[Asharq al-Aswat] An official from the Somali opposition Hizbul Islam [Islamic Party] held a press conference a few days ago specifically to announce new orders issued by the party granting 30 days for Somali men to grow beards and trim their moustaches otherwise they will face harsh punishments by the armed party. Sheikh Hashi Mohammed Farah, Hizbul Islam's governor of the Somali capital, said in the press conference, "We will not allow the growing of beards and moustaches together, and we will not allow the shaving of both; they [men] must grow the beard and trim the moustache."
These orders are not the first of their kind to be issued by this party or other Islamist militias that divide Somalia into areas of influence and areas of war and conflict. In the past, the Hizbul Islam and Al Shabaab movements issued orders for men to shorten the length of their trousers, women to wear the Hijab [Islamic veil] and radio stations to stop broadcasting music in addition to banning people from watching the matches of the World Cup tournament that is currently taking place in South Africa on the bases that it is a waste of time. Furthermore, earlier this year, the Al Shabaab movement announced that it banned the operations of the [UN] World Food Program from taking place in Somalia on the pretext that it uses food aid for political purposes.
This is happening in a country where over 40 percent of the population relies on foreign food aid and where 20 percent of the children suffer from malnutrition. The UN says that Somalia is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in around 18 years. The UNHCR says that it is a country where there are over 1.4 million internally displaced people because of the war and that the number of registered refugees outside of the country stands at over 600,000 in addition to the thousands who fled to countries around the world but are not registered as refugees on the UN's records. As for the death toll, the most conventional reports estimate that the number stands at 300,000 since 1991 as the country has known nothing but wars and conflicts since then.
In light of this tragedy the militias are battling over influence and are completely indifferent to dividing the country and the suffering of its people and no one is even rushing to claim that these movements are fighting for the sake of an Islamic project. The clearest evidence that this is a case of a battle over authority and influence -- which feeds on a complex tribal structure and the lack of any real central authority -- is that the Islamist movement and militias are fighting and battling among themselves and not because of religious differences but rather in order to get their hands on power. In fact they are now fighting against a president who emerged from the womb of these movements themselves.
In many respects, the current situation in Somalia resembles Afghanistan before the Taliban seized power and if any extremist Islamist movement were to impose its authority on the country it would establish an "emirate" like the "Taliban emirate" which opens the door wide to the Al Qaeda organization. There are reports that some of its leaders moved from Yemen to Somalia and that some of its cadres are actually fighting there. US jets launched raids and operations targeting what were said to be Al Qaeda elements especially as some of the perpetrators of the two 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Nairobi fled to Somalia at the time.
Somalia has become an example of "the failed state" in which the central authority and the institutions have no influence. People live in harsh conditions and are deprived of the most basic services and basic necessities. In a state where many people no longer know the meaning of the law, it was not strange to see that there is a generation of pirates who made the coasts opposite Somalia the most dangerous international waters despite that there are warships that travel in the region to secure navigation. In light of the collapse of the situation, Ethiopia and Eritrea entered a war by proxy on the Somali coast after their direct war ended and conflict and tension between them continued.
Though the Arabs stood powerless or watching the situation in a country that is a member of the Arab League and left the matter down to the African Union, which was better as it sent peacekeeping forces to fight despondency in support of the government in Mogadishu, Israel did not fail to notice the repercussions of the Somali situation on numerous regional issues. As a result, an Israeli official stated in February that his country is willing establish ties with "the Republic of Somaliland" in the north of the country, which declared its secession [from Somalia] in 1991. The Israeli official was cited as saying that his country wanted bilateral ties with this Muslim country "that overlooks the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and the Bab El Mandab Strait," indicating that Israel currently has ties with African states in the region such as Tanzania, Uganda and Djibouti.
The Somali crisis could further deteriorate and the repercussions will not stop at the borders of this troubled country just as we saw in the scenes of piracy that threatened and are threatening navigation in this vital region. The same applies if Al Qaeda transfers its operations to Somalia and if movements that do not think about providing food or security and services to a suffering nation but only think about growing beards and trimming moustaches seize power.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I'll grow or not grow whatever I want, Your impotent god does NOT rule MY life.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/25/2010 13:47 Comments ||
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#2
I see a curse on many moustaches in the near future...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/25/2010 23:52 Comments ||
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At dawn, June 25th, 1950, North Korea under the dictatorship of Kim Il-sung began an unbroken string of provocations against South Korea starting with the invasion of South Korea in a surprise attack.
