Octubre de 2005

Andrew J. Bacevich, a professor of international relations at Boston University, is the author of "The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War." (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 31/10/05)

When senators this month asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about possible military action against Syria or Iran, she recited the administration's standard response: all options remain "on the table." Pressed on whether any such action might require congressional authorization, Ms. Rice demurred. "I don't want to try and circumscribe presidential war powers," she said, adding that "the president retains those powers in the war on terrorism and in the war in Iraq."…  Seguir leyendo »

José María Irujo (EL PAÍS, 31/10/05).

Ahmed Rukhsar, de 40 años, vendía leche de vaca en Gujrat, una provincia de 500.000 habitantes en la zona del Punjab al noroeste de Pakistán. No sabía ni leer ni escribir en urdu, su lengua natal, pero logró su sueño: emigrar a España, prosperar y comprarse un Mercedes de segunda mano. Trabajó en los viñedos de varios pueblos riojanos y vendió flores por las calles hasta convertirse en 2001 en el hawaladar (agente hawala) más activo de Logroño: en dos años 800 inmigrantes paquistaníes residentes en esa comunidad le confiaron tres millones de euros. La confianza fue la clave de su éxito.…  Seguir leyendo »

El timo 'internético'. Internet no funciona bien en España por nuestra secular incompetencia en materias modernas. Salvador Giner, Catedrático de Sociología de la Universitat de Barcelona y presidente del Institut d'Estudis Catalans (EL PERIÓDICO, 31/10/05).

Madeleine Bunting meets Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi in Qatar (The Guardian, 30/10/05).

Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi seems frail and betrays his 79 years as he walks into the ornate sitting room in his Qatari home. But after breaking his Ramadan fast, he talks late into the night with undimmed energy and passion. Widely regarded as the foremost scholar of Sunni Islam, he is a man with many enemies and many more admirers, and that might be the least of the contradictions that surround him.

Governments across the Muslim world are irritated by his forthright criticism of their lack of democracy and free speech, yet he is consulted by leaders such as President Bashar Assad of Syria and Muammar Gadafy of Libya.…  Seguir leyendo »