tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67505202011-07-08T01:24:41.007Zbaghdadskies2memories of a childhood in Iraq in the 1950s * thoughts on events in the Middle EastAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.comBlogger1681100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-32502167952360746002008-03-19T14:29:00.002Z2008-06-02T20:57:46.648ZIraq 5 years onThe reason the posts in Baghdadskies petered out in 2006 was a comprehensive disgust at the mess the Americans had created in Iraq and the feeling that nothing I could say would be anything more than repetitions of this feeling. Here a selection of posts in Slate on the theme of Why I Did I get Iraq wrong? to coincide with the 5th. anniversary of the invasion on March 2003, stating with Kanan Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1142863100612377922006-03-20T13:57:00.000Z2006-03-20T14:01:43.673ZIraq three years onTelegraph 20 March 2006Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1139827735671496712006-02-13T10:47:00.000Z2006-02-23T11:13:42.420ZNonie Darwish We were brought up to hate - and we doAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1139780558383331162006-02-12T21:40:00.000Z2006-02-23T11:09:31.370ZSay what you think. The importance of giving offenceKenan MalikIn December, before the controversy over the publication of a series of Danish newspaper cartoon images of the Prophet Mohammed became a global issue, the Muslim writer and broadcaster Kenan Malik addressed the key issues raised by the furore and others like it at a conference debate convened by Index on Censorship. EurozineAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1139684182389912462006-02-11T18:49:00.000Z2006-02-23T11:26:31.316ZMuhammed Cartoons (3)Things are moving on a bit from Cartoons (3) as far as I am concerned. I have shifted into the nether regions of religion per se (What ? Where? When? Why? How?) coming across a few worthwhile contributions clustered round a book by Pascal Boyer, Religion Explained. Let them do the talking:Religion Explained: The human instincts that fashion Gods, spirits and ancestorsPascal Boyer London HeinemannAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1139658447593819122006-02-11T11:44:00.000Z2006-02-16T10:29:26.866ZMOHAMMED CARTOONS (2)what do the cartoonists themselves think ?Danish cartoonists fear for their livesAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1139399533272963412006-02-08T11:46:00.000Z2006-02-23T11:27:42.296ZThe Art of ControversyWhich of Schopenhauer's 38 ways of cheating in debate does Iranian president Ahmadinajad employ inhis holocaust denial?They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above God, religions and the prophets," Ahmadinejad said in a speech to thousands of people in the Iranian city of Zahedan, according to a report on Wednesday from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. The West Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1139397679082773782006-02-08T11:11:00.000Z2006-02-11T11:13:05.173ZMOHAMMED CARTOONS wikipedia: Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy Cartoon from Jordanian newspaper Al GhadBefore this it was “Wonderful, Wonderful, Copenhagen!”, Hans Christian Andersen, a mermaid, bacon, pastry, and jokes about blondes and its famous lager. Now this small country with 4% muslim population (and it needs to be said a political current questioning the strictness Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1138628472617102162006-01-30T13:25:00.000Z2006-02-01T11:35:08.156ZHAMASMelanie Philips : Hamastan 30 January 2006There's a lot more to this than what she says. Rabid, demented, unhinged anti-semitism has swilled around the Middle East for years. It is not just Hamas. It is part of the very bones of the conflict. If Arab countries are happy to have massively long t.v. series based on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion running, then what hope is there of a Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1137591892117455292006-01-18T13:32:00.001Z2009-12-21T10:56:02.681ZTruth and lies over Iraq Melanie Phillps whose right wing credentials are not unknown, is a good starting point for a discussion on this topic. She leads us to two articles :The panic over Iraq This is a pdf but the link defaults to the archive from which you have to find the article - good luck!Who is lying over over Iraq?by Norman PodheretzThis wiki has a mass of links on NP~~~~~My position is Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1137591145354950922006-01-18T13:29:00.000Z2006-01-18T13:32:25.356ZThe ticking nuclear bomb The ticking nuclear bomb Anton La Guardia Telegraph Tuesday 17 January 2006~~~Ah well, tht makes it all a bit clearer thenAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1137321048978475622006-01-15T10:26:00.000Z2006-01-18T13:29:33.536ZIran again The origins of the Great War of 2007 - and how it could have been preventedNiall Ferguson The Sunday Times 15 January 2006Monsters of the Left: The Mujahedin al-KhalqMichael Rubin MEF 13 January 2006This article does background on the political hitory of Iran from Shah's time.Not sure on any opinions expressed here, but the facts hopefully accurate.Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1137246508555941172006-01-14T13:45:00.000Z2006-01-14T13:50:04.016ZThis Agatha Christie and Archaeology (4 parts starting here) from The British Museum is somewhere on the site or in the original Baghdadskies. Linked to again for people who have not come across it before.Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1137076597366940612006-01-12T14:29:00.000Z2006-01-12T14:36:37.376ZWar News Radio is new to me.These are some of the subjects covered on MP3 broadcasts.Check out the Images of War from 9 December post. Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136887221636724752006-01-10T09:57:00.000Z2006-01-10T10:02:22.343ZThe Crisis facing the Middle East from Business 8 January 2006Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136823314387215792006-01-09T16:10:00.000Z2006-01-09T16:15:14.396Z BLOGGING HAS REVOLUTIONISED DISSENT IN IRANThis is not a new subject but handy to have references.Iranian journalist and weblogger > Arash Sigarchi Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136705794298042642006-01-08T07:27:00.000Z2006-01-08T07:47:19.286ZeGovernment - The Kalashnikov TheoryA very interesting post from Simon Moores at Zintelligence about the whys and wherefores of e-Government in the Middle East. Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136356461747023762006-01-04T06:33:00.000Z2006-01-08T07:26:13.743ZOperations Ezra & Nechemia: The Aliyah of Iraqi JewsThis tells the story of the evacuation of 130,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel in 1951-2. Always intrigued me because these Iraqi Jews' ancestors were exiled from Israel 2,500 years ago. The story of their importance to modern Iraq has been told many times.The Jewish community of BaghdadAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136356118559633632006-01-04T06:15:00.000Z2006-01-04T06:31:19.666ZMichael J Totten has articles on Lebanon, Syria and Libya, which can be accessed from his website. I used to live in Libya, or rather my parents did, between 1960-70, when it was a Kingdom. It probably was a police state under the King, but obviously nothing like what it now is. It is a vaste, oil rich country with a small population, which is presumably kept happy on state hand-outs. Strange Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136355091780515992006-01-04T06:03:00.000Z2006-01-10T09:56:34.356ZAhmadinejad: Europe created Israel to complete HolocaustIt doesn' really matter what he says in detail. He just has to keep saying Zionism to prime everyone for what he fears may come, especially his own population.From OpinionJournal (=Wall Street Journal) : According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Europe has 2.3 million Jews, and 11 of the 20 countries with the biggest Jewish populations are Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136204642720732192006-01-02T11:31:00.000Z2006-01-03T09:40:44.786ZIran Means What It SaysMichael Rubin, 2 January 2006Iran must worry me if I am reading and taking note of articles from a Fellow of the AEI {2}, but there it goes. If I find information and/or opinion from centre/left sources to add to this, I will.Although MR is saying this is consistent and this is ideology, I think it is also based on an Iranian fear of what the Israelis and or the U.S. mightAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1135605144154791292005-12-26T13:43:00.000Z2005-12-26T14:03:20.696ZSomething old, something new Why the lessons of Vietnam do matter By Pepe Escobar 08/23/03: (Asia Times)Timeline US-Iraq 1980sfrom Center for Cooperative Research ...The ultimate quagmireBy Pepe Escobar The Asian TimesAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1134650822777205992005-12-15T12:31:00.000Z2005-12-26T14:09:05.410ZIt is always good to revisit ideas of facts if they help to clarify things:The 2003 Atlantic Monthly The Dark Art of InterrogationThe most effective way to gather intelligence and thwart terrorism can also be a direct route into morally repugnant terrain. A survey of the landscape of persuasion by Mark Bowden falls into this category as the meja turn incessantly to the business of extraordinary Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1134641138702558132005-12-15T09:50:00.000Z2005-12-26T11:31:39.776ZWith the Iranian president descending into the gutter of his own prejudices and fantasies it is quite important to take the story of Israel from within, i.e. how the Israelis are dealing with their problems among themselves as much as through the eyes of the Palestinians.Zionism in Crisis by Meyrav Wurmser in MEQ goes into the history of Zionism, always an instructive exercise. Though the idea Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1134391394844443552005-12-12T12:40:00.000Z2005-12-12T12:43:14.936ZWhy Saddam's trial is so trying for the coalition: The 'trial of the century' has descended into a 'comedy show'. by Brendan O'Neill Spiked Magazine 7 December 2005Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1130519327553218032005-10-28T17:00:00.000Z2005-10-28T17:08:47.563ZWhen body-counts killOur obsession with numbers of casualties in Iraq encourages the insurgents to make even more,Brendan O'Neill, Spiked MagazineGod save the heretic Christoher Hart, The Sunday Times Online 23 October 2005I would like to more widely apply the principles of this parochial debateNote the quote from Swift: We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1130343400735171312005-10-26T16:06:00.000Z2005-10-26T16:52:14.343Z2,000 Dead: As Iraq Tours Stretch On, a Grim MarkNew York Times, October 26, 2005::Perhaps it might be easier to say: the number of deaths can be placed in a simple equation which shows