Remembering September 11, 2001
Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 11, 2008:
“Most people in the world can remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the planes terrorists flew into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. This Thursday marks the seventh anniversary of the disaster, and since then a global ‘war on terror’ has been waged — but not won.
“With NATO support, the US has toppled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and established a new government, but not stabilized the country. A second war was started in Iraq with 9/11 as a justification — but on false premises, as most of the world knows now and many people already understood in 2003.
“Most of the world now has a new understanding of ‘security.’ Global terrorism of the sort practiced by al-Qaida finds targets that are not always easy to comprehend: a Danish embassy in Pakistan, nightclubs on Bali, trains in London and Madrid, wedding parties in Jordan, a synagogue in Tunisia, a British bank in Istanbul.
“To protect themselves, Western as well as non-Western states have passed new laws, some of them draconian. The United States set up a prison at Guantánamo Bay which has yet to be dismantled.
“The CIA has kidnapped and transported terror suspects all over the world, including people who weren’t especially suspect and have long been proved innocent. Arab nations have signed dubious extradition treaties to move terrorist suspects back and forth. Russia and China use the ‘war on terror’ for their own purposes — to declare Chechens and Uighurs potential terrorists, for example. The debate over torture, once thought to be settled in civilized nations, has enjoyed an unexpected and in some ways ignoble renaissance…
“Al-Qaida is not beaten. Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are still at large. A number of high-ranking members of the organization have been killed or arrested, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi bin al-Shibh and others. But terrorism hasn’t stopped. Al-Qaida has retreated in Iraq, perhaps, but in Pakistan as well as North Africa, it has gained influence and space…”
Special EU Status for Britain?
The Daily Mail reported on September 9, 2008:
“The architect of the despised European Constitution has reopened old wounds after he attacked Britain for ‘hampering’ the creation of an EU superstate. Valery Giscard d’Estaing, who spearheaded the drafting of the constitution – only to see it soundly rejected by his own countrymen – said the UK should be given a ‘special status’ to prevent it blocking closer integration. The former French president said Britain’s attempts to curb the expansion of power in Brussels was ‘exhausting for all concerned, and disappointing’.
“The arch Europhile, who was speaking at a conference in Westminster on Britain’s future relationship with Europe, has always been committed to a continental-wide ‘superstate’. As the president of the EU convention he played a key role in drafting the constitution – which was then dumped by French and Dutch voters in 2005. It was revived last year as the Lisbon Treaty, which Labour forced through Parliament in March…
“M Giscard d’Estaing insisted closer integration of the EU’s 27 member states would continue. But he suggested Britain should have a ‘special status’ which would maintain close links with the EU but prevent us from ‘acting as a brake’. He condemned the UK for its ‘permanently antagonistic standpoint’ towards the EU.
“The EU Treaty creates a permanent European president, a foreign affairs minister and a legal personality for the EU which would allow it to sign international treaties on Britain’s behalf. Despite being rejected by Irish voters in June, the EU has vowed to push ahead with it.”
“European Court of Justice Violates National Jurisdictions”
The EUObserver wrote on September 10:
“The European Court of Justice needs to be stopped from undermining national jurisdiction, former German President Roman Herzog and Lüder Gerken, the director of the Centre for European Policy, have warned… The sharp words come in the wake of similar arguments coming from Denmark and Austria accusing the court of stepping beyond its bounds.
“Several cases analysed by Mr Herzog prove, in his view, that the European Court of Justice ‘systematically ignores fundamental principles of the Western interpretation of law’, that it ‘ignores the will of the legislator, or even turns it into its opposite’ and ‘invents legal principles serving as grounds for later judgements’…
“Mr Herzog’s comments come amid growing frustration amongst Danish leaders that a ruling by the court regarding Irish legislation covering the residency rights of non-EU citizens who are spouses of citizens, is having a knock-on effect on similar Danish legislation… In 2006, former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel also attacked the European Court of Justice after it forced Austrian universities to open its doors to more foreign students, arguing that the court was interfering in education, ‘a clear national competence,’ he said at the time.”
