SMCCDI (Information Service)
October 21, 2005

The controversial meeting which is to take place on October 26th, at the WDC based “American Enterprise Institute” (AEI), is mobilizing Iranian activists across the world. Protesters are objecting to the conference named “The Unknown Iran - Another Case for Federalism?” that they see it as a gradual promotion of a policy intended for splitting and the disintegration of Iran.

The protest campaign which has started, by the “Committee for Defense of Iranian Territorial Integrity” (CDITI), is now being amplified by several abroad based Iranian satellite TV or radio networks. Iranian opposition - to the Islamic regime - press or websites are also reporting the case and are helping increase the general awareness. Public Protest letters, to AEI and the conference’s organizers, are circulating on the Internet. Many of the writers were known for their friendly regards toward the AEI and its scholars.

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Today, the BBC published a piece that could be good news for Palestinians living in Gaza. Except for the BBC’s minor historical omissions, the article points out that Palestinians could turn their attentions to a novel idea: tourism, not terrorism:

Around the world, Gaza is seen only as a deeply troubled place - a bloody arena in the Palestinians’ confrontation with Israel.

But efforts are being made now to present a fuller picture.

The Palestinian Authority has approved a plan to build a national archaeological museum in Gaza.

Land has been set aside, and the United Nations is helping to develop the project. …

“Yes there was violence. But there is another face of Gaza - there is culture and archaeology and history.”

Boy, that is an understatement — try “terrorist chaos.” The BBC author rattles off various peoples with historical ties to Gaza, but conveniently leaves out Jewish history there.

Setting aside the politically correct revisionism, Palestinians have a chance to do some catching up for the last 100 years squandered on hate and terror. Maybe they could build a few new hotels near the planned museum, and attract some tourism, create some jobs. Concentrating a society’s intent on terrorism is just a waste of time, and has ended up giving the Palestinians much less land than they started with.

Egyptian Coptic Christians, a Middle Eastern minority swept under the rug by our dear friends on the Left, have continued to be persecuted by their homeland’s Muslim majority.

Some of Egypt’s Muslims once again proved they have no idea what free speech is, and fueled the fire of belief that Islam is completely intolerant. Their anti-Coptic riot killed 3 people. A Coptic nun got stabbed by some Muslim zealot.

All this because the Copts staged a play in 2003. According to the Scotsman:

Entitled I Once Was Blind But Now I See, the drama tells the story of a poor young Copt who is drawn to Islamist militants who then try to kill him.

Coptic Christian leaders say the play depicts the dangers of extremism, not of Islam.

Of course the appeasers will say that the Muslim extremists were justified in their rampage. In the leftist definition of “multiculturalism,” Muslims are given cart-blanche for their aberrations, because “that’s the way they deal with emotional issues.” Dear leftists: we’ll see what happens when Muslims try to burn down one of your churches. Will the grass still be greener?

Apparently, the UN investigation into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri found that complicity reached family members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But this fact was left out of the final report:

But the UN investigator who wrote the report has had to defend his decision to remove the names of five top Syrians from one section of the final draft.

The names included those of the brother and brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - Maher al-Assad and Asef Shawkat.

German Detlev Mehlis insisted at a hastily-arranged news conference that the names had been removed only to maintain their “presumption of innocence”, once he learned that his confidential report was to be made public.

In the removed section, a witness names the presidents’ relatives as being among five senior Syrians who decided in 2004 to kill Mr Hariri.

There goes the UN again, trying to protect one of its dictatorial members states — kind of like when it appointed Libya and Cuba to seats on its Human Rights Commission.

Poor Syria, it:

…finds itself almost completely isolated, with little support from other Arab nations, and faces the prospect of crippling UN sanctions…

It is about time. Syria, “with one of the world’s worst human rights records,” its sponsorship of terrorism, building of weapons of mass destruction, and brutal occupation of Lebanon for 30 years, is due for some change.

Google reported third-quarter financial results last night, and blew away the estimates of analysts. The company has certainly proved its business model — the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I would not touch the stock at these levels ($340/share), and there is hot competition from Yahoo! and MSN, but I would not doubt Google’s future viability as a profitable company:

Late Thursday, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google reported its quarterly net income rose more than sevenfold to $381 million, or a $1.32 a share. Excluding certain charges, Google earned $437 million, or $1.51 a share, topping analysts’ forecasts of $1.37.

