New Iran-Iraq War? New Iran-US War?

I had not heard about this Iranian incursion into Iraq until I received an email from STRATFOR with a link to this video (the entire story is covered in the first 4:09):


STRATFOR's summary:

The Iranian incursion into an Iraqi oil field just across the border looks like a wake-up call to Washington. George Friedman, founder of STRATFOR, discusses the possibility that Iran is signaling its readiness to act first if an armed confrontation over the nuclear issue looks inevitable. Meanwhile, the price for Russia’s help on the issue has gone up.

Consider signing up for free strategic analysis of international news on the STRATFOR website.

"They don't come here to attack us because we're rich and we're free . . . "

I'm undergoing a conversion of sorts right now.

I just finished Mark Steyn's America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It.

Until I read that book, I was firmly in Ron Paul's libertarian/Republican camp. As he said during the Republican candidates' debate in South Carolina,

Ron Paul: They [Muslims] attack us [the United States] because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for ten years. We've been in the Middle East.

I think Reagan was right. We don't understand the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics.

Right now we're building an embassy in Iraq that's bigger than the Vatican. We're building 14 permanent bases. What would we say here if China was doing this in our country or in the Gulf of Mexico? We would be objecting.

We need to look at what we do from the perspective of what would happen if somebody else did it to us.

Moderator: Are you suggesting we invited the 9/11 attacks, sir?

Paul: I'm suggesting that we listen to the people who attacked us and the reason they did it. And they are delighted that we are over there because Osama Bin Laden has said, "I am glad you're over on our sand because we can target you so much easier." . . .

The CIA is correct when they teach and they talk about "blowback."

When we went into Iran in 1953 and installed the shah, yes, there was blowback. The reaction to that was the taking of our hostages. . . . If we think we can do what we want around the world and not incite hatred then we have a problem.

They don't come here to attack us because we're rich and we're free. They come and attack us because we're over there.

He sounds so reasonable. And so "Christian." So "godly." "We need to look at what we do from the perspective of what would happen if somebody else did it to us." --Isn't that how Jesus taught us? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"?

But Steyn--and now others, as I have begun to read up on this issue--has opened my eyes to see that "fairness" and "reasonableness" and feelings of being "oppressed," etc., etc., have very little, if anything, to do with the kinds of behaviors we are seeing from the Muslim ummah, the Muslim community or "world."

As Brigitte Gabriel states in the long version of the title of her book, "Even after 9/11, there are those that say we must 'engage' our terrorist enemies, that we must 'address their grievances.' Their grievance is our freedom of religion. Their grievance is our democratic process. Islamic religious authorities and terrorist leaders repeatedly state that they will destroy the United States and Western civilization. Unless we take them at their word, and defend ourselves, they will succeed . . . Because They Hate."

Steyn's book has convinced me that Gabriel has a far better grasp of the truth than does Ron Paul. I hope to discuss some of these things in the days ahead.

My problem: I still believe in the Golden Rule. I still believe in non-intervention. But, apparently, I also believe that we ought to "listen to the people who attacked us and the reason they did it" much more closely than Ron Paul seems to have been listening.

As Steyn says, "There's a lot to be said for taking these chaps at their word and then seeing whether their behavior comports."

So what are they saying?

Five days before the slaughter in Bali in 2005, nine Islamists were arrested in Paris for reportedly plotting to attack the Metro. . . . So much for the sterling efforts of President Chirac and his prime minister, the two chief obstructionists to Bush-Blair-neocon-Zionist warmongering since 2001.

In the months after the Afghan campaign, France's foreign minister, Hubert Védrine, was deploring American "simplisme" on a daily basis, and Saddam understood from the get-go that the French veto was his best shot at torpedoing any meaningful UN action on Iraq. Yet the jihadists still blew up a French oil tanker.

If you were to pick only one Western nation not to blow up the oil tankers of, the French would surely be it.

But they got blown up anyway. And afterwards a spokesman for the Islamic Army of Aden said, "We would have preferred to hit a U.S. frigate, but no problem, because they are all infidels."

No problem. They are all infidels.

When people make certain statements and their acts conform to those statements, I tend to take them at their word. As Hussain Massawi, former leader of Hezbollah, neatly put it, "We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you." --America Alone, 151; emphasis added


"We're the ones who will change you," Norwegian imam Mullah Krekar told the Oslo newspaper Dagbladet in 2006. "Just look at the development within Europe, where the number of Muslims is expanding like mosquitoes. Every Western woman in the EU is producing an average of 1.4 children. Every Muslim woman in the same countries is producing 3.5 children." As he summed it up: "our way of thinking will prove more powerful than yours." --ibid., 39-40; emphasis added


Back in February 2002, Robert Fisk, the veteran Middle East correspondent, . . . wrote a column headlined "Please Release My Friend Daniel Pearl." It followed a familiar line: please release Daniel, then you'll be able to tell your story, get your message out. Taking him hostage is "an own goal of the worst kind," as it ensures he won't be able to get your message out, the message being--Fisk presumed--"the suffering of tens of thousands of Afghan refugees," "the plight of Pakistan's millions of poor," etc.

