With thanks to a friend from Sweden for alerting me to this dramatic video.
Showing posts with label US. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
This headline could read: Obama Goes a-Brown-nosing in the Muslim World. – ©Mark
President Obama’s arrival in Saudi Arabia today marks the first leg of a landmark Middle East visit to reach Muslims and mend ties damaged under the eight-year Administration of his predecessor, George Bush.
The three-day visit, including an address to the Muslim world at Cairo University tomorrow, is seen as a vital step in his efforts to relaunch peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians.
Mr Obama has signalled that he will take a more even-handed approach than Mr Bush, who gave Israel a free hand to expand the growth of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Israel has bridled at US demands that it should freeze all construction in the settlements and East Jerusalem. Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defence Minister, flew to Washington last night to lobby the US President one more time. Israel says that the half million Jews who live in the territories cannot be prevented from having children, marrying or building houses.At the outset of his trip Mr Obama issued his sternest warning yet to Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister. “I believe that strategically the status quo is unsustainable when it comes to Israel’s security,” Mr Obama said in an interview with the US broadcaster NPR.
“Over time, in the absence of peace with Palestinians, Israel will continue to be threatened militarily and will have enormous problems on its borders.”
He said that the sobering message to Israel was meant as a friendly warning. “Part of being a good friend is being honest,” said the President, who held talks with Mr Netanyahu last month at the White House. Mr Netanyahu has refused to accept the idea of an independent Palestinian state, which Washington sees as a cornerstone of Middle East peace. >>> James Hider in Cairo | Wednesday, June 03, 2009
THE NEW YORK TIMES BLOGS – THE CAUCUS: Obama Says U.S. Could Be Seen as a Muslim Country, Too
HAHN, Germany — As President Obama prepared to leave Washington to fly to the Middle East, he conducted several television and radio interviews at the White House to frame the goals for a five-day trip, including the highly-anticipated speech Thursday at Cairo University in Egypt.
In an interview with Laura Haim on Canal Plus, a French television station, Mr. Obama noted that the United States also could be considered as “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.” He sought to downplay the expectations of the speech, but he said he hoped the address would raise awareness about Muslims.
“Now, I think it’s very important to understand that one speech is not going to solve all the problems in the Middle East,” Mr. Obama said. “And so I think expectations should be somewhat modest.”
He previewed several themes and objectives for the speech, which aides said the president intended to tinker with — and rewrite — aboard Air Force One during his 12-hour flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“What I want to do is to create a better dialogue so that the Muslim world understands more effectively how the United States, but also how the West thinks about many of these difficult issues like terrorism, like democracy, to discuss the framework for what’s happened in Iraq and Afghanistan and our outreach to Iran, and also how we view the prospects for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” Mr. Obama said.
The president said the United States and other parts of the Western world “have to educate ourselves more effectively on Islam.”
“And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world,” Mr. Obama said. “And so there’s got to be a better dialogue and a better understanding between the two peoples.” >>> By Jeff Zeleny | Tuesday, June 02, 2009
LE FIGARO: Obama en campagne dans le monde arabe
Le président américain amorce mercredi soir en Arabie saoudite une tournée qui sera marquée par un grand discours, jeudi au Caire, en direction des musulmans.
C'est une «conversation» peu ordinaire qui va s'engager cette semaine entre l'homme le plus puissant de la planète et plus d'un milliard de musulmans. Depuis l'époque de sa campagne électorale, Barack Hussein Obama, chrétien, métis, mais fils d'un musulman du Kenya, a lentement mûri le projet de s'adresser aux peuples d'islam pour regagner leur cœur et entreprendre de tisser une nouvelle relation entre eux et l'Amérique, après des années de frustrations et d'incompréhension.
