Eric Umansky

Web Kvetch MCMIV

Today's Washington Post has a very good article on the latest about the Blackwater shooting. It's based on the leaked conclusions of a preliminary, two-page report from the  U.S. embassy that suggests some of the guards at least some of the guards were quite trigger happy. More on that later. For now, let me just flag the following sentence:

According to the report, which was obtained by The Washington Post, the incident occurred shortly after noon as three Blackwater teams moved to escort one "principal" back to Baghdad's Green Zone.

I read this on the Washington Post's Web site. You know, the kind of site that probably has servers capable of, say, posting a two-page report. So why hasn't the paper posted it?

Is it so hard to fathom that readers might actually be interested in reading original documents? Is the WP afraid that people will skip the articles and go straight to the original source? (If true, it's a  ridiculous fear. After all, if the papers and reporters are doing their jobs they should be adding plenty of context and reporting to  the docs.)  Did the reporters promise the source who they "obtained"* the document from that they wouldn't post it for whatever reason, valid or not? (If so, the paper should say in the article.)

Papers have gotten better about this. Maybe about half the time now you'll see original source documents. Why it's not near 100 percent is beyond me.

*BTW: That turn of phrase--"obtained" is  way  annoying. It's amazing how the NYT also managed to "obtain" the report yesterday too! 

Against Partiton

Abu Aardvark, aka Marc Lynch, aka one of the smartest guys around on Mideast politics, argues that pushing for the partition of a Iraq is a bad, bad idea:

I've never understood the appeal of "soft partition" to anyone other than dedicated pro-Kurdish activists.  It sounds like such a nice, clean exit strategy. But near as I can tell, it would actually mean heavy and active involvement of US troops in facilitating "transfer" of peoples (ah, how delicate that sounds) and a long-term military commitment to protecting the new entities (especially the Kurds).   

It would simultaneously exacerbate Shia-Shia conflict while enhancing Iranian influence in the Shia areas. It would infuriate the Sunnis who cling fiercely to the principle of a unified state and fuel the most radical trends in those areas while undermining more moderate leader. It would guarantee that the crisis of the internally displaced and refugees will never be solved, promoting instability in the country and the region for decades (while also rewarding sectarian cleansing strategies and encouraging them in the future).  And - most ironically - it would probably go along quite nicely with the current Bush strategy of ignoring the national government and focusing on the local level.   At least there could be some return on otherwise wasted investment, though:  the security forces we've spent the last four years training at least have some valuable experience and a fine track record in carrying out the sectarian cleansing that the plan would require.   

He adds that Joe Biden's Senate resolution in support of a partition is not just bad substantively. It's bad politics:

As meaningless, non-binding symbolic Senate resolutions go, Joe Biden just managed a doozy.  By passing with 75 votes a meaningless, non-binding symbolic Senate resolution in favor of the partition of Iraq, Biden managed to simultaneously:  infuriate nearly all Iraqis, who have virtually unanimously condemned the resolution (as have the Arab allies of the US, for that matter);  let Senate Republicans off the hook by allowing them to say that they voted for change even though they continue to vote against anything real;  and endorse an unworkable plan which would massively increase human suffering while working against American interests in the region and not actually solving the problems.    

Chlorine and Cholera, II

Cholera is continuing to spread in Iraq.

As I pointed out the other day, the disease's progress is connected to a shortage of chlorine in Iraq, which in turns  seems to have been caused  by  the U.S. and Iraq putting heavy restrictions in the movement and sale of chlorine. The restrictions were put in place after a spate of chlorine-boosted bombings this past spring. Yet the chlorine itself caused few casualties and apparently hasn't resulted in a single death. As I wrote the other day:

In other words, the biggest damage from chlorine bombs--as with so many terrorist attacks--has come from overreaction to it. Fear operates as a "force multipier" for terrorists and in this case has helped them cut off Iraq's clean water.

Perhaps I'm somehow wrong in making these connections. I'm certainly not an expert on chemicals or chlorine. And I'm also in a place right now to do much reporting.  But I hope somebody who is, does.

