Of course the DoD statistics will never see the light of day, but I wish the American taxpayer knew how much money, time, and medical resources were being spent spent through the deployment of female soldiers into combat zones.
#4
Pregnancy has been seen by many as a 'ticket home' Uncle Phester. Once home and the ticket is no longer needed, many choose abortion. Been going on like that for several years. I had a friend during DS/DS, he was a helo pilot. He got assigned flying a chair in a REPO DEPOT in Riyadh processing preggies back to CONUS. He kept very, very busy and generally quite pi**ed off.
#5
What do you do about the boys who can't keep it zipped, Phester?
Or are we to have two standards?
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2009 9:40 Comments ||
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#6
A little history. Prior to the 70s, women served in auxiliaries, WAC, WAVE, WAF which provided supplements to manpower requirements usually in administrative or personnel fields. They operated in a segregated organization with limitations in job and promotion opportunities, but were also exempted from duties and responsibilities normally associated with full military service. With the Equal Opportunity push in the 70s, the auxiliary formations were done away with and females were directly integrated into the ranks. Somewhere around the late 70s, the standing policy that any pregnant female be automatically discharged with full benefits, to include maternity coverage, was discontinued and individuals were retained on the rolls until they chose to separate or a long record of sub-performance allowed command authorities to discharge or bar from reenlistment.
Hundreds of thousands of women have and do serve with integrity, honor, and skill. Unfortunately, there have been others who play the system. The problem of using pregnancy to get out of danger or hard duty has been abused for decades. It generates resentment that has been compounded for those decades by a command structure that has chosen to look the other way. For thousands of years, male warriors whoâve sought to avoid danger by self inflicted wounds that maim but are not fatal have faced severe punishment to include death for such acts. The act destroys good order and discipline necessary for a viable military [not to be confused with âpalace guardsâ who look good wearing uniforms but are only useful in dealing with unruly civilians].
These are not victims. It is a voluntary military. Equal opportunity has responsibility. Without responsibility it simply becomes privilege that creates inequality for others. That the problem has reached such a level that the theater commander must do this means that severe hardship is occurring in unit integrity and cohesion. It is not something requiring a âtouchy feelyâ or political solution. This is what separates military from civilian. Whoa to those whoâd undermine the battlefield needs of the commanders to Political Correctness. History does not smile on those who do. This also points out another fundamental difference between civil society and the military. The military must discipline its ranks for sexual behaviors that the civil society does not. That applies to all variations thereof.
Art. 115. Malingering
Any person subject to this chapter who for the purpose of avoiding work, duty, or serviceâ
(1) feigns illness, physical disablement, mental lapse or derangement; or (2) intentionally inflicts self-injury;
shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
Equality can be a bitch. And any sperm donor is a principal or accessory to the fact.
#8
Well said Procopius2k. I might add, the job of the United states military is to DEFEND democracy, not participate in it. In addition to it's having become a social petri dish for our estranged leadership in Washington, therein may lie some of the difficulty.
#9
Under the new policy, troops expecting a baby face court martial and a possible prison term and so do the men who made them pregnant.
That's the second line of the article. This one is being applied fairly... although I assume there will have to be a lot of lab tests to confirm paternity.
#10
Given the political leanings of those now running the Beltway circus, I suspect there's a Pentagon broom closet now being configured for imminent use as MG Cucolo's office. And I sure hope he saved the receipt when he bought those 3-star insignias at the PX...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
12/21/2009 11:10 Comments ||
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#11
This has been a big problem for a long time. Always bustin the TOE numbers prior to/during deployments.
#12
there will have to be a lot of lab tests to confirm paternity. Posted by trailing wife
Very costly, also medical professional's valuable time away from wounded soldiers I might add. Not to mention Courts Martial time and expenses, unit leadership statements and testimony, paternity suits, establishment of dependent (newborn) benefits, custody, childcare, meds, confinement, appeals, etc.
#13
I assume there will have to be a lot of lab tests to confirm paternity.
I believe all service members now have DNA on file for remains identification. So, it's a matter of checking the kids DNA against an existing data base. CSI: Paternity. Maybe we can contract it out to Maury. Oh, and that little bit about not using the DNA for 'other purposes', goes right next to my Social Security tab from the 50s which said my SSN would never be used for any other identification purposes.
#14
Heh, got the recruiting poster for WACs at the span filter.
Excellent comment P2K. I understand that the Marines did not have a women's auxiliary prior to the 70s but did have women Marines. Could you or someone else inform me of how the Marines organized their female members and how they handled such situations prior to the 70s? Thank you.
