This is great news!

Royal Dutch Shell -AND- Total (NYSE:RDS-A and TOT)

DIVEST?

Hmmmm... The U.S. is downsizing its nuclear arsenal while China is making more warheads. Iran is signing energy contracts with China but asking the U.S. to get rid of its nuclear weapons? Based on what Iranian officials say, the Iranian government is comprised of hypocrites who assume no one is paying attention. The Chinese and the Americans are paying close attention, and they have limited time for official Iranian duplicity.

Is this what the Russians agreed to?

I have a sense that the quality of media is in decline and I can't put my finger on the source of the cause. The symptoms seem to be, regular journalists feel the need to be commentators. Unfortunately, quality of comment has migrated off the presses to greener pastures [BLOGS] and the standards of media commentary are now slipping. Maybe, when hiring, the NYT should ask for a degree in journalism and five years experience of quality blogging?

The popular conception of a quagmire is all wrong. America’s only quagmire is that the media believes itself to be the news. If only reporters were to have the self image of the fiber optic cable they transmit over. Maybe, just maybe, blogs will inject a sense of humility into journalists and they will go back to their roots...

Yes... I also thought that these two events appeared to jibe.

No seriously... this time we insist. Did we say "insist", well, we meant INSIST. Don't make us INSIST! You wouldn;t like us when we...

INSIST

Angela Merkel is virtually unknown outside Germany, but within a few months this former East German chemist will probably be leading the third largest economy in the world. AME Info caught up with the woman many think will be Germany's answer to Mrs Thatcher at a meeting in Berlin.

ABC Online

Germany rejects Iran military option. 14/08/2005. ABC News Online

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1437072.htm]

Last Update: Sunday, August 14, 2005. 6:20am (AEST)

Gerhard Schroeder says a US threat of force against Iran is unacceptable. (AFP)

Germany rejects Iran military option

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has rejected the threat of military force against Iran, hours after US President George Bush said he would consider it as a last resort to press Tehran to give up its nuclear program.

Iran angered the European Union and the United States by resuming uranium conversion at its Isfahan plant last Monday.

It resumed the work after rejecting a European Union (EU) offer of political and economic incentives in return for giving up its nuclear program.

Mr Schroeder, one of the most prominent European opponents of the US-led war in Iraq, told an election rally in his home city of Hanover that the threat of force was not acceptable.

"I am worried about developments there because no-one can want the Iranian leadership to gain possession of atomic weapons," Mr Schroeder said.

"The Europeans and the Americans are united in this goal. Up to now we were also united in the way to pursue this.

"This morning I read that military options are now on the table. My answer to that is: 'Dear friends in Europe and America, let us work out a strong negotiating position. But let's take the military option off the table. We have seen it doesn't work'," he said.

'All options on table'

The comments came after Mr Bush told Israeli television that "all options are on the table", including the use of force.

Mr Bush added that he was "sceptical" that Europe's diplomatic approach to Iran would work.

Tehran says it aims only to produce electricity and denies Western accusations it is seeking a nuclear bomb.

Mr Schroeder's opposition to the Iraq war was seen as a decisive factor in his unexpected victory in the 2002 general election, which he won narrowly after coming from behind.

His critical stance caused serious ruptures in Germany's traditionally strong relations with the United States.

He faces another election this September.

Mr Schroeder's Social Democrats are currently lagging the opposition conservatives but the latter's lead has shrunk in recent weeks.

-Reuters

© 2006 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Copyright information: http://abc.net.au/common/copyrigh.htm
Privacy information: http://abc.net.au/privacy.htm

Tyrants monopolize power and a good rule of thumb Americans are familiar with is, “absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Corruption is the bane of civil society because corrupt actors are difficult to track and prosecute. Corrupt actors use familiar institutions against the public and this can be done even more effectively if such corruption is carried out under the guise of national or international sovereignty. [Recall oil for food]. Terrorism, like corruption is made more difficult to accomplish without the sponsorship of states.

You mentioned deterring non-state actors cannot be done. I disagree; it certainly can be done, both directly and indirectly. The act of deterring non-state actors is made easier by relieving non-state actors of their official state sponsors. Regardless, you’ll probably agree that there are unpleasant symptoms of deterring non-state actors, IE terrorists.

Symptom of deterring terrorism may include but are not limited to, inciting retaliatory terrorist violence, public sympathy for terrorists and the creation of new and more deadly terrorist tactics. Some look at these symptoms and say, “deterrence is worse than living with the disease”; while others ask, “can terrorism be cured in its entirety?”

