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Anti-Adultery Commandment Makes A Comeback – OpEd

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The good news is: Acceptance of adultery is going out of style. Nearly two thirds of men and 70% of women now disapprove of all kinds of adultery, compared to about half two decades ago. (BBC News 11/25/13)

This will surprise many people because during the same two decades the acceptance of homosexual relationships has doubled in terms of numbers believing they are “not wrong at all”.

For those who like their percentages explicit: in 1990-91 45% of British men and 53% of British women agreed with the statement “Adultery in marriage is always wrong”.

Twenty years later the figures were up by a third to 63% and 70%

The exact figures for agreeing that “Male same sex relationships are not wrong at all” rose by more than 100%: 1990-91 men 22% and women 29% compared to 2010-12 men 48% and women 66%

The Seventh Commandment reads: Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14) This is one of the Torah’s most obvious and easy to understand commandments. But what is the meaning of the word “adultery.”

People today tend define it as any act of sexual intercourse between a married person and someone who is not their spouse.

Many Christians however, have argued that adultery should also include lustful thoughts and words because Jesus taught:

“You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.“ (Matthew 5:27-28)

One can argue that sinful acts usually start with impure thoughts; so to stop sinful acts we must forbid impure thoughts and make people feel guilty for having such sinful thoughts and feelings.

It is not reasonable, however, to equate thoughts or words with adultery itself. Doing so undermines both the concept of adultery and efforts to deal with it.

Also, in Jewish law and philosophy, sinful thoughts and feelings that are not acted upon are not a sin: indeed many rabbis believe that to resist acting upon a sinful thought or feeling is a Mitsvah-a good deed.

People who lust, but do not act upon their lust, should be proud that they resisted transgressing one of God’s most important commandments.

Jesus was an idealistic perfectionist, and while many of his ideas were inspiring; some of them have been counterproductive and harmful. Judaism rejects the idea that bad thoughts, that are not acted upon, can doom one to hell.

There is a satirical fable in the Talmud about Rabbi Hiyya bar Ashi, who continually worried about his sexual impulses.

His wife, after years of sexual neglect, disguised herself and in public flirted with Rabbi Hiyya. He acted like a love sick school boy and climbed to the top a date palm to get her some dates..

When he came home he confessed to his wife that he was depressed because he had flirted with a woman.

She told him it was no big deal, because she was the woman.

He replied that even if nothing occurred and no one was hurt, his sin was in his desires and intention.

Hiyya should have learned from this experience that in accordance with Jewish law the sexual neglect of his wife was his sin.

Instead, the Talmud relates, Rabbi Hiyya blamed himself and started fasting. He fasted so much that he died from his fasting. (Kiddushin 81b)

The story teaches us that Rabbi Hiyya was a super pious, idealistic, perfectionist and it killed him.

Although Judaism does not condemn people who have bad thoughts, it does teach that people are given credit for their good thoughts even if they do not get the opportunity to act on them.

And good thoughts and feelings that are also holy can be effective if they are done as a part of a religious ritual. Holy marital sex is an example.

Marriage-holy matrimony for Jews, is a reenactment by two individuals of the holy covenant first entered into by God and Israel at Sinai; when God and Israel first chose each other.

God chose Israel saying, “You shall be a special treasure for me,,, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:4-5 & Qur’an 5:20). The Jewish people chose God by answering, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do” (Exodus 19:8).

Torah is a Jewish marriage contract between two covenanted partners. Mitsvot (Jewish responsibilities) are our daily loving interactions.

Torah Study and worship are the pillow talk between God and Israel. Tikunim- Kabbalistic mystical exercises, meditations and sexuality are the intimacies of married life.

Most Jews know that sexual activities between a husband and wife are a Mitsvah. Many Jews know that lovemaking on Shabbat is a double Mitsvah.

Some Jews know that the Kabbalah (the Jewish mystical tradition) teaches that the Shekinah (the feminine presence of God) rests on a Jewish man when he makes love to his Jewish wife on Shabbat.

Very few Jews know that the holy Kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria, developed several Tikunim to enable spiritually aware Jewish couples to repair fractured hopes and intentions in those around them, to elevate broken spirits both near and far, and to re-energize efforts to make life holy through a couple’s own lovemaking at night.

These Tikunim are among those referred to as Tikunay Hatzot-mid night spiritual exercises.

Every Jewish wife partakes of some aspects of Leah and some aspects of Rachel. Like Leah, every woman is potentially very fruitful, both emotionally and physically.

Like Rachel, every woman is potentially spellbinding and enthralling.

When her husband regards his wife as a gift from God and loves her totally, faithfully and submissively, his lovemaking and partnership being more to give her pleasure than for his own pleasure, he realizes and actualizes her blessings and God’s blessings.

This is especially important when duress makes her weep openly or inside, All forms of Tikun Hatzot stress this.

Sexual activity prior to midnight increases the aspect of Leah. Sexual activity after midnight and in the pre-dawn or early morning hours increases the aspect of Rachel.

Sexual intercourse with Leah, better known in Lurianic Kabbalah as the face of Imma, the great mother Goddess, helps to reduce negative actions and situations in family and personal affairs.

Sexual intercourse during the second part of the night is with Rachel, who ascends in the morning as Matronita, the ruling presence of Shekinah.

Elevating Matronita helps avoid the worst case public scenarios we fear and helps increases the number of small but important contributions to the improvement of Jewish and world society. One who regards his wife as a gift from God will pray in her intimate presence.

These Tikunim should be done every Shabbat and if desired once or twice during weekdays. They are not magic but if done faithfully they always have a positive impact over time.

A Hassidic mystic, Rabbi Nathan Hanover, adds, “After you perform Tikun Hatzot, prepare yourself and unify the Holy One with Shekinah by making your body, each and every limb, a chariot for Shekinah.”

Thus sexual activity should end with the wife above, feeling she is Shekinah; the ruling Matronita blessing her husband and raising to heaven, with her husband below feeling that he serves as a mystical Merkavah-chariot (as did the Holy Temple in Jerusalem) elevating her to the heavens.

This helps actualize their thoughts and desires and promotes remedies, rectifications, and blessings for those around them and throughout the world.

For more information about Jewish views of mystical sexual relations see my book: God, Sex and Kabbalah or my web site: rabbimaller.com

The article Anti-Adultery Commandment Makes A Comeback – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.


Obama, Kerry And Iranians Silent About Captive FBI Agent‏ – OpEd

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In spite of the extensive coverage afforded President Barack Obama’s and Secretary of State John Kerry’s announcements regarding their agreement with Iran to halt its nuclear weapons program on Sunday and Monday, neither Obama nor Kerry mentioned the American law enforcement officer imprisoned in an Iranian jail.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013, Robert Levinson will be recognized as the longest held American in U.S. history, passing the 2,454 days Terry Anderson spent in captivity in Iran before being freed in 1991.

Levinson is a retired U.S. law enforcement official with 28 years of service as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

On March 8, 2007, the now 65-year-old Levinson visited Kish Island, Iran, working as a private investigator probing a cigarette smuggling case. But on March 9, 2007, he disappeared.

One of the FBI’s responsibilities is the investigation of crimes committed against U.S. citizens overseas and agents claim they have been conducting an investigation to locate Mr. Levinson since 2007.

In March 2011, United States government officers announced they had evidence that pointed to Levinson being held somewhere in southwest Asia. However, investigators outside the government claim he is most likely being held in Iran by its Islamist-controlled government.

“Exhaustive efforts have not yet been successful in locating Bob or establishing a dialogue with those who are holding him, but the FBI remains wholly committed to bringing him home safely to his loved ones,” said the new Obama-appointed FBI Director James B. Comey.

“We will continue to follow every lead into his disappearance, and we ask anyone with information regarding his disappearance to contact the FBI,” Comey added.

In March 2012 — five years after Levinson’s “disappearance” — FBI officials announced a reward of up to $1 million for information leading directly to the safe location and return of Mr. Levinson; that reward still remains unclaimed.

On Jan. 8, 2013 the Associated Press reported, “[T]he consensus now among some U.S. officials involved in the case is that despite years of denials, Iran’s intelligence service was almost certainly behind the 54-second video and five photographs of Levinson that were emailed anonymously to his family. While everything dealing with Iran is murky, their conclusion is based on the U.S. government’s best intelligence analysis.”

The tradecraft used to send those items was too good, indicating professional spies were behind them, the officials said. On March 8, 2013, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said:

“Finding him remains a high priority for the United States, and we will continue to do all that we can to bring him home safely to his friends and family, so they may begin to heal after so many years of extraordinary grief and uncertainty. The Iranian Government previously offered assistance in locating Mr. Levinson and we look forward to receiving this assistance, even as we disagree on other key issues.”

The article Obama, Kerry And Iranians Silent About Captive FBI Agent‏ – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Environment Low On List Of China’s Reforms – Analysis

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By Michael Lelyveld

China’s government has assigned a relatively low priority to energy and the environment in its agenda of planned reforms, experts say.

Recent policy documents released by the ruling Chinese Communist Party Central Committee following its third plenary session under President Xi Jinping make no mention of the smog choking China’s cities or immediate steps to bring it under control.

Instead, the Third Plenum’s communique on Nov. 12 deals with environmental issues in only general terms, promising to “draw red lines for ecological protection.”

The statement near the end of the 3,800-word communique also calls for “reform [of] ecological and environmental protection and management systems,” but provides no specifics.

In a more detailed document listing 60 reform tasks on Nov. 16, environmental initiatives are covered again near the end in sections 51 through 54.

According to the document, the government will establish a “comprehensive system … featuring the strictest possible rules to protect the ecological system.”

Old measures

But many of the plans include measures presumed to have been taken already.

“Establish a system in which all pollutants are monitored and regulated,” says item 54.

“Improve the discharge licensing system and control the pollutants. Polluters who damage the environment must compensate for the damage and could receive criminal sanctions,” it reads.

In dealing with energy use, the agenda’s message appears mixed, vowing on the one hand to “push ahead with price reforms” for water, oil, gas, and electricity, while keeping government-set prices for public utilities.

The outline includes a consumption tax on energy-intensive products, but it does not say when it will be imposed.

The documents do not mention steps to reduce reliance on high-polluting coal or refer to the government’s recent five-year action plan to fight smog.

No timetables

China experts cited the lack of detailed steps and timetables for energy and environmental reforms.

“There are so many points here where they say things are important, things should be done,” said David Bachman, a China specialist and political science professor at the University of Washington. “Other than that, I don’t see much here that’s specific at all.”

The general policy statements and platitudes may reflect an inability to address China’s most immediate problems.

“Even if they said it, it’s going to take a long time before they do anything about the smog,” said Bachman. “Maybe it’s better not to have given rise to expectations that can be met only over a much longer period of time.”

The government has given few clues about when it will start or complete planned reforms.

“The plenum demanded that decisive results are achieved in important areas and crucial segments by the year 2020,” the communique said.

