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The latest in the Afghan war of futility. The US is sending drones to dispatch no-goodniks in the disputed tribal lands of Pakistan.
“Suspected US drones have fired missiles into a compound used by anti-government fighters in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt, killing at least 16 people, officials said.
The missile strike on Saturday morning occurred in the Angoor Ada area of South Waziristan, official sources told Al Jazeera.”
Funny, the Pakistani government is irked with little planes flying all over its territory vapourizing people wily-nilly.
“US drone strikes are unpopular in Pakistan and the government in Islamabad has repeatedly urged Washington to end them.Pakistan says the attacks kill civilians, stoking resentment among the local population and thus prove to be counter-productive in the battle against armed groups. The attacks also undermine Pakistani sovereignty, Islamabad says.”
A big shiny gold star of fail as far as winning hearts and minds is concerned. Full marks for indiscriminate slaughter though as well as bolstering anti-American sentiment across a nuclear armed quasi-religious state. However, do not fear:
“But the US has persisted with the drone attacks, saying they were effective means to deal with Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters operating in Pakistan’s border areas with Afghanistan.”
But it is an effective way to get the bad guys… so we kill some innocents in the process. War is hell, it takes a few eggs to break an omelette et cetera. If this is not winning the war on terror, what is?
Chalmers Johnsten wrote a prescient book entitled “Blowback“. I fear that we have more ‘blowback’ coming our way very soon.
Israel is basking in the glow of yet another effective public opinion campaign, but this time rather than brutalizing the Palestinians it is the Bedouins turn.
“Israeli authorities have demolished the homes of about 300 Bedouins in a village in the southern Negev desert.
The entire village of al-Arakib was bulldozed on Tuesday, with many of the former residents’ cattle, trees and belongings lost.”
I wonder what would happen if the Palestinians decided to bulldoze an illegal Jewish settlement?
“Haia Noach, director of the Negev Co-existence Forum, was present at al-Arakib during the demolition and said that at least five Israeli bulldozers arrived around 5:30am (0230GMT).
“It took them about three or four hours to destroy all the houses,” she said, describing the scene as “appalling.”Scuffles erupted as the villagers and around 150 rights activists tried to stop the police from carrying out the demolitions, with several people wounded and a handful arrested, activists said.”
At least no one tried to get in front of a bulldozer.
“Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld confirmed the early-morning operation, saying the homes had been “illegally built” and were destroyed in line with a court ruling issued 11 years ago which was never implemented.
Around 30 shacks were removed and several hundred people were taken back to the Rahat area where they originally came from,” he said, referring to a nearby Bedouin town in Israel’s arid south.”
Well at least they deported them back to where they came from. No mention of compensation or any sort of help from the government, just the police and the ‘dozers. How nice.
“Noach said Israeli authorities had first given residents of al-Arakib a notice to evacaute on June 15, but that no action had followed, so the residents began to doubt that the demolition would occur.
But this morning, Israeli police arrived and forced residents to leave their homes within minutes, Noach said.
The demolition team destroyed water tanks and removed generators.
“It’s like a declaration of war. They don’t want you here,” Noach said. “It’s unthinkable.”
Unthinkable is in the eye of who is behind the bulldozer. Is this issue as cut and dried as just the courts taking 11 years to get moving on a decision? Where there other motivations present, did this group of Bedouins piss off the wrong people? Just speculation of course, but I would not be surprised if there were other less savoury aspects to this story.
Israeli continues withe bulldoze first and answer no questions later policy, although full marks to them for not contravening international law on this one.
Pharyngula is one of my favourite places to go as P.Z Myers is always finding interesting bits of science and rationality to education, entertain and amuse me.
