The Blessed Tree – Trailer from AGCaustralia on Vimeo.

Agencies

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah is seen before his departure for the United States, at Riyadh airport November 22, 2010. REUTERS/Saudi Press Agency/Handout

Mina (Saudi Arabia): Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has made a passionate call to the Muslims of the world to bury their differences and unite.

“Last Haj season I spoke to you about the importance of interfaith dialogue and Saudi Arabia’s call was received well by the international community. This time we are in need of a dialogue within the ummah to abandon divisions, ignorance and immoderation which are major obstacles in the way of Muslims achieving their aspirations,” said King Abdullah in a message to Haj pilgrims this year.

“The terror that threatens the world is attributed to Muslims while it is caused by extremists who are outside the scope of the tolerant religion of Islam. The perpetrators of terror represent none but themselves even though they appear in the guise of Islam, which is, in fact, far away from them,” he added.

The king called on Arabs and Muslims — both their leaders and people — to hold fast to the rope of Allah and abandon their differences and sectarianism so that no enemy of the ummah can take advantage of their disunity.

The king appealed to the people of different religions, creeds and civilizations to narrow down their differences by reinforcing the common values shared by all.

“On this momentous occasion, I call on you and everyone who hears my words, whoever it may be, to look at the common points of different religions, creeds and cultures and to stress the shared principles in order that we sidestep our differences, narrow the distance between us and build a world dominated by peace and understanding, enjoying progress and prosperity,” the king said in a message reported by the Saudi Press Agency.

“The objective of your brothers in Saudi Arabia is to preserve the glory of Islam as well as offering humanitarian service to all. We are optimistic about the outcome of these ideas that stamp out violence and terror,” the king said.

The king also declared that he would not allow anyone to disrupt the security of Haj because “the safety of the pilgrims is the prime responsibility that cannot be slackened or loosened. And we will deal with any threat with firmness and determination. We have made all preparations in terms of men and material to guarantee the security and peace of mind of pilgrims,” the king said.

“I watch with joy and delight the holy sites where pilgrims from the farthest corners of the earth converge despite their diverse cultures and traditions, brought together by their faith, and united by their religion,” the king said.

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These airport so-called security measures amount to state-sponsored sexual harassment.

Jennifer Abel

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jan Napolitano (L) listens as Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) John Pistole speaks about raising passenger vigilance from Reagan National Airport in Washington November 15, 2010.    REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Listen to this: “My freely chosen bedmates and doctors are the only ones allowed to see my naked body or touch my genitalia.” For a sane person in a sane country that’s the ultimate in “no sh**, Sherlock” statement. But not where I live.

Not the United States of America. Not since 11 September 2001, when the government reacted to an attack on its citizens by lashing out against the very citizenry it claims to protect. No bureaucracy better embodies that reactionary principle than the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), whose contempt for American citizens has grown so great that they now require we submit to government agents either photographing our, to them, visibly naked bodies or groping us in molestation-style patdowns if we ever want to fly again.

I’m sick of the craven cliches TSA apologists have cited these past nine years:

“They protect us from terrorists.”

No, they impose pointlessly superstitious security theatre, trample Americans’ constitutional rights and make foreigners feel sorry for us. TSA protected nobody with its infamous “bathroom bans” after last year’s Christmas terror attempt; rules like “keep your lap empty and your hands visible at all times” only demonstrated the agency’s willingness to treat ordinary citizens like serial killers in supermax prison.

“You gave up your rights when you bought an airline ticket.”

I never gave up any rights. The government stole them while cowards egged them on.

“TSA agents are just doing their jobs.”

A lousy apologia and historically ignorant to boot; the civilised world established at Nuremberg that “just following orders” cuts no ice. And my fellow Americans are realising “it’ll stop terrorists” cuts none either, at least not to justify low-grade sexual harassment as standard behaviour for government agents.

It’s not hyperbole to call the enhanced patdown a low-grade sexual assault; if you don’t believe me, go find some woman’s boobs or man’s balls, start cupping and squeezing them according to new TSA standards, and count how many offences you’re charged with. Last month, an agent openly admitted that the purpose of the aggressive new patdowns was to intimidate people into choosing the nude scanners instead.

And Homeland Security director Janet Napolitano justified this Hobson’s choice – and abandoned all pretence of being a “servant” accountable to the public – in an insufferably arrogant column she wrote for USA Today, burying outright lies beneath eye-glazing bureaucratic prose. “The imaging technology that we use cannot store, export, print or transmit images,” she claimed – though this was proven untrue almost as soon as the scanners were put in use; last August, US marshals admitted to storing 35,000 images collected from one single courthouse – some of which have now been obtained by the website Gizmodo under a freedom of information request.”

