Category Archives: Books

..such a governor could not ever again preside over the affairs of Takrit

“To break someone’s eye,” is an old Bedouin expression, which was turned into state policy in Iraq through the employment of a rapist like ‘Aziz Salih Ahmad. The people of Takrit were famous under the Ottomans for the way they would “break the eye” of any non-Takriti governor who  might be imposed on them by central government. The newly appointed governor, along with his wife and children, would be invited for a welcoming feast in the ho use of a local notable, On the way back, the party would be ambushed by a group of armed masked men. The governor would be forced to watch his wife being gang-raped, after which the men would whip off their masks, show the governor their faces, and disappear into the night, killing no one.  Such a governor could not ever again preside over the affairs of Takrit.  By the late 1970s, the most famous “aristocratic” Baghdadi families were having their eyes “broken” by the new upstart Ba’thi rulers, even though these families had long ceased to wield political influence or even economic power in the country. Young women from such families were kidnapped off the streets on their way to and from some of the famous clubs of Baghdad. They would disappear for a few weeks, and then reappear. Everybody would know what had happened to them, but no one would dare (or want) to say anything about it.

- Kanan Makiya, Cruelty and Silence (1993)

..my breakdown and nationalist appeal seemed to impress the interrogator

Up to this point my interrogator had been speaking very quietly. Then he suddenly screamed in a voice that almost brought the roof down.

“I shall bring him this instant and hang him up here! GUARDS! Bring his father. Bring that bastard father of his!”

The tears almost drowned me out when he said this. I couldn’t see a thing and felt like a complete degenerate for having brought such pain on the man who brought me up.

“Sayyidi, God preserve you, please, sayyidi, my father is paralyzed. He was one of Iraq’s nationalist officers in 1941, He is a sick man. Please, sayyidi, God preserve and watch over you, he is a great Arab nationalist.”

My breakdown and nationalist appeal seemed to impress the interrogator. I felt he respected me for the fact that I was trying to protect my father. Maybe he hadn’t known that my father had spent four years in the prisons of the ancien regime because of his role in 1941. The Rashid ‘Ali affair in 1941 is a big thing with the Ba’thists.

The following day, when I was on my ten-second Monkey Run to the toilet, I saw Nabeel, half naked, in filthy rags, just like everyone else. Nabeel had been playing the role of informer in a big charade prepared for my benefit. He was in the same boat as I was! Worse in fact. I spent forty-two days inside and was decreed innocent, whereas he, poor chap, got life imprisonment.

- “Omar”, quoted by Kanan Makiya in Cruelty and Silence (1993)

..promptly terminated the lifeblood of the intifada

Five to ten thousand armed Iraqi Shi’ites, organized in small bands and recruited from refugees expelled by the Ba’th during the late 1970′s and 1980′s, entered the country through the marshlands around Basra on the second or third day of the uprising. They were units from the Badr Brigade, organized by the Supreme Islamic Council headed by Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim. [..] The first action of these angry young men pouring in from Iran seems to have been the storming of the Sheraton Hotel and the burning of the bars and casinos of the city of Basra. They then proclaimed the establishment of a Shi’i Islamic Republic in Basra. Surrendering or captured army personnel were executed, occasionally in “trials” presided over by clerics. These judgments were implemented on men who were in the eyes of the rebels “enemies of God”. [..]

Such violence, justified in the name of Islam, but more often than not motivated by the desire for vengeance, promptly terminated the lifeblood of the intifada: the flow of defections from the army. This explains the ability of the regime to regroup its shattered forces and strike back.  In Najaf, as we have seen, attempts were made to check the descent into anarchy by resident notables and ‘ulema‘, learned religious men, acting through the prestige of Ayatollah Khoei. But in Basra and Kerbala, whatever leadership there was came from Iraqis based in Tehran. These are also the cities where some of the worst rebel excesses occured.

- Kanan Makiya, Cruelty and Silence (1993)

Gladnytt fra 1975: Endelig fred i Kambodsja

Det hendte 75 - Fred i Kambodsja etter 25 år

Kambodsja gjennomgikk 25 års fødselsveer

Det gamle kongeriket Kambodsja fikk gjennomgå 25 års fødselsveer før den egentlige oppbyggingen av landet i det hele tatt kunne påbegynnes.

1949. Kongedømmet Kambodsja ble en selvstendig stat innenfor den franske unionen.

1953. De pågående kampene mellom franskmenn og vietnamesere spredte seg inn i Kambodsja. Kambodsjansk gerilja begynte å delta i frigjøringskrigen mot franskmennene.

