Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of Arak - Twenty-First Century Pirates threaten World Trade

Can you believe this is happening in 2008? Avast ye landlubbers!

 

Somali pirates risk choking key world trade route

 

13 Nov 2008 17:44:18 GMT
Source: Reuters

Nov 13 (Reuters) - Somali pirates are causing havoc in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, which connects Europe to Asia and the Middle East via the Suez Canal.

 

Piracy off the Horn of Africa has been a problem for years, but daily attacks are now forcing shippers to seek alternative routes. Pirates have been exacting big ransoms from ship owners, threatening humanitarian supplies, firing on laden oil and gas carriers and pushing insurance costs sky high.

 

Here are some facts about how the wave of attacks is threatening international seaborne trade.

 

* WHAT IS THE IMPACT?

 

-- Major operators of the world's merchant fleet -- carrying some 90 percent of the world's traded goods by volume -- are seriously considering by-passing the Gulf of Aden and Suez Canal altogether.

 

-- Industry experts say the alternative trade route, round South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, would add some three weeks or more to a typical journey, pushing up costs for goods.

 

-- Two well-known shipping firms, one that specializes in gas and the other the world's largest tug operator Svitzer, are already routing their vessels via the Cape of Good Hope.

 

-- Millions of tonnes of crude oil, petroleum products, gas and dry commodities like grains, iron ore and coal, as well as containerised goods from Hi-Fis to toys are ferried through the Gulf of Aden and Suez Canal every month.

 

* WHERE IS THE GULF OF ADEN?

 

-- The Gulf of Aden is located in the Middle East with Yemen to the north, Somalia to the south and the Arabian Sea to the east. It is connected to the Red Sea by the Bab el Mandab strait. Somalia has been stuck in civil conflict for 17 years.

 

* WHAT PASSES THROUGH?

 

-- Exports from the Gulf and Asia to the West must pass through Bab el-Mandab before entering the Suez Canal. Nearly 20,000 ships pass through the Gulf of Aden each year, heading to and from the Suez Canal.

 

-- The Bab el-Mandab passage handles around 3.3 million barrels per day of oil en route to the Canal and the Sumed Pipeline discharging in the Mediterranean for onward shipment to markets in Europe and the United States.

 

-- Seven percent of world oil consumption passed through the Gulf of Aden in 2007, according to Lloyd's Marine Intelligence Unit.

 

-- Around 30 percent of Europe's oil goes through the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea.

 

-- Liquefied natural gas exports from Qatar and Algeria pass through the Gulf of Aden en route to consumers in the West and in Asia. The largest class of gas carrier transiting the area carries enough gas to heat 4.5 million British homes.

 

-- The Gulf of Aden and Suez Canal are the main trade routes for dry commodities and containerised cargo -- manufactured goods -- between Asia, Europe and the Americas.

 

-- The Suez Canal is the third major source of income for Egypt.

 

* REGIONAL SECURITY:

 

-- Intelligence sources say three suspicious trawlers are now in the Gulf of Aden and are believed to be pirate mother vessels looking to attack and hijack ships.

 

-- The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said a total of 199 incidents of piracy or attempted piracy were reported worldwide during January-September, of which 63 were in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast.

 

-- Recent attacks have brought the anti-terrorist Combined Task Force 150 into action. The multinational unit, part of Washington's Operation Enduring Freedom, is based in Djibouti and has come to the aid of many ships attacked by pirates.

 

-- In late August, it announced a string of waypoints marking a Maritime Security Patrol Area or safe corridor, which warships will patrol while coalition aircraft fly overhead.

 

-- While there is no formal agreement between the coalition and other navies, they have been communicating with each other and sharing information to more effectively patrol the area.

 

-- The British navy killed two pirates this week after the attempted hijacking of a Danish vessel. Britain's HMS Cumberland was joined in action by a Russian frigate. French ships have also engaged pirates in recent months, killing some, capturing others and freeing hostages.

