Archive for February 25, 2006
American Left and the Middle East: the Nation Magazine (again and again and again). I don’t have to time to do a word-by-word critique. But this interview with Amos Oz is quite revealing of the motives and stance of the Nation magazine on the Middle East. Worse than Amos Oz’s answers are the questions of [...]
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
Full text.
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
The puppet government of Karzai is putting communist oppressors–not Taliban oppressors/fanatics–on trial.
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
I can’t believe I am citing George Will: “Less Freedom, Less Speech”
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
Arab leaders and Bush: they tremble at his feet. Yemeni President `Ali `Abdullah Salih was interviewed in Al-Hayat. He was asked:“In the opinion of your Excellency, did the Americans err in Iraq?Salih: It is possible to pose this question to president (George) Bush, whether he erred or did right. President Bush is the one who [...]
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
I read this interview with Isma`il Haniyyah and thought for a second that I was reading an interview with `Arafat.
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
“Indeed, the disastrous policies of the United States and Pakistan, starting with the aftermath of the war in 2001, have only hastened the radicalization of northwest Pakistan and made it more hospitable to bin Laden and his Taliban allies. The region has become a haven for bin Laden and a base for Taliban raids across [...]
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
News from “liberated” Iraq: “Shiite Militias Roam Free Despite Curfew, Occupy Sunni Mosques”
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
“As torture in Iraq was being exposed, Rumsfeld grovelled before Saddam: …Last week’s visit to Beirut by one of the blindest of George Bush’s bats – his Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice – was indicative of the cruelty that now pervades Washington. She brazenly talked about the burgeoning “democracies” of the Middle East while utterly [...]
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
News from “liberated” Iraq: “Hundreds of Iraqis are being tortured to death or summarily executed each month by death squads attached to the Interior Ministry in Baghdad, the UN’s former human rights chief in Iraq has told The Independent on Sunday.”
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
“Surprisingly, after Paradise Now won a Golden Globe in January, Abu-Assad took to the stage to generous applause, with no reticence or even booing. That can perhaps be attributed to the fact that the Golden Globes comprises non-US press. Come Oscar night, Abu-Assad may find a Hollywood audience less enthusiastic.”
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
The “Rich and Famous” segment on LBC-TV today aired a segment on Wajdi Mu`awwad. Wajdi who? you are saying, as I did. Well, we were told that he “won” the “best director” award in Canada and that one of his plays was performed “in every part of the world.” Is somebody collecting those fabrications for [...]
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
I saw Sunni and Shi`ite clerics shaking hands and kissing in Iraq. In Lebanon, Christian and Muslim clerics usually shake hands and kiss just prior to sectarian warfare.
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
An eye witnessed told me that the cheesy Hariri tomb in Beirut (a monument to vulgarity and bad taste really) has a counter. Can somebody in Beirut send me a picture of the counter? thanks.
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
“Princeton Tilts Right” (thanks Laleh)
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
“The attacks, mostly by Shiite militiamen, were troubling not only because they resulted in at least 170 deaths across Iraq, but also because they showed how deeply the militias have spread inside government forces. The Iraqi police, commanded by a Shiite political party, stood by as the rampage spread.”
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
“An Afghan Prison Expands, Filling Guantánamo’s Role”
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
A Storm in the Rocky Mountains – Mount Rosalie, 1866. Albert Bierstadt.
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
“Is this some kind of designer’s democracy then, Dr. Rice?” “In Saudi Arabia, a female journalist, dressed head to toe in a black abaya , demanded: “How is it possible to harmonize the U.S. position as a nation supporting freedom of expression and the right of people to practice democracy with your effort to curb [...]
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad
Democracy My Potato. “Push for Democracy Loses Some Energy: On Mideast Tour, Rice Focuses On Hamas”
Posted on February 25, 2006 by As'ad