Ahmadinejad to release 15 sailors
"How can you justify seeing a mother away from her home, her children. Why don't they respect the values of families in the West?" - Ahmadinejad

DAILY MAIL: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he has pardoned the 15 British sailors and marines detained in the Gulf last month.

He has also publicly decorated the coastguards he said had captured the sailors who "trespassed" into Iranian waters.
He presented them with the medal of honour at a press conference in Tehran, broadcast live around the world and eagerly watched both in Whitehall and in the homes of the sailors' and marines' families.

Mr Ahmadinejad said he wanted to "honour" the coastguards and added he valued their work and he declared the Iranian people would 'steadfastly' oppose aggression.

In a reference to one of the captives, Leading Seaman Faye Turney, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "How can you justify seeing a mother away from her home, her children. Why don't they respect the values of families in the West?" Iranian president says he will free captured British soldiers

THE TELEGRAPH: Iran to release sailors as ‘gift to Britain’

Mark Alexander

Pelosi shows herself to be dangerous to US foreign policy and downright dismissive and disrespectful of the President
It is difficult to imagine a ‘Speaker of the House’ making a move more ill-advised than Pelosi’s trip to Syria. She has surely overstepped the mark; and President Bush, in my opinion, is rightfully annoyed by Pelosi’s move into presidential territory. Frankly, I am amazed that she can get away with it.

BBC: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a visit to Syria that has angered the White House.

President George W Bush has said her visit undermines US foreign policy.

Ms Pelosi brushed off criticism, saying dialogue with Syria was key to solving the Iraq and Lebanon crises. US Democrat Pelosi in Syria talks

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Pelosi causes a stir in Syria

©Mark Alexander

The Falklands: In Memory of the Fallen
"There was a feeling of colossal pride, of relief, that we could still do the things for which we were renowned. And that feeling will stay with us for a very long time." - Baroness Thatcher

Photo of the reverent and ever elegant Baroness Thatcher courtesy of THE TELEGRAPH

THE TELEGRAPH: Baroness Thatcher last night paid a silent and moving tribute to The Fallen in the Falklands conflict on the 25th anniversary of the invasion of the islands by Argentina.

The former Conservative Prime Minister laid a wreath of yellow and white roses, lilies and orchids at the foot of the Falklands Memorial in the Crypt of London's St Paul's Cathedral in honour of the 255 British service personnel who died.

Lady Thatcher, sombre in a long black coat and black shoes, stood back for a few moments in silent contemplation after laying the wreath which bore the words on a card: "In memory of those who have given their lives for Britain and for the Falklands Islands - Margaret Thatcher." Thatcher's tribute to the Fallen of the Falklands by Ben Fenton

Mark Alexander

Pelosi zeigt sich als eine dumme und gefährliche Speakerin
Treffen mit Präsident Asad vorgesehen
Nancy Pelosi, Vorsitzende des amerikanischen Repräsentantenhauses, ist am Dienstag in Syrien eingetroffen. Ihr Besuch bei Asad stösst in der Administration Bush auf Ablehnung und Kritik. Der amerikanische Präsident versucht, Asad zu isolieren. Bush kritisiert Pelosis Besuch in Damaskus scharf

Die US-Speakerin Pelosi plant einen Besuch in Syrien (Gegen den Willen der Regierung Bush)

Bush rival breaks Syria boycott

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Bush rival visits Syria

Pelosi: Israel bietet Syrien Friedensgespräche an

Bush verurteilt Pelosis Syrien-Besuch

Mark Alexander

Thinking Blogger Award

Last Friday, I received word from my good friend Mustang at SocialSense that he had very kindly nominated my weblog for the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’.

First of all, I should like to thank him for nominating my weblog, and me. I appreciate it very much. It is an honour indeed.

