Kyrgyzstan Democracy Watch

America's one-time best friend in Central Asia, site of the "Tulip Revolution", has decided to expel two American diplomats, according to Registan.net:

The BBC, AP, and RIA Novosti are all reporting that Kyrgyzstan has ordered two US diplomats to leave the country for “inappropriate” contacts with leaders of NGOs. There is, as can be seen in the BBC’s report, some confusion over what is going on.

The news agency AP quoted an unnamed Kyrgyz official as saying the expulsions were down to “inappropriate” contacts with NGOs, and the US embassy used the same word in its statement, which referred only to “reports” of the expulsion.

AP also quoted Tursunbek Akun, head of the official Human Rights Commission, as saying: “A decision has been taken, but the diplomats remain in the country.”

But the local news agency 24.kg said “reliable sources” said two US citizens had been deported. It quoted one as saying that the expulsion was due to “gross interference in the internal affairs of the sovereign Kyrgyz Republic”.

Ukraine Democracy Watch

From the New York Times:

MOSCOW, July 11 — With parliamentary debate in Ukraine reduced to insults and fistfights, supporters of President Viktor A. Yushchenko today called on him to dissolve the Parliament and hold a new election in a desperate effort to block his opposition rival from becoming the country’s new prime minister.

The request came more than three months after elections in March resulted in a splintered Parliament, with no one party controlling a majority of seats. And it raised the chances that the political turmoil that has followed will deepen, threatening Mr. Yushchenko’s vision of a democratic Ukraine more entwined in Europe.

Georgia Democracy Watch

Georgia's English-language newspaper, The Messenger, reports that it's not really all roses after the "Rose revolution":

"Millions of euros of development money remain at risk from the country's crippling levels of corruption, thus the EBRD must take a strong stance to encourage the independent assessment of privatization and public procurement in Georgia," Bankwatch says.

The NGO notes that the introduction of democracy and the rule of law remain an issue of concern in Georgia. "Unfortunately, since the 'Rose Revolution', the structure of government and the administration has changed substantially. The constitutional amendments have breached one of the fundamental principles of democratic constitutionalism, namely the horizontal distribution of power, or the system of checks and balances," it says. As a result, the organization notes Georgia's state apparatus is "misbalanced and prone to political crisis."

Polish Democracy Watch

First, the president of Poland appoints his brother as prime minister. Now, he wants to criminally prosecute German newspapers that made fun of him...

'Potato' comment irks ruling Polish twins

WARSAW, Poland, July 11 (UPI) -- The twin brothers who now dominate Polish politics have shown themselves to be thin-skinned with their reaction to a column in a German newspaper.

Die Tageszeitung used the headline "Poland's New Potato" to make fun of President Lech Kaczynski, Der Spiegel magazine reported. The column especially ridiculed Kaczynski's presumed dislike of Germany, saying that all he knows of the country is "the spittoon in the men's toilet at Frankfurt airport."

The column, if anything, seems to have increased Kaczynski's Germanophobia, the magazine said. His brother, Jaroslav, who becomes prime minister in a few days, demanded that Germany go after the offending newspaper.

"An insult to a head of state is a crime and there must be consequences," he said.

The German government has refused to do so, saying only that the country has a free press. Newspapers on both sides of the border have been having a field day, with one Polish newspaper asking if the prime minister-to-be is going to seek the extradition of the offending columnist.

What Does Russia Want? by Leon Aron

Originally published in Kommersant:

Russia's foreign policy nowadays is undeniably pragmatic, it is clearly a policy aspiring for the status of bona fide Realpolitik. Maneuvering instead of having the hands tied with abstract principles ("Western civilization," "human rights," "freedom"). Making an emphasis on bilateral relations instead of joining "ideological" alliances. Long-term results are less important than establishment of contacts and the dividends they bring right here and now. Russia is using the tactic known in the business community as asset leveraging (a best efficient placement of assets). An emphasis is being made on the spheres of "comparative advantages" be it nuclear technologies, conventional military hardware, or power industry.

Moscow's "new course" is particularly visible in the situation with Iran. It is this situation that soured Moscow's relations with Washington worse than anything else had. This situation around Iran is being used to promote the same mega-objective, namely a return to the international arena in the capacity of a world power and key player. Hence Russia's tactic in the talks: stall for time delaying "the moment of truth" and defending the status quo to up the price of the "goods" (Russian support).

