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M21 - Virtual Videos

Ana — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 03:14:00 +02:00

This is a collection of short films created to promote the production of rich content in virtual worlds. We hope you enjoy it.

Virtual conference

Ana — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:25:00 +02:00

Next Friday, September 19th, 1h00 PM SL Time, Mr. Paulo Casaca, a member of the European Parliament, European Union, will be in Second Life to talk about Terrorism, resuming the conference “Terrorism and Europe: Threats and Responses.” that took place in Brussels, on September 16th. (See press release at www.babelproject.eu). Being the first Member of European Union to use Second Life to communicate with all citizens interested, Mr. Casaca intends, this month, to bring to debate the reality of how terrorism affects all citizens, worldwide and, in a specific way, in Europe. SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Babel%20Project%20II/121/48/21

This will be the first event of Babel Project for this new 2008/2009 season. Please join us an learn how Immersing Environments can support global dialogue. If you are not a Second Life user, please attend via our website. Audio stream will be available and you will be able to post your questions directly to Mr. Casaca.

IRAQ - LE SANG DES AUTRES

Ana — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:43:00 +02:00

From June 13th to June 16th 2008 I was in Iraq with Paulo Casaca (member of the European Parliament – ). I visited Ashraf, the headquarters of PMOI, the Iranian Resistance. I attended a conference where there was a document against the Iranian Regime’s presence in Iraq and it was signed by 3 million Shi'ahs. I also sat in a meeting where tribal leaders from different provinces asked for UN, EU and USA support to grant democratic elections in Iraq. These are the notes I brought home with me.

ASHRAF, where the streets have no name (day one)

What if you where only allowed to have a face after your death? A name, after your death? This is the reality of Ashraf City, the headquarters of the Iranian resistance, the PMOI, in Iraq. A city with 3.800 people protected, under the Genova agreement, by Americans.

There, right in the heart of a destroyed country, an Oasis flourishes, literally, and one feels like Alice in the Wonderland. First of all, because the Iraq in Ashraf has nothing to do with any other Iraq – the one we see on the news, the one with no hope, no safety, no structures, one so ever. When Paulo Casaca asked me, for the first time “do you want to go to Iraq?”, I was ready to sleep in a tent, wear a burke, assist to terrible things. I was ready for everything…except for what I found. The day before, while we were in Brussels, I asked him so many questions, trying to make “a plan” for my staying. Only today I can really understand how impossible it was for him to provide clear answers, and the deep abyss between us then: even if Iraq is the most obvious symptom of our future, we know so little about it (even if we care) that the most basic knowledge will be lost in translation until the day we go there. And – imagine – we take political decisions based on that “little”.

