William Schulte, Research Associate, and Michael A. Weinstein, Professor, Department of Political Science, Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN
What a difference a year makes for the Federal Government of Somalia (F.G.S.) when it comes to its political status as a would-be permanent government presiding over the territories of post-independence Somalia.
Back in the autumn of 2012, newly birthed prematurely through a Caesarian section performed by the donor-powers/U.N., the fledgling F.G.S. had the highest of hopes for shaping and controlling the process of forming interim regional governments in south-central Somalia that would prepare for the institution of the regional states envisioned in the incomplete federal constitution. The F.G.S. would, according to its ambitious plan, appoint regional governors and superintend a process in which the clan-based factions within regions would reconcile and determine their boundaries through consultation and federal parliamentary action.
A year later, the F.G.S.s plans lie dashed on the harsh ground strewn with factional fragments, each with its own plans for autonomy from the F.G.S. in its corner of south-central. The F.G.S. has failed to gain control over the process of forming regional states. Initiatives of state-formation have emerged in key south-central regions independently of F.G.S. inspiration. The F.G.S. faces a situation in which regional state-formation has been stalemated. The familiar phenomenon of Somali political stasis has set in with no end in sight.
Much more at the link with an accounting of the failures of the Somali federal government in the southern regions. Worth the read if you just gotta know all about that part of the world.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/31/2013 00:00 ||
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When journalists asked previous failed Arab regimes about their reason for not implementing democracy or allowing freedom of speech, their response was always that the Arabs were not ready yet for full democracy. Thats their story and theyre sticking to it.
...Many now believe that the previous regimes were right to say that the Arabs are not ready for democracy and freedom, with many believing that their old forms of government were much better, despite their corruption because they provided security and control from the Islamists, militants and gangs that trade in all vices. Despite the corruption production rates were better, foreign investments flowed, tourism was stable, and that yesterday was much better than today.
There is a total fear of tomorrow and wishes to turn back the clock. As it turn out, the worst thing about the Arab Spring, is the Arabs themselves.
#1
The worst thing is, Nobody's paying attention to this backward, repressed clique, and won't.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/31/2013 18:40 Comments ||
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#2
Democracy and freedom are NOT a way of government that can be imposed from above.
Western success is based on a belief in individualism, rights and responsibilities imbued with the values of Judeo-Christian religion. Until individuals are free to decide their own pursuit of happiness with their own life and liberty anything is just tyranny in a pretty dress.
Islam is totally inconsistent with individualism and liberty, so, no Muslim country can support democracy and freedom.
#1
China also repor desires to dev a huge Catamaran = Doubled-hulled Multi-purpose Aircraft Carrier, + its own heavy-strike Helo, which allegedly may or may not weirdly-n-mysteriously resemble the US' AH-64 APACHE???
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Business Insider] CHINA THINKS THE US MILITARY IS BUILDING HALO MASTER CHIEF [CyberArmor] BATTLE SUITS.
* FYI WORLD MILITARY FORUM > "SPACE RAGE": US MAY BUILD A FUNCTIONAL OR WORKING "SPACE CARRIER" FLEET BY 2050, COMPRISED OF UP TO THREE NT DIRIGIBLE/BALLOON-BASED "MOTHERSHIP" [Flat-Deck?] CARRIERS, + WITH SPACE SHUTTLES, GROUND-BASED ROCKET SYSTEMS, + OTHER CRAFTS IN SUPPORT OR ARMED ESCORT.
#2
* ION CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > POSTER THREAD: FIVE NO-NONSENSE/SIMPLE REASONS WHY CHINA MUST GO TO WAR WID JAPAN.
* RENSE > [Epoch Times] CHINA VOWS WAR IFF JAPAN SHOOTS DOWN DRONES.
* JAPAN TODAY > CHINA BEHAVIOR JEOPARDIZING PEACE, ONODERA SAYS.
* CHINA DAILY FORUM > [Xinhua] US PLANS A "GLOBAL NATO" TO CONTAIN CHINA.
