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 0 110 8518

Articles from The Impudent Observer - Global Liberal Issues

Turkish Muslim Women Abandoning Chador For Turban 2007-12-04 12:25:01 A new study of Turkish women done by Tarhan Erdem for Millyet shows only a minor rise during the past four years in the number of women who have decided to adopt traditional Muslim head covering. After the religiously conservative Justice an Development Party assumed power, many secular critics warned it would lead to pressure being exerted on secular Muslim women causing them to adopt some form of head covering. The latest figures indicate only a 5% rise in recent years. However, there has ben a 16% rise in the number of Muslim women who are discarding the chador in favor of wearing a turban. According to M.S. Birand, writing in The Turkish Daily News, it simply means “the young prefer the turban to the chador” which indicates it is an example of “fashionable modernization” and has as much significance as women switching from long skirts to mini-skirts. As he notes, “I see no reason to lament over the fact.” These figures refute hysterical claims by ...

Bush Doublespeak: No Iran Nuclear Weapons, But Danger! 2007-12-04 12:05:49 President Bush told reporters, at one of his infrequent press conferences, that Iran was still a nuclear threat despite receiving a report from the National Intelligence Estimation(NIE) that Iran had halted work on nuclear weapons in 2003. The president said “they’re still trying to learn how to enrich uranium,” which is a step toward making nuclear weapons. He spoke of Iran’s duplicity in having a “covert uranium weapons program which they failed to discuss until today.” He argued that although Iran had halted its nuclear weapon program and focused on peaceful uses of nuclear energy, it still remains evident Iran could in the future resume a nuclear weapon program. It is often difficult to follow the twisted logic of George Bush. The president and the vice president have been ranting and raving for over a year that Iran has a nuclear weapon program even though Iran constantly claimed he had no such program and was pursuing peaceful uses of nuclear e ...

US Intelligence Claims No Iran Nuclear Weapons 2007-12-04 08:51:41 A new report by an American intelligence estimate(NIE) that Tehran had ceased its nuclear military program in 2003 was greeted by cries of outrage from Israel and those advocating warlike actions against the government of Iran. The US NIE, a consensus of 16 intelligence agencies, concluded that Iran had suspended its attempt to build a nuclear weapon in 2003. Last month President Bush warned that a nuclear armed Iran posed a threat to world peace and Vice President Dick Cheney threatened Iran with “serious consequences” if it did not cease to abandon its nuclear weapon development. Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak, rejected the American report and insisted his nation must continue its efforts to end Iran’s nuclear weapons development. “We cannot allow ourselves,” he said, “to rest, just because of an intelligence report from the other side of the earth even if it is from our greatest friend.” However, the Iranian government greeted ...

Musharraf Bars Opponent From Ballot 2007-12-04 08:34:32 President Musharraf has continually promised his nation and the world that a fair election would take place in January and that he would not hinder efforts by political opponents to engage in an open contest for votes. Nawaz Sharif, is a bitter enemy of Musharraf and was only reluctantly allowed to return to Pakistan from his exile. The Musharraf Election Commission has now banned Sharif’s name from appearing on the ballot on grounds that his past convictions made him ineligible to stand for office. Sharif and his former enemy, Benazir Bhutto have been exploring the possibility of boycotting the January election due to failure on the part of Musharraf to allow free elections. Both Bhutto and Sharif returned to Pakistan with the full knowledge of Musharraf that past criminal charges were going to be dropped. It now appears Musharraf has gone back on his assurances. If Sharif is now banned, the same approach could be taken to Benazir Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People’s p ...

Violence Hinders Growth Of Iraqi Forces 2007-12-04 08:22:35 A report by the Government Accountability Office says there has been limited progress toward developing effective Iraqi forces who are capable of handling internal security needs due to the ongoing violence in the nation. Although, there has been some progress notes the report, “persistent violence an sectarianism, along with immature ministerial capacity, continue to impede” progress. Violence has prevented the Ministry of the Interior from developing an effective intelligence network. The GAO noted there was too much evidence of an inability to be specific as to the combat effectiveness of units with continual comments that a unit is not ready at this point. The GAO report reflects the difficulty of members of Congress from ever obtaining an accurate estimation of progress or lack of progress in Iraq. The Bush administration has continually claimed Iraq combat readiness was at a level that simply was not accurate. During the 2004 presidential election, President Bush to ...

