Winnie sis Very thoughtful qustions indeed! Let us first lay the foundations: 1. Allah is just, always. 2. No person bears the burden of another, be it a family member, or an aquaintance. 3. A sin once committted has to be settled by either istighfaar ( request of forgiveness ), Tawbah, Sadaqah, of a punishment, either in this life at death time or next life. Now, the story of " what goes around comes around " does not reflect that the girl was paying price of her brothers sin, she was a victim of a sinner, however she may have been influenced by Satan previously on her own as a sin begs another, just like how a good deed leads to another, in Surah Al Imran Allah SWT says" Innamaa istazzllahumu sheitaanu bibacdi maa kasabuu, wa laqad cafaa Allahu canhum " " Satan has caused them ( Companions) to commit a sin due to past sins they have committed" This concept shows that a sin if not settled can invite another up until it leads to Kufr, acaadanaallah minhaa. But, if in a household, a pious person strives to protect his family from satan, Allah will protect that family, that house will be protected by the honor of the piety of that person " Wa kaana abuuhumaa saalixaa " " their father was a pious man". From the converse of this verse we can deduce that a sinner can EXPOSE his family to divine punishment ( As he lacks TAQWA, which literally means PROTECTION AGAINST PUNISHMENT ), which connects very well with your last observation that if we fail to enforce good behavior or fail to discourage bad behavior, (make amr bil macruf and nahy canil munkar), that evil will ultimately visit us at our own homes. Good pious people ( Mutaqeen ) are protected in this life together with their loved ones, and in the next life, for that reason, its important that we always make sure that our loved ones are on the path of piety lest they drag us with them to the wrong side if we do not make baraa'a Disown them from their Kufr or sins. Allah SWT says " Wa amur ahlaka bi salaati wastabir caleyhaa, laa nas aluka rizqaa, naxnu narzuquka, wal caaqibatu lil TAQWAA " meaning " Encourage your family to observe prayers ( and all good deeds), and in doing so, be steadfast ( don't worry about livelihood ), We are not asking you to fetch for your own sustenance, We will sustain you, and the effort one makes to protect (their families from punishment) will have the most favorable ending " also Allah SWT says " Alladiina aamanuu wa attabact hum dhurriyatahum bi iimaanin alxaqnaaa bihim dhurrayatahum ", meaning: "Those who who accepted (the belief in Allah, The Messenegr, Angels, Scriptures, Messengers Day of Judgement, and Qadar ( Allah's overriding Foreknowledge of our choices), We join them with their descendants" In conclusion : When we do good, our family can benefit from it as an honor from Allah to make us happy when we see our loved ones on the right track. On the other hand, when we commit a sin and fail to settle it, our failure will end our subscription to Allah's protection program and to our loved ones, so, if they do good, they will stay protected, if they don't, they will not benefit from other family members good deeds protection. Wa Allahu Aclam Nur

SOS bro A great thought provoking piece, I just completed reading it MaashAllah Tabaaarakallah. Edifices represent civiliazations, from Babel to Twin Towers of New York, Petrnoas Twin Towers of Kuala Lumpur and now the Burj Dubai, are meant to agrandise a nation or a civilization, not neccessarily maximizing "carpet area" for return of an investment, since the non -carpet area cost exceeds the structural and service costs after a certain height ( Piling Costs , and cost of pumping concrete to higher levels become prohibitively expensive). Your first cousin ( the one who opted to live in Dubai) and people in general are fascinated with superlatives, Burj Dubai the tallest buiding, Emeirates Mall the largest Shopping Center, etc, this fascination is intended to attract tourists to spend the money that built these monuments in the first place, this is how Las Vegas was built, it is called the " Build -and- they - will Come" approach of property development, contrary to building for a forecasted demand. This property development concept also counts on the abundance of fossil energy. Dubai is the bulls eye of the Oil belt and lies a radius of an hours flight populated by a Billion people, who have no other attarction or a stable metropolis other than Dubai. The Middle East in general stores close to 80% of the planets proven reserves of oil and gas ( Black Gold), which guarantees that there will always be liquidity to stir business from east to west. Dubai, is the third busiest re-export port in the world, exporting goods to 160 countries who have trade representatives, offices and residences boasting teh busiest calendar year of trade expos in the entire region. Add this to Dubai's midway location between Europe/North America where a sizeable asian and middle eastern commmunities live. All these factors combine to the prominence of this city. Now, your second cousin and myself belong to a rare segment of Nomads who are fascinated by the camels, camel milk , the open savannah pastures, blue skies, and the true freedom that comes with the openness of the environement. A story I heard many years ago was about an American tourist whose vehicle broke down nearby a village in Somalia. An old Somali man came out of one of the huts, the Anmerican toursit tried to communicate with the old villager with sign language, but the old Somali man responded with a flawless english ( New York accent). The Toursit was shocked " You speak perfect English" he said, " I lived in new York for thirty years" responded the old man. " The why would you live in such a place" wondered the American, at this point, the Old man slapped the American saying" Better respect this place, its my home, New York isnt" Moral of the story, your cousin in Dubai will one day come back to live in Qudhac Dheer to milk the camels nshAllah! Nur

SOS bro A great thought provoking piece, I just completed reading it MaashAllah Tabaaarakallah. Edifices represent civiliazations, from Babel to Twin Towers of New York, Petrnoas Twin Towers of Kuala Lumpur and now the Burj Dubai, are meant to agrandise a nation or a civilization, not neccessarily maximizing "carpet area" for return of an investment, since the non -carpet area cost exceeds the structural and service costs after a certain height ( Piling Costs , and cost of pumping concrete to higher levels become prohibitively expensive). Your first cousin ( the one who opted to live in Dubai) and people in general are fascinated with superlatives, Burj Dubai the tallest buiding, Emeirates Mall the largest Shopping Center, etc, this fascination is intended to attract tourists to spend the money that built these monuments in the first place, this is how Las Vegas was built, it is called the " Build -and- they - will Come" approach of property development, contrary to building for a forecasted demand. This property development concept also counts on the abundance of fossil energy. Dubai is the bulls eye of the Oil belt and lies a radius of an hours flight populated by a Billion people, who have no other attarction or a stable metropolis other than Dubai. The Middle East in general stores close to 80% of the planets proven reserves of oil and gas ( Black Gold), which guarantees that there will always be liquidity to stir business from east to west. Dubai, is the third busiest re-export port in the world, exporting goods to 160 countries who have trade representatives, offices and residences boasting teh busiest calendar year of trade expos in the entire region. Add this to Dubai's midway location between Europe/North America where a sizeable asian and middle eastern commmunities live. All these factors combine to the prominence of this city. Now, your second cousin and myself belong to a rare segment of Nomads who are fascinated by the camels, camel milk , the open savannah pastures, blue skies, and the true freedom that comes with the openness of the environement. A story I heard many years ago was about an American tourist whose vehicle broke down nearby a village in Somalia. An old Somali man came out of one of the huts, the Anmerican toursit tried to communicate with the old villager with sign language, but the old Somali man responded with a flawless english ( New York accent). The Toursit was surprised " You speak perfect English" he said, " I've lived in new York for thirty years son" responded the old man. " Then why would you live in such a place" wondered the American, at this point, the Old man slapped the American's face saying" Better respect this place young man, its my home, New York isnt" Moral of the story, your cousin in Dubai will one day come back to live in Qudhac Dheer to milk the she camels nshAllah! Day Of judgement is not here yet as most of the great signs are not complete! Nur

Nomads Here is another reminder to keep Satan at bay during the upcoming holidays in which many Nomads ramp up their liability and mindlessly spend their assets for a temporary fad. Nur

SOS bro. Very interesting document, it shows the history and depth of the Bush family's involvement in the illegal Somalia coastal oil fields explorations. May be that is why Siad Barre was removed from power. Nur

Walaal Jamaal Jazaakallahu Kheiran, Allah adigana ku siiyo in u dhiganta inta kheir ah ood nala jeceshahay ( Wa lakal Mithl), hana nagu wada kulmiyo jannooyinkiisa adduunka ( Meelaha Allah Magaciisa qurxaan iyo sifaadkiisa sare lagu xuso oo dhan sida Somaliaonline Islam page) si aan u mudanno inaan galno Jannooyinkiisa aakhiro, amin. Walaal Jamaal ma qudhac dheer baad qabatay? ( lol), haddeyna jirin wax dhiba ah oo kaa soo gaaray SOL, meel walbood jogto waxaan jeclaan lahaa inaad na xidhiidhiso, xataa qudhac dheer haddad u safartay, waxaa suurogal ah in eNuri Internet Service laga helo. Meeshaad tagto, Allah ayaan kuu wakiilanay, diintaada iyo amaanadaadaba. Muxubbikum Fillah Nur