A setback

Bachman sees the vagueness of the agenda as a sign that President Xi Jinping was unable to marshal party support for another historic wave of reforms despite a year of consensus-building effort.

“That’s what this was supposed to do, and since they couldn’t do it, it speaks to a failure of the decision-making system,” he said.

Instead, the plenum resolved to concentrate power under a new “central leading team” to design and coordinate policies. A new “National Security Committee” will also be formed.

“In important ways, this was a setback. It wasn’t simply inconclusive,” Bachman said. “It was a failure in some ways.”

‘Not going to mean anything’

Derek Scissors, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, sees problems with both the generalities of the reform measures and the lack of deadlines for them to take effect.

“We’re going to hear a lot of things that are going to be sold to us as reform,” said Scissors. “They’re not going to mean anything.”

State controls over energy pricing are expected to ease only gradually, limiting the burdens on consumers and the economy. But the result is likely to limit the environmental benefits, as well.

“When they say ‘gradual,’ it’s usually an excuse for ‘it’s not going to happen,’” Scissors said. “The times we’ve had successful reform, it’s been sharp, not gradual.”

Scissors argued that China’s environmental problems stem from state control of the economy, which he does not see ending anytime soon, despite promises to give the market a “decisive” role.

The communique’s shift in emphasis toward the market is not expected to bring competition and private ownership to state-owned enterprises and industries, which have been primary sources of pollution.

“The environmental destruction has been created by the state. They won’t reverse that, so the best they’re going to do is to inhibit the damage going forward,” Scissors said.

The article Environment Low On List Of China’s Reforms – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Armenia: Officials Slash Unemployment Benefits, Then Seek Raise

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By Marianna Grigoryan

The Armenian government wants to increase salaries of senior leaders and MPs by over 200-percent, while eliminating unemployment benefits. Officials contend that such measures are needed to combat corruption and improve the state’s financial picture.

As could be expected, most citizens are having a hard time buying official arguments. In Armenia, one-third of the population of roughly 2.97 million people officially lives beneath the poverty line. Unemployment officially stands at 16.2 percent, and unofficial estimates peg the rate much higher. The dearth of jobs at home is a major impetus for labor migration.

Armenia’s National Statistical Service announced recently that the country’s overall population has contracted by 7.5-percent in 2013 so far. The figure ranges from 13 percent to 17 percent in the regions, news services reported.

Against that backdrop, parliament’s initial vote of approval on October 24 to eliminate monthly unemployment benefits (18,000 drams or $44.48 per month) struck a sensitive nerve for many Armenians. The decision will affect an estimated 11,000 people, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare.

Representatives of the governing Republican Party of Armenia justify the measure by saying that programs should emphasize education, job counseling and opportunities for employment, rather than merely giving payouts to individuals who, they allege, do not always need the cash. Labor and Social Welfare Minister Artyom Asatrian earlier claimed in parliament that only 6 percent of those 11,000 individuals registered as unemployed are actually without jobs.

But many of those who are among the alleged 6 percent say they are growing desperate. “What do we have to do now? My husband used to receive unemployment benefits and we were able to make ends meet before we could find a job. Now we have to think about leaving the country, since there are no jobs and no support at all,” said 38-year-old Yerevan resident Susie Mnatsakanian, a former nurse.

Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian told parliament on November 14 that new unemployment programs will launch in 2014 with a drastically reduced budget of 2.36 billion drams (over $5.8 million). But many are not inclined to wait around. As a sign of the momentum for migration, a tIcket for the 2,236-kilometer bus ride from Yerevan to Moscow, the most common destination for Armenian labor migrants, now can be had for a mere 15,000 drams ($37.07).

Compounding the anger that many Armenians feel is the fact that officials are preparing to give themselves a big raise. A draft law would increase the monthly salary of President Serzh Sargsyan by 203-percent to 1.3 million drams, or $3,213. The monthly salaries of Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian and Parliamentary Speaker Hovik Abrahamian would increase by 218 percent to 1.19 million drams, or roughly $2,941. The measure also will apply to ministers, deputy ministers and members of parliament.

While those rates may appear low by Western standards, they far outstrip the monthly incomes of most Armenians. In 2012, annual per-capita income stood at just $5,900, or under $500 per month. That figure is the lowest in the region, according to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook.

“Do you really think that things [with the country’s economy] are going so well that those responsible for these things, the president and prime minister, have earned the right to get a pay raise?” scoffed opposition Armenian-National-Congress parliamentarian Nikol Pashinian.

“Authorities once again have shown that they are not afraid of society,” drily commented independent analyst Yervand Bozoian.
During a question-and-answer session in parliament on October 23, the government’s chief of staff, Vacheh Gabrielian, a former deputy chairperson of the Central Bank of Armenia, claimed that not increasing senior officials’ salaries (which can fall around less than $1,000 per month) had increased the risk for corruption. Armenia, he said, “has to catch up” with the rest of the world.

A vote on the proposal, likely to sail through the RPA-dominated parliament, is expected by the end of December.

RPA Deputy Chairperson Gaust Sahakian, who heads the party’s parliamentary faction, told EurasiaNet.org that such salary increases are needed for their “eye-catching effect” and “to enhance the country’s reputation.” Sahakian did not address how eliminating unemployment benefits will enhance the government’s reputation.

Independent political analyst Stepan Danielian said the combined effect of these measures will only be to encourage migration. Sensing a political opportunity, Armenia’s opposition parties, which hold 52 out of parliament’s 131 seats, are eager to sound the alarm.

“It is immoral to talk about increasing [lawmakers’ and government officials’] salaries when more than 1 million people live beneath the poverty line,” asserted Zaruhi Postanjian, secretary of the Heritage Party’s four-member parliamentary faction.

Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based in Yerevan and editor of MediaLab.am.

The article Armenia: Officials Slash Unemployment Benefits, Then Seek Raise appeared first on Eurasia Review.

SOCAR Slightly Increases Gas Production

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By Emil Ismayilov

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) produced 5.15 billion cubic meters of gas in January-September compared to 5.12 billion cubic meters in January-September 2012, SOCAR said today.

According to the report, SOCAR produced 557.3 million cubic meters of gas in September compared to 551.2 million cubic meters in the same period of 2012.

SOCAR produced 7.46 billion cubic meters of gas in 2012 compared to 7.08 billion cubic meters in 2011.

According to SOCAR, some 29 billion cubic meters of gas was produced in the country in 2012, compared to about 26 billion in 2011.

SOCAR includes the Azneft production association (company producing oil and gas onshore and offshore) and the Azkimya production association (chemical industry) and Azerigaz production association (gas distribution).

Moreover, SOCAR includes a number of processing enterprises, service enterprises and institutions engaged in geophysical and drilling operations.

The article SOCAR Slightly Increases Gas Production appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Azerbaijani And Iranian FMs Discuss Border Situation

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Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov held a meeting with Iran’s counterpart Javad Zarif in Tehran within the 21st meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Economic Cooperation on Tuesday, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported today.

According to the information, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry welcomes the recent results of the meeting of the next round of talks in Geneva with the participation of Iran’s Foreign Minister and “Six” and stressed their positive development.

Zarif congratulated the Azerbaijani people with successful presidential election on Oct. 9.

During the meeting they discussed issues of energy, culture, education and other areas of cooperation on a bilateral basis. An agreement was reached to hold a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on cooperation in the near future.

The views on the situation on the border were exchanged between the foreign ministers.

Mammadyarov invited Zarif to visit Azerbaijan.

Zarif accepted the invitation with pleasure.

The article Azerbaijani And Iranian FMs Discuss Border Situation appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Bulgarian FM: EU Should Give ‘Clearer Perspective’ To Eastern Partners

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(Civil.Ge) — Georgian Foreign Minister, Maia Panjikidze, met his Bulgarian counterpart Kristian Vigenin, as well as President Rosen Plevneliev and Parliament speaker Mikhail Mikov in Sofia on November 25.

Bilateral cooperation and upcoming Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius topped the agenda of talks, according to the Georgian Foreign Ministry.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin said after the meeting that EU should provide “a clearer perspective” to its Eastern partners.

“For us it is important that the EU provides a clearer perspective to the Eastern Partnership countries. It is important for our partners to know [what] is the final goal of this process,” the Bulgarian Foreign Minister.

Georgian Foreign Minister Panjikidze said Bulgaria “is our friend, which will raise at the Vilnius [summit] the issue of making European perspective for Georgia real in the [final] declaration [of the summit].”

“Next year will be quite difficult and we have to overcome obstacles, which we will possibly face next year, with [the help] of our partners. Bulgaria is among strongest supporters of Georgia’s NATO integration and we are grateful for that,” the Georgian Foreign Minister said.

According to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, Vigenin hailed Georgia’s “success” in development of democracy and expressed “satisfaction that the current government of Georgia continues to follow the foreign policy priorities of the country.”

The article Bulgarian FM: EU Should Give ‘Clearer Perspective’ To Eastern Partners appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Georgia Plans Inter-Agency Group On Religious Minorities

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(Civil.Ge) — A Georgia state inter-agency commission will be established to address “misunderstandings” stemming from lack of legislative basis in relations between the state and religious groups, other than the Georgian Orthodox Church, State Minister for Reintegration, Paata Zakareishvili, said.

“Georgia as a state has legal relations only with the Orthodox Church, which is regulated by the constitutional agreement, Concordat. There is no such legal link between the state and other religious groups. It causes misunderstandings of various kinds, for example on the issues of defining the legality of religious buildings, sources of financing of religious organizations and other such issues,” said Zakareishvili, whose portfolio of state minister also includes relations with minorities.

“Precisely for that purpose to regulate such issues, it was decided to set up the inter-agency commission, which will submit before the government and the Parliament relevant legislative amendments,” he said after a session of government on November 25, which approved creation of the commission.

The commission will unite officials from number of ministries, including from the Ministry of Justice, Education Ministry, Interior Minister, Economy Ministry, Ministry of Culture, as well as state ministries for reintegration, European integration and diaspora.

The article Georgia Plans Inter-Agency Group On Religious Minorities appeared first on Eurasia Review.


