If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Chemora, like several small towns in Algeria, is caught in an interesting chasm of traditional and modern, and it's hard to tell how visible traditional practices will be in the near future.
Thirty years ago I rode across the Western Sahara with Polisario guerrillas, who are very much like the rebels and Islamists in Mali.
Algerian independence was a just cause. A struggle against colonialism that should have won over all that France counted as humanists, on both the left and the right. Except that sometimes it happens that a just cause employs unjust means.
It may seem crass to make a dictators' dead pool. But given the murderous history of some of strongmen who might be on the list, it is not unreasonable to think through the means and implications of their departure.
Algeria can no longer pretend that it has no vital interest in or responsibility for the outcome of the Western Sahara situation. Abductions of foreign nationals from their sovereign territory make Algeria a partner in the discussion, whether Algeria wishes it or not.
The Arab Spring will produce a mix of individuals subscribing to old and new ideologies. But as long as they are committed to power sharing and the voluntary nonviolent transfer of power, the revolution and the sacrifices would have been worth it.
We spend 15 times more to kill each other than to heal. We must correct that.
Boko Haram, Nigeria's most notorious outlaw extremist group, shows that al Qaeda's message is capable of leaping across stretches of geography, to target and propagate in locales in which both hardship and anti-Western sentiments collide.
While mass protests and civil unrest were unprecedented in much of the rest of the region prior to January of this year, Algeria has had a long history of political upheaval.
The world's most wanted terrorist was a block away from the army garrison. This incident is not the first time the Pakistan Army has made claims that strained credulity.
Algeria embraced the popular overthrow of Benali and Mubarak with happiness and pride. More onerously, however, these developments are a sobering reminder of Algeria's recent history.
The Saudi dynasty and King Abdullah seem to have become more generous recently. King Abdullah bin Abdul bin Abdul Aziz promised the Saudis $36 billion...
In this crucial post-coup stage, women who fought for change should heed the betrayals of gender rights in Algeria and Iran during periods of crisis.
We are all totally psyched how you've dragged yourselves kicking and screaming from the dark ages into the middle 19th Century. We've got to warn you though, self-rule isn't all a bed of roses.
If Western nations understood what a true Islamic republic looked like, they wouldn't be nearly as jarred or frightened by the recent wave of popular protests spreading across the Middle East.
The Algerian people have promised to march every Saturday until democratic change is introduced; the question is, on which side of the line will the United States stand when the chaos is unleashed?
