KDP confirms government rotation - Kurdish Globe

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The Kurdish Globe No. 335, Saturday, January 07, 2012 12 As currency PRESS PHOTO crisis and feud with West deepen, Iranians brace for war At a time when U.S. officials are increasingly confident that economic and political pressure alone may succeed in curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the mood here has turned bleak and belligerent as Iranians prepi pare grimly for a period of proli longed hardship and, they fear, war. This stark contrast has been evident in the Iranian capiti tal this week as a top military commander declared a “critici cal point” in the country’s long feud with the West and ordinary Iranians stocked up on essential supplies. Merchants watched helplessly as the Iranian curri rency, the rial, shed more than a third of its value, triggering huge increases in the prices of imported goods. “I will tell you what this is leading to: war,” said a merci chant in Tehran’s popular Paytakht bazaar who gave his name only as Milad. “My fami ily, friends and I — we are all desperate.” The sense of impending confi frontation is not shared in Washington and other Western capitals, where government offi ficials and analysts expressed cautious satisfaction that their policies are working. Former and current U.S. govei ernment officials did not dismi miss the possibility of a militi tary confrontation but said they saw recent threats by Iranian leaders — including warning a U.S. aircraft carrier this week not to return to the crucial Strait of Hormuz — mainly as signs of rising frustration. U.S. offici cials say this amounts to vindici cation of a years-long policy of increasing pressure, including through clandestine operations, on Iran’s clerical rulers without provoking war. “The reasons you’re seei ing the bluster now is because they’re feeling it,” said Dennis Ross, who was one of the White House’s chief advisers on Iran before stepping down late last year. With even tougher sancti tions poised to take effect in weeks, the White House had succeeded in dramatically raisi ing the costs of Iran’s nuclear program, he said. “The measure, in the end, is, ‘Do they change their behavi ior?’ ” Ross said. The Obama administration is readying new punitive measi sures targeting the Central Bank of Iran, while leaders of the European Union took a step this week toward approvi ing strict curbs on imports of Iranian petroleum in hopes of pressuring the nation to abandi don what they say is a drive to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful energy production. State Department spokes¬woman Victoria Nuli land deemed as “very good news” the E.U.’s commitment to shutting off the flow of Irani nian oil to Europe. “This is consistent with tightei ening the noose on Iran econi nomically,” Nuland told reportei ers Wednesday. “We think that the place to get Iran’s attention is with regard to its oil sector.” In Tehran, that tightening is being felt by millions of peopi ple. Economists and independi dent analysts say the sanctions have aggravated the country’s chronic economic problems and fueled a currency crisis that is limiting the availability of a broad array of goods, including illegally imported iPhones and life-saving medicines. While dollar injections by the Central Bank of Iran in recent days appeared to stabilize the rial, foreign-exchange traders said Wednesday that they were not selling dollars because the rate set by the bank was “artifi ficial.” Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, faces turmoil both internally and with the international community. In a move that underscored a lack of options in quelling the currency crisis, Iranian authoriti ties resorted to ordering money changers to post much lower exchange rates for dollars in their shop windows Wednesdi day. Authorities also blocked Web sites that listed real-time rates, according to Khabaronli line, a Web site critical of the government. In Tehran, where public suppi port for the government has dwindled since it cracked down on large opposition protests in 2009, many blame Iran’s leadei ers and their policies for the sanctions, as well as for the country’s increasing internati tional isolation and tensions with the United States. Economists and businessmen say that after years of erratic economic policies by the govei ernment of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, each new round of sanctions aimed at Iran’s key oil income increases fears of an overall economic meltdown. “It’s basic economic law,” said Jamshid Edalatian, a reti tired professor of economics, former banker and member of Iran’s chamber of commerce. “When people start worrying about the future, they start buyi ing strong currencies to use in difficult times, and right now everybody is baffled and confi fused over the future.” Confusion abounded this week in the Paytakht shopping center, which is Tehran’s main