how much war and how many American deaths (and any other significant factors such as the cost to tax payers and through-put onto the economy, positive and negative) a country as a whole is prepared to accept to Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1130340590596885272005-10-26T14:11:00.000Z2005-10-26T16:06:11.536ZPart III of BBC TV's Israel and the Arabs was, for me, as riveting as the previous programmes, een if for seeing the personalities close up.A Meeting with the President goes into how the programme was made.Arab-Israeli Conflict: Basic FactsMay be Kosher it may be not, guess it is o.k. Had a discussion about Israel and the Arabs with someone who had seen most of it but who had fallen asleep Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1130335390567410642005-10-26T14:00:00.000Z2005-10-26T14:11:01.826ZBackground on Lebanon-Syria:Lebanon's Tenuous Transformation by Michael Rubin, Aspenia, October 2005Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1130190753085123232005-10-24T21:37:00.000Z2005-10-24T22:21:47.623ZUN office doctored report on murder of HaririBest story of the week.The Word document which shows the deletions :http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/syria/mehlis.report.docPeople are out in the streets of Damascus in orchestrated outrage against the report with the conspirators names removed. The idea seems to be to rubbish it "on the Arab street" as a work of fiction or a politcal Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1130189856735350422005-10-24T21:32:00.000Z2005-10-24T22:22:48.183Z OPEC AND THE ECONOMIC CONQUEST OF IRAQ Greg Palast , Monday, October 24, 2005According to insiders and to documents obtained from the State Department, the neocons, once in command, are now in full retreat. Iraq's system of oil production, after a year of failed free-market experimentation, is being re-created almost entirely on the lines originally laid out by Saddam Hussein. Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1130092513571537392005-10-23T18:33:00.000Z2005-10-23T18:39:36.363ZIraq and the Democratization of the Middle East Michael Rubin, October 14, 2005Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1130006569957924682005-10-22T18:29:00.000Z2005-10-26T15:45:17.593ZMORE ON TARIQ ALI THE OLD TROTSKYITE WHO SOLD HIS SOUL TO MAMMON High price of war Peter Wilson, The Weekend Australian, 22 October, 2005 FOUR decades after making his name as one of Britain's leading student radicals and Vietnam War protesters, Tariq Ali still finds his career being shaped by Washington's military entanglements. The veteran left-winger spent most of the 1970s and '80s Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1129806802949880422005-10-20T09:50:00.000Z2005-10-21T10:45:09.016ZThis post is undergoing regular editing!FROM SALONS IN SYRIA TO SOLVING HUMAN CONFLICT Having discovered Joshua Landis' pages a few weeks ago, I'm turning to them quite frequently. Today, a very interesting rip in his post from:AN AGENDA FOR PEACEFUL CHANGE IN SYRIABy Hind Aboud Kabawat, 14 October 2005which reflects much of my thinking on this: the world is changing but governments are the lastAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1129753621155299092005-10-19T20:04:00.000Z2005-10-20T09:05:27.710ZIRAQI CONSTITUTION 2005 - women's rightsInstitute for War and Peace ReportingIn the early days of this weblog I suggested the acid test of a progressive future for Iraq was the treatment of women. You did not have to be a genius to see many would expect women especially educated professionals such as doctors, lawyers and teachers to cover themselves by edict rather than choice.Iraqi women were Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1129732285314053022005-10-19T14:17:00.000Z2005-10-19T14:31:25.496ZNovelist denies 'genocide' claimOrhan Pamuk threatened with trial and prison by the supposedly democratic Turkish government for suggesting the Armenian massacre perpetrated by the Turkish government of 1917-ish, is backtracking. This is a pity. The Turks want to come into the EU but are currently refusing think seriously about the EU demand for them to admit responsibility for the massacre of Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1129714985026787862005-10-19T09:11:00.000Z2005-10-19T18:28:54.626ZFROM THE DUSTY PIPE TOBACCO-STAINED ARM OF THE ARMCHAIR OF THE ARMCHAIR GENERAL AND AMATEUR POLITICAL PUNDIT, VSimon Jenkins was for the war and explains some elements of the new Iraqi Constitution:Visit Baghdad and you can see our golden chance for an exitThe Sunday Times, 16 October 2005 Simon.jenkins@sunday-times.co.ukAnother view on the constution from OpenDemocracy:Iraq: a constitution to Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1129635474732335142005-10-18T11:10:00.000Z2005-10-18T18:57:40.596ZTHE DUSTY, SMOKE STAINED ARM OF THE ARM-CHAIR GENERAL'S CHAIR, IVBefore forgetting it, must mention very good World service programme on Islam - visiting different Islamic countries done, I think by a Muslim correspondent. Can't find it on internet yet, but will post details when found. He dealt with Malaysia in this weeks part,and will next go to North Africa. This is a must series.Watching Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1129381854502503652005-10-15T12:50:00.000Z2005-10-15T13:50:46.676ZTHE DUST OF THE ARM-CHAIR GENERAL CHAIR RISES IIIThe report by The New York TimesG.I.'s and Syrians in Tense Clashes on Iraqi BorderOctober 