Muslim Ghettoisation I am not very sure where these statistics are coming from but as one commentator has pointed out, it is not racism that is the issue. If that was the case, then the gujeratis, the punjabis, the sikhs, the indians, the sri lankans, the tamils, etc. would not be doing much better in terms of educational attainment, socioeconomic levels, job attainment, literacy or what have you. You can well ascribe it to islamophobia, but not to racism.

Secondly, if you stay in a ghetto, you remain there. I participated in a survey in Bradford in 1994 and the results were astonishing, fully 94% of the Muslim women were functionally illiterate (unable to read street signs or undertake financial transactions). Breaking it down, most of them seemed to be first and second generation immigrants. The third generation showed most of the promise of higher education and literacy.

But if you want to blame somebody, blame the men and the mullah's, who have come to the west but have created a ghetto mirpur in their midst.

Scotland\'s Case for Independence from UK #2, single malt whisky is supposed to be drunk on bended knees and reverently bared head! :) some philistines add ice to it and I have also seen a woman add coca cola to a dram of laproaigh (an involuntary cry of distress escaped my throat at the desecration),

but, Ranjit, to get back to your point, this link might should give you cause for concern! :), http://dailysalty.blogspot.com/2007/08/final-question-answered-what-do.html

s pecially the brother, lol

Scotland\'s Case for Independence from UK #1 Cobra, well, the braveheart movie was a hollywood interpretation of history, so I would tend to disregard that, lol. But yes, other famous personalities are indeed rooting for independence, makes sense, that's very high profile...., But when you consider that Sean Connery is a tax exile from the UK, you look upon his sponsorship with a very jaundiced eye, if he is willing to live away from the UK to save taxes, what does that tell you about his patriotism?

What about Bombay 1992? And yes, the committee report recommendations should be implemented, throw these goons into a jailcell and share it with hairy dacoits. The idea that political and religious parties can get away with murder and be above the law is totally reprehensible.

Ancient Assyrians Alive! dash_dot #2

chuckles, you are right. Also, SHE has a very amusing and deadly sense of humour! :)

cheers

bd

Ancient Assyrians Alive! #1 cobra.

I am afraid I cant answer that question, but looking at the absolute barrage of emails and responses that I got back, the question is open. Also, when people lay claim to such old myths and cultures, it is always open to interpretation. For example, look at how the Lebanese lay claim to the Phoenicians (and more interestingly, which types of lebanese lay claim on them!). I also dont need to tell you the story around the Aryan migrations. If you compare the reactions of the hindutva gang, the secular gang, the indian muslims, you can then perhaps appreciate the challenges inherent in such a formulation.

But to answer your question, everybody can lay claim on the heritage of assyrians, some more than others! :)

cheers

bd

The Future of Iraq Masadi, Thank you for your comments but i hope you dont mind me taking the issue futher. I am afraid all discussions with you are sound.

Dash_dot, my sincere apologies, could you mail me offlist if you dont mind? bdasgupta@gmail.com

The Future of Iraq Ranjit #25

Given the utter and total incompetent mess that the US has made with Iraq with its basic peace keeping and national administration, I am not confident at all that it can replicate a yoguslavia here.

Second, it requires a sustained decades long multi-national effort to make sure that yoguslavia works, and i cant see that happening in Iraq, not the funding, not the people, not the police, not anything.

Third, yoguslavia succeeded because the pressure on all the 3 parties worked, everybody was getting something out of it. In this case, while I can see the kurds and possibly the SICRI group getting something out of partition, I cant see what turkey, iran, the mahdi army, the other arabs, etc. getting out of it, so it will be a bit of an issue.

Fourth, the crux of the matter, i simply cannot see how an equitable distribution can be established. Why on earth would the kurds give up their share of the oil to the sunni's in a different country or shia to the sunni's? or or or or.

Not very sure that it will work. In any case, i cannot see or hear any legitimate backing to this idea in any corner of the USA at all. So lord only knows who will push it? The republicans? nope. Democrats? nops. So not very hopeful i am afraid.

cheers

bd

The Future of Iraq #16 Posted by iron_mask

well, i would advice slight caution. That's what the interim administration did, went for complete de-baathification. Not good, it created huge problems.

Also, shia democracy is not like what we know as democracy in the west or even in india. its guided democracy to put it politely. Sunni democracy, well, less said the better.

