Watchman Newsletter

Iranian vice-president 'sacked'

BBC News (Link) (July 25, 2009)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed his most senior vice-president, it has been reported.

The decision, the state news agency Irna said, came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered Mr Ahmadinejad to do so.

First Vice-President Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie had angered hardliners last year by saying Iranians and Israelis were friends.

Mr Mashaie no longer considered himself first vice-president, reports said.

The decision came after a week-long stand-off between Ayatollah Khamenei and Mr Ahmadinejad, who had defended Mr Mashaie.

Ayatollah Khamenei wrote to the president, telling him that appointing Mr Mashaie was "against your interest and the interests of the government".

In the letter, which was broadcast on Iranian state TV, Ayatollah Khamenei said: "It is necessary to announce the cancellation of this appointment."

Mr Ahmadinejad, who is known for his own outspoken views against Israel, had been defending Mr Mashaie, at one stage calling him modest and loyal to Iran's Islamic system.

Israel, US expect little from 'A-Team'

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Herb Keinon (July 25, 2009)

Both Jerusalem and Washington are lowering expectations for any major breakthrough on the settlement construction issue, despite the upcoming visit to Israel of the administration's Middle East "A-Team".

"I don't know how much more effort it is going to take to reach common ground with the US," a senior government source said Saturday night, on the eve of the arrival of special Mideast envoy George Mitchell.

"Is everything going to come together this week? I don't think so," the official said. "It is best to always have realistic expectations, and if it takes a few more weeks, it takes a few more weeks."

Mitchell is one of four very senior US foreign policy and security figures being dispatched to Israel, raising the possibility that Washington is stepping up its pressure on the government to freeze settlement construction.

Mitchell "wants to be clear that, you know, all sides are creating the conditions, putting themselves in position so that when we begin a formal negotiating process, we've put ourselves in the best position to have a successful outcome," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Friday.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at a press conference Friday via a video hookup with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad to announce that the US had transferred $200 million to the PA government, also made an effort to limit expectations.

Czech president bashes EU leaders, economic policy

Earth Times (Link) (July 24, 2009)

Czech President Vaclav Klaus, an outspoken critic of the European Union, slammed Friday the bloc's leaders as well as its planned policies aimed at preventing future financial crises. In a newspaper interview published Friday, Klaus said top EU leaders had frustrated him during the EU summits under his charge during the Czech Republic's recent rotating half-year EU presidency.

"When I sit there next to Mr (Jose Manuel) Barroso, (Javier) Solana and other gentlemen, it totally drives me crazy (to hear) what they say," the Lidove Noviny daily cited him as saying.

"These are empty phrases prepared by their advisors. These are sentences that do not tie one with another, the jargon of international politics that lacks substance," said Klaus, who chaired top-level EU meetings with Japan, South Korea, China and Russia.

The president also wrote in an opinion piece for Hospodarske Noviny daily that the EU has abused the global economic woes in order to seize control of the members' economic policy.

Saviors or conquerors? UN mulls “responsibility to protect”

Reuters (Link) - Patrick Worsnip (July 24, 2009)

What’s more important — the right of a sovereign state to manage its affairs free of outside interference or the duty of the international community to intervene when massive human rights violations are being committed in a country?

The United Nations — nothing if not a talking shop — has been debating that question this week in the General Assembly. It goes to the heart of what the U.N. is all about.

At issue is a declaration issued four years ago by a summit of more than 150 world leaders asserting the “responsibility to protect” — R2P in U.N. jargon — populations threatened with genocide or other mass atrocities. It was a somewhat belated response to widespread criticism of the United Nations for failing to stop massacres in Rwanda and Bosnia in the 1990s.

The carefully crafted declaration said the responsibility began with the government of the country concerned. If that failed, it foresaw a sliding scale of international action, ranging from advice through mediation to — in a last resort — intervention by force. And such a use of force could only be authorized by the Security Council, meaning the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China would all have to agree.

