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Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.

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Monday, 2 October 2006
Palestinian Civil War
There keeps being talk of Iraq being on the verge of Civil War.

Well it appears in the West Bank and the Gaza strip there is no verge.

Hamas-Fatah gunbattles cover Gaza
By Ibrahim Barzak
ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 2, 2006
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Gunbattles broke out across the Gaza Strip when heavily armed Hamas militiamen tried to break up anti-government demonstrations yesterday, killing seven persons and injuring dozens in the worst internal Palestinian violence since Hamas took power.
Militants from the opposition Fatah group retaliated by torching the Palestinian Cabinet building in the West Bank. The violence comes amid growing frustration over the parties' failure to form a national-unity government that could end crippling economic sanctions.
The fighting continued throughout the day and sent schoolchildren and other civilians in downtown Gaza City fleeing for cover.
"This is forbidden in Islam. We are in the holy month of Ramadan," said Majed Badawi, 33, who managed to escape after his car was caught in the crossfire. "It's a shame on Hamas, who call themselves real Muslims, and a shame on Fatah, as well. Why are they fighting and over what? We are victims because of both of them."
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, spoke with President Mahmoud Abbas, of Fatah, by telephone and called for joint action to end the fighting, Mr. Haniyeh's office said. But in a televised speech, Mr. Haniyeh also defended the Hamas militiamen, saying they acted lawfully in trying to break up the protests.
Fatah officials blamed Hamas for the chaos. "Nothing can justify this violence," Fatah spokesman Tawfik Abu Khoussa said.
Hamas has been under pressure since its January election victory over the long-ruling Fatah.
Israel and the West, which view Hamas as a terror group, cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority, making it nearly impossible for the new government to pay its 165,000 workers.
In recent weeks, civil servants -- including members of the security forces, many of them Fatah loyalists -- have held expanding protests against the Hamas-led government to demand back wages.
On Saturday, the Hamas government sent its 3,500-member militia into Gaza's streets to quash the protests.
The fighting started in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, where dozens of police gathered to demand back wages, protesters said. The Hamas militiamen ordered them to disperse, then opened fire at the protesters, who responded by shooting in the air, protesters said.
Fighting then broke out between militia members and security officials in northern Gaza, and violence spread to the parliament building in Gaza City, where security officers and civil servants were protesting. The protesters threw stones at Hamas militiamen, who eventually fired on the protesters, according to a reporter at the scene.
Militiamen and security personnel -- including bodyguards for Mr. Abbas -- began trading fire nearby. People scattered, and children covered their heads with their schoolbags for protection.
The clashes later spilled over to an area near the president's residence.
The street battles killed four persons, including a presidential bodyguard and a 15-year-old boy, said Dr. Baker Abu Safia, director of Gaza's Shifa Hospital. Two others were killed in related violence, and at least 75 were injured, hospital officials said.
A seventh person, a member of the preventive security force, was killed Saturday night when unknown gunmen shot at the car he was in, security officials said.
In response to the violence, Fatah protesters in the West Bank city of Ramallah broke into the Cabinet building and set the second floor on fire. A second building in the compound also was set ablaze.
Forced out by the fire, the militants moved to the Education Ministry and torched a car on the way. They then trashed the offices of a Hamas newspaper.
In the West Bank city of Hebron, Fatah-allied militants ransacked the offices of local Hamas lawmakers and set the furniture on fire.

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Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 7:03 AM CDT
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Updated: Tuesday, 3 October 2006 3:59 AM CDT
The Open Trackback Alliance XLIV
UPDATE: Denmark Exports Soaring
After blogger Judith Klinghoffer and an army of Davids declared a "Buy Danish" campaign to combat the Muslim boycott. The Guardian says "fervent rightwing Americans" participated in the buying spree and implies that the cartoonists were responsible for the deaths of 139 people.(like it was the cartoonists who killed those people instead of the ones who shed their blood, how like the Progressive TransNazi viewpoint)


For your listening pleasure while you browse

"Der er et yndigt land" (There Is A Lovely Land)


Words by: Adam Gottlob Oehlenschlager
Music by: Hans Ernst Kr?yer
Adopted: 1844

"Derer et yndigt land" was first performed for a large gathering of Danes in 1844, and became popular quickly with the Danish people. It was adopted later that year by the Danish government as a national anthem, but not the sole national anthem. This anthem is on equal status with "Kong Christian",which is both the national and royal anthem.

When the Danish anthem is usually performed or sung, the first verse is played in its entirety, then it is followed by the last four lines of the last verse. (This is true whether the lyrics are sung or not



Recentlty I have been posting music to Illustrate the Diversity of America, this week I have a different motive to express Solidarity with DENMARK


I maintain my Support of Denmark, and will later today, post links to and my thoughts about a Danish Editorial "We are being pissed upon by Per Nyholm "

I think I shall title my Post, "There is no "But" in "Freedom of Speech".




