Poisoned by Putin for telling the truth on Chechnya
Thursday, September 9, 2004, 10:45
Thankfully, Anna Politkovskaya has recovered after being poisoned by the Russian secret service (a story I mention in my blog on Tuesday). She has not lost her resolve to report the truth, nor could her ordeal weaken her integrity and make her cower in submission. As usual, her article is a must-read if one wants to understand more about the mess resulting from the Russian government’s criminal involvement in Chechnya.[ add comment ]
Botched Zawahiri jihad, and botched Kepel analysis
Thursday, September 9, 2004, 03:29
In his op-ed “Jihadists Failing to Win Muslim Minds,” an initially reassuring title, Gilles Kepel argues that Ayman Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s top ideologue, “came up with the idea of using spectacular terrorism to shock the enemy and make the Muslim masses see the jihadists as knights.” He has failed miserably, says Kepel, stating the obvious, and explaining that this was a catastrophe for Islamic scholars (apparently without exception) as the jihad “backfired” and led to a “fitna.” This is a gross simplification of Al Qaeda’s aims, which clearly go far beyond impressing the Muslim masses; their conversion is not a Qaeda priority, and Islamic movements have always known their appeal was limited. As for the implication that all Islamic scholars supported Zawahiri’s global jihad, it is baseless.
Kepel’s claim that the “U.S.-led coalition troops have pursued the war on terror to Iraq” greatly weakens his arguments (as does his absurd insinuation that the Palestinian issue is only one of jihad). America’s validations for invading Iraq have changed repeatedly, and Kepel seems to accept the least plausible (fighting terror) at face value.
Striving to categorize the latest terrorist atrocity, Kepel goes on to say that the jihadists “are looking desperately for new slogans and modes of action to trigger mass mobilization. This is the context for the North Ossetia massacre and the abduction of the French journalists in Iraq.”
Portraying the Beslan slaughter as a public relations exercise to win over Muslims is one of the most discreditable analyses to have emerged over the last few days. It shows a very limited understanding of the issues these terrorists have taken to extremes, and reduces their elaborate criminal planning to a gullible reading of Muslims’ propensity to toe the line.
Over the years, Kepel has made many insightful comments about Islamic groups; this was certainly not one of them. However, his account of the very great gap separating jihadists and the overwhelming majority of Muslims is spot on.
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Bush and war psychology
Thursday, September 9, 2004, 00:54
“When war psychology takes hold, the public believes, temporarily, in a ‘mythic reality’ in which our nation is purely good, our enemies are purely evil, and anyone who isn't our ally is our enemy”. That’s how an essay by Chris Hedges explains the psychology of war, as brought to us by Paul Krugman. If it makes sense in America’s case, is it so difficult to understand that other nations might relate equally strongly to such notions? [ add comment ]
Chechnya's tragic situation ... and the neocons' interest
Wednesday, September 8, 2004, 12:42
The Guardian has an interesting op-ed today on the neocons who are The Chechens' American friends, which may be news to many, and a piece by Ahmed Zakaev yesterday reminds us of the issues at stake in this ravaged country. [ add comment ]
Comical Allawi’s ban on Al Jazeera is déjà vu
Tuesday, September 7, 2004, 12:58
The interim Iraqi government (the one installed by the CPA to establish democracy, including freedom of speech, in Iraq) had initially banned Al Jazeera for one month, claiming it incited violence and instigated attacks against authorities. Lo and behold, one month later, the violence had not ceased, even though Al Jazeera’s office was still closed.Therefore, Prime Minister Allawi (not as funny as Saddam’s Information Minister Sahaf, but just as ridiculous) has now extended the ban "indefinitely," complaining that Al Jazeera had not responded to his charges One has to wonder how long it will take the terrorists, insurgents, dissidents and simple opponents of the government to completely stop whatever it is Al Jazeera was motivating them to do. In the meantime, no news is still not good news in Iraq.
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Are Democrats getting back on track?
Tuesday, September 7, 2004, 12:41
John Kerry finally seems to be listening to a message that Clinton repeated until he was hoarse over a decade ago: it's the economy, stupid. Famed Clinton advisers (including the inimitable James Carville) have been brought in to rescue the Democrats’ disastrous campaign, steering it away from a self-destructive focus on Kerry’s Vietnam record, and ridiculous wavering on Iraq. Faced with two highly inapt candidates, Americans might only be choosing between bad and worse, but at least they can start having an option. [ add comment ]
Russia’s brave journalists silenced – and poisoned
Tuesday, September 7, 2004, 02:22
The great Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was poisoned on her way to Beslan from Moscow, after two unsuccessful attempts to board previous flights. Her courageous and honest reporting from Chechnya has for years rubbed the Russian government the wrong way. While she recovers in hospital, many believe that she (and several of her colleagues) have been deliberately “prevented” from reaching Beslan and from reporting what they saw.In October 2002, the Chechen rebels who had stormed a Moscow theater (an event which also ended tragically after the Russian forces launched an assault) requested her presence during negotiations with the government. She immediately left Los Angeles, where she was about to receive a Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation. She later wrote this very poignant article about her experience in the theater. Her reporting on Russia’s involvement in Chechnya is incomparable; may she still tell the world much more.