#15
Cant happen soon enough for me. This was a huge problem for my units both overseas and stateside. Women were popping up pregs left and right, and often the other female soldiers ended up taking on their duties while they were shuttled to and fro, from doctor appointment to doctor appointment, or given limited duty, ie: 2 -4 hour shifts. And ofcourse, if they become pregnant while deployed they get shipped CONUS. I noticed some of the Medical Units made sure to issue b.c to soldiers. It seems sensible to make this mandatory for all females.
#16
I noticed some of the Medical Units made sure to issue b.c to soldiers. It seems sensible to make this mandatory for all females. Posted by GirlThursday
Yes GirlThursday, I saw the same thing in addition to boxes of condoms in the MEDAC. Oh wait...GO-1 ???
#17
Right? With Nuva Ring, Depo shots, etc., there are more virtually foolproof methods available than ever. Its high time the military cleans up its act. We had mandatory shots all the time one of the shots should be a depo shot for female soldiers going to war. It also protects the female if she were to become pregs, at least she could produce her shot record and say "see, heres when I got a depo shot" as some legal protection. I have heard of women being the 1/2 half of one percent that do get pregs on depo, but at least if precautions were taken, she'd have less to fear from an unhappy chain of command.
#19
Well, theoretically everyone loves babies is what it is. Its just that female soldiers on board to deploy shouldn't be having them, I firmly believe. Several female soldier friends of mine have become pregnant and dropped out of the military or been sent to the rear. I have felt torn at several points between feeling supportive, and feeling angry at them for not being upstanding and taking contraception. It is a huge problem. Also, men should be made to be responsible. If youre grown up enough to fight in the military, you should be shown the way to being a responsible man, and that means becoming a father at a moment of your choosing, not by a "whoopsie daisy" moment. The military having taken women into their ranks, doesn't seem to have caught their own policies up to the time. But this was inevitable because on average I guesstimate about 20% of the units I was in were pregnant at any given time. 20%!!!!
#20
Could you or someone else inform me of how the Marines organized their female members and how they handled such situations prior to the 70s? Thank you.
WM's (Women Marines), at least most of the ones I knew had their own natural built in birth control. It was their looks. Oh, and the fact that most of them preferred each other.
Of course, if the Jar Heads were organizing a Dog Show®, anything could (and usually did) happen! Woof! Woof! 8-)
#21
Speaking of fugly...You dont need to be a spelling bee contestant finalist to figure that in the present day military, it was some of the homeliest or less "principled" females that were getting pregnant.
We knew of one at AIT that bragged about getting freaky with a guy behind a dumpster due to lack of bunk space. And my compatriots that got pregnant that were winning beauty contests, werent winning spelling bees, or vice versa.
But theres no semi finalist weeding out phase for winning in the reproduction round. UNFortunately, quality of bloodlines and scarcity of offspring arent a characteristic of careless couplings in the military.
#24
Except we interpret the male participation as part of the act.
Art. 77. Principals
Any person punishable under this chapter whoâ
(1) commits an offense punishable by this chapter, or aids, abets, counsels, commands, or procures its commission; or
(2) causes an act to be done which if directly performed by him would be punishable by this chapter;
is a principal.
#25
In fairness I've known a number excellent female soldiers, probably of, or close to the calibre of GirlThursday. I wouldn't have traded them for any man-snuffy.
#26
BP
Right you are.
Although I dislike the "I told you so" animosity I feel towards some of the recruits who went for it, instead of going into battle with junior in their stomachs, women should go into battle with a nuva ring in their stomachs, a depo shot, or not at all.
#29
So basically you are asking young men and women not to have sex for how many months? (Accidents will happen)
Get real
Posted by: European Conservative ||
12/21/2009 21:42 Comments ||
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#30
Thats right folks, people in the military do it. Maybe its the death anxiety.
1 each, US-issue Army grunt is going to run you over $250k MIMIMUM from day one of basic to deployment time. Cost is NOT amortized the longer they serve because they will advance in rank and pay and specialized training, all which cost BIG MONEY. So, it stands to reason, give each female soldier in a unit a shot of depo every 3 months, its less than like fifty bucks per, the cost pales by comparison to the alternatives.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai on Sunday defended his nominees for ministerial posts and promised that all members of his cabinet will be accountable as he fights to eradicate corruption.
Karzai is facing extreme pressure from his Western backers to tackle graft, which observers say fuels a Taliban-led insurgency and is a major reason for the government's unpopularity.
Amid threats from backers, including the United States and NATO allies with more than 100,000 troops deployed to fight the insurgency, Karzai used the cabinet list as evidence of his commitment to fighting corruption.
The poor man is being required to produce fine porcelain dishes out of common riverbank clay.
