When did the US "surrender sovereignty" to the "Iraqi government"? I was just wondering because I forgot. This will refresh my memory: "the new American ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, injected himself into the writing of the constitution."

It is rather surprising how well Chirac has been getting along with Sharon. But only because Chirac gets along best with oil-rich tyrants who can funnel millions to his dirty electoral campaigns. 

Beginning of the end?

"The United States and Australia have been working in secret for 12 months on an alternative to the Kyoto protocol"

"Thomas Friedman, Liberal Sadist? By NORMAN SOLOMON"

"JEAN BAUDRILLARD: HOLY EUROPE"

"Iraq: The Human Toll"

Dictatorships you like: ""Pakistan Remains the Global Center for Terrorism and al-Qaida".

Don't be surprised: but some neo-cons are still declaring victories in Iraq.

On the same day that Rumsfeld condemned Syrian and Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs: "Less than three weeks before Iraq's National Assembly is to approve a new constitution, the U.S. appears increasingly concerned about the document and is vocally trying to influence its provisions".

"American troops can stay at a Kyrgyz air base for as long as they are needed to bring stability to"....... Afghanistan.

Inventing Iraqis: "The Pentagon will investigate the use of a quote from an anonymous Iraqi that was issued almost unaltered in a second news release referring to a separate incident, a spokesman said Tuesday."

From the Poem the Repentance of Judas by Iraqi poet Baland Haydari (my translation):
"Oh, my little ones
I know that my shame
is a story that flows
from house to house
I know
that whenever winter
is wrapped around fire
and lips pass by a name
like mine
they mentioned my sin
my sin is a dagger that
sinks deep inside the heart
of my little ones
I know
what my palms have
stolen
and what my hands have
built
from palaces for my future
have become mere evidence
for my destruction
I know
that what I have accumulated
at night
and from the woes of the innocent
and the poor
from blood that was spilled to
satisfy my evil
have become today
in the light
witnesses for my collapse
I know
that my people's veins
are eaten by hate
whenever they see in me
the monster that smashed
its rights
whenever they see in me
the night that blocked its path
I know
what a monster
what a night
I was, my people, to you
I know
how I dropped you on the road
and left you with only hunger
and destruction
oh, my little ones
what is the use of my apology
when I even burned the house of
my neighbor
my little ones
the verdict of death
will not erase my shame
from my forehead
because here...
one thousand dead
and here...
one thousand in prison
and here...
one thousand children who
only attained my prisons
I know
that the verdict of death
will not erase my shame
so denounce me,
my little ones
and abandon me
leave a curse crawling
through history
from fire to fire
maybe it will wash
my shame"

While interfering in Iraqi affairs, Rumsfeld call on Syria and Iran to stop interfering in Iraqi affairs. He said--I am not making this up--that "Iraq needs to be more aggressive in its stance against interference from neighbors such as Syria and Iran" but that Iraqi also should be more welcoming in its stance in favor of interference from non-neighbors such as US and Macedonia.

Investigative Journalism in the Saudi press: the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan had a major scoop a week or so ago. It revealed that Catherine Zeta-Jones is of Saudi descent.

The sea off Tyre. 

The beach just north of Tyre. 

Old ruins in Tyre. 

Old ruins in Tyre. 

Old archeological ruins in Tyre. 

News from California: ""A company of the California Army National Guard has been put on restricted duty and its battalion plunged into disarray amid allegations that soldiers engaged in misconduct in Iraq, including mistreatment of detainees and extortion from shopkeepers, according to military officials and members of the battalion."

Dictatorships that you like: "Visiting US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday Tajikistan is a reliable partner in the global struggle against terrorism and in promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan."

"President Pervez Musharraf's declaration that he has "completely shattered" al-Qaida in Pakistan was met yesterday with deep scepticism from diplomats, analysts and opposition politicians."

American politicians never miss and opportunity to show their ignorance of world geography and foreign affairs. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is no exception. She has never met an American war that she did not fervently support. But she wants to be president, you understand. You have to. And now she has her solution to the bombings around the world. You see, she said that if only Muslims would issue "fatwa after fatwa" all will be well. How simple and nice her solutions are. I ask Sen. Feinstein: Would you like a beverage or some appetizers with your fatwas? Let me know please. Thanks.

