Among the more interesting coalition forces fighting in Afghanistan are the legendary Nepalese Gurkhas. Trained and fielded by the British, as they have been since colonial days, Gurkhas are a fascinating admixture: today, they are elite soldiers used to traveling the world. But many of them grew up barefoot and poor in remote and primitive mountain villages in the high Himalayas--places that closely resemble parts of Afghanistan, geographically and culturally. Forefathers of some of today's Ghurkas fought in the Afghan region during earlier wars. Gurkhas understand impoverished life in a harsh environment, though Nepal has enjoyed material progress in recent decades that is mostly unrealized in Afghanistan. Unlike forces from Europe or America, who often regard Afghanistan as an outpost of 13th Century life, Gurkhas can provide a link between primitive Afghan standards of development, and the possibilities for progress, with insights and connections that might elude most Westerners.
The insights of a Gurkha veteran named Lalit, whom I met in the jungles of Borneo, at a British Army man-tracking school, were particularly valuable. One day in the jungle Lalit began a conversation by announcing that many of Afghanistan's household needs could be solved if Afghans would adopt "Gobar Gas" production. Gobar Gas could improve the lives of Afghans as it had that of the Nepalese, he said, as he began to explain with great enthusiasm.
During Lalit's time in Afghanistan, he found nobody who had heard of Gobar Gas--even though Gobar Gas has been a quiet engine of ground-level economic transformation in Nepal and numerous other poor Asian nations.
After the man-tracking course ended I returned to Afghanistan, this time to the desert-like areas of Ghor, Helmand and Kandahar provinces, where most people have no electricity and often spend hours daily scrounging for bits of wood or whatever other fuel they can find on the deforested plains. Lalit was right about two things: No Afghan I met had heard of the Gobar Gas -- by any name. Nor had most American development people on the ground. Second, Gobar Gas looked like a serious solution in some areas to the lack of available fuel to meet daily needs. Given its track record and its perfect applicability to Afghanistan's state of development, this was a match made in heaven. I flew back to Nepal to talk with Gobar Gas experts and users. (A full explanation follows shortly.)
Physically, Nepal and Afghanistan share similarities. Both contain great mountains and are difficult to navigate due to lack of roads, while existing roads are frequently impassable. The mountains and weather can be brutal. This is compounded by lack of electricity, transportation, communications technology and just about anything else associated with modern societies. Both countries have been saddled with weak and corrupt governments, universally mistrusted. They each have about 30 million people--80% of whom are subsistence farmers--living in small villages. The median age in both places is under 20, suggesting future crises. Half of the Nepalese are literate; perhaps a third of Afghan men can read, now, in the opening decades of the 21st century.
The desires, complaints and problems in both places often run parallel. Sizable populations are isolated for months each year by snow, rain and landslides--or just lack of bridges. Government influence in both countries mostly ends where the paved roads end. (Though Nepal actually has a government of sorts, and not surprisingly, far more roads.) In the hinterlands, life remains primitive, and in some cases, quite literally, prehistoric, except that outsiders note their existence. Government edicts and ideas issued from Kabul or Kathmandu are unheard or ignored--the words might as well come from Timbuktu or the Moon.
[Photo] Main road just outside Chaghcharan, capital city of Ghor Province, Afghanistan. There was not a single meter of paved road in the entire province.
A remarkable difference in Nepal is that most ethnic and religious groups coexist reasonably well, and despite their recent civil war the Nepalese seem considerably less prone to warlordism, general violence, and especially violence directed toward outsiders. Even during peak wartimes I had no difficulties walking hundreds of miles through contested areas in Nepal. While Nepalese fought each other, all sides (other than occasional criminals) protected travelers. Travelers who want to visit Kathmandu and trek the Himalayas are the country's good fortune. Though Nepal is one of the poorest, least developed countries on Earth--and despite rampant corruption and recent war--progress is perceptible.
Nepal is arguably a half-century ahead of Afghanistan in governance, education, press, and certainly in tourism. Nepalese old-timers say that in the 1950s and 60s, for instance, few boys, and almost no girls outside the ruling elite, went to school. There has been steady progress in the numbers of citizens educated in Nepal. A visitor will see school children in many districts, even deep in the mountains, wearing uniforms and often walking 5-10 miles to school, as our grandparents once did in America. Democracy was first tasted in Nepal in the 50s, but did not truly take hold until 1990s. The democracy is struggling and fragile, but trend lines are good. (Educated Nepalese could mount valid arguments contradicting my statement.)
Though Nepal remains poor and underdeveloped by Western standards, if Afghanistan were to reach Nepal's level in a few decades, some might rightly consider that a great success. And so, for me, Nepal has become a sort of looking-glass for Afghanistan. It's a good place to search for insight and ideas that might be applied in Afghanistan. The Gurkha idea for Gobar Gas in Afghanistan was a pearl from Nepal. rest at link. Lots of pictures and detailed description
Agreed. A very interesting article, complemented by Mr. Yon's wonderful photos. Like drilling wells, this is the kind of small effort that yields life-altering results.