UPDATE, from the BBC: First cholera death hits Baghdad.   

Starsky and Hutch in Damascus

Just about every day for the past few weeks, I’ve been walking to the gym.  Which means just about every day, I’ve been passing this sweet-ass car.

Damascus isn't exactly in Havana's category .  But it does have a few classic cars rolling around--a few in tip-top shape like the Muscle Mobile above.

And just to confirm the car's citizenship:

Rama-done (or Sleepless in Damascus)

By Sara

Ok, not the most culturally sensitive title to the blog post, and I realize I was only recently singing the praises of the holy month, but I've had enough.

As my co-blogger mentioned, every night this month a drummer (or two) walks the streets outside our window around 2:00 or 3:00 am to wake everyone for their final meal before the next day's fast starts. Then there is the inevitable sound of our upstairs neighbors moving furniture around for the meal and their TV blasting.

So, you may be thinking, quit your whining and go to sleep earlier, or get up later. All afternoon and evening, we are treated to a caucaphony of honking and decibel-shattering car stereo music. And without fail, every week day, the headmistress of the school across the street can be heard via loudspeaker, Pyongyang style at 8:00 am sharp, commanding her young charges to hurry. Along with a certain blogger's tendency towards snoring, and my own insomnia issues, I nearly took the head off the drummer when he rang my doorbell--as I was attempting to nap--to ask for money for his services. Instead I pretended I didn't understand what he wanted and closed the door.

It's not all bad. This weekend we were invited to our friend's mom's house for homecooked iftar (Eric actually was fasting this time, not only because he's a culturally sensitive dude-- he was atoning).  The meal started with a choice of lentil or vegetable soup. Then, as is traditional for iftar, we had our hostess' version of fatta, a baked casser0le-like dish with eggplant, lamb,  yogurt, and pita. While I've found it too rich in restaurants, this one was to-die-for. There were also different varieties of kibbeh (breaded, baked ground meat balls), a chicken dish, stuffed grape leaves, a baba-ghanoush-like spread made with squash (can't remember the name), fresh made fruit juices, and of course, dessert.

Everything was homemade, and incredibly delicious. It was far and away the best Syrian food we've had yet. I tried to get some of the recipes out of the chef, but nothing is written down, they've just been passed down through the generations. Maybe she liked us enough to have us over again!

Monkeying Around

Yesterday, I was perusing my favorite local paper, Syria Times, and came across an article titled, “The attack of the Monkeys.” Ahh, I said to myself, another story about that perfidious neighbor to the south!

But, nope. It’s actually a story about, um, attacking monkeys:

  In the Hindu Temple, a fight between my friend and a group of monkeys broke out. He had bought some peanuts and gave a small monkey some. So a group of monkeys gathered around him but he refused to give them any. So, the monkeys became angry and tried to snatch the peanuts from him...... In no time at all, he found himself surrounded by hundreds of monkeys which no one new [sic] where they came from in such a short time.

Tragically, the story isn't online. But you'll be happy to know....the monkeys finally got the peanuts.

The extreme dangers of limited linguistic ability

Yesterday, I went to the barber and asked him--in my pidgin Arabic--to shave my beard. Don't worry about why I wanted the beard shaved. (It's a hassle to maintain here.)  The point is, I did not want....this:

They call it the presidential special. 

And by the way, the language barrier was eventually surmounted. "Noooo!!!!" isn't that hard to understand. But about at that point the shave had already taken nearly an hour (including the, um,  face-mask treatment).  The whole thing took a particularly long time since everybody in the shop, including the barber, was transfixed watching one of those Ramadan special mini-series. By the time it became the Mustache Miscommunication became clear, it was 11:30PM and I was ready to make a run for it.

Note for concerned family members:  The 'stache will not cross international borders.   

The Little Drummer

Ramadan is a really nice month around here. People are especially generous, there's family dinner after family dinner--feasts really. And then...there's the guy who wakes you up at 3am with his drumming.

