Author: Imran

Instead of heeding intelligence from Muslims as to who is dangerous, the bureaucracy prefers to subject those with Muslim names to “administrative processing” delaying their visas: Travelers with Muslim Names Find Themselves Fighting for U.S. Visas (Washington Post) In a move described as “part political gimmick and part public relations masterstroke,” Sadr calls for an…

As Palestinian Christians and Muslims defy the Israeli travel ban, Israelis arrest people, a horse, and a donkey… Breaching the Walls of Apartheid for Freedom (Uruknet) .. and MK Abbas Zaki, refuses “to recognise the legitimacy of the military court in trying a senior Palestinian official for participating in a peaceful march” marking Palm Sunday … Fatah Official…

The head of an independent election monitoring group blames political parties that should have “known the requirements and refrained from nominating ineligible candidates” as well as lawmakers: Iraq Election: Victorious Candidates may be Purged, Boosting Maliki (Christian Science Monitor) The attempts to silence the Corrie family and its supporters demonstrates, in Congressman Baird’s words, “‘Any…

In a surprise visit of a few hours “under cover of darkness,” Obama specified goals for Karzai including merit-based “appointment of key government officials, battling corruption [and] taking the fight to the narco-traffickers”: Barack Obama Visits Afghanistan for a Pep Talk with Hamid Karzai (Guardian) A Brookings Institute study reveals that an Israeli strike on…

Al-Maliki declares he will use every constitutionally legal means to challenge the Iraqi vote that left his State of Law party two seats behind Allawi’s Iraqiya list party: Allawi Reaches Out After Iraq Election Win (Washington Post) As evidence mounts that Iran’s boast to build additional enrichment plants was not idle : Israel Launches Covert…

“Allawi, once known as ‘Saddam lite’ among Western officials, is reported to have personally shot several insurgents, a rumor he did nothing to discourage at the time”: Ayad Allawi, Once Seen as a U.S. Puppet, Returns to the Center of Iraqi Politics (Washington Post) Coming on top of the baseline budget of $708 billion, the…

Signaling satisfaction with Pakistan as its partner in the war, US agrees to a $7.5 billion development package as well as nearly $1 billion in unresolved reimbursement for counterinsurgency operations: Pakistan Says it is ‘Satisfied’ with U.S. pledges on Aid Delivery (Washington Post) Unsatisfied with their small margin of victory, members of al-Maliki’s Shiite coalition…

Rami Khouri, editor at large of Beirut’s Daily Star says “real pain beyond the Arab-Israeli arena” Israel inflicts on the U.S. makes it necessary to  suggest that Washington’s “ironclad commitment to Israel’s basic security … does not include unconditional support for Israel’s colonization policies”… Dispute with Israel Underscores Limits of U.S. Power, a Shifting Alliance…

Ahmadinejad proposes $40 billion in cuts to food and gas government subsidies, but will he just spend it elsewhere, and for what?… Standoff in Iran Over Subsidy Cuts (LA Times) … Meanwhile President Obama reaffirms his commitment to negotiations between Iran and the US while distancing the Iranian people from Iranian leadership: Obama Seek[s] New…

“It’s a very dangerous statement made by a prime minister… If the country is going to unravel, this is the period when it would happen” – Joost Hiltermann, an Iraq expert at the International Crisis Group: Prime Minister Warns of Violence, but Election Board Rejects Call for Recount (Washington Post) Following the deaths of four…