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Hezbollah: Craving war, not wanting it
 "Hezbollah
craves war but we do not want it. We do not want it but we crave it." So says
Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah. The apparent contradiction
captures the essence of Nasrallah's primary conviction that while Israel cannot
tolerate the repeated crossing by Hezbollah of successive military "red lines",
Hezbollah will continue to do so. All that is left is a policy of staving off
conflict for as long as possible. - Nicholas Noe
(Mar 19, '10)
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Hamas: Learning from mistakes
Hamas is taking a long hard look at its history, learning from both its
successes and mistakes to chart a new course for the party and its top
leadership. Poverty on the streets, an indifferent international community, all
topped with a desire to rule, explain why the party that rules Gaza is wiser in
2010 than ever before. - Sami Moubayed (Mar
19, '10)
MGM puts its chips on Macau casino
MGM Mirage has abandoned Atlantic City and backed its struggling casino
partnership with Pansy Ho in Macau to settle a long-running dispute with gaming
regulators in New Jersey. While some see the choice as lunacy, others say the
company is right to place its bets where the long-term rewards are greatest. - Muhammad
Cohen (Mar 19, '10)
Powerful interests stifle China reforms
While last week's National People's Congress sought ways for peasants and
migrant workers to get a fairer slice of China's economic miracle, it failed to
end the residence registration system that denies access to urban social and
educational amenities. Big-city cadres stymied the reform amid fears that more
migrants will destabilize strained social services. - Willy Lam
(Mar 19, '10)
Former captive's silence speaks volumes
Robert Park, the Korean-American  missionary
who was released by North Korea in February after 43 days in detention, has
since avoided the glare of publicity. His silence may be explained by emerging
reports that while the human-rights activist suffered physical and
psychological torture, sexual abuse was probably the most prominent
interrogation tool. - Donald Kirk (Mar 19,
'10)
Battle over Nepal's peace process
Nepal's government has accused the United Nations mission charged with
overseeing the peace process of withholding details about the number of former
Maoist rebels in UN cantonments, drawing a sharp response from a top UN
official. The fracas comes as a stalemate in the constitution-writing process
is also threatening the spirit of reconciliation. - Dhruba Adhikary
(Mar 19, '10)
 BOOK
REVIEW
Refusal to surrender
My Father was a Freedom Fighter by Ramzy Baroud
The Palestinian-American journalist and editor provides a rare antidote to the
United States, European and Israeli media's decontextualization and
dehumanization of Palestinians, told via a no-holds-barred account of the life
of his father, Mohammed Baroud. - Robin Yassin-Kassab
(Mar 19, '10)
A brash face rattles China
Bo Xilai has turned the city of Chongqing - home to such multinationals as
Intel and Hewlett-Packard - upside down in the biggest crackdown on crime in
China's recent history. The zealous Communist Party chief has endeared himself
to people across the country for his unflinching graft-busting. For party
leaders in Beijing, though, Bo's anti-corruption drive disguises naked
political ambitions that need to be stopped. - Kent Ewing
(Mar 18, '10)
US-Israel spat heads for a showdown
General David Petraeus, the chief of Central Command, has called Israel an
obstacle to the strategic aims of the United States in the Middle East while
Washington has canceled its peace envoy's trip to that region. Despite talk of
an "unshakeable bond", relations remain tense ahead of the visit to the US of
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. - Jim Lobe
(Mar 18, '10)
Lights, camera, action ...
