US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton in her policy article in the November issue of Foreign Policy magazine said: "As the war in Iraq winds down and America begins to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, the United States stands at a pivot point... In the next 10 years, we need to be smart and systematic about where we invest time and energy... One of the most important tasks of American statecraft over the next decade will therefore be to lock in a substantially increased investment -- diplomatic, economic, strategic, and otherwise -- in the Asia-Pacific region." She further challenged China with statements such as "The time has come for the United States to make similar investments as a Pacific power." This shift in focus from Afghanistan and Iraq towards China was clearly observed by every political analyst and Statesman across the globe.

It's quite obvious that after physically clogging China's western trade routes and energy corridors through huge military presence in Afghanistan, the US now prepares to bolster her presence around East and South of China. In this regard India and Japan, China's traditional enemies, can play a crucial rule. America already has built a ring of military bases around China in the Pacific region with at least seven known military bases in South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Guam, and now Australia. Now the US wants to further intimidate China by bolstering its neighbors. Obama had an important meeting with Indian Premier Manmohan Singh in Indonesia on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit and Hillary Clinton made an unexpected visit to Myanmar who has a longish boarder with China compared to its size.

The US sees Pak-India ties through the same prism of containing China. There has been an unusual push towards Pak-India normalization right after Hillary's visit to Pakistan in October this year. Pakistani government out of nowhere granted India MFN (Most Favored Nation) status, something India has been demanding for years. This has been a major initiative from Pakistan given that Pakistan had been blaming Indian involvement in FATA and Baluchistan. Pakistan used this claim to motivate Pakistani soldiers to carry out brutal military operations in FATA, which displaced millions and killed thousands of Muslims. Furthermore, Pakistan has completely decoupled the Kashmir issue from Indo-Pak trade - an old Indian demand which Pakistan has been denying until now. Just in the span of few days, Indian wrestlers visited Pakistan and a Pakistani Kabadi team went to India. A Pak-India cricket series is also on the cards for early next year. All these styles of public diplomacy are geared towards normalizing the relationship between the two countries.

The question is how does Pak-India relationships impact America's Asia-Pacific strategic objectives? For China the biggest competitor in the Eurasian land mass is India with whom she has fought a war and currently shares the longest disputed border of the world.  The US wants to build India as an economic and military counterweight to China. With a hostile Pakistan, India cannot even think of threatening China.  The US also knows that Kashmir issue cannot be resolved justly hence she wants to bury it and normalize the relationship so that Pakistan and India could work as a block to counter China. Hence, it is of utmost importance that India normalizes relationships with Pakistan allowing her to pull out troops from Kashmir and solely focus on China.  The US has already forced Pakistan and the ISI to stop its operations within India granting India much needed political stability. At the same time the US is building India economically and militarily. Granting India civil nuclear capability and opening up US markets for Indian goods are few such examples. Moreover, the US is propping up India to assume a regional rule all the way to Afghanistan and Central Asia. This is why the US allowed India to gain foothold in Afghanistan by building a chain of consulates along Pak-Afghan border. US is also arm twisting Pakistan to grant Indian goods land access to Central Asia. Hence, Pakistan is a key to achieving a stronger and more China-centric India, a major US objective in achieving dominance in the Pacific region. The agents in the military and political leadership of Pakistan are playing completely according to the US strategic script instead of working to secure interests of Muslims of Pakistan and Kashmir.

Hence Pakistan has become a major pawn in the hands of the US through which the US plans to gain stability in Afghanistan to influence Central Asia as well as strengthening India to counter China. But unfortunately the current leadership doesn't see the strategic strength of Pakistan and perpetually fans out disinformation that Pakistan is too weak to defend itself. They claim that Pakistan has no option but to be a lackey of the US. A sincere leadership under Islamic rule will exploit this strategic strength and not only expand the boundaries of the Khilafah "Caliphate" to all the way to Central Asia but will also have the leverage to play politics with China, who would love to have Khilafah "Caliphate" as an ally against the threatening Indo-US nexus.

