Views on the News 5/3/09
- Published in News & Comment
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US Congressman Ron Paul: ‘US foreign policy bankrupted America and We killed a million Iraqis'
The conservatives attending last week's Conservative Political Action Conference applauded Republican Ron Paul (R-TX) when he told them the US has no choice but to get out of Iraq. "Part of the reasons why we lost this last election was the foreign policy issue," Paul insisted. Paul noted that George Bush ran in 2000 on a pledge to end Bill Clinton's nation-building, but then he "joined the idea that the American taxpayers - you - have an obligation to take care of everybody and police the world."This is literally what bankrupts the country," Paul complained. "It costs us a trillion dollars a year to take care of our foreign policy, and that cannot last." On Iraq Paul said, "We want to get rid of a bad guy in Iraq - we did. But ... another one million Iraqis got killed. Believe me, they weren't all terrorists." Paul concluded by criticizing President Obama for proposing to send another 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. "Don't we know anything about history?" he asked. "It is bankrupting our country. It will end ... because we can't afford it. ... That's what the financial crisis is telling us. ... and the sooner we realize that the better."
MI5 to target rioters
On March 1st 2009 The Daily Express English newspaper reported that top secret contingency plans have been drawn up to counter the threat posed by a "summer of discontent" in Britain. MI5 and Special Branch are targeting activists they fear could inflame anger over job losses and payouts to failed bankers. One of the most notorious anarchist websites, Class War, asks: "How to keep warm during the credit crunch? Burn a banker." What worries emergency planners most is that the middle classes, now struggling to cope with unemployment and repossessions, may take to the streets with the disenfranchised. The source said "this potent cocktail is reminiscent of the poll tax riots which fatally wounded Margaret Thatcher's government in 1990".
EU on the brink of collapse
On March 2 2009, the emergency EU summit meeting failed to put up a united front to the pervading economic crisis. Instead the summit descended into a squabbling fiasco between old Europe and New Europe. For some time now, the poorer countries of Europe have felt that France, Britain, Germany and Italy have been looking after their own economies at the expense of the poorer member states of the EU. Ferenc Gyurcsany, the Hungarian leader, openly raised the spectre of collapse in Eastern Europe and the creation of a new Iron Curtain. "Central Europe's refinancing needs in 2009 could total €300 billion, 30 per cent of the region's GDP," he said in a paper calling for a fund of €160 billion to €190 billion to be set up by the richer EU members. He also warned of grave consequence in the absence of such measures. He said,"A significant crisis in Eastern Europe would trigger political tensions and immigration pressures. With a Central and Eastern European population of 350 million, of which 100 million are in the EU, a 10 per cent increase in unemployment would lead to at least five million unemployed people within the EU."
ICC ruling casts a dangerous development in international relations
On March 3 2009, the ICC issued its first arrest warrant against a sitting head of state- President Omar Bashir of Sudan. The ruling signifies a dangerous development in international relations, where colonialist tools such as the ICC directly undermine the sovereignty of nations as set out by the Westphalia treaty of 1648. The ruling is an indication that West has officially discarded the 361 year old treaty to change the meaning of ‘sovereignty for nations' and legally justify interference in states under the pretext of human rights violations.
Taleban form a united front to attack NATO
Three rival Pakistani Taliban groups have agreed to form a united front against international forces in Afghanistan in a move likely to intensify the resistance just as 17000 extra US soldiers begin pouring into the country as part of Barack Obama's surge plan. The English newspaper Guardian has revealed that three of the most powerful warlords in the region have settled their differences and come together under a grouping calling itself Shura Ittihad-ul-Mujahideen, or Council of United Holy Warriors. Pakistan was already under intense western pressure to act against extremists based in its tribal area. A western military adviser, also based in Pakistan, said a Pakistani Taliban alliance would cement the grip of the militants over Waziristan. The region is also home to Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida, who use Waziristan and other parts of the tribal area as a haven to regroup and launch attacks against Afghan and Nato forces. America is putting intense pressure on Pakistan to wage a new war in FATA. But the Pakistani military lacks the motivation to fight and has been repeatedly defeated when sent into the region.
Scourge of Indian elections spells tough times for Muslims
On March 2 2009, officials announced that India will hold general elections next month kick-starting a frenetic campaign for the 700 million votes up for grabs. Voting for a new parliament will be staggered from April 16 to May 13, allowing for the deployment of 2.1 million security personnel and four million electoral staff. Dominating the race is the ruling Congress party of Italian-born Sonia Gandhi and incumbent premier Manmohan Singh, and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under veteran Hindu nationalist L.K. Advani. The BJP said it was in a position to win back power. "The country has suffered, and we are confident that after the votes are counted a new administration under our leader Lal Krishna Advani will take charge," BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told a news conference. The BJP is campaigning on "good governance, development and security," while also reviving a pledge to build a Hindu temple on the ruins of a demolished 16th century mosque. BJP's exploitation of sensitive sectarian issues is bound to bring added pressure on Indian Muslims who are already suffering from the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks.
Indonesia: Muslim economic cooperation is not possible without the Caliphate
Speaking at the opening of the fifth World Islamic Economic Forum in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, called on Muslim countries to increase their cooperation in trade and investment to help stem the impact of the current global recession. "In the trade and investment sectors, especially in the current crisis, we must increase solidarity in the form of cooperation for the welfare of the Muslims," he said. Mr Yudhoyono said it was time for Islamic banks to do some missionary work in the West. Islamic financial institutions, he said, had not been hit as hard as their western counterparts because they did not invest in toxic assets. The political disarray in West on how to deal with the global economic crisis clearly demonstrates that political unity is required to solve global economic problems. Islam has provided Muslims with a unique political system called the caliphate through which Islamic solutions are implemented. The Caliphate is not a union of states like the EU or a federation like the US; rather it is unitary system where authority is invested in a single leader. This means that the circa sixty-odd Islamic countries have to be united under a single political leadership to implement Islamic economic solutions before they can become a role model for the world. Anything short of this will be ineffective.
