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THE NEWS:
. EDITORS NOTE: This issue is concentrated on some very recent news stories coming out of the UK that would seem to contradict much of what is being portrayed or touted by the US media. What is the point? This is not about US bashing, but rather to highlight things which appear to go unreported to the US public. Also, there are some comments or information from news sources, which quite frankly, mimic some of the things I have been saying for some time. In the least, it is worthwhile to get another perspective. Understanding alternate views or sides of a story is what a free press is (or should be). I recall a phrase that says; there are always two sides to a story – somewhere in the middle one encounters the truth. . . UN STAFF RAN REFUGEE EXTORTION RACKET By James Astill in Nairobi, Saturday January 26, 2002 From the online article: . Corrupt United Nations staff in Nairobi extorted millions of pounds from refugees desperate for a fresh start in western countries including Britain, UN investigators said yesterday. Three Kenyan employees of the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, are also charged with conspiring to send a death threat from Osama bin Laden to the US ambassador to Kenya. . http://www.guardian.co.uk/Refugees_in_Britain/Story/0,2763,639813,00.html . EDITORS REPLY: Some hold the view, that the UN should basically be placed in charge via the so-called new world order (with of course the US as the, shall we say, muscle or enforcer). I wonder if the average citizen even realizes what this might entail or mean for them personally in the long-term? That is to ask the question - Is the UN really a better choice or any less corrupt than your own local government? Or is the case of one larger bureaucracy replacing another? . . SAUDI ARABIA TELLS US Army: Please Leave Now . Saudis tell US forces to get out - Foreign soldiers seen as political liability. By Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor – Guardian, Saturday January 19, 2002 . Saudi Arabia's rulers are poised to throw US strategy in the Middle East into disarray by asking Washington to pull its forces out of the kingdom because they have become a "political liability". Senior Saudi officials have privately complained that the US has "outstayed its welcome" and that the kingdom may soon request that the American presence - a product of the Gulf war - is brought to an end. Both the White House and the US state department insisted yesterday that the military arrangement between the two countries was still working. The White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said that the president, George Bush, "believes that our presence in the region has a very helpful and stabilizing effect in a dangerous region". . Relations between the US and Saudi Arabia, Washington's closest Arab ally, have been severely strained since September 11. Both sides have been desperately denying for months that there is a rift. The US is reluctant to withdraw its 4,500 troops from the Prince Sultan air base, south of Saudi's capital Riyadh, because it could be perceived as a propaganda victory for Osama bin Laden, who frequently protested at the presence of non-believers so close to the main Muslim holy sites. But the increasingly brittle and vulnerable ruling House of Saud is nervous about an internal revolt by Bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network and other extremist militants, and has been publicly loosening its links with Washington. . Two senior US state department officials have been in Saudi this week: William Burns, the assistant secretary for the near east, and Lincoln Bloomfield, the assistant secretary for political and military affairs. The US state department insisted yesterday that at no point during Mr Bloomfield's visit, either formally or informally, had the Saudis said they wanted the US to leave. But the US ambassador to Saudi, Robert Jordan, was quoted as saying when Mr. Bloomfield arrived in the kingdom: "He is here for consultations with the Saudi government to review our presence here and to discuss what we need and what we don't need." . http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4338874,00.html . . US Sanctions China Over Arms Sales 6:57 am PST, 25 January 2002 . The Bush administration has leveled sanctions against China for Beijing's continued sales of chemical and biological weapons equipment to Iran. The Washington Times said it was the second time in four months that China has been hit with U.S. sanctions for selling weapons of mass destruction-related equipment. In September, the State Department imposed sanctions on the China Metallurgical Equipment Corp. and Pakistan's National Development Complex. Those sanctions were for Chinese missile-related sales, the paper said. We imposed penalties on three Chinese entities, pursuant to the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters Thursday. . EDITORS NOTE: First they get most favored nation trading status, now they are being sanctioned for selling weapons (which we reported on previously). Go figure. . http://www.7am.com/cgi-bin/catwire.cgi?USA_1000_2002012501.htm . . IS THE CURE WORSE THAN THE DISEASE? . The US says they went to fight a war on terrorism, but the view from Britain indicates maybe things are not exactly as what is being reported to the US public. Many point to the fact that the current new leader in Afghanistan was a previous consultant for UNICAL, and very oddly enough, priorities would seem to be getting the oil pipeline under construction once again (more so than anything else). Many would say this proves the entire Afghanistan affair is about oil and nothing more (as opposed to the official line of moving in to take out a repressive government, bring freedom and democracy, fight