There are many good blogs on the blogosphere, so it has been difficult for me to choose between them. After much hard thinking, however, I have come up with the following blogspots which, in my opinion, deserve this award. I have tried to span the spectrum. These are the ones I have chosen, in alphabetical order:

Gates of Vienna
Judah’s Journal
Michelle Malkin
Pedestrian Infidel
Wolfgang Bruno

If you accept the award, please follow these guidelines:

The rules of participation include:


For those nominees who wish to participate, pass the rules to the blogs you are tagging They include:

1. Write a post with links to five (5) blogs that make you think.

2. Link to this post so that others can locate the origin of the meme – the blogger who holds you in high regard.

3. Optional: Display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

Sincerely

Mark Alexander

Target: Iran; Date: Good Friday; Reasons: Too many to list
With thanks to the Director of Transactions Magazine for alerting me to the following story several days ago:

The United States will be ready to launch a missile attack on Iran's nuclear facilities as soon as early this month, perhaps "from 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. on April 6," according to reports in the Russian media on Saturday.

According to Russian intelligence sources, the reports said, the US has devised a plan to attack several targets in Iran, and an assault could be carried out by launching missiles from fighter jets and warships stationed in the Persian Gulf.

Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted a security official as saying, "Russian intelligence has information that the US Armed Forces stationed in the Persian Gulf have nearly completed preparations for a missile strike against Iranian territory." ’US ready to strike Iran on Good Friday’

Mark Alexander

Iran comes out on top: The UK ‘shares Iran diplomacy desire’!

Foto dank der WELT

BBC: The UK has said it shares Iran's desire for a diplomatic solution to the crisis over 15 captured Royal Navy personnel.

Ali Larijani, of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told Channel 4 News he favoured diplomacy.

The Foreign Office said it was still studying his remarks but shared his preference for bilateral discussions. UK ‘shares Iran diplomacy desire’

Bush ‘will only make situation worse by meddling’ by James Bone

Iran schlägt versöhnliche Töne an

Mark Alexander

Verrückte Zeiten, Verrückte Meinungen
Im SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL ist am 29. März 2007 ein Artikel unter der Titel Evil Americans, Poor Mullahs erschienen worden. Scheinbar ist den Deutschen eine Meinungs-Umfrage gestellt worden: Wer ist gefährlicher? Amerika oder Iran?

Das Resultat dieser Umfrage ist dies: Achtundvierzig Prozent der Deutschen glauben, daß Amerika gefährlicher als Iran ist! Nur einunddreißig Prozent der Deutschen glauben das Gegenteil!

Was fällt den Deutschen eigentlich ein so zu denken? So ein Resultat einer Umfrage ist nichts aber lauter Wahnsinn!

Wenn die Europäer im Ganzen so eine dumme Meinung haben als die Deutschen, dann kann man nur Schwarz für die Zukunft Europas sehen!

Welch eine Verrücktheit!

©Mark Alexander

Mehr Babys braucht Deutschland; mehr Babys braucht Europa!
Sie sind verrückt nach Sex - pflanzen sich aber nicht gerne fort. Die Deutschen bekommen so wenig Kinder, weil Babys einfach ein schlechtes Image haben. Das muss sich ändern!

Die Deutschen sind verrückt nach Sex, aber sie pflanzen sich nicht gerne fort. Das zeigt schon ein schneller Blick auf die Zeitschriftentitel am Kiosk. Für mich zum Beispiel wäre es unabdingbar, gesund zu essen, mein Workout zu forcieren und mit frischem Waschbrettbauch attraktiven Ladys nachzustellen. Dank hervorragender Orgasmustipps würde ich sie alle glücklich machen. Nur schwängern soll ich sie nicht. Denn das Ergebnis wären Kinder, und Kinder sind die Problemzone des modernen Menschen. Sie kosten Geld, kosten die Karriere, kosten Nerven, weil sie krank werden und sich im Restaurant daneben benehmen. Kinder sind so furchtbar, dass Vermieter das Recht haben, Familien mit Nachwuchs abzulehnen - was sie sich gegenüber Schwulen oder Schwarzen nicht erlauben dürften, jedenfalls nicht offen. Macht Liebe!

Mark Alexander

Grim Picture of Post-Christian Britain as Christianity Loses Its Grip and Islam Asserts Itself
Sherez Arshad in front of the former Mount Zion Methodist Church, Clitheroe, which will soon become a mosque. Photo courtesy of New York Times
NEW YORK TIMES: CLITHEROE, England — On a chilly night this winter, this pristine town in some of Britain’s most untouched countryside voted to allow a former Christian church to become a mosque.

