Watchman Newsletter

European countries want UN, not U.S., to advance Mideast peace talks

Haaretz (Link) - AP (March 26, 2011)

Britain, France and Germany want the United Nations and the European Union to propose the outlines of a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, UN diplomats said.

The three European countries, all members of the UN Security Council, are pressing for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the European Union to propose a settlement text at a meeting in mid-April of the Quartet of Mideast mediators, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because talks are taking place in private.

The quartet includes the UN, EU, U.S. and Russia. The aim is to get a basis for direct Israeli-Palestinian talks to resume.

Putting the job in the hands of the EU and the UN would sideline the United States, Israel’s closest ally which has tried unsuccessfully for months to get face-to-face negotiations going, as well as Russia, an ally of the Palestinians.

Jordan PM blasts Islamist for trying to “create chaos”

Al Arabiya (Link) (March 26, 2011)

Jordan’s Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit on Friday blasted the Islamist opposition and said they were trying to “create chaos” and were getting orders from Egypt and Syria after a day of bloody clashes.

“We have invited the Muslim Brotherhood for talks, away from protests and demonstrations, but apparently they have agenda to create chaos in the country,” Bakhit told the state-run Jordan Television.

A man died and 130 people were injured on Friday as pro-reform protesters and government supporters clashed in Amman, prompting police to use water cannons to disperse them, medics said.

“The government has accurate information that the Muslim Brotherhood has mobilized the protesters,” Bakhit said.

“What happened today is definitely the start of chaos and it is unacceptable and I warn of the consequences,” he added.

The prime minister said the Islamists “receive orders from Egypt and Syria to carry out schemes against Jordan.”

Addressing the Islamists, he said: “I ask you, where are you taking Jordan?”

A popular revolt in Egypt has ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February, while several protesters have been killed in clashes with police in Syria this past week. †

‘Al-Qaeda snatched missiles’ in Libya

News AU (Link) - AFP (March 26, 2011)

Al-Qaeda’s offshoot in North Africa has snatched surface-to-air missiles from an arsenal in Libya during the civil strife there, Chad’s President says.

Idriss Deby Itno did not say how many surface-to-air missiles were stolen, but told the African weekly Jeune Afrique that he was “100 per cent sure” of his assertion.

“The Islamists of al-Qaeda took advantage of the pillaging of arsenals in the rebel zone to acquire arms, including surface-to-air missiles, which were then smuggled into their sanctuaries in Tenere,” a desert region of the Sahara that stretches from northeast Niger to western Chad, Deby said in the interview.

“This is very serious. AQIM is becoming a genuine army, the best equipped in the region,” he said.

His claim was echoed by officials in other countries in the region who said that they were worried that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) might have acquired “heavy weapons,” thanks to the insurrection.

Growing Intolerance for Christianity in U.S.

The Christian Post (Link) - Delores Liesner (March 26, 2011)

“In a world of political correctness devoid of the rule of law, tolerance has come to mean total rejection of Christianity and moral standards. Modern tolerance redefines words like ‘marriage,’ ‘discrimination,’ ‘equality,’ ‘morality,’ and even ‘absolutes.’ The word ‘tolerance’ as it is used today never includes opposing arguments or competing worldviews. Tolerance has become Orwellian and decidedly intolerant.” – Matthew Staver, Dean and Professor of Law at Liberty University School of Law.

A few examples of recent intolerance for Christianity:

Budget Impasse Increasing Risk of U.S. Shutdown

The New York Times (Link) - Carl Hulse (March 25, 2011)

With time running short and budget negotiations this week having reached an angry impasse, Congressional leaders are growing increasingly pessimistic about reaching a bipartisan deal that would avert a government shutdown in early April.

Senior Democratic officials involved in high-level efforts to bring House Republicans, Senate Democrats and the White House to a budget agreement said that while some progress had been made toward an accord on an overall level of spending cuts, the parties remained divided on the final figure and had to resolve the fate of ideologically charged policy provisions demanded by House conservatives.

Some senior Republicans, after relying on House Democrats to help pass the most recent short-term measure, are also uneasy about having to team up with Democrats again to pass any compromise that dips too far below the $61 billion in spending reductions endorsed by the House for the current fiscal year. Senate Democrats want to wring some of the savings out of mandatory spending programs like Medicare, an approach Republicans are resisting.

Aides said that even if myriad outstanding issues were resolved and an agreement struck late next week after lawmakers returned, it would be a challenge to write the legislation and move it through Congress before the current financing bill expires on April 8.

