India signs pact with Kazakhstan for uranium supply

NEW DELHI: India on Saturday signed a civil nuclear pact with Kazakhstan under which the uranium-rich Central Asian country will supply much-needed fuel to atomic plants in the country.

India also signed four other pacts, including an Extradition Treaty, in the presence of President Pratibha Patil and her Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Patil oversaw the proceedings of inking of the four pacts as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was indisposed.

Kazakhstan will provide uranium and related products under the Memorandum of Understanding between Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and KazAtomProm. The MoU was signed by NPCIL CMD S K Jain and KazAtomProm President Moukhtar Dzhakishev.

The MoU also opens up possibilities of joint exploration of uranium in Kazakhstan, which has the world’s second largest uranium reserves, and India building atomic power plants in the Central Asian country.

“These agreements are very important for the stature of our bilateral relations,” Nazarbayev told reporters in the capital.

External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who led the delegation level talks in absence of Singh, inked the Extradition Treaty with his Kazakh counterpart Marat Tazhin.

Minister of state of commerce Jairam Ramesh and Kazakh minister of trade and industry Vladimir Shkolnik signed the protocol on the accession of Kazakhstan to the World Trade Organisation.

An MoU was signed between ISRO and Kazakh Space Agency for space cooperation. ONGC Mittal Energy Limited also signed and agreement with state-run KazMunaiGas.

Hindu Moral Police/”Taliban”

India shamed and shocked by monsters of Mangalore

Maya Sharma

India has been shamed again. Goons of a right wing Hindu outfit Sri Ram Sena in Mangalore barged into a pub and beat up women over the weekend – in its latest round of moral policing.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has reacted to the incident in Mangalore saying those responsible will be taken to task. He said that the police has been given full authority to take appropriate measures.

The women’s only fault was that they were found in the pub. Members of the Sri Ram Sena, who carried out the attack, justified their shameful actions.

More than 15 people have been arrested for the vicious attack as outrage over the incident spreads across the country.

The miscreants have been sent to judicial custody till January 27 and have not been allowed bail. The miscreants have been charged with criminal assault, intimidation, outrage of modesty and criminal trespass.

About 40 men were involved in the attack. Among the arrested are the district secretary and the joint convenor of the Sri Ram Sena.

A special team has been set up to arrest those responsible for the attack. The incident took place over the weekend after the men, completely unrepentant, say they received complaints suggesting the women were dancing ‘obscenely’ in the pub and they decided to act.

The hooligans chased the girls out, attacked men who tried to protect them, there are also reports that the girls were molested.

“So far we have arrested some people and we are further investigating the situation, we will take strong action,” said A M Prasad, Inspector General, West Mangalore.

Talking to NDTV, Karnataka Home Minister VC Acharya said action was being taken against the perpetrators.

This is sadly not an isolated incident of groups taking the law into their own hands – churches and prayer halls around Mangalore were attacked just a few months ago over alleged conversions.

In Bangalore, rave parties on the outskirts of the city were raided – not by police – but by members of the Kannada Rakshana Vedike.

A state that once had a strong image of peace and tolerance seems to be heading in a very different direction now.

European Pipe Dream

Today and tomorrow the European pipeline consortium will meet in Budapest to find financing for their pipeline project that has little to no gas to be carried. The project is from of the neocon play book of dirty tricks to throw at Russia and China.  The American/NATO warlords have bet the farm on this project, using it as a form of economic warfare, intended to deny the Russians a large portion of their gas income.  The funny thing is that Russia is the only nation with the proven supplies necessary to charge these large pipelines.

Balkan pipeline may be in the making

The gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine has given fresh impetus to plans to build a pipeline through Turkey and the Balkans, bringing Central Asian gas to Western Europe. At the instigation of Hungary, European Union and Central Asian officials meet in Budapest on Tuesday to try to breathe new life into the 10-billion-euro ($12.96 billion) Nabucco scheme and reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.

Picture: DPA

The contract row between Moscow and Kiev led to a cut-off of supplies of Russian gas affecting millions of people in central Europe in early January.

“There isn’t a PR campaign in the world that could have given the Nabucco as much attention as the Russian-Ukrainian dispute did,“ Hungarian government spokeswoman Bernadett Budai, said. “This is the best opportunity in years to make progress.“

The Nabucco plan envisages piping gas 3,300 km (2,000 mile) from the Caspian region through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to a distribution hub in Austria. Nabucco aims to meet 5 percent of Europe’s gas needs.

Progress has been slow and insiders say any one of a series of obstacles could sink the project. Expectations are not high for Tuesday’s talks, which will be attended by consortium members Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Romania and Turkey.

Also present will be Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, representing the EU presidency, as well as EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, government representatives from Azerbaijan and Iraq and corporate officials from Turkmenistan.

High on the list of difficulties are securing enough gas supplies and a dispute with Turkey over a demand by Ankara to keep a net 15 percent of the gas that would flow through the pipeline.

Turkey’s five partners want it to serve as a transit country that would not use any of the annual 30 billion cubic metres of gas the pipeline will eventually carry.

A Turkish energy official said last week Ankara expected to settle this, and other outstanding issues, in Budapest this week.

Turkey has also linked its support for Nabucco to its accession talks with the European Union.

During a visit to Brussels last week, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan threatened to reconsider support for Nabucco in response to a Cypriot veto over energy-related aspects of the accession talks. A few hours later, however, he said he would never use Nabucco as a weapon.

These disagreements with Turkey have hampered progress on a deal that would set out the long-term rules for the pipeline.

SOURCES OF GAS

However, Nabucco’s inability to secure enough sources of gas has been the biggest threat and critics say only Russia, which is planning its own rival scheme known as South Stream, has the gas and infrastructure to supply the pipeline.

Russian officials have expressed scepticism about its eventual success.

“Nabucco could be a monument to great ambitions and actions not thought through properly,“ Viktor Zubkov, Russia’s first deputy prime minister and Gazprom’s chairman said when asked in Budapest at the weekend if Nabucco could survive without Russian gas.

Without gas supplies and no deal between member governments, the pipeline’s financing is still in doubt.

Banks are unwilling to come up with cash until an inter-governmental agreement is signed, long-term conditions are established and supplies are secured.

However, potential suppliers, such as Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are reluctant to sign up until financing is in place and the pipeline has been built.

Iran, which has indicated its willingness to provide gas, is diplomatically not acceptable while Iraq’s infrastructure is far from adequate, experts say.

Nabucco’s shareholders — who include Austria’s OMV, MOL of Hungary, Romania’s Transgaz, Bulgargaz, Turkey’s Botas and RWE of Germany — have said the EU should provide guarantees or prefinancing to persuade suppliers and banks that Nabucco is viable.

Two terrorists killed in police encounter at Noida (of course they are Pakistani!)

IS THIS THE ATTACK THAT WILL TRIGGER THE “COLD START” OPTION?

Two terrorists killed in police encounter at Noida

Ashok Kumar

NOIDA: Two suspected Pakistani terrorists allegedly planning to target the Republic Day celebrations in Delhi were killed in a gun battle with the Uttar Pradesh police in Sector 97 here on Sunday.

Two AK-47 assault rifles, four magazines, 120 rounds of ammunition, five hand-grenades, nine suspected RDX rods, detonators and Rs.18,000 in cash have been seized.

The 30-minute encounter, a joint operation of the U.P. Anti-Terrorist Squad and the Noida police, took place in an open plot around 2-30 a.m. The terrorists, travelling in a white Maruti car, opened fire at the ATS team when asked to stop, leading to an exchange of fire. Both the terrorists sustained bullet injuries and were declared brought dead at a hospital.

ATS constable Vinod Kumar also sustained a bullet injury in his leg and is recuperating. “While being taken to hospital, one of the terrorists identified himself as Farooq, a resident of Okara in Pakistan, and his companion as Abu Ismail from Rawalkot in PoK,” said a senior police officer.

EU states monitor spread of civil unrest

26. January 2009. | 08:03 08:05

Source: EUobserver.com

EU member states are “intensively” monitoring the risk of spreading civil unrest in Europe, as riots over the economic crisis erupt in Iceland following street clashes in Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Greece.

EU member states are “intensively” monitoring the risk of spreading civil unrest in Europe, as riots over the economic crisis erupt in Iceland following street clashes in Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Greece.

The worst street disturbances for 50 years struck Reykjavik on Thursday (22 January), as police streamed a hardcore of a few hundred anti-government protesters in the early morning with pepper spray and then tear gas after an earlier crowd of around 2,000 gathered outside the Althingi, the country’s parliament, to demand the government resign.

The crowds surrounded the building while banging pots and pans and shooting off fireworks. The demonstrators also lobbed paving stones, rolls of toilet paper and shoes.

It was the second day of protests after on Wednesday protesters jostled Minister Geir Haarde’s limousine, pummelling it with cans of soft drinks and eggs.

The regular demonstrations have strained the government coalition, with the ruling Independence Party on Thursday saying it “realises that there will be elections this year.”

Iceland is not an EU member, but the protests could result in it being the first European country to see its government brought down by the economic crisis.

“It’s a democracy that has its problems like many other states as a result of the economic crisis,” European Commission external relations spokeswoman Christiane Hohmann said.

The events in Iceland come hot on the heels of anti-government clashes in Latvia, Lithuania and Bulgaria in recent days, where economic discontent mixed with local issues erupted in violence.

Trade unions in Greece meanwhile warn that further strikes are still likely, after protracted street fighting by students and young workers in December that caused billions in damage.

Concern about the spreading unrest is high on the EU agenda, as governments find it increasingly more expensive to borrow money, putting pressure on social programmes.

“There are concerns. The EU shares them. It is one of the major challenges for the Spring European Council,” said a senior EU official, referring to the quarterly gathering of EU leaders.

EU ambassadors in Brussels are discussing the issue and receiving “regular updates”, according to another official, although he added that more intelligence on the situation is needed to see whether the riots are “part of a social trend” or manipulation by opposition elements.

Lithuania’s interior minister visited Latvia to discuss public security problems related to the economic crisis even before the Vilnius and Riga riots last week.

