Latest News From the Other Other Portland

Superstitious Portland, Dorset (UK) residents wary of "Wallace and Gromit" film with "rabbit" in title.

Hat tip: Tammy "Why We're Us and They're Them" Bruce.

Morning Report: October 6, 2005

Man killed in Oklahoma bombing. The Counterterrorism Blog: 'There's an interesting story out of Oklahoma that has gotten surprisingly little media attention. Joel Hinrichs III died on Saturday after apparently detonating an explosive device while sitting on a bench about 100 yards from Oklahoma University's football stadium during the Kansas State-Oklahoma University game. There's speculation that Hinrichs may have been a suicide bomber. ... First of all, a local TV station has reported that Hinrichs had been attending the same mosque in Norman, Oklahoma that alleged 9/11 "twentieth hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui frequented. On top of that, Dustin Ellison, a feed store operator in Norman, claims that Hinrichs attempted to purchase ammonium nitrate a few days before his death. The store didn't carry the product because of federal guidelines regarding its sale. Ammonium nitrate was a key ingredient in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. A local television station reports that sources have stated that one of the components in the bomb used by Hinrichs was triacetone triperoxide (TATP). TATP is relatively easy to make, and is one of the most sensitive explosives. Attempted shoe bomber Richard Reid had TATP in his shoes. Local television in Oklahoma is also reporting that Hinrichs attempted twice to enter the Kansas State-OU game before he exploded. ... What to make of these various facts? A definitive conclusion cannot be drawn at this point.' Stay tuned. (CTB)

Spy for Philippines caught in White House. Tammy Bruce was among the first bloggers to pick up the story of Leandro Aragoncillo, a US Marine who worked in the Vice President's office and is accused of having stolen classified information over a period of three years. The Belmont Club has more: 'Leandro Aragoncillo, a former US Marine of Filipino origin has been arrested for passing classified documents to foreign leaders, over a period during which he may have been assigned to the White House. SBS News Australia says Aragoncillo passed 100 classified documents from FBI computers which included material damaging to the current President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The information was given to "opposition politicians planning a coup in the Pacific nation" -- including, apparently, former President Joseph Estrada, in jail on various corruption charges. ... (Speculation alert) One might reasonably ask how Joseph Estrada and Panfilo Lacson recruited a spy in the White House. Estrada's most notorious route of access into the 1999 White House was through Mark Jimenez, sentenced to two years in a Miami jail for federal election fraud in 2003. His sentence coincidentally, will be completely served this month. ... Mark Jimenez knew a lot of people in the Democratic Party. Newsmax has connected him with John Kerry in an article dated from 2004.' Full article, with further links, at the Belmont Club link. (Belmont Club)

Britain points finger at Iran regime. Guardian: 'Britain and Iran clashed openly last night after a senior British official directly accused Tehran of supplying Iraqi insurgents with sophisticated roadside bombs that have killed eight British soldiers and two security guards since May. ... The British official said that Iranian interference in Iraq could be related to British pressure on Iran over its suspected nuclear weapons ambitions. "It would be entirely natural that they would want to send a message 'Don't mess with us'," he said. An Iranian government spokesman rejected the British accusations and said it was opposed to the insurgency in Iraq.' Meanwhile, Canada is speaking out against the IRI's human rights violations; Reuters: 'Canada will put forward a resolution in the United Nations shortly accusing Iran of human rights violations, Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew said on Wednesday. "Iran has not lived up to its international human rights obligations and has not conformed with past U.N. resolutions on this matter. We believe this must change," Pettigrew said in a statement.' Both links via Regime Change Iran. (Guardian, Reuters via RCI)

Syria: Regime change soon? Telegraph: 'Israel predicted yesterday that America would impose fresh sanctions on Syria in an attempt to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Shaul Mofaz, the defence minister, said he believed sanctions would follow publication of a United Nations report expected to implicate senior Syrian officials in the murder of Rafik al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister. "I won't be surprised if Syria gets a red card," Mr Mofaz told Israel radio.' Full article at link. Also, via RCI: Lebanese Lobby reports Washington tells Turkey that Syrian liberation is approaching: 'A well known minister in the Turkish parliament revealed yesterday that Steven Hadley, the American National Security advisor reported to the Turkish officials in his latest visit to Ankara, that Washington wants to use the “Angelink” [Incirlik] air base, in its operations to get rid of the Syrian regime of President Bashar Al Assad, and to supervise Iran and be able to isolate it from the International world.'