With Ramadan prohibiting eating during daylight hours,  one custom the sahoor, a  pre-dawn meal to get your last bit of nutrition in before  sunrise. It often happens around 3am. And at least in Damascus, the way people tradtionally know its time to wake up and do sahoor is, you got it, a drummer comes a bangin' through the neighborhood.  Thuwmp-thuwmp-thuwmp.

Ahhh, tradition. It's loud  enough to wake even Ambien-fortified  expats.

And apparently we're among the lucky ones. Some neighborhoods have three  different crews going through,  each night.

Why? Because of course any service deserves payment. After Ramadan ends, the drummers go door-to-door asking you for a little something in appreciation of their work.

I'm not sure what my response will be. It depends how sleep deprived I am that day.

Brain-dead Reporting, MCMXI

The NYT's latest "White House Memo":

In Shift, Bush Emerges as a Budget Warrior
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg
Published: September 22, 2007
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 — George W. Bush ran for the White House as a compassionate conservative. Now he is portraying himself as a conservative of a different stripe — the fiscal kind.

Mr. Bush is headed into a spending battle with Congressional Democrats with the two branches of government as divided on the issue as they have been since the federal shutdown of 1995. The president has threatened to veto 10 of the 11 appropriations bills that have passed the House, as well as legislation expanding a popular children’s health care program. On Monday, he will step up the fight with a speech accusing Democrats of fiscal irresponsibility.

Budget warrior eh? That's quite impressive! Especially when such a warrior is responsible for tax cuts that have created a structural budget deficit, where more money is going out than coming in for as many years as projections can handle. Despite the NYT's Bullwinkle-esque take on it, what's driving the deficit is not domestic spending, especially not discretionary domestic spending.   It's those tax cuts.

Nor is there anything new about the White House covering their opposition to some domestic programs  by invoking "don't be fiscally irresponsible" rhetoric.  From three years ago:

Office of Management and Budget Director Joshua Bolten did not rule out an outright freeze on non-defense, non-homeland security fiscal 2005 discretionary spending during a meeting Wednesday with about 50 conservative House Republicans. But he held firm that President Bush's budget would hold the line on spending and reduce the deficit, according to members attending the briefing.

Cut all the discretionary domestic programs you want, it still won't cover the deficit. 

Anyway,  I can't wait until the our new budget warrior-in-chief announces  his tax cut rollback.  Maybe it will come sometime around after Inauguration Day 2009.

Chlorine and Cholera

So cholera has now reached Baghdad. That's not much of a surprise given the utter breakdown of infrastructure. But there's a reason the cholera is picking up speed now. From the NYT:

“We are suffering from a shortage of chlorine, which is sometimes zero,” Dr. Ameer said in an interview on Al Hurra, an American-financed television network in the Middle East. “Chlorine is essential to disinfect the water.”

So why is there is a shortage? Because insurgents have laced a few bombs with chlorine and the U.S. and Iraq have responded by making it  darn hard to import the stuff. From the AP:

[A World Health Organization representative in Iraq] also said some 100,000 tons of chlorine were being held up at Iraq's border with Jordan, apparently because of fears the chemical could be used in explosives. She urged authorities to release it for use in decontaminating water supplies.

I understand why Iraq would put restrictions on  dangerous chemicals. And I'm sure nobody intended for the restrictions to be so burdensome that they'd effectively cut off Iraq's clean water supply. But that's what looks to have happened. What makes it all the more tragic is that chlorine--for all the hype and worry--is actually a very ineffective booster  for bombs.  Of the roughly dozen  chlorine-laced bombings in Iraq, it appears  the chlorine has killed exactly nobody.

In other words, the biggest damage from chlorine bombs--as with so many terrorist attacks--has come from overreaction to it. Fear operates as a "force multipier" for terrorists and in this case has helped them cut off Iraq's clean water. Pretty impressive feat for some  bombs that turned out to be close to duds.