by Daniel Pipes
New York Sun*
December 20, 2005
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3218
* Cross-posted with permission

The attacks of September 11, 2001, made me feel more secure, unlike most Americans. Finally, the country was focused on issues that had long worried me.

“The FBI is engaged in the largest operation in its history,” I wrote in late 2001. “Armed marshals will again be flying on US aircraft, and the immigration service has placed foreign students under increased scrutiny. I feel safer when Islamist organizations are exposed, illicit money channels closed down, and immigration regulations reviewed. The amassing of American forces near Iraq and Afghanistan cheers me. The newfound alarm is healthy, the sense of solidarity heartening, the resolve is encouraging.”

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It seems that Iranian President Ahmadinejad is hell-bent on alienating his own people, not just the rest of the world. From CNN.com:

Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has banned Western music from Iran’s radio and TV stations, reviving one of the harshest cultural decrees from the early days of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Songs such as George Michael’s “Careless Whisper,” Eric Clapton’s “Rush” and the Eagles’ “Hotel California” have regularly accompanied Iranian broadcasts, as do tunes by saxophonist Kenny G. …

“This is terrible,” said Iranian guitarist Babak Riahipour, whose music was played occasionally on state radio and TV. “The decision shows a lack of knowledge and experience.” …

Western music, films and clothing are widely available in Iran, and hip-hop can be heard on Tehran’s streets, blaring from car speakers or from music shops. Bootleg videos and DVDs of films banned by the state are widely available on the black market.

Of course, this “decree” will go over like a fart in church with Iran’s youth, who make up the majority of the population — and their political sentiments are not exactly as “conservative” as Ahmadinejad’s.

In 2002, Iran’s state news agency Irna and the National Institute for Research Studies and Opinion Polls (NIRSOP) conducted a poll of 1,500 Iranian citizens. According to the BBC, the poll, commissioned by Iran’s parliament, or Majlis, showed that:

• 74% of respondents over the age of 15 support dialogue with the US
• 45.8% believe Washington’s policy on Iran is “to some extent correct”.

Add to this ban on Western music Ahmadinejad’s saber-rattling against Israel:

He also has issued stinging criticisms of Israel, called for the Jewish state to be “wiped off the map” and described the Nazi Holocaust as a “myth.” (Full story)

So Louie Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” would be banned I presume? What a wonderful world Ahmadinejad offers his country’s youth: no music and the potential for nuclear annihilation.

Cross-posted with permission

Toronto, Canada – Monday, December 19, 2005 - On December 2, the Liberal candidate for Mississauga-Erindale, Omar Alghabra, made his victory speech after winning the nomination. In that speech, he reportedly exhorted his audience, “This is a victory for Islam! Islam won! Islam Won! … Islamic power is extending into Canadian politics”.

Alghabra’s victory speech was delivered to an audience of several hundred in the Coptic Christian Centre of the Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Athanasius in Mississauga.

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The Washington Post has gone beyond political correctness, outrageously trying to delegitimize Iraq’s Shiites, labeling their political coalition as “Islamist.” The term befits murderers like al-Qaeda and Hamas, not democratically elected political parties who have Shiite members. Here’s the Post:

The partial election results, which did not include Sunni-dominated areas of western Iraq, suggested that the Islamist Shiite alliance that dominates the current government had done well and could win an outright majority in the new assembly. In the Shiite southern heartland, the Shiite alliance also appears to have won a decisive victory.

Why are the Shiites labeled “Islamist” here? Let us remember what the term means, from the man who put the word on the map, Daniel Pipes:

Islamism is not so much a distortion of Islam, but a radically new interpretation. It politicises the religion, turning it into a blueprint for establishing a coerced utopia. In many ways, its programme resembles those of fascism and Marxism/Leninism.

This week’s [9/11/2001] events mark not the outbreak of a new problem but the heightening of a two-decade-long pattern of Islamist violence. That violence is a truly global phenomenon, affecting such varied countries as Algeria, Pakistan, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Philippines. Islamists constitute a small but significant minority of Muslims, perhaps 10 to 15 per cent of the population. Many of them are peaceable in appearance, but they all must be considered potential killers.

So by what evidence are Iraqi Shiites lumped into the “Islamist” camp? What are Iraq’s Shiites guilty of?

Yes, there was the infamous terrorist Muqtada al-Sadr, but Iraq’s top Shiite, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, pressured al-Sadr to give up control of the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf. The city is quiet now and under the control of the elected government. I was at first worried about Sistani, believing him to be a potential ally of Iran’s crazy mullacracy.

