According to the latest polls, the PVV, Geert Wilders’ party, would be the largest in the Netherlands if elections were held today. The two ruling parties have lost half of their popularity, while the PVV would almost double its number of seats in an election.
In other news, rival gangs and militias in Egypt are gearing up for conflict in the wake of President Morsi’s ouster by the Egyptian military. Mr. Morsi denied the legitimacy of his removal, calling it a “military coup”, and urged his followers to resist.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Insubria, JD, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
A Tribute to America’s Patriot Pastors and Stalwart Statesmen
In honor of Independence Day, I want to devote this column to the brave men of colonial America who were most responsible for our country’s successful separation from Great Britain, namely, the patriot pastors and stalwart statesmen of 1775 and 1776. It was the pulpit as much as the politician and soldier that birthed this great country. Without the Black Regiment — the mostly Protestant pulpits of colonial America — there would never have been a Lexington Green, Concord Bridge, or Bunker Hill. Of course, the moniker Black Regiment or Black Robed Regiment was given by the British Crown, which demonstrated how important and effective the Crown believed the pulpits of colonial America were to the cause of independence.
The names John Witherspoon, John Leland, Jonathan Mayhew, Isaac Backus, Samuel Cooper, and Ebenezer Baldwin are as important to the success of the American Revolution as are the names of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Josiah Quincy, Dr. Joseph Warren, John Hancock, and Richard Henry Lee.
On the occasion of tomorrow’s celebration of Independence Day, I want to honor these great men by sharing with readers some examples of their nobility and sacrifice…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
CIA Whistleblower to Snowden: ‘Do Not Cooperate With the FBI’
NSA leaker Edward Snowden is the subject of an open letter of support just published from behind bars by John Kiriakou, a former CIA agent currently serving time for sharing state secrets.
In a letter dated June 13 and published Tuesday by Firedoglake, the imprisoned CIA vet salutes Snowden for his recent disclosures of classified documents detailing some of the vast surveillance programs operated by the United States’ National Security Agency.
“Thank you for your revelations of government wrongdoing over the past week,” Kiriakou writes. “You have done the country a great public service.”
“I know that it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders right now, but as Americans begin to realize that we are devolving into a police state, with the loss of civil liberties that entails, they will see your actions for what they are: heroic.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Delaying the ObamaCare Disaster
In a move best described as calculatingly cynical, a Treasury Department official who wished to remain anonymous confirmed to the Daily Mail’s online newspaper that the Obama administration will not enforce the employer mandate in the healthcare bill until 2015. The mandate was supposed to go into effect next year, but the official notes a “combination of politics and economic realities in the marketplace” is responsible for the delay. The prospect of Democrats being forced to defend ObamaCare during the 2014 mid-term election campaign is more like it…
Fox News’ Chris Stirewalt explains why such chaos may be exactly what Democrats want. He notes that Democrats have already acknowledged that implementing ObamaCare is a “train wreck,” but they remain “determined to get as many passengers as possible aboard the doomed locomotive.” He then explains why:
“Because it’s the only way to get what the Obama Democrats have wanted all along: A government-run system open to all Americans and the eventual demise of the employer-based insurance system that has been the norm since the end of World War II.
“If the train wrecks with no one on board, there isn’t much incentive to couple up another locomotive. But, with the help of Hollywood celebrities, librarians, proselytizing school children and paid “navigators,” there will be enough millions of people aboard the Obamacare Express when it runs off the rails, that will forever be afforded passage.”
In other words, much like Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, once the entitlement genie is out of the bottle it stays out forever. And just like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, when the inevitable cost explosion occurs, the best Americans can hope for will be a “fix,” that will entail a combination of higher taxes and a reduced level of care.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Divergent Opinions No Longer Polite Discourse
Polite debate is no longer the accepted norm in our society. The liberal left is not tolerating divergent opinions, they want them eliminated. Outrageous labels, personal threats, and even violence have escalated during what used to be polite discourse and disagreements of opinion.
We provide evidence that UN Agenda 21 does exist, yet we are “agenders.” We cite the document called Agenda 21, 40 chapters long, and the UN Agenda 21 Constitution called DICED, but that is too much evidence for the globalist crowd to digest. It is easier to attack the messenger.
We have sufficient scientific evidence that global warming is a hoax, it has been debunked many times, yet we are “climate deniers” and “flat-earthers.” We do not deny climate change and the earth is not flat…
If we don’t believe that Sharia Law can “coexist” with our Constitution and our legal system based on Roman law, we are “islamophobes.”
If a white person admits using racially insensitive and insulting words thirty years ago, his/her career is over and they are crucified by the MSM and big business. They become instant “pariahs” or at best “persona-non-grata.” When a black person uses the same racially charged epithets, whether addressed to a white or to a black person, it becomes career enhancement. We even throw in extra accolades and prizes for their role in the moral and verbal degradation of our youth.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Doomsday Plane Terrifies Austin, Texas (Video)
Plane confirmed to be Boeing E-6B out of Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma.
Infowars confirmed that an ominous aircraft, which scared onlookers as it barely flew above the spires of downtown Austin, Texas, is a Boeing E-6B (based on the 707-320) operating out of Tinker Air Force base in Oklahoma.