terrorism, etc.). . Afghanistan is reportedly now plagued by lawlessness, refugees escaping the current new regime, problems with humanitarian aid distribution (often ending up in the hands of the Northern Alliance Army, or sold for profit in the local black markets) and a host of other issues glossed over by the US media. The following are excerpts directly from very recent (January 2002) on-line news reports with full story links below: . THE BRITISH VIEW: . The opposition to the force (UN Peace-Keepers) evident among leading members of the Northern Alliance coalition that currently controls Kabul; the inherent weakness of Hamid Karzai's interim authority that takes office on Saturday; and the clear threat to British and other foreign troops posed by rump Taliban forces, tribal rivalries, and common banditry. Satisfaction that Britain is taking the lead role in helping the Afghan people begin the long climb out of repression and penury must be tempered by serious concern about what these obstacles could entail. Yet many of the still unresolved difficulties in respect of this deployment were and are avoidable. That the US, while insisting on retaining overall control, is NOT contributing its own soldiers is regrettable. Tory worries about the extent of reliable, practical US support are justified; shoulder-to-shoulder solidarity is supposed to work both ways. The Pentagon chief, General Richard Myers, crassly ignores Afghanistan's political, humanitarian and reconstruction imperatives when he demands that George Bush's war on terrorism have priority over all else. . America's DISDAIN for peacekeeping and its resentment of any non-US force is the reason, as much as Northern Alliance hostility, why the constraints on the ISAF are so great, its role, composition and powers are still in doubt, and its numbers so impracticably small. The risks facing British soldiers will thus be commensurately greater. . http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,621893,00.html . . FORMER CIA operative Robert Baer spills the beans on what really goes on in US Government. From the on-line article, he writes: . I would see how committee hearings and press leaks can be almost as effective as suicide bombers in promoting narrow, parochial causes. I would find that the tentacles of big oil stretch from the Caspian Sea to the White House. I'd also see how money, not lives or national security, skews so much of what takes place in the very places most charged with protecting us all. . I was called down to the NSC in December 1995 for an unscheduled emergency meeting on Georgia. When I walked into the NSC's stately conference room, I found the usual downtown nomenklatura: Rand Beers, head of intelligence programs for the NSC, Jennifer Sims, from the State Department, and a few others from Defense and State, there for decoration. Sims didn't waste any time making her pitch: we absolutely had to give Georgia's president Eduard Shevardnadze a Matador air-defense system to protect his planes and helicopters. (The Matador detects things such as radar lock-ons and approaching missiles.) Shevardnadze was the only Caucusus leader who had committed to the main oil-export pipeline, connecting the Caspian to the Mediterranean; America could not afford to lose him. I vaguely wondered why, if he was so important, the oil companies didn't pay to protect his life. Then Sims dropped her bomb: the money for the Matador would come from the CIA. At first I thought I'd fallen asleep and was dreaming. . The State Department couldn't have forgotten already that after Fred Woodruff, the CIA man in Tbilisi, had been murdered just outside the Georgian capital, Shevardnadze had stonewalled the investigation at every turn. Now the CIA was being asked to reward Shevardnadze by ponying up $2 million-plus to protect his life - all so that Amoco, Exxon, and Mobil could have some extra reserves for their yearly financial statement. Had the inmates finally taken complete control of the asylum? . The deeper I got, the more Caspian oil money I found sloshing all around Washington. If it had been just a matter of money or even political corruption, I might have been able to walk away from all I had learned about big oil, the White House and the NSC. Elective politics always breed a certain amount of nastiness. What I couldn't get around, though, was this: every time I turned over a new rock, there was something even nastier underneath. . http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4332900,00.html . On the subject of refugee camps: . Armed men are on the prowl, and the camp has become an arena for clashes between rival militia commanders, and ethnic groups. Many of the people here are Pashtun - as were the Taliban - and they are paying now for the sins of Afghanistan's vanquished rulers. 'People come to us and say: "Give us money or we will have you arrested because you are Taliban",' said Mohamed Afzal, an old man in a grubby white turban. . Amid the confusion, the camp functions - It has clinics, feeding centers, latrines, a video parlor - although no schools. The UN's World Food Program dispenses 90 to 100 tons of wheat here every day, and people seem reasonably well fed. But as we leave the camp, an old woman thrusts a gnarled hand in our direction with a handwritten note in English: Give us some food. . http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,640210,00.html . IF IT’S GOOD FOR AMERICA, it's good for the world News article appearing in a UK newspaper: . Hopes of a new US multi-lateralism have been dashed. The Bush administration may form coalitions when it suits the United States but its overriding mission is to show the world why the American way is best. . In this view, the United States therefore has an historic mission to be a civilizing force in world affairs. History is at