Artist and Producer Needed For Martial Law Album to be Distributed Through Island Def Jam/Vacant Lot Records

Artist and Producer Needed For Martial Law Album to be Distributed Through Island Def Jam/Vacant Lot Records

Vacant Lot Records, an independent New York record label who has worked with DMX, Jay Z, Mary J Blige, TI, Scarface, Silk The Shocker, Jadakiss and more, is looking for the hottest producer and artist (one of each) to feature on its Martial Law Album, distributed through Island Def Jam/Vacant Lot Records. At least one Sonicbids member is guaranteed to be featured.

The company is an emerging force in the Urban Music Industry. Singers, rappers and spoken word artists are welcome to submit as long as the submitted songs/beats are not typical. Dame Grease (founder of Vacant Lot who has also sold 35 million records) is looking for unusual tracks with creative twists.

Exposure for Martial Law will come from DJ networks, heavy radio campaigns, online, film, A&R and marketing professionals. Winners will be featured on the Martial Law album, in the media, physical copies and during public performances in selected areas. There will be online/physical distribution.

Martial Law will feature Dame Grease and other Major artists on his release. Formed in 1997, Dame Grease has accomplished major success in the Urban Market.

---

Press Reviews

Dame Grease Preps Artwork For Upcoming Album "Martial Law"

SOUL PITCH STREET WIRE

If you Been Following the Wave Gang Movement and I Know You Have cause we Have our very Own JAY Z saying on a Drake Record that's he's the Owww man! and we all know Max B didn't create Owww but actually made it his signature. Then Jay Z should reach out to Vacant Lot And say that Owww over a Dame Grease Beat! Now that would be something to Oww about.. for more information

http://www.soulpitchstreetwire.com/2010/06/dame-grease-preps-artwork-for-upcoming.html

Artist of the Week - Dame Grease

BRM MAGAZINE

On a Harlem, NY avenue, sometime in the late ‘80s, a thirteen-year-old Damon Blackmon, now known as Dame Grease, would remark to his friends that, “You’ll notice the sun don’t shine on this side of the block.” Upon further introspection he would state “We gotta go to the rooftop; we don’t have to be here.”

http://beyondrace.com/articles/features/642-artist-of-the-week-dame-grease

DAME GREASE NEWS

BILLBOARD MAGAZINE

Dame Grease has collaborated with such prominent New York rap artists as DMX, the LOX, and Nas. He even took a chance producing the enigmatic Tricky, primarily recognized as a trip-hop producer. Following this courageous project, he formed his own label, Vacant Lot, and began work on his debut release, Live on Lenox Ave., in which he produced superstar ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

 

http://www.billboard.com/artist/dame-grease/323318#/artist/dame-grease/323318

Superbroke, Superfrugal, Superpower?

Superbroke, Superfrugal, Superpower?

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

In recent years, I have often said to European friends: So, you didn’t like a world of too much American power? See how you like a world of too little American power — because it is coming to a geopolitical theater near you. Yes, America has gone from being the supreme victor of World War II, with guns and butter for all, to one of two superpowers during the cold war, to the indispensable nation after winning the cold war, to “The Frugal Superpower” of today. Get used to it. That’s our new nickname. American pacifists need not worry any more about “wars of choice.” We’re not doing that again. We can’t afford to invade Grenada today.

Thomas L. Friedman

Ever since the onset of the Great Recession of 2008, it has been clear that the nature of being a leader — political or corporate — was changing in America. During most of the post-World War II era, being a leader meant, on balance, giving things away to people. Today, and for the next decade at least, being a leader in America will mean, on balance, taking things away from people.

And there is simply no way that America’s leaders, as they have to take more things away from their own voters, are not going to look to save money on foreign policy and foreign wars. Foreign and defense policy is a lagging indicator. A lot of other things get cut first. But the cuts are coming — you can already hear the warnings from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. And a frugal American superpower is sure to have ripple effects around the globe.

“The Frugal Superpower: America’s Global Leadership in a Cash-Strapped Era” is actually the title of a very timely new book by my tutor and friend Michael Mandelbaum, the Johns Hopkins University foreign policy expert. “In 2008,” Mandelbaum notes, “all forms of government-supplied pensions and health care (including Medicaid) constituted about 4 percent of total American output.” At present rates, and with the baby boomers soon starting to draw on Social Security and Medicare, by 2050 “they will account for a full 18 percent of everything the United States produces.”

