A Cathedral Rises in Romania

Romania, an eastern European country, former Soviet satellite, but now a prospering member of the EU and NATO. The country has a population of over 20 million, but is now a little nervous with the confrontation between Russia and neighboring Ukraine. Map from www.danubedelta.delta-dunarii.info

To this country bumpkin, Romania is a bit of a mystery. Teatree thinks of it as one of those former Soviet Union satellites that was run by a particularly coarse and nasty duo, Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena. Romania was one of the few countries that suffered some violence during the collapse of the Soviet Empire. And then of course, there was a Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comaneci...

The strongman Nicolae and his wife Elena prior to 1989 ... Photo from the BBC

Mr CeauSescu came to power in 1965, approved apparently by the Soviet Politburo. Over time, he built his own platform of power and ran a slightly independent course from the USSR. In the later years, he and his wife Elena emphasized their own egos by concentrating on a cult of personality (think Kim Jong-Un in North Korea).

This is how the official court painter portrayed the CeauSescu's, with the court poet pronouncing him a “lay god” with a voice of “planetary resonance.” Sycophant Romanian newspapers referred to him as “the Genius of the Carpathians” and compared him to Napoleon. Photo of painting at http://bluenred.com

Increasingly isolated from the Romanian population, they were stunned as the Soviet Empire collapsed with the various Eastern European communist governments falling in rapid order. After street mayhem in the capital Bucharest, the CeauSescu's attempted to flee the People's Palace on December 22, 1989 (they had this built earlier as the symbol of their national seat of power). However, within hours, the CeauSescu's were captured nearby, tried by a hastily assembled military tribunal (on charges of genocide, damage to the national economy and abuse of power), convicted on all charges, and immediately executed on Christmas Day 1989 - just three days later.

If one is a dictator, and all these people in front of your palace are against you, it is likely not going to be your best day ... Photo in 1989 of the demonstrations in Bucharest in front of the Palace of the Parliament, from www.dailymail.co.uk

Romania's new direction since 1989

As with many former USSR satellite countries, Romania regrouped with its new freedom, creating a western style democracy, worked on its economy, etc. etc. What is a little different and controversial, is a surge of rebuilding churches across the land. Romanians are 90% Orthodox, and their religious buildings suffered greatly under the CeauSescu regime - many buildings bulldozed for various reasons, and many more shuttered under state atheism. In a BBC article in 2013, the building of new churches was going on at a rate of one every three days.

A rather beautiful new Orthodox church ... photo from www.patheos.com

Another ... photo from www.patheos.com

The building spree has become controversial. It highlights a close connection between the Orthodox church and the government (a bright line in the US, though much less so in many Western democracies - think of Great Britain and the Anglican Church, progressive Sweden which had its state church right up to 2000, etc). There is public money in a poor country being used for building churches when many critics say the money should be spent on other priorities.

The ornateness inherent to the Eastern Orthodox church is rather amazing. Photo from www.sgroc.org

But others say that the CeauSescu government destroyed many church assets, so it is right that the government redress that damage.

The biggest is yet to come

With the monies being spent, past grievances being dealt with, there remains the biggest project of them all. A huge new Eastern Orthodox church is being built right across from the monumental Palace of the Parliament (renamed from the People's Palace).

Called the Cathedral for the Salvation of Romanian People, plans for its construction began in 1990. Once built, the cathedral complex will include the cathedral building itself; , a soup kitchen with capacity for 1000 below the cathedral building; two hotels; and parking for about 500 cars. The cathedral is designed with seating for approximately 5,000 worshipers (though for Americans this amount of room is merely a mini-megachurch ...). One can assume there are several statements being made - "the church more important than man's governments" ? "I can mispend money too" ?

The new Cathedral going up next to the People's Palace. Photo from 2013 at www.johnsanidopoulos.com

CeauSescu's infamous People's Palace - at the time, the second largest public institution in the world, right behind the US Pentagon ... Photo from www.ungersteel.com

A rendering of the new complex - it seems as this will beat the People's Palace in size.... If one wishes to see a video on the new project, access the one here ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAELHDNKzik

Well, we can muse, click our tongues thinking of what else might be built with the money, but we all know there are much more destructive forces at work in the world. We can wish the Romanians much good will, and hope for a tad more humility among religious, government, and corporate leaders wherever we encounter them.

