World View: Politicians Declare a 'Sea Change' in Mideast Negotiations

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Giddy politicians declare a ‘sea change’ in Mideast negotiations
• Pakistan government ignores terrorist extermination threats to Hazara Shias
• Eurozone receives another disastrous unemployment report

Giddy politicians declare a ‘sea change’ in Mideast negotiations

Arab League meeting in Washington D.C. on Monday (AP)

The Arab League, meeting in Washington DC, of all places, had a “verypositive, very constructive discussion … with positive results,”according to Secretary of State John Kerry and VP Joe Biden. TheAssociated Press, which is totally in the tank for the Obamaadministration, gushed that it was a “sea change” in Mideastnegotiations. What was this result that will change the face of theworld and bring joy and happiness to all? Well, the Arab Leagueamended its 11-year-old “Arab Peace Initiative,” that calls forcomplete Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines, making eastJerusalem the capital of Palestine. The “sea change” is that the ArabLeague will now permit “minor land swaps” as part of theIsraeli-Palestinian agreement. I’m not kidding. That’s the “seachange.” Get ready to pop the champagne corks. Jerusalem Post and Associated Press

Pakistan government ignores terrorist extermination threats to Hazara Shias

As we reported in February, theal-Qaeda linked terror group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), an offshoot ofthe Taliban, has claimed credit for massive horrific slaughter inQuetta, Pakistan, of hundreds of Shias from the Hazara ethnic group byhuge truck bombs. A week ago, a truck bomb killed 6 people andwounded dozens others when it was stopped at a checkpoint en route toanother Hazara terrorist target in Quetta.

According to an earlier LeJ statement:

“Our mission [in Pakistan] is the abolition of thisimpure sect and people, the Shias and the Shia Hazaras, from everycity, every village, every nook and corner of Pakistan. Like inthe past, [our] successful Jihad against the Hazaras in Pakistanand, in particular, in Quetta is ongoing and will continue. Wewill make Pakistan their graveyard– their houses will bedestroyed by bombs and suicide bombers. … Jihad against the ShiaHazaras has now become our duty. … We will rest only afterhoisting the flag of true Islam on the land of the pure –Pakistan.”

Despite these often repeated and brazen threats, neither Pakistan’sgovernment nor the provincial governments are taking any steps toprosecute LeJ leaders. Even when an LeJ leader is arrested, theprosecutors make no attempt to collect sufficient evidence for atrial, and the criminal has to be released, to conduct new terroristacts against the Hazaras. These developments give credence toallegations that the Hazara Shias in particular and Shias at large,like other minorities across Pakistan, are persecuted with connivanceof the state. South Asia Terrorism Portal

Eurozone receives another disastrous unemployment report

Eurozone unemployment rate, 2000-2013. Unemployment fell sharply during the giant credit bubble of 2000-2007, and has been rising steadily since the bubble burst. (eurostat)

Unemployment rose for the 8th consecutive quarter in the eurozone,reaching 12.1%. In Greece and Spain, it was 27%. Among people under25, the unemployment rate in Greece was up again to 59.1% and 55.9% inSpain.

As bad as these figures are, the really important point is the trend,and the fact that unemployment continues to worsen. All the “kick thecan down the road” moves that eurozone politicians made in 2010, 2011and 2012 were with the expectation that the economy would be growingby now. The fact that the economy continues to collapse means thatall of those decisions were based on faulty assumptions. As we nowthink back to that famous utterance by former Eurogroup chairmanJean-Claude Juncker, who said,all those lies were of no use, and didn’t change the outcome we’reseeing now. On the day of President Barack Obama’s latest pressconference, we might hope (in vain) that all the politicians inWashington learn a lesson — whatever is going to happen is going tohappen, and telling one lie after another won’t change that. Eurostat (PDF) and Economist

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