It may have been all right by Washington were it not for the specific time and circumstances (after all, it got used to France's diplomacy). As things stand, however, it is certainly not all right. The United States is bent on promotion of freedom and democracy as central components of national security and on "advancing democracy" as a key instrument of its maintenance. Russia is obsessed with post-Soviet and post-Imperial restoration that comes down to economic and political recentralization and Realpolitik in foreign affairs. The values are so different that Russia and America are drifting in opposite directions.

War and Sharon by Eliyho Matz

Milchama Ve Sharon
(War & Sharon)

Eliyho Matz

If we had writers like Tolstoy, I am sure we would have one of the finest sagas written on the Israeli leader – General Ariel Sharon. But this is not the vast plains of Russia; it is only the land of the ancient Israelis. It is the land of the twelve tribes, the Judges, the prophets, the Kings and prophets of doom, of revivival and more doom. So much doom that it took two thousand years to revive that doomed land and make it what it is today. What it is today we are not really sure yet, but let us focus here on one of the new heros of this land, who now is in a coma at a Jerusalem hospital: Ariel Sharon.

I was born in 1948, the year Israel was still fighting for its survival as the new modern state of the “new Israelis”. Growing up in the 1950’s was no party. Life was tough; food was in short supply; people struggled to survive, my parents among them. And they did survive and they excelled.

Growing up in the 1950’s meant hearing about the war of Independence, the heros, the dead, the sacrifice. Memorials of Yad L’Banim (a hand to the sons) were erected. From the first time I read the newspaper Maariv, my dad brought home, the name Ariel Sharon entered my consciousness. Every time there was a military action of any sort, his name would pop up. First as commander of the notorious 101^st Commando Unit. I devoured all the articles and books on this. I was particularly impressed by one of the fallen heros named Irmi and by the greatest Israeli platoon leader Meir Har Zion. Then it was Arik in the Mitle Pass, parachuting into Egyptian territory and founding thereby a military history and of the Red Wings awarded those who parachuted into battle.

But here I must hesitate a minute. Arik Sharon, product as he was of a modern Israeli sovereignty, participated (and almost got killed) in the 1948 War of Independence, then sculpted on that sovereignty a new face and imbued it with vision by creating the 101^st Commando Unit. Military analysis is split on the operation of the 101^st. True, it boosted Israeli morale, but provided none of the desperately needed peace of mind and security. And then, in 1956, Israel joined England and France in the Sinai war and Sharon created the military fiasco in the Mitle Pass. An independent assessment of Sharon’s military performance up to 1956 would give him high marks for courage but overall judge him too undisciplined to be a top military leader. This in fact was the assessment in the wake of 1956, but never taken seriously, so Sharon remained in the Army, moving upward and onward to the next crisis.

Sharon got another opportunity to prove himself a hero in the War of 1967. He fought in the center of Sinai when he defeated a huge Egyptian army. But his undisciplined personal behavior undermined his accomplishments once again.

From 1948 to 1967 the charismatic Sharon saturated Israeli Army politics Outsiders, onlookers, equating visibility with astuteness, concluded Sharon to be a great military leader. In fact he was far too dangerous and insubordinate to warrant the esteem and, really, even a position of power in any civilian or military organization, most especially the Israeli Army.

I joined the Israeli Army just half a year before the 1967 war, my head filled with tales of heroism, dedication and . . . “Sharonism”. I joined the Paratroopers Unit 202^nd, a Sharon creation.

And so it was that, at the ripe old age of almost 19, I shifted at warp speed from bucolic civilian life to military service and was catapulted into the 1967 War. Despite the heroic images I carried with me into the military, I proved to be a less than outstanding soldier. My company commander, recognizing my lack of talent, abandoned me and a few other companion losers at base camp while he lead the cream of Israeli soldiery into battle near Gaza.

No sooner had the 202^nd Paratroopers disappeared over the horizon than a commando unit formerly allied with Sharon’s old 101^st marched into base camp and pressed my contingent of slackers into service and Israeli Military History. We were lifted airborne in World War II United States Force cast-offs, and flown into Egyptian air space where we lingered for about an hour with nary a shot fired or a trooper deployed, and after deliberations out of our sight and earshot were concluded, we learned that the cowering enemy had withdrawn and we had conquered Sharem El Shiek, albeit without earning a single coveted Red Wing.

