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 SPENGLER
Hockey moms and capital markets
Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, derided outside
the United States as a mere country bumpkin unfit for higher office,
personifies why Asian investors continue to pour money into the US, even as its
financial sector nears breakdown. (Oct 6, '08)
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Bush's final Iran blunder?
The George W Bush administration's decision to turn down the opportunity of a
diplomatic presence in Iran - despite Tehran's strong signals welcoming the
idea - can be seen as a move to avoid undermining Republican Senator John
McCain's presidential chances. More ominously, it could be tied to the
drumbeats of war sounded by Israel. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi
(Oct 6, '08)
US cool to Israeli strike on Iran
Washington is sticking to its policy of sanctions on Iran, reports say, and
won't give Israel a green light to strike at its nuclear facilities - for now.
The US is worried that Israel won't knock out all Iran's nuclear sites and that
retaliation would target US troops. (Oct 6, '08)
Pakistan, US await militant showdown
Britain's commander in Afghanistan admits the war against the Taliban can't be
won, even as the Afghan government makes overtures to Taliban leader Mullah
Omar to join the political process. It's not going to happen, and Pakistan and
the United States are actively preparing for the inevitable - a clash with the
Taliban inside Pakistan. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Oct 6, '08)
SPEAKING FREELY
A way through the Afghan labyrinth
Seven years of international "nation-building" in Afghanistan have created a
labyrinthine world of foreign non-profit and private-sector institutions
engaged in fractious aid efforts which have left the country unable to deal
with the creeping Taliban threat that now also threatens Pakistan. - M Ashraf
Haidari (Oct 6, '08)
CAMPAIGN OUTSIDER
Yes we can, seriously
The George W Bush administration's incompetence in the US financial crisis
signals the need for the Barack Obama presidential campaign to revive a primary
slogan for the home stretch. It is better than running down the clock. - Muhammad
Cohen (Oct 6, '08)
The facts and fables of a unified Korea
In a remarkably blunt speech, former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun has
stressed that any unification of the Korean Peninsula can only follow peace
being negotiated with the Pyongyang regime. His remarks come as enthusiasm for
unification wanes and hardline tactics to change the North look increasingly
unrealistic. - Andrei Lankov (Oct 6, '08)
India's postcards from space
Defying gravity, skeptics and all the perils of a trip to space, India's first
astro-tourist also plans to recapture part of his US$200,000 ticket by filming
an out-of-this-world travel show and selling it to the highest bidder. Even
then, Santosh George Kulangara believes he's paid a small sum to become part of
aviation, and South Asian, history. - Raja Murthy
(Oct 6, '08)
The
mother of all golden parachutes
As US politicians reconsider Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's financial
bailout plan they should recognize it will do little to disperse the financial
and economic clouds hanging over the world. It will instead allow banks to make
huge riskless profits, while for others it is now impossible to make any sound
investment decision in an environment propitious only for speculation. - Hossein
Askari and Noureddine Krichene (Oct 3, '08)
 CHAN
AKYA
Dismal math
Simple math helps to debunk the mumbo-jumbo carelessly thrown around by central
banks and the media with respect to the present financial crisis. The exercise
proves among other things that the US Treasury will certainly buy assets above
fair value, while European efforts to save their banking systems are doomed.
(Oct 3, '08)
THE MOGAMBO GURU
Fed up with Fed credit
The latest utterly astronomical jump in the amount of Fed-created credit in the
US financial system is raising awareness of the "danger" our financial
overlords are igniting of a great inflation in consumer prices to stave off a
great depression. Danger? There is no danger!! There is total certainty!
(Oct 3, '08)
Nuclear
bond for North Korea, Myanmar
A recent flurry of high-level contacts between North Korea and
military officials from Myanmar raises the possibility that Myanmar is seeking
nuclear weapons procurements. Whether the visits are related to nuclear or
conventional arms, military industrial development or tunneling
technology, they set off security alarm bells in Southeast Asia. - Norman
Robespierre (Oct 3, '08)
India and the temples of
doom
Horrific temple stampedes have become an all too common occurrence at Hindu
festivals in India, with the trampling to death of 147 pilgrims in Jodhpur on
Tuesday the latest tragedy. Rudimentary or non-existent crowd management
measures exacerbate the problem, yet instead of dealing with the issue,
politicians tap the disasters for political capital. - Neeta Lal
(Oct 3, '08)
In
life, or death, Baitullah's fight endures
Reports of the death of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud may be
premature, but they do raise the issue of how his demise will affect the
struggle he has championed against foreign forces in Afghanistan and Pakistani
troops in the tribal areas. If history is any indication, another leader will
quickly emerge to replace the man described as "more dangerous than Osama bin
Laden", and the battle will go even more global. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Oct 2, '08)
Wolfowitz up to more mischief?