#2
FTA: "Gobar is the Nepali word for cow dung. The Gas refers to biogas derived from the natural decay of dung, other waste products, and any biomass. In Nepal, villagers use buffalo, cow, human, and other waste products for biogas production. Pig and chicken dung are used in some places, as are raw kitchen wastes, including rotted vegetation."
Some great photos as well.
It amazes me that this process hasn't been investigated and pushed if feasible in Afghanistan. It's not like India and others aren't acquainted with the tech.
#3
I used to read about gobar gas decades ago in the Mother Earth News. If you have the dung, the temperatures, and an environment not torn up by war, it could help.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/08/2010 11:55 Comments ||
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#4
If you have the dung, the temperatures, and an environment not torn up by war, it could help.
How many good jihadis will recognize a dung processor that's mostly a hole in the ground, Alaska Paul?
#7
Just imagine how much biomass they could get from shredded Korans!
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/08/2010 14:20 Comments ||
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#8
I'm sorry Michael, these poor people can't have Gobar Gas. It is methane and methane produces climate change or global warming according to environmentalists and AlGore. Sorry, these people are destined to be poor and starve to death as well. Cap and trade will "cap" Gobar Gas.
#10
good article, but search-and-destroy methods can't work in Afghanistan. And the political solution in Iraq - somewhat balancing Sunni-Shiite interests - has no mirror in Central Asia. The enemy is infiltrating at will, and acting from numerous terror cells. Karzai is obstructing both counter-infiltration and cell-discovery, not to mention the whitewash of his family's interests in the opium/heroin trade. And Afghans - especially in the Taliban strongholds - are worthless at best, and collaborative with the enemy at worst.
#11
A remarkable difference in Nepal is that most ethnic and religious groups coexist reasonably well, and despite their recent civil war the Nepalese seem considerably less prone to warlordism, general violence, and especially violence directed toward outsiders. Not only remarkable, but so different from Afghanistan that the two countries are not even in the same league. Half-century ahead? How about half a millennium?
[Quqnoos] US president's top envoy for Afghanistan said a final political solution in Afghanistan could involve reformed Taliban in the government
Richard Holbrooke preconditioned that reformed Taliban figures should certainly accept the "red lines", which are the Afghan constitution and the human rights.
He said the national peace conference in Kabul, in which the Afghan president was given a mandate to negotiate with the insurgents, was an important step in efforts to "reach out" to the Taliban.
The United States supports the peace conference and the effort of Karzai calling on the Taliban to renounce violence.
Asked whether that support extended to even top leaders, such as supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, one of the world's most wanted men, he told Reuters on Sunday.
"Let me be clear on one thing, everybody understands that this war will not end in a clear-cut military victory. It's not going to end on the deck of a battleship like World War Two, or Dayton, Ohio, like the Bosnian war," Holbrooke said.
"It's going to have some different ending from that, some form of political settlements are necessary ... you can't have a settlement with Al Qaeda, you can't talk to them, you can't negotiate with them, it's out of the question. But it is possible to talk to Taliban leaders."
In Madrid for an international conference to discuss non-military ways to help end the Afghan conflict, Holbrooke said if a member of the Taliban repudiated Al Qaeda, laid down his arm and worked within the political system to join the government, "there's nothing wrong with that".
"The door is open and this jirga was a benchmark event on the road to the effort towards reconciliation," he said, but did not specifically mention the leadership.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Iff they formally give up their Al Qaeda, etc. links.
The resignation of two top Afghan officials is seen as 'disaster' for international efforts to improve security, the guardian reports
The Afghan interior minister, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, and the head of National Directorate of Security (NDS), Amrullah Saleh, have resigned over security breaches at the opening of the three-day peace conference last week.
The resignation of the internationally respected members of President Karzai's government comes after the Taliban launched rockets on the gathering of 1,600 national leaders and delegates.
The resignation of Hanif Atmar, the British university-educated interior minister, and intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh will be regarded as a huge setback for foreign-backed efforts to improve security and to reform the corrupt, barely literate and largely untrained police force, the report added.
A western security expert who has worked closely with both men said the double resignation was a "disaster" and ensured that the international mission in Afghanistan "was now doomed further", it said.
"These are two of the most important people in the security sector who were finally getting a better reputation for their offices and clearing up corruption within them. If they are replaced by corrupt cronies, then we might as well all pack up and go home now," the guardian quoted the expert as saying.
The resignations also prompted speculation in Kabul that Karzai had seized the opportunity to get rid of two men he had lost trust in, despite the strong support they had from foreign embassies, it noted.
