For God's sake, call it by its real name: ‘War on Jihad’
Democrats move to restrict the use of the term ‘War on Terror’, as the British government has done, hoping to sanitize the reality of the situation. The sanitization of the reality we are facing will do nothing to help us win the war we are engaged in; on the contrary, it will only hinder our eventual victory. War isn’t about making people feel good, it’s about victory, and victory alone.

Iraq might turn out to be a lost case; though one hopes, of course, it will not. But the ‘War on Jihad’ is something else. This is one war we have to win. It is a question of victory or dhimmitude. Western leaders must not, can not, shy away from this enormous task. Indeed, we must redouble our efforts; otherwise that New Dark Age will be upon us sooner than we might think.

Step up to the plate! We have a task of enormous proportions on our hands. It is a war that no sweet words will, or can, minimize. We are in it to the death. It’s our civilization or theirs. I know which one I would choose.

©Mark Alexander

BBC: As Britain's Secretary for International Development Hilary Benn says that the UK government no longer uses the phrase "war on terror", BBC News website world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds looks at the use and now the disuse of this phrase.

"War on terror" is both a defining and declining phrase.

Its simple, some argue its simplistic, directness has come to represent the post 9/11 age and the worldwide campaign against al-Qaeda. But it was never accepted without qualification by many outside the Bush administration, especially when its meaning was extended to the counter- insurgency campaign in Iraq as well.

Now Mr Benn has gone public with a ban quietly initiated last year by the British government, one of President Bush's closest allies in this "war".

And in the US Congress, the Democrats, who triumphed in the elections in November, are moving to restrict and even ban its use as well. Declining use of 'war on terror'

Mark Alexander

Gunman was a South Korean
BBC: Police have named a student who shot dead at least 30 people at a US university as Cho Seung-hui, a 23-year-old from South Korea. S Korean named as campus gunman

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Police name university killer

Mark Alexander

Weak Governance
DAILY MAIL: All around us are unmistakable signs of a Government imploding before our eyes - leaderless, utterly incompetent, morally bankrupt and adrift.

For the past two weeks, Britain has suffered abject humiliation at the hands of a fanatical Iranian regime, with consequences that will damage our national interests for years to come.

In the hostages crisis, no Prime Minister with any vestige of will or authority would have surrendered as meekly as Tony Blair to an act of war by a third-rank power.

Nor would any Foreign Secretary worthy of the title have allowed it - but then wasn't Margaret Beckett chosen for the job precisely because she was so pliant that she would stand up to nobody? For the nation's sake, the PM must go... (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Isn’t it high time the British got over their snobbishness and concentrated on the main event?
”If it is true that the royals were shocked by Kate Middleton’s mother’s use of the word ‘toilet’ rather than ‘loo’, then it's such a pity that members of the Royal Family haven't got more important things to think about. This is banality taken to its very extreme. If members of the Windsor family cannot think about more important matters in a world that is in turmoil, and in a world in which Islam is encroaching upon our freedoms, then maybe it's time they were sent out to work.” - Mark Alexander

THE TELEGRAPH: “It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him."

So ventured Shaw in Pygmalion, and, if reports are to be believed - and perhaps we should not take them too seriously - Prince William's now ex-girlfriend, Kate Middleton, must have, on occasion, been made to feel rather like Shaw's Covent Garden flower seller ensnared on the thorns of polite society.

For just as Eliza was lampooned for her non-U utterances, so apparently was Miss Middleton - although not for any society gaffes of her own but for those apparently made by her mother, a former air stewardess, who not only, we are told, addressed the Queen with the phrase "Pleased to meet you" rather than the accepted "How do you do?", but was also known to have let slip a word toffs consider quite the ghastliest blasphemy: toilet. Was it 'Toiletgate' that done [it] for Kate?

What does 'Toiletgate' say about Britain's class divide?

Noblesse Oblige

Mark Alexander

The US’s “lethal commitment to its own freedoms”?
TIMESONLINE:

”Perhaps of all the elements of American exceptionalism – those factors, positive or negative, that make the US such a different country, politically, socially, culturally, from the rest of the civilised world – it is the gun culture that foreigners find so hard to understand.

The country’s religiosity, so at odds with the rest of the developed world these days; its economic system which seems to tolerate vast disparities of income; even all those strange sports Americans enjoy – all of these can at least be understood by the rest of us, even if not shared.

But why, we ask, do Americans continue to tolerate gun laws and a culture that seems to condemn thousands of innocents to death every year, when presumably, tougher restrictions, such as those in force in European countries, could at least reduce the number?” - Gerard Baker Only the names change. And the numbers (Read Gerard Baker's comment)

LE FIGARO: Abasourdis par le pire carnage qu'ont connu les États-Unis, les médias américains s'interrogent sur le manque de réactivité des responsables de l'université de Blacksburg et relancent le débat sur le contrôle des armes à feu. Virginia Tech : l'université critiquée

WELTONLINE: Immer wieder kommt es in den USA zu Bluttaten an Schulen und Hochschulen. Eines der bisher schlimmsten Massaker ereignete sich 1999 in der Columbine High School in Colorado, wo 15 Menschen ums Leben kamen. AMOKLAUF: Bluttaten an amerikanischen Schulen und Hochschulen

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Der schlimmste Amoklauf Amerikas

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Prävention: Wie lassen sich Amokläufe verhindern?

