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Politics : World Affairs Discussion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (3709)	2/9/2004 4:44:40 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3959

Re: Gus, I would agree with rrufff. I mean France is banning the Muslim veil. In the US such a thing will not have a chance of passing. LOL... Indeed, France is merely, clumsily, banning Muslimwear in her PUBLIC SCHOOLS only and the whole country is in an uproar! Do you think the US and France should trade places?? I mean, YOU ban the hijab AND stay clear from Iraq, while France grants her Muslim minorities (5 mil people in all) unrestrained freedom of expression and, at the same time, takes on a bloody crusade in Iraq --ROFL! If anything, the French commotion over the Muslim veil betrays how "powerful" France's Muslim constituency is: thousands of teenaged boys and girls have demonstrated against the proposed law, both true-born French and Arab intellectuals have publicly opposed the anti-Muslim law... Now, just imagine the mayhem France would be in if she had joined the Judeofascist crusade in Iraq --that is, if France had bombed, shelled, and maimed Iraqi civilians alongside the Yanks and the Brits from March 2003 to this day.... All of France's immigrant ghettoes would be burning with rage. That's actually the bathetic side of the whole affair: France's Muslim constituency is more and more respected by the pols, if only because of its electoral weight. For that matter, there are currently two French-Algerian ministers in the French government... As I said, the bathos --or the irony-- is that Prez J. Chirac squandered in one, bumbling stroke all the credit and popularity he deservedly reaped for his stand against the Iraqi crusade.... Anyway, I believe the situation of French Muslims is much more enviable than that of their US brethren --clue: muslimnews.co.uk

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (3709)	2/9/2004 9:11:23 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3959

Back to square one? Nato happy to ignore explosion in Afghan opium output, says Russia Richard Norton-Taylor and agencies Monday February 9, 2004 The Guardian Nato is turning a blind eye to the flourishing opium trade in Afghanistan to ensure the support of warlords in the struggle to maintain security in the country, Russia's defence minister has claimed. Sergei Ivanov said Afghanistan was now producing nine times the quantity of drugs it did under the Taliban. "It is understandable that by allowing drug peddling in Afghanistan, the [Nato] alliance ensures loyalty of warlords on the ground and of some Afghan leaders," he said. "Nevertheless, the drug flow from Afghanistan is posing a serious threat to the national security of all of the central Asian CIS [confederation of independent states] and Russia. It results from the absence of a truly international approach toward stabilisation in Afghanistan." Mr Ivanov was speaking at an international security conference in Munich where Nato countries, including Britain, debated whether to increase their military presence in Afghanistan. His comments came as at least 20 people were reported killed and 40 wounded in north-eastern Afghanistan in clashes over the payment of taxes on the opium poppy crop. The Munich meeting coincided with an international conference in Kabul, called to discuss ways to combat the trade. The Afghan poppy crop is estimated to be the raw material for 90% of the heroin in Britain, but little ends up in the US. The UN estimates that Afghan opium production last year amounted to a record 3,600 tonnes - an increase of 6% on the previous year - and said that surveys of farmers suggested that a further increase was likely this year. [...] guardian.co.uk Sounds like the Russkies are not that pleased with the US-brokered carveup of Afghanistan --or is it just the carveup of the opium crop? Anyway, Putin has skillfully seized the opportunity to turn up the heat on Karzai... while the Pashtuns' chief patron Musharraf is himself taking the heat from the US's Judeocons over Pakistan's nuclear "misconduct".... Pakistan is doomed to get squeezed, isn't it? Either between Russia and India or... between Russia and the US!