* TIMES OF INDIA > [Milstrikes = India?] STRIKES AGZ [China BFF] PAKISTAN CAN CREATE NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST: FEROZ KHAN.
* WORLD NEWS > [Chosun Ilbo] IS JAPAN EYEING NUCLEAR ARMAMENTS?
* TOPIX > [Stars-n-Stripes] PACIFIC COMMANDERS WARN CUTS WILL HARM READINESS AGZ NORTH KOREA.
POTUS Bammer "doing a Syria doing an Iran" on KJU + DPRK, I.E. NORTH KOREA = IRAN = WILL GET ITS NUKES???
* SAME > MORE [USDOD] SERVICE PERSONNEL CUTS COMING, as due to you-know-what.
And lastly ...
* PRAVDA > US TO DESTROY PARADISE ISLAND?
* DEWFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PHILIPPINES SHOULD APOLOGIZE [to China] FOR FALSE SCARBOROUGH SHOAL CLAIMS.
Pagan in the CNMI, which the USDOD plans to reserve in whole as a live-fire training site.
Iff by chance things go very badly for the US-JAPAN or US-PHIL, etal. vee CHINA + PLA in any NE Asian, SCS, or East Asian mil conflict, the former(s) could presumably have to fall back to the Marianas + Micronesia, hopefully widout encountering the PLA also.
h/t Instapundit
The criticism of Forbes dropping Barack Obama to the number two spot behind Vladimir Putin as the most powerful man in the world misses two big points.
One is confusing the power of the U.S. with the power of our President. The U.S. is many times larger economically and militarily than Russia. Theres no disputing that. Our survey was a ranking of people, not countries or companies.
The second and far bigger point is that Barack Obama is weak internationally by choice. At home hes amassing immense, unprecedented powers over the economy. If Congress wont pass one of his desired pieces of legislation, hell try to achieve his ends through decrees, a.k.a. executive orders, or unprecedented and sweeping regulatory rulings. The niceties of the law have never stopped this White House from doing what it desires. The Obama Administration routinely ignores adverse court rulings.
#7
Nope, Obumble rides that girls eunuch bike. The one that's not really a mountain bike and certainly not a road bike, eunuch riding and eunuch bike.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/31/2013 17:44 Comments ||
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#8
Obama is an abject failure with respect to foreign policy. He has no respect and is a laughingstock of our adversaries and our (I think) allies.
So he is putting all his energy into total control domestically. He has a water bucket carrying Senate of Democrats and a bunch of wuss repubs, except for a select few. Nature abhors a vacuum, so O fills the suck.
And there is my anal-y-sis.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/31/2013 18:29 Comments ||
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#1
Ask mainstream Amerika the same question again after the US gives up East Asia + roughly one-half or more of the Pacific to China + PLA in the name of Debt-luuuving Debt - you know, "GLOBALISM" + OWG "CO-SUPERPOWERS" AGENDUMS.
#3
Farmers are producing huge harvests and receiving historically high prices.
"High prices" for a while anyway. Subsidized by corn ethanol and high gasoline taxes. No discussion of fly-over country woodland clearing in order to plant more gov't corn gas. No discussion of sky-high land prices brought about by corn production..... until they planted too damn much and prices SLUMPED!
#5
Ouch! Hanson nails it again. Is there some category or designation less than a "virtual President?" I'd vote for that description of this presidency. By all measures this president is an abject failure; an affirmative action president that 1/2 the electorate elected. They did it for several reasons: 1. to salve their liberal consciences, 2. a young uninformed idealistic and zealous voter who bought into the snake-oil this president was selling, 3. by an electorate that wanted stuff that someone else was going to pay for, or 4. a part of the population that wanted payback for perceived wrongs. Social justice was the standard. Reparations and re-distribution of wealth was and is the means of satisfying social justice standards. In any most other third world countries he would have been ousted in some manner that would not be gentle. In our country, he has not been impeached for many of the reasons Hanson cites. So, people here are hanging on just hoping that three years will go very fast and that damage will be limited because Obama's lame duck status.
