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World View: IMF to Greece: 'Drop Dead!'

Sun, 27 May 2012 04:43:00 -0700

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

International Monetary Fund to Greece: Drop Dead!
IMF's Lagarde softens her remarks about Greece after backlash
UK to block immigration into UK if Greece leaves euro
Israel's attitude towards West Bank becomes increasingly nationalistic
Dozens dead in biggest one-day massacre by Syria's Assad regime

International Monetary Fund to Greece: Drop Dead!

International Monetary Fund managing director, Christine Lagarde, has ratcheted up the hostility between European officials and Greeks with blunt warnings that it's "payback time" for the Greeks. Lagarde indicated that there will be no softening of the terms of Greece's austerity package:

"I think more of the little kids from a school in a little village in Niger who get teaching two hours a day, sharing one chair for three of them, and who are very keen to get an education. I have them in my mind all the time. Because I think they need even more help than the people in Athens. ...

Do you know what? As far as Athens is concerned, I also think about all those people who are trying to escape tax all the time. All these people in Greece who are trying to escape tax. I think they should also help themselves collectively. ... By all paying their tax."

Lagarde's remarks come after the release of figures indicating a sharp fall in tax revenues – down by a third in a year. Under the terms of the country's bailout, Athens has agreed to improve Greece's poor record for tax collection in order to reduce its budget deficit, and Lagarde's remarks are evidence of a growing impatience in the international community. Reports surfaced in Germany and France of preparations being made to cope with Greece's possible departure from the single currency after its election on 17 June. Guardian

IMF's Lagarde softens her remarks about Greece after backlash

In a statement late on Saturday, the IMF's Christine Lagarde expressed sympathy for Greeks “and the challenges they are facing” and said that her comments regarding tax evasion were in reference to the “most privileged." She issued the statement after furious responses from Greeks, some suggesting that Lagarde was racist. Evangelos Venizelos, leader of the left-of-center PASOK party, said:

"Nobody should humiliate a people during a crisis and I call on Mrs Lagarde, who insulted the Greek people with her attitude, to rethink what she wanted to say."

The Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), the party leading in the polls for the June 16 election, and whose leader Alexis Tsipras has said he would terminate the austerity measures and has indicated that he thought that the EU and IMF have been bluffing when they said that Greece would receive no more aid in that case, issued a statement:

"The Lagarde comments reveal the cynicism and true role of the International Monetary Fund, which is responsible for the destruction of whole societies. PASOK and New Democracy bear huge responsibility for submitting the country to an IMF program, which leads to bankruptcy and poverty."

Kathimerini

UK to block immigration into UK if Greece leaves euro

Britain's Home Secretary, Theresa May, says that "work is ongoing" to implement emergency immigration controls to restrict an influx of Greeks and other European Union residents into Britain if Greece leaves the eurozone. However, there are growing concerns that if Greece was forced to leave the euro, it would effectively go bankrupt and millions could lose their jobs and consider looking for work abroad. The crisis could spread quickly to other vulnerable countries such as Spain, Ireland and Portugal, although Britain is regarded as a safe haven because it is outside the single currency. Telegraph

Israel's attitude towards West Bank becomes increasingly nationalistic

We recently reported that nationalist political parties are gaining strength in Israel. This increase in nationalism is also being reflected in attitudes towards settlements in the West Bank, according to the left-wing Peace Now activist group:

"Without us noticing, the Right is creating a real revolution in public opinion regarding the territories. A bloated right-wing network is working on a few fronts: tours for the media, bloggers and influential figures in [the West Bank], a complete takeover when it comes to explaining diplomacy in pre-army programs..."

However, from the point of view of Generational Dynamics, this increased nationalism is not being "created" by right wing media or politicians. Rather, increased nationalism is a feature of every country during a generational Crisis era, and it leads inevitably to a major crisis war. Israel National News

Dozens dead in biggest one-day massacre by Syria's Assad regime

When the Kofi Annan "peace plan" was announced in March, I called it "farcical", and time has shown that criticism to be, if anything, an understatement. The peace plan has proven to be a fig leaf behind which the United Nations could pretend that nothing was going, while the regime of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad could claim that he was the victim of terrorist violence, and have those claims parroted by the BBC and al-Jazeera. But what happened on Saturday was so horrific that the fig leaf has been blown away, if only for one day. In one of the bloodiest single incidents in the 14-month-old protest against Assad's rule, Syrian regime forces slaughtered over 90 people, including dozens of children, and wounded hundreds other, by attacks on unarmed residential neighborhoods. According to the statement issued by the United Nations:

"The Secretary-General and the Joint Special Envoy condemn in the strongest possible terms the killing, confirmed by United Nations observers, of dozens of men, women and children and the wounding of hundreds more in the village of El-Houleh, near Homs. Observers from the UN Supervision Mission in Syria have viewed the bodies of the dead and confirmed from an examination of ordnance that artillery and tank shells were fired at a residential neighbourhood.

This appalling and brutal crime involving indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force is a flagrant violation of international law and of the commitments of the Syrian Government to cease the use of heavy weapons in population centres and violence in all its forms. Those responsible for perpetrating this crime must be held to account."

Unlike typical U.N. statements, this one clearly and unequivocally blames the Assad regime, based on an examination of the artillery and tank shells fired at a residential neighborhood. As shocking as this is, it's not going to change anything for more than a day. By Monday, the BBC and other mainstream media will be back to parroting the lines about the Kofi Annan peace plan. Washington Post and Day Press News

Death of Globalization Will Shatter China

Sat, 26 May 2012 10:49:00 -0700

The populist movement sweeping the world is a direct threat to China as globalization’s biggest winner. A rebellious tone has swept the world with the Arab Spring, Socialist victories in France and Greece, Argentina nationalizing oil assets, Indonesia imposing a 50% tax on mineral exports, and the Occupy movement here in the U.S. All these events demonstrate rejection of globalization’s faith in supra-state institutions such as the European Union, the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund and the G8. This upheaval represents a new rise of nationalism and an enormous rejection of China as the world’s biggest exporter.

Early last week, China Daily reported the nation’s foreign-exchange reserves had actually dropped from February to March by $4.69 billion, “dragged down by short-term capital outflows.” The Chinese authorities publicly announced that the banking reserve ratio would be lowered to allow banks to expand lending by $63 billion. But the influential Stratfor Global Intelligence blog reported China’s four largest state-owned banks slashed lending by 99% in the first two weeks of May as bank deposits fell 16% in April and continued to fall in May. This may explain why Chinese buyers have been defaulting and deferring coal and iron ore deliveries.

Under the international rules of globalization, Chinese state-owned-enterprises (SOEs) are required to honor their purchase commitments, especially as prices fall. But back in August of 2009, China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) told the six foreign banks that provide over-the-counter commodity hedging services that SOEs reserved the right to unilaterally default on contracts.

An SASAC official was quoted “as saying that almost every SOE involved in foreign exchange or trade had some exposure to derivatives such as crude oil, non-ferrous metals, agricultural commodities, iron ore and coal, although only 31 SOEs were licensed to do so.” According to one European coal trader, after Chinese traders defaulted on at least six thermal coal cargoes they were being re-offered at a discount. He added: “That doesn't even take into account the losses on freight rates. So rather than being bankrupted by these deals, they would rather dishonor the contract to survive.”

The IMF in 2000 identified four basic aspects of globalization: trade and transactions, private capital and investment movements, migration and dissemination of knowledge and technology. China’s communist leadership positioned the nation to win in this new era by welcoming unlimited amounts of foreign direct investments, but closing its capital account to prevent Chinese citizens from investing overseas. Consequently, two thirds of Chinese wealth ended up as deposits in state-owned banks at low interest rates. Chinese banks leveraged these deposits by a factor of 45 times to funding the growth state-owned-enterprises, regardless of profitability.

China’s industrial capacity has far outstripped China’s ability to consume the goods those plants produce, in order to maximize employment of impoverished Chinese peasants. When the Great Recession began in 2007, the Chinese were already spending an exorbitant 42% of GDP on capital investments. Instead of trying to rebalance the economy by encouraging domestic consumption, banks threw good money after bad to push the investment rate to 48% of GDP in 2010. Commodity prices vaulted as the rapid growth of manufacturing capacity made China the world’s biggest consumer of iron ore, coal and other base metals.

The huge monetary stimulus led to an over-heating of the economy, because productive investment opportunities were already non-existent. “Free money” fueled wide-spread inflation and powered a speculative real estate bubble. Chinese wages rose so dramatically that labor costs are now cheaper in Vietnam, Bangladesh and even Mexico consequently; Chinese exports are under heavy price pressure. Now with faltering global demand, financially overextended Chinese businesses are only surviving because bank loans have been refinanced and rolled-over.

The economic theory behind globalization argues that China should go through an extended period of austerity and let business bankruptcies create higher unemployment to drive down wage costs and allow Chinese companies to be more price-competitive. But according to Stratfor, “The Chinese government has made limiting unemployment a fundamental policy objective. Unemployment will lead to social instability and the Chinese Communist Party understands its consequences better than anyone. Unemployment was one of the engines that fueled their rise to power.”

The populist rebellion is a rejection of China’s globalization strategy which only benefits China. Beijing’s massive stimulus program over the last three years has only exacerbated the trade imbalance between China and the rest of the world. The imminent break-up of the European Union and the fading support for the World Trade Organization means nation-states will increasingly be retaliating against Chinese imports by building trade barriers. As exports shrink and unemployment rises, China’s stability will shatter.

US Soldiers Turn Tide Against Afghanistan IED Casualties

Sat, 26 May 2012 09:33:00 -0700

It appears our troops have finally reached a point of success against the IED warfare of insurgents and radicals throughout Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East.

And while this accomplishment comes as no credit to uncommitted politicians like Senator John Kerry, who once voted for monies and armor for soldiers before he voted against them, it stands as a witness to the ingenuity and determination of our men and women in uniform.

As of right now, U.S. forces in Afghanistan “are averaging about 23 fatalities each month,” which portends a death toll of approximately 276 service men and women in that country this year. And although this number is still excruciatingly painful for the myriad fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives, and husbands who will lose one of those 276 persons, it represents an exponential improvement over the death toll in years gone by.

For example, our loss of life in 2009 was 317 persons, 499 in 2010, and 418 in 2011.

Our troops have been helped by an increased use of bomb and IED-sniffing dogs, as well as an increase in “devices to detect roadside bombs as they are being put into place or when they lie buried ahead of U.S. foot patrols and convoys.” These things alone signal that of the projected 276 deaths for 2012, only 120 will be linked to IEDs.

They’ve also benefitted from beating and isolating the Taliban to such a degree that the materials being used for bomb and IED building are now more rudimentary than those used earlier in the war.

It’s important to note that things could be even better if countries like Pakistan would fight terrorism by stopping “the movement of calcium ammonium nitrate, the main bomb precursor used by the Taliban,” out of their country. However, to date, the Pakistanis remain too vindictive over our raid on the Osama bin Laden compound to do anything to help save the lives of more U.S. troops.

God bless our troops, who, despite the machinations of the Democrat Party and Pakistan, have fought to win, and indeed are winning, on this important front in Afghanistan.

World View: North Koreans in Supposedly Rich Rice Belt 'Starve to Death'

Sat, 26 May 2012 08:35:00 -0700

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

North Koreans in supposedly rich rice belt 'starve to death'
North Korea faces worst drought in 50 years
Relations between China and North Korea fall to a new low
Spain's banks requesting massive bailouts

North Koreans in supposedly rich rice belt 'starve to death'

Thousands of people have died of starvation in the last three months in North Korea's supposedly rich agricultural heartland of Hwanghae Province. According to one North Korean source:

"A few dozen very weak people could be found on each farm. The farms put in place measures to deal with it, but these were fairly useless. By the time April had passed, something like ten people had died of starvation on each farm."

Food production fell sharply at the end of 2011 due to flooding, and then most of the harvest was diverted to the military or to the élite in Pyongyang. Daily NK

North Korea faces worst drought in 50 years

North Korea's western coast region, on the border with China, is experiencing the worst drought since 1962. Advance weather forecasts indicate that little rainfall is expected in June. Yonhap (Seoul)

Relations between China and North Korea fall to a new low

The episode that we reported last week ( "18-May-12 World View -- Today's Schadenfreude: North Koreans kidnap 29 Chinese fishermen") has ended with the return of the Chinese fishermen to China. But China's blogosphere is infuriated by images of of the crew members stripped to their longjohns, saying that they were beaten and starved. One story said the kidnappers ripped down the Chinese flag on one boat and used it "like a rag." This comes several weeks after various other diplomatic insults from the North Koreans, including where they defied Chinese wishes by testing a nuclear-capable long-range missile without even notifying the Chinese. Apparently the North Koreans treat the Chinese as contemptuously as they treat Americans. AP

As China builds its military in preparation for launching a war with the United States, there's been a lengthy discussion in the Generational Dynamics Forum forum whether China's first military strike will be an invasion of the Philippines or an invasion of Taiwan, or something else, and whether the first strike will be met with appeasement or counter-strike by the United States. From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, It's worth pointing out that China's decision may not be entirely rational. The thing that distinguishes generational crisis and non-crisis wars is that non-crisis wars do tend to be rational, while crisis wars tend to be built on pure emotion. The attack by the American South on a northern fort, leading to the American Civil War, was not a rational decision, in that the North was three times as large as the South. Similarly, Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor was an emotional decision that could not have succeeded in the long run. As I read the behaviors and statements coming out of China today, I see China as a country giddy with military power to the point of mass hysteria, and way overconfident. At the same time, China's military is strongly built up on several fronts -- on the border with India, in the South China Sea, across from Taiwan, and in other places. At some point, probably not in the not too distant future, the Chinese will make an emotional decision to launch a war on one, two three, or more fronts, leading to a world war, and that will be that.

