[The identity of these motorcycle machin-gunners is known far and wide in Pakistan, but the names of the sponsors are never expressed. They are the killers of Baloch and Punjabi alike; they are the murderers of generals and political leaders--but they work for someone. Be brave enough to name them, at least as suspects, when reporting on these professional hits.]
Two Settlers Shot Dead in Khuzdar, FC check points attacked in Mand, Mashky |
| on 2010/6/27 0:00:00 (20 reads) |
 ccupied Balochistan, KHUZDAR: Unknown armed persons on Saturday gunned down two persons at a garage, situated in Naal area of Khuzdar.
According to details unknown armed motorcyclists opened indiscriminate firing at a garage, killing two persons including an automobile engineer and his guest, and fled away from the crime scene. Police said that the deceased belonged to Punjab. Police while registering the case against unknown persons handed over the corpse to the heirs. Meanwhile another settler namely Tanver Ahamad was fired upon in Quetta. According to dailytawar unknown armed motorcyclist open fire on Tanver Ahmad at Sheikh Omer road in Quetta, as a result of the firing he suffered serious bullet wounds. The attacker managed to flee from the scene after the attack. |
Daily Archives: June 27, 2010
Russia urges creation of new international monetary control system
Russia urges creation of new international monetary control system
27.06.2010 04:51
Russia called on the participants at the G8 summit to consider the creation of a new international monetary control system, which could help prevent further crises, an aid to Russian President Dmitry Medvedevsaid, RIA Novosti reported.
Arkady Dvorkovich told journalists on Saturday that the introduction of additional reserve currencies would be the best measure that could assure global financial stability. Another possible step is increasing the role of Special Drawing Rights, a “quasi currency,” which the International Monetary Fund allocates to nations allowing them to increase their foreign exchange reserves without money being borrowed or lent.
Besides this, Dvorkovich said, nations should discuss their monetary policies with each other. Such consultations could “increase the stability of the international currency system” and become a “serious element” of a new financial control system, he said.
According to Dvorkovich, French president Nicolas Sarkozy said during the talks that countries should prevent attacks on national currencies, but made no concrete proposals.
The Russian president’s aid said the issue would be raised during the G20 summit in Toronto on Sunday.
Referendum is the first step away from disaster – Kyrgyzstan CEC member
Kyrgyzstan, Osh, June 27 /Trend, special correspondent S.Gafarova /
Referendum in Kyrgyzstan is the first step away from disaster, the member of the Central Electoral Committee of Kyrgyzstan,Nurlan Seitov said in interview to Trend.
“We can confidently assert that the decision of the Interim Government of Kyrgyzstan to hold a plebiscite at the appointed time at any cost was fullfilled”, Seitov said.
On Sunday Kyrgyzstan holds a referendum on a new constitution which transforms the country into a parliamentary republic and also endorses the current head of the Provisional Government Roza Otunbayeva as interim president for 1,5 years.
According to Seitov, protests in Kyrgyz society were high on the eve of the referendum.
“The experts and politicians warned of a possible escalation of the conflict and of certain forces preparing to spoil the referendum. Given the fragile security situation, many international organizations preferred not to send observers to a referendum in Kyrgyzstan. For example, the OSCE has withdrawn 300 of its observers. There are about 100 international observers in the country now. In Osh and Jalal-Abad their representation is scanty “, he said.
According to him, in advance of the referendum, local authorities have taken security measures.
“The protection of buildings, where electoral commissions are located has been reinforced. Voters are provided with transport. Decree of Interim Government allowed residents of Osh and Jalal-Abad who lost their documents during the pogroms to vote in order of voters’ list. The curfew which will last until August 10 – the beginning of the Muslim holiday Orozo – is lifted for the day of the referendum “, said Seitov.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at trend@trend.az
US Asst. Sec. State Gordon Warns Turkey Must Prove Its Committment (Submission)
WASHINGTON – Associated Press
Philip Gordon. AP photo |
The Obama administration’s top diplomat on European affairs warned Turkey that it needed to better demonstrate its commitment to partnership with the West.
