Skip to main content

Starting to Post Again…

Ok – I have not posted for the longest time. While I was working in Iraq I started to work in areas that I really could not post about. The many things I learned while working in those areas has enriched me in many ways … and I hope I am now a better person for it.

Life now finds me living in Washington DC. I am working for a defense contractor and I am using the many things I learned while living in Iraq. Already I have been able to use the experience and first-hand knowledge that I have to help guide the company along a more logical path in Near East relations. I hope I can only help.

The blog that you are used to may be changing. I usually talk about places I have been or things I have seen… I am going to change that up a little bit. My job currently has me sitting in an “arm-chair-quarterback” position so I figured I would use that. I see so many things in the news that are happening around the world and I have a very different take on some of these issues because I have seen first-hand how things really work. I have never been a reporter that has to hide behind stories that they think will sell, I have never been a politician that has to hide behind an agenda, and I am not currently in a place that quells what I can say or causes emotional responses in me that can cloud my judgment. So I am going to try and use that… we will see if I can catch my wind and find a pace…

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Definition of Terrorism

Terrorism and Extortion are very similar in action but where they differ the most is with intended results. Extortion : Using violence or the threat of violence to create an environment where actions toward the victim lead to the victim giving the perpetrator(s) something of value . Terrorism : Using violence of the threat of violence to create an environment where actions towards the victim lead to society giving the perpetrator(s) something of value . When defining terrorism it is pertinent to first set what parameters the definition is adhered to. If we took a general definition of terrorism and said that it is simply the act of generating fear to elicit the desired response of the issuer then we can say all governments engage in terrorism to control the activities of their populace. Threat of going to jail unless you meet social norms would fit into this definition of terrorism. The same could be said about having a strong military imposing the will of a country upon another co
1 comment
Read more

Al Qaeda and the Ashayish?

Recently I had the privilege to read an article by Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis that compared the Kurdish Ashayish to al Qaeda. To me this was a very interesting article because I have always viewed them as diametrically opposed institutions. If you do not know what the Ashayish or al Qaeda is then let me start with that. According to their own website Al-Qaeda's objectives include the end of foreign influence in Muslim countries and the creation of a new Islamic caliphate. The name Al-Qaeda quite literally means camp and was created in Afghanistan when the Sunni Muslims were creating training bases for the mujahedeen (holy warriors) to fight against the Russians. These camps were created by the House of Saud and were funded in part by the US State Department (these actions were recently made into a movie called “Charlie Wilson’s War”). The Ashayish are the security forces of the officially recognized Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq. The Ashayish were created as th
Post a Comment
Read more

Peripheral Visionary

It is never a good idea to type when you are angry. If anyone has read my blog before you will see that many things have been cut out of it lately. There were too many toes being stepped on and to many things being referred too. My emails were long and disjointed and easily taken out of context. So to ensure this does not happen again I will dissect everything I write before I put it on this site. If you are offended by what you read please let me know and I will take that off as well. I do not want to offend anyone. So from now on I will not use names to describe anyone. Everyone I talk about will be given pseudonyms. This will anger some of you because you want to know the names, places, dates – but you will have to settle for the taste, smell, and feel. If you want their real names you will just have to wait for the book.
1 comment
Read more