Nepali Minister Resigns

Posted on 10. Mar, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized, War on Terror

Rijwan Ansari maintains he had to resign “on my moral ground. The security condition is deteriorating, and I couldn’t help improve the situation.”

But the minister of state home affairs didn’t stop there when he quit his post late Wednesday. While his boss, Home Minister Bhim Rawal, continued claiming to be working hard on a security plan, in the aftermath of several high-profile murders, Ansari called Rawal out for irresponsibility and ineffective use of Nepal’s police force.

“The entire police administration was used unilaterally and so law and order went on deteriorating,” reads the resignation letter, adding, “My sense of morality does not allow me to continue in my post when cases of murders, abduction and violence are rife.”

Ansari, Rawal and Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal are all from the same party – CPN UML. However, the prime minister wasn’t happy with Ansari after the latter publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with Rawal, saying that he wasn’t given any responsibility in the Ministry.

Rijwan Ansari

Ansari is the latest fall-out for the high-profile murders of two prominent media figures. Security Officials said that they are investigating about different groups, especially in the murder of media entrepreneur Arun Singhaniya.

But Ansari’s resignation has further created intra-party complications for the prime minister, at the time the Maoists have been demanding his resignation. And, there is now a lapse in the chain of command in the Home Ministry just as regional violence is increasing.

- Rajneesh Bhandari

Insurgents Target Media in Nepal

Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized, War on Terror

The Maoists have joined the peace process (and the government) after a decade-long insurgency, but a growing number of armed groups have sprung up to take their place. The most recent target: the media.

Arun Singhaniya, owner of two main news outlets in the southern province of Janakpur, was shot three times at point blank range on March 1 while walking home from celebrations for the Holi festival. So far, 10 people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in his murder, but the police have yet to file a claim.

Not all fun in the sun in the Terai

According to Nepal’s Home Ministry, there are more than one hundred armed groups in the Terai region, which includes Janakpur, on the Indian border. Human rights records show that there were 240 killings last year in the Terai, 89 of which remain unsolved.

Industrialists and entrepreneurs have started putting serious pressure on the government to improve the security situation. In a recent meeting, a group of businessmen warned Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal that the country’s main industries would fail if the violence continues.

In response, the prime minister promised to beef up security – especially in the Terai.

However, the Terai is a vast, rural area of jungles and plain, and the prime minister has had security issues in his own capital.

Barely a month ago, another prominent media figure, Nepali cable TV magnate Jamim Shah, was gunned down in broad daylight in a rich and “safe” neighborhood in Kathmandu, allegedly by Indian gangsters.

Indian newspapers have regularly accused Shah’s TV channels and newspapers of propagating anti-Indian sentiment. Shah was shot dead on February 7—which, according to the Nepali astrological calendar, is supposed to be among the luckiest days of the year for marriage ceremonies.

- Rajneesh Bhandari

What Special Relationship?

Posted on 04. Mar, 2010 by admin in Energy Security, Uncategorized, War on Terror

The sense of betrayal throughout Britain is palpable. With the dispute over oil drilling rights in the South Atlantic heating up, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton handed Argentina a major diplomatic victory this week by encouraging Britain to discuss the future of The Falkland Islands. Britain has long maintained that there should be no negotiations on The Falklands unless the islands’ three thousand inhabitants ask for them – which they haven’t. The islanders wish to remain British.

I for one could not be more outraged by Washington’s indulgence of Argentina’s sabre rattling. For me, the 1982 Falklands War feels like it happened only yesterday. I’m proud to have been part of the task force sent there. I still mourn mates resting at the bottom of the South Atlantic who lost their lives in The Falklands. Today, at the age of 55, I’m well up for putting on a military uniform and going back to fight for my country if that’s what it comes to. I’m sure there are thousands of Brits who feel the same way.

Of course, back in the 1980s, Britain’s armed forces were in a position to react to a crisis thousands of miles away. Today, it’s a different story. Having expended vast amounts of blood and treasure fighting America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan we are poorly positioned to mount a task force to defend British interests. With plans to gut the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force to pay for ongoing operations in Afghanistan, our ability to react to challenges to our sovereignty will be compromised further still.

