As civilised people across the world breathed a sigh of relief to see the back of former US president George W. Bush, top American intellectual Noam Chomsky warned against assuming or expecting significant changes in the basis of Washington's foreign policy under President Barack Obama.

During two lectures organised by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, Chomsky cited numerous examples of the driving doctrines behind US foreign policy since the end of World War II.

The British Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour, wrote to Jewish leader Lord Rothshild, to assure him that his government supported the ideal of providing a homeland for the Jews. The British hoped thereby to win more Jewish support for the Allies in the First World War. The "Balfour Declaration" became the basis for international support for the founding of the modern state of Israel. The letter was published a week later in The Times of London as reproduced here.

Foreign Office

November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild:

I have much pleasure in conveying to you. on behalf of His Majesty's
Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet:

from Crikey

West Atlas spill the tip of the iceberg: WWF

Conservation director for the World Wildlife Fund Gilly Llewellyn writes:

The fire on the West Atlas oil rig platform is out and the first stage of plugging the leak is completed. But this is not the end of the story.

We need to find out what went wrong and further, improve the regulations that have allowed the untrammeled exploitation of one of the worlds last great marine wildernesses.

From Ms Albrechtsen

By North America correspondent Lisa Millar

The American General who led coalition forces in Iraq during the surge has been presented with an honorary Order of Australia.

The head of US Central command, David Petraeus, was appointed an honorary officer of the Order of Australia at a ceremony in Washington.

The four-star general was nominated for his leadership of coalition forces in Iraq for 18 months from January 2007.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has vowed to remove the "stigma" of corruption, a day after winning a new five-year term.

In his first remarks since being declared winner on Monday of August's fraud-marred poll, he also pledged to lead an inclusive government.

And he called on "Taliban brothers" who have been fighting an insurgency against him to "embrace their land".

The Taliban said in a statement it would continue its fight and called Mr Karzai "a puppet".

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from Crikey .....

WA cops get frisky

The Western Warrior writes:

Ah WA, you little police state, you.

New legislation, set to be introduced into state Parliament in next month, means police can now stop and search people and vehicles in designated areas without having to prove reasonable suspicion that a crime has taken place. Yes, that's right, WA Premier Colin Barnett has proposed laws with the express purpose of stopping, searching and interrogating folk for no reason at all.

Pointing an accusing finger at the US, the Palestinians yesterday said Washington's backing for Israeli refusal to halt Jewish settlement expansion had killed any hope of reviving peace negotiations soon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, buoyed by new-found support from the Obama administration, urged the Palestinians to "get a grip" and drop their settlement freeze precondition for restarting talks suspended since December.

from Crikey ....

Drugs expert shown the door for disagreeing with government

Greg Barns writes:

from Crikey .....

Mungo: Tough stance on boat people borders on the ridiculous

Mungo MacCallum writes:

"Border protection" - the very phrase is ominous.

Former Howard government treasurer Peter Costello is to be appointed to the federal government's Future Fund Board of Guardians.

Mr Costello was treasurer from 1996 until the coalition lost the 2007 federal election to Labor.

The announcement of Mr Costello's appointment comes after former opposition leader Brendan Nelson was appointed as an Australian ambassador to the European Union in September.

'To have the experience of someone like Mr Costello on the Future Fund board will be of great benefit,' Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner said in a statement.

By TOM ZELLER Jr.

NEW YORK — News last week of the first major influx of Chinese capital and wind turbine manufacturing expertise into the renewable energy market in the United States — a 600-megawatt wind farm planned for the plains of west Texas — had many readers of the Green Inc. blog in a state of agitation.

settlements or peace?

JERUSALEM: Dealing a blow to the Obama Administration's efforts to restart Middle East peace talks, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has failed to persuade Palestinian leaders to accept an Israeli proposal that would slow - but not stop - the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Former prime minister Paul Keating has criticised Kevin Rudd's decision to appoint Peter Costello to the board of the Future Fund.

Mr Keating says the former treasurer squandered 11 years of economic growth and stood by as Australia's overseas debt sky-rocketed.

Mr Keating says Mr Rudd is a "goodie two-shoes" who has shown disloyalty to the Labor Party by not considering former MPs for the job.

He has described the former treasurer as a "policy bum of the first order" who squandered 11 years of economic opportunity.