an end and the American way of life is predominant. This will not be a neo-colonial controlling of the world but more a shaping, through governmental, business and other processes, of a world economy and polity that is broadly in the American image. . http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,640194,00.html . EDITORS NOTE: American may not see it this way, but much of the world takes the view that the US is trying to take over as opposed to simply looking after its own interests in a diplomatic way (which every nation has the right to do). Here is the rub. That is, the idea that the US is attempting to force its own values and systems upon the rest of the world, as opposed to what it says. Which is, that the US is the shining light with regards to respect and tolerance for others, while in effect not showing respect or tolerance for other nations with its actions at all. The final point is, now you know why the US Embassies and Consulates have barbed wire and bomb sniffing dogs (in contrast to the embassies and consulates of other nations). The US point of view is that everyone else is jealous. The universal truth is, no one likes a bully (and not all wish to become Americanized – whatever that means). . . OTHER INTERESTING READING: . War on terror loses its way Thursday January 17, 2002 . As George Bush's anti-terrorism campaign expands its aims, it is in danger of obscuring the original quest for justice, writes Simon Tisdall. One hundred days after the US began its military campaign against al-Qaida and Taliban targets in Afghanistan, George Bush's "war on terrorism" is in danger of losing direction. . http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,634956,00.html . In a week that has been dominated in Europe by debate about the way al-Qaida suspects are being treated in Guantanamo Bay, in the US itself the public mood is utterly unflustered by such human rights issues. FOR THIS IS THE COUNTRY THAT HAS JAILED A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF ITS CITIZENS THAN ANY OTHER in THE WORLD. And this is the country that has embraced the three strikes law. . http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,639795,00.html . . All I am saying is give protest a chance By Hans Nichols, Wednesday January 16, 2002 . In matters of war and peace, we conservatives have come to rely on the left for dissent, as a regulator on our bellicose throttle. There seemed to be plenty of protesters during the Vietnam War and enough of that lot were still kicking when the US invaded Grenada. By the time the Gulf war rolled around, those zany dissenters even had a fresh batch of slogans. Clever. But today, I barely hear a murmur. The silence is deafening. Where have all the flower children gone? . Not that I'd agree with them. By strange happenstance, my own views on Afghanistan, September 11, and al-Qaida tend to parallel those of the Bush administration. While I'm not entirely comfortable with the mass detentions and suspension of civil liberties, I can be convinced of their practical necessity. As New York political bosses used to say: "What's the Constitution between friends?" . Still, I'm a bit confused about what's actually going on. And the American press isn't about to tell me. Reading the London papers, one wonders if they are covering the same war. Sure, the battles have similar names, but reactions on the home front are markedly different. I can only offer two explanations for the lack of dissent. One, there's no credible case to be made against America's course of action. Two, a subliminal McCarthyism has taken hold in the land of the free and none of us is the wiser. . http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,634169,00.html . . To Complain is to be Un-American By Matthew Engel, Wednesday January 23, 2002 . My fellow non-Americans (and also any Americans who might happen to be listening)... That start in itself makes this state-of-the-union column more inclusive than President Bush's own state of the union address will be when he stands in front of the massed ranks of Congress next Tuesday to make his most important speech since the post-September 11 epic. . He will be addressing the American people. Anyone else who happens to be listening will be an eavesdropper. To a large extent, that's how it always is in this country, most especially in an even-numbered year, whether or not the election directly involves the president himself. And it's particularly true with this president. The past few months have changed things, but not in the way outsiders like to think. The world has not become more interdependent. Instead, as seen from the Oval Office, it has become divided into three: . The United States; countries willing to do the US's bidding; and nuisances / enemies. It's not a good idea to be a nuisance/enemy. . http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,637876,00.html . . READERS WRITE IN: . . Hi John: . As always, love your Newsletter. You wrote (past news bulletin): . A few things stand out to me from the article. One, passport applications have increased by 40% despite the fact that Canada is participating in the very same recession as the US and as such should discourage more costly foreign travel, not the other way around. The bottom line or conclusion I reach is that more Canadians than ever are planning on expatriating (leaving for good). Canada will become one spacious place with all those people gone (presumably gone with their money). . John - I think passport applications have increased by 40% simply because it's an easy "tax" to increase. The rationale is it now costs us more to monitor people going in and out of the country so "they" should pay. Also, although I agree with you that it WILL happen, we are not yet at the point where "more Canadians than ever are planning on