By American Forces Press Service

By Jim Garamone

The United States continues to plan for a post-2014 training and assistance mission in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said, despite the fact that Afghan President Hamid Karzai continues to delay the signing of an agreement that would allow for the new mission.

Hagel and senior commanders met with President Barack Obama at the White House on Feb. 4 and discussed the retrograde of forces and equipment from Afghanistan, as well as all the other dimensions of the effort in the country, Hagel said at a Pentagon news conference.

“It was an honest exchange between his commanders and himself about the future,” the secretary added.

The U.S. position has not changed, he said. U.S. officials continue to encourage Karzai to sign the bilateral security agreement that he negotiated with the United States last year. A national council that Karzai convened overwhelmingly approved the agreement in November, and the vast majority of Afghans are said to favor its adoption. Yet, Karzai has so far refused to sign the pact, saying he will not do so until after April’s presidential elections.

“We continue to hope and believe that it will be signed,” Hagel said. “We will continue to plan and work with our NATO and [International Security Assistance Force] commanders for a post-2014 mission.”

That mission is to train, assist and advise Afghan forces and to conduct counterterrorism operations as needed.

Afghan forces are in the lead throughout the country, Hagel said, but they still have some shortcomings – notably in logistics and intelligence and reconnaissance. Building institutions at the top of the military is absolutely crucial to this effort, he added.

“Remember, 12 years ago, there weren’t any institutions at all in Afghanistan,” he said, noting that the U.S. military helps partners around the world with institution-building. “And [the goal is] a continuation of investing and helping them invest in their own future, in their own institutions, to give them the capability.”

The article US Continues To Plan For Post-2014 Afghan Mission, Hagel Says appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By RT

Whistleblower Edward Snowden used “inexpensive” and “widely available” software to gain access to at least 1.7 million secret files, The New York Times reported, quoting senior intelligence officials investigating the breach.

The collection process was “quite automated,” a senior intelligence official revealed. Snowden used “web crawler” software to “search, index and back up” files. The program just kept running, as Snowden went about his daily routine.

“We do not believe this was an individual sitting at a machine and downloading this much material in sequence,” the official said.

Investigators concluded that Snowden’s attack was not highly sophisticated and should have been easily detected by special monitors. The web crawler can be programmed to go from website to website, via embedded links in each document, copying everything it comes across.

The whistleblower managed to set the right algorithm for the web crawler, indicating subjects and how far to follow the links, according to the report. At the end of the day, Snowden was able to access 1.7 million files including documents on internal NSA networks and internal “wiki” materials, used by analysts to share information across the world.

Reportedly, Snowden had full access to the NSA’s files, as part of his job as the technology contractor in Hawaii, managing computer systems in a faraway outpost that focused on China and North Korea.

Officials added that the files were accessible because the Hawaii outpost was not upgraded with the latest security measures.

The web crawler used by Snowden was similar to, but not as advanced as the Googlebot crawler, used by Google and its search engine to access billions of websites and download their contents for fast search results.

The whistleblower did raise some flags while working in Hawaii, prompting questions about his work, but he was able to ward off criticism successfully.

“In at least one instance when he was questioned, Mr. Snowden provided what were later described to investigators as legitimate-sounding explanations for his activities: As a systems administrator he was responsible for conducting routine network maintenance. That could include backing up the computer systems and moving information to local servers, investigators were told,” according to the report.

Snowden admitted in June to taking an undisclosed number of documents, which in the last half-year have been regularly relied on by the international media for a number of high-profile reports about the US National Security Agency and its British counterpart, GCHQ. He was then granted political asylum by Russia and now resides in Moscow.

The leaks have unveiled a number of previously unreported NSA operations, including those involving dragnet surveillance programs that put the digital lives of millions, if not billions, of individuals across the world into the possession of the US government.

The article Snowden Used Common Web Crawler Tool To Collect NSA Files appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By VOR

The US does not believe Iran’s claims about sending its ships to the US coast, and consequently feels no concern in this connection. A Pentagon employee who asked not to mention his name or position in the press told ITAR-TASS that, according to their sources, such statements made by Iranian state officials are not to be trusted.

He was asked if the Pentagon considered Iran’s claims to be a threat and if this would affect the US Navy operations in the Persian Gulf area.

Earlier on that day, Commander of Iran’s Naval forces in the Caspian region Admiral Rezaei Haddad announced that Iranian ships are already on their way to the Atlantic Ocean across the waters off the South African coast.

He said that Iran’s Navy is approaching the US sea border and this manoeuvre is a message. The Iranian information agency Fars points out that this is Iran’s response to the reinforcement of the US Navy presence in the Persian Gulf.

Similar belligerent announcements addressed to the US on Iran’s part were repeatedly made in the past but later it usually became clear that they were not consistent with the reality.

Iran sends warships close to US maritime border – naval commander

A senior Iranian naval commander says his country has for the first time sent several warships to the Atlantic Ocean, close to US maritime borders. The commander of Iran’s Northern Navy Fleet, Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad, is quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying Saturday that the vessels have already begun the journey to the Atlantic Ocean via waters near South Africa.

Iranian officials said last month that the fleet consisted of a destroyer and a logistic helicopter carrier, which will be on a three-month mission.

Haddad says the fleet is approaching US maritime borders for the first time. The Islamic Republic considers the move as a response to US naval deployments near its own coastlines. The US Navy’s 5th fleet is based in nearby Bahrain.

In September 2012, Iran’s Navy Commander, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, reiterated Iran’s plans for sailing off the US coasts to counter the US presence in its waters in the Persian Gulf.

Sayyari had earlier mentioned Tehran’s plans to send naval forces to the Atlantic to deploy along the US marine borders, and in September 2012 he said that this would happen “in the next few years”.

The article US Discredits Iran’s Claims Of Sending Ships Near US Coast appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Asian Correspondent

By Edwin Espejo

Philippines President Benigno Aquino III’s comparison of the Chinese leadership to Adolf Hitler is, to say the least, uncalled for, China’s bullying tactics in Asia aside.

It was a provocative response by the Filipino president to the repeated maneuverings of China in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. The escalating standoff in that area is ruffling the feathers of leaders of all countries laying claim to the resource-rich region, whether those claims are legitimate are not. Some are even using the international row to smokescreen shortcomings in their own countries.

Malacañang Palace, the center of the Philippines government, was quick to defend the president from the expected broadside the Chinese media hurled at him.

With 30 months left in office Aquino seems anxious to see out his term, and isn’t shying away from the contreversial – the diplomatic row with China including.

Diplomacy and international relations have never been a strong point of Aquino’s. Hong Kong is still haunting the Filipino president for the botched Manila bus hostage crisis that left nine dead in August 2010.

Even so, comparing the victims of Japan’s Axis-aligned World War II onslaught is an unthoughtful and tactless statement.

But no mistake, China should be brought to account for its provocation and increasing aggression in the region.

China too has a long history of using its might to invade and conquer its neighbors.

After a period of isolation in the 20th century, it has emerged to become one of the world’s biggest economies and an emerging superpower.

In the search for markets and sources of raw materials for its growing industries, it is aggressively dictating the course of international relations in Southeast Asia. No better way to do it than control territories and shipping lanes.

The last thing Aquino and, for that matter, the Philippines as a whole to do is to play into the hands of China’s provocation – unless we have the will to do so.

Calling them Hitler is not the way to do it.

The article Aquino’s China Hitler Jibe An Error Of Judgement – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Ria Novosti

Polish ski jumper Kamil Stoch flew to victory Sunday in the men’s individual normal hill competition at the Sochi Olympics.

Stoch, the world champion, posted both of the two biggest jumps of the night on RusSki Gorki’s K95 hill for a winning score of 278 points.

Slovenia’s Peter Prevc sneaked past Norway’s Anders Bardal in the final round to snatch the silver medal with 265.3 points, 1.2 more than the Norwegian.

In eighth place was 41-year-old Japanese jumper Noriaki Kasai, who is competing at a record seventh Winter Olympics.

There was a heart-stopping moment in the first round when Germany’s Severin Freund, widely tipped as a medal contender, crashed on landing and rolled down the slope. He was unhurt.

The article Poland’s Stoch Soars To Win Sochi Olympic Ski Jumping Gold appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By VOA

By Jeff Seldin

As the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and exiled opposition leaders prepare for a second round of peace talks in Geneva on Monday, U.S. officials are seeing a growing terrorism threat and a regional spillover from the conflict in Syria

Washington has been pushing hard for a negotiated end to the nearly three-year long civil war. But expectations are low after the sides failed to make any progress during the previous round of discussions in Geneva.

In the meantime, the fighting has continued increasing pressure on the Obama administration, which has given indications in recent weeks that its view of the conflict may be changing.

The most notable change in tone came in testimony by CIA Director John Brennan and National Intelligence Director James Clapper this past week before the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.

“Syria presents a number of challenges to U.S. national security interests in terms of the potential spillover of the fighting inside of Syria to neighboring countries, but also, and increasingly so, concerns on the terrorism front,” Brennan told lawmakers.

“We are concerned about the use of Syrian territory by the al-Qaida organization to recruit individuals and develop the capability to be able not just to carry out attacks inside of Syria, but also to use Syria as a launching pad,” he said.

Clapper said the biggest threat stems from “the 7,500 or so foreign fighters from some 50 countries who have gravitated to Syria. Among them are a small group of Af-Pak al-Qaida veterans who have aspirations for external attack, in Europe if not the homeland.”

Syrian President Assad has long blamed “terrorists” for the fighting within Syria, the regime using the term to describe anyone aligned with Syria’s opposition groups.

U.S. officials, though, have put the blame on Assad, accusing him of turning Syria into a magnet for jihadists, like the al-Qaida linked Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which had been affiliated with al-Qaida until a break this week.

