News in Brief: 24 November 2009

A brief list of news clippings for the day:

Saudi Arabia goes to war. A crucially important conflict, woefully under-reported in the west, has now come to a head in the Middle East. In response to an ongoing fight that could spill out beyond the Arabian peninsula, Saudi Arabia has entered into direct war with the Houthi rebels in northern Yemen. Saudi military intervention marks the first time in the kingdom’s history that its army has crossed its borders without an ally. Previously, the kingdom engaged only in proxy wars. The Saudis used royalist Yemenis to fight Nasser’s Egypt in the 1960s, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein to fight Iran in the 1980s, and the US to fight Iraq in the 1990s. (Guardian: Comment is Free)

Global Arms Sales Decreased in 2008 compared to 2007 but was still high. The latest data covering global arms sales shows that sale of arms in 2008 decreased to around $55 billion, over 75% of which went to developing countries. This was down from a total of almost $60 billion the year before but was still the second highest amount in the 8 year period the data covers. While the global financial crisis has affected many countries, it seems like the decrease in arms purchases in 2008 occurred mostly in industrialized nations; developing nations saw a slight increase in purchases… The arms trade is big business. The 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (US, Russia, France, United Kingdom and China), together with Germany and Italy, account for over 80% of the arms sold between 2001 and 2008. (Global Issues)

Do NGOs provide relief or development? Development agencies cannot hope to bring about lasting change in the communities in which they work. They can only provide short-term relief, argues Karen Treasure…. But the differences between relief and development become difficult in practice. The fact that most projects are now called development has an historical context. (Guardian)

Somali Piracy: Chickens come home to roost. The current Somali piracy is the result of Somalia’s long standing civil war and lack of central government ignored by the world bodies such as United Nations, United States, European Union, the Arab League, Islamic Nations, European Union. (Hiiraan)

Yemen army to join with Saudis for attack: rebels. Shia rebels on Tuesday accused Yemen’s army of cooperating with Saudi forces to launch attacks against them, and also said they had defeated a multi-pronged Saudi assault from across the border. ‘The people’s army charged with protecting the border is cooperating with the Saudi army in bombing and ground attacks… against the country and its sons,’ a statement from the Zaidi rebels, also known as Huthis, said. The Huthis have previously accused both mainly Sunni countries of cooperating against them, and allege that Saudi Arabia allows Yemeni forces to attack rebel positions from inside Saudi territory. (Khaleej Times)

US ‘discussing Iraq regime change’ two years before war. Elements of the new US administration of President George Bush were already discussing “regime change” in Iraq two years before the invasion of 2003, the official inquiry into the war was told today. (The Independent)

NATO Training of Army, Police to Consolidate Efforts. NATO took command of the training of the Afghan army and police on Saturday to consolidate efforts on building an effective security force, a vital precondition for the withdrawal of foreign troops. . . Deputy Commander of the new NATO mission Major General Michael Ward said he believed the move would encourage more NATO training personnel to be sent to Afghanistan, helping to speed the expansion of local forces. (Afghanistan Conflict Monitor / Reuters)

Somalia: Mass Exodus As Militia Takes Control of Southern Town. Somalia’s Islamist Al-Shabab militia group has taken control of the southern town of Afmadow, 620km south of the capital Mogadishu, causing hundreds of families to flee in fear of violence. The town fell on 21 November after another Islamist group, Hisbul-Islam, left a day earlier, allowing Al-Shabab to move in without much resistance. (allAfrica)

Pakistan’s military stays a march ahead. An ordinance that granted amnesty to a number of top Pakistani politicians, including President Asif Ali Zardari, expires in a few days. The military is preparing for the fallout, just as it is already in contact with leading players in the insurgency in Afghanistan to position itself ahead of anticipated developments there. (Asia Times)

India probe blames mosque attack on Hindu leaders. A government investigation released Tuesday reportedly implicated dozens of Hindu nationalist politicians – including a former prime minister – in the 1992 demolition of a mosque that sparked deadly communal riots. The attack by Hindu mobs on the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, 350 miles (550 kilometers) east of New Delhi, set off nationwide riots that killed 2,000 people in the largest explosion of Hindu-Muslim tension in the country in decades. (AP)

U.S.-India Innovation Cooperation. The Obama administration has identified cooperation on science, technology, and innovation as a major focus of its relationship with India. Analyst Manjeet Kripalani says implementation remains a challenge and recommends greater deregulation of scientific institutions in India. (CFR)

A Teachable Moment in U.S.-India Relations. India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrives in Washington this week for the first state visit of the Obama administration, prompting policy and media circles in the U.S. and India alike to buzz with the question: “What will be the big drop-dead announcement this time?” After all, when Prime Minister Singh was here for his last state visit in 2005, as guest of President Bush, the two leaders announced their historic civil nuclear energy deal. (FEER)

Iraq war inquiry begins on Tuesday. An independent inquiry into Britain’s role in Iraq war will begin public hearings on Tuesday that will culminate in the awaited testimony from former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Military chiefs, diplomats, ministers and senior officials will all be called before the five-member committee headed by retired civil servant Sir John Chilcot. (Alsumaria)

Netanyahu Says Prisoner Swap Is Not Certain. Israel’s prime minister sought to dampen speculation about a deal with Hamas to recover an Israeli soldier. (New York Times)

Ali Hattar – A Right of Return primer (Arabic and English). A referential drafting extracted from the Human Rights Covenants and human principles and the laws related to it based on the basis that Palestinian Arabs should have the same human rights as the rest of the peoples of the world. Also included in English are excerpts from relevant Covenants. (Palestine Think Tank)

Acting while avoiding action in Iran. With Iran rejecting a proposal from the “Iran Six” countries to ship its low-enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment, the group is now considering the next step: sanctions. The ultimate virtue of sanctions is that they provide a platform between acquiescence and war, though they don’t always work out as intended. (Asia Times)

