Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani Returns to 'Save the Burning Holy City'
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25 August 2004 --- MER is Free
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The Mahdi Army defeated the British Empire in Sudan in 1885.
Now a Mahdi Army battles the American Empire in Iraq in 2004.

Today the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani returns to
Najaf to "Save the Burning Holy City"


MIDDLE EAST HISTORY SERIES from
National Public Radio (NPR)

MER - Mid-East Realities - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 25 Aug 2004:
Every once and awhile one of the major media groups does come through with something of special important and something other than simple-minded regurgitation of the slogans and twisted perspectives the politicians and lobbyists are so busy manipulating, financing, and pushing.

That's not to say that this National Public Radio series doesn't pull some punches, cater to Western and especially U.S. sensibilities, and minimize the critique of their own that many others in the world would instead emphasize.

With that in mind, listen to the radio report, take a look at the enlarged map and associated materials, and remember that it was at the end of this period of direct Western imperialism and colonialism that the international Peace Conference of that era -- now known as "The Peace To End All Peace" -- created so many of the tensions and divisions that are today exploding throughout the Middle East region.

NPR's Middle East History Series is actually a six-part historical review of well-produced and well-presented programs even if sometimes the emphasis is not what it should be and even if some important things, especially relating to more modern times and the U.S. and Israel, are not dealt with adequately. Indeed, NPR's coverage of contemporary affairs is much too often much too muted and dishonestly 'balanced' to conform to the extensive political and financial pressures that are so prevalent in the United States today. But that of course is in the nature of Washington at this time in history and always has to be factored in to really appreciate what is truly going on both in the critical Middle East region as well as in the world's only current superpower. Prior in Middle East history there was Rome, then Instanbul, then Paris and London, and now in the modern-era, Washington is the central focus of political debate and dominating military as well as economic power.

The summary and links to all six parts of the Middle East History Series are provided below after the focus on Part III, "Carving Up The Region", which is in fact crucial to understanding how today's Iraq came to be and what has happened to this ancient land in the past century. Broadcasting of the NPR series concluded yesterday. The references to the Mahdi Army that defeated the British in Sudan more than a hundred years ago are of special interest at this particular historical moment in Iraq.


The Middle East and the West:
Carving Up The Region

audio iconAll Things Considered audio
(use link from NPR page which above is linked to)

Launch Photo GalleryPhoto Gallery: Europe's Middle East Adventures

Charles Gordon
Commanding Gen. Charles Gordon, who died fighting an Islamic revolt of British control in Sudan in 1885.
Credit: © Michael Nicholson/Corbis
» TIMELINE, BIOS, MORE ON THE SERIES


Map of European expansion in the Middle East and Africa
Inset of map showing the European expansion in the Middle East and Africa as of 1914.
Credit: Geoffrey Gaudreault, NPR
» View Enlargement


Aug. 19, 2004 -- Napoleon's foray into Egypt in 1798, in the midst of the French Revolution, began a long string of European adventures in the Middle East, leading to colonization, resistance, and eventually war.

Eventually, the British would take Egypt, Sudan and the small states of the Persian Gulf. France would seize Algeria and Morocco. And Arab resistance to European encroachment would prompt much bloody violence.

The story of European moves into the region is the latest in a six-part series by NPR's Mike Shuster examining the troubled 900-year history of Western involvement in the Middle East.

Napoleon's effort to conquer Egypt "had little to do with Egypt and the Egyptians, who were then nominally part of the Ottoman Empire," Shuster says. "It had everything to do with Europe and his rivalry with Europe's other great powers."

Egyptian defenders were little match for Napoleon's disciplined French troops, and the defeat was a major blow for the Arab world.

"It had lasting effects," says Rashid Khalidi, professor of Middle East history at Columbia University. "Among other things it shocked people in Egypt, in the Arab world, who suddenly realized how weak their states were when facing the power of Western armies and fleets."

But the British navy soon joined the battle, opposing the French forces, and proved a far more challenging adversary. Napoleon was defeated and quickly left Egypt, although some of his troops remained.

Resistance to the French in Algeria and the British in Sudan provided the first hints of Arab nationalism, a movement that would sweep the Arab world in contemporary times.

Still, by the early 20th century much of the Middle East and Africa -- which had previously been under control of the Ottoman Empire -- was ruled by the Europeans.