DIE PRESSE: Bush betont Recht auf Waffenbesitz

DIE PRESSE: Der Täter: Hinweise auf Motiv

“Amerika schützt seine Kinder nicht - so lautete zusammengefasst der Kommentar der französischen Tageszeitung "La Republique du Centre" am Dienstag nach dem blutigsten Amoklauf in der Geschichte der USA. "Man muss schon mit aller Bitterkeit unterstreichen, dass die USA zwar paradoxerweise dermaßen um die Weltordnung besorgt sind, andererseits sich aber nicht in der Lage sehen, ihre eigenen Kinder dort zu schützen, wo sie sicher sein sollten", heißt es in dem Blatt.” - [Quelle: Die Presse]

Mark Alexander

Mayhem, Tragedy and Massacre on US University Campus
TIMESONLINE: A lone gunman has killed at least 30 people at an American university today in the bloodiest campus shooting in US history.

Police said there had been "at least 20 fatalities" in two locations at Virginia Tech university but government officials later told American news outlets that death toll could be as high as 32.

Describing the killings as a tragedy of "monumental proportions", the university said that a lone gunman killed one person and wounded several others at a dormitory shortly after 7am this morning before going on to kill the rest of his victims in the engineering department more than two hours later.

Reports from the scene said 28 students and teachers had been wounded in the attacks, including some who leaped from windows to avoid the shooter, who was reportedly killed by police. Lone gunman kills at least 30 in US campus massacre by Sam Knight

Why are there so many shootings in America?

Gun laws back in the spotlight

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Many shot dead in US university

Mark Alexander

The Holocaust must be taught and remembered
TIMESONLINE: One of the world's leading Holocaust education centres has accused British school teachers of committing an "offence" against the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis by failing to teach the genocide properly due to political correctness.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre used Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is today, to write an open letter to Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, claiming it is "horrified" by a report funded by his department which revealed that teachers often avoided dealing with the Holocaust because they did not want to cause offence to children from other races or religions. Holocaust group slams British schools by David Byers

Mark Alexander

Le Pen seems to have lost none of his appeal for the French voter

Photo courtesy of the BBC

BBC: Jean-Marie Le Pen has been in politics for more than 50 years, but at his rally at Porte de Versailles in Paris the crowd greet him as if he was the hottest new act in politics.

Some 5-6,000 people waving flags crammed into the stadium on Sunday to cheer on the National Front leader. The overspill who could not fit in still screamed their approval through the open doors.

"I'm voting for the first time," 19-year-old Frederic told me. "And I'm voting Le Pen because immigration is a serious problem in France - that's not racist, it's realistic and Le Pen will deal with the problem, while candidates like Sarkozy and Royal just pretend it's not happening." Le Pen urges halt to immigration (Cont'd) by Emma Jane Kirby

BBC: A French voter's viewpoint

Mark Alexander

Happy Birthday, Holy Father!

Photo of Pope Benedict XVI courtesy of Google Images

Although I am not a Roman Catholic, I would like to take this opportunity to wish Pope Benedict a very Happy Birthday. Pope Benedict XVI was born in Bavaria on Holy Saturday, April 16, 1927. It is hard to believe, but his parents' names were Joseph and Mary. There is no doubt that Pope Benedict is a wonderful man. He is intelligent and erudite, understanding and compassionate, gracious and elegant. He is also a true aesthete. What more could we wish for in a pope? One can only wish him all the very best for today and for always. May he be blessed with a long and healthy life. Long live Pope Benedict!

Sun shines on Vatican for Pope’s birthday

Kardinal Meisner vergleicht Papst mit Jesus

Der Stilist Benedikt XVI.

Foto dank der FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG

Georg Gänswein: Der Diener zweier Herren

L'Église catholique fête les 80 ans de Benoît XVI

©Mark Alexander

Rücktritt für Wolfowitz kommt nicht in Betracht
Amerikanischer Sukkurs für den Weltbank-Chef
NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Der in die Kritik geratene Weltbank-Präsident Paul Wolfowitz will im Amt bleiben. «Die Bank hat wichtige Arbeit zu tun, und ich werde sie weiterhin tun», sagte Wolfowitz nach einer Sitzung des Lenkungsausschusses der Bank am Sonntag in Washington. Wolfowitz lehnt Rücktritt ab

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Defiant Wolfowitz ‘to stay’ in job

But the BBC says:

"The future of beleaguered World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz remains in the balance despite a defiant statement that he intends to stay." Wolfowitz future still in balance

Mark Alexander

And still Europe contemplates Turkey’s accession to the EU
TIMESONLINE: Hundreds of thousands of Turks took part in two days of protests hoping to persuade the Prime Minister against running for president, amid concerns that his election would put at risk the separation of religion and state in the predominantly Muslim country.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to decide this week whether to stand for president next month. Since his Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has roots in political Islam, has a substantial parliamentary majority, its candidate is assured of succeeding Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the President, who is a staunch secularist.