The 23 out of a total of 25 ministerial nominees who presented themselves to parliament on Saturday face an arduous approval process.
"Of the new cabinet we presented to the parliament, almost 50 percent of them are new," he told a press conference with visiting Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme.
"I can say with confidence that the new ministers, as well as those from the last cabinet, will be accountable for anything relating to corruption," he said, adding: "I will be accountable."
The nominees are individuals "who can work, serve the people and achieve goals we have for the people of Afghanistan," Karzai said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Personally, TW, I'd be satisfied with a fired pitcher that didn't leak.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/21/2009 16:33 Comments ||
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#2
I quite agree, Old Patriot. But our president does not.
#3
TOPIX > THE NEWS.PK > [Afghan]TALIBAN CLAIM CONTROL OF OVER 80% OF AFGHANISTAN + US WRONGLY CONSIDERS TALIBAN. US-NATO-Kabul wrong in thinking that Talibs need to flee over borders into neighboring countries???
* SAME > US TROOPS, TALIBAN COMPETE FOR AFGHANS LIVING IN REMOTE DISTRICTS BESET BY POVERTY | US TROOPS, TALIBAN RACE TO SET UP LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.
* SAME > BALOCHISTAN A NEW TARGET IN DRONE WAR AGZ TALIBAN [USGovt = CIA wants to expand oper radius of UAV armed missions].
Posted by: Kelly ||
12/21/2009 11:56 Comments ||
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#6
The REAL hero of the rescue must surely be the skipper of the Bainbridge (DDG-96) Cmdr. Frank Castellano, the man who gave the order to FIRE! Lots of kudos at the time for the crew of the Bainbridge. Not so much for the skipper.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The condition of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the Libyan sentenced to life imprisonment for the Lockerbie bombing and repatriated in August, has deteriorated and the cancer that afflicts him has spread through his body, a medical bulletin said early Sunday. "A scan has shown a worsening of the disease which has spread more than before," said the bulletin from the Tripoli Medical Center where Megrahi is being treated for terminal cancer.
The bulletin received by AFP said Megrahi, 57, arrived at the hospital on Saturday coughing and vomiting.
He was also suffering from "secondary effects of the sessions of chemotherapy" that he has been undergoing, including a weight gain, high blood pressure and sugar in the blood along with muscular fatigue.
Or, he was bled, had his head shaved and was given cotton-candy to eat just before the blood draw ...
"His condition was examined Saturday by a team of European experts who agreed on the continuation of chemotherapy sessions while also administering other medicaments to treat the disease," the hospital said in its first bulletin released since Megrahi's return in August.
No doubt in the very near future that fine team of Europeans will step up to the television cameras to report for themselves, thus settling any doubts about the truth of the hospital bulletin.
Last week the Scottish authorities charged with supervising the Lockerbie bomber said they had contacted him in Tripoli on Wednesday, following concerns about his whereabouts.
Under the terms of his release from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds, Megrahi cannot leave Tripoli or change his address and must keep in regular contact with East Renfrewshire Council.
They were unable to contact the Libyan on Tuesday, while The Times newspaper could not track him down at either his house or the hospital where the terminal prostate cancer sufferer has had treatment. "We have now spoken to Mr Megrahi, who is in his house. There is no cause for alarm, he is in his house," said a spokesman for East Renfrewshire Council in western Scotland.
Megrahi is the only person convicted over the December 1988 bombing of a New York-bound Pan Am Boeing 747 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, which killed 270 people.
He was freed on Aug. 20 after doctors said he had only three months to live, and returned to a hero's welcome in Libya, who support Megrahi's claims that he was wrongly accused and is innocent of the Lockerbie bombing.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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I thought he was missing? Did they use a geiger counter to find him?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/21/2009 7:41 Comments ||
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#2
"His condition was examined Saturday by a team of European experts who agreed on the continuation of chemotherapy
I recommend the dosage be doubled and vinegar added until the coughing subsides.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Yemeni forces have "indiscriminately" killed at least 49 civilians in airstrikes described as attacks against 'al-Qaeda operatives' in the south, a local official says.
Some 23 children were among the victims, said the official from the Al-Mahfed region, in which Al-Maajala village -- where the airstrikes took place -- is situated, AFP reported Sunday.
"The raid was carried out indiscriminately and killed 49 civilians, including 23 children and 17 women," said the official on the condition of anonymity.
A tribal leader from the Al-Kazam tribe has also confirmed the civilian deaths, saying that "in total, 49 civilians were killed."
"Al-Qaeda has chosen to build its training center on land where Bedouin nomads
pitch their tents, and the government forces believe the nomads harbor al-Qaeda forces," said the leader, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
But we all know how fiercely warlike the Bedouins are, so if the al-Qaeda forces remain there, it must be with permission, right?