We arrived by the end of the day. Everything was grey, because of the dust. After 300 km of devastation (Iraq palpitates in it’s own ruins), I saw a wide area of lights, quite similar to a regular western village. “Welcome to Ashraf, our host said”. In 5 minutes, I was out of the car, surrounded by men I have never spoken to. Mr. Casaca was warmly welcomed and I felt the terrible weight of being a western silly girl. I had no idea how to act, standing on my heels, protected by the status of Mr. Casaca, but all alone in all the rest. And then, I committed the terrible mistake of shaking the hand of all the men present – my first protocol failure. We were driven into the base, where I saw roads, buildings and monuments. Mr. B (I will call him this because he is still alive and so, not allowed to have a name) drove us to the “hotel”, a place with several small apartments, guarded. Mine had two rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and an amazing living room, with a plate of home made cookies – will I ever forget that taste? Outside, a garden with flowers and trees. I sat there in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening. In that garden, I understood why Iraq is a part of me, a part of all of us. When you sit alone in such a beautiful place, where human beings fight so hard to defend a life that we, in the West, live in a very sceptical way, it’s like going back in time. The time when, in Europe and America, people actually fought for a cause called freedom. Still nervous, I got ready for dinner. There, I was presented two girls of my age, who welcomed me warmly, S and Z – “they will be your guides here, Mr. B said”. During dinner, Mr. B and a woman spoke to Mr. Casaca. I tried so hard to understand, I barely paid attention to my young companions – even if the thing I remember the best was when they both gave me the flowers decorating they’re plate – it was the first time that the sentence “the flowers of Ashraf” came to my mind. I thought, during the hole dinner, that the woman was married to Mr. B, that the girls were the daughters and that they were the family in charge of Ashraf’s government – how silly can a western girl be. Later in the night, the girls took me to the Ashraft’s museum of martyrs, where I’ve learned about the Iranian history, saw the face and read the name of too many dead people. S was born in a prison in Iran. Z was born and raised in Canada, graduated there, but left to fight for her country from Ashraf a few years ago. “A girl like me” – I thought. In Ashraf, there is a cemetery, where they keep all the martyrs, or a memory of them. It’s almost like our cemeteries. So clean, so cherished, so modern. In the PMOI, all the people who died fighting for a free Iran are celebrated and remembered. Their names are told to younger generations, as an example of the terror they are fighting against. I have almost 700 pictures of Iraq, many of which were taken in Ashraf. I cannot show them, because this “could put in jeopardy the individuals”, Mr. B told me on the phone, a few days later. “We have a powerful enemy and we must protect ourselves”, he told me. And he’s right. And I thought “what if, I could not have a face, a name, until I die?”. This must be one of the most powerful impressions I brought from Iraq – the fundamental importance of a name and how dangerous it is to see it fade. I saw those men and women. I spoke to M (our driver, I will write about him later) for a long time. I saw “the father” (like the girls call him), an old man who plants flowers in the desert (I will write more about him too). I hugged a woman while she told me “I hope to see you soon, but this time back home, our Iran”. I saw a young girl looking at my camera with disbelief. What’s the power of the Press for, if people don’t care? ANTONIO CAÑO wrote, in El Pais (26/06/2008 ): "La violencia por sí sola ya no es noticia en Irak", (Violence, alone, is no longer news in Iraq). After the museum, and the cemetery, the girls took me to the Musk. A beautiful building created, from top to bottom, by Ashraf citizens. Again, my first time and again, the strange but yet strong impression of taking my shoes off. The contact of naked feet against the carpet. Alice in the Wonderland: in Ashraf, everything was so intense, alive and strange to my comprehension, that I cannot explain it unless I say: “it’s a place where small (and big) things matter again, like they did, when we wrote our values, our stories, our beliefs”. Like Lewis Carrol preached about children’s innocence, Ashraft seems to preach about humanity – did we lost both, dreaming about the top of the world? Plus, I was told that is the only Musk in Iraq where Sunnis and Sheas prey together, these days. Iraqis and Iranians. And, like I was told so many times before, during and after my staying in Iraq, from so many different people: “It’s not a mater of religion; it’s a mater of barbarian hunger for power”. By the time I went to sleep that night, I already knew that the girls were not the daughters of a “chief couple”, but two educated members of a community perfectly organized to resist to the Iranian Regime. I am a cold woman, rational to my bones. Still, I knew, when I got to Ashraf, I was playing with people far stronger then me: we are not ready for the deaths (even the natural ones) in our lives – those girls, with my age, are. And still, I saw them smile on my love for the flowers. They (those millions of people who are resisting against the “no news” violence) are flowers, so strong in their fragility, so fragile in their strength. There’s nothing silly in this thought, I’m still rational to my bones: they have a feeling that we look for every day, we cry for everyday, we kill ourselves for, everyday: faith in something bigger. They believe in freedom while we survive with a complete lack of faith in the most democratic countries of the World. How could we ever, really, “help” them? That’s why I felt so lost in my heels: I belong to the generation of roses cut from their roots, who know not how to survive to the real nature of things. And I am protected for a beautiful system that I do know not how to keep alive, in the next page of History. On our way back to the road, Mr. Casaca got a phone call: it was journalist asking for a statement regarding the Irish “no” to the European Treaty: 20% of the population voted, 59% of which said no. More people then that, I believe, got together in Paris, last weekend, to show their support to the PMOI and the Iranian Resistance. Even more depressing was the fact that Mr. Casaca said “I’m in Kircuk, Iraq”, and the journalist didn’t even take the time to ask: “oh really? Why?” If USA insists in thinking that Malaki is a productive man and if EU insists that Iran should not be antagonized, Ashraf can be sold in any top secret meeting (how can an unarmed resistance survive without an American base around it – and would we know if the Americans decide to leave?). 3.800 people with no place to go. 3.800 lives without a name. Without a face. . Antonio Cano is right. One death in Iraq means nothing anymore. Not after so many deaths, that we cannot understand, truly evaluate or even fight against from our homes. But we all, each one of us, have the obligation of supporting the ones who, in Iraq, fight for life, development and freedom. It took me several weeks to start writing about my travel. I was trying to understand about the correct way of doing it, the most political and impartial one. One that could show me more like a credible writer and less like a human being. Well, I am a human being. I saw, spoke and spent time with human beings. No political, economical or social decisions can be made forgetting this small detail. No journalism should show death without explaining the richness of the life that was lost behind it – there’s nothing left to see or do when we are just bodies lying on the ground. In Ashraf, I saw clearly how weak I am, how weak my civilization is becoming. However, I shall not apologize or feel ashamed. I shall not wait for my world to crash. I shall not give up without a fight. I shall not lose freedom before I learn to cherish it. While Muslims fight against the Islamic fanaticism, Western citizens must fight against the Western’s apathy. And this is a war where every word, every vote, every step counts. My name is Ana and I am alive. My face is in picture above. I saw the flowers of Ashraf and, if I die, you’ll know. If you ever forget what being European or American is all about, remember this: West is the place where we are not just Mrs. A.