Mr Erdogan, who has presided over strong economic growth and has worked hard to secure Turkey’s European Union candidacy, presents himself as a conservative democrat. But opponents remain suspicious of his Islamist past. Mr Erdogan has served a prison term for sedition and his wife covers her head in the Islamic manner. During his leadership his party has attempted to criminal-ise adultery, banish alcohol from some establishments and relax restrictions on religious education and headscarves.

His opponents, who include top bureaucrats, academics, judges and generals, believe that he has a hidden Islamist agenda to undermine the strict separation of religion and state, which he could put into practice if AKP held all the top government and state posts. Turks protest amid fears of ‘secret plan’ to overturn secular state (Cont’d) by Suna Erdem

Merkel trifft Erdogan: Der EU-Beitritt der Türkei soll Gesprächsthema bleiben

Mark Alexander

British government consigns term ‘War on Terror’ to the dustbin of history
If the British government feels that the term is counterproductive, then allow me to suggest a better term: ‘War on Jihad’! This term will be clear to everyone what we are up against. Go for it, Tone!

TIMESONLINE: The Government has stopped using the phrase “War on Terror”, Hilary Benn, the International Development Secretary said last night. Government puts an end to the ‘War on Terror’

But Muslim extremists are to be tracked like paedophiles. TIMESONLINE: MI5 adopts paedophile-tracking tactics for Muslim extremists

Mark Alexander

Has Alan Johnston been killed?

Photo courtesy of the NZZ

BBC: A Palestinian group calling itself the Al Tawhid Al Jihad brigade has issued a claim that it has killed BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston.

The BBC says it is aware of the reports and is deeply concerned, but stresses there is no independent verification.

In a statement faxed to news agencies, the group contrasts the attention given to Alan Johnston's captivity with that given to Palestinians held in prison.

Mr Johnston was abducted as he returned home from his Gaza office on 12 March.

The BBC has issued a statement saying it is deeply concerned about what it is hearing.

"But we stress that at this stage," it says, "it is rumour with no independent verification".

NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Der BBC-Journalist Alan Johnston in Gaza angeblich getötet: Keine offizielle Bestätigung

Mark Alexander

Why do we put up with this nonsense?
THE AUSTRALIAN: THE most senior Muslim cleric in Canberra regularly praises Islamic jihadists in Iraq and Afghanistan in his Friday afternoon sermons.

Mohammed Swaiti, who is being investigated by the Australian Taxation Office over claims he failed to pay income tax on thousands of dollars he allegedly received from the Saudi embassy, yesterday called on God to grant "victory to mujaheddin (Muslim holy warriors)" worldwide.

"God grant victory to the mujaheddin in his name in all places," he called out twice in Arabic over a microphone at Abu Bakr mosque in Yarralumla in front of about 500 worshippers.

"God grant victory to mujaheddin in Palestine, and Chechnya and Kashmir and Afghanistan and Iraq."

Although Sheik Swaiti translated his sermon into English for non-Arabic-speaking audience members, the imam of Canberra's only mosque omitted the praise for Islamic jihadists in the English version. Jihadists praised by cleric (Cont'd) by Richard Kerbaj

Mark Alexander

Les prisons britanniques sont devenues des centres de propagation de l’extrémisme islamique
Un chercheur s'alarme de la radicalisation des prisonniers musulmans, fruit d'une politique gouvernementale contre-productive.

AVEC les campus, les prisons britanniques sont devenues des centres de propagation de l'extrémisme islamique. Plus alarmant encore, les mesures strictes instaurées pour empêcher toute radicalisation des détenus musulmans se révèlent contre-productives. « En se focalisant sur la sécurité, le gouvernement a fait fausse route », assène Gabriele Marranci. Pendant quatre ans, ce maître-assistant de l'université d'Aberdeen, a mené 170 entretiens avec d'anciens ou d'actuels prisonniers, a vécu avec des familles de condamnés et s'est immergé des heures dans des centres pénitenciers. Et sa conclusion est sans appel : « Les règles sécuritaires - comme les restrictions touchant les prières en commun ou la lecture du Coran durant les pauses de travail - exacerbent plutôt qu'elles n'atténuent le processus de radicalisation. » Les prisons anglaises, vivier de l'islam radical (encore)

Mark Alexander

Amerikaner gegen Amerikaner
Christopher Paul wird beschuldigt, Terroristen hierzulande den Umgang mit Sprengstoff beigebracht zu haben. Zudem soll er Anschläge auf Ferienanlagen geplant haben, die gern von Amerikanern besucht werden. Auch über Flugsimulatoren habe er sich informiert.

Terrororganisation al-Qaida und der Planung von Anschlägen in Europa festgenommen und angeklagt worden. Christopher Paul soll unter anderem in Deutschland Terror-Aktivisten im Umgang mit Sprengstoff ausgebildet und sich an der Rekrutierung neuer Mitglieder beteiligt haben. Wie die Justizbehörden in Washington mitteilten, waren Anschläge auf häufig von Amerikanern besuchte Ferienanlagen und US-Einrichtungen in Europa geplant. Auf die Anklagepunkte gegen Paul steht als Höchststrafe lebenslange Haft. US-Bürger soll in Deutschland Aktivisten geschult haben

Mark Alexander

A Clear Case of Nepotism
TIMESONLINE: The board of directors of the World Bank found today that Paul Wolfowitz, the President of the bank, had moved his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, to a new government post at a salary of nearly $200,000 without review by its ethics committee.

