The Vatican's recent snub of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is only the latest salvo in the battle between Pope Benedict XVI and President Bush. This tug of war has profound implications for both US foreign policy and the critical Catholic vote in 2008's presidential race.
The conservative Christian Social Union has ruled Bavaria for 50 years. Günther Beckstein, a 63-year-old lawyer, is expected to stay the course after his election as state premier on Tuesday. He built a reputation as a law-and-order man during his years as Bavaria's powerful, hard-line interior minister. He's seen as one of the more outspokenly conservative members of the CSU. Observers have said he's likely to carry on Edmund Stoiber's agenda.
Beckstein does not fit the typical profile of a CSU politician. He is a Protestant in a party that has traditionally been dominated by Catholics. He hails from the northern Bavarian region of Franconia, while his predecessors have come from the south. The Bavarian premier is a symbolic successor to the former kings of Bavaria. While the royal perks are limited to using the region's palaces for state business, the premier does have a high profile in Europe because of the state's economic might.
[WAR: Now the heads of 10 (of the 16) states ruled by the CDU/CSU can vote for Stoiber during the coming crisis - whereas before Stoiber was one of those heads and wouldn't be able to vote for himself.]
German press...
The leader of the Social Democrats, Kurt Beck, is trying to win back voters by shifting the party to the left. But Labor Minister Franz Müntefering, a former SPD leader, is resisting the trend, and may end up resigning. German commentators say the rift over welfare policy is damaging the party.
(Economist: Trouble times on the German Left)
While the tsunami emanating from the collapse of the US mortgage market proceeds through the whole global financial system, the central banks are resorting to medicine that briefly gives the ailing patient rosy cheeks for one last time, but will only make his approaching end all the more violent. Say hello to Weimar 1923—only this time on a worldwide scale.
The very existence of Germany is in danger without the implementation of the measures for the erection of a protective wall for the areas of the public welfare. Particularly in periods of extraordinary crises, the sovereign nation-state is the only institution that can protect the General Welfare of the population. The Maastricht Treaty and the Stability Pact likewise have to be frozen, and the Federal government must bring the financial sovereignty of the state, which was transferred to the ECB, back under its sovereign control.
In other words: We have to return once again to the principles of real physical economy, and place the General Welfare above the private advantages of the few. Whoever says that this is not possible, also says that Germany will not survive as a nation.
On October 4, the German chancellor had extensive talks in Addis Ababa, also initiating new business deals for German enterprises. Government circles in Berlin consider Ethiopia as a "regional stabilizing force" in Eastern Africa and the countries have been closely co-operating since 2005. For the past 2 years, German development agencies have been placing German personnel in "key positions" in Ethiopia's "industry and administration". As a next step, Berlin is planning to strengthen the German-Ethiopian economic relations. At present, they are relatively insignificant and German businesses are threatened to loose ground to their Chinese rivals.
From Ethiopia Merkel continued her trip to South Africa and to Liberia. This Africa trip is to reaffirm German claims to military control of the continent and a privileged share of its resources. This 4-day trip is embedded in the wide-ranging German engagement in Africa, directed particularly in opposition to Beijing's growing influence. "German interests in Africa" is the topic of a conference to be held October 10, in the German capital.
The German government is using the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa, to strengthen its influence over the South African police and military. The two countries' military cooperation is part of the German design to make South Africa, the strongest economic and military power south of the Sahara, the stabilizing force of the African continent, at least of its Southern sector.
Not a very "holy" "empire"...
European lawmakers have warned against teaching creationism - such as 'intelligent design' which denies the evolution of species through natural selection - in European schools saying it could become a threat to human rights.
Just one week before EU leaders meet in Lisbon to adopt a new EU treaty, the UK prime minister has pulled the veto card, threatening his counterparts he will not sign up to the document unless the country's special exemptions are fully respected.
European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso is worried that his institution will be sidelined under the new EU treaty which potentially introduces a new power hierarchy into the EU. In a frank interview with a Belgian newspaper, Barroso admits that he is eyeing the new treaty with some concern as it risks seeing member states circumvent both the commission and European Parliament and take decisions among themselves. "The danger exists that the governments will handle problems among themselves, without taking into account the European institutions. Some member states do not accept that there is an European interest, which is different from a compromise between member states."
The new think tank the European Council on Foreign Relations hopes to steer the EU back onto the center of the world stage. Its 50 founding members include leading European intellectuals such as Timothy Garton Ash, Joschka Fischer, Brian Eno and Rem Koolhaas.
Spiegel Online talks to historian and Oxford professor Timothy Garton Ash about the EU's weak image in the world, the limits to EU expansion and how Europe should tackle Russia and Iran.
If ever there was a moment for Europe to come up with new policies for dealing with despots, it is now. In theory, the EU is ready. It is eager to show off the fledgling common foreign policy of a regional power that is big, rich and noisily principled, but also an exponent of "soft power". Moreover, dealing with rogues is high on Europe's agenda. It would be nice to report that the EU is rising to the challenge, and crafting a middle way between realpolitik and the idealistic promotion of peace, democracy and prosperity. Alas, Europe seldom works like this. A global vacancy exists for somebody with good plans for handling tyrants. The question is: could the EU plausibly apply for it?
