Peace Like A River » Cables, dispatches and memoranda

Cables, dispatches and memoranda

August 14, 2008 (12:08 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba

Cables, Dispatches and Memoranda
A brief world news roundup for 14 August 2008.

United States & the Americas

President Bush – I’ve also directed Secretary of Defense Bob Gates to begin a humanitarian mission to the people of Georgia, headed by the United States military. This mission will be vigorous and ongoing. A U.S. C-17 aircraft with humanitarian supplies is on its way. And in the days ahead we will use U.S. aircraft, as well as naval forces, to deliver humanitarian and medical supplies.
Pentagon – A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft will touch down today in Tbilisi, Georgia, delivering the first of what may turn into many planeloads of humanitarian relief to the nation, Defense Department officials said today. The C-17 is from the 305th Air Mobility Wing at McGuire Air Force Base, N.J.
FP Passport – While Americans have been enthralled with the performances of God-King Michael Phelps, their neighbors to the north are starting to get a bit worried. The reason? Canada hasn’t won a medal yet.
IPS – The dialogue with opposition governors that Bolivian President Evo Morales has called for in the wake of Sunday’s recall referendum, to overcome the growing polarisation in the country, will run up against regional, social and ethnic divisions, according to analysts.
Washington Times – Bolivia and Libya agreed Wednesday to establish diplomatic relations and join efforts to develop the nations’ energy resources.
BBC – Prices of foodstuffs from bread to beef have risen by up to 50% in Venezuela after the country’s government raised the regulated prices of basic items.
syracuse.com – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is defending a decision to prevent 272 officials from running in November’s local elections. Chavez says a news media campaign has portrayed the officials as “the best.” But he says that really they are “thieves” who “need to be in prison.” Last week, Venezuela’s Supreme Court upheld the Comptroller General’s decision to bar the candidates from running on suspicion of corruption. Those blacklisted include key Chavez opponents, who have protested in the streets.
CNN – Stung by the kidnap-killing of a 14-year-old boy, the Mexico City government on Monday announced a program of anti-crime reforms, including more citizen involvement. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard announced the city will create a new police investigative agency to replace its old, corruption-ridden detectives’ unit. Mexico City detectives are suspected of having participated in the abduction and killing of 14-year-old Fernando Marti.
LA Times – Six members of the Mexican government’s top organized-crime unit have been arrested on suspicion of leaking information to drug traffickers, officials said Wednesday. An official in the Mexican attorney general’s office said a supervisor and five agents are thought to have passed tips to smugglers in the west-central state of Sinaloa for about three months.
Newsweek – On Friday, Fernando Lugo, a 57-year-old former Roman Catholic bishop, will be sworn in as president of Paraguay. Lugo made history in last April’s national election when he defeated the candidate of the Colorado Party, which has been in power for more than six decades and is the world’s longest-ruling party. Elected on campaign pledges to curb poverty and rampant corruption, Lugo considers himself a moderate, even though his political rivals sought to portray him as a populist who would seek closer ties to left-wing leaders in Latin America.
AP – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced on Wednesday that it will invest the equivalent of at least US$1 billion in Brazil to expand its operations in Latin America’s biggest country.
La Segunda – According to the Spanish newspaper “El Mundo”, José Ignacio de Juana Chaos, one of the most brutal terrorists in the history of the Basque Separatist Organization (ETA), is currently in South America after being released from a Spanish prison on August 2nd of this year following 18 years of incarceration.

Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia

AP – Fifty battered Russian army trucks and armored personnel carriers roared without warning down the highway toward the country’s capital, making it clear that a day-old cease-fire would not keep Russia from moving freely through Georgia.
Sofia News Agency – Soldiers from the separatist republic of Abkhazia celebrated Wednesday the “full liberation” of the country, after announcements form Georgia that they have withdrawn their armed forces from the Kodor Valley. Jubilating Abkhazian soldiers entered earlier Wednesday into Georgian territory and raised the flag of Abkhazia over a bridge on the Ingury River, claiming that the area historically belonged to Abkhazia and they wanted those lands back as well.
Hetq – There is no panic in Tbilisi, but conditions are stressed. In mini buses no one talks, or if they do they are talking about the war. Banks refuse to operate in the usual manner. It is not possible to use credit cards and overdrafts. Citizens supply all the necessary products. Prices are inching up, however.
Spiegel – The market square in Gori feels like a ghost town. The silver statue of Stalin that stands in the center of the square glows in the mid-day sun. Yet ironically, the huge Stalin statue was left undamaged by this war. Shards of glass are strewn all over the pavement, as are pieces of the buildings torn apart by the force of the explosions of Russian bombs and artillery fire. The square is dotted with small craters from the impact of the grenades.
Spiegel – The war is over but Russia continued operations in Georgia on Wednesday. Moscow has confirmed that it has been transporting military material out of Georgian army bases. Russia’s military has also closed the Georgian port of Poti.
Newsweek – About a hundred Russian military vehicles, some dragging trailers with heavy artillery, drove through Gori today on their way to the Georgian capital. Soldiers with happy smiles on tired unshaved faces waved to journalists. When asked where they were going, they said “to Tbilisi” and laughed. Some took pictures of journalists with cell phones. Asked by a Newsweek reporter why they’d come to Georgia, one of the soldiers said, “That was not us who started this war.” The tail of the procession looked less like a professional army. Irregulars, some in balaclavas, some in running shoes and civilian T-shirts, didn’t smile and pointed their guns at journalists, demanding that they stop photographing them.
Human Rights Watch – Human Rights Watch researchers in South Ossetia on August 12, 2008, saw ethnic Georgian villages still burning from fires set by South Ossetian militias, witnessed looting by the militias, and learned firsthand of the plight of ethnic Ossetian villagers who had fled Georgian soldiers during the Georgian-Russian conflict over the breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Al Jazeera – Russian forces have sunk several coast guard vessels in Georgia’s military port of Poti, Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel Hamid has reported from the scene.
RIA Novosti – A top Russian military official said on Wednesday that 74 Russian military personnel died during recent fighting with Georgian troops in breakaway South Ossetia.
Guardian – Georgia: Latest images from the conflict (11 pictures)
NPR – When Vladimir Putin stepped down as president and named Dmitiri Medvedev his successor, there were questions over who would hold power in Russia. No longer. The past week’s events have made clear Russia is still under Putin’s control.
Reporters Without Borders – “Four journalists and a driver have been killed since fighting broke out in South Ossetia, while at least four other journalists have been injured”, Reporters Without Borders said.
Xinhua – Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree on Wednesday imposing new restrictions on Russia’s Black Sea fleet, which is based in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol. The restrictions included a requirement that the Black Sea fleet seek the permission of Ukraine’s armed forces at least 72 hours prior to ships or aircraft crossing the Ukrainian border, said the decree.

Middle East

Bing West – The war I witnessed for more than five years in Iraq is over. In July, there were five American fatalities in Iraq, the lowest since the war began in March 2003. In Mosul recently, I chatted with shopkeepers on the same corner where last January a Humvee was blown apart in front of me. In the Baghdad district of Ghazilia, where last January snipers controlled streets awash in human waste, I saw clean streets and soccer games. In Basra, the local British colonel was dining at a restaurant in the center of the bustling city.
SWJ blog – Bing West, author of The Village, The March Up and No True Glory was kind of enough to be interviewed by Small Wars Journal on the occasion of the release of his latest book The Strongest Tribe. Francis J. ‘Bing’ West, originally from the Dorchester section of Boston, served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.
MNF Iraq – Coalition forces captured two suspected propaganda experts affiliated with Kata’ib Hezbollah during operations in the Mansour district of Baghdad Wednesday morning. Acting on intelligence information, Coalition forces tracked down a suspected propaganda expert for Kata’ib Hezbollah. The individual is suspected of assisting the group with uploading videos of attacks against Iraqi and Coalition forces to websites. After questioning the suspect, he revealed the location of another propaganda expert wanted by Coalition forces, who happened to be the captured individual’s brother.
AFP – The head of an anti-Qaeda militia survived a truck bombing in Iraq’s northern oil city of Kirkuk, the ninth assassination attempt against him, police said on Wednesday. A suicide bomber blocked the path of Abdel Karim Ensayef al-Juburi’s motorcade on Tuesday then blew up the explosives-rigged vehicle.
UK MoD – Major General Andy Salmon took over from Major General Barney White-Spunner as General Officer Commanding of Multi-National Division (South East) Iraq at a ceremony held Tuesday.
ABC – A bomb ripped through a bus during Wednesday morning rush hour in a northern Lebanese city, killing 18 soldiers and civilians, security officials said, raising fears that an al-Qaida-inspired militant group is stepping up revenge attacks against the military.
Michael Young – If you’re wondering what happened yesterday in Tripoli, where a bomb exploded alongside a bus, killing several Lebanese soldiers and civilians, here’s an interpretation based on a visit to the city earlier this week. The bomb attack will probably be claimed by Shaker Absi and Fatah al-Islam, or by some unknown Salafist group.
Haaretz – The American administration has rejected an Israeli request for military equipment and support that would improve Israel’s ability to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. The Americans viewed the request, which was transmitted (and rejected) at the highest level, as a sign that Israel is in the advanced stages of preparations to attack Iran. They therefore warned Israel against attacking, saying such a strike would undermine American interests.