The revelation appears to contradict earlier statements from Mr Wolfowitz's office.

The World Bank said that the ethics committee had "informally" advised Mr Wolfowitz to relocate Ms Riza but that it had not approved her new salary and terms and conditions, which were ordered by Mr Wolfowitz.

Her new salary at the US State Department is thought to exceed even that of Condoleezza Rice, who, as Secretary of State, is the highest-ranking official in the department. Wolfowitz ‘acted without approval’ says bank (Cont'd) by Robert Lindsay

BBC: Pressure grows on World Bank boss

BBC VIDEO: Bank meets over Wolfowitz

LE MONDE: Le départ de Wolfowitz

THE SUNDAY TIMES: I’m a wronged woman, says girlfriend in Wolfowitz scandal

Mark Alexander

France needs to cast off the shackles of its socialist past and ‘go for it’

Image courtesy of THE ECONOMIST

After a quarter-century of drift Nicolas Sarkozy offers the best hope of reform
THE ECONOMIST: NO FRENCH presidential election in 50 years has looked as unpredictable as this year's, the first round of which takes place on April 22nd. This is so even though the leader in every opinion poll so far has been Nicolas Sarkozy, the candidate of the ruling centre-right UMP party. His support may be overestimated, just as that of the far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen may be underestimated. The rise of the centrist François Bayrou, who at one point almost overtook the Socialist Ségolène Royal, has muddied the electoral arithmetic. And with only ten days to go, more than two in five voters are undecided.

This election matters. France is the euro zone's second-biggest member and home to ten of Europe's 50 biggest companies. But it is deeply troubled. It has the slowest-growing large economy in Europe, a state that soaks up half of GDP, the fastest-rising public debt in western Europe over the past ten years and, above all, entrenched high unemployment. Over the past 25 years French GDP per person has declined from seventh-highest in the world to 17th. The smouldering mood of the suburbs (banlieues), home to many jobless youths from ethnic minorities, blazed into riots in 2005 and lay behind new trouble that flared recently at a Paris railway station. The disenchantment of voters is reflected not only in opinion polls but also in their rejection of the European Union constitution in 2005. Tellingly, they have not re-elected an incumbent government for a quarter-century. France’s chance (Cont’d)

BBC: French voter's viewpoint

Le Figaro: The Economist vote Nicholas Sarkozy

Mark Alexander

Schweizer irakischer Abstammung läuft mit Sturmgewehr tobend herum
Täter schoss in Baden wahllos um sich - Ein Toter und vier Personen verletzt
NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Ein Amokschütze hat am Donnerstagabend in Baden einen 71-jährigen Mann erschossen und vier weitere Personen verletzt. Beim Täter handelt es sich um einen 26-jährigen Schweizer irakischer Abstammung. Er wurde nach der Tat verhaftet.

Der Amokläufer war kurz vor 21 Uhr 45 mit einem Sturmgewehr 90 auf dem Parkplatz des Hotels «Kappelerhof/La Cappella» aufgetaucht, wie Urs Winzenried, Chef der Aargauer Kriminalpolizei, am Freitag vor den Medien sagte. Wortlos habe der 26-Jährige das Feuer auf zwei Jugendliche eröffnet, die an einem Tisch vor der Bar sassen. Die Gewehrkugeln trafen die beiden 15- und 16-jährigen Jugendlichen. Sie hatten zusammen mit ihren Eltern das Restaurant besucht. Trotz ihrer Verletzungen konnten sie ins Innere des Restaurants flüchten. Amoklauf mit Armee-Sturmgewehr (mehr)

Mark Alexander

Tough, revolutionary words from Berezovsky
London exile Berezovsky says force necessary to bring down President Putin

Photo courtesy of Google Images

THE GUARDIAN: The Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky has told the Guardian he is plotting the violent overthrow of President Putin from his base in Britain after forging close contacts with members of Russia's ruling elite.

In comments which appear calculated to enrage the Kremlin, and which will further inflame relations between London and Moscow, the multimillionaire claimed he was already bankrolling people close to the president who are conspiring to mount a palace coup.

"We need to use force to change this regime," he said. "It isn't possible to change this regime through democratic means. There can be no change without force, pressure." Asked if he was effectively fomenting a revolution, he said: "You are absolutely correct." I am plotting a new Russian revolution (Cont’d)

GUARDIAN AUDIO: Berezovsky on change in Russia

THE GUARDIAN: Berezovsky on his personal safety

BBC: Russia probes Berezovsky 'plot'

BBC VIDEO: Russia probes 'Putin plot'

NZZ: Beresovsky widerspricht sich selbst

LE FIGARO: Manifestation sous haute tension à Moscou

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Hundreds held in Moscow anti-Putin protests

Mark Alexander

The Bush Legacy: Loss of Confidence in the Dollar
THE TELEGRAPH/Money: The euro has reached an all-time high against the yen and surged to $1.35 against the dollar, setting the stage for a battle between French politicians and the European Central Bank for control of the currency.

Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB's president, gave a virtual guarantee that interest rates would be raised again to 4pc in June, narrowing the yield gap with the US. "I would not say today anything aimed at changing expectations for the month of June," he said.

Global currencies are going through a major realignment as Europe takes over as the engine of world growth and the US starts to trip, setting off an exodus from dollar assets. Super-euro may spark a currency war while French battle the ECB by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

Mark Alexander

The death of neoconservatism?
TIMESONLINE/Comment: Every now and then an intellectual movement, a school of social, economic or political thought, jumps the cultural barrier that divides the arid squabbling of university senior common rooms from the saloon bar brawling of everyday political discussion.

In the 1970s it was monetarism that made the switch into the mainstream. An economic theory, rooted in orthodox neoclassical explanations about the causes of inflation, was suddenly as familiar a subject to TV viewers and newspaper readers as changes in the cast of MASH.

Since its complexities were too great to comprehend, most commentators did the safe thing and simply looked at the identities of its principal advocates. These seemed to be readily identifiable right-wing villains, so in the demotic demonology of the day monetarism became shorthand for greedy, heartless conservatives.

In the first years of the 21st century, history will recall that it was neoconservatism that played the role of most despised and least understood intellectual theory. For years it languished in the obscurity of certain US universities and think-tanks.

Though its adherents were important protagonists in the Cold War, it never really got much of a public airing as a theoretical system of its own.

It took, improbably, the arrival of George Bush in the White House and September 11, 2001, to catapult it into the public consciousness. When Mr Bush cited its most simplified tenet — that the US should seek to promote liberal democracy around the world — as a key case for invading Iraq, neoconservatism was suddenly everywhere. It was, to its many critics, a unified ideology that justified military adventurism, sanctioned torture and promoted aggressive Zionism.

Almost as suddenly as it emerged from obscurity, neoconservatism seems to have collapsed. As the misery in Iraq has deepened, as President Bush and the Republican Party have stumbled deeper into the mire, and as Britain and Europe seem eager to move quickly towards a kind of social democratic system that seeks an all-encompassing multicultural accommodation, the neocons look routed. The neocons have been routed. But they are not all wrong (Cont’d) by Gerard Baker

Mark Alexander

Auch Europa steht in Gefahr
Nach den Anschlägen in Algerien und Marokko stellten die Urheber klar, worum es ihnen eigentlich geht. Die erklärten „Vasallen“ Usama Bin Ladins bezichtigten sich nicht nur der jüngsten Verbrechen ihrer Selbstmordattentäter in Nordafrika. Sie nannten auch abermals ihr eigentliches Ziel: „Die Befreiung der islamischen Erde von Jerusalem bis nach Al Ándalus.“

Fünf Jahre nach den Anschlägen in Casablanca, drei Jahre nach den Madrider Zugattentaten und zwei Jahre nach den Anschlägen von London fühlt sich die Terrororganisation „Al Qaida im islamischen Maghreb“ offenbar stark genug, die offene Auseinandersetzung mit den Regierungen in Algerien, Marokko und Tunesien zu suchen. Gleichzeitig droht sie in Europa besonders Spanien und Frankreich, wo ihre Mitglieder offenbar schon aktiv sind. Die „Vasallen“ Bin Ladins bedrohen auch Europa Von Leo Wieland

Mark Alexander

Fragile Iran
In the following excerpt from Alireza Jafarzadeh’s book on Iran entitled, The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis, we are given the following insights into Ahmadinejad’s fragile Iran:

”The Iranian regime’s ability to create chaos in Iraq, fund and train terrorists throughout the Middle East, and defiantly proceed with its nuclear enrichment program can easily be interpreted as signs of the Iranian regime’s strength. That is exactly what the leaders in Tehran want the world to think. But in reality, these actions, including Ahmadinejad’s bravado and grandstanding, provide a smoke-screen for a regime that is struggling to survive.

In spite of Iran’s oil wealth, the economy is in shambles; the most conservative estimates rank inflation in the double digits, and one out of every four Iranians living below the poverty line. One of Iran’s own economic organizations estimated 52 percent unemployment among the 15-29 age group for 2006. Others believe the numbers are much higher. Strikes are rampant in state-run businesses, from bus companies to soda factories, where workers go for months without pay or benefits. The ruling mullahs monopolize huge segments of the economy through ownership of massive, unregulated 'philanthropic' organizations (bonyads) that form a bloated and corrupt system. The younger generation, which comprises the vast majority of the population, is fed up with all the restrictions imposed upon them and the increasing crackdown on the press and personal liberties. Civic unrest forces the government to expend enormous resources to put down the thousands of demonstrations that erupt every year before the situation gets out of hand. Iran’s leaders realize that the domestic situation is a time bomb that could explode any day, and they attempt to hide that weakness and vulnerability behind “success” abroad. The regime’s defiance of the IAEA and the West regarding the nuclear program is just one attempt to try to build up Tehran’s image, while repressing the population that seeks to drive them out of power.