Rigorous privacy safeguards are also in place to protect the travelling public.”

You can’t claim privacy points when ordering people to let you either see them naked or feel them up.

The vast majority of travellers say they prefer this technology to alternative screening measures.”

No, the vast majority realise Napolitano’s gone too far this time, and the backlash has finally begun. November 24 – the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, and one of the busiest flying days of the year – is National Opt-Out Day, whose organiser Brian Sodegren calls for all Americans to refuse the nude scanners and insist the patdown be done in full public view, so everyone can see how law-abiding travelers are treated in the Land of the Free. Sodegren points out the obvious:

“You should never have to explain to your children, ‘Remember that no stranger can touch or see your private area, unless it’s a government employee, then it’s OK.’”

Similarly, the group We Won’t Fly calls for my fellow Americans to “Jam TSA checkpoints by opting out until they remove the porno-scanners!”

I’ve flown only three times since the inception of the TSA, and only when I couldn’t avoid it: two business trips and a funeral I couldn’t drive to. But I won’t fly on vacation; and last winter, when I thought I’d need to cross the Atlantic, I made reservations in Canada – a 450-mile drive to the airport, but worth it to avoid the TSA.

I’m not alone. Industry leaders reportedly met with Napolitano to express their concerns; as one executive with the US Travel Association fretted, “We have received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls from travelers vowing to stop flying.”

Airline executives are rich. Maybe they’ve got the clout to stop TSA bullying. Napolitano clearly doesn’t care if ordinary Americans quit flying altogether; at Ronald Reagan National Airport, she openly offered “travel by other means” as the only option for people who won’t submit to the new TSA probes.

That’s what we’ve been reduced to in America: security measures lifted from bad porn plots, and hoping this latest outrage inconveniences enough rich guys with political connections to get it repealed.

Guardian UK

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By Sumayyah Meehan, MMNS Middle East Correspondent

“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.”

– Dorothea Lange

It is not uncommon to happen upon a photographer along the streets of Kuwait as he sets his lens on whatever strikes his fancy, whether it is a group of kids happily playing on the beach or a landscape shot of the glittering ocean waves as they rise and fall just barely kissing the parched seashore. However, not all photographers are as innocent as they may appear. For the past couple of years, scores of complaints have inundated Kuwaiti police stations with mainly women complaining about having their picture taken without permission by some “Romeo” equipped with a digital lens.

The Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera, which is capable of taking crystal clear shots even at great distances, is the primary camera that has come under scrutiny recently by Kuwaiti authorities. The availability of DSLR cameras in the Kuwaiti market and ease of use has recently come under fire by three separate ministries. The Ministry of Finance, The Ministry of Information and The Ministry of Social Affairs have jointly banned the use of DSLR cameras in public places, like malls, parks, or recreational facilities. Now the only permissible use of DSLR cameras in Kuwait is by journalists exclusively.

The recent ban has taken DSLR camera owners by surprise especially since only a small percentage of photographers use the camera as a means to harass or provoke females. Now, in the wake of the ban, parents wanting to capture their little darling hard at play during a seaside adventure or professional photographers seeking to build up their portfolios now have cause to worry for using their DSLR camera in public.

Kuwaiti blogs have been one of the first places that people have gone to air their dismay and frustrations over the ban. On one popular Kuwaiti blog, a reader comments, “Define what they mean by “public places” and does it mean that I will get arrested if they see my DSLR hanging on my neck even if I’m not shooting?” Another writes, “If this is true then we are regressing faster than we anticipated.”

A few conspiracy theorists have also been floating around their own theories about the Kuwaiti ban on DSLR cameras. The primary one is that protecting people from unwanted photography is only a cover for the real reason for the ban. Some conspiracy theorists say that the ban has been put into effect to protect sensitive Kuwaiti installations from being photographed by persons seeking to bring harm to Kuwait. The name on just about every theorists tongue is Iran and one can only assume there is a tangible threat of Iranian spies moving about Kuwait armed with DSLR cameras.

Regardless of the reasoning, Kuwait has set its sights high for creating a tourist destination that rivals the likes of Dubai in the coming years. Banning a type of camera that is popular with tourists and photography enthusiasts alike may be the deciding factor on whether someone chooses to visit the tiny Gulf nation or not. 

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By Paul Krugman

Former Senator Alan Simpson is a Very Serious Person. He must be — after all, President Obama appointed him as co-chairman of a special commission on deficit reduction.

So here’s what the very serious Mr. Simpson said on Friday: “I can’t wait for the blood bath in April. … When debt limit time comes, they’re going to look around and say, ‘What in the hell do we do now? We’ve got guys who will not approve the debt limit extension unless we give ’em a piece of meat, real meat,’ ” meaning spending cuts. “And boy, the blood bath will be extraordinary,” he continued.