Sarah Palin a Former Practicing Pentecostal
CNN reported on September 8:
“For more than two decades, current Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was a practicing Pentecostal. She belonged to the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska… she attended the church from her teenage years through to 2002…
“Palin’s former pastor, Tim McGraw, says that like many Pentecostal churches, some members speak in tongues, although he says he’s never seen Palin do so. Church member Caroline Spangler told CNN, ‘When the spirit comes on you, you utter things that nobody else can understand … only God can understand what is coming out of our mouths.’ Some Pentecostals from Assembly of God also believe in ‘faith healing’ and the ‘end times’ — a violent upheaval that they believe will deliver Jesus Christ’s second coming…
“The McCain campaign says the Governor doesn’t consider herself Pentecostal… Palin’s former pastor says he has no doubt her religious beliefs will influence her decision making when it comes to government policy… Six years ago, Palin left Assembly of God… But the Assembly of God says she still returns for special conferences and events, such as the graduation of ministry students in June…
“Palin now attends the [non-denominational] Wasilla Bible Church. She was there on August 17, just days before entering the national spotlight. David Brickner, the founder of Jews for Jesus, was a speaker. He told congregants that terrorist attacks on Israel were God’s ‘judgment’ of Jews who haven’t embraced Christianity… The McCain campaign says his comments do not reflect her religious views. Palin’s spokeswoman says she is pro-Israel.
“Pastor Ed Kalnin, the senior pastor of Palin’s former Pentecostal church, has also come under fire for his comments. In 2004, he told church members if they voted for John Kerry for president, they wouldn’t get into heaven. He told them, ‘I question your salvation.’ Assembly of God issued a statement online in response which said Kalnin was ‘joking’…”
Still Unfavorable Relations Between USA and Europe
Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 10:
“According to a major survey, Europeans want the Democrats to win back the White House this year. But Barack Obama’s positions on Iran’s nuclear program and Afghanistan are not widely supported in Europe…
“According to the latest ‘Transatlantic Trends,’ 47 percent of those polled across 12 European countries agree that there would be an improvement in relations between Europe and the US if Obama moved into the White House. By contrast, just 11 percent of those surveyed thought there would be a similar improvement under a President John McCain…
“These figures clearly do not back up the assumption that relations between Europe and the US have already relaxed… The image of the US in Europe has remained almost unaltered during the second Bush administration. Then as now, only 36 percent of Europeans view America’s role as a superpower positively (before the Iraq War that figure was still 64 percent.)…”
Worship of “the Virgin Mary”
Vatican Information Service (VIS) reported on September 7:
“Benedict XVI departed from Rome’s Ciampino airport, landing at the airport of Cagliari-Elmas on the Italian island of Sardinia… Having greeted the political, civil and ecclesiastical authorities, he travelled to the Shrine of Our Lady of Bonaria, which he visited briefly… the Pope celebrated Mass in the presence of 100,000 people on the esplanade in front of the Marian shrine…
“Going on to refer to the hundredth anniversary of the proclamation of the Virgin as patroness of the island, the Pope called on the faithful ‘to give thanks to Mary for her protection and to reiterate our faith in her, recognising her as the ‘Star of the new evangelisation’… [He] asked the Virgin to help the people of Sardinia ‘to bring Christ to families… May Mary, he said, ‘help you… evangelise the world of work, of the economy and of politics’… At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, Benedict XVI performed an act of consecration to Mary which concluded with the consignment of a golden rose to Our Lady of Bonaria.”
High U.S. Unemployment Rate in August
The Wall Street Journal wrote on September 6:
“A jump in the unemployment rate to 6.1% in August, the highest in nearly five years, underscored the economy’s fragility and deepened political debate over whether a second stimulus package is needed. The jobless-rate jump, from 5.7% in July, was larger than anticipated, reflecting how energy prices and problems in the housing and financial sectors have radiated outward to slow overall economic activity.”
