Navy patrols and armed guards on ships have helped supress once rampant Somali piracy, but without political solutions on the ground attacks are likely to return, the World Bank warned on Thursday.
Political solutions to be financed by the World Bank and administered by the UNHCR, of course...
Although the number of pirate attacks from Somalia are at a three-year low, expensive measures including international patrols in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean are not a long-term solution to the problem, it said in a report. Co-author Quy-Toan Do said, "These are only effective as long as they remain in place: they would have to be permanent to prevent any resurgence of piracy. Because of the high cost of these counter-measures, in the long run they may simply be unsustainable."
The report noted that a long term solution is "first and foremost political". It said, "Pirates rely on onshore support to conduct negotiations and to secure safe access to coastal territories. In turn, politically powerful figures capture large portions of the profits associated with piracy," it added, calculating that between $315-385 million has been paid in ransoms since 2005.
But the cost to world trade is higher still, the report said, noting that while an estimated $53 million was paid on average annually in ransoms since 2005, with an estimated $18 billion yearly loss to the world economy in terms of increased cost of trade.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/12/2013 20:29 Comments ||
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#2
"The report noted that a long term solution is "first and foremost political"."
Bullshit.
The long-term solution is to kill every goddam one of them you find and leave them for shark food. Sharks don't have a sophisticated palate - they'll eat just about any flesh.
Posted by: Barbara ||
04/12/2013 20:58 Comments ||
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#3
Bullshit.
Yeah, what Barbara said. Although I would couch the solution as economic - as long as being a pirate is a good job, there will be pirates. Killing every goddamn one is certainly a way to raise the costs.
Four more F-16 fighter jets left the U.S. on Thursday headed for Egypt as part of a foreign aid package that has generated controversy given the political upheaval in the Mideast country.
These are four of the twenty promised to Egypt under the arms deal we noted earlier this year. Champ is going ahead with deliveries despite the outcry, and despite common sense...
A source who works on the naval air base in Fort Worth, Texas, confirmed to FoxNews.com the departure of the state-of-the-art fighter planes. The new shipment brings the total number of F-16 jets given to Egypt this year to 12. Eight more F-16s will be given to the Egyptian government before the end of the year as part of a billion-dollar foreign aid deal signed in 2010 with then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a longtime U.S. ally. The U.S. also will send 200 Abrams tanks.
Critics, including several in Congress, say it doesn't make sense to follow through with the package. While current Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi has toned down his rhetoric since his election last summer, in 2010 Morsi attacked Obama for supporting Israel.
"One American president after another -- and most recently, that Obama -- talks about American guarantees for the safety of the Zionists in Palestine," Morsi, then a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, said on Egyptian TV in reaction to Obama's 2009 speech in Cairo. "[Obama] was very clear when he uttered his empty words on the land of Egypt. He uttered many lies."
Some in Congress worry that the F-16 gift betrays America's friendship with Israel.
"Friends don't send U.S. taxpayer- funded F-16s and tanks to the enemies of their friends," Rep. Gohmert, R-Texas, told FoxNews.com.
The State Department declined to comment on the specific movement of any military equipment, but officials released a statement to FoxNews.com defending the United States' "strategic" ties to Egypt, "with whom we have a long history of close political-military relations that have benefited key U.S. interests."
The statement also noted that U.S. military cooperation supports the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
How much longer will that be around?
"The Egyptian military has long had cordial ties with Israel
...not withstanding the mild disagreements with their bestest friends in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973...
and is a pillar of support for the peace treaty within the Egyptian Government," the statement said. "We are committed to maintaining Israel's Qualitative Military Edge in the region. These F-16s represent no threat to Israel because Israel has more advanced aircraft and weapons than the F-16."
But some security experts say that aid to Egypt will simply prop up a bad regime.
"U.S. aid packages limit, rather than leverage, Washington's ability to extract meaningful concessions from Cairo on democratic reform. Sending arms conveys a tacit indifference to Morsi's authoritarian tendencies, including its harassment and intimidation of regime critics," said Malou Innocent, a foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute.
She added that America also can't afford the spending.
"American taxpayers have been Egypt's major arms supplier, subsidizing the supply of F-16 jet fighters, M1A1 Abrams battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, Apache helicopters, and hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus military equipment."
In addition, the U.S. government also paid at least $83 million to upgrade facilities and provide training at the Egyptian military's "Cairo West Air Base" to accommodate the new F-16s.
That's new news.
Some security experts say the spending is worth it.
"I think this is the only way to ensure the stability of the Camp David Accords (the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.) Is that worth it? Yes," Anthony Cordesman, who has served as a consultant for the State and Defense departments and who holds the Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told FoxNews.com. The planes themselves, he said, are less important than the message they send.
"Canceling a few F-16s isn't going to be a game changer in itself, but it'd change perceptions in the Arab world. They would see how quickly the U.S. could turn away when there's a crisis," Cordesman said.
No, they'd see the U.S. turn away from a Muslim Brotherhood nutter. That might deliver a useful message...
The statement from State Department officials also warned that revoking the aid could have disastrous consequences.