Palestinian Students Stranded In Gaza 2007-12-04 01:02:06 The Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip which ostensibly was designed to halt further terrorist activities is also being employed to harass Palestinian students who are involved in studying at colleges in Egypt, Europe, and the United States. Israeli authorities agreed last week to allow a group of 254 students to leave their semi-imprsonment and enter Egypt so they might go from that nation to their colleges. However, for some unknown reason, only 199 were allowed to proceed onto Egypt while the remaining 55 were forced to remain in Gaza. As of this date, no logical reason has been offered by Israel authorities for the detention of college students who simply want to attend classes from which they have been barred since June of this year. This is a minor incident in Palestinian-Israel relationships, but it highlights the sometime complex reasoning of Israel authorities on why person “X” is detained instead of person “Y.” The detainees are college students, not t ...

Australian PM Rudd First Act-Ratify Kyoto Pact 2007-12-03 17:22:03 Newly elected Prime Minister Keven Rudd decided to make a powerful statement on the issue of global warming by signing the Kyoto Pact. “This is the first official act of the new Australian government, demonstrating my government’s commitment to tackling climate change,” he said. Rudd pledged to take actions within Australia in order to deal with environmental concerns as well as cooperating with other nations of the world. His administration initially has a 20% reduction goal to be achieved by 2020. Kevin Rudd intends to demonstrate a new Australian independence from his predecessor’s close affinity towards George Bush. First, Rudd has taken a bold step in quickly moving on the issue of climate change, hopefully, his next move will be to withdraw Australian troops from the fiasco in Iraq. ...

Prime Minister Olmert Offers Confusing Message About Syria 2007-12-03 12:35:26 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered a confusing explanation regarding prospects for peace between his nation and Syria. He told the Israeli newspaper, Yedio Ahronot, that is was his insistence which led to Syria being invited to Annapolis even though Bush opposed the invitation. Olmert said the Bush administration is very concerned about Syria’s action in Lebanon and it will never abandon Lebanon in their struggle against Syria. “We are a ware that Syrians will not get involved in peace talks unless the Americans changed their stance toward them…And, for establishing normal ties with Syria, the Americans will have to betray Lebanon, and the George Bush administration is not willing to do so.” The nation of Israel should be focusing on establishing ties with Syria and finally resolving the Golan Heights dispute. It is unclear why George Bush should be interfering in a valid approach to dealing with Middle Eastern issues. The Israel government got sucked into the ...

Russian Political Opposition Cries-Rigged Election! 2007-12-03 12:20:07 Leaders of opposition parties to President Putin’s United Russia party insist election results do not reflect the actual manner in which the Russian people voted. Gennady Zyuganov, head of the Communist Party, claimed his own examination of local polling stations indicated his party should have obtained at least 15% of the vote instead of the reported 11.1%. Given Putin’s complete domination of the media, it was remarkable that his party even secured that many votes. A similar feeling was expressed by Vladmir Zhrinovsky, head of the Liberal Democrats whose party obtained 8.8% although his reports indicated they should have gotten at least 12% of the vote. In one of the most ironic statements to emanate from modern Russia, Zyugaov, whose party still adheres to communist ideas, stated: “We are the last remaining guarantee of the freedom os pseech, democracy and human rights n our country.” We have come a long way from the totalitarian regime of the Soviet Union to ...

Venezuelan Democracy Wins-Chavez Loses! 2007-12-03 08:05:02 The forces of democracy in Venezuela finally overcame the authoritarian policies of President Hugo Chavez by handing the would be dictator a stunning electoral defeat. Although the Chavez government controlled TV and handed out millions of dollars to supporters, the student-led opposition was able to defeat the referendum by a vote of 51% to 49%. The proposed new constitution would have allowed Chavez to appoint all officials, to pack the courts, and to serve as president forever. The constitution was a blatant effort to end democracy in the nation of Venezuela. President Chavez told his supporters not to “feel sad” since the defeat was over “microscopic differences,” and he stated to his opponents, “To those who voted against my proposal, I thank them and congratulate them. I ask all of you to go home and know how to handle your victory. You won it.” Hopefully, this is the first step toward ending the power of Chavez who has used oil money in order ...