“We think Turkey remains committed to NATO, Europe and the United States, but that needs to be demonstrated,” diplomat Philip Gordon, told the Associated Press in a Saturday interview. “There are people asking questions about it in a way that is new, and that in itself is a bad thing that makes it harder for the U.S. to support some of the things that Turkey would like to see us support.”
Gordon cited Turkey’s vote against a U.S.-backed U.N. Security Council resolution on new sanctions against Iran and noted Turkey’s reactions after Israel’s deadly assault on a Gaza-bound flotilla last month. The Security Council vote came shortly after Turkey and Brazil had brokered a nuclear fuel-swap deal with Iran as an effort to delay or avoid new sanctions.
Some U.S. lawmakers who have supported Turkey have lashed out and warned of consequences for Ankara since the Security Council vote and the flotilla raid that left eight Turks and one American citizen of Turkish descent dead. The lawmakers accused Turkey of supporting a flotilla that aimed to undermine Israel’s blockade of Gaza and of cozying up to Iran.
The raid has led to chilling of ties between Turkey and Israel, countries that have long maintained a strategic alliance in the Middle East.
Turkey’s ambassador: unfair
Turkey’s ambassador to the United States, Namık Tan, expressed surprise at Gordon’s comments. He said Turkey’s commitment to NATO remains strong and should not be questioned. “I think this is unfair,” he said.
Turkish officials have explained repeatedly to U.S. counterparts that voting against the proposed sanctions was the only credible decision after the Turkish-brokered deal with Iran. Turkey has opposed sanctions as ineffective and damaging to its interests with an important neighbor. It has said that it hopes to maintain channels with Tehran to continue looking for a solution to the standoff over Iran’s alleged nuclear arms ambitions.
“We couldn’t have voted otherwise,” Tan said. “We put our own credibility behind it.”
Gordon: Americans surprised
Gordon said Turkey’s explanations of the U.N. episode have not been widely understood in Washington. “There is a lot of questioning going on about Turkey’s orientation and its ongoing commitment to strategic partnership with the United States,” he said. “Turkey, as a NATO ally and a strong partner of the United States not only didn’t abstain but voted no, and I think that Americans haven’t understood why.”
Baloch National Party’s Political Suicide
Central President of the National Party (NP) Senator Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch has publically defended his party’s decision to welcome an internationally notorious drug baron in his party by saying that the inclusion or exclusion of individuals does not influence the party manifesto.
It was the first time when Dr. Malik came publically to clarify his party’s position on a matter –granting membership of National Party to a drug dealer wanted by the US government—which had stunned every Baloch. The supporters and the opponents of National Party had been taken aback how a party claiming to comprise of middle-class educated people accommodate a declared drug dealer in its ranks.
While Dr. Malik’s response given in a press conference in Quetta on Saturday does not fully answer the real question, the motives behind including a drug baron into a so-called nationalist party could be other than merely what the party chief had to say. The National Party seems to have accommodated the man with objectionable role in the party perhaps to gain enormous funding in the wake of changing political dynamics across the country where money has become an instrumental agent of pursuing politics. Secondly, our political culture has increasingly become violent and intolerant wherein the National Party has seemingly succumbed to the notion that its survival hugely depends on tying up with gangsters and drug dealers.
No matter what justifications National Party (NP) offers for its decision, the inclusion of a known drug dealer into a political party that champions the cause of Baloch rights is highly condemnable. Political parties are not above ethical codes and political doctrines. They are expected to uphold some primary moral, social and political codes before indulging into politics. The National Party has disappointed millions of Balochs by encouraging a man to become its member whose job is to sell drugs to Baloch children in order to to make more money.
Ideally, a political party has to stand first to fight drugs and prevent the youngsters from using them to create a healthy society. But if the top leadership of a party decides to provide a platform to a drug dealer then it simply translates into official endorsement of this detestable business. Late Mir Ghose Baksh Bizenjo, on whose political ideology National Party was founded, would never approve of what his son, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, and disciple Dr. Malik are doing under the pretext of ”politics of moderation” and “progressive thoughts”.