L'heure est venue. Jeudi, entre les murs accablés de chaleur de l'université du Caire, qui le reçoit avec la participation de l'université islamique al-Azhar, puissance co-invitante, le président Obama prononcera un discours très attendu à l'attention des opinions publiques musulmanes, avant de gagner l'Europe pour des visites du souvenir hautement symboliques au camp de Buchenwald en Allemagne, puis au cimetière de Colleville en Normandie. Il veut effacer le grand malentendu de l'époque de l'administration précédente qui en était venue à confondre trop souvent islam et terrorisme islamiste. Il a toujours pensé que le choc des civilisations n'est pas inéluctable. Il l'a déjà dit lors de son discours d'investiture, puis dans une interview à la chaîne al-Arabya et dans son adresse devant le Parlement turc en avril. Il va le répéter haut et fort pour tenter d'apaiser cette haine de l'Occident qui agite le Moyen-Orient, notamment sa jeunesse, cible privilégiée de son appel au dialogue. «Obama veut convaincre la rue musulmane que l'Amérique a changé, il estime que le terrorisme islamique est une question cruciale pour la sécurité nationale, qui va bien au-delà de la question du conflit israélo-palestinien», décrypte un diplomate français. >>> Laure Mandeville, Envoyé spéciale du Figaro à Riyad | Mardi 02 Juin 2009
LE FIGARO:
«Les Etats-Unis, un des plus grands pays musulmans» >>> lefigaro.fr | Mardi 02 Juin 2009
Obama interviewé sur Canal + - Le Figaro
Le président des Etats-Unis a notamment évoqué la politique américaine au Moyen-Orient.
Le président des Etats-Unis a notamment évoqué la politique américaine au Moyen-Orient.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
BBC: Lawmakers in New Hampshire have rejected a bill that would have granted marriage rights to gay couples.
The state's Senate passed the bill, but the House of Representatives voted it down by 188 votes to 186.
The chamber had approved an earlier version of the bill, but blocked the new version, which included legal protections for religious groups.
The state's governor, John Lynch, threatened to veto the bill if it did not include religious exemptions. >>> | Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
TIMESONLINE: The Obama Administration has signalled a tougher approach towards Israel ahead of fresh talks on the Middle East peace process by insisting it must endorse the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
“Israel has to work toward a two-state solution,” declared Vice-President Joe Biden today in a speech to the annual conference of a powerful pro-Israel lobby group in Washington.
“You’re not going to like my saying this,” he warned the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) before adding that the Jewish state should not build any more settlements on Palestinian territory, and should “dismantle existing outposts and allow Palestinians freedom of movement”.
President Obama later held a White House meeting with Shimon Peres, his Israeli counterpart, who holds a largely ceremonial position. But the US Administration’s message appeared to be addressed to the new right-wing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is due to visit the White House on May 18.
Mr Netanyahu has dismayed American, Arab and European officials by pointedly refusing to back Palestinian statehood since taking office on March 31. In his own speech to Aipac, sent via satellite link, he said: “We are prepared to resume peace negotiations without any delay and without any preconditions — the sooner the better.” Saeb Erekat, the senior Palestinian negotiator, however, criticised Mr Netanyahu’s speech for its “vagueness” on core issues such as the status of Jerusalem and refugees, as well as its failure to commit to a two-state solution. >>> Tom Baldwin, Washington | Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Friday, May 01, 2009
TIMESONLINE: A videotape showing a member of the United Arab Emirates Royal Family torturing a man is threatening a multibillion-dollar nuclear power deal between the US and the Gulf kingdom.
The 45-minute tape shows a man that the Government of Abu Dhabi has acknowledged is Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan — one of 22 royal brothers of the UAE President and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince — mercilessly and repeatedly beating a man with a cattle prod and a nailed board, burning his genitals and driving his Mercedes over him several times. He is assisted by a uniformed policeman.
The fallout from the film — which was smuggled out of the UAE by a former business associate of the sheikh — has reached all the way to the Oval Office, where the civilian nuclear deal, awaiting the signature of President Obama, remains unsigned. A senior US official has said that the Administration is holding off certifying the treaty as a direct result of the film.
The deal was sealed on January 15 during President Bush’s last week in office, but needs to be recertified by the new Administration. Under its terms, the US agrees to provide technology and equipment to help the UAE to develop civilian nuclear power plants. In return, the UAE pledges to abide by the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and not to reprocess its spent nuclear fuel.
Jim McGovern, the Democratic co-chairman of the congressional Human Rights Commission, viewed the tape last week and told The Times that it was “one of the most horrific things I have ever seen in my life”. In the tape the sheikh is seen torturing an Afghan grain salesman he claims has cheated him.
Mr McGovern has written to Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, expressing his “outrage, horror and revulsion” about the tape and demanding that all sales and transfers of technology to the UAE, “including nuclear”, be suspended. He calls on Mrs Clinton to take a lead role in the investigation. He also told The Times that he would hold congressional hearings into the issue. “If the UAE think this is going to blow over, they are wrong,” he said. The case will be a further test of the Obama Administration’s commitment to human rights. >>> Tim Reid in Washington | Friday, May 1, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
HAARETZ: Senior U.S. officials in Washington and New York are leaning in favor of participating in the "Durban 2" UN-sponsored anti-racism conference scheduled to take place on April 20 in Geneva, diplomatic sources said on Sunday.