In my opinion the answer to both is an unequivocal, NO! Terrorism is a disease that must be deterred by Americans while they simultaneously acknowledge that terrorism, as it is currently defined, cannot be cured. Look around… violence is a political tool! It always has been and I cannot imagine a world in which “fear of bodily harm” does not influence the public sphere to act politically.

The lessons of history make another point clear about political violence. As society has become more civil, the price for using violence to meet political and economic goals has gone up. This is particularly true for developed states, like the United States. The American Government, a government for the people --- by the people, is paying a massive toll in blood, treasure and reputation for resorting to violence to achieve regional peace and stability in the Middle East. In my opinion --- It is worth every drop, dime and slur!

Why? With our blood, treasure and reputation we are buying the future. It will be a future that you, I and the entire world can live with. Would we get there faster if we did it the way this author prescribes? I doubt it…

Russia is wasting time and money negotiating with this regime. Putin, get used to the idea of regime change in Iran and flip the switch on these guys. You stand to make more on the flip side of regime change than what you’re making now. Go ahead P, crunch the numbers! You’ll see how quickly things will smooth out when rational Iranians hold the reigns of power in Tehran.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

DEMOCRACY! God grants liberty, not mortals. The ballot represents a peaceful transition into the future, nothing more - nothing less. The evolution of our intellect demands all mankind will eventually turn to the ballot or some version of it. Think about the social dynamics happening in front of us. Those of us with the right to bear arms will use them to protect and propagate methods that allow us and our children to peacefully transition into the future. We are duty bound to use them against persons who would strip us of our rights; freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and yes, including our right to bear arms.

While life has gotten easier for many in the West and arms have a different meaning to us than they did to the founders of our great nation, there is no guarantee that life will stay easy. In fact, withdrawal, disengagement, separatism, and isolationism are all behaviors that guarantee life will become untenable. There are those among us, and with family members, who have invented arms so powerful that these arms could erase the works of our preceding generations. We cannot let these tools slip into the hands of tyrants and therefore tyrant must go the way of the dinosaur. The Iranian government with its medieval intellect cannot come to possess the tools that could render them capable of destroying Washington. Iraq cannot slip into another brand of dictatorship! There will be no sequel to Saddam!

Accomplishing these goals will not be easy but they must be accomplished. I'm glad you posted this because it is a view, although terribly wrong, worth critical analysis.

the GWOT is not a war on Islam and therefore his addition only feeds into the claim that it is a war on Islam. Sure, there would be a reaction from Moslem communities around the world but it is up to them to measure the facts and pick a side. If they decide "foe," the American response to that decision will be a secular response. The United States kills the enemies of the American people not because they are Moslem, but because they have made a decision to be the enemies of the United States.

Great! Fine! So you say strikes won’t work… What will work then? No answer… FOX, get this guy off my television please. The American people have friends and relatives engaged in the GWOT to win it, and who are also tasked with stopping Iran’s nuclear proliferation. Tangible alternatives make for good content, not dismissals of solutions, no matter how bad those solution may be.

Combining the total deaths of 11,000,000 people for the Axis and 51,000,000 people for the Allies, the total estimated human loss of life, irrespective of political alignment, caused by World War II was roughly 62,000,000 people with combined civilian and military deaths of 37,000,000 and 25,000,000 respectively. There was a disproportionate loss of life and property; some nations had a higher casualty rate than others, due to a number of factors including military tactics, crimes against humanity, economic preparedness and the level of technology.

“Israel must be uprooted and erased from history” inscribed on a Shahab 3 ballistic missile in a military parade in Teheran (September 22, 2003).

Does Iran's Foreign Minister think he's Allen Greenspan? BTTT!

The West should expect and even appreciate these sentiments from a tyrant. He knows he is propagating a BIG lie. Hitler was absurdly confident of his future successes and shouted about the failures of his enemies as well. Ahmadinejad and his breed will squeal these sorts of falsehoods until the day liberty chokes the breath out of them. The louder dictators and tyrants shout "Liberty is Failing!" the more confident we in the West should be that the opposite is true.

