Petraeus marches out of step By RFE/RL General David Petraeus, the commander of United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces in Afghanistan, has cast doubt on US President Barack Obama’s July 2011 deadline to start withdrawing troops from the country, saying it depends on conditions on the ground. His comments threatened to create a rift with the Obama administration after Defense Secretary Robert Gates contradicted the general by insisting that the withdrawal date is definite. In an interview on US television’s Meet The Press on August 15, Petraeus said the battle against Taliban militants was an “up-and-down process” … Continue reading Petraeus – out of step?

Bizarre bedfellows rally to Afghanistan By Brian M Downing The war in Afghanistan, now almost nine years on, is reaching an important juncture. The conflict itself is plodding along as the insurgency spreads, but public support in Europe and the United States is waning. The Dutch have withdrawn. Canada will have most of its troops out at the end of 2011. The British, French and German publics are increasingly uneasy about the war and seem to be searching for a graceful exit that will not greatly alienate the US. The American public is also restive. The Barack Obama administration is … Continue reading Bizarre Afghanistan

Ahmadinejad feels the heat at home By Mahan Abedin In a sure sign that Iran’s factionalized politics is making a comeback, the right-wing and conservative forces that last year engineered the marginalization of the reformists, are slowly splintering. At the center of this latest bout of factional in-fighting is the divisive personality of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. While few people expected the political scene to be dominated by a unified conservative front for long, the speed at which the right-wing factions are dividing between pro- and anti-Ahmadinejad camps has caught many analysts by surprise. The polarization of the right wing will … Continue reading Ahmadinejad feels the heat

Taqiyya: The Ultimate Intellectual Cop-out from the excellent Loonwatch by Inconnu This is Inoconnu’s refutation of Chapter 6 of Robert Spencer’s book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades).  After reading this, check out Danios’ refutation at SpencerWatch. An oft-used intellectual cop-out by many Islam-haters is the so-called doctrine of taqiyya. The Islam-haters, such as Robert Spencer, claim taqiyya is the willful deception of Muslims towards non-Muslims. Whenever a Muslim would say or write something positive about Islam, it is all taqiyya. This is what Spencer has to say in his book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam … Continue reading Taqiyya: The Ultimate Cop-out

dawn.com Pakistani flood survivors move towards for safe area Monday, Aug. 16, 2010 in Muzaffargarh, near Multan, Pakistan. – AP RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has raised 20.5 million dollars in aid on the first day of a national campaign for flood-striken Pakistan, state news agency SPA said Tuesday. King Abdullah kicked off the campaign by donating 20 million riyals (5.33 million dollars), and Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz offered 10 million riyals, press reports said. The third in line to the throne, Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, gave five million riyals to the cause, according to the reports. … Continue reading Saudi Arabia raises $20.5 million in flood aid

Alki David: British billionaire’s $1m dare to person who streaks in front of Barack Obama A British billionaire, Alki David, has offered $1 million to the first person who manages to streak naked in front of Barack Obama. By Andrew Hough telegraph.co.uk The British billionaire has offered the money as a dare to promote his new website. Photo: GETTY IMAGES Barack Obama and his daughter Sasha go for a swim off the Florida coast. Photo: REUTERS The billionaire heir to a shipping and bottle-plant empire, currently ranked 45th in the Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of £1.15 … Continue reading $1 million for the person who runs naked in front of President Obama!

Ukip leader Lord Pearson resigns Lord Pearson of Rannoch, the leader of the UK Independence Party, is to stand down after admitting he was “not much good” at party politics. By Andy Bloxham telegraph.co.uk Lord Pearson Photo: EDDIE MULHOLLAND In a message posted on Twitter, party chairman Paul Nuttall said: “Lord Pearson has decided to stand down as leader of UKIP.” In his resignation statement, Lord Pearson said Ukip “deserved a better politician to lead it”. The 68-year-old said he wanted to “spend more time on his wider interests”, including “the treatment of people with intellectual impairment, teacher training, the … Continue reading Anti Muslim UKIP Fuhrer Pearson resigns

Jordan Valley is a microcosm of Israel’s colonisation Israeli land seizure and ethnic cleansing should be met with arrest warrants – not arms sales and diplomatic games Ben White guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17 August 2010 09.59 BST Article history The Jordan Valley, stretching all the way down the West Bank’s eastern side, is a microcosm of Israel’s discriminatory policies of colonisation and displacement. For 40 years, settlements have been established, military no-go areas declared, and Palestinians’ freedom of movement restricted. There are now 27 colonies in the Jordan Valley – most of them had been established by the late 1970s under … Continue reading Israeli land seizures should be met with arrest warrants

Shortage of labour is crippling Kerala The small Indian state has been exporting manpower for decades – and is now in the throes of a severe labour shortage Hussain Ahmad guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17 August 2010 12.30 BST Article history Visiting my home state of Kerala from Qatar, where I work as a journalist, I bumped into an old friend who works in another Gulf country. Grim-faced, he was rushing to the site where his house was being constructed. He stopped for a few seconds to talk of the travails of building a house in our village due to a severe … Continue reading Shortage of labour crippling Kerala