The Architecture of the Middle East It has been suggested that “American strategic planners intend to attempt to replace the existing Sykes-Picot/Balfour architecture of the region, which reflected British (and French) imperial primacy during and after WWI, with a revised system that would better reflect new global realities.” I don’t see any evidence that US […]
Instability In Afghanistan Ability Of
Instability in Afghanistan The ability of terrorist forces (whether al-Qaida or Gulbuddin Hekmatyar) to set off a huge car bomb explosion in Kabul, killing at least 30 and injuring 50, on the same day that President Hamid Karzai narrowly escaped being assassinated in Kandahar, demonstrates how much remains to be done there. U.S. preoccupation with […]
Iraqi Shiites And Hizbullah There Seems
Iraqi Shi`ites and Hizbullah There seems to me to be a contradiction between the stated plans of the hawks in the Bush administration to establish a post-Saddam democracy in Iraq on the one hand, and other goals of the administration on the other. For instance, President Bush put Iran in the “axis of evil” and […]
More On Sawa And Gutting Voice Of
More on Sawa and Gutting the Voice of America I’ve been listening to Radio Sawa, and the situation is even worse than I thought. It is available at: http://www.ibb.gov/radiosawa/index.html First of all, they play the Backstreet Boys. Even worse, the news breaks, at least on the Web service, appear to be much shorter and less […]
Al Qaeda In Holland Dutch Prosecutors
al-Qaeda in Holland Dutch prosecutors in Rotterdam said on Monday that they had arrested 8 persons who belong to a radical Islamic group that provided “logistical, material and financial support” to al-Qaeda, and recruited fighters for it. This cell is apparently unrelated to a previously apprehended group of 4 men. The previously arrested cell included […]
Gutting Voa And Radio Sawa Some News
Gutting VOA and Radio Sawa Some news reports from the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers this week have talked about the amazing success of Radio Sawa, the US government radio network that broadcasts on FM and AM in the Middle East. It plays music all day, mixing Britney Spears with local Arab pop stars, […]
Explosions Near Kabul Airport There
Explosions near Kabul Airport There were three explosions near Kabul airport on Saturday, according to the Turkish commander of the peace keeping forces in Afghanistan. It is a bit startling that even at a key such installation in the capital, security has not been achieved by the 7000 American and the thousands of peace-keeping forces […]
Combatting Extremism In Yemen Asharq Al
Combatting extremism in Yemen Asharq al-Awsat reports that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Salih has formed a council of senior Muslim clergymen to preach to Yemen’s youth, especially returnees from Afghanistan, about the dangers of religious extremism. They will conduct open discussion and dialogue sessions, both voluntary and with extremists in prison. Non-government sources estimate that […]
Al Qaida Funding Two Contradictory
al-Qaida Funding Two contradictory reports are out. Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal says that his government has blocked $90 mn. from going to al-Qaida in the past few months. (That it was blocked is the good news. That Saudis still want to send that kind of money to al-Qaida is the bad news). The […]
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