
Voters in Switzerland have approved a ban on the construction of minarets on mosques
7:51 AM
Britain learned in the days before the Iraq war that Saddam Hussein's forces may not have had the capability to deploy chemical weapons, a civil servant has told an inquiry into the conflict. William Ehrman, the then director of international security for the UK foreign office, said on Wednesday that British intelligence was told Iraqi weapons may not have been assembled in the build-up to the conflict. "We were getting ... some [intelligence] on chemical and biological weapons that it was dismantled and [Iraq] might not have the munitions to deliver it," he "There was also a suggestion that Iraq might lack warheads capable of effective dispersal of agents." But Ehrman said the information made no difference to the case for war, and described a series of intelligence briefings on WMDs between 2000 and 2002 and "patchy" and "sporadic". Jonah Hull, Al Jazeera's correspondent in London, said the inquiry has so far revelead "just how difficult it was to make any sort of assessment about the threat of Iraq in the years leading up to the war". He said both witnesses testified that intelligence was unclear about what was going on in the country following the departure of UN weapons inspectors from Iraq in 1998.
Tim Dowse, a former head of counterproliferation at the foreign office, said he had not been surprised by the 45-minute claim "because it didn't seem out of line [with assessments at the time]". "It subsequently took on a rather iconic status which I don't think those of us who saw the initial report [expected] ... it wasn't surprising." The 45-minute claim caused a major political row in Britain, after the BBC alleged that the intelligence dossier containing the claim was "sexed up" to strengthen the case for war. The storm escalated when David Kelly, a government weapons expert, killed himself amid claims he was the source of the BBC story, prompting an official inquiry. Other security threats On the second day of the Iraq inquiry, the five-member panel also heard that Libya and Iran were Britain's main security concerns before the invasion of Iraq. "In terms of nuclear and missiles, I think Iran, North Korea and Libya were probably of greater concern than Iraq," Ehrman said.
"In terms of my concerns on coming into the job in 2001, I would say we put Libya and Iran ahead of Iraq," he said. He also said that while there was evidence of contacts between Iraqi officials and members of al-Qaeda in the late 1990s, these links were stepped further back after the September 11 attacks. Dowse said they "did find some evidence of contacts between Iraqi officials and individual members of al-Qaeda in the late 1990s. These had been quite sporadic contacts ... they hadn't been anything that looked like a relationship between the Iraqis and al-Qaeda. "After 9/11, we concluded that Iraq actually stepped further back. They did not want to be associated with al-Qaeda. They weren't natural allies." The five-panel inquiry, led by John Chilcot, a former civil servant, is investigating the justification for the war, how well military were equipped and trained and looking at lessons for future foreign policy. Former senior officials from the foreign and defence ministries outlined on Tuesday Britain's policy towards Baghdad in early 2000. The hearings are expected to climax with Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, taking the stand, at some point in the new year. Source: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/11/20091125164926469666.html |
Eric Fingerhut
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON
MIKEY WEINSTEIN |
Mikey Weinstein is best known for defending Jews from alleged bigotry in the U.S. military. In the past few days, however, he's been raising questions about whether there's an anti-Muslim bias in the service as well.
Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, says that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's alleged killing of 13 soldiers at Fort Hood is inexcusable and reprehensible. But he believes that it's important to investigate reports of harassment that Hasan said he faced as a Muslim in the military, which might have contributed to his mental state.
"There's enough out there" to look into, said Weinstein. "I'm not excusing him, but did it affect him, or was he just a maniac to begin with?"
Weinstein cited media reports quoting Hasan's family, saying that someone had put a diaper in his car and told him, "That's your headdress," and that a camel was drawn on his car with the words, "Camel jockey, get out!"
Weinstein also provided a letter, with the name withheld, from a Muslim woman and wife of a member of the military, in which she described how her best friend on the base, immediately after the shooting, told her that "Muslims shouldn't even be allowed in the U.S. Army," and that she repeatedly heard things like, "Go back to your country" and "F---ing Muslims," as she shopped at the base commissary.