"The significance of their removal is very profound and speaks volumes about the growing paranoia in the palace about the loyalties of those who have been central to the Karzai administration for the last several years," said Candace Rondeaux, senior Afghanistan analyst at the International Crisis Group.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2010 00:00 ||
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Amnesty International: actively on the other side.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A U.S. cruise missile carrying cluster bombs was behind a December attack in Yemen that killed 55 people, most of them civilians, Amnesty International said.
The human rights group says it has evidence that points to U.S. involvement in airstrikes on suspected al-Qaida hideouts in Yemen late last year,
Do tell us, AI: were they actually AQ hideouts? Because if they were, the fact that civilians were there means the AQ men chose to put them in danger, instead of stashing them safely with their families elsewhere, and therefore it's not surprising bad things happened to them. This is why smart guerrilla fighters keep their camps far from civilian communities.
and criticizes Washington for allegedly using cluster munitions
Show us the evidence for cluster bombs. Allegations don't count. Thank you.
and not taking precautions to avoid civilian casualties.
Allegations that precautions were not taken? That's pathetic.
The group is also urging the United States to acknowledge role it played in the attack.
There are differing accounts of the Dec. 17 attack in the al-Majalah area of the southern Yemeni province of Abyan. Yemeni security officials originally said 34 al-Qaida militants were killed, although a Yemeni parliamentary committee later said in its report on the strike that 41 civilians were killed in the attack as well as militants.
After the attack, Yemen's defense ministry had claimed responsibility for it without mentioning a U.S. role, and Washington has not acknowledged a role in it. However, U.S. officials, speaking on conditions of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, acknowledged U.S. involvement in the bombing.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman referred questions on the Dec. 17 strike to the Yemeni government. But he also commended San'a for "dealing with the al-Qaida threat in their nation" and said the U.S. strongly supports action against the terror group in Yemen.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Am I thoe only person who really does not give a shit if we kill some of their civilians? Or hell all of them. They don't seem too mind killling us.
Posted by: chris ||
06/08/2010 10:53 Comments ||
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#2
chris, I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Ceremonies and celebrations took place in Portsmouth last week as the Royal Navy's second billion-pound-plus Type 45 destroyer, HMS Dauntless, was formally commissioned into the Service. Both Dauntless and her predecessor HMS Daring remain almost totally unarmed at the moment, following test failures which have meant that their primary armament cannot be accepted into service.
Inmates are converting to Islam in order to gain perks and the protection of powerful Muslim gangs, the Chief Inspector of Prisons warns today.
Staff at top-security prisons and youth jails have raised concerns about the intimidation of non-Muslims and possible forced conversions.
Dame Anne Owers says that some convicted criminals are taking up the religion in jail to receive benefits only available to practising Muslims.
The number of Muslim prisoners has risen dramatically since the mid-1990s from 2,513 in 1994, or 5 per cent of the population, to 9,795 in 2008, or 11 per cent. Staff at top-security prisons and youth jails have raised concerns about the intimidation of non-Muslims and possible forced conversions.
Dame Anne's report, Muslim Prisoners' Experiences, published today, says that, although several high-profile terrorists have been jailed recently, fewer than 1 in 100 Muslim inmates have been convicted of terrorism.
She says that prison staff are suspicious about those practising or converting to the faith and warns that treating Muslim inmates as potential or actual extremists risks radicalising them. The report says: Many Muslim prisoners stressed the positive and rehabilitative role that Islam played in their lives, and the calm that religious observance could induce in a stressed prison environment. This was in marked contrast to the suspicion that religious observance, and particularly conversion or reversion, tended to produce among staff.'
All prisons offer a halal menu, which some inmates see as better than the usual choices. Muslims are excused from work and education while attending Friday prayers. Some converts, who are known as convenience Muslims', admitted that they had changed faith because they got more time out of the cells to go to Friday prayers. One quoted in the report said: Food good too, initially this is what converted me.'
In some of the most secure jails, the size of the Muslim population is well above average. Two years ago, Muslim inmates accounted for a third of prisoners in Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire, and a quarter of inmates in Long Lartin in Worcestershire.
The report says that inmates converted after learning about Islam from other inmates or their family, to obtain support and protection in a group with a powerful identity and for material advantages. One inmate quoted in the report said: I've got loads of close brothers here. They share with you, we look out for each other.'
Muslim prisoners tended to report more negatively on their prison experience and were also more likely to fear for their own safety or complain of problems in their relations with staff. In high-security prisons, three-quarters of Muslims said they felt unsafe.
#1
WORLD NEWS > [UK = England + Wales] MUSLIM PRISONERS BEING TREATED AS "POTENTIAL TERRORISTS". Approxi 10,300 UK Muslim felons under close scrutiny + eval, etc. for signs of Militant links, Personal psych tendencies.
