[DAWN] WHILE yesterday’s meeting between the Afghan ambassador and the army chief resulted in the reopening of the Torkham crossing after nearly four days of closure, a more permanent solution is needed to end border concerns between Afghanistan and Pakistain. Following the Bacha Khan University attack in Charsadda in January, the security establishment here decided to try and finally tackle the Torkham problem. The legendary, and also infamous, border crossing has long been a source of problems for both the Afghan and Pak states -- mixing with the mass of humanity that uses the border crossing each day is believed to be a significant holy warrior element, such as the one that the security establishment says was involved in the university attack. Aware that the Afghan state, which does not recognise the Durand Line and fiercely resists anything resembling border fencing, may not have reacted positively to Pak requests for cooperation, a unilateral plan was developed. At the official border crossing itself, valid paperwork would be eventually required for all those seeking to enter Pakistain. Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, Bossy's udder had begun to ache... to prevent illegal crossings from nearby areas, a fence would be constructed inside Pak territory on either side of the Torkham crossing.
The Pak plan appears reasonable and can create a template to monitor cross-border human traffic. But all plans must be implemented in a manner that minimises on-ground tensions. The Afghan response, while predictably hostile, may also have been exacerbated by the unilateral actions that Pakistain has taken. Instead of immediately attempting to erect a fence, perhaps the Pak state should have first used the full spectrum of its diplomatic and military contacts to explain the situation to Afghan officials. Through diplomacy and military-to-military contacts a picture could have been painted of how Pakistain’s proposal would serve the interests of both the Afghan and Pak states and people, and that it is militancy and criminality that would be most affected. As for the Afghan concern that the transit rights of local populations might be curbed through the new measures, an awareness campaign could go some way towards encouraging Afghan nationals to acquire passports or other necessary travel documents.
What is unacceptable, however, is the escalation of military tensions along the border as was evident in the last few days. The brinkmanship that the Afghan and Pak security establishments find all too easy to indulge in must stop. The Torkham crossing also has a significant humanitarian dimension, with many Afghans relying on it for access to healthcare and for family reasons. Given that the very reason for the Pak attempt to institute new measures at Torkham was to ensure legitimate traffic, it is wrong to punish the people who have relied on the crossing for genuine needs. Moreover, Afghanistan and Pakistain have enough troubles of late to deal with for yet another issue to be added to the mix. Such tensions should not be allowed to recur.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2016 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Resentment over the Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britannia and La Belle France that carved up the Middle East from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire remains, 100 years later, a major factor in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... 's foreign policy.
The May 1916 accord, signed by two British and French diplomats as defeat began to loom in World War I for Germany and its allies, created spheres of influence in the Ottoman-ruled Middle East which to a large extent helped define the borders of modern states including Syria, Leb, Iraq and Israel.
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Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/15/2016 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Sykes-Picot, one of the less brilliant pages in European history.
Russia lost Poland, the Baltic States, and Finland, later to be reclaimed for nearly 50 years (and looking to do so again). Germany lost the Danzig Corridor, African and Pacific colonies. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken up into several countries. Get over it.
[Breitbart] The Daily Show tried to parody Donald Trump's rhetorical attacks with a new nickname, "Weak Donald." How much sadder does Trevor Noah's run have to get before Comedy Central mercifully pulls the plug?
Noah is yet another fatherless, self-proclaimed progressive [kommunis], and product of former BBC Executive Gray Hofmeyr.
#3
Reporters inquired of the Donald,
"On which rock-ribbed rogue are you modeled?"
He quipped, "Elephino!
There's one thing for sure, though...
I'll trumpet as if I were Ronald."
[DAWN] THANK GOD for small mercies! David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... forgot to include Pakistain among his "fantastically corrupt" countries. Nevertheless, the Panama Papers may prove to be the proverbial last straw that breaks the camel’s back of leadership corruption in Pakistain. Or it may not.
The COAS has pronounced on the issue and taken action in his military backyard. He avoided meeting the prime minister until recently and then, reportedly, only to warn him to quickly clean up his own mess. The ’united opposition’ has formulated several questions for the prime minister to answer if and when he comes to parliament. So far he has chosen to ’fight fire with fire’ in a transparent effort to avoid accountability. One of the opposition parties is possibly even more corrupt than the ruling party. This, of course, should provide no cover to a sitting prime minister.
An anti-corruption summit has been held in London. Did our prime minister fear he would cut too pathetic and ridiculous a figure if he attended? He has not been too busy battling the demons of corruption at home. Or was he too disgusted by Cameron’s proposal to ban foreign ’dirty money’ from acquiring properties in the UK by requiring upfront the names of the ’beneficial owners’ of these properties?
Some of our print and media pundits suggest we should accept the ’fantastic corruption’ of our elected leaders as the political norm from which there is no escape. So like the Biblical ’Gideon swine’, are we supposed to rush towards the cliffs of political extinction?
Mid-century, 2050, is less than 34 years away. The population of Pakistain by then will be between 350 and 400 million. We already face a calamitous convergence of several lethal trends. Apart from the population bomb, these relate to climate, pollution, disease, water, food insecurity, law and order, education, basic rights, essential entitlements, family supporting jobs, nuclear doctrines and deployments, no-war no-peace and zero-sum regional strategies, obsolete budgetary allocations, medieval and nihilist mindsets interpreting divine injunctions, etc.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] WHEN the Sharifs were first sent queries on the Panama Papers towards the turn of the year by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), they demonstrably received very poor counsel.
