With thanks to Jihad Watch for drawing this to my attention:
Rätselraten um Bushs verschwundene Uhr
Mark Alexander
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
The war is lost. Americans should begin to deal with what that means.
LA TIMES: LOSING HURTS MORE than winning feels good. This simple maxim applies with equal power to virtually all areas of human interaction: sports, finance, love. And war.
Defeat in war damages societies quite out of proportion to what a rational calculation of cost would predict. The United States absorbed the loss in Vietnam quite easily on paper, for example, but the societal effects of defeat linger to this day. The Afghanistan debacle was an underrated contributor to Soviet malaise in the 1980s and a factor in perestroika, glasnost and eventually the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Defeats can have unintended, seemingly inexplicable consequences.
And as any sports fan can tell you, the only thing that feels worse than a loss is an upset. An upset demands explanation and requires that responsible parties be punished.
The endgame in Iraq is now clear, in outline if not detail, and it appears that the heavily favored United States will be upset. Once support for a war is lost, it is gone for good; there is no example of a modern democracy having changed its mind once it turned against a war. So we ought to start coming to grips with the meaning of losing in Iraq. Post-traumatic Iraq syndrome (more) By Christopher J Fettweis*
*CHRISTOPHER J. FETTWEIS is assistant professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College.
Mark Alexander
REUTERS: CENTENNIAL PARK, Arizona (Reuters) - When Ephraim Hammon returns home from a day of working construction near Arizona's border with Utah, he's greeted by his wife SherylLynne. And then by his wife Leah.
Polygamy, once hidden in the shadows of Utah and Arizona, is breaking into the open as fundamentalist Mormons push to decriminalize it on religious grounds, while at the same time stamping out abuses such as forced marriages of underage brides.
The growing confidence of polygamists and their willingness to go public come at an awkward moment for mainstream Mormons, who are now in the spotlight as Republican Mitt Romney, a prominent Mormon, seeks the U.S. presidency. Fundamental Mormons seek recognition for polygamy (more)
Mark Alexander
THE AUSTRALIAN: After years of vitriol, it's time for a change
MUSLIMS in Australia deserve much better than Taj Din al-Hilali, and so it is with a profound sense of relief that we note that his inglorious reign as grand mufti of Australia and New Zealand has finally come to an end. After two decades of his virulent anti-Semitism, support for suicide bombers and offensive misogyny, the mufti has declined an invitation from the Australian National Imams Council to be reappointed. Sheik Hilali has done great damage to the reputation of Muslims in Australia and it is a disgrace that he continued to receive the council's endorsement despite the embarrassment and anger he caused the Australian community, both Muslim and non-Muslim. Editorial: Australians deserve a moderate mufti (more)
Mark Alexander
GULF NEWS: Canberra: Australia's top Muslim cleric riled critics on Tuesday by questioning Osama Bin Laden's role in the September 11 attacks on the United States, a day after being appointed to repair strains with non-Muslim Australians.
Shaikh Fehmi Naji El Imam, a moderate member of Prime Minister John Howard's Muslim advisors' group, was named the new Mufti of Australia on Monday, replacing controversial Sydney-based cleric Shaikh Taj El Din Hilaly.
"What evidence?" Fehmi said on Tuesday when reporters pressed him on whether he would drop his past reluctance to to link Al Qaida leader Bin Laden to the September 11, 2001 airliner attacks. New Australian Mufti sparks row on debut (more)
Mark Alexander
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The Sunni insurgency in Iraq is splitting, with loyalists to the old Baathist regime now fighting al-Qaida-backed Islamists. Could it be a turning point in the country's civil war? AL-QAIDA VERSUS THE ISLAMIC ARMY: Insurgents in Iraq Turn on Each Other By Bernhard Zand
Mark Alexander
TIMESONLINE: When Rudy Giuliani was asked about his stance on abortion at the latest Republican presidential debate on Tuesday night, thunderbolts from a summer storm raging outside cut off his microphone twice.
The former New York mayor, whose pro-choice position puts him at odds with the Christian Right and leaders of his Roman Catholic Church, pointed a finger upwards and said: “For someone who went to parochial schools all his life, this is a very frightening thing that’s happening right now.”
His rivals laughed and pretended to back away from the apparent object of such heavenly displeasure, who said: “I guess I’m here by myself.”
Indeed, he is alone in the top tier of presidential candidates in refusing to say whether – or how often – he goes to church. “The mayor’s personal relationship with God is private and between him and God,” his campaign told a recent survey. Democrats set out to close the ‘God Gap’ (more) By Tom Baldwin
Mark Alexander
FINANCIAL TIMES: British business leaders have criticised the UK prime minister for expressing concerns over the investment climate in Russia even as Moscow steps up moves to take control of energy assets belonging to foreign companies.
At an investment forum in St Petersburg over the weekend, where dozens of global chief executives paid homage to Russia’s growing economic might, Hans Jörg Rudloff, the chairman of Barclays Capital, said the British government was mistaken when it expressed public concern last week over the growing risks of investing in Russia.
“Their approach looks unbalanced,” Mr Rudloff said. “Russia’s transition to a market economy has been successful and cannot be undone.” Blair criticised for voicing Russia fears (more) By Catherine Belton and Neil Buckley
Mark Alexander
THE TELEGRAPH: Tony Blair hinted today at new restrictions to curb an increasing sensationalist media, while admitting that New Labour's obsession with "spin" had fuelled press cynicism.
