Maravot world news

11.01.05 GOP angered by closed Senate session

WASHINGTON, November 1 – The US Senate went into a rare closed session today after Democrats invoked a seldom used rule to back their demands for greater oversight by the Republican-controlled body, particularly on the Bush administration's use of intelligence in taking the country to war in Iraq.

The unexpected shutdown immediately provoked a furious reaction from Senate Republicans, who denounced it as a stunt and an affront. The closed session lasted a little more than two hours before Republicans mustered a vote to resume meeting in open session...The Senate's Democratic leader, Harry M. Reid of Nevada, initiated the closed session by invoking Rule 21, which was seconded by Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the minority whip. In a floor speech, Reid declared that "a cloud hangs over this Republican-controlled Congress for its unwillingness to hold the administration accountable" on a variety of issues. He was particularly incensed about what he said was the refusal of the Senate Intelligence Committee under Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) to follow up on an investigation of the intelligence that led to the war in Iraq. A report was issued in July last year, but a "phase two" inquiry into how the Bush administration used that intelligence has not been held... [Full story>>washingtonpost.com]

11.01.05 Many killed in Basra car bomb blast

November 1 – Basra was in a state of shock on Tuesday morning after a car bomb killed more than 20 people and wounded dozens in a crowded market on Monday night. Director of the Sawt al-Arab radio station in Iraq told Aljazeera that there was an air of sadness hanging over Basra on Tuesday morning, and that British helicopters continued to hover over the city. An Interior Ministry source said at least 20 people had been killed in the explosion late on Monday night.

"Twenty people, mostly civilians, were killed and 45 wounded in the car bomb attack in a crowded market in Basra," the source said in Baghdad, citing police reports from Basra. He added that the toll would probably climb higher. [More>>aljazeera.net]

10.31.05 UN orders Syria to arrest President's brother

October 31 – The United Nations Security Council today passed a resolution ordering Syria to co-operate with the investigation into the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri - or face "further action". The resolution demands that the Syrian President Bashar Assad hand over his own brother to answer questions posed by the UN's investigating commission.

As a concession to China and Russia, which had promised to veto any direct threats against Syria, it stops short however of threatening economic sanctions against Syria if he refuses to comply. Nonetheless the resolution orders Damascus to arrest and freeze the assets of anybody the UN suspects of involvement in the killing. It was passed unanimously. So far, the UN has named Mr Assad's brother, Maher Assad, and his brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat, Syria's chief of military intelligence, as possible suspects in the assassination of Mr Hariri, who was killed along with 20 other people in an explosion in Beirut on February 14. [More>>timesonline.co.uk]

10.31.05 Bombs kill seven US troops in Iraq

October 31 – Seven US troops have been killed in three roadside bombings near Baghdad, the military said, making October the bloodiest month for Americans in Iraq since January. In the far west, where US marines say they have been fighting for months to stem a flow of foreign Arab fighters and funds from Syria, local doctors and tribal leaders accused American forces of killing about 40 civilians in an air strike. The military said on Monday it knew of no civilian deaths and believed it had killed an al-Qaida leader targeted by precision bombing. Two roadside bombings near Baghdad on Monday killed six soldiers and the military announced the death of a Marine, who was killed by a similar device near Falluja on Sunday. That made October, which saw Iraqis vote for a constitution and put Saddam Hussein on trial, the worst month the Americans have suffered since January, when violence surged before a parliamentary election. No details were available on the attacks, but US commanders have been voicing increasing concern at the power and sophistication of roadside bombs, the biggest killers of their troops.

Devices capable of penetrating armored vehicles have become more common this year, based on technology US and British officials say has been introduced from Iran. A week after the US death toll since the 2003 invasion passed the 2000 mark, it rose to 2025 with the deaths of four soldiers in an attack on a patrol near Yusufiya, just south of Baghdad, and two in a similar incident near Balad, 60km to the north of the capital.

Near the border city of Qaim on Monday, US aircraft bombed a house close to Karabila before dawn in what the military said was a precision strike on an al-Qaida leader. A hospital doctor in the Iraqi town of Qaim said 40 people were killed and 20 wounded, many of them women and children, and a tribal leader said no armed groups were there. [More>>aljazeera.net ; See also bbc.co.uk, "'Many dead' in US strike in Iraq."]