Yes, and I know where you are going with this. There were irregular Iranian forces in Afghanistan in the campaign against the Taliban and American Special Operations Forces have made it clear, to those paying attention, that while Iranian forces were fighting the Taliban in theater, they were not operating in a way that assisted Americans or Afghanis. Organizing tribes to cut the throats of rival tribes does not lead to political stability, only increased mayhem. The situation there is indicative of a larger Afghan-Iran relationship. The Iranians have never been on good terms with their Afghani neighbors. Afghanis in Iran are treated like second class citizens and the Iranian government was all too happy to deport Afghani refugees after the Taliban fell. Not surprisingly, Afghan refugees were all too happy to leave.

To those familiar with his political and military megalomania, Ahmadinejad wishes his Afghani neighbors were wiped of the map almost as much as his public enemy number one, Israel. Obviously, saying so publicly would not foster the kind of Muslim solidarity he and the Valeyat need to dominate the region.

A. POLE: What about the "negative effect on relations between" Teheran and Tbilisi?!

While air strikes are not officially considered at this time, it's clear they are unofficially being considered by many governments. Therefore, it wouldn't be wise for Tbilisi to say anything official on the subject. As for relations with Tehran, it looks like Tehran has isolated itself so well that foreign relations between Tehran and its neighbors have degraded into "get gas and oil from the mullahs while it can be got". Regime change may come in the near term and it is understood by Georgia, Turkey, Japan and China that pipelines have temporary masters. Georgian gas deals like this one illustrate that the Iranian government is not much more than a whore that stays in power only through manipulating its customers. This whoring behavior is not diplomacy and only vaguely approaches international relations. It goes without saying that in its current incarnation Tehran has political AIDS and its carriers are its most ardent allies.

I’d be interested to see a list of positive effects on relations between Tehran and any other government, besides the ardent enemies of the United States, which of course would be a list of negatives anyway. Thanks for the ping and playing the devil’s advocate A-Pole.

I don't think the press has access to the results of DNA tests of suicide bomber splats in Iraq. We can however speculate that at least a few of those splats represent demonstrations of Iranian suicide bombers.

CORRECTION: Is that a will they are signing? What legacy do they intend to leave? Live to die...

Is that a will they are singing? What legacy do they intend to leave? Live to die...

He could've rambled on about the nuclear NPT and Iran's various violations of its sections, but instead he kept the reasoning simple. This is important because the world consists of more interested parties than international lawyers. From the simple to the complex, at every level, Iran is wrong on this issue and that's why the U.S. is finding traction in its efforts to build consensus at the IAEA.

The only part that makes me think this is “insider speak” is how he says the U.S. is not behaving at all like the imperial giant of Ahmadinejad’s and Chavez's rhetoric. He couldn’t be more right on this. Given the flood of banter in the MSM, this knowledge is drowned out and therefore not readily available to the average Joe. The truth is that our State Department folks have been and are unbelievably accommodating to the slightest protests from their Board of Governor partners in Geneva. I don’t think details are necessary to illustrate how important it is that the world understands what Iran is up to with its nuclear weapons program. This crisis has forced the United States to adopt a leadership role in international affairs and the democratic character of American foreign policy is blatantly showing there. Unfortunately, responsible governance doesn’t sell commercial spots on CNN, for that they need someone to F-UP.

VDH knows the Americans in Geneva are going to solve crisis democratically, not just for Americans, but for the world! VDH demonstrates this solemn truth without ramming satellite photos and legal jargon into his reader’s corneas. This kind of work is impressive and necessary in a multimedia effects world of, “if it bleeds, it leads”…

Dog’s breakfast?… I liked it.

Mr. Le Guelte must assume the objective of all diplomacy is to grease the wheels of business. Maybe it is. Douste-Blazy statement takes into account that it is bad for business to end up on the wrong side of an Iranian nuclear weapon. Thank you Douste-Blazy, the truth will set us free.

The United States is doing what it always does, build broad consensus and target terrorists for elimination. An observation of political motion in Iraq depends on your frame of reference. This author is looking at the world through Shiite eyes. It is true that the political sand is shifting under the feet of Iraqis and their situation is very dynamic, but this reality is of their own making. Not so for the Americans. CENTCOM's mission has not deviated one iota. A national unity government requires the participation of the Sunnis. Would this author have us believe that Ayatollah Sistani’s support for a national unity government makes him a political ally to the Sunni?

GREAT POST! This represents huge bipartisan support for solving the Iran crisis. BTTT.