Even U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has pointed repeatedly to a negotiated settlement as the only way to the fighting in Syria, spoke of the changing focus during a panel discussion in Munich that Washington’s attention was shifting.

“Particularly now, we are focusing in on Syria where there are increasing numbers of extremists,” he said. “I think we need to be more assertive about what we are doing.”

Critics, who have slammed the U.S. administration for focusing more on process than on policy, see the change in rhetoric as a positive sign but still worry about meddling by countries like Iran, allowed so far to strengthen the Syrian regime.

“You don’t have a counter-terrorism strategy. You don’t have an Iran containment strategy,” said Michael Doran with the Brookings Institution. “Syria is also the issue in the region that all of the other states are responding to and allying on the basis of, so if you don’t have a Syria strategy, you really don’t have a Middle East strategy.”

“We are sitting on the fence and so we have demoralized our allies and we have given more and more confidence to Assad that he can wait us out and that he can win,” he said.

But Doran and others remain skeptical that the U.S. will do much to change course, given the American public weariness after two long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“This is bad foreign policy but it’s not bad domestic policy,” he said.

The article Washington Faces Difficult Choices On Syria appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By RFE RL

(RFE/RL) — Iran has agreed to take seven practical, preliminary measures on nuclear cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The pledge came in a joint statement by Tehran and the IAEA, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, on February 9.

The measures include giving the IAEA access to the Saghand mine in Yazd, the Ardakan concentration plant, and Lashkar Abad Laser Center.

The statement was issued after two days of negotiations in Tehran which it described as “constructive technical talks.”

The IAEA has been trying to persuade Iran to finally start addressing long-held suspicions that Tehran has researched how to build nuclear weapons.

Tehran rejects the accusations.

The talks came 10 days before Iran and world powers start negotiations on a long-term nuclear agreement building upon an interim deal that took effect in January.

The article Iran Says It Agreed To Seven ‘Practical’ Nuclear Measures appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Arab News

By Yusuf Mohammed

Fifteen pilgrims died and 130 others were injured in a fire that broke out at a hotel in Madinah on Saturday, the Madinah Governorate said in a statement.

The fire occurred at the Ishraq Al-Madina Hotel at 2:33 p.m.

Eyewitnesses said the victims were of different nationalities and included Egyptians and Turks.

Civil Defense firefighters were able to put out the blaze by 5 p.m., the governorate said.

Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman has been following up on the incident.

An investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire has been launched, sources said. Preliminary reports indicate that the fire occurred as a result of a short circuit during maintenance work.

Thirty of the injured were treated on the spot, while others were sent to King Fahd Hospital and the Ansar Hospital. According to one report, Ansar received four bodies and 91 injured.

Most pilgrims died of suffocation, the statement said. There were about 700 guests in the hotel at the time the fire broke out.

Authorities evacuated guests and closed off streets leading to the hotel on Sitteen Street.

Some pilgrims who were trapped inside the hotel climbed to the roof of the building for safety.

A large number of people had gathered in front of the hotel, obstructing rescue efforts.

Eighteen fire-fighting teams were dispatched to put out the blaze, while the Red Crescent deployed 14 first-aid teams and Madinah’s Health Department eight teams.

An Indian pilgrim staying at a nearby building said she saw a huge plume of dark smoke coming out of the hotel as she was returning from the Prophet’s Mosque at around 2:45 p.m.

“We saw some people waving through the windows for help. We also saw several firefighters engaged in rescue operations. A large number of people had gathered in front of the hotel. It was a frightening scene,” she said.

There were conflicting reports about the number of Egyptian casualties.

Ahmed Zaki, an official at the Egyptian Consulate in Jeddah, said they had received information about the death of four Egyptians. Another report said that as many as 12 of the 15 victims were Egyptians.

Egyptian Ambassador Afifi Abdel-Wahab was quoted as telling an Egyptian television channel that “15 Egyptians died in the fire.”

Prince Faisal has ordered hotel guests to be relocated.

The article Saudi Arabia: Madinah Hotel Blaze Kills 15 Pilgrims appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Arab News

By Rasheed Abou-Alsamh

The recent death of Amna Bawazeer, a graduate student at King Saud University in Riyadh, after she suffered a massive heart attack on campus on Feb. 5, has led to calls for a full investigation and the implementation of protocols to be used in emergencies.

Two versions of what happened are circulating. The first one says that university officials panicked and waited for too long before they called an ambulance. They add that once the male paramedics finally arrived, they were allegedly not allowed quick access to the female section of the university to help her because university officials said there were uncovered women inside. The second version emerged when the rector of the university Badran Al-Omar denied this in an interview with The Associated Press, claiming that there was no hesitation in letting the paramedics in. He insisted that the university did all it could to help the student.

“They called the ambulance at 12:35 p.m. and the ambulance staff were there by 12:45 p.m. and entered immediately. There was no barring them at all. They entered from a side door,” Omar told The AP. That does indeed sound swift, but at what time did Amna have her heart attack? That is a crucial piece of information.

This brings back the bad memories of the 2002 fire at a Makkah girls’ school that saw 15 girls die and more than 50 injured after the male firefighters were barred from entering the school because not all of the girls had their abayas on.

Islam is a practical religion that has exceptions for many of its rules. My father used to tell me that it was a practical religion that allowed travelers to break their fast during Ramadan. In emergency cases like these, the authorities must remember this practical and merciful aspect of Islam and allow the male helpers in at once to help females.

If, for instance, university officials and the religious police are not going to allow male paramedics and firemen into all-female institutions then they should train female paramedics and firefighters. All universities that have female sections should have female doctors on call during school hours in order to provide medical assistance in case of emergencies. Why female professors did not try to move Amna to a hospital themselves is a question that should be asked of them. Many Saudis have asked these same questions in social media, suggesting that medical clinics be set up in all colleges, while others suggested that women be included in the paramedic staff of emergency services so that they could be used in certain situations. I hope the Ministry of Health will thoroughly investigate this sad case and institute mandatory measures that all female colleges will have to follow in medical emergencies. Incidents such as this one are outrageous and give Saudi Arabia and Islam a bad name in the international arena.

A good friend of mine pointed out a similar case in Washington, D.C., where a man last week was having a heart attack in the parking lot of a shopping mall across the street from a firehouse. His relatives ran over to plead for help from the firemen, but they refused to help, insisting that they could only help if they called the 911 and reported the emergency. The man died because of the heart attack.

The mayor of Washington, Vincent Gray, said this was an outrage and that a full investigation would hold those responsible accountable. He said the firemen who failed to help the man having a heart attack failed to show “common decency.”

Here in Saudi Arabia we need a culture of accountability, enforcement of laws and more training in how to deal with emergencies. University staff and students should be trained to deal with emergencies. When I went to college in the United States in the 1980s, we had monthly fire drills in the middle of the night where we had to leave our dormitories and stand outside in the cold until the all-clear signal was given to return inside. Let us learn from such tragedies so that they do not recur.

The writer is a Saudi journalist based in Brazil.

The article Saudi Arabia Campus Death: Could It Have Been Averted? – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Richard Silverstein

In the Midrash, Jerusalem is called the navel of the world.  The Talmudic text says that Israel is the center of the world, Jerusalem is the center of Israel, and the Beyt Ha’Mikdash is the center of Jerusalem.  It appears the NSA has made a similar discovery.  Due to the city’s height (2,600 feet above sea level) and its commanding position relative to the surrounding terrain, it is an auspicious location for an NSA “listening station” that can pick up the signals from U.S. satellites around the world.  That’s why in this interview Ronen Bergman recorded for Israel’s Channel 10, he alludes to this Talmudic tradition undated for the modern age of spies, satellites and drones.  By the way, once the story was aired on live TV, it was removed from the video version of the news program available online.  Presumably, the censor wanted to enable Israelis to hear this news, but not anyone else.  Thankfully, my Israeli source located the 40 second YouTube version of the segment preserved for posterity.

The shocking aspect of this is that Israel secretly permitted the U.S. to erect such an array of satellite receivers in Israel’s second largest city (I haven’t been able to identify where specifically the facility is located yet).  Though, it’s already known that the U.S. maintains another listening facility in the Negev, on Mt. Keren, that engages in land-based spying on Iran using radar, Ronen Bergman has exposed this new facility for the first time.

There are differences between the two. The Negev base, according to this Time article (written by the somewhat reliable duo of Karl Vick and Aaron Klein) is designed to pick up the possible launch of Iranian missiles targeted at Israel.  This facility has a two-fold purpose.  It is meant to reassure Israel that the U.S. will use its most advanced tracking technology to enable Israel to defend itself.  It will also presumably prevent Israel from launching a surprise attack on Iran that the U.S. would be unaware of.

The Jerusalem spy station serves an entirely different purpose.  Its satellite dishes track U.S. satellites around the world and presumably up and download information from them that can be relayed to other facilities where the data can be analyzed.  A second Israeli source informs me that this facility is part of Israel’s participation in what has been called ‘Five Eyes,’ but which, if true, should now be called ‘Six Eyes.’  Here is what I wrote about this in an earlier post, in which I reported that Israel had launched a satellite meant to spy on Iran:

My source added that Israel is the 6th – unofficial and undeclared – member of Five Eyes.  This means that the original trusted members of the intelligence alliance–the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the UK–decided to open their ranks to Israel, a nation not known particularly to play by the rules when it comes to intelligence matters.

I should add that one U.S. reporter and one analyst, both with intelligence expertise, had not heard of any such Israeli role.  So what I can say is that both Yossi Melman (Hebrew) and my own source have confirmed Israel’s membership in Five Eyes.  Either they are tooting Israel’s horn undeservedly; or the U.S. wants this protocol kept secret and refuses to allow a murmur about it to seep out.

