Archive for April 28, 2007

Right-wing Lebanonese leader, Duri Sham`un (head of the small party that sponsored Antoine Lahd) says that Israel did not win the war last summer because “it did not feel like it.”

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

“”…could he have interviewed at least one woman or person of color for his much-lauded documentary Buying the War that aired on PBS?” It’s hard to believe that Moyers and the other producers didn’t realize that they were talking only to white men for their nearly 90-minute documentary…. When, oh when, will brilliant and socially [...]

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

A professor at UC, Berkeley organized a debate on the Israeli war on Lebanon. The debate was before a class on Middle East studies. I was invited, along with an Israeli diplomat. The Israeli side sent an Arab bedouin diplomat (who had served in the Israeli military/intelligence). I wished it was open to the public, [...]

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

Do you know that there is an international committee (Azhar-managed, and Saudi-funded) that goes around the world to inspect meat to determine if it is halal or not. I wish such a committee would inspect the dead children in Darfur, Palestine, and Iraq instead. If I am not a vegetarian, I would rush right now [...]

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

I know that many of your find claims by House of Saud to be credible. I don’t. But I will translate to you from an official statement by House of Saud regarding the plan by the terrorist network that was arrested yesterday. The statement said that the network was planning: “…criminal, destructive, and evil plots, [...]

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

Speaking for Arab neo-conservatives, Hazim Saghiyyah pleads with the US administration: please, please, don’t leave us alone. Please, don’t abandon us. Please?

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

“He says Condi panicked in October 2002 and made him call a Times reporter, Alison Mitchell, who covered the Congressional debate about invading Iraq. In essence, he hypocritically told Alison to disregard the conclusions of his own agency, which had said that the links between Saddam and terrorist groups were tenuous, and that Saddam would [...]

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

“Stephen Cambone, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, comes across as a fool who discounted the C.I.A.’s warnings about Al Qaeda in the summer of 2001, asking Mr. Tenet if he had thought about the possibility that Al Qaeda’s threat was “just a grand deception, a clever ploy to tie up our resources.” And Douglas Feith, [...]

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

“Bush administration officials have been scratching their heads over steps taken by Prince Bandar’s uncle, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, that have surprised them by going against the American playbook, after receiving assurances to the contrary from Prince Bandar during secret trips he made to Washington.”

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

“The approach has led to a joke going around Riyadh that says the best way to get a job and a new house is to join Al Qaeda — and then repent to the government. General Turki said that when officials change the minds of those caught, the prisoners also end up as useful informers.”

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

An aide to a driver of a bodyguard of an assistant to a commander of an Al-Qa`idah cell was captured. Bin Laden and his deputy are still in hiding.

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

So Alec Baldwin gave an interview yesterday. I will summarize for you: he basically said that while he did hurl abusive words at his daughter, he really intended to hurl those abusive words at his ex-wife. He really wants you to know that, and hopes that now you can go back to like him again.

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

US officials don’t understand that real “moderate Muslims” really detest the “moderate Muslims” that are promoted by the US government.

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

I like the role of the Army in Turkey. It always manages to intervene to make sure that nobody takes democracy in Turkey too seriously. Rice and Bush, on the other hand, are still fascinated by the “desert democracy” (that is actually what David Lamb, a former LA Times correspondent in the Middle East, called [...]

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

“Almost two years after the G8 group of leading industrial nations promised to boost development assistance by $50bn a year by 2010, the Africa Progress Panel headed by the former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan said rich countries were only 10% of the way to their target.” (thanks E)

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

As Mr. Bush keeps making progress, “A State Department report on terrorism due out next week will show a nearly 30 percent increase in terrorist attacks worldwide in 2006 to more than 14,000, almost all of the boost due to growing violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Friday.”(thanks Laleh)

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad

The shift in Walid Jumblat’s position and rhetoric in one week is quite remarkable. I have a friend who I ask about the psychology of Walid Jumblat. He knows the Druze community well, and the families. He speculated that the change was due to preparation for the upcoming presidential election. He noted that Jumblat is [...]

Posted on April 28, 2007 by As'ad