Independence Day Congratulations Letter from Barack Obama dated August 15, 2008:
Today, I join with Indian American communities across our country in celebrating the 61st anniversary of India’s independence. It is only natural that the world’s oldest and the world’s largest constitutional democracies should enjoy strong relations. With India, America has one of its most important relationships in an uncertain world. America and India share many common goals and interests. America is India’s largest trading and investment partner, and both countries are working to protect their people and their values from 21st century threats while at the same time respecting the rule of law and cultural pluralism. Public health, education, agriculture, energy, strategic cooperation and technology are only a few of the fields where we should continue to work jointly.
Our strengthened relationship with India has been achieved in part due to the active involvement of Indian Americans. Indian Americans have been strong contributors to the local communities they have settled in around the country. They balance love of the homeland with a strong commitment to America, and their knowledge, skills, values and entrepreneurial spirit have immeasurably benefited both countries. These efforts have played a significant role in creating a blueprint for bilateral relations that bring our nations closer.
Just as the American Revolution inspired Mahatma Gandhi to free a great people, his victory in turn has inspired generations of young people around the world to pursue freedom in their own countries. As freedom faces challenges in many parts of the world, his example is even more relevant. This enduring legacy is one of the great gifts of India’s revolution, and I join you in celebrating it.
Sincerely, /s/ Barack Obama
Pakistan:
Independence Day Congratulations Letter from Barack Obama dated August 14, 2008:
Today, I join with Pakistani American communities across our country in celebrating the 61st anniversary of Pakistan’s independence. America’s relationship with Pakistan and the Pakistani people is one of the most important relationships we have as we confront the challenges of the 21st century.
The vast majority of Pakistan’s people share hopes and dreams that are similar to Americans’. As Pakistani American communities demonstrate, yours is a culture of hard work, entrepreneurialism, and love of community – a culture that places a high value on education, family, faith and service to society. As lawyers and other professionals lead Pakistan’s progress toward greater democracy, I am reminded of the vital and vibrant role of ordinary people and civil society in leading a nation to freedom.
Pakistan and America have many common goals and interests. America is Pakistan’s top export partner, and Pakistan in turn purchases many American goods and services. This partnership is built on the work of Pakistani Americans, who balance love of the homeland with a strong commitment to America. Their knowledge, skills, values and entrepreneurial spirit have proven immeasurably beneficial to both countries.
As the Pakistani people work to perfect their democracy, they have an important ally in the United States. That’s why I have cosponsored legislation tripling non-military aid to the Pakistani people and sustaining it for a decade. Working with the Pakistani American community, I am hopeful that the U.S. can support the building of a strong Pakistani democracy that will be a partner in protecting freedom, countering extremism and promoting tolerance in Pakistan and the entire world. Our peace and security require no less of us. I wish you all the best for a joyous Independence Day.
ELKHART, Indiana (Reuters) – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama took aim at Republican John McCain’s maverick image on Wednesday as the campaign trail took another negative turn.
McCain hit Obama with a television advertisement that belittled him as “the biggest celebrity in the world,” one who would raise taxes on families in America. “Raising taxes in a bad economy is about the worst thing you could do because it will kill even more jobs when what we need are policies that create jobs,” McCain said at a kitchen cabinet plant in Jackson, Ohio.
Even celebrity Paris Hilton got a word in edgewise, issuing a video response to a McCain ad last week that likened Obama to celebrities like her and Britney Spears.
Hilton lies in a pool chair wearing a designer swimsuit and heels, looks up from reading a magazine and upbraids McCain–who she calls “white-haired dude”–and says she supports an energy plan hybrid of McCain’s and Obama’s.
Obama, unable to break out of a close race with McCain in public opinion polls, went on the attack against the Arizona senator at a town hall meeting in the traditionally Republican state of Indiana.
A new poll by the Pew Research Center reported what it called “Obama fatigue” among many Americans, saying 48 percent of those polled said they have been hearing “too much” about him.
He appeared with a potential vice presidential running mate, Indiana Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh, who had supported Obama rival Hillary Clinton earlier this year.
Obama’s appearance with Bayh stirred speculation on whether Bayh might get the nod as Obama’s running mate. He called Bayh “one of the finest United States senators that we have.”
Obama said McCain likes to portray himself as a maverick but that he ceded the role by adopting many conventional Republican policies to win his party’s presidential nomination for the November 4 election, which is now 90 days away.
“You can’t be a maverick when politically it’s working for you and not a maverick when it doesn’t work for you, when you received your party’s nomination,” Obama said.
The subject of the day again was energy, as Americans digging deep into their pockets to pay for $4-a-gallon gasoline look to the candidates for clues as to how the next president will help them.
Taking issue with a McCain TV ad from Tuesday that said Washington is broken and only McCain can fix it, Obama said it only took McCain 26 years serving in the U.S. Congress to figure out there are problems in the U.S. capital.
“If Senator McCain wants to talk about how Washington is broken, that’s a debate I’m happy to have. Because Senator McCain’s energy plan reads like an early Christmas list for oil and gas lobbyists. It’s no wonder — because many of his top advisers are former oil and gas lobbyists,” Obama said.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton was critical of the new McCain ad. He accused McCain, 71, of pushing “tired, failed policies.”
McCain said in Ohio that the U.S. economy needs the same kind of boost that added U.S. troops gave to Iraq, helping the country gain some measure of stability. “What we need today is an economic surge. Our surge has succeeded in Iraq militarily. Now we need an economic surge to keep jobs here at home and to create new ones,” he said.
Democrats said McCain relies on increased drilling for oil, even though McCain supports a mix of policies, including alternative energy sources.
Republicans criticized Obama for encouraging Americans to put more air pressure in their tires to extend gasoline mileage, though Obama backs many other ways to wean the country’s from foreign oil, including a windfall profits tax on oil companies to pay for a $1,000 tax rebate.
Presumptive U.S. presidential nominees Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) are shown in this combination of file photographs from campaign stops from July 18, 2008 in Warren Michigan (McCain) and August 4, 2008 (Obama) in Lansing, Michigan. In interviews with Entertainment Weekly magazine posted on its website on August 7, 2008, the candidates named their favorite pop culture icons, including superheroes, with McCain favoring Batman and Obama choosing and Spider-Man and Batman.
REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/Files
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Holy politicking, Batman. Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama have unmasked their favorite pop culture icons, including superheroes, with McCain favoring Batman and Obama choosing Spider-Man and Batman.
In interviews with Entertainment Weekly magazine posted on its Web site on Thursday, McCain, 71, and Obama, 47, also gave their picks for best on-screen president, top singers and most-liked television shows.
Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois, said he chose Spider-Man and Batman because “they have some inner turmoil.” McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona, said Batman is a quiet hero who pursues justice “against insurmountable odds.”
Both chose a winner. The new Batman movie “The Dark Knight” is burning up box offices with earnings of more than $400 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales.
In the world of music, McCain revealed a weakness for the Swedish disco-era band ABBA, late singer Roy Orbison and 1970s star Linda Ronstadt.
“But I like Usher too,” McCain said, explaining he appeared on the TV comedy show “Saturday Night Live” with the 29-year-old rhythm and blues singer.
Obama favored an eclectic group of musicians, including Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow and John Coltrane.
As for TV, Obama listed throwback programs like “M*A*S*H” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” while McCain named the more recent “Seinfeld,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Dexter.”
Obama also proved a little behind the times on the last movie seen in a theater, which for him was the 2007 animated film “Shrek the Third.” McCain said he had seen the blockbuster hit “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” which debuted in May.
“I enjoyed that so much. The old guy wins,” said McCain, who has been the butt of jokes because of his age.
One person poking fun at him has been Paris Hilton, the 27-year-old actress, singer and socialite, who called McCain a “wrinkly white-haired guy” in a Web video posted this week.