Lithuania is currently collecting “all available information about similar events in other member states” and sharing it with “concerned” countries Estonia, France, Germany and Latvia, a Lithuanian diplomat told the EUobserver.

“Intensive share of information” is also taking place between the Baltic states and Poland, he added.

Following the ructions in Vilnius, 11 further peaceful demonstrations were organised around the country by trade-unions.

“Due to the declining economic [situation] and problems raised by it, a possibility of similar meetings still remains, but we hope that riots will not be repeated,” he said.

More to come

In a Wednesday interview with the BBC, the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, predicted that the economic downturn will cause more unrest.

“[It could happen] almost everywhere, in Europe certainly, and also in emerging countries,” he said. “You’ve had some strikes that look like normal, usual strikes, but it may worsen in the coming months.”

Asked which countries were most at risk, Mr Strauss-Kahn mentioned Hungary, Ukraine, Latvia and Belarus. “It can be my own country [France], the UK, it can be eastern Europe,” he said.

“The situation is really, really serious,” he added.

Oil, Obama, And Pakistan

Oil, Obama, And Pakistan

America’s military policy is following its foreign policy which follows the smell of oil. Forget freedom and democracy. That’s for fools. Pakistanis are fooling themselves if they think President Obama will be able to change this. Let’s pray he does. The Karachi-Torkham-Afghanistan supply route and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline means that U.S. will have to take effective control of Balochistan, Gwadar and Karachi. This will also help deny Iran and China any stake in their own pipelines across Pakistan. America can’t do this by going to war with a strong Pakistani military. Destabilization is part of the plan, with some margin for unintended consequences. Now you understand the game.

By Ahmed Quraishi

Wednesday, 21 January 2009.

WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Publicly, America’s most immediate challenge after the government change is Afghanistan and Pakistan. Privately, in Washington’s power corridors, it is oil.

Oil, and not al Qaeda, is threatening to knock America off global leadership. President Obama takes over a country whose global economic leadership is threatened by dwindling oil reserves and a dogfight over whatever remains.

Oil is running out, fast. And the remaining oil, including new reserves, lie in other people’s lands, closer to Russia, China, Europe and other powers. America’s global supremacy rests on an economic system based on easy access to oil. If someone else gets that oil, America loses.

Jon Thompson, an American oil veteran ExxonMobil Exploration Company’s former president, has written in June 2003 that by next decade the world will need 80% more oil than we have today to keep the world going.

Luckily for President Obama, his predecessor, George W. Bush, has done an excellent job in: One, securing new oil, and, Two, warding off threat from other oil hungry powers.

Under the guise of spreading freedom and democracy, Bush’s eight years saw the biggest expansion of American military bases across the world. And the trail follows the smell of oil. This riddle is as mysterious as the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden.

America’s foreign policy was also adjusted to follow the footprint of oil, going where the oil is, be it Angola, Sudan/Darfur, Central Asia, Russia, Colombia, Georgia, Venezuela, and of course Iraq. Somalia is fast becoming the latest battlefield in this secretive global dogfight over oil and transport routes.

In the words of veteran American oil industry correspondent William Engdahl, ‘U.S. military and foreign policy was now about controlling every major existing and potential oil source and transport route on earth […] One superpower, the United States, would be in a position to decide who gets how much energy and at what price.’

The Taliban government was not an enemy of America. It sent delegations to United States and lobbied for U.S. State Department’s attention. Its removal was decided much before 9/11, according to Pakistan’s former top diplomat Niaz Naik, who was told so explicitly by U.S. officials in July 2001. Taliban fell out of favor because they put terms and conditions on the pipelines that American oil giants planned to construct on Afghan territory. Taliban were replaced by U.S. oil consultants Zalmay Khalilzad and Hamid Karzai.

Pakistan was and continues to be the next target. U.S. diplomatic meddling has already disturbed the natural progression of the Pakistani government system, leading to instability and creating local players who look to America for support. U.S. military intervention is softening up the country through regular missile attacks and drone flights. The last time this method proved effective was in Iraq during the 1990s. The chatter in the U.S. think tanks and media about Pakistan’s division along ethnic lines has never been this high. Pakistan has to be subdued in order for American energy and military transport lines to become secure. America needs to secure Pakistani transport routes from the sea to the Afghan border.

Balochistan is an interesting case. Destabilizing this Pakistani province disturbs Iran’s plans to lay down pipelines to Pakistan and beyond. The instability also helps destroy China’s chances of using Gwadar, the new Pakistani port city overlooking oil-rich Gulf, to dock its commercial and naval ships. In fact, the entire area between Gwadar and the Sino-Pakistani border is up in insurgencies of all sorts, known and unknown. This is the same route that a future Chinese oil pipeline is supposed to take, linking China to oil supplies from Africa and the Gulf. This entire area was peaceful before 2005, until meddling by unknown actors began from the U.S.-controlled Afghan soil, exploiting Pakistani internal problems.

The United States is playing a big role in ‘softening’ Pakistan. It is trying to pitch the country’s elected governments against the military to reduce the military’s ability to decide Pakistani interest on Afghanistan, China and India. Outside meddling is easy thanks to Pakistan’s weak political and government structure.

Stopping American intervention in Pakistan, while continuing the cooperative relationship, is the biggest challenge facing President Obama.

Will he do it? The facts on the ground are not encouraging. After gaining unprecedented access inside Pakistan – both diplomatically and militarily – it is doubtful that an Obama administration would scale back U.S. gains.

Pakistan will have to tell the U.S. that it has legitimate security and strategic interests in the region and that it cannot allow the U.S. to decide those for Pakistan. This includes the shape of the future government in Kabul, the expansion of the Indian role in the region, and the relationship with China.

Obama’s Washington has to understand, respect and work with Pakistani interests and concerns. Any other type of relationship won’t work. President Obama needs to wean his policy planners off the idea of reproducing the pliant regimes Baghdad and Kabul.

Those things require war. And President Obama doesn’t want another war, does he?

Afghan Taliban Form Shadow Government

The ‘real’ Taliban (as opposed to the fake ones based in Pakistan who are heavily penetrated by suspect foreign intelligence operatives) now have shadow governors in all but three of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan.

By CTV.ca News Staff
Monday, 19 January 2008.
WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM

KABUL, Afghanistan-The Taliban are claiming they control 70 per cent of rural Afghanistan and have instituted a shadow government with their own police, courts and rule of law.

The boast comes in the days leading up to Barack Obama’s inauguration as U.S. president, who is planning on dramatically ratcheting up America’s military presence in Afghanistan.

The Taliban’s claim is being dismissed by many inside Afghanistan as empty rhetoric, but there is little denying that their presence is expanding.

Khalid Pashtoon, a member of the Afghan Parliament, says there isn’t enough NATO and Afghan troops to police the entire country. As well, the justice system is spread thin and some villagers are turning to the harsh – but swift — justice system of the Taliban.

“Right now the people have completely lost their faith, they mostly solve their legal disputes over Taliban judges,” he said.

Recently the governor of Kandahar visited distant parts of his province to counter claims that the Taliban was in control in those regions.

Tooryalai Wesa, the Canadian-Afghan governor of Kandahar, called the Taliban’s assertions “rumors.”

But many villagers in the region told CTV’s Steve Chao a different story — saying they put their trust in the Taliban.

Wesa’s shadow government counterpart is believed to be Mahibullah Akhunzada, The Canadian Press reports. He replaced Mullah Mahmood, who died last year in an air strike in Khakrez district.

He has said that the Taliban has shadow governors in all but three of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.

With a report from CTV’s Steve Chao and files from The Canadian Press. Published by CTV.CA

© 2007-2008. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com.

Taliban’s Swift Justice

Taliban’s Swift Justice

By Dr. Ghayur Ayub

Friday, 23 January 2009.

WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—It was during a visit to Peshawar that I met a senior police officer. He narrated a story which was brow-raising. He told of a person from Bannu who lent Rs. 40,000 [approx. U.S. $500] to a man he knew, who promised that he would return it within a specified time. He told the borrower that he had saved up the said amount to help pay for his children’s education. When the agreed time lapsed, he asked him to return the amount. The borrower started making excuses and after a few months he flatly refused and challenged the lender to do what ever he could. There is a Pukhtu word for it ‘Laas Da Azaad De’.

The man went from pillar to post to seek justice but with no result. The police proved incapable as the borrower was a powerful man with strong connections. When he tried to knock on the door of the court for justice he was dismayed to hear that it would take months for the case to come to a hearing and years to reach a final judgment. After all that, the chances were that the verdict would go against him as he was up against powerful people. To top it off, he was told he had to pay Rs 1000 upfront every time he wanted to put his case forward for a hearing. This amount did not include the amount he was going to pay the lawyers. When he calculated it, the approximate amount turned out to be more than the actual amount he was going to seek justice for.

At the end of every day, he would go back home heart broken; cursing his luck to be living in a country where there was no justice for the middle or poor classes. He tried to persuade the borrower by pleading with him, explaining how desperately he needed the money for his children’s education. He even offered a discount or to split the amount into installments, but all in vain. It was like hitting a brick wall. He felt dejected, helpless and powerless to see his children suffering just because he came from a stratum of a society pushed against the wall.

One evening, he heard a knock on the door. He opened it and saw two strangers with bushy beards standing outside. Thinking they were there to collect charity, he asked with irritation what they wanted. They told him that they saw him crying in the mosque and on enquiry they were told that someone was refusing to pay his money back. With a surprised look on his face, he asked them who they were.

“We are local Taliban,” they said. Then they asked if he would let them have his side of story. He saw a ray of hope and ushered them in. After listening to his story, the Taliban told him that the borrower had committed an un-Islamic act, and if he wanted they could persuade him to return the said money. “We want your permission”. His heart jumped with flickering optimism and immense joy and without any hesitation, he gave them his consent. Before they left the premises they asked for 72 hours.

