BFF This morning I thought of Newt Gingrich, not sure why. I Binges him (I don’t patronize only one search engine) and clicked on his Twitter link. Here is some of what I read:
“If we reestablish the constitutional basis of America this election will be historic-your help at newt.org makes big difference”
“The tea party movement should seek to educate the protesters-the tea party has it right-return to constitutional government”
“Looking forward to the debate tonight. But today I’m taking questions from you. Use #LeadNow to ask me about the issues.”
As I read his seriously witless remarks (tweets), my thoughts traveled back toward my home region, back to the Middle East, moving along the coast of my (Persian-American) Gulf and farther north, well past the Gulf. I focused on the common northeastern border between Iraq and Iran. I wondered if Newt Gingrich has given up on the idea of taking a hike along the Iraqi-Iranian border (in the Kurdish region). (Actually it was my suggestion to him, my contribution to his campaign posted here last week). It would be a great way to shore up his (non-existent) foreign policy credentials before the Iowa Republican caucuses. Nothing like a hike straddling the Iranian border, preferably in an undersized business suit that would accentuate his body curves. The mullahs may be thrilled: the prize this time would not be three crazy hapless students seeking innocent adventure. Newt, like most Republican political and radio warriors, never served in the military. They are so good at evading service yet sound more patriotic than Democrats who did. He will come out of Tehran almost as another John McCain but not as thin and not as injured. Of course the cuisine in Iran, even in Evin prison, is better than the Hanoi Hilton. Cheers
mhg
““Il n’est pas possible de donner une date pour la réalisation de ce projet. Dès que nos scientifiques annonceront qu’ils sont prêts, nous le ferons savoir”, a déclaré le responsable de l’organisation spatiale iranienne, Hamid Fazeli, cité par le site internet de la télévision d’Etat. Hamid Fazeli n’a pas donné d’explication sur l’ajournement de ce projet. Le responsable avait annoncé en juin que l’Iran allait envoyer un singe dans l’espace en août, à bord d’une capsule de 285 kilos portée par une fusée Kavoshghar-5, dernière version du lanceur déjà utilisé en 2010 pour envoyer dans l’espace une petite capsule contenant un rat, des tortues et des insects…………” Sending one a monkey into space is only bound by technical issues, and maybe some simian-itarian (as in human-itarian) considerations. Now sending a human requires other considerations, especially for the Iranians. I recall when NASA sent a Saudi prince into space with one of its teams he returned professing puzzlement about one main issue: he could not tell which way to face for prayer; he could not tell where Mecca was located from space. I would not have had any problem locating where Mecca was: it is exactly where it has always been, on the big blue marble. Even a spaced out prince should be able to see that. Now the Iranians may face another thorny issue as well, in addition to the Mecca direction. Will they or will they not send a cleric, a mullah, out into space (with the human astronaut)? In that case, why not train a cleric for the mission and launch him?Then there will be the thorny issue of the cleric being accused, like that Saudi prince, of being spaced out. Cheers
mhg
BFF Al-Qaeda calls Ahmadinejad ‘stupid’. They advised him to be “logical” not “ridiculous”. The Salafi terrorist group is pissed at the Iranian president for disseminating conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks at the UN. Ahmadinejad was probably just trying to needle the U.S. government with his talk, but he also got an unintended benefit by pissing off the Salafi terrorists. Castro calls Obama ‘stupid’
. Castro maybe at least half right about that. The whole Cuban blockade by the United States is stupid. It has nothing to do with freedom for the Cuban people; it has to do with winning elections in Miami and some other congressional districts. If freedom was the goal of these boycotts, Saudi Arabia would be the first country on the American boycott list (and Bahrain would have NATO planes bombing it). Cheers
mhg
“The lawyer of Yusef Naderkhani, an Iranian pastor sentenced to death for apostasy, says there is a good chance his client will be acquitted. Mohammad Ali Dadkhah made the comments to RFE/RL’s Radio Farda as international anger over the sentence grew. “I have provided the court with explanations that I believe will make the court change its decision, and it is 90 to 95 percent likely that the court will acquit Naderkhani,” Dadkhah said. The 33-year-old Naderkhani converted to Christianity from Islam in 1997, when he was 19. He was arrested in 2009, when he was serving as the pastor of a small church in the northern city of Rasht. A court sentenced him to hanging after convicting him of apostasy. Islamic law in Iran says a Muslim who converts to another faith can face the death penalty. Naderkhani’s wife was sentenced to life imprisonment, but has been released. The Supreme Court upheld Naderkhani’s sentence but said his conviction would be overturned if he repented and renounced his conversion……….”