I don't mean to upset patriotic Americans. I mean, I know that you "liberated" Afghanistan, and the Afghan people are supposed to want to greet you with "sweets and flowers" every day, but: "Angry Afghans Confront US Forces: At least 1,000 protesters have staged a demonstration outside the main US base of Bagram in Afghanistan."

I thought that George W. Bush defeated and ended the Taliban, no?

"Abu Ghraib Dog Tactics Came From....... Guantanamo"

I can say this: everybody who sang a song or wrote a word in praise of Rafiq Hariri did so either because he/she was paid, or because he/she hoped to be paid. But this Hariri cult has no roots, and will not leave a deep impact. It is based on money and money alone. I was told that Hariri spent $35 million on the election in the North alone (in 2000, the deputy Muhammad As-Safadi--partner with the new Saudi ambassador in US, Prince Turki--spent $15 million, and this figure according to his former advisor who shall remain unnamed). The US, if you read the signals from Rice's trip to Lebanon this week, hopes to achieve what it could not achieve in 1983 when the US/Israel pushed the May 17th Agreement on Lebanon. Back then, the political leadership of the Maronite community was the pillar of US policy in Lebanon. Now the US is more aware of the demographic realities in Lebanon, and the US wants the Sunni political leadership represented by Sa`d Hariri, to lead the push for another version of the May 17th Agreement. It will not work; not only because Sunni public opinion would not go for it, but because the key questions on national security cannot be decided by one side. According to Ta'if accords, if they are to be respected now that Syrian troops have left Lebanon, the government rules not through the prime minister or the president but through the collective body of the cabinet. Thus, the Shi`ite bloc, not to mention others, will not allow US wishes to pass. The US also does not know this: Sunnis (as city merchants don't) do not fight, and have not fought in Lebanese history. Druzes, Maronites, and Shi`ites do the fighting and dying in Lebanese civil wars, and the Sunnis largely stay on the sidelines edging this party or that on. Does the US think that Sa`d Hariri will march with his accountants to disarm Hizbullah? Fat chance. Not even if Sa`d Hariri is invited to Crawford, Texas. But why should those who more than blundered in Iraq not blunder again in Lebanon? You can blunder in more than one country, you know. Ask Bush about that. Wait. Don't ask him. He has no clue. He still thinks that he is making progress in Iraq, Afghanistan, and anywhere else where he has dropped bombs.

This is Zionism: Israeli occupation forces destroyed their houses in occupied Jerusalem. 

From the poem Twenty Thousand Dead...Old News by Iraqi poet Baland Haydari (my translation):
"Alone I am
and tomorrow I die with the herd
Alone
and I drag my extinguished night
Alone
My head is here
and my foot is there
and my hand presses
on my hand
...horrible pain
and I feel the yearning
for the spring inside me
dying
Oh for the destruction
and from there
and from there
Oh for the destruction
the voice of the broadcaster
is wooden
They wished for him
to not feel what he broadcasts...
they lie...they lie...
My mother...oh my mother
Here...without my love
or my smile
I sink in mud
I sink in the wound
I sink and you are not with me
I sink and no sun is with me
And not the passion hanging from
my morning
And you will forget me
despite the extinguished
flare in my room
despite the empty
future, my mother
you will forget me
Alone I am
Any my hand presses on my hand
...horrible pain
And I can almost hear
from there
and from here
the voice of the broadcaster
wooden
They wished for him to
not feel what he broadcasts"

Al-Arabiyya TV versus Al-Jazeera. Just to show you the extent of the bitter political rivalry between those two stations. They both covered the comments made by Tony Bliar yesterday, in which he referred to Saudi Arabia. Al-Jazeera covered the remarks as if they he was criticizing Saudi Arabia, while AlArabiyya covered the remarks as if they were in defense of the Saudi government. I think that the latter interpretation was correct. Never understimate the length to which Western leaders would go to please the Saudi royal family.

