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Obama on Gaza:
Back to 'Globalism' The Shoe-Thrower Becomes an Issue in Iraq Election Homeland Security Forecasts 5-Year Terror Threats Musharraf: India Wouldn't Dare Attack US Surprised by Pakistani Move to Border Gaza Braces for Israeli Offensive Top Iraq Cleric Urges People to Vote in Provincial Poll Bill Clinton May Be Hillary's Special Envoy to India, Pakistan Aussie CEO Detained Under Terrorism Act for Filming Police Could Saber-Rattling Lead to War Between India and Pakistan? Military Adapting Wiimote for Combat Spain PM Says No More Troops for Afghanistan Pakistan Troop Reports Bad News for Terror Fight Two Dangerous Bush-Cheney Myths Unscripted: Green Zone Theater and the Shoe Drama Habeas Corpus Barely Saved Lame Duck Bush Administration Continues to Inflame Islamist Terrorism Gaza Voices, American Silence Out of Sight, Out of Mind Iraq Prison Revolt Leaves 16 Dead, Three al-Qaeda Escape Bush's $1 Trillion War on Terror: Even Costlier Than Expected Qaeda 'Emirs' Flee in Deadly Iraq Jailbreak Maliki Cancels Iran Trip Dismantling the Imperial Presidency
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News
Updated December 27, 2008 - 12:25 PM EST
Israel Strikes Gaza Police, 205 Dead


Obama on Gaza: 'No Comment'

Israel Says Gaza Operation Won't Wrap Up Quickly

Israel-Hamas Fight Could Escalate

US Condemns Hamas, Urges Israel to Avoid Civilian Casualties

Gaza Militants Call for Revenge Attacks on Israel

One Israeli Killed, Four Injured by Palestinian Rocket in West Negev
Cost of Bush's War on Terror Hits $1 Trillion


Study Criticizes Bush Approach to War Funding, Calls for Changes

Homeland Security Forecasts 5-Year Terror Threats
Pakistan Shifts Troops to Indian Border


Pakistan Troop Reports Bad News for US Terror Fight

US Surprised by Pakistani Move to Border

Could Saber-Rattling Lead to War Between India and Pakistan?

Suspected Pakistan Terror Group Will Challenge UN Ban
Iraq Prison Revolt: 16 Dead, 3 al-Qaeda Escape


Qaeda 'Emirs' Flee in Deadly Iraq Jailbreak

Saturday: 31 Iraqis Killed, 76 Wounded
German Police, Military Bicker Over Fault on Afghan Mission


Spain PM Says No More Troops for Afghanistan
Israel's Peres Urges Obama to Delay Talks With Iran
Viewpoints
Dismantling the Imperial Presidency
by Steve Chapman
Back to 'Globalism'
by Gordon Prather
Habeas Corpus Barely Saved
Russia Selling Surface-To-Air Missiles to Libya,
Syria: Report
Israeli MP Demands Barak Be Indicted for Allowing Medicine Into Gaza
Bill Clinton May Be Hillary's Special Envoy to India, Pakistan
Maliki Cancels Iran Trip
Obama Aides Dismiss Reports of Upcoming Iraq Trip
Little Blue Pills Among the Ways CIA Wins Friends in Afghanistan
US Police Could Get 'Pain Beam' Weapons


The Shoe-Thrower Becomes an Issue in Iraq Election
Today in Iraq
Coalition Forces to Remain in Basra Airport's Military Section
Top Iraq Cleric Urges People to Vote in Provincial Poll
Troops in Iraq Mark Time, Holiday
56 Katyusha Launching Pads Seized in Mosul
Talabani, Barazani Discuss Separation of Parties From Govt
Iraq to Replace Martial Monuments With Peace Art
Friday: 26 Iraqis Killed, 18 Wounded
US Military
Military Adapting Wiimote for Combat
Military Tries to Make Base Growth More Green
'War on Terror'
Australia May Take Guantánamo Detainees: Report
Bush Calls Gitmo Just to Say Thanks
Aussie CEO Detained Under Terrorism Act for Filming Police
Israel/Palestine
Israel Opens Gaza Border for Humanitarian Aid
Expecting Israeli Offensive in Gaza, Egypt Boosts Border Security
Palestinian Rocket Misfires, Kills Two Girls in Gaza
Fierce Santas Do Battle With Israeli Security Forces in West Bank
Orgy for Peace Cancelled in Tel Aviv Over Threats
Leftists Rally in Tel Aviv to Protest Impending Gaza Attack
Report: Iran Preps Humanitarian Aid Ship to Gaza Strip
Lebanon/Syria
UN Steps Up Lebanon Border Patrols After Rockets Found
Lebanon Festive for Now, but Tough Issues Ahead
Syria Raises Flag Over Embassy in Beirut

