Cut and Run

Re: # 44

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/GL10Ae01.html

Why Southeast Asia is turning from US to China
By Tim Shorrock

WASHINGTON - The United States is rapidly losing its influence in the Southeast Asia region to China, thanks to an overly narrow focus on terrorism and a propensity to place bilateral ties above multilateral relationships, according to US and Chinese analysts.

``China makes a point of dealing with Southeast Asia as a region and has a very aggressive ASEAN policy,`` said Catharin Dalpino, an Asia specialist at Georgetown University who served in the Clinton administration. ``This also helps its bilateral relationships with Southeast Asia quite a lot.``

ASEAN is the acronym for the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations that includes Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brunei.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GL10Ak01.html

Badr`s spreading web
By Mahan Abedin

``The recent discovery of a supposedly secret prison allegedly run by elements in the Iraqi Interior Ministry loyal to the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), has raised fears of an escalating sectarian conflict in Iraq. Leaving aside the sensational reporting on this incident, there is nothing particularly new or even secret about this development.

Certainly the American authorities in Iraq are not only well aware of aggressive counter-insurgency tactics, but in some cases even oversee them. The timing of the so-called secret prison`s ``discovery`` is also interesting, coming at a time when the US is trying to diminish the influence of the Shi`ite Islamist bloc in the government.

The elections scheduled for December 15 are seen as a perfect opportunity by the Americans and their main ally in Iraq, former premier Iyad Allawi, to curtail the electoral clout of SCIRI and other Shi`ite organizations and personalities, including Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi. The ``discovery`` of the secret detention center and the sensational reporting that followed is part of this American-led electoral strategy.

In the security field, though, there are unlikely to be any changes to the way the Shi`ite-dominated security forces conduct the war against the Arab Sunni guerrilla movement and the Salafi-jihadi extremists. However, the events of the past month have highlighted a potentially fatal long-term flaw in the development of new Iraqi security forces, and that is the emergence of two separate security/intelligence structures: one which is entirely overseen by the Americans, and the other entirely led by Shi`ite Islamists with strong ties to Iran.

The Badr Organization

As the Interior Ministry detention center, where about 170 prisoners were being held, was allegedly controlled by elements either belonging to or strongly connected to the Badr Organization, it is worthwhile examining the emergence and evolution of this paramilitary and security organization.``

#48 by mirmir on December 9, 2005 5:46am PT

So that`s why maulana urstruly can`t go back to Pakiland...He might be picked up and handed over to the feds as an AlQaeda #3..next stop: romania or poland...

Re: # 51

Don`t worry about me. I have a perfect cover. I use nicks like arjunm, rsridhar and hamidm etc and post hateful anti-Muslim propaganda on the internet to divert people from my my real identity.

Interactors:

The following cut and paste news item may be of some interest to you.

The Abdus Salam
International Centre
for Theoretical Physics
© 2005
http://www.ictp.it — home > newsICTP News22/12/2004

New Templeton PrizesFiled under: Prizes— editor @ 3:59 pm
The John Templeton Foundation, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, has announced that it will fund five new awards designed to recognize and assist young ’scholar-leaders’ who have vigorously examined the ‘creative interface’ between traditional Islamic culture and modern science. The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy, has been asked to administer the programme. Each prize will carry a cash award of US$20,000.

“In these difficult times,” says Charles Harper, the John Templeton Foundation’s executive director and senior vice president, “we are pleased to sponsor a series of prizes that we hope will help promising young scholar-leaders better establish themselves as opinion makers within their own countries and regions. We also hope our efforts will help these young scholar-leaders build ties with their peers worldwide.”

“Our aim,” adds Barnaby Marsh, who directs the Foundation’s Venture Philanthropy Strategy and New Programs Development, “is to support scientists engaged in exploring the critically important challenges posed by the intersection of the worlds of science and religion in a critical part of the world.”