When I first started upon my journey through the blogverse I created a
Statement of Purpose
Now upon reading it, one can realize that I did not hold to every detail of that original statement, but from it's basic premise, I have never swayed, in my belief that the Blogs are in fact the Committees of Correspondence of the Second American Revolution.

And that it is a Revolution of Information, no longer can we afford and allow elite gateways to control what we can see, hear and discuss.

For I believe that those bloggers who find their way, here and in particular from the Blogs associated with Sam.

HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.

Some of us are more Serious, some of us are more lighthearted and some post the common ordinary things that make one smile and recall that Life without the simple things to treasure is meaningless.

And it is important that all have a platform from which to speak.

As I understand this process you can link to this post and trackback to this post on ANY subject or post you think important. It is open. I will repeat this every Monday.

The Committees of Correspondence welcomes your intelligent comments. And also welcomes you to join the

OPEN TRACKBACK ALLIANCE


This week I also have shortened my usual introduction for a more inportant message.




In it's struggle for Freedom of Speech.

Sign the Petition NOW!

JEG opstille hos Danmark!




45245 Total Signatures 12:45 AM CDT October 02, 2006 We can do better pass the word~!




From Agora a call to Support the Manifesto online by signing another Petition, why not sign both?


MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism
Created by Mark Jefferson on March 1st, 2006 at 5:42 pm AST

After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.
We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all. "

Open Trackback Alliance


Blogs that Trackback to this Post:

On Monday

Y'al come back now, Y'heah? ;-)
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Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 12:59 AM CDT
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Updated: Monday, 2 October 2006 1:01 AM CDT
Friday, 29 September 2006
Ramadan Rioting in Brussels


I don't recall hearing that much about his on the News, have You? Amazing what the Mainstream Media decides we won't be interested in.

From The Brussels Journal



Ramadan Rioting in Brussels






Last Sunday the Islamic holy month of Ramadan began. It lasts until 23 October. Many will remember last year’s ramadan riots, which set France and, to a lesser extent, parts of Belgium and Denmark, alight. Rioting went on for three weeks. Each night thousands of cars were set alight by immigrant youths, until the French and Belgian governments ordered the police to no longer divulge any information about the disturbances, after which the media stopped reporting, the youths lost interest and the number of nightly “carbecues” in France dropped to the “normal” level of about 50.


It looks like some Brussels immigrant youths want to make “ramadan rioting” an annual event. Last Saturday morning, between 1 and 4 am, ten cars were set on fire in the Brussels borough of Schaarbeek. Last night several car and shop windows were smashed and one shop and five cars were set alight in the Brussels Marollen quarter.


continue reading



Third Night of Ramadan Rioting in Capital of Europe



It looks as if immigrants youths want to turn nightly rioting during the Islamic holy month of ramadan into an annual tradition. Around 8:30pm last night violence erupted again in Brussels, the capital of Europe. The riots centered on the Brussels Marollen quarter and the area near the Midi Train Station, where the international trains from London and Paris arrive. Youths threw stones at passing people and cars, windows of parked cars were smashed, bus shelters were demolished, cars were set ablaze, a youth club was arsoned and a shop was looted. Two molotov cocktails were thrown into St.Peter’s hospital, one of the main hospitals of central Brussels. The fire brigade was able to extinguish the fires at the hospital, but youths managed to steal the keys of the fire engine.


continue reading



Brussels Returns to Normal, for Now






Last night Brussels police arrested 53 youths, including 19 minors, in the Marollen neigbourhood. The area had seen heavy rioting the previous nights. Some of the arrested immigrants were carrying combustibles. One schack was set alight and one car was torched. The police said there were no serious incidents. Yesterday afternoon Freddy Thielemans, the Mayor of Brussels, told journalists at a press conference that of the 45 youths arrested the previous night 31 were known to the police for a total of 242 crimes. The Mayor emphasized that the riots were the work of youth gangs and cannot be compared to last year’s riots in France since there had been no direct confrontations between the police and the rioters.


continue reading


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Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 7:12 PM CDT
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Updated: Friday, 29 September 2006 7:34 PM CDT
Muslims Burn 18 Churches, Displace 5,000
From Iris.org to my email in box to you.


Attacks against Christians and Jews continue to go unreported by the mainstream media.

As a result of a religious dispute, nearly 5,000 Christians were displaced and six were injured on September 20th, when Muslim rioters destroyed and torched at least 18 churches, 20 Christian homes, and 40 Christian shops in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa state in Northern Nigeria. After an Islamic young man made several unsuccessful advances on Jummai, a female Christian, he angrily reacted by calling her a fake Christian who follows a "useless Jesus." Jummai responded by telling the boy he followed "a useless prophet—Muhammad." Furious, the Muslim boy raised alarm through the town by proclaiming that a Christian lady blasphemed Muhammad. She was quickly taken to the local police station where she was kept in custody to diffuse the potentially volatile situation.
Notice how the symmetry in the accusations gives the lie to the nearly universally accepted conventional wisdom that Muslims are not fully aware of their double standard on religious insults. A double standard is the basis of sharia (Muslim Law). It is designed to create humiliation and submission of the infidel.