Naveed Butt
The Official Spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Pakistan

The government of Sheikh Hasina, agent of US-Britain-India, came to power back in 2009 with the slogan of creating "Digital Bangladesh." Since then the rapid transformation of Bangladesh into a spineless, subservient state for Hasina's masters has indeed been more than digital!  However, when it comes to transforming the country to achieve the welfare of the people the story is one of digital bankruptcy. The economy has been crippled by government mismanagement. In fact, it will not be an overstatement to say that today the people of Bangladesh face one of the most difficult periods of economic hardship in the last 4 decades. It all begun with the stock market, a capitalist digital gambling machine.

In the beginning of 2009, when the government of Sheikh Hasina took power, the main stock market of Bangladesh, Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) had index of 2538.79, with total market capital of $13.86 billion. And then within a period of less than two years, on the 5th of December, 2010, the DSE general market index boomed to $58.52 billion! What a digital magic of capitalist economic prosperity in the midst of global economic recession!! Hasina and her ministers and the so-called civil society trumpeted this as the success of her government's economic policy. They started to say that with this huge market boom millions of people have got jobs. Sheikh Hasina and her ministers claimed that they are living up to the electoral promise of giving one job to each family. As if this was a success in reality.

Small savers, women, sole proprietors continued to draw closer to the market as if this balloon is never going to burst. Then came the big day in December 2010, when the market crumbled to its feet due to huge sell pressure from those who worked behind the closed door to keep this casino boom. Then in less than a year, on 15th November, 2011 the market fell down to its lowest index and market capital stood at $33.90 billion, evaporating almost 50% or $25 billion from the market, leaving directly 3.3 million small investors or 15 million people destitute. This is how Sheikh Hasina repaid her domestic and foreign fund providers in the 2008 general election. This was smarter than the alleged $0.856 billion fund misappropriation or theft by Tariq Rahman, the son of former prime minister and current opposition leader Khaleda Zia. Sheikh Hasina's computer engineer son and aides are more creative geniuses!

For the past one year the government has tried to cover up the scam. Hasina continued the policy of "let it go" or "time is a great healer" so that the daily angry street protests by those who were allured to invest in the casino and ultimately lose everything gradually lose their zeal and vigor to continue their protests and the looters can go scot-free. And now she is eying on the prospect of another round of gain for her fund raisers. This week Hasina personally chaired a committee to oversee the DSE to foul the people once again. Now she is asking the banking and insurance sectors to invest their fund in this market, which is fodder for another catastrophe as evident from the USA stock market crash and its cyclical effects.

In fact for Hasina that was not enough. Her government's economic policy has not just failed the 3.3 million middle class people and made them insolvent. A BBC South Asia Monitoring report on 3rd November, 2011, reports that for the first time in the history of Bangladesh, in order to meet its demand for money the government has taken initiatives to secure $1 billion sovereign debt from foreign countries, issuing 5-10 years treasury bonds. For anyone to understand its dangerous effect on the economy it is enough to remind them that the developed countries have failed to manage their economies by adopting such strategy. The recession across Europe is a glaring example of this. In the current fiscal year (2011-2012), the government had set a target of $4.28 billion domestic loans from the local commercial banks to finance its budget deficit.  However, within only 5 months of this fiscal year, a daily $14.28 million loan from domestic commercial banks, Hasina government has already borrowed $3.85 billion or 90% of its targeted borrowing. The largest four national commercial banks are already on the verge of bankruptcy and even the Central Bank of Bangladesh has made it clear that, "local banks will not be able to supply money to it anymore, because, the private sector will not get any loans from the banks if the government continues its borrowing further."