 

Sources: Reuters/EIA www.eia.gov/BIMCO, Lloyd's Marine Intelligence Unit, GlobalSecurity/Ministry of Defence/International Maritime Bureau.

 

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/) (Writing and reporting by David Cutler and Stefano Ambrogi; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)

"Justice" in Islamist Somalia

Stoning victim 'begged for mercy'

A young woman recently stoned to death in Somalia first pleaded for her life, a witness has told the BBC.

"Don't kill me, don't kill me," she said, according to the man who wanted to remain anonymous. A few minutes later, more than 50 men threw stones.

Human rights group Amnesty International says the victim was a 13-year-old girl who had been raped.

Initial reports had said she was a 23-year-old woman who had confessed to adultery before a Sharia court.

Numerous eye-witnesses say she was forced into a hole, buried up to her neck then pelted with stones until she died in front of more than 1,000 people last week.

Meanwhile, Islamists in the capital, Mogadishu have carried out a public flogging.

Mogadishu is nominally under the control of government forces and their Ethiopian allies, who face frequent attacks by Islamist and nationalist insurgents.

The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in the city says the flogging was a show of strength.

He says two men accused of helping to kill a man and torture his mother, who they accused of theft, were each given 39 lashes in the north-eastern suburb of Suqa-hola.

The man who actually killed the alleged thief was released, after agreeing to pay his family 100 camels in compensation.

Before the flogging, hundreds of Islamist fighters performed a military parade, our reporter says.

Death threats

Cameras were banned from the stoning in Kismayo, but print and radio journalists who were allowed to attend estimated that the woman, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, was 23 years old.

People were saying this was not good for Sharia law, this was not good for human rights, this was not good for anything--Witness.

However, Amnesty said it had learned she was 13, and that her father had said she was raped by three men.

When the family tried to report the rape, the girl was accused of adultery and detained, Amnesty said.

Convicting a girl of 13 for adultery would be illegal under Islamic law.

A human rights activist in the town told the BBC on condition of anonymity that he had received death threats from the Islamic militia, who accuse him of spreading false information about the incident.

He denies having anything to with Amnesty's report.

'Crying'

Court authorities have said the woman came to them admitting her guilt.

Islamists are becoming increasingly open in the capital, Mogadishu

She was asked several times to review her confession but she stressed that she wanted Sharia law and the deserved punishment to apply, they said.

But a witness who spoke to the BBC's Today programme said she had been crying and had to be forced into a hole before the stoning, reported to have taken place in a football stadium.

"More than 1,000 people arrived there," he said.

"After two hours, the Islamic administration in Kismayo brought the lady to the place and when she came out she said: 'What do you want from me?'"

"They said: 'We will do what Allah has instructed us'. She said: 'I'm not going, I'm not going. Don't kill me, don't kill me.'

"A few minutes later more than 50 men tried to stone her."

'Checked by nurses'

The witness said people crowding round to see the execution said it was "awful".

"People were saying this was not good for Sharia law, this was not good for human rights, this was not good for anything."

But no-one tried to stop the Islamist officials, who were armed, the witness said. He said one boy was shot in the confusion.

According to Amnesty International, nurses were sent to check during the stoning whether the victim was still alive. They removed her from the ground and declared that she was, before she was replaced so the stoning could continue.

The port of Kismayo was seized in August by a coalition of forces loyal to rebel leader Hassan Turki, and al-Shabab, the country's main radical Islamist insurgent organisation.

Mr Turki is on the US list of "financers of terrorism".

It was the first reported execution by stoning in the southern port city since Islamist insurgents captured it.

The BBC had a reporter in the area, but he was shot dead in Kismayo in June.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7708169.stm

Published: 2008/11/04 16:42:24 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

Child sex & porn scene: Bad times coming for Merv the Perv in Muslim countries?

Those concerned about the rights of child molesters have good reason for concern. Under Western pressure, Muslim countries are curbing child marriages. This misguided initiative of the Bush administration has caused a lot of resentment among America's Muslim allies. But have no fear Merv the Perv and Chester the Child Molester, the change will take many years.

