Islam and America in the 21st Century: "Die Stunde der Demagogen" and the Ground Zero Mosque Debate

"Bataille de Poitiers en Octobre 732" by Carl von Steuben depicting Charles Martel (mounted) facing Abduhl Rahman al Ghafiqi (right) at the Battle of Poitiers (aka The Battle of Tours)

The Battle of Poitiers (CE 732) Reloaded for CE 2010
"God’s Warriors" and spineless politicians raise their swords against the invading Muslim hordes in Lower Manhattan

Author’s Note for Act I:  "I wade exhausted into the fetid swamp of American politics, xenophobia, and religious fear-mongering yet again with sword in hand to battle demons and heretics…"

There is a raging debate taking place in the United States over the construction of a new Islamic community center near the sight of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. It is a planned $100 million dollar building project that before the events of “9/11” would have attracted little attention in New York let alone throughout the whole of the U.S.A. and abroad.

After all, Muslims have been practicing their faith freely in America since the late 1700’s. African Muslim slaves taken to the American colonies in the early 1600’s practiced their faith in secret for fear of severe punishment, and the first known mosques to be erected in the United States were built in Maine, New York, North Dakota, and Iowa in the early 1900’s. Thomas Jefferson, our third president and one of the founding fathers of the new republic, a president who had difficult relations with Muslim countries during his presidency (see the Barbary Wars), kept a copy of the Holy Qur’an (a 1734 edition of the Alcoran of Mohammed translated by George Sale) in his private library.

U.S. Library of Congress
Use of Thomas Jefferson's Koran for Congressional Swearing in Ceremony

The Thomas Jefferson Papers - America and the Barbary Pirates
(American Memory from the Library of Congress)

Slate.com
What Jefferson really thought about Islam by Christopher Hitchens

I was totally unaware of the proposed Park51 Community Center until a few weeks ago when I saw news headlines about the growing controversy in America over the mislabeled “Ground Zero Mosque” and the outpouring of anti-Islam fear-mongering and hysteria from some of America’s best known political, civic, and religious leaders. Upon close examination of what exactly was being said about the proposed Islamic center and mosque in lower Manhattan, it become clear to me that this is NOT about respect for the families of New York’s 9/11 victims as claimed.

This so-called national debate is not about American ‘sensitivities toward Muslims’ who intend to build an Islamic center and mosque near the site of “hallowed ground” (the former NYC World Trade Center), but instead this is about low-down and dirty politics American style___ ahead of the upcoming midterm elections in the U.S. where devious politicians (mainly from the Republican Party but also including many spineless Democrats) are using fear, hatred and ignorance to fan the flames of distrust and fear between American Muslims and non-Muslim citizens. This debate in fact is an impromptu national referendum on Islam and Muslims in America.

FP Magazine’s Stephan M. Walt and Marc Lynch comments on the debate:
What's at Stake in the Cordoba House Debate by Stephen M. Walt

Excerpt___:

“It doesn't take a genius to figure out what is going on here: All you really need to do is look at how the critics of the community center project keep describing it. In their rhetoric it is always the "Mosque at Ground Zero," a label that conjures up mental images of a soaring minaret on the site of the 9/11 attacks. Never mind that the building in question isn't primarily a mosque (it's a community center that will house an array of activities, including a gym, pool, auditorium, and oh yes, a prayer room). Never mind that it isn't at "Ground Zero": it's two blocks away and will not even be visible from the site. (And exactly why does it matter if it was?) You know that someone is engaged in demagoguery when they keep using demonstrably false but alarmist phrases over and over again.

What I don't understand is why critics of this project don't realize where this form of intolerance can lead. As a host of commentators have already noted, critics of the project are in effect holding American Muslims -- and in this particular case, a moderate Muslim cleric who has been a noted advocate of inter-faith tolerance -- responsible for a heinous act that they did not commit and that they have repeatedly condemned. It is view of surpassing ignorance, and precisely the same sort of prejudice that was once practiced against Catholics, against Jews, and against any number of other religious minorities. Virtually all religious traditions have committed violent and unseemly acts in recent memory, and we would not hold Protestants, Catholics, or Jews responsible for the heinous acts of a few of their adherents.

And don't these critics realize that religious intolerance is a monster that, once unleashed, may be impossible to control? If you can rally the mob against any religious minority now, then you may make it easier for someone else to rally a different mob against you should the balance of political power change at some point down the road.”

End excerpt____

More on the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ debate at Foreign Policy:

Criticizing the Lower Manhattan Mosque is pretty stupid; saying such criticism helps Al Qaeda is stupidity squared by Daniel W. Drezner

Why the Clash of Civilizations Won't Go Away by Marc Lynch

Excerpt___

Last evening in New York, I joined a strong panel organized by the UN's Alliance of Civilizations at the New York Times to discuss U.S. relations with the Muslim world. The room was packed to hear Roger Cohen, Joe Klein, Martin Indyk, Reza Aslan, Dalia Mogahed and I talk about a variety of issues. A surprising amount of the discussion ended up focusing on Israel, which perhaps shouldn't be that surprising, with some real sparks between Aslan and Indyk in particular over the possibility of a two state solution. While I took part in a variety of conversations about Israel, Iran, democracy, and Obama's foreign policy more generally, my main concern was the dangerous resilience of "clash of civilizations" narratives in American and global discourse about Islam. For all of Obama's efforts to change that narrative, to move away from a war on terror and focus on partnerships and respect, recent trends only confirm how deeply ingrained the older confrontational narratives really are. Why? What can be done?

The power of these post 9/11 confrontational narratives about Islam has been on full display of late. What I like to call stupidstorms break out with alarming regularity, driven by right wing media: the frenzy around anodyne comments by the NASA director about engaging Muslims, the firing of Octavia Nasr over her Hezbollah tweet, the especially nasty clashes over the Ground Zero mosque complex. The sheer amount of disinformation, vitriol, and agitation against Muslims and Islam in pockets of the right wing media (new and old) beggars belief. Part of the blame also lies with right wing politicians, who cynically (or, more frightening, sincerely) exploit the anti-Islam tropes to drum up votes and to grab attention. And part of the blame lies in the reality of the persistence and terrorist attacks of al-Qaeda affiliates and sympathizers , and the polarizing effects of the escalating arguments over Israel, Gaza, and Iran. It isn't just the right wing echo chamber, though --- the frenzies over the Captain Underpants failed bomber and the Times Square failed bomber show a mainstream media still hardwired to fall back into the comfortable tropes of the war on terror.

End excerpt_____

This so-called debate is an ugly, disgusting thing to watch from the other side of the Atlantic and it angers me beyond words. To see politicians and high-profile public figures stoop to such depths in order win votes, whip up anti-Muslim fervor amongst the American public, frighten/threaten American citizens of the Muslim faith, people who have committed no crime or acts of sedition against the nation, is outrageous. This hysteria reminds me (and I am certain many other people here in Germany) of the rapid rise of the National Socialists (the Nazis) following the collapse of the Weimar Republic.

The situation in America has gotten so out of control that a growing number of Americans surveyed in a recent national poll firmly believe that President Obama is a Muslim! This is not a new phenomenon on the American political right, but the fact that the findings released on August 18th state that a full 18% of Americans polled believe that President Obama is a Muslim is shocking. The report goes on to state that fully 43% of Americans don’t even know what President Obama’s religion is and that only 46% of Democratic Party voters surveyed say that the 44th President of the United States is a Christian. President Barack Hussein Obama has been raised as a Christian, is a practicing Christian along with his wife and two daughters, and to my knowledge has no intention of giving up his faith or changing religions. End of story!

