Good Governance

Treasure at the Bottom of the Sea

2006-10-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

The global economy could soon be getting its supply of raw materials from the deep seabed, where copper, zinc, cobalt and gold lie hidden in black smokers and manganese nodules. As the prices of land-based natural resources rise, new technologies might soon be crushing undersea rock containing metal ores and pumping it to the surface.

read more | digg story

Kevin Rose Revs Up to Front Page of Digg's Top Users

2006-10-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

Millionaire web guru, Kevin Rose, for the first time in my recent memory rose up today to the first page of Digg's Top 30 users. With 73 stories submitted in four days, and all 73 got to the front page. At this rate, if he maitains his undented and impeccable record of 100% Popular ratio, which is a rare feat for all the 29 top users above him, he

read more | digg story

10 Defence Facts for Alexa Rankings Against 'Worthless' Accusation

2006-10-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

Triumphant Web guru, John Chow, coming out of a bumper 'Digg-effect' harvest week, has taken Alexa Ranking tool bar to the cleaners, calling it 'worthless'. On the contrary, Alexa parades 10 reasons for being one of the greatest utility index tool in the hands of webmetricians world-wide.

read more | digg story

The World's Biggest Looter Found In Nigeria

2006-09-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

BUT for a quick intervention by the Senate President, Ken Nnamani, Nigerians would yesterday have known one of their own, considered by global fraud investigations as the world's biggest looter...

read more | digg story

31 of 36 State Governors Prepared For Imprisonment In Nigeria

2006-09-28T19:39:00.000-07:00

"If we all live in the U.S, all of us will be in prison by now, because the things we do here cannot be tolerated there." With this damning words on the floor of the Senate, yesterday, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) Boss, Nuhu Ribadu, exposed and prepared his crusade against corrupt public officers and abuse of office.

read more | digg story

As Warfare Breaks Out In Adsense Kingdom, Princes At Dagger Drawn

2006-09-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

A few hours ago, Joel Comm, a foremost Google Adsense publisher, released a report to 'battle' the misconception by purported 'Adsense experts', whom he claimed are shouting that, Google Adsense is dead. Refuting their claim point-by-point, he described them as black hats techies who lost out in Google's recent 'tweaking' of her Adwords program.

read more | digg story

Military Coup Rumours Stirs Up Anger In Nigeria

2006-09-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

Amidst the torrents of disclosures of monumental corruption that exposed the President and his VP in Nigeria, in the last 2 weeks; coupled with the recent military plane crash that killed 13 military top brass, the first victim and casualty of the bitter and scandalous feud in the Presidency emerged during the week: Rumours of military coup de tat.

read more | digg story

Nigeria's Statistical Index of Fraud

2006-09-20T11:40:00.000-07:00

The Zero-Corruption Coalition has disclosed that about 220 billion pound sterling was 'stolen' by past leaders who ruled Nigeria in the last 40 years. It revealed that "55 billion pound sterling which included the country's money and assets were stocked in various accounts in different countries." Wonder any further for the fraudulent rule?

read more | digg story

MofasGate- Nigeria's hour of Corruption and Shame

2006-09-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

The Press here is awashed in the last 10 days of cantankerous trading of corrupt enrichment accusations between the President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and his VP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from a joint secret account MOFAS from which both allegedly have been dipping their hands. This may well pave way for their exit before general elections next April.

read more | digg story

Opposition Queries Plane Crash in Nigeria

2006-09-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

Nigeria's leading opposition Governor of Lagos mega-city, Senator Bola Tinubu yesterday questioned the financial integrity of leadership and security of governance, as relates to the the military plane crash, in which a generation of armed forces officers perished. He called for a probe and warned that the crash should not be swept under the carpet

read more | digg story

Opposition Queries Plane Crash in Nigeria

2006-09-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

2006-08-25T04:54:00.000-07:00

The Warning Signals of Democratic Failure
Ever articulate Dr. Reuben Abati, this morning in The Guardian came out vociferously to sound the alarm of democratic danger with each of his five fingers pointing to the 5 dangers that threatens democracy as we approach 2007 elections. He described governance as "...failure of the past seven years". Saying "...Our failure...to use democracy as a platform for correcting the fault lines of Nigerian history, and the many lies that bind us together." He concluded that "...the year 2007 will be Nigeria's rendezvous with history. It may well be the year when the country and its people will pay a price (the exact nature of which we may not yet know)..."

let's get out our political thermometer to measure the heat...

2006-08-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

The Shame and the Rape of Bakassi
This article was posted by Aderemi Ojikutu on Nigerian Elections 2007 as a contribution to the way forward on the Bakassi adventure.

The PDP ruling government led by President Obasanjo, notoriously noted for flouting and disobeying court orders at home, has ironically and hastily complied with all the rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on Bakassi peninsula.

This double-faced hypocrisy was more painful with the hasty manner in which the government unjustly collaborated with Camerounian gendarme to abort the popular will of our people in Bakassi local government.

The ICJ ruled that Camerounian army must not move to occupy the Bakassi until after 2 years of Nigerian Evacuation, but this plundering army has even moved into Bakassi before the final departure of the Nigerian Army, thereby flouting the ruling of the ICJ with impunity.

Now is the time to sound the alarm that this double-faced party (PDP) must reap the indignation of the Nigerian People at the next election (2007). Only the party that can reverse the shame and rape of Bakassi should be enthroned at the polls.

Only a true referrendum or plebiscite of the Bakassi people can bring lasting solution to the problem of Bakassi ignominy, perpetrated by the Abacha regime and consumated by the Obasanjo regime. There is nothing but ruin in the prejudicial occupation of Bakassi by the Camerounian army.

