Posts filed under ‘Middle East’
Heartbreak in Egypt
I remember watching the demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square back in January and February — and seeing Hosni Mubarack crawl down from power — and feeling so proud of the people there.
Now it looks like it may all have been for naught.
This is the Egyptian army beating civilians yesterday:
Members of the army, once beloved by Egypt’s activists for standing by their side during the revolution in February, have sent hundreds of men and women to the hospital over the last 48 hours and have killed at least 10, some with live ammunition fired into crowds.
(Video via.)
More here, including an up-close photo of a woman in the video:
For these men to pull her black abaya above her head and expose her midriff and chest is, for Egypt, a profound and sexually charged humiliation. And there is a certain awful irony of using that abaya, a symbol of modesty and piety, to cover her face and drag her on the street that, though probably not intentional, will not be lost on Egyptian eyes.
[...]
The Egyptian military, the strongest and most powerful institution in the country and perhaps the Arab world, has taken a dramatic and dark turn since winning power earlier this year.
[...]
As protests against the military have grown, the generals have abandoned their earlier pledges to support the people and refrain from violence against civilians. The SCAF — the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, a panel of top military leaders — increasingly looks like Egypt’s new dictator.
FYI, the United States supports the Egyptian “military” to the tune of $2 billion annually:
The United States has given Egypt an average of $2 billion annually since 1979, much of it military aid, according to the Congressional Research Service. The combined total makes Egypt the second largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel.
“Chemical Warfare” in Cairo’s Tahrir Square Right Now
Look at these horrible tweets being sent by Sharif Kouddous from Cairo’s Tahrir Square right now (4:27 p.m. ET):
The people of Egypt are rallying because though they ousted Mubarak, the army is still in charge and they don’t want that. They want democratic elections. And this is what they get.
Oh, and a note regarding Rick Perry: At the Republican “debate” in Iowa on Saturday night, Rick Perry said, if elected, he would end civilian control of the U.S. military. What’s happening in Egypt is what happens when the military is out of civilian hands. It’s called a military dictatorship.
Mitt Romney’s Speech to the Top 1%
Last Friday Mitt Romney gave a “major foreign policy speech” at the Citadel. Here’s the text.
If you have the time, read it. If you want more of the same, i.e., a president like Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama, who increased military spending and outsourced jobs, he’s your guy.
The speech is amazing. He’s clearly, and without any apparent shame, talking to the top 1%.
Remember When You Were a Traitor if You Criticized George Bush “During War Time?”
Remember when you were a traitor if you criticized George W. Bush “during wartime?”
So how about this, resulting from President Obama’s speech on Thursday about the Israel/Palestine “conflict” and the wingers cheering Netanyahu:
Typical GOP hypocrisy. It never ends.
Newspapers Celebrate the Death of bin Laden
Osama bin Laden is dead. Dead almost a decade to the day after George W. Bush said he wanted to bring him “to justice,” “dead or alive.”
Here are some newspaper headlines from around the country:
Pastor Terry Jones’ Quran Burning Results in the Death of Eight UN Workers
Remember Terry Jones, the fundamentalist Florida pastor who wanted to hold a Quran-burning ceremony on 9/11? He didn’t do it after hearing it would be seen as an act of religious warfare in the Middle East (and after a New Jersey car dealer gave him a car).
(Image via.)
Well, apparently he just couldn’t stand it any longer and on March 21 he held his long-desired Quran burning ceremony:
The controversial Gainesville pastor, who threatened to publicly burn a Quran on the anniversary of 911 last year, has gone through with it.
Last weekend, Pastor Terry Jones held a mock trial at his church that ended with a book burning.However, his latest stunt received very little publicity.On the Dove World Outreach Center website Pastor Jones announced a trial date.”International judge the Quran day. Yes. We are going to do it,” Jones said.
Last Sunday, Jones’ Gainesville church was converted into a courtroom, complete with prosecutor, defense attorney, witnesses and Jones as the judge.Jones accused Islam’s holy book of promoting violence. So he put it on trial.
The pastor created an international incident last September when he planned to burn Qurans on the 911 anniversary.He backed down and promised to never put a match to the book. But this trial had a different set of rules.”The Quran, if found guilty, can be burned,” said Jones.
And after six hours of testimony in front of 30 spectators and a crew from an Orlando film school, it was burned.
And today: UN staff beheaded in Afghan attack sparked by US pastor’s Quran burning:
At least eight foreign United Nations workers were killed Friday, two of them reportedly beheaded, in an attack on a U.N. compound in Afghanistan by demonstrators protesting the burning of a Quran by a U.S. pastor.
[...]
The U.N. workers — including five guards working for U.N. and two other people employed at the complex, the AP reported — were killed in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif when the protest there suddenly turned violent.