The narrow vote by the municipal authorities marked the end of a bitter struggle by the tiny Muslim population to establish a place of worship, one that will put a mosque in an imposing stone Methodist church that had been used as a factory since its congregation dwindled away 40 years ago.

The battle underscored Britain’s unease with its Muslim minority, and particularly the infiltration of terrorist cells among the faithful, whose devotion has challenged an increasingly secular Britain’s sense of itself.

Britain may continue to regard itself as a Christian nation. But practicing Muslims are likely to outnumber church-attending Christians in several decades, according to a recent survey by Christian Research, a group that specializes in documenting the status of Christianity in Britain. Old Church Becomes Mosque in Uneasy Britain by Jane Perlez

Mark Alexander

When marching to the beat of one's own drum is selfish
’One must unfortunately note that Europe seems to be going down the road which could lead it to take its leave from history.’ – Pope Benedict XVI, warning that Europe appears to be losing faith in its own future, calling some Europeans’ desire to have fewer children “dangerous individualism”. [Source: TIME, April 9, 2007]

It was refreshing indeed to read Eleanor's blog this morning. It was like a breath of fresh air! It brought some sanity into a world that is increasingly looking insane!

I am so tired of mothers trying to reinvent the wheel. Let's face it: so many women don't really want to be proper mothers anymore. They choose, instead, a career path; and if they have children at all, they have one as an afterthought and, as in the case of Faye Turney, abandon that one baby for others to raise. This, of course, is the height of selfishness! Women like Faye put their own needs and fulfilment above the needs of their babies. This is so wrong!

The fact of the matter is that babies cannot bring themselves up. They need nurturing, they need love and affection, and they need to be educated in the home (informal education), as well as in school.

Small wonder that we have so many young people going off the rails these days! They aren’t raised properly. They aren't given a proper start in life.

Faye, in a short interview on the BBC website, said that she had always wanted to be in the Navy from the age of ten. Really! Many boys and girls have fantasies about what they want to be when they grow up. Many boys at the age of ten wish to become astronauts. Only the fortunate few ever eventually manage to achieve their aims!

When we mature, we realise that life doesn't always offer us what we have always wanted for ourselves. So we have to adapt our lives to answer the needs of the day. This is called maturation and responsibility.

When a woman becomes a mother, she should put the child's needs above her own. This is normal and healthy. It is abnormal and unhealthy to put one's own needs above the needs of the child.

One cannot help but feel a little sympathy for Faye in the circumstances in which she now finds herself; but it has to be said that she would have been aware of the dangers she might place herself in before going out to sea with the Navy. One therefore has to feel far more sorry for her baby than for her. It is the baby who is the real victim in all of this, not Faye. One can only wonder about the emptiness that her child must be feeling, having to live its life with an absent mother.

Faye can say as much as she likes about being able to give the baby more material things when it grows up because she does what she does; but to say that is to miss the point completely. Children need love and warmth far more than they need material goods, as nice as it is to have those things.

Mothers can kid themselves as much as they like, but the fact remains that there is no substitute for a stable home, especially one where the mother is present. Anyone who has been fortunate enough to be able to remember coming home from school to mother after a hard day at school will understand exactly what I mean. There is no substitute for a proper, stable home, a home with a mother and a father.

©Mark Alexander

Barbaric Clergymen!
The following photo of the violent demonstrations in Tehran yesterday published on the FOX NEWS website, says it all about the religion of Islam! This photo shows an Iranian clergyman throwing a stone at the embassy. Is this really what Muslims understand by the term 'religion'? Is this what religion means to them? Is this how they expect a 'man of the cloth' to behave? Can you imagine a Roman Catholic priest or one from the Anglican/Episcopalian Church behaving in such a debauched, barbaric manner? Whatever one's views on religion, whether one is a believer in any faith, or not, one thing I think we can all agree on: This is no way for a clergyman to behave!

