Comment du Jour

Georgia on My Mind...

United Nations—Two years after an invasion, the threat of annihilation and partial occupation by neighboring Russia, the small but spunky Georgian Republic has not only survived but thrived and succeeded against all odds. That was the upbeat assessment of Georgia’s once-embattled President Mikheil Saakashvili in an impressive and stirring address before the UN General Assembly.

“Today, Georgia is back,” Saakashvili extolled in the sonorous Assembly hall; “Georgia is back, first as a laboratory for political reform and social transformation. More than ever we are committed to the promise at the heart of the Rose Revolution, to turn a failed state into a modern European one.”

The 2008 Summer War between Russia and Georgia thrust the small land into world headlines. International support both by the Bush Administration to safeguard Georgia’s fragile sovereignty and from French President Nicolas Sarkozy who brokered a ceasefire before the situation totally spun out of the control, were equally crucial in the nervous days of August.


“A New Iron Curtain” illegally divides our country,” he conceded, before imploring to assembled delegates, “It is noticeable that despite enormous pressure and multiple threats from Moscow, not a single former soviet republic has recognized this dismemberment of Georgia. it shows that the former captive nations of the Soviet times became strong independent states that can determine their own policies.”


Strategically situated on the crossroads of Europe and Asia and historically shadowed by competing power interests, (Russia, Turkey, Iran) and courted by the USA, Georgia wishes to firmly anchor its social and political future to the West. In its bid to become an active player in Europe and join NATO in the future, Georgia has dispatched almost 1,000 soldiers to Afghanistan to serve in the multinational mission. This ancient Christian nation, with the St. George Cross on its national flag, aspires to join the European Union and NATO.

Georgia’s president called on the international community to stay committed and secure peace not only in Georgia but the entire unstable Caucasian region. But most importantly, President Mikheil Saakashvili implored, “I personally want Russia as a partner and not as an enemy.” This aspiration may remain his biggest challenge.

Comment du Jour

Iran Leader Breaks Bizarre "Sound Barrier" in UN Speech

United Nations--

In a bizarre and rambling rant before the sonorous UN General Assembly afternoon session, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad broke the political sound barrier by raising a number of crackpot conspiracy theories concerning the September 11, 2001 attacks on America.

In what can only be described as a new level of political pornography from the Iranian leader, Ahmadinejad suggested the theory “that some segments within the U.S. government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy and its grips on the Middle East in order to save the Zionist regime.” He added “The majority of the American people as well as other nations and politicians agree with this view.”

Speaking before a hall that was perhaps only two-thirds full at the onset, Ahmadinejad’s comments then triggered an immediate walkout by over thirty delegations from the Assembly hall; the USA, Britain, Canada, most Europeans, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Costa Rica. Delegations from Venezuela and Angola, in clear view of your correspondent, stayed put.

In a speech mixing religiosity, radicalism and rant, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran equally predicted variously the “demise of capitalism,” described nuclear energy as a “cheap and heavenly gift,” and extolled “Nuclear energy for all, Nuclear weapons for none.” He stressed Iran remains ready for a dialogue on nuclear issues.

Ahmadinejad’s speech of 35 minutes was followed by tepid and restrained applause.

Comment du Jour

Former Swiss President to Lead New UN General Assembly

Amid the arrival of Presidents, Prime Ministers and Kings, the UN General Assembly has opened in New York. The 65th annual session of the UN’s main membership body will debate issues ranging from battling global poverty to promoting human rights and international security. Yet the setting will be shadowed by the usual controversy as leaders from Bolivia, Iran, Venezuela and Zimbabwe are set to speak to the proceedings with the usual political pyrotechnics against America and the West.

Significantly the Presidency of the year-long session has gone to Joseph Deiss, a distinguished diplomat and former Swiss President and Foreign Minister who brings a level of gravitas to the chamber in contrast with last year’s Assembly president from Libya. Not to be confused with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, Dr. Deiss will oversee proceedings in the 192 member assembly.

Comment du Jour

Spain's Sporting Triumphs

It's the Year of Spain in sports. Rafael Nadal has won the U.S. Open tennis championship in New York. The 24 year old Spaniard had earier won at Wimbledon in Britain as well as the French Open, thus completing a career Grand Slam.

Spain equally won the World Cup of Football in July. In a taught and tense final match in Johannesburg, the Spainish Team faced off and beat the Netherlands. Surprisingly this was the first time Spain was victorious in gaining the coveted FIFA World Cup.

Also in July a Spaniard Alberto Contador triumphed in the demanding Tour de France cycle race yet again.

It's been a splendid year for Spanish sportsmen!

Comment du Jour

September 11


"The Grim Reaper visited New York on a picture perfect September morning. On 11 September 2001, with chilling and calculated coordination and brutal focused force, the hydra-headed monster of international terrorism methodically attacked sites in New York and Washington D.C. America came under attack." JJM Column




REMEMBER

Comment du Jour

Come September--Strikes in France

France has returned from Summer vacances, and now it is back to work.
But before anyone gets too serious, let's have a national strike.

A million people turned out to protest the Sarkozy government's plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to quelle horreur 62. The reasons are simple. The state is broke, generous social benefits simply cannot be sustained, and the spending has to be curtailed.

So rail and metro services faced dispuptions, throngs of strikers clogged the streets of Paris, and the embattled gvernment faced a new crisis. With French unemployment at 9.6 percent, budget deficits rising, and the unions playing their usual political games, the country faces national malaise.

France's lesson is America's warning. Beaucoup benefits mean massive government spending, taxes and debt. With the USA unemployment rate at 9.6 percent, the same as France, and debt levels actually higher, we are in no position to lecture France. But perhaps we can learn from them.