With judges like these, no wonder the guy converted to something else. We always call for freedom of religion, but only in the West. It is the same story in Iran or in Saudi Arabia or in Malaysia or in almost any other Muslim country. Freedom of religion is professed by all, except Saudi Arabia which openly does not allow any religious practices other than Islam. In some places even other Muslim sects are banned. The fact is that most of our Islamic countries, including Iran, do not respect the freedom of any other religion. Cheers
mhg
“Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday lauded the close ties between Tehran and Khartoum, and underlined that the two countries are resolved to boost mutual cooperation without any limit or boundary. Addressing a meeting between high-ranking delegations from Iran and Sudan, Ahmadinejad described the two countries’ ties as “brotherly, deep and stable”, and noted, “Having a deep and shared understanding of the current historical juncture and developments, the two countries are seeking to increase their cooperation at all levels and without any restrictions.”……….”
The Iranians sure know how to pick them. So they lose friends and allies all around the world but gain Sudan.Big deal: Qaddafi also had great relations with Bob Mugabe; what good did it do him, unless he gets Ian Smith’s old ranch for his retirement? Somehow I don’t think that NATO will be too worried about this alliance. I suspect the Saudis will be more worried about this than the West, and not for any strategic power reasons. Their main worry is that the mullahs will start converting Sudanese to the Shi’a sect. These guys are as focused as the Iranians are, but for different reasons. Who said simplicity was bad? Cheers
mhg
BFF “For the first time the two were able to give the details of the isolation in which they lived and the conditions in Tehran’s Evin Prison, where they spent 781 days. “In all the time we spent in detention, we had a total of 15 minutes of telephone calls with our families and one, short visit from our mothers. We had to go on hunger strike repeatedly just to receive letters from our loved ones,” Fattal told reporters. “Many times, too many times, we heard the screams of other prisoners being beaten and there was nothing we could do to help them,” he said, “Solitary confinement was the worst experience of our lives. “It was clear to us from the very beginning that we were hostages,”…………..” I read recently about talk by some Iranian officials about encouraging tourism in Iran. What do you think (rhetorical)? Cheers
mhg
“Mohsen Makhmalbaf, one of Iran’s most high-profile film directors, has been on the move for six and a half years. He left Iran in 2005 to avoid restrictions on his film-making and has since moved to Afghanistan, Tajikstan, India, Paris and finally London. Makhmalbaf’s films include the 2001 film “Kandahar,” which won an award at the Cannes Film Festival and was listed by Time magazine as one of the 100 best movies ever. He has won more than a dozen international awards for his films…….”I moved from Iran about six and a half years ago to make more films because at that time the Iranian government doesn’t let me make more films in Iran”……… Leaving his country, Makhmalbaf said, was the price for continuing to make films, but it was a decision he did not take lightly. He said: “When we are out of our country somehow we become a little depressed, we lose our root in our culture but we will find something more. We could see our nation from outside from different angles.”Being out of Iran, out of the Middle East, is not easy for me really because I belong to that part of the earth…………..”
His last name in Persian means “velvet weaver” or “weaver of velvet”, as his films are……
“Mr. Ahmadinejad also indulged in a bit of triumphalism. He acknowledged that the West’s “crippling” sanctions against Iran had “worked well.” But he added: “Does Iran face more problems or the United States of America?” He referred to the “collapse” of the American financial system and suggested that Iran’s economy is in better shape. He added that the West will be driven by its weakness to “seek a rapprochement with Iran.” Then the interview was over, and Mr. Ahmadinejad zoomed back from bombast to conciliation. He beamed and told me: “We truly like and love the people of the United States.”………….”
