Saturday, October 30, 2004

The Triangle of Death or Droning of the Bees

He appeared on the screens again and seeded horror in American hearts ruthlessly; just less than 4 days before the biggest event of the year. He was not spitting blood and seemed very cool-headed, while posing in front of the camera with his gentle gestures. He made the clearest claim of responsibility ever regarding 9/11 attacks by saying that the reasons behind attacks still exist.

The most worrisome remark for Americans and the rest of the world was his threat on fresh attacks and his statement that the security of Americans depends on neither GW Bush nor John Kerry, but on US policy.

According to BBC quoting Al-Jazeera, “Bin Laden says he first thought of attacking the US after watching the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982”.

But why didn’t he implement his morbid ideas before, as soon as they appeared in his dark mind? Presumably because he was terribly engaged in another jihad preps against the Soviet Union and the country who was backing Israel in Lebanon was actually a powerful supporter of him. Probably it was not an appropriate time to do that then. He knew that he could not hit two huge birds with one stone and wanted to reach them one by one. And he was still feeble and not that experienced in evil deeds and just used to cherish his morbid ideas and his current position in the world. He knew the future, but America didn’t.

In the eyes of the US he was a narrow-minded unimportant slave who could serve them by threatening the Soviet interests. Furthermore, he was a wealthy slave who put in use his finances for the sake of their common plans willingly. And he was from a Saudi family very close to an American top elite family. His immediate relatives used to shake Bushes’ hands in Texas or back at home in Arabia. The US by no means regarded him as a terrorist. He was an ally on the side of democracy. He was amongst the liberators of Afghanistan. But then the tide turned.

The tide turned and things have come to a pretty pass when today we read The Lancet’s revelation that the Iraq war has cost 100 000 Iraqi lives, civilian lives with more than a half of those women and children killed in the US-led air strikes. As Independent puts it on its first page, “this is the first scientific study of the human cost of the Iraq war”. Clare Short has asked a logical question: “When will Tony Blair stop saying it is all beneficial for the Iraqi people since Saddam Hussein has gone? How many more lives are to be taken? It is no wonder, given this tragic death toll that the resistance to the occupation is growing”.

Actually the question must be put to Bush the Junior, the Saviour of his Father’s dignity and the Retaliator too: “Sir, how many more lives do you need?”

And the same question could be asked from Osama Ben Laden: “Sayyed, how much more blood do you feel thirsty for?”

We can see a perfect Triangle of Death.

By the way, “nervous and angry” British Black Watch arrived in the Triangle of Death in Iraq earlier today to replace Americans (and to support GW Bush’s falling candidacy). More troops, more clashes and more blood. Another Triangle of Death created by the first Triangle.

I dream a perfect day with three B’s (Bush, Blair, Ben Laden) sitting in Hague and answering questions similar to Clair Short’s one: “why did you allow your religious hatred, your thirst for oil, your toadyism to destroy so many lives, to ruin so many cities, to stop beating so many hearts???”

But in reality the stings of the three Bees have gone into the body of the wounded world too deeply. It takes decades to take them out.

Friday, October 29, 2004

Russia & Tajikistan: Friends Again

EURASIA INSIGHT
by Kambiz Arman 10/28/04

Russia has strengthened its strategic foothold in Central Asia with an unprecedented plan for military and economic cooperation with Tajikistan. A far-reaching strategic agreement allows Moscow to establish a permanent military base in Tajikistan and gives Russian companies opportunities to gain controlling interests in key Tajik economic sectors.

The agreement, signed on October 17 during an official state visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Dushanbe, completes a stunning reversal in bilateral relations, which just a few years ago were infused with acrimony. In the months following the September 11 terrorist tragedy Tajik President Imomali Rahmonov explored closer ties with the United States, while distancing Dushanbe from Russia. . Of late, Russia has worked diligently to restore its geopolitical position in Tajikistan. Helping to force a reevaluation of Dushanbe’s diplomatic calculus was Tajikistan’s approximately $300-million debt to Russia.

The centerpiece of the Tajik-Russian deal is a base for 5,000 troops for Russia’s 201st Motorized Rifle Division. Establishing a permanent outpost in Tajikistan has long been a goal for the Kremlin. Analysts believe that the presence of US forces in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, along with NATO’s intensifying interest in the region, deepened the Kremlin’s resolve to secure a Tajik base.

Contrary to earlier Tajik objections, Russian commanders will be based in the capital, Dushanbe, with troops deployed in the southern cities of Kulab and Kurgan-Tyube. At the October 17 ceremony to open the base, Putin declared that "the base will boost peace and stability in Central Asia and throughout the former Soviet republics," the news agency RIA-Novosti reported. The Moscow daily Komsomolskaya Pravda added a more aggressive interpretation: the base, the paper wrote, will act as "a firm fist to protest Russian interests abroad."

