MK Eldad: Marchers' Rights Are Worshipers' Rights

A religious Knesset member argues that if freedom of movement applies to the Gay Pride march in Jerusalem, it must also apply to Jewish worshipers on the Temple Mount. Works for me.

Arutz Sheva:

Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad wrote to the attorney general today demanding that Jewish worshippers on the Temple Mount be accorded the same civil rights protection as homosexual parade marchers.

In a letter sent to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Tuesday, MK Eldad (National Union-NRP) called for the state's chief legal counsel to apply the principles he elucidated regarding the Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem to the rights of Jews to worship on the Temple Mount. As of now, police enforce a ban on Jewish worship on the Mount, Judaism's holiest site, due to threats of violence on the part of Muslims, who were allowed to maintain jurisdiction over the mosques on the Mount even after Israel conquered it in 1967. The ban is in effect despite Israeli lower court decisions stating that, in principle, Jews should have freedom of access and of worship on the Temple Mount. ...

On Monday, Atty. Gen. Mazuz rejected a police recommendation to ban the parade, saying, "We have to make a decision, either we give in to threats or we deal with them. We have to exert efforts to find an equation so that it can be secured." Mazuz ordered the police to work together with representatives of the Open House Gay pride organization to find a way to hold the event "with a modest character."

Further addressing the apparent inconsistency in the application of the law in the capital, Eldad pressed the attorney general: "You support the 'modest' right to protest of the [homosexual] community in Jerusalem, but you must surely know that a Jew caught standing with closed eyes and murmuring in a whisper is ejected from the Temple Mount."

Commentary. I like this. Eldad may not be thrilled about the court decision ruling that the gay parade can continue, but he understood that the principle behind it could work in his favor too. And he's right: If threats of violence are not permitted to deter the Gay Pride event, then why should the Jews' established freedom to worship on the Temple Mount be held hostage to threats?

For all related posts, please go to this category archive: Jerusalem Pride 2006.

Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade Reconsidered

Last week, I argued against the Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem. In this post, I'm going to look at it from a different angle.

In my previous post, I asserted that

a gay pride parade in Jerusalem is a confrontational, provocative gesture. It will do nothing to improve the attitude of straight Israelis toward gay people.

My reasoning was that forcing the issue of a gay pride parade in Jerusalem would cause a backlash among moderate Israelis which would result in a net setback, rather than an advance, for gay rights in Israel. And this may very well be true.

But I think what was really bothering me about the parade was the knowledge that certain orthodox Jewish fanatics would resort to all kinds of thuggish tactics to protest the event. Last year, a fundamentalist fruitcake named Yishai Schlissel stabbed and injured three people at the 2005 Gay Pride event in Jerusalem. He was convicted of attempted murder. Yediot:

The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday convicted Yishai Schlissel, a resident of the ultra-Orthodox community of Kiryat Sefer, of attempted murder and severe injury for stabbing and injuring three people at a gay parade. About nine months ago, Schlissel arrived at the Gay Pride Parade which was held in Jerusalem, carrying a knife. He stabbed three people, who suffered light to moderate injuries. “I came to murder on behalf of God. We can’t have such abomination in the country,” Schlissel said during his police interrogation.

JPost:

According to the charge sheet, the haredi assailant purchased the knife ahead of time in order to carry out the attack at the June 30 parade. "The accused displayed extreme fanatical behavior, and made up his mind not to let the parade end in peace at any cost," the judges wrote in their ruling. "He had no tolerance, not even minimal, toward the people who attended the parade because his worldview rejects any compromise. The accused was fully conscious and ready to pay a heavy personal price for his acts," the judges added.

Now this nutball was an extreme case, but not by far. As a Jew, I wince at this sort of thing. It means Jews looking bad in front of the whole world. And that was something I didn't want to see.

(Full disclosure: I was a practicing Orthodox Jew for a few years. And while I'm no longer frum, I do retain a considerable respect for the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism - as well as a certain sentimental attachment.)

But, you know what? The world does not revolve around what I want to see or don't want to see. Nobody expects the haredi Jews not to object to a gay parade in Jerusalem; that's a given. How they choose to express their disapproval, however, is up to them.

Looking back, I notice that I used the word "provocative". Well, of course we should try to avoid "provoking" people, right? But the idea of a "provocation" has a funny way of shifting the burden of responsibility. One must, after all, agree to be provoked. I'm not going to start talking about those Danish Mohammed cartoons, because I think you get the point.

So, if gay people march in Jerusalem, it will get ugly. Well, life is ugly. We have to deal with it.

I'm going to be following the Jerusalem Pride controversy closely here at Dreams Into Lightning. Stay tuned.

Morning Report: November 7, 2006

Decision day. An election-day roundup.

Syria: Countdown to war. Debka:

Syrian FM Walid Mualem threatens to start “countdown to war” with Israel failing progress on peace track. EBKAfile cites Mualem’s words at a joint news conference in Damascus with Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr Steore Monday, Nov. 6, as an explicit threat of war to be launched against Israel at a time of Syria’s choosing. The Syrian minister welcomed a debate going on in Israel about whether to resume negotiations with Damascus on the Golan Heights, which Syria lost to Israel in the Six-Day War. He went on to say: “We now have a window of opportunity of several months. If there is no progress, the countdown will begin for a new Syrian-Israeli war.” On Nov. 3, DEBKA-Net-Weekly 276b> revealed that on Oct. 30 British PM Tony Blair had sent his senior political adviser Nigel Sheinwald (picture) on a mission to Damascus, hoping to turn the coming British exit from Iraqi towns round as leverage for a comeback to the Arab world and make up for his failed Iraq policy. One of the items in the British official’s briefcase for his meeting with president Bashar Asad and Mualem was a secret message from Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert: an offer to start peace talks. It was posted through Blair. The Syrian president sent a return message to the British prime minister: Tell Olmert I’m ready to talk. This move connected with a broader deal: Damascus would break away from its pact with Tehran in return for normal relations with the West. Israel-Syrian talks would kick off this process. Both parties agreed that the Sheinwald mission and the business they discussed would be kept secret. No sooner had the British emissary flown out of Damascus, when the Syrians leaked word of his visit together with the Syrian president’s rejection of Olmert’s offer to talk, barring a prior Israeli commitment to cede the Golan. This was not what the Syrian president had told his British vistor. When Sheinwald arrived in London, he found out that Asad had been stringing him along before killing the Blair initiative stone cold. All along the Syrian ruler had kept faith with Tehran.

Read the rest at the link. (Debka)

Operation Autumn Clouds ends. Vital Perspective:

Early this morning IDF infantry, engineering and armored forces completed their operations against terror infrastructure and rocket launching infrastructure in Beit Hanoun to prevent and disrupt the launching of rockets at Israel. Over the course of the operation:

Forces conducted searches throughout the town in order to locate terrorists, gunmen and weaponry.
Dozens of armed gunmen were killed in aerial attacks and clashes with soldiers.
IDF soldiers uncovered large amounts of weaponry including rocket launchers, anti-tank missile launchers, grenades, explosive devices, AK-47 assault rifles, various ammunitions types, observation equipment and more.
The IDF targeted and hit 9 rocket launching cells, some of them also responsible for rocket manufacturing. ...