Author’s Note: I personally do not care whether my president is a Muslim, Christian, or Jew, but that so many of my fellow citizens in America could be so ---damn stupid is absolutely un----ingbelievable! And this is the nation that claims to be the light of the world? Think again, America!

Pew Research Center: Forum on Religion and Public Life
Religion & Politics 2010 - News, Analysis and Data on Religion and the 2010 Midterm Elections
Growing Number of Americans Say Obama is a Muslim (survey report summary and download)

Slate.com (Slate Magazine)
The Republican campaign against a Ground Zero mosque by William Saletan
Why we should build the proposed Islamic center in Lower Manhattan
The dispute over the "Ground Zero mosque" is an object lesson in how not to resist intolerance by Christopher Hitchens

Author’s Warning: Christopher Hitchens is a card-carrying heretic and anti-theist if I ever seen one. Christian, Jewish, and Muslim readers be advised that you might find his views offensive.

The New York Times
Is the Mosque Issue a Risk for Obama? - Room for Debate
Editorial: Xenophobia - Fear-mongering for American Votes

The Los Angeles Times
Debate over mosque near 'ground zero' splits Republicans

Politico.com
GOP takes harsher stance toward Islam by Ben Smith and Maggie Haberman

These kinds of underhanded tactics work especially well with Americans who hold a thinly-veiled fear and hatred of Islam and Muslims worldwide. I had thought that these ‘Hetzredner’ (demagogue, hate speech) were just a lunatic fringe of the American political and religious right until I saw a CNN International report that claimed a full 68% of Americans across the US political spectrum, Republicans and Democrats alike, vehemently OPPOSE the Cordoba Initiative Park51 Center in New York. At this point my heart sank as I realized that a majority of people in a country that I love so dearly may be heading down the slippery slopes of religious bigotry and fear that has plagued humankind for millennia.

The tireless efforts by Middle East and Islamic scholars, religious leaders from all major faiths, and efforts by the U.S. Government (under two administrations) to inform and educate Americans about Islam (the faith) vs. Islamist extremist ideology has simply not worked. Even my own humble efforts to reach out and engage with Muslims here in Europe, the majority of which are very fine and decent, hard-working people from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia who live right here in my neighborhood in northern Germany is of no interest to a majority of Americans. That my personal efforts to help build bridges of knowledge and understanding between “the black American guy” and his Muslim friends, from the very young to wise old sages like myself, could be considered a total waste of time for many Americans back home makes me feel somewhat depressed.

The controversy over the building of an Islamic center and mosque in New York near the site of ‘Ground Zero’ is something that we are all too familiar with here in Europe. It is something that German literary figure and Nobel Prize laureate Günter Grass, a man who understands how fast and low an entire society can sink into the abyss of xenophobia and mass hysteria, calls Die Stunde der Demagogen (The Hour of the Demagogues). Günter Grass knows what he is talking about when the subject of demagoguery comes up because he was a teenaged soldier and member of the Waffen-SS in the Deutsche Wehrmacht (the German Army under the Nazi’s).

(Note: see articles about Islamophobia and integration of Muslims in Europe listed below)

Spiegel Online International (Germany, English language edition)
A Would-Be Role Model Hits a Dead End: Criticism of First Turkish-German Minister Grows

The War on Burqas: French Ban only Latest in European Debate

Tilting at Minarets: Germany's Anonymous Mosque Watchers

Following in Switzerland's Footsteps: International Right-Wingers Gather for EU-Wide Minaret Ban

Islam for the Diaspora: Importing Germany's Imams

Muslims in Germany: Life in a Parallel Society

Opinion: Swiss Minaret Ban Reflects Fear of Islam, Not Real Problems

The World from Berlin: 'Germany Would Also Have Voted to Ban Minarets'

Fears of Eurabia: How Much Allah Can the Old Continent Bear?

SPIEGEL Special: Muslims in Europe (all archived articles on this subject)

Foreign Policy Magazine
Europe's Burqa Wars by Kayvan Farzaneh

CSMonitor.com
Ground zero mosque debate echoes Europe's fears of Muslims


My Personal Position on the Cordoba Park51 Islamic Community Center

Therefore I want to state clearly that I strongly support plans to build the Cordoba Park51 Community Center in Manhattan, 2 blocks from the site of 2,819 people from 115 nations around the world who lost their lives on that tragic day in September 2001. I think it is a great idea and can provide a place for people of the Muslim faith (and frankly all faiths) who visit New York City’s memorial to 9/11 to reflect, interact, and pray. I am a proud member of the 29% of Americans (according to a CNN poll) who say that the other 68% of Americans polled are dead wrong on this issue (as if the location and building of an Islamic center in Manhattan were any of our business to begin with). And before anyone gets all bent out of shape, the Cordoba Project for the center is only in the planning stages, there are no architectural plans completed for the center and financing for the center has not been arranged according to some reports.

(Note: see the Der Spiegel article about the Muslim prayer room at 45 Park Place in Manhattan).
Finding Allah at Ground Zero: A New Manhattan Mosque Hopes to Heal
Photo Gallery: Praying to Allah at Ground Zero

I am also appreciative for the stance taken by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, U.S. President Barack (Hussein) Obama, and the many enlightened people who stand in support of the Cordoba Park51 Center, a place as described by the project heads Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his wife Daisy Khan is meant to be a sanctuary of reflection, interfaith dialogue and exchange of religious knowledge, and worship modeled after the great medieval centers of learning in the “Cities of Light in 8th Century Spain” (see Al-Andalus and links on Islamic Spain below).

NYC.gov - Office of the Mayor of New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg Discusses the Landmarks Preservation Commission Vote on 45-47 Park Place (Cordoba House Community Center)

Whitehouse.gov: The White House Blog
President Obama Celebrates Ramadan at White House Iftar Dinner (text summary and video)
Remarks by President Obama at White House Iftar Dinner (transcript)





What bewilders me is that former U.S. presidents and respected political figures from administrations past and present have NOT come out publicly in favor of the building of the Cordoba Park51 Community Center, especially those leaders who worked so hard after 9/11 to encourage Americans not to hate and seek revenge against Islam and Muslims worldwide. Key members of the Bush administration worked tirelessly to convince Americans that these attacks were the work of extremists and terrorists who misrepresent the tenants and principles of a great faith. Even if some political leaders do not support the building of an Islamic center and mosque near the site of the September 11th attacks in New York, they certainly should be speaking out loudly against all of the hate speech and fear-mongering surrounding this project.

Where are the voices of former U.S. presidents George W. Bush, Clinton, and Carter? Why haven’t former secretaries Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright and James Baker spoken out on this issue? President Obama’s Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has not said anything about the nasty controversy engulfing the country and electrifying our Muslim allies and friends around the world? Hillary Clinton certainly must be supportive of the work of Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf because the U.S. State Department has sent him overseas as a representative of the United States for conferences on Islamic thought and life in America. Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard and aspiring Republican congressional candidate (California), has spoken out AGAINST the building of the Islamic center (to my great surprise and dismay). Why are we hearing from the far right Republican fringe, people like Sarah Palin and former House Speaker Newt Gringrich, two presidential hopefuls who surely do not represent mainstream America on this issue.

The New York Times
U.S. Sends Muslim Center Imam to Arab World to Promote Religious Tolerance - The Lede Blog





The Washington Post – 44 blog
Newt Gingrich compares 'Ground Zero mosque' backers to Nazis
Daisy Khan - On Faith Panelists Blog at washingtonpost.com

The Wall Street Journal
Mosque Near Ground Zero Sparks Debate That Grows, Splinters

The New York Times
White House Memo - In Defining Obama, Misperceptions Stick
Palin, Shakespeare and the Ground Zero Mosque - The Caucus Blog

PBS Newshour (video and transcript)
Mosque near Ground Zero: Local or National Issue?

