It has always been unclear as to the extent of freedom enjoyed by American armed forces while dealing with issues within the border of Pakistan. A story in the Washington Times reveals President Musharraf years ago granted permission to the American military to launch predator attacks on Osama bin Laden in case they ever found the elusive target anywhere in tribal areas of Pakistan. Musharraf granted this exception to US forces so they do not have to seek permission from Islamabad prior to launching an attack on the al-Qaeda leader. All they have to do is load up and send the predator soaring into the sky.

The administration of George Bush has always placed emphasis of “getting Osama bin Laden” as though killing him will somehow lead to the end of al-Qaeda. This focus on an individual rather than on which conditions create the emergence of supporters of al-Qaeda had been a damaging mistake on the part of Bush. Al-Qaeda is a movement, it is not a person.

There is growing feeling among secular minded Turks for their nation to do something to mark the 15th anniversary of the massacre of 37 Alevi intellectuals and artists by a crown of ignorant fundamentalist Muslims in the province of Silvas. The Alevi are a Muslim sect which is noted for its secular modern ideas that have drawn the ire of fundamentalists. About a 150 Alevi had gathered for an art festival when local preachers stirred up people in the mosques during prayer time and within a few hours a mob of 16,000 had descended on the hotel. They set fire to the hotel and made it difficult for the fire brigade to do anything. As a result 37 people burned to death.

In Parliament, several members of the Republican people’s Party accused the governing Justice and Development Party(AKP) of protecting the murderers and not respecting the people who died in the massacre. They called for making the site of these murders an historic one so that future generations would not forget what happens when fundamentalist minded people go on one of their rampages against those whom they consider to be heretics.

He was an individual who people passed by while they were engaged in discussions with friends, a man who sat next to someone on the metro who was focusing on the day’s news, or the man who walked by you as you entered the apartment building. Tomohiro Kato, wrote online, “the clicking sound of my cell phone echoes emptily in my room. If only I had a girl friend, I wouldn’t have to live so miserably….” Kato posted thousands of such messages online most probably of hoping someone might respond and he would have a friend with whom to talk, but nothing happened other than his constant posting of messages. He was trapped in what Japanese people term, “seken”(society of people with whom one deals with) an emotion that is so important in life for a society in which the word “individual” never appeared until the 1880s.

In his postings June 3-8, he used the word “hiton”(alone) 39 times, “kanojo(girlfriend) 42 times, “tomadach”(friend) 26 times. He wrote, “I don’t have a girl friend. Just because of this my life has fallen apart.” Finally, he rented a truck and drove it into a crowd of people in Tokyo’s Akihaara district and killed seven while leaving others seriously injured.

After the attack, there were 360,000 postings in which writers expressed their understanding of why this lonely man had become a killer. Professor Naoki Soto notes: “In Japan, individuals are created by their relationship to the people around them.” Kato, who was an outstanding student in school but wound up painting carts, invested heavily in trying to become a member of Japanese society, but never received a return investment in him.

We are just concluding a week of intolerance that was proclaimed by the Bulgarian National Union(BNU) a right wing bigoted anti-gay organization which urged Bulgarians to come out in force for the June 28th gay parade and do their best to be intolerant. The BNU website advertised, “be intolerant, be normal.” The extremist organization believes its nation since getting involved with things like the European Union has brought about “misery, poverty, and epidemic-high levels of homosexuality.” Gay groups during the parade did their best not to be intolerant and hoped that behaving in a civilized manner to those with whom one has disagreements is a more normal behavior than acting intolerant.

One must admit the BNU has a unique approach to getting across its views of hate. We hope the people of Bulgaria are normally tolerant and will accept gays within their midst. We believe it is abnormal to be normally intolerant.

The book wars continue unabated in the United States of America when once again a teacher who inspired her students, and go them reading, was suspended because students were reading materials that related to their lives instead of being spoon-fed books that had no relevancy to contemporary existence. Connie Heermann, who has taught for 27 years, had her students read the Freedom Writers Diary, which depicts how an inner city teacher turned her students on to reading and writing and was subsequently made into a film with Hillary Swank.

Ms. Heermann, obtained consent forms from about 150 parents and found her students were excited about the book which they found connected to their own lives. After, she handed out the book, the school board sent her an email ordering her not to have students read the material. “That was the pivotal moment of m y life when I saw how my students were taken with the book, how they loved it, and then I am told not to let them read it? I said no.”

I have been in education for over 50 years and personally encountered a similar situation and know of dozens of wonderful teachers who faced suspension or firing because they turned their students on to thinking and reading. Fortunately, the school board provided students with a wonderful lesson in freedom of speech and reading.

