enjoy the hopps

admin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 21:23:07 +0000

smell my wheat

admin — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 21:30:00 +0000

bts

admin — Tue, 03 May 2011 22:49:05 +0000

Valletta Protest 041111

admin — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:27:35 +0000

Didn’t have time for much editing on these. Just a quick glimpse for now.

valletta_protest_041111

En Route?

admin — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:18:38 +0000

I arrived in Malta on Friday, when the biggest news story was on bird hunters required to send a text message to a gov. official every time they killed a bird. In other news, I’ve learned that the island of Lampedusa, some 100 miles south west of here, currently has 6,000 refugees compared to it’s 5,000 population. Lampedusa received approx. 21,000 immigrants in the past three months, most of whom have been shipped to Sicilian shores.

I’ll be revamping the blog to a more readable black-on-white and adding some sections in the coming days.

Hard to tell but that’s a military transport aircraft flying over Gudja, Malta, heading south…

Keep them on a leash

admin — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 05:15:57 +0000

An Improvisational War, March 24, 2011

admin — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 05:48:33 +0000

The French Ambassador to the UN, Gérard Araud, spoke on French policies in the Middle East at the NYU Center for Global Affairs today. Araud answered with typical diplomatic ambivalence when asked about the endgame in Libya, what the coming weeks look like for the international military operation, and whether it is feasible that Gadaffi could remain in power. “War is an improvisation”, Araud stated, “Tomorrow a missile is falling on Gadaffi, tomorrow a missile is falling on a school. My preferred scenario includes elections to be free for allowing Libyans to chose their leader – including Gadaffi if they want.”

But should war be categorized as an “improvisation”? War is certainly unpredictible, but Araud classified the Libyan conflict as a spontaneous military arrangement laid upon the skeleton of a vague UN Security Council Resolution allowing for the protection of civilians. His concession of a make-it-up-as-we-go mentality highlights the lack of information that the international community has regarding the make-up of the Libyan rebels and the breath of Gadaffi’s forces. Araud claimed that in Kosovo it came as a total surprise that Milošević did not cave in after a few days of military intevention. But in Kosovo the international community had expectations based on Milošević stepping down and a plan based on those expectations – military operations then were not an “improvisation”. In Libya however, even France, the first nation to recognize the opposition government, has not stated the removal of Gadaffi as its goal. Nor does France find it problematic if Gadaffi ends up the nation’s leader after free elections. The inability of the French and the international community at large to firmly state a plan to remove Gadaffi or articulate that the Libyan air-strikes are meant to remove Gadaffi is problematic for two reasons. First, why would the French recognize the rebel government in the first place if it has no intention of helping the opposition overthrow Gadaffi? Would France recognize both governments if there is a cease-fire and Gaddafi does not step down? Second, that the French believe Gadaffi could conceivably remain in power if he was freely elected implies that they are naive enough to believe a elected-Gadaffi, with his web of ties throughout neighboring African nations and inside Libya, would be different from an authoritarian-Gadaffi. Essentially, Araud’s attitude is a example of the coy posture of the international community at large, begging the question – why aren’t the Allies more articulate?

Some believe the lack of information on Libya’s opposition forces makes the West apprehensive about who exactly might follow Gadaffi. While opposition forces claim to be pro-American and anti-fundamentalist, news agencies have made much of the large number of eastern-Libyans, members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, who traveled to Iraq in 2007 to join anti-American forces. However, I’m not sure how representative this fundamentalist faction is of eastern Libyan, – the leaked Sinjar records indicate that only 21 individuals from Benghazi joined foreign fighters in Iraq, out of a population of 700,000.

More likely, geopolitics are currently shaped in a way that makes it difficult for the West to put its foot down and articulate a plan to remove a dictator in the same way it has done over the past two decades. Araud claimed that NATO did not initially take command of the No-fly zone because Western forces did not want the operation to appear as a colonialist take-over. He also stated that many Arab nations feel the same uneasiness created by the Iraqi war in 2003. The insufficiency of the Iraq war completely shifted global politics. Anti-intervention nations, including Brazil, China, Russia, and India, did not veto the UN security council resolution, but flexed their geopolitical muscles by keeping the West from overtly entering a country and removing an authoritarian power as they have in the past. The Allies must now operate under the cover of humanitarianism and accept the incompatible notion of refusing to intervene in Yemen, Bahrain and now Syria, where despots continue to kill peaceful protestors.