German press...
A battle of wills is being fought between the US and Russia over whether to send a strong message to Iran about its nuclear program. President Sarkozy has chosen to involve himself in this battle but during his trip to Moscow he failed to win over President Putin. German commentators take stock of Sarkozy's trip to Moscow.
Iran has promised a devastating "final response" to supporters of the Jewish State today (October 12), the Islamic Republic's Quds Day. "Supporters of the Zionist regime will receive their response during the world Quds Day's rallies," the Iranian government spokesman said at a weekly press conference Wednesday.
EU foreign ministers are set to warn Iran that it faces tougher sanctions if it does not give up its nuclear activities but they will refrain from moving towards extra European penalties as favoured by France due to persistent disagreements among member states.
Liar!...
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday accused Iran of "lying" about the aim of its nuclear program, saying there's no doubt Tehran wants the capability to produce nuclear weapons and has deceived the UN's atomic watchdog about its intentions.
Hersh's revelations are the latest (and most comprehensive) in a growing wave of reports on a gathering momentum toward a US military confrontation—and very possibly war—with Iran. (Go to revcom.us for previous Revolution alerts and coverage.) "There has been a significant increase in the tempo of attack planning," Hersh sums up. One recently retired CIA official told him, "They're moving everybody to the Iran desk... It's just like the fall of 2002" (before the US launched war on Iraq).
There have been many hints of military disaffection from plans to attack Iran - indeed, military resistance may help explain why, despite years of rumors about Bush Administration intentions, such an attack has not yet occurred. A report in the Telegraph says that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has "taken charge of the forces in the American government opposed to a US military attack on Iran." It cites Pentagon sources saying that Gates is waging "a subtle campaign to undermine the Cheney camp."
The appeal for military personnel to resist an attack is primarily based on principle. It asserts that any pre-emptive US attack on Iran would be illegal under international law and a crime under US law. Under the military's own laws, armed forces have an obligation to refuse orders that violate US law and the Constitution. In ordinary times, peace activists would hardly be likely to turn to the military as allies. But these are hardly ordinary times.
The "American Century" only began 60 years ago. But it seems already to be over, with the disaster of Iraq forcing some of the United States' ruling elites to realise that its hegemony has been severely weakened. But nobody seems to know what to do next, or even how to behave.
Millions of Americans, the richest people in history, have a death wish. They are the new "Armageddonites," fundamentalist evangelicals who have moved from forecasting Armageddon to actually trying to bring it about. These Armageddonites believe that they alone will get a quick, free pass when they are "raptured" to paradise, no good deeds necessary, not even a day of judgment.
These end-timers have great influence over the US government's foreign policy. American fundamentalists strongly supported the decision to invade Iraq in 2003. They consistently support Israel's hard-line policies. And they are beating the drums for war against Iran. Thanks to these end-timers, American foreign policy has turned much of the world against us.
Last week, a clandestine cadre of controlling conservative Christian captains (bunch of right-wing religious nut jobs is what I'm getting at) threatened to run from the GOP like ducks from an alligator the size of a Buick if any infidel they don't anoint is nominated for president. The zealot heads went so far as to talk out loud about forming their very own party if Giuliani does weasel his way to the top of the ticket.
Of course, if they do form a third party, the big question is what to call it. "The Holier Than Thou Party" is a bit put-offish. "God's Only Party" would be confusing, especially if the media tried to acronym it. "The Everyone Has to Live Like We Think They Should Live Party" is probably too long. I did come up with the perfect name, but unfortunately "The Taliban" is already taken.
World crude oil prices jumped nearly $2 a barrel to within sight of their record high yesterday as key figures showed an unexpected drop in US oil supplies. By late afternoon today, the price of US light crude futures was around $83.24 a barrel, less than a dollar below the all-time record of $83.90 hit last month.
Wheat futures surged Thursday as investors bet the USDA will cut its estimates for worldwide supply of the grain due to a rash of poor harvests this year and robust demand.
Merrill Lynch announced it will report a quarterly loss, after writing off $5 billion. This compares with a UBS write-off of $3.4 billion, and Citibank of almost $6 billion. Washington Mutual, the largest US savings and loan bank, wrote off $1.39 billion. With more than 100 mortgage companies closed or sold off this year, Bloomberg quotes a mortgage consultant in New York City saying that the trouble in mortgages has just begun. "The alarm is going off from the detector on the ocean floor, but the tsunami hasn't hit the shore yet."
The markets have not seen the worst of the credit losses from record defaults on US subprime loans and falling house prices, chief economist at Standard & Poor's said. "We've seen the worst of the panic, but we haven't seen the worst of credit losses."
China means business. With the upcoming launch of the first Chinese government investment fund, leaders in Beijing are gearing up to invest China's burgeoning currency reserves on capital markets around the world. But is it a golden opportunity or a threat for the West?
As the value of the dollar plummets, American real estate looks more and more attractive to overseas investors. Foreigners buying property -- both residential and commercial -- in the US is nothing new. But in recent months, as the exchange rate has swung further in their favor, Irish, British, Italian and even Canadian investors have started to gobble up more land here.
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