Sunday

The Daily WAR (01-06)

Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
 
 
 
    Experts say the pope and the Vatican wield considerable global influence. The Vatican is only 106 acres. It's the smallest nation-state in the world, but it is a huge moral, spiritual superpower.
    As the Bishop of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI is the spiritual head of the Roman Catholic Church worldwide. But he also wears another hat: head of state for the independent territory of Vatican City and the Catholic Church's government, called the Holy See.
    It's the tension between those two roles that actually gives him a resilience on the international stage, that he doesn't just speak for a geopolitical unit but also for a demographic within the world.
    The Holy See has played an active global role for centuries. It has permanent observer status at the UN and has all the rights of full UN membership except voting. The Holy See has formal diplomatic relations with 177 countries around the world.
 
    For those searching for true progress in Europe, it might be beneficial to go back to the Rule of the father of Western monasticism, says Benedict XVI. He said this in his general audience in St. Peter's Square, dedicated to St. Benedict (480-543), who is known most notably for his Rule, a set of directives written for monks living in community.
    Pope Paul VI proclaimed the saint the patron of Europe in 1964, an act the current Pope said "recognized the wonderful work accomplished by the saint through the Rule toward creating the civilization and culture of Europe."
    He said "Europe -- deeply wounded during the last century by two world wars and the collapse of great ideologies now revealed as tragic utopias" -- is in the midst of an identity crisis. While acknowledging the need for political and economic institutions to create stability, the Pope said, "We also need to renew ethical and spiritual values that draw on the Christian roots of the Continent, otherwise we cannot construct a new Europe."
 
    Perhaps not since Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) visited our shores have we received as a guest from Europe so illustrious a proponent of Classical Liberalism as when Pope Benedict XVI arrives on Tuesday.
    Indeed, if that philosophy can be said to be the founding principle of our country, we can turn around the old cliché of describing someone as "more Catholic than the pope" and say the Pope  is "more American than the president."
 
    Q: Mr. President, this is the first head of state, Pope Benedict the XVI, you will ever greet on a tarmac. I was stunned to learn this. Why are you going and greeting him at an airstrip? Usually the heads of states come here.
    A: Because he is a really important figure in a lot of ways. One, he speaks for millions. Two, he doesn't come as a politician; he comes as a man of faith. And, three, that I so subscribe to his notion that there are -- there's right and wrong in life, that moral relativism has a danger of undermining the capacity to have more hopeful and free societies, that I want to honor his convictions, as well.
 
    Pope Benedict XVI will not attend a dinner the White House is set to hold in his honor, White House officials said Friday. Spokesman Scott Stanzel made the announcement during a press briefing on activities lined up for the Roman Catholic Pontiff's 5-day visit to the US.
    The Wednesday dinner will be hosted by the President in the East Room. Stanzel said that "There will be leaders from the Catholic community from all over the country who are in town for that visit." The spokesman added that no explanation has been given for the Pope's absence.
 
    On social issues like abortion, gay marriage and stem cell research, the conservative Pope Benedict XVI and the conservative President Bush find much common ground. But Benedict's meeting with Bush is likely to underscore an issue where there remains a deep divide between the Vatican and the White House — the war in Iraq.
 
 
 
The depopulation of eastern Germany
    Something odd is happening to the cities of eastern Germany. City planners, normally keen to promote the building of homes, factories and roads, are responding to a double demographic crisis: the collapse of communist-era industry, which sent workers, especially young women, fleeing westwards; and a sharp decline in the birth rate.
 
    Germany's foreign minister said the next US administration should not expect significantly greater participation by the German army in Afghanistan. "Obviously some would like us to do more. We have stretched ourselves quite a bit. Our resources are not unlimited."
 