Allowing the placement of such a base on Israeli soil is a major gift from the Israeli people, since it allows no other country anything remotely similar.  Further, Israel has allowed the NSA access to the omphalos of the universe, it’s holy city (at least in Israel’s eyes).  But there is the payoff that the data collected by the NSA is shared with Israel’s Unit 8200.  Add to this the news released some time ago that the NSA shares unredacted intelligence that includes raw data from and about U.S. citizens, and you can understand just how wide open is the pipeline between the spy agencies of the two countries.  This alarms the hell out of me.  I don’t trust unregulated spooks to exercise any restraint in the exploitation of such data.  This entire process should simply never have existed and be stopped immediately.

There is a earlier history of such wide open intelligence collaboration between the Israeli and U.S. intelligence agencies.  In the 1950s, the CIA funneled funding to U.S. labor unions which was transmitted to the Israeli Histradut (national workers union).  Yossi Melman writes:

Secret funding from the United States Central Intelligence Agency was channeled by American trade unions to the Histadrut labor federation, and from the Israeli union to Africa to finance various activities. Among other things the money was used to post an impressive array of Mossad agents in the African states. Many young intelligence officers, such as David Kimche…spent their early working years in Africa.

Like Five Eyes cooperation, the African project advanced both U.S. and Israeli interests in Africa.  There, Israel was viewed as a fellow colonial state that had thrown off the yoke of British rule.  Africans were much more receptive to Israel than they would be to the U.S.  Hence Israelis could move more freely and report back to the Americans what they’d learned about the liberation movements seeking to overthrow their colonial rulers.

Now, of course Israel’s image has turned about as ugly as that of the former Ugly American.  Israeli intelligence and military operatives harvest cash by the bushel load, rigging elections, offering lethal weapons to dictatorial regimes, and ripping blood diamonds from African earth.

There is another important question to answer: why now?  Why reveal this story now?  Ronen Bergman doesn’t create these stories ex nihilo.  He has Israeli intelligence sources who provide them to him.  Why did those sources decide now was the right time to tell the world about this formerly secret base.

I maintain that it’s clearly connected to the U.S. brokered peace talks with the Palestinians.  John Kerry is, presumably, exerting enormous pressure on the far-right government to be more responsive to Palestinian interests.  Bibi naturally doesn’t want to respond favorably to such pressure.  What better way, though not a very effective one in my opinion, than by both reminding the Americans, and revealing to the world how responsive Israel has been to U.S. needs by allowing this facility on Israeli soil.  It serves as a reminder: what Israel gives it can take away.  Further it says: you have some nerve demanding that we compromise on matters of existential import regarding the Palestinians when we’re so good to you in all these other ways.

If this is the message, it’s not being broadcast in a way that will find a receptive ear in Washington.  American spooks don’t like their cover blown, no matter the reason or motivation.  If Bibi thought this would make a positive impression on the Obama administration, he’s naïve.  But my guess is that this isn’t intended for Obama’s ears.  It’s intended as ammunition for the Lobby in making its case both about Iran sanctions and the Kerry peace talks.  Members on Capitol Hill can use this new development as grist for the pro-Israel mill in their future Israel-related legislative deliberations.

This is yet another example of how out of synch Israel is with the U.S. administration.  Bibi speaks over Obama’s head instead of directly to him.  There is no direct communication.  No point of common contact.

This article appeared at Tikun Olam.

The article NSA Maintains Secret ‘Five Eyes’ Satellite Facility In Israel – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By RFA

Jailed Vietnamese rights lawyer Le Quoc Quan has launched a hunger strike to protest the refusal by prison authorities to provide him access to legal and religious books, and to a priest for spiritual guidance, ahead of his appeal trial this month, his brother said Friday.

Quan informed his family that he began the fast this week when they met with him for about half an hour on Friday at the Hoa Lo No. 1 Prison in Hanoi, his brother Le Quoc Quyet told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.

He has been serving a 30-month sentence on tax evasion charges since October.

“Quan said he had begun a hunger strike on Feb. 2 because he asked for law books to study in preparation for his upcoming appeal during which he will defend himself, a bible to read and to meet with a priest for religious rites,” Quyet said, adding that his brother had not seen a priest since he was detained in December 2012.

Quyet said his brother also complained that he had been denied writing instruments by prison authorities.

“Quan said he will continue his hunger strike until the [Feb. 18] appeal. If he deems the appeal a show trial to legitimize the unjust sentence from the lower court, he will go on another hunger strike,” he said.

Quyet did not provide details about his brother’s health condition.

International rights groups have contended that the tax evasion charges are part of a government campaign to silence Quan, a prominent Catholic blogger and activist who had defended victims of religious persecution and written critically of the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party online.

Quan had rejected the charges at his trial last year, saying they were part of a political vendetta against him and vowing to continue his fight against corruption.

Denied visit

Quyet said Friday that his family had only heard about Quan’s hunger strike a day earlier through one of the activist’s fellow inmates.

“We heard that he was on a hunger strike but we didn’t know when he had started. Yesterday afternoon we contacted the prison authorities to ask for a visit, but they said Quan was being disciplined so we could not see him,” he said.

Quan’s family members requested that the authorities provide them with a written explanation of why they could not see him because, according to prison regulations, they are allowed one visit per month.

That evening, the prison authorities agreed to meet with Quan’s family.

“They confirmed that the hunger strike news was true, but told us that a petition to visit him would have to be granted by the ‘upper level’,” Quyet said.

“We had already talked to the highest authority of the prison, so we didn’t know what they meant by ‘upper level’.”

Quyet said that later that night, the prison granted family members the right to see Quan on Friday.

Concerned supporters

Quan’s jailing has drawn “deep concern” from the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and strong condemnation from rights groups, who said the outspoken lawyer had been targeted for his activism.

Quan was previously first jailed for three months in 2007 for “activities to overthrow the people’s government” after he returned from an American government funded-fellowship in Washington.

Hundreds of supporters were barred from attending his trial in October last year, which had been scheduled to take place in July but was abruptly postponed due to the judge’s illness.

A week before the trial took place, Quyet was beaten and briefly detained in a police swoop on a dinner party with fellow activists.

Family members were denied the right to visit Quan for nearly a year following his detention and only granted a once a month visit after his trial had concluded.

Hunger strikes

Quan’s hunger strike is the first by a jailed prominent Vietnamese dissident since legal expert Cu Huy Ha Vu held a similar protest against the seizure of his artwork he had drawn in prison in October.

Earlier, in June, Vu had staged a 25-day hunger strike after prison officials failed to respond to his complaints about detention conditions, in particular abuses by one of his guards that he says harmed his health and worsened his heart condition.

His action led several prominent activists in the U.S. and Vietnam to stage their own hunger strikes in solidarity.

Vu’s case had prompted calls for his release by the U.S. government, as well as global rights groups and bloggers inside Vietnam.

He and Quan are among dozens of dissidents and bloggers who have been thrown in jail since the one-party communist state stepped up a crackdown more than three years ago.

Reported by Hoa Ai for RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

The article Jailed Vietnamese Dissident Launches Hunger Strike appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By IDN

By Gaurav Dixit

India and Sri Lanka share a long historic relationship. The relation saw a new multi-faceted phase post Eelam War IV in 2009, after the complete elimination of the Sri Lankan rebel group LTTE. The new phase represented extensive economic and political cooperation for the comprehensive development of the Northern and Eastern provinces. India today is one of Sri Lanka’s largest trading partners and has been the first to make foreign direct investment.

Income from Indian tourists forms a large part of Sri Lanka’s tourism sector that is developing its economy. India plays an important role in developing the war torn provinces and has been assisting in reconstruction and rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs).

However, the role of ethnic demographics in Sri Lanka and in India plays a significant role in promoting conflict between the two nations. The domestic Tamil rebellion in Sri Lanka and the same ethnic group in Tamil Nadu in India has been a key factor in conflicting relationship between the countries. Tamil ethnic rebellion is also found to have significantly harmed inter-state geopolitical relations, mutually impacting the regional political affairs. In the recent past, India has been caught in an apparent anti-Sri Lankan stand due to pressure groups in Tamil Nadu.

Similarly, Tamils in Sri Lanka want India to push for their rights and demands. In the new geopolitical set up after the defeat of the pro-Tamil rebellion, the role of India has substantially changed from being an anti- rebellion partner to development and reconstruction partner of Sri Lanka.

On the last day of 2013, Indian High Commissioner Y.K. Sinha announced that India has been working hard to rehabilitate the IDPs in the war-torn provinces. According the high commissioner, the Indian government built around 10,000 houses last year (2013) for IDPs in Sri Lanka and 33,000 more will be constructed in the next two years as part of large-scale assistance programme for housing in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

India is working on various development projects in Sri Lanka in areas ranging from infrastructure and hydroelectricity to agriculture and industry to education and health. Sri Lanka is one of the principal beneficiaries of India’s Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programmes.

Question mark

However, skipping of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh under coercion of Tamil political groups has put a question mark on India’s strong foreign policy under regional political compulsions. India has shown hostile attitude towards the island nation by consecutively supporting the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution against Sri Lanka, and has also put bilateral trade and cooperation at risk by its erring political and business sentiments.

Even the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a powerful Tamil group, had time and again pressurised India to heed the sentiments of Tamil Nadu political leaders over the UNHRC resolution and on India’s participation in CHOGM. TNA itself had boycotted the CHOGM conference citing human rights abuses against the Tamils during the war. The recent arrest of a Tamil Nadu journalist by the Sri Lankan police for photographing military camps in Jaffna district triggers apprehension of Indian support to rekindle the Tamil conflict. Such political and diplomatic lapses would only lead to breach of relations.

