The Impudent Observer - Global Liberal Issues Analyzes issues of liberal concern and gives readers a digest of what is reported in over forty newspapers throughout the world to engage them in critical thinking issues. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 69 9297

Articles from The Impudent Observer - Global Liberal Issues

No Bases, But Remain, Says Iraq To US 2007-12-17 16:19:48 The iraq government informed the United States it would require military assistance for at least ten years, but made clear it would not grant the US military bases on an indefinite basis. Ali al-Dabbagh, emphasized, “Of course we need international support. We have security problems. For ten years our army will not be able to defend iraq. I do not think that there is a threat of an invasion of Iraq, or getting involved in a war. But, to protect Iraq’s sovereignty there must be an army to defend Iraq for the next 10 years.” However, when asked about the United States military establishing bases in Iraq, he responded: “There is no Iraqi who would accept the existence of a foreign army in this country. America is America and Iraq is Iraq.” The people of Iraq are certainly correct that having a long term American presence raises issues concerning their own sovereignty. Unfortunately, asking the United States to remain in Iraq without adequate bases simply wil ...

Paris Police Defeat Army Of The Homeless! 2007-12-17 15:12:53 As tourists watched on, a police force swept away an attempt to build a Christmas encampment for the homeless on the banks of the Seine river. The tents had been set up opposite the Notre Dame cathedral, but police used gas gas as they charged the homeless defensive position and due to their courage in the face of smells and bad body odor emanating from the Homeless site, the police gained a final victory by making the enemy flee. Tourists booed the heroic efforts of the police, a protestor fell into the Seine, but in the end the homeless were dispersed. The protest group which established tent city– Les Enfants de Don Quichotte(the children of Don Quxiote) claim the government has failed to construct 27,000 new lodgings for homeless people. Founder of the group, film actor, Augustin Legrand, shouted that over 200,000 people were homeless in France. Minister of Housing, Christine Boutin, who supported last year’s protest, condemned tent city and insisted there were sufficie ...

End Settlement Expansion Declares President Abbas 2007-12-17 09:38:35 Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas told a donors conference that Israel must make significant changes in West Bank settlements if there is to be a chance for peace. “I’ll be eager to implement all our commitments,” he claimed,”under the road map and I expect the Israel side to do the same comprehensively, and without excuses by them. I expect them to stop all settlement activities without exception.” The strong words reflected the increasing feeling among Palestinian authorities that something must be done to have specific accomplishments as soon as possible. Many economists believe the Palestinian economy needs an end to restrictions in order to get farm production back to prior levels and to ensure that people are working, not being idle. Israel’s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livnia emphasized to the group that creation of a “Palestinian state is in Israel’s interest.” The continued economic depression among Palestinians doe ... President

Flash! Surprise! Putin Agrees To Serve As Prime Minister! 2007-12-17 09:11:40 In a move that surprised the entire Russian population, if not the world, President Vladmir Putin told the United Russia party he would serve as prime minister under Dimitry Medvedev who is expected to be elected president of the nation. Putin also promised not to alter the current system of power distribution in which the president has greater say in the operation of the government. This promise is undoubtedly one that is guaranteed to be broken once Putin becomes prime minister of the nation. In one sense, allowing the prime minister to have greater power than the president may work toward the development of democracy in Russia. If Russia evolves into a parliamentary democracy it means future presidents will have to run as a member of a political party and make clear who will be their choice for prime minister. Ironically, Putin’s power grab means the Russian president will lose power and the prime minister who is selected by a political party has greater power. It also means ...

Investigative Journalist Banned From Russia By Putin 2007-12-17 08:57:33 The recent elections in Russia were marked by widespread evidence that opposition parties were denied access to the media while those supporting President Putin such as United Russia had plenty of money and exposure on state television. Nataylya Morar, who is from Moldavia, was told at the airport that “You are banned from entering Russia” on orders of the Federal Security Service. Ms. Morar published an article in The New Times of Moscow, entitled, “The Black Till at the Kremlin” which charges President Putin had access to a secret slush fund in order to provide money to his favored political allies. This money was used to ensure victory for his United Russia party in recent elections. She is now one of over two dozen journalists who have been banned from Russia for writing the wrong type of stories. The Russian Journalist Union denounced the expulsion: “It is double standards and a classic political punishment when a person who lives in Moscow, writes fo ...

