Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
The dispute between Germany's conservative Christian Democrats and left-leaning Social Democrats over what foreign and security policy strategy to follow reveals a deep divide between the partners in Angela Merkel's government. Neither side can impose its will on the other, resulting in gridlock and crippling Germany's influence in the world.
(Part 2: 2 foreign policies = 0 foreign policy)
Germany's Defence Minister has approved a short-term deployment of 45 German soldiers from their base in northern Afghanistan to the west of the country, a ministry spokesman said today.
According to German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung the troops will be deployed to stop Afghan insurgents using one of the country's main road to travel from the volatile south to carry out attacks in the west and north.
[Europress] [Russopress]
In the recent federal election campaign, the billionaire and media tsar Berlusconi formed a pact with openly neo-fascist and racist parties, and his new government sworn in last Thursday is determined to follow the xenophobic course he pursued in the election campaign.
The new government is characterised by 2 essential traits. On the one hand, it consists of close followers of Berlusconi—some newspapers refer to a "Praetorian guard" and compare Berlusconi in this respect to Vladimir Putin.
On the other hand, Berlusconi has awarded prominent positions to xenophobic politicians, including some who were previously forced to resign posts because of their publicly pronounced racist sentiments.
A rejection by Irish voters of the EU treaty in next month's referendum would be a "catastrophe" for Europe, because there is no credible Plan B, a new study has concluded. A paper by the Bertelsmann foundation, a German think-tank, believes there are 4 possible courses of action if charter is rejected in Ireland on 12 June, but none is "especially exhilarating."
US and Israel furious with Switzerland over Iran gas deal, Swiss opposition to Israeli treatment of Palestinians
Threatening to capsize a $2.1 billion injection into the European economy and making hundreds of thousands of people fear for their lives, authorities and the media today lent credence to an anonymous Internet posting that alleged Al-Qaeda were planning to attack the Euro 2008 soccer tournament.
Presumably disinterested in attacking "the Great Satan" of America the terrorist group are now apparently turning their attention to that other evil empire.....erm.....Switzerland. That's right, Al-Qaeda are targeting those bastions of evil Switzerland and Austria for devastation, despite the fact that both countries condemned the Iraq war.
Since we know that Al-Qaeda is merely a front group for American and Israeli intelligence agencies, its controllers may well be using the terror group as a smokescreen to send a veiled threat.
Switzerland would be wise to pay heed to the threat, but they shouldn't be concerned about "Al-Qaeda," but rather the Israeli and US black-ops specialists that merely invoke the name of the phantom terror group as a cover for their geopolitical bullying around the globe.
Russia became a center of the new anti-western alliance called BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). This was caused by the recent recognition of Kosovo's independence by the West.
Military intervention in Turkish politics predates the establishment of the Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal in 1924 by several centuries. The elite Janissary corps were the powerbrokers of the Ottoman Empire, who could (and did) depose and murder successive sultans and grand viziers who dared to ignore or threaten their corporate interests.
None of the official commemorations organized in Israel itself, nor the glitzy and superficial celebrations staged by Israel's friends in the US and elsewhere, even touched upon the profound historical questions underlying the foundation of the Israeli state. Within Israel's birth and evolution are concentrated the great unresolved contradictions of the 20th century.
President Bush addressed the Israeli Knesset Thursday, centering his remarks on Washington's alliance with the Zionist state in the "fight against terror and extremism" and declaring Israel a "homeland for the chosen people."
(And: Bush and Israel's Alamo)
Osama bin Laden vowed in an audio tape to mark Israel's 60th anniversary to continue to fight the Jewish state and its allies in the West. The al Qaeda leader, who has placed growing emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said it was at the heart of the Muslim battle with the West.
He also said that decades of peace initiatives had failed to establish a Palestinian state, and the West had proved time and again that it sided with Israel. "The participation of Western leaders with the Jews in this celebration confirms that the West backs this Jewish occupation of our land, and that they stand in the Israeli corner against us."
Gunmen ambushed an Iranian Embassy convoy in Baghdad, wounding 3 Iranians, including 2 diplomats.
Italy's new foreign minister said he wanted his country to join the US and other European powers in being "very firm" on Iran. He also said he wanted Italy to become a "facilitator" between Iran and the US to improve dialogue between the 2 countries.
"Italy will push forwards to be really in the club on Iran. Italy will not be left isolated by a restricted group of European partners plus the United States."
Israel is too weak and vulnerable to attack Iran, Defense Minister Brigadier General Najjar was quoted as saying Thursday. "Israel has raised the claim of attacking the Islamic Republic of Iran mostly to cover up its weak points and harsh domestic crises," he said, adding that "the Israelis have made the claims on the 60th anniversary of their establishment to divert public opinion from broad corruption and weakness of Israeli officials."
A top Iranian cleric urges countries to 'be more considerate of nations', hammering the US president as undeserving of any expectations. "Bush is a satanic person, and we have no expectations of him... We do, however, request governments, parliaments and the officials of Muslim countries to be more considerate of nations."
Sink 1, attack with 5?...
On Fox Business Stuart Varney announced: "Here´s a story you won´t hear anywhere else". He´s right, at the time of writing I haven´t seen this mentioned anywhere else (it´s not that easy to find on Fox either!) Apparently, 6 US Aircraft Carrier groups will be on their way to the Persian Gulf within the next month.
Two, or perhaps even 3 carrier groups might be considered a "reminder", but 6? They are not going just to flex a bit of muscle, they are going to war!
The US and Israel agree on the need for "tangible action" to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Olmert's spokesman said Friday, after a visit by President Bush.
