Category Archives: International

International, U.S.

Sign that the U.S. realizes it can’t defeat Afghan Taliban, U.S. to officially recognize Taliban diplomatic office in Qatar

September 12, according to Australian media, the Taliban have opened a diplomatic office in Qatar, and will soon be recognized by the United States as an legitimate political organization.

Qatar is also the biggest Arab supporter of the U.S., U.K. and French backed Libyan rebels.  Qatar is also being implicated, along with Saudi Arabia, of instigating armed uprisings in Syria.

Foreign media tried to get reaction from White House officials, but declined comment.  Reports say this is a step towards peace talks between the Taliban and the United States.  Such peace talks would recognize the Taliban as the de facto rulers of Afghanistan.

Earlier in the year there were reports that Turkey would allow a Taliban embassy, but now it looks like Qatar has become the location of choice by U.S. officials.

The Taliban are seeking assurances that its representatives in Doha, the Qatari capital, would be free from harassment or arrest.

 

 

International, U.S.

Government Coverup: United States rejected several offers from Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden, also, proof the U.S. knew bin Laden was actually in Pakistan

“Even before the [9/11] attacks, our Islamic Emirate had tried through various proposals to resolve the Osama issue. One such proposal was to set up a three-nation court, or something under the supervision of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. But the U.S. showed no interest in it. They kept demanding we hand him over, but…They did not recognize our government.”-Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, Afghan Foreign Minister under the Taliban

Robert Grenier, CIA boss in Pakistan at the time of 9/11, confirmed that the Taliban made such offers, but that the United States didn’t take them seriously: “No one in the U.S. government took these [offers] seriously because they did not trust the Taliban and their ability to conduct a proper trial.”

Offers by the Taliban were relayed to the U.S. through indirect channels such as the U.S. embassy in Pakistan, or the informal Taliban office for the UN in New York City.  But, the United States did not recognize the Taliban, who governed Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001.

Also, top U.S. prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, visited Pakistan to present evidence implicating bin Laden in U.S. embassy bombings: “He met with the Pakistani interior minister and the idea was to convince the Pakistani government to help in turning over bin Laden.”-Robert Grenier, former Central Intelligence Agency

Of interest is the fact that most main stream U.S. media failed to report that the Taliban government of Afghanistan condemned the 9/11 attacks: “Afghanistan was one of the first few governments that condemned the attacks…We [Taliban] condemned the attacks because the people targeted were defenseless civilians, women, children, Muslim and non-Muslim. But al-Qaeda praised it.”-Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil

 

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: United Kingdom says Syria’s Assad is no longer legitimate, France says it’s too late for Assad’s reforms

September 12, joining the United States, British Prime Minister David Cameron said the Syrian government was not legitimate and has no future.

This after the Syrian government announced that new elections could be held by the end of the year. But, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said it was too late for elections: “We think the regime has lost its legitimacy, that it’s too late to implement a program of reform.”

France, Britain and the U.S. are pushing for a UN Security Council resolution against Syria, but Russia is countering with their own proposal: “We are ready to support different approaches, but they must not be based on one sided condemnations of the actions of the government and President Assad.”-Dmitry Medvedev, President of Russia

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? MLK jr memorial statue made in China, due to lack of funds

There’s been a lot of praise by the main stream U.S. media for the Martin Luther King Jr memorial, but they don’t mention that the statue was outsourced to China due to lack of funds.

According to Wikipedia, the memorial needed $120 million for construction.  Only $108 million was raised, and that included taxpayer money from the Federal government.  This is the reason the memorial contractor outsourced the making of the statue to China.

Not even the stone came from the United States, it’s Chinese pink granite.  Just another sign of the times!

International

Common disease killing children in Vietnam, 42,000 infected

The United Nations World Health Organization says 98 children have died, so far this year, due to a common hand/foot and mouth disease.  42,000 people have been infected.

Since 2008 the number of cases in Vietnam has been increasing.  Vietnamese health officials are warning people to maintain cleanliness.

The disease is spread by sneezing, coughing and contact with fluid from blisters or infected feces. No vaccine exists.

 

Business/Economics, International

Global Economic Class War: Greek government to screw over citizens, again

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos announced, on September 11, that a new property tax will be in place over the next two years.

The new property tax is supposed to make up for 2.6 billion dollars in lost tax revenues.  Funny how politicians think that the answer to people not being able to pay taxes, because their incomes are down, is to increase or create new taxes!

To try and placate the Greek masses, the government said politicians will give up one month of pay, big whoop!