Teddy Bear Terrorist Goes Home! 2007-12-03 07:48:32 The storm in a teacup episode created by the Sudan government over an issue that was much ado about nothing finally concluded with a gracious pardon by the government and releasing Ms. Gillian Gibbon from jail. The Sudanese got their “riots” from “angry mobs who felt insulted” and Ms. Gibbon was spared the six months in jail and forty lashes that could be inflicted on those who “insult the Muslim religion.” This writer believes the entire episode was fabricated by the Sudan government in order to deflect world opinion away from its horrendous policies in Darfur which are leading to the death of thousands. The entire episode was akin to a Kabuki dance in which everyone played their role, an “angry mob,” expressions of concern from noted “religious figures,” cries about insulting the Prophet Muhammad, and then serenity when Ms. Gibbon was released with a pardon. The most interesting facet of this case was the complete absence o ...

Turkish Military Crosses Border Into Iraq 2007-12-03 07:34:49 The Turkish army crossed the border into northern Iraq in order to deal with members of the Kurdish Workers Party(PKK) which is conducting guerrilla warfare against its nation. This Turkish force claimed to be operating based on “military intelligence provided,” but it is unclear whether or not that information was furnished by the United States armed forces. Prime Minister Erdogan extracted from President Bush a pledge in November that America would furnish Turkey military intelligence related to the activities of the PKK. The Turkish government made clear it was only directing its action against those who commit “an act of enmity against the Turkish armed forces,” and promised there would be further operations in the area. However, Massoud Barzani, head of Kurdistan claims that no foreign troops entered his nation and denied action by the PKK towards the Turks. We can expect in the coming months to witness clandestine Turkish operations into Iraq that everyone ...

Ecological Disaster Threatens Indonesia 2007-12-03 07:21:26 The continued loss of protected forests on Java could lead to serious ecological disasters on the densely populated island coast eventually costing billions of dollars. A recent study of Java’s forests discovered serious deterioration of 160,00-0 hectares of protected forests. There are large numbers of squatters in forests and illegal logging goes on nonstop. The loss of forests causes floods, landslides and drought due to climate changes and damage to the local environment. According to Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendi: “Damage to conservation and protected forests has affected at least 123 rivers and is threatening more than 10 million hectares of farmland and thousands of villages located along the rivers.” During the rainy season floods submerge many villages and farmland areas. There is need for balanced logging, but government efforts have not been successful in dealing with illegal efforts and the thousands of squatters who pry the area in search ...

War Games In Washington, Political Games In Pakistan 2007-12-03 01:31:38 Political confusion continues in Pakistan as opposition parties explore their alternatives in the January election for a new parliament. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned President Musharraf for “blindly’ obeying American orders on what to do in Pakistan. He said the decision whether or not to have his party boycott the elections on grounds it would not be conducted fairly awaits further discussion with Benazir Bhutto and her Pakistan People’s Party. The Punjab leader, Chaudhry Perez, expects Musharraf to nominate him to be the new prime minister and he pledged to make certain Musharraf played a key role in his administration. He envisions a troika leadership comprised of himself, Musharraf and army chief Ashfaq Kayani. Meanwhile there are reports the American military last year war gamed what to do in case Pakistan entered into a chaotic condition and concluded there would be need for US forces to seize control of nuclear facilities. According to Marine Co ... Games

Al-Qaeda Escalates Violence in Iraq 2007-12-03 01:09:27 Just as expected, the level of violence took a surge in the past several days as al-Qaeda altered its approach to confronting US forces. An explosion in central Baghdad resulted in the death or wounding of at least 70 people. US Army intelligence claims Iran is behind the latest bombings. Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, leader of the Higher Islamic Council in iraq said the US must produce more evidence to support their allegations against Iran. He just returned from cancer treatment in Iran. Al-Qaeda is reportedly switching to infiltration of the Awakening Councils which have taken a more aggressive role in fighting insurgents. Prime Minister Mailiki came under attack from Sadr supporters who claim he is attempting to crush their organization under orders from the United States. Meanwhile the Iraqi Parliament and arguing about whether to change the law and allow former Sunni members of the Saddam Hussein government to serve in governmental positions. The Bush administration emphasizes the importa ...