Between 1967 and 1973 Sharon proved that he had no chance to move anywhere in the Israeli military, but he remained there in some capacity, sometimes at great aggravation to other military leaders. He also tried his hand at politics, right wing politics, that was full of empty slogans. The Israeli public, after 1967, entered into a time of Messianic thinking, and Sharon was more than happy to snuggle into that trend, enriching it with more ideologies of the Eretz Israel Hashlema (The Complete Israel). And clearly, G-D was listening and watching, and the Spirit of the Lord was all over the land.

When I completed my military service in 1971, I exited the Israeli Army and began casting about for a direction. I confronted enormous personal and financial hurdles and ultimately foundered my way into the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, registering for coursework in Judaic studies, literature and history.

It was Bashert that within a short time, at the beginning of 1973, I was called back into military service for a ‘special exercise’. Little did I know in the spring of that year, that, in October, 1973, my re-involvement would lead me into a temporary but very close proximity to Arik Sharon during the Yom Kippur War. Of course, one must remember that he was the leading general and the hero king of Israel, and I was just a driver, steering a very important officer (Amos Schoken, later the owner of Haaretz) to the Suez Canal. Our unit was the one protecting the ‘Bridge on Wheels’ that eventually became the symbol of the defeat and humiliation of the entire Egyptian army. For that bridge became the key element in the Israeli victory.

Sharon grew in stature as a national hero. Some called him “the King of Israel”. I went back to the Hebrew University to mull my experiences, and within a year, I found myself at the University of Massachusetts

From 1973 to 1982, Sharon enjoyed a relatively positive comeback into Israeli military, political and social acceptance. It is noteworthy that his deeds in those years were later considered disastrous to Israeli society, its military and its political establishment.

Sharon has acquired the popular nickname of “The Bulldozer”. I feel he would more appropriately have been called “The Tractor”. He has been a farmer, and has surely had the opportunity to plough a field. So he would have known the difficulty involved in ploughing, in keeping the furrows straight and parallel. But if his leadership style is any indication of his farming skills, he must not have been very good at planting time. Sharon was careless in his zig zag policies, which eventually led to his downfall after the war with Lebanon in the 1980’s. He couldn’t hold it together, and wound up ostracized.

Sharon convinced Begin to engage in that war. Begin was an ideologue. He did not realize how faulty Sharon was, and fell into a trap.

While in the United States, I became very friendly with two individuals, Shmuel Merlin and Hillel Kook,both at once friends and comrades of Begin. As a matter of fact, it was Kook who installed Begin as commander of the Irgun in 1944.

Both pleaded with Begin in 1982 not to start a war in Lebanon. I know that because I carried the letters to Begin to the Post Office.

In the last few years since the 1980’s, Isreal found itself in political Limbo, not at peace and not at war. Confused ideological tendencies lead Israel to Oslo, and eventually to another one of Sharon’s shenanigans, and another Intefada, and here Sharon is suddenly winning an election, and becoming the Prime Minister.

With all due respect, Sharon’s arrival at the top prize position in the Israeli political panoply does not necessarily indicate the triumph of the Israeli political system. It rather indicates its fragility and complete weakness. His ascendancy is the proof that after two thousand years of not being in politics, politics is a hard discipline to master and a harder thing to get right. And besides, politics is like the lottery, except that the price one pays for it is blood. And the prize does not always go to the most qualified.

While Sharon was chosen in response to the Intefada, in reality he is the worst choice the Israelis could have made. It is not difficult to prove one thing here. Sharon is consistent in his deeds. He ploughs the land in a zigzag: he thinks he has the answers, but what looks like a straight line to him is an impossible environment for growth. He believed he knew the best way to deal with military, political and social issues. This of course is complete nonsense. Sharon’s military doctrines led Israel into deeper isolation within the mideast. His politics of supporting Israeli ‘settlers’, have had the same effect. His “greatest” achievement, that of leaving Gaza, was accomplished without the active element of politics with the Palestinians, that is, a complete misunderstanding of realpolitik. Just leaving without a politically negotiated agreement was politically infantile.

