March 2007
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March 28th, 2007
More than two-thirds of the world's large cities are in areas vulnerable to global warming and rising
sea levels, and millions of people are at risk of being swamped by flooding and intense storms...
Two aircraft carriers, plus their strike groups, have sailed to the region and have begun war games
involving as many as 100 US war planes.
China's state-run Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp, the biggest buyer of Iranian crude worldwide, began paying
for its oil in euros late last year as Tehran moves to diversify its foreign reserves away from U.S. dollars.
"...we predict some of the economies in the region will adopt the Chinese Yuan..."
Bush administration officials throughout the government have engaged in White House-directed efforts to stifle,
delay or dampen the release of climate change research that casts the White House or its policies in a bad light.
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March 26th, 2007
...foreign diplomats believe a possible attack would take place before the end of 2007.
an average of more than 500 people a day have been killed since the start of the war.
The US is scrambling to head off a "disastrous" Turkish military intervention in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq.
...would not have an adverse impact on the U.S. dollar."
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March 20th, 2007
For Those of You in Whitehorse...
Tomorrow night at 7, (Wednesday, March 21st) there will be a screening of a film about 9/11 at the
Whitehorse Public Library. It is being presented by Bill from Strange Things Done. I don't buy into some of the
9/11 conspiracy theories out there, however, I do wonder why it took the US Air Force over an hour to deploy
their fighter jets during the attack; they have air defence bases only minutes away from Washington and NYC.
It is a little curious. It is safe to say that there are holes in the official version of what happened on
that day. I hope that this film will shed a little light on parts of the story that don't quite add up.
Regardless of what you believe, it is always worth examining a new point of view.
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March 18th, 2007
Problems in Pakistan
I am quite concerned about what is going on in Pakistan these days. There seems to be great instability in the
country, and the regime of Pakistan's Military Dictator Pervez Musharraf appears to be on shaky ground.
Pakistan will hold a Presidential election later this year. Musharraf needs to win the election in order to give
his regime the perception of legitimacy as it seeks to extend its rule. (Musharraf came to power in a coup in 1999)
He does not want to be seen as just another military dictator. In an effort to improve his chances at the polls,
Musharraf has begun to crack down on his political opponents. Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry,
Pakistan's top judge, was recently dismissed and placed under house arrest. When protests erupted
over Chaudhry's controversial (and probably illegal) firing and detention, police moved in to censor the press,
taking popular news channel Geo TV off the air. Among those roughed up at Geo TV was one of the world's
best journalists, Hamid Mir. If you don't know who Mir is, I suggest that you read this.
Aside from the international PR issue this thuggish behaviour has generated, Musharraf has bigger problems.
Once seen as an indispensable friend of Washington in its "War on Terror," Musharraf has now found that US
support for his regime is waning. The Americans say that Pakistan has done nothing to secure the border with
Afghanistan and that terrorist groups operate freely within the country. To be fair to Musharraf, Washington's
expectations have been so high as to be unreasonable. Pakistan's frontier region along the Afghan border is
nearly impossible to govern. Recent efforts to gain control of the area cost the Pakistani military dearly;
they took significant casualties and made themselves very unpopular in a country where the Taliban
enjoys a fair measure of public support. To do exactly as Washington wishes (if it were possible) would be
politically suicidal for Musharraf. He has shown great skill in his ability to maintain his alliance with
the US without completely eroding support for his regime at home. Washington however, is growing impatient.
A recent report outlined US support for the overthrow of Musharraf. The article says that
"elite echelons of the military" seek to depose Musharraf and replace him with his current deputy,
General Ahsan Saleem Hyat.
This is where another bad neo-conservative idea becomes a problem for all of us. The fact that US support for
this coup is likely to backfire is entirely predictable. In 1953, the CIA helped to overthrow Iran's democratically
elected Prime Minister Mossadegh in order to install the tyrannical, but pro-western Shah. Anger over this led to
the eventual rise of anti-American mullahs in the Iranian Revolution. As in Iran, anger at the US for meddling in
Pakistan's affairs (a violation of the sovereignty of yet another Muslim country) would mobilize support for anyone
who would dare stand up to Washington. US intervention in Pakistan's would likely pave the way for Islamic radicals
to seize control of Pakistan's government. (not to mention its nuclear arsenal) There are well known Qutbists
who have the support of the Pakistani population as well as a few high-ranking friends within Pakistan's military.
They even have a leader in waiting.
Retired General Hamid Gul is sometimes referred to as the most powerful man in Pakistan. Here is an interview
with Gul from March of 2004. Gul rose in the ranks of the Pakistani military during the rule of Zia ul Haq,
the President responsible for " the Islamization of Pakistan." (It is said that many officers with extremist
sympathies were given influential posts during ul-Haq's rule) As Director of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence
Directorate, (Pakistan's version of the CIA or KGB) Gul supported Afghan mujahadeen during their war with the
Soviet Union. He is credited with helping to create the Taliban. He is a friend of Al Qaeda and an admirer of Osama
Bin Laden. Gul wants Pakistan to be ruled by a Taliban-style government. It is said that many important figures within
the Pakistani military are loyal to Gul. It has been suggested that if Pakistan were ever to hold a truly democratic
election, Gul would stand a fair chance of winning the vote in some parts of the country. It is also suggested that
if he were ever to come to power, Gul would enjoy significant popular support. Is it really wise for the US to
entertain the idea of supporting a coup against a US friendly strongman, while men like Gul wait in the wings?
Unlike other targets of US aggression, Pakistan HAS weapons of mass destruction. They have recently tested
medium-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to targets as far away as Tel Aviv. This is one hornet's
nest that would best remain un-disturbed. The fact that Musharraf is an un-elected military strongman might best be
ignored; the political reality is that Musharraf is probably the best possible friend that Washington could have.
To try to replace him with some other dictator would likely prove to be disastrous. The potential of the US making
an enemy in Pakistan is far too dangerous. Regardless of what the US does, it should be interesting to see what
happens in Pakistan through the rest of this year. Whatever Musharraf does before the vote will likely have a great
impact on an already troubled region. Let's hope that Washington will allow Pakistan to settle its own affairs,
without the sort of interference that would come back to haunt us all.
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March 11th, 2007
Dozens of bin Laden fans posted videos and pictures on the Internet commemorating the elusive al-Qaida
leader's life and renewing their allegiance to him and his terrorist network.
Mauritania seems to have gone further politically in the last two years than it has in the rest of its history.
"None of us can be the kind of person our great leader was..."
"We have a government that is spending like crazy in order to try to seduce the Canadian people."
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March 9th, 2007
...the Mayan community decided it would be necessary to cleanse the sacred site
of "bad spirits" after Bush's visit so that their ancestors could rest in peace.
Pakistani legislators have threatened to halt counterterrorism cooperation with Washington...
"We can say to the rest of the world, Europe is taking the lead, you should join us in fighting climate change."
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March 4th, 2007
"For Inuit communities, ice and snow are intrinsic to physical and cultural survival..."
Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to fight the spread of sectarian strife between Sunnis and Shias...
Pakistan has test-fired a short-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead...
"China is committed to taking the path of peaceful development, and it pursues a defensive military posture..."
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