fufor's unregelmässige news

Africa - Where the Next US Oil Wars Will Be
Wednesday, 28 February 2007
by BAR Managing Editor Bruce Dixon

"It's about the oil. And the diamonds. And the coltan. But mostly about the oil."

The Pentagon does not admit that a ring of permanent US military bases is operating or under construction throughout Africa. But nobody doubts the American military buildup on the African continent is well underway. From oil rich northern Angola up to Nigeria, from the Gulf of Guinea to Morocco and Algeria, from the Horn of Africa down to Kenya and Uganda, and over the pipeline routes from Chad to Cameroon in the west, and from Sudan to the Red Sea in the east, US admirals and generals have been landing and taking off, meeting with local officials. They've conducted feasibility studies, concluded secret agreements, and spent billions from their secret budgets.



Their new bases are not bases at all, according to US military officials. They are instead "forward staging depots", and "seaborne truck stops" for the equipment which American land forces need to operate on the African continent. They are "protected anchorages" and offshore "lily pads" from which they intend to fight the next round of oil and resource wars, and lock down Africa's oil and mineral wealth for decades to come.

BAR caught up with Chicago's Prexy Nesbitt, one of the architects of the US anti-apartheid movement in the 1970s and ‘80s. We asked Dr. Nesbitt about the importance to Africans and African Americans of George Bush's Feb. 7 announcement of AFRICOM, the new Pentagon command for the African continent.

"It means a tremendous amount to Africans, because African people, from working people to university elites all follow very closely everything that the US government does wherever it does it in the world. ...More and more African Americans in the US are following carefully what's the US is doing in Africa, but not enough... What we're seeing (is) ...a US military penetration of the African continent and that this penetration is...motivated by the US quest...for new sources of oil and other minerals."

In other words, it's about the oil. And the diamonds, and the uranium, and the coltan. But mostly about the oil. West Africa alone sits atop 15% of the world's oil, and by 2015 is projected to supply a up to a quarter of US domestic consumption. Most oil from Saudi Arabia and the Middle East winds up in Europe, Japan, China or India. Increasingly it's African oil that keeps the US running.

"West Africa alone sits atop 15% of the world's oil, and by 2015 is projected to supply a up to a quarter of US domestic consumption."

A foretaste of American plans for African people and resources in the new century can be seen in Eastern Nigeria. US and multinational oil companies like Shell, BP, and Chevron, which once named a tanker after its board member Condoleezza Rice, have ruthlessly plundered the Niger delta for a generation. Where once there were poor but self-sufficient people with rich farmland and fisheries, there is now an unfolding ecological collapse of horrifying dimensions in which the land, air and water are increasingly unable to sustain human life, but the region's people have no place else to go.
Twenty percent of Nigerian children die before the age of 5, according to the World Bank. Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of oil have been extracted from the Niger Delta, according to Amnesty International in 2005. But its inhabitants

"...remain among the most deprived oil communities in the world - 70 per cent live on less than US$1 a day. In spite of its windfall gains, as global oil prices have more than doubled in the last two years, the Nigerian government has failed to provide services, infrastructure or jobs in the region."

In a typical gesture of disregard for local black lives and livelihoods, the natural gas which sits atop many oil deposits but is more expensive to capture and process than petroleum is simply burned off or flared at African wellheads. Throughout the 1990s it is estimated that 29 million cubic feet per day of Nigerian natural gas was disposed of in this manner. Many of the flares, according to local Niger delta residents, have burned continuously for more than twenty years, creating a toxic climate of acid fogs and rains, depositing layers of soot and chemicals that stunt or kill ocean and riverine fish and livestock, and poison the few surviving crops. For this reason, flaring at oil wells has long been outlawed in the US. But many African communities near the mouth of one of the planet's largest rivers are now entirely dependent on water trucked in from outside.

