Muslim extremists on the streets of England are taunting British troops returning from Iraq with messages such as: “British soldiers … murderers … rapists … not heroes,” the Telegraph.co.uk reported yesterday. A Muslim preacher staged a demonstration in Luton as returning soldiers paraded through the British town after serving an exhausting tour of duty in Iraq. When locals reacted to the taunting by the Muslim group—which carried signs such as “Butchers of Basra,” “murderers” and “baby-killers”—police cordoned off the protesters—for their own protection. Moreover, since that demonstration, Muslim preachers have continued to spout their vilification of Britain’s soldiers on the streets of Luton. No effort, apparently, has been made on the part of authorities to stop them.

The Sunday Telegraph spoke to the protestors and reported that some

were born in the UK to parents who came from countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ghana. Others moved to the UK when they were babies or toddlers.They were brought up and educated in England but, although many live on benefits, they admit their loyalty is not to this country but to Islam. They want the UK to be an Islamic state, with sharia law and women in burkas.Abu Abdullah, 30, an IT consultant who came to Britain when he was 7, said he left school at 12 and began “Islamic studies.”He said: “I live here not as a British citizen but as a Muslim living in Britain. I pay tax and I have the right to speak out, to argue for an alternative way of life.” …The fundamentalists claim not to be part of an organized group but it is widely accepted they are the successors to Al-Muhajiroun and Al Ghurabaa, extremist organizations banned in Britain under anti-terrorism laws.The protesters admitted freely that they shared many values with Al-Muhajiroun whose leader, Omar Bakri Muhammad, was banned from Britain in 2005 and now lives in Lebanon.

While these events highlight the situation in just one British town, it is a microcosm of the state of the country as a whole. Read Joel Hilliker’s recent articles “Britain’s Secret Afghan Force” and “Want to Know What a Former Superpower Looks Like?” to see how Britain’s multicultural policies have allowed the rise of Islamic extremism—one of the factors tearing the country apart.

Rethinking the Transatlantic Partnership?

Amid global power shifts and new security threats, “the Obama administration needs to think anew about the European Union,” wrote Spiegel Online last week.

“The new American administration would be well served to rethink the United States’ relationship to Europe: It should move toward a strategic partnership of equals with the European Union,” wrote Spiegel Online. “In the long-term, a close, respectful working relationship with the European Union would enhance America’s own security and enable it to engage much more effectively in a multipolar world.”

nato “no longer meets the needs of today’s world,” Spiegel Online continued. “The last decade has witnessed a striking displacement of power, away from the United States but also away from the West as a whole. The current implosion of the Western-led financial system has only expedited this shift.”

Dutch political scientist Peter van Ham said, “nato’s instruments have become blunt and outdated in the light of today’s non-traditional security challenges and techniques. … Whereas not too long ago the main question was how the European Union could use nato’s military tools … the debate is now how should nato draw upon the resources of the European Union ….”

America itself has facilitated much of this power shift in favor of a stronger Europe. The article states:

For years Washington had opposed―and actively blocked―European efforts to strengthen its military defense components on the grounds that it undermined nato. But this attitude seems to have softened in the past decade. At the nato summit in Bucharest last year both nato and U.S. officials publicly encouraged the Europeans to pick up the pace of defense planning, a request that implied the United States is no longer willing to provide security for Europeans in a world order with so many other priorities.

This could indicate “that Washington is ready for Europeans to play a greater role in maintaining international security, a first step in a new partnership,” Spiegel Online wrote. “Europe could and should be America’s closest partner in world affairs.”

America has already heightened its courtship of the EU. Spiegel Online wrote that “When the ongoing financial crisis peaked this fall, President Bush’s first call of help abroad was to the European Union.” The EU has made overtures toward the U.S. as well. Among other initiatives, “EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso has called for a Strategic Energy Dialogue between Europe and America. He has underlined the potential for increased EU-U.S. energy collaboration across the globe.”

As theTrumpet.com has outlined previously, the progression of European relations with the U.S. has sped up considerably with the induction of the new administration in America. Sensing a more compliant U.S. leadership, Germany in particular has sought to influence Washington’s foreign policy. President Barack Obama and his team have made no secret of the fact that they welcome—and will even push for—greater European military involvement in places like Afghanistan and the Middle East. “In these respects,” columnist Ron Fraser wrote last month, “Mr. Obama’s foreign-policy inclinations mesh neatly with those of Germany.” He went on to point out that Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in particular “is pushing hard to take advantage of the new U.S. administration to gain across-the-board support for the development of a new transatlantic agenda.”

Spiegel Online wrote that the Euro-Atlantic relationship has to be based on “a partnership of equals, with the United States making important concessions to the Europeans and the Europeans finally stepping up to take care of their own security requirements.”

The Trumpet has repeatedly warned about the future of America’s relationship with the EU:

The Bible clearly describes an end-time flowering of German-U.S. relations, such as we are seeing today. But it presents it within a blood-curdling context: This unity immediately precedes a tragic backstabbing by a united German-led European union of nations.Notice this striking prophecy in Ezekiel 23:9: “Wherefore I have delivered her [discussing America primarily] into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians [end-time Germany], upon whom she doted.” If you study this passage, it shows a perverse relationship between these two nations that ends with Germany, after gaining America’s trust and support, fatally betraying the U.S. in a tragic double-cross.

See also our article “Former Superpower Seeks Foreign Lovers.”

China Worried About U.S. Assets

At a news conference on Friday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said he was “worried” about the safety of China’s $1 trillion investment in American treasury bonds and other government debt. He asked for assurances from the Obama administration that China’s investments would retain their value, wrote the New York Times.