In a farewell lecture on public life, he said the British media behaved like a "feral beast, just tearing people and reputations to bits".
He said senior figures in public life had become "totally demoralised" by the completely unbalanced nature of reporting.
The outgoing Prime Minister said relations had always been fraught, but now threatened politicians' "capacity to take the right decisions for the country''. Blair launches attack on UK media 'beast' By George Jones
Full text of Blair’s speech on politics and the media
Mark Alexander
THE GUARDIAN:
· Goldsmith refuses to answer questions
Pressure was mounting on ministers for full disclosure of the government's role in Britain's biggest arms deal last night after claims that the Ministry of Defence directly administered payments of more than £1bn to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia.
The MoD refused to address the specific allegations, made in BBC's Panorama, while the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, continued to stonewall questions over his role in the affair. BAE, the weapons manufacuturer at the centre of the controversy, remained silent. MoD accused over role in Bandar's £1bn (more) | David Leigh and Rob Evans
Mark Alexander
THE GUARDIAN: For the growing prison population of lifers trapped in a black hole of hopelessness, even death might seem a better alternative, says Erwin James.
In 1979 the average time a "lifer" spent in prison in the UK was nine years. Now it's around 15 or 16, although minimum terms of 30 years plus are regularly handed down by the courts to those who commit the most serious offences.
As a consequence, "doing life" in a British prison has never been more arduous. Nobody outside is complaining, however, although the lord chief justice, Lord Phillips, did comment a while ago that the increasingly long fixed terms given to those whose crimes merit a life sentence means that we are in danger of creating a whole generation of "geriatric lifers".
Most victims of life-sentenced prisoners would be hard pressed to be concerned, I guess. The idea that people who cause suffering to others deserve all they get is a perfectly reasonable one, and there is a still a significant number of the law-abiding majority who believe that life should mean life. Journey to nowhere (more)
Mark Alexander
WELTONLINE: Der Wirbel um Nicolas Sarkozys Luxusurlaub nach seiner Wahl zum französischen Staatsoberhaupt reißt nicht ab. Jetzt wirbt das Tourismusbüro der Insel im Internet mit dem Präsidenten-Konterfei - gerade rechtzeitig vor der zweiten Parlamentswahlrunde.
In den letzten Wochen machte „Speedy-Sarko“ – der Name wurde ihm durch französische Medien aufgrund seines Arbeitstempos verliehen – mit seinem prallen Terminkalender und seinen außenpolitischen Auftrittten auf sich aufmerksam. Am Wochenende gewann seine Partei UMP zudem die erste Runde der Parlamentswahlen. Das waren Nachrichten, die Sarkozy von sich hören und lesen wollte. Doch nun holt ihn ein umstrittener Kurzurlaub, den er sich nach der Wahl zum Präsidenten gönnte, wieder ein. "Kommen Sie wie der Präsident nach Malta" (mehr)
Yacht Paloma
Yach Paloma: Interior
Yacht Paloma: Specifications
Vincent Bolloré - der Gastgeber Sarkozys: Der Unternehmer will einer der wichtigsten Medien-Macher Frankreichs werden - mit Sarkozys Hilfe
Mark Alexander
THE TELEGRAPH: Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, last night issued a stark warning to indebted households, fuelling fears that borrowing costs could soon rise to six per cent.
He said that families should borrow on the assumption that interest rates were going to rise further.
The warning came amid growing evidence that many thousands of households have over-extended themselves, with consumer debt and insolvencies at record levels. Bank chief hints at rate rise to 6pc (more) By Edmund Conway and Harry Wallop
Mark Alexander
LE FIGARO: Armer d’anciens ennemis pour combattre les nouveaux : c’est le pari controversé de l’armée américaine.
C’est une stratégie risquée mais que l’Etat-major américain espère payante. L’armée américaine a décidé d’étendre une expérience réussie dans la province d'Anbar, à l’ouest de Bagdad, qui consiste à rallier et armer des responsables tribaux sunnites pour lutter contre al-Quaida.
Les coalitions tribales qui ont déjà été approchées par les Etats-Unis «sont formées en partie d'anciens insurgés qui ont entretenu, par le passé, certains liens avec al-Qaida mais qui ont peu à peu désapprouvé les tactiques extrémistes des terroristes islamistes, notamment les attaques suicides qui ont tués des milliers de civils irakiens», selon le New York Times. Ces sunnites ont parfois également accepté de prévenir les GI’s des pièges tendus par l’insurrection, comme par exemple, des bombes dissimulées sur leur passage. La nouvelle stratégie à haut risque des Etats-Unis en Irak (encore) Par Maïté Sélignan
Mark Alexander
DAILY MAIL: An illegal immigrant is being questioned over the death of a policeman in a high street knife rampage.
PC Jonathan Henry, a married man with a baby daughter, was killed just after going on duty at breakfast time yesterday.
The 36-year-old officer and his colleagues had responded to 999 calls reporting a man going berserk with a knife and went to tackle the suspect close to the Marks & Spencer store in Luton town centre. Illegal immigrant is quizzed over PC's knife murder (more)
Mark Alexander
Photo courtesy of Google Images (UK)
Five police officers are under investigation after a series of terrible blunders left a young Muslim woman at the mercy of killers in her own family.
