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Georgian Former Minister Of Defense And Internal Affairs Sentenced

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By Nana Kirtzkhalia

Georgian former Minister of Defense and Internal Affairs Bacho Akhalaia was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison on one of the items of the criminal case about the so-called “Navtlughi special operation”, Judge Besik Bugianishvili said Oct. 22.

Three young men were killed during a special operation near the Navtlughi bus station in Isani-Samgori district, Tbilisi in January 2006. They planned to organize a mass escape of prisoners from jail, the investigative bodies said.

Akhalaia served as the head of the Department of Corrections during that period. He was charged under articles 144-1 (torture) and Part 3 of Article 333 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (abuse of power).

The post Georgian Former Minister Of Defense And Internal Affairs Sentenced appeared first on Eurasia Review.


Juncker Wins Support For ‘Last-Chance’ Commission

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(EurActiv) — President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker secured confirmation for his new Commission from MEPs today (22 October), winning over a grand coalition of Socialists and centre-right MEPs, using a combination of charm and a few last-minute tweaks to policy.

Parliament’s largest three groups, the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists & Democrats and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) broadly voted, with 423 in favour, to support the proposed new 28-strong executive. 209 MEPs voted against, and 67 abstained, primarily, reports indicate, from the conservative ECR group.

The Greens, the European United Left and Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy groups all rejected the new team, whilst the Conservatives and Reformists abstained. Spanish Socialists are said to have voted against Juncker, as their leader Pedro Sánchez had recently announced.

Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberal ALDE group, said his force had decided to vote in favour of the “pro-European coalition” after lengthy discussions held late yesterday. One of the reasons, he said, hitting at outgoing President José Manuel Barroso, is that he expected the new Commission to no longer be “a secretariat to the Council”, where EU heads of state and government sit.

Speaking to MEPs ahead of the vote, Juncker warned that his Commission represented the “last chance” to win back citizens’ trust.

“Either we succeed in bringing European citizens closer to Europe, or we fail,” he told MEPs. “Either we manage [...] to dramatically reduce unemployment, or we fail. Either we give a perspective to young Europeans, or we fail,” Juncker said in a debate that saw him deploy humour to placate both the right and left.

Juncker called himself “the big loser” in the restructured Commission, because “I have delegated most of my jobs and prerogatives to the Vice-Presidents.” Juncker joked that he retained the power to take those responsibilities back, however.

“I will not demand blind obedience from my Commissioners. I am too old to launch a new career as a dictator,” Juncker said, adding that the new Commission would be “more political” than the current one.

“I have seen Frans Timmermans referred to several times as my right hand man in the press,” Juncker said, adding, “I hope that he will also occasionally be my left hand too.”

Timmermans, the Dutch Vice-President for Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law , and Charter of Fundamental Rights, emerged a star, following his hearing.

Juncker insisted that EU’s budget rules will not be weakened against a backdrop of demands by France and Italy for more flexibility in required budget consolidation, against efforts by Germany to maintain more discipline.

“The rules will not be changed,” Juncker said of the budgetary requirements, “but they can be implemented with a degree of flexibility”. The announcement came against a background of tension, as the EU executive prepares a review of the rules by the middle of December.

A bow to the left, and tweeks

In a nod to those in favour of social Europe, Juncker said: “I want Europe to be dedicated to being triple-A on social issues, as much as it is to being triple A in the financial and economic sense.”

The Luxembourgish President-designate announced some strategic tweaks to his proposed Commission, in order to clear the way for a broad coalition of support.

He told Parliament that responsibility for pharmaceuticals – initially assigned to the commissioner-designate for industry, Elżbieta Bieńkowska – would be put back into the charge of the Commissioner-designate for Health, Vytenis Andriukaitis. Socialists were unhappy with the industry commissioner controlling the pharmaceuticals portfolio.

Hungary‘s nominee, Tibor Navracsics, will no longer handle the citizenship portfolio, Juncker said, responding to MEPs criticisms about Navracsics’ ties to the Hungarian government, which has clashed with the EU on civil rights issues. The portfolio will instead go to the new home affairs commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos of Greece. Navracsics was initially assigned Education, Culture, Youth and Citizenship, and will retain Education, Culture and Youth.

Juncker also promised that a highly anticipated €300 billion investment programme aimed at boosting growth and jobs in the EU will be presented before the end of the year. It is unclear at present how the scheme will be financed.

Clarity on finances still a priority for Parliament

Jean-Claude Juncker defended the division of economic and social responsibilities between Commissioners and Vice-Presidents, saying “there is a Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, a Commissioner for Economic Affairs and another for Social Affairs. The Vice-President will of course have to coordinate the initiatives of the two Commissioners, because the European Semester is about more than just the economy”.

This explanation was well received by MEPs

“I would like to see you intervene immediately in the case of a deadlock between these Commissioners,” warned Guy Verhofstadt, president of the liberal ALDE group. He added that this would be unacceptable if the Commission was to make progress.

The conservative, Eurosceptic ECR group welcomed the new Commission structure, despite abstaining from the vote.

Syed Kamall, President of the ECR group, praised Juncker for coming up “with an integrated structure focused on outcomes,” and said the ECR was “particularly impressed” with the nomination of Vice-President Frans Timmermans.

The new Commission will start working on 1 November, using the time available to assume the dossiers of the outgoing members of the college.

The post Juncker Wins Support For ‘Last-Chance’ Commission appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Central Asia Hurting As Russia’s Ruble Sinks

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By David Trilling and Timur Toktonaliev

Pensioner Jyparkul Karaseyitova says she cannot afford meat anymore. At her local bazaar in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, the price for beef has jumped 9 percent in the last six weeks. And she is not alone feeling the pain of rising inflation. Butcher Aigul Shalpykova says her sales have fallen 40 percent in the last month. “If I usually sell 400 kilos of meat every month, in September I sold only 250 kilos,” she complained.

A sharp decline in the value of Russia’s ruble since early September is rippling across Central Asia, where economies are dependent on transfers from workers in Russia, and on imports too. As local currencies follow the ruble downward, the costs of imported essentials rise, reminding Central Asians just how dependent they are on their former colonial master.

The ruble is down 20 percent against the dollar since the start of the year, in part due to Western sanctions on Moscow for its role in the Ukraine crisis. The fall accelerated in September as the price of oil – Russia’s main export – dropped to four-year lows. The feeble ruble has helped push down currencies around the region, sometimes by double-digit figures.

In Bishkek, food prices have increased by 20 to 25 percent over the past 12 months, says Zaynidin Jumaliev, the chief for Kyrgyzstan’s northern regions at the Economics Ministry, who partially blames the rising cost of Russian-sourced fuel.

In Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, remittances from the millions of workers in Russia have started to fall. In recent years, these cash transfers have contributed the equivalent of about 30 percent to Kyrgyzstan’s economy and about 50 percent to Tajikistan’s. As the ruble depreciates, however, it purchases fewer dollars to send home. Transfers contracted in value during the first quarter of 2014 for the first time since 2009, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said last month, “primarily due” to the downturn in Russia. The EBRD added that any further drop “may significantly dampen consumer demand.”

“A weaker ruble weighs on [foreign] workers’ salaries […] which brings some pain to these countries,” said Oleg Kouzmin, Russia and CIS economist at Renaissance Capital in Moscow.

This month the International Monetary Fund said it expects consumer prices in Kyrgyzstan to grow 8 percent in 2014 and 8.9 percent in 2015, compared with 6.6 percent last year. Kazakhstan and Tajikistan should see similar increases. A Dushanbe resident says he went on vacation for three weeks in July and when he returned food prices were approximately 10 percent higher. In Uzbekistan, the IMF said it expects inflation “will likely remain in the double digits.”

The one country unlikely to feel the pressure is Turkmenistan, which is sheltered from the market’s moods because it sells its chief export – natural gas – to China at a fixed price.

One factor that could sharply and suddenly affect the rest of the region is a policy shift at Russia’s Central Bank, which has already spent over $50 billion this year defending the ruble. Some, like former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, have condemned efforts to prop up the currency, arguing that a weaker ruble is good for exports.

The tumbling ruble and the drop in the price of oil have helped steer Kazakhstan’s economy into a cul-de-sac, slowing growth projections, forcing officials to recalculate the budget, and suggesting the tenge is overvalued. The National Bank already devalued the currency by 19 percent in February. On October 21, National Bank Chairman Kairat Kelimbetov urged Kazakhs not to worry about another devaluation, but investors grumble that he said the same thing less than a month before February’s devaluation.

Another devaluation would send a distress signal to investors, says one Almaty banker. Astana “lost a fair bit of credibility last time,” the banker said on condition of anonymity, fearing new legislation designed to combat panic selling. “They need to be much more careful about how they handle expectations going forward. And that is affecting how things are happening this time. People seem to be a lot more dollarized compared to a year ago and more hesitant to hold large tenge balances.”

“My personal position?” the banker added. “I’m not holding tenge.”