 

And there are brave heroes fighting this Western aberration:

 

Sheikh Hamoud Hashim al-Tharihi is general secretary of the increasingly influential Vice and Virtue Committee and a member of the Islah Party. He cites the example of the Prophet Muhammad who married six-year-old Aisha...

 

"Because this happened to the Prophet, we cannot tell people that it is prohibited to marry at an early age," he argues. Moreover, he claims it would harm society by spreading vice.

 

Progressives around the world, and in particular those in Human Rights groups, will continue to protect Islamic society from the strange customs introduced by Western imperialist colonialism. The nerve of a 9 year old kid, asking for a divorce!

 

---

Child marriage and divorce in Yemen

 

By Jenny Cuffe
BBC World Service, Assignment 

 

A narrow path leads up from the mountain town of Jibla, through century-old houses, and turns into a mud track before reaching the door of Arwa's home.

 

Arwa is making history by requesting a divorce aged just nine
The nine year old child lives with her parents and six brothers and sisters in a humble, two-roomed house overlooking the mosque built by her namesake, Queen Arwa, who ruled Yemen 900 years ago.

 

She knows nothing of wealth and power but, in her own way, she has helped make history.

 

Arwa is the youngest of three Yemeni girls who recently went to court complaining they were married against their will and asking for divorce - an astonishing display of defiance that has prompted the government to review its law on early marriage.

 

The child's dark eyes shine from a pale face framed by her black headscarf. Her expression is eloquent yet she struggles to find words for what she's suffered.

 

Earlier this year, her father announced she was to be married, ignoring her tears of protest. She claims to have forgotten her husband's name and all she will say about him is that he seemed tall and old.

 

Sold off

 

Coming in from the street where he's been digging drains, Abdul Mohammed Ali takes up the story. He describes how a stranger, a man in his mid forties, approached him in the market asking if he knew of any marriageable girls.

 

Jibla village has been in the news since Arwa's request
After visiting their home and seeing Arwa and her 15-year-old sister, he opted for the younger child. Abdul Ali says the man promised he would wait for the girl to reach puberty before calling her to his house but then changed his mind and came to live with them.

 

So why did he sell his daughter to a stranger?

 

"He gave me 30,000 rial ($150, £90) and promised another 400,000 ($2,000). I was really in need of money and thought it was a solution for the family," he explains.

 

For seven months, Arwa's husband shared the small room where the family eat, play and sleep.

 

When Arwa fought off his advances, she was beaten. The torment only came to an end when her husband and father quarrelled and Abdul Ali gave her permission to seek outside help.

 

At this point in the narrative, she finds her voice again, describing how she went looking for a neighbour who could lend her money for the journey to court where the judge took pity on her and granted her freedom.

 

A medical examination showed that she had been sexually molested but was still technically a virgin

 

Arwa's audacity in seeking a divorce was inspired by the example of Nujood, another young girl from the capital, Sanaa, who has become a national celebrity.

 

Prophet's example

 

A third girl, Reem is still waiting for the court's decision and says her two ambitions are to get a divorce and go to college.

 

Married at 12, she describes the moment when her 30-year-old husband insisted on sex. When she resisted, he choked and bit her and dragged her by the hair, overwhelming her with force.

Reem wants a divorce and then a college education
She was imprisoned for 11 days in his house and tried to kill herself with a kitchen knife before being rescued by her mother.

 

Although Yemen has a law stating that 15 is the marriageable age, it is frequently flouted, particularly in poor rural areas where society is run along tribal lines.

 

Members of Parliament have recently been debating an amendment raising the age limit to 18, but progress has ground to a halt in the face of strong opposition from conservatives.

 

Sheikh Hamoud Hashim al-Tharihi is general secretary of the increasingly influential Vice and Virtue Committee and a member of the Islah Party. He cites the example of the Prophet Muhammad who married six-year-old Aisha but waited for consummation till she was a little older.

