U.S. at War with Radical Islam

Arnaud de Borchgrave has some excellent connections in the international arena. His interview excerpted below is worth a full read at Newsmax.

De Borchgrave: U.S. at War with Radical Islam
Monday, November 19, 2007 4:18 PM

By: Phil Brennan

The U.S. is at war not with a political movement, but with Muslim extremism on a global scale, says influential journalist and Newsmax columnist Arnaud de Borchgrave.

In an exclusive Newsmax interview, de Borchgrave warns that the situation in Pakistan, a nuclear power, is growing graver as al-Qaida and the Taliban maintain influence in key border areas and President Pervez Musharraf loses control.
...

Newsmax: How serious is the current situation in Pakistan?
De Borchgrave: I don’t think it could be more serious. The comments of Benazir Bhutto, twice Pakistan’s prime minister in the 1980s and '90s, speak for themselves at the end of an e-mail she sent to me. She wrote: “It may sound dramatic but the picture here is frightening. Pakistan is slowly disintegrating and it seems everyone is paralyzed into ignoring the calamity that is coming.”

Newsmax: How much control do the Taliban and al-Qaida have over Pakistan at the moment?
De Borchgrave: They control the key tribal areas, known as North and South Waziristan, and to a lesser degree, some of the other tribal [regions] that border Afghanistan. But it’s total control in North and South Waziristan, which are the key areas for us in terms of Afghanistan.

Newsmax: Are they making any progress elsewhere in Pakistan?
De Borchgrave: Yes, in the Swat Valley, which is a highly prized tourist attraction in Pakistan inside the northwest frontier province. The [Pakistani] army has gone in there and taken casualties and then backed away as Taliban reinforcements arrived. The army backed down. The army is fed up at this point because they feel that they’ve been carrying out America’s orders transmitted by General Musharraf.

Newsmax: Is Musharraf in danger of losing control of the army?
De Borchgrave: Yes. In the next few days following [U.S. Deputy Secretary of State] John Negroponte’s visit this weekend, I can see General Pervez Kyani, who was going to become number one when Musharraf was confirmed as president, [taking] off his uniform. General Kyani was head of ISI, the Interservices Intelligence agency, and was private military secretary to Benazir Bhutto when she was prime minister in the late ‘80s.

... the army clearly is divided between those who are Western oriented, who have been to staff schools in the United States, and others who are hard-line in terms of Islam. They are the ones who don't want to take on al-Qaida, don't want to fight Taliban. After all Taliban was invented by the ISI right after the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan in February 1989.

ISI at one point was run by General Hamid Gul, who hates America with a passion. Hamid Gul is an Islamic extremist and he’s also the strategic adviser to the six political religious parties in the coalition that governs two of Pakistan's four provinces.

When you look at public opinion polls in Pakistan, Musharraf scores in the single digits, Bush in the teens and Osama bin Laden at 46 percent.

I don't think there's any danger of al-Qaida getting hold of nuclear weapons, though that danger is always there. What I see is perhaps a split in the army and Islamist extremists within the army taking control of these nuclear storage sites.

There are about six of them. They have separated warheads from delivery systems as well as separated nuclear cores from the detonators, so it is well dispersed. To get one weapon, they would have to put four parts together and they're stored in different parts of the country. That would not be accessible to al-Qaida unless somebody in the army were to get hold of all the different codes to access all these different places. I think it's highly unlikely but it's always a danger.


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Debka: Olmert Has Concluded Preemptive Strike is Only Option Remaining

Debka is reporting additional info this evening on the report leaked out of Israel earlier today, and partially provided and referenced on this blog ... "Israel Prepping for 'Day After' Teheran gets the Bomb."

