Morning Report: June 27, 2006

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! Behind the media's smokescreen, Iraq makes progress as insurgent groups start to come around. New gestures between Baghdad and Tehran leave room for speculation, but there's no doubt that Israel means business on its western corner. And further south, a hideout becomes a last stand for three suspected terrorists.

A step in the right direction. The Belmont Club comments on Mohammed's post at Iraq the Model reporting that seven insurgent groups have expressed interest in joining the political process. ITM: 'So far, everybody in Iraq feels good about Maliki's plan and expressed their hopes for it to meet success and ease the suffering of the Iraqi people; everybody except for the Sadrists and the association of Muslim scholars who both criticized the plan and said it wasn't acceptable and expected it to fail. The question is do they are expecting it to fail only because they think it is not framed in a workable way or because they wish for it to fail? I'm afraid the latter is the likely answer.' They're not the only ones. The Belmont Club: 'The BBC will probably note that the initial intake will consist of groups peripheral to the real fighting, the weaker insurgent groups, the half-hearted Jihadis, and they will be right. However, Maliki is probably trying to get momentum going and the only way to do that is to work on the weakest links of the insurgency first.' (ITM, Belmont Club)

Iraq: The real world vs. the media's world. Strategy Page: 'One of the more interesting types of stories exchanged by Iraq veterans is how their embedded reporters get screwed by their editors. The basic problem is that reporters tend to get close to the troops they are embedded with, and the troops form a good sense of what kind of story is being written. But then, when the story appears, it often has no connection with what actually happened, other than the names of the reporter and the soldiers or marines. The troops get curious about how this can be. ... The answer to all these queries is simple. The reality of Iraq is too positive for the editors back home.' Full article at the link. (Strategy Page)

Ahmadinejad to visit Iraq. Marze Por Gohar: 'Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Iraq soon, the Tehran-based Fars news agency reported on Monday. The president will visit Baghdad in the coming weeks to meet Iraqi president Jalal Talabani and prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, and then travel to Najaf where he will hold talks with Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Fars reports.' Meanwhile, Iran Focus reports that 'Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari arrived in Tehran on Monday to hold talks with Iranian officials, the government-run news agency Fars reported.' It's not clear what is behind these overtures. Could it have anything to do with an attempt by the IRI to intervene on behalf of Russians abducted in Iraq? Some items via Regime Change Iran. (MPG, Iran Focus, RIA Novosti)

Gaza: Rebuilding Israeli deterrence. Following a Hamas attack on an Israeli post that left two Israeli soldiers dead and a third captive, Israel is gearing up for a no-nonsense response. Debka: 'Steely lines of hundreds of tanks, thousands of armored infantry and commandos menaced the Gaza Strip as of Monday night, June 26, from three jumping-off points: the Nahal Oz base opposite Gaza City, Kissufim opposite Deir al Balah and Khan Younes in the south and Sufa opposite Rafah. Made up of the Golani and Givaty armored brigades and special operations units including the elite Sayeret Matkal, they presented a picture of armored might not seen for many years on the world’s television screens, even in US military sieges of Karbala and Falujja, in Iraq.' The Israeli site notes that the campaign is designed to rebuild the credibility of Israel's deterrent force in the Gaza area, while addressing numerous security concerns including the incursion of al-Qaeda into Gaza, the Palestinian takeover of the Philadelphi border crossing, and the continuing threat of Qassam attacks from the Gaza region. In assessing the likely course of the campaign, Debka concludes: 'A large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip must aim not only at rescuing Gilead Shalit but also replacing the bankrupt Sharon security strategy with a doctrine that arms Israel with the tools to repel and win the current round of the Palestinian war. This is a tall order for Israel’s top military tacticians. They must come up with a winning card when the Palestinians hold an ace, the hostage Gilead Shalit. ... DEBKAfile’s military experts do not expect the Palestinians to show massive resistance in the first stage of this operation, except for directing scattered Qassam, mortar and rocket fire against f the invading Israeli force. The real crunch will begin when Israeli troops strike into populated districts. But that will only happen if they fail to find the missing soldier in Rafah.' Go to the link for the full analysis. (Debka)

Three bombing suspects killed in Egypt. AP via Jerusalem Post: 'Security forces on Tuesday killed three people wanted for the bombings in a Sinai resort that killed 21 people two months ago, police said. The police shot dead Ibrahim Hameed Freg, his brother Sami and Ibrahim's wife Fawziya Musleh at a hide-out in a farm in the desert near El Arish, said the chief detective of North Sinai police, Gen. Adel Fawzi.' (JPost)

Who is Michael J. Totten? Fifty-one things you probably didn't know about Portland's citizen of the world here. (MJT)

Commentary. A month ago, an item on Marze Por Gohar headlined Iran-Iraq to Seal Border Against Insurgents attracted little attention. The report stated that

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki of Iran, on the second day of his visit to Iraq, said on Saturday that the two countries had agreed to form a joint commission to oversee border issues and that its primary task would be to "block saboteurs" crossing the 700-mile border.

"We plan to form a joint commission between Iran and Iraq to control our borders and block the way to saboteurs whose aim is to destabilize the security of the two countries," he said in Najaf after talks with Iraq's most powerful Shiite religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Mr. Mottaki, whose visit was only the second by an official Iranian government delegation since the downfall of Saddam Hussein, said improved border controls would be part of a wide effort to build close ties between the countries, including $1 billion in Iranian economic assistance to Shiite and Kurdish areas of Iraq.

It's hard to guess what is going on behind the scenes in the Washington/Baghdad/Tehran triangle, and Morning Report will refrain from speculating. But DebkaNet Weekly (subscription service) reports that Iraq's highest-ranking Kurdish leaders, President Jalal Talabani and Masoud Barzani, are not pleased with the possibility of a backing-down on Washington's part. Whether President Bush will hold the line against the Iranian mullahs remains to be seen.

Israel
Iraq
Iran

Interview with Ghazal Omid

Dreams Into Lightning exclusive: Interview with Iranian activist and author Ghazal Omid.

She is the author of "Living in Hell: A Young Woman's Life in Revolutionary Iran". You can read her columns here. I've previously posted on Ghazal Omid here and here. Now I'm pleased to be able to bring you an interview with her. I spoke with Ghazal by phone for about 45 minutes this evening. What follows is not a verbatim transcript, because I was taking notes by hand, but it does represent the essential points of our conversation.

(Please tell us your thoughts on the recent terrorist arrests in Canada.)
I've been telling the Canadian government about terrorism for a couple of years. Canadian laws are designed to protect everyone; the terrorists understand this and use it to their advantage. [Terror suspect Abdul] Kahar was from a family of terrorists - his father was an officer of Osama bin Laden, and was killed in Afghanistan. We could have had another 9/11 on our hands. Canada is a backdoor for terrorism because of lousy laws. We need to be more careful. When somebody is proven guilty, why are we keeping them in this country?

(On Muslim identity and government incompetence.)
I receive hate mail and phone calls every day, from Muslim fanatics. And yet, I was detained at the border for 45 minutes after I returned from Dubai. Another example: When I took [copies of threatning messages] to the police, they said, "you choose your actions, you receive your reactions." The police showed no enthusiasm and shrugged their shoulders. This is ludicrous. The government needs to know who the good guys and the bad guys are. I believe it's my Muslim duty, and my human duty, to stand up to terrorism. I'm with you - what are you going to do to protect me?

(Tell me about your upcoming three books.)
The first book is called "Poverty in Paradise". It's inspired by my trip to Dubai. In many countries like Dubai, they have a misrepresented image of the United States. It's a corrupted image. They think everyone is like Paris Hilton and Pamela Anderson. When I asked male acquaintances in Arab countries what they thought about America, they thought of women running around in bikinis. The image that's presented abroad, via satellite programming, is even more distorted than the portrayals on domestic television. Working-class North Americans aren't portrayed. Yes, the United States holds a large share of the world's wealth, but most people in America work very hard, long hours. They're not rich. I want to make people in other countries feel we all belong to the same family. My second book is called "Islam 101" and it's an introduction to Islam. The religious section is separate from the political section, because I feel these things should be kept separate. The third book is about Iran's future. It's essential to educate women and children if you're going to stop terrorism. You don't want to get to them when they're 20; you want to get to them when they're 3. This book will be a message of humanity and education about Islam and other things.

(You've brought up the subject of wealth and poverty, and the fact that many people in other countries have a false - and harmful - belief that "all Americans are rich and decadent". As you were speaking, I was reminded of the section early in your book "Living in Hell" where you describe the paradox of growing up being rich and poor at the same time. Can you tell me a little more about how this experience influenced your thinking?)
When I was 12 years old, my father would bring home money in potato sacks. When I asked him why, he said, "People give me money so I can hide it." They trusted him more than they trusted the banks. My mother would have me count the money by hand. She wanted me to hold it in my hand so I would get used to the feel of it and not yearn for it. But although Father didn't take care of us - how many days did I live on bread and milk? - we never took his money. He could leave it in his coat pocket and we would never touch it. I have my pride - I'm not gonna beg! But I want to educate people about what they can say and what they can't [so that they can speak out on injustice in a productive way]. I need to respect me before I respect anybody else; I need to love me before I can love anybody else.