Full post at the link. (Vital Perspective)

Europe's Muslim Brotherhood. Counterterrorism Blog: 'In 1990 Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an influential Sunni scholar and the unofficial theological leader of the international Muslim Brotherhood (al Ikhwan al Muslimoun), published a book called Priorities of the Islamic Movement in the Coming Phase. This 186-page treatise can be considered the most recent manifesto of the Islamist revivalist movement. ... After examining the situation of the “Islamic Movement” throughout the Muslim world, the dissertation devotes significant attention to the situation of Muslims living in the West. ... Having affirmed the necessity of the Islamist movement in the West, Qaradawi proceeds to present a plan of operation. The Egyptian-born scholar openly calls for the creation of a separate society for Muslims within the West. While he highlights the importance of keeping open a dialogue with non-Muslims, he advocates the establishment of Muslim communities with “their own religious, educational and recreational establishments.” He urges his fellow revivalists to try “to have your small society within the larger society” and “your own ‘Muslim ghetto.’”' (CTB)

Egyptian blogger arrested. Or Does It Explode: 'Last October, Adelkarim Nabil Soliman got some attention for when Egyptian police interrogated him over blogposts critiquing Al Azhar University, where he was enrolled as a student. Soliman soon got booted out of school. And now he's been taken into custody for refusing to disavow his posts. A new blog is chronicling Soliman's arrest: http://www.freekareem.org. ' (ODIE)

Amarji's latest. A cancer-free Amarji shares his gut reactions to latest developments: 'The recent White House meeting with representatives of the National Salvation Front was, contrary to attempts at undermining it by many, quite a success and indicated a growing willingness by members within the current administration to assume a more open posture towards one of the most important and pragmatic Syrian opposition groups in exile. This openness is not restricted to members of the National Security Council. Indeed, and over the last few months, we have had quieter endorsements from all relevant decision-making centers within the administration. No, this does not mean that the Administration will be holding direct talks with Khadddam and Bayanouni soon, for tactical and ideological reasons on both sides. But contacts with the NSF through its liberal members will now take place regularly and on a high enough level to make it worth our while at the NSF to make point of acknowledging them at this stage. So, people can denounce, speculate, object, interpret, analyze and dismiss the fact and nature of these contacts to their hearts’ content, but, and at the end of the day, the fact cannot be denied: there is indeed a new kid on the block these days, a new player that, whether people like it or not, and for better or for worse, will make quite on an impact on the scene of Syrian external opposition. ...' (Amarji)

Commentary. Here's Orson Scott Card: 'There is only one issue in this election that will matter five or ten years from now, and that's the War on Terror. And the success of the War on Terror now teeters on the fulcrum of this election.' Americans, you know what you need to do. Now go vote.

Neocons Blast Vanity Fair

Leading neoconservatives set the record straight in National Review Online:

On Friday, Vanity Fair issued a press release highlighting excerpts of a piece in their January issue on “neoconservative” supporters of the war in Iraq who today, unsurprisingly, have some negative things to say about how the war is going and how the Bush administration has been handling it.

In the wake of the press release – which has gotten considerable play on the Internet – some of those “neoconservatives” highlighted in the article have responded to the excerpts and its misrepresentations, in some cases, of what they said. We collect some of those reactions — including from Eliot Cohen, David Frum, Frank Gaffney, Michael Ledeen, Richard Perle, and Michael Rubin — below.

Eliot A. Cohen
... I stand by what I said, however, which is no different from what I have said in other venues, including in articles in the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal as well a in a variety of print and television interviews over several years. Indeed, insofar as I have any personal regrets as I look back on my public statements about the war, it is for not having spoken up even more often and forcefully than I already have.

David Frum
... My most fundamental views on the war in Iraq remain as they were in 2003: The war was right, victory is essential, and defeat would be calamitous. And that to my knowledge is the view of everybody quoted in the release and the piece: Adelman, Cohen, Ledeen, Perle, Pletka, Rubin, and all the others. ...

Frank Gaffney
... Perhaps we should have known better, given Vanity Fair’s generally venal character. We were encouraged to overlook that sordid record, however, on the grounds that the author would be Rose — a journalist who had earned a reputation of late for fair and honest treatment of matters such as this. ... For the record, I remain convinced that the liberation of Iraq was a necessary and laudable measure to prevent a megalomaniac from handing off to terrorists weapons of mass destruction for the purpose of attacking us and our allies. Contrary to popular belief, the U.S. government has proof that Saddam Hussein had precisely such plans ready to implement.

Michael Ledeen
My experience with Vanity Fair is even more extensive than David Frum ‘s, having been the subject of a 30,000 word screed that ends with the author’s bland confession “there is no evidence for any of this.” So I am not at all surprised to see the editors yank words from me, David, and others out of context and totally misdescribe what we think, do and feel. I do not feel “remorseful,” since I had and have no involvement with our Iraq policy. I opposed the military invasion of Iraq before it took place and I advocated — as I still do — support for political revolution in Iran as the logical and necessary first step in the war against the terror masters.

Readers of NRO know well how disappointed I have been with our failure to address Iran, which was, and remains, the central issue, and it has been particularly maddening to live through extended periods when our children were in battle zones where Iranian-supported terrorists were using Iranian-made weapons against Americans, Iraqis and Afghans. I have been expressing my discontent for more than three years. So much for a change of heart dictated by developments on the ground.

Richard Perle
Vanity Fair has rushed to publish a few sound bites from a lengthy discussion with David Rose. Concerned that anything I might say could be used to influence the public debate on Iraq just prior to Tuesday’s election, I had been promised that my remarks would not be published before the election.

I should have known better than to trust the editors at Vanity Fair who lied to me and to others who spoke with Mr. Rose. Moreover, in condensing and characterizing my views for their own partisan political purposes, they have distorted my opinion about the situation in Iraq and what I believe to be in the best interest of our country.

I believe it would be a catastrophic mistake to leave Iraq, as some are demanding, before the Iraqis are able to defend their elected government. As I told Mr. Rose, the terrorist threat to our country, which is real, would be made much worse if we were to make an ignominious withdrawal from Iraq. ...

Michael Rubin
Have those interviewed changed their mind about the war? I have not, no matter how self-serving partisan pundits or lazy journalists want to spin it. I can’t speak for others. Again, despite the punditry out there, the so-called neocons are not Borg.

Now, for my own quote: I absolutely stand by what I said. Too many people in Washington treat foreign policy as a game. Many Washington-types who speak about Iraq care not about the U.S. servicemen or about the Iraqis, but rather focus on U.S. electoral politics. I am a Republican, but whether the Republicans or Democrats are in power, Washington’s word must mean something. ...

Now that you've read the excerpts, please go read the whole article at the link.

Morning Report: November 6, 2006

Hanging in there. A dictator is sentenced while soldiers urge determination; to the east, a regime tests weapons and sets its sights on new horizons.