"Delaying or canceling deliveries of the F-16 aircraft would undermine our efforts to address our regional security interests through a more capable Egyptian military and send a damaging and lasting signal to Egypt's civilian and military leadership as we work toward a democratic transition in this key Middle Eastern state," the statement said.
Okay, I'll bite. Explain to me what the security threats are to Egypt today. Israel? Israel has a peace treaty with Egypt, and Israel has other worries. Last thing they're going to do is attack Egypt. Israel would be happy to see the border with Egypt remain quiet for the next hundred years. Libya? Libya is defanged. Sudan? Sudan has a joke of a military, good only for oppressing Darfur. Cyprus? Broke. Mauritania? Too far away.
So explain to me what the key regional security interest is such that Egypt needs, today, right now, more F-16s and Abrams tanks. Egypt has plenty of military hardware; most of it now is western-made and apparently western-maintained. And according to the Egyptian generals, the mighty Egyptian army and air force is ready to defend the motherland, you betcha. So tell me what the threat is. I'm waiting.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/12/2013 10:22 ||
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#1
Okay, I'll bite. Explain to me what the security threats are to Egypt today.
#2
Explain to me what the security threats are to Egypt today.
MB. The only 'in country' counter is the military. How do you make them play the game without being played yourself? [see - Benghazi] It can be done, but the idiots in the beltway aren't likely to be able to pull it off. Then again the irony would be for The One to be the manipulating [as though he isn't domestically - sarc] imperialist that he's denounced America for being for most of his aggrieved socialist life.
#4
How much flight practice are the pilots going to get, given that Egypt is experiencing a severe fuel shortage? Not of airplane fule as such, but overall...
#5
When I was stationed @ Pax River, Strike Aircraft, we had a Hornet that belonged to the Suadis doing some testing. Seems our pilot was of the non-male variety and when the Saudis found out they had a major fit. not only did we have to swap out the seat cushions, we had to install a brand new seat. maybe we should have some of the female pilots ferry these things over to the MB and then after tossing down their flight bags, just walk away and let them figure out how to uncontaminate the seats. you know, cuz they got gurl cooties all over them.
[Jpost] Libya on Thursday released four Egyptian Christians who spent more than a month in jail after being accused of proselytizing, Egypt's state news agency MENA said.
Quoting church sources, MENA said Libyan authorities had dropped the charges against them. A fifth placed in durance vile Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! Egyptian died in a Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... prison last month, it added.
The release comes after Egypt extradited two members of the regime of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland and was then murdered by his indignant subjects 42 years later... earlier this month. An Egyptian court barred the extradition of a cousin of Qadaffy claiming to hold Egyptian citizenship.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday lambasted the government for the arrest of Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman and demanded his immediate release.
In a written statement sent to media houses, the opposition leader termed Mahmudur as patriot and dauntless and expressed deep concern over the arrest of the Bangla daily editor.
Khaledas statement came nearly an hour after Mahmudur was placed on a 13-day remand in connection with three cases.
Earlier, main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has demanded immediate release of Mahmudur. Terming the arrest as undemocratic and dictatorial, BNP spokesperson Shamsuzzaman Dudu said: It is also one of the examples of repression on media by the government.
And if there's anything the BNP knows anything about it's undemocratic and dictatorial actions...
Also an adviser of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, Dudu was addressing a press conference at the paritys headquarters at Nayapaltan in the capital soon after the arrest.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/12/2013 00:00 ||
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#4
Face it. Japan can no longer depend on being under the U.S. Nuclear Umbrella - at lest not with Obama-Jarret in the White house. They may not have any choice but to go Nuclear - and they can go *very* nuclear in a very short period of time. And how about South Korea?
I don't think China would like that one bit. They need to curb their dog.
#5
I don't think China would like that one bit. They need to curb their dog.
I disagree. We want Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia to go nuclear. That would pretty much put the "check and check-mate" on China's expansion plans.
We, the US, are mostly a non-player from a will standpoint and we might not be back for a long time.
I've begun to believe the Left's takeover is inevitable. Especially after talking to the young and coworkers.
Too many stupid people that think the government should be their nanny.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
04/12/2013 16:55 Comments ||
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#6
Agree that it would be good for Us (the free world) - but as I said China wouldn't like it.
#7
Oh, I agree that they won't like it. I was disagreeing about curbing their dog. Let the dog yap, let China reap their rewards.
They've been a party to these games a long time, they've earned whatever they get. And Pyongyang needs to be glassed.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
04/12/2013 19:01 Comments ||
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#8
See also RENSE > [Guardian.UK] KOREA IS THE FOCUS, BUT THIS IS CHINA VERSUS JAPAN. BEIJING HAS ABSOLUTE CONTROL OVER NORTH KOREA, THIS CRISIS IS ALL ABOUT DISPUTED ISLANDS [UW Resources, strategic access] AND SECURITY FOR OIL SUPPLIES.
ARTIC = Ditto ultimately as per US-vs-China = China's "Manifest Destiny" + other.
"THE TRUTH", AS THEY SAY, FLOWS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ALL OF THE ABOVE, + LIKELY A FEW NONE HAS CONSIDERED OR DISCOVERED YET.
But-t-t, "What does Truth have to do wid Politics [includ but not limited to Geopolitics]", as another adage sayeths.