The thread on Pharyngula that I’m referring to is about how the gap between the rich and poor in the US is continuing to widen. One of the commenters left a response that deserves a second viewing as someone who is having a tough time making it in a country saddled with supply-side economics and plutocratic values. I quote “JustALurker” in her entirety. (Please note that strong language is prevalent in the body of this quoted material)
“Ahm. As one of these lazy ass people in the absolutely poor demographic in the U.S I think I could help by throwing in my 2 cents here. Obviously, this is just from what I know and see so anecdotal and small study set at best. However, I think hearing from one of the people being discussed might help those that are privileged and ignorant to the actual situation and just like to spout ideological bullshit.
Firstly, yes I am a single mom and have been struggling on my own since I was 16. I did go to college for 2 years, received 2 associate degrees while doing my prereqs for Nursing. Due to this small and short education and 2 years experience I do get better paying customer service jobs than most people I know but it is still not enough to pay the bills. I worked two jobs, got out of the shelters and into my own place and was still receiving help for daycare since it would have taken up almost half of my income otherwise.
Everything was dandy until I lost both jobs (because I didn’t get hired on, was only temp and seasonal), couldn’t get a new one soon enough even though I applied online for over 100 jobs, and went through 4 temp agencies. Well, then the cascade began, phone got shut off, daycare help ceased since I wasn’t working, and now I have a 5 day notice to get out and the electricity will be shut off before then. I have been calling shelters for the past month but everything is booked including the nightly shelters and the shortest wait list I’m on is 4 to 6 weeks. Whoop dee do.
Now I’m screwed worst than before and can’t get any fucking help. Now I’m scared to death that I will not receive a miracle (haha) and have somewhere to go but will end up on the streets and have to give up my child to CPS since I cannot have her on the streets. Her welfare is more important than the fact that I love her and don’t want to lose her or the fact that I will most likely not get her back. What a lovely system we have here.
So fuck off sideways to everyone that says I’m stuck here because I’m lazy or that its my own fault. That is far from the truth. I will work fucking 3 jobs if that’s what it takes to take care of my baby. I didn’t end up here just because I was knocked up young. I got the crap shoot when it came to parents, one a crackhead and the other an abusive alcoholic. I’m so desperate I even tracked them down and asked for help. One can’t and one won’t. I had a bad start but I took control of my life and my actions. However, simply working hard and “excellence” will not get me out of this situation.
This is the fucked up system we have here. This is what the Republican pro-lifers want. This is there America, and I am only a lazy welfare queen stuck in it. If I am lucky enough to find a place, I will jump though several hoops, not only to get in but to stay. Most places only give you 2 weeks to find a job and have a mission statement that includes saving your soul (shudder). And that isn’t half of what your stuck with doing. I have lived with roaches and rats in shelters. I have heard fights, domestic violence and have been robbed. Yet right now I am hoping to find a spot in one of these places so I can work my way up to a better future for us. There are people that are stuck in this cycle, in this life but I am dedicated to not being one of them. I just need an opportunity.
So again to you privileged whinny ideological fuck heads go shove it up your ass sideways. Come live in my world, the real world for a bit and see how long you last. I bet you won’t be spouting your bullshit for long, if you were here. If you survive.”
Not quite the World Cup Trophy.
I bet the last thing you heard from Africa was who won the World Cup. Al-Jazeera reports on the violence that has been ramping up in Sudan after peace talks were suspended.
“Nearly 400 people have been killed in recent clashes between the Sudanese army and Darfur’s main rebel group, according to Sudanese state media.
Most of the people killed – more than 300 – were members of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem).”
The UN is on the scene but is sounds like they are fighting a 5 alarm fire with a squirt gun.
“United Nations peacekeepers in Darfur confirmed that there were at least two major clashes between the two sides.The under-equipped peacekeepers, with a mandate to cover an area the size of Spain, said they were also investigating reports of a third clash in Daba Tago, near the north Darfur settlement of Mellit.”
Yep, we can continue to ruin Afghanistan and Iraq to the tune of billions of dollars per day, and yet we cannot even keep more than a laughable presence in the Sudan. I am actually quite surprised as Sudan has OIL which makes it much more likely be on Western foreign policy radars.