Radio host Alex Jones reported seeing the doomsday plane dangerously loiter around downtown before it flew to another part of the Texas capital.
Tinker Air Force Base’s public affairs spokesperson said that the flight was part of a routine training exercise. When asked about the exact nature of the exercise, she declined to comment.
KXAN, a local news station, claims that the E-6B was only performing touch-and-go take-offs and landings; however, this statement fails to explain why the four-engined aircraft, with a reported wing span of 148 feet, flew so close to buildings.
The Boeing E-6B serves the U.S. Navy as an airborne communications relay and command post.
More interestingly, the E-6B is utilized for Operation Looking Glass, the airborne command center of U.S. nuclear forces in the event that primary, ground-base command becomes inoperable.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
EPA ‘Smart Grid’ Connection Will Allow Power Company to Cut Off Your Fridge
At times of peak demand for electricity, do you want your refrigerator to run at the discretion of the power company?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has revised its Energy Star energy-efficiency requirements for residential refrigerators, and it is encouraging the inclusion of “connected” features that respond to utility signals to curb their energy consumption.
The EPA announced the new requirements on June 27. Included is the optional “smart-grid” connection for customers to electronically connect their refrigerator or freezer with a utility provider.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hey, American Voters, You’re Stupid!
The cynicism and contempt with which President Obama and the Democrats hold the American people is downright criminal. The latest move by the White House postponing full implementation of the Obamacare small business mandate amounts to an admission that the so-called Affordable Care Act (ACA) will have a huge negative impact on the American economy. In short, the ACA will neither be affordable nor will it have much to do with “care.”
Most disgusting is that the postponement betrays a level of contempt for American voters that is unprecedented in this country and is on par with countries like the former Soviet Union or Zimbabwe. Obama appears to believe that if he postpones the damage to the economy his signature healthcare law will engender long enough to get past the 2014 mid-term elections, then the Democrats will have an opportunity to take complete control of all three branches of the government. And if that happens, it’s lights out for liberty.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Homeland Security Conducts “Top Secret” July 4 Drill
Cops in riot gear to patrol transport hubs
The Department of Homeland Security is conducting a “top secret” drill codenamed ‘Operation Independence’ across the United States today, during which officers in riot gear as well as undercover agents will patrol transport hubs.
According to a report by KTTV, the exercise is a “full scale terrorism drill” taking place nationwide. In Los Angeles, the drill involves the LA County Sheriff’s Department, Homeland Security and TSA agents, as well as plain clothed officers who will be, “working undercover, looking like any other passenger, they scour faces, briefcases and backpacks, looking for anything out of the ordinary.”
Officials claim the drills are to make the public feel “safe” in light of claims that the alleged Boston Bombers had planned a July 4 terror attack in New York.
According to Nicole Nishida of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Americans will celebrate their “independence” from tyranny by submitting to random bag searches.
Although the drill is “high visibility” in one sense — cops dressed in riot gear will be involved — many details of the exercise remain “top secret and that’s the way it should be. Only they need to know what the game plan is,” reports KTTV.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Judge Andrew Napolitano: On This Fourth of July, Thomas Jefferson is Weeping
Do you have more personal liberty today than on the Fourth of July 2012?
When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he used language that has become iconic.
He wrote that we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, and among them are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Not only did he write those words, but the first Congress adopted them unanimously, and they are still the law of the land today.
By acknowledging that our rights are inalienable, Jefferson’s words and the first federal statute recognize that our rights come from our humanity — from within us — and not from the government.
Today we have a government that alone decides how much wealth we can retain, how much free expression we can exercise, how much privacy we can enjoy.
The government the Framers gave us was not one that had the power and ability to decide how much freedom each of us should have, but rather one in which we individually and then collectively decided how much power the government should have. That, of course, is also recognized in the Declaration, wherein Jefferson wrote that the government derives its powers from the consent of the governed.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Park “Rules” Sign Summarizes Sorry State of Freedom on Independence Day
Many Americans see no point in celebrating anything
A picture of a “JULY 4TH PARK RULES” notice, posted to the internet perfectly sums up the sorry state of freedom in the nation as Americans celebrate their Independence today.
While the sign outwardly bans any fireworks, barbecues or alcohol, you would think that it would still leave intact the right to celebrate the freedom and independence parts of July 4th. Not so.
The sign notifies anyone entering the park that police overlords will be rummaging around inside their bags and coolers, and that “The entire park is under video surveillance.”
Well, that kind of wraps it up for July 4th then.
The sign appeared in Lakewood Ohio, following a set of rules put into place by the parks division of the municipal government.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Predator Drones Used by Multiple Agencies in Domestic Airspace Could be Armed.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is now lending Predator drones to a wide range of federal, state, and local agencies for domestic surveillance and possible “non-lethal” strikes, according to federal documents released by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The FBI, the U.S. Marshals and even the Texas Department of Public Safety have used CBP Predator drones in U.S. airspace. In 2010, CBP reported that future drone payloads could include “non-lethal weapons designed to immobilize targets of interest.”
