Tuesday, September 29, 2009
No Time for Nation Building in Afghanistan
Now is not the time to dream of nation building in Afghanistan, Michael Cohen argues. Instead, the president should demand his commander go back to the original objective for the mission -- disrupting, defeating, and dismantling al Qaeda. This means discarding the dream of nation-building in Afghanistan and focusing instead on targeting al Qaeda in Pakistan (a process already occurring through successful drone attacks on terrorist leaders there) and moving toward a more realistic containment approach of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
To accomplish this, the United States must first prioritize training the Afghan security services. This doesn't necessarily mean a huge force, which would be difficult to achieve and potentially destabilizing for the region. Military trainers should focus on building a smaller, more reliable force that can serve as an effective military counterweight to the Taliban.
Second, General McChrystal has made it his top priority to "protect the population," but the U.S. and NATO forces lack the resources and local support to complete such a mission. Instead, the United States needs to place greater priority on targeting the Taliban enemy and regaining the military initiative.
Read the entire essay here.Why Bin Laden Still Matters
Peter Bergen's essay is a must read:Eight years after September 11, the "war on terror" has gone the way of the dodo. And President Obama talks instead about a war against al Qaeda and its allies.
What, then, of al Qaeda's enigmatic leader, Osama bin Laden, who has vanished like a wisp of smoke? And does he even matter now?
The U.S. government hadn't had a solid lead on al Qaeda's leader since the battle of Tora Bora in winter 2001. Although there are informed hypotheses that today he is in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province on the Afghan border, perhaps in one of the more northerly areas such as Bajaur, these are essentially guesses, not "actionable" intelligence.
A longtime American counterterrorism analyst explained to me, "There is very limited collection on him personally."
That's intelligence community shorthand for the fact that the usual avenues of "collection" on a target such as bin Laden are yielding little or no information about him. Those avenues typically include signal intercepts of phone calls and e-mails, as well as human intelligence from spies.
Given the hundreds of billions of dollars that the "war on terror" has consumed, the failure to capture or kill al Qaeda's leader is one of its signal failures.
Does it even matter whether bin Laden is found? Yes, it does. First, there is the matter of justice for the almost 3,000 people who died in the September 11 attacks and for the thousands of other victims of al Qaeda's attacks around the world.
Continue here.N. Korea Promotes Dear Leader to Supreme Leader
Just what the world needs ... another supreme leader. Clickhere for the story.
North Korea is now officially more Kimist than Communist.
It is talking peace but planning more provocations, China Confidential analysts assert, especially insofar as the moves can divert world attention and America's focus from the Iranian nuclear nightmare.US Reportedly Plans to Isolate Iran
China Confidential analysts believe Iran has no intention of backing down, as it is close to achieving its atomic ambitions--an ability to produce nuclear bombs and warheads.Monday, September 28, 2009
Fossil of Four-Winged Dinosaur Found in China
A fossil of a bird-like dinosaur with four wings has been discovered in northeastern China. The specimen bridges a critical gap in the transition from dinosaurs to birds, and reveals new insights into the origin evolution of feathers.
The transition from dinosaurs to birds is poorly understood because of the lack of well-preserved fossils, and many scientists argue that bird-like dinosaurs appear too late in the fossil record to be the true ancestors of birds.
In Nature this week, Xing Xu and colleagues describe an exceptionally well-preserved fossil of Anchiornis huxleyi from the province of Liaoning, China. Long feathers cover the arms and tail, but also the feet, suggesting that a four-winged stage may have existed in the transition to birds.
Anchiornis huxleyi was previously thought to be a primitive bird, but closer inspection reveals that it should be assigned to the Troodontidae—a group of dinosaurs closely related to birds.
The authors date the fossil to the earliest Late Jurassic, meaning that it is the oldest bird-like dinosaur reported so far, and older than Archaeopteryx, the earliest known bird. They conclude that the presence of such a species at this time in the fossil record effectively disputes the argument that bird-like dinosaurs appeared too late to be the ancestors of birds.Iranian Fascist Fat Pig Calls Israel Paper Tiger
The Iranian armed forces' incredibly corrupt and obese chief of staff on Monday called Israel a "paper tiger", Mehr news agency reported.
"Israel is a paper tiger and when they say that Israel is going to attack Iran it is a bluff," General Hassan Firouzabadi said.
His remarks came as Iran announced it had successfully completed two days of test-firing missiles that the turbaned tyranny said are capable of reaching targets inside Israel, which Iran has repeatedly vowed to destroy.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Apologies to pigs, innocent creatures that are far more worthy of respect and appreciation than any Islamist ideologue, terrorist, or mullah.Venezuela Currency Strengthens as Khadafy Shops
Click here and here.