1098 - 1291

The Crusades: Two Centuries of Holy War

Saladin; Credit: © Bettmann/Corbis

Aug. 17, 2004 · In the late 11th century, the Pope of Rome declares a crusade to seize Jerusalem from the Arabs, who have held the Holy Land for centuries. In just a few years, European knights seize the city, slaughtering most of its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants and launching two centuries of holy war. | Map | Bios

1453 - 1683

The Rise of the Ottoman Empire

Suleiman the Magnificent; Credit: © Bettmann/Corbis

Aug. 18, 2004 · Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The Ottoman sultans dominate the Islamic world -- ruling over a region stretching from Iran to Morocco. The Ottoman Empire becomes the most powerful state in the Mediterranean, seizing European land in the Balkans and Hungary and twice laying siege to Vienna. | Map | Bios

1783 - 1912

Europe Carves Up the Middle East

Napoleon in Egypt; Credit: © Christie's Images/Corbis

Aug. 19, 2004 · In the midst of the French Revolution, Napoleon seizes Egypt in 1798, setting in motion century-long European scramble for the Middle East. Eventually, the British would take Egypt, Sudan and the small states of the Persian Gulf. France would seize Algeria and Morocco. And Arab resistance to European encroachment would prompt much bloody violence. | Map | Bios

1914 - 1936

World War I and its Aftermath

Lawrence of Arabia; Credit: © Bettmann/Corbis

Aug. 20, 2004 · World War I sees Europe complete the seizure of the Middle East. The Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany, is crushed by Britain and France. The territories of Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine fall into European hands. The French and British draw the borders of the modern Middle East, and the League of Nations sanctions their domination of the region. | Map | Bios

1945 - 1973

The Rise of the U.S. in the Middle East

President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets with Saudi King Abdul Aziz in 1945; Credit: National Archives

Aug. 23, 2004 · As World War II ends, the United States becomes the great outside power in the Middle East, with three main concerns: Persian Gulf oil; support and protection of Israel, founded in 1948; and containment of the Soviet Union. The goals prove difficult to manage, especially through the rise of Arab nationalism, two major Arab-Israeli wars and an Arab oil embargo. | Map | Bios

1979 - 2003

The Clash with Islam

Osama Bin Laden; Credit: © Reuters/Corbis

Aug. 24, 2004 · In 1979, Iran's Islamic Revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan foreshadow a rise in Islamic radicalism. Violence intensifies, with the Iran-Iraq war, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, and the Persian Gulf war. By the mid-1990s, America faces a new enemy: Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. After the Sept. 11 attacks, U.S. involvement in the Middle East is deeper than ever. | Map | Bios



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August 2004


Magazine



MER Exclusive - Listen to Douglas Feith about Israel and the Middle East
(August 30, 2004)
MER EXCLUSIVE - Listen to Douglas Feith while Bill Clinton was still President and a year before 9/11 even happened. For some time in Washington Feith himself has been a prominent member of the extended Israeli-Jewish lobby speaking at times as harshly and unrelentingly as any Israeli propagandist. Persons in the media should contact MER for more extensive information and additional audio and video comments by Feith - 202 362-5266 and press@MiddleEast.Org

Pointing the fingers at Douglas Feith
(August 29, 2004)
Feith has been mentioned in most of the major media stories this weekend in Washington -- but not nearly with the emphasis he should have been. For Feith has played a central role in just about every scandal that has beset the Bush Administration -- from the faulty 'intelligence', to the mistaken 'assumptions', to the prison torture scandals, and now the latest Israeli/Jewish lobby spy scandal right in his own office.

Sharon's Wars, Israel's Future
(August 28, 2004)
This major New York Times feature about Ariel Sharon could have, and should have, been far more harsh. But Ariel Sharon is at the top of his game now. And though the future he may have molded more than any other may be bleak and potentially catastrophic, now is his time and few in the Jewish world -- and in an oblique way that includes not only the New York Times but much of the contemporary American media -- dare to take him on directly.

Israeli Spy Scandal Erupting in Washington
(August 28, 2004)
Many, most no doubt, of these kinds of things relating to Israel never get out into the public domain; they are buried and sucked up into official Washington where so many have so many reasons for always wanting to hush such things up. But there should be no doubt that the Israelis have infiltrated at many levels and greatly influenced in many ways U.S. policies in the Middle East, especially of late the decision to invade and occupy Iraq. The following quick list of past Israeli spy scandals all of which were covered up or sucked in one way or another include: * Israeli Attack on U.S.S. Liberty - 1967 * Steve Bryent Israeli Spying Scandal - 1982 * Jonathan Pollard Arrested outside Israeli Embassy - 1985 * AIPAC infiltration scandal, President forced to resign - 1991 * Mossad bugging of Clinton and Monica - 1997 * Martin Indyk's Security Clearances 'temporarily' suspended - 2000

America's 'Iraqi Police' and the now impending Iraqi Elections
(August 27, 2004)
And it's clear that if it's a competiton between Negroponte and Allawi, against al-Sistani and al-Sadr, the Americans and their regime are in big trouble. Just how the U.S. occupation is going to attempt to either further delay the election or not-too-blantantly manipulate and control it now looms ahead -- just as soon as the American election is behind us all.