10.31.05 Nomination likely to please G.O. P., but not some Democrats

October 31 – Bush nominated Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., who currently serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, to the Supreme Court today, four days after his previous choice withdrew her nomination. The nomination is likely to please Mr. Bush's conservative allies, whose sharp attacks on Harriet E. Miers were instrumental in prompting her to withdraw last week. But the president is more likely to get a battle from Democrats and liberals who may believe Judge Alito's views are too extreme. Mr. Bush described Judge Alito as having an "extraordinary breadth of experience" and as being "tough and fair." Referring to his long career and his current role on the appeals court, the president said Judge Alito now has "more prior judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years." [More>>nytimes.com]

10.31.05 Musharraf pledges to support probe into 'dastardly' Delhi bombings

RAWALPINDI, October 31 – President Pervez Musharraf Monday promised Pakistan would fully support India's investigation into the weekend bombings in New Delhi, calling them "the most dastardly terrorist attack." Musharraf told reporters India would get "total and unequivocal support from Pakistan in any investigation that India would like to carry out" into Saturday's blasts, which killed 62 people and wounded another 210. "Pakistan stands with India," added military ruler Musharraf, who has led a crackdown on Islamic militancy in his country.

The nearly simultaneous attacks on a bus and two crowded markets were claimed by the little-known Islamic Revolutionary Front, which Indian officials say has ties to a leading militant group fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. The militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, was founded by a firebrand Pakistani cleric in the 1990s whom India wants to extradite, although Islamabad has refused.

Lashkar has been blamed by India for an attack on parliament in New Delhi in December 2001 which left 15 people dead, including five attackers. Following the attack Musharraf banned Lashkar and another leading Kashmiri militant group in January 2002. [jang.com.pk; See also related story, khaleejtimes.com (AFP), "Huge manhunt in Indian capital for attackers."]

10.31.05 Bird flu suspected in northern Japan

October 31 – Authorities have detected signs of bird flu at a farm in northern Japan and plan to kill 82,000 chickens, Kyodo News agency reported Monday. The farm in Ibaraki prefecture, just northeast of Tokyo, was already inside a quarantined area because of previous outbreaks, the report said. Kyodo said 1.5 million birds had already been culled in the area because of bird flu fears. [nationmultimedia.com (The Nation, Bangkok); See another story, chinadaily.com.cn, "20th bird flu case diagnosed in Thaildand."]

10.31.05 Iran says launched its first satellite into orbit last week

TEHRAN (AFP) October 31 – Iran said on Monday it has joined the club of countries enjoying space technology after launching its first satellite last week in a joint project with Russia, state-run television reported. Sina-1 was launched from Plesetsk launch pad in northern Russia on Thursday, the report said. �By placing Iran�s Sina-1 (Z-S.4) in its designated orbit, we have practically joined the group of countries enjoying space technology. It was a big achievement,� the broadcast quoted Telecom Minister Mohammad Soleimani as saying on his return to Teheran from a four-day visit to Beijing. The sun-synchronized satellite will be used to take pictures of Iran and to monitor natural disasters. Its resolution precision is about 50 meters (yards). [khaleejtimes.com]

10.31.05 Palestine seeks stronger economic, political support from Korea

October 31 – Already enjoying strong support from East Asian countries such as China and Japan, Palestine is now seeking more fruitful cooperation with Korea, said visiting Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Kidwa. "We are looking forward to seeing more political engagement by Korea, and more financial support and aid coming from Korea to the Palestinian people in this difficult situation," Al-Kidwa said in an interview with The Korea Herald. Al-Kidwa's arrival in Seoul on Sunday marked the first official visit by a high-ranking government official from Palestine.

On his second day yesterday, Al-Kidwa met with his South Korean counterpart Ban Ki-moon in the Foreign Ministry building in central Seoul for an hour-long discussion and a joint news conference reaffirming the two countries' will to expand their cooperation.

