America
Bank Of America Makes It Easier For City Communities To Buy Foreclosed Homes
The Obama administration is trying its level best to give a push to the American economy. In a bid to put a brake on foreclosures and revive the housing industry, the Federal government has come up with Neighborhood Stabilization Program – a plan under which grants will be given to harried homeowners.
Now the Bank of America plans to make it easier for city residents to buy foreclosed homes in Michigan, redevelop them and sell the homes. Communities, therefore, will be able to buy the homes cheap before they are taken over by the investors. As soon as a Bank of America owned property comes up in the market for sale, the cities will be notified. This will be done before the properties get listed on the listing service.
Another key point of the program is that the communities will also be able to get information about the bank’s real estate owned (REO Homes) property in a particular website. Communities can also buy many properties at a time and Bank of America will assign one employee to each community to streamline the process. This should hasten the process of moving the foreclosed properties from banks to the homeowners. That will definitely be a win-win situation for both the bank and the residents.
Katie Ludwig, finance manager in a city’s Department of Community Development, says, it is better to get hold of a property as soon as it falls vacant. If a property is unoccupied for a long time, then its condition generally deteriorates. Ludwig says that sooner a space is retrieved it is better, and it should be done before investors can take it over.
The Bank of America does not want to discuss property prices at the initial stages. Rather the communities can scroll through the properties listed on the websites. Some carry price tags while others do not. It is the intention of the bank that communities should contact it about properties they are interested in.
Rob Grossman, senior vice president of community affairs for Bank of America, says the bank will assign a price to a particular property but it does not want to haggle with the price. The interested party should be either ready to pay it or leave the negotiation table. Grossman says that the Bank of America is trying to strike a balance between communities and investors who have the legal papers of these homes. The bank hopes to offer the best price to the communities.
Kevin Simpson is a consultant with experience in Reo Homes. With his knowledge in the real estate market, he provides information over the best investments in foreclosed homes in Michigan for future owners and sellers
America is Braced for the General’s Verdict
Two decades ago, General David Petraeus, the man charged with winning America’s second war in Iraq, wrote a thesis for his PhD in international relations at Princeton.
Its 328 pages were an intense study of the legacies of a war that had stretched the US military, riven world opinion and deeply divided American political life. It was entitled The American Military and the Lessons of Vietnam. In one passage, the young officer took on the idea that public opinion in the US could not abide a military quagmire. ‘Vietnam was an extremely painful reminder that, when it comes to intervention, time and patience are not American virtues in abundant supply,’ Petraeus wrote in 1987. Now Petraeus is delivering another survey of an unpopular, divisive war. Only this time his audience is not a college tutor: it is the whole world.
In less than two weeks, Petraeus will appear before the US Congress and deliver a report into the progress of the ’surge’, the military strategy launched by President George W Bush that was designed to win the Iraq war. It has been billed as a ‘make or break’ moment that could either trigger the beginnings of an American withdrawal or build on the first signs of real military success. And it will be scoured anxiously in London, where the political debate about the timing of a withdrawal of the remaining British forces is gathering pace.
In America, both sides of the political divide are breathless in anticipation. The Democrats await any hint of criticism. The Republicans have prepared a PR barrage of ‘good news’ to try to turn public opinion back behind the war effort. White House officials hail Petraeus as a ‘warrior scholar’ who finally gets what is needed to win in Iraq. They see him as a man who can save the Bush presidency.
But the reality is far more complex. The brutal truth is that the Petraeus report is unlikely to change a thing when it comes to policy on the ground: the surge and the war will go on. Its true importance lies in how it will be used politically: by the White House, by leading Democrats such as Senator Hillary Clinton, by Republican presidential hopefuls such as Rudy Giuliani.
And not least by Petraeus himself. For the highly media-savvy general has political ambitions of his own. This is his moment to shine.
A story often told about General David Howell Petraeus concerns a brush with death at Kentucky’s Fort Campbell in 1991. During a training exercise, a soldier tripped and accidentally fired his rifle. The bullet hit Petraeus in the chest. Yet he refused to leave the exercise, only relenting when a more senior general ordered him carried away on a stretcher. Even then – with the bullet missing his heart by inches – he managed to get himself discharged early from hospital after he did 50 push-ups in front of his doctor, just a few days after being shot.
The anecdote leaves little doubt that Petraeus is tough and driven. He was born in 1952 to Dutch American parents – his father, Sextus, was a seaman – and he grew up in the upstate New York town of Cornwall. It lies almost in the shadow of West Point, America’s military academy, where Petraeus duly gained admission. He excelled at high school and then graduated in the top 5 per cent of the West Point class of 1974. He also married the superintendent’s daughter. From there he carved out a successful career culminating in the rank of general.
A reputation as a ‘Washington general’ was wiped out by two tours of duty in Iraq. First he led his unit in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and then won plaudits for pacifying the northern city of Mosul in 2004. Then he took charge of the retraining and rebuilding of Iraq’s army, again winning praise for swiftly and decisively bringing on the scheme. He then co-authored the military’s new manual of counter-insurgency before, at the start of 2007, being appointed to command US forces in Iraq.
‘He’s a straight talker and he’s very highly thought of militarily,’ said Professor Donald Goldstein, a military expert at the University of Pittsburgh. Petraeus fits a lot of energy and focus into his 5ft 9in frame. He is famed for his five-mile runs, carried out even on Baghdad’s hottest days. One subordinate called him the ‘most competitive man on earth’. But his macho army bluster is also tempered by a keen intellect. His Princeton PhD is no accident. He is flexible too: he knows the war in Iraq is rarely just about bombs and bullets. In Mosul, one of his most famous catchphrases on the subject of bringing peace to the city was ‘money is ammunition’.
Yet he is not without critics. Some say he is overly fond of the media and has skilfully crafted an almost flawless public persona of the skilled tactician. Others say his focus is not just about the facts on the ground, but about his own advancement. ‘He is a sycophant incarnate. He’s a smart guy, but he’s playing politics in this,’ said Larry Johnson, a former CIA anti-terrorism official. They also point out that Petraeus’s record in Iraq can be criticized. The peace he brought to Mosul proved shortlived, and there is now a criminal investigation into missing supplies and weapons that involves officials close to Petraeus. His time in Iraq has seen the emergence of death squads and heightened sectarianism. ‘This has all happened on his watch,’ said Johnson.
But what will his report say? First, some media spin needs to be cut through. Petraeus has been used as an impressive, patriotic figure on which to hang such an important study. That suits both the White House and Petraeus himself. But his tough persona masks a more nuanced approach from the administration.
In fact, the Petraeus report will be a mix of analyzes from Petraeus and the US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. Its exact wording will have heavy influence from White House officials. For those hoping that the report will contain a damning indictment of the war or prompt any meaningful troop reduction – or full withdrawal – there is almost certain to be deep disappointment. ‘It is frankly delusional for anyone to think it is going to change policy,’ said Charles Pena, a senior fellow at think-tank the Independent Institute. ‘They [Petraeus and Crocker] have no choice but to try to implement administration policy.’
And that policy is showing some signs of success. The military surge of troop numbers pushed by Bush has had an impact. The report will probably point to success stories in former hotbeds of Sunni insurgency such as Ramadi, Tal Afar and Mosul, where the security situation has been brought under some degree of control. In these areas, strategic alliances with Sunni tribes have seen former insurgents working with the US against Islamic jihadists. ‘There has been progress militarily. It is fair to say that,’ said Professor Rick Stoll, a defence and warfare expert at Rice University.
A taste of what Petraeus’s presentation might look like has already been given. On a recent trip by Democrat and Republican politicians to Iraq, he sat down, armed with charts and Powerpoint slides, to illustrate the advances made by the surge. An account of the meeting by Democrat Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky gives the lie to anyone expecting a military withdrawal from Iraq. She revealed to one newspaper that Petraeus told her America would be in Iraq in some way ‘for nine to 10 years’.
While the surge has changed the nature of the conflict, it has not yet brought it much closer to an end. As the brutal Sunni insurgency has tailed off, it has been replaced by Shia violence. The report is likely to note that the war has now become a fight between Shia militant groups and the US military. By last July, according to US officials, Shia fighters accounted for 73 per cent of attacks on coalition forces. That has been matched by a total failure of the Iraqi political process and a collapse of relations between the majority Shia – represented by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki – and the US. The surge’s aim was to ‘buy time’ for reconciliation between Iraq’s warring sectarian factions, but instead the feuding blocs have grown more violently apart. ‘No one wants to talk about reconciliation. No one wants to listen,’ said one official recently returned from Iraq. ‘The only reconciliation that is taking place is between the US military and some Sunni insurgents. That is not going to solve Iraq’s problems in the long run.’