#2
The big attraction of Islam is to 2nd and 3rd generation male Pakistani immigrants, who see it as a "license to steal and abuse" non-Muslims. They have little grasp of it as a religion, but see it as "authorizing" them to behave atrociously. As long as they do their daily prayers, they can do anything they want.
#3
The percentage of Muslim prisoners has doubled: How many of those are conversions? How much of the increase is due to there just being more Muslim criminals? Given their criminality, even arresting a lower percentage of the criminals on the street could result in a higher percentage of the prison population.
Babelfish... etc. You may want to look at the El Paso Times in the morning for a fuller story
A sixteen year old Mexican teenager was shot to death by agents of the US Border patrol late Monday night, according to Mexican press reports.
Sergio Adrian Hernandez, 16, was shot by US Border patrol agents while he was still on the Mexican side of the border, according to witnesses who say they saw the shooting.
What, pray tell, what the lad doing that drove the Border Patrol to shoot across the border?
The shooting took place at about 2000 hrs beneath the Puento Negro railroad bridge over the Rio Bravo that connects Juarez with El Paso, Texas.
The youth attempted to cross into the US with two other companions when he was shot. Reports say Hernandez was hit twice in the head and once in the torso.
That's pretty good shooting, I believe. Again, what did the lad do to provoke being shot?
Police on both sides of the border are investigating.
#1
You may want to look at the El Paso Times in the morning for a fuller story.
The Times says: A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and apparently killed a man who died on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande during a confrontation Monday evening in the Downtown area.
U.S. authorities would not confirm if someone died, but Mexican news media reported a young man was dead...
"It started as an assault on a Border Patrol agent," said Special Agent Andrea Simmons, a spokeswoman for the FBI in El Paso. The FBI is the lead agency in the case because it investigates assaults on federal agents.
About 6:45 p.m., a Border Patrol agent was attacked before he fired his weapon, Simmons said.
#4
typically, it's a shower of rocks, bottles, and other projectiles to deter and distract the BP agents (who usually work alone) while others sneak past the fence. The little f*ck got what he deserved if that's the case as there's been many instances where agents received head wounds or other major injuries in the assaults
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/08/2010 7:42 Comments ||
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Babelfish... etc
Police authorities in the Mexican state of Guerrero announced they have concluded their work in counting and extracting bodies from a mine near Taxco, Guerrero Sunday with a total of 77 dead bodies. Of the 77 found, only six have been tentatively identified.
Prison director Iguala Daniel Bravo Mota, 71, was one of the six identified.
Of the 71 remaining unidentified, 20 have definitive tattoos and scars, three of which carry the mark of the cult Santa Muerte. Officials are attempting to gain recognition of those with marks by taking and posting photographs for any relatives of missing persons.
Guerrero officials said the forensic work has stretched the resources to its limits, say officials.
Many of the bodies are nearly completely decomposed while others are just skeletons. Officials are working to get DNA profiles of the remaining unidentified corpses.
North Korea's Dear Leader' Kim Jong Il appointed his brother-in-law as his deputy yesterday in the latest sign that he is consolidating his family's grip on the world's only hereditary communist dictatorship.
Chang Sung Taek was appointed vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission, the country's most powerful state institution. Mr Chang is believed to be close to the Dear Leader's youngest son, Kim Jong Un, who is emerging as the most likely successor to his ailing 68-year-old father.
The news was contained in an official report on the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), a tame parliamentary body, which announced various personnel changes including the appointment of a new premier, Choe Yong Rim. The SPA rarely meets more than once a year. This was the second session in two months, suggesting urgent business.
For the past 18 months, since Mr Kim suffered from what appeared to have been a stroke, official photographs suggested that Mr Chang had rarely been far from his side.
Many North Korea watchers in Seoul believe that he is playing a key role in preparing for Jong Un to be named his father's successor, perhaps in 2012, the centenary of the birth of his grandfather and the founder of North Korea, Kim Il Sung.
Although Jong Un, believed to be 27 or 28, has not been named in the state media, reports suggest that party cadres have been briefed on the existence of a Young General, rivalling his father and grandfather in virtue and charisma.
According to the South Korean Ministry of Unification, which tracks members of the North Korean elite, Mr Chang was educated at an elite school in Pyongyang and married Mr Kim's younger sister, Kim Kyong Hui, after studying in Moscow for three years. He rose to become the head of the most powerful bureau of the North Korean Workers' Party, the Organisation and Guidance Department.
Perhaps because of his influence Mr Chang was abruptly purged in 2004 and sent into internal exile. He reappeared in 2006 and last year a new and powerful post was created for him: head of the Administrative Department, in charge of the courts, prosecutors and police.
The personnel changes and two recently announced deaths of senior officials suggest an effort to surround Jong Un with officials supportive of his succession.
