"In a typical news report from Baghdad, airing on “All Things Considered” early this month, NPR correspondent Anne Garrels presented the U.S. government line as the only one worth mentioning. During the Dec. 2 broadcast, she described recent American offensives and then told listeners: “The military says its actions have resulted in numerous terrorists killed or detained, as well as the discovery of a large number of weapons caches.”

"...by turning a blind eye to the draconian nature of Musharraf's reign, the rewards for the neo-con establishment far exceed the imperatives of a free society. They recognise that the arbitrary nature of their unilateralism as the only game to play allows military leaders such as Musharraf to follow suit."

"New Delhi repeatedly rejects any territorial division and changes to the LoC while Islamabad consistently refuses to accept the status quo as a final outcome. The two positions leave little room for manoeuvring."

"Even a Muslim with a very elementary understanding of Islam and Islamic law knows that only the Caliph or an Imam who is accepted by the people as their leader can call Muslims to war in the name of God. The authority of Caliphate and Imamate cannot be usurped by just anyone, regardless of how noble their intent, or their cause."

"I would like to see even native children learning Urdu and not French so that they can learn to respect and understand British Muslim community through Urdu literature and poetry. The Independent news paper also asks for the teaching of Urdu instead of French in British schools for better race relations through a language."

"There is hardly any Muslim state where one could see the true democracy and freedom of basic human rights and speech."

"...Sharon uses Peres as bait to lure fish from the Labor party, but would not dream of putting him on his list of party candidates for the Knesset. That would have repelled a lot of Likud members from joining him. It is doubtful whether he will really honor his promise to Peres to give him a respectable job if he wins the elections - perhaps the post of President, after Katzav finishes his term."

"I wonder what was going on when a Canadian citizen whose plane made a stopover in the U.S. was removed, imprisoned, and denied his rights? He happened to be a dual citizen with the country of his birth, Syria, so instead of sending him where his wife, children, and home were in Canada and where he repeatedly asked to be returned, he was deported to Syria for a year of (totally predictable) brutal imprisonment and torture."