India/Pakistan/Kashmir
PM: Pakistan Will Not Strike First
Musharraf: India Wouldn't Dare Attack
Pakistan Cancels Troops' Leave Over India Tension
Two Girls Killed in Balochistan Bomb Blast
US Urges India, Pakistan to Avoid Raising Tensions
Violence in Indian Kashmir Lowest in Two Decades
Tens of Thousands Mark Bhutto's Death Anniversary
India Warns Citizens It Is Unsafe to Travel to Pakistan
Afghanistan
US-Led Forces Kill 11 Taliban in Southern Afghanistan
Three Foreigners Hurt in Afghan Suicide Attack
Canadian Soldier Killed by Blast in Afghanistan
Four Afghan Children Killed, Six Wounded Playing With Unexploded Mortar Shell
Asia
China, Taiwan Sign Oil Cooperation Deals
9 Killed in Rebel Attacks in Philippines
Bangladesh to Protest Violation of Indian Ships
Balkans
Serbia Arrests 'Ex-KLA Fighters'
Islamic Revival Tests Bosnia's Secular Cast
Somalia
Somalis Held in Ethiopia Capital
China's Navy to Join Pirate Patrols
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Has 'No Intention' of Releasing Activists
Lawyer: Zimbabwe Activist Held in Notorious Prison
Africa
Why Guinea's People Welcomed the Coup
Rock-Thowing Children Wound UN Peacekeeper in Darfur
More News

Columnists
Justin Raimondo12/24/2008Here Come the Progressives!
Ivan Eland12/27/2008Lame Duck Bush Administration Continues to Inflame Islamist Terrorism
Doug Bandow12/26/2008Peace on Earth: Once a Year?
Nebojsa Malic12/25/2008Beginning of the End
David R. Henderson12/24/2008Silent Night
Alan Bock12/22/2008A Legacy of Evil
Praful Bidwai12/21/2008New Anti-Terror Laws Draconian Say Activists
Charles Peña12/17/2008Not Home for the Holidays, Again
Philip Giraldi12/16/2008Israel's 'Get Out of Jail Free' Card
Sascha Matuszak11/10/2008Business Over Bluster
Ran HaCohen11/07/2008Black Israeli Voices on Obama's Victory
Additional Contributors
Ehsan AhrariUri AvneryMatthew BarganierPatrick J. BuchananJuan ColeJonathan Cook Christopher DelisoSibel EdmondsTom EngelhardtMike EwensJoshua FrankAaron GlantzLeon HadarJorge HirschScott Horton Dahr JamailKathy KellyWilliam S. LindJim LobeRay McGovernThomas Gale MooreBrendan O'Neill Rep. Ron PaulJohn PilgerMurray PolnerGareth PorterGordon PratherCharley ReesePaul Craig RobertsMark RothschildMichael Scheuer Norman SolomonPaul SperryJoseph Stromberg Jon Basil UtleyJude WanniskiTeresa WhitehurstAndy Worthington
More Columnists

Reproduction of material from any original Antiwar.com pageswithout written permission is strictly prohibited.Copyright 2008
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November 13, 2008