DEBKAfile’s military sources: Olmert’s instruction to prepare for a nuclear-armed Iran was leaked to Reuters hours before the nuclear watchdog’s ElBaradei released his report

November 15, 2007, 6:04 PM (GMT+02:00)

The agency indicates that the Israeli prime minister ordered cabinet officials in a secret memorandum to present proposals for “the day after” Iran owned atomic warheads, meaning the day after Israel loses the military edge of its monopoly as the only nuclear-armed nation in the Middle East.

Without disclosing the contents of the proposals, Reuters quotes two Israeli sources as referring to the long-term ramifications to be addressed on Israel’s security and response capabilities and the effect on the public.

DEBKAfile’s political analysts report: The leak, albeit denied by the PM's spokesman, pointed to Olmert’s conviction that US-led diplomacy and sanctions for halting Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapon have reached a dead end, and the only option left to the US or Israel is a pre-emptive military strike, just as Israel bombed Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981.

The report Dr. Mohammed ElBaradei is due to present is not expected to prove otherwise.

Our sources note the proximity of the prime minister’s presumed leak to the US-promoted peace conference in Annapolis on Nov. 26.

What it says is that if the Bush administration cannot meet its pledge to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear bomb, which is an existential threat to Israel, how can the same administration be trusted to deal effectively with the issue of an Israel- Palestinians settlement in consequence of the Annapolis meeting?

It may therefore be postulated that the Israeli prime minister acted to derail the conference by drawing a red line which Israel refuses to cross in the interests of its security.

The Reuters report may even be his response to the “Israel should make painful sacrifices” speech which US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered to a Jewish audience Tuesday, Nov.13, in Nashville, Tennessee. Her argumentation sent a shudder through Israel’s intelligence and defense community.

Analysis of the speech, which the State Department quickly released in full plus video, shows strikingly that “Palestinian statehood” has been substituted for “Middle East peace” as a central US policy objective. Peace and peacemaking have therefore been exed out as a prerequisite for the Palestinians.

By presenting a Palestinian state as the main bulwark against Middle East extremists, she placed Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad at the forefront of the battle against Hizballah, Hamas and Iran, and deposited the security of the entire Middle East in their hands.

This thesis left Israeli security circles long familiar with the pair’s capabilities aghast - especially after their defeat in Gaza.

Therefore, the report claiming Olmert had given instructions to start preparing for a possible nuclear-armed Iran may equally apply to the bombshell Rice dropped on Israel’s head, and a signal to the Bush administration that Israel proposes to look after its own security rather than leaving it in other hands.

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Bhutto Fears Civil War, Nightmare Scenario in Nuclear Pakistan

This just came out as a part of Arnaud de Borchgrave's column posted this afternoon. He has a direct pipeline to Bhutto. See what she emailed him, to include closing comments of his own.

In an e-mail message to this reporter Wednesday, Benazir Bhutto, the embattled Pakistani leader under house arrest, said, "I very much fear the risk of civil war. The longer (President) Musharraf stays, the worse it's going to get. I knew it was bad but after coming here (from eight years of exile), I am shocked at just how bad. The militants are spreading everywhere not because people want them but because the administration unilaterally withdraws without a fight leaving the people of the town or village at the mercy of the long-haired, bushy faced barbarians who terrorize the local population and subdue them by shooting and killing randomly. I am just wondering how long it's going to be before the militants march on Islamabad."

Twice prime minister in the 1980s and '90s, Bhutto continued, "It may sound dramatic but the picture here is frightening. Pakistan is slowly disintegrating and it seems everyone is paralyzed into ignoring the calamity that is coming. The district headquarters of Shangla Hills fell today. The local population was ready to resist but didn't have the resources. The government didn't send any reinforcements and the local administration disappeared. In fact, it seems like the buddies of the militants had already been appointed."

The Pakistani army ceased operations a month ago against the Taliban and al-Qaida in the tribal areas on the Afghan border. Army units dispatched to the scenic Swat Valley, inside the Northwest Frontier province, have met strong resistance as more militants arrive from nearby towns and villages. Pakistan, one of the world's eight nuclear powers, is the ultimate nightmare scenario. The army is the custodian of secret nuclear weapons sites, deep underground. But the army is in disarray and the widely despised army chief and president, Pervez Musharraf, clings to power by enforcing martial law.

