Pakistan: Founded as a secular state

                                  

Really good post on the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah's vision of Pakistan at independence as a secular state. The post is from a Pakistani blogger. Jinnah was a one of kind a Twelver Shia who drank alcohol until his later years and in many ways regretted creating Pakistan. Until the end of his life he casually dreamed of returning to his beautiful home in Bombay.

Lord of the Bling

Now for some good news out of Pakistan despite the insurgencies and floods. A Pakistani jeweler has released what he claims is the world's largest ring named...(wait for it)...the Fragrance of Love...

Here is the original story in the local Pakistani press

The Taliban's Fake Religious War

Really good piece and brief piece on the Taliban's recent slaying of 10 aid workers.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2010/08/10/afghanistan_the_talibans_fake_religious_war/

Does Iran have a nuclear bomb?

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (who I admire in some ways) has made a number of gaffes at the podium of late. Most recently Cameron said that "Iran has got a nuclear weapon." Compare this statement with President Ahmadinejad's comment that "England is a small island west of Africa.".

Cameron we can assume made a slip of tongue and Ahmadinejad was trying perhaps to belittle the U.K. The Islamic Republic of Iran rarely misses out on an opportunity to humiliate and belittle the UK.

 Still, perhaps we should momentarily consider the idea that Iran could already have a nuclear weapon. We are now living 30 years after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Seeing that Iran has always seen itself as surrounded by enemies why would wait until now to develop a nuclear weapon? The major political events of the past decade have gone in Iran's favor. Iran is less threatened today that it was before. Iran no longer faces threats from Saddam Hussein's Iraq, a Taliban lead Afghanistan or for that matter a strong Pakistan.

For Iran the best time to build a nuke was perhaps during the Iran-Iraq War. Iraq had  its own nuclear weapons program at the time. Also, let's not forget Iran borders Pakistan, a nation which has in the past been willing to sell nuclear weapons technology. Did Dr. Abdul Kadeer Khan or someone similar ever approach Iran? Finally, while researching my M.A thesis I discovered news reports from the mid-1990s about Israeli intelligance projections that Iran would have nuclear weapons in a few years. Ofcourse, such projections come out all the time such as this report.

Regardless, the international efforts to resolve the present crisis should continue and on that note, here is an interesting read on the Iranian negotiating style.

Obama the note-passer

            This week it was leaked to the press that President Barrack Obama sent a “secret letter.” to revered Shia clerk the Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani. What’s up with Obama’s obsession with secret notes?

                More on that in a moment, Sistani has been described as the most powerful man in Iraq a fact that was lost at times on the previous administration. L. Paul Bremer of the Coalition Provisional Authority(CPA) was once advised to contact Sistani shortly after the establishment of the CPA. To which Bremer responded “Who is this person?” Not knowing who the most powerful man in Iraq is when your ruling the country for the moment is a pretty egregious error. Right up with there with disbanding the Iraqi Army. So things have improved a lot we now know who Al-Sistani is!

            The story here is that the Obama administration is a big fan of secret letters as a tool of diplomacy. Obama has already sent multiple secret letters to Iran, which is in keeping with established policy toward Iran from the Clinton years. The BBC Documentary "Iran and the West" reveals that the Clinton Administration sent a secret letter to President Mohammad Khatami of Iran after the Al-Khobar Towers bombing. George W. Bush sent a secret letter to India while in office concerning nuclear issues. 

             But, Obama's penmanship has been more prolific. He has sent secret letters to Russia as part of are all over "Russian reset". Despite talk of a Russian reset it remains likely the iconic symbol of Russian-American relations under Obama will be the spy swap on a tarmac in Vienna.
            Secret notes are a mixture of 1890s diplomacy and high school hijinx. One must wonder if Obama is using them as a tool of diplomacy so frequently to avoid domestic  criticism of his bold foreign policy initiatives. Hopefully this is not the case and it is unfair to speculate. To be fair the exact contents of these secret letters are unknown, so we will have to wait until one of them shows up on Wikileaks one day.

World Cup 2010: Political Happenings & Thoughts

World Cup 2010: Political Happenings & Thoughts

When the World Cup comes around every four years, we are told of its many benefits. Often mentioned are the universal joys which the event produces, ranging from the spectacular play on the pitch to the sport's overall unifying quality.

In other words, the young, the old, and those of differing nationalities all can come together, reunite, and enjoy a good match. During the Cup, economic and social differences generally are forgotten.