For favorite actor in the role of president, McCain picked Dennis Haysbert from the Fox network hit “24.” Obama chose Jeff Bridges from the 2000 movie “The Contender.”
“He was charming and essentially an honorable person, but there was a rogue about him,” Obama said.
Obama said his first movie memory was “Born Free,” the 1966 film about African lions. McCain remembered the 1942 Disney animated feature “Bambi.”
“When his mother was killed. Oh, yeah, I cried,” McCain said.
A representative from TMDC (Texas Muslim Democratic Caucus), Syed Fayyaz Hassan, visited Michigan to provide details of the planned activities during the forthcoming 2008 Democratic National Convention (Convention) from Aug 24-Aug 28 in Denver, CO.
TMDC was approached by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to organize an American Muslim Democratic Caucus (AMDC) during the Convention and made available, gratis, the Majestic Ballroom in the Tower Building of the Sheraton Denver Hotel, only a mile from the Pepsi Center where the convention will be held.
The event will be a gala luncheon/reception honoring over 50 Muslim Delegates between 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM on Monday, August 25, 2008, and will be emceed by Rep. Keith Ellison. A host of high placed senators, congressmen including the black caucus will be in attendance. TMDC is seeking support from Michigan Muslims and expecting sponsorship of at least one table, 10 persons from Michigan at $1200 per table. If someone can buy a ticket but can’t make it to the Convention, the AMDC (American Muslim Democratic Caucus) would offer the table seat to either a delegate or volunteer with compliments of the person not using the ticket.
Imam Mardinin of Dearborn, Michigan and?Dawud Walid of CAIR-Michigan will be attending the first AMDC lunchen at the Convention. Imam Mardini is also scheduled to conduct the Islamic invocation at the beginning of the Convention on Sunday, August 24.
Abu Iz ibn Razaz al-Jazari was born at Jazira a small town in northern Iraq in the year 1136 CE. His father was the chief engineer at Artukly palace, the residence of the Turkish dynasty ruler. He received his education at Diyar-Bakir, Turky, where the palace was located. Al-Jazari excelled in education and made several new inventions, and after the retirement of his father he became chief engineer of the palace. He lived all his life at Diyar-Bakir, Turky and died in the year 1206 CE.
Al-Jazari was a rare genius who mastered the science of mechanical engineering at an early age. He was also a scholar, artist, inventor, astronomer and craftsman. He is considered one of the fathers of modern day mechanical engineering because of his fundamental inventions in this field. He is also hailed as the father of robotics because he was first to design an early programmable humanoid robot.
Al-Jazari was an accomplished writer and artist. His treatise The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices is considered the most outstanding book in mechanical engineering. Gorge Sarton, the historian of science and technology says, “This treatise is the most elaborate of its kind and may be considered the climax of the Muslim achievements in science and technology.” In this book he has given the details of his inventions and has illustrated them with drawings and paintings. This book includes six main categories of machines and devices. Several of the machines, mechanisms and techniques that first appear in his treatise later entered in the vocabulary of European mechanical engineering books. This includes double acting pumps with suction pipes and the use of a crank shaft in a machine, accurate calibration of orifices, lamination of timber to reduce warping, static balancing of wheels, the use of paper models to establish a design, and casting of metals in closed mould boxes with green sand etc. He also describes methods of construction and assembly in great detail of about fifty machines, so that the future craftsmen could reconstruct them.
Al-Jazari was the first engineer to invent the crankshaft and connecting rod system, which is considered the single most important invention after the wheel. This system is used to transform linear motion into rotatory motion, and visa versa, and is central to the modern machinery such as steam engines and internal combustion engines used in cars today.
Al-Jazari invented five machines for raising water from a river or well. It was in these machines where he introduced his most important ideas and concepts. The first two devices used animal power and an open channel with a scoop. The third machine manipulated the water power and a series of gears to lift pots filled with water. In the fourth machine he used a brand new concept of using the crankshaft and connecting rod system to lift the water. The fifth machine was very complex, it utilized a cog wheel, piston and a suction pipe. Creating vacuum for suction and application of the double-acting principle were advanced technological achievements eight centuries ago. The modern reciprocating water pumps are not very different from what al-Jazari invented centuries ago.
Al-Jazari’s genus mind invented a host of new kinds of clocks, which had never existed before. His astronomical clock was a monumental invention, it displayed a moving model of the sun, moon and stars. His biggest model was eleven feet high–it displayed the lunar orbit, the zodiac and solar orbit. The clock had a pointer which traveled across the top and caused the automatic doors to open every hour. His elephant clock was an ingenious creation of several new innovations. It was the first water clock which employed the flow regulator in a closed loop system. This clock indicated hours to match the uneven length of days throughout the year. The float regulation used in the clock had a big implication during the Industrial Revolution of Europe when it was used in the boilers of steam engines; and in other industrial applications.
The candle clock was another original idea. Here he used a candle of uniform weight and cross section whose rate of burning was known. The candle rested on a shallow dish with a ring connected through pulley to the counterweight. As the candle burned, the counterweight pushed the candle upward at a constant rate, which was then calibrated in time. He also designed a mechanical clock powered by water. This clock was successfully reconstructed at the Science Museum in London, England.
Al-Jazari invented the earliest form of programmable humanoid robot. He used this invention to entertain the king in the palace parties. He is also credited with designing a verity of automata, like an automatic gate, door, and musical instruments all powered by water. His creation of water fountains with musical automation was unique; he did this by hydraulic switching, a new invention as well.
Al-Jazari was a rare genus whose inventions in the field of engineering and robotics gave birth to modern mechanical engineering. He deserves to be called the Leonardo da Vinci of the Muslim world.
Equilibrioception or the sense of balance is one of the physiological senses. It helps prevent humans and animals from falling over when walking or standing still.
In humans, equilibrioception is mainly sensed by the detection of acceleration, which occurs in the vestibular system. Other senses play roles as well, e.g. the visual system and proprioception.
The importance of visual input for balance is illustrated by its being harder to stand on one foot with eyes closed than with eyes open.
In the vestibular system, equilibrioception is determined by the level of fluid (called endolymph) in the labyrinth – a complex set of tubing in the inner ear.
When the sense of balance is interrupted it causes dizziness, disorientation and nausea.
Balance can be upset by Meniere’s disease, superior canal dehiscence syndrome, an inner ear infection, by a bad common cold affecting the head or a number of other medical conditions.
It can also be temporarily disturbed by rapid and vigorous movement, for example riding on a merry-go-round. See also vertigo.Most astronauts find that their sense of balance is impaired when in orbit, because they are in a constant state of free-fall while their rockets are off. This causes a form of motion sickness called space sickness.
Canton–August 1–Muslims are conflicted about involvement in politics, but we are increasing in our savvy and political involvement.
27 candidates who came to the Canton Mosque, the Muslim Community of the Western Suburbs (MCWS) on August 1st, 2008 to introduce themselves and ask for community support in the August 5th primary elections.
Photo by Adil James
An example of this increasing involvement was the August 1st “Meet the Candidates” night at the Canton mosque, just before maghrib prayer. An astonishing 28 candidates came to the event, all of them local politicians vying for seats at a relatively low level in the vicinity of Canton for positions ranging from judgeships to positions as Canton trustees. At times it seemed as though there were more politicians at the mosque than Muslims.
Each of the many candidates was given a very brief opportunity to introduce him or herself (approximately two minutes) and give a brief explanation of the reasons to vote for them. From this introduction, the audience was able to attach a face and character to the otherwise anonymous ballot names. In addition, even from a brief introduction one could gauge the competence and preparedness of the candidates, not to mention the level of respect each candidate seemed to show for Islam and Muslims, and the degree to which each candidate seemed to have an openness in their heart for people different from themselves. Also one could get a sense of the awareness of the candidates of the fact of Muslims being of many different ethnicities and not just a monolithic bloc with one a cloned political identity.
The candidates showed a lot of civility amongst themselves, universally applauding each of their competitors after he/she gave their introduction.
