WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- French President Nicholas Sarkozy took a leaf out of Margaret Thatcher's guidelines on leadership Wednesday with his surprise visit to Afghanistan following the deaths of 10 French troops in a mountain battle east of Kabul. It was the largest loss of life for the French armed forces from hostile action in a quarter-century since the dark day when 58 French paratroopers were killed in their sleep in a terrorist attack outside Beirut on Oct. 23, 1983, on the same night that a parallel attack killed 241 U.S. Marines sleeping in their barracks. Sarkozy's response echoed that of British Prime Minister Thatcher after 18 British soldiers were killed by an Irish Republican Army bomb booby-trap at Warrenpoint, County Down, in Northern Ireland in 1979. Thatcher flew at once to the devastated units to show her personal identification with them.
It was the largest loss of life for the French armed forces from hostile action in a quarter-century since the dark day when 58 French paratroopers were killed in their sleep in a terrorist attack outside Beirut on Oct. 23, 1983, on the same night that a parallel attack killed 241 U.S. Marines sleeping in their barracks.
Sarkozy's response echoed that of British Prime Minister Thatcher after 18 British soldiers were killed by an Irish Republican Army bomb booby-trap at Warrenpoint, County Down, in Northern Ireland in 1979. Thatcher flew at once to the devastated units to show her personal identification with them.
Sarkozy's visit to France sends the message that his radically innovative foreign policy is aligned with the United States broadly but not simply following along behind. Sarkozy is also showing he will not hesitate to take the initiative and act boldly.
The Globalist | Biography of Martin Sieff
Martin Sieff has served as UPI's Managing Editor of International Affairs since 2000. Prior to joining UPI, Mr. Sieff covered the collapse of communism as Soviet affairs correspondent for The Washington Times. From 1994-1999, he served as the paper's State Department bureau chief.
Prior to joining UPI, Mr. Sieff covered the collapse of communism as Soviet affairs correspondent for The Washington Times. From 1994-1999, he served as the paper's State Department bureau chief.
Sarkozy's visit to France..
A radical step. His Napoleonic bellicosity is becoming embarrassing. Reminds me of Gen Patton, who was nicknamed "Blood and guts", or as his soldiers commented "His guts and our blood". Any fool can be brave with other people's lives, but soldiers aren't there just for your ego, they have a geo-political clout that only the truly stupid expend uselessly. keep to the Fen Causeway
Reminds me of the famous shell-shocked soldier scene from the bio-pic. A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
yes The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it. Chinese Proverb.
U.S. President George Bush is again warning Russia that it must not lay claim to the breakaway Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. VOA White House correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the Bush administration says Russian troops are beginning to withdraw from Georgia but not fast enough.For nearly two weeks, President Bush says the world has watched a young democracy in Georgia under siege following a Russian invasion that he says was a disproportionate response to a long-simmering conflict in the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.Mr. Bush told a convention of American military veterans meeting in Florida that those republics are part of Georgia's internationally-recognized borders."The United States of America will continue to support Georgia's democracy. Our military will continue to provide needed humanitarian aid to the Georgian people. South Ossetia and Abkhazia are part of Georgia, and the United States will work with our allies to ensure Georgia's independence and territorial integrity," he said.
For nearly two weeks, President Bush says the world has watched a young democracy in Georgia under siege following a Russian invasion that he says was a disproportionate response to a long-simmering conflict in the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.Mr. Bush told a convention of American military veterans meeting in Florida that those republics are part of Georgia's internationally-recognized borders."The United States of America will continue to support Georgia's democracy. Our military will continue to provide needed humanitarian aid to the Georgian people. South Ossetia and Abkhazia are part of Georgia, and the United States will work with our allies to ensure Georgia's independence and territorial integrity," he said.
MOSCOW (AFP) - Moscow moved closer Wednesday to recognising the independence of Georgian separatist regions, escalating a bruising international row over Russia's assault on the ex-Soviet republic.Russia also fired off a blistering response to a US-Poland missile defence deal signed earlier, saying it would push Europe into a new arms race and was proof of a US drive to alter the strategic balance in Washington's favour.In Abkhazia, a strategically placed Black Sea province of Georgia, the separatist parliament and president issued an appeal asking Russia to recognise their independence, an AFP correspondent said. The leader of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, told Interfax news agency that his separatist region would also issue a similar appeal soon. Both rebel regions announced plans for pro-independence demonstrations on Thursday.
