The USG Open Source Center translates passages from Friday sermons carried on Iraqi television: Round-up of Iraqi Friday Sermons 5 OctIraq — OSC SummarySaturday, October 6, 2007 . . . Within its 1800 GMT newscast, Baghdad Al-Iraqiyah Television in Arabic – government-sponsored television station, run by the Iraqi Media Network – is observed to carry […]
Archives for October 2007
Sadrists Accuse Badr of Assassinations US Airstrike Kills 25
Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that tensions have heated up in the Shiite South between the Sadr Movement and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (which maintains the Badr Corps paramilitary). The Sadr movement on Friday accused the Badr Organization of assassinating Sadr leaders. Sadrist MP Ahmad al-Masoudi accused the Badr Organization of having organized militias […]
Iraq: Shiite Bloc Distances Itself from Controversial Biden Resolution
The USG Open Source Center reports on the way that the United Iraqi Alliance, the largest Shiite bloc, led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, has attempted to distance itself from the Biden-Gelb plan for a soft partition of Iraq. (This attempt at distancing come despite the similarity of the […]
Iraq turns to China for Arms Shiite Bloc Denounces US arming of Sunnis
WaPo says that the Iraqi government has made a $100 mn. deal with China for the purchase of light weaponry, especially AK-47 assault rifles. Some observers are afraid that these arms will actually end up in the hands of sectarian militiamen or anti-government guerrillas, through graft or theft or because much of the Iraqi police […]
Ahmadinejad Calls for Saudi Cooperation
The USG Open Source Center has done a report on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s calls for Iran and Saudi Arabia to cooperate in filling the regional power vacuum. The Saudis do not seem eager for such cooperation and in fact have incisively criticized Iran’s new role in the region. Iran: Ahmadinezhad Calls for Saudi Support […]
Tutu Excluded Double Standard at the University of St. Thomas
Bishop Desmond Tutu has stood all his life for nonviolent peace-making and an end to racism. Obviously, he would be upset about the Israeli mistreatment of the Palestinians, and has said so. For that stance he was uninvited from speaking at the Catholic University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis. (See also Richard Silverstein on this […]
Polish Ambassador Wounded; Maliki: Blackwater Must Go; PM Praises Saudi Fatwa
Guerrillas injured the Polish ambassador to Iraq on Wednesday with roadside bombs.Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki again insisted on Wednesday that the Blackwater security firm should leave Iraq. He accused its employees of having been trigger-happy on several occasions. Al-Maliki began making this demand soon after the September 16 shootings at Nisur Square, which left […]
The Arab Dilemma in Hollywood
Ashraf Khalil at the LAT discusses the dilemma for actors of Arab extraction in Hollywood that they have to play terrorists or they just don’t find work. Some Arab American actors only get ahead by “passing” (claiming, like the Coneheads on Saturday Night Live, to be “French.”) There is a word for what these actors […]
Iran’s Armed Forces
The USG Open Source Center translates an Iranian newspaper article on the combat capabilities of Iranian military forces. ‘Article Examines Combat Capabilities of Iranian Military ForcesArticle by Ali Ghafuri: “A Glance at the Combat Capabilities of the Iranian Army,” page 15Iran (Internet Version-WWW)Wednesday, October 3, 2007 Document Type: OSC Translated Text A Powerful Army, Messenger […]