Political | Cultural Glimpse

February 7, 2014

Saudi Arabia, our Ally – Oh, the Irony!

I wrote in my recent book that terrorism in Iraq did not exist until 2003, when the borders were left unprotected by the US military, allowing major terrorist groups from all around the world to come and set camp in Iraq, then to recruit through force and with bribes. During the start of the war, Arabic news channels who reported incidences of terrorism in Iraq identified the terrorists as Moroccan, Yemeni, Egyptian, etc.

I wrote that terrorism was bred in Iraq after 2003, which explains why none of the 9/11 hijackers were of Iraqi origin, nor had there been any major terrorists in history who carried the Iraqi nationality, except for the Dawa Party, which was led by Iranian extremists and which Saddam tried to annihilate in the 1980s and which the United States in 2003 welcomed into power with open arms.

So I’m not surprised that Dr. Kamal Al-Saedi, president of the International Organization for the Defense of Human Rights, is spreading this message: the United Nations should list Saudi Arabia as a terrorist country because all the bombings that have took place in the United States, London, Spain, Russia or any other countries have been caused by Saudi terrorists and people that have relationships with the Saudi Arabian King – for example, Osama Bin Laden.

I’m just surprised that this concept has not yet taken form, despite all the evidence supporting it, and that Iraq, the country that paid the price for another country’s terrorism is still paying that price, without anyone having corrected it. Oh, the irony!

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September 21, 2013

What a Pro-Saddamist once said to me

Maaloula, an ancient Syrian village with Christian inhabitants was attacked by rebels today. These rebels shot and killed people, and forced residents to convert to Islam.

Yesterday my cousin told me that he was nearly killed in a Baghdad bombing where 8 men died and 20 were injured.

“Since Saddam’s fall, you tell me where in the Middle East and Arab world has there been peace?” a famous local radio announce once asked me.

I did not have an answer for this man, who is known to be pro-Saddam and was once investigated just because, he said, “I did not have a dislike for Saddam.”

“I mean, isn’t this why we went into Iraq to begin with?” he continued. “So the world would be a more peaceful place?”

I still had no answer for this man. But these questions blink in my head each time I watch the Arab news channels and see violence tread the streets of the Middle East and Arab world, like a loose madman in search of blood.

If only men would stop trying to be heroes through war, and emulate Gandhi’s type of heroism.

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August 13, 2013

Is Islam a Religion of Peace?

I went to cover a story at Eastern University entitled “Is Islam a Religion of Peace?” One of the main speakers was a Muslim who flew to Michigan from Turkey. I guess this is a debate that has been going around for a while, and all over the world.

The speakers each had very valid points to think the way they did. But one of the Christian speakers mentioned that the fear we had of Muslims was not an exaggerated one, that we were not fighting an ideology but Islam itself. He was concerned that if we didn’t put a stop to “it” we could be under real threat. He used Hitler as an example.

“Look what he did to the Jews,” he said. “He wanted to wipe them all out.”

True. But wasn’t Hitler a Christian? As was the American Presidents who bombed, sanctioned, and again bombed Iraq until Christians had to flee their land and live in Diaspora? There are a load of other examples of how violence was second-nature to some Christian men throughout history and even recently. But that definitely does not mean that all Christians are a violent group of people. Quite the contrary!

Regardless of what the speakers said, it was wonderful to see them respectfully engage in a dialogue and afterwards, hug each other. They proved that communication, not violence, is the real way to peace!

July 16, 2013

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

Protesters in some of America’s largest cities continued demonstrating their anger Sunday night at the acquittal of George Zimmerman. But here’s the thing – it is required that the jurors only hand a guilty verdict if the prosecutors showed evidence that proved beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was committed.

The evidence in the Zimmerman case did not prove that. That does not mean he did not act in haste and could have prevented the death of a young man (especially had he not been carrying a gun). But at the same time, everyday we watch television programs showing that if one man or woman in jail were to behave a little out of control, they are considered a threat and a team of 5 or more police officers approach them. These officers are decked from head to toe with armor and use strict methods to sedate one unarmed person.

It would be more worth the protestors’ time to focus on a crime which does show evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, such as the case of Robert Leone. Leone was stopped by Pennsylvania State Police after a low-speed chase for a traffic violation that apparently he did not commit. While Robert was attained he was nearly killed by the police. He suffered through 11 hours of multiple beatings. He was hog-tied and tasered at least 10 times. He was also chemically maced. He spent more than 2 ½ years in jail. Robert was charged with felony assault on a police officer because the officer broke his hand when he punched Robert in the head with his fist while he was being detained.

