Habib Siddiqui

How serious is Obama administration about terrorism? It has lately delisted a notorious murderous terrorist group - MEK (Mujahideen-E-Khalq) that has been responsible for killing more than 12,000 Iranians. I guess, once again the Obama administration has proven its double standards. It can talk about how terrible and horrendous terrorism is and then goes on killing innocent civilians, including children, who have nothing to do with terrorism with its drone attacks in Asia and Africa. Is there a name for such activities? It must be freedom in Obama's lexicon, but rest of the world calls it double standards! Here is a link from the Washington Post on the delisting of MEK by the Obama administration.

Here is a good link to find information about civilian casualties of U.S. drone attacks inside Pakistan. As I mentioned in my article analyzing President Obama's speech at the 67th General Assembly of the UN, more civilians, esp. children have died of such drone attacks than Taliban suicide attacks.  Click here to read an analysis on this subject by a joint team of academics from Stanford University and NYU.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (a.k.a. Bibi) Netanyahu is known for exploiting visual aids to maximize the impact of his message. Last Thursday during his speech to the UN General Assembly he asked, “How much enriched uranium do you need for a bomb? And how close is Iran to getting it? Well, let me show you. I brought a diagram.’’ Then he showed what has since been called the Bibi-bomb, and proceeded to use a marker to draw a red line across what he said was a threshold that Iran was approaching and that Israel could not tolerate — 90 percent of the way to the uranium enrichment needed to make a nuclear weapon. The talk was all part of a well-prepared and over-played theatric, and as we have come to expect from the master of lies and deception, it was all lies. Netanyahu claimed that Iran’s nuclear program was very close to producing uranium enriched to the level of 70 percent purity, and that to build a bomb, it would have to convert that uranium to above 90 percent, which w...

With all the foreign dignitaries attending the 67 th Regular Session of the U.N. General Assembly, for the last few days, New York is busier than ever. This year, with all those rumors spread by the pro-Israeli politicians, lobby groups and media outlets as to how close Iran’s nuclear program is to making an atom bomb and how the Jewish state is in ‘existential danger’ from the alleged weapons program unless a redline is drawn, naturally all the eyes of the international observers have been fixed on the leaders of these two countries plus President Obama, who has been the Zionist state’s greatest benefactor. The first of these major speakers in this year’s session was the U.S. President Obama who delivered his speech starting with a eulogy paid to Mr. Chris Stevens, the slain U.S. Ambassador to Libya on September 25. Mr. Stevens was killed in Benghazi by armed rebels, alleged to be either aligned with pro-Ghaddafy forces or pro-al-Qaeda forces who are at war with the U.S. ...

President Obama has been hypocritical like many other western leaders when it comes to freedom of expression. Not too long ago, he authorized the killing of American citizen of Yemini descent Anwar al-Awlaki for his speeches were considered a threat to the security of the USA. Al-Awlaki was neither tried for his alleged threats to the national security nor was he captured, which if Obama wanted could have been easily done by his CIA and/or the Navy Seal guys. [The same goes true for the killing of OBL. In order to justify his killing without any encountering any resistance, in the beginning the White House tried to falsely claim that OBL was armed and as such killed in the Abbottabad raid when he had brought out his gun. As the newly released book for Navy Seal show he was virtually harmless when killed in his apartment.] Lest we forget, Obama's government made every effort to shut down the WikiLeaks. It also  tried to get Assange punished on fa...

On September 14, the Japan Times in its editorial wrote: "The government on Tuesday moved forward to nationalize three of the five islets that compose the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea . It signed a ¥2.05 billion contract with the owner of the three islets — Uotsuri, Kita Kojima and Minami Kojima — and decided to use ¥2.05 billion out of the fiscal 2012 budget's reserve fund." Under ordinary circumstances, such a sales contract should not have raised anyone’s eyebrows. But the problem is Senkaku is a disputed territory which is equally claimed by China . The Chinese call the territory:   Diaoyu Islands and not Senkaku. (Such naming conventions by opposing parties are, however, nothing new, and there are tons of such examples in our world.) Separately, Taiwan also claims the islands. “The Diaoyu Islands are an inalienable part of China ’s territory, and the Chinese government and its people will absolutely make no concession on issues concerning its ...

An international conference entitled:  "Plight of The Rohingya: Solutions?" was held at Islamic Arts Museum in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia on 17 September 2012. You can view and listen to the keynote address of PGPF President, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, by clicking  here . The  PGPF  (Perdana Global Peace Foundation) took a first but resolute step in the arduous journey towards global peace, moves towards the single goal of putting an end to war. Its founder, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, envisages "a serious, active and sustained struggle against war and for peace". Sharing and supporting this agenda are world-prominent professionals, intellectuals, authors, statesmen -- all passionate advocates of international peace. Together, they have signed the Kuala Lumpur Initiative that defines the Kuala Lumpur Initiative to Criminalize War. You can view its video by clicking here .