So that will be the twin messages of Petraeus and Crocker. The military aspect of the surge is starting to turn the tide. But the political opportunity it was designed to create is being wasted by the Iraqis. If that sounds familiar, that is because it is the official White House stance on Iraq. ‘He is going to say that, from a military standpoint, it is going well, but, from a political standpoint, it is difficult and the Iraqis have to stand up for themselves. That is what Bush says,’ said Goldstein.
But if the contents of the report appear predictable, its impact is harder to ascertain. One thing is clear: it is unlikely to precipitate any rush significantly to withdraw US forces. It will allow the White House to claim that its strategy is working and that to halt the surge – as most Democrats wish to do – would be to snatch victory away from their troops.
Most experts believe that the White House will keep US troop levels at the current force of about 160,000 until at least April. Then to maintain the surge the army would need to extend its current rotation period from 15 months to 18 months. That is seen as too much of a burden by many military leaders.
Therefore it is widely predicted that the US presence in Iraq could be down to pre-surge levels of 130,000 troops by September next year. That could be presented as the beginning of a withdrawal, but it is hardly the sort of conflict-ending momentum that many Democrats – and much of the American public – seem to want. However, there is little political pressure on Bush to change policy in Iraq. He does not face re-election and the Democrats have shown that they are unwilling to do the one thing that could end the war: cut off funding. Again, the Petraeus report will not provide them with motivation to harden their stance. ‘The President has called the Democrats’ bluff. They don’t have the stomach for defunding, so there is no political pressure on the White House,’ said Pena.
But that is not true for any of the presidential candidates. They are all feeling the heat. For the Democrats, the Petraeus report is likely to contain enough bad news for them to continue their largely symbolic push for a troop withdrawal, but it will also have the risk that they will look as if they are undermining the first signs of success on the ground. For Republicans, it poses the opposite problem. The top-tier candidates, such as Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, have seen what happened to the campaign of John McCain, the most vocal supporter of Bush’s surge policy: his support has almost collapsed. Yet the Petraeus report is likely to force them to toe the White House line more tightly and in the face of much public hostility. Or it could cause them to go against the White House, following a pro-withdrawal line and opening up huge splits in the party itself. Those chasms are already becoming evident, with some top Republican figures, such as Senator John Warner, already calling for troop withdrawals to begin this year.
But above all the political squabbling will be Bush. No matter what happens, he will be President for all of 2008. And he shows no sign of any significant change of tack. Despite being billed as a watershed moment, the only real prospect of a reversal of Iraq policy will come in January 2009, when a new President walks into the Oval Office. The brutal fact is that there remains no meaningful end in sight for the US involvement in Iraq. Vietnam proved that the difference between when a war becomes unpopular and when it ends can be many years. In July 1967, the public approval rating of the Vietnam war dropped forever below 50 per cent, yet America did not leave Vietnam totally until 1975.
A similar process could be repeating itself in Iraq. Petraeus – as a keen student of history – would probably privately think that a tragedy. In his PhD thesis 20 years ago, he wrote: ‘Vietnam was a painful reminder for the military that they, not the transient occupants of high office, generally bear the heaviest burden during armed conflict.’
That is a trenchant analysis. But it was written by the Petraeus of Princeton. The Petraeus of next month is a general playing the highest political stakes of his career in front of the eyes of the world. He is unlikely to be so candid again.
Iraq benchmarks
Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report to be presented to Congress on Tuesday.
Achieved: The protection of the rights of minority political parties in the Iraqi legislature. It is the only one of eight political benchmarks to have been met, the report says. However, the report does not concern itself with attacks on these parties outside of the legislature.
Failed: In other areas, the political process is judged to have been a failure, including the continued non-passage of legislation on constitutional reform, new oil laws and de-Baathification. Observers say the parliament rarely has sufficient members in attendance to have a quorum to consider legislation.
Mixed progress: On the security front, Iraq has met on two benchmarks. Despite the surge, violence remains roughly at the same levels. However, the number of Iraqi army units capable of operating independently has dropped from 10 in March to six last month.
Full text: bin Laden’s ‘letter to America’
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,
“Permission to fight (against disbelievers) is given to those (believers) who are fought against, because they have been wronged and surely, Allah is Able to give them (believers) victory” [Quran 22:39]
“Those who believe, fight in the Cause of Allah, and those who disbelieve, fight in the cause of Taghut (anything worshipped other than Allah e.g. Satan). So fight you against the friends of Satan; ever feeble is indeed the plot of Satan.”[Quran 4:76]
Some American writers have published articles under the title ‘On what basis are we fighting?’ These articles have generated a number of responses, some of which adhered to the truth and were based on Islamic Law, and others which have not. Here we wanted to outline the truth – as an explanation and warning – hoping for Allah’s reward, seeking success and support from Him.
While seeking Allah’s help, we form our reply based on two questions directed at the Americans:
(Q1) Why are we fighting and opposing you?
Q2)What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?
As for the first question: Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple:
(1) Because you attacked us and continue to attack us.
a) You attacked us in Palestine:
(i) Palestine, which has sunk under military occupation for more than 80 years. The British handed over Palestine, with your help and your support, to the Jews, who have occupied it for more than 50 years; years overflowing with oppression, tyranny, crimes, killing, expulsion, destruction and devastation. The creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals. And of course there is no need to explain and prove the degree of American support for Israel. The creation of Israel is a crime which must be erased. Each and every person whose hands have become polluted in the contribution towards this crime must pay its*price, and pay for it heavily.
(ii) It brings us both laughter and tears to see that you have not yet tired of repeating your fabricated lies that the Jews have a historical right to Palestine, as it was promised to them in the Torah. Anyone who disputes with them on this alleged fact is accused of anti-semitism. This is one of the most fallacious, widely-circulated fabrications in history. The people of Palestine are pure Arabs and original Semites. It is the Muslims who are the inheritors of Moses (peace be upon him) and the inheritors of the real Torah that has not been changed. Muslims believe in all of the Prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon them all. If the followers of Moses have been promised a right to Palestine in the Torah, then the Muslims are the most worthy nation of this.
When the Muslims conquered Palestine and drove out the Romans, Palestine and Jerusalem returned to Islaam, the religion of all the Prophets peace be upon them. Therefore, the call to a historical right to Palestine cannot be raised against the Islamic Ummah that believes in all the Prophets of Allah (peace and blessings be upon them) – and we make no distinction between them.
(iii) The blood pouring out of Palestine must be equally revenged. You must know that the Palestinians do not cry alone; their women are not widowed alone; their sons are not orphaned alone.
(b) You attacked us in Somalia; you supported the Russian atrocities against us in Chechnya, the Indian oppression against us in Kashmir, and the Jewish aggression against us in Lebanon.
(c) Under your supervision, consent and orders, the governments of our countries which act as your agents, attack us on a daily basis;
(i) These governments prevent our people from establishing the Islamic Shariah, using violence and lies to do so.
(ii) These governments give us a taste of humiliation, and places us in a large prison of fear and subdual.
(iii) These governments steal our Ummah’s wealth and sell them to you at a paltry price.
(iv) These governments have surrendered to the Jews, and handed them most of Palestine, acknowledging the existence of their state over the dismembered limbs of their own people.
(v) The removal of these governments is an obligation upon us, and a necessary step to free the Ummah, to make the Shariah the supreme law and to regain Palestine. And our fight against these governments is not separate from out fight against you.
(d) You steal our wealth and oil at paltry prices because of you international influence and military threats. This theft is indeed the biggest theft ever witnessed by mankind in the history of the world.
(e) Your forces occupy our countries; you spread your military bases throughout them; you corrupt our lands, and you besiege our sanctities, to protect the security of the Jews and to ensure the continuity of your pillage of our treasures.
(f) You have starved the Muslims of Iraq, where children die every day. It is a wonder that more than 1.5 million Iraqi children have died as a result of your sanctions, and you did not show concern. Yet when 3000 of your people died, the entire world rises and has not yet sat down.
(g) You have supported the Jews in their idea that Jerusalem is their eternal capital, and agreed to move your embassy there. With your help and under your protection, the Israelis are planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque. Under the protection of your weapons, Sharon entered the Al-Aqsa mosque, to pollute it as a preparation to capture and destroy it.
(2) These tragedies and calamities are only a few examples of your oppression and aggression against us. It is commanded by our religion and intellect that the oppressed have a right to return the aggression. Do not await anything from us but Jihad, resistance and revenge. Is it in any way rational to expect that after America has attacked us for more than half a century, that we will then leave her to live in security and peace?!!
