Iran.....
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/10/06/iran-urges-west-make-an-offer-before-next-weeks-meeting/
“They should come to the negotiating table with a new approach,” added Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who said he believed the February plan the US insisted on is too outdated to even bother with anymore.
The US wants a deal that would allow troops and CIA agents to continue to launch unilateral operations beyond 2014 to capture or kill “suspects” inside Afghanistan, while the Karzai government argues that’s a threat to their sovereignty.
USA Today has released its own chart showing the general trend, and while it relies on UN figures, which grossly underestimate the overall toll and don’t figuring in dead insurgents, they do provide a telling picture of the summer.
At last count at least 51 people were confirmed killed, with 268 others wounded. Large numbers of supporters of the ousted civilian government were also reportedly arrested for “causing trouble.”
Libya.....
Secretary of State John Kerry admitted that the US raid was carried out without any prior notice to the Libyan government, which hasexpressed opposition to having a foreign military march in and haul off one of their citizens at gunpoint.
It’s not clear whether that’s supposed to be reassuring or terrifying, as Liby is currently being held on a US Navy transport ship andfacing interrogation by the US military, without access to a lawyer.
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/10/06/iran-urges-west-make-an-offer-before-next-weeks-meeting/
Iran Urges West: Make an Offer Before Next Week’s Meeting
February Plan Outdated, FM Insists
by Jason Ditz, October 06, 2013
With Iran and the P5+1 making good progress at talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, a new round of talks scheduled for next week has raised high hopes. But Iran is hoping to see an actual proposal.
“They should come to the negotiating table with a new approach,” added Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who said he believed the February plan the US insisted on is too outdated to even bother with anymore.
The February plan, such as it was, demanded Iran suspend all 20 percent uranium enrichment, hand over significant amounts of its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium unilaterally and close the Fordow enrichment plant. In return, the US would allow Iran to return to gray market bartering in gold, but would keep materially all sanctions in place beyond that.
While that was asking an awful lot in February, the reality is that Iran’s 20 percent stockpile is shrinking drastically as Iran begins to wind down production, and converts much of it to fuel rods for its medical isotope reactor. It isn’t even clear that Iran has enough of a stockpile left to satisfy the demand, and its mostly irrelevant at any rate because, again, Iran is close to ending that production simply because they’ve made all the fuel rods they’ll ever need.
As a practical matter, getting an “in public” offer would be a major victory for Iran, because the US often likes to go to P5+1 talks with no agenda and nothing laid out for them, simply issue demands and then leave, arguing Iran was unreasonable for not agreeing to everything immediately, without any negotiation taking place.
Afghanistan....
“On the security front the entire NATO exercise was one that caused Afghanistan a lot of suffering, a lot of loss of life, and no gains,” Karzai noted, elaborating on comments from his spokesmanyesterday.
Karzai Rejects US Security Pact, Says NATO Causing ‘Great Suffering’
Says US, NATO Repeatedly Conduct Operations Against His Wishes
by Jason Ditz, October 07, 2013
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ruled out signing any Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) allowing US and foreign troops to stay in the nation beyond 2014 today, saying there are major disagreements with the foreign powers that need to be addressed before the pact could be considered.
“On the security front the entire NATO exercise was one that caused Afghanistan a lot of suffering, a lot of loss of life, and no gains,” Karzai noted, elaborating on comments from his spokesmanyesterday.
Karzai went on to say that NATO and the US had repeatedly launched operations in express opposition to his government’s wishes, notably night raids, and was clearly willing to violate Afghan sovereignty whenever it suits them.
The US has expressed hope to have a pact in place by the end of this month, but it seems unlikely that Karzai will back down, and it is likely the US will simply have to wait until the 2014 election and hope Karzai’s successor will be more willing to accept their terms.
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/10/06/us-afghan-officials-at-odds-over-post-2014-pact/
US, Afghan Officials at Odds Over Post-2014 Pact
Core Issues Remain Unresolved
by Jason Ditz, October 06, 2013
While President Obama had already signed an agreement in principle to continue the US occupation of Afghanistan through 2024, the actual status of forces agreement that will govern operations beyond 2014 remains elusive, and according to a Karzai government spokesman, it is the core issues that are holding it up.
The US wants a deal that would allow troops and CIA agents to continue to launch unilateral operations beyond 2014 to capture or kill “suspects” inside Afghanistan, while the Karzai government argues that’s a threat to their sovereignty.
At the same time, the Afghan government wants some commitments from the US to provide aid to defend the country if it comes under attack from abroad, something the Obama Administration wants to avoid because it would mean bringing the pact to Congress for ratification.
That’s something recent presidents have tried to avoid at all costs, with President Bush drawing the Iraqi status of forces agreement around getting the Iraqi parliament to ratify it, but managing to avoid a Congressional vote by arguing it was an executive agreement.