The diplomats, who share a close working relationship with the American delegation to the United Nations, informed leading Jewish officials in New York that Washington has increasingly become convinced of the need to dispatch representatives to the conference.
Israel plans on boycotting the conference for fear that it will turn into a platform for singling out Jerusalem for criticism over its policies in the Palestinian territories.
Leading figures in the organized American Jewish community have been lobbying Western ambassadors and European diplomats in the UN to dissuade their governments from participating in the Geneva summit.
A senior Jewish activist who took part in some of the discussions with Western diplomats told Haaretz that he would not be the least surprised if the U.S. indeed decides to send an official delegation. The official said that while the U.S. pledged it would not participate, it was not an adamant opposition.
Dozens of human rights groups and activists in the United States have petitioned President Barack Obama to rethink his decision to boycott the conference, expected by many countries to be used as a forum for criticizing Israel. >>> By Shlomo Shamir and Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondents Sunday, April 12, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Part 1:
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
Thursday, December 11, 2008
BBC: Campaigners have urged US homosexuals to stay away from work for a day in protest at recent bans on gay marriage in some states including California.
They were asked to "call in gay" and do community work for a day instead, and also to avoid shopping in order to show gay people's economic clout.
It was unclear how many people actually skipped work but organisers said they had boosted the profile of gay people.
Connecticut and Massachusetts are the only states to allow gay marriage.
In another development, a commission in New Jersey recommended that the state should allow same-sex couples to marry rather than just enter into civil unions.
The state commission argued that same-sex couples could not achieve equality with heterosexual couples if their legal status was restricted to civil unions. >>> | December 10, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
Monday, December 08, 2008
BBC: Iran has told US President-elect Barack Obama to abandon the "failed" US carrot-and-stick approach to solving the atomic row with Tehran.
Mr Obama on Sunday vowed "tough but direct diplomacy", offering Iran economic incentives to end its nuclear programme or face tougher sanctions.
But Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said the policy was "unacceptable".
He urged Mr Obama to adopt an "interactive policy" instead.
"The carrot and stick approach has proven to be useless. It is an unacceptable and virtually failed policy," Mr Qashqavi said.
"This needs to change and transform into an interactive policy".
The UN Security Council has repeatedly demanded that Iran freeze its uranium enrichment work, which the US says is part of Iran's drive to develop an atomic weapon, a claim denied by Tehran. >>> | December 8, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
Friday, December 05, 2008
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Looking for the Ideal Spot to Make a Speech
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama’s aides say he is considering making a major foreign policy speech from an Islamic capital during his first 100 days in office. >>> By Helene Cooper | December 4, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
Saturday, November 01, 2008
ONE NEWS NOW: WASHINGTON - Barack Obama's aunt, a Kenyan woman who has been living in public housing in Boston, is in the United States illegally after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago, The Associated Press has learned.
Zeituni Onyango, 56, referred to as "Aunti Zeituni" in Obama's memoir, was instructed to leave the United States by a U.S. immigration judge who denied her asylum request, a person familiar with the matter told the AP late Friday. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to discuss Onyango's case.
Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two separate sources, one of them a federal law enforcement official. The information they made available is known to officials in the federal government, but the AP could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.
Onyango's refusal to leave the country would represent an administrative, non-criminal violation of U.S. immigration law, meaning such cases are handled outside the criminal court system. Estimates vary, but many experts believe there are more than 10 million such immigrants in the United States. >>> Eileen Sullivan and Elliot Spagat - Associated Press Writers | November1, 2008
NZZ Online: «Auntie Zeituni» bleibt unauffindbar: Illegal anwesende Tante bringt Obama in Verlegenheit
Eine offenbar illegal in Boston lebende Tante bringt den amerikanischen Präsidentschaftsbewerber kurz vor dem Wahltag in Verlegenheit. Das Wahlkampfteam des Demokraten erklärte, Obama wisse nichts über ihren Aufenthaltsstatus.
Natürlich sei der Senator dafür, dass allen einschlägigen Gesetzen Folge geleistet werde, wurde weiter mitgeteilt.
Eine aus Kenia stammende Tante lebt nach Informationen der Nachrichtenagentur Associated Press seit Jahren illegal in den USA. Trotz eines 2004 abgelehnten Asylantrags sei Zeituni Onyango im Land geblieben, teilten Gewährsleute mit.