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Israel Prepping for "Day After" Teheran Gets the Bomb

Nov 15, 2007 17:01 Updated Nov 15, 2007 17:22
Israel preparing for 'day after' Teheran gets atom bomb
By JPOST.COM staff
Israel is preparing for the possibility of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, the Reuters news agency reported Thursday.

According to the report, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has instructed his ministers to draft proposals on how to cope with a nuclear Iran.

The agency quoted a source close to Olmert as saying there were "long-term ramifications to be addressed, like how to maintain our deterrent and military response capabilities, or how to off-set the attrition on Israeli society that would be generated by fear of Iranian nukes."

[snip]

Israel has supported international efforts to stop Iran's atomic development through UN Security Council sanctions, and several Israeli officials have also hinted that Israel could attack Iran's nuclear facilities if diplomacy fails.

Reuters reported that Israel was developing its defense systems to fend off a possible Iranian attack. It added that Israel was constructing a fleet of German-made submarines which could possibly carry nuclear missiles, sending a clear message that there would be retaliation for any Iranian attack.


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D.C. Islamic Group Aims for "Islamic State of North America" by 2050!

This is "special" ...

http://www.sabiqun.net/join.html

"As-Sabiqun is an Islamic movement that believes in the Islamic State of North America no later than 2050. Those who engage in this great effort require a high level of commitment and determination. We are sending out a call to the believers: Join with us in this great struggle to change the world!"

.

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Worst Recession Since the 1930s?

We normally try to avoid here the hyperventilating and chest-thumping that often punctuate current economic ups and downs.

But we offer this posting by Dan Dorfman as another heads-up to readers about the increasing urgency to get prepared for tougher times.

Talk of Worst Recession Since the 1930s
by Dan Dorfman
November 12, 2007

... Mr. Melcher, a market bear, had some pretty discouraging words. "What I think is not good for the country, but good for me." he says. His basic advice to the country's roughly 80 million stock players: Run for the hills — the worst is far from over. An investor's stock portfolio now, he believes, should be only about half of what it might normally be.

With the housing market in a state of collapse — and he says he believes it is far from over — Mr. Melcher argues that average homeowners will not be able to withstand the kind of recession he sees, given the added burdens of rising energy and food costs, and continued deterioration in the credit markets.

Noting that consumption is already slowing, Mr. Melcher figures sharply rising unemployment is inevitable. Another of his worries is that central banks around the globe, America's included, are debasing their currencies, which is setting the stage for a new round of higher inflation. Our bear figures the next six to 12 months will be awful for investors as the market goes down "pretty substantially." His frightening outlook calls for an additional 20% to 30% decline from current levels. A drop of that magnitude would put the Dow down in a range of roughly 9,100 to 10,400.

... The average investor, he believes, should seek to protect his assets by raising cash, putting money to work in short-term treasuries, and buying some gold (notably through StreetTRACKS Gold Trust, an ETF that tracks the price of the precious metal and trades on the Big Board under the symbol GLD).

Is the world coming to an end? I asked our bear. "I don't think so," he replied, "but as I mentioned, the ingredients are in place for the worst kind of a recession, which means it's the wrong time to own stocks."


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November 11, 2007 - Veterans Day

"Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." -- Adlai Stevenson

"It is not unseemly for a man to die fighting in defense of his country." -- Homer

"Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared." -- Eddie Rickenbacker, WWI flying ace

Volunteering for Vietnam instead of going to Germany. (02:47)

An excellent place to spend some time (and even participate) is the Veteran's History Project, sponsored by the Library of Congress. It is an ongoing effort to collect veterans' stories from all the nation's recent wars.

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Competitive Hyperbole ... Or H5N1 Alert?