Having stood ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ with America the very least the US could have done for Britain is remain neutral on The Falklands. By moving off the sidelines and against British interests, the US has laid bare just how one-sided the ‘special relationship’ is between our two countries. For years, the British government has done whatever the Yanks have asked and we’ve paid a high price for our loyalty. Not only have our brave soldiers been killed and wounded and our financial resources depleted; our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan has fueled a wave of homegrown terrorism that will likely plague Britain for decades to come.

I don’t blame the Obama administration for doing what it feels is necessary to protect US interests in South America. The United States is being pragmatic. Britain should heed the example. It’s time the British goverment reassessed the special relationship and stopped acting as if our armed forces exist solely to promote American foreign policy. Because as the latest row over The Falklands has shown, when it comes to defending our sovereign territory, Britain may have to do it alone.

Bob Shepherd is an ex-SAS soldier and bestselling author of The Circuit. To read more posts by him, please visit www.bobshepherdauthor.com.

So an Airplane Walks Into a Bar…

Posted on 01. Mar, 2010 by admin in Energy Security, Environment, Uncategorized

Bio-jetfuel takes to the skies as airplanes explore alternative energy sources like camelina and jatropha. However, all this innovation comes with a steep price tag: food. Someone has to grow all those useful fuel crops, and it’s falling to third world farmers to shoulder the burden while production of edible foodstuffs declines accordingly. With most of the affected population unlikely to enjoy the benefits of green air travel, who will? The answer: Goldman Sachs.

Read the latest on bio-jetfuel in this episode of “A Minute of Your Time.”

A Blast in the Proxy War

Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized, War on Terror

Two longtime Afghanistan hands, Elizabeth Rubin and Bob Shepherd, have told us repeatedly about the struggle between Pakistan and India playing out on the field of Afghanistan. And, by all accounts, the three suicide bombings today in Kabul targeted Indian nationals.

Two of the explosions occurred at guesthouses for Indians working in Afghanistan, and a Taliban spokesman told Al Jazeera that the goal had been to strike at the “enemies of Afghanistan from among the foreign Indians.”

So what does this mean as the US steps up its involvement?

Well, for one thing, as Bob Shepherd tells us today, “It would appear as several steps back from the exit strategy if McChrystal has to put troops back into securing Kabul again.

No Love for India

“It makes the flag raising on the dot on the landscape of Marjah look very insignificant when NATO have nothing to do with securing the capital.”

The Pakistani government, as we know, has been working with the US to track down—and successfully so—Taliban members. Additionally, only yesterday, the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India met, for the first time since the Mumbai bombing. “The attack looks to have more to do with [that] meeting, given the amount of Indian deaths in the attacks and Indian managed establishments that were hit,” Shepherd points out.

The Taliban—and others—have a vested interest in keeping up tensions. For one thing, more trouble between Pakistan and India means less heat on them. Seven out of 15 members of Mullah Omar’s branch of the Taliban have been captured by Pakistan in the past few weeks.

- Michele Mitchell

How to Start a Restaurant

Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by admin in Economy, Middle Class Crunch, Uncategorized

The economic crisis has caused a lot of businesses to close their doors, but it hasn’t been all bad.

Luis Morales saw an an opportunity in the crisis. With two fellow investors, he decided to open the first modern pan-Asian restaurant in San Jose, Costa Rica. Called Gan-Bei – which means “Cheers” in Chinese – the restaurant is the one place that serves fortune cookies in all of Costa Rica. So if you’re in San Jose and want to hear your fortune, go to Gan-Bei!

We recently spoke with Morales about the trials and tribulations of starting a business.
http://www.vimeo.com/9759667

Devastation in Haiti

Posted on 14. Jan, 2010 by admin in Environment, Uncategorized

Haiti has never made a most-stable list, so the 7.0 earthquake that left Parliament, the presidential palace, schools, hospitals and the tax office collapsed–among other scenes of devastation–is crippling.

Security expert and author Robert Shepherd points out to us that “[the] first and most important emphasis should be on security, simply as the city and UN HQ there has lost it’s infrastructure. If there’s no security, there’s no aid!”

Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince (United Nations Photo)

The natural go-to nation is the United States, Shepherd says.

“Even as we speak, the world’s developed nations are sending humanitarian aid. Europe and UK are on their way having fought through snow to get to their respective airports. By the time they arrive in Haiti or DR next door, the US could already be up and running with a security plan established.”

So what happens now? We start by asking Tom Squitieri, who has spent years in and out of Haiti first as a prize-winning war correspondent for USA Today and then as founder of TS Navigations in Washington, D.C. Check out the interview here.

The Tyranny of Political Correctness

Posted on 13. Jan, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized, War on Terror

The extremist group Islam4UK has finally been banned under anti-terrorism laws. While I’m elated that it is now a criminal offence to belong to the organization that seeks to turn Britain into an Islamic state and introduce Sharia law, the question must be asked: why didn’t the government act sooner?

The catalyst for the ban was Islam4UK’s proposed march through Wootton Bassett, the Wiltshire town where Brits of all backgrounds gather to pay tribute to fallen British soldiers. The planned demonstration was widely condemned by many sectors of British society and spawned greater public awareness of Islam4UK. It was reported for example, that the group’s founder, Anjem Choudary receives £25,000 a year in benefits from British taxpayers – money which he claims ‘belongs to Allah’.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that media attention effectively embarrassed the government into acting.  The Home Secretary claimed that Islam4UK had avoided being banned earlier because it keeps changing its name (the group sprang up after its parent organization, al-Muhajiroun, was outlawed). But in my view, this excuse doesn’t hold water. The authorities are well aware of what Anjem Choudary and his fellow radicals get up to. Islam4UK should have been banned the second it posted a webpage.  We’re lucky it was a publicity stunt and not a terrorist incident that focused attention on the group.

Why did the government hold back? Was it fearful of being branded racist and anti-Islamic? We do after all live in an era where the tyranny of political correctness has silenced reasonable voices and protected those who would destroy the values which make this country great. It’s high time it ended.

There is a huge difference between disagreeing with government policy and hating all that is British. If Anjem Choudary and his followers want to live in an Islamic state, they should apply for residency in one. If they hold a second passport for an Islamic state, they should surrender their British passport and go. Finally, to dissuade foreign radicals from coming to this country to siphon benefits while they spread their message of hate, I propose the following: any foreign adult who wishes to receive a British passport should be made to surrender all others. A UK passport should be a privilege; not a convenience.

Before the PC police have a go at me, let me say that I am proud to live in multi-cultural Britain. The fact that so many people from different backgrounds have learned to live together peacefully here is testament to this country’s strength. Tolerance is undoubtedly one of our greatest values; hence why the government should act swiftly when radicals try to abuse it. If people are going to enjoy the benefits this society has to offer, including the right to free speech and assembly, they should be made to uphold British laws and values – not be excused while they attempt to overthrow them.

Bob Shepherd is an ex-SAS soldier and bestselling author of The Circuit. To read more posts by him, please visit www.bobshepherdauthor.com.

How the CIA Lost a Plutonium Battery

Posted on 11. Jan, 2010 by admin in Environment, Uncategorized

In 1965, the Cold War was running very hot, and in an effort to spy on the Chinese, the CIA mounted an expedition to Nanda Devi, a mountain in northern India, to place a listening device. Unfortunately, bad weather forced the team off the mountain, abandoning the device in the process. It proceeded to sink into the surrounding glacier, and is still there today. Worse, it’s powered by plutonium, which may or may not be slowly seeping into a rather important river: the Ganges.

Recently, we caught up with Pete Takeda, author of An Eye at the Top of the World about the botched CIA plan. Watch the first part in a three-part interview.

Little Green Shoots: Up In Smoke

Posted on 04. Dec, 2009 by admin in Economy, Uncategorized

New Yorkers pay more tax for cigarettes than anywhere else in the US. So, are they buying more or less in the economic downturn? We headed to the city’s Lower East Side neighborhood to learn more about people’s smoking habits. Check out the results in the latest episode of “Little Green Shoots”.