Islam's war on freedom - a notoriously one-sided view of free speech

This is an older video, but what he is saying needs to be heard over and over agains so people don't become complacent to what's happening around them.
Rees

North Korea Expelling Nuclear Inspectors

from Sky News
Tuesday April 14, 2009

North Korea is expelling the UN's nuclear inspectors and has vowed to reactivate its nuclear reactor, the International Atomic Energy Agency has said

Pyongyang told the monitors to remove seals and cameras from the Yongbyon site, which makes bomb-grade plutonium, and leave the country as quickly as possible.

It also said it was ceasing all cooperation with the energy agency, which is the UN's nuclear watchdog.

North Korea's move came after it declared it would leave six-party talks on scrapping its nuclear programme.

The communist state has faced heavy criticism after recently launching a long-range rocket which some believe was a disguised ballistic missile test.

Pyongyang said the rocket was carrying a satellite and the mission was peaceful.

After news of the expulsions, the United States called on North Korea to "cease its provocative threats" and respect the will of the international community by honouring its international commitments.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Pyongyang's vow to restart its nuclear reactor and boycott international disarmament talks is a serious step in the wrong direction.

Britain's Foreign Office said North Korea's decision to cease co-operation with the watchdog was "completely unjustified".

It urged the country not to pull out of the so-called six-party talks with the US, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan.

On Monday, the UN Security Council unanimously condemned the rocket firing on April 5. It said it contravened a UN ban and demanded enforcement of existing sanctions against the country.

UN nuclear watchdog spokesman, Marc Vidricaire, said the small inspection team had been ordered out of the country "at the earliest possible time".

He said: "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has today informed IAEA inspectors in the Yongbyon facility that it is immediately ceasing all cooperation with the IAEA.

"It has requested the removal of all containment and surveillance equipment, following which IAEA inspectors will no longer be provided access to the facility."

He added: "The (North) also informed the IAEA that it has decided to reactivate all facilities and go ahead with the reprocessing of spent fuel."
Click to read the article

NATO selects Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as Secretary General

NATO praises Obama, but pledges FEW Afghan troops.

It was not immediately clear how the selection of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as Secretary General would affect the war effort.

Rasmussen upset many Muslims when he refused to apologize for the 12 drawings of the Prophet Muhammad - including one of which showed the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb (shown here)

Apr 4, 2009
from Breitbart.com
By SLOBODAN LEKIC
Associated Press Writer

STRASBOURG, France (AP) - European leaders enthusiastically praised President Barack Obama's new Afghan strategy at a NATO summit Saturday but held their ground on a central disagreement and offered only military trainers and extra security forces for upcoming elections.

Violent anti-war protests that marred the alliance's 60th anniversary celebrations were a stark reminder that much of Europe has no appetite for the other, costlier half of Obama's Afghan equation: more combat troops.

"I am pleased that our NATO allies pledged their strong and unanimous support for our new strategy," Obama said. "We'll need more resources and a sustained effort to achieve our ultimate goals."

As protesters battled police outside, NATO risked angering Muslims around the world by giving the post of secretary-general to the prime minister of Denmark, who fueled anger three years ago by backing a Danish newspaper's right to publish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The 28 leaders at the summit also approved measures to repair ties with Russia—virtually frozen since the Russo-Georgian war in August.

Afghanistan is seen as a crucial test of the power and relevance of the alliance, which was founded at the height of the Cold War to counterbalance the Soviet Union and now is struggling against a rising insurgency far beyond its borders.

The escalating war has highlighted doubts in Europe about the ability of NATO's 58,000 troops to stem the Taliban insurgency. Worries about casualties and costs have contributed to opposition to a conflict many Europeans see as an unnecessary distraction during economic crisis.

Despite a security crackdown on both sides of the Franco-German border, thousands of anti-war protesters fought running street battles with police, setting ablaze a hotel and a customs post and forcing the leaders' spouses to cancel a visit to a nearby cancer hospital.

During the summit, jointly co-hosted by France and Germany as a symbol of European unity, Obama briefed NATO leaders about his new strategy aimed at stabilizing Afghanistan while rooting out Taliban and al-Qaida hard-liners in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

After the meeting, Obama heralded what he called "concrete commitments" from NATO allies on Afghanistan, saying their agreement to send up to 5,000 more trainers and police was "a strong down payment" toward securing the country.