Source: Voice of the Martyrs (requires subscription, but not submission) (Hat tip: Maria Sliwa)

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Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 8:28 AM CDT
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Updated: Friday, 29 September 2006 8:40 AM CDT
Thursday, 28 September 2006
Not In His Own Land or Halfway Between Possum Trot and Monkey's Eyebrow,

Out of the Mystic Hills of Kentucky,
From the Holy City of Paducah,
Which lies halfway between
Possum Trot and Monkey's Eyebrow,

There arose a Prophet.

Now it is often said that No Prophet is Honored in their own country.

But today we have GOOGLE!

I sometimes check my sitemeter account to see the referral links used to get to my blog.

I was quite surprised today to see that the keywords put into Google, which led to my website were


prophets in kentucky


Who am I to argue with the world's preeminent disseminator of information.

The elevation of some prophets have been signaled by flights of white doves.

The sign for Daniel of Old was his being delivered from the Lion's Den.


I seem to have been anointed by Google,

but it is after all the 21st Century.

So here I am,

Chosen of the Oracle Google,

kentuckydan

Cyber Prophet.

I am not unique, as it turns out Kentucky may very well be some sort of Spiritual Nexus.

Other prophets the search pulled up were.

The Great Mad Farmer, Poet and Prophet of Kentucky, Wendell Berry.
and
PSYCHIC / PROPHET LAYLAH.


Out of the Mystic Hills of Kentucky,
from the Holy City of Paducah,
which lies halfway between
Possum Trot and Monkey's Eyebrow,

there arose a Prophet.


See? I Even Have An Aura



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Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 5:55 PM CDT
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Updated: Thursday, 28 September 2006 8:54 PM CDT
Wednesday, 27 September 2006
How to Save the Planet
From Iris.org to my email in box to you.


How to Save the Planet


The Boston Globe articulates the obvious:



Israelis Reassess Territory Strategy



A year of violent clashes has reshaped Israel's strategic picture. Calls by the government to give up territory and redraw Israel's borders have given way to a less ambitious agenda that will seek to bolster the country's military, lower expectations about making further unilateral moves, and dampen hopes for a quick resolution with Palestinians. Mark Regev, spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said, "We have two concrete examples where Israel redeployed behind internationally recognized frontiers, in Lebanon and in Gaza, and did not create the peace people predicted. Obviously, that affects our thinking about the West Bank."
After every speech I get the question "so what's the solution?" The answer is "peace through strength squared." Weakness and concessions embolden all aggressors as a matter of human nature, but its impact on jihad is greatly magnified because of the centrality of one of Muhammed's teachings on jihad. He forbade attack from a position of weakness, but mandated it from strength. Every show of strength, therefore, pushes back the jihad. To destroy the jihad, all one needs to do is turn to history. The fall of the Ottoman Empire essentially pacified Muslims globally without the need for much bloodshed.



Specfically, the only significant debate in the Muslim world is whether the West's strength is real or not. Islamists argue that there is no value to nuclear weapons, for example, when infidels won't ever use them. When entire populations demonstrate their enmity, such as the Palestinians, infidels refuse to use their strength to strike back at the group. Therefore there is no real strength, because Muslims can always be shielded by paralysis over "civilian casualties."



This single, simple lesson, however, is not at all understood. It can prevent the death of billions and the enslavement of all humanity. Would you please be so kind as to help us spread it?

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Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 6:59 PM CDT
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Updated: Friday, 29 September 2006 8:20 AM CDT
Listen To The Scary Theme Music Playing!
It is surprising these days, considering the negative slant the Mainstream Media seems to delight in to read something about the War in the MidEast that is welcome.

As War Over Leak Grips Washington, Al Qaeda Quails

By ELI LAKE - Staff Reporter of the Sun
September 27, 2006



WASHINGTON ? On a day when much of the capital's attention was focused on leaked excerpts of an
intelligence estimate report that suggested the Iraq war was creating more jihadists, the military
quietly released an intercepted letter from Al Qaeda complaining that the terrorist organization
was losing ground in Iraq.

The letter, found in the headquarters of Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, after he
was killed on June 7, was sent to Zarqawi by a senior Al Qaeda leader who signs his name simply
"Atiyah." He complains that Al Qaeda is weak both in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region and in
Iraq.

A former jihadist who fought in Algeria in the 1990s, Atiyah appears from the text to be speaking
for Al Qaeda's Shura Council ? the group's decision-making panel chaired by Osama bin Laden. In
the letter, he sharply criticizes Zarqawi's leadership, saying he alienated key allies necessary
for the implementation of jihad in Iraq.