Banaz Mahmod, 20, was strangled with a bootlace on the orders of her father and uncle, both Iraqi Kurds who ruled their families with violence and fear. Murder girl's five cries for help that were ignored (more) By Fiona Barton and Stephen Wright
Mark Alexander
THE TELEGRAPH: It was Charles Dickens who gave us the eternal image of the child-hating beadle who screws up his face with revulsion at the sight of a child in need, but that facial expression is greatly in evidence nowadays. Britain's disadvantaged children are, according to a major report on Sunday, a year behind in education by the age of three.
Only a few weeks ago, we heard of schools that proposed to ban break-time, and now news arrives of a massive survey conducted by researchers from the Institute of Child Health at University College London, which suggests that a quarter of Britain's children are obese before school age. Might I be permitted to put up my hand and ask a question: what are we doing to our children?
Some we exploit, some we pollute. Some we spoil and others we ignore. Some we nurture and some we fear and some we mess up and others we enthral. But mainly what we do is subject children to an excessive number of examinations.
Too often we forget that childhood should be a magical place, a zone of enchantment, discovery and - most of all - a kind of freedom many people will never see again. Yet, increasingly, we subject these children to tests and exams and score charts and point averages, as if we can't wait to throw them into the rat race of adult competition. I thought we’d abolished the workhouse (more) By Andrew O’Hagan
Mark Alexander
TIMESONLINE: Mothers wearing pyjamas on the school run prove that the codes that once governed how we got dressed in the morning have all but disappeared. But it is still disrespectful to make no effort, says our correspondent
Times2 is confused. We’re on the phone to Vogue magazine and Vogue magazine is telling us that the whole country is smartening up: “The ladylike look is back,” Vogue says. “Even jeans are sort of passé now.”
But what about pyjamas? Now Vogue is confused. Times2 explains that last week a headmaster publicly appealed to women who take their children to and from school while still dressed in nightwear to show some respect. “People don’t go to see a solicitor, bank manager or doctor dressed in pyjamas, so why do they think it’s OK to drop their children off at school dressed like that?” Joe McGuinness, the principal of St Matthew’s primary in Belfast, told his local paper.
And bear in mind that this latest sartorial bombshell comes on top of a lot of other things: on top of the revelation by the Lonely Planetguide to Great Britain that we are known the world over for our slovenliness; on top of the fact that even the Savoy has given in to the cult of comfort-dressing, which means that guests are now allowed to pad about in the legendary hotel’s foyer in flip-flops or shorts; on top of the fact that we’re on the brink of another record-breakingly hot summer – a summer that, because of global warming, may decide never to go away – and we all know what happens to the way people in Britain dress when the temperature skyrockets. Isn’t the pyjama plague just another sign that we have become a nation of irredeemable slobs? A casual affair (more) By Stephanie Marsh
Mark Alexander
TIMESONLINE: After a hero’s welcome in Albania, President Bush returned to Washington last night faced with a slew of domestic problems and the sober reality that his influence is fading rapidly at home.
His embattled Attorney-General, Alberto Gonzales, was facing a Democrat-led vote of no confidence; his plans for immigration reform are on the verge of collapse and there is growing conservative anger over his failure to pardon Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Dick Cheney’s former Chief of Staff. Libby was sentenced to 30 months last week in connection with the CIA leak scandal.
The no-confidence motion in Mr Gonzales was expected to fail in the Senate last night, and was little more than a political stunt by Democrats. But the vote revealed how the issues of Mr Gonzales, immigration and Libby are all linked in one crucial respect: growing conservative disgust with Mr Bush who, on the domestic front at least, appears to have truly entered lame-duck status. From hero to zero, Bush comes back to earth (more)
Mark Alexander
Monday, June 11, 2007
The Saudi royal family rules Saudi Arabia as a private enterprise: Each and every contract that comes into the country, they get a cut on. We turn a blind eye to all this, yet when Ciaucescu in Roumania did the very same thing, he was disparaged. It was said that he ran the country as a private enterprise, as though the country belonged to him! He took cuts on all business deals coming into the country. This was, rightly, considered to be a dreadful thing. His wealth, of course, was as nothing in comparison with the wealth of the Saudi royal family. Why do we have these double standards? What, I wonder, is the difference? Why is it so different for the Saudis to behave this way than for the then Roumanian élite? We in the West have such a peculiar way of looking at things! Is it any wonder why we have the enemies we do? - ©Mark Alexander
BBC: For 21 years allegations of kickbacks have swirled round the biggest arms deal in history - Al Yamamah, the 'dove of peace'
Ever since Mrs Thatcher stepped off her plane resplendent in a Tory blue suit and veiled hat to greet the Saudi King and seal the Tornado warplane sale, the story has generated acres of speculation in newsprint and hours of broadcast time.
Rumours about her own son, Mark's role as a broker have featured large in the headlines.
