Now John McCain has gone and done it! The Chinese have picked up on the fact that the Republican candidate for president has been misquoting the Great Helmsman Himself, Mao Zedong – and they are not pleased. According to this op-ed article by Wang Qichao of China’s Global Geographic Times: “In almost every campaign speech he mentions that, ‘It’s always darkest before it gets pitch black.’ In fact, the original from Chairman Mao was, ‘it’s always darkest...

Continuing on with our European coverage of the crisis in Georgia, this article by Karl Grobe of the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau, written just after the crisis mushroomed last week, contains a number of arresting comments that convey the gravity of the situation. Grobe writes in part: “This is now more than a limited confrontation within the borders of what maps call Georgia. This is war. … Should this turn into a proxy war between ‘East’ and ‘West,’...

Hot on the heels of his staunch defense of the legacy of President George W. Bush, Alexandre Adler, historian and France’s foremost neocon, examines the underlying causes of Obama’s wild popularity and what Adler sees as McCain’s only chance for victory. On the reasons for Obama’s strength, Adler discusses in part: – ‘his campaign’s lack of any tangible racially-based resentment.’ – ‘the fact that Reagan assured the United States a spectacular...

Having labored under the yoke of Soviet domination in the very recent past, the countries of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus have a visceral feel for the politics of the now blossoming conflict between Russia and its former territory Georgia. As far as this situation ending well for Georgia, the editorial board of Romania’s Cotidianul newspaper has little of comfort to offer. Writing of President Bush, the editorial says in part: “In no case will he jump to defend the territorial integrity...

Continuing with our coverage of the unfolding crisis in the Caucasus, Le Figaro’s Pierre Rousselin grapples with the question of how the conflict began and what France and the E.U. should do about it. He writes in part: “The entire relationship between Russia and the West hangs in the balance … Did Georgia deliberately initiate the conflict in wanting to regain control of South Ossetia? If so, did it get the green light from Washington? Or is it the contrary: that Russia, by the...

With French leader Nicolas Sarkozy occupying the rotating seat of the EU presidency, what do the French have to say about the widening crisis in the Caucasus and America’s role in it? Outlining what’s at stake, Pierre Rousselin writes for Le Figaro: “South Ossetia might seem like beautiful, distant confetti lost in the Caucasus, but the fighting taking place there must be taken very seriously. An open war has begun between Russia and pro-Western Georgia, over Georgian territory...

Now that war has broken out in the Caucuses between Russia and America’s staunch ally, Georgia, what do those other staunch U.S. allies, the East Europeans, have to say? In our first East European translation of the consequences of the conflict, Waclaw Radzinowicz writes for Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza: “In deciding to ‘liberate’ South Ossetia, or as he called it yesterday morning, ‘restoring the constitutional order,’ Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili...

[Caption: Uncle Sam's Sign Says: 'Sentences of paramilitaries' Murdered Victim says: 'I would also like a shorter sentence'] Indignant Colombians are asking themselves why they bother extraditing narco-trafficking members of right-wing paramilitary groups, when they receive lighter prison sentences in the United States than they do in Colombia. Daniel Samper Pisano writes for Colombia’s El Tiempo newspaper: “It’s obviously a bit late for the Government to worry about what has...

Now that the 2008 Beijing Olympics have begun and President Bush along with about 80 other heads of state are in attendance, can it be said that all the demonstrating by Western human rights activists was for naught? Having been imprisoned behind the iron curtain for decades, the people of Poland are particularly sensitive to this question, which is why the author of this article from the Gazeta Wyborcza, Ewa Siedlecka, points out that she is proud that Poland’s leaders have are not attendingtoday’s...

This story was first mentioned in the United States by Maureen Dowd of The New York Times. In her column she wrote that Barack Obama felt ‘hustled’ by a German reporter for the Bild newspaper, who pretended to have accidentally noticed him at a Berlin gym and sought to have a picture taken with him. As it turned out – she had stalked him to write this article, which WORLDMEETS.US has translated. The story is packaged with a video of the reporter, Judith Bonesky, breathlessly describing...