Former United States deputy defense secretary and World Bank
chief Paul Wolfowitz is embroiled in a geostrategic conflict of interests
through his chairmanship of a US arms-control advisory panel as well as the
US-Taiwan Business Council. At the heart of the matter is a pending US$11
billion arms package for Taiwan. - Jim Lobe (Oct 2,
'08)
Crisis
control fit for the TV age
As the world awaits the next vote on the US bank bailout plan, and fantasy
numbers become an important balance-sheet entry, the real crisis remains
untouched - that Americans think they can adjust economic policies simply on
the basis of what they like. They face a rude awakening. - Julian Delasantellis
(Oct 2, '08)
 ASIA
HAND
SE Asian memo to Wall Street
Southeast Asia is no disinterested bystander as US politicians and bankers slug
out details of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's rescue bill. Strong and
bitter memories remain of the bailout terms imposed from the West during the
Asian financial crisis a decade ago, terms now mocked by actions in Wall St and
Washington. - Shawn W Crispin (Oct 2, '08)
Yen a winner from financial woes
The Japanese currency looks set to strengthen further as investors become
increasingly wary of risky investments amid a global economic slowdown. That
means a reduced willingness to take advantage of the country's low interest
rates. - Kosuke Takahashi (Oct 2, '08)
THE MOGAMBO GURU
The $200 million house of bread
Outrageous claims to the contrary by supposedly clever folk who should know
better, there is No Freaking Way that the US taxpayer will show a real,
inflation-adjusted profit from the bailout of the financial sector. Their time
would be better spent buying gold. (Oct 2, '08)
China tangled up in red, white and blue
China has been a less divisive issue than usual in the run-up to the United
States presidential elections, but in Beijing the leaders are watching
developments closely, having already predicted relations with Washington will
become less volatile, no matter who takes over the White House. - Dingli Shen
(Oct 2, '08)
India aglow as nuclear pact approved
The US Senate has ratified a long-delayed civilian nuclear pact with India,
handing a rare foreign policy victory to President George W Bush and
culminating a three-year debate that raised alarms about a new arms race and
nearly toppled India's government. - Siddharth Srivastava
(Oct 2, '08)
Who pushed Medvedev?
President Dmitry Medvedev started out by improving the public mood in Russia
and invigorating relationships with European leaders. After the adventure in
Georgia, however, Moscow got right back to Cold War paranoia and was again
frozen out by the West. Yet some in the Kremlin are glowing. - Andreas Umland
(Oct 2, '08)
SPENGLER
Truth,
lies and ticker tape
The world will not end if the US Congress refuses to pass a redrawn financial
sector bailout plan. Unfortunately, nor will it be the end of America's
financier caste, which will live to fleece another day. But when you hear that
there is no choice but a bailout, remember: it just ain't so.
(Oct 1, '08)
CHINA'S DOLLAR MILLSTONE
Gold, manipulation and
domination
For China, the world's biggest creditor nation, to allow successful national
development it must cease having its currency a derivative of the US dollar and
stop relying on a US-dollar denominated trade surplus to finance domestic
development. The historic role of gold and its manipulation tells it as much. - Henry
C K Liu (Oct 1, '08)
This is the fourth part of a continuing series.