But until Panorama broke the story of secret payments into accounts controlled by Prince Bandar, the former Saudi ambassador to the United States, no journalists had got to the heart of the matter. Princes, Planes and Pay-offs (more) By Jane Corbin (Panorama)
Al-Yamamah Inquiry: Statements
Goldsmith denies BAE cash claim
Mark Alexander
EDITORIAL: Isn't it funny how politicians, the leaders of the Western world, people who should know an awful lot about the history of Western civilization, know nothing about it, and if they do, they refuse to heed history's caveats? Isn't it funny how these same politicians find it unnecessary to learn about Islam and the history of its relentless growth since its inception 1400 years ago? And isn't it funny how these politicians, knowing we're in a God awful mess with Muslims because of our own folly and weakness, can think of no strategy except one that will get us further and deeper into the mire? The fact of the matter is that we're in a hole - a deep hole! And the hole is getting deeper by the week! Why? Because we refuse to stop digging!
In an article entitled ’Straw urges Turkey EU membership’, dated Sunday, October 2, 2005, Jack Straw predicted that EU nations risk driving Christians and Muslims apart if Turkey is not brought into the fold. No Jack, no! This, on the face of it, seems logical enough; I believe, however, that this is a perfect example of a logical fallacy!
What we need to do to avoid a clash of civilizations is this: We need to give these two worlds their space. Each 'world' has a different Weltanschauung, a different worldview. Therefore, these two civilizations need to learn to respect each other more, but each ‘world’ must be allowed its space to live.
The way that politicians such as Jack Straw are trying to manipulate things, they risk bringing about the clash of civilizations - here in our own backyard!
The Christian world and the Islamic world have always had their great differences. What people like Jack Straw proposes is to bring those two sides together in order to bring about harmony. How logical is that?
Anyone who has ever lived in a household in which two people who can't get on are under the same roof, will know that the sparks fly! If this is true for two people, how truer it will be for millions of people.
The sparks will start flying as soon as Turkey becomes part of Europe. Western Europeans can look forward to the rough ride. Our only hope of some common sense prevailing is with Nicolas Sarkozy. Thankfully, he remains committed to stopping Turkey’s accession. Long live Nicolas Sarkozy! Long live common sense!
©Mark Alexander
Foto von Kardinal Lehmann dank Google Images (Deutschland)
Köln - Der Vorsitzende der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, Kardinal Karl Lehmann, hat nachdrücklich Religionsfreiheit für Christen in islamischen Ländern gefordert. Wenn heute in europäischen Ländern repräsentative Moscheen gebaut werden könnten, "dann möchte ich in Saudi-Arabien Gottesdienst halten dürfen, ohne verhaftet zu werden", sagte der prominente katholische Kirchenführer am Samstag beim Deutschen Evangelischen Kirchentag in Köln. Es sei nicht hinnehmbar, dass etwa Kirchengemeinden in der Türkei keine Grundstücke für ihre Gotteshäuser erwerben dürften. Wirkliche Religionsfreiheit könne nur wechselseitig praktiziert werden. Kardinal möchte in Saudi-Arabien Messe lessen (mehr)
Mark Alexander
THE TELEGRAPH: Defence giant BAE Systems is to set up an independent committee to probe its ethics in an attempt to head off a possible investigation by the United States' Congress into allegations it paid bribes to win contracts.
Senior Washington sources said the risk of a political backlash against Britain's biggest defence company in the US was growing.
They said it was likely BAE would have to attend Congressional hearings to answer questions about whether it made illegal payments to win a £40 billion deal, known as Al-Yamamah, with Saudi Arabia in the 1980s.
One source said: "America's defence industry will use this to move on BAE. BAE faces US inquiry into bribery allegations (more) By Katherine Griffiths
Anger at BAE move to set up scrutiny body By Katherine Griffiths
Why BAE wants to attack Saudi bribe claim By Russell Hotten
WATCH BBC VIDEO: BAE payments to Saudi prince
Timeline: BAE corruption probe
Mark Alexander
TIMESONLINE: Suspicious sleepovers, naked beach games and public holding of hands: is it true love for Günter Verheugen, the most powerful German in Brussels, or simply a creative new approach to shaping EU industrial strategy? And has he been bending the rules?
Mr Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission, says that everything is above board but pressure was piling on him last night to come clean about his relationship to his chief of staff – or to step down.
Photographs, taken furtively through a rose bush, show the stooped figure of the Commissioner entering the house of Petra Erler, his 48-year-old chef du cabinet. A second photograph shows him leaving the Brussels flat the next morning with Ms Erler. Mr Verheugen is taking legal action against Bunte, the glossy magazine that published both pictures this week.
The accusation against the Commissioner is that he promoted Ms Erler – a skilled bureaucrat and one of the few East Germans at the upper levels of the Commission – while conducting an affair with her. This he has been vehemently denying for the past nine months. “There was no relationship beyond friendship at the time of the promotion,” Mr Verheugen said in October. “And that remains the situation today.” Germany’s naked EU chief faces Wolfowitz charges over his ‘friend’ (more) By Roger Boyes
Mark Alexander
NZZ: Früherer US-Aussenminister für Aufgabe des Gefangenenlagers auf Kuba
Der ehemalige amerikanische Aussenminister Colin Powell hat sich im amerikanischen Fernsehsender NBC für die Schliessung des Gefangenenlagers in Guantánamo Bay ausgesprochen. Powell fordert Schliessung von Guantánamo (more)
Mark Alexander
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Photo courtesy of the BBC
The ruling comes after a lengthy legal battle between the university and a female student, who was told she had to remove the niqab for security reasons.
Supporters of the niqab greeted the ruling as a victory for freedom.
