Stock market today: S&P 500 climbs as ongoing AI-led rebound pushes tech higher
Iraq: By next week, only about 200 U.S. military personnel will remain in Baghdad as part of the U.S. diplomatic mission to administer arms sales. After almost nine years, nearly 4,500 U.S. dead, at least $800 billion spent, and an estimated 100,000+ Iraqi civilian fatalities, Defense Secretary Leon Pannetta ‘furled’ the flag in a low-key ceremony marking the end to the Iraq War.
As I noted a year ago at this time, when Iraqi Christians can’t openly celebrate Christmas, there is only one conclusion to make. The United States lost. Our soldiers performed heroically, but with few exceptions, our civilian and military leadership did not. Saddam Hussein was toppled, and, importantly, his sons disposed of, but the U.S. is now abandoning the Iraqi people and during the course of the 2012 campaign, President Obama will increasingly find he cannot tout his Iraq policy as a success.
We all know Iran will gradually take over, as its puppet, the immensely corrupt Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, does Tehran’s bidding. Civil War will re-erupt as the Sunni minority, a critical component of the United States’ surge, futilely holds onto their last strongholds, while the Kurds try to maintain their isolation and independence.
As for the 1,500 to 2,000 State Department staffers manning the world’s biggest embassy (with another 14,000 security contractors), they will be targets. Not one of them feels safe these days leaving the Green Zone.
Editorial / Washington Post
“In the opening statement of his press conference Monday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki [Ed. the first time Obama has been face-to-face with Maliki since Oct. 2009], President Obama managed to assert no fewer than five times that the war in Iraq is ending. No doubt the president’s reelection campaign hopes that Americans will absorb that message; but we wonder about the thoughts of Iraqis who were listening. The conflict in their country, after all, is greatly reduced but not over: Al-Qaeda continues to carry out terrorist attacks, Iranian-sponsored militias still operate, and a power struggle between Kurdish-ruled northern Iraq and Mr. Maliki’s government goes on. Many Iraqis worry that, after the last U.S. troops depart this month, the sectarian bloodletting that ravaged the country between 2004 and 2007 will resume….
“(Mr. Maliki’s) government increasingly appears headed in a troubling direction. Rather than remaining ‘inclusive,’ Mr. Maliki has been concentrating power, especially over the security forces, in his own hands and excluding minority Sunnis, with whom he promised to share authority. He recently ordered the arrest of hundreds of people he accused of being tied to Saddam Hussein’s former Baath Party. Though he may have, as Mr. Obama said, domestic reasons for doing so, he has set himself apart from the rest of the Arab League by refusing to break with the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, a key Iranian ally.
“Mr. Obama’s virtually unqualified support for Mr. Maliki consequently was unsettling.”
Meanwhile, to my fellow Christians in Iraq (the few still remaining), Merry Christmas.
Iran: If you watched the Republican debate on Thursday, it was rather humorous how the candidates attacked President Obama for asking the Iranians to return our spy drone. Talk about pathetic. The Iranians had some fun with that one. Tehran then warned the Afghan government to order a halt to surveillance flights from its territory, with Iranian Foreign Minister Salehi saying any further flights would be viewed as a hostile act. Defense Secretary Panetta said the flights will continue despite the loss of the drone.
On the nuclear program front, the White House is increasingly concerned Iran is on the verge of being able to enrich uranium at the underground facility near the holy city of Qom (Fordo), and that Israel may see commencement of such operations as a justification for a strike, as reported by Indira A.R. Lakshmanan of Bloomberg.
Strategist Ray Takeyh notes in a Washington Post op-ed that Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has mused that “If Iran becomes atomic Iran, no longer will anyone dare to challenge it because they would have to pay too high of a price,” in case anyone still doubts its intentions.
On a different matter, Al Arabiya reported that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei “ordered the arrest of a number of senior members of the Revolutionary Guard he suspects of planning to assassinate him,” as passed along by the Jerusalem Post.
And regarding a so-called blast at an Iranian uranium processing plant near the city of Isfahan on Nov. 28, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security says its analysis of satellite imagery do not indicate a blast occurred there. The organization said, “It is still unclear where the reported blast occurred in Isfahan and whether it occurred anywhere near the nuclear facility.”
