Wednesday

The Daily WAR (11-26)

Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
 
 
 
    The following is taken from Pope Benedict's, Jesus of Nazareth, 28-29, 35-36. Here he is treating the testing of Jesus by Satan in the wilderness.
    "The devil proves to be a Bible expert who can quote the Psalm exactly. The whole conversation of the second temptation takes the form of a dispute between two Bible scholars. Remarking on this passage, Joachim Gnilka says that the devil presents himself here as a theologian."
    "The Russian writer Vladimir Soloviev took up this motif in his short story 'The Antichrist.' The Anitchrist receives an honorary doctorate in theology from the University of Tübingen and is a great Scripture scholar."
    "The theological debate between Jesus and the devil is a dispute over the correct interpretation of Scripture."
    (And: Soloviev: Above all, [The Antichrist] will be a superb ecumenist, able to engage in dialogue "with words full of sweetness, wisdom, and eloquence.")
[WAR: "The Anitchrist receives an honorary doctorate in theology from the University of Tübingen and is a great Scripture scholar."? Well, pre-B16 Ratzinger didn't receive "an honorary doctorate", but he "was appointed to a chair in dogmatic theology at the University of Tübingen [in Bavaria]." And B16 is also "a Bible expert," "theologian," and "great Scripture scholar"!Was Soloviev wrong about the honorary doctorate, but right about the university? Yes, he was!]
 
    Your Congregation is being held during a period of great social, economic and political change; of conspicuous ethical, cultural and environmental problems, of conflicts of all kinds; yet also of more intense communication between peoples, of new possibilities for knowledge and dialogue, of profound aspirations for peace.
    These are situations that deeply challenge the Catholic Church and her capacity for proclaiming to our contemporaries the word of hope and salvation.
    However, while you seek to recognize the signs of God's presence and work in every corner of the world, even beyond the bounds of the visible Church, while you strive to build bridges of understanding and dialogue with those who do not belong to the Church or have difficulty in accepting her outlook or messages, at the same time you must loyally take on the Church's fundamental duty to remain faithful to her mandate and to adhere totally to the Word of God and to the Magisterium's task of preserving the integral truth and unity of Catholic doctrine.
    I also invite you today to reflect in order to rediscover the fullest meaning of your characteristic "4th vow" of obedience to the Successor of Peter, which is "to love and serve" the Vicar of Christ on earth with that "effective and affective devotion" which must make you his invaluable and irreplaceable collaborators in his service for the universal Church.
    At the same time, I encourage you to continue and to renew your mission among the poor and with the poor. Unfortunately, new causes of poverty and marginalization are not absent in a world marked by grave financial and environmental imbalances, from globalization processes prompted by selfishness rather than solidarity and by devastating and senseless armed conflicts.
 
    Pope Benedict XVI will host landmark Catholic-Muslim talks in November to improve ties between their religions. The announcement was made in a joint statement after a 2-day meeting between senior Vatican and Muslim leaders in Rome.
    The joint statement said the first Catholic-Muslim summit would be held in Rome on 4-6 November and would involve 24 religious leaders and scholars from each side. It said the Pope would address the meeting on the themes of "Love of God, Love of Neighbour", "Theological and Spiritual Foundation" and "Human Dignity and Mutual Respect".
 
    The Church needs to look in three directions and speak of God in each of them, using language accessible to the people of today, said Archbishop Forte. He urged the Church to speak of God in Western postmodern societies, in the poor countries of the south and with people of other religions.
 
 
 
    Chaos hit Germany today as airport workers joined other striking transport workers. The industrial action has also affected visitors to two of the country's major international fairs currently underway.
 
 
 
Does the current political and economic crisis in Italy mean the country is in danger of becoming the world's wealthiest failed state?
    Italy has been without an official government for more than a month. Credit-rating agencies have downgraded the country's debt to within 2 steps of junk bond status; organized crime controls huge swaths of territory; the justice system lacks authority; and economic growth prospects are grim.
    It's fair to ask whether Italy is on its way to becoming a failed state. This is not a notion to consider lightly. A failed state is one in which the central government is too ineffective to exert practical control over its territory.
 
    British MPs will today vote on whether a referendum should be held on the EU treaty. Two amendments calling for a public poll are to be put to the vote, one put forward by the opposition Conservatives and one drawn up by Labour MP Ian Davidson. Davidson's amendment also allows for the wider question of whether Britain should stay in the 27-nation EU.
 
    Europe is confronted with a much bigger danger than the average person knows. I have studied the new text of the Lisbon Treaty, from the standpoint of the expert analyses which they wrote, and I will give you a short summary of what I found.
    The most important is, that it would change the relation of the European states, from an alliance of states into a single federal state, which from that point on, once it's ratified, would be ruled as an oligarchy, without the participation of the national parliaments. The European Parliament would be heard, but have no say, and the national parliaments have no say whatsoever.
 
