Leading Democrats in Congress have warned that they would block U.S. arms sales to such states as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait unless they increase crude oil production. They said the failure of Saudi Arabia to raise production has been a major factor in the soaring price of gasoline in the United States.

"The Saudis have to understand this is a two-way street," Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said. "We provide them weapons, our troops provide them protection, and then they rake us over the coals when it comes to oil."

Senate Democrats wrote a letter to President George Bush that reported a two million barrel per day reduction in Saudi oil output since 2005. The senators reported current Saudi production at 8.5 million barrels a day, well below the kingdom's capacity of 11 million barrels a day.

Jerusalem-based investigative reporter David Bedein presented a set of 18 foreign policy questions last week to three top Middle East advisors to candidate Obama.  Their answers show that Obama has either not developed strong opinions on the complex issues facing a future President of the United States - or refuses to divulge them.

The list of questions Bedein presented to the three advisors - Howard Guttman, former U.S. Rep. Mel Levine (Cal.), and one who wished to remain unnamed - was published, together with any answers that were provided, in Philadelphia's Evening Bulletin newspaper.  Excerpts:

Saudi Arabia
Question 1. How would a President Obama relate to the security threat posed by Saudi Arabia? [Declassified security reports confirm that Saudi Arabia continues to fund groups defined by the U.S. government as terrorist organizations, while Saudi Arabia maintains an active state of war against the state of Israel since 1948.]

None of Mr. Obama's advisers could answer this question.

Question 2. Does Mr. Obama support President Bush's policy of arming the Saudis? [The Bush administration offers major arms sales to Saudi Arabia, despite its pro-terror posture]

Neither Guttman nor Levine could answer this; they checked with Obama and could not get an answer.

Vagueness on Fatah, PA
Several questions dealt with Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, Israel's main negotiating partners.  The three were asked, for instance, if a President Obama would "support the idea that Palestinian refugees should reside in UNRWA refugee camps, under the premise and promise of the 'right of return,' [or be] provided with decent living conditions?"  The advisors emphasized that their candidate opposed the Palestinian "right of return," but none of them could find out his position on what Bedein called "continuing American government funding for the UNRWA agency, which fuels the right of return."

The three advisors did not provide answers to these questions: 
 "Would a President Obama ask for a change in the proposed constitution of the Palestinian Fatah state, which is based on the Islamic sharia law, and not allow for juridical status for any religion other than Islam?"  and  "Would a President Obama ignore the plight of Christians who are persecuted in the PA, or would he champion the cause of the Christians to practice their religion freely in the PA, since the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem has refused to render assistance to Christians who are persecuted by the PA?"

The three Obama advisors said he would "oppose all attempts to harbor terrorists by the Palestinian Authority" and would "insist on the implementation of a policy that would stand up for human rights and civil liberties in the Palestinian Authority." 

At the same time, asked if he would continue the Bush policy of arming Fatah, which is defined by American law as an illegal terrorist organization, one advisor said that Obama "wants to continue the policy of developing Fatah as a moderate entity."

Obama's advisors said their candidate believes Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas, though they avoided specifics. 

Regarding Syria
Asked about Syria's continuing support for terror groups, the Obama advisors "indicated that they would review new directives to the Syrian government in this regard." Asked if a "President Obama would support an effort to destroy the Syrian source of lethal narcotics in the Bekka Valley, since Syria continues to orchestrate the export of lethal narcotics to the world?" Mr. Obama's advisers could not answer this question.

They similarly could not answer whether Obama would endorse the US Road Map plan of April 2003, or rather the May 2003 version that included Israel's 14 reservations.

Hints that Future Israeli Withdrawals are in the Cards
Finally, the advisors were asked: "Would a President Obama insist on future Israeli withdrawals, since the Gaza withdrawal indicates that Palestinians will use areas under their control to launch missile attacks against Israel?"

The unnamed adviser responded that the "Gaza and Lebanon precedent should be taken into consideration," considering the fact that Israel is ready for compromise.

(IsraelNN.com) "Hamas's truce offer is intended to buy time for rearming," an official Israeli spokesman said Friday. David Baker, the government's Senior Coordinator for Foreign Media, said the terror group's offer was not a sincere one.

KINSHASA (Reuters)

Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's (Wieners) after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.