Google also said sales grew 96% to $1.578 billion, of which 39% came from international markets. Excluding the commissions Google pays to its distribution partners, net revenue rose 110% to $1.05 billion, exceeding analysts’ consensus estimate of $942 million, and even more aggressive estimates of $979 million.

Allen Wastler, Managing Editor of CNNMoney.com, rants about tax loopholes for big corporations. There is some truth in what he says:

The American people have a bone to pick with the Presidential Tax Reform Panel. And Big Business owes it a beer. …

It’s not that the panel members didn’t have some good ideas. They did. Eliminating the marriage penalty and that &*%**#$ alternative minimum tax are damn good ideas. (Yes, I’m married and get hit with the AMT)

But to pay for those good moves, the panel is playing tired old games with other parts of the tax code and poking at sacred cows like the mortgage interest deduction and healthcare benefits. (You can read a summary of their plans here). …

In 1952, corporations accounted for 32 percent of federal tax receipts (the post-war peak). In 2003, corporations accounted for 7.4 percent of federal tax receipts.

That just doesn’t seem fair, does it? I checked for 2004. Corporations paid 10.6 percent of the tax bill — $184.8 billion. Reminder: our federal budget deficit is about $413 billion. If corporations were kicking in at the old 1952 rate, we’d have no problem.

While tax breaks for corporations can have a stimulative effect on the economy, there are excesses in the current and now proposed tax rules. When guys like New York Stock Exchange chairman Richard Grasso can make $139.5 million as one year’s pay, I would call that an excess.

The UN has released its preliminary findings into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri was a diehard (and now very dead) opponent of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon:

Building on the findings of the Commission and Lebanese investigations to date and on the basis of the material and documentary evidence collected, and the leads pursued until now, there is converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in this terrorist act. It is a well known fact that Syrian Military Intelligence had a pervasive presence in Lebanon at the least until the withdrawal of the Syrian forces pursuant to resolution 1559. The former senior security officials of Lebanon were their appointees. Given the infiltration of Lebanese institutions and society by the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services working in tandem, it would be difficult to envisage a scenario whereby such a complex assassination plot could have been carried out without their knowledge.

The “suicide” of Syria’s Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan last week did not help matters for the already isolated Assad regime. Strange that Kanaan conveniently died after talking with the UN team investigating Hariri’s murder and before the release of the official report:

But, given Mr Kanaan’s long and intimate connection with neighbouring Lebanon, many will regard his death as suspicious and will link it to the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February.

Press release from www.theisraelproject.org

Washington, D.C. - In remarks to reporters today at the White House, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he and his new government have been working towards peace and claimed a successful policy of organizing a ceasefire among all recognized Palestinian factions. Yet he failed to acknowledge that he hasn’t disarmed the terrorist group Hamas and that the armed faction of his own party murdered three Israeli civilians just days ago.

“Although I’m heartened to hear Palestinian President Abbas’s words of peace, now is the time for him to follow it with deeds” said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder & president of The Israel Project, a non-profit organization devoted to educating the public about Israel. “This summer Israel made painful sacrifices for peace - relocating more than 9,000 people and closing schools, businesses, places of worship and farms so that the Palestinians can have all of Gaza.”

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Now that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has a clear mandate for economic reform, he has wasted no time in transforming his electoral capital into practical results. Koizumi has finally unlocked the wealth now wallowing in the country’s “Yucho.” Japan’s stock market — indeed, its entire economy — is poised for years of sustained growth. This growth will help to buoy the world economy, too.

Last Friday, Japan’s Diet (Parliament) approved legislation that will privatize the $3 trillion held by Japan’s postal service. The postal service? In Japan, the “Yubin” is more than just mailing letters. For the last 130 years, post offices have also served as local savings banks for conservative grannies and grampas to stash their hard-earned money.

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By Kamal Nawash, Esq.

(Washington, DC 10/18/05) The Free Muslims Coalition, a national Muslim organization, argues against the execution of Saddam Hussein.

