Environmental degradation in Iraq

The LA Times reports that decades of war and mismanagement, compounded by two years of drought, are wreaking havoc on Iraq's ecosystem, drying up riverbeds and marshes, turning arable land into desert, killing trees and plants, and generally transforming what was once the region's most fertile area into a wasteland.

Falling agricultural production means that Iraq, once a food exporter, will this year have to import nearly 80% of its food, spending money that is urgently needed for reconstruction projects.

Almost 100,000 foreign troops now in Afghanistan

Here is a breakdown of current main national deployments in Afghanistan, which totals around 96,500 troops as at the end of July.

Country Troops

United States 62,000

Britain 9.000

Germany 4,050

France 3,160

Canada 2,800

Italy 2,795

Poland 2,000

Netherlands 1,770

Australia 1,090

Romania 1,025

Spain 780

Turkey 730

Denmark 700

Belgium 510

Norway 485

Bulgaria 470

Sweden 430

Czech Republic 340

======

94,135

Other nations: 2,378

======

TOTALS: 96,513

Israel issued a report on the Gaza attack 6 months ago. It claims the offensive was "necessary and proportionate".
But it wasn't, as many other reports have documented.

US-Israel "peace plan"

There is currently a tactical dispute between Israel and the US over two issues: the establishment of a Palestinian state and the freezing of settlement expansion.

Contrary to what the mainstream media would have us believe, the dispute is quite minor and tactical, as the US still lends massive support to Israel.

An article by Uri Avnery and another one by Noam Chomsky show that talks of a Palestinian state by the US and Israel would in fact in all likelihood only lead to a non viable Palestinian state, i.e. a state wiht so many restrictions that it would in fact not be a functioning state, but just called a "state" on paper.

Also, whether Israel suspends settlement expansion or not, the fact remains that the already existing settlements in the West Bank seem to be acceptable, which is one important reason why a Palestinian state would not be functioning.

Another point to keep in mind is that there are other important issues that are not even addressed in the current "dispute", such as the fact that the separation wall is still proceeding; that Obama is implementing a 25% increase over Bush in US military aid to Israel over the next 10 years, during which Israel is set to receive $30 billion over 10 years; and that the blockade on Gaza is still maintained.

Obama's military is spying on US peace groups

The US military is spying on peace groups. There is nothing new in this, but the fact that it's being done under Obama might wake up those who still thought he was such a big change compared to Bush.
Amy Goodman reported that "Anti-war activists in Olympia, Wash., have exposed Army spying and infiltration of their groups, as well as intelligence gathering by the Air Force, the federal Capitol Police and the Coast Guard."

Taliban get more money from US allies than drug trade

Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, said that the Taliban get more funding from donations from Persian Gulf countries than from the drug trade. Persian Gulf countries are US allies, so US allies are funding the Taliban.
"More money is coming from the Gulf than is coming from the drug trade to the Taliban," Holbrooke told journalists at NATO headquarters in Brussels. He didn't identify the countries where the sympathizers were donating from, but nations located on the Persian Gulf include Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.

The mainstream story that drugs in Afghanistan serve to fund the Taliban is quite misleading: 1) Afghan government officials, supported by the US of course, also receive a lot of money from the drugs trade; 2) Taliban receive a lot of money from US allies in the Persian Gulf.
But we rarely hear about those 2 points because #2 inculpates US allies which the US wants to protect, and #1 inculpates US allies in Afghanistan which the US wants to protect. So in other words, US allies in the Gulf and Afghanistan are quite guilty but for the US that's not a problem.

US alone in Iraq

With the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq this week, the US will be the only country left in the "coalition" in Iraq.

As for the other two small remnants of the coalition, the Romanians and Australians, the Australians will be gone by July 31, too, and the Romanians left last Thursday, according to the Romanian chargé d’affaires, Cristian Voicu. NATO will keep a small training presence in Iraq, but its troops were never considered part of the Multi-National Force because of opposition to the war from many NATO countries. In response to a query, American military officials acknowledged the need for a name change, and said Multi-National Force-Iraq would officially become United States Force-Iraq as of Jan. 1, 2010, according to the deputy coalition spokesman, Lt. Col. Mike Stewart.

