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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 21-Dec-2011
21-Dec-11 World View -- Arrest warrant for Iraq's VP plunges Iraq's government into crisis

Web Log - December, 2011

21-Dec-11 World View -- Arrest warrant for Iraq's VP plunges Iraq's government into crisis

Congress goes home for the holidays

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

10,000 Egyptian women march against military violence and rule
North Koreans may have lied about time/place of Kim Jong-il's death
Arrest warrant for Iraq's VP plunges Iraq's government into crisis
Jund al-Khilafah (JaK) raises terror threat in Kazakhstan
US health agency asks Nature and Science to redact bird flu data
Congress goes home for the holidays

10,000 Egyptian women march against military violence and rule

Women at Tuesday’s march carrying banners depicting a woman’s face and the arm of a soldier that reads, 'Your hand should be cut off' (Ahram)

Women at Tuesday’s march carrying banners depicting a woman’s face and the arm of a soldier that reads, 'Your hand should be cut off' (Ahram)

Prompted by the image of three soldiers stripping a female protester naked and violently assaulting her on Saturday, thousands of women marched in Tahrir Square on Tuesday, “Egyptian women are a red line” and “Down with military rule.” Some marchers wore headscarves, others didn’t; others still wore the niqab, or full Islamic face veil. Some Coptic-Christian women participating in the march also carried images of slain Coptic activist Mina Danial, who was shot dead during an attack on Coptic demonstrators by the military in October. Other marchers carried Egyptian flags bearing the cross-and-crescent symbol. Ahram

North Koreans may have lied about time/place of Kim Jong-il's death

South Korean intelligence is expressing doubts that the North Koreans are telling the truth about the time and place of the death of Kim Jong-il. The North Koreans said that Kim died early Saturday while on a train in motion during a field guidance tour. The problem with that explanation is that Kim's train was sitting stationary in Pyongyang's train station at the claimed time of death. Yonhap

Arrest warrant for Iraq's VP plunges Iraq's government into crisis

Tareq al-Hashemi on Tuesday (Reuters)

Tareq al-Hashemi on Tuesday (Reuters)

Iraq's Shia-led government issued an arrest warrant for Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, the highest level Sunni official in the government, threatening the collapse of Iraq's unity government, just two days after U.S. forces completed their withdrawal. At least 13 of al-Hashemi's bodyguards have been detained in recent weeks, though it was unclear how many were still being held. al-Hashemi's Sunni-backed political Iraqiya bloc is boycotting parliament. Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak, speaking for the bloc, called Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki a dictator:

"Iraqiya has decided today to boycott sessions of cabinet. This decision is based on the deterioration of the political process, and to ensure that the country will not head towards a catastrophe if Maliki's dictatorship continues."

Al-Maliki has demanded that al-Mutlak be sacked. Iyad Allawi, the former prime minister who now leads the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc in parliament, likened the prime minister to Saddam Hussein. AFP

Jund al-Khilafah (JaK) raises terror threat in Kazakhstan

Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, highlighting Islamist groups in North Caucasus, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang

Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, highlighting Islamist groups in North Caucasus, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang

The al-Qaeda linked terrorist group Jund al-Khilafah (JaK) is stepping up its terrorist attacks in Kazakhstan in reaction a series of measures by President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced early this year to impose several restrictions on the Muslim and Christian religions. These measures include government censorship of religious literature, approval for opening mosques and churches, and bans on prayers within any state organization. In addition, the government has been cracking down on women's head scarves or hijabs and men's beards. JaK also has global ambitions, and explains its name "Jund al-Khilafa" as follows:

"This name reminds Muslims of their duty to revive the Islamic Caliphate as a system. ... It is the system of Shariah-based governance that must be prevail in every Muslim country from the east to the west. ... We believe that the region of Central Asia, in addition to the Islamic Maghreb [North Africa] and Yemen, are candidates to be the nucleus for the return of the Caliphate State in the future."

JaK's objective in Kazakhstan is to end the 22-year-old Nazarbayev regime through an "Arab Spring." Asia Times

US health agency asks Nature and Science to redact bird flu data

America's National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) have asked the editors of Nature and Science magazines to redact key details about H5N1 bird flu experiments that modify the virus so that one ferret can easily infect another ferret. It's thought that the same technology could be used to modify the virus so that one human could easily pass it to another human, allowing a biomedical terrorist to create an H5N1 bird flu pandemic that would kill tens of millions of people. Some of the scientists involved (presumably nihilistic Gen-Xers) are balking at the restrictions, saying that their findings should be made freely available to the world. Reportedly, the editors have agreed to redact the crucial information, provided that the full details of the study will be available to legitimate scientists who request it. But let's face it: Pandora's box has already been opened, and can't be closed again. BBC

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 21-Dec-11 World View -- Arrest warrant for Iraq's VP plunges Iraq's government into crisis thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (21-Dec-2011) Permanent Link
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