Some elections which occurred August 5th were partisan primaries, in which cross-party voting was impossible. Judgeships, on the other hand, were nonpartisan and therefore Republicans and Democrats could all vote in those elections no matter which party they selected to vote for in this primary.
The race for the 35th Distric Court judgeship is especially intense, and the candidates for that position will spend perhaps $100,000 total in their election, according to Hometownlife.com.
The two candidates in that race who emerged with the most votes on the primary election night were Jim Plakas and Martha Snow, with respectively 7,380 and 4,689 votes. Both of those candidates had been present at the Canton election meeting, and Martha Snow had even covered her hair in a gesture of respect; she also explained that she had had a lot of contact with Muslims and Arabs through her law practice in the Dearborn area.
Some of the candidates made a particularly strong impression, like for instance the political newcomer John Anthony, a former FBI agent (who spent approximately $7,300 on his trusteeship campaign) and gave an impression of being extremely competent and prepared, despite his later defeat in the primary.
The Canton Trusteeship race is also interesting, and many of the 28 candidates were present to compete in that election. They included Syed S. Taj, a Muslim candidate originally from the subcontinent who won unopposed in the Democratic primary and who faces stiff competition in the general election because Canton is a heavily Republican area.
Four Republicans trusteeship competitors advanced beyond the primary, including businessman Pat Williams who in brief comments with The Muslim Observer explained that he believed that “This is by far the best organized of the meet the candidate events we went to.”
Williams explained that the two other meet the candidate events held by non-Mulsims were largely informal barbecue affairs attended by at most a few neighbors.
MCWS, on the other hand, boasted approximately 200 attendees who came to listen to brief introductions by the candidates.
Though impressed with the organization of the event, Williams suggested that future events should be divided according to elections–the candidates in each election should be interviewed separately with opportunities for questions and answers; this would entail preparation of the community for each election with an eye to the important issues in each race.
Williams complained that “You can’t really tell anything about the candidates” in only a two minute introductory speech.
A part of the purpose of this event was to give an opportunity for Canton’s Muslim community to choose candidates. But another purpose was to give the political powers-that-be an inkling of the waxing political interests and aspirations of the Muslim community.
It seems that this is the impression the event gave to the candidates. Said Trusteeship candidate Pat Williams, “It seems as if this is a community that votes as a bloc.”
A boy runs with a toy gun in his hand as he plays on a hill in Kabul August 4, 2008.
REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
NEW YORK – Soon after the US invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban government in 2001, I predicted that Taliban resistance would resume in four years.
My fellow pundits, who were cock-a-hoop over the US military victory over a bunch of lightly-armed medieval tribesmen, became drunk on old-fashioned imperial triumphalism, and denounced me as `crazy,’ or worse. But most of them had never been to Afghanistan and knew nothing about the Pashtun tribal people. I had covered the struggle against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the 1980’s and was well aware of the leisurely pace of warfare favored by Pashtun warriors.
`Do not stay in Afghanistan,’ I warned in a 2001 article in the Los Angeles Times. The longer foreign forces remained in Afghanistan, the more the tribes would fight against their continued presence. Taliban resumed fighting in 2005.
Now, as resistance to the US-led occupation of Afghanistan intensifies, the increasingly frustrated Bush administration is venting its anger against Pakistan and its military intelligence agency, Inter-Service Intelligence, better known as ISI.
The White House just leaked claims ISI is in cahoots with pro-Taliban groups in Pakistan’s tribal agency along the Afghan border and warns them of impending US attacks. The `New York Times,’ which allowed the Bush administration to use it as a mouthpiece for Iraq War propaganda, dutifully featured the leaks about ISI on front page. Other administration officials have been claiming that ISI may even be hiding Osama bin Laden and other senior al-Qaida leaders.
The Bush administration claims that CIA had electronic intercepts proving ISI was behind the recent bombing of India’s embassy in Kabul. India and Afghanistan echo this charge. No hard evidence has yet been produced, but the US media has been lustily condemning Pakistan for pretending to be an ally of the US while acting like an enemy.
President George Bush angrily asked Pakistan’s visiting prime minister, Yousuf Gilani, `who’s in charge of ISI?’ An interesting question, since all recent ISI director generals have been vetted and pre-approved by Washington.
I was one of the first western journalists invited into ISI HQ in 1986. ISI’s then director, the fierce Lt. General Akhtar Rahman, personally briefed me on Pakistan’s secret role in fighting Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. ISI’s `boys’ provided communications, logistics, training, heavy weapons, and direction in the Afghan War. I kept ISI’s role in Afghanistan a secret until the war ended in 1989.
ISI was primarily responsible for the victory over the Soviets, which hastened the collapse of the USSR. At war’s end, Gen. Akhtar and Pakistan’s leader, Zia ul Haq, both died in a sabotaged C-130 transport aircraft. Unfortunately, most Pakistanis blame the United States for this assassination, though the real malefactors have never been identified and the investigation long ago shelved.
On my subsequent trips to Pakistan I was routinely briefed by succeeding ISI chiefs, and joined ISI officers in the field, sometimes under fire.
ISI, which reports to Pakistan’s military and the prime minister, is accused of meddling in Pakistani politics. The late Benazir Bhutto, who often was thwarted and vexed by Pakistan’s spooks, always playfully scolded me, `you and your beloved generals at ISI.’
But before Gen. Pervez Musharraf took over as military dictator, ISI was the third world’s most efficient, professional intelligence agency. It still defends Pakistan against internal and external subversion by India’s powerful spy agency, RAW, and by Iran. ISI works closely with CIA and the Pentagon and was primarily responsible for the rapid ouster of Taliban from power in 2001. But ISI also must serve Pakistan’s interests which are often not identical to Washington’s, and sometimes in conflict.
ISI was long and deeply involved in supporting the uprising by Kashmiri Muslims against Indian rule, and has been accused by India of abetting groups that have committed bombings and aircraft hijackings inside India, including a wave of terrorist bombings against civilians in Bangalore and Gujarat over recently weeks. For its part, India’s powerful intelligence service, RAW, has mounted bombing and shooting attacks inside Pakistan.
The reason it is often difficult to tell whether Pakistan is friend or foe is because Washington has been forcing Pakistan’s government, military and intelligence services into supporting the US-led war in Afghanistan and rounding up and torturing opponents of Pakistan’s military dictatorship. Pakistan was forced to bend to Washington’s will through a combination of over $11 billion in payments and threats of war if Pakistan did not comply. The ongoing prosecution of the US-led war in Afghanistan depends entirely on Pakistan’s provision of bases and troops.
While Pakistan’s government, military and intelligence services were forced to follow Washington’s strategic plans, 90% of Pakistan’s people bitterly opposed these policies. President-dictator Musharraf was caught between the anger of Washington and his own angry people who branded him an American stooge.’ Small wonder Pakistan’s leadership is so often accused of playing a double game.
The last ISI Director General I knew was the tough, highly capable Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmad. He was purged by Musharraf because Washington felt Mahmood was insufficiently responsive to US interests. Ever since 2001, ensuing ISI directors were all pre-approved by Washington. All senior ISI veterans deemed `Islamist’ or too nationalistic by Washington were purged at Washington’s demand, leaving ISI’s upper ranks top-heavy with too many yes-men and paper-passers.
Even so, there is strong opposition inside ISI and the military to Washington’s bribing and arm-twisting the subservient Musharraf dictatorship into waging war against fellow Pakistanis and gravely damaging Pakistan’s national interests.
ISI’s primary duty is defending Pakistan, not promote US interests. Pashtun tribesmen on the border sympathizing with their fellow Taliban Pashtun in Afghanistan are Pakistanis. Many, like the legendary Jalaluddin Haqqani, are old US allies and `freedom fighters’ from the 1980’s. When the US and its western allies finally abandon Afghanistan, as they will inevitably do one day, Pakistan must go on living with its rambunctious tribals.