Strangely, “Buildings that could be seen at that facility in satellite images from August are no longer present in pictures taken on Dec. 5, according to the analysis. There are signs that bulldozers have been at work in the area, and large pieces of equipment could be detected.” [Global Security Newswire]
The ISIS says, “It is unclear how and why the buildings are no longer present at the site. It is also unclear whether this transformation is related to the Nov. 28, 2011, blast reported to have been heard throughout Isfahan.”
The plot thickens.
Meanwhile, the Iranian people are increasingly in an uproar over the impact of sanctions on the economy as commodity prices soar. Authorities feared a run on the banks and on Wednesday were forced to beat back crowds attempting to buy gold coins at a discount. Only high oil prices have prevented a full-blown collapse of the Iranian economy. Non-performing loans, which were estimated at $42 billion in 2010, are said to have risen significantly higher this year.
Public confidence is shot.
As for why the banks would supposedly sell gold at a discount, it’s because they need the cash.
Syria: The United Nations raised its estimate of the death toll from the Assad government’s crackdown to 5,000. In the 10-day period ending Dec. 12, 200 died, according to the UN high commissioner for human rights. With international media access virtually non-existent, it’s impossible to know for sure exactly what is taking place, except that it is civil war. A report on Dec. 15 said Syrian army defectors had killed 27 Syrian soldiers and security forces.
Also, Syrian troops continue to infiltrate Lebanon, firing on civilians as a means of terror. In one attack, two shepherds were wounded by the gunfire.
But as my friend in Beirut, Michael Young, writes for the Daily Star, imagine if Syria’s army and intelligence services were still in Lebanon, the Independence Intifada of 2005 having driven them out?
“The question is not academic. Lebanon 2005 has been denied its due as a precursor of Arab uprisings this year, even though the popular demands at the time were very similar to what we are witnessing today. A reason for this is that the aftermath of the Lebanese Intifada against Syria was, to put it kindly, uncertain. Rather than emerge into a new morning of emancipation, the Lebanese grew apart, within a year were caught up in a war with Israel, and within three found themselves on the cusp of civil war.
“And yet judging emancipator moments by their outcomes can sometimes play surprising tricks, because the unintended consequences are invariably good and bad. It’s best to evaluate such moments on their own merits, and few acts are more laudatory than seeking the replacement of an authoritarian leader and the criminal enterprises with which such individuals surround themselves.”
But if Syria were still in Lebanon today, Young concludes the country “would have become a Syrian battering ram in its dealings with the Arabs and the West. Domestic animosities would have been exacerbated, with one group of Lebanese employed by Syria to intimidate the other. As is their way, the Assads would have ensured that if they were destroyed, Lebanon would be as well.”
As an aside, Syria was blamed by the French for an attack on a UN peacekeeping force on patrol in southern Lebanon on Friday (Dec. 9) that seriously injured five soldiers; Hizbullah, that is, acting on behalf of Syria.
Egypt: As I go to post, renewed clashes in Cairo have killed at least eight today.
Israel: The Palestinians continue to refuse to resume peace talks with Israel until Israel freezes settlement construction and accepts the pre-1967 lines.
This as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu once again has his hands full with Jewish extremists, with Netanyahu vowing these same folks would not be allowed to spark a religious war; after far-right activists targeted a West Bank mosque near Ramallah in retribution for IDF actions to demolish a home close to an unauthorized outpost near Nablus. Earlier, Jewish activists vandalized an army base, assaulted two IDF commanders and breached a security fence with Jordan.
Pakistan: The government continues to impose a blockade on a U.S. lifeline into Afghanistan following the November 26 NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, and this week gunmen attacked the oil tankers stranded all this time, destroying seven of them in one instance. In a separate incident in Quetta, gunmen destroyed at least 34 trucks in a temporary NATO trucking terminal there.
As to the health of President Zardari, who is being treated for an unknown ailment in Dubai, rumors of a coup persist, though Prime Minister Gilani said Zardari has the backing and support of parliament. Zardari should stay in Dubai and enjoy himself.
Russia: Nothing should surprise readers of this space when it comes to the Kremlin and intrigue. Having told you exactly what would happen in the Dec. 4 Duma vote, including mass demonstrations after, what’s next? I’ve long said there will be a coup, though I’ll try and refine things when I give my outlook for 2012 on Dec. 31. For now, March 4 is the date of the presidential election and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who thought he would just skate back to his old position for two, six-year terms, is now back on his heels.