    Advancing human rights around the globe is a pillar of German foreign policy, Chancellor Merkel said, adding that she would take up the topic in a speech to the Council of Europe.
    Merkel described advocacy for the rule of law and human rights as a "universal battle," and said rights throughout the world were "an important pillar" of Berlin's policy alongside advancing Germany's own interests.
    Human rights and economic relationships were not mutually exclusive, she said, adding: "In my opinion, they have to fit together. We know that human rights continue to be breached in many places in the world. We believe that we can improve the application of human rights worldwide by dialogue and setting a good example. The dignity of the individual is at the focus of our efforts."
 
    The German police force helped train security officials from China and Uzbekistan -- in addition to the ones from Libya that are at the center of an ongoing scandal, a German newspaper said Saturday.
 
    A German opera house is to unveil a provocative new production staged in the ruins of New York's World Trade Centre. It features naked pensioners and Mickey Mouse masks, Hitler salutes and Elvis impersonators. The staging deliberately toys with images that are extremely sensitive both in the US and Germany.
    "It will be a different, a provocative masked ball on the ruins of the World Trade Centre. The naked stand for people without means, the victims of capitalism, the underclass, who don't have anything anymore."
 
 
 
Franco 'collaborated with Nazis' to prove Canary Islands were home to Aryan race
    Spanish archaeologists collaborated with the Nazis in their attempts to prove the theory of Aryan supremacy and justify their claims of racial superiority over the Jews, according to a new book. Spain wanted to promote the idea that the Aryan race could be traced to the Canary Islands, amid claims they were all that remained of the lost continent of Atlantis.
 
    Many experts say that despite Berlusconi's lead in opinion polls, the election itself may be inconclusive, largely because of Italy's deeply flawed electoral law. While Berlusconi seems likely to win in the lower chamber of Parliament, the upper chamber, the Senate, is problematic, since its seats are apportioned according to a complex formula based on Italy's regions.
    And at the moment, even Berlusconi has hinted that he may not be able to win enough seats to govern. Some experts believe Veltroni's bloc could also win the Senate, a scenario that would pit the 2 houses against each other and create an even worse paralysis.
 
    Israeli and Arab soldiers are being summoned to march through Paris this summer to celebrate the launch of a "Union for the Mediterranean" to settle regional woes.
    France is inviting all the countries around the Mediterranean rim, including Libya, Syria and Israel, to a European Union summit in Paris on July 13 and they are expected to take part in a "Euro-Mediterranean Bastille Day" military parade with European troops the next day, according to one of the closest advisers to President Sarkozy.
    The idea of a Mediterranean union has irritated the Germans, who have insisted that it be created in association with the EU. Worried that wealthier countries such as Germany would end up paying for the new French-led association, Merkel reportedly threatened to boycott the Paris summit unless Sarkozy scaled back plans for a "political, economic and cultural union" for the Mediterranean.
 
Germany is up, and Russia in. What will America do in eastern Europe?
    The job of NATO used to be straightforward: keep the Americans in, the Germans down and the Russians out. These days things are less certain.
    A week after the alliance's acrimonious summit in Bucharest, and an inconclusive follow-up meeting between presidents Bush and Putin to discuss anti-missile defences, NATO's future role in Europe's security seems particularly unclear.
    The most controversial question for the coming months, even years, will be how far the alliance should expand; in particular whether it should take in Ukraine and Georgia. At NATO's summit in Bucharest, Chancellor Merkel led the resistance to an American-led move to grant the 2 countries the next step to membership—known as the Membership Action Plan.
    NATO postponed the issue to a meeting of foreign ministers in December, or perhaps to its 60th anniversary summit in April next year. Indecision in NATO leaves plenty of room for the European Union. But the EU shows little sign so far of wanting to take the lead in the continent's security policy.
 
 
 
Oh, the irony...
    An Italian woman artist who was hitch-hiking to the Middle East dressed as a bride to promote world peace has been found murdered in Turkey. She had said she wanted to show that she could put her trust in the kindness of local people.
 
    Prime minister Olmert has promised Hamas will be hit hard following the attack at Nahal Oz that killed 2 Israelis on Wednesday. Speaking at a party meeting, he said an operation was imminent that would prevent the group "from operating as it does today".
 