Last month, FBI Director Robert Mueller admitted that the FBI has used drones domestically.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The U.S. Postal Service is Monitoring Your Snail Mail
The U.S. government is not content to monitor your phone calls and your Internet activity, it’s now reading your snail mail, too.
A story in the New York Times published Wednesday, July 3, tells the story of Buffalo, New York resident, Leslie James Pickering. Pickering reports that last September he noticed “something odd in his mail:” a “handwritten card, apparently delivered by mistake, with instructions for postal workers to pay special attention to the letters and packages sent to his home,” the Times story claims.
The card — a picture of which appears in the Times story — appears to read: “Show all mail to supv” — supervisor — “for copying prior to going out on the street.” Pickering’s name was written on the card, as well as the word “Confidential,” written in green ink. Apparently, Pickering was the unwitting target of a “longtime surveillance system” the Times calls “mail covers.”
It doesn’t stop there, however. While snail mail surveillance has been a tool of law enforcement for over a century, the program that targeted Pickering is called Mail Isolation Control and Tracking. As part of this surveillance tactic, the “Postal Service computers photograph the exterior of every piece of paper mail that is processed in the United States — about 160 billion pieces last year. It is not known how long the government saves the images.”
[…]
Mark D. Rasch, a former director of the Department of Justice’s computer crime unit is quoted in the Times story exposing the extent of the snooping. “In the past, mail covers were used when you had a reason to suspect someone of a crime,” Rasch said, in the Times piece. “Now it seems to be ‘Let’s record everyone’s mail so in the future we might go back and see who you were communicating with.’ Essentially you’ve added mail covers on millions of Americans.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Watchdog Group Finds High Levels of Carcinogen in Pepsi Drinks
A health watchdog group is releasing a study today that found high levels of a cancer-causing chemical in Pepsi drinks in 10 states, including Maryland.
The Center for Environmental Health commissioned Eurofins Analytical laboratory in Louisiana to analyze Coke and Pepsi products that were purchased from 10 states.
The group said Coca-Cola and PepsiCo had pledged to change their products’ caramel coloring as a result of a California law that requires labeling of products with cancer-causing ingredients. But CEH found that the Pepsi bought in Maryland and nine other states, not including California, still contains high levels of the chemical, 4-methylimidazole.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why the Environmental Protection Agency Must be Abolished
At the Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro, June 3-14, 1992, the Secretariat for World Order distributed a nonpublic document titled, “The Initiative for Eco-92 Earth’s Charter.” It reads, in part, under policies that must be implemented as follows:
The Security Council of the U.N. will inform all nations that outmoded notions of national sovereignty will be discarded and that the Security Council has complete legal, military and economic jurisdiction in any region of the world … The Security Council of the U.N. will take possession of all natural resources, including the watersheds and great forests, to be used and preserved for the good of the Major Nations of the Security Council.
In the late Dixie Lee Ray’s book, “Environmental Overkill,” one gets a full accounting of what really went on with Al Gore and his loony friends at the Rio Summit. On page 10 of her book, it states:
The objective, clearly enunciated by the leaders of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), is to bring about a change in the present system of independent nations. The future is to be world government, with central planning by the UN. Fear of environmental crises, whether real or not, is expected to lead to compliance. If force is needed, it will be provided by a UN green-helmeted police force, already authorized by the Security Council.
And, that is the reason the ESA was done by treaty — in preparation for these other pieces of the grand plan to fall into place.
The EPA is the flagship in America to carry out this environmental terrorism against our people. Among the most destructive of its tentacles is the Endangered Species Act. One of the most horrific examples of this grotesque act is what happened in Klamath Falls in 2001 when the government shut off life-giving water to the farmers, driving them into bankruptcy. On Jan. 12, 2005, a federal judge ruled that the salmon listing which caused our ranchers and farmers to go under was illegally listed!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
More Trouble for Vatican Bank as Executives Quit
Head and deputy director step down ‘for good of Church’
(By Kate Carlisle) (ANSA) — Vatican City, July 2 — Vatican bank head Paolo Cipriani and deputy director Massimo Tulli resigned on Tuesday following the arrest of a top Catholic prelate last Friday.
Recently appointed president, Ernst von Freyberg, will fill in for Cipriani as Vatican Bank head, known as the Istituto per le Opere Religiose (Institute for Religious Works, IOR).
“After many years of service, the two decided it would be in the best interest of the institute and of the Holy See,” said a Vatican release.
The resignations of Cipriani and Tulli follow the arrest of Msgr Nunzio Scarano, who was suspended a month ago from his job as head of analytic accounts at the Holy See’s asset-management agency APSA when police started sifting through his assets because of his suspiciously large financial holdings and artistic trove.
Scarano was arrested on suspicion of planning to elude customs controls along with Giovanni Maria Zito, a recently transferred agent in the AISI domestic intelligence agency, and financial broker Giovanni Carenzio.
He denies charges that he conspired with the former Italian spy and financial broker to try to secretly repatriate 20 million euros of laundered money from Switzerland to Italy.
Police said Scarano and Zito set up a private jet to fly the cash for three Salerno-based shipowner brothers, the D’Amicos, whose family was friendly with Scarano.
Zito is suspected of getting 400,000 euros for arranging cover for the flight, which never took place because of last-minute cold feet.