The five prizes, to be given annually, include the:
• Abdus Salam Prize for Leadership in Islamic Thought and the Physical Sciences.
• ICTP Prizes (2) for Leadership in Islamic Thought and the Applied Sciences.
• Ahmed Zewail Prize for Leadership in Islamic Thought and the Biological and Chemical Sciences.
• Ahmed Zewail Prize for Leadership in Science and Islamic Life.

Pakistani-born Salam, founding director of the ICTP and Egyptian-born Zewail, professor of chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, are the only two scientists from the Islamic world to have won the Nobel Prize.

“We are delighted that the Templeton Foundation has decided to launch this initiative,” says ICTP director K.R. Sreenivasan, “and we are happy that it has chosen the Centre to implement the programme. The goals of the initiative fit well with the Centre’s expanding agenda to not only assist individual scientists, which it has done so well over the past 40 years, but also to improve the environment for research in their home countries. The ultimate aim is to ensure that science becomes an integral part of the larger agenda for economic and social development not only in the Islamic world but throughout the developing world.”

Candidates will be selected on their ‘demonstrated’ ability to insightfully and sensitively examine the relationship between Islamic culture and modern science both in scholarly and popular writings. The hope is that recipients of the prize will have displayed—and will continue to display—the talent and drive necessary to engage their colleagues and the larger public in exploring this complex issue, especially their colleagues and the public in the Islamic world.

“This initiative,” says Harper, “builds upon several recent exploratory workshops and conferences that the John Templeton Foundation has convened in France and Morocco over the past few years that have focused on religion and science in the Islamic world. Our ultimate objective is to develop a core group of scholars and scientists who can emerge as experts and intellectual trend-setters both within their own countries and regions and throughout the world.”

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15/12/2004
Gabriel Olalere Ajayi (1941-2004)Filed under: General— editor @ 5:22 pm
Gabriel Olalere Ajayi, an ICTP Associate 1992-2004, died on 12 December 2004, in Abuja, Nigeria. He was 63.
Ajayi played an essential role in developing ICTP’s activities for the advancement of information and communication technologies in Nigeria and he lectured regularly at the Centre’s annual schools on digital radio communication. A former professor at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, Ajayi was the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Federal Ministry of Science and Technology. His professional experience covered a wide range of activities in telecommunications, broadcasting and computers, including teaching, training, research and development. His friends at ICTP extend their condolences to his family and colleagues.

Gabriel Olalere Ajayi at ICTP’s 40th Anniversary Conference

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9/12/2004
Strings in NYTFiled under: Science Media— editor @ 11:19 am
A feature article in the New York Times (7 December 2004) has examined the state of string theory 20 years after the concept was first introduced as a theoretical construct depicting the make up of the universe as intertwined strings and not single points. The scientists quoted in the article have been among the most active participants in ICTP high energy research and training activities over the past two decades: former SISSA (International School for Advanced Studies) director Daniele Amati; Dirac Medallists Michael Green (Cambridge), David Gross (Kavli Institute, Santa Barbara), John Schwarz (Caltech) and Edward Witten (Institute of Advanced Study); and course directors Brian Greene (Columbia), Robbert Dijkgraaf (Amsterdam), Juan Maldacena (Institute of Advanced Study) and Cumrun Vafa (Harvard). Of the 24 scientists mentioned in the article, 19 have visited ICTP.

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Faheem Hussain RetiresFiled under: General— editor @ 11:17 am
Faheem Hussain, head of ICTP’s Office of External Activities from 1998 to 2004, will retire on 15 December. Born in India and educated in the United Kingdom, Hussain first came to ICTP in June 1970 to attend a summer school in high energy physics. During the 1980s, he became a frequent visitor to the Centre, initially as an Associate and then as a visiting scientist in the High Energy Physics group. In 1990, he was hired as a permanent staff member and given the task of helping to launch the Diploma Programme while continuing his research. He was a representative of ICTP’s staff union for two terms. Hussain will also be remembered for organising weekly cricket matches on the Carso for visitors and staff. Hussain will be relocating to Pakistan to teach physics. He will be missed.

