Zwischen den USA und Rußland deuten die Zeichen in den kommenden Jahren auf etwaigen Krieg hin

Foto von russischen Soldaten dank der Welt

WELTONLINE: Es fallen Sprüche, die erschaudern lassen: Moskauer Militärexperten entwerfen ein Horrorszenario, wonach die Vereinigten Staaten mittelfristig Russland angreifen würden, unter anderem, um sich die Rohstoffe Sibiriens zu sichern. Das Kalkül der Kalten Krieger ist durchsichtig.

Einen „Krieg zwischen Russland und den USA schon in den kommenden 10, 15 Jahren“ hält Generalmajor Alexander Wladimirow durchaus für möglich. Und den Grund dafür - „er ist schon heute offensichtlich“ - liefert er gleich mit: „Die Beseitigung des mächtigsten geopolitischen Gegners vom Antlitz der Erde, der über die Möglichkeit verfügt, die USA innerhalb von 30 Minuten auszulöschen.“

Zudem wollten die USA sich den Zugriff auf die Rohstoffressourcen Sibiriens und des Fernen Ostens sichern und den Rest der Welt mit ihren militärischen Fähigkeiten schrecken.

Wladimirow ist Vizepräsident des Militärexperten-Kollegiums Russlands. Er traf sich mit weiteren namhaften russischen Militär- und Sicherheitsexperten in der Redaktion der „Komsomolskaja Prawda“, um mit ihnen die Frage zu erörtern, ob, wann und warum die USA Russland mit Krieg überziehen würden. Russische Militärs sagen Krieg mit USA voraus (mehr)

Mark Alexander

Munchen Historian Calls for Mein Kampf to Be Republished

Photo courtesy of SpiegelOnline International

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A leading historian wants 'Mein Kampf' to be republished in Germany. Copyright issues have kept it off the shelves since World War II, but in 2015 it will enter the public domain. Then, anyone will be allowed to print it -- including neo-Nazis.

It is arguably the most controversial book of the 20th century. Indeed, Adolf Hitler's notorious polemic "Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle") hasn't been legally published in Germany since the end of World War II. Many are concerned the frenzied tome could become a kind of scripture for right-wing extremists.

Now, though, a Munich historian has called for it to be republished in Germany -- as a pre-emptive strike against any neo-Nazis who might want to abuse the text for their own fell purposes. Should Germany Republish 'Mein Kampf'? (more) By David Gordon Smith in Berlin

LEST WE FORGET:

LISTEN TO BBC AUDIOS:
1945: Bergen-Belsen liberated

1945: Auschwitz liberated

1945: Auschwitz liberated (2)

WATCH BBC VIDEOS:
Survivors of the Holocaust tell their story

Holocaust survivor’s return to Auschwitz

Reliving the horror: Freddie’s story

Music that survived the Holocaust

Liechtenstein laments ‘Nazi terror rôle’

Mark Alexander

The Hitler Salute, a Submachine Gun, and the Beach

Photo of Neo-Nazis courtesy of SpiegelOnline International

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A gang of right-wing extremists invaded a beach in Eastern Germany on Sunday, shouting racist abuse at day-trippers, making the banned Hitler salute and shooting a submachine gun into the air.

It was a perfect afternoon to go to the lake. Finally, after weeks of cold and rain, Germany on the weekend was bathed in warm sunlight. A Sunday at the water was just the thing.

But day-trippers relaxing by the Krakower See in the Eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania got a bit more than they bargained for on Sunday. A horde of right-wing extremists arrived on the scene shouting racist slogans, making the banned Hitler salute -- and shooting a submachine gun into the air. Beach bathers were terrified by the seeming invasion. Neo-Nazi Shooting Spree (more)

Mark Alexander

"L'affaire aura les conséquences les plus sérieuses pour les relations russo-britanniques"
LE FIGARO: "L'affaire aura les conséquences les plus sérieuses pour les relations russo-britanniques" a prévenu Moscou après la décision hier de la Grande-Bretagne d'expulser quatre diplomates russes. Moscou doit publier un communiqué à 15h30.

L'AFFAIRE Lougovoï vient de faire monter de plusieurs crans la tension entre Londres et Moscou. Hier, la Grande-Bretagne a annoncé l'expulsion de quatre diplomates de l'ambassade de Russie à Londres. Une sèche réplique au refus de Moscou d'extrader Andreï Lougovoï, cet ex-membre du KGB reconverti dans les affaires que Scotland Yard désigne comme le principal suspect de l'empoisonnement au polonium 210 de son ancien compatriote Alexander Litvinenko, en novembre 2006, dans un hôtel de la capitale londonienne. Une réplique qui a, dans la soirée, conduit Moscou à affirmer que l'affaire aurait les « conséquences les plus sérieuses pour les relations russo-britanniques » ... La crise s'aggrave entre Londres et Moscou (suivant)

Mark Alexander

”Nightmare on the Tigris”
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Once again, US President George W. Bush has called on Iraqis to settle their differences -- and on Americans to be patient. But the country's political landscape is becoming ever more complex and its leaders have their own priorities.