MOSCOW (AFP) - Moscow moved closer Wednesday to recognising the independence of Georgian separatist regions, escalating a bruising international row over Russia's assault on the ex-Soviet republic.
Russia also fired off a blistering response to a US-Poland missile defence deal signed earlier, saying it would push Europe into a new arms race and was proof of a US drive to alter the strategic balance in Washington's favour.
In Abkhazia, a strategically placed Black Sea province of Georgia, the separatist parliament and president issued an appeal asking Russia to recognise their independence, an AFP correspondent said.
The leader of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, told Interfax news agency that his separatist region would also issue a similar appeal soon. Both rebel regions announced plans for pro-independence demonstrations on Thursday.
blowback's a bitch, ain't it ? keep to the Fen Causeway
Two devastating suicide bomb attacks in as many days have raised fresh doubts this week about Algeria's ability to deal with a re-branded Islamist insurgency. The attacks are the latest in a series of car bombings that have halted a slow return towards normality in the North African country. They expose the failure of a two-pronged policy combining military crackdowns with offers of amnesty to rebel militants, observers say. The attacks shattered the relative calm that held in Algeria during the first six months of this year.
Two devastating suicide bomb attacks in as many days have raised fresh doubts this week about Algeria's ability to deal with a re-branded Islamist insurgency.
The attacks are the latest in a series of car bombings that have halted a slow return towards normality in the North African country.
They expose the failure of a two-pronged policy combining military crackdowns with offers of amnesty to rebel militants, observers say.
The attacks shattered the relative calm that held in Algeria during the first six months of this year.
KARACHI, Aug 20 (IPS) - `'For you it's just another story. If you want the truth go to Ghazni where you will get more than I can ever tell you about my sister," said a distraught Fouzia Siddiqi, speaking with IPS, in a voice breaking with helpless desperation.Fouzia's younger sister, Aafia Siddiqi, 35, made headlines after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced, on Aug. 4, her "arrest" for attempting to "murder and assault" United States' officers and employees outside the governor's office in Ghazni, Afghanistan, on Jul. 17. No soldiers were reported injured in the incident but Aafia received bullet injuries. Aafia, a neuroscientist, has since been lodged in a Manhattan jail and the preliminary hearing of her case set for Sep. 3. According to charges framed against her in a New York court, she was, at the time of her arrest, found carrying documents describing how to make explosives and chemical, biological and radiological weapons. She, allegedly, also had a list of landmarks in the U.S. and `'chemical substances'' in sealed containers. Aafia's resurfacing in Ghazni, five years after her disappearance in the southern port city of Karachi, has shaken the nation. The whereabouts of her three children, who were with her at the time she was kidnapped, remain unclear.
Syria sought to revive its security alliance with Russia today, when President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Moscow to clinch a series of military agreements, raising fears that the new Cold War that has erupted in the Caucasus will spill over into the Middle East. "Our position is that we are ready to co-operate with Russia in any project that can strengthen its security," the Syrian leader told Russian newspapers at the start of his two-day trip. "I think Russia really has to think of the response it will make when it finds itself closed in a circle." Mr al-Assad said that he would be discussing the deployment of Russian missiles on Syrian territory, possibly the Iskander system. Syrians is also interested in buying Russian anti-aircraft and tanks missiles. In return, Moscow is expected to propose a revival of its Cold War era naval base at the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean. Some Russian reports even suggest that Moscow is deepening the port it to accommodate a fleet of warships. Russia may have similar ambitions for Latakia. Either port would give the Russian Navy its foothold in the Mediterranean for two decades.
Syria sought to revive its security alliance with Russia today, when President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Moscow to clinch a series of military agreements, raising fears that the new Cold War that has erupted in the Caucasus will spill over into the Middle East.
"Our position is that we are ready to co-operate with Russia in any project that can strengthen its security," the Syrian leader told Russian newspapers at the start of his two-day trip. "I think Russia really has to think of the response it will make when it finds itself closed in a circle."
Mr al-Assad said that he would be discussing the deployment of Russian missiles on Syrian territory, possibly the Iskander system. Syrians is also interested in buying Russian anti-aircraft and tanks missiles.