Sometimes however, a World Cup can bring these socio-economic differences into focus. Especially this year with the venue located in South Africa, a former Apartheid state.

Here are some of the political issues and observations already arising from the 2010 World Cup:

The Lack of African Coaches

The 2010 World Cup has largely been hailed as Africa’s coming out party. Not only is the event taking place on the continent, but there is also a halfway decent chance that an African country could win the tournament.

In addition, Africa’s already sizable contribution to European club football will be reflected in this World Cup, as star players such as Didier Drogba of the Ivory Coast and Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon now will be playing for their national teams in South Africa.

Despite all these accomplishments on the field, Africans have yet to receive the same level of recognition as football coaches.

While much of the mainstream media coverage has focused on the African stars in the 2010 World Cup, few have mentioned (Monocle Magazine being a notable exception) that Rabah Saadane of Algeria is the only African coaching an African team.

Saadane is the “Old Man” of Algerian football, having been on the staff of the 1982 World Cup team, and later, serving as head coach of the 1986 squad. His return has been a long time in coming.

The Algerians have never gotten past the first round, and most likely it will take a bit of luck for them to sneak past either the U.S. or England and get into the second round.

Pan-Arabism Died on the Soccer Pitch

Who can forget the intense Algeria-Egypt soccer hooliganism of 2009 that preceded Algeria’s qualification to this year’s World Cup? A wave of rioting, vandalism, and violence followed those bitter Egypt-Algeria matches, leading to spillover chaos in Sudan, and even as far away as France.

The fact that both countries were from bilad Al-Arab, did nothing to diminish the shocking violence. And the fact that Algeria squeaked through only to lose to Egypt in African Cup competition a few months later, has made this rivalry between the Pharaohs and the Desert Foxes all the more bitter.

To this day, relations between the two countries remain icy despite offers from numerous countries to mediate.  Libya has even announced it will no longer compete against teams from Egypt and Algeria due to sportsmanship concerns.

European Domination Continues

Historically, the European and South American nations have dominated the list of World Cup champions. In fact, the final four in this year's World Cup is more likely to resemble that of the 2008 Euro Cup than to reflect the array of diverse teams from different corners of the globe that are in the tournament. And this is not a new trend.

Since 1950, the final four spots in any given World Cup often have featured the elite European teams or the South American powerhouses of Brazil and Argentina.

Of course, there have been exceptions, including: a pair of overachieving teams with home field advantage in Chile (1962) and Korea (2002); a remarkable appearance by Turkey in 2002; and a Uruguay squad which embarrassed Brazil by defeating the soccer giant at home in 1950.

Expect this year to follow the standard pattern, as two of the heavy favorites are Spain and Brazil.

Size Matters

Of the nations appearing in the 2010 World Cup, Uruguay and Slovenia have the two smallest populations. Uruguay, in particular, is unique - it is the only nation with under 4 million people to have won a World Cup (the next smallest country was Argentina with 40 million).

This will be Slovenia’s first appearance in the event (excluding appearances by the former Yugoslavia). The list of other past would-be giantkillers in the World Cup includes Northern Ireland, Kuwait, Wales, the Reggaeboyz of Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors. None of those countries has a population over 4 million.

So what do all the population numbers indicate? Simply that a soccer nation, regardless of its passion for the game, most likely will not win a World Cup unless it has the requisite population figures from which to develop its talent base.

Remember the Cheonan!

For the first time in history, North Korea and South Korea will both be appearing in the World Cup. However, tensions between the countries remain as high as ever, especially following North Korea’s recent destruction of the Cheonan, a South Korean Navy vessel. The attack killed 46 South Korean sailors.

North Korea’s status as a nuclear-armed state means that to some extent it can conduct such attacks with near impunity. And the proof of that perhaps can been seen with its business-as-usual conduct, as North Korea has signed a jersey promotion deal for millions with an Italian company.

Some have called for symbolic boycotts during the games in order to condemn and shame the North Korean regime for its attack on the Cheonan.

Unfortunately, soccer fans most likely will not see the two teams go head-to-head on the pitch, as both are in different groups and probably will not meet up absent a deep dual run in the tournament.

By Joe Hammond
Contributing Writer for TheDailySportsHerald.com

A map to North Korean prison camps.

Good Washington Post map of Prison Camps in North Korea. I'm posting this in stark contrast to the hoopla over the  North Korean soccer team being in the World Cup.