#7
One definition of a bureaucracy is that if you cut off its' head, it keeps functioning.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/31/2013 13:03 Comments ||
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#8
"Present!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/31/2013 13:45 Comments ||
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#9
I was reading some of John Adams (our second President) quotes.
The consequences arising from the continual accumulation of public debts in other countries ought to admonish us to be careful to prevent their growth in our own.
Avarice, ambition, revenge and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.
In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.
I wonder how many of the quotes of our current President will be long-remembered? I don't think one can trust any of them to contain any truth?
#12
"Similar to Bush the 1st's "Read my lips, no new taxes!"
EGADS!!! How dare you talk about a Bush like that!! Don't you know that a Teabagger wannabe shall NEVER use the holy Bushs' name in vain. FOR SHAME....BAN THIS CHARLATAN!!!
#13
FWIW - a lot of conservatives stayed home on the Bush/Clinton election for just that reason. He paid for that line in lost votes and being stupid enough to buy the negotiated Donk promises of future spending cuts for taxes now for which the cuts never appeared.
#14
Was he ever? He was elected, but he has never stood up to the responsibility, accountability, and he has never respected the constitution. The next elections will be interesting as we wait and see if he relinquishes the position he holds.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/31/2013 17:47 Comments ||
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#15
#12 CHARLATAN!!!
You know, I heard they got a great big book in the library all full of words and stuff, where you can look things up and see what they mean. And librarians. Wrrrrowww. Or so I've heard.
#16
Jerkface - IMHO, you will find that the generally well-educated and seasoned participants of this blog, save, in a generic sense, yourself, are quite aware of the downside of Conservatives saying stupid stuff. We acknowledge it and, mostly, vow to improve and move along, hoping to improve the bench and, thereby, our country.
Your ilk, conversely, is happy to just continue mouthing debunked platitudes and engage in ad-homonym attacks in place of reasoned discourse. Good luck with that.
We, like many in your life I am sure, are laughing at you, not with you...
[Dawn] 'Who are the Taliban,' asked a politician during his very first briefing on militancy.
The politician, who had been vehemently propagating peace talks with the Taliban, was confused when informed that there was not one but many groups of the Taliban.
Before embarking on peace negotiations, the tough task for the PML-N government is to define first the adversary they want to engage, political analysts say.
It has been more than a month since the All Parties Conference was held.
The political parties gave the government the mandate to hold negotiations. Until now, there are reports of 'initial contacts' with the Taliban, the main factors of talks vis-à-vis with whom (group), by whom and where is still not known.The use of different nomenclatures through years is a manifestation of this confusion.
The question is whether the adversary is just religious students wanting reforms in the government (Taliban), freedom fighters waging a struggle against foreign forces (Afghan Taliban), a group wanting to end American domination of the world by all means (Al-Qaeda), or terrorists, bully boys, fascists, criminals, gangsters, misguided folks or stakeholders, a unique term used in the APC document.
A clear definition of an adversary helps identify one's own goals in any negotiations, political analysts say, who insist the government seems to be lacking clarity on the issue.
"There is a lot of confusion. In fact how the discourse is structured is wrong," says Senator Afrasiab Khattak, who as a big shot of Awami National Party held peace talks on the behalf of government with the Taliban in Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... valley in 2008. In Senator Khattak's opinion, the government should be clear and show whether it has strong resolve to eliminate militancy or just wanted to appease. He warns the government should be careful as talks should not mean stooping low to the level of terrorists.
There is also no clarity when it comes to defining who would be on the other side of the table during peace talks.
JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... was also quoted by media as saying the government must confirm first which Taliban group it needs to talk to and at what forum.
Since there are so many groups within the Taliban, it, analysts say, will be a difficult task for the government to engage one powerful group for talks who could influence all bully boy outfits to agree to a solution.
The Taliban are divided in different groups as they are spread all across seven tribal agencies and six Frontier Regions of Fata and even major cities of the country. However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... the political parties, who may have agreed in All Parties Conference to hold talks to resolve the lingering issue of peace, also are divided on how to move forward.