The dash cam video of the assault went viral and you can hear the state trooper saying, “Do you know who you’re messing with? This is the Pennsylvania State Police!”

Robert is heard screaming in pain and anguish. The trooper verbally abuses him and then angrily accuses him of spitting on him. Robert, who has been compliant and submissive, cries, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t spit on you, sir.” But the trooper thinks otherwise so Robert continues to be beaten.

When the ambulance came to take Robert to the hospital, the trooper with the broken hand took the ride instead and left Robert hog-tied in the back of the police car. Robert was carried into the hospital, where he begged the nurse, in a whisper, to save him from the cops’ brutality. One of the cops overheard him snitching on them, and he and his buddies returned into the room, kicked everyone out, and continued to beat and taser Robert, which was all caught on video. Neither in the video of the assault nor in the hospital reports was there any evidence that Robert did not cooperate.

The cops eventually lost their jobs, and someone in a post thread wondered why they were not prosecuted, but was glad that at least they didn’t get a promotion. Of course, no protests were held for this obvious crime which had mounds of evidence for a guilty verdict.

You can watch the video of the graphic beating in this website: http://www.theluzernecountyrailroad.com/police-brutality.php

July 11, 2013

Five year old arrested in Israel

I was eating dinner when a story on Al Arabia channel caught my attention. An Israeli soldier decided to arrest a five year old for throwing rocks. The little boy was sobbing and frightened as he tried to pull away from the soldier who forced him away from his playmates and into a military vehicle. It didn’t matter that the camera was rolling. The arrest had to be made.

I instantly remembered a youtube video I watched not long ago. An Israeli woman wrote a letter to Obama, pleading for him to take away the pains in her stomach that were caused by the injustices done towards the Palestinians. She was a mother, and so her heart went out to all of life, given she was a bearer of life. I wondered if she’d heard about the arrest of this five year old, and if so, how much pain that caused her stomach. I wondered if this little boy would be from this point on too frightened to stand up for anything (otherwise, oppressed) or if he would turn out to want revenge (otherwise, a terrorist).

And we wonder how tyrants and terrorists are made. I mean, imagine how different things would turn out if that soldier went and bought the little boy an ice cream and explained to him that he was not there to harm him or his family, but to protect his own people, that throwing rocks was not going to change anything to the better. Or are my ideas too uncivilized for that type of solution? Or is it that difficult to maneuver a 5 year old to behave differently?

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May 11, 2013

No-Touch Torture

I attended a presentation today pertaining to a landmark lawsuit case against CACI, a private U.S. contractor which systematically tortured Iraqis in Abu Ghraib. The lawsuit was filed by four Iraqis who say they suffered abusive and degrading treatment at the Abu Ghraib prison. The men were all released – one after four years – without ever being charged. These men were professionals, like a math teacher, a live stock trader, a construction worker and a journalist.

The military was largely protected from the suit, but not so with CACI. Earlier in the year, a $5-million settlement involving 71 detainees were reported. In March, Arlington-based CACI wanted a federal judge to toss out the case because they said CACI employees never even came in contact with the plaintiffs, much less abused them. The judge didn’t buy that, so someone – no one knows who – came up with a brilliant idea. Stop the Iraqi men suing CACI from coming to the United States.

Three of the four men (one is already in the United States) had their boarding passes on hand when they were pulled out of the line boarding the plane. Their passports were taken away from them and they have not been able to travel to the U.S. since. Whether or not they will be able to attend the trial determined to be in June is still to be seen. CACI has argued against a video deposition and request that their cases be dismissed because of their inability to come.

There are over 3,000 additional photos of the Abu Ghraib torture which Congress will not release because they are so graphic and for fear of what will happen to US soldiers overseas. Some of these photos include a father and son lying naked on top of each other and various rapes of detainees, including young boys.

The point is this – the selfish, careless and heartless decisions of our leaders will continue to haunt us for decades to come, whether we like it or not. It’s not as evident in American television. Just subscribe to Al Jazeera and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

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April 20, 2013

9/11 Recurs Every 3 1/2 Months

Early Thursday morning, April 11, gun violence survivors and families of victims finished reading the names of all the people who have been killed by guns since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting less than four months prior. The list of over 3300 people took 12 hours to read.

The total number of people who died in the 9/11 attacks was 2977. With the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government responded within a blink of an eye. They made plans for the War on Terrorism, thus began the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Many lives were lost and destroyed. However, if you were to ask any government official who gave their consent to the wars, they’d likely say, “We think the price was worth it” – the exact answer that their colleague Madeline Albright had given decades ago when she was asked if the death of 500,000 Iraqi children due to the UN imposed sanctions on Iraq was worth it.