    Tensions between French and German leaders seem to have eased following an announcement from Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel that they have found common ground on a proposal for a new Mediterranean Union.
 
    Private equity giant Carlyle has hired Olivier Sarkozy, the UBS banker and half-brother of the French president, to run its financial services business. He has been one of the key players at UBS, where he was the joint global head of investment banking at its financial institutions group, and has worked on some of the most high profile deals in the sector in recent years.
 
    Days before Chancellor Merkel's visit to Moscow, Germany's foreign minister has called on Europe to accept Russian President-elect Dmitry Medvedev's offer of partnership. "Russia is and remains an indispensible strategic partner if we want to secure peace in Europe. It's not only we who need Russia -- Russia also needs us."
 
    Russia has once again cut the supply of gas to Ukraine, which could affect deliveries further west. Western Europe buys most of its gas from Russia and it has to pass through Ukrainian pipelines to get there.
 
    The Serbian government moved a step closer toward its apparently imminent demise when Prime Minister Kostunica and President Tadic again clashed over Kosovo and Serbia's European path.
    Kostunica repeated that Serbia should put Kosovo above Europe and sought the undivided support of the deeply divided parliament ahead of a debate on a draft resolution his Democratic Party of Serbia had forged with the nationalist opposition, not his coalition partners.
    The parliament was to discuss today whether to put the draft put forward by the opposition ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, which effectively precludes Serbia from further talks on EU membership, on the parliament agenda.
 
    Kosovo's declaration of independence has led to the "de-facto partitioning" of the Serb-dominated north from the rest of the territory — just as Russia repeatedly warned would happen, Russia's UN ambassador said Tuesday.
 
 
 
    There is a huge difference between loving the land of Israel and loving the way in which the country's rulers go about imposing their will on those living within its borders. The right wing settler crowd assert that they, and only they, are the true lovers of Israel, and that they are not to be challenged by anyone when it comes to knowing the ideal path for the future of the state.
 
    Israeli forces have briefly re-entered the Gaza Strip and clashed with Palestinian militants.
 
    At the meeting of the Arab League at its Cairo headquarters, Arab foreign ministers appear helpless in the face of Lebanon's continuing political stand-off and its consequences for the success of the upcoming Arab League summit (March 29-30).
    With Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Gulf countries supporting the ruling majority in Lebanon, Syria is being blamed for hindering the process of electing a new president in the country to end the political stalemate. Damascus supports the Shiite Hezbollah opposition-led group in Lebanon.
 
    The financial shockwaves spread by the crisis of US imperialism—the fall of the dollar amid the US mortgage crisis, and the explosion of the world market price of a barrel of oil from $23 in 2002 to the present $103, after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq—are shaking the entire region.
    Not only are fuel prices affected, but the rise in petroleum prices is pushing up food prices, which are closely dependent on the prices of energy, transport, and fertilizers, the component parts of which are produced from natural gas, the prices of which are in turn heavily affected by oil prices.
    Oil-producing countries also face spiraling inflation, due to both global and local factors. Most of those countries' oil is sold in dollars, but most of their trade is conducted with European and Asian countries whose currencies are rising against the US dollar.
    Underlying the Saudi Central Bank's decision are complex geopolitical factors tied to the crisis of American capitalism. The riyal is pegged to the dollar because Saudi Arabia's foreign currency earnings overwhelmingly come from oil sales, in markets currently denominated in US dollars.
    Removing the riyal's peg to the dollar could only take place in the context of a decision by Saudi Arabia to denominate its oil sales in other currencies. Such a shift would have massive implications for the US.
    The American balance-of-payments deficit is financed largely by foreign investors, who use the dollars they buy on US debt markets to purchase goods and raw materials on dollar-denominated world markets for oil and other essential commodities.
    Absent the need to hold dollars for purchases on world markets, demand for US dollars would fall substantially, threatening a further collapse of the US dollar's value and a crisis in the US' ability to finance its foreign trade.
 
    The EU mission to Chad and the Central African Republic (EUFOR) is set to begin operations by March 15, with between 400 and 600 troops on the ground. Deployment of the 3,700-strong force could be completed by June.
    France has been instrumental in pushing for EUFOR amongst EU members who are concerned about Chinese encroachment into Africa, most notably in the OIL sector.
    US energy giants ExxonMobil and Chevron, and Malaysia's Petronas are the key players in the oil sector in Chad, whereas French group Total is not present at all. "American companies have managed to get into the country, to the displeasure of European and Chinese firms," said Sarkis. He added that for China, which gets about 30% of its oil from neighbouring Sudan, one possible long-term strategy would be for Chad to build an extension of its pipeline to Sudan.
 