Last week Ri Je Gang, an 80-year-old stalwart of the Workers' Party who was said to have been a rival of Mr Chang, died in what was reported to have been a car crash. Another senior cadre died of a heart attack in April and the retirement of a third was announced last month.
Beijing has refused to condemn North Korea over the sinking of a South Korean warship last March, but said that it had complained to Pyongyang over the shootings.
"On the morning of June 4, some residents of Dandong, in Liaoning province, were shot by a DPRK [North Korean] border guard on suspicion of crossing the border for trade activities, leaving three dead and one injured," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said.
"China attaches great importance to that and has immediately raised a solemn representation with the DPRK. Now the case is under investigation," he added.
There have been some reports in South Korean media on the incident, though North Korea has not acknowledged the shootings.
Dandong is a major shipping point and rail link for goods going into and out of North Korea from China.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Muslim leaders rallied round Turkey at a regional summit on Monday, backing their host's call for Israel to end its blockade of Gaza immediately and face international punishment for its deadly raid on an aid ship.
Israel's storming of the Turkish ship and killing of nine Turks a week ago has loomed over the Eurasian and Middle East security talks in Istanbul, which began on Monday and will move to a full summit on Tuesday.
"The time has come to lift the embargo on Gaza," Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told a joint news conference with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.
"We don't want an open air prison in the world any more."
Once close allies, Israel and Turkey's relations have been on a downward spiral since Erdogan began championing the Palestinian cause after an Israeli offensive in Gaza in 2008.
The Turkish leader has said Israel would have to pay for killing Turks in the botched commando raid.
"Israel has to pay the bill for the blood that has been shed by the martyrs," said Erdogan, who has become a folk hero in the Middle East for his attacks on Israel.
The Syrian leader pledged to support Turkey in action and words in its campaign for an end to the blockade.
"I would like to say Turkish blood is not different from Arab blood," Assad said. "Our blood is one, and this combination will eliminate the blockade of Gaza."
Turkey received messages from support from other Muslim countries, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Pakistan, Qatar and, of course, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
"Pakistan condemned in the strongest possible terms the unjustified aggression shown towards the freedom flotilla," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said. "We stand by you."
It is doubtful whether the final declaration by the Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) forum will contain a condemnation of Israel, as the wording has to be reached by consensus, and Israel is a member.
Though it decided against exposing any senior official to Turkey's fury at an international forum, Israel was represented by its consulate-general.
CICA includes a diverse group of 20 countries, but many other countries' leaders, like Assad, have come as guests.
While not expecting much from CICA, Turkey is using the chance to gather diplomatic support against Israel.
On Wednesday, Arab League foreign ministers are due to meet in Istanbul for talks with their Turkish counterpart.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > IRAN TO SEND AID SHIPS TO GAZA + IRAN TO CHALLENGE ISRAEL WITH NEW AID FLOTILLA.
* WMF > "EAST TURKESTAN MOVEMENT" SUPPORTERS: WE ARE GRATEFUL TO ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES FOR ATTACK ON GAZA AID FLOTILLA.
* SAME WMF > TURKEY SLOWLY TURNING INTO A BASE/HOST FOR MIDDLE EAST [e.g. Hamas] AND CENTRAL ASIAN ISLAMIST EXTREMIST GROUPS.
#2
Turkish medium and long range Surface to Surface missile systems
incl: M-270 MLRS, T-300 Kasirga, WS-1 MBRLS, Chinese made long range artillery rockets in Gokceada (Imbros) Island, WS-1B, WS-2, SAGE 227, SAGE 227F PARS, SAGE 230A (TOROS 230A) & SAGE 260A (TOROS 260A)
"One of two terrorism suspects arrested at an airport over the weekend was considered so dangerous as a student that he was removed from the local high school and was taught in a private room at a public library with a security guard present, school officials said Tuesday."
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/08/2010 13:33 ||
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#1
Mohamed Mahmood Alessa was placed "on home instruction" three months after transferring from an Islamic high school in 2004, North Bergen High School spokesman Paul Swibinski said.
[Dawn] The United States is increasingly relying on a new, manned spy plane to deal with possible legal ramifications of the indiscriminate use of unmanned drones in the war against militants, the US media reported on Sunday. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a "manned drone" known as an "airplane"?
The media also claimed that US officials were citing Pakistan's tacit approval of the drone attacks to justify their decision to continue the air strikes that have killed hundreds of people in the last two years.
The need to justify the attacks followed a UN report last week which warned that using drones had serious legal problems as international laws do not approve such actions.
Does international "law" explicitly disapprove of such actions? If not, the point... isn't. We haven't yet reached the stage where the desires of a few UN bureaucrats become automatically the law of the planet.
Since then, several US officials have defended the Obama administration's decision to expand the drone strikes, initiated by their predecessors in the White House.
The most interesting comments came on Saturday from US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates who apparently tried to protect the American military and intelligence agencies from possible legal repercussions.