Meanwhile, a mystery investor has been propping up the tenge by selling hundreds of millions of dollars a day, according to Halyk Finance in Almaty. On October 21 “a larger player, again offsetting the intraday trend, sold about $650 million,” Halyk said in a note to investors. On October 20 a “large player” also sold about $600 million, which kept the tenge stable at about 181/dollar. Observers believe the “large player” is a state-run company with ample reserves, but are mystified that the Central Bank refuses to comment and concerned that the interventions appear to be growing.

In Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, central banks have dipped into limited reserves to ease their currencies’ slides. Nevertheless, the Kyrgyz som has fallen by 12 percent against the dollar this year, the Tajik somoni by about 5 percent. The World Bank said this month it expects the somoni to sink further.

Renaissance Capital’s Kouzmin cautions against the bank interventions in Central Asia, which use up reserves and widen trade deficits. “It makes sense for the national banks of these countries to let currencies depreciate to some extent to keep national competitiveness,” he told EurasiaNet.org.

Overall, the slowdown in Russia has long-term effects on Central Asia. “Portfolio investors look at the region as a whole. If you’re a CIS fund, the news on Russia has been bad and has caused the withdrawal of funds” from the region, said Dominic Lewenz of Visor Capital, an investment bank in Almaty. “So the trouble in Russia has hit things here.”

GDP growth projections have fallen markedly across the region, but nowhere near the levels seen during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Everything, it seems, depends on Ukraine. Any worsening scenario there would have “far-reaching implications” for the region, possibly on food security, according to the EBRD.

Back at the bazaar in Bishkek, Orunbay Jolchuev was forced this month to increase by 15 percent what he charges for flour. But at least sales have not been affected. “We all need flour, we all need to eat bread, macaroni, dough,” Jolchuev said. “It’s not something people can cut back even if it becomes too expensive.”

David Trilling is EurasiaNet’s Central Asia editor. Timur Toktonaliev is a Bishkek-based reporter.

The post Central Asia Hurting As Russia’s Ruble Sinks appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Google Boosts Security With USB Accessory

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Google has launched a USB security accessory dubbed the Security Key, a physical solution for safer two-step verification, according to Digital Spy.

The tool eliminates the need for email or text message verification by allowing the user to authenticate logins by plugging it into their PC’s USB port.

The Security Key was launched as a defence against some of the more sophisticated hackers out there, who are able to infiltrate two-step verification systems by setting up copycat sites that request login data from the user.

Google’s new accessory uses cryptography to protect the user and is only designed to work with websites it has been pre-programmed for.

The Security Key is programmed to work with Google’s Chrome Browser only, which is bad news for Firefox and Internet Explorer users.

Amazon is currently selling three versions of the device, ranging from $5.99 to $50 in price.

The post Google Boosts Security With USB Accessory appeared first on Eurasia Review.

India’s Imperatives In Sri Lanka – Analysis

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India has tried to address the concerns of Sri Lankan Tamils through projects such as the recently-inaugurated railway between Jaffna and Colombo. But their aspirations for autonomy in the North and East remain unfulfilled, and New Delhi faces a dilemma—pushing Colombo on political issues can drive it closer to Beijing.

By Neelam Deo and Karan Pradhan

On October 13, Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa launched the final 38-kilometre northern stretch of the railway line between Jaffna to the capital Colombo. The Indian High Commissioner, Y.K. Sinha, who participated in the inauguration ceremony, said the resumption of the service after a 24-year disruption will promote “development, reconciliation and greater integration by bringing people in different parts of the island closer.”

The railway has connected the two cities since 1905, but many of the northern sections of the track were destroyed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the 1982-2009 civil war. The Indian Railway Construction Company, run by the government of India, has repaired those sections of the 400-kilometre train track, financed by an $800 million soft line of credit—announced in 2010—from India.

Yal-devi-railway_networkMore than 40,000 civilians were killed—according to United Nations estimates—by the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE during the civil war. Western countries did little to curb the flow of funds to the LTTE from their expatriate Sri Lankan Tamil communities. But they have censured the Sri Lankan government at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) every year since 2011, when a resolution was introduced by the U.S., for the violations of human rights in the final days of the war.

India decided instead to focus on rebuilding infrastructure and homes in the Tamil-majority Northern Province in order to address the needs of local Tamils. To do this, it has to work with—and not constantly be at odds with—the Sri Lankan authorities. At the same time, India has urged the Rajapaksa government to implement the recommendations of its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), which was set up to investigate allegations of numerous well-documented violations against innocent civilians caught in the crossfire between the army and the LTTE.

But the efficacy of the strategy of rebuilding is being challenged by the elected representatives of the Sri Lankan Tamil community. The chief minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Vigneswaran, and the five-party Tamil National Alliance, boycotted the inauguration of the railway to express their resentment against India and the Sri Lankan government—in particular, at India’s failure to pressure Rajapaksa to implement the 13th Amendment (passed in 1987) to the Sri Lankan Constitution. The amendment provides for the enhancement of the powers of the provincial councils in the North and East, including powers over the police force and land use.

Sri Lankan Tamils have regarded India as an ally since the enactment of the Sinhala Only Law of 1956, when the first measures against the use of the Tamil language, and the disadvantaging of the Tamil community, began to be enacted. The Tamil cause, always popular in Tamil Nadu, continues to be supported by India, which has counselled successive Sri Lankan governments against alienating the community. The culmination of these efforts was the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987, which paved the way for the 13th Amendment.

No country has a greater stake than India in ending the legal and political discrimination against Tamil-origin Sri Lankans because of the resonance of their concerns, especially in Tamil Nadu. Unfortunately, the issue has been cynically turned into an emotive tool in Tamil Nadu politics. This has circumscribed the options available to New Delhi.

Although the government of India has vacillated in its voting at the UNHRC over the West-sponsored censure of the Sri Lankan government, it has resolutely prioritised the rehabilitation of the infrastructure of the Northern Province. India is engaged in projects worth over $1 billion in the North and East. This includes a $270 million commitment to build 50,000 housing units across affected areas, the rehabilitation of Kankesanthurai Harbour, Palaly Airport and Duriappah Stadium in Jaffna, and building a 500-megawatt coal power plant at Sampur in the Eastern Province.

But China has funded and is executing even larger projects across Sri Lanka, worth nearly $5 billion. These include the expansion of Hambantota Harbour, the Puttalam coal power project, the Colombo-Kattunayake expressway, and the Matala Rajapaksa airport.

Colombo’s importance to Beijing was reiterated during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Sri Lanka in September, when he inaugurated the construction of the $1.4 billion Colombo Port City—a commercial centre off the coast—located conveniently near the $500 million Chinese-built Colombo International Container Terminal.

As historic friends and neighbours, India and Sri Lanka have many points of strategic convergence, such as their shared concern about terrorism emanating from Pakistan. In 2009, a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team to a match in Lahore was attacked by terrorists, killing six police personnel and two civilians, and injuring many others. Colombo has taken action against suspected Pakistani terrorists pretending to be asylum seekers and trying to enter India from the south. This is an important step in expanding regional cooperation on combating terrorism.

However, despite converging strategic and economic interests, including annual bilateral trade worth $3.7 billion, and despite appeals by numerous Tamil Nadu-based political parties, India cannot apply too much pressure on Colombo to mitigate the discrimination against Sri Lankan Tamils. India’s options are especially limited because it cannot ignore the importance of close relations with the Sri Lankan government in the strategic landscape of South Asia—which is evolving with the economic rise of China and its expansionism in the Indo-Pacific region.

Meanwhile, Rajapaksa has sought investment and infrastructure assistance from India as well as China, and has managed to deftly balance his country’s strategic importance to both countries. The absence of effective political opposition in Sri Lanka—Rajapaksa’s family members occupy senior positions in government, the opposition is disorganised, and opponents like former General Sarath Fonseka, who contested the 2010 presidential elections, are in jail—gives Rajapaksa greater latitude to keep a diplomatic and developmental equilibrium with India and China. To cement his grip on Sri Lanka, he has called for elections in January 2015, a whole two years ahead of schedule.

India, too, has its own balancing act to perform, torn as it is between pushing Colombo to implement the 13th Amendment as well as the recommendations of the LLRC report of 2011, while it tries to retain its influence and economic interests in Sri Lanka.

Steps in the right direction for India can include finalising the long-delayed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Sri Lanka to promote economic integration. India must also expedite pending projects, particularly the housing project—at the end of 2013 only 10,250 new homes of the target of 50,000 were completed.

Measures such as these can help India counter China’s growing affinity with Colombo. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Kathmandu for the 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit in November, he will have to find ways to check China’s expanding influence in all SAARC countries.

About the authors:
Ambassador Neelam Deo is Co-founder and Director of Gateway House. She has been the Indian Ambassador to Denmark and Ivory Coast with concurrent accreditation to several West African countries.

Karan Pradhan is a Senior Researcher at Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations.

This article was published by Gateway House.

The post India’s Imperatives In Sri Lanka – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Evo Morales Wins Bolivia Again – Analysis

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The re-election of Evo Morales as Bolivia’s president in the recent elections is a recognition of his success in emancipating the poor indigenous people of the country and economic management of the country. It is also an inspiration and matter of pride for the indigenous people of the whole of Latin America as well that of the world.