A sign with Lufthansa's company logo still hangs on the now bullet-riddled wall in front of the German airline's former Baghdad office. The travel agencies and airline offices that once clustered along this street have long been closed down.

But a branch of the Dar-al-Salam Bank across the street from Lufthansa's former office has remained open. This is where three security guards were reported to have made off with $282 million in a spectacular bank robbery last week.

Baghdad was obsessed with the enormous figure for about a day. But before long an Iraqi-American Web site declared that the bank robbers' spoils were not in fact all that impressive -- especially when compared with the cost of the US military operation in Iraq, which costs US taxpayers $375 million a day, or more than $11 billion a month and around $135 billion a year.

In truth, the bank robbers made off with only $388,000, which is certainly a handsome sum, but a drop in the ocean compared to the numbers both Iraqi and American officials are currently tossing around. The game they are playing is meant to divert the public's attention from the dead, the mutilated soldiers, the war widows and the pressing questions of whether the American nightmare on the Tigris makes any sense at all and when it will finally come to an end. Iraq Plunges Deeper into Crisis (more) By Bernhard Zand

Mark Alexander

”Poland’s Two-Headed Fox”
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Poland's right wing is consolidating, and may end up threatening the newly-minted EU treaty. Two extremist politicians on Monday joined forces amid pledges to put the breaks on Polish integration into the EU.

Thought the worst was over in Poland for the revised European Union treaty? Not if two small, but radical members of Warsaw's coalition government have their way.

On Monday, Andrzej Lepper of the Self-Defense Party and Roman Giertych of the nationalist-Catholic League of Polish Families said they would form a single party and campaign together in the next election on an anti-European and anti-reform platform.
The new party will be called Liga I Samoobrona, or League and Self-Defense (LiS), Giertych said on Monday. Though Lepper said his party would remain part of the current government, the move still opens up the possibility for early elections down the road. New Party Wants to Axe EU Deal (more)

Mark Alexander

La crise diplomatique entre Londres et Moscou
LE FIGARO: En pleine crise diplomatique entre Londres et Moscou, le milliardaire russe, réfugié à Londres depuis sept ans met directement en cause son ancien protégé devenu son ennemi mortel. Moscou doit publier à 15h30 sa réponse à l'expulsion de ses quatre diplomates.

Alors que Moscou doit annoncer à 15 h30 sa «réponse» à Londres, Paris affiche sa «solidarité» avec la Grande-Bretagne. En réponse à l’intransigeance du Kremlin, qui refuse d’extrader le principal suspect du meurtre d’Alexander Litvinenko, Andreï Lougovoy, l’Angleterre a ordonné lundi l’expulsion de 4 diplomates russes. La Russie a aussitôt dénoncé ce geste, et annoncé des représailles. Mardi, la France a demandé que «justice soit rendue», et prié les autorités russes de «répondre de manière constructive aux demandes de la justice britannique pour que toute la lumière soit faite et pour que les auteurs» de l’assassinat de Litvinenko «soient jugés et punis». Berezovski : "Poutine a commandité l'assassinat de Litvinenko" (suivant) Propos recueillis à Londres par Laure Mandeville

Mark Alexander

Großbritannien kann mit heftiger Reaktion aus Moskau rechnen

Foto vom Außenminister Lawrow dank der NZZ

NZZ ONLINE: Russland hat am Dienstag eine formelle Reaktion auf die Ausweisung vier seiner Diplomaten aus Grossbritannien angekündigt. «Um 17 Uhr 30 Uhr (15 Uhr 30 MESZ) wird es im Ministerium eine Erklärung geben», verlautete aus dem Aussenministeriums in Moskau.

(sda/afp) Experten rechneten mit einer heftigen Gegenmassnahme. «Die Antwort wird zweifellos sehr stark sein», sagte der Journalist Fjodor Lukjanow der Nachrichtenagentur AFP.

Britische Antwort noch schärfer

Der britische Experte für Sicherheitspolitik John Eyal erwartete seinerseits: «Wenn die Russen scharfe Gegenmassnahmen ergreifen, wird die britische Antwort noch stärker ausfallen.» Heftige Reaktion aus Moskau erwartet: Erklärung wegen britischer Diplomaten-Ausweisung in Vorbereitung (mehr)

Mark Alexander

Galloway Faces Suspension from House of Commons

Photo of Galloway courtesy of The Guardian

THE GUARDIAN: George Galloway should be suspended from the Commons for 18 days, the standards watchdog recommended today.

The finding comes in the wake of an investigation by the commissioner for parliamentary standards into payments to the now-defunct Mariam Appeal charity.