So while Sharon lays in a coma, the nation of Israelis is trying to wake up from the coma inflicted on her by Sharon and his ideologues.

It doesn’t look like I have described his prior achievements here, does it?

One should mention the great wall Sharon inspired. It will stand there for a while until we get rid of it. It is hardly monumental. But as monuments go, it is about as effective as the Great Wall of China to a satellite. It will stand there until it is knocked down. And of course, don’t forget the corrupted society and other illegal things associated with our sleeping Prime Minister – Quite a legacy!

And as far as an Israeli future is concerned, perhaps we can take a different approach: Let’s start with creating an Israeli Republic. Let’s create a constitution for that Israeli Republic. Let’s propose a Sulcha with the Palestinians and say “We, the Israelis, are an ancient people, but you too have been in Jerusalen for 1500 years. We respect that. Have your Al Aktza, but keep in mind that we do that for the sake of normalcy and good nature. We are here to stay. When our Messiah comes, things will change, but for now, let’s try to respect each other and mend the differences. And from the nations of the world, we ask de facto recognition of Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel so that the embassies of the world may be centered there.”
Of course one can only do things of this sort because he believes in the process of politics, and has inner strength – not because he adheres to an ideology, which is the substance of Sharon’s legacy. And please don’t forget that peace is a condition before war, and war is a condition before peace.

New York City; January, 2006

Hollywood Forever

Recently visited Hollywood Memorial Park cemetery in Los Angeles, with a friend from UCLA film school. These days the place is called Hollywood Forever. It's located right behind Paramount Studios, so the name seems fittingly Hollywood. In addition to a number of newer Russian and Armenian tombstones, there are memorials to Golden Age stars like Rudolph Valentino, and newer acts like JohnnyRamone.

Below are pictures of the main entrance, the door to Valentino's final resting place, Peter Finch's crypt, Hattie McDaniel's memorial, and the tomb of Douglas Fairbanks Senior and Junior.

Bernard Henri-Levy on Zidane

In the Wall Street Journal:

The man's insurrection against the saint. A refusal of the halo that had been put on his head and that he then, quite logically, pulverized with a head-butt, as though saying: I am a living being not a fetish; a man of flesh and blood and passion, not this idiotic empty hologram, this guru, this universal psychoanalyst, natural child of Abbé Pierre and Sister Emanuelle, which soccer-mania was trying to turn me into.
It was as though he were repeating, in parody, the title of one of the very great books of the last century, before the triumph of this liturgy of the body, performance and commodity: Ecce Homo, This is a Man. Yes, a man, a true man, not one of these absurd monsters or synthetic stars who are made by the money of brand names in combination with the sighs of the globalized crowd.

Achilles had his heel. Zidane will have had his--this magnificent and rebellious head that brought him, suddenly, back into the ranks of his human brothers.

Why Zidane Did It

Explained by the Daily Mail:

First defender Marco Materazzi spoke in Italian - a language understood by Zidane who once played for Italian side Juventus - grabbed his opponent and told him 'hold on, wait, that one's not for a n***** like you.'

It is not clear whether the Italian was referring to the ball heading their way or his own groping of Zidane.

The expert, who can lip read foreign languages phonetically and translate with the aid of an Italian interpreter, was unable to see what Zidane said in reply.

But she saw that as the players walked forward Materazzi said: 'We all know you are the son of a terrorist whore.'

Then, just before the headbutt, he was seen saying,: 'So just f*** off.'

The translation tallies with the words of Zidane's agent who said the player had told him the Italian made a 'very serious' comment.

'Zinedine didn't want to talk about it but it will all come out in the next week,' said Alain Miglaccio.

'He is a man who normally lets things wash over him but on Sunday night something exploded inside him.'

To some observers who saw Zidane floor his opponent with nine minutes to go, that description might appear an understatement.

The 34-year-old midfielder was red carded in a move that did his side no favours as they went on to lose the final on penalties.

Someone I know said, after watching the game, "I hate the Italian team, they are cheaters and whiners."

Wimbledon & World Cup

Federer and Italy.

Two great sporting events today on TV...

