By Evren Mesci

ANKARA (Reuters) – President Abdullah Gul warned Kurdish rebels on Thursday that Turkey’s patience was running out after Turkish forces said they had repelled a guerrilla attack near the Iraqi border.

Ankara has massed up to 100,000 troops along the mountainous border before a possible cross-border operation to crush about 3,000 rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who launch attacks into Turkey from northern Iraq.

Iraqi, Turkish and U.S. diplomats have stepped up efforts to avert a large-scale Turkish incursion but Gul said NATO-member Turkey would not tolerate any more PKK attacks from Iraq.

“We are totally determined to take all necessary steps to end this threat … Iraq should not be a source of threat for its neighbors,” Gul told an economic conference in Ankara.

The United States is keen to avert a large-scale Turkish offensive in northern Iraq, fearing it would destabilize not only the most peaceful part of that country but potentially also the region as a whole.

“(The United States) may not want us to carry out a cross-border operation. But it is we who will decide whether to do one or not,” Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told reporters during a visit to Romania.

PUBLIC PRESSURE

Public pressure on Turkish authorities to act has grown since rebels killed 12 soldiers last weekend. The PKK, branded a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey and the European Union, has said it captured eight soldiers.

“We are doing all we can, (we are) working with the Iraqi and Turkish governments to make sure the hostages are freed,” Matthew Bryza, U.S. deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, said in a speech in Ankara.

Turkish security sources have confirmed a series of sorties by warplanes and ground troops since Sunday into Iraqi territory, although Ankara has said it still hopes diplomacy can stave off the need for a full-scale ground invasion.

Turkish tanks and artillery helped beat off an attack by up to 40 PKK rebels late on Wednesday on a military post in Hakkari province near the border, security officials told Reuters.

After fierce clashes, the guerrillas withdrew into northern Iraq, taking an unknown number of dead and wounded, the officials said. One Turkish soldier was wounded.

F-16 fighter jets took off early on Thursday from the airport in Diyarbakir, the largest city of Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast region. Their destination was not known.

An Iraqi Kurdish security official said a Turkish warplane bombed a Kurdish village on Wednesday but gave no details of damage.

IRAQI TALKS

An Iraqi team, led by Defense Minister General Abdel Qader Jassim and including members of northern Iraq’s Kurdish administration, arrived in Ankara for talks which Turkish officials described as a last chance for diplomacy.

The Baghdad government has promised to shut down PKK offices but Ankara knows the central authorities in Iraq hold little sway in the autonomous Kurdish north.

Turkish newspapers on Thursday accused Iraqi and Iraqi Kurdish leaders of dishonesty and unreliability, saying they promised much but delivered virtually nothing.

They were especially angry with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, whom senior Turkish officials quoted on Wednesday as saying Baghdad might hand over PKK rebels to Turkey. Talabani’s office later denied he said this.

The U.S. ambassador in Baghdad told reporters that Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq should “do everything possible to interdict resupply” and also try to detain rebels moving in or out of the mountainous border region.

“Folk heading up that way need to be stopped, folks coming down need to be picked up,” Ryan Crocker said in Baghdad. The United States has practically no troops in northern Iraq.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to visit Turkey on November 2 and 3 to try to ease tension between Turkey and Iraq.

Erdogan is expected to meet President George W. Bush in Washington on November 5.

A senior Turkish diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters Ankara was waiting for the United States to come up with a response to its request for action against the PKK.

“The real deadline is the Bush-Erdogan meeting. There will be no major military action before that,” the diplomat said.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

(Additional reporting by Gareth Jones in Ankara, Thomas Grove in Uludere, Seyhmus Cakan in Diyarbakir and Ross Colvin in Baghdad)

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Courtesy Cordula Meyer in Washington

More than 30,000 foreign troops are enlisted in the US Army, many of them serving in Iraq. Their reward for risking their lives for their adopted country is US citizenship.

When Anna Maria Clarke, 26, was a teenager living in the western German city of Mannheim, she already had a weakness for smart uniforms, particularly on American soldiers, and for war movies like “Full Metal Jacket.” It was an attraction that Clarke, a German citizen, felt early on and still feels today.

The parents of 25-year-old Julieta Ortiz immigrated to the United States from Mexico City, dirt-poor but ambitious. They worked hard picking strawberries in California, determined that their daughter would have a better life. Four years ago, Julieta suddenly found a way to that better life — a difficult path, but one that would lift her out of the poverty of her childhood.

Jose Figueira, 31, spent much of his life listening to his father proudly recount his experiences as a soldier in the Portuguese army. Figueira, who grew up in Massachusetts, yearned to have something he could be just as proud of. “I wanted to prove that I’m a good citizen, that I’m willing to stand up for everything I love about this country.”

They may have different reasons for joining the US Armed Forces, but all three are now among the more than 30,000 foreign soldiers fighting for America — not as Americans, but as a Mexican, a Portuguese and even a German. Without its foreign soldiers, the United States would have trouble coming up with enough troops to meet the demand in Iraq. The foreigners, for their part, take the dangerous job mainly for its biggest reward: US citizenship.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the United States has granted US citizenship to 32,500 foreign soldiers. In July 2002, US President George W. Bush issued an executive order to expand existing legislation to offer a fast track to citizenship to foreigners who agree to fight for the US Armed Forces. About 8,000 non-Americans have joined the US military every year since then.