    Five years ago, as the tanks rolled in, history's most priceless treasures vanished from Iraq. What really happened still confounds world experts. Now, for the first time, Britain's leading authority on Iraq archeology and a witness to the devastation, delivers his verdict.
 
    Thousands of Ethiopian soldiers have recently poured into Somalia's Hiiran region creating intense fear and concern among civilians. Thousands of Al-Shabab fighters are still in the region, and with scores of Ethiopians arriving daily, people fear fresh violence and bloodshed.
 
    Around the world, Beijing's hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games has become the target of unprecedented, well-orchestrated and extremely hostile mass protests.
    Meanwhile, geostrategic realities, and historical and current parapolitical fact, suggest that the protesters and passionate activists (in time-honored form) have once again become the willing dupes, propaganda shills, and street bullies for "causes" created, fronted, and pushed by Anglo-American intelligence agencies (CIA, British intelligence, etc.) that continue to target a government (this time Beijing), in a host of long-term subversion and sabotage plans.
 
 
 
    At least 11 people have been killed and almost 200 others wounded in an explosion in a mosque in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz. Initial reports said that the blast had been caused by a "home-made" bomb, but senior regional officials said on Sunday that it may have been an accident.
    Fars reported that the mosque hosted weekly speeches denouncing Wahhabism - a version of Sunni Islam - and the outlawed Bahai faith. Iran is a predominantly Shia country.
 
    The outlawed Party for Free Life in Kurdistan has threatened to carry out more terrorist attacks inside the Iranian territory. "Iran should be aware that we have a long arm that can strike at significant places inside Iran, especially in the northwest reaching Tehran."
    Although the US State Department considers the PKK as a terrorist organization, Washington has long been accused of supplying PJAK with arms. Tehran says the US is supporting the outlawed group in a bid to provoke ethnic unrest in the country.
 
    Three pending Security Council resolutions against Iran, some calling for sanctions, have not stopped the country from seeking a non-permanent seat at the council, causing some UN members to worry about the council's reputation. Iran is seeking to join the Security Council for 2 years in 2010-12 as a representative of Asia, replacing Indonesia.
    Diplomats and commentators say that the Security Council's status is deteriorating and its prestige is crumbling. "The Security Council is paralyzed," Italy's UN ambassador said. "It is becoming irrelevant."
 
    Tehran blasted as "scandalous" and "insulting" a threat made by Israel's National Infrastructure Minister this week of a devastating response to an Iranian attack on Israel. Iran's ambassador to the UN stated that the statement was part of "the continuing warnings made by Israeli representatives that constitute insulting and scandalous threats against the Republic of Iran."
 
    "Iraq and its costs", the op-ed published this Monday by the Wall Street Journal and authored by Senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham is nothing short of alarming. Even more alarming than counterinsurgency ace General David Petraeus' show to the US Senate.
    Coming from the 2 top surrogates to Senator John McCain, the Lieberman-Graham piece - a preemptive strike proclaiming the success of the "surge" - should be taken as the very essence of McCain's foreign policy, who still can't tell the difference between a Sunni and a Shi'ite.
    As it happens, it is also a formidable piece of fiction. The overall martial theme remains unmistakable: we need war, war, war.
    The full demonization of Iran - and the heart of Bush and McCain's foreign policy - is on show when Lieberman-Graham accuse Iran, with no evidence whatsoever, of continuing "to wage a vicious and escalating proxy war against the Iraqi government and the US military".
    "The Iranians have American blood on their hands" and are responsible, through ghostly, undetermined "extremist agents", for "the deaths of hundreds of our men and women in uniform".
 
Cheney's belligerence and aggressive anti-Iran rhetoric is driving Arab nations into the arms of Russia
    There is talk of new wars across the Middle East this summer - and there is nothing new about that. What is new is the reaction of America's closest allies in the Arab world to the latest outbreak of belligerent rhetoric. Led by Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, and Egypt, they have indicated they don't like the war talk from Vice-President Cheney and his team.
 
