On a mule: the first American visitor to Iraq

" ... The next eight weeks, filled with danger and exhilaration, were the high point of Grant’s life.  In Hakkari he discovered a wonderland of snow-crusted peaks, rushing rivers, and terraced gardens.  He met the Christians’ patriarch, Mar Shimun, and made plans for American schools in the mountains.  The Nestorians flocked to greet him and receive medical care, and the Kurds came as well.  A terrifying encounter with Nurullah, the murderer of Schulz, ended in triumph when Grant “cured” the Kurd of a flu-like illness using a powerful dose of tartar emetic.  By Christmas 1839 he had returned to the American mission station in Urmia, northwest Iran, where he had begun his long journey ten months before.

Grant’s goals were plain: to heal the sick, to bolster the area’s Nestorian Christians for the fight against “Mohammedan delusion,” and to prepare them to lead in the “spiritual regeneration of Asia.”  The grandiosity of this plan did nothing to keep him, in the remaining four years of his life, from striving for its fulfillment.  Reality, of course, steered him in quite a different direction.

Mountain life, Grant discovered, was hard.  Hakkari’s windowless hovels were built of mud and stone.  Its terraced fields, hacked from the rock, shuddered beneath the assaults of winter avalanches and spring floods.  From their caves, bears emerged to ravage crops and kill sheep; and the wolves were never far behind.

Among humans, intrigue abounded.  The Kurdish emir, Nurullah, plotted against the Nestorian patriarch, Mar Shimun, a prelate who carried a loaded rifle whenever he went abroad.  Nurullah’s nephew, also a Muslim and a good friend of the patriarch, plotted against his uncle. Some Christian tribesmen wanted to kill the emir; others planned to kill their own patriarch. The Turkish pasha in Mosul wanted to hang all of them.  And all the while the raiding, blood feuds, brigandage, and sheep-stealing went back and forth in every possible Christo-Kurdish combination, with the Christians making a special point every Good Friday to attack the Jews.

Dr. Grant’s arrival, all parties believed, foretold European encroachment and conquest.  Thus, though he abjured politics, his very presence made a political statement.  Strictly honest in his dealings, generous and kindly to a fault, Grant and his motives were always suspect. When he built a mission house in Asheetha, a Nestorian village, all assumed that he was building a fortified castle.  In a world where only “my enemy’s enemy” was a friend, the man who loved all people was building on sand. ... "

 

~ From Asahel Grant: The First American to Fail in Iraq ~

 

We worry about a nutcase U.S. president destroying the world to save it

At a press conference in Islamabad today, Pakistani Brig. Gen. Atta M. Iqhman expressed concern about U.S. procedures for handling nuclear weapons. Iqhman, who oversees the safety and security of the Pakistani nuclear force, said that U.S. protocols for storing and handling nuclear weapons are inadequate. "In Pakistan, we store nuclear warheads separately from their delivery systems, and a nuclear warhead can only be activated if three separate officers agree," Iqhman said. "In the United States, almost 20 years after the end of the Cold War, nuclear weapons still sit atop missiles, on hair-trigger alert, and it only takes two launch-control officers to activate a nuclear weapon. The U.S. government has persistently ignored arms control experts around the world who have said they should at least de-alert their weapons."

Iqhman also questioned the adequacy of U.S. procedures for handling nuclear weapons. He expressed particular concern about the August 29, 2007, incident in which six nuclear weapons were accidentally loaded under the wing of a B-52 by workers who did not observe routine inspection procedures and thought they were attaching conventional weapons to the B-52. The flight navigator should have caught their mistake, but he neglected to inspect the weapons as required. For several hours the nuclear weapons were in the air without anyone's knowledge. "The United States needs to develop new protocols for storing and loading nuclear weapons, and it needs to do a better job of recruiting and training the personnel who handle them," Iqhman said.

Iqhman added the Pakistani government would be willing to offer technical advice and assistance to the United States on improving its nuclear weapons handling procedures. Speaking anonymously because of the issue's sensitivity, senior Pentagon officials said it is Washington's role to give, not receive, advice on nuclear weapons safety and surety issues.

Iqhman pointed out that the August 29 event was not an isolated incident; there have been at least 24 accidents involving nuclear weapons on U.S. planes. He mentioned a 1966 incident in which four nuclear weapons fell to the ground when two planes collided over Spain, as well as a 1968 fire that caused a plane to crash in Greenland with four hydrogen bombs aboard. In 1980, a Titan II missile in Arkansas exploded during maintenance, sending a nuclear warhead flying 600 feet through the air. In a remark that visibly annoyed a U.S. official present at the briefing, Iqhman described the U.S. nuclear arsenal as "an accident waiting to happen."

