Minaret of Freedom Weblog

Mukasey continues his ambiguities as he states in a letter to Congressmen and women that waterboarding “is repugnant” but fails to clarify his legal stance on the matter:

• Mukasey Losing Democrats’ Backing (Washington Post)

NY Times op-ed columnist Paul Krugman slams neo-conservatives and some presidential candidates for letting fear substitute for facts when discussing foreign policy and terrorism matters:

• Fearing Fear Itself (New York Times)

“In a time when we are inundated with the daily rhetoric of ideologues, exclusivists, and merchants of fear, we are in dire need of engaged academics and public intellectuals who can write and speak authoritatively on the topics of the day and who also provide visible public models for ethics of citizenship.”—Tariq Ramadan, Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University

• The U.S. Blacklisted Me. Let’s Talk. (Christian Science Monitor)

Marred by distrust and a lack of success against terrorists, billions of dollars in US military aid, most of which is irrelevant for effective counterterrorism and addressing root causes of political violence, has failed to strengthen US-Pakistan relations, while public opinion polls reveal divisions among urban Pakistanis on whether or not committing more army troops to fighting terrorists will achieve the desired results:

• U.S. and Pakistan: A Frayed Alliance (Washington Post)
• Urban Pakistanis Split on Militants (Christian Science Monitor)

Basra police chief declares the city to be in the grip of militias and says that his forces lack the firepower and loyalties to curb their illegal and deadly activities:

• Iraqi City In The Grip of Militias (Al-Jazeera International)

“This was not only about demanding justice as an outcome, but more importantly, justice as a process. American Muslims increasingly worry that the word ‘terrorism,’ even when uttered as an allegation, is sufficient to trump the ‘innocent until proven guilty’ axiom that is a cornerstone of our justice system.”—Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director CAIR-Chicago

• Fighting Imaginary Terrorist Threats (Chicago Tribune)

FFF policy advisor James Bovard examines an early post 9/11 case of FBI abuse and cover up an of agent threatening to torture Egyptian foreign exchange student Abdallah Higazy’s family to extract a false confession:

• The FBI’s Right to Threaten Torture (Future of Freedom Foundation)

Disputes between the President and Prime Minister of Somalia’s transitional government come to a head as PM Ali Mohamed Gedi announces his resignation:

• Somali Prime Minister Resigns (Al-Jazeera International)

As UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohammed ElBaradei tells US to “stop spinning and hyping the Iranian issue” in order to avoid a global “conflagration”, and saber rattling continues between Iraqi Kurdish militants and Turkish troops, world oil prices continue to rise due in part to Mid East instability:

• No Evidence Iran Is Making Nuclear Weapons: Elbaradei (AFP/Yahoo)

• Iraqi Kurdish Leader Defies Turkish Invasion Threat (The Independent)

• Oil Prices Break Through $93 Mark (BBC News)

All 21 female candidates vying for 84 spots in Omani legislative council with no formal powers fail to win a single seat in latest election:

• No Women Elected in Omani Vote (Al-Jazeera International)

Columnist Robert Novak examines the recent attempted assassination against Benazir Bhutto and the current political context in Pakistan and sees the relationship between Musharraf and Bhutto as one of mutual necessity for survival:

• Can Bhutto Survive? (Washington Post)

In what was expected to be a near automatic confirmation for attorney general nominee Mike Mukasey, is now becoming less clear as some Senators are becoming concerned over his lack of explicit denunciation of torture interrogations currently used by the Bush administration:

• Attorney General Pick Facing New Resistance (New York Times)

As Ankara rejects Iraqi offers to contain violence from the Kurdish rebel group PKK because they would “take a long time to put into action”, it continues its air bombardments against the militant organization:

• Turkey Rejects Iraq’s PKK Offer (BBC News)

• Turkey Claims Kurdish Rebel Targets In Iraq Hit (MSNBC)

President Bush continues his saber rattling against Iran with fresh sanctions against leaders of the Iran Revolutionary Guards, while oil industry analysts predict extreme market volatility if Tehran is attack as prices already reach an all-time high at $90:

• President Bush Turns The Screw On Iran With Sanctions Against Its Military Elite (The London Times)

• Strike on Iran Would Roil Oil Markets, Experts Say (Washington Post)

King Abdullah seeks to pursue ambitious modern graduate education institution project by keeping the Education Ministry out of the loop and creating a massive financial endowment for the new university:

• Saudi King Tries to Grow Modern Ideas in Desert (New York Times)

New US sanctions against Iran will hit ordinary Iranians: ““These banks that are being designated are major banks that pay the monthly wages of Iranian workers…”

• US Imposes New Sanctions on Iran (Al Jazeera)

Rather than recognizing already existing communities’ record system, India requires all marriages to be registered with the State putting rural residents at a disadvantage.

