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November 2006 Archives

November 29, 2006

US & Iraq: Imbecilic Navel-Gazing as Strategy

I read and was told that the major US media (or to adopt the childishly imbecilic Neo-Bolshevik speak of the American blogs, "Mainstream Media") has finally gotten around to calling the Iraqi civil war, a civil war. I rather foolishly thought that this might be welcomed among the more cogent and cogniscent corners of online commentary as a breath of fresh air and a good point of departure for actually bloody well tackling the disaster looming in front of the US of A, rather than childishly whinging on about terminology and pretending if only they don't bloody admit how bad it is, some magical intervention will somehow rescue them from the now inevitable disaster. I do say invevitable, for the Americans have already lost - as the Soviets already had two or three years before they could bring themselves to admit it.

But no. Rather, even into the center regions of the American Whankatariat, idiotic, droolingly cretinous idiotic denial, and simple minded self regarding idiocy is the result. The essential objection as far as I can tell (once I peel away the piss-poor half-informed and 1/4 understood history of Shia and Sunni, of Arab and Kurd - typical "they've always been" rubbish) - is that calling a spade a spade may lead the US to flee the field.

Continue reading "US & Iraq: Imbecilic Navel-Gazing as Strategy"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:24 AM | Comments (14) | TrackBack
Filed Under: MENA Region General , Op-Ed , Terrorism , US Foreign Policy

November 28, 2006

'Aqoul Nominated for Brass Crescent Award

We've been nominated for a Brass Crescent Award in the Best Group Blog category. As with the AFOE European Weblog Awards, I largely don't recognize our competition save for the excellent Aussie Muslim blog Austrolabe.

Ahem, however, I would hope that our readers find us at least as excellent, if not more.

Posted by eerie at 02:10 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Site News

November 24, 2006

Labor Rights in the UAE: An Update

In the UAE, a new agreement means middlemen are to be cut out of the labor supply chain bringing workers to the country from four countries that serve as major sources of manpower.

If the agreement works, it will go a long way towards bridging the gap between what workers expect when they leave their home countries, and what they actually receive. However, this is a big 'if,' especially given the the number of regulations regarding workers that already exist but remain unenforced. Nevertheless, the agreement would serve the interests of both workers themselves and the companies that hire them. Workers are often cheated by unscrupulous agents into illegally paying large sums of money to secure jobs, and these funds are often secured by pawning the family jewelry or through loansharks charging exorbitant interest rates. When the workers in question find out how much they will actually be paid, they are not happy. All too often, low morale- also caused by poor working conditions- has led to work disruptions, as workers have put down their tools in protest.

Continue reading "Labor Rights in the UAE: An Update"

Posted by Top Secret Anonymous Guy at 10:20 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Economic Development , Gulf , Media

November 22, 2006

MENA Moving Forward: Policy Shifts

This is something of an open thread, but motivated by my sensation that the there may be (on the margin) some meaningful reorientation of American policy, which for better or worse (often both) is a key external driver in the region, I thought we might have some thoughts on subjects worth discussing regarding future MENA developments. I personally have the penchant for the economic, but understand it is not of general interest.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:06 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Foreign Policy & MENA , MENA Region General , US Foreign Policy

November 21, 2006

Lebanese Logic Returns to Lebanon

Afraid this is a rather nasty turn for my second favourite destination (or maybe third, but in any case of the favourites) in MENA land, Lebanese Christian [Maronite] cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel whacked in assassination jobby.

Smart money would likely bet on Syria being stupid again, but on the other hand the Gemayel have no lack of enemies either.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 11:40 AM | Comments (31) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Levant

November 15, 2006

Al-Jazeera International: Setting the News Agenda?

Fortunate enough to have a stinking cold and be bunged up in front of the TV all day I managed to catch the inaugural day of Al-Jazeera International. Concurrent on Al-Jazeera's Arabic network there was back-patting self-congratulatory coverage and on the English sister network presenters like Riz Khan used their first shows to to take the opportunity to explain what the shows were going to be about, what the remit was, what they hoped to achieve etc.

Continue reading "Al-Jazeera International: Setting the News Agenda?"

Posted by Meph at 04:15 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Gulf , Media

November 14, 2006

Rack Your Brains

In a democracy, the media often twists a reasonable statement into a ridiculous soundbite which gets propagated widely, and causes unnecessary defensiveness on the part of the speaker. A far bigger problem, however, is that not enough people challenge the ridiculous claims of speakers in authoritarian countries (or indeed by speakers in the so-called free world about faraway places that their populations know little about).

Continue reading "Rack Your Brains"

Posted by dubaiwalla at 11:41 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Gulf , Media , Political Development , Press Freedom

November 13, 2006

Blogging In the Sand: Saudi bloggers profiled

The Washington Post Foreign Service's Faiza Ambah profiles Saudi bloggers. Featured are Fouad al-Farhan, Ahmed al-Omran, and Bandar Raffa, with references to Mystique and others. An organized group of Kingdom bloggers is in formation.