Chechen Terrorist Leader Killed

RIA Novosti reports:

GROZNY, July 10 (RIA Novosti) - Chechen President Alu Alkhanov said Monday that the killing of Russia's terrorist No.1 Shamil Basayev had turned "one of the blackest pages in the history" of the North Caucasus republic.

Russia's security chief, Nikolai Patrushev, announced Monday that several militants and Basayev, who had claimed responsibility for the deaths of 331 people in the 2004 Beslan school massacre and other atrocities, had been killed in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia.

"Basayev's actions caused the complete devastation of [Chechnya's] economy, thousands of deaths, and dozens of terrorist acts both in Chechnya and throughout Russia," Alukhanov said.

He praised the security services for carrying out the successful operation.

BTW, Basayev had been interviewed not so long ago by a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reporter for ABC's Nightline. The Russians protested at the time:

...the Russian embassy in Washington said ABC's apparent decision to ignore Moscow's arguments against broadcasting the material was deplorable.

Its statement said the Chechen rebel leader was "responsible for slaughtering innocent victims during many major terrorist attacks that he masterminded and personally perpetrated".

"The most shocking and deadliest of them was the cold blooded killing of hundreds of children" in Beslan.

The interview "runs counter to the spirit of Russian-American partnership in our joint fight against the global threat of terrorism", the embassy said in the statement, which was also broadcast by ABC.

The Disappearing American Working Man

The Washington Post published this chart to illustrate an article today that claims American women are leaving the workforce--but missed the real story: the chart shows that American men have been quitting work for decades.

Kosovo & Israel

Francisco Gil-White sees a parallel:

Kosovo has become a gangster state where ordinary Albanians suffer extreme and widespread oppression; Kosovo’s ethnic Serbs have been murdered or thrown out in a campaign of extermination. Substitute ‘Arabs’ for ‘Albanians’ and ‘Jews’ for ‘Serbs’ and you’ve predicted the future of the Middle East. Those who would defend Israel must understand Kosovo.

Giuliani for President!

Fred Siegel analyzes hizzoner's chances in The Wall Street Journal:

Between now and November 2008, the political world might easily endure any number of shocks affecting Mr. Giuliani's (and everyone else's) candidacy. The shocks could come from a variety of directions, ranging from the Middle East and especially Iran, to a new Supreme Court ruling on abortion, to another terror attack on the United States, to a dip into economic recession. Mr. Giuliani might also be damaged by the airing of more personal laundry, like his messy personal life, his overzealous conduct as a prosecutor, or his ties to his old friend and ex-partner Bernard Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner who in 2004 had to withdraw his acceptance of the post of secretary of homeland security and pleaded guilty recently to corruption charges. It would thus be premature in the extreme for Rudolph Giuliani to start drafting a victory speech. But as the makers of "Giuliani Time" intuited, the day is hardly inconceivable.

Canadian PM Speaks--in French...

Watching Bush and Stephen Harper on C-Span, struck by the Canadian PM speaking in French. The Americans look perplexed. To me is sends a message: Canada is not the USA. Plus, it is a signal to France and "la Francophonie" in Africa, the Carribean, and of course Brussels and Paris. Bush looks like he ate something that didn't agree with him. Now Harper is back in English, but the fact is that he spoke French first.

Tres interesant...

Iran and North Korea

Interestingly, here in Los Angeles we have the largest immigrant Iranian and North Korean communities in the USA. And they have their own television programs, which I watched on cable TV. Although I didn't understand what anyone said, from the graphics it was pretty clear that all the situations are more complicated than they seem. My guess is that there are thousands of people in this part of the country who might know what is going on in their respective homelands better than the pundits or politicians in Washington...here are some weblinks to Iranian and Korean television broadcasters.

The Mexican Election

I'm in Los Angeles right now, and with its large immigrant community, the Mexican election is big news--a lot like the US election of 2000. Days later, still no winner. And it means something, but what, I don't know. Here's the Wikipedia link.

The Death of Ken Lay

Here's the Wikipedia link. All I can say is that Enron was one of the piggy banks for George Bush's Presidential campaign. Ken Lay was a convicted criminal and Republican contributor. Now he is dead, and there will be no appeal. If Marc Rich's pardon left a black mark on the Clinton administration's legacy, the Enron scandal may cast a growing shadow on the Bush administration in years to come.