According to the police officer, the Taliban went to the influential man and told him it was un-Islamic not to pay the amount he had borrowed from the man. They threatened that if he did not pay the debt back within 48 hours; he would bear the consequences. They also told him how Taliban had previously dealt with people like him. Shivers went through the spine of the ‘powerful’ man as he knew what their threat meant. With a dry mouth, frightened face and shaking body he nodded his head in agreement, promising he would return the amount. The next day, he went to the house of the lender and paid back the full amount he had refused up until then. He apologized for the delay and requested him to tell the Taliban not to harm him or his family and to let them know that he had returned the money. The Taliban never went back to ask whether he got the money back, but they must had been watching the development. From that day on, according to the police officer, that man became a strong supporter of Taliban. Could anyone blame him?

Another related story about quick and effective justice comes from the Bugti tribe of Balochistan. According to electronic media, a man named Nazim Ali was refused his share in a dispute. According to him, he spent a lot of money to get justice from the court but failed because of corrupt practices. So he went to the tribal chief who referred him to the Jirga. The Jirga decided that he should walk on fire and if he was telling the truth he will not be burned. Nazim Ali agreed to it and in front of onlookers he walked on red hot coal. After the walk, people saw that his soles were not burned. The chief decided in his favor and he was given his due share.

There are countless other stories of parallel justice systems running in Pakistan in the present day. These systems seem to be nippy and effective satisfying their poor clients. Some are Taliban style, others tribal style, sharing one commonality; they are swift, just and not stained with corruption.

In my discussions with different walks of people living in the troubled parts of FATA and NWFP the vast majority agreed that the justice provided by Taliban is fair and quick. They might not agree with other activities related to Talibanization such as discouraging western education, burning of schools, gender discrimination etc; but they do appreciate the provision of justice served at the doorsteps with efficiency, audacity and honesty. Swift justice is the major achievement which attracts the poor people of Pakistan to Taliban.

Dr. Ayub can be reached at turi555AThotmail.com

US will act on ‘actionable targets’ in FATA: Biden

* Vice president says US working to build Pakistan’s capability to counter insurgency
* FATA had been ‘ungovernable’ for Pakistan

WASHINGTON: Hinting that the United States drone attacks in the Tribal Areas would continue as before, US Vice President Joe Biden said the US would act if there was an ‘actionable target’ in sight.

He said the US was working towards strengthening Pakistan’s counterinsurgency capability, but declined to specifically address the issue of drone strikes against suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda targets on the Pakistani side of the Afghan border.

“I cannot speak to any particular attack. I cannot speak to any particular action. It is not appropriate for me to do that,” he said in response to a question in the backdrop of Friday’s drone strikes on North and South Waziristan, which killed 18 people.

Working: “What we are doing is we are in the process of working with the Pakistanis to help train up the counterinsurgency capability of their military, and we’re getting new agreements with them about how to deal with cross-border movements of these folks, so we are making progress,” Biden said.

Referring to US President Barack Obama’s election campaigning, Biden said the president had “said during his campaign and in the debates that if there is an actionable target, of a high-level Al Qaeda personnel, that he would not hesitate to use action to deal with that”.

He, however, praised increased cooperation by Pakistani authorities, calling the coordination ‘good news’.

“The good news is that in my last trip – and I have been to Pakistan and that region many times – there is a great deal more cooperation going on now between the Pakistan military in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Waziristan, North Waziristan – all that area that we hear about being ungovernable,” he said.

FATA: But Biden added that the areas had “been ungovernable for the Pakistani government. That’s where the bad guys are hiding. That’s where the Al Qaeda folks are, and some other malcontents”.

Biden also expressed understanding of the fact that FATA had been historically ungoverned.

According to a Pakistani embassy spokesman, agreement of views on coordination of border monitoring, improvement in intelligence-sharing and bolstering the capacity of Pakistani security forces was a continuous process between the coalition partners.

A senior official in Islamabad on Sunday said the drone attacks were counterproductive to Pakistan’s efforts aimed at curbing extremism.

On Afghanistan, Biden said the new US administration had inherited a ‘real mess’. “What’s happened is that because of a failure to provide sufficient resources, economic, political and military, as well as failure to get a coherent policy among our allies, economically and politically, and in terms of military resources, the situation has deteriorated a great deal,” he said

Charges Filed Against 15 Israeli Officials

Palestinian and international efforts continue to institute legal proceedings for the prosecution of Israeli officials in the commission of war crimes.

International attorneys have filed war crime charges against 15 Israeli political and military officials including Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak.
Palestinian and international efforts continue to institute legal proceedings for the prosecution of Israeli officials in the commission of war crimes.
Although Israeli forces are involved in thousands of cases, local experts such as the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights believe that the recent major attacks on the Gaza Strip will be successfully prosecuted.
“They were well-documented, televised and the world was paying attention,“ a member of the Gaza City team commented.
After the very public detection of large-scale atrocities which included the use of white phosphorus bombs in enclosed civilian areas and the liquidation of children there is little defense, PNN reported.
Fifteen specific names are now pending for prosecution in The Hague’s war crimes tribunal.
Those listed for prosecution include Israeli political and military officials, namely Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak.
Israelis are being warned internally against leaving its boundaries due to fears of arrest.
French lawyer Gilles Dovers is handling the complaint in Paris calling for the “open investigation into war crimes“ committed by Israeli forces during three weeks in Gaza.
Dovers said today that 500 complaints are being submitted by Arab, European and Latin American officials. Bolivia is preparing its own case, as is Venezuela.
Argentine international prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is deciding whether to go ahead with an investigation.
The French lawyer said there is some fear of interference from the United Nations Security Council under pressure from the United States to stop the proceedings and prevent the achievement of access to trial. The founding texts of the International Criminal Court empower the Security Council to suspend its work.
Today’s invitation to try at least 15 Israeli officials is being delivered by 30 international lawyers of several nationalities.
In parallel, the intention of a group of French lawyers to file a complaint on behalf of French citizens of Palestinian origin to the French courts against Israeli officials is gaining attention in the cities of Paris and eastern France.
Coordination with other lawyers in Belgium and Spain is underway as similar complaints against the Israeli officials are being made in Brussels and Madrid. Belgium is among the countries who issued charges against Ariel Sharon in the past.
Moroccan lawyers also disclosed on Thursday practical steps toward filing a lawsuit against “the perpetrators of war crimes“ in Gaza. Six lawyers are working with the Minister of Justice of Morocco.
As reported by PNN throughout the week, in Tel Aviv Israeli activists published 15 names:
Ehud Barak, Amir Peretz, Binyamin Ben Eliezer, Avi Dichter, Carmi Gilon, Dan Halutz, Doron Almog, Ehud Olmert, Eliezer Shkedy, Gabi Ashkenazi, Giora Eiland, Matan Vilani, Moshe Bogi Yaalon, Shaul Mofaz and Tzipi Livni.

Preparing Against Crimes
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has put the justice minister in charge of defending Israel against charges of war crimes during its 22-day Gaza assault, a government source said Friday.
Daniel Friedman will lead an inter-ministerial team to coordinate a legal defense for civilians and the military, the source said.
Ehud Barak, the Defense Minister and architect of the offensive, ordered the army to establish an incrimination team of intelligence and legal experts to examine any evidence that could be used against Israeli officials in law suits. That could possibly include Major-General Yoav Galant, the chief of Israel’s southern command, as well as other senior officers.
According to human rights groups, Israel killed more than 1,400 Palestinians with a third being children and also wounded at least 5500.
Israeli massive offensive also destroyed UN schools and the main aid headquarters where tons of food was stocked were bombed beside mosques, hospitals, government buildings.

Compelling Evidence
UN human rights expert and retired Princeton law professor Richard Falk said on Thursday that there is compelling evidence that Israel violated the laws of war by “conducting a large-scale military operation against an essentially defenseless population.“
“There needs to be an investigation carried out under independent auspices as to whether these grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions should be treated as war crimes,“ the professor said, adding that he believes “that there is the prima facie case for reaching that conclusion.“
“This is the first time I know of where a civilian population has been essentially locked into the war zone, not allowed to leave it despite the dense population and the obvious risks that were entailed,“ Falk pointed out, “the civilians in Gaza were denied the option of becoming a refugee.“

Confusion In Islamabad: Can Politicians & Military Handle The Mess?

Confusion In Islamabad: Can

Politicians & Military Handle The

Mess?

There are conflicting signals about what is happening inside the Zardari government, and mixed signals on U.S. and India. Pakistani experts are now convinced that India’s ‘evidence’ regarding Mumbai is not watertight. But a pro-U.S. core within the Pakistani government is preventing Islamabad from talking openly about it. The Pakistani media and political class remain confused about priorities, discussing nonissues such as the marks of a daughter of a senior judge and political backstabbing when the country faces a gathering storm on its international borders. The debate within military circles is substantive. But the military won’t intervene.

By AHMED QURAISHI

Sunday, 25 January 2009.

WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—There are some indications that the Zardari government is taking a tougher line toward India and toward the proxy U.S. pressure regarding the Mumbai attacks and the U.S. attacks inside Pakistan.

This change, if real, contrasts sharply with the initial passive attitude of the members of the government who appeared too eager to take in the sermons from U.S. officials and to appease India.

Meanwhile, Pakistani defense analysts are reviewing some of the longtime military beliefs regarding how to fight a war with India in case of Indian aggression. Of special concern is the reported power concentration around central and northern Pakistan, leaving the southern parts of the country exposed. Some defense analysts, as shown later in this report, are arguing

The problem lies in the fact that this government is issuing contradictory statements. President Zardari, for example, has condemned, without naming President Obama, the Jan. 23 U.S. missile attacks inside Pakistan. But he is not ready to go beyond this or take a stronger public line. There are reports that his government has an understanding with Washington on increasing U.S. operations inside Pakistan. But Mr. Husain Haqqani, Mr. Zardari’s pointman and ambassador in Washington, was reported last week as having said that Pakistan might consider ‘other options’ if the U.S. did not change its policy. The statement raised eyebrows in Islamabad, coming from a known U.S. apologist in the elected Pakistani government.

