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Due to a holiday, ATol will not upload again until
Tuesday, October 13.
Pakistan
warns India to 'back off'
New Delhi has the capacity to play a decisive role in crushing the Taliban
insurgency, which is what makes the Pakistani military establishment extremely
anxious in the developing political scenario on the Afghan chessboard. When the
Taliban struck the Indian embassy in Kabul on Thursday, killing 17 people, the
timing may have been coincidence, maybe not. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Oct 9, '09)
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Gaza report seals Abbas' political
fate
The United Nations report on the 2008-2009 Gaza War wasn't 
well received by the United States or Israel, which call it one-sided. What was
more unexpected was an about-face by President Mahmud Abbas' Palestinian
National Authority to seek deferral of a UN debate on the findings. The news
has ripped through the Arab world, destroying any remaining credibility he had.
- Sami Moubayed (Oct 9, '09)
INTERVIEW
Hizbut Tahrir's view on Lebanese
politics
The trans-national and pan-Islamic party Hizbut Tahrir was founded in 1953 in
Palestine to re-establish the Islamic Caliphate that collapsed in 1924. Since
then the party has spread all over the Muslim world and is now estimated to
have hundreds of thousands of members. Osman Bakhach, deputy chairman of Hizbut
Tahrir's Executive Committee, explains why the idea of Muslim unity may be
unstoppable. - Mahan Abedin (Oct 9, '09)
IAEA's not-so-secret satellite game
Iran's decision to reject a protocol enabling the International Atomic Energy
Agency to conduct spot inspections of its nuclear sites means enforcing
safeguard agreements will become more risky and more satellite-driven. Israel's
desire to engage India's space-based surveillance assets is also likely to
intensify. - Peter J Brown (Oct 9, '09)
Beijing hires a media guru
As part of its modernization efforts, the Chinese Communist Party has recruited
a once-famed news anchor as its top media advisor. A lot has changed since
crisis was met with silence and falsehoods. The party has perhaps realized that
being an international player involves demonstrating some transparency. - Cristian
Segura (Oct 9, '09)
Kabul 2009: War of the Worlds redux
Sometimes it takes 66 pages 
to tell the story of a foreign invasion - as in the case of Afghan War
commander General Stanley McChrystal's recent report to the United States
Congress. Sometimes a century old novel can do the trick. H G Wells' 1898
sci-fi classic The War of the Worlds, old as it is, offers a rare
example of how Afghans may see the high-tech American war machine. - Tom
Engelhardt (Oct 9, '09)
BOOK REVIEW
Short-changing China's century
The Empire of Lies by Guy Sorman
This book penetrates the interior of China, touching on areas too-often
overlooked, such as poverty, human rights, and archaic governance. But it fails
to note how far the nation has come this century, its pulse of progress in
developing regions and subtle changes in leadership, and the analysis suffers
as a result. - Benjamin Shobert (Oct 9, '09)
Dollar exit for oil trade?
A further shadow has been cast over the future of the US dollar on reports that
Arab oil producers and customers including China and Japan may soon use other
means of settling their huge fuel accounts. - F William Engdahl
(Oct 8, '09)
When 5+1 = 1+1 in the Iran equation
Despite accusations from the right-wing in the United States that Iran duped
the Barack Obama administration into serious concessions at last week's nuclear
talks, bilateral Iran-US dialogue, unencumbered by the influence of third
parties, remains the clearest path to easing nuclear tensions. - Kaveh L
Afrasiabi (Oct 8, '09)
Heads or tails, Obama loses
Proponents in the United States of an increased counter-insurgency (COIN) in
Afghanistan want more troops. Those favoring a focus on counter-terrorism want
to maintain force levels while stepping up special operations. President Barack
Obama will be damned whichever option he chooses; perhaps he'd best flip a
coin. - Jim Lobe (Oct 8, '09)
INTERVIEW
The 'perfect' quake this way comes
The 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck the west coast of Sumatra island on
September 30 and killed more than 1,000 people was nothing compared to the
mammoth quake scientists predict for the area in the relatively near future.