Looking at this government's dismal performance on the economic front, one must ask the question why the government is borrowing so much. There is no real answer from the government. In fact the growth in tax revenue in the first quarter of July-September of the current fiscal year was 15%, with revenue income of $2.58 billion, while the growth in collection was 25%. On the other hand, only 11% of the annual development program was implemented in the first quarter of the current fiscal and the total expenditure was $0.70 billion only. Thus the question remains where the money is going? Some explanation coming from government is that the price of oil in the international market has increased, so the government has to increase it financing, otherwise continuation of the subsidies will not be possible. This is a great lie. First of all, the government has already increased the price of gasoline more than 100% in past three months to finance the subsidy. Moreover, just in this month oil price has been increased by more than 10% while gasoline price is expected to increase by another 90% in coming months. Moreover, if shortage of gasoline or oil is our problem, which definitely is not, then why the government is increasing this burden on the people by awarding oil and gas blocks to American and other foreign multinational companies like ConocoPhillips and agrees to contracts where the government will buy our gas or oil from these multinationals at international price and they will take 80% of the daily production. Additionally, since it is the Hasina government who makes such contracts to show her commitment to her American masters, why the 160 million Muslims should pay for that? This increase in oil, diesel and other fuel prices just before the harvesting season will definitely increase the cost of production and subsequently will cost every single countryman with increasing cost of living in a country where inflation rate has been around 50% annually.

By continuing to implement the capitalist economic system, like her predecessors, Sheikh Hasina has in reality turned Bangladesh to a bankrupt nation. Therefore it is time for the 160 million Muslims in Bangladesh to understand that, the very desire they hold to have economic opportunities and realize the potential of our economic resources that Allah (swt) has bestowed upon us in this world can only be managed and utilized for public good if we can install a government who will run the economic policies not based on capitalist free market system but based on Islamic economic system under the shade of Khilafah "Caliphate" state. Indeed capitalism has failed humanity and its proponents. So it is time to show how our economic nightmare under this system can become our economic blessings under the system of Islam.

Jafar Muhammad Abu Abdullah
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Titles:

• British Bombs, Destroy and Rebuild
• Tunisia's Islamists Hail Arrival of the 'Sixth Caliphate'
• Pentagon Denies Bomb Is Intended For Iran
• Hamid Karzai Does Not Oppose US Occupation Only Night Raids
  

Details:

British bombs, destroy and rebuild:

Britain that has spent almost £300 million to destroy Libya's infrastructure is vying to win lucrative deals worth almost £200 billion to rebuild the North African state.The UK Department of Trade and Investment believes the estimated value of the contracts to rebuild Libya, in areas ranging from electricity and water supplies to healthcare and education, could amount to almost more than £200 billion over the next 10 years, British media reported."Libya is a relatively wealthy country with oil reserves, and I expect there will be opportunities for British and, indeed, other companies to get involved in the reconstruction of Libya," British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has said. He called on CEOs and sales directors to "pack their suitcases" and head to the war-shattered country.

Tunisia's Islamists hail arrival of the 'sixth caliphate':

The English newspaper the Daily Telegraph reported: The Islamist politician likely to become Tunisia's first democratically elected prime minister has alarmed liberals and secularists by claiming the arrival of the "sixth caliphate", a controversial term for a Muslim empire. Hamadi Jebeli, secretary-general of Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party which romped to victory in last month's elections, told a rally in the city of Sousse: "My brothers, you are at a historic moment in a new cycle of civilisation, God willing. We are in sixth caliphate, God willing." Party officials, who have spent months insisting they wanted to pursue secular democratic politics rather than an international Islamist agenda, were forced on the defensive after his comments were posted on the internet. "We thought we were going to build a second republic with our partner - not a sixth caliphate," Khemais Ksila, a senior member, said.

