By Dr. Aslam Abdullah, TMO Editor-in-Chief

The mid term congressional election is only five days away. The Republicans are expected to win the House and the Democrat are expected to retain the Senate with a reduced majority. The candidates of the two parties spent some 3.6 billion dollars in this election primarily on TV and newspaper ads, supporting the news corporations that own the network. The major contribution to their campaign came from big businesses and corporations who will control Congressmen through different means and methods.

Once elected, most of these congressmen would serve lobbies, foreign interests, business interests and what not. They would have the freedom to travel anywhere in the world and do whatever they want to as long as they are not caught by their opponents doing anything that is illegal. During the course of their stay in Congress, they will earn millions not through salaries, but through gifts or businesses they would own or launch.

You and I (taxpayers) spend $3.1 million to support each House member and $9 million to support each senator. In 1963, the entire legislative branch of the U.S. government only cost $192 million, but in the cost jumped to $4.8 billion. Since then, the cost of the entire Congress has been rising 3 times faster than the price level, yet the number of members has remained. So the real cost of Congress is growing more than twice as fast as the population.

Our American Founding Fathers had envisioned serving in Congress as a part-time job. Then, members of Congress did not have personal staff and they wrote their own speeches and did their own homework

Congress spends about $300 million a year on the Capitol Police, which is a very big hunk of change to protect 535 people and a few buildings. It works out to about $560,000 per member per year. Congress also spends about $1 billion on the Library of Congress ($949 million to be more exact) — which is a lot for books and papers (particularly when most stuff is now free on the Internet). It spends $524 million on the Government Accountability

There are $903 million for the 100 senators to spend on themselves, their staffs and expense accounts, leaving the poor 435 members of the House with only the last $1.35 billion to split up.

What have these congressmen done to us. The following facts are self explaining.

We stand $12 trillion in debt. We see 15 to 20 million unemployed Americans. Another 35 million Americans subsist on food stamps. Black and Hispanic unemployed run into the millions

Some 13.4 million minority children live below the poverty level. Schools in big cities such as Detroit, Michigan and Los Angeles, California have poor results. An astounding 40 million Americans cannot read. Another 52 million cannot read past the 4th grade level!

Despite our overspending on security, we have over $100 billion of illegal drugs to continue flowing into the USA annually. They allow 900,000 U.S. kids to become dealers. We have 572,000 military personnel on 120 bases around the world, but we do not have enough troops to protect our borders to stop the We have over 20 million illegal aliens and we pay out $346 billion annually to illegal aliens and their kids.

With only 95,000 new jobs being created each month according to Katie Couric at CBS-our Congress imports 100,000 new legal immigrants every 30 days. This year, as last year, our Congress will import another 450,000 immigrant workers with green cards. We cannot possible employ our own citizens let alone the 100,000 new immigrants monthly plus the 450,000 green card holders.

Most of our congressmen do not represent people. They represent big businesses. They virtually are their employees serving their interests and always giving preferences to their profit. Even though we live in a democracy, we are in reality in a virtual democracy. People do matter least. People were opposed to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet the defense industry wanted war and the war happened. Consequently, our country is spending roughly $50 million to kill one Taliban in Afghanistan. The tax money is going into the financial coffers of big corporations.

People are opposed to occupation of Palestinian by Israel, but the continued conflict serves the interests of multinational corporations. To pacify the religious sentiments of the majority of this country, every American administration donates billions of dollars to Israel and Egypt to sustain our defense industry.

Does it really matter who wins the election and who controls Congress. The answer is No. Congress does not represent people. It represents powerful interests and those interests are driven by profit motives than service motives. They do not care about average American. They use average Americans for their interests during the election and then they forget.

Do not expect anything from the 112^th Congress. We have been befooled in the past and there is no reason that we would not be fooled again. After all each generation must have its own share of fools.

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CHICAGO,IL–Community activist Ahmed Khan is seeking the 50th Ward Aldermanic office in Chicago. He aims to bring a new direction and opportunities to an area which includes the South Asian hub of Devon Avenue. The area has been plagues by a host of problems in the recent past including traffic & parking woes, crime, and unrespoviness of the city hall to the area’s growing diversity.

“The 50th ward needs a new direction”, said Khan, “As alderman I can build bridges for new opportunities. The 50th Ward represents many diverse cultures, religions and ethnicities that are found all around the City that need true representation.” said Khan. “I’m running a grassroots campaign for City Council because I believe that the only way to solve the problems facing our Ward is through an open, honest government working in close collaboration with all communities bringing them together to help.”

“My work experience has spanned the greater Chicagoland area and surrounding suburbs. I have worked in interfaith and multicultural platforms and made efforts towards building bridges. I have seen the needs of communities first hand and made efforts towards making sure available resources are provided. I feel it is a responsibility to take my experiences and skills developed as a professional community activist and organizer and bring them to serve my ward and City. I want to bring my successful endeavors in uniting communities to work together for the common good to the 50th ward of Chicago. The 50th ward needs a new, fresh direction. It is time for change in the 50th ward and the time is now.”