The geological deck is stacked against the region, explains Sumatran tectonics
expert Richard Briggs, and local government apathy isn't helping. - Charles
McDermid (Oct 8, '09)
Confucianism a vital string in China's
bow
A revival of interest in Confucianism, within China and beyond, is helping
Beijing to develop the "soft power" it needs if the country is to become a true
world power. Some modernization of the 2,500 year old system of thought would
help. - Jian Junbo (Oct 8, '09)
Currency fiddlers wrong to cry
foul
China and other countries seeking an end to the US dollar's status in global
commerce should stop crying foul as the dollar's value slides. Instead, they
should abandon currency manipulation and let their populations purchase more US
goods and services. - Peter Morici (Oct 8,
'09)
SPEAKING FREELY
China's electric car revolution
In a world in which market mechanisms determine consumption patterns, it seems
unlikely that clean cars will be able to make significant inroads until the
last drop of oil is sucked out of the ground. But just maybe, China's market
and subsidized rush for electric vehicles could help it mass manufacture
environmentally-friendly autos for the rest of the world. - Ryan Rutkowski
(Oct 8, '09)
THE ROVING EYE
Stuck in Kabul, with Saigon blues
again
What is now being performed for Washington galleries is the dance of the
generals by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, National
Security Adviser retired General Jim Jones and top man in Afghanistan General
Stanley McChrystal. The Pentagon and its experts argue the US should
"Afghanize" the war - but the staggering financial black hole is just getting
bigger as the US slouches towards "Chaos-istan". - Pepe Escobar
(Oct 7, '09)
Syria, Saudi Arabia plot peace path
Saudi King Abdullah's first visit to Damascus since assuming the throne in 2005
signals a rebirth of the historic friendship between Syria and Saudi Arabia. A
mutual dislike for Iraq’s prime minister and Syria's warming ties with the
United States have helped bring the countries together, and to position them to
map out the future of the Middle East. - Sami Moubayed
(Oct 7, '09)
Obama trapped behind wall of
containment
United States President Barack Obama's troubles in the Middle East are not
caused primarily by "bad guys" such as Iran, nor by Israel's supposed power or
that of the domestic "Israeli lobby". Instead, he's trapped in the conundrum
that's built into US containment strategy. No matter what other nations do or
don't do, everything that looks like it might be a solution only turns out to
create new problems. - Ira Chernus (Oct 7,
'09)
Leaked Iran paper exposes IAEA rift
Excerpts of an internal draft report reveal that the International Atomic
Energy Agency has only suspicions - not real evidence - that Iran has been
working on nuclear weapons. This contradicts the agency's earlier claim that
was based on leaked documents, and there is now a fierce struggle in the
nuclear watchdog about whether the leaked material is genuine or fake. - Gareth
Porter (Oct 7, '09)
US public skeptical - and hawkish -
on Iran
The results of a new poll showing that the majority of Americans believe
diplomatic engagement with Iran will fail and that Washington should be
prepared to use military force to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear
weapon clearly play into the hands of the hawks pressuring President Barack
Obama. Other elements of the poll, though, show support for the president's
policy of dialogue. - Jim Lobe (Oct 7, '09)
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Follow the money
For US$200 million of public money we could take a walk in the footsteps of
Jesus Christ, curing millions of leprosy. Or we could just give Hank Paulson a
tax break. Then ask what else could have been done with the $4 trillion the US
government has committed to Wall Street and its already hugely rich denizens. - Matt
Bivens (Oct 7, '09)
China torn over Internet freedoms
 Following
a spate of titillating but fallacious stories posted on the Internet about
high-profile personalities, such as television hostess Fang Jing, many of
China's Internet users want the government to clamp down, even as Beijing
realizes the advantages of promoting free speech in cyberspace. - Stephanie Wang
(Oct 7, '09)
Tortillas taste just great in zero
gravity
Space food has evolved since the toothpaste-tube purees of the early days, with
Japanese noodles, Chinese "moon cakes", Indian curries, and popularly,
tortillas on offer to astronauts. But the 21st-century versions do little to
ease the difficulties of eating in zero gravity, according to the world's first
celebrity space chef. - Raja Murthy (Oct 7,
'09)
THE MOGAMBO GURU
Dry guide to 'recovery'
United States legislators, woefully ignorant of how the financial system works
and how it got the world into the present mess, need only a glance at the
exotic-sounding Baltic Dry Index to find out how strong the so-called recovery
is - it isn't. (Oct 6, '09)
Pakistan goes for militants' jugular
The pieces are all in place for Pakistan to launch an all-out attack on the
Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda in the Waziristan tribal areas on the Afghan