Die 56-Jährige, die Obama in seiner Autobiografie «Auntie Zeituni» nennt, soll in einer Sozialwohnung in Boston im US-Staat Massachusetts leben. Onyangos Weigerung, das Land zu verlassen, wäre ein Verstoss gegen das Einwanderungsgesetz. Derartige Vergehen werden aber für gewöhnlich nicht strafrechtlich verfolgt. Nach Schätzungen leben mehr als zehn Millionen solcher Immigranten ohne Erlaubnis in den Vereinigten Staaten. >>> ap | 1. November 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
Monday, October 27, 2008
YNET NEWS: Brooklyn wholesaler says its Palin artificial hairpiece has become one of company's most popular items since Alaska governor joined John McCain on Republican ticket
Don't be surprised if you see a few Sarah Palin look-alikes in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods like Brooklyn's Borough Park.
A wig wholesaler there says its Palin wig has become one of the company's most popular items.
Georgie Wigs Vice President Shlomo Klein said Thursday that the company has sold about 50 Palin wigs since the Alaska governor joined John McCain on the Republican ticket.
"It's a very conservative yet fashion-forward look," Klein said. "It can be worn down, it can be worn up. There are a lot of styling options. The bun higher, the bun lower."
Klein's company caters to Orthodox Jewish women who must cover their hair after marriage as well as women who need wigs for medical reasons.
He said he doesn't think it's odd that Jewish women would model themselves on Palin, a devout Christian from a frontier state with very few Jews.
"She's pro-Israel," he noted. >>> Associated press | October 25, 2008
YNET NEWS: Sarah Palin Mesmerizes Israeli Filmmaker
Los Angeles-based director Elan Frank met Alaska's governor, Republican vice-presidential hopeful several months ago while filming documentary about extraordinary women, and was hooked
"Sarah Palin is a very special woman. She has a tranquility about her, no matter what the situation is," this is how Elan Frank, a California-based Israeli filmmaker, chooses to describe the Republican Party's newly chosen vice-presidential hopeful. >>> Dana Zimmerman | September 3, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
Friday, October 24, 2008
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. - (Thomas Jefferson, US President; 1743 - 1826)
GLOBAL RESEARCH: America is dying. It is self-destructing and bringing the rest of the world down with it.
Often referred to as a sub-prime mortgage collapse, this obfuscates the real reason. By associating tangible useless failed mortgages, at least something 'real' can be blamed for the carnage. The problem is, this is myth. The magnitude of this fiscal collapse happened because it was all based on hot air.
The banking industry renamed insurance betting guarantees as 'credit default swaps' and risky gambling wagers were called 'derivatives'. Financial managers and banking executives were selling the ultimate con to the entire world, akin to the snake-oil salesmen from the 18th century but this time in suits and ties. And by October 2009 it was a quadrillion-dollar (that's $1,000 trillion) industry that few could understand.
Propped up by false hope, America is now falling like a house of cards.
It all began in the early part of the 20th century. In 1907 J.P. Morgan, a private New York banker, published a rumour that a competing unnamed large bank was about to fail. It was a false charge but customers nonetheless raced to their banks to withdraw their money, in case it was their bank. As they pulled out their funds the banks lost their cash deposits and were forced to call in their loans. People now therefore had to pay back their mortgages to fill the banks with income, going bankrupt in the process. The 1907 panic resulted in a crash that prompted the creation of the Federal Reserve, a private banking cartel with the veneer of an independent government organisation. Effectively, it was a coup by elite bankers in order to control the industry.
When signed into law in 1913, the Federal Reserve would loan and supply the nation's money, but with interest. The more money it was able to print, the more 'income' for itself it generated. By its very nature the Federal Reserve would forever keep producing debt to stay alive. It was able to print America's monetary supply at will, regulating its value. To control valuation however, inflation had to be kept in check.
The Federal Reserve then doubled America's money supply within five years, and in 1920 it called in a mass percentage of loans. Over five thousand banks collapsed overnight. One year later the Federal Reserve again increased the money supply by 62%, but in 1929 it again called the loans back in, en masse. This time, the crash of 1929 caused over sixteen thousand banks to fail and an 89% plunge on the stock market. The private and well-protected banks within the Federal Reserve system were able to snap up the failed banks at pennies on the dollar.
The nation fell into the Great Depression and in April 1933 President Roosevelt issued an executive order that confiscated all gold bullion from the public. Those who refused to turn in their gold would be imprisoned for ten years, and by the end of the year the gold standard was abolished. What had been redeemable for gold became paper 'legal tender', and gold could no longer be exchanged for cash as it had once been.