Informed Comment by Professor Juan Cole
Palin on the Ground Zero Mosque vs. the Founding Fathers

Yahoo! News (assorted news sources)
White House says Obama is Christian, prays daily (AP)
Mosque debate divides Democrats, especially in NY (AP)
Ground Zero Mosque: Who's For, Who's Against (The Daily Beast)

US News and World Report
Palin’s Unpresidential 'Ground Zero Mosque' Comments

Salon.com
Michael Bloomberg delivers stirring defense of mosque - War Room
How the "ground zero mosque" fear mongering began – Topics: Ground Zero Mosque
Newt Gingrich's summer of imaginary threats – Topics: Newt Gingrich

TIME.com
'Ground Zero Mosque' Park51 Not a Triumph of Radical Islam
Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Moderate Sufi Imam Behind the 'Ground Zero Mosque'
Muslim History Belies Stereotypes in 'Ground Zero Mosque' Dispute
Afghan Women and the Return of the Taliban: Afghan Women Fear Their Fate Amid Taliban Negotiations (TIME magazine cover story July 29, 2010)

Christian Science Monitor
Obama mosque dispute: In backing plans, he parts with many Americans
Is ground zero mosque imam best choice for diplomatic mission to Mideast?


End of Act I – Author exits stage right dragging sword through the murky waters of the fetid swamp singing that old American Negro spiritual “I’m with Jesus, yes I am.”

Part II coming ASAP: A critical look at the history (and myths) about conflicts between Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Europe and the Middle East from the medieval period in al- Andalus (Islamic Spain) right through to the Prostetant Reformation. Don’t miss it!


Information about Islamic Spain, Cordoba, and the Cities of Light

Foreign Policy – FP Passport blog
The other Cordoba initiative (in Cordoba, Spain) by Brian Fung

PBS (USA, Public Broadcasting Service)
Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain

Unity Productions Foundation (official website of the 2-hour documentary film)
Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain

Chicago Humanities Festival 2008
Professor David Levering Lewis: Conversation about his book "God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215" (multimedia and text)

Author’s Note: NYU Historian and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David Levering Lewis talks about his book “God’s Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe 570 to 1215”. This book is one of the most prized possessions in my personal library and I highly recommend it to all readers interested in medieval European history and the relationship between Muslims and Christians and Jews during this important period.

The New Yorker magazine review of Professor Lewis’s book
A Better Place by Joan Acocella – Feb 04, 2008

The Economist – Democracy in America (blog)
Ground Zero mosque: The symbolism of Cordoba

Got Medieval (an excellent blog on European medieval history and the media)
Professor Newt's Distorted History Lesson

Nigeria: Death Claims the Life of a Patient Leader and President

A Small but Important Fact for My Readers:

Someday, you are going to die.*

Now of course death is not something that I would wish upon anyone but the simple fact is that all human beings must someday say goodbye to this world. Unfortunately, for Nigeria’s President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, death came calling a bit too soon (he was only 58 years old). This post is about this gentle and patient leader of Africa’s most populous country, a man who for many of you was somewhat of a mystery on the international stage of world leaders, and a man who was very much a mystery for the nation that he led since being elected in 2007, especially during the last months of his terminal illness.

Some of you may ask, “Why bother paying any attention to Nigeria?” since much of what we hear and read in the mainstream media regarding this country is about the endemic corruption of its politicians and business elite that services the grinding poverty suffered by the majority of Nigerians, the seemingly never-ending turmoil and violence between people in the Muslim north and Christian south of the country, and the militant uprisings, kidnappings, murder, and environmental destruction taking place in the troubled oil-rich Niger Delta region.

I would say the following to doubters and cynics re: Nigeria’s potential and future:

Let us not forget the strategic importance of the people of Nigeria to the world, a people who account for more than 22% of the 800 million people who live in Sub-Saharan Africa, and let us not forget the importance of Nigeria’s abundant natural resources (oil, gas, agriculture, fisheries) and the ingenuity and drive of Nigeria’s most valuable natural resource, its people.

When I think of Nigeria and what Nigerians have contributed to the modern world, I often think of the many Nigerian bloggers, writers, and journalists who have made such a huge contribution to the success of open media and online journalism, and I think about international icons like the scholar and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and the World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Oknonjo-Iweala. I treasure the wonderful communication that Nigerians like these “leaders” have so selflessly contributed to all of us in a desperate effort to educate the world about Nigeria’s dynamic people and their beautiful country on Africa’s western coast. This post is for them.

Note*: My lead sentence is borrowed from the opening paragraphs of “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak (Doubleday/Black Swan 2007).

The Passing of a Gentle Man and a Turning Point in the Modern History of Nigeria

Yesterday I left my condolences on the passing of President Yar’Adua in a comment at the blog of a friend and fellow blogger who hails from Nigeria and to my surprise it was echoed in a Global Voices roundup of Nigerian bloggers who were expressing their thoughts and feelings about the death of their president. Granted I have not been following news and developments out of Nigeria as much as I would like to over the past year, but my impression of President Yar’Adua is generally positive in comparison to my sentiments toward most of the country’s past political leaders and military dictators who had ruled Nigeria for much of the past 50 years since the end of colonial rule. Here is an excerpt of what I had to say at my friend Imankoya’s blog “Grandiose Parlor”:

“My condolences on the death of Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua. He may not have been able to accomplish all that he set out to do at the beginning of his administration, but he was able show the world that Nigerians can overcome generations of misrule and plunder by former rulers and dictators, that the country is making progress in a number of important areas (including responsible governance), that endemic corruption and cronyism by politicians and powerful business people can be defeated albeit it is slow and complicated process, and that the country Nigeria is firmly on the road to peace and democracy despite the setbacks we have witnessed during his term in office.”

As I researched news and blog posts about the death of Nigeria’s president I came across a very interesting analysis on the present state of political affairs in Nigeria written by Richard Joseph and Alexandra Gillies for Current History magazine. Here is an excerpt from what the authors had to say in the article published just a week before President Yar’Adua’s untimely death:

Nigeria: Season of Uncertainty
Current History Magazine – May 2010 issue (cross-published at allAfrica.com)

"Nothing," wrote Reuben Abati, the editor of Nigeria's The Guardian, "can be more tragic than the present season of uncertainty in which Nigeria has found itself." Indeed, in recent months the country has experienced an extraordinary and often surreal political drama seemingly scripted by a writer of fantasies.

On November 23, 2009, Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua was flown to Saudi Arabia for emergency medical treatment. Confusion swirled about his condition, though the immediate problem was reported to be pericarditis, an inflammation of tissues around his heart.

When, on Christmas Day, a young Nigerian named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried (but failed) to ignite an explosive device on an airliner that was approaching the airport in Detroit, Michigan, no Nigerian head of state was available to engage with the US government over this alarming event.

Following the attempted attack, the United States placed Nigeria on a terrorism watch list of 14 nations whose air travelers were subjected to increased security screening. (On April 2, that watch list was discarded in favor of a different set of policies.)