Iran

Al Alam – Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Burham Saleh arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for a three-day visit to the Islamic republic. Iran and Iraq signed the first memorandum of understanding between the two countries for cultural cooperation on July 30 this year.
Press TV – The Leader of the Islamic Revolution urged Iran’s Intelligence Ministry to make every effort to counter increasing enemy threats. “Considering the level of the enemy activities, the intelligence ministry should adopt new and effective measures to counter such threats,” the Leader said
AKI – A volunteer paramilitary force known as the ‘Basij’ will protest in Iran on Wednesday demanding the removal of a government official who has said that Iranians are the “friends” of Israelis and Americans.
MSNBC – Iran’s new interior minister has raised an uproar among lawmakers and Iranian media over an apparently fake claim that he holds an honorary doctorate from Britain’s Oxford University. To back his case, he’s shown off a degree certificate riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes.
Payvand – The Persian Gulf Star gas condensate refinery’s contract has been concluded and is being implemented, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company said. The PGSOC is a world-scale oil, gas, petrochemical, and energy corporation which is currently implementing a mega-refinery project to convert 404,000 barrels-per-stream-day (bpsd) of gas condensate into gasoline, diesel oil, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gas, aromatics, and other products.
Washington Times – While the United States emphasizes the need to halt investment in Iran’s energy sector, Russia and China continue to forge ahead with billions of dollars in new investments that will enable Iran to finance its military buildup and fund terrorist groups.

Southeast Asia

International Rescue Committee – The International Rescue Committee has released the names of its four staff members who were tragically killed in an ambush Wednesday morning in Logar Province, Afghanistan. A second Afghan driver employed by the IRC was seriously wounded in the attack and has been hospitalized. The victims were en route to Kabul and traveling in a clearly marked International Rescue Committee vehicle when they came under fire at mid-morning. The IRC has suspended operations in Afghanistan indefinitely.
NY Times – This district is just 50 miles or so south of Kabul. Farther south, beyond the town of Salar, the road, also known as Highway 1, is even more dangerous, and to drive beyond that point is to risk ambush, explosions and possible slaughter. When it was refurbished several years ago, the Kabul-Kandahar highway was a demonstration of America’s commitment to building a new, democratic Afghanistan. A critical artery, the highway quite literally holds this country together. But today the highway is a dangerous gantlet of mines and attacks from insurgents and criminals, pocked with bomb craters and blown-up bridges.
UK MoD – Coming face to face with the Taliban is all in a day’s work for the soldiers and officers of B Company, 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, at their base on the edge of the notorious Green Zone in Aghanistan’s volatile Helmand province. Around 250 soldiers live in one of the most dangerous and austere bases that UK troops occupy – Forward Operating Base (FOB) Inkerman in the Upper Sangin Valley.
AFP – A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a police station in Lahore on Wednesday during preparations for Pakistan’s Independence Day, killing at least seven people, police said.
The News – Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft and military gunship helicopters continued targeting suspected hideouts of militants in the restive Bajaur tribal agency, killing 21 more people, including three civilians, and injuring several others, officials said.
LA Times – In what could herald an intensified U.S. campaign against Islamic insurgents in Pakistan’s tribal areas, a suspected American missile attack killed at least nine people near the Afghan border, local officials said Wednesday. It was not immediately known whether any senior insurgent figures were among the dead, but officials in the South Waziristan tribal region said those killed included “foreigners,” often used to mean Al Qaeda operatives and commanders from outside Pakistan.
Sky News – Curfews have been imposed throughout Indian Kashmir after the worst violence for two decades claimed 15 lives and left more than 100 people injured. The trigger for the violence dates back to June when the State Government decided to hand over 100 acres of forest land to Amarnath, a local Hindu pilgrimage trust.
Javno – Sri Lankan troops killed 14 Tamil Tiger rebels and captured rebel positions in the far north of the island, as government forces continued their push into the rebels’ stronghold there, the military said on Wednesday. The military also said they captured one of the rebels’ administrative centres on Wednesday, hurting their ability to move by sea along the island nation’s northwestern coast.

Far East & Pacific

East Asia Forum – The gyoza scandal reopened just as the Beijing Olympics opened, with the Fukuda government on the defensive in light of revelations that it acceded to the Chinese government’s request that Tokyo not release information about the presence of poisoned dumplings within China.
People’s Daily – Cambodia Tuesday rejected Thailand’s claim over the temples of Tamone Toch and Tamone Thom in northwestern Otdar Meanchey province, which borders Thailand.
Lowy Institute – Roger Donnelly and Ben Ford, authors of a new Lowy Institute Paper entitled ‘Into Africa: how the resource book is making Sub-Saharan Africa more important to Australia’, explain the significance of Australian resource companies’ investment in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Asia Foundation – A central theme of the paper is that Indonesia has become a normal country, the world’s third largest functioning democracy, with a very lively, engaged parliament. Indonesia’s transformation of course poses challenges for Australia.