There are suggestions that every effort was made to have Ms Maryam Nawaz’s name removed from the list. Those trying to get this done had little idea how organizations such as the ICIJ work.
Nonetheless, the thinking behind these efforts reflected the division of labour (for want of a better expression) in the first family where the prime minister’s sons have taken over and run his part of the business empire mostly from abroad as they have considerable interests overseas.
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Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] THE recent brutal murders of secular and atheist bloggers, gay rights activists, academics and writers in Bangladesh have shocked the world.
Outfits claiming to be affiliates of the Death EaterIslamic 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.... (IS) group have claimed the credit. In Pakistain, too, several civil society members who opposed fundamentalism have been murdered in broad daylight. In both countries, few of the perpetrators have been jugged
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Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2016 00:00 ||
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[AlAhram] A rebel onslaught on the town of Khan Touman near Aleppo last week delivered one of the biggest battlefield setbacks yet to the coalition of foreign Shia fighters waging war on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
Reports put the corpse count among the Iranian, Afghani and Lebanese faceless myrmidons as high as 80 in the attack spearheaded by the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. At least 17 of the dead were Iranians, seemingly the highest toll in a battle outside the Islamic Theocratic Republic's borders since the Iran-Iraq war.
"Pray for us, we can't move. There are 83 of us in one room. We're waiting for artillery backup so we can pull back," an Iranian fighter wrote in a WhatsApp message, quoted by state-run Iranian website Jaam-e-Jam. "God willing, we are martyred rather than taken prisoner."
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Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/15/2016 10:48 ||
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#1
Keep on killing them. Who says the IS is all bad?
;-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/15/2016 12:16 Comments ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Senior Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine died in a "huge blast" near Damascus, the krazed killer group confirmed via statement published by their media mouthpiece Al Manar on Friday. Badreddine’s death marks a victory for those affected by his involvement in attacks dating back to the 80s, reportedly including the deadly suicide truck bombing attack that left over 200 US soldiers dead in Beirut in 1983 as well as the bombings targeting the French and US embassies in Kuwait the same year, according to the New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... Notably, initial reporting by Al-Mayadeen blamed Israel for the fatal attack, claiming that an Israeli Air Force (IAF) strike successfully targeted Badreddine’s position. But, curiously, that article was reportedly erased, raising two key questions: Was it simply factually incorrect and did some other party opposed to Hezbollah manage to kill Badreddine, securing an incredible success, or is Hezbollah attempting to distance itself from blaming Israel so that it is not faced with intense pressure to directly retaliate against the country?
It is possible that Israel saw a strategic opportunity to hit Badreddine and assessed that the likelihood such an operation would spark broader conflict remained low. Certainly, the losses Hezbollah has suffered in Syria and the bloodshed it has failed to prevent on its own soil in Leb has not put it in a favorable position to engage in direct conflict with Israel at this stage. If the krazed killer group formally and publicly blamed Israel, its supporters would likely intensify calls for a more spectacular attack on Israel than planting an IED on the country’s border.
Remaining quiet
While Israel has predictably remained quiet about its operation or lack thereof, the US formally denied it had any involvement in the attack, with White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest confirming that there were "no United States or coalition aircraft in the area" during the time of Badreddine’s death. If the Hezbollah commander did not die in an IAF attack and instead was killed by rival fighters on the ground, it would mark a rather humiliating and unremarkable end to a long, murderous career.
Hezbollah released a statement in the coming hours indicating that "takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... groups" were responsible for the kaboom which killed the military commander. Through this statement, the krazed killer group is demonstrating that it remains capable and willing to strike back against whichever party it believes killed Badreddine.
Interestingly, Hezbollah MP Nawar al-Saheli’s reportedly blamed Israel for the attack, noting that their culpability was certain and vowing that, "The resistance will carry out its duties at the appropriate time." It would be premature to assess Badreddine’s death ‐ despite his status and the loss it represents to the organization ‐ will provoke broader conflict with Israel in the immediate term.
According to the statement released by Hezbollah about Badreddine’s death, he himself recently said, "I won't come back from Syria unless as a martyr or a carrier of the banner of victory." Ultimately now, the banner of victory is being carried not by Badreddine but by the victims of his deadly attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Mustafa Badreddine died in a "huge blast"
Only Muzzies themselves do huge blasts to take out one man.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] It is the enemy within that a diminished Europe is facing now; the alienated sons and daughters of its former colonial subjects are being inspired by the enchanting sirens coming from the self-appointed high priests of sacred Islamist violence in the faraway former provinces of the empire, calling on them to wage a relentless war of terror to dismantle their societies, and to seek redemption and martyrdom in the thrill to kill.
A diminished continent
It is a sign of these modern brittle times that three men laden with explosives and unfathomable hatreds can bring a European country, nay a continent to a standstill, while casually strolling into an airport and unloading their wrath. It may be too late for Europe to raise its drawbridges, man the ramparts and enlarge the moat; fortified Europe is a thing of the past. In the age of empire, rebellious subjects in distant provinces were subdued by expeditionary forces fighting them on their grounds. Now the enemy is within, living in small enclaves inside the city, and is familiar with Europe’s ways, habits and vulnerabilities. Instead of dispatching bands of would be Jihadists from Arab and Muslim lands to wreak havoc in the heart of Europe, the so-called Caliphate which has attracted tens of thousands of fighters, including a sizable number from Europe, can simply train them in the art of terror and send them back on a last visit to the countries they have abandoned, or just inspire from afar new recruits to attack the enemy from behind.
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.
David Cameron