15, 2005of action between U.S. and Syrian forces on the border and what this means, is farcical. The border has been permeable for 2 1/2 years! I have been writing about the need to deal with Syria to stabilise Iraq since this weblog was first started.The Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1129369854253013372005-10-15T09:14:00.000Z2005-10-15T13:54:20.716ZWe need to be toldNewstatesman, John Pilger, Monday 17th October 2005The Indonesian Massacres and the CIA by Ralph McGeheeCovert Action Quarterly, Fall 1990JFK, Indonesia, CIA & Freeport Sulphurby Lisa PeaseThe homepage of this source is:Real History Archiveshttp://www.snopes.com/quotes/goering.htmHermann Goering proclaimed that although "the people don't want war," they "can always be brought toAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1129366640860070832005-10-15T08:52:00.000Z2005-10-15T08:57:20.866ZThe Assyrians surviving genocide arfter World War IProf. Anahit Khosroyeva, ArmeniaSpecialist in the Assyrian genocide studies and has published a book on this topic. The following is the complete text of Prof. Khosroyeva's speech at the Assyrian National Convention, held in September 2005 in Boston.This is not as well known as the Armenian Massacre.Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1129072067237366932005-10-11T22:24:00.000Z2005-10-11T23:36:29.226ZMoral Luck & the Iraq War - Iraq books reviewedLets face it not many of us are going to go out to buy this set of books no matter how interesting. But this review is a help to understanding certain aspects of the war and peace.it coccured to me only a few hours ago that the invasion and occupation of Iraq did not bring the expected peace, but there do exist forms of freedom such as the freedom Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1128981389750670832005-10-10T21:47:00.000Z2005-10-10T21:57:50.003ZMuslims, Islam, and IraqProf. Alan Godlas, University of GeorgiaThis seems like a very useful resource which comes from:Islam -- Islamic Studiesalso produced by Dr. GodlasIraq and the Failures of Democracy February 24, 2003 By RichardAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1128856719824213902005-10-09T11:09:00.000Z2005-10-10T21:47:29.503ZSPOTLIGHT ON IRANShould the focus be on Iran and not Iraq?When the policy of the British government or the manadarins in the Foreign Office is to pursuade the world and, more importantly British citizens, that one thing is true when the opposite is the case, the quickly dumped ethical foreign policy is sorely needed.It seems Iran and its role in the world is of greater significance than Iraq. Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1128689871829954942005-10-07T12:47:00.000Z2005-10-08T05:58:55.136ZZINDA MAGAZINE Volume XI - Issue 52 - 5 October 2005Zinda Magazine (homepage)The website works on a scroll, so all the articles are on the same page.N.B. the piece "Assyrians reject Iraq constitution".This wiki entry on Assyria is useful background. Wiki: AssyriaFor those of you engaged in the question of Turkey's entry into the EU, this might be instructive: wiki: ArmeniaAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1128684408599682722005-10-07T10:55:00.000Z2005-10-09T09:26:07.316ZIts not something I suddenly thought up. In fact, its so obvious one might forget or omit to say it. This is that the best western values and culture are worth mentioning and praising in the face od an onslaught of criticism of the West. By that I do not back-against-the-wall negative defensiveness, but defend as in proud. The obvious false (i.e. unfair) opposition is the heavenly music of Bach, Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1128629052342795312005-10-06T19:35:00.000Z2005-10-08T06:10:12.066ZThe debate is why was Iraq invaded and what is going to happen? Is Britain, for example, despite the government leak about Iran's role in supplying armour piercing bombs which have been responsible for the deaths of 8 British soldiers in the Barah area, and Blair's fresh comments that we are going to stay till the time is right to leave, going to jump ship when a full-scale revolution develops inAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1128510099578568622005-10-05T10:54:00.000Z2005-10-05T11:06:11.523ZWhose al-Qaida problem?Sasha Abramsky in Opendemocracy, 4 October 2005, asks. Much of the left’s opposition to the Iraq war and the Bush administration’s anti-terror campaigns – voiced by figures like Tariq Ali, Robert Fisk, George Galloway, Naomi Klein, and John Pilger – has blinded it to the need to engage with real problems and threats, says Sasha Abramsky. This is a continuation of what I wasAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1128455594954419192005-10-04T19:48:00.000Z2005-10-04T20:02:03.330ZThe British Record on PartitionReprinted from The Nation, May 8, 1948Comments by Jared Israel, Emperor's ClothesIf you want to do some history of the Israel-Palestinian conflict this is the one to read.Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1128294316321405252005-10-02T22:55:00.000Z2005-10-02T23:09:52.466ZAnother kid like myself in Baghdad but this time in the 60s/70s He mentions,"Shortly after we left, Saddam Hussein took power." We left in '58. They arrived 1961/2 at the height of the rein of the generals: Bakr, etc.My childhood in the Middle EastTommy AtkinsonAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1128272367362552342005-10-02T16:58:00.000Z2005-10-02T16:59:27.363ZNASSER'S LINKS WITH CIAIn searching for something about radio wars (nothing yet), came across:1951-1953, Egypt: Nasser, the Moslem Billy GrahamBy Athar Jamil, Political Correspondent, Kcom Journal.There was a BBC radio programme (possibly a docudrama) once which went into this use of radio in the Middle East, which is a fascinating story.N.B. the document still retains the Google colour coding Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1128254564352357552005-10-02T11:25:00.000Z2005-10-11T14:24:06.893ZAndrew Sullivan: How America tiptoed into the torture chamberThe Sunday Times Review, 3 October 2005:: Great American hero in the making, Ian Fishback. But don't forget some simple things: governments are elected by peoples but are not to be equated with peoples. That's why you find half the people in the US and the UK against the war in Iraq with their governments hell bent of continuing to Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1128248880008413232005-10-02T10:11:00.000Z2005-10-04T08:44:46.570ZDr. Elias Akleh “I believe it is the Americans who are doing this, pretending it is Sunnis, so there will be a civil war and they can control our wealth.” Now we know. By the way he didn't say it - he just quoted it as the authentic Arab voice - the genuine indisputable asserto-grievance - as if it were a fundamental truth which no one Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1128243217547852292005-10-02T08:17:00.000Z2005-10-02T22:27:03.673ZThe Future of Iraq: Democracy, Civil War, or Chaos?Michael Rubin, Middle East Review of International Affairs, September 2005::Ignore the provenance of the MEF, or the author, have a look at this. Do read the interview with John Mearshiemer which I linked to earlier. This from prospect.org, sums up his position: realistpolitik. Well worth the effort, though long and in two parts. I always like aAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1128007476305771782005-09-29T15:01:00.000Z2005-10-05T10:47:44.993ZFROM THE SAFETY OF THE ARMCHAIR GENERAL'S CHAIR part IIJohn Pilger blames Basra on the BritishJohn Pilger, News Statesman, Monday 3rd October 2005::He had more than three facts at his finger tips but was still able to come to exactly the wrong conclusion, adding such totally useless statements asAlthough reported initially by the Times and the Mail, all mention of the explosives allegedly found Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1127728603399581512005-09-26T09:44:00.000Z2005-09-26T18:23:36.306ZSaddam's slow RevengeThe secret history of U.S. mistakes, misjudgments and intelligence failures that let the Iraqi dictator and his allies launch an insurgency now ripping Iraq apart By Joe KleinFinished reading The Sunday Times 25 September 2005 version of this Time article.Is there another phrase for I told you so? Right from the beginning of this website - which was never a war blog - I Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1127649865533836052005-09-25T11:43:00.000Z2005-09-26T08:56:56.533ZARM-CHAIR GENERAL MAKES ASTUTE OBSERVATION Goiter ReportYou don't need many facts to make a sensible suggestion said Baghdadskies weblogger. A few basic facts gleaned from newspaper articles and a bsic background knowledge and you're off. I never was a war blogger. My interest was always looking for parallels for current events in modern Iraqi history.What gives with The Two Scousers story? Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1127560222304369662005-09-24T10:29:00.000Z2005-09-25T08:50:29.256ZAL BASRAH.COMThe last time I looked here was the business of the photographs of a rape, which proved to be fabrications. A little bit of googling showed the site was Tunisian in origin. Quite a few people discovered what I had put up a few hours before. Internet research can be effective.Looking for more on Two Scousers Go Mad in Basrah (British undercover soldiers arrested in Basrah by Iraqi Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1127403760179266082005-09-22T15:34:00.000Z2005-09-22T15:42:40.180ZReport from British Embassy, Baghdad, 15 November, 1969Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1127399195014598532005-09-22T14:17:00.000Z2005-09-22T15:33:55.970ZSYRIAAs yet not found anything on what Syria was doing in 50s according to official papers, but this current article Syria after Lebanon : The growing missile threatby Lee Kass, The Middle East Quarterly, Volume XII, Number 4, Fall 2005is quite informative. It is Pipes but the refs are all there so it is checkable.Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1127388462183105192005-09-22T11:13:00.000Z2005-09-22T11:48:07.583ZLOOKING BACK, ONCE MORE: IRAQ POST 1945The default always seems to be looking back to what Iraq was like before: although current events are fascinating, they are also confusing and frustrating. In part that is because I know this has all happened before. In looking up some older documents this turned up:http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/iraq.htmMy aim was to check U.S. Iraqi relations in the Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1127320855832210402005-09-21T16:32:00.000Z2005-09-21T16:59:29.516ZHold your conservative hat on and have a read...A five part series in DissidentVoice: American Violence in Iraq: Necrophilia or Savagery? by Kim Petersen and B.J. Sabri {1} Part One: Bully, Cheat, Kill, and Conquer{2} Part II: Is Supporting the Troops, Patriotism, Dementia, or Moral Dissolution?