Somehow, the apologists keep missing the point: the story did get out. Pearl's severed head is the message. That's why they filmed the decapitation, released it on video, circulated it through the bazaars and madrassas and distributed it worldwide via the Internet. It was a huge hit. The message got out very effectively. --ibid., 151


[T]he Islamists' most oft-stated goal is not infidel withdrawal from Iraq but the re-establishment of a Muslim caliphate, living under sharia, that extends to Europe. --ibid., 38

So if I were to summarize this post: At this time I am far more convinced of Ron Paul's viewpoint with respect to foreign entanglements and non-intervention than I am the majority of Republican politicians' viewpoints. But I am deeply dismayed at Paul's apparent lack of understanding concerning the real issues that confront us. . . .

Brands and Intellectual Property Rights in Iraq

I had barely gotten off my plane in Istanbul when I saw a sight that cracked me up.

I was on my way between the international and domestic terminals when I saw this motor scooter outside the window:

 

"Domino's, huh?" I thought. I had never seen Domino's in a non-western context before.

Later that evening, when the group had gathered, we took a break at the first and, as far as I recall, only, indoor mall in Turkey.

The Galleria, about 15 years old, I was told, features an indoor ice skating rink. And around the rink, a cluster of eateries. Including . . .

 

Yes. Pizza Hut. (Relatively rare in my experience overseas.)

 

Kentuckey Fried Chicken. (Relatively common.)

And, of course . . .

 

McDonald's.

 

Now this was another first for me. I don't recall having ever seen Burger King overseas. Anywhere. But there they were, right opposite McDonald's. (Of course!)
*****
Now, this is a slightly different angle on the same subject.

I've been plenty of places around the world where one sees familiar brands. Northern Iraq was the first place I've been where I see direct, public rip-offs of North American brands. . . .

 

"Golden Arches," anyone? --The restaurant's name is Maiorca. And that familiar yellow-on-red "M" sure looks nice when you have a name like Maiorca!

 

"MaDonal"? Hey! What's the big deal? We couldn't get a legitimate McDonald's license, so we decided to cozy on in. . . .

Here's one:

 

Anything strike you as a little odd about this sign?

Can't quite figure it out?

How about if we move in a little closer?

 

Oh! The Colonel! Colonel Sanders! How nice of you to grace the sign of the Golden Fingers!

Now, I first saw this one on a billboard. And I didn't have my camera with me. So I had to go back to find this place . . .

 

Subway Computer Services! Why, of course!

The proprietor of this shop saw me shooting pictures and he came out to talk to me. I was a little concerned he might object to my taking pictures.

"You like it?" he asked, implying that maybe I was shooting pictures because I was enamored of his cleverness, perhaps (???).

"I think it is funny," I said. I didn't clarify whether I thought it was funny "haw-haw," or funny "strange/odd/inappropriate.

"Do you see anything different about it?" he asked.

I have to confess, though I do enjoy Subway sandwiches on occasion, I don't frequent the place often enough or pay close enough attention to their logo to be totally sure.

"Did you alter the arrows on the ends of the word?" I asked.

"No!" he said with obvious pride. "I took it straight off the internet!"

"Oh!" I exclaimed, again not clarifying my meaning.

He was a young man, so I asked him if he was a student. (There was a large, modern, and, apparently, well-equipped university nearby.)

"Oh yes," he said. "I am a student at Baghdad University."

"So why are you up here?" I asked. "Aren't classes in session?"

"Yes," he replied. "But it is safer up here."

As we spoke further, he explained that he spent all but one week of every semester "up north," to avoid the fighting.

"So why are you a student at Baghdad University rather than _______ [I mentioned the name of the local institution.]

"The diploma from Baghdad University is worth much more than a diploma from [the local u]niversity," he said.

. . . Too bad he can't see how his use of someone else's brand tends to degrade that brand's value. . . .

As I discussed some of these sights with Bob, he suggested that the Kurds are due for a rude awakening as they attempt to expand their economic capabilities. "They still need to learn the meaning and value of intellectual property," Bob said.

I think he's right.
******
Oh, yes!

I saw a few of these trucks around . . .

 

"Are they . . . ?"

Yes, they are. From China.

No one knew if and how much of a rip-off they might be, or whether they might be based on legitimate original designs by Chinese engineers. But there they were: proudly proclaiming their brand name for all to see, yet looking for all the world like Toyota or Nissan products.