There was an item in a few Lebanese newspapers about a faxed threats to Shi`ite leaders in Lebanon by a Zarqawi-linked group known as Qa`idat Al-Jihad fi Bilad Ash-Sham. It named some 9 Shi`ite leaders in Lebanon and accused them of...whatever those groups accuse whoever they randomly kill. There was not much public reaction to it in Lebanon, I noticed.

`Abdullah `Azzam: the one who gave birth to Bin Laden. If there is one person who has done so much to spread and popularize fanatical Wahhabi thought in the Middle East, it has to be `Abdullah `Azzam. `Azzam, a Palestinian by birth, was--just like Bin Laden after him--much more involved in the propagation of fanatical religious thought than he was in struggling for Palestine. `Azzam was assassinated in 1989 in Pakistan. So Al-Arabiyya TV (I saw part I so far)interviewed his son Huthayfah `Azzam, and promoted his denunciation of the bombings in Sharm Al-Shaykh among other places. He surprised me on more than one level. Perhaps contrary to what Al-Arabiyya wanted to hear, he is still fond of Bin Laden, and blames his "transformation" to the influence of Ayman Adh-Dhawahari. He also marks his transformation to 1998, and asserts that Bin Laden was a "moderate"--I kid you not--until that day. I was also surprised that he claims that Bin Laden first met `Azzam not in the late 1970s in Saudi Arabia but in 1984 in Jordan. He confirms what we already know that Bin Laden's role, contrary to Bin Ladenites websites' lies, in the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan was not military but "financial and administrative." `Azzam refers to those days as the days "when the US was flirting with the Muslim fighters." It was more than flirting, if you ask me. `Azzam believes that his father would not have approved of what Al-Qa`idah has been doing, and gave the example of the case of Ahmad Shah Mas`ud, who was killed by Al-Qa`idah. He reminded viewers that his father wrote a book in praise of Mas`ud. But I find the claim that Bin Laden was merely spoild by the company of Adh-Dhawahiri to be ridiculous. Adh-Dhawahiri's kooky fanaticism just matched that of Bin Laden. A marriage made in..caves, as you may say. The Al-Arabiyya interviewer, Sa`d As-Silawi, who is most annoying in his utterly obsequious demeanor with Arab officials that he interviews, then asked him about the assassination of his father, clearly edging him on to blame it on Bin Laden. `Azzam disappointed Silawi by blaming the assassination on the US and Israel. Oh, and Al-Arabiyya is still reporting that King Fahd, who has been in the hospital for two months or so, continues to make progress. But I went on to see the writings and rulings of `Abdullah `Azzam, and found him to be no different than Zarqawi and that bunch, the claims of his son to the contrary notwithstanding. For example, `Azzam was giving a ruling about the killing of other Muslims and he said this from Pakistan: "...As for those who claim that they are Muslims but fight in the ranks of the atheist state, this discourse does not apply to them because they are unjust attackers who want to change the religion of the Afghan people from Islam to atheism and infidelity, and they help the state in that regard even if they are forced to fight with it. Those may be killed even if they utter the Shahadatayn, because we fight not to make them enter Islam but to overthrow the infidel atheist state, and they defend it either voluntarily or under duress, and thus they prevent the creation of an Islamic state. Their status is not better than that of those Muslims who are used as shield (yutatarras) by infidels and who the clerics had permitted to kill if that was the only way to get to the infidels...." So please let us not be fooled by `Azzam's son attempts at changing the history and words of his father to potray him as some kind of moderate, and one wishes that Al-Arabiyya interviewer had read some of the fanatical words of `Azzam before he set on his silly mission.

Historically speaking, there is so much foolishness in Lebanese political and popular cultures. This is a culture in which crackpots, like the gifted poet Sa`id `Aql, and "mawkishly sentimental" writers (as Amin Rihani described the writings of Jubran Khalil Jubran who I intensely admired as a child), and mediocre "musicians" like Mansur Rahbani are treated as "philosphers." I have never encountered a culture in which the word "philospher" is more loosly and meaninglessly bandied around as if labels would give profundity where it does not exist. Today, in the right-wing and Hariri press, the silly statement of Samir Ja`ja` (which had the sophistication of elementary school-level compositions) was described as "philosophical." Why should that be surprising? The above mentioned Mansur Rahbani had a play on Socrates that had as much relationship to Socrates as much as Miss Congeniality 2 was related to Nietzsche.