North Korea 'executes Christians'

BBC News (Link) - Andre Vornic (July 24, 2009)

Human rights groups in South Korea say North Korea has stepped up executions of Christians, some of them in public.

The communist country, the world's most closed society, views religion as a major threat.

Only the founder of the country, Kim Il-sung, and his son, Kim Jong-il, may be worshipped, in mass public displays of fervour.

Despite the persecutions, it is thought up to 30,000 North Koreans may practice Christianity secretly in their homes.

A report by a number of South Korean groups highlights one particular case of a woman allegedly executed in public last month, in a northern town close to the Chinese border.

Report: Is ACORN Intentionally Structured As a Criminal Enterprise?

Committee On Oversight and Government Reform (Link) (July 23, 2009)

A report released today by Rep. Darrell Issa (CA), the Ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, presents evidence that ACORN has evaded taxes, obstructed justice, engaged in racketeering, and created a conspiracy to defraud the United States.

“This report is a comprehensive and substantive examination of an organization that has operated in secrecy and outside the law,” Issa, also a member of the House Judiciary Committee said. “There are number of legitimate questions raised about the political activities and organizational structure of ACORN. This report is about getting to the truth and when there are significant accusations and questions outstanding regarding an organization that has benefited from millions of taxpayer dollars, those questions should be answered and the truth should be brought to light.”

“The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has repeatedly and deliberately engaged in systemic fraud,” according to the report’s executive summary. “Both structurally and operationally, ACORN hides behind a paper wall of nonprofit corporate protections to conceal a criminal conspiracy on the part of its directors, to launder federal money in order to pursue a partisan political agenda and to manipulate the American electorate. Emerging accounts of widespread deceit and corruption raise the need for a criminal investigation of ACORN.”

The report includes significant new information about wrongdoing brought to the attention of committee investigators by ACORN whistleblowers.

Highlighted in the report:

• ACORN has evaded taxes, obstructed justice, engaged in self dealing, and aided and abetted a cover-up of the $948.607.50 embezzlement by Dale Rathke, the brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke.

• ACORN has committed investment fraud, deprived the public of its right to honest services, and engaged in a racketeering enterprise affecting interstate commerce.

• ACORN has committed a conspiracy to defraud the United States by using taxpayer funds for partisan political activities.

• ACORN has submitted false filings to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor, in addition to violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

• ACORN falsified and concealed facts concerning an illegal transaction between related parties in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

“It is outrageous that ACORN will be rewarded for its criminal acts by taxpayer money in the stimulus and is being asked to help with the U.S. census,” said Rep. Issa. “This report shines a light on clear criminal conduct and it is abundantly clear that they cannot and should not be trusted with taxpayer dollars.”

Click here to read the report

Worldwide Coalition, Media Putting Israel in Corner

Israel National News (Link) (July 21, 2009)

France summoned Daniel Shek, the Israeli ambassador in Paris, to demand that Israel stop all building for Jews in eastern Jerusalem. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday afternoon. "The Israeli ambassador in Washington was summoned and the ambassador in Paris has now been summoned to the Foreign Ministry," Kouchner told reporters at a weekly news conference.

He was referring to Israeli Ambassador in Washington Michael Oren, who was reportedly summoned, although several media sources in the United States have contradicted the report, stating that his meeting with American government officials was part of routine discussions.

France’s bold move, coupled with increasingly harsh criticism of Israel by Russia, have strengthened U.S. President Barack Obama’s determination to enforce his demands that Israel stop construction for Jews. American officials said that the building activity is a negative factor on negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. Neither the State Department nor the White House has commented whether its demands extend to construction for Arabs.

You're (Probably) a Federal Criminal

Fox News (Link) - Brian Walsh (July 21, 2009)

Federal law now criminalizes activities that the average person would never dream would land him in prison. Consequently, every year, thousands of upstanding, responsible Americans run afoul of some incomprehensible federal law and end up serving time in federal prison.