#10
And it would get rid of the ugly Ryugyong Hotel, too.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/12/2013 21:07 Comments ||
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#11
Tokyo to be hit by the DPRK iff any war breaks out of iff Japan shoots down its Missle(s).
* RELATED DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > NORTH KOREAN PAPER WARNS OF JAPAN NUKE CATASTROPHE - HISPANIC BUSINESS.
NOKOR threatens to strike any + all of Nippon's NucEnergy plants + nuclear-related sites.
* SAME > ZHANG LIANGUI, MOST QUOTED CHINESE EXPERT/ANALYST ON NORTH KOREA, ESTIMATES 70-80% CHANCE OF WAR.
* SAME > [Policymic.com] WAR WID NORTH KOREA: SMALLPOX + BIOWEAPONS [ + ChemWar, Mixed/Hybrid Weapons, "Dual-Use" Techs] ARE THE REAL THREAT, NOT NUKES.
* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > [Jewish Press] IRANIAN MILITARY CHIEF VOWS TO DEFEND NORTH KOREA FROM US?
Deputy CoS for Armed Forces MGEN. Masood Jazahiri.
I'M NOT SHOCKED, I TELL YA, I'M NOT SHOCKED!
* KYODO NEWS > JAPAN TO LOCATE MISSLE DEFENSE SYSTEM ON OKINAWA PERMANENTLY.
Guam's Washington Delegate Rep. Madeleione Bordallo is repor also pushing for some kind of permament BMDS for Guam.
Any Guam BMD would be Mid to End-Phase interception - NICE, BUT NOT ENUFF BY ITSELF AS THE US WILL ALSO HAVE TO PREVENT THE "DPRK" = MOTHERLY PLA AIRBORNE FORCES FROM DROPPING IN ON THE CNMI FOR "NON-MWR PURPOSES" = ARMED INVASION.
IMO the US = USDOD should base LR ABM-BMDS on Tinian, Saipan, + espec IWO JIMA = BONINS, + Guam, CNMI-based USN AEGIS surface ships.
RELATED DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > JMSDF, ROK NAVY, US NAVY DEPLOYED AEGIS DESTROYERS TO POSSIBLY INTERCEPT NORTH KOREAN MISSLE.
Nice, but I'm on Guam - as China desires to have both Guam + Hawaii [ + SSSHHHH 1/2 or more of CONUS-NORAM for "living space"] - you know, seeing the USA contained to EASTPAC circa 2020 or ASAP after - IMO THE MOST REALISTIC THREAT FROM THE "DPRK" = CHINA IS ANTI-COMMUNICATIONS, POWER GRID EMP DETONATIONS, COMMANDO OPS, + ESPEC PLA AIRBORNE FORCES ASSAULT.
Guam = TAIWAN = what matters to China is that the islands are taken, NOT how many casualties the PLA suffers in doing so.
* CHOSUN ILBO > WILL WASHINTON SEND MORE NUKES TO SOUTH KOREA {+ WESTPAC = includ Guam, Japan]?
#12
We must also bear in mind that Pakistan, where Radical Islamist groups may formally share Govt. power after 2014, is now Iran's BFF + strategic partner, + that Nuke-wannabe, OWG Caliphate-happy Iran intends to use Pakistan's LR startegic nuclear arsenal as a defensive cover agz US or US-led attack or invasion.
IOW, ANY LR NUKES FIRED AT GUAM, ETC. ISN'T ONLY FROM NE ASIA REGION, OR FROM THE DPRK OR CHINA.
Or even from IRAN???
US-VS-CHINA-VS-NUCLEAR-ISLAM/ISLAMISM in Asia or Asia-Pacific.
WASHINGTON -- A U.S. military intelligence agency believes that North Korea has learned how to mount nuclear bombs on ballistic missiles, a U.S. congressman said Thursday, citing a classified report.
Did their Chinese masters slip this to the Norks while making a show of disciplining them?
But the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) still questions whether the secretive nation has mastered the sophisticated technology, according to Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO). In a congressional hearing, he quoted the report as saying, "DIA assesses with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles; however the reliability will be low."
Both Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, refused to discuss the issue in the hearing, saying it is pertinent to a classified document.
The U.S. and its allies have paid keen attention to whether the North has succeeded in miniaturizing a nuclear bomb to be launched by missile. The DIA's evaluation, if confirmed, likely would further raise public concerns about North Korea's threats. The North has conducted three nuclear tests and carried out several ballistic missile launches.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/12/2013 00:00 ||
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I sure the armed forces of Cold War-era East Germany + other WARSAW PACT states possessed the local knowledge + proficiency to install + dev indigenous Nukes-WMDS.
THE ISSUE IS WHOM CONTROLS = PUSHES THE LAUNCH BUTTONS, WHICH WASN'T THE EAST GERMANS OR OTHER "PACT/SOVIET BLOC" GOVTS, MILITARY ORGS.
And so it is wid NORTH KOREA - the Top Eggs-in-charge are NOT Korean, BUT CHINESE PLA COMMANDERS WHOM TAKE THEIR ORDERS FROM BEIJING, NOT PYONGYANG OR THE KIM FAMILY.
Selective Autonomy = NOT the same as "Sovereign Control" when refeering to Communist systems.
