hogan

I wish you luck, salim and all Iraqis. May Allah guide you and keep you free. hogan

Interesting 60 Minutes report on the Isreali/Palestinian situation. People used to say Arabs were incapable of democracy, their culture is just too violent. But Iraq is showing that all people are capable of peace and freedom. People are saying that Israelis and Palestinians are incapable of living in a two state solution. My hope is they will be proven wrong too. Isrealis must believe they can give up all their holy lands on the West Bank for peace and Palestinians must want a bright future more than they want the destruction of Israel. I believe Obama will empower moderate voices and forcefully oppose extremism fairly on both sides .

If the Isrealites and Palestinians must own the same land there will never be peace. If the Palestinians can believe in a two state solution, there will be peace with honor in the future.

Salim, I miss your regular posts, like the news you used to provide in the "Battle of Baghdad". My belief is: you post less frequent, and in Arabic, because you feel Iraq is making their own future now and doesn't need the same American commitment (and sacrifice) anymore. Lately, the news has been good. I want to thank you for your efforts to keep America informed, Salim. I know you made a difference. Hopefully, the sacrifice's have not been made in vain. Only Iraq's future holds the answer. Remember the ideals of the American servicemen. who sacrificed for Iraqis so they too, like America, can "lift a lamp beside the golden door". Long live the internet. Long live a free Iraq. Thank you, Salim.

I have not seen anything about Alawi here in the US. However, I have seen a lot about Maliki's comments regarding Hillary Clinton. It was shrewd of Maliki to point out so boldly to Hillary that Iraq is an independent democracy. It's political suicide for any American politician to advocate control over another sovereign democracy. This should stop any further ruminations about what the Iraqi government should look like and maybe it will minimize the suggestions about what laws the Iraqis should pass. Seems like Maliki's political advisors are every bit as savvy as Alawi's

tajer, I was happy to see this today: Iraq leaders agree on key laws, especially the part about provincial elections. Getting this appoved should have been easy. At least if the leaders really believe in democracy. Some areas of Iraq have not yet elected provincial leaders, the grassroots of any democracy. Provincial elections will add to the goverment's legitimacy more than any of the other compromises planned. I'm not too worried about those without much power, like Alawee. Unless Iraqi leaders don't protect their constitution.

Bahirj, I agree, Allawi seems to be asking America to remove AlMaliki. See his Washington Post article. He will learn America has not spent it's treasure to reward him with Iraq. It belongs to the people. However, it will serve Iraqis to examine his points. He may have used some truths to make his argument. He says "Maliki has stalled the passage of legislation, proposed in March, to reverse de-Baathification". Why should de-Baathification not be constituted as a token of reconciliation to the Sunnis? How should the secular Shi'ite goverment convince the Sunnis that they have not replaced the tyranny of Saddam with a tyranny of the majority? Isn't this necessary to harmony?

I would appreciate anyone who can give me an accurate updated to the status of the Iraqi oil law. In "Iraqi lawmakers truncate break to pass laws", Reuters claims Izzalddin al-Dawla says parliment has recieved nothing. "So far parliament has received nothing from the committees. I doubt that any of these committees will deliver something to parliament this month," said Izzalddin al-Dawla, a member of the Iraqi Accordance Front, the biggest Sunni Arab bloc. This article says parliment has recieved a draft law "Draft Iraq oil law makes headway". Is a draft law nothing?

Troops capture Shiite insurgent leaders More good news.

This link: http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/2006_12_01...747600962651269 has a translation of the cell phone video are talking about, I believe.

Salim, What bother me is whenever we in America hear about the attrocities commited in Iraq we rarely get any indication whether the victims are Sunni or Shia. I don't have any idea about the dynamics. Does the US Military understand who is commiting each of these attrocities? What the American press seems to say is that since the bombing of the Sumarra mosque, both sides are involved in a tit for tat feud and the US is trying to play the honest broker and punish both sides when they commit violence. If this is different from your view of the dynamics please help me to understand what you believe is going on.

Salim, Very insightful posts regarding the dynamics in the ME and Israeli generals' attitude or miscalculations. The Israeli generals' mistake is hubris. The world is changing. The industrial revolution is over. Military domination is no longer perminant. The ancient Greeks loathed hubris more than any other fault. They knew hubris was the destroyer of nations. Bush's strategy may be dead. I hope not. I hope the Americans and Iraqis have the strength to absorb the blows leveled by the bigots and anti-democrat forces and the patience to build the institutions. I agree, Isreal is providing anti-democratic forces with a powerful weapon to control hearts and minds, but their existance seems to me as strong a weapon as their actions. Both the Israel goverment and Hezbollah have acted out of hatred in the latest Lebanese war. Both should be held accountable. Democracy's strongest weapon is freedom of the press and security. It is Iran which is destroying it's citizen's satellite dishes. It is not Isrealis or Americans that are harassing and killing journalist, news paper distributors and citizens of Iraq. Conspiracy theories are just talk and talk is cheap. Actions tell the story. It is a distraction for Iraqis on Isreali conspiracy theories or the unknown reason for George Bush's war. Yes, 9/11 may have been the reason for war or just an excuse, we will never know, but it is the Iraqis' project to finish. That is where their efforts must be focused. The challenges are monumental enough without distractions and misdirections. Continue to watch and analyze actions, Salim. Your insight is incredible. Neither muslims nor non-muslims should get a free pass. Your future is our future.

