The Egyptian representative starts going ape when it looks like Shariah Law is going to be up for criticism and the Pakistani, a bit more quietly, backs him. To their credit, Slovenia and Canada are on the right side.

 

 

 

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- It produced a blast hundreds of times stronger than the Hiroshima bomb, was seen hundreds of miles away and narrowly missed obliterating an entire city -- but 100 years to the week after the mysterious explosion in Siberia, no one is any closer to understanding what caused it.

1 of 2 Despite countless investigations, the so-called Tunguska Event remains one of the 20th century's greatest enigmas -- seized upon by mystics, UFO enthusiasts and scientists as evidence of angry gods, extraterrestrial life or the impending threat of a cosmic collision.

But says Stanislav Krivyakov, who has spent the past 35 years investigating the Siberian blast, despite intense interest in the event -- which has featured in several episodes of "The X-Files" -- no conclusive evidence has been found to support any theory.

"There are many people who build their hypotheses based on scanty information," he told CNN.

"But there are many aspects to the phenomenon that don't fit any standards or analogies. In everything about it we find something complicated, problematic, vague. It's truly out of the ordinary."

Deepening the mystery was the delay in a full investigation into the event, which occurred as Russia was entering the years of upheaval that surrounded the communist revolution.

The first expedition to try to find the "Tunguska meteorite" did not take place until the late 1920s when a crater was drained resulting in the discovery of nothing more cosmic than an old tree stump. After World War II, searches resumed, but again proved fruitless.

And even though the effects of the blast wave that destroyed 80 million trees are still visible today, "meteoreticians," as some theorists are know, have found no point of impact to support their claim.

"Up to this day, not a single fragment of the Tunguska phenomenon, no cosmic substance has been found. That's the main reason why there isn't any even fundamental understanding (of the phenomenon) yet," said Boris Mushailov, a professor at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute in Moscow.

Mushailov was one of the organizers of an international conference last week at the Russian Academy of Sciences devoted to the Tunguska Event.

He said he leans toward a "comet theory," explaining that an object could have entered Earth's atmosphere and burst into pieces up to 10 kilometers above the Tunguska river -- causing the giant explosion -- but scattering the object into smaller debris most of which burned up.

So-called "alternativists," however, reject the meteor and comet theories, because of the lack of a major crater or fragments.

Their search for more unlikely explanations has led to the site becoming a Mecca for UFO enthusiasts, spawning a Tunguska meteorite museum and scores of photographs of what are claimed to be parts of extra terrestrial craft discovered in the area.

As the debate rages on, many scientists say the Tunguska event could be a harbinger of a genuine scientific phenomenon that could spell disaster for life on Earth.

Researchers looking at the trajectories of asteroids say that if a large meteorite breached the planet's atmosphere once, then there is no guarantee history won't repeat itself.

"The Earth all along its evolution has collided with various cosmic objects, from 1 millimeter to a kilometer in size," Mushailov said.

"One measuring 10 to a hundred meters causes a local catastrophe. And of course, not a single method of protection exists so far," he said.

Scientists estimate if the Tunguska explosion had happened four hours later over St. Petersburg, the city would have ceased to exist, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

As it was, the village of Vanavara, which at a distance of 70 kilometers was the closest settlement to blast, survived.

To mark the 100th anniversary of its lucky escape, Vanavara has repainted its buildings in vivid "meteoric" colors, and is unveiling a new monument -- a colorful sphere symbolizing a cosmic body.

Not to offend the "alternativists," locals also built a marker by the blast spot resembling a sacred bird or a UFO.

But ordinary Vanavarans say they wish scientists would stop searching for meteors and Martians and instead search for gas or oil that could bring much-needed money to the area.

