US President Barack Obama is sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and NATO has pledged an additional 7,000. But in Germany, demands for more soldiers will put Chancellor Merkel in a political bind and could result in a new trans-Atlantic tiff. The telephone conversation between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama last week had been going quite some time, but Obama still hadn't asked the question that Merkel knew was coming. The chancellor had just learned that the US planned to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. She also knew that in a few hours the president was going to specify a date for the beginning of a US withdrawal. But Obama had still not broached the one question that interested Merkel most: How many additional troops were the Germans expected to send to Afghanistan? Never one to waste time on small talk, Merkel ultimately asked the question herself. So many numbers have been mentioned in recent weeks, she said. She had heard that some expected 2,000 additional German troops, while another source had even mentioned 2,500. Was this the troop level increase the American administration expected from Germany, she wondered? He had heard the same numbers mentioned, Obama replied. They didn't come from his staff, though, rather from military experts -- in other words, nothing official.
The telephone conversation between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama last week had been going quite some time, but Obama still hadn't asked the question that Merkel knew was coming. The chancellor had just learned that the US planned to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. She also knew that in a few hours the president was going to specify a date for the beginning of a US withdrawal.
But Obama had still not broached the one question that interested Merkel most: How many additional troops were the Germans expected to send to Afghanistan?
Never one to waste time on small talk, Merkel ultimately asked the question herself. So many numbers have been mentioned in recent weeks, she said. She had heard that some expected 2,000 additional German troops, while another source had even mentioned 2,500. Was this the troop level increase the American administration expected from Germany, she wondered?
He had heard the same numbers mentioned, Obama replied. They didn't come from his staff, though, rather from military experts -- in other words, nothing official.
Germany's Defense Minister Guttenberg has revised his opinion of the Sept. 4 bombing in Kunduz and now says it was inappropriate. But a look at the NATO incident report indicates he knew that immediately upon taking office. NATO has begun amending its rules of engagement as a result of the attack, which killed dozens of civilians. At first glance, it would seem that German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg successfully managed to avoid a major crisis early in his tenure. Speaking to the German parliament last week, Guttenberg backed away from his initial support of the German-ordered, Sept. 4 bombing of two tankers in Afghanistan -- an attack which killed dozens of civilians, possibly as many as 150. Whereas he first called the attack "militarily appropriate," on Thursday he said he had now come to the conclusion that the attack had been "militarily inappropriate." He nevertheless threw his support behind Colonel Georg Klein, the German commander who had ordered the air strike.
At first glance, it would seem that German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg successfully managed to avoid a major crisis early in his tenure. Speaking to the German parliament last week, Guttenberg backed away from his initial support of the German-ordered, Sept. 4 bombing of two tankers in Afghanistan -- an attack which killed dozens of civilians, possibly as many as 150.
Whereas he first called the attack "militarily appropriate," on Thursday he said he had now come to the conclusion that the attack had been "militarily inappropriate." He nevertheless threw his support behind Colonel Georg Klein, the German commander who had ordered the air strike.
The German defense ministry has said it is negotiating a compensation package for the families of the victims of the controversial NATO airstrike ordered by a German commander in September. According to a NATO report, up to 142 people were killed in the strike, including many civilians. Christian Dienst, a defense ministry spokesman, said the German government was looking into ways to reach a settlement outside the courtroom to avoid "unnecessarily lengthy legal battles." "We will find a solution," Dienst said, adding that the defense ministry "will have to find out who is entitled to compensation based on the circumstances of the airstrike."
Christian Dienst, a defense ministry spokesman, said the German government was looking into ways to reach a settlement outside the courtroom to avoid "unnecessarily lengthy legal battles."
"We will find a solution," Dienst said, adding that the defense ministry "will have to find out who is entitled to compensation based on the circumstances of the airstrike."