Various news from my Lebanon trip: The presidential palace in Lebanon, in comparison to the only other "presidential palace" I know, the Qatari royal palace (see my post from February of 2003 titled the Amir and I), is quite modest. I had visited it back in the late 1980s when my father took me to interview Amin Gemayyel when he was president. I have a picture somewhere of me frowning in that encounter. My father, who was friends with Gemayyel, went along in the hope that I would behave myself. It was tense during the interview: Gemayyel finally blurted out: "You are influenced by American propaganda against me". But his presidential palace at the time was run very fascistically with empty Lebanese-style majesty. The Lahhud's palace is more modest and more informal. And Lahhud was quite isolated at the time of my visit. I took a cab to the palace, and as I was allowed into the palace by the presidential guard, I found myself wondering around with no person in sight. I had to say a loud "hello" before a protocol person saw me, and ushered me in. Ceremonies, unlike Gemayyel's days, were quite minimal. Few days earlier, Lahhud saw me on New TV evening newscast in which I was offering my assessment of the Lebanese scene. Lahhud told his foreign policy advisor, a friend, "your friend"--in reference to me--does not spare anybody in his criticisms. New TV, it seems, videotapes every talk I give in Lebanon, and then uses the segment in my talk that deals with the Hariri family and uses it. They did that last year, and they did this year. In fact, this year, I was going to sleep when I heard the lead of the New TV's evening news say: "...and he fiercely attacked Sa`d Hariri..." I rushed to see who that person is, only to learn it was me. I really don't mind it as long as they quote me accurately--they do--and it is important at the time of Hariri-Saudi media monopoly in Lebanon to use every opportunity to attack the dangerous political role of the Hariri political inc. I am particularly infuriated today at the sight of the freeing of war criminal Samir Ja`ja` (who could not as a former Israeli military functionary utter a word about the liberation of Lebanon from Israeli occupation and who did not utter a word about Ta'if) and blame that--his release from jail that is--on Sa`d Hariri. He wants so bad to undermine the leadership of `Awn among the Christians but it will not work, and will exacerbate Lebanese tensions. Going back to Lahhud. I asked him a very specific question, and he went quite general on me. I was displeased. I knew that time would be limited, but fortunately he dismissed his protocol person at least 4 times when he tried to end the meeting. I had written bitterly against Lahhud in the past, and referred to his extension of his term as "the Returnee by Crowning"--in As-Safir. I interrupted his general discourse, and threw several specific questions. He quickly started referring to internal Lebanese developments, and the formation of the Lebanese cabinet. I found him more loyal to Hizbullah than Hizbullah members. Lahhud could only stay in power with the support of the Shi`ites and the sectarian Maronite patriarch. Lahhud complained about the Hariri media domination. He correctly pointed out that not a single Lebanese media is free of Hariri money connection. I told him that one of the criticisms I have of him is his reluctance to address the Lebanese people directly. He told me that he recently when his mandate came under attack gave interviews to a French channel and to CNN. I said: that is not the point, that I was talking about addressing the Lebanese people directly. I also told him that his habit of issuing press releases through his press office looks so bad, and does not smack of respect for the Lebanese people. He listened intently and said something to the effect that maybe something has to be done in that regard. I found him tough but limited in intellectual and analytical capacities. He told me that he would never resign: that it would be cowardly to resign at this juncture. He then told me that in contemporary Lebanese presidential practice, whenever a Lebanese president gets elected, the head of an Arab country sends him $5 million to help him in his media and propaganda efforts, and told me that former president