“Darfur, which is about the same size as France, has been gripped by civil war since ethnic minority rebels rose up against the Arab-dominated government and their supporters in 2003.”
I guess we need to call Bono back into the fray, because it seems unless altruism and empathy are fronted by a rock band, things just do not get done.
It will come down to this sooner or later. All the boots on the ground and drone strikes in the world will not magically solve the Afghanistan problem for the west. Unless we as the so called civilized nations of the West decide to turn Afghanistan into nuclear slag, achieving complete victory(?) will be impossible. A former British Commander in the Afghan theatre said:
“The head of the British Army says he believes talks with the Taliban should begin “pretty soon,” but that discussions shouldn’t lead insurgents to think they have an advantage.
Calling his position a “purely private view,” Gen. Sir David Richards told the BBC on Sunday that he didn’t know when talks could begin. But Richards, a former commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, said, “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be looking at that sort of thing pretty soon.”
About time, in my opinion. Invading Afghanistan was pure folly in the first place, as any student of history can tell you. Even the general is getting cold feet.:
“He said in any counter-insurgency campaign, there comes “a point [at] which you start to negotiate with each other.”
Yet, we went ahead with visions of protecting democracy and fighting terrorism dancing in our heads. Yet another great imperial army has more than met its match in Afghanistan. The sooner we leave the better.
Defying international law seems to be what Israel does best. The International Committee of the Red Cross recently released the following (from Al Jazeera):
“The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has described Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip as a violation of the Geneva Conventions and called on the Israeli government to lift it.
In a statement released on Monday, the organisation called the blockade “collective punishment”, a crime under international law. It described Gaza as a territory plagued by frequent power cuts, a ruined economy, and a collapsed health care system.”
Collective punishment is illegal. There are no qualifiers to this statement, the actions being taken against the people of Gaza are illegal.
“In Luxembourg on Monday, foreign ministers from the European Union condemned the Gaza blockade as “unacceptable and counterproductive,” and called for immediate and unconditional opening of crossings for humanitarian aid.
“The most important part of what we can do is to try and provide support to actually get the crossings open and to … help people rebuild their homes, to provide for businesses, to try to support everyday things,” Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign affairs chief, said.”
Sounds like a reasonable starting point to me.
quag·mire
1.
an area of miry or boggy ground whose surface yields under the tread; a bog.
2.
a situation from which extrication is very difficult: a quagmire of financial indebtedness.
3.
anything soft or flabby.
Sometimes it is good to get back to basics when dealing with complex issues like our ongoing colonial occupation war in Afghanistan. The CBC reports:
“A dramatic increase in the number of homemade bomb attacks is part of an “alarming trend” in Afghanistan, a UN report released Saturday said.
The report to the UN Security Council said bombings and assassinations have soared in the past four months amid ramped-up military operations in the Taliban-dominated south.
The number of attacks involving improvised explosive devices increased by 94 per cent over the same period in 2009, while assassinations of Afghan officials rose by 45 per cent.
“The rise in incidents involving improvised-explosive devices constitutes an alarming trend,” the report said.
Suicide attacks occurred at a rate of about three a week, half in the restive south. Such bombings have tripled this year compared with 2009.”
Is any of this really surprising? I mean, Afghanistan is the anvil on which Imperial armies go to be smashed. It has happened before, and will happen again. So why is Canada still there? Are we really preserving freedom and democracy? Fighting terror? It is all rather nebulous.
“Nevertheless, the UN found the number of security incidents had “increased significantly compared to previous years,” in large part because of more military operations in the south early this year. NATO spokesman Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz told reporters in the capital on Saturday that despite negative assessments, the international force was making steady strides.
“Tough fighting is expected to continue, but the situation is trending in our favour as more forces flow into the area,” Blotz said.
“It has to be tougher perhaps before it goes easier,” Blotz said.”
I think the only statement that contains a grain of truth is Blotz’s final one. It will get tougher and I highly doubt it will get easier as time passes.
Canada’s military commitment in Afghanistan ends in 2011. Not a moment too soon.
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