A recent report from ABC TV channel of Australia provides some glimpses from inside the Arakan state of Burma. It shows the highly discriminatory attitude of the Myanmar govt. and its aid agencies when it comes to distribution of aid to the victims. Not a single piece of aid was delivered from the government agencies to the Rohingya internally displaced people while there seems no shortage of food and medicine for the Rakhine Maghs. While the Rohingyas are put in detention camps, away from their towns, where they suffer from cholera and other chronic health crises, the Rakhines are allowed to dwell in their homes intact and untouched by the violence and Buddhist monasteries made of brick and cement. What a difference in Buddhist run Myanmar when it comes to treatment of minorities!

Dear Congressman/Senator, I was rather surprised to learn of the decision of the U.S. Congress to bestow its highest honor - the Congressional Medal of Honor to Suu Kyi of Myanmar. Through her silence and equivocation during the latest Rohingya crisis she has proven that she does not deserve such an honor, and that she is not a serious partner for either human rights or democracy. She remains a fanatic and racist Burman Buddhist, very similar to the very regime that she complained about while in house arrest.  In its entire history, racism and bigotry have defined, and sadly, continue to define Myanmar and there is no place for non-Buddhists in that Buddhist majority country of 56 million people today.  The so-called reform movement inside Myanmar, initiated by Thein Sein, remains all a part of a very calculated gimmick to lift official bans against Myanmar, which requires hard cash to get out of being the poorest country in the ASEAN. Suu Kyi was released by the civ...

After waiting for more than two weeks, someone from the Coca Cola Company responded with the letter below: Thank you for contacting The Coca-Cola Company, Dr. Siddiqui.  As a consumer-oriented Company, your feedback is extremely important to us, and you may be assured that your comments have been shared appropriately. If you have additional questions or comments, please feel free to contact us again. Demond Industry and Consumer Affairs The Coca-Cola Company Please use the record number below should you have additional questions. {ticketno:[8001795433]} ========================= Now that my comments, originally addressed to the chairman of Coca Cola, are 'assured' of being shared "appropriately", let's see if Coca Cola Company would have the inner wisdom to rethink the matter of investment seriously and eventually decide not to invest in a country where racism and bigotry are official norms. 

Soon after publication of my article "They Just Don't Get It!" in the Eurasia Review, a commentator Durand-Even asked: " Of course right minded people will condemn these film makers. Is the writer suggesting that someone in country A doing something evil or offensive entitles people in other countries to kill or injure third parties who have nothing to do with the offenders. What kind of a civilisation is that?" Here is my response: What Mr. Durand-Even has failed to understand is the central theme of the above article -  freedom is not free; there is a price the society pays for some people's evil. We can't expect all to behave rationally. What may be considered First Amendment in the USA and western world could well be looked upon as a tool of abuse, racism, bigotry and intolerance in other parts of the world. They don't have to live by our rule. There may be some, a very tiny group of Timoth McVeighs, who may take up arms to blow up and undo w...

There is a Farsi couplet: Ba Khuda deewana basho Ba Muhammad hoshyaar (Meaning: Play madly with God if you wish, but be careful with Muhammad.) The Muslim world from Senegal to Indonesia is angry over the release of an anti-Muslim film in the YouTube ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad (S). There were protests in at least 23 nations. In the volatile Middle East the angry demonstrators attacked the U.S. embassies in the region. Demonstrators in Iraq chanted, “We are ready to sacrifice ourselves for our Prophet.”  In Lebanon , a crowd set fire to a KFC and a Hardee's restaurant in the port city of Tripoli , 50 miles (85 kilometers) north of Beirut , sparking clashes with police. Police then opened fire, killing one of the attackers. I n Benghazi ( Libya ) the attackers killed the U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and 3 embassy officials. The reaction of many Americans to the protests in the Muslim world is utter bewilderment mixed with anger. They feel that those M...

Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif, a Yemeni talented poet and devout Muslim, died last week in the Guantanamo Bay Prison.  He had been cleared for release under George W. Bush (in December 2006) and under Barack Obama (as a result of the Guantánamo Review Task Force’s deliberations in 2009). His habeas corpus petition had been granted, but, disgracefully, he had not been freed. As recently noted by i nvestigative journalist, filmmaker, photographer and Guantanamo expert, and  author of  the book -  The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison   (published by Pluto Press) -  Andy Worthington , "Instead of being released, Adnan Latif was failed by all three branches of the U.S. government. Obama was content to allow him to rot in Guantánamo, having  announced a moratorium  on releasing any Yemenis from Guantánamo after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian recruited in Yemen, tried and failed to blow up a plane ...