Ilyas Hrawi got paid $10 million in that regard. I asked him if I can use that information, and he said no, but I am assuming that he just did not want me to name the Arab head of state. He said that upon becoming president, the head of that state sent him with this well-paid Lebanese journalist $5 million but that he refused it. The Lebanese journalist then took the money, but Lahhud then pressed him to return the money for fear that the Arab head of state would think that Lahhud got the money. He also told me that when his "friendship" with Prince Al-Walid Bin Talal started Al-Walid suggested that he gives him a cool (what does that American expression mean? A cool million?) $10 million to start his own charity, and that he told him "for the sake of our friendship, let us never talk about money." Of course, he wanted me to think of him as a man of integrity. While there is no information or even suspicions that Emile Lahhud profited from the presidency, it is certain that his two sons profited immensely from the presidency, and his son Emile Jr.'s name appeared on the dishonourable Saddam's coupon list of Al-Mada newspaper in Iraq. Lahhud will only stay in power due to the sectarian nature of the political system and the Maronite patriarch and other sectarian Maronite leaders would not support the principle of the resignation or the ouster of a "Maronite" president. That is why it is only Jumblat who stands for the resignation of Lahhud, although he has muted his demands as of late. Brilliant columnist Joseph Samahah and gifted journalist Ibrahim Al-Amin strongly urged me to interview former right-wing militia leaders who are now prominent right-wing leaders in Lebanon, and Al-Amin even game me the phone number of somebody in the Lebanese Forces leadership. I thought about it for several days, and then told Al-Amin that I just cannot, and that have discovered I am still of the view of "isolating the Phalanges"--a slogan of the left from 1975. Al-Amin then said: "I have discovered that you have been living abroad for far too long." I once was eating dinner, and I heard this voice in my ear: "You are very vocal against imperialism and Zionism." I turned around to see a major leader of the Lebanese opposition who now now holds a major ministry. He is a kind person with whom I have maintained cordial ties. Revealing his name may hurt him, perhaps. I was once waiting to meet with a Lebanese politician; he told me to meet him at a steakhouse (as a vegetarian, I hate steakhouses) in the vicinity of the Lebanese parliament. I was there on time, as I always am, and ordered myself a chamomile (Babunij in Arabic). While I was waiting at this empty restaurant, I saw a man with his revolver on his waist, not a common view in Lebanon today--running toward the restaurant, and then opening the door and rushing toward me. For a few seconds, I assumed that that I am in danger. He then came face-to-face with me to say that: "Mr. X apologizes and he is giving an interview to LBC-TV and will be here in a few minutes." A former Lebanese minister told me that some members of the Lebanese cabinet used to "secretly" turn on their cellphones during cabinet meetings so that Syrian intelligence agents could hear what was going on. The same apparently happened in parliamentary meetings. So many members of the opposition were so closely linked to Syrian intelligence, like Na'ilah Mu`awwad and Samir Franjiyyah. Every one now wants to claim that he/she was victim of Syrian mukhabarat. What a bunch of liars they all are. You cannot maintain respect for that political class in Lebanon. I was pleased to meet a group of young leftist Lebanese, and most were not members of any political party. That is a hopeful sign. People who want to transcend the narrow sectarianism of society and the political system. Syrian foreign policy establishment is a mess, I learned from this trip, and it shows. Faruq Ash-Shar` does not get along with Buthanya Sha`ban, and does not get along with Walid Mu'allim. But Syrian foreign minister Faruq Ash-Shar` gets along famously with himself, and is a huge fan of his person. But the foreign ministry was not even involved in Lebanese affairs until the last few months, and even then...other "apparatuses" of power participated in decision making.