This — on top of all the costs of bailing ourselves out of this recession — “will fundamentally transform the public life of the United States and therefore the country’s foreign policy.” For the past seven decades, in both foreign affairs and domestic policy, our defining watchword was “more,” argues Mandelbaum. “The defining fact of foreign policy in the second decade of the 21st century and beyond will be ‘less.’ ”

When the world’s only superpower gets weighed down with this much debt — to itself and other nations — everyone will feel it. How? Hard to predict. But all I know is that the most unique and important feature of U.S. foreign policy over the last century has been the degree to which America’s diplomats and naval, air and ground forces provided global public goods — from open seas to open trade and from containment to counterterrorism — that benefited many others besides us. U.S. power has been the key force maintaining

global stability, and providing global governance, for the last 70 years. That role will not disappear, but it will almost certainly shrink.

Great powers have retrenched before: Britain for instance. But, as Mandelbaum notes, “When Britain could no longer provide global governance, the United States stepped in to replace it. No country now stands ready to replace the United States, so the loss to international peace and prosperity has the potential to be greater as America pulls back than when Britain did.”

After all, Europe is rich but wimpy. China is rich nationally but still dirt poor on a per capita basis and, therefore, will be compelled to remain focused inwardly and regionally. Russia, drunk on oil, can cause trouble but not project power. “Therefore, the world will be a more disorderly and dangerous place,” Mandelbaum predicts.

How to mitigate this trend? Mandelbaum argues for three things: First, we need to get ourselves back on a sustainable path to economic growth and reindustrialization, with whatever sacrifices, hard work and political consensus that requires. Second, we need to set priorities. We have enjoyed a century in which we could have, in foreign policy terms, both what is vital and what is desirable. For instance, I presume that with infinite men and money we can succeed in Afghanistan. But is it vital? I am sure it is desirable, but vital? Finally, we need to shore up our balance sheet and weaken that of our enemies, and the best way to do that in one move is with a much higher gasoline tax.

America is about to learn a very hard lesson: You can borrow your way to prosperity over the short run but not to geopolitical power over the long run. That requires a real and growing economic engine. And, for us, the short run is now over. There was a time when thinking seriously about American foreign policy did not require thinking seriously about economic policy. That time is also over.

An America in hock will have no hawks — or at least none that anyone will take seriously.

'Jerusalem Day paves the way for Israel's collapse'

'Jerusalem Day paves the way for Israel's collapse'

By JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP

09/03/2010 11:07

 Ahmadinejad says "the Zionists are hypocrite racists" at rally on Quds Day, the last Friday of Ramadan; mob attacks home of opposition leader.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel "hypocrite racists" and a Western invention as Iranians celebrated International Jerusalem Day on Friday, the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with rallies against the "Israeli occupation of Palestinian land by Israel" being held across the country, according to a report by Iranian news source PressTV.


Iranians held rallies in cities including Teheran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly adressed a Jerusalem Day rally in Teheran, saying "the Zionists are groups of hypocrite racists who have been operating under the pretext of following Jewish religion principles."


Ahmadinejad added that Israel is a Western invention meant to promote colonialism and materialism.

He also said that direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are a ruse, and that American negotiators are accomplices to Israeli "crimes" against Palestinians.

"Only Palestinians can decide on their own lands, not foreign powers," PressTV quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Iran's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Hamid-Reza Asefi said that Jerusalem Day threatens Israel more than any diplomatic or non-diplomatic measure, according to PressTV.

"By their glorious presence [in the Jerusalem Day rally], the Muslims of the world will tell the oppressed nation of Palestine that they are still beside the Palestinian people and ideals," Asefi reportedly said on Thursday.

According to Asefi, Jerusalem Day, also known as Quds day, has given the Muslim world confidence.

On Thursday, Iranian Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri told Iranian news agency IRNA that Jerusalem day "appears to pave the way for the collapse of Israel and its allies, namely the US and Britain."

"Now that the world public opinion has changed over the Israeli atrocities, and the popular resistance has gained momentum, the Zionists appear to be waning," Jazayeri added.

He also said that the talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority were bound to fail.

The late Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeinei declared Jerusalem Day to mark the last Friday of Ramadan and called for world rallies in favor of the Palestinians and against Israel.

PressTV quoted the Khomeinei as having said Jerusalem Day is "a day of confrontation between the oppressed and the oppressors."

Crowds attack home of Iranian opposition leader

Pro-government militiamen attacked the home of an Iranian opposition leader with homemade bombs and beat one of his bodyguards unconscious, an opposition website reported, in an apparent attempt to keep him from attending a key rally on Friday.

Mahdi Karroubi's guards had to fire gunshots in the air to clear crowds that broke down the door of his home on Thursday night after days of gatherings outside, said the Sahamnews website, which supports Iran's pro-reform movement.

The report said the attackers were members of the plainclothes Basij militia that led the crackdown on the protests that swept the country in response to allegations of fraud in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's June 2009 re-election. Karroubi was one of the pro-reform candidates who ran against Ahmadinejad.