And click here for the story about Khadafy's personal interpreter collapsing at the United Nations.US Blames Both Sides in Honduras but Blasts Ousted Chavez Stooge for 'Foolish' Return
The Obama administration is showing some signs of coming to its senses in the Honduras crisis. Click here for the story.US Condemns 'Provocative' Iran Missile Tests
World Bank Chief: Dollar Supremacy Ending
China Still Soft on Iran
Iran Tests Long-Range Missiles
# posted by Confidential Reporter @ 10:48 AM links to this post
Sunday, September 27, 2009
The Case for Regime Change in Iran
Not in China's Interest: Nuclear Iran
China Confidential has been making the case for years: a nuclear-armed, Islamist Iran is not in China's interest. Will Beijing come to its senses?
Click here for the analysis.US Scrambling for New Iran Sanctions
Appeasement fanned the flames of aggression. Iran is on the brink of crossing the nuclear threshold while making major advances in missile technology.Chinese Missiles and Goose-Stepping Soldiers
Reuters reports:Upgraded missiles will feature prominently in China's Oct 1 military parade which celebrates 60 years of Communist Party rule, the Xinhua news agency said, citing a commander of the service that controls nuclear weapons.
The parade of goose-stepping soldiers, well-rehearsed school children and flowery floats will illustrate the nation's priorities of modernisation and military strength [ID:nSP373399].
Foreign observers will be watching to see what weapons the People's Liberation Army shows off.
The 108 missiles on display will include two types of surface-to-surface conventional missiles, a land-based cruise missile, surface-to-surface intermediate and long-range missiles that can be equipped with either nuclear or conventional warheads, and nuclear-capable intercontinental missiles, said Yu Jixun, deputy Commander of the PLA's Second Artillery Force.
Continue here.Brazil Warming to Iran and Nuclear Ambitions
Brazil's vice president, José Alencar, who serves as acting president while President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is abroad, told Brazilian reporters that's he in favor that Brazil build its own atomic bomb. Nuclear weapons are an important deterrent against possible future aggression by foreign powers, he explained.
"A nuclear weapon used as dissuasive instrument is of great significance for a country that has 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles) of borders in the west and has a territorial sea and, now, there's this pre-salt sea with an area of 4 million square kilometers (1.4 million square miles)," Alencar said.
All the recent oil findings by Brazil should be reason for caution, he said.
"This stirs international greed. Now everything is all right, but we don't know what tomorrow will bring. It costs a lot, but readiness is costly."
Alencar pointed to Pakistan, which is part of several international organisms not because is a big country, but because it has nuclear weapons.
For Alencar, India and Pakistan, although living in conflict, don't go to war against each other and prefer to sit down and negotiate because both possess nuclear weapons.
"We, Brazilian, sometimes are too laid-back," ALencar said. "We master the nuclear energy technology, but nobody here has the drive to advance in this field. We have to go forward in this matter".
Ahmadinejad to Visit Brazil
In a possibly related development, Lula said Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Brasilia in November. Lula plans to travel to Tehran in May, Brazilian media reported Thursday.
"I have nothing to do with what other presidents think. I do not know whether they like him (Ahmadinejad) or not. I am meeting with him because he is the president of a great nation and we talk as heads of state. This is not a friends' club," Lula told the daily O Globo.
Lula said that Ahmadinejad had assured him that Iran's nuclear programme only sought peaceful goals.
"I do not take rumours into account ... so far there is nothing that can serve to reject the conclusion that Iran wants (nuclear) technology for peaceful ends."
Lula added that he advised Ahmadinejad to allow international supervision.
The two presidents met Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
China Confidential reported on Sept. 5 that Brazil was following Iran's line on nuclear matters. Alencar's remarks, which the government says do not reflect official Brazilian policy, should not be brushed off as insignificant.China, Neighbors Cooperating Against ETIM
Reuters reports: China and its Asian neighbours have agreed to tighten border controls and increase protection over Chinese operations that could be targets of "East Turkistan" militants, China's Ministry of Public Security said.
China blames militants in the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for attacks in the far western frontier region of Xinjiang, where the local Uighurs, a Muslim people with cultural ties to central Asia, often chafe under Chinese rule.
Deadly riots by Uighurs in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi on July 5 killed 197 people, most of them majority Han Chinese. Han crowds launched revenge attacks two days later.
Continue here.China Investigating US Chicken Imports
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
From diplomatic engagement to economic isolation--click here for the story.
The White House calls the missile tests "provocative;" the State Department, "North Korean playbook" moves.
posted by Confidential Reporter @ 6:45 PM links to this post
China again disappoints, as reported here.
There is no diplomatic solution to the Iranian problem. The turbaned tyranny must go. Click here for an expert's view.
Click here for the story.
The move, alleging unfair trade practices, follows Washington's imposition of import tariffs on Chinese-made tires. Click here for the story.
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