Cindy Sheehan: Revolution And Pumpkin Pie – OpEd

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Some may know me as an anti-war activist who was “activated” after the murder (J’accuse l’empire) of my son Casey Sheehan in Iraq. Some may even know that I am a revolutionary that (among other things) advocates for a grassroots, peaceful revolution to wrest control from that empire to the people. How does “home cooking” jive with that?
In this nation of fast-foodaholics, I am into the “slow-food” movement and eating as close to the original food as possible. No processed/fast food shall cross my lips, mostly because it’s healthier, but partly because I don’t want my valuable cash money to go to support Monsanto, Big Ag, and Big Food Conglomerates.
I am also vegan, so I am constantly searching for yummy vegan alternatives to processed food that use animal products. To this end, I am happy to share my delicious vegan, organic recipe for Pumpkin Pie, a seasonal favorite.
Anyway, this is how: Choose an organic pie pumpkin (obtainable at Trader Joes). One is plenty for one pie—you may be able to stretch the pulp for two, or have some left over for custard.
Cut off the top of the pumpkin, as one would do if you were getting ready to carve it. (NOTE: We tried to grow our own pumpkins this season, but the blossoms did not get pollinated, unfortunately…)Scoop out as much of the innards as possible, and set aside to pick out the seeds to roast in the oven. Cut the cleaned out pumpkin into smaller pieces and then clean the pumpkin detritus out further. (Oh, while you are doing all this, preheat your oven to 350).
Roast the pieces (skin down) on a shallow roasting pan at 350 for 55 minutes until the pieces are fork-tender. (No oil is needed for the roasting.) The above process is incredibly easy and fills your home with scrumptious smells.
Now it’s easy to separate the pumpkin skin from the pulp. Do so, and put into a food processor or blender with about ½ cup of almond (or other alternative) milk.
Puree the pumpkin until smooth, leave about 2 ½ cups of the puree in the processor/blender, and then add:1/4-cup organic brown sugar

1/4 pure maple syrup

1/4 cup of silken tofu2 tbsp. vanilla

3 tbsp. cornstarch

ground cinnamon (to taste)

ground nutmeg (to taste)

ground ginger (to taste)

Mix all together until smooth, pour into pie crust of your choice (or into a baking dish, sans crust) and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes (until knife inserted in middle comes out clean).

Let cool, then EAT IT!
Whip some coconut cream with cane sugar (or whatever sugar you use) for a delicious vegan topping.

The article Cindy Sheehan: Revolution And Pumpkin Pie – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Pope Supports Male Priesthood, Urges ‘Feminine Genius’ In Church

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Pope Francis reaffirmed Catholic teaching on male priesthood in his first apostolic exhortation, while calling for a broader application of the “feminine genius” in Church life.

“The reservation of the priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the Spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion,” he said, “but it can prove especially divisive if sacramental power is too closely identified with power in general.”

The Pope’s words came in his new document, “The Joy of the Gospel,” released Nov. 26. Also known as “Evangelii Gaudium,” the apostolic exhortation follows the 2012 bishops’ synod on the new evangelization, which was held as part of the Year of Faith.

“Demands that the legitimate rights of women be respected, based on the firm conviction that men and women are equal in dignity, present the Church with profound and challenging questions which cannot be lightly evaded.”

However, this equal dignity cannot be equated with “sacramental power,” he said, quoting Bl. John Paul II’s words that priesthood falls “in the realm of function, not that of dignity or holiness.”

“The ministerial priesthood is one means employed by Jesus for the service of his people, yet our great dignity derives from baptism, which is accessible to all,” Pope Francis reflected. “The configuration of the priest to Christ the head – namely, as the principal source of grace – does not imply an exaltation which would set him above others.”

Although the function of the priesthood is considered “hierarchical,” it is ordered not towards domination but towards serving the members of the Church, he explained, observing that the authority of the priesthood is rooted in service and has its origin in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

Still, the role of women in the Church is important, the Pope said in his exhortation, noting that “a woman, Mary, is more important than the bishops.”

“The Church acknowledges the indispensable contribution which women make to society through the sensitivity, intuition and other distinctive skill sets which they, more than men, tend to possess,” the Holy Father said, pointing as an example to the “special concern which women show to others, which finds a particular, even if not exclusive, expression in motherhood.”

The Pope recognized that women already “share pastoral responsibilities with priests” and contribute to theological reflection.

“But we need to create still broader opportunities for a more incisive female presence in the Church,” he said.

Pointing to Catholic teaching on the “feminine genius,” he explained that women must be free to bring their gifts and skills to the workplace and other areas of decision-making, including within the Church.

Pope Francis also reflected on the broader role of the laity in the Church, saying that they are “the vast majority of the People of God,” and ordained ministers are the minority who are “at their service.”

“There has been a growing awareness of the identity and mission of the laity in the Church,” he said, and there are “many lay persons, although still not nearly enough, who have a deeply-rooted sense of community and great fidelity to the tasks of charity, catechesis and the celebration of the faith.”

Many others, however, still lack an understanding of their responsibility as laity, he continued. Sometimes this is due to inadequate formation, and other times to “an excessive clericalism which keeps them away from decision-making.”

While these challenges are significant, they are not insurmountable, the Pope stated.

“Challenges exist to be overcome!” he said. “Let us be realists, but without losing our joy, our boldness and our hope-filled commitment. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of missionary vigour!”

The article Pope Supports Male Priesthood, Urges ‘Feminine Genius’ In Church appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Bangladesh: Two Dead In New Political Clashes

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Bomb blasts, vandalism and arson erupted across Bangladesh on Monday, leaving two people dead and dozens injured after the opposition rejected government plans to hold a general election in early January.

In Comilla district, south of Dhaka, a student named Delwar Hossain died after protesters hurled home made bombs at police, who responded with rubber bullets and tear-gas.

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) claimed Hossain was a BNP supporter who was killed by police fire. However, local police officials said the victim was killed in a bombing and was not involved in politics.

In a televised address to the nation on Monday evening, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed announced the tenth parliamentary polls for the 300-seat Jatiya Sangsad (National Assembly), and set the date for voting on January 5.

He urged all political parties to participate, assuring them the government would take all necessary measures to ensure a peaceful, free and fair election.

“Troops will be deployed to assist law enforcement agencies so that people can vote freely,” he said.

In response, however, the BNP demanded an immediate suspension of the poll date and called for a 48-hour nationwide blockade of roads, railways and waterways from dawn on Tuesday.

Acting BNP secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam called the planned election a “farce”, saying the polls would not be free and fair with Awami League Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina still in power.

“We reject the election schedule. We ask that the election commission put it on hold until a political consensus on the election-time government is reached,” he told reporters in Dhaka. “We won’t take part in any farce in the name of elections.”

Soon after the poll announcement, hundreds of opposition supporters and their allies from the hardline Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami Party detonated dozens of home made bombs in Dhaka and several districts.

Protesters also smashed and set ablaze more than 50 vehicles in the capital and on major highways, leaving thousands of passengers stranded on the roads.

The government has deployed hundreds of law enforcers, including border guard troops, to quell further violence across the country.

A series of violent strikes and protests by the opposition have crippled Bangladesh in recent weeks as the country’s political standoff has escalated. More than 30 people have died and dozens have been wounded during street violence in the past month.

The BNP and other opposition parties have called for Hasina’s government to relinquish power to a caretaker system used in the past four elections rather than a cabinet configured according to the parliamentary majority held by the ruling Awami League.

Hasina has rejected the call and earlier this month formed an all-party cabinet with members of the Awami League and five other allies to oversee the poll-time government.

The article Bangladesh: Two Dead In New Political Clashes appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Libya: More Violent Clashes In Benghazi Reported Wednesday

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Reuters reported Wednesday that Libyan army and Islamist militants clashed outside of Benghazi following Monday’s fatal fighting. Several people were wounded.

Since the oust of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya’s military has attempted to halt Islamist militant and militia activity throughout the county. However, Islamists have refused to disarm following the 2011 revolution and maintain in control of key oil field areas of the country.

Wednesday’s clashes follow Monday’s fighting between army special forces and the Ansar Sharia militia in Benghazi, leaving at least nine people dead. According to the report, the fighting started after members of Ansar pitched a grenade at a special forces patrol.

Islamist run many checkpoints throughout Libya’s second-largest city, and the situation in Benghazi has deteriorated overall, particularly within the last two months. Many consulates have closed their offices in the city and some airlines have stopped flights as well.

The growing chaos in Libya is “worrying its neighbors” as well as the West who backed the uprising against Gaddafi.

Original article

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Suspicious Of NSA Spying, Microsoft Moves To Encrypt Internet Traffic – Report

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Microsoft is moving to encrypt its Internet traffic based on assumptions the National Security Agency has broken into its internal global communications systems as it did with Google and Yahoo, according to sources familiar with the plans.

Microsoft’s suspicions that the NSA is intercepting traffic within its private networks were heightened in October, when it was reported such intrusions have happened to Google and Yahoo, which have similar global infrastructures. Sources close to Microsoft’s deliberations told The Washington Post top executives at the company are to meet this week to decide what encryption initiatives will take place.

The Post reports two previously unreleased slides obtained via former NSA contractor Edward Snowden suggest the company is rightly concerned.

The slides on the operations on Google and Yahoo networks also reference Microsoft’s Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger. Another NSA email mentions Microsoft Passport, a web service no longer offered by Microsoft, as another potential target of the surveillance program called MUSCULAR.

Microsoft officials said they don’t have independent verification such surveillance of their internal data centers is occurring, though the company’s general counsel Brad Smith said Tuesday that such revelations would be “very disturbing” and a violation of constitutional rights.

Encryption efforts of such a scale would put Microsoft in the same league as Google, Yahoo, Facebook and other tech giants that have reinforced security defenses amid the cascade of secret NSA programs coming to light – some the companies have legally participated in with the NSA.

Experts tell The Post such investments in encryption will hamper surveillance – by governments, private companies and hackers alike – for years. These technology efforts may even supersede congressional policy efforts, currently underway, as the most tangible outcome of steady revelations of NSA surveillance since early June, when the Guardian and The Washington Post ran the first stories supplied with classified documents given to them by Snowden.

“That’s a pretty big change in the way these companies have operated,” said Matthew Green, a Johns Hopkins University cryptography expert. “And it’s a big engineering effort.”

The NSA said Tuesday in a statement about Microsoft that the agency’s “focus is on targeting the communications of valid foreign intelligence targets, not on collecting and exploiting a class of communications or services that would sweep up communications that are not of bona fide foreign intelligence interest to the U.S. government.”

One anonymous US official said Tuesday that collection can be done at various points and does not have to happen on a company’s private fiber-optic links.

A 2009 email from an NSA senior manager of NSA’s MUSCULAR program specifies that a targeting tool known as “MONKEY PUZZLE” can search only across a listed “realm,” including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s Passport service. What service the fourth realm, “emailAddr,” represents is not clear. “NSA could send us whatever realms they like right now, but the targeting just won’t go anywhere unless it’s of one of the above 4 realms,” the email said.

The MUSCULAR program involves a process in which the NSA and Britain’s GCHQ intercept communications overseas, where lax restrictions and oversight allow the agencies access to intelligence with ease.

“NSA documents about the effort refer directly to ‘full take,’ ‘bulk access’ and ‘high volume’ operations on Yahoo and Google networks,” The Post reported. “Such large-scale collection of Internet content would be illegal in the United States, but the operations take place overseas, where the NSA is allowed to presume that anyone using a foreign data link is a foreigner.”