Ebola surges - West African countries struggle

The news regarding the Ebola eruption in small West African countries continues to darken. The death toll is now over 2600, with Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone the hardest hit. This number of deaths is a major jump from just over 1000 deaths in early August.

In a blog post back in late March this year, we were talking about fruit bats being the reservoir for the virus and Guinea banning bat meat at its markets. At the moment there is no concern over the reservoir, as the virus is out and raging through humans.

The three small hard hit countries - Nigeria has had a few confirmed cases as well. Graphic from www.wltx.com

Yes, just a few months ago in March, there was no real awareness of an effective vaccine. 6 months later, there appears to be something of value - ZMapp - though it has still not been properly tested as in a clinical trial on humans. The lack of testing did not stop several Westerners and two Liberian doctors from getting dosages, however, and behind the headlines, there is no doubt a frenzied effort to evaluate the vaccine for real results and possible widespread use.

Unfortunately, the Spanish priest and one of the Liberian doctors did not survive, unlike two Americans - one doctor, one missionary - who did after being flown back the the U.S. for intensive treatment.

American Ebola patients Dr Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol are among those who have received the experimental Ebola cure. Photo from kfor.com

ZMapp, the experimental Ebola drug is produced by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. a California-based company. The company said after a few doses handed out "that in responding to a request from an unidentified West African country, it had run out of its supply of the treatment." From a CBS report in late August, "it is expected to be months before more can be produced by its U.S. maker. Health experts caution that the drug had never been tested in humans before and it was unclear whether it actually works. It appeared to help two Americans who received it, but experts note there is a huge gap between the treatment the two Americans got at an Atlanta hospital, where five infectious disease experts and 21 nurses provided rigorous care, and the medical care available to victims in West Africa, where even such basics as sterile fluids can be in short supply."

The Spanish priest, 75 year old Miguel Pajares, seen here being unloaded at a Spanish air force base in mid August, did not survive the virus. Photo from theblaze.com

So on to the brave health workers

Teatree thinks it appropriate to highlight the bravery of Liberian, Guinean, and Sierra Leone health workers who are stepping up to challenge the disease. Among the thousands of deaths, many are health workers, beyond family members who were on the immediate front lines.

A Liberian health worker at a checkpoint near the international airport at a checkpoint near Dolo Town, Liberia. Photo from CNN

Liberian health workers remove an Ebola victim from a residence. Photo from www.khou.com

Sierra Leone declares a curfew and widespread search for infected citizens

Late this week, the government of Sierra Leone declared a three-day curfew across the country of 6 million, while a "surge" of health workers would systematically search for those suffering from Ebola. From the BBC, "Sierra Leone is one of the countries worst hit by West Africa's Ebola outbreak, with more than 550 victims among the 2,600 deaths so far recorded. In the capital, Freetown, normally bustling streets were quiet, with police guarding roadblocks. During the curfew, 30,000 volunteers will look for people infected with Ebola, or bodies, which are especially contagious. They will hand out bars of soap and information on preventing infection. Officials say the teams will not enter people's homes but will call emergency services to deal with patients or bodies. Volunteers will mark each house with a sticker after they have visited it, reports say.

Sierra Leone surveyors train on wearing protective gear. Photo from BBC

On Thursday, President Ernest Bai Koroma said: "Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures." He urged citizens to avoid touching each other, visiting the sick or avoid attending funerals. Freetown resident Christiana Thomas told the BBC: "People are afraid of going to the hospital because everyone who goes there is tested for Ebola." Another resident in Kenema, in the east of the country, told the BBC families were struggling because the price of food had gone up. In the hours leading up to Sierra Leone's lockdown, there was traffic gridlock in Freetown as people stocked up on food and essentials."

Social unrest

With such a deadly contagion, citizens are fearful, angry, and suspicious. Eight individuals - a team of health workers, local officials, and journalists - in Guinea were attacked and killed by villagers who had armed themselves with machetes and clubs. In other instances, hospitals are avoided and talked of as where Ebola is spread. A New York Times article noted, "A fear of contagion ... “aversion behavior” is driving most of the economic losses. Panic is closing places of employment, disrupting transportation and severing air and sea links with other nations, the analysis found.