After last Saturday’s protests, with tens of thousands gathering in Moscow, an equal number in St. Petersburg, and protests across the rest of the country, Moscow officials have granted approval for a demonstration on Christmas Eve. The approval is for a crowd of 50,000. We’ll see what happens.
Meanwhile, Putin, in his annual live TV call-in show, this one lasting 4 ½ hours, refused to acknowledge election violations but said he would install live Web cameras at every polling station in Russia to prevent fraud in March. Putin also said he would gradually move to return the election of regional governors and senators to the people. It was years ago that he dismantled that system, though he still wants the president to have a hand in picking candidates.
Earlier, a top Putin advisor, Boris Gryzlov, speaker of the Duma for 8 years and leader of United Russia, resigned; he being the scapegoat, it would seem, for United Russia’s support falling from 64% to 49.5% in the Dec. 4 vote (with many saying were it not for ballot stuffing, it would have been closer to 33%, max).
Putin’s approval rating, as well as that of current President Medvedev, has tumbled to 51% following the scam election. Only 42% said they would vote for Putin next March, which would necessitate a second round.
So you’d think Putin would be somewhat conciliatory, but despite a few small steps, as noted above, he still derided last weekend’s protesters for “allowing yourselves to be humiliated.” He also reiterated a longstanding warning that protesters shouldn’t attempt regime change a la Ukraine in 2004. “Color revolutions are special schemes to destabilize society,” he said during the call-in show.
And he repeated an earlier assertion that unidentified Russians were working for foreign interests. “There are people who have Russian passports but work for the interests of a foreign state, for foreign money.” Of course the prior week he blamed U.S. Secretary of State Clinton.
Putin also dismissed fears of censorship, this after two people were fired in connection with the publication of a magazine photo of a ballot carrying a handwritten crude insult about him. Vlad then called Sen. John McCain “nuts” after McCain wrote to Putin on Twitter amid the Duma protests that “the Arab Spring is coming to a neighborhood near you.” [McCain replied back immediately to the ‘nuts’ comment, “Dear Vlad, is it something I said?”]
By the way, President Obama…nice “reset.”
Meanwhile, New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, the 3rd-richest man in Russia, announced he would run for president, citing support from the business community. Though just as in earlier this year, when Prokhorov said he was starting a new political party (Right Cause…only to be ousted in an internal coup), there are conspiracy theories that the Kremlin is encouraging a Prokhorov run to both show Putin is for free elections, and to have Prokhorov help split the opposition vote. Prokhorov did vow that if elected president, his first step would be to release former Yukos oil tycoon, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. [There is actually little sign that Prokhorov has any level of support whatsoever.]
Lastly, we make note of a new member of the Duma…Maria Kozhevnikova, Russian Playboy’s cover girl in 2009. Just before being elected, she was voted the country’s sexiest woman by Maxim magazine. You go, girl! [As in, go ahead, be my coup leader.]
[Regarding the story that broke on Friday that an Iranian citizen was caught trying to smuggle radioactive material on board a flight from Moscow to Tehran, from my reading of the details it’s much ado about nothing. For starters, our news services made it sound like an arrest was made that day. Like on Saturday morning, Drudge still has this as one of its leads and the story is grossly incomplete. The incident actually occurred a while ago but Russian authorities just made it public, and, second, the passenger was allowed to board the flight and not detained.]
China: A South Korean Coast Guard officer was stabbed and killed by Chinese fishermen when officers tried to stop them from fishing in South Korean waters. A second officer was wounded. This is yet another in a series of attacks by the Chinese. In September 2008, a South Korean officer was killed in a similar clash. As bad as the incidents are, they are not expected to significantly impair China-South Korea relations.
On a different matter, cyberespionage, the Wall Street Journal reports that the National Security Agency has determined the identities of individuals connected to China’s People’s Liberation Army “and a half-dozen nonmilitary groups connected to organizations like universities.” The U.S. hasn’t decided yet whether to confront China directly with the information or to launch a counterattack.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said, “Accusations that China participates in such hacking, or that the Chinese government is behind it, are totally ungrounded.” Cough cough.