Think of Mr. Simpson’s blood lust as one more piece of evidence that our nation is in much worse shape, much closer to a political breakdown, than most people realize.

Some explanation: There’s a legal limit to federal debt, which must be raised periodically if the government keeps running deficits; the limit will be reached again this spring. And since nobody, not even the hawkiest of deficit hawks, thinks the budget can be balanced immediately, the debt limit must be raised to avoid a government shutdown. But Republicans will probably try to blackmail the president into policy concessions by, in effect, holding the government hostage; they’ve done it before.

Now, you might think that the prospect of this kind of standoff, which might deny many Americans essential services, wreak havoc in financial markets and undermine America’s role in the world, would worry all men of good will. But no, Mr. Simpson “can’t wait.” And he’s what passes, these days, for a reasonable Republican.

The fact is that one of our two great political parties has made it clear that it has no interest in making America governable, unless it’s doing the governing. And that party now controls one house of Congress, which means that the country will not, in fact, be governable without that party’s cooperation — cooperation that won’t be forthcoming.

Elite opinion has been slow to recognize this reality. Thus on the same day that Mr. Simpson rejoiced in the prospect of chaos, Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, appealed for help in confronting mass unemployment. He asked for “a fiscal program that combines near-term measures to enhance growth with strong, confidence-inducing steps to reduce longer-term structural deficits.”

My immediate thought was, why not ask for a pony, too? After all, the G.O.P. isn’t interested in helping the economy as long as a Democrat is in the White House. Indeed, far from being willing to help Mr. Bernanke’s efforts, Republicans are trying to bully the Fed itself into giving up completely on trying to reduce unemployment.

And on matters fiscal, the G.O.P. program is to do almost exactly the opposite of what Mr. Bernanke called for. On one side, Republicans oppose just about everything that might reduce structural deficits: they demand that the Bush tax cuts be made permanent while demagoguing efforts to limit the rise in Medicare costs, which are essential to any attempts to get the budget under control. On the other, the G.O.P. opposes anything that might help sustain demand in a depressed economy — even aid to small businesses, which the party claims to love.

Right now, in particular, Republicans are blocking an extension of unemployment benefits — an action that will both cause immense hardship and drain purchasing power from an already sputtering economy. But there’s no point appealing to the better angels of their nature; America just doesn’t work that way anymore.

And opposition for the sake of opposition isn’t limited to economic policy. Politics, they used to tell us, stops at the water’s edge — but that was then.

These days, national security experts are tearing their hair out over the decision of Senate Republicans to block a desperately needed new strategic arms treaty. And everyone knows that these Republicans oppose the treaty, not because of legitimate objections, but simply because it’s an Obama administration initiative; if sabotaging the president endangers the nation, so be it.

How does this end? Mr. Obama is still talking about bipartisan outreach, and maybe if he caves in sufficiently he can avoid a federal shutdown this spring. But any respite would be only temporary; again, the G.O.P. is just not interested in helping a Democrat govern.

My sense is that most Americans still don’t understand this reality. They still imagine that when push comes to shove, our politicians will come together to do what’s necessary. But that was another country.

It’s hard to see how this situation is resolved without a major crisis of some kind. Mr. Simpson may or may not get the blood bath he craves this April, but there will be blood sooner or later. And we can only hope that the nation that emerges from that blood bath is still one we recognize.

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King Abdullah (C) arrives at a hospital in Riyadh November 19. He was admitted to hospital Friday after a blood clot complicated a back condition he is suffering from and doctors have recommended more rest, the state news agency said.         REUTERS/Saudi Press/Handout

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s aging King Abdullah arrived in the United States for medical treatment on Monday, while a frail Crown Prince Sultan hurriedly returned from abroad to govern the world’s largest oil exporter.

The kingdom is keen to show its allies in Washington and elsewhere there will be no power vacuum as health problems beset its octogenarian rulers, but the question of whether a reformist or a conservative will take over remains a matter of concern.

Abdullah, thought to be around 86 or 87, asked Crown Prince Sultan to fly home from Morocco to run the kingdom during his absence.

The king will be seeking treatment after a blood clot complicated a slipped spinal disc, the state news agency SPA said. It did not say when Abdullah would be back.

“Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz is currently visiting the U.S. for medical treatment, and we hope for his speedy recovery,” the U.S. State Department said on Twitter on Monday afternoon.

With both Abdullah and Sultan in their 80s, speculation arose that conservative Interior Minister Prince Nayef, at a relatively youthful 76, could take over running the affairs of state some time in the near future.