Korea is opening its first representative office in Palestine in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Nov. 14, and is considering doubling its financial support of the war-stricken country as part of its enlargement of Official Development Assistant projects. Korea has sent about $10 million to Palestine so far, in addition to some $ 5 million last year and having promised to send $3 million more over the next three years. [More>>koreaherald.co.kr]

10.31.05 Christians shorten service in face of threats

JAKARTA, Indonesia, October 31 – About 500 members of the HKBP, Gekindo and GPDI churches in the Jati Mulya housing complex in Bekasi, West Java, were forced to cut short their Sunday services after some 200 Muslim residents surrounded them. Despite some pushing and shoving, and several verbal exchanges, the incident did not end in violence as some 200 police officers were able to separate the groups.

The church members were holding Sunday services on the street because their churches have been blocked off by local Muslims since September. As church members began arriving for services that began at 9 a.m., they found a group of people, many claiming to be members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), waiting for them. As the Sunday services began with songs and prayers, the waiting crowd began shouting Allahu Akbar (God is great). [More>>thejakartapost.com; See 10.29.05 story, "Three Christian schoolgirls beheaded in C. Sulawesi," and another story from southern Thailand, a place of continuing Islamic violence against Buddhists, bangkokpost.net, "Rebels raid another temple" : Pattani – insurgents raided another temple in Pattani province yesterday, firing guns and setting fires but causing no casualties. It was the second attack on a Buddhist temple in the province this month. The first was against Wat Phromprasit in Panare district on Oct 16 when a monk and two temple boys were killed and the monk's living quarters were burnt down...]

10.29.05 US military targets suspected Al-Qaeda leader

BAGHDAD, October 29 – The US military said on Saturday that it had carried out an airstrike on a senior Al Qaeda insurgent who was meeting others in Iraq near the Syrian border, but gave no details of possible casualties. A military statement said the strike targeted Abu Mahmud and the other leaders in Husaybah on Friday as sources indicated they "were meeting to discuss an attack on Iraqi security or coalition forces in the coming days".

"Abu Mahmud, believed to be a Saudi, was the commander of several foreign fighter and terrorist cells in Husaybah," and had links to several senior Al Qaeda members in the al Qaim, Karabilah,
and Husaybah areas, it said. "Mahmud directed, planned and executed a large amount of the foreign fighter attacks on Iraqi security and coalition forces," the military said. [jang.com.pk]

10.29.05 Iran says no intention to strike Israel

TEHRAN (AFP) October 29 – Iran on Saturday sought to cool international outrage over its president�s comment that Israel should be �wiped off the map�, insisting the Islamic republic had no intention of attacking the Jewish state. Amid an escalating war of words over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad�s remarks, Iran�s foreign ministry slammed a UN Security Council statement that condemned the comments as �unacceptable."

But the ministry also moved to repair some of the considerable diplomatic damage already wrought by the comments, saying the Islamic republic was bound by its UN commitments and was not going to attack Israel.

�The Islamic republic of Iran is committed to its engagements based on the UN charter and has never resorted to, nor threatened to resort to force against another country,� the foreign ministry said in a statement quoted by the IRNA news agency.

This was the first such statement by Teheran since the straight-talking hardliner Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be �wiped off the map� on Wednesday at a conference entitled �The World without Zionism." Teheran also expressed its anger at the swift condemnation by the UN Security Council overnight, alleging that the statement had been dictated by Israel. [More>>khaleejtimes.com]

Editorial note: If the result of Ahmadinejad's speech are increased terrorist attacks on Israel and those who support Israel (i.e. the US) then the president of Iran, at least, should be tried under international law under the same guidelines that affected the hanging of the Nazi propagandist Julius Streicher, whose photo is in the sidebar of this page. Leaders can lead nations into wars and the extermination of peoples, as in the case of Hitler, and other leaders can encourage the extermination of states and peoples, such as in the case of the Nazi Julius Streicher. This should be the focus on Ahmadinejad's remarks and he should be reminded by the UN of the responsibility of his remarks.
Mel Copeland

10.29.05 Vatican ready to end its 50-year feud with China

October 29 – The Vatican is preparing to break its ties with Taiwan and establish diplomatic relations with mainland China, ending more than 50 years of mutual hostility with Beijing, The Times has learnt.

