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December 2006 Archives

December 30, 2006

In Iraq, how can one tell Sunnis from Shi'ites by their names?

A few days ago, our colleague Jim Henley wrote the following post:

Iraqi Onomastics Bleg

You know what would be great? A handy internet reference that identifies common Iraqi given names as “Sunni,” “Shiite” or “Ambiguous.” We know that death squads shoot people for having the wrong name. And we know that anyone quoted in a media story is going to be situated in Iraq’s ethnic/sectarian conflict, whether he or she wants to be or not. It would be useful to be able to see a name and know the speaker’s religious identity.

Indeed, it would be neat for many in the West to have lists of Sunni and Shi'ite names handy. Alas, reality isn't so kind.

Continue reading "In Iraq, how can one tell Sunnis from Shi'ites by their names?"

Posted by MSK at 05:25 PM | Comments (24) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Ethnic Minorities , Iraq War , Religious Minorities

Eid Mubarek and Economics

On the occasion of wishing, to the extent I am capable of such, readers Happy Holidays, Eid Mubarek and similar canned sentiments, a quick suggestion.

For the Islamic world, the Eid is a great time to reflect on the current inefficiencies in the markets, on why one can't do haouli forward contracts for an Eid delivery on a sheep, and generally on how consumption spikes in MENA reveal failures in the subsidies systems.

You might take time to reflect if an Islamic MBA would help introduce such ideas into conservatives venues, or ask what private investment may actually be doing. Regardless, the region is tipping on the edge of catastrophe due to the Americans' incompetence, but I remain hopefull that other trends, like massive amounts of capital and investment will tide things over.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 07:27 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Economic Development , Islam General , MENA Region General

December 29, 2006

Islamist Election & Moving MENA Forward: Any Real Meaning in "Moderate" Elections?

A somewhat Arab News-ish article from FT on the Moroccan PM - who's on shaky ground according to the movers and shakers of the Maghreb biz community - comments that the Islamists can't really win in the upcoming elections, given they're structured against them.

I continue to be frustrated with this short-sightedness.

Returning to the question posed in the title, is there any real meaning in "moderate" elections? Am I the only observer that feels this sort of game has the tendency to bring long term discredit on the concept of "secularism"? (well, actually my opinion is that it already has.)

Posted by The Lounsbury at 10:30 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Filed Under: EU Foreign Policy , Foreign Policy & MENA , Political Development , US Foreign Policy

Something is rotten in the state of Islamist politics

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia is one of the two most prominent leaders in Sunni Islam. He might not have the stature of the pope, but when he speaks, people listen. So what does he think is the chief objective of every Muslim?

Could it be:

1. Being a good person, and living in harmony with one's neighbors?


2. Following the five pillars of Islam?


3. Defending Prophet Mohammed against slanderous attacks by enemies of Islam?

If you correctly guessed C, you win nothing - the first two would not have merited a mention here.

Continue reading "Something is rotten in the state of Islamist politics"

Posted by Top Secret Anonymous Guy at 10:07 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Islam & Politics , Islam General , Political Development , Religious Minorities , Society & Culture

December 27, 2006

Mubarak presses for democratic change

The actual online headline from FT, as written by some chickie stringer. And an FT editor, no doubt in a rush, approved.

Amusing in and of itself. However, it does convey useful information on the Pharaoh's great push for Pharaonic democracy, which seems to be similar to People's Democracy as practiced by Khrushchev. Or maybe Brezhnev. Also a fine reflexion point for the gullible fools who were touting a "Mideast Spring" and Great Victory for Bush ibn Bush last year because of Maronite tarts painting flags on their Mediterranean bosoms.

Meanwhile onto the Arab News stringer that accidentally got herself published in FT.

Continue reading "Mubarak presses for democratic change"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:54 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
Filed Under: North Africa

You Can't Be Syria's? Ambassador Blogging

The envoy to USA from Syria apparenlty maintains a personal blog. I'll leave it to our distinguished readership to assess the value or lack thereof, and the deeper sociopolitical meaning. In the meantime, I kind of enjoyed his linking to this survey by Sami Moubayed of Syrian women's rights activities (which, I would note, apparently did indeed exist before the Levantine Boadicea of You Tube, Wafa Sultan, so bravely invented them from -- where was it? -- California, circa 2005.)

