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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (47323)	5/26/2004 10:09:18 AM
From: TigerPaw	Respond to of 89467

we found some bullets in Gettysburg After helping my kids study for history finals (today is last day of school) I learned or relearned that the last time a slim majority overturned major compromises was the Kansas/Nebraska act of 1854. Political zealots who wanted to overturn the idea of the Mason/Dixon line of separation joined forces with railroad tycoons vieing for concessions as part of the transcontenental railroad. They pushed the major change in law through congress by the slimmest of votes where the weak president Pierce signed it. There wasn't even a demand for slaves in upper great plains. It was just an ideological finger poking exercise, with behind the scenes deals for the wealthiest railroad tycoons. From that time on the path to Civil War was inevitable. TP

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (47323)	5/26/2004 10:35:28 AM
From: Mannie	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Tuesday, May 25, 2004 · Last updated 6:16 p.m. PT Fallujah emerging as Islamic mini-state By HAMZA HENDAWI ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER FALLUJAH, Iraq -- With U.S. Marines gone and central government authority virtually nonexistent, Fallujah resembles an Islamic mini-state - anyone caught selling alcohol is flogged and paraded in the city. Men are encouraged to grow beards and barbers are warned against giving "Western" hair cuts. "After all the blood that was shed, and the lives that were lost, we shall only accept God's law in Fallujah," said cleric Abdul-Qader al-Aloussi, offering a glimpse of what a future Iraq may look like as the U.S.-led occupation draws to a close. "We must capitalize on our victory over the Americans and implement Islamic sharia laws." The departure of the Marines under an agreement that ended the three-week siege last month has enabled hard-line Islamic leaders to assert their power in this once-restive city 30 miles west of Baghdad. Some were active in defending the city against the Marines and have profited by a perception - both here and elsewhere in Iraq - that the mujahedeen, or Islamic holy warriors, defeated a superpower. Under the agreement, the Marines handed security in the city to a new Fallujah Brigade made up largely of local residents and commanded by officers of Saddam Hussein's former army. With the departure of the Marines, the position of the U.S.-appointed civil administration has been weakened in favor of the clerics and the mujahedeen who resisted the U.S. occupation. That is a pattern that could be repeated elsewhere in Iraq after the occupation ends June 30, unless other legitimate leaders come forward to replace those tainted by association with the occupation. Fallujah, which calls itself the "City of Mosques," provides the religious fundamentalists with fertile ground for wielding power. The city's estimated 300,000 residents are known for their religious piety. Women rarely appear in public and when they do, they are covered from head to toe in accordance with Islam's strict dress code for women. The lives of men revolve around Islam's tradition of praying five times a day. Unlike other Iraqi cities, Fallujah has never allowed liquor stores. Its famous kebab restaurants have prayer rooms, an unusual feature in most Muslim nations. Many of its adult male population wear beards, a hallmark of religious piety. However, steps taken by the mujahedeen over the past month have gone beyond simply encouraging piety. On Sunday, for example, scores of masked mujahedeen, shouting "Allahu Akbar," or "God is Great," paraded four men stripped down to their underpants atop the back of a pickup truck that drove through the city. Their bare backs were bleeding from 80 lashes they had received as punishment for selling alcohol. They were taken to a hospital where they were treated and released. Residents said a man found intoxicated last week was flogged, held overnight and released the next day. Fallujah's women hair stylists shut down their shops several months ago after repeated attacks blamed on Muslim militants. On Tuesday, the mujahedeen expanded their "clean up" campaign. About 80 masked, armed men, accompanied by local police, forced hundreds of street hawkers at gun point to clear out from the streets and confine their businesses to designated areas. The masked men later moved to the city's used car market and "persuaded" dealers to move away from the city center because they were blocking traffic. In both cases, the police stood by without intervening. According to residents, barbers have been instructed not to give "Western" haircuts - short on the back and sides and full on top - or to remove facial hair. Four youths with long hair were stopped at a market by mujahedeen on Sunday and marched to a public market where they were shorn. "Are we Muslims, or not?" asked Abdul-Rahman Mahmoud, a 40-year-old father of three. "We are. So, we must apply God's laws. The mujahedeen's word is heard and respected, and the same goes for our clerics." There is little sign of opposition to the mujahedeen, though it could be that some people are simply afraid of confronting armed men. Sheik Omar Said of the Fallujah branch of the Association of Muslim Scholars, a Baghdad-based organization created last year to defend the rights of the Sunni Arab minority, insists that nearly everyone in Fallujah really wants Islamic law. However, he hinted that perhaps in some cases, the mujahedeen have gone too far. "This will only come after educating society in religious matters first and then moving on to applying Islamic punishments," he said. However, the mujahedeen are clearly profiting from the hero status they acquired during the April battles against the Marines. There is even talk of building a museum dedicated to the "struggle" against the American occupation. Money has been collected in recent weeks to help the families of those who died in the fighting, said by the locals to number 1,000 "martyrs."

