Reactions to U.S Elections, Arab Views of De-Rumsfeld-ification and Re-Ba'athification, Wedding Night Blues

Victorious Jews?:
Quote from Alarabiya.net (Nov. 8, 2006), the website of the Saudi-owned satellite TV station:
"American Jews celebrated the victories of the largest number of their people to reach the U.S Congress in history. The number of Jews in the Senate increased by two, while the number of Jewish representatives increased by four. Jews now total 43 in both houses of Congress....... It is known that Nancy Pelosi, the prospective Speaker, has strong ties to pro-Israeli Jewish groups. She even lives in the Bay Area, not far from Amy Friedkin, her close friend and former president of AIPAC. " Is this a smoking gun or what?
The station did not specify where these Jewish celebrations took place, and I could not find any information on the web. Their worry is undestandable, though, from their viewers' point of view: today 43, tomorrow.......535? The station is noted for the appearances in interviews over the past two years of top U.S officials, the very top officials.
An interesting question: who keeps records of such details? And how do they know who is what?

Recall the Ba'athists:
Editor of the Saudi-owned Asharq Alawsat (Middle East) has welcomed the departure of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, probably the only bright thread he sees in the Democratic sweep of the elections yesterday. He calls (Nov. 9, 2006) for moves by the U.S to re-institute the old Iraqi army and Security Services in order to 'break Iraq away from Iran'. The editor argues that building institutions is more important at this stage than voting. He does not say who would build these institutions and how they are selected for this task. There were many solid institutions under the Ba'ath, including several security services, numerous political prisons, scattered mass graves- but they did not keep the country stable because it got into several major wars within twenty years, and ended up being invaded and ravaged three times. Initiating wars of aggression against neighbors is one sure sign of unstable institutions.
About this editor's proposal to recall the old, very dead, army and security services: is this a call for re-Ba'athification or de-Rumsfeldification? Or is it a desire for de-Shia-fication? What about the North? Will it be de-Kurdified?

Iraqi Reaction:
Azzaman daily published mostly from London by some of the old Sunni political elites (the secular pan-Arabists who dominated the country) welcomed the departure of Rumsfeld, and called heartily for the punishment of 'those collaborators he brought with him' and gave power to. Azzaman did not mention the three elections that brought some of those people to power.
Assabah, closer to the government in Iraq, did not comment on Rumsfeld's departure.
The Iraqi press did however carry reports of a possible change of ambassador to Baghdad. Other Arab media also speculated about replacing Khalilzad, a Sunni, with whom some in the ruling coalition do not get along.

A Little Cheer:
A Saudi man discovered on his wedding night that his bride was not a virgin- it turns out that she had been married briefly (civil marriage) to a man who had recently divorced her by mumbling the mandatory 'I divorce thee' three times. The latest is demanding that she be jailed and that he get back the dowry he paid for her. Another man, an Arab expatriate in Mecca, is also suing his bride for 'lack of virginity' on their wedding night. He is also suing for divorce and return of dowry (sans interest, of course). Perhaps they emphasized safe sex rather than teaching abstinence at her school district. The husband says that he is devastated and has left his family home and checked into a hotel, presumably in Saudi Arabia, to recuperate. In his case a knowledgeable scholar, no not a frat boy, noted that it would be hard to ascertain when if the virginity was lost before or during the wedding night- apparently the bride is contesting the groom's assertion.

Cheers
Mohammed