So these countries are now struggling deeply - the fragile social fabric in normal times is fraying.

Responses from outside the infected countries? Kind of tardy.

While the UN works ponderously to develop a response, Doctors without Borders and the World Health Organization (WHO) have moved towards the region in various ways.

The most striking response to date is from the U.S. where in mid September, President Obama directed 3000 military to engage on the ground, providing medicine and equipment to augment the national responses, as well as $750 million in aid dollars. From the Economist, "His move follows earlier, more modest, commitments from countries such as Cuba and China (each is sending about 170 people) and Britain, which will build a 62-bed hospital. Commitments from other countries look even more paltry. Germany will provide a few million dollars, the European Union is giving $15.5m (though it is giving 12 times that amount in general humanitarian aid) and a laboratory."

Aid is also arriving from other neighboring African countries, in this case, supplies from Ghana. Photo from www.cnn.com

Deadly and tragic, and not nearly over.

A Blue Recovery

Taking a break from humanity's woes, let's celebrate the news this week that the Blue whale population has apparently stepped back from the brink of 40 years ago, and is now in healthy territory in one of the three major groups - in this case, those living between the North Pacific and the California Coast.

The Blue Whale - (Balaenoptera musculus)- belonging to the baleen whales family. Nearly 100 feet long and weighing 190 tons or more, it is the largest existing animal on the planet. Yet,as with the baleen family, its diet mainly consists of tiny krill. Photo from The Guardian

From 1905 to 1971, the Blue whale population plummeted from whale harvesting. When the Blue whale was given protected status in the early 70's, its population was still at risk from increasing ocean traffic.

Blue whales and other species remain at risk from ocean shipping, though increasingly shipping lanes are being modified to avoid known migration routes and seasonal concentrations. Photo from www.hln.be

Blues, along with other species have identified migration routes between their summer and winter homes. Graphic from rofl-lol.com

The largest Blue concentration is that found in the Northern Pacific, with a population over 2000. An equally sized concentration, though much less understood or counted is found in around Antarctica and between India and Australia. A third, but much smaller concentration of 500 (clearly plus or minus) is found in the North Atlantic - between Greenland and Iceland.

Tracking and monitoring of Blue whales has been much stronger among the North Pacific population. Graphic from comlmaps.org

Blue off Greenland ... actually this is a photoshopped picture to be used for wallpaper on one's computer desktop, but WHY NOT?? We're celebrating! from walpix.net

Now it's the UAE ...

We'll make it quick - another post on the spreading conflicts across the Arab world. This time one of the small conservative monarchies that usually receives little attention, the United Arab Emirates, is involved.

Where is the UAE?

Answer, it is in a rather delicate location, ie. a key location, making up the peninsula of land that separates the Persian Gulf from the Indian Ocean. Which means the UAE sits with a bird's eye view of over 35% of the world's sea-borne oil traffic (in a rather unstable region to say the least).

The UAE, like a thorn poised to puncture a balloon loaded with oil ... Though if one looks closely at the map, the actual point of the thorn is an exclave of Oman. Graphic from wikipedia.

Iran, all the land to the right in this photo, has long declared its intentions to sink a few of those oil tankers traveling through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, if it felt threatened. Photo from www.infowars.com

Oil tankers threading through a number of military vessels. Teatree isn't sure if this congestion is normal, or from one of many tension-filled spats in the recent past. Photo from www.newsbomb.gr

Wikipedia states "UAE's total population was 9.2 million; 1.4 million Emirati citizens and 7.8 million expatriates." Somewhere close to the truth, though estimates range from 3.8 million native Arabic speaking citizens and the balance are foreign workers. The point is that there are substantially more non-native dwellers - a situation that is alleviated by the fact that citizens and residents alike in the small set of emirates enjoy a wealthy income average.