Understanding the realities of Iran’s domestic situation, any state that attempts to negotiate with Tehran while perceiving Iran as a strong, rich, and stable nation is operating under a fallacy. Tehran has never been more vulnerable. The leaders’ greatest fear is that the organized opposition will continue to gain more visibility and international support. Far from leading a young, loyal nation toward prosperity and stability, Tehran is facing down an inevitable showdown with its own people.”

Buy this extraordinarily detailed book here: The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis

Mark Alexander

Bosnia gets tough with jihadists

Photo of ‘foreign fighters’ courtesy of the BBC

BBC: Bosnia-Hercegovina has stripped almost 400 people of citizenship as part of an investigation into foreign fighters who settled in the country after the war.

Bosnian media sees the investigation as a part of a drive against terrorism requested by the US.

Bosnia's government says those involved came from Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan and Russia. Bosnia tackles ‘foreign fighters’ by Nicholas Walton

Mark Alexander

The Myth of Madrassah Reform in Pakistan
KASHMIR HERALD: Five years after General Pervez Musharraf promised sweeping reforms to ensure that Pakistani religious schools are not used any further to propagate extremist Islam; the country’s traditional madrassa system continues to operate freely as the key breeding ground for radical Islamist ideology as well as the recruitment centre for terrorist networks.

The madrassa reform campaign launched by General Musharraf in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks in January 2002 has largely failed and hardly a few cosmetic changes could be introduced in the existing madrassa system. The federal government’s plan for madrassa reform is a classic example of the one-step forward two-steps backwards approach. Musharraf’s rhetoric to modernise the religious schools has met with little success mainly due to a lack of political will to enforce any of the much-trumpeted policy decisions that were supposed to be taken by his administration to reform the madrassas by bringing them into the educational mainstream. Subsequently, signs of Talibanisation are quite evident in all parts of Pakistan, especially in the heart of the federal capital where hardline religious leaders and hundreds of men and women activists from local madrassas continue to challenge the writ of the government by trying to force their brand of Islamic justice.

The March 30 raid by a group of burqa-clad madrassa students on a brothel in Islamabad and subsequent hostage taking of the alleged brothel owner was the second provocation by the Jamia Hafsa girl students in a short span of three months. Since January 2007, other than this incident, the violent students have occupied a children’s library adjacent to their madrassa after the Capital Development Authority began demolition of two mosques that were constructed on state land without permission. Several hundred girls of the Jamia Hafsa armed with bamboo sticks and weapons seized the only library in the federal capital, chiefly meant for children and refused to vacate it until the government reconstructed the mosques. At one stage the government did start reconstruction but the girls upped the ante and made extraneous demands including enforcement of Shariah laws in the country. Madrassa Reforms - The Great Myth (Cont’d) by Amir Mir

Mark Alexander

The story of the conversion of the Avenging Apostate
This moving story is in SIX parts, so be sure to read them all. To read the next part, click on the link at the bottom of each piece.

"The following post is my testimony on how I converted out of the death-cult of Islam into Christianity. It was a very long journey which I undertook just to find the truth and I am happy that finally I did. I wanted to share this testimony publicly because I want people to know what Islam’s true colors are and to show what it's like being born in a Moslem family in Saudi Arabia. I feel I have a duty to do so too. I want to show how the horrors of Islam change people’s lives, break relationships and destroy homes—these are the experiences that might not be fully understood in the west. I hope my testimony helps save lives both spiritually and physically and in the meantime I hope I don’t get caught in Islam’s deadly embrace. You will know why I say that once you read this." - From a Jihadist to a Human

Mark Alexander

Researcher claims Jews smarter than Gentiles
Dr Charles Murray claims Jews' IQ 7-15 higher than gentiles; 'just look at Nobel Prize recipients and do the math'

Jews' average IQ score is seven to 15 points higher than gentiles and they are exceptionally accomplished, claims the British social theorist Dr Charles Murray.

"Jewish genius", Murray says, is a topic so sensitive that Jews rarely address it. Writing in Commentary, a neoconservative journal, Murray argues that anti-Semitism has succeeded in blurring the connection, but the Jews' accomplishments are scientifically based. Murray said he regards himself as a Scotsman who came to Britain from Iowa and therefore is not afraid to broach and elaborate on the findings in his research. British researcher claims 'Jews smarter, it's genetic'

Mark Alexander

Shari’ah law: What lies behind it?
Shari’ah is the detailed code of conduct of the faithful, or the canons comprising ways and modes of worship. Remember that Islam asks the faithful to live a life of obedience and submission to their Lord, Allah.

Shari’ah also sets the standards of morals and life and laws, laws which allow this, or proscribe that. This is the judgement between right and wrong. Muslims believe that Muhammad is the final prophet of Allah, and they believe that the final codified law, as-Shari'ah, is the body of law which is applicable for all of mankind and for all time.

The sources of Shari’ah are the Qur’an and Ahadith, or ‘the sayings of the prophet Muhammad'. Muslims believe that the Qur’an is a divine revelation. Further, they believe that the Qur’an is made up of the literal and actual words of Allah. Ahadith, or ‘the sayings of the prophet Muhammad’, are made up of instructions issued by Muhammad, or the memoirs of Muhammad’s conduct and behaviour. They are preserved by those who were present in his company, or by those who were handed down this guidance by the first witnesses. The collections of Ahadith were made by Malik, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah. These are the Ahadith which are considered to be the most authentic.

