November 2007 Monthly Archive

November 30, 2007

Poll finds "Fortress America" and "New Isolationists"

A new poll on foreign policy comes up with some interesting new categories to label American voters — from "Fortress America" (17 percent) and "Reluctant Super Power" (16 percent) on the right to "International Environmentalist" (12 percent) and "New Isolationist" (14 percent) on the left.

About a third of voters are in the middle, dubbed "Average Americans."

Republican pollster Bill McInturff said the biggest surprise were the new isolationists.

"Isolationism for me has always been a kind of Robert Taft (idea), that strain of the Republican party," McInturff told a briefing of U.N. correspondents in New York.

"The new isolationists are liberal, moderate-to-liberal, younger (Sen. John) Kerry voters who don't want America doing much of anything around the world. That is so counter-intuitive to what I would have thought before I started the research," he said.

"The reason we call them new isolationists is it wasn't just Iraq. They're also really ticked off about trade agreements, and there's other stuff across this data that makes them very, very surprising."

"They really want a retreat about America's role around the world, and it's just not something we expected to find or see."

The poll, conducted jointly with Democratic pollster Geoff Garin and commissioned by the U.N. Foundation, sampled 800 likely voters. Read the full Reuters story here.

The poll ranks voters' top foreign policy issues, apart from Iraq, as follows:

Terrorism (38 percent)

America's dependence on foreign oil (33 percent)

Improving America's relationships with other countries (27 percent)

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Reuters | Friday, November 30, 2007 | Topic: Today's Top News

 

Papal encyclical attacks atheism, promises hope

Pope Benedict, in a new encyclical released on Friday, said atheism was responsible for some of the "greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice" in history.

The 75-page "Spe Salvi", which takes its Latin title from a quote by St Paul (in hope we were saved), is an appeal to a pessimistic world to find strength in Christian hope.

In the second encyclical of his papacy, Benedict urges Christians to put their hope for the future in God and not in technology, wealth or political ideologies which can often be deluding.

Atheism could be regarded by some as a "type of moralism", particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries, to protest against the injustices of the world and world history, he said.

Reciting arguments made by atheists, he said: "A world marked by so much injustice, innocent suffering, and cynicism of power cannot be the work of a good God. A God with responsibility for such a world would not be a just God, much less a good God."

History has proven wrong ideologies such as Marxism which say humans had to establish social justice because God did not exist, the Pope wrote.

"It is no accident that this idea has led to the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice," the Pope said. Such a concept was grounded in "intrinsic falsity".

Marxism, the Pope wrote, had left behind "a trail of appalling destruction" because it failed to realize that man could not be "merely the product of economic conditions".

The encyclical is the highest form of papal writing and addresses all members of the Church. This document is written in a highly academic, professorial style in which the Pope quotes saints, philosophers and writers to make his point.

Atheism has been a hot topic recently thanks to bestselling books questioning the value of religion such as "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins, and "God is Not Great" by Christopher Hitchens.

The Pope seemed to be addressing the fresh interest in atheism in the developed world with phrases such as: "Let us put it very simply: man needs God, otherwise he remains without hope."

HOPE IN GOD, NOT MAN

The Pope urged Christians to put their hope for a better future in God.

"We have all witnessed the way in which progress, in the wrong hands, can become and has indeed become a terrifying progress in evil. If technical progress is not matched by corresponding progress in man's ethical formation, in man's inner growth, then it is not progress at all, but a threat for man and for the world," he said.

Christian hope also meant protecting the planet, even if people felt powerless to make any changes in their lifetimes.

"We can free our life and the world from the poisons and contaminations that could destroy the present and the future. We can uncover the sources of creation and keep them unsullied, and in this way we can make a right use of creation, which comes to us as a gift..." he said.

Benedict's first encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est" (God is Love) was about erotic and spiritual love in a personal relationship.

The Pope, who was elected in 2005, is believed to be working on a third encyclical on the theme of social justice. It is due to be released next year.

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Reuters | Friday, November 30, 2007 | Topic: Today's Top News

 

Fidel Castro said he has warned Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to watch out for U.S.-backed assassination attempts

Fidel Castro said Friday he has warned Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to watch out for U.S.-backed assassination attempts, telling his close friend and socialist ally to avoid open-top vehicles that could be targeted by snipers.

The 81-year-old Castro said Venezuela is facing "a world tyranny" as voters decide Sunday on constitutional changes that would give Chavez unchecked power to further transform the South American country into a socialist state.