According to Dr. Nesbitt:

"Years ago people from the then American Committee on Africa brought back slide footage which showed...people living in oil mud slime fields, drinking water that's made up of oil slime. It was just [an] extraordinarily frightening situation... As far as we know not much has changed [in about 15 years] except that [now] there is a movement for justice taking place. But the United States military command has indicated, has partnered up really, with the Obasanjo government...to try to control that justice movement. Some very explicit comments have been made by US military people; they will be prepared militarily to move into that arena...securing that oil source for the United States"
Local Africans are demanding respect and a share in what is after all, their oil. They are now routinely, viciously suppressed in eastern Nigeria, in Equatorial Guinea and elsewhere, by African troops trained and equipped with American tax dollars. When resistance continues, as it certainly will, America is preparing to up the ante with more American equipment, with military and civilian advisers, with bombs, bullets and if need be, with American bodies. That's what AFRICOM is about, and what it will be doing in the new century.

Empire in Africa: A Business Opportunity For Black Americans?

Doug Lyons, an African American columnist at the Orlando Sun-Sentinel is one of those ugly black Americans who see, in the ratcheting up of merciless exploitation of humanity's motherland, great career and business opportunities for a few black henchmen and women.

"AFRICOM shouldn't be shunned as another appendage of our nation's military industrial complex, even though it is. It also offers a unique opportunity for black America.

"There's potential for those individuals who have interest in African and African-American heritages to become more knowledgeable about Africa, and its links to the United States.

"That knowledge should lead to better cultural understanding and greater business opportunities for blacks on both sides of the Atlantic, in addition to expanded opportunities for African-Americans in world trade and the diplomatic corps.

"...imagine the possibilities. The vehicle is about to be put in place, and for a select few, the chance will come to make even more black history. "

"AFRICOM will indeed open new vistas for a handful of qualified black Americans in the corporate, military and intelligence establishments."

The imaginative need look no further than GoodWorks International, the business consulting firm founded by former Atlanta mayor, UN ambassador and colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King, Andrew Young. GoodWorks is making black history indeed, along with buckets of cash from clients like Barrick Gold, a Bush-connected operation whose Congolese mines help fuel a bloody civil war with 5 million dead and counting so far. Young's firm enjoys intimate and lucrative connections with the shadowy Maurice Templesman, a prominent figure in the trade of African blood diamonds for decades. It's the registered lobbyist for the Nigerian government in Washington, and implicated in at least one money laundering scheme for Nigeria's president Obasanjo, in addition to fronting for various multinational oil and mineral companies on the African continent.

"There's an increasing number of...a class of African Americans who...feel no sense of responsibility, no shame, no ties to the continent, who are incapable of playing any kind of role. I think we see that with Condoleezza Rice. We see it even more clearly in some of the other appointments which have been recently made, like for example the new assistant secretary of state for Africa. She seems...an individual to be very concerned about given her past, and her military background, with regard to what type of role she will play in the system. So we see African Americans often emerging as functionaries of the system, the gendarmes, if you will, of the system for the recolonization of Africa both by corporate and military establishment in the United States."

Nesbitt seems to agree with Doug Lyons, in a twisted sort of way. AFRICOM will indeed open new vistas for a handful of qualified black Americans in the corporate, military and intelligence establishments. Andy and Condi were first, but they may not be the last. There are plenty more African gold mines, oil tankers and mass graves waiting to be named after black Americans.

We asked Dr. Nesbitt what the Congressional Black Caucus and ordinary Americans here ought to be doing to stall imminent US military intervention on the African continent.
"We need a stronger voice from the Congressional Black Caucus. It needs to become much more enraged about these developments and help to politicize and educate the masses of the black American community across the country so that we don't let this constant history of the United States [allow them to feel] that they need not worry about any ramifications...from the population that is most concerned... those of us in the African diaspora in the US. I think we are at a very important passage point with regard to the relationships of the African American community in general with the continent of Africa.

"Africa is a part of the world that has immense resources and immense riches. But...the history has been nothing but the capitalist system sucking Africa dry of those riches. I think that the particular challenge facing Americans - Americans who care about other human beings, who care about the planet - is what steps will they take to help African people stop this continual rape and plunder of the African continent."