Violence and uprisings in these tribal areas are not caused by `terrorism,’ as Washington and Musharraf falsely claimed. They directly result from the US-led occupation of Afghanistan and Washington’s forcing the hated Musharraf regime to attack its own people.
ISI is trying to restrain pro-Taliban Pashtun tribesmen while dealing with growing US attacks into Pakistan that threaten a wider war. India, Pakistan’s bitter foe, has an army of agents in Afghanistan and is arming, backing and financing the Karzai puppet regime in Kabul in hopes of turning Afghanistan into a protectorate. Pakistan’s historic strategic interests in Afghanistan have been undermined by the US occupation. Now, the US and India are trying to eliminate Pakistani influence in Afghanistan.
ISI, many of whose officers are Pashtun, has every right to warn Pakistani citizens of impending US air attacks that kill large numbers of civilians. But ISI also has another vital mission. Preventing Pakistan’s Pashtun, 15-20% of the population of 165 million, from rekindling the old `Greater Pashtunistan’ movement calling for union of the Pashtun tribes of Pakistan and Afghanistan into a new Pashtun nation. The Pashtun have never recognized the Durand Line(today’s Pakistan-Afghan border) drawn by British imperialists to sunder the world’s largest tribal people. Greater Pashtunistan would tear apart Pakistan and invite Indian military intervention.
Washington’s bull-in-a-china shop behavior pays no heeds to these realities. Instead, Washington demonizes faithful old allies ISI and Pakistan while supporting Afghanistan’s Communists and drug dealers, and allowing India to stir the Afghan pot – all for the sake of new energy pipelines.
As Henry Kissinger cynically noted, being America’s ally is more dangerous than being its enemy.
Contributions of Indian American Moin Moon Khan, the first Muslim elected in the State of Illinois, have been recognized in the US Congress this week.
It is very rare that contributions of Indian American community leaders are acknowledged in the US Congress.
Speaking on the floor of the House, the senior US Congressman from Illinois, Peter Roskam, said: “Madam Speaker and Distinguished Colleagues, Moon Khan is a remarkable man who has dedicated his life to serving the people of DuPage County and the State of Illinois.”
Praising Moon Khan’s commitment to empower all ethnicities in his county, Roskam said: “Please join me in honoring him for his public service and recognizing the important work he is doing to build a stronger, better America.”
Originally from Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, Moon was elected in April 2005 as a Trustee for York Township, thus becoming the first Asian American to be elected to that office and the first Muslim elected to government office in the State of Illinois.
As a result of his commitment to serving the Asian American community, Moon was appointed as the Asian American Liaison of the DuPage County Republican Party.
“Moon Khan has been an advocate for the rights of immigrants, Muslims, and other ethnic groups. His committed service to empowering all ethnicities has affected countless lives throughout the State of Illinois,” he said.
Moon started serving the Indian American community in the State as an anchor on Indian community’s cable television program Bharat Darshan. He also worked as the Community Editor of the India Tribune and Chief Editor of Spotlight Weekly.
After earning M.A. and M.B.A. degrees from Northern Illinois University, he founded the Asian American Caucus of DuPage, serving as its first President.
“From his early dedication to scholarship and community service, Moon has become heavily involved in local government and commerce, serving as a vocal advocate for the Asian American community,” Roskam said.
As a member of the Illinois Ethnic Coalition, Roskam said in his speech Moon has advocated for the rights of new immigrants and various ethnic groups, assisting them in the transition to American culture and helping with the preservation of their heritage.
“His commitment to unity resulted in Moon being presented the Americanism Award by the Society of Daughters of the American Revolution in 2005,” he said.
Hardline Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir speaks in front of his followers during an anti-Ahmadiyya protest in front of presidential palace August 4, 2008.
REUTERS/Dadang Tri
JAKARTA (Reuters)–Several hundred Indonesian Muslims rallied on Monday in Jakarta and Surabaya, urging the government to disband the Ahmadiyya sect which many followers of Islam consider heretical.
The government of the world’s most populous Muslim country has come under increasing pressure from hard-line groups in recent months to ban Ahmadiyya, whose followers refuse to accept the Prophet Muhammad (s) as Islam’s final prophet.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s government issued a ministerial decree in June that stopped short of banning the sect, but warned that followers could face five years in jail for tarnishing religion.
Radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir addressed supporters of the hard-line organization Muslim Forum (FUI), including women and children, at a rally near the presidential palace in Jakarta on Monday.
“Ahmadiyya is not Islam, so Ahmadiyya must be disbanded. Anyone who admits to being Muslim but is still defending Ahmadiyya is an apostate,” Bashir said, adding that Ahmadiyya must not claim to be part of Islam.
Indonesia, a secular nation with a population of 226 million, is predominantly Muslim.
Moderate Muslims have criticized the government for not taking a tougher stance against militant Islamic groups following several incidents in which places of worship were damaged and individuals intimidated.
Ahmadiyya, estimated to have anywhere between 200,000 and 2 million followers in Indonesia, has been a subject of heated controversy after Indonesia’s Ulema Council, the country’s Islamic authority, branded the group “deviant”.
A government team tasked with monitoring religious groups had previously recommended that Ahmadiyya should be banned.
(Reporting by Telly Nathalia; Editing by Sara Webb and David Fox)
The exit of Bush from the White House is already anticipated in the Arab region with sighs of relief. But what is ahead under the next US president; more of the same, regardless of who wins, or change?
True, Obama has promised some degree of withdrawal from Iraq and a level of communication with Iran. But even these promises are ambiguous and can be easily modified to fit political interests and lobby pressures at any time. Any military redeployment in Iraq would, now we are told, be matched with greater military build up in Afghanistan, a sign that the militant mentality that motivated the war hawks in the Bush administration is yet to change; the valuable lesson that bombs don’t bring peace, yet to be heeded.
Even talking to Iran is an indistinct promise. To begin with, various officials in the Bush administration have already been talking to Iran — in less touted meetings, but they have engaged Tehran nonetheless — in matters most pertinent to US, not Israeli, interests (i.e. the Iraq war). Moreover, in what was widely seen as “a shift of policy”, senior US diplomat William Burns joined envoys from China, Russia, France, Britain, Germany and the EU in their talks with Tehran in Geneva 19 July. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad praised US participation and the “respect” the US envoy had shown during the meeting.
Obama’s statements to assure Israel on his proposed talk with Iran are most alarming. He has tirelessly repeated that the “military option” remains on the table to ensure Israel’s security. Isn’t this the exact same policy trademark infused during the Bush administration, which eventually led to the war on Iraq? The US will exhaust every diplomatic channel, but the “military option” remains on the table. This was the gist of the message repeated by the warmongers of the White House through Bush’s two terms. Does one need any proof of why such an attitude is not reflective of well-intentioned diplomacy?
What is equally dangerous in Obama’s uttering is that he might be, and is already, feeling pressured to balance his seemingly soft attitude towards Iraq and Iran by exaggerating his country’s pro-Israel stance in a way that will derail any possibility for a peaceful solution to the Palestinian- Israeli conflict, at least during his term. In fact, ominous signs of that pressure, and his succumbing to it are ample, the last of which was his statement, prior to his visit, that Jerusalem must remain undivided, a position that negates international law and the consistent tradition of various US administrations, including Bush’s.
One need not repeat what Obama has said during his visit to Israel, for such rhetoric is becoming most predictable. His “commitment” to Israel and to the ever “special relationship” that unites both nations were generously invoked. Obama promised to do his utmost to keep Israel secure and to stop Iran from obtaining the atomic bomb. As for the Palestinians, he seems keenly interested in engaging their non-democratic forces and shuns those who dare to challenge his country’s biased official line that has contributed in myriad ways to the ongoing conflict.
