CHRISTOPHER DAVIDSON, [email], @dr_davidson
Reuters reports: “Police in Kuwait used teargas, stun grenades and baton charges on Sunday to disperse tens of thousands of demonstrators protesting against changes to the electoral law which the opposition has called a constitutional coup by the government.” A scholar in Middle East politics at Durham University, Davidson is author of the new book After the Sheikhs: The Coming Collapse of the Gulf Monarchies. He said today: “The pro-loyalist groups are not serious about reform. While riot police were attacking peaceful protesters, the Emir was meeting with other members of the ruling family. They put out a statement, rare in itself, that quoted the typical Koranic verse about good Muslims accepting authority and their duty to obey the Emir.
While both President Obama and Romney have claimed they support democratic movements in Arab countries, Davidson said: “The West is picking the wrong side in the Gulf states. The young people in the region probably will not forgive the U.S. and Britain for acting as upholders of the status quo.”
KEVIN GOSZTOLA, [email], @kgosztola
Gosztola is a journalist for Firedoglake.com and recently wrote the piece “Obama’s Pathetic Answer to Jon Stewart’s Question on Continuation of Bush National Security Policies.” In the interview, President Obama claimed that he has set out to put legal structures in place to rein in the presidency. Gosztola argues that Obama has in fact done the opposite. Obama stated in the interview: “One of the things we’ve got to do is put a legal architecture in place and we need congressional help to do that, to make sure that not only am I reined in but any president is reined in in terms of some of the decisions that we’re making.” Gosztola retorted: “Like, the Constitution?”
See the new Amnesty International post: “Secret U.S. Drone Program Still Getting Away With Killing Children.”
HORACE CAMPBELL, [email]
Professor of African American studies and political science at Syracuse University, Campbell recently wrote the piece “A Year Later, the War in Libya is Far from Over,” which states: “October 23, 2012 will be exactly one year after the Chairperson of the National Transitional Council declared that the liberation of Libya was complete. A few days later the Secretary General of NATO, General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, declared the end of the NATO mission, [saying] that the NATO mission to Libya had been ‘one of the most successful in NATO history.’ Despite this announcement of success there are daily reports of fighting all across Libya with the levels of insecurity unprecedented in the history of the country with over 1,700 militias roaming [the country].”
