Gaza - Egypt Border

The news this past week about the temporary breach in the Gaza border fence was both comical and disturbing. The image of thousands of Palestinians streaming through the broken fence to go shopping on the Egyptian side has a farcical ring, but it masks a tragic reality. Gazans have been under 24/7 blockade for months, denied of the most basic commodities and prevented from entering or leaving the Gaza strip. Most recently, Israel has interrupted fuel supplies, so that electricity necessary to power hospitals and water purification systems is in short supply. The reality is that over a million human beings have been incarcerated behind concrete, barbed wire and mine fields, and now brought to the brink of starvation, by a criminal policy that punishes ordinary civilians for the actions of a few thugs. 18 years ago, when the Berlin wall fell, the world rejoiced. The only reaction to the Gaza wall's fall seems to be to get it back up as quickly as possible before the Palestinians escape.

Thoughts on Institutional Reconstruction

Here is a picture of my international law class taken from the roof deck at IDLO. I am in the crowd somewhere. it was a wonderful experience and I enjoyed meeting these young professionals from Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) very much indeed. Most of my class were junior/mid-level professionals under 30 years old. Even most of the senior MoFA people I met were quite young. This is perhaps one of the grim realities of Afghanistan's recent history--that 30 years of unremitting war and regime swings from Communism to radical Islamism to the current government have severed or at least severely frayed the institutional continuity with the past. Just like buildings and other hard assets, institutions also can be destroyed and need to be rebuilt sometimes from the ground up. MoFA and so many other Afghan institutions are doing just that. True, in many ways MoFA is a mess, but considering where they started (with nothing) and considering the liabilities they carry (legacy of war, ethnic animosity, refugee problems, ongoing insurgency, lack of skills, funding, etc.), I think these young people, and their superiors can be proud of what they HAVE accomplished. I wish them the very best for the future.

Isn't Technology Wonderful?

This is a picture I took of a group of boys I met in Yemen a few years back. I was in Yemen writing a report on possible reform of the Yemeni judiciary. It is one of my favorite pictures. I am uploading it to try out the photograph feature of the blogging software. I know I am a few years behind the curve, but I think it is just marvelous that I can share my pictures with interested people around the world with the click of a button. About the picture--these are boys we met on a mountain hike in Yemen. Yemen is a very mountainous country and we started at about 6000 feet elevation, and finished close to 10,000 feet. The boys were in traditional garb, which includes the daggers in their belts. They are called Jambiyas, and the boys were VERY proud of their knives. These mountain gorges were fascinating because the cliff walls were full of ancient tombs that date back to prehistoric times. Most of them have been looted over the centuries, but I am told that there are fabulous archaeological possibilities throughout the country, including whole cities dating from the time of the Queen of Sheba that are untouched and awaiting excavation!

"War" on Terror a Dangerous Misnomer

As we come up on the anniversary of the September 11 attack, we should ask ourselves whether or not we are safer than we were 6 years ago. Seriously, we are less safe. The world was with us on September 12, 2001. We could have done so much then to curb terrorism, but we did not. Since then we have squandered that sympathy and support through very stupid policies.

The cynics in the White House have used "September 11" to justify some of the most shameful acts in modern American history. They used the excuse of "September 11" to start a needless war in Iraq. We all now know this was was based on a series of lies and these lies have lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. By our Middle East policies we have spit in the eyes of our best friends in that region, and have strengthened and emboldened our enemies. At home, the so-called "Patriot Act" has infringed our liberties with little positive impact on our security. Illegal domestic wiretapping has become commonplace. Our government now detains people (including U.S. citizens) indefinitely without charges or due process of law. Sometimes we torture those prisoners, by means that include sleep deprivation, near drowning ("water-boarding"), beatings, attack dogs, and grotesque sexual humiliation--and all the while government shills argue this is not "really" torture.

How did all this happen? The heart of the matter is how we think of September 11. Very quickly, the White House used the rhetoric of war to put a name on what happened to us. This kind of rhetoric leads people to think in terms of "us" and "them," which is wrong. They launched a "war on terror." This was a huge mistake. The September 11 attack was not another Pearl Harbor. It was not an act of war by a country. It was a criminal act, carried out by a criminal gang. True, it had the support of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and this justified military action there. We are not, however, at "war"with terror because we cannot be at war with an idea or a tactic. As such the tools of war are the wrong tools for the job. If you need to drill a hole, you use a drill, not a saw. The tools of law enforcement are not the tools of war, and by using the tools of war we have only made matters worse. We have behaved like we are fighting the Nazis, whereas in fact we are fighting an international mafia.

The sooner we recognize this simple fact, the sooner we can get on the right track.

Recent News from Kurdistan

Yesterday I saw a disheartening news item re Iraq. It concerned reports that Iran has been shelling villages inside Iraqi Kurdistan in retaliation for Kurdish separatist activity inside Iran. The reason this upset me is it is a small sign that one of the true worst-case scenario for Iraq may be on the verge of unfolding. Not only is there a very serious danger of Iraq collapsing into civil war, but the danger exists that it may escalate into a regional war involving Iraq's neighbors. This would not only be a disaster for Iraq and its neighbors, but also for U.S. interests in the region.