This gentleman may simply be scrapping for position in the ever-more competitive fight for alarmingly bold headlines. Or, could it be a none-too subtle clue to what's ahead?

Today, David Nabarro, UN coordinator for avian flu and influenza told the A.P. in Tokyo that illnesses from animals are "one of the greatest threats to the survival of the human race."

Clearly, bird migrations, as winter approaches the northern hemisphere, make for an increased risk for proliferating viral infections in birds.

Nabarro was commenting after Vietnam's Department of Animal Health announced that dozens of ducks in that country's southern regions had died from the lethal H5N1 avian flu strain.

Nabarro said: "When you get a high concentration of diseased birds, the risk of the virus coming into the human population seems to increase. Each time a human is infected with the virus, the possibility of the mutation to cause the pandemic flu comes along and that's what we're on the lookout for."


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Pakistan Turmoil Increases Terror Threat

Never a dull moment, is there?

(CBS) The upheaval in Pakistan has experts fearful on two fronts. First, there is a deep concern over the security of the 80 to 100 devices in Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports.

"If Pakistan were to deteriorate further, the control of those weapons would be up for grabs," said Stephen Cohen of the Brookings Institute. "And we don't want to see that happen."

That could trigger an unthinkable cataclysm - if those weapons were taken by a rogue state or a terror group. And that's the second worry. Al Qaeda is a re-invigorated enemy that's poised to take advantage of the turmoil.

“It has to increase the threat against the U.S. because it gives al Qaeda precisely the breathing space, the opportunistic moment in time now that they will have now because of the distraction because of the instability in Pakistan,” said terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman of Georgetown University.

Read whole article.

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Fresh, Military Spec MREs with Heaters, Priced to Move

Our supplier was stocked for a big hurricane season. It didn't happen and now our customers are poised to benefit--cases of MREs for as low as $69, shipped to the lower 48!

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We've got great prices on these for a short time so the supplier can move them and make room for more product in his warehouse.

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Iran To Have a Bomb Within One Year? Time to Get Busy

HIGHLY recommended reading here from the Sunday Times: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2753953.ece


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Across the country, people face food & water shortages in flu outbreak

The need to have emergency stockpiles of food and water does need major attention across the country. It's common sense to have food stored for public use in the event of supply-line disruptions (see the previous blog post). To read the whole article, click on the title below.

Report: Thousands could face food, water shortages in flu outbreak
By DAVE HELLING
The Kansas City Star

Tens of thousands of Kansas Citians could face critical food and water shortages in a pandemic flu outbreak, a new report says.

The reason? They’re too poor to stockpile supplies for a flu crisis.

“I’ve been talking about this for three years — how are we going to feed people?” Kansas City Health director Dr. Rex Archer told the city council’s Finance and Audit committee Wednesday.

Archer met with the committee to discuss a new study by the Kansas City Auditor’s office. It found government officials are trying to prepare for a flu outbreak that could make hundreds of thousands of residents sick.

But the audit says potential flu patients aren’t making the same effort: “Local citizen preparedness is not at the level it should be.”

Public health guidelines say families should stockpile a two-week supply of food and water for an emergency. In Kansas City, the report estimates, between 10 and 15 percent of families now have a three-day supply of food and water.

[snip]

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Your Food Supply is at Risk

Now this cuts to the chase (and this really is not just about the threat of droughts to the food supply, but about how vulnerable the present just-in-time system is to a broad range of potential circumstances)...

U.S. Food Supplies

"I spent about thirty years working in commercial agribusiness. My main job was to purchase ingredients, mainly grain, for flour mills and animal feed mills. As a part of my job I was forced to understand the US food supply system, its strengths and weaknesses. Over the years I became aware of some things that nearly all Americans are completely unaware of. I am going to make a list of statements and then you will see where I'm going.

--1% of the US population grows all of the food for all Americans.

--Nearly all Americans know essentially nothing about where the food they eat every day comes from. How it gets from the ground to them. And they don't want to know about it. It's cheap, as close as their local store, and of high quality. So no worries.

