Chinese police have arrested five individuals for the car crash in Tiananmen Square. The five were identified as supporters of the Uighur movement in Northwest China. The Uighurs are Muslims of Turkish descent and many in the region resent rule from Beijing. The attack represents an escalation of the protests by the Uighurs, and we will have to see how the central government responds to the threat.
An Italian magazine is claiming that the US NSA spied on the Vatican. The US government is vigorously denying the report, but after the previous reports that proved to be accurate, the denials lack power. The taps might have been part of a more general sweep of the Italian population, or they may have been targeted to find out information about the financial dealings of the Vatican Bank. The revelation, however, makes a mockery of the idea that the surveillance is essential to national security.
I sometimes read articles that seem to be wildly off-track but, nonetheless, genuinely thought-provoking. This op-ed by Mohammad Pervez Bilgrami suggests that the US is shifting away from its Sunni allies in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan) in order to prepare for the ascent of Shia power and Iranian influence. The scenario seems implausible right now, but there is a long history of US-Iranian cooperation prior to the 1979 Iranian revolution, and, in many respects, Iranian power complements US interests in the region quite nicely. One need only to think about two emerging issues that might make this change more likely: first, the dramatic increase in US domestic oil production freeing the US from the need to support Saudi Arabia; second, the sense that the hold that al-Qaeda adherents have over parts of the Sunni population is a greater threat to the US than the radicals associated with Shia Islam. I still think the scenario is poppycock, but I will keep my mind open. And watch carefully how the US proceeds in the current negotiations with Iran over the nuclear program.
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