Middle East

As the Islamist insurgency in Afghanistan intensifies, Kabul has publicly offered to hold peace talks with the Taliban. On September 30, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he was seeking Saudi Arabia’s assistance to negotiate with Taliban leader Mullah Omar. Afghanistan’s government has held negotiations with elements of the Taliban before, but never with its leader. Karzai assured Omar and his followers he would guarantee their safety. Two days earlier, the Observerreported that secret talks were going on between Kabul and the Taliban. Stratfor reports that Karzai’s offer of negotiations with the Taliban leadership likely has U.S. backing. While official peace talks, should they eventuate, may lead to a lull in terrorist violence in Afghanistan, it would signify a victory for the Taliban—and an undoing, at least in part, of America’s overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.

A massive car bomb exploded in Damascus on September 27, killing 17 people. The last car bombing in Syria was the one that killed Hezbollah’s top commander in February. “Since then,” Statfor observes, “Syria’s relationship with Hezbollah has unraveled, with the latter losing trust in Damascus’s intentions for its former Lebanese ally. … Syria’s current troop buildup on the Lebanese border is likely part of a strategy by the Syrian regime to set the stage for direct military intervention in Lebanon …. Stratfor sources have indicated that this latest car bombing in Damascus was a warning by Hezbollah and its patron Iran to the Syrian regime not to move ahead with such a plan. Iran does not wish to lose a strategic partner in the Levant …” (September 27). If Iran was behind the bombing, it could indicate a widening crack in the Syria-Iran alliance. Bible prophecy foretells of two distinct camps in the Islamic world in the end time, one headed by Iran and the other composed of more “moderate” nations. The Bible—and recent events—indicates that Syria may well be in the latter group.

In other news, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave a chilling speech before the United Nations on September 23, blaming everything from the economic crisis to the whole world order on the “Zionists,” that few news outlets talked about. Also, terrorists continue to gain a foothold in Jerusalem.

Europe

Two pro-Nazi parties won nearly one third of the vote in Austria’s federal election this week, the Austrian far-right’s best performance since the end of the Second World War. Since no one has an absolute majority, Austria’s political parties are bargaining hard to try and form a ruling coalition. The far-right organizations—the Freedom Party, led by Heinz-Christian Strache, and the Alliance for Austria’s Future, led by Jorg Haider—will likely be the winners of these negotiations. Either these parties will be included in the ruling coalition, or they will hold the balance of power in a governing system that cannot effectively exclude them from the decision-making process. Now, in both Austria and Italy, pro-Nazi parties control a substantial number of parliamentary seats. Europe’s surge to the right continues.

Catholics need to wake up when it comes to politics and stop leaving “God in the pew,” a Vatican aide said Monday. In an address at a conference in Assisi, Italy, organized by Retinopera, a network of Italian organizations that promote the Church’s social teachings, Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, called on Catholic laity to get involved in politics. Watch for the Vatican to extend its political clout even further in Italy and throughout the rest of Europe.

Asia

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has joined the growing chorus of international voices blaming the American financial system for the worsening global economic crisis. On Wednesday, Putin claimed that “Everything happening now in the economic and financial sphere began in the United States. This is not the irresponsibility of specific individuals but the irresponsibility of the system that claims leadership.” As America’s global financial hegemony crumbles, nations like Russia and Germany are preparing to fill the void. For more information on this Anglo-Saxon fall from power and what it means for the future of the world, read “America’s Financial 9/11,” the November/December 2008 Trumpet cover story.

America’s top nuclear negotiator in North Korea traveled to Pyongyang Wednesday in an attempt to talk the Stalinist regime out of abandoning the nuclear disarmament deal it agreed to earlier this year. This initial agreement was that North Korea would disable its nuclear weapons program if the United States would lift sanctions and remove North Korea’s name from the list of terrorist-sponsoring states. The U.S. fulfilled its part by lifting sanctions, but refused to take North Korea off the list of terrorist-sponsoring states before the details behind Pyongyang’s 2006 nuclear test were disclosed. North Korea refused to do this and has now vowed to bring nuclear materials back into the country within a week. All of this only highlights the reality that North Korea was never committed to nuclear disarmament in the first place. Pyongyang’s agreement to disable its nuclear weapons program was only a ploy to get American aid into the country. America’s attempts at negotiation are only rewarding this sham.