Your friendly neighborhood Hezbollah office. Michael Totten talks to the PR department at Hezbollah.

L'Shanah Tovah

... and Ramadan Mubarak to Muslim readers.

This evening marks the beginning of the year 5766 on the Jewish calendar, and (as every year) the beginning of the period known as the Ten Days of Repentence. The second day of Rosh haShanah is also my father's yahrzeit.

I'm afraid I don't have any words of inspiration and wisdom right now, but please go visit Judith at Kesher Talk for plenty of both.

Also, go visit Paula Gaon for a tribute to John Lennon, with whom Paula shares a birthday.

L'Shanah Tovah teykatvu v'teychatmu ... may you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.

Lavender Alert

New DTWOF release from Alison. Alison Bechdel's new book Invasion of the Dykes to Watch Out For has just been released. Don't miss Alison's blog and her awesome comic ... as her characters confront ethical dilemmas - with ramifications for automotive safety - in her latest episode.

More fanaticism from Denmark. Irshad Manji has some thoughts on the latest love letter from islamo-fanatic "Abdel" (alias "Andersen"):

Sounds to me a like a convert -- and a “homegrown” or “Western-raised” threat. We're seeing more and more like him. Which is why pretending that the problem exists outside of the West is no longer an option.

Responding to Eileen in Belfast, Irshad writes:

Many Westerners today would like to have it both ways -- embracing the universality of human rights as well as the equality of cultures. But that's not sustainable. Because if you believe that all human beings are entitled to a certain set of dignities, then cultural practices that violate those dignities can't, by definition, be defended. The French-Arab novelist, Amin Maalouf, nailed it when he wrote, "Traditions deserve respect only insofar as they are respectable - that is, exactly insofar as they themselves respect the fundamental rights of men and women."

The other "Exodus Ministries." You might have heard that President Bush's new Supreme Court nominee, Harriet Miers, was connected with something called "Exodus Ministries." You might have wondered: You mean, the "ex-gay" group? Ken Sain at the Blade Blog clears things up:

ep, I heard correctly. In fact, it turns out Miers is a former board member of Exodus Ministries. But turns out there was no need to panic.

Exodus Ministries, Inc. has nothing to do with the anti-gay group Exodus International.

Bruce at GayPatriot has some thoughts.

"Please do not leave us alone." The Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization (PGLO) posts this article by Doug Ireland:

The Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization (PGLO) has appealed to North American activists for help in mobilizing support for their campaign against the vicious, lethal, anti-gay crackdown taking place in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The anti-gay pogrom in Iran includes arrests and torture of gay people, executions of gay Iranians on trumped up charges, and a well-organized Internet entrapment campaign by Iran's religious sex police that is ensnaring gay Iranians daily.

In his latest e-mail sent to me today from Turkey, the secretary of the PGLO's Human Rights Commission, Arsham Parsi, wrote: “Dear Doug, Would you please introduce PGLO to your activist friends and groups and organizations? We need it, we are going to make a big campaign. We need their e-mail addresses. We reach out our hands of need to you!”

The PGLO is an outgrowth of an earlier, smaller Iranian gay group called Rainbow, which first organized in 1981. But PGLO, in its current form, has existed only since 2004. “We are a young team yet,” said Parsi in a telephone interview. With secretariats in Norway and Turkey, the PGLO claims a mailing list of over 29,000 Iranians. It maintains a trilingual website in Persian, German, and English. PGLO conducts educational and mutual aide activities inside Iran, and provides support for Iranian gays who have escaped from the Islamic Republic – the world's largest religious prison – and tries to help them obtain asylum in a country where they won’t be persecuted for who and how they love.