Ill-fated politics

Yet, as serious as these developments were, a more intense drama for Nigerians was unfolding in the nation's capital, Abuja. For a harrowing three months, this country of approximately 150 million people was without a captain at the helm.
Yar'Adua had been elected president in April 2007. He owed his position to the political achievements of two individuals: his older brother, Shehu Yar'Adua; and Olusegun Obasanjo, who served on two occasions as head of state. Shehu Yar'Adua had been Obasanjo's deputy when the latter led a military government from 1976 to 1979. The two were accused in 1995 by Sani Abacha, the military dictator at that time, of planning his overthrow. Shehu Yar'Adua was later murdered in prison, but Obasanjo survived and was elected president in 1999.

When Obasanjo in May 2006 failed in an effort to amend the constitution and thus secure a third term in office, he installed as the 2007 presidential candidate of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) the younger Yar'Adua, then the governor of the small northern state of Katsina. Obasanjo proceeded to manipulate Nigeria's political and electoral machinery to ensure Yar'Adua's victory. The outcome was disputed by several losing candidates but was upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2008.

Yar'Adua in some ways resembled another president from northern Nigeria, Shehu Shagari, whom Obasanjo had also shepherded into office, in 1979.

Shagari, a well-meaning patrician, was unable to control the plunderers around him. Military putschists ended his tenure in December 1983, shortly after he had begun a second term in the wake of flawed and chaotic elections.

But Yar'Adua, a northern successor to the southern Obasanjo, was handicapped not only politically but physically. Yar'Adua had been known to suffer from kidney disease even as governor of Katsina. At the time of the Christmas bombing attempt in the United States, the president had been absent for a month, receiving medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, but had not transferred power to his vice president, Goodluck Jonathan.

Nigeria did not even have an ambassador to the United States who could be summoned for consultations, since the US government had earlier rejected the Nigerian designee.

On January 12, 2010, Yar'Adua, most likely provoked by press reports of his dire physical condition, granted a telephone interview to the BBC.

He spoke in a weak voice of his intention to return to Nigeria as soon as his health permitted, but he did not mention any transfer of authority.

Nigeria's 1999 constitution provides two ways for power to be temporarily transferred to the vice president. The simplest mode is the transmission of a letter from the president to the National Assembly informing that body of his absence. The second requires the Federal Executive Council (the cabinet) to appoint, together with the Senate, a medical panel to provide a report on the president. If he is found unable to execute his duties, the vice president is made acting president. Neither of these constitutional paths was taken.

To adopt the term widely used in Nigeria, a "cabal" that consisted of the president's wife, Turai Yar'Adua, along with a few ministers and close political allies, worked to block a full transfer of power to Vice President Jonathan. Meanwhile, throughout the eerie interregnum, Jonathan presided over cabinet meetings that made decisions of questionable legality. Bullying the cabinet and the nation during this political parenthesis was the attorney general and minister of justice, Michael Aondoakaa, who defended Yar'Adua's authority and justified not making Jonathan the officially acting president.

These maneuvers alarmingly recalled the political gyrations that preceded Sani Abacha's assumption of power in November 1993. Then, Moshood Abiola, elected to the presidency in June of that year, was blocked from taking office and subsequently imprisoned, eventually dying behind bars. This time, however, the armed forces did not intervene, either by fully assuming power as they had done several times, or by imposing a military-civilian diarchy, as they did briefly in 1993.

Back from the brink

February 9 and 10, 2010, may be remembered as the days when the Nigerian nation pulled back from a precipice along which it had tottered for more than 11 weeks. Following unanimous votes in the Senate and House of Representatives, Jonathan was declared acting president, a decision subsequently confirmed by the cabinet.

Senior legislators found an ingenious way around constitutional obstacles by citing a "doctrine of necessity," never before invoked in Nigeria. The BBC interview with Yar'Adua, they claimed, fulfilled the constitutional requirement that a letter be transmitted to the National Assembly, albeit via modern technology. Jonathan therefore became acting president through an appointment process that deviated from the two paths set forth in the constitution. One of his first acts was to remove Aondoakaa from his ministry and from the commanding position he had assumed during Yar'Adua's absence.

"Goodluck Jonathan" could be a name invented by whatever mischievous deities look over the Nigerian nation. He had the good luck to be deputy governor of the oil-rich delta state Bayelsa in 2005, when the governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was apprehended by the London Metropolitan Police at Heathrow Airport with suitcases filled with state money.

(Tragicomically, Alamieyeseigha skipped bail and returned to Nigeria allegedly by disguising himself as a woman.)

At that time, Obasanjo was using Nigeria's anti-corruption authorities to prosecute governors who crossed him, or crossed whatever line he inserted between the permissible and non-permissible theft of public funds. Jonathan stepped in as governor when Alamieyeseigha became the target of one such prosecution. It was also fortuitous for Jonathan to be elevated to the vice presidency - Obasanjo orchestrated his selection as Yar'Adua's running mate in the 2007 election.

In the early hours of February 24, 2010, Yar'Adua was hurriedly flown back to Nigeria by air ambulance. Six of his cabinet ministers had arrived in Saudi Arabia earlier that day, ostensibly to thank the Saudi government for looking after him but really - as the third high-level Nigerian delegation to visit that country during the crisis - in the hopes of seeing their ailing president. Jonathan was kept in the dark about Yar'Adua's precipitous return, which involved the alarming deployment of a military brigade in Abuja.

For almost two days, Nigerians experienced renewed uncertainty, especially since the first public statement by Yar'Adua's spokesman referred to Jonathan as vice, not acting, president. It seemed as if a fierce struggle over presidential authority would erupt. American and British diplomats quickly released strong cautionary statements.
Another announcement on behalf of the still unseen president, on February 26, acknowledged Jonathan as acting president and declared that all government officials should report to him. That communication lessened but did not completely disperse the constitutional cloud over Nigeria's federal institutions. It did, however, reduce the political tensions and anxiety.

Nigeria's season of uncertainty is likely to persist for some time.

End excerpt from Nigeria: Season of Uncertainty
Read the complete analysis at allAfrica.com

The authors make it sound like quite a few shenanigans were going on in the background while Nigeria’s former president was struggling with a debilitating illness, especially the statement about “a cabal” of people attempting to manipulate the political and economic power in this nation of 150 million plus people. What was equally surprising in this article and the one that I reference below is that this was being orchestrated by President Yar’Adua’s closest political advisors and his grieving wife and widow, the (former) First Lady of Nigeria Turai Yar’Adua. Yikes!!

To help qualify some of the claims made by Richard Joseph and Alexandra Gillies in their article “Nigeria: Season of Uncertainty” I recommend reading statements attributed to one of Nigeria’s most prominent and outspoken defenders of human rights and free expression, Professor Wole Soyinka, in an article published to the Nigerian newspaper Vanguard on April 7th (cross-published at allAfrica.com):

Nigeria: Soyinka Urges Country to Save Yar’Adua from Turai
By Michael Eboh – April 7, 2010

Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has called for urgent measures by Nigerians to save ailing president Umaru Yar'Adua from some unscrupulous and selfish individuals, benefiting from his predicament. He noted that Yar'Adua's predicament has revealed that he is a victim of spousal abuse.

Speaking at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group's, NESG, Post-Annual General Meeting Lecture, in Lagos, Tuesday, with the theme, "Leadership and Followership as Shared Responsibility," Soyinka exonerated Yar'Adua from all the crises and controversies surrounding his health.

According to him, his meetings with Yar'Adua in the past revealed that he (Yar'Adua) is not capable of treating the country with disdain as is currently being presented through the various controversies surronding his health and visit of certain groups to him.

He said, "From my meetings with Yar'Adua, I see him as someone who is not capable of treating this country with contempt. His predicament is being worsened by the so-called cabal.