(August 26, 2004)


U.S. and Regime Bombing and Killing throughout Iraq
(August 26, 2004)
Chaos, confusion, death, and destruction -- that's the description of American occupied Iraq as the country virtually rebels and explodes. Even as Ayatollah al-Sistani heads back to Najaf protected by British occupation troops American occupation troops are ferociously attacking Najaf, Fallujah, Sadr City as never before and American armed and paid Iraqi mercenary troops are massacreing their own.

Daily Articles Summary - 25 August 2004
(August 25, 2004)
Daily Articles Summary - 25 August 2004 MER Articles Iran Iraq Israel

Sistani Returns and March on Najaf Looms
(August 25, 2004)
Now on this very day in history there is another Ayatollah in and at the heart of the Middle East at a crucial moment in time. The very term 'Ayatollah' was hardly known in the West before the Iranian revolution just 25 years ago now. But in the immediate days ahead it now appears Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is to have his and maybe modern on-its-knees Iraq's 'rendevous with history'. And then what this is really all about now is the future rather than the past, especially with Iraqi 'elections' supposed to take place just 5 months from now. What will the American Empire with its arsenal of planes, tanks, and shock troops now do to deter, deflect, or stop him? What will the U.S.-installed and protected Allawi regime in Baghdad now do to attempt to co-opt or twist him?

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani Returns to 'Save the Burning Holy City'
(August 25, 2004)
The Mahdi Army defeated the British Empire in Sudan in 1885. Now a Mahdi Army battles the American Empire in Iraq in 2004. Today the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani returns to Najaf to "Save the Burning Holy City".

IRAQ, IRAN and ISRAEL Stories -- 24 August 2004
(August 24, 2004)


Crusades II - Iraqi Cities Bombed and Tanked
(August 24, 2004)
Bush's views and ongoing rhetoric -- and then came top Pentagon General Boykin telling the world that 'my god is bigger than their god' -- may come to define this period in 'modern' history.

Imperial America
(August 23, 2004)
Provocative thinking and writing from one of Great Britain's most prolific, most outspoken, most humanistic, and most insightful 'activist' journalists writing this cover article in the current issue of the New Statesman. It's too hard and probably wrong in fact to agree that 'Bush may be the lesser evil'. But it is very important to understand how and why John Pilger is speaking out in this way.

Palestinian Struggle Fully Justified
(August 22, 2004)
Because of the huge propaganda war in which the U.S. and Israel also have overwhelming firepower at their disposal, what leading Professors like Charles Black and now Ted Honderich have to say is in fact of critical importance.

Weekend Reading: Iran, the U.S., and Israel
(August 21, 2004)
These four articles from the past few days, especially the first commentary by UPI Senior Analyst Martin Sieff, help put things in perspective and set the stage for what is now to come. Unpleasant and frightening weekend reading, we know...but necessary.

What the Americans have Really Done in and to Iraq
(August 20, 2004)
This is a brief but very important outline of what the Americans have really done in recent years in and to Iraq. All this has little to do with 'freedom' and 'democracy' -- those are the simplistic and deceptive front-words. What's really involved is an increasingly desperate and ruthless master plan to turn Iraq -- a country at the center of both the Arab and the Muslim worlds -- into an appendage of the American military, political, and economic machine trying to more totally control the Middle East region and continue to drain it of its wealth, resources, and heritage. It's the imperialism of old considerably reconstituted for the brave new world of worldwide television, the internet, and high-tech 'Star Wars' weaponry.

Iran Warns of Preemptive Strike Against U.S. and Israel
(August 19, 2004)
"We will consider any strike against our nuclear installations as an attack on Iran as a whole, and we will retaliate with all our strength. Where Israel is concerned, we have no doubt that it is an evil entity, and it will not be able to launch any military operation without an American green light. You cannot separate the two." Iranian Defense Minister

The World on Fire
(August 19, 2004)
Now in 2004 as a result of what the Bush/Cheney/Israeli regime insisted on doing the world is dangerously on fire -- passions, hatreds, and fears all now enraged and engaged in an escalating "clash of civilizations" full of crusading rhetoric essentially pitting the U.S., U.K., and Israel against Arab and Muslim countries and peoples everywhere.

