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Letters

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Please note: This Letters page is intended primarily for readers to comment on ATol articles or related issues. It should not be used as a forum for readers to debate with each other. The Edge is the place for that. The editors do not mind publishing one or two responses to a reader's letter, but will, at their discretion, direct debaters away from the Letters page.

November 2007

Regarding If Iran's Guards strike back by Hussain Mousavi [Nov 30], the author should study US tactics a bit more. First, if the US does attack (something I doubt), they never repeat the same tactics and strategy in new wars. The article and the analysis is too simplistic.
Odin Thorson (Nov 30, '07)

[Re A language for the world, Nov 30] Leave it to ATol to finally compensate for all of Spengler's inanities by publishing the incomparable Amartya Sen's studiously thoughtful rational side of "globalization" and its desired directions. Thanks ATol.
Armand De Laurell (Nov 30, '07)

"...the US is at war and in war innocents are always killed". - Chrysantha Wijeyasingha [Letters to the Editor, Nov 29, re Iraqi children are civilians too, Nov 28]. The US has not declared war on Iraq; President Bush is merely indulging his vanity and chutzpah, as well as perhaps trying to speed up the Second Coming of Jesus. There is no need for him to kill anyone in Iraq, certainly not the children.
Lester Ness
Kunming, China (Nov 30, '07)

[Re Hong Kong and the hookah of Islamic investment, Nov 29] The Arab oil states are awash in a mountain of petro dollars. The Hong Kong market has been slow in trying to tap into that wealth. Hence the scramble to set up an instrument which will meet the halal requirements of an Islamic index. Much has been written about Islamic funds but little has been explained as to how they ease fitlessly in the world of capitalism. No one need fret. If the good ATol reader can lay his hands on a copy of the French Orientalist Maxime Rodinson's excellent Islam and Capitalism, he will discover the key to how the fundamentals of the Muslims' faith find no quarrel with the capitalism mode of production.
Mel Cooper
Singapore (Nov 30, '07)

Julian Delasantellis in Selling the US by the dollar [Nov 29] rightly feels smug that an earlier prediction came true: that sovereign wealth funds (SWVs) would come to the rescue of the poor, self-mutilated US financial system. However, this rescue may not come at the heavy cost to the US, namely decreased ownership (ie, control) of its largest financial institution. Had any another SWV made the purchase he would most probably have reason to be concerned. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's investment is most probably a form of illusory propitiation ... that is at real risk of expropriation. I would be willing to bet a small fortune that Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and its Qatari counterpart had in mind the following three events when they made their recent investments. In reverse chronological order, firstly, Prince Bandar, the former Saudi ambassador to the US, has retained a former FBI director (1993-2001), Louis Freeh, and a retired British high court judge, Sir Stephen Mitchell, to defend him in a US government investigation into payments BAE made to members of the Saudi royal family for services they performed in connection with commercial transactions between BAE and the Saudi government. The British government has been attempting to block or hinder all investigations, including the US investigation, into payments from BAE to members of the Saudi royal family. If one is wondering why Prince Bandar is back in the relative safety of Saudi Arabia and why Saudi Arabia and many Arab states are grudgingly attending the US-sponsored "peace conference" in Annapolis, this little tidbit of information may satiate one's wonder. Secondly, Kamal Adham, the former head of Saudi intelligence (1963-1979), was forced to fork over about US$400 million to avoid showing up in US court during the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) dispute. Thirdly, in the same dispute, Sheik Zayed of Abu Dhabi (God rest his soul) had to pay about $1.8 billion to avoid showing up in US federal district court for the southern district of New York, but his European lawyers had to answer to a contempt charge (and pay an enormous penalty in excess of $1 million if I recall correctly). Instead of divesting, some Arabs still mistakenly think that propitiatory investment in the US will somehow protect them when in the past their bank ownership interests and loans to US banks were seized to intimidate them into settling unmeritorious claims even though they were victims of fraud. Based on past US actions, it is not too hard to imagine that through legislation, new legislation if necessary, and creative legal arguments, unmeritorious claims will again suddenly be made meritorious in order to "compensate" American companies and individuals for harm allegedly done by the holders of the SWVs. There may be in about eight years a highly profitable business in providing "insurance" to Arab SWVs to protect them from the potential of unjustified US expropriation.
Abacus
USA (Nov 30, '07)

With his furious, hyperbolic sense of rage and outrage, the Amazing Naughty Daughty Mogambo Guru (ANDMG) is the Loud Angry Clamor of Exasperated Taxpayers (LACET), the Gloriously Announcing Beacon of the Great American People (GABGAP); but he should check his vengeful enthusiasm while trying to educate these Absolutely Moronic AToL Readers (AMAR). [In his Nov 29 column, Never enough gold jewelry] he spat out: "... sold seven times as much gold and silver as it did a few months earlier. Wow! A 700% increase!" Keep your small intellect straight you Big-Mouthed American Cretin (Big-MAC): that's a 600% increase, which should keep these sellers happy enough. May your intestines rot forever and the unbearable stench be your chastisement until the end of time. A caring friend.
Bittar Gabriel Jivasattha (Nov 29, '07)

[Re Hong Kong and the hookah of Islamic investment, Nov 29] One way that might make Hong Kong more "Muslim friendly" would be to let them help defray the costs associated with relocating of the headquarters of the United Nations there from New York City. Good for Hong Kong, good for China, good for Asia, good for Muslims, good for the UN, good for ...
T Sullivan
USA (Nov 29, '07)

Selling the US by the dollar, Nov 29 is a piece that should be read and understood by all myopics in the US, all 270 million of them (I'm estimating 90%). I like Julian Delasantellis' playful sarcasm but maybe it's sardonic as well. For a much more obscure website, I just finished my own piece questioning the many new books that predict the demise of American democracy. Mr Delasantellis' accounts of narcissistic reactions to the incremental sell-off of American business seem to indicate more surety for that future. While leaders take away American freedoms and mortgage the futures of American children, spending for pork-barrel projects, unnecessary military forays, and for friends and cronies, consumers will further mortgage their assets and shop.
Jim
Southern California, USA (Nov 29, '07)

Kaveh L Afrasiabi's article, Iran: The uninvited guest at the peace summit, Nov 27, temporarily caused me to think Iran may be more than snubbed by not being invited to the Annapolis Conference. But, no, Iran has nothing to worry about. It's the fact that they aren't particularly likeable that is their strength. Surely, they didn't want to go. Why would they? I was surprised that Syria did go. But I have yet to see them or him/her on the TV, nor have they been mentioned on TV here. Trying to put a good and logical spin on their presence I thought maybe they would give Hamas and Lebanon some voice. The conference, so far, appears to be a venue for Bush over the next year-somewhere for him to go. This is according to a White House spokesman Mr Bush will act as a mediator. He will appear to be engaged until next year. Iran doesn't have to worry about Israel and US containment plans. Both Israel and the US are just trying to keep Iran off balance and along with them, us, convinced that they are still some kind of threat - but I don't see it. The administration is pretending again but without the previous bluster confounding us so that we can't see that they are in serious trouble.
Dee Hall
USA (Nov 29, '07)

In his article, Israel, the hope of the Muslim world, Nov 19, Spengler wrote: "Buddhism in many forms teaches divine [sic] humility, but the Zen variety prevalent in Japan adapted itself well to the requirements of the samurai caste, which knew loyalty and submission, but not humility." This is a worthy perspective to take - this lens directs one's gaze past the religion as propounded by its theologians or apologists, and examines religion as practiced . Shame Spengler only used it to examine Japanese Zen Buddhism. Had he looked this way at Western Christianity, he may have realized that despite the humility propounded by its apologists to be at the core of Christianity, Western Christianity as practiced could hardly be said to be an instantiation of humility, or the protection of "the weakest and most despised". Ask an African slave, an American Indian, or even the masses of poor United Statesians throughout the centuries how their rulers, in their Christian humility, protected and cared for them.

"I am so terrified, America,
Of the iron click of your human contact.
And after this
The winding-sheet of your selfless ideal love.
Boundless love
Like a poison gas."
(D H Lawrence, "The Evening Land")

In building his case that Islam does not have a positive view of humility, and therefore does not protect "the weakest and most despised", Spengler's gaze - so sharp when examining Japanese Zen Buddhism - is so blurry that he overlooks the third pillar of Islam, the zakat or tithe: 2.5% of one's savings or business revenue, and 5-10% of one's harvest, to be given to the destitute, the working poor, stranded travelers and others in need. This is a legal obligation peculiar to Islam.
Josephus P Franks
Brooklyn, New York, USA (Nov 29, '07)

When is ATol going to feature a geostrategic update from Joseph Stroupe? From his last vantage point of more than a year ago he was right about many things, including where India would end up casting its lot. I'd be very interested in having a second look at his crystal ball.
Francis
Quebec, Canada (Nov 29, '07)

Thank you. Joseph Stroupe is an occasional contributor, and is presumed to still be divining his crystal ball. We will publish forecasts as they occur. - ATol

The article Iraqi children are civilians too [Nov 28] by Dahr Jamail does not point that the US is at war and in war innocents are always killed. This tactic has been perfected by the radical Islamic terror groups around the world. When they wage war upon the West, they usually use civilians as cover. They don't give a hoot about the lives of the innocents. But when it comes to the US, the soldiers are supposed to "tip-toe through the tulips" when they are fighting for their lives. All through history one cannot find a single war where innocent civilians haven't suffered the effects of war. In addition to using innocent civilians as cover, Islamic terrorists have perfected the art of destruction in the form of suicide bombers and in most cases the casualties are innocent bystanders, whether they are westeners or their own brotheren. Case example the ongoing battle between the Shia and the Sunni communities in Iraq, the September 11 casualties of New York or the muliple bombings in Mumbai. In all of these cases innocent civilians were the target. So before pointing fingers during war one must understand the nature of war. It is merciless and high ethics or civility seldom apply. Its ultimate goal is to win at any cost. I often refer to World War II and I need to do the same now. Whether it was Dresden, Berlin, Nagasaki or Hiroshima countless innocents died in order to end the war.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
Clinton, Louisiana USA (Nov 29, '07)

Thailand's appointed National Legislative Assembly was given a difficult job at a critical time in the country's political history. They have done that job and they have done it well. It would be a positive action for their legacy to either disband or to simply call a moratorium on legislation to allow the people's elected assembly to take over some months from now. The nation can wait. Many of the bills before the appointed NLA are frivolous and others possibly unconstitutional. A government that concerns itself with instilling patriotism by bringing every motor vehicle in the nation to a stop for a daily broadcast of the national anthem is surely well beyond Thomas Paine's ideal "that government is best which governs least". Just look at how long the Belgians have gone without a government; and the trains still run on time.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand (Nov 29, '07)

Thanks for providing such excellent news. ATol is in very rarified company in my news portfolio for such a young upstart, rubbing shoulders with the The Beeb and The Gray Lady at the breakfast table during my morning caffeination and news soak. It is a great service and I don't mind the ads that pay for the whole thing at all. Your new advertising practices, however, risk losing the whole thing - gagging the golden goose if you will, by ruining the experience for me. Recently ATimes.com has become slow-to-load and has regularly crashed Firefox so badly that I either have to reboot or manually kill the Firefox process each time in order to resume reading. Please, lighten up on the Java larded ads - my cable modem isn't fast enough to handle it all, and besides, if I have to restart, I may get distracted and never get to finish the article. Here's hoping for your continued success and prosperity.
Gary Starkweather
Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada (Nov 29, '07)

The article A warning shot to Iran, via Syria [Nov 21], is another in a string of articles that seem to react to every rumor, every ripple in the breeze blown our way by various breeze generators. How tiresome. It is the US and Israel that keep raising the issue, keep explaining and reexplaining themselves, albeit, while mysteriously "not talking about it". Give me a break. Nothing so far rings true, particularly not the bravado of "sending the message". It looks to me that the mision was a) important; b)secretive; and c) overconfident. And whatever it was, it failed. On the heels of the failure in Lebanon, or because of that failure, it was extremely important to come up with a story via "leaks", and then keep changing it as the facts fail to support the "leaks". Now we are getting warmer. Not because of what happened, but because all the arrogant and overconfident people just cannot resist talking about themselves. While Syria and Iran do not seem to feel the urge to talk about it, it looks now that the very first information was the most accurate. A mission was sent via Syria, perhaps to bomb an Iranian facility. Nothing major, just to make a point. Being detected and engaged by the Syrian airforce was not part of the plan. In the haste to leave Syrian airforce, the ammunition and the fuel tanks were dropped. End of story. All the fuzzy satelite pictures just had me convinced that anything like this unfortified and unfenced facility was not a target. Syria is smartly saying little. They do not need to brag, as their silence speeks volumes of their satisfaction with the results. And the results of Russian technology.
Bianca
USA (Nov 29, '07)

The article Iraqi children are civilians too [Nov 28] by Dahr Jamail does not point out that the US is at war and in war innocents are always killed. This tactic has been perfected by the radical Islamic terror groups around the world. When they wage war upon the West, they usually use civilians as cover. They don't give a hoot about the lives of the innocents. But when it comes to the US, the soldiers are supposed to "tip-toe through the tulips" when they are fighting for their lives. All through history one cannot find a single war where innocent civilians haven't suffered the effects of war. In addition to using innocent civilians as cover, Islamic terrorists have perfected the art of destruction in the form of suicide bombers and in most cases the casualties are innocent bystanders, whether they are Westeners or their own bretheren. For example, the ongoing battle between the Shia and the Sunni communities in Iraq, the September 11 casualties of New York or the muliple bombings in Mumbai. In all of these cases innocent civilians were the target. So before pointing fingers during war one must understand the nature of war. It is merciless and high ethics or civility seldom apply. Its ultimate goal is to win at any cost. I often refer to World War II and I need to do the same now. Whether it was Dresden, Berlin, Nagasaki or Hiroshima countless innocents died in order to end the war.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
Clinton, Louisiana USA (Nov 28, '07)

The article is about the official US spin put on Iraqi civilian deaths. According to the Pentagon, no Iraqi innocents are ever killed, only "militants". Before pointing fingers at a writer, one must understand the article. - ATol

Thailand's appointed National Legislative Assembly was given a difficult job at a critical time in the country's political history. They have done that job and they have done it well. It would be a positive action for their legacy to either disband or to simply call a moratorium on legislation to allow the people's elected assembly to take over some months from now. The nation can wait. Many of the bills before the appointed NLA are frivolous and others possibly unconstitutional. A government that concerns itself with instilling patriotism by bringing every motor vehicle in the nation to a stop for a daily broadcast of the national anthem is surely well beyond Thomas Paine's ideal "that government is best which governs least". Just look at how long the Belgians have gone without a government; and the trains still run on time.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand (Nov 28, '07)

