Here’s the thing. Back in December, the world pretty much laughed and cheered as Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at former US President, George W. Bush. And since then, shoe-throwing as a form of political protest seems to have come back in to fashion. It’s being referred to as “shoeing”.
According to it’s Wiki […]

Remembering the shocking images of Abu Ghraib is not an easy thing to do. While it caught most of the world off guard, it came as something fairly expected of a US-invader. But for one of the few times in history, images and videos played such an essential role in documenting a horrific crime. To […]

Photo Credit: NYT
I hate sounding cynical. But I’m trying to be realistic here. This is not to say I hate the guy. I don’t even know him. And to be fair, it’s still his first day on the job. But seriously. Looking at how people are reacting to this. Especially the more westernized Jordanians here. […]

Lawmakers on Wednesday observed a minute’s silence in a show of support for Iraqi television reporter Muntazer Zaidi who threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush earlier this week. The action was taken following a proposal by MP Tayseer Shdeifat, who also asked House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali to issue a statement demanding […]

In the middle of the news conference with Mr Maliki, a reporter stood up and shouted “this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog,” before hurtling his shoes at Mr Bush, narrowly missing him. [source]
Here’s the kicker, if by Western standards, Palestinian kids throwing rocks are terrorists, then what about Iraqi journalists who […]

FP Passport has an interesting feature on what is best described as “graphical journalism”. The book, “After 9/11″, is essentially a graphical representation of the 9/11 Commission report. You can hear about the artists/authors on NPR.
The reason I wanted to post this is mainly because I am always fascinated, if not infatuated, with how information […]

From his rise to power to his eventual downfall and execution, the BBC along with HBO Films, produced a four-part miniseries about the life of Saddam Hussein that aired a few days ago. As far as a drama TV production, I have to admit, House Of Saddam was pretty good. It kind of reminded me […]

It’s a story that seems to be making a few headlines in the international press. The unpublicized trip makes it the first from the Arab world. At the top of the agenda seems to be securing Iraqi oil and reestablishing ties that were marred by growing Sunni-Shia tensions.
I honestly don’t have a take on the […]

U.S. diplomats will begin moving into the mammoth new, heavily fortified embassy in Baghdad next month after long delays in the $736 million project — and not a moment too soon.
….S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said Friday that construction is complete at the Vatican-sized compound
…The new embassy will be the largest U.S. diplomatic mission […]

“The US military bases and the presence of around 150,000 American soldiers in Iraq have made the United States one of the neighbouring states in the region.” - Prince Hassan, in a seminar on “Armament and Security in the Middle East” on Tuesday. [source]
The Prince also said he said he doesn’t expect US troops to […]

Salah Malkawi/Getty Image
Mr. McCain said at a news conference in Amman that he continued to be concerned about Iranians “taking Al Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back.” Asked about that statement, Mr. McCain said: “Well, it’s common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al Qaeda is going back into […]

Number of souls that have been freed:
- 82,000 and 89,000 - Iraq Body Count
- 151,000 - Iraqi government & the World Health Organization (Mar.03 - Jun.06)
- 654,865 - British medical journal The Lancet (March 2003 and July 2006)
- 1,189,173 - Opinion Research Business (as of 2008)
Take your pick.
Then read Fisk:
We have dispatched our armies […]

Here is a selection of my delicious picks: a few interesting articles/links from across the Net.
- Robert Fisk recalls his first meeting with assassinated Hizballah commander, Imad Mougnieh, in 1991.
- Arab information ministers have met in Cairo to endorse an Arab League charter, which allows host countries to annul or suspend the licence of any […]

The snow is on its way out so I thought I’d shift gears here on the Black Iris. Transitioning back to reality isn’t easy when snow is still the talk of the town, so here’s a selection of my delicious picks these past few days you might find interesting. Only the first two are about […]

This was an interesting article in today’s Jordan Times outlining the Jordan-Iraqi border check procedures that include radiation scans:
The most common products containing radioactive elements that enter the border are agricultural goods, as years of warfare have contaminated Iraqi soil. Border officials had to deny entry to Iraqi trucks carrying dates, as their radiation levels […]

Here’s a collection of some of my delicious links I’ve been looking at these past few days:
- “Ahmadinejad” a film by Oliver Stone: Finally, a movie that will bring together America and Iran’s far right hatred of Oliver Stone.
- Young chimp beats college students: And these were Japanese college students!
- The 50 Richest Arabs: […]