There’s no evidence to date of some grand conspiracy for Iraqi Shiites to become politically subservient to Iran’s dictators. Sistani put his blessing on democratic elections. Millions of Shiites have voted 3 times. In fact, Sistani has vowed not to impose Sharia (Islamic law) on his country. So far, he has kept his word.

Sunni/Wahabi/al-Qaeda violence has specifically targeted Iraq’s Shiites, but they have showed enormous restraint. They have not reacted with violence. Iraqi Shiites have shown great courage, determination, and social maturity, waiting to vote instead of plotting revenge.

An aid to Sistani insisted on January 7 that Sunnis will be included in a national unity government “irrespective of how their parties fare in the polls.” Even after their huge win in Iraq’s January 30 elections, Shiites continue to be adamant that Sunnis will be included in the drafting of the country’s permanent constitution.

It is downright disgusting for the Washington Post to label all Iraqi Shiites as terrorists. While Shiites have kept their word, adhering to the democratic process, the Post throws words around recklessly.

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A briefing by Barry Rubin
Middle East Forum*
December 9, 2005
http://www.meforum.org/article/876
* Cross-posted with permission

Barry Rubin is the editor of the Middle Eastern Review of International Affairs and the Director of the Interdisciplinary Center at the Global Research in International Affairs in Israel. He is currently a visiting professor at American University, in Washington, DC. A columnist for the Jerusalem Post, his articles have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Middle East Quarterly, and numerous other publications. Mr. Rubin has appeared on Nightline, Face the Nation, Larry King Live, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC.

The issue of democracy in the Middle East has outsized importance for the region and for the United States; it will occupy our generation and perhaps the next.

There is a paradox in the Middle East. Incompetent, corrupt governments have failed to develop their own societies, to provide the context for a higher standard of living, and to defeat Israel. Their countries trail the entire world (save sub-Saharan Africa) in most statistics. But these same bad governments have remained in power for more than fifty years and remain entrenched. How do they do this? By systematically redesigning their societies so as to remain in power.

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SMCCDI (Information Service)
December 19, 2005

A former Militia officer was gunned down in the western City of Sannandaj by un-identified assailants. The victim named “Darioush Tchapari” was officially a retired member of the “Pasdaran Corp.” (Islamist Revolutionary Guards).

No reason has been advanced for his murder but local rumors are stating about the involvement of the regime’s intelligence circles as Tchapari was known for openly criticizing many aspects of the daily life and his regret to have taken part in “the creation of a monster”.

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SMCCDI (Information Service)
December 18, 2005

A draftee soldier killed three militiamen in the Varche military post, located near the western City of Kermanshah by using his assault gun. The soldier named “Behzad Bana” ended his own life according to the Islamic regime’s official sources.

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From USAToday.com:

A new poll shows that a strong majority of Americans oppose an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. The AP-Ipsos poll found 57% of those surveyed said the U.S. military should stay until Iraq is stabilized.

President Bush’s poll numbers have been steadily rising as he’s taken the Iraq war to the bully-pulpit. He will be speaking to the American people from the Oval Office tonight at 9 PM. I’m confident that more citizens will realize that Iraq is a new democracy we cannot abandon.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says that Europeans are doing a bit of pot-calling-the-kettle-black on the latest “controversy,” namely the row over “rendition of terror suspects:”

But Gen Powell was dismissive of the furore in Europe.

“There’s a little bit of the movie Casablanca in this, where, you know, the inspector says ‘I’m shocked, shocked that this kind of thing takes place’.

“Well, most of our European friends cannot be shocked that this kind of thing takes place… The fact that we have, over the years, had procedures in place that would deal with people who are responsible for terrorist activities, or suspected of terrorist activities, and so the thing that is called rendition is not something that is new or unknown to my European friends.”

Hmmm… If the Europeans want to play hardball, we could start by bringing up France’s bombing of Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior…

The New York Times reported today:

Coast Guard data show that as of Friday, 2,683 Cubans had been intercepted at sea this year, nearly double the number for all of 2004. …

The State Department says the new wave of migrants is a result of increasingly repressive policies in Cuba, the island’s crumbling economy and Mr. Castro’s refusal to let more Cubans sign up for a lottery under which the United States is supposed to grant 20,000 visas a year.

Viva la revolucion?

SMCCDI (Information Service)
December 17, 2005

The driver and one of Ahmadinejad’s bodyguards were killed, on Thursday evening, in southeast Iran near the city of Zabol after an attack against the presidential motorcade. Another bodyguard has been seriously injured during the shootout.