For months on end, hundreds of thousands of people across South Korea have mounted daily demonstrations, candlelight vigils, boycotts, and almost every form of protest up to and including setting themselves on fire – against American beef, the new conservative government, and George W.Bush. So why is it, exactly, that South Koreans are so angry? For The Hankyoreh, Kim Seon-woo writes in part that its all about “American capital”: “The Korean heart wants to afford people...

According to yesterday’s edition of Iraq’s Al-Sabaah newspaper, U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have tentatively agreed to the withdrawal of U.S. forces by 2011, the return of American troops to their barracks and rules of engagement for American troops and Iraqi citizens until the U.S. withdrawal. According to Al-Sabaah: “According to a memorandum of understanding to be signed by the two parties after a summary of results is presented to political leaders, Baghdad and Washington...

There are some people in this world who think President Bush has been a great president – even in France. One such person is French historian Alexandre Adler – also known as France’s foremost neocon. In this article, Adler makes a very convincing case for President Bush’s legacy and his ‘unparalleled service to Europe.’ In regard to Iraq, Adler writes in part: “At a time when “Obamania” is in full swing, why not say all the good things we can...

The success of the ‘Surge’ and the drop in American casualties in Iraq is much in the news of late. But how significant is this to the life of the ordinary Iraqi? According to Fateh Abdulsalam of Iraq’s Azzaman newspaper, Iraq has problems that go far beyond the capacity of force to resolve: “Today there are ongoing military operations in most of Iraq’s provinces, and worryingly, those will be followed with more as long as security forces are used to address any and...

In this first Romanian translation from WORLDMEETS.US about Barack Obama, Adrian Deoanca of Romania’s Cotidianul newspaper gives his reckoning of why Europeans are so taken by the young senator. Deoanca writes in part: “Barack Obama was greeted like a superstar in Berlin. He wasn’t acclaimed for his indisputable talent at oratory, but because he’s the antithesis of the much-derided current president. The senator is much like a European, while Bush is perceived as the embodiment...

Is the narrative of the Bush Administration about how it has brought Libyan Despot Muammar Qadhafi to heel credible? Furthermore, as the White House claims, is the Libyan model a good one for Iran to follow? According to Andrei Fedyashin who writes for Russia’s Novosti news service – the answer is an obvious and resounding “no!” Fedyashin writes: “The Americans have already dubbed all that’s going on in Libya, the “Libyan model,” and never fail to...

Now that Barack Obama’s world tour is over – how do Gulf Arabs see the junior senator from Illinois? While some commentary in the Arab world has been less than glowing, at least in the Persian Gulf States, hope for an Obama presidency remains high. For the Al-Ittihad newspaper of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed Khalfan Aloasi writes in part: “All people, especially in the Arab and Islamic world, long to see Democratic candidate Barack Hussein Obama win, occupy the chair of the...

Well – we’ve done it again. We’ve angered the Beijing leadership. According to this news account from China’s Xinhua news service, the Chinese government is ‘urging’ the U.S. to curb the ‘odious conduct’ of a ‘small number’ of ‘anti-China lawmakers’ after the House passed Resolution 1370 [it passed 419-1], which criticizes China’s human rights record. Furthermore – the Chinese government takes umbrage with President...

Will what many are calling the first negative campaign ad against against Barack Obama backfire on John McCain? Patrik Etschmayer writes for Switzerland’s Nachrichten newspaper: “John McCain is one who proudly boasts (like many other politicians) of his ignorance about the Internet and e-mail. Its likely that McCain has never seen the videos produced by his staff on a computer monitor – but rather on a video tape sent to his home which he popped into his vintage Magnavox-VHS recorder...

As we’ve seen over the past week, the global reaction to Barack Obama’s world tour has been largely positive – if not at times skeptical. But particularly in the Arab world – disappointment is the dominant theme. Writing for Le Quotidien-Oran of Algeria, K. Selim focuses in on Obama’s 45-minute visit to the Palestinians, and the conclusions many Arabs are drawing from it. Describing the deflated hopes of the Palestinians, Selim writes in part: “Anxious to forge...