BAGHDAD — Iraq's prime minister said yesterday that the government has defeated terrorism in the country, a sign of growing confidence after recent crackdowns against Sunni extremists and Shiite militias.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki began the crackdowns to extend the authority of the government over areas in Baghdad and elsewhere that have largely been under the control of armed groups since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

"They were intending to besiege Baghdad and control it," al-Maliki said. "But thanks to the will of the tribes, security forces, army and all Iraqis, we defeated them."

He was speaking at ceremonies marking the fifth anniversary of the assassination in 2003 of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, a leading opponent of Saddam Hussein who was killed in a truck bombing in Najaf after returning from exile in Iran.

Such attacks plagued Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion, but violence in the country has now fallen to its lowest level in four years. The change has been driven by the 2007 buildup of American forces, the Sunni tribal revolt against Al Qaeda in Iraq and al-Maliki's crackdowns, among other factors.

"Under the national unity government, the Iraqis have achieved national feats ... that are now lighting the course of our march," al-Maliki said.

Bolstered by this confidence, al-Maliki plans to visit the United Arab Emirates today and also Italy and Germany later in the month — apparently hoping that improved security at home will pay dividends in greater international support.

Iraq is also enjoying a surge in oil revenue driven by record crude prices and the highest production levels since Saddam's ouster. The government expects to make a total of $70 billion from oil in 2008 if prices stay high.

Planning to put some of this money to work, the Iraqi government held a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday for a major project to refurbish the main road to the Baghdad airport. The road was once considered one of the most dangerous in the world but has become safer with the decline in violence in the country.

Under the intelligence cooperation agreement Iran and Syria signed secretly in Tehran on June 27, thousands of Syrian intelligence and police officers will receive special training in Iran, DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources report. It was signed at the end of an unpublicized five-day visit to Tehran of Syria’s clandestine and security service chiefs headed by Gen. Fouad Sultan, superintendent of internal security. His opposite number was the director of the Iranian interior ministry’s external affairs department Ahmed Hosseini.

The accord they concluded is a crucial element in the deepening strategic relationship between Tehran and Damascus. It belies the contention by French president Nicolas Sarkozy and prime minister Ehud Olmert, accepted also by Washington, that the Syrian regime is about to desert its close alliance with Tehran and embrace the West. On the strength of this false premise, Olmert is pressing forward along his peace track with Syria, and Sarkozy invited president Bashar Assad to be his guest of honor at the Bastille Day parade of July 14.

While secretly bolstering his partnership with Iran, Assad has no trouble spreading the illusion of his willingness for a turn to the West, especially when his propaganda effort is promoted by none other than former Israel foreign ministry official Alon Liyel.

Liyal, calling himself “an Israeli diplomat” asserted in an interview to the July 6 Sunday Times that Damascus would sever its strategic ties with Tehran, Hizballah and Hamas for substantial American military and economic aid and Israel’s renunciation of the Golan. All this would happen, the ex-official promised, on Assad’s behalf, after the change of presidents in Washington.

DEBKAfile’s sources report that Liyel spoke without authority or factual corroboration about Assad’s intentions. He omitted to mention the fact that the Assad regime would have acquired a facility to produce fuel for Iran’s nuclear weapons program, were it not for Israel’s pre-emptive strike in September 2007. He also forgot that Damascus has for years provided friendly hospitality for the headquarters of the most extremist Palestinian terrorist groups and shown no sign that he means to evict them.

All the evidence suggests that an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites would be a disaster for the greater Middle East, for the world economy and for western security. It would not even benefit Israel, which is adequately protected by its own nuclear deterrent. On the contrary, by creating new links between Sunni and Shia extremism, it would worsen Israel’s long-term chances of survival. Finally, as last week’s remarks by Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, indicated, an attack is strongly opposed by the US military. They would bear the first brunt of Iranian reprisals, since the US would rightly be held jointly responsible by Iran, and US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are far more open to Iranian-sponsored attack than is Israel itself.

The British government can stop this nonsense. All that it needs to do is make clear to the US administration, initially in private but in public if necessary, that the consequence of an attack would be complete British military withdrawal, not only from Iraq but from Afghanistan as well.