Pentagon Denies Bomb Is Intended For Iran:

The military's newest and most powerful ground-penetrating bomb is not intended for Iran's underground nuclear and weapons facilities specifically, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday. "The system's not aimed at any one country," said Pentagon spokesman, Capt. John Kirby. "It's to develop a capability we believe we need." The new Massive Ordinance Penetrator, known as the MOP, is able to explode 200 feet underground and designed to destroy deeply buried and fortified targets such as the ones Iran is believed to have constructed to protect its nuclear research facilities. "It gives us a far greater capability to reach and destroy an enemy's weapons of mass destructions that -- weapons of mass destruction that are located in well-protected underground facilities, without getting into specifics, to -- to a magnitude far greater than we have right now," Kirby said at a Pentagon briefing. There were three separate orders placed by the Pentagon with the final one placed in August. The bomb is said to be more than 20 feet long and 30 inches in diameter and weighs some 30,000 pounds (13,600 kilos). It is more powerful than its predecessor, the BLU-109, and is a "relatively simple weapon," according to information posted by the military's Defense Threat Reduction Agency. "The MOP relies on gravity to turn its massive weight into tremendous kinetic energy. Designed to penetrate supposedly untouchable facilities in one piece, the MOP will defeat our adversaries' (weapons of mass destruction) before they leave the ground," according to the description on the website.

Hamid Karzai does not oppose US occupation only night raids:

Hamid Karzai has told a national gathering of Afghan elders that he will not sign a much-delayed military pact with the US until night raids by foreign forces come to an end, a demand that threatens to complicate the deal. In a fiery speech on Wednesday at the opening session of a loya jirga, a grand assembly of more than 2,000 delegates held amid tight security, the Afghan president said continued US military and economic help after the end of the Nato combat mission in 2014 was vital to avoid civil war.But he presented himself as the leader of a proud country whose sovereignty must be respected, and set firm terms to be met before any deal could be concluded. "We want to have a strong partnership with the US and Nato, but with conditions," he said. "We want our national sovereignty, and an end to night raids and to the detention of our countrymen." Many Afghans see night raids and house searches as grave insults to the Afghan tradition of respect for the sanctity of private homes. But military commanders say such operations are an effective tool against Taliban fighters and have the added advantage of minimising Afghan and Nato casualties compared with daylight operations.An Afghan official said Karzai did not expect to achieve a complete end to night raids, but wanted Afghans to be put in charge of such operations. "That's what needs to change to give true meaning to Afghan sovereignty and an equal partnership," the official said.

Mullen's spokesman admits existence of secret memo:

The spokesman for former Chairman US Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Mike Mullen confirmed the existence of a secret memo alleged to have been sent by President Zardari to Admiral Mullen. A Pakistani businessman alleged in a column in the Financial Times last month that a senior Pakistani diplomat asked for assistance in getting a message from Zardari to Admiral Mike Mullen, at the time chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. The author, Mansoor Ijaz, alleged that Zardari feared a military takeover following the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May and brought unprecedented public scrutiny on Pakistani leaders. Pakistan's ambassador to Washington has offered to resign after reports that his boss, President Asif Ali Zardari, asked Washington for help to stave off a military takeover. There has been speculation in the Pakistani media that Haqqani had been involved in the conception or communicating of the memo.

The Arab League today i.e. Wednesday, November 2, 2011 issued another resolution under its initiatve in Syria granting the Syrian regime a two week reprieve to kill and oppress people and to bombard life and property without any fear of either Allah (swt) or His Messenger (saw) or the believers, and do so without any consideration for any human emotion which are held dearly by all wise human beings! The United States had praised the resolution even before it was issued, which means it was aware that such a resolution would be issued! On November 1, 2011, when Jay Carney, the US White House spokesman was asked about the Arab League initiative on Syria, he stated: "We welcome efforts by the international community to convince the Assad regime to cease the kind of violent acts that it's been perpetrating on its own people."

The Arab League had released its resolution containing high-flowing expressions, it said: " [it calls for] ceasing all acts of violence from any source" as if the vulnerable and defenceless people were armed with guns, missiles, armoured tanks or planes! The resolution goes further, it demands: "clearing the cities of any armed cache" but fails to name the armed forces, so that they return to their task of protecting the land and its people. It does not also name the regime and its various tools spying agencies! This is designed to give the impression that there are various other armed groups! The third blunder in the resolution is that after all of this, it still wants dialogue to take place with the very same regime that has killed thousands and injured tens of thousands!