A Vatican official said that Cardinal Angelo Sodano was sending a deliberate signal this week when he said that the Vatican was ready to move its nuncio (ambassador) from Taiwan to Beijing immediately. Taiwanese officials also told The Times that they expected the Vatican to have established relations with Beijing within 18 months. The movement follows signs that Beijing is tacitly accepting the Pope�s right to approve, if not appoint, bishops in China. [More>>timesonline.co.uk]

10.29.05 Three Christian schoolgirls beheaded in C. Sulawesi

JAKARTA (Agencies) October 29 – Three Christian teenage girls were beheaded Saturday in the latest attack against non-Muslims in the troubled Indonesian province of Central Sulawesi, police said. The three high school students were found with their heads severed early Saturday in the sectarian-divided town of Poso, said provincial police spokesman Rais Adam. The girls were believed to have been murdered while they were walking to school, Adam said. He said two of the victims' heads were found near a police post while the third was discovered outside a local Christian church in Poso. [More>>thejakartapost.com]

10.29.05 Serial explosions rock Delhi, 50 killed

NEW DELHI (PTI) October 29, 20:47 hours IST – Terrorists struck in the capital in a big way on the eve of Diwali today triggering three explosions in two markets and near a bus killing 50 people and injuring over 70, including some foreigners. The first explosion took place at around 5:40 pm in the busy Paharganj market in Central Delhi in which 11 people died and 60 were injured. The market, which is frequented by foreigners, was bustling with Diwali shoppers.

Minutes later another explosion rocked Sarojini Nagar market in South Delhi where maximum casualties were reported. Another blast took place adjacent to a bus 10 km further South in Govindpuri area. [More>>expressindia.com via theaustraliannews.com.au]

10.29.05 Machimura signals to US that beef imports may resume by year-end

WASHINGTON, October 29 – Visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura told top U.S. officials Friday that he sees an ''exit'' over the beef issue, Machimura said, signaling Japan may decide by the end of the year to resume imports of American beef. Machimura made the comments after meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, who pointed to the recent strong reaction led by the U.S. Congress in referring to a Senate bill submitted this week for imposing sanctions on Japan by the end of the year. [More>>kyodo.co.jp]

10.29.05 Update, 10.28.05 Lewis Libby indicted by Patrick Fitzgerald; Libby resigns

October 28 – ABC news announced at 12:45pm EST that in the CIA leak probe, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, has been indicted on five counts, including obstruction of justice and perjury. President Bush's top political strategist Karl Rove will not be indicted today, but is not out of legal jeopardy, according to sources. Libby resigned and left the White House before the announcement. [More>>abcnews.go.com; See Patrick J. Fitzgerald page, usdoj.gov, for documents relating to the mission of the Special Counsel and for a pdf. copy of the indictment from his page, click here.

10.28.05 Iran president stands by Israel remarks

TEHRAN (Reuters) October 28 – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, cheered by thousands of supporters, signalled on Friday he stood by his call for Israel to be wiped off the map, while Iran's foreign ministry sought to defuse a diplomatic storm.

Israel said it would request an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council over the comments, which have drawn the condemnation of the West and Tehran's ally Russia. Iranians chanting "death to Israel" and "death to America", converged from nine points in the Iranian capital for a rally attended by most of Iran's top officials. Some protesters set fire to or trampled on Israeli and US flags.

Ahmadinejad took a short walk in the crowd, rallying in support of his comments that the Islamic world could not tolerate the Jewish state in its heartland. He said Western criticism carried no weight.

"My words are the Iranian nation's words," he told the official IRNA news agency, when asked if he had a message for the world.

"Westerners are free to comment, but their reactions are invalid."

The Islamic Republic has never acknowledged Israel's right to exist. It denies training and arming Palestinian militant groups dedicated to Israel's destruction but says it gives them moral support.

The Iranian embassy in Moscow, however, sought to soften the effect of the comments by Ahmadinejad, an outspoken former Tehran mayor with little diplomatic experience, propelled to power last year by strong support among the devout poor. [More>>thestar.com.my and khaleejtimes.com; See Maravot News10.26.05 for Ahmadinejad's 10.26.05 speech, "Israel will be wiped off the earth."]