Israel must have US acquiescence to launch an attack since by far the easiest route for one lies over US-controlled Iraq. By starting the withdrawal of most of the Nato forces from Afghanistan, British withdrawal would throw an immense new burden on the US military, strip the Afghan operation of its international legitimacy and almost certainly wreck it altogether.

For these reasons, this is not a step that, as a friend of Afghanistan, I would ever advocate, were it not for one blindingly obvious fact: that a US-backed Israeli attack on Iran will in any case doom our enterprise in Afghanistan to irretrievable failure. From the moment that Israeli munitions fall on Iran, all hope of stabilising Afghanistan on western terms will be lost. From then on, every British soldier who dies in Afghanistan will die for nothing.

Or rather, they will die for nothing in terms of achievable policy objectives. They will die as British regular soldiers have always died, for pride of service and loyalty to comrades and to regiment, and for this they will deserve the highest honour. A British government that leaves them to die in a hopeless cause would, on the other hand, deserve no honour at all.

MEXICO CITY — John McCain warned Mexicans that more border walls are needed before he attempts to overhaul U.S. immigration laws again, an unpopular position in a country where he had hoped to boost his standing with Hispanics.

During a trip to Mexico City, the Republican senator also said he opposed unilaterally changing parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement, as liberal Mexican politicians and his rival Barack Obama have suggested.

A year ago, McCain was the co-author of a sweeping immigration-reform bill that had fired hope among millions of Mexicans living illegally in the United States.

That bill stalled in Congress, and instead the United States announced it would expand its border barriers, angering the Mexican government.

"I believe we must have comprehensive immigration reform; the American people want our borders secured first," McCain said during a news conference in Mexico City. 

"That will require some walls, it will require virtual fences, it will require high-technology equipment. We must secure our borders and then we will address the issue of comprehensive immigration reform."

Some Mexicans called that the wrong strategy.

"What kind of a good neighbor builds a big wall in your face?" said Salvador Rivera, a clerk in a corner store. "As long as there are jobs in the United States, people are going to find a way up there."

LAS VEGAS —Senator John McCain was performing relatively smoothly as he unveiled his energy plan.

Senator John McCain, who has thrived in give-and-take settings, is trying to meet a demand for more formal speeches.

He managed to limit the mechanical hand chops and weirdly timed smiles that can often punctuate his speeches. He delivered his lines with an ease that suggested a momentary peace with his longtime nemesis, the teleprompter. (He relied on a belt-and-suspenders approach, with text scrolling down screens to his left and right, and on a big TV set in front of him.)

But when Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, came to the intended sound bite of his speech — the part about reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil — he hit a slick.

“I have set before the American people an energy plan, the Lex-eegton Project,” Mr. McCain said, drawing a quick breath and correcting himself. “The Lex-ing-ton Proj-ect,” he said slowly. “The Lexington Project,” he repeated. “Remember that name.”

In a town meeting in Cincinnati the next day, Mr. McCain would again slip up on the name of the Massachusetts town, where, he noted, “Americans asserted their independence once before.” He called it “the Lexiggdon Project” and twice tried to fix his error before flipping the name (“Project Lexington”) in subsequent references.

Mr. McCain’s battle of Lexington is part of a struggle he is engaged in every day. A politician who has thrived in the give-and-take settings of campaign buses, late-night TV couches and town meetings, he now is trying to meet the more formal speaking demands of a general election campaign.

JERUSALEM — Israel has opened its border crossings with the Gaza Strip after closing them once again because of Palestinian rocket fire.

Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner says the crossings opened Sunday morning and that food, fuel and cement are being sent into Gaza. He says Palestinians seeking medical treatment are also being allowed into Israel.

Israel and Gaza militants reached a truce agreement on June 19. Under the deal, Israel agreed to reopen the crossings to allow much-needed goods into Gaza.