Barack Obama: “America’s First Jewish President” By James Petras Obama asks Shimon Peres: “ What can I do for Israel?” – Haaretz, November 17, 2008 The UN Special Rappateur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories (Richard Falk) has said Israel’s policies there amount to a crime against humanity…He said the UN must act to protect the Palestinian population suffering what he called ‘collective punishment’…He said the International Criminal Court should also investigate whether the Israeli civilian leaders and military commanders for the Gaza siege should be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international criminal law. – BBC News, December 10, 2008 We need to ratchet up tough but direct diplomacy with Iran, making very clear to them than their development of nuclear weapons would be unacceptable, that their funding of terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hizbullah, their threats against Israel are contrary to everything we believe in…We may have to tighten up those sanctions…and give them a clear choice…whether they want to do this the hard way or the easy way. – President-Elect Obama on NBC Meet the Press, December 7, 2008 December 12th, 2008 "ICH" -- -- According to a nationally prominent Zionist spokesperson, former Congressman, Federal Judge, White House Counsel to President Bill Clinton and early backer of Obama, Abner Mikvner, “Barack Obama is the first Jewish President ”. Mikvner’s affirmation reflects both Obama’s one-sided and longstanding commitment to the State of Israel and loyalty to the Zionist Power Configuration (ZPC) in the United States, as well as the long-term and successful effort of a network of financially and politically powerful Jewish Zionists to ‘embed’ Obama to their ‘Israel First’ political apparatus. What is striking about the latter is the demeaning and arrogant claims made by some leading Jewish Zionist about their ‘central roles’ in the making of Obama’s professional and political careers – in effect denying the President-Elect any credit for his own academic or professional success. (Historically this has been mirrored in the continuous claims of some American Jews to have fought and won the battle of Civil Rights in the 60’s on behalf of African Americans – essentially denying black Americans any independent political role in their own struggle.) Even their personal flattery about his ‘wisdom’, ‘brilliance’ and ‘intellectual acuity’ is always linked with his unconditional support of the State of Israel. One can envision how quickly his Zionist colleagues would replace their plaudits with crude insults regarding his intelligence if he suggested Israel end its starvation blockade of Gaza… Needless to say the Zionists know their man, as they confidently proclaim, he is a cautious and prudent politician, who measures power before he speaks, especially as he has filled the White House, economic councils and security apparatus with Zionist zealots. The Making and Re-Making of Obama The Chicago Jewish News, a nationally prominent Israel-First propaganda organ, published a lengthy article on ‘Obama and the Jews’ by Pauline Dubkin (October 24, 2008), which quotes approvingly a ‘long-time Jewish observer of the political scene’, who declared that, “Jews made him (Obama). Wherever you look there is a Jewish presence.” This is not merely the usual arrogant self-aggrandizing boasts of a Zionist power broker, with which we are constantly bombarded on so many political topics, this reflects an important part of what Obama has become, especially in advancing his latter day political ambitions. The Zionist self-promoters (ZSP), ever ready to take credit for any success (no matter how notorious and immoral) – Wall Street speculators, Ivy League professors, Pentagon militarists, cultural gurus and even the key patrons of art forms like jazz and constantly rewrite history (or biography in the case of Obama) to maximize their self-importance in all aspects of American life. The ZSP conveniently fail to mention in their articles that Obama’s white Gentile grandmother gave him the intellectual nurturing and encouragement and diligently petitioned for scholarships for him to attend elite private schools, which formed the basis for his intellectual skills to write, speak and reason as an educated man. The ZSP exclude from their ‘revisionist and Judaized’ biography of Obama, the central importance of Reverend Jeremiah Wright who transformed Obama from an elite Ivy university graduate into an effective social activist. Obama was able to participate and get involved in community organizing in Chicago’s African-American neighborhoods because of Wright’s endorsement and broad credibility. If it were not for Rev. Wright, Obama would never have had a social base or organizational experience to engage in Chicago politics. It is only after Obama had gained these skills and popular appeal that the Zionist politicos noticed him and went to work on his ego and ambitions, recruiting him to their pro-Israel agenda and financing his political career. The Zionist re-write of his biography has gone curiously unchallenged by Obama. To suit his new mentors, the Israel-First ideologues and financial backers, he has willfully discarded and insulted his former mentors, as well as any current policy advisers and political colleagues who doesn’t adhere to the Zionist line of unconditional support for Israel. Two cases come immediately to mind. When leading Zionist ideologues objected to the presence of Zbigniew Brzezinski and Robert Malley, among Obama’s foreign policy advisors, the Zionists in Obama’s inner circle immediately marginalized them with his approval. When the notorious torture-promoting Zionofascist Harvard Law Professor, Alan Dershowitz raised a howl about former US President Jimmy Carter (a principled critic of Israel’s apartheid policies) speaking at the Democratic Party Convention (following a century-long political tradition of honoring former presidents) the Zionist operatives blatantly humiliated the elderly Carter by denying him even a five-minute speech – with Obama’s approval. ‘Professor’ Dershowitz publicly crowed about his success and power over the Democratic nominee Obama in censoring the former President. The conversion and promotion of Obama as an Israel-Firster is an excellent case study of the methods the ZPC has used to build a near invincible power base in the US political system. The construction of the ZPC is not the result of a cabal with a preplanned centrally controlled operation. Obama’s conversion began through an ideologically diverse, individual, family and community-based effort. As Obama rose from local to national political office, Zionist promotion evolved from local into a nationally organized and concerted effort including campaign funding, business career appointments and paid propaganda and indoctrination junkets to Israel. The ZPC offers positive inducements for the ‘recruitable’ and threats of retaliation and intimidation via media slanders and systematic public pillory through most Jewish communal organizations for the public political critics of Israel who remain recalcitrant and refuse to toe the Israel-First line. Turning Obama into an Israel-Firster, according to the Chicago Jewish News article, began during his studies at Harvard Law School where he was ‘spotted’ by a Zionist professor, Martha Minow, as “smart, promising, and politically ambitious” and a likely recruit. The professor proudly recounts how she contacted family members, including her father, a major Democratic powerbroker, and fellow Zionists who ran a law firm in Chicago and recommended they hire the Obama. In brief, the first step in Zionist recruitment was using a prestigious academic post for initial contact, followed by a promise of career advancement through a professional network. The next step was to introduce Obama to an association of ‘friends and neighbors in the Jewish Community including prominent Zionist financial supporters. Obama’s early promoters played a key role in convincing him that his political future depended on Zionist allies and that support depended on his total commitment to an Israel-First agenda. As Obama’s ties with his Zionist-liberal backers in the Democratic Party thickened, his links to black community organizing and his pastor and former mentor, the progressive African-American minister, Reverend Jeremiah Wright weakened. By the end of the 1990’s, Obama was firmly embedded in the liberal Zionist Democratic Party network and through it he teamed up with two key Zionist figures who were crucial to his presidential campaign: David Axelrod, Obama’s chief political strategist since 2002 and the chief architect and tactician of his presidential campaign in 2008 and Bettylu Salzman, daughter of Phillip Klutznick, a billionaire real estate developer, slumlord and zealous Israel-Firster. Salzman/Klutznick admits she never would have bankrolled and promoted Obama simply because of ‘his smarts’ or liberal politics if he hadn’t pledged his commitment to Israel’s interests. She states, “Obviously I’m not going to support someone who is opposed to Israel and what it stands for. He’s right on all the issues when it comes to Israel. He is in exactly the same place (Hillary) Clinton is, maybe stronger. He’s a clearer thinker.” (Chicago Jewish News, October 24, 2008) While Obama served in the Illinois Senate, he shared an office with an Orthodox Jew and fanatical Israel-Firster, Ira Silverstein, who boasts of his role in ‘educating’ Obama about Jewish Orthodoxy and more important “shared pro-Israel feelings” to the point that … “When Silverstein sponsored numerous resolutions condemning PLO bombings Obama eagerly signed on as a co-sponsor.” (ibid) Fully embedded in the Zionist Power Configuration of Chicago, Obama was advised by the Axelrods, Klutznicks and other key strategists to make the obligatory ritual pilgrimage to Israel and pay obeisance to its leaders in the course of his Senate campaign. During his trip to Israel, two years later in 2006, Obama was accompanied and guided by the executive vice-president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. Under Zionist guidance, Obama ‘connected’ with the Israeli state, totally ignoring the plight of the Palestinians who were being savagely repressed by the Israel Army and assaulted on a daily basis by Zion-Fascist settlers. Obama returned a thoroughly committed Zionist African-American politician. With the Israeli-ZPC certificate of approval, Obama’s financial base of support widened to include some of the wealthiest pro-Israel Jewish Americans in the Midwest including Lester Crown, whose son, James Crown headed Obama’s financial campaign in Illinois. According to Crown (pater), “From the time I met him, the times we talked about Israel and we talked about it several times, he has been an ardent backer of Israel’s defense position (sic), Israel’s security position.” (Ibid) To those Zionfascists who demand that Israel annex all of Palestine and expel ‘the Arabs’ and were disturbed by Obama’s passing reference to a two-state solution, Crown assured them that Obama’s proposal was couched in such outrageously impossible demands for concessions from the Palestinians that it was a dead letter. Not all Jews accept this view of a Zionist-embedded Obama: Some racists reject him as an untrustworthy and unqualified ‘Schvartze’ because of his ‘very close intimate relationship’ with Reverent Jeremiah Wright. The Zionist-influenced mass media took their cue from the far-right and orchestrated a hate campaign against Reverend Wright and his links to Obama. The ‘liberal Zionists’, who strategized and ran Obama’s presidential campaign, easily convinced Obama to publicly dissociate himself from his former minister and mentor of the 1980’s. Obama complied. However, the alliance of the Republican Right and Zionfascists demanded Obama make a public denunciation of the Minister. The liberal Zionists prepared the script, which Obama recited, issuing a vicious condemnation of Rev. Wright and specifically listed Wright’s defense of the sovereignty and self-determination of the Palestinians as one of his ‘crimes’. Obama had crossed the River Jordan. His capitulation to the Zionofascists was the inevitable consequence of his intimate and longstanding ties to his liberal-Zionist backers. The public purging and scourging of a renowned African-American Christian theologian of the oppressed was only the beginning of the Zionist makeover of Obama as the first Jewish (or better Zionist) President of the United States. It was followed by further purges of any ‘centrist’ or ‘realist’ establishment adviser, who might at any time in the past have issued the mildest criticism of Israel’s policies or even praised or associated with any other critic of Israel or the Jewish Lobby in the US. It was ‘guilt by association’. The Zionofascists soon pressed their campaign to force Obama’s liberal-Zionists to purge Zbigniew Brzezinski, the Cold Warrior National Security Adviser to former President Jimmy Carter, Samantha Power, author and lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and Robert Malley, a former Clinton adviser for their perceived crimes against Zionism. Brzezinski was accused of advocating what he called “an even-handed Middle East policy”, something clearly ‘anti-Semitic’ in the eyes of the unconditional supporters of Israel who dominate the Presidents of the Major American Jewish Organizations (PMAJO). Worse still he praised the Walt-Mearsheimer book critical of the Israel Lobby, a capital offense in the eyes of most of the Jewish political spectrum. Power and Malley also transgressed the Israel-First line. Although Brzezinski later recanted his praise of Professors Walt and Mearsheimers’ study, he and the other members of the ‘objectionable three’ foreign policy specialists were marginalized and excluded from having any input on policy issues related to Middle East. Control of Obama’s Middle East policy was taken over by Dennis Ross, a virulent Zionist advocate of Israel’s ultra-militaristic policies, including an armed preemptive attack on Iranian nuclear and military installations. Ross is an unconditional supporter of the Israeli starvation siege of the 1.5 million residents of the Gaza Strip and fully backed Israel’s savage air attacks against civilian targets in Lebanon. Obama’s appointment of Ross is the clearest guarantee to all Zionists, liberal, orthodox or fascist, that US policy in the Middle East will continue to be subordinated to the interests of the Israeli State and its military. Obama’s purge of any and all moderate voices on Middle East policy, his placement of fanatical Israel-Firsters in most key positions in his campaign and new Administration reflects his long-term, deep immersion into the Zionist Power Configuration. The result is a “Jewish President” – in the sense that most key White House, economic and security appointments reflect pre-election Zionist power in the making, indoctrination and scripting of the Obama candidacy. The Configuration of the ‘Jewish President’ One of Obama’s longest supporters, Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, provides a clue to Obama’s affinity for Zionist appointments. According to Rabbi Wolf, “ Obama is embedded in the Jewish world .” While the Rabbi is presumptuous to assume that all Jews subscribe to his own Israel-First views, he is absolutely correct if he is referring to the Jewish-Zionist world. Nothing better explains Obama’s selection of demonstrably failed economists and security officials than his long-term, large-scale links to the ZPC. Obama started with the appointments of dual US-Israeli citizen, Illinois Congressman Rahm Emmanuel and Zionist David Axelrod to top White House posts, as well as Lawrence Summers (long-time Harvard ally of the Judeo-fascist, torture advocate Alan Dershowitz) as chief White House economic adviser. Summers is a life-time Israel-Firster, who used his presidency at Harvard University as a bully pulpit to attack a student-faculty group critical of Israeli policies in the Occupied Terrtories. As the former Treasury Secretary under the Clinton regime he was a key architect of the speculator-dominated financial system, which is currently in total collapse. In line with the ‘Jewish Presidency’, Obama named one of the foremost, unconditional Israel-Firsters to be his key Middle East policymaker – Dennis Ross, a leading Zionist ideologue and co-author of a presidential position paper advocating pre-emptive war with Iran. Ross is the pivotal Zionist figure in Obama’s entourage and his appointment is the guarantee for the 52 Presidents of the Major American Jewish Organizations (PMAJO) that the Obama regime will follow and support with American guns and American tax-payer money every Israeli war crime, assault or invasion on its Arab and Parsi-speaking regional neighbors. Ross, Axelrod, Summers, Emmanuel and their craven followers in Congress together with the AIPAC and the entire Zionist community-based network will ensure that Obama is inextricably ‘embedded’ in their agenda. They will not allow the publication or support of any intelligence investigation, judicial inquiry or United Nations report, which challenges Israel’s occupation of Palestine and promotion of pre-emptive war with Iran based on the fabrication of data about its so-called nuclear threat. Each and every recently appointed Zionists has condemned the United Nations and International Atomic Agency reports refuting Israel’s phony claims of an Iranian nuclear weapons program. They will make sure that newly appointed National Security Adviser, General James Jones will never bring up or make public his highly critical internal report based his on-site investigation of Israel’s crimes against the civilian Palestinian population in the Occupied Territories. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Obama and Defense Secretary Gates are so deeply ‘embedded’ in the Zionist network and so deeply infused with the Israel-First ideology that ZPC ‘pressure’ will not be necessary. The three are, in effect, Zionized Zombies, eager to fawn and truckle, even to grotesque excesses, at every wink and gesture, signaling military handouts, UN vetoes and repeated provocative acts of war against Iran. They have even exceeded President Bush in their eagerness to please their Zionist mentors by recognizing Jerusalem as the ‘undivided’ capital of the Jews – effectively denying the rights of the Palestinian residents. Nothing speaks to the dominance of the ZPC over US political life – domestic and foreign - than the election of their meticulously groomed first ‘Jewish President’ – and the subsequent takeover of strategic economic and security posts in his administration. Conclusion The ascent of a minority of ambitious power-driven political operatives acting first and foremost for a militarist colonial power in a strategic region of the world economy represents the biggest threat to world peace and to US democratic values in recent history. Think about it: Not only do the Zionists and their embedded clones rule the White House, they also have the political apparatus (left, liberal, center and right) to silence, insult, witch hunt and isolate any critic of their agenda, their organizations and of the State of Israel. When confronted by a critic the entire apparatus brays in unison about ‘anti-Semitism’ and follows up with severe civil sanctions. As Obama’s career under his Zionist handlers illustrates, they are capable of hurling repulsive denunciations against his former African-American mentor and spiritual councilor, Reverend Wright; capable of publicly humiliating and pushing aside a former President and Obama supporter, Jimmy Carter; capable of isolating and ‘sanitizing’ former top foreign policymakers from earlier Democratic Administration like Brzezinski, simply for pointing out Israeli crimes against humanity (although such observations are made daily in the European press and political circles). The apparatus combines the carrot (embedding and promoting Obama) and the stick (stigmatizing Carter): It all depends on whether an individual, politician, academic, writer or journalist is ‘useful’ (i.e., an unconditional supporter) or ‘harmful’ (i.e., critical) to the State of Israel. The Obama experience illustrates how a small, close knit, well-organized and well financed minority operating through prestigious professional posts and powerful economic enterprises can penetrate major political institutions, capture upwardly mobile politicians and ‘turn’ them into willing accomplices in promoting wars on behalf of a foreign colonial militarist power. If in the past we have experienced Zionist thuggery mugging our freedom of speech in civil society, think of what we can expect when these thugs have complete control of the White House. The ‘First Jewish President’ of the United States indeed! Where does that leave the American people, their rights, their interests and their country’s independent foreign policy? Epilogue In early December 2008, Israel’s right wing party, Likud, under the leadership of ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu, met and nominated its slate of candidates for the upcoming national elections (February 12, 2009). The majority of candidates nominated represent what most Israeli journalists call the ‘hard right’ or what might be accurately described as Zionfascism. The Likud Party majority favors the expulsion of all Palestinians (i.e. non-Jews) from Greater Israel, the military seizure of Gaza, the end of any pretense of peace negotiations and the immediate bombing of Iran. Currently Likud and its fascists have the support of a plurality of Israeli Jews. If they win, it is a virtual certainty they will receive the automatic support of all the principle respectable pro-Israel Jewish organizations in the US, who follow the line that: “It is not ours to question whom the Israelis vote for office. It is our duty to back the State of Israel.” The election of an Israeli-fascist regime will up the ante in Washington. Does Obama’s embedding in the Zionist apparatus include support for Jewish fascism , the total ethnic cleansing of Palestine and their unilateral decision to ‘nuke’ Iran? Three weeks into his presidency Obama will face his biggest Middle East challenge, which will define the nature of US policy in the region. Obama has recently suggested that Washington would nuke Iran to protect Israel – which has never yet signed a treaty with the US – to which the Bush Administration replied contemptuously that it would be very hard to convince American parents in Kansas that their sons should risk nuclear incineration for the sake of a small country in the Middle East. Clearly Obama is a greater war monger on issues involving Israel then even Bush: It comes with being a “Jewish President” James Petras, a former Professor of Sociology at Binghamton University, New York, owns a 50-year membership in the class struggle, is an adviser to the landless and jobless in Brazil and Argentina, and is co-author of Globalization Unmasked (Zed Books). Petras’ forthcoming book, Zionism, Militarism and the Decline of US Power, is due from Clarity Press, Atlanta, in August 2008. He can be reached at: jpetras@binghamton.edu. Visit his website .