The foreigners already represent 5 percent of all recruits. They even make up the majority of soldiers from some New York and Los Angeles neighborhoods. Four years and 3,800 US deaths after the beginning of the Iraq campaign, fewer and fewer American citizens are willing to fight in a war opposed by a majority of the US population. But despite the Iraq war’s lack of popularity, US generals are demanding 180,000 new recruits a year.

The Pentagon already spends $3.2 billion a year on recruitment, even sending its recruiters to high schools to persuade 17-year-olds still a year away from graduation to enlist.

The US military learned long ago that foreign recruits are often the most dedicated Americans. Anna Maria from Mannheim, looking girlish with her red ponytail, had always dreamed about the US military. She was attracted to the American soldiers living in Germany, who seemed so relaxed about life. When she fell in love, it was always with an American GI. Her soft spot earned her the nickname “Ami-Anna” (“Yankee Anna”). Of course, she married a GI. She began secretly watching her husband’s fellow soldiers doing their push-ups and sit-ups in the morning. Then she started exercising, lost 25 kilograms (55 pounds), passed the admission test and survived US Army boot camp in Texas.

Over 100 Germans

Now Airman First Class Clarke works in the human resources department at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. But the reality of the war shows up on her desk sometimes. Part of Clarke’s job is to make sure that the bodies of soldiers killed in Iraq make it home as complete as possible.

Of course, Clarke expects to be sent to Iraq herself at any time. She says that she would even have enlisted without the promise of her new US citizenship, but it’s important to her nonetheless. “After all,” she says, “I could be killed for this country. It’s nice to know that it’s actually my country.” There are currently 128 Germans serving in the US military — more than from any other European country except Great Britain.

Most foreign recruits come from Latin America and the Caribbean. Latino rights groups in the United States, fearful that immigrants are being used as cannon fodder, object to the somewhat shady practice of offering citizenship in return for military service. But it happens to be a fact of life “that immigrants always have the more difficult jobs,” says military expert Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution. He is more concerned about the fact that many US citizens are already serving their third tours of duty at the front. Increased recruitment of foreigners, says O’Hanlon, could help lighten the burden.

O’Hanlon has even proposed recruiting potential new citizens for military service in selected countries, like the Philippines or Uganda, a proposal the Pentagon is considering.

Military recruiters have been particularly successful in immigrant communities. “Immigrants want to prove to American society that they are especially patriotic,” says Bill Galvin of the Center on Conscience and War, a liberal anti-war organization. “The recruitment officers take advantage of this and promise citizenship in return.” Patriotism was a strong motivator for Jose Figueira to join the US military. “I wanted to prove that the Americans could trust me,” he says. “I wanted to prove that I belong here.”

Sergeant Figueira, a member of the National Guard, is no military buff. He’s realized, after serving in Iraq, that the reality of war is more than he expected. He talks about Baghdad, about roadside bombs and snipers. He also talks about the many hours he spent under enemy fire repairing the vehicles in his convoy after a bomb attack. He saw soldiers being killed, and the tears come to his eyes when he talks about the experience. Nevertheless, he says, he would return to Iraq at any time.

It’s people like Figueira who demonstrate that immigrants “are indispensable for the military,” says Margaret Stock, a lawyer and lecturer at the legendary US Military Academy at West Point. “They are more successful and they’re less likely to give up,” she adds. Besides, immigrants are a good investment for the military. “You get more bang for your buck,” says Stock.

It is for these reasons that the military is now deliberately targeting immigrants for recruitment, especially those who speak Arabic or Farsi — but also Latinos, the largest immigrant group in the United States. Corporal Julieta Ortiz, Mexican by birth, joined the Marines “because I wanted to make something out of myself and because citizenship means a lot to me.” Being a US citizen helps her advance in her career, because, as she says, “I couldn’t become an officer” as a foreigner in the US military. She is now an architecture student and wants to work for the government in the future. She glosses over the potential risks of serving in Iraq. “It’s worth it to me,” says Ortiz.

“People with no prospects see the military as a way out of poverty,” says Jorge Mariscal, a professor of Latino Studies at the University of California, San Diego. The uniform means money — money for college and money to pay bills. “Immigrants are taken advantage of,” says Bill Galvin, who is against the war and advises soldiers in Washington who want to get out of the military before their contracts are up. “Those who have no other options are the most likely to end up in combat.”

A US Flag, and a Certificate of Citizenship

One of them was Juan Alcantara, 22, the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic who grew up in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood.

Alcantara survived his first year in Iraq, but then the recent troop surge began and, under an executive order issued by President Bush, Corporal Alcantara was told he would be kept on in Iraq for another six months. He had been scheduled to return home on June 28. His girlfriend gave birth to their daughter on June 29. On Aug. 6, a bomb exploded while Alcantara was searching a house in the town of Baqubah, north of Baghdad. Alcantara was killed in the blast.