The suspension - which would see the controversial Respect MP stripped of his salary and barred from the Commons - will now be formally voted on by the House of Commons.

The suspension is for 18 sitting days and would begin once the house returns in the autumn. Galloway facing suspension from Commons (more)

THE GUARDIAN:
Galloway's statement in full

Mark Alexander

A Good Tough Stance Taken on Russia and Its Antics by Gordon Brown and His Government. Now a Similar Tough Stance Needs to Be Taken on the Antics of the Muslim World
THE GUARDIAN: Moscow vows retaliation after four agents thrown out over Litvinenko case

The British government was last night bracing itself for an inevitable diplomatic backlash after expelling four Russian intelligence officers in protest at the Kremlin's refusal to hand over the prime suspect in the polonium-210 poisoning affair.

In an attempt to underline the government's anger and alarm over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the Foreign Office announced it was ceasing cooperation with Moscow on a range of issues, starting with the imposition of restrictions on visas issued to Russian officials seeking to visit the UK.

All four individuals being expelled are officers with one of the successor organisations to the KGB, a clear signal that British authorities strongly suspect that Russian intelligence agencies had a hand in the murder. David Miliband, the foreign secretary, told the Commons yesterday: "This response is proportional and it is clear at whom it is aimed."

Last night Gordon Brown, arriving for talks in Germany, said Britain wanted a constructive relationship with Russia, but added: "When a murder is committed on British soil, action has to be taken." Cold war diplomacy is back as UK expels spies (more) By Luke Harding in Moscow, Ian Cobain and Julian Borger

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
UK warned over expulsions

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL:
German Economy Attracts Moscow Money By Anselm Waldermann

Mark Alexander

More US Taxpayers’ Money to Go Up in Smoke as $80m is Pledged to the Palestinian Government
President Bush comes over as an old man with old ideas. If it ain’t working, throw money at it, and in any case by giving money in aid, America can buy ‘friendship’, or so he seems to think. Mr Bush, I’ve got news for you: You won’t win these people’s friendship no matter how much you give them in aid. They will still despise Westerners for the “infidels” they are.

So why don’t you do the American voters a favour and use that money for the much-needed health care of poor Americans who cannot afford any? Now that might buy the Republican Party votes at the next election!

The problems of the Middle East are not going to be solved by America. Not now; not ever! Those people will squabble till the end of time; and they’ll just go on killing each other. It’s their schtick. – ©Mark Alexander

Photo of George W Bush courtesy of The Times

TIMESONLINE: President Bush yesterday launched a fresh effort to kick start the Middle East peace process by backing his old ally, Tony Blair, with promises of American diplomatic and financial support.

President Bush pledged an extra $80 million (£40 million) of US aid to the Palestinian Government of Mahmoud Abbas, as well as announcing plans for an international peace conference involving Israel and its Arab neighbours this autumn.

“We are showing the Palestinian people that a commitment to peace leads to the generous support of the United States,” said Mr Bush. “The Palestinian people must decide that they want a future of decency and hope, not a future of terror and death.” Choose peace and hope or terror and death, Bush tells Palestinians (more) By Tom Baldwin in Washington and James Hider in Jerusalem

Mark Alexander

“Dictatorial” Rachida Dati, France’s First Muslim Minister, Struggles Amid Whiffs of the Unsavoury

Photo of Rachida Dati courtesy of The Times

TIMESONLINE: Rachida Dati, the Justice Minister who was hailed as a star of the new French Government, is battling to salvage her reputation after only weeks in office. President Sarkozy has rushed to her rescue after four of her most senior aides resigned, and it emerged that her brother is to appear in court today on drug-dealing charges.

Anti-race campaigners also backed Ms Dati, 41, a Muslim and an icon of the “Sarkozy revolution”, yesterday, saying that she was the victim of jealousy among France’s white ruling elite. Unnamed officials had complained in the media that they could not handle the dictatorial character of Ms Dati, the daughter of an Algerian workman and a Moroccan housewife.

Three times in the past five days Mr Sarkozy has given emotional public support to Ms Dati, a former aide, whose appointment was regarded as a master stroke to counter his image as an intolerant rightwinger. No nonwhite had ever held a senior Cabinet post in any government, let alone a woman from the poor ethnic estates. Sarkozy’s star minister flounders (more) By Charles Bremner in Paris

Mark Alexander

A Nation Divided by Riches: The Result of Thirty Years of Screwing the Poor – A Policy with Dire Long-Term Consequences
THE TELEGRAPH: The wealth gap is at its widest for more than 40 years, creating ghettoes of the richest and the poorest that have virtually nothing to do with each other, a report finds today.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation also found that in parts of the South-East the "average" family is an endangered species. The result has been an increase in "urban clustering" of poor people in cities with wealthy households concentrated on the outskirts. Income divide at widest for 40 years (more) By Christopher Hope

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (19/02/2007):
Blair's wealth gap: voters want City bonus curb By Patrick Hennessy and Melissa Kite

The Jodeph Rowntree Foundation

TELEGRAPH SPEAKERS’ CORNER:
What can be done to heal Britain's economic divide?