Established in late 1971, the country is a federation of seven emirates (equivalent to principalities). Each emirate is governed by a hereditary emir who jointly form the Federal Supreme Council, the highest legislative and executive body in the country. One of the emirs is selected as the President of the United Arab Emirates. The constituent emirates are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain. The capital is Abu Dhabi, which is one of the two centers of commercial and cultural activities, together with Dubai.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the UAE's two major cities - it is rather hard to believe the wealth and commercial buildings that have been built up in this small country. Photo from www.sohbetna.com

Where are a lot of those workers from? Again from Wikipedia, "UAE and India are each other's main trading partners, with the latter having many of its citizens working and living in the former."

Actually an interesting picture that shows ethnic UAE arabs and many Indian office workers. They were evacuating the breathtaking high towers, after some earthquake tremors in 2013. Photo from www.daijiworld.com

What's UAE been up to?

Soberingly enough, last week the UAE, in partnership with Egypt who provided support from its western air bases, sent fighter jets to the North African coast, to bomb Islamist positions surrounding Libya's main airport in Tripoli. Egypt and the UAE, and one supposes other Arab nations are acting on their own to support a faction in Libya more to their liking than Islamist militias.

A UAE F-16 fighter jet in an unrelated photo, but likely the model used in action in Libya. Photo from Canada's National Post

Libya, of course, was the showcase three years ago for Western powers on how to depose a ruthless dictator Colonel Ghadaffi and usher in an Arab version of democracy all with relatively risk free cruise missiles and bombers. An all-important endorsement at the time of the Arab League for brief, limited intervention was deemed and trumpeted as essential, and expectations were that Libya could steadily move forward with representative elections. However, as the US and Western allies' narratives of smart diplomacy and international coalitions as the correct approach began to diverge while the continued conflicts and fighting between militias escalated, a vacuum of leadership and power emerged and deepened, complete with dueling parliaments. Now,the UAE and Egypt have opted to go it alone in support of their own interests in Egypt's neighbor, not even bothering to communicate with the Western nations ahead of time.

A very cleaned up map of Libya, that nonetheless hints at some of the ancient ethnic lines running through this artificially constructed nation-state. Graphic from www.telegraph.co.uk

Smoke rises from the area near Libya's main airport in Tripoli after UAE airstrikes in support of a Libyan General's forces fighting Islamist militias. (However, in spite of the airstrikes, Islamists - under the banner of "Dawn of Libya" - still took control of the airport) For an illuminating article, read this by The Guardian newspaper last week.

A fair number of airplanes now sit on Tripoli airport tarmac, damaged by fighting. Photo from Reuters

That's it. Libya is splintering, many sides are available to be backed, the UAE has felt compelled to participate, and Western powers are sidelined across the region, as the Arab world unravels.

ISIS, boundaries, and porous borders

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, the Middle East was a place of calm and brotherly-love. All the boundaries between nations accurately reflected ethnic concentrations and had done so since ages past (except for the arbitrary borders of a vast region on the Mediterranean sea occupied by the warlike Zionist entity).

Peaceful and wise governance could be found everywhere – Saddam Hussein did not gas his own people in the village of Halabja in 1988, he did not invade and terrorize Kuwait in 1991, he did not slaughter over 100,000 Shiites in the aftermath of that war that didn't happen, he was not a major funding source for the families of brave Palestinian suicide martyrs fighting against the lone evil in the region – aggressive, oppressive Israel - and finally he did not send rockets into said Israel during the 1991 war that did not happen.

But in 2003, US forces at the order of President George W Bush and his Vice President Cheney, invaded and occupied the long-time secure and sensible boundaries of Iraq where Kurds, Sunnis and Shias lived in geographically connected harmonious bliss, ruled by what might be conceded the firm but fatherly hand of Saddam Hussein. And since that single unprecedented day, and those dreadful years following till 2009 when Bush left office, that peaceful land has not been able to recover, nor any of the nations of the Arab world. Indeed, across all the Arab lands, little divisions have sprung up and coalesced, through no fault of any, into extremist factions of various kinds, where not one existed before (except those groups of would-be martyrs who were only seeking to right the wrongs perpetrated by Israeli occupation of the sacred-since-ages-past, inviolate land of Palestine).

