Response to Karmalised concerning Dr. Kamal Qadir and this Weblog
In an article entitled "Why is Dr. Kamal Sayyid Qadir still in jail?," Diane Warth at the weblog Karmalised said:Don't count on certain Kurdish bloggers to call for an investigation. They're too absorbed with supporting the freedom to criticise Muslims in the most offensive ways possible to be worried about the fate of Kurdish academics who refuse to tow the implicit line imposed by the ruling families of their great new democracy.If you click on the link for "Don't count on certain Kurdish bloggers," it is "deja vu all over again." The link leads you to The Is-Ought Problem weblog. This weblog. I am that "certain blogger." The charge that I have failed to criticize the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for its treatment of Dr. Kamal Sayyid Qadir is demonstrably false. Anyone who bothered to read this weblog before making such an allegation would know that. I have repeatedly criticized the KRG for its treatment of Dr. Qadir. As a result, Ms. Warth's allegation is not only false, but slanderous. I most recently criticized the KRG for its treatment of Dr. Qadir and Hawez Hawezi, a reporter for the weekly newspaper Hawlati, in an article published on March 27, 2006 entitled, "An open letter to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) from a friend in the U.S." With regard to Mr. Hawezi, I said: On March 18, 2006, Kurdish Media reported that a political party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), arrested Hawlati correspondent Hawez Hawezi because he wrote an article critical of Kurdistan’s administration. In addition to the obvious trampling of freedom of speech, what is a political party doing arresting anyone?With regard to Dr. Dr. Kamal Qadir (aka Kamal Karim), I said: On March 26 and 27, 2006, Reuters and The New York Times reported that Dr. Kamal Qadir (aka Kamal Karim) was sentenced to one and one half years in prison for "defaming" the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masoud Barzani, in articles on a Kurdish website that accused Barzani and his Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of corruption and abuse of power. Most Americans will not be impressed by Judge Faridoun Abdullah's explanation that:Long predating Ms. Warth's article, I criticized the KRG for its treatment of Dr. Qadir in a December 19, 2005 article entitled, "Kurdistan Regional Government Endangering Freedom of Speech For Kurds in Turkey?" The entire article is devoted to Dr. Qadir's case. The article concludes:"We helped him. We took into consideration that he is an academic and has served in the education field. So we sentenced him to a year and a half. Otherwise we would have sentenced him to five years."Americans will also not be reassured by the fact that Dr. Qadir was originally sentenced to thirty years in prison. How can the Iraqi Kurdistan credibly argue that Kurds in Turkey have a right to freedom of speech when its own citizens do not have that right? How can the KRG expect Turkey to afford its Kurdish residents greater rights than the KRG gives to its own citizens? If a Kurd in Turkey is prosecuted, like Mr. Pamuk, for "denigrating Turkishness" for stating that 30,000 people have died in Turkey's Kurdish conflict, how can the KRG complain?Still earlier, on December 17, 2005, I criticized the KRG for its arrest of Dr. Qadir in an article entitled, "Will Iraqi Kurdistan Teach Turkey About Freedom of Speech?." Again, the entire article is about Dr. Qadir. As for criticizing the "ruling families" of Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as supporting Dr. Qadir, in my "Open letter to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) from a friend in the U.S.," I specifically noted: The Spring 2006 edition of The Middle East Quarterly had an article by Michael Rubin entitled, "Dissident Watch: Kamal Sayid Qadir." The article reported that, "the Barzani family has accumulated up to US$2 billion since Masoud Barzani returned to the region from exile in 1991. After Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on Iraqi Kurdish corruption, its reporter received death threats." The article went on to note that, "foreigners visiting Erbil prisons privately report individuals incarcerated after failing to pay kickbacks to or accept ghost partnerships with Barzani family members." The article concluded:"Qadir's imprisonment came a day after President George W. Bush received Barzani in the White House, calling the Kurdish leader, 'a man of courage … a man who has stood up to a tyrant.' Such words might be better applied to Qadir." In addition, each of these articles was republished by Kurdish Media: An open letter to the Kurdistan Regional Government from a friend in the US Kurdistan Regional Government endangering freedom of speech for Kurds in North Kurdistan? Will Iraqi Kurdistan teach Turkey about freedom of speech? As for my "supporting the freedom to criticise Muslims," I will first note that my article "Kurdistan Regional Government Endangering Freedom of Speech For Kurds in Turkey?" quotes, and indeed expressly relies upon, the Muslim principle of reciprocity set forth in Number 13 of "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths" in Hadith in al-Bukhari, as well as Mishkat-el-Masabih. Most importantly, supporting someone's fundamental and inalienable right to criticize a religion, any religion, is not the same as an intent or desire to criticize that religion or its adherents. "I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." This weblog has consistently supported freedom of speech in Iraqi Kurdistan. Both freedom of speech to criticize the government, and freedom of speech to criticize purported religious "authorities" who issue fatal fatwas against authors of books. Finally, I am posting this here, as opposed to first contacting Ms. Warth directly, only because comments on the Karmalised weblog are disabled, and I cannot find an e-mail address for Ms. Warth. Then again, Ms. Warth didn't bother to contact me before, or even after, she leveled her charges against me. |
posted by Charles Chapman at 4/11/2006 01:15:00 AM
Comments on "Response to Karmalised concerning Dr. Kamal Qadir and this Weblog"
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Vladimir said ... (4/13/2006 8:06 AM) :
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Mizgîn said ... (4/13/2006 5:21 PM) :
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Diane Warth said ... (4/25/2006 5:31 PM) :
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Charles Chapman said ... (4/25/2006 6:24 PM) :
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Diane Warth said ... (4/25/2006 7:45 PM) :
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Mizgîn said ... (4/29/2006 10:48 PM) :
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Bin ladin friend said ... (7/11/2007 11:35 AM) :
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Anonymous said ... (11/22/2009 3:22 AM) :
post a commentKemal Karim is free and Hawez is free on bail. I don't think she has enough information to comment on cases like this.