But officials at the university have said it indicates a drift towards Islamic extremism. Cairo campus veil ban struck down (more)
Mark Alexander
Photo of Sarkozy courtesy of the BBC
Polling firms predicted that Mr Sarkozy's centre-right UMP party would increase its majority in the lower house, the national assembly.
Analysts say a big majority would allow the new president to press ahead with his sweeping economic reforms. Sarkozy party ‘set for landslide’ (more)
Mark Alexander
BBC: President George W Bush has become the first US leader to visit Albania, where he enjoyed a hero's welcome. Bush greeted as hero in Albania (more)
WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Bush met as a hero in Albania
Mark Alexander
Photo of Jonathan Edwards courtesy of Google Images
Just four months ago the former athlete - whose father is a vicar - quit as a presenter of the BBC’s Songs Of Praise, saying he no longer believed in God. I lost my faith in God when I retired, says Olympic hero Jonathan Edwards (more) By Malcom Folley
Mark Alexander
THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: Tony Blair has discussed becoming a Roman Catholic deacon when he quits office.
The revelation comes as he prepares to meet the Pope amid speculation that he will use the audience in the Vatican to announce his conversion.
In his last foreign engagement, just days before he leaves Downing Street for the final time, the Prime Minister will visit Pope Benedict XVI in what officials say will be a "highly significant" personal mission. Blair ‘may become a Catholic deacon’ (more) By Jonathan Oliver and Martin Delgado
Mark Alexander
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: To Western eyes, Saudi Arabia's super-rich royal princes appear a confusing mix of pious Muslims and decadent playboys. But it is their distinctive approach to doing business that is now giving Britain a headache. David Harrison reports
Long after midnight, the party is in full swing, the music loud, the whisky and champagne flowing. In the penthouse suite at a five-star London hotel, six attractive young British women in short, tight dresses that leave little to the imagination, sashay between wealthy princes from Saudi Arabia, flirting and laughing more loudly than the Arabs' witticisms merit.
A silver dish of white powder, with matching spoon, is passed around. From time to time, a couple slips out of the suite only to reappear half an hour later and seek new friends. Others do not feel impelled to leave in order to share intimate moments and settle on a sofa or the four-poster in the main bedroom, oblivious of their fellow party-goers. We did it their way (more)
Mark Alexander
THE SUNDAY TIMES: A SAUDI prince, who is alleged to have received £1 billion in payments in the BAE Systems arms deal, personally lobbied Downing Street to get it to drop a criminal inquiry into the contract, claim senior Whitehall officials, writes David Leppard.
Prince Bandar bin Sultan, head of Saudi Arabia’s national security council, met Tony Blair last July at the height of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) inquiry into claims that BAE had illegally paid huge sums to members of the Saudi royal family.
Bandar is said by a second senior government official to have told Jonathan Powell, Blair’s chief of staff, that the Saudis would pull out of the arms deal, which involved the sale of 72 Typhoon jets, unless the investigation was stopped. He also said intelligence ties in the war on terror would be cut. Bandar lobbied No 10 to drop Saudi bribes inquiry (more)
Mark Alexander
TELEGRAPH LEADER: For the past two elections, Labour's manifesto has been admirably clear on the issue of a constitution for the European Union: "We will put it to the British people in a referendum and campaign whole-heartedly for a Yes vote."
Tony Blair's final act as Prime Minister is likely to be to break that commitment. As we report today, he will sign the new European constitution just before he leaves 10 Downing Street. There will be no referendum. His signature alone will be enough to bind the United Kingdom in perpetuity to the constitution's strictures.
Mr Blair will justify this blatant perfidy by claiming that the document is not a constitution: it is just a "treaty". This is utterly false, as he and his Cabinet know very well. Britain must vote on this 'treaty' (more)
Mark Alexander
Photo of Heba Jamal courtesy of Arab News
Heba Jamal
Mark Alexander
Saturday, June 09, 2007
DIE PRESSE: Bush-Besuch in Italien. Der US-Präsident sprach mit dem Papst über den Irak und den G8-Gipfel. Zehntausende demonstrierten in Rom gegen Bushs Außenpolitik. Es kam zu Ausschreitungen.
US-Präsident George W. Bush ist am Samstag im Rahmen seines Besuchs in Rom von Papst Benedikt XVI. im Vatikan empfangen worden. Der Irak, die Situation in Nahost und der G8-Gipfel in Heiligendamm standen im Mittelpunkt des 35 Minuten langen Gesprächs in der vatikanischen Bibliothek. "Er hat mir den Eindruck eines liebevollen Menschen gemacht", so Bush nach der Unterredung über Benedikt XVI.
Der Papst erkundigte sich über die Resultate des G8-Gipfels. Bush bezeichnete den Gipfel als Erfolg. "Wie Sie wissen, gibt es verschiedene Meinungen, doch alles ist gut verlaufen. Wir haben über die Lage in Afrika diskutiert und starke Initiativen zur Bekämpfung von Aids ergriffen. Wir werden weiterhin in diese Richtung arbeiten", antwortete Bush dem Papst. Großdemonstration in Rom gegen Bush (mehr)
REUTERS (UK):
Anti-Bush demonstrations in Rome after Pope meeting
Mark Alexander
FAZ: 09. Juni 2007 Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU) sieht in der Einigung über die Klimapolitik auf dem G-8-Treffen in Heiligendamm einen Beleg für das gute Verhältnis Deutschlands zu Amerika. Der Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntag sagte Frau Merkel: „Die Einigung in der Klimapolitik zeigt: Wir kommen mit Amerika gut zurecht. Aber wir nicken deswegen nicht alles ab, was die Vereinigten Staaten wollen.“ Merkel: Amerika ist unser Partner (mehr)
Mark Alexander
THIS SPEECH SHOULD COME WITH A GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING: 'READING THIS MAY CAUSE SEVERE VOMITING!'
