Seven billion people, seven billion terrorists

The author condemns the act of spying on nations by the NSA(National Security Agency) in the name of security. The documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that almost all ally countries of U.S and other big names in the world, including the not so big names i.e the whole population of certain areas have been under a secret lens of NSA. And the spy game has a long time dimension. Personal phone calls of German Chancellor Angela Merkel have been followed for over a decade. Though she was ridiculed of not taking a stance against NSA until she realised that she herself was under the monitor. With millions of phone calls and e-mails been monitored, Spain and France are also big-time victims. Officials of EU countries too had their phone bugged by them for a long time.
Where are they searching for criminals, when they can find them right in the mirror. Not only the security services but the telecommunications corporates and internet giants like Google, Microsoft, Facebook etc. are also guilty, as they provided data which they are not supposed to.
GCHQ (British Government Communications Headquarters) are now finding ways to keep their ways out of courts, because they know they'll be deep into legal challenges over the clauses of Human Rights Act.
There had been one other whistleblower named Peter Wright, an ex-MI5 officer, who published his memoirs to take a revenge to his unsettled dispute over his pension with his former employers.
Though a review of NSA activities report to be submitted to Barack Obama is due on Nov. 11, we see a little to come positive as only a part of the content would me made available to Congress for the report and the panel includes largely of former security officials.
What's needed is to ask them that do they have the right to peek into our personal calls and e-mails and still wander off easily? Do they have the right to overrun our rights? And foremost what is the limit of a nation's security agency, does it exceed the borders and our personal domains? The author calls the NSA a modern-day-cyber-Taliban, which we all shall totally agree to.

Al-Qaeda's corridor through Syria

In this article the concern revolve around the present war-stricken situation of Syria and Iraq, due to the ever-growing hold of Al-Qaeda there; as well as Syria becoming a ground for al-Shams and ISIS leaving behind the Free Syrian Army. 

The author starts to explain the current situation by citing the example of ISIS attacks on Iraq checkpoints along Highway 11 and another unsuccessful attack to take hold of Highway 12. In the attack on Highway 12, the ISIS had a plain usual but threatening strategy of using gunmen, suicide bombers and other weapons. 

ISIS has been reigning the country which has an already stabbed body, and trying to take it over by any means. And its missions have been successful, like its Expunging Filth operation of expelling Free Syrian Army units from northern Syria. According to the International Crisis Group, ISIS is the most powerful group in northern and eastern Syria. What ISIS benefits from, is the peaceful relations between other Islamist groups.

The recent mission led by ISIS to free 500 prisoners from Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail by using car bombs, suicide bombers, and gunmen was a hit and turned these prisoners into Al-Qaeda's fighters, definitely a calculated profit. The money coming from foreign fighters and the already warriors of Syria have been ISIS's greatest advantage. 

Despite all this happening in Syria and borders, Saudi Arabia would maintain its stance and won't allow ISIS overthrow its government. But, the change of destiny of Syria, of not being attacked by U.S has definitely disappointed Iraq. History as well as present has been bloody there, and no one sees anything better coming in near future. 

A blot on progressive societies

The author terms death penalty as a blot on our progressive societies which still haunts the most important and basic right of humans in several places around the world- Right to Live. According to the statistics, 150 of the 193 member-states of United Nations have abolished the death penalty. The stance of countries being abolitionist (in favour of abolition of death penalty), retentionists (against abolition of death penalty) or de-facto abolitionists (which have not abolished death penalty by law, but in fact do not practice it ) is widely varied throughout the globe.

Countries in South and Central america were the first ones to enter the list of abolitionists. Still large variation in can be seen among United States on their stance on the subject. Most of the Caribbean countries have not seen a case of death penalty since many years. Europe, with an exception of Belarus, is totally abolitionist. On the other hand, the statistics are high on Asia, with China, Iran, Korea, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam on the top of the list. There has also been a shift in the voting in U.N General Assembly towards abolishing death penalty, as countries realise the soul importance of right to life.

Now, the still retentionist countries, must realise that death penalty is not a punishment but a consequence of not being able to deal with the crimes. It is the most immoral and also an irreversible punishment, which does not do justice to the laws of nature.