Archive for April 5, 2004

You may read my comments about Mel Gibson’s The Passion in Salon.com You can get a free one-day pass to read it. (thanks Michelle)

Posted on April 5, 2004 by As'ad

What a mess. I heard Bush’ remarks earlier about the As-Sadr’s situation. I could not believe my ears. He analyzed—if analysis is the right word in the case of George W. Bush—the situation in terms of democracy versus non-democracy. Those remarks are carried on Middle East stations. The person in Iowa may believe that the [...]

Posted on April 5, 2004 by As'ad

Angry Arab will also be pontificating tomorrow (Tuesday) on KQED (NPR in SF) station at 9:00 AM (Pacific Time) (Forum Program). You may listen live. I apologize to my faithful readers here because I may (will) say things that you have read here.

Posted on April 5, 2004 by As'ad

Angry Arab can be heard pontificating on Iraq tomorrow (Tuesday) on Democracy Now program. It will air live after 5:00AM (my time), 8:00AM (Eastern time). It can be heard nationally, and webcast: here is the link.

Posted on April 5, 2004 by As'ad

I have to invoke Robespierre’s dictum that “clerics are to virtue what charlatans are to medicine.” This applies to this cleric. Al-Azhar fundamentalist clerics, when they are not burning books, are busy offering their grotesque opinions. One of them here spews anti-Semitism. (thanks Lisa)

Posted on April 5, 2004 by As'ad

I heard an American briefer in Baghdad today claim that US is opposed to the presence of militias in Iraq, and that is why US military is moving against Muqtada As-Sadr. Of course, he meant that the US is opposed to militias in Iraq unless they are aligned with the US (like the two Kurdish [...]

Posted on April 5, 2004 by As'ad

The mystery is soloved. “The White House accused Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr of being an ally of “terrorist organizations.” (thanks Shirin)

Posted on April 5, 2004 by As'ad

When I see the rise of As-Sadr movement and the Sunni fundamentalist groups I can’t but wonder about the prospects for secularism in Iraq. The Iraqi Communist Party could have provided the credible alternative but the idiots of the party have damaged their cause for years–if not decades–to come by accepting to serve as a [...]

Posted on April 5, 2004 by As'ad

This is an example of dumb propaganda. I was quite curious to see the manner in which the esteemed US government will explain away the rise of As-Sadr movement in Iraq, given its daily references to the great progress being made in the country. A US official describes the movement as “a minuscule percentage” of [...]

Posted on April 5, 2004 by As'ad