"Know that we, like all the Mujahidin, are still weak," he wrote in the letter dated December 11,
2005. "We are in the stage of weakness and a state of paucity. We have not yet reached a level of
stability. We have no alternative but to not squander any element of the foundations of strength,
or any helper or supporter."



This does tally with some of the manifestos issued by Abu Musab Zarqawi, before his quite timely end.


This is the English translation of a document found in Abu Musab al-Zarqawi?s safe house. It was provided by the Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie.


The situation and conditions of the resistance in Iraq have reached a point that requires a review of the events and of the work being done inside Iraq. Such a study is needed in order to show the best means to accomplish the required goals, especially that the forces of the National Guard have succeeded in forming an enormous shield protecting the American forces and have reduced substantially the losses that were solely suffered by the American forces. This is in addition to the role, played by the Shi?a (the leadership and masses) by supporting the occupation, working to defeat the resistance and by informing on its elements.

As an overall picture, time has been an element in affecting negatively the forces of the occupying countries, due to the losses they sustain economically in human lives, which are increasing with time. However, here in Iraq, time is now beginning to be of service to the American forces and harmful to the resistance for the following reasons:

1. By allowing the American forces to form the forces of the National Guard, to reinforce them and enable them to undertake military operations against the resistance.

2. By undertaking massive arrest operations, invading regions that have an impact on the resistance, and hence causing the resistance to lose many of its elements.

3. By undertaking a media campaign against the resistance resulting in weakening its influence inside the country and presenting its work as harmful to the population rather than being beneficial to the population.

4. By tightening the resistance?s financial outlets, restricting its moral options and by confiscating its ammunition and weapons.

5. By creating a big division among the ranks of the resistance and jeopardizing its attack operations, it has weakened its influence and internal support of its elements, thus resulting in a decline of the resistance?s assaults.

6. By allowing an increase in the number of countries and elements supporting the occupation or at least allowing to become neutral in their stand toward us in contrast to their previous stand or refusal of the occupation.

7. By taking advantage of the resistance?s mistakes and magnifying them in order to misinform.



Truth be told we are more accustomed to News like this.
Sobering Conclusions On Why Jihad Has Spread
By Karen DeYoung and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, September 27, 2006; Page A21

In announcing yesterday that he would release the key judgments of a controversial National
Intelligence Estimate, President Bush said he agreed with the document's conclusion "that because
of our successes against the leadership of al-Qaeda, the enemy is becoming more diffuse and
independent."

But the estimate itself posits no such cause and effect. Instead, while it notes that
counterterrorism efforts have seriously damaged and disrupted al-Qaeda's leadership, it describes
the spreading "global jihadist movement" as fueled largely by forces that al-Qaeda exploits but is
not actively directing. They include Iraq, corrupt and unjust governments in Muslim-majority
countries, and "pervasive anti-U.S. sentiment among most Muslims."




The overall estimate is bleak, with minor notes of optimism. It depicts a movement that is likely
to grow more quickly than the West's ability to counter it over the next five years, as the Iraq
war continues to breed "deep resentment" throughout the Muslim world, shaping a new generation of
terrorist leaders and cultivating new supporters for their ideology.

In describing Iraq as "the 'cause celebre' for jihadists," the document judges that real and
perceived insurgent successes there will "inspire more fighters to continue the struggle
elsewhere," while losses would have the opposite effect. It predicts that the elimination of
al-Qaeda leaders, particularly Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who
was killed after the estimate was completed in April, would probably leave that organization
splintered into disparate groups that "for at least a time, pose a less serious threat to U.S.
interests" than the current al-Qaeda structure.



Yes they like bleak news, the revel in terms like quagmire. Shows how little they know or they will admit, to advance their own political agendas.

In Southern Sudan, almost 3 million Black African Pagan Animist and Christian peasants have been slaughtered. The government has termed it Jihad. In Dafur another half million dead in Algeria hundreds of thousand brutally murdered for not submitting to Sharia. Now that is what bleak looks like. Do they know? Do they even care?

So a small selected filtered portion of the National Intelligence Estimate has been leaked. As a result a more complete version has been declassified, I hope they choke on it.

Political' Leaks of Paper Led to Decision, Bush Says

By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 27, 2006; Page A01

The Bush administration yesterday released portions of a classified intelligence estimate that
says the global jihadist movement is growing and being fueled by the war in Iraq even as it
becomes more decentralized, making it harder to identify potential terrorists and prevent attacks.

The war in Iraq has become a "cause celebre" for jihadists, breeding resentment of U.S.
involvement in the Muslim world and drawing new adherents to the movement, the assessment says.
The growth in the number of potential terrorists is also being fed by corruption, slow-moving
political reform in many Muslim countries and "pervasive" anti-American sentiment, according to
the report.