Reports of so-called (Wiener) snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur.

Rumors of (Wiener) theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo's sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants. They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings.

Purported victims, 14 of whom were also detained by police, claimed that sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear, in what some residents said was an attempt to extort cash with the promise of a cure.

"You just have to be accused of that, and people come after you. We've had a number of attempted lynchings. ... You see them covered in marks after being beaten," Kinshasa's police chief, Jean-Dieudonne Oleko, told Reuters on Tuesday.

"Most western professors with Islam in their portfolio like to talk with Muslims. It often has nothing to do with science. It is pure deception, in which malice cannot always be ruled out, although ignorance is of course increasingly common as it is everywhere else."Institute for Studies in Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) in Leiden is surprised by Dr Jansen's arrogant tone. Fellow Arabist Professor Martin van Bruinessen from the

"I don't really know what he is referring to, but what he accuses his colleagues of can easily just as well apply to him."

Mr Van Bruinessen thinks that it's Mr Jansen's book, which is lying in front of him on the table, that is unscientific and misleading.

"It creates an image of Islam and Muslims which is much more dangerous that can be justified by the facts. Dr Jansen is not stupid, so the question is why does he write these kind of things."An inconvenient truth
Professor Van Bruinessen expresses the growing irritation with Hans Jansen among his colleagues. He remembers when in the 1990s, Dr Jansen wrote facetious pieces about Islam. But since the Netherlands became obsessed by fear of Islam after 9/11, the professor from Utrecht has grown into a real phenomenon in the media, in which he presents himself as the only Dutch expert who dares to talk about the inconvenient truth of Islam without political correctness getting in the way. Dr Jansen's work is an important source of inspiration for anti-Islamic MP Geert Wilders. In the days after his film Fitna was put on the web, Dr Jansen appeared in several television programmes to explain its content.

In Islam for pigs, he sets out his vision by answering 250 questions about Islam. In the book, Islam is portrayed as a dangerous and violent religion. The Qur'an preaches peace, Dr Jansen admits, but only once everyone has submitted to the religion. Up to that time, evil and unbelievers have to be conquered, using violence if necessary.

The number of Dutch Muslims that reject al-Qaeda's brand of terrorism could be "lower than we think", according to the professor. Most Muslims do not see Bin Laden as a madman, but rather as a "super-activist, who is taking the ultimate steps according to Islamic rules in the fight against infidels."

Scruples aside
The title of the book refers to the terms used by the Qur'an for unbelievers and Jews, explains the author in the introduction. Professor Van Bruinessen says:

"If you take the time to look at the passages in question - for example on the bibleandkoran.net site, you will see that this is just not true. The Qur'an tells about a people in the past that disobeyed God and was turned into pigs and monkeys as a punishment."

Professor van Bruinessen thinks this is typical of Mr Jansen's style.

"Since Mr Jansen received the title of professor, but in particular since the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, he has set all scientific scruples aside. He has become an anti-Islam polemist who has no reservations about completely misrepresenting the issues on purpose."Ayatollah
Islam expert Dick Douwes, professor at the university of Rotterdam, agrees.

"Dr Jansen takes certain verses from the Qur'an to prove that Islam preaches violence against disbelievers. But he completely ignores the fact that most Muslims have a different reading of the text. He is not acting like a scientist but more like an ayatollah who studies the scriptures and thinks it is up to him to tell others what the Qur'an says."

But if Dutch Islam experts have so many objections to Dr Jansen's statements, why is there so little opposition to what he says? Professor van Bruinessen says most Arabists are just too busy with their own research and with writing scientific papers. Dr Jansen, who for several years now has only written populist pieces, is never actually taken seriously by his peers. "They have failed to realise for too long now that the media do take him seriously."

Well, we contacted the OGC for comment, and a spokesman gamely explained: "The OGC is currently overhauling the design of its corporate materials following a new strategy and forward direction. As part of this, the OGC has been developing a new visual identity, one aspect of which is a new logo.

"The proposed version, which you have sent over, has been shared with staff, and is now going through final technical stages. It is true that it caused a few titters among some staff when viewed on its side, but on consideration we concluded that the effect was generic to the particular combination of the letters 'OGC' - and is not inappropriate to an organisation that's looking to have a firm grip on government spend!"