Just pass a law saying you can't have nukes unless you pass a background check. North Korea problem solved.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/12/2013 15:26 Comments ||
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#5
Look what former Shuttle Houston CapCom had to say about NKor rockets and min sized bombs:
Los Angeles is 9,580 air-kilometers from Pyongyang. Chicago is 10,464 km. But we're led to believe that Chicago is unreachable. Why?
Because, I believe, someone, unable to be certain of the actual range, picked 10,000 km as a theoretical range. And that was based on the now-debunked idea that NK would not have a light warhead.
Unha 3 weighed 91 tonnes at liftoff.
Thor-Able, first flown in 1958, weighed just under 52 tonnes and could boost a 318 kg test reentry vehicle (the RV part of which was so light that it had to carry ballast) to a range of 10,137 km. It became apparent to some that Thor-Able could be made into an ICBM with even longer range (they even named it "Thoric"), but USAF quashed that idea.
If the U.S. could do that with such a small rocket in 1958, there is no reason North Korea could not do it today with more mass to play with.
- Ed Kyle
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/12/2013 20:23 Comments ||
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North Korea threatened to "burn to the ground" several South Korean media including the Chosun Ilbo.
A spokesman for the North Korean press association said, "Vicious conservative South Korean media -- namely the Chosun Ilbo, Donga Ilbo, Munhwa Ilbo and Segye Ilbo -- are showing hysterical insanity to prevent the force of our nuclear arms from spreading to the South. If these state-flattering hacks are left undeterred, the only consequence would be war."
North Korea labors under the impression that the South Korean media are or should be as tightly controlled as its own, recently citing as a reason for the closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex insults to its "dignity" in the South Korean press.
You're doing it wrong, boys, you want to get the newspapers on your side so that they censor themselves. Ask Champ and the White House for details...
The North Korean propaganda site also Uriminzokkiri named the Munhwa Ilbo and Segye Ilbo as targets to be "mowed" down for criticizing a hare-brained new North Korean strategy of promoting nuclear arms and economic development in tandem.
A Unification Ministry official said, "It's all part of North Korea's psychological warfare against the South and probably also a frantic show of loyalty to the regime."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/12/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
The Norks want the same deal the islamofascists got after 9/11: submission to Rushdie Rules and, of course lots and lots of danegeld.
The US CJCS, in his official capacity, did lecture a non-Muslim American who's residing in the US on the proper way to obey Sharia. That's not satire, it is reality.
Why shouldn't nuclear North Korea get an even better deal than non-nuclear Afghanistan?
The Nork's demands actually aren't insanely out of line. It is the West that has gone mad and they're just trying to cash in.
</rant>
#2
..on the other hand, bombing the World Trade Tower, then the embassies in Africa, then the Cole, created a mindset on the other side that they assumed they could get away with anything too. Till that one morning...
North Korea repeatedly concealed and uncovered Musudan missiles with a range of 3,000 to 4,000 km after moving them to Wonsan, Kangwon Province as if to attract the attention of South Korea and the U.S. The aim seems to confuse observers about any launch plans.
"Now you see them, now you don't," a government official in Seoul said. He added several launch platforms for Scud and Rodong missiles in South Hamgyong Province were also exposed to satellites several times. They have a range of between 300 and 1,500 km.
Japan's Kyodo News said it spotted a mobile missile launch platform in Wonsan put in an upright position ready for launch on a satellite picture. A Defense Ministry official here said Seoul has no such intelligence, though he did not rule out that this was part of the same deceptive tactics.
Right before it launched a space rocket on Dec. 12 last year, the North intentionally exposed a train carrying rocket components to satellite surveillance to make it look as if there had been a serious glitch.
Prior to the Norths third nuclear test in Punggye-ri, North Hamgyong Province in February this year, there was lively vehicle and personnel traffic at tunnels on both the western and southern sides of the test site, but the test took place on the western side.
"The North knows when the South Korean and U.S. surveillance satellites are flying overhead," a military source in Seoul said, "so it's probably taking advantage of that."
After the North on March 5 said it considered the Armistice that ended the Korean War null and void, both South Korean and U.S. military authorities raised Watchcon from Level 3 to Level 2. Since then, the Army, Navy, and Air Force have been operating their surveillance equipment and personnel around the clock, and an Air Force's Patriot Advanced Capability-2 unit, which is capable of intercepting incoming ballistic missiles, has been on alert all day every day.
It is conceivable that the North is simply trying to tire them out with these antics, experts said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/12/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
As of this Guam AM, two DPRK "Musudan" MBMS on their East Coast is now FIVE, of which the DPRK is playing satellite shell, erector games = PYSAT wid 2 of the 5.
#2
I suspect they're getting as much mileage out of them as they can without actually firing them, for fear that somebody actually will shoot them out of the sky if they get lit off.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/12/2013 9:34 Comments ||
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In a front-page column on Wednesday, the Chinese Communist Party's official People's Daily warned North Korea not to "miscalculate the situation."
That definitely looks like someone is yanking on the leash...
It was the most explicit warning yet from North Korea's sole ally not to overplay its hand.
