[DAWN] IT was a familiar missive before Eid, though the contents were anything but. Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... , the reclusive, powerful leader of the Afghan Taliban, appears to have chimed in with his support for talks with the Afghan government led by President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. . Consider the several ways in which the Taliban supremo's cautious, almost veiled endorsement of talks -- the statement attributed to Mullah Omar made no mention of the Murree meeting -- is still an important milestone. For one, there has been persistent speculation, especially in the IS camp and among Taliban hardline field commanders, that Mullah Omar may not be alive. For another, the recent Taliban-Afghan government interaction in Urumqi was dismissed forcefully by a Taliban spokesperson. In addition, the Afghan Taliban had long rejected the idea of talks with the Afghan government, demanding instead to speak to the American-led occupation force. There is, therefore, at the very minimum, a great deal of interest in Mullah Omar's statement of support for the idea of talks -- this being a radical break from the past.
What could have nudged the Taliban supreme leader to lend his tacit support to talks? There appear to be at least three reasons. One, the Pak security establishment has seemingly decided to up the ante and put further pressure on the Afghan Taliban to come to the negotiating table. Two, the Afghan Taliban appear to be wary of ingress by IS, which while it has not yet demonstrated a meaningful capability inside Afghanistan, does continue to seemingly chip away at the monolithic Afghan Taliban. The US drone strikes in Afghanistan that have targeted Lions of Islam who have aligned themselves with IS suggest a common enemy of the US and the Afghan Taliban that perhaps could be used to help lower tensions between the two. Third, the Afghan Taliban appear to, at the very least, have internal tensions, if not divisions, about the way ahead. Mullah Omar, in lending his support to the idea of talks, has indicated on which side of the hardliner-moderate divide he would prefer the Taliban to be. From here on, it should begin to become clear on which side of that divide the various field commanders stand. It is difficult to imagine many turning against the leader who has dominated the Afghan Taliban for over 20 years, but there is a new generation to contend with. The months ahead should be very interesting, and possibly crucial.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2015 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] We are shocked by the vicious murder of Sheikh Samiul Alam Rajon, the 13-year-old boy, who was tied to a pole and tortured to death by a group of men in Kumargon, Sylhet.
It is difficult to imagine the anguish his family must be enduring as the nation learns of the 28 minute video of his barbaric torture which was filmed and uploaded by his killers.
The video contains harrowing footage of the horrific beating and torture Rajon was subjected to by a group of five or six individuals, before he departed this vale of tears.
Some comfort can be taken from the fact that the prime accused has been placed on a five-day remand by the Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate. It is fortuitous that he was detained last week after being caught red-handed trying to dump Rajon's body.
Now that a murder case has been formally filed, the police must ensure the immediate apprehension and arrest of all the accused's accomplices.
The damning evidence that the tormentors have provided of themselves brutally laughing and jeering as they tortured their victim, can be used to quickly bring them to justice.
Nothing can excuse or explain why they brazenly boasted about their sickening depravity. But everyone knows that no one should be allowed to get away with murder.
Rajon's killers must be held to account and punished to the full extent of the law.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2015 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] It is disgraceful that it was not until after a video showing an orphanage official beating up two maidens of tender years in Barisal went viral that authorities took any action to stop their abuse.
The 18-minute-long video posted last weekend shows the two eight and nine-year-old girls being continually hit by a health assistant of the orphanage.
While the staff member involved has been suspended following intervention by the DC and social welfare department, the orphanage superintendent has shown indifference by saying the girls were subjected to "disciplinary actions" after wandering off the premises. This shows total disregard for the outlawing of corporal punishment in all educational institutions.
Unfortunately, we cannot be surprised that a public official with a duty of care towards children should openly express such indifference to the law.
As the shocking murder of Sheikh Samiul Alam Rajon, the 13-year-old boy tortured to death in Sylhet, shows, people habitually look away from violence against others.
Sadly, we believe these examples of callousness in the face of brutality are not rare outliers. The indifference shown reflects a deep-seated tolerance for disrespect and assaults against other persons that is embedded in our society.
Everyone has seen the impunity with which poor rickshaw-pullers get hit all the time by law enforcement officers. Many people do not give a second thought to hitting someone physically weaker or socially less powerful than themselves, whether it be a child, spouse, or servant. An even greater number look the other way, or seek to justify their actions.
We must change the ingrained mindset that considers beating people up as sometimes acceptable, when violence should never be tolerated.
