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POPSInterview with an Iranian demonstrator: "don't leave us alone" One Iranian demonstrator, in a phone interview with CNN American Morning, pleads with the world to intervene on behalf of the protestors. He is very direct and forthright and calls on Obama to treat the current Iranian regime as criminal and "insane." This isn't what I would have expected him to say.
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POPSContinuing coverage of the Georgian situation from Eurasianet Some reportage on the bombing of Tbilisi airport. I can't foresee this ending well. From the story: "In a conference call with reporters, Lomaia outlined what he believed to be the remaining options for Georgia in its struggle against Russia: a deployment of military equipment 'not to fight, but to deter them'; and, the arrival of 'a very, very high representative of a foreign government for a few days' to demonstrate international support for Georgia. 'Frankly speaking, we do not see any other way of stopping these people,' he said."
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POPSLatest on the fate of Burmese protesters Prosecutions of those detained in September's protests in Burma are beginning. The government says it plans to prosecute only those involved in violent protests; international observers say many thousands are still in detention or unaccounted for.
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POPSMusharraf's speech defending martial law You probably know that Musharraf declared martial law on Nov. 2 against the strongly expressed wishes of U.S. and other Western diplomats. The irony is that he claims (quite plausibly, in my view, but I don't know that much about it) to be doing it in order to prevent Pakistan being overrun by violent Islamist agitators, which would be a disaster of unfathomable proportions for the GWOT and U.S. policy generally (not to mention India and Afghanistan). I'm mystified about what the U.S. really wants Musharraf to do.
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POPSIs an end to capital punishment possible? Today was the international Day against the Death Penalty. Worldwide, more countries are placing moratoria on executions. Only "25 countries carried out executions in 2006," and "91% in just six countries: China, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and the USA." Hmm. I suppose we're in good company.
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POPSPalestinian blogger: Hamas & Fatah, go to hell! The title says it all. He, too, sees Western support of Fatah as a treacherous and cynical way of prolonging intra-Palestinian conflict and sacrificing Palestinian lives. Palestinians, he says, want the PA and Fatah -- both corrupt -- and Hamas -- equally brutal and dangerous -- dismantled and an international peacekeeping force sent in to keep order. PS If you're interested in this kind of thing, and you don't read http://globalvoicesonline.org, check it out!
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POPSReaction to State of the Union address in Arab world While Bush tries to fan the flames in the Middle East by equating Shi'ite militias with al-Qaeda, we're seeing a significant (and, as far as I know, unprecedented) rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, both of whom are interested in keeping Iraq's violence from spilling over the borders.
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POPSNazi-hunter Wiesenthal no longer to be "vicarious" Mormon Apparently Simon Wiesenthal's name was entered into the Latter-Day Saints' genealogical database, a first step towards "vicarious" (posthumous) baptism into the Church. After vehement protests from the Wiesenthal Center, LDS spokespeople say the name is removed.
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POPSChina, India, Russia, and global energy security Russia has led a worldwide move away from fungible petroleum sold on dollar-denominated exchanges towards an increasing reliance on long-term, rigid, bilateral supply contracts and nationalized resource companies, effectively taking oil "off the market" with respect to Western economies and throttling growth. In addition, new petroleum exchanges coming online in Shanghai, St. Petersburg, and Qatar, denominated in yuan, rubles and Euros, threaten to torpedo the dollar.
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