Photo courtesy of FOX NEWS

©Mark Alexander

Text of al-Jazeera interview with Osama bin Laden
THE TELEGRAPH: The fanatical madness of Osama bin Laden is chillingly revealed in a final interview the Saudi terrorist gave to the al-Jazeera Arab television channel in 1998. Although brief excerpts have been seen in the West, this is the first time the interview has been published at length ’Ever since I can recall, I despised and felt hatred towards Americans’

Mark Alexander

Tehran true to form
The surprising thing is that we’re surprised by Tehran’s actions

TIMESONLINE: Oscar Wilde insisted that “life imitates art far more than art imitates art”. What would he have made of the present hostage crisis? Twenty-four hours before Iran seized 15 Britons its mission to the UN issued a statement expressing outrage at 300, a movie based on the Battle of Thermopylae in 480BC. In this epic struggle between a small band of Spartans and a massive army of Persians, the ancestors of modern Iran have been painted, the protest ran, as the “embodiment of evil, moral corruption”. They have a point. According to Paul Cartledge, Professor of Greek History at Cambridge University, Persia was “not a one-dimensional barbaric despotism” but, then again, it was “by no means well disposed to Greek-style democracy” either. Bullying, manipulative Iran? No change there, then by Tim Hames

Mark Alexander

For the love of Allah, don’t upset those Muslim kids!
THE DAILY MAIL: Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government backed study has revealed.

It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.

There is also resistance to tackling the 11th century Crusades - where Christians fought Muslim armies for control of Jerusalem - because lessons often contradict what is taught in local mosques. Teachers drop the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims by Laura Clark

Mark Alexander

More humiliation heaped on the UK!
BBC: Iranian state television has aired new footage of two of the 15 Royal Navy personnel captured nine days ago. Iran TV shows captured UK crew

WATCH BBC VIDEO: UK crew shown on Iranian TV

WATCH BBC VIDEO: UK crew 'all admit trespass'

A weak Britain becomes a target for tyrants

Mark Alexander

How much more nonsense must we take from this régime?
BBC: Iranian students have thrown firecrackers and rocks into the British embassy compound during a protest in the capital Tehran.

About 200 people demonstrated against what they say was the illegal entry into Iranian waters of 15 UK Royal Navy personnel captured nine days ago.

BBC correspondent Frances Harrison said the students were hardliners who were urging Iran not to compromise. Protests at UK's Tehran embassy

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Protests at UK embassy in Iran

All 15 UK personnel ‘confess’, claims Iran

Britain Asks EU for Help in Iran Stand-Off

Randalierer werfen Brandsätze auf britische Botschaft

Psychologische Kriegsführung mit Gefangenen-Videos

Evil Americans, Poor Mullahs

Mark Alexander

Iran, Syria and Hizbullah: Military confrontation with the States in the summer?
Head of military intelligence says Iran, Syria and Hizbullah preparing for possible confrontation with US this summer

YNETNEWS: Iran, Syria and Hizbullah are preparing for a possible military confrontation with the United States in the summer, the head of the IDF's Military Intelligence said Sunday.

"Their preparation is defensive ahead of war … They fear a war initiated by the Americans because they understand that there might be an attack against Iran over the summer, but not by Israel," Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told the Cabinet. IDF intelligence: Iran, Hizbullah preparing for possible US strike by Ronny Sofer

Mark Alexander

Anti-Semitism in France
Mayor's office in northern city of Lille says it is 'shocked' and 'disgusted' by weekend attack, which it describes as a 'hateful anti-Semitic act'

YNETNEWS: More than 50 tombstones were damaged in an attack at the weekend on a Jewish cemetery in the northern French city of Lille that the mayor's office described as a "hateful anti-Semitic act".

The Lille mayor's office said it was "shocked" and "disgusted" by the desecration of 53 tombstones overnight Saturday to Sunday in the Lille-Sud cemetery. 53 Jewish tombstones damaged in France

Mark Alexander

König Abdullah warnt Teheran vor einem möglichen amerikanischen Angriff
WELTONLINE: Mit drastischen Worten warnt Saudi-Arabiens König Abdullah den Iran vor den Konsequenzen der Geiselnahme von 15 britischen Marinesoldaten. Das könnte Teheran weit mehr unter Druck setzen als die Erklärungen des UN-Sicherheitsrats und der EU.

