Titles:

• Barclays Capital : Italy is now mathematically beyond point of no return
• Iranian general warns Israel of “destruction” if it attacks
• With an eye on 2014, India steps up Afghanistan role
• Pakistani president tells American lawmakers he’ll work with US to ‘eradicate’ Haqqani group

News Details:

Barclays Capital : Italy is now mathematically beyond point of no return
In a recent report Barclays stated the following about the Euro crisis: ‘The ongoing debt crisis in Greece is a legitimate concern for policymakers and investors, but growing concerns about Italy pose the real danger to Europe and the world economy. Yields on Italian government debt have reached new highs, and are at levels that we consider clearly unsustainable. We believe that policy reforms in Italy are necessary to increase confidence in the Italian credit. However, historical experience suggests that the self reinforcing negative market dynamics that now threaten Italy are very difficult to break. At this point, Italy may be beyond the point of no return. While reform may be necessary, we doubt that Italian economic reforms alone will be sufficient to rehabilitate the Italian credit and eliminate the possibility of a debilitating confidence crisis that could overwhelm the positive effects of a reform agenda, however well conceived and implemented’. The report goes on to state: “Italy is now mathematically beyond point of no return.”

Iranian general warns Israel of “destruction” if it attacks
The deputy chief of Iran’s armed forces warned on Wednesday that any attack by Israel would bring “destruction” of the Jewish state and that Iran’s retaliation would be felt outside the Middle East as well. Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri stressed that the Israeli nuclear site of Dimona was “the most accessible” target, and that “our response would not be limited to the Middle East,” according to an interview given to the Iranian Arabic-language channel Al-Alam. “The smallest action by Israel [against Iran] and we will see its destruction,” he said. Jazayeri was quoted as saying that Iran “has plans ready for retaliation in case of attack.” The comments followed a warning by Israeli President Shimon Peres last weekend that an attack on Iran was becoming “more and more likely.” Israeli media last week issued several reports speculating that the Israeli government was seriously considering an attack on Iranian nuclear sites, but that a decision had not yet been made. Israel fears that Iran, its biggest foe in the Middle East, is seeking nuclear weapons that could threaten its existence. A report by the UN nuclear watchdog on Tuesday said it had “serious concerns” based on “credible” information indicating that the Islamic republic “has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device.” Tehran has rejected the report as “baseless”.
The ummah has heard such rhetoric several times before, but it is all in vain. If Iran is serious about the threats from the Jewish state or about the plight of the Palestinians then it should act. For actions speak louder than words. Otherwise, the most obvious conclusion in the eyes of the ummah is that the Iranian regime is hypocritical in its conduct and only pretends to side with the ummah, even when they are reminded of their duty to uphold Islam. Allah (SWT) warns us about such acts of treachery. He (SWT) says:” And when it is said to them: “Come to what Allâh has sent down and to the Messenger (Muhammad ),” you (Muhammad) see the hypocrites turn away from you (Muhammad ) with aversion. [TMQ: Sura An-Nisa:61].

With an eye on 2014, India steps up Afghanistan role
India plans to train Afghan army combat units at top counter-insurgency schools, officials say, deepening its commitment to Afghanistan as Western forces prepare to withdraw, a move that will fan Pakistani fears of encirclement. India may also provide light weapons to the Afghan army and train pilots and ground staff for Afghanistan’s small air force under a strategic partnership agreement signed last month. Up until now India has mainly provided discreet training to Afghan security forces in an unstructured manner, with officers attending largely theoretical courses. Once, in 2007, two platoon-sized units of 30 men each were trained. But the new agreement sets the stage for a formal Indian involvement in boosting Afghan security forces beyond 2014, when foreign combat troops will withdraw, leaving Afghans to fight a Taliban insurgency now at its most potent in 10 years of war. “The Afghanistan initiative, so far as I understand it, will be training, including future trainers, in such places as the Army War College in Mhow,” said an Indian security official, referring to a top institution in central India. “This is about … military exercises designed to enable them to engage in actual combat operations,” he said. A greater and more overt Indian role in boosting Afghan security preparedness, on top of a $2 billion civil aid effort building highways, power transmission lines and dams, marks an intensification of a regional struggle for post-2014 influence. I think it’s a huge deal. It confirms a lot of Pakistan’s worst fears about Afghanistan. Moreover, given how many ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) join to fight Pakistan, adding Indian mentorship into the mix strikes me as a terrible idea,” said Joshua Foust, a security analyst at the non-partisan think tank the American Security Project in Washington.
So finally, the real winner of America’s war in Afghanistan is beginning to emerge. India, a country that so often struggled to exert control over Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past, now finds itself on the verge of a major strategic shift. Afghanistan is quickly shaping to be India’s strategic depth and the Pakistani military leadership is the one responsible for ceding Afghanistan to India.

Pakistani president tells American lawmakers he’ll work with US to ‘eradicate’ Haqqani group
Pakistan’s president promised to work with the United States to “eradicate” the militant Haqqani network, a pledge made during a meeting with visiting American congressmen, according to one of the lawmakers. But the head of the Homeland Security delegation, Michael McCaul, downplayed the significance of the remarks, saying it was unclear whether President Asif Ali Zardari had the power to make good on his pledge, given the influence of the military in Pakistan. According to McCaul, Zardari also appeared to brush off threats that U.S. aid spending to Pakistan could be significantly cut if Islamabad did not do more to squeeze insurgents like the Haqqanis, who are based in northwest Pakistan but attack U.S. and Afghan troops in Afghanistan. “I think he thinks it’s a given that we are going to continue the aid, but I tried to tell him that it’s in jeopardy,” McCaul, a Republican congressman from Texas, said of Zardari. “He said, ‘I appreciate your assistance, but it’s trade more than aid that I need.'” Relations between the United States and Pakistan have plummeted over the last year following the shooting deaths of two Pakistanis by a CIA contractor and the American unilateral raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May. Persistent allegations that Pakistani security forces are aiding or tolerating Afghan insurgents have led many U.S. lawmakers to call for cuts in the billions of dollars in aid given to Pakistan.
How can the President of Pakistan continue to pledge such assistance to America given her repeated violations of Pakistani sovereignty and her slaughter of thousands of Pakistani citizens through the vicious drone attacks? How can Zardari continue to treat America as a friendly nation given her crimes against Pakistan and Muslims world wide. Allah says in the Quran:” O ye who believe! Choose not My enemy and your enemy for friends. Do ye give them friendship when they disbelieve in that truth which hath come unto you, driving out the messenger and you because ye believe in Allah, your Lord? If ye have come forth to strive in My way and seeking My good pleasure, (show them not friendship). Do ye show friendship unto them in secret, when I am best aware of what ye hide and what ye proclaim? And whosoever doeth it among you, he verily hath strayed from the right way.”[TMQ: Al-Mumtahina:1]

13 Dhu al-Qi’dah 1432
2011/11/09