Nomads As predicted by my above write up about Somali Banana Terrorism, a Satirical forecast in which I expected that the US will come back to Somalia to settle the 1993 Military intervention in the name of helping poor hungry people, new events are changing the course of that prediction: 1. I expected that the US will demonize the warlords who have committed heinous crimes against humanity as a pretext to come back for the Oil. 2. Instead, the US is in bed with the criminal warlords ( Birds of feather flock together i guess). Their common enemy, Islamis who want peace for their people and the world. So, the new strategy of the US to come to somalia is to work closely with the warlords and the Pirates to create a pretext for re-occupation of Somalia. Background of Rational : The Ethiopians invaded Somalia with orders from their sponsors, subsequently, the ICU melted away unscathed without losing their strength to a well armed and financed Ethiopian army, The Shabaab Movement, a component of the ICU resistance movement regrouped to continue the struggle against the CIA sponsored Ethiopian Mercenaries, The Ethiopians couldnt take the heat by the resistance, to retaliate, they mericlessly bombarded civilians areas of Mogadishu causing thousands of fatalities and injuries, rape and destruction of the infrastructure that was built by the people in the absence of a government for the past 17 years. Their goal being, to install their Warlord Government as a slave of a slave of slave. The Ethiopians in dire need of face saving exit out of somalia mess, asked their sponsors in Washington for help, but the best help they could get from a cash strapped Super Power was a US law to deligitimize the Shabaab resistance movement that gave the Ethiopians a run for their money ( Mercenery money ). The US subsequently listed the Shabaab Resistance Movement as a terrorsit organization ( affilated with non existent CIA created Al Qaeda ) Thus, Al Shabaab kids are suddenly declared to be a threat to American National Interest in Africa. ( Being in US Terror list is not a big deal, Nelson Mandela and his ANC Party Members were in the list as late as this year 2008 ). After two years, the Ethiopians who initially won the battle of Mogadishu, lost the war to occupy all of Somalia on behalf of American Interest (The Land Of The Free who wants to enslave the rest of the world ). America is fast losing its credibility worldwide in the UN and with its Eurppean allies, too many lies to swallow, so being broke after the financial meltdown of Wall Street, it can't rescue Its ailing auto industry let alone rescue Ethiopia which it taught its dummy lessons from the Iraq occupation, which in turn are also failing, we have a case of a bad teacher and a good loyal student here. So now what? asks Meles Well, we need the UN to allow American troops in to Somalia, answers his boss. How? asks President Meles of Ethiopia Well, we need to create an international problem emanating from Somalia, then we will ask the UN to allow our Marines to capture these culprits since no one believes the "terrorism" theory anymore. You mean the drug trade which we created together? asks President Meles Dont be silly Meles, the drug trade will continue in Somalia, we are broke, that is the only way we can finance our regional petty expenses from the Qat weed and other drug and weapon sales cashflows, and also from the " Oil Exploration Funds " of American Oil Companies who are willing to pay for our services, that way we get two revenue streams; one from drugs, and the other from Amercian oil companies with an investment stake in Somalia. I still don't get it? wonders President Meles We will have the warlords create an international outcry and anger to justify an American invasion of Somalia. We will create a new menace called Somali Pirates , we will give them all the technical and navigational support they need, including, but not limited to a complete cover to capture any ship along the 3200 Kilometer Somali coasts, we can even guide them to capture oil tankers as far as 4500 kilometer near Madacascar. This Piracy Business cover shall continue for six months to capture close to 150 ships of different flags which will force a UN Security council resolution allowing American troops into Somalia so we can set up a new Somali Government headed by Moderate Islamist to divide them like Iraq. Then we will have them sign the Oil law, once the Oil Law is signed, we will have the American Marines guard the Oil fields and other vital navigational strategic areas for US Navy. Our immediate strategy is to allow the Somali Pirates hit the Russians and the Chinese interests too ( Security Council Memebers ) to bring them along, that way, we can use a unanimous UN Resolution to give us the legal cover, international funding to give us funding from Piracy affected nations, and American Marines to go into Somalia and capture the notorious Shabaab leaders to destroy their resistance so that we can install a new Moderate Islamist led government back, of course with your supervision. OK, what is in for me? asks Meles A lifetime protection against Crime Against humanity you committed in Somalia, a retirement in any country of your choice since there will be a rebellion in Ethiopia soon demaning Democracy and of course, a good commission from the drug money from the Warlords. Inspired by: Honorable Cag Bakeyle Retired Somali warlord Present Peace Maker Born Again Wadaad!

Bashi Bro. Have not visited this section for a while, what is going on at this section?, have I missed anything of value? any new anarchist initiaves? Nur

Abu Salman bro. About the Muxaadaro on Xasadka, did the Sheikh discuss the Dhiker Power to offset Xasadka? there is another variant of Xasad, its called Ghibta, its cooler, not as burning as Xasad, I think that was your feeling! Haneefa sis Exams On Eid Day? Hope you had time to make it up with family? Well, Eid Ul Adxaa is about choices and sacrifices anyway, so in a way, Exam was a priority. Blessed sis Never late sis, wishing you and family all the best.