His mother, Maria, now sits in her apartment in Washington Heights, wiping the tears from her eyes. She once told her son that the three most important things in life are: “God, family and your country.”

She says that the army promised Juan “up to $50,000 for college, plus a $20,000 bonus, his choice of any of 200 jobs and a full-time position.” He filled out the application on the plastic-covered couch in her living room. The mother says that she wept the first time her son came home in his new dress uniform. “He was so elegant, so handsome.”

She prayed when he was ordered to go to Iraq. Was Corporal Juan Alcantara really convinced that he was defending his country? The mother nods. She truly wants to believe all the things the officers told her during the memorial service and at the funeral, when they handed her a US flag, the Purple Heart, an award for wounded soldiers — and Juan’s certificate of citizenship. Everyone at the ceremony assured her that her son was a hero.

Juan Alcantara is the 103rd foreign soldier to become a US citizen posthumously — after dying in the Iraq war. His mother keeps the framed certificate and the letters of condolence in a blue plastic bag.

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

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Ankara, 10 Oct. (AKI) – Turkish Muslims will be allowed to pray only three times a day from Wednesday instead of the usual five – without fear of committing a sin in the eyes of those who made the fatwa.

A member of the scientific council of Istanbul University, Muhammad Nour Dughan, has issued a controversial fatwa or religious edict cutting Islamic prayer requirements from five to three times a day.

The move has provoked widespread debate as well as opposition from orthodox imams or Muslim clerics.

Sharia law allows for the possibility of praying three times a day in case of sickness or travel.The fatwa extends this option allowing Muslims to pray three times a day, especially when they are heavily committed with work or personal issues.

The Turkish debate echoes a similar one that has already taken place in Egypt where the fatwa has also drawn support. Jamal al-Banna, brother of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hasan al-Banna, endorsed the Turkish move.

“Merging prayers has become a modern necessity,” he told the al-Arabiya website. “In most cases, people do not always perform the five prayers on time due to the pressures of modern life.”

Al-Banna is often criticised for his modern interpretation of Islamic rules. He said the Prophet Muhammad (s) himself had given followers this option that could be applied when prayers cannot be carried out in a given time.

A member of Egypt’s Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Youssef al-Badri, rejected the argument saying it was unacceptable to merge prayers unless it was due to travel, illness, rain or pilgrimage.

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By Sumayyah Meehan, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

Almost 2 years ago to this very day, my son almost died. What started out as a simple sore throat turned into a horrible infection. My spouse and I spent more than a week shuttling him back and forth to our local government hospital here in Kuwait. Each time we went there was a different doctor on duty and a different diagnosis. First, they said he required antibiotics to kill the infection. Then, when he did not improve, another doctor took him off the meds and said it was simply a nasal problem. They sent us home with a bottle of nose drops. Finally, we went to the main government hospital in our district thinking we would find better care, but we didn’t. With no other option available, we had no choice but to turn to the private hospital sector. On the morning we planned to take him to the private hospital of our choice, I went into his room to get him ready. I knew something was direly wrong by the way he was holding his head on the pillow. His face was a pale shade of blue and he was burning up with fever. In terror, I began screaming his name and shaking him to wake him up. He was unresponsive. I shook him even harder and he managed to open one of his eyes to the space of a squint. We raced him to the hospital as fast as we could. The first thing the nurse did, before we even saw the doctor, was to hold my son’s entire head under a faucet of cold running water. Even the icy cold water barely roused him. The doctor diagnosed him with severe tonsillitis and admitted him immediately. He stayed there for a full week receiving several bags of IV fluids each day and a cocktail of antibiotics. Test results later revealed that the infection had spread to his bloodstream and was also present in his urine and stool samples. The doctor said that if we had not brought him in when he did the consequences could have proved fatal.

Thankfully, the only casualty in this health crisis was our bank account. The hospital stay cost us about $6000 and our account was officially declared dead. But for us, it was money well spent. I was just thankful to see my son healthy again. However, our joy was short lived when the fever returned 3 days later. We took him back to the same hospital and were told that my son’s tonsils were turning against him. The organs themselves were damaged and full of holes. He needed an emergency tonsillectomy that would cost at least $10,000. There was no way we could afford it. So, we headed back to the government hospital.

Many Americans crave a universal healthcare system in the US, but I have lived with it in Kuwait and it is not at all what it is supposed to be. Almost all the countries in the GCC, who offer universal healthcare, struggle to provide quality care but it’s often hard when hospitals are understaffed and doctors are underpaid. On top of that, getting an appointment for a government hospital is no easy feat. After hearing raves about a government hospital in our area, we went to schedule my son’s tonsillectomy. However, despite his raging fever and ravaged little body we were given an appointment 3 months from the day we added his name to list. Neither my husband nor I believed my son could make it until then. So, we looked for a way to get a faster appointment.

And that way was by finding someone with ‘wasta’, or influence. Basically it means you have friends in high places. Wasta is usually the only way to get things done in the Middle East. Those without it truly struggle to make it in this region. In Kuwait, only the Kuwaiti citizens have wasta. We began looking for someone with wasta and fortunately we found a man who took pity on our situation. This man went to the hospital within 24 hours of us contacting him and our son was on the operating table the following week.