Mir Ghose Baksh Bizenjo would have surely wept like a child if he saw drug dealers, who provide poison to his Baloch grandchildren, standing under his umbrella.
If today Dr. Malik sees nothing wrong with including a drug baron into his party, tomorrow he will surely not find it morally and politically wrong to defend the business of the drug mafia in Mekran region. After all National Party has made up its mind to welcome money from the drug mafia as a source of financing to run its politics. As a next step, the National Party may also agree to provide ticket to contest election to the same drug dealer to provide him an official platform to transect black money.
National Party has irked a wide segment of Baloch society by committing such a huge political blunder. Worse still is the disgraceful and unconvincing defense the party chief is offering for his decision. He would have earned more respect if he worked equally hard on bringing educated Balochs, educationists, doctors and professionals into his party to play a significant role in educating the Baloch society. Drug dealers do not make nations; they ruin young generations.
Only the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) has reacted openly against the NP decision and vowed to continue its battle against the drug mafia. The graph of BLF’s popularity rose significantly recently in Mekran region when it decided to dismantle the networks of the drug mafia. It is primarily the responsibility of the government and political parties to eliminate drugs from a society but nothing has been done in this regard from the concerned quarters yet. Therefore, many underground organizations have decided to undertake the crucial task which they have pursued impressively so far.
Interestingly, NP does not ever take seriously any criticism directed towards it. It keeps on insisting that it is vulnerable to “unjustified” criticism because it comprises of middle-class educated people. If there were Sardars and tribal chiefs in its ranks, it adds, no one would ever dare to raise fingers against it. This is an old-fashioned argument that does not apply on today’s changed ground realities. Everyone who uses the Baloch card has to be answerable to the nation for his/her actions. If the Baloch youth have not spared veteran leaders like Sardar Attaullah Mengal then Malik should not complain if he is asked for an explanation for providing a platform to drug smuggler.
National Party’s close contacts with the establishment always dominated the political discussions at Chaynki and Thagirdi hotels across Balochistan. With its fresh anti-Baloch maneuver, NP has committed political suicide and further distanced itself from the Baloch youths who beg not to be offered drugs.
Karachi Baloch on the Crossroads
Karachi Baloch on the Crossroads
Salal Balouch , Götebourg
Karachi, the city of lightness has once again was plunged into darkness where the owner’s of Karachi the Baloch nation face discrimination and subjugation by the Drug mafia and Land mafia organizations whom are working for secret services and who are involved in land grabbing and drug trafficking inside Karachi’s mostly Baloch dominated area of Lyari. Lyari once a peaceful place where the Baloch lived for ages and their daily earning was due to fishing and harboring in the sea of Keamari. But as Karachi once called Kulachi was changed and the economical growth was gaining grounds inside the market of Karachi, Karachi became the port city of Pakistan and thus Karachi was then known to be the City of Lights where once Baloch were the lights of this city.
Although many years have passed and the population of Karachi crossed to 30 million, the Baloch were left behind and so the town of Lyari was thrown in the depths of Drug dealers, gamblers & gangster which were destined with the people of Lyari. Lyari once peaceful has became a new battle ground where Baloch are standing on the crossroads, they are being target killed, and they are being subjugated by the Drug dealers & Land Grabbers whom are agents of Political parties.
Karachi most Baloch places or societies are very old and they were settled here when Pakistan was not even separated from British India, Lyari, Golimar, Baloch Colony, Kiamasiri are just mere examples of Baloch residing inside Karachi for centuries but as Karachi’s economically boosted, the rise in population was seen but the droll thing is this that most of the population came from the outside like Punjab, N.W.F.P and even from India where tens of thousands of people migrated in the time of Zia-ul-Haq who planned to break the popularity of PPPP by backing up the Muhajir Quami Movement (MQM) whom were given everything they asked, the Government tried to settle up these muhajirs in the muhajir camp area of Karachi. 
These huge migrations of people from other places was done in the name of development and like this so called development scheme the local population of Karachi Baloch & Sindhi were left behind and we can see these kinds of drama going on inside the port city of Balochistan Gwadar, where Baloch are being fooled for the so called packages & provincial autonomy.
