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A German magazine quoted Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as saying that he backed a proposal by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months. Nuri al-Maliki told Der Spiegel that he favors a "limited" tenure for coalition troops in Iraq. Nuri al-Maliki told Der Spiegel that he favors a "limited" tenure for coalition troops in Iraq. "U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months," he said in an interview with Der Spiegel that was released Saturday. "That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the...

How German Intelligence Helped Justify the US Invasion of Iraq Five years ago, the US government presented what it said was proof that Iraq harbored biological weapons. The information came from a source developed by German intelligence -- and it turned out to be disastrously wrong. But to this day, Germany denies any responsibility......(Der Spiegel)   German Intelligence Was 'Dishonest, Unprofessional and Irresponsible' - Interview with David Kay (Der Spiegel)   'The Germans Share in the Responsibility'- Interview with Lawrence Wilkerson (Der Spiegel)

An informant who provided German authorities with data from a Liechtenstein bank that sparked a massive tax fraud probe has said his life is threatened, two news magazines are to report Monday. "You are putting my life in danger," Heinrich Kieber wrote to German intelligence services, according to German weekly Focus in an article released in advance of publication over the weekend. The informant has blamed the intelligence services for not keeping his identity secret and asked them to provide him with a new identity so that he can relocate to South America. His request has been refused, Focus reported....

The deliberate mangling of the German language by generations of comedians has kept the British laughing since the end of the Second World War. Now the Germans are desperately trying to defend their tongue against a modern English invasion. While the French have been fighting a losing battle against Franglais for years, the Germans are only now beginning to take seriously the threat to their language from the rise of Denglish – the bastard child of Deutsch and English. Angered by the emergence of such phrases as "Das ist cool" (that is cool) and "Eine tolle latte to go" (one...

Wednesday, August 23, 2006 German Muslims: It's a Protestant Crusade Spiegel Online notes that the discovery of the failed Islamic terror plot to bomb German trains has given rise to the usual pathological denial and anti-logical conspiracy theories among the Muslim community of Hamburg: What Terror? The Protestant Crusade Conspiracy. This just in: The Lebanese men suspected of having deposited bombs on German trains last month were hired hands — in the employ of the German government itself. That, at least, is what one 27-year-old from Saudi Arabia believes. “It’s all a Protestant crusade,� the man explains. “All of northern...

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s suggestion to move Israel to Germany is not as absurd as it sounds. If you consider the idea impartially, you can see a historic land reform concept which can be advantageous to all parties. Everyone is attacking the Iranian president again because he suggested moving Israel from the Middle East to Germany, or Austria. Even those who were not outraged about Ahmadinejad’s demand "to wipe Israel off the map" are agitated, because now they see the problem as becoming theirs. As much as a "world without Zionism" is imaginable, a Europe with a Jewish State in...

Ahmad Al-Baghdadi, a professor of political science at the University of Kuwait, recently published an article in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa and later in the Egyptian government weekly Akhbar Al-Yaum in which he called for outlawing and disbanding the Muslim Brotherhood organization, and confiscating its sources of funding. He also criticized U.S. policy on this subject, claiming that it is too lenient with organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood. The following are excerpts from the article: [1] 'What is Preventing the U.S. from Adding the Muslim Brotherhood to the Terrorist List?' "Three senior Arab political leaders accused the Muslim Brotherhood organization...

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,PB64-SUQ9NDkyNyZucj0x,00.html

Bush Needs Your Help! Why don't you participate in this little opinion poll by Germany's left-left-wing SPIEGEL ONLINE? For three years George W. Bush has been the most powerful man in America - and the world. How would you rate his time in office up to this point (in school grades)? 1 = Bush did a great job as President . . . 6 = Bush did a miserable job as President You need to click "ABSTIMMEN" after selecting a number. As of 5 March, 2004, 1 pm (Berlin time), Bush's results are rather miserable. Only 3.3 per cent for...

SPIEGEL ONLINE With Large Pro-Bush User Base The votes are in. It's official: two thirds of SPIEGEL ONLINE visitors rate President George W. Bush's job performance as "very good" (59 per cent) or "good" (8 per cent). An anonymus SPIEGEL ONLINE source described the results as a "complete surprise to us, comparable only to the demise of comrade Erich Honecker". At this very moment, the left-wing SPIEGEL ONLINE editorial team has convened for a strategy session with their media consultants to determine their future course. "In terms of ideology, everything is now up for grabs," said the source. "We might...

Analysis of US Casualties in Iraq by Week and Month - post Baghdad Liberation Day   April: Post- Baghdad Liberation Day - April 30   Week of Apr. 10 - Apr.16:   Apr.10: One Marine killed 22 wounded securing Baghdad Mosque:  Iraqi regime loyalists, terrorists and paramilitary forces engaged elements of Regimental Combat Team 5 (RCT-5) from the protection of an 8th century Shia Mosque. In over one hour of heavy gunfire exchange, the Marines of RCT-5 cleared the mosque for return to the Iraqi people....Marines quickly assessed the situation. After receiving permission to engage the enemy inside, Marines swiftly defeated the Iraqi...

  Congo "Welcome to sheer folly " The bloodbath continues unrestrained in the district of Ituri even though French soldiers have now arrived. Instead of ending the orgies of terror, the strike force cruises the patrol beat. DER SPIEGEL The United Nations offers up images of misery again. For hours already, manic kid soldiers with Kalashnikovs, mortars and 82 millimeter cannons in Bunia's town center have delivered a rowdy battle. And the Uruguayans from the UN? They're crawling around on the floor of their headquarters like turtles, blue helmeted and in bullet proofed vests, saying Hail Marys. They cart in...