Syrian Unrest Escalates, Spreads to Jordan

The Israel Project (Link) - AP (March 25, 2011)

Syrian Police killed at least 20 people Friday after new protests in the southern Syrian city of Daraa erupted, as thousands took to the streets to denounce President Bashar Assad’s regime and urge the retaking of the Golan Heights from Israel.

Witnesses said people were hit by live gunfire after crowds, who had marched from a nearby village into Daraa, set fire to a statue of former President Hafez Assad, the father of the current president.

Daraa has been the epicenter of anti-government protests for the past week. Syrian security forces killed four demonstrators on Friday, and another demonstrator was killed on Sunday. On Monday, an 11-year-old boy died after inhaling tear gas.

Meanwhile, in Jordan, almost 1,000 protesters established a tent camp in central Amman Thursday, pledging to stay until their demands for greater democracy and less corruption were met. Pro-government demonstrators, who assembled nearby, reportedly tried to disrupt the protest, injuring six.

Rocket fire increases; IDF may deploy Iron Dome soon

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Yaakov Katz (March 24, 2011)

As missile fire from the Gaza Strip escalated on Thursday, the IDF is preparing for the possible deployment of the Iron Dome counter-rocket defense system along Israel’s border with Gaza.

In late February, the Israeli Air Force held a test of the counter-rocket defense system, Iron Dome, which was supposed to serve as the final stage before declaring the system operational.

While a month has passed since then, the system is nowhere to be found despite the recent escalation and daily rocket and missile attacks against Israeli towns and cities in the South.

Officially, the IAF claims that even though the system successfully passed the final round of tests in February, it is still not ready for deployment. On the other hand, some defense officials have accused the IAF of getting cold feet and of refusing to deploy the system due to a fear that it might not work.

Iron Dome is designed to defend against rockets at a range of 4-70 km and each battery consists of a multimission radar manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries and three launchers, each equipped with 20 interceptors named Tamir.

Fears rise that Japan could sell off U.S. debt

The Washington Times (Link) - Seth McLaughlin (March 24, 2011)

Some lawmakers and market analysts are expressing rising concerns that a demand for capital by earthquake-ravaged Japan could lead it to sell off some of its huge holdings of U.S.-issued debt, leaving the federal government in an even tighter financial pinch.

Others say a major debt sell-off by Tokyo is unlikely, but noted that the mere fact that questions are being raised speaks volumes about the risks involved in relying so heavily on foreign investors to fund U.S. debt.

“This natural disaster in Japan concerns me that it could speed up what’s coming, because they are the second leading buyer of our debt,” Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, told The Washington Times. “Small degrees of differences in how much they buy of our debt, I think, can make a big difference in interest rates that we have to pay people to buy our debt.”

With the federal government having piled up $14.2 trillion in debt, budget experts are warning that the country is on an unsustainable fiscal path. Congress, they say, must find cuts in all areas of the budget, while reforming the entitlement programs — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — that are the biggest drivers of national spending.

Thousands of Christians Displaced in Ethiopia After Muslim Extremists Torch Churches, Homes

Fox News (Link) - Diane Macedo (March 24, 2011)

Thousands of Christians have been forced to flee their homes in Western Ethiopia after Muslim extremists set fire to roughly 50 churches and dozens of Christian homes.

At least one Christian has been killed, many more have been injured and anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 have been displaced in the attacks that began March 2 after a Christian in the community of Asendabo was accused of desecrating the Koran.

The violence escalated to the point that federal police forces sent to the area two weeks ago were initially overwhelmed by the mobs. Government spokesman Shimelis Kemal told Voice of America police reinforcements had since restored order and 130 suspects had been arrested and charged with instigating religious hatred and violence.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the Islamist group Kawarja is believed to have incited the violence.

Turkey and France clash over Libya air campaign

Guardian UK (Link) - Ian Traynor (March 24, 2011)

Turkey has launched a bitter attack on French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s and France’s leadership of the military campaign against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, accusing the French of lacking a conscience in their conduct in the Libyan operations.

The vitriolic criticism, from both the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the president, Abdullah Gül followed attacks from the Turkish government earlier this week and signalled an orchestrated attempt by Ankara to wreck Sarkozy’s plans to lead the air campaign against Gaddafi.

With France insisting that NATO should not be put in political charge of the UN-mandated air campaign, Turkey has come out emphatically behind sole NATO control of the operations.

