyone, they didn't steal, and they didn't hurt anyone in their lives. All I want to know is the place of their grave".

Why was this woman chosen to lose her dear ones? Why you? Why did a million women have to go through the same pain? ...

Read the rest here.

The Arabs are coming! The Arabs are coming!

Here's a roundup of recent posts from the Arab blogosphere.

I'm going to devote a separate post to The Religious Policeman, but it would be a sin not to mention his blog here. Go read what this Saudi expat has to say - and why he calls himself the Religious Policeman.

Karfan of Syria Exposed fears he may be suffering delusions of adequacy as he explodes Myth No. 11:

Two months ago, it became obvious that King Lion the 2nd and his entourage grew weary of people barking at them from all sides. Being completely hopeless towards the big strong harmful dogs barking from the safe heaven of outside, they decided to start beating the dogs that they can beat: the tiny little harmless poodles inside the country. So they started a charitable campaign of filling some empty cells with people who dared to speak out loud demanding reforms and democracy. Some of the names they took are famous or became famous after the rides, like the Atassi seven and their snow-white princess. Some were never mentioned in media and they were known by word of mouth only. Some were released and some were not. So Karfan and I, being lawful disciples of chicken-citizenship conditioning, decided to keep a low profile for a while.

After taking a month and a half vacation from this virtual ranting duty, we realized that there is really nothing for us to fear from. We were fooling our selves by thinking that we are actually so important that a security service apparatus would waist their brilliant informants time to track us down ....

Karfan doesn't ask much of his government ... just one little thing. Read the post to find out what it is.

Syrian heretic Amarji has the latest on a conference in Venice:

The words and addresses if the conference organizers and participants, in contrast, were thankfully much more humble, albeit, at times, they could still be too apologetic.

“Modernization is not synonymous with westernization.” Said one of the speakers. Oh really. Can anyone name one thing that is modern but not Western? Whenever I ask this question, people are often tempted to refer to Japanese ingenuity. Obviously they haven’t heard of Commodore Perry and gunboat diplomacy.

Will gunboat diplomacy work with a certain country I wonder? It might be worth considering.

The problem with reform in the region, the reason why we don’t have enlightened despots at work, is simply the total corruption of our political and economic elite. We have thieves and thugs for decision-makers, avaricious morons for policy advisors and dreamy nincompoops for technocrats. How on earth can we modernize with this lot?

Big Pharaoh has this to say about the Iraqi women who demonstrated the other day:

And please don't tell me that the unveiled jeans wearing ladies are less Muslim than the women who are clad in black. Please don't try to convince me that Allah or God who created Mars, Venus, Jupiter, the rivers, the roses, and the water falls had a bad day today because a group of Iraqi women dressed in jeans decided to braze the terrorists and a terrible weather to demand equal rights and a better life.

Read it all at the link. And did you hear about the two stoners going into the one dude's apartment? No? Well, better go here: Osama who?

Also from Egypt, Sandmonkey is breaking out the bubbly:

'Omar Bakri has been living in Britian for 20 years now as a refuge after Saudi
declared him to be an "islamic extremist"- imagine how bad you have to be for
that to happen- and kicked him out of Saudi. The fact that he wasn't arrested
for all of those years of hate incitement and support for terrorism was pissing
me off, and the fact that he came under fire finally after the London bombings
is the one good thing I consider to ever come out of this tragic event. Altough
to be fair ,the fact that he didn't keep his mouth shut after it either and
calling the 7/7 bombers the "fabolous four" , kind of helped.

Omar Bakri sparked outrage last week when he said he would not inform police if he knew Muslims were planning a bomb attack on a train in Britain and supported Muslims who attacked British troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

So faced with the threat of going to jail for hate-incitement, our boy Bakri had to escape London and went to Lebanon, after overstaying his welcome and abusing the kindness of people who took him into their country, which is something that I am kind of glad about. And i am not the only one who thinks so it seems:

Omar Bakri's departure, however, was welcomed by Sir Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain. "There can be a bit of a celebration. That is something which I think will bring a bit of real joy and happiness to the community," he said.

Well, Sir Iqbal, I am happy to report that the good news just keeps on coming, and by good news I mean bad news for Bakri: They arrested him in Lebanon...'