As many as 20 in total were thought to have been killed, according to the Guardian, and one report said the dead included Norwegian, Romanian and Swedish employees.
A U.N. spokesman Dan McNorton said that details remained unclear, but that the top U.N. representative in Afghanistan, Staffan De Mistura, was traveling to the area to handle the matter, CNN reported.
But according to Reuters, more than a thousand protesters had flooded into the streets of the normally peaceful city after Friday prayers when violence broke out. A small group then attacked the U.N. compound, throwing stones and climbing on blast barriers to try and enter.
Watch the video at the link above (photo of protest poster is a screenshot from it). They. Are. Furious.
Tragic that people are dying due to the actions of a madman.
Memo to Peter King: Muslims Have Been Victims of Violence Too
In light of the witch hunt Rep. Peter King (R-NY) is conducting today regarding the “radicalization” of Muslim Americans, I thought a little perspective might be in order. Namely, a compilation of the acts of violence done to Muslims and mosques in the the United States over the last several years.
There have already been two incidents in 2011, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg:
February 2011: The Abdul-Majid Karim Hasan Islamic Center in Hamden, Connecticut, was vandalized with an expletive spray-painted in red. In September 2010, the Center was similarly vandalized with offensive images.
January 24, 2011: Roger Stockham of Imperial Beach, California, was arrested with explosives in his vehicle in the parking lot of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Michigan. According to the authorities, he had the intention of blowing up the mosque, where mourners had gathered for a funeral.
Peaceful Protesters in Bahrain Shot in Cold Blood
(Via.)
The United States gave Bahrain $19 million for weaponry in 2010. Bahrain wants $19.45 million this year.
We probably paid for that tank and those bullets. You know, to “spread democracy around the world.”
Potential Massacre in Bahrain
Bahrain:
BREAKING: Twitter is blowing up right now with reports that Bahrain authorities are firing into a crowd of thousands that is assembled for the funeral of those killed in yesterday’s crackdown.
This could be a massacre underway.
UPDATE: This is really happening, folks. From Twitter user Muiz:“Hospitals not reporting wounds to body or arms, almost all are to the chest & head – live ammo from the ground & air”
From Al Jazeera English’s Evan C. Hill: “Our correspondent in #Bahrain reports live ammo, not birdshot, not rubber bullets, being used on protesters. #feb17.
Original post: My list of top Bahrain Twitter users reacted with horror to yesterday’s police raid on Pearl Square. Hundreds of protesters were peacefully assembled there, when in the middle of the night and without warning, police shot up the place. Five people were killed. Scores injured. Nicholas Kristof reports that doctors were beaten who tried to help the injured.
Nicholas Kristoff is on the scene. Follow his tweets at the link above.
Jordan’s King Abdullah Stepped Down?
A Fox-watcher friend of mine told me today that part of the fallout over what happened in Egypt was that Jordan’s King Abdullah — a friend of the United States — stepped down.
Not true.
That’s what you get when the Beckistanians paint a picture of The Muslim Brotherhood taking over the Arab world and marching toward American shores.
Hosni Mubarak as Fox News Contributor
I’m taking bets as to how long it’ll be before Hosni Mubarak signs on as a “Fox News Contributor.”
Anyone?
Rupert Murdoch. Photo: Getty Images
I’m thinkin’ eight months, tops.
Then again, Fox might have a hard time getting in touch with the guy if it can’t find Egypt on a map.
.
Pro-Mubarak Demonstrations Tomorrow in Cairo
I’m watching Al Jazeera/English. They are reporting that pro-Mubarak demonstrations are planned tomorrow in Cairo’s Tahrir/Liberation Square.
Ugh.
Tahrir/Independence Square 2-1-11. Photo: AP
Pray for calm.
“Riots” in Egypt
Reminder:
— “A riot is the language of the unheard.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image via Flickr/BayaniBoulder
Income Inequality Worse in the U.S. Than in Egypt
We’re hearing a lot about income inequality and the high price of goods mixed in with the coverage of what’s going on in Egypt. What we’re not hearing is that the divide between the rich and poor is actually worse in the United States than it is in Egypt:
As Yasser El-Shimy, former diplomatic attaché at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote in Foreign Policy, “income inequality has reached levels not before seen in Egypt’s modern history.” But Egypt still bests quite a few countries when it comes to income inequality, including the United States.
According to the CIA World Fact Book, the U.S. is ranked as the 42nd most unequal country in the world, with a Gini Coefficient of 45.
In contrast:
– Tunisia is ranked the 62nd most unequal country, with a Gini Coefficient of 40.
– Yemen is ranked 76th most unequal, with a Gini Coefficient of 37.7.
– And Egypt is ranked as the 90th most unequal country, with a Gini Coefficient of around 34.4.