1954. Genève-konferansen satte stopp for krigen i Indo-Kina. Kampene avtok og franskmennene trakk seg tilbake.

1955. Kambodsja ble helt selvstendig. Kong Norodom Sihanouk frasa seg tittelen, men beholdt posten som statssjef. [..]

1969. General Lon Nol ble utnevnt til statsminister med vidtgående fullmakter.

1970. Fyrst Sihanouk ble styrtet ved et militærkupp ledet av Lon Nol. Statsministeren proklamerte republikk og utnevnte seg selv til marskalk. Sihanouk flyktet til Peking. USAs daværende president Richard Nixon tillot amerikanske og sør-vietnamesiske styrker å invadere Kambodsja i sin kamp mot FNL. I Peking dannet Sihanouk eksilregjeringen GRUNK.

1971. Den nasjonal frigjøringsfronten FUNK hadde stor fremgang og kontrollerte snart den største delen av landet.

1973. USAs mest intense bombing av Indo-Kina ble innledet mot FUNK-geriljaen. I august ble bombingen stanset av den amerikanske kongressen. I Kambodsja proklamerte Lon Nol unntakstilstand.

1974. FUNK rykket inn i den tidligere kambodsjanske hovedstaden Gudong. Byen ble imidlertid gjenerobret av regjeringsstyrkene, men da geriljaen innledet en kraftig offensiv ved årsskiftet, ble Lon Nol-regjeringen tvunget til å overgi den ene viktige stillingen etter den andre. USAs president Gerald Ford krevde ytterligere bevilgninger til Lon Nol-regimet, men fikk avslag av kongressen.  Dermed var også geriljaens seier et faktum.

- Det hendte 75

Book roundup: Steampunk, Øvre Richter Frich, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Nina Witoszek

Ann & Jeff Vandermeer - Steampunk

Ann & Jeff Vandermeer – Steampunk

An anthology of some bad, some good, bookended by diametrically opposed visions of steampunk: Jess Nevins, who argues that only by dedicating one’s art to the destruction of capitalism can one do Proper Steampunk, and Rick Klaw, who says it’s all one big party so just come on in and enjoy yourself.

Recommended: No. Stories seem selected more to display the breadth of the genre than for quality.

Øvre Richter Frich – Rød tåke (1937)

Frich is kind of a cult author in Norway for his once massively popular racist thrillers about Jonas Fjeld, an Aryan übermensch who goes about beating up anarchists.  To judge from this novel, at least, Frich is to thrillers what H. P. Lovecraft was to horror: A “bad” writer with peculiar obsessions, but a compelling way of putting them on paper.

Recommended: Ironically.

Ayaah Hirsi Ali - Nomad

Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Nomad (2010)

Everything was so much easier back when oppressed third world women kept their mouths shut and let Westerners speak on their behalf.

Recommended: Yes.  It is a relief to read current feminism that isn’t an anguished search for relevance, but actually matters.

Nina Witoszek – The Origins of the ‘Regime of Goodness’ – Remapping the Cultural History of Norway (2011)

What a pleasant surprise: A look at the roots of Norway’s identity that is genuinely insightful, or at least quite interesting. Witoszek discounts Romanticism as a factor in Norwegian cultural history, and traces our identity to a meeting between peasant individualism, Christianity, and Enlightenment values – plus a dash of homegrown Taoism.

Recommended: Yes.

.. a unique, Norwegian version of “Tao”

Askeladden is no superman – he is not even a hero in any conventional sense of the word. He is a genius in the guise of a village idiot – the only type of genius that Norwegians tolerate and cherish. His laziness is a noble, respectable laziness because it can at any time yield to feats of imagination and daring. [..] He is no saint and no philosopher. His wisest and most memorable words are: “That was really something”. He is the greatest ecohumanist in the Norwegian tradition.

Most interesting for us is the way in which Askeladden performs his various tasks in contrast to the way in which they are attempted by his brothers.  The implicit moral is that everything is possible if one does not try too hard.  The point is staying properly attuned to Nature.  Philosophically, then, the moral of Askeladden is to demonstrate the Right Way of conduct – a unique, Norwegian version of “Tao”. [..]

The principle underlying Askeladden’s behavior is wu wei, i.e. “action in inaction”, or “action in accordance with the laws of nature”. In contrast to the yu wei (forceful striving) exercised by his brothers, Askeladden practices no-striving and non-action in the Taoist sense.

- Nina Witoszek, The Origins of the ‘Regime of Goodness’, Remapping the Cultural History of Norway (2011)

Dette er en ren forretning for oss

Den amerikanske utenriksminister Henry Kissinger og sjahen av Iran møttes i Zürich den 18. februar. Sjahen kunne opplyse at Iran var villig til å erstatte den oljen Israel kunne komme til å gi slipp på ved å inngå en fredsavtale med Egypt.