Read it all at the link.

Nadz, one of our favorite members of Dreams Into Lightning's Axis of Estrogen, admits to being a little spooked by beards:

'One thing we can learn from all of these attacks is this - religious nuts with beards are trouble. I'm not out to dis all of you bearded readers, but my experience is that regardless of your faith, the ones with beards are the scariest.

Case in point: Jewish settler nutcases goes on a shooting spree, killing 4 palestinian-israeli citizens. Following the example of previous asshole Baruch Goldstein, it seems. Look, it's just as evil when Hamas does it as well. I don't care if you're palestinian or israeli or tibetan, this is terrorism, pure and simple. My heart goes out to the victims' families and loved ones.

Another angry beardie won't shut up - Ayman Zawahiri is back in the news with a new videotape. And here's the shocker - he still wants to wage his jihad against infidel imperialist crusader zionist invaders. What a twist! And because it's fun, I'll examine his "logic".

"Blair has brought to you destruction in central London, and he will bring more of that, God willing,"
al-Zawahri said in the broadcast excerpts.

Of course! Don't blame the guys who actually blew up the train, blame Tony Blair! And Karl Rove, if you can manage it. It's just like the rapist who blames his victim by saying that she provoked him.
...

He warned the Palestinians against what he called attempts to drag them into the election game in order to extract legitimacy for the Palestinian Authority

(source: AlJazeera)

That's right, my fellow Palestinians: ignore the "game" of elections, democracy and reform, and instead use the tactic of blowing up buses full of civilians. That's the way to change things! Because it has worked well in the past and it's the "correct" thing to do, you see. Idiot.

"In Palestine, we are not only facing the Jews but also the anti-Islam international alliance headed by the US crusaders."
And international alliance? I wonder where their secret headquarters are? And
another thing - the crusades happened several CENTURIES ago! Get over it, you
touchy whiner.

Nadz also suspects there are a lot of closeted moderates out there:

... In case you haven't noticed, many of the Middle Eastern bloggers have
opinions that may surprise the average news-watching American. Sure, you have
your Raeds and Riverbends, but you also have your Iraq the Models and countless
others. Maybe it's because we are truly a minority that we use the internet to
speak to like-minded thinkers. Maybe it's because we are a frustrated silent
majority that needs a safer, more anonymous way to talk. Either way, blogs have
allowed people like my friend and passing drivers to say things that others
don't want to hear. And that can only be a good thing...

Mahmoud, who will NOT be registering his blog with the Bahraini government, thank you very much, offers some voices from the Bahraini blogosphere:

The first that cought my attention this morning was Silly Bahraini Girl where
she tells us in no uncertain terms that there is no connection between our blogs
and the oppossition, I know what prompted that one, or at least think I do, but
in any case it is absolutely true: as far as I know and observed there is
absolutely no connection between any of the blogs (currently alive) and the
government or the opposition, we are an independent bunch and hope that this
situation will continue.

emoodz once again has a thought provoking post
asking the simple question about patriotism, and more importantly to me is his
observation that

Ever since the opposition movement was lead by the
turban, sugarcoated with the sweet and drugging ideologies of Islam, people
followed without question, without doubt and with a lot of trust, to a dead end.
It is as I write this that people around me are awakening, realizing that this
is not the way to go. ...

Also, Mahmoud runs out of patience with some inept attempts at the English language.

And if you haven't been following Kuwaiti Girl's astronautical aspirations, go visit her site.

Morning Report: August 12, 2005

Baghdad: Municipal coup d'etat. The New York Times reports: 'Armed men entered Baghdad's municipal building during a blinding dust storm on Monday, deposed the city's mayor and installed a member of Iraq's most powerful Shiite militia. Relatives visited Nasser Khathem Nasser at Al Kindi Hospital after he was wounded by a car bomb near an American patrol in Baghdad. The deposed mayor, Alaa al-Tamimi, who was not in his offices at the time, recounted the events in a telephone interview on Tuesday and called the move a municipal coup d'état. He added that he had gone into hiding for fear of his life. "This is the new Iraq," said Mr. Tamimi, a secular engineer with no party affiliation. "They use force to achieve their goal." The group that ousted him insisted that it had the authority to assume control of Iraq's capital city and that Mr. Tamimi was in no danger. The man the group installed, Hussein al-Tahaan, is a member of the Badr Organization, the armed militia of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, known as Sciri. The militia has been credited with keeping the peace in heavily Shiite areas in southern Iraq but also accused of abuses like forcing women to wear the veils demanded by conservative Shiite religious law. ...' (NYT)