Despite the general consensus that without a substantial surge the situation in Afghanistan cannot be turned around, there is far less agreement on how to handle President Karzai and his new government. Initially, after Karzai was ultimately declared the winner of a drawn-out election process that was marred by fraud, most experts agreed that the international community must increase the pressure and set concrete goals for the new president such as fighting corruption and good governance. On his first official visit with Karzai in Kabul last month, Germany's new Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg delivered a strong message to the Afghan cabinet: "Just paying lip service isn't good enough: the Afghan government has to meet these targets." US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton relayed the same message at Karzai's inauguration last month and last week told the US Senate's Armed Services Committee: "We have real concerns about the influence of corrupt officials in the Afghan government, and we will continue to pursue them."
On his first official visit with Karzai in Kabul last month, Germany's new Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg delivered a strong message to the Afghan cabinet: "Just paying lip service isn't good enough: the Afghan government has to meet these targets." US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton relayed the same message at Karzai's inauguration last month and last week told the US Senate's Armed Services Committee: "We have real concerns about the influence of corrupt officials in the Afghan government, and we will continue to pursue them."
As Stuart said, America has more enemies in Queens. In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
Troops will start leaving in 18 months whether or not it's working. This is basically renovating the city and institutions as you leave the colony. No plans for actual fighting anymore.
WOW! Will have to mark my calendar and revisit this quotebox in 18 months. Somehow I got a feeling it's not going to work out that way. In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
Russia and India have signed an agreement to increase their civilian nuclear energy co-operation. The announcement came after talks between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow. Russia will build a number of nuclear reactors in energy-hungry India as well as increase atomic fuel exports to it.
The announcement came after talks between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow.
Russia will build a number of nuclear reactors in energy-hungry India as well as increase atomic fuel exports to it.
Bolivian President Evo Morales easily won his second five-year term Sunday night, solidifying the revolution he promises to bring to the country's long-oppressed indigenous majority. While recent elections in countries such as Uruguay and Honduras have seen Latin America's pendulum swing back to centrist candidates, Mr. Morales - Bolivia's first indigenous president - is one of the region's most strident leftists, a close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, and a vocal foe of the US. Morales's win chalks up another important victory for the region's hard-left, Chávez-led bloc, which also includes Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Cuba. Morales, a former coca grower, has many detractors, particularly in the energy-rich lowlands who say his programs to assert greater state control over the economy could destroy national productivity. But his wide victory margin was no surprise: he has long appealed to Bolivians who felt shut out by the old political elites in a country where 60 percent of the population identifies as indigenous and the same percentage falls below the poverty line.
While recent elections in countries such as Uruguay and Honduras have seen Latin America's pendulum swing back to centrist candidates, Mr. Morales - Bolivia's first indigenous president - is one of the region's most strident leftists, a close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, and a vocal foe of the US. Morales's win chalks up another important victory for the region's hard-left, Chávez-led bloc, which also includes Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Cuba.
Morales, a former coca grower, has many detractors, particularly in the energy-rich lowlands who say his programs to assert greater state control over the economy could destroy national productivity. But his wide victory margin was no surprise: he has long appealed to Bolivians who felt shut out by the old political elites in a country where 60 percent of the population identifies as indigenous and the same percentage falls below the poverty line.
Why Bolivia reelected Evo Morales
Because they're not idiots like Americans. In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
Security forces and militiamen clashed with thousands of protesters shouting "death to the dictator" outside Tehran University on Monday, beating them with batons and firing tear gas on a day of nationwide student demonstrations, witnesses said. <...> Thousands of riot police as well as forces of the elite Revolutionary Guard and their allied Basij militiamen flooded the area around Tehran University since the morning, trying to seal off the campus from the outside world and prevent unrest from spilling out into the streets. Authorities covered the tall fence around the university with banners and signs bearing slogans from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hiding whatever took place inside. Cell phone networks around the universities were shut down, and police and Revolutionary Guard surrounded entrances, checking IDs of anyone entering to bar opposition activists, witnesses said. "There's anxiety that there will be violence and shooting. I shout slogans and demonstrate but try not to provoke any clash with the security," Tehran University student Kouhyar Goudarzi told The Associated Press in Beirut by telephone. "We are worried."
Security forces and militiamen clashed with thousands of protesters shouting "death to the dictator" outside Tehran University on Monday, beating them with batons and firing tear gas on a day of nationwide student demonstrations, witnesses said.