It’s Not We Humans– It’s Nature’s Fault! 2007-12-17 08:38:53 A group of American scientists published an article in the International Journal of Climatology that claims global warming is not the result of human actions, but arises from normal conditions operating in nature. According to David Douglas, a climate expert from the University of Rochester, “the inescapable conclusion is that human contribution is not significant and that observed increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases make only a negligible contribution to climate warming.” The journal authors “have good reason therefore, to believe that current climate models greatly overestimate the effects of greenhouse gases.” Since President Bush assume office, he has frequently relied on the ideas of such climate experts. It partially explains his unwillingness to go along with other nations of the world in confronting issues of global warming. Of course, there is always the possibility 95% of climate experts are wrong about global warming, the real ques ...

Britain Leaves Basra But Basra Has Problems 2007-12-17 01:11:09 British troops have occupied the Basra area since early stages of thee Iraq war. They now have handed over control of the city to local Iraqi forces without receiving much thanks from those who now are responsible for controlling the city. The new police commander, General Jalil Khalaf bitterly complained the British occupation and departure left him with a situation close to mayhem. “They left me militia, they left me gangsters, and they left me all the troubles in the world.” The British government insists the turnover was timely and appropriate, but that is apparently not the view of Iraqi leaders. British General Graham Binns, claimed the situation was OK, and “I came to rid Basra of its enemies and I now formally hand Basra back to its friends.” His “friend,” Khalaf, has a different version of the situation. During the past three months, 45 women have been killed for being “immoral” due to lacking the correct hair covering. Shia mi ...

European Union Plan To Handle Kosovo Independence 2007-12-17 01:03:31 The inability of Kosovo and its former ruler, Serbia, to reach any form of agreement over future relations, will undoubtedly result sometime after January 1st in a declaration of independence by Kosovo. There are fears such an announcement will strengthen nationalist forces in Serbia which might even resort to violence in order to halt this step. Slovenia, which will assume presidency of the European Union, is proposing a plan of action to head off discord. Under its proposal, within 48 hours of Kosovo independence, a core group of European Union members such as Germany, France, Britain and France will recognize the new nation. Several weeks later, a second group including the United States would recognize Kosovo and finally several weeks later a third group comprising nations adjacent to Kosovo would give their OK to the new nation. The reality is that about 100,000 Serbs remain in the predominantly Muslim nation. Neither side can put aside the terrible deaths inflicted by Serbian fo ...

Kenya’s Unreported Dirty War 2007-12-16 18:48:11 Crops rot in fields, farms and schools are abandoned, the black hulks of burned houses dot the landscape. Hundreds of innocent people have been killed and many women raped in a war that wracks the nation of Kenya despite its remarkable success in economic growth and in possessing a working democracy. The murderous Mungiki gang together with ethnic conflict and political discord is devastating the nation. Part of the conflict was generated by opposition of land by the government which led opposing groups to engage in violent conflict. At least 60,000 terrorized people have fled their homes. Many people blame harsh police policies of only enflaming an already unstable situation to become even more violent. At the heart of the conflict are claims by the Soy ethnic group that land was given to the Ndorobos because of their political connections. A Soy militia, the Sabaot Land Defence Force(SLDF) is now battling the police and reports are common of targeted killings. Ironically, decades af ...

Israeli Arabs Blocked In Home Buying Effort 2007-12-16 09:20:23 A plan by the Jewish town of Mei-Ami to construct a new residential development was seriously attacked by Arab residents of a nearby town who demanded the right to purchase homes in the new houses. The proposed construction of 410 homes is on land that residents of Umm el-Fahm claim once belonged to an Arab village. The Arab community is suffering from a severe lack of housing and would welcome purchasing homes in the new development. Eilan Ben-David, secretary of the Moshav Movement said he was against allowing Arabs to live in small Jewish towns(moshavim)since it would be destructive to Zionism. In 2003, the High Court of Justice issued an injunction to the Israel Lands Commission to set aside a plot of land in the communal settlement of Katzir for an Israeli-Arab family whose application to live there was rejected because they are Arabs. The Israeli high courts have taken a strong stand against forbidding Arabs to be denied the right to live where they so desire. Their rulings ha ...