The show between Israel and the United States last week was aimed at impressing
on the Chinese that the Israelis are serious about striking at Iran's nuclear
facilities - so serious they are prepared to put US forces in the Persian Gulf
in danger. The hope is that such scare tactics will bring China on board for
even tougher sanctions on Iran. - David Moon (Mar
18, '10)
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Afghanistan spy contract goes sour
The Pentagon has placed one of its top officials under criminal investigation
for allegedly running a covert network of contractors to supply information for
drone strikes and assassinations in Afghanistan and Pakistan for the United
States government. The situation raises the question: Was Mike Furlong running
rogue operations or did he have tacit approval from his bosses? - Pratap
Chatterjee (Mar 18, '10)
OBAMA GOES HOME
Jakarta return a unique
opportunity
When President Barack Obama, known as Barry Soetoro when he was a schoolboy in
Jakarta, meets President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who earned a master's degree
in the United States, it will be a unique opportunity for the US and Indonesia
to overcome decades of misunderstanding between two of the world's largest
democracies. - Gary LaMoshi (Mar 18, '10)
US-China trade war talk heats up
United States senators Charles E Schumer and Lindsey Graham are ramping up
pressure on the Chinese government to appreciate the yuan or face the
consequences, showing that strained domestic economies are fertile ground for
mud-slinging. - Eli Clifton (Mar 18, '10)
THE ROVING EYE
Brazil steps between Israel and
Iran
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva this week made the first official visit by a
Brazilian president to Israel. Brazil is emerging as a potential "bridge"
between Iran and those countries that seek to punish Tehran over its nuclear
program. Lula stepping into this arena is a further instance of the BRICs
(Brazil, Russia, India, China) acting as a new rival power to an increasingly
disoriented US, as well as to Washington's ally, Israel. - Pepe Escobar
(Mar 17, '10)
Checkered record for the world's
policeman
Training national police forces has been a key dimension of United States power
abroad since the Philippines and Haiti in the colonial era through to the
Vietnam and Iraq wars and today in Afghanistan. The result has been a legacy of
torture and terror as political adversaries were dehumanized and police forces
devolved into brutal oppressors. - Jeremy Kuzmarov
(Mar 17, '10)
In defense, China offers cold comfort
China has trimmed its defense budget to below a double-digit percentage rise
for the first time in a decade. The limit on spending dovetails with recent
talk in China of the importance of "soft power" and cultural influence abroad.
The decline could also indicate trying economic times and the scale of social
problems at home. Or maybe it's all about Japan. - Peter J Brown
(Mar 17, '10)
 SINOGRAPH
China rejects siren
song on yuan
As China sees weakness in America's response to the global economic crisis,
Beijing is in no mood to concede to US demands for a revaluation of the yuan.
With the US yet to get its house in order, significant appreciation is unlikely
and, besides, it would have a destabilizing effect not just on China but
throughout the world. - Francesco Sisci (Mar
17, '10)
Iran-Pakistan pipeline inches nearer
reality
The proposed pipeline taking gas from Iran to Pakistan has moved closer to
reality with the two countries making effective an earlier agreed gas sales
purchase deal. Funding of the Pakistan side of the project remains in doubt,
but China's possible participation might remove that hurdle. - Syed
Fazl-e-Haider (Mar 17, '10)
Betting the farm on oil
Persistent increases in oil prices - attributable not to speculators but to the
policies of central banks - can dissuade hiring and undermine economic growth.
