Week 63: Arms and Energy in Iran
Posted on 30. Aug, 2010 by admin in Around the Planet
From initiating the Bushehr nuclear power plant to unveiling a new surface-to-surface missile, Iran has been defiantly flexing its muscles in the face of international sanctions. Meanwhile, the government has continued cracking down on political dissidents and even introduced tougher laws on advertisements about house pets. Learn more about these and other issues in The Week in Review, an ongoing series about Iran’s Green Movement, comprised largely of footage shot on cell phones and small cameras and smuggled out of the country.
The Race to Win Pakistani Hearts
Posted on 25. Aug, 2010 by admin in Around the Planet
Pakistan is still reeling from the torrential rains that have displaced millions of its citizens. International aid – and international media attention – have neen slow on the pickup, and there are fears that extremist terror groups will win over Pakistanis’ hearts due to their quick response.
Ali Siddiqui’s Mahvash & Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation is one moderate group trying to help. Siddiqui discusses what’s happening on the ground and the threat of extremism. (You can make flood relief donations through the Mahvash & Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation here.)
The Never-Ending Election
Posted on 24. Aug, 2010 by admin in Around the Planet
It has been more than seven weeks that Nepal is without a prime minister.
For the fifth consecutive time, none of the candidates received enough votes to claim the majority. Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal got only 246 votes in his. Nepali Congress’s Parliamentary Leader Ram Chandra Paudel garnered only 124 votes.
The inability to elect the New Prime Minister has affected the peace process and writing for new constitution. It has also affected the working atmosphere in government offices.
Critics claim that the Maoist Supremo Prachanda’s failure to win the election has affected his image in Public. The next election will be held on September 5, 2010. But it is still not clear whether Nepal will get a new prime minister on that date, with the growing indifference among political parties.
CPN UML and Madhes-based parties who have got winning votes have remained neutral in the voting that took place five times.
–Rajneesh Bhandari
Pakistan Under Water
Posted on 23. Aug, 2010 by admin in Around the Planet
Torrential flooding has left giant swaths of Pakistan under water and driven millions of people from their homes. Ali Siddiqui, director of the Mahvash & Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation, discusses the catastrophe and its possible consequences. (You can make flood relief donations through the Mahvash & Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation here.)
Week 62: Iran’s Shaky Politics
Posted on 20. Aug, 2010 by admin in Around the Planet
In the past week, there have been signs of rifts among Iran’s ruling elite. In particular, Iran’s Supreme Ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Ayatollah Komeini said Iran will not sit down for talks with the US until sanctions are lifted, directly contradicting President Ahmadinejad. Learn more about this and other Green Movement issues in this episode of “The Week in Green.”
http://blip.tv/file/4026909
Karzai’s PSC Bluff
Posted on 19. Aug, 2010 by admin in Bob Shepherd
When Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants to show who’s in charge he doesn’t do it by halves. His decree this week ordering all foreign and domestic PSCs operating in the country to disband by December is his most audacious power grab since he stole the Presidency last year – provided of course he really means to see it through.
Domestically, the PSC disbandment makes tremendous sense for Karzai. It will shift the balance of power away from warlords raising and operating private militias under the auspices of commercial security. These PSCs cum private armies have made millions servicing commercial and western military contracts (money which inevitably trickles down to the Taliban in the form of road taxes and other extortion schemes that keep the country’s off-the-books economy running). Come 2014, when Afghan forces are expected to take charge of the nation’s security, the last thing Karzai wants is to have dozens of well-funded private armies plotting his overthrow. In the interim, the PSC crackdown will also give Karzai a PR boost with voters ahead of Parliamentary elections, but this is more of a fringe benefit than a driving motive. After all, when it comes to listening to the electorate, Karzai’s track record is less than stellar.
Afghan Private Security
On the international front, the decree has reminded Karzai’s western allies that he can hold them to ransom whenever he chooses. Under the order, foreign security contractors will lose their residency permits and be confined to working inside foreign government and NGO compounds. Exterior security – which includes vehicle moves normally coordinated by close protection teams – will be handed over to the Afghan National Police. Pity the diplomats and aid workers. I certainly couldn’t sleep in a compound wondering whether the ANP standing watch outside my wall are Taliban infiltrators or undisciplined hacks who will turn tail and run the moment they’re attacked.