In principle, yes, but the architecture of the defense and propagation of civil society is more complex than your comment. How does an officer of democracy compile a list of Islamic Fanatics to kill? How do Islamic Fanatics create and or recruit more Islamic Fanatics? Alternatively, how do democracies create officers of civil society? How do democracies create and or recruit rational minds capable of compromise? Inversely, how does an officer of Islamic Fanaticism compile a list of democrats to kill?

The United States is a nation that governs by the rule of law and what defines our nation is the U.S. Constitution. In my opinion, the first and second amendments to the U.S. constitution are the vertebra of all civil society. The first establishes freedom of the mind and spirit. The second authorizes force to protect freedom of the mind and spirit. Let me be crystal clear on this point, arms are necessary but inferior tools to win the war to protect freedom of the mind and spirit.

Years ago Malcolm X, an American Muslim, delivered a speech entitled the Ballot or the Bullet. And while I disagree with X on his segregationalist ambitions, his point in that speech was valid. The application of force is either at the ballot box or out of the barrel of a gun. The ballot represents a new concept, a fix, a solution. The bullet represents finality and death but on its own cannot solve anything. The point here is that the best way to kill Islamic Fanaticism is not by killing its host, but by:

1. replacing the idea itself through understanding Islamic fanaticism and exposing it as fascist.
2. Simultaneously, the free and compromising mind must also understand and expose why it is demonstratively not fascist.

Doing these two things answers all of the questions I posed in my first paragraph. No expert can do it for you, you have to do them. Yes, it is a lot of work but our freedom is worth the effort.

There is great skill and effort that goes into rejecting evidence of impending disaster. It could be argued, "priorities change" and that's why the architecture and mechanics of our defenses change. This is true and explains choices made under difficult circumstances, IE, the Cold War. To VDH’s point, beyond adjusting to the times, apologists are unusually consistent in doling out their apologies to outsiders, while simultaneously castigating their countrymen. It’s as if the apologist is assuming too much responsibility for the crisis in the face of the crisis. No! A democratic mind will never be responsible for the aggression of the fascist mind. The tough part is knowing when to stop trying to compromise when your entire world view is built on compromise. In a way, the end of the appeaser’s world comes at the same time the world that authorizes compromise, including appeasement, is saved.

This is a great commentary because it uses history as a tool, not to shift blame or credit for the sake of an agenda, but to help navigate the future. BTTT!

BLAM: A waste of $75 million. Send the people guns & bullets.

We have a situation in Iran where 60 million people [plus] are isolated, not by choice but by the authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). The state has created an alternate reality with state media outlets such as the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting services (IRIB). This media is translated into Arabic, Albanian, Armenian, Bangla, Bosnian, Chinese, Dari, English, French, German, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Kiswahili, Kurdish, Pashtu, Russian, Tajik, Turkish and Urdu.

NOTE: Section 12 of Iran's constitution specifies authority over Radio and Television - Article 175

The freedom of expression and dissemination of thoughts in the Radio and Television of the Islamic Republic of Iran must be guaranteed in keeping with the Islamic' criteria and the best interests of the country. The appointment and dismissal of the head of the Radio and Television of the Islamic Republic of Iran rests with the Leader. A council consisting of two representatives each of the President, the head of the judiciary branch and the Islamic Consultative Assembly shall supervise the functioning of this organization. The policies and the manner of managing the organization and its supervision will be determined by law.

Let's take the view for a moment that Iran instituted IRIB World Services, translated into 24 languages to confront the 44 languages Voice of America is translated into, including پخش زنده. Check out VOA radio and you'll find it heavily influenced by the free press Americans are so familiar with. Despite the fact that VOA is a taxpayer funded free media outlet that pumps out stories of American controversy to foreign nationals, it still has unassuming phrases buried in its radio program like "We're not your role model, we're your radio station." Iran blocks VOA, with all the ammunition it has against the West... Therefore, IRIB isn't competing with VOA, it is supplanting it. A free media is being supplanted by state media! This is what leads to mega death... It is not unreasonable to forecast millions of isolated Iranians willing to fight and die for a fake perception they hold perpetuated by their fascist state. These walls need to come down so that the Iranian government cannot segregate Iranians from the rest of the world.

Have you read Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust? If you had, you'd quickly realize the next book could easily be Ahmadinejad's Willing Executioners! 75Million bucks is a drop in the bucket when one considers the value of preventing the next world war. War with Iran would cost far more than 75Billion and an unimaginable cost in human suffering. You say send guns, I say "The Middle East is full of people who are all too quick to resort to arms". Instead, figure out a better way to send this!