But since then, militants have repeatedly launched rockets into Israel and Israel has shut the crossings in response. The last closure was on Friday. Both sides accuse each other of violating the cease-fire.

Gaza's Hamas government says it is expecting around 80 trucks to enter Gaza Sunday.

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) - OPEC chief Chakib Khelil says the world's surging oil prices are not likely to fall. 

He says strong market demand, especially from China and India, is one reason prices will stay as high as they are. But Khelil told a conference on energy in Algiers on Sunday that the steady increases of late "have nothing to do with supply and demand."

Khelil, who serves as Algeria's energy minister, blames the rise on the weak U.S. dollar, the currency that oil is sold in. He says he believes the reason the dollar has fallen against other currencies is the U.S. decision to lower interest rates in an effort to boost the American economy.

Oil prices hit a record of nearly $146 last week.

WHY did the Founders bother toiling in the summer heat of Philadelphia in 1787 writing a Constitution when they could have relied on the consciences of Supreme Court justices like Anthony Kennedy instead?

Kennedy is the court's most important swing vote and its worst justice. Whatever else you think of them, a Justice Antonin Scalia or Ruth Bader Ginsburg has a consistent judicial philosophy - while Kennedy expects the nation to bend to his moral whimsy. With apologies to Louis XIV, Kennedy might as well declare la constitution, c'est moi!

In a 2005 interview, Kennedy said of the court, "You know, in any given year, we may make more important decisions than the legislative branch does - precluding foreign affairs, perhaps." (He was wise to include the "perhaps," in light of the recent Guantanamo Bay decision.) He went on to note how judges need "an understanding that you have an opportunity to shape the destiny of the country."

So much for the country's destiny being shaped by a free people acting through their representative institutions, within certain constraints it enshrines in the Constitution. That wouldn't allow nearly enough room for what Jeffrey Rosen, in a devastating profile of the justice in The New Republic, calls Kennedy's "self-dramatizing moralism."

On any politically charged case, we are supposed to wait with bated breath while the famously agonizing Kennedy decides which side he is going to bless with his coveted fifth vote. In so doing, Kennedy believes he is, in Rosen's description, creating "a national consensus about American values that will usher in what he calls 'the golden age of peace.' "

Observers less besotted with Kennedy than Kennedy might put it differently: making it up as he goes along.

America has become an empire. Everyone says so.

This is a surprise to most Americans, since few imagined that they were building such a thing. But, as historians such as Walter Nugent and Robert Kagan have recently taught us, Americans have been at this imperialist expansionism for quite some time — really since the beginning of the republic. How else to explain that the United States has gone from a handful of agrarian colonies to a world-spanning colossus in the space of only a few centuries? As you read this, American military might is deployed across the planet. The U.S. Navy is literally larger than all of the other navies in the world combined. The United States military accounts for almost one-half of total global military expenditures. Never before in human history has there been such a disparity in power among sovereign states.

 

So, I have a question. If America is an empire (and everyone says that it is), then why is gas so expensive? I’m serious. One of the principle advantages of empire is the conquest and confiscation of other people’s property. Choose almost any historical empire and you will find just that standard operating procedure. From the Hittites to the Assyrians, from the Arabs to the Turks, from the Mongols to the Mamluks, from the French to the Germans — they all worked the same way. These empires built large military forces and proceeded to conquer their neighbors. They then used the resources of the vanquished to support further conquests, and continued to do so until satisfied, stopped, or defeated. A simple formula, it has been followed by multitudes of conquerors across history.

Now back to my question. Like any empire, the United States is powerful and pretty adept at conquest. In 2003 it conquered oil-rich Iraq. Critics of the war claimed that the Bush Administration lied about WMDs in Iraq so as to get their hands on the petro-wealth of the country. Chants of “No Blood for Oil” rang across American college campuses (or at least among the faculty members anyway). So, where is the oil? Iraq currently produces about 2.5 million barrels per day (down from around 6 million before the war). Americans buy that oil from the Iraqis on the open market. If the war was all about grabbing oil, then why don’t we own it? After all, Iraq was conquered fair and square. Why doesn’t the country belong to the conquerors? 