Saddam to hang. Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging. Omar: 'I was overwhelmed with joy and relief as I watched the criminals being read their verdicts. For the first time in our region tyrants are being punished for their crimes through a court of law. Until this moment and while I’m typing these words I’m still receiving words of congratulations in emails, phone calls and text messages from friends inside and outside the country. These were our only means to share our happiness because of the curfew that limits our movement. This is the day for Saddam’s lovers to weep and I expect their shock and grieve to be huge. They had always thought their master was immortal so let them live in their disappointment while we live for our future. This is a day not only for Iraqis but a historic day for the whole region; today new basis for dealing between rulers and peoples are found. No one is above the law anymore.' Gateway Pundit has the details on how Ramsey Clark went so far above and beyond the call of idiocy that he got himself ejected and reprimanded by Iraqi officials. For information on atrocities under Saddam, please visit The Iraqi Holocaust. (PJM, Gateway Pundit)

Iraq troops: Pullout would be devastating. Washington Post:

With a potentially historic U.S. midterm election on Tuesday and the war in Iraq a major issue at the polls, many soldiers said the United States should not abandon its effort here. Such a move, enlisted soldiers and officers said, would set Iraq on a path to civil war, give new life to the insurgency and create the possibility of a failed state after nearly four years of fighting to implant democracy.

"Take us out of that vacuum -- and it's on the edge now -- and boom, it would become a free-for-all," said Lt. Col. Mark Suich, who commands the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment just south of Baghdad. "It would be a raw contention for power. That would be the bloodiest piece of this war."

The soldiers declined to discuss the political jousting back home, but they expressed support for the Bush administration's approach to the war, which they described as sticking with a tumultuous situation to give Iraq a chance to stand on its own.

Read the full article at the link. (Washington Post)

Iran tests weapons. The Intelligence Summit citing AFP: 'Iran on Saturday announced it had successfully test-fired new armour-piercing weaponry and an anti-helicopter missile system on the third day of its latest war games. "The new generation of anti-helicopter and anti-armour weapons were successfully tested on day three of the manoeuvres," an announcer on state television said as pictures of the test-firing were broadcast. In the "Great Prophet II" war games, due to last 10 days, Iran has so far fired its Shahab-3 longer range missile for the first time in manoeuvres as well as new types of land-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles. The armour-piercing weapons tested Saturday include a rifle equipped with special sights that can identify an enemy seven kilometres (four miles) away and can penetrate a target wearing a bullet-resistant vest from a distance of three kilometres (one-and-a-half miles).' Debka:

Our sources reveal that scores of surface missiles – a record for any war games anywhere - were tested simultaneously at a desert testing site some two hours drive from Tehran Thursday, Nov. 2. Precisely planned, the testing went smoothly. Input has not yet come in about the accuracy of their targeting.

A senior American missile expert told DEBKAfile that the Iranians demonstrated up-to-date missile-launching technology which the West had not known them to possess. They also displayed unfamiliar warheads. But their most startling feat was the successful first test-fire of the long-range Shehab-3 with its cluster of tens of small bomblets, as DEBKAfile revealed Oct. 31. The entire range bore the imprint of new purchases from China.

This Shehab-3, whose 2,000-km range brings Israel, the Middle East and Europe within reach - may be more than a match for any anti-missile missile system in American, Israeli or European arsenals – depending critically on the point of its fragmentation. Some of its features are still an enigma in the West.

If the Shehab-3’s cluster separates close to target, the Israel-US Arrow has a chance to intercept it, but the Americans and Israelis have no defense against the multiple warhead if it separates at a distance.

Debka adds that the intended audience for this performance was probably Europe, which Tehran sees as more easily intimidated. (TIS, Debka)

Hezbollah plans for Lebanon: A new Iran. ThreatsWatch: 'The Iranian-supported terrorists ultimately seek to assert a Shi’a Islamist theocracy over Lebanon modeled after their Iranian masters. As they are permitted to rebuild their southern infrastructure - including tunnels, rockets and other arms - they are ever more prepared to threaten inwards as outwards. The Hizballah power play is not subtle, as they have threatened to ‘take to the streets’ of Lebanon if they do not get their way. But some in Lebanon remain firm, as Saad Hariri criticized Hizballah’s latest move and rejected it, proffered by a co-opted Christian leader Michel Auoun. Auoun, a surprising Hizballah ally, called for the entire government to be reshuffled in order to ‘broaden representation’ in Beirut. But while the Lebanese government has long under-represented the Shi’a, relying on old census numbers, to adjust now means an influx of Hizballah terrorist leadership among the Lebanese government, the end of the Lebanese Cedar Revolution and the beginning of the imposition of an Iranian-style Islamic ‘Republic.’' (ThreatsWatch)

Gay Patriot: Massachusetts gifts to GOP. Gay Patriot links Jules Crittenden at the Boston Herald:

Every two years, bluest blue Massachusetts sends in the clowns. We show America what could be and America generally sees it and acts accordingly: runs in the other direction.

From Kerry’s insulting jibes at our troops, to the efforts by Kennedy and others in our delegation to undermine a wartime presidency and give Euro-style socialism a foot-hold in the New World, Massachusetts gives America its bogeymen.

With the likely election of Deval Patrick as governor, we’ll give America a brave new Dukakis, not to mention an advance glance at an Obama administration. Watch and learn. It is perhaps the best 2008 gift we, Massachusetts, could give the GOP.

More Kennedy. More Kerry - no way he’s going quietly; his Web site now sports a Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial saying his dumb troops-dumb Bush joke was “right either way.”

Gay Patriot can think of one more name for that list. Read the rest at the link. (Gay Patriot)

Commentary. Wretchard at The Belmont Club says, 'When faced with an enemy determined to destroy you, and who if temporarily lacking the means persistently works on acquiring the resources to eventually do so, withdrawal is not an option. It is not an option because it merely shifts the battlefront closer to home ...'. And not to the defender's advantage.

Soon, Americans will elect a new set of leaders in Congress. Our future will be shaped by the kind of leaders we elect - and by the degree to which those leaders reflect the American people's will to win.

Morning Report: November 2, 2006

The long arm of the regime. Iran shoots missiles, while London cops hassle an anti-regime activist.

Iran announces Shahab-3 test firing in new exercises. Debka: 'Iran announces test-firing of ballistic Shehab-3 missiles in first hours of new military maneuvers. Several kinds of short-range missiles were also launched in central desert area of Iran early Thursday, Nov. 2. Iran responded Wednesday night, Nov. 1, to the US-led naval movements and buildup in the in the Red Sea (see separate item) with an announcement by its Revolutionary Guard commander General Rahim Safavi of a big, new naval exercise opening on Nov. 2. Dubbed Great Prophet, the 10-day maneuver will take place in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. The RC Air Force would, he said, for the first time test-fire the Shehab-3 (picture of first firing) armed with “a cluster warhead.”' (Debka)

British police try to arrest Khatami plaintiff. Azarmehr:

British police today [November 1] tried to arrest Safa Einollahi as soon as he arrived to join other protesters against Khatami outside Chatham House today, but other protesters fought with the police and prevented them from taking Safa away.

Safa is one of the two Iranian refugees who had applied to the Met Police to have Khatami arrested under Section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1998. This Act requires the arrest of any individual, regardless of nationality, where there is evidence that they committed, condoned or colluded with acts of torture. The legislation has a universal jurisdiction, and therefore covers torture committed by Iranians against Iranians in Iran. Section 134, which incorporates the UN Convention Against Torture 1984 into UK law, also holds high state officials responsible if they fail to stop torture.

