Yesterday there was hardly anything about the Iraq war in the media. Oprah and her sex scandal, rather that of her African school, took up most of the pre-dinner and post-dinner TV news shows, at least the part not taken up by the young teacher who eloped with a teenage Mexican boy. Americans do love their dinnertime spiced with some sex and crime scandals, but what about the après le dîner? (BTW: where is Paris these days?).
Yet data released at night indicate that 2007 has been the worst year for US deaths in Iraq. That was an increase in deaths of about 20% for the year! But the recent trend has been downwardm so maybe it was the surge after all.

Arab media report that the US government has imposed sanctions, including freezing of assets, on some Lebanese who are against 'democracy in Lebanon'. It is not clear what these people have done, maybe there is something specific other than belonging to the opposition which we don't know. Yet perhaps at least half the population of Lebanon is opposed to the current Saniora-Hariri government, without necessarily being members of Hizbollah- should they all be sanctioned? Will the new visa form have a question such as :"Do you oppose, or have you ever opposed, the Saniora-Hariri government in Lebanon?". It is interesting that these sanctions were announced within a week or two of visits to Washington by pro-government warlords Sa'ad Hariri and Mr. Jumblatt.
If Lebanon is a democracy, should opponents of the government be punished for their political positions by a foreign power?

The Congressional Quarterly reported yesterday that the FBi and other government agencies had at some time taken to watching and monitoring 'falafel joints' as one way to track possible 'Iranian terrorists'. This was especially done in the SF Bay Area, for some reason. I got two pieces of information, call it free advice, gratis for the G-men:
1. Iranians do not hang around falafel joints. Mostly Arabs, and Israelis, hang around falafel joints. Falafel is not part of an Iranian's customary diet- there are no falafel joints in, say, Tehran or Qom - most mullahs don't even know what they are. Now Hezbollah types, being Lebanese, do hang around falafel joints, especially in Dearborn, but then again, when was the last time that group was engaged in terrorism in the United States?

2. Usually Iranians, as well as Arabs, who get to these shores want nothing to do with the ruling Iranian mullahs, Arab potentates or their politics. They also want little to do with falafel joints. So far all acts of terrorism have been committed by citizens of 'moderate allies' who support democracy, justice, tribal rule, and the American way of life. Which makes a good case for watching falafel joints: one way to know a potential terrorist's intentions is through his sandwich..

An Islamic fiqh (theology) assembly in Mecca has urged Moslems in the West to merge their societies. It urged them to participate in elections and vote- it did not , however, urge Moslem rulers to also allow people the chance to participate in free local elections.
The assembly did, however, allow prior identification of the (unborn) fetus, but only if this is necessary for medical or health purposes- definitely not for practical shopping purposes. They required that any demand to identify the sex of a baby must be approved by the Mufti, the bureaucratic religious arbiter appointed by the rulers of the country.
Cheers
Mohammed