Iran casts doubt on US offer of help over Caspian Sea. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has called into question a US offer to help Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan over their disputes in the Caspian Sea. Daniel Stain, senior adviser to special envoy of the US Department of State on Eurasian Energy, said at a press conference in Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat last week that Washington was ready to offer assistance to Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan over the division of the Caspian Sea… The maritime and seabed boundaries of the Caspian Sea have yet to be demarcated among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, the five countries bordering the Sea. Despite extensive negotiations, the legal status of the Caspian Sea has been unclear since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. (PressTV)

Iraq stands firm on swift MKO expulsion. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has urged Mujahedin-e Khalq organization to immediately leave the country, saying Baghdad had no place for the MKO… Some 3,500 MKO members are held in a camp under the control of the Iraqi security forces… The group masterminded a torrent of terrorist operations inside Iran, one of which was the 1981 bombing of the offices of the Islamic Republic Party, in which more than 72 Iranian officials were killed. (PressTV)

Russia: Gasprom to buy less gas from Turkmenistan and more from Uzbekistan. Up until now Gas was buying approximately 60 billion cubic meters of Asian gas per year. The major supplier of the concern in Central Asia was Turkmenistan (to 80%). Vedomosti reports that this spring there was a conflict between partners: the sales of Gasprom went down dramatically and it refused to pay Turkmenistan earlier offered price at $375.5 per 1000 cubic meters. The conflict was followed by the wreck at Turkmen gas pipeline; as the result, the supply of gas was stopped in April. The pipeline was repaired soon but Gasprom never resumed the purchase of gas. Since that time the partners have been discussing new contract and there is still no clarity on volumes and price. (Ferghana)

Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline halts pumping: source. Oil flow through the Kirkuk pipeline that takes crude from northern Iraq to Ceyhan in Turkey halted on Saturday, the second disruption in less than a month, a shipping source said on Tuesday. The latest interruption on the pipeline, which normally carries about a quarter of Iraq’s oil exports to world markets, followed a bomb attack in late October that halted oil flows until November 2. (PUK Media)

Afghanistan decision to come within days. President Obama will announce within days whether he will send more troops to Afghanistan, the White House said after he and the National Security Council met. (CNN)

Pakistan: ‘We apologise for neglecting Balochistan in the past’. Pakistan’s government on Tuesday unveiled a package of reforms in a bid to ease a separatist insurgency in Balochistan on the Afghan and Iranian borders, and maximise efforts on fighting the Taliban. (Dawn)

Pakistan’s P-3 Orion Maritime Aircraft – and their Harpoons. In late 2004, Portuguese aircraft refitter OGMA was chosen by Lockheed Martin in Marietta, GA to refit Pakistan’s 2 P-3C Update II.5 Orion maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft for service. In addition, Pakistan was preparing to buy 8 US Navy surplus P-3C aircraft through the Foreign Military Sales program. Subsequent orders have served to detail the modernization work for Pakistan’s fleet, as well as accompanying orders for AGM-84 Harpoon missiles that can attack naval or land targets… (Defense Industry Daily)

Sri Lankan president on brink of calling snap elections. The Sri Lankan president is preparing to call a snap election amid speculation that he will be challenged by the general who led the Government’s successful military assault against the rebel Tamil Tigers this year. (Times Online)

News in Brief: 23 November 2009

A brief list of news clippings for the day:

Out of Iraq, into the Gulf. The United States may (or may not) be pulling out of Iraq, but militarily speaking, through US sites and those of its key regional partners, it is planning to get deeper into the Gulf region, from Qatar and Saudi Arabia to Jordan and Oman. (Asia Times)

Why French Algerians’ football celebrations turned into a battle. Algerians were celebrating that they had, for the first time since 1986, qualified for the World Cup. As the final whistle blew in the match against Egypt, there was near-delirium across Paris. As the evening went on, more than 12,000 Algerians poured on to the Champs Elysées… Armed police had by now gathered around the Arc de Triomphe, trying to break up the crowds. They were met with taunts, stones and fireworks. The party soon degenerated into a riot and the cries of “Vive l’Algérie” were replaced by the familiar battle cry of “Nique la police” (Fuck the police). The police responded with teargas and baton charges. There were 60 arrests, and similar scenes in Lyon and Marseille. The violence carried on and by Friday morning the police reported that more than 200 cars had been burnt in the suburbs of Paris. (Shamel Azmeh)

Israeli jet strike Gaza targets. Palestinian medical workers say seven injured in attack on number of targets in Strip. IDF spokesperson says strikes targeted weapons factories, smuggling tunnel, in response to rocket fired on Israel Saturday. (Ynet)

Iraq parliament passes new vote law. Iraq’s fractious parliament on Monday approved an amended version of a law needed to hold a general election next year, but sidestepped a veto by Sunni Arab Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi, lawmakers said. The law will return to the presidential council, where lawmakers close to Hashemi said he might veto it again — potentially delaying by a month the election due in January and threatening U.S. plans for a troop drawdown next year. (Reuters)

Larijani says Iran pursue more global interaction. An influential Iranian politician says Tehran must pursue a foreign policy strategy that is based on interaction with other world powers. “It is only through such interaction that we can harness tension and reduce the level of hostility. This can only be achieved through well-planned, active and cautious diplomacy,” Mohammad-Javad Larijani said in interview that was aired on Sunday night. Mohammad-Javad Larijani is a well-known figure inside Iranian politics and the brother of two top officials, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Judiciary Chief Mohammad-Sadeq Larijani. (PressTV)

Japan to build fleet’s biggest helicopter destroyer to fend off China. The nation’s Maritime Self-Defence Force is reportedly planning to construct a new 284 metre long destroyer capable of transporting 14 helicopters, 4,000 people and 50 trucks. The purchase is part of a wider military build up in which the Defence Ministry has sought funds to purchase around 40 F-35 fighter jets which will become the future mainstay of the nation’s air force, according to Kyodo News. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), is projected to cost around £61 million (nine billion yen) and is currently being developed by the United States, with Britain and Australia as founding partners. (Telegraph)

USA: Spy satellites lose their mystique. Unlike the more sordid aspects of espionage, spy satellites have reputation for being a nice “clean” way to check up on things that ones foes, friends, and others are doing. For almost fifty years it has been reasonably easy for the Intelligence Community (IC) to convince Congress to fund these programs. The legislature has traditionally be willing to concede that the government’s specialists have the expertise and the ability to build the state-of-the-art satellites and the ground based image interpretation systems that the nation needs. That seems to be changing. (The Space Review)

Okinawa’s U.S. military bases

Linda Hoaglund has a post on ANPO blog on the subject of U.S. president Obama’s latest visit to Japan and the Okinawan response to U.S. military bases in the prefecture. Below is an except:

During my stay in Okinawa,I realized just how little we Americans know of the anger that Okinawans feel about the U.S. military presence. Before I started making this film, I never realized that some 30 sprawling U.S. bases have covered more than 20% of the land area of this small island since the end of World War II.