--The bulk of the food we eat comes from grain. Although they raise a lot of fruits and vegetables in California, Arizona, Florida, Oregon, and Washington, those things don't compose the main part of the average diet. Half of what a meat animal is raised on is grain so when you eat meat you are really eating grain. And, of course, we eat grain directly as bread, bagels, doughnuts, pasta, etc. Milk (and milk products like cheese) comes from cows that eat grain. A lot of grain. And the grain they eat is not produced where the cows are located.

--The lion's share of grain produced in the US is done in a concentrated part of the US Midwest (Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri is the center of this area). The grain is moved to the coasts (where 70% of the population live) by only two (2) railroads.

--Nothing is stored for very long in a supermarket. One day grain travels (by rail) from Kansas to Seattle to a flour mill. The next day the flour mill makes the flour and sends it to a bakery. The next day the bakery makes it into bread (and other baked things) and the next day it is at the store where it is purchased that day. Nobody stores anything. The grain is produced and stored in the Midwest and shipped daily in a single pipeline to the rest of America where the people live.

--Up until the 1980s there was a system that stored a lot of grain in elevators around the country. At one time a whole year's harvest of grain was stored that way. But since tax- payers were paying to store it, certain urban politicians engineered the movement of that money from providing a safety net or backup for their own food supply in order to give the money to various other social welfare things. So now, nothing is stored. We produce what we consume each year and store practically none of it. There is no contingency plan.

"Now for my take on what this means for us and what it has to do with the topic you are publicizing.

--If a drought such as has lingered over other parts of the US where little grain is grown were to move over the grain-producing states in the Midwest where few people live, it would seriously damage the food supply of the country and the apples of Washington, the lettuce of California, the grapefruit of Florida and the peanuts of Georgia won't make up the difference because grain is the staff of life and most of it is grown in the Midwest.

--Americans are armed to the teeth. In LA people burned down their own neighborhoods to protest a court case.

--In order for riots to break out the whole food supply doesn't have to be wiped out. It just has to be threatened sufficiently. When people realize their vulnerability and the fact that there is no short term solution to a severe enough drought in the Midwest they will have no clue as to what they should do. Other nations can't make up the difference because no other nation has a surplus of grain in good times let alone in times when they are having droughts and floods also. It takes two or three months to raise grain, yet people have to eat usually at least once a day, usually more than that.

--So basically we have in place a recipe for a disaster that will dwarf any other localized disasters imaginable. The important thing to note is that there is no solution for this event. There is no contingency plan for this. People living in certain parts of the US will fare better than others (which is another story) but those who live in big cities, where most of the US population live, are done for.

"Anyway, I have no agenda of my own concerning this. I just thought I'd share it with someone who appears to have an idea of what might likely cause this scenario to occur. The only people who know about this are those who are involved in the production and distribution of the food supply and there are very, very few of them number-wise. And most of them haven't put two and two together yet either."

From: http://iceagenow.com/US_Food_Supplies.htm


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Brutal Wildfires in Southern California Causing Massive Evacuations

There ARE times when digging in is not an option and having ready bug-out bags proves to be wise.


California wildfires force thousands of evacuations


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World Oil Production Already Falling; Wars and Unrest to Follow

The source here is "The Guardian," so factor that into your figuring. But DO read the article in its entirety (click on the title below) for a stark wake-up call.

Steep decline in oil production brings risk of war and unrest, says new study

· Output peaked in 2006 and will fall 7% a year
· Decline in gas, coal and uranium also predicted

Ashley Seager, Monday October 22, 2007

World oil production has already peaked and will fall by half as soon as 2030, according to a report which also warns that extreme shortages of fossil fuels will lead to wars and social breakdown.

