I saw this great little video on GritTV today. When I visited Kurdistan, I saw that the women were strong and independent. Banaz, the female half of the couple who hosted me there, was a business woman who handled most of the business end of the schools. She received an award as Business Woman of the Year in Suleimaniya during the year before I met her.
This film tells a little of the tragic past and something about their way into the future. In Iran as well, Architecture is a popular career for women.
Some background: In the late 80s, and especially, 1988, Saddam Hussein accelerated what was already an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Kurds to Genocide. The Barzanis were specifically targeted because Mustafa Barzani was a significant leader in the Kurdish struggle for independence. He was, and is, a great hero to most Kurds in Iraq, and some in Iran. His son, Masoud Barzani, is now President of the Kurdistan Region Government of Iraq.
I really feel uncomfortable sometimes, that I have to keep coming back with another Israel story that invites ridicule. Friend or Enemy, I keep trying to take them seriously, but they make it really difficult. They are keeping the world in turmoil through childish temper tantrums, elaborate (and illegal) acts of murder and sabotage, repeated violations of the sovereignty of other countries, friend and foe, and wild (can I say paranoid) stories of sabotage being played out against them, that make so little sense and have such obviously contrived evidence that it is difficult to imagine anyone telling the story with a straight face. Do they believe their own stories? Some of the people do, I imagine. But the people who make the decisions, what are they thinking? And the excuses after the fact. This time it’s come down to a ‘Policy of Ambiguity’.
This time, they have actually been caught by the Dubai police, who are not only diligent and conscientious, but possessed of the best, the most pervasive surveillance equipment money can buy. Read the rest of this entry »
In Afghanistan, the latest surge initiative is the cleaning up of the Taliban controlled town of Marjah. The fighting has been going on for about a week. Early in the week I saw the battle compared to the battle of Fallujah in Iraq. I was a little surprised because I thought we were in it to win ‘hearts and minds’, so totally destroying it while wiping out the adult male population and anyone else who got trapped there with them doesn’t seem like a recipe to win ‘hearts and minds’. An article by David Lindorff on Counterpunch Website entitled “The Battle of Marjah: Why the US has Already Lost” tells us that on the first day, 12 civilians were killed by missiles fired into their home by Marines. More civilian deaths have followed. . . But, I suppose, we can be grateful it’s not another Fallujah.
This weekend, the Washington Post wants us to know that the US forces are already pondering the requisite effort to rebuild. Though the fighting continues in fits and starts as the Taliban have not been entirely eliminated from the area, they are canvasing the town, trying to meet with the townspeople, handing out goodies to children and talking to adults. Read the rest of this entry »
The US continues in it’s attempt to refocus the Yemeni Government on Al Qaeda. Recently, Yemeni forces killed 50 civilians in an air attack on and Al Qaeda Compound. You might think, with the big diversion to Al Qaeda, the beleaguered Houthi rebels would get a break. But, no. The Houthi leadership declared a unilateral cease fire earlier this week, first with the Saudis, and then with the Yemeni Government. In response, the Yemeni army continues to bombard their villages as well as their troops. The Houthis have real complaints with the Yemeni Government which doesn’t show much generosity with any of the people of Yemen, but it has given nothing at all the the Houthis. Because the Houthis belong to a Shia sect, the Iranians had been blamed for helping them, and this was one of the reasons given for Saudi interest. Read the rest of this entry »