The Gini coefficient is used to measure inequality: the lower a country’s score, the more equal it is. Obviously, there are many things about the U.S. economy that make it far preferable to that in Egypt, including lower poverty rates, higher incomes, significantly better infrastructure, and a much higher standard of living overall. But income inequality in the U.S. is the worst it has been since the 1920′s, which is a real problem.
Currently, the top one percent of households make nearly 25 percent of the total income in the country, after they made less than 10 percent in the 1970′s. Between 1980 and 2005, “more than 80 percent of total increase in Americans’ income went to the top 1 percent.”
Oh, and by the way, that top 1 percent is the crowd the GOP was fighting for when it insisted on an extension of the Bush tax cuts.
The President of Yemen Confirms His Solidary With Mubarak
Given that “many” are saying Yemen is at the top of the list of countries which could be hit by a popular uprising like the one occurring in Egypt, this is an asshat move on the part of Yemen’s president:
President Ali Abdullah Saleh made a phone call Saturday evening with his Egyptian counterpart Muhammad Hosni Mubarak.
In the phone conversation, Saleh got assured of the situations in Egypt in light of the unfortunate events currently witnessed by Egypt.
Saleh confirmed Yemen’s solidarity with the government and brotherly people of Egypt, wishing security, stability and tranquility for Egypt.
Tweeting From Egypt
Sharif Kouddous — a senior producer at DemocracyNow! — is tweeting live from Tahrir Square in Cairo, here.
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline Shuts Down
The trans-Alaska pipeline has shut down due to a leak at a pump station (fish and animals — run for your lives!):
The 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline is shut down due to a leak at Pump Station 1 on the North Slope.
North Slope oil producers have been asked to cut their production to 5 percent of normal.
An oil line encased in concrete leaked an unknown quantity of crude oil just outside a booster pump building, according to Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. spokeswoman Michelle Egan. Alyeska operates the line and its pump stations.
A crew doing a routine inspection noticed the leak this morning and Alyeska shut down the pipeline at about 9 a.m., Egan said.
Grover Norquist’s Wife Was “Born Muslim”
Who knew: Grover Norquist, a darling of the conservative movement, is married to a woman who “is [a] born Muslim” and who is the former director of the Islamic Free Market Institute which “is an Islamic outreach group.“
(Image via.)
Wow. Now that’s interesting.
This info came to me today while I was surfing, probably because the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) — that wild and crazy group whose annual conference is always a whole lotta fun — is going ever more insane and turning against one of the (to date) insanest amongst them — Norquist.
I’m posting this because my God, it’s another example of the shameless hypocrisy of the right.
.
War Criminal Bush to Throw Out First Pitch Tonight
Tweet of the day:
How many thousands of people — soldiers, Iraqis, etc. — are disabled or dead because of Bush’s lies?
Cat Stevens Freaks the Wingers Out
I’m readings headlines around the net about wingers going bonkers that Cat Stevens, a/k/a “Yusuf,” was invited to the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in D.C. today.
Well of course they’re freaking. What’s the big surprise? They (1) want to keep fear and hate alive, and (2) discredit the event and the attendees with a thing, any thing, no matter how trivial. If Cat Stevens hadn’t been there they’d be barking about something else.
The Mosque at Ground Zero, Before it Was Ground Zero
Never mind a mosque community center two blocks from Ground Zero — why has it taken nine years for the media to get the word out that there was a mosque inside the Twin Towers?
Muslim Prayer Room Was Part of Life at Twin Towers
Sometime in 1999, a construction electrician received a new work assignment from his union. The man, Sinclair Hejazi Abdus-Salaam, was told to report to 2 World Trade Center, the southern of the twin towers.
In the union locker room on the 51st floor, Mr. Abdus-Salaam went through a construction worker’s version of due diligence. In the case of an emergency in the building, he asked his foreman and crew, where was he supposed to reassemble? The answer was the corner of Broadway and Vesey.
Over the next few days, noticing some fellow Muslims on the job, Mr. Abdus-Salaam voiced an equally essential question: “So where do you pray at?” And so he learned about the Muslim prayer room on the 17th floor of the south tower.
He went there regularly in the months to come, first doing the ablution known as wudu in a washroom fitted for cleansing hands, face and feet, and then facing toward Mecca to intone the salat prayer.
On any given day, Mr. Abdus-Salaam’s companions in the prayer room might include financial analysts, carpenters, receptionists, secretaries and ironworkers. There were American natives, immigrants who had earned citizenship, visitors conducting international business — the whole Muslim spectrum of nationality and race.
President Obama today at his presser:
Come on people!
Say No to Peace!
