Iran + Nuclear = Unthinkable

Classics: Iran + Nuclear =?

It is an incredibly controversial topic whether or not Iran should have nuclear weapons. According to an Iranian newspaper, Iran News Daily, Iran says its nuclear program is solely aimed at generating electricity to meet booming demand[1]. Iran claims that its program is for peaceful purposes like generating energy. However, other countries, especially the US thinks that if Iran makes nuclear bombs, then Israel will be in danger. According to the New York Times, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that Israel can’t just watch Iran and wait for what happens. He said that Iran is now in the “zone of immunity” meaning that there is really no evidence that Iran is building nuclear bombs[2]. The UN uses economic sanctions to try and bring Iran down to its knees but it’s fruitless so far. “Cyber warfare” (use of viruses and other cyber to harm someone) has also been used to put pressure on Iran and to discourage it from proceeding to make a nuclear bomb. Israel does have nuclear weapons and it’s backed up by what’s arguably the world’s greatest power, the United States. [3] Iran and Israel would get into a nuclear war if Iran is successful in making the bombs and if it attacks Israel. “You would have a very unstable deterrent environment between Israel and Iran, simply because these are two states that tend to view each other in existential terms,” said Ray Takeyh, an Iranian-American Middle East scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations[4].

Iran, on the other hand, claimed that the US’s actions show hypocrisy because they had a nuclear test recently and that was a clear violation of the rule of “nuclear disarmament that threatens world peace and stability[5].” Also, it said that according to the Iranian Supreme Leader, the construction, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons are all haram (illegal in Islam). This claim about nuclear being haram would not be the opinion of Sunni Muslims.

The United States showed its strictness when it blacklisted a group of companies and individuals for cooperating with Iran in the production and enrichment of Uranium[6]. “So long as Iran continues to pursue a nuclear program in defiance of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, the U.S. will target those involved in Iran’s illicit enrichment activities,” the Treasury Department said in a statement[7]. It would do whatever it takes to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons and Obama showed frustration when he said that the  the time for a negotiated settlement was running out[8]. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is the agency responsible for the investigations on whether or not Iran develops nuclear weapons, wanted to investigate at Fordo, the place where Iran runs its nuclear program. However, Iran delays the investigations saying that a framework regulating the agency’s probe must be agreed on first[9].

Iran says that it needs nuclear power for peaceful purposes and other countries led by the United States think that it’s not and that their first target might be Israel. All we can do is wait and see what happens next.

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[1] (MPs Propose Bill for Uranium Enrichment 2012)

[2] (BROAD 2012)

[3] (BROAD 2012)

[4] (Keller 2012)

[5] (Iran Condemns US Subcritical Nuclear Test 2012)

[6] (Press 2012)

[7] (Press 2012)

[8] (BROAD 2012)

[9] (Press, UN, international envoys renew efforts to engage Iran on nuclear program 2012)

Wildfire

The Arab Spring was one of the biggest events in almost a decade where several countries in the Middle East and North Africa revolted against their leaders who were dictators. The protests and riots spread through the whole region like wildfire. According to a New York Times article, geography shrunk by the use of social networking[1]. Facebook and Twitter allowed communication between an Egyptian street vendor who lives in the north and a rich businessman who lives in the south. These people had the same idea and distance didn’t matter because they could organize whatever they want in a matter of seconds. It all started in Tunisia where a street vendor, so passionate about the whole issue, set himself on fire to let the people know[2]. Then, the next thing you know is that other countries in the region realized that they were ruled by dictators for the past years and they start using social media to organize protests.

The use of social media during the Arab Spring was the main reason why people were able to organize protest and gather at public places. It made it possible for them to communicate and organize without the government knowing. For people who sought democracy, social media was a major benefit. It enabled people, mainly youth, using social media like Twitter and Facebook to follow what’s happening and to know about the secrets of the parties leading the protests. Also, it enabled individuals in the same country to know that they were not the only victims of the dictatorial regimes that didn’t give them any sort of voice or representation[3]. On the other hand, social media was the worst nightmare of the dictators because it led to their exiles or, for some of them, their deaths. Social media had the power, and still does, to shape a country’s future in the sense that it can give people ways to organize huge events that can both be harmful or fruitful.

The aftermath for most of the countries involved in the Arab Spring was not living happily ever after, but rather economic problems. According to The National, the UN thinks that the protests caused unemployment rates and poverty to rise. Also, according to the same article, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) thinks that “North Africa's non-oil producers have been hit by reduced trade and investment flows and an exodus of migrants from Libya[4].” These problems, however, were necessary in order to end dictatorial regimes that existed for decades because in order to gain, one must feel pain first.

Finally, I think that the governments in these regions tried to monitor what the citizens were doing, but they were not successful. They didn’t do it to keep the country stable. They did it to keep power for themselves. Other countries in the region were so paranoid about the “wildfire” and they blocked social media websites. Also, one more thing, the Arab Spring caused more people to start using the internet and follow what’s happening in the world and in their country. This makes the people more aware of their country and it allows them to view the world through a lens other than their state television[5].