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After the massacre in Beslan
Tuesday, September 7, 2004, 01:16
In the past few days, several news organizations asked me to comment on the awful hostage situation in Beslan, even before reports surfaced that some of the terrorists were Arab. The calls came from people knowing my area of expertise full well, who yet instinctively turned to people like me to analyze an area that is - geographically - far from the Middle East.No matter where it happens, terrorism automatically conjures the Middle East and Islam, a notion that gets all too often substantiated by the revelation of the perpetrators’ origins, or the causes they claim to defend. I have found myself countless times in the seemingly impossible position of explaining my aversion to such acts of violence (especially suicide bombings) against unarmed Israeli civilians, while supporting the Palestinian cause full-heartedly. At the other end of the spectrum, it is frustrating to attempt explaining the context in which such attacks happen without being accused, ludicrously, of justifying terrorism.
This evening, a television report from Grozny, Chechnya’s demolished capital, showed gloomy residents who were simply at a loss for words, horrified by what happened in Beslan, and apprehensive about the consequences they might face from a Russian government and army whose brutality they have been enduring for over a decade. In front of a Moscow mosque, a few Muslim men hovered quietly, equally afraid; one of them angrily faced the camera and damned the terrorists, unable to comprehend how they could have attacked women and children.
The outrage in the Muslim world has been immense, but it is not the first time Muslims have reacted like this to terrorism. This time, however, Muslim condemnations were heard in the West.
In spite of the horror which fills us at the thought and sight of such actions, and leaving aside media and government propaganda of all sorts, we still must face the facts: terrorist acts are all despicable, and the fanatics who commit many of them are lost cases which can only be fought with every means available. But – and it is an important but – there are also those terrorists who consider themselves to be retaliating for similar acts of violence committed against their people, or who believe that this is the only option they have to coerce foreign governments into leaving them alone and taking them out of their misery. In such a state of affairs, something can still be done to stop the horror. Many governments (including the Russian and the Israeli) must be held accountable for the suffering they have inflicted on two sets of people: those who they govern lawfully, and those who they rule illegally and whose lives they have violated.
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Chalabi's back
Monday, September 6, 2004, 00:07
Ahmad Chalabi gave an interview on Al Arabiya on Thursday, managing to sound like every Arab regime - and even the Bush administration - by blaming everyone for whatever has gone wrong – in this particular case, the attempt on his life which killed two of his bodyguards. It could be terrorists, Saddam loyalists, other parties, and foreign forces, he said. (Who else is left, especially when considering that members of the government could fall under any of these categories, depending on the source you ask?) More importantly, the once very secular Chalabi gave another sign of his increasing proximity to Shi'a circles, by lamenting in detail the despicable living conditions in Sadr City, the slum of Baghdad formerly known as Saddam City inhabited mostly by poor Shi'a Iraqis.
In October 2003, Chalabi showed his sudden religiosity by siding with Sistani over the inclusion of Shari’a law in TAL (the Transitional Administrative Law). Now, he is championing the cause of Muqtada Sadr’s followers, having realized the considerable potential of their support.
Somehow, he seems to be getting stronger and has thwarted every American and Iraqi government attempt to sideline him. Watch out for more prophetic statements from Chalabi; remember, after the raid on his house, he asked the US to “let my people go.”
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Questions on terrorism
Monday, September 6, 2004, 00:04
No suicide bombers had attacked Israel for six months, Israeli officials said repeatedly on Tuesday as they tried to justify the wall cutting off the West Bank (and eating into Palestinian territory) from Israel. The way to stop terror, they argued ad nauseam, is to extend the wall (declared illegal by the International Court of Justice). It brings Israel security, they said. Only suicide bombers are breaking the peace and quiet, most media reported unquestioningly.In the same six-month period, however, 436 Palestinians were killed by Israel, but who would know? No breaking news ever announce these horrific deaths by bullets, bombs, missiles, and makeshift houses crumbling over helpless innocents. No international outcry ever ensues following countless Israeli attacks on people (3.5 million of them) caged in bits of territory their grandparents called home.
All human and legal conventions, including the Geneva Conventions, have been violated repeatedly by Israel, but the only terrorism that brings outrage to the world is that committed by Palestinians. Don’t both qualify as terrorism?
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