This morning's key headlines from
GenerationalDynamics.com:
- Spain's Catalonia region demands economic independence from Spain
- Libya's account of killing of U.S. ambassador contradicts American account
- Anti-American protests spread across cities in Pakistan
- Anti-American protests quieting as Muslims debate Islam versus tolerance
- Germany joins France in embassy closings, as new Mohammed cartoons are planned
- Expulsion of USAID signals a more corrupt Putin and more corrupt Russia
Spain's Catalonia region demands economic independence from Spain
Memories of 1936, when Generalissimo Francisco Franco seized power in
Spain and vowed to crush Catalan nationalists as "vultures," are being
revived in Catalonia today, with a new nationalist movement demanding
economic independence from Spain. Things are moving very
quickly now, with a parliamentary debate scheduled for
next week on the future of Catalonia.
Catalonia's President Artur Mas met with Spain's Prime Minister
Mariano Rajoy in Madrid on Thursday, but the talks apparently went
badly. According to Mas:
The prime minister told me there is no room to
negotiate a fiscal pact with Catalonia and that his answer will be "no" in the coming weeks and months.
If the negative answer to the fiscal pact is so obvious, then we
will have to take decisions in the next days. All options are
open.
This political chaos comes at a time when Spain's economy is going
down the drain, and Rajoy will be forced to ask the EU for a bailout.
Telegraph (London) and Reuters
Libya's account of killing of U.S. ambassador contradicts American account
Witnesses of last week's deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in
Benghazi Libya have told CBS News that the alleged anti-American
protest that U.S. officials say morphed into the assault never
actually took place. These statements differ sharply with statements
by American officials to the effect that the attack that it originally
started as a spontaneous anti-American protest against the film
"Innocence of Muslims" that many Muslims consider to be blasphemous.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said:
This is a fairly volatile situation, and it is in
response not to U.S. policy, not to, obviously, the
administration, not to the American people. It is in response to a
video – a film – that we have judged to be reprehensive and
disgusting. That in no way justifies any violent reaction to
it. But this is not a case of protests directed at the United
States, writ large, or at U.S. policy. This is in response to a
video that is offensive and – to Muslims.
However, witnesses' statement indicate that the actual assault was
perpetrated by militias and possible al-Qaeda elements with assault
weapons, rather than as a spontaneous outgrowth of a protest.
However, even though the assault took place on 9/11, it's not known to
what extent the assault was pre-planned. The FBI is supposed to
investigate, but FBI investigators have not yet gone to the destroyed
consulate. CBS News and Mediaite
Anti-American protests spread across cities in Pakistan
Some 5,000 protesters protested in front of the U.S. embassy
in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, and clashed with people.
At least 50 people were injured as police fired tear gas
and live rounds into the crowds. According to one
student who was protesting:
Our policemen are not any better than the Americans
because they are trying to stop us. They are in the same league as
them, they are heretics like them.
They should allow us to demolish the American embassy because they
have blasphemed against our holy Prophet. The police are also
becoming an accomplice of blasphemers.
Large protests also occurred in other cities, including Lahore and
Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, where
more than 200 protesters set fire to an effigy of Barack Obama.
The US is spending $70,000 to buy time on Pakistan television stations
for public relations ads in a bid to stem further protests. Al-Jazeera
Anti-American protests quieting as Muslims debate Islam versus tolerance
While few Muslims would go so far as to say that blasphemy against the
prophet Mohammed is accepted, the widespread fury at the movie
"Innocence of Muslims" is giving way to a debate over free speech in
the Muslim world. In fact, most of the Arab world has not seen major
protests for much of this week. The streets around the U.S. Embassy
in Cairo, where clashes raged for days, were relatively quiet
Thursday. Widespread fury was expressed in countries from Indonesia
to Morocco, but nowhere did Muslims take to the streets en masse to
protest the film. However, Friday is the weekly Islamic day of
prayer, and the largest protests typically follow midday prayers, as
worshippers pour out of mosques into the street. AP
Germany joins France in embassy closings, as new Mohammed cartoons are planned
Both France and Germany have announced that they will close many of
their embassies on Friday in anticipation of large protests, following
the publication of cartoons mocking the prophet Mohammed in a French
satire magazine. On Thursday, German satire magazine Titanic
announced that it would also publish its own Muhammad issue later this
month, which could provoke further unrest. Spiegel
Expulsion of USAID signals a more corrupt Putin and more corrupt Russia
America's "reset" with Russia has apparently ended, in view of the
announced immediate expulsion US Agency for International Development
(USAID). Russia’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement supported by
president Vladimir Putin, accused USAID of meddling in Russia’s
internal affairs and "attempting to influence the outcome of elections
by distributing aid grants." The U.S. is saying that the
decision came as a surprise, but Russian officials say
that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov informed Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton of the decision on June 29. USAID has been active in Russia since 1992, and has distributed some
$2.7 billion, helping human-rights groups in documenting election
fraud and human rights abuses, supporting AIDS education, treatment of
tuberculosis and improvement of infrastructure programs. But the
charge of "meddling" is apparently linked to the aid money given to
the election monitoring group Golos. Golos helped expose massive vote
rigging by the Putin's organization during parliamentary elections
last December. Putin's party actually lost the election, but the
electoral fraud gave him a majority in the Duma. The exposed fraud
triggered massive anti-Putin pro-democracy demonstrations in Moscow
that Putin sees as an international conspiracy, led by the US State
Department. Moscow Times and Jamestown
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