More on Sina Einollahi: 'The Metropolitan police have confirmed that they are investigating complaints lodged by two Iranian exiles who claim they were falsely imprisoned and brutally tortured while Khatami was in office. Safa Einollahi, 29, and Ali Ebrahimi, 34, claim that Khatami, who was in power from 1997 to 2005, was ultimately responsible for the atrocities they endured. They want him arrested under the 1988 Criminal Justice Act, which allows for any individual, regardless of nationality, to be arrested for carrying out, condoning or colluding in crimes of torture anywhere in the world.'
Azarmehr adds:

In a more sinister move, the Metroplitan police also entered Safa's house last night and interrogated him. Asking him questions like "What other friends do you have in Britain who were previously detained in Iran."

Sue Wilkinson from the Metropolitan Police, yesterday replied to the application made by Sabi & Associates lawyers who were acting on behalf of the two Iranian refugees and refused to issue an arrest warrant saying there was insufficient evidence that Khatami personally committed such acts of torture or ordered them to be conducted.

There's more. Read the full post at the link. (Azarmeher, The Times)

Bolton points finger at Syria, Lebanon. AP via Iran Focus: 'U.S. Ambassador John Bolton accused Syria and Iran on Monday of trying to destabilize Lebanon's democratically elected government by violating a U.N. arms embargo. Bolton stressed that Syria's obligations to respect a U.N. arms embargo authorized by the Security Council resolution that ended the 34-day Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in August "are particularly important as it is the one country other than Israel that borders Lebanon." Syria and Iran are supporters of Hezbollah, providing weaponry, training and funding to the group. He called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to abide by the commitment he made to Secretary-General Kofi Annan to support the resolution and the arms embargo.' (AP)

Missing soldier still being held. Reuters via Yahoo: 'The U.S. military said on Thursday it believed an American soldier who was abducted in Baghdad 10 days ago is still being held by his captors. U.S. military spokesman Major General William Caldwell also told a news conference there was a "tremendous amount of political activity" under way to secure the release of the U.S. soldier of Iraqi descent, who was kidnapped by gunmen while visiting relatives after leaving the security of the Green Zone. Caldwell identified the soldier as Ahmed al-Taie, a 41-year-old linguist and said he was visiting family "including his Iraqi wife" when he was kidnapped. His family told reporters he was taken by Shi'ite militiamen. "At this point, we believe the ones who kidnapped Ahmed currently still have him," Caldwell told reporters.' (Reuters)

Imagine our relief. Iran cannot build ICBMs. So says Russia's top general on RIA Novosti: 'Iran does not yet have the capability to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, Russia's top army general said Thursday. Tehran reported earlier on Thursday it has successfully launched several dozen long-range ballistic missiles during its ongoing large-scale military exercises. "According to our information, Iran does not currently have the technological and technical capability to build an intercontinental [ballistic] missile," Army General Yury Baluyevsky, chief of the General Staff of Russia's Armed Forces, told journalists. He said Iran's activity, if any, to develop ICBMs will be closely watched by the world's intelligence agencies. Moreover, such activity is restricted by international regulations on the development of cutting-edge missile technology, as well as by Tehran's non-proliferation commitments.' (RIA Novosti)

Commentary. I want to come back to an earlier post by Azarmehr, in which the UK resident wraps up his US visit with a tour of the Voice of America, Persian service studios:

... I had no idea however that I had such a reputation amongst some of the VOA staff until we visited the studios. As soon as I entered the room, one of the staff who preferred to speak English, said to our host who was introducing us "Is this the guy who is always criticising us on his weblog?"

"Don't worry, criticism makes you stronger." I replied and followed our host.

"As long as it is fair criticism" He shouted back.

I broke from our group and turned back and asked "Which one do you think was not a fair one?" I was intrigued to know.

"I am not saying you have not been fair, I am just saying keep being fair". He said.

Well that was a fair point. One can't argue with that. We should always strive to be fair.

But the most surprising reaction was from Bill Royce. When he saw me in the studio, his eyes nearly popped out and I thought he was going to have a heart attack. I was in email correspondence with Bill Royce back in 1996, when I started the website for NMIR in memory of Dr. Bakhtiar. I think my last email to him was when I expressed condolences at the time his wife passed away. I saw no reason for any animosity between him and I. Yet it seemed that a few critical reviews of VOA Persian programs and style, had turned this guy very much against me. Well too bad, people that wish to have a job for life and not be accountable to anyone, should not work in institutions that claim to represent a democratic system. It gives the wrong impression.

When I left Royce's office, I heard him say behind my back, "What is that right wing Fascist doing here in the studio?"

And these are supposed to be the good guys. These are the people our Government entrusts to spread its message - the voice, as it were, of America. WTF?

You might remember that Iranian activist Ghazal Omid was none too impressed with the State Department's efforts:

I have appeared on Voice of America and Radio Farda many times in English, Farsi, Kurdish and Afghan. You should be made aware that both censor my anti-regime comments, cautioning me off-air to be respectful to the Iranian authorities. Many of the people running VOA and Radio Farda left Iran after the revolution as political refugees. Some of them travel to Iran frequently via their Iranian passport while working, as a US citizen, for VOA in the United States. Many have lives and businesses in both countries and are trying to keep their feet dry in both places.

So whatever the people at the top may say about standing firm against the islamist regime in Tehran, we also have to deal with the lower-level regime enablers - whether the functionaries in Foggy Bottom or Red Ken's buddies in London.

Best Halloween Costume of the Year

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. This one, I think, is worth a lot more:
Jeremayakovka - Homeless Suicide Bomber.

Iraq

Here's a general roundup of recent events in Iraq.

Sadr City cordon controversy. The Belmont Club discusses Nouri Maliki's recent order for the US to withdraw the military cordon around Sadr City. Quoting Jules Crittenden

On the streets of Baghdad, where the Shiites are celebrating the removal of the coalition cordon, Moqtada al-Sadr has another victory, and al-Maliki has demonstrated he is no U.S. puppet. ...

Al-Maliki has been increasingly defiant of the United States in recent weeks. To some extent, this is to be expected. Al-Maliki must maintain his credibility with Iraqis. But his coddling of the Shiite militias goes beyond that. Maliki, as other observers have noted, senses the danger of a U.S. abandonment, and also senses that militant Shia is the ultimate source of power in Iraq. His own ticket to the future. ...

[The US should] provoke a fight with [Sadr's] forces, and destroy them.

Wretchard responds:

The emergence of an independent Iraqi government complicates and simplifies things. It simplifies things in that the US can focus more on advancing its own national interests and less on the interests of the Iraqi government. We have given them a hand, now we must give ourselves a hand. And the question is, whatever Maliki thinks of the Shi'ite militias, is it in America's best interests to see them flourish? Do they hold an American soldier and can we let them? Those are the relevant questions. And strategically the answers to those questions must be answered in the best American interests.

Full post at the link. Here's the Little Green Footballs post on the story:

There’s a lot of second-guessing about Iraq these days, and a lot of people attempting to analyze where mistakes were made. In my book, one of the worst mistakes was our failure to kill Muqtada al-Sadr, a man who deserves to meet the business end of a Hellfire missile if anyone ever did.

LGF comment thread here. And here's the news item:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Exploiting GOP vulnerability in the Nov. 7 elections, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki flexed his political muscle Tuesday and won U.S. agreement to lift military blockades on Sadr City and another Shiite enclave where an American soldier was abducted. U.S. forces, who had set up the checkpoints in Baghdad last week as part of an unsuccessful search for the soldier, drove away in Humvees and armored personnel carriers at the 5 p.m. deadline set by al-Maliki. Iraqi troops, who had manned the checkpoints with the Americans, loaded coils of razor wire and red traffic cones onto pickup trucks.