<...>
Thousands of riot police as well as forces of the elite Revolutionary Guard and their allied Basij militiamen flooded the area around Tehran University since the morning, trying to seal off the campus from the outside world and prevent unrest from spilling out into the streets.
Authorities covered the tall fence around the university with banners and signs bearing slogans from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hiding whatever took place inside. Cell phone networks around the universities were shut down, and police and Revolutionary Guard surrounded entrances, checking IDs of anyone entering to bar opposition activists, witnesses said.
"There's anxiety that there will be violence and shooting. I shout slogans and demonstrate but try not to provoke any clash with the security," Tehran University student Kouhyar Goudarzi told The Associated Press in Beirut by telephone. "We are worried."
79 percent of the American public is in favor of auditing the Fed, according to a new poll by Rassumussen. Because another 14% are not sure, that leaves only 7% opposed to an audit. And as Rassumussen, the support for auditing the Fed is nonpartisan and very widespread: "Unlike many issues tracked by Rasmussen Reports, there is virtually no partisan disagreement on the issue of auditing the Fed." Similarly, investors and non-investors are equally supportive of the idea. Generally speaking, there is overwhelming support for such auditing across all demographic categories. Small Businesses Have Lost Confidence Also You might assume that - despite the public's lack of confidence in Bernanke, Geithner and the economy - at least businesses are confident. However, as Rassumussen notes: After three months of gains, the Rasmussen Employment Index dropped more than four points in November to its lowest level since July. Just 14% of workers now say their employers are hiring, the lowest total since February. Economic confidence among America's small business owners in the Discover (R) Small Business Watch(SM) index plummeted in November, as more owners cited serious concerns about cash flow and saw economic conditions for their own businesses getting worse.
"Unlike many issues tracked by Rasmussen Reports, there is virtually no partisan disagreement on the issue of auditing the Fed." Similarly, investors and non-investors are equally supportive of the idea. Generally speaking, there is overwhelming support for such auditing across all demographic categories.
Similarly, investors and non-investors are equally supportive of the idea. Generally speaking, there is overwhelming support for such auditing across all demographic categories.
Small Businesses Have Lost Confidence Also
You might assume that - despite the public's lack of confidence in Bernanke, Geithner and the economy - at least businesses are confident.
However, as Rassumussen notes:
After three months of gains, the Rasmussen Employment Index dropped more than four points in November to its lowest level since July. Just 14% of workers now say their employers are hiring, the lowest total since February. Economic confidence among America's small business owners in the Discover (R) Small Business Watch(SM) index plummeted in November, as more owners cited serious concerns about cash flow and saw economic conditions for their own businesses getting worse.
Economic confidence among America's small business owners in the Discover (R) Small Business Watch(SM) index plummeted in November, as more owners cited serious concerns about cash flow and saw economic conditions for their own businesses getting worse.
The Economy Cannot Recover Until Bernanke and Geithner are replaced As I have repeatedly written, the economy cannot fundamentally stabilize until trust is restored. Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich wrote that Wall Street's biggest problem right now is the collapse of trust: The problem is, government bailouts, subsidies, and insurance aren't really helping Wall Street. The Street's fundamental problem isn't lack of capital. It's lack of trust. And without trust, Wall Street might as well fold up its fancy tents. .... Forbes wrote an article in 2006 entitled "The Economics of Trust". The article summarizes the importance of trust in creating a healthy economy: Imagine going to the corner store to buy a carton of milk, only to find that the refrigerator is locked. When you've persuaded the shopkeeper to retrieve the milk, you then end up arguing over whether you're going to hand the money over first, or whether he is going to hand over the milk. Finally you manage to arrange an elaborate simultaneous exchange. A little taste of life in a world without trust--now imagine trying to arrange a mortgage. Being able to trust people might seem like a pleasant luxury, but economists are starting to believe that it's rather more important than that. Trust is about more than whether you can leave your house unlocked; it is responsible for the difference between the richest countries and the poorest. "If you take a broad enough definition of trust, then it would explain basically all the difference between the per capita income of the United States and Somalia," ventures Steve Knack, a senior economist at the World Bank who has been studying the economics of trust for over a decade. That suggests that trust is worth $12.4 trillion dollars a year to the U.S., which, in case you are wondering, is 99.5% of this country's income.