Ahmadinejad who had started a tour of the Sistan-Baloochestan province, since Wednesday, was not in the car at the time of the attack. He returned to Tehran, on Friday, after making a speech on the need to increase the security in Iran and especially in the province.

Official press is declaring that the ambush was set by “armed bandits” which is the usual label used to qualify armed opponents to the Islamic regime. The Islamist “Jomhoori e Eslami” daily, close to the Supreme Leader, is stating, “In the armed clash, the driver of the vehicle, a local member of the security service, and a president’s bodyguard were killed, while another bodyguard was injured.”

Rumors are stating that worried circles inside the Islamic regime itself might have been involved in somehow communicating the necessary information for the identification of the vehicle to the assailants.

http://daneshjoo.org/publishers/currentnews/article_2775.shtml

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International observers of Iraq’s historic vote have “praised the organisers of Iraq’s parliamentary election, which they said generally met international standards,” according to the BBC:

“The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq is to be commended on the way it has performed its role under the difficult circumstances prevailing in Iraq,” said Paul Dacey, spokesman for the international observers.

Iraq’s staging of major elections in January, October and December would have been a major challenge even for well-established democracies, Mr Dacey said. …

About 11m Iraqis were estimated to have voted, a turnout of about 70% …

Voting was extended in many parts as Sunni Arabs took part after boycotting previous elections.

Election officials reported high turnouts even in Sunni insurgent strongholds such as Falluja and Ramadi.

Not bad for a country once ruled by the Butcher of Baghdad, in the heart of the Middle East.

And I was worried about Marwan Barghouti putting Israel in a tough political position. From the BBC:

Palestinian militant group Hamas has won a sweeping victory in municipal elections in the West Bank.

The Palestinian electoral commission said that in the biggest city, Nablus, Hamas took 73% of the vote, while the mainstream Fatah organisation took 13%. …

Hamas’ charter commits it to the destruction of Israel, and the group has been responsible for most of the suicide attacks inside Israel.

Besides the beauty of the fact that Iraqis have chosen free will, the sheer numbers from yesterday’s election are amazing:

From the BBC:

About 11m Iraqis were estimated to have voted, a turnout of about 70%.

From the Financial Times:

Turnout was particularly high in Sunni areas which largely boycotted the January election. One official said that between 75 and 80 per cent of voters had turned out in Ramadi, a centre of the insurgency west of Baghdad where only a handful had voted in previous nationwide polls.

This type of turnout could only be dreamed of in the U.S. — as so many take so much for granted. And many who take free will for granted would just as soon as spit in President Bush’s face rather than admit that something positive is happening in the Middle East.

To have free will is the universe’s greatest gift, and something not to be disdained because it doesn’t fit into some worn-out, blood-for-oil dogma.

Do my eyes deceive me, or is the New York Times admitting that yesterday’s historic vote in Iraq was a positive event? The participation of Iraq’s Sunni minority in the democratic process has been an issue continually harped on by pundits. Many Sunnis boycotted last January’s election, but yesterday staged a huge turnout, even in insurgent bastions. From the Times:

Still, there was enough that was different in Thursday’s election to suggest that something significant had changed. This time, Sunni political groups with links to the insurgency had candidates in the election. Their leaders, as well as influential Sunni clerics in the mosques of Baghdad and other cities and towns across the Sunni heartland, had urged Sunnis to vote in large numbers. Insurgent groups with links to Mr. Hussein’s ruling Baath Party had agreed to hold their fire.

Adhamiya was as good a proving ground as any for the new Sunni openness to political involvement. In the 1950’s, the district was a bastion of the Arab nationalism then sweeping the Middle East, and it was along Adhamiya’s alleyways that the Baath party in Iraq had its first underground stirrings.

It was in Adhamiya, too, that Mr. Hussein made his last stand as American troops entered Baghdad in April 2003, standing atop a car roof outside the Abu Hanifa mosque and pledging to lead Iraqis in resisting the Americans, before disappearing from view. It was eight months before he turned up again, caught by American troops hiding in an underground bunker near Tikrit.

Mr. Hussein, now languishing in an American military prison near Baghdad’s airport, would have found little comfort in Adhamiya. At his trial, he has proclaimed himself Iraq’s legitimate ruler, but the voters Thursday scoffed at his delusion.

“Saddam, he’s finished,” said Mr. Saleh, the government employee.

“Saddam? No, no, no!” said Saad Abdul Sattar, a 51-year-old grocery store owner, with a sweep of his upturned palm.

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