The People's Daily carried a column by international affairs expert Hua Yiwen on the front page saying that even if North Korea has 100 reasons to build up defenses, it has no reason whatsoever to conduct a nuclear test or launch a ballistic missile in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. He added the North cannot shift responsibility for mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula since last year onto others.
The Global Times, an English-language sister newspaper of the People's Daily, sang to the same tune in an editorial titled "North Korea cannot justify its overreaction."
"The favorable opinion of the Chinese public toward Pyongyang is fading. This does no good to the North's long-term interests," it wrote.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/12/2013 00:00 ||
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China stands to take over the DPRK naturally or forcibly regardless iff by famine-led Regime-State collapse, war, or by free trade.
IMO Bejing + Pyongyang both know this, as best illustrated by recent MSM-Net Artics describing Beijing's seeming bypass of MilThreat-happy Kim Jong-un = North Korea in favor of new strategic rapprochment wid SOUTH KOREA???
TAIWAN IS REPOR TELLING ITS POPULATION THERE ISN'T ANYTHING TO FEAR, BUT DEEP DOWN I BELIEVE TAIWAN'S GOVT KNOWS ITS THE MAIN WAR/ATTACK TARGET FOR THE PLA'S MOTHERLY AIRBORNE FORCES.
#2
China stands to take over the DPRK naturally or forcibly
Well I have a deal for them!
The ROK, China and the US meet secretly (no NYT allowed). We all agree to divide North Korea on some suitable line. China gets what is north of the line, the ROK gets what is south. Each pledges non-interference with the other, yadda-yadda.
Just before the day all this happens China invites many of the Nork leaders to Beijing for 'consultations'. Suffice to say, they don't go home.
China and the ROK move, we follow with the food convoys, the people of North Korea get fed, and over time we de-program the crazy buggers. China gets resources and another outlet to the ocean, the ROK gets a fair measure of 'reunification', and we all get to see Pudgy and the generals swing.
It could work...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/12/2013 8:36 Comments ||
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#3
..to sweeten that pot, tell the Chinese we'll reduce our foot print in South Korea to a mere MAG team, mainly to help maintain existing systems we've sold them over the years, most of which will likely be civilian contractors.
#4
"Sorry about the rubble. We told them to knock it off, but you know how those guys are. Now if you'll excuse us, we have some business to attend to in the South China Sea."
#6
Well ... if you think about it - it's a 1-2-3 Punch for the USA.
First, Hugo Chavez is gone. So that takes out Venezuela. Next the US gets rid of Kim Jong-Un in Pyongyang. Then finally Israel gets rid of Ahmadinejad in Iran.
And then all the Bad Boyz are gone for good.
You have to admit - it's a very impressive plan if they pull it off. The world will certainly be a much better place :-)
China recently moved an Army corps close to the North Korean border and staged a live-fire exercise with tanks and self-propelled guns. Experts believe Beijing is taking no chances in case a North Korean provocation leads to an emergency.
The official Global Times on Monday reported that an armored brigade from a Shenyang mechanized infantry unit carried out live-fire maneuvers near the border on April 1.
Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun quoted a source in Dandong as saying the Chinese military has also stepped up vehicle patrols along the North Korean border.
Surveillance cameras have recently been installed on barbed wire fences along a 200 km-long section of the border between Hunchun and Helong in the Chinese province of Jilin on the Duman River, according to a source in Yanbian. The move seems to be part of China's preparations for a mass exodus of refugees from North Korea.
"Chinese military authorities installed the surveillance cameras after replacing poorly maintained barbed wire fences with new, 2 m-high ones over the past two years," the source added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/12/2013 00:00 ||
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Hmmmm. Is China about to curb its dog? Or are they worried that the ROK is going to do something about its yappy cousins?
The Chinese Army has been on standby since March for an emergency by massing troops and fighter jets at the border with North Korea, the Washington Times quoted a U.S. government official.
China's official Global Times carried the story prominently on Wednesday.
Chinese warships conducted live-firing drills in the West Sea, where South Korean and U.S. forces were engaged in a joint annual exercise, the daily said. But Chinese military activities were concentrated in Jilin Province, which shares the longest border with the North. Forces were reportedly ordered to raise the alert status to the highest level on March 19.
"Large groups of soldiers were seen on the streets in Ji'an, a city in Jilin, amid reports that the [Army] had been ordered to combat readiness status," the daily added. "Heavy armored vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, were reported moving near the Yalu [Apnok] River that separates China from North Korea."
A diplomatic source in Beijing said, "Whenever the crisis deepened on the Korean Peninsula, since the North's second nuclear test in 2009, China has reinforced its troops along the border. Amid escalating threats from North Korea, it's highly likely that Army has moved troops from the Shenyang Military Region," which is in charge of the border.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/12/2013 00:00 ||
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#3
I have my doubts, but Chinese Pert on WORLD MIL FORUM argues that China will NOT mil intervene in NOKOR off KJU unilater starts an unnecessary war + no US-Allied ground forces cross the DMZ.
IMO the larger issue is whether China will delay or forego its anti-US "Manifest Destiny" to take over the US position in Asia-Pacific + the World.
#4
Things could go badly for the NORKs. An influx of illegal aliens hungry people and cheap labor would be detrimental to the economy. The Chinese obviously care about their people and their borders.