Spain's banks requesting massive bailouts

Rarely does a day go by any more when the economic news out of Europe isn't disastrous. On Friday, Spain's fourth biggest bank, the newly nationalized Bankia SA, asked for a bailout of €19 billion from Spain's government. On the same day, the president of Catalonia, one of the wealthiest of Spain's 17 regions, said that Catalonia needed a bailout, to help refinance €36 billion of debt maturing this year. Meanwhile, the government itself has pledge to implement an austerity program that will save more than €45 billion in debt, something that many analysts say is impossible. Oh, I almost forgot: S&P cut the debt rating Catalonia to one notch above junk status, and cut the rating on Bankia and two other Spanish banks to below junk status. Reuters and Bloomberg

It's truly astonishing how helpless the politicians are, and how "kicking the can down the road" has been a total failure over and over and over. The philosophy behind kicking the can down the road is that if you can stall long enough, then growth will magically start occurring, just as it has in all the decades since the end of World War II. But this is where Generational Dynamics theory comes in, and tells you what's really going to happen. The current era cannot be compared in any way to the decades since the end of WW II. This is a generational Crisis era like the 1930s, and the only macroeconomic models that can tell you anything about what's coming are the macroeconomic models from the 1930s -- and the news that those models bring you is not good news. Even massive monetary and fiscal stimulus will do no good, as we've already seen time after time, and in fact will make the final disaster only worse.

Sergeant Dennis Weichel: A Hero Among Heroes

Fri, 25 May 2012 20:45:00 -0700

For over 225 years, American soldiers have sacrificed so much so that you and I can enjoy the freedom that this country has to offer. They stand in harm’s way twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to protect our nation from its enemies. This Memorial Day, please take a moment to remember one of those heroes, Sergeant Dennis Weichel, a Rhode Island National Guardsman who made the ultimate sacrifice and, in doing so, showed the world what the American soldier is truly all about.

In March of this year, Sergeant Weichel was part of a convoy in eastern Afghanistan which stopped because children were in the road picking up spent shell casings. Shell casing is a commodity that can be sold at market in Afghanistan. As Sergeant Weichel and his comrades successfully cleared the road of the children, a young Afghan girl again went back into the road, unaware that a U.S. Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAP) was heading straight towards her. Noticing that the MRAP was about to hit the girl, Sergeant Weichel sprang into action and threw the Afghan girl out of the vehicle's way. Tragically, Sergeant Weichel was hit by the vehicle and later died of the wounds he had suffered.

Sergeant Weichel was twenty-nine when he was killed. He left behind a fiancée and three children. As a father himself, he saw that little Afghan girl in danger, his fatherly instinct kicked in, and he saved her. Too often the media wants to sensationalize the bad stories that have leaked out of Afghanistan about the military. The story of Sergeant Weichel is a reminder that our brave men and women in uniform are gentle warriors who take care of business when necessary but will also go out of their way to help their fellow man.

Nearly eight years ago, during the battle of Fallujah, soldiers showed what taking care of business really means. They took Fallujah, an Iraqi city plagued by insurgents, through heroic means. It was a story that needed to be told, and Citizens United Productions released “Perfect Valor,” a vivid war documentary hosted by Senator Fred Thompson in 2009. The award-winning documentary tells the true story of the soldiers who fought in the battle of Fallujah. When you watch the documentary you will see why America has the best military in the world.

We are lucky that we live in a country where men and women volunteer to protect our freedom. We must never forget their sacrifices as well as the sacrifices of the families who are left behind. Please remember soldiers like Sergeant Dennis Weichel, who left behind three children and a fiancée, this Memorial Day. His sacrifice must never be forgotten.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day!

With No Help from Obama, Chen Guangcheng's Brother Fights for Life in China

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:22:00 -0700

When Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng fled his captors and took refuge in a U.S. embassy, he was told ‘thanks but no thanks.’ In fact, he was made to feel as if his presence at the embassy was a burden on U.S. officials. Yet through his courage and determination, Chen eventually made it to the U.S., and what we’re learning about the remaining members of his family in China is that they too share in Chen’s courage and determination.

For example, after Guangcheng made his escape, his angry captors sought retribution by going to his home. But his nephew, Chen Kegu, was in the home and used a knife to defend the family. This courageous act resulted in charges being brought against Kegu, who now faces the prospect of the death penalty. All the while Obama, whose narcissistic drive pushes him to court China’s favor every hour of every day, is quiet as a mouse on the subject.

Yet something had to be done, thus another member of Guangcheng’s household, his brother Chen Guangfu, “fled his tightly-guarded village in northeast China,” and is now in western Beijing “to seek legal advice on how to protect [Kegu] from what he says are retaliatory criminal charges.”

He says he will stay in Beijing only as long as it takes to find the help needed to spare Kegu the death penalty, after which he will return to the family. He admits, however, that the odds of finding such help aren’t in his favor.

Left without a President Ronald Reagan or a President George W. Bush to whom they can appeal, these men are doing the work of freedom on their own, one sacrifice at a time, with no guarantee that their labor will garner anything other than greater punishment.

I am convinced that President Romney would intervene on their behalf.

State Department Introduces Arab Visitors to Convicted Bomber Brett Kimberlin

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:48:00 -0700

United Liberty points out that convicted "Speedway bomber" Brett Kimberlin and his Justice Through Music Project are partners with the U.S. Department of State in the "International Visitor Leadership Program," a taxpayer-funded professional exchange program.

The Justice Through Music Project reported yesterday on its participation in the State Department's program, and on the visitors the government brought to meet Kimberlin (see photo above--note the anti-Bush poster on the wall):

JTMP has been a participant in the State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program for 3 years now, where citizens from around the world involved in the arts get to come to America and visit to learn about the role of arts in the US. This year we had visitors that came from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia to see how Justice Through Music Project uses art to raise awareness on issues, and to bring about social change.

While it might be useful to bring democracy activists from the Arab world to the U.S., a convicted bomber is probably not the best example the Obama administration could have provided for how "to bring about social change."

Clinton: Iran Buying Time With Negotiations

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:01:51 -0700

The Obama Administration admitted that Iran is still not cooperating with international calls to reduce its nuclear program. After the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany gave Tehran their demands, which called for Iran to halt enrichment of uranium over 3.5%, ship its stores of 20% enriched uranium out of Iran, shut down its enrichment facility in Fordow, allow IAEA inspectors unrestricted access to its nuclear sites, and honor the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran balked, according to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Yet Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief, protested that there had been progress, and that the two sides had found "some common ground" with further talks scheduled in Moscow June 18 and 19. Meanwhile Iran races ahead with its uranium enrichment program, which is attempting to enrich uranium to 20%, which is a significant step toward achieving 90% weapons grade material.

Clinton lamely argued that her Administration was doing everything it could:

“As we lay the groundwork for these talks, we will keep up the pressure as part of our dual-track approach. All of our sanctions will remain in place and will continue to move forward during this period. Iran now has the choice to make: will it meet its international obligations and give the world confidence in its intentions or not?”

Iran claims that the uranium enrichment work is meant for medical research and generating electricity, but 3.5% enrichment is all that is needed for power generation, and medical isotope research doesn’t require an amount of uranium enrichment beyond what Iran already possesses.

In March, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano charged Iran was hiding its nuclear activity intended for military use, saying, "Iran is not telling us everything." Last November, the IAEA stated that Iran was engaging in nuclear research of a military nature, and pointed out a high-explosives test chamber at the Parchin military base near Tehran.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu demanded the P5+1 take a tough line with Iran, and not compromise with Tehran: "This is the only way to ensure Iran will not build a nuclear bomb. This is Israel's position. It has not changed, and it will not change.”

Colin Powell On Romney's Foreign Policy

Fri, 25 May 2012 07:52:00 -0700

Colin Powell desperately wants to change his image. Powell has tried to transform himself into a "recovering" Bush administration official and free-thinking Obama backer.

“Come on, Mitt, think,” he said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Powell went on to say that the foreign affairs community has been taken aback by some of the presumptive Republican nominee’s positions.

Powell, who endorsed then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2008, also called into question Romney’s choice for foreign-policy staffers, saying many of them were "extreme."

“I don’t know who all of his advisers are, but I’ve seen some of the names and some of them are quite far to the right,” he said. “And sometimes they might be in a position to make judgments or recommendations to the candidate that should get a second thought.”

World View: Europe Sees Worst Economy in Three Years

Fri, 25 May 2012 05:16:00 -0700

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

New edition of Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' to be published
China's Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) shows continuing contraction
Europe sees worst economy in three years
Free money - Germany's central bank issues bond with no interest
U.S. manufacturing growth slows in May
More than 30% of U.S. mortgage borrowers are still underwater
Nato ignores problems in its own eastern neighborhood

New edition of Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' to be published

The state of Bavaria has held the copyright to Adolf Hitler's 1923 anti-Semitic rant Mein Kampf since the end of World War II, and hasn't allowed it to be published since then, although the text is available for free online. But now a Munich historical institute is publishing the first scholarly edition of the book since WW II. According to the publisher,

"Hitler was self-taught and, stylistically speaking, the book is fundamentally flawed. Its atmosphere is dull, muggy and inferior. But one shouldn't underestimate Hitler's intelligence, just as the history of National Socialism has always been a history of underestimation. The book also contains keen observations. And it's a book that was even more important for its author than for its readers. This is where Hitler developed the vision he would later realize. He was a revolutionary, programmatic thinker and statesman, all in one person -- which, incidentally, is a rare historical phenomenon. ...

In the beginning, the major players in the Nazi Party all had different ideas of what National Socialism meant. In the end, it was Hitler who prevailed. And this book contains his program, more or less openly formulated. It wasn't for nothing that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill later said that this book, more than any other, deserved to have been studied more carefully by Allied politicians and military leaders after Hitler assumed power."

Spiegel

China's Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) shows continuing contraction

The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) measures the health of manufacturing in an economy, and so reflects the health of the entire economy. It's based on five indicators: new orders, inventory levels, production, supplier deliveries and the employment environment. In China, the PMI fell in May for the seventh straight month, indicating that China is in its longest slowdown of the the global financial crisis. The most important factor is the fall in new export orders, caused by the eurozone's deepening debt crisis. Reuters

Europe sees worst economy in three years

Europe's PMI, also released on Thursday, showed that euro-area manufacturing was the weakest in 35 months, with the weakness being blamed on the debt crisis in Greece, Spain and Italy. According to one analyst:

"The euro zone is being buffeted by major headwinds, notably increased fiscal tightening in many countries and markedly rising unemployment. The heightened Greek crisis is magnifying the problems by weighing down on already weak and fragile business and consumer confidence, adding to uncertainty about the outlook."

Bloomberg

Free money - Germany's central bank issues bond with no interest

For the first time in history, Germany issued long term bonds with a zero percent yield (interest rate) on Wednesday. In other words, purchasers of these bonds will earn no interest whatsoever. Why would anyone buy these bonds, when they can purchase Spain's bonds that pay interest rates above 6%? Because they believe that they might lose their money purchasing Spain's bonds, but they consider Germany's bonds to be safe from default. It's likely that some investors would even purchase bonds with a negative interest rate, essentially paying money for the privilege of having a safe place to park it. Spiegel

U.S. manufacturing growth slows in May

The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the U.S. also indicated a contraction in manufacturing. Contributing to the poor PMI showing were falls in core capital goods orders and exports. BBC

More than 30% of U.S. mortgage borrowers are still underwater

More than 30% of mortgage borrowers, or close to 16 million homeowners, were "underwater" during the first quarter, slightly more than in the previous quarter. The number of foreclosures has been held down because of processing delays, but the number of foreclosures is expected increase in the months to come. Las Vegas has, by far, the highest percentage of underwater borrowers at 71%. Home prices there are down a whopping 62% from peak. CNN

Nato ignores problems in its own eastern neighborhood

Nato is supposed to be concerned with the security of Europe, but the recent Nato meeting in Chicago completely ignored some of Europe's most potent threats -- Europe's east, the six countries bordering on Nato and the EU -- which face a deepening security vacuum and Russian re-expansion. This region is the arena of protracted conflicts (Russia-Moldova, Russia-Georgia on two fronts, Armenia-Azerbaijan), territorial occupations, ethnic cleansing, massive Russian military bases in Ukraine and Armenia. Jamestown

World View: Russia's 2014 Olympics in Sochi Threatened by Circassians

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:30:00 -0700

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Greece vs Europe conflict becomes more critical
Saudia Arabia and West pledge billions to Yemen
Russia's 2014 Olympics in Sochi threatened by Circassians
No more than two flies per toilet in Beijing, China

Greece vs Europe conflict becomes more critical

The conflict between Greece and Europe over austerity is growing, and reaching a critical stage. Alexis Tsipras, 38, whose Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) party is currently expected to win Greece's June 17 elections, has said that he'll end Greece's austerity measures, and claims that Europe is bluffing when officials say that Greece will not receive any more bailout money and will have to leave the euro currency, and return to the drachma. However, European officials, especially the Germans are being very blunt in telling Tsipras, in effect, "screw you." The Bundesbank said that a Greek withdrawal from the eurozone would be disruptive but "manageable," and reports keep leaking that other countries are making plans for a Greek exit. As I've said in the past, if my "Kick the Can" theory holds in this case, then whoever wins on June 17 will agree with Europe on some face-saving minor reduction in the austerity requirements, thus kicking the can down the road for a few weeks. Kathimerini and Telegraph

Saudia Arabia and West pledge billions to Yemen

Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic food crisis, with 10 million people – 44% of the population – without enough food to eat, and with one in three children severely malnourished, according to seven aid agencies. Yemen is certainly a troubled country. It's fighting a continuing battle with Al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and suffered a massive suicide attack in the capital Sanaa, as we reported two days ago. Saudi Arabia and Western and Gulf states pledged more than $4 billion in aid to Yemen at a Riyadh conference on Wednesday, of which the Saudis will provide $3.25 billion. Countries from the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, attended the meeting, as did the United States, the European Union, France, Egypt and Russia, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Yemen Post and Reuters

Russia's 2014 Olympics in Sochi threatened by Circassians

Russia has admitted that when they were awarded the rights to the 2014 Winter Olympics in the beautiful Black Sea resort of Sochi, they underestimated a very important issue: the ethnic Circassians. As I first in "30-Oct-10 News -- Caucasus terrorism / politics becomes embroiled in 2014 Olympics", the region around Sochi used to be the home of ethnic Circassians. But they were slaughtered and driven out of Sochi by the Russians in a generational crisis war that climaxed in a massive genocidal battle in 1864. And that makes 2014 the 150th anniversary of that climactic battle. In the two years since I first reported on it, the Circassian situation has gone from an obscure little known problem to a major issue facing the 2014 Olympics. Earlier this week, Circassian activists around the world commemorated the 148th anniversary of the end of the Russian-Circassian war in 1864. Russian officials are now being forced to address Circassian grievances. Even worse for Russia, the Circassians are being give vocal support by Georgia, whose officials are extremely pissed off at Russia for its invasion of Georgia in 2008, causing the secession of the formerly Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Jamestown

No more than two flies per toilet in Beijing, China

The 12,000 public toilets in Beijing, China, have long been a source of complaints from tourists and residents alike, but now the Chinese have found a solution: A new municipal ordinance makes it illegal for more than two flies to be buzzing around any public toilet. China Daily

State Department Opposes Senate Measure to Accurately Count Palestinian Refugees

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:40:00 -0700

The State Department, which has typically stood against Israel in the Arab-Israeli conflict, today tried to oppose a Senate measure that would require the State Department to report how many actual Palestinian refugees US aid was helping, as opposed to descendants of Palestinian refugees.