(Tell me why, as a religious Muslim, you feel it's important to end the Mullahs' dictatorship in Iran.)
The Mullahs are parasites - they're charlatans. They are distorting the image of Islam; they're no better than bin Laden.

Apart from getting rid of the regime, what changes do you think are necessary for Iranian society?
Education is critical, especially for women. And cultural education. The practice of marrying young girls has nothing to do with the current government, they only increased the problem that was already there. Educating a young girl is like painting a masterpiece - it takes time. We need to raise a generation of strong women.

Do you think you might seek political office in a future, democratic Iranian government?
Yes. I will change the pace of society and work for women's rights. There will be a new sheriff in town!

(Other comments.)

Shirin Ebadi is an opportunist; millions of dollars are funneled to her organization.

When you have a charity in Iran, you have to have someone in the government [who's getting paid off]. When you give money to that charity, your money goes to the government.

Voice of America is using its funding the wrong way; it's actually helping the regime. The Iranian government shows the same images of wealthy, decadent Americans and says to the people, "look, do you want to be like that?" There have been some positive changes at VOA, but it needs to change more.

The US Government is wasting a lot of its money for Iran. Many of the grantees are crooks. The Iranian people need to see tangible efforts, not just TV broadcasts.

A couple of years ago, I saw how people in Washington State took up a collection from their own money to help Iranians after the earthquake. The US needs to do a better job of publicizing efforts like this - sometimes it's OK to let people know when you're doing something good.

I would have loved to help the US Government, if they would listen. I would like to immigrate to the United States, but it could take 15 years unless I can find a way to speed up the process. They did it for Pamala Anderson. Look, Pamela Anderson got into the US because of her breasts ... I should be able to get in because of my brain.

We can help children understand that they are not different from one another because of nationality. We can touch the hearts of children with things they can relate to. Things that touched me as a child: bedtime stories, and listening to radio programs. We love our history. If people in Iran knew how much other people around the world care, they would throw this regime out. If Americans and Iranians really understood one another, they would fall in love with each other.

Tammy to Air on New, All-Woman WVIE Baltimore

Tammy Bruce:

Starting Monday, June 5 the Tammy Bruce Show welcomes a new East Coast flagship to the Tammy Radio family--WVIE AM 1370 in Baltimore. A 50,000 watt station, WVIE will carry the show live, 12p-3pm ET, and it will be heard throughout the entire region. It's uniqueness will be immediately obvious--all the hosts are women. The Baltimore Sun broke the story today.

Baltimore Sun: Women's Voices at WVIE

In the Land of the Living

My sister would have been 42 years old last Friday.

I try to imagine Stephanie at age 42. Would she still be writing? Would she still wear leather jackets? Would she still have that michievous smile? I try to imagine how she would look now, if she had lived.

She died in 1992, a couple of weeks after her 28th birthday, in her apartment in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. She had given up heroin about a year earlier, and despite some setbacks, she was struggling bravely with the agonies of withdrawal. But she was also drinking heavily to ease the pain, and was probably anorexic as well. She knew that the alcohol was harming her, and she resolved to give that up, too, after she had the narcotic addiction under control; but her time ran out. The coroner said she died of liver failure.

I remember her body on the steel table, how small it looked.

She did not want to die. She even wrote it in her diary:

I don't wanna die. I was thinking the other day that I should have that tattooed someplace on my person, somewhere in small letters, like

I dont
wanna
die

maybe in the middle of my chest or inside my arm or my ankle, inconspicuous and small. I was thinking about the undertaker who with my cold and white body laying stiff on his stainless steel table would find the small tattoo and read it. I don't wanna die. A message for the undertaker, for my lover, for God, for my aging skin. I would like to see his face, the undertaker's.

When we were growing up, we didn't have much exposure to death. I don't believe we ever went to a funeral as kids. As I grew older, I began to think - with all the sophistication of a young adult - that this kind of insulation was unhealthy and stultifying; and that, therefore, people who had had contact with death must be privy to some insights that were denied to me. Now I know that this was wrong and stupid; that you do not learn anything from death, you only learn from life.

You can read Stephanie's poetry here and her fiction and prose here.

Cross-posted at Dreams Into Lightning - TypePad.

Ted Nugent's Liberalism

Ted Nugent:

I consider myself a true liberal. I am armed in order to stop good people being destroyed by bad people. Liberalism is assisting quality of life, whatever you may choose. I think that homosexuality is wrong. I think that people who drink, smoke and take drugs are doing wrong.

But I'll tell you how I judge people. The people that ran up those burning towers on September 11 were my heroes. And among those warriors who ran back to save their fellow human beings, you know what there were? Homosexuals. Smokers. Drinkers. People I wouldn't agree with on numerous conduct levels. I judge people on this: are they in the asset column, or the liability column?

Hat tip: Little Green Footballs

Cross-posted at Dreams Into Lightning - TypePad.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Coming to the US

Thanks to the invaluable Little Green Footballs for breaking the good news. LGF:

More than 20 people emailed this morning about the report that Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali is resigning from Parliament and moving to the United States, to work at the American Enterprise Institute. Liberty and Justice has translations of the Dutch report: Ayaan Hirsi Ali Heading To The US.

That report:

According to De Volkskrant she will she will leave to the US September 1, 2006.

Exactly what I was afraid of. She will be welcomed into the US and she will get the respect she deserves there, but it is a crying shame that we force people like her to leave our country.
Do we, finally, have someone who defends our freedom of speech, even putting her life on the line, we force her to leave our country and move to the US. It is making me all sick.

Peaktalk:

Well, that didn't take long. Ayaan Hirsi Ali will in September leave The Netherlands and join the AEI. This outcome was expected and in a way I think it is very good news for her, but it is not all that good for the Dutch. Not only will they lose a talented, vocal and original thinker, they allowed - quite probably deliberately - her to fall in a very public manner and I don't think she deserved that. ...

Volksrant (in Dutch).
Follow the links to the original posts for updates.

Iran Report

Taheri: Ahmadinejad's letter to Bush. Amir Taheri, after a brief history of the art of letter-writing in the Persian/Islamic world, concludes:

Ahmadinejad believes that the Hidden Imam is about to return and that it is the duty of the Islamic Republic to provoke a "clash of civilizations" to hasten that return. As he asserts in his letter, Ahmadinejad also believes that the liberal democratic model of market-based capitalist societies has failed and is rejected even in its traditional homeland. Ahmadinejad has been impressed by the extent of recent riots in France in which the extreme Left provided the leadership while the Muslim sub-proletariat offered much of the muscle in the streets.

Rather than ignoring Ahmadinejad's letter, President Bush should reply to him by inviting him to abandon Khomeinism and convert to liberal democracy. For, when all is said and done, the fight over Iran today is not about real or imagined nuclear weapons; it is about the kind of Iran with which the Middle East, indeed the whole world, can feel comfortable. Ahmadinejad's letter shows that a majority of Iranians, let alone the world as a whole, cannot feel comfortable with the kind of Iran he represents.

Khomeinist regime faces "challenges". Writing in the Arab News, Taheri has this to say:

Talk to any "Iran specialist" about opposition to the present regime and you are likely to hear that it is marginal, exists largely in exile, and affects segments of the urban middle classes, especially students, mainly in Tehran.

The conclusion, therefore, is that the system now headed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is firmly entrenched with no credible challenge looming on the horizon.

However, that picture, largely accurate for much of the past two decades, may be about to change as the system created by the late Ayatollah Khomeini faces new challenges.

These new challenges come from several sources.

The first, and possibly the most important, is the urban working class that has just started to flex its muscles. ...

Workers' protests, unlike student protests, could have an impact on the economy. Ahmadinejad has responded with a "buy-in" program in which workers can buy stock in state-owned companies (most of which are operating at a loss); and by filling the workers' ranks with strikebreakers. Labor Minister Jaromi, believing the oil sector paramount to Iran's economy, goes the head chief one better and recruits only regime loyalists to the oil industry.

IRI: No talks with US over Iraq. The party's over. All hopes for a coridal dialog between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran over the fate of Iraq have been dashed. We are shocked. Iran Focus reports: ' Iran announced on Sunday that it will not hold direct talks with the United States on the issue of Iraq. “The issue of negotiations between Iran and the U.S. regarding Iraq is no longer on the table”, Iran’s newly-appointed ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kazemi Qomi told the official new agency. Qomi said that the issue of Iran-U.S. talks over Iraq had been raised for close to a year but had been repeatedly rejected by Tehran until it was formally proposed by Iraqi officials. “Following the establishment of a permanent government in Iraq, we have no issue to negotiate about”, he said.' A terrible shame; those talks showed such promise.

German embassy next? A subscription article at Debka suggests a seizure of Germany's embassy in Iran may be in the works, a nostalgic recollection of the "444 days" of 1979. An alleged American spy ring operating out of the German embassy is said to be the pretext. They are hoping that the stunt would bring German pressure on the US in Iran's favor and distract attention from the nuclear crisis, perhaps yielding secret back-channel negotiations between Tehran and Washington. Good luck with that.