This hardline is tempered by other statements that verge on appeasement. On India, Prime Minister Gilani said on Jan. 14 that India’s ‘evidence’ on Mumbai attacks is more of ‘information’ and not evidence that can admitted in a court of law. But o Jan 23, Mr. Gilani told a London newspaper that Pakistan ‘needs to act fast’ on the Indian dossier and emphasized, rather sheepishly, that Pakistan is taking the dossier ‘seriously’.

There are elements within the PPP government who are strongly pro-U.S. This includes President Zardari, Mr. Haqqani, and Interior Adviser Rehman Malik. The former national security adviser M. A. Durrani is no longer in this group. All four were either longtime residents in the United States and United Kingdom or retained strong business and personal interests in both countries. On the other hand, there are other PPP officials who do not approve of the policies of this pro-U.S. camp but are incapable of opposing them openly. This group supposedly includes – to varying degrees – Prime Minister Yousaf Reza Gilani and some other lower-level party officials. This division is fluid and is not immediately clear. One sign of it surfaced on Jan. 7, when national security adviser Mr. Durrani was caught making leaks to the Indian media to embarrass Pakistan. Mr. Tasnim Qureshi, the State Minister for Interior, appeared on television to confront the revelations that Mr. Durrani was making. A couple of news channels showed Mr. Qureshi quite disturbed by his own government’s national security adviser insisting that Ajmal Kassab, the name India uses to describe the man in its custody involved in the Mumbai attacks, was indeed a Pakistani citizen. Mr. Qureshi went as far as saying that Mr. Kassab was an Indian intelligence asset even if it was proven beyond doubt that he was a Pakistani citizen.

President Zardari appears to be in a bind. He apparently has some commitments under the ‘deal’ brokered by the U.S. with former president Pervez Musharraf. But on the other hand, has to keep the Pakistani public opinion and the Pakistani military on his side.

Prime Minister Gilani’s soft message to India is balanced by Interior Advisor Rehman Malik’s veiled statement on Jan. 22 that foreign hands were behind insurgencies in Swat and the tribal belt:

Pakistan Interior Advisor Rehman Malik has said that the rise in extremist activities in the tribal regions of the country was due to the help being offered to the extremists groups from some foreign countries. He said that foreign hands were patronizing terrorists in the Swat valley, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Mr. Malik’s statement came during a closed door briefing at the Pakistan Foreign Office given to eighty diplomats based in the Pakistani capital, including U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson. Ms. Patterson was apparently keen to counter the impression that Washington is endorsing India’s position. This is an impression that U.S. ambassador in New Delhi and the outgoing Bush administration made quite clear. Additionally, the CIA, which is facilitating information exchange between ISI and the Indian security establishment, had also given clear indication that U.S. endorses the Indian ‘evidence’ without giving Pakistan the chance to verify it.

Pakistani officials are now telling the Americans and the British that they need DNA samples from Mr. Kassab to ascertain that he is the same person whose name appears in Pakistani records. Pakistani officials are also talking now about asking India for access to three senior Indian army officers arrested for blowing up 60 Pakistani citizens visiting Indian aboard a train service known as ‘Samjhauta Express’ [friendship train] in 2006.

Interestingly, the Zardari government has not made any formal request to India regarding access to the arrested Indian army officers. It could be possible that the government is releasing these trial balloons in order to show Pakistanis that the government is willing to take a hardline in defense of Pakistani interests. In this line of analysis, it would be fair to say that the Zardari government is reluctant to confront the ‘deal guarantors’ in Washington by taking a policy line that is confrontational in any way to the U.S. or its new regional ally, India.

The chairman of the Pakistani Senate Standing Committee on Interior, Senator Talha Mahmood, said as much on Jan. 14, insisting that Foreign powers are dictating the government:

Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, Talha Mahmood, said that the government was taking dictates from the foreign powers for promoting their agenda in Pakistan and had sidelined the parliament’s resolution that asked for a halt to the operations in the tribal and settled areas besides his committee’s recommendations. Talking to journalists here, Talha alleged that the government was being run by two or four persons who were taking dictates from the foreign powers instead of protecting the interests of the country and its people. “It is being trumpeted that there is a complete democracy in the country but it exists on papers only. Two or four persons are running the affairs of the government who don’t consider themselves responsible to the people or parliament,” he alleged.

Military Rethink

The former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Air Force, retired Air Vice Marshal Shehzad Chaudhry, in an op-ed piece published on Jan. 21, called on the government to adopt an ‘institutional approach’ in analyzing the threats facing Pakistan. He called on the Pakistani military to temporarily shed its resolve not to interfere in politics and offer its institutional capabilities for crisis management to the government considering the exceptionally difficult regional situation.

His analysis was quite clear on the threats facing Pakistan and it’s not just ‘terrorism’ as defined by the United States. In his piece, titled, ‘The gathering storm, AVM Chaudhry wrote:

What gathers additionally on the horizon is even more disconcerting. What with the RAND study for the US Army engaging in a “long war”; and another sponsored by the US Joint Staff endeavoring to determine the most likely points of application of the US military in the future, pointing towards a nexus of Islamist threat in combination with a failed state of nuclear Pakistan that so scares the Americans.
The importance of what RAND says or what the US Joint Staff is sweating on can never be underplayed. The RAND guys are no neo-cons working on extravagant notions of re-carving the world; instead they are at the delivery end working out the combatant level logistic, operational and strategic details. Pakistan has never been in a more critical security dilemma. Even the 1971 the loss of East Pakistan was not as dangerous in consequences as is the current and progressively deteriorating regional and global environment from Pakistan‘s perspective.

Most importantly, he sent an indirect message to General Tariq Majeed, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, and to General Ashfaq Kayani, Chief of the Army Staff. The message is that this is not the time to keep the military in the background:

Amongst the few functioning institutions, the military chastened by their experience of the last nine years consider it wise to keep at a distance, while the foreign ministry is woefully short of effort to go beyond fire-fighting and superficial treatment of immediate sores. It neither has the time nor the inclination to dig deeper than the surface and address the inherent dangers to the state and the nation. In a paradox of comical proportions, neither is the state and government leadership getting an honest and well deliberated guidance from the bureaucracy. The state is in need of all hands; even though the military might wish to prove its non-intervening credentials, now perhaps is not the time. It should be able to bring the support of its organizational strength and institutional approach to deliberating issues of critical national importance in helping formulate the blue-print of recovery from a complex situation. The other national institutions too

On India, he wrote:

India is likely to continue to up the ante in terms of diplomatic pressure, enlivened by suitably spaced jingoistic support. It shall essentially be an effort to keep Pakistan embroiled in a meaningless banter and dissuade Pakistan from a steadied attention to the most important, hoping that Pakistan might implode from within under the weight of these compounding adversities.

Another retired Pakistani military officer and a defense analyst, Ikram Sehgal, published an important article on Jan. 22, titled Cold-starting Pakistan, describing in detail an Indian military doctrine that is stunning in its aggressiveness leaves no doubts about India’s aggressive military intentions toward Pakistan. The article is important because it indirectly raises questions about how and why the U.S. government and the think tanks deliberately suppress such glaring evidence that shows India as a cause of regional instability and not the victim that New Delhi likes to portray itself as.

Cold Start is the name that India has given to a policy of ordering rapid deployment forces to attack Pakistan in case of a terrorist attack inside or against India, without taking into consideration the other possibilities, like some third player trying to start a war, or the possibility of Hindu terrorist groups staging attacks and blaming them on Pakistan like they did in the ‘Samjhauta Express’ tragedy, according to India’s own investigations.

Mr. Sehgal made two important revelations in his article. One on how a quick Pakistani military response dampened the chances of a possible Indian military aggression after the Mumbai attacks, and second, an important revelation about the distribution of Pakistani military forces in Pakistan’s northern and southern regions.

He wrote:

Rumors are afloat about a game plan where India will conduct surgical strikes against “known” terrorist camps, and Pakistan will helpfully turn the other cheek. Our rather helpless response to daily “Predator” attacks, bluster rather than any substance, has given weight to this belief. Bob Woodward’s book “Bush at War” describes how, agonising over how to convince Pakistan, the US hierarchy was nonplussed by Pervez Musharraf’s “ready and willing” acceptance of all seven US demands without even a murmur. Was diplomatic pressure recently brought on Pakistan to fall in line in the “supreme” interest of the “war against terrorism,” the logic being that since only “terrorist” targets were to be engaged this was in “Pakistan’s interest”? Wonder of wonders, for once we did not roll over and play dead! Our rulers probably calculated that the people of Pakistan would give them short shift.

Initiating preliminary actions of their “Cold Start” Doctrine, the IAF was geared into a “first strike” mode. Picked up by our intelligence, the PAF responded by a “show of force” on “high alert.” A dense fog then engulfed most areas of the likely military options. During this time-lag some strategic reserves were extricated from FATA and rushed eastwards, that “window of opportunity” for India passed. Mere coincidence that three Strike Corps are in “winter collective exercise” mode in the Rajasthan Desert? That too carrying their first- and second-line ammunition? Movement of their Amphibious Brigade and dumping of fuel for forward deployment of troop-lifting helicopters has also been detected.

Pakistan‘s history is replete with strategic blunders of monumental stupidity, we have only been saved by tactical successes achieved by the great sacrifices and outstanding bravery of our soldiers, sailors and airmen, those who have actually taken part in action, and not just talked about it.

On the second point, the distribution of Pakistani military forces between the north and the south of the country, Mr. Sehgal made this observation:

Some morons thought up the “Defence of the East lies in the West,” and we left East Pakistan defenceless […] Those who think that “the defence of the South lies in the North,” i.e., putting the bulk of our Armed Forces protecting our main population centres and communication in the Punjab and AK, may be theoretically correct in a long-drawn-out war, in the short Indo-Pak version it is stupid, monumentally stupid, particularly in the face of the known Indian deployment.

