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The latest silly article on Iran…

Christopher Allbritton — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 18:07:48 +0000

Possibly one of the most ridiculous articles I’ve read in a while: Why Iran’s Top Leaders Believe That The End Of Days Has Come | Fox News.

Yeah, I know. “Fox News”, right? But one of the reasons Iran is so mysterious is because US and other western leaders don’t know what the regime’s leadership is thinking, much less that they’re obsessed with the “end times.”

Eastward bound…

Christopher Allbritton — Tue, 15 Oct 2002 15:53:14 +0000

This is the second of my posts from Turkey, made after I arrived in Ankara. Prior to my arrival, I met with Turan Ceylan, the manager of the Inter-Continental Hotel in Istanbul. He’s a Kurdish success story, one of many in Istanbul where many Kurds have settled after the PKK troubles in the southeast during the 1980s and 1990s. I didn’t get much to get out of the interview, except that he is pro-EU (he’s a businessman) and he believes that discrimination against Kurds is blown way out of proportion by Western press (which is easy for him to say; he comes from a rich family that runs one of the largest construction firms in Turkey.)

This was an attitude I discovered among many middle-class Istanbul residents. Aydin Kudu, my original fixer before he suffered a hip injury, had me over for dinner and during the post-prandial tea, he and Raia, his girlfriend and sometimes partner-guide, said the same thing: There is no discrimination in Turkey; Kurds can do whatever they like, as long as they don’t break any laws.

On one level, they have a point. At least one president of Turkey, Turgut Ozal, has claimed Kurdish ancestry and Istanbul has seen a number of Kurds other than Ceylan rise to success in the businessworld. But there is a great deal of unknown truth in the statement that “Kurds can do whatever they like, as long as they don’t break any laws.” But until recently, it was illegal to be Kurdish. It was illegal to teach or sing in Kurdish. Yes, Kurds could succeed in Turkey, but only if they assimilated and acted Turkish. And even then, if someone’s ID card listed them as hailing from the southeast, they would often be greeted with suspicion and had a harder time finding jobs in the more cosmopolitan western part of the country.

At any rate, this gave me much to think about. So after a couple of days, I took a bus from Taksim in Istanbul where Aykut Uzun, my fixer, met me. After five hours on the road in Turkey, I was glad to see him.

From: Christopher Allbritton

Date: Fri Jul 5, 2002 10:39:41 PM America/New_York

The call for prayer is echoing outside my window, here in Ankara. The sun is slipping between the high-rise apartments in this former squatters’ ‘hood in which I’ve found myself. (Now, it’s expensive apartments owned by Ankara’s yuppie class.) I’m staying with Aykut and his wife, and I’ve just seen on the news that the UN has failed to reach an agreement with Iraq on the return of arms inspectors and that the NYTimes has published a front-page story outlining plans for a three-pronged attack on Iraq.

Fucking hell. I’m going to be there in a week.

But, at last, it begins. The “failure” of the UN to reach an agreement will be the green light the US is looking for to begin assembling coalition forces to invade. I won’t be surprised to find a number of Americans in southeast Turkey, all with good posture and no hair.

This is most inconvenient. And just think, two days ago, I was walking along the Bosporus with Tuba, a pretty Turkish student who was helping me with the problems of administration at Bogaza’i University, buying grilled fish, freshly caught, from a boat bobbing along the rim of Europe and then sitting in a caf’ high on a hill watching the boats pass up and down between the Black Sea and the Sea of Mamara.

And it’s not just inconvenient for me. Aykut, my fixer, is in the tourism business, and he estimates that the rest of this year and most of next is shot to hell with the Americans running about and shooting things. War zones don’t attract tourists much. (And worse, the ones that do come don’t spend any money.) As we spoke his wife, Muhabbet, rubbed her forehead and looked worried. She’s a schoolteacher and together, they have a 5-year-old daughter, Zeynbe, to raise. If the tourism business falls off — again — then things will be very tight for them.

Now, we’re off to Diyarbakir on Sunday after we’ve had a chance to touch bases with the local Iraqi opposition groups in Ankara. Also, HADEP, the Kurdish party here in Turkey. They’re all made up of your usual suspects of leftists, radicals, ethnic nationals. These people will never accomplish anything in a military state with their approach, sadly.

Today, I also registered with the US embassy in Ankara. Somehow I expected something a little, well, nicer. I mean d’cor. Instead it was all ‘Fortress America’ and grim concrete walls, scuffed linoleum tiles all lighted by flickering fluorescent tubes hanging from the ceiling. Honestly, who wants to apply for a visa under those conditions? The people were quite helpful, if somewhat alarmed when I casually mentioned, ‘I’m thinking of going to Iraq, any law against that?’