Here’s another reason to hate the commie Muslim Obama administration — they’re trying to avoid war instead of lying us into one:
Look for Newt and Josh and Rush and Sean, et al. to be all over this tomorrow, warning about the — horror — of coexisting.
The Pakistan Floods — Even the Known Unknowns Are Terrifying
The Effects of the Pakistan Floods, Worst National Disaster in Years:
The floods in Pakistan are now worse than Haiti’s January 2010 earthquake, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and the 2005 Kashmir earthquake combined, the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced on Monday. The floods have killed 1,600, displaced 1 million from their homes, and affected 15 million in all. The latter number includes many who, because they have lost access to food and clean drinking water, may be at serious risk of starvation or such water-borne diseases as cholera. Here are the effects of this ongoing humanitarian disaster.
Of the five potential disasters with the disaster that are chronicled in the article, this is huge because, don’t forget, Pakistan has a nuclear bomb:
Government Stability Weakened Academic and blogger Juan Cole cautions, “The ruling Pakistan People’s Party is being widely criticized for its failure to respond to the massive needs of the people, generated by this catastrophe. And President Asaf Ali Zardari’s visit to the UK, where he met with British Prime Minister David Cameron, has provoked a firestorm of criticism from Pakistanis who think he should have stayed home and helped manage the crisis. Anything that could pull down the government, as an inept response to the flood could, has security implications in the fight against the Taliban. (The Pakistani Taliban have actually taken advantage of the chaos to launch some attacks).”
Brit Hume Does BP’s Bidding
I think it’s a given that the mysterious chemicals BP is pumping into the Gulf to “disperse” the oil are meant to make the slick disappear (temporarily, at least) so BP’s already catastrophic PR problems are minimized.
Well golly gosh gee. What a shock, yes, a shock that Fox’s Brit Hume turned that corporate PR game into “news” tonight — throwing it into the ether like a bone to CNN and MSNBC — hoping they’ll pick it up, leaving us to wonder whether we saw that slick, or not:
British Petroleum as Victim
Tony Hayward, the CEO of British Petroleum (BP), told The Times of London yesterday that there will be “lots of illegitimate claims” made against BP as a result of the Gulf oil spill, setting the stage for BP to belittle and dismiss potential claimants, and to insinuate it is, in essence, being harassed.
As a former paralegal who worked on lawsuits involving huge corporations, I know it is incredibly expensive and time-consuming to take on a corporation like BP. Corporations have armies of lawyers whose sole purpose is to bombard private attorneys with make-work in an effort to frustrate them into dropping their cases. No lawyer is going to do file suit unless he thinks he can win because BP will make that lawyer’s life hell. Sure, there will probably be a few illegitimate claims, but I’m willing to bet that the vast majority won’t be.
Even Ronald Reagan Wanted Us to Become Energy Self-Sufficient
Look at this Ronald Reagan presidential campaign ad from 1980. In it, he says:
This is a great country, but it’s not being run like a great country. Look at these heating bills. Many families pay hundreds of dollars a month. Others go without heat. We must eliminate restrictive controls and use more of our domestic oil and natural gas. And we must use all our technology to become self-sufficient in energy so no one can blackmail us. This is a great country. It’s time to start running it like a great country.
Yes, I know, Reagan would probably be a drill-baby-driller today but at least he recognized the need to become energy self-sufficient and who knows, over time, he may even have embraced wind and/or solar.
“Congress Failed to Pass Extension of Unemployment Benefits?” (UPDATED)
The headline today on the cable “news” shows, including the “liberal” ones, is that unemployment benefits run out today for thousands of Americans because congress failed to pass an extension before it left for Easter recess.
Technically that’s true but there is a more accurate and informative way of reporting the story: Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma Blocks Unemployment Bill.
UPDATE: And don’t forget — unemployment “benefits” are better referred to as unemployment “insurance” (my bad on that). Money is deducted from our paychecks for unemployment “insurance,” so Coburn’s concern about how the “benefits” will be paid for is BS. The money’s already in the bank. And it’s our money.
UPDATE #2 (4-7-10): Now Republicans are boasting about screwing people. Check it out.
Seven Years
Today is the seventh anniversary of Shock and Awe.
I don’t know how George W. Bush (and a lot of other people, actually) can live with himself.
Americans Want to Bomb Iran
Americans seem to be ready to start a third war:
Seven in 10 Americans believe that Iran currently has nuclear weapons, according to a new national poll.
“But if economic and diplomatic efforts fail, support for military action rises to 59 percent, with only 39 percent opposing military action under those circumstances,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
This is deja vu all over again: Half of Americans believe Saddam Hussein had WMD, and we know where that got us.
Americans still think that the US is so strong and so endlessly wealthy that going to war has no consequences. The overriding emotions seem to be machismo and fear, not caution and a sense that we need to do everything possible to avoid war.
