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Creating new terrorists: Chimpy McHitlerBurton’s smirky rodeo ride through history continues, #2

From the BBC

Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak has asked parliament to change the constitution to allow multiple candidates in presidential polls.

The surprise announcement followed US and domestic pressure for reform in the Arab world’s most populous nation.

Mr Mubarak said the move was aimed at bringing the law “in line with this stage of our nation’s history”.

The proposal will be put to referendum before September’s presidential poll.

Currently, Egypt holds presidential referendums on a single candidate approved by parliament.

WILL PRESIDENT BUSH NOT STOP HIS “SPREADING FREEDOM” CHARADE BEFORE IT COMPLETELY DESTABILIZES THE MIDDLE EAST?

Sure, much of the US media clings to its jaundiced, Juan Cole-esque view of the Iraqi campaign; but I reckon the thing looks quite differently to those regimes with seats closer to the action, as recent rumblings in Lebanon and Egypt seem to suggest…

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update:  Captain’s Quarters has more.

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update 2:  The secret of our success?

11 Replies to “Creating new terrorists: Chimpy McHitlerBurton’s smirky rodeo ride through history continues, #2”

  1. Frank Villon says:
    February 26, 2005 at 7:21 pm

    Ace of Spades HQ has up an interesting post about the rumblings in Lebanon and the effects on Syria.

  2. Frank Villon says:
    February 27, 2005 at 5:55 am

    Jeff,

    This was arguably your most important post of the day.  It’s a very timely and relevant report that you were sharing with your readers, one which has far reaching implications.  Kudos!

    It’s a pity that evidently none of the other readers think so.

    Nevertheless, I thank you for posting it.  I keep telling people you’re not just a “humor blogger.”

    There’s a lot more to your blog, but if one can’t get them to read it. . .

    Oh well.  You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it think.

  3. McGehee says:
    February 27, 2005 at 1:36 pm

    Frank, it’s an oft-observed truism in blogdom that the more substantive and important the post, the less response it seems to generate.

    That doesn’t mean we aren’t paying attention. And Jeff obviously knows that, or he wouldn’t post serious stuff at all.

  4. Diana says:
    February 27, 2005 at 4:18 pm

    Dominoes anyone?

  5. Diana says:
    February 27, 2005 at 4:23 pm

    .. baby steps, but I never thought I’d see these steps in my lifetime.

    [keyword “hope” YES!!]

  6. Diana says:
    February 27, 2005 at 6:04 pm

    <a href=”http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=2/26/2005&Cat=4&Num=002″ target=”_blank” class=”text”>*</a>

  7. Diana says:
    February 27, 2005 at 6:08 pm

    Aaargh!  That link wouldn’t take.  But it’s the Tehran Times International :

    Regional election fever catches up with Emirates

    DUBAI (AFP) – Academics and members of the appointed consultative council in the United Arab Emirates came out in favor of elections in the Persian Gulf state, arguing that it could not stay out of the regional trend toward elected bodies.

    When millions of Arabs in Palestine, Iraq and Saudi Arabia have gone to the polls, the UAE cannot continue to lag behind, Professor Abdul Khaleq Abdullah of the UAE University told the English-language daily Khaleej Times.

    “I strongly support the idea of having elected members” in the Federal National Council, said Khalifa Jumma al-Naboda, who sits on the 40-strong FNC, which is appointed by the rulers of the seven emirates making up the UAE.

    Fellow member Mohammad bin Ali al-Nagbi told the same newspaper he would support elections as long as they were decided from within and were not imposed by external pressure. Atiq Daka, a professor of political science at the UAE University, told AFP: “Our country is now the only member of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) which has yet to catch up with the political opening up under way in the Arab world. Even countries we thought incapable of political change, such as Saudi Arabia, are now ahead of us.”

    The PGCC groups the UAE with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

    Bahrain and Kuwait have elected parliaments, while Oman has an elected advisory council.

    And earlier this month, ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia kicked off unprecedented local polls in which half the members of 178 municipal councils will be elected across the kingdom. Women, however, have been excluded from the three-stage ballot.

    “We are certainly ahead (of other countries in the region) at the economic and trade levels. But we should also lead the way on the political front,” Daka said.

    “How come that we encouraged Iraqis to take part in elections and hosted Iraqi elections on our soil while even officials of sports clubs in our country are appointed?” Daka asked.

    The UAE was one of 14 countries where Iraqi expatriates were able to take part in their country’s landmark elections last month through an out-of-country voting program organized by the International Organization for Migration.

    “We need not just municipal and legislative elections, but also transparency in terms of freedom of expression and total independence of the judiciary,” said Abdullah Shamsi, also a political science professor.

    “Political institutions must be given real powers … if elections are not to be worthless,” he told AFP.

  8. Frank Villon says:
    February 27, 2005 at 8:08 pm

    Well done, Diana!  Point taken, McGehee.

  9. Diana says:
    February 27, 2005 at 8:46 pm

    Hey, this is only a sideline to my quest for Tantra Magic.

  10. Ana says:
    February 28, 2005 at 12:36 am

    Frank–Yeah. Often we’re quiet for a while when something new and really important happens. And we went so very much to town with the whole Churchill thing a couple of days ago that we’re all tuckered out. Before that we argued torture into the ground. So give it a little while. It’s not that we don’t care.

  11. Scott P says:
    May 9, 2005 at 3:11 pm

    Well said, all. 

    How much longer do you think the ‘feminists’ can continue to disparage the progress that’s been made in women’s rights in the Middle East with any real conviction?  There’s news nearly every day about newly empowered women, and all they can spout over and over about is “Where are the WMDs, and Bush Lied, people died!”

    Sheesh.

Comments are closed.