Europe Ensures That The Taliban Will Prevail In Afghanistan
Classified Polnews
For the Afghan government to survive against the Taliban it must have the support of a local people. But as long as the Afghan government takes actions against the Afghan people and the Taliban help the Afghan people, the Taliban will prevail. And it is the Europeans, as well as others in the economically well-off West, that make it possible for the Taliban to prevail.
Poland
The people of Afghanistan are just that. They are people. They have lives to live and they must earn an income. And if they are going to work it makes most sense for them to work where they make most money. When they grow drug crops they make 5 to 10 times the amount of money that they would make if they were to grow wheat. So they grow drug crops to satisfy the market.
The Afghan government, supported by the Western troops in Afghanistan, plow under the fields of drug crops and cut the income of the Afghanistan people. So the people turn to the Taliban for protection of their crops. They turn against the government and turn to the Taliban.
These people are only trying to make a living and are only responding to the demand for the drugs that come from Europe and other countries in the West. As long as Europeans and others place a heavy demand on the drug markets for their drugs, there will be people like the Taliban who will take advantage of the situation and take control.
Trying to cut off drugs at the source has not worked in the past and there is no reason to believe that it will work in the future. As long as there is a demand from Europe and the Western countries, Afghan people will do whatever is necessary to supply that demand when it meets their economic needs. And as long as Europe demands the drugs, the Afghan people will take the protection of the Taliban and reject the overtures of the West
And as long as drug enforcement laws in Europe make the cost of supplying European demand high, the people of Europe will ensure the victory of the Taliban.
European News Review
Here are highlights from major news sources around the world. Because of Europe's large populations of people from Muslim nations and the likely eventual joining of Turkey to the EU community, events and items affecting the perception of Islam in Europe are included in this review.
Each item is linked directly to the source. You are encouraged to visit the source for complete information and to leave any comments that you might have on that particular item.
Taliban Bungle Their Bombs Typically, a group of Taliban will move into an area where the police are destroying poppy fields. The Taliban will ambush and harass the police, until the cops leave the poppy farmers alone. The grateful farmers will then support the Taliban. This is an important function, as the drug gangs don't want to take on police and troops. Farmers who manage to grow a poppy crop, will find the drug gangs ready to pay cash, which is 5-10 times what the farmer would make growing the traditional wheat crop.
Pragmatism versus dogma in Maastricht While new plans in the Netherlands to further liberalise its drug policies have met with great support within the country, its neighbours look on in horror. Do coffeshops works? (Michiel Schipper) Three years as the mayor of Maastricht have changed the attitude of Gerd Leers towards liberal drug policies. Once a strong supporter of prohibition, he recently proposed the creation of ‘cannabis boulevards’ in border areas outside the city to counter problems linked with cross-border drug tourism. He is also in favour of the regulation of the sale of cannabis to coffeeshops. This is a direct move to counter a flourishing black-market, for while selling cannabis may be legal in the Netherlands, its production is definitely not. The Maastricht coffee shops attract around 1.5 million drug tourists every year, mostly from Germany, Belgium and France. These young people are drawn to buying their dope in the Netherlands like moths to a flame. The enormous demand created by these tourists causes serious disturbances in the city centre, and more importantly, causes an increase in drug related crime
Somali World Cup viewers killed The Islamists control much of southern Somalia. Two people are reported dead after Islamist gunmen in central Somalia opened fire in a cinema where people were watching a banned World Cup match. The cinema owner and a young girl were reportedly killed by militia loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts, who seized control of parts of Somalia last month. The courts have introduced Sharia law in areas under their authority, including a World Cup broadcast ban.
" TERRORISM: ISLAMIST WEBSITE EXALTS ITALIAN ARRESTS In a banner headline an Islamist website close to al-Qaeda has welcomed with jubilation the arrest on Wednesday of two officials from Italy SISMI intelligence agency - its director Marco Mancini and Gen. Gustavo Pignero - over the alleged kidnapping of former Egyptian cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr on Italian soil by CIA agents and his subsequent interrogation and torture in Egypt.
A Year Later, Homegrown Terror Still Baffles Britons On July 7, 2005, suicide bombers hit a double-decker bus and three trains in London, killing 52 other people. And, with some anxiety, Britons are still asking what inspired the onslaught by British-born Muslims, and whether the dark undercurrents of July 7, 2005, could resurface in a new attack.