The Yemeni government is accused of killing at least 60 other civilians in the southeastern province of Abyan on Friday.
Along with the southern areas, northern regions of the country are also scenes of joint Saudi-Yemeni raids against civilians.
Saudi forces that have joined the government offensive against Shia fighters in November have killed scores of civilians in their attacks on northern villages.
Earlier on Sunday, fresh Saudi air strikes on border regions left over 54 civilian killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Unless "the Army" has Juice advisors---who cares?
#2
ION TOPIX > SOMALIA CHAOS SPREADING FAR BEYOND ITS FRONTIER AND COASTLINES, + [Daily Times.PK]WEST WARNS SOMALIA IS BECOMING A HAVEN FOR INTERNATIONAL TERRORISTS.
US-NATO-Local pressure in AFPAK + Iraq is inducing 00's of foreign fighters to come to Somalia instead to fight the UNO + US-backed local Govt. GROWING WEST-PERCEIVED TIES BETWEEN AL-SHABAAB + AL QAEDA. However, at the same time there are rifts dev between local Jihadist Nationalists [Somalia-only] + many foreign fighters whom desire to expand or broaden the insurgency to the next higher level???
[Bangla Daily Star] Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday claimed that banned Islamist militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) now has no suicide squad.
They're all dead ...
"Information we're gathering through our intelligence says that now JMB has no suicide," Rab Additional Director General (ADG) Col Mizanur Rahman Khan told a press conference at its headquarters yesterday. I've noticed that usually within a few days of that kind of statement somebody detonates in a crowded market.
Rab's has claimed this though even a few months back it claimed that they had arrested members of JMB suicide squad.
Which could possibly be why there is no suicide squad now. These finicky little temporal details can make quite a difference.
He briefed the newsmen about the arrest of five members of JMB, which made a number of attacks that left 71 people dead and 582 others injured since the JMB's clandestine activities began in the country.
Rab in an anti-militant drive from 6:30pm on Saturday to 5:30am yesterday held the five JMB men from Mymensingh, Narsingdi and Jhenidah districts. The Rab ADG also said JMB activities have almost come to a halt as its command system has been almost broken down and limited to only invitational programmes.
The honour of your presence is requested
for a suicide bombing
at half after three o'clock
on Friday, the thirteenth of December
at the village bazaar.
RSVP
black tie and suicide vest
He also said JMB's capability to carry out any subversive activity has been diminished to a great extent. [Sob!]
"Wossa motta, Mahmoud?"
"I just can't subvert anymore!"
[Pat pat!]
"There, there, buddy! It happens to all of us sometime!"
Replying to a question, Col Mizan, however, said JMB is trying to reorganise again through invitational activities. "Since JMB is trying to regroup again, we are launching drive against them and nabbing them," he said.
About the present JMB Chief Moulana Saidur Rahman, the Rab ADG said they are closing in on Saidur but yet to arrest him as he shifts his shelter quite frequently.
The Rab also recovered 20 books on jihad, 50 CDs, four cellphone sets, three lethal weapons and some bomb-making materials during the drive. The arrestees in helmets were paraded at the press conference. The Rab ADG said since 2005 they have arrested 12 majlish-e-shura (highest policy-making body) members, 44 eshar, 22 gayeri ehsar members and 90 JMB activists.
In addition to all the encounters, of course.
This article starring:
ABU RAIHAN BIN SADEK
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
HARMUZ ALI ALIAS ASGAR ALI
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
MOHAMAD HUSEIN
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
MOHAMAD KAWSAR JINNURAINE ALIAS LALTU
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
MOHAMAD YUSUF
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
MULANA SAIDUR RAHMAN
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Muslim police chef defeated in 'bacon roll' tribunal faces £75,000 legal bill
A Muslim chef who lost a claim of religious discrimination against Scotland Yard after complaining he was forced to cook sausages and bacon faces a legal bill of more than £75,000.
Hasanali Khoja accused the Metropolitan Police of failing to consider his Islamic beliefs when he was asked to handle pork products as a catering manager at a police station. The £23,000-a-year chef claimed suggestions by his bosses that he should wear gloves and use tongs left him 'stressed and humiliated'. Muslims are banned from eating pork under Islamic law.
But Mr Khoja, 62, lost his claim in May after a police employee told an employment tribunal how she saw Mr Khoja eat bacon rolls and sausages.
My goodness -- the man's a liar!
Mr Khoja, from Edgware, North London, who is still employed by the Met, claimed at a hearing in Watford that he could afford to pay only £80 a week as he has little income, lives in rented property and is struggling with £30,000 legal bills of his own. But the court discovered he had sold another home last year, splitting profits of almost £200,000 with his wife and two sons.