And thus IS (ISIS, ISIL), the most evil result of them all, has surfaced – the consummate end product of the Bush-Cheney imperialist adventure.


The new Islamic State's caliphate - sacred national Arab boundaries be damned. Graphic from jackspotpourri.blogspot.com

The atrocities of IS speak volumes and are clear enough for anyone who wants to take note. Massacres, crucifixions, torture, rape, beheadings, kidnappings of women for wedding prizes - all are amply reported on, though somewhat jarring to reconcile with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (now calling himself “Caliph Ibrahim”) invitation to Muslims to migrate to his land. Though the kindly call for doctors and engineers to build the caliphate has been extended, as noted in an article by the UK Daily Mail, "not a single Muslim country has seen a mass exodus of people keen to live under his version of sharia."


The latest Islamic psychopath, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (aka "Caliph Ibrahim”) apparently likes his Rolex ... Photo from news.nationalpost.com

National Arabic boundaries

If nothing else, the IS caliphate shows the myth of secure and ethnically sensible boundaries in the Arab world. This group doesn't care, and it scorns the placement of borders by European powers nearly 100 years previous. Yet the larger story is that everywhere in the world, borders have been placed arbitrarily, the result of conflicts or negotiation, or some combination thereof, and has little to do with how the modern governments of any region decide to work with neighbors - friendly or hostile.

Regarding the Middle East, one can start with the Ottoman Empire that was essentially broken up at the end of World War I. The first two maps below show the Middle East in rapid change from 1914 to 1940, while the third map highlights the one and only set of borders (of Israel) that is intolerable to all the other entities whose borders were arbitrarily drawn at the same time ...


The Arab world - before World War I. Graphic from lostislamichistory.com (which is also a very worthwhile website)



The Arab world - before World War II. Graphic from lostislamichistory.com


Yes, that thorn in the Arab side has just as long a history of existence as do virtually all the boundaries of its neighbors. Graphic from forthegrandchildren.blogspot.com


National boundaries today. Graphic from www.hotelsinthemiddleeast.com

So the boundaries of the Middle East nations are suddenly being exposed as fragile and arbitrary as they are - the real challenge is governance. Have the Kurds, based on their relatively sound governance in the midst of a broken Iraq, suddenly found an opening to assert their own entity?

Just for fun, here's how a map of the Middle East might look if it were more representative of major ethnic groupings. Click on the image to see a larger, more readable version.


Ralph Peters, a former United States Army Lieutenant Colonel drew a map in 2006, which created quite an outcry at the time. But note, according to a post at www.geographictravels.com "how the proposal for Syria mirrors what is going on now with the Kurds going their own way and the coastal area becoming an Alawite enclave aligned with Hizbollah in Lebanon." Graphic from www.geographictravels.com

Porous borders

We've talked at length in various posts about refugees and internally displaced peoples around the world and in trouble spots. But the borders Teatree speaks of is in regard to the many young ISIS jihadists from across Europe who have gone to the Middle East, gaining expertise in killings and mayhem, and who also have passports to return home. While ISIS currently terrorizes the lands of Syria and Iraq (both likely to disintegrate), the concern of Western and indeed other Muslim nations' intelligence agencies is how to track hundreds of fighters who hold the option of returning to their own lands over the next few years.

British Islamists protest outside the French Embassy in London January 12, 2013. Reuters. Photo from rt.com


Possible returnees by the numbers. Graphic from USNews.com


In the UK, according to an article in www.jihadwatch.org, "Communities have been bombarded with the posters, which read: “˜You are entering a Sharia-controlled zone ““ Islamic rules enforced.” The bright yellow messages daubed on bus stops and street lamps have already been seen across certain boroughs in London and order that in the “˜zone” there should be “˜no gambling”, “˜no music or concerts”, “˜no porn or prostitution”, “˜no drugs or smoking” and “˜no alcohol”." Photo from www.jihadwatch.org

The cauldron continues to roil, the heat is still rising.

The mystifying support of Hamas

As the world's media once again is consumed with IS (the Islamic State in Northern Iraq and Eastern Syria), perhaps a moment might be spent on the month-long flareup between Hamas and Israel. Not that there hasn't been a world-wide, though brief, focus on this deadly relationship already.