Crowds again encircled Karroubi's residence on Friday, as Iranians filled a central Teheran square for the annual state-sponsored rally known as Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day.

The government uses the occasion as an anti-Israel outpouring and to show its support for the Palestinians. But last year, Karroubi and other opposition leaders used the day to gather tens of thousands of their own supporters into the streets, and violent clashes broke out with security forces.

Crowds of hard-line protesters have gathered at the gate of his building for several days, apparently because they believed he would try to attend the rally again this year, though none of the opposition leaders has called for demonstrations.

Karroubi's son, Hossein, told The Associated Press Friday that dozens of hard-liners were continuing to damage the opposition leader's home and that police were not responding to the scene.

Karroubi, a cleric, and Mir Hossein Mousavi were the two pro-reform candidates who ran against Ahmadinejad in 2009. Mousavi claims he won the election but that it was stolen from him through massive fraud.

On Friday, Mousavi condemned the attack on Karroubi's home, saying it proved the government's "enmity against Israel is an excuse" for attacking opposition figures. "Karroubi and figures like him and other freedom-seekers are the real enemies of authoritarians."

Mexico army kills 27 members of drug cartel in shoot out near U.S. border

Mexico army kills 27 members of drug cartel in shoot out near U.S. border

By Mail Foreign Service

Last updated at 12:58 PM on 3rd September 201

Soldiers killed 27 suspected cartel members in a raid and gun battle near the U.S. border that has seen a surge in drug gang violence.


A reconnaissance flight over Ciudad Mier in Tamaulipas state spotted several gunmen in front of a property, according to Mexico's Defence Department.

When troops on the ground moved in, gunmen opened fire, starting a battle that killed 27 suspected cartel members, the military said.

Aftermath: Soldiers stand next to weapons seized at a warehouse in Tamaulipas, Mexico, after a gunfight with drug gang members which left 25 dead

The statement said two soldiers were injured but none was killed.


Earlier, a military spokesman had said the shootout happened when troops on patrol in neighbouring Nuevo Leon state came under fire from a ranch allegedly controlled by the Zetas drug gang.

The spokesman said the troops returned fire at a ranch, known as 'The Stump'.

A defence department statement later said the shootout took place in Tamaulipas.


Authorities rescued three people believed to be kidnap victims in the raid, according to the statement.

The military said troops seized 25 rifles, four grenades, 4,200 rounds of ammunition and 23 vehicles.

Investigation: Detectives retrieve evidence from the scene in the wake of the shooting

Raid: The military said 25 rifles, four grenades, 4,200 rounds of ammunition and 23 vehicles had been seized

Violence has surged in north-eastern Mexico this year since the Zetas broke ranks with their former employer, the Gulf cartel, making Tamaulipas one of the country's most dangerous battlegrounds.


In June, gunmen ambushed and killed the leading candidate for state governor a week before the elections. And in May a mayoral candidate in Tamaulipas was assassinated.

In August, Mexican marines discovered the bodies of 72 Central and South American migrants believed to have been gunned down by the Zetas after refusing to smuggle drugs, in what may be the deadliest cartel massacre to date.

The dead migrants were discovered at a ranch about 100 miles from the US border in Tamaulipas.

The Zetas began as a gang of drug assassins but have since evolved into a powerful cartel.

Drug violence has claimed more than 28,000 lives since President Felipe Calderon intensified a crackdown on cartels after taking office in late 2006.

Bloody scene: The body of one of the cartel members lies by the road after the shootout. His hands are cuffed.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict takes center stage in Washington

Israeli-Palestinian conflict takes center stage in Washington

From Ed Henry and Alan Silverleib, CNN

September 1, 2010 10:25 p.m. EDT

Washington (CNN) -- Ahead of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians on Thursday, President Barack Obama said Wednesday night that he was "hopeful -- cautiously hopeful" that the talks could achieve a two-state solution to the long running Mideast conflict.


"Though each of us holds a title of honor --- president, prime minister, king --- we are bound by the one title we share,"

Obama said on a stage with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the leaders of Egypt and Jordan.

"We are fathers, blessed with sons and daughters," Obama said. "So we must ask ourselves what kind of world do we want to bequeath to our children and our grandchildren."

The president was speaking at the start of a working White House dinner with Netanyahu, Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Each made remarks before the dinner.

"We don't seek a brief interlude between two wars, we don't seek a temporary respite between outbursts of terror," Netanyahu said. "We seek a peace that will end the conflict between us once and for all... for our generation, our children's generation and the next."

Netanyahu and Abbas condemned attacks against the Israelis in recent days.