PGLO edits a monthly magazine in Persian, Cheragh and produces Persian-language radio programs for webcast ...

Finish reading the article at the link.

I guess that's why the call it MADchester.

Without further comment, I bring you this from the invaluable Tammy Bruce:

Bishop backs panty parties to spread Church message.

The Rev Jan Harney, a Church of England cleric in Manchester who also works for Activate, said that she wanted Christians to relax, have fun and to get to know people before trying to convert them. "I have not conducted a lingerie party myself, but when Bridget Jones was all the rage I know that some Christian groups were holding knickers parties" ...

Finish reading at the link.

CENTCOM

Did you know that the United States Central Command has a homepage? Here's the URL:
http://www.centcom.mil/
I've also linked CENTCOM on my sidebar.

Let's blogroll!

Familiar faces in Beirut. Michael Totten of Pajamas Media is in the Mideast for an extended trip. He's renamed his blog Michael J. Totten's Middle East Journal for the occasion. This time in Beirut, Michael sees some familiar faces where he wishes he didn't have to see them; read his post on martyrs of a different kind.

Our man in Wherethehellistan. Let's admit it - well-informed citizens though we are, there are still some places that even you and I can't find on a map. Or even pronounce. Well, our ignorance is about to end, thanks to PJM's resident Central Asia expert, Registan.

Warning: Politically Incorrect Lesbian. And also from Pajamas, Tammy Bruce now has her own blog, and we've been honored to witness its inception. Tammy takes on today's Neville Chamberlains, anti-gun hysteria, drunken sailors in Washington, and al-Qaeda denial. And don't miss her photos from the blessing of the animals. And yes, I'm proud to have Tammy Bruce on my sidebar.

Morning Report: October 3, 2005

CENTCOM: Iron Fist a success. Stratfor (subscription) reports: 'U.S. Central Command on Oct. 3 announced that several successful engagements against insurgents in Anbar province occurred during the first day of an offensive to route out jihadist and Sunni nationalist insurgents located by the Syrian border. Operation Iron Fist began Oct. 1 against insurgents around Sadah, Iraq, with U.S. Marines from Regimental Combat Team-2 backed by air support from the 2nd Marine Air Wing engaging terrorists in combat. The operation is part of a larger offensive in Anbar province known as Operation Hunter, which is taking place along the Euphrates River valley.' (Stratfor)

Belmont Club on Iron Fist. Wretchard returns after a few days' absence with this analysis of Iron Fist, concluding: 'After the Marines anchored their western defense on Fallujah in November 2004 they have been steadily creeping westward within the riverine zone along the Euphrates. The latest efforts to secure Ramadi means they can move the Iraqi training center from Habbaniyah westward to Ramadi; and the probable objective is to extend the writ of the Iraqi government until it reaches Rawah. In the meantime, Task Force Olympia, with the 11th ACR and the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (including Michael Yon's 1st BN, 24th Infantry "Deuce Four") has been campaigning in Mosul along the Tigris. Therefore, returning to the New York Times account, whether Zarqawi decides "to send the foreigners south to Baghdad or north across the desert to Mosul" he will be running into hard stops and harassed in all the intervening ground. If the US is successful, it will greatly reduce the insurgency's prospects of holding out against the government.' (Belmont Club)