France: Former prime minister and conservative politician Dominique de Villepin announced he will run for president in the 2012 election. Mr. de Villepin is a long-time rival of President Sarkozy, who has yet to formally declare but is expected to do so. De Villepin would have little chance of winning but could draw votes away from Sarkozy in the first round of balloting, assuming he can get the signatures of at least 500 mayors that are required to get his name on the ballot in the first place.
A poll published last Sunday, incidentally, has Sarkozy winning just 26% of the vote if the first round, slated for April 22, were held today. Marine Le Pen, the National Front candidate, captures 13.5%, Francois Bayrou, a centrist who finished third in 2007, comes in at 13%, while Francois Hollande, the Socialist, would garner 31.5%. De Villepin picks up just 1%.
Separately, former President Jacques Chirac was found guilty of diverting public funds, specifically paying members of his party for municipal jobs that did not exist. Chirac was president from 1995 to 2007, but the charges actually go back to his time as mayor of Paris, 1977 to 1995, and he is the first former French head of state to be convicted since Marshal Philippe Petain, the leader of the wartime Vichy regime and Nazi collaborator.
To many in France, the verdict against Chirac was shocking as corruption is so entrenched, and seemingly accepted, among the political elite. The presiding judge wrote:
“Jacques Chirac breached the duty of trust that weighs on public officials charged with caring for public funds or property, in contempt of the general interest of Parisians.”
Of further significance, the verdict threatens Sarkozy, who has long faced allegations of similar behavior.
[By the way, before Petain, the only other French head of state to face trial was King Louis XVI, who was guillotined in 1793.]
India: Two weeks ago, a hospital fire killed over 90 in New Delhi as fire trucks struggled to get there amidst the congestion. This week, the death toll is 168 and rising from a toxic alcohol brew in West Bengal state. While such deaths are a regular occurrence here, the scale is unprecedented (107 died in a similar incident in 2009). The illegal breweries appear to have used ammonium nitrate to “add flavor.” The majority of consumers of the moonshine are poor, daily-wage workers.
Belgium: A man with a history of weapons and drug offenses was summoned for questioning by Belgian police; so on his way to the station, he threw three hand grenades into a crowd of holiday shoppers in the city of Liege and then sprayed them with gunfire, killing four and wounding 122, before he killed himself. [Another victim of the attacker’s was later found at his home.] In Italy, a man opened fire in an outdoor market in Florence, killing two vendors from Senegal and wounding three other Senegalese before killing himself. The attacker was a known right-wing extremist.
As I noted a year ago at this time, when Iraqi Christians can’t openly celebrate Christmas, there is only one conclusion to make. The United States lost. Our soldiers performed heroically, but with few exceptions, our civilian and military leadership did not. Saddam Hussein was toppled, and, importantly, his sons disposed of, but the U.S. is now abandoning the Iraqi people and during the course of the 2012 campaign, President Obama will increasingly find he cannot tout his Iraq policy as a success.
We all know Iran will gradually take over, as its puppet, the immensely corrupt Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, does Tehran’s bidding. Civil War will re-erupt as the Sunni minority, a critical component of the United States’ surge, futilely holds onto their last strongholds, while the Kurds try to maintain their isolation and independence.
As for the 1,500 to 2,000 State Department staffers manning the world’s biggest embassy (with another 14,000 security contractors), they will be targets. Not one of them feels safe these days leaving the Green Zone.
Editorial / Washington Post
“In the opening statement of his press conference Monday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki [Ed. the first time Obama has been face-to-face with Maliki since Oct. 2009], President Obama managed to assert no fewer than five times that the war in Iraq is ending. No doubt the president’s reelection campaign hopes that Americans will absorb that message; but we wonder about the thoughts of Iraqis who were listening. The conflict in their country, after all, is greatly reduced but not over: Al-Qaeda continues to carry out terrorist attacks, Iranian-sponsored militias still operate, and a power struggle between Kurdish-ruled northern Iraq and Mr. Maliki’s government goes on. Many Iraqis worry that, after the last U.S. troops depart this month, the sectarian bloodletting that ravaged the country between 2004 and 2007 will resume….
“(Mr. Maliki’s) government increasingly appears headed in a troubling direction. Rather than remaining ‘inclusive,’ Mr. Maliki has been concentrating power, especially over the security forces, in his own hands and excluding minority Sunnis, with whom he promised to share authority. He recently ordered the arrest of hundreds of people he accused of being tied to Saddam Hussein’s former Baath Party. Though he may have, as Mr. Obama said, domestic reasons for doing so, he has set himself apart from the rest of the Arab League by refusing to break with the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, a key Iranian ally.