President Bush said he ordered the partial release of the newly leaked intelligence report to
"stop all the speculation, all the politics about somebody saying something about Iraq." (By
Gerald Herbert -- Associated Press)
VIDEO | During a press conference Tuesday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, President Bush said
it is a mistake to think that the war with Iraq has worsened terrorism, disputing a national
intelligence assessment compiled in April.



The jihadist movement is potentially limited by its ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam and
could be slowed by democratic reforms in the Muslim world, says the document, which reflects the
collective judgment of the nation's 16 intelligence agencies. In addition, it asserts that if
jihadists are perceived to be defeated in Iraq, "fewer fighters would be inspired to carry on the
fight."

Still, terrorists with experience constructing roadside bombs and other deadly devices in Iraq
"are a potential source" of leadership in attacks elsewhere, the report says


So why don't we see for our selves what the National Intelligence Estimate says?

Key Declassified Intelligence Judgments (pdf)

Because all we will get from the Media is something like this



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It's The Weekend Already? OTA Time from The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns

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Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 6:41 AM CDT
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Updated: Saturday, 30 September 2006 10:53 AM CDT
Tuesday, 26 September 2006
Therefore, If We Want To Do Battle
SUN-TZU: THE PRINCIPLES OF WARFARE

Chapter Six: Weakness and Strength

Sun-tzu said:
Therefore those skilled in warfare move the enemy, and are not moved by the enemy.

Therefore, if the enemy is at ease, be able to exhaust him;

if the enemy is well fed, be able to starve him;

if the enemy is settled, be able to move him

Therefore, if we want to do battle, even if the enemy is protected by high walls and deep moats, he cannot but do battle, because we attack what he must rescue

Provoke him, to know his patterns of movement.

Those who are able to adapt and change in accord with the enemy and achieve victory are called divine.


I understand parts of the NIE have been declassified by President Bush, and will be made available tonight, because parts of it have been leaked to create a distorted picture of the War in Iraq.

Like that has not happened before?

It seems that some wish to make the point that Terrorist activity has increased in Iraq. What a concept, an enemy counter-attacking where they have been attacked? Who would ever have thought it?

A enemy who is using terrorist tactics in a region where before they had sanctuary? Astonishing never before the the Military History of the world---, but wait just a minute.

Did German military action increase or decrease France after the Normandy Invasion?

But they say, we are creating a whole new generation of Jihadis, flocking to Iraq!

Like the Jihadis were not already creating and training generations of Jihadis before Iraq, even before Afghanistan, even before 9/11.

Did German military recruitment of troop increase or decrease after the Normandy Invasion?

So it would appear that Al Qaedar has been attacked in their former Sanctuaries, Afghanistan and Iraq and have responding and they have even Gasppossibly increased their recruiting efforts.

That has never happened before in all the long History of Military Conflict?

Another illustration that the Democratic Party does not need to be trusted with the Security of the Nation. They are absolutely clueless.

I am looking forward to seeing a more complete version of the NIE and the analysis of it.

Again let me reinterate, "I am shocked, SHOCKED I tell you to find out that Al Qaedar is counterattacking us where we have been attacking them!

For much more detailed information go see

What Else Was In the NIE Report? at Powerline
Weak Leak Soup at Big Lizards
and
More of What You Won't Read in the NYT at In From the Cold

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Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 10:20 PM CDT
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Updated: Tuesday, 26 September 2006 10:28 PM CDT
The Triple Alliance's Limits
By Peter Zeihan

French President Jacques Chirac met with
Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris on Sept. 22 before being joined the
next day by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Three years ago, the meeting of
the three powers would have signaled a nightmare scenario for U.S. foreign
policy.

How times change.

If anything, the meeting might have
been hostile, as the logic for the trilateral alliance that once existed has
failed. Though the three obviously still have much to discuss, their
relations now are of little more significance than those between nations of
similar standing.

The Triumvirate

In the early days of
the Iraq war, a diplomatic alliance spearheaded by Chirac, former German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Putin regularly met, consulted and spoke out
against the United States' Iraq effort. The three formed a powerful
diplomatic force rooted in friendly personal relationships and a worldview of
a Paris-Berlin-Moscow axis that could stand on its own as a global power.


The primary goal of this alliance was to counter and, if possible,
contain American power. Solid geopolitical reasons underpinned this strategy
in Paris, Berlin and Moscow. Paris has long played second fiddle to the
respective global hegemon of the day, whether Hapsburg Spain, Imperial
Britain or Imperial and then Nazi Germany. Currently, that hegemon is the
United States. Thus, France, in particular the France of Charles de Gaulle of
which Chirac sees himself as the custodian, naturally seeks an alliance
capable of countering the global power of the day.

