Medeshi
March 23, 2009
Autism the Scourge of the 21st Century
(Somali Immigrants in Minneapolis and Autism – Epidemic or Statistical Fluke?)
Managing Editor's Note: At the end of this magnficent post by Mr. Khalif are links to our past stories about the Somali/Autism epidemic in Minnesota, including J.B. Handley's article that so interested Mr. McNeil.
By Abdulkadir A. Khalif
The story in the New York Times by Donald McNeil Jr. and datelined 03/16/2009 (HERE) has started a storm within the autism community, especially the victims of the scourge in Minneapolis. The author picked on a few unsuspecting Somali immigrant families who could understand neither the English language nor the motive of those chaperoning them for the ‘interviews’.
They were deliberately selected so as to appear as representative as possible (one of the kids was born outside the USA). I happened to know the families involved as well as some of the officials quoted. I have read and re-read the NYT story and I am still at a loss of what purpose it really served, or what the real motive of the author is. Mr. McNeil had no opinions of his own on the topic he chose, nor did he qualify any statements he extracted from the people he interviewed. He went to great lengths to quote people and then used others to unravel their arguments. He quoted from government officials and others from nonprofits, all of who are known to have been working together in their elaborate cover-up schemes. All those he met were officials who helped organize the infamous forum in Minneapolis last November. He excluded the Hmong community from the ravages of autism while showing prevalence of the scourge within Somali immigrants in Sweden. That way he was indirectly alluding to a vulnerable gene within the Somalis everywhere.
I will listen to the argument that a gene may predispose all peoples for an autism attack. I will also listen to arguments that some people may be more at risk than others. But we all know that gene knows no race or color or creed, and least of all religion. I was born in East Africa and have just come back from a visit to Kenya. Autism does not have a name in those countries and its incidence (especially in Kenya) has been associated with vaccines, because Kenya has a vaccine schedule that is fast approaching the Swedish and American models. In Somalia where public health facilities and immunizations are still few and far in between you will find diseases that could have been prevented by vaccines but autism is unknown. Even in Kenya, autism has been noticed amongst the affluent and the highly educated in society. This, as you will guess, is because of their adherence to new vaccine schedules and their awareness of the benefits of vaccines.
I will repeat again: I am not anti-vaccine, nor are others like J.B. Handley who have been wrongly labeled as such. We all know what benefits accrue from immunizations. We are also fortunately aware of what risks can come with those benefits. We are only asking that the two be balanced and risks be totally eliminated on both sides. We know that vaccines prevent all the diseases they are intended to prevent. We must however be aware of the diseases they (vaccines) may cause in that endeavor. The CDC and the FDA both know that mercury in vaccines is in excess of what they themselves termed as safe limits. They also know that mercury can be removed from vaccines without compromising the efficacy of the vaccines. Economic considerations should not therefore be allowed to interfere with the wellbeing of our children and the future generations.
The purpose of the NYT story was obviously to show that there is no autism cluster in Minneapolis and that the Somali people, because of their cultural practices were already naturally predisposed for the disease. The author, very cunningly avoided being judgmental and did everything to put words into the mouths of the people he interviewed. He carefully selected his subjects and through them vainly covered his guise, ignorance and bias. He deliberately avoided talking with families who have had success with alternative therapies by labeling them as ‘anti-vaccine’. Through his guides he talked down on Somali immigrant victims of mercury in vaccines by alluding to the fact that they came to the USA already plagued by diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis B, depression from the civil war, and vitamin D deficiencies. He even qualified that by quoting a Somali doctor. But then, in a classical double standard he ripped that argument apart as a “dubious explanation”.
I am grateful for this opportunity to share my story and express my personal opinion on the subject of autism which conditions my son Abdimalik I am told is likely to live with his entire life. I got this confirmation from all the experts who have thus far diagnosed, evaluated and tried to treat Abdimalik. For my family, this verdict is equivalent to a life of imprisonment in solitary confinement for our beautiful baby. Abdimalik is the only child in my family who was born in the USA, and when he was born I told my wife that his coming was the best gift we got in America. We even nicknamed him “Mr. President”, because he is the only one who had the opportunity of a shot for the White House, hopefully becoming the first African American to win the Presidency of the United States. While recent events have wiped out that opportunity, Abdimalik would still have had great things happening for him in this great country had autism not plagued his system and isolated him in a cocoon’s nest.
Why did autism strike my son? What did we do wrong to expose him to this disease? Why is he the only one in my family to have it? How is he different from his siblings? Could we have avoided it? Was his autism a pre-existing condition, probably inherited from us, or was it something he acquired after birth? What did we do differently to him that might have exposed him to this danger? Can his condition be reversed now that we know he is different? Are there services, treatments and therapies out there that we are not aware of and which we can afford? What do we do now? Can we take a chance and have another child? These and many more are questions we ask ourselves and which I am sure many other families also do; questions for which answers are not readily available, or if they are would just set a stage for more confusion and questions. I am not a medical professional or an expert of any kind in health issues. My opinion as expressed here is therefore part superstition and part human instinct. But I bet you I will be closer to the truth than the senior MDH official who last November said: “Whenever there is a complex problem, people invent simple solutions which are always wrong”.
In order to find answers to the above questions, we first need to understand and define autism. Experts say that it is a spectrum disorder which is neurological in nature. They describe its symptoms in terms that place the victims somewhere between an angel and the devil. Although it is possible that autism may have existed since time immemorial, it’s hand-flapping, anti-social, sleepless type that also sends the victims into uncontrollable tantrums, and which also affects about 1 in every 166 kids in the USA is both new and worrying. The first time I ever heard about autism was when my son was diagnosed with it. He was about 1 ½ years old at that time and we were concerned that he had lost the few words he had learned and was displaying behaviors that were utterly at variance from his peers of similar age. We have had many kids and knew what milestones to expect and when. We actually theorized that his language loses or delay was as a result of his confusion with the many languages we speak at home. Anyhow, the autism verdict was the harshest thing we have ever heard and it really changed our lives from there on. We still remember the last words Abdimalik uttered, and those came when the nurse who was about to give him his MMR shot stuck a beautiful sticker to his shirt pocket in order to create rapport with him. The words were: “thank you.”
If as pundits say, autism has always been around, we would have seen autistic adults in the same proportions as the children of nowadays. Autism definitely did not exist in East Africa in the numbers or manners we see here today. Is it lack of diagnoses or is it just not made public because of the stigma that goes with all uncommon things? I personally believe that its incidence or occurrence is limited; Kids with autism are so dysfunctional that there is no way it could have been missed or remained un-identified for all these years. It does not even have a name where we came from. What then is happening with our children here in America?
To answer this question, I would like to refresh your minds a little with some historical events that occurred in Africa many years ago. They are relevant to the issue of autism today because, simple as they may be, those events set the stage for research that revolutionized human medicine.
About 150 years ago an English explorer and adventurer by the name Richard Burton set on a voyage that took him to Somaliland to ‘discover’ the north eastern approaches to the African Great Lakes region. As he trekked through Somaliland he came upon Somali nomads who slept in ‘tree-houses’ on treetops, high above the ground in order to escape mosquitoes during the night. The Somalis believed that mosquitoes caused malaria and also knew that they could not fly higher than five feet above the ground. In Europe at that time, everybody believed that malaria was caused by ‘bad air’ – hence the term ‘malaria’. Richard Burton was amused and wrote a long report on the ‘stupidity of the Somali people’. Curious scientists of that age picked on the cue and invented medicines to prevent or treat malaria, and confirmed that mosquitoes are actually carriers of the bug that caused malaria. Complex problem, simple solution, and it worked.
In West Africa, there is a disease known as Kwashiorkor which strikes children when they attain a certain age. That age is when a baby is weaned out of breast milk and a new baby is on its way. Kwashiorkor is therefore defined as ‘the disease the old baby gets when a new baby is born’. Malnutrition was the condition that plagued those kids and lack of milk protein was the cause. The timing of that disease jolted clever minds and associated milk with the disease. Another complex problem, with a simple solution that also worked. Why can’t the timing of the MMR vaccine and the coincidence with language loss and other behavioral regression in our kids be associated by the CDC and the FDA? It makes sense to look there instead of running away from what could be the answer to the puzzle. Our children are too important to be sacrificed for political or economic expediencies.
The traditional foods of the Somali people are milk and meat, mostly from camels. Camel meat and milk is a world different from cow milk and meat. They have less fat and are more easily processed by the human body. They are also known to have a very different chemical composition and are known to be ‘more friendly’ as a human diet. Camel milk is not available in the USA and cow milk in its processed form has been frowned upon by many. Other processed foods like wheat have also been associated with some allergic reactions, especially with autistic children. Shouldn’t these be something our public health officials concerned about? You bet.
Abdimalik, his mother and I stayed up most of the nights during the winters of 2006 and 2007. We were all depressed and stressed beyond tolerance and the rest of our children showed the same signs. After recommendations from other parents of autistic kids, we placed Abdimalik on a strict GFCF regime throughout the following summer and fall. We noticed remarkable improvements in his sleeping and feeding habits. We decided to wait until the winter of 2008 to see if he would revert to his sleepless schedules. He did not and boy, are we relieved. Had he gone back to his conditions of 2007, we would have concluded that the cold winters of Minnesota were to blame and we would have been out of here forever. No, it is not the cold winters of Minnesota. It was his allergies to gluten and casein that were to blame. He had no trouble with milk and wheat before November of 2006 when he turned 1 ½ years. Yes, the efficient and prize-winning Minnesota vaccine schedule had caught up with him.
Today we are faced with questions about autism and its prevalence in the Somali immigrants in the USA, especially in Minnesota. We are trying to figure out if there truly is a higher incidence of autism amongst the Somali people or if there is a misdiagnosis that profiles them. We have heard of parents’ concerns about vaccines and officials telling us that they are safe. I have no doubts in my mind that vaccines are beneficial and have eliminated many diseases, and that the human race is forever grateful to the scientists who discovered them and the pharmaceutical companies that produced them. But as with everything new and beneficial, there are side-effects and other things that give. I believe that what is beneficial for one person may be harmful to another. There are allergies that afflict some people and not others. Some people react to certain medicines while others don’t - that is why doctors always ask if we have allergies of any kind before they prescribe medicine. Is it therefore possible that some children have allergic reactions to some chemicals in the vaccines? How is it possible that all kids will accept the vaccines in the same way, so that doctors don’t have to ask the parents about the possible allergies they may have? There are the same vaccines in East Africa too although their administration is very different. Could we borrow a leaf from countries like Kenya who have a vaccine schedule and where many Somali people also live? Or are we going to be defensive in the face of criticism because we have no answers to these many questions?
The CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health are the jury and judge. They will hand down a verdict that vaccines do not cause autism. They will base their decision not on scientific evidence that identifies the cause of autism but on the lack of evidence that vaccines do actually cause autism. They may be taking a decision similar to one taken by a judge sentencing an innocent person to death only to discover 10 years after the person’s execution that he was innocent. Just imagine the sense of guilt that will plague that judge. Many of our children are still very young and many more will be born in the future. We have to take action now because if we don’t we will have a country of psychotics and mentally retarded people in the not too distant future.
Please note that I am not arguing that vaccines cause autism just as I cannot argue that mosquitoes cause malaria because they don’t. But just as we now know that mosquitoes actually carry the bugs that cause malaria I am suspicious that the many vaccines that we give our children may carry substances that cause autism. I have no proof and I maybe superstitious. But the ‘superstitious’ beliefs of the Somali nomads in 1854 jogged the minds of curious scientists who eventually found the causes and cures of malaria. I hope that the scientists of today will have the courage to accept their ignorance and give a second look at our superstitious beliefs. I also hope that bureaucracy and bad policy, the politics of ‘non-profit’ and the psychology of ‘for-profit’ will not get in our way as we march forward in our war against autism. We will all look forward to the day when our kids will have another chance to thank the nurse practitioner during a subsequent vaccine visit and that what was supposed to protect them will not silence them forever. I also hope that our scientists will stop following the gene highway to nowhere and try the alternative route to salvation. My wife and I are not cousins, nor are our parents.
THANK YOU.
ABDULKADIR A KHALIF.
Abdulkadir Khalif Chair: Board of Directors, Parents United Against Autism-Minneapolis.Father of a four year old autistic boy called Abdimalik, and six other children.Land Surveyor by profession working in Engineering Department of the City of Burnsville, MN.Born in Somalia and worked and lived in both Somalia and Kenya. Came to the USA in August 1999 and did not live anywhere else in the USA.HERE: Out of Africa and Into Autism: More Evidence Illuminates the Somali Anomaly in MinnesotaHERE: David Kirby on HuffPo: Minneapolis and the Somali Autism RiddleHERE: Minnesota and the CDC Confer on Somali Autism Situation: CDC’s Office of the Director: Autism May Result from “Chemical Exposures”
HERE: Somali Parents Give the Autism Forum a "C+"
HERE: Minnesota Investigates Autism in Somali Children
HERE: Somali Gloves Come Off: Autism in Minnesota
HERE: An Open Letter from JB Handley to the Somali Parents of Minnesota
HERE: Autism Strikes 1 in 28 Somali Children in Minnesota
We still need binoculars to see beyond the distance: Japan’s Navy Dispatch
Medeshi March 23, 2009
By Yoshia Morishita
Saporro, Japan
Section 2 of 3:
We still need binoculars to see beyond the distance: Japan’s Navy Dispatch
Once again, geographical distance seems to have lost its significance. It certainly has, but to some extent. Why to some extent? Because it still matters.
Several days ago I received a message from an angry M. I kind of sensed even before opening the e-mail what he had written about. It should be about the Japan Marine Defense Force (Navy, to put simply) dispatching a few ships to the areas off Somalia/land. Bingo!
The Horn of Africa is very far from Japan. It takes the ships about two weeks to get there. Therefore the crew members will eat curry twice onboard. It’s their tradition to have curry on Fridays so they are reminded it’s a Friday. They see the ocean every single day during the voyage. The sun rises and sets today, like yesterday, and definitely tomorrow too. It is possible that they forget the day. The curry helps in this regard (I hear the curry tastes great. I never tried it myself but the recipe should be available at the Navy’s web site).
