In commercial markets when the supply exceeds demand by a large amount, a situation exists when the buyers are so empowered that they dictate their terms on the sellers. This situation is called a buyers’ market. And in reverse, when demand exceeds supply it is called a sellers’ market. Iraq now is like a goldmine […]
There was a news article in the media on March 12, 2008 about a memorandum submitted to the United Nations office in Cairo calling for forming a transition government and supervision over the elections in Iraq. The coordinators of the memorandum are three veteran Iraqi politicians, they promised to organize a wide campaign for collecting […]
On Feb 13, 2008 the Iraq parliament passed three crucial legislations: the 2008 budget, provincial representation and general amnesty laws. The Arabic news media also included mention of an agreement to run population census before the end of 2008, curiously none of the major US media had this mention. Since the running of a census […]
In an indirect reference to the fable of Faust, Alan Greenspan says in his new book about the US Republicans and their recent election loss in Congress, they “swapped principle for power” and “ended up with neither” so “They deserved to lose.” Here is a moral angle on four turning points since the invasion of […]
An article titled To The Incoming President: On Iraq by Flynt Leverett appeared on The American Prospect on May 20, 2007. It starts by blasting George W. Bush who recklessly repudiated the Roosevelt bargain (an agreement between Roosevelt and King Saud in 1946 which shaped the US policy in the Middle East for nearly 60 […]
The images of hooded policemen in Iraq are plenty, which is strange enough but what is stranger is the tolerance of the media to this phenomenon; it has become normal, acceptable and understandable to excuse the same policemen for hiding their faces while on duty: why of course because they want to avoid retaliation.. Yet […]
Back in the 1950’s a relative of mine who worked for the Iraqi foreign ministry chose a destination for his next assignment at the Iraqi Embassy in Kabul, I asked him why did he chose Afghanistan when he could have chosen more fun destinations like in Europe? He said because Afghanistan has a society and […]
There is a lot of talk about bringing back a benign dictator to rule Iraq, to bring back a measure of stability and security at the expense of democracy. There is more than talk about dictatorship in Iraq; many militia leaders, insurgents and even some American servicemen who truly believe that they will only stabilize […]
My Iraqi friend was comparing the situation during the rule of Saddam to nowadays; he was saying there are positive signs now and went on to explain. He described an interview between an unknown journalist and a government minister in which the journalist had the guts to ask tough questions with impunity. He compared this […]
A man in Baghdad calls the Ministry of Interior’s hot line, he says in panic: Hello, there are men from Al-Badr Brigade (militia) in our neighborhood, they are killing people, please come and help us. The man from the ministry answers: How do you know they are from Al-Badr? was it written on their foreheads? […]