"The empire has created conditions conducive to violence and internecine conflicts" in Venezuela, Castro wrote in an essay published in Cuba's two leading official newspapers, referring to the U.S.

Castro has not been seen in public since emergency intestinal surgery forced him to cede power to his younger brother Raul in July 2006. Since then, no foreign head of state has visited the ailing revolutionary more than Chavez, who was last in Cuba less than two weeks ago.

"On Chavez's recent visit last Nov. 21, I seriously discussed with him the risks of assassination as he is constantly out in the open in convertible vehicles," wrote Castro, who himself survived dozens of CIA-backed attempts on his life since leading the Cuban revolution in Castro noted his own experience as a combatant trained in the use of automatic weapons with telescopic sights.

The Cuban leader said the U.S. should consider that if Chavez were killed or a civil war broke out in Venezuela, the world economy would "blow up" because of the importance of that country's huge oil reserves.

His comments came a day after more than 100,000 people flooded Venezuela's streets to oppose 69 proposed constitutional changes to the nation's 1999 constitution that would, among other things, create forms of communal property, eliminate presidential term limits, and increase presidential authority.

Critics claim the reforms would give Chavez dictatorial power. The Venezuelan president, who has for weeks denounced vague, U.S.-backed plans to destabilize his government, counters that the revisions are necessary to give the public a greater voice in government.

Castro said threats against Chavez will not end with Sunday's vote.

"A victory of the 'yes' vote on Dec. 2 would not be enough. The weeks and months following that date may very well prove to be extremely tough for many countries, Cuba for one," he wrote.

Venezuela has been instrumental in Cuba's recovery after the collapse of the Soviet bloc brought the island to the brink of economic collapse in the early 1990s.

Chavez's government sends nearly 100,000 daily barrels of oil per day to Cuba in exchange for social service assistance. Castro said Friday that trade between both countries has now reached $7 billion annually.

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Associated Press | Friday, November 30, 2007 | Topic: Today's Top News

 

November 29, 2007

Biden: Impeachment if Bush bombs Iran

Presidential hopeful Delaware Sen. Joe Biden stated unequivocally that he will move to impeach President Bush if he bombs Iran without Congressional approval. Biden spoke in front of a crowd of approximately 100 at a Seacoast Media Group forum Thursday, which focused on the Iraq War and foreign policy. When an audience member expressed fear of another war with Iran, he said he does not typically engage in threats, but had no qualms about issuing a direct warning to the oval office.

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Adam Leech - Seacoastonline.com | Thursday, November 29, 2007 | Topic: Today's Top News

 

A "cyber cold war" waged over the world's computers threatens to become one of the biggest threats to security in the next decade

A "cyber cold war" waged over the world's computers threatens to become one of the biggest threats to security in the next decade, according to a report published on Thursday.

About 120 countries are developing ways to use the Internet as a weapon to target financial markets, government computer systems and utilities, Internet security company McAfee said in an annual report.

Intelligence agencies already routinely test other states' networks looking for weaknesses and their techniques are growing more sophisticated every year, it said.

Governments must urgently shore up their defenses against industrial espionage and attacks on infrastructure.

"Cybercrime is now a global issue," said Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee Avert Labs. "It has evolved significantly and is no longer just a threat to industry and individuals but increasingly to national security."

The report said China is at the forefront of the cyber war. It said China has been blamed for attacks in the United States, India and Germany. China has repeatedly denied such claims.

"The Chinese were first to use cyber-attacks for political and military goals," James Mulvenon, director of the Center for Intelligence and Research in Washington, was quoted as saying in the report.

The report was compiled with input from academics and officials from Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and NATO.

Cyber-attacks on private and government Web sites in Estonia in April and May this year were "just the tip of the iceberg", the report warned.

Estonia said thousands of sites were affected in attacks aimed at crippling infrastructure in a country heavily dependent on the Internet.

The attacks appeared to have stemmed initially from Russia although the Kremlin denied any wrongdoing.

"The complexity and coordination seen was new," the report quoted an unnamed NATO source as saying. "There were a series of attacks with careful timing using different techniques and specific targets."

EU Information Society commissioner Viviane Reding said in June that what happened in Estonia was a wake-up call. NATO said "urgent work" was needed to improve defenses.

The McAfee report predicted that future attacks would be even more sophisticated.

"Attacks have progressed from initial curiosity probes to well-funded and well-organised operations for political, military, economic and technical espionage," it said.