Weinstein, who spent 10 years in the Air Force as a military attorney, or JAG, said that he also doesn't believe that Hasan's colleagues hesitated to report his changes in behavior because of political correctness. In fact, he claimed, Hasan's superiors would have been sympathetic to hearing such charges because of their strong Christian beliefs.
Weinstein would like to see military leaders make an "unadulterated clarion call" that Americans shouldn't "paint all of Islam with a broad brush," as well as emphasize a "zero tolerance policy" of any religious harassment.
A 1977 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, from where his two sons and daughter-in-law have graduated, Weinstein argues that Jews, Muslims and most members of the military who are not an evangelical Christian face a hostile environment from what he says are "fundamentalist Christians" who dominate the armed forces and are constantly trying to proselytize others.
Others involved in the military say that it's true that there have been occasional issues regarding the treatment of members of minority faiths or the pushing of an evangelical worldview by some officers, but they insist that the problems are nowhere near as extensive or pernicious as Weinstein claims.
One longtime military chaplain, now retired, said that he doesn't doubt the reports of the Muslim woman that Weinstein cites, noting that such comments could be heard in many small towns throughout America.
"It's terrible, but not impossible to believe," said the chaplain, who asked not to be identified.
But the chaplain said he disagreed with Weinstein about Hasan's colleagues, saying that "definitely, people do not want to be perceived as bigots" in the military.
Mainstream Jewish groups have generally declined to comment on the shooting at Fort Hood, waiting for more details on the investigation to become available.
Mark Pelavin, director of the Commission on Interreligious Affairs of Reform Judaism and associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, sent a letter to the Rev. Pat Robertson criticizing the televangelist for declaring in the wake of the attack that Islam is not a religion but "a political system, a violent political system, bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination."
Last weekend, 100 mosques and 100 synagogues participated in joint activities as part of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding's Weekend of Twinning.
Long planned, the timing was fortuitous, said the foundation's president, Rabbi Marc Schneier, because it increased interest, and offered an opportunity for Jews and Muslims to talk about the internal struggle of American Muslims, in addition to relations between Muslims and Jews in the United States.
The civil rights organization says it doesn't agree with the "Islam is of the Devil," message printed on T-shirts distributed by the Dove World Outreach Center and worn by area school children. But the ACLU says it supports the students' constitutional right to freedom of speech.
The district, which did not return a phone call seeking comment from The Associated Press, has called the messages disruptive and a violation of the dress code.
Dozens of activists protested on Thursday against the Israeli President, Shimon Peres, during a visit to Sao Paolo – Brazil. Peres was participating in an event when the activists gathered outside protesting against Peres and describing him as “Shimon Hitler”.
Israeli Ynet News reported that one of the protesters told its reporter that the protest is against the government of Brazil for hosting Peres, the president of a country that occupied and kills Palestinian children.
The protesters added that protests would be held anytime an Israeli official, and would tell any official who visits the country that Israel kills children.
Argentina already boosted the security of Peres on Wednesday as Brazilian officials anticipated such protests.
Peres is visiting Argentina to advertise for an energy deal that would be signed between a Brazilian and Israeli company, the Ynet said.
An official accompanying Peres said that the Israeli presidents is hopeful that his visit would lead to a number of deal that mount to one billion U.S. Dollars.
Peres visited the Brazilian soccer star, Ronaldo, and invited him to visit Israel, and the later welcomed the Israeli president and said that he would be happy to visit Israel again.
As for the so-called Iranian file, Brazil defended its relation with Iran, and said that the country has the right to pursue a peaceful nuclear energy program.The signs included some showing Peres beside the Israeli flag with a swastika drawn on it and the president drawn with a mustache similar to that of Adolf Hitler and the text "Shimon Hitler". Other signs showed charred children's bodies.
Peres himself was in the building at the time of the protest, as the demonstrators chanted anti-Israeli chants.