As the rally began, mayors and members of parliament representing Okinawa spoke in open anger about the noise pollution caused by the incessant training of F-16 fighter jets, C-130 transport planes and Chinook helicopters, directly over the homes and streets of local towns, disturbing their daily lives and even their sleep. They reminded those assembled of the interminable rapes, murders and petty crimes, committed by American soldiers over the decades, which have largely been exempt from prosecution under the Status of Forces Agreement.

News in Brief: 20 November 2009

A brief listing of news clippings for the day:

The Battle for Angola’s Oil. A new battle is underway between the United States and China over Angola’s oil resources. Resource-rich Angola was once known as the scene of Africa’s longest-running civil war. Today, life expectancy hovers around 44 years… Under Dos Santos’s watch, since 1993, Angola’s oil reserves have flowed into the coffers of the regime’s corrupt wabenzi elites as well as multinationals via opaquely structured oil-backed loans. The MPLA initially justified these loans as a means of securing arms and revenue to fight UNITA, an armed movement led by U.S.-backed warlord Jonas Savimbi, also aligned with Portugal’s secret police and apartheid South Africa. Today, the corrupt ruling party is devouring the nation’s resources and its future. (Foreign Policy in Focus)

Gates to head top brass at forum. Top brass from Europe and the Americas, including US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, gather this week in Canada to discuss the future of Nato, the war in Afghanistan and other pressing security matters. Gates will be joined by counterparts from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the Netherlands as well as French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s military adviser at the meeting from Friday to Sunday in Halifax… Over three days, delegates will discuss Afghanistan, Iran, piracy and port security, Arctic security, nuclear proliferation, and the future of the 28-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Behind closed doors and at dinner meetings, they will also talk about Iraq and the Middle East, China and North Korea, pandemics, energy security, and the geopolitical consequences of the economic crisis. (The News)

The politics of sporting rivalry. The hooliganism and violence that have accompanied the football matches between Egypt and Algeria as they each seek to qualify for the 2010 World Cup have brought something new to Arab sports and political cultures. The vehemence, fanaticism, and recriminations that were blatantly expressed in the media and on the streets of Algeria, Egypt, and Sudan [the host country where the deciding final game is to be played] all point to a trend. This is the logical outcome of the narrow nationalism that has prevailed in Arab politics since the death of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the former Egyptian president. (Al Jazeera)

Awakening council ex-leader sentenced to death. Al Rasafa criminal court sentenced the former leader of Al Fadhil Awakening Council Adel Al Mashhadani to death for murder of a girl when the region was under Al Qaeda’s control. (Alsumaria)

Talabani:US pressured Parliament on poll law. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani revealed that US officials pressured Iraq’s Parliament and political powers to approve the election law. (Alsumaria)

Iraqi elections thrown off track. Vice President Tarek al-Hashemi, by using his veto to block an important election law, has thrown Iraq once again into political crisis. Parliament will have to try to sort out the mess the Sunni politician has made if elections are to go ahead in January. The scheduled draw-down of United States troops is also now in doubt. (Asia Times)

Kut Central Prison, Iraq. Kut Central Prison is attached to the main police station in the capital of Wasit province, southern Iraq. Designed to hold 100 people on a temporary, pre-trial basis, the prison now frequently houses up to 250 inmates —sometimes as many as 280 — including women. Convicted murderers on death row are held in the same overcrowded cells as petty thieves. (Le Monde Diplomatique)

Sri Lanka has released half of war detainees: govt. Sri Lanka has released more than half of the thousands of displaced civilians held in government camps after the end of the country’s ethnic conflict earlier this year, a minister said Friday. (Dawn)

Hizbullah in War and Peace. Four and a half years after Syrian troops were unexpectedly cajoled out of Lebanon, and more than three years after the end of a (nearly) “open” war with Israel, the Shi’ite movement Hizballah appears not only militarily stronger, as many of its enemies attest, but also politically and ideologically more secure, confident and, to a certain degree, coherent. Indeed, as far as Hizballah is concerned, the March 14 movement that helped kick the Syrians out and that managed to maintain a narrow parliamentary majority in last summer’s election (reportedly with the help of more than $750 million in Saudi financing) has effectively ceased to exist. (Qifa Nabki)

Naturalizing the Palestinians. There are few issues that provoke such a strong response among the Lebanese as the question of the Palestinian refugees’ future in Lebanon… There are over 400,000 registered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The actual number is unknown, and estimates vary between 250,000 to upwards of half a million. The living conditions of these refugees — most of whom were born in Lebanon — is dismal. They have few civil rights; they are banned from working in over seventy trades; they are dependent almost entirely on the welfare of UNRWA for basic social services like education, water, food, etc. Of all the Palestinian communities in the diaspora, the Lebanese one is surely the worst off. (Qifa Nabki)

Afghanistan is world’s most dangerous place to be born in: UN. Afghanistan has the highest infant mortality rate in the world — 257 deaths per 1,000 live births, and 70 percent of the population lacks access to clean water, the agency said. (Times of India)

Zardari in the Crosshairs. Pakistan’s leader is losing grip on his presidency and the opposition parties are waiting in the wings. As his popularity plummets, his political fate — as well as that of the Pakistan Peoples Party and the nation — hang in the balance. (FP)

