Interesting intruder

When the "Wife" told me that a fox was going through our backyard a week ago, I thought that she was going crazy. Apparently she is not and this photo is the medical proof for her "sanity". I could not believe my eyes seeing it wandering through my son's toys. It must be very lonely. Good thing that we do not have chickens around; otherwise this encounter could have been bloody.

Should "Al-Wihdat" leave Abdullah Deeb go free?

Abdallah Deeb, a 20 years old brilliant Jordanian soccer player who was among the Youth National Team in the last World cup is causing a stir between Jordan and Bahrain. The player who plays with Al-Wihdat and Jordan national team arrived to Bahrain last month with his father and signed for Al-Rifah Club without taking permission from his team. Rumors circulated that the player received $100.000 in cash for signing the contract and apparently Al-Wihdat wants to get his piece of this sum of money. Last year, Al-Ahli soccer team from the UAE approached AL-Wihdat regarding Deeb but its offer was turned down. Deeb and other genius Jordanian players are becoming main bank-rollers to poorly funded soccer teams in the Kingdom; many of them hope to sell their players to rich clubs particularly in the Gulf area.

According to FIFA regulations, what the player did was legal since he is an amateur and not a professional player. Therefore, he can sign professionally with any team that he likes to join. Taking in a surprise, Al-Wihdat decided to suspend the player for a year and threatened to take the case to FIFA. The (JFA)Jordanian Football Association did not comment on the case so far. Deeb is supposed to join the National team in their first match against Kyrghastan next month. Meanwhile, Deeb does not seem to be affected psychologically with all this drama. He played yesterday for the first time for his new team and he was impressive. I say let Abdallah Deeb be free.

Dividing Iraq

In a strong rebuff to the Bush Administration policy on Iraq, the American Senate approved a nonbinding resolution by presidential candidate Biden(D) that essentially calls for breaking Iraq into three sections: Kurd, Sunni, and Shia. The vote which enjoyed a rare bipartisan consensus in DC clearly indicates a shift within the Senate against the administration's war strategy. Back in the Middle East, the vote was condemned publicly by most Iraqi politicians and news media as well as most Arabic neighbouring countries but one might wonder what those politicians think behind close doors.

Personally, I believe that the vote is symbolic and means nothing especially as it is the Iraqis who should and will determine the future of their country. The real question however remains if Iraqis still believe in the idea of a unified Iraq. In the December 2005 national elections, Shi'ites voted overwhelmingly for Shi'ite religious parties, Sunni Arabs for Sunni religious or nationalist parties, and the Kurds for Kurdish nationalist parties. Fewer than 10% of Iraq's Arabs crossed sectarian lines. The Kurds voted 98.7% for independence in a nonbinding referendum and the Kurdish flag flies over the land of Kurdistan for decades now.

One of the chronic Arabic problems is that we never take initiative. We always cornered ourselves in the reaction corner to condemn, reject and refuse. Here something to think about; how about coming with an alternative plan!