US Presidential trip to the Orient.
Away to the orient on a state visit, President Barack Obama’s iternary for official engagements will probably be as tightly compartmentalized for brief bilateral discussions with the region’s political leaders, as probably his own suitcase may be for the trip ahead.
Having already met with the Japan’s new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in the middle of last week, very consolidatary words were exchanged between them both.
Intending not unlike Obama to be the harbinger of dramatic change within his country, Mr Hatoyama who spearheads the DJP (Democratic Party of Japan) has expessed the wish to delegate with the Obama Administration in getting to America to scale back its military presence on Okinawa Island in the southwest area and close to Japan itself.
There are also calls by the DJP and sections of the Japanese public to have their country withdraw as signatories from a treaty (the Guam Treaty) which was only signed and made binding back in February, 2009.
Obama was also welcomed to Shanghai by the city’s Mayor Han Zheng. In a show of warm and true sinological gratitude the US President was escorted with his entourage to Xijiao State Guest House Shanghai. Obama also gave a short talk to students at a town hall in Shanghai on subject of Sino-US diplomatic relations. His journey’s end that day ended in Beijing.
The Obama Administration view Beijing in a very positive light, regard it as very up and coming place, and have expressed the wish to work and negotiate with the city more amicably. Toyoko and South Korea will greet him next.
Weblinks:http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/11/15/obama.china/index.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE57L0H120090822
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/11/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5668045.shtml
British Airways and Iberia opt for joined up thinking
Descending into and ascending out from most of the globe’s international airports, a fleeting glimpse of a hybridizd lark might be witnessed soon enough in the skies of our individual states.
The merging of BA with Iberia will herald the coming of a host of welcomed changes for air travellers, some of the planned benefits spoken about have included gaining a wider variety of options for travelling long-haul towards destinations in Latin America.
Business discussions for this Anglo-Spanish merger have been particularly lengthy.
The possible joining of forces between these companies have only in the past been posed as a sort of “What if” question, due to there being a lot of agreement to be reached by both potential partners.
Further mention about the idea of BA and Iberia potentially amalgamating was given by it previous Chief Executive Mr Rod Eddington in 2003.
Six years on and with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed and approved, the two will establish a new joint holding company named TopCo.
BA has taken 55% and Iberia 45% in joint ownership.
The cost of this mega recombinative move to British Airways and Iberia has been priced at 4.3bn, managing to springboard them back fully into the competitive arena as Europe’s third-largest airline.
Weblinks: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article4422487.ece
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/british-airways-and-iberia-merge
Washington D.C Sniper is put to death.
History has never hit back so hard on a violent perpetrator as it has done on John Allen Muhammad. Known as the Washington sniper, Mr Muhammad shot 10 people dead at random locations within Maryland, Washington and Virginia in October 2002.
He was executed this week by lethal injection after he and lawyers lost a last ditch appeal plea for clemency. The execution took place at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia. After having had the injections administered, he was then later pronounced dead at 9.11pm.
His joint accomplice in these killings Lee Boyd Malvo has been sentenced to life in prison.
Weblinks: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5AA0B620091111
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/sniper/index.html
Lee Boyd Malvo: Background and case details
http://www.biography.com/notorious/crimefiles.do?catId=259458&action=view&profileId=260620
Army psychiatrist goes berserk on Texan Military Installation.
Hearing about self-orchestrated shootings happening in America are becoming increasingly more common. The firearm assault carried out last Thursday at Fort Hood Military Base by Major Nidal Malik Hassan came as bolt out of the blue for the small and commandeering community there.
With 13 loosing the lives in the incident, and over a score wounded; the US Federal Authorities quite possibly have a dilemma on their hands relating as this does to the sprouting up of home-grown terrorism.
The ending of Hassan’s violent rampage came when civilian police officer, Sgt. Kimberly Munley out of all heroism succeeded in disabling Mr Hassan with the use of her own weapon. Investigators are in the process of supplying answers to all the “whys? and hows?
Weblinks: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,572305,00.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN5y0SjFwNY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do0ryiU8y28
Nine men dispensed with by the Chinese State.
Since the Han Chinese/Uighur Muslim riots happened back in July this year, China has now in recent days executed 9 people (8 whom belonged to the Uighur ethnic minority and one Han) found guilty and sentenced for their part in individual acts of violence, murder and vandalism in the Xinjiang province city of Urumqi.
The Chinese authorities convicted 21 people overall, while these first 9 were killed in the past few days after their trial in October.
Word on the carrying out of this penalty was broadcast by The China News Service. At the beginning of the week a final verdict was arrived at by China’s Supreme People’s Court warranting the executions. On paper though, no dates or other examplary details were provided.
Close to 200 people died during the length of these civil disturbances.
Weblinks: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/11/09/china-uighurs-executed.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8800023
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/09/world/main5586487.shtml
Twenty Years After the Fall – By George Friedman
We are now at the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet empire in Eastern Europe. We are also nearing the 18th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union itself.This is more than simply a moment for reflection — it is a moment to consider the current state of the region and of Russia versus that whose passing we are now commemorating. To do that, we must re-examine why the Soviet empire collapsed, and the current status of the same forces that caused that collapse.