Thanks for providing such excellent news. ATol is in very rarified company in my news portfolio for such a young upstart, rubbing shoulders with the The Beeb and The Gray Lady at the breakfast table during my morning caffeination and news soak. It is a great service and I don't mind the ads that pay for the whole thing at all. Your new advertising practices, however, risk losing the whole thing - gagging the golden goose if you will, by ruining the experience for me. Recently ATimes.com has become slow to load and has regularly crashed Firefox so badly that I either have to reboot or manually kill the Firefox process each time in order to resume reading. Please, lighten up on the Java larded ads - my cable modem isn't fast enough to handle it all, and besides, if I have to restart, I may get distracted and never get to finish the article. Here's hoping for your continued success and prosperity.
Gary Starkweather
Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada (Nov 28, '07)

The article A warning shot to Iran, via Syria [Nov 21], is another in a string of articles that seem to react to every rumor, every ripple in the breeze blown our way by various breeze generators. How tiresome. It is the US and Israel that keep raising the issue, keep explaining and re-explaining themselves, albeit, while mysteriously "not talking about it". Give me a break. Nothing so far rings true, particularly not the bravado of "sending the message". It looks to me that the mision was a) important; b) secretive; and c) overconfident. And whatever it was, it failed. On the heels of the failure in Lebanon, or because of that failure, it was extremely important to come up with a story via "leaks", and then keep changing it as the facts fail to support the "leaks". Now we are getting warmer. Not because of what happened, but because all the arrogant and overconfident people just cannot resist talking about themselves. While Syria and Iran do not seem to feel the urge to talk about it, it looks now that the very first information was the most accurate. A mission was sent via Syria, perhaps to bomb an Iranian facility. Nothing major, just to make a point. Being detected and engaged by the Syrian airforce was not part of the plan. In the haste to leave Syrian airforce, the ammunition and the fuel tanks were dropped. End of story. All the fuzzy satelite pictures just had me convinced that anything like this unfortified and unfenced facility was not a target. Syria is smartly saying little. They do not need to brag, as their silence speeks volumes of their satisfaction with the results. And the results of Russian technology.
Bianca
USA (Nov 28, '07)

[Re Strings attached to Sharif's return, Nov 27] I like Saleem Shahzad's articles. He provides [ATol readers] with the inside news that we don’t get from the general media. However, I don't agree with him when he said, "Ironically, four Muslim countries with the strongest armies in the OIC are non-Arab - Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia and Bangladesh." First, he did not mention Iran in his list of "four Muslim countries with the strongest armies". Iran is a member of OIC, Iran is a non-Arab country, and I think Iran has an army stronger than at least Bangladesh ... Secondly, I don't think it is "ironic", as Mr Shahzad mentions, but it is intentional that Arab countries have weak armies. Since most of the Arab countries have kings they don't want to have a strong military that may challenge their rule.
Sam
USA (Nov 27, '07)

Re Non compos POTUS, the review by Spengler of Shadow Warriors by Kenneth R Timmerman: Spengler totally failed to mention in his review the fact that during the Cold War to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan and his vice president, George Bush Sr, called all Muslims for jihad and supported many warlords and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda with arms and money. They were warmly welcomed, recruited with great enthusiasm and encouraged to report for duty immediately in Afghanistan. Also, in the 1980s and 90s, Washington financed and helped various agencies to publish and distribute freely millions of copies of the Koran in the Islamic world to instigate Muslims against the threat of the godless concept of communism. Islam is the only religion that could have fought off the spread of communism because non-Muslims do not have the guts, enthusiasm or the will to sacrifice themselves for their beliefs. Muslims [do fight] against oppression and suppression of their people and faith. The words, "terrorism" and "terrorist", are now used by ... George W Bush to define Muslims who fight against the USA and the West's imperial and colonial ambitions, but in the 1980s jihadis terrorized the communists until they were kicked out of Afghanistan. The decline and total collapse of communism of the Soviet Union began with the undaunted bravery and courage of the Muslim jihadis to liberate Afghanistan and save Pakistan from the occupation of the infidels - the comminists. Ronald Reagan armed and financed the freedom struggle of mujahideen and al-Qaeda in order to expand the West's perverse philosophy of materialism, capricious capitalism, greed and belligerent political domination of the weak nations with abundant natural resoures. The biblical faith of Christians and their avionics, missiles and B2 bombers did not defeat the Soviet Union alone. It was the intense and unquenchable love of Islam in the hearts and minds of mujahids that kicked out and crushed communism ... Bush has got everything wrong because he challenged Islam whereas Ronald Reagan sought help from the ardent followers of Islam who took up arms against godless communism, and will always take up arms against President Bush's American imperialism and colonialism to bully the Muslim world.
Saqib Khan
UK (Nov 27, '07)

I am writing in response to Poon Siu-to's article [Yahoo's apologies won't free dissidents, Nov 22] about Yahoo!'s cooperation with the Chinese government. First, I find it quite interesting that the article claims the Chinese journalist Shi Tao "is serving a 10-year jail term in China for alleged political crimes". Since when can the term "alleged" be used for someone who has actually been convicted of a crime? Usually it is reserved for those who are not yet convicted in case they are acquitted of the crime, so from it's usage here we can draw the inference that the author does not agree with the Chinese court's decision; in that instance it would be good to give some evidence of judicial misconduct to support that inference. Also, I wonder what the reaction in the USA would be if a Chinese company refused to give information about "alleged" terrorists that they are legally obliged to release? Secondly, I am wondering just exactly what moral standards Yahoo actually broke? I assume it is not the idea that you must obey the law of the country that you operate in, so it must be what we call a "double standard". You support your culture or nation's ideas, such as freedom of speech and the press, and assume that since those ideas are not used in another culture or nation that they must be wrong. This is quite paternalistic. The days of extraterritoriality for foreigners and foreign companies in China is over; either every government should have the right to protect its interests or no government should. And thirdly, just exactly which "business friendly" measures do you think the officials in Suzhou or other parts of China use in the competitive field of attracting foreign companies? Could this be low wages, long working hours and unsafe conditions? I am sure that for profit-driven multinational companies that is far more important than any "freedoms" people may or may not have. It's better in your future reports to give a little more comparison or perhaps some context to stories such as this, otherwise the articles would appear to be more along the lines of China-bashing than real journalism.
Jesse Owen
Ningbo, China (Nov 27, '07)

I just saw the [Nov 27] letter to the editor from Abacus in the USA [re Rashss' November 21 letter about Musharraf remains the US's best option]. I am sorry my friend appears to be mixing up "beneficiaries" with "sincere friends". Sincere friends are never compromised by offering green cards and scholarships and other benefits. It would appear that until 1977 [the CIA] kept records on "sincere important foreign friends". But due to some embarrassing developments in 1977 that practice appears to have been abandoned and therefore it would be virtually impossible to find files on Zia ul-Haq or other similarly important "sincere friends". The primary assignment of the network of sincere friends of [the CIA] I would imagine would be to keep their eyes and ears open and watch the developments in and around the presidency and make formal assessments for the benefit of their master. If these networks had been compromised then a deputy secretary would not be telling Pakistan or Musharraf "bluntly" what is or isn't compatible with democracy ...
Rashss (Nov 27, '07)

[Re Ethnic edge to Malaysian rally politics, Nov 27] Malaysia may be a federal constitutional monarchy but Islam is the religion of the majority of its subjects. It may cloak itself in a modern secular garment, yet its society is fractured along confessional and religious fault lines. As such, non-Muslims, as under Islam, are never accorded first class status, and suffer from separate but unequal treatment. Saying this, it is little wonder that Malaysia's Indian minority, braving water cannons, pepper spray, and police batons, are demonstrating for equality which is due them.
Jakob Cambria
USA (Nov 27, '07)

I have only recently discovered you most excellent, online, service. Thank you for the excellent articles and book reviews, even if my chauvinistic American view causes me to often disagree with your writers. I do suggest that your site would be improved by highly visible "Print This" and "Send To A Friend" icons as are common in other like sites.
James Pawlak (Nov 26, '07)

Welcome aboard ATol. We're diligently at work upgrading our primitive technology so as to be able to offer the basic features you mention. - ATol

[Re Yahoo's apologies won't free dissidents, Nov 22] Poon Siu-to attempts to confuse his reader by deliberately confusing "a criminal" with "a dissident". Gao Qinsheng was tried, convicted, and sentenced not because he was a dissident but because he leaked a governmental document marked "For Internal Circulation Only". Can Poon Siu-to name one independent country in the world in which leaking a governmental internal document is not a crime? Poon Siu-to also attempts to confuse his reader by confusing today’s China with the China of the time of the Opium Wars when China had to obey the law of the West and its companies. Can Poon Siu-to name one independent country today in which foreign companies do not have to obey the law of that country?
Jiang Junming (Nov 26, '07)

[Re A warning shot for Iran, via Syria, Nov 21] I viewed the attack on Syria as warning that supply routes for weapons through Syria for distribution into Lebanon and other trouble spots was fair game for attack and not so much a signal of a willingness for direct bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities. The strikes were a warning to Iran that it cannot freely send arms through Syria if some sort of trouble breaks out with the US and Israel. It is a strategy to contain Iranian channels of indirect confrontation.
Andre Radnoti (Nov 26, '07)

In his Thanksgiving message to his country, President Bush thanked the American troops in Iraq who are killing people but forgot to mention the American troops in Bangladesh who are saving people. On Thanksgiving Day of 2007 the Bangladeshi victims of Cyclone Sidr discovered the enormous military might of the USA, the humanitarian nature of the American people, and the meaning of Thanksgiving all at the same time when the US Navy and the US Marines Corp launched an incredibly efficient and effective blitzkrieg attack in Bangladesh not to kill but to save. No matter how much you hate America for the evil that they do, there are times when you have to stand up and salute them. This is one of those times. Thank you America and happy Thanksgiving!
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand (Nov 26, '07)

In Rashss' November 21 letter [Musharraf remains the US's best option, Nov 17] he seems to be saying that the CIA's network of "sincere" friends, established in the 1980's, in Islamabad will push aside Pervez Musharraf in favor of Benazir Bhutto as the US wants. Is this the network of "sincere" friends that stuck out like a sore thumb because it is made up of people whose sons and daughters were given US green cards and scholarships to US universities, among other benefits? Most of them have been identified and their influence neutralized long ago. Rashss must also have some doubt about their efficacy because otherwise he wouldn't be pleading for the international community to monitor elections in order to ensure that they are free, fair and transparent. Musharraf, if he acts in the long-term strategic interests of Pakistan, will be in charge for a long time, will ably guide Pakistan through these turbulent times, and will be supported by a good cross-section of Pakistani society, the Pakistani military, and certain foreign governments. Acting in the long-term strategic interests of Pakistan means he should grow up, learn from his mistakes, stop making his friend's enemy his own, and study how Vladimir Putin seems to be on his way to having his cake (ie, elections) and eat it too (continue to influence the development and policies of Russia). About three or four years ago, Musharraf should have been cut back on the war on terror and started preparing Pakistanis for elections by helping them become educated consumers of ideas and responsible citizens who will not be at the mercy of demagogues and foreign interests. He cannot abruptly ask Pakistanis, including the "sincere" network of friends, to think of Pakistan first and accept emergency rule if for several years he has been doing the US's bidding. Pakistan is stumbling on the road to democracy, and Musharraf is most to blame.
Abacus
USA (Nov 26, '07)

[Re Japan, US and the North Korea dilemma, Nov 20] Not surprisingly, like Old Testament prophets, Donald Kirk, from his own standpoint, foretells a regrettable denoument to the "North Korean dilemma". America's President George Bush is back-peddling on his instransigeant stance on North Korea. The oppositional character of his foreign policy towards Kim Jong-il has within the last 18 months steadily moderated into one of accommodation with reality. Bush is looking towards the future [when] historians will weigh and judge his presidency. His chances of a favorable verdict are slim. Consequently, he will settle at best for a pis aller with North Korea, by eating humble pie and coming to an agreement across the board with a country he denounced as [part of] an 'axis of evil'. So, he put on a bright face to avoid a stinging setback. As for Japan, despite Kirk's fanciful notions, Tokyo will not fuss much as to Washington's new realism in its approach to North Korea. It may not like it but it has little to say the more especially since it relies on the United States' military umbrella. And in time, it, too, will work out something with Pyongyang.
Jakob Cambria
USA (Nov 26, '07)

As noted in a New America article: "Today, the younger Bhutto and her successor Sharif are presenting themselves as the saviors of Pakistan’s beleaguered democratic institutions. This begs the question: How real were these institutions before Musharraf came to power? Pakistan has yet to form modern political parties that cut across clan and kinship lines. Instead, the country has produced one dynastic party, Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, and a collection of local bosses and landowners, some of which make up various fragments of the Pakistan Muslim League. Moreover, as foreign-policy analyst Anatol Lieven has noted, 'All civilian governments have been guilty of corruption, election rigging and the imprisonment or murder of political opponents, in some cases to a worse degree than the military administrations that followed.' Under the 10 years of civilian rule by Bhutto’s and Sharif’s constantly warring neofeudal parties, Pakistan was a democracy in name only. Far from building democratic institutions, their governments - bereft of competence and riddled with corruption - consistently undermined them. Bhutto was run out of the country for skimming millions off the top of government contracts; Sharif orchestrated the storming of the Supreme Court by street thugs as he was being tried for contempt. In an effort to efface their legacies, both former prime ministers are hoping to duck the legal charges that await them upon their return." This begs the question how can one claim to be a democrat when one is Chairperson for Life of one's political party. The Pakistan Army and the Chinese People's Party have more meritocracy than that! For improved democracy Pakistan needs better political parties. These parties will not develop so long as fuedals rule the roots and democracy is already rigged because of fuedal intimidation. But, with urbanization there is the hope that fuedal rule is on its way to extinction.
May Sage
USA (Nov 26, '07)

[Re Israel, the hope of the Muslim world, Nov 19] I guess the Spenglerian notion of humility is a bit funny and, of course, a lot different from the normative definition perceived by the "common sense". What kind of "divine love" would allow you to, fervently, defend genocide or to wage an unreasonably devastating war against an internationally recognized nation based upon unfounded claims that have resulted in widescale human catastrophes? Isn't that evangelical Christianity that, historically, is the main responsible for the global colonialism, underdevelopment of more than two-thirds of the so-called "international community", two horrendous world wars, and an unsettling Middle East? Wake up, Brother Spengler; it's time to be a bit human!
Soul Masseur
Middle East (Nov 26, '07)

Re Israel, the hope of the Muslim world, Nov 19, and Mustapha's [from Bosnia] response, I would advise Mustapha to enjoy Spengler's insights (as I have done for years), but not to bang his head against the wall when dealing with a polemicist. When Spengler discusses the US constitution, but overlooks slavery in "Judeo-Christian" America while ignoring manumission in the Islamic world, he is merely defending his Orientalist and Judeo-Christian position. When Spengler credits faith and democracy for Israel's military and technological success against the Arab world, but ignores the great European Jewish diaspora that populated Israel's political, technical, economic and military machinery, as well as the billions of dollars of American aid and French nuclear assistance in the 1960s, he is merely doing his job as spokesman for the so-called "superior" West. When Spengler decries the "pagan" nature of the Arabs, but not the pagan nature of Israeli Jews issuing a 5,000 year old pulsa denura (curse) against Premier Ariel Sharon (but not against Osama bin Laden following September 11), Spengler should not be criticized. So don't be angry, Mustapha, just sit back and enjoy his insights and historic knowledge. I was once told that just because somebody argues better than me doesn't make that person correct - it just means that he or she is a better arguer than me. And everybody - including Spengler- has an opportunity to be incorrect.
Zofar
USA (Nov 26, '07)