With all the attention that's been paid lately to long federal sentences for drug offenders, it's surprising that a far more troubling phenomenon has barely hit the media's radar screen. Every year, thousands of upstanding, responsible Americans run afoul of some incomprehensible federal law or regulation and end up serving time in federal prison.

What is especially disturbing is that it could happen to anyone at all -- and it has.

We should applaud Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), then, for holding a bipartisan hearing today to examine how federal law can make a criminal out of anyone, for even the most mundane conduct.

Federal law in particular now criminalizes entire categories of activities that the average person would never dream would land him in prison. This is an inevitable result of the fact that the criminal law is no longer restricted to punishing inherently wrongful conduct -- such as murder, rape, robbery, and the like.

Moreover, under these new laws, the government can often secure a conviction without having to prove that the person accused even intended to commit a bad act, historically a protection against wrongful conviction.

Laws like this are dangerous in the hands of social engineers and ambitious lawmakers -- not to mention overzealous prosecutors -- bent on using government's greatest civilian power to punish any activity they dislike. So many thousands of criminal offenses are now in federal law that a prominent federal appeals court judge titled his recent essay on this overcriminalization problem, "You're (Probably) a Federal Criminal."

Watchdog sees huge U.S. bill for banks bailout - $24 Trillion

MSNBC (Link) - AP (July 20, 2009)

The federal government has devoted $4.7 trillion to help the financial sector through its crisis, a watchdog report said Monday.

Under the worst of circumstances, the report said, the government's maximum exposure could total nearly $24 trillion, or $80,000 for every American.

The figures are part of a tough new quarterly report to Congress from special inspector general Neil Barofsky, who accuses the Treasury Department of repeatedly failing to adopt recommendations aimed at making one component of the government financial rescue effort more accountable and transparent.

The $4.7 trillion commitment to the industry equals about one third of the overall U.S. economy and takes into account about 50 initiatives and programs set up since 2007 by the Bush and Obama administrations as well as by the Federal Reserve. Barofsky oversees one of the initiatives — the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Much of the government assistance is backed by collateral and Barofsky's $23.7 trillion estimate represents the gross, not net, exposure that the government could face. No one has suggested that the full amount will be used.

Because of declining participation in short-term loan programs and because some infusions of money have been repaid, the maximum amount actually spent has declined to a current outstanding balance of $3 trillion, Barofsky said.

Nationally ranked hospital victim of universal healthcare

One News Now (Link) - Pete Chagnon (July 20, 2009)

A tax policy analyst from The Heritage Foundation says Massachusetts can provide an example of what Obama's healthcare reform can bring to America.

Boston Medical Center has sued the state of Massachusetts over the state's universal healthcare system. According to The New York Times, the 626-bed hospital -- which is the primary teaching facility for Boston University School of Medicine -- faces a $38 million deficit and will lose close to $100 million more in the coming year. Hospital officials say the shortfall is due to the state's universal healthcare system which forces them to cover the healthcare costs of poor people. Another factor is that the state has lowered its Medicaid reimbursements.

Curtis Dubay is with The Heritage Foundation. "I think that what's going on in Massachusetts is a good example of what will happen at the national level," he shares. "The cost savings that President Obama and Congress are promising simply won't materialize."

Amman revoking Palestinians' citizenship

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Khaled Abu Toameh (July 20, 2009)

Jordanian authorities have started revoking the citizenship of thousands of Palestinians living in Jordan to avoid a situation in which they would be "resettled" permanently in the kingdom, Jordanian and Palestinian officials revealed on Monday.

The new measure has increased tensions between Jordanians and Palestinians, who make up around 70 percent of the kingdom's population.

The tensions reached their peak over the weekend when tens of thousands of fans of Jordan's Al-Faisali soccer team chanted slogans condemning Palestinians as traitors and collaborators with Israel. Al-Faisali was playing the rival Wihdat soccer team, made up of Jordanian-Palestinians, in the Jordanian town of Zarqa.

