Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
OTC derivatives have been and are so clearly flawed that Mr. Fred can see that under any degree of pressure they will fail.
The Chinese are not happy.
CHINESE OFFICIAL SLAMS WESTERN BANKS
A senior Chinese official who oversees China’s largest state-owned enterprises has publicly slammed western investment banks for “maliciously” peddling complicated derivative products that caused huge losses for Chinese companies. In Beijing’s strongest criticism on the matter to date, Li Wei, vice director …
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Pakistan grows in terror. The West should be terrorized over the Talbanization of Pakistan.
The Taliban concentrates on Pakistan as the Surge finds token resistance in Afghanistan. The Pakistan government, if you can call it that, expresses fear that the Surge in Afghanistan will result in increased terror in Pakistan.
India should be more than concerned, but has for so long seen Pakistan as adversarial that they are habituated to it, and therefore as a nation blinded to it.
The West has “Plan B" which is that India will handle the problem if push comes to shove. That might in fact be both too late and a fuse in itself.
The risk in giving a date for a pullout is your opposition will just wait you out. This is certainly true when the Taliban and others can be counted on to increase the pressure by orders of magnitude in Pakistan.
Pakistan prosecuted those that murdered Daniel Pearl, a point to remember.
Those that fight for generations never forget.
Mosque massacre shows Taliban strength
Islamic extremists kill 36 officers, soldiers and family members in attack on Pakistani military
Saeed Shah
Published on Friday, Dec. 04, 2009 10:03PM EST Last updated on Saturday, Dec. 05, 2009 3:14AM EST
In a devastating assault on the Pakistani military, Islamic extremists yesterday attacked a mosque used by soldiers in Rawalpindi, killing at least 36 people, including senior military personnel and their children, as they gathered for Friday prayers.
Among the dead were five officers above the rank of major, including Major-General Bilal Umar, director-general of the Pakistan Armoured Corps. Also killed were a retired major and three rank-and-file soldiers.
Of the 17 children killed, at least 11 were the sons of army officers, including the son of a major-general and the sons of two brigadiers. The fathers of three senior officers, including the father of a major-general, were among the dead. More than 75 people were injured, including General Mohammad Yusuf, a former vice-chief of the Pakistani military.
Pakistan’s Western allies are constantly pressing the country to do more to aid the faltering campaign against Taliban extremists in Afghanistan. The message was repeated by U.S. President Barack Obama in his speech this week announcing an additional 30,000 troops for Afghanistan, but Islamabad insists it has its hands full dealing with its own domestic insurgency. Attacks such as yesterday’s will make it even less likely that Pakistan will turn its attention to Afghan insurgents that use its soil to attack NATO forces across the border.
The mosque, used exclusively by army personnel and their families, was located inside the heavily guarded cantonment area of Rawalpindi, surrounded by housing for army officers. The assailants – at least four in number – struck around 1:20 p.m., hurling grenades and opening fire on worshippers, before two of the attackers blew themselves up inside the mosque, wrecking the building and leaving the holy site stained with blood and littered with body parts. Security forces killed the two remaining assailants, who killed indiscriminately, the military said. However, there were rumours that an unspecified number of attackers got away.