I am all for people being able to become rich, but it seems to me that this country has encouraged unadulterated greed. There is no concern for the people who simply cannot get bonuses on the level of the City's so-called "high fliers". For most people, they just have to struggle along whilst a relatively small number at the top of the pile, simply because they have had the chance to enter the City or kick a football, get all the benefits. They cream it all off. This is not fair. And a country which encourages such unfairness will, in the long-run, live to regret it. Civil unrest will surely ensue.

They used to say that (absolute) poverty was the breeding ground for communism. I would go as far as to say that (relative) poverty could well become the breeding ground of communism, too. That beast - communism - is just lurking in the shadows. We need to be vigilant.

By creating a dependency culture, and at the same time allowing obscene pay rises, mega-golden handshakes (for jobs usually not well done), and even more obscene City bonuses, this government, and several governments before it, is setting the scene for an ugly future for us all.

Nobody is worth some of the ridiculous pay awards that some of these people are 'earning.' It is a total disincentive to work and effort for the vast majority, since they might as well give up, knowing darned well that they will never achieve such dizzy heights.

The world has been here before, albeit in smaller magnitude. We need to take heed. No society can be healthy when this group feels insulated and superior to that group. This is a recipe for division, bitterness, and strife, and takes the concept of capitalism to the Nth degree. – ©MA

Mark Alexander

Scandalous Treatment of American Academics by Tehran; Death Penalty Looms Yet Again in the Land of the ‘Religion of Love and Peace’
BBC: Iranian TV has shown the first pictures of two Iranian American academics - Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh - who have been held in Iran since May.

The footage was a trailer promoting a programme to be aired later this week.

Only snatches of their voices are heard but the BBC's Tehran correspondent says they appear to be confessing to trying to topple the Iranian government.

Ms Esfandiari, Mr Tajbakhsh and another detained Iranian American, journalist Parnaz Azima, are accused of spying.

They could face the death penalty if found guilty. Iran TV shows detained Americans (more)

Mark Alexander

Islam: Cult or Religion?
Hat-tips to Always On Watch and Foehammer’s Anvil, where this video was brought to my attention:


Mark Alexander

Putin Threatens the UK with "Serious Consequences" for Expelling Four Russian Diplomats in the Litvinenko Affair
BBC: The UK is to expel four Russian diplomats in response to Moscow's refusal to extradite the prime suspect in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband also said co-operation with Russia on a range of issues was under review.

Prosecutors want Andrei Lugovoi, an ex-KGB officer, to face trial in the UK. He denies involvement.

Moscow condemned the UK's position as "immoral" and said the expulsions would have "serious consequences". UK expels four Russian diplomats (more)

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
UK expels Russian diplomats

Mark Alexander

BBC Newsnight Report on Women's Day in Iran

Mark Alexander

Interfering, Cruel, Iranian Policewomen Enforce the “Islamic Dress Code” on Iranian Women in the Street


Mark Alexander

Rizana Nafeek
I would like to urge all my visitors to do something to try and help this poor Sri Lankan girl whose execution in Saudi Arabia by beheading is imminent. I have chosen to write to the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, for I believe that he is a caring man. This is my email to him at the Élysée Palace today:

URGENT

Mr President:

You will no doubt be fully aware of the case of Rizana Nafeek, a poor Sri Lankan maid/babysitter, who has been tried in Saudi Arabia for allegedly stangling a four-month-old baby boy whilst feeding him.

This is a pathetic case, and certainly an injustice, since she was not afforded a lawyer to represent her at the trial; and her confession is said to have been forced out of her. Her execution by beheading is imminent. The girl is merely nineteen years old, and is said to have gone to Saudi Arabia to work to help feed her poor family back home in Sri Lanka.

I write to you today for I know you to be a man who cares about such matters. I therefore hope that there might be something you can do, as the President of France, to put a stop to this injustice. This poor maid will surely have few people to stand up for her. Your help could be invaluable.

I realise that this is not a French matter, and I realise, too, that you are an exceedingly busy man. But if there is something you can do to help this girl, it would be greatly appreciated.

For your time and assistance in this most urgent and pathetic matter, I thank you most kindly.

Faithfully

Mark Alexander
Author

Librabunda

Barbaric Practices

Somebody Do Something to Help

If you feel that you would like to write to your own president or prime minister, please feel free to copy my email.

Mark Alexander

Somebody Do Something to Save This Poor Sri Lankan Teenage Babysitter from Beheading!
It high time for the Saudis to come into the civilized world! It is also high time that the Western world shun Saudi Arabia until they do so, regardless of the cost. Some things are more important than money, profit, or oil!