George Bush, Big Oil, Andy Young and the Pentagon are already implementing their plan for Africa. It looks like Nigeria, the classic case of a rich country full of poor people. It looks a lot like the impoverished, poisoned, festering wasteland of the Niger delta, where they've had a free hand for decades. And when Africans resist, as they surely will, the backup plan is to declare Africans who want to control their own resources "terrorists", and through AFRICOM, deploy US military might to lock down Africans and African resources. It's time for black America and the Congressional Black Caucus to take Dr. Nesbitt's advice, and come up with a couple of our own plans to end more than five hundred years of Western pillage of Africa, and to keep AFRICOM and the US military off the African continent.
BAR Managing Editor Bruce Dixon can be contacted at Bruce.Dixon (at) BlackAgendaReport.com.
http://tinyurl.com/39z8cm

Vatican Israeli Agreement on Jerusalem

"In 1994, the Vatican had signed an agreement with Israel to gain sovereignty over Jerusalem. The city would stay in the capital of Israel, but would be administered by the Vatican. The city would have an Israeli mayor and a Palestinian mayor, both under orders from the Pope. Jerusalem would become a second Vatican."

The above quote came from the book Ark of the Covenant, by Jonathan Gray, p. 505

Is it of significance that the agreement was signed in 1994, the same year as the 70th Jubilee since the Exodus? Could this agreement and its implementation in the near future portend the fulfillment of Paul's prophecy in 2 Thessalonians?

"Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction [remember: The beast from the Abyss . . . will be revealed to the astonishment of those who rebel against God, and the beast is going to his destruction]. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

"Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way [remember the four angels holding back the four winds until God's people have been sealed?]. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." (2Ths. 2:1-12 NIV)

Some men led by Tom Croster of Winfield, Kansas claimed to have discovered the Ark of the Covenant in a cave under Mt. Pisgah. They took some color photographs, but did not touch the alleged ark. They informed the press, but refused to release the pictures.

"Croster said that God had instructed him to give them only to David Rothschild, the London banker - because Rothschild was a direct descendent of Jesus Christ. And Rothschild had been chosen by God to build the next Jewish Temple, where the Ark would be installed.
"With Rothschild declining to take delivery of the photos, Croster keeps them at home showing only selected visitors.
"One such visitor was Siegfried H. Horn, a well-known archaeologist. In 1982, he took time to closely examine the photographs"

Sketches Horn made of the photographs showed a "nail with a modern style of head" protruding from the upper right hand corner of the box, with decorative strips obviously machine produced", i.e. not the genuine article. Ibid, p. 20.

Return to Quick Summary of Revelation

It was interesting for me to find that the Rothschild clan has long held dominant positions in gold, running the London Bullion Marketing Association and setting prices for the precious metal around the globe. Speculation has it that the clan has substantial gold holding (perhaps in the hundreds of tons) in underground vaults throughout Europe.

The London Financial Times in its Thursday, January 30, 1997 edition, revealed the extent of the gold trading taking place daily through the London Bullion Marketing Association (LBMA). The LBMA is run predominantly by the house of N. M. Rothschild.

"Deals involving about 30 million troy ounces, or 930 tonnes, of gold valued at more than $10 billion are cleared every working day in London, the international settlement center for gold bullion."
"This is the first authoritative indication of the size of the global gold market, and was revealed yesterday by the London Bullion Market Association.
"The volume of gold cleared every day in London represented nearly twice the production from South African mines in a year, Mr. Alan Baker, chairman of the association, pointed out.
"The size of the gold market will surprise many observers, but traders insisted the association's statistics were only part of the picture because matched orders are cleared without appearing in the statistics. Mr. Jeffrey Rhodes, of Standard Bank, London, said the 30m ounces should be 'multiplied by three, and possibly five, to give the full scope of the global market'."

The editor continues with his own thoughts

"I think there is something much deeper going on here that extends beyond London but to a collusion of some of the most powerful European and American merchant banking interests that just so happen to be the primary shareholders (Class A boards of directors) on the Federal Reserve System/Federal Reserve Banks. These include the N.M. Rothschild and Sons who just happen to be one of five key players that fix the price of gold each day in London, and have since 1919 at the Rothschild office. I am of the opinion that either the Rothschilds, who have benefited as the gold bullion traders par-excellence in Europe for over 200 years, are positioning themselves (and the Bank of England, as you suggest, which they are also a big part of) for the ensuing meltdown of fiat/paper currencies (that will come) or they are part of an even grander oligarchy of merchant bankers that through their influence on the Fed are playing their part (as master bullion traders) and systematically orchestrating the collapse of the U.S. paper and stock market system (as some suggest occurred in 1929)."

