Terrorism and Kicking AssA Sydney newspaper quotes President Bush telling Australian VP "we're kicking ass". It is also likely right now that, in some cave or lair in the Pashtun areas of Northwest Pakistan, a tall bearded Saudi and his Egyptian sidekick (he jokingly calls him abu arb'a 'ayoon, four-eyes), are saying very much the same thing, but in Arabic. Of course the one who kicks ass last is usually considered the eventual winner, but the situation is complex, with many players. In the short and medium term anyone can claim that they are kicking ass. At the moment al Qaeda in Mesopotamia seems to be at the receiving end (not necessarily a pun here) of the boot. But then again, it looks like the Coalition is firmly at the receiving end in Afghanistan.

Mr. Bush, however, seems to be winning some friends and influencing people in the heart of 'old' Europe- right in that most American-sceptic place, the Elysee Palace. Not only did France's Sarkozy make the right noises about US policy, he also spent his vacation in Maine, not exactly a playground for French politicos. It was a fortuitous choice of destination, because he happened to run into W.
Sarko even seems to be picking up some of Bush'e vernacular- he came close to calling for 'kicking ass' somewhere in the Middle East, perhaps in Lebanon or Iran. Of course the French do not use that vulgar but succinct American term, especially in their own language. And their boots seem to be big enough only for unruly West African derrieres.
It would sound funny for Sarko to claim that he is doing 'ruer le posterieur', or to use a more extensive version, 'le fait de donner un coup de pied au cul'- I'm sure most of you got the very last word. Some may take his use of the term as another example of the famously suspected French prurience.

Arab Military Industry
When it rains it pours: Sudan's defense minister has claimed that his country is producing what he calls pilotless airplanes, i.e drones. Of course they could be just kites. He said that Sudan will become self-sufficient in weaponry and that it is the third African country in terms of military industries. He was too polite to claim that the country was also the top Arab producer of muzzle-loading carbines. Now the Arab world can rightly boast the greatest military-industrial complex south of Israel, west of Iran, and north of Zimbabwe. Of course the really smart Arab rulers, well the 'relatively' smart Arab rulers, have access to the best international weapons that money can buy. But then again, it has nothing to do with cerebral prowess, does it?

We were self sufficient in weapons once. Some years ago, when we were childern along the warm northwestern Arab shores of the Gulf (Persique, pas du Mexique), we used to be self-sufficient. We made our own slingshots, the weapon of choice which we called nabba'ta (plural: nababee't), for use against innocent birds and evil human foes. Nowadays, even the slingshots are foreign-made, mainly in East Asia- but they are still cheaper and, tellingly, they are used much more effectively than the high-tech weapons are used by our military. Besides, the prices of the slingshots do not include exorbitant commissions, kickbacks, or bribes to princes and potentates.
Cheers
Mohammed