In return, Moscow is expected to propose a revival of its Cold War era naval base at the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean. Some Russian reports even suggest that Moscow is deepening the port it to accommodate a fleet of warships. Russia may have similar ambitions for Latakia. Either port would give the Russian Navy its foothold in the Mediterranean for two decades.
[Murdoch Alert] When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind
Fannie and Freddie crisis deepens The US Treasury on Wednesday backed away from assurances that it would not have to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as the crisis surrounding the mortgage groups deepened with their shares falling for a third day. Although it was granted new powers to extend its credit lines to Fannie and Freddie and invest in their equity last month, the Treasury has been adamant it does not expect to have to make use of the new authority. But on Wednesday, a Treasury spokeswoman declined to repeat that assurance. Instead, she said Treasury was "vigilantly" monitoring market developments and was "focused on efforts that will encourage market stability, mortgage availability and protecting the taxpayer". (...) Fannie and Freddie shares have fallen 32.49 and 37.09 per cent respectively since Monday, as investors have grown concerned about a government intervention that would dilute shareholders and could affect holders of the groups' preferred stock and subordinated debt issues.
The US Treasury on Wednesday backed away from assurances that it would not have to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as the crisis surrounding the mortgage groups deepened with their shares falling for a third day.
Although it was granted new powers to extend its credit lines to Fannie and Freddie and invest in their equity last month, the Treasury has been adamant it does not expect to have to make use of the new authority.
But on Wednesday, a Treasury spokeswoman declined to repeat that assurance. Instead, she said Treasury was "vigilantly" monitoring market developments and was "focused on efforts that will encourage market stability, mortgage availability and protecting the taxpayer".
(...)
Fannie and Freddie shares have fallen 32.49 and 37.09 per cent respectively since Monday, as investors have grown concerned about a government intervention that would dilute shareholders and could affect holders of the groups' preferred stock and subordinated debt issues.
ICBC set for world record profit Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is expected to report the biggest profit of any bank in the world when it releases its interim report in Beijing on Thursday. ICBC, already the largest bank in the world by market capitalisation, has indicated that its first-half net profit grew by more than 50 per cent, from Rmb41bn ($6bn) in the same period last year. But analysts and Chinese bankers estimate profits are likely to have grown by more than 60 per cent to about Rmb67bn ($9.7bn) . Most of China's state-dominated banking sector has been left virtually unscathed by the global credit crisis because of limited exposure to overseas markets and the absence of sophisticated credit instruments that have caused problems elsewhere. Meanwhile, the global turmoil has hammered its big western competitors, most of which reported profit falls or losses in the first half. HSBC, which reported the largest profits of any bank last year, recently said first-half net profit fell 29 per cent to $7.72bn from a year earlier.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is expected to report the biggest profit of any bank in the world when it releases its interim report in Beijing on Thursday.
ICBC, already the largest bank in the world by market capitalisation, has indicated that its first-half net profit grew by more than 50 per cent, from Rmb41bn ($6bn) in the same period last year. But analysts and Chinese bankers estimate profits are likely to have grown by more than 60 per cent to about Rmb67bn ($9.7bn) .
Most of China's state-dominated banking sector has been left virtually unscathed by the global credit crisis because of limited exposure to overseas markets and the absence of sophisticated credit instruments that have caused problems elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the global turmoil has hammered its big western competitors, most of which reported profit falls or losses in the first half. HSBC, which reported the largest profits of any bank last year, recently said first-half net profit fell 29 per cent to $7.72bn from a year earlier.
(ironically, of course, HSBC is the "Hong-Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp.) In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Lehman Brothers, the beleaguered US investment bank, held secret talks to sell up to 50 per cent of its shares to South Korean or Chinese parties in the first week of August but failed to reach agreement with either. The South Koreans and Chinese walked away after concluding that Lehman was asking too high a price, said New York-based people familiar with the potential buyers. Lehman declined to comment.The talks reflect the growing pressure on Dick Fuld, Lehman's chief executive, to raise capital ahead of the mid-September earnings report, which, analysts said, could include more writedowns of $4bn (£2bn), bringing the total so far to $12bn. Lehman shares have fallen nearly 85 per cent since early 2007 and its market value is now about $9.5bn.In addition to selling a stake in itself, Lehman is considering selling all or part of its holdings, including its troubled $40bn commercial real estate portfolio and its asset management arm, which includes Neuberger Berman. Analysts said the asset management arm was the crown jewel that could be worth up to $10bn.In the first week of August, Lehman held parallel talks with the government-owned Korea Development Bank and China's Citic Securities at its headquarters in New York's Times Square area.The South Koreans discussed a two-step process under which KDB would buy a 25 per cent stake directly from Lehman and another 25 per cent of the shares though a market tender.