[A] growing wave of young Arabs...have turned to blogging to bypass the restrictions on free expression in a predominantly authoritarian, conservative and Muslim region. Blogging is so novel here that the equivalent term in Arabic, tadween, to chronicle, was coined only this year. But it has spread rapidly among the increasingly urban youth and in the process has loosened the limits of what's open for discussion.

Fuller quote and your (one hopes) informed comments below the break.

Continue reading "Blogging In the Sand: Saudi bloggers profiled"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 04:05 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Gulf , Press Freedom , Society & Culture

November 12, 2006

Dirty Little Secrets: Labour Exploitation in the UAE

To get away from US centered whanking on, and away from the depressing subjects of Iraq or Palestine, a quick reference to a very timely article in FT on labour exploitation in the UAE .

An open secret of course, if one can say a secret at all.

Continue reading "Dirty Little Secrets: Labour Exploitation in the UAE"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 12:38 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Business, Private , Economic Policy , Gulf

November 11, 2006

Arab Media: Al Jazeera Newspaper

Likely lost in the American elections noise and the Israeli Gaza invasion, an interesting item reported in the FT among other sources on Al Jazeera planning a competitor to the hoary old pan-Arab dailies, Al Hayat (my personal favourite), Asharq Al Awsat (All Saudi views, all the time...) and of course Al Quds Al Arabi (old school Arab nationalism, I found them shrill and boring when I bothered to read it).

A worthy concept, but I am afraid the very physicalness of newspapers make them too easy to ban (by the way, I remain puzzled why Hayat hasn't been found in Maghreb for decades) or pressure.

Continue reading "Arab Media: Al Jazeera Newspaper"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 07:55 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Economic Development , MENA Region General , Media , Op-Ed , Political Development

Global Gazing: Regional Reactions to US Election

Following up on my own note on what I have seen in region with respect to the American elections, let me share this FT analysis which is more or less in accord: Mideast relief over Rumsfeld’s demise, by William Wallis in Cairo.

Continue reading "Global Gazing: Regional Reactions to US Election"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:13 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Foreign Policy & MENA , MENA Region General

November 10, 2006

Global Gazing: MENA Echoes on US Election

As any number of MENA blogs can note, the US elections have been greeted in the region with a huge sense of relief, if only I would say from a rising sense of desperation with the Americans blundering about the region like a blind, maimed and lobotomised elephant.

Although I have been submerged in a potentially very profitable transaction as well as discussing with my new Managing Director carving out our operations and team from the Titanic (only a month on the job and the man is already on our side), I can attest that conversations over this week - with Americans, with Europeans, with above all MENA natives have all revolved around an expressed hope that the blundering incompetents in the US Presidential offices might finally give over some power to the realists.

Continue reading "Global Gazing: MENA Echoes on US Election"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 09:39 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
Filed Under: MENA Region General , US Foreign Policy

November 08, 2006

Rumsfeld Stepping Down

In the wake of popular dissatisfaction over the mishandling of Iraq (as shown in yesterday's elections), AP reports that Rumsfeld will be stepping down from his post as Secretary of Defense.

I'm sure members of our peanut gallery have opinions about potential shifts in US foreign policy now that Democrats have control of the House (and perhaps the Senate?). Feel free to yammer on and post links as things develop.

Posted by eerie at 01:04 PM | Comments (22) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Iraq War , MENA Region General , US Foreign Policy

November 04, 2006

Who Let The Cats Out?

I spent the past few days ruminating on a post, part of me wanting to ignore it and frankly bury it in the recesses of my repressed memory pile, another part of me gagging and wanting to spew my last meal. Am afraid the bile won and the balanced pondered upon post is in the bin. There are times when one has enough, when one comes to the realization that the tempered non-agitational reasoned approach to life leaves you out of the idiot pile but also robs you of your rage. It’s not Neanderthal or ignorant to be angry and I am, fucking seriously outraged, and I will not look for underlying causes or phenomenal precedents. Scum the lot of them.

Continue reading "Who Let The Cats Out?"

Posted by bint ash-shaitan at 04:30 PM | Comments (48) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Op-Ed , Society & Culture

November 02, 2006

CENTCOM briefing suggests impending chaos in Iraq

I don't normally do drive-by posts, but I found this slide strangely fascinating. It was published by the New York Times yesterday, along with an article describing factors and trends relating to stability and violence in Iraq.

Thoughts?

Posted by eerie at 12:20 PM | Comments (38) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Iraq War

November 01, 2006

New Month Open Thread

Yes, it's that time again.

New readers, introduce yourselves and feel free to ask questions or offer suggestions for improving the site.

Regulars, use this space to ramble on about trivial nonsense, make inappropriate comments about contributors, etc.

As usual, we make no promises to change, improve customer service or otherwise address any issues raised by our readers. Of course, I did finally make all the top banners clickable because Pantom kept whining, so you never know.

Posted by eerie at 12:26 PM | Comments (27) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Site News