The world economy may now be locked in a vicious cycle of loose monetary policy
and spiraling oil and commodity price inflation. - Hossein Askari and Noureddine
Krichene (Mar 17, '10)
ASIA HAND
Bloody desperation for
Thailand's reds
The street rally by red-shirted opponents of the government of Thai Prime
Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva began to lose steam in its third day on Tuesday. The
protest was intended as an indication of former prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra's enduring political clout; it now more accurately appears a
reflection of Thaksin's growing political and personal desperation than an
organic pro-democracy movement. - Shawn W Crispin
(Mar 16, '10)
Battle over Afghan peace talks
intensifies
The apparent desire of United States President Barack Obama to immediately
start talks with the Taliban places him at odds with his military leadership
and the field commander in Afghanistan. Even if Obama prevails, whether Taliban
leader Mullah Omar will be invited to the table is another matter entirely. - Gareth
Porter (Mar 16, '10)
Say hello to Marjah ... or 'Little
America'
It is no surprise the United States 
rolled out its new Afghan strategy in the familiar and sympathetic environs of
Helmand. Decades ago, American engineers built most of the province's capital
city, as well as a network of irrigation and drainage canals to take water to
scattered communities, including Marjah, scene of the offensive against the
Taliban. - Peter Lee (Mar 16, '10)
US military targets Israeli
'intransigence'
The diplomatic quarrel between the United States and Israel has reached crisis
levels because when Vice President Joseph Biden said provocative steps by Tel
Aviv endangered the safety of US troops, he was echoing the collective view of
top US military commanders throughout the Middle East. - Jim Lobe
(Mar 16, '10)
China's Panchen Lama enters political
arena
Gyaltsen Norbu, the boy Beijing picked to become the 11th Panchen Lama -
Tibet's second-highest ranking Buddhist figure after the Dalai Lama - has been
appointed to China's top advisory body. China hopes Norbu's political elevation
will enhance his legitimacy, but exiled Tibetans still see him as a puppet and
favor a boy the Dalai Lama chose as the Panchen Lama's true reincarnation. - Saransh
Sehgal (Mar 16, '10)
Terror state - US style
The only conclusion to be drawn from the US government's policy torpor in the
three years since the financial crisis broke is that the country is now the
greatest failed state in world history, while also becoming a base from which
financial terrorism is exported around the world. - Julian Delasantellis
(Mar 16, '10)
India savors Russian friendship
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi to seal military and
civil nuclear deals comes as India is tiring of the United States' regional
policies. Frustrated with the US putting Pakistan's military at the center of
the planned settlement in Afghanistan, India is returning to a past precept -
that with world powers like Russia, it is not possible to cooperate except on
the basis of special relations. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Mar 15, '10)
Pakistan sharpens its focus on
militants
General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani, the chief of Pakistan's army staff and a key ally
of the United States, is due to retire in a few months, but he will remain very
much a part of efforts to break the back of the Taliban in Afghanistan and
militants in Pakistan. The plan is to create a post that would give him
unprecedented control over all three branches of the service. For the
militants, with a spate of attacks, it's business as usual. - Syed Saleem
Shahzad (Mar 15, '10)
 SPENGLER
Obama in more trouble
than Netanyahu over Iran
If the Barack Obama administration attempts to punish Israel for doing what
American public opinion seems to favor - striking Iran's nuclear program - then
Obama is likely to pay the political price. The US administration is hamstrung
by the investment it made in rapprochement with Tehran, which it hoped would
become the pillar on which American regional policy would rest.
(Mar 15, '10)
Israel and the US: Tiff or tipping
point?
Washington's unusually harsh condemnation of Israel's announcement that it
intends to build new housing units in East Jerusalem comes just days before the
biggest event of the year for the "Israel Lobby" in the United States. Though
organizers had hoped to focus on the "existential threat" posed by Iran, they
may now find themselves in a more defensive position. - Jim Lobe
(Mar 15, '10)
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Iran's spies show how it's done
Iran's capture of its most wanted man, Abdulmalik Rigi, is a setback for the
subversion efforts of the United States in Iran's southeast. The seamless
apprehension of the Jundallah leader also sends an unmistakable message that in
the intelligence wars of the Middle East, Tehran has once again seized the
initiative, and that it can strike against American secret agents operating in
Pakistan and Afghanistan. - Mahan Abedin (Mar
12, '10)
A titanic power struggle in Kabul
Battle lines are being drawn for a power struggle over determining the shape of
a settlement to Afghanistan's insurgency, with main players the United States
and Britain, Pakistan, Iran and Afghan President Hamid Karzai jockeying for
influence. The stakes are high for all protagonists up to and beyond the April
29 traditional Afghan tribal council that Karzai has called in a bid to be
around to steer the transition to peace. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Mar 12, '10)
 SUN
WUKONG
Limp arm of the body politic
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference traditionally opens the
annual political gabfest that is now taking place in Beijing. Even as its
members remain toothless advisors and as public discontent with them grows,
there is every reason for the Communist Party to keep the anachronistic body
alive. - Wu Zhong (Mar 9, '10)
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David P
Goldman
(Mar 16, '10)
The Fed is stuck with loose money just as the Bank of Japan was during the
1990s ...
