Morning Report: 2008-04-22

Iraq comes into its own, no thanks to fair-weather friends. A rogue son is disowned, and an actress gets a wary look from a fellow Frenchman. France gets tough on pirates, and Dutch gays take stock of their political loyalties.

Maliki criticizes neighbors for lack of support. Reuters via MSNBC: 'Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki rebuked neighboring states on Tuesday for not doing enough to strengthen ties with Baghdad, write off Iraq's debts or stop militants from entering the war-torn country. In a hard-hitting speech at a meeting in Kuwait of foreign ministers from Iraq's neighbors and Western powers, al-Maliki rattled off a list of grievances his government had.'

Muqtada al-Sadr's family turns on him. Gateway Pundit:

The following is a translation by Iraqi-American Haider Ajina from Nida'a al Rafidain News published on April 17, 2008:

Iraq’s Josef Al-Sadr says that Muqtada Al- Sadr has tainted Our Family Reputation;
--We will deal with him internally.

Alseyed Josef Alsadar a member of the honored Sadar family wrote a letter to Alrafedain news (Nida'a al Rafidain News) which said: "Muqtada al-Sadr has tainted the reputation of this respected family, and the family disowns Muqtada. We are as innocent of him as the wolf is of the blood of Josef (Biblical (Old Testament I believe) and Koranic reference) [Genesis 39:31-33 - aa]. The family is working on ways to discipline him with in the family. Consultations for this are held at the highest level to come up with punishments for its rogue son.

These courageous and dangerous statements come, for the fist time, from a member of the Sadar family. Alseyed Josef al-Sadr is considered to be a member of the family with deep faith who is rarely public. It appears he has broken his silence to show the truth before it is to late.

Al-rafidain has published this news after it consulted with Josef Alsadar, and expressed its concern that publishing his letter may threaten his life or safety.

The news agency reminded him of the assassination of Said Riadh Alnoori some days earlier. He was assassinated after he wrote Muqtada a letter asking him to dissolve the Mehdi Army. Alseyed Josef insisted we publish his letter against all threats.

Dissident Frogman: The dark side of Brigitte Bardot. Via LGF, Dissident Frogman:

No, the problem with this chronologically reversed Johan of Arc—and incidentally the reason why you're not about to see me cheer for her anytime soon—is in many ways similar to the one that caused the recent fratricidal and frankly counterproductive row between Little Green Footballs' Charles Johnson and Gates of Vienna1: namely Europe's old Fascists and Neo-Nazis piggybacking a legitimate anti-Islamist cause at their convenience, in a bid to blur the line between our liberal democracies' fight for survival and their own totalitarian agenda. Bardot is but one small crab in that fetid European cesspool of politics, but the interesting point beyond her own person is that in this instance, every party involved is equally deserving of contempt.

Bottom line: Bardot is no Fallaci. Go read the whole thing.

Pirates. Fox: 'The United States and France are drafting a U.N. resolution that would allow countries to chase and arrest pirates off Somalia's coast, responding to a spate of attacks including this week's hijacking of a Spanish tuna boat, U.N. diplomats said Monday.' OpFor:

What a strange world we live in now. In the old days, piracy in the Mediterranean drove up the price of goods due to the increased costs of bribes to the local costal kings in the Magreb. Merchant vessels that flew under flags that paid the bribes received a free pass, while others that did not were subject to attack...

Plus ca change. Meanwhile, The Belmont Club looks at French and British responses to piracy as reported in the New York Times. 'The urge to stand above the grime and gunpowder sometimes obscures the historical fact that police forces must sometimes become a little like their enemies in order to effectively fight them. The Duke of Wellington when asked about his troops understood they were the scum of the earth and once said, "I don't know if they scare the enemy, but by God, they scare me."' Some things, apparently, do change.

Dutch gays turn right. Gates of Vienna: 'Dutch gays are starting to like Geert Wilders. If it weren’t for the fact that they’re voting for other conservative parties, too, I’d assume it was his bouffant blond mop that’s drawing their attention. But now that gays on the streets of Amsterdam are routinely beaten up by gangs of immigrant “youths”, it seems that homosexuals are waking up and voting their best interests.' GayPatriot West:

I can’t remember how I first read about a rightward shift among Dutch gays, but Baron Bodissey’s post reminde me that I had intended to blog on this very topic. A poll by NOVA, a Dutch TV show found Dutch gays prefer conservative parties to “progressive” (i.e., left-of-center) ones.

I wonder if this shift has anything to do with the failure of left-wing parties to stand up to radical Muslims living in Holland who refuse to integrate into Dutch society while harassing gays and lesbians living in (and visiting as our friend Chris Crain learned) the Netherlands. A phenomenon Bruce Bawer, another friend of this blog described in his excellent book While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within (which both Bruce (the GayPatriot) and I recommend).

It seems that left-wing politicians in Europe are having trouble balancing the competing interests of the various “minority” (read: “victims” in coalition of oppressed) groups to whom they feel they must appeal and whom they fear offending.

Commentary. Nibras Kazimi at Talisman Gate has a few things to say about the situation in Basra:

Anonymous British commanders had told the UK’s Telegraph a couple of days ago that the Iraqi Army’s military operation in Basra was an “unmitigated disaster” and that the Iraqi commander leading it, General Mohan al-Freiji, is a “dangerous lunatic”.

It’s funny how the story never seems to get around to the point that the Iraqi Army managed to achieve in Basra what the British never could, namely, to control the city and smash the organized crime cartels. ...

Today, this headline should likewise jar a couple of people awake:

IRAQI ARMY UNCOVERS LARGE ARMS CACHE IN HAYYANIYA, BASRA

The pictures in this MNF-I write-up (Arabic version) are quite startling to begin with, but here’s the real ‘mind-blowing-ness’ of the story: this arms cache was found during a house-by-house security sweep of the Hayyaniya neighborhood, which is Basra’s equivalent of Sadr City. Who could have imagined a house-by-house sweep of Hayyaniya back in the days when the British were in charge—the same Brits who cowered into the military equivalent of a fetal position whenever they were challenged by the Mahdi Army?

In another part of town, another security sweep uncovered eight GRAD missiles. These are eight GRAD missiles that won’t be launched at the Brits during their precious teatime ceremonies over at Basra’s airport.

No wonder that some in Maliki’s circle has come to believe this rumor: British intelligence deliberately allowed Basra to turn into a hellhole so that this port city would never rival Dubai, whose princes bankroll British intelligence operations across the Middle East. Hey it’s just a rumor, right? But it get fishier when it’s synced-up with intelligence reports reaching Maliki’s office that allege that the Maktoum royals of Dubai have been funding some of Basra’s militias.