Meanwhile, the political compulsions of the Indian coalition government have certainly put off the strategic advantage we had over the Indian Ocean due the friendly relations with Sri Lanka. The narrow political trade off with the regional political groups supporting the Tamil cause has created counterproductive relations with the neighbouring country.

Various Tamil groups in Sri Lanka are also hurting our bilateral relationship. At the same time, the changing dynamics of various neighbouring countries like China and Pakistan in pursuing their ties with Sri Lanka has been a matter of concern for India.

According to Bharat Karnad, research professor in the Centre for Policy Research, China’s growing influence on Sri Lanka, which is India’s back gate, should be a matter of concern for the country. India’s preoccupation with other neighbouring states has also hampered our engagement with Sri Lanka. India is certainly losing to China in the contemporary battle for supremacy over the Indian Ocean.

Opportunity

The end of the ethnic war in Sri Lanka has created huge opportunity for India to invest in Sri Lanka as it is marching towards economic and social development. India, considering the status of its economic clout, can be a significant player in the island. India has initially helped Sri Lanka in its relief and rehabilitation and now is moving towards reconstruction and development of the war-hit areas. India now needs to expand its scope across the country beyond the narrow and limited engagement in the Northern and Eastern provinces. The poor participation of Indian firms during the latest Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) is not going to help India in its long-term vision of being a regional economic power.

Secondly, unwarranted intervention in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation is only going to backfire. At the end of the day, India needs to work out some solution for other problems like Sri Lankan Tamil refugee and illegal detention of Indian fishermen. India also needs to tackle the Kachchatheevu island crisis, which is slowly but surely becoming a bone of contention between the two nations. A long-term solution for all the problems needs intensive cooperation and agreement, which in the current situation seems a pipe dream.

Gaurav Dixit is an independent researcher on Conflict in South Asia. He can be contacted at  gauravdixit04@gmail.com. This article originally appeared on South Asian Monitor on January 24, 2014 with the heading India, Sri Lanka and changing regional dynamics and is being reproduced with their permission.

The article New Opportunities For India-Sri Lanka Relations – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Elcano Royal Institute

Egypt has undergone a frantic succession of political and social changes since January 2011. Today it is possible to envisage three different ‘futures’ for Egypt, described here as the good, the bad and the ugly.

By Haizam Amirah-Fernández

Summary:

Egypt is in a central position in the Arab world. Whatever happens there will have a substantial impact on the future of its wider neighbourhood. Three interconnected factors will determine its transition: the economy, security and its capacity for political and social integration. The main actors need to reach a consensus on basic issues that are essential to stabilising the country, salvaging the economy and pushing the democratic process forwards. The first half of 2014 will provide some clue as to which of the three ‘futures’ outlined here will be most likely.

Analysis:

Three years after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt is in a state of profound uncertainty. The euphoria of world-wide resonance that emerged from Tahrir Square in January and February 2011 has given way to other moods, ranging from impatience and disenchantment to stupefaction and disappointment. In Egypt there are not too many people who look back at what has happened over the past 36 months with optimism. Even less optimistic are many of the foreign observers who have followed the events of the Egyptian transition and its continual upheavals, surprising twists and turns and too many serious collective mistakes.

Since 25 January 2011, Egypt has undergone a frantic succession of political and social changes, including: (1) the loss of fear that led the population to demand the overthrow of a President in 2011 and again in 2013; (2) the first democratic election of a head of state in the country’s history (June 2012); (3) the coming to power through the ballot box of an Islamist, Mohamed Morsi; (4) a military coup with considerable social support that deposed Morsi after just a year in office; (5) the drafting of two constitutions in only two years, neither of which was based on a consensus; (6) a bloody repression, including modern history’s biggest one-day massacre between Egyptians; (7) unprecedented levels of social polarisation; and (8) a rapid return to the old police-state methods that kept Mubarak in power for three decades.

Egypt’s turbulent transition has so far been marked by: (1) repeated changes in the rules of the game, in a mixture of improvisation and political interference of the courts, sometimes with a questionable legal basis; (2) the inability to reach a consensus on basic issues that would be essential to stabilising the country, salvaging the economy and pushing the democratic process forwards; and (3) a ‘zero-sum’ attitude among the main players (the military, the Muslim Brotherhood and the state bureaucracy), according to which any improvement in the positions of one can only be achieved at the expense of the others.

To these difficulties, which are present in other transitions after decades of authoritarian rule, should be added other factors, such as the inability so far to create stable alliances with clear objectives that are shared by large segments of society, the emphasis on battles over identity (the role of sharia law, etc.) to the detriment of the discussions on the institutions and mechanisms that ensure good governance and, finally, the repetition of mistakes made by others in the recent past. One of these mistakes has been the drafting of constitutions that are far from providing a framework for coexistence that is both inclusive and widely accepted.

Egypt has devoted much energy and precious time in 2013 to internecine struggles for control over the ‘legitimacy’ necessary to impose conditions on opponents. Despite their sectarian and incompetent management, Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood considered that their electoral victory, albeit with 51.7% of the vote, gave them the right to legislate at will, to be above the law and to impose a tailored constitution. The problem that Egypt now faces is that those who have taken over the country after Morsi’s overthrow also claim to possess the ‘legitimacy of the masses’ to approve laws that restrict rights, to draft a non-inclusive constitution and to impose a narrative of ‘fighting against terrorism’, which is blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood as a whole. This has been done even at the risk of such a generic accusation becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy in the case of some of the Brotherhood’s members.

Egypt is in a central position in the Arab world. Whatever happens there will have a substantial impact on the future of its neighbours. Similarly, the implications of its sociopolitical developments will be felt throughout the entire Euro-Mediterranean area. Today, it is possible to envisage three different ‘futures’ for Egypt, described here as the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good future

One of the most optimistic scenarios is to assume that Egypt can achieve a considerable degree of democratisation within three to five years. This would mean moving towards a democratic and competitive political system where legitimate, transparent and regular elections are held, and where accountability in the management of public affairs is guaranteed. In order to move in this direction, it would be requisite for well-organised political parties to emerge, so that a particular party or coalition of parties are elected by the people with the commitment to carry out a programme of large-scale reforms.

As for the major players on the political scene, it would be imperative in the face of greater democratisation that the influence of the military institution be reduced in the management of daily affairs. However, its influence has only grown since 30 June 2013, when the tamarod (rebellion) campaign called for a broad social mobilisation and led to the military-civil coup that overthrew Morsi. For the trend to be reversed, conditions should be in place to be able to apply the roadmap announced in July 2013, with the aim of returning to a certain degree of institutional and constitutional normality. Furthermore, the armed forces should refrain from submitting a military candidate for the upcoming presidential elections, scheduled for the first half of 2014, and should focus instead on their task of defending and protecting the country’s territory.

Meanwhile, civilian actors such as the National Salvation Front –which is now at a low ebb– and the tamarod campaign, among others, need to develop their organisational structures and capacities, as well as their mobilisation strategies. Their goal should be to fill part of the void that would be left by the gradual withdrawal of the armed forces and the weakening of the Muslim Brotherhood. This requires long-term planning in order to convince Egypt’s voters of their effectiveness and ability to offer society better prospects for the future.

A key step in the path towards democratisation would be the inclusion and integration of the Muslim Brotherhood in the process of change, since they are a part of society that cannot be excluded without giving rise to serious problems. This would require the commitment of the two parties: those who are now in power –supported by the military– and the Muslim Brotherhood, to sit down, negotiate and reach agreements. On the one hand, the current authorities should ensure that the Muslim Brotherhood are part of each step agreed on the roadmap and, on the other, the Brotherhood has to reform its internal organisation, allowing their youth to take up positions in the leadership. This is one of the greatest challenges facing Egypt due to the prevailing mistrust and polarisation between major social groups, which is promoted by official institutions and their media outlets.

Other key factors for the ‘good’ scenario to materialise are security and the economy. These two factors are highly interconnected, since security conditions profoundly affect the Egyptian economy’s main revenue-generating sectors, such as tourism and foreign direct investment. Hence, to restore and maintain stable security conditions are goals of the utmost importance, requiring the cooperation between the police and armed forces in different parts of the country, especially in the Sinai, where jihadi elements are present and pose serious security problems. Cooperation between the police and the military alone will not contribute to the country’s democratisation; for that to occur it would have to be accompanied by a serious reform of the security sector, which today seems complicated.

If an acceptable level of security were to be sustained in Egypt, it would certainly help boost the economy but would be insufficient to improve the economic situation. When the new government is elected, it should place the reform of the economy at the top of its priorities, including the review of many of the laws and procedures relating to foreign investment and Egypt’s business climate. In addition to these reforms, the government would do well to design a plan to make good use of the aid packages that Egypt receives from the Gulf in order to reduce budget deficits, stabilise the value of the Egyptian pound against other currencies and control rising inflation rates.

Foreign aid will be useful in the short term, but it must be accompanied by plans for long-term reform in order to ensure economic recovery. Future Egyptian governments could promote the country as a hub for investors, since Egypt has many advantages compared to other markets in the region and the world, such as low labour costs. It also has a young and rapidly growing population, which could translate into a large number of consumers for regional and international investors.

As for regional and international actors, the criticism to which Egypt is currently subjected by the West would be defused if the roadmap were to be implemented in full. This requires the election of a new government with broad popular support that is able to: (1) maintain security and (2) reach an agreement with the Muslim Brotherhood to include them in the process under certain and political conditions. Until this happens, Egypt’s rulers will continue to be criticised both from within and from outside the country. Also, the Muslim Brotherhood will continue to exploit its position as the victim of a fierce and corrupt power, which is exactly what earned them most sympathy in the past.

The bad future

A less encouraging scenario than that described above would be a faulty democratisation combined with endemic instability. Should such a combination occur, Egypt’s fragile democratisation would be conditioned by a much more complex environment, where there would be no lack of sources of instability. They could come from the continuous protests by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, in the absence of a negotiation that incorporates them into the system, as well as from other social sectors dissatisfied with the new rulers. The time period for the country to move forward on the path of democratisation would be extended considerably.