You can sign a petition here: SAVE RIZANA

Mark Alexander

Torture and Insanity in Libya
BBC: Hopes are rising that the six foreign medical staff condemned to death in Libya for infecting children with HIV may be freed as part of a financial settlement with the families of the children.

The medics, who all proclaim their innocence, were arrested eight years ago after an outbreak of HIV at a paediatric hospital in Benghazi.

A Libyan court has cleared nine policemen and a doctor of torturing the foreign workers into signing confessions.

All six are Bulgarian citizens with one, an Egyptian-born Palestinian, given citizenship in June 2007.

Sofia-based journalist Virginia Savova looks at each of their cases for the BBC News website. Profiles: The imprisoned medics (more)

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Libya HIV medics appeal

Mark Alexander

Geert Wilders in Bid to Ban the Burqah and Niqab in the Netherlands
MIDDLE EAST TIMES: THE HAGUE, The Netherlands -- A Dutch rightwing anti-Islam politician Thursday submitted new proposals for a law banning burqas after an earlier attempt stranded.

In letter to parliament Geert Wilders, who heads the Freedom Party that has nine of the 150 seats in the lower house, wrote that "the burqa and the niqab [Muslim woman's face veil] is a symbol of the oppression of women" and is "in defiance of the democratic constitutional state." Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker in new bid to ban burqas (more)

Mark Alexander

Breaking the Rushdie Taboo: German Writer Wants to Stir Things Up
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German writer Günter Wallraff wants to stir things up in his hometown of Cologne. He is proposing reading the 'Satanic Verses' in a controversial new mosque. The religious foundation building the mosque says it'll think about it.

Günter Wallraff doesn't think of himself as a provocateur, he justs wants to get a dialogue going and to put the integration of Muslims in German society to the test. His method is somewhat radical. The well known German writer has said he wants to read aloud from "The Satanic Verses" in a Cologne mosque.

Wallraff denies that his proposal to read from a book regarded by many Muslims as blasphemous is a provocation. Rather, he says, he just wanted the Rushdie book to finally be discussed within the Muslim community. German Writer Wants to Read 'Satanic Verses' in Cologne Mosque (more)

Mark Alexander

Military Action Against Iran Back in Favour in the White House
THE GUARDIAN: · Military solution back in favour as Rice loses out
· President 'not prepared to leave conflict unresolved'
The balance in the internal White House debate over Iran has shifted back in favour of military action before President George Bush leaves office in 18 months, the Guardian has learned.

The shift follows an internal review involving the White House, the Pentagon and the state department over the last month. Although the Bush administration is in deep trouble over Iraq, it remains focused on Iran. A well-placed source in Washington said: "Bush is not going to leave office with Iran still in limbo." Cheney pushes Bush to act on Iran (more) By Ewen MacAskill in Washington and Julian Borger

Mark Alexander

Omar Ossama Bin Laden talks of Anger and Outrage at Publicity Over His Marriage to Zaina Bint Mohamad al-Sabah
THE GUARDIAN: When the son of the world's most wanted terrorist decided to marry a British grandmother nearly twice his age, he had hoped the union would pass unnoticed.

But, much to his dismay, a son of Osama bin Laden has found that his polygamous marriage has prompted a glut of stories in the British press. In a written statement published by the Saudi newspaper al-Watan yesterday, Omar bin Laden said he was "stunned and outraged" at the publicity the wedding has attracted. Bin Laden’s son tells of anger at publicity (more) By Alex Kumi

KUWAIT TIMES:
Laden son says wife a ‘Kuwaiti’

Mark Alexander

Al-Yamamah Continues to Be a Source of Embarrassment and Headaches for the British Government
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain could be heading for another diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia over the long-running controversy surrounding the 1980s Al-Yamamah arms deal.

There are heightened concerns in Whitehall after America's Department of Justice wrote to the British Government this month formally asking for legal assistance in its recently launched probe into BAE Systems, the UK defence company that supplied fighter jets to Saudi Arabia under the £40bn Al-Yamamah deal. Fresh Al-Yamamah crisis looms (more) By Katherine Griffiths, City Correspondent

THE GUARDIAN:
Diplomatic clash looms with US over BAE arms sale investigation By David Leigh

Mark Alexander

Barbaric Practices of 'Our Friends and Allies': Saudi Arabia to Behead Teenage Maid

Photo courtesy of The Telegraph

THE TELEGRAPH: The imminent execution of a teenage maid in Saudi Arabia drew fierce criticism yesterday and provoked condemnation of the kingdom's prolific use of capital punishment.
The case has brought fresh attention to the draconian Saudi criminal justice system which is expected this year to set a new record in its use of the death sentence.