10.28.05 Hezbollah chief blasts US at anti-Israel rally

BEIRUT, October 28 – The head of the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah on Friday accused Washington of using the UN report into the death of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri as a tool toward achieving its own goals in the region. By demanding sanctions against Syria, "the United States is using an investigation which has not yet finished as an instrument," said Hassan Nasrallah at an anti-Israel rally known as "Jerusalem Day" in a southern Shiite suburb of Beirut. Huge crowds turned out for the annual rally, waving yellow Hezbollah flags and red Lebanese flags as an elaborate military parade wound through the streets.

Hezbollah-run television, which aired a live broadcast of the events, put the attendance number at a half million.

Iran marked "Jerusalem Day," with massive rallies attended by tens of thousands as Iranians shrugged off widespread condemnation of their president's call on Wednesday for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map." Without making explicit reference to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments, Nasrallah defended Iran, saying the Islamic republic "is facing numerous difficulties because of its ideological positions on the Israeli-Arab conflict. [jang.com.pk; See also khaleejtimes.com, "Hezbollah blast UN, vows to stand by Syria."] : ..."What we are witnessing today is the using of the Mehlis report to punish Syria for a crime that it has not been convicted of as a punishment for its political and strategic options," Nasrallah said.

"We frankly feel that there is incitement... from more than one international report to sabotage the relations between the Lebanese themselves, the Lebanese and the Palestinians and Lebanon-Syria ties," Nasrallah said.

Some 6,000 Hezbollah fighters, in khaki, brown or black military fatigues but carrying no weapons, marched in formation in front of cheering crowds waving the group�s yellow flags and chanting "Death to Israel, Death to America."

"Oh, Jerusalem, we are coming," the fighters chanted. "God willing, we want to liberate Jerusalem," Fatima Kenaan told Reuters. "Every mother, father and brother will fight against America and its plans."]

10.28.05 Saddam lawyer wants trial moved

DOHA, October 29 – A defence lawyer for ousted Iraq president Saddam Hussein wrote to UN chief Kofi Annan today calling for the court trying him on charges of crimes against humanity to be moved to The Hague and its Iraqi judges replaced by foreign ones.

"We submit to you our request for your involvement and your good office in the present circumstances to call upon the US authority and the present government of Iraq to review the legal status of the present court and to reallocate the present court outside Iraq, i.e. The Hague, Netherlands," said the letter to Annan from defence lawyer Najib al-Nawimi.

He called for the court to be given "independent and impartial international judges" and also for pressure to be put on the Iraqi authorities and their US backers to recognize Saddam and his codefendants as prisoners of war.

Nawimi reiterated that his client refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Iraqi High Tribunal and again hit out at the obstacles placed in the way of the defence. [More>>theaustralian.news.com.au]

10.28.05 Maradona makes anti-Bush pledge to Castro

October 28 – Diego Maradona has promised his friend Fidel Castro that he will head an anti-Bush march in Argentina next week during a visit by the American President to a regional summit.

The former Argentinian World Cup hero made his pledge to the Cuban leader on television in Havana yesterday. "I think Bush is a murderer. ... I�m going to head the march against him stepping foot on Argentine soil," Maradona said.

President Bush will be in Mar del Plata, Argentina, as part of a summit of leaders from the Americas next week. Señor Castro, 79, has not been invited.

The former Barcelona player was in the Cuban capital to interview Señor Castro for his weekly popular Argentine television show, La Noche del 10 (The Night of 10), a reference to the former player�s football shirt number. [More>>timesonline.co.uk]

10.28.05 Indonesian minister says bird flu outbreak could spread quickly

BOGOR, West Java (AP) October 28 – Indonesia's agriculture minister warned on Friday that the bird flu outbreak in Indonesia could spread quickly since the virus had already infected wild pigeons and other birds in the archipelago. Indonesian authorities have vowed to step up their battle against the virus that has killed four people and sickened three others in the country this year. The virus has killed at least 60 people across Asia since late 2003.

"The condition (of bird flu) is critical because it has been found to have infected pigeons," Anton Apriyantono, the minister of agriculture, told a national gathering discussing ways to combat bird flu. "We can all imagine how long and how far pigeons can fly."