"The conduct of the people surrounding the president has turned the country into the laughing stock of the entire globe. Even the papers are having a field day on the issue of Nigeria's phantom president.

"Yar'Adua is surrounded by people who are insensitive about the plight of the Nigerian people. These people holding him hostage are unscrupulous insensitive and heartless.

"It is not the Nigerian people who prevented even Yar'Adua's own mother from seeing him, it is this cabal. They are flesh and blood but they have a lion's heart or so."If his situation takes a turn for the better, which everyone hopes for, it does not make any difference, whatsoever, to what has happened already. It does not take away from the fact that refusing his mother access to him, has made him a victim of spousal abuse.

End excerpt from the Nigerian Vanguard article___

Rest in Peace President Umara Yar’Adua, you certainly gave it your best and despite your ill health and the unscrupulous behavior of some of your closet advisors during your absence, your efforts to lead Nigeria in a fair and just manner were appreciated by many people around the globe. The new Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan will certainly have his hands full in Abuja for the next 11 months as the country prepares for the general election of 2011. Good Luck President Jonathan and good luck to the people of Nigeria as you progress down the long road of democratic change, responsible and effective governance, and improvements in the lives for all of the people of this vast West African nation.


Related news articles, editorials, blog posts, and other resources

Grandiose Parlor
Yar’Adua, Nigeria’s ailing president dies – 05 May 2010

African Loft
Nigeria: “My regime was better than now” – Babangida – 20 Apr 2010
Former Nigerian military leader, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), gives an interview to the BBC News Hausa Service regarding his presidential ambitions

Black Looks
The man died - R.I.P. Yar'Adua by Sokari Ekine – 06 May 2010

Global Voices
Nigeria: Bloggers mourn death of president Yar’Adua by Ndesano Macha – 06 May 2010
Categories and Topics: Nigeria
The Republic of Niger ain’t sexy enough for headlines by Ndesanjo Macho
Niger is not Nigeria in case you didn’t know, although Nigeriens and Nigerians are first cousins.

allAfrica.com
Nigeria: Soyinka Urges Country to Save Yar'Adua From Turai (Vanguard) – 07 Apr 2010
Nigeria: Visit Yar'Adua Now, Soyinka Tells Jonathan (Daily Champion) – 01 May 2010
Nigeria: Amnesty - Yar'Adua's Major Legacy (Vanguard) – 06 May 2010
Jonathan Takes Oath of Office as President (Vanguard)– 06 May 2010
Season of Uncertainty by Richard Joseph and Alexandria Gillies (Current History Magazine) – 29 Apr 2010

Reuters Africa
New Nigerian leader pledges electoral reform by Randy Fabi and Felix Onuah – 06 May 2010

BBC World News
Nigerians lobby to be Jonathan's vice-president – 07 May 2010
Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan sworn in as president – 06 May 2010
Nigerian President Yar'Adua dies after long illness by Martin Plaut – 06 May 2010
Obituary: President Yar'Adua of Nigeria – 06 May 2010

CNN International
Introducing Nigeria's new president: Goodluck Jonathan - 06 May 2010
Nigeria swears in acting president – 06 May 2010

CNNI Programs: Amanpour
Nigerian Acting President gives first interview to CNN – 14 Apr 2010
Host Christiane Amanpour interviews Nigeria’s newly sworn-in president Goodluck Jonathan during his visit to the U.S. for Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit 2010

The New York Times
Nigeria Swears In New Leader, Burying Predecessor - 06 May 2010
President of Nigeria Dies After Long Illness by Adam Nossiter – 05 May 2010

TIME Magazine
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua: Remembering Nigeria's Patient President by Alex Perry – 06 May 2010
Is Goodluck Jonathan the Answer to Nigeria's Woes? by Gilbert da Costa – 13 Feb 2010
The Violence in Nigeria: What's Behind the Conflict? by Meg Handley – 10 Mar 2010
The Two Sides of Lagos - Photo Essays - TIME
TIME photographer Thomas Dworzak explores the cultural divide in the Nigerian mega-city and financial capital

Foreign Policy Magazine, FP Passport Blog
Nigeria's government of ambiguity ends by Joshua Keating – 06 May 2010
Is Nigeria's president still alive? By Elizabeth Dickinson – 07 Jan 2010
The Real Tragedy in Nigeria's Violence by Jean Herskovits – 03 Aug 2009
A Violent Window of Opportunity by Mark L. Schneider and Nnamdi Obasi – 17 Jul 2009
OIL – The Long Goodbye - An FP Magazine special report – Sep/Oct 2009 issue

YaleGlobal Online Magazine
In Nigeria, Oil Wealth Delivers Grief by Salil Tripathi – 10 Jun 2008
The Rising and Falling Power of Hydrocarbon States by Dilip Hiro – 03 Jul 2007


Technorati tags (in beta):

Sudan Elections: Obama's Message to Sudan's Pharoah "Redemption? Legitimacy? Respect? You shall have none of it!"

While reviewing and and organizing the flood of global news and commentary centered around Sudan's historic polls, I came across some outstanding news coverage and writing by ordinary citizens and professional journalists on the ground in Sudan.  Anyone who has carefully followed news and events in Sudan over the past 5-7 years (much of it dominated by the violence and exterminations which have taken place in Darfur and South Sudan, and the International Criminal Court's indictment and arrest warrant for Sudan's President)... anyone who has a deep interest in African affairs will tell you that these elections in Sudan are really important not only for this vast country but also for the many efforts and programs to establish democracy and good governance all across the African continent.

As the Obama Administration, the Sudan Troika (U.S.A., Norway, and the U.K.), and a handful of democratic governments and international organizations struggle to come to terms with what has transpired in these openly fraudulent, manipulated polls across Africa's largest country___ each day that passes while Sudan's National Election Commission withholds the election results (cooking the votes), a new scandal emerges.

As the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (The Jackal) visits his ace-boon-dictator buddy President Robert Mugabe (The Crocodile) for celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Republic of Mugabe Inc. (formerly known as Zimbabwe and Rhodesia), as well as being honored at a state dinner and having talks about Iranian investments in Zimbabwe, the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P.J. Crowley made the following comments regarding Sudan's elections:

U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing - April 20, 2010
(Hat Tip to Martha Bixby over at the Save Darfur Coaltion blog for the lead)

MR. CROWLEY (State Department): New topic.

QUESTION (Reporter): New topic? Sudan. When the U.S. came out – when the Obama Administration came out with its policy on Sudan, it talked about incentives and disincentives in the process. And I’m wondering – I’ve seen the statements on the elections, but I’m wondering if there are any consequences for Bashir’s government for carrying out such a marred election process.

MR. CROWLEY (State Department): Well, I think, Michelle, we have to put that in a little broader context. As the international monitoring groups have indicated, the recent elections – and the results are still pending – did not meet international standards. There are a number of reasons for that, some based on the fact that elections have not occurred in Sudan for some time and some because the government did not create the appropriate atmosphere and did not take the steps it should have taken to insure a free, fair, and competitive election. So – and we’ve expressed those concerns before the election and we have expressed those concerns since the election. That said, we also recognize that Sudan is facing vitally important decisions and referenda in the coming months that will shape, literally, its future. And we will work with the Governments of North and South Sudan to continue to press them to fulfill all of their obligations under the comprehensive peace agreement. They have to do – there are many things they have to specifically do with respect to different parts of Sudan from Darfur to Abyei to the south of Sudan. To the extent that the Government of Sudan was looking for redemption or legitimacy in what happened here, they will get none of it. But we recognize that there are specific things that we have to do in Sudan to prepare the country for the referenda early next year. There are very important things that need to be done to insure full implementation of the CPA and to, among other things, prevent Sudan from slipping back into conflict. So we will engage North and South on that basis and prod them, push them, support them as they take steps leading to the referenda next January.