Israel- with a dense population of 8 million contained within an 8 thousand square mile territory. Its story is pretty well known: embattled from the start, Zionists in the early 20th century coming back to what was then a pastoralist backwater, then erupting as a place of refuge stemming from the holocaust of WWII. Neighboring Arab nations, themselves with borders drawn artificially (see present day conflicts) incensed that a Jewish state could be shoehorned in as well, fight the UN approved establishment of a new nation, fight to annihilate the state in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982 wars. Still standing, most of the Arab world (oh, and Iran as well) still hysterically hostile to this nation with its western values of democracy and tolerance.

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Israel, the eternal thorn in the Arab world. The current war cry is "occupation" of Palestinian lands, an "upgrade" from the genocidal "drive the Jews into the sea" used in the previous five conflicts. Graphic from www.discussionist.com

Hamas- controls and "governs" what is known as the Gaza strip, a very dense spit of land full of Palestinians sandwiched between Egypt and Israel. From Wikipedia, we read, "a Palestinian Sunni Islamic organization in the Palestinian territories and elsewhere in the Middle East including Qatar. Since 2007, it has governed the Gaza Strip, after it won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Parliament in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections. ... Based on the principles of Islamism gaining momentum throughout the Arab world in the 1980s, Hamas was founded in 1987 as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Co-founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin stated in 1987, and the Hamas Charter affirmed in 1988, that Hamas was founded to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation and to establish an Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip ..."

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Hamas governs the Gaza strip with a population of 1.8 million, while Fatah governs the West Bank with a population of 1.7 million. Graphic from blogs.blouinnews.com

The repeating conflict.

The latest round of fighting between Hamas and Israel looks depressingly similar to previous flareups. Rocket attacks from the Gaza strip into Israel, and heavy Israeli retaliation - a scenario that has repeated itself practically every two years for the past 12 or so. As Wikimedia outlines it, "Attacks began in 2001. Since then, nearly 4,800 rockets have hit southern Israel, just over 4,000 of them since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in August 2005. The range of the rockets has increased over time. Some analysts see the attacks as a shift away from reliance on suicide bombing, which was previously Hamas's main method of attacking Israel, and an adoption of the rocket tactics used by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah."

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Israel maintains rocket fire from Gaza is often originating in residences, in or near mosques, or near hospitals. Photo from www.theblaze.com

The conflict begins - Teatree believes it fair to say that Hamas usually instigates it - with rocket attacks. Israel responds with the justification that no nation would put up with such attacks. Palestinian fatalities increase dramatically, the world blame begins to shift towards Israel for disproportionate response, and finally a cease fire is arranged. Israel is cast again as the violent and unjust bully, including Israel's imposition of an unjust blockade of legitimate supplies to the Palestinians of Gaza. Perversely, Hamas is considered the moral victor. And political posturing begins which inexorably leads to the next round of fighting. That has been the pattern.

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It seems a long time ago, but 2008-2009 was a time when support for Gaza was at its highest, support for Israel perhaps the lowest, there was a new hope in the US, and the flotilla to break the Gaza blockade by Israel was a popular, Hollywood and international celebrity cause celebre ... Photo from www.presstv.ir

The current round

This 2014 chapter, which began with an additional emotional element as three Israeli teens were abducted and killed, and a Palestinian youth killed in revenge by Israeli extremists, had several new dynamics. Hamas has moved on from suicide bombing and rocket attacks, to rockets and tunneling into Israel. Israel stated its military goal was to destroy these tunnels. From a US Washington Times newspaper article, "Information that Israel Defense Forces reportedly obtained from captured Hamas fighters revealed that the group was planning to use several Gaza tunnels that extend under Israeli territory for a major attack timed with the beginning of the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah, on September 24. The plan called for Hamas fighters to surface from the tunnels in Israel and kill as many people as possible. The plot was first reported by the Israeli newspaper Maariv. Israel’s military operation against Hamas in Gaza has gone on longer than expected because of the discovery of the extensive tunnel network, which is estimated to have cost as much as $2 billion to construct."