 
 
    Next week a titan on the world stage will fly across the Atlantic to spend Wednesday talking war and peace with President Bush and making his mark on the American people. Unfortunately for Gordon Brown, an awkward coincidence of timing means that his final visit to President Bush coincides with Pope Benedict XVI's trip to the US.
    Brown's agenda for his 4-day, 3-city trip – the economy and international financial stability, meetings with Wall Street bankers and discussions about the future of Africa – will never compete for the popular affection of the American people, despite recent attempts.
    [WAR: I would much rather have our brother Brown here, than the Antichrist-in-chief B16.]
 
    Gordon Brown is to urge the next American president to re-engage with the world and show the kind of leadership America demonstrated in the immediate aftermath of WW2. His message will be conveyed to all 3 candidates for the White House in back-to-back meetings during his trip to the US this week.
    In his first major speech as Prime Minister on American soil, in Boston on Friday, he will call on the US to create a world where nations work together, rather than simply pursuing what Brown has previously condemned as "their own self-interest".
 
    A John McCain presidency would take to a more forceful approach to Russia and China, according to senior foreign policy advisers to the Republican candidate. Robert Kagan, who wrote much of the speech delivered in Los Angeles, told the Daily Telegraph: "Russia will loom large for both Europe and the US, and John McCain has been ahead of the curve and has seen this coming down the road."
    Kagan, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a leading member of Washington's Right-wing foreign policy community, was an early advocate of removing Saddam Hussein, though he was critical of the Pentagon's handling of the war in Iraq.
    Kagan's approach has however reportedly put him at odds with other McCain advisers such as former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, who the New York Times reported this week was disturbed by the candidate's hardline attitude to Russia.
    (Wiki: Kagan is a co-founder of the Project for the New American Century and was one of the signers of the January 26, 1998, PNAC Letter sent to President Clinton. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Robert's brother Frederick and father Donald are also affiliated with PNAC and other neoconservatives. He is married to Victoria Nuland, the current US ambassador to NATO.)
 
    The resignation of Mark Penn, the top campaign strategist for Hillary Clinton, sheds light on a feature of the Democratic Party that is not merely an aspect, but rather the essence, of this political institution: it, like the Republican Party, is a wholly owned subsidiary of corporate interests.
 
    The Bush administration is likely to move its research on one of the most contagious animal diseases from an isolated island laboratory to the US mainland near herds of livestock, raising concerns about a catastrophic outbreak.
    Skeptical Democrats in Congress are demanding to see internal documents they believe highlight the risks and consequences of the decision. An epidemic of the disease, foot and mouth, which only affects animals, could devastate the livestock industry.
    A simulated outbreak of the disease — part of an earlier U.S. government exercises called "Crimson Sky" — ended with fictional riots in the streets after the simulation's National Guardsmen were ordered to kill tens of millions of farm animals, so many that troops ran out of bullets.
    In the exercise, the government said it would have been forced to dig a ditch in Kansas 25 miles long to bury carcasses. In the simulation, protests broke out in some cities amid food shortages.
 
    The Daily Show's John Oliver hit back, with a hilarious look at Fox's purported fairness and balance.
 
 
 
    Finance officials from the world's top economic powers endorsed a plan Friday aimed at preventing another financial crisis like the credit and mortgage debacles that erupted in the US and quickly sent tremors around the globe.
    "Rapid implementation" of the plan "will not only enhance the resilience of the global financial system for the longer term but should help to support confidence and improve the functioning of the markets," the G7 officials said in a joint statement.
    "The turmoil in global financial markets remains challenging and more protracted than we had anticipated."
 
