Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Pakistan's Deal With The Devil

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pakistan's top military spy agency has arrested five CIA informants who fed information to U.S. intelligence before the raid last month which killed Osama bin Laden, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

One of the detainees was reported to be a Pakistani Army major whom officials said copied license plates of cars visiting the al Qaeda leader's compound 30 miles northwest of Islamabad.


Pakistan's government leaders, intelligence community and military officials vehemently expressed outrage at any suggestion or innuendo that they were complicit in hiding Osama bin Laden(OBL) - even though OBL was residing in a compound 30 miles outside a military base in Islamabad.

Some folks conjecture Pakistan did covertly green light the American invasion to capture OBL; and to appease the Pakistani extremist they want to appear to be retaliating against American interest.

On the flip side, others argue that they play both ends against the middle...taking money from terrorists and USA.

I tend to believe, living in a very tough neighborhood - borders with Afghanistan, China, India and Iran - that Pakistan has to promote a very nuanced foreign and domestic policy.

They have to placate the Islamic extremist within the country, while fighting a war against terror. They have a sworn enemy and nuclear power (India) on one extended border and a chaotic American lead war in Afghanistan on the opposite border.

Caught up in this mix, it should be no surprise that Pakistan makes several deals with the devil. My only question is who does Pakistan consider the true devil?

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Fox Business host apologizes for using ‘language interpreted’ as racist: ‘We did go a bit too far’

Eric Bolling, host of the Fox Business Network show "Follow the Money," apologized to viewers on Monday for using racist language during a segment that aired last week.

"We got a little fast and loose with the language," Bolling said, "and we know it's being interpreted as disrespectful, and for that I'm sorry."

In a segment that aired on Friday, Bolling referred to the White House as the "Hizzouse" and "Hizzy," and President Obama's guests--including Gabon President Ali Bongo--as "hoods."

"We did go a bit too far," Bolling admitted
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The African Miracle


Not so long ago, the world lamented its broken continent. "The state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world," declared British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2001 -- and his was a common refrain. Civil war, economic stagnation, and a high disease burden seemed irreversible, condemning the region to perpetual poverty.

A decade later, however, Africa has outgrown the gloom and doom. Far from the misery-stricken place so often portrayed, Africa today is alive with rising urban centers, a growing consumer class, and sizzling business deals. It's a land of opportunity.

Africa, in fact, is now one of the world's fastest-growing economic regions. Between 2000 and 2008, the continent's collective GDP grew at 4.9 percent per year -- twice as fast as in the preceding two decades. By 2008, that put Africa's economic output at $1.6 trillion, roughly on par with Russia and Brazil. Africa was one of only two regions -- Asia being the other -- where GDP rose during 2009's global recession. And revenues from natural resources, the old foundation of Africa's economy, directly accounted for just 24 percent of growth during the last decade; the rest came from other booming sectors, such as finance, retail, agriculture, and telecommunications. Not every country in Africa is resource rich, yet GDP growth accelerated almost everywhere. READ MORE