Crater Lake, Rogue River and Coastal Dunes Enjoy!
Michael Hiteshew
Quote of the Day
…devolution of power to common man – is the right cure for the maladies of Afghanistan and the broader Islamic world despite all the whining that we hear from the sophisticated internationalists.
~A Dogwasher
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan
I received the following essay on Afghanistan in an email from AEI. I thought it interesting enough to post here. It was written by Radek Sikorski in his trademark style; a mixture of optimism and hard-nosed reality.
For thoses not familiar with Radek, he’s a Polish emigre, a former Afghan guerrilla, an award winning photographer, a foreign correspondent, a political analyst and a former deputy defense minister of Free Poland. He’s currently a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Radek writes:
Nothing like hot dust in one’s face and the roar of a low-flying helicopter gunship to make a man feel alive. The last time I heard that sound in Afghanistan was in 1987: A patrol of Soviet Mi-24s were spitting gunfire at the house in which I was hiding with a mujahedeen convoy, in a village near Kandahar. This time, though, the sound of gunships–these decorated with the American white star instead of a Soviet red on the side–did not make me duck. On the contrary: The sound of helicopters in Kabul is now hopeful evidence of the foreign presence giving Afghanistan its best chance in 25 years.
Meeting of the Leaders of Brazil, Germany, India and Japan on UN Reform
On 21 September 2004, H.E. Mr. Luis Inacio Lura da Silva, President of Brazil, H.E. Mr. Joschka Fisber, Vice-Chancellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, H.E. Dr. Manmoban Singh, Prime Minister of India, and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan met in New York to discuss the reform of the United Nations. Following is the Joint Press Statement of the Meeting:
1. In order for the international community to effectively address the various threats and challenges that it presently faces, it is important to reform the United Nations as a whole.
2. The General Assembly must be revitalized, as it represents the general will of all Member States. We must also enhance the efficiency of the UN agencies and organs in the social and economic fields in order to effectively address urgent challenges.
3. The Security Council must reflect the realities of the international community in the 21st century. It must be representative, legitimate and effective. It is essential that the Security Council include, on permanent basis, countries that have the will and the capacity to take on major responsibilities with regard to the maintenance of international peace and security. There also has been a nearly four-fold increase in the membership of the United Nations since its inception in 1945, including a sharp increase in the number of developing countries. The Security Council, therefore, must be expanded in both the permanent and non-permanent categories, including developing and developed countries as new permanent members.
4. Brazil, Germany, India and Japan, based on the firmly shared recognition that they are legitimate candidates for permanent membership in an expanded Security Council, support each other’s candidature. Africa must be represented in the permanent membership in the Security Council. We will work together with other like-minded Member States towards realizing a meaningful reform of the United Nations, including that of the Security Council.
Let’s look at this statement in detail and see if we can determine its meaning. We’ll take them in order.
U.S. attacks terror base
This is interesting…
BAGHDAD– Iraqi and U.S. troops targeted a hub for Al Qaida-inspired fighters based in Syria in northern Iraq over the weekend.
“The city of Tall Afar has been a suspected haven for terrorists crossing into Iraq from Syria,” the U.S. military said in a statement.
The battle in Tall Afar, about 60 kilometers west of Mosul, lasted throughout Sunday,, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said U.S. combat units and Iraqi forces, backed by helicopters, battled insurgents for several hours before withdrawing from Tall Afar.
Since July, the U.S. military has tried to halt the flow of insurgents from Syria to Iraq. The military has conducted a sustained operation in the Anbar province along the border with Syria to stop insurgents and weapons.
Which begs the questions: How do you stop the infiltrations? Is it time to begin running punative strikes on Syria?