We helped in Iraq - now help us, beg Georgians

As Russia forces its neighbour to retreat from South Ossetia, the people of Gori tell our correspondent of betrayal by the West

As a Russian jet bombed fields around his village, Djimali Avago, a Georgian farmer, asked me: “Why won’t America and Nato help us? If they won’t help us now, why did we help them in Iraq?”

A similar sense of betrayal coursed through the conversations of many Georgians here yesterday as their troops retreated under shellfire and the Russian Army pressed forward to take full control of South Ossetia. ....

.... President Saakashvili of Georgia has ordered a complete ceasefire and offered talks to the Russians. Despite this, the sound of gunfire and shelling could be clearly heard along the border zone last night.

Terrified civilians have fled in their thousands, convinced that Russia will not stop at the border but sweep into Georgia. Some fear that the Kremlin is intent on establishing a buffer zone to guard South Ossetia against future incursions. ....

Drug Trafficking and Middle Eastern Terrorist Groups: A Growing Nexus?

On July 18, 2008, Michael Braun, assistant administrator and chief of operations at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), addressed a special policy forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. Braun, a career special agent and a longtime participant in the DEA's counterterrorism efforts, spoke about the nexus between drugs and Middle East terrorist groups and the growing challenge this relationship poses to U.S. national security. The following is a rapporteur's summary of his remarks.

The nexus between drugs and terror is growing at light speed. This is not a new trend -- there have been numerous links identified between drugs and terror over the last twenty-five years. Of the forty-three officially designated foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has linked nineteen of them to some aspect of the global drug trade, and believes that up to sixty percent of terror organizations are connected with the illegal narcotics trade. ....

Major contractor for U.S. military is also wanted by the FBI

WASHINGTON — A prominent Saudi contractor who recently won an $80 million contract by the U.S. Army, is also under federal indictment.

In June 2008, Attock Refinery won an $80 million award to supply jet fuel to the U.S. military. ....

CIMA on Islamic Finance and Banking

(Compiler's note: Wonder how they address Sharia law? rca)

By Quintus Perera – Asian Tribune

Colombo, 10 August, (Asiantribune.com): In recognition of this global trend, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) now offers a certificate course in Islamic Finance and CIMA Sri Lanka Division, as part of its Management Update initiative, has invited Faizal Salieh, Managing Director/CEO of Amana Investments, to make a presentation on ‘Islamic Finance & Banking: The First Principles’ for the benefit of its members on 14 August.

Islamic Finance and Banking has a 40 year history since its origination as an organised practice in the ‘60s. Today it is the fastest growing segment in the global financial industry evoking encouraging responses from a wide cross section of customers, markets, conventional banks, regulators and policy makers across the world.

It is no longer confined to the traditional boundaries of Islamic nations and is spreading in European countries including the UK and Far Eastern countries such as Thailand and Singapore.

Salieh will discuss the core principles underlying the practice of Islamic finance and banking, the conventional definitions and interpretations of usury and interest, the fundamental differences between conventional economic principles and Islamic economic principles and lead the audience to understand the principal differences between Islamic banking and conventional banking including the principles of deposit taking and financing. The session will enable participants to have a clear understanding of the key principles that drive the practice of Islamic finance and banking today. ....

U.S. guns arm Mexican drug cartels

SIERRA VISTA, ARIZ. -- High-powered automatic weapons and ammunition are flowing virtually unchecked from border states into Mexico, fueling a war among drug traffickers, the army and police that has left thousands dead, according to U.S. and Mexican officials.

The munitions are hidden under trucks and stashed in the trunks of cars, or concealed under the clothing of people who brazenly walk across the international bridges. They are showing up in seizures and in the aftermath of shootouts between the cartels and police in Mexico.

More than 90% of guns seized at the border or after raids and shootings in Mexico have been traced to the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Last year, 2,455 weapons traces requested by Mexico showed that guns had been purchased in the United States, according to the ATF. Texas, Arizona and California accounted for 1,805 of those traced weapons. ....

Russia expands bombing blitz in Georgia

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Russia expanded its bombing blitz Sunday against neighboring U.S.-allied Georgia, targeting the country's capital for the first time while Georgian troops pulled out of the breakaway province of South Ossetia, as Russia has demanded.