The same picture is in Gwadar where the new deep sea project is situated, after the completion and before the making of deep sea port many land mafia dealers tried to subdue the local Baloch to sell their land for they could take advantage of this time and can live a better life, The Gwadar people should see the Baloch of Karachi as an example and should stop this foolishness because they will be in bitter consequences once the outsiders reach the shores of Gwadar and take out the rest of the local Baloch population from the picture once and for all as they have done to the Baloch
population inside Karachi.
The new wave of terror and target killing inside Karachi is dangerous for all the Baloch nation and an example for the Baloch to be united or you will fall in the depths of depression and will lose your identity. The most tragic day of 7
th January 2010 brought darkness into the lives of Baloch residing in Hasan Lashkari village of Lyari town where MQM has got holdup because of its supporter residing in the place of Usmanabad which is opposite of Hasan Lashkari Village.
The Baloch people of lashkari village were targeted by MQM thugs when they were resting outside of their houses and came under heavy firing by the MQM Goons, the reason was the killing of a Goon of MQM by unknown assailants who threw away is body in the center of lashkari village and usmanabad and thus the MQM thugs took the revenge on innocent Baloch people of Lashkari village in which eights Baloch people lost their lives and one Baloch woman have also became the target.
The target killing of Baloch people in Hasan lashkari village was not the only tragedy occurred on 7th January 2010 but a Social activist Sangat Nadir Baloch was also systematically targeted by the Drug mafia dealers of Lyari in the town of Golimar where Baloch nation has been fighting the land grabbers of MQM on the case of Gutter Bagicha which has became a issue and through this case many Baloch were target killed by MQM in the disguise of Political Brawl, for instance Zahid Baloch the chairman of BNP(M) Karachi zone, Rahman Baloch the Chairman of Peace Committee, Sangat Nisar Baloch and now Sangat Nadir Baloch who was a close friend of Nisar Baloch, was against the Occupation of Gutter Bagicha & was also struggling to destroy the Drug Mafia which was making it roots in the Baloch society.
Nadir Baloch was the enemy of everyone who were trying to genocide Baloch nation including the people of Drug Mafia dealers in which many Baloch political personalities are involved, Sangat Nadir tried and struggled to stop the trafficking of drugs inside the Baloch society and warned the Drug dealers for consequences. Baloch truly condemn the Baloch Politician who are also responsible for the killing of Sangat Nadir Baloch and the Innocent Baloch people in Hasan Lashkari Village because in the Name of PPPP, the innocent Baloch people of Lashkari village were killed, Baloch denounce the PPPP which have make another committee for such target killings because Baloch nation knows that these committees are like monsoon weather which will never make any changes to the life of the people who have lost their loved ones. Nabeel Gabol the Minister of Port & Shipping and a member of PPPP despite big claims of making Lyari another “Paris” has done nothing about the situation occurred yesterday which gave Baloch nation more corpses to mourn upon.
Lyari honor was looted yesterday, the ministers and the big shots of Lyari like Nabeel Gabol were just spectators of the systematically target killing of Lyari Baloch population. The Baloch now have to help themselves like Sangat Nadir fought against the Drug system in Baloch society every Baloch should encourage this thought and should engage himself in the footstep of Nadir Baloch because the killers of Nadir Baloch are these Drug Dealers who are Baloch by name but are bought by federation for genocide Baloch nation.
“A Tyrant dies his rule is over, but A Martyr dies his rule begins”
Gazprom Needs Turkmenistan’s Gas Once Again
[Since the "accidental" rupture and attendant massive explosion at Turkmenistan's CAC-4 pipeline on April 9, 2009 (SEE: Turkmenistan Gas Pipeline Explosion – The Larger Context ), Turkmengaz has survived with only one customer, Australia, until the recent start-up of the Turkmenistan-China pipeline. The cause of the explosion was the sudden reduction of flow in Gazprom lines coming from Turkmenistan, without first giving a reasonable warning interval upstream (less than 12 hours given). Just like the recent reductions in Belarus transmission of Siberian gas over pricing issues (and the repeated shut-downs to Ukraine and Europe), the Turkmenistan explosion demonstrates the possible consequences of the ruthless policies Gazprom follows in settling contractual issues with its partners.