The row came as France confirmed that one of its fighter jets had destroyed a Libyan air force plane, the first to breach the no-fly zone since it was imposed on 19 March. The Libyan G2/Galeb trainer aircraft was destroyed by an air-to-ground missile just after it landed at an air base near the rebel-held town of Misrata, a French military spokesman said.

Unreported Soros Event Aims to Remake Entire Global Economy

Media Research Center (Link) - Dan Gainor (March 23, 2011)

Two years ago, George Soros said he wanted to reorganize the entire global economic system. In two short weeks, he is going to start - and no one seems to have noticed.

On April 8, a group he’s funded with $50 million is holding a major economic conference and Soros’s goal for such an event is to “establish new international rules” and “reform the currency system.” It’s all according to a plan laid out in a Nov. 4, 2009, Soros op-ed calling for “a grand bargain that rearranges the entire financial order.”

The event is bringing together “more than 200 academic, business and government policy thought leaders” to repeat the famed 1944 Bretton Woods gathering that helped create the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Soros wants a new “multilateral system,” or an economic system where America isn’t so dominant.

More than two-thirds of the slated speakers have direct ties to Soros. The billionaire who thinks “the main enemy of the open society, I believe, is no longer the communist but the capitalist threat” is taking no chances.

Thus far, this global gathering has generated less publicity than a spelling bee. And that’s with at least four journalists on the speakers list, including a managing editor for the Financial Times and editors for both Reuters and The Times. Given Soros’s warnings of what might happen without an agreement, this should be a big deal. But it’s not.

What is a big deal is that Soros is doing exactly what he wanted to do. His 2009 commentary pushed for “a new Bretton Woods conference, like the one that established the post-WWII international financial architecture.” And he had already set the wheels in motion.

Look who’s in line to replace Gadhafi

WorldNet Daily (Link) (March 23, 2011)

British cleric Anjem Choudary says al-Qaida and the Muslim Brotherhood have assets on the ground in Libya and are ready to take control if Moammar Gadhafi is removed from power.

The top Muslim cleric accuses the U. S. and French-led coalition trying to topple Gadhafi of working to install a puppet regime, but he says there are al-Qaida operatives in Libya who will stop the West from installing a friendly government.

“Al-Qaida has their own agents and their own people in the region who are propagating their own Islamic ideas and their agenda. At the right time they will make the move, and we will see the emergence of Islam and Shariah in that particular region,” Choudary said.

“The power vacuum is very useful for anyone who has an agenda and an alternative system to put in its place,” he said.

IDF: Syria may provoke Israel to distract from domestic unrest

Haaretz (Link) - Anshel Pfeffer (March 23, 2011)

The Israel Defense Forces is readying for the possibility that Syria might create a provocation along the northern border to divert attention from the growing protests against President Bashar Assad’s regime. Nevertheless, the defense establishment views this as unlikely.

Defense officials have been following events in Syria closely over the last few days, especially after the violence in the southern town of Daraa. Intelligence officials said that despite their earlier assessments that the Syrian regime was stable, and that the unrest sweeping other Arab countries would not affect it, they now believe it will be very hard for Assad to restore the status quo ante.

The IDF is also preparing for the possibility that Damascus might use Hezbollah or other militant organizations in Lebanon to heat up that front to divert attention from events in Syria. But one senior officer said that Assad and his people appear to be too busy suppressing the domestic unrest to have time for that. So for now, most preparations are at the intelligence level, and there is currently no plan to beef up IDF forces along the border.

Iranian fingerprints on Jerusalem bombing?

WorldNet Daily (Link) - Aaron Klein (March 23, 2011)

The Israeli government has initial information indicating that instructions for today’s bomb explosion at a crowded bus stop at the entrance to Jerusalem came from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, WND has learned.

Twenty-five people were wounded in the attack, four of them seriously.

Also, Palestinian Authority security officials tell WND they suspect a specific cell of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad located in the region of the northern West Bank city of Ramallah was directly involved in the bombing, just outside the International Convention Center in Jerusalem.

PA security officials say Palestinian forces, coordinating with Israel, have launched a massive investigation focusing on families of Islamic Jihad terrorists in Ramallah.

The Israeli government, meanwhile, suspects today’s bombing is part of an Iranian-led campaign to foil talks between Hamas and the U.S.-backed PA to form a unity government.

Iran has been concerned Hamas may moderate some of its positions in forming a unity coalition.