It has been 2 years since my personal experience with wasta being a matter of life or death. So, I was unsure if the same practices were still prevalent in Kuwait today. After talking with a few people, I learned that wasta is still alive and well in Kuwait.

Zainab Saad is a 29-year-old Pakistani mother to 4 girls. She was recently diagnosed with having a polyp in her uterus. The doctor who made the diagnosis ordered an operation to remove the growth and test it to see if it was cancerous. However, Zainab would have to wait 3 months before she could be scheduled for the operation. Since she could not afford to go to a private hospital she had no choice but to look for wasta. Luckily, her husband found a Kuwaiti citizen to help and Zainab was on the operating table in less than 2 weeks and the tests proved she did not have cancer.

On the flip side, Soraya Adil, a Palestinian secretary and mother to two boys, is also struggling with medical issues–however she does not have wasta. Her youngest son has a growth behind his nose. The doctors recommend he have an immediate operation to remove it as it is affecting his breathing and aggravating his tonsils. “My son cries all day and night. I have missed so much work that I fear they will fire me,” she says, “I do not have wasta so I have no choice but to let my child suffer for 3 months until our appointment.”

The 3-month waiting period for surgical operations in Kuwait applies to expatriates only. Kuwaiti citizens, as usual, receive preferential treatment. Even if your life is on the line, without wasta you are forced to gamble with your very existence. As expatriates, we are forced to pay health insurance fees for laughable medical care. The fee is attached to the renewal of residence visas and there is no way to avoid it. Someone in need of a life saving surgery in Kuwait has almost no chance of survival unless a sympathetic doctor manages to pull a few strings. But with their desensitization and disenchantment with their own role in this medical nightmare it’s highly unlikely that they will step up to the plate to save a life that needs saving.

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By Karin Friedemann, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

I was surprised and delighted to find that David Horowitz managed to do what no one else could ever do – get every major Islamic and Arab association and every personal opinion of every Muslim as well as anyone even remotely progressive on the same page as each other – united against “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week,” united against his Judeo-Supremacist hate campaign.

David Horowitz has moved the boundary of rational discourse on Islam and Arabic politics so far to the right that previously unacceptable Islamophobia and Arabophobia became acceptable or even moderate positions in American public discourse. Juan Cole has identified Horowitz as a pioneer of the “google-smear” method of discrediting a political opponent where lies “can be passed around to journalists and politicians as though they were actual information.”

I have to disagree with the mainstream Muslim organizations that “dawah” or “explaining Islam” is the best method of counter-attack against the liar pundits who are using Muslims as scapegoats to distract from the wars the neo-conservatives are forcing America to wage, pay for and die for. For every lying sentence someone like Dershowitz or Horowitz might say, it would take an hour to unravel all the falsehoods and racist misconceptions. This is the neo-con method of argumentation. They are not trying to understand Muslims or help Muslims, they are trying to defeat Muslims politically and socially. It is therefore necessary to use normal political debate tactics to gain the upper hand. There is no evidence that dawah will likely solve the problem of the David Horowitz’s of the world. They have more money and more media connections and they can do what they want. A more useful approach is to work on discrediting them by talking about THEM. Not by insisting we don’t support terrorists. They are trying to wedge you into a corner and force you to say that you support Israel’s right to murder Palestinians and take their property and sell it for subsidized rates to American Jews at discounts funded by our tax dollars.

The important thing to point out is that pro-Israel fanatics are disloyal to America and that they are traitors. David Horowitz in his FrontPage newsletter openly supported putting Prof. Sami Al-Arian in prison on secret evidence (read: no charges) and he wants all Muslims deported. He also wants Muslims to be imprisoned. He uses the very 1980’s topic of “female circumcision” as a debate tactic when the real question is why are innocent women giving birth to babies on floors covered in shit and why are they being raped and sodomized by US soldiers in Guantanamo? Whose idea was that?

David Horowitz, like most pro-Israel Jews in America, wanted very much for the US to invade Iraq and imprison its population and murder the children. He is also strongly supportive of bombing Iran for no good reason except for his seething hatred against the United States. The neo-cons want to end the era of the American Constitution. David Horowitz supports trials without evidence, without charges, Muslims being locked up for life and tortured like Jose Padilla, who was given so much LSD he lost his mind and was unable to speak for himself at his own trial.

David Horowitz is part of a network of well-funded Jewish think tanks whose goal is to enslave the American population so that we will eternally subsidize the Israeli economy, send our children to die fighting Israel’s enemies both real and imagined, and to give up our sovereignty.

I think it’s really great that the Muslims and Arabs have united against David Horowitz’s hate campaign. But what people still don’t understand is that the anti-Islam speech is just a circus show. What this clown is advocating is the end of the United States Constitution. The end of civil liberties. The end of human rights. He advocates everything that Israel stands for. He wills the destruction of the American economy and our very moral fabric. Look at what frontpagemag.com wrote about Prof. Sami-Al Arian, about mosques around the country. He wants every person who is loyal to the ideals of the United States to rot in prison.