It is as if a group of terrorists (or the remnants of the former terrorist Soviet government) had seized control of the remnants of the old Soviet pipeline network and suddenly started issuing ultimatums to its customers, followed by sharp disruptions of services with attendant severe consequences for customers or suppliers as a result. It is as if we lived in a science fiction world, where corporations could freely wage war against the rebellious citizenry and society meekly accepts it as a legitimate police action. Gazprom closes valves to break the collective will of its customers. This is no way to run a global energy conglomerate.
In Turkmenistan, unlike the situation in Belarus, the results were explosive, nearly ruining the national economy of Turkmenistan for more than a year. That year has given Gazprom breathing space, which has allowed it to weather the global economic downturn and keep its contracts with Europe. Now that the pricing bubble has been popped and global conditions have stabilized, Putin and Medvedev must reacquire Turkmen gas, in order to fulfill the duties of the role they have taken upon themselves as the global energy giant.
The EU is in a Russian vise. If it doesn't make Nabucco and the other non-Russian pipeline projects come true rather quickly, then it will pay whatever Gazprom chooses to charge them for its gas, for as long as European industry and homes rely on natural gas. Putin may be about to complete his "judo maneuver," where the EU exchanges places with the former Soviet Union, if he is left holding all the cards, while the European Union disintegrates in a stunning reversal of the events of 1991.]
Gazprom hopes that the conditions of the contract for the purchase of Turkmen gas will be no renegotiation |
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| Gazprom hopes that the conditions of contract for the purchase of Turkmen gas will be no renegotiation. This opinion was expressed today at a press conference the head of Russian gas giant , Alexei Miller. He recalled that the latest addition to the Russian-Turkmen-term (25 years) contract gas sales from 2003, were signed in December 2009 “These conditions are, and I think that will be performed with one and other. If this will continue, then these conditions will apply to the entire term of the contract “- stressed the head of Gazprom. According to Miller, the revision of the contract is unlikely. | |
| It was reported earlier that in 2010 Gazprom plans to buy in Turkmenistan 10 billion cubic meters. m. of gas.
Recall that a supplement to Russian-Turkmen gas contract was signed in Ashgabat on 22 December 2009. These included the resumption of procurement and delivery of Turkmen gas from January 1, 2010, amounting to 30 billion cubic meters. meters of gas each year. At what price buys Turkmen gas at Gazprom is not reported, noting that the price formula “fully complies with the conditions of the European gas market”. The document was signed in 8 months after the delivery of Turkmen gas to Russia ceased after the explosion April 9, 2009 at the Central Asia – Center-4. In June of that year, the Russian monopoly proposed Turkmenistan cut gas supplies or reduce its value. Gazprom explained the proposal that the basic consumer of Turkmen gas – Australia – reduced the volume of purchases. However, the parties for a long time could not come to an agreement. According to the contract in 2009. Gazprom was to buy from Turkmenistan 50 billion cubic meters. m. of gas, but the contract provided for the decline in purchases by 20 percent. |
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The Ballot for Kyrgyz Referendum–June 27, 2010
The ballot in the referendum on June 27th 20010 years. The question put to a vote, reads as follows:
“Take the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic” On Enactment of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic “, whose projects are proposed by the Provisional Government of the Kyrgyz Republic to a referendum (popular vote).” There are two options – “yes” or “No”.
Russia plans second military base in Kyrgyzstan
Russia plans second military base in Kyrgyzstan
Russia plans to build a second military base in Kyrgyzstan in a bold gambit likely to alarm Washington and other countries in the region.
Andrew Osborn in Moscow and Richard Orange in Almaty 
The United States already have a military installation at Manas International Airport, near Bishkek Photo: REUTERS
The Kremlin tried and failed to win approval for the base in the south of the country last year but saw its chances evaporate when the man it was close to making a deal with, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was deposed in a coup earlier this year.
However, as the interim government that succeeded him struggles to maintain order after an outbreak of ethnic violence in the south of the country that left more than 200 people dead, the Kremlin has quietly revived the controversial plan.