November 13, 2008
Don't Let Barack Obama Break Your Heart
TomDispatch
On the day that Americans turned out in near record numbers to vote, a record wasset halfway around the world. In Afghanistan, a US Air Force strike wiped out about 40people in a wedding party. This represented at least the sixth wedding party eradicatedby American air power in Afghanistan and Iraq since December 2001.American planes have, in fact, taken out two brides in the last seven months. And don'ttry to bury your dead or mark their deaths ceremonially either, because funerals havebeen hit as well. Mind you, those planes, which have conducted 31% more air strikes inAfghanistan in support of US troops this year, and the missile-armed unmanned aerialvehicles (UAVs) now making almost daily strikes across the border in Pakistan, remainpart of George W. Bush's Air Force, but only until January 21, 2009. Then, they – and allthe brides and grooms of Afghanistan and in the Pakistani borderlands who care to havesomething more than the smallest of private weddings – officially become the propertyof President Barack Obama.That's a sobering thought. He is, in fact, inheriting from the Bush administration awidening war in the region, as well as an exceedingly tenuous situation in devastated,still thoroughly factionalized, sectarian, and increasingly Iranian-influenced Iraq. There,the US is, in actuality, increasingly friendless and ever less powerful. The last allies fromthe infamous "coalition of the willing" are now rushing for the door. The South Koreans,Hungarians, and Bulgarians – I'll bet you didn't even know the latter two had a fewtroops left in Iraq – are going home this year; the rump British force in the south willprobably be out by next summer.The Iraqis are beginning to truly go their own way (or, more accurately, ways); and yet,in January, when Barack Obama enters office, there will still be more American troopsin Iraq than there were in April 2003 when Baghdad fell. Winning an election with anantiwar label, Obama has promised – kinda – to end the American war there and bringthe troops – sorta, mostly – home. But even after his planned 16-month withdrawal ofUS "combat brigades," which may not be welcomed by his commanders in the field,including former Iraq commander, now Centcom Commander David Petraeus, there arestill plenty of combative non-combat forces, which will be labeled "residual" and leftbehind to fight "al-Qaeda." Then, there are all those "advisors" still there to train Iraqiforces, the guards for the giant bases the Bush administration built in the country, themany thousands of armed private security contractors from companies like Blackwater,and of course, the 1,000 "diplomats" who are to staff the newly opened US embassy inBaghdad's Green Zone, possibly the largest embassy on the planet. Hmmmm.And while the new president turns to domestic matters, it's quite possible thatsignificant parts of his foreign policy could be left to the oversight of Vice President JoeBiden who, in case anyone has forgotten, proposed a plan for Iraq back in 2007 so filledwith imperial hubris that it still startles. In a Caesarian moment, he recommended thatthe US – not Iraqis – functionally divide the country into three parts. Although hepreferred to call it a "federal system," it was, for all intents and purposes, a de factopartition plan.If Iraq remains a sorry tale of American destruction and dysfunction without, as yet, adiscernible end in sight, Afghanistan may prove Iraq squared. And there, candidateObama expressed no desire to wind the war down and withdraw American troops. Quitethe opposite, during the election campaign he plunked hard for escalation, somethingour NATO allies are sure not to be too enthusiastic about. According to the Obama plan,many more American troops (if available, itself an open question) are to be poured intothe country in what would essentially be a massive "surge strategy" by yet anotheroccupant of the Oval Office. Assumedly, the new Afghan policy would be aided andabetted by those CIA-run UAVs directed toward Pakistan to hunt down Osama binLaden and pals, while undoubtedly further destabilizing a shaky ally.When it comes to rising civilian casualties from US air strikes in their countries, bothAfghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari have alreadyused their congratulatory phone calls to President-elect Obama to plead for an end tothe attacks, which produce both a profusion of dead bodies and a profusion of live,vengeful enemies. Both have done the same with the Bush administration, Karzai to thepoint of tears.The US military argues that the use of air power is necessary in the face of a spreading,ever more dangerous, Taliban insurgency largely because there are too few boots on theground. ("If we got more boots on the ground, we would not have to rely as much onairstrikes" was the way Army Brig. Gen. Michael Tucker, deputy commander of NATOforces in Afghanistan, put it.) But rest assured, as the boots multiply on increasinglyhostile ground, the military will discover it needs more, not less, air power to back moretroops in more trouble.So, after January 20th, expect Obama to take possession of George Bush's disastrousAfghan War; and unless he is far more skilled than Alexander the Great, British empirebuilders, and the Russians, his war, too, will continue to rage without ever becoming araging success.Finally, President-elect Obama accepted the overall framework of a "Global War onTerror" during his presidential campaign. This "war" lies at the heart of