Putting the weekly curry aside, there are a huge number of Japan-related ships that go through the areas off Somalia/land, and this justifies the dispatch of the ships. It is very rare for Japan to send the troops overseas as the constitution strictly forbids it, unless there is an international agreement/request for the dispatch. A few Japanese commercial vessels have been attacked by some pirates there. There are a great number of ships of a great number of countries that already request the Navy’s protection. The government of Japan believes the dispatch is necessary. It also hopes the Navy will not use force, just like the Japanese Ground Army that never fired a single bullet in Iraq over a period of more than six years.
One thing for sure, in any case, is that the way that the vast majority of Japanese people see our military forces is perhaps fundamentally different from the way the other nationals see their military. I understand that the military of many nations of the world, because of the shared land borders with their neighbouring countries and their operations overseas, is considered as a military ‘force’, while in Japan people tend to see the military as an organisation that supplements the police and help people in case of emergencies, such as frequent earthquakes, typhoons, landslides, rescue activities after avalanches in winter mountains and so on. I get confused when our troops are viewed by outsiders in exactly the way as the military forces of other nations; we do not talk about spreading democracy, human rights, good/bad governance and other ideas that tend to be imposed on some people by the self-proclaimed leaders of the world. Things are naturally different from place to place.
The dispatch is a big issue anyway. Some opposition parties and civic organisations are strongly against the dispatch, referring to the military expansion of the past (some of them actually refuse the use of the national flag and anthem even on formal/official occasions). But perhaps the web master M took it more seriously than I and most of Japanese actually did. So how come we are not taking this issue as seriously as we probably should? Distance seems to matter…
(End of Section 2)
About the writer:(Mr) Yoshia MORISHITA is a Japanese national who studied and worked in the UK, as well as Turkey and Eritrea. He has visited around 25 countries of the world and developed his international perspectives. He has a Master’s degree in International Development from UCL, University of London and worked as a research associate at a British NGO. Currently he is living in Japan running a small business in the area of various international programmes and businesses facilitation and co-ordination, while reading sociology at Hokkaido University.
Once again, geographical distance seems to have lost its significance. It certainly has, but to some extent. Why to some extent? Because it still matters.
Several days ago I received a message from an angry M. I kind of sensed even before opening the e-mail what he had written about. It should be about the Japan Marine Defense Force (Navy, to put simply) dispatching a few ships to the areas off Somalia/land. Bingo!
The Horn of Africa is very far from Japan. It takes the ships about two weeks to get there. Therefore the crew members will eat curry twice onboard. It’s their tradition to have curry on Fridays so they are reminded it’s a Friday. They see the ocean every single day during the voyage. The sun rises and sets today, like yesterday, and definitely tomorrow too. It is possible that they forget the day. The curry helps in this regard (I hear the curry tastes great. I never tried it myself but the recipe should be available at the Navy’s web site).
Putting the weekly curry aside, there are a huge number of Japan-related ships that go through the areas off Somalia/land, and this justifies the dispatch of the ships. It is very rare for Japan to send the troops overseas as the constitution strictly forbids it, unless there is an international agreement/request for the dispatch. A few Japanese commercial vessels have been attacked by some pirates there. There are a great number of ships of a great number of countries that already request the Navy’s protection. The government of Japan believes the dispatch is necessary. It also hopes the Navy will not use force, just like the Japanese Ground Army that never fired a single bullet in Iraq over a period of more than six years.
One thing for sure, in any case, is that the way that the vast majority of Japanese people see our military forces is perhaps fundamentally different from the way the other nationals see their military. I understand that the military of many nations of the world, because of the shared land borders with their neighbouring countries and their operations overseas, is considered as a military ‘force’, while in Japan people tend to see the military as an organisation that supplements the police and help people in case of emergencies, such as frequent earthquakes, typhoons, landslides, rescue activities after avalanches in winter mountains and so on. I get confused when our troops are viewed by outsiders in exactly the way as the military forces of other nations; we do not talk about spreading democracy, human rights, good/bad governance and other ideas that tend to be imposed on some people by the self-proclaimed leaders of the world. Things are naturally different from place to place.
The dispatch is a big issue anyway. Some opposition parties and civic organisations are strongly against the dispatch, referring to the military expansion of the past (some of them actually refuse the use of the national flag and anthem even on formal/official occasions). But perhaps the web master M took it more seriously than I and most of Japanese actually did. So how come we are not taking this issue as seriously as we probably should? Distance seems to matter…
(End of Section 2)
About the writer:(Mr) Yoshia MORISHITA is a Japanese national who studied and worked in the UK, as well as Turkey and Eritrea. He has visited around 25 countries of the world and developed his international perspectives. He has a Master’s degree in International Development from UCL, University of London and worked as a research associate at a British NGO. Currently he is living in Japan running a small business in the area of various international programmes and businesses facilitation and co-ordination, while reading sociology at Hokkaido University.
The Economist cancels conference with Zenawi
Medeshi March 22, 2009
The Economist cancels conference with gov’t
BY HAYAL ALEMAYEHU
The Economist canceled Friday what would have been its first business conference with the government of Ethiopia scheduled to run under the theme “Realizing potential in one of sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest market” on March 23 and 24, it was learnt.
The cancellation of the conference came suddenly amidst high expectations and hopes that the event will serve as a ‘best and ideal’ platform to sell Ethiopia to foreign investors and high profile business executives, according to knowledgeable sources.
The Economist Conference canceled the event after it failed to reach an agreement concerning an article which was supposed to be included in the conference material, according to the event organizers.
“The government of Ethiopia has decided that it will no longer participate in the business roundtable,” the Economist Conference emailed to The Reporter. “The decision was made today [Friday] by the Ethiopian government after they had reviewed the Economist article we planned to include in the conference material. We have therefore decided to cancel the round table.”
The conference, about which much was talked amongst scholars and business executives both here in the country and outside, was meant to exchange ideas on Ethiopia’s investment climate and issues that matter to doing business in Ethiopia, according to the event organizers.
The major topics scheduled to be raised and discussed at the conference include whether Ethiopia could position itself as a regional hub for foreign investment, the effect of the global economic crisis on the country, the economic and business outlook for 2009 and 2010, whether domestic challenges, including infrastructure, low skills levels and corruption can be overcome to support investment and the prospects for tourism.
The key speakers were Prime Minster Meles Zenawi and five of his ministers, Eyesus Work Zafu, the Chairman of the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations, Abi Wolde Meskal, the director general of the Ethiopian Investment Authority, Zemedeneh Negatu, the managing partner of Ernst & Young, Ethiopia, among others.
Economist Conferences is a division of the Economist Intelligence Unit and a leading provider of international forums for senior executives seeking new insights into strategic issues, according to information posted at the its website.
These meetings include industry conferences, management events and government roundtables held around the world.
The Economist cancels conference with gov’t
BY HAYAL ALEMAYEHU
The Economist canceled Friday what would have been its first business conference with the government of Ethiopia scheduled to run under the theme “Realizing potential in one of sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest market” on March 23 and 24, it was learnt.
The cancellation of the conference came suddenly amidst high expectations and hopes that the event will serve as a ‘best and ideal’ platform to sell Ethiopia to foreign investors and high profile business executives, according to knowledgeable sources.
The Economist Conference canceled the event after it failed to reach an agreement concerning an article which was supposed to be included in the conference material, according to the event organizers.
“The government of Ethiopia has decided that it will no longer participate in the business roundtable,” the Economist Conference emailed to The Reporter. “The decision was made today [Friday] by the Ethiopian government after they had reviewed the Economist article we planned to include in the conference material. We have therefore decided to cancel the round table.”
The conference, about which much was talked amongst scholars and business executives both here in the country and outside, was meant to exchange ideas on Ethiopia’s investment climate and issues that matter to doing business in Ethiopia, according to the event organizers.
The major topics scheduled to be raised and discussed at the conference include whether Ethiopia could position itself as a regional hub for foreign investment, the effect of the global economic crisis on the country, the economic and business outlook for 2009 and 2010, whether domestic challenges, including infrastructure, low skills levels and corruption can be overcome to support investment and the prospects for tourism.
The key speakers were Prime Minster Meles Zenawi and five of his ministers, Eyesus Work Zafu, the Chairman of the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations, Abi Wolde Meskal, the director general of the Ethiopian Investment Authority, Zemedeneh Negatu, the managing partner of Ernst & Young, Ethiopia, among others.
Economist Conferences is a division of the Economist Intelligence Unit and a leading provider of international forums for senior executives seeking new insights into strategic issues, according to information posted at the its website.
These meetings include industry conferences, management events and government roundtables held around the world.
Somali man's return to Minn. has locals buzzing
Medeshi
Somali man's return to Minn. has locals buzzing
The 22-year-old from Minneapolis is in hiding, a community leader said, adding that the recruit for jihad had a change of heart.
By ABBY SIMONS and RICHARD MERYHEW, Star Tribune staff writers
Last update: March 22, 2009
A young Somali man from Minneapolis believed to have been recruited by a terrorist group to travel to his war-torn homeland has returned to Minnesota, a community leader said Saturday.
Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, said Saturday that the 22-year-old man was recruited for jihad before a change of heart led him to return in recent months. Jamal wouldn't confirm the man's identity, saying that he and his family fear for their safety and are in hiding. Others identified him only as Kamal.
The disappearances of perhaps a dozen young men from the Twin Cities have traumatized and divided the local Somali community.
Jamal also wouldn't say why the man went to Somalia or how he financed the trip, but said he apparently returned because "his expectation was not what he wanted when he went over there. ... I think he simply didn't like what he saw over there."
Jamal said the man has met with FBI investigators but is not in jail.
FBI special agent E.K. Wilson declined Saturday to comment about the development or the status of the travelers "because of the ongoing investigation," he said.
Federal authorities have been investigating the possible connection between terrorist groups and the disappearances of seven to 20 young Somali men in the Twin Cities since last fall, when Shirwa Ahmed, a 27-year-old college student from Minneapolis, blew himself up in Somalia in an October attack that killed up to 30 people.
Ahmed immigrated with his family to Minneapolis in the mid-1990s but returned to Somalia after he was recruited by a militant group, FBI Director Robert Mueller said last month. Mueller said that Ahmed had apparently been indoctrinated into extremist beliefs while living in Minneapolis.
Members of the Somali community were called to testify before Congress on March 11. Others have been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in Minneapolis.
Farhan (Omar) Hurre, director of the Abubakar As-Saddique mosque in south Minneapolis, said Saturday that he knows of at least 10 people within the Somali community who received subpoenas in the past two months.
"They turn to us for help because most of the people are not familiar on what to do with the subpoena," Hurre said. "They get a letter from an FBI agent saying 'You have to appear at such and such date.' These people are pretty well connected to the mosque, and they turn to us for help."
'He's really afraid'
Jamal said the man who returned to Minnesota had been recruited by a group called al-Shabab, an Al-Qaida off-shoot, and left Nov. 4 for Somalia, where he expected vocational training and study but encountered war and further indoctrination.
"The mobilization of the jihad and what have you is different when they really go over there," Jamal said.
The man's family has since changed their address and telephone number.
"He's really afraid at the moment," Jamal said. "I think you know by now the level of sensitivity and seriousness of this issue. ... The community is completely divided over this, and it's creating a serious pressure. Because of that, there's a collective fear and concern over this."
Jamal said the man is not a terrorist.
"We believe that this guy and many others that have gone missing are victims of people who are led to be part of something that's bigger than them."
Osman Ahmed, president of the Riverside Plaza Tenants Association, whose 17-year-old nephew, Burhan Hassan, also left home in November, said he has not personally encountered a missing man that has returned. But several close friends told Ahmed that a 22-year-old man named Kamal has returned, although the circumstances are not clear.
Minneapolis connection
While FBI director Mueller never said where Shirwa Ahmed ( who blew himself up in Hargeisa , Somaliland in 29 Oct, 2008 killing dozens of innocent civilians) was influenced, much of the focus has been on Twin Cities mosques, and Abubakar specifically.
In late November, an imam and youth director from Abubakar were prohibited from boarding a flight to Saudi Arabia. At that time, an attorney representing the mosque, the largest in the Twin Cities, said they were put on a federal ''no fly'' list because they and the mosque were connected by rumor to the missing men.
Sources close to the federal investigation have said that Ahmed, along with some of the other missing men, including Burhan Hassan and Mustafa Ali, 17, of St. Paul, spent time at or had ties to Abubakar.
Hurre, the mosque director, has said that he did not know Shirwa Ahmed, but that others at the mosque knew him and were aware that he had spent time there.
"He used to worship here, come here, yes," Hurre said again Saturday.
Nevertheless, he and other officials at Abubakar have repeatedly denied that the mosque had anything to do with the men's disappearance.
"We have nothing to do with these kids who left," he said in February.
Hurre said again Saturday that mosque leaders have discussed the issue many times among themselves and are convinced that nobody on the staff taught or influenced the young men.
"I'm so confident the mosque message that we are teaching here has nothing to do with that and that none of the administration has something to do with that or preaching that."
Hurre said that mosque officials are still hoping to meet with the FBI to talk about the investigation and learn how they can help.
Somali man's return to Minn. has locals buzzing
The 22-year-old from Minneapolis is in hiding, a community leader said, adding that the recruit for jihad had a change of heart.
By ABBY SIMONS and RICHARD MERYHEW, Star Tribune staff writers
Last update: March 22, 2009
A young Somali man from Minneapolis believed to have been recruited by a terrorist group to travel to his war-torn homeland has returned to Minnesota, a community leader said Saturday.
Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, said Saturday that the 22-year-old man was recruited for jihad before a change of heart led him to return in recent months. Jamal wouldn't confirm the man's identity, saying that he and his family fear for their safety and are in hiding. Others identified him only as Kamal.
The disappearances of perhaps a dozen young men from the Twin Cities have traumatized and divided the local Somali community.
Jamal also wouldn't say why the man went to Somalia or how he financed the trip, but said he apparently returned because "his expectation was not what he wanted when he went over there. ... I think he simply didn't like what he saw over there."
Jamal said the man has met with FBI investigators but is not in jail.
FBI special agent E.K. Wilson declined Saturday to comment about the development or the status of the travelers "because of the ongoing investigation," he said.