"It would make sense for the Rothschilds, Rockefellers and other powerful merchant banking interests to manufacture a sentiment that gold is dead....it is in their interest to leave the masses believing that gold is no longer a store of value (thus currency) but rather a simple commodity. The fact is, a Rothschild, knows otherwise, from a history of gold trading in 200 years of European history. Why do you think N.M. Rothschild still lists as the primary business as the trading of gold bullion (and treasuries)...they are making oodles of money on each of the tremendous transactions noted in the Times article...you can imagine the transaction revenues that these folks have pile up over 200 years at the craft!!! A manufactured perception becomes reality!"

See http://www.gold-eagle.com/gold_digest/baron1007.html for additional details on the above quotes.

Interesting isn't it, the connection between Gold, a Temple and the Ark of the Covenant? See the discoveries section for information on the rediscovery of the real Ark of the Covenant.
http://tinyurl.com/38y3eb

5000 attend anti-Putin march
by Marina Koreneva in Saint Petersburg
March 04, 2007

POLICE detained 50 protesters overnight as 5000 Russians demonstrated in Saint Petersburg against President Vladimir Putin's leadership.

Demonstrators at the so-called "march of the dissenters" broke through a police cordon intended to keep them in the main square, and scuffles ensued as they marched along Nevsky Prospekt, the main avenue of Russia's second city.

Police said nearly 50 people were arrested during the protest. The Other Russia opposition alliance, which organised the march, said about 200 people were arrested or briefly held for questioning.

The demonstrators, from across the political spectrum, shouted "Disgrace", "Russia without Putin" and "Out with the corrupted authorities".

Some carried lit flares over their heads while others brandished placards, reading "Putin is very bad" and "Kasyanov is an honest man", referring to former prime minister and presidential candidate Mikhail Kasyanov.

Police were seen struggling with marchers and snatching red flags bearing a black hammer and sickle of the National Bolshevik movement.

The demonstration comes ahead of a series of elections that will culminate with a presidential vote next March, at which Putin is due to stand down.

Gary Kasparov, a former world chess champion who is now a leading figure in Other Russia, told demonstrators: "Everyone who came here overcame their fear. Fear is this regime's last pillar."

Dmitri Vassiliev, leader of the local branch of the National Bolshevik party, added: "We have proved that we are a force and have the power of fear ourselves."

The march brought together groups such as the liberal Iabloko party and the National Bolshevik party, led by cult author Eduard Liminov, who was detained by police even before the protest began.

The demonstrators denounced not only Mr Putin but also the authorities in Saint Petersburg, where elections are due to take place on March 11, and in particular the city's governor, Valentina Matvienko.

"We have seen how the police beat the veterans and the old. We have no need of this kind of power. Down with Putin and Matvienko!" Mr Vassiliev declared.

One demonstrator, 58-year-old Arkadi Nikolayevich, cried: "It is a lying power, which does not defend the interests of the majority of the population. Look what they have done with our country - corruption is everywhere, pensions are measly, the health and education sectors are ruined."

He added: "If we continue to let this happen in silence, it will be the end of our country. Maybe today's protest will not change anything, but we must not stand by doing nothing."

For her part, Ms Matvienko, who is a close ally of Putin's, accused the march organisers of "provocation", saying: "The organisers of this demonstration came from Moscow, accompanied by 120 young extremist protestors.

"Power should stop disorder and pogroms in the streets...We can allow criticism of the authorities if it is done in an appropriate fashion," she said.

At the end of the day, the police succeeded in dispersing the demonstrators.

Also yesterday, several hundred pensioners flying the flags of the communist party protested in Moscow against Putin's social policies, local radio Echo reported.

In December, elections to the national parliament, the Duma, will be held and in March next year a presidential election is scheduled. Putin cannot stand as the Russian constitution bars anyone from more than two consecutive terms.

The opposition argues that the Kremlin has skewed election legislation to limit opposition representation and has stifled critical media.

On Wednesday a Moscow court allowed prosecutors to renew an investigation into an allegedly illegal property deal by opposition leader Mr Kasyanov, who served as prime minister during Putin's first term but later broke with the Kremlin and intends to stand for president.

Mr Kasyanov maintains the charges are politically motivated.
http://tinyurl.com/2nnsyr

Huge 'Ocean' Discovered Inside Earth
By Ker Than
LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 28 February 2007

Scientists scanning the deep interior of Earth have found evidence of a vast water reservoir beneath eastern Asia that is at least the volume of the Arctic Ocean.

