How serious is al-Qaeda’s threat to Iraq’s children? According to this op-ed article from Iraq’s Sotal Iraq, ‘the competent Iraqi authorities are unable to protect them from the brainwashing that al-Qaeda subjects them to, and which transforms them into terrorists who find it easy to commit murder.’ By Mohammad Abdul Jabar Al Shubut Translated By Julian Jacob and Nicolas Dagher December 4, 2007 Iraq – Sotal Iraq – Original Article (Arabic) Al-Qaeda has corrupted...

Arethe boom years freedom over and the forces of democracy in retreat? According to this column by Thomas Klau of Germany’s Financial Times Deutschland, with the world of ‘capital’ migrating toward authoritarian regimes like Russia and China and ‘decoupling’ from the liberal democracies, ‘democracy could be only a matter of an era, and not the end of history.’ “Supporters of a liberal, humanistic respect for basic democratic values now must do battle...

How much do people in Latin America resent the way the people of the United States refer to their nation as ‘America’? This op-ed article from El Caribe of the Dominican Republic offers people in our country a taste of this long-simmering ‘Latin American’ angst. “It seems that for all the world, America includes only the United States. The rest of the hemisphere is something else, with America as a surname [Latin America], and if they want to be even more derogatory,...

Does the recent U.S. intelligence estimate that Iran has shelved its nuclear weapons program since 2003, demonstrate the independence of America’s intelligence agencies? According to this editorial from French newspaper Le Monde, it’s time to renew a conciliatory approach since, ‘Beyond the nuances – and even contradictions, the report provides a confirmation of the strategy that up to now has been used by the West, followed by the Russians and the Chinese.’ “The...

Does the Bush Administration have some explaining to do, after America’s combined intelligence services concluded that Iran’s nuclear weapons program has been halted since 2003? According to this op-ed article from Germany’s Frankfurter Rundschau, ‘Bush’s October speech about the danger of a Third World War was at the very least, reckless. … Then it also follows that the plan to install a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic – which also carried an...

Has French President Nicolas Sarkozy accomplished his mission to ’seduce’ Americans? According to this editorial from France’s Le Figaro newspaper, ‘With his direct style, Nicolas Sarkozy worked at his message without flourishes, mobilizing all the myths of the American legend. … This is what the Americans wanted to hear.’ “The unanimous enthusiasm of Congress shows that the plan for seduction was a success. This also suggests that its effects will not be...

Is America’s proposed missile shield in Europe of real strategic value, or just President Bush’s ‘absurd’ reaction to the post-September 11th world? Whatever the motivation, according to this op-ed article from Germany’s Frankfurter Rundschau, Europeans are hoping that a new Democratic administration in the U.S. will slam the brakes on the idea. “The entire project could be put on hold for years – unless Bush can create a fait accompli in Eastern Europe....

Is CNN’s Lou Dobbs an, “insolent man who uses xenophobic, protectionist, anti-immigrant messages against Latin American countries to affirm his vulgar patriotism?” According to this op-ed article from Colombia’s El Tiempo, “CNN should confine Dobbs to a program called The Hour of Chauvinism, because this would help all of us distinguish between reason and its absence.” “My aim is to present the facts so that you can decide what seems more idiotic, Spitzer’s...

Is the United States protecting some terrorists that it used to employ, while at the same time jailing people for exposing terrorist plots that were being mounted with U.S. support? According to this article published in the Dominican Republic’s Tomado De Hoy, explaining Washington’s policy on terror to a child is a daunting challenge indeed. “Grandpa, this can’t be true. Why would a man who plants bombs be free, and the Five who want to stop people from planting bombs be...

If the United States pulls out of Iraq without repairing the damage that has been done by the war, what would be the consequences? According to this op-ed from Iraq’s Azzaman newspaper, if America fails to “come through” in this regard, Washington can forget achieving what it claims its goal has been: Creating a strong ally at the heart of the troubled Middle East. “There is a dire need for a rapid restoration of basic services like water and electricity … and unless...

What kind of a mess does Washington have on its hands in northern Iraq? According to this article from Iraq’s Kitabat newspaper, if Iraq’s Kurds turn their backs on Baghdad and instead help their terrorist brethren in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party battle the Turks, the six-years of war in Iraq will likely be only a prelude to a series of invasions and wars between and amongst neighboring states and the United States … “The entry of Turkish troops on the pretext of attacking...

Is it reasonable to charge Donald Rumsfeld with torture? According to this news item from France’s Rue 89, with Rumsfeld visiting Paris this week, a coterie of human rights groups in Europe and the United States filed a complaint with Paris prosecutors. According to the article, “under French law, owing to the universal jurisdiction defined under the 1984 United Nations Convention Against Torture, his presence there obliges France to act unless she rejects the complaint.” “Legally...

Are the PKK terrorists who have been killing Turkish soldiers receiving significant aid and comfort from the government of Iraq’s semi-autonomous north? According to this op-ed article from Iraqi Kurdistan’s Kurdish Media, all Kurds -whether they are members of the PKK, Peshmerga soldiers or civilians – will resist the Turks “to the last drop of blood.” “They know that this Kurdistan state, which they have been able to create and maintain in northern Iraq, is...