Latin America, Africa

Last week, we reported that France had announced plans to develop a nuclear submarine program with Brazil. Now Paris has turned its attention toward Venezuela, offering to help Caracas develop a civilian nuclear power program. The French foreign minister even suggested using Venezuela as a go-between in discussions with Iran. Not content to leave Venezuela to European influence, Russia agreed to loan $1 billion to Caracas for defense materials and also offered to help develop nuclear power. Currently, only two South American countries have nuclear power plants: Argentina and Brazil. Now, two major powers are offering to develop nuclear power in a country whose leader regularly refers to the U.S. as the evil empire and its president as Hitler. Both know they are in the U.S.’s backyard. For more information, read Thursday’s column, “Russia Infiltrates Latin America.”

Political instability in South Africa continues to mount as the African National Congress (anc), having just ousted the country’s president, now threatens his supporters with banishment. Mosiuoa Lekota, the defense minister who resigned to show support for former President Mbeki, has asked for an explanation for Mbeki’s removal from power. The official party response was detailed in a letter written by a representative of the anc’s national executive committee: It said Lekota was “free to leave,” warned that people have always left or been expelled when they could no longer “subject themselves to the discipline of the organization,” and topped everything off with: “Remember that the anc as an institution will stay forever while individuals like yourselves will go.” According to the Telegraph, these comments indicate “the party may decide to expel Mr. Lekota and other Mbeki supporters even if they do not decide to leave voluntarily.” For more on South Africa’s current political situation, read our column from Wednesday, “South Africa’s Lame-Duck President.”

Anglo-America

H.R. 1424’s short lifespan has been as turbulent and perilous as the nose-diving financial system it is meant to stabilize. The bill, better known as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, originated with the Treasury Department two weeks ago as a three-page proposal. The iteration that went before the House of Representatives on Monday had the backing of President George W. Bush, who appeared on national television specifically to urge the nation and its lawmakers to pass the $700 billion quick fix, lest the nation spiral into economic oblivion. Barack Obama and John McCain took time out of their campaigns to head for Washington and push for a consensus. The plan, costlier than anything since the Great Depression, failed in the House of Representatives. The stock market, mirroring the stormy fortunes of the bailout plan for most of the past two weeks by 300- and 500-point swings, took a 777-point downward mood swing on the news. Lawmakers scrambled again to find a solution that could garner enough votes, and the Senate passed the measure 74-25 late Wednesday, adding features—some unrelated to the immediate crisis—that it hoped would change the House’s mind. Bush and the rest of the resuscitated bill’s supporters spent Thursday pushing House Republicans to change their votes to “aye,” fearing the longer Congress waited and the more it added onto H.R. 1424, the closer America would get to a credit clamp that would lock up banks’ ability to borrow and lend; make loans for homes, cars and college unattainable; and cause businesses to cut spending, and lay off employees. The bill, now 451 pages long, headed back to the House Friday morning, where it finally passed. What is left to be determined is whether this deal—or any—can rescue a financial system founded on credit and debt and fueled by greed, gambling and dishonesty.

Lost in the slipstream of the Stabilization Act, other financial headlines raised eyebrows this week. On Thursday, a government report stated that new orders for American manufactured goods fell a surprisingly steep 4 percent in August, compared to the previous month—the worst dive in two years. And on Sunday, the Washington Times reported that foreign governments are trying to devalue the dollar by printing fakes. Using sophisticated presses, Tehran and Pyongyang are counterfeiting American $100 bills by the millions, trying to hold an already-drowning dollar underwater.

Vice presidential hopefuls Sarah Palin and Joe Biden squared off Thursday night in their first debate; several news company polls indicated that Biden “won” the debate but that Palin held her own. The matchup comes on the heels of the McCain-Obama presidential debate the previous Friday. Following that showdown, neck-and-neck poll figures fluctuated to favor Obama by a few percentage points.