Jay Keuse of MSNBC News asked Iqhman if Pakistan was in any position to be lecturing other countries given Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan's record of selling nuclear technology to other countries. "All nuclear weapons states profess to oppose proliferation while helping select allies acquire nuclear weapons technology," Iqhman replied. "The United States helped Britain and France obtain the bomb; France helped the Israelis; and Russia helped China. And China," he added coyly, "is said by Western media sources to have helped Pakistan. So why can't Pakistan behave like everyone else?"

Iqhman's deputy, Col. Bom Zhalot also expressed concern about the temperament of the U.S. public, asking whether they had the maturity and self-restraint to be trusted with the ultimate weapon. "Their leaders lecture us on the sanctity of life, and their president believes that every embryo is sacred, but they are the only country to have used these terrible weapons--not just once, but twice. Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the plane that bombed Hiroshima, said he never lost a night's sleep over killing 100,000 people, many of them women and children. That's scarcely human."

While Iqhman glared reproachfully at Zhalot for this rhetorical outburst, Zhalot continued: "We also worry that the U.S. commander-in-chief has confessed to having been an alcoholic. Here in Pakistan, alcohol is 'haram,' so this isn't a problem for us. Studies have also found that one-fifth of U.S. military personnel are heavy drinkers. How many of those have responsibility for nuclear weapons?"

John G. Libb of the Washington Times asked if Americans were wrong to be concerned about Pakistan's nuclear stockpile given the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan. Colonel Zhalot replied: "Millions of Americans believe that these are the last days and that they will be raptured to heaven at the end of the world. You have a president who describes Jesus as his favorite philosopher, and one of the last remaining candidates in your presidential primaries is a preacher who doesn't believe in evolution. Many Pakistanis worry that the United States is being taken over by religious extremists who believe that a nuclear holocaust will just put the true believers on a fast track to heaven. We worry about a nutcase U.S. president destroying the world to save it."

U.S. diplomats in Pakistan declined comment.

 

~ Source: A Pakistani view of U.S. nuclear weapons ~

 

Karachi: People's Resistance Street Theater

I do not remember if I have called to your attention the exemplary work being done for the cause of freedom and justice in Pakistan by the People’s Resistance - “a coalition of civil society organizations that includes Karachi WAF, HRCP, Women’s Peace Commission, lawyers, journalists, and other professionals.”

They have participated in marches, rallied, held candle-light vigils, and hosted banned TV shows on the streets. You can go through abro’s flickr set to see the amazing work.

It is their public theater that has intrigued me the most. The plays are the brainchild of Shahid Shafaat. This description from Emergency Times:

Yesterday (Feb.5th, Tuesday), the street theatre group of PR did three chilling performances on sea view. It was an 8 minutes long theatre which highlighted the plight of a poor household, where a ‘chowkidaar’ takes absolute control by promising ‘khushhaali’ to its inhabitants. Instead of their situation getting any better, the family is fed-up by the chowkidaar’s demands for security measures in their home. Finally, complete chaos takes place as the situation of the family and of society in general goes from bad to worst. During the pandemonium, the narrator stops everyone and interacts with the crowd.

A lot of different and interesting views were exchanged with people on the beach. However, probably because of my green army cap and crude punjabi-accented portrayal of the ‘chowkidaar’, people immediately answered Musharaff as the main culprit for the family’s plight. When asked what could be the solution for the household’s problems, many people simply suggested the removal of the army from civilian affairs, while others stated that all of us have to work together for the nation’s betterment.

You can see pictures and also read about their first play, Jadugar at Teeth Maestro as well.

 

~ From Chapati Mystery ~

 

Subsidy tease for a solar grand plan

A recent issue of Scientific American featured a "Solar Grand Plan." Its authors described a way for the United States to obtain nearly 100 percent of its electricity and 90 percent of its total energy, including transportation, from solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal resources by end-of-century. Electricity would cost a comfortable 5 cents per kilowatt hour.

U.S. carbon emissions would be reduced 62 percent from their 2005 levels. Some 600 coal and gas-fired power plants would be displaced. The federal investment would be $400 billion over the next 40 years ($10 billion a year) to deploy renewable technologies and suitable transmission infrastructure.