I regard you, together with Hiwa and Kurdo, one of the staunchest criticasters of the Kurdish government. I used to have some critical articles by my own. But I rather focus on other issues at the moment.
Charles, Charles, Charles. . . let me give you a little advice about this Karmalized chick, Diane Warth, and her ilk.
Diane Warth does not give a DAMN about Kurds. She does not give a DAMN about free expression rights. Do you hear her cry crocodile tears about Halabjayee? Do you hear her cry crocodile tears for Roj TV? Do you hear her cry crocodile tears about Anfal, or about what Saddam did to Iraqi Arabs? Did she cry crocodile tears for the Helebce protest? No, because she is a Saddam supporter. She is part of the Lunatic Fringe.
She and her ilk will b***h about embargos, but that is because it was a Western thing; she doesn't really care about dead Iraqi Arab children. She doesn't care about dead Kurd children.
Kanan Makiya has WELL described this filthy kind of human vermin here:
http://www.democratiya.com/interview.asp?issueid=3
and here:
http://www.democratiya.com/interview.asp?issueid=4
And as you will be able to see from those two links, Diane Warth doesn't really give a damn about Muslims either.
She hates Southern Kurds because they are happy at the overthrow of Saddam and have been concentrating on building Kurdistan. She hates Southern Kurds because they refuse to go along with HER agenda. She hates all Kurds in general because Kurds have never targeted Americans. In other words, Kurds have never allowed themselves to become tools for HER agenda.
How do you think she and her fellow vermin would act if one of their freedom fighters blew themselves up in her midst? Or drove her out of her town, burning her house and murdering her family? She would never have the guts to turn around and fight an oppressor like that, one that she helped to create, but she would willingly allow herself to be enslaved.
Has she b****ed about Kurdish children being murdered, tortured and imprisoned by the Turkish state in the last two weeks? No, and that's because Turkey is good friends with HER good friends, HAMAS. Go check out her homepage, man, you will see for yourself, and then ask yourself, WHY?
So if she and her kind are complaining about you, be assured you are on a legitimate path.
By the way, these closet fascists ALWAYS disable or seriously moderate their "comments" because they are terrified of the truth.
Charles,
It seems I might have lumped you into a group in which you do not belong and if so, my apologies. In the posts you've linked, you ask Kurds to protect free speech in order not to offend Americans, not simply because the principle in and of itself is worth defending. Do you really think it matters to the U.S. government who U.S. friendly governments imprison or what for so long as they fall into line?
As for mizgin, you're a flaming idiot, but I fully defend your right to display your vast ignorance.
My comments are now working again but for how long is anyone's guess. My host shuts them down from time to time when spammers crash the server and for some reason didn't notify me this time.
"In the posts you've linked, you ask Kurds to protect free speech in order not to offend Americans, not simply because the principle in and of itself is worth defending."
I support freedom of speech because it is a principle that in and of itself is worth defending. However, when I give advice I try to do so in a way that will be effective and persuasive. In a way that will be "heard." Thus, I frequently appeal to the self-interest of the party I'm attempting to persuade. My belief is that the best way to convince the KRG to protect freedom of speech may be to show that it is in the self-interest of the KRG to do so, and that they risk losing support in the U.S. and the West if they do not.
"Do you really think it matters to the U.S. government who U.S. friendly governments imprison or what for so long as they fall into line?
Yes, I do. More importantly, I think it matters to the American people, who effect the U.S. government. Witness your efforts. You must believe that publicizing the relevant facts can have an effect, or otherwise you wouldn't waste your time.
Charles,
I suspected you framed it that way for that reason, hence my question. Anyone familiar with U.S. foreign policy knows that so long as governments tow whatever line the U.S. draws for them they can act however they choose. It's only when those governments attempt to act independently of U.S. demands does the U.S. suddenly become aware of the atrocities they commit. But your point about Turkey's a keeper.
I post on my blog because the people in my work and life would rather watch American Idol or kill a deer or commit suicide than talk about politics.
Too bad, Diane. Your ignorance is FAR vaster than mine, especially when it comes to Kurds.
to all! who is this Whore american pussy diana all know united stat and europs have so manye whore like diana and other ashold loser like charels it is name of my dogs,before I thouge bin ladin was wrong agin this fucker american ashold bout now I think he has rigt and this time hop much more dogs die like charles and this whore from new york street diana.
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