Federal authorities have been investigating the possible connection between terrorist groups and the disappearances of seven to 20 young Somali men in the Twin Cities since last fall, when Shirwa Ahmed, a 27-year-old college student from Minneapolis, blew himself up in Somalia in an October attack that killed up to 30 people.
Ahmed immigrated with his family to Minneapolis in the mid-1990s but returned to Somalia after he was recruited by a militant group, FBI Director Robert Mueller said last month. Mueller said that Ahmed had apparently been indoctrinated into extremist beliefs while living in Minneapolis.
Members of the Somali community were called to testify before Congress on March 11. Others have been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in Minneapolis.
Farhan (Omar) Hurre, director of the Abubakar As-Saddique mosque in south Minneapolis, said Saturday that he knows of at least 10 people within the Somali community who received subpoenas in the past two months.
"They turn to us for help because most of the people are not familiar on what to do with the subpoena," Hurre said. "They get a letter from an FBI agent saying 'You have to appear at such and such date.' These people are pretty well connected to the mosque, and they turn to us for help."
'He's really afraid'
Jamal said the man who returned to Minnesota had been recruited by a group called al-Shabab, an Al-Qaida off-shoot, and left Nov. 4 for Somalia, where he expected vocational training and study but encountered war and further indoctrination.
"The mobilization of the jihad and what have you is different when they really go over there," Jamal said.
The man's family has since changed their address and telephone number.
"He's really afraid at the moment," Jamal said. "I think you know by now the level of sensitivity and seriousness of this issue. ... The community is completely divided over this, and it's creating a serious pressure. Because of that, there's a collective fear and concern over this."
Jamal said the man is not a terrorist.
"We believe that this guy and many others that have gone missing are victims of people who are led to be part of something that's bigger than them."
Osman Ahmed, president of the Riverside Plaza Tenants Association, whose 17-year-old nephew, Burhan Hassan, also left home in November, said he has not personally encountered a missing man that has returned. But several close friends told Ahmed that a 22-year-old man named Kamal has returned, although the circumstances are not clear.
Minneapolis connection
While FBI director Mueller never said where Shirwa Ahmed ( who blew himself up in Hargeisa , Somaliland in 29 Oct, 2008 killing dozens of innocent civilians) was influenced, much of the focus has been on Twin Cities mosques, and Abubakar specifically.
In late November, an imam and youth director from Abubakar were prohibited from boarding a flight to Saudi Arabia. At that time, an attorney representing the mosque, the largest in the Twin Cities, said they were put on a federal ''no fly'' list because they and the mosque were connected by rumor to the missing men.
Sources close to the federal investigation have said that Ahmed, along with some of the other missing men, including Burhan Hassan and Mustafa Ali, 17, of St. Paul, spent time at or had ties to Abubakar.
Hurre, the mosque director, has said that he did not know Shirwa Ahmed, but that others at the mosque knew him and were aware that he had spent time there.
"He used to worship here, come here, yes," Hurre said again Saturday.
Nevertheless, he and other officials at Abubakar have repeatedly denied that the mosque had anything to do with the men's disappearance.
"We have nothing to do with these kids who left," he said in February.
Hurre said again Saturday that mosque leaders have discussed the issue many times among themselves and are convinced that nobody on the staff taught or influenced the young men.
"I'm so confident the mosque message that we are teaching here has nothing to do with that and that none of the administration has something to do with that or preaching that."
Hurre said that mosque officials are still hoping to meet with the FBI to talk about the investigation and learn how they can help.
Puntland President Fears Loss of Autonomy
Medeshi
Puntland President Fears Loss of Autonomy
By Harun Maruf
Washington 21 March 2009
The president of Somalia's northern Puntland region is expressing concern that the new government of national unity led by President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed may abandon the federal system that gives his region its semi-autonomous status. President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole says even the name "Government of National Unity" violates the basic concept underlying the formation of the Transitional Federal Government. The federalism issue has the potential to undermine efforts to stabilize a country that has been without an effective central authority for nearly two decades.During a visit to Addis Ababa for talks with Ethiopian leaders, President Farole emphasized Puntland is part of a federal Somalia set up under a 2004 charter. It gives Puntland substantial autonomy within the transitional government. In a VOA interview, he questioned whether the new coalition government headed by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed might abandon that the system.President Farole says federalism is the only system that will bring Somalia together, and believes most Somalis favor it, even those in the breakaway northwestern Somaliland region.
"We know the middle river people are also for federalism, and we know the people of the central and Jubaland region are for that," he said. "We know Somaliland can be negotiated only to come back from secession only in the federal system. That is the only choice that Somalis can reconcile among themselves."
Farole, who was elected in January, refused to comment on whether Puntland would secede if President Sheikh Sharif gives into pressure from hardline Islamists to repeal the federal structure to force nationwide implementation of Islamic Sharia law. He said that Puntlanders would reject any attempt to take away the region's autonomy.
Earlier this month, Sheikh Sharif's government was forced to adopt Sharia law, despite previous indications he would hold the constitution as the country's supreme law. Farole said his administration is going to "'wait-and-see" what the government in Mogadishu does.
"It depends on what they intend to do. Somalis are Muslims and all the laws are based on Sharia," said the president. "Any law that will not recognize Sharia is not law in Somalia, and that was the case since independence. But the main thing they are saying when they adopt Sharia law, we will see what they mean, whether they mean there will be a constitution or not."
Puntland has traditionally rejected the militant brand of Islam favored by some hardline groups prominent in the southern part of the country. Some of the worst clashes between hardline Islamists and more moderate Muslims took place in Puntland in the early 1990s when the local faction, led by former President Abdullahi Yusuf battled militants of Al-Itihad, headed by the militant cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys. Farole says Puntlanders are still firmly opposed to religious extremism.
"We are for the constitution," he said. "Constitution which rejects everything against Sharia, but constitution for the Somali people."
Puntland has enjoyed relative stability since regional administration began in 1998. But its reputation as an oasis of tranquility in an otherwise failed state has been shattered in recent months by a surge in piracy and the abduction of foreign journalists. A United Nations report this week alleged links between pirates operating off the Somali coast and senior Puntland government officials.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.
Puntland President Fears Loss of Autonomy
By Harun Maruf
Washington 21 March 2009
The president of Somalia's northern Puntland region is expressing concern that the new government of national unity led by President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed may abandon the federal system that gives his region its semi-autonomous status. President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole says even the name "Government of National Unity" violates the basic concept underlying the formation of the Transitional Federal Government. The federalism issue has the potential to undermine efforts to stabilize a country that has been without an effective central authority for nearly two decades.During a visit to Addis Ababa for talks with Ethiopian leaders, President Farole emphasized Puntland is part of a federal Somalia set up under a 2004 charter. It gives Puntland substantial autonomy within the transitional government. In a VOA interview, he questioned whether the new coalition government headed by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed might abandon that the system.President Farole says federalism is the only system that will bring Somalia together, and believes most Somalis favor it, even those in the breakaway northwestern Somaliland region.
"We know the middle river people are also for federalism, and we know the people of the central and Jubaland region are for that," he said. "We know Somaliland can be negotiated only to come back from secession only in the federal system. That is the only choice that Somalis can reconcile among themselves."
Farole, who was elected in January, refused to comment on whether Puntland would secede if President Sheikh Sharif gives into pressure from hardline Islamists to repeal the federal structure to force nationwide implementation of Islamic Sharia law. He said that Puntlanders would reject any attempt to take away the region's autonomy.
Earlier this month, Sheikh Sharif's government was forced to adopt Sharia law, despite previous indications he would hold the constitution as the country's supreme law. Farole said his administration is going to "'wait-and-see" what the government in Mogadishu does.
"It depends on what they intend to do. Somalis are Muslims and all the laws are based on Sharia," said the president. "Any law that will not recognize Sharia is not law in Somalia, and that was the case since independence. But the main thing they are saying when they adopt Sharia law, we will see what they mean, whether they mean there will be a constitution or not."
Puntland has traditionally rejected the militant brand of Islam favored by some hardline groups prominent in the southern part of the country. Some of the worst clashes between hardline Islamists and more moderate Muslims took place in Puntland in the early 1990s when the local faction, led by former President Abdullahi Yusuf battled militants of Al-Itihad, headed by the militant cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys. Farole says Puntlanders are still firmly opposed to religious extremism.
"We are for the constitution," he said. "Constitution which rejects everything against Sharia, but constitution for the Somali people."
Puntland has enjoyed relative stability since regional administration began in 1998. But its reputation as an oasis of tranquility in an otherwise failed state has been shattered in recent months by a surge in piracy and the abduction of foreign journalists. A United Nations report this week alleged links between pirates operating off the Somali coast and senior Puntland government officials.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.
The Rent-A-Country
Medeshi March 21, 2009
10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now
Idea no: 7
The Times
7. The Rent-A-Country
Take a moment to consider breakfast, the most important meal of the day. Maybe you grabbed a banana or ate a bowl of granola. Whatever it was, chances are that some — if not all — of your morning meal came from a country you don't live in.
Food isolationism is dead. It collapsed in a messy, public heap last year when oil hit $100-plus per bbl. and the world's crush on biofuels pushed food prices to unprecedented highs. Thirty-six nations needed food aid. Twenty-five imposed export bans or restrictions to keep staple crops like rice and wheat at home. As prices shot up 50%, food riots erupted in Haiti, killing at least five, and eventually brought down the government.
And then something else happened. A few diplomats and business leaders quietly boarded their jets and got to work. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and South Korea — well-off states without enough good land or water to feed their people — started to look outside their borders. "It's economically not viable to grow food in the desert," says David Hallam, deputy director of trade and markets for the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization. "They said, 'If we can't grow our own food, we'll grow it somewhere else.'"
Their words did not fall on deaf ears. In April, diplomatic relations between Cambodia and Qatar were officially established. In May, the Presidents of South Korea and Sudan discussed food cooperation at the launch of the Korea-Arab Society in Seoul. The Saudi Binladin Group penned nonbinding agreements with Indonesia to plant rice on some 1.5 million acres (607,000 hectares) of island paradise, and millions more have reportedly been earmarked, from Pakistan and Kazakhstan to Burma and the Philippines. Alwi Shihab, a special economic adviser on the Middle East to the President of Indonesia, sees this new investment as a boon to the nation's agricultural sector. "We have large, sizable, fertile -land and good water," says Shihab.
Growing crops for strangers, of course, is nothing new. The long, grim march of colonialism was driven by Europe's penchant for sugar, tea, tobacco and other crops that don't flourish in northern climes. But as climate change and growing populations put ever more pressure on the earth, state-backed searches for land and food contracts as part of a national food-security strategy strike many as fundamentally new. "We're talking about a whole different logic," says Renée Vellvé, a researcher for Grain, an organization that has been compiling media reports of these deals. Vellvé's group sees a downside. When farmers in food-insecure countries like Laos and Cambodia are scrambling to feed their children, does it make sense to lease out vast tracts to grow rice for foreign governments? "These are not fallow fields," says Paul Risley, a World Food Program spokesman based in Thailand. "These are villages where families have farmed for centuries."
And for investors, moving into regions where so many depend so fiercely on the land can translate into risk. "You see a backlash," says Rajesh Behal, a principal investment officer for International Finance Corp., which has just put $75 million into an emerging-market agribusiness fund. "People say, 'Who are these people, and how long will they be there?'" In July, South Korea's Daewoo Logistics signed contracts to lease more than 2.2 million acres (900,000 hectares) in Madagascar — more than a third of the island nation's arable land — to grow corn and oil palms. A violent political dispute erupted in the capital soon after, complicating the deal. "Farming is a pretty dirty business," says Behal. "You have to know the nuances and withstand the volatility."
But in countries where governments can't afford — or don't prioritize — significant domestic agricultural investment, foreign money has the power to deliver better roads, irrigation, technology and training. "One thousand times we say yes on private and public agricultural investment, but done in a certain way," says Jean-Philippe Audinet, acting director of the policy division at the U.N.'s International Fund for Agricultural Development. "It's very important not to look negatively at this trend. We have to try to look at the win-win."
After all, is there a choice? Some of these deals are probably doomed to fall under the ax of the global credit crunch, if they haven't already. But for land-poor countries, the underlying problem of relying heavily on imports will remain. Encouraging a new generation of deals to come out of the diplomatic closet may be the best chance we have to make sure that people on both ends of the bargain end up with food on their plate.
—With reporting by Jennifer Veale in Seoul
Read full ideas here: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1884779_1884782_1884761,00.htmlFood isolationism is dead. It collapsed in a messy, public heap last year when oil hit $100-plus per bbl. and the world's crush on biofuels pushed food prices to unprecedented highs. Thirty-six nations needed food aid. Twenty-five imposed export bans or restrictions to keep staple crops like rice and wheat at home. As prices shot up 50%, food riots erupted in Haiti, killing at least five, and eventually brought down the government.
And then something else happened. A few diplomats and business leaders quietly boarded their jets and got to work. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and South Korea — well-off states without enough good land or water to feed their people — started to look outside their borders. "It's economically not viable to grow food in the desert," says David Hallam, deputy director of trade and markets for the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization. "They said, 'If we can't grow our own food, we'll grow it somewhere else.'"
Their words did not fall on deaf ears. In April, diplomatic relations between Cambodia and Qatar were officially established. In May, the Presidents of South Korea and Sudan discussed food cooperation at the launch of the Korea-Arab Society in Seoul. The Saudi Binladin Group penned nonbinding agreements with Indonesia to plant rice on some 1.5 million acres (607,000 hectares) of island paradise, and millions more have reportedly been earmarked, from Pakistan and Kazakhstan to Burma and the Philippines. Alwi Shihab, a special economic adviser on the Middle East to the President of Indonesia, sees this new investment as a boon to the nation's agricultural sector. "We have large, sizable, fertile -land and good water," says Shihab.
Growing crops for strangers, of course, is nothing new. The long, grim march of colonialism was driven by Europe's penchant for sugar, tea, tobacco and other crops that don't flourish in northern climes. But as climate change and growing populations put ever more pressure on the earth, state-backed searches for land and food contracts as part of a national food-security strategy strike many as fundamentally new. "We're talking about a whole different logic," says Renée Vellvé, a researcher for Grain, an organization that has been compiling media reports of these deals. Vellvé's group sees a downside. When farmers in food-insecure countries like Laos and Cambodia are scrambling to feed their children, does it make sense to lease out vast tracts to grow rice for foreign governments? "These are not fallow fields," says Paul Risley, a World Food Program spokesman based in Thailand. "These are villages where families have farmed for centuries."