Obama insists on disregarding the US official blind spot that has continued to destabilise the Middle East for generations. If he is indeed interested in straightening the distorted course of his country’s foreign policy in this region, then he is certainly viewing it from an Israeli looking glass, the same as that used by the Bush neoconservative clique that led America into an unrivalled downfall in Mesopotamia.
But Obama is not alone. If he wins the presidential race he will join a growing club of Western leaders who refuse to heed to common sense and who behave erratically, even against the wishes of their own people.
Starting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Israel last March, to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s in June, to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s in July, no one has failed to deviate from the predictable mantra: Israel first and foremost. True, some like Sarkozy dared voice some criticism of Israel’s settlement policy in Jerusalem — one that Obama cannot dare repeat, even in private — but the underpinnings are the same: Israel, a country of a few million, remains the primary concern of the West in a region of hundreds of millions. Those leaders’ brazen “commitment” to Israel, regardless of the consistently brutal policy carried out by the latter, is surely bizarre to say the least; bizarre, and in fact non-Democratic.
An international poll, conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org examined the views of people from 18 countries, including France, the UK and the United States. The findings of the poll were released 1 July and were most telling. In 14 countries “people mostly say their government should not take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Just three countries favour taking the Palestinian side (Egypt, Iran and Turkey) and one is divided (India). No country favours taking Israel’s side, including the United States, where 71 per cent favour taking neither side.” The entire hoopla about the “common cause” and “special relationship” and “promised land”, and the fear mongers of the Armageddon crowd, failed to sway the views of the great majority of Americans.
Why then, doesn’t the “candidate of change”, Obama, listen to his people and truly change his government’s destructive path regarding Palestine and Israel? Why doesn’t the UK’s Brown and France’s Sarkozy listen to their peoples, considering that an equal percentage in both of their countries — 79 per cent — is beseeching them to do the same? These results have of course been consistent with public opinion in Western countries for years. It might behove these leaders to respect the cannons of democracy in their own countries before lecturing others.
Following his Israel trip, Obama kick-started a European tour that took him to Germany, France and the UK. The moods were described as “cheerful” and the expectations as “high” everywhere the senator went, including Israel. As for the Palestinians, it’s more of the same for them: the same arrogant demands, same unfair policies, and ever-historic bias.
In the southern Israeli town of Siderot, widely grinning Obama receive a t-shirt that read, “Siderot loves Obama”. Obama, of course, didn’t visit the Gaza concentration camp to find out what Palestinians there thought of him, considering his ardent defence of Israel’s brutal policies against the Strip in recent years. One can only imagine what a Gazan t-shirt for Obama might have read.
-Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in many newspapers and journals worldwide. His latest book is The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle (Pluto Press, London).
People carry a colourful cloth to pray for world peace at the Taj Mahal in Agra July 31, 2008.
REUTERS/Brijesh Singh
NEW DELHI: Of late, a few developments in India stand reflective of constructive steps being taken against certain prejudiced notions prevailing in the country against Muslims. Ironically, this includes questioning the ban imposed on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), in response to a petition filed by this organization.
Justice Geeta Mittal, a sitting Delhi High Court judge, heads the special tribunal. During the in-camera proceedings, in which she was briefed by senior home ministry and intelligence officials, Mittal asked them to bring on record the facts on the basis of which the ban was imposed. The government cannot extend the ban on the basis of earlier records against the organization. The government has to bring new facts to justify its decision, she said.
“What precluded the government from stating the facts? You have to satisfy the tribunal about the sufficiency of the reason behind issuing a fresh notification (on the ban,” Mittal had earlier said (July 30).
For its part, the government argued that it can ban such an organization even in anticipation.
“Earlier, we issued notification and then Malegaon blasts happened. SIMI still indulges in communal activities and it is a threat to the secular fabric of our society,” Additional Solicitor General Kalyan Pathak said.
Mittal reserved the tribunal’s verdict on SIMI’s petition challenging the center’s decision to continue the ban by asking for facts justifying the same (August 1). What is noteworthy is that rather than simply dismissing SIMI’s petition, Mittal has asked government to satisfy the tribunal with evidence on extending the ban against the organization.
The center had issued a fresh notification on February 7, 2008 to extend the ban on SIMI for another two years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Acts. Formed in April 1977, SIMI has been banned for the last seven years for its involvement in terrorist incidents in India. Extending the ban, the notification issued in February by the Home Ministry said that the organization was involved in unlawful activities in the country and was spreading communal hatred.
SIMI’s mission is stated to be the “liberation of India” from western materialistic cultural influence. The government and anti-Muslim extremist elements, however, suspect it to be involved in terrorism. The organization is suspected to be operating under the name of Indian Mujahideen, and is suspected to be responsible for the recent blasts in Ahmedabad.
There is a difference in an organization being banned in “anticipation,” on suspicion and on having been found guilty of actually being involved in terrorist activities. Mittal’s demand from the government for evidence to justify its stand for extending the ban against SIMI is an important development. Not only has SIMI’s petition been admitted in the special tribunal, it has been heard, and now the government is to present evidence it has against the organization with which the tribunal is satisfied.
Mittal’s stand also suggests that apparently some importance is being given to stop linking Muslim organizations such as SIMI with terrorism, unless there exists substantial evidence against them.
The trend to easily and instantly blame Muslims and Muslim organizations as guilty of terrorist incidents has prevailed in the country for some time. Slowly but definitely, people are realizing the need to change such prejudiced attitudes. Mittal’s attitude is one example of this major development.
Another piece of evidence of this is the efforts made by police in Mumbai to understand the Muslim community.
Recently, a daylong workshop was organized at the Police Club Hall, to help police personnel understand the Muslim community. In this direction, the initiative was taken by Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Branch I) Sunil Ramanand. He received cooperation from Ibrahim Tai, a Muslim social activist and a trustee of the Muslim Council Trust.
In the workshop, Tai said: “I got Maulanas from Barelvi, Deoband, Ahle Hadees and Shi’a schools of Islam to talk about their respective sects.” Describing the workshop as a welcome move, Tai said: “Policemen asked several interesting questions about intricacies of Islam. It was a welcome exercise, which I hope will help the police understand the Muslim position on many issues confronting the community.”
In the coming months, more such workshops are expected to be conducted to help the police personnel understand the Muslim community better, sources said.
It is not the first time that such efforts have been made by Indian police to understand Muslims.
Among the senior officers remembered for having made special effort to understand Muslims is V.N. Deshmukh. He is credited for having understood the prejudice held by police against the city’s Muslims. Coming to terms with this reality led him to state before the Justice Srikrishna Commission formed to probe the ‘93 Mumbai riots, “that there was a general bias against the Muslims in the minds of average policemen, which was evident in the way they dealt with Muslims.” Deshmukh accepted that this “general police against Muslims crystallized itself in action during January 1993.”
Amid the backdrop of the prejudice that has prevailed against Muslims, it may be worth noting that Indian secularism is too strong and deep rooted to let such communalism retain its hold for too long.
The steps taken by Mumbai police and Mittal’s stand on SIMI’s ban are welcome reminders of this secularism.
Members of the security forces walk pass local Uighurs as they patrol a steer, near the area where a bomb attack took place the day before, in Kashgar, Xinjiang province, August 5, 2008. China’s tense Xinjiang region announced sweeping security checks of transport on Tuesday after assailants used a truck to mount a deadly attack on police days before the Beijing Olympic Games open.
REUTERS/Nir Elias (CHINA)
KASHGAR, China (AFP) — Chinese authorities moved Tuesday to keep a lid on further information about a bloody assault on police in Kashgar with a truck, explosives and machetes.
At the hotel directly across from the site of Monday’s raid, which killed 16 policemen, guests were told in the morning that the Internet had been shut off across the city, on police orders.
Police entered an AFP photographer’s hotel room and forced him to delete photos he had taken of the scene. Plainclothes police followed journalists as they moved around the city.