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[1] (Colum McCann 2011)

[2] (Colum McCann 2011)

[3] (Kassim 2012)

[4] (Reinl 2011)

[5] (Srinivasan 2012)

An Apology to the Past, Present, and Future

Since childhood, I had friends and we always promised each other to always be friends. However, as I grew older, I realized that such thing was impossible. I’m writing this to my childhood friends saying I’m sorry I haven’t kept my promise. I’m also writing this to my future friends and especially my current friends who live in a fantasy world. They think that their lives will be the same a year from now. They think they’ll have the same friends a year from now. They think that everything will be handed to them on a silver platter.

Yusuf, Omar, Abdilahi, and the rest of my friends, I love you guys to death and I wish we could all be friends for life. However, it’s unfortunately my duty to tell you guys that it doesn’t work like that. I’ve been thinking lately thinking about our friend Ryder. Do you guys remember how close we were and how often we hanged out? And have you guys noticed how often we even speak nowadays? Barely! That is mainly because he doesn't go to Abaarso Tech anymore but it's also the painful truth that your narrow minds don’t even notice. And that is what’s about to happen a year from now to the rest of us. We will separate and take on different courses in our lives and I don’t want to break promises like I did to my childhood friends and that’s why I had to talk about the inevitable. This “inevitable” faith will also probably happen to my future friends and to everyone who has friends.

We went through everything that happened in the school together and stood by each other even knowing that we were wrong. We celebrated the basketball tournament together and we celebrated Abdilahi being the student council president together. We also used a 2M by 2M bathroom together during our thrilling trip to Ethiopia. We did so many other things, whether it’s embarrassing other people or something else, that I’m sure that I’ve spent the last 3 years with the best friends that I could ask for. But it’s all coming to an end and I want you guys to know that I’ll always remember you guys because Dan made me write a one page blog and you guys came into my mind.

Omar, we all know you are doing well so I’ll dedicate this paragraph to Yusuf and Abdilahi aka Plato (he has so many great philosophical ideas). I know you guys don’t take anything I say seriously, but I wish you guys could see my facial expression while writing this to tell how serious I am. You guys need to take things seriously especially since you guys are about to go to college (Hang on! Don’t start rolling your eyes). I feel like I haven’t done what I could to get you guys to be successful in your lives and that doesn’t make me a good friend. First of all, Plato, you should post all of your blogs even though they are months late. Also, you should quit what we talked about yesterday. On the other hand, Yusuf, you just have to be a man! We both know what I’m talking about and I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to talk about it any further. That’s all I have for you guys.

Finally, I just want to apologize again to my childhood friends and to my current friends. I love you guys.

Somaliland’s “Democratic” Parliamentary Elections

 Somaliland’s parliamentary election was,supposedly, democratic where everyone was supposed to get a single vote. However, that was not the case. The reasons why this happened are nepotism and corruption.

 It’s well known among Somalis that each person should do whatever it takes to get his/her clansmen to be in the government or to have some sort of a prestigious job. This was the reason why the vast majority of Somalilanders voted numerous times and a lot of them got paid by the candidates whom they were voting for. A man whom I asked who he voted for answered with a laugh and said, “What do you mean? Son, if you don’t vote for your clansmen, you’ll have to have another source where you can get anything from. I did vote for my uncle. Xaqsoor!”

In order to really analyze the problem and its source, we must understand why nepotism and corruption exist in the Somali society. Somalis are organized according to their clans. People in the same clan are basically just like a huge family and therefore support each other for one reason or another. This brings us to the next issue: Corruption. When government officials favor their clansmen, this will bring corruption. People from other clans might bribe the government official to get hired or get whatever they want because their credentials won’t matter like as much as their clan does.

Candidates don’t show their credentials or why they should be in the parliament unlike other candidates. For them, it’s about whom they know not what they know. The voting process is basically to go and vote for you clansmen as many times as possible. That is the reason why I didn't vote. Since I don’t know anything about the candidate I am voting for, how do I know that I am not voting for the next Hitler?

The outcome of this messed up system was a gun fight. On Dec 7^th 2012, there had been a gun fight between the police and a political group named Xaqsoor. This led to the death of two people and the injury of many others. Xaqsoor’s claim was that the party that is currently in power messed up the numbers on purpose and gave themselves 7 seats while giving them only 4. This should not be a surprise given how people have been voting and the corruption “teeming” inside the government’s bones.

The Internet

Who Owns the Internet

The internet is a resource that belongs to everyone in the world. No one owns the internet and therefore it shouldn't be censored. It makes no sense to prohibit what you don’t own. However, certain types of people have exploited this policy and filled the internet with contents that are bad especially for children. Imagine your kid going to a porn site and some form of age verification is not requested. Wouldn't that be a disaster? That is why censoring the internet for specific people is the better that censoring whole websites for everyone. To understand this concept a little bit deeper, we must first know the concept of net neutrality.

The concept of “net neutrality" holds that companies providing Internet service should treat all sources of data equally. It has been the center of a debate over whether those companies can give preferential treatment to content providers who pay for faster transmission, or to their own content, in effect creating a two-tier Web, and about whether they can block or impede content representing controversial points of view[1].