If you find these questions appalling or just foolish, that’s good. So do I. But it is worth remembering that our reaction is unusual, at least from the perspective of history. If past empire builders such as Alexander the Great, Mehmed II, or Adolf Hitler had conquered Iraq you can be sure that it would belong to them. Enemies would be liquidated and the riches of the land would be extracted. Even the British Empire — no hard-knuckled empire of conquest — would have (and did) set up a colonial government in Iraq directly under the control of London.

In a brazen attempt to stifle free speech in the West, a Jordanian court recently summoned twelve European citizens to answer criminal charges of blasphemy and inciting hatred.

Among those sought by the court is Geert Wilders, the Dutch liberal politician who made the anti-Islamist film, Fitna. Released last March, the Dutch MP’s production caused an uproar in Islamic countries, since it equated Islam with violence. Now a Middle Eastern court would like to prosecute Wilders for the “crime.” (Ironically, a Dutch court dropped charges against him for inciting hatred against Muslims with his film the day before the Jordanian court issued its subpoena.)

The Jordanian court’s move is only the most ambitious attempt to silence debate about Islam. Until now, the preferred strategy has been to file civil lawsuits in western courts to intimidate critics. The latest version of what may be called the legal jihad is even more disturbing.

In one subpoena, issued in early June, the Jordanian court ordered ten Danish newspaper editors to travel to Jordan for the “crime” of having republished the “Mohammad cartoons” last February. The cartoons, first published in 2005, were also greeted with disturbances in Muslim lands. Seventeen Danish newspapers republished the controversial cartoons as a response to the discovery of an Islamist plot to murder Kurt Westergaard. Westergaard, a caricaturist, drew the most famous of those cartoons in the form of Mohammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban, for which he is also included in the summons.

This new campaign of intimidation against the West is being mounted by a Jordanian organization calling itself “Messenger of Allah Unite Us”, which is made up of “… media outlets, professional associations, parliamentarians and thousands of volunteers.” This organization, according to one account, arose as a “civilized response” to the Mohammad cartoons’ republication in 17 Danish papers last winter, after which it took the matter to a Jordanian court and successfully had charges pressed against the Danes, and later against Wilders.

The subpoenas will be sent to the twelve Europeans through their embassies in Jordan. If they do not appear within 15 days, the Messenger of Allah group says it will seek international arrest warrants through Interpol.

But while Denmark and Holland will not forcibly send innocent citizens to Jordan, this new, “legal jihad” tactic of criminalizing those believed to have insulted Islam constitutes a threat on an unprecedented level against freedom.

Citizens of western countries who criticize Islam, and are even willing to face lawsuits in civil courts their own countries for doing so, may now exercise restraint if they risk facing criminal charges in a Muslim country. Especially if the charge is blasphemy and it is being tried by a sharia court, which can impose a death sentence (The Danes and Wilders, a Jordanian lawyer said, are facing a maximum of three years in jail).

As well, critics of Islam who have outstanding warrants against them from courts in Muslim countries will have their freedom of movement restricted, since travel abroad will now be problematic. Wilders expressed this sentiment, saying he will be careful when he travels now. Such targeted individuals, like Wilders, will obviously have reservations travelling to a third country where Jordan could file an extradition application or may already have an extradition treaty in place.

But what is most disturbing is that an Islamic country would dare subpoena citizens of another state for an action not committed within its borders but in a land where no laws were broken. Besides being meant as a weapon of intimidation, this tactic also represents a frightening extension of Islamic law into the heart of western countries.

The Pakistani government has halted military operations in the tribal region of Khyber and has opened up negotiations with extremist groups in the region.

