“A Turkish Barber: Constantinople” from The National Geographic Magazine, January, 1909
Category Archives: Countries
Maliki drops the mask
U.S. President George W. Bush walks with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Tuesday, June 13, 2006, at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.
Maliki drops the mask
Jonathan Steele in Baghdad, The Guardian, Friday September 5, 2008
What’s up with Nouri al-Maliki? As security anxieties subside in this slowly calming city, political speculation has rarely been so intense. First, it was Maliki’s demand that all US troops leave Iraq by the end of 2011. Then came signs that his government wants to undermine the Sunni tribal militias, known as the Awakening councils, on whom the Americans have relied to defeat al-Qaida in Iraq. Now there are moves to take on the powerful Kurdish peshmerga troops and push them out of disputed areas in the strategic central province of Diyala.
Why is the prime minister doing this? Is “the puppet breaking his strings”, as one Arab newspaper put it? Or is the more appropriate metaphor “dropping the mask”? Those who knew Maliki in exile in Syria during Saddam Hussein’s time now recall that he opposed the US-led invasion. His Daawa party did not attend the eve-of-invasion conference of US- and UK-supported exiles in London, and he opposed the party’s decision six months later to join the hand-picked “governing council” set up by the first occupation overlord, Paul Bremer. Continue reading Maliki drops the mask
Congress is about to pour lighter fluid on Iran
Congress is about to pour lighter fluid on Iran
By WILLIAM O. BEEMAN, Star Tribune, Minneapolis/St. Paul, September 3, 2008
The U.S. Congress may inadvertently lay the foundations for war against Iran when it reconvenes in Washington this month.
Two essentially identical nonbinding resolutions call upon President Bush to “immediately and dramatically increase the economic, political and diplomatic pressure on Iran to verifiably suspend its nuclear enrichment activities.”
The House resolution has more than 200 cosponsors, including Minnesota Reps. Michele Bachmann, John Kline and Jim Ramstad. The Senate resolution has more than 30 cosponsors, including both Minnesota senators, Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar.
The methods for increased pressure differ slightly in the two resolutions. The House resolution calls for “stringent inspection requirements” of all goods entering or leaving Iran. The Senate resolution does not call for the inspection of all goods but joins the House resolution in calling for an embargo of refined petroleum products to Iran, which lacks the refining capacity to meet its need for gasoline. Achieving either goal would require a naval blockade — a de facto act of war on the part of the United States, though paradoxically both resolutions explicitly exclude authorization for military action. Continue reading Congress is about to pour lighter fluid on Iran
Close Shave in Iran
In a previous post, I commented on a 1925 National Geographic Magazine article by Major F. A. C. Forbes-Leith. In his journey from London to Quetta, the major passed through Iran and had a close shave, or at least saw one, as noted above.
Daniel Martin Varisco
New Life for the Dead Sea Scrolls
Book of Enoch, Copied ca. 200-150 B.C.E.
Israel to Display the Dead Sea Scrolls on the Internet
By ETHAN BRONNER, The New York Times, August 27, 2008
JERUSALEM — In a crowded laboratory painted in gray and cooled like a cave, half a dozen specialists embarked this week on a historic undertaking: digitally photographing every one of the thousands of fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls with the aim of making the entire file — among the most sought-after and examined documents on earth — available to all on the Internet.
Equipped with high-powered cameras with resolution and clarity many times greater than those of conventional models, and with lights that emit neither heat nor ultraviolet rays, the scientists and technicians are uncovering previously illegible sections and letters of the scrolls, discoveries that could have significant scholarly impact. Continue reading New Life for the Dead Sea Scrolls
The Bread You Knead #1
This photograph of “Baking Bread in Syria” was published a century ago in The National Geographic Magazine, March, 1908.
Water Scarcity in Yemen
Cistern collecting water in Hayfan
Tomorrow morning I will be giving a presentation at USAID in Washington on the development problems surrounding water resources in Yemen. As almost anyone involved in Yemen’s development knows, the country is rapidly running out of water. The handwriting has been on the wall for some time now, as the following quotes show:
“In general, the cultivators make good use of the water available. What is mostly needed is an increase in supply.†FAO Mission to Yemen, 1955
“Water is the limiting factor in most of the Yemen development projects.†Water Resources Sector Study in the YAR, USAID, 1977
“Water is a scarce resource in Yemen; there is not enough to satisfy present and potential demand.†Water Policy Initiatives for Yemen, CID for USAID, 1980
“… available information indicates that groundwater has been severely overdeveloped.†Irrigation Sector Study, World Bank, 1980
How did this happen? Continue reading Water Scarcity in Yemen
Moroccan Gold in Bahrain
Ramzi storms to 1500m gold medal
BBC News, 19 August, 2008
Bahrain’s Rashid Ramzi held off Kenya’s Asbel Kipruto Kiprop down the final straight to win gold in the 1500m.
Ramzi hit the front with 200m to go and although Kiprop, who set the pace for the first two laps, burst clear of the pack he could not hunt Ramzi down.
Nicholas Willis of New Zealand came third while Great Britain’s Andrew Baddeley finished down in ninth.
Ramzi, who used to compete for his native Morocco, claimed Bahrain’s first Olympic gold medal. Continue reading Moroccan Gold in Bahrain