Dass der saudische König das iranische Regime warnt, mit der Entführung der britischen Soldaten „spiele es mit dem Feuer“, müssen die Machthaber in Teheran sehr ernst nehmen. Und zwar nicht etwa, weil ein amerikanischer Angriff auf den Iran bevorstehen könnte, wie König Abdullah warnt. Mit seinem Abenteurertum riskiert Teheran vielmehr, seinen brüchigen Burgfrieden mit Saudi-Arabien, dem Erzrivalen des Iran beim Streben nach Vorherrschaft in der Region, zu verspielen, bevor er richtig begonnen hat. Saudis rasseln mit amerikanischem Säbel

Arabische Welt zeigt Olmert die kalte Schulter: Unwirsche Reaktion auf Nahost-Initiative

Mark Alexander

BAE shows the world what it’s about: to hell with the cost, to hell with the principles, make that deal!
A SECRET slush fund set up by BAE Systems, Britain’s biggest defence contractor, was used to pay tens of thousands of pounds to two British actresses while they befriended a senior Saudi prince and his entourage.

Confidential documents seen by The Sunday Times reveal that money from the £60m fund went on the mortgages and rent, credit card bills and council tax of Anouska Bolton-Lee and Karajan Mallinder. It even paid for language lessons. BAE hired actresses for Saudis (£60m slush fund to woo prince)

Mark Alexander

Irresponsible or free? That is the question!
They insisted that she conceal her fatigues with a white abaya, cover her hair with a hijab. It was with her soft voice and in her round, girlish handwriting that the apology for her country’s actions had to be made.

This war has a workaday military guise, but as the treatment of Leading Seaman Faye Turney shows, it is a collision between two irreconcilable civilisations. Its spoils are more than oil reserves, disputed waters or regional influence, but, at its very core, the right of dominion over women.

What a perplexing and alien creature Seaman Turney must appear to this Iranian regime. A young woman working close-knit with men, proud to perform her dangerous task of piloting speedboats as well as any one of them. A wife and mother, moreover, away from her small daughter, who has put military career before marital and maternal duties. What must Iran make of this free woman

Mark Alexander

We’re sorry, Sir Iran! We won’t do it again. Promise!
If you ever had a niggling, sneaking suspicion that ‘Great’ Britain had become a paper tiger, cast all your doubts aside. It has! If you ever thought, in your heart of hearts, that Tony Blair was a pansy, but weren’t quite sure, now you know it! This once great country has become a shadow of its former self. And all under Tony Blair's watch. He prances around on the world stage trying to bring democracy to Iraq (which is impossible), yet he cannot get his own troops home to safety without stooping and begging and fawning and losing face. If you ever wanted a reason to be ashamed of being British, now you've got it!

THE TELEGRAPH: Ministers are preparing a compromise deal to allow Iran to save face and release its 15 British military captives by promising that the Royal Navy will never knowingly enter Iranian waters without permission. Ministers seek deal with Iran for captives

A weak Britain becomes a target for tyrants

©Mark Alexander

Ahmadinejad is a joke! Or at least he would be if he weren't so dangerous
President George W Bush has condemned Iran's "inexcusable behaviour" after its capture of 15 Royal Navy personnel.

The US leader added that he would "strongly support" the British government over the crisis.

However, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has attacked the UK as "arrogant and selfish".

He insisted that "British occupier forces" trespassed into Iranian waters and that his country's border guards had displayed "skill and bravery". Bush attacks Iran over captives

Mark Alexander

Step up to the plate, Tony!
YAHOO NEWS (UK): The 15 British sailors seized in the Gulf may face trial and legal moves have been launched, Iran's ambassador to Moscow has said.

"It is possible that the British soldiers who entered into Iranian waters will go on trial for taking this illegal action," Ambassador Gholamreza Ansari told a Russian television channel.

