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Today's Stories January 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn January 9, 2008 Cockburn /
St. Clair Dave Lindorff John Chuckman James Bovard Alan Farago Russell Mokhiber William S. Lind Peter Morici Josh Reubner Mike Roselle Website of the Day
January 8, 2008 Paul Craig
Roberts Russell Mokhiber Robert Fantina Dave Zirin Shamako Nobel John Ross Brenda Norrell Laura Carlsen Patrick Irelan Evelyn J. Pringle Jonathan M.
Feldman Michael Dickinson Website of
the Day
January 7, 2008 Chris Floyd John Blair Uri Avnery Andy Worthington Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Ralph Nader Michael Donnelly Ron Jacobs Gideon Levy Dave Lindorff Website of
the Day
January 5 / 6, 2008 Douglas Valentine Kevin Young Richard Rhames Saul Landau Marc Lynch Robert Fantina Donna Volatile Jelle Bruinsma Bob Sutcliffe Harvey Wasserman Missy Beattie David Swanson Jacob Hornberger Shepherd Bliss Ron Jacobs Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
January 4, 2008 Cockburn /
St. Clair Jonathan Cook Paul Craig Roberts Stan Goff Dave Lindorff Niranjan Ramakrishnan Allan Nairn Joshua Frank Peter Morici Mary McInnis Website of the Day
January 3, 2008 Fatima Bhutto Pam Martens Joanne Mariner Zoltan Grossman David Domke Norman Solomon Nikolas Kozloff Jacob G. Hornberger Martha Rosenberg Russell Means Website of the Day
January 2, 2008 Jeff Taylor M. Shahid Alam Gary Leupp Paul Craig Roberts Heather Gray Fred Gardner David Macaray Benjamin Dangl
January 1, 2008 Iain A. Boal B. R. Gowani Shahid Mahmood Linn Washington,
Jr. Harvey Wasserman John Ross Website of the Day
December 31, 2007 Alexander Cockburn Tariq Ali Liaquat Ali Khan Wajahat Ali Robert Fisk Ajai Sahni Marwan Bishara Uri Avnery Mark T. Harris Brenda Norrell Website of the Day
December 29 / 30, 2007 Alexander Cockburn Tariq Ali Fawzia Afzal-Khan Gary Leupp China Hand Jacob Hornberger John Chuckman Missy Beattie Ralph Nader Fidel Castro Robert Fantina Greg Moses Catherine Lutz Kristin Van
Tassel Kim Nicolini Phyllis Pollack Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
December 28, 2007 Farzana Versey Wajahat Ali Binoy Kampmark Ayesha Ijaz
Khan Anthony DiMaggio Ray McGovern Jim Goodman Ron Jacobs Russell Hoffman John Murphy Website of the Day
December 27, 2007 Dilip Hiro Murtaza Shibli Stephen Soldz Bill Quigley Paul Craig Roberts Omer Subhani Marjorie Cohn Allan Nairn Jacob G. Hornberger Norman Solomon Patrick Irelan Ben Tripp Website of the Day
Charles Tripp Paul Armentano Rannie Amiri Stanley Heller John Walsh Martha Rosenberg Norman Madarasz Website of
the Day
December 25, 2007 Patrick Cockburn December 24, 2007 Andrea Peacock Tariq Ali Uri Avnery Jill Jameson Steve Melendez Mike Whitney Chuck Munson John Walsh Farzana Versey Richard Neville Website of the Day
Alexander Cockburn Ralph Nader Andy Worthington Ahmad Faruqui Bill Moyers Rev. William
E. Alberts Timothy J. Freeman Anthony DiMaggio Fred Gardner Paul Krassner Seth Sandronsky William Loren
Katz Michael Dickinson Ron Jacobs David Vest Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
December 21, 2007 John Ross Jacob Hornberger Dick J. Reavis Jeff Cohen
Peter Morici Jack McCarthy Raúl Zibechi Steve Early David Macaray Patrick Bond Lakota Freedom Delegation Website of
the Day
December 20, 2007 David Rosen Alan Farago Laura Carlsen Ashley Dawson Wayne Smith Website of
the Day
December 19, 2007 Saul Landau Paul W. Lovinger Norman Solomon Dave Zirin Marjorie Cohn Sen. Russell
Feingold Sonja Karkar Anthony Papa Christopher Ketcham Davey D Website of
the Day
December 18, 2007 R. F. Blader George Wuerthner Steven Higgs Vijay Prashad David Macaray Ralph Nader Eva Liddell Martha Rosenberg Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Website of
the Day
December 17, 2007 Mike Whitney Tom Barry Uri Avnery Greg Moses Allan Nairn Patrick Bond Stephen Lendman Charles Jonkel Laray Polk Stephen Fleischman December 15 / 16, 2007 Peter Linebaugh Howard Zinn Standard Schaefer Raymond J.