Europe

Reuters – German police have detained two Turks in connection with Tuesday’s attack at an ice cream cafe in Ruesselsheim in which two men and a woman died and a third man was badly injured, authorities said on Wednesday.
Market Watch – The U.K.’s financial watchdog said Tuesday it has fined Credit Suisse 5.6 million pounds ($10.6 million) for failing to spot pricing errors that masked what later turned out to be $2.7 billion of write-downs. The Financial Services Authority said Credit Suisse didn’t properly supervise traders in its structured credit group and didn’t have adequate systems and controls.
BBC – Prices in Spain rose at their fastest annual rate for 15 years in July, driven by rising food and fuel costs.

Africa

Garowe – Fierce fighting erupted in parts of southern Somalia on Tuesday, as Ethiopian forces traveling along a key road were ambushed different times by Islamist guerrillas, Radio Garowe reported. At least 10 people – including civilian bystanders, Ethiopian soldiers and insurgents – have been reported dead so far and many more wounded.
Press TV – Three Somali army commanders have been killed and more than 28 soldiers injured in a landmine explosion in northern Mogadishu.
NY Sun – Sudan’s armed forces have launched a major offensive in northern Darfur, where China wants to explore for oil, rebel commanders said yesterday. Soldiers in a convoy of more than 200 vehicles stormed two rebel strongholds close to the Sudan-Libya border in an attempt to wrest territorial control from forces opposed to the regime in Khartoum.
Champion – Baring any unforeseen circumstance, the disputed oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula (Nigeria), would tomorrow, be finally handed over to Cameroun. This is even as the Federal Government yesterday deployed more troops along the area to forestall any hindrance.
Reuters – Rebels in Central African Republic have stepped up attacks on government forces after walking out of a peace process, the government said on Wednesday. The United Nations said it was “deeply concerned” about deteriorating security in the northwest, where tens of thousands of civilians have fled several years of violence, and called on all sides to respect agreements they have signed.
UN – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today he was “deeply troubled” by the outcome of a probe that has revealed prima facie evidence that a number of Indian peacekeepers, previously assigned to one of the units with the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), may have engaged in sexual exploitation and abuse.
Global Voices – Mozambican Sociologist based in Germany Elísio Macamo recently commented about the Swedish 10% Budget support cut to the government of Mozambique, followed by Switzerland, claiming lack of progress from the Mozambican government in fighting corruption and prosecution of corruption-related cases.

The Global War

WSJ – Muslim charities in the U.S., hit by a drop in donations since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are turning to the Better Business Bureau in an effort to give donors the confidence to open their wallets again. Under an initiative unveiled Wednesday, seven Muslim charities have so far volunteered for a review process designed by the bureau to validate their transparency and financial soundness.
David Howell – The energy policies of European nations, and of Britain in particular, are in disarray. Admittedly the ferocious rise in crude oil prices has eased, but how long the present dip will last, with the Russians bombing one of the main oil transit pipelines from the Caspian region through Georgia and the Iranians muttering about closing the Straits of Hormuz (through which a fifth of the world’s oil supplies pass each day), is a very open question.
Asia Times – With the eruption of fighting between Russia and Georgia, Israel has found itself in an awkward position as a result of its arms sales to Georgia. Israel is now caught between its friendly relations with Georgia and its fear that the continued sale of weaponry will spark Russian retribution in the form of increased arms sales to Iran and Syria.
Air Force – Gunship training with the 40mm Bofors cannon normally calls for high explosive incendiary ammunition produced in the 1970s and 1980s. However, recent ammunition shortages, low availability and high purchase costs have forced AC-130 crews to train with surplus World War II production armor-piercing ammunition.
US Navy – The commanding officer of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron (VQ) 3 was relieved of his duties Aug. 11. Cmdr. Shawn Bentley was relieved from duty by Capt. Brian Costello, commander, Strategic Communications Wing 1. Costello cited the loss of confidence in Bentley’s ability to command as the reason for his relief.
Oil and the Glory – Ed Chow, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told me that the companies must now reconsider the security of an oil route that until now seemed completely safe. And, whether they are operating in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan or Turkmenistan, they have to think about whether they are prepared to expand their oil shipments through the East-West Corridor. If they do decided to proceed, as Chow says, they’ll have to consider whether they have to accommodate Russia somehow.

Sights & Sounds

National Review – Stephen Coonts explains for John J. Miller that his new novel, The Assassin, “is really about the War on Terror, and . . . the people behind the uneducated holy warriors who actually do the fighting.”