The South Koreans and Chinese walked away after concluding that Lehman was asking too high a price, said New York-based people familiar with the potential buyers. Lehman declined to comment.
The talks reflect the growing pressure on Dick Fuld, Lehman's chief executive, to raise capital ahead of the mid-September earnings report, which, analysts said, could include more writedowns of $4bn (£2bn), bringing the total so far to $12bn. Lehman shares have fallen nearly 85 per cent since early 2007 and its market value is now about $9.5bn.
In addition to selling a stake in itself, Lehman is considering selling all or part of its holdings, including its troubled $40bn commercial real estate portfolio and its asset management arm, which includes Neuberger Berman. Analysts said the asset management arm was the crown jewel that could be worth up to $10bn.
In the first week of August, Lehman held parallel talks with the government-owned Korea Development Bank and China's Citic Securities at its headquarters in New York's Times Square area.
The South Koreans discussed a two-step process under which KDB would buy a 25 per cent stake directly from Lehman and another 25 per cent of the shares though a market tender.
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is supposedly a specialist on Russia, yet one would not know that by looking at her triumphal statement that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will defeat Russian aims in Georgia. Rice proclaimed boldly that Russia "is becoming more and more the outlaw in this conflict", referring to the Russian offensive into Georgia following Georgia's attack on the rebel region of South Ossetia. "They intend and probably still do intend to strangle Georgia and its economy," Rice said in reference to the Russian forces that remain in Georgia. However, at an emergency summit of NATO's foreign ministers in Brussels, European countries agreed to suspend formal contacts with Moscow until its troops pulled out, but refused to bow to American pressure for more severe penalties. NATO is "considering seriously the implications of Russia's actions for the NATO-Russia relationship", said a statement of the 26-member alliance. The fact is, Russia has finally drawn a line in the sand and, for all practical purposes, the buck stops in the South Caucasus. Short of destabilizing Europe, there is practically nothing the US can do about it, except fire more verbal volleys, as Rice has been doing relentlessly since the outbreak of Russia-Georgia hostilities on August 7-8. And even the rhetoric has fallen on deaf ears in Moscow,
PERTILGETE, Venezuela: Venezuela seized control of foreign-owned cement plants Tuesday in a show of strength as President Hugo Chávez moves forward with a plan to extend socialist policies throughout the country. To the cheers of workers gathered at the gates, the government took over the installations belonging to the Mexican cement company Cemex at midnight after the two sides failed to reach an agreement in negotiations over the nationalization of the cement industry. As part of the takeover of cement plants, Venezuela struck deals to buy majority stakes in the local operations of the European cement makers Holcim and Lafarge, following a pattern of compensating the targets of government takeovers. The government said it paid $552 million for an 85 percent stake in Holcim of Switzerland and $267 million for 89 percent of the shares in Lafarge of France. But Venezuela said Cemex was asking for too much.
PERTILGETE, Venezuela: Venezuela seized control of foreign-owned cement plants Tuesday in a show of strength as President Hugo Chávez moves forward with a plan to extend socialist policies throughout the country.
To the cheers of workers gathered at the gates, the government took over the installations belonging to the Mexican cement company Cemex at midnight after the two sides failed to reach an agreement in negotiations over the nationalization of the cement industry.
As part of the takeover of cement plants, Venezuela struck deals to buy majority stakes in the local operations of the European cement makers Holcim and Lafarge, following a pattern of compensating the targets of government takeovers.
The government said it paid $552 million for an 85 percent stake in Holcim of Switzerland and $267 million for 89 percent of the shares in Lafarge of France. But Venezuela said Cemex was asking for too much.