If we want to prevent the most extreme forms of violence, we have to stop ignoring and indulging violence within households.
We have to stop tolerating all forms of physical abuse.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2015 00:00 ||
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[DCWhispers] Since becoming President of the United States and this nation's Commander in Chief, Barack Obama has had a consistently strained relationship between himself and the U.S. military. It appears that relationship has reached an all new low following what some are indicating to be among the most lopsided and disastrous negotiations in all of American history.
General Dempsey is said to have made repeated overtures to the White House in the final weeks of the now infamous Iran nuclear negotiations. The primary sticking point was the administration's initial desire to immediately lift restrictions on conventional weapons sales to the Iranian government, an action lobbied for heavily by both Russia and China who hope to make billions off of future military deals with Iran.
Dempsey was repeatedly pushed off to State Department officials who assured the Joint Chiefs Chairman his concerns would be "shared with others" within the State Department and that he would be better served limiting the sharing of his views with Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter. This process is rumored to have first annoyed Dempsey and then eventually infuriated him to the point he was openly criticizing a sitting president to military staff, something said to be well beyond his normal pattern of behavior.
"General Dempsey has always been a company guy. That's why the White House put him there. They wanted someone who kept quiet and followed orders. That relationship began to fall apart during the Iran nuclear negotiations and then blew up in the final days when he went to Congress and on record issued a public ultimatum. There was to be no immediate allowance for weapons sales to Iran by other nations. Instead, the Obama White House and Iranian representatives agreed to continue freezing such sales for an additional five to eight years. The White House blinked."
If he was feeling any satisfaction over getting at least some of his concerns finally addressed, General Dempsey was apparently not sharing that satisfaction with those around him. Instead, staff close to the general had this to say regarding the Obama White House:
"Rank amateurs and the most dangerous kind of arrogance. China dominated these negotiations from the beginning to the end and the White House seemed more than happy to let it happen."
#3
I cannot believe that the POTUS has willingly allowed Iran to have the bomb.
What planet are we living on? Does anybody remember Christopher Hitchens saying Hezbollah (Iran) had changed their icon for use at rallies to be a mushroom cloud?
Obama is the worst US president in history. Under his watch we have:
* Nuclear armed Iran
* Rise of IS, unchecked
* Rise of domestic Islamofascism, unchecked and denied
* Race riots. Ironic as he is the first black president.
Holy crap.
I am living in a nation of 20 million people that depends on the US for existence. less than 100km to the north lies a 250-million Islamic nation with a rising tide of Islamofascism, where Hizb ut-Tahrir rallied last month with 300,000 members - like the Nuremburg rallies. A nation that has made compulsory halal certification on all food, pharma and cosmetics meaning ordinary citizens must subsidise the building of mosques and the further spread of Islamofascism.
Indonesia. Better troops and weapons than Australia.
We rely on the US security guarantee to stop the Indons from invading us.
#8
Some pundit stated that the only way it would be easier for Iran to get the nuke would be if we supplied them one from our arsenal.
King Hussein and his surrender monkeys have made the U.S. far less safe than it was in 2008. Got the Nobel; now going for the Neville Chamberlain award (WWIII).
#9
2009 – Fort Hood, 13 killed, 29 wounded–many permanently disabled
2009 – Arkansas recruiting station, one killed, a second wounded
2010 – Pentagon shooting by a 9/11 truther, two wounded
2013 – Washington Navy Yard shooting, 13 killed, three injured
2014 – Norfolk Naval Base, one killed
2014 – Fort Hood AGAIN–three killed, 14 injured
2015 – Chattanooga, 4 Marines at the Navy Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve Center killed, two others wounded at a local recruiting station
He and his cabal don't have your back. You're expendable for his narrative.
#10
Joint Chiefs should probably keep quiet since they have had plenty of opportunities to resign and make a point and have refused to. I'm thinking primarily about Champs pullout of forces from Iraq but there have been other debacles.
#12
Australia should have enlarged their military long ago. They've got everything required except the will to do so. Having said that I think you overestimate the quality of Indonesian troops/equipment. They could cut Australian trade but an attempted invasion would be a cluster for them.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAWN] IT was a familiar missive before Eid, though the contents were anything but. 
[DCWhispers] Since becoming President of the United States and this nation's Commander in Chief, Barack Obama has had a consistently strained relationship between himself and the U.S. military. It appears that relationship has reached an all new low following what some are indicating to be among the most lopsided and disastrous negotiations in all of American history.