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 CHAN
AKYA
Liar's
punishment
Deceit at the highest levels increasingly appears the norm - from the nonsense
of Greek debt figures to the accounting sleight of hand that US regulators
accepted at Lehman Brothers. Capping them all, perhaps, are impossible claims
that exports will haul the world into full recovery. The lesson? Believe no
one, sell everything (except solid precious metals). And distrust even this
warning ...
MARKET RAP
How high is up?
A fourth consecutive week of gains in Asian equities leaves the MSCI Asia
Pacific Index in technically overbought territory, yet there is no clear
indication of an overall Asian downturn in the cards. Barring, of course,
catastrophes and local market logic.
R M Cutler runs his eye over the ups and downs in the week's markets.
Google and the dragon
The censorship rift between the Chinese government and United States-based
Google appears to be irreconcilable, leaving Chinese advertisers in a quandary
should Google.cn close next week. If this were a movie, Viacom could secretly
post clips of it on Google-owned YouTube, then threaten to sue the search giant
for copyright infractions.
Martin J Young surveys the week's developments in computing, science,
gaming and gizmos.
|
 The
great illusion
In another example of the Great American Way of Life, the United States'
external debt is miles and miles past the level that says the country should be
sinking under default, hyperinflation, or both - and neither has so far
happened. But they will. And the collapse will be ugly - unless you own lots
and lots of gold!!!
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FROM THE BLOG
All fall down
Raise US interest rates and the carry trade will come crashing down - and with
it the Treasury market and the mortgage market and the US economy. - David
Goldman
CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
Q4 'Flow of Funds'
In a more normal environment it would take around US$2 trillion of system
credit growth to sustain the present economic structure in the United States.
The majority of this can be expected to be "federal" credit. The latest Federal
Reserve "Flow of Funds" report offers no reason to change the thesis of a
government finance bubble. (Mar 15, '10)
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
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... I do not consider the political system (as it now exists) or the various
political ideologies (as they now exist) in the United States to be positive
examples for the rest of the planet. The political system is broken ... In
Europe, the EU's "super-government" experiment has also failed miserably,
offering nothing except bureaucratic absurdity and "politically correct"
totalitarianism. Therefore the question of whether China has hit upon a
political ideology that offers true advantages is an intellectually honest one.
... - Broncazonk
[A]ll criticism of China MUST be balanced by the terrific advances made by the
country. You might call the 100-floor building now sitting in the place of a
rice paddy 20 years ago a "bubble" - but it is also a stunning achievement for
the country itself. ... - Chan Akya
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From Our Mailbox
[Re US-Israel spat
heads for a showdown , Mar 18] Regardless of the abusive rhetoric,
which by the way is all show and no substance, the US will continue on its path
of placating Israel and allowing this small rogue country to dictate US affairs
in the Middle East.
Ken Moreau
New Orleans, United States
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 Go
to Letters to the Editor |
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ATol Specials
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By Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Jan '09) |
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VIDEO
Taliban's new breed of leader
(May '08) |
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The
Gates
Inheritance
By
Roger Morris
(June '07) |
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Syed Saleem Shahzad reports on
the Afghan war from the Taliban side
(Dec '06)
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How
Hezbollah defeated Israel
By
Mark Perry and
Alastair Crooke
(Oct '06)
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Mark
Perry and
Alastair Crooke
talk to the 'terrorists'
(Mar '06)
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China:
The
Impossible
Revolution
By
Francesco Sisci
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The Coming
Trade War
By Henry C K Liu
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A series
by Henry C K Liu
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Sinoroving
Pepe Escobar in China
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Money, Power
and
Modern Art
A series by Henry C K Liu
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Andre Gunder Frank on Uncle Sam and his
shrinking dollar
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By Pepe Escobar with
photographs by Kevin Nortz
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Nir Rosen goes inside the Iraqi
resistance
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Nir Rosen rides with the US 3rd
Armored Cavalry in western Iraq
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