Diplomats say Sultan, who is also defense minister and has major health problems of his own, has been much less active during his convalescence in Morocco.
Abdullah appointed his half-brother Nayef second deputy prime minister in 2009 in a move that analysts say will secure the leadership in the event of serious health problems afflicting the king and crown prince and improve Nayef’s chances of one day being king.

Diplomats in Riyadh say Western governments concerned about the fate of social and economic reforms promoted by Abdullah have reservations about the ascent of Nayef, seen as a religious and social traditionalist.

Nayef long denied that the September 11, 2001, attacks were carried out by Saudis or al Qaeda, suggesting they were carried out by supporters of Israel. He is seen as close to the powerful and hardline Saudi clerical establishment blamed by Washington for encouraging an ideology that promotes bigotry and fanaticism.

Global Concern

King Abdullah, who came to power in 2005, is the sixth leader of Saudi Arabia, whose political stability is of regional and global concern. It controls more than a fifth of the world’s crude oil reserves, is a vital U.S. ally in the region, a major holder of dollar assets and home to the biggest Arab bourse.

As home to Islam’s holiest sites, as well as birthplace of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabia is key to global efforts to fight Islamic militancy.

Washington wants Riyadh to continue social and economic reforms promoted by Abdullah that were seen as crucial after a group composed of mainly Saudis carried out the September 11 attacks of 2001.

But confusion still swirls over the real state of health of both Abdullah and Sultan and what will happen to Abdullah’s policies.

Diplomats say there has been uncertainty about Abdullah’s health since he canceled a visit to France in July.

A series of official announcements over the past week on the king’s health reflect a desire to reassure Washington that the ruling family’s grasp of affairs remains firm in tense times.

The hasty return of Sultan from a three-month break in Morocco was more low-key than his return last year from treatment for unspecified health problems. Then the half-brother to Abdullah, only a few years his junior, was met with a Bedouin sword dance.

Saudi state television showed Sultan at Riyadh airport, where he was greeted by senior princes of the Saudi royal family, which may soon face the test of managing an orderly transfer of power. Abdullah was not present at the event.

The princes at the top of the hierarchy in the absolute monarchy are all in their 70s and 80s and the Al Saud family, in power since the kingdom was founded in 1932, will remain a gerontocracy unless it soon promotes younger princes.

While official media seek to present family unity, tensions remain between the senior princes over who will run the country and over securing positions for their sons in the future political architecture of the absolute monarchy.

Rulers have so far all been sons of founder Abdul-Aziz Ibn Saud and many of the country’s 18 million people want to see power pass to a new generation.

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Houston, Texas (Ilyas Choudry / Abdul Quayyum Khan Kundi): After months of hard work and preparation by the Coal Forum Committee of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce – USA (PCC-USA), one of the leading organizations of the Pakistani-American businesspersons; PCC-USA organized the first ever Coal Forum at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Houston on November 18th, 2010, to inform about the presence of abundance of coal in Pakistan and as such attract investments into Pakistan in the coal energy generation sector. Coal Forum included several presentations by persons representing Government of Pakistan and US Energy Sector Companies; plus on the second day, one-on-one private meetings were held between the Pakistani Governmental Officials / PCC-USA Coal Forum Committee, and US Companies like WorleyParsons Group, Inc, Synthesis Energy Systems, Taggart Global LLC, Shaw Group, and JLP Minerals.

PCC-USA Coal Committee includes Waseem Rahim (Chairman), Zafar Mansuri, Asif Ehsan, Rashid Khokhar, Sheikh Muhammad Awais, and Saeed Shaikh.

Most appropriately as the keynote speaker during the lunch, PCC-USA Coal Forum Committee invited Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones. Texas Railroad Commission has the primary regulatory jurisdiction over oil and natural gas industry, pipeline transporters, natural gas & hazardous liquid pipeline industry, natural gas utilities, the LP-gas industry, and coal & uranium surface mining operations.

Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, who is considered one of the likely candidates to replace Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchinson as one of the Senators from Texas in 2012, said that just like in January 1901, Captain Anthony Lucas after two years of real hard-work, discovered the oil fields over the Spindletop Hill of Beaumont Texas (no previously discovered oil field in the world had ever been so productive), similarly the coal reserves in the most emerging country of Pakistan are waiting for their Captain Lucus and Thar can be the likely Spindletop Hill of Pakistan. As such Coal Forum of PCC-USA is one of those landmark events, which will eventually bring the energy independence to Pakistan in this fast becoming energy starved world. For US Companies to be involved in that expected energy boom out of Pakistan, which would bring much happiness to Pakistanis, people of that region, as well as Americans in this close-knit world, it is imperative a sound energy policy should come out of Washington, D.C.