The discovery marks the first time such a large body of water has found in the planet’s deep mantle.

The finding, made by Michael Wysession, a seismologist at Washington State University in St. Louis, and his former graduate student Jesse Lawrence, now at the University of California, San Diego, will be detailed in a forthcoming monograph to be published by the American Geophysical Union.

Looking down deep



The pair analyzed more than 600,000 seismograms—records of waves generated by earthquakes traveling through the Earth—collected from instruments scattered around the planet.

They noticed a region beneath Asia where seismic waves appeared to dampen, or “attenuate,” and also slow down slightly. “Water slows the speed of waves a little,” Wysession explained. “Lots of damping and a little slowing match the predictions for water very well.”

Previous predictions calculated that if a cold slab of the ocean floor were to sink thousands of miles into the Earth’s mantle, the hot temperatures would cause water stored inside the rock to evaporate out.

“That is exactly what we show here,” Wysession said. “Water inside the rock goes down with the sinking slab and it’s quite cold, but it heats up the deeper it goes, and the rock eventually becomes unstable and loses its water.”

The water then rises up into the overlying region, which becomes saturated with water [image]. “It would still look like solid rock to you,” Wysession told LiveScience. “You would have to put it in the lab to find the water in it.”

Although they appear solid, the composition of some ocean floor rocks is up to 15 percent water. “The water molecules are actually stuck in the mineral structure of the rock,” Wysession explained. “As you heat this up, it eventually dehydrates. It’s like taking clay and firing it to get all the water out.”

The researchers estimate that up to 0.1 percent of the rock sinking down into the Earth’s mantle in that part of the world is water, which works out to about an Arctic Ocean’s worth of water.

“That’s a real back of the envelope type calculation,” Wysession said. “That’s the best that we can do at this point.”

The Beijing anomaly

Wysession has dubbed the new underground feature the “Beijing anomaly,” because seismic wave attenuation was found to be highest beneath the Chinese capital city. Wysession first used the moniker during a presentation of his work at the University of Beijing.

“They thought it was very, very interesting,” Wysession said. “China is under greater seismic risk than just about any country in the world, so they are very interested in seismology.”

Water covers 70 percent of Earth’s surface and one of its many functions is to act like a lubricant for the movement of continental plates.

“Look at our sister planet, Venus,” Wysession said. “It is very hot and dry inside Venus, and Venus has no plate tectonics. All the water probably boiled off, and without water, there are no plates. The system is locked up, like a rusty Tin Man with no oil.”
http://tinyurl.com/2dva2e

Poltergeist Osama Makes His Return
Friday March 02nd 2007, 2:19 pm

Asia Times Online usually runs decent articles, but a recent piece by Syed Saleem Shahzad, Pakistan Bureau Chief, is nothing less than a Brothers Grimm fairy tale on steroids, not surprising as Pakistan serves as an ISI disinfo hub.

“Al-Qaeda will this year significantly step up its global operations after centralizing its leadership and reviving its financial lifelines. Crucially, al-Qaeda has developed missile and rocket technology with the capability of carrying chemical, biological and nuclear warheads, according to an al-Qaeda insider who spoke to Asia Times Online,” writes Shahzad.



Of course, the media, reading straight from a Pentagon script, has told us the CIA-ISI manufactured terrorist group has been “centralizing its leadership and reviving its financial lifelines” for years now, not that this supposed reorganization and infusion of operating capital has produced tangible results. However, now that Iran is in the crosshairs, it makes perfect sense “al-Qaeda” is “reviving” itself.

As for the claim al-CIA-duh “has developed missile and rocket technology” supposedly capable of “carrying chemical, biological and nuclear warheads,” this is simply and utterly absurd as it obviously requires the apparatus of a state and industrial complex to produce such sophisticated technology, unless we are witless enough to believe the sort of nuclear weapons and the missiles required to deliver such payloads are easily manufactured in Waziristan with parts smuggled in under cover of sheep-herding Wazir tribes.

“While al-Qaeda will continue to operate in Afghanistan and Iraq, it will broaden its global perspective to include Europe and hostile Muslim states, Asia Times Online has learned. For the first time since its attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, this could be al-Qaeda’s year on the offensive.”