Obama's new strategy has him adding 21,000 U.S. troops to an American force of 38,000.
The White House said NATO countries agreed to send 3,000 personnel on short-term deployments, to help stabilize Afghanistan before elections in August. An additional 1,400 to 2,000 will provide training for Afghanistan's national army.

NATO's outgoing Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the alliance would set up a trust fund for the Afghan National Army, and provide monitoring and liaison teams that would work with Afghanistan's fledgling security forces.

The alliance must ensure "no more terrorist danger emanates from Afghanistan," German Chancellor Angela Merle said.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown echoed Obama's argument that Afghanistan was key to Europe's security.

Now we are working to build a successful, democratic Afghanistan and that will be that our streets will be safer in Britain," he said. "With important presidential elections to come in the next few months we must not allow the Taliban to disrupt the democratic process."

It was not immediately clear how the selection of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen would effect the war effort. Fogh Rasmussen's candidacy for NATO's top civilian post was initially opposed by Turkey, whose leaders pointed out that the choice would antagonize predominantly Muslim Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Fogh Rasmussen appeared arrogant to many Muslims, when he refused to apologize for the 12 drawings of the Prophet Muhammad—including one of which showed the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb—that sparked angry protests in 2006 throughout the Middle East and South Asia.

NATO said it had agreed to address various Turkish "concerns." Turkey said its requests had included the closure of a Kurdish satellite television broadcaster based in Denmark; the establishment of contacts between NATO and Islamic countries; appointment of a Turk as an aide to Fogh Rasmussen, and senior NATO command positions for Turkish generals.

Fogh Rasmussen denied making undue concessions to the Turks, and pledged to improve relations between NATO and the Muslim world.

"I will make a very clear outreach to the Muslim world and do my utmost to ensure a positive cooperation and intensified dialogue with Muslim countries," he told a news conference after the summit.

Click to read the rest of the article

No To at NATO - Obama's Failure to secure combat troop support from our NATO allies

from Cheat-Seeking Missiles

April 4th 2009
Obama’s NATO Failure
Posted by: Laer

Oh, they love him and think he’s just great, but Prez-O’s going away gift from NATO was just a crummy T-shirt emblazoned with, “I went to France and all I got was 5,000 non-combatant troops.” Charm or no charm, Obama is no more successful than his much reviled predecessor when it comes to moving Europe.

But he’s much better at lying about it:

“I am pleased that our NATO allies pledged their strong and unanimous support for our new strategy. We’ll need more resources and a sustained effort to achieve our ultimate goals.”

Sorry; if you need more resources and sustained effort to achieve our goals, why are you pleased with NATO’s laughably puny decision, and why do you call it “strong?” Is that like calling the debt-hole-digging budget “A New Era of Responsiblity?” It’s more like the same old era of Europe counting on us to defend it, and criticising us when we do.

The 27 other NATO countries agreed to send 3,000 personnel on short-term deployments leading up to Afghanistan’s August elections, so they’ll be there for four months max. Another 1,400 to 2,000 will provide training for Afghanistan’s army. That’s it - but Angela Merle assures us that it’s enough to ensure that “no more terrorist danger emanates from Afghanistan.”

Wanna bet?

Click to read the rest of the article and comments

Police, protesters clash before NATO summit

STRASBOURG, France – Riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to beat back a crowd of several hundred anti-NATO protesters in Strasbourg on Thursday as the city in eastern France, host of the alliance's 60th anniversary summit, readied for the arrival of world leaders.

Police lobbed hundreds of tear gas canisters during clashes between about 40 riot police and some 200 masked protesters in the neighborhood of Neuhoff, in the southern part of the city near the German border.

The masked protesters had been among a crowd of about 800 demonstrators when they broke away and repeatedly pelted officers with rocks and bottles. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Police said a dozen protesters were arrested. At one point, protesters set fire in the middle of a street to building materials they had scooped up from a nearby construction site.
By late Thursday, calm had returned to Strasbourg, but two more full days of planned protests lie ahead.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have descended on Strasbourg and two southwest German towns to protest the cross-border summit of members of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, which begins Friday. In Strasbourg, many shops and small businesses have shut down during the summit.

Twenty-eight world leaders will attend the two-day summit, including President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Click to read the rest of the article

OBAMA: Read My Lips - No New...oops!

In this Sept. 12, 2008, file photo Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at the McConnell Center in Dover, N.H.

"I can make a firm pledge," he said there; "Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."