“Mr. Obama’s virtually unqualified support for Mr. Maliki consequently was unsettling.”
Meanwhile, to my fellow Christians in Iraq (the few still remaining), Merry Christmas.
Iran: If you watched the Republican debate on Thursday, it was rather humorous how the candidates attacked President Obama for asking the Iranians to return our spy drone. Talk about pathetic. The Iranians had some fun with that one. Tehran then warned the Afghan government to order a halt to surveillance flights from its territory, with Iranian Foreign Minister Salehi saying any further flights would be viewed as a hostile act. Defense Secretary Panetta said the flights will continue despite the loss of the drone.
On the nuclear program front, the White House is increasingly concerned Iran is on the verge of being able to enrich uranium at the underground facility near the holy city of Qom (Fordo), and that Israel may see commencement of such operations as a justification for a strike, as reported by Indira A.R. Lakshmanan of Bloomberg.
Strategist Ray Takeyh notes in a Washington Post op-ed that Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has mused that “If Iran becomes atomic Iran, no longer will anyone dare to challenge it because they would have to pay too high of a price,” in case anyone still doubts its intentions.
On a different matter, Al Arabiya reported that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei “ordered the arrest of a number of senior members of the Revolutionary Guard he suspects of planning to assassinate him,” as passed along by the Jerusalem Post.
And regarding a so-called blast at an Iranian uranium processing plant near the city of Isfahan on Nov. 28, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security says its analysis of satellite imagery do not indicate a blast occurred there. The organization said, “It is still unclear where the reported blast occurred in Isfahan and whether it occurred anywhere near the nuclear facility.”
Strangely, “Buildings that could be seen at that facility in satellite images from August are no longer present in pictures taken on Dec. 5, according to the analysis. There are signs that bulldozers have been at work in the area, and large pieces of equipment could be detected.” [Global Security Newswire]
The ISIS says, “It is unclear how and why the buildings are no longer present at the site. It is also unclear whether this transformation is related to the Nov. 28, 2011, blast reported to have been heard throughout Isfahan.”
The plot thickens.
Meanwhile, the Iranian people are increasingly in an uproar over the impact of sanctions on the economy as commodity prices soar. Authorities feared a run on the banks and on Wednesday were forced to beat back crowds attempting to buy gold coins at a discount. Only high oil prices have prevented a full-blown collapse of the Iranian economy. Non-performing loans, which were estimated at $42 billion in 2010, are said to have risen significantly higher this year.
Public confidence is shot.
As for why the banks would supposedly sell gold at a discount, it’s because they need the cash.
Syria: The United Nations raised its estimate of the death toll from the Assad government’s crackdown to 5,000. In the 10-day period ending Dec. 12, 200 died, according to the UN high commissioner for human rights. With international media access virtually non-existent, it’s impossible to know for sure exactly what is taking place, except that it is civil war. A report on Dec. 15 said Syrian army defectors had killed 27 Syrian soldiers and security forces.
Also, Syrian troops continue to infiltrate Lebanon, firing on civilians as a means of terror. In one attack, two shepherds were wounded by the gunfire.
But as my friend in Beirut, Michael Young, writes for the Daily Star, imagine if Syria’s army and intelligence services were still in Lebanon, the Independence Intifada of 2005 having driven them out?
“The question is not academic. Lebanon 2005 has been denied its due as a precursor of Arab uprisings this year, even though the popular demands at the time were very similar to what we are witnessing today. A reason for this is that the aftermath of the Lebanese Intifada against Syria was, to put it kindly, uncertain. Rather than emerge into a new morning of emancipation, the Lebanese grew apart, within a year were caught up in a war with Israel, and within three found themselves on the cusp of civil war.
“And yet judging emancipator moments by their outcomes can sometimes play surprising tricks, because the unintended consequences are invariably good and bad. It’s best to evaluate such moments on their own merits, and few acts are more laudatory than seeking the replacement of an authoritarian leader and the criminal enterprises with which such individuals surround themselves.”