Georgia's Security Council chief Alexander Lomaia says that Georgian troops have relocated to new positions outside South Ossetia.

"They are outside the region entirely," he said in a telephone conference.

Russia has demanded that Georgia pull out its troops from South Ossetia as a condition to negotiate a cease-fire. It also urged Georgia to sign a pledge not to use force against South Ossetia as another condition for ending hostilities. ....

Iran unmoved on nuclear stance in face of sanctions

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will not back down on its nuclear stance despite the threat of tighter sanctions, Iranian media quoted a government spokesman as saying on Sunday.

Britain, France, Germany and the United States are considering imposing sanctions that go beyond existing U.N. measures against Tehran over its nuclear programme, a British diplomat said on Friday.

Western powers fear Iran wants to build a nuclear bomb, while Tehran says it seeks to master nuclear technology for electricity.

"Our stance would not change with sanctions or the threat of sanctions," the students news agency ISNA reported spokesman Gholamhossein Elham as saying.

"It is important that our country is ready to insist on its rights under any conditions." ....

US faults Russia for rising violence in Georgia

WASHINGTON (AP) - Russia's use of overwhelming military force against Georgia, including strategic bombers and ballistic missiles, is disproportionate to any threat from the former Soviet state and could escalate tensions in the volatile region, a senior U.S. official said Saturday.

The Bush administration official, who briefed reporters on condition his name not be used because of the sensitive nature of the situation, said Russia has attacked areas in Georgia that are far away from the separatist province of South Ossetia, where the fighting has centered. The official also said the Russian military is striking civilian targets.

"They have employed strategic bombers - the most potent air weaponry that is in the Russian arsenal .... They actually launched ballistic missile attacks on Georgian territory," the official said. He also said Russia has sent more than 1,000 paratroopers and armor into the region.

Russian bombing has also taken place in Abkhazia, a separate breakaway region of Georgia, far from South Ossetia, the official said.

"This is a dangerous escalation in the crisis," the official said. Russia's military response "marks a severe escalation and is being conducted in areas far, far from the South Ossetia zone of conflict, which is where the Russian side has said it needed to protect its citizens and peacekeepers. So the response has been far disproportionate to whatever threat Russia had been citing." ....

Iran swimmer avoids Israeli pool showdown in Beijing

.... The Iranian National Olympic Committee (INOC) had said that as there was "no face-to-face situation" in swimming there would be no problem in attending the competition.....

The Pipeline War: Russian bear goes for West's jugular

By Svetlana Skarbo and Jonathan Petre

Georgia has today withdrawn its troops from the capital of South Ossetia, according to reports.

The ceasefire came just hours after claims emerged Russian jets had bombed a vital pipeline that supplies oil to the West.

After a day of heightening international tensions, Georgian leaders claimed that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which transports oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, had been attacked. But it is thought the bombs missed their target.

Their claims came after Russian jets struck deep into the territory of its tiny neighbour, killing civilians and ‘completely devastating’ the strategic Black Sea port of Poti, a staging post for oil and other energy supplies.

Reports last night also said that Russia had bombed the international airport in Tbilisi.

Georgian economic development minister Ekaterina Sharashidzne said: ‘This clearly shows that Russia has targeted not just Georgian economic outlets but international economic outlets as well.’

The pipeline is 30 per cent owned by BP and supplies 1 per cent of the world’s oil needs, pumping up to a million barrels of crude per day to Turkey.

Jihadists kill eight in Western China with suicide bombs

Claiming the promise of Paradise offered to those who "kill and are killed" for Allah (Qur'an 9:111).

China Jihad Update: "China bomb blasts toll rises to 8," by Stephen McDonell for ABC News Australia, August 10 (thanks to JE):

Chinese Government officials say that the death toll from a series of bombings today in Western China has risen to eight and four injured.

They were said to be suicide attacks with homemade bombs on police stations and government offices....

Militant groups pushing for an independent state for Uighur Muslims have threatened to sabotage the Olympic Games but so far their actions have been restricted to the far west of China....