Money Trouble Ahead: 15 Indications That Bad Times Are About To Hit The U.S. Economy

Black Listed News (Link) - Michael Snyder (March 23, 2011)

2011 is shaping up to be a really bad year for the U.S. economy. There are all kinds of indications that big trouble is ahead. So far financial markets are weathering all of the chaos around the world fairly well, but just as there were huge flashing warning signs before the 2008 financial crisis there are also huge flashing warning signs now. The price of oil is soaring, the U.S. housing market is experiencing huge problems, the cost of living in America recently hit a new record high and each week the globe seems to become even more unstable. How much pounding can our fragile economic system take before it completely collapses? As the price of oil goes even higher, it is going to cause economic growth to slow down and it is going to cause the prices of the things that we all buy at the stores to go up at the same time. It is very likely that we are entering a period of “stagflation” similar to what we experienced in the 1970s. This is going to cause a huge amount of money trouble for millions of American families. Already there are vast numbers of American families that are barely making it every month. Tens of millions of Americans are already receiving government assistance. So what is going to happen when the next financial crash happens and we experience yet another major economic downturn?

The truth is that the financial system was never “fixed” after the crash of 2008. If anything, it is more vulnerable today than it was back then. Even as you read this, major imbalances are building up in the global financial system, and at some point a “tipping point” will be reached.

Once that tipping point is reached, it will not be too long before the U.S. economy experiences the next wave of economic problems. Perhaps we will be fortunate and it will not be as bad as the 2008 crash. Perhaps this next wave will be even worse than 2008 was. Only time will tell.

But all of the warning signs are there. The following are 15 indications that bad times are about to hit the U.S. economy….

CAUGHT ON TAPE: Former SEIU Official Reveals Secret Plan To Destroy JP Morgan, Crash The Stock Market, And Redistribute Wealth In America

Business Insider (Link) - Henry Blodget (March 22, 2011)

A former official of one of the country’s most-powerful unions, SEIU, has a secret plan to “destabilize” the country.

The plan is designed to destroy JP Morgan, nuke the stock market, and weaken Wall Street’s grip on power, thus creating the conditions necessary for a redistribution of wealth and a change in government.

The former SEIU official, Stephen Lerner, spoke in a closed session at a Pace University forum last weekend.

The Blaze procured what appears to be a tape of Lerner’s remarks. Many Americans will undoubtedly sympathize with and support them. Still, the “destabilization” plan is startling in its specificity, especially coming so close on the heels of the financial crisis.

Lerner said that unions and community organizations are, for all intents and purposes, dead. The only way to achieve their goals, therefore--the redistribution of wealth and the return of “$17 trillion” stolen from the middle class by Wall Street--is to “destabilize the country.”

Lerner’s plan is to organize a mass, coordinated “strike” on mortgage, student loan, and local government debt payments--thus bringing the banks to the edge of insolvency and forcing them to renegotiate the terms of the loans. This destabilization and turmoil, Lerner hopes, will also crash the stock market, isolating the banking class and allowing for a transfer of power.

‘New’ Egypt But Same Old Shariah

Investor’s Business Daily (Link) (March 22, 2011)

Islamofascism: The media sold the Cairo riots as the birth pangs of “democracy” in the Mideast. Egyptians want “freedom,” we were told. But their version of freedom means voting in Islamic law.

Over the weekend, 77% of Egyptians approved constitutional amendments drafted in part by the radical Muslim Brotherhood. As we predicted based on recent Pew polling of Egyptian attitudes, the post-Mubarak constitution enshrines Shariah law and gives the banned Brotherhood a spot on the ballot.

It was the biggest turnout in the nation’s first fair elections in more than six decades. Only, Egypt’s first test of transition to “democracy” resembled what ended up happening in the Gaza Strip, when Palestinians voted Hamas into power in their first “free elections.”

After winning the 2006 election, which was endorsed by the Bush administration, Hamas vowed not to impose Islamic law. But after almost four years of Hamas rule, secularism has been driven out of Gaza. Women with full face veils are now a common sight. Cinemas have been burned down, novels confiscated by religious police.