In other words, the neocon agenda needs to be completed before Bush leaves office in 2008, thus we are to be sold on the idea that 2007 may represent “al-Qaeda’s year on the offensive.”

“According to the contact, ‘The time has come for a message to be communicated to Europe.’ Asked what kind of message this would be, the contact simply smiled.”

Obviously, much of Europe, outside of impoverished and desperate for recognition and hard-strapped for cash former Soviet satellites in Eastern Europe, need to be sent a “message,” not from “al-Qaeda” terrorists but rather from the neocons, demanding “Old Europe” tow the “clash of civilizations” line.

For instance, Spain left the neocon fold in 2004 when the people elected José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, throwing out José María Aznar, son of the Franco fascist and propagandist Manuel Aznar Acedo. Zapatero has withdrawn Spanish troops from Iraq—an unforgivable sin for neocons far and wide. France, of course, serves as a convenient and long-standing target for the neocons, as they have different ideas about the so-called “war on terrorism.” Recall French foreign minister Hubert Védrine characterizing the neocon grasp of foreign relations as hopelessly “simplistic” and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin declaring the French would not do tricks like a well trained circus monkey for the United States.

Shahzad’s “al-Qaeda” source “stated that with Western forces trapped in Afghanistan and Iraq, it was time to open up new fronts in Somalia, Algeria, Egypt, Palestine and other places.”

Isn’t it curious “al-Qaeda” has decided to “open new fronts” in countries that figure on the neocon target list? It is of utmost importance “al-Qaeda” get busy in Palestine, of course, as the Israelis, who are connected at the hip with the American neocons, never get tired of demonizing and victimizing Palestinians.

“‘In each place, al-Qaeda has its own command and control apparatus, including Palestine, and all those fronts will be opened up very soon,’ the contact said.”

But of course—and no doubt a “front” will be opened in Palestine “very soon,” as the next wave of violence against the Palestinians will likely coincide with any action—that is to say, a mass murder campaign—against Iran, due to arrive soon, probably well before Bush leaves office. Recall the last spate of Israeli state violence against the Palestinians occurred at the same time Israel was blowing up apartment buildings with U.S.-supplied munitions in Lebanon.

“Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has not appeared in a video since October 2004 or on an audio tape since January 2006. He is by no means out of the al-Qaeda picture, although his deputy, Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, claims the media spotlight.”

By this, no doubt, Mr. Shahzad means the fake Osama, or fake Osamas (or computer generated Osamas), because the real Osama, a former CIA asset, is long dead and buried.

As we know, Ayman al-Zawahiri got his start by way of the long ago U.S. and British intelligence penetrated Muslim Brotherhood. For some odd reason, the corporate media never mentions that al-Zawahiri worked closely with Ali Mohamed, a former officer in the Egyptian army’s military intelligence who was also “cross-trained” at the U.S. Army Special Forces school at Fort Bragg. It is sincerely interesting that the American-hating al-Zawahiri would work with a guy who was recruited by the CIA to infiltrate Hezbollah. It should be noted that Mohamed was eventually put on a terrorist watch list but managed to get a visa to enter the country with al-Zawahiri in tow. But then this is apparently routine, as Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman, also on a “terrorist watch list,” effortlessly entered the United States and was eventually framed for the February 26, 1993, WTC bombing, an event with more than a little input from “double agent” Ali Mohamed, who just so happened to work for the FBI at the time. Coincidence, no doubt.

“Reportedly recovered from ill health, bin Laden—possibly even sporting a trimmed beard—is active in al-Qaeda’s planning, according to the contact Asia Times Online spoke to. ‘He could be in Chechnya, Somalia or Iraq,’ the man said coyly, obviously not about to divulge bin Laden’s whereabouts. Or even in Iran, some insiders hint.”

Osama bin Laden in Iran? Stands to reason, of course, never mind Bin Laden’s Salafy branch of Sunni Islam is highly intolerant of Shiites, and Iran is primarily a Shi’a nation. Not that it matters, as most Americans, easily frightened by the very prospect of dark-skinned Freddy Kruger-like bad guys in turbans or keffiyehs, do not know there are two Islamic sects. But then Silvestre Reyes, senior member of both the Armed Services and Select Intelligence Committees, thinks “al-Qaeda” is comprised of Shi’ites, so go figure.