Well! that sparked some interest in the bored Citizens Services drone behind his bulletproof glass. A Turk, he went and got a smooth talking American. Turns out it would be against the law, sort of, for me to go. But I’m an accredited journalist on assignment, so it’s cool. Well, ‘cool’ isn’t the word that Chris, the smooth talking American, would use but not illegal. (By the way, I would need a special passport from the State Dept. if I weren’t an accredited journalist.)

Anyway, all is well here, but complicated and trying. Sometimes I’m overwhelmed with a feeling that I really want to go home and forget all this adventuring business. Phones work weird, Turkish is very difficult and it’s hot. But people have been most friendly, pretty honest and Anatolia is a beautiful landscape, all rolling hills and maple trees. Oh, and the food is good.

So that’s it for now. Will try to write more as I can, but for now know that email might be more rare until I return from Iraq on July 21. Try not to worry.

Update on House Vote

Christopher Allbritton — Thu, 10 Oct 2002 17:09:51 +0000

The Hastert-Gephardt proposal (H.J.R 114) passed the House today on a 296–113 vote. The Senate also voted 75–25 to limit debate, meaning its vote on the war resolution could come as early as tomorrow. This is disappointing as the Spratt amendment was a common-sense approach to this whole killin’ Iraqis business. (For a glimpse of alternatives, Here’s a PDF that compares the various House and Senate proposals.)
All of this may be moot, however because sources on Capital Hill are saying that Bush doesn’t want war at all! That come Nov. 5, Bush will suddently start talking about how the United Nations is a useful body after all, and that inspectors will be allowed to do their job. I’m told Bush doesn’t want to be looking at an occupied Iraq two years from now when we have guerilla fighting in Baghdad suburbs, a massive drain on the national economy and a stable oil supply only because United States occupation forces keep Kurds, Shi’ites and Sunni Arabs (not to mention Turkomen and Iranians) from each others’ throats. Add to that a daily trickle of body bags as one or two GIs die every couple of days. That wouldn’t be very fun to run on, would it? Especially since Bush avoided the horrors of a long, drawn out guerilla war once before!
This would be a fascinating example of dog-wagging. At least President Clinton actually tossed some cruise missles around when he was accused of doing it to distract the nation from him “doing it.” In Bush’s case, however war with Iraq will have been talked up, the Middle East destabilized, the UN insulted and our reputation trashed with allies—all for short-term election gains. (Well, not all for short-term gains. No doubt there are plenty of true believers who think that Saddam should be blowed up real good, but trying to divine the influence of people like Karl Rove, Dick Cheney et al., is akin to Kremlinology.) A post-election change in rhetoric would prove the influence of “General Rove.”

Not so fast, Mr. President

Christopher Allbritton — Thu, 10 Oct 2002 13:06:29 +0000

There is a time when politicians should be applauded. This is one of those times. Reps. Spratt of North Carolina and Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., will introduce into the House debate on war with Iraq this alternate resolution. (It’s a PDF to be downloaded.)
In essence it allows military action but only after the UNSC has been allowed to do everything it can, including muscular and intrusive inspections. If the UNSC fails in its duties, the President must come back to Congress and ask for authorization for war against Iraq. (It actually says “military force” instead of war, but still.)
In the case of shooting, “the President should endeavor to form a coalition of allies as broadly based as practicable to support and participate with United States Armed Forces, and should also seek multilateral cooperation and assistance, specifically including Arab and Islamic countries, in the post-conflict reconstruction of Iraq.“
And this:

In the event that the United Nations Security Council does not adopt a resolution as described in section 3, or in the event that such a resolution is adopted but does not sanction the use of force sufficient to compel Iraq’s compliance, and if the President determines that use of the United States Armed Forces is necessary for such compliance, the President should seek authorization from Congress to use military force to compel such compliance.

Clear enough? In essence, come back to us, Mr. President, when you’ve got some proof. Proof that Iraq is the clear and present danger you say it is, and proof that the UNSC is an impotent organization that can’t do its job. Only then do you get the guns.
The House rules committee has allowed this resolution in, so the whole House may vote on it. It likely won’t pass, but it’s a saner voice than what we’re hearing from the White House.
I don’t know Spratt or Snyder or other other sponsors of this resolution, but I suspect that I should. Thank you, gentlemen.