British strategy change in Afghanistan

Britain announced a change in strategy which involves talking to the Taliban in Afghanistan to negotiate. Moderate Taliban would be engaged.

The thing to know about this is that the concepts of "moderate" and "extremist/radical" have been used historically to mean moderate=agrees with US/Britain and extremist/radical=confronts US/Britain.
So all the British are saying now, and the US has said in the past, is that they would like to negotiate with those Taliban who won't challenge the US/Britain and who will decide to ally themselves with the US/Britain.

Also, the Taliban are as bad as the warlords currently in government, so the fact that Britain and US want to cooperate with them is the wrong policy. All it does show is that the US/Britain are willing to talk to rapists and murderers, as long as those are allies, but they won't support progressive groups and individuals, like, say, RAWA and Malalai Joya. It just show that NATO supports murderers and fundamentalists.

Kurdish referendum

Kirkuk is a disputed area in Iraq. The question is: will Kirkuk be part of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, or will it remain under the control of the central government in Baghdad.
When Iraq drafted its constitution in 2005, there could be no agreement on who would control Kirkuk, an oil rich area. So the Iraqis inserted Article 140, a clause that called for a national census, followed by a referendum on the status of Kirkuk, all to be held by the end of 2007.
But since then a series of delays have prevented the census and the referendum to happen.
The problem is that there can't be a referendum on Kirkuk before there is a census to know who is eligible to vote. And just to carry out a census could bring a civil war in itself as it would obviously shape the outcome of the referendum vote.
Already, the Kurdish regional government has been defying Baghdad and issuing contracts to develop its oil fields, including some in Kirkuk.

Malalai Joya

Malalai Joya has an article in the Guardian.

She calls for NATO troops to withdraw from Afghanistan and says that the Afghan government they are now supporting is a government of warlords and drug lords. That's what taxpayers' dollars are spent on: foreign troops in Afghanistan are supporting warlords and drug lords with a record of rapes, murders and other abuses.

Kurdish elections

Iraq's Kurds will vote this weekend. Al Jazeera has a good summary of the issues.

Afghan media and the presidential electoral campaign

An interesting article on the electoral campaign in Afghanistan with elections set for August 20. The focus is on the media campaign of candidates and the main point is that Afghan state television is biased in favor of Karzai, in terms of coverage time and interpretation.
The fact that Karzai is shown favorably by the media and that he has the funds to build a good advertising campaign obviously favors him, but smaller candidates are hurt and less able to attract coverage of their activities.

An excerpt:

"Covering Karzai's daily routine takes up a lot of air time and column inches. According to Tawhidi [the head of Afghanistan's Media Commission], during the first two weeks of monitoring, Karzai was on the TV news 55 times; his closest rival, Abdullah Abdullah, was a distant second with 13 appearances. Ashraf Ghani, the only other challenger given a chance in the poll, enjoyed a mere six airings.

In print media, the story was similar. Monitors found that state newspapers devoted twice as much space to Karzai during the monitoring period as to Abdullah and about ten times as much as Ashraf Ghani got."

Kurdish elections

Patrick Cockburn on the upcoming elections in the Kurdish region of Iraq, and in particular on the Party of "Change", a new party challenging the PUK and KDP.

US silent over Kyrgyzstan abuses

The NYT reports on how the US supports a government that abuses human rights in Kyrgyzstan because it's a strategic ally. The US has a military air base in Manas so it's important to keep good relations...

Honduras

An article talking about the US military base in Honduras is here and another one about the School of the Americas here.

Obama sending more DEA agents to Afghanistan to combat drugs

Obama is increasing the number of DEA agents in Afghanistan, focusing on interdiction and targeting traffickers as opposed to eradication. As such, the number of DEA agents and analysts in Afghanistan will rise from 13 to 68 by September, and to 81 in 2010. More agents will also be deployed in Pakistan.

Since 2001, corruption at the highest level of the Afghan government has impeded efforts against drugs:
"Our whole effort at developing security in Afghanistan was undermined by having a Ministry of Interior that was interested in facilitating the drug trade rather than combating it," said Riedel, who retired from the CIA in 2006 after three decades of advising administrations on South Asia national security issues. The current Afghan interior minister, Mohammed Hanif Atmar, Riedel said, is honest and well-intentioned -- and in mortal danger because of it.