ITM: Iranian regime, islamist parties taking over Basra. Mohammed at Iraq the Model writes on the growing influence of Iranian agents and local fundamentalist parties in Basra: 'Abddul Aziz Al-Hakim the head of the SCIRI called to day for the formation of a federal state in the south of Iraq and Hadi Al-Amiri chief of the Badr organization (the military wing of the SCIRI) said that if the Sheat don't persist in forming this state they will regret it. I don't really know why Amiri chose the word "regret" in addressing the people of the south, instead he could've said something like 'we would like to see a federal state in the south and we respect the people's choice about it' because I think this tone of threats to the people he's part of carries a lot of possible suspicious meanings. I think the Islamic leaderships have realized that it's difficult to lead a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country by forcing one perspective that has a specific religious inclination and that's why they're thinking of creating a smaller state in the south which can be more loyal (or less defiant) to them and their strategic ally in Iran, not forgetting the economic advantage of this region of Iraq which possesses the largest oil reserves and Iraq's only port. So they think that implementing an example that matches the visions of these parties in this region would be easier and safer especially with the presence of the desirable sectarian majority. Also these parties have established strong basis for them in this region as a step in the preparation for the future federal state (or mere state) and actually right now there's nothing that can stop this plan except the other religious trend that is spreading in the south represented by Muqtada's group. These two Sheat religious trends do not seem willing to coexist peacefully in the same place and in the past months the southern cities became an open field for a war between these parties and cities like Samawa, Najaf and Kut have witnessed continuous conflicts over power and influence. ...' Read the full post at the link, including Mohammed's selection of quotes from the BBC Arabic site - some of which are quite disturbing. (ITM)

Stefania at TCS: Iran and Europe. Stefania LaPenna has an article at Tech Central Station on the EU and the IRI: 'Iran's recent move to resume its nuclear activities both defies the European Union's warnings and makes a mockery of the EU's diplomatic efforts in the Middle East. It is a defeat of Europe's policy toward the Islamic Republic. It demonstrated, in case anyone still doubted it, the determination of a terrorist regime to get its hands on a nuclear bomb. Above all, it has proven that neither economic incentives nor any form of dialogue can change the Mullahs' minds. And yet, it seems that Europe still doesn't get it. We read that the EU Big 3 (France, Germany and UK) are now "getting tougher" with the Mullahs by threatening UN sanctions. But there is little to hope that this threat will become a reality. The Europeans have significant economic interests in Iran, and they are not willing to compromise them anytime soon. The Mullahs know who is on their side and who is not. Nevertheless, the future doesn't look good for the Islamic Republic. ...' Read the rest at the link. (TCS)

Winds of War. The latest edition of Winds of War is up. Among other items: 'The National Council of Resistance of Iran (yet once again) produced a secret Iranian document detailing the manufacture of centrifuges by the Mullahcracy’s nuclear program. They also stated that Iran has 4,000 of the undeclared centrifuges deployed throughout Iran's research/enrichment facilities. Again, the toothless IAEA merely has tickets to the show as they watch Iran unseal ‘IAEA sealed’ centrifuges, as others threaten meaningless trips to the UN Security Council, complete with Russia's veto power as they contract to build more Iranian plants. ...' Read it all at the link. (Winds of Change)

Turkmenbashi goes too far. The president of Turkmenistan is a fruitcake. You already knew that, you say. Well, yes. But now the egomaniac is taking his egomania to a whole new level. (Armies of Liberation)

Why?