"We do not want any blood to be shed -- one drop of blood from the Israelis or the Palestinians," said Abbas. "We want peace between the two countries... let us sign a formal agreement for peace and put an end to this long period of suffering forever."

In earlier remarks from the White House Rose Garden, Obama said that "this moment of opportunity may not soon come again."

With the U.S. war in Iraq drawing to a close, the Middle East moved front and center for administration officials Wednesday as Obama held a series of high-stakes meetings with Israeli and Arab leaders.

Obama huddled behind closed doors at the White House with the Israeli and Arab leaders.

On Wednesday night, Obama called the talks "very productive."

But he also pointed to challenges ahead. "We are under no illusions," he said. "Passions run deep... there's a reason that the two-state solution has eluded previous generations --- this is extraordinarily complex and extraordinarily difficult."

"But," he continued, "we know that the status quo is unsustainable."

Obama and Netanyahu met first on Wednesday, briefly addressing reporters to condemn, in Obama's words, the "senseless slaughter" of two men and two women Tuesday near the West Bank city of Hebron.

"Terrorists ... are purposely trying to undermine these talks," Obama said. "The message should go out (that this attack) is not going to stop" the United States from backing Israel and the peace process.

Later, after meeting with Abbas, he said that "we are making progress" in negotiations.

During his meetings with Abbas and King Abdullah, according to the White House, Obama was joined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones, and former Sen. George Mitchell, among others. Mitchell is Obama's special envoy for Middle East peace.

At stake is a unique "window of opportunity" for a breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within the next year, according Mitchell. Talks have been stalled for a year and a half.

The hurdles, however, remain steep. One immediate threat is the looming September 26 expiration of Israel's 10-month freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat indicated to CNN this week that if Israel does not extend the freeze, direct talks may quickly fall apart.

Netanyahu will have "closed the door in my face" if settlement construction resumes, Erakat said. Pressed on whether the Palestinian delegation would walk out of talks at that point, Erakat said that "we will not be able to go."

Netanyahu can have settlements or peace, but he can't have both, Erakat said.

Another roadblock to any comprehensive deal is the Palestinian view that any two-state solution must include a handover of all the land Israel captured in the 1967 war, along with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. While Netanyahu has expressed openness about a Palestinian state, he has expressed strong opposition to a Palestinian takeover of East Jerusalem.

The issue of Hamas control of Gaza, Erakat noted, also remains a "major problem." While Gaza is generally considered to be part of any future Palestinian state, Hamas has refused to recognize Israel's right to exist and is not a part of the talks. Hamas leaders are frequently in conflict with the more moderate Abbas and his Fatah organization, which has the upper hand in the West Bank.

Mitchell, however, told reporters Tuesday that both Netanyahu and Abbas are noting polls showing fear of intensified conflict if negotiations fall apart.

This is "a moment in time within which there remains the possibility of achieving the two-state solution," Mitchell asserted. "The alternatives ... pose far greater difficulties and far greater problems in the future."

Several top officials close to the negotiations conceded to CNN that it is hard to be optimistic about a peace deal at the moment. They downplayed expectations, saying that nobody directly involved in the talks expects a deal to be reached this week. But simply resuming talks was a critical step, and a comprehensive Middle East peace deal has been one of Obama's top foreign policy goals, they said.

"The biggest breakthrough would be an agenda [emerging Thursday] for a second round of meetings soon to move forward," one top official actively engaged in the talks said.

Clinton is set to play the main role in the talks on Thursday, hosting a meeting at the State Department with Netanyahu and Abbas.

CNN's Hala Gorani and David Molko contributed to this report

OPERATION NEW DAWN: THE IRAQ WAR GOES ON...

US forces still in fight at end of combat mission

By LARA JAKES and MAYA ALLERUZZO (AP) – 11 hours ago

HAWIJA, Iraq — Even as President Barack Obama was announcing the end of combat in Iraq, American soldiers were sealing off a northern village early Wednesday as their Iraqi partners raided houses and arrested dozens of suspected insurgents.

While the Obama administration has dramatically reduced the number of troops and rebranded the mission, the operation in Hawija was a reminder that U.S. forces are still engaged in hunting down and killing al-Qaida militants — and could still have to defend themselves against attacks.

That reality was front and center at a change-of-command ceremony in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces outside Baghdad that the American military now uses as its headquarters. Officials warned of a tough road ahead as the U.S. moves into the final phase of the 7 1/2-year war.

Of paramount concern is Iraqi leaders' continued bickering, six months after parliamentary elections, over forming a new government — a political impasse that could further endanger stability and fuel a diminished but still dangerous insurgency.