(3) You may then dispute that all the above does not justify aggression against civilians, for crimes they did not commit and offenses in which they did not partake:
(a) This argument contradicts your continuous repetition that America is the land of freedom, and its leaders in this world. Therefore, the American people are the ones who choose their government by way of their own free will; a choice which stems from their agreement to its policies. Thus the American people have chosen, consented to, and affirmed their support for the Israeli oppression of the Palestinians, the occupation and usurpation of their land, and its continuous killing, torture, punishment and expulsion of the Palestinians. The American people have the ability and choice to refuse the policies of their Government and even to change it if they want.
(b) The American people are the ones who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan, the tanks that strike and destroy our homes in Palestine, the armies which occupy our lands in the Arabian Gulf, and the fleets which ensure the blockade of Iraq. These tax dollars are given to Israel for it to continue to attack us and penetrate our lands. So the American people are the ones who fund the attacks against us, and they are the ones who oversee the expenditure of these monies in the way they wish, through their elected candidates.
(c) Also the American army is part of the American people. It is this very same people who are shamelessly helping the Jews fight against us.
(d) The American people are the ones who employ both their men and their women in the American Forces which attack us.
(e) This is why the American people cannot be not innocent of all the crimes committed by the Americans and Jews against us.
(f) Allah, the Almighty, legislated the permission and the option to take revenge. Thus, if we are attacked, then we have the right to attack back. Whoever has destroyed our villages and towns, then we have the right to destroy their villages and towns. Whoever has stolen our wealth, then we have the right to destroy their economy. And whoever has killed our civilians, then we have the right to kill theirs.
The American Government and press still refuses to answer the question:
Why did they attack us in New York and Washington?
If Sharon is a man of peace in the eyes of Bush, then we are also men of peace!!! America does not understand the language of manners and principles, so we are addressing it using the language it understands.
(Q2) As for the second question that we want to answer: What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?
(1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam.
(a) The religion of the Unification of God; of freedom from associating partners with Him, and rejection of this; of complete love of Him, the Exalted; of complete submission to His Laws; and of the discarding of all the opinions, orders, theories and religions which contradict with the religion He sent down to His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Islam is the religion of all the prophets, and makes no distinction between them – peace be upon them all.
It is to this religion that we call you; the seal of all the previous religions. It is the religion of Unification of God, sincerity, the best of manners, righteousness, mercy, honour, purity, and piety. It is the religion of showing kindness to others, establishing justice between them, granting them their rights, and defending the oppressed and the persecuted. It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah’s Word and religion reign Supreme. And it is the religion of unity and agreement on the obedience to Allah, and total equality between all people, without regarding their colour, sex, or language.
(b) It is the religion whose book – the Quran – will remained preserved and unchanged, after the other Divine books and messages have been changed. The Quran is the miracle until the Day of Judgment. Allah has challenged anyone to bring a book like the Quran or even ten verses like it.
(2) The second thing we call you to, is to stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you.
(a) We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling’s, and trading with interest.
We call you to all of this that you may be freed from that which you have become caught up in; that you may be freed from the deceptive lies that you are a great nation, that your leaders spread amongst you to conceal from you the despicable state to which you have reached.
(b) It is saddening to tell you that you are the worst civilization witnessed by the history of mankind:
(i) You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies, contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator. You flee from the embarrassing question posed to you: How is it possible for Allah the Almighty to create His creation, grant them power over all the creatures and land, grant them all the amenities of life, and then deny them that which they are most in need of: knowledge of the laws which govern their lives?
(ii) You are the nation that permits Usury, which has been forbidden by all the religions. Yet you build your economy and investments on Usury. As a result of this, in all its different forms and guises, the Jews have taken control of your economy, through which they have then taken control of your media, and now control all aspects of your life making you their servants and achieving their aims at your expense; precisely what Benjamin Franklin warned you against.
(iii) You are a nation that permits the production, trading and usage of intoxicants. You also permit drugs, and only forbid the trade of them, even though your nation is the largest consumer of them.
(iv) You are a nation that permits acts of immorality, and you consider them to be pillars of personal freedom. You have continued to sink down this abyss from level to level until incest has spread amongst you, in the face of which neither your sense of honour nor your laws object.
Who can forget your President Clinton’s immoral acts committed in the official Oval office? After that you did not even bring him to account, other than that he ‘made a mistake’, after which everything passed with no punishment. Is there a worse kind of event for which your name will go down in history and remembered by nations?
(v) You are a nation that permits gambling in its all forms. The companies practice this as well, resulting in the investments becoming active and the criminals becoming rich.
(vi) You are a nation that exploits women like consumer products or advertising tools calling upon customers to purchase them. You use women to serve passengers, visitors, and strangers to increase your profit margins. You then rant that you support the liberation of women.
(vii) You are a nation that practices the trade of sex in all its forms, directly and indirectly. Giant corporations and establishments are established on this, under the name of art, entertainment, tourism and freedom, and other deceptive names you attribute to it.
(viii) And because of all this, you have been described in history as a nation that spreads diseases that were unknown to man in the past. Go ahead and boast to the nations of man, that you brought them AIDS as a Satanic American Invention.
(xi) You have destroyed nature with your industrial waste and gases more than any other nation in history. Despite this, you refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement so that you can secure the profit of your greedy companies and*industries.
(x) Your law is the law of the rich and wealthy people, who hold sway in their political parties, and fund their election campaigns with their gifts. Behind them stand the Jews, who control your policies, media and economy.
(xi) That which you are singled out for in the history of mankind, is that you have used your force to destroy mankind more than any other nation in history; not to defend principles and values, but to hasten to secure your interests and profits. You who dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, even though Japan was ready to negotiate an end to the war. How many acts of oppression, tyranny and injustice have you carried out, O callers to freedom?
(xii) Let us not forget one of your major characteristics: your duality in both manners and values; your hypocrisy in manners and principles. All*manners, principles and values have two scales: one for you and one for the others.
(a)The freedom and democracy that you call to is for yourselves and for white race only; as for the rest of the world, you impose upon them your monstrous, destructive policies and Governments, which you call the ‘American friends’. Yet you prevent them from establishing democracies. When the Islamic party in Algeria wanted to practice democracy and they won the election, you unleashed your agents in the Algerian army onto them, and to attack them with tanks and guns, to imprison them and torture them – a new lesson from the ‘American book of democracy’!!!
(b)Your policy on prohibiting and forcibly removing weapons of mass destruction to ensure world peace: it only applies to those countries which you do not permit to possess such weapons. As for the countries you consent to, such as Israel, then they are allowed to keep and use such weapons to defend their security. Anyone else who you suspect might be manufacturing or keeping these kinds of weapons, you call them criminals and you take military action against them.
(c)You are the last ones to respect the resolutions and policies of International Law, yet you claim to want to selectively punish anyone else who does the same. Israel has for more than 50 years been pushing UN resolutions and rules against the wall with the full support of America.
(d)As for the war criminals which you censure and form criminal courts for – you shamelessly ask that your own are granted immunity!! However, history will not forget the war crimes that you committed against the Muslims and the rest of the world; those you have killed in Japan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Lebanon and Iraq will remain a shame that you will never be able to escape. It will suffice to remind you of your latest war crimes in Afghanistan, in which densely populated innocent civilian villages were destroyed, bombs were dropped on mosques causing the roof of the mosque to come crashing down on the heads of the Muslims praying inside. You are the ones who broke the agreement with the Mujahideen when they left Qunduz, bombing them in Jangi fort, and killing more than 1,000 of your prisoners through suffocation and thirst. Allah alone knows how many people have died by torture at the hands of you and your agents. Your planes remain in the Afghan skies, looking for anyone remotely suspicious.
(e)You have claimed to be the vanguards of Human Rights, and your Ministry of Foreign affairs issues annual reports containing statistics of those countries that violate any Human Rights. However, all these things vanished when the Mujahideen hit you, and you then implemented the methods of the same documented governments that you used to curse. In America, you captured thousands the Muslims and Arabs, took them into custody with neither reason, court trial, nor even disclosing their names. You issued newer, harsher laws.
What happens in Guatanamo is a historical embarrassment to America and its values, and it screams into your faces – you hypocrites, “What is the value of your signature on any agreement or treaty?”
(3) What we call you to thirdly is to take an honest stance with yourselves – and I doubt you will do so – to discover that you are a nation without principles or manners, and that the values and principles to you are something which you merely demand from others, not that which you yourself must adhere to.
(4) We also advise you to stop supporting Israel, and to end your support of the Indians in Kashmir, the Russians against the Chechens and to also cease supporting the Manila Government against the Muslims in Southern Philippines.
(5) We also advise you to pack your luggage and get out of our lands. We desire for your goodness, guidance, and righteousness, so do not force us to send you back as cargo in coffins.