The Puppet Masters Behind Georgia President Saakashvili The famous `Rose Revolution of November 2003 that forced the ageing Edouard Shevardnadze from power and swept the then 36 year old US university graduate into power was run and financed by the US State Department, the Soros Foundations, and agencies tied to the Pentagon and US intelligence community. Saakashvili was brought to power in a US-engineered coup run on the ground by US-funded NGO's, in an application of a new method of US destabilization of regimes it considered hostile to its foreign policy agenda. The NGOs were coordinated by the US Ambassador to Georgia, Richard Miles, who had just arrived in Tbilisi fresh from success in orchestrating the CIA-backed toppling of Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade, using the same NGOs. Miles, who is believed to be an undercover intelligence specialist, supervised the Saakashvili coup. It involved US billionaire George Soros' Open Society Georgia Foundation. It involved the Washington-based Freedom House whose chairman was former CIA chief James Woolsey. It involved generous financing from the US Congress-financed National Endowment for Democracy, an agency created by Ronald Reagan in the 1980's to "do privately what the CIA used to do," namely coups against regimes the US Government finds unfriendly. The US State Department funded the Georgia Liberty Institute headed by Saakashvili, US approved candidate to succeed the no-longer cooperative Shevardnadze. The Liberty Institute in turn created "Kmara!" which translates "Enough!" According to a BBC report at the time, Kmara! Was organized in spring of 2003 when Saakashvili along with hand-picked Georgia student activists were paid by the Soros Foundation to go to Belgrade to learn from the US-financed Otpor activists that toppled Milosevic. They were trained in Gene Sharp's "non-violence as a method of warfare" by the Belgrade Center for Nonviolent Resistance.
The famous `Rose Revolution of November 2003 that forced the ageing Edouard Shevardnadze from power and swept the then 36 year old US university graduate into power was run and financed by the US State Department, the Soros Foundations, and agencies tied to the Pentagon and US intelligence community.
Saakashvili was brought to power in a US-engineered coup run on the ground by US-funded NGO's, in an application of a new method of US destabilization of regimes it considered hostile to its foreign policy agenda.
The NGOs were coordinated by the US Ambassador to Georgia, Richard Miles, who had just arrived in Tbilisi fresh from success in orchestrating the CIA-backed toppling of Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade, using the same NGOs. Miles, who is believed to be an undercover intelligence specialist, supervised the Saakashvili coup.
It involved US billionaire George Soros' Open Society Georgia Foundation. It involved the Washington-based Freedom House whose chairman was former CIA chief James Woolsey. It involved generous financing from the US Congress-financed National Endowment for Democracy, an agency created by Ronald Reagan in the 1980's to "do privately what the CIA used to do," namely coups against regimes the US Government finds unfriendly.
The US State Department funded the Georgia Liberty Institute headed by Saakashvili, US approved candidate to succeed the no-longer cooperative Shevardnadze. The Liberty Institute in turn created "Kmara!" which translates "Enough!" According to a BBC report at the time, Kmara! Was organized in spring of 2003 when Saakashvili along with hand-picked Georgia student activists were paid by the Soros Foundation to go to Belgrade to learn from the US-financed Otpor activists that toppled Milosevic. They were trained in Gene Sharp's "non-violence as a method of warfare" by the Belgrade Center for Nonviolent Resistance.
which, if true, would really piss me off, as it gives China's government justification for continuing to make life for NGOs in that country a real pain in the ass. Cynicism is intellectual treason.
Whether this means a "colour revolution" should be called a "coup" or a "nonviolent revolution" and whether it was "US-engineered" is a more difficult question to answer, as well as whether all such events should be thrown in the same bag (for instance, including the Czech "Velvet Revolution" in the same category as Wikipedia does seems to me a stretch, both on substance and chronologically)
See Wikipedia: Soros foundation and U.S. influence as "Factors" in "Colour Revolutions":
Opponents of the colour revolutions often accuse the Soros Foundation and/or the United States government of supporting and even planning the revolutions in order to serve western interests. It is noteworthy that after the Orange Revolution several Central Asian nations took action against the Open Society Institute of George Soros with various means -- Uzbekistan, for example, forced the shutting down of the OSI regional offices, while Tajik state-controlled media have accused OSI-Tajikistan of corruption and nepotism. [4] Evidence suggesting U.S. government involvement includes the USAID (and UNDP) supported Internet structures called Freenet, which are known to comprise a major part of the Internet structure in at least one of the countries - Kyrgyzstan - in which one of the colour revolutions occurred. The Guardian[5] claimed that USAID, National Endowment for Democracy, the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and Freedom House are directly involved. Information[citation needed] on these organizations' websites (of which the first four are funded by the US federal budget) is consistent with these claims. Activists from Otpor in Serbia and Pora in Ukraine have said[citation needed] that publications and training they received from the US based Albert Einstein Institution staff have been instrumental to the formation of their strategies.