Hadley: No direct talks with Iran. From Stratfor (subscription): 'Direct engagement between Iran and several other countries within the framework of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) is the best way to resolve the current standoff regarding Iran's nuclear program, U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said May 14. Hadley dismissed suggestions that the United States should engage in direct talks with Iran, calling the UNSC the preferred forum for talks at this time.'

Iran: That goes for us, too. Iran Focus: ' Iran announced on Sunday that it will not hold direct talks with the United States on the issue of Iraq. “The issue of negotiations between Iran and the U.S. regarding Iraq is no longer on the table”, Iran’s newly-appointed ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kazemi Qomi told the official new agency.'

Cross-posted at Dreams Into Lightning - TypePad.

Daniel Wurtz dies.

Ha'Aretz:

An American teen wounded in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv last month died Sunday of organ failure, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Daniel Wultz, 16, of Weston, Florida, is to be flown home for burial on Monday, said Yael Tzuberi, a spokeswoman for Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, where he was hospitalized.

Wultz and his father, Tuly, were having lunch at the Rosh Ha'ir falafel stand in Tel Aviv's old central bus station when a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated 5 kilograms (approximately 10 pounds) of explosives. Eleven people, including Wultz, died as a result of the attack.

Ocean Guy links to One Family Fund.

Cross-posted at Dreams Into Lightning - TypePad.

United 93: A Walk-On Part in the War

United 93 doesn't have a "plot" or "characters" in the conventional sense. Most of the characters are never named. Only one that I noticed - Ben Sliney - is ever identified by first and last name. Two we recognize - Mark Bingham and Todd Beamer - but most are simply there. They appear onscreen as people appear to us in life, without introduction or fanfare.

Many of the surviving characters are played by their real-life counterparts. Look at the cast list and the first thing you will notice, after the absence of "superstars", is the number of roles identified as "Himself/Herself". Many others are known only by their role titles, "Boston 5", "Herndon 1", "Cleveland Supervisor".

It is a cast of walk-ons - again, just as in life. And yet paradoxically, it's a movie about ordinary people who become actors: not "actors" in the sense of performers, but actors in the original sense - people who take action.

The movie does not try to "explain" United 93. It does not bother to fill you in on what everybody knows, because you already know it. It's very much like the classic horror device, where you (the viewer) know the danger awaiting the characters, but the characters themselves are blissfully ignorant. In other words, it is simply excruciating.

I like relationship films. I cry in movies. I cried in "United 93" because it is a movie full of ending relationships. To say that there is "no happy ending" doesn't begin to tell it. There is not one tragedy but many: the sundering of romances we have not seen develop, the bereavement of families we've never met, the goodbyes to people we will never know. There is no redeeming moment at the end; no "boy gets girl"; no tender embrace amid the smouldering rubble, pregnant with the hope of life renewed. No. There is only the spinning ground and the silent blackness.

Did I give away the ending? But you already knew how it would end.


*

"Somebody give me a fucking weapon!" she screamed.

Kat at The Middle Ground has a terrific roundup on women in combat:

Every bit helps and this is just as dangerous as any "combat patrol" by the men. Last year around this time, three women marines were killed and 11 injured when their convoy was struck by a suicide bomber when returning from such a mission in Fallujah. Blackfive reminds us with a follow up report on these women and the complete story of that day as covered in Glamour magazine.

The convoy had been rolling down the highway for only a few minutes when Harding heard a fast exchange between her truck's driver and the gunner; it was something like "Are you going to shoot it or what?" An Iraqi car had pulled up alongside them. The marines in the lead Humvee had seen the car approaching and waved it off to the side of the road, but the car came barreling back toward the convoy.

Harding barely had time to process the driver's words when she heard the sound she'd feared since the moment she arrived in Iraq: the menacing hiss of a bomb about to go off.

The injuries some of these women suffered were terrible including second and third degree burns over 13% or more of the body. But, showing that these women are no wilting flowers, as soon as Cpl Salmaan got up she was yelling for a weapon:

Just as Padmore reached the scene, he saw Saalman staggering toward him, her charred, flayed hands held up before her, her eyes vacant in a blackened face. She'd lost her rifle during the explosion. "Sally, pull yourself together," he said. "You are not going to die. I promise: You are not going to die. But we need some leadership." He watched her expression change instantly from shock to rage. "Somebody give me a fucking weapon!" she screamed. "I need a fucking weapon!" The adrenaline pumping through her body obviously masked her pain. Padmore handed her his own M16 and headed off to find other wounded marines, with the sound of Saalman firing her gun toward the insurgents ringing in his ears.

Read the rest at the link.

Morning Report: May 10, 2006

Iranian opposition leader meets with Richard Perle. Via Free Iran News Forum: 'Less than 24 hours after one of Iran's leading dissidents and authors escaped to a neighboring state, the former chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, Richard Perle, interrupted his trip to central Asia to meet with him in a cramped hotel room. The meeting between Mr. Perle and Amir Abbas Fakhravar on April 29, in a location both men have asked not appear in print, may end up being as important as the first contacts between Mr. Perle and the ex-Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky in the 1980s. Like Mr. Sharansky with the Soviet Union, Mr. Fakhravar is making an appeal to the world to support the cause of Iranian freedom. Mr. Perle first made contact with Mr. Fakhravar while he was first in prison and the two have kept in touch since the Iranian student leader went into hiding. They have spoken regularly for three years and Mr. Fakhravar is hoping to use Mr. Perle's contacts in America to build solidarity for his country's democratic movement. (Free Iran)

Islamist militia commander killed in Iran. SMCCDI: 'A senior Islamist militia commander was killed, on Saturday, by 'unknown assailants' according to the Islamic republic's official sources. The victim, named Hassan Mohammad-Poor, was killed while driving in the Tapeh Zibashahr road of the Golestan province located in northeast Iran.' (SMCCDI)

Iranian ambassador to meet Talabani. Debka: 'Hasan Hazemi Qomi, Iran’s first ambassador to Baghdad in two decades, meets Iraqi president Jalal Talabani Wednesday. The two countries withdrew their ambassadors before the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war and kept their relations at charge d’affaires level. Iraq and the US accuse Iran of meddling in Iraq’s internal affairs. Talabani said the upgraded relations should open a new page in the two countries’ history.' (Debka)

Uncle Jimbo: Our Iranian allies need a visit from Ed McMahon. Uncle Jimbo:

The same clowns who yowled about warrantless searches and waterboarding and Gitmo and Gulfstreams, are the first to complain that we don't know enough about Iran's nuke program to justify Tomahawking their facilities. I agree that we don't have enough intel, and I propose that we detail just exactly what steps we are willing to take in order to find out. Let's see if they really want an option to direct military action. Obviously no classified info or techniques and the Iranians already know what we can do, this is for our leaders in DC. I'll start, but please chime in with more suggestions:

Recruitment of Iranian Scientists and others as agents- I assume we are actively engaged in this but I would hope we are spending money over there like they won the lottery. Free gifts for all my Uranium-enriching friends. I would also target family, government opposition (HA!), and would be recruiting every Iranian studying in the US. Oh boy would I be working on them, hookers, booze whatever they want. Then we send them back home to see how much it sucks, and wait for the coordinates of the nuke facilities to arrive via email. I would also tap any and all electronic communications by Iranian students and run it through the same computers the NSA uses, oh and don't feel like I'm picking on the Iranians there are plenty of other countries students we should be eyeballing also.

Kidnapping of Iranian Scientists- Preferably while they were traveling, but since many of those we really need to talk to are sequestered it may involve a raid into Iran.

Industrial Sabotage of Equipment used in Nuke Program- We know who is supplying them, mostly the French and Russians, we can infiltrate their operations or intercept in transit equipment and material destined for use in these programs. Or we can include surveillance and other electronic goodies along with the gear.

Hack Attack- I hope we have a room somewhere where we keep the best hackers and that they are actively involved in violating every crevice of the Iranian computer network, government and private. I hope they have them chained to the highest speed machines, feeding 'em Mountain dew and Cheetos while they digitally assault every electronic action any Iranian does anywhere on the planet.

Funding of any and all Iranian Resistance Groups- Start with the Shah's kid Reza Pahlavi to remind the Iranians that back in the day, Iran was a cool place to be, not a theocratic nightmare. We should be helping the internal student and other groups to organize electronically and how to avoid the religious Thought police. This is where we plug in all those co-opted students who lived the good life and let them tell their countrymen about the land of booze and hookers.

Information Warfare- I am perpetually amazed that a country with the greatest story ever to tell the world is chronically unable to tell it. maybe we should chain a few Hollywood types up with our hackers and have them churning out revolutionary propaganda to embolden the Iranian people. Beam them Tehran Housewives, Iranian Idol and give them a reason to resist and hopefully revolt.