"Iraq still faces a hostile enemy who is determined to hinder progress," Gen. Lloyd Austin, the newly installed commander of the just under 50,000 U.S. troops still in Iraq, told the swelling crowd that was clad in military fatigues and political suits. "Make no mistake, our military forces here and those of the Iraqi nation remain committed to ensuring that our friends in Iraq succeed."

Vice President Joe Biden presided over the gathering at al-Faw palace, Saddam's gaudy former hunting lodge replete with fake marble walls and a huge chandelier made of recycled plastic.

The remaining U.S. forces in Iraq would be "as combat ready, if need be, as any in our military," Biden said, flanked by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen for the 75-minute ceremony, which also changed the U.S. mission's name from "Operation Iraqi Freedom" to "Operation New Dawn."

Three years ago, about 170,000 U.S. troops were in Iraq. Of those who remain, fewer than 10 percent — or 4,500 — are special forces who will regularly go on raids and capture terrorists, albeit alongside Iraqi troops.

Obama ordered the end of combat missions by Aug. 31 in a step toward a full withdrawal of American forces by the end of next year that was mandated in a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement.

Violence also has declined dramatically since early 2007, when the Pentagon poured tens of thousands more troops into Iraq over a matter of months to quell a Sunni insurgency that had lured the country to the brink of civil war. Additionally, a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and a Shiite militia cease-fire have helped tamp down attacks, although bombings and shootings across Iraq continue on a near-daily basis.

But Iraqi forces are heavily dependent on U.S. firepower, along with helicopters, spy data and other key tools for combating terrorists that they won't be able to supply on their own for years to come.

"Every soldier I have knows that fighting is not over because there are groups here that still want to hurt us," Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo, commander of U.S. troops in Iraq's volatile north, told The Associated Press recently. "But clearly combat operations is not in our mission statement."

In Hawija, once a hub for Sunni militants and Saddam's disaffected allies located 150 miles north of Baghdad, roughly 80 U.S. soldiers teamed up with more than 1,000 Iraqis to arrest about 60 terror suspects in the early morning raid Wednesday.

From checkpoints and command centers to helicopters hovering overhead, the Americans were on hand at the request of Iraqi police. But it was the Iraqis who went into houses and arrested suspected insurgents — including two considered high-value targets — while the U.S. watched the operation from afar.

Hours before the raids, Lt. Col. Andy Ulrich gave his soldiers a pep talk to counter concerns they weren't on a worthwhile mission.

"You all are combat troops not doing a combat mission, although it looks smells and feels and hurts a lot like combat," Ulrich said.

"Don't worry about what the politicians are saying because we have a mission," he added. "The bad part is, we can't go kicking the doors ourselves and get these guys. We've got to kind of convince Iraqis to do it, but the good part is, they're kind of willing to do it."

Iraqi forces across Baghdad appeared to be on heightened alert, aiming to reassure the populace and ward off insurgent attacks to coincide with the change in command.

Intelligence officials had warned al-Qaida in Iraq might use the U.S. military's shifting mission to launch suicide bombings around the capital in the days leading up to Wednesday's ceremony. However, the day was relatively quiet, except for a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad that police said killed one person.

At the Baghdad ceremony, Gen. Ray Odierno, the outgoing commander, formally ended his nearly five-year tour in Iraq on a reflective note.

"This period in Iraq's history will probably be remembered for sacrifice, resilience and change," Odierno said. "However, I remember it as a time in which the Iraqi people stood up against tyranny, terrorism and extremism, and decided to determine their own destiny as a people and as a democratic state."

Then, wistfully using his military call sign one last time, Odierno ended his remarks: "Lion 6 — out."

Obama ordered the refocusing of the U.S. mission last year to fulfill a campaign promise of ending what he once termed "a dumb war" and one that Gates acknowledged Wednesday was launched without justification. In an address Tuesday night Obama announced the end of American combat, but made clear that this was no victory celebration.

"Of course, violence will not end with our combat mission," the president said.

Defining the front lines in a war where soldiers who are attacked while delivering supplies could just as easily return fire as Marines while on a raid to round up suspected insurgents has never been easy. Some of the key ongoing threats to the safety of American forces are the same as they've always been: rockets, mortars and roadside bombs.

U.S. military officials have said Iranian-backed militias are stepping up their attacks against targets in Baghdad, trying to make it look like they're driving out the Americans. Since arriving in Iraq, the battalion taking part in the Hawija raids has been hit by rocket and grenade attacks on their patrols and on their base almost every other day.

In the western Iraqi city of Ramadi before the ceremony, Gates told reporters the U.S. would consider keeping some military forces in place past next year, if the Iraqi government requests it.

Asked whether the U.S. was still at war in Iraq, Gates answered succinctly, "I would say we are not."

