Blogging the democratic revolution
Over at IEDs I have a post reporting the Jalal Talabani has finally been chosen Iraq’s new interim president after weeks of negotitations. With all that has been going on around the world, it’s a good idea to stop and remember how all of this revolution got started. There may still be some who don’t buy the democratic domino theory, but if one actually listens to what people in the Middle East are saying, little doubt can be left that the free election in Iraq has proven more powerful that any bomb. The parliament now sets about installing Ibrahim al-Jaafai…
Michael Totten and Jim Hake are on the ground in Lebanon, raising money for the Cedar Revolutionaries. I got this email from Jim just a while ago: I’m in Beirut, Lebanon to kick off a project to support the pro-democracy demonstrators at the "tent city" in Martyrs’ Square. Their goals are independence (i.e., Syria out of Lebanon) and free and fair elections. The tent city demonstrators are the center of gravity for Lebanon’s pro-democracy movement. They are leading the charge. They put together the massive demonstrations 3 weeks ago. As they go, so goes Lebanon’s independence. And so goes a…
The Christian Science Monitor has an editorial instructing us in what we already know: Zimbabwe is not Ukraine: Viktor Yushchenko, who suffered near-fatal dioxin poisoning in his campaign to unseat Ukraine’s corrupt and authoritarian president, had the support of masses of protesters. But those were healthy, well-fed masses. In Zimbabwe, half the country is on the verge of acute hunger, and the official HIV infection rate is 27 percent. Mr. Yushchenko also had the backing of key institutions. The judiciary ruled in favor of a new election, and Ukraine’s security forces refused to turn their guns on fellow citizens. Zimbabwe’s…
So far, the visit of Viktor Yushchenko to this country has been about as exciting and informative as last night’s so-called opening night. The wave of optimism that recently has spread throughout the enslaved world and now seems stalled over Zimbabwe got its start in the earthquake of the Orange Revolution. The meeting of democracy’s two most maligned and respected faces should be cause for more than platitudes, innuendo and half-baked conjecture. But of course, all we are feted to is the requisite opening paragraphs aching to point out that Ukraine is in the midst of withdrawing troops from Iraq.…
Kyrgyz President Akayev has reportedly fled to Russia after protesters stormed the presidential compound: One key opposition figure, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was at the scene, and state TV appeared to be in opposition hands ???????? underscoring the impression that the hitherto fragmented opposition was consolidating control. Another leading opposition figure was said to have been freed from prison. Thick plumes of black smoke rose from two burning cars, apparently belonging to government officials, near the government headquarters several hours after the takeover. It was unclear how the cars were set ablaze. The tumultuous scene was the culmination of the first major…
It looks as if Dennis Hastert has done the right thing: Yushchenko to address Senate and House in joint meeting Washington, DC ???????? Word has come in that the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, has been invited to address a combined meeting of the Senate and House during his visit to the U.S. in early April. President Yushchenko is expected in Washington on April 3rd for a private session with U.S. President George Bush on Monday, April 4th. Tentative plans have been discussed for a 3-day visit that will include meetings in Washington DC, Chicago, and Boston. A rally at…
The new Ukrainian government continues to contend with the fall out from the dealings of the last Kuchma regime. I mentioned yesterday that Yushchenko has shown a tendency to fall into a kind of minor-league imitation of his predecessor when reporting on his government’s actions. David Crouch notices the same thing: The suicide two weeks ago of former interior minister Yuri Kravchenko, a key witness in investigations into the outgoing leadership’s criminal exploits, has been widely blamed on the government putting its own interests before the legal process – a hallmark of ex-president Leonid Kuchma’s years in power. Mr Yushchenko’s…
The protests in Kyrgyzstan seem to be having some effect: OSH, Kyrgyzstan – President Askar Akayev ordered the Central Election Commission and Supreme Court on Monday to investigate alleged violations in the recent parliamentary vote that have triggered weeks of nationwide protests led by the opposition, the president’s office said. Akayev ordered the commission and court “to pay particular attention to those districts where election results provoked extreme public reaction … and tell people openly who is right and who is wrong,” Akayev’s office said in a statement. The president’s statement came as more than 17,000 people seized government buildings…
I meant to get this up this morning. My latest on Ukraine is up at Bloggledygook. The country’s Prosecutor General Pyskun has granted Mykola Melnychenko (Tape Man!) immunity in absentia. Also, Tape Man is under the protection of Boris Berezovsky, who has an interesting history of his own. Also, an interesting idea for a South Africa-style truth commission and some color commentary from former PM Pavel Lazarenko, who has had some, uh, legal problems here in the States. Go on a wade through the byzantine splendor of it all!
The LA Times has a good article on the many strange deaths that have shadowed the Orange Revolution. How Yushchenko handles the pressure in this time after the Revolution will tell us much about his ability to govern and the future of Ukraine. My take is here.