Anti-riot policemen had to interfere to stop the Jordanian fans from lynching the Wihdat team members and their fans, eyewitnesses reported. They said the Jordanian fans of Al-Faisali hurled empty bottles and fireworks at the Palestinian players and their supporters.

Reports in a number of Jordanian newspapers said that the Jordanian fans also chanted anti-Palestinian slogans and cursed Palestine, the PLO, Jerusalem and the Aksa Mosque.

New Palestinian Embassy inaugurated by presidents

Today's Zaman (Link) (July 20, 2009)

During the official inauguration ceremony for the new Palestinian Embassy in Ankara on Friday, President Abdullah Gül said he would some day like to open a Turkish Embassy in Palestine, hopefully in East Jerusalem.

Gül, accompanied by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, attended the opening ceremony for the new embassy and ambassador's residence for Palestine, built in the Oran section of Ankara, a newly developed section of the city popular with embassies. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu also attended to the opening.

The building was constructed with the assistance of the Turkish government. During the Palestinian president's official two-day visit to Ankara, Turkish officials decided to build a university hospital and a new industrial zone in Palestine and a congress center in Ramallah. Turkey will also help set up the technological infrastructure for Palestinian state television, diplomats said.

Abbas described the embassy building as a "symbol of friendship and brotherhood" between Palestine and Turkey and thanked Turkey for its continuing support of the Palestinian people. He also expressed hope to see a new Turkish embassy in East Jerusalem, which he coined as the capital of the soon-to-be-realized independent Palestinian state. To mark the occasion, Gül and Abbas planted a blue spruce tree in the garden of the embassy.

The ceremony was also attended by Yasser Abed Rabbo, senior advisor to Abbas, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and Palestinian Ambassador to Turkey Nabil Marouf. Ambassadors and representatives of other embassies were also present at the ceremony.

Netanyahu defies U.S. on East Jerusalem settlement

Reuters (Link) - Jeffrey Heller (July 19, 2009)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he would not take orders over Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem, rejected on Sunday a U.S. demand to halt plans to build more homes for Jews in the disputed area.

New friction with Washington over the project to build 20 apartments in a part of Jerusalem captured by Israel in a 1967 war could deepen the most serious rift in relations between the two allies in a decade.

Israeli officials said the State Department had summoned Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to Washington, and told him plans for the construction approved this month by Israel's Jerusalem municipality should be suspended.

"We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and buy (homes) anywhere in Jerusalem," Netanyahu said, calling the city Israel's united capital, a claim that is not recognized internationally.

"I can only imagine what would happen if someone would suggest Jews could not live in certain neighborhoods of New York, London, Paris or Rome. There would certainly be a great international outcry," he told reporters at the weekly cabinet meeting. "We cannot accept this edict in Jerusalem."

The White House declined to comment.

John Rentoul: We'll let you know, Mr Blair

The Independent (Link) (July 19, 2009)

How Journalism Works, lesson 94: Timing is All. Eighteen months ago, Gordon Brown was forced through gritted teeth to say: "Tony Blair would be an excellent president."

Then, as now, the Lisbon Treaty seemed likely to create the post of President of the European Council. Since then, the Irish electorate rejected the treaty, but now opinion polls suggest that they are likely to vote the other way in a new referendum on 2 October.

So when Glenys Kinnock, the Europe Minister, said last week, "The UK Government is supporting Tony Blair's candidature for president of the Council", it set off a riot of speculation about who would get the job. In one sense, she wasn't saying anything new. In another, not only was she pre-empting the democratic decision of the Irish people, but she was formally committing the British Government in a way that the Prime Minister had not, quite.

The timing, though, is most important. For a while, the Lisbon Treaty went away. The Irish were not the only road block to its ratification. There were the Czechs, the Poles and the German constitutional court.

Suddenly, all the barriers are lifting, and it looks as if it really will happen. The German Bundestag will pass the laws required by the constitutional court before the general election in September. The Polish and Czech presidents have to do something involving sealing wax or similar, but they are hardly likely to scupper the whole deal now that their parliaments have approved it.