My latest column for al-Hayat was posted on their English-language website Thursday. I’m not sure which day it was in their Arabic edition, but most likely a little earlier…
- Update Sunday a.m.: Actually it is in the October 9 edition. Thanks to Gilbert Achcar for that link.
In the column, I warned of the danger of another full-scale war breaking out between “Iran” (though perhaps, to be more specific, with some ethnic-Arab Shiites also in their camp) and the “Arab world”, with this war spurred by, and indeed also foreshadowed by, the existing grave Sunni-Shiite tensions inside Iraq.
From this perspective, the ghastly sectarian killings that are already taking place inside Iraq could just be a small prelude to what many countries in the region might see in the months ahead.
The “transmission belts”, if you like, for this magnification of sectarian strife, have already started to appear. We have had Jordan’s (Sunni) King Abdullah II warning of the dangers of “Shiite crescent” starting to operate throughout the whole Mashreq… We have had a high official in Iraq’s (Shiite-dominated) transitional government publicly deriding Saudi Arabia’s extremely urbane– and indeed, Princeton-educated– Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, as “a bedouin riding a camel.” I think the Iraqi official in question was not, actually, a Shiite but a Kurdish Iraqi (and therefore probably himself a Sunni). Still, that kind of an insult, voiced in public from Baghdad evidently stung a lot.
In my Hayat column, I recall that during the Iranian-Arab war that continued throughout most of the 1980s, “around one million people—nearly all of them Muslims—died and the economies of two sizeable countries were devastated.” I did not recall there, though perhaps I should have, that the policies of the Regan administration did a lot to foment that war and keep it going when its energy seemed to lag. Back then, Washington shoveled arms shipments to whichever of the two sides looked as though it might lose the war– including during Donald Rumsfeld’s notorious 1983 visit to Baghdad and later the whole Iran-contra arms shipment episode…
In the column, I look at the broader dynamics of the current US-Iran interaction, inasmuch as it’s an important factor in the whole regional dynamics of the Gulf.
Up near the lead of the column, I wrote,
- I am hopeful that cool heads will prevail, and that ways can be found for everyone’s fears and concerns to be aired, for differences to be discussed and resolved through means other than warfare and killing, and for intra-regional hot-lines and other mechanisms to be put in place to limit and prevent any escalation. I remain hopeful even though I know that inside Iraq today, sectarian and apparently sectarian killings are already being perpetrated on a completely unacceptable scale.
Am I actually hopeful today that cooler heads will prevail? The trouble is, is it so darned hard to remain hopeful when the daily news is saturated with news of killing and sectarian strife. We really need to find ways to reverse the dynamic whereby despair, grief, and fear can so easily fuel more and more of the same and then also the kinds of escalatory and nihilistic actions that can easily flow from that…
Your column reflects the fears I have had (recently, and even before the war started) that this would spread to a Saudi Arabia-Jordan-western Sunni Arabs in Iraq vs. Iran-Shia’s in Iraq regional war.
It is hard to figure what role would be played by the Kurds, but I can tell from reading their writings that they think the Turks are evil mindless killers. And there is evidence that the Kurds in Turkey are facing discrimination and violence themselves… and then there is the Turkomen in Iraq.
It is amazing to see so many groups, over all the planet and all of time, who are convinced that “the others” are only evil killers whereas our guys are the good guys who only kill for good, moral reasons. This is particularly true in the USA, and I find it disheartening that many recent converts to the “get out of Iraq” camp are in that position because they are simply racist.
Meanwhile, in Senator Dole’s office, they cling to the idea that we are there to liberate the Iraqi people and that the only killings that US troops do are of “bad guys” and unfortunate accidents. And Senator Dole herself, former head of the American Red Cross, consistently ignored the growing torture scandal in Iraqi’s prison. When our group lobbied her on September 26th, we requested that she visit Iraq and specifically visit the hospitals there. We know there are doctors in the hospitals who speak English who can tell her directly how things are going. We are hopeful that, if she does this, it will break through her denial.
And (off-topic) here’s a note for David: how long do you think it will take for the USA and the Bush administration to step up to help the victims of the earthquake in those Muslim countries? It has been several hours already, and I have not heard a word.