The prelate told prosecutors he “acted in good faith” but things began to unravel when Carenzio started making “excessive demands”.
Cipriani has had his own woes surrounding his handling of Church finances. In 2010 probes into suspicion of failing to observe Italian money-laundering laws were opened against Cipriani, Tulli and former IOR President Ettore Gotti Tedeschi. While investigators said on Tuesday that Gotti Tedeschi would most likely not be called to trial for a suspicious 23-million-euro transfer, Cipriani and Tulli risk indictment. IOR, to which APSA is indirectly linked, said it would launch an internal inquiry “in line with the zero-tolerance policy promoted by (new) president Ernst von Freyberg”.
The head of Italian bishops’ conference CEI, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, said Tuesday that he believed the resignation of the two senior Vatican bank executives was a “concrete episode” linked to Pope Francis’s “precise will” to see the scandal-hit institution reformed.
The Vatican Bank has made a series of moves to show greater transparency since Argentinian Jesuit bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio became pope in March, succeeding Benedict XVI, the first pontiff to voluntarily abdicate in 700 years.
Francis is reportedly keen to remove stains from IOR’s reputation and get it onto the ‘white list’ of countries with unimpeachable credentials by working with the Council of Europe’s Moneyval anti-money-laundering agency.
German aristocrat and industrialist von Freyberg, appointed in February by Pope Benedict XVI in one of his last official acts as pontiff, last month vowed to bring greater transparency to IOR’s dealings.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Called a War Criminal in Irish Parliament (Video)
Obama destroyed over foreign policy in a video that has gone absolutely viral since being posted two weeks ago.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Right-Wing Party Tops Dutch Poll
Freedom Party would become biggest in parliament if election held tomorrow, a boost leader Geert Wilders puts down to fury over austerity
Right-wing leader Geert Wilders has called for a series of mass demonstrations in the Netherlands following an opinion poll that shows his anti-euro Freedom Party would become the largest political party in the Dutch parliament if an election were held tomorrow.
The poll showed that just one in three voters — 34 per cent — want prime minister Mark Rutte’s Liberal-Labour coalition to complete its four-year term, down from 63 per cent after the government was formed last October, and from 44 per cent in February.
Worse still for the government, the Liberals, with 42 seats in the 150-seat parliament, would retain just 21 seats if an election were held tomorrow. Labour, on 28, would fall back to just 16.
The big winners would be the Freedom Party, which would almost double its seats from 15 to 29, a boost Mr Wilders said shows the Dutch are “furious” with the coalition’s programme of austerity…
| [Return to headlines] |
Vatican Posts 2.2 Mln Euros in Profits
Good yield on financial management, board of cardinals says
(ANSA) — Vatican City, July 4 — The Vatican posted a profit of almost 2.2 million euros for the 2012 fiscal year Thursday.
A board of cardinals who approved the balance sheet said the 2,185,622-euro profit was largely due to good yields on financial management.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Al-Qaeda Vows to Rescue Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
Now that the Muslim Brotherhood — the CIA’s “color revolution” proxy in Egypt — has been deposed, another CIA asset, al-Qaeda, has vowed to come to the rescue.
Won’t get fooled again? Egyptians cheer military overthrow of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.
According to Arab-language website Veto Gate, “al-Qaeda, under the leadership of Muhammad Zawahiri, is currently planning reprisal operations by which to attack the army and the Morsi-opposition all around the Republic [of Egypt].”
In December, it was said Morsi had summoned “3,000 jihadis from Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia, Somalia and Iran to be an Islamic army to strike the police and army forces” of Egypt, Raymond Ibrahim reported, citing al-Khabar News.
Morsi also released “jihadi convicts from the nation’s two most notorious terrorist organizations, Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Group” soon after assuming the presidency, according to Ibrahim’s sources.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Security Forces Arrest Presenters and Shut Down Al Jazeera’s Coverage Live on Air
UPDATE: According to Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights head Hossam Bahgat, all 26 of the detained Al Jazeera Misr staff have been released, with the exception of of the station’s director, Ayman Gaballa.
Al Jazeera is reporting that its live Egypt service (Al Jazeera Misr) has been taken off the air, along with several other TV stations.
– From Al Jazeera’s statement:
“Reports from our correspondents say this happened during a live broadcast when security forces stormed the building and arrested the presenter, guests and producers.”
According to Reuters, the station was also stopped from broadcasting at a pro-Morsi rally, and the team trying to do was detained.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Obama’s Muslim Brotherhood Removed From Power
One day before America celebrates its Independence Day, freedom, liberty and justice for all in a nation which no longer appears willing to fight for those things, the people of Egypt seize control of their own destiny by ousting the Muslim Brotherhood from power, a government placed in power by Barack Hussein Obama after toppling the Mubarak regime.
Despite calls from the Obama Administration over the last 48 hours, asking the Egyptian military to stay out of it, the Egyptian military took action to avoid regime violence against the protesters and ended the Muslim Brotherhoods destructive grip.
Taking a firm stand with the people of Egypt who had taken to the streets by the millions to reject the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, Sharia Law and Islamic government, the Egyptian Army removed President Morsi by military coup d’état.