Human rights campaigners yesterday urged the authorities not to behead a 19-year-old Sri Lankan maid found guilty of killing a baby in her care. 

According to the Saudi authorities, Rizana Nafeek admitted strangling the four-month-old boy while feeding him with a bottle. 

But Nafeek, whose job was not meant to include child care, has denied making any such admission. She claims the child had begun to choke before losing consciousness in spite of her desperate efforts to clear his airway.

Tonight is the deadline for appeals in the case. Unless the Saudi authorities change the sentence or the parents of the victim offer clemency, Nafeek will have her head cut off by an executioner wielding a sword in front of a crowd of onlookers. Saudis prepare to behead teenage maid (more) By Tim Butcher, Middle East Correspondent

Mark Alexander

Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism and the Spread of Sunni Theofascism
MIDEAST MONITOR: The United States has largely eliminated the infrastructure and operational leadership of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network over the past five years. However, its ideological offspring continue to proliferate across the globe.

American efforts to combat this contagion are hamstrung by the fact that its ideological and financial epicenter is Saudi Arabia, where an ostensibly pro-Western royal family governs through a centuries-old alliance with the fanatical Wahhabi Islamic sect. In addition to indoctrinating its own citizens with this extremist creed, the Saudi government has lavishly financed the propagation of Wahhabism throughout the world, sweeping away moderate interpretations of Islam even within the borders of the United States itself.

The Bush administration has done little to halt this ideological onslaught beyond quietly (and unsuccessfully) urging the Saudi royal family to desist. This lack of resolve is rooted in American dependence on Saudi oil production, fears of instability in the kingdom, wishful thinking about democracy promotion as an antidote to religious extremism, and preoccupation with confronting Iran.
Background

Wahhabism is derived from the teachings of Muhammad ibn abd al-Wahhab, an eighteenth century religious zealot from the Arabian interior. Like most Sunni Islamic fundamentalist movements, the Wahhabis advocated the fusion of state power and religion through the reestablishment of the Caliphate, the form of government adopted by the Prophet Muhammad's successors during the age of Muslim expansion. What sets Wahhabism apart from other Sunni Islamist movements is its historical obsession with purging Sufis, Shiites, and other Muslims who do not conform to its twisted interpretation of Islamic scripture. Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism and the Spread of Sunni Theofascism (more) By Ambassador Curtin Winsor, Jr.*

*Curtin Winsor, Jr. is a former US ambassador to Costa Rica (1983-1985). He was Special Emissary to the Middle East at the outset of the Reagan administration. He is chairman and owner of the American Chemical Services Company of Marmet, WV and serves on the boards of several public policy organizations, including the William H. Donner Foundation, the Atlas Foundation for Economic Research, the Media Research Center and the Hudson Institute.

Mark Alexander

A Peak Inside the Bin Laden Family

Photo of Wafah Dufour as she appeared on GQ magazine courtesy of The Sydney Morning Herald

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Terrorism may have made their name reviled in the West but, as Olga Craig reports, there is much more to the bin Laden family, as its latest addition is about to discover.

WHEN Jane Felix-Browne, a 51-year-old parish councillor, grandmother and housewife from Cheshire in England, became the besotted bride of Omar bin Laden recently, she could scarcely have been surprised at the amount of media interest her marriage attracted. Not so much her spouse, a 27-year-old Steptoe-style scrap dealer from Jeddah but rather her new, infamous father-in-law: Osama bin Laden.

In the past few days the new Mrs bin Laden's background has been trawled over: her five former husbands (all, like her new one, married in haste, and several divorced within weeks) and her penchant for plastic surgery, tattoos and greasy bikers. She would seem an unlikely daughter-in-law for the austere, Koran-thumping man whose name she now bears - wildly out of place in this secretive and extensive family. (Osama has 25 half-brothers and 29 half-sisters, all the product of his father Mohammed's 22 wives. The siblings have produced more than 300 children, with Osama himself fathering 20 by his five wives.) A family that dares not speak its name (more)

Mark Alexander

Keith Ellison Compares George W Bush with Hitler

Photo of Keith Ellison courtesy of The Telegraph

THE TELEGRAPH: America's first Muslim congressman has provoked outrage by apparently comparing President George W Bush to Adolf Hitler and hinting that he might have been responsible for the September 11 attacks.

Addressing a gathering of atheists in his home state of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, a Democrat, compared the 9/11 atrocities to the destruction of the Reichstag, the German parliament, in 1933. This was probably burned down by the Nazis in order to justify Hitler's later seizure of emergency powers.

"It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that," Mr Ellison said. "After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader [Hitler] of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted."