"CIA and the US military are fully accountable to Congress in all their operations," said Mr Gates when asked to comment on the UN report. "I have no doubt whatsoever that the intelligence committees in the US Congress are fully informed of the activities the CIA is carrying out," he told journalists in Singapore.
Diplomatic observers in Washington say that Congress's involvement can provide a legal cover to the controversial air strikes, at least in US courts.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon's technical response to this legal problem is the introduction of a manned aircraft known as the MC-12 Liberty. It is a four-person, twin-engine propeller plane based on a civilian aircraft used around the world.
Drones are operated by the CIA and critics say that intelligence agencies do not observe the legal code that apply to uniformed soldiers. The new plane is operated by US Air Force personnel who follow a legal code, which includes international obligations observed during an armed conflict.
The Pentagon claims that the intelligence gathered by MC-12 crews has led to the capturing of 60 terrorists and criminals in Iraq and the killing or capturing 20 insurgents in Afghanistan, including four commanders.
The MC-12 aircraft also helped locate hundreds of roadside bombs around Marjah in advance of a Marine-led offensive there in March. The first aircraft arrived in Afghanistan last December.
The US Air Force plans to spend $100 million to train airmen on using the aircraft's spy technology over the next two years.
Yet, all indications are that the unmanned drones will remain the weapon of choice, at least for the CIA, in the foreseeable future.
And two CIA officials, Paul Gimigliano and George Little, when asked to comment on the UN report, defended their agency's action.
"Without discussing or confirming any specific action or programme, this agency's operations unfold within a framework of law and close government oversight," they said.
"The accountability's real, and it would be wrong for anyone to suggest otherwise."
The White House spokesman declined to comment on the UN report, but pointed to a recent speech by the State Department legal adviser, Harold Koh, that partly outlined the Obama administration's legal rationale.
Mr Koh has invoked America's "armed conflict with Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and associated forces" as a justification for taking out individual fighters and leaders.
Mr Alston made a measured and reasoned legal attack on the general use of targeted killings by governments against non-state actors, but he specifically criticised the American drone campaign, expressing doubt that the US could claim to be in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda and concluding that, "Outside the context of armed conflict, the use of drones for targeted killing is almost never likely to be legal."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2010 00:00 ||
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[5 views]
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#1
Blowing hot air. The MC-12 is being used because of availability problems with the drones plus they carry more complex sensor systems. Someone is taking unrelated events and connecting them with fantasy.
#4
Article misses the point that most of the "manned drones" are RC-12s, no weapons. The RC-12/MC-12 is provided with "exportable sensors" to countries such as Iraq to which we don't want to export MQ-1Bs or MQ-9s. The aircraft made by the old E-Systems guys are a quick and clever way to provide persistent reconnaissance capability to second-tier allies.
#6
the UN push against the use of drones is simply part of the greater Jihad with the soft euros and the neutral countries being used as the useful idiots
interestingly, because Obama is now President, the justification of our active defense is more likely to be effective in the UN
ha ha
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/08/2010 8:35 Comments ||
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#7
I believe existing "international law" allows "whatever you can get away with"...
#8
Anyone else wish the international busybodies would spend as much time condemning terrorism and jihad as it does fretting about what's done in defense against them?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/08/2010 14:18 Comments ||
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[Dawn] India's prime minister again tried to reach out to Kashmiri separatists on Monday, saying his government was prepared to talk to any group opposed to terrorism and violence in the embattled region where militants have been fighting to end Indian rule.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a similar offer last month, with little headway.
His two-day visit to Srinagar was greeted by a general strike Monday called by the main separatist group, whose leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani warned Singh that ''Kashmiris continue to detest India's military occupation.''
Singh said that infiltration by insurgents from Pakistan into the Indian portion of Kashmir had continued to spread terrorism despite assurances by Islamabad.
''Meaningful talks between the two countries, which can lead to the resolution of old issues, are possible only when Pakistan doesn't let its territory be used for acts of terror against India,'' he said.
Singh also referred to complaints of human rights abuses by Indian security forces in Kashmir and promised to punish those guilty.
''I'm aware of some complaints related to human rights,'' he said. ''Sometimes innocent civilians have to suffer, but whenever such incidents happen it becomes necessary to act against those responsible for them.''
Shops, schools and government offices shut down as thousands of armed police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled the streets of Srinagar and sealed off areas visited by Singh.
Security forces warned residents to stay at home as they laid razor wires and erected road checkpoints to foil protests by separatists challenging Indian rule, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
He said security forces were on maximum alert.
Road traffic was sparse with buses staying off the roads and few private cars venturing out.
The call to strike was issued by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a key leader of Kashmir's separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
''Holding guns to their heads, India wants Kashmiris to surrender. But Manmohan Singh should know that this policy has failed here and Kashmiris continue to detest India's military occupation,'' Geelani said in a statement.
