Based on Ahlu Sunna Waljama Traitors, Sheikh Sharif Turns from Asset to Somalia´s Worst Liability
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
May 23, 2009
Ecoterra Intl. – SMCM (Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor) - 2009-05-19 - 11h05:27 UTC
Ecoterra International – Updates & Statements, Review & Clearing-house
A Voice from the Truth- & Justice-Seekers, who sit between all chairs, because they are not part of organized white-collar or no-collar-crime in Somalia or overseas, and who neither benefit from global naval militarization, from the illegal fishing and dumping in Somali waters or the piracy of merchant vessels, nor from the booming insurance business or the exorbitant ransom-, risk-management- or security industry, while neither the protection of the sea, the development of fishing communities nor the humanitarian assistance to abducted seafarers and their families is receiving the required adequate attention, care and funding.
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act". George Orwell
EA Illegal Fishing and Dumping Hotline: +254-714-747090 (confidentiality guaranteed) - email: somalia@ecoterra.net
EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: SMS to +254-738-497979 or call +254-733-633-733
"The pirates must not be allowed to destroy our dream!"
Capt. Florent Lemaçon - F/Y TANIT - killed by attack of French commandos - 10. April 2009
Non A La Guerre - Yes To Peace
(Inscription on the sail of F/Y TANIT shot down on day one of the French assault)
Clearing-house
News from sea-jackings, abductions or newly attacked ships
Stand-off at and around MV MARATHON continues, while Dutch as well as Spanish naval forces remain mum.
The Canadian frigate HMCS Winnipeg likely deterred a Somali pirate attack against the Maltese cargo ship MV Sea Pride in the Gulf of Aden on the weekend, NATO said Monday. HMCS Winnipeg is currently involved in an anti-pirate NATO mission called Operation Allied Protector. In a news release, NATO spokeswoman Shona Lowe said around noon local time on Sunday, HMCS Winnipeg responded to distress calls from the Sea Pride by dispatching a helicopter to the scene. The suspected pirates broke off their approach and, ignoring warning shots, attempted to flee southward to the Somali Coast. "Winnipeg was able to close their position, stop and board the two skiffs in turn", she said, in the release. The individuals involved were released once the search of their vessels was complete, said NATO. The pirates, considered to be part of a sophisticated organized crime network, say their kidnapping and ransom of ships´ crews is a form of payback for the shrinking fish catches and environmental havoc after coastal communities discovered drums of industrial and nuclear waste washed ashore after the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami. Most estimates say the Somali economy has lost more than US$300-million annually due to over-fishing that feeds the demand for seafood in the restaurants of London, Paris and Madrid. That perceived injustice allows the pirates to portray themselves as local heroes. The Criminal Code of Canada says piracy "in or out of Canada" is an indictable offence subject to a sentence of life imprisonment.
With the latest captures and releases now still at least 16 foreign vessels (17 with an unnamed sole Barge which drifted ashore, possibly 19 with two further yachts counted in) with a total of not less than 227 crew members accounted for (of which 59 are confirmed to be Filipinos) are held in Somali waters and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) have been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases (for Somalia, incl. presently held ones) and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by a naval force. For 2009 the account stands at 116 attacks (incl. averted or abandoned attacks) with 36 sea-jackings on the Somali/Yemeni pirate side as well as at least two wrongful attacks (incl. friendly fire) on the side of the naval forces. Mystery pirate mother-vessels Athena/Arena and Burum Ocean as well as not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (also not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail. In the last four years, 22 missing ships have been traced back with different names, flags and superstructures.
Directly piracy related reports
The Somali Government reached an agreement with the DAMEN shipyards group,
Netherlands in a recent meeting between members from the Somali government and DAMEN shipyards group of Rotterdam, Netherlands, was reported by somaliweyn.com. The deputy PM and minister of fishing and marine resources Prof. Abdirahman Haji Adan (Ibbi) and Dr. Hussein Ali Ahmed recently visited the centre of the DAMEN shipyard group and discussed the opportunity for the group to built naval vessels and speed boats for the Somali government, which the Somali government will use to fight against Somali pirates. Prof. Ibbi stated that the DAMEN Shipyards Group, who had been supplying already the Somali ports during the reign of former Somali president Mohamed Si'ad Barre, accepted this new deal.