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8/12/2004
Canada’s Science Advisor Visits TriesteFiled under: Visits— editor @ 11:38 am
Arthur J. Carty, the Canadian government’s National Science Advisor, visited Trieste’s scientific institutions on 6 December to discuss possible avenues of international scientific cooperation, especially in nanotechnology. Carty learned about the full range of scientific research in Trieste through a series of presentations that included talks by ICTP director, K.R. Sreenivasan, and AREA Science Park president, Maria Cristina Pedicchio. He also toured the Synchrotron Light Laboratory and the Centre for Molecular Biomedicine in AREA Science Park. The last stop on his day-long tour was ICTP on the Miramare campus.

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2/12/2004
Minister of Science at ICTPFiled under: Visits— editor @ 5:50 pm
Pius Yasebasi Ng’wandu, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Tanzania, met with ICTP officials and staff on 30 November. He was accompanied by his Private Secretary, Sylvester A. Matemu. Discussions focused on ways ICTP could be of even greater help to sub-Saharan Africa. The Minister acknowledged the enormous contribution that ICTP had made to the physics and mathematics communities throughout the region. But he believes that more can be done, especially in areas where science can be put to use to improve the lives of the region’s most impoverished citizens.

Pius Yasebasi Ng’wandu, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Tanzania, and Claudio Tuniz, Special Assistant to the ICTP Director

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ICTP, Iran Ministry Sign MOUFiled under: Visits— editor @ 5:48 pm
Jafar Towfighi Darian, Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology, visited ICTP on 22 November to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Centre that calls for (1) the creation of two joint postdoctoral positions cosponsored by ICTP and the Ministry in basic physics and mathematics; (2) the expansion of the existing federation agreement between ICTP and Isfahan University of Technology to include an additional university; and (3) the admission of up to two Ph.D. students each year in a ’sandwich’ programme funded jointly by ICTP and the Ministry. ICTP and the Ministry also agreed to explore the establishment of cooperative regional activities.

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#53 wasn`t my post, it was inserted by the chowk software even as it messed up my original post

#46, your understanding is totally skewed. Just because the Muslims cherished the learning of other cultures, translated it, built upon it and shared it, you say that is theft? Garbage. Theft is what your colonial masters did in India when they destroyed its industry, an industry that was more developed -under the Muslims that is- than the British textile industry- that is theft!

#44. It is not merely the arms lobby. It is the entire economic structure of the US that has been transformed post world war 2 into a ``permanent war economy``, look at the 2006 discretionary budget of the US, it spends more on defense than on ALL other programs combined. Similarly the interchangibility that exists among the leaders of the military, industry and government eg those that are CEOs like Cheney become vice presidents or cabinet members, those in the military like Powell become industry captians being on the board of Time Warner etc and then enter the president`s cabinet etc results in a fusion of views- that regardless of the regime in charge, democratic or republican, results in similar outcomes on the world scene and foreign policy. There is no substantive democracy in the US. A rationalized bureaucratic society, with rules governing every aspect of life from birth to death cannot be a free society, it cannot be a democratic society. Modern sociologists like Ritzer refer to it as the McDonaldization of Society. How the world preceives America, through the media propaganda and what America is in fact are two different things- sometimes the reality becomes all too obvious when, as you mention, it flexes its muscle.

What has happened in modern bureaucratic societies, that parade as democracies (like the USA), is that the chance to reason and the ability to be free has been lost (see http://robots.asadi.org) that is the nature of a bureaucratic society: a society where standardization is the norm and the person is surrounded by rules that govern behavior from birth to death. Such ``democracies`` exists in form only and not in essence, here choices are not formulated by a ``public`` but rather insinuated upon a highly propagandized ``mass society`` that knows next to nothing regarding public issues. This is achieved by control of the ``cultural apparatus`` by a small aristocracy, the Power Elite. The ``cultural apparatus``- language, education, status and technology- with the media and the formal educational institutions playing a dominant role, thus ensures that this elite achieves cultural hegemony. The person thinks he or she is free and living under a ``democracy`` but the reality of the situation is much different.

