The root of terror is clear
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1946291,00.html

Only a resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict will stop al-Qaida
recruitment

Peter Preston
Monday November 13, 2006
The Guardian


You have to work a little to crack the Da Eliza code. Most headline
writers, last week, stopped at the MI5 chief's flurry of oddly precise
figures: 30 petrifying plots pending, 200 terrorist groupings
identified, 1,600 dodgy individuals under surveillance. And even when
you got beyond such chill statistics, there were still red herrings
swimming around. "It's difficult to argue that there are not worse
problems facing us, for example climate change," she suddenly announced
halfway through her timber-shivering lecture. Espionage boss demands
more loft insulation? Where's the blood-stained brick road to Jerusalem
there?

Religious hatred is no more than a variety of racism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1946290,00.html

The demonisation of Islam by politicians and pundits benefits only the
extreme right

Soumaya Ghannoushi
Monday November 13, 2006
The Guardian


After his acquittal on the charge of inciting racial hatred, Nick
Griffin was asked whether he was a racist. He replied that he was no
longer one, that he is now a "religionist". But should we believe that
Griffin has really abandoned the racism that frames his ideology and
that of the party he leads? Of course not. All Griffin has done is
stretch from one category of racism to another - without breaking with
the former: from a discourse founded on racial hatred to one based on
religio-racial hatred. In the speech for which he and his assistant,
Mark Collett, were taken to court, the two shifted effortlessly from
referring to Islam as "this wicked, vicious faith" that "has expanded
from a handful of cranky lunatics about 1,300 years ago", to speaking
of Asian "muggers", "rapists", "bastards", "cockroaches" and "ethnics"
who need to be "shown the door".

Enemies of science
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1946262,00.html

Spin doctors and government agencies are undermining the quest for
knowledge

Alok Jha
Monday November 13, 2006
The Guardian


So Tony Blair wants to be a science evangelist? In a recent speech in
Oxford, he outlined his plan to stand up for science and face down
those who distort and undermine it. He singled out animal rights
extremists and people who cause confusion over MMR and GM technology.

But encouraging scientific progress is not just about giving good PR to
new gadgets or cures. Most important is protecting the principle of
free inquiry, something on which he and his government are way behind.
His call for politicians to stand up for science belies the fact that
his own administration systematically attacks this basic principle.

Why Bush still holds sway in supreme court
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1946173,00.html


Marcel Berlins
Monday November 13, 2006
The Guardian


· In theory, the existence of a Democrat majority in the US Senate
should be playing a crucial part in the makeup of the US supreme court.
No longer will President Bush be able to ensure that his nominations to
the court are confirmed, as they have to be, by a compliant Senate
judiciary committee.

From now on, that committee can stop him from having his way. But the

president's midterm setback has come too late.

Familiarity, not contempt
http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,,1946152,00.html

Leader
Monday November 13, 2006
The Guardian


In last week's elections American voters handed power on Capitol Hill
to a group of politicians who are rooted in a more multilateralist
approach to US foreign policy than the Bush administration has ever
been. The incoming Democrat chairmen of the Senate foreign relations
committee and the House international relations committee, Senator Joe
Biden and Congressman Tom Lantos respectively, are advocates of
multilateral engagement and friends of Europe. Senator Biden played an
important role in encouraging the decisive US interventions in the
Balkan wars in the 1990s and rightly stood out for a "patient, resolute
and cautious" response to 9/11, while Mr Lantos, born in Budapest and
the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in the US Congress, probably
knows more about central and eastern Europe than most Britons.

So what's with all the dinosaurs?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1946323,00.html

The world's first Creationist museum - dedicated to the idea that the
creation of the world, as told in Genesis, is factually correct - will
soon open. Stephen Bates is given a sneak preview and asks: was there
really a tyrannosaurus in the Bible?

Monday November 13, 2006
The Guardian


Just off the interstate, a couple of junctions down from Cincinnati's
international airport, over the state line in rural Kentucky, the
finishing touches are being put to an impressive-looking building. When
it is finished and open to the public next summer, it may, quite
possibly, be one of the weirdest museums in the world.