“We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets,” said Mr. Wen, “To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.” He called on the United States to “maintain its good credit, to honor its promises and to guarantee the safety of China’s assets.”

According to the article, “China has the world’s largest reserves of foreign exchange, estimated at $2 trillion, the product of years of double-digit growth. Economists say half of that money has been invested in United States treasury notes and other government-backed debt.”

China has reason for concern. “Economists have cited several possible threats, led by the prospect that the dollar’s value will depreciate over time, lowering the value of China’s holdings. … [S]ome believe that China’s investment in American debt is now so vast that, should it need foreign exchange in some emergency, it would be unable to sell its treasury securities without flooding the market and driving down their price.”

Despite this potential threat, Mr. Wen noted that China’s economy is relatively healthy―especially compared to the United States and Europe. The New York Times wrote, “The confident performance underscored the growing financial and geopolitical importance of China, one of the few countries to retain massive spending power despite slowing growth.”

As we wrote recently, China is getting fed up with paying for U.S. debt and is starting to look elsewhere to invest its money―to the peril of the U.S. See our articles “China to Stop Buying U.S. Debt?” and “China Can’t Afford More U.S. Debt.”

German Economy Worst Since World War II

The German economy is worse than at any time since the end of World War ii, Angela Merkel said in an interview last Wednesday. “Such a recession, one which is taking place in all countries around the world, hasn’t been seen since World War ii,” she said.

“The chancellor’s warning comes after yet another flood of bad news for the economy,” wrote Spiegel Online. “On Tuesday, the Federal Statistical Office announced that German exports, the motor behind the country’s traditionally strong economy, have shrunk rapidly. Numbers for January show that, compared with the same month a year ago, exports are down by 20.7 percent. The drop is the steepest seen in 16 years.”

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said that Merkel herself is partially to blame. He said Germany, not Europe, should do more to alleviate the current financial crisis. Germany has been a major hindrance to this point, he said, pinning the bulk of the blame on Merkel and Finance Minister Peter Steinbrück.

Yet, as theTrumpet.com has written about previously, Germany is carefully using this current economic crisis to its advantage and—as Stratfor outlined earlier this month—is set to come out on top.

While the recession is indeed hitting Germany hard, its economy is holding up far better than most. As Stratfor wrote March 6, “The Germans face no housing bubble, have one of the world’s soundest financial systems, an export suite that should place it at the vanguard of the recovery, and limited exposure to the countries in the most dire straits. Put simply, the Germans face more opportunities than threats from the global recession.”

The primary reason Germany is not rushing to bail out the rest of Europe is simply self-interest. Since German gross domestic product accounts for nearly 20 percent of EU gdp, Berlin would foot the largest part of the bill compared to any other state in any Europe-wide initiative. Stratfor also noted that bilateral deals give Germany greater control over the terms of any economic assistance it provides.

“Rather than pushing for transnational stimulus or bailouts,” Stratfor wrote,

Germany is forcing the European Union into a common position on financial regulation. A look back over the past six months shows how Merkel has managed to turn every meeting and summit on the financial crisis into a brainstorming session on financial regulation. … Put another way, instead of mitigating the ongoing recession, Germany is attempting to extend its own financial system, writ large, over all of Europe. … Germany is also in a geographic and trade position to dominate whatever emerges from the wreckage of this recession. …To achieve security for itself, Germany either must defeat its neighbors or become indispensable to them. Nazi Germany failed at the first. But with this recession, Germany is on the verge of becoming the indispensable player geographically, financially and economically. It may not be acquiring lebensraum in the strict sense, but to Germany’s neighbors, Berlin’s gains are going to feel disturbingly close.

The events unfolding in Europe as a result of the economic crisis are incredibly prophetic. Herbert W. Armstrong warned for decades that Germany would emerge as the leader of Europe. For more, read “The Unseen Danger in Europe’s Economic Crisis.”

Elsewhere on the Web

President Barack Obama’s response to every national security test so far, writes Oliver North on Human Events.com, is to ask why we can’t “just get along”—and it’s not working. For example, since Obama announced his deadline for pulling troops out of Iraq, violence there has increased. Since he offered direct dialogue to Tehran, the Islamic Republic has launched its own satellite and begun testing its Bushehr nuclear reactor. Pakistan’s response to the U.S. administration’s overtures has been to release notorious nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan to continue his work—which had previously included nuclear weapons proliferation. A promise of $1 billion in aid to Gaza has been met with continued Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians. Syrian leader Bashar Assad responded to U.S. offers of rapprochement with a demand that such talks would have to include the terrorist group Hezbollah. And so on—same story with Russia and China. This “Can’t we just get along?” approach will always fail. Read Brad Macdonald’s column “What You Don’t Know About Diplomacy” for the reason why.

In Pakistan, the political situation is becoming increasingly unstable, with a senior government minister resigning yesterday. The standoff continues between President Asif Ali Zardari’s government and opposition leaders and the country’s lawyers over the removal of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party from power in the province of Punjab and the refusal to reinstate the chief justice, who had been sacked by former leader Pervez Musharraf. “The Interior Ministry chief, Rehman Malik, a close Zardari aide, meanwhile claimed that troops battling Taliban militants on the frontier had been redeployed to deal with the political crisis,” the Telegraph.co.uk reports. “The claim, which was intended as a shot across the bows of Washington and London, was denied by the military. However, an army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said the government had put the army on notice in case troops might be needed to protect ‘sensitive areas’ in the capital and elsewhere.” Political infighting is causing Islamabad to be even more distracted from its half-hearted efforts to counter the rise of the Islamists in the country. Political, terrorist and economic problems are pushing Pakistan further and further toward being a failed—a dangerous, nuclear-armed—failed state.