To applause from his audience of 300 members of Atheists for Human Rights, Mr Ellison said he would not accuse the Bush administration of planning 9/11 because "you know, that's how they put you in the nut-ball box - dismiss you". Bush like Hitler, says first Muslim in Congress (more) By Toby Harnden in Washington

Mark Alexander

New Video from Osama bin Laden?: “A Special Surprise from As-Sahab (the Cloud). Heaven’s Breeze Part 1”
CNN: Osama bin Laden stresses the importance of martyrdom for Muslim causes in a videotape that purportedly contains a 50-second message from the al Qaeda leader.

The 40-minute videotape, whose audio was being translated from Arabic by CNN, was intercepted before it was to appear on several Islamist Web sites known for carrying statements from al Qaeda and other radical groups.

The videotape, titled "A Special Surprise from As-Sahab. Heaven's Breeze Part I," was made in the last four weeks, but the clips appear to be old, said Octavia Nasr, CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs. There is no indication of where it was shot, and CNN cannot verify its authenticity.

"We're aware of the tape," a government official, who didn't want to be identified, told CNN. The official agreed that the tape's content is not necessarily new.

"There has not been, over time, a one-to-one correlation between release of a tape and any significant operation or attack afterward," the official added.

Bin Laden, with a bodyguard standing directly behind him, is looking down slightly in the video, appearing to address an audience below, which is unseen. Watch the al Qaeda leader (Audio unavailable) » 'New' al Qaeda tape may contain old clip of bin Laden (more)

MSNBC:
Just-released bin Laden tape praises martyrs (more)

Mark Alexander

Police Call for Indefinite Internment for Terror Suspects
THE OBSERVER: · Critics' anger over internment plans
· PM briefed on 'extraordinary measure'
One of Britain's most senior police officers has demanded a return to a form of internment, with the power to lock up terror suspects indefinitely without charge.

The proposal, put forward by the head of the Association of Police Chief Officers (Acpo) and supported by Scotland Yard, is highly controversial. An earlier plan to extend the amount of time suspects can be held without charge to 90 days led to Tony Blair's first Commons defeat as Prime Minister. Eventually, the government was forced to compromise on 28 days, a period which Gordon Brown has already said he wants to extend.

The Observer understands that the Acpo proposal has been discussed in meetings between Brown and senior police officers. Whitehall sources said the PM was receptive to the association's demands, but believes an upper detention limit is essential to avoid a de facto Guantanamo Bay based in the UK.

Ken Jones, the president of Acpo, told The Observer that in some cases there was a need to hold terrorist suspects without charge for 'as long as it takes'. He said such hardline measures were the only way to counter the complex, global nature of terrorist cells planning further attacks in Britain and that civil liberty arguments were untenable in light of the evolving terror threat. Lock terror suspects up indefinitely say police (more) By Mark Townsend and Jamie Howard

Mark Alexander

A Daily Mail Interview with Mrs Bin Laden: Jane Felix-Browne “Doesn’t Do Convention.” As a “Devout Muslim,” One Day Saudi Arabia Will Be Her Ideal Place to Live

Photo courtesy of The Sun

DAILY MAIL: Heavens, what a mess. The new Mrs Bin Laden is about to board a flight out of the UK, and it's not going according to plan.

First, our telephone interview is abruptly halted when the police "would like a word" with her. "Gotta go, I think I am being questioned," snaps Jane Felix-Browne, and the line goes dead.

Ten minutes later, she is back - minus her passport and boarding pass, apparently - and reading aloud from a card that has been kindly handed to her, presumably by some men with large guns.

"Under Section 7 of the Terrorism Act, it is your duty to be truthful... you must provide any documents, passports... blah blah blah... you are not under arrest," she reads.

Woah! Hold on. Is she being detained? On what grounds? Surely even she wouldn't be daft enough to put her married name on her passport?

She sounds irritated rather than concerned. "It's a formality. I've done nothing wrong. I've had this before. Let's keep talking until they come back."

However, we are again interrupted - this time by a choking sound that cuts her off in mid-sentence. Whatever now?

Has she been marched away in handcuffs? Strangled? Wrestled to the ground by a fellow passenger who took issue with the family name?

Alas, nothing so dramatic. "Sorry," she splutters. "I was trying to take a drink while wearing a burka. I've poured it down me. What a mess."

So begins the farce that is interviewing Jane Felix-Browne, aka Mrs Omar Bin Laden, daughter-in-law of Osama - yes, that Osama.

A few days ago, her neighbours in the tranquil Cheshire village of Moulton knew Jane as just another slightly dotty grandmother who sat on the parish council.

She was a bit odd, granted, with a face unnaturally smoothed, it was rumoured, by Botox and the surgeon's scalpel.

She was always off on exotic jaunts to the Middle East, and spoke of her devout Islamic faith - but all in clipped English tones. Revealed in the world's first full interview: The bizarre world of Mrs Bin Laden (more) By Jenny Johnston

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Mark Alexander

George and Gordon Will No Longer Be “Joined at the Hip”, Says Lord Malloch Brown

Photo of Lord Malloch Brown courtesy of The Telegraph

THE TELEGRAPH: Britain's "special relationship" with the United States is under fresh strain today after Lord Malloch Brown, the Foreign Office minister, said that Gordon Brown and President George W Bush would no longer "be joined at the hip".