"Iraqi Provincial Elections" - Online Conference by Mr. Paulo Casaca

Ana — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:29:00 +02:00

Bellow, I post the web link that will allow you to attend, via remote access, to the conference "Iraqi Provincial Elections" hosted by Mr. Paulo Casaca (Member of the European Parliament) today, Friday, June 27th, at 5 PM (UTC), 7 PM (Paris Time)

To attend, go HERE

Mr. Casaca and a member of Babel Project have been recently invited to visit Iraq and attend some significant events, including a conference promoted in Ashraf (the PMOI base, protected by USA Army) where a petition of 3 million Shea Iraqi citizens was presented, against the Iranian Regime's presence in Iraq.

Mr. Casaca was also present at a meeting with the National Council of Iraqi Tribes, where several leaders requested the international community to monitor the next provincial elections properly and to stop sending EU funds to the Iraqi Government, since they are not reaching populations at all.

I will be posting several articles about this subject . Today's conference is only the first glimps. Feel free to join us:)

Happy Birthday

Ana — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:26:00 +02:00

May 9th, 2008,

Five years ago, I was lying in a hospital’s bed, proudly looking at my new born child. I remember forgetting all about the every day life and focus all my thoughts on the question “what will I teach you, how will you see this complex world we live in?”.

This is a luxury, I believe. “It’s easy to be strong when we actually have a choice”, I told to some friends the other day. It’s easy for me to be a strong free woman, who forgets the every day life and chooses to take a part on the “complex world” we live in. Well, not easy (being a woman is still not easy in many aspects, even in our great free Europe).

58 years ago, ROBERT SCHUMAN was sitting at some office, proudly looking at his new born project – a new, united and democratic Europe. I’m sure none of his thoughts were related to the every day life – again, a luxury of the ones who have a choice.

Today? On May 9th, 2008, I sit and think how many world issues depend directly of some very simple things – like rice, GAS, the way we treat the person sitting next to us on the bus. News come and go and some images stay on my mind, like the one of a girl being violently spanked on a Barcelona’s subway – our beautiful, free, civilized Barcelona.

While I bake the birthday cake for my own child, I think about all this. Democracy needs to be defended with the same fanaticism and competence used by Islamic, Christian or Nazi extreme groups. With the same dedication and persistence. The same exact notion of results and consequences. The same knowledge of the vital importance of the individual role we all play.

I cannot accept Democracy to be used by west middle class citizens to go to Cairo visit the pyramids and ignore the hungry populations. I cannot accept Freedom to become the right of doing nothing at all. I cannot accept bad practices to compromise human values. And I will not accept the ones who defend those values to become “out of the system” individuals.

On this perfect sunny and happy day of my life, I look at my son and think that, in this very complex world, “simple” is not an option. Resting is not an option. Ignorance is not an option. Why? Because, if we insist on it, our kids will be raised with no choice at all, in a Europe where the very simple things (like the flour I use to bake) are in jeopardy. Would my child beat a girl in the subway in his anger?

"Iran and Islamic Fanaticism"

Ana — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:19:00 +02:00

"Iran and Islamic Fanaticism" is the subject chosen by Mr. Paulo Casaca for the fourth event of the on-line debates cycle, hosted using Second Life, the virtual reality program of Linden Labs which connects more than 10 million citizens from all over the world.

The conference will take place in April 30, at 14h30 PM PST. Please register HERE.

Mr. Paulo Casaca is a member of the European Parliament and the first EU politician to use Second Life as a way to reach new publics, debate World Issues and inform about European Union themes.

The first conference, entitled "From Berlin to Baghdad - Lessons to be taken from the Iraqi drama" took place in January 18th, in Second Life, and got together more then 30 University Professors, students and Media from many different countries.

The second conference, entitled "CIA Flights to Guantanamo Bay" took place in February 22nd, in Second Life, and was subject of front page in national news, Portugal.

The third conference, entitled "Ethnic Minorities in the Middle East" took place in March 28th, in Second Life - podcast available.

If you wish to attend this conference, please REGISTER. If you are not a Second Life user, Babel Project will be glad to guide you all the way. We will create, place and identify your avatar and we will send you instructions to optimize the usage of the program.

Babel Project was created to help Educators, Institutions, Associations, Students and Media into the use of Web2.0 and 3.0.

Currently, the primary tool we use is Second Life, created by Linden Labs. Second Life, is a 3D social network, substantially rich in learning resources.

USEFUL LINKS ON THIS SUBJECT:

http://www.paulocasaca.net

http://www.secondlife.com

INFORMATION

Ana — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:40:00 +01:00

While the UN Newsletter refers "“But in the background we all are convinced there has been a very helpful role of neighbouring countries, particularly Iran, in advising everyone that the time for the moment of dialogue is now,”, the NYT Article, recently published by SOLOMON MOORE and RICHARD A. OPPEL tell us that things are not that great, that easy or that linear.

Iraq requires much more from us (citizens and part of public opinion) then a simple "I think we should stay" or "I think we should leave". It is a complex problem and, no matter how much we try to deny it, it is an EUROPEAN problem.