Russia’s Two-Part FoundationThe Russian empire — both the Czarist and Communist versions — was a vast, multinational entity. At its greatest extent, it stretched into the heart of Central Europe; at other times, it was smaller. But it was always an empire whose constituent parts were diverse, hostile to each other and restless. Two things tied the empire together. Read more » This excerpt has been republished by www.jotl.wordpress.com Attribution for this article goes to www.stratfor.com |
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Catharsis made possible. Berliners commemorate a special day.
Positioned so menacingly between the borders of East and West Berlin, the wall built there from the 13th August 1961 until its eventual collapse on the 9th of November 1989 presented itself so visibly as an all-encompassing symbol of division.
During the reign of Communism in the East of the city, underpinned as it was by a cavalcade of ”prima facie” Soviet-style expressions, hundreds of people risked their lives in attempting to climb the wall, while many were killed as result of trying.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary since the barrier was dismantled, the best of all political figures synonymous with those times, joined our newer generation of luminaries along with the German public to mark the event. German Chancellor Angela Merkel who grew up in the East recollected that time as being “an epic moment in history” and as an occasion she will always fondly remember.
Weblinks: www.berlin-life.com/berlin/wall
Counterterrorism: Shifting from ‘Who’ to ‘How’ – By Scott Stewart and Fred Burton
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In the 11th edition of the online magazine Sada al-Malahim (The Echo of Battle), which was released to jihadist Web sites last week, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader Nasir al-Wahayshi wrote an article that called for jihadists to conduct simple attacks against a variety of targets. The targets included “any tyrant, intelligence den, prince” or “minister” (referring to the governments in the Muslim world like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen), and “any crusaders whenever you find one of them, like at the airports of the crusader Western countries that participate in the wars against Islam, or their living compounds, trains etc.,” (an obvious reference to the United States and Europe and Westerners living in Muslim countries). Al-Wahayshi, an ethnic Yemeni who spent time in Afghanistan serving as a lieutenant under Osama bin Laden, noted these simple attacks could be conducted with readily available weapons such as knives, clubs or small improvised explosive devices (IEDs). According to al-Wahayshi, jihadists “don’t need to conduct a big effort or spend a lot of money to manufacture 10 grams of explosive material” and that they should not “waste a long time finding the materials, because you can find all these in your mother’s kitchen, or readily at hand or in any city you are in.” Read more » This excerpt has been republished by www.jotl.wordpress.com Attribution for this article goes to www.stratfor.com
Weblinks: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/01/arabian_peninsula_al.php http://www.globalterroralert.com/
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Helmand River of Blood: The carving out of a future.
Seismic political demands pressurise Mr Karzai
The world might have witnessed Hamid Karzai receive a flurry of warm gestures from leading politicians over the past week, but he himself needs to buck up his own ideas in relation to bringing some purposeful autonomy to Afghanistan.
In preparing to be reinstated as President this month, he can’t afford sounding the slightest bit glib when voicing his oath of office.
Having to set out his agenda for Afghanistan in a very affirmative tone, Mr Karzai has promised to root out corruption and alter or completely repeal the recent Marital Sex Law which was the cause of much civil disquiet back in April.
5 British Servicemen die in Afghanistan
In the aftermath of 5 British soldiers being fired at and killed on Tuesday of this week in Helmand Province, the Taliban have claimed responsibility and are said to be protecting the gunman amongst their ranks.
The sparking off of this lone assualt by a rogue Afghan National Police official happened at a checkpoint near a place called Shin Kalay where there are houses built. The gunman was positioned on top of a roof and shot unhindered towards the soldiers.
Escaping from scene, the gunman sped off on a motorbike. Tracking this man down is the next step, spokespeople from the UK’s Task Force Helmand have sworn to find and capture him.
A naturally precautious U.N
Resting alongside this story is the announcement made by the U.N to temporarily relocate by pulling out 600 of its expatriate field staff from the region after one of the organization’s guest houses was attacked in Kabul.
Weblinks: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/04/AR2009110400208.html
http://www.kelowna.com/2009/11/05/un-relocates-afghanistan-staff-to-secure-housing/
http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=floridatoday&sParam=36709410.story
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20091106_A_shaken_U_N__pulls_back_in_Kabul.html
Obama and the U.S. Strategy of Buying Time – By George Friedman
| Making sense of U.S. President Barack Obama’s strategy at this moment is difficult. Not only is it a work in progress, but the pending decisions he has to make — on Iran, Afghanistan and Russia — tend to obscure underlying strategy.It is easy to confuse inaction with a lack of strategy. Of course, there may well be a lack of strategic thinking, but that does not mean there is a lack of strategy.
Strategy, as we have argued, is less a matter of choice than a matter of reality imposing itself on presidents. Former U.S. President George W. Bush, for example, rarely had a chance to make strategy. He was caught in a whirlwind after only nine months in office and spent the rest of his presidency responding to events, making choices from a menu of very bad options. Similarly, Obama came into office with a preset menu of limited choices. He seems to be fighting to create new choices, not liking what is on the menu. He may succeed. But it is important to understand the overwhelming forces that shape his choices and to understand the degree to which whatever he chooses is embedded in U.S. grand strategy, a strategy imposed by geopolitical reality. Read more » Weblinks: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/03/2009327143036862454.html http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113535656&ft=1&f=1004 http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_afghanistan_102009/ This excerpt has been republished by www.jotl.wordpress.com Attribution for this article goes to www.stratfor.com |
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