The Senate amendment was sponsored by Mark Kirk (R-IL), and would reduce the number of people reported as Palestinian refugees from some 5 million to 30,000. A Kirk aide explained, “The amendment simply demands basic transparency with regard to who receives U.S. taxpayer assistance.”

The Senate passed the amendment through some procedural obstacles this morning. Opponents of the measure fear it will be the prelude to the US cutting funds to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). It’s not just the State Department opposing the measure; the government of Jordan is lobbying against it. As Jennifer Rubin points out:

A senior Senate aide tells Right Turn that Jordanian officials just sent an e-mail to congressional staffers urging opposition to any amendment that could lead to undermining the UNRWA. (The fear that an actual accounting would deprive the UNRWA of U.S. taxpayer dollars is reason enough to support it.) The request reads: “Jordan urges the Senate to avoid any language which would directly or indirectly lead to undermining UNRWA. The embassy will be happy to further explain the Jordanian position, observations and reservations to your office and other Senate members, including the potential negative implications on Jordan, its economy and the peace efforts by any language that undermines or purports to undermine UNRWA.”

Jordan is all for more funding for UNRWA, since large portions of UNRWA expenditures go to Palestinians living in refugee camps in Jordan – despite the fact that the vast majority of the Jordanian population is actually Palestinian.

We Told You So: Iran Uses New Round of Nuclear Talks to Buy Time

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:32:00 -0700

After April's nuclear talks with Iran produced nothing more than an agreement to talk again in May, Israeli Prime Minister said that the Obama administration and the other "six nations" (China, Germany, Britain, France, and Russia) had merely given Iran a "freebie." He warnedIran was merely using the talks to buy time. Events have proven him correct, as the May talks have led to nothing but an agreement to talk again in mid-June, while Iran has shifted the "six nations" towards allowing it to enrich uranium to near-weapons levels.

The West asked Iran to accept a deal in which it would stop enriching uranium at the 20 percent level--which is just a short step away from weapons-grade uranium. Iran walked away from what it called "a list of Israeli demands." Israel is not participating in, nor represented at, the talks--though its security is most directly at stake, with the chief of staff of Iran's military declaring this week that his nation's goal was "the full annihilation of Israel." Currently, UN Security Council resolutions prevent any nuclear enrichment by Iran.

In April, President Barack Obama defended his policy against criticism from Netanyahu and others: "We’re not going to have these talks just drag out in a stalling process, but so far at least, we haven’t given away anything." Iran sees events rather differently. As Breitbart News reported last week, Iran has celebrated its success at the negotiating table, achieved because of the failure of the international community to stand up to its aggressive tactics. Meanwhile, former White House advisor Dennis Ross called the talks "not serious."

As the "six nations" ponder what concessions to make next, Israel is refusing to let the talks become a latter-day Evian Conference. That meeting, convened in 1938, presented the world with an opportunity to help Jews who were fleeing from Nazi Germany. Then as now, Jews had no direct voice in the talks that would determine their survival. This time, however, Israel is preparing to act on its own if necessary. The new unity government may have already decided on plans to attack Iran, despite Obama's objections and interventions.

Manhattan Elementary School Requires Arabic Lessons

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:19:00 -0700

A public elementary school in upper Manhattan is requiring its students to learn Arabic. The reason given for this decision, according to Nicky Kram Rosen, principal of PS 368, is that the school can get International Baccalaureate Standing more easily.

In September, all 200 students in second through fifth grade will be taught the language twice a week for 45 minutes, just as much time as is spent on science and music. Rosen apparently selected Arabic instead of the more traditional French or Spanish because that was more valued in the International Baccalaureate standards.

Angela Jackson, CEO of the Global Language Project, which backs Rosen’s plan, said, “She proposed this to the parent association. They were very supportive. Arabic has been identified as a critical-need language. It means they can spin the globe and decide where they want to work and live.” Jackson added that if a student objects to learning Arabic, administrators will deal with that on a case-by-case basis.

The teacher of the pilot program that is already in place, Mohamed Mamdouh, said, “Soon, Arabic will be a global language like French and Spanish. These kids are like sponges. It’s amazing to see their progress.’’The IB program, first developed in Switzerland in the 1960’s, first took hold in the United States in private schools as an alternative to the AP program. At its inception in 1968 until 1976, the program was financed partly by UNESCO. Now associated with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, it endorsed the Earth Charter, a declaration of principles of sustainability that came out of the UN In the fall of 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave the program a three-year $2.4 million grant.

So the UN, which is dominated in numbers by Arabic-speaking countries, can now surreptitiously train our youngsters to prepare for the future by learning Arabic in schools. At what point does the indoctrination come to a halt?

Resurgent Radicals Poison Afghan Women to Keep Them from School

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:55:00 -0700

Obama’s decision to abandon the War on Terror, which his administration intimates we’ve won, and pull our troops out of Afghanistan, continues to prove detrimental to innocent lives in that country. In fact, it has given rise to a war on women that completely eclipses the trumped-up birth control controversy coming from the Democrat Party in America.

To understand this, we first have to understand that the presence of the U.S. military in Afghanistan post-9/11 was both necessary and good--not only for the power we were able to take away from the Taliban but also for the rights and privileges that were finally extended to women in the absence of radical rule. Because of the U.S. presence and the goals of expanding a sphere of freedom under George W. Bush, women in that country were actually allowed to go to school.

Although this seems a small thing in a western country like the U.S., where women enjoy equal access to things like education as a matter of fact, in Afghanistan, as in Saudi Arabia and Iran, women are viewed as little more than pieces of property controlled by their husbands.

But today in Afghanistan, with the U.S. presence rapidly dwindling, radicals are reasserting themselves and trying to put an end to education for females. And their tactic for accomplishing this has been, literally, poison--a means as barbaric as the very Stone Age to which they want women to return.

In the last three months alone, the radicals have poisoned over 120 schoolgirls. And with the U.S. handing things to NATO, which in turn, is largely handing things to the Afghans themselves, the schoolgirls are not likely to see their attackers brought to justice any time soon.

Instead, it appears the poisonings will prove to be just one more sign of the broader war on women to come, once the Taliban steps back in.

Headline image: Military photo by Spc. Kristina Gupton

World View: Egypt Prepares for Historic Presidential Election

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:05:00 -0700

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Egypt prepares for historic presidential election
Israeli officials watch Egypt's election with anxiety
The two faces of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

Egypt prepares for historic presidential election

Egypt will elect a new president on Wednesday and Thursday, in the country's first free election in history. There are 13 candidates, with ideologies spanning the range from liberal and secular to conservative and Islamist. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) military junta has been ruling Egypt since Hosni Mubarak was deposed in February of last year, and has promised to leave the government and return to barracks once a civilian government has been selected. Nonetheless, the complete transfer of power to a civilian administration – with an elected president following an elected parliament – will by no means guarantee the absence of the SCAF's intervention in politics, if and when the generals believe that their vested interests are threatened. But for the time being, the SCAF – on some level – has had no choice but to bow to the popular will, which demands free and transparent elections. Al-Ahram (Cairo)

Israeli officials watch Egypt's election with anxiety

Hosni Mubarak, the deposed president of Egypt, was a three-decade partner -- if not exactly an ally -- of Israel, cooperating on everything from security around the Gaza Strip to the sale of natural gas. Now there's going to be a new president, and of the major candidates, two are Islamists, associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, and two are former high officials in the Mubarak regime. Although all the leading candidates make criticisms of Isarel a key plank in their campaign platforms, Israel would most prefer Ahmed Shafiq, a former fighter pilot, and a prime minister for Mubarak, who has expressed a willingness to work with Israel. Second most hoped for would be Amr Moussa (the favorite, according to polls), Mubarak’s foreign minister in the 1990s before moving to head the Arab League. He was a vocal critic of Israel in both posts, but he classifies Israel as an "adversary," not an "enemy." Jerusalem Post

The two faces of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has about 600,000 members today. Its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), became the strongest party in the Egyptian parliament last winter. It's being pulled in two directions, mostly along generational lines. The Brotherhood declared itself to be a non-violent movement in the 1970s, so a big majority of Egyptians have never known a violent Brotherhood. On the other hand, there are some old geezers near the top of the hierarchy who long for their old glory days of fighting the Jews, and would like to see it happen again. With regard to domestic policy, the FJP is a conservative Islamist party, but even here its membership is split over such Sharia law issues as whether all women should have to wear burqas in public. Spiegel

When the Egyptian revolution began in January, 2011, many people expressed the opinion that the Muslim Brotherhood was going to come to power and foment an Islamic revolution like the one that occurred in Iran in 1979. Many web site readers took strong exception to my Generational Dynamics analysis that said that nothing of the sort could possibly happen, and it's even very unlikely that Egypt would abrogate its peace treaty with Israel. (See "14-Feb-11 News -- Reader questions about Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood" for a summary.) Now, on the eve of Egypt's first free presidential election in history, I have no reason to change that Generational Dynamics analysis. That's not to say that there won't be harsh political clashes between Israel and Egypt, but that's a long way from the idea that Egypt will become another Iran and declare war on Israel, as some people have said they expect.

Is the Defense Budget Rife with Waste and Crony Capitalism?

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:22:00 -0700

In a new Daily Beast article, Breitbart contributing editor Peter Schweizer argues that the Pentagon's budget suffers from instances of serious waste and crony capitalism.

Schweizer points to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit last year that found that mismanagement at the Department of Defense had resulted in $70 billion of waste in just two years. And a 2010 GAO report revealed that the Defense Logistics Agency was purchasing 50% more military equipment than was needed, resulting in $7 billion of supplies gathering dust in a warehouse.

Schweizer also cites examples of crony capitalism creeping into military matters. For example, Rep. Bill Young (R-FL), the chairman of the appropriation subcommittee on the House Armed Services Committee, has a daughter who is a lobbyist for defense contractors. As the Washington Post notes, Rep. Young has previously steered money to contractors that hired his sons.

There is also the question of whether members of Congress should own stocks in sectors affected by the committees they serve on. For example, in 2010, 19 out of 28 members of the Senate Armed Services Committee had investments in defense-related industries that broker big deals with the Department of Defense. "I am frankly surprised they are allowed to have these investments," said Gordon England, a former Bush senior Pentagon official. "Every member of this committee has tremendous influence over every major contract at the Pentagon."

As Schweizer concludes: "Nothing in Washington is untouched by cronyism."

Taliban Strikes Secret Deal to Loot NATO Convoys in Afghanistan

Wed, 23 May 2012 13:03:00 -0700

According to The Australian, hour south of Kabul, Afghanistan, a secret ceasefire was recently agreed upon between a Taliban commander and an Afghan army officer whom NATO forces had trained to fight the Taliban.

Their deal was simple: instead of fighting one another, they agreed to “share intelligence on NATO’s military operations.” This not only gives them both some measure of assurance that they won’t kill each other but also allows them to work together, to track and “loot NATO supply convoys,” then divvy up "the proceeds.”

Lieutenant Mohammad Wali, the Afghan army officer who made the agreement, was part of the security force NATO was counting on to pick up slack created from the U.S. military’s precipitous pullout under Obama. In fact, NATO’s plan was to soon have “three-quarters of the [Afghan] population… under the control of the Afghan national security forces.” Yet it’s beginning to look as though the Afghan army's control may be no different than the Taliban's.

Did Obama’s foreign policy advisers forget that these two factions—Afghans in the army and Afghans in the Taliban—have more in common with each other than they ever will with the aims of NATO?

No wonder Afghans fear chaos and Taliban rule after the U.S. withdrawal is complete.

Pakistan Gives Bin Laden Hero 33 Years, Obama Does Nothing

Wed, 23 May 2012 08:41:00 -0700

Dr. Shakil Afridi was convicted of treason in Pakistan on Wednesday for helping the United States find Osama Bin Laden.