Security forces in Somalia's northern breakaway region of Puntland have arrested 24 suspected pirates off the coast, officials said. The local governor, Muse Yusuf Gelle, said the arrests off the main city of Bossasso were among the first results of a unit launched earlier this month to combat piracy in the Gulf of Aden. "At least 24 suspected pirates were arrested yesterday and today with five small boats and seven RPGs. The local security committee is investigating them", he told AFP by phone from Bosasso. "We have set up a local security committee...there are about 200 soldiers and 10 vehicles taking part in the operations on land and offshore to eliminate piracy", he said. Local security officer Abdulahi Mohamed however said smugglers running illegal migrants from Puntland to Yemen may be among the 24. Speaking at an international conference on sea piracy Monday, Puntland's Internal Security Minister Abdullahi Said Samatar said he was disappointed more international help to create an effective coastguard hadn't been forthcoming. "We are fed up. We are frustrated", he told reporters in Malaysia. In April, Puntland president Abdurahman Mohammed Farole outlined plans for an anti-piracy taskforce of 2,400 men and requested international help. Donor countries had been reluctant to pour cash into homegrown anti-piracy programs, citing allegations senior officials had stakes in piracy. Farole denied any such links in his or his predecessor's administrations. Puntland has already sentenced dozens of pirates handed over by some of the foreign navies patrolling the Gulf of Aden.
Five Somali pirates who hijacked a ship in the Gulf of Aden are pleased that they are being tried in the Netherlands. At least two of them never wish to leave, De Volkskrant newspaper reported.
The five Somali pirates were picked up off the coast of Africa in January by Danish marines, after attacking the cargo ship Samanyulo which was operating under the Dutch flag. The court case against them started in Rotterdam yesterday. It is the first time that foreign pirates are being tried in the Netherlands.
The men are pleased to have ended up in the Netherlands, though. "Life is good here", one of the defendants, Sayid, said in De Volkskrant about his experiences in a Dutch prison. "I appeal to the government not to send me back to Somalia. The people who live here respect human rights. I wish to settle here".
Fellow defendant Farah is also pleasantly surprised to be in the Netherlands, his lawyer Willem-Jan Ausma disclosed. "My client feels safe here". His own village is dominated by poverty and the sharia (Islamic law), but "here he has good food and can play football and watch television". He also "thinks the lavatory in his cell is fantastic".
Ausma has explained to his client that he may be sentenced to eight years in prison for attempted piracy. He thinks four years in prison can be realistically expected. He has also told the Somali that he may be considered for a residence permit after serving his sentence. "He hopes to follow a computer course in prison and bring his family over here".
Lawyer Haroon Raza, who is defending another pirate, considers such euphoria misplaced. "My client is concerned about his wife and child. He is the only Somali in his detention centre and therefore lives in isolation".
International Criminal Law Professor Geert-Jan Knoops, an independent expert in the case, confirmed that the trial in the Netherlands may encourage pirates to deliberately allow themselves to be captured. "The Judiciary in the Netherlands should beware of importing this phenomenon. I cannot imagine that they will return voluntarily after their release".
Pirates are also standing trial in France, the US and Kenya as well as in the Netherlands. Knoops is pressing for an international tribunal for these criminals. "This would immediately solve a large number of problems, because there are good reasons why many countries do not wish to burn their fingers on the pirates".
Meanwhile the Dutch court is deciding whether to proceed with the trial of five suspected pirates caught allegedly trying to attack a Dutch-flagged freighter in January. One of the accused lawyers said he was a modern-day "Robin Hood" who attacks "ships of rich countries to give the ransom to poor families".
