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The Fourth Wall
Laura Syzmanski
A new crisis has erupted in
the Middle East. United States
troops were deployed to Sudan
to protect the U.S. embassy
there. The deployment was in
response to the murder of
three civilians at the hands of
Muslim extremists. The Ger-
man and British embassies
were attacked as well, after
most of the Muslim faith saw
the video after Friday prayers.
According to Al Jazeera's
Harriet Martin reported from
Khartoum, Sudanese authori-
ties are taking control of the
situation and are handling it
with extreme caution and care.
They have deployed riot po-
lice around the U.S. embassy,
while U.S. marines have al-
ready arrived in Yemen’s cap-
ital where four people were
found killed near the U.S. em-
bassy on Friday. Protesters
were quoted as saying: “Today
is your last day, Ambassador”
and “America is the Devil”.
In Tunis, two people were
killed due to the violence be-
tween the police and protes-
tors; crowds began climbing
the embassy walls and were
setting trees on fire around the
building. Additionally, a U.S.
school was set on fire, and two
people were killed in Malay-
sia, Bangladesh, and Iraq, in
response to the video. Jay Car-
ney, White House press secre-
tary, told the citizens that they
have been watching the rising
events in the Middle East. He
was quoted as saying,
“President Obama is following
events, the violence is not jus-
tifiable, and the President is
making sure in his conversa-
tions with leaders in the region
that the safety of U.S. repre-
sentation is respected in their
countries.”
Muslims were enraged
at the film’s lack of respect,
and have been provoked into
protesting and forming mobs
over the film. It depicts the
Prophet Muhammad, which is
a sin in Islam. The film was
made in California. According
to Rawya Rageh, a reporter
from Egypt, protestors from
even conservative groups in
Sinai, stormed a camp that
belonged to the U.N. multina-
tional peacekeepers. They tore
down that flag and replaced it
with a banner that read
"There's no God but Allah,
Muhammad is the Prophet of
Allah."
in Gaza City after a day th
Hamas party provoked an
encouraged citizens to go th
protest after Friday prayers.
These protestors waved flags
of the Hamas and Islamic
movements, and began setting
fire to the American flag. As
they did this, they were yelling
and chanting "Death, death to
America, death, death to Isra-
el". The anti-Islamic film was
blamed for the attack on the
Libya’s eastern city of-Ben-
ghazi. Although we have since
learned it was an attack by Al
Qaeda. The attack killed the
U.S. ambassador to Libya,
Chris Stevens, and three other
Americans on the anniversary
of September 11, 2001. Ac-
cording to Hoda Abdel Hamid,
a reporter from Benghazi:
"There is a lot of tension in
Benghazi, people are con-
fused, they want to protest, but
after what took place at the US
consulate, people are appre-
hensive, Libyan authorities
still believe it was a planned
attack at the embassy". Police
fired warning shots into the air
to make the crowd disperse
outside a mosque.
took place there.
Ross Holland
The People’s Republic of
China is in the process of
only the second peaceful
power transfer in its 63 year
history. This has happened
only once before. In 2002
Jiang Zemin stepped down
as General Secretary and Hu
Jintao took his place. How-
ever, he remained as the
head of the Central Military
Commission (CMC), this
position made him the mili-
tary chief of staff, until
2004. Jiang Zemin’s reluc-
tance to step down caused
quite a bit of tension among
the Chinese elite and fore-
most party members. They
were nervous about Jiang
Zemin’s intentions. That
issue remains something to
be kept in mind this time
around. If Hu Jintao steps
cess of power transfer will
be validated. This will allow
a continuation of power in
China that will stabilize the
countries government. When
Xi Jinping takes over as
Chinese Communist Party
(CCP) and as President of
the People’s Republic of
China, hopefully a door will
open to the future in China.
The world will watch
Any change in the economy
of China could easily create
a ripple effect throughout
the world economy. China is
also going through the pro-
cess of appointing new
members to the Politburo
Standing Committee
(PBSC). The PBSC is an
executive body whose mem-
bers each deal in a particular
section of government.
These include Economy,
Internal security, Anti-
corruption, Legislation, and
Propaganda. Since 2002 this
body has grown. Initially
there were five positions,
but now there are nine. This
may yet again be changing,
the number might be moved
back to seven. That would
be significant because when
the PBSC has had fewer
members the government
has operated at a much
quicker pace, which should
benefit the economy. There
are, however, quite a few
young politicians who quali-
fy for advancement. If not
all of these men receive a
promotion they may become
malcontent and lobby for
promotion as the previously
popular Bo Xilai.
Bo Xilai had gained
a very large following and
huge popular support. Re-
cently, however, he has been
involved in one of the grow-
ing number of scandals sur-
rounding party officials. Bo
Xilai covered up the fact
that his wife was involved in
the death of an Englishman.
When this was discovered
he was demoted and has had
no public impact. Other
scandals have included a
Party officials son crashing
a Ferrari that he couldn’t
possibly have afforded, and
several officials who’s rela-
tives amassed great fortunes
by using their proximity to
power.
(Cont., see China, pg 5.)