border. The formerly reluctant military is fully on board, the United States is
actively assisting with intelligence, and most important, the financial
lifeblood of the militants is being squeezed as never before. - Syed Saleem
Shahzad (Oct 6, '09)
US stands right beside Islamabad
The Barack Obama administration now believes that the Pakistani Taliban have
effectively over-reached and that Pakistan's elite, including the army, has
come to see it and its al-Qaeda allies as a much greater threat to the country
than ever before. - Jim Lobe (Oct 6, '09)
Give and take on North Korea
North Korea's Kim Jong-il on Tuesday promised visiting Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao that Pyongyang will return to the six-party talks that the North has
previously spurned. Beijing will take credit for arm-twisting the recalcitrant
North Koreans, while Kim will believe he has played his cards just right. - Donald
Kirk (Oct 6, '09)
More power to Afghan warlords
The West's strategy of promoting 
democracy in Kabul while taking on the Taliban in the field with unproven
Afghan troops and overstretched allied forces has left it staring at defeat in
Afghanistan. The plan ignores an alternative that succeeded spectacularly in
2001: arming tribal warlords and turning them loose on the Taliban. - Richard M
Bennett (Oct 6, '09)
India plays down Chinese incursions
Reports of Chinese incursions into Indian territory are on the rise, with
alleged firefights, air space infringements and graffiti. But New Delhi has
downplayed them, saying there are diplomatic mechanisms for such issues. At the
same time, the Indian military is making its own assessment. - Priyanka Bhardwaj
(Oct 6, '09)
China's satellite diplomacy shifts a gear
China offers satellites to developing countries at bargain-basement prices,
however, accurately calculating the exact cost of these satellite projects is
difficult because rarely, if ever, is anything done in the open. - Peter J Brown
(Oct 6, '09)
Ghost of Thaksin's past visits
Abhisit
Even as Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva works hard to assure foreign investors
and diplomats that Thailand's recent turmoil is no cause for concern, he is
struggling to control his unwieldy and scandal-tainted coalition. Whether
Abhisit can maintain his clean image while in league with coalition partners
and party members who seem bent on self-enrichment may determine his political
future. - Seth Kane (Oct 6, '09)
Payback time
Efforts to cut back on the vast rewards to United States bankers whose
activities undermine society as a whole could be bad news for girls happy to be
named on the school "slut list" in up-market New Jersey - unless their folks
actually work for Goldman Sachs. - Julian Delasantellis
(Oct 6, '09)
THE BEAR'S LAIR
How to disarm the liquidity bomb
Policymakers in the United States talk of reversing the unprecedented liquidity
pumped into the financial system while signaling that interest rates will
remain near zero for some time to come. Yet it is essential to raise rates
before removing the liquidity. The other way around won't work. - Martin
Hutchinson (Oct 6, '09)
 SPENGLER
Obama's permanent depression
The toxic cocktail of fiscal stimulus combined with near-zero interest rates in
the United States allows financial institutions to profit while further
depressing the productive economy. The resulting deteriorating jobs market is
now instilling panic in Barack Obama's White House. The parallels with Japan in
1989 are uncanny. Japan, though, had one advantage: it knew how to export. - Spengler
(Oct 5, '09)
Seeds of change in Iraqi Kurdistan
Leaders from Iraqi Kurdistan's upstart political opposition, the Movement for
Change, say the party's departure from traditional clan-based politics led to
its unprecedented success at recent regional elections. The group is part of an
unexpected democratic progress that has forced Turkey, Iran and Syria into a
strategic rethink. - Derek Henry Flood (Oct
5, '09)
Iraq's Maliki gathers his forces
Hard on the heels of the formation of a new Iraqi party comprising Shi'ite
heavyweights to contest January's elections, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has
unveiled his own new coalition, which he touts as cross-confessional and
secular. This it might be, but it comprises mostly political lightweights. - Sami
Moubayed (Oct 5, '09) |
Sex and security in Afghanistan
Apart from rollicking romps at the United States Embassy in Kabul, allegations
have emerged of private security contractors in Afghanistan frequenting
brothels notorious for housing trafficked women. - David Isenberg
(Oct 5, '09)
 CHAN
AKYA
Double or quits
As the employment picture in the United States grows ever more bleak, Keynesian
economists are producing their standard calls to government - spend more, and
the good times will come. This after seeing vast amounts already poured into
rescuing the economy come to little effect. It is the cry of despair of a
failing gambler. (Oct 5, '09)
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David P
Goldman
(Oct 8, '09)
Are we due for a repeat of [Paul Volcker's rate] tightening? Not a chance.