Later, in 1971, President Nixon removed the dollar from the gold standard altogether, therefore no longer trading at the internationally fixed price of $35. The US dollar was now worth whatever the US decided it was worth because it was 'as good as gold'. It had no standard of measure, and became the universal currency. Treasury bills (short-term notes) and bonds (long-term notes) replaced gold as value, promissory notes of the US government and paid for by the taxpayer. Additionally, because gold was exempt from currency reporting requirements it could not be traced, unlike the fiduciary (i.e. that based upon trust) monetary systems of the West. That was not in America's best interest.
After the Great Depression private banks remained afraid to make home loans, so Roosevelt created Fannie Mae. A state supported mortgage bank, it provided federal funding to finance home mortgages for affordable housing. In 1968 President Johnson privatised Fannie Mae, and in 1970, Freddie Mac was created to compete with Fannie Mae. Both of them bought mortgages from banks and other lenders, and sold them onto new investors.
The post World War II boom had created an America flush with cash and assets. As a military industrial complex, war exponentially profited the US and, unlike any empire in history, it shot to superpower status. But it failed to remember that, historically, whenever empires rose they fell in direct proportion. >>> Tanya Cariina Hsu | October 23, 2008
*Tanya Cariina Hsu is a political researcher and analyst focusing on Saudi Arabian and US relations. One of the contributors to recent written testimony on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the US Congressional Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of FOCA (Friends of Charities Association) in its Hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., her analysis has been published and critically acclaimed throughout the US, Europe and the Middle East.
The first to break the barrier against public discussion of the Israeli influence upon US foreign policy decision making, in Capitol Hill's "A Clean Break" Symposium in Washington D.C. in 2004, as the Institute for Research: Middle East Policy (IRmep) Director of Development and Senior Research Analyst, Ms. Hsu remains an International Fellow with the Institute.
Born in London, she re-located to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2005 and is currently completing a book on US policy towards Saudi Arabia.
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
Friday, September 26, 2008
ASIA TIMES: When Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States in al-Qaeda's name in the late summer of 1996, he outlined ambitious worldwide Islamist goals but noted that al-Qaeda could not accomplish them on its own.
He said that al-Qaeda could, at best, serve as the vanguard that would attack the United States, assist Muslim insurgencies around the world and generally try to incite Muslims to join the jihad against the United States, Israel and the police states that govern much of the Arab and Muslim world.
At the time, Bin Laden was very clear in saying that the ultimate fate of the ummah (Islamic community) was in the hands of all Muslims and not solely in al-Qaeda's. Those in the West who
have seen al-Qaeda at any stage of its existence as a hierarchical organization, bent on controlling the jihad it was trying to incite, have either not read Bin Laden's words or have sought to cram this national security threat into the kind of nation-state problem with which they are comfortable.
Good news abounds for al-Qaeda
Muslims should rejoice over the fact that they have the United States as their priority enemy, al-Qaeda strategy analyst Abu Ubayd al-Qurashi wrote in 2002: "The mujahideen enjoy an edge," he argued, "because the US leadership is facing enormous strategic, political and economic challenges in various directions, whereas the mujahideen are focusing their entire efforts on America and have nothing else to worry about."
What was true then is even truer now. By any reasonable standard of evaluation, al-Qaeda's self-appointed role as the inciter of jihad has contributed to a world that is much more afflicted with jihadism today than it was in 1996. Moreover, most locations experiencing rising jihadi activities are states that Washington views as important to US national-security interests. The current problem is so widespread - including locales where there was, at most, limited jihad-related activity in 1996 - that the failure of major US and Western leaders and media to see the reality, let alone the ardent belief of some that the threat is receding, is inexplicable. Al-Qaeda's Opportunity to Hurt the US >>> By Michael Scheuer | September 27, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
Friday, September 12, 2008
… most analysts agree that at least part of the rationale behind Russia's invasion of Georgia, reigniting fears of a new Cold War, was its confidence that, with America's armed forces preoccupied with two failing wars (and badly depleted because of a policy of not replacing military resources as fast as they are used up), there was little America could do in response. Russia's calculations proved correct. - Joseph Stiglitz
THE AGE / /Business Day: The war in Iraq has been an expensive lesson for the US Government.
THE Iraq war has been replaced by the declining economy as the most important issue in America's presidential election campaign, in part because Americans have come to believe that the tide has turned in Iraq: the troop "surge" has supposedly cowed the insurgents, bringing a decline in violence. The implications are clear: a show of power wins the day.