The Creation Museum - motto: "Prepare to Believe!" - will be the first
institution in the world whose contents, with the exception of a few
turtles swimming in an artificial pond, are entirely fake. It is
dedicated to the proposition that the account of the creation of the
world in the Book of Genesis is completely correct, and its mission is
to convince visitors through a mixture of animatronic models, tableaux
and a strangely Disneyfied version of the Bible story.

In a world of their own: don't expect earth-shattering changes from the
inward-looking New Democrats
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1946213,00.html

The US is coming round to the idea of cutting emissions but Iraq still
dominates

Larry Elliott, economics editor
Monday November 13, 2006
The Guardian


All manner of expectations have greeted the changing of the guard on
Capitol Hill, almost all of them wholly unrealistic. The arrival of the
Democrats, it is said, could help break the logjam in the global trade
talks, force the Bush administration to come to the negotiating table
on climate change and open the way to a golden era of multilateralism.

Without doubt, this is a pivotal moment. George Bush began his
presidency with the determination to use the multilateral system only
in so far as it suited what he saw as America's interests. If he could
not find agreement - as on Iraq, climate change and trade - the United
States was content to go it alone.

Democrats increase pressure on Bush for phased troop withdrawal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1946435,00.html

· Senior senators call for timetable for US exit
· White House admits need to change failing strategy

Ed Pilkington in New York
Monday November 13, 2006
The Guardian

The newly emboldened Democrats stepped up pressure on the Bush
administration for a change of course in Iraq yesterday, with two
leading members of the party calling for a phased withdrawal of US
troops to begin in four to six months.

With the Democrats set to take control of both houses of Congress in
January following last Tuesday's midterm rout of the Republicans, the
search for a fresh approach to the Iraq war is rapidly gathering pace.
The idea for a timetable for withdrawal was floated by leading
Democrats likely to head two of the most powerful Senate committees,
the armed services and foreign relations committees.

Olmert hardens stance on Iran
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1946270,00.html

Conal Urquhart in Tel Aviv
Monday November 13, 2006
The Guardian


Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, arrived in Washington yesterday
to rally opposition to Iran's nuclear programme as the repercussions of
Israel's war against Hizbullah continued in Tel Aviv.

Mr Olmert was due to meet George Bush and Condoleezza Rice, the
secretary of state, last night. He said his priorities were the Iranian
threat and restarting negotiations with the Palestinians.

Four soldiers die in boat bomb as Blair prepares shift on Iraq
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,1946356,00.html

Attack on river patrol raises fears that insurgents becoming more
confident

Patrick Wintour and Richard Norton-Taylor
Monday November 13, 2006
The Guardian

Four British servicemen were killed in a bomb attack on their patrol
boat in Basra yesterday, intensifying pressure on the government to set
a clear timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Three of their colleagues were also severely injured by the improvised
explosive device, as they patrolled the Shatt Al Arab waterway, a vital
supply line bordering Iran. The attack took place just over an hour
before the Queen led a two-minute silence on Remembrance Sunday in
honour of Britain's war dead.

Bush considers dialogue with Iran among 'fresh options' for conflict
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1963646.ece

By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Published: 13 November 2006

Amid new mayhem and political turmoil in Iraq, President Bush meets a
key panel of advisers today to find a way out of the crisis, with his
aides saying everything is on the table - including an overture to
Iran.

A "fresh approach" was needed, Josh Bolten, the White House chief of
staff said yesterday, adding that all options were on the table. Among
the ideas floated by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, chaired by the
former Secretary of State James Baker, are not only a phased withdrawal
of US forces, but also the notion of bringing Iran and Syria into a
deal on the future of Iraq.

Robert Fisk: Lebanon faces new crisis after walkout by Hizbollah
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1963613.ece

By Robert Fisk in Beirut
Published: 13 November 2006

The Shia, the largest community in Lebanon, are no longer represented
in the Lebanese government. It could be just part of Lebanon's
bloody-minded politics - or it could be a most dangerous moment in the
history of this tragic country.

At the weekend, the Hizbollah and the Amal movement walked out of the
Lebanese body politic, splitting apart the gentle, utterly false,
brilliantly conceived (by the French, of course) confessional system
that binds this tortured nation together. There will be demonstrations
by Hizbollah to demand a government of "national unity", which means
that Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, winner of the so-called "divine victory"
against Israel this summer, insists on another pro-Syrian
administration in Lebanon.