At the same time, some current and former officials question whether Afghan government corruption and indifference are too rampant to turn the tide. Recently, President Hamid Karzai pardoned at least five convicted major drug traffickers, prompting a rare U.S. State Department rebuke.

US and India to solidify their defense relationship

The US and India are expected to reach agreements to solidify their defense relationship soon.
There are possible huge deals to be signed, in particular on the nuclear field where India could give US companies the chance to build nuclear reactors for a value of about $10 billion.
Also, US companies Boeing and Lockheed are in the race to sign deals providing India with military planes: both US defence contractors are in the running to compete for India's plan to buy 126 multi-role fighters, which would be one of the largest arms deals in the world as India takes steps to modernise its largely Russian-made arsenal.

US wants to revamp Afghan prisons

The Pentagon wants to improve the prison system in Afghanistan, where detainees suffer all sorts of abuses. The US has committed abuses on detainees there since 2001.
In Bagram prison, harsh interrogation methods and sleep deprivation were used routinely in its early years, and two Afghan detainees died there in 2002 after being beaten by American soldiers and hung by their arms from the ceiling of isolation cells.
Bagram also became a holding site for terrorism suspects captured outside Afghanistan and Iraq.

The US is now building a new prison to upgrade Bagram. So when Obama says he will close Guantanamo, well whatever happens there, it will be cancelled out by building a new prison in Bagram.

Military personnel who know Bagram and the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, describe the Afghan site as tougher and more spartan. The prisoners have fewer privileges and virtually no access to lawyers or the judicial process. Many are still held communally in big cages.

Thomas Friedman on Afghanistan

Thomas Friedman believes the US military presence in Afghanistan is a good thing because it brings education.
The US spends $100 million per day on the military in Afghanistan, versus $7 million per day on aid from all donors. That shows immediately that the US military presence in Afghanistan has nothing to do with education--if the US wanted to bring education to the country they would withdraw their troops and give millions of dollars to groups working to promote education.

Military space programs

Here is an easy to read chart showing that countries are investing a good part of their space budget on military aspects of the space race.
For example we learn that Europe is planning to spend $1 billion a year for the next 10 years (so a total of $10 billion) on military space programs, another great use of money for the common people.
The US budget allocates at least $20 billion this year for military space programs.

Iraq's agriculture suffers

Iraq's agriculture is in shambles. Iraq has now become a net importer of food. It now imports nearly all the food its people eat: California rice, Washington apples, Australian wheat, fruits and vegetables from its neighbors. All are staples in Iraqi groceries and on the dinner table.
Years of war and sanctions are one cause. Another cause is that Turkey and Syria block water to Iraq intermittently, which adds to the difficult situation. Turkey and Syria have built dams on the Euphrates within their borders, and they turn the spigot off and on to Iraq.

Iraqi oil workers protesting foreign contracts

Ben Lando reports that Iraqi oil workers are protesting the recent contracts with foreign oil companies and the possible others that could be signed in the near future.

The workers basically blame the Iraqi government for neglecting to invest in the fields to repair and renovate the infrastructure and technology needed to exploit Iraq's oil and gas resources. That's why, due to this lack of investment, the government now needs to go get funds and help from international companies, whereas if the proper investments had been made, Iraq could manage their energy sector more independently.

Unions "say the government should have directed more money much quicker to allow the state company to fix the infrastructure – damaged by wars, sanctions and misuse since the 1980s – and increase production.

“We blame the Ministry of Oil for the current situation,” Awad said. He added that delays in state investment has led to the government, quickly needing more cash for reconstruction, to invite foreign oil firms without better standing up the state companies."

The unions have said there is a role for foreign firms in Iraq oil production. But they want a balance between the need Iraq has for modern techniques, training and equipment and the desire to keep Iraqis in control of Iraq’s oil.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) passed a regional oil law and signed two dozen oil deals, which the central government has called illegal and added to the roadblocks for the future of Iraq’s oil sector.

US assistance to the Uyghur against China

The Uyghurs, the ethnic minority in the west of China blamed for the recent violence there, receives support from the US. The support is not very large though, but meaningful.
In the US, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) dispenses grants with money appropriated by the US Congress. As the Uyghur rioting simmered on, the NED was revealed to be dispensing more than US$200,000 a year to support the World Uyghur Congress.