As shown in the previous paragraph, companies decide whether to block a certain website and which content supplier has higher transmission. It’s all about the “benjamins.” Also a handful of companies own all of the internet cables and everything and therefore they give higher transmission to whoever is able to pay more money.

Laws regarding the internet in general should be made by every single person who uses the internet. There should be referendums held to decide what the majority of the people want. This way everyone but the internet companies is happy. However, laws regarding age or something similar should be common sense and therefore should be taken as they are (under 18... And the rest of it).

Finally, inappropriate things that are posted online should be censored by the government, not the ITU. The ITU is an international organization and to judge what’s inappropriate and what’s not, one must know the culture and the customs of the people and that is why the government is more suited determining what’s too inappropriate. However, there is a fine line between censoring government websites and censoring porn websites. Governments should only have the right to censor the latter. It doesn't have the right to judge people based on what they post and they should let the people know what they are censoring and why.

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[1] (Net Neutrality)

Somaliland's Biggest Setbacks

Obstacles Hindering Somaliland from Reaching Greatness

          Somaliland’s BIGGEST problems are probably, by far, Chat and income sources. The majority of Somaliland men consume chat and a huge percentage of the whole country’s economy comes from livestock. A country should have numerous income sources just in case if something happens to one, they wouldn’t suffer from starvation and economic crisis especially when its main income source is livestock. What’s more, families spend huge amounts of their annual income on this drug. An estimated 30%-50% of the total income of families is spent on chat.[1] This is obviously the biggest obstacle that is holding this country to be recognized and to flourish.

Chat is not only harmful for the economy, it also causes many diseases. Consuming a significant amount of chat can cause periodontal disease, stomatitis, esophagitis and gastritis. Reports of cirrhosis of the liver may be due to high ascorbic acid content which is said to have a hepatotoxic effect.[2] Just like any drug, it makes the subject feel happy and it gives him or her unlimited energy to do whatever. In a lot of countries, this would be considered to be illegal but since people have been consuming it for about centuries, it sort of made its way to become part of the Somali culture. About 80% of men consume chat on a regular basis and the amount of money the suppliers get is enormous[3].

Now, if I were the leader of this country, I would have solved these issues with the one move (I know I sound too confident, but follow my logic carefully) by not making chat illegal. People have been chewing chat for centuries who and it would be difficult to change that (NO we can’t, Obama). The thing I would do is make the drug very expensive so that only the rich will afford it. I would tax the suppliers extremely heavily and from that, I would make tons of money from the taxes and if something happens to the livestock, I would go to plan B which is the tariffs from chat. By doing that, I would be able to hit two birds with the same stone or in other words, make the limited income source and the chat problem partially solved. I might not be able to absolutely solve these problems but my plan is a huge step towards recognition and a brighter future for Somaliland.

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[1] (Distefano)

[2] (Distefano)

[3] (Distefano)

The Best Examination Trip

Our class was taking the SATs but Somaliland had no test taking center and for that, we had to go all the way to Addis Ababa and take it there. Most of the students were nervous but my friends and I were on a vacation. I can hardly remember a moment when we've even mentioned the exam! We had three teachers with us, Mike, Suzanne, and Will. They were so worried that we were not allowed to go anywhere without being supervised. Everything was going smooth until our first stop at Dire Dawa. The rooms were crap holes and the beds were as tiny as nests. We had to share rooms in groups of four! My roommates were Yusuf, Abdilahi, and Caydarus. The second we've arrived at the hotel (after complaining for a while, of course) we've all rushed towards the bathroom. I won't get into details, but yes, we all did it at the same time.

That was tough, but there was a reward waiting for us and it was well deserved. It's hard to find good, cheap food here, but in Ethiopia, that's all we needed as rewards and it was abundant! That was our first day and it obviously was a success.

The next day, we all woke up really early to hop in the Sky Bus! It was the fanciest bus I've ever been on.
Everyone fell asleep right away. The bus ride was tiresome, but it was all worth it when we've arrived at Addis. All those fancy buildings and beautiful women, I was willing to stay there for the rest of my life! What's more, the hotel was very nice. The beds were bigger and there was breakfast served every morning. Things were going smooth just like any "vacation" should be going.

The next day, we didn't really do all that much. We've all slept in, then had fried egg as breakfast then we've headed off to the mosque to pray. The mosque was so big and the crowd there could have easily been about   50,000 people. Then, after prayer, we've headed to the Addis Ababa University, where we would take the exam.

The next day, it was the final day in Addis and it was also the day we were taking the exam. We went there a couple of hours early just to avoid any incidents. We took the SAT and we've seen that this is a crazy world. Ethiopians were cheating like there was no tomorrow! We, Abaarso Tech students, were not affected by that and we took the test with fairness and with the help of Allah. After the exam, I really wanted to throw my clothes off but that would obviously be insane, so I kept my enthusiasm in my self. The next morning, we would head back to Somaliland, which none of us wanted to hear about.


That trip to Addis was really the best trip that I've experienced in about 17 years. I hope it all pays off for us and the organization!