Obama - Demand Mubarak resign now!

On Jan 29 President Obama again disappointed with his failure to call for the resignation of the Egyptian dictator Mubarak - here

Not long ago it was Obama who had delivered a historic speech in Cairo. One of the mistakes the U.S. has consistently made in its foreign policy is to back stability (i.e. the powerful elite) over the will of the people (i.e. democracy). Iran is a case in point where the USA's backing of the Shah alienated it from the people longing for freedom from tyranny.

Mark Levine writes: "Obama doesn't seem to understand that the US doesn't need to "take the fight" to al-Qaeda, or even fire a single shot, to score its greatest victory in the "war on terror". Supporting real democratisation will do more to downgrade al-Qaeda's capabilities than any number of military attacks. He had better gain this understanding quickly because in the next hours or days the Egypt's revolution will likely face its moment of truth. And right behind Egypt are Yemen, Jordan, Algeria, and who knows what other countries, all looking to free themselves of governments that the US and its European allies have uncritically supported for decades." Read more

Juan Cole connects the current crises in Egypt to the neo-liberal policies pursued by Mubarak with USA urging, where the educated and largely unemployed class were sidelined by foreign interests and Egyptian elite (oligarchy). - read more (see post on 1/30/2011)

Learn more about conflict on Earth here

Cyber War Tunisia

The BBC reports: "Unions and traditional political groups have played some role. But it is on the internet that a new generation of activists has been credited with driving the movement forward.

This has happened despite increasingly strict controls by a government that, even before the demonstrations, was regarded as unusually zealous in its online censorship.

A steady flow of protest videos, tweets, and political manifestos has continued to make its way onto the web in a variety of languages: Arabic, the Darija Tunisian dialect, French and English."

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This is another example of the global conflict of the new Fifth Estate (wired citizens) versus the State.

Jaren Loughner is a Muslim - what if?

NEWS BREAK: FBI uncovers proof that Jared Loughner attended a mosque and was a recent convert to Islam?

NEWS BREAK: Public outrage over the Islamic Terrorist Jared Loughner leads to the killing of Sikhs.

NEWS BREAK: FBI questions a number of Muslims who may have been involved in radicalizing Loughner.

NEWS BREAK: Congress to take up the problem of home grown Muslim terrorists.

Well - not quite. But What if he were a Muslim is an interesting question posed by Dean Obeidallah

"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this week called the suspect Jared Loughner an "extremist" -- but not a terrorist. Would Clinton and others be so hesitant to apply the terrorist label to an American Muslim or Arab-American?"

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