the Bushadministration's fantasy world of war that has set all-too-real expanses of the planetaflame. Its dangers were further highlighted this week by the New York Times, whichrevealed that secret orders in the spring of 2004 gave the US military "new authority toattack the Qaeda terrorist network anywhere in the world, and a more sweepingmandate to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States."At least twelve such attacks have been carried out since then by Special Operationsforces on Pakistan, Somalia, most recently Syria, and other unnamed countries. Signedby Donald Rumsfeld, signed off on by President Bush, built-upon recently by Secretaryof Defense Robert Gates, these secret orders enshrine the Pentagon's right to ignoreinternational boundaries, or the sovereignty of nations, in an endless global "war" ofchoice against small, scattered bands of terrorists.As reporter Jim Lobe pointed out recently, a "series of interlocking grand bargains" inwhat the neoconservatives used to call "the Greater Middle East" or the "arc ofinstability" might be available to an Obama administration capable of genuinely newthinking. These, he wrote, would be "backed by the relevant regional players as well asmajor global powers – aimed at pacifying Afghanistan; integrating Iran into a newregional security structure; promoting reconciliation in Iraq; and launching a credibleprocess to negotiate a comprehensive peace between Israel and the Arab world."If, however, Obama accepts a War on Terror framework, as he already seems to have, aswell as those "residual" forces in Iraq, while pumping up the war in Afghanistan, he mayquickly find himself playing by Rumsfeld rules, whether or not he revokes those specificorders. In fact, left alone in Washington, backed by the normal national security types,he may soon find himself locked into all sorts of unpalatable situations, as oncehappened to another Democratic president, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who opted toescalate an inherited war when what he most wanted to do was focus on domesticpolicy.Previews for a Political Zombie MovieDomestically, it's clear enough that we are about to leave the age of Bush – in toneand policy – but what that leave-taking will consist of is still an open question. This isespecially so given a cratering economy and the pot-holed road ahead. It is a momentwhen Obama has, not surprisingly, begun to emphasize continuity and reassurancealongside his campaign theme of "change we can believe in."All you had to do was look at that array of Clinton-era economic types and CEOs behindObama at his first news conference to think: been there, done that. The full photo of hiseconomic team that day offered a striking profile of pre-Bush era Washington and theWashington Consensus, and so a hint of the Democratic world the new president willwalk into on January 20, 2009.How about former Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Larry Summers, those kingsof 1990s globalization, or even the towering former Fed chief from the first Bush era,Paul Volcker? Didn't that have the look of previews for a political zombie movie, a line-up of the undead? As head of the New America Foundation Steve Clemons has beenwriting recently, the economic team looks suspiciously as if it were preparing for a"Clinton 3.0" moment.You could scan that gathering and not see a genuine rogue thinker in sight; no off-the-reservation figures who might represent a breath of fresh air and fresh thinking (otherthan, being hopeful, the president-elect himself). Clemons offers an interesting list ofjust some obvious names left off stage: "Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, Jeffrey Sachs,James Galbraith, Leo Hindery, Clyde Prestowitz, Charlene Barshefsky, C. Fred Bergsten,Adam Posen, Robert Kuttner, Robert Samuelson, Alan Murray, William Bonvillian,Doug & Heidi Rediker, Bernard Schwartz, Tom Gallagher, Sheila Bair, SherleSchwenninger, and Kevin Phillips."Mobilizing a largely Clintonista brain trust may look reassuring to some – an in-gathering of all the Washington wisdom available before Hurricane Bush/Cheney hittown, but unfortunately, we don't happen to be entering a Clinton 3.0 moment. What'sglobalizing now is American disaster, which threatens to level a vulnerable world.In a sense, though, domestic policy may, relatively speaking, represent the good news ofthe coming Obama era. We know, for instance, that those preparing the way for the newpresident's arrival are thinking hard about how to roll back the worst of Bush cronyism,enrich-yourself-at-the-public-troughism, general lawlessness, and unconstitutionality.As a start, according to Ceci Connolly and R. Jeffrey Smith of the Washington Post,Obama advisers have already been compiling "a list of about 200 Bush administrationactions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White Housepolicies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues,"including oil drilling in pristine wild lands. In addition, Obama's people are evidently atwork on ways to close Guantanamo and try some of its prisoners in US courts.However, if continuity domestically means rollback to the Clinton era, continuity in theforeign policy sphere – Guantanamo aside – may be a somewhat different matter. Wewon't know the full cast of characters to come until the president-elect makes thenecessary announcements or has a national security press conference with a similarlineup behind him. But it's certainly rumored that Robert Gates, a symbol of continuityfrom both Bush