Germany's logic
under Schroeder was different. Germany had been divided and occupied by the
Cold War superpowers for two generations, and had the idea beaten into it
that Germany could not have a foreign policy (and certainly not a security
policy) independent from or hostile to Europe. Within that limited envelope,
Germany for the most part chose to be the European Union's yes-man and
pocketbook.

But after Germany's 1990 reunification, Berlin began to
think of itself as a country again, and under Schroeder it started developing
a foreign policy within the confines of its internationally imposed envelope.
If Germany would be allowed to think of itself as European, then Germany
should -- in Schroeder's mind -- treat European sovereignty with the same
respect and care a normal state would reserve for its own sovereignty. A
partnership with Chirac's view of Europe -- which envisaged Europe as a
global, if French-led, power -- was a natural fit.

Putin's logic also
was different. During the Cold War, Moscow did everything under the sun to
drive a wedge between Europe and the United States, believing (probably
correctly) that so long as the West remained united, it could wait out and
ultimately overpower the Soviet Union. A divided West, however, would be much
more susceptible to Soviet economic, political and/or military power.


This view re-emerged after the heady days of the early 1990s, when it
(briefly and inaccurately) seemed Washington and Moscow were going to become
best pals. As American power waxed and Russian power waned, Russia under
Putin was forced to confront the uncomfortable revelation that if Russia were
ever going to be secure, it had to have a European friend -- and a powerful
one. The logical choice was Germany, which, in addition to being the closest
major European state, boasted the largest economy, and as Schroeder was
discovering, a rather malleable foreign policy. Schroeder was already cozy
with Chirac, so Putin made the duet a trio.

And thus the
Paris-Berlin-Moscow axis was born.

Ungrateful Dissenters,
Meddlesome Americans, French Relics


And it immediately ran into
trouble.

The first and most critical flaw in the trilateral
relationship was that, though speaking on behalf of France, Germany and
Russia, made for powerful rhetoric, the trio presumed to speak as if it
represented the entire swathe of European and former Soviet states. Bulgaria,
the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the
United Kingdom, etc. in fact only have one thing in common, aside from their
location on the European continent: In the past 200 years, all of them have
either been at war with or occupied by France, Germany and Russia. Even for
states such as Norway or Greece, which strongly opposed Washington's Iraq
policies, the idea that Paris, Berlin and Moscow could speak for them without
even consulting them grated. And for those that relied on U.S. military power
to guarantee their independence -- particularly the "new" European states of
Central Europe -- the very thought the triumvirate could speak for them was
perceived as somewhere between horrifying and comic.

Beyond internal
European opposition, the Americans did not feel too hot about a grouping that
in theory contained allies that were in fact actively working to undermine
its policies. Luckily for the United States, certain things were fairly
firmly hardwired into the international system, giving Washington a great
deal of inertia that the triumvirate was simply unable to dislodge. The U.S.
dollar's dominance meant that even energy trade between Russia and France was
dollar-denominated. And France and Germany's budget shortfalls meant neither
state was willing to underwrite the expense of setting up an alternative
international system. A triumvirate effort to repeal the European Union's
Chinese arms embargo that would have ended most American-European defense
technology sharing -- something that ensured that other European states would
bring down the idea -- similarly failed to get off the ground. Such a deal
would have put weapons in the hands of the authors of the Tiananmen massacre,
something all German political parties -- even Schroeder's Social Democratic
Party, though not Schroeder himself -- opposed.

In time, however, it
was France that proved to be the alliance's undoing. In May 2004, Europhilic
France -- not the Euroskeptic United Kingdom -- defeated the European
constitution. Chirac's worldview -- and, by extension, Schroeder's and
Putin's as well -- required a Paris able to stand on the European platform
(perhaps sharing that platform with trusted partners that knew enough not to
block the spotlight) and use Europe's strength to influence the globe.
Without the unifying effect of a common constitution, however, the European
Union remains hobbled by a decision-making structure that allows individual
states to veto policies on issues of critical importance, such as how to
label cheese. That national veto also exists for less-interesting topics,
ranging from tax and judicial to foreign and military policies. Suddenly, the
political and economic assumptions upon which the triumvirate was built had
been sabotaged by none other than one of its own members.

Since that
decision, the rest of the world has been readjusting. Though Paris, Berlin
and Moscow were certainly at the forefront of the ideal of a world in which
the United States did not dictate policy, they were hardly the only ones with
a stake. Secondary powers the world over -- Brazil, China and India come to
mind -- also fancied the idea of a world in which they might form regional
groupings perhaps able to counter American hegemony.

But strategic
planners in all of these states have long realized that a multipolar system
is only possible with opposing political and economic poles. That means a
multipolar world would require an economically vibrant, politically distinct
and organizationally coherent Europe. When the constitution died -- and
sporadic European rhetoric to the contrary, the constitution is dead -- that
idea, and thus the multipolar dream, died with it too.