Drivers with a license to kill by Wu Zhong [Nov 21], does raise an important issue for China to address. That aside, Wu needs to be taught that historically governments of other countries in the world also changed hands by force. To this date, external force also counts.
Seung Li (Nov 21, '07)

[Re US tripped up over Iranian captives, Nov 20] Gareth Porter points out the seemingly obvious, that the Bush administration has no evidence of IED complicity by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, even after grilling the captives. But my contention is that certainly no Middle Eastern country (at least a majority of its citizens) would believe any complicity claims whether true or false. Furthermore, the Bush credibility is almost non-existent among Americans. Seventy-five percent believe he is going in the wrong direction, and probably that many wouldn't believe his word on a stack of Bibles. Is there the belief that Americans can be duped again or that Americans are so apathetic or passive that they can be herded like sheep, even with the wolf as a shepherd?
Jim
Southern California, USA (Nov 21, '07)

[Re Israel, the hope of the Muslim world, Nov 19] Hahahahaaa! Spengler really needs to relax. For Spengler to lecture others about humility is like Osama bin Laden lecturing us about the virtues of tolerance. Seriously, if anybody needs a lesson in humility, it is these fanatic evangelical Christians who believe that they are the most "humble" and most capable of "divine love". In fact, Spengler and his band of fanatic Christians (George W Bush included) are amongst the most hate-filled and arrogant members of the human race.
Jisnu Bhattacharya (Nov 21, '07)

M K Bhadrakumar is a wonderful analyst. But I would not agree with [the headline] that Musharraf remains the US's best option [Nov 17]. I believe he is the worst option for everyone in the world because despots [and] military dictators are the worst tyrannical species that only want to perpetuate their illegal rule by every devious and devilish means. [President General Pervez] Musharraf has used extremism and terrorism to his power advantage. He has made the entire country a cauldron of suicide bombing, terrorism, insurgencies and the army fighting its own people with shameful results. He has wasted hundreds of billions of US dollars and made his country hostage to his power machinations. Look at the judges he deposed in order to obtain a favorable decision from the new Supreme Court, look at his imposition of emergency rule, the media clamp-down and thousands of political workers arrested and tortured. Renowned jurists, judges, political leaders are jailed and Musharraf calls this sham election a fair, free, impartial one. [US President George W] Bush should realize a despot who can betray his national pledges, constitution and people should be immediately abandoned.
A Mohammad Ali (Nov 21, '07)

[Re Musharraf remains the US's best option, Nov 17] M K Bhadrakumar's advice may fall on fallow ground. US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte has another agenda. He will not persuade President General Pervez Musharraf to clean up his act. American President George W Bush's emissary however has little room for maneuver. Musharraf holds a strong hand. Without him the NATO-led war in Afghanistan would suffer badly. And though the Pakistani president general remains the US's best option, he is toying with Bush like a cat plays with a mouse, for Musharraf is, for reasons of realpolitik, winking at the Taliban firmly ensconced in Waziristan. In any case, for him, it is a win-win situation; for the United States, he is the only straw that it has to grasp in the badly conceived war in Afghanistan.
Mel Cooper
Singapore (Nov 21, '07)

[Re: Musharraf remains the US's best option, Nov 17] In a historic context Bhadrakumar is right. But the events on the ground appear to be moving very fast. During General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq's tenure [former United States CIA director] Bill Casey's Langley, Virginia, tough guys not only ensured the security of their most reliable friend, but also managed to build the most efficient network of "sincere" friends in Islamabad. I have no reason to believe that that network has been dismantled. Therefore, when Washington is saying that General Pervez Musharraf's time is probably up and Benazir Bhutto is calling for unity caretaker government then something pretty serious must be going on there. As far electoral forecasts, the PPP in its traditional constituency has never been stronger and united as it is now. If free, fair and transparent elections were to be held, PPP would sweep them. But as Saleem Shahzad points out in The general pulls a fast one [Nov 17], intelligence services are already active and that is something the international community perhaps needs to look into. Free, fair and transparent elections must be ensured because the rural electorate represents 70% of the electorate and is generally out of reach of the international observers. The PPP is the strongest and [rural areas are] where it is feared most of the rigging will happen.
Rashss (Nov 21, '07)

I feel a need to respond to a few of Spengler's unfounded claims and accusations made in his last article [Israel, the hope of the Muslim world, Nov 19]. "Islam has no inherent concept of humility ... The words "humble" and "humility" occur rarely in the Koran ..." According to the search engine back at the USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim texts, the word "humble" appears 19 times in the Qur'an, and the word humility also appears 19 times in the Qur'an. I hope that's not too much for you. As far as your assertion that it mainly refers to the "conquered peoples", I would urge anyone interested in the topic to browse the text for themselves and realize how desperate Spengler is to misinform us (ALL verses refer to human humility before God and before the truth; Jewish is only one of many examples used; Spengler's attempt to impute antisemitism is truly pathetic). "No injunction to "turn the other cheek" is found in the Koran, no reflection on how to learn from defeat." First of all, this ("... no reflection on how to learn from defeat") blatantly contradicts the verse you yourself quoted in the following paragraphs ("We sent [apostles] to nations before you then we seized them with distress and affliction in order that they might humble themselves"). Secondly, it contradicts your assertion that humility is something "inherent" to Judaism; it follows from the quotations you provided from the [Old Testament] that humility was something to be imported to Israel, by force; something that was learnt from defeat. As far as the next in line of your distortions is concerned (no command in Qur'an to forgive and turn the other cheek), I will allow The Book to speak for itself: 002.109: Quite a number of the People of the Book wish they could Turn you (people) back to infidelity after ye have believed, from selfish envy, after the Truth hath become Manifest unto them: But forgive and overlook, Till Allah accomplish His purpose; for Allah Hath power over all things. Or: 005.013: But because of their breach of their covenant, We cursed them, and made their hearts grow hard; they change the words from their (right) places and forget a good part of the message that was sent them, nor wilt thou cease to find them- barring a few - ever bent on (new) deceits: but forgive them, and overlook (their misdeeds): for Allah loveth those who are kind. Many verses like this one; one almost feels sorry for your persistence in misleading yourself. "Not for nothing did the founders of the American republic insist that its functioning was unimaginable without the Christian religion." I always thought they believed that the Christian (and all other) religion should not interfere? What would Jefferson and Franklin think of your representation of their beliefs? And doesn't this make the Christian religion a bit self-destructive; you see, wherever democracy flourishes (say, Europe) religion (read: Christianity) loses its ground; you constantly invoke the example of USA and Africa; where exactly is real democracy in (predominantly Christian parts of) Africa (save SAR)? And can the US two-party rule be considered democracy, especially if we consider the influence of big business and the latest "democratic" changes introduced by the Bush administration. "For the Muslim world, what matters is not that Israel is a functioning democracy located in the Middle East, but rather that it is Israel that humbled the House of Islam. ... Muslims will never accept the permanent presence of Israel unless compelled. But the bad news in this case is the good news, for if the Muslim world were to accept Israel’s existence, the collective humiliation would be so profound as to force the concept of humility into Muslim political life. The best thing Western governments could do to foster democracy in the Muslim world, in fact, is to move their embassies to Jerusalem. ... Perhaps the Muslim world will respond to humiliation after the fashion of Japan." Spengler forgets that in not so distant past almost entire Muslim world was under non-Muslims rule, save a few countries which were "free" but under direct influence of foreign powers. How come Muslims didn't learn humility then and during many times before that when they were defeated by Western countries? This, dear fellow readers of ATol, is the main point of this piece. It is utterly unimportant whether Islams preaches humility or whether Allah preordains every single event in the universe. The problem is not whether Muslims submit to God in humility, the problem is that these stubborn Muslims will not listen to "reason" and submit in humility to Spengler's superior religion, values and point of view in general. They simply won't listen. What's wrong with them; don't they see that they are backward and we are superior? Isn't it so plain obvious? It seems that Muslim refusal to give up regardless of the fact that their struggle might be an uphill one (because they await success not in this world as, Spengler would like us to think, but in the next) is particularly annoying to Spengler. And this determination and rejection to surrender is what makes him so filled with anguish and disdain. And dream of genocide. And write nonsense.
Mustafa
Bosnia (Nov 20, '07)

[Re: Israel, the hope of the Muslim world, Nov 19] I thought that the editors would be so kind to spare us readers (at least for a few weeks) from the contributions of Spengler. Today while reading ATol, I realized that I was much too optimistic.
Oscar Vikman (Catholic) (Nov 20, '07)

[Re: Israel, the hope of the Muslim world, Nov 19] So Mr Spengler has forgotten about the 1.5 billion people from the Indian subcontinent who have democratic traditions. [He's displaying] the usual Judeo-Christian superiority complex which is the main cause of so much suffering in this world. Humility is the last thing the Western Christian nations have.
Hariharan Ramamurthy (Nov 20, '07)

Spengler wrote: "As noted, there are non-Christian societies where parliamentary democracy flourishes, notably India. Hinduism is a subject from which I have steered clear, given the complexity of its history and variety of its practice. But the subject of humility is central to every manifestation of this religion, which honors the holiness of life to the point of forbidding the consumption of animals. Modern India, moreover, grew out of a centralized government established by the British, and received ready-made British laws and civil service, and with ease adopted the British model of parliamentary democracy. It was guided by leaders who lived as well as taught the Hindu concept of humility." Nice to catch a reader out for a change! - ATol

[Re: Israel, the hope of the Muslim world, Nov 19] I have said it before and say it again that loading a donkey with books does not make it a scholar. Spengler’s little knowledge of Islam is becoming incurable, self-destructive and epidemiologically dangerous. He wrote that the words "humble" and humility" occur rarely in the Koran, which reflected his blind ignorance and grudge against noble Islam. Let me him tell him that Muslims constantly strive to remember and practice Islamic virtues and put them into practice in their daily lives. Among these great Islamic virtues are submission to Allah, self-restraint, discipline, sacrifice, patience, brotherhood, generosity and humility. According to Islam, humility is also an essential attitude for success in the spiritual life and life here after. Any self-conceit, whether nurtured by superior intelligence, wealth, high position or the praise of others is an obstacle on the path of Allah. True humility is not posturing, it requires a constant willingness to deny oneself to be critical of oneself and to submit to Allah’s guidance even when it differs from one's own preconceived concepts. In our daily five prayers, Muslims prostrate themselves to the ground on average 30 times acknowledging human beings' lowliness and humility before the Lord of the Universe. In the Qur'an, Allah uses several Arabic words which convey the meaning of "humility." Among these are Tad'a and Khasha'a. Tad'a: "Before thee We sent messengers to many nations, and We afflicted the nations with suffering and adversity, that they call Allah in humility. When the suffering reached them from US, why then did they not call Allah in humility," On the contrary, their hearts became hardened, and Satan made their sinful acts seem alluring to them. (Al-Anaam 6:42-43) Call on your Lord with humility and in private, for Allah loves not those who transgress beyond bounds. Do not mischief on the earth, after it has been set in order, but call on Him with fear and longing in your hearts, for the Mercy of Allah is always near to those who do good. (Al-Araf 7:55-56). Kasha’s : "Successful indeed are the believers those who humble themselves in their prayers." (Al-Muminoon 23:1-2) "Has not the time arrived for the believers that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of Allah and of the Truth which has been revealed to them ... "(Al-Hadid 57:16). We Muslims believe that humility is equivalent to submission to Allah. We should abandon all selfishness and pride in our lives and feel humbled, meek, and submissive as servants of Allah above all else. When we pray in congregation, we stand equals, shoulder to shoulder with each other in absolute humility without any distinction of class, wealth, status, colour or nationality and that is true essence of Islam. Humility and submissiveness were considered weak - not a quality of the pagan Arabs in pre-Islam era. Arabs had a fierce, passionate nature and would scorn anything which might make them humbled or humiliated in any way, or feel like their personal dignity and status were being degraded. Islam came and Prophet Mohammed demanded of them, before anything else to submit themselves wholly to the one and only Creator (Khaliq), and abandon all pride, arrogance, and feelings of self-sufficiency. According to Islamic teachings, every man/woman from Adam to eternity is born a Muslim (one who submits to Allah), and must always remember that we are nothing - we have nothing , this life is a short travel - except what Allah blesses us with. We can do nothing of our own power. If we are arrogant and proud in this life, Allah will put us in our place and teach us humility in the next life by giving us a humiliating punishment. Better that we practice humility now, before Allah alone and among our fellow human beings. With regard to the Zionist State of Israel, it an evil extension of American, materialism, capitalism and colonialism and there is nothing religious in its existence. Throughout the Islamic civilization, Jews were treated with magnanimity and justice, and never persecuted, displaced or massacred in millions as they were by the Assyrians, Pharaohs, Romans and most recently by European Christians in World War II. I consider President Ahemdinejad as a stupid chap when he says that the Holocaust never took place, which is exonerating the barbaric Christians from their shameful guilt of history. Finally, let me tell Spengler that Prophet Mohammed’s life is to every Muslim personification of piety, virtue, humbleness justice and submission to the will of Allah. Please abbreviate if you consider it necessary.
Saqib Khan
UK (Nov 20, '07)

I have just stumbled on Asia Times Online, and immediately added it to my Favorites. Why? I have never seen so many intelligent multilinguals bunched together as here. Those people with the exotic names, I mean: Bhadrakumar, Chan Akya, etc. Sure, there are spirited (apparantly) monolinguals too, such as Delasantellis, but you can find writers with Western names facile in English everywhere. Often you find the best China comments from people who are not supposed to be China experts, and one can see that here too. It's your weak spot, I'm afraid. Spengler is so confusing (or confused), that it's really no use commenting on him. Lastly, the Letters to the Editor are no less interesting than the articles themselves. Asia and Asia Times Online share a great future. Carry on.
Migrant Worker
Holland (Nov 20, '07)

Leisurely swilling a price-inflated beer while ingesting my daily dose of Mogambo humor [Franken Berry needs an inflation-free diet, Nov 19] (still free, thankfully), I suddenly became petrified at the sight of this question posed by the Guru - "Is keeping the price the same, but getting 10% less, the equivalent of charging 10% more for the same amount?" Not receiving a straightforward answer from the Guru and being somewhat clumsy with numbers, I hastily reached for my own HP12C calculator. A box of ten-ounce cereal at the original price of $10 would cost $1.1 per ounce after a 10% price hike, I figured. On the other hand, that same cereal would cost $1.11 an ounce if the box content went down by 10% while the price remained the same, actually producing one percent additional inflation - ouch! At this precise moment, the alcohol gave the desired jolt to my perennially comatose brain cells (PCBCs) and helped me come to this horrifying realization: We might soon be guzzling watered-down versions of our favorite booze! Yikes! We’re freaking doomed!
John Chen
USA (Nov 20, '07)