eras, might be kept on as secretary of defense, or a Republican senatorlike Richard Lugar of Indiana or, more interestingly, retiring Nebraska Senator ChuckHagel might be appointed to the post. Of course, many Clintonistas are sure to be in thislineup, too.In addition, among the essential cast of characters will be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs,Michael Mullen, and Centcom Commander David Petraeus, both late Bush appointees,both seemingly flexible military men, both interested in a military-plus approach to theAfghan and Iraq wars. Petraeus, for instance, reportedly recently asked for, and wasdenied, permission to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.All these figures will represent a turn away from the particular madness of the earlyBush years abroad, one that actually began in the final years of his second term. Butsuch a national security lineup is unlikely to include fresh thinkers, who might trulyreimagine an imperial world, or anyone who might genuinely buck the power of thePentagon. What Obama looks to have are custodians and bureaucrats of empire, farmore cautious, far more sane, and certainly far more grown-up than the first-term Bushappointees, but not a cast of characters fit for reshaping American policy in a new worldof disorder and unraveling economies, not a crew ready to break new ground and cedemuch old ground on this still American-garrisoned planet of ours.Breathless in WashingtonLet's assume the best: that Barack Obama truly means to bring some form of thepeople's will, as he imagines it, to Washington after eight years of unconstitutional"commander-in-chief" governance. That – take my word for it – he can't do without thepeople themselves expressing that will.Of course, even in the Bush era, Americans didn't simply cede the public commons.They turned out, for instance, in staggering numbers to protest the President's invasionof Iraq before it ever happened, and again more recently to work tirelessly to electObama president. But – so it seems to me – when immediate goals are eitherdisappointingly not achieved, or achieved relatively quickly, most Americans tend topack their bags and head for home, as so many did in despair after the invasion waslaunched in 2003, as so many reportedly are doing again, in a far more celebratorymood, now that Obama is elected.But hard as his election may have been, that was surely the easy part. He is now about toenter the hornet's nest. Entrenched interests. Entrenched ideas. Entrenched ideology.Entrenched profits. Entrenched lobbyists. Entrenched bureaucrats. Entrenched thinktanks. An entrenched Pentagon and allied military-industrial complex, both bloatedbeyond imagining and virtually untouchable, along with a labyrinthine intelligencesystem of more than 18 agencies, departments, and offices.Washington remains an imperial capital. How in the world will Barack Obama trulybegin to change that without you?In the Bush years, the special interests, lobbyists, pillagers, and crony corporations notonly pitched their tents on the public commons, but with the help of the President's menand women, simply took possession of large hunks of it. That was called "privatization."Now, as Bush & Co. prepare to leave town in a cloud of catastrophe, the feeding frenzy atthe public trough only seems to grow.It's a natural reaction – and certainly a commonplace media reaction at the moment –to want to give Barack Obama a "chance." Back off those critical comments, people nowsay. Fair's fair. Give the President-elect a little "breathing space." After all, the election isbarely over, he's not even in office, he hasn't had his first 100 days, and already thecriticism has begun.But those who say this don't understand Washington – or, in the case of various mediafigures and pundits, perhaps understand it all too well.Political Washington is a conspiracy – in the original sense of the word: "to breathe thesame air." In that sense, there is no air in Washington that isn't stale enough to choke apresident. Send Obama there alone, give him that "breathing space," don't startdemanding the quick ending of wars or anything else, and you're not doing him, or theAmerican people, any favors. Quite the opposite, you're consigning him to suffocation.Leave Obama to them and he'll break your heart. If you do, then blame yourself, nothim; but better than blaming anyone, pitch your own tent on the public commons andmake some noise. Let him know that Washington's isn't the only consensus around, thatAmericans really do want our troops to come home, that we actually are looking for"change we can believe in," which would include a less weaponized, less imperialAmerican world, based on a reinvigorated idea of defense, not aggression, and on theConstitution, not leftover Rumsfeld rules or a bogus Global War on Terror.[Note for TomDispatch readers: For those who want to follow issues of war andpeace, especially in the "arc of instability," I want to recommend four sites that are sureto prove as invaluable in the Obama era as they have been (to me at least) during theBush years: Juan Cole's never miss-able Informed Comment blog, Antiwar.com (whichhas recently added Jason Ditz's useful daily summaries of the latest news developmentslike this Iraqi one), Paul Woodward's sharp-eyed site The War in Context, and thealways fascinating and provocative online newspaper, Asia Times. I check in with all ofthem daily.]
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Home > HeadlinesPublished on Sunday,
December 21, 2008 by the
Observer/UK