A pants-on-fire liar at that!
The decision is another setback for the police chef, who believed he was on course for a large settlement when he launched his case in 2007.
The poor darling.
Mr Khoja, who sits on a Foods Standards Agency advisory committee on Muslim issues, decided to take action after Scotland Yard chiefs placed him on unpaid leave for a year after his refusal to work with pork. He said he was then given work in a different building but his role was downgraded.
But his case fell apart when another caterer, Mary Boakye, told the court she served him bacon rolls 'two or three' times at the Met canteen at Heathrow in West London. When she told him she was surprised because his religion banned him from eating pork, Mr Khoja allegedly replied: 'I eat them once in a while.' Another chef said he saw Mr Khoja once happily eat a sausage dish and told the court 'he was not as strict as some Muslims'.
Judge Southam also heard how Mr Khoja had made 'wild and baseless' allegations about a human resource manager, allegedly making racial facial gestures.
Racial facial gestures? What a delicate way of putting whatever-that-means.
CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez launched a federal police force on Sunday that he hopes will change the overwhelmingly negative image most Venezuelans have of their public security forces while reducing crime in one of Latin America's most violent countries.
And why would they have such a negative view in the first place?
"We are going to defeat crime," Chavez told uniformed cadets belonging to the newly formed National Bolivarian Police Force during his weekly television and radio show. "We are tackling one of our population's most sensitive problems: crime prevention."
Every politician promises to reduce crime ...
But what will the newly formed police think constitutes a crime they are meant to prevent?
The 950-agent force will initially operate in the capital's most crime-ridden neighborhoods, but the government plans to boost the number of officers to 6,000 and extend its reach beyond Caracas by the end of next year.
Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said the nascent police force would seek to reduce crime through preventative rather than repressive measures and embrace the socialist ideals of Chavez's "Bolivarian Revolution," a political movement named after 19th-century independence hero Simon Bolivar.
Ah, now we see what's meant by a 'federal police force' ...
"The National Police will impose a culture of peace in the barrios to eliminate the violence of the capitalist, bourgeois model that we've inherited," El Aissami said.
Do as you're told, Pablo, and your mother keeps her monthly check from Hugo ...
Armed robbery, kidnapping and murder are widespread in this poverty-stricken South American country,
Certainly the first two are crimes of personal enrichment, although not in the capitalist model of willingly exchanging one's funds for an offered good or service.
and polls consistently show that most Venezuelans view violent crime as the nation's most pressing problem. Police figures released by the Justice Ministry show there were 12,257 homicides nationwide in the first 11 months of 2009 -- more than eight times higher than in Texas, which has roughly the same population as Venezuela.
Almost as bad as Messico ...
Venezuelans are generally distrustful of the country's police. Many citizens were not surprised when El Aissami revealed earlier this month that police are involved in 15 to 20 percent of all crimes, particularly kidnapping and murder.
Goodness, that's worse than Belgium!
In its annual report released this month, the local Provea human rights groups said police were responsible for more than 200 slayings over the last year, including 55 people who died of excessive force or torture.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Who wants to bet that they have a very interesting definition of "crime"?
#2
ION WAFF > BREAKING NEWS: COLUMBIAN FORCES BEGIN MASSING ON VENEZUELAN BORDER| CHAVEZ THREATENS WAR [threatens the "Bourgeois of Columbia"]; + HUGO CHAVEZ ORDERS MILITARY TO SHOOT AT US AIRCRAFT.
I thought there was a sternly-worded UN resolution to prevent that ...
Even as North Korea struggles under UN sanctions and is in the midst of a controversial currency reform aimed at breaking the back of a nascent free market, the reclusive country is apparently in the process of changing laws in order to attract more foreign investment, an expert said Wednesday. It is even offering foreign companies wages cheaper than those paid to North Korean workers at the joint-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex, according to Jack Pritchard, president of the Korea Economic Institute in Washington D.C.
Pritchard, who visited Pyongyang last month along with Scott Snyder, director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy at the Asia Foundation, told reporters in Washington. The North Korean trade department official they met there told them there are no strikes among North Korea's skilled workers and were very aggressive in luring foreign investment. He added North Korean officials offered wages of 30 euros a month (around US$44), which was lower than the average $57 paid to workers at the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
The officials said they were also willing to offer various incentives to foreign companies interested in taking part in the construction of 100,000 homes in Pyongyang. North Korea appeared to be changing its attitude toward foreign countries as part of its goal to become a strong and powerful nation by 2012, he said.