I want to register some of my comments on Dhruba Adhikary's article, Nepal mired in monarchy debate, that appeared on your Nov 16 Asia Times Online edition. The write-up is no doubt a dispassionately worked out piece of assessment of the country's political dynamics that is becoming incrementally complex as well as paradoxical. However, after going through the entire article one feels that Adhikary has unwittingly glossed over the following points:
A) The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) is not at all in favor of holiding the much hyped Constituent Assembl;y elections for the obvious fear of being metted out with retributive punishment by the Nepali people, ie defeat in the "battle for the ballots". Similary, the other political parties too appear to be nurturing an apprehension that the disenchanted people might express their displeasure in the form of negative voting against them. Hence, the prospects of an early CA polls hang in a political limbo.
B) [The] law and order situation in the country is getting out of control. Restoring a political order out of chaos, following the collapse of King Gyanendra's unbridled rule twenty months ago, has become a tremendously daunting task for the Koirala-led dysfunctional coalition government which is likely to face a crucial question of political legitimacy.
C) The general masses in the countyr fear that declaring Nepal a republic forthwith might open up a flood gate to scores of unforeseen problems and the political vacuum created by the abolition of monarchy may not be filled up without the country going through another cycle of bloody violence.
D) There is a growing speculation that a nexus is developing betweem the Maoists and the Palace coterie so as to defeat other democratic forces. In this context what Adhikary has pointed out could be correct.
E) The so called "Parliamentarians" of the interim legislature do not enjoy any popular mandate, a prerequisite under any democratic system.. They are all handpicked by their respective political mentors belonging to the Seven Party Alliance that was formed against the King some two years ago. If these nominated lawmakers venture to seek popular endorsement through electoral process most of them may never return to the House of Parliament. Therefore, they prefer to continue with the interim legislature as long as they can extend it.
F) Along with the deterioration of the law and order situation in the country, its economic cupboards are being stripped bare and the international community is asking for transparencey regarding the Peace Fund. Under these circumstances the country appears to be inching towards the status of a failed state.
Riddhi Siddhi Khanal
Kathmandu (Nov 19, '07)

[Re Nepal mired in monarchy debate, Nov 16] I do agree with Mr Adhikary that the present government has lost its legitimate presence in the country, by postponding the CA election two times. For the existing government to complete its interim tenure, there is a clear need of deadline from the people of Nepal. In addition, the pressure of international community will also be helpful for the government to execute the mandate given to them by people's general strike.
Kiran (Nov 19, '07)

The analysis by John C K Daly [Sino-Russian split at regional summit, Nov 16] typifies the wishful thinking so common these days in Washington. Yes, the most prized of all prizes would be any evidence of Sino-Russian split within SCO, and the consequent alienation of other Central Asian states. These states then would be ready to be cherry picked by assorted US and EU initiatives recently funded to reclaim Central Asia. Therefore, any analysis hinting at a disagreement or a split draws tremendous attention. I hate to disappoint such analysts, but I believe the reality points to just the opposite. The relationship within SCO have reached a new level of maturity. The level of cooperation in a multitude of arenas is actually staggering. As an example of split, the future of Turkmenistan's gas is being offered. The very opposite is happening. In spite of the host of high level of US delegations, and the red carpet treatment for its President Berdimukhamedov, it is clear that Turkmenistan is getting integrated in a more substantial way to Asian, that is, SCO futures. While current contracts tie Turkmenistan to Russia, in the future Turkmenistan will diversify the energy trade and investments to insure stability and promote intra-Asian integration. That is a positive development for SCO, and for Russia. The visible thread within SCO is the increased role China will play in the economies of states formerly tightly linked to Moscow. The examples are Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Belorus. Ties to Beijing are of extraordinary importance to blunt EU/US accusations of Russia's imperial ambitions towards its smaller energy rich neighbors, while at the same time boosting the economies of those countries. In the future, those countries would show greater diversification of their trade and investments accross Asia. Simultaneously, Russia is playing a high profile role in Iran nuclear controversy. China is in this instance simply backing up Putin, who has spoken rather clearly at the Teheran conference last month. It is rather clear by now that we are seeing potentially not one, but two veto-wielding powers standing up for Iran's right to develop nuclear energy. On military front, there is not a single sign of disagreement. The work within CSTO and its coordination with SCO (in reality nothing more then the coordination between Russia and China), is moving apace. In fact, CSTO is doing all the heavy lifing in the coordination of military resources. At present, neither China nor Russia need to change anything. China is taking a lead in many a trade issues world-wide, while Russia is taking West head-on on military issues. The division of labor works for both of them, with the added advantage of the flexibility such coordination provides. And it is perplexing to hear that Russia has suddenly become aware of the trade deficit with China. With the plans for energy coordination between the two key SCO partners, and the deepening of the Sino-Russian involvement in energy futures in Kazahstan, Turkmenistan and Iran, there are no concerns for trade deficit on either side. To claim that Russia is displeased with Chinese business getting involved deeper in the SCO space, as well as in Belorus, Turkmenistan, Iran and Afghanistan, is to miss the major objective of SCO as an organization. Not only that one cannot see in which way Chinese and Russian interests diverge sharply, it is possible to identify the signature SCO paradigm in all the Sino-Russian economic, trade and military issues. The paradigm can be best summed up as "compete, complement and harmonize". Bilateral agreements seem to confirm that SCO, unlike EU, is a very flexible organization. It does not rely on bureacracy to force members to conform to rules and standards. It relies on priniples of free trade where competition fuels progress, while on the bilateral (national) level all forms of cooperation based on complementary nature of their economies are exploited. SCO at its highest levels deals maily with harmonizing of interests where strategic objectives necessitate collective decison-making. SCO is slowly drawing into its orbit Iran and Turkmenistan, while the long-term instability in Pakistan will only push Afghanistan faster into intra-Asian integration for its future security, in spite of NATO presence. As hard as one may try, it is hard to spot any real sign of disagreement, let alone split in Sino-Russian SCO trade or military arena.
Bianca
USA (Nov 19, '07)

M K Bhadrakumar's credibility which never was in doubt was, nonetheless, boosted by Musharraf remains the US's best option, Nov 17. Despite having been an Indian career diplomat, he does not give short shrift to Pakistani concerns about the emerging US strategic alliance with India. Given the dynamics among the players that he describes so well, it appears as if Pakistan has a choice between 1) playing a relatively independent role in South Asia similar to the one that Turkey plays in relation to Iraq or Israel or 2) playing a subservient role similar to the one played by the US's Arab client-states in relation to Israel. He poignantly describes a fork in the road for both Pakistan and the US. While the US may wish it had a better option than Musharraf and it may even be in India's interest for the US to try to get rid of Musharraf, he clearly does not let his past career influence his judgment; he argues persuasively that "Musharraf remains the US's best option".
Abacus
USA (Nov 19, '07)

[Re Musharraf remains the US's best option, Nov 17.] ... the question that needs to asked is whether the US under the current administration is good for Pakistan. General Musharraf did spill the milk when the Red Mosque fiasco happened. He compounded the problem when he arrested all oposing parties, lawyers, dismissing the Supreme court judge and putting Benazir Bhutto under house arrest. Now he claims the reason for the emergency is really the fight against the Taliban and other Islamic terrorists. But until then General Musharraf had to carry out "wishes" of Washington that cost his popularity dearly and yet pressure continues to be put on him by Washington DDC to carry acts that are contrary to the Pakistani peoples sentiment and that includes the opposing parties. M K Bhadrakumar points these facts clearly in his article. If Pakistan's political and judicial systems were to collapse it will be the fault of both Washington and Islamabad for some of the most clumsiest diplomacy in recent history.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
Clinton, Louisiana, USA (Nov 19, '07)

[Re The Thai military's democratic nightmare, Nov 16.] A known weakness of parliamentary democracy is that it relies heavily on the opposition bench in parliament to hold the government accountable. Without a strong opposition, the government can devolve into party dictatorship. However, if a parliamentary democracy could be structured so that each of three or more political parties fields one and only one candidate in any given constituency, then a small change in the election procedure would make it impossible for any one of these political parties to form an unaccountable government. The same change would also severely weaken the effectiveness of vote-buying. The proposed change is to select not just one but two candidates from each constituency to serve as equal members of parliament. Various methods may be used for this selection, the simplest of which is to select the top two vote getters. The system would require protection from fraud because, among other things, it would encourage large political parties to field multiple candidates in a single constituency through devious means. It will also be necessary that political parties themselves be made transparent and democratic.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand (Nov 19, '07)

[Re Subprime mortgages, subprime currency by John Lee, Nov 16.] I am not sure what the author is talking about when referring to 80% loss for the whole subprime mortgage market. After all, that would require an 80% loss in the value of a collateral (homes) - a scenario even the most hardened bears don't foresee. As I understand, ABX index shows such losses only for the riskiest tranches of bundled securities - those tranches that would bear the brunt of any default, while superior tranches are buffered by the value of associated physical properties. Thus even if all subprime and "alternative" (Alt) market had catastrophic 20% house price collapse, the loss for the US$5 trillion sector would be around $1 trillion. But since mortgages are generally perfectly collateralized that's probably way too high. Holders of "equity" and "mezzanine" tranches will be largely wiped out, but owners of AAA tranches will inherit the houses, sell them and get their money back. So to evaluate the potential losses properly one would have to know the accumulated value of the "toxic waste" (riskiest slices), not the whole subprime segment. Of course, since modern economies are basically just a colossal con ... critically dependent on the constant emergence of new industries (otherwise most of the new credit filters straight into inflation) and catering to ever larger number of credit-worthy customers, the removal of the large subset of people with subprime credit ratings from access to borrowing may precipitate cascading deconstruction of the whole economic edifice. Then lenders may be stuck with their reposessed houses, unable to sell at any price. In such a case the world as we know it will cease to exist.
Oleg Beliakovich
Seattle, Washington, USA (Nov 19, '07)

[Re A heir-brained North Korean scheme, Nov 16.] Sunny Lee has got one thing right: he cannot read Kim Jong-il's mind. Yet he indulges us in rumor and idle speculation as to Kim's heir. ATol readers deserve better than indulging them in fluff. The dynamic on the divided Korean peninsula has changed and the thaw in tensions has quickened since the October 2 Inter-Korean Summit. We remain ill-informed on the 47 accords signed between Pyongyang and Seoul. The arrival in South Korea of a very senior North Korean official signals a watershed in relations. Instead we are treated to the same-old, same-old as to the caricatures of Kim Jong-il and his progeny. Kim's sons are steeled in the country's ideology but they are more world savvy since they are educated in the West, speak foreign languages; they are well acquainted in how westerners think, and thus are in a stronger position to deal with the West as North Korea opens to the 21st century and the global community. It is time to engage less in hare-brained People Magazine pap and get to the meat of the great changes occurring on the divided Korean peninsula.
Jakob Cambria
USA (Nov 19, '07)

I am so saddened at what is happening to my country these days. Pakistan is being fragmented because of a lack of wisdom and unity amongst politicians of all parties. They are a clutch of feudal lords, bourgeois thugs and criminals who probably do not even understand what the GDP of Pakistan is. Ms Bhutto shouts the slogan of democracy as if it were a piece of [bread] - it will bring jobs, housing and butter to over 100 million deprived and poorest, and bring prosperity to the country. They are all talking about restoration of the abrogated constitution, respect for the judiciary and the introduction of democracy but none of the leaders has any direction, mandate, manifesto or policy to lead the country in the right direction. Whenever you see or hear this bunch of capricious politicians on the TV screens or rallies, all they do is squabble about the political past and never discuss what they have in the bag for the future prosperity and stability of Pakistan. I would like see that these politicians to come on TV and discuss face-to- face and present their plans as they do in the West. [I want to hear them discuss] real issues and their economic, foreign, defense, internal, regional and employment etc policies to alleviate poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition, hunger, reduce inflation etc and they will bring political stability. In fact, these politicians have no policies but are hungry to get into power to fill theirs coffers at the first opportunity. We do not want full-neutrals, half-neutrals, semi-neutrals and detached neutrals, politicians and those mentioned in a [Nov 14 Letter to the Editor] from Colonel Riaz Jafri, Rtd; we want straight forward and honest leaders who will unite the country and not disintegrate it for their individual greed and political ambitions. At least, I give credit to General Musharraf for speaking about his economic direction and future plans for Pakistan, which the other political leaders do not have.
Jalal Rumi
Pakistan (Nov 19, '07)

This is directed to Spengler and his article on Iran [Why Iran is dying for a fight, Nov 13]. The birthrate is NOT 0.66, but 1.7. 0.66 is the population growth rate. [Here are the figures] from the CIA factbook on Iran. Population growth rate: 0.663% (2007 est); birth rate: 16.57 births/1,000 population (2007 est); death rate: 5.65 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est); total fertility rate: 1.71 children born/woman (2007 est). As usual, Spengler should be more careful.
Virginia Brown Keyder (Nov 19, '07)

For the last few weeks we have endured a heightened level of turbulence in global equity markets. No disrespect to Messeurs Delasantellis and Chan Akya but I dare say that the virtual silence from Dr Henry C K Liu has not been helped the anxiety level of ATol readers. Even though Dr Liu had provided advance notice of the sub prime meltdown, it would be great to get a quick diagnostic from him regarding future market developments. Sir Rogers
USA (Nov 16, '07)

Look for fresh financial wisdom from Dr Liu next week. - ATol

Kaveh L Afrasiabi [Dying with an anti-war whimper, Nov 15] says that Robert Redford's new movie, Lions for Lambs fails on two counts: aesthetics, and its lack of questioning of whether or not September 11 was an inside job. He mentions conspiracy theorist David Ray Griffin in a footnote. The families of September 11 victims, who organized themselves and forced George W Bush to allow the creation of the September 11 Commission, have asked thousands more detailed, incisive questions than any conspiracy theorist ever dreamed of. They didn't merit a footnote, or a mention. Their questions apparently weren't enough. An inside-job conspiracy is wildly implausible for too many reasons to list here, but foremost because it would be impossible to keep such a conspiracy secret considering how many people would need to have been involved. Secondly, such a conspiracy would have so many unpredictable variables and outcomes that anyone asked to join such a scheme would immediately go running to the authorities to report that a dangerous crackpot had escaped from the local asylum. There's no footnote for Noam Chomsky, either. In Perilous Power: The Middle East and US Foreign Policy, Chomsky dismisses claims that September 11 was plotted by the Bush administration, or by Mossad, etc, by saying those who make such claims just don't understand the nature of evidence. If Redford had lent credence to intellectually lazy September 11 conspiracy theories, his movie would be laughed out of theaters everywhere, except Canada, odd corners of Europe, and the entire Middle East, where it would be praised to the heavens. Afrasiabi owes an apology to the English language. His review is an affront to plain speaking, and the idea that a writer's first job is to communicate, not to lard up one's writing with obtuse phrases like "internal colonization of the life-world", "illicit instrumentalization of aesthetic reason", and "traditional epistemology that privileges language in the act of being-in-presence". That is psycho-babbling linguistic assault and battery.
Geoffrey Sherwood
New Jersey, USA (Nov 16, '07)

