Jason Ditz - Antiwar.com Blog

The Barefoot Strip

The Free Gaza Movement’s chartered boat “Dignity” arrived earlier today in the Gaza Strip, loaded down with humanitarian aid supplies for the blockaded populace, but there’s one thing they probably didn’t think to pack, and is going to be increasingly hard to come by for your average Gazan.

Shoes.

Yes, shoes. Israel has reportedly banned shoes and other clothing from being imported into the Gaza Strip, claiming that “they could be used in producing military uniforms.”

Now, humanity has been making shoes for itself for at least 10,000 years, and there’s no denying that some of those shoes have been put the military use in that time. Still, its something one can at the very least consider a “dual use technology.”

Of course, with some Gazans finding electric car technology as a solution to harshly curbed fuel imports, the production of shoes seems well within their technological capabilities. But expensive and scarce materials will make satisfying the demands of the strip’s million and a half residents for footwear extremely difficult if not impossible.

No Noam on Base?

A group of South Korean military officers is pressing a court to overturn the militaryâ€™s ban, announced earlier this year, on books which it considers dangerously pro-North Korean, anti-US, or anti-capitalist. The military says the â€œseditiousâ€ books would hinder the concentration of soldiers, and harm the militaryâ€™s â€œmental power.â€ The officers say the move is censorship and unconstitutional.

The list reportedly includes 23 books, including two by US author Noam Chomsky which were listed for being â€œanti-government and anti-US.â€ One of those books is Year 501: The Conquest Continues.

‘King of Salsa’ Turned Accused Spy Speaks of His Magical Powers

Iranian-born British Army interpreter Daniel James, who is accused of spying for Iran, has too interesting of a backstory not to mention. With a background in body building and kick boxing, James says he eventually rose to the title of “Danny James, King of Salsa.” And that’s not even the funny part.

He apparently also traveled to Cuba at some point, during which he became a priest in a native religion and learned some magic. This came in really handy when he was sent to Afghanistan as an interpreter for General David Richards, as James told the court he “did black magic for General Richards to protect him from the Taliban.”

Al-Qaeda’s Moroccan Swedish Iraqi Leader

It appears that the US raid in Mosul we reported earlier this month which killed 11, including several women and children, was in fact the same raid that killed Abu Qaswarah, the much ballyhooed al-Qaeda in Iraq second in command.

Qaswarah has an interesting background. A native of Morocco, he held Swedish citizenship, allegedly has connections to the Brandbergen Mosque. He somehow parlayed his North African slash Scandinavian background into the role of senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leader in northern Iraq.

‘Pro-Islam’ Talking Doll Too Silly Not to Mention

I know this doesn’t really have to do with much of anything we cover, its just way too funny not to mention. Several local Fox affiliates are running a short (slightly over 1 minute long) news broadcast about Fisher Price’s Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo dolls. While no one seems to have problems with the cuddling, the report sees some serious problems with the cooing.

Putting aside for a minute that Islam is at least as anti-Satan as Christianity (and the very garbled speech that they’re concluding even said that) what really stands out to me is that although they claim to have a mass marketed doll in the United States proclaiming “Satan is the King!” they’re focusing on its ostensible statements with respect to Islam. Indeed, if you go to the comments section of one of the more widely viewed Youtube versions most of the people seem a lot more worked up about the Islam aspect than the Satan aspect.

I don’t know how this story could possibly be any more ridiculous, unless of course we were somehow able to tie it in with this. That’s probably asking for too much though, right?

Summary Executions in Iraq

The Independent’s Robert Fisk has a great article tonight about the summary executions being carried out in Saddam’s old intelligence HQ, now a “high-security detention facility.”

Of particular note is that the government’s “security officials” are so inept that they couldn’t even properly hang a man with a rope. After several failed attempts they just gave up and shot the guy in the head.

Though Iraq has only officially executed 33 people since the reintroduction of the death penalty in 2004, these killings are completely off the record, and the Independent says there have been hundreds of them.