- Forgotten War: Afghan Occupation Enters 13th Year - October 7th, 2013
- Karzai Rejects US Security Pact, Says NATO Causing 'Great Suffering' - October 7th, 2013
Iraq.....
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/10/06/over-8-000-killed-in-iraq-so-far-in-2013/
Over 8.000 Killed in Iraq so Far in 2013
After Relatively Calm 2012, a Return to Civil War
by Jason Ditz, October 06, 2013
A sectarian civil war that was fought alongside of the US occupation through the last decade came and went, but is seemingly back with a vengeance in 2013, as a massive spike in violence in the summer has left well over 8,000 people killed in Iraq so far this year, and nearly three whole months to go.
USA Today has released its own chart showing the general trend, and while it relies on UN figures, which grossly underestimate the overall toll and don’t figuring in dead insurgents, they do provide a telling picture of the summer.
The 2013 Iraq fighting didn’t really start kicking off in earnest until late April, when Iraqi military forces attacked Sunni civilian protesters. That set off a series of attacks by Sunni militants, and has been used by those factions to recruit civilians fed up with the Maliki government’s refusal to follow through on pledged power-sharing.
The death toll now rivals that of the later years of the US occupation, roughly in line with 2007, but with no end in sight, the trend seems to be toward the situation getting worse, not better.
Egypt......
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/10/06/at-least-44-killed-as-egypt-protests-against-the-junta/
At Least 51 Killed as Egypt Protests Against the Junta
Military Had Declared Sunday a 'Celebration' of Military
by Jason Ditz, October 06, 2013
The Egyptian military junta had declared Sunday a holiday celebrate the military’s might, but instead got massive protests against the military’s continued rule and clashes when police attempted to stop the demonstrations.
At last count at least 51 people were confirmed killed, with 268 others wounded. Large numbers of supporters of the ousted civilian government were also reportedly arrested for “causing trouble.”
Police were openly beating supportersof the Muslim Brotherhood, the now banned party that held office before the July coup, and pro-junta demonstrators also took to the streets to pelt them with rocks.
It was the deadliest day of violence in weeks for Egypt, which has seen myriad bloody crackdowns against supporters of civilian rule since July. Though the indications remain that the junta’s grasp on power is secure, there is also significant opposition to their rule, and mass arrests and violence won’t change that.
Libya.....
Kerry Insists Libya Raid Was ‘Legal,’ Warns Against Criticism
Insists Critics Would 'Sympathize' With Suspect
by Jason Ditz, October 07, 2013
Revelations continue to emerge on the weekend US raid of the Libyan capital city of Tripoli and the kidnapping of Abu Anas al-Liby, accused by the administration for a role in 1998 embassy bombings. The story doesn’t sound any better.
Secretary of State John Kerry admitted that the US raid was carried out without any prior notice to the Libyan government, which hasexpressed opposition to having a foreign military march in and haul off one of their citizens at gunpoint.
Kerry sought to defend the raid as “legal,” though the standard by which that would be the case is totally unclear, and Kerry’s defense basically began and ended with the word “legal,” instead warning preemptively against public criticism of the operation, saying “I think it’s important for people in the world not to sympathize with alleged terrorists.”
Though officials haven’t specifically said if the Somali operation involved consultation with the self-proclaimed Somali government, a unilateral operation in that case would theoretically be less controversial, since the area of operation is totally outside of that government’s control. The same cannot be said about Tripoli, however, and if the current legal opinions of the administration are that they can use the military to invade foreign countries to carry out arrests at will, it may be a dramatic shift in traditional extradition polities.
US Troops Interrogate Captured Libyan on Navy Ship
Top House Dem: Liby 'Will Be Treated Like Anyone Else'
by Jason Ditz, October 07, 2013
Speaking today on CNN, House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D – MD) assured Americans that captured Libyan citizen Anas al-Liby “will be treated like anyone else” and will have “all the legal rights” of anyone facing charges by the US government.
It’s not clear whether that’s supposed to be reassuring or terrifying, as Liby is currently being held on a US Navy transport ship andfacing interrogation by the US military, without access to a lawyer.
Liby’s capture was an extraordinary rendition, and a doubly extraordinary one as the military carried it out in the capital of a friendly nation without that nation’s permission.
The Obama Administration also says it is “undecided” on exactly what it’s going to do with the newly captured detainee, and Rep. Ruppersberger’s insistence that he’s going to get a real trial in a real civilian court seems to be a wild guess, with White House officials saying they can send him wherever they want, and that a Gitmo-style military tribunal, virtually the exact opposite of a real trial, remains an option.
At the same time, it’s not clear Ruppersberger is wrong that he’s being “treated like anyone else,” since the administration officials who commented insisted that the executive branch has the authority to determine “when and where” to prosecute individuals, and that it is always on a case-by-case basis. So evidently any one of us could find ourselves on a ship in the Mediterranean waiting for enhanced interrogation, and a promise of some sort of trial some day.
No comments:
Post a Comment