But if Syria were still in Lebanon today, Young concludes the country “would have become a Syrian battering ram in its dealings with the Arabs and the West. Domestic animosities would have been exacerbated, with one group of Lebanese employed by Syria to intimidate the other. As is their way, the Assads would have ensured that if they were destroyed, Lebanon would be as well.”
As an aside, Syria was blamed by the French for an attack on a UN peacekeeping force on patrol in southern Lebanon on Friday (Dec. 9) that seriously injured five soldiers; Hizbullah, that is, acting on behalf of Syria.
Egypt: As I go to post, renewed clashes in Cairo have killed at least eight today.
Israel: The Palestinians continue to refuse to resume peace talks with Israel until Israel freezes settlement construction and accepts the pre-1967 lines.
This as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu once again has his hands full with Jewish extremists, with Netanyahu vowing these same folks would not be allowed to spark a religious war; after far-right activists targeted a West Bank mosque near Ramallah in retribution for IDF actions to demolish a home close to an unauthorized outpost near Nablus. Earlier, Jewish activists vandalized an army base, assaulted two IDF commanders and breached a security fence with Jordan.
Pakistan: The government continues to impose a blockade on a U.S. lifeline into Afghanistan following the November 26 NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, and this week gunmen attacked the oil tankers stranded all this time, destroying seven of them in one instance. In a separate incident in Quetta, gunmen destroyed at least 34 trucks in a temporary NATO trucking terminal there.
As to the health of President Zardari, who is being treated for an unknown ailment in Dubai, rumors of a coup persist, though Prime Minister Gilani said Zardari has the backing and support of parliament. Zardari should stay in Dubai and enjoy himself.
Russia: Nothing should surprise readers of this space when it comes to the Kremlin and intrigue. Having told you exactly what would happen in the Dec. 4 Duma vote, including mass demonstrations after, what’s next? I’ve long said there will be a coup, though I’ll try and refine things when I give my outlook for 2012 on Dec. 31. For now, March 4 is the date of the presidential election and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who thought he would just skate back to his old position for two, six-year terms, is now back on his heels.
After last Saturday’s protests, with tens of thousands gathering in Moscow, an equal number in St. Petersburg, and protests across the rest of the country, Moscow officials have granted approval for a demonstration on Christmas Eve. The approval is for a crowd of 50,000. We’ll see what happens.
Meanwhile, Putin, in his annual live TV call-in show, this one lasting 4 ½ hours, refused to acknowledge election violations but said he would install live Web cameras at every polling station in Russia to prevent fraud in March. Putin also said he would gradually move to return the election of regional governors and senators to the people. It was years ago that he dismantled that system, though he still wants the president to have a hand in picking candidates.
Earlier, a top Putin advisor, Boris Gryzlov, speaker of the Duma for 8 years and leader of United Russia, resigned; he being the scapegoat, it would seem, for United Russia’s support falling from 64% to 49.5% in the Dec. 4 vote (with many saying were it not for ballot stuffing, it would have been closer to 33%, max).
Putin’s approval rating, as well as that of current President Medvedev, has tumbled to 51% following the scam election. Only 42% said they would vote for Putin next March, which would necessitate a second round.
So you’d think Putin would be somewhat conciliatory, but despite a few small steps, as noted above, he still derided last weekend’s protesters for “allowing yourselves to be humiliated.” He also reiterated a longstanding warning that protesters shouldn’t attempt regime change a la Ukraine in 2004. “Color revolutions are special schemes to destabilize society,” he said during the call-in show.
And he repeated an earlier assertion that unidentified Russians were working for foreign interests. “There are people who have Russian passports but work for the interests of a foreign state, for foreign money.” Of course the prior week he blamed U.S. Secretary of State Clinton.
Putin also dismissed fears of censorship, this after two people were fired in connection with the publication of a magazine photo of a ballot carrying a handwritten crude insult about him. Vlad then called Sen. John McCain “nuts” after McCain wrote to Putin on Twitter amid the Duma protests that “the Arab Spring is coming to a neighborhood near you.” [McCain replied back immediately to the ‘nuts’ comment, “Dear Vlad, is it something I said?”]
By the way, President Obama…nice “reset.”