Over 1,057,000 have been killed in the United States by gun violence since John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980. That’s 1,054,000 more people than those who died in 9/11, and that’s only counting the last 22 years. Yet a few days ago, something as simple as President Obama’s background check reform plan failed to win enough votes by the senate.

My question is this: are not your average everyday victims of gun violence, who outnumber the victims of 9/11 by more than a million, worthy of consideration when making the slightest changes regarding the very thing that took their lives? And, why is it always so much easier to pass laws that destroy people (war) rather than laws that help save people (health and gun reform)?

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March 23, 2013

Coffee vs. Guns

In 1992, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck bought a cup of takeout coffee at a McDonald’s drive-thru in Albuquerque and spilled it on her lap. She sued McDonald’s and two years later, a jury awarded her nearly $3 million in punitive damages for the burns she suffered.

One of the jurors said over the course of the trial he came to realize the case was about “callous disregard for the safety of the people.”Another juror said “the facts were so overwhelmingly against the company.”

Since the lawsuit, McDonald’s – and most other places – no longer serve coffee very hot.

In September 2012, the school system in Cranston, R.I., announced it is banning traditional father-daughter and mother-son activities, saying they are a violation of the state’s gender discrimination law. It decision was in response to a complaint from the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) on behalf of a single mother who said her daughter was not able to attend a father-daughter-dance.

The Brady Campaign to prevent gun violence reports that an average of 268 people are shot every day in America. That’s 97,820 per year. Yet despite decades of efforts, no one can make the NRA budge a little to help protect Americans let alone sue it the way the coffee drinker did with McDonald’s.

I guess third degree burns on one’s inner thighs and a single woman’s anger over her daughter not going to the daddy-daughter dance are worthy of more instantaneous legal response.

March 20, 2013

10 Year Anniversary of Iraq War is Hush-Hush

I may not have known about the 10th year anniversary of the start of the U.S. war in Iraq if not for BBC (Arabic) last night. A news program shed light on the subject by interviewing a family whose daughter got badly hurt as a result of the war. The girl had the same name as that of my daughter, and she was the same age. Six years ago, some violent act – I believe an explosion – took her mother’s life and left her blind and her face completely disfigured.

The war took the lives of 4,488 U.S. service members and left more than 32,000 wounded. As many as 1.2 million Iraqi people have died because of the conflict. That exceeds that of the Rwandan genocide in which 800,000 died. Yet today, probably due to these facts, Washington and Baghdad have been pretty hush-hush about it and no official commemorations were at work.

I wonder, will the media be able to eventually wipe this war off of peoples’ memory, the way in which they were able to convince them that it was justifiable?

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January 24, 2013

Abu Ghraib

From early in the day, my son cried for ice cream. I think he saw it in one of the children’s programs. He went on and on about it until we finally left the house, picked up my daughter from school and drove to the video store to pick out documentaries that sort of resemble the one I’m currently working on. There, he picked an ice cream sandwich. I asked my daughter if she wanted to share it with him and she said no. Once we were out, she cried that she had wanted a Push-Up and I said, “Why didn’t you say so?”

“You know I don’t like chocolate,” she said, adding, “You don’t know me, mom. If you did, you’d know what flavors I like and what are my favorite colors.”

Back at home, right after dinner, I watched “The Invisible War”. According to this documentary, a female soldier in combat zones is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. The Department of Defense estimates there were a staggering 19,000 violent sex crimes in the military in 2010.

Yesterday I watched the “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib” where the soldiers involved in the torture and picture-taking told their sides of the story. What was disturbing was that the women involved in the scandal were less remorseful than the men. One said she’d taken the pictures with that big fat smile on her face and a thumbs up, next to a tortured corpse, because, ‘you know, that’s what people do in front of cameras – smile.’ The other said it was uncomfortable doing what she did, but she did it anyway – you know, like going to the dentist but you’re uncomfortable to go.

The moral of this story? Just because one works in the government does not automatically equate to him or her being a hero. Sometimes it just means one is a sheep. There is a good thing to being sheep, however, which is that no matter what crimes you commit, you will not get punished. Actually, you may even be promoted, as was the case with the General Miller, who was sent to Iraq by the Department of Defense to help get more information out of Iraqi prisoners. In 2006, he received the Distinguished Service Medal at the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes.

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Category: Political