US translator Ahmed Qusai al-Taei abducted. Gateway Pundit:

Ahmed Qusai al-Taei was dragged away by the Mahdi Army while visiting his in-laws in Baghdad last Monday. ... The U.S. military has said the soldier was of Iraqi descent and that he was visiting family in the central Baghdad neighborhood of Karradah when he was abducted.

Here's the horrifying news report:

According to a report in Monday editions of The New York Times, the relatives said that the soldier, previously unidentified by the U.S. government, is Ahmed Qusai al-Taei, a 41-year-old Iraqi-American. The family did not know he was a soldier until after the kidnapping, the relatives said.

Taei married a 26-year-old college student, Israa Abdul-Satar, three months ago, the family said. They showed visitors photographs of the couple's wedding and honeymoon, the newspaper reported.

The relatives said members of the Shiite Mahdi Army militia came to the wife's home on Oct. 23 and dragged Taei into their car.

"They were saying, 'He's an American journalist,'" said a woman who claimed she was the soldier's mother-in-law and asked that she be identified only by her nickname, Um Omar, because of fear of reprisals. "We were saying, 'No, he's an Iraqi.'"

Ahmed Abdul-Satar, who said he was the soldier's brother-in-law, recounted a frantic scene from the kidnapping, with the women of the family screaming and begging the gunmen not to take Taei.

Anbar Salvation Council. The Mesopotamian has been following a citizens' posse known as the Anbar Salvation Council. From an October 24 post:

Actually, I think one of the most important developments recently is the situation in the Anbar and the rise of the anti-terrorist movement there in more developed and explicit form. This movement should neither be underestimated nor overestimated. But it is certainly real and a considerable split in the Tribes of the Dulaim. The U.S. forces have done a lot of work in this front since the beginning and have put in quite a lot of effort and have tried various approaches. In the Anbar, the Iraqi Government does not really exist at all, and it is only the American forces that have any real presence there apart from the various terrorist groups of-course. In the last year or so it seems that the Americans have been using a more subtle approach in trying to corner the enemy in certain locations and surround him without confronting him directly. It seems that he was allowed to concentrate in certain points (in and near the city of Ramadi) and almost given the freedom to exist and fester within these narrow boundaries. Thus the hapless inhabitants of these towns, such as Ramadi, were given the dubious honor of experiencing all the pleasures of living under the yoke of these hordes of Mujahideen who actually surpassed the Taliban in their zeal for various Godly practices.

For instance, here are some of the things that were declared haram (forbidden), not to mention the usual prohibitions of Islam that everybody knows:

- It is haram for men(let alone women) to wear shorts and even jeans, indeed the captain of the Iraqi tennis team was murdered in Baghdad for just this sin as he was leaving his house wearing one (to play tennis).
- It is haram for women to drive. Many women were murdered for this particular sin.
- It is haram to listen to music.
- Haircuts and hairdressing is haram and barbers and barber shops have been favorite targets.

All that is very well but wait for this:

- “Turshi”(pickled vegetables) is haram. I am told by some of my Ramadi acquaintances that jars of “Turshi” are secretly passed around much in the same way that drugs are traded elsewhere.
- Sammoun (bread that is baked in what is considered western style) is haram, and hence the many attacks on bakeries guilty of this practice.
- Last but not least, spoons forks and any such cutlery are haram !!!! The pious Islamic way is to eat with one’s bare hands.

But there's a reaction against this fanatical thuggery:

... And thus I can tell you with certainty, and based on personal acquaintances with people from that province, that the anti-terrorist movement there is real and widespread and given the right support and encouragement it could result in totally cleaning the Anbar in its entirety, which would be an important turning point in this war.

The fact that this "Anbar Salvation Council" that has proved its commitment against the terrorists is composed of the most Sunni of Sunnies, has the important effect of counteracting the sectarian tensions. And indeed already, strong expressions of support from the South and from Shiaa quarters have been expressed. The importance of this development should not be lost in the midst of the general “mess” (as expressed lately by President Bush). It is, in fact an opportunity to clean up this most strategic province and achieve an important milestone in this struggle. However, it is right that this movement should be carefully controlled and integrated within the framework of the Law and the Government. The locals have quite superior knowledge and intelligence of the nature and identity of the various terrorist groups, and have proved on several occasions their effectiveness against such groups. It is after all their homes and families that they are fighting for and they are not going to go elsewhere once they are in full control of their towns and villages.

But on October 29, Alaa reports:

The official spokesman for the "Anbar Salvation Council" has just appeared on the Al-Iraqia T.V. He announced that the Americans told the Council that if it tried to enter Ramadi to chase the terrorists out they would be confronting the American forces !! An astounding revelation which leaves one dumbfounded. From my own private sources, I heard many times that the Americans are not encouraging anti-terrorist elements to launch any large scale action against the enemy. Now this is stated openly by one of the official spokesmen of the Council. I wonder what is the real strategy of the Americans? I am mystified.

A variety of ideas are expressed in the comments thread on this post; well worth a read.

Healing Iraq on latest developments. Zeyad's October 28 post carries detailed accounts of some recent events in Baghdad:

Mahdi Army groups in Sadr City are accusing SCIRI of setting up the American military operation against them. This could spell further trouble in Shi’ite cities in the south and another confrontation between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi security forces (dominated by SCIRI and Badr).

Sources in Sadr City reported that a son of Abu Dera’ and an aide were killed in the first American raid against the Chuwadir area of Sadr City Wednesday. Abu Dera’ is a feared name in Sadr City and Sunnis accuse him of atrocities against their community in several districts surrounding Sadr City. It’s hard to get facts about him since he has become a sort of a legend in that area of Baghdad, but people now claim that Sadr personally appointed him the responsibility of cleaning up the ranks of the Mahdi Army in Sadr City and that he has started cracking down on rival gangs and splinter Mahdi Army groups in the area. Following the American raid, he is reported to have fled behind the Sadda and is now in the Al-Amin district, just southeast of Sadr City. Clashes are still reported from Sadr City and American troops have blocked all main streets leading into the huge slum.

Tensions are still high in Amara, Diwaniya and Samawa. There was a failed assassination attempt against the military intelligence commander (a SCIRI member) in Samawa, and there were clashes between militias and the Iraqi police in Suwayra southeast of Baghdad. All are signs of the increasing distrust between the Sadrist movement and SCIRI, which form the largest blocs inside the UIA.

There was a brief scare at Najaf Thursday when local authorities closed down the shrine for an hour, citing a security threat. The shrine has been opened since but there are speculations on several Iraqi message boards that an incident at the shrine may be created in order to relieve the current tensions between the U.S. and the Shia and in order to speed up the formation of the Shi’ite federal region in the south.

In a related development, Muqtada Al-Sadr issued instructions to his followers yesterday to avoid an open confrontation with American troops and what he described as “their Nawasib followers.” Nawasib in Shia literature roughly translates to ‘those who have set themselves against the prophet’s household.’ It’s a historical reference to Muslim caliphs and armies who have persecuted the prophet’s grandsons and their followers (the Shia). The term is used today in Iraq among Shi’ite circles as a veiled code for Sunnis, although they deny that and say they only mean terrorists who target the Shia. ...

Full post at the link, with a detailed map and Zeyad's translation of Muqty's statement.