Morning Report: May 9, 2006

Blair rejects Iran strike, dismisses speculation on Straw's sacking. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has rejected the idea that the replacement of former Foreign Minister Jack Straw was connected with a difference of views on Iran. The Scotsman: 'There has been widespread media speculation that differences over how to deal with Iran's nuclear programme were behind Blair's decision to axe Foreign Minister Jack Straw last week in a major government reshuffle. Blair replaced Straw with former Environment Minister Margaret Beckett. "The idea I moved Jack because of Iran ... because the Americans objected to him ... (is) rubbish," Blair said. "Any notion that it is linked to a decision about invading Iran -- which incidentally we are not going to do -- any notion that it is linked to such a decision is utterly absurd."' Via Regime Change Iran. (Scotsman via RCI)

Rice on Ahmadinejad letter: Ho-hum. Voice of America: 'U.S. officials say an unusual letter to President Bush from his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does not present any breakthrough in the current dispute over Iran's nuclear program. The response came as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice prepared to discuss the nuclear issue in New York with her counterparts from the other permanent U.N. Security Council member countries. ... However administration officials are dismissing comments from Tehran that the message is a significant overture in the frozen relationship, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying there is nothing in the letter to suggest the parties are on any different course than they were before it arrived. Secretary Rice made the comments in a session with the Associated Press in New York as she prepared to discuss the Iranian nuclear issue over dinner with her colleagues from the other veto-wielding Security Council member countries. She told the AP the Ahmadinejad letter was 17 or 18 pages long and covered history, philosophy and religion, but was not a diplomatic opening or anything of the sort, and did not address the nuclear issue in a concrete way.' Debka: 'DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources are first to reveal contents of - not one but two - letters Iran’s Ahmadinejad has sent to President Bush. Neither of the letters Mahmoud Ahmadinejad mailed Sunday, May 7, to George W. Bush represents an olive branch – just the reverse: Their writer takes a high moral tone and emphasizes the importance of Islam to mankind and the world. Neither does the Iranian president deign to offer concessions to ease international concerns and the standoff on Iran’s nuclear program. DEBKAfile’s sources in Tehran obtained access to the first drafts of two separate communications – only one of which Iranian proposes to release to the media. The private Note trots out the Islamic Republic’s reiteration of its right to develop nuclear energy for purely peaceful purposes and Iran’s greatness as the cradle of human civilization. The Note intended for release is longer and couched in phrases designed for propaganda effect. Ahmadinejad complains that Iran is anxious for progress in the sciences but is constantly persecuted by the forces of “world arrogance” ' and blah blah blah. The Israeli analysis adds that the stunt is meant to recall Ayatolla Khomeini's 1979 letter to Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, urging him to adopt Islamic principles for his country. (VOA, Debka)

China says it won't veto UNSC action on Iran. Jerusalem Post: 'The Chinese ambassador to the United Nations announced late Monday night that Beijing would not veto a UN Security Council decision to impose punitive measures against Iran, Army Radio reported. The announcement may represent some progress in the attempt made by the Western permanent UNSC member states - the United States, Great Britain and France - in trying to adopt a resolution that would force Iran, under the threat of sanctions, to comply with international demands to halt its nuclear development program and permit supervision of its nuclear sites. (JPost)

Morning Report: May 7, 2005

Israel appoints Iran expert as security council chief. Debka: 'New focus on Iran prompts appointment of deputy Mossad chief Ilan Mizrahi, 56, as Israel’s next National Security Council chief. He replaces Gen. Giora Eiland who asked to be relieved of the post last year. DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources report the new appointee, an experienced field operative, is a world class authority on Iran and expert on Muslim and Arab affairs, although less conversant with Palestinian issues. Selecting Mizrahi for the job signposts PM Olmert’s order of strategic priorities. The NSC’s relocation from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem places a security-clandestine branch directly alongside the incoming prime minister. He acquires an ace in secret diplomacy should he wish to bypass defense minister Amir Peretz, foreign minister Tzipi Livni or his inner security cabinet, for discreet exchanges with Washington, foreign intelligence chiefs, or key Arab officials. Mizrahi knows how to reach the right person without go-betweens. He also prefers to keep a low personal profile, a rare attribute in Israeli officialdom. Father of three, the prime minister’s new national security adviser spent four years as deputy Mossad chief. He has a master’s degree in Oriental Studies.' (Debka)

Changes in the CIA. In from the Cold reports: 'Indeed, the CIA of the future will be a shadow of its former self (no pun intended). Much of its analytical function will eventually move to other organizations, such as the National Intelligence Council--which works directly for the Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte--or the recently-established National Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC). Both are seen as more logical homes for much of the analytical capabilities that once resided at Langley, when the CIA chief also led the nation's intelligence community.' Spook86 predicts resistance to incoming Director George Hayden's reforms, but expresses confidence that Hayden is the man for the job. Full analysis at the link. (In from the Cold)


Cross-posted at Dreams Into Lightning - TypePad.

Morning Report: May 5, 2006

Iran regime thugs continue misogynist brutality. Iran Focus: 'Iranian authorities have launched a crackdown on “mal-veiling” in society and have stepped up arrests of women caught breaching the Islamic dress code. The new crackdown, which began in mid-April, coincided with a call by Majlis (Parliament) deputies for the adoption of a bill to regulate women’s attire during the hot summer months. ... Penalties for disobeying the dress code are severe. Women caught flouting the code can receive lashes, jail sentences, and large fines.' Photos at the link. Also from Iran Focus: ' Iranian authorities flogged 54 people for attending a mixed-sex party in the northern province of Mazandaran, a state-run daily reported. The men and women were arrested by the “anti-vice police” in a park in the suburbs of the town of Babol as they were partying during the night, the daily Iran wrote on Thursday.' (Iran Focus)

IRI continues anti-spritual, anti-intellectual persecutions. The Iranian regime continued its war against religion by arresting 52 Sufis and their lawyers, Iran Focus reports: 'Dozens of Islamic mystics and their lawyers have been sentenced to jail and flogging, a state-run daily reported on Thursday. Altogether, 52 Islamic mystics, or Sufis, were sentenced to jail time and flogging and received a fine, the daily Kargozaran wrote. They were charged with “disrupting public order”. They were from among 1,000 Sufis who were arrested in February for taking part in anti-government riots in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran. Their two lawyers, Farshid Yadollahi and Omid Behrouzi, were also sentenced to one year behind bars and 74 lashes and fined 10 million Rials ($1,000). Both of the men were also barred from working as lawyers for five years.' Meanwhile, a leading Iranian-Canadian intellectual has been jailed in Iran. The Scotsman reports: 'A prominent Iranian philosopher and writer has been arrested on suspicion of espionage, it was reported yesterday. Iran's judiciary confirmed the arrest, without specifying the charges brought against Ramin Jahanbegloo, who also holds Canadian citizenship. The first high-profile intellectual arrested since the election of the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last June, Jahanbegloo is being held at Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where most of Iran's jailed political dissidents are kept.' BBC: 'A leading Canadian-Iranian intellectual, Ramin Jahanbegloo, has been arrested at the airport in Tehran.
A prominent dissident cleric described Mr Jahanbegloo's arrest as "the height of lawlessness and insecurity". At a gathering to celebrate International Press Freedom Day, Mohsen Kadivar said Mr Jahanbegloo was one of Iran's philosophical journalists. ... Mr Jahanbegloo is a well-known Canadian-Iranian professor with doctorates from the Sorbonne and Harvard University. He has written and edited more than a dozen books on philosophy and political science.' The CBC has this update: 'A friend says former University of Toronto professor Ramin Jahanbegloo, an Iranian-Canadian detained in a prison in Tehran since last week, has been transferred to a hospital. Shahram Kholdi told CBC News on Thursday his contacts in Iran alerted him that Jahanbegloo is in hospital. He is not sure whether the hospital is within the Evin prison, where the writer and philosopher was being held, or is a separate institution. ... Jahanbegloo's family and friends fear he has been tortured. Evin is the prison that Montrealer Zahra Kazemi was trying to photograph when she was arrested on June 23, 2003. Kazemi was beaten so badly by interrogators that she died.' Some sources via Regime Change Iran and Free Iran News Forum. (various)

VDH: The calm before the storm. Victor Davis Hanson at RealClear Politics: 'In the brief present window between Iran's enrichment and its final step to weapons-grade production, we must keep calm and give Ahmadinejad even more rope to hang himself. As his present hysteria grows, exasperated Europeans or jittery neighbors in the region may even prod the U.S. to take action - indeed, to be a little more unilateral and preemptive in letting the Iranians know that their acquisition of a nuclear weapon will never happen.'