Re: Kaveh L Afrasiabi, Dying with an anti-war whimper, Nov 15. Many thanks for Afrasiabi's brilliant film review.
Tim (Nov 16, '07)

While the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the economic liberalization of China evinced the impracticality of pure socialism, the financial crises in which the US and other industrialized nations currently find themselves should serve as a loud wakeup call that unfettered capitalism is unsustainable and can be highly destructive. As such, Martin Hutchinson [America's disappearing middle class, Nov 15] rightly calls for a new “intellectual paradigm”, and what he proposes actually sounds rather similar to the concept of capitalism with socialist characteristics - a stronger government that has at heart the best interests of its people and of the nation, not yoked by the whims of capital, that can more responsibly utilize the capitalist economic system to ensure people’s living standards, help solidify national identity, and substantiate the doctrine of comparative advantage. Understandably, the word socialism conjures up in many people’s mind Cold War visions of "Big Brother" spying on us. If that’s the case, we can perhaps employ less scary-sounding terminology, maybe "capcialism" (capitalism plus socialism), for example, to free us from the bugaboo of ideological semantics and move on to examine all available alternatives, because the freewheeling capitalism we’ve experienced in this country, in which capitalists were allowed to run amuck, with the sole aim of filling up their coffers but paying little heed to the welfares of the workers and of the nation, will destroy everything in its path and eventually hollow out all the countries it infects, from the United States to China.
John Chen
USA (Nov 16, '07)

Re US eyes Pakistan's nuclear arsenal by Syed Saleem Shahzad [Nov 15]. I agree in priciple that the US has made a mess of its foreign policy regarding Pakistan but so have Pakistani leaders, especially General Musharraf. The Pakistani people hate Musharraf as much as they hate the US but that does not mean that the US and the world at large should not feel some trepidation regarding Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. To cite a quote from this article, "... our nuclear installations are so safe that they cannot even be monitored by an American satellite, let alone somebody sitting in a place like Tora Bora could guess where they are". This is a mute statement and does not address the gravity of the problem. First the foreign office of Pakistan really does not know the level of knowledge the US has on Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Secondly the US is not worried about "someone in Tora Bora" but the fact that Musharraf has a good chance of either being assassinated or lose the election to a radical, US-hating party who will know exactly where the nuclear arsenal is hidden. In addition one must take into consideration that Pakistan's nuclear father, Dr A Q Khan made a mockery of nuclear non-proliferation by setting up his "nuclear bazaar" [and] selling Pakistan's nuclear secrets to the highest bidder. It is interesting that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah seems to have "forgotten" Pakistan's dirty nuclear past. If a radical Islamic party takes control, the last thing the world needs is a repetition of Dr Khan's "nuclear bazaar".
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
Clinton, Louisiana USA (Nov 15, '07)

Kudos to Syed Saleem Shehzad for doing some very risky journalistic work [Rise of the neo-Taliban: Death by the light of a silvery moon, Nov 12 and 'Pain has become the remedy', Nov 13] on Pakistan’s lawless frontier. The extremist mindset he reveals is so idiotic and churlish it makes one laugh, except that these crazies are for real and commit gross murder and suicidal terrorism without the slightest remorse, which is no laughing matter at all. The lunacy of their "jihad" is such that it violates the whole body of Islamic jurisprudence; the extent of their goals is so outlandish it makes not one iota of geopolitical sense and is severely damaging to genuine Islamic interests; their rhetoric is Pashtun-centric and naturally not acceptable to other Pakistani/Afghan ethnicities, guaranteeing bloody conflict throughout the region for at least decades; their easy violations of laws of states ruled by Muslims, run by Muslims, defended by Muslims, and populated by Muslims has already set in motion lethal precedents, so that this harrowing pandora’s box of militant zealotry they’ve recklessly opened can never be closed in any conventional military way. Most startlingly, these guys think that possessing nuclear weapons will totally secure them against the West, when in fact it will have the kind of extreme opposite effect that is too dark to even be uttered! The saddest detail here is that these criminals have done incalculable harm to the image of Islam itself, putting it in the line of fire innocents everywhere. Far from being true men (and women!) of moral fortitude in consonance with the Islamic code of chivalry, our terrorists are like the deranged children of Lord of the Flies. One can only pray for a renewed voice of peace and sanity that rescues us before the point-of-no-return.
Zaheer Akmal
USA (Nov 15, '07)

In Death by the light of a silvery moon, Nov 12, Syed Saleem Shahzad captures the flavor of a Taliban force which matches the stubborn independence of the Afghan people. Afghanistan has a long history of being ravaged by imperialist forces, forces the people have resisted for hundreds of years. NATO forces are victims of the political machinations of US leadership, which brings little or no concern for the Afghan people. The Taliban exploits this political focus, utilizing every opportunity to alienate the Afghan people from a NATO force that reacts to Taliban attacks, but lacks a vision or a plan for a wholistic approach to unifying the fiercely independent people and securing the territory. At this point, the day-to-day approach of the Taliban is more in tune with the people than the NATO forces are. America's selfish, political focus can only play into the Taliban's guerrilla approach.
Jim
Southern California, USA (Nov 15, '07)

[Re It's getting hard to find bad guys, Nov 14] If George W Bush has truly managed to pacify both the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq, all critics of the current American administration (myself included) owe it an apology. Moreover, there is no longer any compelling reason for the USA to leave Iraq. After all, undisputed control over Iraq's enormous oil resources would fuel American prosperity well into the 21st century and will concomitantly bestow a decisive geopolitical advantage against potential adversaries such as Russia and China. Furthermore, the costs of a protracted military occupation pale in comparison to the massive profits that will accrue to just the American oil companies. Surprisingly, Bush and the neo-cons seem to have finally hit upon a winning strategy.
Jose R Pardinas
San Diego, California, USA (Nov 15, '07)

I find Kaveh Afrasiabi's The illusion of American 'smart power', Nov 13 article so very well written with no punches pulled! He opened up the US intellectual processes responsible for our disastrous policies. Hedging again and collecting their pay for wasting time waiting for somone else to do something so they can react. Meanwhile we are entertained and kept busy here with over-emphasis on irrelevant stories that never go anywhere and constantly distract them from the point of things of which they are always losing track.
Dee Hall
USA (Nov 15, '07)

[Re Why Iran is dying for a fight, Nov 9] I would expect such blather from an Israeli Zionist provocateur - but not Spengler, who has always been so fair-minded about circumstances in the Middle East - eh? Anyway, in this case he will have to be reminded that some of us out here audit the media before we swallow it. I would suggest the readers of the article check out Iran, population changes 1970-2050. Not bad for a country that lost 640,000 of it's young "breeding stock" between 1980-88 - eh? Keith Leal
Canada (Nov 14, '07)

I am eagerly awaiting this week's Doug Noland piece on the credit bubble [Credit Bubble Bulletin]. I hope it's coming. I think this is a terrific column. Thanks for running it.
Linda Lawrence (Nov 14, '07)

On behalf of Doug Noland, ATol thanks you for your devoted readership and kind words. We apologize for the delay, but promise you can enjoy a fresh Doug Noland column on Monday, Nov 19. - ATol The mere fact that [Pakistan has] to have a caretaker

government to conduct the polls speaks volumes about our national character and proves that we as a nation are not prepared to trust our fellow politicians. It is taken for granted that the incumbent government in power shall rig the polls to its own advantage and, therefore, it must be replaced by a "neutral" government. Now, the comical irony is that every political party seems to have its own standards of neutrality for the person to head the caretaker government. Different political parties have different people measuring up to their own specific standards. There are neutrals, more neutrals, less-neutrals and not-neutrals, depending upon their standing with a particular party. Benazir Bhutto was reportedly going to nominate Makhdoom Fahim as her most neutral and suitable person for the caretaker prime minister ship. Shujaat Sahib has reportedly assumed the role of the chief examiner to scrutinize the credentials of the neutral aspirants for the job - of course according to his own standards of neutrality. In short the search is on for an impartial and neutral caretaker prime minister because all those belonging to any political party are not assumed to be trustworthy. What a shame we can’t find ONE honest, impartial, person of integrity from among the politicians who could enjoy the confidence and trust of the rest of the politicians to head the caretaker government. Viva la democracy!
Colonel Riaz Jafri (Retd)
Rawalpindi, Pakistan (Nov 14, '07)

The US has been bellowing at every opportunity about Iranian IEDs being used in Iraq. Not once has anyone mentioned that these devices are common tools in the petroleum industry and have been for decades. Also I have noticed that although Russia and China supply the majority of arms used by the insurgents of both of the US wars, there is not a peep out of the US about these two countries. I wonder why that is?
Ken Moreau
New Orleans, Louisiana USA (Nov 14, '07)

I think Julian Delasantellis [Widgets and wrecks, Nov 13] rightly surmises that China is waiting for a more opportune time to rescue the distressed damsel that is the US financial system. Likely fresh in China’s mind though, is the memory of the Asian financial crisis of but a short while ago, when the Americans lustily and imperiously lectured the Asians about the need for financial discipline and sound governance but provided little in terms of real tangible aid. However, rather than indulge in needless schadenfreude, China simply may want to see how the situation evolves in the coming months, for as the author pointed out, the full extent of the sub-prime/financial mess remains murky at present. Besides, from China’s standpoint, how bad can things really be for the Americans if they have sufficient resources to be planning an attack on another country? But then again, in a perverse way, mounting domestic difficulties may well contribute to the Bush administration’s desire to embark on yet another military adventure.
John Chen
USA (Nov 13, '07)

I enjoyed the following statement in The illusion of American 'smart power', Nov 12: "While side-stepping the Iraq issue with the lame excuse of 'broader' perspectives that need to "replace the narrow lens focused on Iraq", the report gives several other reasons for the waning influence of US ..." So other than that, how was the play, Mrs Lincoln?
John Petrik
USA (Nov 13, '07)

[Re: Spooks refuse to toe Cheney's line on Iran, Nov 10]. A most eminent clutch of uncompromisingly hawkish friends and aides assembled by President Bush still oppose a Palestinian state and believe that America should “inspire fear” and attack Iran with its full might before it is too late. They even consider Condoleezza Rice’s diplomacy as dangerous, weak and lenient towards Tehran. Dick Cheney and uncompromising neo-cons like Richard Perle, Norman Podhoretz are pleading for a military action long before the president vacates the White House. It is now accepted that all along that Kazakhstan's oil and gas reserves are the crux of all the planning and de-stabilization of the region starting with Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, with the last confrontation with Syria. This is because for the domination and free access to the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and bully the region, control oil prices and supply to the world. With Bush and Dick Cheney at the helm, a full-scale bombing of Iran would appear as a fait accompli at any time until January 20, 2009 before they leave their offices. Dick Cheney’s other sinister plan is to put Russia and China on the cold war footing that is already surfacing in Europe, but the bombing of Iranian nuclear installations will engulf the globe. Dick Cheney is the real motivator of American foreign policy and the power behind G W Bush’s throne but [he also shows] same disrespect to the pea brain emperor as does a dog to a lamppost.
Saqib Khan (Nov 13, '07)

Much is made of floating currencies. Is Nathan Lewis [Gold: A barbarous relic, Nov 9] arguing for an agreed-upon standard rate or a return to the parity of 1/35 which the Bretton Woods Conference set for [William Jennings] Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech. If the current strengthening of currencies and the persistance of undervalued currencies against the American dollar persist, does it simply perhaps means that the United States can and is pulling the global economy in a direction it may not want to go until such times as the American financial wizards may switch course for their country's advantage? Or is it that the unfettered free market philosophy which reigns supreme in the Bush administration has spun out of control?
Mel Cooper
Singapore (Nov 13, '07)

US Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech was made in 1896 at the Democratic national convention in Chicago in support of the free coinage of silver at a ratio of silver to gold of 16 to 1. The Bretton Woods Conference was held during World War II in 1944 when 730 delegates from 44 Allied nations established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the world's major industrial states. The former had no effect or influence on the latter. - ATol

Regarding What's Chinese for 'Ponzi?' [Nov 10] and Second Thoughts on PetroChina. I watch CNBC business programming and witness a non-stop selling of China investment from hosts and guests. Some of the biggest names in finance tout China's great embrace of free markets and some like Jim Cramer dare to say they are more capitalist than some in Washington. Erin Burnett on Street Signs is particularily enthralled with China's great system. What a bunch of crap ... talk about mark-to-model meeting mark-to-neo-communist ideology [and] giving us mark-to-the-absurd.
Andre Radnoti (Nov 12, '07)

I read Bitter tears behind Pyongyang's games by Kim Hyun-sik [Nov 8], and appreciate his candor describing the showcased events that take place in Kim Jong-ils city. I have waited two to three days to see if the writer who appears occasionally in ATol and is the mouthpiece for Kim Jong-il, would have a rebuttal to the professor's article; but what can be said when the truth is spoken? Within the professor's article, to sum it up, he advised that we should not support Kim Jong-il's regime in any way. Perhaps he should have addressed his remarks to the chaebol in South Korea. After reading that Hyundai Industries reached agreement to run tourists up to the mountain in North Korea fabled to be where Hwan-ung descended from heaven, married a beautiful woman (a transformed bear), and gave birth to Tangun Wanggom who found Chosun and established Asadal - now Pyongyang - I think the professor's wishes will not be followed. It's hard to overcome fables, no matter how real they are. Professor, do not be too disappointed, no one listens to me either.
E W Namu
Iowa, USA (Nov 12, '07)

It saddens me to read Pakistan's radical Red Mosque returns [[Nov 6] and Besieged Musharraf plays for time [Nov 7] even though the situation is maybe not as bad as it is portrayed in the articles. I am sad because obviously bad strategic decisions - and not with the benefit of hindsight - were made by Pakistan in supporting the US in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Turkey is proof that one can refuse to give the US support and be in a better position than would otherwise have resulted had the support been given. However, in a recent interview, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf revealed that as a result of "extensive war gaming" Pakistan decided to support the US because it did not believe it could stand up to the US (assuming the US succeeded in Afghanistan) and India if it did not provide the support the US wanted. War gaming against the US and India is only half the picture, and the war gamers - it is now apparent (but should have been apparent long ago) - were wrong about the US succeeding in Afghanistan. Pakistan may not have have "war gamed" in 2001 the domestic response to its alliance with the US, but as far back as three years ago Pakistan's leadership must have or should have known that continued support of the US would eventually lead to this sad situation. It may have accepted this possibility in return for getting the US $10 billion in primarily military aid that Pakistan has received so far. Had Pakistan not extended the US support it is possible that it may have received far less than the $10 billion in aid, but it is likely (but the war gamers must have not thought so) that the US would have suffered greatly in Afghanistan and would have become even more reliant on Pakistan. Another strategic option would have been for Pakistan - three or four years ago - to do what some of Iraq's neighbors did which is support the US invade and then scramble - like chickens about to get their heads cut off - to start supporting the insurgency when the US began to pursue "soft regime" change (disguised as "reform") in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Pakistan: Pakistan could have helped the US invade but always left the option open of helping the anti-US militants in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The lesson in all of this is that the strategic sagacity of Turkey is an attribute that is worthy of emulation by Pakistan and the Arab, Eastern European and Central Asian states, but it is not likely that the latter's US-worshipping advisors and strategic analysts will ever succeed at this endeavor.
Abacus (Nov 12, '07)