#5
What kind of defenses does North Korea actually have on the Yalu? It was my understanding that they're all designed to keep Koreans in, and, I imagine, some minor sop towards keeping infiltrators out.
I can't imagine China actually trying to conquer North Korea, the optics for them would be terrible. But maybe a Chinese-facilitated coup, and liquidation of the faction currently pulling Kim Jung Un's strings, in favor of a new, more reliable, more directly Chinese-controlled cadre? I could see that.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/12/2013 9:40 Comments ||
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#6
...I don't think they're interested in nation building. It's a lot easier to decapitate the leadership and put in amiable puppets quickly enough not to stir up nationalistic tendencies among the Korean population.
#7
..and having trucks loaded with rice, right behind the spearhead, throwing bags of the stuff into the hands of the onlookers would do wonders to keep the animosity/sabotage factor down.
#10
* WORLD NEWS > [Sky News] "NORTH KOREAN REGIME IS UNSUSTAINABLE". AT THIS POINT THE KIM REGIME WILL EITHER HAVE TO CHANGE OR BE CHANGED OUT BY THE [starving, suffering]PEOPLE.
No other choices are left ... ... save de facto North takeover - naturally or forcibly - by China + PLA???
VERSUS
* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > NO USABLE OIL IN DISPUTED AREAS OF SOUTH CHINA SEA?, according to a new Report by the US Energy Information Administration [USEIA].
The majority of "usable" oil is off coastal shores already under State-specific direct or "sole" sovereign control.
IIUC, iff China wants Oil, IT MAY HAVE TO ATTACK ASEAN + NAM STATES AS IT WON'T EXTRACT MUCH FROM ITS NEW OFFSHORE SANSHA/SASHI PROVINCE COMPRISING MOST OF THE DISPUTED SCS???
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Daily Mirror]CHINA READY TO PROTECT SRI LANKA SOVEREIGNTY: PRESIDENT [Xi Jinping].
BY Any + All Means Necessary, includ Military.
* FYI SAME > EMOTIONAL FEELINGS FROM BROTHER FROM SAME MOTHER: "UNITED STATES OF INDUSTAN".
Aka "United States of India" = "Super-Indian Subcontinent", IFF INDIA + PAKISTAN [Afghanistan?] CAN EVER OVERCOME THEIR DIFFERENCES + PEACEFULLY RE-UNITE.
#11
..and having trucks loaded with rice, right behind the spearhead, throwing bags of the stuff into the hands of the onlookers would do wonders to keep the animosity/sabotage factor down.
Beats hell out of picking through cow manure to find undigested kernels of corn.
[Jpost] Experts say weak local security, law enforcement in Balkan states lead to threats against Israeli, Jewish populations.
A leading Balkan-based website covering the region's politics published in late March a comprehensive study on Israeli-Balkan relations and the threat of Hezbollah, along with its chief sponsor Iran.
"While the Israelis are, of course, concerned by the occasional manifestations of neo-Nazism, they are currently focusing on Hezbollah -- and behind it, Iran -- as the main potential threat to their own interests. Israeli diplomats, tourists and local Jewish populations are all regarded as potential targets. In contrast to the case with Balkan-Sunni thugs, however, relatively little research has been published on Hezbollah in the Balkans today," wrote Chris Deliso, the author of the study.
The new report, titled "Israeli security concerns and the Balkans," was published on the website Balkanalysis.com.
His investigation is based on interviews with leading Israeli counterterrorism experts.
Dr. Ely Karmon, senior research scholar at the International Institute for Counter- Terrorism in Herzliya, was quoted in the study as saying that "there is a clear pattern. Iran begins [in small countries] with diplomatic relations, investment promises and cultural relations. But all Iranian diplomatic and cultural activities carried out are under the control of their intelligence services."
"For Iran, the Balkans is a good platform for two reasons. First, countries like Bosnia have already been long penetrated. Second, the local security and law enforcement are not sufficiently prepared for an adversary like Iran," he continued.
The study cited the cases of Hezbollah's involvement in Bulgaria and Cyprus, and noted that Hezbollah operatives traveled with passports from Western European countries, permitting greater latitude for avoiding suspicion from the local authorities.
Bulgarian former interior minister Tsvetan Tvetanov reiterated his claims in Brussels on Thursday that the bombing of an Israeli tour bus last July in Burgas, Bulgaria, was the work of Hezbollah.
"We can make a grounded assumption that the turban wing of Hezbollah is the criminal mastermind and perpetrator of the terrorist act in Burgas," said Tvetanov, according to the Standart, a Bulgarian daily.
The bombing resulted in the deaths of five Israelis, a Bulgarian national and one of the three suspected Hezbollah operatives.
Meanwhile, ...back at the cheese factory, all the pieces finally fell together in Fluffy's mind... a Cypriot court last month convicted Hossam Taleb Yaacoub, a self-confessed member of Hezbollah, of plotting to murder Israelis.
He was sentenced to a four-year prison term.
Yossi Melman, a veteran Israeli journalist on intelligence and strategic affairs who wrote for Haaretz and now contributes to The Jerusalem Report, told Deliso, "Israeli agencies know that Iran's MOIS [Ministry of Intelligence and Security] and the Quds Force [a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for foreign operations] have established sleeper cells of agents and they try to locate weak links in the European chain. One such a weak link is the Balkans."