    The EU's top economy official has said that Europe deserved a greater say in the global economy as the strong euro gains ground as the world's 2nd major currency.
    The EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner said Friday that the rest of the world now sees the euro currency zone as "a pole of stability" and the currency had the potential to become even more important.
    He said the euro area is now "playing an increasingly important role in supporting the stability of the world economy and the global financial system. Non-EU countries increasingly perceive the euro area and the EU as a whole as a pole of stability, a source of new capital, and also a source of advice and expertise on regulatory approaches."
    He again signaled worry about the US' huge current account deficit, saying a sudden "unwinding" could hit Europe hard, since its currency is still appreciating against the dollar.
    The euro now makes up 26% of foreign exchange reserves and is the second most actively traded currency after the dollar on global foreign exchange markets.
    The EU official called for the 15 euro nations to share a single seat when world leaders meet to discuss the economy at the International Monetary Fund or the G-7 group of top 7 industrialized nations. In the G-7, this would come at the expense of euro users Germany, France and Italy which now represent themselves at these talks.
 
Euro-zone economies face external woes and internal tensions
    It is true that the European Central Bank has, like America's Federal Reserve, flooded the financial system with liquidity in response to the credit crunch. But unlike the Fed, it has not so far felt the need to bring down interest rates.
    Just as in 2001, however, the outlook for the euro area seems to be deteriorating a lot faster than the optimists had expected. Troubles in the region's two biggest export markets—recession in America and slowdown in Britain—are starting to bite.
    And 2 bigger worries have emerged. The first is the strength of the euro. A weaker dollar is driving an American export boom; a stronger euro is likely to have the opposite effect in Europe. The second worry is the housing market. Europe may have avoided the American subprime mess, but in several countries house prices have been even bubblier than in America.
    The political fallout will be felt in other ways too, because of the differential performance of euro-area economies. France and Italy are a lot weaker than Germany; soon enough, French and Italian leaders (especially if Silvio Berlusconi wins Italy's imminent election) will squeal ever more loudly about the euro's strength, the ECB's rigid monetary policy and, quite possibly, will demand that their industries be protected from "unfair" competition.
    Such pressure will be resisted by the Germans, who remain comfortable with the euro's strength and always hate criticism of the ECB.
    In truth, as the euro approaches its 10th birthday celebrations, it is facing the biggest test of its short life. If Europe follows America into recession, which is quite possible, the pain will be a lot greater in the Mediterranean countries than in Germany and northern Europe.
    Not surprisingly, the political response from the 2 regions will also be quite different. The euro is about to show the world that it is not yet an optimal currency area—and the demonstration may not be a pretty one.
 
    Britain could be hardest hit by the global credit crisis as banks in this country have racked up bigger losses than anywhere else in the world, a new International Monetary Fund analysis shows. The IMF expects British banks to lose more than £20 billion - equivalent to 3% of GDP - from the international meltdown in sub-prime mortgages.
    American banks, which had been thought to be bearing the brunt of the credit crisis, will lose £72 billion - equivalent to only 1.4% of GDP. By contrast Japan's losses are £5 billion and China's £1.5 billion. European countries using the single currency have lost £61.5 billion - 1.7% of GDP.
 
    Having already pumped $300m of extra money into the US financial system, the Federal Reserve is making extraordinary contingency plans in case the credit crisis persists for so long that its own reserves dwindle.
    The US central bank is in talks with the Treasury and politicians on Capitol Hill about measures that could buttress its ability to act as lender of last resort. In doing so, it is hoping to answer the nagging fear on Wall Street that the Fed may run out of ammunition to pursue what have so far been roundly applauded efforts to keep the credit markets moving.
    Officials confirmed yesterday that the Fed is considering ways to replenish its stockpile of US Treasury bonds, which has dwindled from $792bn last July to $487bn last week.
 
    Bear Stearns was a planned deal, over $1 trillion in losses in the market, US banks in trouble, watching the forced sale of assets, the history of collapses, Chinese markets on a slide, Clintons profit after leaving power ...
 
    What bagging the bear is going to mean, super absorbent paper sucks up losses, toxic waste, merger threats for all non insiders, a bill for the taxpayers ...
 