The reason Pakistani military dictator General Pervez Musharraf did not declare martial law but an emergency is because he had no reason to dissolve parliament; he has managed to get a docile, rubber stamp parliament by craftily playing roughshod with the electoral process in the past. With the emergency he has achieved his two goals: To remove the patriotic supreme court judges that come between him and free and fair elections and the media which has been blacked out for the first time. Anyone who is anybody in any opposition political party has been arrested; as have been most good journalists, lawyers and other members of civil society. We have seen elections in Iraq, Afghanistan; they failed to resolve the core issues and the puzzle can be solved if we apply our American values to our foreign policy. We need a restoration of the judiciary, free media and a neutral election commission to have free and fair elections that the people will accept.
Ekbal Qidwai
Los Angeles, California USA (Nov 12, '07)

"Every ATol reader who has written to the editor and called for Spengler to be banned in effect proves his point on the incompatibility of conservative Islam and the values of an open society." - Jonathan Wong [Letters to Editor Nov 8]. Many, perhaps most, of us who oppose Spengler and his falsehoods are not Muslims at all. I am an historian, a Roman Catholic and a lover of truth. Hence, I oppose Spengler's falsehoods.
Lester Ness
Kunming, China (Nov 12, '07)

[Re: 'Democracy' with one-party characteristics, Nov 9] Calling Hong Kong's Martin Lee a traitor is correct because he is inviting a foreign leader to interfere in his country's affairs. What's worse is he is, like many foreign NGOs, to use the staging of the Olympics as an occasion to disrupt China. If he is really a patriot, he should try to improve or reform China using his political influence.
Wendy Cai
USA (Nov 9, '07)

Here we go again. Kent Ewing expresses dissatisfaction with China's political system in his article, 'Democracy' with one-party characteristics, Nov 9. Besides rightfully exercising their own priorities regarding economic development and trying to feed and house huge masses of people, most Chinese believe that the one-party system is a more efficient system which incidentally has also begun to exhibit elements of slow democratic changes. This at least obviates the necessity of raising money from interest groups, tongue-lashing, back-stabbing, and verbal and advertising spins among political contenders for months. Yes, corruption is common in China and must be dealt with. A stronger judicial system is required. Mr Ewing's rallying cry for Martin Lee is weak, exposing the latter's stupidity instead of audacity. Though Lee did not verbally advocate a boycott of the Olympics, he did advocate using the games as a platform to "press" China. One can pontificate anytime but it is foolish to attend a party to lecture the host. Besides, before the Hong Kong change-over ... in 1997, Lee was already a veteran, mature lawyer. Did he show audacity against the colonial government and advocate democracy? In fact, if Mr Ewing had also been in Hong Kong before 1997, would he have chided the British?
Seung Li (Nov 9, '07)

Re 'Democracy' with one-party characteristics, Nov 9 by Kent Ewing. President Hu Jinato in his 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party admitted failings of the communist rule and described many - not some - officials as “corrupt” and said that the party had failed the nation’s expectations. Corruption costs China 3% of its GDP, more than its education expenditure in 2006. It is perverse that the free market economy has encouraged corruption, which the Chinese now regard as normal. There were 23,000 street protests in 2006 against ... officials' rampant corruption ... China is still regarded a “workshop of the world” and the phenomena of corruption has caused of many of its shoddy and dangerous goods and products to be recalled from British and American super stores. But the rich are getting richer with amazing speed in China and according to the latest Forbes China Rich list, there are 106 billionaires in China, second only to USA. However, 900 million Chinese rural poor live on a meager income of 3,000 yuan a year with inflation running at 6.5% and making their existence miserable and pathetic. A booming stock market and soaring property market have multiplied the wealth of Chinese super rich and their ostentatious life style and conspicuous consumption of wealth is fuelling resentment and anger over the gap between the haves and have- nots. President Hu Jinato did promise in his address to 2200 delegates to serve the people, put a more human face on communist rule, reform the tax system, redistribute wealth, tackle the curse of corruption and to purge those responsible, reform its policies for the betterment of “have not” and protect the environment. A tall order and a long list of promises and more promises that the time will judge him. Whether affluence will bring democracy to China is a far fetched hope as Hu rejected any dilution of Communist Party's supreme power and its functions. I find it a joke when the Chinese hierarchy talks about democracy just as General Mushraff of Pakistan does. He abrogates the country’s constitution, imposes emergency rule, sacks the judiciary, plants his hand-picked judges, crushes freedom of expression, beats up journalists, lawyers and judges - but wants the parliamentary system to continue unaffected by the imposition of martial law. How about the Chinese giving democracy to the Tibetans to find out what they want and wish for?
Saqib Khan
UK (Nov 9, '07)

[Re: The inside story of the Western mind , Nov 6] Yes, this is much more of the Spengler we know and love. It is an interesting critique of neoconservatism that it is basically recycled (and discarded) Catholic doctrine. Yet it also seems to be a way of deflecting attention from the Jewish influence. On a second point, I wish Spengler (or someone) would address the Western birth rate issue in terms of whether the West may be reaching its term of life and indeed may have to go through a sort of death in order to find its true self again. The hypermaterialism of the modern West is against its historic vocation, which is, in my view, the discovery of the mystery of resurrection. Materialistic thinking is anti-resurrectional because it refuses to "die" - that is, it refuses to acknowledge the spiritual world - the surprise, the coming to be, the new birth, the unexpected, the poetry of circumstances. The result of the denial of mystery and humility is a lifelessness in thought, a purely quantitative and calculative view of things, a life deprived of the holy obedience to fact. The declining birth rate may reflect an actual rejection of materialism, which brings in its wake a kind of hopelessness that comes, paradoxically, from always believing that "we've got everything under control." Few thinkers have examined the stagnation of history and loss of historical creativity that have accompanied increased technological power and control. The declining birth rate in Western societies may be an aspect of this phenomenon. Caryl Johnston
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (Nov 9, '07)

Spengler's When you can't deal with the devil, Oct 30, outrageously promotes into practice the theory of "the bloody wars should be ignited and millions of millions should get destroyed, completely, in its voracious flames just to save us, the Europeans and Americans, the blue-eyed blonds to continue to live, to enjoy life and enjoy oil". Consciously or unconsciously, he's rushing down ... the steep road of self-destruction with President Bush and that's why, like his "leader", he cold-bloodedly wraps up his argument by concluding that the West should attack Iran and the sooner the better. Let's not care about millions of desperate Iraqis, men, women, kids, Shi'ites, Sunnis, Kurds unjustifiably ... suffering from a shaming American invasion. Let's not care about what would happen to the Middle East residents, their lives and their futures, who besides sitting on envied reserves of oil (of course envied by Spengler and President Bush) are ready to get slain by ... "the chosen stupid". Let's not care about Persians, who, according to Spengler's thinking, should perish because they have defeated us many times in the past ... And let's not care about Islamists (read, Muslims in the streets). They should go because this will not be just a war on terror and terrorism (sorry, "for oil and oil-ism") but a war of religions exclusively cast by Muslims, beasts of the Apocalypse. Christians, the sole saviors, and Spengler behind his dauntless crusading hero, Bush, is prepping ... the scene to be the first lucky person [to] herald the Second Coming of the Global Colonialism. Hurrah!! I'm waiting!
Amin J (Nov 9, '07)

The Pakistani people have so far been treated as ping-pong balls both by the politicians and military dictators and used for their personal motives and exploits. It is a misfortune that in Pakistan's 60 year history that democracy has never been allowed to flourish and evolve in the minds of the masses. The intelligentsia have considered it their own property and left the poor masses in darkness. If the masses were involved in the democratic process, dictators, feudal lords and politicians would never have been allowed to trample on Pakistan's legal institutions and civil liberties. Pakistan has been used as an international begging bowl to get arms and dollars, safe deposit boxes in foreign banks for the corrupt in power and high positions, and now as a bull's eye for terrorists. Pakistani masses have to rebel against the dictators and politicians who crush their aspirations and use them as tin pots and ping-pong balls to kick and toss around. Let us hope that some good comes out of this sad [state of emergency imposed] by General Mushraaf. People have had enough of this nonsense for too long and hope that never again will a military dictator [try to take] Pakistani people along for his joy ride.
Jalal Rumi
Pakistan (Nov 9, '07)

[Re Finding home-grown back-stabbers, Nov 8] Die Dolchstosslegende ... was deployed as a military strategy to blame the German defeat in 1918 not on the German army, but on left wing Social Democrats and others (read communists and Jews). When Hitler came to power in 1933, he implemented this strategy, and immediately deported all Social Democrats, communists and Jews to Sachesenhausen north of Berlin. Now it is the American religious right, the rightwing American/Israeli Zionists and Likudniks who are in the process of resurrecting the Dolchstosslegende. Isn't that ironic? Jews using Nazi tactics Thank you William Astore for alerting Americans and all readers of Asia Times Online to this dangerous scandal in the making.
AAL
Canada (Nov 8, '07)

William J Astore's article [Finding home-grown back-stabbers, Nov 8] is pretty close to the mark in everything he says. However, what is missing (or avoided) is the core of the whole problem down there in the States. Again, as is all too often the case with such analyses, this American refuses to acknowledge (or see) that the minds of the American people have long since been possessed by the fantasy that they are God's chosen folks. Until the ordinary people of the USA awake from their dream and realize that, time and again, they have been had by their chosen rulers, the "American Way" will continue down the road to oblivion. In this sense, the American street is, in fact, to blame for everything that happens to themselves and their nation. Wake up America!
Keith E Leal
Pincher Creek, Canada (Nov 8, '07)

I read with great interest A Chinese harvest of shame [Nov 7] by Wu Zhong, China Editor. Within the article the author described how the Chinese news media had exposed the wrongful beating of a 70 year old farmer, Zhang Zhenlin, who was doing nothing more than harvesting his crops as he had done for decades beforehand. It further explained how the Cheng'an government's required license to authorize harvesting was illegal. This was a refreshing story, not because it exposed governmental excesses in wielding power over the people, but that in a society that is supposedly so suppressed by its government, the news media exposed the wrongful deed perpetrated by the local government. Perhaps we should consider importing some of that news media into this country.
E W Namu
Iowa, USA (Nov 8, '07)

[Re A Chinese harvest of shame, Nov 7] Corn is a new world crop which was domesticated by the Indians of North America. It was not brought to Europe untill after Colombus came to North America. The statement that "corn is one of the major crops grown by Chinese farmers in various regions for hundreds, if not thousands, of years" ... is therefore not accurate.
Matt Miles
Florida, USA (Nov 8, '07)

[Re Bitter tears behind Pyongyang's games, Nov 8] The narrative is shopworn, and has been told many times over. The growing number of Americans at these games is worth noting. They are not necessarily Koreans living in the United States with an American passport. They are non-Koreans who are tempted by the forbidden fruit of a country which the United States has long demonized. A Google search in fact will turn up a North-Korean credited Chicago-based travel agency which funnels American tourists to the games in Pyongyang, for a good commission. In the broader scheme of things a thaw is in evidence in North Korea towards America. Bitter as the lot of North Koreans is, they have not the luxury of Dean Kim who found a plummy post at Yale and enjoys the comfort of a professorship at George Mason University. The average North Korean slogs on in weather fair or foul until such times things improve his lot.
Mel Cooper
Singapore (Nov 8, '07)

In The red herring of dollar decline [Oct 25], The Mogamgo Guru (TMG) says "Obviously, the purpose of the bailout is simplicity itself; nobody trusts the mortgage derivatives that the banks have created, which have now imploded and are revealed as being toxic crap that may not be worth anything, since the financial instruments do not have any demonstrated market value simply by virtue of the fact that they have never traded on the open market, and so nobody wants to buy them. Now everybody is sitting on trillions of dollars' worth of these stupid, mysterious things. What to do?" Well, the only thing to do is start over. Take the stupid, mysterious things (TSMT) apart. Unbundle the bundles. Disassemble them into their constituent parts. I'm not saying that's going to be easy, but it's the only way out. This is Lyle's Obvious But Difficult Solution To The Problem (LOBDSTTP).
Lyle Burkhead
Los Angeles, California, USA (Nov 8, '07)

Imagine reading today (of all days, considering what went on in the financial markets!) on Bloomberg.com that Goldman Sachs' bonus & compensation pool for the first 3 quarters of 2007 will be large enough to completely buy out one of their competitors, Bear Stearns. Goldman has apparently reported that they have set aside UA$16.9 billion (that's BILLION with a 'B') to pay salaries benefits and bonuses for the first nine months of 2007, which is more than the entire market capitalization of their beleaguered and less successful competitor, Bear Stearns. This certainly represents an irony of sorts, given that global credit markets are currently gagging and choking on the putrid financial garbage that Wall Street - along with their accomplices at S&P, Moody's and Fitch - has specialized in packaging and selling for the past several years. Goldman Sachs, by the way, announced fabulous earnings for their third quarter just a few weeks ago. Apparently they had the good sense - or chutzpah - to actually short (place large bets against) the very instruments that they had collected huge fees for assembling, packaging and selling to their customers. Is it a mere coincidence, that as this shameful spectacle becomes clear, the Chinese government simultaneousy announces its intention to make it their policy to "diversify" their vast foreign currency reserves away from the dollar and into other currencies? In any event, it looks as though the Chinese are not alone in their newfound disdain for the greenback, as the dollar is now plumbing all-time or multi-decade lows against virtually every major foreign currency on a daily basis. This recent turn of events clearly begs the question: "Could it be that the Chinese (and other foreign holders of our dollar-denominated liabilities) have finally woken up and realized that they have been played for fools for years, and that now adding insult to inury is indeed the final straw?" While Wall Street sells them securitized mortgages, credit card receivables and God knows what else that are in reality worth pennies on the dollar, the US Treasury and Federal Reserve are at the same time intentionally debasing the value of that very dollar. The fundamental change is that it's now become obvious to everyone that the 'game' has taken on a much more ruthless and mean-spirited "winner-take-all" tone than would ever have been deemed acceptable in the past. During the 1980's, our major 'trading partner' (dollar holder) - the Japanese - was sold movie studios, office complexes and golf courses at outlandishly high prices. These were at least hard assets, even if they were actually worth far less than the price paid. As a trusted and valued "trading partner", we even extended them the courtesy of eventually buying back many of these 'trophy' assets, albeit at a fraction of the original sale price. Today the "major trading partner" (dollar holder) is left holding a virtually worthless piece of paper. As a country that relies on foreigners to finance our ability to live beyond our means by lending us several billion dollars each and every day on extremely favorable terms, the question therefore is "Now what?". The answer is anybody's guess. But I wouldn't be betting on the dollar returning to international favor anytime soon.
Bill Matarese (Junior Mogambo Ranger)
Homosassa, Florida, USA (Nov 8, '07)