And for investors, moving into regions where so many depend so fiercely on the land can translate into risk. "You see a backlash," says Rajesh Behal, a principal investment officer for International Finance Corp., which has just put $75 million into an emerging-market agribusiness fund. "People say, 'Who are these people, and how long will they be there?'" In July, South Korea's Daewoo Logistics signed contracts to lease more than 2.2 million acres (900,000 hectares) in Madagascar — more than a third of the island nation's arable land — to grow corn and oil palms. A violent political dispute erupted in the capital soon after, complicating the deal. "Farming is a pretty dirty business," says Behal. "You have to know the nuances and withstand the volatility."
But in countries where governments can't afford — or don't prioritize — significant domestic agricultural investment, foreign money has the power to deliver better roads, irrigation, technology and training. "One thousand times we say yes on private and public agricultural investment, but done in a certain way," says Jean-Philippe Audinet, acting director of the policy division at the U.N.'s International Fund for Agricultural Development. "It's very important not to look negatively at this trend. We have to try to look at the win-win."
After all, is there a choice? Some of these deals are probably doomed to fall under the ax of the global credit crunch, if they haven't already. But for land-poor countries, the underlying problem of relying heavily on imports will remain. Encouraging a new generation of deals to come out of the diplomatic closet may be the best chance we have to make sure that people on both ends of the bargain end up with food on their plate.
—With reporting by Jennifer Veale in Seoul
Intellectual arrogance : Should We Talk Like This?
Medeshi March 21, 2009
From the archives
Should We Talk Like This?
by Charley Reese
A habit of conversation conducted as a form of Twenty Questions is becoming a fad in Washington. Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is probably the most famous user of the Twenty Questions style of talking.
by Charley Reese
A habit of conversation conducted as a form of Twenty Questions is becoming a fad in Washington. Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is probably the most famous user of the Twenty Questions style of talking.
(Photo: Rumsfeld pointing "The US has not run out of targets to bomb. Afghanistan has run out of targets. Ha, Ha, Ha!")
You've probably heard him say something like: "Do we know where Bin Laden is? No. Are we searching for him? Yes. Will we eventually find him? You bet. But do I wake up every morning worrying about where Bin Laden may or may not be? No."
Maybe all Americans should adopt this habit. Imagine going to a restaurant, and the waitress says, "What'll you have?"
And you reply: "Do I want fried chicken? No. Do I like fried fish? No. Would I prefer to have a plain steak and baked potato? You bet."
Then the waitress says, "And what would you like to drink?"
You reply: "Should I drink coffee this late in the day? No. Does Coke have a lot of caffeine in it, too? Yes. Would I prefer just a plain glass of water? I think so."
And the waitress would say: "When I return with your order, will I dump it on your head? Wait and see."
I much prefer the old-fashioned way of direct speech, such as, "We don't know where Bin Laden is, but we'll find him eventually, and in the meantime, I have more important things to think about."
The Twenty Questions style seems patronizing to me, as if the person believes his audience is so ignorant that everything has to be explained to them in kindergarten language. Rumsfeld is by no means the only political figure to use this technique, but behind his facade of affability and humor, he is an arrogant man. It does no credit to the Washington press corps members that they like Rumsfeld just because he knows how to refuse to answer their questions and to make them laugh at the same time.
Years ago, I covered a politician who had a different style of dealing with questions. Suppose I asked him a simple question: "Are you going to vote for or against the road bill?" This guy, who was earnest sincerity personified, would begin with the history of road building just before the Roman Empire, carry you forward to the 19th century, then start to talk about Indian trails and early road-building efforts in the North American wilderness. Finally, he would arrive at the 20th century, after which he discussed previously passed laws about road building, carefully dissecting each law into pros and cons. By this time, your eyes had glazed over, and you were trying not to topple over, fall on the floor and snore. You dreaded asking him another question, and before you could regain full consciousness, he was gone. It usually took a few minutes to figure out he had never answered the question.
We need to pay more attention to language, how our leaders use it, how journalists use it, and how we use it. Human civilization literally rests on three pillars — the ability to communicate, knowledge, and the ethic of telling the truth. If even one of those pillars rots, then the civilization will collapse. Most empires die of their own corruption. Ours is not exactly what any careful observer would call in perfect health.
I cannot think, for example, what a politician could do that would cause his constituents to vote him out of office, short of child murder. Lying and cheating and thinking nothing of it seems to be on the increase. Simple good manners seem to be vanishing.
Hasn't America always produced great leaders to get us out of the soup? No. Can people lower their own standards so much that they can't recognize greatness? Yes. Will they lose the ability to recognize even mediocrity? You bet. Where do people led by mediocrity end up? On the trash heap of history.
Gazette's Commentary: Is Donald Rumsfeld an arrogant jerk? Yes.
You've probably heard him say something like: "Do we know where Bin Laden is? No. Are we searching for him? Yes. Will we eventually find him? You bet. But do I wake up every morning worrying about where Bin Laden may or may not be? No."
Maybe all Americans should adopt this habit. Imagine going to a restaurant, and the waitress says, "What'll you have?"
And you reply: "Do I want fried chicken? No. Do I like fried fish? No. Would I prefer to have a plain steak and baked potato? You bet."
Then the waitress says, "And what would you like to drink?"
You reply: "Should I drink coffee this late in the day? No. Does Coke have a lot of caffeine in it, too? Yes. Would I prefer just a plain glass of water? I think so."
And the waitress would say: "When I return with your order, will I dump it on your head? Wait and see."
I much prefer the old-fashioned way of direct speech, such as, "We don't know where Bin Laden is, but we'll find him eventually, and in the meantime, I have more important things to think about."
The Twenty Questions style seems patronizing to me, as if the person believes his audience is so ignorant that everything has to be explained to them in kindergarten language. Rumsfeld is by no means the only political figure to use this technique, but behind his facade of affability and humor, he is an arrogant man. It does no credit to the Washington press corps members that they like Rumsfeld just because he knows how to refuse to answer their questions and to make them laugh at the same time.
Years ago, I covered a politician who had a different style of dealing with questions. Suppose I asked him a simple question: "Are you going to vote for or against the road bill?" This guy, who was earnest sincerity personified, would begin with the history of road building just before the Roman Empire, carry you forward to the 19th century, then start to talk about Indian trails and early road-building efforts in the North American wilderness. Finally, he would arrive at the 20th century, after which he discussed previously passed laws about road building, carefully dissecting each law into pros and cons. By this time, your eyes had glazed over, and you were trying not to topple over, fall on the floor and snore. You dreaded asking him another question, and before you could regain full consciousness, he was gone. It usually took a few minutes to figure out he had never answered the question.
We need to pay more attention to language, how our leaders use it, how journalists use it, and how we use it. Human civilization literally rests on three pillars — the ability to communicate, knowledge, and the ethic of telling the truth. If even one of those pillars rots, then the civilization will collapse. Most empires die of their own corruption. Ours is not exactly what any careful observer would call in perfect health.
I cannot think, for example, what a politician could do that would cause his constituents to vote him out of office, short of child murder. Lying and cheating and thinking nothing of it seems to be on the increase. Simple good manners seem to be vanishing.
Hasn't America always produced great leaders to get us out of the soup? No. Can people lower their own standards so much that they can't recognize greatness? Yes. Will they lose the ability to recognize even mediocrity? You bet. Where do people led by mediocrity end up? On the trash heap of history.
Gazette's Commentary: Is Donald Rumsfeld an arrogant jerk? Yes.
Bush Scandals List
Hugh Makes a List
because there are just too many scandals to remember
Hugh Makes a List
because there are just too many scandals to remember
Bush Scandals List
A Table of Contents is available here for the complete list, or by category via the category links. Hugh's List of Bush Scandals was written primarily during the last two years of the Bush Administration. For more information, please see Hugh's diary The Bush Scandals List as Bush Leaves Office.Updated 2/6/09, recent changes in red. Please contact us with corrections and additions. -->
A Table of Contents is available here for the complete list, or by category via the category links. Hugh's List of Bush Scandals was written primarily during the last two years of the Bush Administration. For more information, please see Hugh's diary The Bush Scandals List as Bush Leaves Office.Updated 2/6/09, recent changes in red. Please contact us with corrections and additions. -->
Scandal No: 35 : Marginalization of the UN
Marginalization of the UN. Neocons hate the UN.
It doesn’t do what neocons tell it to do.
It is multilateral and neocons think only unilateral action by the US is effective.
It does not opt for military force as a first resort.
So, of course, on August 1, 2005, Bush named UN hating neocon John Bolton as UN Ambassador in a recess appointment. Bolton famously stated in a 1994 speech that “If the U.N. building in New York lost its top 10 stories it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.” The top floors are where highest ranking UN officials have their offices. His thinking has not moderated since.
Of course, the Administration has not hesitated to use the UN when it has suited its purposes. It cited Security Council resolutions from the First Gulf War in its AUMF (Authorization for the Use of Force against Iraq) (see item 128). It would have gone for a Chapter 7 UN resolution authorizing military force for the 2003 invasion of Iraq if it thought it could get one. That wasn’t in the cards. This explains why, despite the incongruity, resolutions from the First Gulf War were used to give a patina of international legitimacy to the Second Gulf War. Later on June 8, 2004 as the CPA was coming to a close, the Administration sought and obtained Security Council Resolution 1546 which sanctioned the presence of American forces in Iraq for a limited time subject to update. This permission was most recently updated in Resolution 1790 on December 18, 2006 which extends the American mandate in Iraq to December 31, 2008.
Marginalization of the UN. Neocons hate the UN.
It doesn’t do what neocons tell it to do.
It is multilateral and neocons think only unilateral action by the US is effective.
It does not opt for military force as a first resort.
So, of course, on August 1, 2005, Bush named UN hating neocon John Bolton as UN Ambassador in a recess appointment. Bolton famously stated in a 1994 speech that “If the U.N. building in New York lost its top 10 stories it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.” The top floors are where highest ranking UN officials have their offices. His thinking has not moderated since.
Of course, the Administration has not hesitated to use the UN when it has suited its purposes. It cited Security Council resolutions from the First Gulf War in its AUMF (Authorization for the Use of Force against Iraq) (see item 128). It would have gone for a Chapter 7 UN resolution authorizing military force for the 2003 invasion of Iraq if it thought it could get one. That wasn’t in the cards. This explains why, despite the incongruity, resolutions from the First Gulf War were used to give a patina of international legitimacy to the Second Gulf War. Later on June 8, 2004 as the CPA was coming to a close, the Administration sought and obtained Security Council Resolution 1546 which sanctioned the presence of American forces in Iraq for a limited time subject to update. This permission was most recently updated in Resolution 1790 on December 18, 2006 which extends the American mandate in Iraq to December 31, 2008.
Read full scandals here: http://www.netrootsmass.net/hughs-bush-scandals-list/
WHO Ethiopia monthly report Feb 2009
Medeshi March 21, 2009
Ethiopia monthly report Feb 2009
Source: World Health Organization (WHO)
Full_Report (pdf* format - 53.8 Kbytes)
HIGHLIGHT:
According to November 2008 nationwide multi agency need assessment on food and none food sectors for 2009 estimated that over 12 million people will continue to require assistance including 7.5 million people assisted through the National Productive Safety Net Program(PSNP).Nearly another 5 million people will require emergency food and nutrition support and some 1 million will need assistance through a Targeted Supplementary Food(TSF)programme. The Government led Multiagency need assessment also identified an additional 1.2 million children under five, pregnant and lactating women will require targeted supplementary food.
From epidemic week 6-9 only 4 suspected cases of meningitis were reported throughout the country and 2 cases of Acute Watery Diarrhoea were reported during the same period form one district of the country (Moyale district of Borana zone in Oromia region).
I. GENERAL SITUATION
a. Political, social and security:
The over all security situations in the country remained stable during this month except unpredictable security situation in Somali region mainly in zones where Ogden clans are residing. The Ethiopia Defense Force is still operating l in zones where ONLF exist. The inter clan conflict in Warder zone of Somali region still continues unresolved. The killing of commercial truck drivers in Gewanie, Mille and Chifra district of Afar region was reported in February2009. Increase numbers of Somalia asylum seekers continue to enter Ethiopia so far an estimated 10,000 refugees have arrived at the boarder town of Dolo Ado of Somali region. UNHCR reported 150 people are currently crossing the border daily fleeing insecurity and to seek asylum.
b. Main events of interest/ concern for health( including food insecurity and malnutrition, disease outbreak, etc):
Food insecurity and malnutrition Situation and response in Ethiopia.
The food security situation remains critical in Ethiopia according to Government led Multi-agency need assessment in November 2008 for 2009. Thus, Government and Humanitarian Partners' issued a joint Humanitarian Requirements Document that summarizes emergency food and non-food requirements for 2009. A total of 4.9 million beneficiaries are identified to require emergency assistance in 2009. The document seeks for a total net emergency requirement including food needs for the year and non-food needs for the first six months of 2009 amounts to USD 454,396,769.The net food requirement stands at 450,611 MT, amounting to USD 389,327,904. In addition, an estimated 1.2 million beneficiaries will be reached with a net 30,327 MT of supplementary food that amounts USD 26,202,528. A total of USD 38,866,337 is requested to respond to non-food needs of identified beneficiaries in the health and nutrition, water and sanitation and agriculture and livestock sectors. The effects of food insecurity caused by poor performance of seasonal rains, poor crop production coupled with the soaring cereal prices posed several humanitarian challenges to the lives and livelihoods of many in some areas in eastern half of the country. Favorable food security prospects are, however, expected in the western meher crop producing areas.
As part of the response some of the OTPs and SCs opened last year are still functional in Oromia (eastern part) and SNNPR. . WHO, UNICEF and other partners support regions and federal government The support includes:
- Staff training on screen and case management;
- Nutrition survey, data collection, analysis and dissemination and supervision
- WHO recently assigned 3 EHA focal person to region (1 Amhara, 1 Oromia and SNNPR, 1 Dire Dawa, Somali and eastern part of Oromia region) for coordination and technical support to emergency(nutrition, disease outbreak and others) and including HIV/AIDs.
