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22. mars 2003
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— No cheering in Iraq
Contrary to English-speaking media, which points to some few examples of Iraqis greeting the coalition forces as liberators, Norwegian media, which has been strongly anti-war, state plainly that even among shiah's in southern Iraq, the population is just as likely to spit at the mention of Bush as Saddam.
If the shiahs in the south are not too friendly to the invasion forces, they can expect nothing but pure hostility in Saddam's strongholds in the north. On the other hand, it can be due to caution, not to mention resentment over a perceived betrayal of the 1991-coaltion.
(Based on articles in Norwegian's largest newspaper VG, and the second-largest Dagbladet, both reporting based on news agency NTB).
11:51:51 PM 
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Kevin Sites shut down
More an example of mainstream journalists taking over the blogsphere than blogging going mainstream, CNN's Kevin Sites has been warblogging from Iraq. Now his bosses at CNN has told him to shut up.
8:05:19 PM
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Propaganda watch
"Shock and awe" has 2,740 occurrences in English-speaking newsmedia today, as compared to 1,500 yesterday. Rumsfeld must be very proud.
This expression will probably be the defining term of 2003, endlessly repeated, recycled and overused. The term came from politicians and military, now it is being propagated by journalists and pundits. Soon stand-up comedians will pick it up, after which it will enter the mainstream and appear at the very least in the subtitle of a major Hollywood production.
After that, the term will only be used in jest, and anyone caught using it in all seriousness will be sneered at and having little old ladies hit at him with their walking sticks.
7:27:48 PM
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The "other" news: Nigerian ethnic clashes
 Conflict between two ethnic communities in Nigeria's oil-rich western delta, the Ijaw and the Itsekiri, has escalated as government troops try to establish law and order (according to themselves) or loot, kill and destroy indiscriminately (according to some villagers).
The Ijaw demands a better political representation and a bigger share of the income from the oil industry.
At a time where the Gulf War and the conflict in Venezuela threatens world production of oil, it is also of international concern that the output of Africa's largest oil producer is reduced by 13%
Nigeria has elections scheduled for next month..
6:27:23 PM
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France sends chemical team to Quatar
France, dispite being harshly opposed to the war, says it will send personnel and chemical, bacteriological and nuclear detection equipment to Qatar, on request from the Emirate.
Qatar is host to General Tommy Franks' command center for the coaltion forces.
I suspect this is a preparation of a French chemical attack on the Americans. Just joking, but barely.
5:50:10 PM
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Arsenal's French stars threaten strike
 Arsenal, the top team in English Premier League (just two points ahead of Manchester United) is dependent on its French football stars. One of them, Robert Pires (picture), supposedly told a French radio station he and the other French football stars are willing to strike to show their support of Jacques Chirac and to protest the war.
Arsenal's successful team is lead by French manager Arsene Wenger, who has strengthened his team with French stars like Pires, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Sylvain Wiltord. A strike among the French players would seriously hamper the team's ability to keep its top position in the League.
Update: Pires has insisted that he was misunderstood and would not stop playing football to protest war.
3:55:21 PM
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US targets Ansar al-Islam
US has fired missiles at Ansar al-Islam bases in northern Iraq. The Kurd guerilla organisation is accused of having ties to al Qaeda, and has fought to replace Saddam Hussein's regime with something resembling the Taliban. They have been fighting the larger, secular Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
Its leader, Mullah Krekar, is currently imprisoned in Norway.
3:21:51 PM
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51th Iraqi Division surrenders
According to Pentagon officials, a top Iraqi commander has surrendered to U.S. Marines along with his aides and thousands of his troops. He was in charge of the 51st (regular) army division, situated directly in the path of the invasion.
If true, perhaps a first sign that the Iraqi regular army is breaking down.
4:48:44 AM
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Around the block as the bombs are falling
In Genesis, Noah sends a raven out of the Ark to look for dry land after the flood. At Salon blogs, as the onslaught of war deluges us in flashing images and catchy phrases, our own Raven has taken it on himself to look for pieces of quality text sticking up over the endless ocean. And wouldn't you know? He finds quite a bit worthy of attention.
PS: The Raven is too kind. I think I'll have iconoclastic surfmeister printed on my business card.
4:06:31 AM
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CNN down and out
"Iraq ordered CNN's news team to leave the country on Friday, accusing the US-based cable television news network of being a propaganda machine." (IOL)
And it's bloody hard to disagree with that. During Gulf War I, CNN at least made a fair attempt at honest and impartial reporting. After 9/11-01, all that changed. The channel does not even pretend to be an impartial channel for objective news anymore.