In an article for Global Security, the Internet-based provider of military and intelligence information, Snyder wrote, "North Korean colleagues at the Ministry of Trade appeared genuinely surprised and dismayed when we mentioned that UN Security Council Resolution 1874... contains provisions prohibiting companies from making new investments in North Korea."
Oh yeah, that UN resolution ...
Snyder said North Korea's interest in foreign investment as part of its goal to become a "strong and powerful nation" by 2012 is a new development and one that could play a role in resolving the nuclear stalemate.
But efforts to attract foreign investment and capital over the past 25 years have been a disaster. North Korea announced new regulations in September of 1984 to allow businesses from capitalist countries to operate there. It set up special economic zones in Rajin-Songbong in 1991 and in Sinuiju in 2002. But the Sinuiju project never got beyond the ground-breaking stage due to conflict with China, while empty factories litter Rajin-Sonbong.
North Korea aimed to attract $7 billion worth of foreign investment into Rajin-Sonbong, but actual investment amounted to only $140 million. According to the South Korean government and other sources, there are an estimated 400 foreign businesses operating in North Korea. Most of them are small businesses run by Chinese or North Korean residents in Japan. The shining exception is the Egyptian telecom company Orascom, which offers mobile phone services in the North. "It's more accurate to say that there are no major foreign businesses operating in North Korea," said Cho Dong-ho, a professor at Ewha Woman's University.
North Korea forged its first pact guaranteeing foreign investment with Denmark in September 1996 and signed similar pacts with around 20 countries, including China, Russia, Singapore and Switzerland, as of 2008. There have been consistent reports that businesses in Europe and Southeast Asia were interested in doing business in the North, but hardly any made the move.
Cho Myung-chul, a professor at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, who taught economics at Kim Il Sung University in North Korea, said, "The reason why no listed foreign companies are operating in North Korea is because they may end up on the list of businesses subject to U.S. sanctions." This is one of the reasons why North Korea has tried so desperately to be removed from the U.S. list of terrorism-sponsoring countries.
And even if foreign businesses are interested in investing in North Korea, its lack of infrastructure, including steady power supply and adequate roads and ports, make it impossible to operate factories there. Cho Young-ki, a professor at Korea University, said, "You have to build a power plant if you want to build a factory in North Korea. Cheap labor does not mean businesses will profit there." The electricity used by the Kaesong Industrial Complex is provided by South Korea, while Hyundai Asan operates its own generator at the North Korean resort in Mt. Kumgang.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"The reason why no listed foreign companies are operating in North Korea is because they may end up on the list of businesses subject to U.S. sanctions."
I knew if I read long enough I would discover that the fault lies with the U.S. and universally recognized and never violated trade and economic sanctions. Maybe Barry's recent secret memo gave them hope for the future.
#5
Wouldn't have anything to do with most foreign corporations not wanting to take the PR hit from being known to employ slave labour, would it? I know I was looking closer-than-usual at this in expectation of spotting a new Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/21/2009 13:42 Comments ||
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A nice summary of reported activity since 1999, including three in the final quarter of 2009. No doubt there were other incidents that didn't make the newspapers or the blogs. Most of those listed I think have been reported here at Rantburg, but it's useful to see it all in one place. Hattip Lucianne.com
#2
From the time I joined the Air Force in 1964 until I retired in 1991, several hundred thousand members of the US military retired or separated every year. Most of those retired or separated military members have some quite legitimate bare-hands combat skills. Almost all of them can handle a knife, and more than half are competent with handguns, rifles, and other weapons. Maybe what the airlines need to do is to offer half-price seats for up to five such men, allow them aboard with openly-visible weapons, and seat them throughout the aircraft cabin. A box-cutter isn't even remotely capable up against a K-bar or .303 Winchester, or against a seat-belt extender. Encourage anyone who is willing to take free training to act as "unofficial," volunteer sky marshals, complete with photo id and black leather jacket, so everyone aboard will know they're there. The ACLU will become apoplectic, but maybe that would be a good thing. Perhaps we could even induce a few non-fatal but career-ending heart attacks...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/21/2009 16:50 Comments ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
12/21/2009 21:39 Comments ||
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#5
TOPIX > THE TIMES: IRAN WORKING ON TESTING FINAL NKEY COMPOMENT FOR NUCLEAR BOMB ["nuclear initiator" device].
* ION SAME > RUSSIA, THE US, AND TURKEY TO COOPERATE ON MISSLE DEFENSE? Russia willing to consider reloc a MD radar from Azerbaijan to Turkey as part of multi-nation regional missle defense; + RUSSIA, BELARUS, AND KAZAKHISTAN TO BUILD UNIFIED ECONOMIC SPACE?