U.S. Allawi Regime Should Go
(August 18, 2004)
here's a bottom line here and at a time of such major historic developments it should be said clearly. The American-installed, financed, armed, and protected Allawi regime has already totally disgraced and discredited itself. It cannot succeed in authoritatively and democratically governing Iraq. It should be ended immediately before it does even more historic harm to Iraq, to the Middle East, to the Arab and Muslims worlds, and to the whole fabric of international justice and order.

Al-Sadr and Allawi - The Struggle for the Middle East
(August 18, 2004)
Here then are two such voices speaking out, crying out, at this critical time. The first an American who was Director of The Islamic Center in Washington, the very venue in fact President Bush choose to visit soon after 9/11. The second is a Canadian who is President of the Canadian Islamic Congress. -MER

Sharon the 'Bulldozer', Sharon the 'Butcher'
(August 17, 2004)
These BBC and Guardian articles today look at how the Israelis are even now continuing to expand settlements in the occupied territories, as well as at the current situation in and around Gaza -- realities 'on the ground' that Ariel Sharon is more responsible for than any other single individual on any side of the barricades. MiddleEast.org

"They are cheating us, laughing at us" - MER FlashBack 7 Years
(August 17, 2004)
"In the end, so long as the U.S. continues to back Israeli occupation with ever greater amounts of money, guns, and political protection, little will change and the "peace process" will remain a grand deception breeding resistance, hatred, and yes, more terrorism."

U.S. Iraqi Troops Fire on Reporters
(August 16, 2004)
History is being made in these bitter bleeding days, in these very hours, and the world will have to live with the aftermath for some time to come. This report just published by the Daily Telegraph in the U.K. is the best so far to outline how the Americans are attempting to blind the world and mute the protests by threatening the few courageous journalists still in and able to report from Najaf. As for pictures of what is happening, cameras are now illegal and being confiscated by the Americans and their agents.

Iraq Exploding! The historic confrontation at the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf
(August 16, 2004)
Unless the Americans can find some way to get Muqtada Sadr and his forces out of the historic Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf without a firefight and without a massacre they themselves could become the victims of their own killing machine if the extraordinary rage and hatred in Iraq, Iran, and the Arab and Muslim worlds overall should erupt still further against them.

Americans Order Journalists, Cameras From Najaf
(August 15, 2004)
This is what police-states do; this is what dictators do; this is what the Israelis sometimes do; and now this is what the American 'democracy' does in the extraordinarily duplicitous name of 'freedom and democracy for Iraq.

Israel 'On The Eve of Destruction'?
(August 15, 2004)
His father long headed the National Religious Party. He himself has been the head of the world Zionist movement as well as the Speaker of the Knesset. And yet -- even as the Israelis appear to be victorious with the Palestinians everywhere surrounded, subjugated, dispossessed and controlled -- Avraham Burg dares to speak out loudly about how perverted Zionism has become and that all the militarism, racism, and arrogance could in reality have put Israel 'on the eve of destruction'.

Please tell friends and family about MER
(August 14, 2004)
Mid-East Realties (MER) commentary and analysis is exclusive, hard-hitting, and always directly to the point. The consistent incisiveness, expertise, and depth of coverage is not to be found anywhere else -- as these comments from readers around the world attest. Below is a summary with quick links to recent exclusive MER articles and FlashBacks. Please forward this summary complete to your friends and relatives encouraging them to also get MER just as you do. It's never been easier to subscribe to MER; and it's never been more timely and important to do so.

Occupied Iraq - Threats, resignations, killings, chaos all escalating
(August 13, 2004)
Reports from Iraq this morning indicate that Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr may have been injured today while meeting with supporters, and what's to happen next has everyone on edge as rarely before. Other reports from Iraq are of a wave of protest resignations against the American occupation and puppet government, with increased threats against the U.S. and its regime now coming in public even from other Iraqi officials approved by the Americans.

Nader vs. Israel
(August 12, 2004)
"The days when the chief Israeli puppeteer comes to the United States and meets with the puppet in the White House and then proceeds to Capitol Hill, where he meets with hundreds of other puppets, should be replaced."

Najaf 2004
(August 12, 2004)
"From Iran's perspective, there is little question what happens in Najaf is its business. Any damage there cannot leave a single Iranian ruler the option of remaining neutral, regardless of whether they are among moderates or hard-liners. The Shiite religious heritage is a shared one between Iraq and Iran."

