Archive for the ‘middle east’ Category

Hey you know that revolution that the Wisconsin folk are cheering…

Posted: February 21, 2011 by datechguy in middle east
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…here are a few related stories:

A second female reporter on being luckier than Lara Logan

It comes down to luck. Sheer luck. And when it runs dry, that’s it. I don’t know the details of what happened to Lara Logan at the square. I can imagine it all too well, though. And when I heard the news on Tuesday I was heartsick: My God. That could’ve been me.

I’d rather be lucky than smart. And unfortunately there is a third not so lucky:

Now I can say what I have only told a few friends since my return: That I too was subjected to several sexual harassment attacks at the scene.

Although they cannot be compared to the trauma Lara suffered, they were deeply upsetting.

Meanwhile more details have come out about the Logan story and they are not pretty as Howard Kurtz explains:

“We were detained by the Egyptian army,” Logan told Esquire. “Arrested, detained, and interrogated. Blindfolded, handcuffed, taken at gunpoint, our driver beaten. It’s the regime that arrested us. They arrested [our producer] just outside of his hotel, and they took him off the road at gunpoint, threw him against the wall, handcuffed him, blindfolded him. Took him into custody like that.”

There was more: “They blindfolded me, but they said if I didn’t take it off they wouldn’t tie my hands. They kept us in stress positions—they wouldn’t let me put my head down. It was all through the night. We were pretty exhausted… We were accused of being Israeli spies. We were accused of being agents. We were accused of everything.” In the process, Logan said, she became “violently, violently ill.” The army eventually released Logan and the crew.

Kurtz also underscores something that has been said by others:

the sexual assault and beating that Logan endured underscores that the Middle East remains a particularly dangerous place for women.

I await the denunciation of Kurtz as a right wing misogynist.

Democracy means choices:

Well, no political action has been taken. But even some Egyptian secular liberals are eager to do away with the historic 1978 treaty, which was the foundation for peace between Egypt and Israel — hence the U.S.’s alliance with Egypt — and which was the pretext for Anwar El Sadat’s assassination by Egyptian Islamists. As HotAir notes, Ayman Nour, a liberal Egyptian leader, was recently quoted as saying, “In practice, the Camp David accords have come to an end.”

Part of that deal was the return of the Sinai to Egypt, I’m sure the Israeli will be happy to take it back off their hands. And there are some bad signs for the future:

Now that Mubarek is gone, the western media mostly has moved on to the next revolution, secure in the perception that Egypt is moving in the right direction.

But that is a false comfort. As I posted yesterday, over a million Egyptians turned out in Tahrir Square last Friday to cheer the vile anti-Semitic Sunni cleric Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who had been exiled by Mubarek, and who espouses the fundamentalist Islamic view that Jews must live as Dhimmis under Islamic control.

And guess what faces are being hidden and which ones are coming out in the open:

Ironically, reports indicate that some of that happened on the very stage from which Qaradawi spoke. Wael Ghonim, the young Google executive credited with helping ignite the popular uprising, was blocked from getting on stage by Qaradawi’s guards. According to a news report, “Ghonim left the square with his face hidden by an Egyptian flag.”

As the IPT reported Thursday, there are increasing signs that the Muslim Brotherhood, which deliberately maintained a low profile during the three-week street protests, is flexing its muscles as Egypt tries to build a new government. It is well represented on a committee charged with recommending changes the country’s constitution and has announced plans to form a political party to run for parliamentary seats.

Meanwhile the Egyptian military has been…active:

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the minister of defense and military production who now leads the council of officers ruling Egypt, has been a strong advocate of government control of prices and production. He has consistently opposed steps to open up the economy, according to diplomatic cables made public by WikiLeaks.

And already there are signs that the military is purging from the cabinet and ruling party advocates of market-oriented economic changes, like selling off state-owned companies and reducing barriers to trade.

Ah socialism, no wonder Wisconsin demonstrators and democrats are waving Egyptian flags.

Let the record show BTW that every single American Egyptian I’ve talked to this month backs the military in Egypt and trusts them more than any other Egyptian institution.

That isn’t surprising as they have been a big contrast to the actions of the military in places like Libya

Brutal totalitarianism on full display as the citizens of Libya rise up to protest against the 41 year reign of Muammar Qaddafi. 25 people were reportedly killed today during protests.

and those 25 were just a start.

And Bahrain:

This video shows a group of Bahrainian protesters marching in the street when all of a sudden you hear gun fire coming from what sounds like multiple people opening fire on the crowd.

and Iran:

Iranian protesters called for the execution of opposition leaders today after Friday prayers.

But not to worry he is under house arrest so I’m sure they can’t get to him, can they?