Lawrence Alan Farago Saul Landau Jenna Orkin Ahmad Samih
Khalidi Robert Fantina Missy Comley
Beattie Ramzy Baroud James L. Secor Elijah Wald Website of
the Weekend
December 14, 2007 JoAnn Wypijewski John Ross Jacob Hornberger Andy Worthington Allan Nairn Dave Zirin Dave Lindorff Misty MacDuffee Ben Terrall Dr. Mustafa
Barghouthi Website of the Day
December 13, 2007 Paul Craig
Roberts Mike Whitney Ron Jacobs Norman Solomon Peter Morici Sandy Mayes Franklin Lamb Jacob Hornberger Nadim Rouhana Dave Zirin Website of the Day
Allan
Nairn Alan
Farago Ray
McGovern Winslow
T. Wheeler Evan
Jones James
Petras Joel
Hirschorn Joshua
Frank Sherry
Wolf Dan
Bacher Website
of the Day
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January 10, 2008 Brotherly, Friendly Countries?Saudi Arabia and PakistanBy AYESHA IJAZ KHAN Public opinion of Saudi Arabia plummeted to the lowest it has ever been on the streets of Pakistan when the Saudi government agreed to Nawaz Sharif's deportation from Pakistan in the summer of 2007, contravening directly the Supreme Court verdict that had plainly said that Mr. Sharif, a Pakistani citizen, had the inalienable right to live in his country and that any deal he may have entered into with the government of Mr. Musharraf in 1999to live in exile, most likely under duress, would not hold up in a court of law. Saudi Arabia had in the past enjoyed respect, almost veneration, in the eyes of many Pakistanis, primarily because the holy sites of Mecca and Medina are located there, but also because several Pakistanis had earned a living in Saudi Arabia and repatriated funds consistently, often feeding an entire family on the remittances of a single Pakistani worker sweating it out in the desert sun. In spite of the fact that treatment of guest workers in Saudi Arabia, especially those at the lower end of the economic spectrum, leaves a lot to be desired, average Pakistanis nevertheless looked upon the Kingdom with a sense of admiration. In recent years, however, public opinion has changed. Inviting foreign, western forces to attack Iraq in the early nineties led many to question their previous belief that Saudi Arabia would safeguard Muslim interests, even though most Pakistanis were against Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Of course, the more erudite realized that Saudi Arabia had funnelled funds into Iraq to help fight Iran previously and had called in French soldiers to help quell the uprising in Mecca. But the average person was largely unaware of these facts and was therefore gravely disappointed that the Saudi government had sided with Christians against Muslims. Soon after 9/11, Pakistanis also woke up to the reality that Saudi Arabia had been exploiting Pakistan's poverty and lack of a viable public school system by pouring funds into madrassas that taught a particularly rigid, and sometimes, violent form of Islam. Although much had been made of western involvement in Pakistan's internal affairs, until recently, many Pakistani political analysts failed to underscore the effects of Saudi interference. Nawaz Sharif's recent deportation highlighted just that, and although opposition politicians did not blame Saudi Arabia the way they would have pounced on the west, independent analysts began to talk about it on television and in the newspapers. Surprisingly, the reaction from the Saudis was quick, and rapidly, a counter-deal was negotiated, which would let Nawaz Sharif back into the country. Many analysts also thought that Saudis were confident that after several years in exile in Saudi Arabia and having enjoyed the Saudi crown's hospitality, Nawaz Sharif could represent Saudi interests in Pakistan rather well. But anyone who thought the Saudis had changed their minds simply because they were sensitive to Pakistani public opinion, was disappointed yet again when the Kingdom's ambassador to Pakistan sought a meeting with the hugely popular deposed Chief Justice, house-arrested along with several other members of