 Part 1:
Breaking free from dollar hegemony
Part 2:
Developing China with sovereign credit
Part 3:
History of monetary imperialism
DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
How forgotten Iraq may
elect the president
The centerpiece of the United States presidential race may turn on an almost
forgotten war in a forgotten country - Iraq, a tinderbox that could explode at
any moment. The war is causing two powerful riptides just below the surface of
American politics. There is Democrat Senator Barack Obama's war, the realistic
disaster that most Americans have now accepted, and Republican Senator John
McCain's war, the symbolic success story that so many Americans still wish was
the reality. - Ira Chernus (Oct 1, '08)
Iran fears nuclear witchhunt
The cash-strapped International Atomic Energy Agency's flip-flops on Iran, now
saying it cannot confirm the absence of a clandestine nuclear program, raise
concerns that the United Nations' nuclear watchdog is under pressure from the
West to tighten the screws on Tehran. At the same time, the longer the nuclear
crisis continues, the less isolated Tehran becomes internationally. - Kaveh L
Afrasiabi (Oct 1, '08)
Sinophobia smolders in Malaysia
A ruling party official in Malaysia has been suspended after an anti-Chinese
tirade in which he described ethnic Chinese Malaysians as devious "squatters"
undeserving of equal rights. Such racism has a long and tragic history in
Southeast Asia, but Malaysia's punitive reaction to the remarks may signal a
new era of multiculturalism. - Hui Yew-Foong (Oct
1, '08)
Bush had no plan to catch Bin Laden
The United States missed the opportunity to catch Osama bin Laden in
Afghanistan in 2001, new evidence reveals, because Washington was obsessed with
starting the Iraq War and failed to allocate enough troops to the task. The
blunder was allegedly compounded by a decision to turn down an offer of 60,000
Pakistani troops. - Gareth Porter (Sep 30,
'08)
Why the US is losing in
Afghanistan
Most of the literature on the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the
"war on terror" focuses on the burden these conflicts place on the US federal
budget. This is a very real issue, but it deflects attention from another key
point: in Afghanistan, the US has consistently failed to provide the financial
and military resources necessary to win the war. - Anthony H Cordesman
(Sep 30, '08)
 SUN
WUKONG
Carrying the can for
China's tragedies
China's swift punishment of officials linked to the tainted-milk scandal and a
recent mining catastrophe may signal a new era of accountability for its
leadership. But with the system still vague, and disgraced officials often
swiftly re-appointed, the concept seems unlikely to fly. - Wu Zhong
(Sep 30, '08)
SPENGLER
US wealth in shrink mode
Leverage is the secret of American wealth, helping to triple over the past 40
years the proportion of wealth held by the average US family compared with its
annual income. With leveraging now broken, the bottom could be a long way down.
(Sep 29, '08)
CHAN
AKYA
Deaf
frogs and the Pied Piper
The United States financial crisis is being hailed as the death of market
capitalism and has resurrected enthusiasm for socialism, notably as practiced
in various parts of Asia. Choose that route, and Asian governments can yet
manage to heap misery on their unsuspecting populations for years to come.
(Sep 29, '08)
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Lehman
burns HK's low-risk investors
Hong Kong retail investors have seen their savings disintegrate after buying
what they thought was a low-risk product from the failed US investment bank
Lehman Brothers. - Kent Ewing
Road of hope for
divided Kashmir
A long-closed road linking the administrative capitals of divided Kashmir may
soon bring new opportunities for trade and wealth between the Pakistan- and
India-controlled sides. Just how much trade will be decided by the cautious
hands of the central governments. - Haroon Mirani
CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
The Wall Street bust
The over-indebted US household, corporate and state sectors face a devastating
liquidity crisis amid frozen lending markets, broken securitization markets and
a panic of de-leveraging. It's an absolute debacle, and US policymakers can do
little about it other than try to slow the collapse.
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
THE WEEK AHEAD
'Hoarding' is out
As folk with retirement cash stuck in stock markets see their pension hopes
fade, knocking Germany as a gold "hoarder" shows a deep media misunderstanding
of the world's economic realities. This is smart investing, and more folk than
ever are waking up to it.
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On The Edge
The new US administration will make a 180-degree policy change on
Iran. This won't happen because of changes of heart, but because of economic
necessity and the need for Iranian cooperation in Iraq. Nationalist, religious
and/or economic ideologies are passe, while national interests and security are
the sole and only drivers of geopolitics in this new ... world order.
Robster |
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Go to the readers' forum topic, Russia:
Calculations Behind an Offer to OPEC
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ATol Specials
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VIDEO
Taliban's new breed of leader
(May '08) |
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The
Gates
Inheritance
By
Roger Morris
(June '07) |
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Syed Saleem Shahzad reports on
the Afghan war from the Taliban side
(Dec '06)
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How
Hezbollah defeated Israel
By
Mark Perry and
Alastair Crooke
(Oct '06)
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Mark
Perry and
Alastair Crooke
talk to the 'terrorists'
(Mar '06)
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China:
The
Impossible
Revolution
By
Francesco Sisci
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The Coming
Trade War
By Henry C K Liu
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A series
by Henry C K Liu
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Sinoroving
Pepe Escobar in China
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Money, Power
and
Modern Art
A series by Henry C K Liu
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Andre Gunder Frank on Uncle Sam and his
shrinking dollar
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By Pepe Escobar with
photographs by Kevin Nortz
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Nir Rosen goes inside the Iraqi
resistance
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Nir Rosen rides with the US 3rd
Armored Cavalry in western Iraq
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