Rumsfeld endorses plan to increase Iraqi army. Iraq the Model reports:

A plan to increase the numbers of Iraqi security forces was announced yesterday and the plan was immediately approved and endorsed by defense secretary Rumsfeld.

There was still some controversy and uncertainty about the number of troops that are intended to be added.

But according to this fresh press release from the Iraqi cabinet (from Voice of Iraq/Arabic) the planned increase will include adding 18800 soldiers to the units of the army overseen by the defense ministry. It remains unclear how many troops will be added to the police forces or border guards.

The press release mentioned that those 18800 troops will be distributed over several wide regions of the country including; Kirkuk, Anbar, Diyala, Salah Addin, Baghdad, Middle Euphrates and the Southern region.

IraqPundit: Don't abandon Iraqis. Finally, here's IraqPundit echoing Michael Rubin's column in the Financial Times: '"It would be a mistake to abandon democracy" in Iraq, he wrote. "To do so would reaffirm the worst conspiracies about coalition intentions and drive Iraq into the arms of neighbouring states." Rubin, addressing a mostly European readership, concludes that "While many in Britain and Europe believe war in Iraq to be illegal, they should not sacrifice ordinary Iraqis on the altar of anti-Americanism."' Indeed.

Morning Report: October 31, 2006

Eye in the sky. A terrorist gets lucky, allies do nuke drills, and Israel keeps tabs on its enemies to the north. But there are some changes on the ground that you can't see from an airplane.

Pakistan attack yields limited results, no dead Zawahiri. Yesterday's attack on a madrassa in Pakistan probably didn't kill Zawahiri, says Daveed Gartenstein-Ross at Counterterrorism Blog: 'I just spoke with a military intelligence source who confirmed that the Bajur airstrike (see Andy Cochran's post on it) was conducted by a U.S. Predator, adding that helicopters were also involved. The strike occurred around dawn, as people in the camp were preparing for their morning prayers. My source is skeptical of speculation that Zawahiri may have been killed in the strike, saying that Zawahiri sightings are a dime a dozen. He says it's possible that Matiur Rehman was killed, but is also skeptical of that.' The Pakistani government claimed responsibility for the strike, but they probably didn't do it; Stratfor's analysis figures that 'From Musharraf's standpoint, the notion that Pakistani forces carried out a strike against their fellow citizens is somewhat less damaging than the perception that he has permitted infringements of national sovereignty.' For Musharraf, this is the better of two bad options. (CTB, Stratfor)

Proliferation Security Exercise off Iranian coast. Vital Perspective: '25 nations took part in a U.S.-led naval exercise in waters not far from Iran aimed at training forces to block the transport of weapons of mass destruction and related equipment. Italy, the U.S., Australia, Britain, France and Bahrain deployed ships and personnel to the drill, part of President Bush's Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). Other countries, including the UAE, Qatar, Pakistan and South Korea, sent observers. About 20 miles from Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf, Italian and Bahraini marines sped through the water in small inflatable bloats and boarded a British vessel, the RFA Brambleleaf, which was carrying mock nuclear detonators. Marines armed with machine guns guarded the crew as another team searched the vessel.' (Vital Perspective)

Israel overflies Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. Debka: 'Israel Air Force warplanes over-fly Hizballah’s reconstructed command centers and fortifications in S. Beirut Tuesday. According to DEBKAfile’s military sources, the low Israeli air passes, about which the Lebanese government complained, recorded Hizballah’s reestablishment in Beirut’s Shiite Dahya district, two months after its military centers were flattened in the Lebanon war. It is now a closed military zone whose entry is closely guarded by Hizballah operatives. Israeli warplanes also recorded Hizballah’s revived bunker system, foundations for new rocket launchers and rebuilt intelligence and surveillance positions rising day by day along the Lebanese-Israeli border. Similarly, the tempo of Iranian-Syrian weapons consignments to Hizballah units has been stepped up. They include ground-to-ground missiles, anti-air, anti-tank and shore-to-sea missiles. DEBKAfile’s military sources confirm that Hizballah has fully re-stocked the arsenal of rockets of the type which blasted northern Israel for 33 days in July and August.' Debka identifies the benefits of UNIFIL and Resolution 1701 to Syria and Iran as follows:

1. The takeover of Beirut’s government centers in Beirut by Iran-backed Hizballah and pro-Syrian factions – if possible without bloodshed. The weapons will be used to quell possible political or armed resistance. None of these groups, joined by Gen. Michel Aoun’s pro-Syrian Maronie Christians will have no qualms about sparking a civil war or murdering prime minister Fouad Siniora and other ministers in order to achieve their aims. This information has been in American, French, German and Israeli intelligence since the start of October, prompting US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to say Monday, Oct. 30: “We too have heard that there are people who would like to destabilize the government of Prime Minister Siniora. We’ve heard that there are people who would like to intimidate or assassinate again, they’ve done it before in Lebanon.”

2. In the case of an armed clash, however limited in scope, between the US and Iranian forces massed in the Persian Gulf or in Iraq – which Israel’s high command believes unavoidable – informed Israeli sources have no doubt Hizballah will hit back on Tehran’s behalf with a fresh rocket offensive against Israeli cities.

Reuters has this: 'Israeli warplanes flew at a low altitude over Beirut, its suburbs and large areas of south Lebanon on Tuesday, witnesses and Lebanese security sources said. United Nations peacekeepers and Lebanon say Israeli overflights violate Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in August. Israel says its combat planes would continue to fly over Lebanon to ensure that weapons are not smuggled into southern Lebanon from Syria to resupply Hezbollah.' (Debka, Reuters)

Gaza op underway. Arutz Sheva: 'Though not quite the invasion that has been widely called for of late, an IDF reserves force entered Gaza overnight in an operation to ferret out terrorist cells. Four Kassams hit Negev. The objective of the IDF mission was to remove trees and brush that could be used to camouflage terrorists, and to otherwise thwart potential attacks from southern Gaza against Israel. The soldiers entered Gaza east of Khan Yunis, near the former site of Gush Katif "capital" N'vei Dekalim and north of the Sufah Crossing. They began clearing the area in an effort to make it harder for terrorists to lie in wait to carry out attacks.' (A7)

Commentary. As I've said before, I think the Bush Administration's strategy provides for regime change in Tehran and Damascus, because without it, none of the Administration's moves up to this point would make any sense. But what about the changes taking place in America and elsewhere in the Western world?

A recent (subscription) column by David Brooks in the New York Times speculated on the coming "era of what's next" when neither conservatism nor liberalism dominates. Judith's recent post explored the challenging relationships between people from different political camps. And this, I think, is the big story in its own way.

Michael Totten has some thoughts on the movie 'Syriana'. Money quote:

Part of the story revolves around powerful oil companies that dictate American foreign policy, which is cartoonish and conspiratorial. (Oil companies, in the real world, lobbied for the lifting of sanctions against Iraq rather than for regime-change in Iraq. They did not get their way.)

This is only one part of the story, however. If you can just let it go and run with it for the sake of the movie, the rest holds up reaonably well on a thematic level. Liberal and reformist Muslims are the good guys. The Islamists are not. The point of the story, as the plot unfolds, is obvious: the United States should support liberal and reformist Muslims in the Middle East for their sake as well as for ours. You could argue, if you wanted, that Syriana is a neoconservative film. The writer and the director don’t think of it that way. But that’s partly because liberalism and neoconservatism are not as far apart as they think.