Among many significant participants, some of the more prominent personalities at the forum included Consular General of Turkey in Houston Akil Oktem, Consular General of Pakistan in Houston Muhammad Aqil Nadeem, President of Turkish Chamber Celil Yakta, former US Ambassador to Qatar Chase Untermeyer, President of Pakistan Association of Greater Houston (PAG) Khalid Khan, former City of Houston Councilman M. J. Khan, candidate for City Council of Sugar Land Farah Ahmed, and Joseph Ringer of Export-Import Bank of the US (who informed that those who need capital to invest in Pakistan should contact him at 281-721-0467).

Earlier inaugurating the Coal Forum, the Chief Guest Ambassador of Pakistan Hussain Haqqani thanked PCC-USA for organizing such a well-planned event. He informed PPP government recognizes that coal is the most viable energy source for Pakistan. To realize the full potential of coal, Government of Pakistan has so far awarded four blocks to foreign investors. He agreed with the PCC-USA position that BIT should be negotiated in a speedy fashion.

Managing Director Thar Coal & Energy Board – Pakistan, Ajaz Ali Khan presented an extensive presentation on the Thar coal deposits and the efforts made by the government to tap them quickly. He provided insights into the volume of deposits that are estimated to be 187 billion tones. He briefed the audience on the blocks that are already awarded to foreign investors and the blocks that will be offered for auction in the coming months. He strongly encouraged US investors to participate in the bidding process, so that they become active participants. He informed that the incentives offered by Thar Coal Board include repatriation of profits in dollars and a minimum return on investment of 20% in dollar terms.

Khalid Mansoor, CEO, Sindh Engro Coal Mining, briefed the audience about the long term view of Engro in investing in coal fired power plants. He said the ten years scenario indicate that without using coal as feedstock for power generation, it may not be possible to finance the circular debt resulting from imported fuel. He said that Engro has partnered with Government of Sindh to create a mining company that will provide coal to a 1200 MW power plant built by Engro power. He said that the total project would cost over 12 billion dollars for which environmental studies have been completed and submitted to World Bank. He encouraged US Coal Technology companies to come forward and participate in Pakistan’s coal initiative.

During the conference presentations were made by many, including Laique Rehman Chairman Advisory Council of CC-USA; Trevor Bailey, General Manager, Steam Products, GE; and Jim Powers, VP Coal Gasification, WorleyParsons. In response to a question, Mr. Bailey appreciated the efforts of PCC-USA and agreed to provide support to explore the creation of Coal Research Institute in Thar. Mr. Ajaz Ali Khan requested PCC-USA to work as a bridge between US and Pakistani companies to form joint ventures and alliances.

Earlier President of PCC-USA Abdul Quayyum Khan Kundi in his welcome address stressed the need to use indigenous resources to bridge the supply demand gap in electric power. He insisted that clean coal technologies are now available to use for power generation. He requested the Government of Pakistan to put the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) negotiations on the fast track to attract more foreign direct investment from US investors. At the end of the program, he announced that this forum is a beginning of a long road towards development. The next milestone on this path is to form a delegation to visit Thar in early part of next year.

For this purpose, one can contact Waseem Rahim, Chairman Coal Forum, PCC-USA, International Trade Center, 11110 Bellaire Boulevard, Suite 202, Houston, Texas 77072, Phone: 1-281-701-1574, E-Mail: Rahim_Waseem@Yahoo.Com

About PCC-USA: Pakistan Chamber of Commerce-USA (PCC-USA) is the largest trade organization representing the interests of Pakistani-American businesses. PCC-USA is the only trade body with memorandum of understandings (MOUs) signed with Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Sialkot, and Haripur Chambers of Commerce & Industry. PCC-USA has also executed MOUs with Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and Pakistan Gem & Jewelry Development Company (PGJDC). As a national organization we have chapters in San Diego, Los Angeles and New York with our headquarters based in Houston Texas. Contact: Mumtaz Khan, VP Media, Phone #: 281.744.6175, E-Mail: Info@PakistanChamberUSA.Com

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– After early success, Indian shooters fail to keep up the good work

Guangzhou: The cueists continued their good run by providing a silver medal but the fancied shooters came a cropper in windy conditions, as India added two more medals to their kitty on the third day of competitions in the 16th Asian Games here Monday.

The performance of the snooker team comprising Yasin Merchant, Sneh Aditya Mehta and Brijsh Damani, who gave India their fourth silver, was the highpoint of an otherwise disappointing day, which saw most of the Indian sportspersons failing to make much of an impact.

The snooker trio proved too strong for Pakistan as they demolished their archrivals 3-0 to set up a gold medal clash against hosts China. While they lost to China 1-3 in the final, to be content with the silver, the men’s tennis team bagged a bronze medal to take India’s medal tally to one gold, four silver and three bronze.