Omar Abdullah, Indian Kashmir's top elected official, said Singh's visit was part of a comprehensive agenda of development and progress in the region.
''I'm sure there will be a political element built into his agenda as well,'' he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
India's prime minister again tried to reach out to Kashmiri separatists on Monday, saying his government was prepared to talk to any group opposed to terrorism and violence
Pakistan's military operations in tribal areas have forced some important Taliban leaders to flee outside of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Monday.
Afghanistan-Pakistan relations had seen a "dramatic shift" since Pakistan returned to civilian-led democracy, Qureshi added after three-way talks with Turkey designed to help dispel years of mistrust between Kabul and Islamabad.
"(Taliban leaders) have fled the region because of very successful military operations Pakistan has undertaken in the tribal belt, in Swat and Malakand," Qureshi told a joint news conference with his Afghan and Turkish counterparts in Istanbul after the meeting.
The United States is waiting for Pakistan to launch a military operation in the North Waziristan tribal region, home to the Haqqani faction, and other Taliban groups, and a known stomping ground for al Qaeda fighters.
A peace jirga -- a council of elders -- concluded in Kabul last week with a call for President Hamid Karzai's government to find a way to make peace with those Taliban who were not linked to al Qaeda or terrorist groups.
"My brother from Pakistan, the foreign minister, quoted full support for the peace process and Pakistan and Afghanistan will work together to achieve a peaceful solution to this conflict," Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasul said when asked if the Taliban leadership was in Pakistan or Afghanistan.
Asked whether the Afghan government had given Pakistan any assurances over India's strong diplomatic presence and links with Afghanistan, developments which have sparked Pakistani fears of encirclement, Qureshi said a "different situation" now existed.
"Our political relations have improved in the last two years. There is greater sharing of intelligence taking place. There is greater understanding between the military leaderships of the two countries," he said.
"So there is a different situation that we are looking at." Both Pakistan and Afghanistan, who in the past have suspected each other of seeking to destabilise their governments, were now "seeing eye to eye on many issues and working in harmony", according to Qureshi.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2010 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Jamaat-i-Islami chief Munawwar Hasan on Monday said that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) would revive neither through sloganeering and nor through the pressure of one political party.
A coalition of religious parties can only come about by learning from mistakes made in the past and by making up for those mistakes, he said.
Religious parties which have sided with the People's Party and the American military have to answer for damaging the objectives of religious forces, he said.
"Some of the religious parties played a negative role during the period of the MMA government and therefore damaged the coalition," Hasan said.
He further said that while the United States was in talks with the Afghan Taliban, it was against Pakistan talking to the Pakistani Taliban. "This is sheer hypocrisy," Hasan said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
Outrage is growing in Iraq's northern Kurdish territories over renewed Iranian air and artillery strikes against Kurdish rebels in the remote Qandil Mountains, officials and residents said.
Last week, Iran even sent ground forces about a mile into Iraqi territory, a brief incursion that Kurdish officials said elicited not a word of protest from the Iran-friendly administration of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, who like Iran's rulers is a Shiite Muslim. Most Iraqi Kurds are Sunni Muslims.
"The breach of the Iranian troops on the borders of the Kurdistan region is a violation of the sovereignty of Iraq and international agreements," Kawa Mahmoud, a spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government, said in a statement. "We call upon the federal government to resolve the case through diplomatic means."
The latest Iranian strikes on the Iraqi mountainside redoubts of the Iranian Kurdish group known as the Free Life Party of Kurdistan put Kurdish officials in a bind.
Iran has sent troops into neighboring Iraq in search for Kurdish insurgents. A senior official said the Iranian Army deployed troops in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan province in early June. Deputy Kurdish Interior Minister Jabar Yawar said 35 Iranian soldiers raided Iraq and established a base in the Kurdish village of Perdunaz on June 3.
"They have been here for several days," Yawar said on June 5.
At this point, the Iranian military presence has reached fewer than three kilometers inside Iraq. Yawar said the Iranian incursion was launched after several days of artillery shelling of an area east of Irbid, the capital of the Kurdish Regional Government.
Officials said the Iranian military has begun constructing a camp in Iraq. They said Iranian military trucks were transporting building material and equipment to the site.
"The [Iranian] forces have moved into the border area between two and three kilometers," Yawar said. "We have informed the Iraqi border police and Interior Ministry in Baghdad and hope the central government will take a clear and firm position."
In May 2010, Iran was said to have launched an offensive against the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan, or PEJAK, an arm of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). Teheran has accused Kurdistan of serving as a safe haven of PEJAK.
So far, the Iraqi government has refused to acknowledge the Iranian incursion. In January, Baghdad and Teheran engaged in a military standoff when Iranian troops raided an oil field in eastern Iraq.