(6) Sixthly, we call upon you to end your support of the corrupt leaders in our countries. Do not interfere in our politics and method of education. Leave us alone, or else expect us in New York and Washington.
(7) We also call you to deal with us and interact with us on the basis of mutual interests and benefits, rather than the policies of sub dual, theft and occupation, and not to continue your policy of supporting the Jews because this will result in more disasters for you.
If you fail to respond to all these conditions, then prepare for fight with the Islamic Nation. The Nation of Monotheism, that puts complete trust on Allah and fears none other than Him. The Nation which is addressed by its Quran with the words: “Do you fear them? Allah has more right that you should fear Him if you are believers. Fight against them so that Allah will punish them by your hands and disgrace them and give you victory over them and heal the breasts of believing people. And remove the anger of their (believers’) hearts. Allah accepts the repentance of whom He wills. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.” [Quran9:13-1]
The Nation of honour and respect:
“But honour, power and glory belong to Allah, and to His Messenger (Muhammad- peace be upon him) and to the believers.” [Quran 63:8]
“So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be*superior ( in victory )if you are indeed (true) believers” [Quran 3:139]
The Nation of Martyrdom; the Nation that desires death more than you desire life:
“Think not of those who are killed in the way of Allah as dead. Nay, they are alive with their Lord, and they are being provided for. They rejoice in what Allah has bestowed upon them from His bounty and rejoice for the sake of those who have not yet joined them, but are left behind (not yet martyred) that on them no fear shall come, nor shall they grieve. They rejoice in a grace and a bounty from Allah, and that Allah will not waste the reward of the believers.” [Quran 3:169-171]
The Nation of victory and success that Allah has promised:
“It is He Who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad peace be upon him) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam), to make it victorious over all other religions even though the Polytheists hate it.” [Quran 61:9]
“Allah has decreed that ‘Verily it is I and My Messengers who shall be victorious.’ Verily Allah is All-Powerful, All-Mighty.” [Quran 58:21]
The Islamic Nation that was able to dismiss and destroy the previous evil Empires like yourself; the Nation that rejects your attacks, wishes to remove your evils, and is prepared to fight you. You are well aware that the Islamic Nation, from the very core of its soul, despises your haughtiness and arrogance.
If the Americans refuse to listen to our advice and the goodness, guidance and righteousness that we call them to, then be aware that you will lose this Crusade Bush began, just like the other previous Crusades in which you were humiliated by the hands of the Mujahideen, fleeing to your home in great silence and disgrace. If the Americans do not respond, then their fate will be that of the Soviets who fled from Afghanistan to deal with their military defeat, political breakup, ideological downfall, and economic bankruptcy.
This is our message to the Americans, as an answer to theirs. Do they now know why we fight them and over which form of ignorance, by the permission of Allah, we shall be victorious?
‘Globalisation Needs America. America Needs Globalisation’
Barack Obama and John McCain must reject the “false comforts of populism” and abandon the protectionist rhetoric that has dominated the US primary campaigns, Peter Mandelson warns today.
In a Guardian article which highlights deep European unease at the anti-trade language that has dominated the primary season, Europe’s trade commissioner calls on the next generation of US leaders to accept the benefits of open markets.
Mandelson characterizes the US debate in stark terms. “The protectionist and anti-trade rhetoric in the primaries suggests that many Americans see global economic change in zero-sum terms. Asia rises, we decline. Economic inequality is reduced between countries, but widens within our own societies. Globalisation is no longer something we do, it is something that others do to us.”
Globalisation has its dark side, Mandelson admits. But he issues a cry for the US not to turn its back on open world trade.
“The open markets and economic integration that drive globalisation are still the best tool we have for increasing global economic welfare. That is an essential contribution to global stability. Only … cooperating states can manage the coming squeeze on resources like energy, food and water. For 60 years, the US has underwritten economic internationalism with openness … A crisis of American confidence in globalisation could knock it off course.”
European leaders have watched in dismay as the primary campaigns have been dominated by protectionist language. In their battle for blue-collar workers in the primary, Obama and Hillary Clinton pledged to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) between the US, Canada and Mexico. McCain has warned workers that some jobs lost to globalisation will never return.
EU officials are hoping that a leaked memo in March, in which a senior member of the Obama campaign told Canadian officials that his protectionist language was “political positioning”, will serve as a better guide to his thinking.
Mandelson writes: “Protective states do not have to be protectionist ones. Gordon Brown gets this … he sees globalisation as part of the solution rather than part of the problem. The prime minister has never erred in rejecting the false comforts of populism. The world needs to hear the same message from President Obama or McCain. Globalisation needs America. America needs globalisation.”
Most Moms Within America Are Eligible To get 10,000 in Grants and Scholarships
Right now there are many methods that you can use to receive ten thousand dollars. You may work especially hard and save some cash for a long duration. You sit down and look at the bank account mature, unfortunately that will really take a long time. By that time, you would most likely already be too old to take advantage of the money you have preserved. It might simply all go to your medical expenses and doctor’s charges. It might be a lot better if you can still benefit from the funds you have worked hard for while you will be entirely able to. Thus do not delay until you are old and gray to get a hold of that $10,000. I do not want to imply anything illegal. Yet there is a wonderfully legal technique of acquiring all of the money if you are a girl. It is fantastic yet painless and attainable: that is enrolling in a school with regard to a higher education training course.
I can hear you mention that is improbable however it is real and completely feasible. This has been recently made doable by the Obama scholarship plan for females. The federal government hopes to inspire girls to acquire higher education. Because of this, the Obama administration has launched a scholarship program specially for women. Under this program, each and every woman who enrolls in a school or college for any degree, diploma or certificate can be offered ten thousand dollars as assistance. The cash should be used to assist the price of education through the complete time of study.
That is to say that she should certainly use it for whatever she considers will make studying smooth for her. She should never have to wrestle amid studying and working to earn for her spouse and children. Together with the assistance of the grant funds, she should be able to now take a part-time job and target more of her time and energy on her fields of study. The cash can be expended in a large amount of ways. Here is a collection of expenditures that can be protected by the grant funds:
- Tuition expenses
- Transportation charges
- Groceries
- Utility costs
- Babysitter expenses
- Educational materials (books, laptop or pc, and so forth.)
- Credit card fees
The plan covers just about all courses completed at the college level, from certificates and diplomas to PhD. Any one training course or program taken for higher education is eligible to extend you this money.
If you are a woman, or possibly a father, truth be told , there is one option you should consider. When enrolling in a program, find a university that is in the vicinity of your home so you do not have to put in too much time away from your spouse and children.
**Update**
Did you know you can get a $10,000 scholarship for Moms just for registering? Apply right now for free: Scholarships for Moms.
Full text: bin Laden’s ‘letter to America’
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,
“Permission to fight (against disbelievers) is given to those (believers) who are fought against, because they have been wronged and surely, Allah is Able to give them (believers) victory” [Quran 22:39]
“Those who believe, fight in the Cause of Allah, and those who disbelieve, fight in the cause of Taghut (anything worshipped other than Allah e.g. Satan). So fight you against the friends of Satan; ever feeble is indeed the plot of Satan.”[Quran 4:76]
Some American writers have published articles under the title ‘On what basis are we fighting?’ These articles have generated a number of responses, some of which adhered to the truth and were based on Islamic Law, and others which have not. Here we wanted to outline the truth – as an explanation and warning – hoping for Allah’s reward, seeking success and support from Him.
While seeking Allah’s help, we form our reply based on two questions directed at the Americans:
(Q1) Why are we fighting and opposing you?
Q2)What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?
As for the first question: Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple:
(1) Because you attacked us and continue to attack us.
a) You attacked us in Palestine:
(i) Palestine, which has sunk under military occupation for more than 80 years. The British handed over Palestine, with your help and your support, to the Jews, who have occupied it for more than 50 years; years overflowing with oppression, tyranny, crimes, killing, expulsion, destruction and devastation. The creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals. And of course there is no need to explain and prove the degree of American support for Israel. The creation of Israel is a crime which must be erased. Each and every person whose hands have become polluted in the contribution towards this crime must pay its*price, and pay for it heavily.
(ii) It brings us both laughter and tears to see that you have not yet tired of repeating your fabricated lies that the Jews have a historical right to Palestine, as it was promised to them in the Torah. Anyone who disputes with them on this alleged fact is accused of anti-semitism. This is one of the most fallacious, widely-circulated fabrications in history. The people of Palestine are pure Arabs and original Semites. It is the Muslims who are the inheritors of Moses (peace be upon him) and the inheritors of the real Torah that has not been changed. Muslims believe in all of the Prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon them all. If the followers of Moses have been promised a right to Palestine in the Torah, then the Muslims are the most worthy nation of this.