One can argue the intent of Hamas regarding the use of, but not the existence of, sophisticated tunnels. Tunnels which, by the way, were complete with specialized holding rooms stockpiled with tranquilizers and restraints, one assumes, for the goal of securing captured Israeli soldiers. But of course, that is pure speculation ...

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Israeli soldier in Hamas-built tunnel. A report in a 2012 article in the Institute for Palestine Studies by Nicolas Pelham notes that Hamas officials admit 160 children died as they helped build these tunnels. (So that's a healthy impact from leaders on future generations ...) Photo from sahebkhabar.ir

Noted earlier, Hamas was founded by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. With the unrest in Egypt, and after the 2011 ousting of Morsi, Hamas lost a major sponsor. The loss of Egyptian support meant one of Hamas's sources of materials for building tunnels was suddenly stopped. From a Wall Street Journal article, we learn that Qatar - a US ally no less - has become one of the remaining important patrons for Hamas, with the Gulf monarchy contributing $450 million for infrastructure projects in the Gaza Strip in 2012. After this latest round of fighting, with its tunnel network destroyed and most of its rockets fired, Hamas truly is in a weakened state. There may also be less opportunity for further siphoning off funds and materiel from legitimate aid, as at least some donors are likely to strengthen the monitoring of where their aid goes.

Just something to think about for Hamas financial donors. Poster from www.ironicsurrealism.com

Which leads to the last and perhaps most important new dynamic - world opinion and reporting of this latest round of conflict has noticeably changed. Since the last major flareup in 2008-2009 between Hamas and Israel, the increasingly vicious fighting in Syria with the use of chemical weapons, involvement of Hezbollah in supporting Assad, and most notably the Islamic State extremists erupting in Iraq and Eastern Syria may be concentrating some minds.

One of the more compelling points being made regarding Hamas is this. What is this organization's goal? The one that very seldom gets printed. From an opinion piece in the NY Daily News we read, "It boils down to three words. Time and time again you hear it on the news when discussing negotiations with Israel: “What Hamas wants...” Hamas wants a cease-fire; Hamas wants the Gaza border blockade lifted; Hamas wants their tunnels left alone; Hamas wants a Palestinian state.

All these things may be true of the political arm of Hamas. But rarely is it mentioned in a news report that Hamas’ primary objective, its main goal, what it really wants and what its military arm is designed and determined to get, is the total destruction of Israel and the annihilation of the Jews.

It’s a crucial component that’s regularly left out of news reports. But any story that does not mention this among Hamas’ chief demands is not an intellectually honest or complete one. Few in the media seem to grasp this, the effect of which has been to create a gauzy and nebulous moral equivalency between Israel and Hamas that isn’t really there." Unquote.

All western looking, reasonable, nice suit and haircut, but Khaled Meshaal, Hamas leader, has the destruction of Israel as his goal. Photo from UK Daily Mail

At least a few more nations are acknowledging this point as an aftermath of the latest go-round. Many reports are emerging from Gaza that balanced media coverage in the strip is not allowed by Hamas. And when the US acts [albeit reluctantly under its current President] to prevent genocide by IS of the Yazidis in Iraq, it is suddenly becoming easier to remember that Hamas similarly wants the destruction of Israel. The difference of course is that Israel has a big say and the upper hand, and Hamas has only the willingness, not the capability.

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One Muslim determined to not accept that Hamas is the instigator is the UK cabinet minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi. She resigned from the government in protest over the UK not condemning Israel and not ready to change policies in favor of Hamas. So while she is upset at the loss of Palestinian life (aren't we all), she is silent about the loss of Syrian lives, or Yazidi lives, or for that matter Pakistani lives, all resulting from conflicts with Islamic extremists in various shades of robes or western suits. Photo from www.rappler.com

What's next?

Isn't it time to seriously look at demilitarizing Gaza? Hasn't Hamas shown the world, finally, that it apparently has no intention of governing wisely? With international monitoring and involvement in dispensing resources in this strip, Teatree suspects there would be plenty of new aid money flowing to the Palestinians themselves, which would only raise the pressure to enact a two-state Israel/Palestine solution.