Tyre, again and again. 

The sea off Tyre. 

The best beach in the world: Tyre. 

This is a wide view of my grandfather's house in Tyre with the part destroyed by Israeli bombing in 1982 visible to the left. 

Husni Mubarak is blaming them for the bombings in Sharm Ash-Shaykh. 

"Dubai is a chimera to be Sheikhdom's future promises excess, sin and sadistic violence"

Shooting an innocent man in London: "Senior police officers said guidelines giving armed officers specific instructions on how to deal with suspected suicide bombers were circulated secretly for the first time, though never published, in 2003. A Met team had visited Israel and Sri Lanka and produced a confidential report on tackling an al-Qaeda threat in the UK. Instructions, to be followed only with approval from an operational senior officer, are thought to have covered disabling the nervous system with a shot to the head and firing on the driver of an approaching vehicle thought to contain a bomb....Crucially, while Mr Veness admitted the Israel visit had gone ahead, and that it would be "foolish not to try to draw on their experience", he told the MAG." (thanks Valerie)

Israel spends millions on propaganda efforts in the US (like you I was first surprised when I first read that). I assumed that Israel does not need to spend a penny here given the roles of US Congress and media. Here is an example from the New York Times on how US media need to be paid by the Israeli government for their free propaganda services to Zionist colonization. This is the headline: "In Most Cases, Israel Thwarts Suicide Attacks Without a Shot." I kid you not. Imagine. This, on the other hand, is a list of Palestinians assassinated by Israeli occupation troops (and look at the method of assassination) without trial or due process.

Another company to boycott: "Intel Will Build a $4 Billion Plant in Israel"

A War Criminal (the notorious Samir Ja`ja`) is Set Free in Lebanon: Lebanese Patriots Rejoice. One of the worst and most notorious war criminals in Lebanon, a man convicted of blowing up a former prime minister, Rashid Karami--among many other crimes including the blowing up of a church, although he was later "acquitted" of that on a technicality, and a man who has sent scores of car bombs into Muslim and Christian areas throughout the civil war, is now free, by virtue of the alliance between the corrupt Saudi dynasty of Hariri and the Lebanese Forces militia. This man has a long record during the civil war, and he will most likely preside over the rejuvenation of the terrorist apparatus of the Lebanese Forces. This is a man who combines the worst in right-wing ideologies: a dedication to fascist organization and practices; a strong belief in a messianic medieval vision of monastic Christian zealotry (the Maronite Monastic Order in Lebanon had one of the most brutal militias in Lebanon); and a divisive sectarian track record of blood. This is the man that the notorious bloody right-wing militia leader Bashir Gemayyel used to use for the really really "dirty jobs" during the war. He was the one who was sent in 1978 to kill Toni Franjiyyah, his children, pets, and maids. This is the man who was the enforcer during the reign of terror when Bashir Gemayyel (and Israel behind him) ruled supreme in East Beirut. Some may say that he is or was not the only war criminal at large in Lebanon. That is true but: 1) his record is one of fascistic rule that exceeds in blood and criminality any other record; 2) he is convicted of crimes that happened AFTER the time of the general amnesty that was issued after the ostensible end of the civil war--and I am opposed to that amnesty. Don't get me wrong: all the warlords deserve to be behind bars, and deserve to be put on trial for their crimes, regardless whether they are Christian or Muslim or Druze. They all have killed innocent people and imposed rules of terror. But as As-Safir columnist Wisam Sa`adah once observed that while both sides of the civil war were war criminals, East Beirut had fascist rule while West Beirut had Inkishariyyah (Ottoman style gendarmerie)--it rhymes in Arabic, and the right-wing forces in Lebanon were the ones who contributed the most not only to the instigation and perpetuation of the civil war, but also to the most regular violations of Lebanese sovereignty and independence by inviting and dragging Syria and Israel (among other outside interventions) and even Saddam's regime (by Gen. `Awn during his glory days of power). The Hariri political inc is playing a very dangerous game: during the era of Syrian domination, the Syrian government and its lackeys were the ones who selected the "appropriate" Christian representatives. And in the "new" old era, the Hariri clan is selecting the "appropriate" Christian representatives again and they rushed the illegal freeing of Ja`ja` in the hope of undermining the power and popular support enjoyed by `Awn in the Christian community. But the Hariri plot will not work: their hollow and weak alliance is already breaking up. Yesterday, their ally Walid Jumblat gave an interview commenting on the bombings in Sharm Ash-Shaykh in which he sounded like Bin Laden. But the Washington Post which relished publishing Jumblat's statements during the Potato Revolution will not report to you on that. This will not seem as a validation of the Bush's doctrine after all. The election is over, and Jumblat no more needs Christian votes. He is back to where he was before his seasonal electoral transformation, witnessed every four years, and yet works every time to fool people. Lebanon, the late Pope once said, "is more than a homeland--it is a message." I say: Lebanon is far less than a homeland. It is a casino/brothel ruled by Lebanese dynastic Mafias, and has no hope of resurrection.