The Internet, Pornography and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard

The above link goes to a story in recent weeks that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards in Iran have added another duty to their already hefty work load (aside from the push for nuclear weapons, running Iranian businesses and allegedly supporting militants in places such as Iraq and Syria): fighting organized internet crimes. This includes arresting 26 men and women for their part in producing anything from pornography to mocking Islam, all posted on the internet.

Three of those arrested were Iranians living abroad, allegedly tricked into returning to Iran where they were arrested. Perhaps most interesting, in my opinion, is that the task force within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard say that the group was supported by foreign governments, including the all time favorite scapegoats of the US, Canada, and Israel. Sources, however, believe that the web sites shut down were simply hosted by private companies in foreign countries. Related to the belief that foreign countries actually financially backed the websites is that many in the Iranian government fear "the US, instead of going for a regime change policy through military invasion, is trying to undermine the young population by instilling liberal values, seen as decadent in the Islamic Republic." The fear of the internet in general is also because "the internet has revolutionized young people's lifestyle so dramatically that some hardliners, including conservative bloggers, have called for much tougher regulation and policing of the web."

Aside from the questions of regulating things on the internet, which is not unique to Iran but a common concern throughout the entire world, and the interesting belief that the US would use society to instill revolution, the very fact that Iran created a special task force to combat immoral use of the internet is important. Iranian sociologist Saeed Madani was quoted in the article: "Over half of internet users in Iran have admitted searching for porn and about one third of them do it every day." Even the Guards numbers are fairly high: "one of the busted porn sites had 300,000 registered Iranian users and some of the adult video clips were downloaded at least six million times." There is obviously a demand for pornography (perhaps because of the conservative stance toward sexuality-among other things-in Iran). And the Iranian government sees this as a significant threat to its Islamic society, although I do wonder how accurate those statistics are and why the Guard would admit to those numbers. Oh yes, to blame the US and Israel for ruining the morals of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iran Claims Nuclear Steps in New Worry

I found this article (a little dated-2006) about Iran's nuclear weapons program. According to the article, Iran received the blueprints for nuclear centrifuges through that black market operations of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the man who help develop Pakistan's nuclear program.   

This article brought into like the international ramifications of black market operations. While, obviously, sex trafficking is horrific and must be stopped, it does not pose an immediate risk to international security. 

What's more interesting is that no weapons, at least none mentioned in the article, were exchanged. It was merely blueprints. This information, unlike a nuclear weapon, can be used over and over again. It could form the basis of a dangerously strong military. Also, in my opinion, if this information gets into the wrong hands, it could be more dangerous than an actual nuclear warhead. In addition to the reasons above (multiple uses), the information can be spread easily without much being lost. Hostile nations can gain access to this information without the supplying nation giving up anything. 

I'm curious to find out what security measures are currently in place in order to slow this spread of information. Will it soon become impossible, as new technologies that makes the transfer of information easier continue to develop? Or will our defense technologies develop enough to counter this? Borders are difficult to protect in cyberspace; how will we stop the spread of dangerous information to hostile nations?

Taliban Hiding in a Forest...of Weed

Click here for the original article
In 2006, Canadian coalition forces in Afghanistan stumbled upon a dense forest of 10-foot high marijuana plants, that Taliban fighters were using to hide in. Since marijuana is good at absorbing and dissipating heat, it essentially rendered thermal imaging equipment useless. It's definitely a testament to the ingenuity of guerilla Taliban fighters—they use their own means of economic support as a physical means of protection as well.

It's unclear whether this marijuana was growing wildly or was cultivated, but it seems like based on the density of the forest in the middle of nowhere, it could very well be a farmer's operation. I think that this story may also point to the larger influence of drugs in Afghanistan—not only the drug trade in general, but also the ubiquitousness of it.

According to the article, the Canadians tried to penetrate the forest by setting it on fire. Only a few of the plants caught, since most of them were heavily laden with water. But the smoke from the few that did catch caught an unsuspecting group of coalition soldiers downwind by surprise, with "ill effects."

In Afghanistan, Hot Place to Shop is Bush Bazaar

This article, with it's portrait of a culture clash in Afghanistan's black market, reminded me of some of the things stated in a previous post about bribery with American products. It seems to me that Western products are in very high demand in Afghanistan. This article makes it seem that the the Afghanis are so eager to own Western products that they often buy them even if they have no idea what it is. It was interesting to know that even Americans go to these black markets to buy cheap computer hardware.

Another aspect of this culture clash is between conservative Islam law and the goods for sale at the black market. Many of the pre-made meals do not follow Islam's dietary rules, and therefore cannot be purchased (although some people buy them anyway.) 

When I think about the Afghanistan black market, I do not think of Western products. However, it seems like these products have a great appeal. Is it because these products are something new, different, and foreign? Is it because, in the words of an article previously posted, these 21st century products are in an 18th century society? Will these products lose their appeal once the younger generation grows up and, after being exposed to these products for so long, they lose their novelty?

Here is a link to a quick video of a black market in Bagram. A black market near the US military base in Bagram was mentioned briefly in the article, but I am not sure if this is it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97vDlEJpfm0

Sex, Make-Up, and the Responsibilities of a Shiite Wife

I really wanted to post this week's NY Times article on a women's protest against the new Afghan law that would force the country's Shiite women to have sex with their husband whether they want to or not (i.e. marital rape), to acquire the permission of their husband in order to go to work or school, and--ironically enough in a "devout" Muslim society--to dress up and use make-up if that is what their husband demands. President Karzai was most likely thinking about his chances for re-election when he signed in the law, and clearly there are plenty of Shiite men who are willing to make a fuss about this sort of thing, if the counter-protest in this article is any indication. Naturally the West has been putting considerable pressure on Karzai to re-consider his move.