3:49:15 AM
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A paranoid Iraq
Reading Amnesty International's report on Iraq (2001) is like a peek into hell. Large-scale extrajudicial killings, arrests, cruel torture, rapes and forcible expulsions are part of what has been life in Iraq for decades.
However, what is very notable is the significant number of top military officials who have been executed over the years. For example, in February 2001, General 'Abd al-Karim Hussain al-Dulaimi, head of the Republican Guard's second brigade, was executed along with 37 other Republican guards, reportedly after trying to kill the president. Just one month earlier, three other members of the Republican Guard had been caught and executed for treason.
Armed service seems to be a ladder leading up to a senior position, e.g.general, and then a more or less automatic firing squad. Saddam's paranoia seems very similar to Stalin's before WWII, when he decapitated the Red Army making it ill-prepared for meeting Germany's onslaught.
Only a small number of generals have succeeded in getting Saddam's trust and thus kept their heads. Until now, that is. One of the few long time loyal top military leaders, "Chemical" Ali Hassan Majid, is reported to have been recently killed.
3:16:35 AM
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Term watch: "embedded journalist"
 New popular expression: embedded journalist. It sounds like an expression a geek would come up with, or Microsoft.
I certainly understand that both journalists and Pentagon wants on-the-spot coverage from so-called embedded journalists that travel, eat and sleep with the actual battle troops. From a military point of view, it is very understandable that the military needs to keep some control of what information gets out. And the reports from embedded journalists like CNN's Martin Savidge (picture) does make for interesting TV: circus for the people at home (yes, I admit, I am no better than anyone else).
But there is of course grounds for some concern. A journalists who bonds with the battle troops is unlikely to want to write anything that reflects badly on them. Judging by some reports, this is one big testosterone-filled rollercoaster ride for enthusiastic journalists rediscovering their childhood. It doesn't exactly make for sober reflection.
A more subtle problem: this makes sure the networks will have endless amounts of video to broadcast, and the kind of footage the war machine wants to feed the masses on. More footage means less time for reflection and in-depth discussion. And nobody will need to look for those inconvenient images of fallen coaltion forces or killed and maimed civilians.
Propaganda watch: the word "embedded" along with "iraq" finds 1,140 articles on Google news now.
2:08:24 AM
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An Italian. Of course.
"An Italian who reported his wife had been kidnapped was shocked when police found her in a hotel bedroom with another man." (Ananova)
Not compared to how shocked the other guy was at having the cops bust in on them!
1:13:51 AM
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Fireworks of death
Pictures and video of this war have this surreal feel to them. Sometimes you catch yourself thinking "whoah, cool!" when watching death and destruction raining down over people.
Mesopotamia is the cradle of civilisation, where people have lived in cities for around 8000 years. This is how far we've come.
1:06:44 AM
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Turkey insists on invading northern Iraq
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul says Turkey will invade northern Iraq to stop an influx of refugees and to prevent what he calls "terrorist activities." The latter is Turkish for anything a Kurd does. The US has opposed the move.
The Kurds have proven themselves to be friends of the US in this conflict. Turkey has not. Why shouldn't the US tell Turkey to go stuff it? It's amazing what nations have been forced to keep up with from Turkey, a country that has been guilty of more genocides than any other nation in history, just because they have a lucky strategic location. Now they want to join the west, and join EU, and it's time to make them crawl a bit and start behaving like a civilised nation.
12:48:58 AM
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About time for a clash of civilisations
"Last week, Al-Azhar, the highest, oldest (1,000 years) and most respected institution of religious learning in the Muslim world, issued a fatwa (religious edict) advising "all Muslims in the world to make jihad against invading American forces."" (Fawaz A. Gerges in ABC News)
It is no doubt true that the war on Iraq angers the famous "street" in the Arab world, and also a number of moderates. Clerics who has denounced Al Qaeda earlier has now called to "jihad" against the western coaltion.
On the other hand, isn't it precisely decades of appeasment to radical islamists and horrible regimes that have landed both the Muslim world and the west in this mess in the first place?
Muslims insists that an attack on any Arab (or, Muslim) nation being an attack on all of them. If they want that principle respected, they should have kept their own house in order in the first place, and not exported their lunatic terrorists to our part of the world.
When the "Arab brotherhood" has been unable to keep one of their own leaders from slaughtering fellow-muslims by the hundreds of thousands, they should not be too whiney that somebody else decides to do the job for them.
12:02:34 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.04.2003; 01:33:20.
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