2006-08-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

The Return of 'Maradona' For Nigerian Presidency

This week marked the open declaration by Nigeria's former military President, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), to contest for Presidency next year. The indignation of the broad political spectrum wasd captured in this editorial article by Levi Obiojofor of the Guardian this morning. what was however glaringly missing in that Levi's Trojan Horse article is that, the accumulated disappointment that the current Obasanjo leadership represents is what triggers the re-emergence of mockery that IBB represents in our political horizon.

2006-08-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

Mega Fraud; Mega Shares Aquisition
The controversy that has trailed the acqisition and ownership of 200 million shares in blind trust, by President Obadanjo, in TRANSCORP Plc. is still raging, in fact The Guardian Newspapers has thrown and made it a subject of public opinion poll in which over 77% of the sample poll of Nigerians are opposed to it. we bring you this short piece by Aderemi Ojikutu from there.

"The tagicomedian leadership of the Nigerian polity was sealed by this unethical intrusion into TRANSCORP affairs by OBJ. The ruling class that had potrayed the OBJ 'anti-corruption' crusade as the best thing to have happened to Nigeria has gone into hiding.

We can now see better that the dog is speedily returning to its vomit. In order to get back to the nauseating act, they had to hastily remove and dump clean fellows like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who would have been an obstacle to that shameful reversal.

Salvation is neither in the military, God is our help in these times of trouble. God can and would stem the determined slide by OBJ & co. into the mire of ignominy that they want to drag Nigeria into at the tail end of their rule."

2006-08-14T01:41:00.000-07:00

Editorial Bashing for President Obasanjo's 'Unethical' Acquisition of Transcorp's shares
Nigerian President came under a barrage of editorial attack this morning from the media. the Vanguard Newspaper faulted his zealous anti-corruption crusade in the light of 200 million share aquisition in the Mega business- Transcorp.

The sour taste of the the President's biased intervention in the Transcorp's adventures, all in the name of patriotism did not go down well with objective media because the president has a vested interest in the mega company and it is been seen by many as an unfair advantage gained by a man that preaches fairness and equity. Visit the Vanguard link for details of the editorial.

2006-08-14T00:19:00.000-07:00

Behind The Bars of Intimidation: U.K. Goodwill Soars For Aspirant
The re-arrest and detention without trial last Friday, of popular gubernatorial aspirant for Osun State, Nigeria, by the ruling PDP government has triggered a new wave of sympathy and popular support accross Nigerian borders to Europe, for Engineer Rauf Aregbesola, the Lagos State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure.

Last week, we reported how Engineer Rauf Aregbesola narrowly escaped assassination when his vehicle was shot at by government-sponsored opponents. He came out of that skirmish declaring that he would not be intimidated by the ruling PDP. However, no sooner was it discovered that his spirit remains unbroken than he was re-arrested two days later for yet to be disclosed 'offense'.

Massive crowd has bombarded the Panti CID detention ceter in solidarity with Aregbesola. we learn that the PDP ruling government is already in a quandary, and is therefore afraid of transfering him to Oshogbo, Osun State capital for trial, as his presence in that state could spark off an uprecedented mass protest for his freedom.

Meanwhile, support swells for Aregbesola accross border even unto United Kingdom in Europe, where strident calls for his immediate release is also being made.

2006-08-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

Dealing With The 3 Things That Makes The Psychology Of Terror To Flourish
By aderemi Ojikutu

There was world-wide joy yesterday as the belly of intended terrorist bombing campaign over 10 transatlantic flights to the U.S. were ripped opened by British and Pakistani counter-terrorism detectives.

This event once again confirms that terrorism is not just an impulsive and angry response by an insane group bent on destroying western democracies. This aborted plot showed traces of a long-term, meticulous and clandestine group who PATIENTLY planned, calculated and waited for the hour to strike.

We have inadvertently permitted terrorism to flourish because we failed to address and deal with the THREE deep roots of terrorism. Let me first identify these three "fertilizers" of terrorism before proffering solutions of dealing with them. They are:

1. A COWARDLY, SELF-PRESERVING and OPPORTUNIST LEADERSHIP CORE

2. A Triangular PHILOSOPHY of POPULISM, MARTYRDOM and FEAR

3. An HATE ARMY of YOUNG FOOT-SOLDIERS as HEROIC GUINEA PIGS

The real leaders and inspiration behind terrorism, are a very rational and intelligent (albeit negatively) being. The moment we begin to see them as so, the better we would be equipped to deal with this scourge. In their cowardly bid for self-preservation, they refuse to "lead by example" of the 'martyrdom' which they preached to their innocently gullible followers, and for the cause which they professed, they treacherously deceive and mislead innocent young lads with the promise of Al'janah "heaven" so as to commit suicide and mass murder in the name of God.

These innocent and exuberant young lads were recruited on the basis of false, illusory and hate philosophy, trained and used as cannon fodder- the "heroic" Guinea pigs of terror, the dispensable pawns on the chess board of world terrorism, currently being master-minded by Al-Queada's Osama Bn Laden. These are the foot soldiers hate activism, let loose in the barbaric warfare against civilization and development.

Another important structure in the arsenal of terror is what I call The Triangular Philosophy. This is taught in terror classes and training camps to indoctrinate the gullible youth victims. Terrorism, realising its weakness and utterly abominable acts by the larger society, sought refuge in these 3-pronged philosophy of Martyrdom, Populism and Fear.

Martyrdom became a distorted theory in the hands of terror, to inspire its captive students of the 'glorious' place heroes occupy in the heart of every society, long after they are dead. They inspire the captives unto suicide and mass murder so they would become world "heroes" of Islam and Allah.

Populism is one great refuge desperately sought by an isolated, enstranged and ostracised terror gang in desperate need of acceptance by the larger society. An undemocratic terror sect seeks popularity among the moslem world desiring to lean on religious demagoguery, masquerading as the avenger and champions of 'persecuted' Islam.