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (47323)	5/26/2004 10:57:28 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 89467

China: Soft Landing or Bust? By Frank Shostak [Posted May 26, 2004] China has experienced one of the great economic transformations in the history of the world, owing to economic reforms that unleashed astonishing productive capacity that had been bottled up for long period of state controls. And yet this transformation has been endangered by the bane of all booms under fiat money: money and credit creation. The question is whether China's boom will settle softly or coming crashing down. The latest data indicates that strong economic activity remains intact. Thus the 3-month moving average of the yearly rate of growth of industrial production jumped to 20.6% in April from 16.6% in March. The growth momentum of the production of steel continues to display buoyancy. Year-on-year steel production stood at 28.3% in March versus 27% in February. Also, car production displays buoyancy. The yearly rate of growth of car production stood at 40% in March against 48% in the previous month. Although the pace of investment in fixed assets eased slightly in April it nonetheless remains very strong. The yearly rate of growth of fixed asset investment stood at 42.8% in April against 47.8% in March. Furthermore real GDP grew year-on-year in Q1 by 9.8% after expanding by 9.9% in Q4 last year. Retail sales have continued to display strength. The yearly rate of growth of retail sales jumped to 13.2% in April from 11.1% in the previous month. Since April last year, Chinese authorities have introduced various measures to cool off economic activity. The central bank raised the amount of cash that banks must keep in reserve requirements by 0.5% to 8%. Also, China’s central bank has expanded open-market operations to twice a week from once weekly. These measures are starting to show some effect on the rate of growth of bank loans. Thus after rising to 23.9% in August 2003 the yearly rate of growth loans fell to 19.8% in April. Furthermore, after rising by 52.5% in January last year year-on-year lending for construction activities fell by 6.6% in April. For the time being, however, the growth momentum of money M1 continues apace. The yearly rate of growth of this monetary measure stood at 20% in April against 20.1% in the previous month. Meanwhile the effect of strong increases in the yearly rate of growth of money M1 can be clearly seen through the growth momentum of the consumer price index (CPI). After falling to 2.1% in February the yearly rate of growth of the CPI jumped to 3.8% in April. Should this rise in CPI growth momentum intensify further it is quite likely that the Chinese authorities will be forced to introduce much tougher measures. For instance, some Chinese officials have suggested that the central bank may lift the one-year lending rate, which is currently stands at 5.31%. Here is where we find the most severe risk. This possible increase in interest rates runs the risk of bursting the bubble and plunging the economy into a recession. Chinese authorities, however, believe that they can stage an orderly deflation of the bubble and thereby prevent an economic bust. However, it is questionable as to whether an orderly deflation of the bubble i.e. a soft landing, is possible. There is a high likelihood that due to the aggressive lowering of interest rates by the central bank from 11% in 1996 to 5.3% at present a severe misallocation of resources has occurred. We suggest that this makes the economy so much more vulnerable to any tight monetary policy. Should the growth momentum of money supply contract sharply on account of a possible sharp fall in bank lending, economic activity will follow suit. For example, a fall in the yearly rate of growth of money M1 from 54% in Q2 1993 to 14% in Q2 1996 plunged the nominal GDP rate of growth from 69% in Q4 1994 to 2% in Q4 1997. In sum, it seems that a bust is more likely than Chinese authorities are currently admitting. A possible bust of Chinese economy is likely to be bad news for the US and other world economies. There are already indications that the rate of increase of China's imports is slowing down. After rising to 76.7% in February the yearly rate of growth of imports fell to 42.7% in April. In this respect, the growth momentum of imports from the US fell sharply in March. Year-on-year the rate of growth fell to 29.4% from 92.2% in February. The yearly rate of growth of China's imports from Asia fell to 43.4% in March from 73% in the previous month. To prepare for the possibility of a genuine bust, there is only course of action for China: it can and should be mitigated by further liberalizations of capital investment rules and even more privatization. This is the only "countercyclical" policy the government should consider, since all efforts to reflate are doomed to fail. . mises.org