Debka: Egyptian al-Qaeda in striking range of Israel, Suez, Jordan. Debka reports: 'Al Qaeda has established local terror networks in northern Sinai – centering on el Arish, as well as strongholds in the inaccessible central mountains of the peninsula around Jebel Hillal. In all, the jihadists control roughly one-fifth of Sinai total area (61,000sq. km or 23,500sq. miles). Egyptian forces of law and order have learned not to venture into these bastions or into the areas commanded by age-old smuggler clans who currently collaborate with al Qaeda. This leaves about half of the forbidding desert peninsula inaccessible to Egyptian security forces. Today, they can only claim to control the main roads routes fringing the vast desert expanse: from Ras Sudeir down to Sharm el Sheikh along the Suez Canal and Suez Gulf shores; from the Suez Canal east to El Arish along the Mediterranean shore and from the Sharm el-Sheikh resort center north along the Gulf of Aqaba to Taba and the Israeli port of Eilat. ... the only way for Egypt to wrest mastery of the Sinai heartland from the terrorists is by a combined aerial bombardment coupled with helicopter landings of at least two special forces brigades. This in present circumstances is not feasible because - 1. The 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty demilitarizing Sinai precludes Egyptian air force operations. In theory, Cairo can approach Jerusalem for permission, but in practice this would expose the Mubarak government to widespread Muslim opprobrium for collaborating with the Jewish state in the war against Islamic terror. 2. Egyptian intelligence does not have an exact count of the anti-air missiles in al Qaeda’s hands. The passage of a quantity of these weapons from Sinai to the Gaza Strip leads Egyptian intelligence to deduce a fairly sizeable number – enough to cause havoc with a helicopter commando drop. 3. Al Qaeda’s smuggling routes crisscross Sinai day and night, freely plied by fighters, weapons, explosives and food. These routes exploit the peninsula’s exceptional geography to run between Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and of late the Gaza Strip. ... 4. That al Qaeda has established a presence in the Gaza Strip is no longer a matter of speculation. Today, Israeli military intelligence AMAN and the Shin Beit are taking the new manifestation of Al Qaeda-Palestine as an offshoot of Al Qaeda-Sinai with the utmost seriousness. Foreign terrorists have been detected entering the Gaza Strip, welcomed and integrated in to the logistical infrastructures of Hizballah, Hamas, Jihad Islami and the Popular Fronts.' Full article, with map, at link. (Debka)

"Communism is bad for business." Discarded Lies reports on an astonishing discovery: 'Hong Kong has become less competitive, with political concerns helping to drag it down seven places to rank 28 in an annual worldwide table, according to the latest Global Competitiveness Report drawn up by the World Economic Forum.' Not only that, but 'China slipped three notches from last year, to 49th spot, the ranking of 117 economies shows.' Could it possibly have something to do with communism? Well, Taiwan ranks #5 on the list. Go read Evariste at the link. (Discarded Lies)

Dawn Patrol. Don't miss Holly Aho's latest installment of Dawn Patrol at the Mudville Gazette.

Update

A new year, a new sidebar. Well, not totally new, but I'm re-organizing my sidebar. I've added a section for Pajamas Media.

No posting Tuesday and Wednesday due to Rosh Ha-Shanah.

More Hawk Sightings

... from Judith at Kesher Talk with more commentary at Winds of Change.

NYT's Weisman: Saudi women are happy!

NYT: Saudi women are happy! Last week, the New York Times' Steven R. Weisman published an article on Saudi Women's message for Karen Hughes. I shared the article with some friends in the Arab world. Here are the reactions:

Nadz has a blistering condemnation of "femicide and apologies". Turning to the article on Hughes after the horrifying murder of a woman in Denmark, she writes:

it turns out that there are no problems for women in Saudi Arabia. 500 women want Karen Hughes to know that they're happy with the way things are. First of all, good for them - I'm glad they're happy and they have the right to their own opinion. But I'd also like to point out several things:

- It's true that some women in the Middle East are content with the status quo. I wasn't, and I know many who also weren't. I know some Saudi women who were severely depressed because their lives, where they could go and what they could do, were so restricted. 50% of Arab women are illiterate, some of the attitudes towards us are downright Medeival, we don't have the same rights in any aspect of public life. Saying that you don't need to drive and that your abaya is stylish isn't going to change that.

- When Americans and other westerners talk about mistreatment of women, many Arab women tend to go on the defensive. I know this because I did it myself. Women see it as a personal attack on their culture and feel that they need to offer an alternative viewpoint. They think that most Americans are ignorant about the region - and they tend to be correct. As a result, it's hard for women to admit that there are still problems. Especially in a forum being sponsered and watched by the unfeminist Saudi government.

- These women are from the more well-to-do side of Saudi society - they are mostly wealthy, educated and upper-class. They have been able to travel to Europe and the States, and like the security and simplicity of life in the kingdom. I know women who are like this. But plenty of less fortunate women in Saudi Arabia don't have the same oppurtunities, and they might have a different answer.