Ahmadinejad was gloating on television yesterday. He rattled off statistics, real data, about the U.S. economy that should worry any American. He talked about unemployment, poverty, widening inequality, public debt, prisoner ratios, and other issues. Of course, he did not care to mention how the Iranian economy and the Iranian people have been doing under his regime. Like I said, the statistics he rattled off should worry most Americans and not just some. Most of the U. S. economic problems have been self-inflicted, especially the past obsession with “deregulation” and gutting oversight, while more of Iran’s problems are foreign-inflicted. Yet I have no doubt that there are Americans also gloating over some of the same statistics (while denying some of them). Ahmadinejad was trying to get back at the U.S. for imposing tough sanctions on his country. On the other hand, some Americans are no doubt seriously hoping for the hard times to continue, but only until after the elections of 2012. A twist of fate: Mr. Ahmadinejad knows that the health of the Iranian economy is tied to the health of the U.S. economy, sanctions or no sanctions. He did not and he does not wish the American economy any ill, for his own country’s sake. American policy-makers also know that the health of the world economy is tied to the ability of Iran (as well as others) to produce petroleum, that same crude stuff that U.S. politicians rail about in public and want o “boycott’. They also know that a cessation of Iranian exports will cause prices to skyrocket, but probably help a couple of places like Texas and the Gulf of Mexico operations. Cheers
mhg
“Saudi Arabian bloggers and journalists say the arch-conservative Islamic kingdom will find it hard to douse glimmers of more open reporting despite a tightening of media rules after the spread of popular revolts through the Arab world………… The world’s number one oil exporter announced a series of stricter regulations for journalists after “Arab Spring” unrest hit neighbouring countries earlier this year……… In a royal decree issued in March as protests were boiling over in the region in March, Saudi King Abdullah forbade criticism of senior members of the Sunni Muslim clergy. A new media law issued in April then threatened fines and the closure of publications that offended top figures or were seen to jeopardise stability. More recently, a leaked draft of an anti-terrorism law classified “endangering national security” and “harming the reputation of the state” as terrorist offences………..Twenty years ago, newspapers were so worried about upsetting the Saudi government that they waited days before reporting on Iraq’s invasion of the kingdom’s neighbour Kuwait………..” I don’t see that it makes any difference. Nobody inside the Kingdom without Magic has ever openly criticized the princes or the top clergy openly, not unless they wanted to vanish (a few who did, did). Or unless they are in the safety of exile.
As for this part: “Twenty years ago, newspapers were so worried about upsetting the Saudi government that they waited days before reporting on Iraq’s invasion of the kingdom’s neighbour Kuwait ”. Yeah, unfortunately I remember that one: the princes were scared s–tless, to use a vulgar high-school term, from Saddam’s Baathist military which proved to be like a hollow Mexican piñata (sans the candy) when faced with the Americans. It took a visit by Dick Cheney (then US Secretary of Defense) and the promise of US troops to get them to mention the invasion and to cooperate. All this is not mentioned in our ‘genteel’ Gulf media: it is considered un-brotherly, or perhaps un-sisterly, to mention it in mixed company
. All this is a regional phenomenon, not just a Saudi one. From Iran through Riyadh and all the way to Algeria, they all seek ways to stifle free opinion. Their main worry now is the Internet, a newish beast that they can’t seem to figure how to control. Unless they ban it as Saddam did in Iraq. Cheers
mhg
“Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said the great Islamic movements that have recently arisen in the Muslim world are a prelude to a greater development and the rule of Islam. The Leader made the remarks on Tuesday during a meeting with scholars and intellectuals who attended the fifth meeting of the Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly, which was held in Tehran on Sunday. He also said, “Our stance is to support and strengthen these movements, and we hope that these Islamic movements will bring an end to the hegemony of the main enemies, namely the Zionists and the United States.” In addition, the Leader advised Muslims to be vigilant about the enemies’ threats, especially their plots to create division between Shias and Sunnis. These plots are politically motivated, he said, adding, “The global arrogance (the forces of imperialism) are especially pursuing a policy of Shiaophobia in addition to the policy of Islamophobia………….” Mehr News Agency
Ayatollah Khamenei is wrong, of course, in labeling the Arab uprisings generally as Islamist, calling them “Islamic movements”. They started as quite secular movements in Tunisia and Egypt, and most Islamists like Salafis and many others either opposed or at least hesitated about them. The Islamists, ever opportunistic, especially the Salafis, have jumped on the bandwagon. Yet he has a point in that the Arab states undergoing uprisings are becoming more Islamist. Egypt will almost certainly become more “Islamist”, as will Libya although I suspect Libya is more susceptible to the threat of the Salafi movement. Syria will certainly become much more Islamist and much less secular than under the Baath, if Assad is overthrown, unless the military takes over again. Syria has had a long history of religious tolerance, even more so than Egypt in recent decades. Islamists have a leading role in both the Libyan and Syrian uprisings. Bahrain is already co-governed by the Salafis and Wahhabis who also fear a Shi’a resurgence if the Apartheid system is dismantled. As for Yemen? Who knows. Only Tunisia has some hope of blocking the ambitions of the Islamist parties. Khamenei is quite right about the dangers of Shiaphobia and Islamophobia. Cheers
mhg
Multidisciplinary: Middle East, North Africa, Gulf, GCC, World, Cosmos…..
Rattlesnake Ridge 
BFF