Somehow, I don't really believe that Iran's recent business connections to Russia, Portugal and Venezuela can be easily separated from this wide and complex problem.

History has proved that ignorance is pricey as well as "I know better" opinions.

The question is: what can we do, if we decide to do something, from the other side of the World?

Iran wants to store OIL in Sines, Portuguese port.

Ana — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:15:00 +01:00

The news was officially reported by "Diário Económico", one of the most prestigious news papers in Portugal: Iran admits to make GALP (Portuguese company) one they European partners. Also on the table of negotiations, they say "is the chance that GALP explores natural gas and oil in Iran". A story we will try to develop later here on this blog.

For more information, please read: http://news.morningstar.com/newsnet/ViewNews.aspx?article=/DJ/200801230953DOWJONESDJONLINE000709_univ.xml

From Berlin to Baghdad

Ana — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:00:00 +01:00

From Berlin to Baghdad

1. The end of history The convenient beginning is the end - the famous "end of history" of Francis Fukuyama - the convenient end being the beginning, the real beginning of a new era of democracy, tolerance, respect and freedom. The crumbling of the Soviet Union surprised the vast majority of the observers and experts that had to struggle to find a convenient explanation for the sudden end of the longest war ever fought without a single shot (that is, if we only think of the main direct battle field). Some saw the wisdom in Ronald Reagan tough stance, some others on the long containment policy - trying to forget how disastrously it failed in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East - and Mr. Fukuyama decided to amuse himself using the philosophical Hegelian dialectics of Marxism to explain the failure of its own creation. Somehow, what can only be read as an act of humour, became the most significant masterpiece on the "post - Berlin wall" doctrine, and most in the West decided to believe in the charade that made the advent of democracy so dead certain as the socialism and communism had been in the historic determinism of the Hegel-Marx cocktail (whose main cook was actually Stalin). So democracy was to rule everywhere, if you would just allow the forces of history to carry out their job.

2. History refuses to end In general terms, in the absence of any political strategy, democracy basically flourished where it had old roots but did not prevail where these roots did not exist. Some important exceptions and qualifications need however to be highlighted. The number one successful exception was clearly in East-Asia, with Taiwan and South Korea becoming fully fledged democracies and several of their neighbouring countries giving important steps in this direction; The most important qualification has to do with India, to a certain extent Mexico and Brazil, where democracy existed before, but was particularly reinforced afterwards; Other successes can be pointed out; the most spectacular to me (perhaps because I know it personally) is Cape Verde. Although a very poor country with no natural resources whatsoever, the democratic system in this small archipelago state is first class. Russia, Central Asia, nearly all of Sub-Saharan Africa, a large chunk of East Asia and a disturbingly growing slice of Latin America failed the democracy test. Of particular importance was the democratic failure in China, as it is the best example of the failure of the conventional wisdom. Here, the historic deterministic logic assumed that one just had to wait for the average Chinese to get sufficiently rich for the totalitarian state to be abandoned like a snake abandons its old skin. The possibility of this wealth becoming the motor not only of dictatorship in China but in the rest of the World was never considered as a strong possibility, but this was indeed the case. Recent events confirming China as one of the champions of World dictatorships from Burma to Zimbabwe are an evidence of how wealth did indeed become the driving force for dictatorship rather than democracy.

3. Democracy out of the Greater Middle-East Even before the fall of the wall, but particularly afterwards, democracy had a no-go area: the Greater Middle-East. Saudi Arabia and other conservative regimes in the area were believed to be the guarantee of the flow of oil to the World economy. To destabilise them - even in the name of democracy - appeared as a non-starter. Secondly, the relation between Islam and the region was and is not particularly well-understood. There was a vague idea that they could be incompatible or that there could be a sort of "Islamic democracy" as it existed in Iran, which actually is worse than all other existing dictatorships. Thirdly there was this preposterous idea that the main problem of the region had to do with the Israeli-Arab conflict and that the solution for it (presumably by the extinction of the only democracy existing in the region) would somehow be a condition for establishing democracy. In fact I believe quite the reverse: the intolerant attitude of the Arab World regarding the Jewish minority can be argued to be its most important obstacle in the way to democracy.

4. September eleven September eleven put an abrupt end to the Berlin dream of the "end of history". History was not only still going but it had really very nasty actors present in its making. After all, democracy did need a push to impose itself and certainly the Greater Middle-East could not be left out of its equation as the exceptionalism of Islam could not be accepted. The West - especially the US - suddenly found a renewed interest in promoting democracy in the Middle East and started acting correspondingly. However, as the Iraqi experience was to prove in the cruellest way, the West did neither understand the nature of the problem it faced in the region, nor did it create an intelligent way to deal with the democratic challenge in it.