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By Bob Wood, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

One of the few certainties we can count on with our finances is that, over time, terminology and circumstances will change. For example, when seeking professional advice, we previously engaged the services of stockbrokers. Today, few financial professionals call themselves brokers. Instead, they now carry the title “financial advisors.” With that change, has their advice gained any more value?

Having seen for a time the title “financial advisor,” printed after my own name, I understand what is being sold with it. No matter what financial services people call themselves, rest assured that they are selling something! While a stock broker might use analyst reports to excite a customer about buying a certain stock or mutual fund (that pays an appropriate commission), a financial advisor appears to use more personalized methods.

When I began working as a financial advisor for a large financial company, we stood apart from the competition by using a personalized financial plan as a sales tool. We advisors built a comprehensive plan for each client, considering his or her individual situation, risk tolerance, financial goals and time horizons.

Now, most financial services companies previously employing “stock brokers” have evolved them into comprehensive financial planners, with many using designations attesting to their studies in financial planning subjects such as investing, estate planning, tax planning and insurance coverage.

All things considered, a personal financial plan is a wonderful concept. How better to know how to achieve all your financial goals with the highest degree of certainty? Annual reviews can keep the plan on track as changes occur in your personal, work or employment situations.

So far, so good! Having a plan in place is surely better than not having one at all, right? Well, maybe. I vividly remember the day when the realization hit me that virtually every financial plan I wrote for clients was fundamentally flawed in significant ways. I came to the conclusion that every plan written by me was basically useless, and some of those very plans won awards for excellence!

Here’s the problem I see with the plans I wrote, as well as those written by others. Any plan making projections about what will happen in the future, especially for longer time periods, must rely on assumptions that can prove to be stunningly inaccurate.

I don’t know how good you are at making predictions, but I can assure you that financial professionals are no better than you! Yet, as a group, we make assumptions about the rate of inflation, stock and bond market returns, a client’s income stream and expenses. We also have assumed that employer benefits will remain constant.

The problem here is that none of these variables will remain fixed as we assume in a financial plan. We anticipate that inflation will average 3%/year, for example. The big issue here is that prices never rise in linear fashion. Instead, we always see fluctuations. I wonder how many recent financial plans assumed that the current rate of inflation would be running at least twice as hot as long-term averages have suggested?

If we assume that inflation will average 3%/year over the next 10 years and that your current monthly expenses run about $3,000/month, we can project that in 10 years your monthly expenses will rise to about $4,000/month. But if inflation averages just one percent more each year, your monthly expenses would jump to $4,400. If inflation rises more than expected, up to a 5% annual average, your expenses would run close to $4,900/month.

Deciding to retire at the end of that 10-year period would also make a big difference. Using the rule of thumb commonly employed to figure how much savings you will need to provide that amount of income, we calculate that you will need about twenty times annual expenses, excluding income other income sources such as Social Security, a pension or rental income.

To provide income of $4,000/month, you would need about $1 million in savings. But adding in the estimate for 5% inflation would require over 20% more in savings!

Another trouble spot in the commonly used set of assumptions is that, in retirement, you will need only a portion of the income you earned each year while working. About 80% of your work years’ income is often considered sufficient in retirement. Check out the validity of this assumption by asking someone who is retired how much less they spend now than they did while working!

Do you really think that filling all that extra time, previously used working or getting to and from work, really allows retirees to spend less money each year? Don’t count on it!

Maybe the biggest flaw in written financial plans is the expected growth of your savings put at risk in the stock market. The plans I wrote generally assumed that stock market gains would average about 9%/year. The big problem here is that long-term stock market performance has never been that good!

Yes, those smart people who have studied performance of the major stock averages like the Dow Jones Industrial Average for its past 100 years tell us that 9%/annually is the average return. The problem is that “average annual returns” do not find their way into your accounts.

As pointed out by Ed Easterling in John Mauldin’s book, Just One Thing, the compounded average annual return in stocks is closer to 5%, and that’s what you see in your account statements over time. Check this out by using the value of 66 for the Dow in 1900 and plugging that number into your financial calculator as the present value. Use today’s value as the future value to see the result you get.

The answer might go a long way in explaining why we know so few people who actually claim getting rich in the stock markets. You should also note how close the Dow and S&P 500 are in value today as compared to their previous market peak in early 2000. A plan assuming the 9% average annual gain would have projected $1 million in savings to have grown to about $1.8 million today!

But with major averages close to where they started seven years ago, what are the chances for that gain? So what value did the financial plan written in 2000 actually provide?

Another trouble spot of the financial plan involves tax planning. Again, many assume that a retiree will spend less money than he did while working. But since, in the real world, this situation seldom happens, we should expect the same level of spending, which actually increases due to inflation over time, and this situation will require a level of income in retirement similar to that while working.

Why some assume a lower tax rate in retirement also baffles me. Of course, this supposition helps sell the use of tax deferred savings accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s, and where else can such money be invested but in the stock market?

Writing a financial plan of action certainly makes more sense to a client than simply “winging it” and hoping for the best. But the use of fatally flawed assumptions reduces a plan’s value by anywhere from a little to a great deal.

To make the most of your personal financial plan, insist on using the most conservative estimates possible. Assume that inflation will be higher than long-term averages. The falling value of the dollar absolutely insists on using this critical step.