The report noted that local conditions in the Balkans make for "an attractive target for Hezbollah and Iran," according to Melman, and that "the decision to expand the Israeli diplomatic presence [in the Balkans] is a by-product of budgetary reasons, economic potential and yes, also the desire to challenge and stand up to Iran and Hezbollah terrorism."
The study cited the journalist as stating that "excellent cooperation" exists between Israel and local Balkan intelligence services. He added that those agencies that "lack technological capacities and are weak in analysis, and certainly in monitoring outside elements like Iran -- here enter the CIA and the Mossad to help them. The Burgas inquiry is a good example of such an international cooperation, combining local and international knowledge and understanding," he said.
Discussions are under way among the 27 European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... member nations to ban Hezbollah because of the Cyprus and Bulgarian cases.
#1
Meanwhile, NOT to be outdone by Bosnia, Bulgaria or Albania.... ...
* WORLD NEWS > NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED WATCHING NORTH KOREA: IRAN CONSIDERS ANNEXING AZERBAIJAN (again).
D *** NG IT, speak for yourself, NOT for me!
* RELATED DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > TENSIONS RISE BETWEEN IRAN + AZERBAIJAN | WARNINGS RISE AGZ AZERBAIJAN IN IRAN PARLIAMENT [Majlis].
* Also from DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PRESS TV- IRAN REPRESENTS A DEATH BLOW TO US GLOBAL HEGEMONY.
HHHHMMMM - No, not quite yet. Despite the premises or concepts underlying "The Great Game of Geopolitics" = "The Substitution of Nations + Wealth", the Debt-ridden USA isn't at that point yet.
POLITICAL CARTOON = OBITUARY - "HERE LIES THE USA [ + by extens Western Democracy, JudeoChristianity], CAUSE OF DEATH - SELF-SUICIDE".
Irreversible Catastrophic Debt, No Economy, "Globalism" + Corrupt, Waffling Leadership. US LEADERS MORE INTERESTED IN EXPANDING + PROTECTING THE GROSS DEBT BURDEN THAN REDUCING IT, IN THE NAME OF GOVT. DEPENDENCY + THE LOCAL, NATIONAL, REGIONAL, + SOON-TO-BE GLOBAL, SPACE = "STAR" WELFARE-NANNY STATE.
Entitlements, NOT Jobs or Self-Reliance or even dev of A-N-Y Econ Activity-Productivity.
Time, + China-vs-Japan-vs-Debt/Sequester-ridden-USA [vs. anti-US Marxist-Anarchist-Globalist POTUS Bammer?] is on Iran + China's side.
Perfect Storms, + "EYES WIDE OPEN" NOT "EYES WIDE SHUT"???
Synopsis: State is once more asking Congress for money for a "Middle East and North Africa Fund [which] will capitalize on the opportunities presented by the Arab Spring, supporting those countries that are moving to undertake the democratic and economic reforms necessary to address citizens' demand and provide lasting stability in the region."
State is only asking for $580 million. The Senate approved a billion dollars the last time, but Congress said "no" the last time, due to budget disputes and the continuing resolutions.
#1
Sorry, your request for funding has been denied due to unacceptable Past Performance.
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Collection of Past Performance Information
Under the FAR, agencies prepare evaluations of contractor performance for each contract in excess of $100,000 from the time the work under the contract is completed. Agency evaluations of contractor performance are supposed to be provided to the contractor "as soon as practicable" after completion of the evaluation. Contractors have a minimum of 30 days to submit comments, rebutting statements, or additional information. Procedures allow input from the technical office, contracting office and, where appropriate, end-users of the product or service.
[Jpost] "The American government is obligated to do something for us," says father of 14-year-old suspected of stoning cars in W. Bank.
A 14-year-old boy with dual US-Paleostinian citizenship who was accused of throwing stones at cars in the West Bank went before a military court on Thursday.
The case has cast a spotlight on the hundreds of Paleostinian minors tossed in the slammer Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! by the military for stone-throwing.
The IDF says that the age of detainees is irrelevant when set against the fact that throwing stones can kill, but human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... groups have condemned such jailings nonetheless.
Muhammad Khalak was accused, along with two other youths, of pelting both military and civilian vehicles outside the village of Silwad.
The case was adjourned until next week.
Khalak's father Abdulwahab accused the United States of not doing enough to help his son.
"The US government is obligated to do something for us, but it doesn't even care. They've lost the issue somewhere in their back pocket," he said, adding that consular authorities had visited the boy but not promised any help.
The US Consulate in Jerusalem declined to comment, citing American privacy laws. A US State Department front man in Washington on Wednesday said he was unaware of the case.
Abdulwahab said his son, born in New Orleans, was maltreated and had his teeth braces broken during the course of his arrest in the early hours of April 5 in which, he said, heavily armed soldiers entered the family home.
The IDF declined to comment on the accusations.
Defense of Children International, a human rights group, says that there are 236 Paleostinian minors aged 12-17 among a total 4,800 Paleostinians in Israeli jails.