It is precisely this kind of macho reasoning that led America to war in Iraq in the first place. The war was meant to demonstrate the strategic power of military might. Instead, the war showed its limitations. Moreover, the war undermined America's real source of power — its moral authority. America Counts Cost of Wars It Can’t Win >>> By Joseph Stiglitz | September 10, 2008
* Joseph Stiglitz, professor of economics at Columbia University, and recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, is co-author, with Linda Bilmes, of The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Costs of the Iraq Conflict.
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
Thursday, September 11, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH: Russia's relations with Britain will remain in deep freeze for as long as the UK harbours Russians violently opposed to the regime, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.
In his first meeting with foreign journalists since military conflict erupted in Georgia, Mr Putin portrayed his country as embattled and encircled by an aggressive west, particularly the US and UK.
Mr Putin issued a plea to the US not to build a missile defence shield in Europe. "Our targeting will begin as soon as the missiles are deployed in these countries. Please do not do so. Please do not instigate again an arms race in Europe."
Mr Putin said the newly-installed president, Dmitry Medvedev, had taken all the decisions about sending in Russian forces into Georgia last month and then recognising South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.
"What did you expect us to do? To defend ourselves with catapults? If an aggressor comes into your territory you would punch him in the face and be right to do so. Should we have wiped the bloody snot away and bowed our heads?"
Displaying in turns defiance and defensiveness, Mr Putin said that Russia had been four hours away from invading the Georgian capital Tblisi and deposing its pro-American leader, Mikheil Saakashvili. It refrained from doing so but now, Mr Putin said, it was up to the Georgian people.
The premier, until earlier this year the president and head of state, said his relations with George W. Bush had always been "really good" and "based on real respect". He regarded the American president as a man of "honour and integrity" and he treated him "better than some Americans do". Vladimir Putin Warns UK, US over Relations >>> By John Kampfner in Sochi, Russia | September 11, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
Saturday, September 06, 2008
YNET NEWS: Yaniv Ronen says Georgia war shows that relying on America may lead to isolation, defeat
The recent war in Georgia should alarm officials in Jerusalem. Georgia, a small country entangled in an ongoing internal conflict, gambled on a military move while relying on American support. The gamble turned out to be a failure once the US support was proven to be unreliable, and the tiny Georgia found itself facing the Russian giant. The unavoidable outcome was a humiliating defeat that at this time raises doubts over the country’s sovereignty and independence.
Meanwhile, for four decades now, Israel has been exclusively relying on America’s friendship and support. The ties started with modest civilian assistance in the wake of the State’s establishment, continued in the form of arms supplies following the Six-Day War (to replace French arms,) grew stronger in the form of extensive civilian and military aid in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, and reached the point of virtually absolute coordination in the past decade and a half.
In the latter period, any Israeli policy, particularly in respect to the conflict with the Palestinians, was granted automatic support and acquiescence from the White House: Starting from the Rabin government’s Oslo process, through Netanyahu moves, Barak’s talks on a final-status agreement, Sharon’s path of siege and disengagement, and back to the current government’s attempts to secure a final-status agreement. This support and acquiescence came in addition to the international backing for Israel on the part of the American giant at global institutions. Can We Count on [the] US? >>> By Yaniv Ronen | September 5, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
Friday, August 22, 2008
THE AUSTRALIAN: NEGOTIATORS have finalised a deal which will see the complete withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by 2011, the top Iraqi heading the team said today.
Under the 27-point deal all US combat troops will be withdrawn from Iraqi cities by next June, said negotiator Mohammed al-Haj Hammoud.
The agreement has already been approved by US President George W. Bush and now needs to be endorsed by Iraqi leaders, he added.
Baghdad and Washington had agreed to "withdraw the US troops from Iraq by end of 2011,'' said Mr Hammoud. US Agrees to Pull Troops Out of Iraq >>> | August 22, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Australia)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback – Australia)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
BBC: The US and Poland have signed a deal to locate part of the US's controversial missile defence system on Polish soil.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travelled to Warsaw for the ceremony, after 18 months of negotiations.
The deal has angered Russia, which has warned the base could become a target for a nuclear strike.
Washington says the system will protect the US and much of Europe against missile attacks from "rogue elements" in the Middle East such as Iran.
The agreement, which will see both US missiles and servicemen stationed on Polish soil, was signed by Ms Rice and Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski. US and Poland Sign Defence Deal >>> | August 20, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
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