Sanam Singh gave a tough fight to Yang Tsung Hua but failed to convert his chances and went down after winning the opening set. He lost 7-6 (3), 2-6 6-7 in two hours and 44 minutes.

Somdev, ranked 105th in the world, brought India back into the rubber when he demolished Taipei rival Ti Chen 6-2 7-6 (4) in 1 hour and 39 minutes by out-hitting his rival from the base.

But the efforts seemed to have drained the Indian duo who were blown away in the doubles tie which they lost 6-4 7-6 (1) to settle for the bronze.

The paddlers endured a mixed day in the individual competitions with only Kumarsen Shamini making it to the second round of the mixed as well as women’s singles event.

In weightlifting, India’s medal hope K.Ravi Kumar failed to live up to expectations as he finished fifth with a below-par performance in the men’s 69kg weightlifting.

The shooters, who have provided the bulk of the medals so far, were a big disappointment as they drew a blank at the Aoti shooting range with stars like Gagan Narang and Tejaswini Sawant failing to qualify, handicapped by windy conditions.

Narang was second best among Indians by finishing a lowly 24th with 587 points. But this is not the 27-year-old Commonwealth Games hero’s main event at the distance and he would have a shot at the 50m three-position competition to be held on November 18.

Hariom Singh, who has already secured an Olympic berth in the same event at the Munich World Championship in August, was 13th from 54 shooters in the qualification stage. Third Indian entrant Surinder Singh Rathod was 27th with a tally of 586.

India’s first woman world champion in shooting, Tejaswini Sawant finished 11th with a score of 588 in the 50m rifle prone qualifiers, way below the top score of 595 notched up by eventual gold medallist Chengyi Wang of China.

Sawant’s compatriots were no better with Meena (586) finishing 14th and Lajja Gauswami ending on the 16th spot with a score of 585.

The trio did not do too well in the 50m-rifle prone team event as well and signed off fifth with a score of 1759.

The disappointment continued for India in the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol event with the team of Rahul, Gurpreet Singh and Vijay Kumar finishing fourth with a total of 1711.
In swimming, Virdhawal Khade narrowly missed out on a medal and ended up fourth in the 50m freestyle event just 0.03 seconds behind the eventual bronze-medallist.
The 19-year-old Khade, who qualified with the fifth best timing of 22.98sec, clocked 22.87sec in the finals.

India’s Ashish Kumar finished a disappointing 23rd in a 24-participant field in the final of the men’s individual all-round artistic gymnastics competition, while Sagolsem Somorjit finished a dismal last in the men’s all-round nangun wushu competition.

Indian challenge in soft tennis came to an end after both the mixed doubles pairs failed to cross the first hurdle, losing to higher-ranked opponents.

Mixed doubles pair of Jitender Mehlda and Monica Murali Menon became a first round casualty after losing the opening round 5-0 to Mai Sasaki and Hidenori Shinohara of Japan.

In judo, Ramashrey Yadav’s hopes of winning an Asian Games bronze medal went up in smoke as he lost in the men’s 73kg repechage final at the Huagong Gymnasium here Monday.

Meanwhile, Indian Grandmaster Sasikiran Krishnan continued his unbeaten run with two wins and a draw Monday to sit at joint second after the seventh round, and remain in contention for a medal in the chess competition of the Asian Games here.

Another Indian in the men’s section, Surya Sekhar Ganguly won two matches while lost one. Among women, Harika Dronavalli and Tania Sachdev are at joint fourth after the seventh round.
India beat Afghanistan 83-76 in a closely contested match to qualify for the group stage of basketball competition.

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By Ray McGovern

Why should George W. Bush have been angry to learn in late 2007 of the high-confidence unanimous judgment of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies that Iran had stopped working on a nuclear weapon four years earlier? Seems to me he might have said Hot Dog! rather than curse under his breath.

Nowhere in his memoir, Decision Points, is Bushs bizarre relationship with truth so manifest as when he describes his dismay at learning that the intelligence community had redeemed itself for its lies about Iraq by preparing an honest National Intelligence Estimate on Iran. As the Bush book makes abundantly clear, that NIE rammed an iron rod through the wheels of the juggernaut rolling toward war.

Nowhere is Bushs abiding conviction clearer, now as then, that his role as decider includes the option to create his own reality.

The Fawning Corporate Media (FCM) has missed that part of the book. And hundreds of Dallas sheriffs, assembled to ensure decorum at the Bush library groundbreaking last week, kept us hoi polloi well out of presidential earshot.

