This week, a shorter selection of articles that seemed relevant at the time...
- French Interior Minister: Chemical and Germ Weapons Developed in Pankisi Gorge, Georgia: France's Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said Tuesday at the First World Conference on Bio-terrorism that after al-Qaeda groups were smashed in Afghanistan, international terrorist groups were still working on chemical and germ weapons in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge.
The French Interior Minister emphasizes that nowadays terrorists are highly likely to use weapons of mass destruction including germ weapons. He added that some documents recently became available and they prove al-Qaeda was seeking access to biological weapons and developed methods for use of these weapons. When the Talib regime was overturned in Afghanistan, some of the projects were proceeded with in Pankisi Gorge close to the Chechen border, the French Interior minister said...
...No journalists were allowed to the conference; they could be present at the conference opening and the closing press conference only.
Tbilisi has no information proving that terrorists may be developing chemical weapons in Pankisi Gorge.
The Georgian authority has no information proving there may be some terrorists in Pankisi Gorge who develop chemical and biological weapons, Georgia Ministry for Internal Affairs Vano Merabishvili told Tuesday, Interfax reports.
He said in response to the statement of the French Interior Minister that within the past year none of foreign special services has reported there may be terrorists in Pankisi Gorge who develop chemical and biological weapons. Vano Merabishvili added that "in 2000-2002 special services of several countries reported there were terrorists in Pankisi Gorge". He said an anti-terrorist operation conducted in 2002 in Pankisi Gorge together with the US solved the problem. At that, he emphasized that Georgian military structures now control Pankisi Gorge.
- U.S. Commander-in-Chief in Europe: Caucasus Is Vital For U.S.: The Caucasus is among the most vital regions of the world for the United States, said Commander of the United States European Command James Jones. In the opinion of Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of Russia"s foreign affairs parliamentary committee, this statement betrays the true goals of the U.S. military presence in the Caucasus.
Somehow the first thing that comes to mind is an item from the 213 Things Skippy Is No Longer Allowed To Do In The US Army: 29. The Irish MPs are not after "Me frosted lucky charms".
- Venezuela Detects Several US Battleships Near Its Coasts: Caracas says the presence of these vessels may be part of "unannounced routine manoeuvres."
While Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez attends to the inauguration ceremony of Uruguay"s leftist leader, Tabare Vazquez, in Montevideo, his Armed Forces are closely watching the unexpected presence of several US battleships near country's western coastline. On Monday, Venezuela's Navy commander, Armando Laguna, made the announcement during an interview on state TV but opted not to accuse Washington directly of any provocation.
Laguna said that the Venezuelan Navy detected several foreign vessels 75 kilometers northeast of the ParaguanА Peninsula in western Venezuela. According to Laguna, the presence of U.S. military ships near Venezuela is part of their "routine manoeuvres", and told people not to be alarmed. What, in fact, concerned Venezuelan officials is that Washington did not announce the manoeuvre as it has traditionally been doing it.
"The situation is within normal and legal parameters. However, these operations were not notified to our government. We detected them and took our precautions to determine their intentions, but they are always performing manoeuvres [exercises] in the Minor Antilles," Laguna was quoted as saying by alternative Venezuelan media.
The incident came shortly after President Chavez made public intelligence reports about an alleged US plot to kill him. Washington replied allegations were ungrounded, but Chavez ratified them soon after.
This is the first I've heard of definite proof. Isn't this how it's always done? Go from making the allegation to saying you've proven it, without an intervening phase 2? They must think we're underpants gnomes.
Since then, Venezuelan alternative media published that "a wave of rumours of an "imminent U.S. invasion" started circulating through several cities". "Rumours of a new coup, calls to buy food, to "prepare to fight", and questions about President Hugo Chavez's whereabouts, circulated widely via cell phone text messages and email".
Presidents Hugo Chavez and George W. Bush are expected to see each other at the next Summit of the Americas, scheduled for November, in Argentina"s resort of Mar del Plata. Judging by current developments, a bilateral meeting looks more than improbable.
- Ukraine and Georgia Join Efforts to Oppose Russia: Ukrainian politicians believe that the Commonwealth of Independent States is not a serious organization at all.
One of the most inefficient organizations, which was ever established on the territory of the former USSR, will most likely be revived in the near future. The organization, which incorporates Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova, is known for its initials as GUUAM. The organization was formed to boost the economic cooperation between its members. However, it turned out that GUUAM would be destined to play a different role: to counterbalance the influence of Russia. The idea did not prove to be successful, though: there were too many contradictions between the organization's members to prove its viability. It was hard for the leaders of GUUAM members to coordinate a date of their officials meetings at times. As a result, Uzbekistan and Moldova started talking about the organization's helplessness. Founded in 1997, GUUAM still exists, although it is presumably limited to official documents.
The situation is likely to change in the near future. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko believes that one should retrieve the cooperation between Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova. Yushchenko touched upon this question at his meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli, who was happy to support the idea. Georgia's incumbent President Mikhail Saakashvili suggested the same before he took the office. Saakashvili believed that the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was not justifiable.
59. May not make posters depicting the leadership failings of my chain of command.
Apparently, the Georgian president has not changed his opinion about GUUAM and CIS. Furthermore, Mikhail Saakashvili has a new ally now - the new Ukrainian administration, which does not try to conceal its negative attitude to the future of the Commonwealth. The Foreign minister of Ukraine, Boris Tarasyuk, has already said that Ukraine was not a CIS member. The minister particularly stated on a national TV channel that Ukraine had not signed the Charter of CIS, although it did not became a problem for Kiev to participate in the activity of the Commonwealth. In addition, the Ukrainian foreign minister said that CIS was not a serious organization at all.
For the time being, it is too early to say that other states will back up the idea of recreating GUUAM. If the USA decides to act as a lobbyist, the organization might be given a new incentive in its development, taking into consideration the fact that the US administration is interested in the issue. The renewed organization might become a serious obstacle on the way of Russia's initiative to create the joint economic space.
Somehow I think that if all this was about was a joint economic space, it would be a lot easier to make everyone happy.
There are a couple other interesting things, but I won't have time to post until later. In the meantime, "enjoy" these.
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