As night turns into day, the Indians will put their main effort in the deep South. 18 Div was almost overwhelmed in 1971. Two brigades of 33 Div were force-marched from the Rahimyarkhan area to stem the rot. Only the outstanding courage of individual unit commanders like Lt Col (later Brig) Mohammad Taj, S J & Bar (44 Punjab now 4 Sindh), saved Pakistan when “the barbarians were at the gate” in Chhor and Umerkot on Dec 12, 1971. Taj was symbolic of many brave officers who went up and down the line in the Thar Desert exhorting the rank and file, the line held. It was touch and go for a couple of days! Later, no one did more than Lt Gen Lehrasab Khan as Commander 5 Corps for improving our defences in the area but even his soldierly persistence did not succeed penetrating military obduracy to get the resources in men and material required for the Chhor-Badin-Sujawal area. Kayani must ensure that this time around we have enough in the Thar Desert and the adjacent coast. Our existence is a zero-sum situation; can we afford to take chances?

These are issues that the political elite of the country is not aware of. In fact, with the lack of any organized research and analysis activities within the Pakistani political parties, it is no wonder that we see many Pakistani politicians and parties conducting their own private ‘foreign policies’ with outside powers.

The Pakistani military, while rightfully keeping a distance from domestic politics, has to make a temporary break and involve the political elite in an issue that concerns external threats facing Pakistan. The military will need this channel in the future, in case of a foreign imposed war, to urge the politicians to be able to explain the Pakistanis why Pakistan has to take unusual steps to protect the nation.

© 2007-2008. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com

Cold-starting Pakistan

Thursday, January 22, 2009 By Ikram Sehgal

“Cold Start” is the Indian military doctrine meant to allow rapid deployment Special Forces units “to strike Pakistan within hours of any terrorist attack on Indian soil. It assumes that militants from Pakistan, and not home grown Indian radicals, are responsible for any actions”. Such a rapid response would not allow time for diplomacy, Stephen Cohen, who helped India in the formulation process, maintains “cold start” was developed with the help of external strategists, borrowing heavily from Israeli tactics, notably from the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. The assumptions of the new Indian Doctrine are: (1) to act offensively against Pakistan for any perceived acts of strategic destabilisation of India, proxy war and terrorism (2) move away from India’s defensive mindset of last 50 years (3) prepare to undertake offensive military operations at the outset (4) undertake offensive operations short of the nuclear threshold (5) vast majority of Indian public will support any war putting Pakistan into place and forces it “to desist from proxy war and terrorism against India.” Pakistan’s assumptions about cold start are: (1) offensive operations commencing without giving Pakistan time to bring diplomacy into play and (2) such offensive operations will not cross the nuclear threshold or prompt Pakistan into crossing it. India implies that, should Pakistan opt for crossing the threshold, the onus would lie squarely on Pakistan. The assumptions by New Delhi are dangerous: (1) the ability to hold limited portions of Pakistan with military might and (2) use this for political leverage against Pakistan. Holding of Pakistani territory will be unacceptable, triggering a ground war as well as a possible nuclear exchange. Exercise Vajra Shakti further developed the cold start doctrine. “Against the backdrop of a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare threat from Pakistan, Special Forces were employed in pre-emptive strikes for furtherance of offensive operations by a Pivot Corps employing an infantry division, armoured regiments and an independent mechanised brigade from its own resources. Envisaging swift, day and night operations, offensive strikes were supported by advanced C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence) network and systems, including establishment of a Force Multiplication Command Post for integration and flow of real-time information to combat units, collected by satellites, UAVs, aerial reconnaissance, radar networks, communication intercepts etc. Digital photographs of “the enemy areas” were transmitted real time to forward combat units, facilitating speedy decision-making by Commanders, the commencement of network-centric warfare in the Indian Army. Information-dominance of the battlefield was practiced by use of electronic warfare systems. The Indian Aerospace Force (IAF) role was paramount, providing 130 sorties for this Exercise in reconnaissance, fighter aircraft strikes, attack helicopter and Special Forces operations. “With lessons learnt in Ex Vajra Shakti, the other pivot corps of the Indian Army were similarly exercised.” Rumours are afloat about a game plan where India will conduct surgical strikes against “known” terrorist camps, and Pakistan will helpfully turn the other cheek. Our rather helpless response to daily “Predator” attacks, bluster rather than any substance, has given weight to this belief. Bob Woodward’s book “Bush at War” describes how, agonising over how to convince Pakistan, the US hierarchy was nonplussed by Pervez Musharraf’s “ready and willing” acceptance of all seven US demands without even a murmur. Was diplomatic pressure recently brought on Pakistan to fall in line in the “supreme” interest of the “war against terrorism,” the logic being that since only “terrorist” targets were to be engaged this was in “Pakistan’s interest”? Wonder of wonders, for once we did not roll over and play dead! Our rulers probably calculated that the people of Pakistan would give them short shift. Initiating preliminary actions of their “Cold Start” Doctrine, the IAF was geared into a “first strike” mode. Picked up by our intelligence, the PAF responded by a “show of force” on “high alert.” A dense fog then engulfed most areas of the likely military options. During this time-lag some strategic reserves were extricated from FATA and rushed eastwards, that “window of opportunity” for India passed. Mere coincidence that three Strike Corps are in “winter collective exercise” mode in the Rajasthan Desert? That too carrying their first- and second-line ammunition? Movement of their Amphibious Brigade and dumping of fuel for forward deployment of troop-lifting helicopters has also been detected. Pakistan’s history is replete with strategic blunders of monumental stupidity, we have only been saved by tactical successes achieved by the great sacrifices and outstanding bravery of our soldiers, sailors and airmen, those who have actually taken part in action, and not just talked about it. Some morons thought up the “Defence of the East lies in the West,” and we left East Pakistan defenceless. Subsequently some more morons came up with the “Afghanistan gives us strategic depth” concept and we are now in trouble up to our eyeballs on our western borders. Those who think that “the defence of the South lies in the North,” i.e., putting the bulk of our Armed Forces protecting our main population centres and communication in the Punjab and AK, may be theoretically correct in a long-drawn-out war, in the short Indo-Pak version it is stupid, monumentally stupid, particularly in the face of the known Indian deployment. To quote my article on the 2002 crisis, “Talk of a limited Indian offensive across the LoC in “hot pursuit” or the targeting of Mujahideen training camps in Azad Kashmir means to contain the battleground to Kashmir, the premise being that all the other Strike Corps are then positioned to go on the offensive if Pakistan does not opt for limited war and goes on an all-out offensive. With all 3 Armoured Divisions and 4 RAPID Divisions, with 2 out of 5 Independent Armoured Brigades concentrated in Rajasthan, the resource allocation makes the offensive targets obvious, either along the Jaisalmer-Rahimyar Khan axis or along the Barmer-Mirpurkhas axis. No ground offensive being possible in the desert without heavy air cover, their air deployment suggests that the focus of attack could well be in the deep south (Western and Southern Commands), the same principle applying for a combined heliborne, para and/or amphibious operation. Both the Indian Strike Corps have been reinforced with additional Divisions with integral Helicopter Attack Squadrons, Engineer, Artillery and Air Defence Brigades. Jodhpur has a concentration of heavylift MI-8/M-17 helicopters, could be supplemented by the 50th Independent Parachute Brigade air-lifted by AN-32s from Agra, attempting helicopter troop transportation/amphibious LST landings with XXI Strike Corps going for a link-up. The Indians have been practicing this. The area between Badin and Sajawal east of the Indus thus becomes vulnerable.” My recent article was based on their 2002 ORBAT, a number of my friends corrected me that this was outdated, the Indians had restructured their ORBAT in 2005. Not surprisingly, the “South-Western Command” was created at Jaipur, in line with the IAF’s existing South-Western Command. Western Command has an additional 9 Corps created at Yo1 and RAPID Divisions have increased from 4 to 5, all concentrated in the Rajasthan Desert. Furthermore a new Artillery Division has been raised. Their likely main thrust remains the deep South Barmer-Mirpurkhas axis with secondary effort in the Jaisalmer-Rahimyarkhan area. The “COLD START” Doctrine is in keeping with the likely fulcrum of their offensive. As night turns into day, the Indians will put their main effort in the deep South. 18 Div was almost overwhelmed in 1971. Two brigades of 33 Div were force-marched from the Rahimyarkhan area to stem the rot. Only the outstanding courage of individual unit commanders like Lt Col (later Brig) Mohammad Taj, S J & Bar (44 Punjab now 4 Sindh), saved Pakistan when “the barbarians were at the gate” in Chhor and Umerkot on Dec 12, 1971. Taj was symbolic of many brave officers who went up and down the line in the Thar Desert exhorting the rank and file, the line held. It was touch and go for a couple of days! Later, no one did more than Lt Gen Lehrasab Khan as Commmander 5 Corps for improving our defences in the area but even his soldierly persistence did not succeed penetrating military obduracy to get the resources in men and material required for the Chhor-Badin-Sujawal area. Kayani must ensure that this time around we have enough in the Thar Desert and the adjacent coast. Our existence is a zero-sum situation, can we afford to take chances? The writer is a defence and political analyst. Email: isehgal@pathfinder9.com

Budapest conference to focus on financing for Nabucco

Friday 13:49, January 23rd, 2009

Arranging pre-financing for the Nabucco project will be one of the main aims of a conference on the gas pipeline to take place in Budapest next week, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány told MTI on Friday.

“For those of us who consider it more important to build the Nabucco pipeline, we must do more [to ensure its realization],” Mr Gyurcsány said.

Gyurcsány said that the project was not simply a business venture but about the whole of Europe’s energy security, and therefore funding by the European Union and its background institutions was needed. This also means financing from Europe’s big financial institutions, including the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, he said.

“These institutions will represent themselves at the Budapest Nabucco summit. We expect them to commit themselves to participating in the pre-financing in a more unequivocal way,” said Gyurcsány. There is a real chance this year of successfully securing the financing and starting construction next year if the EU considers the conditions sufficiently favorable, he added.

The estimated cost of the project to build 3,300 kilometers of pipeline has risen from €4.5-5 billion to almost €8 billion today.