Mamamontezz offers this response to Cindy Sheehan:

Your son, as well as every other soldier killed in this conflict, died because he made an informed and conscious decision to join the military of a nation committed to protecting its citizens during a time of terror and upheaval. To say he was duped by a recruiter with promises of cash and a guarenteed slot in the Chaplancy is to call into question and discount to the world his intelligence, his sense of duty, his honor, and his manhood. You turn him from the man he was into the child you raised. He earned his manhood and independence, and the world owes him it's respect.

Your son died because he stepped up bravely when he was needed and did what was necessary to quell rioting near Baghdad. He knew the risk and accepted it.

Your son died because thousands of foreign nationals cross the border into Iraq every day from such places as Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Chechnya, Jordan, Palestinian Israel, Morrocco, Pakistan. They cross the border and take up arms, not for the freedom of a nation, but to preserve the status quo of corruption, despotism, fanatisism, and intollerance. They do so, emboldened by the words and deeds of those here who do not merely question or debate the war, but who take up verbal and written arms against this nation, her government, and her military for no other reasons than intellectual arrogance and political intollerance.

Your son is dead because France and Germany and Russia put their own greed and self interest ahead of the good of an entire people held in servitude by the avarice and ego of one man, Saddam Hussain, and his quest for ever increasing territory and power in the Middle East. Even after the US pulled away from him after the gas attacks during the Iran-Iraq war, these countries and more continued to trade with him, enhancing his military and his outlandish palaces while leaving his country in ever increasing poverty. If you want to yell "No Blood for Oil" and accurately address the involved parties, you will need to have a visa and risk imprisonment. Most of these countries are not nearly as open to dissent as what you are used to.

If you want to know why your son is dead, look in the mirror. He is dead because you raised him right, in spite of your behavior now. ...

Go read her whole post. It's magnificent. Great job, Mamamontezz.


Update: A little background on Cindy Sheehan.

Meeting GayPatriot

Bruce, aka the original GayPatriot, is in Portland for a few days to attend a Lewis & Clark event. I managed to persuade him to join me for drinks at the Blue Moon.

Bruce is a young ( = under 40), soft-spoken guy with short hair, glasses, and endless curiosity. He's an American History buff (especially pre- Civil War). We talked about urban sprawl, dating, the military, Log Cabin, and the changing face of liberalism in America. And we talked about the process of "coming out" as Bush supporters in an overwhelmingly anti-Bush environment.

Go check out GP's posts on Lewis & Clark, gay politics, and gays in the military. (Keep watching that last topic, especially.) Also read the posts about LCR (which are mostly written by Bruce's blogging partner, GayPatriot West).


And don't forget to add GayPatriot to your blogroll.

What happened to Marla's car?

Don't miss this unforgettable slice-of-life vignette from Manchester, Connecticut, circa early 1980's.

Help the Women of Iraq

Via Kat at The Middle Ground, here's some information on what you can do to help the women of Iraq:

1) Write your senator and representative asking them to support these organizations with additional funds or statements of support for women's rights. (If you are not in the United States, please feel free to write your parliament member or other government representatives to give support to these organizations.)

2) Donate funds directly to any of the women's organization's listed [below].
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
American Islamic Congress
Independent Women's Forum
Women's Alliance for a Democratic Iraq

3) If you work for a company or are a member of an organization, particularly any organizations for women within your country or region, ask them to provide assistance, either financially, materially (ie, donating time, media assistance, printing, supplies, etc) or politically.

4) Donate to Spirit of America: Iraq Democracy Project which supports "grass roots pro-democracy projects created by women" and provides other support like computers, paper and the "Arabic Blogging Tool" to these groups so that they have a voice in Iraqi politics and spread the word about democracy.

Some may be concerned that this assistance will come too late. It is never too late. Changes to the constitution are being made as you read this and will be made up to the last moment before the referendum. Even after the constitution is written and the referendum passed, women's rights in Iraq will still be an issue and these women will need our support.

Keep watching TMG and Dreams Into Lightning for more information on helping Iraqi women.

Ali on What's at Stake

Ali Fadhil of Free Iraqi has this to say about al-Zawahiri threats

It's amazing how the terrorists themselves keep showing us in words and actions how vital the war in Iraq is for them and at the same time we have westerns and Americans saying that this war has nothing to do with fighting terrorism and that it's only increasing the danger of terrorism!