Honduras coup and Chiquita

The Chiquita fruit company has operations in Honduras and Counterpunch documents its negative reactions to some of the progressive policies of Zelaya, the ousted president. There's no evidence that Chiquita was behind the coup, but at a minimum, the article provides a good illustration of important actors of the corporate world who were and still are opposed to progressive policies. In Honduras, Zelaya had raised the minimum wage by 60%, and this led Chiquita to complain that it would raise its labor costs.

Honduras: ousted president more popular than replacement

Ousted president Zelaya is more popular than Micheletti, the man who took his place following the coup. This is what a Gallup poll revealed.
The nationwide survey — which was done after Zelaya was sent into forced exile in a military coup — shows Zelaya with 46 percent favorable opinion and 44 unfavorable, compared to 30 favorable and 49 unfavorable for Micheletti.

Michael Klare on oil and Iraq

Michael Klare has a post on oil in Iraq and argues that the major powers now seem to be collaborating over Iraq rather than competing.

He writes:

"Nevertheless, it appears that, for the first time since the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980, the stars in the energy firmament are aligning in ways that may favor Iraq’s reemergence as a major oil producer. Whereas the major powers once competed among themselves for influence in Iraq or backed one or another of Iraq’s local rivals in efforts to weaken or contain that country, all now seem inclined to invest in, and benefit from, the reconstruction of its energy infrastructure. The Bush administration, which looked with alarm at Saddam Hussein’s growing ties to Russia and China, invaded the country in part to reassert American dominance in the Persian Gulf region and diminish the role played by Moscow and Beijing. Today, Washington appears to welcome the growing role of Chinese and Russian firms in the rehabilitation of Iraq’s dilapidated energy infrastructure."

He says that one reason behind this is that the world may be facing a shortage of oil and that oil production needs to be increased, hence Iraq's role:

"Under such circumstances, it is understandable that – no matter what their governments felt about the Bush administration’s invasion and occupation of Iraq – the major powers now share a common interest in facilitating that country’s recovery as a major oil exporter."

Israeli soldier admits using human shields in Gaza

In a report published this week by Breaking the Silence, a human rights group that publishes testimonies from Israeli soldiers, a soldier involved in the January invasion of the Gaza Strip testified that his unit used Palestinian civilians as human shields while raiding houses. The revelation comes despite a 2005 ban on the practice by the Israeli High Court.

Other testimonies reveal that commanders urged the troops to “shoot first and worry later about sorting out civilians.”

Media review of Obama's AfPak strategy

Here is a report surveying the various commentaries and analyses of Obama's strategy to deal with Afghanistan (and Pakistan), which he outlined in March 2009.

Nabucco pipeline deal signed

Countries involved in the Nabucco pipeline project signed an important deal moving things forward on this project.
The Nabucco pipeline has not been built yet, it is a project to bring Central Asian gas to Europe through Turkey, and is backed by the West but opposed by Russia. It is very significant as it would diversify Europe's energy sources and hence reduce Europe's dependence on Russia; therefore it would reduce the geopolitical leverage Russia has over Europe.
As Asia Times notes, Iran is an important player in the Nabucco pipeline as it could provide Europe with much natural gas. However the US is opposed to Iran joining the project until it behaves well, i.e. until it does what the US wants.
Also, Turkmenistan would be an important supplier of gas to the pipeline; this would hurt Russia again, as Russia would like to control Turkmenistan's gas reserves, not see them go directly to Europe.
So we'll see how those things play out...

Iran not building mega-embassy in Nicaragua

Even though US officials had declared that Iran was building a huge embassy in Nicaragua, apparently that embassy is not being built. Another lie by warmongers such as Hilary Clinton.

In fact, the U.S. Embassy complex is the only "mega-embassy" in Managua.

Us building military bases in Afghanistan

The first wave of construction at more than a half-dozen bases across southern Afghanistan designed to accommodate the Obama administration’s buildup of U.S. forces in the region will be finished by the end of July, according to senior U.S. officers involved in the effort.
This will cost $500 million.