'Baghdad Clogger' Suffered Brutal Beating After Arrest
Muntazer al-Zaidi has not been seen in public since he hurled his shoes at President George Bush. In Baghdad, Afif Sarhan talks to witnesses who claim that a series of savage attacks left him with a broken rib and serious damage to his eye
by Afif Sarhan
The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at President George Bush was viciously beaten after being taken into custody, according to a police officer who accompanied him to prison.
A protester displays a shoe and a picture of U.S. President George W. Bush during a protest in Amman December 20, 2008. Protesters on Saturday showed their support for detained Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who hurled his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush during a recent news conference in Iraq.REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN)Wrestled to the ground and then buried under a frantic mound of security officers, Muntazer al-Zaidi was last seen being dragged into detention. Controversy has since raged over what treatment was meted out to the man hailed a hero in many parts of the Arab and Muslim world for his protest against the invasion of Iraq. Yesterday there were further demonstrations in the Middle East calling for his immediate release.
Witnesses to his arrest and imprisonment have told the Observer Zaidi was badly beaten, during and after his arrest last Sunday, and that he risks losing the sight in one of his eyes as a result.
He is expected to be charged with insulting a foreign leader, which carries a prison sentence of up to two years. His family have received offers from hundreds of lawyers across the region willing to represent him.
An Iraqi judge appointed to investigate his treatment, and who has seen him in his prison cell, said Zaidi has bruises on his face and around his eyes. These, said the judge, had been sustained during his arrest at the Baghdad news conference during which Zaidi threw both his shoes at Bush, shouting: "This is the farewell kiss, you dog."
His family, who have been denied access to him, have claimed he suffered far more extensive injuries and was subjected to a prolonged and vicious beating, suffering a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding. The allegations appear to be borne out by those who have seen him since his arrest.
One police officer, who accompanied him to prison, said the journalist, a Baghdad correspondent for the Cairo-based Al-Baghdadia TV, had been subjected to violence throughout the journey. The officer, who asked not to be named, said he witnessed security forces beating Zaidi in the car with such force that his ribs were broken. "I felt sorry when I saw them beating him. His mouth was badly injured and he did not utter a single word throughout until one of the guards hit him in his left eye with a gun. Then he cried out that he couldn't see, and I saw blood inside his eye. I am a police officer but even I have to say I felt proud of what he did."
A doctor called to examine Zaidi said his right arm had been broken and he had haematomas - indicative of internal bleeding - all over his body, particularly on his left leg, shoulders, face and head. The doctor, who also asked to remain anonymous, said specialists called in to treat him warned security guards that they must make sure his eye was protected for fear of a further haemorrhage which could cause him to lose his sight.
Zaidi's family allege that it is because of the severe nature of his injuries that he has not been called before a public court. As calls for his release were continuing, details of how he planned his extraordinary protest have begun to emerge.
