I have some time today before going to Syria tonight, to write about the Arabic term used by Maliki to describe the withdraw of the American forces. aljarida’s analysis of the word he used “Al Gala’a”.
A reminder of the British troops evacuation from Iraq [although the term never used in Iraq].
What the newspaper did not said is the following:
The same word is used decades ago by the pan-Arabists independence movements to describe the evacuation of foreign armies from Arab countries. Egypt still celebrates [Eid Al Gala’a] the evacuation of the English troops on 18 June every year and Syria also celebrates [Eid Al Gala’a] on 14 April where the French troops evacuated from the country.
Sources told the newspaper about the reason behind Maliki’s change of position from pushing the public to accept the SOFA agreement, to rejecting the agreement, which is the U.S. politics and Obama’s “sure” victory in the U.S. presidential election.
the newspaper reported this:
It is a step before Obama’s arrival to the White House, surprised even the Iraqi political blocs.
I think Maliki’s bargain is to make a “better” security deal with Obama in the future.
Pingback: Pine River World News
Pingback: Musings On Iraq: The Rise of Female Suicide Bombers
I agree with you on this one LB. Maliki is counting on Obama’s victory for the simple reason — IRAN is backing Obama. And you can then be sure that IRAQ will be completely handed on a silver platter to Iran in exchange for a peace with Israel. Mark my words. Oh and enjoy Syria as this latter is heading in that same direction.
Pingback: Malikis Arabic word and waiting for Obama :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dall'Iraq occupato :: news from occupied Iraq :: - it
I disagree. I think that it is the other way — Maliki is having to listen to the people, and is reflecting their views. It seems to me everyone in Iraq wants the US Army out, *except* some folks aligned with Maliki. I think rather that when Sistani made his view known it was important, but also that Maliki has listened and is taking into account Iranian views, that derive in the end from Khamenie. So I think that Maliki is genuinely reflecting the official Shia religious position (as well as the views of Sunnis and everyone else). Although, he is making a mistake to believe in the strength of his own Iraqi military (Badr, etc.). But it is brilliant. The Americans are going to find it hard to keep bases in Iraq. I just pray they also fail to gain ownership of the oil! Then Iraq will truly have defeated the USA.
Layla has a point, it is correct, but making this brave decision on the calculation that Obama will win is not the main thing. It’s that everyone wants the US Army to leave, and the high importance of Sistani, and Khameni instructions.
Demotix– The Citizen Wire
Dear Roads to Iraq,
You’re site is fantastic. We hope you might see a cross over with what we’re launching!
Demotix is a website for user-generated news, and a citizen ‘wire’ service. Think of it like Flickr or YouTube, but only for original photo/video news. You tell us what is going on, we tell the worldwide web and the world’s mainstream media. As of now, http://www.demotix.com is live.
Why are we doing it?
We believe citizen journalism – well-managed – can be a tremendous force in political participation, civil society, and freedom of speech around the world. And we believe the media needs rescuing.
• Only four US newspapers have foreign news desks (the NY Times, LA Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal), and there are only 141 US foreign correspondents currently working today (in print and broadcast media)
• In the UK, a 2006 study of the broadsheets showed that more than 50% of the news was directly attributable to press releases
• The world’s media (over 90%) relies on the wire services – the Associated Press and Reuters – for their news. But some 80 countries, or 40% of the world’s nations, have no bureau from either agency.
The news is shrinking daily. We hope Demotix can plug that gap, and more.
We hope to be giving a megaphone to the man and woman in the street with a story to tell. We hope to be able to change the news map – bringing real, raw, original information from countries and about issues the mainstream media haven’t touched in years.
Eventually we hope that Demotix will be THE place where anyone in the world can go, in safety, to upload news – major, minor, local, cultural, political, social… We already have agreements with the Daily Telegraph, Newsweek, La Repubblica, Prospect and others – and will now supply them with a daily wire and picture feed of ‘citizen’ news. We have also built partnerships with Amnesty, Reporters Sans Frontieres, Witness and many others.
But we need your help. We want to do in pictures/video what you do for text. If you think there is a cross-over and you like us, please write about us, link to us, spread the news. We’re nothing without contributors, and your readers are exactly whom we want to be reaching out to. We can get their news out to the world, and in the process change what news is reported. And we’ll charge the mainstream media for anything they use, splitting the fees 50:50 with our contributors.
Please be in touch! Are there other ways we might collaborate?
With all thanks
Turi
Turi Munthe
http://www.demotix.com
Pingback: Emptywheel » McCain: Is He Addled And Confused Or A Dishonorable Man?