He was less definitive about whether the 7 1/2-year war was worthwhile. More than 4,400 American troops and an estimated 100,000 Iraqis have been killed since the 2003 invasion, and billions of dollars have been poured into the war effort.

Claiming that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, then-President George W. Bush ordered the invasion with approval of a Congress still reeling from the 9/11 attacks. Bush's claims were based on faulty intelligence, and the weapons were never found.

"The problem with this war, I think, for many Americans, is that the premise on which we justified going to war turned out not to be valid," Gates said. "Even if the outcome is a good one from the standpoint of the United States, it'll always be clouded by how it began."

Jakes reported from Baghdad and Alleruzzo from Hawija. AP National Security Correspondent Anne Gearan in Ramadi and AP writers Barbara Surk and Rebecca Santana in Baghdad contributed to this report.

SPIEGEL Interview with Iraq's Ayad Allawi

SPIEGEL Interview with Iraq's Ayad Allawi

 

'Every Corner in the Region Is Frightened

 

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-58724.html

In a SPIEGEL interview, Ayad Allawi, Iraq's former and possibly future prime minister, discusses the withdrawal of US troops, the power struggle in Baghdad and the "very high possibility" of a new war in the Middle East.

Three bodyguards are sitting in front of his hotel suite in Kuwait, their guns bulging from beneath their suits. It's Ramadan and the men are fasting. But Ayad Allawi isn't, and he asks for an espresso. Allawi doesn't even create the impression that he lives according to religious rites. And that's also one reason why, nearly six months after the Iraqi election, he still hasn't become prime minister. He is one of the few representatives of a secular and supra-denominational Iraq.

The son of a Shiite businessman, Allawi became a member of the Baath Party as a student, but fell out with Saddam Hussein in the 1970s and then worked with Western intelligence services in the effort to topple the dictator. In 2004, the United States installed him as the first prime minister in postwar Iraq. After a year of governing as interim prime minister, he failed to win a democratic election to remain in the office. But in March 2010, he led in the parliamentary elections, with a two-seat advantage. Despite almost six months of talks, however, he still hasn't managed to form a government.

Allawi is pessimistic about the region. He says that on the night before his interview with SPIEGEL, he conferred with Arab leaders until 1 a.m. With a growing number of conflicts in the region, he says, the situation has grown more serious than most there have ever experienced. "Early today," he explains, "one of the most experienced of us came in and asked: Has the next catrastrophe in the Middle East broken out yet?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPIEGEL: Dr. Allawi, you are a neurologist by profession. How would you describe Iraq's current state in medical terms?

Allawi: Critical. It could go either way. Everything depends on the doctors' management of the patient. If the management is good, Iraq can survive. If not, then God forbid.

SPIEGEL: So your best case prognosis would be …

Allawi: … an Iraq with a balanced and inclusive government, which transcends sectarianism, starts political reconciliation, builds full-blown state institutions and security forces and creates an independent foreign policy.

SPIEGEL: And the pessimistic one?

Allawi: Iraq continues on its downward slide and becomes a failed state. If that happens the Pandora's box will open again and all the violence will reappear.

SPIEGEL: A relapse, in clinical terms, to the bloodiness seen in 2006 and 2007?

Allawi: Yes. But a relapse now would be much more severe, because we do not have multinational forces anymore which could contain a civil war.

SPIEGEL: The combat deployment of the US troops officially ends this week. Will that help Iraq or does it take away the sick patient's life support?

Allawi: It is politically important. But the problem is that we have not established the supportive fixtures for the patient. We have not established the political groundwork; we have not built an army that can really shoulder the responsibility.

SPIEGEL: The Iraqi military chief of staff, General Babakir Zebari, says that Iraq's army will not be fully ready before 2020 and that the Americans must stay.

Allawi: I agree with him. It may well take another 10 years.

SPIEGEL: Are the Americans leaving too early?

Allawi: They have to leave eventually. They have been in Iraq for seven years and we have not achieved anything ourselves. Who can guarantee that this would be different another seven years from now?

SPIEGEL: Does IS US President Barack Obama's administration neglect Iraq to the benefit of Afghanistan?

Allawi: You see what is happening in Afghanistan: It is a total failure. The problem here is not about America leaving Iraq and continuing its fight in Afghanistan. America has to rethink its strategy for the whole region from Central Asia to the Middle East. NATO will have to rethink its strategy, and so will Europe. The West's policy is wrong. Just look around: Somalia is a totally failed state. Yemen faces the most serious of challenges. Palestine? One step forward, three steps back. And somewhere down the line, Lebanon will be on the agenda. God help us when the United Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon issues its verdicts in the murder case of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

SPIEGEL: That is a very gloomy analysis -- and it does not provide much hope for peace in this region.