 

"Because this happened to the Prophet, we cannot tell people that it is prohibited to marry at an early age," he argues. Moreover, he claims it would harm society by spreading vice.

 

Bitter fight ahead

 

Yemen's Minister for Social Affairs, Professor Amat al-Razzak Hammed, recognises that the government needs to compromise and would personally opt for a legal age of 16.

 

Arwa hopes that money will not tempt her father to marry her off again

She emphasises the importance of a legal framework enabling courts to punish fathers who marry their children off early and officials who sign the marriage contracts, and says the government has consulted Islamic scholars to ensure that it can be done in accordance with Sharia.

 

With parliamentary elections next year, President Ali Abdullah Saleh's government may be reluctant to alienate the growing forces of Islamic fundamentalism, so women's rights campaigners are preparing for a bitter fight. They are concerned that, with the global economic down-turn, more families will be under pressure to sacrifice their young daughters.

 

At her home in Jibla, Arwa is putting the past behind her and returning to childish games of hide and seek in the narrow passageways near her home.

 

But, without a firm lead from government, her father Abdul Ali may be tempted a second time to take money for his daughter's hand in marriage, curtailing her childhood once and for all.

 

 

Rogue States & Terrorists Respond Only To Force & Deterrence!!

Rogue States & Terrorists Respond Only To Force & Deterrence!! 
By: Elias Bejjani*

November 06/08

There have been numerous reports and analysis as well as vague and conflicting official statements issued by Damascus, Washington and Baghdad that have appeared in the regional and international media outlets, in regards to the U.S. helicopter-borne Special Forces raid that recently targeted the Syrian village of Sukkariya in the Abu Kemal region seven kilometers inside Syria on October 26th.

A US counterterrorism official stated that the American Special Forces that executed the raid had killed the head of a Syrian terrorist network that funneled fighters, weapons and cash into Iraq. He declared that the raid targeted the home of Abu Ghadiyah, leader of a key cell of foreign Jihadi fighters in Iraq. Syrian villagers, where the raid took place, told reporters that US forces grabbed two men and took them away by helicopter back to Iraq.

It is worth mentioning that this successful raid is the first in its accuracy and nature that US troops executed inside Syria since year 2003, although these troops have carried out several military operations in Iraqi territories just a few miles adjacent to the neighboring Syrian borders in pursuit of terrorist militant groups.

Several official US statements have said that the raid's main target was the home of Abu Ghadiyah, leader of a key cell of foreign fighters in Iraq and that he was killed in the armed confrontation. According to these US officials, Abu Ghadiyah was centrally involved in smuggling militant terrorist fighters and weapons from Syria to Iraq. Informed reports have stated that Syria has purposely declined to patrol its boarders with Iraq thus facilitating the infiltration of militants and weapons via its borders to Iraq. In Washington, an unnamed military official told the Associated Press that the raid targeted elements of a "foreign fighter logistics network". It was because of Syrian inaction, the official said, that the US was "taking matters into our own hands". It is the first known US attack on Syrian soil.

Damascus, on its part, alleged that the U.S. helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction and opened fire on the workers inside it causing the death of eight civilians and wounding one. Syrian television was not able to provide any convincing actual footage of these alleged civilian casualties. It only showed a few scenes of a wounded child which according to many a/v experts were altered and even fabricated. The Syrian newspaper Tishrin called it a US war crime, while Syria summoned the US Charge D'Affaires in Damascus to explain the attack. Also in response, Syria called on the Iraqi government to prevent its airspace from being used in such a way. Sami al-Khiyami, the Syrian ambassador to London, told Reuters, "This is an outrageous raid which is against international law. It is a terrible crime. We are expecting clarifications from the Americans".

Ironically, Syria's outspoken and arrogant foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, was in London conferring with high ranking US and English officials when the raid occurred and continued his talks afterwards, while uttering on the sidelines empty threats of retaliation.

Despite the hostile official statements and angry Syrian media coverage and statements of protest, the Syrian President Bashar Assad and his rogue regime surprisingly did not file any official complaint with the UN and nor did call for an emergency Arab league meeting at any level.