Libya Update March 23, 2011

admin — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 06:12:28 +0000

While British officials claimed today that the Libyan air force ‘no longer exists’, pro-Gadaffi forces resumed shelling in Misfurata, a city that looked to be under rebel control. Earlier, however, the rebel opposition appointed Mahmoud Jibril as their Prime Minister, a move which some criticize as implying the possibility of a divided Libya if Gadaffi were to remain in power. Spokesmen for the opposition reiterated that the rebels have no intention of splitting the nation and that they consider Tripoli their capital.

The rebel’s appointment of a prime minister indicates a renewed sense of optimism in the opposition camps, spurred by the no-fly zone and recent US attacks on Libyan tanks. In response to Gadaffi’s resistance, allied forces have moved into what is being called the “second phase” of military action, bombarding tanks and artillery more aggressively.

Support for military operations in Libya increased with the Arab League’s about-face as Qatar and the UAE sent fighter jets to Crete in preparation for involvement in Libya. The Arab League’s support is counter-balanced, however, by NATO’s unwillingness to take over control of military operations from the US. Turkey agreed today to support an international embargo on Libya but is NATO’s most reluctant member on the matter of military intervention, saying they would like the airstrikes to “stop immediately”.

The US is intent on handing over control of military operations as quickly as possible. But if NATO does not accept control and the US backs out of its leadership position, the intensity of international airstrikes against pro-Gadaffi forces may decrease significantly over the coming weeks. Additionally, the UN security council resolution has only authorized force used in the protection of civilians that excludes a “foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory”. With Gadaffi showing little to no signs of relenting, Allied troops may be required on the ground, which would require a new resolution or a departure by one or more nations from the current agreement.

International forces have done just enough to increase violence by giving the rebels an upper hand but not enough to quash Gadaffi’s forces, which could leave Libya in a dual-government limbo for many months. In fact, this “civil war” of sorts could parallel Iraq after the Gulf War, with the US maintaing a no-fly zone over a tumultuous nations for years on end.

A full transcript of the UN security council resolution 1973 (2011) on Libya: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/sc10200.doc.htm

Citations

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/17/un-security-council-resolution

http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/03/2011322193944862310.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12844022

Libya Update March 22, 2011

admin — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:14:38 +0000

India joined China today in calling for an end to the implementation of a no-fly zone over Northern Libya, a day after allied forces announced their intention to extend the no-fly zone as far west as Tripoli. A member of China’s foreign minister stated that the government opposed a “wanton use of armed force leading to more civilian casualties and more human disasters.”

While a lack of support from China, India, Russia and Germany may be based on political reasons, their abstention from the UN security council vote and anti-intervention policies highlight the dangers involved in intervention. Many agree more blood will be shed if the rebellion, spurred by foreign involvement, continues, and it may prove difficult to avoid military intervention on the ground if Gadaffi continues to ignore international calls for a cease-fire. Gadaffi is unlikely to step-down easily and continues to attack rebel strongholds. According to the New York Times, Gadaffi loyalists have struck Misurata (a chilling youtube clip of a shelling in Misurata was recently posted here), killing at least 40 yesterday and four more today and fighting continues in Ajdabiya.

An opinion piece from Jadaliyya.com argued that the international community does not have enough knowledge of the civil war in Libya to save lives through military intervention. The article explains that if the point of intervention is to save lives, military actions that will spur retaliation from Gadaffi as a show of force will only run counter to that objective. International forces should instead focus on persuading Gadaffi to extradite himself, the article argues, rather aid the continuation of war through enacting a no-fly zone. The US however, is loath to support any direct action to oust Gadaffi – President Obama hinted only unconvincingly that he advocates removing Gadaffi and senior officials, including Admiral Mike Mullen, believe that intervention in Libya can be viewed as successful even if Gadaffi remains in power.

The term used across news boards today is “rage”, used in the context of the Libyan war “raging” on, but it also describes Gadaffi’s demeanor, as he continues to slaughter his own people.

An incredible photo series from various news agencies: http://www.nationaljournal.com/pictures-enforcing-the-libyan-no-fly-zone-20110322

Citations

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=134684133

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/201132292210533490.html

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/907/solidarity-and-intervention-in-libya

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/latest-updates-on-war-in-libya-and-mideast-protests-2/?hp

Introductions

admin — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 06:25:56 +0000

Dedicated to reporting on the Arab revolution, this blog will be updated with articles and images related to Northern Africa and the Middle East. The author will make Malta his home base for the next few months, travel throughout the greater Middle East and post interviews and report on his findings. Your questions and comments are welcome.