Finally, in addition to retrofitting crummy Abeer rockets with nuclear bombs—if you believe this, I have a bridge for sale in Brooklyn—Shahzad’s “source” would have us believe “al-Qaeda [is] organizing all segments of the Iraqi resistance under its umbrella. It has already declared an ‘Emir of the Islamic Emirates of Iraq’ comprising Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salah al-Din and Ninawa, and in other parts of the governorate of Babel. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi has been declared the emir of the state.”

In other words, the Iraqi resistance has fallen under the sway of “al-Qaeda,” a prospect that suits the neocons just fine, as it provides ample justification to keep the “war against terrorism” going strong for a few more generations, never mind Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England’s assertion that “to ensure that warfighters and taxpayers receive maximum benefit from on-going initiatives, it would be highly desirable to complete current projects by the summer/fall of 2008.”

Obviously, Mr. England didn’t check with the neocons before he sent out his memorandum, a career-busting move if ever there was one.
http://tinyurl.com/34ffr8

China 'correction' rattles world markets
Mar 1, 2007
By Walter T Molano

The teleprompter readers were gleeful on Tuesday as the market came to life for the first time in almost a year. The Dow Jones dropped 416 points, losing 3.3%. The selloff was sharp. The US equity market lost 300 points in the space of a few minutes.

Many people were searching for explanations. Former US Federal Reserve head Alan Greenspan's comments, US Vice President Dick Cheney's visit to Asia, the escalating tension between the United States and Iran and the deterioration of sub-prime mortgage providers were offered as plausible explanatory causes.

However, all the telltale signs pointed to the 9% selloff of the Shanghai Composite Index. The major media services were struggling to understand how a correction in an emerging-market country such as China could possibly have an effect on the US. Yet Tuesday's events confirmed the new reality. Not only do events in China matter, the Middle Kingdom is now one of the main drivers of global economic activity and one of the main barometers of global risk conditions - and this is very good news for all commodity producers.

The so-called "meltdown" occurred in slow motion. The indices gained momentum as the day wore on, accelerating prior to the close. Most of the activity was concentrated in the equity markets. This was not too surprising, given that the equity markets posted the largest gains over the course of the past two years.

The Bovespa (Sao Paulo) lost 6.6%, the Bolsa (Mexico) dropped 5.8% and the Merval (Argentina) surrendered 7.5%. The effect on the fixed-income market was muted, with the exception of some of the recent corporate bond issues. The GDP (gross domestic product) warrants also suffered - losing more than 5%. The GDP warrants, of course, are high-Beta assets and very vulnerable to changes in market sentiment. Investors looked for safety, moving into Treasuries, gold and short-term assets. Investors are definitely moving into more defensive positions, but they should not get overwrought with fear.

The correction in the Chinese market was not associated with any fundamental problems. China's level of economic activity is sound. Exports are strong. International reserves are high. The banking system is improving. Inflation is under control, and the political environment is stable. So what's the problem?

The problem is that, after lying dormant for more than five years, the Chinese equity market went into a tear last year - rising more than 170% in the space of 14 months. Changes in regulation, a slew of initial public offerings and greater wealth accumulation by Chinese retail investors led to a surge in the Shanghai equity market - fueling worries among policymakers about the creation of a speculative bubble.

The Chinese economic authorities (prudently) issued warnings at the start of the year that the speculative frenzy in the equity market was reaching problematic proportions. Finally, the monetary authorities threatened that they would employ drastic measures if equity investors did not calm down. Tuesday's selloff was the market's reaction to that threat. However, the selloff did not reflect concerns about the health of the Chinese economy.

The over-arching impact of the Chinese selloff was a clear indication of China's importance. The rising wealth of China, and that of its enormous population, brought new life to commodity producers.

The impact of the Chinese correction on Latin America was significant, but muted. Latin America is no longer a speculative play that depends on global risk appetites. The region is an exporting powerhouse, dominating strategic natural resources, generating enormous levels of international reserves and developing an immunity system that will reduce its dependency on global liquidity conditions.

The BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) may be falling, but more like a ton of bricks clattering on the announcement of the new global economic order.
http://tinyurl.com/2mlojg