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Mosul resistance group 'kills 23 Saudi fighters'
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Page 6: Politix
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The Grand Turk
Turkey must talk to the Syrian Kurds
[Hurriyet Daily News] It is not easy to understand the contention in the pro-government media -- meaning that portion of the media which acts as a mouthpiece for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) -- that the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, and its military wing, the Peoples Defense Unit (YPG), are more dangerous than the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and the Levent (ISIL).

The "pen-slingers" in this part of the media also refuse to see that if The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
is facing a chaotic situation on its border with Syria today, a significant portion of the blame rests with the serious mistakes and miscalculations of the AKP government, concerning developments in the region. It is more than apparent today that developments in Syria will not unfold according to the AKP's ideologically oriented desires.

It is also apparent that the situation as it has unfolded in Iraq and Syria has forced Washington and other Western countries to favor any group that is opposed to ISIL. The PYD has provided the U.S. with effective allies on the ground fighting ISIL and it is highly unlikely that Washington will change tack on this to please Ankara, especially when Turkey is being accused, rightly or wrongly, of assisting radical Islamic groups fighting the Assad regime.

Erdogan and the AKP have a dangerous inability to read the situation on the ground in order to formulate the best policies that serve Turkey's interests in any given situation. Their obsession with the need to promote the Moslem Brüderbund line following the Arab Spring blinded them and prevented them from realistic appraisals in this regard.

Despite warnings from Ankara, the Syrian Kurds have managed the situation to their advantage, having also gained the sympathy of the West for resisting ISIL. Having proved their mettle to the West, they are unlikely to bow to pressures from Ankara, including military threats.

There is also another side to the coin. The Turkish military may not have much sympathy for Syrian Kurds, but its top brass is aware of the troubles Turkey will bring upon itself with an impulsive intervention in Syria before the legal, political and diplomatic consequences have been thought through.

There have been enough leaks to the media indicating that the upper echelons of the Turkish armed forces are deeply worried about the prospect of being forced into the venture by the government.
Possibly they are keenly aware that their best and brightest are either in prison, on trial for treason, or forcibly retired, leaving the second raters and the political generals in charge.
There are also those who believe that the current mandate by parliament authorizing the Turkish armed forces to respond to any military threat from Syria does not cover what would ultimately amount to invading Syria.

In other words, new authorization from parliament would be needed for such an operation to be legitimate for Turks who are not blinded by support for Erdogan and the AKP. This, however, is unlikely to happen in a hung parliament, especially when polls show that the public is opposed to any engagement in Syria.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1 
Posted by: Herman Speaking for Boskone6458 || 06/30/2015 12:52 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Story Time
[DryBones]
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/30/2015 05:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Khan of Kalat agrees to talk
[DAWN] ANY move that appears to break the stultifying impasse in Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
is cause for at least some cautious optimism. A report in this paper yesterday revealed that the Baloch leader, the Khan of Kalat Mir SLearned Elders of Islamn Dawood Jan, who lives in self-exile in London, has agreed to meet a delegation of Balochistan government officials. Prior to this, he will hold consultations with members of the Grand Jirga who, after the death of Nawab Akbar Bugti at the hands of the army in 2006, had sent him abroad to work towards the restoration of Kalat State. In September last year, the Balochistan Assembly passed a resolution to approach the tribal leader and enlist his help in establishing peace in the province.

For the National Party-led government that has been vowing to bring the 'angry Baloch' to the negotiating table, this is a victory of sorts. Aside from the Khan of Kalat's lofty standing in Balochistan's tribal hierarchy, there is the weight of history: in pre-Partition days, the erstwhile princely state -- then ruled by the present Khan's grandfather -- held a pre-eminent position in the tribal confederacy that stretched across central and southern Balochistan. The government is obviously hoping that Mir SLearned Elders of Islamn can bring the other angry Baloch -- the recalcitrant separatist leaders -- to the negotiating table. However,
some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves...
history also records that when the then Khan of Kalat signed the Instrument of Accession to join Pakistain in 1948, it caused much anguish among nationalist-minded Baloch. His progeny too, not least because of their perceived closeness to the establishment, came to be considered as 'traitors' to the Baloch cause as the bitterness went kaboom! into open rebellion several times over subsequent decades. Although Nawab Bugti's murder was a watershed that led Mir SLearned Elders of Islamn to break his ties with the state and himself adopt the separatist narrative, his influence on players in the insurgency is debatable. Not least because for the first time, the separatist movement finds widespread support among educated youth, particularly in the non-sardari southern belt where tribal hierarchy does not inspire the same deference.

Nevertheless, this is a much-needed political initiative after a succession of sterile militarised strategies. In this situation, the removal of precious artifacts from the Khan of Kalat's palace in Kalat town by his son Prince Mohammed, from whom he is estranged, has the potential of scuttling the talks before they even begin. It also gives oxygen to suspicions of state machinations -- never far from the surface in Balochistan -- in this case to install the son, seen as a pro-establishment figure, as the Khan of Kalat in place of his father. To restore confidence, the government must ensure the artifacts are returned without delay. In Balochistan, with its Gordian knot of complexities resulting from decades of self-defeating policies, even the slightest wrong move could take us back to square one.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Quo vadis, Pakistan?
[DAWN] PAKISTAN'S population is probably 200 million today. It will be 350-400 million by 2050. Given climate change and the trend lines of our vital national indices the country's future is in serious question. Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
's wretched plight is engulfing the rest of Pakistain where low lives in high places callously contrive to win zero-sum games against their own people! The people suffer indescribably every single day because of them. Corruption, whether political, administrative or military, is institutionalised and systemic.

