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After Iraq- a glimpse of a possible MidEast future

by René | January 10, 2008 at 12:56 pm | 316 views | 2 comments
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A report from the new Middle East—and a glimpse of its possible future

by Jeffrey Goldberg, Atlantic Monthly, Jan-Feb 2008

Not long ago, in a decrepit prison in Iraqi Kurdistan, a senior interrogator with the Kurdish intelligence service decided, for my entertainment and edification, to introduce me to an al-Qaeda terrorist named Omar. “This one is crazy,” the interrogator said. “Don’t get close, or he’ll bite you.”

Omar was a Sunni Arab from a village outside Mosul; he was a short and weedy man, roughly 30 years old, who radiated a pure animal anger. He was also a relentless jabberer; he did not shut up from the moment we were introduced. I met him in an unventilated interrogation room that smelled of bleach and paint. He was handcuffed, and he cursed steadily, making appalling accusations about the sexual practices of the interrogator’s mother. He cursed the Kurds, in general, as pig-eaters, blasphemers, and American lackeys. As Omar ranted, the interrogator smiled. “I told you the Arabs don’t like the Kurds,” he said. I’ve known the interrogator for a while, and this is his perpetual theme: close proximity to Arabs has sabotaged Kurdish happiness.

A realistic analysis of the Middle East from a correspondent who has spent many years in the area.


January 10, 2008 at 12:56 pm by René, 316 views, 2 comments

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good stuff:

René, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Thanks, Rob, I hope you read the whole original article. I think Jeffrey Goldberg has a better handle on the overall situation than most of our politicians.

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Rob Walker
First Flagged at 4:37 PM, Jan 10, 2008 by Rob Walker

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