Fear is the last instrument in the hands of a failed murderous group. They seek to instil fear by violent means in the mind of a public that has refused to accept the cold-blooded insanity of terrorism. Having failed to win the battle of reason and logic, they seek to opportunistically exploit public desire for peace and development, by using violent means to scare the people into pressurising Western Governments to "leave Islam alone" and withdraw their forces from Iraq, Afghanistan, and withdrawal of Israel from Palestine and Southern Lebanon. To drive popular mood and indignation, by placing the blame for their murderous acts at the doorstep Western Governments.

The method of exposure and arrest of these terror plotters, for the first time shows we are no longer dealing with them as a maddening crowd that must be tackled with an array of emergency and panic measures. Tracking a terror plot for 13 months and allowing it germinate, multiply and breed more terror cells under the watchful eyes of the state over a controlled period of time, before swooping on them is a coordinated and matured tool in the arsenal of counter-terrorism.

It is time to take the battle against terror to its recruiting ground. Superior philosophy to terrorist escape valley must be channelled to neutralise the fertilizer of terrorism in the Moslem communities where the recruits of terror are enlisted.

The self-preservative opportunism of the leadership must be exposed and the captive philosophy of submission to be used as cannon fodders or guinea pigs for terrorism must also be unmasked and dismantled among the Moslem youth. These are some of the measures to counter the psychology of terror which many a disillusioned Moslem youth feed on and thereby making terrorism to flourish.

2006-08-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

The Challenge of Terror and The Horror of a Misguided Youth
We bring you this ezine article (as an inspirational reminder against youth terrorism), written and published by Aderemi Ojikutu, in the wake of 7/7 youth bombers who murdered 52 innocent people in cold blood in London last year.

With the abortion and failed attempt to blow up London again last Thursday, by a group of misguided youths, these 'foot-soldiers of hate' have only succeeded in sowing a seed of disdain for our collective progress and therefore, they and their 'commanders' would not escape a harvest of Divine indignation.

It is popularly explained by many that the invasion of Iraq by Blair and Bush to overthrow Sadam, is at the root of the anger of the supposedly Moslem youth which spilled over into Al-Queada inspired violence. However, can such horrendous crime against innocent, hapless and ordinary citizens murdered in cold blood be justified? As genuine students of contemporary history, we cannot excuse this heinous and Hitlerite acts.

While it is correct that a predominant multitude of the present generation neither experienced, witnessed nor remembered the phenomenom of Hitler's ascension and dominion, which eventually led to the 2nd World War, true leadership would not fold its arms and permit similar evils to rear their monstrous heads again today.

We dare to stir up a controversy with our 'Islamic' youth brothers, who, in their innocence are being grossed into their untimely graves at their prime by a deranged leadership. Islam as a way of life is a world religion of PEACE! From whence cometh this horror of terror that Al-Queada seeks to engraft into it? Whose ambassador art thou? Which and whose cause doth thou fightest? Whose mandate doth thou seeketh? Shall the souls of both the dead and maimed forgive the evil actors of this bizarre drama, who prematurely terminated their destiny on the altar of a cowardly and hideous leadership? How would these misled youths win their case in the court of the bereaved or even of their hapless, agonising and equally bereaved families?

Instead of the warped goal of harassment of Bush and Blair, this sectarian army has just suceeded in embarrassing the true ambassadors of the Islamic Faith in the Arab world and unfortunately whiplashed the peace-loving moslem communities worldwide.

Is it not time to understand the perfidy and cowardice of a Sadam that led thousands of youth to their death but himself became a jellyfish in the face of death? Can Bin Laden, in a similar situation be better?

We salute the youths who have staunchly refused to be hoodwinked and corrupted by the false fantasy of self-ruinaion and self-destruction. To you belong the future of peace, progress and development which the Al-Queada wolves, posing as your militant revolutionary liberators, seek to devour. Stand up now! Disallow the thief!! Reject their grand deception!!!

2006-08-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

Abortion of August Terrorist campaign in Britain
There was world-wide joy yesterday as the belly of terrorist bombing campain over 10 trans atlantic flights to the U.S. were ripped opened by British and Pakistani counter-terrorism dectectives.

Acording to CNN News 24 suspects (British muslims of Pakistani decent), have been rounded up. Reports show that the plot was a painstaking and long-planned by the youths (aged between 17 and late 20's) whose main leaders went on training and fund-raising missions to Pakistan last year.

The Counter-Intelligence Services which coordinated the surveillance and eventual arrest of these youth bomber-to-be, should be commended for tact and wisdom. The abortion of this dastardly plot is a big blow to the heart of terrorism as championed by Osama bn Laden.

It is also a good report of our genuine peace-loving Moslem community of their gallant battle to expose the cancerous gang of hate, who masquerade in the name of Islam to maim and kill inocent and hapless victims. The Report of how the terror plot was uncovered shows that it was a member of the Moslem community in Britain who tipped-off the police of the unusual activities of those who later turned out to be ring-leaders of this August terror plot, as far back as July last year, just after the 7/7 bombers who murdered about 52 innocent commuters on British transpotation system.

We stand by our views, in the wake of this terrorist campaign last year in London that terror is only a mask for religious demagoguery and cannot be the solution to the problem of bad governance world over, even in advanced democracies.

2006-08-06T23:47:00.000-07:00

Political Violence Moves To Oshogbo, Nigeria As Another Governorship Aspirant Escaped Death by whiskers
The ignominous train of political intolerance and violence moved from Lagos after the assassination and burial yesterday, of the Engineer Funsho Williams. The peaceful city of Oshogbo was turned into violent bloodbath by the political intolerance that was principally instigated by the incumbent military (...oops!), sorry, I mean the State Governor, retired Colonel Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

As a result of the fracas triggered by this political hatred of the governor against his arch rival and gubernatorial aspirant for his seat, Enginneer Rauf Aregbesola, many political supporters are lying in critical conditions with many a fatal injury and gun shot wounds, on hospital beds scattered around Oshogbo, Osun State, Nigeria, by yesternight.