The thorniest issue concerns who will supply the gas, the prime minister said. Azerbaijan has not yet given a definite yes, while Iran, which has the most significant reserves, is in a delicate position for regional and geopolitical reasons. Turkmenistan has reservations about the delivery route.

“Supplies of exclusively Azerbaijani gas for the future Nabucco pipeline does not appear to be a solution which offers a hundred-percent guarantee; there is a need for further partner countries from the region,” he said.

He said Europe and its member states should regard their relations in terms of gas supply in more complex terms than a simple client-supplier relationship.

“If we are just buyers then our position is one of reliance. If we deliver technology and know how to these countries, we will be more desirable partners,” he said. (MTI-Econews)

Hungary PM: EU must back gas pipeline avoiding Russia

Source: bbj

Europe must give solid support for the ambitious Nabucco gas pipeline project, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said Friday following a crisis over Russian gas imports this month.

Europe must give solid support for the ambitious Nabucco gas pipeline project, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said Friday following a crisis over Russian gas imports this month.

Speaking ahead of a conference on Nabucco in the Hungarian capital next week, Gyurcsany told the MTI news agency that one of the meeting’s main goals was to secure financial and political backing from the European Union.

“We expect the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to make a clearer commitment to pre-financing the project,” the premier said.

“This project is not purely about business but also about Europe’s energy security. It is therefore vital to make sure we have resources that are backed and guaranteed by the EU,” he added.

The meeting on January 26 and 27 will be attended by energy ministers and government leaders from Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Iraq, Romania and Turkey.

Representing the EU will be Energy Commissioner Andris Pielbags and Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek in his capacity as current EU president.

Nabucco currently has six shareholders — OMV of Austria, MOL of Hungary, Transgaz of Romania, Bulgargaz of Bulgaria, Botas of Turkey and RWE of Germany.

“The gas supplying countries won’t commit themselves until they’re certain that the pipeline will actually be built. But the countries building the pipeline won’t commit until the supplies of natural gas are guaranteed,” he said.

For the meeting, delegates will arrive for on Monday afternoon and sit down to a working dinner in the evening.

The politicians will then meet in the Hungarian parliament on Tuesday morning and representatives of the participating companies plus other interested oil and gas groups will hold a closed-door meeting in the afternoon.

Geopolitics of the western Balkans and a look back at 2009

Source: EMportal

Author: Nikos D.A. Arvanites, Mira Dimic

The western Balkans needs a new approach to integrations and challenges so the entire Balkan region can equally bear the burden of the crisis. If a regional solution in the western Balkans fails to the global crisis, every single country will go though a very hard time, facing risks to the countries’ stability and regional piece and the possibility to expand the crisis triggering »the domino effect«.

The world’s financial crisis has gained momentum in Europe and the EU, affecting the western Balkans as well. The past 20 years in the Balkans saw ethnic conflicts, wars, sanctions, transitions and accessions to EU programs and Euro-Atlantic integrations.

The western Balkans is a »bridge« between the EU and the Black Sea – Caspian region and the so called »Caspian Balkans« and the road to the Near and Middle East.The international financial crisis will not only trigger problems at state level but will also hinder communication with the EU and see a slowdown in EU investments in the western Balkans.

Most western Balkans countries are in the Euro-Atlantic integration zone. Romania and Bulgaria, both EU and NATO members, are the corridors of oil and gas coming from Russia. As an EU and a NATO member, Greece is the south gate of the western Balkans as is Hungary – the north gate of the western Balkans.

The western Balkans is facing both transition and the traumas of regional clashes primarily in the former Yugoslavia that made way to countries that are now about to join the EU and NATO.

At their own pace, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are inclined to Europe’s stronger influences through Germany, Austria and Hungary. Their historical and geopolitical concept shows they gravitate towards the program of former Austria-Hungary and »Mitel Europe«. Countries like Serbia, Montenegro and FYRMacedonia and newly-formed Kosovo and Metohija are in a high-risk zone where BiH was formed based on the Dayton Peace Agreement.

A larger part of the western Balkans is apparently turbulent in both financial and political terms. There’s also the international »mortgage« that only an open economy and the majority support of the EU and NATO can bring to an end.

The western Balkans can develop further only if its countries or entire regions join the EU, its programs and NATO. NATO could ensure piece in the region and prevent clashes from the last decade of the 20th century. Its politics in the western Balkans, NATO can see as »a preventive strategy« for deterring eventual clashes .

The EU’s mission in the western Balkans could be a »regional balance« between national interests and economies whose future lies in regional co-existence and exchange. Bulgaria and Romania see themselves as leaders of integrations in the western Balkans and are divided over the interests of the EU and Russia.

Albania’s way into the future is depicted in the EU, NATO primarily. It should be kept in mind that Albania will serve as a »bridgehead« in the international and economic rise of Kosovo and Metohija, a country in the interest zone of the EU and NATO, and confronted to Serbia.

Under resolution 1244SBUN Serbia claims international rights in Kosovo and Metohija. In real terms, there still are major differences between Serbia and »the country of Kosovo and Metohija that is now being developed« and relations between the two that are to be restored. Albania is trying to strengthen its relations with Kosovo and Montenegro in a »mini« regional alliance.

A down economy in the world will have an impact in the western Balkans chiefly on investments coming from EU countries. Overcoming this will require the national economies and diplomatic missions to open up and the regions to connect so as to face up to consequences and create an ambiance for the »balance« of interests.

Energy is a strategic branch for the entire region – via two future gas pipelines, »the South stream« and NABUCO . This should not be a new dimension of the diplomatic and economic conflict between Russia and the United States, with Europe falling »victim« to such politics. Regular supplies of energy, farm produce and cleaner potable water sources in the region will be global challenges lying ahead.

It is necessary that the Balkan countries take a joint economic initiative with full regional stability and join forces in order to deal with challenges that a wave of economic crisis will bring in 2009.

The western Balkans needs a new approach to integrations and challenges so the entire Balkan region can equally bear the burden of the crisis. If a regional solution in the western Balkans fails to the global crisis, every single country will go though a very hard time, facing risks to the countries’ stability and regional piece and the possibility to expand the crisis triggering »the domino effect«.

This global crisis is the chance to set up a regional forum of the countries and governments and come up with a unique program to deal with a number of issues. This also requires national strategies in place that will protect the countries’ own interests. Regional investments will be essential in the western Balkans along with mutual solidarity.

The EU won’t have much strength, capital and goals for the western Balkans and the entire region will have to look for solutions and the EU’s support. The period ahead in the western Balkans is a huge temptation for the politics of the regional balance of interests, co-existence and mutual solidarity.

Zionist Psychosis: Reject International Law, Redefine Reality

So We’ll Skip a Trip to London; We’re Victims Not Palestinians

.Readers Number : 303

25/01/2009 Israel claimed Hamas was turning the victim into an attacker , signaling the Israeli community, following the Gaza war which killed more than 1,300 people and injured more than 5,000 others. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert accused Hamas on Sunday of “attempting to turn the victim into the attacker and the attacker into the victim ‘through a spiral moral policy.’ Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Olmert addressed calls across the world to put Israel soldiers on trial over war crimes committed in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. The government approves a motion aimed at backing the soldiers and commanders in case of a wave of lawsuits worldwide following the operation. The prime minister warned the world of what he defined as “the international slalom aimed at turning the aggressors into victims”. “This has been the policy of Hamas and the terror organizations for years, to fight until the last drop of blood of Gaza’s residents and hurt them. “After the operation, the terror organizations are attempting to use different measures to harm us. This is the legal arena. The truth is that they have fired immorally at us, aiming at children and parents rather than at soldiers and military facilities,” Olmert said. “I am not familiar with a more ethical and decent army than the IDF. I have personally witnessed, and the defense minister and chief of staff can testify to this, many cases in which IDF soldiers refrained from executing operations and moved bombs from their course so as not to hurt civilians – even when terrorists were hiding within a civilian population.” Israel is accused of excessively using internationally banned weapons like white phosphorus in densely populated areas in Gaza. Of the victims of the war, over 350 children were killed. Richard Falk, an independent UN rights expert, said last week there was compelling evidence that Israel breached basic humanitarian rules and the laws of war by conducting a large-scale military operation “against an essentially defenseless population.” Colonel Yigal Slovik, commander of the 401st Brigade of the Armor Corps, told Ynet on Thursday, “I have no qualms about the manner in which I operated. At worst I’ll be denied entry to a few European countries. My subordinates and I have chosen this profession out of faith in the righteousness of our path; we sacrifice much more than a trip to London.”

Israel’s propaganda mainstay, Sderot, is a lie (like everything else)

Sderot, the Israeli township on which Hamas rockets have been “raining down”, is the main plank of the Israelis’ attempt to justify the bloodshed they have inflicted on the people of Gaza.

They use it ad nauseam to brainwash the media and their own people. They have studiously counted and broadcast the number of erratic, home-made Qassam rockets coming into Israel, without ever admitting to the huge number of missiles, bombs and shells that Israel’s high-tech military fires into Gaza with much more deadly effect.

Those sympathetic to Israel – can there really be any who still wish to be associated with such appalling crimes? – will be mortified to know that Sderot has no business being where it is. It is built on the lands of a Palestinian village called Najd, which was ethnically cleansed by Jewish terrorists in May 1948, before Israel was declared a state and before any Arab armies entered Palestine. The 600-plus villagers were forced to flee for their lives. Britain was on watch as the mandated government, while this and many other atrocities were committed by terrorists.

Palestinian Arabs owned over 90 per cent of the land in Najd and, according to UN Resolution 194 and also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they have a right to return home.

But as we have come to expect, Israel refuses to recognize the rights of others and will not allow them back. Anyway, what is there for them to return to?

The 82 homes there were bulldozed. Najd was one of 418 Palestinian villages and towns ethnically cleansed and wiped off the map by Zionist Jews. Its inhabitants, presumably, became refugees in Gaza and their families are probably still living in camps there. The sweet irony is that some of them were probably manning the rocket launchers – well, wouldn’t you?