Allawi: I am not gloomy, I am only realistic. America is the last remaining superpower. We need to have good relations with Washington. But we also have to see the mistakes in the US strategy. We have excellent, professional soldiers in Iraq today but, and I am only quoting the chief of staff here, we do not have an army ready to shoulder its responsibilities. Similar comments come from the interior minister. And our police force is infiltrated by militias.

SPIEGEL: Saddam Hussein's former foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, who is now in prison, accuses America of leaving Iraq "to the wolves." Who does he mean by that?

Allawi: He means the predators that have been unleashed all over the Middle East, the lawless people and the terrorists who want to spill as much blood as possible on as many places as possible. The conflicts between Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and the Maghreb are similar and interconnected in this respect.

SPIEGEL: The leaders of Israel, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians will soon start a new round of peace talks in Washington. Do you believe these talks have any chance?

Allawi: I am very skeptical. I do not think it will work. The environment is not right.

SPIEGEL: For the past two years, it seemed as though Iraq had tamed its predators. The al-Qaida terrorists appeared to have been decisively beaten.

Allawi: Yes, but the early warning signs that have accumulated over the past months, the increase in violence, the new wave of assassinations and suicide attacks, should not be read as something superficial and accidental. On one day alone we counted 13 attacks with dozens of people killed. This is a systematic development. The biggest mistake committed by the Iraqi government and the multinational forces was to let down the Sahwa forces -- the tribal movement which was so decisive in the fight against al-Qaida. They have not been integrated; they have been disenfranchised and pushed back into despair and poverty. This will have consequences. Violent groups are already mushrooming in the shadows of al-Qaida.

SPIEGEL: So, the successes of the past few years are highly endangered?

Allawi: Just look at what is happening in Afghanistan: All the pressure, all the bombs have not finished off the Taliban and al-Qaida. They have actually been strengthened beyond the country's borders itself into Pakistan. The overall strategy is wrong.

SPIEGEL: Your rival, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, claims to have established a strong Iraq and to be a strong leader.

Allawi: He is not strong. How do you define strength? Commanding one square kilometer in the center of Baghdad?

SPIEGEL: You mean the Green Zone, the highly secure government and embassy compound by the Tigris.

Allawi: From Basra in the south to Mosul in the north, demonstrations are raging. Services (like electricity, water and trash collection) are almost on standstill. Even the Green Zone is being bombarded on a daily basis again. We have an army without airplanes and without tanks. What sort of strength is this?



Part 2: 'We Have a Constitutional Problem in Iraq'



SPIEGEL: Iraqis do not blame al-Maliki alone for this misery, however. They do blame politicians in general, yourself included. Some voters have risked their lives by participating in the elections, but even after nearly five months of negotiations, you haven't yet succeeded in forming a government.

Allawi: This is democracy. And because of the fact that electoral alliances are formed in Iraq even after the election, and the fact that al-Maliki's list succeeded in pushing for a recount of the votes, we lost three precious months of time.

SPIEGEL: America is now pushing for a power-sharing agreement between your list and al-Maliki's list and for important cabinet posts to be split between the two.

Allawi: It is not the Americans who are pushing. It was me who convinced the US and the United Nations to move forward through a devolution of power.

SPIEGEL: What does that mean? You will become prime minister and al-Maliki will be president? Or vice-versa?

Allawi: No. We have a constitutional problem in Iraq. All the power is focused in the office of the prime minister, no matter whether that person is me or al-Maliki. My list has suggested splitting this power. The idea is to set up a modus according to which I can accept a position, not necessarily that of prime minister, and he can accept a position, not necessarily that of prime minister, because both of us will be part of the decision-making process and hold the important keys in our hands.

SPIEGEL: But three years ago you told us that Iraq needs a strong leader. You said this country cannot even be governed otherwise.

Allawi: Yes, and I stand by this even today. But the results of the election were so close that we cannot practically adhere to this. We have not yet transitioned to democracy. Even in 2007 we thought that we had progressed further than we actually have today. We have reached a point now where nobody trusts anybody and where the future of the country and the entire region is at stake.

SPIEGEL: And at this critical point of time you decided to break off talks with al-Maliki because he called your group a "Sunni" one? Is this responsible behavior?

Allawi: Absolutely, yes. If we hadn't objected to this lie we would have lost our constituency. Our voters, the still strong group of secular people in Iraq, are steadfast on the issue of sectarianism. A Sunni in our group doesn't want to be seen as a Sunni, a Shia doesn't want to be seen as a Shia.

SPIEGEL: Why is the political class that returned from exile with the help of American tanks, yourself included, so extremely incapable of finding even minimal compromises?