“I would like to thank Cambridge University and their partners, the Coexist Foundation and the Weidenfeld Institute for Strategic Dialogue for hosting this important conference. As many of you will know, the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme is at the forefront of innovative teaching and research in terms of the study of world religions, their inter-relations and their relations with secular society.
The first and most obvious question about this Conference here in London is: why? The first and most obvious answer is that Britain is today a country of two million Muslims in a Europe that has over 20 million Muslims. I would like to pay tribute to our British Muslim communities today. In overwhelming part, they make a significant positive and growing contribution to modern Britain.
We have successful Muslims in all areas of our national life - business, sport, media, culture, the professions. We have our first Muslim MPs, first Muslim Members of the House of Lords; hopefully the next election will bring more and hopefully also the first women Muslim MPs.
Secondly, and again obviously as a result of what is happening in the world today, there is an interest and appetite across all sections of society to know more about Islam in all its diversity. This is not, repeat not, about equating interest in Islam with anxiety over extremism. But it explains, in part, the desire to learn about what moves and motivates our Muslim communities.
However, most of all but less obviously, the reason for this Conference is to allow the many dimensions of Islam to speak about themselves in a more considered, more profound way than the short bursts of news coverage normally permit. When I have met groups of Muslims, especially younger ones - and in any part of Britain - of course the normal issues about foreign policy arise. But actually the predominant complaint is about how they believe their true faith is constantly hijacked and subverted by small, unrepresentative groups who get disproportionately large amounts of publicity.
It is the way of the modern media world that what counts is impact. Those willing to come on television and articulate extreme and violent views make so much more impact than those who use the still small voice of reason and moderation.
The principal purpose of this Conference therefore is to let the authentic voices of Islam, in their various schools and manifestations, speak for themselves.
Some of the most distinguished scholars and religious leaders the world over are gathered here. I ask people to listen to them. They are the authentic voices of Islam. The voices of extremism are no more representative of Islam than the use, in times gone by, of torture to force conversion to Christianity, represents the true teaching of Christ.
In doing this, there is yet another purpose: to reclaim from extremists, of whatever faith, the true essence of religious belief. In the face of so much high profile accorded to religious extremism, to schism, and to confrontation, it is important to show that religious faith is not inconsistent with reason, or progress, or the celebration of diversity. Round the world today, along with the images of violence, are the patient good works of people of different faiths coming together, understanding each other, respecting each other.
Religious faith has much to contribute to the public sphere; is still a thriving part of what makes a cohesive community; is a crucial motivator of millions of citizens around the world; and is an essential if non-governmental way of helping to make society work. To lose that contribution would not just be a pity; it would be a huge backward step.
We shall be studying the outcomes of the Conference with the keenest interest. We hope that the discussions over the next two days will produce ideas which we can explore and take forward - perhaps in partnership with some of you here today. We are especially interested to consider how the messages from this Conference can best be conveyed to grassroots communities.
I want to set this Conference in a broader context. Round the world today there is a new and urgent impetus being given to promulgating the true voices of Islam.
This is especially the case in the field of education. When I visited Indonesia last year, a Muslim majority country of over 200 million, I saw at first hand the way in which religious schools there are reforming to equip their students not just with a sound religious education, but also with training to boost their employment prospects. This work challenges the myth that religious schools need only focus on orthodox religious education. The Pakistani Government too has undertaken an ambitious and difficult programme of madrassa reform, encouraging schools to register and develop a common syllabus and basic standards.
In Singapore, new more interactive teaching methods have been introduced by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, moving away from teaching by rote to teaching which is specific to age group, more relevant to the wider context in which students live and more lively.
Many in our Muslim communities in the UK are encouraging reform and change in our madrassas here.
The Bradford Council of Mosques has agreed to incorporate citizenship education in the curriculum for their madrassas, an important initiative, which we hope will be adopted right across the country. And it is right to encourage links between schools in the state sector and institutions that provide religious education, given the hugely important role these institutions play in so many children's education and well-being.
But the role of education goes much wider than simply religious education. At the recent Middle East World Economic Forum, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced the creation of a groundbreaking $10 billion foundation to promote education in Arab countries. The foundation will focus on human development, supporting and empowering young minds and focusing on research, education and investment in the infrastructure of knowledge. It will provide scholarships for study at world-reputed institutions. In neighbouring Qatar, the Government has invited top international universities to develop an "Education City" with the aim of becoming the beacon of educational excellence in the Arab world.
Many of these initiatives are designed to tap into the ages-old tradition of Islam where - in line with the Koran - knowledge is revered and Muslims urged to pursue it.
Then there are the many signs of political reform in the Muslim world, and the encouragement of women's rights. Suffrage has been awarded to women in Kuwait and women stood for the first time in Bahrain's elections last year.