Fiqh, or detailed law derived from the Qur’an and Ahadith, may be broken down into four major schools of thought. They are: Fiqh Hanafi, Fiqh Maliki, Fiqh Shafi’i, and Fiqh Hanbali. These four schools took final shape within two hundred years after the death of the prophet. All four schools of thought are considered to be correct and true, regardless of which school of thought a Muslim belongs to. It’s all a matter of interpretation.

Fiqh deals with observable conduct and the fulfilment of the obligations of Islam to the letter of the law. Tasawwuf, by contrast, deals with the spirit of a Muslim’s conduct. Tasawwuf, in its true sense, is an intense love of Allah and Muhammad. The love of both requires strict obedience to Allah and Muhammad’s commands as written in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, or the way of the prophet of Allah.

People can be divided into two types: those who go astray wilfully; and those who go astray out of ignorance. As-Shari’ah, or the Sharia, meets the need of separating these two types of people.

As-Shari’ah forbids all that is ‘harmful’ to man and ordains all that is useful to him.

The scheme of life which Islam envisions consists of a set of rights and obligations. Muslims are asked to live up to these. These rights and obligations are as follows:

1. The rights of Allah: the primary right being that man should have faith in him and in him alone; and that man should accept his guidance (Hidayah) and seek his pleasure with heart, mind, and soul. Further, man should obey Allah, honestly and unreservedly; and he must worship him, and him alone.

2. One's own rights: The Shari’ah forbids those things which are injurious to man’s physical, mental, or moral existence.

3. Other men’s rights: Other people’s rights should not be violated. Hence, adultery, fornication and unnatural sexual pleasures have been strictly forbidden.

a. To preserve morality, the free co-mingling of the sexes has been forbidden. Further, man has been asked to lower his gaze when he comes into contact with women.
b. ‘Proper’ dress should always be worn. A man should not expose any part of his body between his knees and his navel. A woman should expose no part of her body other than her hands and her face. Except, that is, to her husband. This is a religious duty for every woman.
c. Islam does not approve of pastimes, entertainments, or recreations which stimulate the senses. They are a waste of time, money, and energy, and they destroy morality in society.
d. Believers are required to avoid mutual hostility in order to safeguard the unity and solidarity of the Ummah.
e. Muslims must seek out knowledge and science for the common good, but Muslims are forbidden from aping the mode of living of the non-Muslim.

4. The rights of all creatures: Each animal has its own rights, as do vegetables.

The law of Islam, as-Shari’ah, is eternal. It is said not to be based on the customs or the traditions of any particular people, and nor is it meant for a particular time in the history of the world; rather, it is one body of laws for man for all time, in the same way that Muslims believe that Islam is the universal religion for man for all time, the religion is for an eternity.

[Source: Abul A'la Mawdudi: Towards Understanding Islam]

©Mark Alexander

Ayn Rand on Ayn Rand
Since I started my weblog, I have been introduced to the philosophy of Ayn Rand. One of the books she wrote is Atlas Shrugged. Her philosophy of life is Objectivism, of which she is the originator.

I am NOT an Objectivist and nor, to my knowledge, are many Brits. I therefore thought it would be interesting to explore Ayn Rand's ideas with you today.

Objectivism, as I understand it, is a philosophy of life diametrically-opposed to Christianity, Islam, or any other faith.

Because of the growing influence of Islam in the West, and because the West seems to be ‘going astray’ and seems incapable of finding the strength to compete with that competing 'religion', I thought it would be very interesting and useful to explore and discuss Ayn Rand’s body of ideas on this forum.

I would be very interested to read your comments on the following three interviews which took place in the USA in 1959. Ayn Rand, a Russian immigrant to the US, is interviewed by Mike Wallace. I think you will find these interviews enlightening and interesting, even if you might disagree with the ideas expressed therein.

These interviews are in ‘black and white’. You will sometimes lose Ayn Rand from focus because of the haze of smoke billowing from Mike Wallace’s mouth. Please be tolerant. This was 1959, not 2007! (How interviewing styles have changed!)

The Mike Wallace Interview (1959)

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



©Mark Alexander

Yet more evidence the West is losing its way: Schoolchildren can no longer be controlled
The answer, according to the government: Give the disruptive little darlings prizes! Baloney!

THE TELEGRAPH: Difficult and disruptive pupils should be praised and given prizes to encourage them to behave, Government guidance said yesterday.

A system of rewards - including good news postcards home, special privileges or prizes - is the best way to encourage troublemakers to behave, says the document on keeping order in class.

It urges schools to adopt a more positive approach that it suggests will help improve relations with parents "tired" of receiving letters about children's poor behaviour.

But the Department for Education document is likely to cause alarm among teachers, who have called for tough action to clamp down on increasingly violent pupils. Disruptive pupils 'should be given prizes’ by Liz Lightfoot and Graeme Paton

Mark Alexander

More evidence that the West is losing its way: Now we don’t know what the perfect wife is. Little wonder that Western civilisation is in trouble
Being a perfect parent is now deemed more important than being a good spouse. Our correspondent tries to define what makes the ideal partner

The millionaire founder of Kwik-Fit, Sir Tom Farmer, was recently asked to give his best piece of advice for becoming a business success. His answer was simple: find a good wife. “I know it sounds romanticised but it’s true,” he said. “The most important person in my life has been my wife.”