Allawi: Because the political process we have witnessed over the past seven years has been deeply corrupted and riddled by terror and violence. This process has not grown from Iraqi sources. It was a process guarded, even guaranteed by America. After such a process, where should compromise and stability come from? We should have linked our Status of Forces Agreement with the US to political reform.

SPIEGEL: You made headlines when you recently met with the Shia firebrand and former militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, a man whose supporters tried to kill you in December 2005 in Najaf.

Allawi: This meeting happened, almost accidentally, in Damascus. I have always been against militias and will never change this attitude. To tell you the truth, I found this guy very honest, straightforward and uncomplicated. We have known his family of learned men for generations, so I asked him: None of your relatives has ever advocated sectarianism -- how come you have become part of a sectarian set-up? He answered: I am full-heartedly against sectarianism. I am all for an Iraqi solution for our problems, not a Shiite one.

SPIEGEL: Some experts see his mysterious retreat as the real reason behind Iraq's improvement in 2008. He was considered by many Iraqis and Americans to be "the most dangerous man in Iraq."

Allawi: If this was the case then all of us are dangerous. This man has 40 seats in parliament and has a grassroots movement in this country.

SPIEGEL: Do you expect him to return to Iraq and to politics?

Allawi: He should. It would be good for Iraq and his own people.

SPIEGEL: Which foreign power currently wields the most influence in Iraqi politics?

Allawi: Iran.

SPIEGEL: Can you elaborate?

Allawi: No.

SPIEGEL: Why not? Many countries are currently worried about Iran because of its nuclear program.

Allawi: For me, Iran's influence is not positive. I am certainly not an advocate of Iranian policies. I am even sure that they have a red line and a veto on me. But I think the world should engage and talk with Iran and try to see and feel where the fears of Iran lie. The Iranians are logical people. We should try to convince them that proliferation does not serve their purpose in the end.

SPIEGEL: You travel from one Arab capital to the other, you know all the Arab leaders and you also know that they are arming themselves. Allawi: Everybody is frightened. Every corner of the region is frightened. Even America is frightened, even Iran is frightened. We are heading towards a situation which almost compares to the Cuban crisis in 1962. There is an umbrella of fear spreading above us. Everybody should do his utmost to prevent tensions. I am calling for an international conference on the issue of proliferation.

SPIEGEL: Can Iraq live with a nuclear Iran?

Allawi: I don't think so.

SPIEGEL: Do you think that war will break out over Iran's nuclear program?

Allawi: It is a very high possibility.

Interview conducted by Bernhard Zand

Morality: America In Crisis

Morality: America In Crisis

 by Jean-Philippe Gibson

The agony of America’s pain permeates through the still of the air. The eyes of Americans reflect back the same nostalgic cold stare. We all ask ourselves the same question. How could our great nation which has amassed unparallel prestige, wealth, and power find itself in such an abysmal abyss? Maybe words aren’t adequate enough to describe our fall from being the world’s biggest creditor nation to our current standing as the biggest debtor nation in world history. Somewhere along the way “Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness” got lost in the mythical land of Chimerica and replaced with the liberal progressive lie that you can have it all at no cost.

These days King George III is in Washington, D.C. levying taxes with the illusion of representation. The American people say nay on an issue and the U.S. Congress says yea. The American people say yea on an issue and the U.S. Congress says nay. It is almost as if the U.S. Congress has forgotten the part of the constitution that reads:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a
more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defence, promote the general
Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and
our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.”

It is almost as if “We the People” don’t matter anymore. Our elected officials have forgotten that they are elected officials elected to represent and execute our wishes while in Washington, D.C.

We have foreclosed on our homes and mortgaged our children’s future to the Chinese. As I write, the U.S. National debt is $13 trillion and rising by the second. According to the Congressional Budget Office, there are 28 million Americans on food stamps.

We have immense problems. I would venture to say that the very infrastructure of our nation is under siege. We are spending billions fighting two wars simultaneously, facing an inflationary depression, cutting education costs, nobody has a job, and an insane messianic regime in Tehran is on the brink of developing nuclear weapons. We find ourselves at the epicenter of the perfect storm. We must hold on to the ideal, that hope based upon hope is within our reach. We must remember that there is indeed hope beyond despair.

Tonight I implore every American to pray. Pray that we find the inner resolve to overcome as we have as a people so many times in history before. Liberal progressives has sought to take God out of the public square, but try as they might, we are still one nation under God.

Just like Martin Luther King Jr., I have a dream today. I have a dream that my beloved Americans unite to defeat the dark forces of moral relativism, islamofascism, Cloward & Piven, and Madalyn Murray O'Hair.

“‎Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer


Write to Jean-Philippe Gibson at jpg527@gmail.com