"The legal phase concerning these British soldiers has started and if charges against them are proven, they will be punished," said Ansari. British sailors may face trial

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Iran captives 'may face trial

“Entschuldigung von London verlangt” - NZZ: Iran bereitet ein Gerichtsverfahren gegen die 15 britischen Soldaten vor, die seit acht Tagen in iranischem Gewahrsam sind. Das gab der iranische Botschafter in Russland bekannt. London habe sich bisher nicht für den Vorfall entschuldigt. Die britische Regierung zeigte sich unbeeindruckt. Iran will britischen Soldaten den Prozess machen

Der saudische König warnt Teheran vor einem US-Angriff! - WELTONLINE: Der Konflikt um die verschleppten britischen Marinesoldaten spitzt sich zu. Die Bundeskanzlerin verteidigt die scharfe Erklärung der EU-Außenminister zur der Geiselkrise im Iran. Unterdessen warnt der saudische König Teheran vor einem US-Angriff. Kanzlerin Merkel begrüßt starkes Signal der EU

Mark Alexander

Friends in need are friends indeed!
Blair is left to make a statement of disgust after the airing of another video from captured British troops

THE TIMES: European foreign ministers failed last night to back Britain in a threat to freeze the €14 billion trade in exports to Iran, as the hostage crisis descended into a propaganda circus.

Tony Blair could only issue a new statement of disgust as Iran tormented him with another sailor’s video confession and a fresh letter from the young mother detainee. EU refuses to back Britain over call to threaten exports freeze

Mark Alexander

Have the British lost their gonads?
THE TELEGRAPH: It is one thing to be disliked; quite another to be despised. Iran would not have kidnapped our Servicemen without having considered our rules of engagement, our diplomatic isolation and our likely military response, and made a rough calculation of how likely they were to get away with their piracy.

There was a time when British citizenship afforded a degree of protection from foreign harassment. When the half-mad King of Abyssinia interned two of our diplomats in 1868, we sent an expeditionary force of 13,000 British and Indian troops on a nine-month rescue mission. When Gordon was besieged at Khartoum in 1884, public opinion demanded a relief expedition, whose failure to arrive in time contributed in no small part to the downfall of the government.

During the Don Pacifico Affair in 1850, when Britain blockaded Piraeus in order to secure compensation for a Portuguese moneylender who had been born in Gibraltar, Palmerston assured his countrymen that "a British subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England will protect him from injustice and wrong". If the Iranians hate us, let them also fear us

Mark Alexander

Azmi loses appeal

Photo courtesy of the BBC

BBC: A Muslim classroom assistant sacked for refusing to remove her veil in lessons has lost an appeal against a ruling that she was not discriminated against.

Aishah Azmi, 24, was asked to remove the veil after Headfield Church of England School in Dewsbury, West Yorks, said pupils could not understand her.

Mrs Azmi refused and was sacked after an employment tribunal ruled she was not the victim of discrimination. Veil row assistant loses appeal

Mark Alexander

The Foreign Office describes the latest “confession” as “disgraceful exploitation”
BBC: A second member of the Royal Navy crew captured in the Gulf has apologised for trespassing in Iranian waters in a broadcast on Iranian television.

He was quoted as saying: "We entered Iranian waters without permission and were arrested by Iranian coastguards.

"I would like to apologise to the Iranian people for that." Navy crewman apologises says Iran

WATCH BBC VIDEO 1: UK ‘concern’ over UK sailors

WATCH BBC VIDEO 2: Navy crewman (Nathan Thomas Summers) apologises on Iranian TV

Mark Alexander

The Intelligence2 Debate
Speaking for the motion, "We'd be better off without religion", at a debate held in Westminster on March 27; Professor Richard Dawkins, Professor A.C. Grayling and Christopher Hitchens. Speaking against: Rabbi Julia Neuberger, Professor Roger Scruton and Nigel Spivey. The debate was chaired by Joan Bakewell

LISTEN HERE: Are we better off without religion? (Part 1)

LISTEN HERE: Are we better off without religion? (Part 2)

With gratitude to THE TIMES for offering this debate.

Mark Alexander

Blair pays the price of not being firm, decisive and tough with the Iran from the start
Letter is seen as attempt to dictate British foreign policy and heap humiliation on Prime Minister

THE TIMES: Iran twisted the knife in the hostage crisis last night, releasing a letter said to be from the captured servicewoman Faye Turney in which she called for British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq.