Reports filed in many newspapers, like the THISDAY online, Nigeria's most credible and most-read Daily newspaper, according to Alexa Ranking, shows that the joyous occasion of Oroki Day presided over by the traditional ruler, Ataoja of Oshogbo, Oba Oyewale Matanmi, which also had the incumbent governor as the the Guest of Honor, turned sour when the governor refused to acknowledge the greetings and camradie of Rauf Aregbesola, who on arrival at the venue, went straight to honour the governor on the high table, to greet him. This was good, honorably peaceful and friendly gesture by Rauf Aregbesola was prevented and and rebuffed, by the governor, whose security aides cordoned off Aregbesola. It was as a result of this cold shoulder that the Oba, persuaded Rauf Aregbesola to depart from the venue as the governor's attitude has already heightened tension in th city hall, venue of the event.

It is very interesting that almost all 32 governorship aspirants of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, (with the exception of a few smart ones who took to flight and hid from police invitation to interrogation), are in detention and under interrogation for the past five days in Lagos. Not a single aspirant from the rival Alliance for Democracy AD, which Rauf Aregbesola belongs to have been touched with the tooth-pick of police investigations into Funsho Williams' Assassination. From whence cometh violence? Certainly not from Aregbesola or the AD. The Federal police authorities have had the herculean tasks of lecturing PDP governorship aspirants for the past 3 weeks in Lagos on the politics of tolerance and even made all of them signed a statement of committment to peaceful conduct throughout the impending electioneering period. it would be a great service to our fatherland if the police authorities would call "soldier-turned-politician" Governor Oyinlola and spare him the lecture notes for the PDP gubernatorial aspirants in Lagos. It would certainly be gretaer service if they can also make him and all the PDP aspirants in Osun State to sign a commital to peaceful conduct in Oshogbo and Osun state too.

Retired but not tired Colonel Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola cannot have the priviledge of being an accused and a judge over his own case! True Governance is about acceptance and goodwill of the majority. Not manipulation of forces of coersion in government to impose your wishes to colour the truth!

2006-08-04T01:19:00.000-07:00

Exit of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: End of Nigerian Economic Reforms
A few hours ago the sudden resignation of Nigeria's ertwhile Finance, and of late, Foreign Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, sent shock ripples to the international and local watchers of the the Nigerian economic miracle of the last three years. Prior to becoming Finance Minister, Okonjo-Iweala was Vice President and Corporate Secretary of the World Bank Group where she had pursued a 21-year career as a development economist. She is married to a surgeon, Dr. Ikemba Iweala.

The economic and political steam of the Obasanjo's government was already turning to cold water at the end of it's first term in 2003, and this was reflected in the ruling Party's massive election rigging in the 2003 polls, this much was confirmed by the Supreme Court, in the few instances of two states (Ogun and Rivers) whose cases were clinically investigated by opposition attorneys.

It took the desperate and bold measures by President Obasanjo to inject a World Bank team led by Okonjo-Iweala, Obi Ezekwesili, Frank Soludo, and a few other technocrats with missionary zeal, into the government with the assignment to rescue the ailing economy from the brink of toital collapse. This they all delivered on target. By the end of June 2006, Nigeria for the first time in recent economic history can proudly be said to have begun to climb out of the woods.

Okonjo-Iweala and her economic team which include ministers and technocrats, launched a number of economic and social reforms aimed at zero-tolerance for corruption; transparency in international and local bidding for government contracts; privatisation of state-owned business through the Bureau of Public Enterprise; and the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, which seeks to bring openness to the oil sector.

In the casual sense, it is tempting to easily allude with a sense of humor that, "now that the sick has regained his health, it is time to despise his Physician". The truth behind her resignation however is that, the Obasanjo regime has become a lame duck, with elections around the corner again in the next 7 months.

Having lost out in the "Third-Term Elongation scheme", designed by some mischievious advisers of the President to perpetuate his rule beyond his constitutional and democratic mandate in May 2007, at the National Assembly, the opponents of that undemocratic manuovres naturally become the victim of Obasdanjo's indignation and vindictiveness.

Ngozi Iweala and her Economic Team were among the frontline opposition to the enlongation scheme because, they argued, it would undermine the fledging economic reforms of the last three years. She as the team leader was seen as a dissident, and was redeployed afterwards from the Finance Ministry to the less-prominent Foreign Affairs Ministry. Even this did not satisfy their thirst for vengeance as the clique saw to her final humiliation by her removal as chairperson of the economic Team for Nigeria on Tuesday this week, while she was still in London with her team, negotiating the remnant of Nigeria's debt with London Club of creditors.

She would be missed for her gallant fight and successful achievements that triggered the miracle of Nigerian Economic reforms. Last week, in an interview with the London Guardian, she recounted: “When I became finance minister they called me Okonjo-Wahala - or Trouble Woman. But I don't care what names they call me. I'm a fighter; I'm very focused on what I'm doing, and relentless in what I want to achieve, almost to a fault. If you get in my way, you get kicked."

Today, her greatest achievement as Finance Minister remains the negotiation, which led to the largest debt relief deal in Africa, and the second largest debt cancellation in the Paris Club's 50-year history. That effort saw Nigeria's $30bn debt to the Paris Club partly written off, saving the country $18bn. As a result of the debt cancellation and an innovative Debt Buy Back Scheme, Nigeria exited the Paris Club in April 2006, thereby bringing the country's external debt burden down from $35 to $5 billion.