In Morocco, fifty women have been appointed as state preachers for the first time. They will be able to give basic religious instruction in Mosques and support in prisons, schools and hospitals.
As highlighted by Emine Bozkurt's work, the position of women has improved in Turkey over recent years, with, in particular, a strong emphasis on education for girls.
In Afghanistan, the Afghan Women's Hour is a programme that would have been inconceivable not long ago. It offers girls, their mothers and their grandmothers a place to speak and to listen to one another. The full gamut of issues has been aired: standing for Parliament, learning to read, starting a business, the prevention of maternal mortality.
In Jordan, last month, a conference took place, with the assistance of Queen Rania, to build and empower Muslim female leadership across the Middle East.
There is also a clear move across the world to assert strongly the moderate and true authority of Islam.
In Jordan, in 2004, under the leadership of HM King Abdullah, a statement, the Amman Message was released seeking to declare what Islam is and what it is not, and how it should be manifested.
I was deeply impressed when, the next year, the King convened 200 leading scholars from no less than 50 countries, who unanimously - unanimously - issued a Declaration on 3 basic issues: the validity of different Islamic schools of thought and theology; the forbidding of declarations of apostasy between Muslims; and criteria for the issuing of fatwas - religious edicts - to pre-empt the spawning of illegitimate versions.
This was a clear message that Islam is not a monolithic faith, but one made up of a rich pattern of diversity, albeit all flowing from the same fount. This rich diversity needs to be more clearly appreciated and to inform our public debates more fully.
Also in 2005, the summit meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference issued a declaration and a 10-year action plan. The summit reaffirmed Islam as a religion of moderation and modernity. It rejected bigotry and extremism. It supported work to establish the values of Islam as those of understanding, tolerance, dialogue and multilateralism. It adopted the principles of the Amman Message - as indeed did other gatherings of scholars around the world.
And in 2006 the Topkapi declaration emphasised that Muslims have long played a distinguished part in European history and encouraged them to continue doing so. It stressed the opportunities for Muslims to flourish as full citizens the pluralistic societies which increasingly characterise every country in this continent, especially since the fall of Communism.
I draw four lessons from these and other similar examples.
Firstly, that the role of theology and philosophy is vital to Islam, indeed as it is to any religion, in helping its adherents to engage with the modern world whilst drawing on its core principles.
Secondly, Muslims overwhelmingly want to play a full part in the complex and diverse societies in which they find themselves - both contributing and shaping those societies. Most seek to play a part as loyal citizens of their countries and as loyal Muslims. This is of course contrary to the often crude portrayals in the media or by those who deal only in stereotypes and seek to whip up Islamophobic sentiment.
Thirdly, others in societies in which Muslims are co-citizens must also evolve and adapt in how they respond to the changing nature of their societies. This is a two way street. Each must learn from the other, about the other.
And fourthly, and as a natural consequence of my first three points, the great religions of the world most continue the dialogue between them, and help interfaith work to grow. Greater mutual understanding should be the aim of all of us. And a closer working together to tackle the needs of our shared world - needs which are often pressing and cry out for action.
We publish today the Siddiqui Report on the UK and what more we need to do to encourage the right intellectual and academic debate on these issues here in Britain.
We intend to follow-up on many of Dr. Siddiqui's recommendations and will be providing significant funding to deliver on this commitment.
None of this, incidentally, is designed to screen out a healthy rigorous debate about the controversies of foreign policy.
Many Christians disagreed with the decisions I took over Afghanistan or Iraq.
Leave aside for a moment whether they were the right or wrong decisions. What is damaging is if they are seen in the context of religious decisions.
The religious faith of either country was as irrelevant to the decision as was the fact that the Kosovo Albanians we rescued were Muslims, suffering under a Serbian dictatorship, whose religion happened to be Christian Orthodox; or in helping the people of Sierra Leone, 70 per cent of whom are Muslim.
This point is crucial at a number of different levels. The problem between faiths and communities, as too often in life and in politics, is not where there is disagreement about decisions; but where there is misunderstanding about motives. In turn, this is often derived from a misunderstanding of a deeper sort: a basic ignorance about the other's faith. I was asked the other day by a young person if it was true Muslims wanted to kill all Christians. "No", I said. "And did you know that Muslims revere Jesus as a Prophet?" The youngster was astounded, barely able to believe there are significant passages in the Koran devoted to Jesus, and to Mary. I recommend the book "The Muslim Jesus" to anyone interested in this aspect.
But the point is this: one part of such a Conference is to explain Islam to the world: its common roots with Judaism and Christianity, how it began, how it developed, how far removed it is, from the crude and warped distortion of the extremists.
Where there is ignorance, there is distrust, and sometimes hatred. Understanding is a great healer.
So this Conference is not about Government lecturing the Muslim world, or our Muslim communities. It is rather an opportunity to listen; to hear Islam's true voice; to welcome and appreciate them; and in doing so, to join up with all those who believe in a world where religious faith is respected because faiths respect each other as well as those of no faith; and are prepared in holding to their own truth, not to disrespect the truth clear to others. I wish you well in your deliberations.” [Source: The Prime Minister: 10 Downing Street]
Read the speech in Arabic
Sue Blackmore's Viewpont: Religious belief is inconsistent with reason and corrosive to the human mind - and I don't want to live in a world where it is respected.