To do as much, the NSA and GCHQ rely on capturing information being sent between company data centers around the globe, intercepting those bits and bytes in transit by tapping in as information is moved from the “Public Internet” to the private “clouds” operated by the likes of Google and Yahoo. Those cloud systems involve the linking of international data centers, each processing and containing huge troves of user information for potentially millions of customers.

Intelligence officers who can sneak through the cracks when information is decrypted — or never encrypted in the first place — can then see the information sent in real time as take “a retrospective look at target activity,” according to documents seen by The Post.

“Because digital communications and cloud storage do not usually adhere to national boundaries, MUSCULAR and a previously disclosed NSA operation to collect Internet address books have amassed content and metadata on a previously unknown scale from US citizens and residents,” The Post reported.

Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith hinted at the company’s encryption efforts at a shareholders meeting recently. “We’re focused on engineering improvements that will further strengthen security,” he said, “including strengthening security against snooping by governments.”

While company officials do not have definitive proof of the data interception, the company has held high-level meetings to discuss the possibility that encryption efforts “across the full range of consumer and business services.” Big decisions will be made this week at company headquarters in Redmond, WA, anonymous sources familiar with Microsoft’s planning told The Post.

Of NSA documents mentioning Microsoft services, Smith said in a statement: “These allegations are very disturbing. If they are true these actions amount to hacking and seizure of private data and in our view are a breach of the protection guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.”

Upon news of MUSCULAR’s intrusions, Google’s general counsel David Drummond said he was “outraged.” The company announced new encryption efforts at data centers worldwide in September.

Yahoo announced its own encryption initiatives last week.

These major tech companies have called on limits to NSA’s surveillance powers, especially those used without oversight from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court.

NSA documents from Snowden do not outline how the NSA would access Microsoft’s data, though it is possible some or all of it happens on the public internet and not via private links to data centers. Some MUSCULAR documents do, though, discuss targeting Microsoft online services. Microsoft’s Hotmail has been one of several email services shown to have been targeted by NSA surveillance.

Privacy advocates meanwhile have criticized Microsoft in the past for being slow to adopt encryption technology.

“Microsoft is not yet in a situation where we really call them praiseworthy,” said Peter Eckersley, director of technology projects at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “Microsoft has no excuse for not being a leader in encryption and security systems, and yet we often see them lagging behind the industry.”

Documents released by Snowden have indicated Microsoft has worked with US officials in the past to circumvent some encryption on the company’s services.

The article Suspicious Of NSA Spying, Microsoft Moves To Encrypt Internet Traffic – Report appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Assam & Meghalaya: Threats Of Violence In Garo Heartland – Analysis

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By Rani P Das

Armed conflict in western Assam’s Goalpara district and the adjoining Garo Hills in Meghalaya is assuming new dimensions with dangerous ramifications. Rag-tag rebel groups with their continued subversive activities have taken the people of the area to ransom. The otherwise peaceful area where the Garos and Rabhas have been living side by side for centuries is now turning into a killing field, giving security forces a tough time, especially considering that the stretch in Garo Hills has open borders with Bangladesh.

Mayhem caused by little known rebel groups like United Achik Liberation Army (UALA) in Goalpara and adjoining Garo Hills matches the havoc created by the Black Widow or the Jewel Garlossa faction of the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD-J) militants in the NC Hills district of Assam before they called a ceasefire and subsequently signed a peace accord with the Government in October 2012. UALA is a breakaway group of the ANVC-B (Achik National Volunteer Council-Breakaway), formed in February 2013 and is led by Singbirth N Marak alias Norok. It is a small outfit with a cadre strength of about 30 and was conceptualised after the Garo-Rabha conflict in December 2010-January 2011.

On 3 November 2013, UALA rebels triggered a brutal attack on innocent Rabha people at the remote Gendamari village under Agia Police Station in Assam’s Goalpara district, killing seven and injuring six seriously. Suspected Rabha National Liberation Front (RNLF) militants retaliated by firing and lobbing bombs in a Garo village and by kidnapping one person. The possibility of another massive ethnic clash between the Garos and the Rabhas could be a bitter reality.

The mushrooming of militant groups in Garo Hills becomes a cause of worry. While the Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC) and its splinter group, ANVC-B, are officially under ceasefire with the government, the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), the United Achik Liberation Army (UALA) and the Achik National Liberation Army (ANLA was formed in October 2013), are active in the interior areas of Garo Hills and in adjoining areas of Assam and West Khasi Hills. Again, there is the GNLA-F led by former GNLA militants Reading T Sangma, Jack Baichung and Savio R Marak. Meanwhile, ANVC suffered a further split in mid-November 2013 when seven members deserted the designated camp where they have been living since the truce and formed a new outfit, adding to the murky scene.

The idea of a Greater Garoland state consisting of the present Garo Hills in Meghalaya and a part of the Kamrup and the Goalpara districts in adjoining Assam, which came to forefront with the formation of ANVC in December 1995, and the demand for sharing administrative power by the Rabhas residing in the Garo Autonomous District Council area could well be the main factors for the sustained unrest, but most often, ambitious militants are seen taking advantage of the public causes. An area of rampant extortion, here traders prefer to buy peace instead of informing the police due to dearth of security.

The genesis behind the Garo-Rabha conflict, however, revolves around the issue of providing Scheduled Tribe status claimed by the Rabhas living in the Autonomous District of East Garo Hills area. Their counterparts living in Goalpara in Assam enjoy Scheduled Caste status. When the Garos were opposed to the claims made by the Rabhas, the latter started declaring bandhs to press their demand. Regarding the bandhs as an economic blockade, the Garos started to retaliate. The immediate cause of the conflict between the two tribes, however, was a bandh call by the Rabhas during Christmas in December 2010 and some Rabha groups beating up a pastor that led to violent clash among the Rabhas and Garos. Scores were killed and thousands displaced in the Assam-Meghalaya border areas.

The Goalpara district covers an area of 1,824 sq km and its southern part is bordered by the West and East Garo Hill districts of Meghalaya – a state that shares a 443 km international border with Bangladesh. The strategic location of the district, combined with the illegal arms trafficking through it, makes it extremely vulnerable to diverse troubles, including ethnic conflict. According to Home Department records of Assam, Goalpara topped the chart in the category of ‘arms recovered from extremists’ in the state in 2012.

On 6 November 2013, the Assam and Meghalaya Police, the CRPF and the Army, launched a joint counter-insurgency operation against two Garo outfits – the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) and the United Achik Liberation Army (UALA) – along a 68 km stretch of inter-state border in western Assam. The security establishment, alarmed by the impending danger triggered by the bloody clashes between the tribes in Assam and Meghalaya, have no doubt joined hands to fight the militants. But, what is needed is stringent vigilance across the area by the security forces. The involvement of community leaders, educationists, cultural personalities and civilians on the ground to cultivate communal harmony and spread the message of peaceful cohabitation is the need of the hour.

Rani P Das
Senior Research Associate, Centre for Development and Peace Studies (CDPS), Guwahati

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Nepal Elections 2013: The Fall Of Maoists – Analysis

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By Pramod Jaiswal

The election results are set to change the power equations. The UPCN – Maoist, which came first in the CA – I has come third in CA-II elections, with Nepali Congress and CPN-UML securing the first two positions.

The UCPN-Maoists boycotted vote count across the country and alleged that election process was rigged. Furthermore, almost a dozen other regional parties allied with UCPN-Maoists have raised serious concerns about overall election process. Truth must be established with proper investigation as a precondition for taking part in CA – II while reinforcing the constitution making process in consensus. They claimed that votes in ballot boxes were either altered or replaced with bogus ones; empty ballot boxes were located in schools and police stations and contained altered seals.

Along with all these parties, the senior leader of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Dr Prakash Chandra Lohini suspected the role of Nepal Army in this fraud and demanded an investigation under the independent leadership. They claimed that Nepal Army took control of the ballot boxes for around 24 hours without representatives of the political parties. The parties unanimously accused that in name of security, there was rigging of votes under the grand design of national and international forces.

Keeping the veracity of the charges aside, there are genuine reasons for the setback to UCPN-Maoist.

The Baidya Split

UCPN (Maoists) has faced the split where one-third of their leaders joined Baidya led CPN-Maoists. Baidya blamed Prachanda, for their unaddressed demand and for not being able to participate in the election process. He also accused Prachanda of the Regmi government and inviting Nepal Army to secure the elections. Prachanda did not focus on restructuring the party after the split. Additionally, voters repeatedly heard Baidya led group accusing UCPN (Maoist) of being traitors to the ‘People’s War’ and surrendering to the national and international forces. Prachanda failed to address these accusations. It was also reported that Baidya faction did not allow UCPN-Maoists candidates to campaign, attacked Prachanda during the campaigning process and also campaigned against his party. In many places, Baidya-led Maoist cadres voted for the candidate of another party and encouraged others to do so in order to defeat UCPN-Maoist candidates.

Prachanda’s Failure to Accommodate

Prachanda did not allow new leadership to emerge around him and there was internal rift on division of responsibilities among the leaders. Because of sudden increase in party size, party crippled in decision making and suffered undue imposition of Prachanda’s personality. Due to factionalism in the party, most of the decisions of the party were taken by Prachanda single handedly. This factionalism and internal rift had spread and discouraged the leaders and cadres at all levels.

The middle-class and intellectuals had great expectations from the party and were disenchanted with some of their corrupt leaders. The 10 days violent strike of Baidya Maoists also frustrated the people but the anger against them resulted in the Unified Maoists losing votes.

The lifestyle of Maoists leaders were questioned by the party leaders several times in the central committee meeting. Their luxurious houses, vehicles and misuse of party funds were questioned led to the breakdown of leader-cadre relationship. The cadres began to perceive the leadership as corrupt, that it no longer represented the proletariats but had been transformed into neo-elites. The lower-level leaders began copying the consumerist lifestyle of top leaders, which further distanced them from the people.

Party sidelined their own committed and selfless cadres while distributing candidacy to those who had left their parties to join UCPN (Maoists). Their names were not included in the proportional list which discouraged and angered the deserving candidates. Thus, they either contested as independent candidate or campaigned against their own leaders.

Mis-Managed Election Campaign

Prachanda spent most of his time addressing the mass gathering rather than making strategies and keeping track of campaign activities. Huge numbers of cadres were mobilized to organize such rallies, which proved to be less effective than door-to-door campaign.

UCPN (Maoists) were not able to explain “identity based federalism” clearly to the people and stereotyped as ‘caste based federalism’ and rumor spread that “federalism” will break the country. Moreover, the whole media establishment and ironically civil societies/interest groups – with exception- has been spreading anti-Maoist sentiments.

Besides, many of the Maoist voters from lower strata had not applied for voter’s card; the new voters list has 30 percent less voters compared to 2008.

