It May Get Uglier In Iraq

Is Acknowledging a 100 Year Old Crime Worth One Soldier's Life Today?

With this news pushing to the front, the situation in Iraq and the wider region could boil over. Did Turkey commit genocide on Armenians in World War I? Absolutely. Is it necessary for Congress to make an official proclamation about it when we have thousands of our soldiers in harm's way?

The Democrats must know that what they are doing is causing tensions to rise in Turkey, and by extension in Iraq. Where was the fervor to acknowledge this crime in the last nine decades? Assuming that they are aware of the implications, how do they explain the need for such a proclamation nearly 100 years later when our soldiers may experience a direct impact in their theater of operations?

They can't. This petty behavior at such a perilous crossroads causes me to almost lose faith in our system of government. If the Democrats want to behave like petulant jackasses, let them do it with issues that won't get soldiers killed. Or, they could be adults and do their electioneering with the strength of their own alternatives.

The problem with the last sentence is that, if nothing else, the Democrats as a whole have demonstrated that while they have plenty of hot air, they have no ideas. It takes an idea to create an alternative.

A party built on dissent has no vision. Will Americans follow the blind? We'll find out for better or worse in 2008.

Iran and Turkey Meet

The IranDaily reported on the 21st that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Turkey’s Energy Minister Hilmi Guler in Tehran on Monday. Ahmadinejad was reported to have said, “Advances and victories of the Turkish nation make Iranians happy." One wonders if he is alluding to the tensions between Turkey and the Kurds in northern Iraq.
. . . .
"Noting that Iran-Turkey cooperation in energy sector is important, Guler expressed his country’s readiness to promote relations in other areas as well.

Turkey has signed a deal with Iran to annually import 3-6 billion kilowatt/hours of electricity from the Islamic Republic, Turkey’s Energy Minister said on Monday.

“Details regarding the production and import of the electricity are still to be worked out,“ he said."

Iran is working to extend its influence in the region--while it develops its nuclear capacities.

The Turkish Daily News reported on the 20th that Iran and Turkey have significantly developed their relationship through the memorandum of understanding.

"Energy Minister Hilmi Güler held talks in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart, Parviz Fattah, and Iran's acting oil minister to put the final touches on a preliminary agreement with Tehran on natural gas cooperation, despite objections from the United States. Washington openly opposed the energy deal.

. . .
Nozari said Turkey will allow Iran to use its territory to transfer 35 billion cubic meters of Iranian gas to Europe and in return, Iran will let Turkmenistan gas flow to Turkey via an Iranian pipeline.

Güler's visit comes after Ankara and Tehran signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the Turkish capital in July to transport natural gas from Iran and Turkmenistan to Europe. Last week delegations from the two countries held discussions to prepare the technical framework of the memorandum.

Güler said the objective was to develop the existing energy lines with Iran and to strengthen them through new investments. He said the parties involved agreed to establish three separate thermal power plants during their talks in Turkey. Asked whether the ministry was considering cooperation with Iran in the area of water, Güler said the Turkish private sector might build dams in Iran, a subject that was already discussed during the talks."

These are all joint projects, which means increasing interedependence. It is easy to see why the US would be opposed to these arrangements. If Turkey finds itself relying on Iran, the likelihood is great that cooperation with the US would suffer if Iran puts sufficient pressure on Turkey. Moreover, a pipeline bringing Iranian gas to Europe will not only give Iran additional financial resources, but even impact the dependence of Europe on Iran's natural gas. The pipeline will make isolating Iran nearly impossible.

Iran's Ahmadinejad to Visit Azerbaijan

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will make his first official visit to the Azerbaijan Republic, according to the spokesman for the Iranian Embasy in Baku. He hopes to drive a wedge between Azerbaijan and the United States.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will begin an official visit to neighboring Azerbaijan Republic on Tuesday, August 21, seeking to counter US influence in the oil-rich, fellow Muslim country.

Officials said a number of bilateral agreements would be signed with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev during the two-day visit, including energy and transportation deals.

Azerbaijan has close diplomatic and trade relations with Iran, with which it shares strong historical and religious ties. But the country is also a key US ally in the strategic Caucasus, which is wedged between Iran and Russia.