The elephant in India and Iran’s room. Although India and Iran have met with some success in stemming the downward slide in their relations, their cooperation in the all-important energy sector seems to be stuck in a rut. And there is little to indicate that a breakthrough will be possible in the near future. (Asia Times)

U.N. Nuclear Chief Urges Iran to Agree to Deal by Year End. The head of the U.N’s atomic agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, described the offer made to Iran by the West to process its uranium abroad as a “unique but fleeting opportunity.” (New York Times)

Turkish FM to meet Ahmadinejad in Tabriz. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will meet President Ahmadinejad to discuss the latest developments in Iran’s nuclear case… The talks will focus on efforts to solve tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear program, in which Turkey has recently taken an active part, the Anatolia news agency said. (PressTV)

A missed opportunity for Europe – EU’s decision sets an uncertain course. By choosing Herman Van Rompuy as the first standing president and Catherine Ashton as the foreign minister the EU has missed the opportunity to present a more effective face to the world, says DW’s Christoph Hasselbach. (Deutsche Welle)

Azerbaijan: Proposal to Cancel 2010 Parliamentary Elections Hits Road Block. A governing party politician’s proposal to postpone Azerbaijan’s 2010 parliamentary elections “until the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolved” has met with both support and censure from President Ilham Aliyev’s Yeni Azerbaijan Party. While senior party officials now dismiss the proposal as “a joke,” the idea suggests that some politicians are keen to test the outer limits of the ruling party’s 16-year hold on power. (EurasiaNet)

Move at UN to sanction Eritrea over Somalia links. A draft U.N. Security Council resolution calls for an arms embargo against Eritrea and travel bans and asset freezes for members of its government and military for aiding Islamist insurgents in Somalia. (Hiiraan)

Iraqi Shiite leader holds talks in Ankara, İstanbul. Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) Chairman Sayyed Ammar al-Hakim was in Ankara on Thursday to hold talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as part of a several-day visit to the country. (Today’s Zaman)

No mediation, says U.S. Ruling out any mediation in the India-Pakistan peace process, the United States said on Wednesday that it was for the two neighbours to decide on its “scope, content and pace.” (The Hindu)

Nukes: JASON LEP Study. Several of us have been eagerly awaiting the release of the JASON report on Life Extension Programs, which reportedly concluded that Life Extension was preferred to warhead replacement. It’s here. Arms Control Wonk.com has an early copy of the full text of the unclassified executive summary of Lifetime Extension Program (LEP), JSR-09-334E. (Arms Control Wonk)

UAE Orders PC-21 Turboprop Trainers. During the 2009 Dubai airshow, the United Arab Emirates signed a contract with Pilatus to buy 25 PC-21 intermediate trainer aircraft, in a package worth $511 million. (Defense Industry Daily)

The Mission Determines the Coalition. In this chapter of the edited volume Cooperating for Peace and Security, Stewart Patrick discusses the United States and multilateral cooperation after 9/11. (CFR)

CERN to restart big bang machine. The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, has said it’s ready to restart the machine scientists hope will recreate the conditions that led to the big bang. (Deutsche Welle)

US military bases in Japan: Okinawan open letter to president Obama

The Study Group on Okinawan External Affairs has published an open letter regarding the burden and future of US military bases on the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa.

The English and Japanese versions of this letter can also be found on Japan Focus and the Tokyo Progressive. These sites link to a short video clip on the issue by Linda Hoaglund; the video is also provided here.

November 9, 2009
President Barack Hussein Obama,

We are residents of Okinawa and we would like to express our views regarding the United States Marine Corps Futenma Air Station and the current agreement to build a new base in Nago City, Okinawa.

We urge you to withdraw all of USMC from Okinawa. The people of Okinawa have been and will continue to be firmly opposed to the current US plan to relocate the dangerous Futenma Air Station to another location within Okinawa. We demand that the Futenma Air Station be shut down and returned unconditionally. The USMC has been stationed in Okinawa since the mid 1950s. The only real solution to the Futenma problem is a total withdrawal of the USMC from Okinawa.

Here we respectfully state the reasons for our demand. First, the current agreement between the US and Japanese governments regarding the construction of a new USMC base in Nago City was reached without consultation with the government or the people of Okinawa in 2005 and 2006. As many recent election results and public opinion polls show, Okinawa’s people have been calling for relocating Futenma out of Okinawa.

Second, the sea area of the new base, located off shore of USMC Camp Schwab in Nago City, is a habitat for various endangered species, including dugong, the Asian manatee. It is unacceptable to destroy the highly valuable ocean environment with the construction of a military base.

Third, the US and Japanese governments agreed to close the USMC Futenma Base and return its land to Okinawa in 1996, with the condition that a replacement facility be constructed in Okinawa. However, the new facility has not yet been built. The fourteen years since have proven that it is simply not possible to squeeze a new military base in Okinawa, which has long suffered an overburden of US military presence.

Finally, when the closure of Futenma Air Station was first discussed, it was assumed that the ground combat element and logistic combat element would remain in Okinawa. However, since there is virtually no possibility of building a new air station in Okinawa, the USMC should relocate both the ground combat element and aviation combat element out of Okinawa. Indeed, it would be more logical and beneficial for the USMC if all the elements of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force were relocated together. Our proposal of a total withdrawal of USMC from Okinawa would actually fit the necessity of the MAGTF’s integration of elements most effectively. By withdrawing from Okinawa, the USMC could avoid the unreasonable arrangement of keeping some troops in Okinawa and stationing others in Guam or Hawaii. It would be more desirable for the USMC, while at the same time preserving the highly valuable ocean environment and satisfying the demands of the people of Okinawa.

In conclusion, we wish to urge the United States and Japanese governments to begin the process of planning for a total withdrawal of the USMC from Okinawa. Now is the time to act for “CHANGE” to create a better relationship between Japan and the United States. Both countries would benefit from a break with the status quo and a fresh perspective on the Futenma issue.