Is hanging too good for him? "You're slowly hung," in the words of a former Supermax inmate quoted at AmbivaBlog. For more on Moussaui's new home, go to the link. (AmbivaBlog)

Debka: US says it's on Zarqawi's trail. A current bulletin at Debka reports: 'The US military in Iraq says it is hot on the heels of Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Documents and an unedited video of him were found in a rural hideout near Baghdad. Spokesman Maj.-Gen Rick Lynch said Thursday that al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq was throwing all his resources into attacks in Baghdad and was probably somewhere south of the capital where US forces this week launched a series of raids. “We believe it is only a matter of time until Zarqawi is taken down.” He told reporters. “It’s not if, but when.” ' (Debka)

COMMENTARY: The fraying fabric (and nerves) of Middle Eastern islamo-fascism can be clearly seen in today's items. Moussaoui won't get his virgins; he will be left to literally rot in a Rocky Mountain panopticon. He will be sealed away like the toxic waste that he is. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Tehran's one-trick pony, can only re-hash the same song and dance routine for so long. Terrorizing women and torturing Canadian writers are old acts, and they'll provide scant security for the IRI regime in the months to come.

Cross-posted at Dreams Into Lightning - TypePad.

Morning Report: May 4, 2006

Moussaoui to die with a whimper. AP via Yahoo: 'U.S. Judge Leonie Brinkema sent Zacarias Moussaoui to prison for life Thursday, to "die with a whimper," for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. ... A day earlier, a jury rejected the government's case to have Moussaoui executed, deciding instead to should spend life in prison with no chance of parole. Not all jurors were convinced that Moussaoui, who was in jail on immigration charges Sept. 11, had a significant part in the attacks, despite his boastful claims that he did. ... Brinkema firmly refused to be interrupted by the 37-year-old defendant as she disputed his declaration from a day earlier: "America, you lost. ... I won." "Mr. Moussaoui, when this proceeding is over, everyone else in this room will leave to see the sun ... hear the birds ... and they can associate with whomever they want," she said. She went on: "You will spend the rest of your life in a supermax prison. It's absolutely clear who won." And she said it was proper he will be kept away from outsiders, unable to speak publicly again. "Mr. Moussaoui, you came here to be a martyr in a great big bang of glory," she said, "but to paraphrase the poet T.S. Eliot, instead you will die with a whimper." ' Full article at the link. (AP via Yahoo)

Of cats, dogs, and bloggers. The blogger formerly known as Wretchard the Cat discusses the pros and cons of pseudonymous blogging: 'There's now a movement in the blogosphere to discourage pseudonymous blogging; the argument being that people will write more responsibly when signing under their own names. Let me play Devil's Advocate and assert that bylined blogging may in fact lead to the very opposite: a condition of shrill, polemical writing where the ad hominem attacks will become commonplace. When I used to write anonymously only my arguments mattered. If they were persuasive they persuaded; if they were ridiculous they were held up to contempt. But there were no hard feelings because it was the arguments themselves that bore the weight of both praise and opprobrium. There was no ego to puff up or to be bruised. ...' (Belmont Club)

UN drafts resolution on Iranian nuclear program. Iran Focus: 'Despite the objections of Russia and China, the U.S., Britain and France introduced a draft Security Council resolution Wednesday that would legally compel Iran to halt its nuclear enrichment activities. The resolution does not call for specific consequences if Iran does not comply, but makes clear that sanctions will be the next step. It demands that Iran "suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development" and calls on nations to prevent the transfer of materials for Iran's nuclear and missile programs. The draft cites Chapter VII of the U.N. charter, which authorizes punitive action for matters designated to be threats to international security. "This resolution does not deal with sanctions," said U.S. Ambassador John Bolton. But he said if Iran did not "back away," the council stood ready to impose targeted sanctions banning Iranian leaders' international travel, freezing their assets and restricting some imports.' (LA Times via Iran Focus)

Sudan-Iran nuke deal? A current headline at Debka asserts: 'Sudan’s Bashir agrees to store sensitive Iranian nuclear equipment - including P-2 centrifuges - against potential military strikes.' (Debka)

Cross-posted at Dreams Into Lightning - TypePad.

Days Go By

Yesterday, another picture-perfect day in Portland. Today, cloudy, but that's cool too. Spent last night and this morning clearing trash and junk out of the apartment. Today's goal: spend some quality time on creative writing (after I finish procrastinating and doodling around on LJ!).

Found a few of Stephanie's old books: 'The Western Wind', a book about writing poetry; a biography of Ken Kesey by Barry Leeds, autographed by the author; and 'The Recognitions' by William Gaddis. 'The Recognitions' and John Gardner's 'The Sunlight Dialogues' were two of Stephanie's favorite novels, along with several classics of the Beat movement such as Kerouac's 'On the Road'. I never shared Stephanie's appreciation for the Beats, but I did enjoy Gardner's short stories; I especially remember one (based on an event in Gardner's own life) about a boy who accidentally kills his brother with a piece of farm machinery.

Somehow, I was spared the passion for "intensity at any price" that so consumed Stephanie. What I'm left with instead is this obsessive sense of mission, or simply of duty, to try to put it all together, to make sense of the puzzle. All I'm left with is the pieces.

Ghazal Omid: State Department Sends Wrong Message to Iranians

Iranian activist Ghazal Omid was kind enough to spend some of her valuable time chatting with me on the phone recently. She conveyed her desire to educate the world about the true message of Islam, her admiration for the American people, and her frustration at the false images of Americans portrayed in the media. She also asked me to share the following letter, which she sent to President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice:

Dear Secretary Rice,

I recently read an article citing your statement that the United States subsidizes Voice of America and Radio Farda with an $85 million budget.

I am an Iranian born, Canadian citizen, author of Living in Hell, I have appeared on more than 160 radio and television shows in the US and Canada denouncing the barbaric mullahcracy that is destroying the Iranian people and threatening the world.

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.

VOA and Radio Farda, use entertainment and pop music and culture to gain the wrong kind of popularity among the youth; it may sell an album but will not sell a nation. The message being broadcast of Iranian society outside Iran is perceived as a hedonistic lifestyle of party goers, night clubbers and sinners who know nothing about Iran, have no respect for true freedom or religion and will never be able to help the future of Iran. They believe that the people of USA, by paying for the programming, approve of the VOA broadcasts.

VOA, Radio Farda and many other Iranian radio and television stations generously subsidized by the United States teach the wrong way to fight the Iranian regime. For instance, in an article in Time magazine about the youth resistance in Iran, the writer asked dissident Iranian youth how they were fighting the government of Iran. They said they demonstrated their opposition by drinking home made whisky on the streets, listening to pop music, dancing the night away, speeding 120 km per hour in the busy streets and smoking marijuana. Is this the image of freedom we want to portray to Farsi speakers of Iran, the Persian Gulf and the Middle East? I do not believe we can fix a problem by creating a new one.

While in Dubai during the month of January 2006, as I watched these images broadcast via satellite, I wondered if the people of USA know how their own media is portraying them. The images of stripper/singer/pop-culture musicians give the government of Iran a tool to fight the West. They use your own funded TV and media to teach hate and convince generations that the US and its people are not only anti-God but have no morals, no conscience.

US soldiers should not die because false images of freedom are being broadcast in Iran and the Middle East. Men and women in uniform, who fight and die for freedom deserve better.

True freedom is not about wearing makeup, being scantily clad, drinking and smoking pot. It is the other side of freedom that is not been properly publicized. The US funded media is exploited by the Iranian regime; telling Iranians that US freedom is nothing but a whore wrapped in a USA flag. This image does not help the fight against terrorism, Iranian regime and hardliners. We need to show respect for each other’s beliefs, morality and religion to gain the respect of the average person.

If we are trying to help the Iranian people, we are sending the wrong message. Iranian people have no choice but go against the culture of sinners. Who can blame them for not liking a grim and false representation of the true nature of people of United States and its Persian population?

Should there be an attack on Iran, these stations will not become a trusted podium for the USA true messages of freedom. By continually being portrayed as out of touch with reality and more concerned about its own existence and life style, the US is working counter effectively to its goals and wasting a lot of taxpayer money.

You have a great chance to educate Iranians and Middle Easterners and help them stand up to evil. You are losing that opportunity by letting the negative part of US culture to be blown out of proportion. Middle Easterners accept your TV as a synopsis of the life of the real people of America. You have a chance to let them know who you really are and what you can do to help them.

Ghazal Omid

Ghazal Omid is the author of Living In Hell, as well as three forthcoming books: Islam 101, Iran and Its Future, and Poverty in Paradise. Keep reading Dreams Into Lightning for more information.

Cross-posted at Dreams Into Lightning - TypePad.

"We are Iraq, now you report!"

Iraqi Future:

I felt it very necessary for the first blog to be the true message that every Iraqi wants to tell the American soldiers, marines, airmen, sailors, and American public. That message is simple, it is thank you. We thank you for everything that you have endured in bringing up liberation and bringing us a chance to move forward for tyranny and oppression. After the decades of misery the Iraqi people had really given up all hope that anyone would come to help them but then one day we saw those stars and stripes waving in downtown Baghdad and everyone knew what that flag represented. ...

I was recently at a cafe in Baghdad with a small group of close Kurdish friends and relatives. We were eating kabob and sharing a hookah when we heard a single explosion several blocks away. We jumped up and started moving towards where it came from and we knew we were headed in the right direction because I saw one of the 'ABC' station reporters heading in the opposite direction. My cousin went up to the man and grabbed him and said, "Where the hell do you think you are going, you want a story? Well you found one, go and film what you all want to write about."