By R. Viswanathan

In this election season in India and Latin America, there is both predictability and surprise. In India’s state elections, the ruling BJP dominated the wins; in Brazil’s national election, a surprise candidate may defeat the incumbent President. In Bolivia’s October 12 national elections, predictability won hands down, with President Evo Morales sweeping the polls with over 60% of the votes, easily defeating his nearest rival Samuel Doria Medina.

This election, Morales did even better than in 2009 when he won with 53.7% of the votes. His party Movement for Socialism (MAS) also got a comfortable majority in the Congress. Morales is the first Bolivian President to win in the first round with such a large majority in the last forty years.

There are many explanations for the success of Morales, now the longest-serving Bolivian President. The simplest is that he is from the poor, native indigenous community while his main opponent is a rich, European-origin businessman. The indigenous people, 60% of the Bolivian population, are the poorest. The white community is 15% of the population and are the best-off. Not surprisingly, despite being the majority in the population, the natives were marginalised and discriminated politically and economically for the last five centuries by the people of European-origin. It was Evo Morales who ended this historic domination by becoming the first indigenous President in 2006.

He immediately set about correcting the injustice by putting the indigenous people on the top of his economic and political agenda and has, over the years, vastly improved their lives. He has changed the constitution which institutionalises the empowerment of the indigenous people, and recognised their traditions and culture. Thanks to these moves, the number below the poverty line in Bolivia has dropped by 32% from 2000 to 2012. A report by the UNDP has placed Bolivia as the most successful in reducing poverty in the last decade in Latin America.

Although the west has labelled him a radical leftist, Morales has managed the economy prudently and pragmatically. He has financed his pro-poor programmes with the increase in revenue from exports such as gas and minerals. He has improved tax revenues and instituted better financial management by staying within the mandated budget. This has ensured Morales a fiscal surplus every year since 2006.

The GDP of Bolivia has grown an average of 5% from 2006 to 2013. It grew 6.8% in 2013 and is projected to grow 5.5% in 2014 and 5% in 2015. This is high, compared to the rest of Latin America’s 2.65% growth on average as well as the developed world. Foreign exchange reserves have increased from about $3 billion in 2006 to $14 billion in May 2014. The five-digit inflation that Bolivia suffered during the eighties, like other Latin American countries, is now a manageable 7%. Interest rates at 7 % are a contrast to the double digit rates of Brazil, Argentina and Chile. External debt is a controllable at $7.7 billion, largely stable since the $6.2 billion of 2006. Even the Financial Times was compelled to admit on 15 October has said, ‘ Mr Morales may well be Latin America’s most successful socialist presidents ever’.

Bolivia has never had such a long period of political stability and economic growth as it has experienced in the last eight years under President Morales. Once the poorest country in South America, Bolivia was notorious for coups and political instability. Of the 83 governments in its independent past, 36 lasted a year or less. Between 2001 and 2005 there were five Presidents.

Understandably, the European origin politicians and businessmen have not reconciled to the democratic logic of a President elected from the majority of the population. Constant plotting along with US outside support to destabilize Morales, is the norm with them. The province of Santa Cruz,rich in minerals and agriculture, along with a few others, even tried separation from La Paz. But Morales survived due to the solid support of the indigenous people and that provided by the Union of South American Nations, USAN.

Morales comes from a poor family and rose as a leader of the coca-cultivators union. The United States is unhappy with the coca leaf-worshipping Morales who has stopped the forced criminalization and eradication of coca farms in the country as part of the US war on drugs. He calls himself as the ‘worst nightmare of the US’. Morales stood upto the mighty Lula and Petrobras which had been receiving cheap Bolivian gas from Morales’ predecessors (plural) – and managed to get a higher price for the gas exported to Brazil.

Bolivia was in the spotlight in India when Naveen Jindal went there announcing a $2 billion investment in the El Mutun iron ore project. Unfortunately it was a failure due to faults on both the sides. India’s trade with Bolivia is not significant but there is good scope to increase exports.

Morales himself continues his simple lifestyle – with, of course, the Latino passion for football. He plays the game regularly – as member of a local Bolivian team.

About the author:
Ambassador Viswanathan is Distinguished Fellow, Latin America Studies, Gateway House. He is the former Indian Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela, and Consul General in Sao Paulo.

This article was published by Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations.

The post Evo Morales Wins Bolivia Again – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

My Father Was Killed By A Computer, Says 7-Year-Old Afghan Child – OpEd

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Imal, a 7-year-old Afghan student in the 2nd grade, came to visit us in Kabul.

As Imal grew up, he kept asking his mother where his father was. His mother finally told Imal that his father had been killed by a drone when he was still a baby.

If you could see Imal in this video, you would want to hug Imal immediately.

If Imal were a white American kid, this tragedy would not have befallen his father. Which American would allow any U.S. citizen to be killed by a foreign drone?

Suppose the UK wanted to hunt ‘terrorists’ in the U.S., with their drones, and every Tuesday, David Cameron signed a ‘secret kill list’ like Obama does. Drones operated from Waddington Base in the UK fly over U.S. skies to drop bombs on their targets, and the bombs leave a 7 year old American kid, say, John, fatherless.

John’s father is killed, shattered to charred pieces by a bomb, dropped by a drone, operated by a human, under orders from the Prime Minister /Commander-in-Chief.

“John, we’re sorry that your father happened to be near our ‘terrorist’ target.’ He was collateral damage. It was ‘worth it’ for the sake of UK national security.”

Unfortunately, no U.S. official or military personnel had met with Imal’s widowed mother to apologize.

Raz, Imal’s uncle who brought him to visit us, asked his young nephew,

“Will you bring me some marbles to play with?”

Imal was friendly, like any other 7 year old kid. “Yes!” His voice was a trusting one, eager to be a good friend and playmate.

“Do you also play with walnuts? Tell us how you play with walnuts,” Raz requests.

“We put them in a line, and flick a walnut to hit other walnuts, like playing with marbles,” Imal explains diligently, like he was telling a story we should all be interested in.

“Besides beans, what other food do you like?”

“I also like….potatoes…and meat……and….rice!” All of us were smiling with the familiar love of Afghan oiled ‘palao’ or ‘Qabuli’ rice.”

Imal on the computer

Imal on the computer

Imal knew what my laptop was. He said, “We can look at photos & watch films…”

But, then, it seemed that he took on the understanding of an older person when his voice became serious.

”My father was killed by a computer.”

I wanted to tell Imal that nowadays, it takes children and young people like Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai to tell us adults the plain facts.

When Malala was 16 years old and met with the Obamas at the White House, Malala had told Obama that drones were fuelling terrorism.

Do we get it? Drones are employed in the ‘war against terrorism’, but instead, drones fuel terrorism.

How many drone attacks are there in Afghanistan every month, and how many women, children and young men like Imal’s father are killed?

We don’t know. It’s not a transparent strategy.

We would all want to know everything about the possible effects of a drone strategy on our children, especially if our country was the most drone-bombed country in the world, like Afghanistan is.

A Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s ‘Naming the Dead’ report says that fewer than 4% of the people killed by drone attacks in Pakistan have been identified by available records as named members of Al Qaeda. If this is true for drone attack victims in Afghanistan too, then 96% of drone victims in Afghanistan have been innocent civilians like Imal’s father.

In another Bureau of Investigative Journalism report,  ‘Tracking drone strikes in Afghanistan’, (July, 2014),the Bureau states that “nobody systematically publishes insurgent and civilian deaths from drones on a strike-by-strike basis. Neither the US nor UK authorities publishes data on the casualties of their drone operations.”

So, we are unable to find out for Imal’s mother if it was a U.S./UK drone that killed her husband, and who the drone operator was.

If Imal were John, could he or his mother sue David Cameron? Stop the drone? Stop the human drone operator? Disable the computer?

We gave Imal a Borderfree blue scarf, and thanked him for coming.

Imal and Badshah Khan

Imal and Badshah Khan

His eyes were bright and cheerful, taking in the photos on the wall, including a poster of Gandhi and Badshah Khan. Badshah Khan was a Pashtun like Imal, and has been called the Frontier Gandhi for his lifelong struggle for nonviolence.

I have been thinking hard about Imal, about whether anyone would hear him, when few among the elites who declare wars and order drone strikes seem to have heard the now famous Malala, not even President Obama.

“I wish to tell the world, ‘We don’t want war. Don’t fight!’”

Dr Hakim is a medical doctor from Singapore who has done humanitarian and social enterprise work in Afghanistan for the past 9 years, including being a friend and mentor to the Afghan Peace Volunteers, an inter-ethnic group of young Afghans dedicated to building non-violent alternatives to war. He is the 2012 recipient of the International Pfeffer Peace Prize.

All photos were provided by Dr. Hakim.