Also notable is the Okonjo-Iweala drive and spearheading to get Nigeria's first ever BB- Credit rating in January 2006 from international rating agencies Fitch and Standard & Poors, which placed Nigeria in the league of several emerging market countries like Brazil, Venezuela, Vietnam, Philippines and Turkey.

A 1976 Harvard graduate, the mother of four, who studied rural Nigerian financial markets at doctoral level at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the late 1970s and early '80s, with the expectation that she would one day return to the country, started her career at the World Bank, and accumulated experience in East Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. She attained the post of vice president and corporate secretary, the first woman to achieve these positions.

For her doggedness in the nation's finance matters, she has a number of awards in her kitty. These include an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Brown University in 2006, one of America's premier universities, an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville Jamaica, Global Finance Minister of the year 2005 award, from Euromoney Magazine and Time Magazine European Heroes 2004 award

The question on the lips of many watchers of this drama is "What becomes the fate of the reforms with the exit of the head-reformer?"

2006-07-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

Ripples of Cuban Governance: 48-Year Stewardship X-rayed
The news making the rounds about the ailing Cuban President, Fidel Castro, who just handed over power to his brother Raul Castro, after a surgery, presents a good oppourtunity for us to x-ray his achievements in government in the last 48 years of "communist dictatorship"

Cuba symbolises "free education" and "free health-care" to the masses in the "third world" countries. Instead of gossiping about his failing health or succession, we choose to x-ray the achievement of the regime as portrayed by the Cuban News Agency (ACN), paddle along with us:

Havana, Jul 26 (ACN) Today at the public ceremony that marks Cuba's National Rebellion Day, President Fidel Castro highlighted the achievements of the eastern province of Granma which has won the venue of this year's celebration.

Talking about them, Fidel pointed out that over 74.000 students from elementary school level benefit from computer courses thanks to the incorporation of over 2,000 computers in educational centers.

He also noted that the audiovisual program for elementary and secondary education includes 7,460 TV sets, 3,581 videos and 5,054 computers. In order to deal with energy issues, 485 schools have been provided with solar panels.

President Castro said 167 of those schools have a roll of only 5 students while 24 have only one child and a teacher. This policy aims to fulfill the revolutionary principle of everybody's right to education.

The Cuban President said that Granma currently has 47,409 university students, that is, three times more than in 1959 at the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.

These results are possible thanks to the opening of 54 university branches in the municipalities. In addition, he announced that the unemployment rate has reduced from 10,7 to 1,6 in the past four years.

Fidel pointed out that 454 video rooms have been opened in Granma while another 10 are being built. He also extolled the progress in the constru

2006-07-29T03:35:00.000-07:00

Tell Them To Shut Up!
To those who are not fully briefed and therefore, may have chosen the hypocritical path of pacifism in the current crisis in Lebanon and the Middle-east, this seems to be the right response. In this article: "FIGHTING HIZBULLAH" culled from Jewish World and written by Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror and Dan Diker, the Syro-Iranian sponsor of this carnage were exposed for the civilized world to see:

The current war being waged against Israel by Hizballah and its Syrian and Iranian patrons is in large part the result of Israel's long-time, hands-off policy with regard to the Lebanon-based fundamentalist terror group. Since Israel's overnight unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000, Hizballah built itself into a deterrent military force possessing 13,000 to 15,000 short- and medium-range missiles. The terror organization exploited Israel's political preference to maintain the relative quiet for the residents of its northern border communities instead of uprooting the Hizballah terror infrastructure and risking war. As a result of Israel's skittishness to confront it, Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah assessed that he could determine when to launch hostilities against Israel completely on Hizballah's terms.

Hizballah - the "Party of God" - has no red lines. Any strategic strike that it can execute, it will execute, limited only by its ability and the conditions permitting it to carry out an attack at any particular moment. In that regard, Hassan Nasrallah lives in his own bubble in which he judges democratic Israel the same way he judges the Lebanese or those in Hizballah. Nasrallah recently called Israeli resolve "weaker than a spider's web."

Nasrallah's decision to kidnap two Israeli soldiers on July 12 was made partly in reaction to Hamas' kidnapping at the Israel-Gaza border of Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Nasrallah said in a speech shortly after the terror attack and kidnapping of the two Israeli army reservists that he wished to negotiate an exchange for Samir Kuntar, a Lebanese terrorist, and other "prisoners and detainees held by Israel."1 Israeli intelligence assessed that Nasrallah meant he would also negotiate for Palestinians as well, and thereby assume a leading role on the Palestinian issue as well, even ahead of Hamas.

Israel's Response
According to Israeli intelligence assessments, Hizballah, Syria, and Iran were taken by surprise by the sheer magnitude and intensity of Israel's response to the missile attacks and kidnapping. Nasrallah did not understand what causes a democratic country to act harshly when its red lines are crossed and its citizens are threatened, as Israelis are today. Nasrallah never thought that as a result of kidnapping two soldiers, Israel would launch such a far-reaching counter-offensive. He failed to understand that Israel has gone to war because Hizballah has launched a strategic attack against it, and that Israel views the kidnappings as part of a much greater threat.

Israel's current military operations to uproot Hizballah and to destroy it as a formidable military and terror organization is not merely an operation against another determined terror group like Hamas in Gaza. Hizballah has a disciplined, well-trained army with sophisticated weaponry, backed directly by Syria and Iran.

Iran's Role
According to a May 11, 2006, Asharq Al-Awsat report, a high-level Iranian official who held a closed meeting with a small group of Western diplomats in London emphasized Hizballah's importance to Iran: "Hizballah is one of the pillars of our security strategy, and forms Iran's first line of defense against Israel. We reject [the claim] that it must be disarmed."2 Walid Jumblatt, the Lebanese Druze leader, shares this perspective: "The war is no longer Lebanon's...it is an Iranian war. Iran is telling the United States: You want to fight me in the Gulf and destroy my nuclear program? I will hit you at home, in Israel."3

Hizballah is not an independent actor. Iran's Revolutionary Guards provide the majority of Hizballah's weaponry, financing, instruction, and strategic command and control. Most of Hizballah's terrorist weaponry, particularly short- and medium-range missiles - including the Zalzal missile that can reach as far as Tel Aviv, 150 kilometers from Israel's northern border - are manufactured in Iran and exported to Lebanon via the Damascus International Airport.4 Weaponry and materiel are then openly transported by truck convoys to Hizbullah in Lebanon.