Yemen in Crisis: A Special Report

Stratfor Global Intelligence (Link) (March 21, 2011)

A crisis in Yemen is rapidly escalating. A standoff centered on the presidential palace is taking place between security forces in the capital city of Sanaa while embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh continues to resist stepping down, claiming that the “majority of Yemeni people” support him. While a Western-led military intervention in Libya is dominating the headlines, the crisis in Yemen and its implications for Persian Gulf stability is of greater strategic consequence. Saudi Arabia is already facing the threat of an Iranian destabilization campaign in eastern Arabia and has deployed forces to Bahrain in an effort to prevent Shiite unrest from spreading. With a second front now threatening the Saudi underbelly, the situation in Yemen is becoming one that the Saudis can no longer leave on the backburner.

The turning point in Yemen occurred March 18 after Friday prayers, when tens of thousands of protesters in the streets calling for Saleh’s ouster came under a heavy crackdown that reportedly left some 46 people dead and hundreds wounded. It is unclear whether the shootings were ordered by Saleh himself, orchestrated by a member of the Yemeni defense establishment to facilitate Saleh’s political exit or simply provoked by tensions in the streets, but it does not really matter. Scores of defections from the ruling party, the prominent Hashid tribe in the north and military old guard followed the March 18 events, both putting Saleh at risk of being removed in a coup and putting the already deeply fractious country at risk of a civil war.

Prepare for a European Union Divided in Two

The Wall Street Journal (Link) - Irwin Stelzer (March 21, 2011)

Twenty-seven divided by two equals 17, with 10 left over. That’s the new Euromath.

Sooner or later, the euro-zone financial crisis will be over. Greek, Irish, Portuguese and probably Spanish creditors will have neatly trimmed hair, the banks will have had to shore up their inadequate capital, German exporters will continue to cash the profits from the euro their southern partners have obligingly weakened, and the eurocracy will have found other reasons to meet. But Europe will not be the same.

It will be changed in two very important ways. First, the 27-nation European Union will have fractured into separate groups of 17 and 10. Second, the economies of the Gang of 17 will be centrally managed by a Franco-German coalition, while the nations among the 10 “leftovers” will fight a losing battle to effect the policies of the EU of which they are paid-up members. Peaceful coexistence between the 17 and the 10 is no sure thing.

UN intervention into Libya an ominous precedent for Israel

Center For Security Policy (Link) - Frank Gaffney, Jr. (March 21, 2011)

There are many reasons to be worried about the bridge-leap the Obama Administration has just undertaken in its war with Muammar Gaddafi. How it will all end is just one of them.

Particularly concerning is the prospect that what we might call the Gaddafi Precedent will be used in the not-to-distant future to justify and threaten the use of U.S. military forces against an American ally: Israel.

Here’s how such a seemingly impossible scenario might eventuate:

Cost of Living Hits Record, Tops Pre-Crisis High

Money News (Link) - Forrest Jones (March 21, 2011)

The cost of living in the United States is as high as ever, even worse than before the financial meltdown during the past few years.

A Labor Department index measuring the actual cost of living, known as the chained consumer price index, hit 127.4 in February, beating a previous record high 126.9 in July 2008, just as the housing crisis began to tighten its grip, CNBC reports.

That’s bad news for most Americans, especially considering the record comes at a time of weak economic activity and high unemployment rates.

“The Federal Reserve continues to focus on the rate of change in inflation,” says Peter Bookvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, according to CNBC.

“Sure, it’s moving at a slower pace, but the absolute cost of living is now back at a record high in a country that has seven million less jobs.”

Libyan army says 48 killed in strikes, rebels fear chemical weapons

Arab Herald (Link) (March 20, 2011)

Libyan opposition forces warned that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi could resort to the use of chemical weapons against rebels in the eastern city of Benghazi, according to a report published after the first air strikes overnight.

A French fighter jet launched the first attack Saturday evening, as the west began enforcing a UN-sanctioned no-fly zone over the conflict-ridden North African country. A Libyan military vehicle on the ground was destroyed in the bombing.

US and British ships later fired more than 100 Tomahawk cruise missiles at more than 20 air defences by the capital Tripoli, Gaddafi’s stronghold, and the western city of Misrata.

Libyan armed forces said 48 people were killed and 150 injured in the air strikes on ‘civilian areas’ in several cities.

In a statement carried by state television, the army said the cities of Sirte, Benghazi, Misrata and Zuwarah were also hit.

Gaddafi vowed to defend his country against ‘colonial aggression’ and declared he he would open arms depots to ‘all Libyans’ to defend the country’s independence.

Gazans fire 2 rockets; 2 militants killed in clash

Fox News (Link) - AP (March 20, 2011)

Palestinian militants fired two rockets into southern Israel on Sunday and Israeli troops killed two Palestinians in a new outburst along the volatile border with Gaza.