    Sandstorms and severe drought are expected to hit northern China in the spring, the China Meteorological Administration has forecast.
 
 
 
    All Afghan citizens in Iran without valid refugee documents will be deported, the director of the Iranian bureau for aliens and foreign immigrants told reporters at the end of a 2-day meeting with Afghan and UN officials.
 
    Iran wants to ban all nuclear weapons through an international treaty, the country's foreign minister said at the UN's Conference on Disarmament. "The time has come to ban and eliminate all nuclear weapons. (It is necessary to) start negotiations to reach a convention on the ban of stocks and the production of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction."
 
    President Ahmadinejad today rejected new any talks with the EU over Iran's nuclear programme, saying Tehran would in future only negotiate with the UN atomic agency.
 
    The measures fell well short of US demands. As in the horse-trading over previous UN resolutions, Russia and China blocked the imposition of tougher sanctions and sought to protect their own interests in Iran. As permanent members of the UN Security Council, they could have vetoed the resolution, but have consistently refused to openly challenge Washington's bogus case against Iran.
    The nuclear allegations are simply a convenient vehicle for the Bush administration to advance its ambitions for US hegemony in Iran and throughout the Middle East. In the final analysis, the US threats are not aimed primarily against Tehran but at undermining the economic and strategic interests of its European and Asian rivals in the region.
    What is at stake in Iran is not only the country's vast oil and gas reserves, but its strategic position between the resource-rich regions of the Middle East and Central Asia. Even if Tehran were to capitulate completely to US demands to shut down its nuclear program, a string of other pretexts have already been prepared to justify US aggression, including alleged Iranian meddling in Iraq.
    Following the release of the NIE report, there was no shortage of commentators who concluded that the danger of the Bush administration ordering a military attack on Iran had ended. The ruthlessness with which the White House rammed through the latest UN resolution demonstrates that a new eruption of US militarism in the last year of Bush's term is not off the agenda.
 
Disinfo...
    Iran may pose the greatest long-term threat to Iraq's stability, a US general said the day after Iran's president wrapped up a visit to Baghdad.
 
 
 
    We now know that a blueprint for the creation of a global Pax Americana was drawn up for Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Jeb Bush and Lewis Libby. The plan shows Bush's cabinet intended to take military control of the Gulf region whether or not Saddam Hussein was in power.
    It pinpoints North Korea, Syria and Iran as dangerous regimes, and says their existence justifies the creation of a "worldwide command and control system". This is a blueprint for US world domination.
    The overriding motivation for this political smokescreen is that the US and the UK are beginning to run out of secure hydrocarbon energy supplies. This is leading to increasing dependence on foreign oil supplies for both the US and the UK.
    The conclusion of all this analysis must surely be that the "global war on terrorism" has the hallmarks of a political myth propagated to pave the way for a wholly different agenda - the US goal of world hegemony, built around securing by force command over the oil supplies required to drive the whole project.
 
    Voters in 2 Vermont towns on Tuesday approved a measure that would instruct police to arrest President Bush and Vice President Cheney for "crimes against our Constitution," local media reported.
 
    When a war based on lies is opposed because too many Americans are dying, the implication is that it can be made right by reducing the American death toll. When a war that flagrantly violated international law is opposed because it was badly managed, the implication is that better management could make for an acceptable war.
 
 
 
    President Bush warned on Tuesday it would be a "mistake" for OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna to ignore the pain record-high oil prices are inflicting on the US, the world's top energy consumer. In some of his strongest language to date, Bush turned up the heat on OPEC, source of about a third of the globe's oil supply.
 
    EU finance ministers and the head of the European Commission have voiced concern over the record strength of the euro against the US dollar, in comments aimed at the US authorities rather than the monetary policy of the eurozone's central bank.
    Commission President Barroso admitted to journalists at a Brussels conference on Tuesday that the rise of the common currency against the dollar is a "matter of concern in some sectors of our economy."
    The strong euro is harmful for European exporters, particularly for French and German producers, although it also weakens the negative effect of high oil prices - which are calculated in dollars - for Europeans.
 
    Mideast sovereign wealth funds may fail to save troubled US banking giant Citigroup unless more cash is pumped into the lender, the head of a $13 billion Dubai-owned investment firm said Tuesday.
    He told delegates at a private equity conference that it will take more than the combined efforts of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the Kuwait Investment Authority and Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to save the bank.
 
    The American economy is propped up on faith and credit, and Wall Street is now in a short supply of both of these essentials. This video from CNN Money contains the sort of talk that can start runs on banks to withdraw savings and shatter stock markets.
 