This US raid adds to at least five unexplained serious security incidents and breaches that have occurred in Syria over the last year. This begs to ask the question of 'why' has Syria remained relatively silent and 'why' have these incidents been hushed and swept under the so-called 'diplomatic rug'? All these events have shaken the stability of the internal Syrian domestic scene and it has also lifted the air of invincibility and control that the Baathist Stalinist regime struggles to portray and exert.

The Syrian authorities have yet to announce the findings of the police investigations of any of these incidents, which are chronologically listed below:

1. The Israeli bombardment of a secret Syrian military base in Deir Al-Zour on September 6th of 2007, under the pretext that it was a Korean-style nuclear reactor.

2. The assassination of Hezbollah's number two man, the notorious terrorist Imad Mughniyeh on February 13th of 2008, by a car explosion in the middle of the Syrian capital, Damascus.

3. The assassination of Syrian Brigadier General Mohammed Suleiman, security adviser for Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, on August 1st of 2008. Brigadier Suleiman, 49, was shot dead at his chalet in the Rimal al-Zahabieh luxury resort nine miles north of the port city of Tartous on the Mediterranean.

4. The recent killing of a high rank Syrian officer who was extensively involved in Lebanon's late PM, Rafiq Al-Hariri's assassination. The officer was one of 17 other people who were killed and 24 injured by a devastating explosion that took place on the Damascus Airport highway this past September.

5. Bloody clashes in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus between Syrian security officers and what Syrian authorities described as a group of gunmen. Three of the gunmen and one security officer were killed, while another was injured as stated by the Syrian government.

Observers questioned the timing of the US raid, speculated on its actual objectives and wondered why now and not before? Answers to this question varied according to their sources. Many US and European media outlets interpreted the raid to be a fiery personal warning to President Assad saying that Syria's alliance with rogue Iran is no longer acceptable and that its harboring of fundamentalists and terrorists, notably al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, will not continue without a painful price and dire consequences.

Other western observers considered the raid to be a one-time operation that has no political motivation and came in the context of hundreds of similar military operations carried out by U.S. troops on the Syrian-Iraqi border since 2003. The same observers were also puzzled by the disproportionate and unjustified Syrian media reaction and negative coverage.

Some analysts even speculated that the Bush administration and the Pentagon aimed to give leverage to John McCain in his presidential campaign and warn the coming US president that certain restrictions and red lines should not be broken or overlooked if and when US negotiations with Syria and Iran take place.

Syrian and Iranian media as well their mercenary mouthpieces, the terrorists organizations in Lebanon and Gaza, notably Hezbollah and Hamas, alleged that the raid was a kind of psychological support for the US allies in the region. They interpreted it as a sign of weakness and a failure of the US Middle East democracy project!

Some anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians envisioned the entire US operation as a military pre-emptive deterrent for a Syrian plot to invade North Lebanon. This plot in the making was to attack anti-Syrian Lebanese masses and politicians under the guise of fighting Sunni terrorists that Syria alleges have taken refugee in North Lebanon.

In neighboring Israel, the Yediot Aharonot newspaper quoted an unnamed American source as saying: "The American raid was fully coordinated between the Syrian intelligence services and the United States in the realm of Syrian-US coordination in the ongoing war against al-Qaeda and its subsidiaries. The same argument was also adopted during the last few days by many other well known American and British media facilities.
(Sunday, November 02, 2008/News Agencies: BAGHDAD — Despite reports that Syria denounced a violent U.S. Special Operations raid that took place near the Iraq border last week, intelligence officials in Damascus may have approved the attack, the London Times reports. The operation, which was intended to be fast and bloodless, was meant to target Al Qaeda commander Badran Turki Hashim al-Mazidih — also known as Abu Ghadiya — an Iraqi-born terrorist in his late twenties, according to the paper. Syrian officials — who feared Ghadiya as a threat to the secular regime in Damascus — plotted to have U.S. forces kidnap him and take him to Iraq for questioning. But the U.S.-led raid did not go as planned. A fierce gun battle broke out following the launch of a rocket-propelled grenade from a local American compound, blowing the cover on the covert operation. Eight people were reportedly killed in the raid, which Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem called an act of "criminal and terrorist aggression." Officials could not confirm whether Abu Ghadiya was among the dead.)"