“We can’t talk about that. You must understand if we talk about it, the police will come and arrest us,” said a shopkeeper in Kashgar, a remote city in northwest China’s Xinjiang region, who declined to be named.
Nevertheless some independent information emerged outside of the uniform coverage in China’s state-run press, which was all based on reports from the official Xinhua news agency.
Foreign witnesses described a “sickening” scene that unfolded as two assailants drove a truck at a group of policemen who were out jogging, then attacked the officers with small explosives and machetes.
“My wife almost threw up and had to lie down afterward,” said Wlodzislaw Duch, a Polish tourist who watched the assault from his hotel room directly across the street from the scene.
The Xinhua news agency said the two, aged 28 and 33, were arrested immediately, and identified the men as members of the Muslim ethnic Uighur group, a Turkic-speaking people that have long chafed at Chinese rule of Xinjiang.
The state-controlled China Daily, the government’s main outlet to foreign audiences, said the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), listed by the UN as a terrorist organisation, was “likely” responsible.
“There is little doubt that the ETIM is behind the attack,” said Li Wei, an anti-terrorism expert at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, according to the paper.
The attack showed the ETIM is now “into advanced planning” since “it has rarely used cars or trucks in an attack before,” Li was quoted as saying.
China has repeatedly warned the ETIM was planning to stage attacks on the Beijing Olympics, which starts on Friday.
However Chinese authorities have not gone on the record to blame the ETIM for Monday’s attack, allowing only unofficial “experts” to be be used in the state-run press.
Beijing Olympic organisers said they did not know yet if there was a direct connection to the showpiece sporting event, but insisted the Games would not be threatened.
“There is always the risk to the security of the Bejing Olympics,” Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing Olympic organising committee, told reporters.
“That is why we have drafted hundreds of security plans, and now we are prepared to deal with these kind of security threats. We can guarantee a safe and peaceful Olympic Games.”
Xinjiang, a vast area that borders Central Asia, has about 8.3 million Uighurs , and many are unhappy with what they say has been decades of repressive Communist Chinese rule.
Two short-lived East Turkestan republics emerged in Xinjiang in the 1930s and 1940s, at a time when central government control in China was weakened by civil war and Japanese invasion.
The exiled leader of China’s Uighur Muslims condemned the reported killings.
“We condemn all acts of violence,” Rebiya Kadeer said in Washington, where she has been living in exile since 2005 after spending six years in a Beijing prison.
"The Uighur people do not support acts that engender bloodshed.”
An Uighur vendor pushes his fruit cart as he walks pass a statue of late Chairman Mao Zedong in a main street in Kashgar, Xinjiang province, August 5, 2008. China’s tense Xinjiang region announced sweeping security checks of transport on Tuesday after assailants used a truck to mount a deadly attack on police days before the Beijing Olympic Games open.
REUTERS/Nir Elias (CHINA)
The attack highlights security threats posed by China’s extremist groups in the run-up to the Olympics.
Sixteen Chinese border police officers died Monday in what police said was a suspected terrorist attack in western Xinjiang Province. The attack comes four days before the start of the Beijing Olympics and highlights the potential security threats to the Games, which authorities have repeatedly warned could be targeted by the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other extremist groups in China. The ETIM is said to draw its support from disgruntled Uighurs, a Muslim minority, living in Xinjiang. But critics accuse China of inflating the threat posed by ETIM, which advocates a separate Uighur homeland.
Xinhua reports that two unnamed attackers drove a dump truck into a team of border police during a Monday morning jog near their barracks, killing 14 officers on the spot. Two other officers died on the way to the hospital. The attack occurred in Kashgar, the westernmost city in China.
The two attackers got off the lorry after the vehicle veered to hit a roadside wire pole. They threw home-made explosives to the barracks, causing explosion. They also hacked the policemen with knives.
The police said the two attackers had been arrested, and one got a leg injury in the raid.
Police found debris of five explosives in the division yard.
According to Bloomberg, the Xinhua English-language report quoted above said that the assault was a “terrorist attack,” but that wording was changed to “violent crime” in a Chinese-language report that the state news agency issued two hours later.
Details about the attack remain to be confirmed. The Guardian reports that Chinese state television gave a slightly different account of Monday’s incident, saying the paramilitary police were doing their morning drills outside a hotel when the attackers struck.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, quotes a hotel receptionist in Kashgar as saying two explosions were heard around 8 a.m., after which police blocked off the road. Chinese authorities did not mention the ethnicity or describe the possible motive of the two arrested suspects.
An officer in the district police department said that an investigation had been launched, reports the Associated Press.
Authorities have warned of terrorist plots to disrupt the Olympics and have recently stepped up efforts against extremist organizations. Last month, three people were executed in a town near Kashgar after being convicted of being ETIM members. A day earlier, five Uighurs died after police raided an apartment in Urumq, reports The Washington Post.
Security officials preparing for the Olympics repeatedly have warned that Uighur extremists, who seek to break away from Chinese rule, pose the greatest security threat to the Games. The officials have cited several organizations that they say maintain links to foreign-based Islamist extremist organizations and are training Uighurs to organize bombings and other violence.
In particular, Chinese authorities have identified the East Turkestan Islamic Movement as a terrorist group that poses the greatest risk. The United States also has determined the group to be a terrorist organization, saying it has links with al-Qaeda. Three people executed July 9 at Yengishahar, near Kashgar, were convicted of being East Turkestan Islamic Movement members.
One day earlier, police in Urumqi, the regional capital, killed five Uighurs in a raid on an apartment in a middle-class gated community. Authorities accused them of preparing a holy war against Han Chinese rule.
The Public Security Bureau announced in April that it had broken up two Uighur terrorist cells plotting to kidnap foreigners and bomb hotels during the Olympics. The bureau said 45 people were arrested and accused them of ties to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.
Last week, however, the vice-governor of Xinjiang said that there were “only a small number of sabotage activities” in the province, reports The Guardian. The authorities have repeatedly accused Uighur Muslim separatists seeking an independent “East Turkestan” of plotting violent attacks and recently claimed to have arrested 82 people in Xinjiang this year in connection with terrorism.
Human rights campaigners and Uighur exiles argue that the government has exaggerated the threat of violence, and deliberately blurred the distinction between extremism, pro-independence arguments and cultural expression to justify repression in the region.
The Los Angeles Times reports that experts on Uighurs say extremist groups in Xinjiang appeared to be in decline and that most violent incidents in Kashgar and other hot spots are more likely to result from personal grudges or overzealous security crackdowns, rather than terrorism.
John Wang, professor of criminal justice at Cal State Long Beach, said the radical Uighur separatist wing known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement saw its heyday between 1993 and 1997, when it mounted about 200 bombings and other attacks.
Since 2001, the movement has focused more on activities outside China, including Afghanistan. But with the Olympics, some rebels may be turning their attention back to their homeland….
He emphasized that the East Turkestan movement was not a single group, but a collection of 19 loosely banded organizations.
Last month, another extremist group claimed responsibility for deadly explosions on buses in Shanghai and Yunnan, the BBC reports. Calling itself the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), it released a video that a Washington-based monitoring company said was titled “Our Blessed Jihad in Yunnan.” However, China has denied that these explosions were terrorist-related and has not linked them to the Olympics.
Al Jazeera reports that TIP threatened to target the Olympics in the video, according to IntelCenter, an American monitoring group. A Shanghai government official dismissed the group’s reported claim, saying the recent bus blasts were “indeed deliberate but had nothing to do with terrorist acts.”
The Christian Science Monitor reports that Uighurs are China’s fifth-largest ethnic minority, with 8 million people concentrated in Xinjiang Province. Many are unhappy over strict controls by Beijing on public displays of their language and faith as well as the growing domination of Han Chinese in business and local government.
Uighurs are resentful at the way Han Chinese monopolize the best jobs and the top political posts, even though Xinjiang is theoretically an autonomous province. Han residents routinely complain that Uighurs are dirty, lazy, and dishonest. It is not known whether Han residents in other parts of China agree with the estimations of Uighurs made by the Han Chinese who live on Uighur land.
