Libya Music Video Tribute: Qaddafi Has a Crush on Condi Rice (and So Do We)

There comes a "tipping point" in any removal of an International Dictator when coverage of the conflict turns to the shocking decadence of the ousted bad man. 

In Panama in 1989, toppled strongman Manuel Noriega had -- shock --- drugs and pornography in his desk. In Iraq in 2003, Saddam Hussein's transgression, shown by photos of US troops in his places, was gold-plated bath ornaments and really bad taste in art. In Pakistan in 2011, Osama bin Laden was outed for his stash of naughty magazines.

So it is an unexpected good news story to find that Muammar Qaddafi's sin is a massive "I Heart Condoleezza Rice". Insurgents who overran his Bab al-Aziziya compound this year found a photo album devoted to the former US Secretary of State (photo: Sergey Ponomarev of AP). 

And why not? Condi may have broken countries and broken hearts during her eight years in the George W. Bush Administration, but she knew the secret of "Treat 'Em Mean and Keep 'Em Keen". As Muammar said with love in his eyes in 2007 about "my darling black African woman": "I admire and am very proud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arab leaders."

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Afghanistan Opinion: Why The Country is a Dimming "Light in the Distance" (Hamidi)

Casualty in Kabul Attack, 19 August>While the current situation in Afghanistan is not good, there is much that can be done to correct it.  However, if Washington and the regime in Kabul do not  address the serious problems built up rather than resolved over the last decade, President Obama’s “light in the distance” may fade into night forever.

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The Latest from Iran (25 August): Does Tehran Face an Oil Crisis?

2010 GMT: Currency Watch. The Iranian toman has now dropped on the free market to 1200 v. the US dollar, a significant gap from the Central Bank rate of 1068:1.

The toman is nearest the low point it reached last autumn, when Iranian authorities intervened with the release of US dollars from foreign reserves.

2000 GMT: Unity Watch. Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani, head of the Expediency Council and one of the driving forces for conservative/principlist unity, has said, "We accept no conditions of the [Islamic] Constancy Front", which has reportedly said it will not join talks if representatives of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani and Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf are involved.

Meanwhile, it is reported that representatives of a leading MP, Rouhollah Hosseinian, did not attend the meeting of the 7+8 unity meeting.

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: More of the "New Normal"

Protest last night in the Qosour section of Homs in Syria

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1810 GMT: Earlier today we reported on the beating and abduction of Syria's leading political cartoonist Ali Farzat (see 1301 GMT) by pro-regime gunmen. A website features his work and latest news about him.

1805 GMT: Claimed video of Yemeni regime reinforcements heading towards the capital Sana'a from Hodeidah, but being blocked by opposition tribesmen:

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Libya LiveBlog: And Now to the Task of Government

1848 GMT: Though the battle for Abu Salim is far from over, the opposition fighters, assisted by a NATO airstrike, have started to go house to house, cleaning out snipers and taking prisoners. Gunfights continue.

1841 GMT: Al Jazeera reports that the bodies of 30 people have been uncovered in Tripoli:

More than 30 men believed to be fighters loyal to Muammar Gaddafi have been killed at a military encampment in central Tripoli and at least two were bound with plastic handcuffs, indicating they had been executed.

A Reuters correspondent counted 30 bodies riddled with bullets in an area of the Libyan capital where there had been fighting between Gaddafi forces and rebels.

1636 GMT: The "we were all wrong and Qaddafi is winning" alert - Muammar Qaddafi has given yet another audio address. Here are some select quotes, courtesy of the BBC, Reuters, and the Twitterverse:

Qaddafi called on his loyalists to "fight and destroy" the rebels, he said that he enjoys the support of a "sweeping majority," and he urged the "youth of Tripoli" to " fight them everywhere, street street, zanga zanga (alley by alley). Purify Tripoli." Qaddafi closed with his signature,"Forward, forward, forward" closing.

1604 GMT: Al Jazeera is reporting that 1000-2000 Qaddafi loyalists may be inside Abu Salim, where a fierce firefight is still heating up. There is also fighting near the Rixos hotel.

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Syria Diary: Return to Aleppo "The Opposite of Silence" (Hanano)

This summer, I was able to completely shed previous beliefs that had been slowly unraveling for years. Growing up in Syria, you learn to keep your eyes down when you walk in the street to avoid the catcalls, lewd remarks, and hissing that every girl is subjected to by men and boys. Keep your eyes down, your ears shut, and ignore. But after becoming old enough that I could care less (or perhaps should care more) about these harmless yet annoying practices, I began not only looking up but straight into the eyes of these men on the street. I saw them for the first time, there was pure pain in their idle desperation; they were doomed in the graveyard of dreams. Now, I watched them everyday on my laptop screen. Their painful beauty is unparalleled; they are driven by their conscience, driven by their belief in death before humiliation.

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Bahrain (and Iran) Feature: Nokia Siemens Accused --- Again --- of Assisting Regime Detention and Abuse

Amidst the regime crackdown after the disputed 2009 Presidential election in Iran, the telecommunications giant Nokia Siemens was accused of providing the regime with surveillance technology which allowed it to track and dissidents. Last year, a lawsuit was filed by Mehdi Saharkhiz on behalf of his father, imprisoned journalist Isa Saharkhiz.

Now to Bahrain in 2011....

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US Politics Feature: Can a Senator Named Coburn Cut $9 Trillion from the US Government's Debt?

Washington has a notoriously Byzantine manner of getting things done, but if his new subcommittee is ordered to write out new legislation reforming the tax code as part of a super-committee deal, Senator Tom Coburn will wield enormous influence. After all, he has a comprehensive plan ready to go. If that is the scenario that ultimately plays out, it will be fascinating to see the response of special interests, business lobbyists, and advocacy groups --- can they maintain their hold over a Congress newly determined, and chagrined after the nation's credit downgrade, to begin finding a long-term solution to America's debt problem?

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Yesterday's Conflict

2017 GMT: This video, allegedly taken in Hama, shows men in a tank firing into the city. Though we never see the targets they shoot at, the note on the video is that none of the soldiers appear to be taking cover, and the soldiers outside the tank appear to be relaxed, suggesting that their target was unarmed.

We cannot verify the video.

2011 GMT: There are now reports of heavy gunfire in the Zamalka suburb of Damascus.

1959 GMT: A reliable activist has this report from Inkhil, Daraa (MAP):

Heavy gunfire in an attempt to disperse a massive demonstration that set off a short time ago from the Sa'ad Mosque

Foru people have also reportedly been injured when security opened fire on protesters in the Damascus suburb of Madaya, as a march was leaving the Shamali Mosque.

1954 GMT: Protests are also reported in the Douma District of Damascus. This video shows the scene after Taraweeh prayers:

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The Latest from Iran (24 August): Oil and Gasoline --- It's All the Way You Look at It....

2030 GMT: Trouble on the Russian Front. Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi, Iran's ambassador in Russia, has said that Tehran has filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice against Russia for not delivering S-300 missiles ordered by Iran.

Sajjadi also criticised Russia's Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of state-owned Gazprom, for a delay in developing Iran's oil reserves. He said Gazprom Neft has delayed the development of the Azar field for nearly two years since signing a tentative agreement with the National Iranian Oil Company in November 2009 to jointly develop its resources.

"Big damage has been done by Russian oil companies to the Iranian people," Saijadi said through a translator at a news conference. "I have already told the Russian side about the danger of this approach."

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