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 02:46 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Gender Issues , Levant , Political Development , Society & Culture , US Foreign Policy

December 22, 2006

The Last Umayyad

On December 24th 1568, Don Fernando de Válor was crowned King of Cordoba and Granada. A little-known event in the history of European Islam, the revolt of the Moriscos - or the Alpujarra War - was one of the darkest episodes in a series of events leading to the destruction and disappearance of native Muslims from Western Europe up to the 20th century.

The revolt was set amongst a rare confluence of motives and interests: those of the Inquisition and part of the Castilian nobility eager to take over the Moriscos' lands, and those of a Spanish crown fearing the presence of a potential fifth column while fighting the Ottoman Empire for dominance in the Mediterranean.

Continue reading "The Last Umayyad"

Posted by Shaheen at 02:52 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Ethnic Minorities , North Africa , Religious Minorities , Society & Culture

Al Jazeera English on The Daily Show

By now many have seen the Daily Show clip about Al Jazeera English from 13 December, where Samantha Bee visits the Washington DC office of AJE and, finding it utterly boring and just not the right format to captivate Americans, proceeds to "jazz it up a bit".

Continue reading "Al Jazeera English on The Daily Show"

Posted by MSK at 02:01 PM | Comments (22) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Media

Emirati Elections

I'm not sufficiently well-versed in UAE politics as to recognize the names of any of the winners in the recently concluded elections there. I am, however, curious about what country last held a vote for parliament in which fifteen percent of those chosen garnered a two-digit number of votes. Let's hope this is the proverbial footstep that begins a thousand-mile journey.

Posted by Top Secret Anonymous Guy at 01:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Gulf , Political Development

December 20, 2006

Stupid statement from Robert Fisk

From an interview with Robert Fisk in the UAE's Gulf News:

Has the proliferation of the alternative media – particularly online – helped present truer pictures?

Blogs are not a useful alternative press. I don't use the internet much, as I don't have time and there's no system of accountability. I know many journalists and writers now read everything online and then use it to write pieces, but that's just mirror journalism.

Well Robert, if you "don't use the internet much", how in God's name are you placed to comment on whether blogs are a useful alternative press or not? Given the immense censorship in certain countries, it is only via the internet - and these days, usually in the form of blogging - that citizen journalists and actual journalists are able to get stories out. Making a broad and dismissive statement from a platform of self-confessed ignorance is hardly the behaviour of someone worth heeding, is it?

Posted by secretdubai at 07:09 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Media

December 19, 2006

Another Woman Put In Her Place in Saudi Arabia?

Oh, wait, sorry. It's not Saudi Arabia. Culture shock for an American female visitor:

A woman...reported a vicious attack by an ad-hoc "modesty patrol" on a...bus last month...[She says] she was slapped, kicked, punched and pushed by a group of men who demanded that she sit in the back of the bus with the other women...She rode the bus daily to...pray at sunrise...Women usually sit in the back, while men sit in the front, as a matter of custom.

Where's Rosa Parks when you need her?

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 09:11 PM | Comments (21) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Gender Issues , Levant , Religious Minorities , Society & Culture

December 16, 2006

"Bomb-bomb-bomb / Bomb-bomb Iran" was cleverer

This heartwarming scene of US soldiers leading Iraqi kids in a sing-a-long (well, a chant-along) has enough irony to send O. Henry running back to prison (despite Wikipedia vandals apparently changing his name in the entry to Poop Face).

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 06:57 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Iraq War

December 14, 2006

Attending Holocaust Denial Conference Might Be Career-Limiting

The Tehran conference has drawn widespread condemnation for its roster of infamous attendees and controversial position on the Holocaust. Certainly any academic with half a brain wouldn't be caught dead at one of Ahmedinejad's little soirees, as demonstrated by the brewing intellectual slapfight between Alan Dershowitz and Norman Finkelstein. Using evidence from a neo-nazi website, Dershowitz insinuated that his academic nemesis not only attended, but would fit right in because he "has allied himself closely with the Holocaust denial movement by trivializing the suffering of its victims and denying that many of them were victims at all." Our man Richard Silverstein summarizes the story and casts doubt on Dershowitz's conclusion by noting that a) Finkelstein's own parents narrowly escaped the Holocaust, making denial a bit difficult and b) he was testifying at a federal trial in Chicago during the conference.