Different women have different experiences - not all women live a hellish existence while others are miserable. I think these women, however, are becoming part of the problem by refusing to acknowledge problems.

The Religious Policeman thinks the women's denials of sexism in Saudi society have all the credibility of a high-class john denying he knows anything about a call girl. Here's his reaction to Weisman's article on Hughes:

JIDDA, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 27 - The audience - 500 women covered in black at a Saudi university - seemed an ideal place for Karen P. Hughes, a senior Bush administration official charged with spreading the American message in the Muslim world, to make her pitch.
But the response on Tuesday was not what she and her aides expected. When Ms. Hughes expressed the hope here that Saudi women would be able to drive and "fully participate in society" much as they do in her country, many challenged her.

So who were the audience? A random sample of Saudi womanhood, from all regions and classes, Sunni and Shia, working or unemployed? Well, not exactly.

The group of women, picked by the university, represented the privileged elite of this Red Sea coastal city, known as one of the more liberal areas in the country. And while they were certainly friendly toward Ms. Hughes, half a dozen who spoke up took issue with what she said.

Two points here. One, no group of Saudis, whatever their situation, would ever admit that something was wrong with Saudi Arabia, to a member of the widely-detested Bush regime. They could be up to their waists in boiling oil, and they'd just say that they were, on average, quite warm. Two, in a country where the female employment rate is less that 1%, anyone with a job is a member of a privileged minority, and any female student hopes to become part of that 1%, just like people elsewhere hope to win the lottery.

"We're not in any way barred from talking to the other sex," said Dr. Nada Jambi, a public health professor. "It's not an absolute wall."

I asked Mrs A about that. She snorted. Even in the universities, there is a physical wall between men's and women's campuses. Men lecture to women via closed circuit TV. But, as Mrs A said, she's privileged to have the job she does. And there's always the example of this poor female academic to keep everyone else in line. So, she concluded, "She would say that, wouldn't she?"

Several women said later that Americans failed to understand that their traditional society was embraced by men and women alike.

....as demonstrated by our numerous opinion polls, elections, letters in the free press, investigative programs on our free TV...

Go to the link for the rest of RP's reaction to the Steven Weisman piece on Karen Hughes.

Sandmonkey weighs in:

The Audience?

The audience - 500 women covered in black at a Saudi university - seemed an ideal place for Karen P. Hughes, a senior Bush administration official charged with spreading the American message in the Muslim world, to make her pitch.

An ideal place? Really? Ok!

Who picked them and what segment of society do they represent?

The group of women on Tuesday, picked by the university, represented the privileged elite of this Red Sea coastal city, known as one of the more liberal areas in the country.

The Priviliged elite. Clearly the most oppressed of all saudi women, no?

It even shows in their grievences:

She seemed clearly taken aback as the women told her that just because they were not allowed to vote or drive that did not mean they were treated unfairly or imprisoned in their own homes.
"We're not in any way barred from talking to the other sex," said Dr. Nada Jambi, a public health professor. "It's not an absolute wall."

Not an absolute one, but a wall nonetheless! LOL

And then there is the Michael Moore effect

A woman in the audience then charged that under President Bush the United States had become "a right wing country" and that criticism by the press was "not allowed."

LOL

As for male chauvinism and that pesky question of women's rights?

"There is more male chauvinism in my profession in Europe and America than in my country," said Dr. Siddiqa Kamal, an obstetrician and gynecologist who runs her own hospital.

Yes, there is Chauvinism in the west, which makes the one we have at home Ok.

"I don't want to drive a car," she said. "I worked hard for my medical degree. Why do I need a driver's license?"

"Women have more than equal rights," added her daughter, Dr. Fouzia Pasha, also an obstetrician and gynecologist, asserting that men have obligations accompanying their rights, and that women can go to court to hold them accountable.

Oh my God, this is too funny! I am laughing my ass off. Hehehehehehehee!