US shielded allied warlord from war crimes investigation

The Bush administration repeatedly sought to block investigations into alleged killings of up to 2,000 Taliban prisoners by a US-backed Afghan warlord in 2001, The New York Times reported Friday.

Top US officials discouraged separate probes by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the State Department and the Pentagon into the mass killings because it was conducted by the forces of General Abdul Rashid Dostam, a warlord then on the Central Intelligence Agency's payroll, the Times said on its website.

This is yet another example of the US supporting murderers and rapists since they invaded Afghanistan after 9-11.

Dostam's militia had worked closely with US Special Forces during the US-led invasion and was part of the Northern Alliance, which helped the United States topple the Taliban.

Washington was later concerned that an investigation could hurt Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who had the support of George W. Bush's administration, because Dostam served as a defense official in the fledgling government.

“At the White House, nobody said no to an investigation, but nobody ever said yes, either,” said Pierre Prosper, the former American ambassador for war crimes issues. “The first reaction of everybody there was, ‘Oh, this is a sensitive issue; this is a touchy issue politically.’ ”

Dostam, whose alleged killings may have amounted to the biggest war crime in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion, was reinstated to his post last month after being suspended last year for allegedly threatening a political opponent at gunpoint.

But he remains in exile in Turkey, and US officials have pressed his sponsors there to delay his return to Afghanistan, the Times said, citing an official briefed on the matter.

The killings took place in late November 2001, shortly after the invasion that ousted Kabul's Taliban government.

Taliban prisoners captured by Dostam's forces after a major battle in northeastern Kunduz province were allegedly packed into shipping containers and left to suffocate, or were shot through the container walls, before being buried in mass graves.

Karzai pardoned heroin smugglers

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pardoned five heroin smugglers, at least one of them a relative of a man who heads Karzai's campaign for re-election next month, a source and a government spokesman said.

A source with knowledge of the case said one of those released was a close relative of Deen Mohammad, who is running Karzai's campaign for re-election in the August 20 presidential poll.

The man was jailed for more than a decade in 2007 for smuggling more than 100 kg of heroin.

This seems to be in line with Karzai's inability and/or unwillingness to deal with the heroin problem because many officials benefit from it.

Canada will spend C$5 billion on military vehicles

The Canadian government will spend C$5 billion on armoured vehicles.
Another great Canadian decision. Canada shows us that by throwing money out of the window it really is so different from the US.

UN says rape and violence growing for Afghan women

Afghan women are increasingly the victims of violence, including rapes and acid-throwing attacks at the hands of anti-government elements and local chieftains, according to new U.N. report.

The situation is further aggravated by impunity for perpetrators and the failure of authorities to protect woman's rights, the report states.

The U.N.'s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said the opportunities that opened for Afghan woman after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 are under sustained attack, not only from the Taliban but also due to deeply ingrained cultural practices.

Afghan women are also increasingly victims of so-called "honor" killings, trafficking, forced marriages, and domestic violence, according to the report issued Wednesday.

McNamara deceived LBJ on Gulf of Tonkin

Gareth Porter, after reviewing now declassified documents, argues that McNamara deceived LBJ about the Gulf of Tonkin incident that was sued as a pretext by the US to escalate the war against Vietnam.

Bagram prison, Afghanistan

Bagram prison is in Afghanistan and has been used since 2001 by the US to hold detainees in the "War on Terror". Currently it holds about 600-700 prisoners. There have been torture and abuse scandals there.
Obama is kind of using Bagram as Guantanamo so this is dangerous. One aspect of this is that Afghan prisoners held at Bagram are denied the right of habeas corpus (meaning the right to challenge their detention). A US judge just ruled that a prisoner held there, Haji Wazir, had no rights to challenge his detention.

US empire of bases overseas

Chalmers Johnson discusses US overseas military bases, which cost about $100 billion a year. The US is now building its second-ever costliest "embassy" in Pakistan ($736 million) (the costliest being the embassy in Baghdad).
There are now about 800 US military bases overseas.
Those are not designed to be real embassies "where local people come for visas and American officials represent the commercial and diplomatic interests of their country. Instead these so-called embassies will actually be walled compounds, akin to medieval fortresses, where American spies, soldiers, intelligence officials, and diplomats try to keep an eye on hostile populations in a region at war. One can predict with certainty that they will house a large contingent of marines and include roof-top helicopter pads for quick get-aways."

