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I am against surveillance programs that have no specific target, that have no checks and balances. That are outsourced to companies like Booz Allen, with private individuals like Snowden, who may choose instead to look up on private emails of people who don’t pose a threat to peace.

If you like an 1984 kind of state, what are you doing on FR?

If the PRISM was a program run by France, you’d be ROTFLing calling the French all the things you heard the guy above calling the US.

If instead it was Germany, you’d be screaming yourself hoarse about the return of the Nazis.

If you have bought anything in IKEA you will know that a very large % of all their products are made in China. So its not really the Swedes we are keeping out from competing with Indian companies but the Chinese.

The same lot out here who are shamelessly calling India names are also the people who cry about Chinese-made goods flooding their country and killing local enterprise. Talk of double standards!!!

If you weren’t as dumb in posting your uncouth comments linking completely unrelated things, and actually followed the discussions that took place between the Indian government and IKEA, you would have known that the most sticking of issues was about % of locally sourced goods that will be sold in the stores.

Iran is one country where we really need to make an exception between the Mullahs and the Republican Guard on one and the general population on the other.

The people are really a moderate, semi-Islamic lot who trace their civilization to pre-Islamic times which was when they saw their golden age. Shia’s are not Salafists. They generally tend to be a more modern bunch. As much as we hate the Hezbollah, if you ever went to Lebanon, you won’t see women forced to dress conservatively, nor a crazy lot wanting to apply Shariah on everyone like we saw in Egypt. Same for Syria - the Alawites are far more easy on day-to-day personal freedoms so long as the regime is not threatened. The Shiite countries also tend to be far more secular in how they treat non Muslim minorities.

Iran is one country where we really need to make an exception between the Mullahs and the Republican Guard on one and the general population on the other.

The people are really a moderate, semi-Islamic lot who trace their civilization to pre-Islamic times which was when they saw their golden age. Shia’s are not Salafists. They generally tend to be a more modern bunch. As much as we hate the Hezbollah, if you ever went to Lebanon, you won’t see women forced to dress conservatively, nor a crazy lot wanting to apply Shariah on everyone like we saw in Egypt. Same for Syria - the Alawites are far more easy on day-to-day personal freedoms so long as the regime is not threatened. The Shiite countries also tend to be far more secular in how they treat non Muslim minorities.

Iran is one country where we really need to make an exception between the Mullahs and the Republican Guard on one and the general population on the other.

The people are really a moderate, semi-Islamic lot who trace their civilization to pre-Islamic times which was when they saw their golden age. Shia’s are not Salafists. They generally tend to be a more modern bunch. As much as we hate the Hezbollah, if you ever went to Lebanon, you won’t see women forced to dress conservatively, nor a crazy lot wanting to apply Shariah on everyone like we saw in Egypt. Same for Syria - the Alawites are far more easy on day-to-day personal freedoms so long as the regime is not threatened. The Shiite countries also tend to be far more secular in how they treat non Muslim minorities.

Iran is one country where we really need to make an exception between the Mullahs and the Republican Guard on one and the general population on the other.

The people are really a moderate, semi-Islamic lot who trace their civilization to pre-Islamic times which was when they saw their golden age. Shia’s are not Salafists. They generally tend to be a more modern bunch. As much as we hate the Hezbollah, if you ever went to Lebanon, you won’t see women forced to dress conservatively, nor a crazy lot wanting to apply Shariah on everyone like we saw in Egypt. Same for Syria - the Alawites are far more easy on day-to-day personal freedoms so long as the regime is not threatened. The Shiite countries also tend to be far more secular in how they treat non Muslim minorities.

Iran is one country where we really need to make an exception between the Mullahs and the Republican Guard on one and the general population on the other.

The people are really a moderate, semi-Islamic lot who trace their civilization to pre-Islamic times which was when they saw their golden age. Shia’s are not Salafists. They generally tend to be a more modern bunch. As much as we hate the Hezbollah, if you ever went to Lebanon, you won’t see women forced to dress conservatively, nor a crazy lot wanting to apply Shariah on everyone like we saw in Egypt. Same for Syria - the Alawites are far more easy on day-to-day personal freedoms so long as the regime is not threatened. The Shiite countries also tend to be far more secular in how they treat non Muslim minorities.

And such an act committed by an organization that is deemed as a fundamental part of the Pakistani Government should result in the Pakistani state being declared a State Sponsor of Terrorism. Maybe that’s the line of attack that the plaintiffs should take.

Hilarious!!! Politicians in India have decided to get funny!! The least that they could do for all the billions that disappear into their pockets!

Chowmein!! Chow mein kya hai?

The analysis draws poor conclusions in my opinion. The Turkish leadership is part of the AKP which is in itself an off-shoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. I don’t think the fear of the MB or Obama’s support for them has anything to do with the Turkish stance.