Business/Economics, International

Global Economic War: VW says Suzuki broke contract, issues warning

September 11, VolksWagen claims Suzuki violated its contract by agreeing to purchase diesel engines from another car maker.

The two companies joined-up in December 2009, but their alliance stalled in July 2011 when Suzuki said VW does not see their partnership as equal.

VW says it will give Suzuki several weeks to return to buying diesel engines from Germany.

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Housing bubble bursting in Australia, big banks try to offer lower interest rates to get people to buy

“Outside Hong Kong and Shanghai, Australia is the most expensive real estate market in the world compared to income.”-Harry S. Dent Jr, economist

The housing market bubble is finally bursting in Australia, it’s being called an “economic tsunami” in Australian media.

One of the biggest Australian banks, Commonwealth Bank, has dropped its interest rates to try and get people to buy homes.

Also, most of the major home finance banks in Australia are offering refinancing loans to help keep people form defaulting on their home loans.  It’s very much like whats been going on here in the United States.

Home prices in the state of South Australia (SA) have been slashed by thousands of Australian dollars.  One woman cut her asking price by $60,000: “It’s been on the market for nine months now and the way the economy is at the moment it wasn’t even getting a look-in at open. My partner and I came to the conclusion we needed to drop the price.”-Jan Grainger, Fullarton

This weekend, U.S. economist Harry S. Dent Jr stated that the housing bubble in Australia was about to burst, as well as in China and Japan. He also indicated that the housing correction in the U.S. isn’t over: “People in places like Sydney or Tokyo or Miami say, ‘Hey, real estate can never go down here, we’re a great place, everyone wants to move here, there’s not much land for development’, and what I say is that is exactly the kind of place that bubbles.”

Dent said Australia’s house prices need to correct to 1990s levels.

In the Australian state of Victoria (VIC) real estate agents are actually dropping clients who refuse to drop their prices: “An agent only gets paid when they sell a property so if they are investing a lot of time into something they know is not going to sell, then there is no point in wasting time on it.”-Catherine Cashmore, real estate agent

In New South Wales (NSW) the state government announced that a new tax, on existing home sales to first time home buyers, would go into effect after January 1.  That is causing sales to hit 60% rate, due to people trying to beat the new tax (stamp duty).

The problem is that after January 1 you can expect home sales in NSW to hit the floor: “The stamp duty will be a hit of $15,000 – that’s a lot of money for anyone these days. People who haven’t bought or can’t buy by this time have no choice to go back on the rental market. People that don’t buy before January will see rent increase.”-Joel Hollis, real estate agent

 

International

World War 3: Israel bans Druze from annual pilgrimage to Syria, hundreds of Druze protesting

Hundreds of Druze residents, in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, were waiting for United Nations buses to take them to Syria, early on September 11.

The buses never showed up, and the Druze were told Israel denied their annual pilgrimage, because of security concerns.  Now hundreds of Druze are protesting in the city Kuneitra.

The Druze religion is influenced by Shi’a Islam, Gnostic Christianity and Jewish beliefs.  It was founded by an Iranian mystic in 1017.  The majority of Druze are in Syria (including the Israeli occupied Golan Heights) and Lebanon (which was part of Syria).

International, U.S.

At least 77 U.S. troops wounded in latest attacks in Afghanistan, Afghans say it’s retaliation for unjustified U.S. occupation of Afghanistan

“Each year, 9/11 reminds the Afghans of an event in which they had no role whatsoever.  American colonialism has shed the blood of tens of thousands of miserable and innocent Afghans.”-Afghan insurgent statement

September 11, at least three U.S. troops have been wounded in attacks in western Afghanistan.

This follows a September 10 truck bomb attack against the U.S. Combat Outpost Sayed Abad, in the eastern province of Wardak.  NATO reports that 77 U.S. troops were wounded, two Afghans killed and 25 Afghans wounded.

U.S. Army sources have reported that 50 troops, plus civilians, were wounded in the Saturday truck bomb attack:  “It happened at 5:15 pm on Saturday. It detonated near the entry point at a combat outpost, resulting in 89 wounded in action and a 20-foot (six-meter) hole in the wall.”-David Eastburn, Major U.S. Army

Wardak is where a U.S. Chinook helicopter was shot down recently, killing all 30 U.S. forces and eight Afghans on board.

Also on Saturday/Sunday, a NATO soldier died in an ambush in southern Afghanistan, and  two bombs exploded in Paktika and Kunduz Provinces, leaving a total of 10 civilians dead.