The base, to be located in either Osh or Jalalabad, would extend Russia’s geopolitical influence deep into Central Asia and bolster its position with both China and the United States.
Coming less than a week after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he thought a US airbase in Kyrgyzstan that supplies fuel and troops for the war effort in Afghanistan should not become a permanent fixture, the move is likely to be seen as an aggressive counter thrust.
"This is all about restoring the influence that Russia lost when the Soviet Union collapsed," said one Russian analyst. Kyrgyzstan already has a Russian airbase and is the only country in the world to host both a Russian and an American base.
Russia appears to be growing weary of sharing Kyrgyzstan’s geopolitical and strategic space with the United States and analysts say it is keen to use the recent violence as a pretext to expand its own footprint in the region.
According to military sources quoted in authoritative Russian daily newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, President Medvedev has already ordered Anatoly Serdyukov, the Russian defence minister, to ensure that the new base, which it is estimated will cost Russia at least $250 million (£167 million) and house a minimum of one thousand troops, becomes a reality.
Analysts say the recent ethnic bloodletting has convinced Russian military intelligence that Russian influence is under threat from an unnamed "third force." It apparently fears that continuing instability could result in Kyrgyzstan splitting in two along north-south lines and that Russia would be the loser.
The Kremlin is hoping it can resurrect talks on the new base as early as next week once a referendum meant to lend legitimacy to the new interim government is out of the way.
Edil Baisilov, former chief of staff for the interim government and the current leader of the Aikol El Party, said that the Kyrgyz government would probably support the Russian plans. "Kyrgyzstan would welcome a large Russian presence, especially now, after the bloody conflict," he said.
Neighbouring Uzbekistan is likely to strongly oppose the move though. It said last year "there was no need" for such a base and fretted that it would stoke "all kinds of nationalistic confrontations." Though engaged in a noisy push to improve its relations with Moscow, Washington would also be uneasy. It spoke of building its own anti-terror centre in southern Kyrgyzstan to deal with growing Islamic radicalism in the region as recently as March.
G20 demo turns violent, police car burns
G20 demo turns violent, police car burns
Canadian riot police face protesters near the site of the G20 summit in Toronto
TORONTO: Clashes erupted on the fringes of a large protest march outside the G20 summit in Toronto on Sunday, as hardline protesters set fire to police cars and scuffled with riot officers.
While the bulk of the 10,000-strong rally marched peacefully, masked and black-clad anti-globalism protesters emerged from the crowd to attack police vehicles, an AFP reporter at the scene saw.
In addition to two patrol cars that were set ablaze, at least three more were damaged in downtown Toronto’s financial district, and the air was thick with the smell of vinegar-soaked rags used to ward off police tear gas.
Firefighters moved to douse the flames, but there was chaos nearby as businesses dropped their shutters and bystanders were caught up in the action.
Lara Garrido Herrero, 33, a weekend visitor to the city who was shopping in the downtown Eaton Center mall, told AFP by telephone: "Around 200 people are stuck in a lock-down in the shop and the staff are handing out water."
Toronto police used the microblogging site Twitter to deny a rumour that rioters had breached the security barrier erected around the conference centre where the leaders of the world’s richest countries were gathering.
"Dispelling more rumours: The fence has not been breached. False reports," the message read.
Canada spent more than a billion dollars to secure this week’s back-to-back G8 and G20 summits, hoping to avoid the serious street battles that have marred most recent gatherings of these global forums.
Thousands of police reinforcements backed by riot officers on horseback and spotter helicopters have been drafted into the city centre, much of which is sealed off behind a wall of steel barriers. – AFP/fa
For Tomorrow’s Kyrgyz Referendum, 186 International Observers
In Kyrgyzstan, a referendum accredited 186 international observers |
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25/06 at 16:49 Bishkek – IA “24.kg”, Daria PODILSKY
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In Kyrgyzstan, the referendum accredited 186 international observers. This was stated at the meeting of the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda. In addition, the CEC has accredited seven observers from five organizations: the Secretariat of the CIS mission, Consulate General of Russia in the city of Osh, the Independent Democratic Institute of USA, International Foundation for Election Systems and the International Parliamentary Assembly of the CIS. Moreover, a statement of participation in monitoring the vote, recalled the representative of the Security and Cooperation in Europe. As explained in the staff of the Central Election Commission, the application was withdrawn due to her sudden departure from Kyrgyzstan. |
| URL: http://www.24.kg/konstitucija2010/77582-v-kyrgyzstane-na-referendum-akkreditovano-186.html |
Is Petraeus McChrystal’s Replacement or Obama’s?