As summer vacation begins to wind down and stores start to proudly display their ‘back to school’ sale signs, students in Kuwait are getting ready for yet another term, which is often an exercise in brute strength. For years, parents of both private and public school students have complained about the weight of the book bag their child must lug to school each day. Most students carry, on average, a dozen or more books in their book bag every single day. The books are comprised of textbooks, often containing more than 100 pages, and single subject notebooks as well as test notebooks since each subject requires its own individual notebook as per the standards previously set by the Ministry of Education (MoE).
As a result of carrying such a heavy load on their backs throughout the day, many school-aged children in Kuwait suffer from back pain, pulled muscles and throbbing in their arms. In a recent survey conducted by the MoE, an estimated 60% of school-aged children in Kuwait suffer some sort of back ailment as a result of book bags that are too heavy. Doctors worry that carrying such a load on tiny little frames will cause irrevocable and lifelong damage to the back, spine and could possibly stunt the growth of children.
However, thanks to a new law proposed by the MoE, the book bags of children in the public schools of Kuwait are set to become a whole lot lighter. This past month the MoE drafted a law, which is awaiting approval in parliament, that school children’s book bags cannot exceed 1 lb. in weight. The contents of the book bags must also not be more than 4.4lbs. The Ministry of Health has already given the measure an enthusiastic ‘thumbs up’ and it is anticipated that the law will be approved and implemented this school year.
The MoE has also set out strict guidelines for text books in Kuwait. Textbooks have been scaled down from 100 pages to only 60 pages. Book bags have also come under scrutiny and must now be free from wheels and pull handles, which adds unnecessary weight. According to the MOE, book bags must have adequately padded straps and another strap to fasten around the waist for added support. Since such bags are not available in the local market, the MoE has already been accepting bids from local contractors wanting to manufacture the bags.
The repercussions of the MoE’s proposed law will have a resounding effect on the local market. School supplies are big business in Kuwait with book bags themselves fetching between $30-$60 a piece. Shopkeepers stand to lose a pretty penny once the law is full implemented as the majority of school supplies, including bags, were already imported from manufacturing countries, like China, months ago.
It remains to be seen if private schools in Kuwait will follow the example set by the Ministry of Education to protect the public school students in the country. Privately owned schools in Kuwait will not be forced by the MoE to comply with the new law.
With ALLAH’S name, The Merciful Benefactor, Merciful Redeemer
“This day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your religion: Yet fear them not, but fear Me. This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Al-Islam as your religion.”
In what is believed to be the last ayat of revelation, ALLAH is saying He completed His favor on us. He says we are not to fear the unbelievers because they are aware that they are unable to sway the true believers from the path of The Religion, Al-Islam. So therefore the only way for us to live, is by the tenets that Almighty ALLOAH laid down for us. So, since we believe the Qur’an is the last instruction from ALLAH, and is for all time, Al-Islam is not only “a” way of life, as is popularly said; it is “the” only way to live.
We, as human beings, face many challenges daily while on our journey in this life. Many of these challenges seem gigantic and overwhelming–and they come one after another but little as we know, these challenges are a blessings and good for us as well. They are good because first of all ALLAH allowed them to happen. Overcoming challenges gives us one of the most valuable things in life–which is experience. Regardless of how many times you tell a baby the stove is hot, he oftentimes has to get burned before he really learns.
A bank president was asked once, “What is the secret of your success? He answered “two words.” “And what are they, sir? “Right decisions,” he answered. “And how do you make the right decisions?’ The bank president answered, “One word.” And what is that word sir?” He answered, “Experience.” “And sir, how do you get experience?” The bank president answered, “Two words.” “And what are they?’ The bank president answered, “Wrong decisions.”
We must constantly remind ourselves and others that we, as believing sons and daughters of our first father, Adam, have nothing above us except ALLAH, The Almighty. Satan, the Shaitan knows this but tries to trick us into believing that mistakes we make are a testament to his superiority over us.
But these mistakes and wrong decisions we make are allowed by ALLAH to make us wiser and stronger.
“Do you think that you will not be tested? We tested those before you.”
If we were not tested and given hardships, our humanity would not reach its highest height. Just remember that ALLAH has perfected our way of life which is showing us the way to live.
There is no problem or hardship we cannot overcome using the perfected Words and guidance of ALLAH. Prayer, zakat, fasting, and other spiritually enhancing actions coupled with obedience to laws of living such as diet, no intoxicants, good treatment of other humans, especially women, and others, have perfect guidance for living and overcoming obstacles.
Keep in mind that Al-Islam is perfect–striving to live it puts you on that path of righteousness.
Senator Obama has proposed sending additional U.S. forces to Afghanistan. He also told the audience at the last AIPIC meeting that he would retaliate severely against Iran or any other nation that attempted to compromise Israel’s security. These comments came from the candidate of purported change who promises to have American forces out of Iraq within 16 months of his swearing in as President.
Do those proposals sound like a change in foreign policy? They might differ in style but not in substance from existing policy. No candidate for the highest elected office in America can deviate from the thinking of the ruling powers, which requires the continuance of the expansionist drive that began with its founding. The acquisition of things material—especially land—is inherent in the Western nature, and war provides the vehicle that enables the attainment of these desires. There has not been a war since 1812 that has even remotely challenged our national security and yet pretext upon pretext was used to gather public support for armed conflict.
The United States has been on a wartime economy since the Roosevelt administration. In my lifetime major conflagrations of American involvement took place in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, in addition to a host of other skirmishes and involvements throughout the world.
As a former naval officer I participated in wartime exercises with NATO members, and saw the American fleet patrol the waters of the world as though it were its private lake. As a merchant officer I saw the effects of Western involvement in the economies of third world nations and the imposition of poverty placed upon them. At home I witnessed the destruction of cultural practices and religious observances among immigrants from all nations as part of government efforts to indoctrinate them to its value structure.
American foreign policy aims to secure military and economic expansionism at the expense of the sovereignty of other nations. This policy has elicited the enmity of most of the world towards us, especially since they remain powerless to do anything about it.
Obama’s call for increased troops in Afghanistan, offers answers for which no questions have been asked. “What threat does Afghanistan pose to us?” What kind of danger does a nation that has a population 10% the size of ours, that has no navy, no air force, and no industrial might, present to us? Why does the combined force of the United States, England, and Canada with its access to the latest military technology, and then supplemented by UN forces, need to apply continuous military pressure on this nation?
Afghans fight against overwhelming odds to get an invader out of their nation—a natural response of most people—and we would do the same. To say that this essentially primitive nation has the wherewithal to penetrate the world’s most sophisticated intelligence system and the ability to successfully attack the world’s most powerful military, borders on ludicrousness. Cave dwelling horseback riders are not a threat to the world.
The call for increased U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan parallels the reason for the surge in Iraq; it aims to crush the ability of the people to remove our presence and influence.
Elder George’s website is www.mensaction.net and he can be reached at 212-874-7900 ext. 1329.
In the immediate aftermath of the 2001 anthrax attacks, White House officials repeatedly pressed FBI Director Robert Mueller to prove it was a second-wave assault by Al Qaeda, but the premier investigating agency refused to toe the White House line.
After the October 2001 anthrax death of Sun photo editor Robert Stevens, Mueller was chastised during President Bush’s morning intelligence briefings for not producing proof the killer spores were the handiwork of terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden.
“They really wanted to blame somebody in the Middle East,” the retired senior FBI official told the New York based The News. On October 15, 2001, President Bush said, “There may be some possible link” to Bin Laden, adding, “I wouldn’t put it past him.” Vice President Cheney also said Bin Laden’s henchmen were trained “how to deploy and use these kinds of substances, so you start to piece it all together.”