The Road Ahead

The Unified Maoists have raised distrust with election process, only to strengthen its bargaining position. It is likely that they would join CA II, for not accepting the mandate may turn detrimental. Furthermore, simply because they failed to garner the expected number of seats this time will not make any difference as they have already championed the cause of making constitution through CA and whole Nepal in terms of their debate (secular, republic and federal ideas). Leaders such as Prachanda, has the caliber to deliver and will learn to evolve in electoral politics. Above all, the role of UCPN (Maoist) remains crucial in spite of their down size in CA-II. They are expected to form an alliance with all the ‘progressive forces for change’ and play an important role in constitution making.

Pramod Jaiswal
SAARC Doctoral Fellow, SIS, JNU

The article Nepal Elections 2013: The Fall Of Maoists – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.


Vikramaditya’s Induction: High-Point For The Indian Navy – Analysis

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By Abhijit Singh

After the loss of the INS Sindhurakshak a few months ago, the Indian Navy has set itself on the path of redemption. In August this year, India’s premier Kilo-class submarine – just back from a costly refit in Russia – had been preparing for an operational deployment when an explosion onboard destroyed the boat and 18 of its crew-members lost their lives.

The accident was a ‘body-blow’ for the Indian Navy – a material and morale loss that would take years to recover from. But only three months later a new narrative has emerged with the commissioning of INS Vikramaditya – one of hope, optimism and resilience.

The new aircraft carrier, unveiled at Severodvinsk in Russia on November 16, is a historic milestone. Coming two months after another achievement – the actuation of the nuclear reactor of the Arihant, India’s first indigenous nuclear powered submarine – the Vikramaditya is being seen as a ‘game-changer’, with the potential to transform the Indian Navy’s profile in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and beyond.

Its proportions and capabilities are indeed significant. At 44,500 tonnes, the Vikamaditya is the largest ship of the Indian Navy. Among its primary aviation assets, will be Kamov-31 helicopters and MiG 29 K multi-role fighter aircraft – the mainstay of its integral combat capability. In addition, the naval version of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) may also be positioned onboard, making the Vikramaditya the first Indian aircraft carrier to operate two aircraft of the Short Takeoff but Assisted Recovery (STOBAR) variety.

For the Indian Navy, operating two full-fledged carrier battle groups (CBGs) – one each for the Eastern and Western seaboards – is not just a long-standing ambition, but also a key component of its operational strategy. With the INS Viraat nearing the end of its operational life, the Indian Navy has been under pressure to position a suitable replacement. The Vikramaditya brings it one step closer to actualising a desirable end-state. By the end of 2018 the navy is expected to induct the 40,000-tonne INS Vikrant being built at the Cochin Shipyard. The Vikramaditya, in the words of India’s Naval Chief, Admiral D K Joshi, is intended to “bridge the gap between the INS Viraat’s decommissioned, and the entry of the INS Vikrant”.

Notwithstanding the euphoria surrounding its commissioning, Vikramaditya’s journey has been anything but a smooth. When the deal for the ex-Admiral Gorshkov was first signed with Russia in January 2004, it was worth $1.5 billion, with $974 million earmarked for the refit and rest for 16 MiG-29Ks. In the years that followed, the price was renegotiated several times, to be eventually pegged at $2.33 billion and another $2 billion for 45 MiG-29Ks. As a result, the ship, which was first due to be delivered in August 2008, was delayed by nearly five years.

Vikramaditya’s commissioning has re-ignited an old debate among maritime analysts of the relevance of aircraft carriers. Proponents of aircraft carriers argue that it must play a central role in ‘blue-water’ operational plans. Opponents posit that the aircraft carrier’s high vulnerability and inadequate logistical sustainability render it an obsolete asset. Not only is it expensive, they point out, it is also incapable of projecting significant offensive power. The fact that it is virtually defenceless against under-water attacks makes it a near liability in war.

As compelling as the sceptics’ reasoning appears, it is the proponents who proffer a more nuanced rationale for retaining the giant ships. Modern day maritime discourse, aircraft carrier supporters aver, requires such ships to be located in a new conceptual framework. Ocean-going navies today need three types of conventional assets. The first category comprises ‘hard-power assets’ – fighting platforms like destroyers, frigates, missile boats and attack submarines meant for the real combat operations in a naval battle. These are used in both offensive and defensive operations, and are meant to influence the tempo and outcome of a maritime conflict. The second lot is of ‘soft-power’ assets like hospital ships, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) platforms, survey vessels, etc. These provide a valuable regional (and global) service and are crucial for a navy’s soft-power outreach. Finally, and most significantly, a navy needs assets for ‘power projection’ – a critical component of a nation’s maritime strategy. Navies strive to accrete power and project it far away from the home country as a metric of national influence and their own regional relevance. Aircraft carriers fall in this category.

Equally interesting has been the commentary on the supposed ‘contest’ between ‘sea control’ and ‘sea denial’[1]. Inducting an aircraft carrier, it has been suggested, signifies the triumph of the concept of ‘sea control’ over the more practical and “much less expensive” notion of ‘sea denial’. The analysis has sought to draw a false equivalence between two fundamental concepts intrinsic to national maritime strategy. While the former is a prerequisite in dictating the terms of a naval engagement, the latter (as a subset of the former) has limited application and is meant to deny a stronger adversary the use of maritime space. Both play a vital role in a nation’s larger maritime strategy, but none supplants the other.

There is one significant difference though. Since ‘sea-denial’ is useful in defending a nation’s maritime territory against an aggressive adversary, it is primarily a war-time concept. ‘Sea control’, on the other hand, allows for both battle-space domination in war and the expansion of naval sphere of operations in peacetime (a critical component of Grand National Strategy). Its utility as a metaphorical enabler in naval strategy is, therefore, far greater.

An aircraft carrier, however, doesn’t by-itself guarantee an expanded sphere of naval influence. With a limited integral defensive capability and even lesser manoeuvrability, a carrier needs an armada of armed escort ships and aircraft to protect it from external threats. In this, the Vikramaditya has an inherent disadvantage as it lacks on-board close-in-weapon-system (CIWS) and long range surface-to-air missiles (LR-SAMS). Its near total dependence on layered in-depth defence provided by its screening ships and aircraft is a challenge that the Indian Navy will need to address in due course.

The Indian Navy will also be mindful of the China’s maritime ambitions and the role that its new aircraft carrier – the Liaoning – is likely to play in its Indian Ocean expansion. The new aircraft carrier might be used both for China’s power projection, as well as an instrument for its ‘soft-power’ diplomacy – a key component of the ‘far-seas’ naval strategy. That apart, the Chinese navy is also said to be considering using aircraft carrier in a ‘hard-power’ role for the expansion of its island barrier defences, also known as the inner and outer island chains.

Ultimately, possessing an aircraft carrier does not only indicate ‘blue-water’ capability, but also represents a navy’s ‘vision’. If a maritime force can conceive of an aircraft carrier’s role as a ‘versatile’ and flexible asset – one that can switch easily between soft power diplomacy, power projection and combat operations – it can be a ‘game-changer’, for both national foreign policy and naval strategy.

The Vikamaditya could prove to be critical in shaping the Indian Ocean’s strategic environment.

Views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDSA or of the Government of India.

Originally published by Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (www.idsa.in) at http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/VikramadityasInductioninIndianNavy_asingh_271113

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The 26/11 Attack, Five Years Later – Analysis

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On the fifth anniversary of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, Prem Mahadevan reviews what has been subsequently learned about their planning and significance. The conclusions? Pakistan’s culpability in the attacks is now beyond question and the operation ushered in a ‘new normal’ in terrorist practices.

By Prem Mahadevan

Exactly five years ago, ten members of the Pakistani jihadist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) landed on the Mumbai shoreline. What followed was a 60-hour shooting rampage that became, after 9/11, the most-watched terrorist attack in history. In the years since, it has also become one of the most-studied. The fifth anniversary of these attacks marks an opportunity to take stock of what has been learned about this signal event, its motivations and objectives, and its implications for security management.

Because of unprecedented counterterrorism cooperation between various governments in the years after the attacks, a great deal of information has subsequently come to light. As a result, “26/11” (as it is now called) is one of the few cases where micro-details about jihadist operational planning, recruitment and training processes are available in the public domain. Three arrests were particularly crucial to this, allowing investigators to identify the perpetrators, retrace their modus operandi and ascertain their aims. The first of these arrests occurred during the attack itself, when Indian police captured one of the gunmen, a Pakistani national named Ajmal Kasab. The second occurred in October 2009, when US officials arrested a Pakistani-American named Daood Gilani, who had legally changed his name to ‘David Headley’ in order to reconnoitre potential targets on behalf of LeT. The final arrest was that of Zabiuddin Ansari, a member of the core group that planned and supervised the attack, by Indian police in June 2012.

A new ‘normal’ in terrorism

According to international security experts, the recent attack by Al Shabaab on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall bore an eerie resemblance to 26/11. This should come as no surprise: LeT operates an extensive training infrastructure in Pakistan, which it uses to impart tactical skills and operational techniques (developed jointly with Al Qaeda in the early 1990s) to foreign jihadists keen to attack Western nationals. For some time, scattered reports have indicated that LeT is expanding its reach to include east Africa, via Al Shabaab. If true, this would explain the parallel between Mumbai and Nairobi.

In both attacks, a small group of terrorists armed with hand-held assault weapons and commercially-available communications technology, caused significant economic disruption and political trauma to a society in peacetime. Unaccustomed to handling urban combat operations, local security forces failed to effectively respond to a fluid and unpredictable attack pattern. Alarmingly, simulations have revealed that Western law enforcement agencies would have been unlikely to perform much better in similar circumstances. This suggests that jihadists are learning to exploit structural flaws in police and military Special Weapon and Tactics (SWAT) concepts. The key to explaining this tactical innovation lies in understanding how LeT in particular acquired its technical proficiency – i.e., not through in-house experimentation, but through instruction from counterterrorist professionals.

Not just a terrorist attack, but a commando raid

Before anyone outside the jihadist fraternity had even heard of Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden was employing former Egyptian policemen and soldiers to train terrorist operatives. In order to boost its own reputation in the international ‘jihadosphere’, Al Qaeda in the late 1980s provided high-quality paramilitary instruction to anyone ready to wage jihad against the West. Over the last fifteen years, LeT – long an aspiring rival of Al Qaeda – has copied this method of self-promotion. Beginning in 1998, the group made concerted efforts to recruit former members of the Pakistani Army –especially the Special Services Group (SSG), a commando force – for this purpose. Training for urban assaults was carried out by ex-soldiers of Zarrar Company, the SSG’s counterterrorist SWAT team.

With this expertise, LeT taught both its own operational planners and foreign students to anticipate how police and military personnel would initially react upon receiving news of a shooting incident. In particular, attack plans were designed to increase confusion among police first-responders and to retain the tactical initiative through the proactive use of fire and manoeuvre. Until Ajmal Kasab and Daood Gilani (aka David Headley) told interrogators about their training in LeT camps, few had realized that personnel from the same Pakistani force that was meant to combat terrorism were actually teaching jihadists how to inflict more damage. Even today, radicalization among SSG soldiers remains a grossly understudied aspect of the Pakistani jihadist phenomenon.