Failing to step down from power at the demand of the people, Morsi was removed from power by the Egyptian Army. This spells disaster for the Obama-Clinton foreign policy of toppling the sovereign foreign governments in Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia, and amassing troops on the border of Syria right now.
Obama and Clinton lied to the people of Egypt and the world when they toppled the Mubarak regime under the guise of supporting the people of Egypt and their revolution for freedom and liberty. The faux revolution, the so-called “Arab Spring” was the work of the Obama — Clinton State Department, with the help of Obama Community Organizers Ayers and Dohrn.
But this revolution is very real and it has ended the reign of Obama’s Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. This one isn’t being run by Obama, Clinton, Kerry, McCain and Graham.
No Muslim Brotherhood — No Sharia Law — No despotic government — No waiting for the next election — The message was quite clear!
Millions of Egyptians filled the streets of Cairo for days, carrying signs that said — “Obama, your bitch is our dictator…” and “Wake up America, Obama backs a fascist regime in Egypt…” and “Obama supports terrorism…”
The people of Egypt are doing exactly what Americans should have done long before now. As spineless Americans wring their hands and gnash their teeth, watching the Obama regime destroy their country and operating against the majority will of Americans, the people of Egypt seized control of their own destiny.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
For Catholic Church, “No Coup D’état Took Place in Egypt”
Fr Rafic Greiche talks to AsiaNews about political changes in Egypt. According to the spokesman of the Egyptian Catholic Church, the army chose to protect a peaceful revolution led by millions of young people. At present, no military took over any political office. The new interim government will take into account all of society’s components, including the Muslim Brotherhood. As clashes occur in Giza, a Catholic church is attacked in Upper Egypt.
Cairo (AsiaNews) — “What is happening in Egypt is not a coup d’état. The Army chose to protect a peaceful revolution led by young Egyptians and followed by millions of people all over the country. In a normal coup, the military would immediately appointed a man as their interim president, would change the government, as it took power, but this is not the case in Egypt,” said Fr Rafic Greiche.
Speaking to AsiaNews, the spokesman for the Egyptian Catholic Church explained the reasons why the Catholic and Coptic Orthodox Churches backed the change in the country’s leadership after three days of mass demonstrations against Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood establishment.
The clergyman criticised Western newspapers for attributing events to an unspecified “opposition” and for describing as a coup the decision by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) led by General al-Sisi to suspend the Constitution and oust President Morsi.
For Fr Greiche, “the army is non-political. It is simply managing talks between the parties. The new interim president Adli Mansour, chief justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, is a technocrat. He promised that his temporary government would be a coalition open to all parties and components of Egyptian society.”
Today, police arrested 300 Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including the group’s spiritual leader Mohamed Badie, its treasurer Khairat al-Shater, and five others, for inciting their followers to kill opponents of Mohamed Morsi.
The call for jihad against anti-Islamist protesters has left several people dead in Giza (Cairo), where unknown gunmen fired on a crowd, seriously injuring a police officer. A Catholic church was also attacked in Minya Governorate (Upper Egypt).
Fr Greiche said that to avoid a “witch-hunt against the Islamists,” the new president, the imam of al-Azhar and the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II “called on the parties to welcome and accept the Muslim Brotherhood, especially young people who in recent years have been subjected to actual brainwashing by their leaders.” (S.C.)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Propped Up Muslim Brotherhood Bosom Buddy Out!
The outcome of what may have been the largest pro-democracy demonstrations in human history has shown President Barack Hussein Obama for what he really is: a Muslim Brotherhood-advocating failure.
With Obama’s $250 million March 2013 gift still in his pocket; the 12 F-16s already delivered this year, with the promise of another eight by the end of the year, and 200 (count ‘em) Abrams tanks, Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is under house arrest.
The coup d’état that saw millions cheering on the streets in what is allegedly the largest gathering of people in modern memory against a dictator, was pulled off on the eve of American Independence Day 2013 — the biggest slap in the face to the imperious arrogant Obama just back on American soil after a $100-million trip to Africa.
What better proof that the high handed Obamas are not King & Queen of the World, but only legends in their own minds?
Obama’s warnings against the arrests of Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood members yesterday came off like the mewlings of a paper tiger.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt’s generals face their first big test today when supporters of ousted Mohamed Morsi pour on to the streets after Friday prayers to protest against the army-led coup.
Social networking sites and mosques are being used to rally support for the democratically elected president who has been put under house arrest.
An Islamist coalition led by the Muslim Brotherhood appealed to Egyptians to demonstrate in a ‘Friday of Rejection’ against the coup.
Arrest warrants for more than 300 members of the Brotherhood and their close allies were issued by the military yesterday while tanks and armoured vehicles were in place at strategic points across Cairo and other major cities.