The German-based Energy Watch Group will release its study in London today saying that global oil production peaked in 2006 - much earlier than most experts had expected. The report, which predicts that production will now fall by 7% a year, comes after oil prices set new records almost every day last week, on Friday hitting more than $90 (£44) a barrel.

[snip]


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Be Aware of Growing Staph Superbug Danger

This week, an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that deaths tied to drug-resistant staph infections in the U.S. may already exceed the number of AIDS deaths. Obviously, this is a serious situation. Do not think that you are not vulnerable.

I speak with the experience of having had such a staph infection in my leg a couple of years ago. What started as a normal pimple, quickly became a swollen, extremely painful infection that required more than one emergency room visit and months worth of treatment before we beat it. It was the worst pain I've ever experienced and certainly there were some scary moments after I realized the risks.

Personal hygiene and cleanliness in your environment is your only course of prevention, and even then, there is no certainty that you will evade infection. Nonetheless, I recommend you take the cleanliness approach in your life seriously--especially paying attention to surfaces that are shared by individuals.

One of many particularly dangerous sources of infection is in your pocket or purse right now--your cell phone (even if you never share it with someone else). Clean it with antimicrobial wipes regularly.

(Note that in our buyers club, we offer a unique, hospital-strength decontamination kit that is an excellent addition to any home or business today when microbial threats like this can emerge with no warning.)

Experts: Drug-resistant staph deaths may surpass AIDS deaths

CHICAGO (AP) — More than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly infections each year from a drug-resistant staph "superbug," the government reported Tuesday in its first overall estimate of invasive disease caused by the germ.

Deaths tied to these infections may exceed those caused by AIDS, said one public health expert commenting on the new study. The report shows just how far one form of the staph germ has spread beyond its traditional hospital setting.

The overall incidence rate was about 32 invasive infections per 100,000 people. That's an "astounding" figure, said an editorial in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, which published the study.

[snip] Click the headline to read the entire article.

MORE INFORMATION: Read the Journal of the American Medical Association study Most drug-resistant staph cases are mild skin infections. But this study focused on invasive infections — those that enter the bloodstream or destroy flesh and can turn deadly.

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The Logic of Nuclear Proliferation

Continuing with this week's developing theme of doom ala fission-boom, we bring you another one of Jeff Nyquist's columns.

If you digest nothing else over the next 24 hours, let at least this excerpt sink in (click on the title to view the whole Nyquist column):

The Logic of Nuclear Proliferation
by J.R. Nyquist
Weekly Column - 10.19.2007

... A few days ago President Bush made a chilling statement. He said that if we wanted to avoid World War III we must not allow the current Iranian government to acquire nuclear weapons. He spoke from the conviction that Islamic fundamentalists with nuclear weapons cannot be checked by the threat of retaliation. A faith that sanctifies suicide bombers might be expected to sanctify a suicidal nuclear exchange. What nobody wants to hear, and nobody will say, is that the situation is much worse than President Bush imagines. More than half a century ago the Russians acquired nuclear weapons. In 1964 China became a nuclear power. While the nuclear martyrdom of an Islamic nation is to be feared, the rational use of nuclear weapons by Russia and China is even more likely. If a nuclear bomb were detonated in New York we would not be able to prove that Moscow or Beijing conspired in the attack; especially if Iran and North Korea possess nuclear weapons.

America can be attacked anonymously. The enemies of America know this to be true; therefore they want nuclear weapons technology to spread throughout the world. When New York and Washington are destroyed, nobody will know who ordered the attack. In that event retaliation will be impossible. Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) will be a thing of the past. The generals in Moscow and Beijing are working out a strategy based on the knowledge that America is defenseless; for America’s strategy has been based on a doctrine of massive retaliation.

The helplessness of the United States is increasingly obvious. In the long run the Americans cannot prevent the spread of nuclear technology. President Bush points to Iran and warns the world. But notice how helpless President Bush has become in recent months. Notice the paralysis in Washington. The American businessman will not support Bush’s policy. The Shopping Mall Regime believes in peace and economic prosperity. It will not prepare for war and economic decline (peak oil). It will not approve the construction of bomb shelters or tightened border security.