The post My Father Was Killed By A Computer, Says 7-Year-Old Afghan Child – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Phantoms Of The Past: Britain’s Vote On Palestine Is A Nonstarter – OpEd

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It would be intellectually dishonest to reflect on the British House of Commons’ vote of Monday, 13 October, on a Palestinian state without digging deeper into history. Regardless of the meaning of the non-binding motion, the parliamentary action cannot be brushed off as just another would-be country to recognise Palestine, as was the Swedish government decision on 3 October.

Unlike Sweden, and most of the 130 plus countries to effectively recognise Palestine, Britain is a party in the Middle East’s most protracted conflict. In fact, if it were not for Britain, there would be no conflict, or even Israel, of which to speak. It is within this context that the British vote matters, and greatly so.

As I listened to the heated debate by British MPs which proceeded the historic vote of 272 in favour and 12 against, phantoms of historic significance occupied my mind.

When my father was born in historic Palestine in 1936, he found himself in a world politically dominated by Britain. Born and raised in the now long-destroyed Palestinian village of Beit Daras – which, like the rest of historic Palestine has now become part of “Israel proper” – he, along with his family – were entrapped between two anomalies that greatly scarred the otherwise peaceful landscape of Palestine countryside. A Jewish colony called Tabiyya, along with a heavily fortified British police compound that was largely aimed at safeguarding the interests of the colony, subjugated Beit Daras.

The residents of the village, still unaware of the plan to dispossess them from their homeland, grew wary of the dual treachery with time. But by 1947-48, it was too late. The British-coordinated withdrawal from Palestine was aimed at creating space for a Jewish state, today’s Israel. The Palestinians, for 66 years and counting, suffered from more than homelessness and dispossession, but also a military occupation and countless massacres, ending with the most recent Israeli war on Gaza. In what Israel calls Operation Protective Edge, nearly 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed and five fold more were wounded. Yet, Palestinians continue to resist, with greater ferocity than ever.

Because of this, and the fact that the British government remains a member of the ever-shrinking club of Israel’s staunch supporters, the vote in the British parliament greatly matters. “Symbolic” and non-binding, it still matters. It matters because the Israeli arsenal is rife with British armaments. Because the British government, despite strong protestation of its people, still behaves towards Israel as if the latter were a law-abiding state with a flawless human rights records. It matters despite the dubious language of the motion, linking the recognition of Palestine alongside Israel, to “securing a negotiated two-state solution.”

But there can be no two states in a land that is already inhabited by two nations, who, despite the grossness of the occupation, are in fact interconnected geographically, demographically and in other ways as well. Israel has created irreversible realities in Palestine, and the respected MPs of the British parliament should know this.

The MPs votes were motivated by different rationale and reasons. Some voted “yes” because they have been long-time supporters of Palestinians, others are simply fed up with Israel’s behaviour. But if the vote largely reflected an attempt at breathing more life in the obsolete “two-state solution” to a conflict created by the British themselves, then, the terrible British legacy in Palestine which has lasted for nearly a century will continue unabated.

British army boots walked on Palestinian soil as early as 1917, after the British army defeated Turkey, whose vast Ottoman Empire, that included Palestine, was quickly disintegrating under the combined pressure of European powers. As soon as Jerusalem was captured by British forces under the command of General Sir Edmund Allenby in December 1917, and the rest of the country by October 1918, the will of the Palestinian people fell hostage to the British Empire. The figures of how many Palestinian Arabs were killed, wounded, tortured, imprisoned and exiled by Britain since that date, until the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948, is beyond depressing.

However, Britain’s integral role in the suffering of the Palestinians and the establishment of Israel was hardly a coincidental policy necessitated by the nature of its immediate colonial ambitions. It was calculated and rooted in political and diplomatic intrigues that go back to the 19th century. It was also predicated on an unmistakable element of racism, rampant in the colonial culture at the time. Its manifestations still bring shame to Britain today, which still refuses to fully and unconditionally reverse that early policy.

It is inexplicable that one century after the British involvement in Palestine, which has proved its astounding failure, the current British foreign policy is not far removed from the language and policies executed by the British Empire when Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour “promised” Palestine for a Jewish state. The Balfour Declaration is dated 2 November, 1917, before Palestine was even occupied by the British, thus reflecting the sheer arrogance and disregard of Palestinians and their rights. In one of his letters at the time, Balfour so conceitedly wrote:

“For in Palestine we do not propose even to go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants of the country … The four great powers are committed to Zionism, and Zionism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-long tradition, in present needs, in future hopes of far profounder import than the desire and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land. In my opinion that is right.”

Encouraged by the overwhelming recent vote in favour of Palestine at the parliament (although nearly half of the MPs didn’t show up or abstained,) one can hardly deny the signs that both the British public and many in the country’s political establishment are simply disenchanted by Israel’s continued war and occupation which are the main reason behind the destabilisation of the region long before the Syrian civil war and other upheavals began. Many British MPs are furious over Israel’s violent, expansionist and anti-peace conduct, including those who were once strong allies of Israel. That must not be denied.

But it is hardly enough. When the British government insists on maintaining its pro-Israeli policies, and when the general attitude of those who truly hold the reins of power in London remain committed to a farce vision of two-states, defending Israel and disempowering Palestinians at every turn, the Balfour vision of old will remain the real guidelines for British policy regarding Palestine.

66 years after ending its “mandate” in Palestine, Britain remains a party in a bloody conflict, where Israel is still carrying the same policies of colonial expansion, using western – including British – funds, arms and political support. Only when Britain fully and completely ends its support of Israel and financing of its occupation, and works diligently and actively towards correcting the injustice it had imposed on the Palestinians a century ago, one can consider that a real change in British policies is finally taking hold.

Without a clear course of action to help Palestinians gain their freedom, the British vote will remain another symbolic gesture in a conflict in which military occupation, war, siege, death and destruction are very much real. And when British leaders, like conservative Prime Minister David Cameron continue to parrot their unconditional support for Israel, even after the Gaza wars and massacres, one will also continue to seek even moderate proof that the Balfour legacy has truly and finally ended.

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Man Jumps White House Fence, Kicks Dog And Causes Lockdown

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Just one month after the last White House fence-jumping incident, another man leaped over the barrier and kicked a Secret Service dog sent to attack him. The man was eventually arrested.

Currently, the intruder’s name is unknown, though authorities say they arrested him on the north lawn of the White House on Wednesday. The White House was subsequently placed on lockdown.

Video footage obtained by Fox News shows that once inside the fence, the Secret Service sent in a dog to stop his progress. The man kicks one dog in the face, but another one takes him to the ground. Several agents can be seen surrounding the man as he struggles with the canine.

“Dogs got him,” the spokesman said to Reuters, referring to the trespassing man.

The unnamed man was transported to a local hospital, according to ABC News.

This is the third fence-jumping incident since September, when two security breaches sparked nationwide scrutiny of the Secret Service. Ultimately, agency director Julia Pierson resigned from her post.

In September, Omar Gonzalez, a 42-year-old decorated Iraq War veteran who was in possession of a knife, bypassed the security fence surrounding the heavily-guarded White House grounds, ran to the north portico door and entered the executive mansion. He was apprehended and arrested by the Secret Service.

On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered authorities to conduct a 30-day mental evaluation on Gonzalez, a separate Reuters report stated. Unless he is found competent to stand trial, he cannot be arraigned on charges.

Also in September, a 26-year-old New York state man with mental disabilities was detained for trespassing on White House grounds. Jeffrey Grossman was stopped by the Secret Service after he climbed over the fence. He was wearing a Pokemon shirt and hat, and carried a doll of the Pokemon character Pikachu.

In response to these security failures, the Secret Service established a second fence and increased its presence around the White House.

“This temporary closure is in effect while the Secret Service conducts a comprehensive review of the fence jumping incident,” agency spokesman Brian Leary said.

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Does US Need A ‘Plan Central America’? – Analysis

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By Ana Quintana

Due to the crisis on America’s southwest border, several Members of Congress and special interest groups have proposed replicating Plan Colombia in Central America. While it has become apparent that current U.S. policy toward Central America is not working, instead of creating a new plan, the U.S. should reform the existing system of the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI). Citizen security indicators show that CARSI is in dire need of refinement.

The Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras should not be considered nor approached as a monolith. Despite cultural and demographic similarities, each country’s experiences with the region’s security crisis are unique and relative to their domestic situation. Nicaragua, an anomaly in the region, should also be analyzed. Despite its geographic proximity to the Northern Triangle and weak economic conditions, an infinitesimal amount of Nicaraguans were part of the mass exodus.

Congress should strengthen existing U.S. policies, namely CARSI, and should ensure that congressional withholdings and “Leahy laws” promote national security.

Deficiencies in Current U.S. Policy

CARSI has largely dictated U.S. policy toward Central America for nearly a decade. It is designed as a framework for areas of improvement rather than stated goals.[1] Successful metrics are designed within individual programs, not the security initiative as a whole. Its loose structure leaves it vulnerable to politicization. Changing attitudes about the U.S.’s role in Central America have altered the implementation of CARSI, despite its short existence.