Is the situation between Turks and Kurds in Northern Iraq spinning out of control, much like it has in the rest of the country? According to the op-ed article from Brazil’s leading newspaper O Globo, “As is occurring in the south of Iraq, the bloody rearrangement of the internal situation seems to go on without the Americans – who uncovered the boiling pot of conflicts in the very complicated Middle East – without a formula, the tools or even an idea of what to do.” By...

Are Iraqi Shiites getting a bad rap for collaborating with the Americans, when it’s really the Sunnis who are the biggest aiders and abettors of the ‘occupier?’ According to this op-ed article from Iraq’s Kitabat newspaper, “Look at a map of the Arab nation from the Atlantic Ocean to the Persian Gulf and put your finger on any of the puppet regimes allied with America, and then tell me: What denomination rules that country?” “Those who provide everything...

In awarding Al Gore with the Nobel Prize, has the Norwegian Parliament betrayed its pro-NATO, pro-war bias? According to this op-ed article from Mexico’s La Jornada, it’s time for the developed world to begin awarding “alternate peace prizes to compete creatively for world public opinion, rather than depend exclusively on the politically contaminated Nobel ‘Peace’ Prize.” “This isn’t the first time that warmongering people have received the highest...

Is the United States prepared to stop Turkey from entering Northern Iraq? Judging from this op-ed article from Turkey’s largest newspaper, Hurriyet, that may not be advisable … “What if American F-16s come in front of us to block us? Let them try, that’s their business. … Our targets will be on Barzani’s military and economic targets. Our goal will be to transform the ‘Kurdish dream’ into a ‘Turkish nightmare.’” By Ertugrul Ozkok October...

This analysis is right in as many ways as it’s wrong. It is true that that the rest of the world will enthusiastically and euphorically celebrate virtually every Democrat and pragmatically and competently thinking and acting, non-illuminated Republican for a long time to come; In contrast to all the widespread whining, the love of America is at least as widespread and deeply-rooted around the world as anti-Americanism. It isn’t only in Europe where an overwhelming majority of people are...

Is there any correlation between the ‘discovery’ of America by Christopher Columbus and the environmental movement boosted by and championed by Al Gore? According to this editorial from Brazil’s O Povo newspaper, the fact that Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize on the 515th anniversary of Colombus’ discovery of America shows that, ‘the message preached by people like Gore in favor of the Earth may mean a renewal of faith in the New World, so that a really new world may someday...

With Turkey poised to mount its own mini-invasion of Iraq to prevent Kurdish terrorist attacks on its territory, Iraq’s central government is begging Ankara for time to address its concerns. But according to this op-ed article from Iraq’s Azzaman newspaper, the political process in Baghdad is so dysfunctional that cobbling together a common policy that will stop the attacks is unlikely at best. “The political and security delegation that Baghdad sent to Ankara might manage to appease...

According to this op-ed article from the Tunis Hebdo of the former French colony of Tunisia, by kissing up to the lame-duck Bush Administration, Nicolas Sarkozy has both betrayed France’s long tradition of independence from United States and hurt France’s position in the eyes of U.S. Democrats, who seem certain to take over in 2008. The Tunis Hebdo regularly contains some of the world’s spiciest commentary on the U.S. “Charles de Gaulle – who did all he could to give...

According to this op-ed article from Iraq’s Kitabat newspaper, the content on Iraqi television is proof enough that broadcasters are caught up in Iran’s, ‘anti-American scheme, which seeks to oppose America in Iraq by means of Shiite parties, al-Qaeda and remnants of the Baath Party. “Even on a popular game show, a team from a Shiite area is matched with one from a Sunni area, which is intended to sow sedition and help dismember Iraq. And who is the primary beneficiary of...

For Al Gore, is winning the Nobel Peace prize more of an honor or a dilemma? According to this op-ed article from France’s Liberation, deciding whether to run for president again could be excruciating – but not as excruciating as another electoral defeat. “It was as if the Norwegian committee had an ulterior motive: to embarrass President Bush and propel his unfortunate rival of 2000 into the White House. … but there are some wounds that never heal. Another electoral failure...

Is the U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace conference next month geared toward cheating the Palestinians, rather than finding an equitable solution to the region’s woes? According to this op-ed article from Syria’s state-run Teshreen newspaper, beyond cheating the Palestinians, the conference is intended to absorb some of the global resentment that has intensified toward President Bush and American foreign policy. By Gaazi Aldada Translated By James Jacobson October 16, 2007 Syria –...

Is Al Gore’s Nobel Peace prize an indication of failure on the part of the world’s political class? According to this op-ed article from Spain’s ABC Journal, ‘the award has been bestowed on those who dedicate themselves to increasing awareness of the problem because none of the world’s leading decision-makers are doing so.’ “It is a disturbing indication of a vacuum in political life: the award has been bestowed on those who dedicate themselves to increasing...