That pledge went up in smoke Wednesday, April 1, 2009, when largest increase in tobacco taxes, took effect, a tax that disproportionately affects the poor. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

from Breitbart.com

April 2, 2009

Brown and Obama deny G20 splits as protesters scuffle with police

Anti-capitalist protesters scuffled with police outside the Bank of England today as Gordon Brown received a series of world leaders in Downing Street to prepare for tomorrow's G20 summit.

First up was Barack Obama, making his first trip outside North America since his inauguration, The US President and his wife, Michelle, received a rare round of applause from staff at No 10 as they arrived for a breakfast meeting this morning.

Mr Obama's outsized motorcade was just the first in a series of armoured convoys due to pass through the Downing Street gates. The Prime Minister was also holding talks with President Medvedev of Russia, President Hu of China, the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh and Taro Aso, Prime Minister of Japan.

But the two leaders who most threaten to upset Mr Brown's plans for the G20 are not due at No 10 until this evening when all the G20 heads of state and government meet for a pre-summit dinner.

Mr Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, have already scuppered UK attempts to have the meeting endorse a massive and coordinated fiscal stimulus. They are now pushing for the summit to make clear progress on tighter regulation of financial markets to replace the "light-touch" Anglo-Saxon model blamed for the current crisis.

Asked on Europe 1 this morning about a Times report that he would be prepared to walk out of the summit if he does not agree with its conclusions, Mr Sarkozy replied: "I will not associate myself with a summit that would end with a communiqué made of false compromises that would not tackle the issues that concern us."

He went on: "As of today, there is no firm agreement in place. The conversation is going forward, there are projects on the table. As things stand at the moment, these projects do not suit France or Germany."

At a joint press conference with Mr Brown, Mr Obama denied that there was any real disagreement on the need for governments to boost their economies, just normal discussions as to how best to do it.

"The truth is that that's just arguing at the margins," he said. "The core notion that government has to take some steps to deal with a contracting market place and to restore growth is not in dispute."

Mr Brown also did his best to laugh off Mr Sarkozy's walk-out threat. "I'm confident that President Sarkozy will be here not just for the first course of our dinner but will still be here when we complete our dinner this evening," he said.

The Metropolitan Police said that around 4,000 protesters had gathered in the City for a protest outside the Bank of England and a "Meltdown Carnival" headlined by the left-wing rock singer Billy Bragg.

Mixing in with them were City workers who had deliberately "dressed down" – on police advice – to avoid being the targets of protesters.

In clear spring sunshine, the protests were initially good-natured, but isolated scuffles soon saw police retreat behind their barriers. By 1pm, the violence was worsening, with police using their batons to push back the crowds.

Even before the protest began, 11 people were arrested as they drove an armoured personnel carrier - painted blue with the words "riot police" in capital letters – towards Bishopsgate. All 11 were arrested for being in possession of police uniforms.

More than 30 forces have provided specialist officers for the days around the summit when there will be unprecedented levels of protests and 40 diplomatic delegations requiring security.

While hopes of a new co-ordinated international stimulus of the world economy have faded, negotiations are proceeding on rules to curb excessive bonuses, control tax havens, extend regulation to hedge funds, introduce greater co-operation between national regulators and draw up fresh mechanisms to stop protectionism.

The summit at the ExCeL centre in Docklands comes as the World Bank said that the global economy would shrink by 1.7 per cent this year and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development predicted a 2.7 per cent contraction, the worst since the Second World War.

But while Mr Brown pointed out that G20 governments had already agreed fiscal stimulus packages totalling more than $2 trillion, Mr Obama warned that the rest of the world could not simply rely on "voracious" American consumers to drive the global recovery.

"If there is to be new growth, it cannot just be the United States as the engine," he said. "Everyone is going to have to pick up the pace."

Click to go to the article

G20 Protests turn violent

Protesters break into RBS building

from the Times Online

April 1, 2009

Anti-capitalist protesters are believed to have broken into a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland in the centre of London today after smashing windows with a volley of missiles.

With police on horseback unable to maintain control and being forced back, a series of windows at the building were broken, graffiti was daubed on the walls and there were reports that some protesters had broken into the branch.

Hundreds of protesters were seen to converge on the bank, on the corner of Threadneedle Street and Bartholomew Lane, as a total of 4,000 demonstrated outside the Bank of England nearby.

As police on horseback and in riot gear proved unable to protect the building, which was thought to be empty, officers with dogs charged at the crowd in an attempt to force them back. The crowd were heard to chant: "Shame on you" as officers drove them away from the door.

With the demonstrations - carried out by a combination of anarchists, anti-war protesters, environmentalists and others - rapidly heating up, Scotland Yard said cordons had been put up all around the surrounding area in response to "increasing levels of violence". The marchers had made their way to the bank using four different routes - from Moorgate, Cannon Street, Liverpool Street and London Bridge.

A Met Police spokesman said: "There have been a number of missiles thrown at officers and a number of surges at the police cordons, and increasing levels of violence towards police. Cordons have been put in place to maintain safety and control the crowd."

Police confirmed earlier that 11 people had been arrested for impersonating police officers as they travelled towards Bishopsgate in uniform in a fake armoured personnel carrier.

Their vehicle was escorted to Wapping, in east London, where it was taken off the road and later driven away by a police officer.

Speaking to The Times as the van was being driven away, a protester calling himself Greenman said he organised the stunt along with other members of a group calling itself Spacehijackers.

He said it was designed to highlight how Britain was increasingly becoming a police state.

"Terrorism laws are always encroaching on our freedoms and discouraging dissent," he said.

At the Bank of England, marchers confronted police standing on the building's steps. Several police helmets were grabbed and thrown in the air as dozens of protesters surged forward and forced officers to retreat on to higher plinths at the base of the building.

A red smoke canister was set off, leaving at least one officer covered in bright red powder.

One senior officer was overheard telling colleagues to watch out for people with paint spray cans attempting to write on their backs. Many protesters were dressed colourfully, and claimed that they represented a host of causes.

Among them were campaigners from War on Want, who carried a giant toy canary on a stretcher after setting off from Moorgate station for the Bank of England. Attached to the makeshift stretcher was a placard which read "RIP Canary Wharf 1990-2009". It also listed banks including RBS, HSBC, NatWest, Abbey and LloydsTSB.

Many of the protesters chanted as they walked towards the Bank of England. Chants included "Revolution" and "Palestine will be free".

Other demonstrators, carrying placards such as "Bring on decent decision making" and "0% interest in others", then began to make their way to the Bank of England.

Several individuals, some wearing masks and hoods to cover their faces, were involved in minor scuffles with officers as they were shepherded onwards.

Among those spotted among the crowd was the comedian Russell Brand, who said he was accompanying the marchers because he was interested to see why the protest was taking place.

As the demonstrations kicked into gear, many City workers reported for duty dressed down or in jeans, attempting to avoid any trouble

Jeremy Batstone-Carr, head of research at stockbrokers Charles Stanley, based in the heart of the City, said they were "preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best".

His firm has extra security on the door, while workers were "aggressively" dressed down.

"It’s a strange atmosphere around the City and everyone seems somewhat apprehensive - everyone that should be in the office is in, but we’re not taking any chances," he said.

Click to read the rest of the article

G20 - A Group too diverse to succeed?

Group of 20 too diverse to succeed

Wednesday, April 1, 2009
By KEVIN RAFFERTY
Special to The Japan Times

HONG KONG — Amid great fanfare, pestered by a rainbow alliance of protesters, and protected by almost blanket security costing $30 million for a mere seven hours of meetings and making London a virtual no-go area, the leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) countries meet this week, promising to restore hope and prosperity to a world battered and bruised by financial and economic crises.

Unfortunately, there are too many doctors already squabbling over the diagnosis and which medicines to take, vitamins or antibiotics, starvation or a rich diet, energy boosters or that new but expensive wonder drug that might have damaging side effects; moreover, the doctors are going to have to take some of their own medicine, and they don't like that at all.

There are many good reasons for the world's top economic powers to come together, not least because the global economy has fallen off the proverbial cliff edge. In October, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was more pessimistic than his own economists, but all scorned the idea that the world as a whole would fall into recession. Indeed, the economists expected positive growth of 3 percent, thanks to rapidly growing developing countries like China and India.

There has been a rude awakening. Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank predicted, that global growth this year will be minus 2 percent, the first time since the end of World War II that there has been negative global growth.

The IMF is slightly less pessimistic, expecting only minus 0.5 percent. But there are plenty of ominously gloomy signs. World trade, the main engine of growth, has spluttered and fallen by 9 percent. Protectionism is growing from the United States and Russia, to China and India. The U.S., France, Germany and Japan are looking for ways to protect their carmakers.

Jobs are being lost in the thousands, adding up globally to tens of millions. The U.S. and China are being noticed most because of the large numbers involved, but every country is suffering except perhaps North Korea (the harder-hit victim of its own isolation). The idea that rapidly growing developing countries had their own momentum and would be immune to global trends has been found wanting: The poorest countries are faring relatively worst, with children being taken out of school to try to earn pennies for their families.

One problem for the summit is where to start. The extensive agenda includes too many key issues, including: How much extra stimulus governments should pump to revive their own and the global economy and get sustainable growth going again; what new rules and regulations should be put in place to stop future financial excesses and restore confidence; how to stimulate trade and prevent the resurgence of protectionism; what special measure should be taken to help the poorest countries; what new powers and funds should be given to the IMF and World Bank; what part the two should play in a reformed international financial system.

On its Web site, the G20 boasts that its members account for 85 percent of global output. In striving for inclusiveness it has become unwieldy. Ideas of giving emerging economic mega-powers China and India a greater voice have been lost in the profusion of voices at the top table, though critically Bangladesh, Pakistan and the oil-rich Gulf, apart from Saudi Arabia, are missing.

The G20 has become the G-22 with the unaccountable admission of the Netherlands and Spain. Places also have been found for the Czech Republic, as chair of the EU, plus the president of the EU commission — how the Europeans love double and triple dipping — the heads of the IMF and World Bank, the U.N. secretary general and chairs of the African Union, ASEAN and other regional bodies, making it a "G30something" circus of more than 1,000 summiteers.

Mutual bitching has already started. A small taste greeted British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week in Brazil where he went trying to find common cause to set the world to rights. On the same platform as the British leader, President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva launched a stinging attack on the "white and blue-eyed" people "who appeared to be gods of wisdom" who started the crisis that has engulfed the world.

President Barack Obama is not blue-eyed, but there are plenty of leaders who are gunning for the U.S. and American-style capitalism. There is a great gulf between the U.S. and Europe, and the leaking in Der Spiegel of a draft final communique containing plans for a $2 trillion global spending boost has been seen as a German ploy to defeat such spending.

There is a real danger that infighting among the old G7 members preoccupied by domestic politics may prevent China, India or the emerging countries being heard. Canada has already said specifically that helping the world's poorest countries is "secondary" to the need to restore global growth.
Kevin Rafferty, editor in chief of PlainWords Media, was managing editor at the World Bank.
Click to read the rest of the article

Tax Problems for HHS nominee Kathleen Sebelius

from Michelle Malkin.com
by Michelle Malkin
March 31, 2009

Knock me over with a feather. Another Obama nominee made “unintentional” errors, meaningless goofs, nothingburger mistakes on her tax returns.

It’s HHS nominee Kathleen Sebelius. Via Brian Montopoli of CBSNews:

Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama’s nominee to become Health and Human Services secretary, said in a letter obtained by the Associated Press that she made "unintentional errors” on her taxes and has corrected her returns from three different years.

In the letter, which was sent to senators and dated today, Sebelius wrote that she had made changes related to charitable contributions, business expenses and the sale of a home, according to the AP.

The wire service reports that she and her husband paid just over $7,000 in back taxes, along with $878 in interest, for the years 2005-2007.

Hey, where’s that stamp? Oh, yeah. There it is.

Click to read the article and comments

Daniel Hannan MEP: "You are the Devalued Prime Minister of a Devalued Government - Ouch!

Some great quotes from the clip - Barry, could any of the quotes apply to you?

"you're pathologically incapable of accepting responsibility for these things"

"in the last 12 months 100,000 private sector jobs have been lost, and yet you created 30,000 public sector jobs!"

"Prime Minister, "You cannot carry on forever squeezing the productive bit of the economy, in order to fund an unprecedented engourgement of the unproductive bit!"

"You cannot spend your way out of recession or borrow your way out of debt!"

"You are the Devalued Prime Minister of a Devalued Government!"

Mervyn King warns Gordon Brown to stop spending - Can someone please communicate this same message to Obama?

from the Timesonline.com
March 25, 2009

The Governor of the Bank of England laid bare tensions between Gordon Brown and the Treasury yesterday by warning that Britain could not afford a second economic stimulus in the Budget.

Mervyn King threw caution to the wind as he sided with Alistair Darling and the CBI against Downing Street in raising strong doubts over any prospect of another round of “significant fiscal expansion” next month.

Mr King spoke as the Prime Minister, beginning an international tour to co-ordinate measures for next week’s G20 gathering in London, called on leaders to do “whatever it takes to create growth and the jobs we need”.

President Obama, Mr Brown’s main stimulus ally, writes in the same vein in The Times today, saying that America is ready to lead the world out of recession, while calling for swift and robust action to stimulate growth “until growth is restored”.
Click to read the rest of the article

UK report warns nuclear attack realistic - or as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano might say "Man-Caused Disaster"

I can just see it now:

Rahm: [interrupts the President playing basketball] Mr. President. I mean, Yo Barry.

Barry: Yes, my son.

Rahm: Janet just called to say that we've suffered a 'Man-Caused Disaster'.

Barry: Come on Rahm, you know I don't like it when you interrupt my game.

Rahm: Yeah, I know. But Barry, this is like a really big 'Man-Caused Disaster'.

Barry: Listen Rahm. I'm going to finish my game and then we'll call Janet back regarding the
'Man-Caused Disaster'.

Rahm: But Barry, I really don't think it can wait.

Barry: [bricks his shot] Damn it! You made me miss my free throw. Now I'm only 2 out of 5. That's like Special Olympics caliber free throw shooting Rahm.

Rahm: Yeah, Barry. I apologize for making you miss, but do you realize what you just said?

Barry: You mean about my 2 out of 5 shooting? Yeah, Rahm, I know my free throw shooting sucks. You don't have to keep gettin' in my face about it.

Rahm: No, Barry. I didn't mean your free throw shooting. I meant your comment about the Special Olympics. [Rahm winks his eye] You know, the Jay Leno type Special Olympics Comment you just made.

Barry: Oh! Right! Uh, er. Did I say that?

Rahm: Yeah, you did.

Barry: Well damn it, Rahm. Your job is to not let me make those kind of mistakes!

Rahm: But, Barry.

Barry: Enough! Talk to the hand!

Rahm: Yes Sir, Mr. President.

Barry: Now scurry back to your cubicle. I'll see you after I'm done schoolin' these Secret Service punks!
by Rees

UK report warns nuclear attack realistic

Although al-Qaida is probably not going to survive the coming years, a nuclear or chemical attack on British soil is becoming increasingly likely, according to a new report by the British government.

The report, cited by the British Independent newspaper on Tuesday, warned that a "dirty bomb" attack was now "more realistic" than before.

"Contemporary terrorist organizations aspire to use chemical, biological, radiological and even nuclear weapons," the report said. "Changing technology and the theft and smuggling of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) materials make this aspiration more realistic than it may have been in the recent past."

According to the Independent, the "Contest Two" report is the first unclassified document that includes a detailed picture of British officials' assessments of the future course of terrorism and its underlying causes.

The report describes how terrorists in conflict zones develop new explosives and attack methods and quickly disseminate the information worldwide.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith highlighted the underlying causes of the danger of an unconventional weapons attack.

"Failed states, conflict, technology - both in terms of the ability to use materials and the ability to learn about how materials are used - contribute to our concern about that as a threat, including what we know about what terrorists may have previously planned to do and may be planning to do," she said.

According to the report, the threat to the UK is basically fourfold and consists of al-Qaida's leadership, other groups affiliated with al-Qaida, networks or individuals motivated by a similar extremist ideology, and separate groups that follow an al-Qaida-like agenda.

The document said that international pressure would likely cause Osama bin-Laden's organization to "fragment," but noted that the ideology driving it would survive the structural changes to the group, resulting in a possibly greater threat from break-off factions.

The report also warned that "terrorist organizations will have access to new technology and may become capable of conducting more lethal operations."

Click to go to the article and comments

UK population must fall to 30 million, says Porritt (currently at 61 million)

I posted an article a couple of days ago referencing a study by Oregon State University that was also recommending population reduction.

If the Liberals and the Green Earth Proponents are so hot on this idea, I suggest they be the first groups to begin reducing their population. Win. Win.
Rees

JONATHON PORRITT, one of Gordon Brown’s leading green advisers, is to warn that Britain must drastically reduce its population if it is to build a sustainable society.

Porritt’s call will come at this week’s annual conference of the Optimum Population Trust (OPT), of which he is patron.

The trust will release research suggesting UK population must be cut to 30m if the country wants to feed itself sustainably.

Porritt said: “Population growth, plus economic growth, is putting the world under terrible pressure.

“Each person in Britain has far more impact on the environment than those in developing countries so cutting our population is one way to reduce that impact.”
Population growth is one of the most politically sensitive environmental problems. The issues it raises, including religion, culture and immigration policy, have proved too toxic for most green groups.
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