In the kind of double game that has been characteristic of the Obama era, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for his release. But where was the administration during Afridi’s arrest and trial? Four months ago, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta openly admitted that Afridi had run a hepatitis B vaccination program in order to gather DNA samples from members of Bin Laden’s family, who were thought to be living nearby. When Afridi was charged with treason in January, Panetta lamely said that Pakistanis should be against the charge, because they were threatened by terrorism, too: “For them to take this kind of action against somebody who was helping to go after terrorism, I just think is a real mistake on their part.”

A “mistake”? How about a cataclysmically immoral, terrorist-supporting decision that would not be accepted by the United States under any circumstances?

Afridi was sentenced to 33 years in prison by a tribal court in northwestern Pakistan and sent to Central Prison in Peshawar. The Pakistanis were careful to indict Afridi by using a British-era regulation for frontier crimes, because normal penal law would have required his execution.

The Pakistani government, which likely knew of Bin Laden’s whereabouts, was furious after Bin Laden’s killing, because they viewed the attack as a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. American officials claim that Afridi did not know Bin Laden was the target of the plot.

So the Obama Administration used Afridi to help find Bin Laden, spiked the football repeatedly about the Bin Laden killing, then abandoned Afridi by publicly confirming his participation. Now they weakly protest his imprisonment. Where is President Obama hiding when a man who put his life on the line for the United States is in danger?

IAEA Promises Peace In Our Time

Tue, 22 May 2012 15:09:00 -0700

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported today that an agreement on nuclear inspections might be in the works with the Iranian regime--or, more precisely, that a "decision" had been made to reach an agreement. The White House welcomed the move--cautiously--while the Israeli government warned of Iranian deception, suggesting that Tehran would use any means necessary to stall for time and forestall any military action.

News reports suggested that the details of a potential deal had yet to be worked out:

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said upon returning from Tehran that he and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator made a "decision" to reach an agreement on the UN watchdog probing suspected weapons activities.

But contrary to the hopes of some diplomats before he left on Sunday, Amano failed to actually sign a deal, saying at a Vienna airport that this would happen "quite soon" because of remaining, unspecified "differences."

The Obama administration seemed to take discussions of an agreement seriously, while insisting on Iranian compliance with whatever the terms would be:

"It's important to note that the announcement today is a step forward," White House spokesman Jay Carney said, calling the planned agreement "certainly significant."

However, he added: "We will make judgments about Iran's behavior based on actions."

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also stressed that "the announcement of the deal is one thing, but the implementation is what we're going to be looking for" ahead of talks Wednesday in Baghdad between Iran and six world powers including the United States.

Meanwhile, Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak cast doubt on the proto-agreement, according to the Jerusalem Post:

Iran is fooling the West in its apparent readiness to reach a deal on its nuclear program, Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned on Tuesday.

"The Iranians appear to be trying to reach a technical deal that will create an appearance as if there is progress in the talks to remove some of the pressure ahead of the talks in Baghdad and to postpone an escalation in sanctions," Barak said during a meeting at the Defense Ministry.

Israel has insisted on a complete halt to Iran's uranium enrichment program, in compliance with United Nations Security Council resolutions; the Obama administration has shown willingness to break with the UN and craft a separate deal in the hope of avoiding armed conflict with the Tehran regime.

World View: Anti-German Sentiment in Greece Shuts Down Tourism Industry

Tue, 22 May 2012 03:13:00 -0700

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Central Asian nations harden mutual boundaries as Nato pulls out
Europe raises expulsion threat level against Greece
Germany's Merkel expects to clash openly with France's Hollande
Anti-German sentiment in Greece deters tourists
Suicide bomber creates scene of massive carnage in Yemen

Central Asian nations harden mutual boundaries as Nato pulls out

As Nato continues with its planned pullout of forces from Afghanistan in 2014, central Asian countries are fortifying their boundaries, sometimes with the help of the U.S., who wish to prevent central Asian insurgents from returning to their homelands. American forces are helping Kyrgyzstan fortify its southern border with Tajikistan. Russia is raising concerns that the U.S. is planning to establish a permanent American troop presence, but seems to be willing to take America's word that there is no such plan. As all five central Asian republics prepare for increasing security challenges emanating from Afghanistan, their natural inclination has been to strengthen border security. Both the Pentagon and the Kremlin have found roles for themselves in the interim, and have managed not to encroach too egregiously on each other’s short-term interests. Whether their interests in strengthening the region’s internal security remain aligned after the NATO withdrawal is an open question. Jamestown

Europe raises expulsion threat level against Greece

Since Greece's May 6 election failed to produce a viable government, Greece is heading to the polls again on June 17, where the winner is now expected to the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), led by Alexis Tsipras, 38, who is promising to end all austerity measures and return to free spending. He claims that Europeans are only bluffing when they say that they will no longer help Greece, since they have no choice. And indeed, French and German banks are heavily invested in toxic Greek bonds, and will have to be bailed out themselves unless Greece continues to be bailed out. Although the official position of the eurozone countries is that they're not talking about a Greek exit from the eurozone, leaks from a closed door meeting of Finance Ministers last week in Brussels indicate that they're very close to doing just that. "If we now held a secret vote about Greece staying in the euro zone," Euro Group Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker warned his Greek colleague last week, "there would be an overwhelming majority against it." Indeed, they blame Greece for being the cause of Europe's financial crisis (forgetting many things, such as Spain's huge real estate bubble that's now collapsing), and are not willing to bail out Greece any more unless the austerity commitments are followed. Spiegel

Germany's Merkel expects to clash openly with France's Hollande

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she won’t shy away from clashing with French President François Hollande at a European Union summit on Wednesday that's the next attempt to stem the debt crisis. Hollande wants the entire eurozone to bail out France's banks with "eurobonds," which would be bonds guaranteed jointly by all 17 eurozone nations. Merkel opposes joint debt issuance, saying the differences in bond yields [interest rates] between euro countries are incentives for weaker nations to overhaul their economies and boost competitiveness. Bloomberg

Anti-German sentiment in Greece deters tourists

Greece's tourism industry has been hit hard by the political turmoil following the May 6 election, and the growing speculation about Greece leaving the euro zone, with bookings down 50%. Germans are particularly deterred by shocking news footing showing demonstrators in Athens burning German flags or carrying placards depicting Merkel in a Nazi uniform. However, tourism should pick up again if Greece leaves the euro, since the new Greek drachma currency is expected to be sharply depreciated against the euro. Spiegel

Suicide bomber creates scene of massive carnage in Yemen

A Yemeni soldier in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, detonated a bomb hidden in his military uniform during a rehearsal for a military parade on Monday, creating mass carnage, with 96 dead and hundreds wounded, in one of the deadliest attacks in the capital in years. The attack is thought to have been perpetrated by Al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), whose forces in southern Yemen have been under attack by Yemen's armed forces, aided by American special forces. AP

Europe's Crisis is Keeping California Afloat

Mon, 21 May 2012 15:03:00 -0700

Given California's astonishingly--and unexpectedly large--budget deficit estimate of $16 billion, which may understate the actual shortfall, creditors might be expected to flee the state. However, Europe's own debt crises, and growing uncertainty in Asian economies, are making California a relatively attractive haven for investors in municipal bonds, with falling yields a sign that the bond market hasn't given up on the state--yet.

The current issue of the Financial Advisor reports:

The extra yield investors demand to hold debt of California issuers instead of top-rated local-government bonds matched a three-year low on May 15, according to Bloomberg Fair Value data. The day before, Governor Jerry Brown proposed cutting state workers’ pay 5 percent to save money after the state’s spending gap grew 71 percent since January.

Across the U.S., taxpayers are benefiting as the most money in three years floods into muni mutual funds while coupon and principal payments are set to exceed issuance through August....

Investors looking for a haven from Europe’s debt crisis have added about $12 billion to U.S. muni funds this year, the best annual start since 2009, Lipper US Fund Flows data show.

That’s helped keep local-government interest rates close to the lowest since the 1960s, even after they climbed last week. Twenty-year general-obligation bonds yield 3.75 percent after touching 3.6 percent in January, the lowest since 1967, according to a Bond Buyer index....

The extra yield on issues from California, the lowest-rated U.S. state by Standard & Poor’s, fell to 0.82 percentage point last week, matching the smallest since December 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. On May 14, Brown said his state’s deficit had grown to $15.7 billion from $9.2 billion in January.

It is not clear how long California's good fortune will last--or whether the state's leaders will muster the political will to make the necessary changes before creditors lose faith.

SCOTUS takes US spy agency case

Mon, 21 May 2012 09:38:00 -0700

Today the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments this October in an intriguing case on the scope of government surveillance powers. A provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) establishes a new framework for U.S. intelligence agencies to apply for court orders authorizing wiretap-style or covert monitoring of foreigners abroad.

A group of journalists, attorneys, and public-interest organizations filed suit in federal court, arguing this provision of FISA is unconstitutional. On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York held that the plaintiffs could bring the lawsuit. The U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition to hear the case, considering only whether these plaintiffs have suffered a sufficiently concrete injury to give them standing to pursue this matter in federal court without demonstrating that the U.S. government has ever used this law against any of them, or will ever do so in the future.

The case is Clapper v. Amnesty International, No. 11-1025.

Breitbart News legal contributor Ken Klukowski is on faculty at Liberty University School of Law and a fellow with the American Civil Rights Union.

The Lockerbie Bombing Hall of Shame

Mon, 21 May 2012 06:13:00 -0700

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, is finally roasting in hell after dying peacefully in his bed in Libya, surrounded by family and friends, rather than in the cell to which he was condemned for murdering 270 innocent people on Pan Am 103 in December, 1988. But even with the two principal murderers of these innocents--Gaddafi and Megrahi--now gone, what remains is a Lockerbie hall of shame of those who were either collaborators or looked the other way at Libyan tyranny. A day of reckoning awaits.

Foremost among them is the Scottish authorities who assured us three years ago that Megrahi was at death's door but who ironically outlived Gaddafi himself. All documents detailing the secret deals that were done for the terrorist’s release must see the light of day so we can know whether the sacred memory of 270 victims was sold so that British oil companies like BP could benefit. We also need to know which British officials negotiated his release. Prime Minister David Cameron himself condemned "'the appalling dodgy dealings with Libya under the last [British] government."

In our own town of Englewood, New Jersey, where the Libyans own an official residence immediately next door to me and which has been tax-exempt for nearly three decades, millions were spent to ready the derelict embassy for Gaddafi's use in the summer and autumn of 2009, just months after the tyrant accorded Megrahi a hero’s welcome in Tripoli. Were permits granted too readily to allow the construction at such a hasty pace?

I have a video of the time I confronted the contractors working on Gaddafi's home, after they cut down my trees and removed my fence. City official Peter Abballe, who was in charge of Englewood's Department of Building and Code Enforcement and was responsible for enforcing construction codes and inspecting residential and commercial properties and issuing certificates of occupancy, was present in the contractor's trailer inside the Libyan compound. He intervenes and says the camera should be turned off. Abballe was later arrested in an FBI investigation on charges of official corruption having accepted payments in another case and was recently sentenced. Will the City of Englewood finally do an official investigation into its 2009 dealings with the Libyans?

The City of Englewood has played a particularly ignominious role in the Libyan affair. Even after I hosted a rally on my front lawn to ban Kaddafi from taking up residence in the home next door to me and even after Gaddafi began bombing his citizens in February, 2011, Englewood made absolutely no effort whatsoever to compel the Libyans to pay property taxes, thereby forcing the residents of Englewood to be complicit in supporting the evil regime by paying for things like the Libyan’s police protection and trash removal with local tax dollars. While previous mayor Michael Wildes joined me as an enthusiastic partner in opposing Gaddafi, his successor, Mayor Frank Huttle, broke repeated promises to challenge the Libyans and did nothing.

But while Mayor Huttle, who is now running for a second term unopposed, did not lift a finger against the Libyans, he did find cause, in the application my organization made to establish a Synagogue on my property in Englewood, to dismiss our right to be heard before Englewood’s Planning Board, which he chairs and whose members he appoints. Two days before our hearing this past January, our attorney received a bizarre phone call from Michael Kates--the Planning Board attorney hand-picked by Mayor Huttle--who told him that there would likely be a challenge to the jurisdiction of our application from a member of the board. He would give no further details of these behind-the-scenes maneuvers. Our attorney protested vigorously. The law was on our side. But sure enough on the night of the hearing--one that consumed thousands of dollars in preparation--Kates found a technicality so obtuse that arguably only he and our attorney could even understand it. Over a thirty-five year period no Englewood attorney could find a single technicality upon which to force Gaddafi to pay his taxes. But in a unanimous vote our Synagogue was denied even the right to be heard. Our stunned attorney told a local newspaper that the decision was political and "Where we go from here, I'm not sure." You can watch the hearing, taped by one our congregants, on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeKv-jqF5UU&feature=youtu.be).

But one of the most egregious offenders in the matter of the Libyans was Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ), who originally joined me on my front lawn in strongly opposing Gaddafi's stay in Englewood but later, when Gaddafi’s confidant and UN Ambassador, Mohamed Shalgham, moved in to the property, gave me and the Libyan’s other neighbors in his district the appalling public advice, via the New Jersey Jewish Standard, "I hope everyone will be appropriately good neighbors." That a United States Congressman would advocate to his constituents that they maintain friendly relations with the personal representative of a murderer who blows up airlines and American soldiers in discothèques is outrageous enough. What made it worse was a January 4^th, 2010 press release in which Rothman spent three full pages attacking me and defending the "rights" of the Libyan Ambassador reside next door to me. Rothman based his opinion on agreements between the Libyans and the State department in 1982--agreements brokered by none other than... Steve Rothman.