The past 16
months have seen the rest of the world unconsciously coming to grips with
this reality. Some states, such as India, have decided to experiment (albeit
warily) with a sort of alignment with the United States rather than to
attempt to play (nonexistent) poles off each other. Others, such as Brazil,
are viewing their own backyard in a new light, as years of mindless
commitment to an anti-American system rooted in the ideal of multipolarity
has begun to generate undesirable effects (in Brasilia's thinking) in
Venezuela and Bolivia.

And so the flaws in the
Chirac-Schroeder-Putin triumvirate's thinking have led to the triumvirate's
faltering -- as did Schroeder's electoral ejection in September 2005.


His replacement, Angela Merkel, cleaves to a worldview shaped by her
background in the former East Germany. For Merkel, American influence is not
necessarily a negative, and more important, her ideological envelope for
German policy is far wider. Whereas Schroeder operated under the constraints
the West imposed on Germany after World War II -- constraints that nearly all
West Germans consider justified -- Merkel and most East Germans consider
similar restraints imposed by the Soviet Union illegitimate. This freed up
German foreign policy to espouse and advocate German national interests
independent of Europe, empowering Berlin to craft a foreign policy free from
French hip-attachment. For example, within the European Union, Germany has
gone from an engine for greater integration to a force arguing as vehemently
as Denmark and the United Kingdom for the preservation of national vetoes in
key decision-making processes.

And of course, Schroeder's once-sturdy
French conjoined twin, Jacques Chirac, is not as dependable as before.
Chirac's term expires in May 2007, and barring an unexpected resurgence in
his fortunes, the French third of the triumvirate will also vanish.


That is because while Chirac's foreign policy is indeed rooted in
geography, that geography is not of today, but of the de Gaulle era. After
World War II, France found itself in a miniaturized Europe composed of only
France, the Low Countries and occupied Germany and Italy. The United Kingdom
was nursing its wounds and wanted little to do with the mainland, Spain was
languishing in Franco-imposed isolation and the Soviet advance had completely
cut off the eastern half of the Continent. For the first time in more than
1,000 years of French history, no major European powers were scheming,
maneuvering or marching to halt a French rise. France's first move? Begin to
band its near abroad into the European Economic Community, the forerunner of
today's European Union.

But the world of the de Gaulle era no longer
exists. Not only did "Europe" expand to include major European powers such as
Sweden, Spain and the United Kingdom, but the Cold War's end introduced a
host of new players that did not see eye to eye with France. Paris could
orchestrate and perhaps even control a Europe of six, but in a Europe of
(going on) 27, the best France can hope for is to avoid being drowned in
euromush. Like the rest of the world's geography, France's geography
changed.

But French foreign policy did not change with it.


Future French presidents, whether Nicolas Sarkozy, Segolene Royal or some
other figure, will have one critical characteristic separating them from the
incumbent: They will not worship at the altar of de Gaulle. A leadership
transition will not necessarily make France a fast friend of the United
States, but it will result in a foreign policy more rooted in the geography
of today rather than the geography of yesteryear.

The implications
are potentially devastating. De Gaulle's world was one in which the French
could control Europe, and that security encouraged the ambition that created
the European Union. Now, the French no longer believe that; the union is no
longer something to be embraced without hesitation. If France, the architect
of and -- to large degree -- the engine behind European unification, were to
reduce its support for the European project, and if Germany is increasingly
looking out for its own national interests, why shouldn't Paris do the same?


Beyond the Triumvirate

Which leaves Russia's Putin all
alone in the night.

Unlike Chirac, Putin's polices are not airy
dreams. Unlike Schroeder's, they are not about muscle flexing. Putin is
quietly terrified his country and culture are in terminal decline; an
alliance with France and Germany was one of the few things that might stave
of that unfortunate fate. As such, Putin was the most desperate of the three
to make the alliance work. But since he also has the most to lose if the
alliance failed, Putin would naturally be the player to move away from the
triumvirate the most quickly when he realized it was doomed.

And he
has.

Part of Russian foreign policy during the triumvirate period was
to treat its two friends as well as possible and to leave some of Russia's
blunt policy tools, such as energy cutoffs and military rumbling, for
countries less willing to want things Moscow's way. But with Schroeder gone
(so much was his commitment to the triumvirate that he now works for Russia's
state-energy firm Gazprom) and Chirac's star fading, Putin has no reason to
cater to French and German interests aside from a desire to be polite.


And Russians have a reputation for brusqueness absent a reason to be
polite.

Putin's new program is to look out for Russia's interests
using traditional Russian methods that have not been directed against core
Europe since Soviet times.

The January decision to slash natural gas
exports to Ukraine in the full knowledge that the resultant shortages would
be felt farther west (e.g., in France and Germany) was perhaps the first
large-scale application of this new/old policy. And it demonstrated Russia's
willingness to hurt its former allies in order to press home a critical
point: Our problems are still your problems.