Helen, I share your fair
I think the pump up start already with the latest news “Arabic Newspapers” That Sadie Arabia negotiated an Arm Deal with UK worth $US71.0 Billons, another one with US worth $US2.1 Billons.
Reasonable thinker will wonder why these deals and for what?
Is it really to defend the Saudi? And from whom?
There are many US bases in the region supposed to protects these slave regimes in the gulf “Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman” so why then these arm deals?
In same talk, looking the rise of oil prices attracts more interest in the ME, last week one of the Qatari Shaikh Al-Thani Family, he is working with Real State announced that he will invest $US31.0 Billons in NEW HOTAL designed like Tulips Flower and with cooperation with Apprentice Donald Trump!!, when journalists asked him how much Trump share, he twisted the answer……
Imagine state with Population 863,051 (less 5000 their citizenship stripped a few months ago and thrown out of Qatar borders) invested and try to spend $US31.0 Billons in this tiny funny state on the Arabian Gulf!!!!
With these billons flying by these ruthless regimes is it better to spend some of it to feed the hanger in SUDAN? Or In NAIGER, where the human dies because they can’t found any food, showed a horrified images on TV, a small baby with his mother feed him some tree leafs, he was crying refusing the leafs, when she asked by interviewer she replayed I did not have any thing to feed him!!,
Or those Palestinians returned to their destroyed land after 38 years looking for a new life with hope and shelter, those regimes who saying they care about Islamic Values and the Muslims around the world, the supporter of the Madrasha that breaded the Terrorists Wahabi followers……
I agree with you this same game when Rummy went to Baghdad and met the dictator with help in Weaponry and Intelligence, when many regimes follow to Silicon Valley carried Millions and Millions of US dollars shopping from black market and GE company pass their promises to the dictator to build GM car factory in Iraq “Al-Askandaryia Site” south Baghdad, its was just to seduced him to spend billons on his foolishness and stupidity.
Same scenario will be playing again with those foolish regimes in the gulf those who racing the world for Free Trade Agreement with US, I doubted these states benefited form this useless deals with US.
William Kristol: Nutjob
Does anybody really take this guy seriously?
Does anybody really take this guy seriously?
Regrettably, yes.
Susan,
Time to eat your hat again, please refer to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4322900.stm
As for getting Senator Dole to visit Iraq, that would be marginally useful. But Susan if you exercise regularly and eat healthy you may live long enough to see Helena herself to visit Iraq and maybe get first hand information on a country so central to her advocacy and probably livelihood. Lowly reporters from most local radio stations have ventured a two week stint, but I guess it is sufficient for her to throw mud from the safety of the beltway.
Finally, on the incipient intestine war in Iraq, I have been observing that all along. Maybe if we all exercise and eat well we may see cooler heads prevail in the Arab world.
David
David,
“Helena herself to visit Iraq and maybe get first hand information on a country so central to her advocacy and probably livelihood.”
I think it’s more useful for you to go to Iraq and put all your hatred on the ground there and tell us the real live, suggestion is to Tikkun Yourself first, then this blog DAVID….
Shalom
Thanks Salah for your suggestion. I would certainly follow it if I were an advocate spending my time and making a living lecturing in oral, electronic, and printed form about a place I never had the testicles to visit. I would do that if I had gloated about being an intellectual troublemaker against the US administration in Iraq.
There is no hatred in me against a place I know little, just gratitude towards the US, a place that treated me better than I deserved, and the one I am rooting for in the imminent clash so many of you deny.
David
there is no hatred in me against a place I know little
Is it better for you to visit the place especially you’re expert in terrorism and “islamo-fascism” no it’s radical Islam, and see your theories applicable like Neo’s and what the reality is, instead of judging 1 Billons believers by selective incidents by your mind.
A place that treated me better than I deserved,
Well that’s good to hear, consequently then your talk should reflect the betterness you learned toward the others whom they don’t deserved as I see from your words.
the one I am rooting for in the imminent clash so many of you deny.
Well I think there is no clash David, its conflicts of interest!
Clash it’s a matter of survival for one side in the end, this more applicable like Arab/ Israel, but for a place that treated you better, its misunderstandings and conflict of interest.
Shalom,
The US has promised $100,000.
from article cited above by David. Yes, the US has offered $100,000 to Pakistan.
hope it doesn’t break the bank….