St. George has nothing to do with religion It may sound like an odd thing to claim that a 'saint' has nothing to do with religion but in the case of St. George, that is quite a reasonable thing to say. Thus when the politically correct functionaries of the Church of England start floating the idea of replacing St. George with St. Alban as the patron saint of England, I would have to say that the Church of England are flattering themselves if they think it is actually up to them. Dating from the reign of Edward III, a certain conception of St. George has been part of English iconography considerably longer that there has been a Church of England and I suspect the association of this mythic dragon-slayer with 'Englishness' will outlive England's established church. In a post-Christian society like England, St. George, who may or may not have been a Roman general, is really just a cultural construct that embodies certain mythic values ascribed to England. And that is, of course, why the emasculated appeasers who make up the leadership of the Church of England really want to replace the mythic warrior St. George: But the Church of England is considering rejecting England's patron saint St. George on the grounds that his image is too warlike and may offend Muslims.
Finland says EU must remain open Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen has said the European Union must remain "open" to new members that fulfil the membership criteria.
ECB seen leaving rates at 2.75% The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Thursday. Rates probably will stay at 2.75% despite increasing signs that economic growth is improving, analysts said.
Leak Disrupts French Terror Trial A French terrorism trial was thrown into turmoil on Wednesday by a leaked report that French intelligence agents had secretly interviewed the six defendants during their detention by the United States at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. The revelation by the daily newspaper Libération is an embarrassment for the French government, which has long expressed official disdain for the American policy of detaining terrorism suspects beyond the reach of law.
In Search of European Democracy Many of the major European countries have developed a top down political system rather than a bottom up one. Top down is a system where a small group of political elites decides what it thinks is best for the people. France is a prime example. Most of the French political leaders went to the same, very small, elite school in Paris and developed a very tight “old boy network,” hence the left-leaning and so-called right-leaning leaders are all fans of “big government” where they have control. The parliamentarians are all very firmly controlled by the party leaders; hence, unlike the U.S., dissenting votes are rare.
US Polish embassy caught in property dispute Albert Czetwertynski led about two dozen Polish aristocrats to the US embassy in central Warsaw yesterday to demand the restitution of a building he says was stolen from his family by the postwar communist government and leased to the US. Shouting though a bullhorn outside the embassy building, Ed Fagan, the family's US lawyer, chanted "Shame on you" and threatened to sue the US government for $25m in compensation and an additional $250m in damages for taking the family's property. The Czetwertynskis' palace was taken by the communist government in 1950, after the owner was arrested, charged with spying and his property rights rescinded. The palace was destroyed in 1960 and replaced by the current modern building. The US government says that the family should negotiate with the Polish government, because the US obtained the embassy grounds legally.
Poland Condemns German Media Satire of its President Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz is not pleased with the German "tageszeitung". Poland's conservative government Tuesday lashed out at a German left-wing daily that satirized Polish President Lech Kaczynski, as officials demanded that political leaders in Germany condemn the newspaper.
SEVEN POLISH EX-FOREIGN MINISTERS ATTACK PRESIDENT OVER SUMMIT Seven Polish ex-foreign ministers Wednesday launched a stinging attack on Poland's President Lech Kaczynski for failing to attend a summit with France and Germany and causing the meeting to be postponed. "Calling off the summit meeting without giving a serious and credible reason shows disregard of our partners," said the former ministers in a statement issued in Strasbourg and cited by Poland's PAP news agency. "We see such conduct as damaging to the interests of Poland and Poles," said the former ministers, mostly liberals and Social Democrats.
Poland declares war on army corruption Polish Defence Minister Radoslaw Sikorski declared war yesterday on corruption in the army, where shady practices extend even to the selection of soldiers for dangerous but lucrative missions in Iraq. Astonished at the level of graft he has unearthed since his appointment eight months ago, Sikorski vowed to root out practices such as the sale of diplomas to soldiers bound for missions abroad that “prove” they speak English.
Poland undecided on U.S. offer to build anti-missile shield: official Polish Deputy Defence Minister Stanislaw Koziej said on Thursday that Poland was yet to make any decision on a U.S. offer to build an anti-missile shield in the country, the PAP news agency reported.
