Israel & Arabs agree on Iran

I know that many Arabs don't want to see the US bomb Iran, but many obviously do. Mubarak, Jordan's King Abdullah, Saudi King Abdullah, and Israel's conservative government would like to see America bomb Iran.

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Sistani not an Iranian lackey

'Two cables from late 2009 described the limits of Iranian sway over its neighbor, with one saying that its "greatest political roadblock" for Iran was differences between Iranian religious leaders and Iraq's pre-eminent Shiite spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. In the March 2010 parliamentary polls, al-Sistani's call for an open-list ballot - allowing voters to select individual candidates - won out over Tehran's preference for a closed list, which would have favored established parties, the cable said.'

Iraqi govt more willing to stop malign Iranian influence

From a cable dated 24 April 2009: "Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - Quds Force (IRGC-QF) officers are active in Iraq, conducting traditional espionage and supporting violent extremists as well as supporting both legitimate and malign Iranian economic and cultural outreach. Iraqis and their government have demonstrated increasing willingness to push back against malign Iranian influence in the last year. Working with the Iraqis, we have succeeded in stopping some IRGC-QF activity through military operations and diplomatic engagement, while we prevented some IRGC-QF officers from entering Iraq through explicit warnings that we would target them unilaterally. However, under the Security Agreement effective January 1, all operations in Iraq must be conducted in conjunction with Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and our previous unilateral warnings carry less weight. As Coalition Forces continue the period of responsible drawdown, we will rely increasingly on the GOI to keep the pressure on the IRGC-QF. We intend to support the GOI in these efforts through continued diplomatic engagement, intelligence sharing, and our security partnership of Coalition Forces working by, with, and through the ISF."

Violence against women in Iraq

I've known about the violence against women in Iraq, but I did not realize so much of it is concentrated in Kurdistan. I always perceived the Kurds to be more progressive than the rest of Iraq because they've had an autonomous government supported by the US since 1992. But this year I've read a few articles about honor killings in Kurdistan, and after reading recent comments by Mister Ghost, I've read a few articles about FGM in Kurdistan. Thank you MG for discussing honor killings and FGM in Kurdistan.

In 2009, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) reported about FGM in Kurdistan for the first time. UNICEF/Arbil followed. Shortly before, WADI had published the first findings from a comprehensive study by the association, indicating that FGM is prevalent in almost all parts of Iraqi Kurdistan. This study, published in 2010, also shows that FGM is equally widespread in towns and in the countryside. Human Rights Watch is expected to publish their own survey soon, confirming the results found by WADI.

Today, female genital mutilation in Kurdistan is internationally recognized beyond dispute. All future reports about FGM worldwide will also have to include Kurdistan. Maps of the FGM-affected regions are currently being revised. Those who still call FGM an “African problem” are corrected by other, better-informed. This recognition has become possible thanks to the campaign.

Read more: Stop FGM in Kurdistan. It's good to see that UNICEF has been part of the effort to stop FGM in Kurdistan. In March I asked "Why aren't more countries in the middle east (especially the oil rich nations) contributing to UNICEF?"

I'm glad that Kurdistan's government is allowing open discussion of these issues and is attempting to combat gender-based violence against women.

As Kurdistan is fast progressing, becoming democratized and westernized, it faces serious difficulties with its conservative culture that has subjected women to painful and deadly rituals including honor killing. Barham Salih, prime minister of Kurdistan, promised on Thursday to put the issue of women first in his government’s policies and eliminate violence against women, who constitute more than half of the Kurdish society.

Perhaps these changes in Kurdistan have been made possible by American influence. If so, I hope the positive influence continues, and not just in Kurdistan. With American help and encouragement, Iraq can become a better country.

Arabs want US to attack Iran

"Whistle-blowing website Wikileaks begun releasing extracts from secret messages sent by US embassies which give an insight into current global concerns.

They include reports of some Arab leaders - including Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah - urging the US to attack Iran and end its nuclear weapons programme."

Saudis still biggest financiers of Al Qaeda

'Saudi donors remain the chief financiers of Sunni militant groups like Al Qaeda, and the tiny Persian Gulf state of Qatar, a generous host to the American military for years, was the “worst in the region” in counterterrorism efforts, according to a State Department cable last December. Qatar’s security service was “hesitant to act against known terrorists out of concern for appearing to be aligned with the U.S. and provoking reprisals,” the cable said.'

UAE to build new museums

This is good for the UAE. Hopefully it will be good for the region. Thanks Sousan for posting on fb.

"In 2005 Sheikh Zayed’s son and heir, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, approached Thomas Krens, who was the director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York, with the idea of creating a new branch of the Guggenheim Museum — a Middle Eastern version of what Mr. Krens and Mr. Gehry had accomplished a decade earlier in Bilbao, Spain. But the sheik’s ambitions were never so small: within a few years the proposed site of the project, Saadiyat Island, a 10-square-mile development zone just north of Abu Dhabi’s urban center, was being planned as a miniature city built around culture and leisure, with some of the most recognizable names from the creative world.

Abu Dhabi’s blockbuster deal with the Louvre was signed in 2007; another deal, with the British Museum, to design exhibitions for Foster & Partners’ Zayed National Museum, was signed two years later. The maritime museum by Mr. Ando and a performing arts center by Zaha Hadid are still being planned. These cultural megaprojects will be joined by a campus of New York University on Saadiyat Island’s southern shore and, in a location to be determined, a four-million-square-foot development for media companies and film studios meant partly to provide job training and opportunities for young Emiratis.

Sheik Khalifa and his government want all this to instill national pride in a new generation of Emiratis while providing citizens with tools, both intellectual and psychological, for living in a global society. The idea, several people told me on a recent visit, is to tell a new story, one that breaks with a long history of regional decline, including the recent upheavals caused by militant fundamentalism, and to re-establish a semblance of cultural parity with the West."