Iran to Help Iraq?

Despite the Bush Administration's animosity towards Iran, the Iranian government seems to be courting the Iraqis. The Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, said his country was prepared to offer training, equipment and advisers to Iraqi Government forces for "the security fight".

He also offered to help in the reconstruction of Iraq: "We have experience of reconstruction after war," he was quoted as saying, referring to the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. "We are ready to transfer this experience in terms of reconstruction to the Iraqis."

And as if this was not enough Iran and Iraq announced plans to open an Iranian national bank in Iraq. A senior Iraqi banking official, Hussein al-Uzri, confirmed Iran had received a licence to open the bank: Mr Uzri said it would apparently be the first "wholly-owned subsidiary bank" of a foreign country in Iraq and would "enhance trade" between the neighbours.

Iran has an interest in seeing the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government succeed. This is probably the only thing that Iran and the US have in common, albeit for different reasons. Both countries are Shiite-controlled in the midst of mostly Sunni neighbors. However the US is suspicious of Iranian involvement in Iraq and President Bush has vowed to: respond firmly if Iran foments violence in Iraq, but said he had no intention of invading Iran....in the meantime: Washington has authorised US troops in Iraq to capture or kill Iranian agents found in the country.

The Iraq Study Group, in a bi-partisan report, has urged the Bush Administration to engage both Syria and Iran in helping to find a solution to the problems in Iraq. This recommendation has been ignored. It now appears that the Iraqis themselves are reaching out to Iran for support despite any misgivings Washington may have. In a lukewarm reaction to the contacts between Iran and Iraq, White House spokesman, Tony Snow said:

"We would certainly welcome Iran to start playing a constructive role in the region," he said, adding that Iran could take positive steps by stopping arms smuggling and the support of "terrorist organizations."

Snow said there was some evidence that Iranians had been involved in activities that led to the deaths of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians.

But it was up to the Iraqi government to determine what the relationship would be with its neighbor, he said. "And I dare say it's not going to make arrangements that are going to be detrimental to its security or its prosperity."

Will Hagel Run?

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) sounds more like a Democrat than most Democrats when it comes to the war in Iraq. He has been very vocal and persuasive in his arguments against sending more troops to Iraq:

"I think all 100 Senators aught to be on the line on this. What do you believe? What are you willing to support? What do you think? Why are you elected? If you wanted a safe job.... go sell shoes. This is a tough business. But is it any tougher us having to take a tough vote, express ourselves and have the courage to step up than what we are asking our young men and women to do? I don't think so. We better be damn sure we know what we are doing, all of us, before we put 22,000 more Americans into that grinder......"

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=IZDJO5bLwzA]

What is so surprising about Chuck Hagel is that on every other issue he is 100% behind President Bush and is one of the more conservative members of the Senate. But on the war in Iraq he could easily be mistaken for a Democrat because of his open opposition to the President. He pleads with the other members of the Senate to stand up and be counted on their position with regards to the President's plan to send 22,000 more troops to Iraq.

"I don't know how many United State Senators believe we have a coherent strategy in Iraq. I don't think we have ever had a coherent strategy in fact I would even challenge the administration today to show us the plan that the President talked about the other night. There isn't a plan.......... I want everyone of you, everyone of us, 100 Senators to look in that camera and you tell your people back home what you think, don't hide any more...."

Could he be positioning himself to announce his candidacy to run in 2008 for the White House? There is much speculation about his future plans after so vehemently opposing Bush's war plans. But can he get the Republican nomination after such a determined outspoken rejection of the President's plans?
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=gou1hP4Ny-4]

Racism starts with Kids

Not sure what to make of this one. A young aspiring filmmaker Kiri Davis decided to repeat an experiment conducted by psychologist Kenneth Clark in the 1950's, over 50 years ago. It was intended to help make the case for desegregation in the Oliver Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas case which ultimately resulted in the Supreme Court overturning racial segregation if public education

In his experiment Clark presented a group of Black kids with two dolls. One black and one white. They were asked which one they preferred. The overwhelming majority of the kids chose the white doll. Given the state of race relations in the 1950s, this result was not too surprising. So Kiri Davis wanted to repeat the experiment to see how much things had changed since then.

Here is what she found:

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=rjy9q8VekmE]

Nothing has changed. Black kids still preferred the white doll. I was surprised at this result. After decades of trying to improve race relations, it looks like nothing much has changed. I am not sure if this is because of societal pressures acting on the young. Would the results be any different if economic standings (poor/middle class/rich) were taken into account? If there was a larger group of kids tested would the results change? This video certainly brings some interesting questions to mind. What if Hispanic or Oriental kids were selected? Does society reinforce the notion that White is good and Black is bad? I would love to see this experiment done on a large scientifically monitored national scale to determine its validity.

Obama Fires Back

After being falsely accused of attending a radical Muslim school as a child by the magazine Insight, a story which was repeated on Fox News and in the Washington Post, Barak Obama has fired back with a statement signaling that this kind of smear journalism will not be tolerated. In a very aggressive denial of the report he set the tone which hopefully will cause others to make sure of their facts before repeating rumors. CNN actually went to the "Muslim school" and in their report discredited the Insight report

If Doocy or the staff at Fox and Friends had taken [time] to check their facts, or simply made a call to his office, they would have learned that Senator Obama was not educated in a Madrassa, was not raised as a Muslim, and was not raised by his father – an atheist Obama met once in his life before he died.

To be clear, Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ in Chicago. Furthermore, the Indonesian school Obama attended in Jakarta is a public school that is not and never has been a Madrassa.

He went on to say:

These malicious, irresponsible charges are precisely the kind of politics the American people have grown tired of, and that Senator Obama is trying to change by focusing on bringing people together to solve our common problems.

In making this kind of response he seems to be signaling that he is aware that this nomination is going to be a uphill battle and he is willing and able to defend himself from attacks from all sides. Running for President is no easy task and Barak already has negatives to deal with and overcome. Being Black, having a Muslim-sounding name, contesting the primaries with Hillary Clinton and lack of extensive experience in national politics.

When John Kerry was running against President Bush, many attempts were made to belittle his character. He was called a flip flop. He was not always consistent in defending himself leaving some to wonder if the accusations were true. What this did was to cause some people to doubt his ability to lead the nation. It eventually cost him the election.

The swift response by Barak Obama gives the opposite impression. He comes off as some one who will defend himself, is sure of himself and is not afraid to stand up for himself. He ended his response with an appeal directly to the American people:

"These malicious, irresponsible charges are precisely the kind of politics the American people have grown tired of"

Seeing the attack for what it was and willing to move on, in a positive way is only going to help his campaign.

Hillary on Olbermann

Hillary Clinton gave this interview to Keith Olbermann shortly after announcing her intention to seek the Presidency. She explains why she should be President.

Part 1 of 3

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=O-wjHapMcfc]

Part 2 of 3

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=xbIxDGp6Hp8]

Part 3 of 3

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=WJeweBj_GzE]