"We are on the same page. We both see the threat ... And we both understand that tangible action is required to prevent the Iranians from moving forward on a nuclear weapon." He described diplomatic efforts so far to exert pressure on Iran as "positive", but added: "It is clearly not sufficient and it's clear that additional steps will have to be taken."
On May 15, President Bush, in a war-planning visit to Israel, justified the naked aggression he and Olmert are planning against Iran as the only alternative to "the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history." But Bush has the roles reversed. It is not Iran that is threatening war. It is Bush. It is not Bush who is appeasing. It is Iran.
It is Bush, not Iran, who sounds like Adolf Hitler blustering and threatening. It is Bush's American Brownshirts, the neocons, who express the view: "what's the good of nuclear weapons if you can't use them."
In separate speeches delivered an ocean apart, the 2 standard bearers of the Republican Party Thursday offered rosy visions of a future designed to gladden the hearts of Israel-centered neoconservatives without offering any details about how their dreams will be achieved.
Indeed, Thursday's speeches served to underline how powerful and durable the neoconservative vision of the world, particularly for the Middle East, remains, at least for the Republican Party.
Shocking excerpts of confidential recordings recently released under the Freedom of Information Act feature Donald Rumsfeld talking with top military analysts about how a flagging Neo-Con political agenda could be successfully restored with the aid of another terrorist attack on America.
"We haven't had an attack in 5 years. The perception of the threat is so low in this society that it's not surprising that the behavior pattern reflects a low threat assessment. The same thing's in Europe, there's a low threat perception. The correction for that, I suppose, is an attack."
When President Bush went to see Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in January to plead for higher oil output, he was politely rebuffed. The rematch today is likely to be a great deal more strained. If the Saudis deny help once again, they risk incalculable damage to their strategic alliance with Washington.
(And: Bush arrives in Saudi Arabia)
German press
As former head of the International Monetary Fund, German President Köhler is well qualified to comment on the global financial crisis. In an interview, he described financial markets as a "monster" and said the global financial system "came close to collapse."
Capitalism -- at least in its dreaded red-in-tooth-and-claw Anglo-Saxon variety -- is not cool in Germany, it seems. All across the political spectrum, it is hard to find any German politician with a good word to say about financial markets, hedge funds and the dreaded speculators -- especially in the wake of the ongoing global financial crisis.
Even an über-capitalist like Deutsche Bank's CEO commented recently that the markets were incapable of resolving the financial crisis by themselves.
Fund managers across the world are no longer worried about the imminent risk of recession, fearing that inflation has become the bigger danger after the emergency stimulus by the US Federal Reserve.
The monthly survey by Merrill Lynch shows that portfolio chiefs are still deeply disturbed by the imbalances in the global system, but are now switching their focus to the danger of a bond debacle.
"Evidence is pointing to a possible sell-off in bonds as inflation worries mount. A sharp rise in bond yields could help convert this financial crisis into an economic crisis."
The Federal Reserve's direct loans of cash to commercial banks climbed to the highest level on record in the past week as money-losing lenders increasingly turn to the central bank for funds.
Funds provided through the so-called discount window for banks rose by $2.8 billion to a daily average of $14.4 billion in the week to May 14, the central bank said. Separately, the Fed's loans to Wall Street bond dealers rose by $75 million to $16.6 billion.
The Federal Reserve Board, with the full backing of the Bush administration, Congress and both political parties, has carried out a massive and unprecedented intervention to avert an imminent collapse of the US banking system and bolster the major Wall Street finance houses.
While the government bailout, ultimately to be financed from public funds, has seemingly averted an immediate banking collapse, it has done nothing to address the underlying crisis.
Ben Bernanke, too, says the crisis is easing. But he went on to say that the situation is still "far from normal." What will the US consumer do? He has little prospect of higher wages – not with so many billions of people willing to work for less. His main asset is falling in price. Credit is getting tighter. And his cost of living is going up – maybe sharply up. This time he won't be able to borrow his way out.
Banking analyst Meredith Whitney blasted Citigroup's turnaround plan yesterday, saying the financial giant is so deep in a black hole that even renown physicist Stephen Hawking could not help the ailing company.
The greenback has rebounded nicely from lows hit in April. But some currency experts don't expect it to last.
Public debt in eurozone countries should be monitored more strictly, as high-debt states may undermine the stability of the whole monetary union, the Dutch finance minister has said, in remarks echoing earlier warnings that future expenditure arising from aging populations could pose a risk to the survival of the euro.
Oil rose today in Asia following a whipsaw overnight session during which the expiration of options and a mix of news played havoc with prices trading in a range almost $6 wide. During Thursday's session, the front-month crude oil contract dropped as low as $120.75 before bouncing back to finish above $124 a barrel.
(And: Oil above $127)
The alimentary crisis is real. The price of foodstuffs climbs and climbs. The reserves drop. The same happens with oil, which places many nations and peoples who do not produce food or oil in a desperate situation. Is this the result of a set of random events that coincide in time, or is it the effect of a plan for world domination?
If we guide ourselves by Kissinger's words, it seems to be the latter rather than the former. And that leads us to ask ourselves other questions. Was the idea of increasing the production of ethanol (launched by President Bush in '07) by utilizing the basic grains for the feeding of humans and animals also a coincidence?
Some of the fattest people in America are among the poorest. And with food prices rising, the problem is likely to get worse. Concentrating on filling their stomachs, poor, hungry people go for high-fat, high-sugar foods.
"The food crisis will make obesity and attendant diabetes even more rampant. Fruits, vegetables and fish are becoming luxury goods completely out of reach of many people. Consumption of cheap food will only grow. Obesity is the toxic consequence of a failing economy."
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