expatriating". I'm 56...at the top end of the post war Baby Boom and am only now thinking of establishing a beachhead for retirement somewhere outside of Canada as I realize that my savings and certainly my Canada Pension will not go very far into retirement. The generation before me retired to Florida or Arizona. Both are far too expensive for most Canadians now. . When I tell my (mostly younger) friends about my plans, they look at me somewhat quizzically and say - you know, you're probably right. . (Quote from the previous news bulletin): Two, Americans no longer trust their friendly neighbor to the north, now requiring all sorts of complicated ID to enter the US. I am not going to comment one way or another other than to say it is an interesting change in policy. . I live in a Border City, Windsor, Ontario across from Detroit. It simply makes good sense to have a passport here. . (Quote from news bulletin last week) Third, what does employment history have to do with getting a passport? I thought, a citizen was a citizen and proving so is enough to get a travel document from your own country. . I was not asked about my employment history when I applied for a passport last month. . (Quote from news bulletin last week) And what exactly is a guarantor and how does it relate to a passport? Do you now have to guarantee you are NOT expatriating from Canada, and if you do, they take your mother's house away (if she is the guarantor)? I have heard of countries trying to guarantee that visiting foreigners will not overstay their tourist visa, or stay with the intent of working illegally inside the country. But does this mean the Canadian Government wants to guarantee that its own citizens do not escape or leave permanently? This is what it sounds like to me. Maybe someone can write in and clear this up? . The "Guarantor" has, as long as I can remember, been a part of the Passport Procedure. A "Guarantor" is your family doctor, lawyer or some "bondable" type of person. It's simply one more check to assure you are who you say you are. . EDITORS REPLY: Well, as always, thank you for your letter. With regards to some of the comments I wrote, they were directly aimed at what was written in a Canadian Newspaper, which included a mention of a new sort of employment history requirement when applying. Not being Canadian, I honestly do not know what is or is not required when applying for a passport, and I have to take your word if you have not experienced such things when applying very recently. . The comments I passed were not aimed towards the increase in government fees. For me, if the government increases the fees by CN$35 or whatever amount, I tend to think it is irrelevant. What struck me, again, was the comment that passport applications have increased by 40%. Some may take the argument that Canadians were rushing to get their passport before the fee went up. Maybe, but I cannot imagine a herd of people rushing to get a passport in order to save $35 or so if they have no travel plans or need at the moment. Sort of like someone that is wheelchair bound buying snow skis simply because they are on sale or to beat the price increase. I tend to think, and I could be wrong, that you spend the money to get a passport (regardless) because you intend to travel internationally some time in the near future. . On the topic of a guarantor to apply for a passport, personally I find it somewhat ridiculous. Why is it that an official ID Document issued by your local state government, such as a driver’s license, along with a certified birth certificate not enough? Does this mean the federal Canadian Government refuses to recognize a local or province issued document as having value? Why all the red tape and extra requirements (such as providing employment history as the Canadian News article states)? Or is it that the news article was incorrect about this? . The same gentleman sends in the following: China Mandates More Online Restrictions . China is continuing its policy of authoritarian crackdown on Internet use. In the latest sweeping set of restrictions, the country's ruling powers have mandated that Internet service providers monitor e-mail and Web sites for subversive content. This latest set of regulations dashes hopes that China would ease up in such matters after being admitted to the World Trade Organization. It's worth noting that these Chinese regulations resemble some of the US government policy proposals in the early history of the Net. We present two takes on the story, from SiliconValley.com and Wired. . http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svfront/004019.htm . http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,49855,00.html . EDITORS REPLY: My question remains - Is it that China becoming more like the US or is the US becoming more like China? Or is that China is adopting a Free Market Capitalistic Economic System and the US becoming more like a totalitarian (repressive) government? . . Another Reader Asks: . Hi John, . I've been a subscriber to your newsletter for some time and really appreciate your insight. . How readily available is the Internet in the DR and Panama? Are services such as DSL available? Can one purchase a T1 in either place for a reasonable price? In Belize, I was quoted approximately $16,000.00 U.S. per month for a T1, which is more than ridiculous. Here (Tacoma Washington) I can get it for about $1000.00 so I'm curious what's available there. I realize the US probably has cheaper prices for that sort of thing, but if bandwidth is easily available, it would sure make moving there easier. Thanks for your help. . EDITORS REPLY: Thank you for your letter, and this is a very common question. The truth is that the telecommunications industry in the DR has grown exponentially over the years, outpacing tourism. There are now four telephone