Ren forretning

På spørsmål om det kunne tenkes at Israel ville få olje fra Iran som erstatning hvis Israel overlot oljekildene ved Abu Rudels i Sinai til Egypt, sa sjahen at Iran ikke brydde seg om hvor tankskipene gikk hen etter at de var lastet i Iran.  Dette er en ren forretning for oss, sa de.

Ingen boikott

Sjahen av Iran gjorde det også klart at hans land ikke hadde interesse av å gå med i en eventuell økonomisk boikott mot Israel. Iran var heller ikke interessert i å delta i en eventuell ny oljeboikott mot noe vestlig land, sa sjahen.

- Det hendte 75

Den inferiøre rases trang til underkastelse

- Hva vil De? spurte hun med en ro som nesten forferdet henne.

Negeren stanset et øieblikk. Hans hår hang om den rynkete pannen, mens en tynn blodstripe rant ned fra såret. Det var som om han i et eneste lite øieblikk følte den inferiøre rases trang til underkastelse.

- Jeg byr dem 100 000 dollars for å bringe mig bort herfra, sa hun hurtig med ånden i halsen.

Den gamle negers heslige ansikt fikk atter sitt grusomme preg. Han lo rått, og gikk imot henne med de svære gorillahendene krummet av blodlyst.

Hun bøide sig behending under hans armer og løp bak sofaen. Men hun snublet, og i neste øieblikk var negeren over henne. Hans fingrer søkte hennes hvite hals.

- De må dø, sa han hest. Hvite miss må dø…

- Øvre Richter Frich, Den røde tåke (1937)

.. og med dette forstår vi med en gang at det norsk litteraturdebatt trenger aller mest akkurat nå, som bloddråper i haibefengt hav, er en nyutgivelse av Jonas Fjeld-serien, klønete forsøkt rensket for rasistiske skildringer.  Tenk så gøy det vil bli!

The Las Vegas moment

There is a Las Vegas moment in every culture, when the electricity goes on. It represents exactly what the real Las Vegas means in the West: it is a space where you can throw off the fetters of traditional morality and values, where you can gamble and fornicate. You can indulge yourself in secret, and then sneak home to respectability. This Las Vegas of big neon lights and modern temptations that appears in every culture is something the elders and preservers of morality cannot police, because its power lies outside their understanding. This contact with modernity is a death blow to their ancient culture and the old ways of life.

Culture is accumulated human experience, an anatomy of obstacles and techniques for overcoming them. Traditional culture breaks down once that first contact with modernity is made. For next comes the radio, the TV, and the washing machine; then a rush of neon lights, cell phones, and new roads, all of which usurp the stories of the grandmothers and the elders, stories that used to hold communities together.

[..] Modernity is not a controlled zone that you can visit and then leave, then return and ask for forgiveness. Modernity is a permanent state that replaces your former outlook. You can try to fight it, but it is irresistible. It sucks in your young.

- Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Nomad

(And, of course, the internet is to the city what the city was to rural life.)

Book roundup: Julian Simon, Brian Aldiss, Norman Doidge, and Ken Follett

Julian Simon - The Ultimate Resource 2

Julian L. Simon – The Ultimate Resource 2 (1981/1996)

This must be how it once felt to read Darwin: If this is correct, it changes everything. Many of Simon’s conclusions are less controversial now than in 1981, but the core idea, the anti-Malthusian algorithm – it’s dynamite. Don’t experience it second-hand.

Recommended: Yes.

Brian Aldiss – Greybeard (1964)

Robbed of its ability to have children, human civilization goes mad, slowly wastes away, and dies singing “Daisy, Daisy” to itself.

Recommended: Yes.

Norman Doidge - The Brain that Changes Itself

Norman Doidge – The Brain That Changes Itself (2007)

Beware/rejoice: Your brain shapes itself by what you use it for. Also: Hey, let’s rethrone Freud!

Recommended: Partly. The science is interesting. The book suffers from anecdotes and “one idea to rule them all” syndrome.

Den Norske Turistforeningens årbok 1950

Peek into the lost world of rural Norway, before it became a zombie culture.

Recommended: Oddly, yes.

Brian Aldiss - Non-Stop

Brian Aldiss – Non-Stop (1958)

The guys in WALL-E had it easy, this generation ship has descended into outright barbarism, and is ruled by a priest caste of psychoanalysts.

Recommended: Yes, though it all falls apart in the end.

Ken Follett – Fall of Giants (2010)

The 20th century told as a novel, written so that even the dimmest of potential readers won’t feel excluded.

Recommended: No.

Instead of this, read: Michael Moorcock’s Between the Wars series.