When the Muslims conquered Palestine and drove out the Romans, Palestine and Jerusalem returned to Islaam, the religion of all the Prophets peace be upon them. Therefore, the call to a historical right to Palestine cannot be raised against the Islamic Ummah that believes in all the Prophets of Allah (peace and blessings be upon them) – and we make no distinction between them.
(iii) The blood pouring out of Palestine must be equally revenged. You must know that the Palestinians do not cry alone; their women are not widowed alone; their sons are not orphaned alone.
(b) You attacked us in Somalia; you supported the Russian atrocities against us in Chechnya, the Indian oppression against us in Kashmir, and the Jewish aggression against us in Lebanon.
(c) Under your supervision, consent and orders, the governments of our countries which act as your agents, attack us on a daily basis;
(i) These governments prevent our people from establishing the Islamic Shariah, using violence and lies to do so.
(ii) These governments give us a taste of humiliation, and places us in a large prison of fear and subdual.
(iii) These governments steal our Ummah’s wealth and sell them to you at a paltry price.
(iv) These governments have surrendered to the Jews, and handed them most of Palestine, acknowledging the existence of their state over the dismembered limbs of their own people.
(v) The removal of these governments is an obligation upon us, and a necessary step to free the Ummah, to make the Shariah the supreme law and to regain Palestine. And our fight against these governments is not separate from out fight against you.
(d) You steal our wealth and oil at paltry prices because of you international influence and military threats. This theft is indeed the biggest theft ever witnessed by mankind in the history of the world.
(e) Your forces occupy our countries; you spread your military bases throughout them; you corrupt our lands, and you besiege our sanctities, to protect the security of the Jews and to ensure the continuity of your pillage of our treasures.
(f) You have starved the Muslims of Iraq, where children die every day. It is a wonder that more than 1.5 million Iraqi children have died as a result of your sanctions, and you did not show concern. Yet when 3000 of your people died, the entire world rises and has not yet sat down.
(g) You have supported the Jews in their idea that Jerusalem is their eternal capital, and agreed to move your embassy there. With your help and under your protection, the Israelis are planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque. Under the protection of your weapons, Sharon entered the Al-Aqsa mosque, to pollute it as a preparation to capture and destroy it.
(2) These tragedies and calamities are only a few examples of your oppression and aggression against us. It is commanded by our religion and intellect that the oppressed have a right to return the aggression. Do not await anything from us but Jihad, resistance and revenge. Is it in any way rational to expect that after America has attacked us for more than half a century, that we will then leave her to live in security and peace?!!
(3) You may then dispute that all the above does not justify aggression against civilians, for crimes they did not commit and offenses in which they did not partake:
(a) This argument contradicts your continuous repetition that America is the land of freedom, and its leaders in this world. Therefore, the American people are the ones who choose their government by way of their own free will; a choice which stems from their agreement to its policies. Thus the American people have chosen, consented to, and affirmed their support for the Israeli oppression of the Palestinians, the occupation and usurpation of their land, and its continuous killing, torture, punishment and expulsion of the Palestinians. The American people have the ability and choice to refuse the policies of their Government and even to change it if they want.
(b) The American people are the ones who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan, the tanks that strike and destroy our homes in Palestine, the armies which occupy our lands in the Arabian Gulf, and the fleets which ensure the blockade of Iraq. These tax dollars are given to Israel for it to continue to attack us and penetrate our lands. So the American people are the ones who fund the attacks against us, and they are the ones who oversee the expenditure of these monies in the way they wish, through their elected candidates.
(c) Also the American army is part of the American people. It is this very same people who are shamelessly helping the Jews fight against us.
(d) The American people are the ones who employ both their men and their women in the American Forces which attack us.
(e) This is why the American people cannot be not innocent of all the crimes committed by the Americans and Jews against us.
(f) Allah, the Almighty, legislated the permission and the option to take revenge. Thus, if we are attacked, then we have the right to attack back. Whoever has destroyed our villages and towns, then we have the right to destroy their villages and towns. Whoever has stolen our wealth, then we have the right to destroy their economy. And whoever has killed our civilians, then we have the right to kill theirs.
The American Government and press still refuses to answer the question:
Why did they attack us in New York and Washington?
If Sharon is a man of peace in the eyes of Bush, then we are also men of peace!!! America does not understand the language of manners and principles, so we are addressing it using the language it understands.
(Q2) As for the second question that we want to answer: What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?
(1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam.
(a) The religion of the Unification of God; of freedom from associating partners with Him, and rejection of this; of complete love of Him, the Exalted; of complete submission to His Laws; and of the discarding of all the opinions, orders, theories and religions which contradict with the religion He sent down to His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Islam is the religion of all the prophets, and makes no distinction between them – peace be upon them all.
It is to this religion that we call you; the seal of all the previous religions. It is the religion of Unification of God, sincerity, the best of manners, righteousness, mercy, honour, purity, and piety. It is the religion of showing kindness to others, establishing justice between them, granting them their rights, and defending the oppressed and the persecuted. It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah’s Word and religion reign Supreme. And it is the religion of unity and agreement on the obedience to Allah, and total equality between all people, without regarding their colour, sex, or language.
(b) It is the religion whose book – the Quran – will remained preserved and unchanged, after the other Divine books and messages have been changed. The Quran is the miracle until the Day of Judgment. Allah has challenged anyone to bring a book like the Quran or even ten verses like it.
(2) The second thing we call you to, is to stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you.
(a) We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling’s, and trading with interest.
We call you to all of this that you may be freed from that which you have become caught up in; that you may be freed from the deceptive lies that you are a great nation, that your leaders spread amongst you to conceal from you the despicable state to which you have reached.
(b) It is saddening to tell you that you are the worst civilization witnessed by the history of mankind:
(i) You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies, contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator. You flee from the embarrassing question posed to you: How is it possible for Allah the Almighty to create His creation, grant them power over all the creatures and land, grant them all the amenities of life, and then deny them that which they are most in need of: knowledge of the laws which govern their lives?
(ii) You are the nation that permits Usury, which has been forbidden by all the religions. Yet you build your economy and investments on Usury. As a result of this, in all its different forms and guises, the Jews have taken control of your economy, through which they have then taken control of your media, and now control all aspects of your life making you their servants and achieving their aims at your expense; precisely what Benjamin Franklin warned you against.
(iii) You are a nation that permits the production, trading and usage of intoxicants. You also permit drugs, and only forbid the trade of them, even though your nation is the largest consumer of them.
(iv) You are a nation that permits acts of immorality, and you consider them to be pillars of personal freedom. You have continued to sink down this abyss from level to level until incest has spread amongst you, in the face of which neither your sense of honour nor your laws object.
Who can forget your President Clinton’s immoral acts committed in the official Oval office? After that you did not even bring him to account, other than that he ‘made a mistake’, after which everything passed with no punishment. Is there a worse kind of event for which your name will go down in history and remembered by nations?
(v) You are a nation that permits gambling in its all forms. The companies practice this as well, resulting in the investments becoming active and the criminals becoming rich.
(vi) You are a nation that exploits women like consumer products or advertising tools calling upon customers to purchase them. You use women to serve passengers, visitors, and strangers to increase your profit margins. You then rant that you support the liberation of women.
(vii) You are a nation that practices the trade of sex in all its forms, directly and indirectly. Giant corporations and establishments are established on this, under the name of art, entertainment, tourism and freedom, and other deceptive names you attribute to it.
(viii) And because of all this, you have been described in history as a nation that spreads diseases that were unknown to man in the past. Go ahead and boast to the nations of man, that you brought them AIDS as a Satanic American Invention.
(xi) You have destroyed nature with your industrial waste and gases more than any other nation in history. Despite this, you refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement so that you can secure the profit of your greedy companies and*industries.
(x) Your law is the law of the rich and wealthy people, who hold sway in their political parties, and fund their election campaigns with their gifts. Behind them stand the Jews, who control your policies, media and economy.
(xi) That which you are singled out for in the history of mankind, is that you have used your force to destroy mankind more than any other nation in history; not to defend principles and values, but to hasten to secure your interests and profits. You who dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, even though Japan was ready to negotiate an end to the war. How many acts of oppression, tyranny and injustice have you carried out, O callers to freedom?
(xii) Let us not forget one of your major characteristics: your duality in both manners and values; your hypocrisy in manners and principles. All*manners, principles and values have two scales: one for you and one for the others.
(a)The freedom and democracy that you call to is for yourselves and for white race only; as for the rest of the world, you impose upon them your monstrous, destructive policies and Governments, which you call the ‘American friends’. Yet you prevent them from establishing democracies. When the Islamic party in Algeria wanted to practice democracy and they won the election, you unleashed your agents in the Algerian army onto them, and to attack them with tanks and guns, to imprison them and torture them – a new lesson from the ‘American book of democracy’!!!