# 55 masadi: Arabs have never cherished anything in the earlier years. They were ruthless as was shown abundantly clear in Karbala....

[Just because the Muslims cherished the learning of other cultures, translated it, built upon it and shared it, you say that is theft? Garbage.] Wah reh wah... Only the converted Persians knew then and they know it now, how to develop from within. Arabs knew none of these enlightened ways of living in the modern world at the time. And that is why they robbed and pillaged, and attacked. So much so that Haluka had to be called for help from distant place. And these Arabs still don`t.

[Theft is what your colonial masters did in India when they destroyed its industry, an industry that was more developed -under the Muslims that is- than the British textile industry- that is theft!] What Arabs did, you do not call it theft. BTW, Arabs could not steal astronomy/astrology from the Persians because it conflicted with their new belief system. And what the British did you call it theft. Why?

#56, I address viewers on here not the hypocrite behram1. The British destroyed India`s industry, stole its resources, ruthlessly killed the indigenous people, treated them like vermin, pushed them back a hundred years, implanted their sick capitalistic culture on them, played one group against the other, cultivated religious hatred and then when they left, they left an unfinished mess that has described the lives of the region ever since.

#57 masadi: Abbey oye magaz ka bawaseer.... So when are you going to address my post #56? I want in simple English and not some stupid academic BS, stating empirical study and all that crap. As I had a very simple question.... why is it different when Arabs attacked and destroyed the Persian dynasty? Have you read Firduasi`s Shahnama? And how glorius the Persian Dynasty was? eh!

masadi: You will not be allowed to weezel out of this one. Answer some of the questions on the historical country that you called Palestine (on the other site)

PALESTINE THE COUNTRY???

If you are so sure that Palestine, the country, goes back through most of recorded history, I expect you to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country:

· When was it founded and by whom?
· What were its borders?
· What was its capital?
· What were its major cities?
· What constituted the basis of its economy?
· What was its form of government?
· Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?
· Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?
· What was the language of the country of Palestine?
· What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine?
· What was the name of its currency?

· Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese Yuan on that date.

· And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?

· If you are lamenting the low sinking of a once proud nation, please tell me, when exactly was that nation proud and what was it so proud of?

· And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people you mistakenly call Palestinians are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over -- or thrown out of -- the Arab world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them right for self-determination, why did they never try to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating defeat in the Six Day War?

I hope you avoid the temptation to trace the modern day Palestinians to the Biblical Philistines: substituting etymology for history will not work here.

The truth should be obvious to everyone who wants to know it. Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel; they still cherish it today. Having time and again failed to achieve their evil goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy.

For that purpose, they created a terrorist organization, cynically called it the Palestinian people and installed it in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the West Bank and Gaza, respectively?

http://jdl.org.il/palestine_the_country.htm

#59, all these questions on trivia are irrelevant, you want to force a narrow definition of nation state, like these idiots on Kahane. A country does not need a founder by the way, Palestine was marked as a legal entity during the Ottomon times and the British identified it as such, you want to research the particulars do it on your own time, I have no concern or desire to waste my time going through the trivia details when the entity is clearly identified as having existence in major historical documents, including the Balfour declaration, as do its people. There were many census studies, of PALESTINE, go through them on your own time and you will conclude just like the historians I mentioned that the majority in that area were the Arab palestinians who identified themselves as falasteeney.

Since you dont have any respect for historical scholarship and rely on cheap stunts like quoting extreme right wing Israeli websites, there is not much we can communicate over. Just look at this nonsense, the ``exchange rate`` compared to the dollar- what kind of garbage is that? Palestine predates the US, and why do exchange rates matter in whether there was a Palestine or not? These are just distraction tactics. You can go through the British trade records with that area and you can possibly figure those out. Do that on your own time. Historians have already looked at all this that is why they dismiss as ABSURD any conclusion that denies that there was a Palestine or that there were no Palestinian Arabs. This is just gibberish and absurdity on your part. I wont waste time trying to prove to you that 1+1=2 when you are concluding 1+1= anything but 2

Ask any of these questions to a US college graduate about the US and chances are he or she cannot answer them, does that mean there is no US or that no Americans exist. Don`t be absurd.

viewers on here, the Palestine/Israel question is very simple, and it is viewed as very simple by leading historians. I gave reference of Oxford historian, Jew, Avi Shlaim, of Israeli right wing historian Benny Morris, of Oxford historian, Albert Hourani- these are authorities in the field, unlike the right wing terrorist group of Kahane in New York. Ignoring all this, our apologist for Israel denies the existance of Palestine and the Palestinian Arabs- not only is this nonsense, it is absurd.

In the 1948 war that Israel won, and Israel had numerical superiority in the field of battle contrary to popular mythology of the little David beating the big Goliath, it expelled over 700,000 indigeneous Arabs of palestine from that area. The UN partition mandate of 1947 gave the implanted Israeli entity 55% of historical Palestine even though their population was third of the population of the region and most were immigrants from outside. Now, after siding with Britain and attacking Egypt in 1956- a preemptive aggressive war, it preemtively attacked the Arabs in 1967 and captured the rest of the 45% of historical Palestine that was given by the UN to the Palestinian Arabs. In Oslo in 1993, the Palestinian leadership told Israel that they will accept that it keep instead of 55%, 78% of historical palestine and let them have 22% out of the 45% that they were given by the UN. Israel has refused and doesnt want peace, simple as that.

The UN resolution 242, asks as POINT NUMBER 1, for Israel to give back the territories it captured in 1967. Israel refuses that. After POINT NUMBER 1 is fulfilled, the UN asks ALL of the neighbouring countries including Israel to recognize the soverignity of the others.

In Palestine, (a historical entity under both the Ottomans and the British, that had indigeneous Palestinian Arabs living there for centuries, over 13 centuries- the vast majority of them), we have a simple case of an occupying FORCE and an occupied people. The cause of the conflict is the occupation, the Israelis dont want to get rid of the cause but they want to get rid of the effect, i.e. the Palestinian liberation struggle. That is not possible and morally reprehensible because what that means is that they want to continue the occupation and also want the Palestinians to be happy in their impoverished and subjugated state. I reject that, the Palestinians reject that and ALL people of conscience in the world regardless of religion, and nationality ALSO reject that. We see the empirical proof of this in the UN voting on resolutions against the Israeli oppression. Except for the US and Israel and a couple of island states, no one sides with the Israelis in their oppression of the Palestinians. This is the simple case which is being deliberately clouded and masked by the supporters of colonialism and US hegemony like behram 1.

#61 by masadi on December 9, 2005 8:48pm PT


the Palestine/Israel question is very simple


Yes..it`s simple..might is right..If the ay-rabs had won any war against Israel, we wouldn`t be having this discussion..

Jews DID live on that land thousands of years ago and if they won it back fair and square(or otherwise), their ability to retain that land is what gives them the right to do so...

#62, unfortunately for you, the ``might is right`` claim is not going to work in Israel`s favor- demographically speaking, Israel is in a state of total loss unless it makes a just peace with the Arabs (not Ay-rabs as you state; you wouldn`t like others using racial slurs against you, so don`t use them for others, merely proves you`re ignorant)

#63 by masadi on December 9, 2005 10:09pm PT


demographically speaking,


the Israelis will only tolerate that upto a point beyond which they`ll create a new demographic reality like Pakistan has created in Azad Kashmir and China has created in Tibet..

If your ``Plan for victory`` is copulation-procreation-Islamic revolution, you`ll be dissapointed..