Khan faces an interesting contest ahead as he squares off against the incumbent grand old man of city council Bernard Stone, Debra Silverstein, an accountant and wife of State Senator Ira Silverstein, among others.

By Mihaela Lica

She is not as known internationally as her brother-in-law Tony Blair, but Lauren Booth has definitely made the headlines today all over the world, after a more or less shocking public announcement that she converted to Islam. The news spread from UK to New York, Tehran, Jerusalem, India, and beyond.

Lauren Booth, a long time militant for the Muslim cause, decided to convert after a holy experience she had six weeks ago, after a visit to the Fatima al-Masumeh Shrine in Qom, Iran.

According to reports from the UK media, she felt a “shot of spiritual morphine, just absolute bliss and joy” and decided to convert immediately on her return to Britain. Now you will most likely see the journalist who now works for Press TV, the English-language news channel of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in loose clothes, wearing a hijab. She declared her new-found faith live at the GPU event, saying: “My name is Lauren Booth, and I am a Muslim.”

Sure, the media is prone to react differently to such news. Some say that she is just craving for attention, while others see this as a logical consequence of her sympathies. Among others, she is a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, and as a journalist she presents In Focus on the UK’s Islam Channel, and Between The Headlines on the Iranian-owned Press TV.

The media reports that since she converted she stopped drinking any kind of alcohol, she no longer eats pork, reads the Koran five times a day and visits a mosque when she can. Although she cannot tell for sure where this spiritual journey will take her, she hopes to change people’s prejudice about Muslims:

“Your world view is that Muslims are mad, bad and dangerous; a contagion to be contained. “ – she wrote in a letter to Tony Blair, asking him to acknowledge International Quds Day, an annual event on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims express solidarity with the Palestinian people and protest Israel’s occupation of Beit-ul-Moqaddas (Jerusalem).

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By Nicholas D. Kristof

KABUL, Afghanistan–A visitor to Afghanistan who ventures outside the American security bubble sees pretty quickly that President Obama’s decision to triple the number of troops in Afghanistan has resulted, with some exceptions, mostly in more dead Americans and Afghans alike.

So what can we do instead? Some useful guidance comes from the man whom Afghans refer to as “Dr. Greg” — Greg Mortenson, an American who runs around in Afghan clothing building schools, as chronicled in the best-selling book “Three Cups of Tea.”

The conventional wisdom is that education and development are impossible in insecure parts of Afghanistan that the Taliban control. That view is wrong.

An organization set up by Mr. Mortenson and a number of others are showing that it is quite possible to run schools in Taliban-controlled areas. I visited some of Mr. Mortenson’s schools, literacy centers and vocational training centers, and they survive the Taliban not because of military protection (which they eschew) but because local people feel “ownership” rather than “occupation.”

“Aid can be done anywhere, including where Taliban are,” Mr. Mortenson said. “But it’s imperative the elders are consulted, and that the development staff is all local, with no foreigners.”

In volatile Kunar Province, which borders Pakistan, the Taliban recently ordered a halt to a school being built by Mr. Mortenson’s organization, the Central Asia Institute. But the villagers rushed to the school’s defense. The Taliban, which have been mounting a campaign for hearts and minds, dropped the issue, according to Wakil Karimi, who leads Mr. Mortenson’s team in Afghanistan.

In another part of Kunar Province, the Central Asia Institute is running a girls’ primary school and middle school in the heart of a Taliban-controlled area. Some of the girls are 17 or 18, which is particularly problematic for fundamentalists (who don’t always mind girls getting an education as long as they drop out by puberty). Yet this school is expanding, and now has 320 girls, Mr. Karimi said.

It survives because it is run by the imam of the mosque, and he overcomes Taliban protests by framing it as a madrassa, not a school. That seems less alien to fundamentalists and gives them a face-saving excuse to look the other way.

In Uruzgan Province, Mr. Mortenson and Mr. Karimi are beginning to pay imams to hold classes for girls in their mosques. That puts a divine stamp on girls’ education.

Each month, Mr. Mortenson’s team gets another 50 requests from villages seeking their own schools. And for the cost of a single American soldier stationed in Afghanistan for one year, it’s possible to build 20 schools.

Education is only part of the puzzle. My vote would be to scale back our military footprint: use a smaller troop presence to secure Kabul and a few other cities, step up training of the Afghan National Army, and worry less about the Taliban and more about Al Qaeda. We also should push aggressively for a peace deal between President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban, backed by Pakistan. (Would all this harm Afghan women? That’s the topic of my next column.)

Some of these initiatives are already in the works, but what is neglected is education and development, especially in Taliban areas. It’s true that this is tough, uncertain and sometimes dangerous going, with much depending on the particular Taliban commander. But, in most areas, it is possible, provided the work is done without Westerners and in close consultation with local people.