(b)Your policy on prohibiting and forcibly removing weapons of mass destruction to ensure world peace: it only applies to those countries which you do not permit to possess such weapons. As for the countries you consent to, such as Israel, then they are allowed to keep and use such weapons to defend their security. Anyone else who you suspect might be manufacturing or keeping these kinds of weapons, you call them criminals and you take military action against them.
(c)You are the last ones to respect the resolutions and policies of International Law, yet you claim to want to selectively punish anyone else who does the same. Israel has for more than 50 years been pushing UN resolutions and rules against the wall with the full support of America.
(d)As for the war criminals which you censure and form criminal courts for – you shamelessly ask that your own are granted immunity!! However, history will not forget the war crimes that you committed against the Muslims and the rest of the world; those you have killed in Japan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Lebanon and Iraq will remain a shame that you will never be able to escape. It will suffice to remind you of your latest war crimes in Afghanistan, in which densely populated innocent civilian villages were destroyed, bombs were dropped on mosques causing the roof of the mosque to come crashing down on the heads of the Muslims praying inside. You are the ones who broke the agreement with the Mujahideen when they left Qunduz, bombing them in Jangi fort, and killing more than 1,000 of your prisoners through suffocation and thirst. Allah alone knows how many people have died by torture at the hands of you and your agents. Your planes remain in the Afghan skies, looking for anyone remotely suspicious.
(e)You have claimed to be the vanguards of Human Rights, and your Ministry of Foreign affairs issues annual reports containing statistics of those countries that violate any Human Rights. However, all these things vanished when the Mujahideen hit you, and you then implemented the methods of the same documented governments that you used to curse. In America, you captured thousands the Muslims and Arabs, took them into custody with neither reason, court trial, nor even disclosing their names. You issued newer, harsher laws.
What happens in Guatanamo is a historical embarrassment to America and its values, and it screams into your faces – you hypocrites, “What is the value of your signature on any agreement or treaty?”
(3) What we call you to thirdly is to take an honest stance with yourselves – and I doubt you will do so – to discover that you are a nation without principles or manners, and that the values and principles to you are something which you merely demand from others, not that which you yourself must adhere to.
(4) We also advise you to stop supporting Israel, and to end your support of the Indians in Kashmir, the Russians against the Chechens and to also cease supporting the Manila Government against the Muslims in Southern Philippines.
(5) We also advise you to pack your luggage and get out of our lands. We desire for your goodness, guidance, and righteousness, so do not force us to send you back as cargo in coffins.
(6) Sixthly, we call upon you to end your support of the corrupt leaders in our countries. Do not interfere in our politics and method of education. Leave us alone, or else expect us in New York and Washington.
(7) We also call you to deal with us and interact with us on the basis of mutual interests and benefits, rather than the policies of sub dual, theft and occupation, and not to continue your policy of supporting the Jews because this will result in more disasters for you.
If you fail to respond to all these conditions, then prepare for fight with the Islamic Nation. The Nation of Monotheism, that puts complete trust on Allah and fears none other than Him. The Nation which is addressed by its Quran with the words: “Do you fear them? Allah has more right that you should fear Him if you are believers. Fight against them so that Allah will punish them by your hands and disgrace them and give you victory over them and heal the breasts of believing people. And remove the anger of their (believers’) hearts. Allah accepts the repentance of whom He wills. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.” [Quran9:13-1]
The Nation of honour and respect:
“But honour, power and glory belong to Allah, and to His Messenger (Muhammad- peace be upon him) and to the believers.” [Quran 63:8]
“So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be*superior ( in victory )if you are indeed (true) believers” [Quran 3:139]
The Nation of Martyrdom; the Nation that desires death more than you desire life:
“Think not of those who are killed in the way of Allah as dead. Nay, they are alive with their Lord, and they are being provided for. They rejoice in what Allah has bestowed upon them from His bounty and rejoice for the sake of those who have not yet joined them, but are left behind (not yet martyred) that on them no fear shall come, nor shall they grieve. They rejoice in a grace and a bounty from Allah, and that Allah will not waste the reward of the believers.” [Quran 3:169-171]
The Nation of victory and success that Allah has promised:
“It is He Who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad peace be upon him) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam), to make it victorious over all other religions even though the Polytheists hate it.” [Quran 61:9]
“Allah has decreed that ‘Verily it is I and My Messengers who shall be victorious.’ Verily Allah is All-Powerful, All-Mighty.” [Quran 58:21]
The Islamic Nation that was able to dismiss and destroy the previous evil Empires like yourself; the Nation that rejects your attacks, wishes to remove your evils, and is prepared to fight you. You are well aware that the Islamic Nation, from the very core of its soul, despises your haughtiness and arrogance.
If the Americans refuse to listen to our advice and the goodness, guidance and righteousness that we call them to, then be aware that you will lose this Crusade Bush began, just like the other previous Crusades in which you were humiliated by the hands of the Mujahideen, fleeing to your home in great silence and disgrace. If the Americans do not respond, then their fate will be that of the Soviets who fled from Afghanistan to deal with their military defeat, political breakup, ideological downfall, and economic bankruptcy.
This is our message to the Americans, as an answer to theirs. Do they now know why we fight them and over which form of ignorance, by the permission of Allah, we shall be victorious?
Damage Exposure Will ‘wake America Up’
The devastation set to be revealed by Hurricane Katrina’s receding floodwaters will shock America, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin predicted today as military engineers plugged one of the biggest gaps in the city’s levee system.
“It’s going to be awful and it’s going to wake the nation up again,” he said, estimating that it would take three weeks to drain the water, several more to clear up the debris and a further two months to reconnect electricity in the urban area.
But there were also signs of cautious optimism as the US army corps of engineers started to pump water out of the flooded city. “I’ve gone from anger to despair to seeing us turn the corner,” he said.
Yesterday the army corps strengthened the damaged levee along the 17th Street canal in the west of the city using metal sheets, before stopping the gap by dropping dozens of 1,200kg sandbags onto the 135 metre breach from helicopters.
Another 90 metre break in the London Street canal was also closed up, but some engineers estimated that pumping out all the water could still take up to 80 days.
Much of New Orleans lies below the level of the Mississippi river to the south and lake Pontchartrain to the north. The levee system of steel, earth and concrete embankments has been used for nearly 300 years to protect the urban area.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said that 80% of the city was flooded after Hurricane Katrina broke open several critical levees last week.
Floodwaters rose to six metres in parts, while the pressure of flooding knocked out several of the pumps which normally draw seeping water from the streets.
The army corps said that the biggest pump, which can remove up to 285 cubic metres of water per second, was also turned on yesterday.
But it was only operating at three cubic metres per second and was slowly being ramped up to full power. Officials fear that moving too quickly could put too much pressure on intact parts of the levee system, causing fresh flooding.
More than a million people have deserted the affected areas in New Orleans and 10,000 are feared dead. So far, however, there have been only 59 confirmed deaths in Louisiana state and more than 100 in neighbouring Mississippi.
Once the floodwaters are drained, emergency teams expect to find toxic waste, rotting matter and dead bodies, and officials spent yesterday scouring the streets to remove the last remaining survivors before the grimmer tasks of the operation begin.
“There are no jobs. There are no homes to go to, no hotels to go to, there is absolutely nothing here,” deputy police chief Warren Riley said. “We advise people that this city has been destroyed, it has completely been destroyed.”
Swollen bodies floated in the streets and authorities are worried there may be thousands more dead inside New Orleans homes.
In the suburb of Jefferson Parish, traffic queues formed as residents were allowed back for 12 hours yesterday to assess the damage from the storm.
Many were already thinking of moving away. “I like the northern states,” 25-year-old Javetta Jackson told the Guardian. “I like the seasons. I’ve always wanted to live in Baltimore so maybe we’ll go there. It’s an opportunity, isn’t it?”
The Jefferson Parish president, Aaron Broussard, told CBS news that government scalps would have to be taken for what had happened.
“Bureaucracy has murdered people in the greater New Orleans area and bureaucracy needs to stand trial before congress today,” he said. “Take whatever idiot they have at the top, give me a better idiot. Give me a caring idiot. Give me a sensitive idiot. Just don’t give me the same idiot.”
At least 240,000 people from Louisiana had been evacuated into neighbouring Texas, where Governor Rick Perry said the state could handle no more and asked remaining evacuees to be airlifted to other states.
In Houston, former presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush senior met evacuees taking shelter in the city’s Astrodome and set up an emergency fund for the displaced. Around 4,000 of those sheltering in the Astrodome were due to be moved today to two cruise ships in Galveston, Texas, but this plan was later cancelled as victims protested that another relocation would be too much too soon.