Another thing that this message and previous ones show is what other bloggers have already noted in that the Jihadis are following the western media and using the arguments of the far left to feed the fears of westerns and Americans, like the note about Vietnam and the use of the "no blood for oil". That's why I think that people like George Galloway and Michael Moor are doing a great service to the terrorists.
...
It's interesting to see how bold Al Zawahiri was in threatening to launch more attacks against London but settled with the threat of killing more American soldiers in Iraq when talking about America. He has lost the initiative when it comes to attacking America in America so he's looking for the "next best thing", a big target that he still can safely attack without having to worry about a massive counter attack on all his bases and supportive regimes. He knows very well that if he attacks America the tyrannies that help him and his organization in attacking Iraq would not only stop offering him any help but will also do all they can to save their necks, like turning in any Al Qaeda men they have on their lands or if they can't then they would cooperate fully with the US in security field giving her access to all the info they have on Al Qaeda which I guess they have a lot to tell after their lands where used as a passage for the terrorists to Iraq with them turning a blind eye or even facilitating the process.

Read the full post at the link.

Morning Report: August 9, 2005

Shuttle lands at Edwards AFB, doesn't blow up. The Space Shuttle Discovery landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base, according to media reports. CNN: 'The space shuttle Discovery touched down Tuesday morning, completing NASA's first shuttle mission since Columbia broke apart during re-entry in February 2003. The shuttled landed at 5:11 a.m. PT at NASA's secondary landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California. As commander Eileen Collins brought the orbiter to a stop on runway 22, NASA spokesman James Hartsfield stated, "Discovery is home." (CNN)

Iraqi women demonstrate for, against civil constitution. Iraq the Model reports (with pictures): 'In spite of the heat and the dust that's covering Baghdad for the 2nd day, more than a hundred Iraqi women representing NGOs and active groups gathered to declare their demands in equality and a civil family and personal affairs law. The women set a large tent in Al-Firdows square which witnessed the fall of Saddam in April 2003. Under this icon of freedom the women held their signs and demands high. I met some of the activists who talked enthusiastically about plans for more protests and conventions to show their disapproval of the constitution's draft because they're afraid that religion might hijack the constitution and deprive them of their rights.' The liberal activists were met by a counter-demonstration of about 30 pro-islamist women. Responding to a question about the status of women witnesses in an Islamic court, one of them told Mohammed, 'It's an honor to me to be half of a garbage collector because that's what Allah said and it's not you who can explain to me what Allah said.' Read Mohammed's interview with the pro-islamist woman, and the rest of the article, at the link. (ITM)

It should have never had to end this way. Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the US atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan near the end of World War II, Neo-Neocon responds to some provocative questions: 'Why didn't they drop a nuke on an unpopulated area and say, 'See that goddamn horror? We'll drop another one on your heads in two days if you don't surrender.'
My post had ended with this quote from Fussell's article about the atomic bomb, which I think is especially relevant to anonymous' question: The past, which as always did not know the future, acted in ways that ask to be imagined before they are condemned. Or even simplified. Many of those who are critical of the dropping of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs seem to lack the capacity to understand that those who made the decision were given a certain set of circumstances with which to work. One of those circumstances was a fairly basic one: the US only had two atomic bombs at the time....' Read the rest, and visit Neo's previous post, at the link. (Neo-Neocon)

Update

New in the Dreams Into Lightning universe: yes, another blog; this one will primarily be of interest to family members and relatives. The Town Down the River will feature memoirs, trivia, memorabilia, and genealogical information about my family of origin.

Chapter 6 of Pacific Memories is complete, with my father's reflections on the people of Fiji.

The picture of a husky Fijian ambling along, scowling in the glare of the bright sun, and generally carrying a bolo in his hand, is a sight that makes you glad that these fellows are on our side. But the Fijians recognized this allyship, and acted accordingly, playing the perfect hosts.

Read it all at the link. In the next chapter, the men of the 37th Infantry Division will defy predictions ... but we're getting ahead of our story.

Also a couple of newly posted poems by my sister at Wilderness Vision. At Iridescence, Stephanie explains - at age fifteen - a little about her writing:

A person can search years for one thing and have to settle in the end for only a glimpse of the dream. Sometimes that's enough.