Many experts on terrorism in the region applauded the much delayed American military response against the rogue Syria and openly encouraged the US to execute more of such raids. Personally, we fully agree with this argument and consider that the raid came five years too late and that it was not strong enough. Accordingly, no matter what the raid's military and political motives and objectives, it was a very clear message to the Syrian Baathist regime officials, cautioning them to come to their senses and stop harboring terrorists and fundamentalists or otherwise face the consequences.

We strongly believe that it is time for all the free world governments, Sunni Arab regimes, Israel and the USA in particular, to begin speaking to the Axis of Evil countries and organizations, namely Syria, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Al-Qaeda, with the only language that they comprehend and understand; that being the language of force.

It is time to make the Syrian regime, the Mullahs of Iran, and all their proxy terrorist and fundamentalist organizations, understand very well and without any doubt that there will be dire prices and severe consequences for any criminal acts they commit, among of which is the change of the Syrian and Iranian regimes by force as was the situation with Iraq's dictator, Saddam Hussein.

Had the free world and the Arab Sunni countries adopted and implemented the courageous, straightforward and firm stances in their dealings with Iran, Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda, including the use of strategic military force, the whole world would have been in a much better position of peace, thousands of lives would have been spared and trillions of dollars saved.

In the context of the global war against terrorism, it is worth shedding light on the Middle Eastern press trend of soft condemnation statement releases. These statements appear every time a rogue country, a terrorist group, or a terrorist individual or a leader is hit or captured. These condemnations are trivial and are merely empty words and accordingly should not by any means be taken seriously by any country that is taking part in the waging of anti-terrorism war. Hundreds of such double standard releases were issued in Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Gaza, Russia and other countries in the aftermath of the US raid on the terrorist camp inside Syria. They all ignored the fact that Syria is a breeding centre for all kinds of terrorist, Jihadists and fundamentalists among of which are Hezbollah, Hamas, Jund Al-Sham, Fateh Al-Islam, Al-Qaeda and many, many others.

The righteous and ethical condemnation should in fact be targeting the USA administration because of its failure to destroy Iran's nuclear reactors, overthrow the Syrian Baathist regime nor did it eradicate fundamentalist organizations, especially Hezbollah, that has erected a mini Iranian state inside Lebanon, crippling by force all Lebanese efforts to rebuild the country and reclaim its independence, freedom and sovereignty.

The USA, Europe, Israel and all other free world countries, as well as the Sunni Arab countries should once and for all forget their hesitation, fear, procrastination and double standards in regards to Iran, Syrian and all the terrorist organization that revolve in their orbit. 

All these countries, specially the new US Obama administration should speak to the Axis of Evil countries and terrorists organizations the only language that they comprehend; the language of power and deterrence. All other means are futile and time-buying especially for the Syrian Baathist regime.


*Elias Bejjani
 Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator
Email phoenicia@hotmail.com
Web sites http://www.10452lccc.com & http://www.clhrf.com

Benny Morris still atoning for past sins

Book Review: Benny Morris, 1948: The first Arab-Israeli War

Morris, Benny
1948: A History of the First Arab Israeli War
Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2008, 524 pages

Benny Morris is one of Israel's foremost historians. What he writes must be read, and is often considered authoritative. His writing is generally lucid and well organized, and is therefore a joy to read. It is certainly convincing. He tells a good story. Anyone interested in the history and historiography of Israel is going to have to read this book, because Morris wrote it, and because it does have a lot of useful information about the Israel war of Independence.

Regrettably, Morris tells a somewhat different good story, and tells it convincingly, every time he writes a book. Having propagated a number of indefensible myths about Israel's 1948 War of Independence in his earliest works, he can now make a career of debunking the myths that he helped to create, and he is, in part, doing so.