Full_Report (pdf* format - 53.8 Kbytes)
(*) Get Adobe Acrobat Viewer (free)
Source: World Health Organization (WHO)
Full_Report (pdf* format - 53.8 Kbytes)
HIGHLIGHT:
According to November 2008 nationwide multi agency need assessment on food and none food sectors for 2009 estimated that over 12 million people will continue to require assistance including 7.5 million people assisted through the National Productive Safety Net Program(PSNP).Nearly another 5 million people will require emergency food and nutrition support and some 1 million will need assistance through a Targeted Supplementary Food(TSF)programme. The Government led Multiagency need assessment also identified an additional 1.2 million children under five, pregnant and lactating women will require targeted supplementary food.
From epidemic week 6-9 only 4 suspected cases of meningitis were reported throughout the country and 2 cases of Acute Watery Diarrhoea were reported during the same period form one district of the country (Moyale district of Borana zone in Oromia region).
I. GENERAL SITUATION
a. Political, social and security:
The over all security situations in the country remained stable during this month except unpredictable security situation in Somali region mainly in zones where Ogden clans are residing. The Ethiopia Defense Force is still operating l in zones where ONLF exist. The inter clan conflict in Warder zone of Somali region still continues unresolved. The killing of commercial truck drivers in Gewanie, Mille and Chifra district of Afar region was reported in February2009. Increase numbers of Somalia asylum seekers continue to enter Ethiopia so far an estimated 10,000 refugees have arrived at the boarder town of Dolo Ado of Somali region. UNHCR reported 150 people are currently crossing the border daily fleeing insecurity and to seek asylum.
b. Main events of interest/ concern for health( including food insecurity and malnutrition, disease outbreak, etc):
Food insecurity and malnutrition Situation and response in Ethiopia.
The food security situation remains critical in Ethiopia according to Government led Multi-agency need assessment in November 2008 for 2009. Thus, Government and Humanitarian Partners' issued a joint Humanitarian Requirements Document that summarizes emergency food and non-food requirements for 2009. A total of 4.9 million beneficiaries are identified to require emergency assistance in 2009. The document seeks for a total net emergency requirement including food needs for the year and non-food needs for the first six months of 2009 amounts to USD 454,396,769.The net food requirement stands at 450,611 MT, amounting to USD 389,327,904. In addition, an estimated 1.2 million beneficiaries will be reached with a net 30,327 MT of supplementary food that amounts USD 26,202,528. A total of USD 38,866,337 is requested to respond to non-food needs of identified beneficiaries in the health and nutrition, water and sanitation and agriculture and livestock sectors. The effects of food insecurity caused by poor performance of seasonal rains, poor crop production coupled with the soaring cereal prices posed several humanitarian challenges to the lives and livelihoods of many in some areas in eastern half of the country. Favorable food security prospects are, however, expected in the western meher crop producing areas.
As part of the response some of the OTPs and SCs opened last year are still functional in Oromia (eastern part) and SNNPR. . WHO, UNICEF and other partners support regions and federal government The support includes:
- Staff training on screen and case management;
- Nutrition survey, data collection, analysis and dissemination and supervision
- WHO recently assigned 3 EHA focal person to region (1 Amhara, 1 Oromia and SNNPR, 1 Dire Dawa, Somali and eastern part of Oromia region) for coordination and technical support to emergency(nutrition, disease outbreak and others) and including HIV/AIDs.
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36 Hours in Doha, Qatar
Medeshi
36 Hours in Doha, Qatar
By SETH SHERWOOD
Published: March 22, 2009
(The Sky View Bar on the 15th floor of La Cigale hotel.)Published: March 22, 2009
JUST a few years ago, you could almost hear tumbleweeds blowing through this city, the capital of Qatar. These days, any remaining tumbleweeds are colliding with the giant skyscrapers and sprawling megaprojects that are exploding from the sands. Still plump with petrodollars despite the continuing economic rollercoaster, the home of the Al Jazeera network has been bingeing on luxury hotels, world-class spa villages, Vegas-sized supermalls, cultural venues designed by top-shelf architects and artificial islands that aim to blow those of its neighbor-rival Dubai out of the water.
Friday
6 p.m.
6 p.m.
1) THE ROYAL TREATMENT
You’ve probably had a long flight to Doha, so a late-afternoon trip to the Six Senses Resorts & Spas at the sprawling, Moorish-style Sharq Village and Spa (Ras Abu Aboud Street; 974-425-6999; http://www.sixsenses.com/) is a no-brainer. Sugar scrub with hydrating date wrap? Desert hot stone massage? Moroccan hammam therapy? The globe-trotting menu is packed with treatments you might find in the Hamptons — and others you definitely won’t. One-hour massages and treatments typically range between 500 and 700 rials ($135 to $189 at 3.7 rials to the dollar). For those looking for that post-meal mellow, the spa, which is part of a chain with properties in 16 countries, is open every day until 11 p.m.
8 p.m.
You’ve probably had a long flight to Doha, so a late-afternoon trip to the Six Senses Resorts & Spas at the sprawling, Moorish-style Sharq Village and Spa (Ras Abu Aboud Street; 974-425-6999; http://www.sixsenses.com/) is a no-brainer. Sugar scrub with hydrating date wrap? Desert hot stone massage? Moroccan hammam therapy? The globe-trotting menu is packed with treatments you might find in the Hamptons — and others you definitely won’t. One-hour massages and treatments typically range between 500 and 700 rials ($135 to $189 at 3.7 rials to the dollar). For those looking for that post-meal mellow, the spa, which is part of a chain with properties in 16 countries, is open every day until 11 p.m.
8 p.m.
2)FROM SEA TO TABLE
Within the candle-lit confines of Al Dana restaurant (974-425-6227; http://www.sharqvillage.com/) in Sharq Village, chipper waiters deliver global fusion specialties with an emphasis on seafood: oysters in chili-lime sauce; mussels in Thai curry and coconut milk; lobster from Oman with jasmine rice. The grilled Gulf tiger prawns, as meaty as undersea steaks, get an excellent zing from Goa-style red curry, while the lemon-grass crème brûlée with pineapple compote brings some Thai zest to the creamy Gallic classic. A dinner for two, without wine, runs about 400 rials.
9:30 p.m.
Within the candle-lit confines of Al Dana restaurant (974-425-6227; http://www.sharqvillage.com/) in Sharq Village, chipper waiters deliver global fusion specialties with an emphasis on seafood: oysters in chili-lime sauce; mussels in Thai curry and coconut milk; lobster from Oman with jasmine rice. The grilled Gulf tiger prawns, as meaty as undersea steaks, get an excellent zing from Goa-style red curry, while the lemon-grass crème brûlée with pineapple compote brings some Thai zest to the creamy Gallic classic. A dinner for two, without wine, runs about 400 rials.
9:30 p.m.
3) A SPECIAL KIND OF HIGH
With its D.J.-spun lounge music, glowing surfaces, plush low couches and knockout views — courtesy of a 15th-floor location in the stylish La Cigale hotel — the outdoor Sky View Bar (60 Suhaim Bin Hamad Street; 974-428-8204; http://www.lacigalehotel.com/) couldn’t exude more sex appeal if they mixed the drinks with pheromones. The clientele is heavy with the tie-sporting British financiers, air-kissing Lebanese socialites and sundry international wheeler-dealers who make up the city’s robust expat crowd. Order a So High in the Sky cocktail (Martini Rosso, Tanqueray gin and Campari; 70 rials), turn your view outward and relish the ever-changing Doha skyline. Reservations recommended.
Saturday
10:30 a.m.
With its D.J.-spun lounge music, glowing surfaces, plush low couches and knockout views — courtesy of a 15th-floor location in the stylish La Cigale hotel — the outdoor Sky View Bar (60 Suhaim Bin Hamad Street; 974-428-8204; http://www.lacigalehotel.com/) couldn’t exude more sex appeal if they mixed the drinks with pheromones. The clientele is heavy with the tie-sporting British financiers, air-kissing Lebanese socialites and sundry international wheeler-dealers who make up the city’s robust expat crowd. Order a So High in the Sky cocktail (Martini Rosso, Tanqueray gin and Campari; 70 rials), turn your view outward and relish the ever-changing Doha skyline. Reservations recommended.
Saturday
10:30 a.m.
4) THE ARABIAN ARTS
No building more boldly trumpets Doha’s upsurge than the new Museum of Islamic Art (Corniche; 974-422-4444; http://www.mia.org.qa/), which had its gala opening last November. Designed by I. M. Pei, this poetic jumble of white cubes and rectangles is filled with exquisitely wrought creations — furniture, books, tilework, textiles, scientific instruments — spanning more than a millennium and covering territory from Morocco to China. Some of the most dazzling pieces include sleek medieval Central Asian ceramics and intricate 14th-century Moorish astrolabes whose golden dials, levers and gears rival the work of the finest Swiss watchmakers. Admission is free.
2 p.m.
No building more boldly trumpets Doha’s upsurge than the new Museum of Islamic Art (Corniche; 974-422-4444; http://www.mia.org.qa/), which had its gala opening last November. Designed by I. M. Pei, this poetic jumble of white cubes and rectangles is filled with exquisitely wrought creations — furniture, books, tilework, textiles, scientific instruments — spanning more than a millennium and covering territory from Morocco to China. Some of the most dazzling pieces include sleek medieval Central Asian ceramics and intricate 14th-century Moorish astrolabes whose golden dials, levers and gears rival the work of the finest Swiss watchmakers. Admission is free.
2 p.m.
5)A PERSIAN PAUSE
Yemeni, Turkish, Iraqi, Moroccan: the culinary options along the main drag of Doha’s huge Souq Waqif — an early 20th-century bazaar that got a stylish refurbishment in 2006 — offer a crash course in Arab and Middle East cuisine. Tap your inner sheik and sit in a plush cushioned alcove at Isfahan Gardens (pedestrian walkway, Souq Waqif; 974-528-7521). This Iranian restaurant features a dazzlingly colorful décor that combines intricate mosaics, ornate chandeliers and thousands of tiny mirrors. After complimentary warm flatbread with sesame seeds, try the juicy jojeh kababmasti (chicken marinated in yogurt with sweet red cabbage) or one of the daily-changing stews. A three-course meal for two runs about 250 rials. No alcohol.
3:30 p.m.
Yemeni, Turkish, Iraqi, Moroccan: the culinary options along the main drag of Doha’s huge Souq Waqif — an early 20th-century bazaar that got a stylish refurbishment in 2006 — offer a crash course in Arab and Middle East cuisine. Tap your inner sheik and sit in a plush cushioned alcove at Isfahan Gardens (pedestrian walkway, Souq Waqif; 974-528-7521). This Iranian restaurant features a dazzlingly colorful décor that combines intricate mosaics, ornate chandeliers and thousands of tiny mirrors. After complimentary warm flatbread with sesame seeds, try the juicy jojeh kababmasti (chicken marinated in yogurt with sweet red cabbage) or one of the daily-changing stews. A three-course meal for two runs about 250 rials. No alcohol.
3:30 p.m.
6) BEDOUIN BARGAINS
It’s tough to find a decent sport falcon these days. Fortunately the Souq is also home to Birds Center (Bird Souq, Souq Waqif; 974-468-4366 or 974-468-7029). Even if you don’t have thousands of rials to drop on a feathered friend, the shop’s ranks of falcons and accessories (landing pads, electronic guidance systems) offer a fun window into this Qatari pastime. Something like a Bedouin outlet sale unfurls at Al Rumailah (pedestrian walkway, Souq Waqif; 974-672-4152), which is filled with daggers, jewelry, striped blankets and other collectibles. Inside Al Zubair Shop (pedestrian walkway, Souq Waqif; 974-657-2004), Arabian autoharps, 12-string ouds and darbuka drums put you on your way to a Middle Eastern jam session. In each shop, haggling is essential.
7 p.m.
It’s tough to find a decent sport falcon these days. Fortunately the Souq is also home to Birds Center (Bird Souq, Souq Waqif; 974-468-4366 or 974-468-7029). Even if you don’t have thousands of rials to drop on a feathered friend, the shop’s ranks of falcons and accessories (landing pads, electronic guidance systems) offer a fun window into this Qatari pastime. Something like a Bedouin outlet sale unfurls at Al Rumailah (pedestrian walkway, Souq Waqif; 974-672-4152), which is filled with daggers, jewelry, striped blankets and other collectibles. Inside Al Zubair Shop (pedestrian walkway, Souq Waqif; 974-657-2004), Arabian autoharps, 12-string ouds and darbuka drums put you on your way to a Middle Eastern jam session. In each shop, haggling is essential.
7 p.m.
7) A TWILIGHT STROLL
Sunset is the ideal time for a walk on the Corniche, along the crescent-moon curve of Doha Bay. The temperature cools. The lights glimmer on the water. Couples of every nationality come out to stroll. For a journey through Doha’s evolution, start in the east bay and trace the arc westward. Gradually, the trappings of Doha’s past — Souq Waqif, mosque minarets, moored wooden dhows — give way to soaring glass-and-steel skyscrapers, luxury hotel towers and the flashy City Center mall. The nocturnal view from the west bay looking back east, which takes in the white-glowing Museum of Islamic Arts and the spiral tower of the Qatar Islamic Cultural Center, might be the city’s best.
9 p.m.
Sunset is the ideal time for a walk on the Corniche, along the crescent-moon curve of Doha Bay. The temperature cools. The lights glimmer on the water. Couples of every nationality come out to stroll. For a journey through Doha’s evolution, start in the east bay and trace the arc westward. Gradually, the trappings of Doha’s past — Souq Waqif, mosque minarets, moored wooden dhows — give way to soaring glass-and-steel skyscrapers, luxury hotel towers and the flashy City Center mall. The nocturnal view from the west bay looking back east, which takes in the white-glowing Museum of Islamic Arts and the spiral tower of the Qatar Islamic Cultural Center, might be the city’s best.
9 p.m.