In September, Russian
state-owned Vneshtorgbank purchased 5 percent of the European Aeronautic
Defense and Space Co. (EADS). Shortly thereafter, Kremlin officials leaked
that they intended to acquire a full blocking stake (typically 25 percent
plus one share). EADS, designed in order to empower Europe to compete
head-to-head with U.S. aerospace and defense contractors, has been the baby
of the Franco-German partnership going back a generation. Efforts to keep
that baby in the family know no bounds, and the French in particular are
rumored to be furious at the Russian intrusion. For Putin, French wrath is
immaterial. A Russian grip on EADS not only will secure more Western
technology for Moscow than Putin ever gathered as a KGB operative during the
Cold War; it also will allow Putin legitimately to demand meetings with core
European players -- up to and including the leadership of France, Germany and
Spain -- at a moment's notice.

In September, the Russian Natural
Resources Ministry revoked the license for Royal Dutch/Shell's Sakhalin-2
liquefied natural gas project and has threatened the same for Total's
Kharyaga oil project on the mainland. Technically, both projects are
protected by production-sharing agreements, but in Russia, the rule of law is
hardly firm. The message is clear: Investment and partnership with European
firms is all well and good, but it will occur on Russian terms. These
include, among other things, a European commitment to spread the wealth and
share technology liberally.

The Sept. 23 triumvirate meeting was a
testament to the past power of the threesome -- the key word being past. No
new initiatives were announced, no grand joint statements were released. The
biggest news -- if it can be called that -- was the announcement that the
three powers were forming a study group to examine the issue of Russian
participation in EADS, and that some natural gas from a stalled Russian
offshore project might go to Europe instead of the United States. The French
Foreign Ministry, denied even the mildest assurance from Putin that Total
would not be ejected from its Russian production-sharing agreement, was
reduced to issuing a statement of hope that all would eventually work
out.

Though this will not likely be the last trilateral summit of the
three -- European meetings have a tendency to continue rescheduling
themselves long after the meat of a relationship has rotted -- it clearly
illustrates how the special relationship the powers once enjoyed has been
relegated to history. Exposed to simple geography, rising strategic
competition among the three is nearly a foregone conclusion. France and
Germany will fight over, rather than cooperatively plan, the future of
European unification. Germany and Russia will discover that overlapping
economic interests in Central Europe are less a reason for common ground and
more an issue of winner takes all. France, looking to wring the last bits of
usefulness out of the European Union, will likely back a free trade deal with
Ukraine -- something that will rankle Russian sensitivities.

The one
player missing from this, of course, is the one player who will benefit the
most from the triumvirate's demise: the United States. While Washington would
likely greatly enjoy maneuvering Europe's various powers into more mutually
antagonistic positions, the current administration will not be the one to
take such steps. The Bush administration is simply too occupied with Iraq and
the Iranian complications that go with it to take advantage of anyone. Until
the White House can find more foreign policy bandwidth, it will be sitting
this one out.

Or at least, it will as long as the European powers
allow it to. Traditionally, when European powers maneuver against each other,
they tend to seek the assistance of an outside power, one that can serve as
an ally to help them balance their threats. With Moscow, Paris, and Berlin no
longer seeing eye to eye, one -- and perhaps all -- will ultimately seek out
Washington's helping hand.

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Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 7:42 PM CDT
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Updated: Tuesday, 26 September 2006 7:49 PM CDT
Gente contra Corriente
A very interesting website I discovered because the owner linked to a post I had about the USO

USO Sends 800,000th Care Package to Troops Serving Overseas!
In addition toCongressmen and Senators, celebrity guests at this stuffing party included Sherri Saum, James Avery, Brian Littrell, and Leann Tweeden.


The scenery on the site is usually very nice I rather like the purpose relayed to me

Dear Mr. Kauffman:

Thank you so much for you support. However, I shoul clarify that this blog's target is not to support the troops. This is a blog made from Spain, and my intention is to fight against the false belief that every celebrity holds leftish ideas. I know that happens in the US, and believe me, it's much worse in Europe. So I'm trying to bring famous people from the show bussiness, culture world, sports, fashion, etc, who have made statements holding libertarian or conservative beliefs, or, at least, against que ruling leftish beliefs. Certainly, someone who supports the troops is against that ruling flow, and so deserves to appear in this blog, though it is not the main target itself.

Anyway, thank you so much for your comments, and you`re a guest here anytime you feel like collaborating.



Here is just one of the sites Non-Left Celebrities.




Yes they not only linked to me they put my URL right next to LeAnn Tweeden

I think under the circumstances we need not stand on formalities, if you are reading this, please, just call me Dan? I would say we think alike. Allies can be allowed a less "proper" form of address. ;-)
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Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 10:31 AM CDT
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Updated: Tuesday, 26 September 2006 10:42 AM CDT

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