The military would have a considerable political and economic influence, although not rule the country directly. This would greatly hinder the transition to democracy, especially if civil movements like the National Salvation Front and the tamarod campaign fail to be effective in the political arena as a result of their internal weaknesses, limited capacities and underdeveloped communication strategies. As long as they do not correct these structural deficiencies, it is unlikely that they can gain good electoral results. If so, more power would accrue to the armed forces, which would enjoy a significant degree of popularity among certain social sectors, especially the opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood. The question is whether popularity would be unconditional or depend on other factors such as the state of the economy or the perception that corruption and police brutality are on the rise.

In this scenario, the struggle between the state on one side and the Muslim Brotherhood on the other would continue, with the resulting waste of resources and energies on both sides. It can be expected that the Brotherhood’s followers, who believe that a great injustice has been committed against them, will resort to continuous protests and that episodes of reciprocal violence might occur. For the Muslim Brotherhood, to sustain a certain level of tension would be seen as a bargaining chip in order to obtain political gains in negotiations with the state. The use of violence by one or the other would maintain social tension, deepen polarisation and transmit an image of insecurity to the rest of the world.

Were instability to spread, it would directly affect the economy and the government’s management capacity. The tourism sector, which contributes a significant portion of Egypt’s GDP, would be seriously harmed and be reflected in low growth rates. Meanwhile, some Gulf states like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which now give generous aid to the Egyptian government, could end up asking themselves if more economic stimulus packages should be offered in the absence of more stable conditions at the socio-political level. If so, the Egyptian economy would be in a difficult situation, with the government being pushed to reduce the large subsidies currently in place in the hope of bringing about an economic recovery, while such a move would not be to the population’s liking.

A significant deterioration in economic conditions would be the opposite of the hopes for a better future that Egyptians harbour, and therefore cause growing popular discontent, higher levels of violence and, ultimately, new revolts and civil disobedience. This would be disastrous for the government, which would be forced to make constant changes in response to popular demands and to prevent it from falling due to the population’s frustration with it. In turn, this would send negative signals to potential investors and cause the further deterioration of an already fragile economy.

Internationally, Egypt would continue to be criticised from the outside and, possibly, be subject to more pressure from some Western governments alarmed by the consequences of a non-inclusive political process that is economically ruinous. The deteriorating security and dysfunction of the economy would raise more international concern about the policies of the Egyptian authorities to ensure a democratic transition. Given the possible Western pressure, the Egyptian government might try to seek new alliances with powers like Russia and China, although it could hardly put aside its current obligations and international alliances with the US and the EU.

Despite the gloomy picture painted here, Egypt could attain democratisation in the long run, as an agreement would end up being reached between the state, the Muslim Brotherhood and other stakeholders after a period of strife and attrition causing a profound social weariness. It might be necessary to wait for several rounds of elections to pass before adequate civilian candidates appear who are able to translate into policies the demands for ‘bread, freedom and social justice’ which guided the revolt of 2011.

The ugly future

The ugly scenario that could engulf Egypt would involve the country getting stuck in a prolonged cycle of violence between the two main actors in the social and political scene: the state (represented by the police, the intelligence services and the military) and the Muslim Brotherhood, in a possible coalition with extreme Islamist currents. In an environment of sustained and large-scale violence each party would try to win over public opinion by using all manner of tactics, with no regard for legal or moral considerations. Such a scenario could end with one side monopolising power and crushing its opponents, although another possibility is that the country becomes ungovernable and its institutions collapse.

In this situation, elections would make evident the degree of social confrontation and would be a further twist in the troubled Egyptian scenario. Whether the armed forces exert power more openly in order to weaken or eliminate the Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups, or the Islamists regain power, possibly in a more radical version, the Egyptian transition would suffer a serious setback. However, some see it inevitable that a deteriorating situation will become so bad that a new massive popular uprising takes place. According to this view, which combines pessimism and optimism, this might be the only outcome capable of correcting the country’s course in the long term.

In the event of military rule imposing itself, security conditions would face enormous difficulties and there would be a return to the logic and practices of the ‘police state’ that was responsible, among other factors, for Mubarak’s overthrow. Different opposition groups, both Islamist and non-Islamist, would fight back using all the means available to wear down the security apparatus and highlight the ruling elites’ lack of legitimacy. In the absence of safety valves, and in a context of economic hardship, all parties would have much to lose, including those in control of the country. Although hard to imagine now, one cannot completely rule out the breakdown of law and order, a long period of ungovernability, or a situation resembling –in a way– Algeria’s in the 1990s.

A serious deterioration in security conditions would have a devastating effect on the economy. An Egypt ruled by the military or by radicalised Islamists would undermine its options as a destination for regional and international investments and for tourism. It would also negatively affect the development aid it receives and, possibly, the generous donations and soft loans that Egypt currently gets from certain Gulf countries. The combination of these factors could greatly hinder any attempt by the government to tackle problems such as budget deficits, debt and rising levels of poverty and unemployment, which would aggravate the social resentment towards the country’s rulers. Should such a point be reached, a new popular uprising would only be a matter of time, and its domestic and regional implications would be unpredictable.

Given this undesirable scenario, one would expect a combination of external support for attempts to impose some form of ‘authoritarian stability’, as in Mubarak’s day, and increasing pressure from various sectors of international public opinion on Egypt’s ruling elites. Criticism would grow of what would be perceived as a derailment of the democratic transition and an attempt to return to authoritarianism. There would also be repeated calls to tackle social polarisation and include the different currents in the transition process, in addition to ending the emergency law and other abusive legal provisions that undermine civil and political rights. These demands could lead to a situation where nervous rulers in Egypt adopt a more confrontational foreign policy towards both Western countries and some neighbouring countries whose attitudes are considered unfriendly.

Conclusion:

A profound yearning for democracy
The first half of 2014 (in which the referendum on the new constitution is to be held, as well as further rounds of presidential and legislative elections) will provide some clue as to which of the three ‘futures’ outlined here will be most likely. Given the recent history of surprising and unexpected twists and turns in the troubled Egyptian transition, it cannot be ruled out that one or more aspects of these scenarios might combine to form a hybrid that will be difficult to predict at present. That said, any analysis on Egypt must take into account that a significant number of Egyptians feel a profound yearning for their country’s democratisation in order to dignify living conditions that are far from satisfactory. Nor should one forget that many of them have lost their fear to express themselves and to act in order to achieve that goal, even though that does not necessarily mean that the transition to democracy will not take a long time.

Haizam Amirah-Fernández
Senior Analyst for the Mediterranean and Arab World at the Elcano Royal Institute and Professor of International Relations at IE Business School.

This article appeared at Elcano Royal Institute and may be accessed here.

[1] This article was originally published in Spanish as ‘Los futuros de Egipto: el bueno, el malo y el feo’ in Política Exterior, nr 157, January-February 2014, pp. 140-9.

The article The Futures Of Egypt: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Observer Research Foundation

By Manoj Joshi

Earlier this month, a Japanese newspaper revealed that China was planning to drastically overhaul its military commands by restructuring the present seven military regions and the Second Artillery, which controls China’s strategic forces, into five joint commands. Three of these would face the maritime areas of China in the East China Sea and the South China Sea while the other two would presumably look towards China’s land-based adversaries, primary among these being India. Currently, the forces confronting us are primarily handled by the Chengdu military region, with a small part of Ladakh, including the Depsang Plains area, by the Lanzhou military region.

This report gained credence when a day later the China Daily cited the Chinese Ministry of Defence to confirm that China would implement a joint command system “in due course”, and that it had already launched pilot schemes towards that end.

Curiously, over that weekend, the Chinese seemed to have had another thought and the Ministry of Defence declared that the earlier reports were “without basis.” However, the tenor of the denial in the nationalist Global Times suggested that this disavowal was pro forma. In essence, the joint commands would be the equivalent of theatre commands where all four elements of military power — army, navy, air force and nuclear forces — would be wielded by a single commander through a unified command structure. At one level, it signals the growing sophistication of Chinese military thinking, and at another, the expansion of its military vision beyond its continental confines to the oceans and the airspace above.

Like all Chinese leaders, Xi Jinping, who became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in November 2012, has displayed interest in military matters. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA), as is well-known, owes its allegiance to the CPC and not China, the nation. Its importance to the party was reinforced by its role in the Tiananmen events in 1989. Leaders till Deng Xiaoping had been either PLA veterans or political commissars in the PLA.

In Xi’s case, his father Xi Zhongxun was a noted revolutionary leader, who had led the PLA forces. More importantly, between 1979 and 1982 Xi junior had served as an assistant to Geng Biao, who was Secretary-General of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) , the body which oversees the PLA. As Xi set out to take command of the country, he made it a special mission to keep the PLA close to himself.

Modernising the PLA

Perhaps, the greatest indicator of this was his adoption of the notion of the “Chinese Dream” as his theme-song soon after he became the boss of the party and the military. The idea was the product of Colonel Liu Mingfu, a former professor at China’s National Defence University, who wrote a book with the same name calling for policies that would enable China to surpass US as a world power. Xi’s more guarded notion of the ‘Chinese Dream’ is the “rejuvenation” of the Chinese nation but it is clear from his remarks and policies that military power is an important component of this revival.

Xi became Chairman of the CMC at the same time that he took over as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China in November 2012. He lost little time in stamping his authority over the PLA. Within two months, he carried out systematic personnel changes in key areas of the PLA command structure comprising four general departments and seven military regions, as well as passed orders to “administer the army with strictness and austerity.” This is a process that has continued since.