5. The Iraqi disaster planning Some partially and other completely flawed arguments were used to justify the Iraqi operation and, more important, some real arguments behind the operation were hidden. Let's make a review of them. a) Imperial Iraq The first partially flawed argument was the Imperial nature of the regime, exemplified by the invasion of Kuwait or the start of the war against Iran. The invasion of Kuwait had a similar rational to the invasion of Lebanon by Syria or of Western Sahara by Morocco: the borders were an artificial heritage of colonialism and existed only to prejudge the greater country. It is true that - however powerful to the Iraqi public opinion - the argument of the "XIXth province" does not make much sense, as eventually all of the existing borders in the region could be equally contested on similar basis and arguments. It is necessary to keep in mind, however, that Saddam's occupation of Kuwait in itself was not very different from these two other cases. Regarding the war with Iran it is rather simplistic to describe it as an act of aggression of Iraq against Iran. Fred Haliday (The Middle East in International Relations, Power, Politics and Ideology, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 52) among others, makes the point. As he was lecturing in Baghdad's College of Law and Politics in the first of April 1980 during the attempted assassination of Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz in the Mustansariyah University of Baghdad by an Iranian agent, he understood than that the Iran-Iraq war was inevitable. Already by then, Iran's sponsored terrorism was mainly targeting Iraq, as it did ever since. b) The ruthless character of the regime It is obvious that Saddam Hussein was a ruthless dictator, and that he repressed brutally any dissent. Furthermore, it is true that he was the only dictator that used poison gas against its own people. However, one should put this qualification under context. Repression of Kurdish rebellion was not unique to Saddam's Iraq. Whenever confronted with open revolt, the other countries in the region - Syria, Jordan and even Egypt - did act fundamentally in a similar way to Saddam Hussein's repression of the revolt in the South and Centre of the country in 1991 or the Ramadi revolt in 1994. Furthermore, the question here was rather to know if an alternative regime to Saddam would be more respectful of human-rights than Saddam was, and of course the answer to this question given by post-2003 Iraqi reality is a clear no. c) Existing policy regarding Iraq was failing and it had to change This is quite true. The sanctions were punishing the Iraqi people and to some extent reinforcing the grip of the ruling dictatorship in the country. In any case, the sanctions were applied in a very corrupt form. The question however, is to know if there would not exist better alternatives than the one chosen by the Western coalition, and indeed there were. d) Iraqi oil could finance the operation The real difference between the Iraqi's invasion of Kuwait and other invasions that happened in the region, as well as the real difference between the character of Saddam Hussein's regime and other totalitarian regimes around the globe, has only to do with oil, and this was perceived by the majority of the political actors in the Iraqi scene. From the start, the Iraqi oil could not be thought as being part of the solution as Mr. Wolfowitz and others thought, but exactly as part of the problem, as it would raise doubts on the "democratic" intentions of the Iraqi operation and would constitute a powerful incentive for perverse forces to derail the process. The question here is not mainly that the calculations behind this reasoning failed completely, the question is that oil may have played a major role in the Iraqi disaster. Here, I have as yet no certainties on the role of oil in the decision that led to the operation. e) No alternatives to military operation There were clever and pro-Western Iraqis that had explained the possible ways forward for a Western intervention in Iraq, such as Adnan Al-Pachachi and Ayad Allawi. They understood that the Baathist ideology had crumbled, Iraq had been decades before perhaps the most advanced country in the Middle-East (with better economic, social and even political indicators than my own country, Portugal) and it became a disaster with Saddam. If not a fully-fledged democracy, it would had been possible at least to establish an authoritarian (like Jordan or Egypt) but benign state over there, which would not threat his neighbours, would give a better life to its citizens and could constitute a platform to face the fanatic beasts. To do so, you did not need much, as they correctly assessed that the Tikrit clan was ever more isolated and the bulk of Iraq would feel relieved to get read of Saddam Hussein. US departments that have often been accused of being responsible for the major blunders of the country's foreign policy, like the CIA, were backing this perspective. Why did the US prefer to embark in a very costly and risky military operation instead of this reasonable course of action? f) Weapons of Mass Destruction and links with Al Qaeda This is, as we now know with certainty, one of the biggest blunders behind