Was Rothman seriously suggesting that I had to abide by a 27-year-old deal that was struck behind close doors and without the consent of the people of Englewood? Later, in March 2012, the Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister, Mohammed Abdel-Aziz, would reveal that the Gaddafi regime had been running a secret program hiding weapons inside Libyan embassies around the world, thereby making Rothman’s deal something that endangered the residents of Englewood in general, and my family in particular, albeit unwittingly.

Did Rothman seriously believe that the honest, hard-working residents of this city, who came out so forcefully to oppose Gaddafi in September 2009, wanted to see his Ambassador move in with his Libyan security force and intelligence personnel? What was his purpose in defending the right of an envoy of a terror-sponsoring government to live in our midst, spending millions of dollars on his home while refusing for more than a quarter of a century to pay even one dollar in taxes, even though he already had a tax-exempt UN residence in Manhattan?

Shalgham was the same Ambassador who disgraced himself before the UN Security Council by bringing in a slide show in 2009 that purported to show Israeli soldiers mutilating Palestinian civilians. He ran a UN mission that in the same year trivialized the Holocaust and created a grotesque blood libel against Israel by comparing Gaza to a concentration camp. And he remained Gaddafi’s Ambassador even when in October 2009 his madman master said that the Palestinians should be given nuclear weapons.

It was when Congressman Rothman defended the rights of Kaddafi’s personal envoy to live peacefully and tax-free next to me that I first thought of running against him, as the press reported at the time (http://www.jta.org/news/article/2009/12/30/1009965/op-ed-gadhafi-back-in-my-backyard). Aside from a Rabbi having to suffer the Libyan killers living as neighbors, Rothman also seemed oblivious to the fact that that the Libyan property abuts one of New Jersey's leading Jewish day schools, Moriah. Why would he push his 1982 agreement with the Libyans on hundreds of unsuspecting Jewish children from our neighborhood?

To be sure, the Libyan regime has since thankfully changed. Gaddafi met summary justice, Megrahi is dead, and the new regime says it is committed to democratic government. But that does not change the painful story of one of the most notorious terror attacks of modern times and the people who released its perpetrator or gave his government and terrorist masterminds a pass.

Shmuley Boteach, “America’s Rabbi,” is the international bestselling author of 27 books including his acclaimed new bestseller Kosher Jesus. He is running for Congress in New Jersey's Ninth Congressional District. His website is www.shmuleyforcongress.com. Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley.

Written in memory of Machla Dabakarov, the mother of Rabbi Shmuley’s close friend, who recently passed away.

World View: Syria's Violence Spills Into Lebanon

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:25:00 -0700

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Syria's violence spills over into Lebanon
Nationalist parties gain strength in Israel
Pakistan and U.S. haggle over supply routes to Afghanistan

Syria's violence spills over into Lebanon

Lebanon's government has been officially neutral about the violence in neighboring Syria, but Prime Minister Najeeb Miqati is part of Hizbollah's "March 8 Alliance" that is supporting the regime of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad. Still, Lebanon has largely avoided Syria's violence up until last week, even though Syrian refugees have been coming across the border and finding a safe haven in the Sunni neighborhoods of northern Lebanon. However, violence has been growing in Lebanon in recent days, to the point that several Gulf Arab countries (UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar) have issued travel advisories for their citizens to avoid visiting or staying in Lebanon. In some cases, it's feared that Gulf Arab citizens could be kidnapped and handed over to the Syrian regime as alleged elements from Al Qaeda. This fear comes from a Syrian official's statement last week that Lebanon is "incubating" terrorists:

"In some areas (of Lebanon) ... warehouses have been set up for weapons and ammunition that is arriving to Lebanon illegally, either by sea, or sometimes through using the planes of specific countries to transport weapons to Lebanon and then smuggle them to Syria, under the excuse that they (aircraft) are carrying humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees."

The turmoil increased further yesterday when army troops, who are thought to be siding with the Syrian regime, shot dead a Sunni cleric in northern Lebanon. PM Miqati appealed for calm in the wake of the cleric's killing. Gulf News and Reuters

Nationalist parties gain strength in Israel

We've been reporting about increasingly nationalistic trends in one country after another -- Greece, Denmark and China, for example. Now add Israel to the list. A new poll shows a surge in strength for the nationalistic parties National Union and Jewish Home. Generally speaking, these parties support increased building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and they reject any peace treaties with the Palestinians. Increased nationalism is characteristic of generational Crisis eras, as the world approaches the Clash of Civilizations world war. Israel National News

Pakistan and U.S. haggle over supply routes to Afghanistan

Pakistan closed border routes to Afghanistan last November, when an American air strike targeting Taliban militants erroneously killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, and America refused to make an explicit apology. Afghanistan is a land-locked country, and with the routes through Pakistan closed, Nato has been forced to rely on cargo flights and a more costly northern route through Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Pakistan appears finally willing to open the border routes again, but they want to charge $5,000 per truck. In the past, Nato paid $250 per truck. The U.S. is categorically rejecting the higher fee, but perhaps they'll have a meeting of the minds as the haggling continues. AFP

Diplomatic War Breaks Out Between Israel and South Africa

Sun, 20 May 2012 15:19:00 -0700

A diplomatic battle has broken out between the South African and Israeli government after South Africa took steps to isolate Israel--steps the Israeli government has labeled "racist." The conflict began when the South African government prevented a provincial official from making a formal visit to Israel, and accelerated when South Africa announced that it would no longer allow products made in the West Bank to be labeled "Made in Israel."

South Africa--both "old" and "new"--has a long history of coddling dictatorships and rogue states. Most recently, it has protected Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and protested the removal of Muammar Gaddafi from power in Libya. South Africa eagerly courts trade with oppressive states in the Arab world, but has made protest against Israel's perceived misdeeds one of the cornerstones of its increasingly decrepit foreign policy. In addition, radical Islam has a foothold in South Africa; pro-Taliban fighters recruited openly in the country after 9/11.

Israel has faced threats of such official boycotts before, but quiet promises of retaliation have been enough to ward them off. According to the South African government's own statistics, South African benefits greatly from trade with Israel, exporting $2 worth of goods and services for every $1 imported from Israel.

Anti-Israel activists hope that South Africa's stance will spur calls for similar measures around the world. However, past efforts at boycotting Israel--officially and unofficially--have been met with stiff opposition from leaders in the democratic world.

Members of South Africa's Jewish community, as well as several prominent human rights activists, have denounced the South African government's new hostility to Israel as reflecting the view of a small but influential group of radical activists. Israel summoned South Africa's ambassador for an explanation of his country's new stance, and what has begun as a diplomatic spat could end with the wholesale severing of relations.

Senator Lieberman White House Close to Using Force in Syria

Sun, 20 May 2012 11:07:00 -0700

The Hill reports that Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), who chairs the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, believes that the White House has despaired of diplomatic options in Syria, and may be close to authorizing the use of force to protect opposition to the regime of Bashar al-Assad:

"I think they're moving toward some more real action," Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Ct.) told The Hill regarding the White House's evolving position on Syria....
While the Obama administration has been steadfast in its desire for a diplomatic solution to the growing Syrian crisis, the sense that time is starting to run out has begun to resonate in the halls of the White House and The Pentagon.

Obama's Flip-Flop On Afghanistan War

Sun, 20 May 2012 10:28:00 -0700

For the country, the Afghanistan war was a security necessity. For President Barack Obama and the Democrats, it was a political necessity--a fig leaf to cover their radical anti-war policies. That much is made clear by a sympathetic article in today's New York Times, which describes President Obama's "shift" from a "war of necessity" to a cut-and-run strategy. As usual, our Nobel laureate president is said to have experienced an intellectual "evolution," rather than a political flip-flop--or rather than having lied to the country outright.

The Times article reports triumphantly that Obama cut his generals out of the decision-making process entirely, after his decision to order the "surge" in 2009 was criticized for taking too long and giving the military far fewer troops than it needed to win. According to the Times, the main problem Obama and his White House aides were concerned about was "leaks" from the military--i.e. political damage resulting from revelations of poor decision-making. That led to White House aides--not the generals in the field--making decisions entirely on their own:

A year later [in 2010], when the president and a half-dozen White House aides began to plan for the withdrawal, the generals were cut out entirely. There was no debate, and there were no leaks.

In 2010, according to the Times, Obama decided that the war in Afghanistan was "unwinnable"--even as the surge began, even as he sent more American troops to fight and die for their country (or for him personally, as he put it so revealingly in defending his "evolution" on gay marriage).

The Times confirms that Obama's obsession with his re-election played an important role in the politicized plans for withdrawal from Afghanistan:

After a short internal debate, Mr. Gates and Mrs. Clinton came up with a different option: end the surge by September 2012 — after the summer fighting season, but before the election. Mr. Obama concurred. But he was placing an enormous bet: his goals now focus largely on finishing off Al Qaeda and keeping Pakistan’s nuclear weapons from going astray.

The author of the article is at least honest enough to acknowledge the fact that giving up in Afghanistan could mean the return of the Taliban--and that the administration has no idea what do if it does:

Left unclear is how America will respond if a Taliban resurgence takes over wide swathes of the country America invaded in 2001 and plans to largely depart 13 years later.

It's one thing to listen to your generals and then overrule some of them. It's quite another to cut them out of the process entirely, leaving life-and-death decisions--and the fate of the country's future security--in the hands of political appointees who have little military experience between them and serve at President Obama's whim. And it's disgraceful to cut our NATO allies out of the process--especially when they are fighting and dying alongside our troops.

It's clear that President Obama cares more about being able to tell his far left supporters that he ended their hated war, after all--and less about fulfilling his most fundamental duty as commander-in-chief.

National Health Service’s Transgender Art ‘Diversity Week’

Sun, 20 May 2012 08:57:00 -0700

While British citizens wait in line for medical care, the National Health Service is sponsoring hundreds of its employees to attend conferences on diversity this week. Among the “inspiring images” they will be asked to view are pictures celebrating “the lives of transgender staff and patients.” It will cost the NHS a minimum of £30,000 to cover the costs on this event.

One of the most visible pieces of art will be a timeline created by the NHS to cheer “achievements from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, and particularly those who have contributed to healthcare.” Examples include James Barry, a British Army surgeon who pretend to be a man during the 19^th century. NHS is defending the event, with Dean Royles, director of NHS Employers, explaining, “Patients want to be treated without fear of discrimination because of their sexuality, gender, race or religion. NHS organisations recognize that there are large personal and cost implications for not getting this right.”

Misallocation of resources? Not according to NHS, which is more concerned with the feelings of transgendered people than the health of its citizens.

World View: Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels Threaten Trade War

Sat, 19 May 2012 23:17:00 -0700

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

U.S. military role is deepening in Yemen
Bedouins in Sinai threaten both Egypt and Israel
Tariffs on China's solar panels threaten a trade war
Three 'Occupy' protesters face terrorism charges

U.S. military role is deepening in Yemen

Yemen is the location of the headquarters of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the terrorist organization most dangerous to the U.S. and the West in the world. AQAP has taken from the original al-Qaeda in Pakistan the mantle of greatest jihadist organization in the world. For the last year, the violent Arab Spring protests have been so chaotic that AQAP has made advances in controlling parts of Yemen, especialy in the south, and for a while there was concern that AQAP would advance on the capital city, Sanaa. Now there's a new president and an improved constitutional order, but terrorist activity has been growing in the country. As a result, an increased but limited number of U.S. troops are returning to Yemen to assist Yemeni forces. U.S. forces are helping Yemenis with intelligence, including satellite imagery, pictures from drones and other means to help them locate targets. However, there are no plans for sending U.S. ground forces. VOA

Bedouins in Sinai threaten both Egypt and Israel

The rising violence of Bedouin tribes in the Sinai is presenting an increasing danger to both Israel and Egypt. The hostility arises from 90% unemployment among the Bedouin population, and discriminatory Egyptian laws that prevent many kinds of employment. The Sinai is the region of Egypt adjoining the Israeli border and also the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip. The 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty prohibits deployment of more than a token number of Egyptian security forces in the Sinai. There is an international peacekeeping force in the Sinai, but the Sinai has become almost completely lawless, and both the peacekeepers and the Egyptian security forces are under constant attack. Even worse, there has been a flow of modern weapons into the Sinai from unprotected stockpiles that were raided after the war in Libya, and there have been some rocket attacks on Israel. Jamestown

Tariffs on China's solar panels threaten a trade war

The Obama administration has ordered extremely high tariffs of 31% to 250% on solar panels imported from China, a move that's certain to result in retaliatory measures from the Chinese. In just a few years, some 60 Chinese manufacturing firms have grabbed about half of the U.S. market for solar panels. The administration's charge is that China has been "dumping" solar panels on the United States -- that is, subsidizing their manufacture so that they can be sold at below fair market value. (I have difficulty understanding this -- Wasn't the whole Solyndra scandal about Washington also subsidizing the manufacture of solar panels?) Not surprisingly, the aggressive tariffs have generated controversy even among American firms. Manufacturers of solar panels are pleased, but companies that import solar panels and install them are distraught. The tariffs apply specifically to Chinese-made solar cells, which are components of solar panels. Chinese solar energy companies could avoid the tariffs by shifting production of solar cells to nearby countries, then bringing those cells to China for assembly into panels. LA Times

Three 'Occupy' protesters face terrorism charges

Three members of the 'Occupy' activist movement have been arrested and charged with terrorist activities in Chicago, for allegedly planning to bomb the the residence of mayor Rahm Emanuel and Obama’s campaign headquarters during the upcoming Nato summit. This is another sign of increasing left-wing violence, in Europe and America, as the global financial crisis worsens. Washington Post

US to Israel: $70M for Missile Defense System

Sat, 19 May 2012 15:21:00 -0700

This week Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced the United States will provide $70 million dollars to Israel for the Iron Dome missile defense system. The Iron Dome is a mobile air defense system designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4-70 kilometers. It was first deployed one year ago and, to date, has intercepted about 100 rockets fired out of the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, where over one million Israelis live within range of the ongoing threat of Palestinian aggression.

