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Why Spitzer was Bushwhacked
Disgraced New York State governor Eliot Spitzer had cause to feel frisky when
he visited Washington in February. As he was paying off a call girl, the press
was preparing to run a Spitzer broadside against the world's biggest financial
powers and President George W Bush, whom he described as a fugitive from
justice and a partner in crime with predator lenders. It was a politically
fatal coincidence. - F William Engdahl
(Mar 19, '08)
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Bernanke running out of bliss
room
US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke and his pack of merry pranksters, having
given Wall Street yet more interest rate cuts, now have only a few months
before they must conjure up other tricks to end the rot in the US economy as
rate levels head toward their floor and inflation concerns mount. - Julian
Delasantellis (Mar 19, '08)
US aims high in Afghanistan
In remote northeastern Afghanistan close to the Pakistan border, US troops
fight an elusive enemy they can seldom get their hands on. They're convinced
al-Qaeda fighters are involved. But until the insurgents are rooted out from
the high ground they occupy, it will remain a battle of hit and miss. - Philip
Smucker (Mar 19, '08)
THE ROVING EYE
Shocked, awed
and left to rot
US Vice President Dick Cheney is spot on when he talks of "phenomenal changes"
in Iraq. Millions of Iraqis have lost their homes, their jobs, their families,
their dreams and in countless cases their own lives because of a pre-emptive
war. And anti-American Muqtada al-Sadr will ultimately be the lord of what
remains of Iraq. - Pepe Escobar (Mar 19, '08)
DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
Already counting to six
When it comes to the American position in Iraq, short of an act of God, the
sixth anniversary of George W Bush's war of choice is going to dawn much like
the fifth one, no matter who's elected US president in November. - Tom
Engelhardt (Mar 19, '08)
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 SUN
WUKONG
Stumbling towards
Confucius-ville
As part a Beijing-sponsored "cultural renaissance", the 2,500-year-old
teachings of Confucius are back in vogue as a counterbalance to the meteoric
rise of modern China. But a plan to erect a US$4.2 billion "Chinese Cultural
Symbolic City" in the philosopher's hometown has hardly inspired the peace and
social harmony of which Confucius wrote. - Wu Zhong
(Mar 19, '08)
Olympic clock ticks for unified Korean
team
The two Koreas, which by their very rationales are involved in a highly-charged
competition for legitimacy with their other "part-nation", the Olympic Games
have been a particularly potent arena for political posturing. As they try to
out-do each other in the runup to the Beijing Games over the possibility of a
joint Korean team, China has a role to play. (Mar
19, '08)
Killing stress for India's best
and brightest
Hundreds of recent student suicides attest to the sad truth that in today's
India, the pressure to excel can be lethal. Gargantuan numbers of applicants
face a maddening exam process for extremely limited placement at the top-notch
schools needed for lucrative careers. Add to this intense family pressure, an
outdated and under-funded education system and a society in intense transition
and it's all too clear that many of India's young people are dying to succeed.
- Neeta Lal (Mar 19, '08)
China and India: Oh to be different
Once again, with the unrest in Tibet, Beijing has been caught unprepared and
has revealed its inability to deal with dissent and difference, despite the
stated goal of creating a harmonious society. In direct contrast, India's
diverse polity has flourished against all the odds precisely because of its
ability to acknowledge difference. - Pallavi Aiyar
(Mar 18, '08)
Now the Tibet blame game begins
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Tuesday assured that "social order" has
all but been restored in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which
has been scarred by anti-Chinese demonstrations. Beijing is now left
to limit the damage from the high-profile disturbances, and is doing so by
squarely blaming the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader, for not only
instigating the unrest, but also for trying to sabotage China's Olympic dream.
- John Ng (Mar 18, '08)
THE BEAR'S LAIR
Sorry,
I wasn't pessimistic enough
Early forecasts of declines in US house prices and of mortgage bad-debt losses
have fallen far short of the mark and a far grimmer picture is developing.
Losses to come are probably large enough to wipe out the banking system and
failure of any one major house could be sufficient to bring down the world
economy. - Martin Hutchinson (Mar 18, '08)
Preventing a financial crash
The Federal Reserve has still much to do if it is to pull the US back from the
financial brink. Expanding the range of institutions it deals with would be one
step, reflecting the reality that lending is increasingly separated from banks.