Morgan Tsvangira, who won the election for president on March 29 only to have his victory disallowed by President Mugabe, turned down the pseudo dictator’s offer that he is now “ready for dialogue.” Mugabe was urged by members of the African Union to work for a national unity government in order to get rid of the bad taste in the mouths of African leaders over his display of brutal savagery against members of the opposition in Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai, who heads the Movement for Democratic Change(MDC), told the AU, “a government of national unity does not address the problems facing Zimbabwe or acknowledge the will of the Zimbabwe people.”

It is impossible for the MDC to negotiate with Mugabe after he killed 90 of their members, beat and tortured thousands, and drove additional thousands from their homes. Had Mugabe been willing to negotiate prior to the beatings, there might have been a genuine dialogue for peace. Mugabe is a thug, a murderer, and he should not be accorded any recognition by the world.

Tsvangirai also asked the AU to fire President Mbeki of South Africa from his role as mediator, given his bias in favor of Mugabe.

The decision of Polish President Lech Kaczynski to refuse signing the Treaty of Lisbon agreement even though his own parliament has voted for it, typifies the new skepticism which is growing in many parts of Europe. The Polish president argues adding his signature is “pointless” in light of Ireland’s refusal to go along with the treaty. European leaders have been urging the other members to ratify the Lisbon Treaty and then find a way to get around the Irish “no” vote. The financial Times Deutschland, comments, “Encouraged by the Irish vote, euroskeptics are cropping up everywhere.” Th Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
notes: The methods of achieving European integration have bee successful for 50 years, but they have become worn out.

It increasingly appears European leaders are faced with the choice of changing methods or trying to change its citizens. Of course, there are many alternative ways to deal with the current impasse. One might be to reconstitute the European Union with those members who are willing to accept an organization that no longer adheres to every member agreeing for change and moves to a more sensible approach requiring a two-thirds or three-fourths vote for changes.

A senior British judge accused his government for its deliberate policy of forcing members of the judiciary to deny asylum seekers of an opportunity to obtain a right to remain in Great Britain. Justice Stephen Sedley, a member of the Court of Appeal, said the Brown government is forcing judges to return people to “torture and death” by imposing harsh policies regarding the right of obtaining asylum. He is particularly concerned about a rule which requires a judge to automatically dismiss any asylum seeker the possibility of remaining in Great Britain if he/she used a false passport to escape their country or origin. “Many people fleeing persecution,” noted Sedley, “have no option but to travel on false papers.”

The Brown government, for some reason, has adopted a harsh and inhumane approach to the rights of asylum seekers. There apparently is some belief within the Labor Party that anyone who leaves a brutal dictatorship must do it legally and openly. As Justice Sedley notes, this attitude, is not the “proudest moment for humanitarian protection.” The case of Ms. Mkenda has been cited. After her husband and children were killed by rebel forces and she was raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo, she fled the country using a false French passport. Exactly what does Gordon Brown think she should have done– ask the rapists for an official passport?

The war of words and threats continues between Iran, the United States, and Israel. The Israeli air force practices bombing raids on some unspecified target, US warships patrol off the coast of Iran, and the Iranian government issues challenges and refuses to acknowledge genuine concern in the world over her nuclear program. Iranian oil minister, Gholam Nozari, said his nation would continue to sell oil even if attack, but would not take such an assault lying down and it would “react fiercely, and nobody can imagine what would be the reaction of Iran.” A senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards offered a somewhat different scenario in which his nation would take control of the Straits of Hormuz. American Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff said “we will not allow Iran to close it.”

Perhaps, the bombastic charges and threats and counter-threats are merely words being expressed to frighten enemies, but words can sometimes lead nations into actions they later regret. Any attack on Iran, justified or not, will undoubtedly result in complete destabilization of the Middle East. There are no winners in such a scenario, only losers.

In an article appearing in the Kuwait Times, military experts from that nation predicted there is a strong possibility of war by November or even by mid-October. Many believe Tehran will be devastated by an unprecedented air assault such as previously never undertaken against any nation. However, these experts are still debating if the United States would place itself in a situation requiring opening a third front in addition to Afghanistan and Iraq while few believe Israel has the military capability of pulling off such an air attack on its own.

Kuwait is worried an attack on Iran will result in closing the Straits of Hormuz and block its export of oil. They envision, Kuwait has three alternatives if the sea route is blocked. One would be sending oil through Saudi Arabia, another is through Iraq pipelines that lead to Syria and the Mediterranean and the other is via a pipeline to Oman. However, none of these alternatives is as yet a possibility and such an approach would require years of construction.

There is no good scenario if an air assault is undertaken. The Middle East would be plunged into new terrorist activities for years to come.