"Iron Dome is a game changer, saving lives and providing increased security to innocent Israelis who for too long have been terrorized by random Palestinian terrorist rocket attacks," said Rep. Howard Berman of California, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"At every turn -- Democrats and Republicans, this administration and the Netanyahu government -- we all have walked in lockstep to achieve these results together," Berman said in a statement, calling Israeli security "an American imperative."

The need for additional Iron Dome systems has been necessitated by the recent influx of weapons into Gaza from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Unfortunately, this influx of weapons is a direct result of the Obama Administration’s Middle East policy.

The U.S. supported the overthrow of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi through the use of so-called “Kinetic Military Action,” which allows for use of American air and naval power in support of conflict but keeps American boots off the ground, a model now being eyed for intervention in Syria. But without American or NATO troops on the ground to exert control in the post-conflict confusion, weapons have flowed freely out of Libya into the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.

Large shipments of these weapons-- including anti-aircraft missiles, RPGs and anti-tank weapons-- have been smuggled to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and then into the neighboring Gaza Strip. Exacerbating the problem, the Obama Administration recently waived the congressional ban on foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority and provided them with a $192 million dollar aid package helping to finance increased purchases of these weapons.

The contradicting actions call into question both the folly of the Administration’s decision to provide funds to Palestinian terror groups and the veracity of Obama’s commitment to Israel and its defense. Rather than being a response to Israel’s eroding security, it is more likely a response to eroding Jewish support going into the 2012 presidential election.

Republican party identification amongst Jews has increased by 9% over 2008 and Democratic party identification by Jews has decreased by 7% over that same period. Additionally, only 62% of Jewish voters say they would like to see Obama re-elected in 2012, down from 78% that voted for him in 2008.

President Obama has habitually played both sides of many issues--the Afghanistan war, immigration enforcement, domestic energy policy, and, most recently, gay marriage, to name a few. But Obama’s policies in regard to Israel have been constantly cynical and served only to stoke the fires of the longstanding conflict that he pledged to help end as a key selling point in his 2008 presidential bid.

Unfortunately, one million Israelis and 1.7 million Gazans will have to pay the direct price of the increased intensity of the conflict created by Obama's electioneering. As will American taxpayers, to the tune of $262 million dollars.

Iraqi Court Likely to Release Hezbollah Commander Transferred by Obama Admin

Sat, 19 May 2012 14:56:00 -0700

On April 19, I had a post focused on the fact that the Obama administration was working to transfer convicted terrorist Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay to Canada, where he would quickly be set free. This story came on the heels of news that the Obama administration had plans to free a number of Guantanamo Afghan terrorist detainees to curry favor at the negotiating table with the Taliban.

And now, news is breaking that Ali Mussa Daqduq, a Hezbollah commander who is tied to the deaths of five U.S. soldiers in 2007, will likely be released by the Iraqi court system after the Obama administration turned him over in December 2011 rather than try him in Guantanamo Bay.

Five U.S. soldiers dead, and thanks to Obama, the killer will be set free. Who's our president taking foreign policy advice from, Ron Paul?

This is an absolute slap in the face to our brave military personnel, especially the families of the five soldiers whose deaths are tied to Daqduq. Or, to put it as Rep. Allen West (R-FL) has, this is "an 'utter betrayal' to American soldiers who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Exclusive Video: NATO Protesters Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Terrorism

Sat, 19 May 2012 11:17:00 -0700

Three of the individuals arrested in the Wednesday apartment raid of an Occupy Chicago member were charged last night for conspiracy to commit terrorism. The suspects, Brian Church, 20, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Jared Chase, 24, of Keene, N.H.; and Brent Vincent Betterly, 24, were detained for approximately 48 hours before finally being charged around 2 am this morning.

The suspects are apparently the same three individuals who published the recent viral video on YouTube of what they claimed was police harassment outside of the Chicago Police Department. Coincidentally, two of these suspects appear to have been at the first violent action of the NATO week protests on Tuesday night.

These individuals spoke out and taunted the police in that march through the south side of Chicago, dubbed the “F*ck the Police” march. After the police refused to take the protesters' bait of torment and ridicule, the demonstrators declared they would “continue on their peaceful way.” However, video obtained exclusively by Breitbart News shows the behavior of the apparent suspects and their cohorts was nothing remotely close to peaceful.

The suspects are accused of attempting to make Molotov cocktails.

UPDATE: As of 11:17 am CST The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting the police were using informants inside the home that was raided.

See the exclusive video below.

World View: Syria's Largest City Suddenly Turns on Assad

Sat, 19 May 2012 02:02:00 -0700

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Aleppo, Syria's largest city, suddenly turns on Assad
Al-Qaeda's influence grows in Syria
Sunni Salafists target Sufi shrines and monuments for destruction
Sunni versus Shia tensions grow in Mideast and Asia

Aleppo, Syria's largest city, suddenly turns on Assad

Despite over a year of massive slaughter of innocent Arab citizens by the regime of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, there were widespread anti-government protests in cities across the country on Friday. Most significant were the student protests at Aleppo University. Aleppo has been relative free of protests in the past, because a lot of the population are Alawites, which is al-Assad's ethnic group, and because the city has continued to be relatively prosperous as a result of generous benefits bestowed by the regime. But as we reported two weeks ago, there was a demonstration by Aleppo University students, and the regime's response was a massive slaughter by security forces, who stormed the university, breaking down doors and using machine guns and rifles against students. Besides everything else, this shows the utter stupidity of al-Assad, because this action has backfired, and turned Aleppo against him, and triggered many protests across the country in sympathy with Aleppo University students. Day Press News (Syria)

Al-Qaeda's influence grows in Syria

The two suicide car bombs in Damascus on May 10 were an alarming development. Before last December, suicide bombs were unheard of in Syria. Now there have been 10 such attacks, becoming increasingly deadly — 55 died in the latest atrocity; and another attack was thwarted in Aleppo, where a suicide bomber in a carwash killed five on May 5. It's unlikely that either the regime or the opposition carried out these atrocities. Most likely, the al-Qaeda linked group Al-Nusra ("Victory") carried out the bombings. Islamists are taking advantage of the chaos, which is being fed by arms to the opposition by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and arms to the regime by Iran and Russia. Gulf News

Sunni Salafists target Sufi shrines and monuments for destruction

We've reported several times in the past about the chaotic conquest of northern Mali by Tuareg rebels, and the resulting attack by al-Qaeda linked Ansar al-Dine on the northern city of Timbuktu. ( "4-Apr-12 World View -- Timbuktu's ancient history at risk over chaotic Mali rebellion") Timbuktu is a city of enormous historic importance to the Sufi branch of Islam. It's home to many Sufi shrines, as well as to nearly 100,000 ancient manuscripts, some dating to the 12th century, preserved in family homes and private libraries under the care of religious scholars. Ansar al-Dine terrorists have begun destroying Sufi shrines, and are collecting the ancient manuscripts, intending them for destruction. This is part of a growing pattern of destruction of Sufi shrines, monuments and documents by al-Qaeda linked Sunni Islamist terrorists. Terrorist acts targeting Sufis have occurred in Spain, Egypt, Somalia, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Jamestown

Sunni versus Shia tensions grow in Mideast and Asia

Many Westerners see see Muslims as a monolithic group opposed to the West, but in fact the major feature of Islam today is the growing belligerence between Sunni and "apostate" Muslims, including Shia Muslims and adherents to other branches of Islam. This rising conflict is manifested in many ways:

In Syria, the Bashar al-Assad regime pits the Alawites, adherents to an offshoot of Shia Islam, against the Sunni opposition. Al-Qaeda has been encouraging the Sunni opposition to continue fighting the Alawite regime, while the Shia terrorist group Hizbollah, along with Shia-led Iran, have been supporting the regime.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), led by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has been considering the formation of a "Gulf Union," for shared foreign and defense policy, driven by fear of Arab Spring contagion and spreading Iran influence, although the effort is being opposed by some of the smaller Gulf nations, fearing a loss of individual identity.
Al-Qaeda linked terrorist groups have been targeting Sufi shrines and worshipers across the entire region, as we described above.
Pakistan's Taliban, and other Sunni Islamist groups have been targeting civilian worshipers in Sufi and Shia ceremonies. In addition, they've attacked Hindu targets in India, since Hindus have historically been aligned with Shias against Sunnis.
The Sunni terror group Jundullah as been attacking Shias by means of terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Iran.
Iran's anti-Israeli campaign has been dealt a serious blow because of the situation in Syria. Iran has long been using Hamas as a proxy for terrorist attacks on Israel, but Hamas cannot stand by quietly while Syria's regime is massacring innocent Arab civilians. This has caused a serious split between Hamas and Iran that has weakening Iran's influence in the region.
In Bahrain, the Shia protests against the Sunni government have become a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The Sunni versus Shia conflict, of which most Americans are totally unaware, is the principal factor in Mideast geopolitics. As I've been writing for years, my expectation is that the coming Clash of Civilizations World War will pit China, Pakistan and the Sunni nations against India, Russia, Iran, and the West, including Israel. Reuters and Syria Comment

Professional Demonstrators Show Up for NATO Summit Weekend

Fri, 18 May 2012 19:12:00 -0700

NATO weekend is officially here. Busloads of Occupiers, anarchists, communists, and other radicals have been arriving for the past few days in Chicago.

Events and “actions” began on Monday this week with 8 arrests that morning at the Obama campaign headquarters and continued that afternoon on the south side of Chicago at a protest organized by the Chicago Teachers Union and Occupy Chicago. That protest was against “corporate higher education” and, more specifically, over budget cuts to Dyett High School that led to the termination of an art teacher.

Actions continued Tuesday morning with a march demanding an end to detentions of illegal aliens, with a vigil supporting rights for illegal aliens and immigrant families. Tuesday night marked the beginning of a violent anarchist/occupy presence in Chicago, with a violent march on the city’s south side.

The march featured masked anarchists, communists, and occupiers chanting “f*ck the police,” which also happened to the name of the march (“FTP March”). Protesters harassed and taunted police, with support from some local residents, under the banner of ending police brutality, but there was some very vocal opposition from area neighbors who did not appreciate the presence of the protesters.

The event ended with protesters storming the Halsted L Station and attempting to illegally enter the city transit system. After Chicago Transit Authority officials halted the train, the protesters left and continued their romp through back alleys, knocking over garbage cans and using construction horses as well as dumpsters to create barricades, slowing the police down from following them.

More “actions” followed Wednesday throughout the day and concluded in the evening at the Wellington United Church of Christ, a member of the Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches, where Occupiers and radicals have been invited to use the church as a base for planning their actions. Buses began dropping off hundreds of protesters at the church Wednesday evening and were still arriving as of Friday afternoon.

“Spontaneous” protests and marches took place Thursday on Chicago’s north side, in Lincoln Park, near the church. Several hundred protesters took over Halsted St. as they did Tuesday, this time on the opposite end of the city. The protest was in response to the arrests of nine more Occupiers the previous night. Those arrests took place at the home of two Occupy Chicago activists over suspicion they were producing Molotov cocktails. The police claimed they found equipment inside used for that purpose; the occupiers denied it, claiming the equipment is used for brewing beer.

Today the National Nurses United held a large rally in Daley plaza downtown. There were about 2,000 in attendance. Nurses donned Robin Hood hats and watched a stage show mocking the leaders of the G-8. Bill Ayers was in attendance with his wife Bernadine Dohrn. The show was topped off with a performance by Tom Morello, the guitarist of rap-rock group Rage Against the Machine. Morello showed his solidarity with the nurses by wearing a red star sewn into his black shirt--a pretty expensive looking shirt, I might add.

During the protest I attempted to conduct several interviews. However, the Nurses Union--apparently worried about certain media being around--had given wrist bands to approved media to wear and instructed nurses not to speak to anyone that was not wearing one. When I inquired with the press relations personnel regarding this, and told her I was with Breitbart, she said they would not be doing any interviews with anyone from Breitbart, and then went over to her supervisor and informed him, “Breitbart is here.” Had you seen it, and you still may, you would laugh and probably imagine Andrew is having a laugh about it too.

Not so funny, however, is that these radical organizations like the National Nurses United are afraid to talk to media which they fear do not fully support their radical ambitions. The group chanted for a “Robin Hood Tax” and, of course, the latest in left-approved forms of taxation, an “international transactions tax.”

Following the nurses' protest, the occupiers, anarchists and others marched through downtown Chicago, closing down State St. en route to the financial district. They continued past the banks chanting, “one, two, three, four, Chase Bank f*ck you,” with a few chants directed at other banks, including Bank of America. This march concluded with a sit-in on LaSalle St. in front of the Chicago Board of Trade/Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank.

The festivities of their so-called “Week Without Capitalism” are set to continue throughout the weekend as the NATO Summit culminates. There is a general assembly scheduled for Friday evening and marches scheduled for the rest of the weekend. I asked an occupier outside of the Wellington United Church this afternoon what we can expect and when we will see the biggest rally. He told me, “NATO… NATO… it all depends on how the police are...” He also said the largest contingent of radicals and occupiers are here from New York. He did not have an estimate of how many. However, he and a few of his friends have been all over the country at different “occupies” and are itching for the demonstrations to begin as the summit gets underway.

