28/10/06 - L'extrême droite entre au Gouvernement israélien

Labor MK: Lieberman's entry into gov't would mark 'black day'
Haaretz 28/10/06

"MK Raleb Majadele, one of nine Labor MKs opposed to the inclusion of the right-wing Yisrael Beteinu party in the government, said Friday that the party's entry into the coalition would mark a "black day for the Knesset of Israel, a black day for democracy.

Labor Party members opposed to the inclusion of Yisrael Beiteinu are demanding that a secret ballot on the matter be held at the Labor Central Committee meeting Sunday.

Majadele said that he will vote against Yisrael Beiteinu's entry into the coalition when the matter comes before the Knesset plenum.

"In my worst nightmares I never believed that the Labor Party would reach a day like this, with [Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor] Lieberman and us as coalition partners," Majadele told Israel Radio on Friday. Lieberman "denies the right of Israel's Arab citizens to exist," he said..."


U.S. Stays Mum On Israel’s Lieberman
The Jewish Week 27/10/06

"In Israel, a teetering government elected on the promise of unilaterally leaving much of the West Bank has been rescued by a politician opposed to any new pullouts. But the Bush administration, which recently renewed its call for creation of a Palestinian state, has reacted with barely a murmur..."


Lieberman is a strategic threat
Haaretz 27/10/06

"...The choice of the most unrestrained and irresponsible man around for this job constitutes a strategic threat in its own right. Lieberman's lack of restraint and his unbridled tongue, comparable only to those of Iran's president, are liable to bring disaster down upon the entire region..."

"...Who will be employed in the Ministry of Strategic Threats and what will their areas of responsibility be? Who will control Lieberman's tongue, and has anyone taken into account the dangers inherent in his threats? Was he chosen for this nonexistent post solely because he wanted it? If there is indeed an Iranian threat, should responsibility for dealing with it be entrusted to a junior coalition partner? Does not his very appointment convey fear rather than deterrence? Can one conclude from this appointment that the Iranian threat will be handled with the same lack of seriousness as the decision to go to war in Lebanon, and will the results not be much worse?..."


Ring the alarms
Guardian 25/10/06

"...Lieberman, who has previously threatened to bomb Tehran, the Aswan Dam, and (less impressively) Beirut, has been awarded the new portfolio of minister for strategic threats. In Israeli politics, this translates as "the minister for planning war with Iran", or possibly Gaza. But while his appointment is evidently a desperate move to try to ensure Olmert's political survival, it can also be interpreted as crass diplomacy or even a preparation for war..."


Olmert's New Coalition Partner: A Step Forward or Back?
Time 24/10/06

"...Olmert wooed Lieberman in part to preempt the Yisrael Beiteinu leader from coupling with his one-time mentor and leader of the Likud opposition, former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. While the move maintains the primacy of Olmert's Kadima party, some questioned how a Prime Minister already under fire for his management of the Hizballah war could hand Lieberman, who has no military or intelligence background, a position that carries at least some responsibility for watching Iran, which many Israeli leaders identify as their country's greatest threat..."


Far-right partner set to join Israeli government
WaPo 23/10/06

"Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert moved to shore up a government under fire over the Lebanon war on Monday by adding a far-right party whose leader wants to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

Announcing a widely expected political partnership, Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beitenu party, told reporters after meeting Olmert: "We are joining the government."

A statement from the prime minister's office confirmed the deal and said it had been presented to parliament for approval. It also needs to be approved by the cabinet..."


Lire également, Read also :

Mazuz: Speed up Lieberman probe
JPost 26/10/06

Mazuz orders to speed up Lieberman probe
ynetnews 25/10/06


Voir aussi, See also :

A Jewish Hitler? The rise of Avigdor Lieberman
Antiwar 27/10/06


28/10/06 - Stratégies US de contre-terrorisme en Afrique du Nord

‘Bin Laden of the Sahara’ captured in Chad
WaPo 28/10/06

"Locked in a prison here, for now, is a desert bandit dubbed the "Bin Laden of the Sahara," whose capture was secretly orchestrated by U.S. forces after a long chase across some of the most forbidding terrain on Earth.

Amari Saifi, 37, a former Algerian army paratrooper, was caught in 2004 after he and a band of rebel fighters kidnapped 32 European tourists in the Algerian Sahara and ransomed them for about $6 million.

Since then, the U.S. government has cited his case as a model for terrorist-hunting operations and a justification for expanding U.S. military, diplomatic and intelligence programs in North Africa.

A close examination of how Saifi was apprehended, however, highlights the quandaries facing the United States as it extends its fight against Islamic terrorism to remote parts of the globe. In its search for allies in an unstable region, the U.S. government reached out to Libya -- then still officially designated a state sponsor of terrorism -- and to other countries it has condemned for abusing human rights.

Some security analysts and European counterterrorism officials question the U.S. strategy. They contend the Pentagon may be inflating the importance of Saifi and the terrorist threat in both the Sahara and an equally large and desolate region to the south known as the Sahel.

By sending troops and partnering with repressive governments, U.S. tactics could backfire, said Hugh Roberts, North Africa project director for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

"The idea that you could have major jihadi units holing up there always struck me as implausible," Roberts said. "The quickest way to generate a jihadi movement is to send some U.S. soldiers in there to swagger around. The more visible the U.S. military presence, the bigger the target."..."


28/10/06 - Le rôle et l'influence de l'armée dans l'environnement international sécuritaire chinois

Shaping the PLA's Security Environment
Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College 16/10/06

"This volume addresses the role of the Chinese military in shaping its country’s security environment. The PLA itself is shaped and molded by both domestic and foreign influences. In the first decade of the 21st century, the PLA is not a central actor in China’s foreign policy the way it was just a few decades ago. Nevertheless, the significance of the PLA should not be discounted. The military remains a player that seeks to play a role and influence China’s policy towards the such countries and regions as United States, Japan, the Koreas, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Taiwan. It is important not to overlook that, in times of crisis or conflict, the role and influence of the PLA rise significantly..."


28/10/06 - Data Mining : La CIA ressuscite le "Total Information Awareness program"

'Total Information' lives again
UPI 26/10/06

"The new U.S. intelligence czar is developing a computer system capable of data-mining huge amounts of information about everyday events to discern patterns that look like terrorist planning.

The technology is reminiscent of the axed Total Information Awareness program.

Civil liberties and privacy advocates criticized the effort, called Tangram, which is being developed by contractors working for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

"They are misdirecting resources towards this kind of fanciful, science-fiction project," said ACLU attorney Tim Sparapani, "while neglecting the basics" of good counter-terrorist detective work.

The office of John Negroponte, the Director of National Intelligence, declined comment on the program, but it is described in some detail in a procurement document posted on the Web by the U.S. Air Force, and officials have said it is being tested without using any data about Americans.

The document says the system will build on previous work by U.S. intelligence agencies "developing systems, tools and algorithms to detect international terrorist activities and planned events" which have developed "methods of ... efficiently searching large data stores for evidence of known (terrorist) behaviors."

The document does not say what kind of information will be used, either to test and develop the system, or when it is deployed. An intelligence official who asked for anonymity told United Press International that the system was being tested using two data sets, one artificial, and the other consisting of intelligence data from the Department of Defense..."


28/10/06 - Les illusions du Dollar...

America and the Dollar Illusion
Spiegel 25/10/06

"The dollar is still the world's reserve currency, even though it hasn't deserved this status for a long time. The devaluation of the dollar can't be stopped -- it can only be deferred. The result could be a world economic crisis..."