But what is still missing is who would be willing to monitor. Like the Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki, Hamas has no intention to cede control, and Teatree suspects there are plenty of proxy Arab supporters (Qatar, Turkey, others) have no interest to see peace breakout.

But nevertheless the equation seems to have changed. Islamic extremism in all its ugly forms is suddenly casting a lot of dreary, repetitious conflicts in new light.

For a final voice, here is a Washington Post opinion piece by Dennis Ross, who served as US President Bill Clinton’s Middle East negotiator and was a special assistant to US President Obama from 2009 to 2011.

The Eighth Stan - and the Uighurs who live there

One of the most popular posts in this blog (and the mystery remains as to why) is "The Seven Stans" on June 15, 2010. It described the seven modern day nations that end in "stan." (Ok, a reminder: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.)

Well, there really is an eighth (and a ninth if one looks at Dagestan, a republic within Russia ... and we may be witnessing the emergence of a tenth called Kurdistan. But those are topics for another day.)

The eighth Stan is currently called Xinjiang, in northwest modern-day China. In an earlier era, this region was known as East Turkestan, but like the much more famous Tibet, this region was swallowed up by the Communists as they created their version of a workers paradise in the late 1940s.

China's largest administrative division, Xinjiang (officially Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) is nestled in the northwest corner of the People's Republic of China. While it is the largest Chinese administrative division and the 8th largest country subdivision in the world (according to wikipedia), spanning over 1.6 million km2, it is mainly desert, with only about 4 percent fit for human habitation. Graphic from merryabla64.files.wordpress.com

Also historically known as East Turkestan, Xinjiang borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. It has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region. It has a population of 21 million people, dominated (43 percent) by Uighurs. Han Chinese is the next largest group at 41 percent, but has achieved this only after decades of determined ethnic population migration at the behest of the national government. Graphic from www.davidgyoung.com

News trickles out in the form of reporting on unrest and violence in Xinjiang

The New York Times reported on August 3, "It was a bloody week in China’s far west, with nearly 100 people killed in unrest that the authorities have characterized as terrorism but that Uighur advocacy groups have said is a consequence of a sweeping crackdown aimed at silencing opposition to the government’s hard-line policies in the region.

The outbreak of violence in Xinjiang amid an overwhelming show of security appears to be the worst since 2009, when at least 200 people died during several days of ethnic rioting in the regional capital, Urumqi. ..."

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Chinese security forces on the move in Xinjiang. Photo from the NY Times

The unrest seems to pop up in various cities of the province. Last week, a Muslim cleric supported by the national government was assassinated in Kashgar, while violence is documented in the cities of Yarkland and Hotan.

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Kashgar, in Xinjiang province. Not what one would think of when considering China. www.globalpost.com

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Kashgar, and the various oasis in this province are in arid lands. Photo from www.flickr.com

Xinjiang Province, the capital is Urumqi. It is the historic eighth stan, East Turkestan. South of the cities Kashgar and Korla is the forbidding Taklamakan Desert. Graphic from cokesmithphototravel.com

A Guantanamo connection

Perhaps the reader may remember that a group of U.S. Guantanamo prisoners were Uighurs. 22 individuals were swept up in the U.S. counter terrorism actions after the 2001 towers attack, and it got complicated from there. A New York Times article described it this way, "at least as early as 2003, the [U.S] military had determined they were “not affiliated with Al Qaeda or a Taliban leader” and should be released.

But the United States could not repatriate them because the Chinese government has a history of mistreating Uighurs as it deals with ethnic unrest in its vast Central Asian border region of Xinjiang, where Uighurs are the largest ethnic group. The American military believed some of the Uighur detainees had received weapons training at a camp in Afghanistan run by a separatist Uighur group. Other countries were reluctant to take them, in part because of Chinese diplomatic pressure."

The Silk Road connection

The eighth stan and many other stans contain portions of the old Silk Road - an overland trade route connecting the Middle East and China. That could be a story in the future as well.

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This map shows the Silk Road, and the region just south of the Tian Shan mountains is that desert ... Graphic from stratfor.com

So there we are - for more fascinating detail on the Uighur's, the politics regarding the eight Stan, visit a blog ... http://www.davidgyoung.com/abused-and-ignored.html