8) BITES OF BEIRUT
You can’t hurl a date in Doha without hitting a Lebanese restaurant. Devotees of the Arab world’s most celebrated cuisine should target Al Mourjan (Balhambar building, Corniche; 974-483-4423; http://www.almourjanrest.com/). Opened last fall, the bayside restaurant is already winning over the city’s chicest set with its stylish white interiors, stellar waterfront vistas and fine Levantine dishes. The zesty baba ghanouj hits the sweet spot between chunky and creamy, while the sojok sausages are judiciously spiced and served in zesty tomato sauce. There’s no booze, but thick fruit juices, syrupy Turkish coffee and the sweet smoke of a shisha pipe are a satisfying accompaniment. A full meal for two people costs around 300 rials.
Midnight
You can’t hurl a date in Doha without hitting a Lebanese restaurant. Devotees of the Arab world’s most celebrated cuisine should target Al Mourjan (Balhambar building, Corniche; 974-483-4423; http://www.almourjanrest.com/). Opened last fall, the bayside restaurant is already winning over the city’s chicest set with its stylish white interiors, stellar waterfront vistas and fine Levantine dishes. The zesty baba ghanouj hits the sweet spot between chunky and creamy, while the sojok sausages are judiciously spiced and served in zesty tomato sauce. There’s no booze, but thick fruit juices, syrupy Turkish coffee and the sweet smoke of a shisha pipe are a satisfying accompaniment. A full meal for two people costs around 300 rials.
Midnight
9) SHEIKH, BABY, SHEIKH
Just past the parked Lamborghinis, the flashy Pearl Lounge Club (Doha Marriott Hotel, Ras Abu Aboud Street; 974-429-8444) is both an intriguing anthropological experience and a great place to shed unwanted cash. True, it’s so dark inside that you could develop film. Also true, the house and Arabic pop soundtrack is so loud that you can barely hear the doormen demanding the 150 rial cover charge. But the mix of deep-pocketed international dealmakers, global club kids, women dressed to the nines and free-flowing liquor will demolish any lingering notions that “Islamic-world night life” is an oxymoron. Add some White Pearl cocktails (gin and Cointreau; 45 rials), and the Pearl casts an undeniable spell.
Sunday
11 a.m.
Just past the parked Lamborghinis, the flashy Pearl Lounge Club (Doha Marriott Hotel, Ras Abu Aboud Street; 974-429-8444) is both an intriguing anthropological experience and a great place to shed unwanted cash. True, it’s so dark inside that you could develop film. Also true, the house and Arabic pop soundtrack is so loud that you can barely hear the doormen demanding the 150 rial cover charge. But the mix of deep-pocketed international dealmakers, global club kids, women dressed to the nines and free-flowing liquor will demolish any lingering notions that “Islamic-world night life” is an oxymoron. Add some White Pearl cocktails (gin and Cointreau; 45 rials), and the Pearl casts an undeniable spell.
Sunday
11 a.m.
10) VENICE BY WAY OF VEGAS
If you’ve ever wondered how to write “Krispy Kreme” in Arabic calligraphy, the answer awaits within the bombastic Vegas-like Villaggio Mall (Al Waab Street). It’s a fascinating mish-mash of cultures and makes for some of the city’s best people-watching — and bears a striking resemblance to the Venetian in Las Vegas. Under a vast trompe l’oeil sky, Filipino oarsmen welcome families for gondola rides (15 rials) along a boutique-lined canal. There’s no indoor skiing, à la Dubai, but winter-sports enthusiasts can visit an ice rink (30 rials), well protected from temperatures that can hit 110 degrees. Then join the Western expats and black-veiled local women at the Virgin Megastore for CDs of Lebanese pop and glossy coffee-table books on Qatar. Or just buy a vanilla cake doughnut (5 rials) at that Krispy Kreme. You’re almost home.
If you’ve ever wondered how to write “Krispy Kreme” in Arabic calligraphy, the answer awaits within the bombastic Vegas-like Villaggio Mall (Al Waab Street). It’s a fascinating mish-mash of cultures and makes for some of the city’s best people-watching — and bears a striking resemblance to the Venetian in Las Vegas. Under a vast trompe l’oeil sky, Filipino oarsmen welcome families for gondola rides (15 rials) along a boutique-lined canal. There’s no indoor skiing, à la Dubai, but winter-sports enthusiasts can visit an ice rink (30 rials), well protected from temperatures that can hit 110 degrees. Then join the Western expats and black-veiled local women at the Virgin Megastore for CDs of Lebanese pop and glossy coffee-table books on Qatar. Or just buy a vanilla cake doughnut (5 rials) at that Krispy Kreme. You’re almost home.
THE BASICS
Fast-expanding Qatar Airways (http://www.qatarairways.com/) began direct nonstop service from Kennedy Airport to Doha last year. Direct flights from Washington are also available. According to a recent online search, nonstop flights from New York start at $1,338.
After opening earlier this month, the W Doha Hotel and Residences (West Bay; 973-453-5353; www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels), which features 445 rooms, a Bliss spa, Crystal Lounge bar and Spice Market restaurant from Jean-Georges Vongerichten, is the buzz crash pad of the moment. Double rooms start at about 1,700 rials (about $460 at 3.7 rials to the dollar), taxes included, with bonuses like two free drinks at Crystal Lounge and a tour of Souq Waqif.
Hotel Souq Waqif (northern edge of Souq Waqif, near Al Souq Street; 974-443-3030; http://www.hotelsouqwaqif.com.qa/), which opened at the end of 2008, bills itself as Doha’s first boutique hotel. The 13 rooms and suites are outfitted in plush Arab-chic décor. Standard doubles are 980 rials.
Roger Federer, Andrea Bocelli and other V.I.P.’s have stopped in at the luxurious La Cigale (60 Suhaim Bin Hamad Street, 974-428-8888; http://www.lacigalehotel.com/), which also opened in 2008. In addition to the Sky View bar, the 227-room hotel is popular for its Madison Piano Bar and its Cigar Lounge. Low season doubles start at 1,500 rials.
Fast-expanding Qatar Airways (http://www.qatarairways.com/) began direct nonstop service from Kennedy Airport to Doha last year. Direct flights from Washington are also available. According to a recent online search, nonstop flights from New York start at $1,338.
After opening earlier this month, the W Doha Hotel and Residences (West Bay; 973-453-5353; www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels), which features 445 rooms, a Bliss spa, Crystal Lounge bar and Spice Market restaurant from Jean-Georges Vongerichten, is the buzz crash pad of the moment. Double rooms start at about 1,700 rials (about $460 at 3.7 rials to the dollar), taxes included, with bonuses like two free drinks at Crystal Lounge and a tour of Souq Waqif.
Hotel Souq Waqif (northern edge of Souq Waqif, near Al Souq Street; 974-443-3030; http://www.hotelsouqwaqif.com.qa/), which opened at the end of 2008, bills itself as Doha’s first boutique hotel. The 13 rooms and suites are outfitted in plush Arab-chic décor. Standard doubles are 980 rials.
Roger Federer, Andrea Bocelli and other V.I.P.’s have stopped in at the luxurious La Cigale (60 Suhaim Bin Hamad Street, 974-428-8888; http://www.lacigalehotel.com/), which also opened in 2008. In addition to the Sky View bar, the 227-room hotel is popular for its Madison Piano Bar and its Cigar Lounge. Low season doubles start at 1,500 rials.
Israeli Soldier Says Military Rabbis Framed Gaza Mission as Religious
Medeshi
Israeli Soldier Says Military Rabbis Framed Gaza Mission as Religious
By Howard Schneider
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, March 21, 2009
JERUSALEM, March 20 -- A soldier involved in Israel's recent military offensive in the Gaza Strip said in published reports Friday that the military's rabbinical staff distributed material characterizing the operation as a religious mission to "get rid of the gentiles who disturb us from conquering the holy land."
In the second day of published accounts from soldiers critical of the conduct of the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza, the daily Maariv ran excerpts of an interview with a squad commander in Israel's Givati Brigade. He was identified only by his first name, given as Rahm.
The daily quoted him as saying that the Gaza operation from the beginning had "the feeling of almost a religious mission."
While military rabbis provided routine services -- such as distributing books of psalms and leading prayers at the start of the operation -- some religious materials veered in a political direction, he said.
"The military rabbinate brought many magazines and articles with a very clear message: 'We are the Jewish people, a miracle brought us to the land of Israel, God returned us to the land, and now we have to struggle so as to get rid of the gentiles who disturb us from conquering the holy land.' All the feeling throughout all this operation of many of the soldiers was of a war of religions," he said. "As a commander, I tried to explain that the war is not a war of Kiddush Hashem [the sanctification of God's name, including through martyrdom] but over the stopping of the launching of the Qassam rockets."
The rockets are one of several types that Hamas and other Islamist groups fire from Gaza into Israel. Palestinian health officials said about 1,400 Palestinians died in the three weeks of fighting in December and January, including what United Nations officials said were hundreds of civilians. Thirteen Israelis died, including three civilians.
The publication of the soldiers' accounts has elevated a set of issues that Palestinian organizations and human rights groups have raised since early in the Gaza operation. On Thursday, the IDF's chief lawyer opened an investigation following the publication of reports in which soldiers spoke of unnecessary civilian deaths and needless property destruction.
The soldiers' accounts were elicited by the head of a training school for future military recruits. At a recent gathering, graduates of the school described how the realities of military life clashed with the values taught in the school's curriculum.
The school is named in honor Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli leader who signed the 1993 Oslo peace accords with the Palestinians and who was assassinated by an Israeli who opposed the agreements. The school is secular in nature and its graduates would likely be sensitive to the intrusion of religious politics into the conduct of a military operation, said retired Brig. Gen. Meir Elran, a security analyst with the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.
Given that one of Israel's chief struggles is against organizations, such as Hamas, that entwine religion and violence, the presence of similar material among Israeli soldiers is disturbing, Elran said.
"You cannot but think about the other side, too," said Elran, who noted that the traditional role for military rabbis was to ensure that kitchens were kosher and to conduct services as needed. Although ultra-Orthodox Jews are exempt from military service on religious grounds, Elran said the number of religious Jews in the military has been increasing.
Still, "when you talk about the military in a country where you have compulsory service, I find it a bit odd that military rabbis would go further than just giving religious services to those who want it or need it," he said.
The issue surfaced publicly shortly after the Gaza operation, known as Operation Cast Lead. An Israeli human rights group publicized material that encouraged soldiers to show no mercy to their enemies and that said there was a biblical ban on surrendering Israeli territory to non-Jews.
The material, according to excerpts published at the time in the daily Haaretz, cut to the core of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, comparing the Palestinians to Old Testament invaders who now "claim they deserve a state here."
IDF spokesman Elie Isaacson said that there was an investigation at the time and that a member of the rabbinical staff was reprimanded for distributing unauthorized material. Isaacson said it was considered an isolated incident.
"If you are religious, the army gives you the right to practice, but the mixing of politics and religion -- it is a big taboo," he said. The military rabbis "don't make policy. They don't make decisions."
Israeli Soldier Says Military Rabbis Framed Gaza Mission as Religious
By Howard Schneider
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, March 21, 2009
JERUSALEM, March 20 -- A soldier involved in Israel's recent military offensive in the Gaza Strip said in published reports Friday that the military's rabbinical staff distributed material characterizing the operation as a religious mission to "get rid of the gentiles who disturb us from conquering the holy land."
In the second day of published accounts from soldiers critical of the conduct of the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza, the daily Maariv ran excerpts of an interview with a squad commander in Israel's Givati Brigade. He was identified only by his first name, given as Rahm.
The daily quoted him as saying that the Gaza operation from the beginning had "the feeling of almost a religious mission."
While military rabbis provided routine services -- such as distributing books of psalms and leading prayers at the start of the operation -- some religious materials veered in a political direction, he said.
"The military rabbinate brought many magazines and articles with a very clear message: 'We are the Jewish people, a miracle brought us to the land of Israel, God returned us to the land, and now we have to struggle so as to get rid of the gentiles who disturb us from conquering the holy land.' All the feeling throughout all this operation of many of the soldiers was of a war of religions," he said. "As a commander, I tried to explain that the war is not a war of Kiddush Hashem [the sanctification of God's name, including through martyrdom] but over the stopping of the launching of the Qassam rockets."
The rockets are one of several types that Hamas and other Islamist groups fire from Gaza into Israel. Palestinian health officials said about 1,400 Palestinians died in the three weeks of fighting in December and January, including what United Nations officials said were hundreds of civilians. Thirteen Israelis died, including three civilians.
The publication of the soldiers' accounts has elevated a set of issues that Palestinian organizations and human rights groups have raised since early in the Gaza operation. On Thursday, the IDF's chief lawyer opened an investigation following the publication of reports in which soldiers spoke of unnecessary civilian deaths and needless property destruction.
The soldiers' accounts were elicited by the head of a training school for future military recruits. At a recent gathering, graduates of the school described how the realities of military life clashed with the values taught in the school's curriculum.
The school is named in honor Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli leader who signed the 1993 Oslo peace accords with the Palestinians and who was assassinated by an Israeli who opposed the agreements. The school is secular in nature and its graduates would likely be sensitive to the intrusion of religious politics into the conduct of a military operation, said retired Brig. Gen. Meir Elran, a security analyst with the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.
Given that one of Israel's chief struggles is against organizations, such as Hamas, that entwine religion and violence, the presence of similar material among Israeli soldiers is disturbing, Elran said.
"You cannot but think about the other side, too," said Elran, who noted that the traditional role for military rabbis was to ensure that kitchens were kosher and to conduct services as needed. Although ultra-Orthodox Jews are exempt from military service on religious grounds, Elran said the number of religious Jews in the military has been increasing.
Still, "when you talk about the military in a country where you have compulsory service, I find it a bit odd that military rabbis would go further than just giving religious services to those who want it or need it," he said.
The issue surfaced publicly shortly after the Gaza operation, known as Operation Cast Lead. An Israeli human rights group publicized material that encouraged soldiers to show no mercy to their enemies and that said there was a biblical ban on surrendering Israeli territory to non-Jews.
The material, according to excerpts published at the time in the daily Haaretz, cut to the core of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, comparing the Palestinians to Old Testament invaders who now "claim they deserve a state here."