Evidence suggesting U.S. government involvement includes the USAID (and UNDP) supported Internet structures called Freenet, which are known to comprise a major part of the Internet structure in at least one of the countries - Kyrgyzstan - in which one of the colour revolutions occurred.
The Guardian[5] claimed that USAID, National Endowment for Democracy, the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and Freedom House are directly involved. Information[citation needed] on these organizations' websites (of which the first four are funded by the US federal budget) is consistent with these claims.
Activists from Otpor in Serbia and Pora in Ukraine have said[citation needed] that publications and training they received from the US based Albert Einstein Institution staff have been instrumental to the formation of their strategies.
Ukraine, traditionally passive in its politics, has been mobilised by the young democracy activists and will never be the same again. But while the gains of the orange-bedecked "chestnut revolution" are Ukraine's, the campaign is an American creation, a sophisticated and brilliantly conceived exercise in western branding and mass marketing that, in four countries in four years, has been used to try to salvage rigged elections and topple unsavoury regimes. Funded and organised by the US government, deploying US consultancies, pollsters, diplomats, the two big American parties and US non-government organisations, the campaign was first used in Europe in Belgrade in 2000 to beat Slobodan Milosevic at the ballot box.
But while the gains of the orange-bedecked "chestnut revolution" are Ukraine's, the campaign is an American creation, a sophisticated and brilliantly conceived exercise in western branding and mass marketing that, in four countries in four years, has been used to try to salvage rigged elections and topple unsavoury regimes.
Funded and organised by the US government, deploying US consultancies, pollsters, diplomats, the two big American parties and US non-government organisations, the campaign was first used in Europe in Belgrade in 2000 to beat Slobodan Milosevic at the ballot box.
Admittedly the US doesn't have a monopoly on this. But can anyone think of an example from the last forty years where US intervention created a genuine popular democracy?
Sorry, Czechoslovak... <sinks head> A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
interesting. this may explain why some Serbian friends who took part in the mêlée of March 9, 1991, are such big fans of George Soros:
George Soros - NS Profile NEIL CLARK / New Statesman 2jun03
Soros knows a better way--armed with a few billion dollars, a handful of NGOs and a nod and a wink from the US State Department, it is perfectly possible to topple foreign governments that are bad for business, seize a country's assets, and even to get thanked for your benevolence afterwards. Soros has done it. <...> The Yugoslavs remained stubbornly resistant and repeatedly returned Slobodan Milosevic's unreformed Socialist Party to government. Soros was equal to the challenge. From 1991, his Open Society Institute channelled more than $100m to the coffers of the anti-Milosevic opposition, funding political parties, publishing houses and "independent" media such as Radio B92, the plucky little student radio station of western mythology which was in reality bankrolled by one of the world's richest men on behalf of the world's most powerful nation. With Slobo finally toppled in 2000 in a coup d'etat financed, planned and executed in Washington, all that was left was to cart the ex- Yugoslav leader to the Hague tribunal, co-financed by Soros along with those other custodians of human rights Time Warner Corporation and Disney. He faced charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, based in the main on the largely anecdotal evidence of (you've guessed it) Human Rights Watch.
Soros knows a better way--armed with a few billion dollars, a handful of NGOs and a nod and a wink from the US State Department, it is perfectly possible to topple foreign governments that are bad for business, seize a country's assets, and even to get thanked for your benevolence afterwards. Soros has done it.