U.S. not making any friends in Poland How to Lose Friends and Tick Off People would be the perfect title for a parody of arguably the most enduring book ever written on the art of getting along. Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People has been around since 1936, but President George W. Bush and his administration don’t seem to have heard about it, let alone tried to apply its guidelines to Poland. I was astounded by the depth of resentment among Poles at the shabby treatment they receive when they wish to travel to the United States. There is a hurt you can almost touch when Poles talk about visas which they, America’s most loyal allies in Europe, must get before they can visit the land of the free.
Forget the Missiles, This is Even More Bizarre
North Korean officials engage in even more bizarre behavior. For example, food and fuel supplies sent to North Korea have been halted, not to force North Korea to stop missile tests or participate in peace talks, but to return the Chinese trains the aid was carried in on. In the last few weeks, the North Koreans have just kept the trains, sending the Chinese crews back across the border. North Korea just ignores Chinese demands that the trains be returned, and insists that the trains are part of the aid program. It's no secret that North Korean railroad stock is falling apart, after decades of poor maintenance and not much new equipment. Stealing Chinese trains is a typical loony-tune North Korean solution to the problem.
Jordan-Muslim Brotherhood Conflict Heats Up After Zarqawi Homage The Jordanian government is moving to clamp down on the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood and its Jordanian political arm, the Islamic Action Front (IAF). The IAF, like the Palestinian Hamas, was inspired by and in part founded by activists from the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Yet while Hamas has maintained active military operations and has been banned in Jordan for several years, and while the Muslim Brotherhood itself has disavowed violence within Egypt but nevertheless remains banned there, the MB and the IAF are both legal in Jordan and the IAF is represented in parliament. Following the recent killing of Abu Musab Zarqawi in Iraq, four Islamist members of the parliament went to his family home and openly paid their respects to the brutal terrorist. The government arrested them, and this was followed by a harsh declaration issued by several prominent Islamists calling for the replacement of the government. This appears to have been the immediate catalyst to what is looking like the most serious crackdown on Islamist activity in Jordan for some time.
IRAN: PASDARAN SEEK TO CONTROL ECONOMY Iran's revolutionary guards corps, the Pasdaran are seeking to control the economy of the Islamic Republic. The acquisition by the Pasdaran of Oriental Kish, the country's main private oil company - reportedly for 90 million dollars - is worrying many in Iran.
Polish Telecommunication authorities to free the access WLR With a small delay on Monday the Polish telecommunication authorities plan to announce their decision freeing the WLR market. The Polish electronic media authorities UKE should on Monday issue a key decision for the telecommunication market – the decision on wholesale line rental (WLR). At first, the decision will concern only Tele2 which filed a suit against TP, the national former monopoly telecom. “We will wait several months to see how it works. Then we will try to make it general and use analogical rules to the framework offer so that they apply to the other operators as well”, Anna Strezynska, UKE CEO said. In the future, all telecoms will offer their clients one subscription fee and unlimited quantity of calls. That’s why lower WLR fees at TP are key for the competition in the sector.
Living Dangerously in Belgium Remember, Brits view us Americans as awash in violent crime. In fact all Europeans do. Via The Brussels Journal: Murder and manslaughter in the U.S.: 16,137 cases in 2004 (5.5 per 100,000 inhabitants). Percent change compared to 2003: -2.4 Murder and manslaughter (moord en doodslag) in Belgium: 959 cases in 2004 (9.1 per 100,000 inhabitants). Percent change compared to 2003: +11,12 BTW, the rate of violent crime in America was always low outside the overpopulated cities and has fallen greatly during the last 15 years (by over 50% in NYC alone) almost everywhere EXCEPT in pockets jam-packed with illegal immigrants, like Los Angeles, where there has been a black-on-brown race war that is only now being brought under control.
MEPs get new watchdog role on commission's daily work The European Parliament is set on Thursday (6 July) to approve a major institutional deal granting MEPs the right to block European Commission measures implementing existing EU laws - such as the approval of GMOs on the EU market.
EU tax on offshore savings falls flat Europe’s 14-year struggle to tax its citizens’ offshore savings has flopped, after investors in countries such as Switzerland and Luxembourg exploited loopholes in a controversial savings law. In the first six months of the law’s operation, Switzerland – the world’s leading offshore financial centre – raised only Euro 100m in withholding taxes on the vast savings held there by European Union citizens