"Religious faith is not inconsistent with reason."NB: So important has the Muslim world become to the government of the United Kingdom these days that Downing street finds it necessary to make its whole website available in the Arabic language! Not in German, or French, or Italian or Spanish - the languages of our friends in Europe - but in Arabic! Here it is in all its glory: 10 Downing Street in Arabic! - ©Mark Alexander
I nearly choked on my breakfast when I heard this on the Today programme. These words were spoken by Mr Blair, in his inimitably sincere style. He was addressing an Islamic conference in London, on June 4, and pledging more money to support Islamic studies in British Universities.
When I'd calmed down I went to check, and it really is true. In the full text of his speech, on the No 10 website, he says:
"In the face of so much high profile accorded to religious extremism, to schism, and to confrontation, it is important to show that religious faith is not inconsistent with reason, or progress, or the celebration of diversity."
But religious faith is inconsistent with reason (and much more that we value as well).
I'm not referring to the ordinary kind of faith by which we have faith in another person's honesty, or that taking an aspirin will reduce our headache. I am talking about religious faith, as Tony Blair was too. In this context faith means believing without reason. Indeed, this is precisely how it is defined, for example as "Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence" or in Merriam Webster as "firm belief in something for which there is no proof". Does this make faith inconsistent with reason? I would say yes. Reason demands that you look for evidence and believe accordingly - which is exactly what we do when we trust a friend because they've been reliable in the past, or doubt a rumour until we've checked on the facts.
Faith is corrosive to the human mind. If someone genuinely believes that it is right to believe things without reason or evidence then they are open to every kind of dogma, whim, coercion, or dangerous infectious idea that's around. If someone is convinced that it is acceptable to base their beliefs on what is written in an ancient book, or what some teacher tells them they must believe, then they will have no true freedom of thought; they will be trapped by their faith into inconsistency and untruths because they are unable to throw out false ideas when evidence against them comes along. To Sue Blackmore’s blog: We of little faith: Religious belief is inconsistent with reason and corrosive to the human mind - and I don't want to live in a world where it is respected.
Mark Alexander
Photo of ‘Ol’ Father Time’ courtesy of Google Images
By the help of God, indeed. Almost from the day he took over in 2002, Williams, now 56, has been attempting to prevent a schism among the world's 79 million Anglicans. It has been a horrible task. Within months of his taking the job, a simmering debate on homosexuality exploded into a brutal battle, pitting some of the wealthiest and most liberal of the church's 38 provinces, notably those in North America, against a larger, more socially conservative group concentrated in Africa and Asia and known as the Global South. At the 1998 edition of the Communion's once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, the concluding language called homosexual practice "incompatible with Scripture." But in 2003 the Episcopal Church, the Anglican body in the U.S., made Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, bishop of New Hampshire. Unlike Roman Catholicism, the Communion lacks definitive doctrine to aid decisive solutions. Nor does it have a universal leader such as the Pope — the Archbishop makes no claims to infallibility and cannot dictate to his flock. The years since have featured a series of angry meetings, threats of secession, half-met demands and unmet deadlines. The next full-scale opportunity to negotiate — or fight on — will be at the Lambeth meeting in July 2008: that is, if Williams can keep all parties on board long enough to attend it. Saving Grace (more) By David Van Biema and Catherine Mayer
Mark Alexander
DIE WELT: Benedikt XVI. hat bei seinem ersten Treffen mit George W. Bush den US-Präsidenten in die Pflicht genommen: Es müsse eine neue Verhandlungsrunde geben. Unterdessen demonstrierten Globalisierungsgegner gegen Bush.
Der Papst empfing den gläubigen Methodisten und seine Ehefrau Laura am Samstag im Vatikan zu einer Privataudienz, bei der es vor allem um die Themen Frieden und Armutsbekämpfung in der Welt gehen dürfte. Zugleich hieß es, das katholische Kirchenoberhaupt wolle die Frage der Religionsfreiheit im Irak und die schwierige Situation der dortigen Christen ansprechen. Während des Treffens war der Petersplatz für Besucher gesperrt. Zuvor sprach Bush mit Staatspräsident Giorgio Napolitano. Papst verlangt neue Nahost-Runde von Bush (mehr)
Mark Alexander
SPIEGELONLINE: Am Ende einigten sich die G-8-Mächtigen doch noch beim Klimaschutz. Doch hinter den Kulissen soll es heftig gekracht haben: Frankreichs neuer Präsident Sarkozy drohte seinem US-Kollegen Bush damit, vorzeitig abzureisen, sollte der nicht einlenken.
Hamburg - Die Einigung zum Klimaschutz beim G-8-Gipfel in Heiligendamm ist erst nach einer heftigen Debatte zustande gekommen. Dabei habe Frankreichs Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy dem amerikanischen Präsidenten George W. Bush mit einer vorzeitigen Abreise gedroht, berichtet die "Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung" unter Berufung auf ein geheimes Protokoll. Sie stützt sich dabei auf die Aufzeichnungen eines sogenannten Sherpas, eines hochrangigen Regierungsmitarbeiters, der die Debatte direkt verfolgte und Notizen für sein Team anfertigte. Sarkozy drohte Bush mit vorzeitiger Abreise (mehr)
Mark Alexander
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