Britain Leaves Iraq in Shame. The US Won't Go So Quietly. Obama was elected on the back of revulsion at Bush's war, but greater pressure will be needed to force a full withdrawal By Seumas Milne December 11, 2008 "The Guardian" -- -If British troops are indeed withdrawn from Iraq by next June, it will signal the end of the most shameful and disastrous episode in modern British history. Branded only last month by Lord Bingham, until recently Britain's most senior law lord, as a "serious violation of international law", the aggression against Iraq has not only devastated an entire country and left hundreds of thousands dead - it has also been a political and military humiliation for the invading powers. In the case of Britain, which marched into a sovereign state at the bidding of an extreme and reckless US administration, the war has been a national disgrace which has damaged the country's international standing. Britain's armed forces will withdraw from Iraq with dishonour. Not only were they driven from Basra city last summer under cover of darkness by determined resistance, just as British colonial troops were forced out of Aden 40 years ago - and Iraq and Afghanistan, among other places, before that. But they leave behind them an accumulation of evidence of prisoner beatings, torture and killings, for which only one low-ranking soldier, Corporal Payne, has so far been singled out for punishment. It's necessary to spell out this brutal reality as a corrective to the official tendency to minimise or normalise the horror of what has evidently been a criminal enterprise - enthusiastically supported by David Cameron and William Hague, it should be remembered, as well as Tony Blair and his government - and a reminder of the dangers of escalating the war that can't be won in Afghanistan. It was probably just as well that the timetable for British withdrawal from Iraq was given in a background military briefing, after Gordon Brown's earlier schedule for troop reductions was vetoed by George Bush. But in any case, in the wake of Barack Obama's election on a partial withdrawal ticket, the latest plans look a good deal more credible. They are also welcome, of course, even if several hundred troops are to stay behind to train Iraqis. It would be far better both for Britain and Iraq if there were a clean break and a full withdrawal of all British forces in preparation for a comprehensive public inquiry into the Iraq catastrophe. Instead, and in a pointer to the shape of things to come, British troops at Basra airport are being replaced by US forces. Meanwhile, the real meaning of last month's security agreement between the US and Iraqi governments is becoming clearer, as Obama's administration-in-waiting briefs the press and officials highlight the small print. This "status of forces agreement", which replaces the UN's shotgun mandate for the occupation forces at the end of this month, had been hailed by some as an unequivocal deal to end the occupation within three years. There's no doubt that Iraq's Green Zone government, under heavy pressure from its own people and neighbours such as Iran, extracted significant concessions from US negotiators to the blanket occupation licence in the original text. The final agreement does indeed stipulate that US forces will withdraw by the end of 2011, that combat troops will leave urban areas by July next year, contractors and off-duty US soldiers will be subject to Iraqi law and that Iraqi territory cannot be used to attack other countries. The fact that the US was forced to make such commitments reflects the intensity of both Iraqi and American public opposition to the occupation, the continuing Iraqi resistance war of attrition against US forces, and Obama's tumultuous election on a commitment to pull out all combat troops in 16 months. Even so, the deal was denounced as treason - for legitimising foreign occupation and bases - by the supporters of the popular Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, resistance groups and the influential Association of Muslim Scholars. And since his November triumph, Obama has gone out of his way to emphasise his commitment to maintaining a "residual force" for fighting "terrorism", training and protection of US civilians - which his security adviser Richard Danzig estimated could amount to between 30,000 and 55,000 troops. Briefings by Pentagon officials have also made clear this residual force could remain long after 2011. It turns out that the new security agreement can be ditched by either side, while the Iraqi government is fully entitled to invite US troops to remain, as explained in the accompanying "strategic framework agreement", so long as its bases or presence are not defined as "permanent". And given that the current Iraqi government would be unlikely to survive a week without US protection, such a request is a fair bet. Combat troops can also be "re-missioned" as "support units", it transpires, and even the last-minute concession of a referendum on the agreement next year will not, the Iraqi government now says, be binding. None of this means there won't be a substantial withdrawal of troops from Iraq after Obama takes over the White House next month. But how far that withdrawal goes will depend on the kind of pressure he faces both at home and in Iraq. The US establishment clearly remains committed to a long-term stewardship of Iraq. The Iraqi government is at this moment negotiating secret 20-year contracts with US and British oil majors to manage 90% of the country's oil production. The struggle to end US occupation and control of the country is far from won. The same goes for the wider shadow of the war on terror, of which Iraq has been the grisly centrepiece. Its legacy has been strategic overreach and failure for the US: from the rise of Iran as a regional power, the deepening imbroglio of the Afghan war, the advance of Hamas and Hizbullah and threat of implosion in Pakistan - quite apart from the advance of the nationalist left in Latin America and the growing challenge from Russia and China. But at its heart has been the demonstration of American weakness in Iraq, the three trillion-dollar war that helped drive the US economy into crisis. No wonder the US elite has wanted a complete change of direction and Bush was last week reduced to mumbling his regrets about the "intelligence failure in Iraq". For Obama, the immediate foreign policy tests are clear: if he delivers on Iraq, negotiates in Afghanistan and engages with Iran, he will start to justify the global hopes that have been invested in him. If not, he will lay the ground for a new phase of conflict with the rest of the world. Seumas Milne is a Guardian columnist and associate editor. © 2008 Guardian News and Media Limited

Nomads Since this thread appeared over two years ago, many events took place in Somalia and the world to change events to the disadvantage of the shadowy world government, the Ethiopians invaded Somalia with orders from their sponsors, subsequently, the ICU melted away unscathed without losing their strength to a well armed and financed Ethiopian army, The Shabaab Movement, a component of the ICU resistance movement regrouped to continue the struggle against the CIA sponsored Ethiopian Mercenaries, The Ethiopians couldnt take the heat by the resistance, to retaliate, they mericlessly bombarded civilians areas of Mogadishu causing thousands of fatalities and injuries, rape and destruction of the infrastructure that was built by the people in the absence of a government for the past 17 years. Their goal being, to install their Warlord Government as a slave of a slave of slave. The Ethiopians in dire need of face saving exit out of somalia mess, asked their sponsors in Washington for help, but the best help they could get from a cash strapped Super Power was a US law to deligitimize the Shabaab resistance movement that gave the Ethiopians a run for their money ( Mercenery money ). The US subsequently listed the Shabaab Resistance Movement as a terrorsit organization ( affilated with non existent CIA created Al Qaeda ) Thus, Al Shabaab kids are suddenly declared to be a threat to American National Interest in Africa. ( Being in US Terror list is not a big deal, Nelson Mandela and his ANC Party Members were in the list as late as this year 2008 ). After two years, the Ethiopians who initially won the battle of Mogadishu, lost the war to occupy all of Somalia on behalf of American Interest (The Land Of The Free who wants to enslave the rest of the world ). America is fast losing its credibility worldwide in the UN and with its Eurppean allies, too many lies to swallow, so being broke after the financial meltdown of Wall Street, it can't rescue Its ailing auto industry let alone rescue Ethiopia which it taught its dummy lessons from the Iraq occupation, which in turn are also failing, we have a case of a bad teacher and a good loyal student here. So now what? asks Meles Well, we need the UN to allow American troops in to Somalia, answers his boss. How? asks Meles Well, we need to create an international problem emanating from Somalia, then we will ask the UN to allow our Marines to capture these culprits since no one believes the "terrorism" theory anymore. You mean the drug trade which we created together? asks Meles Dont be silly, the drug trade will continue in Somalia, we are broke, that is the only way we can finance our regional expenses from the Qat and other drug cashflows, and also from the " Oil Exploration Funds " of American Oil Companies who are willing to pay for our services, that way we get two revenue streams; one from drugs, and the other from Amercian oil companies with an investment stake in Somalia. I still don't get it? wonders Meles We will have the whorelords create an international outcry to justify an American invasion of Somalia. We will create a new menace called Somali Pirates, we will give them all the technical support they need, including, but not limited a complete cover to capture any ship along the 3200 Kilometer Somali coasts, we can even guide them to capture oil tankers as far as 4500 kilometer near Madacascar. This Piracy Business cover shall continue for six months to capture close to 150 ships of different flags which will force a UN Security council resolution allowing American troops into Somalia so we can set up a new Somali Government headed by Moderate Islamist to divide them like Iraq. Then we will have them sign the Oil law, once the Oil Law is signed, we will have the American Marines guard the Oil fields and other vital navigational strategic areas for US Navy. Our immediate strategy is to allow the Somali Pirates hit the Russians and the Chinese interests too ( Security Council Memebers ) to bring them along, that way, we can use a unanimous UN Resolution to give us the legal cover, international funding to give us funding from Piracy affected nations, and American Marines to go into Somalia and capture the notorious Shabaab leaders to destroy their resistance so that we can install a new Moderate Islamist led government back, of course with your supervision. OK, what is in for me? asks Meles A lifetime protection against Crime Against humanity you committed in Somalia, a retirement in any country of your choice since there will be a rebellion in Ethiopia soon demaning Democracy and of course, a good commission from the drug money from the Warlords. Inspired by: Honorable Cag Bakeyle Retired Somali warlord Present Peace Maker and a Born Again Wadaad!

Revoking Israel's UN Membership By Snorre Lindquist and Lasse Wilhelmson – Stockholm December 11, 2008 " Palestine Chronicle" Dec 03, 2008 -- The Gaza Strip is now the largest concentration camp in the world. The situation grows steadily more insufferable for the 1.5 million Palestinians who live there. Deliveries of food, medicine and fuel are made difficult or stopped altogether. Child malnutrition is increasing. Water supplies and drainage have ceased to function. Children die for lack of healthcare. Tunnels to Egypt, dug by hand, are the only breathing space. Journalists and diplomats are denied entry. Israel is planning more military efforts. The Palestinians in Gaza are now to be starved into surrender and become an Egyptian problem. The UN should use the word apartheid in connection with Israel and consider sanctions with the former South Africa serving as a model. Miguel dÉscoto Brockman, president of the UN General Assembly, conveyed this message at a meeting on November 24th 2008 with the UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon present. The 1976 Nobel peace prize laureate, Mairead McGuire from Ireland, recently suggested a popular movement demanding that the UN revoke Israel’s membership. The international community now needs to put tangible pressure on Israel in order to stop its war crimes. Not once, during the past 60 years, has Israel shown any intention of living up to the requirements stipulated by the UN, in connection with the country’s membership in 1948, namely that the Palestinians who had been evicted from their homes should be allowed to return at the earliest possible opportunity. Moreover, Israel holds the hardly flattering world record of ignoring UN resolutions. It can be questioned from the aspect of human rights legislation whether Israel is a legitimate state. Established practice between states usually requires borders that are legally maintained and a constitution, neither of which Israel has. These requirements are also named in the UN resolution (181) Partition Plan for Palestine, approved by the General Assembly in November 1947. The plan was accepted by the Zionists Jews in Palestine but rejected for excellent reasons as unjust by the Arab states. Only decisions made by the UN Security Council are mandatory. Later on, Israel unilaterally laid claim to a considerably larger portion of land than that suggested by the UN. The eviction of eighty per cent of the Palestinians who lived west of the 1947 armistice line, and Israel’s refusal to allow them to return is the human rights argument for expelling Israel from the UN. Not only has Israel played the Partition Plan false but has, by its actions, thwarted the grounds – fragile from the start – for its UN membership. Israel makes use of various strategies to achieve its goals, the same goals as for over a hundred years ago: As few and as well controlled and weakened Palestinians as possible in areas as small as possible between the Mediterranean and the River Jordan. And to try and get acceptance worldwide for the theft of land that is vital to the “state” that calls itself “Jewish and democratic”. This obviously bears no similarity to a peace process. Why does nobody ever comment on the fact that Israel’s prime minister never misses an opportunity to harp on about how important it is that the rest of the world and the Palestinians recognise Israel, not as a democratic country for all its citizens, but as a “Jewish state”? What would we have said if South Africa’s Prime Minister, in a similar way, had demanded recognition of South Africa as a “white and democratic state”, thus de facto accepting the racist apartheid system that allowed non-whites to be classified as lesser human beings? In the article The end of Zionism, published in the Guardian on September the 15th 2003 the Jewish dissident and former speaker of Knesset, Avraham Burg wrote: “Diaspora Jews for whom Israel is a central pillar of their identity must pay heed and speak out … We cannot keep a Palestinian majority under an Israeli boot and at the same time think ourselves the only democracy in the Middle East. There cannot be democracy without equal rights for all who live here, Arab as well as Jew ... The prime minister should present the choices forthrightly: Jewish racism or democracy.” No support can be found in The UN recommendation concerning a Jewish and a Palestinian state for unequal rights for the citizens of each country. Neither is there any indication as to how a “Jewish” state could become Jewish. There is support, however, for the intention that demographic conditions should be held intact at partition. Interpreting into the text an intention concerning characteristics of a “Jewish state” tailored to the ideology of Zionism is wholly in contradiction with the text of the resolution. Even the Balfour Declaration, which entirely lacks human rights status, notes that the Jewish national home in Palestine should in no way encroach upon the rights of the Palestinians. Neither did US President Truman recognise Israel as a Jewish state. On the contrary, he ruled out precisely that formulation before making his decision to recognise Israel. Thus, the legitimacy of a “Jewish state” so urgently sought by Israel lacks support in international documents that concern the building of the state. Israel’s government is, of course, fully aware of this. Why else would it keep on searching for this recognition? The UN should now embark on a boycott of the apartheid state of Israel and, with the threat of expulsion from the UN, demand that Israel allows the evicted Palestinian refugees to return in accordance with the UN resolutions 194 and 3236. With this done, meaningful peace talks can proceed and various solutions be reached for co-habitation with equal rights for all people between the Mediterranean and the River Jordan. No such solution can be compatible with the preservation of a Jewish apartheid state. - Snorre Lindquist is a Swedish Architect of, among other things, the House of Culture in front of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem on the West Bank. Contact him at snorre_lindquist@hotmail.com. - Lasse Wilhelmson is a commentator on the situation in the Middle East, and is a member of a local government in Sweden for 23 years, four of which in an executive position. Contact him at: lasse.wilhelmson@bostream.nu. The writers contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