Asked about widespread criticism of his son’s slow response to the crisis, Mr Bush replied: “What do I think as a father? I don’t like it … (but) it goes with the territory.”
America is Braced for the General’s Verdict
Two decades ago, General David Petraeus, the man charged with winning America’s second war in Iraq, wrote a thesis for his PhD in international relations at Princeton.
Its 328 pages were an intense study of the legacies of a war that had stretched the US military, riven world opinion and deeply divided American political life. It was entitled The American Military and the Lessons of Vietnam. In one passage, the young officer took on the idea that public opinion in the US could not abide a military quagmire. ‘Vietnam was an extremely painful reminder that, when it comes to intervention, time and patience are not American virtues in abundant supply,’ Petraeus wrote in 1987. Now Petraeus is delivering another survey of an unpopular, divisive war. Only this time his audience is not a college tutor: it is the whole world.
In less than two weeks, Petraeus will appear before the US Congress and deliver a report into the progress of the ’surge’, the military strategy launched by President George W Bush that was designed to win the Iraq war. It has been billed as a ‘make or break’ moment that could either trigger the beginnings of an American withdrawal or build on the first signs of real military success. And it will be scoured anxiously in London, where the political debate about the timing of a withdrawal of the remaining British forces is gathering pace.
In America, both sides of the political divide are breathless in anticipation. The Democrats await any hint of criticism. The Republicans have prepared a PR barrage of ‘good news’ to try to turn public opinion back behind the war effort. White House officials hail Petraeus as a ‘warrior scholar’ who finally gets what is needed to win in Iraq. They see him as a man who can save the Bush presidency.
But the reality is far more complex. The brutal truth is that the Petraeus report is unlikely to change a thing when it comes to policy on the ground: the surge and the war will go on. Its true importance lies in how it will be used politically: by the White House, by leading Democrats such as Senator Hillary Clinton, by Republican presidential hopefuls such as Rudy Giuliani.
And not least by Petraeus himself. For the highly media-savvy general has political ambitions of his own. This is his moment to shine.
A story often told about General David Howell Petraeus concerns a brush with death at Kentucky’s Fort Campbell in 1991. During a training exercise, a soldier tripped and accidentally fired his rifle. The bullet hit Petraeus in the chest. Yet he refused to leave the exercise, only relenting when a more senior general ordered him carried away on a stretcher. Even then – with the bullet missing his heart by inches – he managed to get himself discharged early from hospital after he did 50 push-ups in front of his doctor, just a few days after being shot.
The anecdote leaves little doubt that Petraeus is tough and driven. He was born in 1952 to Dutch American parents – his father, Sextus, was a seaman – and he grew up in the upstate New York town of Cornwall. It lies almost in the shadow of West Point, America’s military academy, where Petraeus duly gained admission. He excelled at high school and then graduated in the top 5 per cent of the West Point class of 1974. He also married the superintendent’s daughter. From there he carved out a successful career culminating in the rank of general.
A reputation as a ‘Washington general’ was wiped out by two tours of duty in Iraq. First he led his unit in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and then won plaudits for pacifying the northern city of Mosul in 2004. Then he took charge of the retraining and rebuilding of Iraq’s army, again winning praise for swiftly and decisively bringing on the scheme. He then co-authored the military’s new manual of counter-insurgency before, at the start of 2007, being appointed to command US forces in Iraq.
‘He’s a straight talker and he’s very highly thought of militarily,’ said Professor Donald Goldstein, a military expert at the University of Pittsburgh. Petraeus fits a lot of energy and focus into his 5ft 9in frame. He is famed for his five-mile runs, carried out even on Baghdad’s hottest days. One subordinate called him the ‘most competitive man on earth’. But his macho army bluster is also tempered by a keen intellect. His Princeton PhD is no accident. He is flexible too: he knows the war in Iraq is rarely just about bombs and bullets. In Mosul, one of his most famous catchphrases on the subject of bringing peace to the city was ‘money is ammunition’.
Yet he is not without critics. Some say he is overly fond of the media and has skilfully crafted an almost flawless public persona of the skilled tactician. Others say his focus is not just about the facts on the ground, but about his own advancement. ‘He is a sycophant incarnate. He’s a smart guy, but he’s playing politics in this,’ said Larry Johnson, a former CIA anti-terrorism official. They also point out that Petraeus’s record in Iraq can be criticized. The peace he brought to Mosul proved shortlived, and there is now a criminal investigation into missing supplies and weapons that involves officials close to Petraeus. His time in Iraq has seen the emergence of death squads and heightened sectarianism. ‘This has all happened on his watch,’ said Johnson.
But what will his report say? First, some media spin needs to be cut through. Petraeus has been used as an impressive, patriotic figure on which to hang such an important study. That suits both the White House and Petraeus himself. But his tough persona masks a more nuanced approach from the administration.
In fact, the Petraeus report will be a mix of analyzes from Petraeus and the US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. Its exact wording will have heavy influence from White House officials. For those hoping that the report will contain a damning indictment of the war or prompt any meaningful troop reduction – or full withdrawal – there is almost certain to be deep disappointment. ‘It is frankly delusional for anyone to think it is going to change policy,’ said Charles Pena, a senior fellow at think-tank the Independent Institute. ‘They [Petraeus and Crocker] have no choice but to try to implement administration policy.’
And that policy is showing some signs of success. The military surge of troop numbers pushed by Bush has had an impact. The report will probably point to success stories in former hotbeds of Sunni insurgency such as Ramadi, Tal Afar and Mosul, where the security situation has been brought under some degree of control. In these areas, strategic alliances with Sunni tribes have seen former insurgents working with the US against Islamic jihadists. ‘There has been progress militarily. It is fair to say that,’ said Professor Rick Stoll, a defence and warfare expert at Rice University.
A taste of what Petraeus’s presentation might look like has already been given. On a recent trip by Democrat and Republican politicians to Iraq, he sat down, armed with charts and Powerpoint slides, to illustrate the advances made by the surge. An account of the meeting by Democrat Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky gives the lie to anyone expecting a military withdrawal from Iraq. She revealed to one newspaper that Petraeus told her America would be in Iraq in some way ‘for nine to 10 years’.
While the surge has changed the nature of the conflict, it has not yet brought it much closer to an end. As the brutal Sunni insurgency has tailed off, it has been replaced by Shia violence. The report is likely to note that the war has now become a fight between Shia militant groups and the US military. By last July, according to US officials, Shia fighters accounted for 73 per cent of attacks on coalition forces. That has been matched by a total failure of the Iraqi political process and a collapse of relations between the majority Shia – represented by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki – and the US. The surge’s aim was to ‘buy time’ for reconciliation between Iraq’s warring sectarian factions, but instead the feuding blocs have grown more violently apart. ‘No one wants to talk about reconciliation. No one wants to listen,’ said one official recently returned from Iraq. ‘The only reconciliation that is taking place is between the US military and some Sunni insurgents. That is not going to solve Iraq’s problems in the long run.’
So that will be the twin messages of Petraeus and Crocker. The military aspect of the surge is starting to turn the tide. But the political opportunity it was designed to create is being wasted by the Iraqis. If that sounds familiar, that is because it is the official White House stance on Iraq. ‘He is going to say that, from a military standpoint, it is going well, but, from a political standpoint, it is difficult and the Iraqis have to stand up for themselves. That is what Bush says,’ said Goldstein.
But if the contents of the report appear predictable, its impact is harder to ascertain. One thing is clear: it is unlikely to precipitate any rush significantly to withdraw US forces. It will allow the White House to claim that its strategy is working and that to halt the surge – as most Democrats wish to do – would be to snatch victory away from their troops.
Most experts believe that the White House will keep US troop levels at the current force of about 160,000 until at least April. Then to maintain the surge the army would need to extend its current rotation period from 15 months to 18 months. That is seen as too much of a burden by many military leaders.
Therefore it is widely predicted that the US presence in Iraq could be down to pre-surge levels of 130,000 troops by September next year. That could be presented as the beginning of a withdrawal, but it is hardly the sort of conflict-ending momentum that many Democrats – and much of the American public – seem to want. However, there is little political pressure on Bush to change policy in Iraq. He does not face re-election and the Democrats have shown that they are unwilling to do the one thing that could end the war: cut off funding. Again, the Petraeus report will not provide them with motivation to harden their stance. ‘The President has called the Democrats’ bluff. They don’t have the stomach for defunding, so there is no political pressure on the White House,’ said Pena.