Christopher Hitchens on Alexander Cockburn and Barbara Epstein

From Christopher Hitchens' Web

A recent issue of Alexander Cockburn's Counterpunch carried a viciously unpleasant account of my supposed conduct at the memorial meeting for the late Barbara Epstein. The item alleged that I had sought an invitation to an event to which I was not invited, had then behaved boorishly, and had claimed to be the man who, with Paul Wolfowitz, had induced President Bush to invade Iraq.

I do not mind the normally cheerful and freehand satires that Cockburn produces about me, but the attempt to make Barbara Epstein's memorial into a theater for his abuse seems to me to cross a line of decency. As it happens, I was notified of her death, and of the arrangements, by an a series of emails from the New York Review of Books. I was also honored by an invitation from her son and daughter. I have since received a kind letter from Jacob Epstein, unsolicited, which I am not at liberty to quote in full. However, he does not object to my citing him as saying: "There is no question you were invited to Barbara's memorial, as Helen and I asked you. The Counterpunch thing about this was incorrect."

That's all that needs to be said about the only hurtful defamation. As to the rest of it, I wouldnt have been able to act the part of a drunken hack even if I had wanted to, since a fellow-guest and close friend of the family was overcome by the heat while I was talking to him downstairs, and I had to spend most of the time in the lobby and on the sidewalk, waiting for the Emergency Services and keeping him company. I do recall being briefly snubbed by Jean Stein as she passed through the lobby, but I found I could bear that.

When people ask me about "my war" in Iraq, I do tend to say that it was indeed I who started it. Cockburn and his mean-minded second-hand and third-rate informants have even got my heavy sarcasm wrong, and don't mind making Barbara Epstein's memorial seem like a vulgar brawl, instead of the dignified and touching occasion that it was, if it will serve their purpose.

The Devil Wears Prada

Really enjoyed seeing The Devil Wears Prada the other day, if only to watch Meryl Streep put on and take off her glasses for a couple of hours. It also served as a nostalgia picture, reminding this viewer of a misspent youth in New York City in the out circles of journalism hangers-on, a penumbra represented in the picture by a group of friends who dine together, a Greek chorus of young wannabes. Although they are supposed to be the "good guys" they are in just another circle of hell, ambitious in the world of celebrity chefs, art galleries, or Wall Street--anyone of them probably has a boss from hell, too, who could be played by Meryl Streep. But that's a quibble.

Details of magazine life seem accurately portrayed--no doubt because director David Frankel is offspring of former New York Times editor Max Frankel. I particularly enjoyed seeing all the subordinates ducking out of the hallway to avoid Meryl Streep as she arrived at work. At least the characters had some personality--it would have been even better if there were more life to the supporting players, more scenes of their private lives, second, third, and fourth level storylines. It's nice to want more scenes with the supporting cast for a change, rather than fewer.

There are lots of fun bits of business and clever lines. Such a pleasure to see a film with dialog instead of exploding fireballs. Meryl Streep's explanation of the history of Anne Hathaway's cerulian sweater. Stanley Tucci's insightful statement that the fashion industry is about "inner beauty." Anne Hathaway called a "glamazon" by her friend. The handsome and creepy New York Magazine reporter who seduces her seems like someone I may have met. Meryl's New York townhouse in what is presumably in the East 60s, looks just right. So does Anne Hathaway's crummy apartment. It's a real New York irony--the squalid living arrangements of high society , slum living plus champagne receptions.

Once upon a time, a million years ago in a galaxy far away, I worked as a gopher at Warner Brothers. I got coffee in individual cups (from Dunkin Donuts in those days, rather than Starbucks) carefully balancing the cardboard tray. I had to pick up my boss, go shopping, pick up and deliver videos, scripts, and the like. Tuesday Weld once kicked me off a set because she didn't like the way I looked (on the other hand, Ellen Burstyn was very nice). I was even asked to finish my boss's NY Times crossword puzzles... so I can vouch for the accuracy of the details in THe Devil Wears Prada.

The only thing that doesn't seem credible is the ending--the kindly old editor at the New York Mirror is hard to swallow. Even Perry White was portrayed as a dyspeptic curmudgeon, and newspaper journalist are no less ambitous than fashionistas--only concerned with things like political fashion, or gossip.