Many thanks to Erik Svane for the link, and thanks, as always, to visitors for dropping by.

Iraqi Women

Kat at The Middle Ground answers some questions about Iraq's evolving constitution in her new post:

First, the issue of Islam and Shari'ah in the constitution. To date, the constitution has been changed several times. Earlier on, there was specific reference that Islam would be THE basis of law. Approximately a week ago, that was negotiated down to "one of the sources of law" in which some were willing to allow local religious courts to participate in adjudicating certain criminal and civil issues (like divorce) as an elective choice outside of the civil process....

While the changes to the draft are an improvement, it by no means guarantees that women in rural areas or areas controlled by religious parties will not be forced to go to these courts by their family and the area instead of seeking redress in civil courts. And it does not preclude “civil courts” applying shari’ah law. This is why this is important that it is civil, secular and equitable law that is the main source of law for all citizens.

[Note: I believe a similar arrangement exists in Israel, where Jewish religious courts exist side-by-side with secular courts. Unfortunately I am not knowledgeable enough about the details and ramifications of this system to discuss it here. Readers who are "in the know" about religious courts in Israel are invited to comment. - aa]

Second, women's rights in Iraq, prior to the invasion, is an interesting history and mix of culture and modern civilization. Long before Saddam Hussein was in power, the women of Iraq, like many other countries in the ME, had a women's rights movement in the 1920's. By the 1950s women had become very much "westernized" in appearance and education and by 1958, civil laws protecting their rights were introduced and had been the law of the land long before Saddam came to power.

You may be surprised to know that a similar movement took place in such countries as Bahrain, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan and even Saudi Arabia. As another poster has pointed out, this backwards move towards Shari'ah is a very new phenomenon if you count the last two decades as "new". This is not an issue of the United States forcing it’s own concepts or cultural ideas on another culture. This is an issue of protecting existing cultural and social standards against other groups supported by extremist governments outside of Iraq and who are using their superior funding and positions to impose an idea that IS actually foreign to Iraqi society (barring traditionalists that have lived in the rural areas by these same rules)....

Third, on the Israel “discrimination” issue, the latest draft has removed any reference to Israel and has actually removed the reference of Iraq as an "Arab" state since there are so many ethnicities within it's borders. This is good because it separates them from their surrounding countries that are less amenable democracy.

What this tells me is that there are logical and reasonable people drawing up this constitution and capable of compromise.

Fourth: representation in the Iraqi government for women. The TAL (or Transitional Authority Law) gave women 25% representation in the assembly and government offices. In the January election, every third candidate on the party lists was a woman and there is slightly over 25% representation in the assembly. There are also women on the constitution committee. The committee tried to remove the representation clause, but it was put back on in the last two days. Which means women still have some rights to representation, but it does not guarantee them protection under civil laws, particularly when some of these women are members of SCIRI or DAWA or other non-secular parties....

For the full seven-point article, go read Kat at the link.

Women protest in Najaf. Omar at Iraq the Model reports (August 4):

For the 1st time in Najaf, women go out in an independent protest demanding their full rights and condemning the parts of draft of the constitution that threatens the state of women rights.

The protest which took place in front of the office of the Najaf human rights organization yesterday was reported by radio free Iraq:

The responses to the draft that was announced on Al-Sabah on July 26th varied in the Najafi street between cautious agreement and total disagreement but one group of women went to the streets in a protest that is considered the first for women in Najaf.
The report also included an interview with Ms. Intisar Al-Mayali who organized the protest.

When we asked Al-Mayali about the reasons behind the protest and the demands of the participating women, she said:

"Today we have women from 17 civil society organizations was organized to show that we strongly reject the parts of the proposed constitution that are against our rights as Iraqi women and this protest is in support of the memorandum we sent to the CDC in which we clarified our demands".

Then she details the women's demands and concerns:

"We want to make clear that we're against any attempt to revive the notorious 137 personal affairs law which was born during the period of Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim when he was the head of the GC.

We want a civil law to govern issues like marriage and inheritance and we also want to reactivate the related international treaties that Iraq had already signed and approved long time ago and even the existing civil law that we support needs to be modified and improved in a way that matches the needs and rights of Iraqi women and we insist that Islam must not be the only source of legislation".