Xi’s views on matters military became apparent through his publicised tour to the Guangzhou military region in December 2012. This is the region that fronts to the South China Sea where China has made extravagant maritime boundary claims that affect Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. Interestingly, the official media used the term Guangzhou War Theatre, rather than Military Region.

Xi’s message was that the state would give the PLA everything to modernise itself but in turn it wanted two things in return — an army, which would win the wars it fought, and, perhaps more important, one that was completely loyal to the Communist Party of China. To this end, the PLA needed to beef up its institutional structures and train under realistic conditions of combat and in what the Chinese call “informationised” (information technology) conditions.

As the official PLA daily quoted Xi, “We must ensure that our troops are ready when called upon, that they are fully capable of fighting, and that they must win every war.”

Apart from professional ability and loyalty, Xi has stressed the need for the PLA to change its entire culture and adopt a style of “frugality and austerity.” In December 2012, the PLA also passed its “Ten regulations on improving the work style of the PLA” which formally banned liquor in PLA functions, forbade the holding of big banquets and called on the PLA brass to adopt a simple style in their inspection tours.

Subsequently, in April 2013, new instructions were issued ordering the PLA and People’s Armed Police generals and senior officers to spend two weeks in the frontline as enlisted soldiers. Regiment and brigade commanders were called on to do this once in three years, the division and corps commanders once in four years and higher leaders from the headquarters and military regions and districts once in five years. The idea of declassing is, of course, part and parcel of Maoist practice. But the PLA had generally been exempted from the humiliating periods when they were forced to undertake menial labour.

To go back to the issue of the joint command: Actually, the Japanese report was probably triggered by the Chinese Ministry of Defence press conference of November 28, 2013, when the spokesperson, Yang Yujun had said the PLA would deepen reform in good time, “and blaze a trail in reform on a joint operation command system with Chinese characteristics.” He had gone on to add that joint operations were a compulsion of modern information-led warfare and that “the Chinese military has made explorations in that field.”

Autonomous military regions

Since the emergence of the People’s Republic, the number of military regions have waxed and waned from six to start with to 13 for a brief while, finally stabilising at seven in the mid-1980s. Given the way they thought of war, the Chinese deliberately made these military regions autonomous, capable of fighting a war without a central direction.

But with the compulsion of fighting highly mobile war in “informationised” conditions, as well as to take on new aerospace and maritime threats, the Chinese clearly feel the need to reorient their forces, which have become increasingly sophisticated, away from its historical reliance on ground forces, towards a command structure that can take advantage of their new capabilities over land, sea and space.

This issue has come up in the background of the Third Plenum of the Communist Party Central Committee that had taken place two weeks earlier in November 2012. While the emphasis, and a great deal of reportage, of the Plenum was on economic and governance reform, there were important decisions taken in relation to national security. For one, China had announced the creation of a National Security Council-like structure to deal with challenges in internal and external security.

The Plenum directives reiterated what Xi had been telling the PLA from the time he had taken charge: The government would clear all obstacles to PLA modernisation but the PLA itself had to reorganise, adopt new doctrines, even while remaining a force which “obeys the Party’s command, is capable of winning battles and has a sound work style.” Since then, writing in the Chinese media revealed that the thrust of the reform was in three areas — first, reforming the leadership mechanism in the PLA, second, optimising the size and structure of the forces and third, developing a more comprehensive education system to cultivate advanced military thinking.

The Indian dilemma

There is an interesting coincidence here since a great deal of Indian thinking and reform measures, too, have suggested the eventual move of our armed forces to the integrated theatre command concept.

Based on recommendations of the GoM that it had set up in April 2000, the NDA’s Cabinet Committee on Security approved the creation of several apex new institutions and management organisations, which also laid stress on greater coordination and jointness. Among these were the Chief of Defence Staff, the Strategic Forces Command to manage all strategic forces, and a tri-Service Andaman & Nicobar Command. The CDS was the beginning point from which the Indian military would be restructured to create tri-Service theatre commands.

A committee headed by former Cabinet Secretary Naresh Chandra has also recommended the creation of a CDS-like figure. Sadly, political waffling has prevented the appointment of the CDS-like figure and hence organisational reforms that would see the emergence of theatre commands in the Indian military system remain frozen.

All military reform usually descends from the political system. Generals, as the saying goes, only tend to learn to fight the last war better. In China, clearly, the party is ensuring that its global ambitions will be backed by a military, which has the wherewithal to confront global challenges. In India, the political class has taken a leave of absence from managing the national security apparatus altogether.

(The writer is a Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, Delhi. He was a member of the Naresh Chandra Task Force on national security)

Courtesy: The Tribune, February 7, 2014

The article Joint Command: Theme For A Chinese Dream – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By James M. Dorsey

Saudi parents have joined the country’s clergy in debating the societal merits of soccer in a deeply religious and fundamentalist country, which has long been ambiguous towards what is the kingdom’s most popular sport out of concern that it poses a serious challenge to Islam.

The broadening of the debate on social media, increasingly the only public space where Saudis can engage in discussions and express dissenting views, was sparked by a father’s decision not to send his 10-year old son to school for several days after his son’s team, Al Hilal FC (The Crescent), lost a derby with its arch rival, Al Nasr FC, in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The father said he wanted to spare his son heckling by classmates who support Al Nasr. Al Nasr’s 2:1 defeat of Al Hilal ended Al Hilal’s six year winning streak.

The online debate constitutes one more example of the growing importance of social media in an autocratic country with the world’s largest proportion of Internet users. Increasing online criticism of the kingdom’s ruling Al-Saud family potentially could alter the relationship between the monarchy and its subjects. It has already forced rulers to respond in a bid to prevent widespread discontent from festering further. As a result, social media have emerged as the one space where Saudis can express dissent despite new anti-terrorism legislation that significantly curtails already severely restricted freedom of speech.

The debate on soccer came on the heels of Saudis responding online critically to government plans to provide affordable housing. It also followed a You Tube video in which Saudi cleric Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zobaydi in response to the Al Hilal-Al Nasr derby warned that soccer ‘fanaticism’ threatened to destroy Saudi society. Some 700,000 people viewed the video that focused on a Twitter hashtag adopted by Al Nasr fans that included the words: my team has taken the lead. “The true leader is the one who competes to memorise the book of Allah,” Sheikh Al-Zobaydi said.

In a country in which ultra-conservative and militant clerics have long viewed soccer as a distraction from religious obligations, a nationalist threat to pan-Islamic ideals, and a game of the infidels, Saudis commenting on You Tube and Twitter on Sheikh Al-Zobaydi’s remarks appeared split on the clerics view. While hard core Al Nasr fans accused him of defaming their club, many expressed the kingdom’s ambivalent attitude towards the game.

“Sports fanaticism is one of the illnesses of the modern age,” said one tweet. In an interview with the BBC, sports photographer Fahad Almarri defended soccer “as long as it doesn’t cross red lines,” a reference to religious and family values.

Perceptions of soccer fanaticism have increasingly become a subject of clerical debate in Saudi Arabia, a country that provides few sporting opportunities for women and bans women’s soccer, with religious and political leaders increasingly concerned that the sport could rival Islam, a key pillar of the Al Saud family’s control in alliance with religious leaders.

Concern about the role of soccer even among those religious leaders who support the game in line with the Prophet Mohammed’s advocacy for sport as a means of maintaining a healthy body was evident during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Clerics parked mobile mosques on the back of flatbed trucks and rolled out carpets in front of coffee shops to persuade men to pray at the appropriate time while watching the tournament’s matches on screens.

The clerical debate about soccer also reflects concern that soccer alongside minority Shiite Muslims and relatives of imprisoned government critics could emerge as a focal point of dissent in a kingdom that despite a ban on demonstrations has been struggling to fend off the waves of change sweeping the Middle East and North Africa.

Concern about soccer was fuelled by a series of assertions of fan activism in recent years. A Facebook page entitled Nasrawi Revolution demanded last year the resignation of Prince Faisal bin Turki, the owner of Al Nasr and a burly nephew of King Abdullah, who sports a moustache and chin hair. A You Tube video captured Prince Faisal seemingly being pelted last year and chanted against as he rushed off the soccer pitch after rudely shoving a security official aside.

The campaign against Prince Faisal followed the unprecedented resignation in 2012 of Prince Nawaf bin Feisal as head of the Saudi Football Federation (SFF), the first royal to be persuaded by public pressure to step down in a region where monarchical control of the sport is seen as a political sine qua non.

Prince Nawaf’s resignation led to the election of a commoner, storied former player Ahmed Eid Alharbi widely viewed as a reformer and proponent of women’s soccer, in a country that views free and fair polling as a Western concept that is inappropriate for the kingdom. Prince Nawaf retained his position as head of the Saudi Olympic Committee and the senior official responsible for youth welfare that effectively controls the SFF.

Nevertheless, the resignation of Prince Nawaf and the campaign against Prince Faisal were significant in a nation in which the results of premier league clubs associated with various members of the kingdom’s secretive royal family are seen as a barometer of their relative status, particularly at a time that its septuagenarian and octogenarian leaders prepare for a gradual generational transition.

“The Saudis are extremely worried. Soccer clubs rather than the mosque are likely to be the centre of the revolution. Kids go more to stadiums than to mosques. They are not religious, they are ruled by religious dogma,” said Washington-based Saudi dissident Ali al-Ahmad, who heads the Gulf Institute.

As a result, authorities in the soccer-crazy kingdom were seeking to reduce soccer’s popularity by emphasizing other sports like athletics and handball in policy and fund-raising, according to sources involved in sports policy.

“They are identifying what talent is available in the kingdom. Football is a participatory sport. They want to emphasize the social aspects of other sports. Football won only one medal in the last Asian Games. They think they can score better in other sports. There are parallel agendas with competition about who gets the visibility,” one source said.