Born into a traditional Shia family, Zaidi made no secret of the fact he was vehemently against the US-led occupation of Iraq and, according to family and friends, had said many times he would like revenge on Bush. A younger brother, Haythem, said Zaidi had unexpectedly found himself called on to cover the press conference held by Bush and Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. His first action, it seems, was to return home immediately to change his foreign-made shoes into Iraqi-made ones.
A colleague at the TV station said Zaidi mentioned just before going home that "if something had to be done, it had to be 100 per cent Iraqi".
"Muntazer had repeated many times that if he had the chance, he would take revenge against the US president," said the colleague. "He held him responsible for the deterioration of the conditions we were living in. He just didn't have the chance before, and being asked to cover the conference was an opportunity for him. I am proud of him because he did what all of us have dreamed of doing, but were too scared to do."
Yet there is some confusion over whether the world's most famous shoes were indeed Iraqi. While another brother, Durgham, has insisted they were from the Baghdad factory of Iraqi shoemaker Alaa Haddad, cobblers from Turkey, Lebanon and even China - where most of Iraq's shoes are produced - have lodged rival claims.
Istanbul producer Ramazan Baydan insists the brown thick-soled shoes are his and currently known as Model 271 but soon to be renamed the Bush Shoe, or the Bye-Bye-Bush Shoe. He has hired an agency to promote them, claims to have taken 300,000 orders since the protest and plans to employ 100 extra staff to meet demand.
The originals, however, have been destroyed by investigators trying to determine whether they had contained explosives, which may come as a blow to Zaidi when he learns that Saudi Arabian Mohamed Makhafa had, reportedly, offered $10m for his 'shoes of dignity' and their 'high moral value'.
Friends of Zaidi speak of a dedicated journalist who lives in a small flat filled with books, many of them religious, and who was deeply interested in humanitarian issues. His political beliefs, however, remain unclear.
One colleague alleged he had been a Baathist under Saddam Hussein's rule and after the US-led invasion turned into a defender of religious cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's ideals. "I know people are seeing him as a hero, but he would do anything to become famous," said the colleague. "He said many times that he would like to become president of Iraq." Others, however, vehemently disagree with these claims.
Ahmed Ayssam, who graduated with him at the Communication College in Baghdad, described him as hard working and preferring to spend time with his books and family rather than going out. "He wanted to make a difference since he was a student, and he did it,' said Ayssam. "He is an example of faith and strength. He is a loyal friend, a hard worker, and if the Iraqi government allows it, a brilliant journalist without limits."
Zaidi, according to the prime minister's spokesman, has since written a letter begging for a pardon and regretting his "ugly act". His family are sceptical about this, believing it either to have been written under duress, or to be a straightforward fake. "I am suspicious ... because I know my brother," said Durgham.
The family believe his actions may have placed both them and himself in danger and claim to have received threatening calls. "There are thousands of supporters out there who applaud what he did, but there are also thousands that regret his actions and it has put his life in danger," said another brother.
"I am worried this has become dangerous for him, and about how long he will be alive for when he comes out of prison. It is a very delicate situation. I believe we will have to fight to stop him becoming a martyr."
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۱۳۸۷ دی ۵, پنجشنبه