Good thing to know, is that inshAllah if they sincerely had the Niyah to make Hajj, it has been fully accepted since they attempted but found no way out of Gazza ( Man istataaca ileyhi sabiilaa) Nur

Truth is slowly coming out in America. America's moral failure caused its financial failure, and its fall from grace and Superpower status. The Moral power is shifting away from America, as well as the financial and technological advantage, all shifting eastward, the short-lived first Nation status is about to end in our lifetime, a major historical event. Watch the series of Torturing Democracy, soon to broadcast by PBS TV. http://www.torturingdemocracy.org/ Nur

A Historic Moment: The Election of the Greatest Con-Man in Recent History By James Petras “ I have a vision of Americans in their 80’s being wheeled to their offices and factories having lost their legs in imperial wars and their pensions to Wall Street speculators and with bitter memories of voting for a President who promised change, prosperity and peace and then appointed financial swindlers and war mongers .” An itinerant Minister 2008 December 08, 2008 "ICH" --- The entire political spectrum ranging from the ‘libertarian’ left, through the progressive editors of the Nation to the entire far right neo-con/Zionist war party and free market Berkeley/Chicago/Harvard academics, with a single voice, hailed the election of Barack Obama as a ‘historic moment’, a ‘turning point in American history and other such histrionics. For reasons completely foreign to the emotional ejaculations of his boosters, it is a historic moment: witness the abysmal gap between his ‘populist’ campaign demagoguery and his long-standing and deepening carnal relations with the most retrograde political figures, power brokers and billionaire real estate and financial backers. What was evident from even a cursory analysis of his key campaign advisers and public commitments to Wall Street speculators, civilian militarists, zealous Zionists and corporate lawyers was hidden from the electorate, by Obama’s people friendly imagery and smooth, eloquent deliverance of a message of ‘hope’. He effectively gained the confidence, dollars and votes of tens of millions of voters by promising ‘change’ (implying higher taxes for the rich, ending the Iraq war and national health care reform) when in fact his campaign advisers (and subsequent strategic appointments) pointed to a continuation of the economic and military policies of the Bush Administration. Within 3 weeks of his election he appointed all the political dregs who brought on the unending wars of the past two decades, the economic policy makers responsible for the financial crash and the deepening recession castigating tens of millions of Americans today and for the foreseeable future. We can affirm that the election of Obama does indeed mark a historic moment in American history: The victory of the greatest con man and his accomplices and backers in recent history. He spoke to the workers and worked for their financial overlords. He flashed his color to minorities while obliterating any mention of their socio-economic grievances. He promised peace in the Middle East to the majority of young Americans and slavishly swears undying allegiance to the War Party of American Zionists serving a foreign colonial power (Israel). Obama, on a bigger stage, is the perfect incarnation of Melville’s Confidence Man. He catches your eye while he picks your pocket . He gives thanks as he packs you off to fight wars in the Middle East on behalf of a foreign country . He solemnly mouths vacuous pieties while he empties your Social Security funds to bail out the arch financiers who swindled your pension investments . He appoints and praises the architects of collapsed pyramid schemes to high office while promising you that better days are ahead. Yes, indeed, “our greatest intellectual critics”, our ‘libertarian’ leftists and academic anarchists, used their 5-figure speaking engagements as platforms to promote the con man’s candidacy: They described the con man’s political pitch as “meeting the deeply felt needs of our people”. They praised the con man when he spoke of ‘change’ and ‘turning the country around’ 180 degrees. Indeed, Obama went one step further: he turned 360 degrees, bringing us back to the policies and policy makers who were the architects of our current political-economic disaster. The Con Man’s Self-Opiated Progressive Camp Followers The contrast between Obama’s campaign rhetoric and his political activities was clear, public and evident to any but the mesmerized masses and the self-opiated ‘progressives’ who concocted arguments in his favor. Indeed even after Obama’s election and after he appointed every Clintonite-Wall Street shill into all the top economic policy positions, and Clinton’s and Bush’s architects of prolonged imperial wars (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates), the ‘progressive true believers’ found reasons to dog along with the charade. Many progressives argued that Obama’s appointments of war mongers and swindlers was a ‘ploy’ to gain time now in order to move ‘left’ later. Never ones to publicly admit their ‘historic’ errors, the same progressives turned to writing ‘open letters to the President’ pleading the ‘cause of the people’. Their epistles, of course, may succeed in passing through the shredder in the Office of the White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. The conjurer who spoke of ‘change’ now speaks of ‘experience’ in appointing to every key and minor position the same political hacks who rotate seamlessly between Wall Street and Washington, the Fed and Academia. Instead of ‘change’ there is the utmost continuity of policy makers, policies and above all ever deepening ties between militarists, Wall Street and the Obama appointments. True believer-progressives, facing their total debacle, grab for any straw. Forced to admit that all of Obama’s appointments represent the dregs of the bloody and corrupt past, they hope and pray that ‘current dire circumstances’ may force these unrepentant warmongers and life long supporters of finance capital to become supporters and advocates of a revived Keynesian welfare state. On the contrary, Obama and each and everyone of his foreign policy appointments to the Pentagon, State and Justice Departments, Intelligence and Security agencies are calling for vast increases in military spending, troop commitments and domestic militarization to recover the lost fortunes of a declining empire. Obama and his appointees plan to vigorously pursue Clinton-Bush’s global war against national resistance movements in the Middle East. His most intimate and trusted ‘Israel-First’ advisers have targeted Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Palestine and Iraq. Obama’s Economic Con Game Then there is the contrast between the trillions Obama will shower on the financial swindlers (and any other ‘too big to fail’ private capitalist enterprise) and his zero compensation for the 100 million heads of families swindled of $5 trillion dollars in savings and pensions by his cohort appointees and bailout beneficiaries. Not a cent is allocated for the long term unemployed. Not a single household threatened with eviction will be bailed out. Obama is the trademark name of a network of confidence people. They are a well-organized gang of prominent political operative, money raisers, mass media hustlers, real estate moguls and academic pimps. They are joined and abetted by the elected officials and hacks of the Democratic Party. Like the virtuoso performer, Obama projected the image and followed the script. But the funding and the entire ‘populist’ show was constructed by the hard-nosed, hard-line free marketeers, Jewish and Gentile ‘Israel Firsters’, Washington war mongers and a host of multi-millionaire ‘trade union’ bureaucrats. The electoral scam served several purposes above and beyond merely propelling a dozen strategic con artists into high office and the White House. First and foremost, the Obama con-gang deflected the rage and anger of tens of millions of economically skewered and war drained Americans from turning their hostility against a discredited presidency, congress and the grotesque one-party two factions political system and into direct action or at least toward a new political movement. Secondly the Obama image provided a temporary cover for the return and continuity of all that was so detested by the American people – the arrogant untouchable swindlers, growing unemployment and economic uncertainty, the loss of life savings and homes and the endless, ever-expanding imperial wars. Featuring Paul Volker, ‘Larry’ Summers, Robert Gates, the Clintons, Geithner, Holder and General (‘You drink your kool-aid while I sit on Boeings’ Board of Directors’) Jim Jones USMC, Obama treats us to a re-run of military surges and war crimes, Wall Street banditry, Abu Ghraib, AIPAC hustlers and all the sundry old crap. Our Harvard-minted Gunga Din purports to speak for all the colonial subjects but acts in the interest of the empire, its financial vampires, its war criminals and its Middle East leaches from the Land of the Chosen. The Two Faces of Obama Like the Janus face found on the coins of the early Roman Republic, Obama and his intimate cronies cynically joked about ‘which is the real face of Barack’, conscious of the con-job they were perpetrating during the campaign. In reality, there is only one face - a very committed, very consequential and very up front Obama, who demonstrated in every single one of his appointments the face of an empire builder. Obama is an open militarist, intent by every means possible to re-construct a tattered US empire. The President-Elect is an unabashed Wall Street Firster – one who has placed the recuperation of the biggest banks and investment houses as his highest priority. Obama’s nominees for all the top economic positions (Treasury, Chief White House economic advisers) are eminently qualified, (with long-term service to the financial oligarchy), to pursue Obama’s pro-Wall Street agenda. There is not a single member of his economic team, down to the lowest level of appointees, who represents or has defended the interests of the wage or salaried classes (or for that matter the large and small manufacturers from the devastated ‘productive’ industrial economy). The Obama propagandists claim his appointments reflect his preference for ‘experience’ – which is true: his team members have plenty of ‘experience’ through their long and lucrative careers maximizing profits, buyouts and speculation favoring the financial sector. Obama does not want to have any young, untested appointees who have no long established records of serving Big Finance, whose interests are too central to Obama’s deepest and most strongly held core beliefs. He wanted reliable economic functionaries who recognize that re-financing billionaire financiers is the central task of his regime. The appointments of the Summers, Rubins, Geithners and Volkers fit perfectly with his ideology: They are the best choices to pursue his economic goals. Critics of these nominations write of the ‘failures’ of these economists and their role in ‘bringing about the collapse of the financial system’. These critics fail to recognize that it is not their ‘failures’, which are the relevant criteria, but their unwavering commitment to the interests of Wall Street and their willingness to demand trillions of dollars more from US taxpayers to bolster their colleagues on Wall Street. Under Clinton and Bush, in the run up to the financial collapse, they facilitated (‘deregulated’) the practice of swindling one hundred million Americans of trillions in private savings and pension funds. In the current crisis period with Obama they are just the right people to swindle the US Treasury of trillions of dollars in bailout funds to refinance their fellow oligarchs. The White President (Bush) leaves steaming financial turds all over the White House rugs and Wall Street summons the ‘historic’ Negro President Obama to organize the cleanup crew to scoop them out of public view. Obama, the Militarist, Outdoes His Predecessor What makes Obama a much more audacious militarist and Wall Streeter than Bush is that he intends to pursue military policies, which have already greatly harmed the US people with appointed officials who have already been discredited in the context of failed imperial wars and with a domestic economy in collapse. While Bush launched his wars after the US public had their accustomed peace shattered by an orchestrated fear-mongering after 9/11, Obama intends to launch his escalation of military spending in the context of a generalized public disenchantment with the ongoing wars, with monumental fiscal deficits, bloated military budgets and after 100,000 US soldiers have been killed, wounded or psychologically destroyed. Obama’s appointments of Clinton, General Jim Jones, dual Israeli citizen Rahm Emanuel and super-Zionist Dennis Ross, among others, fit perfectly with his imperial-militarist agenda of escalating military aggression. His short list of intelligence candidates, likewise, fits perfectly with his all-out effort to “regain US world leadership” (reconstruct US imperial networks). All the media blather about Obama’s efforts at ‘bipartisanship’, ‘experience’ and ‘competence’ obscures the most fundamental questions: The specific nominees chosen from both parties are totally committed to military-driven empire-building. All are in favor of “a new effort to renew America’s standing in the world” (read ‘America’s imperial dominance in the world’), as Obama’s Secretary of State-to-be, Hillary Clinton, declared. General James Jones, Obama’s choice for National Security Advisor, presided over US military operations during the entire Abu Ghraib/Guantanemo period. He was a fervent supporter of the ‘troop surge’ in Iraq and is a powerful advocate for a huge increase in military spending, the expansion of the military by over 100,000 troops and the expanded militarization of American domestic society (not to mention his personal financial ties to the military industrial complex). Robert Gates, continuing as Obama’s Secretary of Defense, is a staunch supporter of unilateral, unlimited and universal imperial warfare. As the number of US-allied countries with troops in Iraq declines from 35 to only 5 by January 1, 2009 and even the Iraqi puppet regime calls for a withdrawal of all US troops by 2012, Gates, the intransigent, insists on a permanent military presence. The issue of ‘experience’ revolves around two questions: (a) experience related to what past political practices? (b) experience relevant to pursue what future policies? All the nominees’ past experiences are related to imperial wars, colonial conquests and the construction of client states. Hiliary Clinton’s ‘experience’ was through her support for the bombing of Yugoslavia and the Nato invasion of Kosova, her promotion of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an internationally recognized terrorist-criminal organization as well as the unrelenting bombings of Iraq in the 1990s, Bush’s criminal invasion of Iraq in 2003, Israel’s murderous bombing of civilian centers in Lebanon…and now full-throated calls for the ‘total obliteration of Iran’. Clinton, Gates and Jones have never in their mature political careers proposed the peaceful settlement of disputes with any adversary of the US or Israel. In other words, their vaunted ‘experience’ is based solely on their one-dimensional militarist approach to foreign relations. ‘Competence’, as an attribute again depends on the issue of ‘competence to do what’? In general terms, ‘The Three’ (Clinton, Gates and Jones), have demonstrated the greatest incompetence in extricating the US from prolonged, costly and lost colonial wars. They lack the minimum capacity to recognize that military-driven empire-building in the context of independent states is no longer feasible, that its costs can ruin an imperial economy and that prolonged wars erode their legitimacy in the eyes of their citizens. Even within the framework of imperial geo-political strategic thinking, their positions exhibit the most dense incompetence: They blindly back a small, highly militarized and ideologically fanatical colonial state (Israel) against 1.5 billion Muslims living in oil and mineral resource-rich nations with lucrative markets and investment potential and situated in the strategic center of the world. They promote total wars against whole populations, as is occurring in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia and, which, by all historical experience, cannot be won. They are truly ‘Masters of Defeat’. The point of the matter is that Obama appointed the ‘Big Three’ for their experience, competence and bipartisan support in the pursuit of imperial wars. He overlooked their glaring failures, their gross violations of the basic norms of civilization (of the human rights of tens of millions civilians in sovereign nations) because of their willingness to pursue the illusions of a US-dominated new world order. Conclusion Nothing speaks to Obama’s deep and abiding commitment to become the savior of the US empire as clearly as his willingness to appoint to the highest position of policy making the most mediocre failed politicians and generals merely because of their demonstrated willingness to pursue the course of military-driven empire building even in the midst of a collapsing domestic economy and ever more impoverished and drained citizenry. Just as Obama’s electoral campaign and subsequent victory will go into the annals as the political con-job of the new millennium, his economic and political appointments will mark another ‘historic’ moment: The nomination of corrupt and failed speculators and warmongers. Let us join the inaugural celebration of our ‘First Afro-American’ Imperial President, who wins by con and rules by guns!