[Re Letter to the Editor, Nov 8] "When Spengler cites a writer or a statistic for whatever context ..." you can be pretty sure he's got it wrong. Remember, this is the guy who confused the Dark Ages with the Roman Empire!
Lester Ness
Kunming, China (Nov 8, '07)

... In The inside story of the Western mind [Nov 6] Spengler describes Joseph Ratzinger as a former "German soldier" (false). I think Spengler heard that Ratzinger was enrolled as a member of the Hitler Youth (true) and "promoted" Cardinal Ratzinger to Corporal Ratzinger in his own mind. As to Ratzinger's membership in the Hitler Youth Ratzinger himself claims that he was not an actively participating member, that all youth at the time were enrolled and that he was required to do so to continue his religious studies.
Bob Hu
Sydney, Australia (Nov 8, '07)

[Re: When you can't deal with the devil, Oct 30 and The inside story of the Western mind, Nov 6] Every ATol reader who has written to the editor and called for Spengler to be banned in effect proves his point on the incompatibility of conservative Islam and the values of an open society. When Spengler cites a writer or a statistic for whatever context, that should be an invitation to examine his sources and reach one's own conclusion, not knee-jerk condemnation of him and everyone he quotes. If you feel that Spengler offends your religion, ask yourself: Do you think that global Islam is so weak that one man typing on a computer a thousand miles away can hurt the faith? In the United States, the "Christian Right" is mocked daily by cartoonists and satirists, but do you think that they care? They understand that insult and offense is the price of devotion. If you make all the Spenglers of the world disappear, it still will not counter his arguments, which forever sits in the ATol archives. The joy of debate is doing the heavy lifting of research to counter someone's points. Students come away with a much better understanding and a quicker, sharper mind. I check the ATol everyday for differing and competing views, not a bunch of writers who fit into my worldview. It would get very boring if every columnist or article tells me what I want to hear.
Jonathan Wong (Nov 8, '07)

Re: The inside story of the Western mind, Nov 6] Spengler wrote, “ Whether one can prove that God exists, for example, is not the right question.” Human reason is incapable of answering this question ... as it cannot transcend the boundaries of space and time. God is infinite and unique and being super-physical and super-empirical cannot be conceived within any psycho-physical parameters. The answer lies in the eschatology dogma: the belief in doomsday when man be resuscitated after his death and God will judge him on the basis of his deeds during his earthly life in order to reward his good deeds and punish him for the evil ones. Human reason has the ability to know only the temporal world and metaphysical is an attempt to know the ultimate realities with limitation of small life span. But, there is another level, "intuition," that is unique in its experience and essentially different from other mode of cognition. It is pure and sublime and beyond words to describe. It is not perception or thought but transcends to the heights of unknown. It negates logical, physical and scientific experiment. God is the creator of not only of our bodies but also of our faculties-which are diverse and each capable of development. It is He, who has given us intuition, the moral conscience and means we employ to guide us in the right path. For me, God is the ultimate ground for all experience, a rationally directed will, which the Koran gives the name Allah and defines: God is One, all things depend upon Him ... and there is none like Him. Allah as it appears in the Koran means a being who is supreme, but hidden from human eye before whose dignity and grandeur the human perception, wisdom becomes dazed and whose sovereignty extends over the entire universe, whose obedience is must.
Saqib Khan
UK (Nov 8, '07)

It is refreshing to read David Gosset's article A Century with Chinese characteristics, Nov 6. Instead of picking on the "trees" by the usual critics, Mr Gosset sets his sight on the "forest" that now sits prominently on the world landscape. His overall grasp of Chinese history and the reasonableness of his ideas make for good tutorial reading on the trend of things to come. This article reinforces the high standards of Asia Times Online.
Seung Li(Nov 8, '07)

I take issue with Sun Wukong in his article A Chinese harvest of shame [Nov 7] which categorizes the abusive local officials as a Stalin style dictatorship. This clearly is far more related to the 1,000 year old tradition of the feudal hierachical Chinese society where the masses were treated like dirt and people in charge got away with murder. If anything, the Chinese communists were the first ruling class that attempted to address this age old "tradition" of China. The results were far from satisfactory. But to attribute everything to the Soviet's influence or communism (another western idea with little factual influence on the daily living or thinking of the masses) is so far off that I couldn't believe this is from ATol's China Editor. It'd be understandable had it come from place like CNN or Fox. But ATol's China editor? I think ATol needs to have somebody more thoughtful and knowledgable to take that seat!
Y Cai (Nov 8, '07)

[Re The inside story of the Western mind, Nov 6] Spengler is a pathetic religious fanatic, who happens to be Christian. Would Asia Times ever consider consistently posting articles written by an Islamic fanatic?
Bob Sherman
Canada (Nov 7, '07)

We would, but radical Pakistani cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz of Red Mosque fame has told us he is booked solid with previously scheduled engagements through at least November 2010 and calls and e-mails to al-Qaeda's "grand strategist", Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri have not been returned. - ATol

[Re When you can't deal with the devil, Oct 30 and The inside story of the Western mind, Nov 6] Every ATol reader who has written to the editor and called for Spengler to be banned in effect proves his point on the incompatibility of conservative Islam and the values of an open society. When Spengler cites a writer or a statistic for whatever context, that should be an invitation to examine his sources and reach one's own conclusion, not knee-jerk condemnation of him and everyone he quotes. If you feel that Spengler offends your religion, ask yourself: Do you think that global Islam is so weak that one man typing on a computer a thousand miles away can hurt the faith? In the United States, the "Christian Right" is mocked daily by cartoonists and satirists, but do you think that they care? They understand that insult and offense is the price of devotion. If you make all the Spenglers of the world disappear, it still will not counter his arguments, which forever sits in the ATol archives. The joy of debate is doing the heavy lifting of research to counter someone's points. Students come away with a much better understanding and a quicker, sharper mind. I check the ATol every day for differing and competing views, not a bunch of writers who fit into my worldview. It would get very boring if every columnist or article tells me what I want to hear.
Jonathan Wong (Nov 7, '07)

Re The inside story of the Western mind, Nov 6] Spengler wrote, "Whether one can prove that God exists, for example, is not the right question." Human reason is incapable of answering this question ... as it cannot transcend the boundaries of space and time. God is infinite and unique and being super-physical and super-empirical cannot be conceived within any psycho-physical parameters. The answer lies in the eschatology dogma: the belief in doomsday when man be resuscitated after his death and God will judge him on the basis of his deeds during his earthly life in order to reward his good deeds and punish him for the evil ones. Human reason has the ability to know only the temporal world and metaphysical is an attempt to know the ultimate realities with limitation of small life span. But, there is another level, "intuition," that is unique in its experience and essentially different from other mode of cognition. It is pure and sublime and beyond words to describe. It is not perception or thought but transcends to the heights of unknown. It negates logical, physical and scientific experiment. God is the creator of not only of our bodies but also of our faculties-which are diverse and each capable of development. It is He, who has given us intuition, the moral conscience and means we employ to guide us in the right path. For me, God is the ultimate ground for all experience, a rationally directed will, which the Koran gives the name Allah and defines: God is One, all things depend upon Him ... and there is none like Him. Allah as it appears in the Koran means a being who is supreme, but hidden from human eye before whose dignity and grandeur the human perception, wisdom becomes dazed and whose sovereignty extends over the entire universe, whose obedience is must.
Saqib Khan
UK (Nov 7, '07)

It is refreshing to read David Gosset's article A Century with Chinese characteristics, Nov 6. Instead of picking on the "trees" by the usual critics, Mr Gosset sets his sight on the "forest" that now sits prominently on the world landscape. His overall grasp of Chinese history and the reasonableness of his ideas make for good tutorial reading on the trend of things to come. This article reinforces the high standards of Asia Times Online.
Seung Li (Nov 7, '07)

I take issue with Sun Wukong in his article A Chinese harvest of shame [Nov 7] which categorizes the abusive local officials as a Stalin style dictatorship. This clearly is far more related to the 1,000 year old tradition of the feudal hierachical Chinese society where the masses were treated like dirt and people in charge got away with murder. If anything, the Chinese communists were the first ruling class that attempted to address this age old "tradition" of China. The results were far from satisfactory. But to attribute everything to the Soviet's influence or communism (another western idea with little factual influence on the daily living or thinking of the masses) is so far off that I couldn't believe this is from ATol's China Editor. It'd be understandable had it come from place like CNN or Fox ...
Y Cai (Nov 7, '07)

Thank you so much for Kaveh L Afrasiabi's recent critique of Frontline's program on Iran [Preaching to the converted, Oct 31]. I like Frontline but was outraged by their sloppy unbalanced coverage of Iran. I sadly expect it from other venues but not PBS too. Thank you for setting the record straight. I agree with your critique. Please continue.
Unna Lassiter
Cal State University, Long Beach, California, USA (Nov 6, '07)

[Re M K Bhadrakumar's Pakistan shakes off US shackles Nov 6] Few writers anywhere can match the author's deep experience, and thoughtfulness in regard to Central or East Asia, to say nothing of his unerring judgement or his skills with the written word. My hats off to this exceptionally talented and wise writer.
R Berke
Oakland, California, USA (Nov 6, '07)

Lee Hamilton? Lee Hamilton!? Mr Cover-up, himself, on the pages of Asia Times Online? Doesn't anyone else remember his role in the whitewashes of Iran-Contra, October Surprise, and September 11 - among others? The art of the possible, Nov 3, is another name for working politics - legislative politics. Hamilton's congressional roles made this formula essential, as it is for any representative or senator. Where Hamilton went wrong was to compromise his congressional duties under the Constitution and link this same attitude to executive department folly and crime. The Constitution says, roughly, that the president will govern with the advice and consent of the congress and or the senate. It does not say that he will govern with the advice and consent of the American Enterprise Institute, the American Israeli Political Action Committee, or Dick Cheney's secret energy task force. There is no longer any doubt that the events of September 11 are a crime of treason by this president and his administration. Hamilton's most honored service to his country can begin today by blowing the whistle on September 11 and urging his former colleagues to begin the investigations leading to impeachment and trial and sentencing of George W Bush and Richard B Cheney.
Dan Fritz
Akron, Ohio, USA (Nov 6, '07)

Assalam o alaikum. I have just read [Syed Saleem Shahzad's Musharraf plays his last ace Nov 6] and also am watching television updates regarding the situation in Pakistan. Sitting here in the UK, I feel totally depressed watching the unfolding events. I lived in Pakistan for several years in the 80's and feel helpless at what I perceive to be a return to the Pakistan of 1958. Is this what our grandparents and great grandparents would have wanted for us? Is this the freedom that they struggled for? Going back to the article, Sher Afghan was to some extent right when he says that this is a blend of emergency and martial law. However, it is an "emergency" for the West and the rest of the world - for the people of Pakistan it is "martial law". How can Musharraf justify his so called declaration of war against Islamic militants with the locking up and beating of politicians, lawyers and crackdown on the media. These people are the most liberal of society. This is the hands of a dictator at work. His speech to the nation was lame and his "sincere appeal" to the West was sickening to say the least. I sat with my children on Saturday as the emergency was taking place. They also wanted to know what was happening as my husband and I were glued to the screen. How do you explain something like this? They sat through hours of the Red Mosque coverage, events around Benazir Bhuttos return, Nawaz Sharif's so-called return and the political convention in London. I can assure you that they were bewildered as I tried to explain the situation while also filling them in on Pakistans turbulent short history! This came as a shock after them watching the 60th Anniversary celebrations in London. I sit here with my head bowed down, not in shame but shock. I know we are a resilient nation. We will overcome this crisis as we have done over and over again in the past. Musharraf forgets that this is the 21st century - how much can he restrain and oppress the people? Can he successfully shut down Pakistan to a bygone era where TV channels, the internet and mobile phones are non-existent? I've poured my heart out to you & it's done me some good! But seriously, SS Shahzad is there anything that you might think we in the UK can do to help? Please let us know. Alla hafiz.
Sumera Mir Rizwan (Nov 6, '07)

Syed Saleem Shahzad's Musharraf plays his last ace [Nov 6] and M K Bhadrakumar's Pakistan shakes off US shackles [Nov 6] are superlative complements to understanding a tricky situation. Shahzad's Musharraf and generals are starting out with a new ace in a new and different game as will soon become apparent. They are very much unlike the Shah of Iran who was implored by a US diplomat to fight to remain in power rather than go into exile. In response to the diplomat's plea the Shah said, "but I would have to kill 30,000 or more of my people". The diplomat's answer was something along the lines of "if it is necessary than so be it". In contrast, Musharraf and the generals are staying and making deals, as described by Shahzad, with the militants against the wishes of the US. This is very much like the strategy which Yasser Arafat took when he surprised many analysts (but not this writer) by refusing to put down the Second Intifada on behalf of the US and Israel. For the Palestinians it is a strategy that will pay off handsome dividends in the long-term despite the heavy costs in the short-term (most of which have already been suffered). In contrast there are no significant short-term costs for what Pakistan is doing that would not entail even greater costs to those who would try to punish Pakistan; the US's acquiescence described by Bhadrakumar is an understandable and appropriate response. Furthermore, Pakistan is not backed by just the interesting pair of the US and China. Pakistan is backed by countries that do not trust the US-backed duo, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, and do not believe they can do strategic business with them. This backing is worth much more to Pakistan than anything the US can offer. Finally, Shahzad's and Bhadrakumar's articles suggest that the standoff between Pakistan and the US is not much different than the standoff between the Turkey and the US. They are existential standoffs with the one in Pakistan quite easy to resolve. It is highly likely that the militants in Pakistan will direct their energy against the US-backed corrupt country club crowd once the government eases pressure on them. Unfortunately, Turkey doesn't have a solution that is as easy as the foregoing. With regard to The Mogambo Guru's (TMG) Gold-flavored Napoleon complex [Nov 6] TMG may be unjustifiably criticizing China by writing: "I read somewhere that the money supply in China is growing at 20%, which proves that the Chinese government is every bit as stupid as everybody else's governments, in that they allow the central bank to allow the money supply to grow at such a horrendously appalling rate." If the 20% rate is true, it could be because the black market in China is believed to be as large as the legitimate market which itself is growing at about 10% per year, in which case the Chinese government would certainly not be as stupid as everybody else's government but rather cleverly operating in a mode that will one day bring an unpleasant surprise to those not paying taxes and to Western governments which one day may be faced with a Chinese government that suddenly may have more tax revenues than it knows what to do with.
Abacus
USA (Nov 6, '07)

