Month: February 2007

Faiza al-Araji and Nadia – Iraqi women.

Olivebranch Network contributor and blog-mum Faiza al-Araji and Nadia from “Talking About Iraq” are two out of many Iraqi’s who have suggestions and strong emotions about how to build a peaceful  unified future for Iraqi’s. Please, follow the above links and read their suggestions on how to achieve a peaceful endgame in Iraq.

Our world is full of brilliant ideas, particularly our own little intensely political microcosm we call the blogosphere. I have spent long hours looking for suggestions which could lead towards a re-unification of the Iraqi people which would allow a rebuilding of nationalism within Iraq. I have found many articles and suggestions from Iraqi’s and foreigners alike. I have developed my own ideas over time, some of which I would no longer agree with, many of which I believe still hold true to this day.

The blogosphere is abound in ideas on how to create a better society and I personally believe the blogosphere in itself produces better examples of community than those in which our home and work lives are based. The blogosphere though highly political and full of controversy, transcends daily politics. There is little mudslinging. People who disagree tend to choose between ignoring one another or having ongoing political debates.

Unfortunately an element also tends to attack bloggers unnecessarily, but their attacks are little more than text and often simply discarded. Bloggers converse endlessly, refining our opinions, and comments are a great source of peer-review. Especially when it comes from other bloggers who you respect.

What role will blogging play in the future of media, and particularly of war and humanitarian crisis reporting? Hopefully my study of the Iraqi blogosphere and other similar uses of online communications can produce some insights worth applying to my university studies in both my Journalism and Internet Communication Technology classes.

Israeli Airforce Corridor and the US Occupation of Iraq

If the American administration truly planned to quell the violence in Iraq they would openly and publicly declare opposition to the recent Israeli request for a “corridor” through US-occupied Iraqi airspace in case of a decision to bomb Tehran.

The February 25 telegraph.co.uk article by Con Coughlin anonymously sites a “Senior Israeli defence official” who commented that negotiations had begun to prevent the possibility of “American and Israeli war planes [start] shooting at each other”, should the Israeli Defence Force decide to bomb Iran.

This proposition puts the US mission in Iraq entirely at risk; sending such significant signals to Iran could heat things up in Iraq. There is great potential for the Badr Forces, the armed wing of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq- to take offence to the US colluding with Israel in the bombing of Iran. Such an event could cause a catastrophic strain on the already tense relations between the Iraqi populace and the US presence there.

With the new US-Iraqi security plan coming into effect now is the wrong time to send mixed signals to the Iraqi populace. The combined Coalition forces need to take strong leadership roles and set the record straight as to their intentions regarding Iraq and it’s neighbours.

Are they going to allow Iran to be bombed and deal with the repercussions in Iraq? Or will they going cut and run? Could they even stabilize the country if Iran was bombed, if they are struggling to do so now?

These are questions which need to be cleared up before they actualise themselves.