Nomads Wishing you all a happy healthy Eid ul Adxaa. May Allah accept our worship in this season Amin. I have recieved many congratulatory text messages from friends and family this Eid, some very traditional, some inspirational, some humorous while some were short but very uplifting like this one: Ciidak Ward Wa Canbar Mitl Ruuxak Wa Akthar Rabbii Yactiik Saxah Wa Rizq, Maca Kulli Kalimat Allahu Akbar! Yours ? Nur

Abwaan bro writes: " lol...oo xaggee la iskugu imaanayaa?" Halkan, saaxib, meeshaan ku kulannay 2001 dii. Casuumad aan Abwaan laheyn casuumad ma aha, ha ka baaqan xafladda! (lol) Nur

Haneefa sis We need a SOL alumni reunion. Threadkan waxaa la furay September 01, 2001, intayna dhicin mussiboyinka badan ee ummadda haysata, Meeday inantii Muslimo oo safxaddan furtay? meeyay Faisal ? iyo dhamaan Nomadski wax ku soo qori jireen safxadda Islam oo SOL? Yaa nool? yaa aqalgalay? yaa sheitaan kaxeystay oon ka soo dhicinnaa? Nur

Waa maalinkii Carafa, 3 Malyan oo Muslimiin ah ayaa taagan bannaanka Carafa,gacmahooga cirka u taagaya Allah baryaya, oo muujinaya midnimada dhabta ah ee Ummadda Nabi Muxammad SACWS, ayagoo isugu jira, waayeel iyo dhallinyaro, rag iyo dumar, madow iyo caddaan, oo ka kala yimid waddamo kal duwan, qaar aad u fog yihiin, ayaoo lugeynaya, gawaari saaran ama dayaarad soo raacay,( Min Kulli Fajin Camiiq ), ayagoo midabbo kala duwan leh, ku hadlaya luqado kala duwan, laakin ku midoobay iney Allah oo qudha Rabbi ka yeesheen, ooy asgana ka sugayaan cafis iyo inuu raalli ka noqdo. Allow ka aqbal Xujeyda kuu so qasdisay, annana naga aqbal soonka iyo ducada maalinkan qiimaha weyn agtaada ka leh. Walaalayaal Ha loo duceeyo dhammaan dhallin yarada taagta daran ee u taagan difaaca diinta Allah iyo dadka daciifka ah oo ka difaacaya daalimiinta, tuugada, warlordska, iyo kuwa raba iney diintooda ka saaran. Hana loo duceeyo ummaddeena kala qaybsan, oo la isku direy, cadowgoodana ka faaiideystay khilaafkooda. Ducadana ha la daba dhigo dadaal badan, sidii Allah u aqbali lahaa ducadeenna maanta, saa Allah wuxuu kaalmeeyaa kuwa ayaga isu gargaara ee. Nur

Well, the only case that I would be afraid to withhold such a formula is if I am NOT the direct beneficiary of such a formula. ( Cant trust myself if I am in the gravitational field of an irresistable Xalimo !) You ask " is there a formula? i thought id ask, just on the off chance there is onewritten in a dusty ibn qayyim book that has eluded many lay men such as myself, whilst all the scholars get together in small huddles about so and so who has the original copy, and how so and so almost cracked it..." Unfortunately there is no such formula, but there is a due diligence process. The Chinese say " Before marriage open both eyes, after Marriage, close one" You see, a marriage involves two parties, each one has their own aspirations and attraction in the other person, the aspiration is in the future, no one can guarantee something in the future, the attraction on the otherhand can be on tangibles like looks that can change with time, or intangibles like the persons attitude and akhlaaq ( ethics) which is likely not to change. Marriage can be like a journey in which the events that come your way will expose a lot of the Character of your spouse to you, as well as yours to your spouse. Different events will cause different reactions, thus, at the begining of the journey both parties are in a gamble. The word wedding comes from the anglo-saxon root meaning to gamble or wager. Nur

Nomads Labo sano kadib, waddankeennu wuxuu marayaa kala baydh ( Cross Road) cusub, midaan hadda ka hor la marin, waxaa badaha Somalia ku heraarsan maraakiib dagaal oo farabadan oo fadgiyay muddo dheer ( Maraykan iyo Yurub). Maraakiibtas um socdaan iney maatada iyo masaakiinta u gurmadaan, wexey u socdaan danahooda gaarka ah, oo kala ah in Somalia laga dhigo qashin qub (Yurub), iyo meel lago qoto batroolka (Maraykan). Waana saman ay ummaddii qaarkeed weli u kala qaybsan tahay qabiil oo kalsoonida ay isu hayaan ay yartahay, tau u qabaan cadowgooda guudna ay badan tahay. Hadaba, ummaddu Allah ayey leedahay, maxaa yeelay, dhagarta socota inta ay le'egtahay, iyo Somalidu sidey u moogtahay, waa wax yaab badan. Sidaa darteed, waxaan is fareynaa sabir badan, iyo in xikmad iyo xasilooni looga hortago, maxaa yeelay, waxa dhacayaa wexey ka yeelaan qofka xaliimka ahi, mid xeyraan ah. Nur

