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30. august 2006
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Douglas Farah is worried about Russia's global power play, for example its arming of the Islamists in Somalia.
President Bush famously warned that in the war on terrorism, you are with us or against us. The Russians, it seems, like the Pakistanis, Saudis and many others, are both. Russia is a particularly troubling case because of the quantitiy and quality of weapons its possesses, as well as the nuclear arsenal at least nominally under its control.
Russia, (and also China) is actually arming Islamists and other extremist groups and regimes worldwide, in what can only be interpreted as a chilly proxy war with the United States. It is really hard to see that this is in either country's long term interests, especially in light of the Chechnya conflict, but what do I know about the enigma that is Russia.
The most stupid thing President Bush ever said, and there are a few examples to choose from, is his statement about Vladimir Putin that he "was able to get a sense of his soul."
1:53:00 PM 
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Mahan Abedin argues that al-Qaeda is yesterday's news in the Islamist movement, gradually being eclipsed by Iran, Hezbollah and their allies.
One of the more interesting results of the Israel-Hezbollah War has been the sidelining of the global jihadi movement and the broader Salafi currents that sustain it. Despite all its rhetoric of a global jihad against the enemies of Islam, al-Qaeda and the broader Salafi-jihadi movement were reduced to mere spectators as Hezbollah, once again, dealt a serious blow to Israeli prestige.
The article covers a lot of ground about the relationship between Iran and the Salafi-Jihadist, but is well worth a read. It predicts that the emerging power in the Middle East will be these so-called moderates (compared to al-Qaeda!), and that it will be a serious challenge to US power in the region.
In the final analysis, al-Qaeda and the Salafi-jihadis more broadly are proving to be ephemeral and increasingly marginal forces. They are inherently limited by their extremism, lack of vision and resources and isolation from mainstream opinion.
Meanwhile the forces that pose a real threat to American hegemony in the region are increasingly on the ascendant and are set to completely dominate the political landscape of the Middle East in the not too distant future.
It doesn't look good.
1:39:45 PM
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An Afghan-American ran over a number of people on the streets of San Francisco Tuesday, using his car as a weapon.
As many as 14 people were injured this afternoon by a motorist who drove around San Francisco deliberately running them down before being arrested by police, who believe the same driver struck and killed a man earlier today in Fremont.
At least one hit-and-run victim remained in critical condition this evening.
Reports of the incidents began pouring in at 12:47 p.m., police said.
Within a half-hour, San Francisco police had cornered and arrested 29-year-old Omeed Aziz Popal, who has addresses in Ceres (Stanislaus County) and Fremont.
Authorities suspect Popal was the same driver who ran over and killed a 54-year-old man in Fremont around noon.
The authorities call it road rage. But this guy doesn't sound like your typical nutcase:
A dental office manager, who identified herself only as Kira, watched from a second-floor window as police dragged the driver out of his vehicle.
"He was absolutely indifferent, no fear, no expression,'' she said. "He was like a zombie.''
Architect Jeremy Warms also saw police pull Popal out of the SUV and sit him down on the curb.
"He looked calm and pretty clean-cut, like a normal guy,'' Warms said. "He sat on the pavement for a good 25 minutes. I don't think anyone said anything to him. They put him in a police car and took him away.''
Some bloggers wonder if it should be called terrorism.
Omeed Aziz Popal has, like Muhammad Reza Taheri-azar several months ago, driven his SUV into people, clearly trying intentionally to hurt or kill them. Like Taheri-azar, he seemed completely calm and at peace with himself after the incident.
After mowing down as many people as he could, Popal was boxed in by police and arrested. According to this video, he then identified himself as a terrorist (this bit comes right at the end of the report). Police, however, have already ruled out the possibility that these were acts of terrorism -- again, as they did in the case of Taheri-azar.
It has been noted, but it's too early to know if that is significant, that one of the hits was just outside a Jewish cmmunity center, and that the atrocities took place in what some sources describe as a Jewish area of SF.
8:37:10 AM
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to the German Chancellor suggesting that the Holocaust was invented by the World War II allies to embarrass Germany.
The remarks by the outspoken Iranian president, who has repeatedly questioned the veracity of the Holocaust, came in a letter sent to Merkel in July whose contents have not been disclosed until now, according to the news agency Mehr as reported by AFP.
"Is it not a reasonable possibility that some countries that had won the war made up this excuse to constantly embarrass the defeated people ... to bar their progress," Ahmadinejad said in the letter. "The question is if these countries, especially Britain, felt responsible for the Holocaust survivors, why they did not settle them in their own countries?" it said.
Angela Merkel rightfully concluded that the nutcase letter did not merit any response.
PS: As I have noted earlier, the Iranian leadership and a newspaper made a Holocaust cartoon competition. One of the entries came from Norway, drawn by Firuz Kutal, a leader of a local Socialist Left (SV) branch. You may remember the Socialist Left is a junior partner in our current coalition government, and has earlier been vocal in supporting a boycott of Israel. No official condemnation of Firuz Kital has been issued, and the case has really not received much press attention.
The cartoon lent itself to more or less any interpretation, as far as I can say.
Turkish-born Firuz Kutal alleges the competition was issued before Iran denied the Holocaust (which is false) and also claimed he didn't know about Ahmadinejad's continued vows to exterminate Israel and support for Holocaust revisionists.
As a politician especially you'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind to be so ignorant, and yet actually know about the cartoon competition itself! Firuz Kutal is either incredibly stupid, or he's lying. Knowing the Socialist Left, both possibilities are open.
Via the Norwegian blog Document.no.
4:12:11 AM
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© Copyright 2006 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.09.2006; 05:01:53.
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