Archive for May 8, 2007

“A mob immediately gathered at the grisly scene, surrounding the blast’s crater and violently blamed U.S. forces and the Iraqi police for allowing the attack. Most of the police are linked in the area to the Badr Organization, the armed wing of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI, the country’s [...]

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

King of Jordan unhurt: “One person was killed and two others wounded after a California college student opened fire following a row over a PlayStation 2 video game, police said Tuesday.” (thanks Wissam)

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

“Now Iraqis feel like they’re headed back to the Stone Age. “People are using more mule carts now, to carry things like propane tanks, than they did in 1990,” said one Iraqi colleague. “We’re going backwards.””

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

“It’s Cheney, whose blunt, unsmiling demeanor matches Saudi notions of American gravitas, who manages the Abdullah account….Allawi’s camp believes he is close to having enough votes, thanks in part to Saudi political and financial support…Working closely with the United States, the Saudis began pumping money to Lebanese Sunni, Christian and Druze political groups that could [...]

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

“The World Bank says Israel harms Palestinian freedom of movement and access to parts of the West Bank, damaging any chances for the Palestinian economy to emerge from crisis. The bank’s particularly critical report also says the limitations imposed on Palestinians’ movement prevents their access to about 50 percent of the West Bank, and prevents [...]

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

“American men rate Israel much more favorably than do American women: 72.1 compared to 61.3 (out of possible 100 points). That’s the second highest margin after Iraq. The men/women gap on Iraq is 11.9 points, while the gap on Israel is 10.8. The next largest gap is present on attitude toward Saudi Arabia – 47.6 [...]

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

The Left is Coming? “This talk connects to the world beyond America in two ways. First, some inside the US are beginning to see a global picture. A new book, Second Chance by Zbigniew Brzezinski, the cold war hawk who served as national security adviser to Jimmy Carter, includes a startling phrase. No leftist, Brzezinski [...]

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

Sen. McCain said that while he believes in evolution he did see “the hand of God” when he hiked in the Grand Canyon last summer. What does that mean? Is he hearing voices too? But come to think of it: last time when I was on the beach in Beirut, I think I saw the…toe [...]

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

Hizbullah deputy secretary-general, Na`im Qasim, said that “the wisdom and stances of al-Asad made Syria an object of respect by everybody.” To that I can only say: what wisdom? And what respect?

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

Corresponds of Al-Hurra TV fired for “political deviance”?**These are my words; they are not part of the story.

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

“The French ambassador to Israel told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that with the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as his country’s next president, “there will be new progress and new steps forward in French-Israeli relations.”” (thanks Laleh)

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

They brought him from Jordan not for his brilliance, but for this: “”Ms Cleveland met Marwan Muasher, the newly arrived director for external relations, on April 4 to discuss how to respond to leaks about the terms and conditions awarded to Ms Riza. They agreed on a statement that was to be briefed on an [...]

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

They Bomb the people, but they save their donkeys and dogs. Update on the Washington Post’s correspondent, Pamela Constable, who wrote the colonial feminist piece below. An American correspondent in Afghanistan sent me more information about her work. The message said–among other things: “it was Pamela Constable – who also regularly saves afghan donkeys apparently [...]

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

“The number of Arabs living in Jerusalem grew twice as fast as the city’s Jewish population over the past decade, according to a report by an Israeli research institute.”

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

“At his speech in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, last week, President Bush alluded to an observation by a Middle East scholar who had been to Iraq eight times since the beginning of the war: “A traveler who moves between Baghdad and Washington is struck by the gloomy despair in Washington and the cautious sense of [...]

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad

72% of French people in Lebanon (including the French-Lebanese citizens) voted for Sarkozy. I wonder what it was about Sarkozy that appealed to them. I mean, do we have to wonder?

Posted on May 8, 2007 by As'ad