{3} Part 3: King Frederick’s and George Bush’s Troops{4}Part 4: Obedience, Defiance, and Conscience{5}Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1127292617489679632005-09-21T08:42:00.000Z2005-09-22T10:20:40.180ZDEJA FUT? (tense correction welcome)Some bright spark googled " Gertrude Bell letters, Al-Sadr, in" and came up with this one which mentions:You'll be interested to hear that Saiyid Muhammad al Sadr, the son of the old mujtahid you went to see at Kadhimain [(Al Kazimiyah)], is the leading figure in the present disturbances.While letter has much which is not exactly deju vu, it is certainly be Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1127242049584963772005-09-20T18:22:00.000Z2005-09-25T17:56:00.956ZAn idea to write something on Firdos Square (9 April 2003) led to a Google or two: this gave quite a few interesting sites including :A word, a phrase, a name, and it all comes rushing backBy Kevin Horrigan, Tue, Sep. 13, 2005, St. Louis Post-Dispatch.The stage-managed events in Baghdad’s Firdos Square: image-making, lies and the "liberation" of Iraq By Patrick Martin, 12 April 2003. Now if theAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1127233203108553842005-09-20T16:10:00.000Z2005-09-20T17:13:00.983Z Keep reading Martin Kramer....who is he? {Well, amongst other things, he certainly has a sense of humour}In discussing the way Turkey is treating novelist Ohan Pamuk {2} wiki: Ohan Pamuk, he mentions the Paris court judgement against historian Bernard Lewis, which Kramer calls Orwellian.Everything I have read about the Armenian Genocide (including Ashile Gorky's involvement) tell me there is noAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1127069750580261512005-09-18T17:16:00.000Z2005-09-19T11:52:54.283ZHere is the video of the Hitchens Vs. Galloway debate at Baruch College, New York, 14 September 2005. They say Galloway won on points - I think he won some other dubious argument which had no connection with what Hitchens was debating.::Running through the whole thing again as one is prone to when confronted with these sorts of arguments it is useful to come across an interview like this :Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1126394063142104292005-09-10T23:13:00.000Z2005-09-10T23:14:23.143ZFATE OF HERITAGE SITESThis is a telling image of Babylon.Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1124450860640924722005-08-19T11:24:00.000Z2005-08-22T13:35:06.080ZHow do you get from the crisis in the Middle East to the psychology of Zionism ?In one quick stride.Pay attention at the back there.. this is important.Nation as trauma, Zionism as question: Jacqueline Rose interviewed Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1123944943339278562005-08-13T14:54:00.000Z2005-08-13T14:55:43.346Zcamel spidersAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1123936067619565062005-08-13T12:24:00.000Z2005-08-13T12:27:47.626ZTo understand the British and grasp why fundamentalist Islam will never connect with the averge UK-an listen here:BBC Radio 4 The Now Show Saturday 6 August 2005Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1123098744486672932005-08-03T19:49:00.000Z2005-08-07T09:15:09.126ZSteven Vincent RIP One of his recent articles was on the Iraqi FBITimesonline : US reporter murdered in Iraq had written his own epitaph August 04, 2005 Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1123094522722582042005-08-03T18:39:00.000Z2005-08-03T18:42:02.726Z If You Want to Catch a Fish, Do Not Go to a Desert Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1122738100673679302005-07-30T15:38:00.000Z2005-08-22T13:36:06.616ZThis came from a forum at what might be called The Jewish Palestinian Encounter. It takes me back in a flash to the good times 50 years ago, when I remember, as a pren-teen, having great plates of perfect chips (french fries) with tomato sauce, sitting outside in the club garden...In Baghdad in the '60's there was a social club called the Alwiyah Club. There were Muslim, Christian and a few Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1122736390997961882005-07-30T15:07:00.000Z2005-07-30T15:13:11.003ZI'm not really left, right or centre , but this left leaning, anti-war person, sonic's place, is trying to do what I do in looking for answers to questions, while injecting some old-fashioned mockery, irony, and sardonic humour which is an anti-dote to preciousness.Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1121691910649734042005-07-18T13:00:00.000Z2005-07-18T13:05:10.776ZWhere has all the Money GoneThe Iraq audit trail in detail - a good set of figures beats any amount of uncorroborated assertionEd Harriman London Review of Books 7 July 2005Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1120935986218797242005-07-09T18:58:00.000Z2005-07-18T12:24:41.690ZArticle from Spike magazine runs through some of the things I have been saying since the early days of Baghdadskies, including in the original BaghdadskiesIn Britain the conventional media are running red-herrings through the system by allowing various people to say disaffected British Muslim youths are going to Iraq to train. Hardly necessary when you could probably get all the gen you needed onAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1119947676688160492005-06-28T07:57:00.000Z2005-07-18T12:33:17.296ZLET'S THINK BACK A BITAt the risk of repeating my repetitions I say this about Iraq: everyone knew from the beginning that the