So the reporter started following us over as he really didn't know what to do after this 6' 3" Iraqi just grabbed him and practically dragged him with us. We arrived to find a small group of Iraqis trying to help these two wounded U.S. soldiers who were injured from an apparent IED. The other soldiers weren't quite sure what to do when they saw these Iraqis calling for the police to come over and when they saw this older women in all black ripping a piece of her clothing and soaking it with water that she was carrying to try in comfort this soldier. Two medics came over and took over from there and then one of their commanding officers I guess drew a perimiter and told everyone to leave the area.

The immediate buzz amongst the people was, "I hope the soldiers are alright" and "God willing the perpetrators will be ravaged in the hell fire." I looked over to the reporter and saw what appeared like he just saw a ghost, as I guess he had never seen injured people after a bomb. I told him, "Now turn your camera on since you didn't at the site of the attack and report from Iraq. We are Iraq, now report!"

As soon as he turned his camera on a small group gathered around his camera screaming in Arabic, "That was not us! Death to the terrorists! God bless America!" I attempted to translate as much as I could to the camera in english as the group was chanting this in Arabic, but to no avail I said none of this in the reporting later that night from Iraq.

Hat tip: LGF comments

"Are your men scared?" "Not enough."

Michael Totten on the Israel/Lebanon border:

Lisa [Goldman] and I met Israeli Defense Forces Spokesman Zvika Golan at a base in the north near the border. He told us to follow him in his jeep as he drove to a lookout point next to an IDF watch tower that opened up over Lebanon. ...

He introduced me to a young bearded lieutenant in the IDF [see link for photo] on border patrol duty.

What do you see when you look at Lebanon?” I asked the lieutenant.

“I see poverty and difficult circumstances,” he said. “I see poor farmers who work hard. After so many years of war, the last thing they probably want is more war.”

“Do you know what you’re looking at when you look into the towns?” I said.

“We track movement on the other side,” he said. “I can tell you exactly what each of those buildings are for.” ...

"The UN says Hezbollah started the last fight," I said to the lieutenant. "Do you ever start any fights?"

“They always initiate," he said. "We never do. I want to go home. I want to read the newspaper and get more than three hours of sleep every night. We have no business here.”

"Are you scared?" I said.

“I am scared," he said. "As an officer I want my men to be scared.”

"Are they?" I said.

“Not enough," he said. "Not enough.”

Go to the post at Michael J. Totten for the rest, with photos.

Morning Report, April 23, quoted a bulletin on Debka about Hezbollah in Lebanon:

Debka: US, France back down on Syria sanctions, set Lebanon back to "square one". Debka: 'When he visited the White House on April 18, Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora was shocked to discover that president George W. Bush had cooled to the campaign he launched with France against the Assad regime in February 2005, after the assassination of the Lebanese politician Rafiq Hariri. He saw that Bashar Assad and his clique were getting away scot-free from being brought to account as suspects in the crime. Siniora also learned, according to DEBKAfile’s Washington and Middle East sources, that the Americans had abandoned their drive to oust Lahoud, disarm the Hizballah, disband Palestinian militias in Lebanon, and impose on them the implementation of a key UN Security Council resolution. As he left the White House, the Lebanese prime minister remarked: “Lebanon is back to square one. We are left with the ruins of the American-French initiative.” Our sources in Beirut report that, scenting the new winds blowing from Washington and Paris, all the Lebanese militias, including those linked to al Qaeda, are re-arming and rebuilding their strength. ...' Read the rest at the link. (Debka)

Here's the item at Debka.

Muslim Woman: Afghan Women's Maternal Care Shows Little Improvement Since Taliban Era

Himadree at The Muslim Woman:

Life is still the same for the Afghan Women and children just as the way it used to be during the Taliban regime.

After the US led army ended the Taliban rule, Laura Bush had said: ‘The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women’.

But in contrary to the statement even today the pregnant women doesn’t have the rights to the basic amenities of life. The nations maternal care is in its worst condition and the government is least bothered about it.

According to a study conducted by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR):

Not even 1% pregnant women are taken care of by a professional health care worker.

Out of 174 hospitals in the entire country, a handful of 17 can actually practice caesarean deliveries and only 5 offers indispensable obstetric care. ...

Read the rest at the link, and don't forget to bookmark The Muslim Woman.

Afghanistan

Cross-posted at Dreams Into Lightning - TypePad.

Michael Totten in Israel

"Rich, powerful, and explicitly Jewish" wouldn't have been my first choice of words in describing Israel, but when it comes from Michael Totten we know what he means. Go read this terrific post to get the feel of how Palestinians and Israelis negotiate the borders of their world. I'm going to post a few thoughts of my own later.

Oh, and to be fair to Michael, here's the full quote in context:

Arab countries have a certain feel. They’re masculine, relaxed, worn around the edges, and slightly shady in a Sicilian mobster sort of way. Arabs are wonderfully and disarmingly charming. Israel felt brisk, modern, shiny, and confident. It looked rich, powerful, and explicitly Jewish. I knew I had been away from home a long time when being around Arabs and Muslims felt comfortably normal and Jews seemed exotic.

First impression are just that, though. They tend to be crazily out of whack and subject to almost instant revision. Israel, I would soon find out, is a lot more like the Arab and Muslim countries than it appears at first glance. It’s not at all a little fragment of the West that is somehow weirdly displaced and on the wrong continent. It’s Middle Eastern to the core ...

Go read the whole post here.

Morning Report: April 25, 2006

Analysis of Dahab bombing. Internet Haganah reports: 'The attack would appear to be part of an ongoing campaign against Egypt by the forces of the global jihad.' The site quotes a news source as saying that at least two suicide bombers were involved in the attacks, which killed at least 23 people in the Egyptian resort town of Dahab. It was the third attack on tourist resorts in the Sinai in the last 18 months, according to Egypt's Interior Ministry. Debka has this: 'Egypt now says two suicide bombers and a time bomb caused the three explosions that killed 22-30 people, injured 150, at two cafes and a supermarket of the Red Sea resort of Dahab in eastern Sinai Monday night, April 24. The casualties appear to be European tourists on their Easter break and Egyptians. There are no immediate reports of Israeli casualties. Few remained in Sinai after the Passover holiday ended last week. Overnight, Israel dismantled the situation room and recalled the ambulances set up at the Taba crossing. Cairo responding to Israel’s offer said no medical assistance was needed. The blasts occurred a day after Osama bin Laden released a new audiotape threatening the "Crusader Zionists." DEBKAfile notes that Israeli travelers had been assured by Egypt's government and their own that the Sinai was to be considered safe: 'Ten days earlier, Jordanian intelligence warned the Palestinian leader Abu Mazen that al Qaeda was holding a 10-man cell ready in N. Sinai or Gaza for a large-scale attack in Gaza. The cell was said to be under the orders of Abu Musab al Zarqawi in Iraq. The Egyptian authorities are now trying to find out if this is the same cell or that the Egyptian leader was fed a red herring. A year ago, 88 people, many of them tourists, were killed in a triple blast at Sharm el-Sheikh 100km south of Dahab. Two years ago, many Israelis died in multiple al Qaeda attacks in Sinai. This year, Israelis joined the stream of foreign tourists to Sinai after an Egyptian assurances that thousands of its security forces had finally cleared out the Qaeda strongholds in the central Sinai Hilal mountain range. A special operation had been conducted among their Bedouin collaborators. Peninsula resorts must now be considered safe. For the first time in three years, Jerusalem did not post a fresh warning to Israeli travelers to stay clear of their favorite Sinai haunts for the Passover holiday.' Freedom for Egyptians has more: 'Dr. Said Essa said he was headed to the scene of the blasts and that his casualty figures were for victims at the el-Khaleeg Hotel only. He said there were casualties from the other explosions but he had no details. Al-Jazeera television said one of the blasts hit a restaurant, and authorities said more than 20 ambulances and police cars were rushing to the el-Masbat section of the city.' Gateway Pundit has a roundup. Sandmonkey reports that the death toll has risen to 24, and carries eyewitness accounts; interestingly, he cites a news report that appears to contradict Debka's claim: 'Israel's ambassador in Cairo, Shalom Cohen, said the Israeli government had warned repeatedly against visiting the Sinai. "Unfortunately, the warnings came true," he told Israel's Channel 10 TV.' BREAKING: Police detain 10. (various)