According Israeli intelligence, Iranian officers from the Revolutionary Guards are on the ground in Lebanon, playing active roles in supervising terror actions and training Hizballah operatives to launch rockets against Israel.5 On July 14, Hizbullah fired an Iranian copy of a Chinese C-802 Kowthar missile at an Israeli warship, killing four crew members. These rockets have been in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' arsenal for four or five years.

Some of Hizballah's weaponry is manufactured by Syria and is provided to the terror organization at the direct order of President Bashar Assad. The rockets in the first barrage that struck the northern city of Haifa on July 16, killing eight Israelis, were manufactured and supplied by Syria. Other medium-range Syrian and Iranian missiles are also in Hizballah's stockpile but have yet to be used against Israel.

Dimensions of the Conflict
On a macro level, there are three dimensions to the current war against Hizballah:

The first dimension is Hizballah's ability as a highly-disciplined terror force with approximately 13,000 rockets that have wreaked havoc on hundreds of thousands of Israelis in northern Israel. Additionally, its ground forces were previously deployed right up to the Israeli-Lebanese border, oftentimes within rifle range of public buildings in Israeli towns and villages. In this regard, it is abundantly clear that Israel cannot allow Hizballah to return to its former positions in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese army must be deployed to ensure that southern Lebanon remains free of Hizballah control.

Second, Hizballah cannot be allowed to be the driving force that decides, whenever it so chooses, together with its Syrian and Iranian patrons, to inflame the Middle East. In this sense, Israel's current war in Lebanon is not punitive; it is strategic. The Israeli air force has struck the main arteries for the transfer of weapons to Hizballah from Syria and Iran through Beirut International Airport, all Lebanese seaports, and across the Beirut-Damascus highway from the east, which has served as one of Hizballah's main lines of weapons transport. During the present hostilities, Syria has continued to attempt to resupply Hizballah in the Bekaa Valley, as well.

In bombing Hizballah's Daheyh stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Israel is seeking to separate it from Hizballah forces further south. Thus, Hizballah is being cut off from Syria and Iran and isolated from the rest of Lebanon. Hizballah has waged an insurgency against Israel from the mini-state it has created inside of Lebanon. The only way to defeat an insurgency is to first isolate it from external reinforcement. That is what Israel is seeking to do. In a second phase, the insurgency must be disarmed. In this regard, the international community must enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1559 that imposes the obligations of state sovereignty and responsibility on Lebanon to force the Hizballah to disarm, as even French President Jacques Chirac has demanded.

The third and broader dimension of the escalating conflict is that Hizballah is nothing less than an extension of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Iran has taken a strategic decision to activate Hizballah terror against Israel in order to preclude the United States and its Western allies from stopping Iran's nuclear development program. The uprooting of Hizballah's military capacity will neutralize one of Iran's most dangerous and valuable deterrent threats against any country that attempts to act against Tehran's nuclear weapons program.

The Stakes for Israel and the West
Israel must carry out its current military operation against Hizballah until it is fully neutralized, disarmed, and unable to serve as Iran's long "arm" that can bring terror upon Israel and destabilize the Middle East region at will. The current Israeli victims of Hizballah terror will not have sacrificed their lives in vain if Israel conducts its war to an uncompromising victory. However, if Hizballah is allowed to remain a military force in Lebanon or even an armed presence in southern Lebanon, Israel will have indeed sacrificed its soldiers and citizens in vain, and will also suffer similar attacks in the future.

Furthermore, it is a primary interest of the international community that Hizballah be fully neutralized as a military extension of Iran. Only a full victory against Hizballah will allow the possibility for Lebanon to emerge as a free and democratic country. This is also in line with the Bush Administration's vision of helping the peoples of the Middle East to free themselves of tyrannical and fundamentalist elements and prevent the threat to the region of a nuclear Iran. This underscores the regional and international importance of Israel's current mission.

Any Syrian or Iranian forces or advisors in Lebanon are legitimate targets for Israel. Israel must send a clear message to Bashar Assad that it will not accept any Syrian interference in Lebanon. However, while Israel should not open up a front against Syria at this juncture, if Syrian forces show any type of movement, Israel must be ready to engage them.

The duration of the current war depends on Israel, Lebanon, and the international community. If the Lebanese realize that with every passing day the accumulating losses are taking too great a toll, if the international community continues to allow Israel to uproot Hizballah without pressuring Israel for a cease-fire, and if the UN stays out of the fray, the war does not have to last very long. But if Israel is pressured to stop its operations, this acute conflict will indeed last a long time.

This is a war in which Israel is acting primarily through its air force, which is a new approach. However, if Israel's air force fails to stop Hizballah rocket assaults, Israel may be forced to send in substantial ground forces to control the areas from which rockets are being launched. This real possibility would have far-reaching implications in terms of potential losses for the IDF and for the citizens of Lebanon.

No less significant is Israel's readiness to absorb damage to its home front. This requires a much higher degree of national resilience than that of the first Iraq war when Saddam Hussein fired 39 Scud missiles at Israeli cities. This time there is much more damage and loss of life on the home front, but Israel is showing great fortitude and national will.