reasons why the US and the UK invaded Iraq were bogus. Andrew Sullivan in his big piece in The Sunday Times (26 June 2005) runs through the whole thing again. He says: "Maybe it will prove an inspired decision to launch a war for the future of democracy in the cradle of Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1118306205347079302005-06-09T08:34:00.000Z2005-06-09T08:37:25.483ZI wonder what happened to my Iraqi friend who went back to Iraq ?No emails to let us know what is happeningAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1117303392627501932005-05-28T17:56:00.000Z2005-05-28T18:03:12.633ZIs Iraq.........Vietnam ?Northern Ireland ?Algeria ?My view is veering between the last twoMy view last year:editorsweblog.comAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1112610489096205382005-04-04T09:47:00.000Z2005-06-28T07:52:33.626ZSLIGHTLY EDITED AND MODIFED at 27 May 05 There are some typos, spelling mistakes and some poor expression below which I am happy to have pointed out - sick of editing and re-editing the thing!Sorry for not posting for a while: it is not that the thoughts or feelings are not there. Every time I scan the web, it's either been reported or chewed over in a far more comprehensive way than I could. Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1109157764105785532005-02-23T10:55:00.000Z2005-02-23T12:23:25.253ZIbrahem Al Jaafari Iraqi P.M. designateWanted to check what Iraqis were saying about new Prime Minister. Seen him on the TV a few times speaking in Arabic. Can he speak English? If one can go by appearances, and I think you can to a large degree, he looks like the sort of chap for the job. What pressures will be put on his by the various political parties that support him, heaven knows, but thereAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1109115268319329772005-02-22T23:05:00.000Z2005-02-24T17:30:07.450ZOne of my interests, stemming from my childhood in Baghdad in the 1950s, is the subject of incomers. The ultimate incomers in terms of historic Iraq were the Jews, of whom I have already posted because the story is so interesting but ultimately sad as far as the modern Iraqi Jews were concerned. The Scribe give stats on Jews in Baghdad in the early 20th. century. And of course if you want to readAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1108992230226612142005-02-21T13:06:00.000Z2005-02-21T13:42:26.860ZThe Washington Times Insider, 21 February, 2005, (free registration) suggests Israel is putting pressure on America to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities which might be producing weapons grade materials.My idea [already posted] was the Israelis would not do it themselves because the Palestinian problem was of greater importance. I stick by this. The logic is simple:(1) Israel knows what is goingAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1108646627009882102005-02-17T13:10:00.000Z2005-02-17T14:59:57.070ZSYRIA, IRANWorld media seem to trying to create a world war out of the triangle of America, Iran and Syria.Two articles by Daniel Pipe's oraganisation (bear in mind it is pro-Israel: any facts open to verification).Palestine for the Syrians? Syria's views on Greater Syria might explain why they are accused of stirring up trouble in the area Syrian Reform : What Lies Beneath? corruption Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1108469442618895412005-02-15T11:29:00.000Z2005-02-16T09:41:09.840Z US fights back against 'rule by clerics' according to Syed Saleem Shahzad, Bureau Chief, The Asian Times, 15 February, 2005. Who knows if any of this is true. I am concentrating my mind on the deliberations that will lead to the Iraqi Constitution. It would seem appropriate, in the modern age, the various drafts might be put up on the internet for ordinary Iraqis to have their say. I don't Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1107262709125812492005-02-01T13:55:00.000Z2005-02-16T09:45:28.133ZWhat I heard about IraqEliot Weinberger London Review of Books, Vol 27, Number 3, 3 February 2005.ThenRead what the American poet Ron Silliman says about it.Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1107086382327846372005-01-30T11:40:00.000Z2005-01-30T11:59:42.326Z
Islam in the New Iraq
Daniele Pipe's, The Search for Moderate Islam : A reply, countering Lawrence Auster's, The Search for Moderate Islam I : Does it Exist?
is as a good a place to start as any. Though not Islam discussed by Muslims, these sorts of discussions will be going on in all sorts of Muslim homes, including Iraqi one's, as the elections are over and the business of forming a Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1106558288101066882005-01-24T08:59:00.000Z2005-01-24T13:25:06.313Z
Thought it wise to post up President Bush's Second Inaugural Address January 2005 in full, to use as a tick list. Came from a Libertarian Girl link. She has also, interestingly, posted a link to Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Adress, Saturday, Match 4 , 1865, where he debates the Civil War, still ongoing. She herself briefly puts us right on the causes of the American Civil War.
The Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1106146423073391602005-01-19T14:43:00.000Z2005-01-19T14:53:43.073Z
Morality (Abu Ghraib discussed in Libertarian Girl) dissolves in the face of The Great Game (Iranian nuclear potential) described by Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker, dated 17 January 2005.