Interviewed in The Daily Telegraph, Lord Malloch Brown said that it was time for a more "impartial" foreign policy, building new relationships with the French president Nicolas Sarkozy and the German chancellor Angela Merkel as well as the growing economic powerhouses of India and China.

He said: "It is very unlikely that the Brown-Bush relationship is going to go through the baptism of fire and therefore be joined together at the hip like the Blair-Bush relationship was.

"That was a relationship born of being war leaders together. There was an emotional intensity of being war leaders with much of the world against them. That is enough to put you on your knees and get you praying together." Brown's new man strains links with Bush (more) By Alice Thomson and Rachel Sylvester

TIMESONLINE:
Cabinet is ordered to toe the line on US By Philip Webster and Tom Baldwin

Mark Alexander

Time to Do Something to Prevent the Radicalisation of Muslim Jailbirds
THE GUARDIAN: As the four July 21 bomb plotters started their 40-year minimum sentences this week, a group of police special branch officers - the foot soldiers of the security services - based at Prison Service headquarters were quietly working to ensure that the failed bombers do not inspire a new generation of violent jihadists.

The kingpin or "emir" of the July 21 attacks, Mukhtar Said Ibrahim, had emerged from Feltham young offender institution in September 1998 at the age of 20 having rejected crime in favour of radical Islam, as had Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, before him.

A year ago prison officers voiced concerns that there was no official strategy in place to tackle al-Qaida operatives radicalising and recruiting alienated ethnic minority prisoners as well as young Muslims inside Britain's jails.

But as the number of people awaiting trial for terrorist offences reaches the 100 mark and prison governors contemplate a growing number of convicted prisoners facing long sentences on terror-related charges, the question of preventing radicalisation behind bars is being taken far more seriously. Fear of Islamist recruiting in jails (more)

Mark Alexander

Die Wandlungsfähigkeit des islamischen Terrorismus ist seine Stärke
NZZ ONLINE: Die Stärke des islamistischen Terrorismus besteht in seiner Wandlungsfähigkeit. Die Anschläge in Europa lassen kein festes Profil von Täter und Taktik erkennen. In ihren Hochburgen in Asien und im Nahen Osten passt die Kaida ihre Strategie neuen Gegebenheiten an.

eg. Der junge Mann mit dem gepflegten Vollbart und dem roten Kopftuch wirkt nicht unsympathisch. Er ist eloquent, seine Stimme mit dem unüberhörbaren Akzent seiner Heimatstadt Leeds klingt weich und beinahe einnehmend. Was er zu sagen hat, trägt er in freier Rede vor. Die Worte von Mohammed Sidique Khan lassen an Deutlichkeit nichts zu wünschen übrig. «Erst wenn ihr aufhört, mein Volk zu bombardieren, zu vergasen, zu foltern und ins Gefängnis zu werfen, erst dann werden wir den Kampf beenden.» Khan ist der Kopf jener Bande von vier Selbstmordattentätern, die am 7. Juli 2005 in Londons Nahverkehr 52 Pendler mit Bomben tötete. Seine Botschaft hatte er vor der Tat auf Video aufgenommen. Die vielen Gesichter der Kaida-Terroristen: Trotz Rückschlägen regeneriert sich die Bewegung immer wieder (mehr)

Mark Alexander

A Chill Wind Blows Over Europe from Russia
BBC: Russian President Vladimir Putin has suspended involvement in one of the key post-Cold War arms control treaties.

In a statement, the Kremlin said the choice was due to "extraordinary circumstances" affecting security.

Russia has been angered by US plans to base parts of a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty limits the number of heavy weapons deployed between the Atlantic Ocean and the Urals mountains.

'Cornerstone'

A Nato spokesperson said that the alliance's secretary general would "very much regret the decision" if confirmed.

"The allies consider this treaty to be an important cornerstone of European security," he said.

In a separate interview, Nato spokesperson James Appathurai told the BBC the move was "a disappointing step in the wrong direction". Russia pulls out of key arms pact (more)

Mark Alexander

Sex Offenders in the Czech Republic Have to Guard Their Nether Regions!
BBC: A European anti-torture watchdog has expressed "serious reservations" about surgical castration being used to treat sex offenders in the Czech Republic.

The Committee for the Prevention of Torture also expressed concerns about the use of chemical castration, and called for greater safeguards.

The Council of Europe committee questioned the freedom of consent for those undergoing the procedure.

The Czech government says castrations happened in accordance with the law. Czech castration raises worries (more) By Alex Kroeger

Mark Alexander