The SWAT hostage rescue concept – which serves as a model for units like the SSG – relies on the assumption that terrorists eventually want to negotiate. Thus, ex-Zarrar Company personnel working with LeT developed the concept of suicidal assaults that continue without any scope for dialogue until terminated by kinetic means. By fighting to the death – and using hostages only as temporary human shields, if at all – terrorist gunmen ensure media attention just as effectively as by holding hostages for ransom. To that extent, LeT is reminiscent of the Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas. With tactics acquired from ex-members of the elite Mexican and Guatemalan army ‘special forces’, the Zetas introduced a new level of professionalism and savagery into gangland killings, which have changed the character of narco-violence in Latin America.

The planners

According to Indian and American officials, planning for the 26/11 attack began on the basis of reconnaissance probes conducted by David Headley in 2006-08. His controller was Sajid Majeed, a ‘Salafi’ or ‘Arabized’ jihadist born in 1976 who was keen to undertake some personal brand-building. Lacking combat experience (a prerequisite for leadership positions in the terrorist fraternity), Majeed also wanted to strengthen his credentials within the LeT hierarchy. For Majid, 26/11 was an opportunity to do this, as well as a chance to kill Indians, Westerners and Israelis in a single attack that would capture global attention.

Coordination was handled by LeT military chief Zaki Ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Preparations for the actual attack were supervised by mid-ranking officers from Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). US court documents used in Headley’s trial have revealed that of the $29,500 provided to him for surveying possible targets in India, $28,500 was supplied by an ISI officer with the rank of major. Another major from the agency introduced Headley to LeT, and an ISI colonel arranged his training in intelligence tradecraft. Even the method of ingress used by the gunmen – landing by boat, thereby avoiding the heavily-guarded overland border – was chosen by a member of the Pakistani Navy with experience in amphibious operations. Finally, according to Zabiuddin Ansari, the weapons, explosives and ammunition used in the attacks were all delivered by ISI officials to LeT training areas in northern Pakistan. Two officials from the agency were even present in the LeT control room in Karachi, from where the gunmen in Mumbai were managed via internet telephony services.

The cumulative effects of these revelations suggest that 26/11 was not the work of non-state actors alone. During the attack itself, the LeT handlers in Karachi were overheard telling the gunmen that a general in the Pakistani army approved of their actions. Electronic surveillance later recorded senior Pakistani officials exulting about the number of deaths caused. Although this could have been post hoc jubilation, Indian and American investigators strongly suspect that final approval for the plan of attack came from a top-ranking military officer who had previously also headed the ISI. If 26/11 was not a state-sponsored act of international terrorism, then it was at the very least state-enabled.

Preventing domestic terrorism by promoting foreign terrorism

This leads to the most puzzling question of all – what motivated the attack? If LeT had been acting alone, then the objective could be easily inferred. Because the attack took place as relations between India and Pakistan were improving after years of hostility, most commentators initially concluded that LeT was out to wreck India-Pakistan rapprochement. As it turns out, there is no evidence that the terrorist group considered bilateral relations while planning its assault, except in predicting (correctly) that political confusion and international pressure would lead India to exercise military restraint, thus allowing the attack to go unpunished.

As the wealth of subsequent information now indicates, the best explanation for 26/11 lies not in the bilateral relationship between India and Pakistan but in the domestic situation within Pakistan itself. Since July 2007, the Pakistani army had been facing a severe jihadist backlash, the result of its decision to storm an Islamist stronghold and rescue Chinese citizens held captive there. In addition to resulting in heavy civilian casualties, the army’s willingness to attack Pakistani citizens in order to preserve a strategic relationship with Beijing angered virtually all of the country’s jihadist groups.

The one exception, however, was Lashkar-e-Taiba. Pakistan’s most powerful jihadist organization did not join the rebellion that was brewing against the Pakistani military. In part, its restraint was based on historical ties with the army: the two organizations recruit from the same areas and many families have members in both. But there were also pragmatic reasons: LeT had a massive above-ground presence in Pakistan and could not afford to jeopardise this by criticizing the military, much less attacking it.

For its part, the ISI’s role in the attack can be explained by the desire to rebuild the military’s lost credibility with jihadists by strengthening its ‘loyal’ partner, Lashkar-e-Taiba. The means chosen was a cross-border attack that could be plausibly denied and instead attributed to a jihadist organization from India – even if no such organization existed. The evidence suggests that 26/11 was envisaged as a suicidal strike in which all the attackers would eventually be killed by Indian security forces, leaving no hard evidence that they had come from Pakistan. In intelligence parlance, it was designed as a ‘false-flag’ operation, wherein the LeT gunmen would contact Indian television channels and claim that they were acting on behalf of the ‘Deccan Mujahideen’ – a phantom jihadist group that no security agency had ever heard of before (or has heard of since, for that matter).

Three factors prevented deniability from being attained. First, Kasab was captured alive. Speedily interrogated by the Americans, who flew a special team to Mumbai just for the purpose, he confirmed that LeT was in fact the organization responsible. This happened even as LeT spokesmen in Pakistan were strenuously denying any involvement. Second, Indian security agencies scored a major success by identifying the terrorists’ method of communication while the attack was going on, which enabled them to listen in on the instructions coming from Karachi. Finally, the United States leveraged its massive signals intelligence capability to independently collect data which corroborated the Indians’ findings. In their eagerness to create a major international spectacle by micro-managing events on the ground, LeT controllers in Karachi left an electronic trail that destroyed any prospect of the attack not being traced back to Pakistan. The ISI may have overlooked this weakness in the attack plan either because it was so keen for the operation to go through, or because it had calculated that, even if culpability was proven, Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent would act as a shield against any punishment.

Careerism in terrorism

One of the more interesting aspects of the 26/11 conspiracy was the extent of internal competition and petty rivalries among LeT planners. In particular, Sajid Majeed was reportedly desperate to upstage a rival within the group, who had been organizing a successful bombing campaign in India. In the process Majeed jeopardised communications security and played an instrumental role in focusing international counterterrorist efforts against LeT. (Some years previously, he had also been implicated in a LeT plot to attack a nuclear installation in Australia and in 2009, was believed to be planning a Mumbai-style attack in Copenhagen.) This pattern of reckless organizational behaviour raises the question of whether groups such as LeT and Al Shabaab plan their operations according to any coherent strategy, or merely according to the whims of their middle-managers. If the latter is the case, then going after such managers could be a viable means of preventing attacks like 26/11 and Westgate in the future. Nuclear weapons might protect Pakistan-based jihadist groups like LeT from retribution, and indeed elements of the ‘Deep State’ (the military-intelligence complex) who are complicit in jihadist attacks. But they offer no protection to individual terrorist operatives, whose main defence is anonymity and whose operational relevance shall diminish even as their points of personal vulnerability increase with time.

Dr. Prem Mahadevan is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies, ETH Zürich. He holds undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees in War Studies and Intelligence Studies from King’s College London. He is currently completing a monograph on the role that special operations can play in combating terrorism.

The article The 26/11 Attack, Five Years Later – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

‘We Are Suffering A Slow-Motion Nuclear War’ – Interview

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By Julio Godoy

Robert Jacobs was born 53 years ago, at the height of the cold war, amidst the then reigning paranoia of nuclear annihilation of humankind. In school, he was eight years old. “We learned about how to survive a nuclear attack. We were told that the key to survival was to always be vigilant in detecting the first signs of a nuclear attack.”

45 years later, Jacobs, Bo for his friends, is one of the world’s leading researchers on the social and cultural consequences of radioactivity on families and communities. Bo holds a PhD in history, has published three books on nuclear issues, and is author of hundreds of essays on the same matter. He is also professor and researcher at the Graduate Faculty of International Studies and the Peace Institute, both at the Hiroshima City University, Japan.

Back in the early 1960s, Jacobs learnt at school that “The first thing we would perceive (on a nuclear attack) would be the bright flash of the detonation. Teachers told us to always be prepared for this flash and to take shelter. I remember going home that day and sitting on the steps in front of my house in suburban Chicago and just sitting there for an hour waiting for the flash.”

This dreadful experience marked Jacobs’ life, for it led his studies and professional life towards analysing the consequences of the nuclear age on humankind.

“We live through a slow motion nuclear war,” he says, referring to the sheer amount of nuclear and radioactive material stored across the world, which will be part of the global ecosystem for millenniums to come.

As professor at the Hiroshima City University, Jacobs spends most of his time in one of the two cities (along with Nagasaki) destroyed by nuclear annihilation in the final phase of World War II (1939-1945). He is a privileged witness of the social and psychological responses of society to such a tragedy; furthermore, the nuclear accident of Fukushima (in Mach 2011) has given him again a excruciating opportunity to analyse social, psychological, and bureaucratic reactions to such catastrophes.

Julio Godoy, associated global editor of IDN-InDepthNews, communicated with Prof. Jacobs through Email:

What made you pursue an academic career on nuclear issues?

Robert Jacobs (RJ): My choice of a career working on nuclear issues is the result of a childhood in which I was very afraid of nuclear weapons. When I was 8 years old we learned in school about how to survive a nuclear attack. I don’t remember the specific format, I don’t think it was the classic Duck and Cover material but it was similar. We were told that the key to survival was to always be vigilant in detecting the first signs of a nuclear attack. The first thing we would perceive would be the bright flash of the detonation. They told us to always be prepared for this flash and to take shelter. I remember going home that day and sitting on the steps in front of my house in suburban Chicago and just sitting there for an hour waiting for the flash.

Vigilantly waiting for the flash. I imagined the school across the street from me just dissolving. I imagined my house, and all of the houses on my block dissolving. I imagined my whole town just dissolving into white light. I became terrified. I think that this was partly when I became aware of my own mortality and that I would die one day, but it was very connected to nuclear weapons. The way that I dealt with this fear was to find books in the library about nuclear weapons and read them. Throughout my childhood I read everything that I could find about nuclear weapons. Since I had such a strong fear, my means of dealing with it was to learn whatever I could about the thing that terrified me. I have never stopped this process.

Fukushima

As staff member of the Hiroshima Peace Institute you are first-rank witness of the severest nuclear catastrophe of modern times. Fukushima typifies several dangers of all things nuclear: The difficulties to control the technology, the recklessness of administrations, both private and public, and the fact that radioactivity does not respect national borders. How do you see the catastrophe?

RJ: I see the catastrophe as absolutely horrifying and ongoing. There is no discernible end in sight to this tragedy, radiation will continue to seep into the Pacific Ocean for decades. I think that there were many instances of negligence that facilitated the disaster. The design of the reactors and site was bad. The maintenance of the plant was neglected for decades. Adequate emergency procedures were never designed or enacted. In many ways, this highlights the problems not just of nuclear power but especially of privately run, for profit, nuclear power plants. In this case profits are raised by lowering costs, a process which both facilitated and accelerated the disaster. TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) notoriously has neglected its nuclear plants in honour of increasing profitability.