Assume investment returns at the lowest end of the range, closer to 5% than 9%/year. And figure that your expenses in retirement will increase to fill all that free time other than what you plan spending on your couch, watching Oprah!

The worst that can happen, using these more conservative assumptions, is that you will over-plan your savings and end up with more than you really need. The best that can happen is protecting you from wishing, as you enter retirement, that you had saved more while you had the chance.

The adjustments to your financial assumptions may look small now, but the longer you live, the more of a difference they will make. “Real-world” assumptions were missing from the financial plans I wrote when that was my job. But I’ll bet that I wasn’t alone in planning on gains that are unlikely to occur.

If you have a written financial plan in place, review it with your financial advisor and change those overly-optimistic assumptions. Or at least, build in a broader range of assumptions to use in your advisor’s Monte Carlo simulation (approximating the probability of certain outcomes by running multiple simulations using random variables). If you decide to do this yourself and use an on-line calculator, assume the worst. What harm could it do?

Have a great week.
Bob

Bob Wood ChFC, CLU Yusuf Kadiwala. Registered Investment Advisors, KMA, Inc., invest@muslimobserver.com.

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By Sadaf Ali, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

Westland-October 21- The Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan (CIOM) held their 21st Unity Banquet and Gala at Burton Manor in Westland. This year’s topic was “Islamophobia”.

The guests included Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, National Director of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and Gregory Roberts, Director of the Office of Community and Faith-Based Initiatives.

However, this year was different because it also included a member of the mainstream media, Grace Gilchrist, Vice President of WXYZ, Channel 7, who was awarded the Fairness in Media Award.

Dr. Sayyid Syeed in his keynote address derided Islamophobes who are waging a campaign against Muslims. He said “we must see that multiculturalism and pluralism flourish–that is the basic premise of this beautiful country.”

Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, of the Islamic House of Wisdom, feels that including members of the media is a step in the right direction, but feels that the issue of “Islamophobia” is bigger than the Muslim community.

“This is really painful for the Muslim community, as well as, a big challenge on how to remove the ignorance and bring education to ourselves and others,” said Elahi, “It’s a big responsibility for the Muslim community to reach out to the media and deal with this issue.”

According to Victor Begg, Chair of CIOM, bias against members of the Jewish and Catholic communities is understood by many Americans; however, “Islamophobia” is still unrecognized.

In the CIOM newsletter Begg states, “When the rights of one minority are corrupted, it is the responsibility of all Americans to speak up. Islamophobia has implications to harm not only American Muslims but also America as a whole. Islamophobia and anti-Americanism are interlinked.”

Elahi and Saleem Qureshi, CIOM Treasurer, both agree that the mainstream media and interfaith dialogue are the keys in this struggle.

“It’s a way for the different religions and communities to put their hearts and minds together to stop this ignorance,” said Elahi.

“We should develop communication with the media and other ethnic groups so that they can learn about the good of Islam and they can spread that information to their own communities,” said Qureshi.

Qureshi also adds that some of the fault lies within the Muslim community.

“In the past we have never made an effort to reach the media and if you don’t reach them, then they don’t care,” he says, “We need to show them that we are important members of society.”

Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, Mark Brewer, says that “Islamophobia” is a major concern for Michigan. He says the party is against the Patriot Act and secret evidence, which he considers discriminatory and “un-American.”

He feels that Michigan is more susceptible to this problem because of the high number of Muslims living within the state, but believes that knowledge about Islam and Muslims will lead to better understanding for other Americans.

“I think there’s been more exposure and education for the community. We also need to be on guard more because there is more potential here for this type of discrimination,” he said, “I think we have made tremendous progress in Michigan, especially since the Gulf War. But we must remain vigilant.”

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Al Hamra Academy becomes first Islamic school in New England to gain accredition

SHEWSBURY, MA–Al Hamra Academy in Shrewsbury has become the forst Islamic school in New England to gain accredition from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, INC. (NEASC), an achievement that is widely being hailed as a milestone for the region’s Muslim community.The accredition is a voluntary evaluation process and it 2 1/2 years for Al Hamra to successfully obtain it.

Accreditation is a process of voluntary self-regulation that is monitored by the NEASC. To be accredited, a school must conduct and document a full internal review of every aspect of its operations. The school is then evaluated by an independent group of educators during a three-day visit. This visiting team ultimately recommends accreditation based on both the quality of the schools’ self-review and the visiting team’s assessment of the schools adherence to its own mission, and its preparedness for long-term service to its constituency. Al-Hamra’s accreditation process began in 2005 and culminated with a visit by seven educators from the NEASC in May, 2007. The final decision approving Al-Hamra’s institutional membership and granting it accreditation was made on September 25th at a meeting of the NEASC Board of Trustees.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with this development,” said Haroon Hashmi, Chairman of Al-Hamra’s Board of Directors. “We continuously strive for excellence in education and accreditation was a way to prove the merits of this institution by opening it up for external review. We are confident that the decision of NEASC shows Al-Hamra to be a leading educational institution in Massachusetts, and look forward to its continued service to the community.”

Accreditation ensures that students from the academy will not have difficulty transferring to high schools.