[Ma'an] After a wave of criticism, the finale of the first-ever Miss Palestine pageant has been postponed indefinitely by the Palestinian Authority.
The Ramallah Governorate announced on Sunday, "According to the requirements of the public interest, we decided to freeze and delay indefinitely of the coronation of Miss Palestine 2009 that was scheduled to be held on 26/12/2009 in Ramallah."
The statement said the decision was made out of respect for the anniversary of the onset of the Israeli war on Gaza, which will be marked on 27 December.
But, the statement added, "We encourage such ideas that promote beauty that is committed to age-old Palestinian traditions and values."
The Miss Palestine pageant generated controversy when it was announced by the Trip Fashion Company earlier in December. Islamist politicians denounced the competition as not in keeping with traditional values.
The project originally had support from the Palestinian Authority. Officials from the ministries of Information and Culture were to help judge the contest, its organizers said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Pity. The first Miss Palestine pageant could have been an explosive event.
#5
Officials from the ministries of Information and Culture were to help judge the contest, its organizers said.
More judging of women at the ministerial level? Could have been bad for the runner ups and also rans. Spend the money on clean water and indoor plumbing instead please.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A year after Israel's devastating air, land and sea assault on the impoverished Gaza Strip, Kamal Awaja's family is still living in a tent on the rubble of their home and a few miles away the Sawafieri family is raising chickens by hand after Israeli bulldozers crushed tens of thousands of birds in their cages, systematically destroying a fully-automated farm.
During the three-week assault, which Israel launched on Dec. 27, the Awaja's were trapped behind the front lines when ground troops backed by tanks and aircraft stormed into northern Gaza in what would prove to be the deadliest Israeli attack ever launched on the coastal territory.
Awaja and his wife were wounded as they tried to flee and it was four days before they were able to get to a hospital, he says.
Their eight-year-old son Ibrahim was shot dead as their home was destroyed.
Now the smiling boy with curly black hair stares down from memorial posters hanging on the family's tent, which has been cobbled together from canvas shelters donated by aid groups, dingy plastic tarps and wool blankets.
Israel has sealed Gaza off from all but vital humanitarian aid and the limited amount of cement and iron smuggled in through tunnels from Egypt is beyond the financial means of the vast majority of the territory's 1.5 million residents, most of whom rely on foreign aid.
Perhaps they should complain to their government, which they elected.
Some 6,400 homes were severely damaged or destroyed during the war, according to United Nations figures. Most of those who lost homes now share crowded apartments with relatives or huddle under tents supplied by aid groups.
Next time don't start a war. It always ends badly for the common people.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
And after all the Palestinians have been doing to fix the problem - mainly bitching about how mean the Juice are, demanding that the EU, US, UN, Israel, and everyone else fix it for them.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/21/2009 2:38 Comments ||
Top||
#3
That was just the flowers. Next time the fruit.
#3
TW, they aren't. The religion borrows from ancient Mithraism, a little Christianity, some Sufi Islam, and lots of other sources. But one of the holy beings in the religion is identified with Satan by Islam. The problems seem obvious.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/21/2009 20:15 Comments ||
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#4
Actually they are one of the oldest religions predating Zoroastrianism, maybe Judaism, definitely Christian and Muslim likely Buddhism but likely not Hindu.
IRANIAN authorities are continuing to hold several members of Osama bin Laden's family.
Abdul Rahman bin Laden told news network Al Jazeera today that his sister Eman, one of his stepmothers and five of his brothers have been prevented from leaving by the authorities in Tehran since 1997.
He claimed Eman managed to escape several weeks ago and he then advised her to take shelter in the Saudi Arabian embassy.
Abdul Rahman bin Laden told Al Jazeera that he was concerned for his sister's health.
He called on Tehran to release his relatives and on the Saudi government to ensure his sister's departure from the country.
#2
So, let me see.
Al Qaeda is enemy of Saudia and friend of Iran.
Bin Laden's family are doing (very) well in Saudia, and are prisoners in Iran.
I gotta be missing something.
An Iranian lawmaker says based on United Nations estimates Baghdad still owes Tehran up to a trillion dollars in compensation for wartime damages. "According to UN evaluations, Iraq must pay us one thousand billion dollars for initiating the [eight-year] war against Iran," a leading member of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said on Sunday. "Iran, however, is a country that has turned a blind eye to many of issues such as this concerning Iraq. Till now, we have never brought up these matters and naturally we will never enter into quarrel with Iraq," Hossein Ebrahimi told Mehrnews on Sunday.
The cleric made the comments as he responded to a question about US media reports that Iranian forces had taken control of an oil well within Iraqi borders in the Fakkeh region.