    The tissue of lies that held together the subprime market was believed by the best and the brightest. They were blind to what was coming. It has wiped out over $200 billion in assets.
    We are assured that the worst is over. But who assures us of this? Salaried reporters in a dying field: newspapers and network TV. The ill-informed tout the liars. We are assured that the liars know what went wrong and will not let it happen again. When they tell you the worst is over, batten down the hatches.
 
    Citigroup and Merrill Lynch will heap further pain on Wall Street this week as they reveal additional sub-prime write-downs totalling $15 billion or more. In another sign of the intense pressure on leading banks, Deutsche Bank is attempting to offload some of its $56 billion of toxic debt to a consortium of private-equity firms.
    Huge exposure to American mortgages is expected to result in Citi taking a $10 billion hit to its accounts, dragging the bank to a 1st-quarter loss of almost $3 billion. Some analysts believe Citi's write-downs could stretch to as much as $12 billion. Merrill will suffer $5 billion of write-downs, analysts say, which would push the bank $2.7 billion into the red.
 
    General Electric underlined the depth of the global financial crisis on Friday, announcing its worst quarter in 5 years and slashing full-year forecasts. The news, described as "shocking" by a senior GE executive.
 
    The turmoil in the US airline industry deepened Friday as the 4th US low-cost carrier in less than a month filed for bankruptcy, and American Airlines cancelled nearly 600 additional US flights for inspections.
    In all, American has canceled more than 3,000 flights this week, in a wave that began Tuesday. The actions, coupled with earlier cancellations at other airlines, have left passengers stranded coast to coast, disrupted businesses and tapped a deep well of ire against the airlines.
    Earlier this week American, the world's largest carrier, said that it would face tens of millions of dollars in new costs to pay for the grounding of its Boeing MD-80 aircraft to inspect wiring and reimburse passengers.
    [WAR: Call me a paranoid conspiracy theorist, but ... I can't help but to keep thinking about the story in an earlier WAR about "Search for 'suitcase nuke' in US grounds hundreds of planes". Is all this turmoil and cost really over some faulty wiring? Really?
    Or could someone have discovered a neocon false-flag black-op involving a nuke(s) on a plane(s), which they're frantically trying to find? Is it the Robert Gates faction vs. the Dick Cheney faction in trying to prevent/start an Iran war?...]
 
    President Chavez said that his government could afford to buy some of the International Monetary Fund's gold reserves as the Washington-based lender faces hard times. He raised that idea with a chuckle as the IMF, the lender of last resort for countries in trouble, considers trimming costs by selling off some of its gold reserves.
    "Look at how the US empire must be in unimpeded decline, that the International Monetary Fund ... is selling its crown jewels. The International Monetary Fund is selling what gold it has left to be able to pay salaries. We could give a loan to the Monetary Fund. ... We could buy some gold bars. ... I think they're selling gold cheap."
 
    African nations should follow Venezuela's lead and nationalise their energy and mining sectors to secure the resources to fight poverty, Venezuela's deputy foreign minister for Africa said on Friday.
    On a visit to Senegal, he said his oil-rich South American nation would host a summit of African and South American nations in November to discuss cooperation ranging from energy to banking between the 2 regions.
    African nations, which produce 15% of the world's oil, could learn from aspects of President Chavez's 9-year-old leftist revolution, he said. "Africa's oil is plundered by multinationals: they sell it very expensively even here. African countries produce 10 million barrels of oil a day and they could supply their own market if they only united."
    "There are some things for (African countries) to learn: the principal of nationalisation of our basic industries, our natural resources in Venezuela, is something we consider necessary for our riches to benefit the people. Africa's oil should be for Africa."
 
    Concerned about India's soaring food prices, the country's Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government imposed a ban on all rice exports earlier this month. India's soaring prices are a product of both international and domestic factors.
    Food price increases and hunger have led to protests and riots in recent weeks in countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, including Indonesia, the Ivory Coast, Egypt, Mozambique, Indonesia and Haiti.
(Cartoon: Food in our cars)
 
 
 
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