Month: February 2006

The sectarian crackup of Iraq seems to be underway. The Sadrite Shi’a forces have taken hold of several mosques. Check out this report from Zeyad:

"The Al-Qudus, Al-Shaheed, and Al-Abrar mosques in Sadr city were evacuated and occupied by the Mahdi army. In the Baladiyyat and Binook districts, the Ahmed Ra’ouf, Al-Qudus, Dhiyouf Al-Rahman, Al-Fayyadh, Al-Muhannad, Al-Hassan bin Ali, and Ibad Allah Al-Muttaqeen mosques have been taken over by armed mobs from Sadr city."

Sunnis are responding by taking to the streets:

"It’s almost 3 am and I can still hear gunfire in the neighbourhood. Word of the street in our area is that Sunni neighbourhood watch teams are patrolling several Sunni districts in Baghdad, such as Adhamiya, Ghazaliya, Khadhraa, Adil, Dora, Amiriya, Bayaa, Mansour and Al-Jihad. They say if any Interior ministry forces (read Badr brigade) enter the area, local mosques will shout three Allahu Akbar’s through loudspeakers as a sign for residents to defend themselves."

Over 100 mosques have now been attacked.

More evidence that biology may play a role in male homosexuality. I should say I don’t think the genetic origins of sexual orientation should affect the debate either way. But I do find it fascinating to see the small insights science is giving us about the origins of the great gift of gayness. My own account of the origins of sexual orientation can be read in "Love Undetectable." It’s the second essay: "Virtually Abnormal."

Frank Foer thinks this Andy Ferguson piece is worth revisiting in the wake of the Cheney birdshot mess. I’ve always liked Mary. But if I were in politics, she’d be the last person I’d hire.

Noon, Friday, at the Danish Embassy, 3200 Whitehaven Street, in DC. Off Massachusetts Avenue. It’s time to show some support for the freedom-loving Danes. Hitch will be there. So will I. If you’re in DC, come join us.

Pretty much my sentiment:

"Dubai – I don’t have to tell you – is an Arab nation. Yes, two of the 9/11 hijackers were citizens of the UAE, but, then again, as Ivan Eland of the Independent Institute notes, Richard Reid, the attempted "shoe bomber," was a British citizen, and Jose Padilla, among others, is an American citizen (as was Timothy McVeigh). The UAE has been a staunch ally in the war on terror, training security forces in Iraq and helping to cut off the flow of money to al Qaeda.

Isn’t this precisely what the United States preaches? Don’t we want places like Dubai to fight terror and to grow, to invest, to buy, to trade, to adopt Western commercial practices, to expose themselves to the rest of the world and thus become tolerant and moderate?"

My only quibble is Jim Glassman’s assertion that the Bush administration has a good record on homeland defense. I think, by now, we know that this administration is functionally incompetent on any number of levels; and I have close to zero confidence in its work to protect America. But that has nothing to do with P&O. If people are worried about the ports, they need to scrutinize the Coast Guard and the administration’s own DHS. Much of the rest is xenophobic nonsense. Leave that crap to Lou Dobbs.

She’s a young, brave, American journalist, now enduring her 48th day in captivity, held by Jihadists, forced to wear a burka, and facing possible beheading. We cannot bargain with these thugs. But we can remember her; and pray for her. If you are someone who prays, please do. Her fear – and the anxiety of her family and loved ones – must be immeasurable.

Has it just taken off?

Here’s Time’s photo-essay of the desecration.

Omar reports from a country in crisis. One thing that troubles me. The terrorists wore Iraqi police uniforms. Infiltration of the security forces remains a real problem. Juan Cole comments:

"Tuesday was an apocalyptic day in Iraq. I am not normally exactly sanguine about the situation there. But the atmospherics are very, very bad, in a way that most Western observers will miss…
The Twelfh Imam or Mahdi is believed by Shiites to have disappeared into a supernatural realm (just as Christians believe in the ascension of Christ) from which he will someday return.
Some Shiites think his second coming is imminent. Muqtada all-Sadr and his followers are among them. They are livid about this attack on the shrine of the Mahdi’s father.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is also a firm believer in the imminent coming of the Mahdi. I worry that Iranian anger will boil over as a result of this bombing of a Shiite millenarian symbol."

Some major doodoo just hit a massive fan.

Iran is blaming Europeans for the mosque bombing. I kid you not. Money quote from the Tehran Times:

"Undoubtedly, it is a new plot which first of all can be considered as the continuation of the disrespectful move of the European newspapers‚Äô that published cartoons of the Prophet of Islam …  Another issue that should also not be ignored is the fact that the occupier U.S. regime, which has turned Iraq‚Äôs security to insecurity with its 150,000 troops and military equipment, is the main element responsible for these criminal acts."

Khameini specifically blames mercenaries and, of course, Americans and Jews:

"This is a political crime and its roots have to be traced in the intelligence organizations of the Iraqi occupiers and the Zionists."

The only word for this kind of denial and/or propaganda is pathology. In Pakistan, they’re burning American and Israeli flags. Yep: we did it. Of course.