computer bazaar. The price of the Apple iPhone 4S, reexportei ed from nearby Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and highly prized by many young Iraniai ans, had surged, like most other imported products. The phone now costs 35 percent more. The money changer involved in most of the merchants’ purci chases from Dubai also had disappeared with more than a million of their dollars after the rial suddenly collapsed. “Nobody is buying or selling,” said Nader Kamali, who owns a cellphone shop. “How can we live like this?” The pain extends to the counti try’s large industries. Accordi ing to the Iranian Labor News Agency, high prices for commi modities and raw materials, caused by the rial’s plunge, have led to the closure of 50 percent of businesses in the biggest indi dustrial zone near Tehran. The rial slid as the governmi ment ended another year of reci cord oil sales that have brought in nearly $500 billion over five years. Authorities have sought to distribute some of the wealth, bringing liquidity to unprecei edented levels. Ahmadinejad has allowed domestic energy prices to rise and ended massive state subsi sidies. But, at the same time, he has sought to ease the pain through direct state aid, paying 60 million Iranians nearly $40 a month. The moves have spurred inflati tion over the past year, raising the prices of food, rent, utiliti ties and highway tolls, squeezi ing the average urban family’s monthly income of about $550. Edalatian, the economist, called for harsh measures to weather the storm caused by the sanctions and erratic governmi ment policies. He said the govei ernment should restrict nonessi sential imports such as cars and televisions and take over the foreign-currency market. “More sanctions are comi ing,” he said. “We must be prepi pared.” Among those complaining about the rial’s drop were prodi ducers of medicine, importers of foreign cars and food, and truck drivers on international routes. In some cases, they deci cided to stop working because they could no longer make a profit. Siavash Saadat said he did not know how he was going to pay for the goods he ordered from India for his Mina pharmaceuti tical factory. “We either have to close down or I will be forced to lay off workers,” he said. Warrick reported from Washi ington. Special correspondents Somaye Malekian and Ramtin Rastin contributed to this repi port. By Thomas Erdbrink and Joby Warrick for The Washington Post
The Kurdish Globe No. 335, Saturday, January 07, 2012 13 Syria says at least 11 killed in Damascus blast An explosion ripped through a busy intersection in the Syrian capital Friday, hitting a police bus and killing at least 11 people and possibly many more in an attack that left pools of blood in the streets and marked the secoi ond deadly attack in the capital in as many weeks, Syrian auti thorities said. Interior Minister Mohammed Shaar blamed a suicide bombei er for the blast, which comes exactly two weeks after twin bombings in the capital killed 44 people. The bombings mark a dramatic escalation of bloodsi shed as Arab League observers tour the country to investigate President Bashar Assad's bloody crackdown on a 10-month-old popular revolt. "He detonated himself with the aim of killing the largest number of people," Shaar said. Syrian television showed residi dents and paramedics carrying human remains, holding them up for the camera. Other footai age showed a police bus with blood on its seats, and cars with blown-out windows and riddled with shrapnel. An Associated Press reporter at the scene said the blast also damaged a nearby police stati tion, shattering its glass, and that there was blood and flesh in the streets. Police cordoned off the area with yellow police tape. Shaar said 11 people have been confirmed dead. Authoriti ties believe another 14 were also killed, based on human remains from the scene, which would bring the death toll to 25, state TV said. More than 60 people were wounded. In a sign of just how polarized Syria has become, the opposition has questioned the government's allegations that terrorists are behind the attacks — suggesti ing the regime itself could have been behind the violence to try to erode support for the uprising and show the observer team that it is a victim in the country's uphi heaval. The government has long conti More than 5000 people have been killed in the Syrian uprising which started February 17 last year. tended that the turmoil in Syria this year is not an uprising but the work of terrorists and forei eign-backed armed gangs. A Syrian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak publicly to the media, said the target of the attack appeared to be a bus carrying policemen. The official also said that a smaller bomb exploded Friday in the Damascus suburb of Tal, killing a girl. Security experts dismantled another bomb in the same area, he said. The Arab League observers started work Dec. 27, and violi lence has spiked since then. Syri