But by then the FBI already knew anthrax spilling out of letters addressed to media outlets and to a U.S. senator was a military strain of the bioweapon. “Very quickly [Fort Detrick, Md., experts] told us this was not something some guy in a cave could come up with,” the ex-FBI official said. “They couldn’t go from box cutters one week to weapons-grade anthrax the next.”
What is now clear is that the highest political office of the nation has been occupied for the last 8 years by a bunch of liars and thugs who did everything possible to damage America’s reputation and interests abroad in the name of national security.
The Congress did nothing to reign in these people and the Republican Party toed the line of the White House in spreading lies after lies. During the last eight years, President Bush and his cronies have spread numerous lies about almost everything. Under the leadership of Islamophobic evangelical and Zionist leaders, the Bush Administration took every possible opportunity to link Al-Qaeda with Islam so that a case against Muslims in the west can be framed. They and their cronies coined terms such as Islamofascist, or Islamic fascism to create a parallel between Hitler and Islam. They created an enviornment of suspicion against Islam and Muslims in America and Europe. Rather than relying on Muslims in the fight against terrorism, they tried to isolate Muslims in the name of national security.
But the lies are now emerging one by one. But look at the price of these lies. Our economy is in the doldrums. We have become instrumental in causing the deaths of perhaps a million civilian Iraqis in addition to 4,000 our own soldiers. Our families are increasingly suffering under the mortgage crisis, impending further credit problems, and rising food costs. Gas prices have reached a level unaffordable for most low income Americans. Bush and his party during the last eight years have acted as nothing but a bunch of barbarians concerned for increasing their personal profits.
Perhaps what congressman Kucinich has initiated is the right thing at this time. Impeach this president so that the future leader of this nation does not take the nation for a ride.
Real patriotism means to impeach this president for all abuses and misdirection of the past eight years, and especially for this crowning achievement among many similar achievements–the attempt to attribute a crime to innocent people.
An Israeli human rights groups has accused the country’s security agents of pressuring Gazans receiving treatment in Israeli hospitals to work as informers.
The report by the Israel office of Physicians for Human Rights said that Israeli officials interrogated Palestinian patients at the border and suggested that entry was dependant on their recruitment.
Palestinian patients have “become an accessible and important target for the GSS [General Security Services] for the purposes of recruiting and gathering information,” the report, released on Monday, said.
The report includes 11 sworn testimonies from Gazans who said that they were taken to underground rooms at the Erez crossing where they were questioned about the neighbors and relatives.
“You have cancer, and it will soon spread to your brain, as long as you don’t help us,” security agents told one man, according to testimony provided to Physicians for Human Rights on condition of anonymity.
After around eight hours of interrogation the man was given permission to enter but by then had reportedly missed his appointment at an Israeli hospital. He said he had to reschedule and was not allowed to leave until two months later.
Another man, a farmer who had been wounded by a tank shell in 2006 and given emergency treatment in Israel, said he was asked similar questions in January when he received a permit to return to the hospital for a follow-up operation.
“They wanted information about the area where I’m from, about my relatives and neighbors. They said if I did not give them the information they would not let me leave,” he told the AFP news agency. He was later sent back to Gaza.
Shlomo Dror, the Israeli defense ministry spokesman, said the questioning was merely a security issue and that was little point asking the patients to spy on fellow Gazans.
“Everybody that comes into Israel, we have to question them about the reason they are coming, especially if they are in a terror organization,” he said.
“These people are not going to assist us, because the moment they come back to Gaza they are already suspected of being collaborators.
“We do not waste time and effort on people who cannot help us.”
Physicians for Human Rights said that such recruitment tactics violate international law, citing the Fourth Geneva Convention, which explicitly prohibits coercing civilians into providing intelligence information.
“We don’t question that Israel has to protect itself and that maybe it needs to find out something about a person who wants to enter. Our problem is that they are questioning [patients] about other people,” Miri Weingarten, a spokeswoman for PHR-Israel, said.
“You are not allowed to use civilians as part of the conflict.”
Israel has sealed the impoverished territory of 1.5 million people off from all but vital humanitarian aid since the Hamas movement pushed out security forces loyal to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, in June 2007.
Israel usually allows patients in need of emergency medical care to leave Gaza for treatment, but rights groups say that the blockade has seriously reduced the ability of local medical facilities to supply care, forcing growing numbers to seek advanced treatment abroad.
However, the proportion of patients denied entry permits has increased, from 10 per cent in the first half of 2007 to 35 per cent in the first half of 2008, according to the group, which assists nearly all those who are denied permits.
WASHINGTON, Aug 3: Five years after her mysterious disappearance in Karachi, the FBI has finally conceded that an MIT-trained Pakistani neuroscientist is alive and is in US custody in Afghanistan.
Aafia Siddiqui, 36, disappeared with her three children while visiting her parents’ home in Karachi in March 2003, around the same time the FBI announced that it wanted to question her over her alleged links to Al Qaeda.
Her family’s lawyer Elaine Whitfield Sharp said she believed recent media reports about Mrs Siddiqui’s incarceration increased pressure on the US and Pakistani authorities to divulge more information.
“I don’t believe that they just found Aafia,” she said. “I believe that she was there all along.”
The fate of her three young, American-born children is still unknown.
Before her disappearance, Mrs Siddiqui lived in a Boston suburb of Roxbury and studied at Brandeis University as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In a 2006 report, Amnesty International listed Mrs Siddiqui as among a number of “disappeared” suspects in the war on terrorism. On July 6, 2007, AI listed Mrs Siddiqui as a possible CIA “secret detainee”, although she was still on the FBI’s Seeking Information – Terrorism list. Late last week, Mrs Siddiqui’s photo still appeared on the FBI’s list of people wanted for questioning.
Since no charges were ever filed against her, human rights groups treated her case as that of “extrajudicial detention”, although no government ever claimed detaining her.
Even the FBI does not mention any charges in the notice seeking information about her. “Although the FBI has no information indicating this individual is connected to specific terrorist activities, the FBI would like to locate and question this individual,” says the notice.
The “gray lady of Bagram”: On July 7, a British journalist Yvonne Ridley told a news conference in Islamabad that a Pakistani woman had been held in solitary confinement for years at the Bagram US base near Kabul. The identity of this prisoner remains unconfirmed. She has been nicknamed the “gray lady of Bagram”. Ms Ridley, however, speculated that she was Aafia Siddiqui.
Moazzam Begg and several other former captives also have reported that a female prisoner, prisoner 650, was held in Bagram. The former captives claim that she has lost her sanity and cries all the time.
Although it is still not clear if the “gray lady of Bagram” is Aafia Siddiqui, her family’s attorney told reporters on Friday that the FBI had finally conceded that Mrs Siddiqui is in US custody.
“It has been confirmed by the FBI that Aafia Siddiqui is alive,” said Ms Sharp, who said she spoke to an FBI official on Thursday.
“She is injured but alive, and she is in Afghanistan.”
For five years, US and Pakistani authorities denied knowing her whereabouts. But human rights groups and Mrs Siddiqui’s relatives had long suspected that she had been captured in Karachi and secretly taken into custody.
On Thursday, an FBI official visited Mrs Siddiqui’s brother in Houston to deliver the news that she was alive and in custody, Ms Sharp said.
FBI officials, however, would not say who was holding her or reveal the fate of her children.
“If she’s in US custody, they want to know where she is,” Ms Sharp said. “Who has got her? And does she need medical care?”
The FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment.
US military documents declassified in recent years suggest that Mrs Siddiqui is suspected of having ties to several key terrorism suspects being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
She is believed to have links to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and allegedly arranged travel documents for another suspected terrorist.
Papers in Guantanamo Bay also indicate that she married Ali Abd Al Aziz Ali, an alleged Al Qaeda facilitator who intended to blow up petrol stations or poison water reservoirs in the United States.
The three men were among 14 high-value suspects brought to Guantanamo Bay in 2006 after years of secret detention in CIA prisons in Eastern Europe.
