Archive for December 20, 2003
Arab press accounts of “what really happened” regarding Saddam’s capture continue. The Iraqi newspaper Az-Zaman is the latest contribution. It is probably the best selling Arabic newspaper in Iraq today. It is edited by Sa`d Al-Bazzaz. He is now a media mogul, and is close to the American occupation. Al-Bazzaz will be starting a private [...]
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
You will now understand why Arabs laugh (or cry) when Bush speaks about human rights and democracy. The Libyan dictator has been trying his best to win back respectability in the eyes of US and UK. He paid more than $3 billion to the relatives of the innocent victims of Pan Am 103. Shame on [...]
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
The obscurantist clerics of the Islamic Al-Azhar University (a mere tool of the Egyptian government) have struck again. Taking time off their busy schedule of book banning, they now have ruled that it is impermissible to portray prayer by actors. You cannot accuse those clerics of not addressing the weighty issues of the Ummah.
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
A brave woman in Afghanistan lashes out against the thuggish warlords (US allies in the country, of course).
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
A very interesting debate between Tariq Ali and Christopher Hitchens on Democracy Now.
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
On the blunders (what a mild word) of Bush’s foreign policy.
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
Military expected more attacks after Saddam’s capture. The Iraqi Ba`thists may get more out of control, and the Bin Ladenites and other Sunni (and possibly Shi`ite) fundamentalists may feel less reluctant to align themselves with the Ba`thists (because Saddam personally was particularly hated by all the fundamentalists). So while Howard Dean says that we are [...]
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
Vigilante justice in Iraq may eventually trigger a Shi`ite-Sunni war in Iraq: but Bush continues to make progress.
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
US is worried about the “potential” nuclear weapons of the Arabs; but it has no problems with the ACTUAL Israel nuclear arsenal.
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
Data mining for the US government.
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
The story of a Lebanese who was arrested in Iraq by US troops.
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
Turn on your TV: the Pentagon will now be broadcasting to your local stations live. Is that not nice and kind?
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
Article by my friend `Abbas on the Kurdish question in Iraq today.
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
This is ridiculous. You can understand why Arabs do not take US declarations on human rights and democracy serious. So the State Department issued its annual report on religious freedoms around the world. Just compare the text about Saudi Arabia (by far, the most oppressive government as far as religious freedoms are concerned) with the [...]
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
The dubious link between Saddam and Muhammad `Ata: from the forged documents of the Iraqi National Congress reportedly.
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
The shooting of a schoolboy in Samarra’ in Iraq by US troops. Inesgtigation by Robert Fisk, the best ME correspondent.
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
NPR does not know, nor does it recognzie, the reality of the Turkish genocide of Armenians.
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
So yesterday, as was reported in AANS (Angry Arab News Service), the White House spokesperson sounded critical of Sharon’s speech and threats. Today, a senior US official (most likely Condaleesa Rice) briefed the press and expressed praise for Sharon’s threats. The US government, the official said, was quite “pleased” with Sharon’s threats. He was also [...]
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad
How lame. Fouad Ajami citing the great mind of Hannah Arendt. But when he talks about Arendt’s notion of “the banality of evil”, and she was talking about Adolph Eichmann, it is as if he has not read her, or missed the point. She was talking about the Nazi evil at the rank of the [...]
Posted on December 20, 2003 by As'ad