Report on the Taliban

Gilles Dorronsoro wrote a report on the Taliban and argues that they are not as disorganized as often portrayed. In fact they are an organized movement with a national strategy and international troops must change their strategy to beat them.

Pakistan pressured to drop IPI deal with Iran

Western countries are pressuring Pakistan to drop the IPI pipeline deal it reached with Iran. the pipeline would bring Iranian gas to Pakistan. But the West wants to isolate Iran. The pipeline deal could actually reduce tensions in the region, between India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, but the West is again stirring trouble there.

No evidence Iran is supporting the Taliban

Gareth Porter reviews the "evidence" presented by US officials that Iran supports the Taliban, for example by sending weapons to them. He concludes that there is no evidence of that.
In fact, historically, Iran has been very anti-Taliban in its relations with Afghanistan.

The real McNamara

Alexander Cockburn has a good review of McNamara's accomplishments, in contrast to the mainstream accounts depicting him as "bright" and "conflicted" or something.

An excerpt that sets the tone of the article:

McNamara "contributed more than most to the slaughter of 3.4 million Vietnamese (his own estimate). He went on to run the World Bank, where he presided over the impoverishment, eviction from their lands and death of many millions more round the world."

42,000 people still dying from Vietnam War

Since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, unexploded ordnance left there mostly by the US has killed 42,000 Vietnamese and injured 62,000 (tens of thousands of which are permanently disabled). Those must be added to the toll from the war, about 2-4 million. Casualties should eb added from Laos and Cambodia's unexploded ordnance too.

This short article give a concise summary:

UNEXPLODED ordnance left over from the Vietnam War has killed more than 42,000 people in the country since the conflict ended more than three decades ago, and deadly accidents continue daily, a senior military official said on Monday.

US forces used 15 million tonnes of bombs and ammunition during the war and an estimated 800,000 tonnes of unexploded ordnance still contaminates 20 per cent of the country's area, Vice Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Huy Hieu wrote in the state-run People's Army newspaper.

He said it may take more than 100 years to clear the contaminated area.

In addition to the deaths, some 62,000 people have been injured since the end of the war in 1975, and tens of thousands of them are permanently disabled, he said, adding that the ordnance has also caused big economic losses to Vietnam.

Mr Hieu said the government, helped with funds from international organisations and countries including the United States, has cleared more than 3 per cent of the contaminated area. It may cost tens of billions of dollars to finish the job, he said.

Mr Hieu's figures apparently did not include casualties in neighbouring Laos and Cambodia, which were also heavily bombed by the United States during the conflict and where thousands of people have also died in ordnance accidents since 1975.

Ordnance from other countries - including from the former Soviet bloc, which helped supply weapons to communist forces - also contribute to the war's deadly legacy in Indochina.

McNamara is dead

McNamara died today. A good comment describing him was made by Joseph Galloway: "McNamara was the original bean-counter — a man who knew the cost of everything but the worth of nothing."
McNamara was the architect of the Vietnam war, who decided to increase US involvement there in the 1960s.

It's amazing, but predictable, that the mainstream press still gets it wrong. So David Ignatius at the WaPo writes that "McNamara was a reluctant warrior, half in and half out"--a "reluctant" warrior, indeed, that's why he destroyed 3 countries in wars that led to the deaths of millions of people and still tens of thousands up to this day--not exactly "reluctant", and "fully in", not "half in".

$250 billion per year for overseas US military

A report estimates that the cost of maintaining the US overseas military presence is about a quarter of a trillion dollars per year:
"The final bill: The United States spends approximately $250 billion annually to maintain troops, equipment, fleets, and bases overseas."

The full report can be found here.

36% (550,000) of all US troops (1.4 million) are based overseas. If we exclude those in Iraq and Afghanistan, about 25% (350,000) are based overseas.

Kyrgyzstan hints at cultivating opium to boost economy

Presidential candidate Zhenishbek Nazaraliev, the founder and director of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Bishkek, has proposed that the solution to Kyrgyzstan's economic woes lies in the legalization of opium cultivation for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.
Opium production is a lucrative industry; global corporations such as Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline depend on opium derivatives to manufacture cosmetics and medicines, including morphine. Nazaraliev says Kyrgyzstan would be foolish not to claim a piece of the pie.