Gotta say, Saudi men really know to how to "break-in" their women. For those of you who may disagree, I am sure those women could've spoken up against male domination and managed not to get beat up by their men at home. No?

Well, enough of Saudi, on to Turkey, where things kept getting interesting for Karen, If interesting meant continuing to hear idiotic arguments:

"You are very angry with Turkey, I know," said Hidayet Tuskal, a director of the Capital City Women's Platform, referring to what she characterized as United States reaction to opposition in Turkey to the Iraq war, which she said was a feminist issue because women and children were dying daily. "I'm feeling myself wounded," Ms. Tuskal added. "I'm feeling myself insulted here."

Ok, does anyone get her point? She opposed the Iraq war because of women and children dying in it, and wasn't concerned with the women and children dying under Saddam? And it's a femenist issue? She feels wounded and insulted? What?

Ohh, and please, american readers, let's take a survey: Every person who is "very angry" at Turkey for not supporting the US in the war raise your hands. Every person who couldn't give 2 shits about Turkey's support anyway-like the rest of the world- please refrain from laughing at her idiotic statement.

And it just keeps getting better:

Fatma Nevin Vargun, identifying herself as a Kurdish rights advocate, said she was "ashamed" of the war and added that the United States bore responsibility. Referring to the arrest of a war protester at the White House on Monday, she added, "This was a pity for us as well."

She is a kurdish rights activist and opposed to the war that gave the Kurds their rights. Is anybody else getting this?

Ahh, me loves the New York Times. It always gives me a good laugh!

UPDATE
Finally, here's my own two cents' worth:

Personally, I would say I'm EXTREMELY skeptical of how much the views expressed in the article represent Saudi women.

First of all, consider the source. We all know the Times is going to do whatever it can to discredit the Bush Administration's radical premise that most people do not enjoy being oppressed.

Notice how much of the article is not reporting but editorializing. "The administration's efforts to publicize American ideals in the Muslim world have often run into such resistance. For that reason, Ms. Hughes, who is considered one of the administration's most scripted and careful members, ..." blah blah blah. "Many in this region resent the American assumption that, given the chance, everyone would live like Americans." Yada yada yada.

So we already know - as if there was any doubt - what the article wants to tell us: Silly Americans, those Arab women are HAPPY living like that.

But those are just my opinions. What do we learn from the article itself?

That Saudi women, speaking in public, on the record, by name, to an American official, in front of 500 people, will say nice things about their country.

Our NYT writer wants us to be amused by the irony (at the Bush government's expense, of course) of the tables being turned on Hughes. Ho, ho, ho, those Saudi women weren't saying what the Bush minion wanted to hear! And, get this, they're the "privileged elite of this Red Sea coastal city, known as one of the more liberal areas in the country" ... well! If even they resent those meddlesome Americans, then - "mi'kal va'chomer" - what may we infer about the rest of the country?

But we don't really have to make even that mighty leap of logic, because Mr. Weisman explains it for us: "Many in this region say they resent the American assumption that, given the chance, everyone would live like Americans."

Now what does that mean? I mean, let's just look at that one sentence. "Many"? Who the hell are "many"? And HOW many? Did the journalist conduct a formal poll (or even an informal one)? Are these "many" a majority, or a large minority, or just ... many? And what is "this region"? That's a highfaluten, scholarly-sounding, and extremely vague word, "region". Does "this region" include Iran? We all know how much Iranian women love living under Islamic fundamentalist law ... just ask Farnaz Ghazizadeh at Rooz. And what is this "American assumption"? What does "living like Americans" mean - does even Weisman himself know what he means? No one who graduated from Neocon school expects other cultures to abandon their own traditions - you know that and I know that, it's just a smokescreen that fascist symps like Weisman throw up to make freedom sound scary and unattractive. You know as well as I do that if Saudi Arabia became a free country tomorrow, every one of those 500 women would still be free to wear their beloved abayas if they chose. IF they chose.

But that's the trouble, and that's why Weisman's sentence cannot be credibly uttered without the all-important qualifying clause, "given the chance". That, however much the NYT would like to dance around it, is precisely the problem: they have not been given the chance.