The letter, in which Tehran appeared to be using the hostages to try to dictate British foreign policy, was apparently designed to heap humiliation on Tony Blair.

Blair livid as hostage letter seeks withdrawal from Iraq by James Bone, Dominic Kennedy and Philip Webster

Israel stays firm and says no to Arab diktat

Mark Alexander

Melanie Phillips on the appeasement of Iran and the weak response of the British government to an “act of war”
”Yet in its response to these events, Britain seems to be in some kind of dreamworld. There is no sense of urgency or crisis, no outpouring of anger. There seems to be virtually no grasp of what is at stake. ...

... What on earth has happened to this country of ours, for so many centuries a byword for defending itself against attack, not least against piracy or acts of war on the high seas?

Twenty-five years ago, we re-took the Falklands after the Argentines invaded. Faced with an act of war against our dependency, Mrs Thatcher had no hesitation. Aggression had to be fought and our people defended. It was the right thing to do.

Can anyone imagine Mrs T wringing her hands in this way over Iran’s seizure of our Marines?” - Melanie Phillips

MELANIE PHILLIPS: Admiral Lord Nelson must be revolving in his grave. While on patrol in the Shatt-al-Arab waterway between Iran and Iraq, 15 Royal Marines and sailors were seized by Iran on a trumped up charge that they had entered Iranian waters.
Six days on and there is no sign of their release. On the contrary, Iran has stepped up its aggression, threatening to charge the kidnapped marines with espionage and even denying them British consular access. The Appeasement of Iran

Mark Alexander

Wegen des “politischen Tamtams” der britischen Regierung droht Iran mit harten Gegenmaßnahmen
Foto dank WELTONLINE

Kennen diese Leute eigentlich nichts Anderes als Kämpfen und Töten?

WELTONLINE: Das Mullah-Regime hat die angekündigte Freilassung der einzigen Frau unter den 15 Soldaten bis auf weiteres verschoben. Grund sei das „politische Tamtam", das London veranstalte. Teheran droht der britischen Regierung mit harten Gegenmaßnahmen. Nervenkrieg um britische Soldaten verschärft

Mark Alexander

Faye Turney is alleged to have called for the British government to withdraw from Iraq!
YAHOO NEWS (UK): Iran has published a new letter allegedly written by Leading Seaman Faye Turney in which she supposedly calls for British forces to withdraw from Iraq. The letter also asks the British Government why it allowed the British captives to stray into Iranian waters. New letter from captive in Iran

Mark Alexander

The lighter side of George W Bush
BBC: US President George W Bush joked about sliding ratings and his post-White House plans as he lampooned himself at an annual press dinner on Wednesday.

"A year ago my approval rating was in the 30s, my nominee for the Supreme Court had just withdrawn, and my vice-president had shot someone.

"Ah, those were the good ol' days," he said, to applause from the audience.

Journalists were also treated to a Karl Rove rap at the meal where presidential self-deprecation is the tradition. Bush serves up the jokes at meal

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Bush jokes about his record

Mark Alexander

Iran plays ‘cat and mouse’ with Great Britain, with the intention of humiliating the British still further
BBC: Iran may delay its plan to release the only woman among 15 captured Royal Navy crew because of the UK's "incorrect attitude", an official has said. Seized sailor’s release in doubt

Iran says [it] may not release woman sailor

Iran lässt Britin vorerst nicht frei

Gereizte Stimmung zwischen Iran und Großbritannien

Téhéran menace de ne plus libérer la militaire britannique

Mark Alexander

Muslim women (Muslimatoon) hold conference in Haifa on their lives as lesbians

Photo courtesy of HAARETZ

HAARETZ: The first conference of Israeli Arab lesbians was held Wednesday in Haifa by the organization Asawat ("Voices").

The discussions dealt with homosexuality in the Arab public and the so-called "triple discrimination" of being women, lesbian and Arab in Israel.