Sincerely yours,

Seigen Miyasato
Chairman
Study Group on Okinawa External Affairs

Co-signers:
Hirayuki Agarie, Professor Emeritus, University of the Ryukyus
Akira Arakawa, Journalist
Moriteru Arasaki, Professor Emeritus, Okinawa University
Masaie Ishihara, Professor, Okinawa International University
Tatsuhiro Oshiro, Novelist
Masaaki Gabe, Professor, University of the Ryukyus
Manabu Sato, Professor, Okinawa International University
Kunitoshi Sakurai, President, Okinawa University
Jun Shimabukuro, Professor, University of the Ryukyus
Suzuyo Takazato, Former Vice-speaker, Naha City Assembly
Tetsumi Takara, Professor, University of the Ryukyus
Hiroyuki Teruya, Professor, Okinawa International University
Hiroshi Nakachi, Professor, Okinawa University
Nozato Yo, Journalist
Eiichi Hoshino, Professor, University of the Ryukyus
Kakeshi  Miki, Journalist
Akiya Miyazato, Journalist
Akiko Yui, Journalist

(First published at Rabble.ca)

News in Brief: 19 November 2009

A brief list of news clippings for the day:

Nuclear fallout rocks Pakistan. Reports of the United States attempting to take an active role in helping safeguard Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal could not have come at a worse time for President Asif Ali Zardari. He is already marginalized by his military, now his political opponents – including revitalized former president Pervez Musharraf – see a weakness. A crucial showdown is due next month, precisely the time the Pakistani Taliban plan their own fireworks. (Asia Times)

Pakistan: South Waziristan operation has displaced 275,000. At least 17,564 families claiming to have been displaced are declared ineligible for assistance. (Dawn)

Deadly suicide bombing in Peshawar. A suicide bomber self-detonated Thursday morning outside the gates of a court compound in the heavily guarded administrative heart of the Pakistani city of Peshawar, the seventh deadly explosion there in less than two weeks. (CNN)

EU leaders deadlocked over top 2 EU jobs. The European Union’s 27 leaders were facing an all-nighter Thursday as a bruising battle loomed over naming the bloc’s first full-time president and new foreign policy chief… (AP)

West lowers sights for new Iran sanctions at U.N. Western powers are gearing up for talks on a fourth round of U.N. sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program but will not target Iran’s energy sector to ensure Russia’s and China’s support… But the scaling back of the West’s expectations for new U.N. steps against Iran for defying Security Council demands to stop enriching uranium shows that the Europeans and Americans have accepted that Moscow and Beijing, with their close trade ties to Tehran, will not let Iran’s economy be crippled. (Reuters)

Afghanistan: Karzai seeks army ‘control’ in five years. Afghan president Hamid Karzai on Thursday called for the Afghan Army to assume full control of the country’s security within five years. As he was sworn into office for a second term after a controversial election, Karzai also reiterated his pledge to fight corruption and said his ministers must be “competent and just”. (AKI)

Afghanistan: Black & Veatch’s White Elephant in Kabul. In a secluded valley a few miles from Kabul’s international airport, Caterpillar turbines custom-built in Germany and giant transformers flown in from Mexico hum away at a brand-new power plant… But much, so far, has not gone according to plan. The 280-million-dollar a year cost to run the power plant full tilt is more than a third of total tax revenues for the entire country; the plant would supply electricity to less than two percent of the population; and the plant’s cost – already more than 300 million dollars – is roughly three times that of any similar plant in the region. (IPS)

Leave Pak-India ties alone: Govt to meddling US. India reacted sharply on Wednesday to the reference to India-Pakistan ties in the joint statement issued by US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Hu Jintao. Tuesday’s joint statement had said the US and China “support the improvement and growth of relations between India and Pakistan”. (Hindustan Times)

Israel dismisses USanger at settlement plan. An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday dismissed US anger at Israel’s approval for new homes in a settlement near Jerusalem, saying it was part of a routine building program. Netanyahu seemed keen to contain the fresh dispute with Washington over settlements, ordering cabinet ministers to show restraint after the White House said it was “dismayed” at the plan to build 900 new houses in Gilo. (Today’s Zaman)

Medvedev urges change to economy. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in further signs of distancing himself from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, has called for a change to the country’s “primitive raw materials economy” and to policies based on “nostalgic superstitions”, even as a recovery based on higher energy and commodity prices gives him room to speak out. (Asia Times)

Ukraine Raises Fees on Russian Gas. Ukraine announced on Wednesday that it would double the fees that Russia must pay to transport natural gas through Ukrainian territory to the rest of Europe, raising the possibility of a new feud between the two countries that could lead to disruptions in the flow of gas this winter. (New York Times)

Iran: Doctor’s Death Raises Questions. Judicial authorities in Iran plan to investigate the death of a young doctor who had testified before Parliament about prisoner abuses in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election. Reformist Web sites said that Dr. Ramin Pourandarjani, 26, was killed in order to silence him, as he was the only independent witness to be able to corroborate the charges of torture. As part of his military service, Dr. Pourandarjani attended once a week to prisoners at Kahrizak, a notorious prison that was shut down in July after several prisoners died there. (New York Times)

France rejects Iran’s nuclear fuel proposal. France has rejected Tehran’s latest proposal for exchanging its low-grade nuclear fuel with higher enriched uranium in a simultaneous swap inside the country. (Press TV)

Lithuania investigates possible CIA ‘black site’. Residents of this village were mystified five years ago when tight-lipped American construction workers suddenly appeared at a mothballed riding stable here and built a large, two-story building without windows, ringed by a metal fence and security cameras. Today, a Lithuanian parliamentary committee is investigating whether the CIA operated a secret prison for terrorism suspects on the plot of land at the edge of a thick forest for more than a year, from 2004 until late 2005. (Washington Post)

Iraq: Najaf contests number of seats in Parliament. Najaf Provincial Council contested the number of seats set by the Independent High Electoral Commission in the new Parliament estimated at 12 seats. The provincial council deems the number of seats unsuitable for the status of the province and called to be allocated 14 instead of 12 seats… (Alsumaria)