Papua Tells Bush: Lead Or Get Out Of Way! 2007-12-16 09:03:30 The United States during the past 100 years has been a leader in world affairs, but it took the tiny nation of Papua to finally let George Bush know, in no uncertain terms, the world was sick and tired of his obstruction in the fight to end global warming. Kevin Conrad, a delegate from Papua told the United States of America, “If you’re not going to lead, get out of the way.” American delegates spent two weeks of constant obstruction to prevent the nations on planet Earth from accomplishing the goal of reducing global warming. In the end, under incredible pressure from virtually every nation in the world, the Bush administration finally caved in and said it would go along with goals of reducing global pollution in half by 2050. This was a considerable shift from last summer’s Summit 8 meeting where Bush would only promise to “seriously consider” such a goal. However, in the end, the United States remained conspicuously on the sidelines when it came ...

Turkish Planes Blast Kurd Rebels In Iraq 2007-12-16 08:11:14 Turkish planes carried out the first air attacks on Kurdish rebels based in the mountainous regions of Iraq. After the bombing, Turkish artillery opened fire on the area which had just been bombed. According to local Iraq officials, about ten villages were bombed and several civilians killed or wounded. They claim Kurdish rebels were miles away from the target. Turkish planes also dropped leaflets urging members of the Kurdish Workers Party(PKK) to surrender and seek an amnesty. An amnesty law was adopted in 2003 under Article 221 of the penal code which promises no punishment to Kurds who surrender provided they did not take part in military action against Turkish forces. An intelligence officer told the Turkish newspaper, Zaman, that among those who surrendered about one-third were Kurds who simply hoped they could get a better job by pretending to fit the qualification for amnesty. Bombing villages in mountainous areas rarely leads to anything other than fostering hatred among innoc ...

Indonesian Muslim Leader Threatens Violence 2007-12-16 07:52:31 Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world, has taken vigorous action against Islamic terrorists who have killed the innocent. Hard-line Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba’asyir visited the three men currently on death row who took part in the infamous Bali bombings in order to announce his support of their activities. Although the government is led by Muslims, the prosecutors were Muslim, and the Supreme Court is composed of Muslims, Ba’asyir termed them “apostates” if they carry out the execution of three men who killed innocent people as part of an ideology of hate. He warned, “I’m worried that if they are executed there will be a big disaster in Indonesia.” Ba’asyir argued the men regretted killing innocent Muslims, but did not appear concerned that foreigners were killed in their murderous attack. Indonesia is setting an example to terrorists everywhere that a government is ready to inflict punishment on those who kill in the name ...

Rudy G. Wraps Self Around 9/11 Flag In Desperation 2007-12-15 14:04:04 Rudy Giuliani’s numbers are dropping as Huckabee and other opponents attract voters so the former New York mayor returned to the mantra of 9/11 in order to regain political momentum. He trotted out a new slogan, “Tested, Ready, Now” in order to prove, to an increasingly doubting audience, that he was then and is now the man of the hour. “I saw it on the morning of September 11, 2001,” he told an audience, “there were points on that day, that morning too, where I wondered whether we had the strength to deal with this, the worst attacks in our history, unprecedented, horrific.” He then pulled out the tear jerking image of fire fighters who put the American flag at Ground Zero as a symbol of courage that supposedly connected to his actions that day. He concluded with his usual bragging comment, “I’ve met adversity before, I’ve led in situations that seemed hopeless and dire in need of a miracle. I don’t just hope for mira ...

Gordon Brown And Sarkozy Clash Over Europe’s Future 2007-12-15 12:59:42 Prime Minister Gordon Brown of England clashed with French President Sarkozy over future directions of Europe. Brown was able to persuade European Union leaders to agree there would not be any changes in direction or structure “for the forseeable future.” Sarkozy wants to create a group of “wise men” who would examine the European Union in order to develop new strategies which would compel its members to more closely integrate their economies and political structures within the framework of a redeveloped European Union. He believes the time has been reached in the history of European development for a “new European dream” which entails integrated armed forces, integrated foreign policy, and more completely integrated political systems. The French president also differs with Brown over the issue of allowing Turkey to become a member of the EU, an action he opposes while Brown is more willing to consider the possibility. As the European Union matures, ...