More on Sayyid Imam…….

A loyal reader sent in this long piece from  The_NATIONAL which  takes a long look at the new book and concludes that its not going to have any signifigant effect on Al-Qaeda.  Read the article to find out why. 
Another reader sent in a tip that the latest epdisode of Al-Arabiya’s “The Death Industry” featured Imam’s new book and comes to the [...]

On the Iraq Security Treaty…

From Angry Arab.  If this is  true then……
I read the text of American eternal occupation treaty with Iraq: I compared the English and Arabic texts. The translation in Arabic is accurate but it is abundantly clear that this was written in English and then translated into Arabic, not vice versa. But the language is ambiguous [...]

Implications of Mumbai

A week or so ago I posted an article  on Bruce Reidel, Obama’s top adviser on Pakistan.  One of his central ideas is: 
But in doing so, Mr Riedel does not emphasise the need to restoring the right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir. Instead, he advocates finding a solution that satisfies India and ends Pakistan’s [...]

Stop the Press……

Ibn Yacoub Al-Amriki is moving his headquarters from Blogspot to WordPress.  Check out his new site here.

On Vacation

Rob is on vacation.   Full blogging will resume next Monday.

Why did the Piracy Start?

One big story in the media lately is Piracy in Somalia which in the big picture is a small problem and can be solved easily- send a few powerful ships to track them down.  A more interesting question is why did it start in the first place?  Semi-Expert brings up a good point:
After US withdrawal, things [...]

The Seven Villages

Most of us following Middle East news or Lebanon news know a few things about Hezbollah: it emerged in the early 1980’s during the heyday of the Lebanese civil war; its external allies are Iran and Syria; it is likely the strongest and best-trained armed group in Lebanon right now, on par or surpassing the [...]

Do Some Things Ever Change?

Editor’s Note:  Blackstar is  an international lawyer based in London
Last Saturday, Robert F. Worth of the NY Times published a long article on Hezbollah’s boy and girl_scout_camps.  Whilst I was busy mulling over my various reactions to this piece, Semi-Expert was busy producing a thoroughly accusatory post criticizing the article.  Semi-Expert’s does a tremendous job [...]

Is the “Good War” Worth Fighting?

Former British FSO Rory Stewart has an excellent op-ed in the NY Times framing the coming challenge in Afghanistan.  He starts off by making a critical point: Do we actually have to “win” in Afghanistan?  Or why do we need to “beat” the Taliban to win?  Why can’t winning be defined as something like “not doing [...]

Mullah Omar to get Political Asylum in Saudi Arabia?

According to this  Al-Quds Al-Arabi story, Saudi Arabia is offering Taliban leader Mullah Omar political asylum in Saudi Arabia as part of comprehensive peace deal in Afghanistan.  Official sources deny it but other sources says its true.  Offering Mullah Omar asylum is consistent with what Saudi Arabia is trying to do in Afghanistan.  If thats what it [...]

Posts of Note

Two posts I want to flag:
1)  Who’s more powerful: the State Department or Pentagon?  A non-American friend asked me this question yesterday, wanting to understand the implications of Hillary Clinton becoming appointed SoS.  The Pentagon, I replied, although it would still be a tremendous coup for Hillary if she was appointed to head Foggy Bottom.  [...]

France Trying to Get “Back in the Game”

Editor’s Note:  Taking over the Lebanon desk at MediaShack will be Blackstar, an international lawyer based in London. 
French Prime Minister François Fillon is presently in Lebanon for a two-day visit with a full program of diplomatic activities. While his own office has described_the_trip as one aimed at helping the re-launching of economic life of Lebanon (Fillon [...]

Iraqi Security Pact

The Iraqi Security Pact has been received with mixed reactions on the “Arab Street”.   The Tuesday episode of Al-Jazeera’s Al-Itijah Al-Muakis debated the pact, pitting the Iraqi Minister of Culture versus a former Lebanese MP.  The Lebanese MP considered it  100% illegitimate, along with the whole US campaign in Iraq and argued that it was going to strengthen [...]

Britian and Syria Now Sharing Intel

Britain, unlike the US, has just  reestablished high-level Intelligence sharing with Syria.  Syria Comment has an excellent  post on a potentially important development in US-Syria relations:
At any rate, the Syrians clearly offered the British the same offer they made to the Americans well over a year ago. The difference is that the British have been smart enough [...]

Forgetting History

Parmendies Fallacy has a good post talking about Algerian President Abdel Azziz Bouteflika’s recent adjustment of the Constitution to allow him a third term.  The post  also  wonders what impact this will have on the Amnesty programs.  In 2000 and 2005, about 12,000 former members of militias were released from jail, essentially with no questions [...]

Not NSA but….

Bruce Reidel has been appointed to a high-level advisor position on Afghanistan-Pakistan:
One of the first priorities of the Obama administration will be to reassess US strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, his aides say.
And as a first step, he has appointed Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official and adviser to three US presidents on South Asia and [...]

The Voice of the “Arab Street”

just wrote a new song about the US elections- see who he endorses.  Read a great translation that captures the meaning and the flow here.

Did I miss something here?

David Ignatius makes some extremely questionable statements in a recent Washington Post article:
Before the election, the radical Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradhawi even issued a fatwa supporting John McCain: “Personally, I would prefer for the Republican candidate, McCain, to be elected. This is because I prefer the obvious enemy who does not hypocritically [conceal] his hostility toward [...]

More on the Inter-Faith Conference

The recently completed UN Interfaith conference is  more significant than the coverage it received in the US media.  Not because of anything to do with religion, but for  its implications on the the Arab-Israeli peace process:  Never before has the King of Saudi Arabia sat in the same room with Israeli political leaders (Shimon Peres, Tipvi [...]

More troops in Afghanistan?

Two things of note on Afghanistan recently:
1) Michael O’Hanlon has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal arguing for a signifigant escalation in the US presence there.
2) CIA Director Hayden made a recent statement that Bin Laden is isolated_and_worried about his personal security. 
Yesterday, a segment of Al-Jazeera’s  “What’s Behind the News” focused ostensibly on Hayden’s comments, but [...]