Iraq and Iran clash over joint oil wells

There were clashes between Iraq and Iran over their joint oil wells near their common border. Accusations of shootings at the other side were made.

Britain's war costs in Iraq and Afghanistan triple over last 4 years

The annual cost of U.K. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has more than tripled in the last four years as the extra troops deployed to fight the Taliban outweighed the drawdown of Britain’s presence in Basra.
Total spending for both wars will reach 4.37 billion pounds ($7.15 billion) in the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2010, compared with 1.56 in the year ended March 2006, according to Ministry of Defense figures published by the House of Commons Defense Committee.

It is estimated the Afghanistan war will cost 3.5 billion pounds in the current fiscal year, up from 2.6 billion pounds last year and 199 million pounds in 2005.

In Iraq, the U.K. expects to spend 877 million pounds in the current year. It’s finishing the troop withdrawal this month. Last year it spent 1.96 billion pounds, up from 957 million pounds in 2005.

France moves to sell billions of $ in weapons to Iraq

France will try to sell Iraq billions of dollars of weapons and military training. This goes along deals in the civilian economy. Iraq is trying to rebuild itself after the war and a decade of sanctions in the 1990s.

Warlords dominate Afghan elections

A short report outlining how Afghan warlrods have been empowered and are now predominant in the Afghan elections set for August 20.

US torture has killed at least 100 detainees

Glenn Greenwald has a good post on what US torture really is. He says that it is not confined to a few cases and that it is not merely incommodating detainees, as it has killed at least 100 detainees:
"The interrogation and detention regime implemented by the U.S. resulted in the deaths of over 100 detainees in U.S. custody -- at least. While some of those deaths were the result of "rogue" interrogators and agents, many were caused by the methods authorized at the highest levels of the Bush White House, including extreme stress positions, hypothermia, sleep deprivation and others. "

Pakistanis opposed to Taliban, Al-Qaeda and US, poll says

Most Pakistanis now see the Pakistani Taliban as well as al Qaeda as a critical threat to the country--a major shift from 18 months ago--and support the government and army in their fight in the Swat Valley against the Pakistani Taliban. An overwhelming majority think that Taliban groups who seek to overthrow the Afghan government should not be allowed to have bases in Pakistan.

However, this does not bring with it a shift in attitudes toward the US. A large majority continue to have an unfavorable view of the US government. Almost two-thirds say they do not have confidence in Obama. An overwhelming majority opposes US drone attacks in Pakistan.

On the Afghan Taliban, an overwhelming 87 percent think that groups fighting to overthrow the Afghan government should not be allowed to have bases in Pakistan. Most (77%) do not believe the Afghan Taliban has bases in Pakistan. However, if Pakistan's government were to identify such bases in the country, three in four (78%) think it should close the bases even if it requires using military force.

Public attitudes toward al Qaeda training camps follow the same pattern. Those saying the "activities of al Qaeda" are a critical threat to Pakistan are up 41 points to 82 percent. Almost all (88%) think al Qaeda should not be allowed to operate training camps in Pakistan. Though 76 percent do not believe there are such camps, if the Pakistani government were to identify them, 74 percent say the government should close them, with force if necessary.

This striking new public willingness to see the government directly oppose Taliban groups and al Qaeda owes little or nothing to an "Obama effect." A 62 percent majority expresses low confidence in President Obama to do the right thing in world affairs (none at all, 41%). Only one in three (32%) think his policies will be better for Pakistan; 62 percent think they will be about the same (26%) or worse (36%).

Amnesty International report on Gaza offensive

A new report by Amnesty International on the Gaza offsensive has been released. It details war crimes committed by the Israeli military.
The report found that “much of the destruction was wanton and resulted from direct attacks on civilian objects as well as indiscriminate attacks that failed to distinguish between legitimate military targets and civilian objects.”