Basra in the summer isn't always fun, especially when the power's out and there's no air conditioning. Iraqi-American blogger Fayrouz, herself a Basrawi, interviews a woman who's living there now. Go to the link to get a "before and after" picture in words, and some thoughts about the British troops.

Morning Report: August 7, 2005

Russian sailors rescued. CNN reports: "The seven-man crew of a trapped Russian mini-submarine are back in port after a three-day ordeal at the bottom of the Pacific with dwindling oxygen. Six of the seamen were taken to hospital for observation in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the eastern coast of the Pacific peninsula of Kamchatka after arriving on board a rescue ship. ...' (CNN)

Israeli terrorist kills four Arabs. The Jerusalem Post reports: 'A far-right activist who was AWOL from his army unit murdered four Israeli Arabs and wounded 12 on Thursday evening when he opened fire while riding in an Egged bus in the northern city of Shfaram. He was then lynched by an angry mob. The shooter, identified as Natan Eden Zada, 19, of the Samaria settlement of Tapuah, had deserted his IDF unit and was on Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) watch lists. Despite this, Shin Bet sources said no warnings had been received regarding plans by Zada or other Jewish extremists to target the Israeli-Arab sector. Among the victims were two young sisters, Hazar and Dina Turki, 23 and 21-years-old respectively, and the driver of the bus, Michel Bahous, 56. Nadir Hayak, 55, a passenger on the bus, was killed as well.' Zada will be buried without military honors. (JPost)

Israel set to begin Gaza pullout; Netanyahu resigns. Debka reports: 'Finance minister Binyamin Netanyahu has resigned. He walked out of cabinet meeting Sunday which approved first evacuations from Gaza. Netanyahu left session in the middle leaving a letter on the cabinet table. He announced his refusal to be part of the “irresponsible” and “blind advance” towards a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and its handover to be “an Islamic terror base” posing extreme peril to the nation and Jerusalem. Earlier, education minister Limor LIvnat said she would vote against the first Gaza withdrawals from Netzarim, Morag and Kfar Darom due to begin in 10 days. Three more Likud ministers Danny Neveh, Israel Katz and Tsachi Hanegbi oppose the evacuations which has a cabinet majority without the Likud ministers.'

Iranian group lays claim to killing of judge. News media reported that Masoud Moqadasi, a judge who oversaw a case against now-imprisoned journalist Akbar Ganji, was shot dead in his car after leaving his central Tehran office Tuesday afternoon, according to a judiciary spokesman. The comment thread a Free Iran offers some analysis: 'For a single person on a moterbike to aim and fire a full clip from an assault rifle on the move, into another moving vehicle is pushing the limits of the possible, one only has two hands. Even letting go of the handle bars (which is possible, in a straight line), the recoil would throw the bike off center, risking a wreck. It's virtually impossible to handle an assault rifle one handed, and keep aim steady, during a full-auto burst using up a full clip (30 rounds AK 47 7.62 mm) Perhaps having the sling of the rifle rapped around the arm holding the handle bars, as a prop to hold the gun steady, but aiming would be a bit more difficult. Not something one could do alone without practice, in any case. Plus then there's the fact that it would be almost impossible to hide such a weapon prior to, or after assault on a bike. Only certain people on the street allowed to carry that type weapon, thus it's probable that when "Iran's Intelligence Ministry later blamed the murders on "rogue agents" in the secret service. " ..They were accurate. Don't think for a minute that Opposition is not inside... as well on the street in protests. - Oppenheimer. / Iranian bloggers and news sources such as Pichay, Goroohesiyahkal, IranPan, and Gooya News: an English translation of the essential elements of these reports. As indicated in these Persian web sites, a group called Secret Armed Youths Organization ( A Branch of Pan-Iranists party) takes the full responsiblity of murder of the judge who was shot a few days ago in Tehran. The group claims they killed the judge because he has been killing and torturing political prisoners since 1980s. This group also claims that they killed this judge to support Akbar Ganji and other political prisoners in the prisons of the Islamic Republic. - Rasker.' (Free Iran)