the Iraqi operation. The question is clearly how was it possible for the US and UK to be so wrong and what was the reason f this tremendous error? It is useful to review here the most widely publicised Iraqi WMD fabrications. The most fantasist one did not only precise the nature and the existence of the weapons, but described in detail its storage location. It was publicised by both Human Rights Watch to the press and Baroness Nicholson in official records (see PMOI, Mission Report, l'Harmattan, 2005, Brie et al, pp. 29-32). The inspiration of the Iranian secret services to this story is quite obvious. A second famous story came out in the "The New Yorker" on March 25th 2002 and is authored by Jeffrey Goldberg. The source is an Iranian held by the secret services of the PUK in Suleymania. The story also included proof of the links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. The story and the informant were widely described as fabrications by Charles Glass, (The Northern Front, A wartime diary, SAQI, 2006), Guy Dinmore (Financial Times, May 22nd 2002) and Jason Burke (Observer, February 9, 2003). Keeping in mind the long-time co-operation of the PUK with the Iranian regime, it is not difficult to guess who originated this fabrication in the first place. The majority of the stories regarding both WMD or Al Qaeda links with Saddam Hussein's regime were investigated by Thomas E. Ricks (Fiasco, The American Military Adventure in Iraq, Penguin, 2006) and were all established as being spread by Ahmed Chalabi and associates. As the US forces seem to have understood only too late, Ahmed Chalabi was working in close co-operation with Iranian secret services. The most famous of all the fabrications on WMD - not because of its relevance, but because it got into a "State of the Union" Bush speech - was the one on Saddam Hussein's purchasing of uranium in Niger. As it was already established, the very same network that made the 1985 "Irangate", namely the Iranian agent Manucher Ghorbanifar, was responsible for this charade (the literature here is immense). The vast majority of the observers see the fantasies on Saddam Hussein's WMD and links with Al Qaeda as a perfidious plot from the Bush Administration or specific sectors within it (such as the so-called Zionist lobby, neo-conservatives, Cheney business interests or all of them together). When confronted with the fact that a lot of the sources to the fantasy have no clear connection with these groups (Human Rights Watch, The New Yorker, Collin Powel, Baroness Nicholson, PUK) these critics tend to assume being victims rather than actors of misinformation. Otherwise, when confronted with the fact that the plot revealed to be so amateurish, the same critics unanimously blame the plotters for being incompetent, apparently not understanding that this claim is inconsistent with the former ones. For such outlandish fabrications to be able to pass the scrutiny of the vast majority of the public opinion of the US (and beyond), someone not at all incompetent must have been in charge of its dissemination. There are two other strong motifs for seeing the Iranian regime and not the US administration as the ultimate source of this fairy tail. The first is that the Iranian regime is the only common denominator to all these stories, the second is that it was the Iranian regime and not the US Administration to profit from the story, all the other presumed culprits being ridiculed. g) The hidden member of the "coalition of the willing" It was only with the publication of the US Congressional report on September eleven that the international media started to pay attention to what should have been obvious from the start: the link that could be established with "modern terrorism" - that the Congressional committee considers to be identifiable almost only with Al Qaeda - was rather with the Iranian regime than with the former Iraqi one. This was quite an understatement. In what I consider to be the best and in any case is a widely respected work on terrorism, Bruce Hoffman ("Inside Terrorism", Columbia University Press, first edition 1998) identified already the "Superior Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq" and "Al Dawa" to have been the precursor of both religious and suicidal terrorism. Bruce Hoffman considers "modern terrorism" to have been born before, with the Palestinian attacks, but personally I think that what he calls religious and suicidal terrorism is indeed the new terrorism, that some authors call jihadism and include into a larger context. As Ali bin Talal Al-Jahni states in an article published December eleven 2007 in "Al Hyatt" and translated by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) special dispatch number 1789: "Indeed, resistance that fails to distinguish between civilians – including children, the elderly, and the sick – and combatants is not legitimate. Such resistance is nothing but terrorism. Murdering human beings – even if politicians, both Sunni and Shi'ite, try to excuse it using the slogan of Islam – is forbidden. This was a consensus in all Islamic schools of thought until the arrival of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Iran" The creation of modern terrorism - that is, the religious benediction of mass