Undoubtedly, many people will find this sentiment romantic. A good many more might be confused. What exactly does a good wife mean these days? Is it someone who stays at home to raise the children, or who shares the financial burden by going out to work? A high-earning glass-ceiling breaker or a yummy mummy who keeps a well-stocked fridge? In February the Office for National Statistics told us that the number of couples choosing to marry has dropped to its lowest for 111 years, and divorce rates remain high. “Good” wives and husbands are apparently thin on the ground. The Good Wife’s Guide, published by Housekeeping Monthly in the 1950s, advised women to put a ribbon in their hair as they served their husbands’ evening meal — a suggestion that most modern women would deem to be insulting — while a 1958 edition of Housewife magazine invited them to take part in a “How good a wife are you?” quiz. Yet the guide at least set out exactly what was expected of wives. As the author Marilyn Yalom says in her book A History of the Wife: “To be a wife today, when there are few prescriptions or proscriptions, is a truly creative endeavour.”

Some experts believe that as modern life becomes more demanding, what defines a good partner has not only become obscured but has been pushed down the pecking order. So much emphasis is now placed on being a Good Parent that being a Good Spouse comes a poor third after a) the children and b) the job. Marital conversation is reduced to “Have you got the juice?” “Yes, have you got the wipes?” The advice given by her mother to Jerry Hall that to keep a man a woman must be a maid in the living room, a cook in the kitchen and a whore in the bedroom seems ever more quaint now that housework is increasingly outsourced, food is fast and marriages become increasingly sexless (witness the emergence of books for the sexless marriage with titles such as Okay, So I Don’t Have a Headache, I’m Not in the Mood and For Women Only, which lists techniques that wives use to avoid sex). Has the race to raise the brightest child, get him/ her into the best school, ferry him/her around to the highest number of improving activities actually put marriage under strain?

Val Sampson, an author and a couples counsellor, has launched relightmyfire.org, a website dedicated to helping couples to find their passion again and make each other a priority. She says: “I see a lot of people who have lost sight of fact they are a couple and see each other only as Mum and Dad. Women in particular get a lot of affection energy from a child. They turn to the child for cuddling, touch and sensual needs. They become almost absorbed by the child. It is like a grenade exploding in a marriage.” In search of the good wife by Carol Midgley

Mark Alexander

Swiss find allure of Middle Eastern money just too attractive to resist: Switzerland decides to sell out to the mighty Mid-East petro-buck!

Photo courtesy of the BBC

BBC: The elegant Swiss ski resorts of St Moritz, Verbier and Klosters dominate many winter holiday brochures - but little Andermatt plans to rival them in future.

One of the Middle East's biggest hotel groups is on course to transform Andermatt into a luxury resort, complete with a golf course and a pool with its own sandy beach. Egyptian tycoon plans alpine oasis by Imogen Foulkes

Mark Alexander

Naïve fools!

Photo of the Roman Catholic Bishop, Rt Rev Tom Burns, courtesy of THE TELEGRAPH

THE TELEGRAPH: The Roman Catholic bishop who oversees the armed forces has provoked fury by praising the Iranian leadership for its "forgiveness" and "act of mercy" in freeing the 15 British sailors and marines last week.

The Bishop of the Forces, the Rt Rev Tom Burns, said that the religious beliefs of the Iranians had played a large part in their decision to release the hostages after holding them for more than two weeks.

His words were echoed by a leading Anglican figure, the Right Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, who said Iran had acted within the "moral and spiritual tradition of their country" and contrasted this with Britain's "free-floating attitudes".

Bishop Burns, who ministers to the 40,000 Catholics and their families who are members of the armed forces, said the decision to release the captives had demonstrated "faith in a forgiving God".

But his comments were angrily denounced yesterday by politicians and soldiers as "naive" and "wishful thinking" for failing to recognise the illegality of Teheran's actions. Fury as bishops back Iran

Mark Alexander

Dennis Prager on the decline of the UK
FREE REPUBLIC: It is painful to see the decline of Great Britain.

Greatness in individuals is rare; in countries it is almost unique. And Great Britain was great.

It used to be said that "The sun never sets on the British empire." That is how vast Britain's influence was. And that influence, on balance, was far more positive than negative. Ask the Indians -- or the Americans, for that matter. The British colonies learned about individual rights, parliamentary government, civil service and courts of justice, to name of few of the benefits that the British brought with them. Were it not for British involvement, India might still have sati (burning wives on the funeral pyre of their husband), would have no unifying language, and probably no parliamentary democracy or other institutions and values that have made that country a democratic giant, now on its way to becoming an economic one as well. But today, the sun not only literally sets on an extinct British empire; it is figuratively setting on Britain itself.

Two recent examples provide evidence:

One is the way Britain handled the recent act of war against it by Iran. Everything about the British reaction revealed a civilization in decline. Britain Was Once Great Britain by Dennis Prager

Mark Alexander