Beyond this, I would say that we also see illustrated here that the decisions to build nuclear plants are national ones, but when they have problems they are always global in scale. When one considers the time scale of some of the radionuclides that enter the ecosystem from nuclear disasters, they will stay in the ecosystem for thousands of years (as will the radionuclides in the spent fuel rods when they operate without a meltdown). These radionuclides will simply cycle through the ecosystem for millenniums. These toxins will remain dangerous for hundreds of generations and will disperse throughout the planet. At Fukushima the benefits of the electricity generated by the plants will have lasted barely longer than one generation while the sickness and contamination resulting from the disaster will last for hundreds.

‘Cold shutdown’ catastrophe

How do you evaluate the government’s handling of the catastrophe, for instance, the fact that only 12 square kilometres around the site have been evacuated?

RJ: The government’s handling of the disaster is a second disaster. Virtually every decision has been driven by two things: money and public relations. The decision to evacuate only 12 square kilometres was driven by concerns of cost and not by concerns of public health. When the government mandates evacuation they incur financial responsibilities. This is why they limited it to 12 km. They made a “suggested” evacuation area of 20 square kilometres.

Why the difference? Mandatory vs. suggested? The area between 12 and 20 km where evacuation is suggested means that the government bears no fiscal responsibility for those evacuees. If they evacuate, it is their own decision, and must be done at their own cost. These people are in a terrible bind. They know that they must evacuate because of the levels of radiation, but they will receive no assistance. Their homes are now worthless and cannot be sold. They are on their own. They have become both contaminated and impoverished. The other thing guiding decision making by the government is public relations.

While they knew that there had been a full meltdown on the first day of the disaster, and three full meltdowns by the third day, they denied this for almost three months. The reason this was done was to control perceptions. They managed to keep the word “meltdown” off the front pages of the world’s newspapers during the period when they were focused on Fukushima.

When the government acknowledged the meltdowns almost three months later the story was on page 10 or page 12 of international papers. This is a success for them. At the end of 2011 they declared the plants in “cold shutdown.” This is insane. The term cold shutdown refers to the activities of an undamaged and fully functional reactor. A reactor whose fuel has melted and is now located somewhere unknown beneath the reactor building, and that must have water poured on it for years to keep it cool are not in cold shutdown. This was just a way of saying to people that the event was over and everything was under control–absolute conscious lies. These concerns, costs and perceptions have guided the government’s response far more than public safety has.

Loss of livelihoods

How does the tragedy affect the food supply?

RJ: The government has set “legally acceptable” levels of contamination in food. For example, there is a legally allowable level for caesium in rice. So if some rice is contaminated above this legal level it is not removed from the food supply, but rather is mixed with uncontaminated rice until it is below this level. This is a process for moving contaminated food into the food supply, not excluding it.

The reasons for this are cost. Many thousands of people have lost their livelihoods because of the disaster. Many farmers, fisherman and others have lost the value of their businesses because of contamination, with no fault of their own.

What is to be done about these people? One solution would be to compensate them for their lost businesses, but this would cost a lot of money up front. The other solution is to try to keep their businesses viable. To do this you keep them at work, you continue to bring their agricultural goods and fish to market and support their businesses.

In this case you end up with increased costs to public health because of exposure to radiation, but those cost come in the future, they are on the backside, in 10-20 years. So bringing contaminated food to market reduces short term costs and pushes the consequences into the lives of politicians in the future. But by far the most disastrous thing is to allow so many children to remain in contaminated areas. All children should be removed from contaminated areas immediately, but that would, alas, cost money.

Tradition and radioactivity

For the relatives of the mortal victims of the Fukushima accident, the fact that they cannot tend and worship the graves of their relatives constitutes a further penalty. Can you tell me something about this Japanese tradition and how radioactivity impedes it?

RJ: There are a few things to think about in relation to this. First is the Japanese holiday of Obon. This is a very old traditional holiday in which ancestors are celebrated and thanked. During this holiday many people return to the towns where their families are from and conduct very old rituals. The family goes to the site of the graves of their ancestors and clean and decorate their graves. They invite the spirits of their ancestors to return to visit with the living family for a few days. The family tends to spend this time together building both connections to the past and to each other. At the end of the festival the spirits of the ancestors are escorted back to the cemetery.

For those whose home towns are in the contaminated area, this ritual can no longer be observed. They are unable to honour the spirits of their ancestors in traditional ways, and the graves of their ancestors are untended. This can have a devastating psychological affect. The notion that ancestors are no longer being honoured, no longer being invited to join together with the living, and that they will spend eternity with the dishonour of graves untended by their descendants can damage families and individuals.

For many people, these are rituals that have been observed in their families for hundreds of years, for many generations, and it is they who have broken this chain. How will the ancestors know that they are not being disrespected, but that the descendants have no choice? Having worked with many radiation-exposed communities around the world, I know that many people are able to manage the distress that this causes for a few years, knowing it is not their fault. But over decades of neglecting ancestors people tend to feel a visceral sense of their own failure to honour their ancestors. Additionally, when the tsunami occurred, some people were unable to claim the bodies of their relatives and give them a proper burial as their bodies were recovered very close to the nuclear plants and were considered “nuclear waste.”

‘Second class citizens’

What other humanitarian consequences has the catastrophe provoked?

RJ: There is almost no way to calculate this. Many families have divorced over conflicts about whether to move or to stay, whether to eat local food or not. Many children are unable to play or spend time outdoors because of contamination. Many wear dosimeters that record their exposures (they don’t alert the children to the presence of radiation, merely record the exposures for later diagnostic purposes) and they will grow up with a sense of being “contaminated.” Children in families that move away have been experiencing bullying and discrimination. Many people have no idea if they have been exposed to radiation, but are aware that they have been lied to repeatedly; about whether they will be able to return to their homes, about the dangers of radioactivity, about nuclear power in general.

My work with radiation exposed people around the world has shown that those exposed to radiation often become “second class citizens.” They are shunned, they are lied to, they are observed for medical information but rarely informed of this information, and they are marked as contaminated for the rest of their lives. In this way they are denied the dignity that other members of the same society expect.

‘Military colonialism’

Now to nuclear weapons: Western countries in possession of the bomb have over the years carried out experiments in faraway locations, in Oceania, in the North African deserts, not near London or Paris… It is an extraordinary abuse, and yet such countries have never been made accountable for the damages they have caused…

RJ: I view nuclear testing as linked to military colonialism. Nuclear powers tend to test in the far reaches of their military empires and contaminating people with little political power or agency to protect themselves. As is true in general, colonialists rarely have to face any consequences for their exploitation. This is an extension of the brutalization of the colonized by the colonizer.

When we look at the history of colonialism, the British have entirely retained the great wealth that came from the slave trade, when the French lost Haiti, Haiti was forced to pay compensation to the French for their “loss.” In the case of the nuclear powers, we can see this dominance both sustained and rewarded. Consider the Security Council of the United Nations, its five permanent members are the first five nuclear powers. Obtaining nuclear weapons has earned them a permanent veto over “lesser” countries. Those exposed to radiation from nuclear weapon testing have almost never been given any health care or compensation for loss of life or the contamination of land and food sources. It is criminal.

Nuclear ignorance – nuclear fatalism

You work and live in Hiroshima, one of the two cities which directly suffered the unspeakable effects of nuclear weapons. Despite such horrors, still present in our lives, the world nuclear powers, from the U.S.A. to Pakistan, have accumulated some 30,000 nuclear heads capable of destroying the Earth several times. And yet, nobody seems to be scandalised about it. This lethargy, is it ignorance or fatalism?

RJ: Both. Most people don’t ever think about nuclear weapons. Most didn’t think much about nuclear power until Fukushima. For most people nuclear weapons are abstract – they have never seen one, they don’t understand how they work – as poet John Canaday has said, most people experience nuclear weapons through stories, and for many those stories are Hollywood movies in which there are rarely consequences from nuclear detonations (besides killing aliens and destroying asteroids).

But it is also true that many people don’t feel that they can do anything about nuclear weapons. They are never a topic of public debate in the politics of nuclear nations, they are at the deepest, most secure parts of large militaries. And most people really have no idea of how much of their tax monies are being spent on nuclear weapons in nuclear nations. This, by the way, is where I feel that the stockpiles are vulnerable. As wealthy imperial nations decline, the billions spent annually on nuclear weapons will be questioned. They are rarely questioned in terms of desirability since many people living in nuclear armed countries feel that the weapons either protect them or help to establish their nation as one of the big players.

Can you imagine such a child terrified by the possibility of nuclear annihilation, as you were yourself today, in Israel, in Iran, in Korea, in India, or Pakistan?

RJ: Yes, it is possible for me to imagine such an experience in today’s world, for instance Kashmir where the military stance between nuclear armed India and Pakistan is very visible. But I do think that it would be different. In the modern case the child would be imagining such a thing, piecing it together through what they hear at home and around the community. When I was young it was presented as formal education in the school system, so I didn’t have to imagine it myself at all, I was being trained to think about nuclear war.

Julio Godoy is an investigative journalist and IDN Associate Global Editor. He has won international recognition for his work, including the Hellman-Hammett human rights award, the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Investigative Reporting Online by the U.S. Society of Professional Journalists, and the Online Journalism Award for Enterprise Journalism by the Online News Association and the U.S.C. Annenberg School for Communication, as co-author of the investigative reports “Making a Killing: The Business of War” and “The Water Barons: The Privatisation of Water Services”.

The article ‘We Are Suffering A Slow-Motion Nuclear War’ – Interview appeared first on Eurasia Review.

John Kerry At The OAS: A Shift In US Policy Or More Of The Same? – OpEd

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By Frederick B. Mills

In a speech delivered on November 18 before the Organization of American States (OAS) and cosponsored by the Inter-American Dialogue, Secretary of State John Kerry did not exactly stun his audience by declaring “the era of the Monroe Doctrine is over.” At best, this grand gesture evoked a somewhat hesitant applause. Could it be that the audience was taken by surprise? After all, just seven months ago, Kerry referred to Latin America as “our back yard.” The use of such language engendered disbelief because this was not the first time a Secretary of State announced a significant shift in US policy towards Latin America. At the 1933 Pan-American Conference in Montevideo, Cordell Hull echoed President Franklin Roosevelt’s good neighbor policy by backing a credo that “No state has the right to intervene in the internal or external affairs of another.” But a long series of US interventions in Latin America has undermined the credibility of that promise and forever placed a burden of proof on any new such declarations of a change of course called for by a United States official.