Breakdown of the Global Monetary System by Summer 2009 By GEAB December 01, 2008 "GEAB" -- "November 17, 2008 -- -The G20-meeting held in Washington on November 14/15, 2008, is in its essence a historical indicator that the Western - above all Anglo-Saxon - monopoly on global economic and financial governance, is coming to an end. Nevertheless, according to LEAP/E2020, this meeting also clearly demonstrated that this kind of summits is doomed to inefficiency because they concentrate on curing the symptoms (banks’ and hedge funds’ financial difficulties, derivative markets’ explosion, financial and currency markets’ dramatic volatility, ...) rather than the fundamental root of the current crisis, i.e. the collapse of the Bretton Woods system based on the US Dollar as sole pillar of the global monetary system. Without a complete overhaul of the system inherited from 1944 by summer 2009, the failing of the current system and that of the United States at the center, will lead the whole planet to an unprecedented economic, social, political and strategic instability, and more specifically to a breakdown of the global monetary system by summer 2009. In light of the technocratic jargon and calendar of the declaration released after this first G20-meeting (totally disconnected from the speed and scope of the unfolding crisis (1)), it is more than likely that the disaster will have to happen for the fundamental problems to be seriously addressed and for the beginning of a reply to be initiated. Four key-factors are now pushing the Bretton Woods II (2) system to collapse in the course of the year 2009: • Fast weakening of the central players: USA, UK • Three visions of the future of global governance will be dividing world’s largest players (United-States, Eurozone, China, Japan, Russia, Brazil) by spring 2009 • Unbridled speeding-up of the last decade’s (de-)stabilizing processes • Increasing number of more and more violent backlashes. LEAP/E2020 already extensively described factors 1 and 4 in previous editions of the GEAB. Therefore we will concentrate on factors 2 and 3 in the present edition (GEAB N°29). The agitation that has seized global leaders since the end of September 2008 indicates that panic has struck at the highest level. Worldwide political leaders have now understood that the house is on fire. But they have not yet perceived something obvious: that the very structure of the building is involved. Improving fire-regulations or reorganizing emergency services will not be sufficient. To use a strong symbolic image, the World Trade Center’s twin towers did not collapse because firemen were late or because water was missing in the automatic fire-system, they collapsed because their structure was not meant to support the shock of two airliners hitting them in just a few minutes. Today’s global monetary system is in a similar situation: the twin-towers are the Bretton Woods system, and the airliners are called « subprime crisis », « banking failures », « economic recession », « Very Great US Depression », « US deficits », … a whole squadron. First year of major correction (Dow, as percentage, since 1900) - Source ChartoftheDay Today’s leaders, who all belong to the collapsing world (including Barak Obama (3)), cannot possibly imagine how to solve the problem, just like central bankers in 2006/2007 could not possibly imagine the scope the unfolding crisis could reach (4). It is their world which is disappearing under their eyes, their beliefs and their illusions (sometimes similar) (5). According to our team, a 20 percent renewal of worldwide leaders is required to begin to see sustainable solutions (6) appear. This is indeed, according to LEAP/E2020, the « critical mass » needed to permit any fundamental change of perspective in a complex not very hierarchical human group. Today we are still far from reaching this critical mass: in order to contribute to finding solutions to the crisis, those new leaders must accede power in full awareness of the crisis’ specific nature. According to LEAP/E2020, if global leaders fail to realize that in the next three months and to take actions in the next six months, as explained in GEAB N°28, the US debt will « implode » by summer 2009 under the shape of the country’s defaulting or the Dollar’s dramatic devaluation. This implosion will follow closely a number of similar episodes affecting less central countries (see GEAB N°28), including the United Kingdom whose already huge debt is ballooning at the same pace as Washington’s (7). In the same way as the US Federal Reserve saw, month after month, its « Primary Dealers » (8) being swept away by the crisis before it was itself confronted to a real problem of capitalization and therefore survival, the United States in the coming year will witness the implosion of all countries too-closely integrated to their economy and finance, and of their allies financially too-dependent on them (9). Monetary authorities with the largest foreign reserves in 2008 - Sources FMI/BRI/Wikipedia , 10/2008 The role the Europeans can play in the matter is essential (10). The Eurozone in particular must send out a strong message towards Washington: « The United States will fall into an economic and financial pitfall in 2009 if they cling to their past « privileges ». Once the world has given up on the Dollar, it will be too late to negotiate ». With more than 550-billion USD, the Eurozone owns the third largest reserve (ex-aequo with Russia who is not very accurate on that aspect) after China and Japan, and before the Gulf oil-monarchies (see table above). It therefore has the diplomatic weight, the financial weight, the economic weight, the commercial weight and the monetary weight required to compel Washington to face realities (11). The EU altogether will follow because non-Euro EU countries are all on the verge of a severe crisis of their currency or economy or both (12). Without the Euroland, their outlook is very gloomy in the short and medium term. As a matter of fact, the Euro is the only currency a growing number of initially reluctant (Iceland, Denmark…) or skeptical (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary…) countries now wish to join (13). Sign of the times, the Financial Times has started to list the US federal state’s tangible assets: military bases, national parks, public buildings, museums, etc… everything has been evaluated for a total amount of approximately 1,500-billion USD, i.e. more or less the probable amount of the budget deficit in 2009 (see the detail of these assets in the chart below). No wonder why Taiwan, despite its dependence on the security provided by Washington, decided to stop buying one of the three great components of the US public deficit, the Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac securities (despite the fact that they were « rescued » by the government (14)); or why Japan is now a net-seller of US T-Bonds. All those who, despite our advice in the past two years, invested in Fannie and Freddy securities or in stock markets or in large US private equity banks or in the banking sector in general, have no reason to worry: it will not happen because « they » will prevent it! A problem remains however: “they” are now panic stricken and “they” understand nothing to this situation “they” were never prepared to face. Like we explained in the GEAB N°28, 2008 was only the detonator of the global systemic crisis. Now comes Phase IV, phase of the aftermath! US government balance sheet (09/2007) - Source US GOA / Financial Times --------- Notes: (1) Here is the final communique released and a first non-committal analysis from the French press (Journal du Dimanche, close to the Paris government) which gives an idea of the opinion of the media throughout the Eurozone. Obviously the G20-Summit did not manage to calm down the crisis, it could even result in enhanced worry, seen the US refusal to agree on addressing the real problems. (2) Whatever may think Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as some rather unprofessional media, Bretton Woods II dates back to the 1970s. In 1971 indeed, the US unilateral decision to give up the Dollar/Gold peg, soon followed by the Jamaica agreement in 1976, put an end to the initial Bretton Woods framework and marked the beginning of a system of floating exchange rates (Bretton Woods II). (3) The future president of the United States seems to have for sole aim the implementation of his campaign program (social security, infrastructure, middle-class tax reduction,…), listed before the crisis, and requiring major expenses, when the US federal state is already over-indebted. It was a perfect program… for an America that no longer exists except in electoral speeches. (4) On this subject, read our anticipations in GEAB N°17 and N°18. (5) This goes for the USD-reserves of many countries such as China, Japan and the Gulf oil-monarchies. Today’s leaders are not able to imagine that the hundreds of billions of USD piled up in their reserves are only worth 50 or 30 percent of their face value. It will belong to their successors to make rational conclusions and invent a different global system. (6) That is to say conceptually relevant and efficiently implemented. (7) As a matter of fact, because of its strong recession, the United Kingdom is already accounting for a large part of the EU’s slowdown in 2009. Great-Britain will be the « sickman » of the EU in the years to come. (8) It is informative to read on Wikipedia the history of « Primary Dealers », those banks chosen by the US Federal Reserve as privileged partners and sole ones allowed to deal with the Fed. Indeed after a few decade-long period of stability, the list has suddenly begun to shrink as « primary dealers » began to be swept away by the crisis in 2008. (9) Talking about dependent allies, Pakistan and Ukraine are already under IMF perfusion, and Turkey’s credit rating is about to be downgraded. Egypt, Israel and Colombia should soon join the list. (10) Joseph Stiglitz also underlines this point in his article dated 11/11/2008 in the Telegraph (11) Our team is far from believing that the Eurozone is not confronted to severe difficulties as well (on the economic outlook, see GEAB N°28 in particular), but in a historic crisis such as the one currently unfolding, these problems are minor compared to those the US, the UK or even Asia will face in the next year. (12) For instance Latvia has just nationalized as a matter of urgency the country’s second largest bank, Hungary is under ECB and IMF perfusion, Polish growth is collapsing, Denmark and Sweden will join the Eurozone in the couple of years, UK is in distress... (13) Source: NRC, 11/13/2008. Unlike the US, currency faced to a general move on the part of countries willing to « un-peg » from the Dollar, or even create alternative currencies such as the Gulf’s oil-monarchies and their project of common currency by 2010. Source: GulfNews, 09/22/2008 (14) Fanny Mae’s announcement of a new record-high loss in the third quarter (29-billion USD) might provide an explanation. Sources : Barron’s, 10/24/2008; MarketWatch, 11/10/2008