The following video is the second of a series named "Summer Storm" chronicles the first few weeks of war in Korea, including footage from that terrible summer. These videos are kept by the US Army's Korean War Media Center.
and if you want to trudge through the intro, Part 1
A partial List of Websites observing the Korean War Anniversary
None of the website listed have been vetted, so proceed with caution. If you find a screwy website, please report it here. If you can add a site, please report it here as well.
The sudden and unprecedented departure of Peter Orszag, the day prior to the US Budget's formalization (which incidentally never happened as now the US will likely not have a 2010 budget at all, for fear of disclosing to most Americans just how broke the country is ahead of mid-terms) was due to Orszag's disagreement with the administration's, and particularly Larry Summer's, inability to fathom that reckless spending is a recipe for bankruptcy.
As the FT reports: "Peter Orszag, Barack Obama's budget director, resigned this week partly in frustration over his lack of success in persuading the Obama administration to tackle the fiscal deficit more aggressively, according to sources inside and outside the White House."
And so, as any remaining voices of reason realize they are dealing with a group of deranged Keynesians, soon there will be nobody left in the administration who dares to oppose the destructive course upon which this country has so resolutely embarked, which ends in one of two ways: debt repudiation, or war. And with the only remaining economic "advisers" being the trio of Summers, Romer and Geithner, you know America will somehow hit both of these mutually exclusive targets.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/25/2010 16:58 Comments ||
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#3
Unfortunately, Keynesians are self-delusional to the point of destroying our economy. It is about to the point of the movie "Erik the Viking", where different people had such radically different world views that they lived in different realities, oblivious to the realities of others.
Once it all falls apart though, we know what their 'Plan B' will be. Blame Bush.
#4
In defense of Keynes, he advocated deficit spending to stimulate an economy. However, he also believed that sound monetary policy includes managing interest rates, money supply, credit and unemployment.
The stimulus package broke all the rules, the money did not free up credit, it did not curb unemployment and there was not, so far, an uptick in inflation (that anyone will admit to, you can see it in the grocery prices). The stimulus was not a stimulus, it was a gigantic bailout of the wall street guys who gave millions to Obama's campaign. It was a political IOU being paid.
There was never any intention of loosening up credit or creating jobs. Creating jobs takes away membership in the captive constituency that is unemployment.
Posted by: James Carville ||
06/25/2010 19:24 Comments ||
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#5
The Porkulus bill was worse than Wall Street bailout, it was a Big Gov money grab. Money taken by the govt. and spent on the govt. The US volkes got zippo. The Dems don't give a rip. They'll destroy this economy, and when the excrement hits the fan 4 years down the line whilst the Repubs are in charge, guess who gets the blame? And when the Dems are finally back in power (and they will be) they'll go right back at it.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/25/2010 19:39 Comments ||
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over Mr Obamas 2008 election pledge not to raise taxes on any households earning less than $250,000 a year
I think what people need to understand is that some 50% or so of the people making under $250K are not taxed AT ALL currently.
Some 43% overall don't pay taxes at all so I would imagine that amounts to at least 50% of the population under $250K.
It is easy to get tax increases passed when 43% of the electorate isn't paying any. They will always vote for more tax increases if it isn't them paying the taxes. Then you only need to get 7% of the remaining population and that is easy enough to do. Any population probably has at least 7% idiots.
#7
Rex, that presupposes a liner progression of events. I think that the upcoming junction of the rotating blades and organic fertilizer would have rather unpredicted consequences that your proposed scenario does not include.
H/T Instapundit
...We're at the tail end of the largest economic intervention since World War II, and even on its own narrow, nebulous terms, it has been a colossal failure. The failure is obvious to working people. It's obvious to unemployed people. It's obvious to kindergarteners, to dogs and cats. Only Paul Krugman persists in thinking good things will happen if we just throw more money on the barbecue.