The first infected pigeon was detected last week in Bekasi, on Jakarta's eastern outskirts. [More>>thejakartapost.com]

10.28.05 'Over 2,200 firms paid $1.8 billion in bribes to Saddam's regime'

October 28 – More than 2,200 companies provided Saddam Hussein's regime with $1.8 billion in bribes and illegal payments in the rush to profit from the UN oil-for-food program, a major report on the program said yesterday. The report, from a UN-established Independent Inquiry Committee led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, found the companies either knowingly paid the kickbacks or caused them to be made through an agent.

"By the year 2000 the imposition of kickbacks and surcharges by the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein brought about the emergence of front companies and international trading concerns prepared to engage in these illicit payments," said Volcker, head of the independent inquiry committee.

"This irrevocably changed the nature of the program," Volcker told reporters at the UN after the report's publication.

The 500-page report is the final one from the panel, which has investigated the now-defunct program for 19 months.

...The report alleged Jean-Bernard Merrimee, France's former UN ambassador, received $165,725 in commissions from oil allocations awarded to him by the Iraqi regime. He is now under investigation by the French authorities.

Other so-called "political beneficiaries" included British lawmaker George Galloway; Roberto Formigoni, the president of the Lombardi region in Italy, and Reverend Jean-Marie Benjamin, a priest who once worked as an assistant to the Vatican secretary of state and became an activist for lifting Iraqi sanctions.

The report said companies in 66 countries paid kickbacks on selling Iraq humanitarian goods and companies from 40 countries paid surcharges on oil contracts but the UN Security Council took little action, the report said.

Preferential treatment was given to companies from France, Russia and China, all permanent members of the Security Council, who were more favorable to lifting the 1990 sanctions compared to the U.S. and Britain. It said the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) paid over $221.7 million to a Jordan-based collection agent for the Iraqi government under the program.

The AWB and Alia, the collection agent, both denied the board knew of Iraq's partial ownership of Alia, the report said.

In the news conference, Volcker stopped short of assigning direct blame on the companies named.

"The identification of a particular company in the report does not necessarily mean that that company as opposed to an agent ... made unauthorized [payments] or even knew about illicit payments," Volcker said.

The report also said Russian oil major LUKOIL was among those that paid kickbacks to the Iraqi regime. It said kickbacks were also paid by state oil firm Zarubezhneft and Alfa-Eco, a co-founder of Russia's second largest oil firm TNK-BP, half owned by oil major BP. [Full story>>dailystar.com.lb; See Russia's rebuttal, rian.ru, "UN Oil-for-Food report a 'farce' – Russian MP."]

LISBON, May 21 – Adam Porter reports: Labour politician and former UK environment minister Michael Meacher has slammed Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush for starting a war, he says, to secure oil interests.

Speaking on Friday on the sidelines of the fourth International Workshop on Oil and Gas Depletion in Lisbon, Portugal, Meacher, a member of the British parliament, said: "The reason they attacked Iraq is nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction, it was nothing to do with democracy in Iraq, it was nothing to do with the human rights abuses of Saddam Hussein."
..."It was principally, totally and comprehensively to do with oil," Meacher continued. "This was about assuming control over the Middle East and over Iraq, the second largest producer and also over Saudi Arabia next door.

"It was about securing as much as possible of the remaining supplies of oil and also over the Caspian basin, which of course is Afghanistan." [More>>aljazeera.net; See also gregpalast.com, article March 17, 2005, "Secret US plans for Iraq's oil."

Editorial note: For articles relating to Bush's lying to Congress and the American people with regard to his war on Iraq and other complaints that relate to his abuse of power see:

10.16.05 Bush to Blair: First Iraq, then Saudi
10.07.05 BBC: Bush said God told him to invade Iraq
08.25.05 Bush administration hiding affects of the war: photos Washington doesn't want you to see
6.18.05 Update The Downing Street memo: the smoking gun to impeach President Bush
6.17.05 Just hearsay, or the new Watergate tapes?
6.17.05 Democrats urge inquiry on Bush, Iraq
6.17.05 Update Senator Feinstein against US becoming a 'unilateralist power'
6.19.05 Rice condemns Iran vote – 'the pot calling the kettle black'
6.21.05 British bombing raids were illegal, says Foreign Office
6.28.05 Special Orders in House of Representatives on Downing Street Memos
6.28.05 From memos, insights into ally's doubts on Iraq War
7.11.05 Report: US war has killed 39,000 Iraqis