U.S. State Department Policy Planning Study #23, 1948: Our real task... is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity [u.S. military- economic supremacy]... To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming... We should cease to talk about vague and...unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization... we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better. George Kennan, Director of Policy Planning. U.S. State Department. 1948 " To ensure prosperity here at home and peace abroad, we all share the belief we have to maintain the strongest military on the planet ." US President Obama. 2008 Somalia: Another CIA-Backed Coup Blows Up By Mike Whitney " The Ethiopian invasion, which was sanctioned by the US government, has destroyed virtually all the life-sustaining economic systems which the population has built for the last fifteen years. " Abdi Samatar, professor of Global Studies at the University of Minnesota, Democracy Now December 02, 2008 "ICH" --- Up until a month ago, no one in the Bush administration showed the least bit of interest in the incidents of piracy off the coast of Somalia. Now that's all changed and there's talk of sending in the Navy to patrol the waters off the Horn of Africa and clean up the pirates hideouts. Why the sudden about-face? Could it have something to do with the fact that the Ethiopian army is planning to withdrawal all of its troops from Mogadishu by the end of the year, thus, ending the failed two year US-backed occupation of Somalia? The United States has lost the ground war in Somalia, but that doesn't mean its geopolitical objectives have changed one iota. The US intends to stay in the region for years to come and use its naval power to control the critical shipping lanes from the Gulf of Aden. The growing strength of the Somali national resistance is a set-back, but it doesn't change the basic game-plan. The pirates are actually a blessing in disguise. They provide an excuse for the administration to beef up it's military presence and put down roots. Every crisis is an opportunity. There's an interesting subtext to the pirate story that hasn't appeared in the western media. According to Simon Assaf of the Socialist Worker: " Many European, US and Asian shipping firms – notably Switzerland's Achair Partners and Italy's Progresso – signed dumping deals in the early 1990s with Somalia's politicians and militia leaders. This meant they could use the coast as a toxic dumping ground. This practice became widespread as the country descended into civil war. Nick Nuttall of the UN Environment Programme said, "European companies found it was very cheap to get rid of the waste ." When the Asian tsunami of Christmas 2005 washed ashore on the east coast of Africa, it uncovered a great scandal. Tons of radioactive waste and toxic chemicals drifted onto the beaches after the giant wave dislodged them from the sea bed off Somalia. Tens of thousands of Somalis fell ill after coming into contact with this cocktail. They complained to the United Nations (UN), which began an investigation. " There are reports from villagers of a wide range of medical problems such as mouth bleeds, abdominal hemorrhages, unusual skin disorders and breathing difficulties ," the UN noted. Some 300 people are believed to have died from the poisonous chemicals. In 2006 Somali fishermen complained to the UN that foreign fishing fleets were using the breakdown of the state to plunder their fish stocks. These foreign fleets often recruited Somali militias to intimidate local fishermen. Despite repeated requests, the UN refused to act. Meanwhile the warships of global powers that patrol the strategically important Gulf of Aden did not sink or seize any vessels dumping toxic chemicals off the coast. So angry Somalis, whose waters were being poisoned and whose livelihoods were threatened, took matters into their own hands. Fishermen began to arm themselves and attempted to act as unofficial coastguards." (Socialist Worker) The origins of piracy in Somalia is considerably different than the narrative in the media which tends to perpetuate stereotypes of scary black men who are naturally inclined to criminal behavior. In reality, the pirates were the victims of a US-EU run system that still uses the developing world as a dumping ground for toxic waste regardless of the suffering it causes. (just ask Larry Summers) In fact, the dumping continues to this day, even though we have been assured that we're living in a "post racial era" following the election of Barak Obama. Unfortunately, that rule doesn't apply to the many black and brown people who still find themselves caught in the imperial crosshairs. Their lives are just as miserable as ever. ETHIOPIA'S PLAN FOR WITHDRAWAL In 2006, the Bush administration supported an alliance of Somali warlords known as the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) that established a base of operations in the western city of Baidoa. With the help of the Ethiopian army, western mercenaries, US Navy warships, and AC-130 gunships; the TFG captured Mogadishu and forced the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) to retreat to the south. Since then the resistance has coalesced into a tenacious guerrilla army that has recaptured most of the country. The Bush administration invoked the war on terror to justify its involvement in Somalia, but their case was weak and full of inconsistencies. The ICU is not an Al Qaida affiliate or a terrorist organization despite the claims of the State Department . In fact, the ICU brought a high level of peace and stability to Somalia that hadn't been seen for more than sixteen years . Political analyst James Petras summed it up like this: “ The ICU was a relatively honest administration, which ended warlord corruption and extortion. Personal safety and property were protected, ending arbitrary seizures and kidnappings by warlords and their armed thugs. The ICU is a broad multi-tendency movement that includes moderates and radical Islamists, civilian politicians and armed fighters, liberals and populists, electoralists and authoritarians. Most important, the Courts succeeded in unifying the country and creating some semblance of nationhood, overcoming clan fragmentation .” The Bush administration is mainly interested in oil and geopolitics . According to most estimates 30 per cent of America's oil will come from Africa within the next ten years. That means the Pentagon will have to extend its tentacles across the continent. Washington's allies in the TFG promised to pass oil laws that would allow foreign oil companies to return to Somalia, but now all of that is uncertain . It is impossible to know what type of government will emerge from the present conflict. Many pundits expect Somalia to descend into terrorist-breeding, failed state for years to come. The latest round of fighting has created a humanitarian disaster. 1.3 million people have been forced from their homes with nothing more than what they can carry on their backs. Over 3.5 million people are now huddled in tent cities in the south with little food, clean water or medical supplies. According to the UN News Center: " Nearly half the population is in crisis or need of assistance....Continuing instability, coupled with drought, high food prices and the collapse of the local currency have only worsened the dire humanitarian situation in recent months. The UN estimates that 40 per cent of the population, are in need of assistance. In addition, one in six children under the age of five in southern and central Somalia is currently acutely malnourished ." (UN News Center) The war between the occupying Ethiopian army and the various guerrilla factions has steadily intensified over the last two years. Fighters from the ICU, Al-Shabaab and other Islamic groups have moved from the south to the vicinity of Mogadishu where fighting could break out at any time. It's "game-over" for Bush's proxy army and the transitional federal government. They cannot win, which is why the Ethiopian leaders announced a complete withdrawal of troops by the end of the year. By January 1, 2009, the occupation will be over. In a recent Chicago Tribune article, "US Appears to be Losing in Somalia", journalist Paul Salopek sums it up like this: "(Somalia) is a covert war in which the CIA has recruited gangs of unsavory warlords to hunt down and kidnap Islamic militants...and secretly imprison them offshore, aboard U.S. warships. The British civil-rights group Reprieve contended that as many as 17 U.S. warships may have doubled as floating prisons since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks... " Somalia is one of the great unrecognized U.S. policy failures since 9/11 ," said Ken Menkhaus, a leading Somalia scholar at Davidson College in North Carolina. " By any rational metric, what we've ended up with there today is the opposite of what we wanted ." (Paul Salopek, "US Appears to be Losing in Somalia" Chicago Tribune) The CIA has done its job well. It's created a beehive for terrorism and the potential for another catastrophe like 9-11. Currently, negotiations are underway between the guerrilla leaders and the TFG over a power-sharing agreement. But no one expects the talks will amount to anything. The moderate ICU may regain power but the country will still be ungovernable for years to come. At best, Somalia is a decade away from restoring the fragile peace that was in place before Bush's bloody intervention.

Somalia: Another CIA-Backed Coup Blows Up By Mike Whitney "The Ethiopian invasion, which was sanctioned by the US government, has destroyed virtually all the life-sustaining economic systems which the population has built for the last fifteen years." Abdi Samatar, professor of Global Studies at the University of Minnesota, Democracy Now December 02, 2008 "ICH" --- Up until a month ago, no one in the Bush administration showed the least bit of interest in the incidents of piracy off the coast of Somalia. Now that's all changed and there's talk of sending in the Navy to patrol the waters off the Horn of Africa and clean up the pirates hideouts. Why the sudden about-face? Could it have something to do with the fact that the Ethiopian army is planning to withdrawal all of its troops from Mogadishu by the end of the year, thus, ending the failed two year US-backed occupation of Somalia? The United States has lost the ground war in Somalia, but that doesn't mean its geopolitical objectives have changed one iota. The US intends to stay in the region for years to come and use its naval power to control the critical shipping lanes from the Gulf of Aden. The growing strength of the Somali national resistance is a set-back, but it doesn't change the basic game-plan. The pirates are actually a blessing in disguise. They provide an excuse for the administration to beef up it's military presence and put down roots. Every crisis is an opportunity. There's an interesting subtext to the pirate story that hasn't appeared in the western media. According to Simon Assaf of the Socialist Worker: "Many European, US and Asian shipping firms – notably Switzerland's Achair Partners and Italy's Progresso – signed dumping deals in the early 1990s with Somalia's politicians and militia leaders. This meant they could use the coast as a toxic dumping ground. This practice became widespread as the country descended into civil war. Nick Nuttall of the UN Environment Programme said, "European companies found it was very cheap to get rid of the waste." When the Asian tsunami of Christmas 2005 washed ashore on the east coast of Africa, it uncovered a great scandal. Tons of radioactive waste and toxic chemicals drifted onto the beaches after the giant wave dislodged them from the sea bed off Somalia. Tens of thousands of Somalis fell ill after coming into contact with this cocktail. They complained to the United Nations (UN), which began an investigation. "There are reports from villagers of a wide range of medical problems such as mouth bleeds, abdominal hemorrhages, unusual skin disorders and breathing difficulties," the UN noted. Some 300 people are believed to have died from the poisonous chemicals. In 2006 Somali fishermen complained to the UN that foreign fishing fleets were using the breakdown of the state to plunder their fish stocks. These foreign fleets often recruited Somali militias to intimidate local fishermen. Despite repeated requests, the UN refused to act. Meanwhile the warships of global powers that patrol the strategically important Gulf of Aden did not sink or seize any vessels dumping toxic chemicals off the coast. So angry Somalis, whose waters were being poisoned and whose livelihoods were threatened, took matters into their own hands. Fishermen began to arm themselves and attempted to act as unofficial coastguards." (Socialist Worker) The origins of piracy in Somalia is considerably different than the narrative in the media which tends to perpetuate stereotypes of scary black men who are naturally inclined to criminal behavior. In reality, the pirates were the victims of a US-EU run system that still uses the developing world as a dumping ground for toxic waste regardless of the suffering it causes. (just ask Larry Summers) In fact, the dumping continues to this day, even though we have been assured that we're living in a "post racial era" following the election of Barak Obama. Unfortunately, that rule doesn't apply to the many black and brown people who still find themselves caught in the imperial crosshairs. Their lives are just as miserable as ever. ETHIOPIA'S PLAN FOR WITHDRAWAL In 2006, the Bush administration supported an alliance of Somali warlords known as the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) that established a base of operations in the western city of Baidoa. With the help of the Ethiopian army, western mercenaries, US Navy warships, and AC-130 gunships; the TFG captured Mogadishu and forced the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) to retreat to the south. Since then the resistance has coalesced into a tenacious guerrilla army that has recaptured most of the country. The Bush administration invoked the war on terror to justify its involvement in Somalia, but their case was weak and full of inconsistencies. The ICU is not an Al Qaida affiliate or a terrorist organization despite the claims of the State Department. In fact, the ICU brought a high level of peace and stability to Somalia that hadn't been seen for more than sixteen years. Political analyst James Petras summed it up like this: “The ICU was a relatively honest administration, which ended warlord corruption and extortion. Personal safety and property were protected, ending arbitrary seizures and kidnappings by warlords and their armed thugs. The ICU is a broad multi-tendency movement that includes moderates and radical Islamists, civilian politicians and armed fighters, liberals and populists, electoralists and authoritarians. Most important, the Courts succeeded in unifying the country and creating some semblance of nationhood, overcoming clan fragmentation.” The Bush administration is mainly interested in oil and geopolitics. According to most estimates 30 per cent of America's oil will come from Africa within the next ten years. That means the Pentagon will have to extend its tentacles across the continent. Washington's allies in the TFG promised to pass oil laws that would allow foreign oil companies to return to Somalia, but now all of that is uncertain. It is impossible to know what type of government will emerge from the present conflict. Many pundits expect Somalia to descend into terrorist-breeding, failed state for years to come. The latest round of fighting has created a humanitarian disaster. 1.3 million people have been forced from their homes with nothing more than what they can carry on their backs. Over 3.5 million people are now huddled in tent cities in the south with little food, clean water or medical supplies. According to the UN News Center: "Nearly half the population is in crisis or need of assistance....Continuing instability, coupled with drought, high food prices and the collapse of the local currency have only worsened the dire humanitarian situation in recent months. The UN estimates that 40 per cent of the population, are in need of assistance. In addition, one in six children under the age of five in southern and central Somalia is currently acutely malnourished." (UN News Center) The war between the occupying Ethiopian army and the various guerrilla factions has steadily intensified over the last two years. Fighters from the ICU, Al-Shabaab and other Islamic groups have moved from the south to the vicinity of Mogadishu where fighting could break out at any time. It's "game-over" for Bush's proxy army and the transitional federal government. They cannot win, which is why the Ethiopian leaders announced a complete withdrawal of troops by the end of the year. By January 1, 2009, the occupation will be over. In a recent Chicago Tribune article, "US Appears to be Losing in Somalia", journalist Paul Salopek sums it up like this: "(Somalia) is a covert war in which the CIA has recruited gangs of unsavory warlords to hunt down and kidnap Islamic militants...and secretly imprison them offshore, aboard U.S. warships. The British civil-rights group Reprieve contended that as many as 17 U.S. warships may have doubled as floating prisons since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks... "Somalia is one of the great unrecognized U.S. policy failures since 9/11," said Ken Menkhaus, a leading Somalia scholar at Davidson College in North Carolina. "By any rational metric, what we've ended up with there today is the opposite of what we wanted." (Paul Salopek, "US Appears to be Losing in Somalia" Chicago Tribune) The CIA has done its job well. It's created a beehive for terrorism and the potential for another catastrophe like 9-11. Currently, negotiations are underway between the guerrilla leaders and the TFG over a power-sharing agreement. But no one expects the talks will amount to anything. The moderate ICU may regain power but the country will still be ungovernable for years to come. At best, Somalia is a decade away from restoring the fragile peace that was in place before Bush's bloody intervention.