The motive behind this accusation is clear: legitimate academics who attend Holocaust conferences with David Duke and his ilk may experience slight credibility loss among peers. Rather like evolutionary biologists presenting papers at a conference of Creationists, I suppose.

Continue reading "Attending Holocaust Denial Conference Might Be Career-Limiting"

Posted by eerie at 11:46 PM | Comments (19) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Gulf , MENA Region General , Op-Ed , Religious Minorities

December 12, 2006

Iraq Budget Woes: Graft, Bureaucracy and Fiefdoms

Came across an article in the NYT reporting that Iraq's 27 ministries were spending as little as 15% of 2006 capital budget allocations for rebuilding. Salient points are highlighted below:

Among reasons for the problems — like a large turnover in government personnel — is a strange new one: bureaucrats are so fearful and confused by anticorruption measures put in place by the American and Iraqi governments that they are afraid to sign off on contracts...

American and Iraqi officials here are also saying that the stringent measures they had favored to slow the rampant corruption may be especially daunting for bureaucrats who have little experience with Western-style regulations and oversight. Those officials say that Iraqis who have seen their colleagues arrested and jailed in anticorruption sweeps are reluctant to put their own name on a contract.

A superficial reading of this article suggests an argument for more loosely regulated bureaucracy to speed up the disbursement of funds. That makes sense if one does not recall the USG CPA audit that revealed misappropriation of about $8.8 billion dollars. Unsurprisingly, the situation in Iraq makes a standard regs vs. no-regs debate a bit complicated.

Continue reading "Iraq Budget Woes: Graft, Bureaucracy and Fiefdoms"

Posted by eerie at 08:04 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Iraq War , Political Development

December 08, 2006

Surprising, the talent attracted: USG staffing in Iraq & MENA

I am generally uninterested in the new US Gov report on their self-made fiasco in Iraq, as it will likely be lost in the navel gazing party political whanking in the US -with all the aspects of a neo-Bolshevik circular firing squad - but in perusing published commentary I was struck by the following quote from a Washington Post arty (struck but not inherently surprised):

The report is replete with damning details about the administration's inept handling of Iraq. It notes, for instance, that only six people in the 1,000-person embassy in Baghdad can speak Arabic fluently. It recounts how the military counted 93 acts of violence in one day in July, when the group's own reexamination of the data found 1,100 acts of violence. "Good policy is difficult to make when information is systematically collected in a way that minimizes discrepancy with policy goals," the report says.

At this late stage in the game it is indeed striking that the US still can not mobilise sufficient human resources of quality and proper qualifications.

Continue reading "Surprising, the talent attracted: USG staffing in Iraq & MENA"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 05:44 AM | Comments (15) | TrackBack
Filed Under: MENA Region General , US Foreign Policy

December 07, 2006

Finalist: 2006 Weblog Awards

First, kudos to us for getting an honorable mention in the Brass Crescent Awards, despite my suspicion that most of the Aqoul contributors didn't vote (lazy bastards). Congratulations to Austrolabe, a MENA/Islam group blog that should be on everyone's reading list.

Meanwhile, it seems another laurel has been hurled our way by the Weblog Awards, the world's largest blog competition. We are finalists in the Best Middle East and Africa Blog category. Polls open tonight (North American time, presumably), so check back later for a link to the voting form.

Update: Voting form available here.

Posted by eerie at 08:14 AM | Comments (20) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Site News

December 06, 2006

Iraq Study Group Report Released

Today the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group published its report that proposes a new course for the U.S. administration in Iraq, all neatly listed in 79 recommendations.

A pdf of the report can be downloaded here.

Having watched the one-hour news conference and read all 160 pages I am too bleary-eyed to write any detailed comments. In short, the report is very well done and - particularly against the backdrop of the past 5 years of U.S. policy towards Iraq and the Middle East as a whole - a remarkable document that everyone should read.

Now I'm waiting for the reaction from the White House.