Government inquiry into firms 'fuelling Congo war' attacked
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1963596.ece

By Robert Verkaik, Legal Affairs Correspondent
Published: 13 November 2006

British-based human rights groups have lambasted a Government
investigation into British companies accused of indirectly fuelling the
war in the Democratic Republic of Congo for failing to produce a
prosecution or deliver a single sanction. Cases originally identified
by the United Nations against 11 of the 12 British companies, including
well- known names such as Barclays, De Beers and Oryx, have either been
"resolved" or dropped, prompting criticism from both MPs and
international human rights groups. Only one company, Das Air, is still
being investigated by the DTI.

The Commons International Development committee has stated that the
failure to satisfactorily carry out the investigations undermined
Britain's commitment to international corporate responsibility.

Islamic leaders urged to combat radicalisation
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1963612.ece

By Robert Verkaik
Published: 13 November 2006

The war in Iraq has become a "convenient excuse" for a generation of
young British Muslim men to take part in a violent jihad, the
Government's independent reviewer of terrorism laws has warned.

Lord Carlile of Berriew QC said Britain must confront the
radicalisation and the causes of radicalisation in the UK or suffer
more atrocities like 7 July. He said: "We do need to have much more
open discussion about what is the cause of and who are the people
involved in the current violent jihadist movement.

Jack Straw MP: You Ask The Questions
http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article1963551.ece

The Leader of the House of Commons answers your questions, such as 'Why
did you raise the issue of the hijab?' and 'Have you thought about
dyeing your hair?'
Published: 13 November 2006

Donald Rumsfeld, an architect of the Iraq war, has resigned. As its
principal UK apologist, did you ever consider resigning? MARK MORGAN,
Bath

No.

You appear to have been against the attack on Iraq initially. Were you
threatened with the sack if you didn't go along with it? RICHARD SHARP,
Waterlooville, Hampshire

No.

'State of Denial'
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/books/review/Foer.t.html?ref=review

By BOB WOODWARD
Reviewed by FRANKLIN FOER
Bob Woodward's new book shows an administration without a clue about
Iraq.

'The War of the World'
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/books/review/Montefiore.t.html?ref=review&pagewanted=all

By NIALL FERGUSON
Reviewed by SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE
Niall Ferguson ponders why the hundred years after 1900 were the
bloodiest in modern history.

'Ethical Realism'
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/books/review/Traub.t.html?ref=review&pagewanted=all

By ANATOL LIEVEN and JOHN HULSMAN
Reviewed by JAMES TRAUB
This prescription for foreign policy sees advantage in America's
cold-war era prudence and realism.

'War on the Middle Class'
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/books/review/Sirota.t.html?ref=review

By LOU DOBBS
Reviewed by DAVID SIROTA
The financial journalist Lou Dobbs, once pro-business, has reinvented
himself as an economic class warrior.

God Fearing
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/books/review/Wilson2.t.html?ref=review&pagewanted=all

By JOHN WILSON
In today's freewheeling marketplace of ideas, why are evangelicals
seen as a dangerous threat?

Sense and solidarity
Phil Gunson
November 13, 2006 09:40 AM

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/phil_gunson/2006/11/sense_and_solidarity.html

Tariq Ali thinks the "Bolivarian" regime of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela
is "reminiscent of Roosevelt's New Deal and the policies of the 1945
Labour government". This is a bit of a stretch. Let's do some
compare-and-contrast.

Unlike FDR or Clement Attlee, Chávez is an unrepentant (albeit a
failed) coup leader who holds representative democracy in contempt,
despite having used it, tactically, to obtain power. A former
lieutenant-colonel, he treats elections like wars: one of his slogans
in the current campaign is "vencer o morir" ("win or die").

Time for action
Calestous Juma
November 13, 2006 09:05 AM

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/calestous_juma/2006/11/africas_ecological_emergency.html

Projected impacts of climate change on the global economy will rival
those arising from great wars, according to the Stern review. This
prognosis suggests that the international community should respond to
the threat with a corresponding sense of urgency.

African countries, for example, are already suffering from the impacts
of climate disruptions and can hardly wait for the full impact of the
changes to unfold. They need to take immediate measures. Nothing short
of a declaration of a state of "ecological emergency" by groups of
countries will be sufficient to address the challenges that lie ahead.