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Reuters | Thursday, November 29, 2007 | Topic: Today's Top News

 

Musharraf not a legitimate president: Sharif

Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday dismissed Pervez Musharraf's presidency as illegitimate, saying the Supreme Court bench he purged to ensure a second term should be restored to rule on his election.

Hours after Musharraf was again sworn in as president, this time as a civilian, Sharif demanded he end emergency rule and release opponents jailed after the November 3 crackdown.

"Under the circumstances, we do not accept him as a legitimate president," said Sharif, who returned from exile in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, eight years after Musharraf, then army chief, ousted him in a bloodless coup.

"The judiciary of November 2 must be restored," said Sharif, an industrialist-turned-politician who spoke to Reuters in the eastern city of Lahore, his power base.

"That judiciary was thrown out by Mr Musharraf just for personal reasons," he said. "Whatever decision that judiciary gives (on his re-election)...that would be a decision which would carry legitimacy and credibility."

Musharraf imposed emergency rule and suspended the constitution on November 3 to purge a Supreme Court he feared would rule against his October re-election by legislators because he was then still serving as army chief.

Some of those judges are still under house arrest.

In his inauguration address on Thursday Musharraf did not say if he would lift the emergency before a January 8 general election. Opponents say the vote cannot be free and fair if held with emergency powers in place.

BOYCOTT CALL

Sharif is an unlikely champion of the judiciary. During his

second term as prime minister his party activists stormed the Supreme Court in 1997 to force the chief justice from office.

About 300 lawyers battled police with bricks and bottles in Lahore on Thursday to protest as Musharraf was sworn in. They called on Sharif to boycott January's election.

Sharif's party is meeting other opposition groups to decide whether or not to shun the poll and isolate Musharraf.

Sharif said his arch rival, Benazir Bhutto, also recently returned from years in exile, would have to join the boycott for it to work.

"Personally, I think it has to be a unanimous boycott, so that it turns out to be a real boycott," said Sharif, who drew widespread international condemnation in 1998 when he oversaw nuclear tests to parry those of arch-foe India.

He is still waiting to see if he will be barred from running for office by criminal convictions he says were politically motivated -- quite apart from a law Musharraf passed imposing a two-term prime ministerial limit, which for now excludes both Sharif and Bhutto.

"If they've already decided to turn down my papers, then I can do nothing," he said. "There are no courts where I can go to, there is no judiciary which can address my grievances."

Sharif's appeal is largely to conservative, religious sections of the electorate. While he is regarded as a moderate he is also seen as a politician more likely to appease radical Islamists than either Bhutto or Musharraf.

Sharif's return was largely due to the insistence of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan's key Muslim ally, whereas Bhutto courted the support of the United States before her return.

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Reuters | Thursday, November 29, 2007 | Topic: Today's Top News

 

Yepsen: Huckabee shows he belongs in top tier

There were three clear winners in Wednesday's debate among the Republican presidential candidates: John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson. All of them helped their candidacies, and they should move up in the polls as a result.

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David Yepsen - Des Moines Register | Thursday, November 29, 2007 | Topic: Today's Top News

 

New poll: Huckabee edges Romney in Iowa

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has edged ahead of Mitt Romney in Iowa, according to a poll published today by Rasmussen Reports, a private public opinion research company. Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, received support from 28 percent of likely Republican caucusgoers, compared to Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, who had 25 percent. The poll's margin of sampling error was 3.5 percentage points.

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Des Moines Register | Thursday, November 29, 2007 | Topic: The Polls... Republicans

 

Did city pick up security tab for Rudy's getaways?

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's campaign scrambled last night to deflect a new report questioning whether Giuliani tried to cover up his extramarital affair with Judith Nathan in the Hamptons by hiding his security expenses in obscure city agencies. The report on Politico.com throws new attention on Giuliani's messy personal life just five weeks before the first votes in Iowa - and could severely undercut his defense that his affair with future wife Nathan had no effect on his duties as mayor.

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Newsday | Thursday, November 29, 2007 | Topic: Breaking Story Highlights

 

Did Rudy Bury Cost Of Trips To Mistress?

Rudy Giuliani's campaign is once again fending off new questions about an old affair. According to Politico.com, in 2000 - as Giuliani was beginning the not-so-secret extramarital marital relationship with Judith Nathan, the woman who eventually became his third wife - he billed obscure city agencies thousands of dollars in expenses for his police security detail in the Hamptons off Long Island, where Nathan was living.

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CBS News | Thursday, November 29, 2007 | Topic: Breaking Story Highlights