Under the Obama Administration, there has been an overemphasis on potentially wasteful economic development assistance. In addition to distorting the local economies, in many cases economic aid alleviates the fiscal responsibilities of local governments from implementing necessary reforms.

The Administration’s focus on economic aid was further highlighted by President Barack Obama’s emergency funding request. The President requested $295 million for the State Department’s Economic Support Fund (ESF) for the “reintegration of migrants” into their home communities and to “address the root causes of migration” through economic development. Such funding is $37 million greater than ESF funds appropriated in the past seven years through CARSI to all of Central America.[2]

The implementation of Leahy law—human rights provisions governing foreign security assistance—has also complicated U.S. security cooperation efforts. An important lesson from Plan Colombia was the dangers of unchecked Leahy laws. According to a recent report by the U.S. Joint Special Operations University, the U.S. contributed to a “succession of major defeats that put Colombia’s survival in jeopardy”[3] due to Leahy law restrictions imposed on the U.S. It has been proven that withholding aid is far less effective than investing in training and education. Such holds have been placed against Honduras and Guatemala.

The U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) supported the new Guatemalan Interagency Task Force, which provides infrastructure and operational anti-trafficking support along the Mexico–Guatemalan border—yet funding restrictions have impeded this cooperation. Guatemala shares a 600-mile border with Mexico and is a major transit point for travel to and from Central America. Nonetheless, there are only eight formal points of entry. With the surge in unlawful border crossings, an estimated 350 informal crossing points have been created.

Following Honduras’s constitutional crisis of 2009, the U.S. suspended critical counternarcotic assistance.[4] Land, sea, and air counternarcotic operations were weakened and, along the Caribbean coast, virtually halted. Congress has withheld a minimum of 20 percent of security assistance on the basis of alleged human rights concerns. It maintained this provision in fiscal year (FY) 2013 and, in FY 2014, increased the hold to 35 percent despite the country’s great strides in both human rights and democratic governance. The U.S. needs to ensure that Leahy laws reflect national security priorities.

Studying the Case of Nicaragua

Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua share many problems, the same drug-trafficking route, a colonial legacy of underdevelopment and an agrarian economy, 1980s-era conflict and insurgency, as well as weak governance. Unlike the other three countries, however, Nicaragua has so far been immune to high levels of violence. Security strategies adopted during the post-conflict period of the late 1980s and early 1990s paved the way for Nicaragua’s exceptional conditions. Partially because of community policing programs and a demilitarization of domestic security forces, Nicaragua has some of the lowest crime and murder rates in the region. Of tens of thousands of unlawful Central American migrants in 2014, only 194 were Nicaraguan. Although Nicaragua has significant progress to make in democratic governance and economic development, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras should replicate Nicaragua’s successful police reform policies wherever possible.

The U.S. should:

  • Formulate clear goals for CARSI. CARSI was originally designed as a supplement to the Mexico-focused Mérida Initiative. Regional security issues and threats have evolved since then. CARSI should reflect these changing dynamics.
  • Lift congressional withholdings that undermine U.S. security efforts. Current withholdings against Guatemala and Honduras continue to weaken U.S. regional counternarcotics efforts. Increasing levels of U.S.-bound drug trafficking and accompanying violence will continue to destabilize Central America, and Congress should recognize the need for continued engagement.
  • Recognize the importance of supporting civil society in Central America. In the U.S. and other Western democracies, civil society functions as the intermediary between the government and the public. Democratic and governance institutions in many of these countries are weak and in many cases corrupt. The U.S. should support groups and organizations that hold regional governments accountable.

Plan Colombia’s success was due to the Colombian government’s efforts and the U.S.’s persistent and unwavering engagement. Fifteen years later, the U.S. and Colombia remain committed and enduring partners in countering illicit narcotics. U.S. political will existed because of the drug-terror nexus. The financial connections between cocaine, the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), and other regional insurgent groups were clear. Claims of drug-terror connections in Central American have not been verified.

In developing policy considerations to promote security in the Western Hemisphere, the U.S. should be wary of promoting potentially ineffective assistance programs. Clearly defined outcomes that promote U.S. national security must be the cornerstone of any policy.

—Ana Quintana is a Research Associate for Latin America in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign and National Security Policy, of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, at The Heritage Foundation.

[1] Ana Quintana, “Improving Regional Security in Central America’s Northern Triangle,” Heritage Foundation Issue Brief No. 4240, June 23, 2014, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/06/improving-regional-security-in-central-americas-northern-triangle.

[2] David Inserra, “Border Crisis: Emergency Budget Request Misses the Mark,” Heritage Foundation Issue Brief No. 4249, July 15, 2014, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/07/border-crisis-emergency-budget-request-misses-the-mark.

[3] Mark Moyar, Hector Pagan, and Wil R. Griego, “Persistent Engagement in Colombia,” Joint Special Operations University, July 2014, https://jsou.socom.mil/PubsPages/JSOU14-3_Moyar-Pagan-Griego_Colombia_FINAL.pdf (accessed October 17, 2014).

[4] Ana Quintana, “The United States Needs to Expand Security Cooperation with Honduras,” Heritage Foundation Issue Brief No. 4115, December 31, 2013, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/12/the-united-states-needs-to-expand-security-cooperation-with-honduras.

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PM Harper Says Canada Won’t Be Intimidated By Terrorism

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(RFE/RL) — Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said “Canada will not be intimidated” and will fight terrorism, after a Canadian soldier was shot dead by a gunman near the parliament in Ottawa on October 22.

The suspected killer was shot dead following a heavy exchange of gunfire with police inside the parliament building.

Harper addressed the nation 22 amid a massive security operation which saw parts of the capital locked down as security forces searched for other potential suspects.

The incident came after Canada on October 21 raised its terror threat level, following the death of another soldier in a hit-and-run attack by a Muslim convert on October 20.

In his address, Harper called both incidents “terrorist attacks.”

The killed soldier was identifed as Corporal Nathan Cirillo, who was on guard duty at a war memorial near the parliament when he was killed.

Meanwhile, media reports said Canadian police were investigating a man named as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau as a possible suspect in the shootings.

Canada’s “Globe and Mail” newspaper reported, citing federal authorities that Canadian-born Zehef-Bibeau, a man in his early 30s, was known to Canadian authorities.

The paper said that Zehef-Bibeau was recently designated a “high-risk traveler” by the Canadian government and that his passport had been confiscated.

U.S. President Barack Obama condemned the Ottawa shootings as “outrageous attacks” and reinforced the need for vigilance.

Obama, who spoke by telephone with Harper, said the motive for the shootings remained unknown. Obama said he offered condolences on behalf of the American people.

Canada earlier this month joined the U.S.-led coalition conducting airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria.

However, authorities had said October 21 that the decision to raise the terror threat level was prompted by a rise in “general chatter” from radical groups such as IS and Al-Qaeda but said there had not been a specific threat.

No group, Islamic or otherwise, claimed responsibility for either the attack in Ottawa or the one near Montreal on October 20.

The perpetrator of that attack, 25-year-old Martin Rouleau, who converted to Islam last year, was among 90 people being tracked by police on suspicion of taking part in militant activities abroad or planning to do so.

Like Zehaf-Bibeau, Rouleau also had his passport confiscated earlier this year and prevented from traveling to Turkey.

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Jury Finds Blackwater Contractors Guilty Of Killing Iraqi Civilians

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Four former Blackwater security guards were found guilty Wednesday in the 2007 shootings of more than 30 Iraqis in Baghdad, and a federal judge ordered them immediately to jail.

In an overwhelming victory for prosecutors, a jury found Nicholas Slatten guilty of first-degree murder. The three other guards — Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard — were found guilty of multiple counts of voluntary manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and gun charges.

The four men had been charged with a combined 33 counts in the shootings and the jury was able to reach a verdict on all of them, with the exception of three charges against Heard. The prosecution agreed to drop those charges.

The outcome after a summerlong trial and weeks of jury deliberation stunned the defense.

David Schertler, a lawyer for Heard, said “the verdict is wrong, it’s incomprehensible. We’re devastated. We’re going to fight it every step of the way. We still think we’re going to win.”

The shootings on Sept. 16, 2007, caused an international uproar over the role of defense contractors in urban warfare.

The State Department hired Blackwater to protect American diplomats in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, and elsewhere in the country. Blackwater convoys of four heavily armored vehicles operated in risky environments where car bombs and attacks by insurgents were common.

Slatten was charged with first-degree murder; the others were charged with voluntary manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and gun charges.

The case was mired in legal battles for years, making it uncertain whether the defendants would ever be tried.

The trial focused on the killings of 14 Iraqis and the wounding of 17 others. During an 11-week trial, prosecutors summoned 72 witnesses, including Iraqi victims, their families and former colleagues of the defendant Blackwater guards.

There was sharp disagreement over the facts in the case.

The defendants’ lawyers said there was strong evidence the guards were targeted with gunfire from insurgents and Iraqi police, leading the guards to shoot back in self-defense. Federal prosecutors said there was no incoming gunfire and that the shootings by the guards were unprovoked.