And in China:

Several top Chinese rights activists have disappeared into police custody as a web campaign urged angry citizens to mark the Middle East’s “Jasmine Revolution” with protests, campaigners said Sunday.

Up to 15 leading Chinese rights lawyers and activists have disappeared since Saturday amid a nationwide police mobilisation, according to activists, while the government appeared to censor Internet postings calling for the demonstrations.

Anybody who thinks non cancer ridden dictator types are going to give up their wealth and privileges without a fight are deluding themselves. Also note that it’s not a coincidence that the US trained and supplied Egyptian army alone did not fire on their own people.

Why are J.D. and Robert Stacy Surprised?

Posted: February 19, 2011 by datechguy in middle east
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Remember all those institutions and people who practiced appeasement in the 30’s had children and grandchildren didn’t they?

Plus they never liked the Jews before, and the guilt of letting them get slaughtered from years ago has worn off.

A smart move by NYU on Nir Rosen

Posted: February 16, 2011 by datechguy in internet/free speech, media, middle east
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As you might have heard something horrible happened to Lara Logan in Egypt.

Lara Logan was attacked and sexually assaulted last Friday in Cairo’s Tahrir Square while filming a piece for “60 Minutes.”

The CBS report has the following details:

In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers. She reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning. She is currently home recovering.

Ace of spades expressed outrage:

…if I am not weary of a barbaric desert nomad culture of rape and outrage while carrying around a ton of chip-on-the-shoulder arrogance-hiding-profound-insecurity about it all.

Nir Rosen of NYU and the far left former embedded reporter for the Taliban decided that this was a good time to vent his spleen against this “war monger”

The initial tweet by Rosen stated, “Lara Logan had to outdo Anderson. Where was her buddy McCrystal.” From this tweet he went further, writing that he would have been amused if Anderson Cooper had also been sexually assaulted.

“Yes yes its wrong what happened to her. Of course. I don’t support that. But, it would have been funny if it happened to Anderson too,” wrote Rosen.

The two comments gave way to more. Rosen called Logan a “war monger” and expressed doubt that she was actually assaulted.

“Jesus Christ, at a moment when she is going to become a martyr and glorified we should at least remember her role as a major war monger” wrote Rosen.

“Look, she was probably groped like thousands of other women, which is still wrong, but if it was worse than [sic] I’m sorry.”

Usually when someone from the far left says something disgusting it is ignored expect by us on the right like the National Review :

But let’s just remember one thing going forward: Nir Rosen believed this was the right moment to let the world know that he “ran out of sympathy for her” and that we should “remember her role as a major war monger” and that we “have to find humor in the small things.”

Jim didn’t expect much from NYU on this but this time they acted:

From Karen J. Greenberg, Executive Director, Center on Law and Security

Nir Rosen is always provocative, but he crossed the line yesterday with his comments about Lara Logan. I am deeply distressed by what he wrote about Ms. Logan and strongly denounce his comments. They were cruel and insensitive and completely unacceptable. Mr. Rosen tells me that he misunderstood the severity of the attack on her in Cairo. He has apologized, withdrawn his remarks, and submitted his resignation as a fellow, which I have accepted. However, this in no way compensates for the harm his comments have inflicted. We are all horrified by what happened to Ms. Logan, and our thoughts are with her during this difficult time.

Why did NYU decide to act when Jim didn’t think they would? I’d like to think it is because they don’t like this kind of thing from their folks, however I suspect it is because Nir made one mistake, his choice of targets. Logan is a member not of the right or of Fox news but of the MSM, CBS to be exact.

The media will tolerate an awful lot of stuff if thrown against someone of the right, but if you go after one of their own (and until and unless she goes to Fox News she will be considered on of their own) they will object loudly. Thus NYU does the right thing and the smart thing and Nir Rosen is gone.

If you are a fan of Rosen I wouldn’t feel too sorry, it won’t be long before the media moves on and Mr. Rosen is once again teaching our youth on the evils of America.

The Jimmy Carter is strong in this one 

Posted: February 11, 2011 by datechguy in arthur vs carter, middle east, opinion/news
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Way to go Mr. President not only are you fumbling the ball but you actually have managed to make Mubarek a “hero” for staying.

Nothing raises the profile of an Arab leader more than poking an US president in the eye.

Of course James Clapper actually saying that the Muslim Brotherhood is “largely secular” was nonsense too but at least that was simple stupidity in testimony, saying stuff like the publicly just makes us look like dopes.

Now if the administration’s goal was to make sure Mubarek stays without making it known that it was the goal then it was brilliant but my God it’s the late 70’s all over again. It’s also interesting to note that if you check out Memeorandum not a single headline hits the White House for making dopes of themselves, but its moves like this that validate Trumps statements on the administration.

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