Report: Lebanon arrests another suspected Israel spy. Lebanese intelligence forces have reportedly arrested another citizen suspected of spying on behalf of Israel, following months of a crackdown on an alleged espionage ring… Last spring, Lebanon arrested close to 20 alleged members of six espionage cells suspected of transmitting intelligence information to Israel. The two-month crackdown was apparently aided by American training and equipment. (Haaretz)

YEMEN: Too many kids out of school in Hodeidah Governorate – report. Nearly half of children in rural areas of the western Yemeni governorate of Hodeidah, have no access to basic education, according to a new report by the Seyaj Organization for Childhood Protection (SOCP) and the Yemen News Agency. (IRIN)

Georgia: Unions Press for Labor Law Reform. As Georgia strives to recover from the global economic crisis, the government is struggling to find a balancing point between the protection of workers’ rights and the need for employers to boost output. President Mikheil Saakashvili’s administration is hearing it from both sides. Labor union leaders claim that the government’s overriding interest in attracting foreign investment is encouraging businesses to trample on workers’ rights. Employers, meanwhile, are worried that potential changes to the labor code could turn off outside investors. (EurasiaNet)

Before Sunrise: Will Obama seize a rare opportunity for change in U.S.-Japan relations? For Japan has never been an American ally. It was first a rival, then an enemy, and finally, after it lost the war it foolishly started with the U.S., it became a protectorate, not an ally. The distinction matters. An alliance is an institution negotiated between two sovereign governments in which each agrees to a series of reciprocal obligations that have the force of law. A protectorate arrangement, by contrast, sees the protectorate retaining a degree of control of its internal affairs, but surrendering authority to manage external relations–most crucially, in the area of military decision-making. In return for the protectorate’s ceding of this key aspect of sovereignty, the dominant partner in the arrangement agrees to provide for the defense of the protectorate. (The New Republic)

Securing U.S. Energy Supplies. Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers says nuclear investment and partnering with Chinese energy firms are important steps to building U.S. energy security. (CFR)

News in Brief: 18 November 2009

A brief list of news clippings for the day:

Pratap Chatterjee, Afghanistan as a Patronage Machine. Every morning, dozens of trucks laden with diesel from Turkmenistan lumber out of the northern Afghan border town of Hairaton on a two-day trek across the Hindu Kush down to Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. Among the dozens of businesses dispatching these trucks are two extremely well connected companies — Ghazanfar and Zahid Walid — that helped to swell the election coffers of President Hamid Karzai as well as the family business of his running mate, the country’s new vice president, warlord Mohammed Qasim Fahim. (TomDispatch)

One-two punch for India’s opposition. Following hard on its defeat in national elections, India’s main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has been trounced in three state polls. While the results further strengthen the ruling Congress party, the big loser, beyond the BJP, is India’s move towards a broad two-front political system. (Asia Times)

Think Again: Africom. U.S. Africa Command was launched to controversy and has been met with skepticism ever since. Behind two years of mixed messages, a coherent mission might finally be emerging. Here’s what you need to know about the world’s next U.S. military hub. (FP)

Kurds threaten to boycott Iraq elections. Kurdistan Leader Massoud Barazani threatened to boycott elections unless the allocation of seats in parliament to Kirkuk, Nineveh and Diyala provinces is revised. (Alsumaria)

Iraq poll in jeopardy as VP vetoes law. Iraq’s general election planned for January, only the second since the fall of Saddam Hussein, was thrown into jeopardy on Wednesday after Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi vetoed the polling law, AFP reported. (Dawn)

A new courtship for Southeast Asia. Barack Obama at the weekend became the first US president to share a room with all 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The US’s new Asian focus is based partly on a belief that the region has been neglected, giving China a pre-eminent position, and that it’s time to get down to business. (Asia Times)

Berlin’s Asia policy should focus on India and US role in the region. As his first policy inititiative, Germany’s new development minister said he wants to end technical aid for China and India. Experts agree and suggest additional changes in Germany’s Asia strategy. (Deutsche Welle)

Hillary Clinton makes surprise visit to Afghanistan. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton landed in Kabul Wednesday in a surprise visit on the eve of the inauguration of President Hamid Karzai. (CNN)

Israel defends settlement growth amid sharp criticism. Israel on Wednesday fended off criticism of its approval of hundreds of new homes in annexed Arab east Jerusalem as France urged a resumption of stalled Middle East peace talks. (Dawn)

Abbas defends decision to seek state recognition. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday the impasse in the Middle East peace process left him no choice but to seek international recognition, even as Europe and Washington discouraged the move. “We feel we are in a very difficult situation,” he said in Cairo after talks with Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak. “What is the solution for us? To remain suspended like this, not in peace? That is why I took this step.” (Daily Star / AFP)

Turkey: Government Launches PR Offensive on Kurdish Question. Turkey’s political leaders are taking to the road to explain their plans to end a 25-year Kurdish war to the people. The PR offensive is opening amid rising political tensions and dwindling hopes of a multi-party accord on the initiative… A day earlier, in an often tumultuous parliamentary session, Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, provided for the first time concrete details about the contents of what Interior Minister Besir Atalay, the government’s point man on the issue, repeatedly stressed was a “program of national unity.” (EurasiaNet)

Armitage: Turkey knows exactly what it’s doing with Iran. A former top US official has downplayed concerns over Turkey’s stance on Iran’s controversial nuclear program, expressing confidence in the NATO ally’s ability to deal with the issue in its own way as a neighboring country. (Today’s Zaman)

Iran sentences 5 to death in postelection turmoil. Iran has sentenced five defendants to death in a mass trial of opposition figures accused of fomenting the unrest that followed the disputed June presidential election, state television reported Tuesday. (AP)

UAE Buys Saab’s Erieye AEW&C Aircraft. Saab recently announced a 1.5 billion SEK (about $220 million) contract from the United Arab Emirates for 2 of its Saab 340 regional turboprops, equipped with Erieye active-array radars that can scan large airspace volumes, and related command and control systems. The Saab 340 AEW contract also includes ground equipment, initial spares, and support services. (Defense Industry Daily)