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

With the deepest regard for international diplomacy and international democracy, this commentary from the Secretary of the UN is laughable. American officials taking concrete steps to solve the Iran problem is not an escalation. Secretary Annan, should we remind you of the millions of lives the Iranian leadership has threatened and the billions of lives the Iranian leadership is gambling with! Barking orders at responsible democratic nations sympathetic to international governance in order to protect dictatorships with nothing but contempt for you is bad leadership. The net result Mr. Annan is that these remarks will drive the constituents of real democracies to lose sympathy for you and your institutions. This is an unfortunate trend to initiate. When the constituents of healthy democracies lose faith in international democracy, democratic representatives of nations like the United States will be obliged to lose sympathy for you as well.

"We talked about U.N. reform, structural reform, management reform, as well as the reform of the Human Rights Commission," Mr. Bush said. "I was most interested in the secretary-general's thoughts. I appreciate very much his leading on these issues, and we'll continue to work closely." Mr. Annan said he agreed that reforms of the human rights panel "should be done as soon as possible."

U.N. REFORM! NOW… BTTT

Two Iran clocks are ticking; the international and the domestic. It is common knowledge, or at least it should be, that Iranians are struggling for a better life, be it within the confines of the Islamic Republic or outside it. They deserve a better life than what the Islamic Republic is offering and the Free World deserves peaceful partners, not fascist dictators who threaten global security.

This poll is interesting in that it encourages rational debate about potential solutions to the Iran problem. At this stage, it looks like air strikes have the lead and supporting opposition is not far behind. Confidence in dialogue and sanctions appears relatively low. Is this poll scientific? Not at all, however the constraints of internet polling are, at a minimum, suggestive and could lead to more stringent statistical analysis.

That said, what does this poll have to do with the courage you mention in your commentary? Iranians have some hard decisions to make in the near term. Americans do too. In a world fraught with terror and nuclear proliferation, courage is the order of the day. Without courage, Tehran would be making nukes today without oversight. It goes without saying that both Official American and Iranian Dissident COURAGE has made great strides in preventing the Islamic Republic from fulfilling its ambition of regional domination. These are realities that are wholly separated from any individual’s mindset.

Iran 'resumes' nuclear enrichment

Iran has restarted uranium enrichment work, UN diplomats have said. Monday, 13 February 2006, 22:14 GMT. --- They said it had begun feeding uranium gas into centrifuges - a first step in a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors or bomb material. Tehran had warned it would resume enrichment after the UN nuclear watchdog decided to report it to the UN Security Council nine days ago.

Things have changed...

That relatively narrow waterway between Indonesia and Malaysia handles heavy traffic to and from the Indian Ocean, South China Sea and the Pacific. About 40 percent of Asia's oil, including at least 80 percent of Japan's oil, travels through the strait, Greenert said. Japan's security is one of the Seventh Fleet's top priorities.

• PRO: Energy is good for the economy, no arguments there.
• CON: Giving money to state sponsors of terror is bad for the economy.
• CON: Giving money to a nation that does not abide by its own commitments at the IAEA is bad business.
• CON: Democracies doing business with human rights abusers is asinine....

The list goes on...

Communications Director: Edina Lekovic --- communications@mpac.org

Edina has participated in numerous national and international conferences and interfaith dialogues speaking on a variety of issues related to American Muslims. Earlier this month, Edina represented MPAC at a United Nations seminar on “Confronting Islamophobia.” In 2003, Edina was invited by the Malaysian government to be one of two U.S. representatives to the International Conference of Muslim Young Leaders, which served as a precursor to the annual conference of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). As a leading spokesperson for the American Muslim community, Edina has appeared on national media outlets, including CNN, BBC, and the History Channel. Edina is a founder of Elev8, an arts-based youth program that aims to identify, train and develop youth community leadership rooted in awareness, responsibility, and action. Edina is also pursuing her Master's degree in Communications at Pepperdine University. Her master's thesis seeks to understand whether Arab males' willingness to speak out on airline racial profiling is determined by their perception of dominant public opinion.

Iran will not allow the U.S. to do nothing about Iran. N-Bomb making, holocaust denying fascist agitators do not have idle hands.

GREAT POST! Don't be tired Amir! BTTT.

lol, I would never use anyone like that...