End excerpt from U.S. State Department Press Briefing - April 20, 2010

So there you have it.  According to the U.S. State Department spokesman, as far as Omar al Bashir and his regime getting any redemption (from alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, etc.) or legitimacy as the democratically-elected government of Sudan___ the present Khartoum regime will NOT receive official recognition from the Obama Administration , from the U.S. Congress, and especially no support from the people of the United States of America.  "No respect!"  "Nothin' but the sharp end of a stick!"

The National Congress Party and Bashir had a chance to finally do something right for all the people of Sudan by holding free-and-fair elections and peacefully accepting the outcome.  Instead they chose to cheat, lie, and steal___ defying the wishes of millions of voters and honest citizens in Sudan yet again so that the regime could retain power and control over the country's resources (vast untapped oil reserves), land, and people.  Omar Hassan Ahmad al Bashir: modern-day Pharoah of Sudan, the Land of the Blue and White Nile.  The true Black Pharoahs of Sudan (the ancient kingdoms of Nubia and Kush) must be turning in their crypts just thinking about this guy.  If all else fails to remove Bashir and his cabel of thugs from power and bring them to justice, there is a last resort:  the curse of the pharoahs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In addtion to this week's breaking news about Sudanese election officials being caught red-handed stuffing ballot boxes with falsified votes, Alex de Waal's SSRC blog "Making Sense of Sudan" has an article from Sudanese contributor Hafiz Mohammed describing in detail how the ruling National Congress Party (NCP, formerly the National Islamic Front) has been systematically buying-off candidates, voters, and votes all across North and South Sudan to the tune of hundreds of millions in Sudanese Pounds, choice government jobs, new cars and houses.

Here is an excerpt from Hafiz Mohammed's post titled "Corruption and the Election":

There is one very important issue which has not been raised by anyone, as I have listened to all reports from the election observers , until now , that is the buying and selling of votes and loyalty. According to my estimate this has amounted to not less than one billion US dollars over the last two years.

For the last year and in every Sudanese region, the issue of buying the loyalty of tribal and community leaders has been happening. This has not been by investing in their communities in terms of health, education and other services but instead in a crude way, by bribing them with cash or other material resources or jobs. Above all, it is cash. That has occurred not only for traditional leaders, but political parties also. The recent row about the amount given to the Umma Party, just two days before the election is one example. This amount was given in cash , and not through bank transfer or cheque and without any signature from the recipient. Until now we don’t know whether it was two million Sudanese pounds (US$ 800,000) or four million (US $1,600,000). It was a bribe for the Umma Party to participate in the election. We don’t know from where this amount was paid and what was the budget line, whether it was from the public purse or not.

In the run up to the election, people were talking about putting up your candidateship for election and then bargaining to withdraw it. If you stand down in favour of the NCP candidate, you will be paid. The price normally depends on the expected number voters who might vote for you. Tens of candidates withdraw their candidateship in favour of the NCP candidates and people were talking about the price they were paid for this.

End excerpt from Hafiz Mohammed's article. Read the complete post at Making Sense of Darfur.

So that's it regarding updates on the Sudan elections for today.  I'll work on completing my list of links to news articles, commentary, and blog posts about these elections as promised to readers in my previous blog post on the Sudan Elections 2010.  I've edited it down to only 13 pages of "must-read" stuff___ do you think that thirteen pages is a bit too much to go to print, er to go to post?  Bis bald.

Technorati tags: (still in beta)

Iran: Blogging the Revolution in the Aftermath of Sham Elections

Updates and additional resources for June 17, 2009

I’ve added some additional news and opinion resources from Germany (Deutsche Welle, Atlantic Community Initiative in Berlin) along with blog posts and reports from the Middle East Institute in Washington DC. Veteran foreign correspondent/editor Lindsey Hilsum from ITN CH4 News (UK) has been doing a good job of covering the Iranian elections so I have added her reports to the reading list. Last but not least I am including the Iranian-American powered website Tehran Bureau along with Iran’s new online global news channel in English, Press TV. Like many people worldwide I am anxiously waiting for the big showdown tomorrow in the streets of Tehran by opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi’s supporters. Let’s hope that the rally goes off peacefully and achieves its objective of forcing a repeat of the election in a fair and transparent manner___ if that is at all possible under the present regime.

Original post from June 16, 2009

The minute-by-minute news following the disputed Iranian elections of June 12th is breaking so fast it is very difficult to follow let alone compose a blog post. As of this writing a number of international news teams in Iran are reporting that the Iranian government has ordered a lockdown on foreign journalists from reporting about the (illegal) protest rallies of the opposition. However, the foreign press and media in the country are free to report about the ongoing pro-government rallies in support of the incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

It has been clear for several days now that the Iranian Internet Police and security forces have not been very successful in preventing supporters of the opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi from using the Internet and mobile communications to communicate with one another and the outside world. This is understandable when one realizes that young Iranians have been some of the most avid contributors over the past few years to social media technologies and the practice of free speech on blogs and social networking platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. The Iranian sector of the blogosphere is one of the largest and most sophisticated online communities in the world so the Iranian internal security forces are up against some of the most tech-savvy young people online. These dynamic young people have lots of friends and supporters right around the globe that are eager to help them outmaneuver the Iranian regime’s cyber-police. Therefore the use of Internet filters and blocking software by the security forces in Iran is of no use forcing them to resort to the old-fashioned way of shutting down opposition voices___ guns and batons and torture and intimidation.

What has also been interesting to watch is the cooperation between mainstream news media and blog authors during the run up to the elections and the days since the announcement of the disputed election results (see CNN iReport/Iran). Where in the past these two groups regularly exchanged insults and harsh criticisms of each other’s performance in covering and reporting relevant news stories, today bloggers and authors on social networks, professional journalists and news editors/producers are relying heavily upon one another to report fast-breaking news events from inside Iran in the face of increasing repression of free speech and free press coverage by the Tehran regime.

I do sincerely hope that in this unprecedented online collaboration of citizen and professional journalists and news commentators that the ‘pros’ continually remind the amateurs about the dangers of reporting from within a crisis zone. The threat of a ‘new revolution’ from inside Iran is a very dangerous business and the use of online communications and publication tools that may help fuel such a revolution is a journey into uncharted waters__ so be damn careful.

Of course I have been discussing these exciting events with Iranian friends here in Germany on an almost daily basis. Germany is one of Iran’s most coveted trading partners (largest) and despite decades of business dealings and diplomatic ties with Iran the present coalition government in Berlin claims to have little sway over Tehran (see Germany’s Spiegel Online and Israeli newspaper articles below). The ruling administration in Berlin and Brussels, like their counterparts in Washington D.C. and Paris, have been rather mute in the face of the unfolding crisis on the ground in Iran for fear of screwing up negotiations over the nuclear arms/energy issues and Iran’s role in a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab countries in the region. There are more than 1900 German firms doing business in Iran so the claim by the German government to have little influence over internal politics in the country is sheer bullshit.