As I have repeatedly written, the economy cannot fundamentally stabilize until trust is restored.
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich wrote that Wall Street's biggest problem right now is the collapse of trust:
The problem is, government bailouts, subsidies, and insurance aren't really helping Wall Street. The Street's fundamental problem isn't lack of capital. It's lack of trust. And without trust, Wall Street might as well fold up its fancy tents.
....
Forbes wrote an article in 2006 entitled "The Economics of Trust". The article summarizes the importance of trust in creating a healthy economy:
Imagine going to the corner store to buy a carton of milk, only to find that the refrigerator is locked. When you've persuaded the shopkeeper to retrieve the milk, you then end up arguing over whether you're going to hand the money over first, or whether he is going to hand over the milk. Finally you manage to arrange an elaborate simultaneous exchange. A little taste of life in a world without trust--now imagine trying to arrange a mortgage. Being able to trust people might seem like a pleasant luxury, but economists are starting to believe that it's rather more important than that. Trust is about more than whether you can leave your house unlocked; it is responsible for the difference between the richest countries and the poorest. "If you take a broad enough definition of trust, then it would explain basically all the difference between the per capita income of the United States and Somalia," ventures Steve Knack, a senior economist at the World Bank who has been studying the economics of trust for over a decade. That suggests that trust is worth $12.4 trillion dollars a year to the U.S., which, in case you are wondering, is 99.5% of this country's income.
Being able to trust people might seem like a pleasant luxury, but economists are starting to believe that it's rather more important than that. Trust is about more than whether you can leave your house unlocked; it is responsible for the difference between the richest countries and the poorest.
"If you take a broad enough definition of trust, then it would explain basically all the difference between the per capita income of the United States and Somalia," ventures Steve Knack, a senior economist at the World Bank who has been studying the economics of trust for over a decade. That suggests that trust is worth $12.4 trillion dollars a year to the U.S., which, in case you are wondering, is 99.5% of this country's income.
Justice Minister Ya'akov Ne'eman on Monday said he believes Halakha (Jewish law) should be the binding law in Israel, Army Radio reported. "Step by step, we will bestow upon the citizens of Israel the laws of the Torah and we will turn Halakha into the binding law of the nation," said Ne'eman at a Jewish law convention at the Regency hotel in Jerusalem, in the presence of many rabbis and rabbinical judges. "We must bring back the heritage of our fathers to the nation of Israel," Ne'eman said. "The Torah has the complete solution to all of the questions we are dealing with," he added.
"Step by step, we will bestow upon the citizens of Israel the laws of the Torah and we will turn Halakha into the binding law of the nation," said Ne'eman at a Jewish law convention at the Regency hotel in Jerusalem, in the presence of many rabbis and rabbinical judges.
"We must bring back the heritage of our fathers to the nation of Israel," Ne'eman said. "The Torah has the complete solution to all of the questions we are dealing with," he added.
In the wake of the uproar caused by his remarks, the Justice Ministry on Tuesday issued a statement denying that Ne'eman intends to replace Israel's legal system with Jewish law. "Justice Minister Ya'akov Ne'eman clarifies that his comments did not contain an appeal, either directly or indirectly, to replace the laws of the state with Halakhic laws," a statement from the ministry said.
"Justice Minister Ya'akov Ne'eman clarifies that his comments did not contain an appeal, either directly or indirectly, to replace the laws of the state with Halakhic laws," a statement from the ministry said.
Doch während die Christsozialen das politisch bisher nicht durchsetzen konnten, hat es die SVP ungleich besser: Sie bringt einfach eine Volksinitiative auf den Weg. Damit soll im Detail ein Steuernachlass für Eltern in die Verfassung geschrieben werden, die ihre Kinder nicht in die Krippe geben.