• India Wedding Registration Ruling (BBC News)

Egypt continues support for election fraud and abusing those willing to stand up against it:

• Egyptian police detain 13 Brotherhood students (Reuters)

Islamophobia in America:

Co-worker is found guilty of sending note to Muslim woman threatening ‘”Remember 9/11”’ “’You and your kids will pay’”

• Woman Gets 8 Months in Hate Note Case (NY Times/AP)

State Representative returns Qur’an saying “Most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology”

• Okla. Lawmakers Return Qurans (Washington Post/AP)

Number of individuals put on terror watch list soars – “They are quickly galloping towards the million mark — a mark of real distinction because the list is already cumbersome and is approaching absolutely useless.”

• Terror Watch List Swells to More than 755,000 (USA Today)

“The president has asserted the power to designate any organization or individual he chooses, here or abroad, without formal charges, a trial or hearing of any kind; without a statement of reasons; and on the basis of secret evidence. While full-scale criminal protections are not necessary, surely groups should be afforded a meaningful opportunity to defend themselves before they are shut down.”—David Cole, Georgetown law professor

• Anti-Terrorism on Trial: Why the Government Loses Funding Cases (Washington Post)

Afghan women are tapped to enter into the national police force, however security concerns, cultural pressure and corrupt mismanagement are significant barriers to expanding female presence within the force:

• Afghan Policewomen Face Uphill Battle (BBC News)

Three years after the massacre of Muslim protesters in southern Thailand that ignited a bloody ethno-nationalist insurgency, the Thai government has failed to bring any of the perpetrators to justice:

• No Justice For Muslim Protest Victims, Says Rights Group (Adnkronos International)

Israel announces its plan to collectively punish Gazan Palestinians by gradually cutting off its electricity and fuel supply:

• Israel Set To Sever Power To Gaza (Al-Jazeera International)

While Blackwater and other mercenaries will be held to new rules demanding greater transparency and accountability, a State Department report finds that there are far too few officials in charge to provide adequate oversight of such firms, in spite of the ballooning number of contracts:

• Security Firms in Iraq Face New Rules (Washington Post)
• Use of Contractors by State Dept. Has Soared (New York Times)

“The suicide bombers who attacked Benazir Bhutto’s convoy as it traveled through Karachi managed to kill 140 people and injure more than 550. But their real targets were free and fair elections… The bombers failed to kill Bhutto, but they may have succeeded in paralyzing Pakistan’s political process.”—Ahmed Rashid, Pakistani journalist

• Hard Choices for Bhutto and Musharraf (Washington Post)

Federal prosecutors fail to convict members of Palestinian charity Holy Land Foundation because, in the words of one juror, the case “was strung together with macaroni noodles. There was so little evidence.”

• Mistrial Declared in Islamic Charity Case (Washington Post)

Members of Congress slam the White House for allowing Intelligence Committee members to see crucial documents on NSA spying, but not the Judiciary Committee, allegedly in exchange for granting telecoms legal immunity:

• Senators Say White House Cut Deal With Panel on FISA (Washington Post)

Ignorance and fear drives some people in a small Maryland town to attempt blocking construction plans for a heterodox Muslim sect’s mosque:

• Uneasy Feelings Moving In (Washington Post)

After some bloody saber-rattling between PKK militants and Turkey, Iraq offers to provide support to Turkey against the militant organization while the PKK themselves offer a truce to Ankara in return for dropping threats of a cross-border raid into Kurdish Iraq:

• Iraq To Help Turkey Against PKK (Al-Jazeera International)

• Kurdish Rebels Offer Turkey A Truce (Los Angeles Times)

Taliban-like militants in Northwest Pakistan violate Islamic values of “no compulsion in religion” and education as “an obligation upon every man and woman” by imposing a decree that forces women to wear a burqa in public, resulting in a massive drop in female school attendance as poor families who cannot afford the garment are unable to comply:

• Girls Avoid Schools in North-West as ‘Veil Deadline’ Expires (Adnkronos International)

Ankara braces itself for the possibility of a large cross-border raid after as 12 Turkish soldiers are killed and an unknown number are taken hostage along the Turkish/Iraqi Kurdish border in retaliation for an earlier raid killed at least 32 Kurdish militants:

• Turkey To Strike Back After 12 Slain (Los Angeles Times)

DespitIn the face of repeated denials from Iran about developing a nuclear weapon, Vice President Cheney issues vague threat to Tehran saying, “the international community is prepared to impose serious consequences”:

• Cheney, Like President, Has a Warning for Iran (New York Times)

Kyrgyz leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev dissolves parliament and seeks to start fresh with a new legislature and constitution that includes a proportional all party list and raises the number of MPs, however opposition members criticize him for contradictions and loopholes in the new constitution and see the parliament’s dissolution “as a step towards authoritarianism”:

• Kyrgyz Leader Dissolves Parliament After Referendum (Reuters/New York Times)

Political deadlock between pro-government March 14 forces and the Hizballah and Aounist-led opposition delays Lebanon’s presidential election:

• Lebanon Delays Presidential Vote (BBC News)

Muslim-American activist and former member of Virginia Commission on Immigration argues that his resignation from the Commission was “so as to not allow partisan politics and a drummed-up controversy to derail the commission or to undermine the good work of the governor to bring some sanity to a General Assembly bent on creating a police state in Virginia for immigrants”:

• Why I Resigned (Washington Post)

In the wake of the recent attacks against Bhutto’s convoy, analysts find that the Pakistani army has neither the political will, nor the capability to fight Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in the outlying tribal regions, while Musharraf and the military use the incident to justify a ban a street rallies that have been the bread and butter of the former PM’s means of rallying support:

• Pakistan’s Army: Unprepared to Tackle Terrorism? (Christian Science Monitor)
• Bombing Shakes Pakistan’s Political Culture (Washington Post)

After years of unethical and ineffective torture interrogations by the CIA against 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other Al-Qaeda operatives, the FBI is slowly building its own cases against the militants because the CIA’s interrogations would be inadmissible in a US court:

• FBI Working to Bolster Al Qaeda Cases (Los Angeles Times)

The New York Times Magazine takes a look at Gitmo military lawyer and whistleblower Matthew Diaz’s moral and legal troubles for publicly revealing the list of detainees’ names back in 2004:

• Naming Names at Gitmo (New York Times)

Former top Iran nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani resigns from his post allegedly over disputes with President Ahmadinejad and is replaced with a hardline diplomat; however, Larijani will be present at upcoming talks in Rome as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamanei’s representative:

• Iran’s Larijani Set for EU Talks (BBC News)

• Iran’s Hard-Line Nuclear Reshuffle (BBC News)

“Between 2003, the year I started working for The Post, and the summer of 2006, when I left Baghdad, about 93 journalists were killed; 85 percent of them were Iraqis, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The total number of journalists killed in this war has now reached 119.”—Bassam Sebti, former Iraqi Washington Post correspondent

• What I Risked as an Iraqi Journalist (Washington Post)

In a bid to keep Turkey on the path of EU-inspired reform and away from political obstructionism, the AK party makes another major political throw-down as Turks vote in a national referendum on whether to elect their president directly, or to keep it within the hands of parliament:

• Turks Vote In Referendum on Presidential Reform (Reuters/New York Times)

Bombings of Bhutto convoy in Pakistan “where Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and nuclear weapons are all in play” raise the possibility of a nightmare scenario because of over-reliance on Musharraf’s supposedly American-friendly authoritarianism:

• In Pakistan Quandary, U.S. Reviews Stance (New York Times)

“Far from “draining the swamp” of terrorism, as U.S. architects of the war had hoped, the new Iraq imports suicide terrorists and exports bombing techniques, most notably to Afghanistan, where insurgents are now copying the improvised explosive devices that have proved so devastating to U.S. forces in Iraq’s Sunni Triangle.”—Fawaz Gerges, professor of international affairs at Sarah Lawrence College

• Deadly Embrace (Washington Post)