The prosecution focused on the defendants’ intent, contending that some of the Blackwater guards harbored a low regard and deep hostility toward Iraqi civilians.

The guards, the prosecution said, held “a grave indifference” to the death and injury of Iraqi civilians. Several former Blackwater guards testified that they had been generally distrustful of Iraqis, based on experience the guards said they had had in being led into ambushes.

Prosecutors said that from a vantage point inside his convoy’s command vehicle, Slatten aimed his SR-25 sniper rifle through a gun portal, killing the driver of a stopped white Kia sedan, Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubia’y.

At the trial, two Iraqi traffic officers and one of the shooting victims testified the car was stopped at the time the shots were fired. The assertion that the car was stopped supported the prosecution argument that the shots were unwarranted.

Defense lawyers pressed their argument that other Blackwater guards — not Slatten — fired the first shots at the Kia sedan and that they did so only after the vehicle moved slowly toward the convoy, posing what appeared to be a threat to the Blackwater guards’ safety.

Once the shooting started, hundreds of Iraqi citizens ran for their lives.

It was “gunfire coming from the left, gunfire coming from the right,” prosecutor Anthony Asuncion told the jury in closing arguments.

One of the government witnesses in the case, Blackwater guard Jeremy Ridgeway, pleaded guilty to killing the driver’s mother, who died in the passenger seat of the white Kia next to her son.

The maximum sentence for conviction of first-degree murder is life imprisonment. The gun charges carry mandatory minimum prison terms of 30 years. The maximum prison term for involuntary manslaughter is eight years; for attempted manslaughter it is seven years.

As irony would have it, although maintaining low profile, American contractors are now engaged in battles in Eastern Ukraine.

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Colombia: FARC Leaders Head To Havana

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At least six leaders of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrilla group headed to Cuba to take part in peace negotiations underway for two years with the Colombian government in Havana. Military operations were suspended in three areas in Colombia to facilitate the departure of the guerrilla leaders.

Among the FARc commanders is Felix Antonio Muñoz, alias Pastor Alape, one of seven members of the secretariat, the leading political and military body of the group.

With Muñoz’s participation, three secretariat members are in Cuba as part of the negotiating team. The other two are Iván Márquez and Pablo Catatumbo.

Other FARC commanders who travelled to Cuba include Carlos Antonio Lozada, second in command of the eastern bloc, and Edgar Lopez, alias “Pacho Chino”, head of the western bloc, and three leaders of the guerrilla structures in south-west Colombia.

The government of President Juan Manuel Santos asked the general attorney to suspend arrest warrants issued for 30 fARC members to facilitate their travel to the Caribbean Island.

The sides have already reached accords for access to land and production for the poor of the rural areas. Guarantees for an eventual transformation of the guerrilla into a political party and accords to combat drug trafficking and for the eradication of illegal crops.

President Santos two weeks ago personally authorized the participation in the talks in Havana in at least two occasions of the FARC top commander, Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, alias ‘Timochenko’. The decision had sparked wide polemics in the nation. The conflict has been underway for over 50 years in Colombia and has left over 200 thousand dead.

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Pentagon Confirms ISIL Intercepted One Airdrop To Kurds Fighting In Kobani

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By Nick Simeone

One of the 28 bundles of weapons and medical supplies airdropped by U.S. forces to Kurdish fighters in Syria most likely fell into enemy hands, a Pentagon spokesman said today, but a majority reached their intended recipients.

“We still know that the vast majority of resupply bundles that we dropped went to friendly forces and were received by friendly forces,” Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters. “There is always going to be some margin of error in these types of operations. We routinely overload these aircraft because we know that some bundles may go astray.”

The pallet was dropped by U.S. forces Oct. 19 to resupply Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in the border town of Kobani.

“One bundle worth of equipment is not enough equipment to give the enemy any type of advantage at all,” Warren told reporters. “It’s a relatively small amount of supplies. This is stuff ISIL already has.”

The weapons, ammunition and medical supplies being dropped to besieged Kurdish forces defending Kobani are being supplied by Kurds in neighboring Iraq as part of Operation Inherent Resolve aimed at eliminating ISIL terrorists who hold significant portions of Northern Iraq and Syria.

A second airdropped bundle with similar contents also went off course, Warren said, but it was destroyed by fighter aircraft soon after it hit the ground. It’s possible that wind could have driven the packages off course, he said.

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Hagel, Italian Defense Minister Discuss ISIL Operations

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Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called Italian Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti today to discuss planned Italian contributions to the fight against terrorists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement issued today.

Kirby’s statement reads as follows:

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel spoke via telephone with Italian Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti today. Secretary Hagel made the call to pass on his thanks regarding Italy’s planned contributions to the anti-ISIL coalition in Iraq.

Secretary Hagel thanked Italy for its proposed contributions, stating that U.S. Central Command will work with Italy’s military commanders to determine how best to integrate Italy’s contribution into the overall effort. The secretary also thanked Minister Pinotti for Italy’s commitment to Afghanistan.

Both leaders pledged to stay in touch moving forward and to continue the close dialogue and cooperation.

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Al Baghdadi And The Doctrine Behind The Name – OpEd

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By Farhang Jahanpour

When Ibrahim al-Badri al-Samarrai adopted the name of Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Husseini al-Quraishi and revealed himself to the world as the Amir al-Mu’minin (the Commander of the Faithful) Caliph Ibrahim of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, the whole world had to sit up and take notice of him.

The choice of the long title that he has chosen for himself is most interesting and symbolic. The title Abu-Bakr clearly refers to the first caliph after Prophet Muhammad’s death, the first of the four “Orthodox Caliphs”.

The term Husseini presumably refers to Imam Hussein, the Prophet’s grandson and Imam Ali’s son, who was martyred in Karbala on 13 October 680. His martyrdom is seen as a turning point in the history of Islam and is mourned in elaborate ceremonies by the Shi’ites.

Both Sunnis and Shi’ites regard Imam Hussein as a great martyr, and as someone who gave up his life in order to defend Islam and to stand up against tyranny.

Finally, al-Quraishi refers to Quraish, the tribe to which the Prophet of Islam belonged.

Therefore, his chosen title is full of Islamic symbolism.

According to an alleged biography posted on jihadi Internet forums, al-Baghdadi is a direct descendant of the Prophet, but curiously enough his ancestors come from the Shi’a line of the Imams who descended from the Prophet’s daughter Fatimah.

Despite his great hostility towards the Shi’ites, is this genealogy a way of portraying himself as the true son of the descendants of the Prophet, thus appealing to both Shi’ites and Sunnis?

According to the same biography, al-Baghdadi was born near Samarra, in Iraq, in 1971. It is alleged that he received BA, MA and PhD degrees in Islamic studies from the Islamic University of Baghdad. It is also suggested that he was a cleric at the Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal Mosque in Samarra at around the time of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

According to a senior Afghan security official, al-Baghdadi went to Afghanistan in the late 1990s, where he received his early jihadi training. He lived with the Jordanian militant fighter Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Kabul from 1996-2000.

It is likely that al-Baghdadi fled Afghanistan with leading Taliban fighters after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan following the Sep. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Zarqawi and other militants, perhaps including al-Baghdadi, formed al-Qaeda in Iraq.

In September 2005, Zarqawi declared an all-out war on the Shi’ites in Iraq, after the Iraqi and U.S. offensive on insurgents in the Sunni town of Tal Afar. Zarqawi was killed in a targeted killing by U.S. forces on Jun. 7, 2006.

According to U.S. Department of Defense records, al-Baghdadi was held at Camp Bucca from February until December 2004, but some sources claim that he was interned from 2005 to 2009.

In any case, his history of militancy in both Afghanistan and Iraq and fighting against U.S. forces goes back a long way. He was battle-hardened in the jihad against U.S. forces, and being detained by U.S. forces further strengthened his ambitions and credentials as a militant jihadi fighter.

In the wake of the Arab Spring and anti-government protests in Syria, some Western governments, Saudi Arabia and Turkey decided to topple the regime of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by training and funding Syrian insurgents.

The upheaval in Syria provided al-Baghdadi with an opportunity to engage in jihad and to widen the circle of his followers, until he suddenly emerged at the head of thousands of jihadi fighters, again attacking Iraq from Syria.

His forces conquered vast swaths of territory in both Syria and Iraq, and he set up his so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Sham (or greater Syria), ISIS.

On the first Friday in the Muslim month of fasting or Ramadan on Jul, 4, 2014 (American Independence Day), al-Baghdadi suddenly emerged out of the shadows and delivered the sermon at the Great Mosque in Mosul, which had been recently conquered by ISIS.

His sermon showed not only his command of Koranic verses, but also his ability to speak clearly and eloquently. He is certainly more steeped in radical Sunni theology than any of the al-Qaeda leaders, past and present, ever were.

His biographer says that Al-Baghdadi “purged vast areas in Iraq and Syria from the filth of the Safavids [a term referring to the 16th century Iranian Shi’ite dynasty of the Safavids], the Nusayris [a derogatory term referring to the Syrian Alawite Shi’ites], and the apostate [Sunni] Awakening Councils. He established the rule of Islam.”