The so-called "tapegate" revolving around the murder of Georgiy Gongadze is but one of many recording-related scandals in Ukraine. One such long and torturous story (which also features Mykola Melnichenko and his recordings) involves a prominent banker whom former President Leonid Kuchma is said to have conspired to intimidate, jail and destroy. This story has gone largely unreported in the West. It is time to tell it. On March 13, 2000, Borys Feldman, President of Sloviansky Bank, which at the time was Ukraine’s most profitable commercial bank, was arrested and charged by authorities with failing to pay income tax on…
Although Robert will be doing a lengthy Lebanon post later, I thought that the latest maneuver by Emile Lahoud and the Syrian regime warranted an early post. Lebanese President Emile Lahoud is said ready to re-designate outgoing Premier Karami (who resigned in the face of protests) to form a new pro-Syrian government: The re-designation is bound to reverse the fortunes of a peaceful opposition uprising to shake off Syria’s 29-year-old suffocating hegemony, which was sparked by the assassination of ex-Premier Hariri three weeks ago. It is also locally seen as a slap to President Bush’s contention that “democracy is knocking…
Just about the time that democracies start sprouting all over, Red China would like to remind everybody not to feel too good: BEIJING — China unveiled a law Tuesday authorizing an attack if Taiwan moves toward formal independence, increasing pressure on the self-ruled island while warning other countries not to interfere. The United States said Beijing should reconsider. Taiwan denounced the legislation as a “blank check to invade” and announced war games aimed at repelling an attack. “If possibilities for a peaceful reunification should be completely exhausted, the state shall employ nonpeaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China’s…
That’s what the banners are saying in the latest protest in Beirut: The crowd included a number of die-hard protesters who have been camping out at Martyrs’ Square, homemakers, men who took the day off from work, university students and others who traveled from other areas of the country. In a jab at Syrian President Bashar al-Asad, who in a speech on Saturday said television cameras were zooming in closely on the Lebanese protesters to make the numbers appear more, several held banners reading: “Zoom Out!” One legislator speaking to the crowd yelled out the same phrase during her speech.…
Up to 150,000 opposition activists rallied in Martyr’s Square chanting, “Syria Out!” and waving Lebanese flags: Monday’s demonstration marked three weeks since the Feb. 14 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri that began a peaceful campaign against Syrian control. The massive crowd, chanting “Freedom, sovereignty, independence!” began marching through the streets to the site of the bomb blast that killed Hariri. Some in the crowd carried large photographs of Hariri. One group carried a banner that read, “Today we have one target: To liberate our land.” Others brandished photographs of the public prosecutor and six intelligence chiefs whose dismissal they…
With all that’s been going on in the Middle East lately, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s happening elsewhere. At Bloggledygook I have an update on the situation in Ukraine, including the latest on the supposed suicide of Yuri Kravchenko and the implications of his demise.
Lebanses President Emie Lahoud set about today to form a new government while opposition leaders – Muslim, Druze and Christian – are expected to meet Tuesday to plan for what comes next: It wasn’t clear if they would seek to keep up the street pressure or – as some have urged – step back to work through the political process to ensure a new government less tied to Damascus. They have demanded a neutral government to organize parliamentary elections this spring and to investigate Hariri’s murder, which they blame on the pro-Syrian government and Syria. Both governments have denied involvement.…
At Bloggledygook I have a post on Walid Jumblatt, sometime raving conspiracy theorist, sometime pragmatic politician, sometime pan-Arab nationalist. This person will likely be a prominent figure in coming events in Lebanon. Jumblatt has acted at times as one of Syria’s most vocal critics but seemed to come back into the fold when the US invaded Iraq. The big break came when he opposed the extension of Pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud’s term. Now that he was deemed to be less than friendly, Jumblatt believes he was fingered for assassination. The killing of Hariri confirmed his suspicions. It would be a…
The AP and Fox News are reporting that Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karami has announced his government’s resignation in parliament. No link yet. This came before the debate on a no-confidence vote was to begin. Stay tuned. UPDATE: Boston Herald: Karami made the announcement during a parliamentary debate called to discuss Hariri’s Feb. 14 assassination in a bomb blast that killed 16 others. The announcement prompted cheers from more than 25,000 flag-waving demonstrators protesting against the government and its Syrian backers outside. The resignation was the most dramatic moment yet in the series of protests and political maneuvers that have…
That’s the Palestinian people. It remains to be seen if the leadership understands that their people have had enough and are demonstrating a new willingness to talk peace: If this is to be made into something that could resemble a positive step, the PA should offer to work beside the Israeli military instead of against it, even going so far as to wage war against the Palestinian terror forces. It Abbas is to be seen as serious, he needs to begin punishing terror organizations immediately. If he does that, he will find himself in what amounts to a civil war.…
Egypt’s president for life, or at least the last 24 years is now calling for multi-candidate elections. He is requesting a national referendum to open up the September presidential rubber stamp. My take over at Bloggledygook: This is a very shrewd move by Mubarak, who has been snubbed just this last week by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and has seen increased pressure form the US in the wake of the arrest of Ayman Nour. I don’t want to be overly skeptical, but the reaction from the audience seems to me to have been staged and a little too good…
Haaretz is reporting that at least 20 people have been injured in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv: The suicide bomber apparently blew himself up at around 11:15 PM on a Friday night at the “Stage” club on the corner of Herbert Samuel and Yonah Hanavi streets in the city. Police were closing roads Friday night, and have asked the public to avoid arriving at the area. Security officials are persuing two suspects, after witnesses reported they saw two men fleeing the scene of the explosion. According to the police, the terrorists may have come from the northern West Bank,…
Michael Ledeen of NRO has a strong piece on the movement toward democracy and revolution throughout the globe. The tidal wave has even reached into the planet’s darkest corners, most recently shaking the foundations of the North Korean hermit kingdom. A new leader is announced at the same time the monsters in Pyongyang whisper “We’ve got nukes” and demand legitimacy from George W. Bush. Given the opacity of the country, and the irrationality of its leaders, nobody seems to know whether the Dear Leader is still alive, or, if he is, why the transition has been proclaimed. But the North…
IEDs (full disclosure: I write for this site) has stories here, here and here.
Taking FDR’s first 100 days as a model, the Kyiv Post outlines five areas where Viktor Yushchenko’s attention should focused. I summarize the editorial here.