Iran and Syria: a bleak outlook. Iran's economic rating has been downgraded by London's Fitch agency from BB- to B+: 'The agency said that while economic sanctions against Iran were still some way off, the risks were increasing, leaving the economy vulnerable, especially in case of an oil price fall as structural reforms in the country have also faltered. '"The downgrade reflects the escalating confrontation between Iran and the international community over Iran's nuclear programme," Richard Fox, Head of Middle East and Africa sovereign ratings at Fitch (UK) said in a statement.' Syria's economic picture isn't looking so good either, according to The Intelligence Summit: 'The consequences of the assassination in February of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafiq al-Hariri, continue to overshadow Syria’s political outlook. A report mandated by the UN Security Council has appeared to confirm widespread international suspicion that Syria was responsible for the killing. If Syria refuses to co-operate with the continuing investigation it will almost certainly face international sanctions. Co-operating, however, may be even more hazardous, particularly as the inquiry is likely to lead to charges being levelled against very senior figures within the regime. Economic policymaking will gain little attention within this environment, and economic growth will be weak, slowed by declining oil output. The buoyant outlook for oil prices over the coming year will ensure that the government finances remain comfortable and the trade and current accounts stay in surplus next year. The position will weaken in 2007, however, as falling production compounds the impact of lower oil prices. ... The increasingly threatening political environment that Syria faces has led us to adjust our forecast for economic growth downward since our previous report.' (This unattributed report appears to come from The Economist.) Reuters via Iran Focus reports: ' Iran will cancel the 960 million euro ($1.19 billion) "Olefins 11" contract signed last year with German industrial gases firm Linde and South Korea's Hyundai, Iran's Oil Ministry Web site reported on Monday. Under the Olefins 11 contract, the two companies were to build two ethane crackers in the Gulf port of Assaluyeh. Conservative parliamentarians had argued that Iranian firms could carry out the project more cheaply.' (various)

JINSA: Iran's bid for hegemony. Jonathan Howland at JINSA: 'W While the international community focuses on Iran’s nuclear ambitions officials f the Islamic Republic have been busy exercising their rapidly increasing influence - fuel d by more than a decade of a lucrative petroleum sales and accelerated by the removal f Iraq as a regional counterweight - in the Persian Gulf and on the international stag . Complicating matters is Iran’s control of the terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon a d increasing sway over the now ruling terrorist Hamas organization in the West Bank a d Gaza. The ability to frustrate Israeli-Palestinian peace making coupled with increasi g its political, economic and military influence, means that Iran is well on its way towa d dominating the wider region. ... Following the alarming mid-April announcement by Iranian President Ahmadinejad that Iran had mastered the enrichment process and entered the nuclear club, the Pentagon has announced a number of initiatives designed to defeat underground facilities like those increasingly in use around the world, including Iran. The Department of Defense has also been arming munitions with earth-penetrating warheads designed to burrow well beneath the surface of the earth before exploding, in order to collapse underground bunkers. On June 2, 2006, the Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency will conduct an experiment, Divine Strake, at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Nevada Test Site. It will consist of the detonation of 700 tons (TNT equivalent to 593 tons) of the explosive ammonium nitrate-fuel oil (ANFO) on the ground above an existing tunnel at the site constructed for other research efforts. ANFO is commonly used in mining and blasting operations, and the amount of explosive being used in the experiment was selected to cause various levels of damage to the tunnel. The experiment supports DoD’s Tunnel Target Defeat Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration, which is intended to improve the military’s confidence in its ability to plan to defeat hardened and deeply buried targets.' Full article at the link. (JINSA)

In from the Cold: Weekend roundup. Spook 86:

First, there was the announcement that Russia is selling the advanced S-300P air defense system to its neighbor, Belarus. On the surface, that doesn't seem surprising. Among its former republics, Belarus has maintained the closest military ties to Moscow. Last October, Russian officials announced that the two nations would essentially merge their air defense networks, giving Moscow more defensive depth along its western borders. Under that arrangement, using common missile systems, radars and C2 networks certainly makes sense. The sale of the S-300 was hardly unexpected; there had been talk of such a deal for more than six months.

But there may be more to this transaction than meets the eye. According to some reports, Belarus plans to acquire at least a full brigade of S-300s (NATO designator: SA-20). That's more than sufficient to cover the country's airspace, considering that Russian batterys cover portions of Belorussian territory as well. Then, there's the cost factor. A single S-300 battery costs upwards of $300 million, and the Belarus economy is essentially stagnant. In other words, buying a full brigade would seemingly be beyond Minsk's financial reach, unless the Russians have arranged highly favorable terms (such as an arms-for-debt swap), or someone else is helping to finance the purchase.

And who might that someone be? ...

Morning Report knows the suspense is killing you. Read the rest at the link. (IFTC)

Cross-posted at Dreams Into Lightning - TypePad.

Ebru Umar

Tammy Bruce reminds us of the attack on Ebru Umar as posted at Peaktalk:

Ebru Umar, a Dutch writer of Turkish descent and a good friend of the late Theo van Gogh - she contributed to his website and took over one of his columns after his death - was attacked in Amsterdam on Friday, reports Arjan Dasselaar. He wryly adds that the Dutch public news service – which in terms of breaking news is usually an excellent source – has so far, two days after the attack, failed to report it.

Newspaper de Telegraaf however has a brief audio interview with Umar in Dutch who confirms that two Moroccan youths followed her and after saying “that’s her!” knocked her down just as she was about to enter her house.

Cross-posted at Dreams Into Lightning - TypePad.

The Manifesto of 1,400

Irshad Manji has an up-to-date list of readers who have signed the Manifesto of 12. From the Manifesto:

We -- writers, journalists and public intellectuals -- call for resistance to religious totalitarianism.

Instead, we call for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values worldwide.

The necessity of these universal values has been revealed by events since the publication of the Muhammad drawings in European newspapers. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the arena of ideas. What we are witnessing is not a clash of civilizations, nor an antagonism of West versus East, but a global struggle between democrats and theocrats.

Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The preachers of hate bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a world of inequality. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred.

Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of greater power imbalances: man’s domination of woman, the Islamists’ domination of all others.

To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed people. For that reason, we reject “cultural relativism,” which consists of accepting that Muslim men and women should be deprived of their right to equality and freedom in the name of their cultural traditions.

We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of “Islamophobia,” an unfortunate concept that confuses criticism of Islamic practices with the stigmatization of Muslims themselves.

We plead for the universality of free expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on every continent, against every abuse and dogma.

We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of enlightenment, not of obscurantism.

Signed,

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Chahla Chafiq , Caroline Fourest, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Irshad Manji , Mehdi Mozaffari, Maryam Namazie, Taslima Nasreen, Salman Rushdie, Antoine Sfeir, Philippe Val, Ibn Warraq

More than 1,400 ordinary people have signed. Go to the link to see the list of names, and if your name isn't on there yet, you can follow Irshad's e-mail link to sign.

Our Resistance Was Spiritual

Via Jason at Countercolumn:

In all these 50 years we have been told that we didn't fight back. Against the most insane odds, perhaps, in the entire history of man, my two sisters and I escaped from the "death march," and though Hitler slaughtered most of our family, in some tragic, yet glorious way we won. Hitler perished and we lived, and today six beautiful human beings call us "mother." By only brother, who after surviving six concentration camps was shot in the leg in his attempt to escape is the father of two.

Our resistance, of course, was entirely spiritual. Made up perhaps only of love for each other. The mystery of it all still defies me.

What also defies me is the fact that it took six years for the world's mightiest forces to defeat the beast. I was unarmed, untrained in the business of killing, didn't even have a shoelace for a weapon, weighed about 40 pounds. Yet? I have always been told "didn't fight back." That accusation, too, falls within the insanity of Hitler's design to annihilate the Jews. Nonetheless, it hurts. It always did.

On VE Day, May 8th, 1945, the very day the war ended, the merchant marine ship, the SS Brand Whitlock, after nearly five weeks at sea, sailed into the sunlit harbor of Newport News, VA. Two days later, in Baltimore, MD, the ship discharged its never before seen cargo: The first survivors of Auschwitz. My two sisters and myself. In our battered being we carried the innocent, charred souls of millions of children, women and men. And we thank this best of all countries, America, for putting its healing arms around our weeping hearts.

Isabella Leitner

Isabella Leitner - Born Kisvarda, Hungary.

A survivor of Auschwitz, the notorious Nazi death camp, where her mother and youngest sister were murdered immediately on their arrival; May 31,1944.

Transported six months later to Birnbaumel, another concentration camp, where she was compelled to dig anti-tank traps against the advancing Russian army.

Escaped in a blizzard with two sisters during a forced death march to Bergen-Belsen, where a third sister perished.
Liberated by the Russians on January 25, 1945. Arrived in USA on May 8, 1945 (VE Day), the very day the war in Europe ended, making her and her two sisters the first survivors of Auschwitz to set foot on American soil.

Married American-born Irving A. Leitner, a combat veteran of World War II, on August 18, 1956. Two sons, Peter (graduate of Princeton University) and Richard (graduate of Bennington College.) Considers them "her greatest victory over Hitler".

Iran Report

More on guard commander's assassination. SMCCDI via Marze Por Gohar:

Subject: Top Islamist Militia General Gunned Down by Exsaperated Soldier
Source: SMCCDI
Date 23-04-2006

Official sources of the Islamic republic regime are revealing the murder on, Wednesday, of a top Pasdaran Corp. (Islamic Revolutionary Guards) commander in the religious city of Ghom.

General Kamal Kazemi was gunned down, by a 'crazy' conscript soldier 'who will then commit suicide', according to the same official sources which have not revealed the name of the soldier.

Kazemi was a top Pasdaran Corp. instructor and the local commander of the repressive Bassiji elements who are dealing with what the Islamic regime qualifies as "immoral behavior" or “social corruption”.