In his short sermon, al-Baghdadi denounced those who did not follow his strict interpretation of Islam as being guilty of bid’a or heresy. He quoted many verses from the Koran about the need to mobilise and to fight against non-believers, and to remain steadfast in God’s path.

He also stressed some key concepts, such as piety and performing religious rituals, obeying God’s commandments, and God’s promise to bring victory to the downtrodden and the oppressed. Finally, he talked about the need for establishing a caliphate.

In the Koranic context, these terms have broad meanings. However, in the hands of al-Baghdadi and other militant jihadis, these terms are given completely different and menacing meanings, calling for jihad and the subjugation of the non-believers.

The views and actions of al-Baghdadi and his followers are almost an exact copy of the Wahhabi revivalist movement instigated by an 18th century theologian from Najd in the Arabian Peninsula, Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792).

Indeed, what we are seeing in Iraq now is almost the exact repetition of the violent Sunni uprising in Arabian deserts that led to the establishment of the Wahhabi state founded by the Al Saud clan almost exactly 200 years ago.

In 1802, after having seized control of most of Arabian Peninsula, the Saudi warlord Abdulaziz attacked Karbala in Iraq, killed the majority of its inhabitants, destroyed the shrine of Imam Hussein, where Prophet Muhammad’s grandson is buried, and his followers plundered everything that they could lay their hands on.

The establishment of that dynasty has resulted in the propagation of the most fundamentalist form of Islam in its long history, which eventually gave rise to Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, and now to ISIS and al-Baghdadi.

The jihadis reduce the entire rich and varied scope of Islamic civilisation, Islamic philosophy, Islamic literature, Islamic mysticism, jurisprudence, Kalam and tafsir (hermeneutics) to the Shari’a, and even at that, they present a very narrow and dogmatic view of the Shari’a that is rejected by the greatest minds in Islam, putting it above everything else, including their rationality.

Indeed, it is a travesty that such barbaric terrorist acts are attributed to Islam.

Farhang Jahanpour is a former professor and Dean of the Faculty of Languages at the University of Isfahan, and has taught for 28 years in the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Oxford.

(Edited by Phil Harris)

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, IPS – Inter Press Service.

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Jokowi’s ‘Look West’ Foreign Policy: Expanding Indonesia’s Sphere Of Influence? – Analysis

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While President Jokowi has to contend with intense short-term domestic challenges, it does not mean he will completely decry the internationalist foreign policy outlook of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. His primary strategies will be to turn Indonesia into a “global maritime nexus” and pursue a “Look West” strategy.

By Leonard C. Sebastian and Emirza Adi Syailendra

Indonesia aims to play a bigger role in Asia Pacific Region under President Joko Widodo. The key indicator was his campaign promise that Indonesia under his presidency would adopt a foreign policy stance emphasising Jakarta’s role as a “global maritime nexus”. In the short –term, domestic political contingencies and concerns over domestic political instability will require him to consolidate his power base. Constrained by such circumstances, how does he aim to shape Indonesia’s foreign policy trajectory?

President Jokowi, as he is fondly known, represents a new democratic trend for Indonesia. He defeated a coalition of big parties backing the Prabowo-Hatta ticket. He does not have a military background nor enjoy the status of a prominent figure in his own Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP). Jokowi’s victory was a product of voluntarism, behind the scenes business and civil society networks, combined with the multiplier effect of the new media.

The new normal

These developments were no doubt a product of the growing maturity of Indonesia’s democracy, but Indonesia now has to contend with the new normal: the growing power of the opposition, the Red-White Coalition (Koalisi Merah Putih, KMP); a president with weak control over his political party, the PDI-P; and an increasingly divided population. Jokowi has no option but to utilise a carrot-and-stick approach to deal with the KMP and win a few policy battles in Parliament to boost public confidence in him.

Under such a scenario, it is not unfair to conclude that Jokowi would be too preoccupied with his domestic agenda to focus on grand strategy and would require the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (KEMLU) to take a stronger lead in foreign policy. An inward-looking stance would dilute the outgoing Yudhoyono government’s emphasis to forge leader-to-leader linkages, enhance relations between middle powers beyond ASEAN, and institutionalise ASEAN-centric linkages in line with KEMLU’s longstanding traditions.

While he may be preoccupied with domestic politics, President Jokowi wants to expand Indonesia’s foreign policy scope to include the Indian Ocean. As a potential middle power, Indonesia has always had two big spheres of interests, namely, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean spheres.

Indonesia’s expanding sphere of Influence: Looking west?

Indonesia has consistently supported the creation of norms and order in the Pacific sphere, primarily through ASEAN mechanisms. There has been little interest in the Indian Ocean although Indonesia had strong historical bonds with that region through the Bandung Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement. In the early years of independence under Sukarno, Indonesia looked to the Pacific due to the differing emphasis in foreign policy stances between Indonesia and India. Sukarno was more interested in issues related to decolonisation while Nehru wanted to ease Cold War tensions.

Today the major powers are expanding their interests in the Indian Ocean due to its strategic significance, the need for energy exploration and trade. China has just obtained rights to explore mineral resources in the Western part of the Indian Ocean while the United States has also increased its presence there to support its Middle East policy. These trends also coincide with the growing economies of India and the countries of Africa.

In view of the importance of the Indian Ocean and considering the lack of a security architecture in the region, Indonesia will place importance on the need to look west and become more active in the Indian Ocean. With the advent of the ASEAN Community in 2015 and Indonesia’s chairmanship in Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) for the period 2015-2017 looming, it will provide the opportunity for Indonesia to expand its influence in both spheres.

Country in the middle

Jokowi’s strategic move to locate Indonesia as the ‘global maritime nexus’ will promote connectivity between the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean, thereby positioning Indonesia as the pivotal country promoting stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

The idea follows the logic of strategy adopted by the Srivijaya Kingdom in the 7th century, which positioned itself at the centre of international trade, where all trade between Western Asia and Eastern Asia passed through the sea ports that were dominated by Srivijaya. Their ability to protect the sea lanes from pirates also legitimated Srivijaya’s position as the maritime axis of the world.

By this virtue, Srivijaya enjoyed exclusive rights, such as preferential trading rights with Canton and many other territories. Similarly today, while positioning itself as the region’s pivotal state straddling both oceans and promoting stability, Indonesia aims to reap political and economic dividends.

To achieve this goal, Indonesia is set to increase its maritime power to secure the important choke points in the Indian Ocean, such as Malacca, Sunda, and Lombok Straits. Indonesia seeks to build norms and institutions that interlock the maritime areas (Pacific and Indian Oceans). Thus far, the proposed Indo-Pacific “Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation” (TFC) is the vehicle to advance Indonesia’s aims. Although TFC is not yet an established concept or legal commitment, Indonesia has been socialising the benefits of the treaty to many countries.

The pivotal states being engaged are India, Australia, and South Africa. These countries have huge interests in the Indian Ocean region. India is the major economic power in South Asia. South Africa plays a very important role in Africa, and is officially confirmed as the next Vice Chair and Chair of the IORA following Indonesia in 2017-2019. Similarly, Australia is a major country with a keen interest in establishing a regional architecture in the Indian Ocean.

However, the four middle powers have their own approaches. Indonesia would like to be inclusive, creating a big umbrella of norms and cooperation incorporating all countries in the Indian Ocean and major countries in the Pacific. However, countries like India will be quite reluctant to support any initiative that includes Pakistan. Harmonising interests among middle powers particularly facilitating communication between leaders – something that Jokowi excels in – will be critical in ensuring the success of Indonesia’s agenda.

Leonard C. Sebastian is Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Indonesia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU). He is co-editor of a forthcoming publication Indonesia’s Ascent: Power, Leadership and Asia’s Security Order soon to be published by Palgrave Macmillan. Emirza Adi Syailendra is a Research Analyst at the same programme.

The post Jokowi’s ‘Look West’ Foreign Policy: Expanding Indonesia’s Sphere Of Influence? – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Terrorism Exists In The Eye Of The Beholder – OpEd

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Should a man who believes he’s being chased by the devil, shape pubic policy and guide international relations?

Dave Bathurst was a friend of Michael Zehaf-Bibeau — the gunman whose brief shooting rampage yesterday led to the Canadian capital city, Ottowa, getting locked down for several hours.

The Globe and Mail reports:

Mr. Bathurst said he met Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau in a Burnaby, B.C., mosque about three years ago. He said his friend did not at first appear to have extremist views or inclinations toward violence – but at times exhibited a disturbing side.

“We were having a conversation in a kitchen, and I don’t know how he worded it: He said the devil is after him,” Mr. Bathurst said in an interview. He said his friend frequently talked about the presence of Shaytan in the world – an Arabic term for devils and demons. “I think he must have been mentally ill.”

Nevertheless, Mike Morell, CBS News senior security contributor and former CIA deputy director, seems to believe that Zehaf-Bibeau represents a threat to the United States:


Unlike Morrell, I’m much more concerned about what his own reaction reveals about thinking inside the CIA than what Zehaf-Bibeau reveals about Canada.

