Bombs and Dollars – American Foreign Policy Blog – China, Afghanistan, Pakistan

Most of the serious students and followers of foreign relations have probably read about the Clash of Civilizations by Samuel P. Huntington. For the uninitiated, it is a upcoming clash between hardline Islamic and non-Islamic World that will define the future of the Planet.

It seemed true with Nicolas Sarkozy who called for a ban of Burqa in France, calling it to be a “medium of subversion” of eomen.

Now Europe is ablaze with a different problem. The Swiss government tried to prove itself highly democratic and called for a vote on the issue on banning of Minarets, which was, to the utter astonishment of them, supported by the Swiss people.

Europe has faced the onslaught of Islam since the Crusades. In recent days, the Fatwa on Salman Rushdie, or the uproar on the Danish cartoons of Prophet Mohammad, shook the sensible, non-religious, non-hardliner and free-spirited souls of the average Europeans, who were increasingly with the belief that these “immigrants” to their land can’t intermix with their culture.

In the UK, with Muslims constantly protesting British society, chanting that “Anglian soldiers go to hell”–(but surprisingly not protesting against terrorists who blow up mosques in Afghanistan)–the UK has even created Sharia Law courts for civil cases among Muslims, with the ability to support forced marriage and marital rape, for example.

Now we are seeing a great uproar from the sickening politically correct crowd, deploring the ban. (I am an India, a born Hindu, a practicing non-believer, and trust me I am disgusted with political correctness of the people of our country.)
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The Washington Post is reporting that Barack Obama has secured China’s support in the writing of a “toughly worded, U.S.-backed statement criticizing the Islamic republic.”

According to the Post, the Administration told China that Israel viewed Iran as an “existential issue” and that they could bomb Iran if action isn’t taken, and that would lead to an oil crisis.

Ironically, one of the reasons Obama has so much credibility on suggesting that Israel might attack Iran is because of Obama’s failures to find support with Israel. He has constantly been trying to discourage Israel from attacking, but with his approval rating only at 6% in Israel, he’s not finding much support.

While Obama has been talking about negotiating with Tehran have made no progress. Even in November, he was still trying to get the process started. Yesterday, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency director Mohammad El Baradei told the IAEA that he had made no progress securing investigations with Iran and that Iran’s failure to cooperate had caused the process to hit a “dead end”.
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Our Managing Director is ecstatic. Not only ’cause yesterday we got record traffic (Thanks, Neil Boortz!)…even 1 hit from China!…which is a cause for celebration in itself…but also I wrote this post entirely focusing on China and its relation with U.S. and other relevant news snippets. As you know, President Barack Obama’s Asia trip was a public relations disaster…which scoffed both time-tested allies like Israel, and India, but it also resulted in Chinese diplomatic victories on every front…and even snubbing of U.S. suggestions on some points…

Even just a month back, India and the U.S. were training for wars together. The U.S.-India relationship thrived under Bush, and they are a key ally in the War Conflict Against Terror.

Now, in China, Indian media is reporting that Obama’s comments about getting China more involved in the Pakistan are causing controversy.

India and Pakistan have had a tenuous relationship since the 1947 partition of India and the and the Indo-Pakistan War. India has had conflicts with China, too, over border lands, and just this summer, both countries were increasing troop levels on their border.
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U.S. President Barack Obama is on a dream run…of destroying time tested natural allies, and friendships.

Israel, U.S. of A’s greatest ally for over half a century, it’s strongest base in the Middle-East and probably the only balancing factor of American interests in the entire region, was warned (to a considerable shock from their side) by the Obama administration over building of settlements in the buffer zone between Israeli mainland and the Palestinian territory.

In an interview with FOX News though (another example of Obama appeasing the enemy), Obama ironically stated that a strong Israel is vital to the national security of the U.S. (How that will happen, he didn’t clarify…)

The European Union, the organizers of the largest intercontinental orgies, couldn’t basically get the grasp of the seriousness of the situation…but felt that they should say something nonetheless Continue reading

The gunman who opened fire at Fort Hood, killing 12 and injuring 31, is just the latest example of Jihad in America that Americans are all too quick to ignore.

The gunman was Muslim, and he did shout “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire, but ABC correspondent Martha Raddatz just “wish[es] his name was Smith.”

But his name isn’t Smith, and that’s the problem. His name was Malik Nadal Hasan, and it’s not the first example of violence fueled by a certain religion. (Just read the Baghdad Daily for more examples.)

The fact is that radical Islamic terrorism is a big threat, and for the US to continue denying it, as if no violence has ever been carried out because of some interpretations of the Muslim religion, is a deadly problem.
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Nov 5 and Nov 6. One day. And the acclaimed intellectual and nuclear head master, Mohammad ElBaradei, who heads the self-contradictory and hilariously inept International Atomic Energy Association, couldn’t find anything suspicious on a search of a previously secret Uranium enriching facility in Iran.

The very next day that same IAEA came out with a statement that it found evidence that Iran is testing its advanced nuclear warhead design.
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A war is (still) going on in Iraq, and our blog is very much observing that. (Our managing director is worried sick!) For the last few days, there were a few stories in mainstream media, as most of it was directed towards it’s sister war in Afghanistan and the comedy of an election which somehow happened when the jihadi bombers were taking rest between a couple of blasts. It flopped though, needless to say.

So we did, what any responsible foreign relations journo would do…check out the BBC site for the developments. And here are a couple of snippets.

1. It’s all about the oil people! Continue reading

This is a rare serious post, from me. It’s a tough life for journalists. Being a correspondent is thrilling, walking on the edge, covering war, riots, movements, stones and tear gas shells and sometimes even bullets flying past the ears, getting drenched in water canons, surviving on stale sandwiches, and cold black coffee for days, while covering an emergency situation…it all looks quite heroic. I had some experience recently in my fledgling journalistic career, while I was a freelancer a year back.
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT: It’s War on the streets of Mumbai

But that’s the glamorous side. What it doesn’t show, are hundreds of people, who get arrested tortured, beaten, and charged falsely under draconian laws, in the most trying situations.

The recent addition to this age old tradition is the arrest of an AFP man, who got arrested by the Iranian secret police, while covering the rallies marking the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy. Continue reading

Former Green Beret-turned-war correspondent Michael Yon has created quite a controversy this week by accusing the New York Times of putting hostages in danger and paying for the release of captured reporter David Rohde.

The Times published an article containing a lot of information about two British hostages captured by Somalian pirates.

Yon made a series of tweets on Sunday eviscerating the Times for hypocrisy, after they kept Rohde’s capture secret, and also claimed that Rohde’s release had been paid for.

Kept it all quiet for NYT. Now why are the NYT endangering British hostages in Somalia? NYT needs to shut up. They are endangering British.2:59 AM Nov 1st from web

I have been told by very close sources that ex-CIA officers helped pay off release for Rohde. I knew this while it was ongoing.2:56 AM Nov 1st from web

The story made its way around the blogosphere, including Newsbusters, Gawker, and the Huffington Post. The Times responded on one of their blogs.
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When Obama said that his stimulation package has created 1 million jobs, did he include Chinese jobs in the calculation?

China’s manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest rate in 18 months in October, the eighth straight month of expansion, and Obama just happens to have gotten back to trying to push cap-and-trade last week.

The actual amount of new jobs stimulation has created is… Well, 2.7 million have been lost.

We should remember that Obama thought the unemployment rate would only reach 9 percent if the stimulation package didn’t pass.

Again, it’s just a question of who is going to be stimulated.
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