IDF spokesman Elie Isaacson said that there was an investigation at the time and that a member of the rabbinical staff was reprimanded for distributing unauthorized material. Isaacson said it was considered an isolated incident.
"If you are religious, the army gives you the right to practice, but the mixing of politics and religion -- it is a big taboo," he said. The military rabbis "don't make policy. They don't make decisions."
UK politician denied Canadian visa
Medeshi March 21, 2009
UK politician denied Canadian visa
George Galloway, the British politician, has been barred from visiting Canada on grounds that he is a threat to national security, the Canadian immigration minister's office has said.
"I'm sure Galloway has a large rolodex of friends in regimes elsewhere in the world, willing to roll out the red carpet for him," Alykhan Velshi, spokesman for Jason Kenney, the Canadian immigration minister, said on Friday.
George Galloway, the British politician, has been barred from visiting Canada on grounds that he is a threat to national security, the Canadian immigration minister's office has said.
"I'm sure Galloway has a large rolodex of friends in regimes elsewhere in the world, willing to roll out the red carpet for him," Alykhan Velshi, spokesman for Jason Kenney, the Canadian immigration minister, said on Friday.
(Gallloway, left, traveled to Gaza last week to give aid to Palestinians after Israel's war)
"Canada, however, won't be one of them," he added.
Galloway was to give a speech in Toronto at the end of the month, but has been denied entry over his opposition to Canadian troops in Afghanistan, the UK's Sun newspaper reported.
In a comment piece published in the UK's Guardian newspaper on Saturday, Galloway described the ban as "absurd, hypocritical, and in vain" because his allies in the country were seeking a judicial review.
"And there are other ways I can address those Canadians who wish to hear me," he wrote.
"From coast to coast, minister Kenney notwithstanding, I will be heard - one way or another."
Security threat
Velshi said Galloway was deemed inadmissible to Canada due to national security concerns.
It was an "operational decision" by border security officials "based on a number of factors, not only those mentioned in the Sun piece," he said.
Such a decision could be overturned by ministerial order, but it is not warranted in this case, he said.
George GallowayBritish politician"We're going to uphold the law, not give special treatment to a street-corner Cromwell who brags about giving "financial support" to Hamas, a terrorist organisation banned in Canada," Velshi said.
Olivia Chow, a politician from the Opposition New Democratic Party, however, accused the government of "censorship" for not allowing Galloway to tout his anti-war messages in Canada.
Denying him entry to this country is "an affront to freedom of speech" and shows the Canadian government "is frightened of an open debate on an unpopular war," she said in a statement on Friday.
Last week, Galloway traveled to Gaza at the head of a humanitarian convoy.
He praised the Palestinian "resistance" and condemned Israel's 22-day offensive launched in December, in which 1,300 Palestinians died.
The British MP also donated thousands of dollars and dozens of vehicles to the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip.
"Canada, however, won't be one of them," he added.
Galloway was to give a speech in Toronto at the end of the month, but has been denied entry over his opposition to Canadian troops in Afghanistan, the UK's Sun newspaper reported.
In a comment piece published in the UK's Guardian newspaper on Saturday, Galloway described the ban as "absurd, hypocritical, and in vain" because his allies in the country were seeking a judicial review.
"And there are other ways I can address those Canadians who wish to hear me," he wrote.
"From coast to coast, minister Kenney notwithstanding, I will be heard - one way or another."
Security threat
Velshi said Galloway was deemed inadmissible to Canada due to national security concerns.
It was an "operational decision" by border security officials "based on a number of factors, not only those mentioned in the Sun piece," he said.
Such a decision could be overturned by ministerial order, but it is not warranted in this case, he said.
George GallowayBritish politician"We're going to uphold the law, not give special treatment to a street-corner Cromwell who brags about giving "financial support" to Hamas, a terrorist organisation banned in Canada," Velshi said.
Olivia Chow, a politician from the Opposition New Democratic Party, however, accused the government of "censorship" for not allowing Galloway to tout his anti-war messages in Canada.
Denying him entry to this country is "an affront to freedom of speech" and shows the Canadian government "is frightened of an open debate on an unpopular war," she said in a statement on Friday.
Last week, Galloway traveled to Gaza at the head of a humanitarian convoy.
He praised the Palestinian "resistance" and condemned Israel's 22-day offensive launched in December, in which 1,300 Palestinians died.
The British MP also donated thousands of dollars and dozens of vehicles to the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip.
ALJ
Iraq: Six Long Years Of Deception
Medeshi March 21, 2009
Iraq: Six Long Years Of Deception
(Casuality pictures)John Bruhns
Veteran and freelance writer
Six years ago today I was in Kuwait awaiting orders to cross the border into Iraq with the first wave of invading forces. It was predicted that U.S. troops would be greeted as liberators, weapons of mass destruction would be found, and democracy would flourish across the Mideast. What a gross miscalculation of the aftermath. Iraq became a slaughterhouse while political and social unrest emerged here at home.
So many questions remain unanswered. Did the Bush administration knowingly deceive us into an unnecessary war? Did we kill Iraqis to protect America? Did our troops die fighting terrorism? Or was it just for an ideology of a select group of people in power? Was it for oil? Was it all for nothing?
Why do I torture myself with these questions when I already know the answers? I know this was a needless war of choice, but at the same time I just can't fully grasp the abusive political authority exercised by our government.
Many Americans still don't understand the ramifications of the Iraqi occupation. Reason being is that the sacrifice was/is very much unshared. This war has generated great support from people who could serve but don't. So many young able-bodied American males have lobbied for a continuation of the Iraq conflict yet never had the guts to go anywhere near it. On many occasions they've called veterans who have served in Iraq "traitors" for conveying their disillusionment with the war to the public. These cowardly imbeciles view their activity as a substitute for military service. What a crock. My crowd calls them chicken hawks, but that's an understatement. They're one of the worst elements of society. There is nothing American or patriotic about advocating for others to die for your cause while you stay home. They're true followers of Bush and Cheney's foot steps. They can't fade away into obscurity quick enough for me.
The war has caused much bloodshed for the Iraqi people. How many Americans care about that? Not too many. We can't envision a foreign army invading this country and changing our way of life at gunpoint. If the tables were turned we would be out in the streets demonstrating our right to bear arms -- kicking ass and taking names. Would that make us terrorists? Hell no! So why is it shocking that Iraqis have violently resisted our occupation of their country? The human psychology behind this should not be difficult to understand. The fact of the matter is we don't want to accept the reality of the situation.
Imagine if the Russians or the Chinese invaded Iraq and seized control of the oil fields. We would have been singing a totally different song all of these years. We would call it aggression and communism. So what affords us the right to do it?
Our troops and the Iraqi people who've lived through this war will have a lifetime to dwell on it. My hope for the Iraqis is that something good comes out of this catastrophe. That one day Iraq does become a free and peaceful nation. However, I don't see that happening for a long time. As for our troops many return home to families and friends who don't understand and don't want to understand. This pushes our veterans further into isolation from the world they once knew. For some vets the menu of options consists of divorce, suicide, substance abuse, and permanent mental health problems.
No one promises members of the military a rose garden after war. At the same time their government should never abuse them in such a way that we've seen over the last six years. Our military men and women have been used, thrown around, involuntarily extended, stop-lossed, and recalled. How much can we expect from our service people?
Maybe it's time to stop beating this drum and move on. However, if everyone were to do that what's to stop a future president from using our military for his/her own personal agenda? Nothing.
Where does accountability factor in? Sadly, it doesn't. Should Bush and Cheney be prosecuted for their crimes? Absolutely. But it's not going to happen. If you're waiting for Congress or the Justice Department to conduct investigations, hold hearings, and bring charges against the Bush administration don't hold your breath. George W. Bush received overwhelming bi-partisan approval from Congress for his war. He blatantly and repeatedly lied to our faces and we reelected him. Now it's over. Bush and the members of his administration will have the rest of their lives to spend with their children and grandchildren. Kind of ironic since they deprived so many others of that right.
It's frightening that the government of the United States was run by such corrupt leaders for eight years. It's often said that no one is above the law. Well obviously that's not true -- just ask George W. Bush.
I know this comes off as a redundant "Bush bashing" piece. However, who else is to blame on the sixth anniversary of the war? Even though Bush was president he was extremely impressionable and susceptible to peer pressure from Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and other neocon intellectuals who know nothing about war except for what they read in books. They are so smart they're actually stupid as they demonstrated over and over again.
Hopefully Iraq will teach us what we failed to learn from the war in Vietnam; that we never let it happen again.
Veteran and freelance writer
Six years ago today I was in Kuwait awaiting orders to cross the border into Iraq with the first wave of invading forces. It was predicted that U.S. troops would be greeted as liberators, weapons of mass destruction would be found, and democracy would flourish across the Mideast. What a gross miscalculation of the aftermath. Iraq became a slaughterhouse while political and social unrest emerged here at home.
So many questions remain unanswered. Did the Bush administration knowingly deceive us into an unnecessary war? Did we kill Iraqis to protect America? Did our troops die fighting terrorism? Or was it just for an ideology of a select group of people in power? Was it for oil? Was it all for nothing?
Why do I torture myself with these questions when I already know the answers? I know this was a needless war of choice, but at the same time I just can't fully grasp the abusive political authority exercised by our government.
Many Americans still don't understand the ramifications of the Iraqi occupation. Reason being is that the sacrifice was/is very much unshared. This war has generated great support from people who could serve but don't. So many young able-bodied American males have lobbied for a continuation of the Iraq conflict yet never had the guts to go anywhere near it. On many occasions they've called veterans who have served in Iraq "traitors" for conveying their disillusionment with the war to the public. These cowardly imbeciles view their activity as a substitute for military service. What a crock. My crowd calls them chicken hawks, but that's an understatement. They're one of the worst elements of society. There is nothing American or patriotic about advocating for others to die for your cause while you stay home. They're true followers of Bush and Cheney's foot steps. They can't fade away into obscurity quick enough for me.
The war has caused much bloodshed for the Iraqi people. How many Americans care about that? Not too many. We can't envision a foreign army invading this country and changing our way of life at gunpoint. If the tables were turned we would be out in the streets demonstrating our right to bear arms -- kicking ass and taking names. Would that make us terrorists? Hell no! So why is it shocking that Iraqis have violently resisted our occupation of their country? The human psychology behind this should not be difficult to understand. The fact of the matter is we don't want to accept the reality of the situation.
Imagine if the Russians or the Chinese invaded Iraq and seized control of the oil fields. We would have been singing a totally different song all of these years. We would call it aggression and communism. So what affords us the right to do it?
Our troops and the Iraqi people who've lived through this war will have a lifetime to dwell on it. My hope for the Iraqis is that something good comes out of this catastrophe. That one day Iraq does become a free and peaceful nation. However, I don't see that happening for a long time. As for our troops many return home to families and friends who don't understand and don't want to understand. This pushes our veterans further into isolation from the world they once knew. For some vets the menu of options consists of divorce, suicide, substance abuse, and permanent mental health problems.
No one promises members of the military a rose garden after war. At the same time their government should never abuse them in such a way that we've seen over the last six years. Our military men and women have been used, thrown around, involuntarily extended, stop-lossed, and recalled. How much can we expect from our service people?
Maybe it's time to stop beating this drum and move on. However, if everyone were to do that what's to stop a future president from using our military for his/her own personal agenda? Nothing.
Where does accountability factor in? Sadly, it doesn't. Should Bush and Cheney be prosecuted for their crimes? Absolutely. But it's not going to happen. If you're waiting for Congress or the Justice Department to conduct investigations, hold hearings, and bring charges against the Bush administration don't hold your breath. George W. Bush received overwhelming bi-partisan approval from Congress for his war. He blatantly and repeatedly lied to our faces and we reelected him. Now it's over. Bush and the members of his administration will have the rest of their lives to spend with their children and grandchildren. Kind of ironic since they deprived so many others of that right.
It's frightening that the government of the United States was run by such corrupt leaders for eight years. It's often said that no one is above the law. Well obviously that's not true -- just ask George W. Bush.
I know this comes off as a redundant "Bush bashing" piece. However, who else is to blame on the sixth anniversary of the war? Even though Bush was president he was extremely impressionable and susceptible to peer pressure from Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and other neocon intellectuals who know nothing about war except for what they read in books. They are so smart they're actually stupid as they demonstrated over and over again.
Hopefully Iraq will teach us what we failed to learn from the war in Vietnam; that we never let it happen again.
Read More: George W. Bush And Iraq, Iraq Veterans, Iraq Veterans Suicide, Iraq Veterans' Mental Health, Iraq War Anniversary, Iraqi Civilian Deaths, Truth Commission, War In Iraq, Politics News
The Huffington
Why I Keep Going Back to Somalia
Medeshi
Why I Keep Going Back to Somalia
What the world's most dangerous place looks like behind the screen of bullets.
By Jeffrey Gettleman
Friday, March 20, 2009
In the more than a dozen times I have been to Somalia, I've visited refugee camps, insurgent hide-outs, mosques, schools, dimly lit warlord dens, and famished villages. Most of what I do is interviewing and information gathering for the news stories I write. But some of my most vivid experiences never make it into print. Those memories remain in my mind as some of the reasons -- work aside -- to keep going back in spite of all the dangers.
I've danced at a Somali wedding with beautifully made-up women who, behind the closed doors of our hotel, tossed off their veils and grooved to Somali hip-hop. I've guzzled glass after glass of camel milk -- and paid the price later! I've motored up the crocodile-infested Shabelle River and swam in the pirate-infested Somali seas. I sweated it out at a jihadi rally where thousands of Somalis were packed into a basketball stadium cheering "Death to America!" -- with a U.S. passport burning in my back pocket. I've ducked bullets zipping over my head and seen countless kids cut down by them. I curled an old tank shell (which I think was still live) that some Somali boys were using as a dumbbell. I've crisscrossed the country in countless beat-up pickup trucks lavishly decked on the inside with suffocating amounts of air freshener and the occasional pink feather boa.