The violence came a day after Palestinian militants fired more than 50 mortar shells into Israel — the heaviest Palestinian barrage since a bruising Israeli military offensive in Gaza two years ago.

Both sides have largely honored an informal cease-fire since the 2009 war, in which about 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including militants and civilians. Israel says Hamas has rebuilt its arsenal, and a pattern of rocket attacks and Israeli reprisals has escalated in recent weeks.

The Hamas-allied Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for Sunday morning’s rocket attack, which caused no injuries or damage.

Militants in Gaza fired another rocket into southern Israel in the evening, exploding near the city of Ashkelon. No one was hurt.

Gaza: IDF tank-shield intercepts missile

YNet News (Link) - Ron Ben-Yishai (March 20, 2011)

Exchanges of fire between IDF soldiers and Palestinians were reported at around noon Sunday near the Al-Bureij refugee camp in Gaza.

During the fighting, Palestinians fired an anti-tank missile at a Merkava 4 tank, which is equipped with the “Windbreaker” defense system. The system intercepted the missile, and IDF forces responded with artillery fire.

The “Windbreaker” shield is marketed abroad under the name “Trophy.”

According to the Palestinians, one person was injured from the artillery fire.

Earlier, Palestinian media outlets reported of “irregular” movement of IDF armored vehicles near the security fence in south Gaza. According to reports, the vehicles were accompanied by helicopters.

The Rise of Samantha Power and the risks for the American- Israel relationship

American Thinker (Link) - Ed Lasky (March 20, 2011)

As stories leak out regarding who was responsible for Barack Obama’s sudden pivot from passivity regarding Libya towards military engagement (albeit with England and France being in the lead) one name has emerged as playing a key role in persuading him to push the button: Samantha Power.

Her influence might cause qualms among supporters of the American-Israel relationship. As has been covered by American Thinker and others (notably Noah Pollak in Commentary Contentions, among them), Power has been critical of the strength of this friendship and alliance. This concern should be now be heightened. Not only has she emerged as a key player in foreign policy but the rationale that was used to justify American actions towards Libya can be used by other nations - if not the United States - to justify more active involvement in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Power was Barack Obama’s most influential foreign policy adviser during the campaign; they go back years and are basketball and Blackberry buddies. Any influence she has would not be good for the American-Israel relationship-for reasons outlined here and here (where she said this regarding problems Barack Obama had during the campaign; “So much of it is about: Is he good for the Jews?”).

Police: Japan disaster death toll to top 18,000

Yahoo! News (Link) - AP (March 20, 2011)

Police officials estimate that the toll from Japan’s massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami will exceed 18,000 deaths.

One of the of the hardest-hit prefectures, Miyagi, estimates that the deaths will top 15,000 in that region alone, police spokesman Hitoshi Sugawara said. Police in other devastated areas declined to estimate eventual tolls, but said the confirmed deaths in their areas already number nearly 3,400.

The National Police Agency said the overall number of bodies collected so far stood at 8,649, while 13,262 people have been listed as missing. It is possible those two lists have overlap, and that some unidentified bodies in the tally of deaths may match names on the missing list once their identities are confirmed.

An eventual death toll also is complicated by the fact that the tsunami likely swept many bodies out to sea, as it did in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, when many of the dead were never found. Also, some missing people may have been out of the region at the time of the disasters but did not yet contact relatives or authorities.

In addition to Miyagi’s estimate of more than 15,000 dead, police confirmed nearly 3,400 deaths in Iwate, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Aomori and Chiba provinces, as well as seven dead in Tokyo. †

Iran warns Libyans of West’s “colonial” intentions

Reuters (Link) - Reporting by Mitra Amiri, Writing by Robin Pomeroy (March 20, 2011)

Iran warned Libyans on Sunday not to trust Western powers launching air strikes against Muammar Gaddafi’s troops, saying their aim was to gain neo-colonial control over the oil-rich nation.

Tehran has voiced support for the uprising against the Libyan leader, part of what it considers an “Islamic awakening” in the Arab world.

But as a long-time foe of the United States which in recent years has invaded and stationed troops in two of its neighbours, Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran expressed deep suspicion over Western military intervention in Libya.

“The records and the actions of the dominant countries in occupying oppressed countries means their intentions in such moves are always in doubt,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by students’ news agency ISNA.