It's not just that liberalism and conservatism are in flux; it's that the very notions of "conservatism" and "liberalism" have mutated almost beyond recognition. Many people still identify, and will continue to identify, as "liberals" or "conservatives"; but it will be just that, a matter of identity more than of philosophy.

Frank Warner, a liberal for liberation, has a response to Thomas Sowell's column on diversity. Warner writes: 'What unites us? I wouldn’t give up too fast on diversity, but we all have to recognize the limits of its benefits and its potential for division and destruction. We want diversity, lots of it, and we want to stir it all together.'

When the smoke clears and the dust settles from the current Mideast conflict, many basic questions will still remain. We will have to deal with one another, and we will have to exchange ideas and opinions. How do we deal with differing political opinions, religions, philosophies, cultures, worldviews? That question itself is part of the debate. And it is why some of the most important changes will not be brought about on the battlefield, but in our daily lives.

Duke Case

Barring any surprising new revelations, I will not be posting further on the Duke lacrosse rape case, except possibly if a trial verdict is announced. Contrary to my initial impressions, I am prepared to say at this point that I believe it's unlikely that the accuser's claims have any merit.

I'm not going to go into the particulars of the case further except to say that you can follow it on the news.

The following comments, excerpted from an earlier post, may help to explain my frame of mind at the time the Duke case appeared, and shed some light on why I was predisposed to believe the accuser's story:

Initially, I was inclined to believe the alleged victim's story. The lack of sensationalistic details, such as obscenities written on the victim's body in dog feces, to my mind distinguished it from the Tawana Brawley hoax. Still fresh in my mind was a post on rape I had recently written, which particularly highlighted the problem of rape in the college environment. (If you need to know more, please read about the Orange County rape case, in which the crime was recorded on video. Three boys repeatedly raped and sodomized the unconscious 16-year-old victim with a lighted cigarette and a pool cue. From the LA Times: "Judge Francisco Briseño said minors and first-time offenders usually are not sent to prison, but in this case the defendants had degraded the victim — laughing and mocking her as she lay unconscious on a pool table — and were slow to show contrition.") In this context, it was hard for me to imagine what the Duke accuser could possibly hope to gain from making a spurious complaint.

And then there was the Ryan McFadyen e-mail. "i plan on killing the bitches as soon as the[y] walk in and proceeding to cut their skin off while cumming in my duke issue spandex." Nice guy.

But from the outset, a couple of things troubled me about the Duke incident. First was the defending attorneys' confidence that DNA evidence would not harm their clients. Second was the curious method of identifying the suspects: they were white. Apparently the alleged victim could provide no other details - tall or short, stocky or slight, blond or brunet, long or short hair, bearded or clean-shaven, uncut or circumcised - about the three men who had violated her for half an hour. In this context, the attention to the assailants' whiteness seems odd and gratuitous.

Several of my closest friends have been raped, and at least one in a college setting. I will not lightly dismiss a woman's claim that she has been abused. (Contrary to the impression you might get from FrontPage, rapes don't only happen in Europe.) I do not care the slightest bit whether you think the victim was a "lady" or a "person of note" or otherwise. And I've seen enough old-fashioned sexism and racism to know that these things haven't disappeared either. (A number of commentators on this incident have been kind enough to illustrate this point for me.) But I'm not naive enough to believe that every claim of rape - or race bias - is truthful. And it's also true that some individuals who are black, gay, or Jewish, have been known to fabricate incidents of fictitious racism, homophobia, or anti-Semitism for perverse reasons of their own.

There's nothing more for me to add right now. Rapes happen, and many real rapes go unreported; and even among rapes that are reported, justice too often goes unserved. And then again there are false rape claims, which hurt both the men who are falsely accused and the women who will find justice that much more elusive. I leave it to you to decide which group this case belongs to.

FINAL UPDATE: Gay Patriot reports that DNA tests have cleared all of the three lacrosse players accused in the case, and have cast doubt on the alleged victim's denial that she engaged in sexual activity before the purported rape:

DNA testing conducted by a private lab in the Duke lacrosse rape case found genetic material from several males in the accuser's body and her underwear _ but none from any team member, including the three charged with rape, according to a defense motion filed Wednesday.

The motion, signed by attorneys for defendants Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans, complained that the information was not disclosed in a report on the testing prosecutors provided earlier this year to the defense.

"This is strong evidence of innocence in a case in which the accuser denied engaging in any sexual activity in the days before the alleged assault, told police she last had consensual sexual intercourse a week before the assault, and claimed that her attackers did not use condoms and ejaculated," the motion read.

I consider the matter closed.

Morning Report: October 30, 2006

Closing in. Allied navies flood the Middle East, and Egyptians break the code of silence around mob sexual abuse.

Iran: The gathering storm. Debka:

Hundreds of US and allied war ships foregathered in the strategic seas of the Middle East and India in the last days of October 2006 for two primary missions: To prepare for a US-led military strike against Iran which has stepped up its uranium enrichment program with a second centrifuge project - undeterred by the prospect of UN sanctions; and measures to fend off palpable al Qaeda threats to oil targets.

1. A large-scale US-Indian sea exercise called Malabar 06 is in progress off the Indian coast of Goa, ending Nov. 5. The American vessels taking part are the USS Boxer carrier, the USS Bunker Hill guided missile battle cruiser, the guided missile destroyer USS Howard and the USS Benfold , as well as the Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine Providence and the Canadian guided missile frigate HMCS Ottawa. Indian maritime might is displayed with its warships like INS Beas , INS Mysore , INS Shakti , INS Ganga , tanking ship INS Gharial , submarine INS Shankush and Coast Guard ship CGS Samar Malabar also involves the landing of large number of soldiers ashore, ahead of the Indian acquisition of the massive amphibious USS Trenton transport dock which can carry six helicopters and about a 1000 soldiers. Our Tehran sources report that last Thursday, Oct. 26, Iranian officials were seriously rattled by a rumor that an Iranian spy plane had located the USS Boxer heading for the Persian Gulf. It prompted fears of an imminent American military assault to lift Republican prospects in the coming US midterm elections of Nov. 7. In any case, the Iranians suspect that at the end of the joint US-Indian exercise in the Arabian Sea, Boxer will veer west and head into the Persian Gulf. There would then be four US air carriers with task forces parked opposite Iranian shores, including the USS Enterprise Strike Group, the USS Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group and the USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, which are already in place. According to the intelligence reaching Iran, the Boxer and its escorts carry 850 Marines who have just spent months in special training for operations on offshore oil rigs and platforms.

2. American, Italy, France, Britain, Australia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are taking part in an exercise practicing the interception of ships carrying nuclear materials or components for use in advanced weapons. The exercise opposite Bahrain is the first to be held in the Persian Gulf under the three-year old proliferation security initiative. It applications could be translated equally into the enforcement of sanctions against North Korea, which conducted its first nuclear test on Oct. 9, or Iran. ...

