وَلَن تَرْضَى عَنكَ الْيَهُودُ وَلاَ النَّصَارَى حَتَّى تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ

"And the Jews will not be pleased with you, nor the Christians until you follow their religion." [Al-Baqarah, 2:120]

A parliamentary committee in France has recommended a ban on the Burqa - the full-face veil. The committee's 200-page report has proposed a ban in hospitals, schools, government offices and on public transport i.e. a ban in public places. According to French domestic intelligence services in a report in July 2009, they concluded that only 367 women in France wore the Burqa! But that's too many for the French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He says the veils are unwelcome in France. France has been battling with the Muslim dress for the last decade.

As America's allies and surrogates gathered in London to discuss how they plan to salvage their failed war. The Afghan war is being described as the humbling of the US as they have been unable to defeat a force, a fraction the size of the coalition troops with weapons that are older than many of the foreign troops participating in the war.

This therefore would be an apt moment to review the events that have led to this situation in Afghanistan and the possible direction events will most likely take. It should be remembered form the outset that this conference did not taking place for the West in a position of strength. In fact we must ask how the most technologically advanced military in history has been humbled by tribal warriors using weapons developed in the 1960's.

In March 2009 two female US Journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling were seized by North Korean border guards while reporting for California-based Current TV. They were subsequently tried and sentenced to 12 years in prison for "hostile acts" and illegal entry into North Korea. After their imprisonment America worked tirelessly to get the women released and in August 2009 dispatched former US President Bill Clinton to speak with North Korea's Kim Jong Il. The meeting was productive and the two women were later released.

In March 2003 a women was also seized and imprisoned. Her name was Aafia Siddiqui. Like the US Journalists she was a women, she studied and worked in America and her three children were American citizens. But unlike the US Journalists captured six years later she was a Muslim and she had no leader to take care of her affairs.

Question:

Recently there have been some analyses in the media, especially the European and the American media regarding the next Egyptian president to succeed Hosni Mubarak who reportedly will not be renominated for the presidential elections scheduled in 2011 C.E. These reports have cited the names of Gamal Mubarak, Ayman Nour, Mohammed El-Baradaei and Amr Moussa among others, and among them Gamal Mubarak and Ayman Nour's names are being touted as favourites.

We know that Gamal Mubarak has his loyalties to the US just like his father, does Ayman Nour also share the same loyalty especially because he was released from his previous detention just before Obama's visit to Egypt? Or is Ayman Nour loyal to the Europeans? If this is correct, then does this mean that Europe and especially Britain are looking forward to get a foothold in Egypt after all these years of an American stronghold in Egypt?