Once, while I was riding around with some Islamist fighters, we stopped in the middle of nowhere and offered a lift to a specter-like nomad who materialized from the bush. He was an old man with a map of wrinkles on his face and a long, thin staff. We exchanged greetings. He climbed in next to me, smelling like smoke. I handed him a bottle of mineral water, and he looked at it hard, suspicious. "That's not water," he insisted. "Water's not clear." He took a sip. His lips spread into a knowing smile. "See!" he said. "Water doesn't taste like that!" The Islamist fighters burst into laughter. The old man had been drinking from mud puddles and stagnant rivers his entire life; he had no idea that any other kind of water existed. We tried to persuade him that, yes, this was water too. But he didn't buy it. When we dropped him off, again at a seemingly random spot in the bush where all I could see were thorn trees and sand dunes, half his bottle was still full. I'm sure he was going to show it to his family -- this "water" that these weird foreigners drink.
This is why I keep going back to Somalia. This dysfunctional, poverty-stricken, war-ravaged country has cast a spell over me. It's one of the most exotic, authentic, sealed-off places in the world. Its isolation isn't surprising because the place is dangerous as hell. You can't just stroll the streets and soak up the mood. I did that in 2006, taking an absorbing walk along Mogadishu's crumbling seafront. Not far into my saunter, I was taken at gunpoint by the Shabab, a hard-line Islamist group, which wasn't so much fun. We eventually worked things out, and later one of the Shabab leaders, a tall, grave man named Abu Monsoor, came to my hotel. I could tell from the unblinking way his eyes drilled into me that he wasn't just another opportunistic warlord. Abu Monsoor was a true believer. He had fought in Afghanistan and was proud of it. He said he had dreamed all his life about bringing Islamic law to Somalia. He handed me a Koran in English, a lovely, hard-bound copy."Please read it," he said. "I bought it for you."
Somalis are incredibly hospitable -- when they're not shooting at you. As their guest, you'll get the sturdiest chair to sit on, the coolest slice of shade, and the choicest chunk of camel meat. I've had some bona fide feasts in the country, which always stirs up mixed emotions because so many people here are desperate for a handful of grain. I've dined on steak and lobster in a hotel with bullet holes in the walls and drained gallons of fresh-pressed watermelon juice at breakfast. My wife turned 34 while we were working together in Mogadishu in 2007. The hotel staff decorated the dining room with streamers and balloons, grilled some steaks, and capped the fabulous meal with a bright pink birthday cake.
That meal was organized by an older waiter nicknamed "Camel Rib." Apparently back in the day, he used to be a real brute, strong as a camel. Everyone in Somalia has a nickname. Some of the biggest, baddest warlords have names like "Mohammed the Tall," "White Eyes," or "Long Hands." My nickname is "Adde Yero," which means something like "little white man."
Jeffrey Gettleman is East Africa bureau chief for the New York Times.
I've danced at a Somali wedding with beautifully made-up women who, behind the closed doors of our hotel, tossed off their veils and grooved to Somali hip-hop. I've guzzled glass after glass of camel milk -- and paid the price later! I've motored up the crocodile-infested Shabelle River and swam in the pirate-infested Somali seas. I sweated it out at a jihadi rally where thousands of Somalis were packed into a basketball stadium cheering "Death to America!" -- with a U.S. passport burning in my back pocket. I've ducked bullets zipping over my head and seen countless kids cut down by them. I curled an old tank shell (which I think was still live) that some Somali boys were using as a dumbbell. I've crisscrossed the country in countless beat-up pickup trucks lavishly decked on the inside with suffocating amounts of air freshener and the occasional pink feather boa.
Once, while I was riding around with some Islamist fighters, we stopped in the middle of nowhere and offered a lift to a specter-like nomad who materialized from the bush. He was an old man with a map of wrinkles on his face and a long, thin staff. We exchanged greetings. He climbed in next to me, smelling like smoke. I handed him a bottle of mineral water, and he looked at it hard, suspicious. "That's not water," he insisted. "Water's not clear." He took a sip. His lips spread into a knowing smile. "See!" he said. "Water doesn't taste like that!" The Islamist fighters burst into laughter. The old man had been drinking from mud puddles and stagnant rivers his entire life; he had no idea that any other kind of water existed. We tried to persuade him that, yes, this was water too. But he didn't buy it. When we dropped him off, again at a seemingly random spot in the bush where all I could see were thorn trees and sand dunes, half his bottle was still full. I'm sure he was going to show it to his family -- this "water" that these weird foreigners drink.
This is why I keep going back to Somalia. This dysfunctional, poverty-stricken, war-ravaged country has cast a spell over me. It's one of the most exotic, authentic, sealed-off places in the world. Its isolation isn't surprising because the place is dangerous as hell. You can't just stroll the streets and soak up the mood. I did that in 2006, taking an absorbing walk along Mogadishu's crumbling seafront. Not far into my saunter, I was taken at gunpoint by the Shabab, a hard-line Islamist group, which wasn't so much fun. We eventually worked things out, and later one of the Shabab leaders, a tall, grave man named Abu Monsoor, came to my hotel. I could tell from the unblinking way his eyes drilled into me that he wasn't just another opportunistic warlord. Abu Monsoor was a true believer. He had fought in Afghanistan and was proud of it. He said he had dreamed all his life about bringing Islamic law to Somalia. He handed me a Koran in English, a lovely, hard-bound copy."Please read it," he said. "I bought it for you."
Somalis are incredibly hospitable -- when they're not shooting at you. As their guest, you'll get the sturdiest chair to sit on, the coolest slice of shade, and the choicest chunk of camel meat. I've had some bona fide feasts in the country, which always stirs up mixed emotions because so many people here are desperate for a handful of grain. I've dined on steak and lobster in a hotel with bullet holes in the walls and drained gallons of fresh-pressed watermelon juice at breakfast. My wife turned 34 while we were working together in Mogadishu in 2007. The hotel staff decorated the dining room with streamers and balloons, grilled some steaks, and capped the fabulous meal with a bright pink birthday cake.
That meal was organized by an older waiter nicknamed "Camel Rib." Apparently back in the day, he used to be a real brute, strong as a camel. Everyone in Somalia has a nickname. Some of the biggest, baddest warlords have names like "Mohammed the Tall," "White Eyes," or "Long Hands." My nickname is "Adde Yero," which means something like "little white man."
Jeffrey Gettleman is East Africa bureau chief for the New York Times.
Somali Islamists behead two sheikhs - group
Medeshi
Somali Islamists behead two sheikhs - group
By Abdi Sheikh and Abdi Guled
MOGADISHU, March 20 (Reuters) - Somalia's hardline al Shabaab insurgents have beheaded two sheikhs from a rival Islamist movement, a spokesman for the Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca group said on Friday.
The killings happened on Thursday, the same day al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden urged Somalis in an audio tape to topple the new president of the lawless Horn of Africa nation.
Al Shabaab, which Washington accuses of having close ties to al Qaeda, has been battling rival Islamists from the Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca movement for control of central regions.
An Ahlu Sunna spokesman said the two religious leaders had been injured by stray bullets during the clashes. He said they were later captured by al Shabaab gunmen as they were being driven to hospital in the capital.
"Elders told al Shabaab that the sheikhs were not fighters, but they turned a deaf ear and beheaded them," Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf, the spokesman, told Reuters.
Yusuf said the killings took place in Balad town, 30 km (19 miles) north of Mogadishu. He also accused al Shabaab militants of decapitating three elderly women last weekend. Al Shabaab officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
On Thursday, bin Laden urged Somalis to overthrow their new president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a moderate Islamist elected this year in the 15th attempt to form a central government.
But experts say bin Laden's message is unlikely to be heeded: al Qaeda's violent brand of militancy repels ordinary people and real hope now exists among many Somalis that Ahmed can end 18 years of chaos. [ID:nLJ970165]
Violence in Somalia has killed more than 16,000 civilians since the start of 2007, uprooted more than a million and left about a third of the population depending on food aid.
In a statement posted on their website, www.kataaib.infor, on Friday, al Shabaab welcomed bin Laden's support and again denounced Ahmed as the leader of a "non-Muslim" government."May Allah bless and protect Sheikh Osama," it said. (Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Katie Nguyen)
Somali Islamists behead two sheikhs - group
By Abdi Sheikh and Abdi Guled
MOGADISHU, March 20 (Reuters) - Somalia's hardline al Shabaab insurgents have beheaded two sheikhs from a rival Islamist movement, a spokesman for the Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca group said on Friday.
The killings happened on Thursday, the same day al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden urged Somalis in an audio tape to topple the new president of the lawless Horn of Africa nation.
Al Shabaab, which Washington accuses of having close ties to al Qaeda, has been battling rival Islamists from the Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca movement for control of central regions.
An Ahlu Sunna spokesman said the two religious leaders had been injured by stray bullets during the clashes. He said they were later captured by al Shabaab gunmen as they were being driven to hospital in the capital.
"Elders told al Shabaab that the sheikhs were not fighters, but they turned a deaf ear and beheaded them," Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf, the spokesman, told Reuters.
Yusuf said the killings took place in Balad town, 30 km (19 miles) north of Mogadishu. He also accused al Shabaab militants of decapitating three elderly women last weekend. Al Shabaab officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
On Thursday, bin Laden urged Somalis to overthrow their new president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a moderate Islamist elected this year in the 15th attempt to form a central government.
But experts say bin Laden's message is unlikely to be heeded: al Qaeda's violent brand of militancy repels ordinary people and real hope now exists among many Somalis that Ahmed can end 18 years of chaos. [ID:nLJ970165]
Violence in Somalia has killed more than 16,000 civilians since the start of 2007, uprooted more than a million and left about a third of the population depending on food aid.
In a statement posted on their website, www.kataaib.infor, on Friday, al Shabaab welcomed bin Laden's support and again denounced Ahmed as the leader of a "non-Muslim" government."May Allah bless and protect Sheikh Osama," it said. (Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Katie Nguyen)
Somalis reject Bin Laden threats
Medeshi March 20, 2009
Somalis reject Bin Laden threats
One of Somalia's hardline Islamist leaders and the information minister have both told Osama Bin Laden not to interfere in Somalia's affairs.
The al-Qaeda leader on Thursday called for Somalia's president to be toppled.
Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, who denies US charges he has links to al-Qaeda, has been reported as saying only Somalis should decide on their future.
Information Minister Farahan Ali Mohamoud said Bin Laden should concentrate on his own survival.
"We know that bin Laden has his own problems in the mountainous area of Tora Bora where he is hiding, so he has no place making such statements at a time when Somalia is keen to emerge from 21 years violence," the AFP news agency quotes the information minister as saying.
“ Somalia knows [its] future and who can involve, but it is not something for Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda either ” Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys
Bin Laden's call was published by known militant websites on Thursday, although there has been no independent confirmation of its authenticity.
President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was inaugurated in January after UN-brokered reconciliation talks.
He has promised to introduce Sharia law to the strongly Muslim country.
But hardliners in the al-Shabab movement say his version of Sharia will not be strict enough and have continued to fight against his government.
They, and other Islamist groups, now control much of southern and central Somalia.
'Infidel'
The 12-minute audio recording of Bin Laden - entitled "Fight on, champions of Somalia" - carried an often-seen image of the al-Qaeda leader with a map of Somalia in the background.
It accused Mr Ahmed of having "changed and turned back on his heels... to partner up with the infidel" in a national unity government.
"This Sheikh Sharif... must be fought and toppled," the tape said, before comparing the Somali leader to "the [Arab] presidents who are in the pay of our enemies".
It was Bin Laden's third broadcast this year.
Mr Ahmed was a leader of the Union of Islamic Courts which controlled Mogadishu in 2006 before being ousted by Ethiopian forces, backing the previous Somali president.
Mr Aweys was also in the UIC but the two have since split.
"Somalia knows [its] future and who can involve, but it is not something for Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda either," he reportedly told Arabic TV.
Somalia, a nation of about eight million people, has not had a functioning national government since warlords overthrew President Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other.
As part of a UN-brokered deal to reconcile moderate Islamists and dissident lawmakers in a unity government, Ethiopian troops withdrew in January.
President Ahmed has the support of several Islamist groups but al-Shabab has continued to fight the Somali government and the African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Somalis reject Bin Laden threats
One of Somalia's hardline Islamist leaders and the information minister have both told Osama Bin Laden not to interfere in Somalia's affairs.
The al-Qaeda leader on Thursday called for Somalia's president to be toppled.
Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, who denies US charges he has links to al-Qaeda, has been reported as saying only Somalis should decide on their future.
Information Minister Farahan Ali Mohamoud said Bin Laden should concentrate on his own survival.
"We know that bin Laden has his own problems in the mountainous area of Tora Bora where he is hiding, so he has no place making such statements at a time when Somalia is keen to emerge from 21 years violence," the AFP news agency quotes the information minister as saying.
“ Somalia knows [its] future and who can involve, but it is not something for Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda either ” Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys
Bin Laden's call was published by known militant websites on Thursday, although there has been no independent confirmation of its authenticity.
President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was inaugurated in January after UN-brokered reconciliation talks.
He has promised to introduce Sharia law to the strongly Muslim country.
But hardliners in the al-Shabab movement say his version of Sharia will not be strict enough and have continued to fight against his government.
They, and other Islamist groups, now control much of southern and central Somalia.
'Infidel'
The 12-minute audio recording of Bin Laden - entitled "Fight on, champions of Somalia" - carried an often-seen image of the al-Qaeda leader with a map of Somalia in the background.
It accused Mr Ahmed of having "changed and turned back on his heels... to partner up with the infidel" in a national unity government.
"This Sheikh Sharif... must be fought and toppled," the tape said, before comparing the Somali leader to "the [Arab] presidents who are in the pay of our enemies".
It was Bin Laden's third broadcast this year.
Mr Ahmed was a leader of the Union of Islamic Courts which controlled Mogadishu in 2006 before being ousted by Ethiopian forces, backing the previous Somali president.
Mr Aweys was also in the UIC but the two have since split.
"Somalia knows [its] future and who can involve, but it is not something for Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda either," he reportedly told Arabic TV.
Somalia, a nation of about eight million people, has not had a functioning national government since warlords overthrew President Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other.
As part of a UN-brokered deal to reconcile moderate Islamists and dissident lawmakers in a unity government, Ethiopian troops withdrew in January.
President Ahmed has the support of several Islamist groups but al-Shabab has continued to fight the Somali government and the African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu.
Story from BBC NEWS:
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