How would the centre and government of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... , and the ruling coalition consisting of four political parties and opposition come to one decision when it would come to launching a military operation if talks fail. This is another point to ponder. The PTI has been shifting all responsibility on the federal government since it came to power and has already started nagging the federal government for showing laziness in holding peace talks.
The only political government, which held peace talks was previous coalition government of the Pakistain People's Party and Awami National Party, which were allies and on the same page because they were ruling the federal as well as the provincial governments when the peace deal was brokered with the Taliban of Swat. Even that deal didn't work and it was a military operation, which dispersed Death Eaters helping the government reclaim its writ in Malakand division.
"We had our traditions, which helped us hold talks. We held talks according to that way and proved Death Eaters wrong. They became social outcasts," feels Senator Khattak, who emphasises holding talks should not mean losing space and authority to terrorists.
How many of the political parties have effective representation in the tribal areas is also a big question mark. The ruling PML-N is a political party, which has a strong base in Punjab but for it, tribal areas are just a periphery, which is dispensable, political analysts say.
"PML-N has not shown any keenness to resolve the issues of Fata since they came to power," said Senator Khattak.
Shahabuddin, PML-N MNA from Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central ...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth... , did not take calls and so did other MNAs from the area, including Ghalib Khan Wazir and Syed Wali Shah.
While the government has yet to specify which Taliban, the good or the bad, they want to engage for peace talks, Death Eaters have been growing not only in their size and influence but have franchised militancy to grassroots levels. Extortionists, kidnappers and rogues have joined them or linked their groups to Death Eaters for power and money. Their presence can be felt very much in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. . In the capital city's posh Hayatabad Township, where mostly retired government officials live and there is presence of Frontier Corps, Death Eaters had been raising funds in mosques. No one from among the faithful can dare stand up and differ with them.
Brig (r) Mehmood Shah, who had been home secretary, is not very optimistic about the desired outcome of the proposed peace talks.
"If the government fails to establish its writ through peace talks, any other option to resolve the issue would have public support," he insists.
Like termite, as it was mentioned in an official document, Death Eaters had been making the system hollow from within continuously.
Whether military operation or peace talks, the Death Eaters have an edge over the government. The Death Eaters have nothing to lose in this win-win situation, where their adversary is more divided, lacks clarity and a narrative/strategy to counter them.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2013 00:00 ||
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(2) Beyond mendacity, there is liberal paternalism, of which these forced cancellations are a classic case. We canceled your plan, explained Jay Carney, because it was substandard. We have a better idea.
Translation: Sure, you freely chose the policy, paid for the policy, renewed the policy, liked the policy. But you're too primitive to know what you need. We do. Your policy is canceled.
Because what you really need is what our experts have determined must be in every plan. So a couple in their 60s must buy maternity care. A teetotaler must buy substance abuse treatment. And a healthy 28-year-old with perfectly appropriate catastrophic insurance must pay for bells and whistles for which he has no use.
It's Halloween. There is a knock at your door. You hear: "We're the government and we're here to help."
You hide.
As for subterfuge, these required bells and whistles aren't just there to festoon the health care Christmas tree with voter-pleasing freebies. The planners knew all along that if you force insurance buyers to overpay for stuff they don't need, that money can subsidize other people.
ObamaCare is the largest transfer of wealth in recent American history. But you can't say that openly lest you lose elections. So you do it by subterfuge: hidden taxes, penalties, mandates and coverage requirements that yield a surplus of overpayments.
So that your president can promise to cover 30 million uninsured without costing the government a dime. Which from the beginning was the biggest falsehood of them all. And yet the free lunch is the essence of modern liberalism. Free mammograms, free preventative care, free contraceptives for Sandra Fluke. Come and get it.
And then when you find your policy canceled, your premium raised and your deductible outrageously increased, you've learned the real meaning of "free" in the liberal lexicon: something paid for by your neighbor -- best, by subterfuge.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth...