This reprieve of two weeks is in addition to another two weeks which the Arab League had allowed the Syrian regime under its earlier resolution dated October 16, 2011, which was preceded by the visit of the Arab League Secretary General Nabeel al Arabi to the Syrian regime on September 9, 2011 so as to support and bolster the regime! All these are merely part of a consistent plan which will yield nothing less than more killings by the regime under the cover of the Arab League initiative!

Indeed the latest resolution of the Arab League is doomed to fail, since it is crafted loftily but its implementation is sterile and weak-kneed; it only allows the regime and its cohorts further reprieve to indulge in bloody killings more than it already has. At the same time, the figure-heads in the Arab League fail to see either the pure and innocent blood being spilled nor do they hear the cries and wailings of help from the children, the women and the elderly, nor do they stand up to the oppressor and state the truth, they are like:

( صُمٌّ بُكْمٌ عُمْيٌ فَهُمْ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ )

"They are deaf, dumb, and blind, so they do not understand." [Surah al-Baqarah: 171]

Oh the People of Syria,

Oh the Muslims!

The reality of the situation in Syria is that the United States has sponsored and nurtured the regime since its beginning. It has prepared and enabled the regime to protect peace for the Jewish state for the past four decades and to achieve the interests of the US in Lebanon and Iraq etc. and to cheat its people with mere loud but empty assurances of protecting them! Jewish aircrafts have flown over the palace of the head of the regime without being prevented and have bombed sensitive places, but the regime has responded only with indifference, and when it comes to confronting its own people, the regime roars like a lion and when in war, it simply buries its head like an ostrich!

Indeed the US has become aware that this man is about to fall from power, but is scared of the people's revolution and the proclamations from the mosques which instill terror in the hearts of the kafir colonialists...it is afraid that all this may usher in the truthful rule sincere to Allah (swt) and His Prophet (saw), which is why the US is allowing more time to die slowly so that it can find and prepare an alternative from among its loyalists whose faces are less tainted than its current agent Bashar.

This explains why this American resolution has been issued through the Arab League which has allowed its trustees to become mere ‘cards' through the Arab League to Cairo where they can become America's ‘card'!

Oh the People of Syria,

Oh the Muslims!

Indeed Hizb ut-Tahrir truthfully puts forth its words, and the leader does not betray its people. Do not lean towards the enemies of Allah (swt), be they of a skin different from yours, like the kafir colonialists of Europe and America, or be they of your own skin who bring in the enemies of Allah (swt) against you, oppressing one's own kin is even more severe. Leaning towards or cozying up to oppressors, be they be of near ones or distant, certainly results in humiliation in this world and the punishment of the Hereafter is even more severe.

( وَلاَ تَرْكَنُواْ إِلَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ فَتَمَسَّكُمُ النَّارُ وَمَا لَكُم مِّن دُونِ اللّهِ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاء ثُمَّ لاَ تُنصَرُونَ )

"And incline not toward those who do wrong, lest the Fire should touch you, and you have no protectors other than Allâh, nor you would then be helped." [Surah Hud: 011:113]

Do not be deceived by the West and its cohorts who suggest that no change is possible without (help from) the West, this is an utter lie; a creation of the West itself and it has nothing to do with truth. By being sincere to Allah (swt), by your peaceful uprising and by the courage of the liberated soldiers, you are in a position to uproot the tyrant and establish the law of Allah (swt) which is the rightly guided Khilafah "Caliphate". You are the bearers of the land of Islam as told by the Prophet (saw), who said:

«أَلاَ إِنَّ عُقْرَ دَارِ الإسلام الشَّامُ»

"Verily, the centre of the believers' abode is Ash-Sham."

Indeed it is the blessed of the lands, therefore remain committed to the truth, victory is nothing but patience for more time. There is a glad tiding for you, you have already covered a long lap in your revolution against this tyranny, so be patient with Allah (swt) who will certainly grant you victory:

( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن تَنصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ )

"O you who believe! If you help (in the cause of) Allâh, He will help you and make your foothold firm." [ Muhammad:007]