Anyway, my two closest Iranian buddies have both witnessed life in Iran during the time of the Shah as well as the period following the Iranian Revolution of 1979 (see Al Jazeera’s special coverage of the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution). Although we have often discussed what it may be like when the day of true independence finally arrives in Iran, I seem to be the one who is most nervous about the unfolding events in the aftermath of these sham elections. I dread the coming brutal crackdown by a regime that will hold onto power at any cost which is kind of ironic when I also remember for the past 30 years much of what many people in the West saw on the news was 10’s-of- thousands of Iranians marching in the streets chanting “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” My older friend Reza explains the prospects of increased violence against the protestors on the street with the expression, “In order to make this omelette you must break a few eggs…” while my younger friend Asgar has repeatedly warned for many months that America must stay out of this fight so as not to undermine the opposition to extremist leaders like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the group of conservative Islamic clerics who pull his strings.

Therefore my views and emotions are mixed about the possibility of real change in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policies toward the U.S. and other western countries under any leadership that must answer to the regime of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni. I shall reserve my opinions about the hope for change in Iran until this developing story unravels a bit more over the next days and weeks. However, the 2009 Iranian presidential election is covered thoroughly in the news articles, think-tank analysis, and blog posts listed below. So please have a look at my suggested reading list for a better understanding of what the hell is going on over in Iran.


The ‘Jewels in the Jungle’ 2009 Iran Election Recommended Reading List
Week of June 14-21, 2009

Foreign Policy Magazine - The Blogs
FP Passport
Iran Election Special (full coverage by FP’s editors and contributors)
The latest from Iran by Blake Hounshell 06/16/09
Morning Brief: Khamenei steps in 06/15/09
Iran: What now? a must-read roundup 06/13/09

The Cable (editor: Laura Rozen)
Obama on Iran: diplomacy without illusions 06/15/09

Shadow Government (editors: experienced policy makers from the loyal opposition)
What Obama needs to say and do about Iran by Christian Brose 06/15/09

Stephen M. Walt (professor of international relations @ Harvard)
What does Iran's "election" mean? 06/15/09

Mark Lynch (Abu Aardvark’s Middle East blog)
Could there be a Mousavi Effect? 06/10/09

Foreign Policy Magazine – May/June 2009 issues
Iran's New Revolution by Cameron Abadi
Iran's Potato Revolution (a profile of candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi) by Mehrzad Boroujerdi

Informed Comment (Middle East scholar Juan Cole)
Ahmadinejad reelected under a cloud of fraud (Salon.com) 06/13/09
Stealing the Iranian Election 06/13/09

The New York Times - global edition
The Lede Blog (editor: Robert Mackey)
Latest Updates on Iran’s Disputed Election 06/16/09
Updates on Iran’s Disputed Election 06/15/09
Landslide or Fraud? The Debate Online Over Iran’s Election Results 06/13/09

Spiegel Online – international edition
After the Election: Iran's Growing Societal Chasm 06/15/09
The Election in Iran: 'Extraordinary Amount of Wishful Thinking' by US 06/15/09
The World from Berlin: 'Iran Was Never a True Democracy' 06/15/09
The Afghanistan Debate: Germany Mulls Future as Attacks Surge 06/12/09

Articles about German trade with Iran
Haaretz News Online (Israel)
In spite of German talk, trade with Iran growing Feb 2008
The Jerusalem Post
Germany's special relationship - with Iran Aug 2008

TIME.com
Iran's Lesson: Even in a Tainted Election, Voting Still Matters 06/16/09
Ayatullah vs. Ayatullah: Could Khamenei Be Vulnerable? 06/15/09
Why the White House Views Iran's Election as a Diplomatic Coup 06/15/09
Was Ahmadinejad's Win Rigged? - Five Reasons to Suspect Iran's Election Results

Al Jazeera News – English edition
Government supporters rally in Iran 06/16/09
Iran bans pro-Mousavi rally 06/15/09
Iranian writer (Azar Nafisi on poll result) 06/14/09
Al Jazeera English - IRAN: AFTER THE REVOLUTION February 2009

Global Voices Online
(providing one of the best daily roundups of bloggers inside Iran and around the globe)
Iran: Protest and Repression 06/15/09
Iran: Storm of protest after election 06/13/09
Mapping Iran’s Blogosphere on Election Eve 06/11/09
Global Voices Online » Iranian Election 2009 special coverage

The Internet and Democracy Project @ Harvard University
Cracking Down on Digital Communication and Political Organizing in Iran 06/15/09
Mapping Iran’s Blogosphere on Election Eve 06/11/09

The Council on Foreign Relations
U.S. Should React Cautiously to Iran’s ‘Stolen Election’ 06/14/09
Guardians of the Revolution: Iran and the World in the Age of the Ayatollahs
A CFR book by Iran scholar Ray Takeh – Oxford University Press, May 2009
Obama's Message to Muslims Resonates, But Challenges Await 06/04/09
An interview with CFR senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies Steven A. Cook
Beyond Cairo: Translating 'Important' Obama Message into Policies 06/04/09
An interview with former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Edward Djerejian

VOA News Online
US Bloggers Take On Iran's Elections 06/15/09

BBC News
'Mass opposition rally' in Tehran 06/16/09
Shots fired at huge Iran protest 06/15/09
Iran clamps down on foreign media: Bypassing Iran's firewalls 06/15/09

CNN - international edition
Rival demonstrations fill Tehran streets 06/16/09
Hatred, chaos and savage beatings in Tehran 06/15/09
Moussavi vows to 'pay any cost' to fight Iran election results 06/15/09
CNN iReport/IRAN


Updates and additional reading for June 17, 2009

DW World (Germany’s Deutsche Welle online news in English)
German foreign ministry notes irregularities in Iran election 06/17/09
EU deplores recent events in Iran 06/16/09

Atlantic-Community.org (a Berlin-based think tank specializing in transatlantic affairs)
Iran's Fabricated Elections: The US and EU Must React 06/16/09
How to Respond to the Iranian Elections? (an online poll) 06/15/09
Iran's Tactical Foreign Policy Rhetoric 03/03/09

Middle East Institute (Washington DC)
The MEI Editor’s Blog by Michael Collins Dunn, editor of The Middle East Journal
The "Ahmadinejad Won" Interpretation: Why I Think it's Suspect 06/15/09
Gary Sick and Karim Sadjadpour on PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer 06/15/09
The Mess in Iran: Praetorian Coup or Clumsy Overreach? 06/13/09

MEI Publications and Reports
Policy Brief: Prospects for Iran’s 2009 Presidential Elections by Dr. Walter Posch

MEI Viewpoints magazine special report: “The Iranian Revolution at 30” (PDF download)
Provocative essays from 53 leading academics and policy experts discuss the revolution’s effects on many different facets of life in Iran, including gender issues, education, the media, the environment, and foreign policy.

ITN CH4 News (UK)
New protests held in Iran 06/17/09
CH4 News Snowblog – Iran elections 2009 (World News Blog)
A day in Iran I will never forget by Lindsey Hilsum 06/16/09
Telephone update report from Iran 06/16/09
(HT: to ‘The Lede Blog’ at the New York Times)
Tehran's clash of ideals by Lindsey Hilsum 06/10/09

Tehran Bureau (a U.S.-based news website from the Iranian-American community)
Iran’s Power Struggle by Gareth Smyth (Beirut) 06/16/09
Stolen Election by Muhammad Sahimi (Los Angeles) 06/13/09
Headlines June 12, 2009 (Iran elections)
Nieman Reports Iran 06/01/09
A Q&A with Melissa Ludtke, editor of ‘Nieman Reports’ at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism (Harvard University) Also see the Nieman Reports Summer 2009 issue ‘Iran: Can its stories be told?”