Founded in 1994 in Northboro, Massachusetts, Al-Hamra Academy serves over 150 students from Pre-K to 8th Grade. In addition to the standard curriculum mandated by the state, Al-Hamra offers classes in Arabic and Religion in keeping with its Islamic values. Throughout its history, the Academy has consistently proven its commitment to excellence. Its students have regularly submitted prize-winning entries to local and state science fairs and other academic competitions, and have scored above average on standardized achievement tests.

‘Understanding Islam’ Course Creates Awareness and Improved Relations

DENVER, CO — Online knowledge provider Jones Knowledge Group(R) (JKG(R)) introduced a new course, Understanding Islam: An Introduction, which addresses the misperceptions, apprehension and lack of knowledge about the Islamic faith.

The course is designed for corporations, school districts, governmental organizations, including law enforcement agencies, and other learners who would benefit from understanding the historical context of Islam, the complexities of the culture, and gain the tools necessary to improve their relations with Muslims worldwide. Understanding Islam is the first in the Jones Cultural Diversity Series of online courses designed to bring enlightenment, respect and tolerance for a variety of world cultures.

Developed by an esteemed group of Islamic scholars, led by Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, the course creates a foundation for understanding, mutual respect and constructive engagement, and teaches students new skills to affect more positive interactions, whether they are conducting business in an Islamic country, teaching Islamic students or working with Islamic people. The content in Understanding Islam is appropriate for the education, corporate and diplomatic sectors.

Ahmed is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington D.C. and, according to the BBC, he is considered “the world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam.” The former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain, Ahmed has advised Prince Charles and met with President George W. Bush on Islam. Ahmed, who has written several books, is regularly interviewed on CNN, CBC, the BBC, ARY TV and has appeared several times on the Oprah Winfrey Show and Nightline. In 2006, he won the Purpose Prize Award with Dr. Judea Pearl for their work on interfaith dialogue.

“As more Muslims begin to see the West as their enemy, more Westerners in turn see Muslims as their enemy, perpetuating a cycle of mistrust, ignorance and violence,” said Ambassador Ahmed. “Now more than ever, it is imperative for the West and the Muslim world to talk to and understand each other. The only way forward is to forge a path of dialogue, understanding and mutual respect.”

With economic globalization and Islam being the fastest-growing religion in the world, the need for strong relations between Westerners and Muslims is more important than ever, especially in our post-9/11 world, according to Terry Erdle, President of Jones Knowledge.

“Understanding Islam: An Introduction can bridge that gap of ignorance and fear by giving learners knowledge, context and real-world skills in which to affect positive change around the world,” Erdle said.

The course is comprised of six modules, with topics including history, faith/beliefs, women in Islam, and terrorism. Delivered in an engaging, completely online format, Understanding Islam also provides real-life scenarios in which learners may choose appropriate courses of action to improve mutual communication and interaction. Organizations also have the option of purchasing scenarios that are customized to their specific work environment and corporate regulations.

Ahmed, who this year published Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization (Brookings Institution Press, 2007) praised Jones Knowledge’s effort.

“I offer my sincerest congratulations and gratitude for the initiative the Jones Knowledge has taken in creating this course,” Ahmed said. “This is a much-need project and will greatly improve the level of understanding between the West and the Muslim world at a critical time in history.”

Understanding Islam course was launched nationally at a Jones Knowledge-sponsored event at the National Press Club today in Washington D.C. featuring Ambassador Ahmed and well-known industrialist and community activist Arif Zaffar Mansuri.

An Na’im, Dalai Lama, Gandhi speak at Emory University

ATLANTA, GA–Prof. Abdullah An Na’im, Dalai Lama and Rajmaohan Gandhi spoke about to a crowd of over 3,000 at Emory University about how religion has contributed toward violence and their hopes for change, reported the Emory Wheel.

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, the C.H. Candler professor of law at the School of Law, said he felt a powerful charge of peace when he and the Dalai Lama embraced before the summit began. An-Na’im was the first person from Sudan that His Holiness had met.

An-Na’im said, “For me as a Muslim, religion is about that inner peacefulness which makes peace possible.”

An-Na’im quoted Mohandas Gandhi saying, “Be the change you want to make.” He called for everyone to take an individual responsibility.

“If we don’t take it personally, nothing is going to happen,” he said. Religions are not the actors, he added — the practitioners are.

Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Gandhi, told a story about Hindus destroying a 16th century mosque in 1992 in the city of Ramkot in Uttar Pradesh. In the process, they also brought down an adjoining hall that was sacred to Hindus.

“When you set out to destroy what you don’t like, you also destroy what you like,” Gandhi said.

Gandhi made reference to his grandfather, who said that he preferred the phrase “Truth is God” rather than “God is Truth” because not so many had been killed in the name of truth as in God’s name.

If Gandhi were alive today, according to Rajmohan Gandhi, he would ask that individuals throw a searchlight on the deeds of their own side.

“Let us not fall into the temptation that one faith is uniquely flawed or dangerous,” he said. “Ask yourselves whether the hate and greed around you are going up or down.”