[Re The US, North Korea tango has begun, Nov 6] Sorry to point out that North Korea and the United States have been tango dancing for a long time. The quickening pace of this passionate dance is due to the unravelling of the nuclear issue, on one hand, and on the other, the ease in which America's foreign and military imperative allow the inclusion of an "evil" nation. From a long standpoint this odd couple's partnering is strangely following the footsteps of the opening to China in the 1970s.
Mel Cooper
Singapore (Nov 6, '07)

Political candidates in Thailand buy votes in wholesale lots from local agents and it is these agents and not the candidates themselves that carry out the alleged illicit trade in votes. The candidates, without these agents, would be unable to buy votes. The agents are well known. The obvious but apparently impenetrable way to end the trade is to simply put these agents out of commission by placing them under house arrest and taking away their communication privileges including their mobile phones until the elections are over. The various indirect means being proposed by the present government are not unlike the provisions in the 1997 constitution that were supposed to end vote trading once and for all. They did not do that. Besides, there is a more fundamental question that has yet to be answered and that is whether vote trading compromises democratic principles. Even the most failed of democracies experiences a brief moment of democratic freedom during elections for it is then that every voter, however poor, infirm, or stupid, exercises his absolute right to vote as he pleases and if we demand that he not profit from those rights do we not infringe on those rights? Do we know better than he? Perhaps he only sells votes to candidates he finds acceptable. If the political financing that might otherwise go to advertising agents and pork barrels that only benefit the rich, end up going directly to poor voters through vote trading, is that necessarily bad? Are we trying too hard to live up to the expectations of the West? Are we unable to reason for ourselves? We should take note that vote trading was endemic in Britain in the 19th century and yet here they are all developed and democratic and wonderful.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand (Nov 5, '07)

Lee Hamilton, in his valuable comment, The art of the possible, Nov 3, expressed his core theme as: "Objectively, we are not the omnipotent power we appeared to be in 2003, nor are we the impotent power we sometimes appear to be today. But by President George W Bush's own rubric, American foreign policy is failing. He declared in his second inaugural address: 'It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.' When the standard for foreign policy is so high, failure is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Robust rhetoric renders the essential prioritizing of foreign-policy objectives impossible. If you look at any national security strategy or presidential campaign platform, the stated aims exceed our implementation capabilities. There are authoritarian regimes throughout the world ... But freedom and liberty are not just universal abstractions that flow freely in presidential addresses and opinion pieces. They have concrete meaning, real costs and there are limits to the lengths we will go in their name. This paints a stark contrast to today's policy discussions." While Mr Hamilton neatly squares all the concerns of the foreign policy/foreign affairs dimension of his views, he is surprisingly silent on the US domestic aspects. The Bush administration has perpetrated many domestic policy and operational activities which are at considerable variance from our Constitutional principles and previously accepted norms of civic culture. Among these are: Disregard for the separation of powers and balance of powers among the three branches of the Federal government, particularly with respect to matters between the executive and legislative branches, claiming unrestricted Presidential powers and refusing to submit to any accountability (see, among others, perpetrating unprecedented and patently illegal domestic spying operations on US citizens, compounded by the Department of Justice Inspector General and FBI General Counsel reporting that these operations were implemented in a manner exceeding their broad [but publicly unknown] boundaries (the supposed suspension of same when under intense scrutiny being tantamount to an admission of being legally out of bounds)[on these two themes, see, among others, The Terror Presidency, by Jack Goldsmith]; the political perversion of the Department of Justice voting rights program and functions of numerous US District Attorneys; and the politicization of foreign intelligence activities, apparently orchestrated by the Office of the Vice President, by inordinate pressure on the CIA and running a rogue intelligence shop in the Department of Defense, under Douglas Feith, to produce "fantasy" intelligence regarding the non-existant Iraqi involvement in the Sept 11 attacks and imminent WMD threat, thus creating false underpinnings for the Iraq War (see, among others, Triple Cross, by Peter Lance). Thus, in addition to problems with a grandiose foreign policy construct, the hypocritical actions of the Bush Administration in fomenting authoritarianism in the domestic operations of the Federal Government, while declaring support for democracy and ending tyranny everywhere, undermine even a potentially "pragmatic" foreign policy as advocated by Mr Hamilton. Having served as a member of Congress from Indiana for 34 years, he should understand this as well as anyone, and make it a part of his critique and recommendations.
Dennis M. Atwood
Maurertown, Virginia, USA (Nov 5, '07)

Jose R Pardinas has said it with his note to your staff [Letters to the Editor, Oct 26], you have offered a means by which we can look at this country, and see how others view us. I no longer use any major news source in this country for news about anything important - except sports, it's kind of hard to spin sports. I enjoy reading Sunny Lee, Andrei Lankov, and the other long time writers on Korea, China, and Japan. After all, after this administration squandered any political capital we had, and has run us into the ground, I think the new world leadership will come from over there. Oh, yes, I totally enjoyed your response to Felix, USA [Letters to the Editor Nov 2], when in fact he is the one living in ignorance. So, keep up the high standards of ignorance, and, yes, Zionism.
E W Namu
Iowa, USA (Nov 5, '07)

Thank you! Your check is in the mail. - ATol

Re An attempt to douse the flames of war, Nov 1, 2007, it seems rather inane that the US hasn't changed foreign policy toward Iran in 28 years, that not even one administration had the vision or foresight to pursue new policies. One would guess that it involved a paucity of courage for either party to enlist a reasonable and/or new approach. Never mind that contact would bring communication. Never mind that common interests could be discussed. Never mind that the Iran's people might have experienced more plentiful goods, and that Iranian leaders would not have the "ugly Americans" to blame for shortages and discontent. Politics did not allow consorting with those culterally different "brown" people. History has proven that commerce brings better relations and better understanding. Twenty-eight years ago there were deadly differences to be resolved, but since then there have been many openings for communication. Our feckless leaders did not have the vision or courage to pursue them. So here we are. Nothing has been learned, even in the midst of gross leadership failures regarding Iraq.
Jim
Southern California, USA (Nov 5, '07)

[Re Spengler, When you can't deal with the devil, Oct 30] How many countries has Iran attacked in the last hundred years? How many has the United States attacked? Who is the devil? Pride commeth before the fall.
Lourdes Green (Nov 5, '07)

With regard to David Gorman's article of Nov 1 [A man, and a plan in war-torn Philippines]: One wishes that more politicians had the insight and courage to take the steps that Abdusukar Tan is planning for Sulu. His is an initiative that should be imitated and implemented world-wide.
Dr V L Velupillai
Germany (Nov 2, '07)

Spengler's latest article, When you can't deal with the devil, Oct 30, in which he espouses the United States launch another illegal and immoral war of aggression against another Middle East country, Iran, made me sad. Sad, because I realize that someone like Spengler, will put his words into deeds and enlist in either the US Army Airborne or the Marines 3rd Expeditionary Force to be one of the first "boots on the ground" in Iran. Yes, Spengler's columns will be missed and one hopes that all the bullets, shells and bombs flying around Iran will miss Spengler so he will once again, return to AToL to write his jingoistic screeds that mesh perfectly with the polices of the Israeli Zionists and the White House neocons. Or have I finally uncovered the person behind the curtain? Is Spengler actually a pseudonym that the "Dark Lord" himself, Vice-President Dick Cheney, uses to write under?
Greg Bacon
Ava, Missouri USA (Nov 2, '07)

[Re Musharraf faces up to an emergency, Nov 2] Against this backdrop, Musharraf has to decide whether Pakistan can afford to ditch democracy in the fight against terror, or whether Pakistan safeguards democracy and closes its theater of the "war on terror" are the closing remarks made by Saleem Shahzad in his essay. The real backdrop of his analogy is a different ball game about retaining power permanently; it is a "dictators syndrome", they do not leave by themselves till either death overtakes them or yet a stronger challenger does it for them. The Supreme Court of Pakistan was earlier expected to adjudicate by the close of this week on the petitions challenging his election for another 5 year term. The verdict might go against General Musharraf which may prompt him to take yet more illegal, unconstitutional methods. The fear of power slipping from him ... haunts the general and his money grubbing, lackeys in the rubber stamp legislative assemblies, his associates in Muslim League, and MQM.The mere thought is nerve wracking for them after enjoying unchallenged absolute power for eight long years. They have lost the balance of mind and are messing up national, political, international affairs and the result is more suicide bombings and insurgencies all over Pakistan. That is the tragedy of absolute power besides absolutely corrupting; it breeds people who are devoid of any common sense, wisdom and sanity. Musharraf and his Kings' Party men are devoid of every capacity to govern efficiently and selflessly in the national interest and work only to protect and prolong their illegal rule. Beware of them. Never promote military dictators or selfish despots but instead support representatives of the people for peace on earth and every home in the world.
Wariss Shaw
Samundri, Pakistan (Nov 2, '07)

Your article titled Plan B (for 'bombs') after Iran fantasy fails by Gareth Porter [Nov 1] was a completely slanted load of crap. A true testament to the total and complete ignorance of your people.
Felix
USA (Nov 2, '07)

Thank you! The staff of ATol strives diligently to ensure only the highest standard of ignorance regarding our slanted load of first class crap. - ATol

[Re: Iran simmers as a hot US political potato, by Jim Lobe, Nov 2] Allow me to add my name to the list of people who must have pointed out to Jim Lobe that Mitt Romney was the governor of Massachusetts and not Minnesota for which the citizens of Minnesota are undoubtedly grateful.
Ivan Wright (Nov 2, '07)

The error was not Jim Lobe's but was the fault of a member of the ATol editing staff, an American from Colorado in Hua Hin, Thailand, who was muddled on deadline with the eight 'M' states and two Romney governors. Mitt's father, George was the 43rd governor of Michigan, not Minnesota or Massachusetts. As Ivan Wright points out correctly Mitt was the governor of Massachusetts. We apologize to Jim Lobe, our readers, the Romneys, as well as to the citizens of Minnesota, Massachusetts and Michigan for the mix-up. As noted in the preceding complaint, the staff of ATol strives diligently to ensure the highest standard of ignorance. - ATol

Regarding Plan B (for 'bombs') after Iran fantasy fails on Nov 1, the article demonstrates an amazing lack of knowledge by the US regarding one of her key allies, internal politics and amazingly continues to do so. By placing trust in "the powerful Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the opposition six-party religious alliance" the US has made Pakistan the new "Raj of the Taliban". The US with all its power could not choose an alternative to Ms Bhutto other than from the ultra-religous front which ultimately will work against all US interests in Pakistan. Talk about putting the noose around one's neck, this is exactly what the Bush administration has done with Pakistan. If anything the Bush administration has pushed Pakistani politics to the Armagedan of another split within Pakistan after a severe bitter civil war. No wonder the average Pakistani is leary of American influence.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
Clinton, Louisiana USA (Nov 2, '07)

With regards to M K Bhadrakumar's A velvet divorce in China [Oct 31], we should not forget that Henry Kissinger (the same guy who once called Indians "bastards"), is currently in India, lecturing and warning the politicians to seal the [nuclear] deal [with the US] and stop the oil pipeline deal with Iran. He says, "There are changes in the established order within which the economic order is becoming globalized and the political order is following a different route. But the political order has to handle the economic order. How it is to be done is a new challenge that the world faces." Recently the Indian stock exchange jumped to a new high and then went down, only to regain its record high within a week. Experts say this rise is mainly due to an inflow of foreign investment. I see a veiled threat in Kissinger's words, that "if you do not obey us, (like Turkey is realizing today that it cannot have a independent foreign policy), we will pull out our money." Should this happen will India face the same problem as Malaysia did long ago? Arm twisting?
Abdul (Nov 2, '07)

Re An attempt to douse the flames of war [Nov 1, 2007], it seems rather inane that the US hasn't changed foreign policy toward Iran in 28 years, that not even one administration had the vision or foresight to pursue new policies. One would guess that it involved a paucity of courage for either party to enlist a reasonable and/or new approach. Never mind that contact would bring communication. Never mind that common interests could be discussed. Never mind that Iran's people might have experienced more plentiful goods, and that Iranian leaders would not have the "ugly Americans" to blame for shortages and discontent. Politics did not allow consorting with those culterally different "brown" people. History has proven that commerce brings better relations and better understanding. Twenty-eight years ago there were deadly differences to be resolved, but since then there have been many openings for communication. Our feckless leaders did not have the vision or courage to pursue them. So here we are. Nothing has been learned, even in the midst of gross leadership failures regarding Iraq.
Jim
Southern California, USA (Nov 1, '07)

Re Plan B (for 'bombs') after Iran fantasy fails [Nov 1, 2007], that highly educated persons such as the neocons could be so ensorcelled by a childish fantasy of world domination boggles the mind. (CouldnˇŻt we have learned a lesson from history?) For those clamoring for an attack on Iran, a more basic question they need to be asking themselves is whether such a military move would be in the best interest of the United States and Israel. Already the lone world superpower, the US would have to win this war to maintain that preeminent global position. As for Israel, would it really be such a good idea to be surrounded by constant chaos and conflagration? Since Iran is probably the only country that wants to see the Islamic Republic nuclear armed, there are ways to bring the country in line other than military means. But then again, subduing Iran is likely not the ultimate motive. Keep in mind though, you bring trouble to other people, trouble has a funny way of boomeranging back to the source.
John Chen
USA (Nov 1, '07)

[Re When you can't deal with the devil, Oct 30] I quote Saqib Khan [Letters, Oct 30] that some men are "devil incarnates". The more I read him, it convinces me that Spengler with his virulent mind ... [was] born out of a burning flame and not like us who were born out of a sperm and egg. I wish to point it out to you as well that your forum is slowly becoming boorish, insipid and humorless with too much emphasis on deadbeat political subjects and issues. You should maintain a balance not to shun your ardent readers away with lengthy, dreary articles. I always find your letter writer, Saqib Khan from UK, to be a provocative and prolific writer who can be scholarly and at the same time fun to read. He is candid, courageous and down to earth with his opinion and comments. Please breathe some fresh life into this excellent channel of expression and do not make it exhausted from political humdrum.
Jalal Rumi
Pakistan (Nov 1, '07)

[Re When you can't deal with the devil, Oct 30] You state that your objective is to give a non-Western view point. In this you have failed: your authors are frequently Zionist and serve the purposes of fascists. Nowhere is this more clear than the constant anti-Iran harrangues. You should increase the number of Asian writers. If one wants to read Zionist propaganda, there are many Western papers available. The Iraq war was orchestrated by this same group and we see the consequences of this. You should not allow yourselves to be used as a vehicle by these criminals. Henry C K Liu is the only first-class writer frequently featured.
Michael Childress (Nov 1, '07)

But our Zionist propaganda is the best in the world! You won't find its like in any "Western paper". - ATol

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