Lowly reporters from most local radio stations have ventured a two week stint-David
They were there 10 days and they never left the Green Zone…. yet they determined how the average Iraqi feels about US troops in their country, amazingly enough.
Bless your heart David, you’re talking through your hat here again as so often… Reporters from “most” local radio stations have never been to Iraq. (Do you have any idea how many such stations there are?)… I have been to Iraq…. You have no idea about my finances and earning situation…
Why do you carry on making arguments that are built on an incredibly sparse knowledge base? It undermines whatever credibility the rest of your arguments may have had.
“During the Breginski foreign policy era, the policy that was followed was to establish a belt of Moslem fundamentalist countries along the borders of the former Soviet Union, due to the fact that Islam doesn’t get along with Communism, and hence Islam will be the barrier for the spread of Comminism. and that is what lead to the Khumeini in Iran, the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the revival of fundamental Islam.”
David, what you seeded years ago, now you eating the harvest fruit of that seed, AWAFY عوافي
The US has promised $100,000.
Susan, yesterday when you posted this I saw that USAID alone had pledged $500,000 in immediate assistance from its budget, which means that the country mission in Pakistan can immediately release the funds.
About five minutes ago, a donor roster shown on CNN showed that the US was promising $50 million, the highest amount pledged by any country by a factor of almost ten. The only other donors to pledge $10 million or more were not countries, but institutions: the World Bank had pledged $20 million in assistance, and the Asian Development Bank had pledged $10 million.
Other significant donors included Australia, Germany, China and Russia.
Susan,
NPR reports now 50 million plus helicopters. In all fairness it may be time for you to type a short retraction and move on.
Sol
It took two days for the US to step up and offer some significant aid. TWO DAYS!!
I got the $100,000 figure from the article cited by David.
I don’t think $50 million is enough, but that should have been authorized within *hours* of the event by the US government. This disaster may have more dead than the tsunami.
David –
Europe prefers to persecute Jews, America prefers to persecute Blacks. All rooted in the different economic interests and dogmas of the historic ruling elites of Europe and America. If you’re treated better or worse by a society, that’s because it’s in its interest. Why did we treate Cubans so much better than Haitians when they came here? Just business. The Romans were very tolerant of anyone who would swear allegiance to the patron god of the city of Rome, which pagans had no problem with, but Jews and Christians could not in conscience do. We will judge the Roman and American and other empires by the mess they left behind, and if you’re rooting for World War III because you want to see the mud races enslaved or exterminated by us, you will get the Dark Ages you deserve, because non-whites are now over 80% of the human race and growing.
It took two days for the US to step up and offer some significant aid. TWO DAYS!!
Actually, it took about thirty six hours for this “initial” $50 million. From talking to people at the US mission in Islamabad, I understand that the $500k was available in about two hours, i.e. when people in the capital, at least, could use it immediately for fuel, supplies, etc.
Look, this happened in the middle of the night EST on a weekend. That matters, like it or not. Would the world be a better place if the US had round the clock worldwide natural disaster emergency operations centers with billion dollar wire transfers on standby, ready to go? Probably. Is it legitimate to criticize the US for not doing so? Only in a very abstract theoretical way.
Unlike in the tsunami, I haven’t heard any criticism of donors’ response times so far. I don’t honestly think such criticisms are warranted … unless you’re just pissed off and looking to criticize somebody, no matter what they do.Isn’t it better to focus our criticism on areas where, you know, the US actually did something wrong? It’s not like we’re short on material there.
but that should have been authorized within *hours* of the event by the US government.
Says who? The money isn’t going to be spent in the first week, much less the first twenty four hours; nobody is going to even know how much it will cost. What good would have “authorizing (the money) within hours” have done, other than give somebody a little PR bonus? Do you think the Pakistani army and others were just sitting around waiting to see how much the US was going to send?
Your comment super390 is indeed relevant as to the broad fairness issue, but it doesn’t affect my gratitude posture. If anything, the fact that the world is heterogeneous and unfair means that telling your friends from your enemies is more important than otherwise.
On the theme of local reporters, Susan’s pseudo retraction, and sparse vs dense knowledge, I am sad to report that the dialogue I was having on this thread is being censored by Helena. It is all about hearing opinions and perspectives, but somehow Helena prefers to supress some perspectives. The deck is stacked, I wish I could have you all over for coffee and cake instead of depending on Helena’s editorial policy for our dialogue. If you know of a relevant and uncensored blog to repost what was censored, let’s go there for some fresh air.