<...>
The Yugoslavs remained stubbornly resistant and repeatedly returned Slobodan Milosevic's unreformed Socialist Party to government. Soros was equal to the challenge. From 1991, his Open Society Institute channelled more than $100m to the coffers of the anti-Milosevic opposition, funding political parties, publishing houses and "independent" media such as Radio B92, the plucky little student radio station of western mythology which was in reality bankrolled by one of the world's richest men on behalf of the world's most powerful nation. With Slobo finally toppled in 2000 in a coup d'etat financed, planned and executed in Washington, all that was left was to cart the ex- Yugoslav leader to the Hague tribunal, co-financed by Soros along with those other custodians of human rights Time Warner Corporation and Disney. He faced charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, based in the main on the largely anecdotal evidence of (you've guessed it) Human Rights Watch.
Soros has an interesting interpretation of Popper's notions of "incremental improvements" and "piecemeal social engineering":
"Europe as a Prototype for a Global Open Society -- George Soros
The European Union was brought into existence by a process of piecemeal social engineering, the method Karl Popper considered appropriate to an open society. The process was directed by a far-sighted and purposeful elite which recognized that perfection is unattainable. It proceeded step by step, setting limited objectives with limited timetables knowing full well that each step will prove to be inadequate and require a further step. The process was helped along first by the threat from the Soviet Union and then by the globalization of the economy which tended to favor larger economic units. That is how the European Union was constructed, one step at a time.
Sort of like the guys running the show in Beijing. Cynicism is intellectual treason.
since policy changes at the central government level are so important for effecting real change, the added suspicion of being not so "non-governmental", where the government in question is foreign.
(incidentally -- and maybe this was your point -- such suspicion is the reason that many, maybe most, Chinese NGOs are actually "GONGs" ["government-organized NGOs"], where the first "G" is the Chinese government, so it can keep close tabs on things.) Cynicism is intellectual treason.
Oh, no, I was referring to Western NGOs as "quasi-governmental". The Chinese are very good at double-speak to judge by the GONGs example. A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
Regulators had long classified a private Swiss energy conglomerate called Vitol as a trader that primarily helped industrial firms that needed oil to run their businesses. But when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission examined Vitol's books last month, it found that the firm was in fact more of a speculator, holding oil contracts as a profit-making investment rather than a means of lining up the actual delivery of fuel. Even more surprising to the commodities markets was the massive size of Vitol's portfolio -- at one point in July, the firm held 11 percent of all the oil contracts on the regulated New York Mercantile Exchange. The discovery revealed how an individual financial player had gained enormous sway over the oil market without the knowledge of regulators. Other CFTC data showed that a significant amount of trading activity was concentrated in the hands of just a few speculators... CFTC documents show Vitol was one of the most active traders of oil on NYMEX as prices reached record levels. By June 6, for instance, Vitol had acquired a huge holding in oil contracts, betting prices would rise. The contracts were equal to 57.7 million barrels of oil -- about three times the amount the United States consumes daily. That day, the price of oil spiked $11 to settle at $138.54. Oil prices eventually peaked at $147.27 a barrel on July 11 before falling back to settle at $114.98 yesterday.
But when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission examined Vitol's books last month, it found that the firm was in fact more of a speculator, holding oil contracts as a profit-making investment rather than a means of lining up the actual delivery of fuel. Even more surprising to the commodities markets was the massive size of Vitol's portfolio -- at one point in July, the firm held 11 percent of all the oil contracts on the regulated New York Mercantile Exchange.
The discovery revealed how an individual financial player had gained enormous sway over the oil market without the knowledge of regulators. Other CFTC data showed that a significant amount of trading activity was concentrated in the hands of just a few speculators...
CFTC documents show Vitol was one of the most active traders of oil on NYMEX as prices reached record levels. By June 6, for instance, Vitol had acquired a huge holding in oil contracts, betting prices would rise. The contracts were equal to 57.7 million barrels of oil -- about three times the amount the United States consumes daily. That day, the price of oil spiked $11 to settle at $138.54. Oil prices eventually peaked at $147.27 a barrel on July 11 before falling back to settle at $114.98 yesterday.
Market prices overshoot - well known fact. With more volatility they overshoot farther. A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
Otherwise, those doing the complaining are just trying to look like they're doing something about high prices.
(I know this does not completely answer your question, but there you go) In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
So neither movement seems irrational or exaggerated either way. There's just a higher sensitivity to news. And there have been news. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