Government schools regularly get burned down, but villagers tell me that that’s because they’re seen as alien institutions built by outside construction crews. In contrast, CARE runs 300 schools in Afghanistan and not one has been burned down, the aid organization says. The Afghan Institute of Learning, run by a redoubtable Afghan woman named Sakena Yacoobi, has supported more than 300 schools and none have been burned, the institute says. Another great aid organization, BRAC, runs schools, clinics and microfinance programs — and operates in every single province in Afghanistan.

Then there’s the Global Partnership for Afghanistan, which is based in New York and helps Afghan villagers improve agricultural yields in the most unstable parts of the country. Some Taliban commanders have even sent word inviting the group into their areas.

Mr. Mortenson says that $243 million is needed to fund all higher education in Afghanistan this year. He suggests that America hold a press conference here in Kabul and put just 243 of our 100,000 soldiers (each costing $1 million per year) on planes home. Then the U.S. could take the savings and hand over a check to pay for Afghanistan’s universities.

Is this talk of schools and development naïve? Military power is essential, but it’s limited in what it can achieve. There’s abundant evidence that while bombs harden hearts, schooling, over time, can transform them. That’s just being pragmatic.

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By Sumayyah Meehan, MMNS Middle East Correspondent

The world has seen neither hide nor hair of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon ever since he suffered from a mild stroke in the winter of 2005. Another more serious stroke in January 2006 rendered Sharon immobile and forced him into a coma from which he has never risen. However, a recently launched art exhibition has, figuratively, brought Sharon out of his deathbed and into the limelight.

Controversial Israeli artist Noam Braslavsky has created a life size sculpture of Sharon, as he might look today, in a fully catatonic state. The rendering is eerily life-like right down to Sharon’s graying hair, hospital gown and look of quiet desperation on his face. The sculpture sits in a real hospital bed complete with side rails and an IV drip bag attachment with a line leading directly into the cloned former prime minister’s arm. The chest expands and contracts to further give the impression that the replica is actually breathing. The materials used to create the sculpture include soft plastic which resembles human skin in both appearance and touch.

Currently on display at the Kishon Gallery located in the heart of Tel-Aviv, Braslavsky has revealed part of his reasoning behind the controversial art installation. In a recent interview he said, “The most important thing as an artist is the ability to give to the viewer the possibility to be in a personal moment with this figure that had so much impact in the life of every Israeli — and everybody who lives in this area.” In Israeli politics, Sharon was both beloved and despised amongst his constituents. The sculpture gives Israelis, whether they loved Sharon or hated him, the ability to gawk at a realistic symbol of him in his weakest state.

Quite notably, Braslavsky has never met Sharon and has never been privy to seeing him in a hospital setting. The artist has not lived in Israeli for the past twenty years and instead calls Germany home. The artist relied upon past images of Sharon to concoct his own rendering of what Sharon might look like in an utterly vegetative state. Braslavsky is, however, currently in Israel to promote his sculpture to the masses.

Critics of Braslavsky have labeled him a “one trick pony” and chalked his Sharon sculpture up to nothing more than a blatant attempt to create a name for himself in the art world. Detractors aside, Braslavsky holds a noose-tight grip on every aspect of the exhibition right down to the way visitors are permitted to view the sculpture. Small groups of visitors are led into the viewing area and are forbidden from speaking above a whisper. Clearly, the experience of actually being in a hospital and hovering over someone on their deathbed is part of the reality that Braslavsky has molded with his own two hands.

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With ALLAH’S name, The Merciful Benefactor, Merciful Redeemer

By Imam Abdullah El-Amin, MMNS

The title I have chosen for this week’s column is really meant to get your attention.  The word “greed,” in the way we’ve grown to understand it, goes against the very grain of Islam where jealousy, envy, covetousness, and the like are all undesirable characteristics of human behavior. Its’ the same feeling we get when we say a person has a “big ego.”  We tend to look at that quality in a negative sense; yet you see most of these people succeeding in position, money, and power.

The phrase “Greed is Good” got popular from a movie starring Michael Douglas as a Wall Street tycoon who excelled in a world of lies and deceit, brought on by greed for money and power. 

There was an advertisement for the movie on TV where Michael Douglas was smoking a big cigar with head thrown back basking in his successful position.  The point I believe he was bringing out brought out is that greed gives you the incentive and focus to succeed. 

So I got to thinking, why do people who lie, cheat and have an evil disposition, succeed?  After all, they are some of the most despicable characters described by ALLAH in Qur’an.

They succeed because they follow the natural laws our Creator laid out for His creation.  Mostly, in essence, they WORK HARD.   And this is precisely what ALLAH says is necessary for success. 

53:39-42 “And that man can have nothing but what he strives for:  And that his striving will soon be seen.  Then will he be rewarded for it with the fullest reward.  And that to thy Lord is the goal.”