UK: Security agencies can withhold ’secret government information’ in civil cases. Court ruling with widespread implications for open justice condemned by lawyer as ‘outrage’. MI5, MI6 and the police will be able to withhold evidence from defendants and their lawyers in civil cases for the first time, the high court ruled today. In a move that has widespread implications for open justice, Mr Justice Silber agreed with the security and intelligence agencies that “secret government information” could remain hidden from individuals who are suing them. (Guardian)

More EU troops to train Somali forces. Up to 200 European troops could be sent to help train Somalia’s security forces next year, it has emerged. (Hiiraan)

Will Turkey benefit from Ergenekon? Is the Ergenekon affair helping to demilitarise Turkish politics? Or is the country’s post-Islamist government using it to advance its own authority at the expense of the military? It’s always hard to follow what’s going on inside Turkey but never more so than since Ergenekon. Turkey has faced four coups of one sort or another since its transition to democracy in 1946. But this is the first time those accused of an alleged coup have been put on trial: former generals and active duty officers have been charged with running a covert terrorist organisation — named Ergenekon — and inciting armed insurgency in order to bring down the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government. (Le Monde Diplomatique)

India says needs no help to heal Pakistan ties. India on Wednesday said it needs no external help to improve ties with neighbor Pakistan, in a testy response to a statement issued by the United States and China. (Reuters)

News in Brief: 17 November 2009

A brief list of news clippings for the day:

Despite Japan visit, wrestling over U.S. base continues. The wrestling match between the United States and Japan over the location of the U.S. Marine air station in Okinawa is far from over — despite President Obama’s chummy visit here with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. (Washington Post)

‘Iranian who disappeared in Turkey jailed in Israel’. An Iranian former deputy defense minister who has been missing for nearly three years was abducted by Israeli agents and is now being held in Israel, several Iranian news Web sites reported on Sunday. Ali-Reza Asgari, a retired general who served in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, disappeared while on a private trip to Turkey in December 2006. In March of this year, a former German defense ministry official said Asgari had defected and was providing considerable information to the West on Iran’s nuclear program. Iranian officials and Asgari’s family have claimed that he was abducted. One of Sunday’s Web reports, on a site called Alef, said German and British intelligence services assisted Israeli agents in abducting Asgari and taking him to Israel. The site, www.alef.ir, is close to a conservative Iranian lawmaker. Israel’s Foreign Ministry refused to comment. (Today’s Zaman)

Army tells its soldiers to ‘bribe’ the Taleban. British forces should buy off potential Taleban recruits with “bags of gold”, according to a new army field manual published yesterday. Army commanders should also talk to insurgent leaders with “blood on their hands” in order to hasten the end of the conflict in Afghanistan. The edicts, which are contained in rewritten counter-insurgency guidelines, will be taught to all new army officers. They mark a strategic rethink after three years in which British and Nato forces have failed to defeat the Taleban. (The Times)

‘Northern Taliban’ threatens Central Asia. Taliban counter-moves against United States coalition efforts to forge a supply route from Central Asia to northern Afghanistan have ended the relative calm in that part of Afghanistan and could drag Central Asian states into the conflict. As more foreign fighters from groups like the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan join the ranks of the emerging “northern Taliban”, the issue is rapidly climbing up the coalition’s agenda. (Asia Times)

‘CIA providing millions of dollars to ISI’. The CIA provides hundreds of millions of dollars to Pakistan’s spy service, including payments for the capture or killing of wanted militants, a US newspaper reported, citing unnamed officials and former officials. The CIA’s financial support accounts for as much as one-third of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency’s budget, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday. (The News)

Militants change tack in Pakistan. After a month-long operation, Pakistan’s military is chasing shadows in the South Waziristan tribal area. The militants being sought so desperately by the army – and the United States – are scattered in remote surrounding areas, including in Afghanistan. Previously, the next step would have been to negotiate a ceasefire. Not this time. In a major switch, the militants want a long-term insurgency against the security apparatus across the country. (Asia Times)

US urges Pakistan to expand military offensive. US President Barack Obama is expected in the coming weeks to announce an overhauled strategy for Afghanistan that will include sending up to 40,000 more troops to fight in the eight-year-old war. Obama sent a letter to President Asif Ali Zardari, saying he expects the Pakistani leader to rally political and national security institutions in a united campaign against extremists, the Times reported, citing a US official, who was briefed on the letter’s contents. (The News)

MIDEAST: U.S. Takes Aim Over Jordan’s Shoulder. In the bleak and seemingly endless desert expanse that unfolds east of Jordan’s capital city, Amman, lies a crucial cog in the ambitious regional designs of the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East. Commonly known by its acronym JIPTC, the Jordan International Police Training Centre is ground-zero for the transformation of U.S.-allied security forces not only for the Kingdom of Jordan, but also for Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories. (IPS)

Kosovo: Three parties claim victory in key polls. Kosovo’s three largest parties on Monday all claimed victory in the first municipal elections held since the country declared independence from Serbia last year. Kosovo prime minister Hasim Thaci’s party was leading in nine municipalities, according to preliminary results released by the election commission. (AKI)

Sarkozy tried in vain to replace Turkey as peacemaker. It has emerged that French President Nicolas Sarkozy had planned to bring together the leaders of Israel and Syria in Paris in an attempt to revive a peace process between the two countries which collapsed early this year, but his efforts failed when Syrian President Bashar Assad, who insists on Turkish mediation to return to peace talks with Israel, opposed the idea. (Today’s Zaman)

India, Iran discuss energy, transit routes. India and Iran on Monday held talks on closer cooperation in energy, transit routes to central Asia and sharing of information on militant activity in the Pakistan-Afghanistan belt. In the first high-level talks after elections in both countries, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, in talks with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, flagged New Delhi’s interest in the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. (The Hindu)

20-Year-Old Letterhead points to Israeli Forgery in Francop Affair. The Israelis have been maintaining that a ship, the Francop, that their forces boarded near Cyprus originated in Iran and was bringing arms to Hizbullah and Hamas. Many US news outlets published the accompanying picture, which seemed to indicate that the arms were being supplied by the Ministry of the Sipah [i.e. of soldier]. The name of that ministry was changed 20 years ago, however, to the Ministry of Defense. One Iranian journalist opined, “So this begs the question of what the emblem of a nonexistent body was doing on the cargo?” (Informed Comment)

IAEA report on Iran

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has release its latest report on Iran’s nuclear program. The report is dated 16 November 2009. Read it here.