The Future of Iraq #11 Posted by HP

you are right. At that moment in 2002, it was Plan Rumsfeld all over. March in, kick saddam out, put in chalabi, put in some vague governing federal structure and walk out bearing bottles of shaat al arab water. Now look where they are!

The Future of Iraq #10 Posted by Ranjit

Well, an orderly transition. I presume along the lines of India and Pakistan? well, it wasnt orderly at all, and in any case, there are way too many parties involved who are against it. Outside Iraq, Turkey is against it, Syria is against it, most of the Arab lands are against it. Iran is ok with it but not with kurdistan coming into play. Internally, you dont have a hope in hell of convincing the sunni, yazdi's to do this, not the baathists, not the al queda buggers, not the tribal chiefs. The SCIRI might be willing to do so, but again, i dont think the mahdi army guys would like it..... And even if it was possible right after the invasion, it most certainly is not right now. And the UN, Arab League or even OIC dont have the troops, money, will or guts to step in to drive something like partition down the throats of the various groups.

The Future of Iraq #9 Posted by TahirQazi

Tahir Sahib, thank you for your comments. I agree with you wholeheartedly about the Kurd question being more than just Sunni. The history of kurdistan is a long and frequently shameful one. (see an old essay of mine here, http://www.flash-bulletin.de/2003/eSeptember22.htm#5). Oil is indeed a factor in the iraqi imbrogilo and you have identified it as such.

The Future of Iraq #8 Posted by Folio on July 24, 2007 7:50:22 pm
There are no more Nehrus in this world to save us from the tyranny of the likes of George Bush. Alas!

Folio sahib(a), i wouldnt go as far as that, my friend. The tryanny of dubya bush can be rejected, and has been. Let me give you two particular examples. Turkey told Dubya to take a flying jump when they wanted to create a northern front for Iraq. Similarly, India told Dubya to take a swimming leap when they came around asking for troops and stuffies. Even iran is doing that. And none of these countries, during the time that they showed the finger to USA, has had charismatic national leaders like Nehru, Tito, Ataturk, or Khomeini. But these countries have institutions (threadbare, dusty, leaking, corrupt) but institutions none the less which allowed pretty average leaders to be confident that the country was behind them. Once that confidence is there, they could show the proverbial finger. Compare that to other countries whose leaders do not have an institutional structure, who are unable to rely whole heartedly on the country, they buckle under the pressure and trynanny of king george!

The Future of Iraq #2 Posted by KaalChakra

I am afraid without leaders who can draw the nation together, it will be impossible for Iraq to live on as an independent entity. Take Yoguslavia, India and Pakistan for example. Nehru and company managed to draw india together and developed institutions. Yoguslavia under tito tried to do the same but he didnt manage to develop institutions which could overpower the ethnic chasms and we all know about Pakistan. So while the importance of leaders can be debated, in the case of Iraq, I would say that it is absolutely vital that some form of national leadership (outside the sectarian/group/religious aligned leadership) emerges for it to survive.

The Future of Iraq #1 Posted by iron_mask

no, nothing new, my friend. This has been said before and I am sure will be said even more going forward. Just couple of points, you need to think about how the Yazdi's and the fast diminishing number of christians fit into this picture.

Secondly, within the sunni's, you have the tribal structure, the international jihadi networks, and the secular ex baathist structure, broadly speaking, there are many more fissures.

I spoke with couple of senior G3's here in London who had rotated out of Iraq, and listening to them was absolutely bizarre. These chaps are using latest organisational mapping software to determine how and where to deploy funds (usually cash out of the back of a hummer) and i saw one printout. In one province, ANBAR, they had more than 60,000 people to whom they were distributing cash. Each of these guys were supposed to be identified as a "stakeholder". That's how far down the divisions go! So the theorising has a point, the theory is being applied on the ground, the results are for all of us to see.

Moral Policing is the Same Everywhere Lets not have a kneejerk reaction. The author might have compared India with Pakistan, but surely our comparison has to be against the principles? No point in getting upset about the relative aspects, Jay and Harish.

From an absolutist perspective, yes, there are moral policing issues in India. While I consider people who reach for the fascist or nazi tag as godwin's law breakers, it behoves us to really think about why we have these buggers almost on an yearly basis, going after say the valentine day shops. Its comical if not bizarre.

Morality is now reduced to sex, what about the morals relating to good behaviour to others? animals? corruption? non-violence? Much to think about as far as India is concerned. And lets not turn this into a pissing comparison match with Pakistan