If that future seems too good to be true, then look at two other studies during the past 13 months that have reached similar conclusions: one sponsored by the American Solar Energy Society (PDF), the other by the Nuclear Policy Research Institute and the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. All three concur that energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies can satisfy the nation's demand for power without additional nuclear or fossil-fueled power plants.

If $400 billion seems unaffordable, consider: It's less money than the federal government already has spent on the Iraq war, only a third of the $1.2 trillion that some experts now predict the war will cost, and only a sixth of the federal government's current annual subsidies for fossil and nuclear energy...

~ Read on... ~

 

Plight of the Homeless Veteran - A Tale as Ancient as Rome

The financial strain from extended tours of duty is part of the reason for this travesty, where one in four members of the National Guard have lost their jobs while serving overseas and the government refuses to do anything about it.

It's a very old tradition that repeats over and over again throughout history, where the bravest and most patriotic of the working class get screwed first. It is particularly likely to occur when a republic begins to drift towards empire.


"The wild beasts that roam over Italy have every one of them a cave or lair to lurk in; but the men who fight and die for Italy enjoy the common air and light, indeed, but nothing else; houseless and homeless they wander about with their wives and children. And it is with lying lips that their imperators exhort the soldiers in their battles to defend sepulchres and shrines from the enemy; for not a man of them has an hereditary altar, not one of all these many Romans an ancestral tomb, but they fight and die to support others in wealth and luxury, and though they are styled masters of the world, they have not a single clod of earth that is their own."
-Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus

 

[ ... ]

 

By Roman law, legionaries were required to serve in a complete campaign, no matter how long it took. Soldiers were forced to leave their farms in the hands of their wives and children.
Starting with the Punic Wars, the typical military campaign was extended from a couple seasons to a couple years. These small farms gradually went into bankruptcy and were bought up by the wealthy families, creating huge estates. Also, the successful wars brought in huge numbers of captured slaves from the conquered regions, which were used to work the plantations.
When soldiers returned from the wars they no longer had a farm to return to, so they wound up being part of the teaming masses of homeless on the streets of Rome.

On top of that, the enormous number of soldiers killed fighting Carthage fell disproportionately on these small farmers and working poor, as did the destruction of thousands of farms and villages by Hannibal's armies.
In all, the Punic Wars caused a dramatic shift in power and wealth to the patricians and away from the plebeians. If left unaddressed, this shift would undermine the foundations of the Roman Republic.

 

[ ... ]

 

 In his crusade to help the homeless veterans, Tiberius reached back into ancient Roman history to a law more than two centuries old called Lex Licinia Sextia.
The law was a combination of constitutional and agrarian demands. The constitutional demands had been met centuries before, but the agrarian demands had been largely ignored and unenforced. The law was intended to limit the amount of common and newly conquered lands that the patricians could own.
Tiberius decided that now was the time to enforce this ancient law, which would buy out the illegally occupied land and distribute it to the poor.

The plantation owners reacted to this proposal as one would expect.

 

[ ... ]

 

 On the day of the vote, Tiberius appeared in the Forum in mourning costume, implying that his defeat would mean his impeachment and death. The Senators had had enough. They marched on the Forum armed with clubs and spears.
Tiberius' followers made a stand, but they were overwhelmed by superior numbers. Tiberius was beaten to death on the floor of the Forum.

 

[ ... ]

 

 But the story doesn't end here.

Nine years after Tiberius was slain, Gaius Gracchus was elected tribune of the people.
If they suspected that Gaius would take up where his brother left off, they were wrong - Gaius' plans were even more revolutionary.

 

Of the laws which he now proposed, with the object of gratifying the people and abridging the power of the senate, the first was concerning the public lands, which were to be divided amongst the poor citizens; another was concerning the common soldiers, that they should be clothed at the public charge, without any diminution of their pay, and that none should be obliged to serve in the army who was not full seventeen years old; another gave the same right to all the Italians in general, of voting at elections, as was enjoyed by the citizens of Rome; a fourth related to the price of corn, which was to be sold at a lower rate than formerly to the poor; and a fifth regulated the courts of justice, greatly reducing the power of the senators.

 

In 122 B.C. Gaius illegally ran for re-election, and succeeded with overwhelming support of the people. However, when he ran for a third term as tribune he failed.
The conservative government that replaced him immediately nullified many of his progressive laws. When some of Gaius' supporters resorted to murder, that was all the excuse his opponents needed...

 

~ Read full story... ~