Increasing the categories of securities it accepts as collateral would be
another. - Thomas I Palley (Mar 18, '08)
Khomeini's grandchild breaks her
silence
The outspoken views of Zahra Eshraghi, granddaughter of Ruhollah Khomeini,
the leader of the Islamic revolution in Iran, have put her at odds with
Tehran's conservative hardliners and have drawn a gag order from her own
prestigious family. But the recent mass disqualification of reformists in the
March 14 parliamentary elections and what she feels are "delusions" maintained
by the current regime have moved her to break her silence.
(Mar 18, '08)
Two-horse race for Pakistan's hot
seat
The battle within the Pakistan People's Party, the dominant group in the new
coalition government, is a race between Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of
Benazir Bhutto, and party stalwart Makhdoom Amin Fahim. Zardari carries a lot
of baggage, while Fahim would be the preferred candidate of President Pervez
Musharraf and Washington. The "street-smart" Zardari is up for the fight. - Syed
Saleem Shahzad (Mar 18, '08)
CAMPAIGN OUTSIDER
Checklists for the next big vote
There are weeks or months to go until the next vote that matters for US
presidential candidates, but it's no time to relax - each campaign needs a
to-do list to keep them on the winning path. (Mar
18, '08)
Muhammad Cohen puts
the US presidential campaign into sharper focus
from afar.
SPENGLER
The peculiar theology
of black liberation
US presidential nominee candidate Barack Obama belongs to a Christian church
whose doctrine casts Jesus Christ as a "black messiah" and blacks as "the
chosen people". At best, this is a radically different kind of Christianity
than most Americans acknowledge; at worst it is an ethnocentric heresy. (Mar
17, '08)
India awakes to a Tibetan headache
The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan government in exile based
in India, is reveling in all the attention from the hordes of Western media
people who have descended on his Himalayan township. For now, Beijing's
crackdown on protesters in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, plays into his hands as
a fierce critic of China. But a delicate three-way diplomatic tango is
commencing, involving the United States and China, with India providing the
turf - which can only turn out messy for India, as well as for the Dalai Lama.
- M K Bhadrakumar (Mar 17, '08)
 CHAN
AKYA
Trust
goes down the drain
The acquisition of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan Chase at a knock-down price of $2
per share means investors cannot trust the reported book value of US financial
firms any more. And if they cannot trust investment banks, can the trust of
commercial banks be really all that higher? The Fed and other central banks
should now understand that the bailers themselves may need to be bailed out in
time. (Mar 17, '08)
My Lai probe hid policy that led
to massacre
The My Lai massacre of as many as 400 Vietnamese civilians by US troops in 1968
has long been perceived as the rogue act of overzealous GIs and a clear
violation of official policy on the treatment of non-combatants. But a newly
obtained document suggests the responsibility for My Lai could be linked
directly to the top US commander in Vietnam, General William C Westmoreland. - Gareth
Porter (Mar 17, '08)
Inflation tests Vietnam's growth
Annual GDP growth of more than 8% combined with economic reforms has helped to
transform and industrialize Vietnam. Now, as striking workers press for higher
pay, the government's success story is threatened by rising inflation, not all
of which can be blamed on global factors. - Andrew Symon
(Mar 17, '08)
IRAN VOTES
A new political space opens
As widely expected, "principalists" - conservatives - have taken the majority
of seats in Iran's parliamentary elections, although reformists have fared
better than anticipated. With some seats going to a second round of polling
over the next few weeks, the United States' anti-Iran rhetoric will further
strengthen the hands of the conservatives. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi
(Mar 17, '08)
Russia throws a wrench in NATO's
works
President Vladimir Putin has made the North Atlantic Treaty Organization an
offer it will find extremely difficult to resist - making Russia a participant
in the alliance's Afghan mission. The pressure is now on the United States to
embrace the idea of Russia becoming a transit route for supplies going to
Afghanistan. The trouble is, Washington knows Moscow will incrementally want a
bigger role for itself and its allies in Afghanistan, and those allies include
China.- M K Bhadrakumar (Mar 14, '08)
CHAN
AKYA
Forget Spitzer, fire Bernanke
While the New York governor resigned for what was essentially a private
matter, the world's central bankers cause greater damage and have proven less
accountable for their actions. Continued debasement of fiat currencies leaves
the financial system unhinged and more prone to collapse.