"The Israeli military's treatment of Muhammad Khalak is appalling and all too common," said Bill Van Esveld, a researcher for Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... "There's no justification for... shackling him for 12 hours and interrogating him while refusing to let him see his father or a lawyer."
Stones thrown by Paleostinians at an Israeli vehicle outside Ariel last month caused a car crash that left a three-year-old critically injured. In 2011, Paleostinian youths hit the car of American- born settler Yonatan Palmer with rocks outside Hebron, killing him and his infant son.
"These kinds of events show you that throwing stones is not a game -- it endangers innocent lives," said an IDF front man. "The thrower's age doesn't change the fact that these objects kill, and it's something we take seriously."
Israeli military law in place in the West Bank prescribes a maximum of 20 years in jail for throwing rocks at vehicles, though offenders usually receive much shorter terms.
Paleostinians complain that they face regular stone-throwing by settlers and say that soldiers seldom intervene, even when they witness the incidents.
At the end of last month, Paleostinian officials said two Paleostinian school buses were hit by settlers throwing stones, leaving seven children lightly maimed.
Two Paleostinian teenagers throwing Molotov cocktails at soldiers died during festivities between protesters and troops last week, as popular resentment against the IDF and its detention system led to weeks of street protests.
"Look at this oppression -- a big, strong army has nothing to do but harass little kids? Is this justice? Is this peace?" said Ali Hamed as he watched his 16-year-old son Imad, another suspect from Silwad accused of stone-throwing, in the courtroom dock on Thursday.
Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad is to present his resignation to president Mahmud Abbas on Thursday, a senior Palestinian official said.
Abbas and Fayyad are known to have been at odds over a raft of issues but their relationship took a nose dive last month when Fayyad accepted his finance minister's resignation only for it to be rejected by Abbas.
"There will be a meeting between Abbas and Fayyad after the president returns (from Qatar) to settle Fayyad's resignation," Azzam al-Ahmed, a senior member of the ruling Fatah movement, told Voice of Palestine radio.
Earlier, a Palestinian official told AFP on condition of anonymity that Fayyad had prepared a resignation letter on March 23, but had delayed handing it over because Abbas had been out of the country. Abbas was due to return later on Thursday from Doha where he has been attending Arab League meetings.
Another official, who also requested anonymity, said it was not certain Fayyad's resignation would be accepted.
Longstanding tensions between Fayyad and Abbas peaked on March 2 when Nabil Qassis announced he was standing down as finance minister. Abbas, who was abroad at the time, rejected the resignation but Fayyad agreed to it.
The crisis over the finance minister "was the reason for Fayyad's resignation," Ahmed said. "Fayyad will have to decide today whether to keep Qassis in his post, or to resign as head of the government."
Last week, the Fatah Revolutionary Council for the first time openly criticised Fayyad's government over its economic policy.
"The policies of the current Palestinian government are improvised and confused in many issues of finance and the economy," it said.
The criticism came as several high-ranking officials suggested Abbas might be about to dismiss Fayyad.
Fayyad held the finance portfolio as well as the premiership before Qassis's appointment in May 2012.
Abbas's Palestinian Authority is in serious financial crisis, partly as a result of non-disbursement of promised foreign funding, although the US Congress quietly unblocked $500 million in aid in March.
The financial crisis might also be because there are no spending controls in the Palestinian 'government', nor do the Palestinian-controlled areas make anything that the rest of the world wants to buy. It's a basket case, a charity run by the UNRWA for the benefit of the European elites and their children. No surprise that they lack money.
Certain bank accounts are no doubt piled high and deep with the stuff, though...
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04/12/2013 00:00 ||
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Supported by prominent, influental figures in Iran
Head of the Center for Strategic Research of Iran's Expediency Discernment Council and former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Hassan Rouhani has officially announced his candidacy for the upcoming presidential elections in Iran, Fars reported.
According to some Iranian websites, reformist
'reformist' is not used here in the western political sense of the word...
Rouhani is being supported by two of the prominent and influencal political figures in Iran - country's former presidents Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami.
Well then he's just swell, isn't he...
At the conference, where Rouhani announced his candidacy, children of former president Rafsanjani, Yasir and Fatemeh Hashemi were present, showing their support for the candidate.
The eleventh election of the President of Iran is scheduled to be held on 14 June 2013 to elect the seventh President, successor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is barred from standing for a third term.
No more Short Round. Somehow I don't think we'll have seen the last of him...
Thus far, there are 17 political figures, who have expressed their will to participate in the upcoming presidential elections. Most of these 17 candidates are, in one way or another, connected to former (Mohammad Khatami, Ali Akbar Rafsanjani) and or current (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) presidents. Others are MPs, members of Iran's Expediency Council, or former military commanders.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/12/2013 00:00 ||
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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.
Navy patrols and armed guards on ships have helped supress once rampant Somali piracy, but without political solutions on the ground attacks are likely to return, the World Bank warned on Thursday.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday lambasted the government for the arrest of Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman and demanded his immediate release.
North Korea threatened to "burn to the ground" several South Korean media including the Chosun Ilbo.
In a front-page column on Wednesday, the Chinese Communist Party's official People's Daily warned North Korea not to "miscalculate the situation." 
Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad is to present his resignation to president Mahmud Abbas on Thursday, a senior Palestinian official said.