"The operation has been put on hold on the request of the tribal jirga [committee]," an unnamed official told Dawn. "They wanted a truce in accordance with tribal customs in order to hold talks with the other side. We have selected targets and the operation will resume if the jirga fails."

The military has halted search operations and relaxed a curfew imposed in the Bara region, a stronghold of Lashkar-e-Islam, one of the two main extremist groups in the region. A government official said the cease-fire would last for 36 hours.

Negotiations began after tribal leaders met with Mangal Bagh, the leader of the Lashkar-e-Islam. Bagh ordered his forces not to resist at the onset of operation, but threatened to attack if operations against his supporters continued. The government demanded that Lashkar-e-Islam surrender its weapons and recognize the government's rule in the tribal areas.

The operation in Khyber began after a chorus of government, military, and civilian officials warned of the growing Taliban pressure on the provincial capital of Peshawar.

The government claimed it launched its offensive to target the Taliban-linked extremists groups of Ansar-ul-Islam, Lashkar-e-Islam, and a faction led by Haji Namdar. But Namdar, the leader of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice who allied with Mangal Bagh's Lashkar-e-Islam, was seen riding along with the Frontier Corps, Pakistan's paramilitary group assigned to conduct operations in Khyber. "He was taken along to ensure that encounters with militants were kept to a minimum," the Asia Times reported.

The Pakistani government claimed it arrest 92 "criminals" in Khyber and 128 more in Peshawar. Sixteen "militant compounds" were destroyed in Khyber, and 14 more have been "identified."

But none of the senior or mid-level leaders of the three extremist groups have been killed or captured since the operation began six days ago. The government and military have been clear from the beginning of the operation that it would be limited in scope and a "show of force."

Negotiations with extremist groups in Khyber are the latest in a series of peace talks and deals in the tribal agencies and the Northwest Frontier Province.

This year, the government signed peace deals in North Waziristan, Swat, Dir, Bajaur, Malakand, and Mohmand. Negotiations are under way in South Waziristan, Kohat, and Mardan. The Taliban have violated the terms of these agreements in every region where accords have been inked.

Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, ordered peace negotiations and agreements to be suspended after the Khyber operation. But reversed his decision two days ago, just as his spokesman began negotiations with Haji Namdar.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all politicians are created equally stupid, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Idiocy.

America is celebrating Independence Day this weekend, and while the rest of the world couldn't care less, the citizens of the United States are cherishing their freedom to tap a keg, watch the Philadelphia Phillies squander away first place, and download photos of Angelina Jolie's twins.

It is amazing that this country has survived for 232 years.

When the Founding Fathers penned the Declaration of Independence, they knew they were risking their lives. England and King George would consider it treasonous, and the signers would be executed for their crimes. Some governmental representatives considered the whole idea a tragic mistake, since the war was going badly, and America needed a miracle to defeat the greatest army in the world.

Thankfully, great politicians like Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Richard Henry Lee decided that this great "mistake" was worth the risk. They stood by it; consequences be damned. Wouldn't it be great if today's politicians did the same?

Unfortunately, most do not, and because of that they fall into the inevitable trap of "misspeaking" - a term that is becoming all too popular this election season. Few people are exempt from the public verbal gaffe. Let's start at the top, shall we?

President George W. Bush stated this week that Washington could solve the housing crisis if Congress would use "less politics." Less politics? From Congress? The President has a better chance of seeing less drugs and alcohol from Amy Winehouse. Unless he slept through the last eight years - and the previous 53 - everything that goes on in Washington D.C. involves politics. Heck, the White House lawn is cut from left to right to portray the current administration's policies!

Democrat Presidential candidate Barack Obama announced that he would create a new faith program if he is elected in November. Wow, he is the pro-gun, pro-troops, pro-God candidate now? Perhaps he threw his true self under the bus this week?

"...it is obvious that Wesley Clark is a real general like Captain Crunch is a real captain."