As we assess the World this week here for Outsiders, I nearly fell out of my chair in laughter. Field Marshall Al-Sisi, the Egyptian Military Ruler, has declared his intentions to run for President. I nearly fell out of my chair in laughter at how the World somehow was amazed. The Egyptian Elite has played its' hand brilliantly as Journalists are muzzled, the ordinary man and woman on the Street is suffering while the top 1% gets ever so powerful. The case of the Al Jazeera Staff being detained is just one example. We have worked to add our humble voice for the Al Jazeera Staff to be released while on twitter using the hashtag (#FreeAJStaff).
I have also been assessing the latest out of Afghanistan. My mind drifted back to 2007 as I wrote about Karzai on "ordinary faces" @ http://ordinaryfaces.blogspot.com/2008/01/reflections-on-2007hopes-for-2008.html:
[B]
I can't help but reflect upon the current forgotten war: Afghanistan. It was a year that saw the lies of Pat Tillman (which I talked about),it saw the Taliban roaring back stronger than ever and Afghanistan becoming the biggest poppy producer in the world. Yet, Hamid Karzai went on the BBC and at the White House announced that everything was great. When Karzai was asked about the poppy production, he claimed that poppy was actually decreasing. Karzai also invited the "good" Taliban to join him. Why the Taliban want to join a corrupt, discredited government is beyond me. Karzai also has no credibility. Tariq Ali, the Pakistani/British Commentator, told of Karzai's younger brother running the Heroin ring and also running a weapon smuggling operation. I am just amazed as to the nerve of this man standing besides President Bush and going off telling us how things are great. But, I guess an ordinary face in the crowd like me is not supposed to understand and question, just believe what he's being fed.[/B]
Many of us knew then what a fool he was. It is interesting how the media now is noting how Karzai is drifting away. This is as Afghanistan is beginning elections for a new President that features some of the leading personalities that are part of the Afghan 1%. They include Ashraf Ghani, the former Finance Minister, a brother of Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, the former Foreign Minister. I never forget while on the "grid" making the rounds on Facebook how a friend remarked about a conversation he had with Abdullah Abdullah. What was remarkable was how this friend was impressed--yet noted that after the morning jog on the Dubai water front, he got into his chauffeur drive Rolls Royce and drove away. It is about power and money--nothing else. Although President Obama summoned his commanders to Washington for a meeting this past Tuesday, it will be worst in 2014 as the Taliban continue onward, drugs become ever so rampant and the plight of the person on the street becomes ever so challenging.
The atrocities in Syria are becoming ever so rampant. The UN has been at the forefront of documenting some of the profound atrocities especially against Children. It was simply tragic to see a child who was carried out of Mosque in Aleppo that was hit by Government Helicopters. The hope that Assad would be overthrown is now an unrealistic as ever as ever as all have fought this war to a standstill. It is exactly that the trench warfare of World War I until the breakthrough battles of 1916 that ultimately culminated in peace. One example of the profound atrocity is the case of Dr. Shah, a British Surgeon who was killed by Syria Security Forces after being captured working in a Rebel Hospital. Dr. Shah's mother confronted Syrian Officials courageously as she demanded justice for his slain son. What can one answer a mother who has lost a son? In the meantime, the war in Syria is consuming Lebanon and Iraq and causing havoc in Jordan.
One thing is for sure: No one must envy the inbox of the US Secretary of the State and the President of the United States right now.
Also released to http://www.outsiderviews.com Feb. 2014 (All rights reserved)