Baghdadskies2 post of Friday, 12 November 2004, touches this ground: use Microsoft Search on keyword "Iran" to get to it.
Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1106134996574029192005-01-19T11:35:00.000Z2005-01-19T11:43:16.573Z
Ought to give a plug to A Glimpse of Iraq and Iraqi Letter to America by "Abu Khaleel"
Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1105810400373781532005-01-15T17:11:00.000Z2005-01-19T12:01:08.176Z
The first conviction for the Abu Ghraib atrocities, that of Army Reserve Spec. Charles A. Graner Jr., does nothing to answer the question I asked right at the beginning of this: where were the officers? Where are the officers? Is this a professional army or is it a typical bureaucracy which proports to be a fighting arm of the U.S. govt. ?
The answer might lie somewhere between: all peace-time Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1105628708258014622005-01-13T14:37:00.000Z2005-01-13T15:08:27.670Z
Skewed views
I admit to having a slighted skewed view of the world, let alone this country of my childhood. However, bear with me when I say this story has a certain resonance with the general tenor of events in Iraq.
It came from The Sunday Telegraph 28 March 2004. A certain Mr. Khadom Sharif Hassan, well known to most Iraqis as Iraq's weightlifting champion, was the man seen by the whole Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1105111354419424462005-01-07T14:19:00.000Z2005-01-07T15:27:13.123Z
Middle East History
Palestine for the Syrians ? Daniele Pipes December 1986
Was looking for the quote by someone famous or other about the Palestinians, following reading
prof. Fred M. Gottheil's
The Smoking Gun: Arab Immigration into Palestine, 1922-1931
But could not find it, even in The Middle East Forum Daniele Pipe's "Think Tank" Journal.
It was a remark, possibly King Hussein (Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1104756818898910902005-01-03T13:45:00.000Z2005-01-24T09:26:29.376Z
James Wolcott : "Kind of a Shame" says what I have been repeating till I can't repeat it any more.
Happy New Year to everyone, especially the long suffering Iraqi people. Thinking of you, despite the posts drying up. I cannot write what others write far better, though will continue to post up links to articles or blog opinion that seems worth reading.
Personal posts about my early life in IraqAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1101553083553754542004-11-27T10:41:00.000Z2004-12-11T12:44:13.783Z
Martin Kramer
A Middle East expert who I have not but ought to have read before. I have posted three side links because he has a rather complicated site.
In addition links to long, detailed articles with graphics on
* Fundamentalist Islam : The Drive for Power [ A short History of Islamism's Rise to Power]
* Arab nationalism : Mistaken Identity [The rise and fall of Arab Nationalism]
Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1100698089220139502004-11-17T13:45:00.000Z2004-11-27T10:39:28.603Z
Hala Fattah
Historian of pre-modern Iraq. Independent scholar living in Amman, Jordan. UCLA graduate. Author of The Politics of Regional Trade in Iraq, Arabia and the Gulf , 1745-1900 (SUNY Press, 1997).
Lots of facts and colour about modern Iraq and Iraqis. Archive for May 2004 Friday, May 14, 2004:
Abstracted titles to make it easier to see what might be of interest.
* A Day at the Races
Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1100700005817261502004-11-17T13:40:00.000Z2004-11-17T14:34:05.340Z
Falluja
There has been talk on the cyberwaves about Evil and American exceptionalism -- "the deep belief that our motives are uniquely pure, our goals singularly above reproach."
I think the destruction of the Waco compound [don't take everything on this site as kosher], by government organisations including the FBI representing the U.S. state, was an "evil act". Young children Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1100252808393417072004-11-12T09:25:00.000Z2004-11-12T15:08:45.963Z
Mark LeVine
Professor of modern Middle Eastern history, culture, and Islamic studies at the University of California Irvine and author of the forthcoming books Why They Don't Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil and Overthrowing Geography: Jaffa, Tel Aviv and the Struggle for Palestine, 1880-1948, He is also the editor with Viggo Mortensen and Pilar Perez of Twilight of Empire: Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1099741066210224312004-11-06T11:31:00.000Z2004-11-06T16:32:09.736Z
Bernard Lewis Revisited - - What if Islam isn't an obstacle to democracy in the Middle East but the secret to achieving it?
For anyone wanting a balenced and useful starting point this essay from Washington Monthly by Michael Hirsh, senior editor at Newsweek, author of At War with Ourselves: Why America is Squandering its Chance to Build a Better World, will do the trick.Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1099584997400930832004-11-04T15:03:00.001Z2004-11-15T12:13:32.883ZThe BBC TV series which has created a ripple of discussion, The Politics of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear, is intriguing. Is it possible to use the web to come a conclusion about it?
Kuro5hin.org links to a set of discussions or reviews.
Crookedtimber does it thoroughly with a link to Guardian piece by David Aaronovitch
CSmonitor reviews with links through to Sayeed Qutb who Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0