Breadmaking in Northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey

You're walking down the street and suddenly realize there's the loud and throaty "whoosh" of gas flame amplified and modulated by the bell of a tandoor or khubz oven. The oven top glows orange. And two or three young men are hard at work making bread.

 

 

The entire process seemed so mysterious to me. This pair invited me in to see how they made their bread. I didn't want to ruin their work or get in their way. They couldn't speak English, but they made it clear to me that I was welcome to take as many pictures as I wanted. . . .

 

Okay!

 

So the guy in gray is forming lumps of dough.

 

When he has finished forming a complete batch . . .

 

. . . he brings the lumps over to the other side of the shop, one at a time . . .

 

. . . where he then shapes them onto a large, inverted-bowl shaped utensil.

 

He then slaps the flattened dough onto the inside of the oven itself.

 

 

The dough sticks to the inside of the oven as it bakes.

 

 

When the bread is finished, the baker then reaches in with tongs . . . pulls out each disk . . .

 

. . . and tosses it on top of the oven to cool.

. . . When done, you get to enjoy a delicious, crispy, chewy, pizza-crust-like substance.

Yum!

Take a close look at the working conditions--the clothes these guys are wearing, where they place their hands: You realize we're not talking a highly hygienic work environment. But, y'know, . . . I pretty well survived on this stuff for most of the time I was in Iraq.

After I suffered some kind of major digestive attack, I was thrilled for this kind of bread.

Bread, pure bottled water (if you could get it), and/or . . . Coca-Cola! --What more could a guy ask for?

 

Ahh! The pause that refreshes . . . and that you know (or, at least, strongly suspect) will keep you from suffering further gastro-intestinal distress!

Eternal Vigilance . . . and Liberty

Thomas Jefferson once famously quipped, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

His may have been the shortest expression of the subject. But he was by no means alone. I am given to understand that John Philpot Curran wrote, in 1790: "The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; and which condition if he break; servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."

However you want to put it, I saw that "eternal vigilance" in practice in Turkey and Iraq.

Everywhere we went, there were checkpoints every so-many kilometers:

 

 

 

 

Our drivers always got nervous as we approached the checkpoints. One never knew what might happen.

Most of the time, the Kurdish guards merely guessed that we were Americans, asked whether that was the case, then waved us through. But a couple of times they asked for our passports and made us get out of the car.

I first became aware of the security situation while driving through southern Turkey. Our driver was insistent that I take no pictures of any of the police ("Jandarme"--not spelled as the French do!) installations we saw along the way.

Fully enclosed, with machine gun emplacements at each corner, at least (plus, occasionally, additional machine gun booths in the centers of the walls), the Jandarmes' installations were protected with sandbags and guards. Occasionally they would stop you and check your ID.

No one was interested in helping me take photos . . . of those or many other sights. So, I never got pictures of some of the more "interesting" things I saw on my trip. But I surreptitiously took the risk of a few shots.

The photos I took, however, are only of installations in northern Iraq. People were still nervous about me taking pictures, but with my lens at 200mm, I think they felt I was far enough away I might get away with my activities.

You can tell these pictures are from within Kurdistan by the bright colors of the Kurdish flag with which they painted their installations:

 

 

In Kurdistan itself, you'd see emplacements not only on the road, but in small outposts off to the side--up in the hills or mountains surrounding you:

 

 

I'm particularly astonished, now, that I got this shot:

 

Where were we? Near the border with Turkey?

The colors on the pole tell me this was a Kurdish checkpoint, but I don't recall many (any?) Kurdish soldiers (peshmerga--"those who face death") wearing berets, and we saw relatively few heavy trucks during our forays in the country. . . .

******
At one point we thought we were lost, way out in the countryside. I mean, it felt as if we were in the middle of nowhere. But we knew we were near Mosul--an infamously unfriendly place to be. Had we taken a wrong turn? What was the right road?

We saw these peshmerga at a tiny outpost off to the side of the road. We stopped and asked for directions.

I wanted to take their picture, my driver went white: "No! No! Put the camera away!"

The peshmerga looked at me and smiled and waved a greeting, very much to say: "Please feel free!"

So I took their picture.

 

*****
Here's the guy who stood guard in front of our hotel at one of the cities we visited:

 

 

I was struck by how unaware he was of my presence and my photographic activities. . . .

*****
People ask if I felt "safe" while in Iraq.

Yes.

Personally, I never felt threatened. As the three men who have lived and worked in the region commented--with surprise and pleasure--at the end of our trip: "We never heard a gun shot! . . . That's a change!"

However, two days after we got into Iraq, I remember hearing on the news that the Turkish foreign minister or someone strongly suggested Turkey should invade northern Iraq and take out the Kurds, sooner rather than later. I thought, perhaps, we would be stuck in Iraq a bit longer than we originally anticipated!

And while we were driving through Turkey on our way to Iraq, I asked about all the heavily-fortified police emplacements.