But someone should ask Bush why he was not relieved, rather than angered, to learn from U.S. intelligence that Iran had had no active nuclear weapons program since 2003. And would someone dare ask why Bush thought Israel should have been furious with the United States over the NIE?

It seems likely that Bush actually dictated this part of the book himself. For, in setting down his reaction to the NIE on Iran, he unwittingly confirmed an insight that Dr. Justin Frank, M.D., who teaches psychiatry at George Washington University Hospital, gave us veteran intelligence officers into how Bush comes at reality or doesnt.

His pathology is a patchwork of false beliefs and incomplete information woven into what he asserts is the whole truth. He lies not just to us, but to himself as well. What makes lying so easy for Bush is his contempt for language, for law, and for anybody who dares question him. So his words mean nothing. That is very important for people to understand. (See Dangers of a Cornered Bush.)

Not Enough Sycophants

When the NIE on Iran came out in late 2007, Bush may have pined for his sycophant-in-chief, former CIA Director George Tenet, and his co-conspirator deputy, John McLaughlin, who had shepherded the bogus Iraq-WMD analysis through the process in 2002 but had resigned in 2004 when their role in the deceptions became so obvious that it shamed even them.

Tenet and his CIA cronies had been expert at preparing estimates-to-go to go to war, that is. They had proved themselves worthy rivals of the other CIA, the Culinary Institute of America, in cooking intelligence to the White House menu.

On Iraq, they had distinguished themselves by their willingness to conjure up intelligence that Senate Intelligence Committee chair Jay Rockefeller described as uncorroborated, unconfirmed, and nonexistent after a five-year review by his panel. (That finding was no news to any attentive observer, despite Herculean and largely successful efforts by the FCM to promote drinking the White House Kool-Aid.)

What is surprising in the case of Iran is the candor with which George W. Bush explains his chagrin at learning of the unanimous judgment of the intelligence community that Iran had not been working on a nuclear weapon since late 2003. (There is even new doubt about reports that the Iranians were working on a nuclear warhead before 2003. See Iranian Nuke Documents May Be Fake.)

The Estimates findings were certainly not what the Israelis and their neoconservative allies in Washington had been telling the White House and not what President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were dutifully proclaiming to the rest of us.

Shocked at Honesty

Bush lets it all hang out in Decision Points. He complains bitterly that the NIE tied my hands on the military side. He notes that the Estimate opened with this eye-popping finding of the intelligence community:

We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program.

The former president adds, The NIEs conclusion was so stunning that I felt it would immediately leak to the press. He writes that he authorized declassification of the key findings so that we could shape the news stories with the facts. Facts?

The mind boggles at the thought that Bush actually thought the White House, even with de rigueur help from an ever obliging FCM, could put a positive spin on intelligence conclusions that let a meretricious cat out of the bag that showed that the Bush administrations case for war against Iran was as flimsy as its bogus case for invading Iraq.

How painful it was to watch the contortions the hapless Stephen Hadley, national security adviser at the time, went through in trying to square that circle. His task was the more difficult since, unlike the experience with the dishonestly edited/declassified version of what some refer to as the Whore of Babylon the Oct. 1, 2002, NIE on WMD in Iraq, this time the managers of the Estimate made sure that the declassified version of the key judgments presented a faithful rendering of the main points in the classified Estimate.

A disappointed Bush writes, The backlash was immediate. [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad hailed the NIE as a great victory. Bushs apparent logic here is to use the widespread disdain for Ahmadinejad to discredit the NIE through association, i.e., whatever Ahmadinejad praises must be false.

But can you blame Bush for his chagrin? Alas, the NIE had knocked out the props from under the anti-Iran propaganda machine, imported duty-free from Israel and tuned up by neoconservatives here at home.

How embarrassing. Here before the world were the key judgments of an NIE, the most authoritative genre of intelligence analysis, unanimously approved with high confidence by 16 agencies and signed by the Director of National Intelligence, saying, in effect, that Bush and Cheney were lying about the Iranian nuclear threat.

It is inconceivable that as the drafting of the Estimate on Iran proceeded during 2007, the intelligence community would have kept the White House in the dark about the emerging tenor of its conclusions. And yet, just a month before the Estimate was issued, Bush was claiming that the threat from Iran could lead to World War III.

The Russians More Honest?

Ironically, Russian President Vladimir Putin, unencumbered by special pleading and faux intelligence, had come to the same conclusions as the NIE.

Putin told French President Nicolas Sarkozy in early October 2007:

We dont have information showing that Iran is striving to produce nuclear weapons. Thats why were proceeding on the basis that Iran does not have such plans.