At the same time, Iran executed five convicted Kurdish insurgents on charges of membership in PEJAK. Teheran has charged that the Kurdish insurgents have been supported by British and U.S. intelligence.
On June 6, KRG called on Iran to withdraw its troops from Kurdistan. Officials said Iran might have also conducted aerial reconnaissance over northern Iraq.
"We express our deep concern over the continued shelling and violations of the sovereignty of Iraqi territory in the Kurdistan region," KRG spokesman Mahmoud Kawa said.
#1
cut them off and take them prisoner - exchange for American and Brit hostages
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/08/2010 11:27 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I've been waiting since 1979 to see Iran get what it deserves. They keep pushing and pushing and nobody stops them. Now I understand why they are so cocky.
The Iranian scholar who went missing last year while on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia has confirmed his abduction by the US in a video message.
Shahram Amriri, a researcher at Iran's University of Malek Ashtar, insisted in the message, released on Monday, that he was kidnapped by US agents en route to Mecca in June 2009.
Amiri stated that his abduction was intended to mount political pressure on the Iranian government.
The Iranian scholar pleaded attention to his case.
When news broke of Amiri's disappearance last year, Iranian officials claimed the US was involved in the incident. Washington, however, denied any involvement in Amiri's disappearance or knowledge of his whereabouts.
The Saudi government also claimed unawareness about the fate of the missing Iranian scholar.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2010 00:00 ||
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A senior Iranian official says recent claims made by Russia President Dmitry Medvedev regarding Tehran's uranium enrichment are "implausible".
"It is hard to believe that the Russian President actually made such comments and has adopted such a stance against Iran," said lawmaker Mohammad-Reza Mirtajeddini, Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs, on Monday.
Mirtajeddini, who was speaking in an exclusive interview with Mehr News Agency, added that Russia will soon realize that its cynical approach towards Iran's nuclear issue will come at the Kremlin's own expense.
"Russia's decision to follow in the footsteps of the Americans is going to cost them as it will undoubtedly give rise to global condemnation," he continued.
Mirtahjeddini made the comments a day after Medvedev described Iran as "irresponsible" and urged the country to pay heed to what he called world demands over its uranium enrichment activities.
"The situation is this: An agreement on sanctions exists," the Russian president had said following talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. "We hope that the voice of the international community is heard by the Iranian leadership."
"Such expressions of irresponsible behavior cannot be continued. What is said internationally needs to be listened to. Only this way can the most complex tasks be solved," he said.
A longtime trade partner, Russia has traditionally opposed the adoption of fresh sanctions on Iran, but in recent months, the Kremlin has joined in on US calls for an end to Tehran's nuclear program.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Mirtajeddini, who was speaking in an exclusive interview with Mehr News Agency, added that Russia will soon realize that its cynical approach towards Iran's nuclear issue will come at the Kremlin's own expense.
It might be a good idea for Mirtajeddini to study some history about the last time Russia and Iran had a little tiff before mouthing off. He doesn't want Russia to come back again and remind him how bad it was.
#3
WAFF > EUTIMES.NET > [PM Vlad Putin] RUSSIA ORDERS TROOPS TO PREPARE FOR WAR WITH US, agz alleged US-NATO suppor/sponsored AFGHAN DRUG TRADE. Russ claims that the US CIA + aligned are receiving BILYUHNS + RILYUHNS of $$$ sums from same, which after various conversions + manipulatin' ultimately end up being used to harm Russ interests e.e. TERROPS AGZ RUSSIA???
IOW, RUS IS WILLING TO USE UNILATER MIL FORCE AGZ MILTERRS' DRUG TRADE TO STOP SAME, EVEN IFF IT MEANS DIRECTLY CHALLENGING US-NATO INTERESTS VIA MILPOL CONFRONTATION IN AFPAK???
#4
"Russia and Iran had a little tiff"
Posted by: tipper
it's interesting to note that in the fist Russo-Persian war (1813) -
"Persia was so enraged at Russia as to declare a jihad upon them" - Wiki
-strange how things haven't changed much
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Iranian Red Crescent has decided to send two aid ships to Gaza this week in the latest bid to break the blockade imposed on the Palestinian territory by Iran's regional arch foe Israel.
Red Crescent director for international affairs Abdul Rauf Adibzadeh told the state IRNA news agency late on Sunday that the decision to send the ships was taken after a meeting with the foreign ministry.
"One ship will carry donations made by the people and the other will carry relief workers. The ships will be sent to Gaza by end of this week," Adibzadeh said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Iran? Going to send ANOTHER "Freedom Flotilla" are they?
yeah?
Do 'em at night. Blanket all their transmissions before going in. Take everyone aboard below and comwire them to the bilge bulkheads. Set the timer charge to blow a hole straight through the Keel and leave all the hatches open.
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.
