Thursday, September 18, 2008

Iraq's Nostradamus

Anyone who has been a loyal reader of the blog Talisman Gate will attest to the blog owner's excellent track record. Talisman Gate is run by Nibras Kazimi, an Iraqi doing a fellowship at an American university. He has been blogging about events in Iraq for a few years and over the course of time has made many predictions about how things will turn out. His insider knowledge about the people and the events in Iraq has made him a must read for anyone interested in freedom and democracy for Iraq. His predictions are almost always right.

His latest entry is extremely intriguing. He writes about Iraqi parliamentarian, Mithal Alusi, a strong proponent of secularism. He's been in hot water more than once about his willingness to have contacts with (including actual visits to) Israel.

Kazimi writes:
"I can’t help but chuckle as I write this: Alusi is a bad-ass, and these folks, especially the Islamists, don’t realize that they are falling into his trap. The Minister of State for National Security, Abdel-Karim al-‘Anizi, made the mistake of calling Alusi an Israeli agent today, only to get Alusi to retort that al-‘Anizi is an Iranian spy..."
[---]
"The so-called Iraq ‘analysts’ and ‘experts’ will have a hard time explaining when this is all over why such antics work to Alusi’s favor."
[---]
"I spoke to Alusi earlier today, and this is what he had to say: “America doesn’t have the confidence to deter Iran from building a nuclear weapon. The Americans are even preventing Israel from saving itself. Iraqis and Israelis are the two nations that will suffer the most from a radical Iranian leadership that can threaten us with nuclear weapons. Thus, Iraq and Israel must find a strategy to counter this threat. Time is running out.”"
He then goes into great detail about Alusi's rhetoric to and about his fellow Iraqi parliamentatians, whom he, of course, accuses of incompetence and of being in bed with Iran. But the real kicker is what Kazimi finds in the comments section of a Saudi television network's website about Alusi.
"One would think that it would be cram full of Arab nationalists...denouncing Mithal as a Zionist spy; on the contrary, the response is predominately supportive. The catch line is that Alusi was punished for speaking out against Iran, not for visiting Israel."
Damn that Bush doctrine!!

Go read the whole thing and the comments. There's also a YouTube video with English subtitles that's a must view.

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