(Mar 14, '08)
THE SHAPE OF US POPULISM
Part 2:
Long-term effects of the Civil War
The present deepening and widening financial crisis is laying naked the
wealth-making mechanisms of society's elites while wreaking havoc with the
lives of low-paid workers. It is also making imminent a wave of populist reform
that may extend for several decades. In this are echoes of the New Deal era and
much earlier reactions to economic depressions. - Henry C K Liu
This is the second article in a four-part series
 Part 1:
A rich free-market legacy - for some
Fallon falls: Iran should worry
Admiral William Fallon's resignation as the United States' top commander in the
Middle East removes one of the most outspoken opponents of the George W Bush
administration's hard line on Iran. Defense Secretary Robert Gates immediately
dismissed as "ridiculous" suggestions that Fallon's departure signaled that the
US planned to go to war with Iran, but certainly now "all options" are back on
the table. - Gareth Porter (Mar 12,
'08)
COMMENT
American Icarus flirted with fire
The widespread view is that US CENTCOM commander Admiral William "Fox" Fallon
was sacrificed by the George W Bush administration because he disagreed with
its policies on Iran while also saving the US from marauding Chinese. This is
bunk. Fallon fell because he committed a far worse crime for a military veteran
- he talked out of turn. - Mark Perry
(Mar 12, '08)
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An
inflation
reality check
With US monetary policy setting the pace for inflation in as much as 60% of the
global economy, unconcerned central bankers - and investors - should hold their
next meeting in Zimbabwe; other destinations from Vietnam to Venezuela also
offer evidence of the damage uncontrolled price rises can cause. And this is
not going to stop in the near future, abroad or at home.
Malaysia rocked to
the economic core
In the wake of opposition party victories in Malaysia's industrialized states
of Penang, Perak and Selangor, new state governments are scrambling to make
good on campaign promises to end the decades-old New Economic Policy in favor
of their own economic agendas. It's no easy task as ethnic Malays will fight
hard to avoid being sidelined. - Anil Netto
Green challenge to
China's mega-projects
China's fast pace of growth has come at huge cost in pollution and degradation
of the countryside. Residents are now making their voice heard in protest
against projects ranging from refineries to train lines. Assessment reports by
the high-powered State Environmental Protection Administration will now play a
key role - once it has some updated rules to follow. - Candy Zeng
Stepping up
the spending surveillance
US consumers blew twice as much on their credit cards in January as they did a
month earlier, so the American way of life remains blissfully blind to the
impending doom all around. Yet inflation-adjusted spending actually stalled for
a second month. So nobody bought more! Things just cost more! A lot more. And
those suckers weren't buying gold.
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CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
The worst-case scenario - live
The Fed's failure to forestall a run on Bear Stearns indicates that the US
financial crisis has attained alarming momentum, with confidence in leveraged
securities finance possibly irreparably damaged. The worst-case scenario is
unfolding before our very eyes, and it all imparts a bad feeling.
(Mar 17, '08)
Doug Noland reviews the previous week's events each Monday.
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[Re Sorry, I
wasn't pessimistic enough, Mar 19] ... As the horror story of the
subprime scandal unfolds, discussion has shifted from Voltaire's character Dr
Pangloss to the ill-fated Trojan princess Cassandra. And as such, gloom and
doom prevail as the numbers climb higher and higher into the trillions of
dollars in the debt outstanding ...
Jakob Cambria
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Google eye too
close for comfort
Internet giant Google came across something even bigger than itself when it
used its Street View service to display the interior of a US military base.
Civilians so far seem to be taking a more lenient view of a remarkable
technology that has dark implications. (Mar 17, '08)
Martin J Young
surveys the week's developments in computing,
gaming and gizmos.
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ATol Specials
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The
Gates
Inheritance
By
Roger Morris
(June '07) |
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Syed Saleem Shahzad reports on
the Afghan war from the Taliban side
(Dec '06)
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How
Hezbollah defeated Israel
By
Mark Perry and
Alastair Crooke
(Oct '06)
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Mark
Perry and
Alastair Crooke
talk to the 'terrorists'
(Mar '06)
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China:
The
Impossible
Revolution
By
Francesco Sisci
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The Coming
Trade War
By Henry C K Liu
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A series
by Henry C K Liu
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Sinoroving
Pepe Escobar in China
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Money, Power
and
Modern Art
A series by Henry C K Liu
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Andre Gunder Frank on Uncle Sam and his
shrinking dollar
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By Pepe Escobar with
photographs by Kevin Nortz
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Nir Rosen goes inside the Iraqi
resistance
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Nir Rosen rides with the US 3rd
Armored Cavalry in western Iraq
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