Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:35:32 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Nibras Kazimi :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Nibras+Kazimi istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/stop-terrors-next-act/82252/ Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Senator Obama has some explaining to do: what does he mean by saying that he would end the war in Iraq? Whereas some aspects of the war seem to indicate that America is at war with itself as the Iraq debate rages in a charged partisan atmosphere, yet it is often the case that wars usually involve more than one side. So who is America at war with in Iraq? And is the enemy willing to end the war, and under what conditions? Then there is another existential conundrum that Mr. Obama needs to... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/irans-shifting-strategy/76263/ Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 EST The healing in Iraq and the deterioration in Lebanon are not unrelated. In fact, Iraq will serve as both cause and effect to Lebanon's misfortunes. Iran, eclipsed in Sadr City, had decided to allow its sectarian acolytes to put on a show of strength in Beirut. And the jihadists of Al Qaeda's ilk, soon to be eclipsed in Mosul, will migrate to Beirut to meet Iran's challenge. Five years ago, there was a hope that held Iraq as a would-be beacon for democracy throughout the Middle East, but that... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/what-happened-in-basra/76187/ Fri, 9 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Ever since the prime minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, launched Operation Cavalry Charge in Basra on March 25, which has been going on there and elsewhere across Iraq, three important conclusions can be drawn: the Iraqi state and the Iraqi army can function on their own; an influential figure in Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr, is much weaker than he was deemed to be; and Iran has bet on the wrong horse. As a result of being unable to rely on Mr. Sadr's organization, Iran would lose a menacing avenue... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/foreign/paladin-gears-up-for-war/65662/ Thu, 1 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST The first minute of "The Kingdom," which is currently in cinemas, is great. The movie tells the story of an FBI team hunting down a terrorist cell that attacked an American civilian compound in Saudi Arabia, and it begins by giving American audiences a primer on the last 300 years of Saudi history. The gist of it is that the Wahhabis are the enemy — a rather accurate summary. Here's another thought: My enemy's enemy is my proxy army. The Wahhabis and the Shiites are sworn opponents, and America... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/lebanese-malaise/64568/ Mon, 15 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EST Lebanon is undergoing a crisis, so what's new? The latest upswing in tension involves choosing a new president for the country, a constitutional act that has to be done through a parliamentary vote by November 24, the date on which outgoing President Lahoud must vacate the presidential palace in Ba'abda nestling high above Beirut. This should be an easy enough task, but Lebanon is mired in political gridlock, and whoever is chosen as a compromise candidate between the various factions is likely... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/of-tribes-and-men/63271/ Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST The Sept. 13 murder of Sheikh Sattar Abu Risha was tragic, but not catstrophic. His death does not change the vastly improved situation in Anbar Province, since his role in its pacification was exaggerated from the beginning. Anbar stabilized for a variety of reasons that had nothing to do with Abu Risha or America's counterinsurgency efforts there — something that the American military command has yet to figure out. Abu Risha found himself in the limelight at the right time and place, and the... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/americas-future-ally/61960/ Wed, 5 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST For the past two months, I've been traveling around the Middle East for this paper, looking for trends, and it's no wonder why I haven't written anything throughout that time — nothing looks certain. My itinerary has taken me to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey — each of them has ongoing major stories — but it's been one long murky summer where much seems to be in flux. The one trend that seems crystal clear to me is that Iraq will make it; Iraq will turn out fine. Jordan is dealing with its... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/let-beasts-devour-beasts/56857/ Tue, 19 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST I hereby declare victory. I believe the Sunni insurgency in Iraq has collapsed, and all the casualty tallies that the insurgents are desperately trying to ratchet-up won't convince me otherwise. The odor of defeat hangs heavily around the "dead-enders" — a term I'd like to bring back into vogue because it's an apt description for those gangs that remain to be hunted down, and who will be responsible for the baseline violence we will continue to see there, but at levels Iraqis can live with and... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/among-the-believers-in-liberty/56257/ Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST President Bush came to Prague and mapped out a legacy, but offered no immediate policy. Standing before an audience consisting of former and current dissidents from around the Middle East and the world as well as sympathetic European heads of state and officials at the Democracy and Security Conference held within the halls of the Foreign Ministry of the Czech Republic, Mr. Bush said most of the right things and occasionally in the right way — words and ideas that will be long remembered — but... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/perfect-enemy/55690/ Fri, 1 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST Let's take a look at a map of the Middle East through the eyes of a jihadist strategist and ask, "Where to next after Iraq and Afghanistan?" A plausible answer would be Syria and Lebanon, and the latter would only be useful as a base from which to operate within Syria — the real prize for the jihadists. The ruling regime in Syria embodies the "Perfect Enemy" from a jihadist vantage point: it is equally tyrannical, ideologically abhorrent, and controlled by a sect that the jihadists view as... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/smug-in-damascus/54884/ Mon, 21 May 2007 00:00:00 EST Why are dictatorships so keen on going through the motions of a democratic process? This is an especially pressing question to ponder in a country like Syria that held a parliamentary election on April 23 and is due to hold a presidential referendum — not an actual election but rather a show of support for President al Asad — on May 27. Over a two-week period, and while traveling throughout Syria, I could not find a single person who had voted for the parliament. Granted, my sample of the... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/absolutely-worth-it/51068/ Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST "Was it worth it?" is a question that I hear at every anniversary of the Iraq war, and it gets more pointed and pained — and asked more accusingly by some — with every passing year and especially this week as we mark the fourth anniversary after a particularly rough year. And I can never understand the bewildered and disappointed look upon the questioner's face — whether they be well-meaning or sanctimonious — when I answer, matter-of-factly, "Yes, of course." I am expected to atone for all... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/jihadist-meltdown/50244/ Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST There is always a moment during a raging battle when one side realizes that the field has been won, and the other side collapses in retreat and confusion. The curious thing about the Iraqi insurgency is that this moment has arrived, yet both the victors, in this case the Americans and the Iraqi government, and the losers, Al Qaeda and the other jihadist groups, are reluctant to acknowledge it. But make no mistake, the battle has been turned and we are witnessing the beginning of a jihadist... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/fiery-dangerous-words/48783/ Fri, 16 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST Some very incendiary words are being said these days in the Middle East: Sunnis and Shiites are trading insults, barbs, and, most ominously, threats on a scale not heard before. This agitation is being cynically manipulated by some Sunni Arab regimes — namely the rulers of Saudi Arabia — that hope that sectarian demarcation will ward off alleged Iranian and Shiite designs for regional domination. The Saudis think that the damage done by dividing societies into warring sects can be contained... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/blackout-of-the-press/48291/ Thu, 8 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST Abu Omar al-Baghdadi made his grand entrance onto the jihadist stage on October 12, 2006, and since then he's delivered two very important speeches — the more recent one came out last week — and has taken credit for much of the spectacular outbreaks of violence in Iraq of late, yet he still can't get his name in print on the pages of the New York Times. Why are the editors and reporters of that paper not telling their readers anything about Iraq's top terrorist? Abu Omar al-Baghdadi is Al... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/turnaround-in-baghdad/47363/ Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST There has been a flurry of press reports recently about insurgents battling American and Iraqi security forces on Haifa Street in Baghdad, and around the rural town of Buhruz in Diyala Province. These same insurgents also claimed to have shot down a Black Hawk helicopter near Buhruz. At the same time, the Americans and Iraqis are declaring a major victory as evidenced by the increased number of dead or captured militants, and the uncovering of massive weapons caches. So, what is going on? What... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/aftermath-of-a-hanging/46294/ Tue, 9 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST The tyrant was taunted and bullied. The condemned man heard some harsh words before he dangled. Woe to mankind. Most commentators should have described the hurried hanging of Saddam Hussein and the sectarian chants emanating from the excited bodyguards that accompanied the execution as a regrettable set of circumstances and then moved on. But no, most chose to dwell on it and turn it into a tirade against the whole legitimacy of removing Saddam from power. Their indignation was fake because it... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/grand-distraction/46045/ Wed, 3 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST An embarrassing internal feud among Saudi royals has been on public display for over two weeks. It first came to light on December 11, 2006, when Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki al-Faisal, summoned his staff and told them that he's calling it quits. The Saudi government was so red-faced about what happened, they instructed their press not to report anything about Prince Turki's resignation for a week. Ostensibly, the ambassador's tantrum came about when his side lost a... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/standoff-in-beirut/45609/ Fri, 22 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST What happens when you couple a Mexican standoff with a game of Russian roulette? You get Lebanese politics over the last several weeks: The revolvers are out, the politicians keep pulling at the trigger, and luckily, so far, no bullets have been chambered. There are two groups in this standoff. They are polarizing Lebanese society based on sectarian identity and accusing one another of serving foreign interests. On the one hand, there is the opposition that consists of a near-monolith Shiite... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/cognitive-dissonance-on-iraq/44701/ Wed, 6 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST The Iraq Study Group report is due out today, serving to focus minds and sharpen talking points about what to do in Iraq. And yet, for all the time spent talking about this urgent matter, and with all the political and security ramifications at stake, the level of the debate has been intellectually mediocre and muddled with hysterics. Many commentators are herding into three "exit plan" categories: (1) the counterinsurgency cannot win militarily and we must grant political concessions to the... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/al-muhajirs-evil-presence/43815/ Mon, 20 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST The bad guys are now celebrating the Democratic Party's sweep of Congress in the belief that the American electorate has pronounced its verdict on the grand visions of the neoconservatives — the fall guys for what is hyperbolically called the "catastrophe in Iraq." The most compelling example of this jubilation has been the audio message released by the current head of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the elusive Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, who read the election results as a victory for his dark cause. At... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/something-is-changing/42946/ Mon, 6 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST Lately, I've been hearing worrisome things about the Iraq Study Group. James Baker, the co-chairman of this congressionally mandated bipartisan body, reportedly is going to recommend some radical strategic changes in America's Iraq policy. But my worries were laid to rest last week when President Bush made it very clear that he is indeed staying the course, even though he put some rhetorical distance between himself and the loaded catchphrase. According to multiple sources, the Baker report, to... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/iraq-is-succeeding/42234/ Wed, 25 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST There are legitimate concerns over where things stand in Iraq. Those who are genuinely worried about the welfare of the Iraqi people as well as about America's long-term interests should be commended for fretting over what is a fatefully decisive issue. However, these anxieties are being preyed upon and manipulated by dark and cynical forces whose affirmed goal, from the very beginning, was to declare the democratic experiment in Iraq a "failure." Within Iraq, the jihadists and Baathists are... Nibras Kazimi http://www.nysun.com/opinion/alevis-in-the-balance/41692/ Tue, 17 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST "The Alevis maintain the secular balance in Turkey," the thoughtful man said, "They are the infantry of Kemalism," alluding to the radically anti-religious doctrines laid out by modern Turkey's founder, Kemal Ataturk. Well, so much for secularism and Kemalism, I thought to myself. The Alevis are Muslim only in name, for under a thin veneer of Islamic symbolism survives the animating creeds of ancient folk religions. Facts and myths about Alevi history, identity and numbers have been an integral... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/return-of-the-gazi/40236/ Mon, 25 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST Psychoanalyzing the Turkish nation is a favorite pastime for many analysts since Turkey's recurring identity crisis gives ample material for all sorts of conjecture: Is it trying to be Western? Is Turkey trying to rediscover its eastern roots? Is it getting more comfortable with its Ottoman inheritance? This has been going on for decades, with some haughty Westerners finding it bemusing that a Muslim nation is trying so hard to put on sophisticated — read European — airs. Well, now Turkey's... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/lebanons-fuse/39089/ Tue, 5 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST The latest flare-up in Lebanon was not an isolated incident, but rather the beginning of a global war. Powerful historical forces are astir rendering diplomatic quick-fixes to no avail. Dormant hatreds are being awakened, and the Middle East is seized with the hallucinations of vengeful fever. It will turn ugly, bearing out the worst in every civilization, including the Western one. I was blissfully certain that this war would take at least another two years to kick-off, but I was very wrong... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/islam-and-the-city/38534/ Fri, 25 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST While meeting in the Algerian capital in 2004, the foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference decided that it was time to showcase Islamic civilization to the rest of the world. They resolved to pick a set of cities each year and designate them as Capitals of Islamic Culture within the categories of Asia, Africa, and the Arab states. Mecca, being Mecca, was designated as the sole capital for the first year of the program, but for the year 2006, Iran's Isfahan, Mali's... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/battle-of-baghdad/37573/ Wed, 9 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST For the past few weeks, Baghdad was astir with news of an imminent coup d'etat. Those in power were worried, and those near power were looking forward to a political reshuffle from which they would emerge ahead. The scene included ambitious officers who half-jokingly promised plush diplomatic posts to their civilian friends, and prominent politicians who assumed that the military conspirators would call upon them to lead the country through a government of national unity. Desperate times... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/quietly-smiling/37293/ Thu, 3 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST Who knew the Syrians were this clever? But then again, wits are sharpened when survival instincts kick in. Most people, including Israel's strategists, are busy wondering how Hezbollah's actions three weeks ago complement Iran's grand designs. All along, though, the timing and the scope of the melee were being decided in Damascus. I can imagine a graying general, sitting in his new office in Damascus, one that had just been vacated by a high level defector. The general sits there pondering... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/sunni-revivalism/35741/ Mon, 10 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EST The morning headlines screamed news of Israeli forces detaining Palestinian officials, and by the late afternoon the patrons of the Rawdha Café in Damascus were astir. Emotions ran high as the crowd chanted and taunted, and waved flags. Some painted their faces with national colors as if ready for battle. By evening time, the masses of young and old had noisily spilled out into the street — the much-vaunted "Arab Street"— and swarmed in front of what passes for Syria's parliament, shouting and... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/miracle-in-hibhib/34604/ Fri, 16 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST When I once drove through Hibhib, the only thing my traveling companion could note about this little town was its fame for a local sort of moonshine distilled by the townsfolk according to an old and secret recipe. He added that the reason Hibhib's arak - a 50-proof-plus aniseed-flavored alcoholic spirit - is so tasty is the nighttime preparation process during which the fermentation vessels would be dipped into the cool waters of a nearby stream, or so he was told. Well, as of a couple of days... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/limbo-by-veto/33959/ Tue, 6 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST This is the new modus operandi of government in Iraq: four power centers, each with widely disparate goals, are tasked with running a country. Each nexus has the power to veto whatever proposal conflicts with its vision, and each is in turn composed of sub-committees whereby individual members also wield veto authority, which may be exercised for reasons that vary from ideological hairsplitting to pettiness and spite. To make sense of this model, let us solve a problem: picking the next... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/human-torpedo/33630/ Wed, 31 May 2006 00:00:00 EST Meet Mahmoud. Mahmoud would merely register as a statistical blip on a population chart somewhere, but this make-believe character - a 15 year-old, upper-middle-class Egyptian that I constructed in my head - is going to matter a great deal in a decade's time. He may be the next president of Egypt, or he may turn out to be a suicide bomber. In the last couple of weeks, policy has perceptibly shifted in Washington. While the Bush administration claims that it is sticking to the "democracy in the... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/what-about-the-druze/32823/ Tue, 16 May 2006 00:00:00 EST Senator Biden, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, recently suggested a plan for fixing Iraq by breaking it apart. He says he wants to give the various ethnic and religious components of Iraq "some breathing space." But what about everyone else in the Middle East who is gasping for air? Fragmenting a country as focal as Iraq sets an intriguing precedent for the entire region: it is an admission that the post-World War I security arrangement arrived at by former colonial... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/niche-vs-mainstream/32411/ Tue, 9 May 2006 00:00:00 EST The world heard recently from the top three global jihadists out there: Osama Bin Laden, Abu Musaab Al-Zarqawi, and Ayman Zawahiri, each released propaganda tracts that had analysts scurrying to explain the significance of their timing and wording. Much was made of what has been self-evident for a while: the leaders of terror are competing for top billing. Although Bin Laden still claims place of pride among them, there is a question mark as to who takes over after his demise. It is less a... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/dangerous-lineup/31661/ Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST As recently as a year ago, laughter would have met anyone speculating that Nouri Al-Maliki would one day become a candidate for the prime minister's job. In fact, plenty of people in the Iraqi political class wondered whether I was joking or had flipped out when I began warning them two weeks ago that should Ibrahim Al-Jaafari relinquish his mandate to form a government, then Maliki would be the United Iraqi Alliance's choice. It is gratifying that my speculation panned out, but this outcome is... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/mubarak-the-shameless/31350/ Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST Nowhere have the enemies of democracy taken as much heart as in Hosni Mubarak's Egypt. Whether it is the Egyptian strongman himself, or Egyptian terrorist Ayman Zawahiri, those enemies seem to relish the fact that President Bush's doctrine of spreading democracy has been so thoroughly undermined in Cairo. In fact, they would hasten to add that it is practically dead and over with, and the Middle East must get back to the usual way of doing things. A while ago, I watched a group of Syrian... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/abu-omar-vs-the-shias/30860/ Wed, 12 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST The American government, acting upon the advice of its ambassador in Baghdad, has unwisely maneuvered itself into the anti-Shia camp, which is a problematic development since the Shias are more than 60% of Iraq's population and have been consistent in their support for the democratic process. By picking sides as to who gets to become prime minister for the next four years, and in contravention of the voting tallies, America is making an unstable situation far more volatile. America is not... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/deadlock-in-beirut/30643/ Fri, 7 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST The next "dialogue" session among Lebanon's political bosses has been postponed until much later this month, bringing welcome news to Beirut's motorists and those who fear the outbreak of sectarian strife. Whenever the heads of Lebanon's six major factions get together to sort out their latest spate of feuds - this time over who gets to appoint a president for the republic - on the neutral grounds of parliament in Nejmeh Square, traffic between the three lobes of Beirut grinds to a halt as... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/shabby-inheritance/29275/ Thu, 16 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EST Dictatorships usually derive continuity from having a group of people who will fight to the death to maintain the status quo. Syria is most definitely a dictatorship, but finding its base is a hard thing to do these days. Three weeks ago, two events occurred in Damascus that gave some indication as to Syria's economic direction: a first KFC fast food joint was opened in an upscale neighborhood, and taxi meters were recalibrated to reflect increasing international prices as the government starts... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/zarqawis-heartbreak/28870/ Thu, 9 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EST In Abu Musaab Al-Zarqawi's fantasy world, the jihadist movement would eventually bear fruit in an Islamic empire with a Caliph restored at its head, and the place where this fantasy would play out is Damascus - the enchanted oasis that the Prophet Muhammad had likened to paradise. Muhammad was a merchant traveling the trade route from Syria to Mecca, and had made the journey at least twice, but according to tradition he never entered the city, only glimpsing it from afar, and in one account, he... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/divorce-iraqi-style/28418/ Thu, 2 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EST The unity of Iraq is not sacrosanct. Certainly it is no more hallowed than human life or the symbols of religious faith that vast numbers of people are attached to. National pacts and national identities are supposed to be utilitarian: creating a single unit out of composite groups for the common good. However, when unions result in an uncomfortable embrace, level-headed people should consider dismembering states that do not function well. The idea of keeping Iraq together even though Sunni and... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/ashen-cedars/27659/ Wed, 15 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST Who among Washington's diplomats and spooks, will take responsibility for smashing Lebanon, should that be the consequence of their half-measures? Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the terrorist attack that targeted and killed former Prime Minister Hariri. It has been an eventful year for Lebanon: the murder heralded a public outcry that galvanized a nation into action, giving the world beautifully choreographed images of young Lebanese men and women defying 30 years of Syrian... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/malevolent-effervescence/27245/ Wed, 8 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST What connects Hamas's recent parliamentary victory with the havoc that was wrought by Lebanese demonstrators over a provocative Danish cartoon, and with the recent release of a big-budget Turkish movie in which renegade American soldiers indiscriminately kill Iraqi babies? There is a dark spiritual effervescence that sputters out periodically from the Middle East in fits of mayhem stemming from a revenge fantasy that has been festering for 300 years. It gets couched in convenient "us" versus... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/secular-insecurities/26479/ Wed, 25 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST Turks tense up in a display of natural, reflexive patriotism when outsiders discuss their country's problems. But in some places of the world, patriotic myths are stringent and uncompromising, and such is the case with Turkey. Outsiders who want the best for Turkey should be mindful of this ultra-sensitivity and work around the useless outcome of provoking it, while Turks should take into account that their own edginess is holding them back, to the delight of those who mean them malice. Enter... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/fighting-over-spoils/26076/ Wed, 18 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST There is a widening rift among insurgent groups in Iraq, but this does not mean that the insurgency is about to be defeated, or even abated. On the contrary, judging by a recent spike in jihadist propaganda - noted for its quantity and emerging sophistication - one would conclude that the terrorists seem to think that victory is within their grasp, and they have begun to fight over who claims it, and the promised spoils in tow. These days, policy makers are trying to concoct designations to... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/slightly-pregnant/25707/ Wed, 11 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST Folks in Washington nowadays have taken note of the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and its sister organization in Iraq, the Islamic Party, and optimistically tag such phenomena as "moderate" or "mainstream" Sunni Islamism. There is a hope that such resurgent religious groups would undermine Al-Qaeda's monopoly on politicized Islam and that the Brothers in Egypt and elsewhere would serve as the lesser of two evils for America's interests, much like the secular military dictatorships now... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/retro-revolutionaries/25054/ Wed, 28 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The generation that bled away its youth to establish Iran's Islamic Revolution is now in power, and its leading lights are going through a dangerous mid-life crisis. But instead of cruising around in flashy sports cars, they seek to recapture their revolutionary virility by possessing a nuclear bomb. The world community has tried to set-up a pleasant 'intervention,' but Iran increasingly looks as if it needs to be forcefully checked into rehab. The salt-and-pepper bearded top echelons of the... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/lost-round/24807/ Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST Iraq did not hold an election last week - it held a census. Shias voted for a "Shia" list, Sunnis for a "Sunni" list, and Kurds turned out for a "Kurdish" list. The margin for non-sectarian lists - all encompassing, issues-specific "Iraqi" lists - has thinned out since the elections last January. Almost three years after liberation and probably midway through a harrowing insurgency, Iraq's various communities are closing ranks unto themselves in anticipation of even more difficult times ahead... NIBRAS KAZIMI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/mehlis-mess/24041/ Tue, 6 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The investigation launched by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis - as mandated by the United Nations Security Council resolution - into the assassination of the former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafiq Hariri, has collapsed. It can now be demonstrated that Mehlis was duped by two witnesses whose testimonies provided the bulk of his October 21 report that at the time seemed to confirm widely suspected Syrian complicity in Hariri's murder. Doubts had been cast on the veracity of a key witness...