World View: Vietnamese Boatmen Defy China's Fishing Ban in South China Sea

Fri, 18 May 2012 17:11:00 -0700

Today's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

France's power couple: François Hollande and Valérie Trierweiler
Azerbaijan conducts high-powered military exercises in the Caspian Sea
China imposes a 2 1/2 month fishing ban in the South China Sea
Vietnam's fishermen defy China's fishing ban in South China Sea
Today's Schadenfreude: North Koreans kidnap 29 Chinese fishermen
U.S. is aiding supplying of weapons to Syria's rebels
New Cyprus controversy strains relations between Turkey and Israel

France's power couple: François Hollande and Valérie Trierweiler

Valérie Trierweiler, the 'partner' of France's new president François Hollande, is moving to distinguish herself from her predecessor Carla Bruni, the supermodel/singer wife of Nicolas Sarkozy. Trierweiler is bringing back the traditional French music, like Edith Piaf's La Vie en Rose, as well as the accordion. Trierweiler claims to be better placed than Bruni to handle the workings of power. "I am and remain passionate about news. I know politics, I know the media. Bruni came from a world totally alien to that of politics. She didn't necessarily know the codes," she said. Guardian

Azerbaijan conducts high-powered military exercises in the Caspian Sea

Azerbaijan recently completed large-scale military exercises in the Caspian Sea, involving around 1,200 servicemen, 21 ships, 20 speedboats as well as eight helicopters. Although Azerbaijan is claiming that the purpose of the exercises is to protect Azeri assets from terrorists, the huge scale of the exercises implies that they're really targeted at countering military buildups by Iran and Russia. Jamestown

China imposes a 2 1/2 month fishing ban in the South China Sea

According to China's fishery authorities, China has imposed a 2½ month fishing ban in the South China Sea, "as part of ongoing efforts to rehabilitate the area's marine resources." The ban runs from May 16 to August 1. Violators will face punishments such as fines, license revocations, confiscations and possible criminal charges. Also, all fishing boats are required to have activated positioning equipment so they will not accidentally enter banned areas. Xinhua

Vietnam's fishermen defy China's fishing ban in South China Sea

Vietnam's Foreign Ministry has protested China's fishing ban: "Vietnam opposes this unilateral decision by China and views it as an invalid one." China is imposing the ban pursuant to its claim to have full sovereignty over the entire South China Sea, including areas historically belonging to other countries. ( "13-May-12 World View -- China denies preparing for war with the Philippines") A group of Vietnamese fisherman have set sail to defy China's fishing ban. One of the fishermen was among 20 Vietnamese fishermen previously kidnapped by the Chinese for violating an earlier fishing ban. "Whatever orders the Chinese government wants to give, they can go ahead, but we are not scared of them," he said. Radio Free Asia

Today's Schadenfreude: North Koreans kidnap 29 Chinese fishermen

As my mother used to say, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. The North Koreans have kidnapped 29 Chinese fisherman in three fishing boats, and demanded $190,000 for their release. It's not clear whether the North Korean government authorized the captures. According to a person who has spoken with the captors, "If the kidnappers don't get the money by [Thursday], they will sell off the boats, which are worth 3 million yuan (U.S. $473,000)." Radio Free Asia / AFP

U.S. is aiding supplying of weapons to Syria's rebels

Obama administration officials now believe that an expanding military confrontation in Syria is inevitable, and is coordinating the effort to supply arms to the rebels. According to one State Dept. official:

"We are increasing our nonlethal assistance to the Syrian opposition, and we continue to coordinate our efforts with friends and allies in the region and beyond in order to have the biggest impact on what we are collectively doing."

The flow of arms to Syria's rebels has increased significantly in recent months after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month. Administration officials also held talks in Washington this week with a delegation of Kurds from sparsely populated eastern Syria, where little violence has occurred. The talks included discussion of what one U.S. official said remained the “theoretical” possibility of opening a second front against Bashar al-Assad’s forces that would compel him to move resources from the west. Washington Post

New Cyprus controversy strains relations between Turkey and Israel

Relations between Turkey and Israel have been relatively calm in recent months, thanks to the crisis in Syria, but a new controversy is causing disputes to flare again. Turkey is demanding an explanation from Israel on Thursday for violation Turkish Cypriot airspace by an Israeli plane that was chased away by Turkish fighter jets. Turkey and Greece fought a bitter war in Cyprus in 1974, resulting in a partition of the island into Greek and Turkish regions. Tensions flared in 2010 over an Israeli-Greek Cypriot deal for oil and gas explorations around Cyprus. The ownership of the gas and oil is disputed, and Turkey is accusing Israel of violating Turkish Cypriot airspace in order to spy on Turkey's oil and gas exploration efforts. Zaman (Istanbul)

EU to Intervene to Stop Palestinian Execution of Man Who Sold Land to Jews

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:55:00 -0700

The European Union has been asked to intervene in order to stop the Palestinian Authority from executing a man who sold the Bait HaMachpela (House of the Patriarchs) to Jewish families in Hebron.

The chairman of the EU Committee for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Fiorello Provera, said this week that the EU was obligated to intervene on behalf of Muhammad Abu Shahala, who was sentenced to death by the PA. When Hebron’s small Jewish community made a plea to the EU to save Abu Shahala, Provera responded:

"Abu Shahala's conviction has no justification, and therefore the European Union will intervene to save his life. It is inconceivable that a man who sells his house will be convicted of a crime and sentenced to death. The PA is the foremost beneficiary of a European assistance, so we must intervene interest and demand the PA immediately cancel Abu Shahala's death sentence. And, to remove the death penalty for the sale of property and land [to Jews]. I call on the PA to immediately block the implementation of death sentence on Abu Shahala, as required by the UN General Assembly."

Abu Shahala, who suffers from heart disease and has had four catheterizations, was arrested four months ago by the PA, released, then rearrested and reportedly tortured and put into solitary confinement. In order for him to be executed, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas must sign the death warrant.

David Wilder and Noam Arnon, leaders in Hebron’s Jewish community, have also petitioned UN chief Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy, and the director general of the International Red Cross, Yves Daccord, writing:

“It is appalling to think that property sales should be defined as a ‘capital crime’ punishable by death. The very fact that such a ‘law’ exists within the framework of the PA legal system points to a barbaric and perverse type of justice, reminiscent of practices implemented during the dark ages. What would be the reaction to a law in the United States, England, France, or Switzerland, forbidding property sales to Jews? Less than one hundred years ago, such acts were legislated and practiced, in the infamous ‘Nuremberg laws....”

David Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Hebron, said Jewish history begins in Hebron; Biblically, Abraham bought the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron in order to bury his wife Sarah there. Because Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are buried there, the city has always been known to Jews as the City of the Patriarchs. Hebron was King David's first capital, and remnants of the city from Biblical times have been discovered there in archaeological excavations at Tel Rumeida, the ancient Tel Hebron. Jews lived there continually from Biblical times, but in 1929, at the behest of Haj Amin al-Husseini, appointed by the British authorities as Mufti of Jerusalem, who later consulted with Hitler about the “Final Solution,” Arabs rioted and massacred 59 Jews, and another 8 who died of their wounds later. The Jews and Arabs had coexisted peacefully before, so when riots broke out around the country the Jews asked Jewish soldiers to leave so their Arab neighbors wouldn’t be upset. Unprotected, the Jews were slaughtered for two days: the pro-Arab British authorities only instructed the Jews to remain inside their homes, where they were trapped. Entire families were slaughtered, among them Ben-Zion Gershon, the pharmacist at the Bait Hadassah Clinic, where both Jews and Arabs were treated, and his wife, whose hands were cut off.

Three days later, the British decided to evacuate the Jewish community of Hebron.

In 1931, the Jews returned, settling 200 people there. But in April 1936, new riots broke out, and the British deported all the Jews from Hebron again. In 1948, Jordan took over the city and razed the ancient Jewish city, including the cemetery. For the first time, Jews were absent for a sustained period of time, until 1967 and the Six-Day War, when the Jews returned until the present day.

Ron Paul, Sheila Jackson Lee Agree: Civilian Courts for Terrorists

Fri, 18 May 2012 08:10:00 -0700

Treating terrorism like a crime instead of an act of war is not a good idea, and the public knows it. Thus, when Attorney General Eric Holder wanted to treat it like crime and try KSM in New York, the American people expressed outrage. Everyone except the died-in-the-wool Clinton sycophants knew that Bill Clinton spent his presidency treating terrorism like crime, and what did we get? We got 9/11.

Nevertheless, an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, being pushed by Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.), promises to give foreign terrorists held by the U.S. access to civilian courts within the U.S., instead of military tribunals. Moreover, the amendment would not only “implement an unprecedented reversal in longstanding U.S. policy by requiring that terrorists be prosecuted in civilian courts… [but] would also allow them to be housed among general inmates in American prisons.”

Perhaps the most important thing to note in this legislative discussion is is that Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and Ron Paul (R-Texas) support it. If you write a piece of legislation dealing with foreign policy and either of these two titans sign on, you know you’ve made a mistake.

The bottom line: Legal rights for terrorists is never a good idea, for it goes against the grain of common sense and it runs counter to legal precedent and military tradition in this nation. It is also an affront to our brave troops who risk life and limb to capture these combatants and bring them to justice.

Spain Faces Run On Banks

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:52:00 -0700

In another sign that the financial crisis in Europe is worsening, Bankia, Spain’s fourth biggest bank, which was formed in 2010 through a merger of seven regional savings institutions, is suffering from a recent run on the bank of l billion euros. This news, revealed in the El Mundo newspaper, triggered shares in the bank dropping yesterday by 27 percent. Spain's IBEX index fell nearly to its lowest level since mid-2003. In addition, the pan-European FTSE 300 index dropped to 984.22, the lowest since January.

What is happening in Spain only adds to the fears sweeping the European content following the disaster in Greece. The European Central Bank has stopped providing liquidity to some Greek banks because they have not been recapitalized. Since the Greeks have blindly rejected austerity measures which the European Union and the International Monetary Fund imposed and elected the Radical Left party leader Alexis Tsipras and former Prime Minister George Papandreou, there is expectation that Greece will flee the Eurozone. Investors are now worried that Greece leaving the alliance will trigger the same action from Spain and Italy, and they are reluctant to put their money in those countries. Spain especially is looking like a bad investment; it slipped back into recession during the first quarter, and the country's medium-term borrowing costs rose sharply during a bond auction.

Royal London Asset Management's European equities fund manager Neil Wilkinson, who manages around 425 million euros worth of assets, said his portfolio was 70 per cent invested in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, but only a small amount in Italy and Spain.

America’s Aging Aviation Force: Father and Son Flew Same Fighter Jet 30 Years Apart

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:35:00 -0700

The youngest B-52 bomber rolled off the assembly line 50 years ago. Remarkably, it’s still flying.

Like many of the aircraft still used by the U.S. Air Force, the B-52 is a telltale example of America’s geriatric aviation force. At a time when our military is asked to do more with less, fiscal constraints have hampered the military’s modernization and recapitalization strategy.

The Heritage Foundation is highlighting those challenges as part of three-part video series. Breitbart TV carried the first video about an Army colonel who relied on an SUV during the war in Iraq.

The B-52 might be among the Air Force’s most recognizable planes. Its maiden flight was in April 1952 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower occupied the White House and the Cold War posed the greatest threat to America’s security. Today it is still flying out of Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.

It’s not the military’s only aging aircraft, however. Along with tankers and fighters, America’s aviation force today is jeopardy of sacrificing dominance in the air environment that came with advancements in the 1960s and 1970s. Simply modernizing and updating those aircraft won’t provide the same edge.

David A. Deptula, a retired three-star general, has witnessed this “geriatric aviation force” firsthand. He earned his wings and flew an F-15 for the first time in 1977. Thirty years later, another Deptula boarded the aircraft. His son, Lt. David A. Deptula II, flew the same F-15 at Kadena Air Force Base in Japan.

The Wall Street Journal documented the amazing father-son story last fall to illustrate the challenges facing the aging force. The elder Deptula recounted how the fighter was originally designed for a 4,000-hour service life. That was later extended to 8,000 hours.

“We have really flown these aircraft well beyond what originally would be believed as their replacement lifetime,” Deptula said of the F-15s. “And now, because of some of the fiscal constraints that are being imposed on the Department of Defense, there is consideration being given to extending the lifetime even further.”

Before retiring from the Air Force in 2010 as a lieutenant general, Deptula traveled to Kadena for a high-aspect mission with his son. He flew the F-15 and saw firsthand some of its deficiencies compared to newer aircraft like the F-22 and F-35.

He knows the risks associated with flying an older aircraft. While serving as the joint task force commander in 1998 and 1999 for Operation Northern Watch, he flew 82 combat missions over Iraq. On one mission, as he was headed to a tanker to refuel, the master caution light came on, revealing a problem with the plane. His fuel gauge went to zero. Meanwhile, he was 500 miles away from his base. He was able to land safely.

“The insulation was so old it simply had deteriorated to the extent where it came off and all of the wiring shorted out,” Deptula explained. “Those are the kinds of things that happen when airplanes get to certain ages.”

While his aircraft was grounded, another set of airplanes traveled from Kadena Air Force Base in Japan, on other side of the world, to replace the one that was being repaired.

In the years that followed, the Air Force was forced to ground its entire F-15 fleet in 2007 after one fighter disintegrated during a training mission in Missouri.

Deptula worries that fiscal constraints imposed on the military -- including more than $600 billion of mandatory defense cuts on the horizon -- will result in future challenges.

“I hear people talk about, well you know, the U.S. military spends more money than the next 17 nations combined,” Deptula said. “Well, the next 17 nations combined are not committed to maintaining peace and stability around the world. We are.”

Heritage’s James Jay Carafano, an expert on defense and national security issues, worries that under the Obama administration, the military will continue to suffer from ill-advised budgeting.

“Today’s air forces are the oldest in the history of U.S. air forces,” Carafano explained. “Replacing old airframes and ensuring the U.S. maintains its superiority over potential adversaries is a national security priority. Yet Obama has done little to show he takes the challenge of modernizing the air fleets seriously.”