But that is not true for any of the presidential candidates. They are all feeling the heat. For the Democrats, the Petraeus report is likely to contain enough bad news for them to continue their largely symbolic push for a troop withdrawal, but it will also have the risk that they will look as if they are undermining the first signs of success on the ground. For Republicans, it poses the opposite problem. The top-tier candidates, such as Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, have seen what happened to the campaign of John McCain, the most vocal supporter of Bush’s surge policy: his support has almost collapsed. Yet the Petraeus report is likely to force them to toe the White House line more tightly and in the face of much public hostility. Or it could cause them to go against the White House, following a pro-withdrawal line and opening up huge splits in the party itself. Those chasms are already becoming evident, with some top Republican figures, such as Senator John Warner, already calling for troop withdrawals to begin this year.
But above all the political squabbling will be Bush. No matter what happens, he will be President for all of 2008. And he shows no sign of any significant change of tack. Despite being billed as a watershed moment, the only real prospect of a reversal of Iraq policy will come in January 2009, when a new President walks into the Oval Office. The brutal fact is that there remains no meaningful end in sight for the US involvement in Iraq. Vietnam proved that the difference between when a war becomes unpopular and when it ends can be many years. In July 1967, the public approval rating of the Vietnam war dropped forever below 50 per cent, yet America did not leave Vietnam totally until 1975.
A similar process could be repeating itself in Iraq. Petraeus – as a keen student of history – would probably privately think that a tragedy. In his PhD thesis 20 years ago, he wrote: ‘Vietnam was a painful reminder for the military that they, not the transient occupants of high office, generally bear the heaviest burden during armed conflict.’
That is a trenchant analysis. But it was written by the Petraeus of Princeton. The Petraeus of next month is a general playing the highest political stakes of his career in front of the eyes of the world. He is unlikely to be so candid again.
Iraq benchmarks
Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report to be presented to Congress on Tuesday.
Achieved: The protection of the rights of minority political parties in the Iraqi legislature. It is the only one of eight political benchmarks to have been met, the report says. However, the report does not concern itself with attacks on these parties outside of the legislature.
Failed: In other areas, the political process is judged to have been a failure, including the continued non-passage of legislation on constitutional reform, new oil laws and de-Baathification. Observers say the parliament rarely has sufficient members in attendance to have a quorum to consider legislation.
Mixed progress: On the security front, Iraq has met on two benchmarks. Despite the surge, violence remains roughly at the same levels. However, the number of Iraqi army units capable of operating independently has dropped from 10 in March to six last month.
America See’s Large Debt Increase
America’s debt jumped $166 billion in one day on June 30, 2010. This becomes third largest debt increase in U.S. history and comes at a time when tax increases and spending reductions are major topics within the Whitehouse.
A deficit is the difference in government revenue versus government spending. The total debt is the accumulation of those deficits over many years. In the case of America, the amount of outstanding debt has grown for several years.
The current state of debt America is in has created a large market for companies that operate off of debt leads. With so many people currently in financial trouble, debt lead generation is a becoming common practice in several different business markets.
The government reported issuing $760 billion in new debts and redeeming $594 billion, for a new net debt of $166 billion that day. However, the one day jump was also in part to several different government agencies, entities and programs calling in owed debts and holdings from each other.
In addition to intergovernmental debt is consumer debt. This form of debt is where Treasury bonds and bills are issued to consumers, and recently accounted for $8.6 trillion of America’s debt.
Both sides of the political arena are pointing at each other for the recent spike in debt. Republicans are saying President Obama’s stimulus plan and healthcare reform tactics are failing. Democrats are stating the Obama’s plan will show positive long term effects and he is just cleaning up the mess left by former President Bush.
Dane Ludolph is an expert writer on phone systems and is based in San Diego, California. He writes extensively for an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs such as VoIP service at Resource Nation.
Women’s Rights in America
Educated, modern, intelligent and liberated women are the pillars on which a society stands. Today, women in America have the same rights as any man. They work, live, vote, have all the legal, social and financial rights, just as men. But this was not always the case. Let’s trace back the history of women as well as women’s rights in America, right from the colonial times to the present. Read more on American history.
History of Women’s Rights in America
Position of Women in Colonial Times
In the early seventeenth century, the American society was primarily male dominated. The women acted as subordinates to their husband and were expected to bear and rear god fearing children. Till about eighteenth century, women had no rights to enter into contracts, sue or divorce anyone.
It was not until late the seventeenth century that some changes were observed in the American society with regards to role of women was concerned. John Locke, an English philosopher, considered to be the “father of liberalism”, promoted the concept of marriage being a relationship based on love and companionship, rather than a contract in which the husband is the ruler and wife, his subservient. British philosophies like these, started finding a foothold in the American society, influencing both men and women.
American revolution, which started in 1760, brought with it the concept of “Republican Motherhood”. According to this concept, the role of woman in society was not just relegated to domesticity, in fact they had a huge political role to play as well. According to this concept, it was the mother’s duty to raise children who valued patriotism and were ready to sacrifice themselves for the country, and in order to fulfill this role, a woman needed to be well educated and aware, just as a man, so that she is able to do justice to it. Thus, American revolution and the philosophies of John Locke, were both responsible for promoting the concept of women as politically important people.
Seneca Falls Convention and “Declaration of Sentiments”
The abolitionist movement started in the 1800’s. Its main aim was to end slavery. The abolition movement was greatly supported by the northern states but the southern states were totally against it. Both men and women equally participated in this movement. Among the prominent leaders of the abolition movement was Lucretia Mott. When Lucretia Mott, along with her husband, went to attend the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention in London in the year 1840, she being a woman, was not allowed to do so. It was then, that Mott decided to fight and work for women’s rights. She was joined by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in this crusade of hers.
Movement for women’s rights in America, actually began in the year 1848, during the Seneca Falls Convention, in which Stanton presented “Declaration of Sentiments”, demanding equal rights, including voting rights for women in America. The declaration of sentiments was modeled on the “United States declaration of independence”. The Seneca Falls convention was attended and supported by around three hundred participants, including prominent women leaders like Lucretia Mott and Mary Ann M’Clintock.
Women’s Right to Vote in America and the World War 1
After the American civil war (1861-1865), through the “Emancipation Proclamation” and the various amendments to the constitution, such as the 13th, 14th and the 15th amendment, slavery was abolished in America, and right to vote was granted to everybody, irrespective of one’s color, status and race. However, women’s rights in America were still not given their due as right to vote was still not granted to them. This denial of suffrage, led to the formation of two organizations, namely “National Woman Suffrage Association” and “American Woman Suffrage Association”, both of which worked for getting equal voting rights for women.
In the year 1890, the two women’s groups were united under one organization, which was named the “National American Woman Suffrage Association”. In the year 1900, Carries Chapman Catt was elected the president of this newly formed organization, which continuously put its cause before the congress from the year 1869 to 1919. Another organization by the name of “National Woman’s party” was founded by Lucy Burns and Alice Paul, which worked towards getting a constitutional amendment passed for women’s rights in America. Finally, it was in the year 1920 that women were granted right to vote, through the nineteenth amendment to the US constitution, passed in the year 1919.
World War 1, which lasted from 1914 to 1918, had a big role to play in the women’s civil rights movement in America. In fact, women got their voting rights, largely due to the world war. When president Woodrow Wilson proclaimed that the world war was a war of democracy, many women protested and agitated, demanding democratic right to vote for women in America, which was finally granted by the president through the nineteenth amendment.
Women’s Civil Rights Movement in America
Women’s role in society and granting of civil rights to them mainly took place due to economic considerations. After The Great Depression and the stock market crash, which took place in the year 1929, many women had to compulsorily work outside their homes, to supplement their family income. When World War 2 broke out, men had to leave their homes to serve as soldiers in the army. This created a labor shortage, which was compensated by the women. Many women entered the workforce during this time, making them important contributors in their families income.
The economic expansion that took place between the 1950 and 1970, further helped many American women to become part of the workforce. To ensure safety of women at the workplace and otherwise, various laws have been passed by the US constitution, such as the 1973 law giving them freedom in reproductive choice, 1978 prohibition against discrimination of pregnant women in employment, 1984 Child support and protection of pension rights, for divorced women and widows, 1990 Federal funds for child care, and 1994 Protection against violence.
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Civil Rights Movement
Women’s Rights Movement in The United States
Although granting of these women’s rights in America, have given American women equal opportunities and status in the economic, social and political spheres of life, yet there are a lot of pending women’s issues which still need to be taken care of. When it comes to top positions in an organization, women face the “glass ceiling”, i.e very few reach the top. Also, balancing both home and work, can take its toll on many women, resulting in either women remaining childless or giving up their jobs to take care of the family. In spite of these challenges, American women have made lots of progress from the colonial times, when they were just ’subordinates’ to the present day when they are working shoulder to shoulder with men, and are highly optimistic of a future, when any differential treatment meted out on the basis of sex, will be non existent.
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