The burden of proof has arguably not yet been met by the Obama administration. It is on President Obama’s watch that the US backed a golpista regime in Honduras. This provoked the outrage and disillusionment of many of Obama’s avid supporters, both in the US and Latin America, who had wanted to believe that “yes we can” when it comes to having a policy of mutual respect among the Americas. The Obama administration has also not hesitated to use soft power to wield its influence in the region. For example, in May 2013, Washington pulled out all of the stops to pressure the Salvadoran legislature into passing a Public Private Partnership Law (P3), even threatening to withhold a second Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact (MCC) grant of $277 million US dollars. On the security front, Washington has noticeably beefed up the US military presence in Colombia and Honduras, and recent revelations about the excessively broad nature of US spying operations in the hemisphere have provoked indignant rebuffs from some of the region’s leaders. At the present moment, with tensions rising in Caracas in anticipation of municipal elections in Venezuela on December 8th, the Obama administration still declines to recognize the election of Nicolas Maduro as President of Venezuela. Some of these policy decisions may be considered “interventions” and manifestations of a simmering confrontation between the U.S. support for the rehabilitation of neoliberalism in the region and popular resistance to similar moves throughout the hemisphere.

The Kerry speech comes in the context of the growing independence of the Latin American and Caribbean nations over the past two decades. This independence is expressed through civil society, multilateral and international relationships. The democratic legitimacy of the OAS in terms of representing Latin American states is being gradually diminished not so much by a disintegration of the regional body but by the pronouncements of a string of new, generally left-leaning multilateral organizations such as ALBA, UNASUR, MERCOSUR, and CELAC which do not provide for U.S. membership. Leftist and populist politics, however, do not completely determine the movement towards independence and integration. There has been a stark divergence between Washington and other OAS member states at the last two gatherings of the Summit of the Americas on issues that transcend ideology, ranging from demands to end the embargo against Cuba to calling into question the strategy of the War on Drugs. Finally, on the international front, Latin America and the Caribbean have increasingly diversified their trading partnerships and built new alliances. The late President Hugo Chavez championed such developments as a contribution towards building a multi-polar world. Nevertheless, both the US and Latin America have significant mutual commercial interests and cultural ties that would only benefit from a resounding end to the application of the Monroe Doctrine.

While Kerry’s speech does not drum forth a new grand alliance of a unified Americas, it does seek to convey at least somewhat more than a routine commitment to democracy and freedom. Should we be hopeful that Washington will, in Kerry’s words, treat other nations as “equals” with a “shared commitment to democracy” that will “advance the values and the interests that we share”? This has to depend on what Kerry means by “democracy,” exactly which of the social and political forces are considered “partners,” and what particular “values and interests” these democratic partners are supposed to be sharing. U.S. diplomacy may be indicating that in its lexicon, those nations that conform to the imperatives of free market economics are worthy colleagues and have the right values and interests. On the other hand, those nations that are implementing social democratic policies that reject the neoliberal creed and those nations that are experimenting with versions of 21st century socialism, are presumably not considered worthy partners. This interpretation of the political lexicon suggests that when Kerry stressed that “the Western Hemisphere is unified in its commitment to pursuing successful democracies,” he was referring to a limited partnership of nations that accept some form of neoliberal economic and social policy. It appears that in practice, such partner states do not need democratic credentials to join the club (such as Honduras); nor do they have to respect human rights as (as in the cases of Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras). This arrangement can even leave out millions of the formerly excluded and marginalized citizens who reject the Washington consensus, either in whole or in large part, because they seek to democratize not only the liberal state, but the economic and social dimensions of their lives as well. This extension of democracy requires structural reform, something that is anathema to transnational corporate interests and the empire which promotes those interests in the hemisphere.

The Kerry speech intimates the exclusion of two countries, or perhaps more precisely, the current governments of two countries, from the vital partnership: Cuba and Venezuela. With regard to Havana, Kerry signaled a possible change of course that acknowledges the reforms taking place in Cuba while criticizing the continued command structure of the regime. These signals, when heard in light of Obama’s own somewhat ambiguous speech in Miami on November 8th, suggest that the President might move to support an end to the embargo. This would arguably constitute a significant step forward for US policy in the region.

Kerry has no problem singling out Venezuela for derision, and speaks as a member of the OAS in good standing when he says: “we also express our concern when democratic institutions are weakened, as we’ve seen in Venezuela recently.” But the unanimity of this “we,” is not at all clear, as the Secretary General of the OAS has recognized the outcome of the Presidential election in Venezuela and Venezuela enjoys diplomatic and mutually respectful relations with almost all of the member states. The Bolivarian Revolution does, however, pose an economic, social, and political model that departs both from the Washington Consensus and the liberal democratic ideal. It rejects the view that democracy can only thrive in largely unregulated free markets and it is experimenting with communal structures that are designed to practice direct participatory democracy. Though imperfect and facing formidable challenges, the fact that these fledgling communal structures challenge capitalist relationships of production and distribution does not mean Venezuela is fundamentally less democratic than other states that are included in the presumed partnership.

In fact, not surprising but damaging to the bona fides of the Kerry Speech, Honduras was not given special mention for a leadership role in the rogues’ gallery. Since the coup there in 2009 which ousted its democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya, the human rights record of Honduras has deteriorated and Honduran security forces have been implicated in a number of violations. On Sunday, Honduras held presidential elections in an environment where 17 opposition party (LIBRE) members have reportedly been murdered, exacerbating an already tense atmosphere of fear and intimidation. At this writing the results are not yet definite. In any case, this was an important election, because the current government of strongman President Porfirio Lobo has enthusiastically bought the neoliberal package being aggressively peddled by Washington and the reported victory by conservative Juan Orlando Hernandez of the ruling National Party over left-leaning LIBRE candidate Xiomara Castro has further entrenched Honduras’ increasingly rightist economic orientation, although Castro is contesting the results.

Pro-democratic forces in the hemisphere are not likely to mount an argument against Kerry’s support for increased access to education nor a shared economic prosperity, the use of renewable and clean energy, and other laudable economic and social goals. There are different approaches, however, to how those goals should be achieved that are derived from deep ideological differences among member states of the OAS about the degree to which democracy should be extended to economic and social spheres. If the US is to successfully respect these differences, an end to the Monroe Doctrine would include a termination of security arrangements that enable anti-drug forces to abuse human rights; the closure of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly SOA); an end to the embargo against Cuba; and a commit to non-intervention, even in states that seek to redistribute wealth and implement structural change. It must be their, and not Washington’s, decision to make.

The US is unlikely to embrace such a change of course, but seems to be in an ideological holding pattern. Here is the dilemma: Washington has been largely committed to transnational corporate interests and the neoliberal policies that afford privileges for those interests in Latin America, yet the Obama Administration also recognizes that it is more likely to remain a major economic player in the region by dredging out a role of being a “good neighbor.” Our neighbors are not just states and political parties, but the indigenous movements, social movements, and popular sectors that are transforming the political and cultural landscape. These movements are linked to people to people ties between the North and South that have been building networks of solidarity for decades. It is in the interests of constituents in all of the Americas to unite and join the effort, through genuine democratic procedures, to overcome the inequality, militarism, and needless human suffering that still plagues the western hemisphere.

Frederick B. Mills, Senior Research Fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs and Professor of Philosophy at Bowie State University

The article John Kerry At The OAS: A Shift In US Policy Or More Of The Same? – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Are Americans Fighting In Syria A Future US Security Threat?

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By Cecily Hilleary

The recent arrest of a young American who was on his way to Syria to allegedly join Jihadist fighters seeking to topple the regime of Bashar al-Assad may add to worries among U.S. law enforcement circles. Basit Javed Sheikh, a 29-year-old Pakistani immigrant living in North Carolina, was arrested as he attempted to board the first in a series of planned flights to Syria. He had told an FBI informant on Facebook that he was going to join the al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front in Syria.

In a recent background briefing for reporters, U.S. intelligence officials said dozens of Americans have joined the thousands of other foreigners who have flocked to Syria to fight against al-Assad’s forces. Intelligence officials say that more Americans will likely follow as the conflict continues and they worry that these ‘American jihadists’ could pose a grave threat once they return to the U.S. Who are these American fighters? Should the U.S. be concerned—or are these fears overstated?

Matthew Aid is the author of Intel Wars: The Secret History of the Fight Against Terror and a leading intelligence historian. He says most young Americans who go to fight in Syria are young Muslims who have been radicalized—either by outside groups or on their own.

These include Nicole Lynn Mansfield, 33, a Muslim convert who was killed in May 2013 in a battle with regime forces in Idlib Province, and Eric Omar Harroun, a U.S. Army veteran who was charged with providing support to a terrorist group, after he was accused of fighting alongside the Al-Nusra Front. Harroun was recently released from jail after accepting a plea deal to a lesser charge.

Radicalization and recruitment

American journalist and self-styled “freedom fighter” Matthew VanDyke fought against the Gaddafi regime in Libya and later went to Syria, where he produced a documentary, “Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution.” He says most American jihadists have romanticized notions of the conflict, based on what they find online.

Jihadist groups close to Al-Qaeda, for example, post videos of suicide attacks or photos of the dead posed as if smiling, in a bid to attract youth to Syria or solicit cash donations.

“This stuff has some appeal to people who want to believe in something,” VanDyke said. “A guy who perhaps is working at his father’s convenience store all day selling cigarettes looks at these glorifications of war and wants to run off and attain glory—or reach paradise.”

He says he regularly receives emails from people wanting advice on how to go fight in Syria. He says he tells them not to go. They have no idea what they are getting into, he says.

Cannon fodder

Matthew Aid recently interviewed a group of German Muslims who went to Syria and were lucky enough to make it back home—but not before serving time in Turkish jails. He says most of them are just “kids.”

“Many get killed through sheer ineptitude, and I say that with more than a little sorrow, because they had no training,” said Aid. “A good cry of ‘Allahu Akhbar!’ is all nice and fine, but it won’t save you on the battlefield.”

Aid says the local rebel groups often don’t trust foreign volunteers, suspecting they are spies. Fighters coming from Europe or North America have little or no military training. Nor do they speak Arabic. In the end, says Aid, these fighters are a liability.

“So basically the jihadists take all these western Europeans and put them in a separate unit, where they wouldn’t endanger the guys who actually have combat experience and know what they are doing,” Aid said. They may give foreign recruits inferior weapons and place them in the front lines—or send them out on suicide missions.

Returning jihadists: A threat?

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller warned the public last August that Syria could end up a breeding ground for “radical extremists who want to do harm” to the U.S.

But VanDyke says he believes those fears are overblown.

“The vast majority of these guys who go over are either going to never come back—cause they’ll be killed, most of them—and the ones who do come back do so right away, because they can’t handle what they see,” VanDyke said.

For his part, VanDyke says he came back to the U.S. with a greater appreciation for the freedoms and liberties he finds here. He believes the possibility that these fighters will do the same is much higher than the possibility that they will come back and want to “blow things up.”

The article Are Americans Fighting In Syria A Future US Security Threat? appeared first on Eurasia Review.

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