We are stuck.


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Potential for Global Warfare Inches Forward this Week

Yesterday, President Bush drew worldwide attention for stating the obvious ... that if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, it would lead to World War III.

His comment was not adequately expressed, but the logical assumption is that he was talking about the probability that Iran would actually use or allow the use of its nukes against Israel and/or U.S. interests, leading to retaliatory strikes and subsequently escalating warfare that would draw in countries from around the world.

President Ahmedinejad of Iran has indicated several times that Israel is due for annihilation. Israel and the United States are determined to guard against that.

Today, even the Democratic front runners in the U.S. presidential race are saying that the preemptive military option versus Iran's nuclear development capabilities is NOT off the table. Quite simply, in the U.S. there is little give on this issue. France, U.K., Japan, and Australia are key allies who join America in that stance. Germany is also likely to stand firm with the others against the Iranian mullahcracy from obtaining the ultimate weapons of mass destruction.

With strong commitment on this by the world's free nations, there would likely be a peaceful ultimate solution arrived at via strong negotiation and trade pressures. However, Iran has supporters who are increasingly digging in their heels. Russia, China, Venezuela, North Korea, and Syria and the main nation-states supporting Iran to some degree in this matter.

Other Irritants

Each nation has its own vested interests in a controversy such as this. It is never so easy as a simple decision to support or not support. Clearly, there are political/diplomatic/military alignments that are becoming more and more entrenched out there. In fact, perhaps a more telling motivation for some is an anti-U.S. angle to all of this.

Interestingly, this week alone has proven to magnify tensions a bit on all fronts.

Russian President Putin is intensely feeling his oats after meeting with and pressuring at least some of the Caspian Sea nation leaders and declaring that those nations will not be allowed to be used to stage attacks on Iran, as the U.S. has reportedly been planning should that need arise. Further, he clinched a deal that prevents the development of a Trans-Caspian gas pipeline that had been advocated by the U.S., effectively bypassing Russian control over energy concerns in that region.

Turkey is preparing to militarily venture into Iraqi territory to deal with a Kurdish population there that they are feeling threatened by. Needless to say, this is not a development sanctioned or smiled upon by the U.S. or the Iraqi government.

The return of former Pakistani Prime Minister Bhutto out of exile to a catastrophic welcome-home bombing by her Muslim opponents is a grim reminder of the vulnerability of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal to a regime change brought about by extremists there who may not be in the minority. Lest we forget, India watches events in Pakistan with their own nuclear triggers at the ready.

Finally, when something so benign as the U.S. recognition this week of the Tibetan Dalai Lama causes China to issue a warning that the honor "gravely undermined" relations between China and the U.S., well, I think we could say that the last few days has not been the friendliest of times in international circles.

We're not there yet where events would be expected to explode soon into a new widespread conflict. But this week would appear to be a period in which the screws have been tightened a half-turn across the board.


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GWB Warns of WWIII If Iran Goes Nuclear

Today at a White House press conference, President Bush stated that he had warned world leaders that Iran must be blocked from acquiring nuclear weapons, "if you're interested in avoiding World War III."

See the AFP news brief.


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Disasters as "IPOs" and "Emerging Markets"

Here is a look at wars, terror, and catastrophe from the investment overview perspective .... it is perhaps something different for our readers to chew on. Click on the article title below to read the article at MarketWatch. (Note the suggestions for ways to invest in this sector, including the Spade Defense Index.)

PAUL B. FARRELL
New 'Disaster Capitalism' economy

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- Hot tip: Invest in "Disaster Capitalism." This new investment sector is the core of the emerging "new economy" that generates profits by feeding off other peoples' misery: Wars, terror attacks, natural catastrophes, poverty, trade sanctions, market crashes and all kinds of economic, financial and political disasters.

[snip]


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