Whether you are a just or unjust person, the rain falls from the sky on both. If an unjust, evil farmer plants his seeds and cultivates and fertilizes his land, taking great care of his work – and you just throw some seeds on the ground; when the rains come, who will probably get the biggest harvest?   I think you know the answer.

It takes work and enthusiasm to succeed.  People (whether they are just or unjust) who put their best foot forward, who stay up late making phone calls, who “do it now” rather than later, are among the surest to succeed at their goals.  It rains on the just and unjust. 

There was an Indian Swami spiritual man in town recently for a series of talks on success.  He made a very profound statement that caught my attention and made me think.  He said most good spiritual people are not aggressive enough to succeed in business.  He said it takes tenacity and focus, coupled with spiritual morality, to be truly successful in life.  If you are not “hungry” for what you seek, you will not strive as hard for it and therefore are much less likely to achieve it.

“Shall man have what he wishes for?   Nay!   He gets what he strives for…”   You can wish all day long and nothing will happen until you start to work.

“And whoever strives hard, strives for himself.  Surely ALLAH is self-sufficient and above needing any of His creatures.”  29:6 

Michael Douglas and the Swami have a point, but let’s focus on being “greedy” for the pleasure of ALLAH.  Let’s be greedy to do the right things in life while we pursue our goals.  Let’s “Strive as in a race towards all that is good”

Let’s have a HUNGER to better ourselves ACCORDING to the directives of ALLAH. 

“And those who strive hard for Us, We shall certainly guide them in Our ways.  And ALLAH is surely with the doers of good.”

As Salaam alaikum
Al Hajj Imam Abdullah El-Amin

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By Asma Alsharif and Ulf Laessing

RIYADH, Oct 26 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia plans to open further the biggest Arab bourse to foreign investors but will do so only in gradual steps for fear of letting in “hot” speculative money, the head of the kingdom’s financial regulator told Reuters.

The world’s top oil exporter might also allow foreigners access to its secondary bond market and wants more corporate statements in English, Abdulrahman al-Tuwaijri, chairman of the capital markets authority (CMA), said in an interview on Monday.

Saudi Arabia has started opening up its stock market, the region’s biggest by far and most liquid, through indirect ownership and most recently exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track indices.

But Tuwaijri cautioned that the kingdom, a highly conservative country whose financial markets were long closed, would take its time amid worries about speculative money.

“It is not that I want to shield the Saudi market… (but) we are more concerned about hot money and we want to see it in a very well organised way that they are coming into our…market,” he said.

With the Gulf Arab kingdom benefiting from high oil prices and rolling out a $400 billion infrastructure programme — the world’s biggest stimulus relative to GDP — foreign banks are keen on the Saudi stock market and biggest Arab economy.

HSBC and Deutsche Bank have both set up shop to start buying or covering Saudi shares while Goldman Sachs issued bullish research notes on six Saudi banks.

But foreigners still make up only a fraction of trading. Big investors such as pension funds want the right to buy shares directly and not go through Saudi intermediaries who technically own the stock under the current rules.

As a next step to broader access, Saudi Arabia will allow more ETFs which are traded like stocks, while other ways to invest are being studied, Tuwaijri said.

“We are just waiting for authorised persons to introduce more ETFs,” he said.

There are now two ETFs, both launched this year by Saudi investment bank Falcom Financial Services, but interest has been weak.

“In terms of liquidity, it is not really the most incentive for us but what we need is more research, more technology, more analysis of our market, more stability of our market and that comes with institutional foreign investors,” he said.

“We are studying more steps to (open) it, not ETFs. ETFs are already there, but we are studying more modalities,” he said, declining to be more specific.

The Saudi bourse is up 3 percent this year, behind Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Oman but was the best performing Gulf bourse last year.

NO RUSH TO CHANGE

Tuwaijri did not rule out opening up the new market for secondary bonds and Islamic issues, or sukuk, to foreigners but said this would have to wait.

“I think for the time being it is only for residents but this is probably another issue that needs to be discussed.”

Saudi Arabia would also not allow shorting stocks in the near term, he added. “Probably we will look at it but probably we will not introduce it soon.”

He said the regulator will continue a campaign to fight bourse violations after withdrawing 22 financial licenses and slapping dozens of fines on firms and investors, among them big names such as the biggest Islamic bank, Al Rajhi Bank.

“When they violate the rules we have to punish them and we have to withdraw their licences,” Tuwaijri said.

Tuwaijri also called on firms to disclose more and publish statements in English to the bourse, where even big firms often report only in Arabic.

“We hope to see more discipline,” he said.

He dismissed concerns about the health of the IPO market after one company in October cut the retail tranche of its public offering — the first time in Saudi history — due to sluggish demand.

“The appetite is less because of the conditions now but I’m sure when things pick up and the market starts to also pick up we will see more appetite for IPOs,” he said.

In February, Saudi travel agency Al-Tayyar Travel Group cancelled an initial public offering due to weak demand. (Editing by Michael Shields)

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By Adil James, MMNS

Dearborn–October 24–A unique fundraiser in Michigan’s Muslim community is one that attracts people from Flint to Lansing, from congressmen to gubernatorial candidates, and which generates more than $400,000 in the space of only a few hours, and to which generous community members donate everything from banquet halls to catered food.  Just such an event was the “Pakistan Cry for Help” fundraiser held Sunday at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn. 

Arranged by Saleem Siddiqui in response to the terrible need of Pakistani flood victims, with the help and sponsorship of many Southeast Michigan organizations and individuals, this particular fundraiser was a huge success.  Event organizers estimated the crowd at 700.  Many different organizations participated, from Islamic Relief, to HDF, to ISPU, CIOM, AFMI, APPNA, MAPI, and CPR. 

The event attracted top-level politicians, such as Michigan gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero, congressman John Conyers, and congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee.  The evening was dominated by the Democratic party which unfortunately was the only one of the two parties to send campaigning candidates to speak.  Another speaker was Jocelyn Benson, who is running for secretary of state.
A rarity for fundraisers was the donation of a huge amount, $100,000, from a local business, Northwestern Mutual, to the night’s pot. 

The genesis for this event was the night documented in TMO’s previous article about Saleem Siddiqui, during which Mr. Siddiqui could not sleep after having seen pictures of devastated Pakistan, and during which he determined that he would begin to help.  (http://muslimobserver.com//?p=6973). 

Mr. Siddiqui was immediately supported by many different people, one man generously donating convention space at the Hyatt, another providing catering service at cost, and many many others providing their support to bring the event to fruition.  In only two months the dedicated team was able to put together perhaps one of the single best fundraising events this reporter has attended in the Michigan community in six years.

The evening was scheduled to begin relatively early, at 5:30PM, although in fact it started somewhat later than that with a buffet dinner.

Professor Saeed Khan of Wayne State University began the evening by giving the shocking facts of the flooding, the most amazing statistic being that one fifth of Pakistan is under water.

Professor Khan welcomed the central entertainment of the evening to the podium, Salman Ahmad, who has performed with different bands including Vital Signs and currently Junoon, which is South Asia’s biggest and longest-lasting rock band.  He has also performed one album as a solo artist.  He teaches at Queens College, City University of New York, and is a UN Goodwill Ambassador.

Ahmad began by telling the story of a woman who after hours of walking to keep her baby out of the water was forced by fatigue to give her baby to a stranger, saying “please make sure he lives.” 

There was a video which showed many pictures of the people suffering in Pakistan, and showed the terrible power of the water as it destroyed buildings.

Then singer Ahmad emphasized the spirit of unity among the people in the room and sang “Um Tun Na Na Na,” a song which he said would help the audience to “connect, tonight,” through the universal medium of music.

He welcomed the political leaders who had come, from John Conyers to Mayor Bernero, Jocelyn Benson, and David Leyton, who is running for Michigan attorney general.

He asked the audience to show through their singing that “America does care… emphasize the power of connectivity.”

Mr. Anis Ahmad, one of the event organizers, then spoke, beginning from the time of his first call from Saleem Siddiqui and explaining how he had contacted his employer, Northwestern Mutual, and asked them for help–the CEO of Northwestern Mutual surprised him with very strong generosity, giving $100,000.

Mr. Ahmad asked the CEO why he had “gone beyond my expectations,” and the CEO said, “because it’s the right thing to do,” explaining that more companies should get involved in such a positive way in the world.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee then spoke at the fundraiser–Lee is frequently in the pages of TMO, because she lives in Houston and has frequently attended community events covered by TMO reporter Ilyas Choudry. 

Representative Lee was a bachelor’s student at Yale, and a law student at UVA, and was rated by Congressional Quarterly as one of the 50 most effective members of congress.

Lee was fresh from the campaign trail, with the midterm elections looming less than two weeks away, and in fact her voice showed both the strain of her campaign efforts and the conviction, intelligence, and dedication that lie at the foundation of her political success.

She emphasized her having founded the Pakistan Caucus in the House of Representatives six years previous, and her association with Houston City Councilman MJ Khan.  She spoke of her efforts after 9/11 to ensure that Pakistanis were protected against civil rights abuses, saying “not on our watch.”

Saying “I don’t play around the edges,” Lee expressed her commitment to Pakistan through different stories that showed her deep professional attachment to the country, from her meeting with Benazir Bhutto before that woman’s death, to her knowledge of businessmen and academicians, to her visits to Pakistan after the natural disasters  that befell Pakistan over the years.

Virg Bernero took the podium and told a funny and engaging story that showed his good nature and sense of humor, where he intervened in a situation in Meijer to help someone with “an honest face.”  He emphasized the importance of stepping forward sometimes when no one else is available to step forward.

Salman Ahmed returned to the stage and told the fascinating story of his emigration to the United States and of his initial isolation, where his two friends were radio and television, and then his blossoming through a turning point in his life, when he attended the last Led Zeppelin concert and saw Jimmy Page playing the song “Kashmir” on a two-neck guitar.

The evening continued with one more video documenting the devastation from the flood, and fundraising. 

Surprisingly, many of the donations for the event came from  a single Michigan community that is geographically fairly isolated from Southeast Michigan and not usually in attendance at its events, namely Flint.  Members of the Flint Islamic Center gave more than a quarter of the night’s proceeds, despite being numerically only a very small percentage of those in attendance. 

Salman Ahmad then played his guitar and sang songs into the night to entertain the guests at this very special fundraising event which distinguished itself in light and success from the many other fundraisers that have taken place nearby.

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By Nick Davies, Jonathan Steele and David Leigh

A grim picture of the US and Britain’s legacy in Iraq has been revealed in a massive leak of American military documents that detail torture, summary executions and war crimes.

Almost 400,000 secret US army field reports have been passed to the Guardian and a number of other international media organisations via the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

The electronic archive is believed to emanate from the same dissident US army intelligence analyst who earlier this year is alleged to have leaked a smaller tranche of 90,000 logs chronicling bloody encounters and civilian killings in the Afghan war.

The new logs detail how:

• US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by Iraqi police and soldiers whose conduct appears to be systematic and normally unpunished.
• A US helicopter gunship involved in a notorious Baghdad incident had previously killed Iraqi insurgents after they tried to surrender.
• More than 15,000 civilians died in previously unknown incidents. US and UK officials have insisted that no official record of civilian casualties exists but the logs record 66,081 non-combatant deaths out of a total of 109,000 fatalities.

The numerous reports of detainee abuse, often supported by medical evidence, describe prisoners shackled, blindfolded and hung by wrists or ankles, and subjected to whipping, punching, kicking or electric shocks. Six reports end with a detainee’s apparent death.

As recently as December the Americans were passed a video apparently showing Iraqi army officers executing a prisoner in Tal Afar, northern Iraq. The log states: “The footage shows approximately 12 Iraqi army soldiers. Ten IA soldiers were talking to one another while two soldiers held the detainee. The detainee had his hands bound … The footage shows the IA soldiers moving the detainee into the street, pushing him to the ground, punching him and shooting him.”

The report named at least one perpetrator and was passed to coalition forces. But the logs reveal that the coalition has a formal policy of ignoring such allegations. They record “no investigation is necessary” and simply pass reports to the same Iraqi units implicated in the violence. By contrast all allegations involving coalition forces are subject to formal inquiries. Some cases of alleged abuse by UK and US troops are also detailed in the logs.

In two Iraqi cases postmortems revealed evidence of death by torture. On 27 August 2009 a US medical officer found “bruises and burns as well as visible injuries to the head, arm, torso, legs and neck” on the body of one man claimed by police to have killed himself. On 3 December 2008 another detainee, said by police to have died of “bad kidneys”, was found to have “evidence of some type of unknown surgical procedure on [his] abdomen”.

A Pentagon spokesman told the New York Times this week that under its procedure, when reports of Iraqi abuse were received the US military “notifies the responsible government of Iraq agency or ministry for investigation and follow-up”.

The logs also illustrate the readiness of US forces to unleash lethal force. In one chilling incident they detail how an Apache helicopter gunship gunned down two men in February 2007.

The suspected insurgents had been trying to surrender but a lawyer back at base told the pilots: “You cannot surrender to an aircraft.” The Apache, callsign Crazyhorse 18, was the same unit and helicopter based at Camp Taji outside Baghdad that later that year, in July, mistakenly killed two Reuters employees and wounded two children in the streets of Baghdad.

Iraq Body Count, the London-based group that monitors civilian casualties, says it has identified around 15,000 previously unknown civilian deaths from the data contained in the leaked war logs.

Although US generals have claimed their army does not carry out body counts and British ministers still say no official statistics exist, the war logs show these claims are untrue. The field reports purport to identify all civilian and insurgent casualties, as well as numbers of coalition forces wounded and killed in action. They give a total of more than 109,000 violent deaths from all causes between 2004 and the end of 2009.

This includes 66,081 civilians, 23,984 people classed as “enemy” and 15,196 members of the Iraqi security forces. Another 3,771 dead US and allied soldiers complete the body count.

No fewer than 31,780 of these deaths are attributed to improvised roadside bombs (IEDs) planted by insurgents. The other major recorded tally is of 34,814 victims of sectarian killings, recorded as murders in the logs.

However, the US figures appear to be unreliable in respect of civilian deaths caused by their own military activities. For example, in Falluja, the site of two major urban battles in 2004, no civilian deaths are recorded. Yet Iraq Body Count monitors identified more than 1,200 civilians who died during the fighting.

Phil Shiner, human rights specialist at Public Interest Lawyers, plans to use material from the logs in court to try to force the UK to hold a public inquiry into the unlawful killing of Iraqi civilians.

He also plans to sue the British government over its failure to stop the abuse and torture of detainees by Iraqi forces. The coalition’s formal policy of not investigating such allegations is “simply not permissible”, he says.

Shiner is already pursuing a series of legal actions for former detainees allegedly killed or tortured by British forces in Iraq.

WikiLeaks says it is posting online the entire set of 400,000 Iraq field reports – in defiance of the Pentagon.

The whistleblowing activists say they have deleted all names from the documents that might result in reprisals. They were accused by the US military of possibly having “blood on their hands” over the previous Afghan release by redacting too few names. But the military recently conceded that no harm had been identified.

Condemning this fresh leak, however, the Pentagon said: “This security breach could very well get our troops and those they are fighting with killed. Our enemies will mine this information looking for insights into how we operate, cultivate sources and react in combat situations, even the capability of our equipment.”

Guardian UK

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By Nargis Rahman, TMO Foundation

It’s not all about religion

In Hamtramck, where everyone is facing a rough economic downturn, it’s not all about religion.

As long as politicians are doing what’s best for the city, it doesn’t matter what religion they are, said School Board President Titus Walters.

Whether someone is Christian or Muslim shouldn’t affect the way they make decisions for the city, Walters said.

As a Christian, I think I do what God wants me to do, as another may say Allah wants them to do,” said Walters, acknowledging almost half the city is Muslim.

Majewski said council members have to vote with their conscious when they have access to certain information, which may not always match up with the community’s expectations.

She said, they have to look at the good for the whole city, not always their own group.

Such a moment came when Councilmember Ahmed voted for the human rights ordinance in 2008,while Councilmember Algazali voted against it, along with the majority of the religious leaders and citizens who opposed the ordinance.

The ordinance set to give those in the LGBT community equal housing opportunities.

It was voted down by the public in the elections.

Algazali said he often found himself on opposite sides with the other Muslim councilmember, but he still cast his vote to represent the community.

A different view in Hamtramck may help.

Council members Stackpoole and Jankowski said Kazi Miah “won across boards,” in the November 2008 elections.

Both Stackpoole and Jankowski said, Miah represents the city’s needs with fresh eyes.

Miah says, he doesn’t want people patting him on the back because he is Muslim.

Rather he says, “People should think 30 times before you say Islam. It’s not a joke, it’s a way of life.”

There have been and are over 20 Muslim elected officials on federal, state and local levels in the United States, according to a compilation by The Muslim Observer in November 2008.

Early this month, Mohammed Hameeduddin was sworn in as mayor in Teaneck, New Jersey in a historical city of Orthodox Jews, according to the New York Times.

Other notable Muslim elected officials include Councilman Amir Omar of Richardson, Texas, who the first Muslim to be voted in office in the northern Texas, and  State Representative Rashida Tlaib, who won a democrat seat in the last election as the first Arab American woman and second Muslim to win in Michigan.

Businesses in Hamtramck

Conant, Hamtramck is a bustling street branching off into major streets Caniff and Carpenter in Detroit.

It is only a distant memory of “for rent” signs, shacked up buildings and people moving away.

Now, the dubbed “Bangladesh Avenue” is dotted with Bangladeshi clothes stores, groceries, restaurants and services.

Councilmember Ahmed, who pushed for the ethnic recognition, put together this initiative last year.

“As a major avenue, the Polish couldn’t do that,” Ahmed says of the recognition achieved by the Bangladesh community’s work into bringing back to life the almost-dead business haven.

Councilmember Jankowski said Muslim businessmen have brought mainly dollar stores, restaurants, and sari [clothes] stores to restore the city.

“Most of those businesses were closed up and Bangladeshi people opened-up stores. That street became revived,” Jankowski said.

“The Bangladeshi came in quick and hard within a couple of years it just exploded,” he said, until businesses flopped due to poor revenues. Owners were unable to make their payments.

“There it sits until it’s repaired,” he said.

In one way, Jankowski believes the shops have divided the community into Muslims and non-Muslims.

“My sister is not going to buy a sari. My buddy Mahfuz is not going to buy a pork chop. We struggle with that,” Jankowski said.

He said other populations, such as the Yemeni community, have survived with little shops.

Co-owner of Al-Haramain International Foods, Ali Alaudi, who is Yemeni, said his store is for all. 

“We try to bring everybody here. If someone people ask me for something I go look for it,” he said.

Alaudi said, when you do well for the city, it benefits everyone.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re Muslim or non-Muslim. Work for everyone. Work with the law for the betterment of Hamtramck,” he said. 

Beata Bochińska, employee at The Polish Market in Hamtramck, said the grocery store has attracted a lot more than Polish people after moving onto the busy downtown street of Joseph Campau.
With a Polish background and a mix of newer cultures in Hamtramck, Councilmember Stackpoole said the city can use its history to make revenues.

“History draws people,” Stackpoole said.

The city’s rich Polish roots bring in people on Paczki Day (Fat Tuesday). If there were no such holidays, the shops would be empty, she said.

But she says, the city needs to “add a touch of international” to it, referring to marketing purposes.

We need an understanding between Polish, non-Polish, Muslim, non-Muslim, artists, musicians, and poets, she said.

Model “Muslim City”

Walid says Hamtramck is a place where Muslims needs’ can be met without leaving the city, “From places of worship to cultural activities to shopping for foods.”

He said the city has a diverse mix of other cultural and religious groups, which helps the development of children.

“There is a population of Muslims who also other faiths who live around which allows the children to have a healthy self image about being Muslims, at the same time arouse them to interact with other people so they are not in a cocoon,” said Walid.

Walid said one of the problems he has heard about the Dearborn community include the Arab population’s residing in mainly the South and East parts of the city, with predominately white Americans (non-Arab) in the western part. 

He said this leads to the community segregation, causing people to not be able to function outside of the city and with other cultural groups.

Hamtramck is a little better in that regard, he said.

Bochińska said the mix is helpful when people get along in the city.

Buttry, who lives in the city said, sometimes she finds herself in the post office with 15 other cultures.

“It’s not like you’re interacting. You just happen to be in the same space,” Buttry said.

Still Councilmember Miah of Hamtramck says the city is a true melting pot.

“It’s diverse unlike any other city in the U.S.,” he said, with close-knit neighbors.

Walid said Dearborn may have a higher concentration of Muslims per capita, however, “Hamtramck has more of a Muslim character about it more than Dearborn as far as the actual manners of people.”
“Dearborn is not necessarily representative of Islam just because a lot of Muslims live there,” he said, referring to mainstream Sunni views.

Historically, the Arab population of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights has a lot of Lebanese and Syrian Arab backgrounds, who are Shi’I Muslims, whereas those in Hamtramck are Yemeni and Sunni Muslims, said Walid.

They are ethnically, religious and culturally different, Walid said.

According to the Piast Institute and the 2000 Census, there are just over 17,305 Lebanese who live in Dearborn, while 3,136 live in Dearborn-Heights. There are also high concentrations of German, Italian, English, Polish and American residents in the cities.

Hamtramck had among its high populations, 5,263 Polish, 2,158 Arabs, 2,403 Yugoslavian residents, and pockets of Ukrainian, German and Italian residents, according to the 2000 Census and the Piast Institute.

Walid predicts the Muslim population of Hamtramck may be closer to 75 percent in the next 10 years due to higher birth rates in the Muslim families and immigration into the city.

“The older Polish community and Ukrainian community have been slowly leaving Hamtramck while the Yemeni and Bangladeshi communities are growing,” he said.

Dr. Radzilowski said they are moving into the suburbs.

Hamtramck Councilmember Jankowski said, one day before he ran for mayor in 2004, he stepped out onto his porch and saw every type of person.

“I started to not recognize my city anymore,” Jankowski said, but “You gotta roll with it. You can’t live on memory.”

When asked if there is a Muslim mayor in the city’s future, Walid said it is possible depending on the candidate, if they are able to mobilize the community.
He advises the community to be “savvy on the issues not just the religious affiliation.”

Jankowski said, the city can move forward if council members go out to their communities and ask them to work together.

“Personally I like the mix on the city council; I hope my colleagues will go back on the communities and tell them, ‘you have to get involved and we have to start walking in the same direction here,” Jankowski said of public safety, economic development and housing.

Buttry agrees, saying someone said Hamtramck has strong family values, with family orientation expressed at large in the city.

Buttry said with many small businesses and hard-working families, Hamtramck has something great to offer.

She says the key to success in the city also lies on the shoulders of the council members, who must be role models to the city’s youth, inspiring them to build relationships in the community.

Hamtramck has become home to a growing population of Muslims who are vocalizing their concerns, stepping up to office and paving paths for other communities with a large Muslim population to follow.

Notably, the community has put forth five Muslim council members in the past decade. The community now stands by as three Muslim candidates; Shahab Ahmed, Akm Rahman and Abdul Algazali from Hamtramck battle for a spot as state representative in the November elections.

For more information on Hamtramck, please visit www.hamtramck.us, hamtramckstar.com, and the hamtramckreview.com.

Nargis Rahman is a journalism student at Wayne State University. Rahman has written for Wayne State’s student newspaper, The South End, The Muslim Observer and The Hamtramck Citizen. She has interned at Fox 2 News, Detroit, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Michigan. Rahman looks forward to a career in community journalism in the Greater Detroit area. Rahman grew up in Hamtramck and now lives in Detroit.

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