08.09.05 Understanding terrorists' use of the Koran – what constitutes extremist activity

August 9 – (Maravot News, Mel Copeland) A trend in combatting terrorism has to do with what constitute's extremist activity, including teachings by immams, publication of books and retail book stores, etc. Statements like (8.09.05) Bakri Mohammed's, "...it would be 'against Islam' for him to inform the police of any terrorist attacks that he knew were being planned in Britain..." are better understood through an examination of modern scholastic trends in reinterpreting the Koran. See:

08.07.05 Inside the sect that loves terror with Editorial note: An interesting site by an Islamic scholar defines what "kuffar" (disbelievers) means. His site, renaissance.com.pk – Arguments and Rational – details the Koran's verses and traditional and modern applications of the verses dealing with disbelievers: identifying them, punishing them, preaching to them and "'displaced directives." His argument refers heavily to Old Testament verses that set the foundation for verses of the Koran involving the punishment of disbelievers...
08.07.05 UK to deport 500 Muslim extremists and article, "Diary of British jihadi unearthed in Pakistan," ...the diary wonders how Muslims can live in London, the "vital organ of the minions of the devil," now that the "kufr," or unbelievers, have transformed the world into "a battlefield for the Muslims."

6.17-05 Federal Debt not a concern of the press

SAN FRANCISCO, June 17 Update. While the Federal Reserve continues to increase interest rates, the Exponentially rising Federal Debt is not being reported. What is not being reported is the fact that interest rates are tied to the US National Debt. This year the deficit is expected to exceed $420 billion, and interest on the debt which exceeds $8.2 trillion, is about $1 billion per day. Because the annual deficits are financed via the bond market, and because the amount of the bonds being sold exceeds demand, it is necessary to raise interest rates to attract investors in the US bonds financing the US debt. This routine of increasing debt on an exponential scale was experienced under the administration of George H. W. Bush. I predicted increasing interest rates "to sell bonds" in my conversation with Wm. F. Buckley Jr. at that time, in 1993, and I have repeated the prediction with regard to the current Bush administration's excesses and need to sell more bonds to finance the extraordinary deficits. The rate increases will continue in order to sell the overabundant US bonds. In a few words, George Bush's debt is causing your mortgage rates to increase, and they will continue to increase until the US assumes fiscal responsibility. Click here for details on this trend.

Postscript: If the EU adopts the practice of allowing large budget deficits, the consequence places a strain on the world bond market, since that market is already flooded with US bonds to the tune of some $9 trillion. Those who are allowing budget deficits also own some of the US debt. It's not a good situation, heralding a world economic collapse. That Greenspan has not reigned in the Bush administration on the US debt is a travesty.

Rising interest rates began with a Federal Reserve declaration of the "fear of inflation": WASHINGTON, March 22 – The Federal Reserve raised new worries about inflation on Tuesday, setting off alarms in the stock and bond markets that the central bank might drive up interest rates faster than investors had been expecting. The Fed nudged up short-term interest rates for the seventh time in the last year, raising the federal funds rate on overnight loans between banks to 2.75 percent from 2.5 percent. It restated its intention to keep raising them at a "measured" pace in the months ahead.

But in a departure from previous declarations, the central bank said there were rising inflationary pressures beyond those tied directly to the recent jumps in oil prices. [More>>nytimes.com]

Mel Copeland

Historical trend on the New Orleans debacle

(2) The name, Allah, in Arabic is an expression of surprise. It is not unusual for the God of the Bible to be known by many names. Jewish Midrash quotes passages in the Old Testament (Torah) that cite as many as seventy names of God (and more). But they can all be reduced down to one name.
(5) The Law of the Locrians: "In the legislation of the Locrians, the proposer of a new law, with a halter round his neck, to be instantly tightened if the public assembly did not, on hearing his reasons, then and there adopt his proposition." [Mill, On Liberty, 2.475].

Copyright © 1981-2005 Maravot. All rights reserved
Copyright © 1981-2005 Mel Copeland. All rights reserved
Painting of Apple by Mel Copeland, early 70's
Background: tile from Cicero's villa (Marcus Tullius Cicero 106 B.C. - 43 B.C.)

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