murder by suicidal killings - is in fact a creation of the Iranian Islamic Revolution. Even the distant Shia predecessor of modern terrorists, the famous Shea assassins from Lebanon and Syria, were targeting their victims and did not sponsor mass murder of civilians. Al Qaeda in particular, got into the modern terrorism business through the co-operation of the Iranian terrorist off-spring in Lebanon, Hizbullah (Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower, Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2006, page 173). Irrespectively of all this, no US or UK political responsible for action in Iraq could argue that they did not know that, according to indisputable evidence, according to the most reliable sources and analysts, both Al Dawa and SCIRI - as well as their Lebanese counterpart Hezbollah - were not only terrorist organisations, but actually the most important in creating modern terrorism. To organise a war in the name of the fight against terrorism in Iraq to place in charge of the country the most vivid examples of terrorism as Al Dawa and SCIRI defies imagination, but this was exactly what has been done. Moreover, the Iraqi war that was made also in the name of fighting WMD was instrumental in making possible the development of the only real running programme of WMD. 6. The Iraqi disaster on the making The implementation of the Iraqi operation was done according to the logic of its planning. Iranian demands were rapidly and consistently fulfilled, from bombing and killing of its opponents in Iraq; to dismantle the Iraqi State (beginning with the Armed forces and the police); to classify Tribes as "back warded"; and to lavishly subsidise religious structures. The West promised democracy, but instead, it imposed an Islamic Revolution in Iraq. The autopsy of this blunder is yet to be made, but some sketchy traits are already clear. Going through recent bibliography about the Iraqi specifically or the US and the UK in relation with the Iraqi operation, one gets an image of a leadership deeply ignorant, incompetent and hooked on action at any price. This is certainly the fundamental factor to explain how things turned out so badly, but it is not enough. To find out the real dimensions of the problem, the UK may be a better playground, as the UK leadership can be taken to suffer less of these three diseases. "Occupational hazards" from Rory Stewart is a first hand account of a top civil servant acting as Governor and assistant Governor in two Southern Iraqi provinces in 2003/2004. It shows how the UK actively backed the Iranian occupation of the country, for which the author does not feel any remorse anyway. It is my conviction that only a large Iranian penetration in the main decision centres of the West can explain what happened. In other words, for understanding the dimension and reason why of the disaster, one has to assume that, besides the now jailed former Congressman Bob Ney, there are others in the central structures of power (power in the political, media and civil society dimensions) acting on behalf of the Iranian regime. Actually, how can we understand that the official policy of the US is still to back Mr. Maliki as Prime-Minister of Iraq after all the evidence he gave that he obeys to Iranian interests? One can doubt the reports that show him, already in 1983, as the master minder of his party's terrorist attacks against the US Embassy in Kuwait, but one cannot ignore the reality that US Generals are witnessing and transmitting from Iraq. 6. US new policy and beyond In the beginning of 2007 with the nomination of General Patraeus as the high commander of US forces in Iraq, a long term strategy based on common sense and knowledge of realities seemed to have finally made its way to Iraq. Although the old appeasement policy towards the Iranian regime and its representatives in Iraq continued, as its continuation ultimately did not depend on the new US military command, a new policy confronting Teheran in Iraq and approaching Iraq nationalists can be clearly identified. From the beginning of the Allied intervention one could perceive that the Iranian Pasdaran - the mother of all terrorist organisations - was behind most of the troubled faced by the coalition, but only in 2007 was this fact repeatedly stated by the US leadership, that in reality, went as far as to include the Pasdaran in the list of the terrorist organisations. Regarding the Iraqi nationalist insurgent forces - that is, those who acted because of their national convictions rather than of their international sponsorship - the US leadership developed a truce and dialogue, both in the so-called Shea as in the so-called Sunni sectors. This action did not only allow for a significant improvement of the security situation but it also helped to isolate the international sponsored terrorist movements such as Al Qaeda and the Badr Brigades. However, this is only the beginning of change, and the process might derail at any moment. While a Government dominated by Iranian stooges is in place in Baghdad it will be impossible to find any reasonable solution to the urgent problems of Iraq, be it in settling refugees and displaced people, increasing the level of security to tolerable levels or starting the economic activity.