"That," Bob said, "is so the Turkish government can maintain control of this road. They want to keep the road open. Just east of here, the PDK [Kurdish Democratic Party] is causing all kinds of havoc and has shut down the highway. . . ."

As I repeated Bob's statement to M, M refused to comment.

Our taxi driver, a Kurd (though from within Turkey), heard and understood my comment, and protested: "Kurdie! Democratie!" Loosely translated: "Kurds! [We are] democrats!" Or, "Kurds! We are in favor of democracy!"

He indicated that the Kurds never cause problems.

M rolled his eyes. "It depends on who you talk to," he said quietly.

It always depends on who you talk to.

Is it the Kurds who are causing problems for the Turks, or the other way around?

*****
One last series of shots. These are from the Turkish-Syrian border. From the Turkish side, of course. Looking across a barbed wire fence and "no man's land" (filled with landmines, I was told) to Turkish watchtowers . . . and beyond . . . right on into Syria.

 

 

 

Building Construction and Safety

Many people in the United States chafe under some of what they perceive as the more extreme rules and regulations of the federal government's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and so forth. Our local building inspectors, who enforce building codes, also drive a lot of people nuts.

Go to a place like Kurdistan, however, and you begin to appreciate what I would characterize as expressions of the practical extension of the reasoning we find in Deuteronomy 22:8: "When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof."

Should passers-by and users of one's facilities pay attention and take personal responsibility for their actions?

I think no doubt.

But after a while, I began to appreciate the attention to safety regulations in the U.S.

Here, for example, was a building site in the downtown district of one of the cities we visited:



You know how, when walking down the sidewalk in major cities, they build fences around such things? . . .



Several times, I was walking down the sidewalk and realized there was a hole in front of me, big enough to cause myself some real damage.

No warnings, however:



Watch your step! . . .



In daylight, it's relatively easy to see this hazard:



But what about at night?

And this one, when the sidewalk is crowded and/or you're preoccupied for some reason?





No warning signs. No space to walk on the sidewalk. You'd better have good balance and sure footing as you navigate this area immediately adjacent to the sidewalk on a busy street. . . .

*****
In one of the cities, a couple of us visited the site where the ambassadors for Jesus are hoping to open a new outreach center. They have signed a rental agreement on space that is, at this very moment, being constructed.

I am no expert on building construction or building codes, but, having learned a bit about construction with our own building construction projects over the years, I have a strong sense that the following items would not have been permitted to pass inspection.

*****
Here, for example, is a section of ceiling (or floor, actually, for the level above the proposed outreach center):



The exposed pebbles are not an intentional "design element."

*****The more I saw, the more concerned I became that if--or I should say, when--there is an earthquake (since northern Iraq/Kurdistan is subject to earthquakes), such construction problems pose a serious safety risk.

The building engineers I know call these pockets of relatively uncemented concrete "voids."

I saw a lot of voids in the buildings I observed being built. (And there was a lot of construction everywhere we went in Kurdistan.) . . .







My construction engineering friends tell me you don't want rebar (steel rods placed in concrete for the purpose of reinforcement) exposed, either. The moisture and air tends to cause rust, expansion of the steel, and, therefore, early failure of the concrete:









*****
Let's see.

Ah, yes!

Running a bit short on concrete?

Maybe some trash paper can fill the void? . . .



Oh, yes!

And if the void is really bad, a little patching cement might help . . .



*****
Okay. Here's another interesting problem.

Anything concern you about the floors in this building? (Are they straight? Parallel?)

 

 

There's a good reason for them to look as they do: all concrete forms are supported by thickets of free-hand cut-and-placed poplar poles:





Even on tall buildings! . . .



Oh, yes!

And one final picture:



You're permitted to build right next to your neighbor's building.

It appears the excavation contractor dug just a little too close for comfort on this project. . . . So maybe a few poles can shore up the existing building while the new neighbor gets his money together to finish the initial foundation-laying in his own building.

[We stayed in the hotel across the street from this site for a few days. We never saw any work being done. . . . Glad I'm not the neighbor to the person who seems to have begun building!]

*****

So one last story.

M told me about problems with building construction in Turkey. I forget when the earthquake occurred. For some reason 1986 or '96 sticks in my mind.

Anyway. A bunch of buildings collapsed.

Why?

Because the building contractor used smooth rebar (so the concrete was unable to "grip") and, perhaps far worse, he used sea sand . . . which means the granules were rounded--unable to interlock the way good building sand does--and it contained salt . . . which is absolute anathema to concrete.

My son-in-law, a building construction engineer, noted that building contractors often complain that engineers often "over-engineer" safety factors in the buildings they design. "The reason they do that is for the very things you saw in Iraq," he said. "The standards in the U.S. are much stricter than they are over there, obviously, but builders still make mistakes . . . and sometimes cut corners."