UPDATE:
Mahmood posts on another happy, contented Saudi woman.

UPDATE:
Welcome, readers of The Muslim Woman!

Persians and Kurds and Jews ... oh, my!

The three races that once vexed Iraq's former fuehrer Saddam Hussein are making their mark on the blogosphere. Here's a roundup.

Kurdish-Israeli cooperation to end? Kurdistan Bloggers Union News cites an item from al-Jazeera:

According to Al Jazeera the secret long standing ties between the Kurds from South-Kurdistan and Israel, which were resumed after the former leader Saddam Hussein was ousted by the U.S.-led occupation, came to a crushing end in the past few months, under pressure from Washington.

After Jalal Talabani was nominated to the presidency of Iraq in spring 2005, "a conflict of interest appeared between the two allies", said an expert in Middle East safety. "In order not to be criticized by the Shiites and the Sunnis, the new Head of the State Talabani could not allow the further development of a relationship that is condemned by the immense majority of the Iraqis. The Kurdish two-sided-game was stopped."

Which forced some of the Israeli agents leave Kurdistan. Only hundred of them still remain ...

Full article at the link. Source: KBU News

"Israel cannot allow a nuclear IRI." Writing at the Jerusalem Post and posted at Free Iran, Ephraim Sneh argues that Israel Cannot Allow a Nuclear IRI:

Iran is striving to become an Islamic superpower with hegemony over the greater Middle East that would extend assistance to Muslims everywhere. That is why it is developing ballistic missiles able to deliver nuclear weapons with a range of thousands of kilometers. The new Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has openly declared this.

For the Teheran regime, relinquishing its nuclear arms and long-range missiles would be tantamount to relinquishing its goals and very raison d'etre. At best, Iran will continue with its tricks to gain time, while secretly moving ahead with its plans to obtain a nuclear bomb.

Iran's nuclear objectives cannot be separated from its war against the Jewish state, which is based on a two-level strategy. On the first level, Iran directs, finances and encourages terrorist organizations to carry out terror attacks against Israel, and has cast a network of 13,000 rockets and missiles in southern Lebanon whose range covers the entire northern part of Israel, almost as far south as Hadera.

The second level would be achieved when the regime develops nuclear warheads that can be mounted on the Shihab-3 missiles aimed at Israel, changing our strategic situation drastically. Not only would our citizens live in constant fear of a nuclear strike, but all future negotiations Israel with any Arab partner would be held in the shadow of nuclear extortion.

Katrina and the Kurds. Medya Daily contrasts Turkish and Iranian Kudish reactions to the disaster in America's Gulf Coast:

(in the taxi)

old kurdish man : did you hear the news about the huricane in USA ?
kurdish youngester : yeah darn it, Sep is not lucky month for Americans at all...
old kurdish man : really sad...thousands of them died...all of the city is under water .
kurdish driver : the huricane was a tragedy but the next tragedy is coming.
old kurdish man : next tragedy ?
kurdish driver : yeah Sarok Bush will loose the ellection...and those anti-war democrts will take his position ...no good for kurds... [Sarok means President in kurdish]

Driver Turns on the Radio (Iranian Radio) :
Millyet the Turkish newspapers estmaited victims of New orlean's huricane to 10,000 .
Millyet reported Large Discirimination in aiding to blacks .
Hurryet another turkish newspaper blamed the huricane on Bush , and their policy in Iraq.
Zaman the Turkish newspaper put a large photo on the first page saying "Bush Wanted" ...

Read the rest at the link. Source:Medya Daily.

Iraq/Kurdistan. KBU carries a definitive roundup on the status of the Kurdish nation in Iraq. Read the post at the link for details.

Regime apologist watch. Dr. Ramin Etebar names names: 'There are three organizations the act as IRI apologists, their activities are extremely harmful for the IRI opposition as well as
the Iranian people. Any attempt to extend the life and sustenance of the Islamic Republic of Iran by any individual or organization results in more suffering, torture, imprisonment, poverty and death in Iran and Iranians anywhere in the world. ...' Go to the link to find out who they are.