service companies in the country, all now offering Internet access services. However, rates for things like T-1 lines, DSL and cable modems are higher than what they are in the US. Then again, if you want to make a comparison with Cable & Wireless, which operates the local phone networks in Belize, Panama and a host of other countries, the rates in the DR are dirt cheap in comparison. I do not have the current rates in front of me, but the last time I checked, DSL rates in the DR went for about US$ 60 per month or so, T-1 lines were about US$ 3,500 per month (don’t quote me, this is from memory). Anywhere Cable & Wireless operates (which unfortunately includes Panama), you can expect bad service and outrageous phone rates. . . Another Reader Writes: . When you mix the truth with fiction, you disservice your points and views. Don't compare Dominicans or the Dominican level of education with any other besides other Latin American Countries and most other developing countries. I deal with the average Dominican all of the time. They are probably the most uninformed bunch in the Caribbean and Atlantic Islands I have ever met. Their sense of Nationalism is not any less or higher than any country (except probably Puerto Ricans who have been exposed to a different level of racism in America) but may appear to be some times. When Nationalism (or lack of) plays an important part of your day-to-day living, you handicap yourself. Mainstream yourself, when in Rome!!!!! America is still the greatest country in the world. You just have to know the play or how to play the game. . EDITORS REPLY: Thank you for your comments. Well, to tell you the truth, I thought being American (or the American myth) was all about fairness, lack of the need to play games, tolerance, liberty and justice for all, etc., etc. If what you are saying is true, that living in the US is no different than living anywhere else, and that being the case, my perspective is – live somewhere else whereby you don’t get taxed to death and whereby things like a private university education are still affordable (all things being equal, game playing and all). Plus, living in a country whereby you don’t need to partake in what almost amounts to a proctology exam just to board an airplane, is an added bonus in my opinion . On the subject of the Dominican people, my comments were more along the lines that they seem to have more common sense than Americans at times. Common sense is something you learn, mainly from your own experiences. Anyone that can become self-sufficient and survive in a country without social programs or a heavy-handed government is someone to be respected, in my opinion. It parallels the OLD American spirit and self-reliance that used to exist in the US long, long ago. The people living in the rural areas of the DR are very simple people to be sure, and are most certainly uninformed when it comes to world affairs, but how different are they from the average American? Most Americans could not name half of the US State capitals or draw a somewhat correct map of their own country, never mind the world. What is the point? How is it possible that the so-called wealthiest nation on earth turns out citizens with this level of knowledge (or lack thereof)? If you say the same about the Dominican people, that’s fine with me, but how you do explain the difference in education expense by the government with the very same product or end result? . Not all the Dominican people are highly educated to be sure, but they are not stupid either. You say you have regular dealings with them and your experiences indicate they are uneducated. Perhaps. Perhaps they are playing you? Perhaps they want YOU to think they are stupid. Did you ever stop to think about that possibility? I agree that nationalism is no substitute for facts or clear information. On the other hand there is so much misinformation floating around the US about the Dominican Republic and Latin America in general, that it is both unexplainable and unbelievable to me. I honestly do not know what to tell you, other than, stay where you are in Puerto Rico and enjoy. Just pray that you never get statehood and will have to start paying US Federal Income Taxes like everyone else (every other holder of a US Passport). I wonder how many Americans realize that Puerto Rico gets a ton of money from the US Federal Government each year, but that they do not pay income taxes to Uncle Sam? In any event, I’ll take the Dominican Republic, thank you very much (a country that made it on it’s own without US taxpayer supported handouts each year). . By the way, I know five factory owners in Puerto Rico. They tell me they would prefer to hire an illegal Dominican over a Puerto Rican any day of the week. Uneducated or not, they tell me one Dominican is worth four Puerto Ricans with regards to the amount of work they do. I cannot say if this is true or not, but I pass it along as food for thought. . . Another Reader Writes: . John, I enjoy your newsletter and find it only confirms many of my own beliefs about 'the free world'. I am a Canadian but have not lived in Canada for the past 17 years. I tried to fight many of the injustices there but when I found out that my effort where to no avail I left for greener pasture. I am quite happy living in Thailand now but working in the Middle East. . EDITORS REPLY: Proof positive that life exists outside of North America, and perhaps a less taxing one at that. . . This information has been compiled and presented by John Schroder of Ascot Advisory Services, for the benefit of clients and readers. Ascot Advisory Services provides assistance with such matters as offshore company formation, Panama Foundations, offshore banking, and special services in the Dominican Republic regarding residency, free zone applications, etc. For more information: |