The war, it will be remembered, was conducted in two major phases: the civil war under the British and the war with the Arab states after May 15, 1948. As Morris now states clearly, and somewhat or completely contrary to earlier pronouncements:

* Israel had no transfer policy. The leadership of the Yishuv did not contemplate expelling the Arabs of Palestine, and Plan D of the Haganah was not a plan to expel the Arabs.

*Israel did not win the war against the invading Arab countries because of decisive military superiority or numbers.There was no Jewish Juggernaut. Morris's previous method was to cite the supposed 25,000 or 30,000 or 35,000 Haganah (the numbers keep changing) recruits that existed on paper on May 15, 1948 and to compare these with the approximately 22,000 invaders. Now he remembers to tell his readers what should have been obvious. Half of the supposedly vast numbers of Haganah troops were home guards and headquarters and logistic staff. The Arab armies also had such personnel back in their home countries. Haganah had about 16,500 men in 9 combat "brigades." The Arabs, in addition, as Morris notes, had support and air force personnel at home, and thousands of irregulars as well as the ALA ("Arab Liberation Army") of Kaukji in the field. In this book, Morris also "remembered" the 1947 CIA report that predicted that the Jewish Yishuv would lose a war against the Arabs of Palestine. It directly contradicts his earlier "authoritative" pronouncement that most authorities agreed that the Israelis would win. Perhaps in his next book, Morris will also "discover" that a large number of the Haganah "troops" were middle aged men like those sent to guard the old city, who could not fire a gun, or Gadna troops (aged 14-16) like those who helped save Notre Dame de France from the Jordan Legion and its British officers. He might also reveal that many of the Haganah "troops" had little or no training, and some were just off the boat and couldn't speak Hebrew. He tells us about some of these troops and about many failures that were due to shortages of manpower, poor equipment or no equipment and lack of training and strategic vision. Morris tries to "balance" the impact of the facts by noting that though the Arabs had tanks and airplanes, they were lousy tanks and airplanes anyhow, in poor repair. Of course, some bad aircraft and tanks are better than none at all. Overall, his treatment of the military balance is much more factual than it was in his previous presentations, or in those of fiction writers like Ilan Pappe.

But the significance doesn't alwas seem to register in Morris's summaries and conclusions: the Israelis were a bunch of amateurs who had trained underground with almost no arms, facing several organized state armies that had been trained, for better or worse, by Britain. Having a few officers who were World War II veterans is not a substitute for having an army trained as a unit by professionals, an army that could operate in the open and conduct maneuvers together. Having actual airplanes and tanks, however poorly serviced, rather than aircraft and tanks that exist only on paper in Czechoslovakia was a huge advantage. Having a few Spitfires was infinitely preferable to having 4 defective Czech Avia S-199 (Messerschmidt imitation) aircraft that, aside from being located in an airfield in Czechoslovakia when most needed, had a perverse tendency to shoot themselves down (the machine guns would shoot out the propellers) and were un-airworthy because they had the wrong engines (the Heinkel bomber engines were much too heavy). Morris tells us about the arrival of these aircraft, but he doesn't mention their wonderful aerodynamic qualities.

More: Book Review: Benny Morris, 1948: The first Arab-Israeli War

Pakistani rewarded for honor killing: Gets 3 girls as wives, 20 water buffalo

The advantages of Islamic justice....

 

Three minor girls given in marriage to murderer

 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man who killed his second wife for allegedly having an illicit relationship with another received impunity on the pretext of an honour killing by the 'Jirga', the illegal tribal justice system on October 20, 2008. The Jirga has also ordered the other party who allegedly had the relationship with the deceased wife to hand over three girls together with 20 buffaloes as compensation to the husband. Police arrested the killer but soon released him and have respected the decision of the Jirga.

 

CASE DETAILS:

 

According to the information received, Mr. Sher Dil Jatoi, 62 years old, killed his second wife in an honour killing for allegedly having an illicit relationship with a person named Mr. Shahoo Jatoi. The honour killing occurred in August this year. Based on this case, Mr. Mir Hassan Jatoi, one of the chiefs of Jatoi tribe, a powerful tribe in the area held a 'Jirga', a court which has been declared as illegal and unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, at Lucky Ghulam Shah, Shikarpur district, Sindh province on October 20, 2008 in order to make a decision on the murder case.

 

Several elites of the Jatoi tribe who have remained in power in both the military and civilian governments took part in the Jirga. The decision said Sher Dil Jatoi was the victim of honour and innocent in killing his second wife. It further said, "as Shahoo Jatoi developed the illicit relationship with the wife of Sher Dil Jatoi, Sher Dil had the right to murder his wife. Shahoo Jatoi was order to compensate Sher Dil by handing over his three minor daughers". Since Shahoo has only one girl, a 10-year-old daughter, the Jirga decided that the brothers Mr. Miro Jatoi and Mr. Khanan Jatoi should give their daughters of ages between 13 and 11 years to Sher Dil. Besides, it also ordered Shahoo's family to deliver 20 buffaloes, costing more than 100,000 rupees (around USD 1,400) each, as a fine for having the relationship.

 

When this incident took place, the people in the area were resentful and pressured the police to arrest him as he was known as a habitual killer of his wives. Due to the pressure, the police arrested and kept him in the police custody but released him after 15 days as the people's feelings settled down after his arrest. Dr. Ibrahim Jatoi, the chief of the tribe and former minister in the regime of General Zia Ul Haq helped Sher Dil to be released in 2001 when he killed his first wife also on the pretext of an honour killing.

 

Why are most Arab rulers silent on the plight of Iraq's Christians?

The Daily Star in Beirut, should rather ask why the Arab rulers and the West are silent about the plight of Lebanese Christians, Palestinian Christians, Egyptian Christians....

 

Why are most Arab rulers silent on the plight of Iraq's Christians?
By The Daily Star
Monday, October 27, 2008

 

 

 

Iraq's ancient Christian community has seen its security situation take a sudden turn for the worse in recent weeks, especially in and around the northern city of Mosul. Deadly attacks and threats of more to come have driven thousands of people from their homes, and although the sources and motivations of the aggression remain unclear, there is no denying either the inherent injustice of innocent people being targeted solely on the basis of their faith or the awful implications for the troubled country's future.

 

There is another disturbing element to the latest round of ethnic cleansing to take place in Iraq since its government was overthrown by the US-led invasion in 2003: The loudest Arab voices trying to call attention to the crisis are here in tiny Lebanon, where Christian religious and political leaders have been joined by their Muslim counterparts, both Sunni and Shiite, in condemning the attacks and demanding action to stop them. That speaks well (for once) of this country's frequently divided elites, but it says something far less flattering about most of the Arab world.

 

It will be recalled that during the run-up to the illegal invasion that led to years of bloodletting in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Western capitals and other cities to voice their rejection of the entire project. Most of them were Christians, and there they were standing up for the rights and interests of mostly Muslim Iraqis whose fates were about to be tossed into the maelstrom of war.

 

Iraq's Christian community, which long predates the arrival of Islam, has always constituted a key pillar of the country's social fabric. Yet today, with its position in rapid decline, most Arab rulers seem not to care - and therefore not to recognize the damning implications for their own fitness to lead. It is not just violence that stalks Iraq's Christians: The recently promulgated election law also does away with guarantees designed to ensure their full representation in Parliament. Combined, these two factors threaten to virtually eliminate a community that has already seen its numbers drop sharply since 2003.

 

It is not often that Lebanon can realistically be credited with leading the way on a regional issue of global import. Usually this country's leading clerics and politicians are too wrapped up in internecine squabbles to comment intelligently (if at all) on outside developments. This time, however, they got it right. The question is whether this will be enough to shame their opposite numbers in other Arab countries into getting their heads of the sand and condemning the tragedy now unfolding.