Ali Sarsour to lead Chico Interfaith

Long-time Chico resident Ali Sarsour became the first Muslim to head the Interfaith Council of the Chico Area, when the group elected him president on Oct. 10. Sarsour, who came to Chico as a student in 1970, is of Palestinian origin.

A Chico State grad, he was active in student government. He later served on the city’s Affirmative Action Committee and Parking Place Commission. He is now vice-chairman of the Human Resources Commission.

Following 9/11, Sarsour was extremely involved in fostering good relations between local Muslims and others. The Chico Peace and Justice Center gave him its Peace Endeavor award in 2002, and that same year the Chico News & Review selected him as one of its five “local heroes.”

His recipe for solving problems: “Have a potluck together!”

RBG sponsors its sixth annual scholarship program.

Royal Buying Group Inc. (RBG) has revealed its sixth annual scholarship program is now open for applications.

The RBG Scholarship Program is available to eligible candidates that are high school seniors or graduates who are planning to or are enrolled at an accredited two- or four-year College or university in the U.S. that will lead to an academic degree. Eligible candidates include RBG members and/or their children. All RBG affiliations are eligible, including STARZ Buying Club, Sinclair Rebate Program, LukOil Buying Club, Getty Buying Club, KwikFarms Buying Club, Gulf Advantage, TETCO Advantage, Connect-2-One, and NATSO participating locations.

To date, RBG has given out 10 scholarships to children of its membership. This year’s winners include; Christopher Butler, who is a freshman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Christopher’s father, Bruce Butler, owns Bridgeport Ave Shell in Shelton, Conn. The second recipient, Shayan Khan, is a freshman at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Shayan’s father, Rasheed Khan, owns River Shell in McHenry, Ill.

RBG members can look in October’s issue of The Competitive Edge for additional details regarding the scholarship program.

CAIR seeks nominations for community service awards

WASHINGTON, D.C.– The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is seeking nominations for its annual Muslim Community Service Awards.

Award categories include journalism, youth activism, community service, courage, and political activism.

Honorees will receive their awards at CAIR’s annual dinner in Arlington, Va., on November 17.

The deadline for award nomination is October 31, 2007. To obtain a nomination form, e-mail: events@cair.com

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By Geoffrey Cook, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

Berkeley–October 2nd–The full title of the director and founder of the Malaysian founder of the Sisters in Islam talk gave to her speech was “What Islam, Whose Islam? The Struggle for Women’s Rights within a Religious Framework…”

Our lecturer was Zainah, Anwar, the Executive Director of her organization and a recent nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. She is a prominent intellectual Feminist having formerly served on her country’s Human Rights Commission.

SIS (Sisters In Islam) is a Malaysian Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) committed to human rights and justice for women but within the framework of traditional Islam! Their programs promote legal rights within the rightful laws of Muslims — especially on the impact of polygamy and how it has clouded its rightful place on Family Law. For an Association that has so much influence in Southeast Asia, there are only thirty “card-carrying members” with a few male “fellow travelers.”

More conservative males will often attack her and her organization’s positions in Kuala Lumpur, but women are often the first societal victims of any culture; therefore, the feminine have come to the forefront of social change there and elsewhere in Asia. She asks how do we employ our faith to face modernity? It is contradictory to the Koran to “Say there cannot be [gender] equality.” Too often within the same revered stanza, of course, “There are verses that enforce inequality,” too. There are certain contemporary scholars who are advocating a re-examination of the controversial cantos. Whatever the situation, contemporary women should, also, read the texts for themselves. Many Feminists feel it is futile to struggle for female rights within the Muslim World, but, now, “More [woman] are fighting within the frame of their faith” within the Islamic paradigm while contesting for their and others human rights.

The inspired utterances of inspired script, for the most part, proclaim the parity between men and woman. There is an ethical and spiritual egalitarianism between the sexes in the scriptures of the Mosque. “There is no superiority…one from the other!”

Over the centuries, misinterpretation created repressive edicts. Further, “Women were excluded from the creation of the regulations.” Many Feminists feel that to struggle within the Muslim world is futile. Yet, now, “More [woman] are fighting within their faith” laboring in the Islamic paradigm while contesting for human rights.

They organized SIS in 1987, for “Where was justice for women?” Zainah states that we have to read the Koran for ourselves: “When Sisters read the texts [on our own]…[we] discover!”

The “Rights to polygamy are conditional…not a male ritual!” The Prophet [pbut] remained monogamous during his first wife’s life. Unfortunately, “The law is more about power and politics.” As a Feminist NGO, we must have a voice. We must advocate for more of our share from the Koran. We must be allowed to educate others and ourselves for a more progressive Islam! “The woman’s voice must be singled out” to offer advice on family law, for most of the male “authorities” are professionals (lawyers doctors, etc.) and lack a religious training.

“Human rights have been central to Muslims at all times.” Diversity of Islam is part of its worldwide attractions throughout history. Anwar feels women were depicted as sexual objects rather than spiritual beings. Laws must be refined outside the isolation of the contemporary context. Zainah Anwar is certain that Islamic debate is about to open up. “If religion is to be used in governance than everyone has a right to join the discussion.” Hope lies in dissent. “Public law is to be put up to dispute…how we live our lives in the world is a work in progress.”

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