As I posted before, Iraq is now killing homosexuals at a startling rate, and since many can’t blend in, are forced into hiding. And three safe houses have now closed for want of funding. PaulCanning forwards an urgent request from IRAQI LGBT: IRAQI LGBT started to establish a network of safe houses inside Iraq in … Continue reading “A Worthy Cause: Helping LGBT Iraqis Who Are Being Chased Down And Executed”
Over the years, I’ve had gay friends and family and seen them struggle. It never seemed to me a path someone would “choose,” but what do I know? But this quote from TIME Magazine proves to me, it’s NOT a choice: I don’t care about the militias anymore because they’re going to kill me anyway … Continue reading “Proof It’s Not A Choice: The Gays Of Iraq”
I saw this story the other day: By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer Wed Aug 22, 8:58 AM ET DAMASCUS, Syria – Iraq’s prime minister lashed out Wednesday at U.S. criticism, saying no one has the right to impose timetables on his elected government and that his country “can find friends elsewhere.” Prime Minister Nouri … Continue reading “U.S. Prepares to Jettison Al-Maliki”
Dick Cheney in 1994: Invading Iraq Would Create Quagmire WOW. He made the exact same arguments the Dems made. He couldn’t have been more right. I wonder what caused his 180 degree turn after he became CEO of Halliburton then VP….
One always must be very careful with historical parallels; they are frequently used and abused to score political points.I’ve heard anti-immigration people saying “Rome collapsed ’cause they let in too many illegal aliens who turned on them!” Please! The Roman Empire succeeded because it was so intensely multicultural, not in spite of it. Often the … Continue reading “"Are We Rome?" Part VI: The Final Chapter”
There were many wars between the Romans and the Iraqis / Persians, too many wars to adequately describe here, one time a Roman general even defected to the Parthians and invaded Syria, but suffice it to say, neither side ever gained much territory long-term. The wars continued into the era of the Byzantines vs. the … Continue reading ““Are We Rome?” Part V: The Spoils of Ctesiphon”
Did you know that for nearly 150 years off and on, the Roman Empire fought to conquer Mesopotamia? At the time, the area that is now Iraq, Iran (Persia) and more was ruled by the Parthian Empire. What was the Parthian Empire like, and how did they collide with mighty Rome? The Parthians formed from … Continue reading ““Are We Rome?” Part IV: The First Roman Invasions of Iraq”
From David Horsey, the Pulitzer-winning cartoonist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Read the rest at Empire Rising: A Satirical History, Part V
I found this on YouTube. It is testimony from Dahlia Wasfi, a physician with a Jewish mother (who fled the Nazis) and an Iraqi father, and she has done two long visits to Iraq recently to help during the war. This testimony is riveting. She is very angry, screen-melting angry, about America invading her country. … Continue reading “Iraqi Jewish Woman Very Angry At War”
In a new Newsweek Poll first posted Saturday, 41% of Americans say Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was directly involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks . Thanks Dick Cheney! Thanks Rush Limbaugh! You are successfully duping a huge swath of the population. However this is down from 49%, a plurality, that believed this lie in … Continue reading “New Newsweek Poll: Misinformed Population ALARMS Me!”
I wanted to post a quick note of my thoughts on the developing (and rapidly changing) situation on the Iraqi front. Check out this story from the AP wire, Iraqi Insurgents Now Fighting Each Other. It describes how some of the Sunni insurgents are turning against al-Qaida: MUQDADIYAH, Iraq — At least two major insurgent … Continue reading “Latest From The Iraqi Front, April 2007”
In my post, Why did they create the new nation of Iraq? I discussed T.E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”) and his vision of the Middle East’s borders after WWI, which would’ve amounted to the Shias getting their own state in the Mesopotamian Basin, a single state for most of the Sunnis of what are now … Continue reading “What The U.S. Can Learn From “Lawrence of Arabia””
After World War I destroyed the Ottoman Empire, why did the British decide to create the new nation of Iraq out of the 3 different Ottoman provinces? The British divvied up the Ottoman Empire’s holdings and created Iraq out of the three Ottoman “vilayets” (regions) of Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. Why would they do this? … Continue reading “Why did they create the new nation of Iraq? UPDATED”
O Rly? At a President’s day celebration Tuesday, “President Bush linked the ideals of the first president to the war being fought by the 43rd” (full story here). This was so incredible, the disembodied spirit of George Washington ripped through the space-time continuum and said:
U.S. Foreign Policy In Deep Shi’ite An in-depth analysis In 2007, the dominant news story will be the ongoing bloodshed in Iraq. War is also the dominant spiritual and moral issue of my generation. It’s impossible for me not to blog about this. The president has ordered a “surge,” or increase of 21,500 troops, which … Continue reading “U.S. Foreign Policy In Deep Shi’ite”
U.S. Foreign Policy Lumbers, Hobbles and Bleeds Into New Year Thoughts on a “regional conflagration” in Iraq. Also, Israel in the spotlight Your foreign policy forecast for 2007: Iraq will be partly cloudy with a high chance of scattered shrapnel, and heavy sectarian bloodshed expected to the north, south, east and west of Baghdad. Earlier … Continue reading “U.S. Foreign Policy Lumbers, Hobbles and Bleeds Into New Year”
“Liberated” Iraqis Free To Join Forces With Hezbollah Hezbollah and Iran Training Shia Militias In Iraq Poster from the Mahdi Army, the Iraqi Shiite militia led by Moktada al-Sadr (upper left). Hezbollah, under Iranian auspices, are training the Shiite Mahdi Army (seen above). How sweet and helpful of them. According to the New York Times … Continue reading “Freed Iraqi Shias Joining Forces With Iranian Military and Hezbollah”
It’s Never Been “Stay The Course?” An Addendum to the hypocrisy post
What You Need To Know About The Middle East “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” — George Santayana Steven Pressfield recently wrote an in-depth piece on Iraq, Why We Will Never See Democracy in the Middle East. His main thesis that we are operating in Iraq while largely ignorant of … Continue reading “What You Need To Know About The Middle East”