Hidden History of the "Peace Process"
(August 11, 2004)
"It's not inordinate Chinese money and influence in American politics the Congress should be investigating, it's how Israel manipulates American politics with the help of some key Americans (most of them Jewish), who are in fact, however distasteful it is to say it, 'dually loyal'."

Jewish Washington Neocons Responsible for War
(August 11, 2004)
As the Iraq war escalates and creates still more disgust and hatred around the world, it is also threatening to expand. And a month or two from now if the Bush/Cheney/neocon regime is lagging in the polls no telling what kinds of political or military 'surprises' might come from Washington sooner rather than later.

Stumbling, Bumbling 'Arabist' Ambassadors Play to the Cameras
(August 10, 2004)
After all these now wasted years, and after all this now-squandered money -- and even with all that has happened including 9/11, the Iraqi war, and the Palestinian Intifada -- the 'Arabist' Ambassadors in Washington are weaker and more incestuous, less influential and less credible, then when they started. Yet oh how they continue to pretend otherwise so tragically continuing to mislead so many well-meaning naive people who simply don't know better the real details of what has been and what is now the real situation in today's Washington.

Neocons All
(August 9, 2004)
He sure didn't write this way when he worked for the old gray Zionist lady the New York Times. With language like 'neo-con vampires' he sounds a bit this time like MER in its regular tell-it-like-it-really-is mode... Maybe for his next installment Mr. Ibrahim will have more to say ...about his old colleagues at the New York Times starting with Tom Friedman, et. al.

Both Israel and Saudis working to elect Bush/Cheney
(August 8, 2004)
Now of course neither is going to admit it in front of the cameras, and of course it's also politically confusing for many, but both the Israelis and the Saudis are working hard now to help the election of Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld and the right-wing neocons.

U.S. and puppet regime boot Aljazeera from Iraq
(August 7, 2004)
Oh yes, the headline..."U.S. boots Aljazeera..." Let's not get confused by all the technical details and propaganda tricks. The regime in Baghdad was selected by the Americans and empowered by the Americans. It is financed by the Americans and the American military and CIA keep it in power. What it does is what the Americans want it to do. And the responsibility for what it does is American as well.

Target Pakistan
(August 7, 2004)
As tensions and fighting in Iraq and Palestine continue, and with new sanctions and attacks on Syria, Iran, and Lebanon quite publicly threatened, the situation in the greater Middle East could become far more tense and the 'crucial countries' of both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia could indeed 'fall' from the American grip setting off even more dangerous and unpredictable political and military explosions.

Target IRAN con't
(August 6, 2004)
"Exploiting the November US presidential elections and the European concerns, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could order a strike at Iran's nuclear facilities, similar to the ones Israelis executed in 1981 against Iraq's nuclear weapons program", the diplomats were quoted by the London-based newspaper Al Hayat on Wednesday, August 4.

'Revolution' in Iraq; No U.N. or Muslim Troops To Help Americans
(August 5, 2004)
Indeed, the Americans and the Israrelis have now created their own joint vicious geopolitical stew in the Middle East; and they are very much in danger of gradually boiling away in it regardless of all the tough talk and military onslaughts.

Kerry, Israel, Jews, and the Middle East
(August 4, 2004)
John Kerry's Middle East policies have already been heavily mortgaged, if not downright sold, to those who have the greatest interest and power in controlling what the U.S. does in the crucial Middle East region and in determining where American arms, monies, and covert actions flow in the future -- powerful American Jews closely associated with Israel.

10 YEARS and 1 MILLION+ DEAD and COUNTING - MER FlashBack
(August 3, 2004)
"Here we are in the middle of the millennium year and we are responsible for genocide in Iraq. All of us that live in the silent democracies are responsible for sustained genocide in Iraq." Former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations Denis Haliday

'SECURITY' POLITICS - Para-military troops dressed to kill become props in political war
(August 3, 2004)
A large numbers of 'security forces' dressed to kill in paramilitary uniforms with big guns took to the streets in New York and Washington and are there to stay, say those in charge, 'as long as it takes'. Bush and his are in fact using all this fear, and all these images, as props in their own campaign to retain power.

America Vs America
(August 1, 2004)
"The Bush Administration cannot be trusted... George W. Bush and his administration have taken normal mendacity to a startling new level far beyond lies of convenience... They traffic in big lies, indulge in any number of symptomatic small lies, and ultimately, have come to embody dishonesty itself. They are a lie. And people, finally, have started catching on." Ron Reagan


(August 1, 2004)





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