Several months ago when Barack Obama visited Sderot (he didn’t have the gumption to call in on Gaza) he spouted the well-worn mantra backing Israel’s right to protect its citizens from rocket attacks. “If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything to stop that, and would expect Israel to do the same thing.” Well said, Obama. But presumably you wouldn’t be so stupid or arrogant as to live on land stolen from your neighbour at the point of a gun.

Find yourself some new advisers, Obama, ones that are savvy enough to brief you on the facts about Sderot and everything else about the Palestinians’ plight. Relying on Israeli propaganda lies will only make you look like another mindless Zionist tool.

As the slaughter goes off the dial, what pearls of wisdom are we getting from the European Union?

The Czech EU presidency spokesman defended Israel, saying: “We understand this step as a defensive, not offensive, action.” Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, currently leading a EU delegation to the region, said Israel had the right to defend itself, clearly reading off Israeli notes and forgetting that the Palestinians have an equal right to self defence. “Let us realize one thing: Hamas increased steeply the number of rockets fired at Israel since the ceasefire ended on 19 December.”

This staunch ally of Washington understands nothing, as demonstrated when he went on to say that Hamas had excluded itself from serious political debate due to its rocket attacks on Israel. “Why am I one of the few that have expressed understanding for Israel?… I am enjoying the luxury of telling the truth,” said Schwarzenberg. This would have been achingly funny if ignorance at such a senior level weren’t so dangerous! Those silly words earned him a cringe-making thank-you from none other than the American Jewish Committee:

30 December 2008
Dear Minister Schwarzenberg:

On behalf of the American Jewish Committee, we write to thank you for your unwavering public recognition of Israel’s right to self-defence against repeated rocket and mortar attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Your recent comments once again demonstrated the courage and moral clarity of your support for a fellow democracy, Israel, in the face of an unrelenting terrorist threat.

We applaud your principled leadership and your commitment to, in your words, “telling the truth”. We will continue to rely upon both as the Czech Republic assumes the presidency of the European Union…

Respectfully,
Richard J. Sideman
David A. Harris

This is what happens when a juggernaut like the EU finds itself “led” by a dumb-ass nobody in an hour of crisis. Back in the 1940s the Czechs supplied Jewish terrorists with weapons to be used against the British. How dare you, Schwarzenberg, make us Britons accomplices in Israel’s crimes? Taint yourself if you wish, but DON’T TAINT US!

President Sarkozy of France told the Lebanese press that Hamas ”bears major responsibility for the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza, because it decided to break the truce and begin launching rockets again into Israel.” Another one who doesn’t do his homework before opening his mouth.

And where is Tony Blair, our wonder peace envoy, in all this? Still trying to find the balls to go to see Hamas. He says: “We are doing everything we possibly can to bring about an end to a situation of immense suffering and deprivation. I know over next few days there are going to be intensive diplomatic efforts. We will increase our efforts to bring about a resolution to this situation.”

So why haven’t there been intensive efforts before now? How many must die or be maimed before you pull your finger out? Tell you what, Tony, if the Israelis won’t listen, say to them in a nice clear voice: “Ceasefire immediately or say goodbye to economic and technological cooperation.” If they still act deaf, you could add: “Say goodbye to your London embassy also. You loons are not taking us Britons down with you.”

In the meantime, Israeli Foreign Minister Tsipi Livni reiterated her country’s position, that it was Hamas and not the Palestinian people that were the targets: “This is a war against terror … we have nothing against the Palestinians.” Great. So why does your illegal occupation continue? Why are you still making their lives a misery? Why slaughter their kids? Why trash their infrastructure and public institutions?

Today, I think the last (and most chilling) word goes to Dr Mahmoud Al-Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas. He warned: “They [the Israelis] have legitimized the murder of their own children by killing the children of Palestine. They have legitimized the destruction of their synagogues and their schools by hitting our mosques and our schools.”

Al-Zahar knows all about a father’s grief. He has been the target of assassination attempts. His two sons were killed and his daughter injured in Israeli raids.

By Stuart Littlewood 7 January 2009 Stuart Littlewood views Israel’s amoral friends, from ignoramus Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg to war criminal Tony Blair, whose hypocrisy and lies are helping to sustain the biggest lie of all, Israel.

NATO soldier, over dozen civilians killed in Afghanistan

Kabul – A NATO soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan while US-led forces and local officials and villagers disputed the death toll in an operation in eastern Afghanistan on Friday.

US-led forces claimed Saturday they killed 15 rebels, including a female fighter, in eastern Afghanistan. However, a provincial lawmaker and local villagers said that 21 Afghan civilians were killed in the operation.

The operation, in the eastern province of Laghman, targeted a Taliban commander believed to be involved in moving foreign fighters and weapons into the region, the US military said in a statement.

In the province’s Mehtar Lam district, the combined forces received small arms fire from a group of militants exiting from several compounds, the statement said.

Eleven militants were killed in the firefight, while four others were killed in an airstrike, it said, adding that a female fighter was killed ‘while maneuvering on coalition forces and was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade.’

However, Abdul Rahimzai, head of Laghman’s provincial council, said that Friday night’s attack killed 21 civilians and wounded several others.

‘Several tribal elders in the area contacted me today and said that they took out 21 dead bodies, including women, from the destroyed houses,’ Rahimzai told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Lutfullah Mashal, the provincial governor could not confirm the exact death toll, but said that the operation was not coordinated with the Afghan military or provincial leaders. He said a team had been dispatched to the area to investigate the local people’s assertion.

Angry protester took to streets in the provincial centre, chanting slogans against the US military forces in the country. The protesters asked the central government to punish those behind the ‘ruthless’ attack.

‘There were no Taliban fighters in the area when the US forces came and bombed the village,’ Wali Mohammad, a demonstrator told dpa by phone from the area.

‘I can show you all the bodies, they are all innocent women, children and men,’ he said.

Due to the remoteness of the area, it was difficult to verify the contradictory claims independently.

Meanwhile, NATO-led International forces military alliance in Afghanistan said in a statement that one of NATO soldier was killed by a roadside bomb blast in the nation’s south.

The statement did not disclose the nationality of the soldier, nor did it give an exact location for the incident. The majority of NATO forces deployed in the south are from the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Canada.

Separately, NATO forces killed a local man suspected of placing a roadside bomb close to an alliance military base in the Gerishk district of southern Helmand province on Thursday, NATO said in a statement.

The man, who was digging close to base left the area after a NATO soldier fired two warning shots, the statement said, adding that the man was shot to death when he returned to the same area and resumed digging.

Separately, one civilian was killed and four others, including a woman and two children, were wounded in a crossfire between NATO forces and suspected Taliban militants in Helmand’s Sangin district, the NATO statement said.

NATO troops airlifted five wounded civilians to a military hospital, where one of them succumbed to his injuries. The rest were reported to be stable.

Civilian casualties at the hand of foreign troops have become a delicate issue in Afghanistan which has created tension between President Hamid Karzai and his international military backers. Karzai, who is facing reelection later this year, has been more critical recently.

In an address to lawmakers last week, Karzai said international forces had not paid attention to his repeated pleas and warned that the fight against terrorism would fail without the support of local people.

Of about 5,000 people killed in the Afghanistan conflict last year, around 2,000 were civilians.

Free Palestine, break ties with apartheid Israel

Stu Harrison

“Perhaps one day we will understand how wrong our actions in this region have been from time immemorial.”

This is how journalist for Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, David Grossman, summed up Israel’s oppression of Palestine on January 20, two days into the unstable ceasefire that followed the 22-day war on Gaza.

Even the January 19 Time magazine ran a cover story entitled “Why Israel Can’t Win”.

People all over the world have been shocked by Israel’s cruelty in its war on a trapped and besieged people.

With a death toll still rising as more bodies are pulled from under rubble and with hospitals lacking supplies needed to treat the injured due to Israel’s blockade on the Palestinian territory, the numbers dead as a result of Israel’s 22-day straight bombardment exceeds 1300, including more than 400 children. Less than 100 of the dead are believed to be resistance fighters.

Homes, public buildings (including the parliament) and vital industries now lie as rubble.

Despite its unilateral January 18 ceasefire, Israeli troops continue to surround Gaza and a January 21 Al Jazeera report stated that Israeli ships remained in Gazan territorial waters.

Reporting from Gaza, Al Jazeera journalist Ayman Mohyeldin stated: “There is a 600-metre buffer zone which the Israeli army uses as a no-go, meaning that anyone who owns farmland in the area and tries to access it is often fired upon to try to deter them from approaching any closer.”

Hamas, which leads the Palestinian Authority government in Gaza after winning elections in 2006 and defeating a 2007 US-backed coup by forces loyal to West Bank-based Fatah PA president, responded by announcing a ceasefire of its own that gave Israel one week to withdraw all its troops from Gaza.

If Israeli troops remained, Hamas stated it would resume fighting to liberate the territory.

The January 23 Sydney Morning Herald reported: “The war is not over in Gaza. From 7am yesterday, the sounds of heavy shelling from Israeli gunboats stationed off the Gaza coast reverberated around the city.

“Gunfire and explosions could also be heard. By 9am ambulance sirens joined the chorus.”

After 22 days of slaughter, Israel failed to achieve its stated aims. Not only is Hamas still in power, the SMH article reported that the smugglers’ tunnels, that Israel claims are used to smuggle weapons but are also used to bring in food and other necessities in order to get around the blockade, appear to still be operating.

Also, the article reported that rockets have continued to be fired from Gaza into Israel.

For his part, United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki Moon described Israel’s assault on Gaza assault as “shocking and alarming”, according to a January 20 report in the British Guardian.

“This is heartbreaking, the scenes that I have seen. I am not able to describe how I am feeling seeing this site of the bombing of the United Nations compound.”

Standing in front of still-smoking humanitarian food aid in a UN warehouse hit by Israeli fire on January 16, he stated: “This was an outrageous and totally unacceptable attack against the United Nations.”

In the midst of this wanton destruction, calls for charges of war crimes to be brought against Israel’s leaders are growing louder.

