Saturday, January 10, 2004

thedissidentfrogman.com STRIKES AGAIN!

http://www.thedissidentfrogman.com/bureau/000113.html

How did I miss this great information? It compiles the data on the arms sales of each country (to IRAQ) for decades. "Warmongers" are in blue; "No War" in red. Each UNSC member is clearly marked. Look at those contributions! USA = 1% of the Total. Guess who win the awards for the top arms sales to Iraq?
On the dissident frogman, he compares 2 opinions from the BBC article on the dilemma of Saddam Hussein. Give him to the Iraqis? Take him to The Hague?

Answer No. 1! Give him to the Iraqis. The Hague is still too busy to deal with Saddam. The Hague will be busy for years. Iraq has precedence.

The atrocities forced upon Iraqi people by Saddam require the judgement of Saddam. . .by Iraqis.
CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND RUMORS

One Iraqi blogger reported that they feed their babies on conspiracy theory milk from the time they are six months old. We are not far behind. It seems a human trait to draw conclusions from the information available. When we don't know all the material, we play "fill in the blanks", too. It becomes an amazing feat to be able to determine the facts, once the speculation soars.
INCIDENT IN IRAQ-2

There has been no further information concerning the incident. The silence is creating a vacuum, which people will fill if they have time to think about it. Well, this happens frequently. We hear a report, and sometimes, we hear nothing more.
INTERESTING FIND

The media is reporting that Danish troops have discovered shells filled with liquid. The troops have (apparently) backed off for the British weapons experts to inspect the liquid filled shells. The area is Basra.

Friday, January 09, 2004

MARSH ARABS (IRAQ)

“The study also uncovered some of the horrors of the Marsh Arabs’ experiences under the former regime. 72% of the tribes had been displaced, 92% of them forcibly by Saddam’s troops. The study found that the villages had suffered weekly attacks and that 25% had been forcibly uprooted more than 10 times in the last twelve years.”

http://bamdiary.blogspot.com/ (AMAR site)

REAL ESTATE AND MORTGAGES

One Iraqi blogger was discussing his building a house and the difficulty obtaining money. Apparently, he has been building the house in stages--as he acquired the funding.

While we talk about rebuilding Iraq, the building of Iraq may be astonishing. There are many architects within and without the country. There will be a race to design new structures, hopefully in character with the existing structures in historic areas.

Iraq has huge possibilities for commerce, industry, and tourism. Can you picture it? I can.
WORLDWIDE GRAPEVINE

It's a circular pattern--"what goes around, comes around," "History Repeats itself" (circular.) So, the question is, have we progressed only to return to the past?

Communication in "olden" times was word-of-mouth. Friends, relatives, strangers, came to town and spread the word. Then, media entered the picture. Newspapers, radio, television replaced the human interchange of information. Now, where are we? We are communicating by word-of-mouth, again.

Are we going forward, or backward? Or, have we come full-circle?
INCIDENT IN IRAQ

There has been an incident in Iraq. We don't have all the information, yet; but, speculations are abundant.

Last night, I was reading an Iranian blogger's comment section when I came across a post urging readers to go to "Healing Iraq" (Zeyad's blog.) After reading the initial blog, I was puzzled. In the account put forth, there are not many facts. The information is confused, due to the circumstances; and, much does not make sense.

At this point, three things stand out. One, innocent until proven guilty--each position should be viewed from an unbiased attitude. Two, more facts must be obtained. Three, a thorough investigation is necessary because this is very important.

Although many thoughts run through my mind, it seems the wisest action would be the inaction of reserving an opinion on this until there is more information.

Wednesday, January 07, 2004

COMMUNICATION IN A NEW WORLD

Struggling with translations reminds me (again) how small the world is, and how advanced it is. We can only guess what the next advancements will be.


READING FROM RIO

This is a quiet little blog--not much company. And then. . .Celine from Rio de Janiero pops in to comment! The Web just continues to amaze me!!!

Celine's remarks are in the comments section after the Jan. 6, post "A Family in Baghdad Blog." First, since the language was not Spanish, I had to remember which was the prodominent language in Rio. Ah ha, looks like Portuguese. Now, where could I find a translator (of course, free) on the Net?

When I entered Celine's comment, the translation was:

"Each one of in ' ja ' had moments where Nao obtained to see the light
in the end of tunnel. E with Certainty a time more left fortified with Esperanca in the life. Thus, if dificeis days Retornarem, we must affirm in the same ones:
"Of this time nao sera different; everything ha to give certain!”"

It happened this way because the tranfer to Word doesn't work (from the comments section). . .and when you retype the Portuguese, you can't type the appropriate letters without Portuguese characters on the keyboard.

Celine,

Era um desafio para encontrar um tradutor, porque eu não leioescreva o português (mas o familiar do am com espanhol.)

A tradução de seu comentário era: (above)

É difícil para aqueles que saem do túnel para ver claramente e
determinar em que sentido devem ir. Nós podemos apreciar os hardships que estiveram completamente, Eu esperarei que os iraqis possam estar fortes, carrinho junto, e caminhada para um futuro bom.

Obrigado para a escrita, Celine.

Max
------------------------------------------------
I'm a little better with English:

Celine,

It was a challenge to find a translator, as I do not read/write Portuguese (but am familiar with Spanish.)

The translation of your comment was: (above)

It is difficult for those coming out of the tunnel to see clearly and determine in which direction they should go. We can appreciate the hardships they have been through, but hope the Iraqis will be able to stand strong, stand together, and walk toward a good future.

Thank you for writing, Celine.

Max





Tuesday, January 06, 2004

A FAMILY IN BAGHDAD BLOG (afamilyinbaghdad.blogspot.com)


This feeling is not brought about by Saddam’s fall, but I was aware that the all of past governments handled the “Kurdish Issue/File” aggressively. And because I am not Kurdish and did not live amongst them, this issue does not import nor concern me. Just as an American civilian is living their life now, as they hear and see what their government is doing to other populations, sorry! Did I cross the red line?!



*Handling the Kurdish agressively* is a mild way to put it. Performing genocide on the Kurds is a more accurate way to describe the situation. When you fear, at the sounds of the bombing, there are not troops purposely trying to annihilate you and all like you. For the Kurds, they knew the killers were coming to irradicate (erase) them, and their communities. As angry as you are at the Americans, the Kurds will be doing well if they can temper their hatred to anger and begin to cooperate with their own people (for the PUK, women's issue) and other peoples.

It is important and it does concern you and every other Iraqi. During the last few decades there were many who did not prosper--many were murdered and many starved. There was terrible suffering. That it was not you, or your people, does matter. Because you were able to manage does not make the suffering less for others during those years. You are suffering now. Does this mean it does not concern others? Would this mean others should not be attentive to the needs of all the people of the country?

As an American, while living my life, I am watching and hoping that the people of Iraq will be able to pull together (and, pull all of this together. ) We can only do so much before it is your turn. Those who are learning to work toward Iraqi rule of Iraq are in a much better position than those who are bombing the efforts of a New Iraq. The American government is attempting to lead Iraq into a new time; Saddam Hussein (and regime) has done more to ruin Iraq than most dictators, with the exception (possibly) of Hitler and Stalin. It will take extensive work for Iraqis to bring the country to a place where it can thrive.

There is conflicting information about Iraqis. We hear that you are a diverse people who will not be able to overcome dislike (or hatred) for one another. We hear you are educated and have the ability to understand and work complex problems. We see tribal control; we see religious control; we see many political parties. This is very complex--a huge exercise in juggling.