#2
Prof. Krugman is an expert on the finance of international trade, and did ground-breaking work in that area of economics. His work is correctly celebrated for its usefulness.
He then made the mistake that many of us academics make: thinking that because he was an expert in one area, he had lots of things to say about areas he hadn't studied in depth.
We academics are suckers for that.
Fortunately for me and unfortunately for him, he got a gig at the NYT, and I didn't. This way I don't embarrass myself as publicly as he does.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/25/2010 13:09 Comments ||
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The failure is obvious to working people. It's obvious to unemployed people. It's obvious to kindergarteners, to dogs and cats.
This is one of those cases where economic reality is so blindingly clear that economists become redundant.
We had an economy built on hundreds of millions of people here and in Europe buying stuff they didn't need with money they didn't have.
Result: debts that cannot be paid by this generation with the curernt standard of household and government spending.
Solution: reduce the current level of household and government spending so that the debts can be repaid.
Alternative: rolling bankruptcies across nations, states, localities; civil unrest; a collapse of credit and lending generally.
IOW, TINA. The only option is for the global economy to re-set at a lower level of consumer and government spending. That is what is happening now, and must continue to happen. As the man says, ordinary folks can understand this blindingly obvious dynamic.
#4
Another prob for Dr. Krugman is that, unlike the vast majority of economists, he combines strong views with an unfailingly sarcastic and snide manner. Which is charming when it's directed at your foes (eg Chimpy BusHitler), but extremely annoying when directed at one's friends, eg European politicians.
Maybe now the Euros will start to see why we non-Koolaid drinkers in the US have been so resistant to The One's charms and his worshippers' arguments.
#6
Krugman reminds me of a few conservatives (like Neal Covuto) who said all was well, all was well, when Bush took office and things were looking grim to everyone. There is a point where public perceptions create the reality. If everyone thinks we're screwed we are. If you can convince enough all is well things might not get so bad. I believe Covuto was trying to convince people hoping to avoid the worst (I could be wrong of course, I'm not a mind reader) and perhaps Krugman is doing the same.
The Jones Act is a vestige of the post-World War I years, when the vulnerability of U.S. shipping to German U-boats was still fresh in the public's mind. To maintain a "dependable" merchant fleet for the next "national emergency," Congress restricted coastal shipping between U.S. ports to U.S.-built vessels owned by U.S. citizens; related laws require U.S. crews. The Jones Act may or may not have achieved its original purpose, but shipping businesses and labor unions love the way it shields them from foreign competition. Ah, the old Law of Unintended Consequences.
Today the Jones Act stands accused of hindering the gulf oil spill cleanup. Republicans say that President Obama should have used his emergency power to waive the law - as President George W. Bush did after Hurricane Katrina - but hesitated to do so in deference to organized labor. The Obama administration denies it. "There has not been any problem with this," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said last week.
Who's right? The administration's critics the WaPo sez exaggerate the Jones Act's impact on the cleanup. It applies within only a three-mile band of coastal water. Even if President Obama had immediately waived the law, it wouldn't have affected the skimming and scooping of most of the oil, which is floating dozens of miles offshore. The inapplicability of the Jones Act to the spill area helps explain why 15 foreign-flagged vessels have indeed been cleared to operate in the Gulf of Mexico. So then why were the Dutch cleaner-uppers banned?
That doesn't mean that the Jones Act is harmless. To the contrary, like other protectionist laws, it increases the price of goods and services to American consumers - though how much is a matter of debate, because foreign vessels would still have to comply with other laws and regulations that add to their costs. The Jones Act was an issue in the May 22 House special election in Hawaii: Republican Charles Djou and one of his two Democratic opponents charged that it benefited a handful of ship lines and unions at the expense of ordinary Hawaiians. Mr. Djou is preparing a bill to exempt Hawaii.
If FedEx can move cargo across the country in European-made Airbuses, why can't a boat built in, say, Canada, ship wheat from Los Angeles to Honolulu? The Jones Act lobby crushed the last attempt at reform back in the 1990s. May the next one meet with more success.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/25/2010 12:55 ||
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So then why were the Dutch cleaner-uppers banned?