Iran's Ongoing War Against the West
Even if Israel is successful in destroying the Hizballah infrastructure, Iran will not be deterred in its ongoing war against the West, for Hizballah's attacks on Israel represent Iran's strategic decision to launch what it sees as a counter-offensive against the West following America's post 9/11 attacks on the regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Echoing Iran's perspective, the conservative daily Jomhour-e Eslami, affiliated with the Islamic seminaries of Qom, reiterated in a July 17 editorial the charge that "the conspiracy of bringing down the Twin Towers in New York with one plane, which was totally dubious, was a pretext for occupying Afghanistan and Iraq, and for [providing] unqualified support to the Zionist regime in its crimes against Palestine."6

The Iranian editorial noted that "America's collaboration with the Zionists in murdering the Palestinian people, destroying Lebanon, and [hurling] baseless accusations against Iran [regarding] nuclear activity - which is now coming to a head - is a new phase in America's crusade against the Muslims. This is exactly the point at which the leadership of the Islamic nation must play a role."7 This underscores the assessment that if Hizballah is neutralized in the current conflict, Iran will have lost a major asset in its ongoing struggle against the West.

The Diplomatic Front
In order to achieve its war objectives, Israel must succeed on the diplomatic front in addition to the battlefield. It would be nothing short of catastrophic for both Israel and the international community if diplomatic efforts result in Israel being forced to end its military operation prematurely. Furthermore, it is incumbent on the international community, which last year demanded that the Syrian army withdraw from Lebanon, to provide the necessary assistance to Lebanon that will ensure that Hizballah is disbanded as a military force, and this must be the highest international priority.
This article is from Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

* * *
Notes
1. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3274616,00.html
2. Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD120406
3. Anton La Guardia, "Israel Fights West's Cause Against Radical Islam," Telegraph (UK), July 17,2006.
4. See Uzi Rubin, "The Global Range of Iran's Ballistic Missile Program," Jerusalem Issue Brief 5-26, http://jcpa.org/brief/brief005-26.htm
5. An Iranian military source close to the Revolutionary Guards leadership revealed to the London Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat details concerning Iran's role in training and arming Hizbullah. The source said that "in Lebanon, there are 70 trainers, experts, and technicians, as well as 60 Faylaq Quds intelligence agents, who assist the Hizballah missile unit and its local leadership. In addition, there is a secret Revolutionary Guards unit, consisting of 20 officers, who use advanced means to track the movement of Israeli forces in the field, and select targets in Israel for the operation commanders. http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP120706
6. MEMRI, July 17, 2006, http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD120806
7. MEMRI, http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD120806

Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, Program Director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs, is former commander of the IDF's National Defense College and the IDF Staff and Command College. He is also the former head of the IDF's research and assessment division, with special responsibility for preparing the National Intelligence Assessment. In addition, he served as the military secretary of the Minister of Defense.

Dan Diker is a senior policy analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and heads its Defensible Borders Initiative. He also serves as Knesset correspondent and analyst for the Israel Broadcasting Authority's English News.

2006-07-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

Lebanon: Myths and Facts
The contentious warfare in lebanon has elicited all manner of controversial agitations by spectators on both side of the divide. We bring you this piece from Jewish World by Shraga Simmons and Pesach Benson Read on:

It happens every time. Israel is forced into a defensive war, and winds up defending itself against canards of aggression and excessive force. Around the water cooler and on talk radio, Israel's supporters are put on the spot: Why are so many Lebanese civilians being killed? Why the destruction of so much infrastructure? Can't Israel show some restraint?
At times like this, every Jew becomes an ambassador for Israel. Even if you don't agree with everything Israel does, we must defend Israel's right to self-defense.
So let's sort out fact from fiction -- for the sake of Israel, and for ourselves.

Myth: Israel is attacking and killing hundreds of Lebanese civilians.

Fact: The death of any innocent civilian is tragic and Israel regrets the loss of life.
Why are civilians dying? Because Hezbollah is hiding among civilians, using villages, mosques and even private homes to store and manufacture weapons caches that include 12,000 missiles.
This creates a conundrum for the Israeli military, where Hezbollah wins either way: If the IDF shies away from attacking because of the proximity of civilians, Hezbollah's terror infrastructure remains in place. And if the IDF attacks, no matter how carefully, there will be collateral damage -- triggering condemnation in the media, and emboldening Hezbollah to operate from civilian areas.
Even the UN's humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, said: "Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending... among women and children. I heard they were proud because they lost very few fighters and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this."
Ynet News reports that Hezbollah is trying to maximize Lebanese civilian deaths, presumably for its own propaganda purposes: Roadblocks have been set up outside some villages to prevent residents from leaving.
Meanwhile, in order to minimize civilian casualties, Israel has dropped warning leaflets in Lebanon, advising residents to protect their own safety by "avoiding all places frequented by Hizbullah."
When was the last time that Arab terrorists alerted Israeli civilians of an impending strike?
So let's be clear who bears responsibility for the deaths of Lebanese civilians. As Alan Dershowitz writes:
A bank robber who takes a teller hostage and fires at police from behind his human shield is guilty of murder if they, in an effort to stop the robber from shooting, accidentally kill the hostage. The same should be true of terrorists who use civilians as shields from behind whom they fire their rockets.

Myth: Israel deliberately attacked a United Nations post, killing four UN personnel.