U.S. Government’s Take-Over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
CNN reported on September 7:
“Federal officials on Sunday unveiled an extraordinary takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, putting the government in charge of the twin mortgage giants… The move, which extends as much as $200 billion in Treasury support to the two companies, marks Washington’s most dramatic attempt yet to shore up the nation’s housing market, which is suffering from record foreclosures and falling prices… Fannie… and Freddie…, which were created by the U.S. government, have been badly hurt in the last year by the sharp decline in home prices as well as rising mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. All told, the two firms have racked up about $12 billion in losses since last summer…
“Fannie and Freddie have become virtually the only source of funding for banks and other home lenders looking to make home loans… The two firms buy loans, attach a guarantee, then sell securities backed by the loans’ income stream. All told, they own or back $5.4 trillion worth of home debt – half the mortgage debt in the country.
“… the cost to taxpayers [will] largely depend on the future financial performance of Fannie and Freddie. Another unintended yet unavoidable consequence may be the impact to the nation’s banks. Some of the nation’s largest financial institutions… own a big chunk of the estimated $36 billion in preferred shares of Fannie and Freddie… Those stakes are at risk of being wiped out…”
US Stocks Fall
The Financial Times wrote on September 10:
“US stocks suffered their worst fall of the year as a 45 per cent drop in Lehman Brothers shares renewed fears about the health of the global financial system… Lehman is expected to have suffered billions of dollars in credit-related writedowns in the third quarter.”
Reuters added on September 11:
“Washington Mutual Inc… shares sank below $2 for the first time since 1990 as anxiety grew about the largest U.S. savings and loan’s mortgage losses, capital needs and survival prospects… Wall Street is worried that Washington Mutual, like Lehman Brothers… may not have time to right itself… Washington Mutual has said mortgage losses could reach $19 billion through 2011… the falling stock price could make further capital raising prohibitively expensive.”
USA–“$407 Billion in the Hole”
CNN reported on September 9:
“The budget deficit will jump by $246 billion to $407 billion this year, the Congressional Budget Office [CBO] estimates in a report released Tuesday… The budget deficit shot up 153% from last year’s shortfall of $161 billion… Federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid alone is expected to jump 30% in the next decade… [Peter] Orszag [director of CBO] said… ‘The nation is on an unsustainable fiscal course.'”
Russia’s Cat-and-Mouse-Game with the West
The Associated Press reported on September 9:
“Russia announced Tuesday it would keep 7,600 troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia for the foreseeable future, asserting power in the breakaway regions even as it began a pullout from positions deeper in Georgia. The Kremlin’s plans for a heavy military footprint in the enclaves mock Georgia’s hopes that a revised peace agreement will lead to a complete Russian withdrawal from the fractured country at the heart of a bitter fray between Moscow and the West…
“A senior U.S. official… told lawmakers… that the United States is reviewing how to help Georgia rebuild its military. Georgia blames Russia for the war and is calling for a complete withdrawal of Russian forces, including from Abkhazia and South Ossetia. ‘There is no way Georgia will ever give up a piece of its sovereignty, a piece of its territory,’ Saakashvili said Tuesday.”
Ukraine Disappointed Over Germany
The EUObserver wrote on September 9:
“EU and Ukraine leaders will celebrate a ‘great day’ as they unveil plans for a new bilateral treaty in Paris [referred to as “Association Agreement”]…, but behind the fanfare, Ukraine diplomats are disappointed… Nine EU members including Poland, the UK, Sweden, the Czech republic and the Baltic states had pushed for the Paris declaration to ‘recognise’ Ukraine’s EU membership ‘perspective’… Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg blocked any suggestions of future EU expansion into post-Soviet territory, however…
“French diplomats have explained that while the title ‘Association Agreement’ is reminiscent of treaties signed with countries such as Poland in the run-up to the 2004 round of enlargement, it carries no special promise, as ‘association’ deals also exist with Chile or Morocco…
“Ukrainian diplomats see the summit declaration as a sell-out… ‘I feel like we have thrown away our European future,’ one Ukrainian contact said.”
