Headlines:
- Denmark Poised to Ban Islamic Full-Face Veils
- Tajikistan, Most Muslim Country in Central Asia, Struggles to Rein in Islam
- US Pushing Pakistan Further Away
- New Nuke Posture
- Cryptocurrency bubble finally bursts
Denmark Poised to Ban Islamic Full-Face Veils
The Danish government is poised to become the next European country to introduce a ban on Islamic full-face coverings in public places. The government said it planned to fine people who wore items including the burqa and the niqab which are worn by some Muslim women. Under the proposals anyone found covering their face would be fined 1,000 kroner (£120), or up to 10,000 kroner (£1,200) if they are repeatedly caught. “It is incompatible with the values of the Danish society or the respect for the community to keep the face hidden when meeting each other in the public space,” Justice Minister Justice Soren Pape Poulsen said. “With a ban, we draw a line in the sand and establish that here in Denmark we show each other trust and respect by meeting each other face to face,” he said. The restrictions have been supported by the Danish People’s Party – which the minority ruling coalition government depends on to push through legislation. All three parties in the coalition had said last October they would support such a ban. It has been previously estimated the introduction of the law in Denmark will affect fewer than 200 women. Fancy dress for Halloween or for sports mascots will still be allowed. France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and the German state of Bavaria have all implemented restrictions on Islamic full-face veils in public. [Source: The Independent]
Western values allow for freedom of belief and religion. Yet these values are ignored when applied to Muslims. If the West can no longer offer its citizens the protection of the values it preaches then what does the West stand for?
Tajikistan, Most Muslim Country in Central Asia, Struggles to Rein in Islam
In the last month alone, local authorities closed almost 100 mosques in the northern part of Tajikistan, the latest effort by Dushanbe to control Islam in the most fervently Muslim country in Central Asia. Yet, this campaign is exceedingly likely to backfire by driving both imams who have lost their jobs as well as their former parishioners and followers to go underground. Indeed, this move may be at least as counterproductive as Dushanbe’s decision two years ago to call home the 6,000 Tajikistani Muslims studying in madrassas (Muslim religious schools) and Islamic universities abroad and then refusing to allow them to work in government-registered mosques. And that entire situation was further exacerbated by the fact that the government has restricted higher Islamic education inside the country to a single Muslim center. By systematically going after mosques and places of Islamic study, Dushanbe is in large measure recapitulating the unsuccessful Soviet approach, dramatically expanding the Muslim underground in the most Muslim country in Central Asia. As a result, at least some of those Muslim faithful pushed to the shadows could ultimately link up with Islamist radicals coming into the country from Afghanistan, destabilizing the impoverished country still further. If that happens—and there is some evidence that it already is (see below)—the government in Dushanbe and those who want to block the export of Islamist radicalism from Afghanistan are likely to suffer a major defeat and possibly even the overthrow of the secular regime in Tajikistan. In large measure, they will have only themselves to blame for such a loss. Many in Moscow and the West have praised Dushanbe for its moves to control Islamist radicalism. But they have generally failed to understand that by its actions against Islam, the Tajikistani government is radicalizing far more of its citizens than it is reining in. [Source: James Town]
The Soviets tried their utmost to eradicate Islam and they failed. Today, the Soviet Union is no more, but the Islamic resurgence in the former Soviet Republics is stronger than ever. The sands of time are ticking for the regime Tajikistan and elsewhere in Central Asia.
US Pushing Pakistan Further Away
The US House of Representatives joined the Senate on Tuesday in seeking to end US economic aid to Pakistan while the Trump administration has already suspended military aid, according to Pakistan’s Dawn news report. A bill introduced in the House said that non-defence aid to Pakistan should also end and the money set aside for this purpose should be invested in infrastructure projects in the United States. The US officials say they are seeking the ban because Pakistan “provides military aid and intelligence” to terrorists, a charge Islamabad strongly denies. Pakistani officials say that the US administration is blaming Pakistan for its failure to eliminate insurgency in Afghanistan. The legislation, introduced by Congressmen Mark Sanford from South Carolina and Thomas Massie from Kentucky, seeks to prohibit the US State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from sending American taxpayer money to Pakistan. Instead, these funds will be redirected to the Highway Trust Fund, the account that pays for road infrastructure in the US . This common-sense bill puts US first by reallocating tax dollars to roads and bridges at home instead of funnelling money overseas, Congressman Massie said. When the American people support other nations, our generosity shouldn’t be used to reward terrorists with US taxpayer dollars,” Congressman Sanford added. “Couple this with the fact that the Highway Trust Fund will be $111 billion short by 2026, and it simply makes financial sense to repurpose these funds for our infrastructure,” he said. The move to stop US economic assistance to Pakistan initiated in the Senate where Senator Rand Paul introduced a companion legislation early last month. The current debate in Congress on the rationale for continuing US assistance to Pakistan followed a new year day tweet from President Trump, who accused the country of receiving more than $33 billion in 15 years but giving “nothing but lies and deceit” in return. [Source: Time of Islamabad]
US is definitely pushing Pakistan away, however, the Pakistani leadership does not want to be pushed away. When will the rulers learn that America is neither Pakistan’s ally nor does America wish for Pakistan’s independence? Pakistan requires a ruling system based on Islam known as the Khilafah (Caliphate) to permanently push Pakistan away from American imperialism.
New Nuke Posture
The Trump administration published the Nuclear Posture Review, which is an assessment on the state of the country’s arsenal. The report came in the context of Trump recently announcing the developing of tactical nukes, for use in the battlefield. North Korea has also been in the headlines for most of 2017, especially after testing a nuclear weapon that can reach the US continent. US military doctrine has always been focused on the US having more capability than everyone else. Funding has always been found when countries such as Russia or China produce platforms that can counter US military capability. But buried in the report was a Russian weapon called “Status-6” a type of doomsday device that is a new intercontinental, nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered, undersea autonomous torpedo. Under Trump the lack of political solutions to the world’s problems has seen the US shift to potential military options. The fact that Iraq and Afghanistan are in a mess after US military adventures has not led to a major change in US views about the world.
Cryptocurrency Bubble Finally Bursts
Last year saw crypto currencies such as Bitcoin reach astronomical proportions. But much like the internet in the mid-1990s this new asset lacks much regulation and much like the internet has seen its value dramatically increase. The scale of the impending crisis is starting to become clear as digital tokens have slid more than 50% in value from their peaks in early January 2018. The value of all outstanding virtual currencies has been cut by more than half, down over $400 billion as of Monday Feb 6th. Hackers draining funds from online exchanges. Ponzi schemes. Government regulators unable to keep up with the rise of so called cryptocurrencies. Signs of trouble have appeared at nearly every level of the industry, from the biggest exchanges to the news sites and chat rooms where the investment frenzy has been discussed. As bitcoin begins to lose its air, frauds and other scams are beginning to come to the surface. Many schemes have been able to expand quickly because they did not use bank accounts and therefore did not have to win approval from established institutions. Instead, they are able to use virtual currency “wallets” without any approvals. And virtual currency transactions cannot be reversed like normal bank or even PayPal transfers.