Political leaders alternately challenge and pander to the military as part of their degenerate strategies. They treat ordinary citizens as 'cockroaches'. Those who can stop them, but do not, are complicit. The people desperately want to get rid of them. But they are constrained by political circuses, economic crumbs, intimidation and hopelessness. An informal economy, external inflows and private charity merely delay the day of reckoning.

Pakistain is still manageable. It can survive, even flourish. But not without fundamental and sustained structural change. Incremental approaches are covers for inaction. Specific transformation strategies can be evaluated. But our parasitic elite will never consider good governance which requires them to see Pakistain as larger than themselves. Instead, they prefer being tax cheats, making false promises an art form, stowing away 'untold billions' in safe havens abroad, and updating their exit strategies.

Military rule -- overt or covert-- has no answer to the nation's challenges. Criminal civilian rule leads to military takeovers, as is happening once again. The concept of civil-military relations is meaningless without civilian supremacy and good governance. In Pakistain CMR is based on the military's political supremacy which is unconstitutional. Fake "democracy" does not evolve into genuine democracy. It perpetuates the rule of deceit and plunder.

The military, moreover, cannot become a national institution if it remains a political institution. Pakistain's interests and Punjab's interests remain out of joint. That is why the original Pakistain died an early death. If this situation continues, either Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

will conquer the rest of the country, or the country will break up because of domestic resistance and external intervention. A soft and failing state can never become a democracy. The situation is indeed dire.

During the Long March Mao Zedong wrote "So little time; So much to do!" In 1949 he proclaimed "China has stood up!" Look at China today! Deng Xiaoping believed democracy is what it does, not what it claims. Lee Kuan Yew observed "Democracy is the Rolls Royce of politics provided you can keep it. If you cannot it is the worst investment you can make." He also noted: "If you give a man a vote without providing him a stake in the nation he will ask for the moon."

Professor Ernest Gellner observed that Islam is more compatible with modernism and democracy than any of the other great faiths. But unfortunately our faith has been hijacked by wily professionals and bully boyz who mislead and terrorise honest believers. They have friends in high places.

It has been said 'one step in the right direction and a journey of a thousand miles is a thousand miles no longer'. We have yet to take that first step although we have travelled far in the wrong direction. The journey today is longer than ever.

We must plan specifically and implement rapidly and resolutely. This requires constant public communication and inclusive feedback to maximise ownership of policies. No one person, party or institution should presume to impose a particular view of the national interest. That has ensured national disunity. Discussions and recommendations are, however, essential.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  PAKISTAN'S population is probably 200 million today. It will be 350-400 million by 2050.

Hah?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/30/2015 5:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Malthus and islam...

Idiocy squared.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 06/30/2015 6:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Ima betting it'll be a LOT less than current population: nuke exchange, disease, famine, Islam cannibalism
Posted by: Frank G || 06/30/2015 14:31 Comments || Top||

#4  I'll take Door #3, Frank...
Posted by: Raj || 06/30/2015 18:26 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
PNoy conceals MILF terror links for BBL passage
Posted by: ryuge || 06/30/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moro Islamic Liberation Front



Who's in the News
19[untagged]
17Islamic State
5Govt of Pakistan
4Govt of Syria
2Hezbollah
2al-Qaeda
1Boko Haram
1Commies
1Govt of Iraq
1Govt of Saudi Arabia
1Houthis
1Moro Islamic Liberation Front
1Salafists
1al-Nusra
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1al-Shabaab
1Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis
1Baloch Liberation Army

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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2015-06-30
  Mosul resistance group 'kills 23 Saudi fighters'
Mon 2015-06-29
  US air strikes target militants near border in east Afghanistan
Sun 2015-06-28
  Activists: ISIS fighters kill 200 civilians in Kobani
Sat 2015-06-27
  UN chief condemns 'appalling' attacks in France, Tunisia, Kuwait
Fri 2015-06-26
  Man decapitated in ISIS attack in France
Thu 2015-06-25
  Deadly IS car bomb in Kobani
Wed 2015-06-24
  39 Killed, Dozens Wounded in South Yemen Clashes
Tue 2015-06-23
  Taliban attack Afghan parliament, seize second district in north
Mon 2015-06-22
  Air strikes kill 15 in Yemen attacks: Houthi media
Sun 2015-06-21
  Witness: ISIS publicly executes 25 'spies' in Mosul
Sat 2015-06-20
  ISIS beheads three of its own amid fighting and regime raids in Syria
Fri 2015-06-19
  Al-Qaeda War against ISIS in East of Libya
Thu 2015-06-18
  Chad bans Islamic face veil after suicide bombings
Wed 2015-06-17
  US targets leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen with CIA drone strike
Tue 2015-06-16
  Kurdish forces seize most of Islamic State-controlled border town

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