Mr. Paulo Casaca hosts Conference in Second Life

Ana — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:38:00 +01:00

TO ANY CAFEBABEL.COM USERS INTERESTED ON THIS EVENT: PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO irah_anatine@hotmail.com. WE WILL PROVIDE YOU "USER FRIENDLY" AVATAR'S IN ORDER TO ALLOW YOU TO ATTEND.

AZORES SCORE IN THE UNIVERSE…OF SPATIAL TECNOLOGIES

Ana — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:40:00 +01:00

The Satellites Monitor Station of ESA (European Spatial Agency) in Santa Maria Island will officially open on January 17th, 2008. A small step for Europe, a huge step for Azores, that turned this project into the cradle of a policy, clearly oriented to the development of top technologies. An idea which, in the opinion of José Contente (Regional Secretary of Housing and Equipment), has already largely contributed for Azores to be faced, not as an ultra periferical region of Europe, but as the center of the Atlantic Ocean…

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This project aims to monitor ATV’s (Automated Transfer Vehicle) launched in the European Center of Guiana to support the International Space Station (for example, provide goods to astronauts in orbit)?
Not necessarily, even if that is, indeed the main goal. The ESA project in Santa Maria has innumerous potential usages and applies to several missions. That includes monitoring ATV’s, but also the general observation of Earth. Continuing, we can say that the Mobile Station (we already call it a permanent one, because it will remain there) has the first specific intent of monitoring, through telemetry reception, the rockets launched from the French Guiana Kourou Station. During the trajectory, a very important process (disembarkation, when the rocket parts from the launcher) happens right above Santa Maria Island. That’s why Santa Maria was chosen?
Yes, it was the place ESA chose, because of the privileged location. And we are also very happy, since this is the first ESA project being developed in Portuguese territory. It was the first time that the so called “geostrategical interest” of Azores Islands has some real impact when it comes to spatial technologies subjects. What do you mean?
This Station is fundamental for the birth of what it can become a “Cluster” in Regional Economy related to Spatial Technologies. There’s a path that began with this project and others are about to come. Like OceanEye, an idea from the Portuguese company EDISOFT. They will surely take advantage of the synergies created with ESA in order to build a Center of observation of the North Atlantic Ocean. On the other hand, the Azores Government, in the figure of Regional Secretary of Housing and Equipment, is in the core group of NEREUS, and an association is being created to integrate all the European regions that use spatial technology. What I’m trying to say is, we are striking to work in practical solutions that will bring, in medium term, qualified employment and of course, revenues for Azores… What measurements, in your opinion, should be taken in order to take the best out of this opportunity, in an Economic, Social and Scientific way? So it’s not just the happy marriage between a certain administration and geostrategic interest, but a solid change, with consequences and roots near the general citizens?
I think this program has already contributed a great deal so that Azores are faced, not as a ultra periferic region of Europe, but like the center of the Atlantic Ocean. The positive consequences are already here…It will be a local company SEGMA, from [EDA Group] to grant all the electric maintenance of the Space Station and the workers were coached for that in ESA European centers. In a more local way, the tourist business in Santa Maria will obviously benefit from the venue of more and different visitors to the island (like the ones coming for conferences and investigation). But there is also a very global perspective and the domino effect is amazing: This OceanEye project, for instance, has a fundamental interest, both for Portugal and Azores, mainly because of the dimension of our EEZ (Exclusive Economical Zone). It’s not enough to speak about the Green Paper of the Oceans, the European Maritime Safety Agency and the responsibilities of our country when it comes to the ocean policies, just in a rhetorical way. For us, it’s fundamental that concrete facts and actions, bring political intentions into practice. Consequently, when we talk about turning Portugal to the Sea and the Hypercluster of the Ocean Economy, we must keep this in mind: only practical actions will allow us to conquer the space (in this case, not only maritime space, but space in a global way…). Finally, and also as a consequence of all of these processes, Azores Space Company is being created. It’s a concourse of EDISOFT, INSA (Aerospace Engineering and Services, Spain) and EDA, aiming to produce, in S. Miguel Island, IT Engineering Systems. This is also a great challenge for Azores University and INOVA Institute, since qualified Human Resources will be necessary… So, Azores Space is not joint company to manage the Spatial Station in Santa Maria, but a whole new project, in S. Miguel, fruit of the contacts made within Spatial Technologies field of action?
Yes, exactly. Azores Space is a distinct project and has nothing to do with ESA. At this point, we have, not one, but three projects related to ST: ESA Station, OceanEye (both in Santa Maria) and Azores Space, which has already registered the name and normal legal procedures are taking place. This last Company will be installed in Lagoa Technological Park (or other public location) and will produce IT Systems…”made in Azores”. Usually, when we talk about Space, Oceans and these types of projects, we associate it to Science and Technology. However, in this case, it’s the Regional Secretary of Housing and Equipment taking supervision…
The project belongs to the Azorean Regional Government and we all work for the same. However, we retain the Telecommunications competence and all these projects which are related to it. The infrastructures required to guarantee the interest of ESA in Santa Maria, for example, where mainly related to communication conditions… Even if Azores has a privileged geographic localization, the truth is Portugal is still far behind most European countries when it comes to, for example, Human Resources, a fundamental attraction factor to this type of project. Was the negotiation process complicated? What are the main problems of calling projects with this projection to Azores?
The ESA project started during the government of Eng. António Guterres (Portugal Prime Minister), even if the partnership was signed only during this legislature. But Azores had an important role in all this. We had to grant ESA that all the conditions (related mainly, I repeat, to Telecommunications issues) were ensured for the success of the mobile Station… What conditions?
They are inserted on what we call “Terrestrial Segment of Infrastructure”. This includes the platform where the Station was going to be installed, communications structures, electrical supplies and even the localization (that is Azorean public terrain). We did our share, so ESA understood that we were committed. In fact, when it comes to this project, all of the investments were made exclusively by ESA (in the terms of Equipment and Spatial Equipment) and the Azorean Regional Government, using our own public budget, not national resources. Those infra-structures were inaugurated in November 3rd 2005, even before the protocol signature, in November 26th of the same year, correct?
Yes, that is correct. We had to invest (approximately 1 million euros) in order for the protocol to become a reality. Now, on January 17th 2008, the Station will be officially open and fully operational. The first ATV to be watched will be Jules Verne, launched by Ariene 5 and that’s predicted to happen during the first semester of 2008. Is there an official date yet?
That is an ESA responsibility. Our concern was to guarantee that the Station would be fully operational from the beginning of 2008. And we are glad to say “mission accomplished”. ESA’s budget, estimated at 2904 million Euros for 2008 is supported by a quote paid for by all member States. But it also includes what is called the “geographic return”, which means that ESA will invest in each country (when it comes to partnership with companies and suppliers) more or less the same value of the paid quote. Is Santa Maria’s Station included in this “quid pro quo”?
Well, Portugal contributes with something like 10 million Euros for ESA. Azores Regional Government just added one million to this budget. Naturally, aiming to insure a partnership in which we also want to be included. In the near future, Portugal and ESA will accord (and Azores wants to have an active part in that, we already sent that message to the Republic Government) when it comes to the maintenance and daily work of the Station. In our perspective, this project should continue to include Azores as a full right partner. After all, it’s a work being developed in Azores, using Azorean resources… This is interview is also available in SECOND LIFE. PLEASE VISIT OUR PROJECT IN A.BRIDGES or contact us for more information.