Posted by raf* at 01:33 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Iraq War , US Foreign Policy

December 04, 2006

Fun with Labels: Protest, Opposition, Siege, and/or Coup d'Etat in Lebanon

Even if one man's protest is apparently another man's attempted coup, there's still something just a little bit off about the rhetoric surrounding recent events in Lebanon. Commentators are at pains to distance what is happening now from what happened when the March 14th movement (or Cedar Revolution, if you prefer) peacefully camped out in downtown Beirut. It would be impossible to track down every instance of the sort of rhetoric I'm talking about, but Abu Kais, currently guest-blogging for Michael Totten, is a pretty representative example, referring to the situation as an "occupation of downtown Beirut" and a "coup attempt". And, our own Lounsbury has already posted on similar framings over on ...Or Does it Explode? that amount to: "How dare people we don't like use non-reprehensible tactics? Bad people should only use bad tactics!"

Continue reading "Fun with Labels: Protest, Opposition, Siege, and/or Coup d'Etat in Lebanon"

Posted by homais at 03:11 AM | Comments (85) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Levant , Op-Ed

A Grand Bargain with Iran?

In 2003, as American troops were moving into Baghdad, Iran offered the United States a grand bargain. The deal offered was simple: Iran would not attempt to procure WMDs, stop supporting terrorism, cooperate in Iraq, and accept a two-state solution for Israel/Palestine, in return for a full normalization of relations with the United States, an end to sanctions, cooperation on technology, and a recognition of Iranian security concerns.

Continue reading "A Grand Bargain with Iran?"

Posted by dubaiwalla at 01:28 AM | Comments (20) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Gulf , US Foreign Policy

December 03, 2006

We interrupt this pogrom: radio test of anti-Muslim hatred

Playing provocateur, radio talk show host Jerry Klein in the Washington DC area decided the time was right to call for Muslims in America to be required to wear crescent tattoos or armbands, which drew a few outraged phone calls. But then the more interesting ones came in: "What good is identifying them?...You have to set up encampments like during World War Two with the Japanese and Germans." And: "Not only do you tattoo them in the middle of their forehead but you ship them out of this country...they are here to kill us." After an hour of tossing out this littlegreen, I mean red, meat, the host annouced that he wasn't serious and then added some comments of his own.

Continue reading "We interrupt this pogrom: radio test of anti-Muslim hatred"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 07:50 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Ethnic Minorities , Islam & Politics , Religious Minorities , Society & Culture , Terrorism

December 01, 2006

Traditional New Month Open Wanking Thread

Well, November was interesting. First, Americans decided to inform Bush that they were no longer drinking the White House Kool-Aid, as demonstrated by the elections on Nov 7. This was followed by Rumsfeld's resignation, the launch of al-Jazeera's English channel, Pierre Gemayel getting whacked and of course Lebanon turning into a sectarian powderkeg.

Meanwhile, it's suddenly become fashionable to gleefully criticize US foreign policy, as demonstrated by major media outlets using the term "civil war" and US allies sheepishly admitting that the whole Iraq thing has turned out to be a disaster.

Who wants to make predictions for December? Perhaps 'Aqoul should offer a prize to for the most astute forecast.

In any case, this is our monthly thread for open discussion about the site, its contributors and other trivialities. New readers should introduce themselves, regulars may continue whining as usual.

Posted by eerie at 07:02 PM | Comments (15) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Site News

Tipping the Wrong Way: MENA & US Policy

The slow motion disaster that is Iraq has come to bore me, now that I have written off personal interests there (although as an aside, now one doesn't cease to get offers to take part in US reconstruction - sorry boys, too late. In '03 I would have done it. Now you're 3 years down the road to utter catastrophe, not a bloody chance).

However, as part of the larger wreckage of US policy, that remains sadly a major but largely negative driver in the region (not due to overall intentions, but realism of how and on what schedule said intentions can be implemented - which is to say due to the utterly magical fairy-dust approach they insist on taking) one has to be interested in Iraq and US MENA policy which surrounds it and is in part driven by the fiasco.

Continue reading "Tipping the Wrong Way: MENA & US Policy"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 10:06 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Economic Development , Economic Policy , Foreign Policy & MENA , US Foreign Policy

How bad it is in the Middle East

Ignatius in the Washington Post: "That's how bad it is right now in the Middle East -- when the Palestinian morass is regarded as a bright spot."

A very worthy quote. And accurate.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 10:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Foreign Policy & MENA