The US has strongly backed a corridor of pipelines to deliver Azerbaijani oil and gas through Turkey to Western markets.
Washington has also provided military assistance and held joint exercises with Azerbaijan which, in turn, allows its airspace to be used by NATO planes for crucial access to Central Asia and Afghanistan.Washington has expressed interest in obtaining the use of airfields in Azerbaijan for military purposes. This is while Azerbaijan has categorically rejected rumors that it would let US troops use its territory to attack neighboring countries. He said Iran and Turkey can take big strides for further national development."

Virginity Test Withdrawn in Indonesia: Meanwhile, Elsewhere. . .

Nana Rukmana explains that families of students as well as other activists voiced "strong objections" to the proposed virginity tests of female high school students in Indramayu regency, West Java.

The real news here is that the girl in the video was not subject to honor killing

"They said the plan violated human rights and constituted harassment against women.

Indramayu Regent Irianto MS Syafiuddin came up with the idea last week after two high school students were caught having sex on video.The video, which runs for around three minutes, involves a 16-year-old female student and 17-year-old male student, both from state run senior high schools in the regency.

"We can't accept this idea. It's unfair as the porn video was just an isolated case. It's the same as suspecting all of us. The idea is harassment," said Gita, a second year student at the state SMAN Sindang high school.
Objections were also voiced by male students. Fahmi, a third year student at SMAN Indramayu, said the idea was unethical.
"We also reject the virginity test. It's against human rights," he argued.
. . .
Parents were shocked by the plan. Yeni, a 44-year-old resident of Margadadi village in Indramayu village, said she would refuse outright if her daughter was required to undergo such a test. "The test undermines female dignity. It should be rejected out of hand," she said. . . . Wawan of Sindang village said the test was not a solution for dealing with suspected promiscuity among students. "The plan is painful for parents. It's like we're being accused of not taking care of our children," he said.

Teacher Saptarini of SMAN Sindang said the question of virginity had nothing to do with education. "It's a personal matter that has no bearing on education. The regent should drop the plan," she said.

Indramayu Health Agency Director Suwardi said his agency had not received any instructions from the regent regarding the conducting of tests. "I would not do it unless there is an order from the regent," he said.

However, he said it would not be easy to conduct such tests as out of some 16,000 senior high school students in the regency, half were female students. The regency has 78 senior high schools, of which 46 are state schools."

Virginity tests are not unheard of, especially in traditional Islamic societies; Indonesia is a country in which Muslims are the majority. The recent rally at which tens of thousands of Muslims gathered in Jakarta to support re-establishment of the caliphate, also supported instituting sharia law in Indonesia.

Women Living Under Muslim Laws keeps a website on women's rights.They write, " In Turkey On 19 July 2001, the Minister of Health of Turkey initiated proceedings to bypass the ban on virginity examinations (Ministry of Justice, decree no: 27/123) brought into action two years [earlier] after many years of protest by women and women's groups in Turkey." The Associated Press wrote that the l999 change in the law came, "after five girls took rat poison rather than submit to the test."

In Africa such testing is also a tradition in some cultures:
"In South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal Province, and in the neighbouring kingdom of Swaziland, girls are routinely inspected to check if they are virgins. The reason for the practice, it is said, is to 'preserve beauty, pride and a valuable asset of the nation. Women are regarded as flowers of any nation and each nation has its specific features and perceptions of what value is.'[ Report on Consultative Conference on Virginity Testing held in South Africa on June 12, 2000 by South Africa Commission for Gender Equality and the South Africa Human Rights Commission.]

. . .

Virginity testing is now being touted as one method to check the onslaught of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, presumably to encourage abstinence, which is one of the ABCs of preventing the spread of the virus. One of the advocates of virginity tests is South Africa's immediate former Deputy President Jacob Zuma who, while still in office, was reported as having encouraged girls to take the tests as a way of curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS and reducing the prevalence of early pregnancies. Mr Zuma referred to virginity as a girl's 'family's treasure,' saying that traditionally girls 'would only have sex when permitted to do so by their families after marriage.'[http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/3683210.stm] In Uganda, one Member of Parliament organizes bursaries to enable needy girls to university, provided that they pass a virginity test. He links virginity tests to the prevention of exposure to AIDS. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4700171.stm.]

