BBC Sources On The Arab World

 
Currently a range of valuable BBC sources can be found which deal with the Arab World. To start with, links to details about twelve Arab Nations can be found here . Furthermore, when accessing details on any of these specific nations a range of other links can also then be found.

Then here is this link to a BBC's item called the "Arab Spring : 10 unpredicted items". Each of these ten items then provide their own links, which themselves then lead on to extra items.

My own bits and pieces on the Middle East can be found via the labels shown below, although these are mainly related to items about Iraq. It was where I undertook my National Service in 1955/56. The experience and the events of that time helped to push me into politics.

The links I provide are as much for my own purposes as anything else. They will supplement my growing library on the Middle East. Its political complexities should be high on our agendas.  Perhaps the BBC will get round some day to giving an equally serious survey of British politics.

21 December - Now there is more, here.



  

Tuesday In Baghdad

Doctor Mohammed is a 25 year old dentist in Baghdad. On Tuesday the hospital he was working at was hit by one of the five terrorist explosions which killed 127 people. He then ran home to find that a further explosion had also hit it - the above photo shows what remained of its windows.

Luckily his wife and young child who were in the house, were not physically harmed.

Dr Mohammed runs a blog entitled "Last of Iraqis". See his telling account of his experiences and feelings here along with the photographs of the incidents.

For more on my comment's about his blog, use the link below.

When peace, tranquility, prosperty and hope are finally established in Iraq it will have been achieved by people such as Dr Mohammed, his wife and child whose lives provide a telling example for others in today's harsh conditions.

Today In Baghdad

Dr Mohammed is a 25 year old dentist living and working in Baghdad. Here is an item he posted on his blog called "Last-of-Iraqis" a month ago about the massive but ineffective system of traffic checkpoints which operate in Baghdad.

With a series of car explosions killing 127 people and injuring 448 today, the checkpoints have again failed to protect the Iraqi people. A streamlined and more effectively operated system of checkpoints, better intelligence and no parking near public buildings; might all be part of the means by which Iraqi people can be protected. But no one should still be in doubt as to whom their main enemies are at this point of time - Al Qaeda style terrorists.

I can only hope that Dr Mohammed is not amongst the victims. I hope to read of his own experiences and thoughts about today's terrible events as I see him as a friend whom I have been in contact with over time.

The Kidnapping Of Children In Iraq

See this blog item from Baghdad.

Purple Pride

The purple fingers belong to a group who voted in the recent elections in Baghdad. Dr Mohammed a 25 year old dentist tells us that his friends in the photo are Sunnis, Shiites and a Kurd. Dr Mohammed blog is called Last-of-Iraqis and he is my favourite Iraqi Blogger. He is no wild optimist as is shown in the item he posts, but he gives us hope. In part he states -

I woke up with hope, hope for Iraq to be taken along the correct path by its sons. I woke to the noises voters were making in the street. As I dressed I was thinking about how different this election would be. Most of the people I know were not voting based on sects, but on sense. We are sick to death of corruption and sectarianism, and desperate for a change.....With the sparse crowds, I had only a short wait before the employee found my name in the list and gave me my voting paper. I took it to the booth and chose what I believed was best for Baghdad, then I painted my finger purple — it might look ugly, but I like it and I’m proud of it. At the same time, a child reached the table and insisted on painting his finger, too; everybody smiled because he was so happy about it.....On my way home I developed an obsession of looking at the fingertips of every man and woman I passed. Too many had no ink. I hope the electoral committee does its part better than we did. I hope the election will not be fraudulent and the winners will not let us down. And I hope the people who didn’t vote this time will do so next time, and a real democracy will be achieved in the land where the first laws of the human race were set.

Better still go to his blog here.

The Latest From Baghdad

Yesterday I provided a link to an important item posted by "Last-Of Iraqis" on the impact which the current conflict is having on life in Baghdad. He has added a key update. Anyone interested in what is taking place in Iraq should link to what I see as being the best blog from within Iraq which is written in English.

The Heat Rises Once More In Iraq

The British media are concentrating on (a) Maliki's action in taking on the Mehdhi Army in Basra and (b) the rocket attacks on the Green Zone in Baghdad. There is, however, a Reuters' report on clashes in Sadr City leading to 14 being killed and 140 wounded. But to get a wider picture of the impact of the current conflict in Baghdad, once more we have to turn to the blog of "Last-Of-Iraqis" and to this report of the response from the man opposite to the situation.