Fighting in Yemen reflects growing Saudi-Iran tensions

Yemen

A hot war has erupted against the Houthis of northern Yemen. Saudi and Yemeni military forces have engaged with the minority rebels, marking a new and bloody phase that has now drawn at least one regional power into the five year-old conflict between the Shia Houthis and the Sunni central government.

“We are not going to stop the bombing until the Houthis retreat tens of kilometres inside their border,” Prince Khaled bin Sultan, the Saudi deputy defence minister said shortly after Saudi Arabia mobilized its military almost two weeks ago.

The Yemen Times reports that, “confrontations between Saudi troops and Houthis began when [Houthis] accused [Saudi Arabia] of allowing the Yemeni army to establish a military base in the Dukhan Mountain to assault them, which is why they resorted to attacking the base and taking control of the mountain that is part of the Saudi territory.”

The Saudi Kingdom has assaulted northern Yemen with aerial bombardments and artillery strikes. The Kingdom plans to build a 1,500 km barrier across its southern border in order to control crossings between the two countries. Saudi Arabia is concerned that Shia activism just across its southern border could stir its own restive Shia groups near to the Yemeni border.

Both Yemen and Saudi Arabia accuse Iran of supporting the Houthis, and the latter has engaged in a naval blockade off the coast of Yemen in order to prevent possible arms shipments. Iran has denied any involvement, and its foreign minister last week stated that “countries of the region must seriously hold back from intervening in Yemen’s internal affairs.“

The latest developments may well lead to deepening of tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Over the years a string of proxy contests have taken place between these two regional rivals: in Lebanon between the Saudi-backed Future Party and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, in Iraq between various Sunni and Shia camps, in occupied Palestine between the Palestinian Authority (Saudi-backed) and Hamas (Iran-backed). Iran has even accused Saudi Arabia of funding Jundallah, a rebel group that operates in both Pakistan and Iran. Jundallah has struck targets in southeastern Iran, killing civilians and military personnel. More recently, there appears to be an increasingly successful move by Saudi Arabia to strike a new bargain with Syria over Lebanon.

Al Jazeera provides the following background:

“In 1962, a revolution in Yemen ended over 1,000 years of rule by Zaydi Hashemites, who claimed descendance from the Prophet Mohammed.

“Zaydism is a branch of Shia Islam, though its practices often appear closer to Sunni Islam than traditional Shia belief.

“Saada, in the north, was their main stonghold and since their fall from power the region was largely ignored economically and remains underdeveloped.

“The Zaydis complain the government has subsequently allowed [Saudi-backed] Wahhabis too strong a voice in Yemen.”

M.K. Bhadrakumar, a former Indian career diplomat, has written the following in Asia Times:

“Whereas the Saudis are on the offensive in Afghanistan and Iraq, they are very much on the defensive in Yemen. Like Iraq and Afghanistan, Yemen, too, has become a safe haven for al-Qaeda elements. But here the table is turned against the Saudis. The al-Qaeda elements use Yemen to make incursions into Saudi Arabia. The rebellion by the Shi’ite Houthi clan in mountainous northwest Yemen has also made the Saudi Arabia-Yemen border highly volatile. (To compound matters, there are Yemeni-Saudi border disputes waiting to be reopened.)

“The Houthis lack modern weaponry, but they are strong in numbers, highly motivated and are reportedly skilled in the use of land mines. The Saudis see in the Houthi militia a potential Hezbollah-like movement based on egalitarian ideals of political justice and equity, with a highly disciplined and trained cadre that may come to inhabit Saudi borders. There is virtual paranoia in Riyadh as to how to deal with the rising specter of a Yemenese-style Hezbollah right on its borders.

“The archetypal Saudi fear – which is scrupulously left unspoken due to its extreme sensitivity – is that the Houthi-dominated region of northern Yemen also borders Saudi Arabia’s restive eastern province, which is Shi’ite (and oil-rich) and seething with resentment over Wahhabi intolerance.”

Saudi Arabia is not only concerned with a possible erosion of its influence, as the republic of of Yemen resists a contest on two fronts: Houthis in the north, and a secessionist movement in its south. The bulk of Saudi oil lies in its eastern provinces, where a restive Shia population strains against persistent discrimination. In February of 2009, tensions erupted into open demonstrations and activity by the Shia population. Saudi Arabia is worried that the Houthi resistance in north Yemen could inspire its own minority population to take more active measures in opposing the government, if it were to identify with the Yemeni rebels.

The haj, the most important pilgrimage for Muslims, is set to begin on November 25. Hundreds of thousands from around the world will converge on Mecca for the annual rite. Security will likely be tight and it is possible that the event could be politicized if pilgrims from majority Shia Iran see tough measures set against their entry. Iran has already warned that it will take as a serious offense any significant difficulties or harassment faced by its nationals traveling into Mecca.

 

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A short profile of Yemen

Population: 23 million, estimated. The media age is just under 17 years. Close to half of the population is under 15 year-old.

Government: Republic, with an elected president as the head of state and a prime minister selected by the President and approved by the legislature. The legislature is bicameral, with an elected House of Representatives and an appointed Shura Council. North and South Yemen unified into the current republic in 1990.

Economy: Between 2000 and 2006, 17.5% of the population lived on less than US$1.25 per day. The bulk of the economy depends on oil exports. Exports are plummeting and the World Bank estimates that supplies may run out by 2017.

Literacy: By estimates, half of the population is literate – 70.5% of men and 30% of women.

(First published at rabble.ca)