Only one year after Vladimir Putin handily won a second presidential term, his domestic and foreign challenges are snowballing and his aura of almost superhuman invincibility is quickly dissipating. This is not to say, however, that Putin should be counted out: He is still in control. The question is: for how much longer?

Under Putin, Russia is pursuing uneven, unpredictable, and counterproductive policies in its self-declared-and shrinking-sphere of influence, nicknamed the "near abroad." The Russian foreign policy and defense establishment seems unable to design and implement policies that would further develop cooperation with NATO or fight Islamist (Salafi/Wahhabi) terrorism in the Northern Caucasus. Meanwhile, hard-line circles are assailing the Putin Administration for failing to secure the election of pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine despite vast expenditures to do so.

Further, the Kremlin failed to control, let alone reverse, ubiquitous corruption in the state apparatus. The Russian state has not become a reliable and civilized partner to domestic and foreign business-which would have provided the rule of law, predictable legislation and regulation, and property rights and investor rights that are not subject to political whims.

While the West is basking in the tunes of Christmas carols, a different tune is being played by the two leading Jihadi TV channels, al-Jazeera and al-Manar.

Little response has come to date from Washington to this 24/7 global brainwashing. Today, al-Jazeera is launching its English language global satellite channel. Al Manar is broadcasting unabated, and its popularity is growing. Al Qaeda is recruiting hundreds, if not thousands, through chat rooms around the world.

Jihadi websites are proliferating like poisonous mushrooms, in Arabic, English, French, Farsi, Urdu, Uzbek, and in the languages of the Indian subcontinent and East Asia.

Today, what would Reagan do? He would appeal for the liberation of women in the Muslim world, he would call for the freedom of Sudanese Christians from slavery and genocide, he would demand that the brainwashing of Palestinian and Iraqi youth to become suicide bombers be stopped.

Last Friday, July 30, three suicide bombers blew themselves up next to the U.S. and Israeli Embassies and Prosecutor General's Office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Three Uzbek security men, including the Israeli ambassador's bodyguard, were killed and eight were civilians wounded. The attacks coincided with the start of the trials of radical Islamists accused of perpetrating massive March terrorist attacks killing 35 people and wounding scores. Two terrorist groups, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), and Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The two organizations are well known in the global jihadi movement.

Georgians enthusiastically elected Mikheil Saakashvili president of Georgia on Sunday, Jan. 4. He is a the youthful, center-right leader of the Georgian opposition who overthrew President Eduard Shevardnadze in the "Rose Revolution" last November. Mr. Saakashvili has received more than 80 percent of the vote in elections that were the most peaceful and transparent since Georgian independence.

Billed by the Government as nothing more than a toothless "declaration" at the Nice summit in December 2000, the Charter of Fundamental Rights is now to be enshrined as a legally-binding document in Part II of the new European Constitution, with profound effects on Britain's enterprise culture and legal system.

This is a very important article on a world-wide underground Islamofascist movement you never heard of, yet is a Trojan Horse for terror in America. I urge you to read it carefully and in full. ---JW

Every fall, over a million almost identically dressed, bearded Moslem men from around the world descend on the small Pakistani town of Raiwind for a three-day celebration of faith. Similar gatherings take place annually outside of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Bhopal, India.

These pilgrims are no ordinary Moslems though. They belong to a movement called Tablighi Jamaat (“proselytizing group”). They are trained missionaries who have dedicated much of their lives to spreading Islam across the globe. The largest group of religious proselytizers of any faith, they are part of the reason for the explosive growth of Islamic religious fervor and conversion.