Reuters: Iran Smuggling Arms to Syria in Violation of UN Sanctions

Thu, 17 May 2012 06:31:00 -0700

Reuters reports that Iran continues to violate United Nations sanctions by shipping arms to Syria, as that nation's government crushes its opposition with Iranian and Russian assistance:

Syria remains the top destination for Iranian arms shipments in violation of a U.N. Security Council ban on weapons exports by the Islamic Republic, according to a confidential report on Iran sanctions-busting seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Iran, like Russia, is one of Syria's few allies as it presses ahead with a 14-month old assault on opposition forces determined to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

News of the panel's report came as Tehran and the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency try narrow their differences on how to tackle concerns over Iran's atomic program, and as Iran prepares for talks with the five permanent council members and Germany in Iraq next week.

The report also says that UN sanctions are having some impact on Iranian imports of "some critical items required for its prohibited nuclear program."

Photo: CBS News

Uniformed Military Banned from Downtown Chicago During NATO

Thu, 17 May 2012 05:17:00 -0700

The Commanding Officer of U.S. Naval Station Great Lakes, just north of Chicago, has ordered all uniformed military personnel to stay out of downtown Chicago from May 18 to 22 during the NATO Summit. Given threats of violent protest at the meeting of international leaders, the Navy cannot guarantee their safety.

The order represents a unique hardship to new sailors in the U.S. Navy, who traditionally visit downtown Chicago after completing several weeks of rigorous training at Great Lakes before being deployed to their new bases.

Anarchists, socialists, Occupiers, and other activists of various kinds have begun descending on the NATO Summit site in the hopes of inciting confrontations with police, attracting attention, and re-igniting the dormant Occupy Wall Street movement that was the darling of the mainstream media in the fall of 2011.

Judicial Watch at KSM Trial: Defendants Show No Remorse, Respect for Proceedings

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:58:00 -0700

On May 5, 2012, the five terrorists accused of plotting and executing the attacks of 9/11 were arraigned at Guantanamo Bay. Judicial Watch’s Senior Investigator Lisette Garcia was on the ground to observe the proceedings.

Of course, everyone knows the name of 9/11 ringleader Khalid Shaikh Mohammad (KSM). Here are the names of KSM's followers and co-conspirators according to the Defense Department: Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi. The identities of these terrorists have been difficult to pin down as they reportedly have used many aliases throughout their "careers" and during their detainment.

According to Lisette (and numerous press reports), the marathon 13-hour arraignment was a bizarre scene, to say the least. How bizarre? Throughout the proceeding, the terrorist suspects engaged in a wide variety of disruptive behaviors, including:

Refusing to wear any of the various listening devices provided to each of the accused for the purpose of simultaneously interpreting into Arabic everything said in open court;

Refusing to answer the judge's direct questions as to whether the listening devices were actually working, whether the attorneys provided by the U.S. government at no charge on the defendants' behalf were acceptable to them, and whether they understood the nature of the charges being brought against them;

Smiling, giggling, gesturing, talking, passing notes and even sharing a magazine among the five accused. Additionally, alleged mastermind KSM - who sat at the front table on the defense's side of the courtroom - used a bold marker to make signs which he hung from a computer screen and microphone at his station in view of his alleged followers sitting directly behind him. The linguists complained that touching the microphone caused static which impaired their ability to hear and interpret the proceedings. They also complained that side conversations further impaired their ability to hear and interpret the proceedings.

Abruptly rising to engage in a repetitive stand, bend, kneel pattern of prayer at times not related to any recognized worship obligations.

Fox News Channel's Catherine Herridge, who also observed the arraignment, reported that "It was clear right out of the gate that the 9/11 suspects came in with a strategy to frustrate and delay the process." In other words, they were making a statement.

And, at the end of the hearing it got personal. Lisette explains:

The strangest incident may have been a defendant's parting greeting toward a transparent divider at the rear of the courtroom. Beyond the transparent divider sat a handful of the 9/11 victims' surviving family members who had been invited to observe the proceedings in person.

Eddie Bracken, whose sister was killed in the World Trade Center prong of the attack, said at a press conference held the following morning that Binalshibh mocked his sister's death by smiling and giving Bracken a thumbs-up sign the night before. Although a thumbs-up gesture generally means approval or agreement in the United States, in the Middle East the sign is considered a crass insult. (You can watch video transcripts of the press conferences here.)

Mr. Bracken responded to the terrorists' absurd behavior: "They turn around and they converse with each other - that's good; my sister and those people that were lost, they can't converse with anybody," he said, according to the New York Times: "It brought up all the old memories and that whole day and up to today. And listening to all their rhetoric and how they perceive themselves and how the lawyers are perceiving them, it's hurtful because they have no remorse."

More than 10 years after Mr. Bracken's sister was murdered, KSM and his co-conspirators face the following charges: terrorism, hijacking aircraft, conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, and destroying property in violation of the law of war.

Now, as crazy as this military hearing was as it unfolded, it is a near miracle it unfolded at all given how badly the Obama administration botched the decision to seek justice against KSM.

You remember how this went, right?

First, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the 9/11 terrorists would be tried in a New York civilian court, leading to a massive public backlash and a near revolt in Congress. Then, in January 2010 came press reports indicating the Obama administration had abandoned this ridiculous idea given the "wave of protests" from citizens of New York. A month later, the Washington Post was reporting that President Obama had frozen Holder out of the process and would indeed find an appropriate place for a civilian trial (as if there is such a thing).

On the day he announced his re-election campaign (wink, wink) the president reversed course and decided a military tribunal was a good idea after all.

In fact, Paul Orfanedes, JW's Director of Litigation, made our first trip to the facility back in 2008 to observe the initial arraignment of these terrorists - a legal process that later resulted in the suspects wanting to plead guilty. Yet, Obama's legal team shut that process down until, as I described above, they were forced to reopen it again. But please remember, as you see these terrorists try to make a mockery of our military commission system, that this all could have been over and done with long ago if not for the bungling and ideological decisions of the Obama administration.

So here we are.

Of course, if Obama has his way, ultimately Gitmo will be shut down and additional terrorist detainees released, which would lead to disastrous results. The president claims he will make good on his campaign promise to close Guantanamo Bay, even though there are deep divisions within his own administration as to the wisdom of such a move.

But, for now, Gitmo remains open for business and the 9/11 terrorists face a jury trial before a panel of military officers who will decide their fate -- as it should be.

It is an honor and a privilege for Judicial Watch to be among the select few to observe these proceedings. We've made six trips to Gitmo to observe terrorist detainee proceedings there. And we will be there in the future in order to bear witness on behalf of citizens who want justice for the 9/11 atrocities.

To see additional material on our Gitmo activity, click here.

'Drachma' in Greece; Run on Greek Banks?

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:38:00 -0700

As deposit holders withdrew nearly $1 billion from Greek banks on Monday, concerns mounted across Europe and around the world that Greece might withdraw from the Euro and return to its previous currency, the drachma (pictured above).

While Greek officials disputed reports that there was a "run" on the country's banks, Greek consumers, who withdrew billions in a 2010 panic, are determined to hold cash assets in the Euro rather than in a devalued drachma.

European leaders are urging Greece to stay in the Euro, but as Greece faces the collapse of talks to form a new government, the prospect of new elections next month, crushing debt, and a banking system under severe pressure, there may be no alternative to withdrawal.

NATO Conference Includes Pakistan, Excludes Israel

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:56:00 -0700

When the NATO Summit takes place in Chicago on May 20-21, the president of Pakistan will be there because he was invited. But no Israeli representative will be there because the Islamists in NATO, especially Turkey, said “no way.”

Think about this: Pakistan is the very country in which Osama bin Laden enjoyed safekeeping for years. Moreover, it has closed supply routes for U.S. forces, which run from Pakistan into Afghanistan. The Pakistanis have also demanded an end to drone airstrikes against terrorists in Pakistan’s tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. Ironically, however, the airstrikes against which Pakistan has filed a complaint are NATO airstrikes.

Israel, on the other hand, is an avowed and proven opponent to terrorist activity and an ally to the Western countries that constitute the financial and military backbone of NATO. But sadly, Israel is more and more an isolated and endangered outpost for freedom in the Middle East as well.

The lesson here is clear: the NATO Alliance, so many other geo-political and military endeavors, is not what it once was. Instead, it is but another body unable to shake or quell the Islamist influence within it.

Tehran Celebrates Success in Nuclear Talks; Ross Calls Talks 'Not Serious'

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:13:00 -0700

President Barack Obama's policy of "tough diplomacy" continues to fail, as the Iranian regime celebrates its gains at the negotiating table, which cross previous red lines set down by the U.S. and the international community. As even the New York Times is forced to admit, "Iran has in effect forced the West to accept a program it insists is for peaceful purposes."

The Times' Thomas Erdbrink notes that a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader can already list several diplomatic victories over the Obama administration and the West:

Mr. Taraghi ticked off Iran’s successes. First, he said, Western countries did not want Iran to have a nuclear power plant, but its Bushehr reactor was now connected to the national grid. Second, the West had opposed Iran having heavy-water facilities, he said, but it now has one in Arak.

Third, the West had said no to any enrichment.

“But here we are, enriching as much as we need for our nuclear energy program,” Mr. Taraghi said with a smile, referring to the thousands of cascades of centrifuges spinning for years in the half-underground facility in Natanz. Since January, dozens more centrifuges have been online in the Fordo mountain bunker complex, near Qum, built to withstand a heavy attack.

Apparently, at least according to the Iranian regime, the West accepted Tehran's assurances that religious prohibitions would prevent the Iranian nuclear program from developing nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, former White House advisor Dennis Ross has called the talks "not serious," saying that Iran ought to be required to "stop the clock" on further uranium enrichment.

“This is not a serious process if it meets once a month,” he added, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Greece Fails to Arrange Coalition Gov't; New Elections in June

Tue, 15 May 2012 06:50:00 -0700

The Wall Street Journal reports that Greece's political parties have failed to arrange a coalition government, and that new elections will be held in June.

The previous elections saw Greek voters choose parties from the left and right extremes, partly in protest against the inability of the centrist parties to manage the country's debt crisis.

Anti-Israel Students Refuse Debate

Tue, 15 May 2012 06:28:00 -0700

It is typical of anti-Israel protest--especially on college campuses--that the demonstrators refuse to debate their pro-Israel classmates. They don't have facts, or right, on their side; what they do have is an elaborate fantasy in which Palestinians are innocent victims and Israelis are evil oppressors. They abuse the academic freedom of others while refusing to exercise their own. The latest video evidence from Portland State University is a fine example of the phenomenon.

In the video, shown below, three rows of protestors sit in a May 14 lecture by Erick Stakelbeck of the Christian Broadcasting Network--some with tape over their mouths, some holding protest signs, all refusing his invitation to debate and ask questions. At a signal, the demonstrators stand up and walk out--to the applause of the rest of the audience, who had tired of the creepy, meaningless protest.

That students--and others, apparently--would choose to demonstrate their opinions in that way says less about how Israel is perceived on college campuses today, and more about how those campuses have become bastions of anti-intellectualism under the stewardship of radical left faculty and administrators.

François Hollande, the One Percent Socialist

Mon, 14 May 2012 06:14:00 -0700

French voters are learning that their newly-elected Socialist president, François Hollande owns three homes on the French Riviera, according to the Daily Mail:

France's new Socialist president owns three holiday homes in the glamorous Riviera resort of Cannes, it emerged today.

The 57-year-old who 'dislikes the rich' and wants to revolutionise his country with high taxes and an onslaught against bankers is in fact hugely wealthy himself.

His assets were published today in the Official Journal, the gazette which contains verified information about France's government.

Hollande's "one percent socialism" comes as a surprise to much of the French electorate, to whom he sold himself as a common man with empathy for their economic circumstances.

Once again, socialism proves itself a luxury good.

Not surprisingly, the Agence France-Press news agency describes Hollande's assets as "modest."

Nervous Democrats Brace for Romney Slam Dunk on Israel

Mon, 14 May 2012 05:33:00 -0700

Democrats are bracing for the political impact of a likely visit by Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney to the State of Israel, which would highlight the fact that President Barack Obama has not visited Israel once during his term in office. Romney, who has visited Israel several times and enjoys a long-standing personal relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, may attract pro-Israel Democrats who are disappointed in Obama's often hostile approach to America's closest ally.

Obama has visited the Middle East several times, including a much-hyped visit to Cairo in June 2009, where he addressed the Muslim world as a whole. His first telephone call to a foreign leader went to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and Obama clearly saw himself as the president who would solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by sheer force of will. However, his chosen method--public confrontation with Israel--only alienated Israelis while hardening Palestinian demands.

As Obama struggles to sell his record to pro-Israel voters--particularly Jewish voters, who may have an impact in the swing state of Florida--The Hill reports that leading Democrats know he has an uphill climb. For example, even if Obama schedules an overdue visit to Israel, the election-year timing will only add to suspicions that Obama's professed love for Israel is merely political and not personal. Here's one Democrat struggling to explain Obama's absence:

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) agreed Obama should visit. “Anytime Barack Obama would go to Israel would be a good time,” she said. “Before [the election] or after, but he definitely ought to go.”

Schakowsky took a long pause when asked if Obama should have visited already.

“I don’t know — I don’t want to second-guess the administration on the timing of such a trip,” she said. “Clearly they’re an important ally and he’s made that clear in every single way in being supportive of Israel.”

A Romney visit to Israel would be a slam-dunk, in that it would not only remind pro-Israel voters of his deep affinity for the Jewish state, but would also grant him an opportunity to highlight contrasts with President Obama. Anecdotally, Romney is often cited as "the one Republican" that pro-Israel Democrats would consider voting for--and many, no doubt, are doing so. That's why Republicans are excited about a potential Romney visit to the Holy Land--and why Democrats are quietly bracing for impact.