Mohammed Badie, the supreme leader of the movement, was arrested near the Libyan border. Judicial sources said Badie, and his deputy Khairat el-Shater, who were seen as the drivers of the Islamist agenda followed by Mr Morsi, have been charged with inciting violence against protesters outside the Brotherhood’s ransacked HQ in Cairo.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Dream Comes True: Egypt is Free From a Hateful Regime
The country has been waiting with patience and hope for the day when the Muslim Brotherhood would be forced to step aside. Now, armed with a great social diversity that is also a great wealth, we can hope for a new and better nation. Starting from the young people, the “true pyramids” of modern Egypt. It is the end of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Cairo (AsiaNews) Amazing, amazing the huge crowds gathered all night long and more and more today in all squares in all towns of Egypt. Something never before seen in Egypt or anywhere else in the world.Tens of millions of people gathered all over the country along one thousand kilometers on the Nile Valley and united by a strong will to build up the future of a dismantled state, a destroyed economy, a collapsed country.
During one whole year, the religious extremist regime of Mohammad Morsi succeeded in dividing the people, ruining the economy and failing to achieve anything positive except this amazing and successful result: bringing all the diverse elements of a manifold population united by a strong hope for the future, a firm desire to liberate the country from the autocratic and fascist regime dominated by the so-called Muslim Brotherhood.
All the day long the whole population was out in the streets and the squares to wait for the end of a long nightmare, expecting the SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) communiqué after the deadline of the ultimatum given to Morsi and his tribe, as every one used to call his movement these last months.
In fact, Morsi revealed himself to care only for his tribe and not for the whole Egyptian people. Hence he lost the support of many people who did chose him at the presidential élections last year. He lost as well any credibility constantly and increasingly all along last months, since he reacted wrongly at all occasion, losing every opportunity to assemble the population or to gain respect. Even in his last speech yesterday, he was not able to match with the events and he did not get his last chance to save the situation.
Over the past few days, the Egyptian population lived constantly in the streets and the squares with an incredible increasing number. As if the whole population was gathering to celebrate a sacral union in a kind of huge festival, repeating slogans and chanting songs, waiting for the final release.
The deadline of the SCAF happened at 16:30 pm. But everybody was waiting patiently and full of hope. In Cairo, the crowds were in the emblematic Tahrir square, as well as in front of the presidential palace in Héliopolis, in front of Qoubba palace, and also in front of the Presidential Guard premises next to Héliopolis, where Morsi was reported to have taken refuge.
Elsewhere in Cairo Morsi supporters were gathered, mainly in front of Rab’a al ‘Adaweyya mosque in Madinat Nasr, and around Cairo University, where they shot many young people dead last night. Their numbers were completely out of proportion with the millions gathered elsewhere.
During the day, troops from the armed forces surrounded Rab’a al ‘Adaweyya and Cairo University areas preventing any possible clash with the rest of the population. Huge crowds were seen in all the Egyptian towns: Alexandria, Mansourah, Tantah, Menoufeyya, Suez, Assiut, Sohag, etc.
Every where people were waiting for history to start, a new era for Egypt.
Finally, came the SCAF statement, that was broadcasted openly and assembled the General Abderrahmane al-Sissi, head of the armed forces with all the SCAF members representing the different the different components of the armed forces, along with Chaykh Ahmad al Tayyib, great imam of Al Azhar, Pope Tawadraus, head of the Coptic Church, Mohammad al Baradeï, president of al Destour (constitution) party and spokesman of the Salvation front, and also the main promoter of Tamarrod (rebellion) movement, plus Sakina al Sadate, sister of late Anwar al Sadate and very active on the political and communication fields. There was also a long bearded man, probably representing the salafist movement, who was part of the Morsi front in former days.
The communiqué was certainly very well prepared by all the former personalities quoted, every single word strongly chosen, with precision and sobriety. General al Sissi announced one by one the 13th items of the communique as following: Freezing the Constitution; giving the interim presidency to the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court; the interim president will be able to make constitutional announcements and decisions; organization of presidential elections; nomination of a government composed of national leaderships ;composition of a Commission to review and adjust the entire Constitution; organization of Parliamentary elections; elaboration of a Code of Conduct for the media and communication sector; taking executive steps in order to involve more and more Young people in the decision making of the state; constituting a high commission for national reconciliation among all currents; permanent support of the armed forces to the Egyptian people; warning: constant cooperation between the armed forces and the police to preserve peace; expression of gratitude, respect and appreciation to the armed forces, the police, and the judiciary.
After General al Sissi, the following personalities addressed the nation: Al Azhar Chaykh, Pope Tawadraus, Mohammad al Baradei, the Tamarrod leader, Sakina al Sadate, in a scenery never before seen in Egypt, since probably the time of Saad Zaghloul in the 1919 revolution, when the famous slogan was born: “Religion for God and Nation for all”.
Very soon after this historical momentum, the crowds and the millions exploded in a huge shout of joy and happiness. Huge bursts of laughter and happiness were heard for hours all over the country. Proving that the population was not only united by the same expectations and hopes, but also with the same momentum of satisfaction and gratefulness.
Immediately the three main Islamistic TV channels: “25”, “al Nur”, “al Hafez” stopped broadcasting, probably prevented, in order to avoid any calls to provoke reactions to Morsi’s ouster. The late president, in a communiqué on al Jazira channel, rejected the SCAF decision and called on his supporters to resist to what he termed a military coup.
All over the country positive reactions hailed the “genius” of Egyptian people, the genius of creating history and civilization, their genius in cultivating the earth and creating art and culture. A constantly heard reaction was the following one: Egyptians created the pyramids long ago, our present pyramid is made of our youth, rich in their capacity to reinvent history and an open future for Egypt.