On October 18, Saddam Hussein will appear in an Iraqi court to answer criminal charges. Mr. Hussein will begin accounting for his past in a case centering on the execution of more than 140 men and teenage boys in Dujail, a mostly Shiite town north of Baghdad. The victims were apprehended after an assassination attempt against Mr. Hussein there in 1982.

The coming trial of Saddam Hussein has raised questions about the fairness of his trial and whether he should be executed. Many in the Kurdish and Shia communities would like to see a quick trial followed by an immediate execution. Last month, Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, told the state-run television network that tribunal officials had told him that Mr. Hussein had admitted to ordering the massacres of Kurds in a military offensive known as the Anfal campaign. “He confessed about the Anfal executions, Saddam should be executed 20 times.” President Talabani said.

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by Michael Rubin
National Review Online*
October 19, 2005
http://www.meforum.org/article/778
* Cross-posted with permission

Istanbul - Back in June, Turks did a double-take when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan began his monthly television address. Rather than speak before the traditional backdrop of the Turkish flag and a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the republic, Erdogan spoke before photos of Ataturk’s mausoleum and a mosque. The message, Turks said, was clear. Ataturk was dead, but Islam lives on.

In November 2002, Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party [AKP] swept to power with just over a third of votes cast but took two thirds of the seats in parliament because only one other party surpassed the mandatory ten-percent threshold to enter the national assembly.

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How often have you heard the cliche, “One is a freedom fighter, one is a terrorist. Can you tell the difference?” Is discernment so difficult?

Hamas terrorists recently murdered a Palestinian police commander and two civilians. “Palestinian police officers have broken into the parliament in Gaza to demand a crackdown on the militant group Hamas,” according to the BBC. [1]

How does Hamas celebrate? It fills a truck with homemade explosives, and then drives that truck through dense crowds of Palestinian civilians. When the truck accidentally explodes, killing 15 children, women, and men, what does Hamas do? It blames Israel and fires rockets at Israeli civilians.

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A briefing by Patrick Clawson
Middle East Forum*
September 16, 2005
http://www.meforum.org/article/776
* Cross-posted with permission

Patrick Clawson is deputy director for research of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He received his Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research and is widely published. He is senior editor of the Middle East Quarterly.

Why does the Iranian nuclear program pose such a threat to U.S. interests? The first reason is the character of Islamic republic. Its supreme leader states repeatedly that Israel should be wiped off the earth, and such frightening statements are backed up by the a long history of sponsoring terrorism. These include the American embassy hostage taking, blowing up of U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, and the blowing up of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996. Iranian officials even admit that key Al-Qaeda leaders are still on Iranian territory. While Iran claims they are under arrest, these Al-Qaeda members were still able to call Saudi Arabia to order bombings there.

Besides the Islamic Republic itself, there are other reasons for concern regarding Iran’s nuclear aspirations. Arab countries in the region do not have nuclear weapons, and are dissatisfied with the status quo. If Iran acquired nuclear arms, it would provoke a nuclear arms race in the region.

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by Michael Rubin
Wall Street Journal*
October 18, 2005
http://www.meforum.org/article/775
* Cross-posted with permission

On Oct. 15, Iraqis demonstrated that their desire to determine the future through the ballot box was the rule rather than the exception. Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen; Sunnis, Shiites and Christians–all braved threats of violence to vote. The vast majority voted in favor of the constitution. But whatever their positions, Iraqis considered their decision carefully. The referendum campaign was active. Dueling commercials and newscasts sought to sway the Iraqi vote. Such is the nature of politics in a country no longer subject to state-controlled media.

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by Daniel Pipes
New York Sun*
October 18, 2005
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3043
* Cross-posted with permission

Two recent stories dramatically illustrate Europe’s looming immigration problem.

One concerns a gang reported to have smuggled 100,000 illegal immigrants, mainly Turkish Kurds, into Great Britain. These economic migrants paid between £3,000 ($3,600) and £5,000 ($6,000) to be transported via an elaborate and dangerous route. The Independent explains: “Their journeys lasted several weeks and involved safe houses, lorries with secret compartments and, in some cases, clandestine flights to airfields in the South-east.”

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