Ukraine Could Be Next
The Wall Street Journal wrote on September 10:
“Perhaps the most urgent question in the world affairs today is whether Russia’s invasion and continuing occupation of Georgia was a singular event. Or was it the onset of a distinct, and profoundly disturbing, national security and foreign policy agenda? Much as one would like to cling to the former theory, the evidence favors the latter…
“Apart from Estonia and Latvia… by far the most likely target is Ukraine… Mr. Putin has made his contempt for Ukrainian sovereignty clear, most notably at the NATO summit in Bucharest last April when, according to numerous reports in the Russian and Ukrainian press, he told President Bush that the Ukraine is ‘not even a real state,’ that much of its territory was ‘given away’ by Russia, and that it would ‘cease to exist as a state’ if it dared join NATO… Whatever the operational specifics, the Russian political barometer seems to augur storms ahead.”
Russia’s Continued Threats
AFP reported on September 10:
“Russia could point missiles at strategic US targets in central Europe, including planned American missile shield sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, a senior Russian general said Wednesday. ‘I can’t exclude that if such decisions are taken by our military-political leadership, the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic and other such objects could be chosen as designated targets for some of our inter-continental ballistic missiles,’ General Nikolai Solovtsov said… Moscow ‘is obliged to take corresponding measures that prevent under any circumstances the devaluing of Russia’s nuclear deterrent…’
“The comments came as tensions mounted between Russia and the United States over last month’s Russian military surge into Georgia and the fraught question of missile defence… Moscow sees the plans for new US missile defence facilities in central Europe as part of an effort to encircle Russia. Washington insists the planned facilities are directed against ‘rogue states’ such as Iran and in no way threaten Russia.”
Germany’s Political Dilemma–Waiting for a Strong Leader
Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 9:
“Frank-Walter Steinmeier doesn’t seem to be looking forward to next year, and who can blame him. The Social Democrat candidate for the 2009 election has never campaigned for office and must unite a bitterly divided party. Few analysts rate his chances of beating Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“… the most likely outcome of the next general election is a continuation of the current grand coalition between Germany’s two main parties, Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats and Steinmeier’s SPD. The two rival parties have been ruling Europe’s largest economy together since 2005 in a loveless marriage that has failed to produce significant economic reforms and has plunged the country’s already staid political scene into a dull torpor… Expect more of the same, is the depressing prediction by seasoned observers…
“Angela Merkel’s government is likely to come to a near-complete standstill over the next year as the SPD and CDU square off ahead of the election… The irony is that after that long election campaign the rivals will probably find each other seated round the exact same cabinet table next year.”
Iran–Is Time Running Out for Israel?
Reuters reported on September 9:
“Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant is nearing completion and the start-up of its reactor will soon become ‘irreversible’, the Russian state-owned company that is building the power station said on Tuesday. Russia has already delivered nuclear fuel under a $1 billion contract to build the Bushehr plant, on the Gulf coast in southwest Iran, and Iranian officials say the reactor is likely to be started up soon [i.e., December 2008 – February 2009]…
“Russia signed a contract to build the plant in 1995 on the site of an earlier project begun in the 1970s by German firm Siemens. Siemens’s project was disrupted by Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution and the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.”