Is Petraeus McChrystal’s Replacement or Obama’s?
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
Our petulant president’s ego can’t handle a general letting off steam. Neither can any of the spoiled children who comprise “our” government in DC, the capital of the “superpower.”
Generals have to fight wars that civilians start, either from the incompetence of their diplomacy or the arrogance of their hubris. Generals have to get young troops killed because of the stupidity or ambition or corruption of civilian government officials.
All McChrystal did was to let off steam. A real president would have realized that and let it go.
Don’t get me wrong. McChrystal is a militarist, and I am pleased to see him gone.
However, McChrystal didn’t restart America’s aggression against Afghanistan. Obama did.
People elected Obama, because they were tired of Bush’s wars based on lies. So Obama gave us a new war in Pakistan and reignited the Afghan war. No one knows what these wars are about or why the bankrupt US government is wasting vast sums of money, which it has to borrow from foreigners, in order to murder the citizenry in two countries that have never done anything to us.
Just as Bush/Cheney and their criminal neocon government deceived the world that Saddam Hussein had “weapons of mass destruction” that threatened white people everywhere, Obama has conflated the Taliban with al Qaeda. Obama has sold the tale to white countries that unless the US determines how Afghanistan is ruled and by whom, white people are in danger of being exterminated by al Qaeda Taliban terrorists.
The most telling aspect of the McChrystal-Obama contretemps is that it has caused no one in the US government, or media, to ask why the US is still killing women and children in Afghanistan after 9 years. The US government is prepared for everyone except itself to be tried at the War Crimes Tribunal.
Fred Branfman writing in AlterNet on June 22 reminds us that unnumbered Iraqis were killed, maimed, tortured and displaced by an American invasion based on lies told by the highest officials in the American government. Yet, no one has been held accountable.
But Gen. McChrystal is held accountable for letting off steam.
Once the Roman senate, the legislative branch, collapsed, the caesars, the executive branch, became the captives of the military. Now with Gen. Petraeus once again moved to the fore as McChrystal’s replacement in Afghanistan, we have Obama elevating Petraeus to the Republican presidential nomination in the next election. Thus has Obama replaced himself with a man who will unify the military and executive branch.
Associated Press writers Jennifer Loven and Anne Gearan write (June 23) about the “admired and tightly disciplined Gen. David Petraeus,” the “architect of the Iraq war turnaround,” who is “once again to take hands-on leadership of a troubled war effort.”
Petraeus is an evolved form of general. He “won” in Iraq by paying protection money to the Sunnis who were effectively resisting the US occupation. Petraeus figured out that it was far cheaper and more efficient to put the Sunnis on the US military payroll and to pay them to stop fighting, which is how the war between the Sunnis and the Americans ended. To keep the Americans out of the ongoing large scale sectarian violence that continues to slaughter Iraqis, the US military was confined to remote bases.
If history is a guide, the Afghans will also accept Petraeus’ protection money, and Petraeus has just enough time to buy the Afghan war before the next presidential election.
The Afghans will, of course, take the money and wait us out, just as the Iraqis are doing.
All of this drama is playing out despite the continuing lack of any valid reason for the American invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. The Washington idiots, trying to dictate how Iraq and Afghanistan are governed, are destroying constitutional government in the United States. In our hubris to determine how Iraq and Afghanistan are ruled, we are losing our own government.
Paul Craig Roberts was an editor of the Wall Street Journal and an Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. His latest book, HOW THE ECONOMY WAS LOST, has just been published by CounterPunch/AK Press. He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com
