As a rising international power, Brazil under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva outlined a comprehensive national defense plan aimed at controlling and defending national territory, extending its maritime reach, and developing cutting-edge defense technology. The plan calls for reorganization of the army, air and space capabilities to cover Brazil’s extensive territory (including the Amazon), […]
President Obama’s oil spill commission spent six months examining the “root causes” of the Gulf disaster, yet never inspected the failed blowout preventer — the part of the well that could have, as its name suggests, prevented the explosion. At a House Natural Resources Committee hearing this week, the co-chairmen of the National Oil Spill […]
Last Thursday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner sent a letter extolling the impact of Obamacare on small business. Geithner touted small business tax credits and the creation of health insurance exchanges as ways to enable a greater number of employers to offer health benefits. But reality tells a different story. A day earlier, the House Committee […]
It is the prophet Amos who said that the wise man would be silent at that time. There is a great deal of confusion about the eventual outcome in Egypt. A correspondent for the Economist began by rapturously chronicling the fall of the regime as electronic files were being destroyed and then he relented and […]
The United States in the past last three years supported ‘democracy activists” who planned to overthrow the Mubarak regime, according to leaked cables quoted by the London Telegraph. “[Unidentified activist] expressed satisfaction with the December 3-5 ‘Alliance of Youth Movements Summit’ in New York, noting that he was able to meet activists from other countries […]
Tensions on the streets of Cairo continue to rise. Looters have taken advantage of the widespread disappearance of the reviled police to smash and grab what they can. Gangs have attacked prisons to release Muslim militants held there along with hundreds of common criminals, who have added to the chaos. The Egyptian army, which was […]
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has succumbed to fears of a revolution and announced Saturday the appointment of intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as his first-ever vice president. He also dismissed his cabinet. Suleiman has been a prominent figure in diplomatic ties with Israel and often has acted as a broker in talks between Israel and the […]
Egypt copied Iranian tactics of two years ago and used brutal force against anti-government protesters Saturday, killed up to 108. Meanwhile, Israel was the first country to evacuate diplomats and their families. Philippine is preparing to evacuate 6,500 Filipinos working and studying in Egypt in case the situation grows worse. The Foreign Ministry said it […]
Hizbullah agents have infiltrated Gaza and are teaching local terrorist groups more advanced tactics, Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Yaalon warned Thursday. The Lebanon-based terrorist group even has a special unit that deals with terrorists in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, he said. The Hizbullah presence in Gaza began after Israel’s withdrawal in the 2005 “Disengagement,” […]
With no fewer than five major areas of unrest/revolutions/regime changes going on in the Arab world, Arab satellite television, one of the mainstays of information dissemination in the Middle East, has been playing a major role in communicating news – or attempting, if not to suppress it, then at least to spin it. For most […]