In 2012 there were seven murders in Ottawa (population close to a million), 2013 nine murders, and so far in 2014 there have been five (including yesterday’s).

The overwhelming majority of the crazy men running round shooting innocent people are on this side of the border. What makes them dangerous is much less the ideas in their heads than the ease with which they can lay their hands on a gun.

It’s often hard to be clear about what should be described as terrorism. What’s much easier to discern is hysteria.

The post Terrorism Exists In The Eye Of The Beholder – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

The New York Times Assassinates Michael Brown – OpEd

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Eighteen year old Michael Brown man was shot to death by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014. Because the people of Ferguson rose up in protest, his death did not disappear as is often the case with black victims of police violence. Newspapers and television networks from all over the world cover the continuing protests as a grand jury deliberates Wilson’s fate.

The coverage has varied greatly in quality, with the New York Times faring the worst among the major corporate media outlets. The Times alternately casts aspersions on Brown’s character and relies on law enforcement leaks which make it appear that Wilson acted appropriately when he shot a fleeing, unarmed young man. The result is justification for racist murder.

One of the newspaper’s African American reporters, John Eligon, began a profile of Brown by stating that he was “no angel” who performed “vulgar” rap music lyrics, “dabbled in drugs and alcohol” and got into scuffles. Even the Times public editor conceded that the words “no angel” were “a regrettable mistake.” In another profile, Wilson was called “well mannered”, “relatively soft spoken” and “bland.” There was no mention of his musical tastes or recreational activities, and no judgments made about his character.

But the worst case scenario has happened not once, but twice with New York Times reporters reporting law enforcement leaks as if they are factual and making the case that Wilson was justified in shooting Brown. An August 19, 2014 Times headline claimed that eyewitnesses to the shooting gave accounts which conflicted with another and which also implied Brown threatened Wilson after he fled.

That headline is easily proven to be untrue. Every witness to the shooting has been consistent. All say that Brown and Wilson had a physical altercation through the patrol car window. They all say that a shot or shots were fired inside the car. They all say that Brown fled while Wilson continued to shoot at him. They all say that Brown turned towards Wilson while already wounded and that Wilson continued to shoot him as he fell. One bullet struck Brown in the top of his skull and another in one of his eyes.

These accounts and Brown’s autopsy were all public by the time the August article appeared. Witnesses spoke on air to MSNBC and CNN and to the New York Times as well. It should not have been difficult to give a clear and accurate account of their words. There was a justifiable uproar over this story which led to the Times public editor again agreeing with critics because reporters made claims they couldn’t verify and that they didn’t emphasize enough their reliance on interested parties.

Did reporters Frances Robles and Michael S. Schmidt speak to Wilson, Wilson’s attorney, the Ferguson police department, the justice department, local prosecutors, or all of the above? MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell gave this assessment of the Times article. “Good police reporters know when they’re being used by the police. Bad police reporters also know when they’re being used by the police but they eagerly report whatever the police want them to report.”

Not content to happily be used in the cause of injustice, on October 17, 2014 reporters Michael S. Schmidt, Matt Apuzzo and Julie Bosman continued to flack in Darren Wilson’s interest. This time they repeat Wilson’s account without analysis or the information already made public which casts doubt on his story. According to the Times, Wilson says he believed his life was in danger as he and Brown struggled in the patrol car. It isn’t news that Wilson and Brown struggled, nor is it newsworthy that the officer would claim to feel endangered. But the story made it appear that the old information was new, and didn’t make it clear that Wilson fired ten more shots after Brown fled.

The net effect of the pro-Wilson bias is very simple. Schmidt, Apuzzo and Bosman conclude erroneously that there will be a “high bar” in proving a federal civil rights case against Wilson. That statement is highly debatable but it is now more likely to be true because the most powerful newspaper in the country says that it is true. Journalist Milton Allimadi points out the obvious. “Pre-attacking the federal case is the strategy. That’s why the Times is being fed the information, which upon careful analyses, are not as impactful as Wilson’s supporters believe and the Times’ story implies.”

The Obama administration has no interest in taking on the civil rights violations committed by police and vigilantes across the country. They may invite Trayvon Martin’s parents to the White House and show them off for effect, but they have made no effort to prosecute George Zimmerman, who is a free man. If the paper which represents the interests of the powerful says that Wilson was justified, then he will be called justified and Brown’s family will get no more justice than Martin’s did.

The Times is not alone in acting as Wilson’s defense team. As previously reported in Black Agenda Report, Charles Blow and Van Jones disgracefully made the case for Wilson on CNN and acted as a defense team for him and for all of white America. No one inside or outside of the New York Times should think they can get away with defending America’s injustice system without repercussion or comment.

The odds of the legal system bringing justice to Michael Brown’s family were always slim. They are even slimmer if the New York Times, the so-called paper of record, gives license to killer police officers. Already the poorly reported story is being repeated as gospel truth, and righteous anger is made to appear suspect.

Michael Brown was running away and already wounded when he was shot in the head and in the eye. Until the New York Times makes that clear their coverage is worthless journalistically and gives aid and comfort to American lynch law, which has never been repealed.

The post The New York Times Assassinates Michael Brown – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Protests: No End Game In Sight? – Analysis

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As the demonstrations in Hong Kong continue, how will the impasse between the pro-democracy protests and the government end?

By Dylan Loh Ming Hui

Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong look set to continue, with neither the government nor the protesters willing to budge. The Hong Kong government and the Government of China’s patient strategy of waiting for the protests to ‘die a slow death’ is being severely tested: while the movement’s momentum have slowed and the number of protesters have dwindled, the movement is not at risk of dying anytime soon.

Indications of a rethink in the ‘slow death’ strategy have surfaced in recent days. For example, despite the public backlash against the use of teargas against unarmed protesters at the onset of the protests, Hong Kong’s police force has, in recent days, been increasingly liberal with their use of force as the protests become increasing entrenched. Footage of police officers taking turns to beat an unarmed protester, in a secluded spot, with the protester’s arms tied up behind his back on 15th October is one of the most troubling examples of the new violence employed.

Why the impasse?

There are three main factors accounting for the current stalemate. The first is the political immaturity of the student-protesters. Fuelled by bleak economic life prospects coupled with over-enthusiastic attraction to liberal democratic ideals, their failure to consolidate their gains and their unrealistic expectation of political change are contributing to the deadlock. The amorphousness of the movement, once their strength, is becoming their weakness with a fracturing of groups with different motives and goals.

According to the South China Morning Post, some protesters are calling for “self-determination” and even “independence”, a dramatic escalation from calls for ‘true’ universal suffrage. Such disorderliness parallels the general fractiousness of the movement – making it very difficult for the pro-democracy protest movement to reach any consensus on the future of the movement which in turn makes it difficult for protests to end.

Secondly, China’s President Xi Jinping does not want to dent his strong decisive image by giving in to the protests through offering any sort of (or be perceived to be offering) concession. This carefully-cultivated posture of an immovable leader restricts any compromise, even if a compromise is called for to head off a calamity. This binds Beijing’s options and, as a result, sees them placing the onus of solving the problem on the Hong Kong government.

This leads to the third factor – the ineffectual leadership of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. Indeed, his indecisiveness and huge unpopularity is working against him and against the prospect of resolving the deadlock. The sudden cancellation of talks, the equally surprising re-opening of talks coupled and the initially restrained use of force – after criticisms on the use of tear gas – as well as the recent renewed vigour in the show of force paints an image of government that does not know entirely what to do to.

What is the possible end game?

One possible scenario that would defuse tensions and take protesters off the streets would be the resignation of the Chief Executive. His position seems untenable and the recent leak of a questionable US $6.5 million payment received in a deal with an Australian company is taken by some analysts as evidence of Beijing’s weariness with Leung although Beijing has denied these claims.

Leung himself has stressed repeatedly that he will not resign. So this scenario is highly unlikely unless Beijing consciously decides to remove him, which is also unlikely given that the Chinese government has given him its support several times.

The second possible scenario would be a crackdown sponsored by the Central government in Beijing on the protesters. There are already signs that Beijing’s forbearance is waning. The People’s Daily newspaper, warned of “unimaginable consequences” if the protests are not stopped. More recently, in a departure from its previous restraint, a Chinese official did not rule out force and said that there is no need to activate the army “so far” and that they hoped “such a scenario will not unfold”.

This scenario, though, appears unlikely (at least for now) as several important events in the Chinese leadership’s calendar such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing and the Party’s 4th Plenum on ‘the rule of law’ – both in October – is set to take up most of the leadership’s attention.

The third and most likely scenario is for the continued gridlock between the protesters and the Hong Kong government and for both sides to wait for the other to ‘blink first’. That said, pro-democracy protesters should start being realistic in their expectation of change; otherwise they risk alienating the general Hong Kong population further or worse still, giving Beijing a reason to take action if the protests degenerate further.

Dylan Loh Ming Hui is a research analyst with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University.

The post Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Protests: No End Game In Sight? – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

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