Panel Declares European Terror Plots 'Business As Usual' For Al Qaeda

by Kyle LaFleur - Talk Radio News Service

Maltese Ambassador Mark Miceli-Farrugia joined other diplomats from the United States and Europe Friday to hear warnings from an expert panel that groups associated with Al-Qaeda may still be attempting to use urban warfare style terrorist attacks against civilians, much like the attack in Mumbai, India in 2008.

“One thing that’s clear is that there was meat to this, that this was a real plot or perhaps it is more accurate to that that these were real plots,” said Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Center for the Study of Terrorist Radicalization. 

The panel, put together by the FDD, was comprised of senior members at the FDD as well as an Associate Vice President at George Washington University.

“Late last night I saw a report that the Taliban looking to make up for the Time Square bombing may have a new operative inside the US and as far as I’m aware, we may get an update on this in a moment, European police are continuing to search for hit teams plotting attacks against civilians in Britain, France, German, Sweden and perhaps elsewhere,” said Cliff May, President of the FDD.  

Recent commentary from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the UN regarding a September 11 conspiracy and recent arrests made in Europe of Al Qaeda recruits like Germany’s Ahmed Siddiqui were among the controversial issues the panel tackled.

“I was on a radio show a few days ago and the first question I was asked was why would Al Qaeda plan such strikes now,” May said. “My reaction was to say well that’s like asking why do dogs bark, it’s what they do.  This is the business that Al-Qaeda is in.” 

Chilean President Touts Chile’s Successful Economic Policies

By Celia Canon - Talk Radio News Service

During an address on Latin America and the economic crisis at the Brookings Institute yesterday, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet discussed her country's comparatively strong economy, explaining that the 1980’s economic crisis in Latin America taught the region to take measures to insulate itself from global financial crises.

“This time in Latin America, fundamental [institutions] were better and policy responses were swift,” Bachelet said. "Central banks move quickly to offset the lack of liquidity in dollars using either sovereign funds or international reserves accumulated during the commodity boom earlier this decade.”

Chile's current financial stability is largely due to the fact that it has moved away from American policies in recent years, eschewing the Washington Consensus, a set of American recommendations to Latin American states on how to rebuild their economies in 1989. The recommendations focused on maintaining a free market economy with little to no government involvement.

“This approach of no regulation is an approach that we have come to call in Chile the 'Paradigm of Passivity,' " Bachelet said. "The crisis has taught us what we should have known all along: that the state is not and cannot be passive when it comes to economic activity or financial regulation."

The Chilean president added: “When I talk about not being passive, I’m not talking necessarily about [an] interventionist state. I’m not calling for a government involved in all sectors of the economy or prone to over-regulating markets.”

Bachelet also compared Western states and Chile with regard to the policies implemented to reduce the impact of the global financial crisis.

“Unlike the U.S. and much of Europe, in 2009, tax payers have not have to pay the burden of bailing out” national companies, said Bachelet.

Additionally, the Chilean government has produced its own stimulus package, which aims to maintain the population’s purchasing power, rather than bail out industries.

“This [stimulus] package was designed to inject resources directly into the pockets of the most deprived families to promote employment by increasing public investment, and by granting subsidies to youth employment and to encourage private investment with temporary tax rebates,” Bachelet said.

Bachelet, a moderate socialist, is currently in Washington, D.C. to meet with President Barack Obama in hopes of increasing bilateral ties and improving trade partnerships. During her speech, she was quick to empathize with the Americans, echoing Obama's frequent calls for an economic restructuring to lead to “lasting prosperity."

States should not “go back to the same situation that we were in before, because that would mean we haven't learned the lessons of the crisis,” Bachelet said.

Russia's Help Needed To Combat Global Conflicts, Says European Affairs Official

By Michael Combier-Talk Radio News Service

In the midst of a global crisis, two wars and nuclear threats, it is crucial that the United States reinforce its relationships with its European allies, especially Russia said Philip H. Gordon, assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. Gordon's remarks came during testimony he issues in front of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Gordon argued that the United States should put its past difficulties with Russia "behind us to the extent possible." However, in a reference to last July's conflict between Georgia and Russia, Gordon said that the U.S. "will not abandon our principles or ignore concerns about democracy and human rights...We don't recognize any privilege sphere of influence for Russia in Europe [and] we will also continue to support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia's neighbors."

"The U.S. and Russia can still work together where our interests coincide while seeking to narrow our differences in an open and mutually respectful way."

Said Gordon, "the greatest success we have in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, the less there is a need for a missile defense system in Europe. If that threat goes away, the need for the system also goes away," adding that a nuclear North Korea and nuclear Iran also pose great threats to Russia's security as well.

Four members of the French Parliament were present in the audience during the hearing.

Clinton: "I don't pretend to have any psychological insights"

Senator and Senate Foreign Relations Commmittee Member Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)asks Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a question about the energy issue in Europe. He expresses concern that the U.S. seems more concerned with Europe's energy security than they do. Clinton explains what she knows about the issue. (1:54)

There is hope coming for prescription consumers

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service


Today in a press conference held by Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), John McCain (R-AZ), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) an announcement was made about the introduction of  a drug importation legislation that will reduce the cost of prescription drugs in the United States.  The “Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act” the Senators stated will bring consumers immediate relief and will force the pharmaceutical industry to lower drug prices in the United States.

The bill, which is the same as last year’s proposal by President Obama, will allow U.S. drug wholesalers and licensed pharmacies to import FDA-approved medications from Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and Japan. The costs in these countries, which are 35 to 55 percent lower than in the U.S. will allow Americans to benefit from these prices also. The legislation only applies to FDA-approved prescription drugs produced in FDA-approved plants from countries with the same safety standards. 

At the conference Senator Dorgan pointed out a comparison between the drug Lipitor that is made in Ireland which gets distributed to both Canada and the United States. “I have in fact two bottles here, the only difference is in color, one is red and one is blue...The only difference is the U.S. consumer gets to pay more than twice as much for the identical pill put in the same bottle. That’s unfair we believe.”

Senator Stabenow stated “This is not like buying a pair of shoes or buying some other commodity when you cant get your medicine, it literally is life threatening so this is a very serious issue for people and we can make a dramatic difference by passing this legislation.”

Senator Dorgan said that he is confident that President Obama and his administration will support this bill because Obama introduced the exact piece of legislation last year. “He and his chief of staff co-sponsored this identical bill...You would expect a President that signed up as a member of senate for this identical bill to support it as he already has done in his budget message.” Dorgan concluded.