The Arab Commission for Human Rights is among 300 human rights groups submitting a 37-page dossier to the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court (ICC) to request action against Israeli war crimes. The ICC is able to adjudicate on war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed after 2002.

While Israel is not a member of the ICC, the court is still able to prosecute individuals. The governments of Venezuela and Bolivia have offered to take the case to the ICC. States can take the case one step further by issuing charges against offending nations.

Bolivian government official Sacha Llorenti told AFP on January 17 that it was seeking to gain support for regional governments to present a joint bid to bring those responsible for Israel’s carnage to justice.

Aid organisations have also joined the call, while Amnesty International is demanding action against Israel’s use of white phosphorous against civilian populations.

“Such extensive use of this weapon in Gaza’s densely populated residential neighborhoods is inherently indiscriminate”, Donatella Rovera, a Middle East researcher with Amnesty International, said in a statement.

“Its repeated use in this manner, despite evidence of its indiscriminate effects and its toll on civilians, is a war crime.”

Israeli anti-war activists have established a Hebrew language website, , that details the human rights violations committed by Israeli officials and calls on the ICC to pursue criminal charges.

The bloodshed and destruction associated with Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and denial of their national rights is increasingly being seen as indefensible.

As Yonotan Shapira, a former Israeli air force captain, told BBC News on January 6 when asked about his opinion on the latest Israeli offensive: “I can sum that up in two words, war crime. My government is now engaging in a massive war crime killing hundreds of innocents …”

Shapira noted that thousands of Israelis “are demonstrating right now in the streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem”. People “from all kind of background and parts of society”, he said, are “completely ashamed and against this crazy assault”.

Two female reservists refused to deployed to Gaza during the campaign of slaughter on conscientious grounds and were sentenced to 14 days in prison on January 19.

The Guardian reported on January 17 that a group of Israeli academics had called on foreign governments to impose sanctions on Israel over its crimes, pointing out that more than 500 Israeli citizens had signed on to a statement demanding sanctions.

While majority opinion within Israel has remained with the government, a January 20 IPS article reported that ‘the Israeli government is stepping up efforts to suppress dissent and crush resistance in the streets. Police have been videotaping the demonstrations and subsequently arresting protesters in large numbers.

“According to Israeli police reports, at least 763 Israeli citizens, the majority of them Palestinian and 244 under 18 years old, have been arrested, imprisoned or detained for participating in such demonstrations. Most have been held and then released, but at least 30 of those arrested over the past three weeks are still being held in prison.”

Millions of people from around the world took to the streets in opposition to Israel’s war in the largest display of global solidarity with Palestine yet. Hundreds of thousands right across the Arab world took action.

Even the sporting fields have not been immune, as revealed during a Euro Cup basketball game in Turkey between Turk Telekom and Israeli team Bnei Hasharon.

Thousands rallied outside the stadium, according to a January 6 Associated Press report.

Despite only 500 fans being admitted into the stadium under harsh police interrogation, once inside, the crowd quickly unfurled smuggled-in Palestinian flags and chanted “Israeli murderers, get out of Palestine!”.

As players took to the court, shoes were thrown onto the arena before fans clashed with security guards in an attempt to invade the court.

After 90 minutes, with the teams in their changing rooms, all fans were either arrested or dragged from the arena. The Israeli team accepted a forfeit.

There have also been significant protests inside the US, including from many Jewish people determined that Israel’s crimes do not occur in their name. However, in the lead-up to President Barack Obama’s inauguration, only five Congresspeople (out of 535) refused to support a resolution in favour of Israel’s war.

Democratic Congressperson Dennis Kucinich, who opposed the motion, argued that the supplying of arms by the US to Israel constitutes a breech of the Arms Export Control Act 1976, a little-applied law that restricts US arms from being used in wars of aggression.

The gap between popular opinion opposing Israel’s crimes globally and that of Western governments and pro-West Arab regimes stands more exposed than ever.

The West is still attempting to promote the collaborationist regime in the West Bank headed by Abbas as an alternative to the Hamas-led Gaza government, despite the fact that Abbas is increasingly rejected by Palestinians regardless of factional alignment, with support for a strategy of resisting Israel growing stronger.

Abbas has also authorised the repression of rallies in solidarity with Gaza that have occurred in the West Bank.

At an Arab Economic Summit on January 19, Abbas proposed a “national unity” government that would hold “simultaneous presidential and legislative elections”.

Such a proposal merely reflects Abbas’s own weak position and is aimed at buying Israel time by placing demands first and foremost on the Gazan government at a time when Israel’s near-total siege, backed by Western governments, is causing a humanitarian crisis and urgently needs to be lifted if more civilians are not to die.

Israel has near-total control over the lives of Palestinians. Any Palestinian decision can be overruled by Israel.

When Hamas won 2006 PA elections, Israel and its Western allies refused to recognise the result, placing sanctions on the Hamas-led PA government and backing Fatah’s 2007 coup that took control of the West Bank but was repelled in Gaza.

What is really at stake is not the threat of homemade rockets, but the threat to the maintenance of Israel as an apartheid state, run by and for one section of the population over all others.

The real threat, as revealed by Israeli officials in moments of frankness, is the “demographic threat” represented by a growing Palestinian population in both Israel and occupied West Bank and Gaza, which potentially threatens the maintenance of an exclusively Jewish state — which was established through the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

Like apartheid in South Africa, a state based on superiority for one ethnic group or religion is inherently unstable and forced to resort to the most brutal violence to survive.

Lasting peace requires democracy and equality — a state for all who live in the area, regardless of their religion or race.

The campaign to isolate Israel diplomatically and economically over their war crimes, as well as to have Israeli leaders brought to justice for their actions, is an essential part of the campaign for justice for the Palestinians, more than a million of whom cannot return to their homeland claimed by Israel.

Morning in America

• Guy Rundle

WITH the broad expanse of a clean desk before him, the new President, flanked by an American flag and the presidential standard, makes calls to world leaders. He’s coatless, in a white sleeve shirt, the sun shining through the crook of his arm, illuminating him. In the window behind, the branches of the bare trees appear to recede endlessly in the cold January light. The shot is the first by new official White House photographer Pete Souza, and it’s a classic — a genuinely great image, a wordlessly eloquent statement of winter yielding to spring.

Goddang Obama presidency — even the pictures are better.

Five days into the new presidency, it is already clear that things are changing. On Wednesday, with Washington DC still recovering from 24 hours of celebration, President Obama announced his first new orders — restrictions on lobbyists working for the government, and on former government officers lobbying an administration they’ve worked for, a reversal of a last-minute attempt by Dubya to give former presidents the right to veto FOI access to records from past presidencies. He also froze the pay of senior White House staff.

On Thursday, he began the process of closing Guantanamo Bay and overseas secret prisons run by the CIA, and banning the use of torture. On Friday, he ended the ban on federal funds going to international NGOs that offer, or even give information on, abortion options for women using aid-based health-care services.

Much of this is piecemeal for the simple reason that there is only so much a President can do through executive orders — legally, that is — with more substantial change requiring the passage of bills through Congress. But the moves are as important for what they put in motion, the direction they set, as for the concrete changes they make. For, in passing from the Bush administration to the Obama era, the US is not simply changing governments, it is changing types of government, and reaffirming some of the liberal principles encoded in its founding documents.

The plain fact about the Bush/Cheney — more exactly, Cheney/Bush — era was that it represented the most substantial counter-revolution against the principles that America understands itself as living by that has occurred since the Republic was founded.

Torture, detention, illegal wars, lies were simply the surface effect of the Cheney/Bush era’s deep and abiding aim — to realign the separation of US powers sufficient to give the executive arm of government, the presidency, an overwhelming authority that effectively destroyed the checks and balances of the three branches of government.

This was conducted principally through the use of “presidential signing statements” and restrictions on information flow.

“Signing statements” are statements of intent by the presidency as to the manner in which they intend to implement a law that Congress has just passed. They were barely used before the 1980s, but the George W. Bush regime used them as a mechanism for simply disregarding parts of laws it didn’t like.

Overwhelmingly, these were laws enacted to limit executive action in the “war on terror”, allowing the administration to “work in the shadows”, as Dick Cheney put it, and build a de facto secret government “on the dark side” (Cheney again).

The stated rationale for this was that the 9/11 attacks had put the US on the defensive and that exceptional measures were required. But, in fact, 9/11 was a politically fortuitous event that made a deeper agenda possible: the reconstruction of American politics in a way suitable for the defence of superpower status in the face of a rising East.

For the Cheney/Bush administration, the liberal political framework created by a union of revolutionary coastal agrarian states in the late 18th century was hopelessly unworkable for a nuclear-era behemoth — what was required was exactly the sort of imperial power that the first Americans had risen up against.

The doctrine allowed such “dark side” conservatives to make common cause with Christian conservatives who saw the liberal spirit of the constitution as a repudiation of Judeo-Christian culture.

The neoconservative notion — derived via the philosopher Leo Strauss from the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt — that an elite should impose a “state of exception” on the US, whereby visible areas of liberal democracy were surrounded by a “dark energy” of secret autocracy, connected with the Christian conservative notion of a revealed truth to be imposed on the world. It was that philosophy that was swept aside last November, and that this week’s executive orders have started to take apart.

Does that mean that under the Obama Administration, the United States will become a post-imperial republic withdrawing to its own borders? Of course not.

Obama has made no secret of his intent to preserve America’s “exceptional” power to reach into other countries’ sovereignty as it sees fit — as with the suspected US missile strike on the Pakistan border late on Friday.

But for those wanting to contest such a policy, it changes the nature of what is to be contested to a realpolitik, more open in its aims and motives, more open to criticism, challenge and dissent, and less bound up with grand schemes of dominance and global transformation, less need to make Mosul into Missouri.

Modest in itself, it is the sort of change made by a Gorbachev or a de Klerk that makes many other things possible — if people grasp and use the opportunity it represents, rather than dismissing it as cynical PR. If not, then like the groundhog, we see our shadows, and the winter outside the windows closes in once more.

Guy Rundle’s Down to the Crossroads — On the Trail of the 2008 Election is published by Penguin.