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Wynn
the master
of Macau gamble
Gaming magnate Stephen Wynn's bet that punters would flock to buy shares in his
Macau casino interests, made as the outlook soured for new listings in Hong
Kong, has paid off big time, with the risky initial US$1.6 billion sale being
followed by a soaring stock price on the first day of trading. - Olivia Chung
Kazakhstan seeks
route out of crisis
As French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Kazakhstan for the signing of a
US$3 billion energy pipeline deal that will help create jobs back home, a novel
bank restructuring was also showing how the Central Asian country is seeking to
emerge from the economic crisis - with some help from China. - Robert M Cutler
Climate protectionism
on the rise
Trade and technology protectionism on the part of the United States and other
industrialized countries is on the rise, threatening to take priority over the
threat of climate change, as part of negotiations with developing nations on
how to combat the threat to the world's future. - Martin Khor
FROM THE BLOG
Comedy act by Bernanke
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's warning that he might tighten credit
some time, some day, combined with White House economic advisor Larry Summers'
ringing defense of a strong dollar, are a comic-opera spoof of former Fed chief
Paul Volcker's Wagnerian drama. - David Goldman
CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
No way to fix a collapse
Credit bubbles are fundamentally about a confluence of undisciplined behavior,
from monetary system management, through lending and investment, to spending
throughout the economy. The consequences of increasingly bold policy activism
include a more unbalanced economic structure, as witnessed today.
(Oct 5, '09)
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
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"... Obama will not tolerate the US running away [from Afghanistan] as some
fools perennially and lamely champion. ..." - Robster
"... Afghanistan is a lost cause! Negotiating with the Taliban for the sake of
a dignified withdrawal is not "running away", just a prudent acknowledgement of
reality. As long as the Taliban agree to sever all ties with al-Qaeda and all
other terrorist groups, why not concede Afghanistan to them?" - MonsoonWind
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From Our Mailbox
[Re Dollar exit
for oil trade?, October 8] The United States will have to show some
fiscal discipline - but this may never happen since it is run by arrogant
madmen from the military, oil, and media industries.
Manuel de la Torre
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ATol Specials
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By Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Jan '09) |
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VIDEO
Taliban's new breed of leader
(May '08) |
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The
Gates
Inheritance
By
Roger Morris
(June '07) |
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Syed Saleem Shahzad reports on
the Afghan war from the Taliban side
(Dec '06)
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How
Hezbollah defeated Israel
By
Mark Perry and
Alastair Crooke
(Oct '06)
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Mark
Perry and
Alastair Crooke
talk to the 'terrorists'
(Mar '06)
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China:
The
Impossible
Revolution
By
Francesco Sisci
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The Coming
Trade War
By Henry C K Liu
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A series
by Henry C K Liu
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Sinoroving
Pepe Escobar in China
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Money, Power
and
Modern Art
A series by Henry C K Liu
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Andre Gunder Frank on Uncle Sam and his
shrinking dollar
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By Pepe Escobar with
photographs by Kevin Nortz
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Nir Rosen goes inside the Iraqi
resistance
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Nir Rosen rides with the US 3rd
Armored Cavalry in western Iraq
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