In his letter to the school, the Saudi father suggested that the school would understand his decision to keep his son at home for several days because it was concerned about the well-being of his son.

In response, Gulf newspapers quoted an unidentified student counsellor as warning that growing sports fanaticism could cause educational problems and psychological difficulties. The counsellor said the risk was enhanced by teachers supporting or opposing clubs in class and encouraging debate among students about matches.

Online, Saudis lined up for and against the father’s decision. “We should not blame the father as he is keen on the wellbeing of his son and on avoiding him getting bullied,” said Ahmad. Al Anzi countered that “by supporting this negative attitude, the father is teaching his son how to dodge reality and how to look for excuses whenever there is a situation. This is really terrible and family values are being eroded through sports.”

The article Saudis Debate Societal Merits Of Soccer – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Ali Raza

After a large number of civilian killings in the War on Terror that is on-going in Afghanistan, a question comes in mind that what were the purposes of initiating war against Afghanistan.

After reviewing the statements as given by various U.S. officials and the views of western media, it appears that the core reason for attacking Afghanistan is eradication of terrorism, and making this world a safer place to live. But this war has made this world a very horrible place to live for many innocent Afghanis and Pakistanis.

The U.S. also launched a similar war in Iraq on the pretext of the then Iraqi government having possession of lethal chemical weapons, which may en-danger whole or any part of this world, which plea subsequently turned out to be futile and base-less.

After evaluating the frivolous and base-less plea of attacking Iraq, the following questions with respect to Afghanistan arise:

a) Why a mature, seasoned, intelligent and experienced state like U.S, who had faced two world wars and also passed through stringent cold war, was compelled to initiate war against the two afore-said underdeveloped states?

b) When the whole world is familiar of this basic reality that the ultimate solution of every conflict is dialogue, and war is not the solution then what were the factors that prompted U.S to wage war against Afghanistan and Iraq? especially, when U.S is quite familiar with the afore-quoted reality, i.e. dialogue is the solution to every conflict. The fact that U.S. has also believe in resolution of conflict through dialogue is evident from various events like Joint Plan of Action, which was executed between P5+1 states and Iran, and also showed its willingness for establishment of Taliban office in Doha for the purposes of negotiations.

c) Was U.S so much threatened by a single man, Osama Bin Laden, that it along with its powerful allies initiated a full-scale war.
d) Does it suit a super power to launch war against Afghanistan for capturing just one man?

e) Was the band of terrorists grown so huge and strong, and the curbing of the same required action from gigantic U.S. and its allies?

f) Were U.S. intelligence agencies not having the competence and capability to capture the one man, Osama Bin Laden, (who was reportedly located and shot dead by the efficient reporting of U.S. intelligence agencies and shot dead by few soldiers of U.S.), and for his capture, war was the only solution?

Answers to the above mentioned questions can probably be found in upcoming lines. U.S. is quite familiar about its strengths and weaknesses. U.S. knew that it is having very much efficient intelligence and locating Osama Bin Laden was not a big task for U.S. and a handful of U.S. soldiers would be enough to capture Osama Bin Laden, and capturing Osama Bin Laden and countering the Al-Qaeda was not a big deal for U.S. and it never required a full-scale Military action. This fact is also evident from the Abbotabad Operation launched by U.S. Naval seals. U.S. is equally familiar about the worth of dialogue to ensure peace and stability.

There is a possibility that presence of military troops of U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan is part of another “Great Game” which is not yet unveiled. The region of Afghanistan and Pakistan is strategically very important for U.S. as its two major competitors, i.e. Russia and China, are located near Afghanistan and Pakistan. By its presence in this region, U.S. effectively can pose threat to its potential competitors. But China and Russia are such kind of powers, which cannot be deterred by mere presence of conventional military troops. Therefore, the possibility of deployment of U.S. nukes for deterring the respective competitors and gaining a strategic advantage cannot be overruled.

A bare perusal of the globe transpires that most of the countries, who are either competitors or opponents of U.S., are located in Asia and Middle East, and in these areas, U.S., to maintain its hegemony and to deter its adversaries, requires deployment of Nuclear Weapons.
If this possibility of presence of nuclear weapons is true then various other serious questions would arise:

• Firstly, was it safe to deploy nuclear weapons in the center of the so-called terrorists?

• Secondly, would such a deployment increase the risk of nuclear terrorism as the probabilities of theft of U.S. nuclear arsenals in the hub of terrorists would be high?

• Thirdly, what would be the fate of the nuclear weapons, in case of with-drawl of U.S. troops from Afghanistan?

• Fourthly, deploying N-weapons in such an area would not jeopardize the security of the region as well as the millions of lives?

• Lastly, putting at stake the lives of so many people for one’s own pursuits of maintenance of hegemony and power is right?

The article Existence Of US Nukes In Afghanistan – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Profit Confidential

By George Leong

It’s hard to imagine that Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ/FB) just celebrated its 10th birthday after being launched from the dorm room of CEO Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard University.

Getting into Harvard is difficult in its own, but trying to grow a social media Internet company and pleasing Wall Street at the same time is an even more arduous job.

Yet here we are a decade later, and it looks like Facebook is well on its way as one of the top social media Internet stocks in the world. The next decade, if everything works out, should be exciting times for the company, Zuckerberg, and Facebook shareholders.

I’m impressed with what Facebook has been doing contrary to the soothsayers who said the company was doomed.

The stock is up 134% since my article in which I talked about how the share price was moving higher. (Read “Facebook Does an About-Face: Set to Move Higher?”)

Chart courtesy of www.StockCharts.com

Now it appears the Internet company is firing on all cylinders with its more than one billion subscribers. But, of course, there are questions regarding how many of the site’s one billion subscribers are actually active versus dormant.

At the same time, the company will need to constantly evolve and fend off emerging social media Internet rivals, such as Twitter, Inc. (NASDAQ/TWTR), to stay ahead of the curve. The social media Internet space is highly competitive.

However, the recent 2013 results suggest the company is faring well. Just look at the company’s financials, which are clearly pleasing Wall Street and turning some non-believers into believers:

In 2013, revenues came in at $7.87 billion, up 55% year-over-year, while earnings surfaced at $1.5 billion. Revenue growth in the fourth quarter was 63%.

Yet what makes me most excited about the results was the strong rise in mobile advertising, which I continue to believe will be the key for social media Internet companies going forward.

Facebook reported that its revenues from the mobile advertising area accounted for 53% of the total $2.34 billion from advertising in the fourth quarter. More importantly, that percentage jumped from 23% in the year-ago fourth quarter, which is a good sign.

As for its user base, in all, there were 757 million daily active users in December 2013, up 22% year-over-year. On a monthly basis in December, the average number jumped to 1.23 billion, with the mobile portion at a whopping 945 million, up 39% year-over-year.

My feeling is that as long as Facebook can continue to make money from its users; we can expect the share price to continue to rise for this Internet star.

This article My Top Stock Pick in the Internet Space
was originally posted at Profit Confidential

The article My Top Stock Pick In The Internet Space – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Eurasia Review

Presidential candidates’ positions on human rights should be a central focus in the run-up to the April 2014 presidential elections in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing candidates’ responses to a new human rights questionnaire.

Four of the 11 candidates in Afghanistan’s scheduled April 5, 2014 presidential election responded to a Human Rights Watch questionnaire on the country’s key human rights challenges. Topics covered include accountability for war crimes, women’s rights, and torture.

“The four presidential candidates who responded to this survey deserve credit for sharing their views on these critically important issues,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “Afghan voters need to know what commitments the prospective future presidents of Afghanistan are willing to make to address torture, women’s rights, militias, and accountability. The responses to our questionnaire are part of that process.”

On December 2, 2013, Human Rights Watch sent a questionnaire on human rights to all 11 presidential campaigns. The questionnaire contained 17 questions regarding key human rights issues (see the full questionnaire in appendix 2). Human Rights Watch set a deadline of January 2, 2014, for the campaigns to return the completed questionnaire. Human Rights Watch contacted each campaign multiple times between December 2, 2013, and January 2, 2014, to ensure that they had in fact received the questionnaire and to remind them of the deadline.

The campaigns of Abdullah Abdullah, Qutbuddin Helal, and Qayum Karzai submitted completed questionnaires by the January 2 deadline. After Human Rights Watch contacted the eight presidential candidates who had not responded and extended the deadline to January 14, the campaign of Daoud Sultanzoy responded on January 18 in the form of a long email, rather than a completed questionnaire. Summaries of their answers are provided as appendix 1. The full responses from these four campaigns in their original Dari and Human Rights Watch’s English translation (except for the Sultanzoy campaign which replied in English and for which we have provided a Dari translation) are provided in appendixes 3-6. The other seven candidates did not respond.

The Human Rights Watch survey of Afghan presidential candidates is part of a broader effort in Afghanistan to assess candidates’ views on key human rights issues. In December 2013 the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission held a forum for all presidential candidates to discuss their positions on a range of human rights issues. Five candidates – Ashraf Ghani, Abdullah, Helal, Sultanzoy, and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf – attended. A sixth, Zalmai Rassoul, sent one of his vice presidential running mates in his place. The Women’s Political Rights Advocacy Group organized a January 26, 2014 forum for presidential candidates on women’s rights. Four of the candidates – Sultanzoy, Abdullah, Naem, and Karzai – attended. Two other candidates, Sayyaf and Gul Agha Sherzai, sent representatives.

Term limits in the Afghan constitution bar the current president, Hamid Karzai, from reelection. Karzai has presided over some positive developments on human rights, including greater media freedom, significant progress on women’s rights, and the establishment of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

However, the Karzai government has failed to address accountability for past and ongoing grave crimes, torture and ill-treatment in custody, efforts to curtail press freedom, and serious erosion in the past year of women’s rights improvements.