Meanwhile, New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, the 3rd-richest man in Russia, announced he would run for president, citing support from the business community. Though just as in earlier this year, when Prokhorov said he was starting a new political party (Right Cause…only to be ousted in an internal coup), there are conspiracy theories that the Kremlin is encouraging a Prokhorov run to both show Putin is for free elections, and to have Prokhorov help split the opposition vote. Prokhorov did vow that if elected president, his first step would be to release former Yukos oil tycoon, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. [There is actually little sign that Prokhorov has any level of support whatsoever.]
Lastly, we make note of a new member of the Duma…Maria Kozhevnikova, Russian Playboy’s cover girl in 2009. Just before being elected, she was voted the country’s sexiest woman by Maxim magazine. You go, girl! [As in, go ahead, be my coup leader.]
[Regarding the story that broke on Friday that an Iranian citizen was caught trying to smuggle radioactive material on board a flight from Moscow to Tehran, from my reading of the details it’s much ado about nothing. For starters, our news services made it sound like an arrest was made that day. Like on Saturday morning, Drudge still has this as one of its leads and the story is grossly incomplete. The incident actually occurred a while ago but Russian authorities just made it public, and, second, the passenger was allowed to board the flight and not detained.]
China: A South Korean Coast Guard officer was stabbed and killed by Chinese fishermen when officers tried to stop them from fishing in South Korean waters. A second officer was wounded. This is yet another in a series of attacks by the Chinese. In September 2008, a South Korean officer was killed in a similar clash. As bad as the incidents are, they are not expected to significantly impair China-South Korea relations.
On a different matter, cyberespionage, the Wall Street Journal reports that the National Security Agency has determined the identities of individuals connected to China’s People’s Liberation Army “and a half-dozen nonmilitary groups connected to organizations like universities.” The U.S. hasn’t decided yet whether to confront China directly with the information or to launch a counterattack.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said, “Accusations that China participates in such hacking, or that the Chinese government is behind it, are totally ungrounded.” Cough cough.
France: Former prime minister and conservative politician Dominique de Villepin announced he will run for president in the 2012 election. Mr. de Villepin is a long-time rival of President Sarkozy, who has yet to formally declare but is expected to do so. De Villepin would have little chance of winning but could draw votes away from Sarkozy in the first round of balloting, assuming he can get the signatures of at least 500 mayors that are required to get his name on the ballot in the first place.
A poll published last Sunday, incidentally, has Sarkozy winning just 26% of the vote if the first round, slated for April 22, were held today. Marine Le Pen, the National Front candidate, captures 13.5%, Francois Bayrou, a centrist who finished third in 2007, comes in at 13%, while Francois Hollande, the Socialist, would garner 31.5%. De Villepin picks up just 1%.
Separately, former President Jacques Chirac was found guilty of diverting public funds, specifically paying members of his party for municipal jobs that did not exist. Chirac was president from 1995 to 2007, but the charges actually go back to his time as mayor of Paris, 1977 to 1995, and he is the first former French head of state to be convicted since Marshal Philippe Petain, the leader of the wartime Vichy regime and Nazi collaborator.
To many in France, the verdict against Chirac was shocking as corruption is so entrenched, and seemingly accepted, among the political elite. The presiding judge wrote:
“Jacques Chirac breached the duty of trust that weighs on public officials charged with caring for public funds or property, in contempt of the general interest of Parisians.”
Of further significance, the verdict threatens Sarkozy, who has long faced allegations of similar behavior.
[By the way, before Petain, the only other French head of state to face trial was King Louis XVI, who was guillotined in 1793.]
India: Two weeks ago, a hospital fire killed over 90 in New Delhi as fire trucks struggled to get there amidst the congestion. This week, the death toll is 168 and rising from a toxic alcohol brew in West Bengal state. While such deaths are a regular occurrence here, the scale is unprecedented (107 died in a similar incident in 2009). The illegal breweries appear to have used ammonium nitrate to “add flavor.” The majority of consumers of the moonshine are poor, daily-wage workers.
Belgium: A man with a history of weapons and drug offenses was summoned for questioning by Belgian police; so on his way to the station, he threw three hand grenades into a crowd of holiday shoppers in the city of Liege and then sprayed them with gunfire, killing four and wounding 122, before he killed himself. [Another victim of the attacker’s was later found at his home.] In Italy, a man opened fire in an outdoor market in Florence, killing two vendors from Senegal and wounding three other Senegalese before killing himself. The attacker was a known right-wing extremist.