I have been speaking out publicly on Iraq for a number of years now. I think the 1st time was November 2002, even before the invasion. I had helped organize a public meeting at New England College to discuss the mounting crisis over Iraq, and to try and convince people that "regime change" was a terrible idea. At that time, I identified 4 nightmare scenarios possible for Iraq: (1) collapse into civil war, (2) regional or proxy war involving Saudi Arabia and Iran, as each state takes sides in the Iraqi civil war, (3) destabilization of neighbor regimes due to a flood of refugees out of Iraq, and (4) a regional war over Kurdish separatism. Since then I've spoken on the same topics at at least a dozen venues, and had a few radio or TV appearances as well.

When I was in Baghdad in 2003 working on the election plan, I tried to discuss these issues with people there, but there seemed to be no interest at the top. Similarly when I was at the Dead Sea in 2005 working on Iraqi constitutional issues, the eye of the U.S. Embassy was entirely on meeting a series of pointless deadlines. The only logic seemed to be to have an Iraqi constitution and elections before the U.S. mid-term elections in 2006. In retrospect, it would have been much better for Iraq (and for us) if they had NOT finished their constitution or conducted elections, as this has fueled the civil war, which is a reality.

Now, indications are growing that factions inside Iraq are looking to their foreign patrons to support then as U.S. withdrawal is becoming more and more likely. The Shia Maliki government, and the parties that support it, are starting to cozy up to Iran, and the Sunni insurgents are increasingly turning to Saudi Arabia for support. It would not surprise me to see Iranian forces inside Iraq within a year (if they are not there now), nor will it surprise me to see Saudi Arabia bankrolling a spirited Sunni resistance (rumor has it they already are). What happens when they clash?

Millions of refugees have left Iraq for Syria and Jordan. These are small, poor countries. If something is not done to support these refugees there will be hell to pay as Jordan and Syria start to buckle under the load.

Last but not least, the Kurds. Turkey has already made very threatening noises against the Kurdish regime in northern Iraq. There even have been reports of Turkish troops entering Kurdistan. Now the Iranians are getting into the act?

Truly, I am ready to wash my hands of the entire U.S. foreign policy establishment. There seems to be NO ability on either side of the aisle to conceptualize the magnitude of the disaster we are facing. Where is the intelligence? Where is the principled opposition to insane policies? Where is congressional oversight? Has common sense completely abandoned us?

Security in Afghanistan

Security in Afghanistan rests on the edge of a knife. Many of you know I've spent time in a few rough places--Post-Saddam Iraq, West Bank & Gaza, Macedonia right after the civil war, Saudi Arabia during the SCUD attacks, etc. etc. Kabul is more stable than some of those places, less stable than others. What is a little disconcerting is that the air in Kabul feels like the deep breath before the plunge. There have been a few attacks, kidnappings, some suicide bombs, and occasional rocket attacks from the hills around, but the air still seems relatively positive. People are out and about doing there business. There is money moving around. There appears to be a government. What concerns me is that it could change any minute--if the Taliban ever take a lesson from the insurgents in Iraq, and launch large attacks against civilian targets then this place will unravel very quickly. Unfortunately, it would be an easy thing to do, and I wonder why the Taliban have not decisively taken the next step in this country's descent back into hell. Maybe they dislike hell as much as the rest of us? It would be a nice thought.

Many Faces of Afghanistan

As you know from the last post, I am now in Afghanistan for several weeks to train lawyers belonging to the Foreign Ministry (and a few others) in International Law. This is my first time to Afghanistan. It is a fascinating place. It boggles the mind to reflect on what the Afghans have gone through--thirty years of unremitting war, extreme poverty, Taliban rule, and now the ongoing conflict in the south. Despite ll this, the Afghans seem to be a wonderful people, full of life and generosity. I love looking at the faces. There seems to be every possible type of face on the street, except for possibly Africans. This is truly the crossroads of Asia, and the faces bear this out: there are Persian faces, Indian faces, Arab faces, Caucasian faces and east Asian faces. Every conqueror since Alexander the Great has made a contribution to the gene pool, and it shows. Perhaps the diversity of faces shows that the recent 30 years of conflict is part of a much larger history of conflict and accommodation here. The crossroads of Asia is a rough place.

Reviving Private Law Practice

As of October 1, 2007, I will reopen my law office, after a years' hiatus during which I was working on a legal reform project in Egypt. I have in fact already started taking new cases, but I do not want to open the office until after I am back from Afghanistan, on September 20. I will open the physical office at 85B West Pearl Street, Nashua, NH, although I will continue to receive mail at PO Box 1019, Concord, NH 03302-1019. As in the past, I will concentrate on immigration law and international legal issues.

Off to Afghanistan!

This is my first attempt at blogging, which I hope becomes a regular habit. I leave tomorrow for a 5 week consulting assignment in Afghanistan, on behalf of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) where I will provide training to lawyers of the Afghan Foreign Ministry on a range of international legal issues.