The South African Parliament in June 2005 passed a Bill to prohibit virginity testing. This drew fierce opposition from proponents of the custom. Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini protested that he was not consulted by the government before the law was enacted, and his supporters are reported to have vowed to defy the ban on this age-old tradition. [http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=5052] Many of the girls who undergo the inspection say that they are doing so of their own volition and in exercise of their right to practise their culture and traditions. On the other hand, human rights advocates say the tests are ''discriminatory, invasive of privacy, unfair, impinging on the dignity of young girls and unconstitutional.''[Teboho Maitse, a member of the South African Commission on Gender Equality quoted in 'Ban on virginity testing raises ire of Zulus.' Ibid]"

Bi-Lateral Discussions to Combat Nuclear Terrorism

Bi-Lateral Discussions and Preventing Nuclear Terrorism

While we’re thinking about terrorism…again…it might be time to look back to the June conference held in Miami to promote international communication and cooperation in preventing nuclear terrorism. At the time, I did several entries on the conference. It's time to look more closely at the bi-lateral discussions.

Dr. Vahid Majidi, head of the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate said that “bilateral discussions were held during the week between the U.S. and five countries—Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Chile, and Mexico.” I’m reading this literally: bilateral U.S and Russia; U.S. and Ukraine; U.S. and Turkey; U.S. and Chile; and U.S. and Mexico.

Note that Dr. Majidi did not list the countries alphabetically. Significant? . I’ve made some observations and raised some questions about the nature of these bi-lateral arrangements.

I’m not assuming that the border issues with Mexico are solely related to discussions about nuclear terrorism. Was the emphasis on detection at the border of materials used in nuclear terrorism? About the nature of so-called Other-Than-Mexican’s? Especially those who come from countries that willingly harbor terrorists, Special Interest Aliens (SIA’s)

Chile has signed a number of international conventions relating to terrorisim; has the CDE/ Departemento de Control de Trafico Ilicito de Estupefacientes (Financial Intelligence). Islamic extremists, primarily Hizbollah, already operate in the Triborder Area (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay). Iquique may be becoming a new center for terrorists, as there is an influx of immigrants from Pakistani-Afghan border with “alleged links to Islaminc groups, including Al Quaeda.” How are we working with Chile?

Turkey had a number of incidents in trafficking in nuclear materials. It shares a border with Georgia, which has reportedly non-secure nuclear material, and with Armenia as well as Iran, Iraq and Syria. Armenia is part of the GI. Iran, Iraq and Syria are homes to terrorist organizations. (An argument could be made that Iran IS a terrorist organization…)

Did the discussion with the Ukraine involve more detailed agreements—and/or extension of the April 2005 agreement on “Detecting Illicit Shipments of Nuclear Material?

This conference was co-sponsored by the U.S. and Russia. But Russia has what’s been deemed a poorly secured stockpile of nuclear materials; it still has many warheads, some still ready-to-go, others capable of re-arming; its production of weapons-grade plutonium continues; it has relationships with countries which willingly harbor terrorist groups. Were these discussions aimed at continuing the progress of the Strategic Arms Reductions Treaties I and II as well as the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR a/k/a Nunn-Lugar)? While these latter have to do with weaponry, they have implications for nuclear terrorism as well.

No answers here, just questions and more to contemplate.

Islamic Turkey Presages Troubled Northern Iraq and Wider Conflict

As if the United States didn't have enough problems in the region, Turkey has added to them by choosing an Islamic regime that has roots in reactionary ideas. This is rough news for the Bush administration which is already juggling an Iraq surge with bickering at home, an Iran on the precipice of nuclear weapons and a Pakistani regime unable to control its Islamists at home. Turkey is a deeply divided nation with one principle issue for the U.S. to consider - NATO.

The United Nations has long been criticized as an ineffectual remnant of Cold War thinking. The same could be true of NATO, if a nation within it is sympathetic with, or gives voice to, our greatest and most dangerous enemies. As the ever insightful Four Inch Heels said in passing yesterday, most of America is oblivious to how dangerous our enemies are right now. Most of us will be equally ignorant of the potential disaster this Turkish election may ultimately be, not only in Iraq, but with one of our oldest aliances.

It is probably time to rethink the map, and to rethink our "friendships" as we inch closer to a wider and more violent conflict, one country after another. Turkey is yet one more marker along that path. I'm not optimistic.