I imagine some foreign security companies in Afghanistan are flapping right now. I do hope they aren’t considering skirting the order by having their people on the ground work without weapons or armoured vehicles. That would be negligent and endanger both their employees and their clients.
The greater fallout of course is the impact the decree could have on NATO forces. There are not enough soldiers in Afghanistan to guard military supply convoys so the task (along with many other logistical roles) has been outsourced to PSCs. Under Karzai’s plan, these contracts would revert to the Afghan Interior Ministry. General Petreaus might want to consider appointing a special liaison in charge of ‘facilitating payments’ if he ever wants to see his kit again.
NATO shouldn’t let that happen nor should western governments entrust the security of their diplomats to the ANP. It could explain Karzai’s completely unrealistic deadline on the order (a convenient loophole to draw the transition out indefinitely). If it does turn out to be a bluff, NATO should still take heed. With a single pen stroke, Karzai has laid bare the vulnerabilities that result from outsourcing military tasks to the commercial sector. Sure, it may help governments in the short term by enabling them to hide the true financial and human costs of the war in Afghanistan. In the long-run however, outsourcing has the potential to cripple NATO’s entire military campaign.
Bob Shepherd is an ex-SAS soldier and bestselling author of The Circuit. His debut novel The Infidel, a modern-day Afghan war adventure-thriller is out now. To read more posts by him, please visit www.bobshepherdauthor.com.
The Man Who Would Be King – Redux
Posted on 17. Aug, 2010 by admin in Around the Planet
Ever wonder what it’s like to be caught in the middle of the Afghan war? Bob Shepherd can tell you. He spent time there as a security adviser and wrote about his experiences in The Circuit.
Now in his new novel The Infidel he tells the story of two British soldiers caught up in deadly political intrigues. A modern-day retelling of Rudyard Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King, it takes place, like its 19th-century predecessor, in Afghanistan’s remote Nuristan province where Shepherd spent time.
In this interview, Shepherd discusses The Infidel as well as the realities of the war in Afghanistan in 2010.
http://blip.tv/file/4002570
Week 61: Dollars Out, Rials In
Posted on 16. Aug, 2010 by admin in Around the Planet
With international sanctions mounting and oil sales falling, Iran plans to switch its reserve currencies from dollars and Euros to the Iranian Rial. Iran’s first vice president said the country would no longer trade oil in these “filthy” currencies. Along with a hunger strike, religious persecution and more evidence about 2009′s rigs presidential election, this episode of “The Week in Green” charts Iran’s political unrest.
Right-Wing Road Warrior
Posted on 12. Aug, 2010 by admin in Open Mic
The good old days of Walter Cronkite – and a news media that was largely trusted by the public – are long behind us. Today, with cable news and the internet, the louder and more extreme your viewpoint, the more likely your voice will actually be heard.
Among the new generation of TV pundits is Republican author/columnist S.E. Cupp. She plays the media game and plays it well, appearing regularly on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN. We recently sat down with Cupp to discuss her views on such charged topics as Prop 8, the Ground Zero mosque, and the myth that all conservatives are prudes.
Check it out in the latest episode of our series on the political voices of today, Open Mic.
Nepal Terrorism Threat
Posted on 11. Aug, 2010 by admin in Around the Planet
Even though Nepal is not a safe haven for international terrorists, the United States has cautioned India that Nepal could pose a threat.
A report from the US State Department was made public last week warning India that members of extremist groups could transit from Nepal. The report claimed that Muhammad Omar Madni, a member of the terrorist group Lashkar-e Tayyiba (LT), traveled through Nepal en route to New Delhi in June of last year.
“The large ungoverned space along the Nepal/Indian border exacerbates this vulnerability, as do security shortfalls at Tribhuvan Airport, Nepal’s international airport,” the report says.
However, the report has given Nepal a clean sheet on international money laundering, saying, “There were no indications that the country was used as an international money laundering center. There were no prosecutions or arrests for money laundering in 2009.”
Regarding the bombing of a Catholic Church in May, the report said that it was conducted by the Nepalese Defense Army (NDA), a Hindu extremist group that was responsible for shooting a Catholic priest and bombing a mosque in 2008. The leader of this group has since been arrested and their activities appear to have ceased, the report said.
- Rajneesh Bhandari