Amnesty’s investigation also managed to produce no evidence to support repeated claims from the Israeli military that the Hamas government was using civilians as human shields during the war. On the other hand they did cite an instance in which Israeli troops forced multiple families of civilians, including children, to remain in a house they turned into a sniper nest, “effectively using the families, both adults and children, as human shields and putting them at risk.”

Using civilians to shield a military target from attack is internationally recognized as a war crime, and is just one of many claims of war crimes committed by the invading forces, as detailed in this report and past ones. Yesterday Human Rights Watch also issued a report accusing Israel of war crimes over its use of drones to indiscriminately target civilians. The Israeli military publicly condemned the Human Rights Watch report, but has yet to comment on the much longer, more detailed Amnesty report.

However, the report also documented war crimes by Hamas and other Palestinian factions: "The report shows that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups fired hundreds of rockets into southern Israel, killing three Israeli civilians, injuring scores and driving thousands from their homes. "Such unlawful attacks constitute war crimes and are unacceptable," Amnesty said.

Those findings confirm previous ones by many reports issued by other humanitarian organizations.

Iraq invasion and oil

Jason Leopold reviews the evidence linking the invasion of Iraq to oil.

US arms exports

Frida Berrigan reports that in fiscal year 2008, the US foreign military sales program sold $36 billion in weapons and defense articles, an increase of more than 50% over 2007. Sales for the first half of 2009 reached $27 billion, and could top out at $40 billion by the end of the year. In contrast, through the early 2000s, arms sales averaged between $8-13 billion per year.

Israel sentences Israeli Jew activist to jail

Ezra Nawi, an Israeli Jew who is a plumber and who does a lot of activism against Israel's treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, is expected to be sentenced to jail by the Israeli authorities.

Mr. Nawi has an interesting article summarizing his activities and case and his background here.

There is also an article about the case here in the Guardian.

Israel arrests ship carrying humanitarian supplies to Gaza

A Gaza-bound ship carrying aid to the strip was attacked and captured by the Israeli Navy today, and the 21 activists on the boat are being held as captives by the Israeli government at an undisclosed location. According to the ground that sponsored the voyage, the Israeli government has also confiscated the medicine and other humanitarian goods that were on board.

Israel used drones to kill Palestinians during Gaza offensive

A new report by Human Rights Watch documenting the use by the Israeli military of drones during Israel’s 22-day assault on Gaza at the beginning of the year.

Titled “Precisely Wrong,” the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report focuses on six cases of Israeli drone-launched missile attacks in which 29 Palestinian civilians, eight of them children, were killed. Based on cross-referenced eyewitness accounts corroborated by doctors, as well as ballistics and forensic evidence collected on the attack sites, the report asserts that “in none of the cases did HRW find evidence that Palestinian fighters were present in the immediate area of the attack at the time.”

Marc Garlasco, senior military analyst at the emergencies program of HRW, estimates that at least 87 civilians were killed in 42 drone attacks.

US troop pullout from Iraqi cities

Top US commander in Iraq General Ray Odierno had earlier declared all US troops were out of Iraq’s cities, but today he conceded that “a small number” of US troops are still there, and “will remain in cities to train, advise, coordinate with Iraqi security forces, as well as enable them to move forward.”

When pressed to give a number, Gen. Odierno declined, declaring “I just don’t want to do it,” and insisting that the exact number would change from day to day depending on “how much coordination is required.”

The closest estimate Odierno would give was to say that it was “a significantly smaller number than what we had.” The troops didn’t move particularly far, and are presenting ringed around the city limits of Iraq’s major cities poised to re-enter at a moment’s notice.

Iraq oil contracts

Iraq Oil Report has an excellent post on the current negotiations on Iraqi oil fields.
There were supposed to be contracts awarded for 8 oil or gas fields, but only one has materialized (the super-giant Rumaila field, in the south of Iraq, which was won by a consortium involving BP and CNPC, a Chinese company).
The others are as of today in limbo as the companies and the Iraqi goverment could not yet agree. The failure to award any more deals reflects, at least, the risks both international oil companies and the Iraqi Oil ministry face: the foreign companies have to contend with the security, political and legal risks; the ministry needing to not look like they are giving away Iraq’s oil to foreigners.

So, so far, it is difficult to say what the significance of those developments will be, in relation say to the goals of the US invasion regarding the control of Iraqi oil resources.