Pakistan’s New President
The Associated Press reported on September 9:
“Repeatedly paying homage to his assassinated wife, new President Asif Ali Zardari… was long on platitudes but short on specifics while meeting with media after taking the oath of office in a short ceremony at the presidential palace. He was chosen to replace Pervez Musharraf, a U.S. ally who resigned under pressure last month… The United States came to depend heavily on Musharraf for cooperation to capture or kill al-Qaida leaders who plotted the 9/11 attacks on America and fled Afghanistan after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 toppled the Taliban regime. However, the Taliban revived on Musharraf’s watch, and al-Qaida chiefs Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri remain on the run, probably somewhere in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
“Washington has increasingly taken matters into its own hands in recent weeks, with controversy erupting every time civilians become casualties. Missile strikes in Pakistan’s northwest have killed dozens, and U.S.-led forces last week took part in a helicopter-backed ground assault that killed at least 15… The unilateral actions have sparked a public backlash, including official protests, although it appears that Pakistan, the Islamic world’s only nuclear power, is too dependent on the billions of dollars in U.S. aid to do much more than complain.”
Strained Relations Between Pakistan and USA
CNN reported on September 10:
“Pakistan’s military chief said Wednesday that no foreign forces will be allowed to conduct operations inside Pakistan in light of last week’s ‘reckless’ U.S. military ground operation… The announcement came as Pakistan’s military resumed its battle against Taliban militants in its tribal region… A ground incursion last week by U.S. forces into Pakistan strained relations between the two countries. Pakistan summoned the U.S. ambassador in Islamabad to complain about the incident, which it said killed 15 civilians.
“The Pentagon has not confirmed the raid, but a senior U.S. official… told CNN… that U.S. helicopters dropped troops into the village of Angoor Adda in South Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan. The official said there was no evidence of any civilian deaths. The U.S. official said the operation was launched fairly quickly without formal permission from Pakistan’s government after it became clear that there was sufficient intelligence to take the risk of putting U.S. troops on the ground in a potentially hostile area of Pakistan.
“In the U.S., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, warned Congress on Wednesday that cross-border attacks into Afghanistan by militants in Pakistan’s tribal region are a problem… He added that the U.S. is ‘running out of time’ to win the war in Afghanistan and that sending in more troops will not guarantee victory. On Tuesday, President Bush announced the deployment of 4,500 additional troops in Afghanistan.”
The Associated Press added on September 11:
“Pakistan’s prime minister on Thursday backed a harsh rebuke of the U.S. by the Muslim nation’s military chief, a sign of a strain in relations seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks forged the two countries’ anti-terror alliance. Pakistan’s public show of anger with the U.S. comes amid revelations that President Bush secretly approved new U.S. military raids in that country.”
Waste of Time and Money–The Large Hadron Collider
The Sun wrote on September 10:
“Scientists from 60 countries have been working 250ft underground on the project which is trying to recreate conditions in the first billionth of a second after the Big Bang dawn of the universe 14 billion years ago. They aim to fire beams of protons at almost the speed of light in opposite directions through a 17-mile ring-shaped frozen tunnel. Each beam will pack as much energy as a 93mph Eurostar train. The tunnel has been dug under mountain rock in the Alps along the border between Switzerland and France. Although the big switch-on took place today, the first high-energy collisions are not due until October 21.”
AFP added on September 10:
“Now that the beam has been successfully tested in clockwise direction, CERN plans to send it counterclockwise. Eventually two beams will be fired in opposite directions with the aim of recreating conditions a split second after the big bang, which scientists theorize was the massive explosion that created the universe.”
Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 9:
“Will the Large Hadron Collider… bring about the end of the world? Most physicists say no — but they are hoping for clues as to how the universe began… Physicists say that the €6.4 billion ($9.2 billion) project — the lion’s share of which came from European countries — may provide unique new insights into how our universe was formed, the existence of ‘dark matter’ and even the possible reality of a number of new dimensions…
“Still, despite all the hype and the hope, scientists truly don’t know exactly what they’ll find in this grandest of all scientific experiments… for those expecting the end of the world, the wait will continue for another few weeks. The Large Hadron Collider won’t actually begin bashing protons against each other until later this autumn.”
If we could only believe God–and all that money could be used for much more needful purposes. The Bible TELLS you how the universe began. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Theory of Evolution–a Fairy Tale for Adults?”
