Saudi blogger Fouad al-Farhan has been detaiend without charges for about 90 days.
Republicans and McCain using the tragedy of Iraq as campaign poster.
Are Shi'as, Sunnis, and Kurds Frenching in Baghdad now?
What are these rumors and stories about little Hizbullahs in the Gulf?
Should Florida be allowed to vote, ever?

Five Years, So Many Billions, So Many Lives Later:
Especially so many lives, and many more limbs later, how do we see Iraq?
What we saw the past three days was a war torn country being used as a campaign poster.
Iraq, and the American soldiers put in harm's way, and the Iraqis who are in shock (maybe awed as well) were all being used as a pawn in a show that will continue until early November. Of course it could last through next December if Florida, true to form, manages to mess up its voting again (it is already well on its way with the primary mess).

What Iraqis saw was a pleasant-looking older man seeking to be leader of his own country, a man who has noted that he will remain in their country for 100 years if needed- without consulting them. Which means that they saw a war without end, of necessity spilling over across borders, across old battlefields.

The nice-looking old man was clearly focused on his election campaign: he went to Israel, but refused to see the Palestinian President Abbas. Not worth it: not many voters in Dearborn. Besides, Michigan always goes Democratic.

Fox News interviewed GOP's Ed Gillespie from the White House this afternoon. He said, among other things, that Shi'as, Sunnis and Kurds in Iraq were in love again. Yep, you would think that the laws against Frenching have been repealed in Iraq just so that Shi'as, Sunnis, and Kurds can....french each other with impunity. All in the spirit of brotherhood, sisterhood, and cross-gender-hood. Film at 11- but make sure your kids are safely in bed, with the "red relephone" to the White House, the one that might ring at 3 AM, handy nearby.
(BTW: there are anti-frenching laws in all Arab and Islamic countries, although the word itself is never specifically mentioned.)

What Hizbullah?:
A new term has been circulating in the Arab media these past few weeks. It is a term unheard before, at least unheard by me: mini Hizbullahs. Mention has been made of Hizbullah in Kuwait, Hizbullah in Bahrain, and Hizbullah in Saudi Arabia. Soon there might be one in Lebanon.

In Kuwait the authorities have accused some political and religious activists of belonging to a local party called "Kuwaiti Hizbullah". Somehow it doesn't ring right. In Saudi Arabia, eight Bahraini youths who claimed to have strayed into forbidden territory have been held for weeks without charge. Some Saudi media claim that they might be "charged" with belonging to Bahraini Hizbullah. It is not clear, in that case, on what grounds can Saudi Arabia prosecute foreign nationals for being members of a party in their own country- whether that party is legal or not. Unless the eight were intent on, or were involved in some "actiivities" inside the kingdom. Who knows.

Anyway, suddenly many little Hizbullahs are sprouting all over the (Persian) Gulf. Are there such mini-Hizbullahs? Are the authorities making them up, or merely inflating this for political purposes? Are the extreme rightwing media in one or two Gulf countries exploiting this to saw fear and instability? Is it all of the above? I need a scantron sheet to answer.

Some newspapers in the Gulf, especially two newspapers in Kuwait, have in fact been using this (almost?) mythical party to stir up political and sectarian divisions, scare people, and perhaps have them look to 'big brother' for safety. These pendejos with looted public funds may have succeeded.
Gulf Shi'as tend to deny the existence of such local parties. The Bahraini Minister of State for Foerign Affairs has also publicly denied the existence of such a party in his country.

This may just be the latest fashion. A decade or two ago, the spectre of Zionism was used all across the Arab world, and all were on the lookout for Zionist agents bent on mischief. Maybe they were bent on stealing our advanced technology? That has been debunked, so now we have a convenient "enemy" from within.
Cheers
Mohammed