William Pfaff
Tribune Media Services
Monday, March 5, 2007
PARIS: The simple background explanation for Russian President Vladimir Putin's coldness to the United States is provided by the results of a poll conducted at the end of last year by the independent EU-Russia Center in Brussels (headed by the former British Liberal Party leader Paddy Ashdown), which was published Feb. 22. It found that only 16 percent of the Russians consulted want to see Western democracy installed in their country.Twenty-six percent think that the quasi-authoritarian system put in place by Putin is more suited to Russia than democracy, and 35 percent would like to return to the Soviet system.Thus some two-thirds of the Russian people prefer a strong state providing protection to a liberal state that guarantees liberties. (The poll was conducted by the independent Russian Youri- Levada Institute.)The majority want a state authority that coordinates the institutions of national power, rather than a separation of executive and legislative powers. The Russians' priorities (at 68 and 64 percent respectively) are security and housing. Only 18 and 4 percent of those polled consider free expression and the right to free association priorities.Seventy-five percent believe that Russia "is a Eurasian state with ...   more »

 ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has concluded that municipal employers have the right to censor the words "natural family," "marriage" and "family values" because that is hate speech and could scare workers. The ruling came in a case being handled by the Pro-Family Law Center, which promised an appeal of the drastic result. "We are going to take this case right up the steps of the United States Supreme Court," said Richard D. Ackerman, who along with Scott Lively argued the case for the Pro-Family Law Center. "We are simply unwilling to accept that Christians can be completely silenced on the issues of the day – especially on issues such as same-sex marriage, parental rights, and free speech rights," he said. "If we fail to get U.S. Supreme Court review, however, it will be up to each individual Christian in the United States to stand up for their rights to be heard on the issues of the day. If we choose to be silent, silenced we shall be," he said. The decision came in an unpublished "memorandum" from the court, and was in a dispute over the promotion of the homosexual lifestyle within the city offices ...   more »

Cairo authorities prevent Christians from attending Easter ceremonies in Jerusalem due to arrest of local man suspected of spying for Mossad. Sharon's former advisor believes Egypt won't cut ties with Israel
Some 2,000 Coptic and Greek Orthodox Christians in Egypt have been forbidden from making a pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in east Jerusalem this coming Easter. Egyptian travel agents have informed their Israeli counterparts that the authorities in Cairo have decided not to allow this year’s pilgrimage, Yedioth Ahronoth has learned. The decision is apparently not related to the uproar in Egypt surrounding the Israeli documentary film "Shaked Spirit ", but rather to the arrest of Mohamed Essam Ghoneim el-Attar, who is currently standing trial for allegedly spying for Mossad. 'Egypt must decide which side it is on'Meanwhile, Ra'anan Gissin, a former advisor to prime minister Sharon, and now a strategic consultant at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, told Ynetnews on Thursday that he did not believe Egypt would cut ties with Israel. "They have made a lot of noise to appease the Islamist opposition. But not much beyond that," he added.

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Damascus wants to buy sophisticated Sukhoi 30 fighter jets from Russia
Aryeh EgoziSyria has approached Moscow with a request to purchase new Sukhoi 30 fighter aircraft as part of Damascus' drive to upgrade its ailing army.The Sukhoi 30 was developed in 1996 and has been compared with the US-made F15 E Super Eagle. The Syrian air force's fleet consists of Russian MiG 29 aircraft. Israeli defense officials believe Syria is endeavoring for a military buildup for fear of a possible confrontation with Israel. Syria was said to have recently purchased sophisticated anti-tank missiles from Russia. Last, Israeli media outlets reported that Syria was trying to purchase from Russia the sophisticated S-300 anti-aircraft system. Should the system reach Damascus, the Israeli Air Force would find it difficult to penetrate the Syrian and Lebanese airspaces.  Original Source

By Svea Herbst-BaylissBOSTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Israel's opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday asked one of the biggest U.S. pension funds to pull money out of companies doing business with Iran because of fears over possible development of nuclear weapons."This allows you to use economic pressure that might obviate the need to use different measures," former prime minister Netanyahu told reporters after the hour-long meeting in Cahill's state house office. "It actually might work given Iran's own vulnerabilities."Massachusetts Treasurer Tim Cahill and Michael Travaglini, executive director of the state's $46 billion pension fund, said they would consider the request.Representatives of Rhode Island and New Hampshire, which have smaller pension funds, also attended the meeting.Iran has been accused by the West of secretly seeking atom bombs, but Tehran has said its nuclear program is designed only to generate electricity. On Monday, Iran banned 38 of the U.N.s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors from working in the country.Netanyahu urged Massachusetts officials to act quickly to try to help stop Iran's nuclear program. "The clock is ticking," he said.Netanyahu is due to meet with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose state's Public Employees' Retirement System, Calpers, manages the world's biggest pension fund ...   more »

Iran took the US, Israel and the UN Security Council to task on Wednesday, accusing Washington and Jerusalem of threatening military attacks on its nuclear facilities and saying Security Council pressure on Teheran was illegal. Washington in turn criticized Teheran for ignoring Security Council demands to freeze uranium enrichment and said Iranian "intransigence" in answering questions about its nuclear program raises the level of concern that it might be seeking to make nuclear arms.
Report: Missing Iran general in EuropeReport: Assad flips out at Ahmadinejad
The exchange, inside a 35-nation board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, came as part of a review of a report by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei confirming that Iran had defied a Security Council deadline last month and continued expanding its enrichment program. On Thursday, the gathering was also to decide on partly or fully suspending 23 technical aid programs for Iran. Diplomats accredited to the meeting said approval of the suspensions was virtually certain.

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Israel will eventually disappear from the world, and the Palestinians should be prepared for that, Israel Radio reported Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Mashaal saying Tuesday during a meeting in Teheran with Iranian President Mahmoud AhamdinejadAt a press conference, Mashaal was asked if Hamas had now recognized Israel. The Hamas leader did not answer directly, but said: "The Palestinian government insists on June 4, 1967 borders (for Israel), full Palestinian sovereignty with Jerusalem as its capital." Analysis: What actually happened in Riyadh?Ahmadinejad denies Saudi plan support (March 4)
He was referring to the borders of the Israeli state before the 1967 war, which broke out on June 5 that year. Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucheher Mottaki said that his government backed the Mecca accord. "Iran supports this initiative, and it also supports any step toward achieving greater unity among Palestinians," the foreign minister said. Last month, Mashaal and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed a Saudi-brokered agreement in Mecca under which they would form a coalition government and Hamas promised to "respect" the previous agreements. Mashaal also extracted from Iran a pledge to fund his Palestinian movement to compensate for the West's financial blockade of the Palestinian Authority government. Mashaal, who arrived in ...   more »

Syrian President Bashar Assad exchanged harsh words with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a phone conversation, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyassah reported on Wednesday. Sources close to the Syrian leader told the newspaper that Assad had initially called the Iranian president to discuss Ahmadinejad's meeting with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in Riyadh. However, the conversation reportedly turned ugly when Ahmadinejad voiced support for the establishment of an international tribunal on the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri - a sensitive subject for Syria, which has been suspected of involvement in the Lebanese leader's death. The report said that Assad became enraged and launched into an angry tirade, cursing the Iranians at the end of the conversation. Iran and Syria have been allies for decades. They have been particularly united in their criticism of Israel and the United States.

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