درگذشت هارولد پينتر، نمايشنامه نويس برجسته معاصر


5دی.راديو آلمان هارولد پينتر، نمايشنامه‌نويس، کارگردان و هنرپيشه بريتانيايی که در سال ۲۰۰۵ جايزه نوبل ادبی را از آن خود کرده بود، در سن ۷۸ سالگی در گذشت. معروفيت پينتر پس از نمايشنامه‌ی ,سرايدار, بود که در سال ۱۹۶۰ به روی صحنه آمد.
هارولد پينتر در روز ۱۰ اکتبر ۱۹۳۰ در لندن چشم به جهان گشود. پدرش که يک خياط بود، پيش از آن با نام ,داپينتو, از پرتقال به انگلستان مهاجرت کرده بود. پينتر ۱۷ ساله بود که دبيرستان را به پايان رسانيد و سپس در دانشکده‌ی هنرهای دراماتيک لندن، که يکی از برجسته ترين آموزشگاه‌های هنرپيشگی است، به تحصيل پرداخت. اما پس از چند ترم از ادامه‌ی تحصيل سرباز زد و حتا از رفتن به خدمت سربازی نيز خودداری کرد. بيست ساله بود که به يک گروه نمايشی معروف پيوست که شکسپير را به آبادي‌های کرانه‌های غربی ايرلند برد. سه سال پس از آن به انگلستان بازگشت و آنگاه با نام ,ديويد بارون, بيشتر در نقش نمايشنامه‌های شکسپير ظاهر مي‌گرديد. هارولدپينتر هنگامی که ۱۳ ساله بود به نوشتن روی آورد و در ۱۷ سالگی مجموعه‌ای از شعرهای خود را منتشر کرد. رمان ,کوتوله‌ها,‌يش را که تا اندازه‌ای زندگينامه‌ی خود اوست تا زمانی دراز ناتمام گذاشته بود، اما سرانجام آن را در سال ۱۹۹۰ برای نخستين بار انتشار داد. پينتر در يک جشنواره ی دانشجويی در "بريستول" با نمايشنامه‌ی يک پرده‌ای خود بنام ,اتاق, توجه همگان را به خود جلب کرد، اما معروفيت‌اش پس از آن نمايشنامه‌ی سه پرده ای ,سريدار, بود که در سال ۱۹۶۰ اجرا گرديد. پس از آن بود که او در تئاتر لندن و در برادوی در نيويورک به چهره‌ای شناخته شده بدل شد. پينتر در نمايشنامه‌های خود ترس را که نيروهای مرموز و ناشناخته در زندگی روزمره‌ی انسان‌ها پديد مي‌آورند، موضوع اصلی کار خود قرار داد. افزون بر آن به ارتباط و پيوندهای انسانی پرداخت. در نمايشنامه‌ی وی با نام ,جشن تولد,، که در سال ۱۹۵۸ اجرا گرديد، ترس و تهديد نيروهای سياه و مرموز درهم آميختند. و آنگاه در نمايشنامه ی ,فريب خورده, زندگی بی پناه‌ترين مردم روزگار را به روی صحنه آورد. هارولد پينتر پس از موفقيت بزرگش در نمايشنامه‌ی "آنهايی که به خانه بازمی گردند" در سال ۱۹۶۵ ديگر هيچ کار خلاقی برای تئاتر انجام نداد. پس از آن اما، با نمايشنامه‌های ,منظره, و نيز ,سکوت,، سکوت خود را شکست و مرحله‌ی تازه‌ای را در آفرينش هنری با موضوعات نوتری آغاز کرد. وی با نمايشنامه ,ناکجاآباد, در سال ۱۹۷۵ يکبار ديگر به موضوع ,سريدار,، اما در سطحی بالاتر، بازگشت. از منتقدان جنگ آمريکا در عراق و افغانستان بودپينتر زبان را نيز موضوع نمايشنامه‌ی کوتاه ديگرش به نام ,پارتی تايم, قرار داد که در آن کسی که يک خودکامه‌ی غربی او را پشتيبانی مي‌کند، در يک مجلس عيش و نوش به پايکوبی و ميخوارگی سرگرم است، در حاليکه در بيرون، تهاجم به مردم کشته‌های زيادی برجای می گذارد. نمايشنامه‌ی ,مون لايت, را، که در سال ۱۹۹۳ در لندن اجرا گرديد، ,پتر تسادک, کارگردان آلمانی در سال ۱۹۹۵ در آلمان به روی صحنه آورد و در هامبورگ نيز نمايشنامه‌ی ,خاکستر به خاکستر, او با برگردان آلمانی اجرا شد. اين نمايشنامه، داستان زوجی را بازگو می کند که نمی توانند با يکديگر سخن بگويند. اين نمايشنامه را يکی از بهترين کارهای پينتر‌ ارزيابی کرده‌اند. هارولد پينتر همچنين در سال‌های خلاقيت نمايشنامه‌نويسی به عنوان کارگردان تئاتر و سينما نيز، موفق بود و گاه گاهی نيز خود نقشی را در تئاتر و يا در برابر دوربين بازی می کرد. پينتر در ميانه‌ی ساليهای دهه‌ی ۸۰ خود را تا مرحله ی يک نويسنده سياسی بالا برد. وی در مقاله‌ها و نيز در شعرهايش از سياست اجتماعی مارگارت تاچر، نخست‌وزير وقت بريتانيا، انتقاد مييکرد و بعدها عليه جنگ در خليج فارس و ماموريت ناتو در سيبری برخاست. پينتر همچنين به جنگ آمريکا و هم‌پيمانانش در افغانستان و عراق با ديده‌ی انتقادی مي‌نگريست. هارولد پينتر‌ برای دفاع از نويسندگان و گزارشگران دربند و يا تحت پيگرد در سال ۲۰۰۱ مدال ,هرمان کستن, را از ايالت هسن آلمان و کانون نويسندگان اين کشور دريافت کرد.
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