“Afghan presidential candidates should make their positions and plans for defending human rights clear and transparent,” Adams said. “Afghan voters should go to the polls with full knowledge of their prospective leaders’ positions on these life-and-death issues.”

The article Afghanistan: Candidates’ Positions On Rights In Spotlight appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Eurasia Review

By Mahendra Ved

Pakistan’s fight against domestic militancy and terrorism has come back to square one. The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, expected to order military operations, has in a surprising u turn, formed a committee instead to hold talks with the militants.

As the process of talks begins on Feb 4, speculation had been fuelled by a series of audacious terror attacks on the government establishments and the unarmed populace – all acknowledged by Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organization of some of the 60 banned militant groups.

Government ministers had made public statements through the third week of January asserting that following these attacks the ‘mood’ in the government and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) had “changed” and that “a national consensus” favoured the use of force.

Sharif gave “a go-ahead for the use of force” at a high level meeting Jan 24, which was attended by ministers and top civil and military officials, Dawn reported. On Jan 27, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, who is also spokesman for the prime minister, talking to media reporters, asked: “How come we allow such forces of extremism who want to impose not their ideology but also their lifestyle on us?”

Reflecting the party’s mood after a meeting with the prime minister the same day, senior leader Zulfikar Khosa said that “an overwhelming majority supported the use of force against the TTP”.

Another minister, not named, reflected the concern of the world community. “It’s not only the party legislators but every country that the prime minister has visited has raised the issue of security and militancy in Pakistan. No major investor is willing to come to Pakistan in the current circumstances.”

He rejected a perception that the PML-N had never considered any option other than talks. “Some senior members of the government were hopeful of a breakthrough with the TTP which is why the government pursued negotiations, but not everyone agreed.”

The stage was being set for a military operation for which the prime minister had a much-publicised meeting with the Army Chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif. Although militancy and the security situation were discussed, there was no indication whether the operation plan against the militants was discussed or whether the military was being asked to hold back action, despite grave provocations in the form of attacks on their establishments.

In a surprise announcement, the committee includes two senior journalists, Irfan Siddiqui and Rahimullah Yusufzai, besides Major Akram, a former hand of the army’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Rustam Shah Mohmand, a former ambassador to Afghanistan specializing in Afghanistan and Central Asian affairs.

While the four are senior hands with knowledge of Afghan developments, none of them is known to be a specialist on internal militancy.

All committee members come from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and of them at least Mohmand is a member of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), the party which is a staunch supporter of peace talks with Taliban. PTI heads KP’s coalition government in which other partners are all Islamists who want talks and are opposed to any use of force against the militants.

Not surprisingly, media commentators have said that this is Nawaz Sharif’s concession to, or an understanding with, cricketer-turned-politician and PTI chief Imran Khan.

The TTP has always placed seemingly impossible demands on the government like withdrawing security forces from tribal areas and stopping drone attacks by the USA, while rejecting the government’s call to cease violence and indeed continuing with it.

This time, while ready to talk – a move that many think is meant to buy time, going by past experience – the TTP ‘nominated’ as its representatives Imran Khan and Maulana Samiul Haq, the “father” of the Taliban movement whom Nawaz Sharif had tasked last year to facilitate the talks. Khan, however, distanced himself from any such role.

One reasoning for the government’s u turn in favour of holding talks is that Sharif wants to give a long rope to the militants and their supporters within the political class before finally using force if the talks fail.

Appearing before the National Assembly after absenting himself for six months, the prime minister said this was “the last chance” for negotiations and insisted that this would not be indefinite. He did not indicate a time frame, though.

In his editorial in the weekly Friday Times (Jan 31), Najam Sethi, however, said that the prime minister’s meeting with the KP Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak a day earlier “may have prompted a change of heart. The PTI remained the last hurdle in cobbling an all parties consensus in favour of war. Therefore the nomination of three religio-political mediators from KP, including PTI’s Rustam Shah (a fierce opponent of any military action against the TTP) suggests that the PM is covering his flanks before launching military action. The reasoning is that when, not if, the Committee fails to persuade the TTP to cease fire, the KPK-PTI will have no option but to fall in line with the war consensus.”

On the other hand, Nzawz Sharif has had to consider “some hard and fearful realities on the ground. Topmost is an expected TTP backlash in the PM’s home province of Punjab that has so far been largely untouched by the TTP’s retribution policies”.

“Punjab remains the base of all sectarian and jihadi organizations in the country. These were originally nurtured by the military establishment but have become independent or autonomous in recent years and struck out on their own with links to Al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban,” Sethi wrote.

Imran Khan, “the spoke in the wheel”, Sethi notes, has changed his stance visibly in the aftermath of TTP attacks on the army. “He is now making a distinction between “good” Taliban (those who are amenable to peace talks) and “bad” Taliban (who are carrying out the attacks).

Dawn newspaper in its editorial noted that the prime minister had failed his own party lawmakers. “Not only was the general thrust of the PML-N parliamentarians’ advice ignored, they were clearly not even informed of their own leadership’s plans to try and reinvigorate the dialogue option.”

“If the decision itself was a complete surprise, less surprising were the details: there were none. No deadlines, no red lines, no clarity about who will be reached out to, no specifics about the mandate of the four-member committee — virtually nothing other than the old platitudes about sincere efforts and genuine intentions on the part of the government.”

Reflective of the government’s ambivalence, the man who will ‘assist’ the committee, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, has described both courses as difficult options at a “defining moment” in Pakistan’s history.

A media report said: “Chaudhry Nisar seemed seeking to keep both the advocates of dialogue — mandated by a Sep 9 all-party conference — and of military operation happy as he said he personally favoured dialogue with the Taliban “even today” but wondered what could be done if “the other side refuses dialogue”.

The army acts only in retaliation, but cannot go for all-out action. The political support it is seeking is constantly wavering. The Islamist parties remain firmly opposed to any use of force. As a result, Sharif favours action while talking to the military, he talks of talks with the political class.

Commentator Zahid Husain sums up Pakistan’s current situation: “It began with the politicians, most of whom kept silent when the Taliban targeted their rivals during the election campaign. They didn’t speak out when our soldiers were being beheaded. They looked the other way when the extremists massacred Shias and other religious minorities. Instead, they appeased the murderers. Now the same terrorists are coming for them too. No one will be spared; the message is loud and clear. The line is drawn: either you are with us or against us.”

(Mahendra Ved is a New Delhi-based writer and columnist. He can be reached at mahendraved07@gmail.com)

This article appeared at South Asia Monitor and is reprinted with permission.

The article Fighting The Taliban: Pakistan Takes A Step Backwards appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Lloyd Marcus

Ah, another Black History Month, or should I say Annual Bash America Month. Every year the usual suspects (Democrats and liberal media) use the month to promote hate via false narratives such as young black men are routinely hunted by whites; Conservati ves and Republicans hate a commercial that features a biracial couple, and so on. You know the drill. America sucks, is eternally racist and victimizes blacks.

The left’s solution: More government freebies and special concessions for blacks, higher taxes and a stronger determination to eradicate income inequality. In other words, like MLK Day, Black History Month is simply another opportunity to exploit race to further the left’s socialist/progressive agenda.

I offer a bizarre concept. Why not celebrate BHM by featuring extraordinary blacks and their contributions? For example: In 1872 Henry Brown amazingly escaped slavery by mailing himself to freedom in a box. bit.ly/MtGPfm

In the 1980s, Pillsbury Company appointed successful black business executive Herman Cain to be chairman and CEO of Godfather Pizza. Cain become the CEO of the National Restaurant Association.

Herman Cain is a black conservative which by definition means he disagrees with Obama’s agenda. This disqualifies Cain, a great role model for black youths, from being featured in a Black History Month PSA.

A black entrepreneurial magazine featured Obama on its cover as a champion of black empowerment. I thought, “Are these people delusional?” Obama’s presidency has devastated entrepreneurs, especially blacks. And yet, the black publishers chose to make race trump the truth.

Race. Race. Race. Folks, my head is flooded with thoughts on this highly emotional issue which causes rational people to behave irrationally. Emotionally enslaved to racial loyalty, Christian family and friends either ignored or twisted the Bible to support Obama, despite his anti-Christian agenda; same sex marriage, abortion, banning God from the public square and forcing Christians to betray their faith.

Void of reality, BET featured a show touting the Obama’s strong Christian faith.

Race is such an emotional issue. In a restaurant, a white waitress gave a chilly reply to my cheerful, “Good morning”. I know intelligent blacks, burdened with a black chip on their shoulders. They would have automatically assumed the waitress’s coldness was racially motivated. Later, white friends commented about the same waitress. “She waited on us yesterday. Man, was she cold.” Apparently, the waitres s spread her unfriendly vibe indiscriminately.

For all intensive purposes, the GOP has surrendered its principles, values and the country to Obama due to racial intimidation. Remarkably, despite Obama’s unprecedented lies and scandals, race still prevents honest media coverage of his Administration.

Race is the Democrats and media’s most potent weapon to silence opposition to Obama’s war on the Constitution. I am a Tea Party activist. The left promotes the evil, divisive and irresponsible lie that my white Tea Party brothers and sisters call me a n***** behind my back.

Strong arguments exist on both sides about whether or not we should have Black History Month.

Racism will remain among the sins of humanity. But for the most part, you get what you give. Kindness and respect usually mirrors itself. Decent well-intentioned people find ways of working out their differences. I realize that this truth is too simplistic and individual-empowering for government social engineers, multicultural professors and race exploiters.

I pray for a day without PC police and race-exploiters; a day when Americans are allowed to interact like the crew of the star-ship Enterprise in the 60′s Star Trek TV show; various races living together without race being an issue.

Captain’s log 2014: Lloyd out.

The article Black On Black History Month And Race – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.