In a mocking tone, Putin asked what evidence the U.S. and France had for asserting that Iran intends to make nuclear weapons. And, adding insult to injury, during a visit to Tehran on Oct. 16, 2007, Putin warned: Not only should we reject the use of force, but also the mention of force as a possibility.

This brought an interesting outburst by President Bush the next day at a press conference, a bizarre reaction complete with his famously tortured syntax:

Q. Mr. President, Id like to follow on Mr.on President Putins visit to Tehran about the words that Vladimir Putin said there. He issued a stern warning against potential U.S. military action against Tehran. Were you disappointed with [Putin’s] message?

Bush: I as I say, I look forward to if those are, in fact, his comments, I look forward to having him clarify those. And so I will visit with him about it.

Q. But you definitively believe Iran wants to build a nuclear weapon?

Bush: I think so long until they suspend and/or make it clear that they that their statements arent real, yes, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon. And I know its in the worlds interest to prevent them from doing so. I believe that the Iranian if Iran had a nuclear weapon, it would be a dangerous threat to world peace.

But this is we got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So Ive told people that if youre interested in avoiding world war III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon. I take the threat of Iran with a nuclear weapon very seriously, and well continue to work with all nations about the seriousness of this threat.

Cant Handle the Truth

In his memoir, Bush laments: I dont know why the NIE was written the way it was. Whatever the explanation, the NIE had a big impact and not a good one. Spelling out how the Estimate had tied his hands on the military side, Bush included this (apparently unedited) kicker:

But after the NIE, how could I possible explain using the military to destroy the nuclear facilities of a country the intelligence community said had no active nuclear weapons program?

Thankfully, not even Dick Cheney could persuade Bush to repair the juggernaut and let it loose for war on Iran. The avuncular vice president has made it clear that he was very disappointed in his protégé. On Aug. 30, 2009, he told Fox News Sunday that he was isolated among Bush advisers in his enthusiasm for war with Iran.

I was probably a bigger advocate of military action than any of my colleagues, Cheney said when asked whether the Bush administration should have launched a pre-emptive attack on Iran before leaving office.

Bush briefed Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before the NIE was released. Bush later said publicly that he did not agree with his own intelligence agencies. (For more on the Bush memoirs conflicts with the truth, see George W. Bush: Dupe or Deceiver?)

And it is entirely possible that the Iran-war juggernaut would have been repaired and turned loose anyway, were it not for strong opposition by the top military brass who convinced Bush that Cheney, his neocon friends and Olmert had no idea of the chaos that war with Iran would unleash.

Theres lots of evidence that this is precisely what Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen and then-CENTCOM commander Adm. William Fallon told Bush, in no uncertain terms. And it is a safe bet that these two were among those hinting broadly to Bush that the NIE was likely to leak, if he did not himself make its key judgments public.

Whew!

What About Now?

The good news is that Cheney is gone and that Adm. Mullen is still around.

The bad news is that Adm. Fallon was sacked for making it explicitly clear that Were not going to do Iran on my watch, and there are few flag officers with Fallons guts and honesty. Moreover, President Barack Obama continues to show himself to be an invertebrate vis-à-vis Israel and its neocon disciples.

Meanwhile, a draft NIE update on Irans nuclear program, completed earlier this year, is dead in its tracks, apparently because anti-Iran hawks inside the Obama administration are afraid it will leak. It is said to repeat pretty much the same conclusions as the NIE from 2007.

There are other ominous signs. The new director of national intelligence, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper, is a subscriber to the Tenet school of malleability. It was Clapper whom former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld put in charge of imagery analysis to ensure that no one would cast serious doubt on all those neocon and Iraqi defector reports of WMD in Iraq.

And, when no WMD caches were found, it was Clapper who blithely suggested, without a shred of good evidence, that Saddam Hussein had sent them to Syria. This was a theory also being pushed by neocons both to deflect criticism of their false assurances about WMD in Iraq and to open a new military front against another Israeli nemesis, Syria.

In these circumstances, there may be some value in keeping the NIE update bottled up. At least that way, Clapper and other malleable managers wont have the chance to play chef to another cooked-to-order analysis.

On the other hand, the neocons and our invertebrate president may well decide to order Clapper to fix the updated Estimate to fit in better with a policy of confrontation toward Iran. In that case, the new director of national intelligence might want to think twice. For Clapper could come a cropper. How?

The experience of 2007 showed that there are still some honest intelligence analysts around with integrity and guts and with a strong aversion to managers who prostitute their work. This time around, such truth-tellers could opt for speedy, anonymous ways of getting the truth out like, say, WikiLeaks.

This article appeared first on ConsortiumNews.com.

[Raymond McGovern is a retired CIA officer and Federal employee under seven U.S. presidents over 27 years. He presented the morning intelligence briefings at the White House for many of them.]

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