And yet, what struck me as particularly interesting in the article was this quote by a local cleric: "We Afghans don't want a bunch of NATO commanders and foreign commanders telling us what to do."

Normally I am willing to blame Western greed, incompetence, and all-around meddling for a vast array of problems in the Middle East. But it took me a while to figure out if I really bought the argument that the law is a reaction to heavy-handed Western interference in the region. I can see how the prolonged presence of Western troops could cause offense, raising feelings of nationalism or, in a country as ethnically diverse as Afghanistan, enflaming religious sentiments. But is that really reason enough to demand that women become this politically, economically, and sexually subservient to men? The real explanation is a bit more complex in my view.

I would hypothesize that patriarchal attitudes and the ill treatment of women is usually tied to the amount of "life control" that a man has in a given society. In Afghanistan, where poverty is rampant and there are few opportunities for advancement into "respectable" professions, it is difficult for a man to occupy a position of power and esteem (40% of the population was unemployed in 2008 according to the CIA Factbook). Furthermore, it is hard for him to feel in control of his own life and property when access to clean water is limited, electricity is on the fritz, violence and corruption are everywhere. This recent Washington Times article argues that since the fall of the Taliban, the rule of law has disintegrated in Afghanistan as warlords take control and police have found it more profitable to shake down innocent citizens than enforce the law. Given this climate of insecurity, the average Afghan man may feel that it is only in his family relations that he can fulfill his urge to be "master" and Western culture and its advocacy of female liberation is, in his mind, an attack on this last vestige of his authority. If Western superpowers are guilty in anything here, it is in impoverishing the Afghan nation through invasion, which has led to destruction of property and life, the disruption of economic and political stability, and the rise of a black market economy that surely encourages steep social hierarchies.

I find this explanation for the divide on women's rights more convincing than any religious justifications that Afghan men might give (when did Allah ever concern himself with make-up? what about the fact that the top Shiite cleric in Afghanistan is opposed to the law?) or any "clash of civilizations" that Western politicians might propose (doesn't the West also have a long history of mistreating women?). I do not think there is a fundamentally unbridgeable cultural or moral gap between the two sides--I think it is merely a reaction to poverty, insecurity, and power imbalances. But if someone disagrees with me, or has other thoughts to add, please do...

The Opium Trade in Afghanistan

1. http://www.havocscope.com/data/tag/afghanistan/

2. http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2008/vol1/html/100779.htm

3. http://www.havocscope.com/regions/asia/afghanistan.htm

(the second source references an Article from the International Herald Tribute; which is not currently available online)

The State Department report that the Afghan drug trade is "undercutting efforts to establish a stable democracy with a licit economic free market in the country". Take for example the opium trade: The opium trade seems well and alive in Afghanistan. The UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,) claims that it "exports 90 percent of the world's poppy crop" (source 2). It also hints an increase in poppy cultivation after the fall of the Taliban. For example, the amount of opium grown in 2007 almost doubles the amount grown in 2005. (source 2)

One policy attempt to handle the opium situations is advocated by Gulab Mangal. He is attempting to combat the marketing of opium by encouraging the farmers to not plant the poppy seed. This is deemed a better policy than previous policies which were enforced after the production of poppy seeds. The governor blames this policy for causing increased poverty. (source 2)

I make the same observation that other fellow bloggers have made regarding the rise of prostitution in Iraq after the fall of the Saddam; in that case, as well as this, some standards of law have been further compromised after the fall of a regime. These two cases hint of what can happen as a result of the vacuum created after the loss of a ruling system. While the fallen regimes were deemed as the cause of much corruption (hence why the American government supported their fall), they also suppress other forms of corruption.

Despite the previous Iraqi and Afghani regimes having serious faults, it is interesting that a compromised situation (lawlessness) can be exacerbated after removing faulty governments (that are often viewed as the source). If the U.S. would like to continue manipulating government structures in other countries, this example is yet another hint that managing the power vacuum after the coup is also a crucial task to establishing stability.

Little Blue Pills Among the Ways CIA Wins Friends in Afghanistan

I remember hearing about this from "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on NPR last year and thought how humorously tragic it was that we could not enforce rules or use our high tech spy network to get information. All it takes sometimes is some old fashion bribery. Yet, that also says more than how funny the situation is, it says that what we have in common in cooperation is so little. There are no hearts and minds to win in this war but bribery and patronage.

Four days later, when the Americans returned, the gift had worked its magic, the operative recalled.

"He came up to us beaming," the official said. "He said, 'You are a great man.' "

"And after that we could do whatever we wanted in his area."

It is interesting to note that the operative said that last line because it implies that they have no resistance to the drugs and that it was another way to exploit them for "whatever we wanted". Maybe it is all the colonialism that we've been reading from Gregory but this article does show some of that through the operatives' quotes. Such as how they are trying to bridge their primitive gap of life to the 21st by Viagra.

While it makes sense that you have to give something to get something and sex has been a motivator for everyone everywhere, does it make it okay? It is okay that the reasoning behind this is that if we don't do it, someone else will (Taliban, Iran, etc)? Morally, I want to say no. We are using them to our ends while they are perceived to give into carnal pleasure. The article portrays Afghanis as fickle backstabbers,especially as devious high libido old men, that need to be bribed just for cooperation.