Adnan Al-Daini

George Osborne, the British Chancellor’s autumn statement may be many things, but fair and just it is not.  Some of the poorest members of our society, public workers, who do valuable work that distinguishes a caring society from one that is not, are to carry a heavy load for dire economic conditions not of their making.  The disastrous economic outlook is to be remedied by public sector workers accepting substantial cuts in their meagre wages, and additionally by a cut of 710,000 jobs in the next four years.  An acknowledgment that his plan A is not working came in the shape of a paltry £5bn investment in infrastructure, with the hope that an additional £20bn would be invested by pension funds. 

People can accept hardship and cuts if they perceive that the load is being shared fairly and justly, with those most able shouldering a heavier load. David Cameron, a month after taking office (June 2010), made his "we are all in this together" speech in which he said:

"I want to make sure we go about the urgent task of cutting our deficit in a way that is open, responsible and fair. I want this government to carry out Britain's unavoidable deficit reduction plan in a way that strengthens and unites the country. I have said before that as we deal with the debt crisis we must take the whole country with us - and I mean it. George Osborne has said that our plans to cut the deficit must be based on the belief that we are all in this together - and he means it...But this government will not cut this deficit in a way that hurts those we most need to help, that divides the country or that undermines the spirit and ethos of our public services. Freedom, fairness, responsibility: those are the values that drive this government, and they are the values that will drive our efforts to deal with our debts and turn this economy around."

I think any objective assessor of reality would see the hollowness of the above rhetoric.

If one is to judge the health of society, two measures stand out. One is the level of unemployment, and the other is income inequality.  The lower these are, the healthier a society is.  The autumn statement fails on both counts.  The actions proposed widen the gap between the rich and the poor, and they increase the level of unemployment.  Society will pay dearly for such short-sighted ideologically driven policies. Research shows that alcoholism, drug addiction, crime, antisocial behaviour, mental illness, and family break ups will rise as a result of these measures.

Jeremy Salt

As insurrection in Syria lurches towards civil war, the brakes need to be put on the propaganda pouring through the western mainstream media and accepted uncritically by many who should know better. So here is a matrix of positions from which to argue about what is going on in this critical Middle Eastern country:

1. Syria has been a mukhabarat (intelligence) state since the redoubtable Abd al Hamid al Serraj ran the intelligence services as the deuxieme bureau in the 1950s. The authoritarian state which developed from the time Hafez al Assad took power in 1970 has crushed all dissent ruthlessly. On occasion it has either been him or them. The ubiquitous presence of the mukhabarat is an unpleasant fact of Syrian life but as Syria is a central target for assassination and subversion by Israel and western intelligence agencies, as it has repeatedly come under military attack, as it has had a large chunk of its territories occupied and as its enemies are forever looking for opportunities to bring it down, it can hardly be said that the mukhabarat is not needed.

2. There is no doubt that the bulk of people demonstrating in Syria want peaceful transition to a democratic form of government. Neither is there any doubt that armed groups operating from behind the screen of the demonstrations have no interest in reform. They want to destroy the government.

3. There have been very big demonstrations of support for the government. There is anger at the violence of the armed gangs and anger at external interference and exploitation of the situation by outside governments and the media. In the eyes of many Syrians, their country is again the target of an international conspiracy.

Stephen Lendman

On November 28, the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) opened its 16th session in The Hague, Netherlands.

Information on it can be found on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) web site.

OPCW is mandated to implement their elimination, and "to provide a forum for consultation and cooperation among States Parties." Its work includes:

(1) Demilitarization: destruction of all chemical weapons and precursors.
(2) Non-Proliferation: ensuring against proliferation of toxic chemicals and their precursors.
(3) Assistance and Protection: Member States able to protect their populations pledge to help others that can't.
(4) International Cooperation: ensuring chemicals are used for peaceful, not destructive purposes.
(5) Universality: promoting adherence to Chemical Weapons Convention provisions.
(6) National Implementation: establishing National Authorities to assure State Parties meet their CWC obligations.

CWC prohibits the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. It mandates their destruction. Earlier it called on all member states to do so by April 29, 2007. Russia and America requested a delay until April 2012.

Washington now wants it extended through 2020. It's one of the few countries obstructing CWC provisions. It has no intention of destroying illegal weapons. America maintains huge chemical, biological, nuclear stockpiles. New more dangerous weapons replace older ones.

Stephen Lendman

[Sovereign debt: Bonds issued by a national government in a foreign currency, in order to finance the issuing country's growth.
Sovereign Credit Rating: The credit rating of a country or sovereign entity. Sovereign credit ratings give investors insight into the level of risk associated with investing in a particular country, including political risks.]

Moody's says Eurozone crisis conditions place all member state credit ratings at risk.

It warned 87 European banks to expect downgrades. Moreover, Fitch revised America's debt outlook to negative. Nonetheless, its AAA rating is unchanged. For how long is another issue.

At the same time, Italy's La Stampa said IMF intervention will rescue the country. No source was given, and Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy's Financial Times, didn't report it. It makes the claim all the more suspect.

IMF's funding capacity gives it $387 billion to contribute. It can also raise another $250 billion from willing contributor countries and has other tools.

At issue is, will IMF use all its firepower for Italy? Will member states lend it more? Will bilateral loans be sought from countries like China, and/or will the European Central Bank (ECB) supply additional funding?

Two Financial Times articles appealed to Germany to save Europe and Italians to be patriotic and buy debt.

Imagine asking Italian workers to rescue the country that sold them out. Imagine asking Germany's $3.5 trillion economy to rescue other Eurozone ones with a combined $9 trillion GDP.

It's high time solutions accepted reality. Europe's monetary union failed. Combining 17 dissimilar economies under one system was doomed from day one. It was just a matter of time and circumstances. They've now arrived.