"Knocking on Heaven's Gate" In March of 1997 thirty-nine people, 21 women and 18 men were found dead in a mansion within the exclusive neighborhood of Rancho Santa Fe, near San Diego in the United States. They ranged in age from 26 to 72 and came from nine different states within the US. The thirty-nine bodies were identified as members of a cult group, which later came to be known as "Heaven's Gate." The bodies were found dispersed within the mansion on cots and mattresses. All but two had shrouds of purple covering their heads and shoulders. Most died of suffocation, induced by plastic bags placed over their heads, after taking a concoction of Phenobarbital and alcohol. Found among the dead was Marshall Herff Applewhite, the 65-year-old leader of the group. Applewhite taught his followers that he was a messenger from an "Evolutionary Kingdom Level Above Human." He claimed that periodically this higher kingdom sent messengers to earth and that one such previous visitor was Jesus. Applewhite believed he was once "Jesus" in that same "away team" now "incarnated again in...[a] mature (adult) [body] that had been picked and prepped for [his] current mission." He advised that if his followers studied with him, he would become their pivotal link to this higher level. And that only through him would it be possible for them to eventually evolve and shed their human "containers," which were only "vehicles" for this supposed journey. Applewhite required his "class" to give up virtually everything. This included families, friends and sex, five of his male followers had themselves surgically castrated like their leader. They also surrendered and/or renounced all their worldly possessions. His "crew" was told they must overcome and do battle spiritually with dark forces known as the "Luciferians" and those they influenced. This became a negative label that could be applied to anyone or anything outside the group. It was through a process of rigid regimentation that Marshall Applewhite was able to purge his "class" of their individuality and program their minds to accept his doctrines. They were often not allowed to sleep undisturbed, but instead subjected to scheduled interruptions for periodic prayer. They ate the same food, called "formulas" at the same hours," which was referred to as "fuel for the vehicle." They all wore the same haircuts and clothing, which often included gloves, apparently to avoid human contact. Work was even once divided into 12-minute intervals by audible beeps. Communication was at times limited to simply saying "yes," "no," or "I don't know." This rigid regimentation persisted to the end. All the "Heaven's Gate" members ordered exactly the same last meal and ended their lives precisely alike in virtually every detail. The members of "Heaven's Gate" were also relatively isolated from the outside world and most often not in touch with their families or old friends. They also had new names, which further broke down their sense of individual identity and personal history. Applewhite controlled information, his followers were not allowed to watch television or read anything by choice, but rather given lists of proscribed literature. Each member was assigned a partner and encouraged to travel in pairs. One former devotee recalled that this was an important facet of group control, "to keep [members] in the mindset. The partner was there, if [a member was] falling out of what [they] had to do, so [they] wouldn't fall out. It was part of the mind control." According to Marshall Applewhite the world was merely a "stepping stone" to "the true Kingdom of God." And this world was about to be "recycled" or "spaded under" because its inhabitants had refused to evolve. Only those who were bound together through his teachings could survive by traveling to the next level. The group's suicide was almost logical within this mindset, since Applewhite insisted that "the Truth can be retained only as one is physically connected with the Next Level, through an Older Member" (i.e. Marshall Applewhite). Thus, without Applewhite there was no hope of transition to the next "Evolutionary Level." When he elected to die his followers were obliged to do likewise. It was the only way they could retain "The Truth" and its required and seemingly necessary final step to enter "the true Kingdom of God." Everything Applewhite taught his followers was a rejection of their humanity. Perhaps by rejecting his own humanity Marshall Applewhite believed he had finally overcome his own sexual frustrations and mental illness. But the more power he gained over his small group the more intense his madness became, until it finally led to a tragedy that was indeed inhuman. In preparation for their suicide, members of the cult drank citrus juices to ritually cleanse their bodies of impurities. In the wake of the cult's suicide, some of the members attributed their ability to attract new members to the growth of the Internet. The thirty-nine bodies of the cult members were found in a rented mansion in the upscale San Diego community of Rancho Sante Fe, California on March 26, 1997. Their suicide, conducted in shifts, was accomplished by ingestion of phenobarbital mixed with vodka, along with plastic bags secured around their heads that killed them in their sleep. The cult's end, coinciding with the appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp, created a sensation in the United States in 1997. Applewhite convinced 39 followers to commit suicide so that their souls could take a ride on a spaceship that they believed was hiding behind the comet; members reportedly believed themselves to be extraterrestrials Spenta Mainyu says: Any faith in its simple form is pure. It should be between the believer and the central character of that 'belief'. But when a “clockwork” (Here defined as the functioning of the belief system with a central institution (church, mosque, synagogue etc.) mechanism is built around a faith for a variety of reasons, a different body enters the stage. This body operates efficiently, relentlessly and ruthlessly, which is called the belief system, which occupies the minds, influences the way we act , and almost dictates the lives of each and everyone of us. It creates debate at best, and misunderstanding and conflict at worst. It costs lives. Of whom? Of its creators and servants. Why do they give their lives? For supremacy and immortality of course!

The news from Bint Jbeil and Maroun Ras seems to indicate Hezbollah is not hiding, but standing and fighting.