Press TV (a new global online news service based in Tehran, Iran)
Mousavi calls for truth commission 06/17/09
Iran warns foreign media over coverage 06/17/09
(Presidential candidate Mohsen) Rezaei's ultimatum to Interior Ministry 06/17/09


Technorati tags:Iran USA politics Middle East Europe elections Ahmadinejad Mousavi global voices

Ghana Elections 2008: A democratic transition of power in Africa holds out hope for a troubled world

Update January 15, 2009

I had planned my first blog post for the New Year 2009 to be about the December 2008 presidential runoff-election in Ghana. This election is a milestone event for people yearning for democracy throughout Africa because they were carried out in a relatively peaceful and transparent manner, receiving high praise from governments and election observers the world over. My own personal thoughts and commentary about these important elections in West Africa will have to follow a bit later because the latest outbreak of hostilities and war in Gaza is weighing heavily upon my conscience as it must be for many people around the world.

Expressing my own thoughts and sharing the knowledge and wisdom of people who are well informed about the long-running conflicts between Israel & Hamas is what I am working on at present. My Gaza post will be ready before the U.S. Presidential Inauguration Day next week. Hopefully by then the war in Gaza will have stopped.

For my regular readers interested in news about Africa here are links to the latest coverage on the Ghana presidential election from (gasp) Western news media:

International Herald Tribune
A giant of Ghana politics watches from the sidelines
Lydia Polgreen of the The New York Times interviews Ghana’s former president Jerry Rawlings, a military coup leader and ‘political big man’ in Africa during the 1980’s and 1990’s.

CNN.com International
Commentary: A victory for democracy in Africa by John Stremlau. John Stremlau is the vice-president for Peace Programs at the Carter Center and was an international election observer for the Ghana presidential polls.

Africa Confidential (excerpt from the new 'Blue Lines' feature)
January 15, 2008

Ghana's cliff-hanger elections and another successful transition start Africa's year on a positive note. It left those who had been predicting mayhem puzzling why Ghana failed to follow Kenya's descent last year into chaos after a similarly close-run and disputed election.

The answers, Ghanaians say, are in their political traditions, the credibility of the electoral commission and the local media's vigilance. Yet some senior figures in the main parties still favoured fighting out the election on the streets.

Politicians across Africa are studying Ghana's vote closely ahead of more than 20 elections due in 2009. Doubtless, the defeat of a previously popular governing party reflects the effects of last year's rocketing food and fuel prices and concern about jobs.

These will matter hugely in Southern Africa's six elections this year, particularly in South Africa, where the governing ANC faces a challenge from a party of ANC dissidents. And for the first time, the economic and political chaos in Zimbabwe will be a major issue for voters in the region. That might bolster moves by the ruling ZANU-PF hierarchy finally to edge out President Mugabe.

Further north in Algeria, Congo-Brazzaville, Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, Niger and Sudan, elections this year are unlikely to be harbingers of change: for those incumbent regimes, the vote will be a masquerade behind which the real politics continues.

------------------------------------------

My original draft post composed on January 3, 2009

The people of Ghana deserve a hearty congratulation from the world community today. In what has widely been viewed by international observers as free-and-fair democratic elections and a peaceful transition of power to boot, Ghanaians have chosen opposition party candidate Professor John Atta Mills (NCD) as their next president, succeeding the two-term Ghanaian president John Kufuor.

One of my closest friends Sam who hails from the Ghanaian capital Accra will be especially delighted. Just last week we were discussing the runoff election and he told me that an opposition win for the office of President would be good for the country, providing a balance of power to the ruling party controlled parliament. The new president-elect John Atta Mills (profile) comes into office with some impressive credentials having served as Vice-President of Ghana in the administration of two-term Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings.

It is not a first for sub-Saharan Africa but it is remarkable when one reflects upon the horrible post-election violence in Kenya just one year ago or looks at the despicable behavior and violence carried out by Robert Mugabe’s goons against the people of Zimbabwe following the sham elections of March 27th and the presidential runoff on June 27th, 2008. And it looks as if the recent coup by the military in Guinea after the sudden death of longtime dictator Lansana Conté may not get much traction. The regional intergovernmental body ECOWAS and the African Union along with key Western countries are exerting increasing pressure on the coup leaders for a rapid return to civilian rule. “Coups in West Africa will no longer be tolerated” or so they say, let’s wait and see. The Mauritania coup leaders are still in power despite similar claims from the same folks.

Democracy has taken a firm hold in Ghana and other countries in West Africa over the past few years, but it remains under-reported in much of the world press and news media (not just the Western news media as is often charged by some). I came across an interesting article about Ghana and Democracy in West Africa published last March at the Washington Post. Here is an excerpt from that piece that shows that Ghana President-elect John Atta-Mills “returned from the dead” to defeat the NPP candidate Nana Akufo-Addo

Democracy Ascendant In States of West Africa
by Craig Timberg - March 13, 2008 - Washingtonpost.com

Reborn as well, over the past decade, has been democracy itself here in Ghana and among its neighbors along West Africa's Atlantic coast. From Sierra Leone east to Nigeria, stability and at least a tentative version of multiparty politics have begun taking hold after many years of coups, military dictatorships and civil war.

As Kenya has become the latest East African nation to descend into conflict, these West African countries have moved toward politics that are vigorous but rarely violent. Maysiema said she could not imagine Ghana's partisan enthusiasms ever turning bloody, no matter what the outcome of the presidential vote scheduled for December.

"Ghanaians are a naturally peace-loving people," said Maysiema, a divorced mother of seven struggling to support her family selling bread on Winneba's streets. "They will make the noise, but there's no way they will draw blood."

The progress in the region is far from uniform. Ghana and Benin have held several free elections with peaceful transfers of power; Togo, on the other hand, is still run by the son of a longtime strongman but in October had its first vote in which all major parties participated.

Civil wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast have ended, and although Ivory Coast has yet to hold its first postwar vote, Liberia and Sierra Leone have elected leaders with popular mandates. Regional giant Nigeria, where military rule ended in 1999, has had a series of deeply flawed votes, but the disputes are being settled in an increasingly independent court system.

These countries are all freer, more stable and more democratic than they were a decade ago, regional analysts say. Peace, however fragile, is the norm rather than war. And citizens of these nations increasingly are demanding responsive governance from their leaders.
(End excerpt)


Related articles and resources on Ghana Elections 2008

Voice of America Online
VOA News - Opposition Candidate Wins Ghanaian Presidency
VOA News - ECOWAS Demands Civilian-Led Transition or Sanctions on Guinea's Military Rulers
AU Commission to Meet Over Mauritania Coup D'etat

BBC News, BBC Radio World Service
BBC NEWS Africa Opposition leader wins Ghana poll
BBC World Service - Ghana Elections 2008
BBC World Service - News - Democracy in West Africa

Global Voices Online
Ghana: Waiting for a President, 12/29/08
Guinea: History Repeating? 01/01/09
Twittering the Ghana Elections, 12/08/08

My Heart’s in Accra (Ethan Zuckerman’s personal blog)
Voting again… and again… in Ghana, 01/01/09

African Elections Project – Ghana Elections 2008

Ghana Elections 2008 – a group blog covering election news and analysis

CODEO – Coalition of Domestic Election Observers: Ghana

allAfrica.com
Ghana: Atta Mills Wins Presidency in Change of Power
Ghana: Elections 2008 - The End is Here
Ghana: The Making of a President by Dele Momodu (This Day, Nigeria)

The Washington Post
Democracy Ascendant In States of West Africa by Craig Timberg, 03/13/08

West Africa Review, Issue 6 (2004)
Constitutionalism, Governance and Democracy in Africa by Kelechi A. Kalu

U.S. Department of State
Remarks to the Conference on Elections and Democratization in West Africa, 12/08/06


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