Ebrahimi said that the misunderstanding would "definitely" be cleared up through diplomatic channels, as Iran did not plan to let anything disrupt its relations with Iraq.
The lawmaker made the remarks as an Iranian border official announced that his country's forces resumed their former position after taking down a barricade recently built by Iraqi soldiers near the disputed oil well.
"Iranian forces returned to their previous posts last night after removing the new barricade that Iraqi soldiers had build next to the disputed oil well in a Thursday operation," the official who was speaking on condition of anonymity told Press TV's correspondent.
"Iraqi forces had erected the now disassembled barricade next to the No. 4 oil well in Fakkeh," said the official.
Comments made by the Iraqi deputy interior minister also confirm that officials in Baghdad believe that the site is in a disputed area.
"This news is not true. This field is disputed and now it is neglected by both sides. There was no storming of the field, it's empty, it's abandoned, it is exactly on the border between Iraq and Iran," Ahmed Ali al-Khafaji was quoted as saying.
Iran and Iraq have agreed to set up an arbitration commission to clear up the misunderstanding.
I'd love to see Iraq file a counterclaim for damages subsequent to the 2003 invasion resulting from Iran-supported terror activities by various Shiite groups, Al Qaeda in Iraq, etc.
In a Saturday telephone conversation, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari decided that setting up such a commission would be the best way to approach the problem.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Not to worry. Their reparations from WWII will cover it...
For the first 18 months after the September 11 attacks, US officials charged that Saudi Arabia, shell-shocked by the fact that a majority of the perpetrators had been Saudi nationals, was dragging its feet on implementing measures to prevent Saudis from funding militant Islamic groups like al Qaeda.
It took a series of al Qaeda attacks on Saudi targets in 2003 and 2004 to persuade the kingdom to pay more than lip service to the need to halt funding of terrorist groups.
US and European officials acknowledge that the Saudi government has introduced strict monitoring of bank transactions and banned the transfer abroad of charitable funds without government approval. They also note that some 100 suspected terrorism financiers have been arrested in the kingdom over the past two years, approximately 20 of which were prosecuted. Most recently, Saudi authorities said that they had arrested a charity official for directing funds to extremists.
A US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report concludes that "Saudi individuals and Saudi-based charitable organizations continue to be a significant source of financing for terrorism and extremism outside of Saudi Arabia." It quotes US Treasury officials as saying that "Saudi-based individuals are a top source of funding for al Qaeda and associated groups, such as the Taliban." The report says Saudi individuals and charities circumvent Saudi restrictions by employing couriers to transfer cash to militant organizations.
US President Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan has in recent months repeatedly complained that Saudi funding may be as important to the Taliban as drug revenues as a source of income. "In the past there was a kind of feeling that the money all came from drugs in Afghanistan. That is simply not true... [the Taliban] get a lot more money out of the Gulf, according to our intelligence sources," Holbrooke recently told a news conference in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
A recent Pakistani police report accused Saudi Arabia's Al Haramain Foundation of donating $15 million (10 million euros) to militants responsible for suicide bombings in Pakistan and the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The US and Saudi Arabia jointly as well as the United Nations have designated in recent years several foreign branches of Al Haramain as terrorist organizations. However, Al Haramain continues to operate legally in Saudi Arabia although the US Treasury last year put the foundation as a whole, including its Saudi headquarters, on its list of designated terrorist organizations.
Similarly, Indian officials say Lashkar e Tayiba, the Pakistani group responsible for last year's attacks in Mumbai, continues to operate in Saudi Arabia. Indian police recently arrested Lashkar leader Muhammad Omar Madni shortly after he had visited the kingdom on a fundraising trip. Indian police said they had also recently found a large amount of Saudi riyals during a raid on a Lashkar safe house in Mumbai.
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.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai on Sunday defended his nominees for ministerial posts and promised that all members of his cabinet will be accountable as he fights to eradicate corruption.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The condition of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the Libyan sentenced to life imprisonment for the Lockerbie bombing and repatriated in August, has deteriorated and the cancer that afflicts him has spread through his body, a medical bulletin said early Sunday. "A scan has shown a worsening of the disease which has spread more than before," said the bulletin from the Tripoli Medical Center where Megrahi is being treated for terminal cancer.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Yemeni forces have "indiscriminately" killed at least 49 civilians in airstrikes described as attacks against 'al-Qaeda operatives' in the south, a local official says. 
"Al-Qaeda has chosen to build its training center on land where Bedouin nomads 
For the first 18 months after the September 11 attacks, US officials charged that Saudi Arabia, shell-shocked by the fact that a majority of the perpetrators had been Saudi nationals, was dragging its feet on implementing measures to prevent Saudis from funding militant Islamic groups like al Qaeda.