News released in the past two weeks of plans to hold the conference aroused bitter opposition in the southern branch of the Islamic Movement, members of which demonstrated Wednesday outside of the Haifa auditorium where the conference was planned.

At the conference, participants discussed the difficulties faced by Arab lesbians in dealing with their identities and coming out of the closet. First Israeli-Arab conference of lesbians convened in Haifa

Mark Alexander

Should women be sent into harm’s way to defend our nation?
BBC: Women now make up almost one in 10 of Britain's military personnel.

While they had served in a number of important roles since World War II, it was only in the early 1990s that the traditional gender barriers began to come down.

The separate branches of the military for women - the Wrens for the navy and Wracs for the army - were scrapped.

Out went differences like separate ranks and even different coloured badges for women who had served alongside the navy.

In came the chance for women to take on new roles from serving on ships at sea to flying RAF fighter jets or army helicopters. Women on the military frontline

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Interview with Faye Turney before her capture, discussing her rôle as mother and her military career

Should a mother join the Navy?

What was Faye Turney doing in the Gulf?

Mark Alexander

John Hagee on World War III


Mark Alexander

Iran tries to humiliate the UK and hardens its attitude
BBC: Iran has offered to let UK officials visit the 15 Royal Navy personnel who were captured in the Gulf on Friday.

Iran's foreign minister also said the only woman being held, Faye Turney, who has been interviewed on Iranian state television, could be released.

But he said the stand-off would be resolved only if the UK stated that the sailors and marines had been in Iranian waters last Friday, which it denies. Iran offers UK access to sailors

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Iran offers access to sailors

Mark Alexander

”There is a violent streak in Islam”, says former Jihadist
With many, many thanks to Always On Watch for introducing me to this excellent, ‘must-watch’ video:

WATCH: Former Jihadist Speaks Out

Mark Alexander

In Islamabad wurde gegen “unmoralische Aktivitäten" ein Bordell gestürmt

Foto dank der Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Bewaffnete Koranschüler in Islamabad, unter ihnen zahlreiche Mädchen, haben ein Bordell angegriffen und die Leiterin, zwei weitere Frauen sowie zwei Polizisten in ihre Gewalt gebracht. Die Polizei nahm daraufhin einige Schülerinnen fest, und es kam zu Protesten. Ein Leiter der „Jamias Hafsa Madrassa“, von der der Angriff ausging, drohte am Mittwoch damit, eine „Kampagne gegen die Regierung“ zu beginnen, sollten seine Schülerinnen nicht freigelassen werden.

In der Koranschule wurde die Aktion mit den Worten verteidigt, man habe das Recht, sich gegen „unmoralische Aktivitäten“ zu wehren. Entsprechende Aufforderungen an die Polizei, das nahe gelegene Bordell zu schließen, seien ungehört verhallt. Gegenüber der Deutschen Presse-Agentur sagte ein Direktor der Koranschule, die Bordellleiterin werde nun „umerzogen“. Die Koranschule, die im Herzen der Hauptstadt steht und zur bekannten „Roten Moschee“ gehört, hatte in den vergangenen Wochen mehrfach Aufsehen hervorgerufen. Islamistinnen stürmen Bordell

Mark Alexander

Paris erupts again
BBC: Riots at a train station in the French capital, Paris, have become an issue in the upcoming presidential election.

The government's candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, said police were justified in arresting an alleged fare dodger - the action that sparked the riots.

Socialist candidate Segolene Royal said the clashes resulted from Mr Sarkozy's failures as interior minister.

About 100 youths clashed with police at the Gare du Nord station after a dispute over a train fare.

Rioters smashed windows and attacked vending machines and shops, after objecting to the treatment of a man arrested for jumping a ticket barrier.

Transport officials said the man punched two ticket inspectors who asked for his ticket as part of a routine inspection. Paris riot becomes an election issue

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Dozens riot in Paris station

THE TIMES: French police are bracing themselves for fresh outbreaks of violence after hundreds of youths rioted over the arrest of an illegal immigrant at a main railway station in Paris. Paris fears more riots as rail ticket arrest sparks violence by Adam Sage

The Eurostar riots: Britons caught in in mob violence at Paris station

Mark Alexander