David
David, get real. All blogs are moderated. You chose to get very hostile to me instead of discussing the topic at hand… I edited it.
If someone had ccome over to your place for coffee and cake and used the opportunity to start slandering you in public I imagine you’d do the same.
Now, back to the topic of the post… a truly terrifying prospect that no-one seems to be talking about much on this board anymore…
I thought y’all might be interested to learn that a number of Iranian participants on a discussion list I’m part of have expressed an interest in getting this column published in Farsi someplace. If it happens, I’ll let y’all know.
“Back then, Washington shoveled arms shipments to whichever of the two sides looked as though it might lose the war– including during Donald Rumsfeld’s notorious 1983 visit to Baghdad…”
I have read the FOIA debriefs of Rumsfeld and nothing in them justifies this remark. Nor do the findings of SIPRI, which has documented the arms transfers to Iraq. What exactly is your source here Helena? Exactly which arms are you talking about?
Nonsense Helena. You are not editing messages, you are deleting anything coming from me. Let the readers decide if my post was worthless or bad form.
And when you come over for coffee I’ll let you talk.
D.
Well, Vadim, you could start with this WaPo article by Michael Dobbs which says:
The story of U.S. involvement with Saddam Hussein in the years before his 1990 attack on Kuwait — which included large-scale intelligence sharing, supply of cluster bombs through a Chilean front company, and facilitating Iraq’s acquisition of chemical and biological precursors — is a topical example of the underside of U.S. foreign policy.
Cluster bombs, chemical and biuological-weapon precursors… not small stuff, I’d say. (Not to mention, highly illegal, all of ’em.)
Or you could certainly look at the National Security Archive’s collection of (admittedly limited) FOIA-released docs, here. They mention other items like Bell Helicopters, etc.
(Not to mention, highly illegal, all of ’em.)
Incorrect Helena. ‘Chemical and biological precursors’ include numerous vaccines, ordinary pesticides and industrial chemicals such as those used for making plastic. Tetanus and anthrax vaccines are both biological precursor agents, and hardly illegal.
The FOIA documents you reference specifically detail Rumsfeld’s refusal to weaponise (armor and arm) those ‘Bell helicopters.’ I suggest you read the Rumsfeld debriefs a bit more closely and carefully. If you’d like I can transcribe the relevant sections.
SIPRI arms sales statistics by country here:
http://www.answers.com/topic/arms-sales-to-iraq-1973-1990
(Not to mention, highly illegal, all of ’em.)
Incorrect Helena. ‘Chemical and biological precursors’ include numerous vaccines, ordinary pesticides and industrial chemicals such as those used for making plastic. Tetanus and anthrax vaccines are both biological precursor agents, and hardly illegal.
The FOIA documents you reference specifically detail Rumsfeld’s refusal to weaponise (armor and arm) those ‘Bell helicopters.’ I suggest you read the Rumsfeld debriefs a bit more closely and carefully. If you’d like I can transcribe the relevant sections.
SIPRI arms sales statistics by country here:
http://www.answers.com/topic/arms-sales-to-iraq-1973-1990
“Bilateral relations were sharply set back by our march 5 condemnation of Iraq for CW use despite our repeated warnings that this issue would emerge sooner or later.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/iraq48.pdf
“Bell reps are fully aware that any helicopters they sell the Iraqis cannot in any way [be] configured for military use”
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/iraq55.pdf
re: Chilean cluster bombs
Carlos Cardoen is not a US citizen nor an agent of the US government nor any US business interest. Describing his firm as a ‘front company’ for the US government is somewhat ridiculous considering the US has successfully pressed numerous lawsuits against it.
eg http://www.gulfinvestigations.net/document480.html
The story of U.S. involvement with Saddam Hussein in the years before his 1990 attack on Kuwait
Helen, I think the most important thing in regards to the invasion of Kuwait is Saddam meeting with Mrs April Glaspy US Ambassador in Baghdad, which some sort of giving him a Green Light to go ahead, and the disappearance of Mrs April Glaspy US Ambassador in Baghdad from the public and front politic side in US put doubts what she told Saddam at that time and whet he said..