What they see around them is a Europe that is falling apart, doesn’t have enough money to buy the stuff that Turkey is manufacturing, let alone being able to invest in the next generation of defense infrastructure that can protect Turkey. On the other hand, the Chinese (especially) and the Russians are offering access to markets, oil and gas and more reliable alliance than NATO and the west which happily sunk Egypt into chaos.

Guys, I am no lover of the left, but this is blind hatred on the thread I see and it is not healthy for us to behave this way. Look at the details - its fair to cut the retirement age for people who start earlier than others. IF you started at 18 and have been contributing to your pension fund all your life, why should someone who starts at 25 be able to retire at the same age as you when he would have paid 7 years lesser in contributions?

What I will also add is that it is fair but foolish. Instead of cutting the retirement age of people that start at 18, Hollande should have increased the retirement age of the others.

Dont be bothered by ponderlife. He is an insidious Chinese bastard.

Americans can barely spell. So much for murdering the Queen’s English. And accents? Really? Have you heard the Aussies? If you understand them and not the Indians, its because you’re just not listening :)

If this much information is already out, then looks like the Bo Xilai faction has already lost. I would have expected a period of silence when nothing comes out for a while before a winner emerges. There was a brief period when this happened (between Wang Lijun’s arrest and last week) but looks like the Hu and Xi JinPing faction has come out on top. What’s your take Tiger?

Would this guy be of any value to the US? I mean he’s not a humanitarian case - he’s after all a ChiCom who fell foul with his boss. I’d feel different if the guy was a Human Rights campaigner or a case of economic or religious persecution.

In this case, I have a feeling that the US had little to gain from taking the guy in and a lot to lose, especially if Bo does end up in the CCP Standing Committee. This way, the moderate GuangDong guy’s camp gets a one up against Bo’s more hardline group in the power intrigues within the CCP.

NATO is not yet dead beat and they want to hand Russia yet another birdie by denying them a Mediterranean naval base in Tartarus just like they did in Libya. That will leave Russia sucking its toes in the Black Sea with effective mechanisms to curb the movement of their ships with the cooperation of Turkey. Plus if they have real fears about Iran launching missiles at them, they want to deny Iran easy access to Lebanon.

Pakistan will still do nothing openly. Just like they have been fighting us on the sly, they might send weaponry and some brainwashed towel heads to wage another Jihad against Israel. China will opportunistically jump to sell weapons to Iran, Syria via the Pakis in return for oil.

Good point on the future of Iran having to be Secular - especially with all the religious groups there - The Zoroastrians, Bahais & the Yazidis.

“India, Israel Vs Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Hizbollah/Lebanon is good enough.”

Will not happen - very simplistic world-view. And somewhat wishful thinking although I would love it if the configuration stays true to what you have described.

China will stand behind the Pakis, Russia behind Syria and for good reason (Naval Bases in Gwadar and Tartarus for starters). This war won’t happen without the US and NATO taking sides with Israel.

Better for Israel and India to let Syria be off’ed by NATO and the Arab League with Russia screaming and China whining first. Then deal with Iran who will invariably put their finger on some sort of trigger vis a vis Israel and the US. Pakistan won’t lift a finger - they simply don’t have the resources.

I am not sure that will work. Here’s why:
1) You said it yourself about Turkey and Kurdistan. They are not able to secede from Iraq and become a free country today because Turkey threatens war on them if they do.
2) India will not sit-aside if Pakistan annexes Sistan-Baluchistan and neither will the Baluch give in easily. Pakistan may not want to annex it even - given that today, they are barely able to hold on to their Baluchistan. - Besides, what’s in it for the US giving a mineral rich region to an at best, unreliable ally?
3) Giving Khuzestan to Iraq will also do little for either regions. Iraq is barely able to hold itself together - they don’t want more land or people - even Shiite Arabe.

To view the region from a purely ethnic perspective is a deadly mistake. Most of the Muslim world sees themselves in the following order of abstractions 1) Muslim/Dhimmi/Khafir 2) Sunni/Shia/Others 3) Language/Dialect 4) Race.

Today the Arabs oppose Iran because it is the bulwark of Shiite Islam. If it were Sunni, they would look up to it as the cradle of civilization. To give you an insight, in much of Afghanistan and large swathes of Central Asia (predominantly Sunni), speaking Persian has an element of “snob value” attached to it. It is considered refined to speak or quote in Persian. The Saud’s are insecure about their standing as the “protectors” of Islam because there is a more liberal social model that is not Wahhabi or Salafist and that is in fact, presented by the Persian Islamic model.

In my opinion, regime change in Iran with the ushering in of true democracy will do what we really want for the region. Getting rid of the mad men there and present to the Muslim world, an alternative liberal model of Islam that will thrive. The average Iranian on the street might support nuclear arms for Iran but they are pro-US, don’t care about the Palestinians or Israelis and just want to have a free, fun country. and they would want that before they would want nuclear weapons.