Fact: That UN post, in the words of the Canadian peacekeeper who was killed there, was being used by Hezbollah as cover. As retired Canadian Major General Lewis Mackenzie, interviewed on CBC radio, explained:
"We received emails from [the Canadian peacekeeper who was killed at the UN post] a few days ago, and he was describing the fact that he was taking fire within, in one case, three meters of his position for tactical necessity, not being targeted. Now that's veiled speech in the military. What he was telling us was Hezbollah soldiers were all over his position and the IDF were targeting them. And that's a favorite trick by people who don't have representation in the UN. They use the UN as shields knowing that they can't be punished for it."
Furthermore, Hezbollah has attacked UNIFIL observers repeatedly this week. From the UN's own press releases:
In the last 24 hours... Hezbollah fired from the vicinity of four UN positions at Marwahin, Alma Ash Shab, Brashit, and At Tiri. (27 July 2006)
One unarmed UN military observer, a member of the Observer Group Lebanon (OGL), was seriously wounded by small arms fire in the patrol base in the Marun Al Ras area yesterday afternoon. According to preliminary reports, the fire originated from the Hezbollah side during an exchange with the IDF. He was evacuated by the UN to the Israeli side, from where he was taken by an IDF ambulance helicopter to a hospital in Haifa. He was operated on, and his condition is now reported as stable. (24 July 2006)
Note that the UN observer was injured badly enough to be evacuated to an Israeli hospital -- where they saved his life. Kofi Annan's reaction? Not a word of condemnation against Hezbollah, and not a word of gratitude for Israel's rescue of the UN observer.

Myth: Israel is needlessly targeting Lebanon's civilian infrastructure.

Fact: Prior to the fighting, Lebanon was recovering from a long, destructive civil war. Last year's "Cedar Revolution" against Syrian occupation gave the world high hopes for the possibility of a new Lebanon. Tourism was on the rise, business was improving, and national infrastructure was being rebuilt.
Hezbollah has now used this infrastructure to support its own violent agenda. For years, weapons shipments passed through the capitol's international airport, across the Beirut-Damascus highway, and through various coastal ports. That's why Israel has been forced to bomb the transportation network, to hinder the arrival of arms from Syria/Iran, and to stop Hezbollah from moving the kidnapped Israelis out of the country.
Other Israeli strikes have targeted telephone links used by Hezbollah to communicate, Hezbollah offices, banks that handle their money, and TV transmitters from which Hezbollah's Al-Manar station is broadcast.
In fact, Israel is carefully selecting targets, in order to minimize damage. Writes David Frum of the American Enterprise Institute:
[Israel] has fought this war on its northern border as humanely as it can. Flip the switch in Beirut and the lights come on; open the taps, and the water flows. Essential services have been spared. The runways at Beirut Airport have been bombed to stop reinforcements to Hezbollah, but the control towers and the newly built terminal have been spared because Lebanon will need them later.

Myth: Israel's military response is "disproportionate and excessive."

Fact: We need to define our terms: Israel's response may be "disproportionate," but it is not "excessive."
In war, you don't measure response by what the enemy has done in the past, but rather how to stop their threats to attack you in the future. Hezbollah is threatening to send missiles into Tel Aviv, and there is the looming threat of Iran supplying Hezbollah with nuclear weapons. This is a serious security threat that must be eliminated.
Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen exploded the myth of "excessive force":
For Israel, a small country within reach, as we are finding out, of a missile launched from any enemy's back yard, proportionality is not only inapplicable, it is suicide... It is not good enough to take out this or that missile battery. It is necessary to reestablish deterrence: You slap me, I will punch out your lights.
Hezbollah boasts 12,000 missiles -- not for defense, but to destroy Israel. Why would the world not allow Israel to defend itself? Because it is more comfortable to live with the illusion of peace, to hope that this will pass and things will somehow work out. But Israel cannot afford to ignore the reality of the threat.
It is true that the fighting has produced more Lebanese casualties than Israeli casualties. But if Israel were to tell its citizens not to hide in bomb shelters, so that the thousands of rockets launched from Lebanon would kill many more Israelis, would the world's journalists and government leaders then smugly agree that Israel's effort to stop Hezbollah is indeed "proportionate"?

Myth: Hezbollah has a justified grievance and is being provoked by Israel.

Fact: Charles Krauthammer said it best:
What's the grievance here? Israel withdrew from Lebanon completely in 2000. It was so scrupulous in making sure that not one square inch of Lebanon was left inadvertently occupied that it asked the United Nations to verify the exact frontier defining Lebanon's southern border and retreated behind it. This "blue line" was approved by the Security Council, which declared that Israel had fully complied with resolutions demanding its withdrawal from Lebanon.
In the meanwhile, Hezbollah has created a mini-state inside of Lebanon -- with territory, weapons and soldiers. Over the past six years, Hezbollah has launched dozens of attacks across the internationally-recognized border on both civilian and military targets within Israel.
The current crisis began on July 12, when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israeli towns and cities in an unprovoked attack, and then crossed the border killing eight Israeli soldiers engaged in routine patrol and kidnapping two more.
Hezbollah "claims" that it is fighting over Shebaa Farms, a small tract of land where the borders of Israel, Lebanon and Syria converge. The UN maintains that Shebaa Farms was captured from Syria in 1967, and is subject only to Israeli-Syrian agreement.
Shebaa Farms is a thin smokescreen. Hizbullah's goal is the total destruction of Israel, plain and simple. (Read the Hizbullah charter, and Hezbollah's goals in their own words.)
Even Arab states like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan have now chastised Hezbollah for its "unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible acts."

Myth: Lebanon bears no responsibility for the actions of Hezbollah.

Fact: According to UN Security Council Resolution 1559, it is the responsibility of the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah and to assert Lebanese sovereignty in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese government has completely failed in this regard, standing by while Hezbollah has assembled weapons stockpiles and entrenched itself in Lebanese towns.
Further, Lebanon cannot claim disassociation: Hezbollah is actually part of the Lebanese coalition government, holding two seats in the cabinet!
The irony of all this is that most of the world -- including the Lebanese population -- hopes that Israel will succeed in doing the job that the Lebanese army has not: liberating southern Lebanon from Hezbollah rule, and giving it back to the Lebanese.
Let's all do our part to promote the facts, and to help Israel win its battles on all fronts.

We fully support these articulated facts concerning the self-inflicted current humanitarian crisis in Lebanon.