In general, the observers and political analysts have agreed that this was the end of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, born in this land in 1928 and dying here in 2013… For many analysts, this is also marking an end to the idea of any religious government in the Middle East.
Everybody was foreseeing some five to ten years of difficulties to get rid of the religious autocracy. And everybody is happily surprised that the period was reduced to only one year to get rid of the hatred of the religious regime.
Now the hope is for the future. In every corner, people are expressing hope, expectations, and eagerness to rebuild the country on solid basis including all elements of the nation as was seen during the official communiqué with the diversity of presenters.
The first goal is obviously the internal rebuilding of the state and the country, with the reinforcement of the economic status. Then the new leadership will have to settle relations with the outside world, namely with the United States and Europe, who failed to support to the Egyptian population.
Either way, the amazing Egypt and the amazing Egyptian people are certain of a brighter future, confident of their own energy and their own strengths.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
What Really Caused the Coup Against the Egyptian President
Egypt’s Support for Intervention in Syria Was the Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back
The protests in Egypt against president Mohammed Morsi were — according to the BBC — the largest in history.
The Egyptian military threw Morsi out in a coup today.
Why?
Irish Times reports:
Army concern about the way President Mohamed Morsi was governing Egypt reached tipping point when the head of state attended a rally packed with hardline fellow Islamists calling for holy war in Syria, military sources have said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
As Gulf States Praise Egypt’s Change, Qatar Remains Silent
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have sent messages of congratulations to new interim President Adli Mansour as well as offers of support for the new Egypt. No message has come from Qatar, the biggest ally of the Muslim Brotherhood and Mohamed Morsi. In response to events in Cairo, Qatari authorities step up police protection around the Egyptian embassy.
Cairo (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Gulf States welcomed President Mohamed Morsi’s ouster following days of mass unrest that began last Sunday. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have sent messages of congratulations last night for the new interim president Adli Mansour, chief justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court in Egypt. As Mohamed Morsi’s first supporter and master strategist for the Muslim Brotherhood’s election victory in 2012 and 2012, Qatar is nowhere to be seen. However, in response to Egypt’s changes, Qatari authorities have deployed several armoured vehicles around the Egyptian in Doha.
The first to congratulate the new head of state was Saudi King Abdullah. “In the name of the people of Saudi Arabia and on my behalf, we congratulate your leadership of Egypt in this critical period of its history,” Saudi state news agency SPA quoted King Abdullah as saying.
The government of the United Arab Emirates also welcomed Mohamed Morsi’s fall. “His Highness Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahayan, the Foreign Minister of the UAE, expressed his full confidence that the great people of Egypt are able to cross these difficult moments that Egypt is going through,” news agency WAM said in a statement.
In recent months, both countries have had been at odds several with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-led government.
While Gulf monarchies were overjoyed by the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Qatar has not yet issued a statement.
Just a few days ago, the emirate went through a mysterious succession with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani handing power over to his son Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
Many analysts have expressed doubts about the monarch’s choice, who, unlike his predecessors, stepped down at the age of 60 rather than rule until his death.
In recent years, Hamad bin Khalifa was the biggest supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East and North Africa.
He put at least US$ 40 billion Egypt, and funded the election campaign of Mohamed Morsi’s Freedom and Justice Party after the fall of Mubarak.
Qatar recently acquired a 100 per cent stake in Egypt’s NSGB Bank, one of the largest in the country and spent millions of dollars for the upkeep of Egypt’s pipelines.
In January, Egyptian Islamist former Attorney General Talaat Abdallah travelled to Doha to work with Qatar’s justice minister on Sharia-based laws.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Qatar: Foreign Workers Banned From Driving, Holding Licenses
Human rights organizations condemn measure as discriminatory
(ANSAmed) — DOHA, JULY 3 — In a move the Doha Traffic Department said will alleviate congestion on the streets and human rights organizations condemned as discriminatory, Qatar has banned all foreign workers except those hired as chauffeurs from driving or holding drivers’ licenses.
“Should this measure be enacted it would be yet another example of the discrimination against foreign citizens that is operative in Qatar”, Amnesty International Italy spokesman Riccardo Noury told ANSAmed.
“Qatar is more and more a key player on the international scene, and will host the World Cup in a few years. It is essential that the country radically change course and begin fully respecting migrant workers’ economic and social rights”, Noury added. It is unclear whether the new measure will actually reduce Doha traffic congestion, because few foreign workers, who make up 90% of the population, actually apply for driver’s licenses.
The foreign population is expected to increase in coming years during infrastructure construction work ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
A powerful Chechen rebel has demanded militants to ‘derail’ the upcoming Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, which he described as ‘satanic dances’.
Sochi is hosting the Winter Games in February, a pet project for President Vladimir Putin, who is determined for them to be a success.