A 49-year lease on an anti-missile warning system at Nurek topped off the base agreement. Under this deal, Russia will gain access to the Soviet-era military space observation center at Nurek and also an Okno anti-missile system. The handover was a clear quid pro quo: in exchange for granting Russia control of Nurek, Tajikistan will see $240 million of the $300 million in debt it owes to Moscow written off.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov commented that the Nurek facilities – leased at a nominal fee – will provide "a feeling of confidence as a minimum." Rahmonov, meanwhile, described the debt deal as "lifting a weight" from Tajikistan.

So far, Western governments have reacted calmly to the latest developments. On October 20, the day Putin left Dushanbe, NATO Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer flew to Tajikistan to sign a transit agreement for NATO flights into Afghanistan. The alliance uses air bases in Tajikistan, as well as US bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, to provide aerial support for its operations to the south. While stressing the desirability of "stronger" ties with the Central Asian state, de Hoop Scheffer told reporters that the defense collective did not see the Russian base agreement as cause for alarm. "There are good ties between NATO and Russia," he said. "Russia is not our rival."

That tone was an echo of earlier comments by US Ambassador to Tajikistan Richard E. Hoagland, who said a Russian base would not dampen US relations with Tajikistan. "Tajikistan, as any other independent nation, has a right to decide what is in its national interests independently," Hoagland said, according to Itar-Tass.

For now, the need for economic assistance appears to be driving Tajikistan’s diplomatic decisions. Overall, Russian private and state-owned companies are expected to invest up to $2 billion over the next five years into the Tajik economy, Putin said during his October 17-20 visit. In a country with an estimated GDP of just under $7 billion for 2003, that could grant Russian firms a sizeable interest in the local economy.

In addition to the debt relief provided for in the Nurek agreement, Tajikistan also stands to receive a $250 million investment in the Sangtuda hydroelectric station from Russian energy giant Unified Energy System (UES). Sangtuda has already secured up to $200 million in investment from neighbor Iran. Analysts have forecast that the UES involvement in Sangtuda, the country’s second largest hydropower station, will pit Russia against Iran. Yet Rahmonov already has made clear where Tajikistan believes its interests lie. "The activity of Russian companies has stepped up in Tajikistan, although all possibilities have not [been] used yet," Itar-Tass quoted Rahmonov as saying on October 16. "Foreign investors show more interest in our projects, including in the field of hydropower engineering. But we prefer our old friends and partners."

In return for giving Russia a stake in the 670-megawatt station, Tajikistan will see an additional $50 million of its debt to Russia cleared, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told reporters on October 16. "As a result, we will receive an appropriate block of shares after the construction of the plant is finished," Kudrin said. The construction project, with an estimated cost of between $320 million and $550 million, is scheduled for completion by the end of 2008.

Construction, begun in 1987, stalled with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. If the station is not completed or if Russia does not receive an unspecified number of shares in Sangtuda, the $50 million debt will be reinstated, Kudrin said.

A similar assistance strategy appears to hold for another Tajik energy complex, the Rugun hydroelectric dam, located 110 kilometers to the southeast of Dushanbe. RusAl, one of the world’s three biggest aluminum companies, will provide $560 million to get the project, stalled since the 1980s, off the ground, Itar-Tass reported. In addition to its Rugun investment, RusAl will also pony up $600 million over the next five years for construction of an aluminum smelter in southern Tajikistan.

All told, the company plans to invest more than $10 billion in the Tajik economy within the next decade.

A key instrument in Russia’s efforts to restore its influence across the broader region may be the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO), which was established in 2002 as a regional free-trade vehicle among member states Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. So far, frequent bickering among member states has frustrated attempts to promote free trade in Central Asia. At the organization’s October 18 summit in Dushanbe, Russia joined the organization, pledging to help address regional issues including hydropower, trade and the struggle to contain Islamic radicalism. With Russia’s inclusion, some analysts predict that the organization could gain fresh momentum – an analysis reflected in Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s words of welcome. "Russia will be a factor for stability in the region. We have always acknowledged and continue to acknowledge Russia’s historical and strategic interests in the region," the Uzbek leader said.

Editor’s Note: Kambiz Arman is the pseudonym for a Tajik journalist.

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Stop Tearing Apart Your Body!

He’s lived a life which many people, including Ariel Sharon envy him for, despite the fact that he is hated by a plenty of his internal and external opponents. Even Islamic Republic of Iran widely-considered as the protector of the Muslims’ (particularly Palestinians’) rights turned his back to him and accused him of betraying the Palestinian interests.

However, Yasir Arafat during 75 years of his life proved himself as a most charismatic Palestinian figure and all other promoters of the Palestinian case tend to be seen in his shadow, rather than independent on him. Since only Arafat is the most popular figure who came in the known on the wave of the Palestinian resistance, occupied its leadership and as it seems now, he will stay in that position until his last breath. This is happening against American and Israeli wills, who have tried to overshadow him as much as they could, by promoting other Palestinian personalities, but in vain.

However, at the moment Arafat’s extreme popularity may have uneasy consequences for his successor. Nobody knows if he has pre-designated anyone for that post. And the weight of his popularity might be too heavy for his successor.

According to the Palestinian Authority’s constitution, Arafat would be succeeded by the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Ahmed Korei. But still, we are talking about a Constitution which has yet to be fully ratified.

Arafat’s death used to be considered as a pink dream of the Israeli government. And I believe still it is. But Sharon’s administration is trying to act more humanly by allowing Arafat to leave his compound if he needed. The angry dying Arab has denied the offer.

Nevertheless the offer was renewed and Arafat was allowed to make a 4-minute-journey to Ramallah hospital and to go back to his compound straight away, before his Israeli rulers would lose their temper and would speed up his death. Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz even showed more humanity by permitting Jordanian doctors to examine him. God bless you!
But it’s the same person Israel accuses of fomenting violence in the Palestinian territories. The same Yasir Arafat confined to his compound by the Israeli army since 2001. A man who believes exactly the contrary of Israeli accusations and convinced that he is trying to free his own nation from the oppression of the occupiers.
Certainly, his role was not effective enough in attempts to calm down the intifada and this point served as a pretext for Israelis and Americans to sideline him. But his apparent effortlessness was not and is not worse than Israeli plenteous efforts to deepen the conflict. I can’t even believe in truthfulness of the Tuesday’s decision to dismantle the Jewish settlements in Gaza Strip. It is just incredible given Israeli records. Something else should happen…

And it will happen with no Yasir Arafat as the main Palestinian leader to regard and no other figure to substitute him fully in a short period.
While they are closest bloody brothers! They speak in 2 very close Semitic languages. The words for “hello”, “father”, “land”, “five”, “house” in Arabic and Hebrew sound very similar and give up their close kinship: “as-salaam 'aleykom” – “shalom aleykhem”, “abbun” – “abaa”, “arz’” – “ezr”, “khamsa” – “khamsha”, “bait” – “bet”… Even the words of “ebri” (Hebrew) and “arab” (Arab) derived from the same root with the same meaning: Bedouin (nomad).
Thus, remember your common ancestors and lay down your bloody guns, Semites! And let us live a life without the angst of seeing your pains. Ahura-Mazda will forgive you, if you will forgive each other…
It seems my sixth predecessor, who I don’t know, was a good preacher… but whatever I said, was from the bottom of my heart.

Water Lilies: Happy With their Lives... Actually a closest friend of mine wanted to see this picture! Posted by Hello

The Dream I Knew

A closest friend of mine says in her blog:

"She dreamt that the walls in her house have cracks, and after some time she saw her house ruined and she knew her children were in there. She started crying wailing “God why did you let it happen, how could you let it happen!?” and she heard a voice in reply: “I tried to talk to through those cracks on the walls but you could not read me…”

And she cuts short there. Out of a blue I felt that I knew the continuation of the dream (but in my narration her house was still erect with the very cracks):

"Suddenly she realized that the light she was thirsty for, was coming in through the very cracks of the wall; for she had never bothered herself before with thoughts about a window in her gloomy hut. And the kids were watching the game of light and shadow produced by the cracks and enjoying themselves. The Sun rays started caressing her craving skin and she just wanted to give herself up to the rays she had never touched before. She wanted to get a proper sunbath, but still was afraid to leave the hut.

She picked up a knife and unconsciously started drawing new lines on the wall and transforming them into new cracks and letting the illuminating power to sneak in and brighten up the hut. She noticed that her hand with the knife was trembling and all her body started shivering and her heart was the main cause of the tremble. After realizing the notions of time and place she found herself wailing as a widow, weeping histerically and murmuring a sad song she'd sung in her granny's funeral. Her distorted voice made her realize that her wail was over and now she was laughing histerically...

She closed her door to everyone just watching the dancing light which was still pouring in through the cracks and her eyes were completely out of control, re-producing the water she had ever drunk in her lifetime and her lips were playing games by curving in both ways: up and down...

Before the dream was over, the Crack-maker came in with a guilty look in his timid eyes... But her lips found a perfect state: they went up and didn't come down again until she woke up in her hot and humid bed.

She looked out of the window. The street was swimming in the mild spring sunrays.

Monday, October 25, 2004


That's what's approaching us: the cloak of innocence on the trees... we can never get one of those... Posted by Hello

Smiles & tears, talks & walks...

A day full of smiles and tears of Tahmine, semi-scientific talks and walks with Esphandiar to Alexandra Park and Wood Green and back home, Anoush & Mehrnoush's laughters and quarrels... A quiet Sunday and TV... Tina Turner suffering under her husband's fists and legs, ruthless bastard beating and kicking the bird of the decade, before she gets enough and runs away from her skunky husband and starts a new life enjoying the fame and glory of a real pop star in America.

It was just one event of the relief of a prisoner. But imagine how many other women are tolerating the same situation or even worse than that. Tina's husband wanted her money only as... Oh my God, such a coincidence! I just recalled a movie which I saw last week on 2 sisters from Moldova forced to go to Serbia, while they'd been promised to be taken to London. And right now the second part of the series is on!

The sisters find themselves among a gang of bastards with many other girls like themselves to serve as sex-slaves. They had to give all the money they earned through pain and shame to those bastards... And ironically, some American troops in Kosovo were involved in sex trafficking. The series' name is the same "Sex traffic". It is based on real fatcs.

I said "ironically", because whatever I say these days ends up with finding another American "virtue", while I sincerely don't wish to do that! Believe me, tonight I just wanted to say few words about Tina's pains and compare it with the calamities of, say, Tajik, Uzbek, Afghan or Indian women in their families , but the thread of my thoughts took me to American topic again. Without any intention. It seems realities are too americanized these days. And thats a consequence of it.

I wished not to work tomorrow, I mean later on today, but this is my duty. Let me crawl to my bed a bit earlier tonight. I doubt it though.


Sunday, October 24, 2004


The sunset tells you how to leave... Posted by Hello

3rd Dorud

The drizzling rain was murmuring all the day making my eyes watery too. Don't know why, but drizzle makes me feel too nostalgic and takes me back to my old days in a country called Tajikistan built up by direct involvement of Ahura-Mazda with the most beautiful rivers and pastures and the most breath-taking mountains...

The fusion of the rain and what was coming out of my eyes (don't wanna name it precisely) did not give up my melancholic mood to strangers. Even if it did, does anybody care in here what is happening in someone else's heart? Individualism has built up a high and strong barrier between everybody in this society and I should have felt confused and irritated if somebody would have asked me about my state. In that case I am supposed to wear a stupid look like "sorry, what the nonsense you said?", then redden and tremble with anger just thinking "how s/he dared to approach me and interfere in my personal affair?!" and then at best spit with disgust on the floor, at worst on his/her face.

Good news: Siddiq Barmak has recovered after his yesteday's terrible headache caused by fasting. Did you know that it is Ramadan month for Muslims now going on? The Q & A session went on very smoothly. It was a good one contained of praises and challenges sent by our audience from across the globe. Perfectly ballanced. Although there were some furious messages accusing Barmak of anti-Pashtoon and/or anti-Islamic approach in his work, I reckon his Osama is a real salvation for war-stricken ruined Afghan film industry.

And now, at 1:30 AM again those big mouthes on the screen speaking about Iraq. Tony Blair is shouting with a distorted voice and angry look that "sending Black Watch (British troops) to Iraq has nothing to do with the American elections!" And he is shouting out that message amidst the furious voices of many backbenchers, as if trying to overshout and silence all dissident voices. The more obvious the lie is the louder the liar shouts. Just in order to nail the deceit in the public opinion. But fortunately, that nail is usully curved and useless in Britain. It seems that most of the people in here are aware of the real purpose of the additional force detachment to Iraq.

Tony is a real crony of George's. I'm sure if George will burp in a party, Tony will beg a pardon from guests. Which means he's more than a crony for George. He wants to enhance George's broken face in eyes of many Americans who do not approve getting deeper into the Iraqi quagmire by losing their children and popularity across the world. American popularity fatally damaged by Bush and his cronies.

Thus, by sending the British Black Watch to fight under American command Tony is providing his George with an ace to defeat John Kerry; to enable him to brag that his tight ties with Tony will prevent many Americans from meeting their deaths in the Arab land. British troops can replace them and they are doing! So, my dear country fellows, follow me and vote for me!

The funny thing: such a grotesque figure still enjoys certain popularity in his country, while half of the world is laughing at him and the other half is crying from the pain given by him; while nowadays the formerly popular America has to listen to anti-American slogans chanted in more and more countries of the world. Few days ago I could hear them just beside my house from a European anti-american gathering. Thousands of back-packers were cursing a guy who has played with the world's destiny.

However, all three presidential debates between the two main rivals revealed the funny side of his personality even more than before. It was a real fun to watch it for me, while chewing Iranian pistachious and sipping a black coffee to keep myself awake up to the end of the comedy. Then I understood there was no need for coffee. George was funny enough and John Kerry was clever enough to make a perfect company for me.

Oh my God, look at the time! 2:15am with no comedy? Awake? Magic of the blog!

But the time in my blog is not showing the right time yet. Gotta fix it, but not now. Too late.

Bedrud!

Saturday, October 23, 2004

2nd Dorud

A long day with a late start and a sad ending...

A mate behind a chatline and my apathy do not allow me to share all my today's adventures...

The only frustrating part of my day-time work: couldn't get Siddiq Barmak for a question and answer session we had agreed about a couple of days ago. He's left his house in Kabul in terrible headache for a hospital... Hope he feels better by now and will be available tomorrow.

The sad part was related with tonight's Evening Standard with Margaret Hassan's hurting picture on the first page: a face of pain, sorrow and fear under command of Iraqi captors. A British-born woman who's dedicated 30 years of her life to that country, who had critisized Western powers for their sanctions against Saddam Hossain's Iraq, who had ignored her friends' warnings about possible threats against her life and their advice to leave the country... Now she is pleading the British people to save her life, begging Tony Blair to withdraw troops from Iraq, to prevent her from facing Ken Bigley's fate, who was beheaded by similar animals just few days ago...

Why should our lives depend on donkeys who carry big carriages called Super Powers, who has ruined thousands of fates and has blackened thousands of futures?

Why does Margaret has to beg and accept humiliation in order to get her own deserved right to live a proper life? How come some human-shaped animals can deprive her from divine right of living? How can they usurp the right of God to take away somebody's breath? Can they achieve any liberty by a murder or by threatening to kill a human being, a Woman? Will these atrocities open the wide shut eyes of the Donkeys to realities?

I doubt it very much. Ken Bigley's story circulating in the press for quite a few days disappeared from mass and mouth media as soon as he lost his precious life for nothing by nothings. Blair got away with a slight heart problem fixed up immediately in a high-ranked hospital and left his Hammersmith heart-op hospital with a wide smile on his untrust-worthy lips. G.W. Bush even didn't bother himself to learn how to pronounce the vistim's name. But apparently the killers haven't learnt a lesson from it and are demonstrating the evil, dark and savage side of an animal called human-being again...

But meanwhile, the third page of ES proves again that life is a weird gizmo. Madonna is still busy with her Kabbalahism, throwing extravagant parties with more than 1000 police officers drafted in to protect the Kaballahist singer and her dear guests, probably the potential followers of the ancient form of Jewish mysticism. 1000 police officers for our dear singer, who I like indeed... while Margaret Hassan needs just one protector and there is none... Pathetic paradox, innit?

And there was a funny part of my day today as well. My colleagues were trying to contact an expert on international affairs. There was an automatic answering message with the American National Antheme at background: "Hello. This is President George W. Bush. You have reached my number: 0, 7, 5, hmmm 8, 0, umm don't remember, 6,9. If you wanna negotiate just leave a message. Otherwise, it is war!"

And I left a message saying: "Hhallo Prresident Bush! Dis is Osama Ben Laden, calling from Torra Borra. You know hhow to get back to me! So, give me a call! Dank you!"

People are trying to dig up a fun out of their calamities, nah?

So, my day was funny, happy, bleak, sad, annoying and cheering at the same time, as the Life itself is.

Friday, October 22, 2004

Dorud, which means hello!

Whoever is reading this page, dorud bar to! I mean, hello and peace to you!
Hope you are in an appropriate mood to read these lines without falling asleep in halfway or spitting on the monitor with disgust (which is a way to calm oneself down, probably through feeling of embarrassment and the sense of guilt which follows spitting... whatever!)

I am Darius, a little drop of this multi-billion-drop ocean, who has his own things to say. Physically live in London, mentally belong to the Greater Iran, philosophically consider the whole Galaxy my own home, as if it has been bought by my lately Dad ages ago.

Do whatever I wanna do, live however I like to live and trying to say whatsoever comes to my mind. And expect the same from you as well, my readers. Drop a line, if not feeling too lazy!

I will get back very shortly and won't let you miss me too much.

Bedrud, which means see ya!