Baghdad's Socrates

Last-Of-Iraqis has surpassed even himself. First he posted a telling item about the horrors of the down side of life in Baghdad since the invasion. I covered this contribution under my heading "Baghdad's Picasso". Now he has posted a equally compelling item which reveals the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the bulk of his fellow citizens, be they Sunni or Shia. His fine videos and photos of the recent Islamic festival at Adhamiya in Baghdad are only exceeded by his description of both the events and his feelings. People crowded into such enjoyable festive activities in Baghdad will surprise many.

The two posts by Last-of-Iraqis give us the down side of life in Baghdad as his initial thesis and then the up side as the following anti-thesis. I can't wait for him to draw his synthesis from what only the unthinking would judge to be conflicting items.

Baghdad's Picasso

Today is the 5th Anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Here an intelligent, articulate and caring Iraqi blogs from Baghdad on his experiences of life and death in the Iraqi Capital since the start of "Shock and Awe." To me he is Baghdad's Picasso - in words.

Here is an extract (uncorrected) -

"During these 5 years I have experienced everything, two of my relatives kidnapped, 6 of the people I know closely including relatives and close friends have been killed, I can't count the number of people that I know who were murdered, my niece who is 7 years old girl died in an explosion, most of my friends and relatives have left the country, I watched my teachers and college professors being killed or kidnapped one after the other, I have been near an explosion countless times, I have witnessed uncountable number of dead bodies and crying families taking their dead beloved from the forensic medicine building, I have seen 3 men at different times being shot to death in front of me, I have been through militias checkpoints several times, Me and my wife have been targeted by a national guard sniper for a reason I didn't know till this moment, I have seen dead bodies left on the side walk and no dares to bury them, my family have been threatened and forced to leave the country and I joined them and stayed in Jordan/Amman for about a year and then had to return back despite the horrible situation and the extra danger on me being threatened, but what can I do, I tried desperately to find a job there but like most of Iraqis, I couldn't. I'm just one Iraqi and I have such loses, imagine 28 million one like me, how much looses does the Iraqis have?" (Last-Of-Iraqis)

Hope In Baghdad - In Context

On life in Adhmiya, Baghdad between 2003 and 2008 see these telling descriptions, photos and video from "Last of Iraqis" who is a dentist living in the Iraqi capital. It also provides access to several other important videos which mainly relate to Baghdad. It ends with some signs of hope. But if you look back on the other fine items on this blog, these place the signs of hope in Adhmiya in context.

Amiriya : 17 Years Ago Today In Iraq

Lest The West Forgets.

See this from "Treasure Of Baghdad" and view the telling video at the close.

Iraq - The New Country

Mohammed a 25 year old dentist in Baghdad runs a compelling site entitled "Last of the Iraqis". Today he has surpassed even himself in compiling and posting a 5 minute video which provides both footage and English sub-titles to the popular and telling Iraqi song "The New Country". It is not to be missed.

See "Last-Of-Iraqis"

Political Bloggers wishing to find out what life in Baghdad is like should link into this blog which is run by Mohammed, a 25 year old dentist.

It has only been running since 18 May and to date he has only posted 17 items. This means that everything is up-to-date and can be trawled through with little effort in order to pick out matters of interest.

As a starter, I recommend his video of 15 June, entitled the "Neighborhood of Sorrow" which shows the unhappy road to Adhamyia which is the District of Baghdad which is now hemmed in by a wall.

Don't miss "Going to school in Baghdad" on 2 June. It shows a photo of a dead suicide bomber in his exploded car, with a mother taking her son across the road in front of it on their way to school. The body has not been taken away by the authorities and the couple are ignoring this everyday type of incident.

Mohammed's main think-piece was posted on 20 June and is entitled "The Complete Story of Muqtada and Al Mahdi Army". It is a serious and carefully worked piece on the al-Sadr phenomena.

But everything is not all despair and Mohammed points out that it would be even worse if it wasn't for the fact that so many Shia and Sunni are intermarried and that there are still many shared communities of both sects in Iraq. See his "Restraining Factors for the Sectarian War" on May 26. Unfortunately, todays item "Vengeance of a Madhi-Commander" points in the other direction.