Newsweek had an article on some of the trendiest, bizarre, and most trafficked conspiracy theories of 2009. The Muslim spy intern conspiracy made it to #9 and it had ole’ Robert Spencer in a fit. He railed against it with all the ineptitude, innuendo and verbal diarrhea we are used to from his clownish ways. Calling it “journalistic irresponsibility” and “bias,” etc. What has him in a uproar: Guide to Conspiracy: Know your Conspiracy 9. The Council on American-Islamic Relations is trying to infiltrate Capitol Hill and spread jihad. Author Dave Gaubatz alleges that the mainstream group is both connected … Continue reading Newsweek Top Ten Conspiracies: Muslim Spy Interns!

In a new report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggests for the first time that Iran is actively pursuing a nuclear-weapons capability. Shannon Kile, a senior non-proliferation expert at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, discussed the report and the tougher mood at the UN watchdog agency with RFE/RL correspondent Charles Recknagel. RFE/RL: The new IAEA report is the first issued since the agency’s new chief, Yukiya Amano, took over from his predecessor, Mohammad ElBafradei. The report presents new evidence to suggest for the first time that Iran is actively pursuing a nuclear-weapons capability. Do you detect a tougher … Continue reading IAEA heaps pressure on Tehran

By Mel Frykberg RAMALLAH – Hamas has closed ranks and is licking its wounds following the January 20 assassination in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, of one of its top operatives, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. It is alleged that one of its own was responsible for providing the hit team with vital logistical information. Dubai’s chief of police, Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, on Sunday called on Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar to launch an “internal investigation” into the operation. Tamim claimed an associate of Mabhouh, a high-ranking military leader, leaked information about the Hamas leader’s visit to Dubai and went as … Continue reading Dubai hit exposes Hamas’ weaknesses

By Institution for War and Peace Reporting South Korean firms are to explore for oil and gas in Uzbekistan after Uzbek President Islam Karimov, during a state visit to South Korea on February 10-12, signed an agreement for investment that could be worth more than US$3.5 billion in developing the Surgil gas field and building a chemicals plant. Surgil is on the northwestern Ustyurt plateau, which has 16 known deposits of oil and gas. The Korean investment should boost development of the plateau’s resources. Once the gas processing plant is up and running, it will produce polypropylene and polyethylene plastics, … Continue reading Korean cash to flow into Uzbekistan

By Baradan Kuppusamy KUALA LUMPUR – The confiscation of books by Malaysian authorities is raising concern and demands in some quarters for the repeal of laws that allow the government to suppress freedom of expression. Home Ministry officials last week continued raiding bookstores to confiscate books and publications by Malaysiakini, an independent news website that has been critical of government policies. The ministry says it needs to “study and review” these books for content deemed to be against national security. But for Malaysiakini chief editor Steven Gan, the action amounts to harassment of writers and booksellers. Two publications by Malaysiakini, … Continue reading Malaysia’s ‘bad’ books sent into literary limbo

By Syed Saleem Shahzad KARACHI – Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, a former minister of civil aviation in the Taliban regime, is likely to take over as supreme commander of the Taliban in Afghanistan following the recent arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in the Pakistani port city of Karachi. Taliban sources tell Asia Times Online on the condition of anonymity that the appointment will be largely symbolic and primarily for coordination purposes as Taliban leader Mullah Omar, following difficulties in recent years, has decentralized the Taliban’s command structure. The idea is to give commanders in the field greater flexibility and allow … Continue reading Taliban’s mood swings against talks

By Aziz Ahmad Tassal and Mohammad Elyas Dayee HELMAND – People in Marjah district in Helmand province, where a Western and Afghan military operation aims to oust the Taliban, say several civilians have been killed in addition to the 12 acknowledged by the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF. They also say the fighting has caused hunger because people cannot leave their homes to fetch food. Helmand provincial governor Mohammad Gulab Mangal visited the area on the fifth day of the operation to see for himself. “People asked me to provide them with food … as the operation goes forward, many … Continue reading Anger spreads on Marjah’s front line

By Brian McCartan BANGKOK – The exact motives behind a recent crackdown on ethnic Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are still unclear, but some answers may be found across the border in Myanmar, where the ruling generals are maneuvering for votes in the lead-up to general elections slated for later this year. The Rohingya, a Muslim minority living mostly in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State, are ethnically, linguistically and religiously distinct from the majority Buddhist Rakhine of the state. Tensions and distrust between the two groups have periodically exploded into violence, and a Myanmar military operation in 1978 forced hundreds of thousands … Continue reading Bilateral repression for Myanmar’s Rohingya

By Caleb Lauer ISTANBUL – As current Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu describes it, Turkey was a “wing state” of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) during the Cold War, at the edge, protecting the core. The only NATO country, besides Norway, to border the Soviet Union, Turkey was the first place the Truman Doctrine of containing communism was put into practice. This Western allegiance and its military character suited Turkish state elites and so, for 44 years, in exchange for money and arms, Turkey guarded itself and the southeast corner of Europe from the red threat. Then as the … Continue reading The man behind Turkey’s strategic depth

By Victor Kotsev “We are waiting for the United States to give us [its] undivided attention,” Jordan’s King Abdullah said in an interview this month, speaking of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. “If we don’t get a clear mandate over the next month or so, I’m not convinced we will be able to move forward.” The king’s words and a grim picture he painted of “decades of instability” as an alternative, added gravity to US President Barack Obama’s own assessment. Speaking to Time magazine, Obama last month voiced his dismay at the absence of brave leaders among the Israelis and Palestinians. … Continue reading A (Nobel) crown of thorns