    EIR's economics staff is preparing a report on the food and commodity hyperinflation internationally for the coming issue, with graphs showing the spikes in wheat and other grains, and mounting shortages, which spell starvation for the human race.
    The financial press is unable to refute that this process comes directly from speculation gone wild (without noting that the massive money-pumping by central banks is intended to achieve exactly that).
 
    Could they really be that stupid? That is the question which comes to mind watching the recent spate of statements by government officials discussing what they see as the problems facing the economy, and what needs to be done to solve them.
    Rather than admitting the global financial system has failed, and must be put through bankruptcy, they blather on about whether or not we have entered into a recession, and about the need to protect asset values from the effects of what they prefer to call the "housing crisis."
    The so-called "subprime crisis" is actually an effect of a financial system which depended upon ever-higher mortgage debts to feed a financial bubble. The subprime loans were a response from the banking system to continue to sell homes when prices rose so high people could no longer afford them.
    What we are facing is a crisis of the banking system itself, and of the securitization and off-balance-sheet apparatus which the banks created to hide their own bankruptcy, and anyone who is afraid to say that, is irrelevant.
 
    I have found it hard to see clearly through the economic and financial fog of the last two months. Pundits should shut up if they have nothing to say. So I did. The Fed's emergency rate cuts in January briefly seemed to change the picture.
    There was hope that the most dramatic easing in a quarter century would start to thaw the credit freeze. Obviously, this has not happened. Almost every measure of credit stress is now at danger levels again, although US commercial paper is regaining a little colour.
    My Monday column caused a storm. So let me answer the collective critique by the hundreds of readers who sent comments. Let events judge whether I am scare-mongering. In the hierarchy of errors, complacency may prove to be the greater sin in the end.
    Who pose the greater danger to the world economy right now? The prophets of the credit crunch, or the prophets of inflation? Those warning of a very severe crisis are all serving a vital social role.
 
 
 
    The governments of Ecuador and Venezuela have sent troops to their borders with Colombia. It's an angry response to a Colombian attack on FARC rebels in Ecuador on Saturday. Is war about to break out in South America?
 
German press
    A Colombian raid on guerrilla forces in Ecuador has the region in an uproar -- and open conflict is closer than it has been in a long time. Was Colombia's cross-border raid a step too far?
    For Europe, the conflict comes as a bit of a shock -- Ecuador is a favorite recipient of German development aid. Commentators writing in Germany's main papers Tuesday were full of opinions on what the conflict meant for the region's future.
 
    Both Ecuador and Venezuela have massed thousands of troops on their borders with Colombia, while breaking off diplomatic relations with it.
    Authorities in Bogota initially claimed that the killing of the FARC leader Raul Reyes and the other guerrillas was a matter of Colombian troops pursuing and killing them in battle. A forensic investigation by Ecuador, however, established that murdered FARC members were the victims of a bombardment launched while they were sleeping and that some of them were then finished off by Colombian ground forces, execution-style. Indeed, the killing of Reyes, who served as the FARC's main international representative, pursuing diplomatic contacts in Europe and Latin America, had all the earmarks of a "targeted assassination."
    Colombian police officials made no secret of the fact that the targeting was carried out by US security forces, which are extremely active in the south of the country near the Ecuadoran border.
 
The big question...
 
The BIG answer...
    Venezuela is not the only country to confront Big Oil and demand that old contracts be renegotiated. The truth is, ExxonMobil's ultimatum has more to do with politics than economics.
    Chávez holds office because millions have again and again been willing to put their bodies on the line against multinational corporations and their local allies. That revolutionary movement is terrifying to ExxonMobil.
    Chávez said that if ExxonMobil does succeed in freezing PDVSA assets, he would halt oil exports to the United States. This is a threat the US has to take seriously. As well as being the 4th largest exporter of oil to the US, if Venezuela succeeds in certifying an additional 200 billion barrels of oil reserves to the 100 billion already certified, it will officially have the most proved reserves of oil, in the world.
    With so much at stake, US imperialism and its corporate allies are not at the moment in a position to launch a sequel to the failed coup of 2002. Venezuela's movement is too big, and Venezuela's oil is too important for that to happen -- for now.
    But we know from the bitter history of Big Oil and the Global South that this is not the last confrontation between corporate and popular power in Venezuela.
 
    The perfect wife is a good cook but is happy to stand up to her man, according to new research. While women's role as housekeeper may have moved on over the past 50 years, almost half of men still believe that being able to cook is the most important skill a woman can have. But while a compliant and submissive wife was expected back in the post-war years, modern men actually respect a woman who will stand up to them.
    [WAR: I want my wife to be just like the pizzas I want her to cook: thin with a good tan!]
 
 
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