Doku Umarov, a widely known Chechen rebel leader, urged his fighters to ‘do their utmost to derail’ the games, which he described as ‘satanic dances on the bones of our ancestors’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan — China: Sharif in Beijing to Bring Arab Oil to China
From now until 8 July, Pakistani Prime Minister will be in Beijing to discuss energy and investments. The construction of a road-and-rail corridor between Kashgar (Xinjiang) and Gwadar (Baluchistan) on the Arabian Sea is crucial. This way, Pakistan could solve its energy crisis, but in return, it will likely have to “stop” the emergence of Islamic fundamentalism.
Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Energy, transport and investment are on the agenda Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is taking with him as he begins today a six-day visit to China (3-8 July). His ultimate aim is to revive his country’s economy, which has been paralysed by an energy crisis and violent Islamic fundamentalism. The construction of a road and rail corridor between Kashgar (in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang) and the port of Gwadar (Baluchistan province) on the Arabian Sea is part of the broader picture.
The fact that Sharif chose Beijing for his first official trip abroad after his victory in the 11 May elections is significant. During his stay in China, he is expected to meet at least three members of the Politburo, namely President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang.
The Kashgar-Gwadar project is of great interest to both countries. “Sharif knows that Gwadar has significant geopolitical and economic importance for China,” said Rashid Ahmed Khan, a professor of international relations at the University of Sargodha in Punjab. “It can provide a short route for Chinese crude imports from the Middle East and for its exports to the region.”
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying agrees. The project “will help both countries as well as the development of the whole region,” she said.
In addition to trade, many analysts see the port of Gwadar as part of China’s plan to increase its naval power and influence in the Indian Ocean, considered the future centre of international energy exchanges.
The Kashgar-Gwadar line starts in the heart of Xinjiang province and cross into Baluchistan, a desert province bordering Iran and Afghanistan, and among the poorest in Pakistan.
Both areas have often been the scene of sectarian clashes. In recent days, fresh unrest broke out in Xinjiang between indigenous ethnic Uyghur (who are Turkic and Muslim) and Han Chinese, the majority in China. Beijing blamed the attacks on Islamic extremists trained in Pakistan, in camps run by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.
Baluchistan has been in the hands of paramilitary forces for decades. The exploitation of gas and mineral resources by the government has unleashed attacks by extremist and separatist movements, as well as Taliban groups.
If approved, the project might force Pakistan to find a final settlement to the fundamentalist emergency that has ravaged the country, a problem many blame on the central government in Islamabad.
This view is share by Afghan Army Chief General Sher Mohammad Karimi who said that Pakistan controlled and gave shelter to Taliban leaders, deliberately unleashing fighters on Afghanistan.
“If [Pakistan] put pressure on [the Taliban] leadership or convinced them what to do, that can help a lot,” he added.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ceremony in Somalia Commemorates Italian Deaths
Operation 20 years ago remembered by soldiers
(ANSA) — Rome, July 3 — Italian soldiers held a commemorative ceremony Wednesday to remember the dead who lost their lives in a military operation in Somalia 20 years ago.
The paratroopers of the Folgore Brigade commemorated fallen comrades and civilians killed during military operations in the African nation.
Three Italian soldiers were killed, 36 wounded; 67 Somalis dead and 103 wounded in the operation.
Present were the Ambassador and Special Envoy for Somalia Andrea Mazzella and UNHCR country representative for Somalia, Alessandra Morelli.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Alfano Calls for Europe’s Support With Immigration
No crisis but still a serious problem, says interior minister
(ANSA) — Rome, July 3 — Statistics do not convey the immigration crisis that is facing Italy, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told a constitution affairs committee Tuesday.
The rest of Europe must take note of what is happening in Italy, with the number of immigrants that flee their homes to land on Italy’s southernmost shores, he said.
The situation affects all of Europe, which must lend a hand, he added.
In 2011, during the so-called Arab Spring, as many as 60,000 migrants arrived in Italy, said Alfano, a member of ex-premier Silvo Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PDL) party.
Last year, the numbers dropped back to about 13,000, he noted.
Italy is not facing an emergency situation but it also can’t cope with the continual waves of immigration without help from other countries of Europe, he sad.
Even as Alfano spoke, the Italian Navy announced that about 80 people were rescued from a raft that was adrift 80 miles off the coast of Lampedusa.
Of the passengers, 10 are women, four of whom are pregnant, the Coast Guard said.
The tiny island which is part of Sicily will host Pope Francis on his first trip outside the Rome area as pontiff Monday.
He is scheduled to celebrate a mass at an immigration center that has been a constant source of overcrowding. Immigration from Northern Africa picks up in summer months as sea conditions improve. But many die while attempting the voyage, often in crammed and unsafe boats.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The full impact of mass immigration on British life was laid bare last night by a Home Office report.
It said that half the population lives in a town or city which has experienced high levels of immigration over the past decade.
Ministers said this ‘uncontrolled’ flow had caused a number of problems for wider society, ranging from pressure on maternity services, high rates of infectious diseases and a squeeze on school places, to disproportionate levels of some types of crime, inflated rents and immigrants living in ‘beds in sheds’.
In the landmark report, Home Office researchers studied every one of the 348 local authority areas in the country.
Each was examined to see if it had accommodated high levels of asylum seekers, low-skilled workers, foreign students and other migrant groups.
Overall, migration was found to have had a major impact in 127 of the areas, covering half of the total population.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |