By Padmini Arhant
In my earlier post, World Peace – Part 1, I mentioned about the military might prevalent in the economic and political aspects governing the domestic and the international societies. Although, it’s not a revelation that the military industrial complex (MIC) authority spreads beyond the realm of providing national security, it’s imperative to study the extent of the institutional power.
Besides the limited constitutional role by the military to defend the nation upon real and potential attack, the unconstitutional engagements are expansive and encroaching on the general society.
Often, it’s the "potential" more than the ‘real’ threats or attacks that are the premise for the prolonged military operation proved extremely lucrative in the prolific conventional and nuclear arms race.
Remaining facts detailed @http://www.padminiarhant.com
Thank you.
Padmini Arhant
The White House and the Congress members are back at work after a refreshing break from the ‘Thanksgiving’ holiday that allows the average and the privileged citizens to celebrate the family moments together. Not all are able to participate in the long held tradition due to the ceaseless demands of the high commanders, the real authority in the system disguised as democracy.
Military Industrial Complex (MIC) troops expansion policy is having a nuclear impact on the nucleus of the Army, the brave men and women in harm’s way as evidenced in the following reports:
From 1st Sgt. Gonzalo Lassally said of soldiers from Able Troop, 3-71 Cavalry Squadron:
“They become your family and being able to eat together like this, to break bread together is a highlight.”
“We’re thankful for all still being here. We’ve been lucky,
From Padmini Arhant: For the kind attention of,
President Barack Obama, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Diane Feinstein and the united Republican members of Congress endorsing the enormous troop buildup,
Would you, perhaps consider either matching or exceeding the incredible sacrifice by the honorable Sgt. Gonzalo Lassally in the following manner?
As per the above report, “1st Sgt. Gonzalo Lassally, a father of three from Deltona, Fla., has spent four ‘Thanksgivings, three Christmases and “quite a few birthdays” away from home.”
More realities presented @http://www.padminiarhant.com
In the past weeks, the additional troops request from the U.S. Commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal in the 10,000 to 80,000 range and then reportedly cut back to the median 40,000 troop level is attention worthy due to the flurry of comments, rhetoric and insinuations from the quarters responsible for the status quo.
The U.S. troops presence including the recently approved contingency expected to arrive in December 2009 stands at 68,000 along with the participation of 28 nations in the form of NATO alliance further boosting the military representation in one nation – Afghanistan, to deal with the combined insurgency from the Afghan Talibans and the Al-Qaida in the northern regions.
Rest of the content available @ http://www.padminiarhant.com
As detailed in the blogpost titled ‘U.S. Dilemma on Afghanistan’ published on the website www.padminiarhant.com, September 1, 2009 – in the ‘International Politics’ category, the flawed Afghan election results in favor of the current President Hamid Karzai appropriately rejected by the U.N. backed investigators with the runoff election scheduled for November 7, 2009.
Afghanistan heading for yet another election within two weeks is a tall order given the recent turmoil in the electoral process that led to the annulment of the results. Modern democracy is not devoid of voter fraud, corruption and unscrupulous tactics by the respective campaigns representing the political candidates. However, the Afghan election is complex due to the extremism ranging from physical threats, ballots stuffing, violence that mars the democratic protocol and worsened now with the August election declared ‘flawed,’ by the United Nations panel and the other international authorities.
The remaining content available @http://www.padminiarhant.com
Analysis: By Padmini Arhant
From the earlier data, it is conclusive that since the inception of the Afghan war, the constant flow of funding and the troops surge has remained the routine build up in the ill-conceived ‘so-called’ war on terror. The long fought war in the past eight years and previously against the Soviets should provide the U.S. defense a concise idea about the Afghan terrains, terrorists’ hideouts and other relevant operational tactics by the Talibans and the Al-Qaida forces.
Please follow link http://www.padminiarhant.com for the rest of the article.
There has been additional troops request from the U.S. and NATO Commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal accompanied by the endorsements of the other highest commands. The request made with a sense of urgency within the military ranks based on variable assessments and conflicting reports from different sources that if the troops request delayed or denied; “it could perhaps lead to the mission failure” in the prolonged war that had continued to deploy troops on that strategy.
For the rest of the article, please refer to http://www.padminiarhant.com
Congratulations! to the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and the FDP leader Guido Westerwelle on the re-election of CDU-CSU (Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union) in grand coalition with the Free Democratic Party in the 17th German Federal election on September 27, 2009.
As a major economic power and the largest exporter as well as the second largest importer of goods, Germany is significant to the global economy and the international progress. The export-oriented nation has been drastically affected from the global economic crisis. It experiences the common woes like the financial market failure leading to the government bailouts; massive job loss in the manufacturing sector especially the automobiles and heavy industrial equipments…having a ripple effect on other sectors in the economy.
However, Germany has contained the crisis from further deterioration due to the various government run programs viz.
Please refer to http://www.padminiarhant.com for the remaining content.
On April 10, 2009, Constable Jesse Schroeder closed my rape complaint case. He stated that there was "no male DNA" anywhere on any of my evidence.
I know this to inaccurate. I posted two messages, today, on Facebook in response to this BS.
In my first message, I posted the movie "American Violet" stating that: she was a victim, of authorities, and was forced to take a stand. My situation is similar, only I was raped, not arrested. The police are my business now. What "goes around", my Dear (personal message; recipient knows to whom I am speaking), IS coming around to you. That's a promise. I'm a woman of my word. " This was posted in English and in French.
The second message stated: "Now you are all phoning & saying look what (I) did on FB. Know this, I have not even broken into a sweat, yet. You do what you have to; I'll do what I have to."
Yesterday, I found that three sets of pictures were deleted, from my computer, without my knowledge or consent. As a result, I forwarded all three sets of copies to International Country Leaders, International Human Rights groups, and International media. One set was forwarded by cellphone.
Today, I received a text message with a veiled threat & forwarded that to Country Leaders!
I AM NOT AFRAID OF ANYONE! WHEN THEY TOOK THAT FOSTER BABY & CRUSHED ALL HOPE OF HAVING A FAMILY, EVERYTHING THAT MATTERED (ABOUT ME) DIED THAT DAY. You can't kill a dead woman...you still threaten me, even though I continue to report all of you.
I want all the people, associated with my rape on August 7 2008, arrested; INCLUDING THE FIVE RCMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm tired. I've been violated on so many levels that it just feels like a bad dream. NONE OF THIS IS REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just as President Obama heads to Strasbourg where he attends NATO´s 60th anniversary Summit. Finland’s charismatic Foreign Minister Stubb Is directing Finlandinto a open NATO debate.
The Coming Surge Into Afghanistan
Obama and the Graveyard of Empires
By GARY LEUPP @ counterpunch.org
Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen is reportedly recommending to President-Elect Obama that the U.S. increase by 30,000 its current force of 32,000 in Afghanistan. That, as Robert Dreyfuss points out in a recent column, is about 20,000 more troops than Obama was proposing while on the campaign trail.
Obama, who has enthused about refocusing the “War on Terror” back on Afghanistan, is likely to accede to the admiral’s request. There are at present under NATO command approximately 31,000 non-U.S. troops within the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) fighting the Taliban and other “insurgents” in Afghanistan. (80% of these are from from the UK, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Australia, and Turkey.) Popular opinion in most of those countries runs high against continued deployment, but except in Australia it is of course sold as an obligation of NATO membership.
Add to these the redoubled U.S. force and we’ll have a have a robust occupation army of 93,000 foreigners. With the exception of Albania and Azerbaijan, which have sent only small contingents, all participating nations are historically Christian, encouraging the Afghan perception that their Muslim nation is under infidel attack............
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp12262008.html
by Steve Rennie - Published on Wednesday, December 24, 2008 by The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR - Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan confirmed his forces raid the homes of suspected Taliban militants after nightfall, a controversial practice that some say stokes anger and resentment among ordinary Afghans against foreign troops.
"There's nothing worse than busting into somebody's house in the middle of the night," he said.
"However, in the cases where we actually go into a compound, it's either in self-defence or it's as a result of a long string of intelligence gathering that has led us to a certain compound.
"And invariably when it comes time to execute the raid, there are no innocent civilians there - there are just bad guys."
Thompson made the remarks in response to a scathing report released yesterday by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, which said lethal air strikes and "abusive" overnight raids by coalition forces threaten to turn Afghans against foreign military forces........
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/558036
In this handout picture from the U.S. Navy, a U.S. Marine prepares to conduct a raid at a suspected al-Qaeda group hideout in Afghanistan on Jan. 1, 2002. (AP Photo)Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, commander of Task Force Kandahar, said yesterday that while he is "philosophically against such raids," the nighttime incursions are necessary in the coalition's battle against a persistent insurgency.
Russian-NATO Relations
Cold War Shivers
By ERIC WALBERG
2008 will be remembered as a turning point in Russia’s relations with the West. It was a tumultuous year, with Kosovo, missiles in Europe and NATO’s seemingly relentless march eastward like thunderclouds gathering on Russia’s horizon, which finally burst 8 August over South Ossetia, bringing tragedy to Georgians, triumph and tragedy to Ossetians and Russians, as the Russian army stopped short of Tbilisi in their defence of the plucky Ossetians.Poland, in a tizzy, quickly signed up for US Patriot missiles; the EU and NATO, in a snit, suspended relations with Russia and did their best to undermine Russia’s fragile economy. US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates made a grand tour of countries supposedly threatened by Russia (in addition to visiting his new friends in Kosovo), though only the woe-begone Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili bothered meeting him at the airport. This darling of the West – and Israel – suddenly found himself friendless after his disastrous altercation with his neighbour. Even Israel pulled in its horns, cutting off its lucrative arms sales out of fear of Russia............
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.counterpunch.org/walberg12242008.html
Afghanistan: Soviet failures echo for US
Control of roads and rural areas vexes coalition effort.
By Mark Sappenfield | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor - from the December 19, 2008 edition
Reporter Mark Sappenfield explains how the Afghan roster of influential players is remarkably similar to what it was more than 20 years ago when the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan.
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - Recent headlines from Afghanistan have read like a history lesson from the Soviet 1980s.
That war "devolved into a fight for control of … the road network," concludes a 1995 US Army study. Militants are now stepping up attacks against American supply routes, destroying some 200 trucks in Pakistan this month.
Anti-Soviet militants controlled "the rural areas," says a former Soviet official. Today's militants have a "permanent presence" in 72 percent of the country, according to a Dec. 8 study.
There are differences between then and now. Yet 20 years later, many problems are similar: The US and NATO control neither the countryside nor the militants' hideouts in Pakistan, and as civilian casualties increase, Afghan anger is mounting.......
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1219/p01s01-wosc.html
Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. and NATO-led troops should review policies on detentions and house searches in Afghanistan and coordinate with local forces when targeting insurgents, a United Nations envoy said.
“People are detained and often are held for a long period of time on the basis of mistaken identity or mistakes with regard to whether these people are insurgents,” Kai Eide said at a news conference in Kabul.
Some of the UN’s closest contacts have been held by international troops, prompting frustration among Afghans, he said. House searches should also be led by Afghans who clearly understand cultural sensitivities in the nation, Eide said. adding that such knowledge is “critically important.”
Insurgents have stepped up attacks against Afghan troops and the 70,000 international soldiers deployed in the country. The Taliban movement has a “permanent presence” in almost three-quarters of Afghanistan and is closing in on Kabul, according to the International Council on Security and Development, a Paris-based research organization.........
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=anwO_4Bs9ZgI&refer=us
Afghan troops losing support from locals
By Ben Farmer in Kabul @ telegraph.co.uk - Last Updated: 3:02PM GMT 12 Dec 2008
Kai Edie, the UN Secretary-General's special representative, said he was worried about the effects of civilian casualties, unlawful detentions and heavy-handed searches.
Civilian deaths, particularly from coalition airstrikes, have caused deep resentment in Afghanistan and President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly demanded villages are not bombed.
Civilians have also repeatedly been shot dead when cars and buses have failed to heed warnings and strayed too close to coalition convoys and patrols.
He said: "In the end the Afghans themselves have to win the hearts and minds of their population, we can contribute, but I am afraid that we will be less welcome in the Afghan public if we do not correct our behaviour."
Mr Eide's comments came as the Nato-led coalition said three bus passengers were shot dead yesterday (FRI) when their bus veered towards a patrol and ignored warnings in Wardak province........
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/3724570/Afghan-troops-losing-support-from-locals.html
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NATO Troops Open Fire on Afghan Bus, Kill Four Civilians
UN Warns Civilian Deaths Causing "Deep Resentment"
compiled by Jason Ditz @ antiwar.com - Posted December 12, 2008
NATO said the bus veered toward the patrol before they opened fire, but the bus seems to have been full of civilian passengers. The NATO statement seems to contradict a previous statement on the incident by Provincial Governor Haleem Fidai, who said the civilians were killed in the crossfire of a battle between the troops and militants. NATO doesn’t mention any gunfight associated with the killings.
While there is no good time shoot up a busload of civilians, the timing of the incident couldn’t be worse, coming the same day that top UN official in Afghanistan Kai Eide warned that the growing number of civilian casualties are causing deep resentment among the civilian populace. NATO insisted that they are aware of being “in Afghanistan under UN mandate at the invitation of the Afghan government,” and that they do “everything possible to avoid civilian casualties.”
SOURCE - http://news.antiwar.com/2008/12/12/nato-troops-open-fire-on-afghan-bus-kill-four-civilians/
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As possible Afghan war-crimes evidence removed, U.S. silent
DASHT-E LEILI, Afghanistan — Seven years ago, a convoy of container trucks rumbled across northern Afghanistan loaded with a human cargo of suspected Taliban and al Qaida members who'd surrendered to Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, an Afghan warlord and a key U.S. ally in ousting the Taliban regime.
When the trucks arrived at a prison in the town of Sheberghan, near Dostum's headquarters, they were filled with corpses. Most of the prisoners had suffocated, and others had been killed by bullets that Dostum's militiamen had fired into the metal containers.
Dostum's men hauled the bodies into the nearby desert and buried them in mass graves, according to Afghan human rights officials. By some estimates, 2,000 men were buried there......
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/57649.html
US Bombs Afghan Police Station, Killing Seven
compiled by Jason Ditz @ antiwar.com
Police in the Afghan city of Qalat fired on American special forces during a raid on an opposition commander. American planes responded with an air strike on the police station, killing six policemen and a civilian whose nearby house was also hit. The commander of the police post was among the dead. At least 13 others were wounded in the attack. The US forces described it as “tragic case of mistaken identity on both parts.”
According to Zabul Province’s deputy governor, the special forces did not inform the police they were going to be in the area, and they assumed they were Taliban attacking the village. The US forces assumed that the police station was a militant hideout and called in a strike.
The Afghan Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry are investigating the incident. Afghan officials warned that the growing number of Afghan forces killed or wounded by international forces may strain ties between the allies.
SOURCE - http://news.antiwar.com/2008/12/10/us-bombs-afghan-police-station-killing-seven/
The War In Afghanistan Has Lost Its Authority
By Cernig @ crooksandliars.com - Saturday Dec 06, 2008 2:30pm
The US military is building a new barracks for an expected 20,000 additional troops in Afghanistan. Various luminaries are calling for new strategies there, ones that recognise the military reality that force alone cannot "win" in Afghanistan and the geopolitical reality that no efforts at all can "win" if Pakistan is opposed to them. Turkey is mediating between Pakistan and Afghanistan in an attempt to acheive reconcilliation between the two sometime-rivals and the incoming Obama administration plans a new aid and training program to attempt to reverse the inexorable decline of what used to be an Afghan success story.
But all may be missing an important point - the war in Afghanistan should be over, and the mandate for a US and allied presence there has lost its rationale..........
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://crooksandliars.com/cernig/war-afghanistan-has-lost-its-authority
Supply trucks hit in brazen attack in Pakistan
Arshad Arbab / EPAU.S. military Humvees destined for the NATO forces in Afghanistan were burned in an attack near Peshawar.
Suspected Taliban insurgents attacked two truck stops, destroying more than 150 vehicles carrying supplies bound for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan.
By Laura King @ latimes.com, Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan 6:32 AM PST, December 7, 2008
In one of the biggest and most brazen attacks of its kind to date, suspected Taliban insurgents with heavy weapons attacked two truck stops in northwest Pakistan early today, destroying more than 150 vehicles carrying supplies bound for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan.The predawn attack on the outskirts of the city of Peshawar left the grounds of the truck terminals littered with the burned-out shells of Humvees and other military vehicles. At least one guard was reported killed...........
ARTICLE - http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pakistan8-2008dec08,0,2335333.story
![[In this handout picture from the U.S. Navy, a U.S. Marine prepares to conduct a raid at a suspected al-Qaeda group hideout in Afghanistan on Jan. 1, 2002. (AP Photo)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/nightraids-1224.jpg "nightraids-1224.jpg")