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (47323)	5/26/2004 11:04:50 AM
From: Wayners	Respond to of 89467

Its got nothing to do with justification for War. It has to with being accurate. Use the word SOME rather than the word NONE found. Its that easy.

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (47323)	5/26/2004 11:12:04 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Chalabi 'boasted of Iranian spy link' ___________________ Iraqi accused by CIA made claim in 1997, says former inspector By Julian Borger in Washington The Guardian Wednesday May 26, 2004 guardian.co.uk Ahmad Chalabi, the Iraqi leader accused by the CIA of passing US secrets to Tehran, claimed to have close links with Iranian intelligence seven years ago, according to a former UN weapons inspector. Scott Ritter, who before the war insisted that Saddam Hussein did not have significant weapons stocks, made the claim to Andrew Cockburn, a Washington-based journalist and the author of a biography of the ousted Iraqi dictator. "When I met [Mr Chalabi] in December 1997 he said he had tremendous connections with Iranian intelligence," Mr Ritter said, according to an article by Mr Cockburn published today in the Guardian. "He said that some of his best intelligence came from the Iranians and offered to set up a meeting for me with the head of Iranian intelligence." Mr Chalabi has repeatedly denied passing secrets to the Iranians and has denounced the allegations made by US intelligence officials as a CIA "smear". He also denied providing false information about weapons of mass destruction to the US. He said he only put the CIA in touch with three defectors, who were believed to have had critical information. The FBI and US intelligence agencies are re-examining information provided by or channelled through Mr Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress, to determine whether the decision to go to war in Iraq was influenced by Iran. Mr Ritter told the Guardian he stood by his allegation. He said he never made the trip to Iran because the CIA refused permission. Meanwhile, both Democratic and Republican senators have called for an investigation into the alleged links between Mr Chalabi and Iranian intelligence. US intelligence officials have said they have hard evidence that Mr Chalabi passed US secrets to Tehran, and that his intelligence chief, Aras Karim Habib, was an Iranian agent. Mr Habib is being sought by Iraqi police, and according to one American press report is now in Tehran. "This is a very, very serious charge," Senator Chuck Hagel, a moderate Republican from Nebraska, told CNN. "There is no way the Senate intelligence committee is not going to be in this." The Pentagon defends the INC's intelligence input. An official said yesterday: "We should point out that the INC has provided valuable intelligence that has saved coalition lives and has provided great quantities of documents from Saddam's regime that are of great value." Mr Chalabi has offered to travel to Washington to deny the allegations and make his case directly to Congress. Richard Perle, a former adviser to the Pentagon, and one of the INC's most outspoken backers in the capital, said he did not believe the CIA's allegations against Mr Chalabi. "I believe they have been hostile to Ahmad Chalabi for a long time and are not to be trusted on this and I think they are seeking to transfer responsibility for their own intelligence failures to others," Mr Perle told BBC Radio 4's Today programme yesterday. According to US intelligence sources, the FBI has opened an investigation into the leak of secret information to the INC from within the administration. A Pentagon official said yesterday he was not aware of any investigation. Patrick Lang, former head of the Middle East desk at the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), said the agency was re-examining prewar intelligence provided by the INC in the light of the CIA's findings of a link with Iranian intelligence. "The people investigating this aren't sure yet, but the investigation is under way, and the DIA are looking through its documents and realising they've been had," Mr Lang said. "If it turns out to be true, it was certainly a genius operation. [The Iranians] created an anti-Saddam opposition to get rid of him, and they got us to pay for it." A Pentagon official confirmed that a "reassessment process" was under way, but refused to give details. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004