the judiciary by the Musharraf government for their bold decisions, offering him a VIP hajj so that he would soften his stance with the Musharraf government. The deposed Chief Justice respectfully declined and preferred to remain under house arrest. The Saudi press has historically had an insatiable lust for reporting on tumultuous events in the countries of expatriate workers, namely Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Philippines, and the like as it is practically forbidden from discussing any of the shortcomings of its own government. Mr. Khaled al-Maeena, editor-in-chief of Arab News, the Kingdom's most widely-read English newspaper, never ceases to amaze me with his benevolent offers of advice to the governments of less-developed countries while remaining shamefully silent about the troubles that envelop Saudi Arabia. True to form, his recent editorial on Pakistan began with the sentence, "The brutal assassination of Benazir Bhutto has dealt a serious blow to Pakistan's fabric of existence, which is now imperilled." He follows up with some incoherent analysis going back to Pakistan's ties with Iran and Turkey, and then concludes with several words of advice for the government and opposition to work together. Certainly, Ms. Bhutto's death was tragic and a great loss, one that has been mourned and shaken Pakistan, but by no means is the fabric of a nation of 173 million threatened. Pakistanis take criticism with good grace and are ever-ready to self-examine, both by ink and by mouth. Mr. Al-Maeena, if he is at all concerned about the well-being of his own country, should focus inwards. He should take advantage of the marginal reforms introduced by King Abduallah and undertake a badly needed, if belated, soul-searching exercise. Perhaps it is too late for Mr. Al-Maeena. Perhaps he is set in his escapist ways. Far more encouraging are some of Saudi Arabia's younger lawyers, journalists, and bloggers. One sees hope in this new generation of Saudis who are standing firm in their commitment to bring about positive change to Saudi society. Ebithal Mubarak writes about previously taboo subjects such as maltreatment of foreign maids and "honour crimes" against women, such as forced divorces. Lawyer Abdel-Rahman al-Lahem who took up the highly publicised case of the "Qatif girl" gang rape victim and risked losing his license to practice. Bloggers Fouad al-Farhan, who was arrested in his plea for greater freedom and basic civil rights, and Ahmad al-Omran of saudijeans.org fame, who dared to expose corruption and lament self-censorship in the Saudi media. These are the new and exciting heroes of a promising Saudi Arabia. Although they receive some press in the west, it is clearly not enough, neither of course are the West's calls for reform or solidarity with the civil society activists in Saudi Arabia, or Pakistan, or any other part of the Muslim world. But what is most disheartening is that Muslim countries themselves give very little coverage to these burning issues. The Pakistani press, for instance, although battling tooth and nail to cover the struggle of lawyers and journalists at home, has remained woefully silent on the plight of its Saudi brethren. Perhaps the Pakistanis are too embattled in their own woes to take notice. Or perhaps, they fear the newly-instituted and draconian PEMRA Ordinance that prohibits not just live coverage, etc. of dissent within Pakistan but also forbids any "negative press of friendly countries." Either excuse is inadequate. Pakistani newspapers have a duty to inform their people about the plight of well-meaning Saudis. Pakistanis and Saudis may have a lot to gain from one another if real people-to-people contact is encouraged over governmental ties when both governments are clearly working against the interests of their own people. Ayesha Ijaz Khan is a London-based lawyer and writer
and can be contacted via her website www.ayeshaijazkhan.com ![]()
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