Most Iranians reject the rule of the Islamic regime and radical signs of exasperation, against the symbols of the theocratic power, are increasing in Iran.

Amil Imani: Use frozen assets against regime. Also from MPG, Iranian activist Amil Imani writes:

Recently, Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice has requested $85 million to support pro-democracy elements inside Iran and also assist the Iranian opposition groups outside of Iran.

While I am grateful for this kind gesture from President George W. Bush’s administration, I have serious doubts that this amount can change anything in Iran. I doubt that the $85 million (if Secretary Rice indeed receives it) will be used effectively and wisely.

President Bush, in his 2005 state of union address, once again reiterated his support of the Iranian people. He said, “And to the Iranian people, I say tonight: As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you.” A Tehran University student responded, “As long as President Bush stands with the Iranian people, the Iranian people will stand with him and with America."

Is it not totally ironic that the presidential race in the United States was won by a few percentage points, but in Iran, President Bush won by a landslide? What also remains irony is while President Bush is sinking in the polls in his home country, his popularity is climbing in Iran. Yes, the Persian speaking people have found a friend who says he cares about the Iranian plight. But, really, how serious is President Bush about the Iranian plight? Is it simply a lot of rhetoric with no action?

It has been 5 consecutive years that President Bush has adamantly supported the Iranian people in his state of the union address. What we have seen is too much carrot, but not enough stick or as they say in Texas all hat and no cattle. Mr. President, while I have supported your efforts to liberate Iraq and bring democracy to the region, I am afraid the key to peace in Iraq and the region is in the hands of the Iranian people. As long as the Islamic regime rules over the defenseless people in Iran, Iraq will never see the light of democracy. [Dreams Into Lightning has stressed this point often. - aa]

... So far Iranian-Americans have not given big money to the cause of liberating their fellow Iranians in Iran, nor has the U.S. government given any significant amount for the eradication of the mother of all terrorist groups in the world, the Islamic regime in Iran. Again, we are back to square one.

The United States still holds billions of dollars of the Iranian assets in U.S. banks. It only makes sense to utilize this fund for the regime change by the Iranian opposition abroad. This money must be returned to its legitimate heirs, the Iranian people.

Amil Imani homepage

Regime thugs continue harrassment of women. Iran Press Service::

Iran will increase police patrols to enforce women's skirt lengths, proper head scarves and even curtail dog-walking during the summer.
"In our campaign, we will confront women showing their bare legs in short pants", said Tehran's police chief, Morteza Tala’i.

"We are also going to combat women wearing skimpy headscarves, short and form-fitting coats, and the ones walking pets in parks and streets" he added.
Women who do not wear the veil can face 10 days to two months' imprisonment, or a fine.

Iran

Canadian LAV Convoy Takes Casualties in Afghanistan

Toronto Globe and Mail:

Kandahar, Afghanistan — Documentary filmmaker Rich Fitoussi never liked getting into the Canadian army's much-heralded, much-loved light armoured vehicle — LAV III — or its cousin the Bison armoured car.

Even though the largely windowless metal cocoon is meant to keep him and hundreds of dust-covered soldiers whose lives he chronicled safe, it was always a nerve-wracking, uncomfortable experience.

Never more so than Saturday, as the well-travelled Toronto-native found himself hunkered down inside a Bison when suspected Taliban militants unleashed their deadly fury on a Canadian convoy, killing four soldiers.

"I feel a little bit guilty," said Mr. Fitoussi, 32, in an interview Sunday, "because why them and not me? I'm told it's a natural reaction."

"I feel a great deal of dread for the families back home."

Mr. Fitoussi's lumbering, heavily-shielded vehicle was directly behind the lighter-weight G-Wagon, which struck an improvised explosive device on a remote, rock-strewn wadi, or dry river bed, just outside of Gumbad. His life was probably saved because he was in a Bison — a fact not lost on him. ...

Read the rest at the link.

Morning Report: April 23, 2006

Debka: US, France back down on Syria sanctions, set Lebanon back to "square one". Debka: 'When he visited the White House on April 18, Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora was shocked to discover that president George W. Bush had cooled to the campaign he launched with France against the Assad regime in February 2005, after the assassination of the Lebanese politician Rafiq Hariri. He saw that Bashar Assad and his clique were getting away scot-free from being brought to account as suspects in the crime. Siniora also learned, according to DEBKAfile’s Washington and Middle East sources, that the Americans had abandoned their drive to oust Lahoud, disarm the Hizballah, disband Palestinian militias in Lebanon, and impose on them the implementation of a key UN Security Council resolution. As he left the White House, the Lebanese prime minister remarked: “Lebanon is back to square one. We are left with the ruins of the American-French initiative.” Our sources in Beirut report that, scenting the new winds blowing from Washington and Paris, all the Lebanese militias, including those linked to al Qaeda, are re-arming and rebuilding their strength. ...' Read the rest at the link. (Debka)

Iran: Revolutionary Guards commander shot and killed in Qom. The Intelligence Summit, quoting Iran Focus: 'A commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was shot dead in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, earlier this week by a conscript soldier, state-run Persian-language websites reported on Sunday. Seyyed Kamal Kazemi, an IRGC instructor from the 19th Training Garrison in Qom, was shot and killed by an unidentified soldier on Wednesday. The soldier then committed suicide by shooting himself. Kazemi was also a commander of the paramilitary Bassij forces in Qom and led “moral police” units who enforce Iran’s strict religious laws.' (Iran Focus via TIS)

Let's call it "democracy promotion" so we don't scare the Europeans. The US and UK are working on a strategy to support regime change democracy promotion in Iran and Syria, according to the Financial Times: 'The US and UK are working on a strategy to promote democratic change in Iran, according to officials who see the joint effort as the start of a new phase in the diplomatic campaign to counter the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme without resorting to military intervention. A newly created Iran Syria Operations Group inside the State Department is co-ordinating the work and reporting to Elizabeth Cheney, the senior US official leading democracy promotion in the broader Middle East. “Democracy promotion is a rubric to get the Europeans behind a more robust policy without calling it regime change,” a former Bush administration official commented. The new direction, the former official said, reflected a growing belief in the US and UK that diplomacy through the United Nations and partial sanctions were unlikely to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability. In the absence of a credible military solution, the argument went that international diplomacy could try to slow down the nuclear programme while more “robust” efforts continued towards the ultimate solution of regime change, he said. US officials said the British input was important because of the Bush administration’s lack of experts on Iran, the legacy of 25 years of frozen diplomatic relations. ... Seeking to fill the US knowledge gap, the State Department last month set up the Iranian Affairs Office in Washington and announced new diplomatic posts for Farsi speakers. Barbara Leaf, an Arabist [Morning Report rolls its eyes], is expected to head the office. At the same time, the separate Iran Syria Operations Group was established to plot a more aggressive democracy promotion strategy for those two “rogue” states. Funding is to come from $75m that Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, announced in February she was requesting from Congress this year, plus some $10m already in the budget.' (Financial Times)

Bolton: Iran to test UN. Knight Ridder via Iran Focus: 'The U.N. Security Council's impending showdown over Iran's nuclear ambitions is a critical test of the effectiveness of the world body, United Nations Ambassador John R. Bolton said yesterday. "If the Security Council can't deal with that threat, then you have to ask yourself what utility the Security Council would be in dealing with terrorism and weapons of mass destruction," Bolton said at a midday appearance before the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia.' (Iran Focus)

Egyptians protest for judicial independence. FFE: 'For the fourth day, the Egyptian judges’ sit-in is continuing in protest to the regime’s attempts to stifle the judges’ endeavors to separate the judiciary from the strong iron grip of the Egyptian regime and the executive power. In the latest escalation to foil attempts to liberate Egypt’s judiciary, the Minister of Justice referred judges Hisham Bastawesy and Mahmoud Mekky (cassation court) to a disciplinary council while threatening to oust them from their positions. Head of the cassation court who is also the head of the higher council for judiciary Fathy Khalifa has started looking into the case filed against Bastawesy and Mekky. Some of the procedures were described by the press as illegitimate. ...' Full post, with photos, at the link. (FFE)

Dreams Into Lightning Celebrates Two Years

April 21, 2006 marks my second anniversary of blogging here at Dreams Into Lightning.

What Tammy said!

Tammy Bruce has a great new post linking to the Carnival of the Feminists at Daily Troll and making some important points:

While we tend to stick with blogs or news sites that we feel reflect out POV, consider the fact that you probably have disagreed with a number of my posts, but perhaps find the variety and the debate fun and informative. Take a look at Daily Troll, after all, they included my post knowing that they would be sending their readers to a conservative feminist site. Usually when liberals or lefties link to Tammy Blog it's in an attack post. Their linking here is an indication that they, too, have an open mind, and promote material they agree with even when it's from someone with whom they probably disagree with a whole lot of the time.

Oh, and don't miss her post on Sharon Stone. It's worth a visit for the pictures anyway, but read what Tammy has to say about the sexist double standard around older women vs. older men.



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