Read the rest at the link, and find out what Saudi Arabia is doing. (Debka)

Silent no more. Sandmonkey: 'The story is as follows for the those of you who didn't hear about it: It was the first day of Eid, and a new film was opening downtown. Mobs of males gatherd trying to get in, but when the show was sold out, they decided they will destroy the box office. After accomplishing that, they went on what can only be described as a sexual frenxy: They ran around grabbing any and every girl in sight, whether a niqabi, a Hijabi or uncoverd. Whether egyptian or foreigner. Even pregnant ones. They grabbed them, molested them, tried to rip their cloths off and rape them, all in front of the police, who didn't do shit. The good people of downtown tried their best to protect the girls. Shop owners would let the girls in and lock the doors, while the mobs tried to break in. Taxi drivers put the girls in the cars while the mobs were trying to break the glass and grab the girls out. It was a disgusting pandamonium of sexual assaults that lasted for 5 houres from 7:30 PM to 12:30 am, and it truns my stomach just to think about it.' Thke press was silent about the incident - 'Until Nawarah Negm blew the whole thing wide open on live television on the Dream Channel.' Read the whole thing. (Sandmonkey)

Commentary. Short post today. I'll leave you with this comment by Cyrus from a thread at the Free Iran News Forum:

As I said in a short essay in 1993 we should not judge Free World Machiavellian politicians by their words but by their hard and difficult choices, actions, and great sacrifices. Due to the fact that I do not have much respect and trust on Machiavellian politicians of Neo Colonialists EU, Russia, China and some of so called US Machiavellian American Politicians who are hiding behind the so called “Realist” platform (CFR Invitation to Ahmadinejad ...) to deceive the public opinion therefore I do not expect any good outcome and actions against Islamic Fascists until I see real results and rotten regime change as minimum. We should not forget that the G8 is partially responsible for helping Islamic Fascists in past 28 years under so called “Realist” platform and so far we have not seen any real support for Regime Change. Unfortunately today “Hypocrisy” is the name of the game for short term gain in the name of National Interest …. and that is why great majority of Americans are loosing interest in politics and don’t have much trust and respect for today politicians. The American founding fathers - George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Adams … were not Machiavellian and that is why they have been able to create a great foundation and the founding fathers have achieved what our generation can not achieve with far superior power … Why?

Whether we like it or not, Detente With Islamic Fascists Terror Masters is unwritten G8 policy today and for past 28 years. So far we have not seen any clear actions for regime change …..

Morning Report: October 29, 2006

Where are they? If they're Egyptian troops, they're going to the border; if they're Egyptian Baha'is, they don't exist; if they're al-Qaeda, they might be in a submarine. But where are the modernist Muslims?

Egypt shifts troops to Gaza border. Debka: 'Egyptian-Israeli border tension rises with transfer of thousands of Egyptian interior ministry troops to Gaza’s Philadelphi Route in breach of accords with Israel. DEBKAfile’s military sources report 4,000 Interior Ministry Al Aman al Markaz troops were suddenly moved to the Egyptian-Gaza border Saturday. They have beefed up the borders guards already deployed in the North Sinai region of many of the Palestinian arms smuggling tunnels riddling the border. ... Our intelligence sources explain the sudden Egyptian build-up by two developments: Internal rivalry in the Egyptian government between defense and intelligence ministers Gen. Tantawi and Gen. Suleiman. The latter has sent the extra troops to establish a presence on the sensitive border. The other is the urgent need for an effective buffer to guard Sinai against a spillover of a Fatah-Hamas showdown which appears to be on thee verge of flaring in the Gaza Strip.' (Debka)

Egypt: No rights for Baha'i religion. Or Does It Explode:

A few months back we reported on the controversy in Egypt over whether the Baha'i religion can be listed on Egyptian identity cards. The Ministry of Interior does not want Egyptian citizens of the Baha'i faith to have this right, and are currently appealing a lower court judge's decision to grant this simple right.

Now the Egyptian government has released an Advisory Report on the status of Baha'i in Egypt and the country's commitment to religious freedom. Let's listen in on the summary of the 24-page report provided by the Baha'i Faith in Egypt blog:

In brief, it concluded that since the Baha'i Faith is not recognized in Egypt as a "divine religion," therefore its followers in that land have no rights whatsoever and that they simply do not exist! Consequently, they concluded that Egypt's Constitutional guarantees of freedom of belief and religion do not apply to the Baha'is.

Full post at the link. (ODIE)

ThreatsWatch: Submarine threat to Ras Tanura? ThreatsWatch: 'As al-Qaeda warns Canada of a Canadian 9/11 attack if the American ally does not withdraw its heavily engaged (and extremely effective) troops from Afghanistan, intelligence suggests that an increased threat to Saudi Arabian oil facilities exists. The reaction to the intelligence has been primarily to marshal allied naval assets to protect the world’s largest offshore oil export facility, the Ras Tanura terminal, as well as Bahrain’s Bapco refinery. The potential methods of an al-Qaeda attack on the offshore Ras Tanura terminal are numerous, including an explosives-laden small craft such as that used against the USS Cole or a rocket or missile attack from a small craft or even an attack from al-Qaeda operatives that may have infiltrated the Saudi Arabian military or the terminal and/or refinery staff.' (ThreatsWatch)

Commentary. Here's a brand new blog I think you should know about: Smart and Final Isis. They are "two conservative, Republican women who met in a chat room filled with fans of a big-time conservative icon." Specifically,

Smartsoimustbeabitch (aka Smartso) is the Left Brain of this operation (logical, sequential, “Detail” person). Isis is the Right Brain (Intuitive, Synthesizing, “Big Picture” person).

They're committed to improving the quality of discourse in the Rightosphere and elsewhere. Oh, and don't start in on the Muslim-bashing with them, either. Here's their most recent piece, quoting Aslam Abdullah on alt.Muslim: "Kill us too, we are also American." Welcome to the blogosphere, SFI, and keep up the good work.

Michael Totten has some thoughts on islamophobia and "islamophobia":

First of all, I want to publicly commend Dean Esmay for challenging right-wing bigotry (you heard me) against Muslims. It ought to go without saying that I am not referring to opponents, peaceful or otherwise, of Al Qaeda, Hamas, The Taliban, Hezbollah, Wahhabism, Algerian Salafism, etc., ad nauseum. I am referring here to those who demonize a billion people -- including my wonderful old West Beirut neighbors, as well as the Iraqi Kurds who love us more than anyone else in the world -- as mortal enemies.

...

Bigotry against Muslims in general, rather than hostility to terrorists and fanatics in particular, is a bit of an issue in the rightosphere (to borrow Ali Eteraz's terminology), and occasionally even in my own comments section. It's a problem I should probably mention more than I do.

The inverse is easily as big a problem. Bogus claims of "Islamophobia" are trotted out just as often by the bigots' evil twins.

Follow Michael's link to Johann Hari. Here's a quote from the JH post that I think gets right to the point:

Like all people who cry wolf, those who cry Islamophobia are aiding and abetting the real wolves out there. There is an authentic Islamophobia howling in the background.

Finally, let me leave you with a link to Ali Eteraz, who stands at the center of this latest blaze of dialogue. Here's Ali on the non-locality paradox:

Having tried on numerous occasions to get articles about reform in the Arab and Muslim world(s) into mainstream western press, I have discovered a trend: Too Local. “A great article, but too local,” has been the refrain of many very intelligent and fair-minded editors of my acquaintence, when I show them something about this or that sheikh or movement or progressive fatwa. Where are the modernist Muslims, the mob asks? Well, here.

Wondering where all the modernist Muslims are? Well, now you know.

And don't forget to bookmark Eteraz on your browser.