I reckon because they might have been effective at diffusing the problem. With a crisis averted and no major portion of our economy taken over by the Feds, the crisis would have been wasted.
And we can't have that, now can we?
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
06/25/2010 15:05 Comments ||
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#2
According to Victor Davis Hanson Bush suspended the Jones act during the Katrina hurricane. I'm not supporting the law (don't know the details) but a President can't and shouldn't hide behind that sort of thing.
#1
Robert Gibbs to MSM: "Here's a short list of things you are to say about our dear leader. Be sure to use the words 'decisive,' 'brilliant,' 'focused,' 'genius,' or any other similar superlatives. You will get the idea--right!"
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is likely to receive a red carpet reception from President Barack Obama at the White House combined with a reaffirmation about the "unshakeable US-Israel alliance." However we should not delude ourselves. It is clear that Obama's recent charm campaign was primarily in response to pressure from the American people and in particular from Jewish Democratic supporters shocked into action by the administration's increasingly negative approach toward Israel and the crass reception accorded to Netanyahu during his last visit.
The bonhomie was intended to assuage domestic anger to avert loss of votes and funding for the forthcoming congressional elections. Even though administration officials, including Rahm Emanuel, conceded that they "had screwed up the messaging" and are unlikely to repeat their previous boorish humiliation of Israel, there are no signs that the US administration is about to modify its policy.
TWO RECENT events reaffirm this. The greatest disappointment was the US betrayal at the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference. Obama reneged on his promise to maintain the policy of former US administrations and continue to veto repeated Arab efforts to isolate Israel at these conferences. He endorsed a resolution which omitted any mention of Iran but specifically targeted Israel, demanding that it sign the NPT and submit to inspections of its facilities. While Obama subsequently disingenuously shed crocodile tears expressing disappointment that Israel had been singled out, his willingness to sacrifice the Jewish state on such a crucial security issue heightened concerns that the US is no longer a reliable ally.
In the aftermath of the vehement international condemnation following the Gaza flotilla interception, Obama made little effort to curb the anti-Israel hysteria.
Instead, he pressured Israel to co-opt international observers to its inquiry and failed to condemn the proposed United Nations Human Rights Council demand for an international inquiry which would unquestionably be a replay of the outrageous Goldstone Report. In this context, Vice President Joseph Biden's positive declaration endorsing Israel's right to blockade ships to prevent the smuggling of arms to Gaza sounded somewhat like a good cop, bad cop routine.
The perception of the US failing to support long-standing allies was highlighted by its tepid response to the unprovoked sinking of the South Korean naval corvette by a North Korean submarine. To Israelis, this conveyed a chilling interpretation of Obama's concept of an alliance.
His inability to retain the support of traditional US allies was also exemplified when Turkey and Brazil displayed their contempt by undermining the minimal Iran sanctions the US was finally able to impose with grudging approval from Russia and China.
US appeasement and renewal of diplomatic relations with Syria, Iran's surrogate state, only encouraged Damascus to strengthen its relations with Teheran, supply Hizbullah with Scuds and intensify its aggressive posturing.
ON A broader level, Obama has reiterated that the US could neither afford nor desired to remain the policeman of the world, preferring to delegate and conduct global affairs in conjunction with other countries and international organizations. To abdicate leadership of the free world during these perilous times is a bad omen, especially if it implies delegating more influence to Europe, Russia or worse to the dysfunctional UN, dominated by Islamic countries.
Hamas still holds a young Israeli soldier hostage. We commemorate his fourth year in captivity
NEW YORK (JTA) -- A flotilla carrying humanitarian aid for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit set sail in New York on the eve of the fourth anniversary of his capture.
Meanwhile, the Colosseum and at least two other landmarks in Italy will go dark to draw attention to Shalit's plight.
The "True Freedom Flotilla" invoked the name of the epithet of the fleet that sailed for the Gaza Strip on May 30 to "point out the exact hypocrisy of the terminology that they used," said Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which organized Thursday's event. "This is what the real flotilla is about."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
As some of the underlying causes of the violence in Kyrgyzstan come to light, so does the realization that they will not be easy to fix.