ian activists saying up to 400 people have been killed since Dec. 21. The U.N. says the overai all toll since the revolt began is more than 5,000. The blast went off at an intersi section in the central Damasci cus neighborhood of Midan on Friday, the start of the weekend in Syria and much of the Arab world. Midan is one of several Damascus neighborhoods that has seen frequent anti-Assad protests on Fridays since the upri rising began in March. "I heard the explosion at about 11:15 and came running here. I found bodies on the ground inci cluding one of a man who was carrying two boxes of yogurt," Midan resident Anis Hassan Tinawi, 55, told The Associated Press. Compared to many parts of the country which have been convulsed by the 10-month old uprising, Damascus has been relatively quiet under the tight control of ruthless security agenci cies loyal to Assad. But violence in the capital has been on the rise over the last two months. On Dec. 23, according to the Syrian authorities, two car bombers blew themselves up outside the heavily guarded compounds of the country's inti telligence agencies, killing at least 44 people and wounding 166. If the official account is corri rect, they would be the first suicide bombings during the uprising. State-run TV said the al-Qaida terrorist network was possibly to blame. Adding to the bloodshed in reci cent months, dissident soldiers who broke from the military to side with peaceful protesters have launched attacks on govei ernment sites, raising fears of civil war. Air force Col. Riad al-Asaad, leader of the main armed group fighting the regime, denied resi sponsibility for Friday's bus bombing in an interview with pan-Arab Al-Jazeera TV. He said his organization, the Free Syrian Army, "doesn't have the experience to carry out such explosions" and said the regime "is the plotter for this attack." He spoke from Turkey, where the group is based. Mroue contributed from Beiri rut. PRESS PHOTO U.S. economy gains steam as 200,000 jobs are added The United States added 200,000 new jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday, a robust figure indicating that the economic recovery may finally be building up a head of steam. The nation’s unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent in December, from a revised 8.7 percent in November, the government said. The Labor Department also revised the number of new jobs added in Novembi ber to 100,000, from 120,000. The employment report added to a flurry of heartening economic news in December, when consumer confidence rose, manufacturing came in strong and small businesses showed signs of life. It was the sixth consecutive month that the economy added at least 100,000 jobs — not enough to restore employment to prerecession levels, but enough, perhaps, to cheer President Obama as he enters an election year. The upward trend restored some of the ground lost this spring and summer, when global events like the earthquake in Japan and domestic ones like the debt ceiling debate slowed the American recovery to a crawl and raised fears of a second recessi sion. Then, even signs of modest growth were dismissed as too anemic. Now, they are drawing tentative praise. “People were very much thinking that the sky was falling,” said Tom Porcelli, an economist at RBC Capital Markets. “It’s no small victory that we’re up here, even with all these headwinds.” Up here, Mr. Porcelli was quick to note, is none too lofty a perch. Lowering the unemployment rate signifi icantly would require many more jobs a month than the economy has been adding. And there are several factors that could weigh down what momentum there is. Congress may yet decline to continue extensions of the payroll tax break and unemployment benefits that have given families a lift and boosted spending. Money, in the form of loans, is still hard to come by. Home values continue to drop. And though the most recent numbi bers make it appear the United States is shrugging off the troubles in the euro zone, a severe slowdown there or, worse, a catastrophic financial collapse, is still a threat. Still, optimists were quick to trumpi pet the American economy’s resilience. “This is the real thing,” said Ian Shephi herdson of High Frequency Economics. “This is finally the economy throwing off the shackles of the credit crunch.” The numbers were foreshadowed in a report by ADP, the payroll processing company, that showed a whopping gain of 325,000 private-sector jobs in Decembi ber. ADP’s reports do not always correli late closely with the Labor Department’s findings, but they can provide additional insight. Diane Swonk, an economist with Mesirow Financial, said most of the new jobs in the ADP payroll report were at small businesses and that generally only newer small businesses used a payroll company.
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KDP confirms government rotation - Kurdish Globe

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