Huff speaks of 'Project Censorship' - Promoting prohibition of covering-up and under-reporting by Chris Devine
"We are all bounty hunters trying to kill the story", explained Mickey Huff of Project Censored, when he spoke to a Laney class on Tuesday the 28th of May. Huff, accompanied by colleague Frances Capell, was describing the uncovering of censored stories.
"What do we mean when we say censored?" Huff asked. "The definition we use--is anything that interferes with he free flow of information".
Huff explained that "censorship can be far more insidious, or subtle". Going on to point out that under covered news is a form of censorship, "stories can be published, but it's how they are published".
And that is just what the Sonoma State University based media research project--Project Censored--tries to prohibit: the covering up, or the under-reporting, of the news.
Huff, who is also a professor at DVC (Diablo Valley College), used the recent attention to the so-called 'Somali pirate' phenomenon to demonstrate his definition. Drawing from the heroic rescue of a United States captain, Huff pointed out that we know the name of the rescued, but the 'pirates' themselves, or for that matter the motives that would push someone to such extremes. Somali pirates are just protecting their coastline, claiming that, "nuclear waste was being dumped in [Somalia's] water", by other states, Huff said.
"This is just one example", Huff said. And it was. Huff brought to attention Building 7 of the World Trade Center collapse, and even touched upon the Oscar Grant shooting. "Where was the Tribune, where was the Chronicle", Huff asked speaking of Grant. Adding that it wouldn't of been covered the same "if it wasn't covered by actual people".
The project was formed in 1976, runs not only a website, but publishes an annual collection of stories that the project considers to be of great public value, but hasn't gotten the attention that their severity deserves. Huff and Capell were selling copies for $15.00.
For Capell's part, she has been researching a section of the book that covers "Junk food news". Junk food news entails coverage of all things superficial, such as celebrity gossip. Capell said that, "[The media] are over covering things we don't need to know about". This is done, in part, through ranking these stories by how much coverage they receive in the press.
Huff described the website as, "a place you can go to start educating yourself". Indeed the site is a wealth of resources, and includes links to other news sites, RSS feeds, and the fruit of the projects efforts.
Huff had said that the best way to see through the fog of media, was to "be a critical consumer". The project, book, and website aims at arming the public with the tools of becoming just that. You can see for yourself at: http://www.projectcensored.org.
Anti-piracy measures
The Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia
Press Release by the Bureau of Public Affairs, Office of the Spokesman, Washington, DC
In recognition of the growing impact of piracy on commercial shipping, humanitarian aid, and regional trade in the Horn of Africa, the United States and its international partners created the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia in New York on January 14, 2009.
The Contact Group was formed as an international cooperation mechanism against piracy, as called for in U.N. Security Council Resolution 1851, which was sponsored by the United States and passed unanimously on December 16, 2008.
The Department of State leads the United States Government´s participation in the Contact Group, in close coordination with the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, Transportation, Treasury, and other agencies.
Currently, 28 nations participate in the Contact Group: Australia, Belgium, China, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, The Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia´s Transitional Federal Government, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Yemen. Several other nations have requested to participate.
Six international organizations also participate in Contact Group efforts: the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union, the International Maritime Organization, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the United Nations Secretariat.
Contact Group participants have established four working groups:
Military and Operational Coordination, Information Sharing, and Capacity Building, chaired by the United Kingdom;
Judicial Issues, chaired by Denmark;
Commercial Industry Coordination, chaired by the United States; and
Public Information, chaired by Egypt.
The Contact Group held its first plenary meeting at the United Nations in New York on January 14, which was followed by a second meeting in Cairo, Egypt, March 17. The Contact Group will meet next on May 29, 2009, in New York.
Malaysian Navy is operating on anti-piracy in Somali waters without even having a national law on piracy
The Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) is working with relevant agencies to draft a national law on piracy, said MMEA's Head of Northern Region First Admiral Zulkifili (rpt) Zulkifili Abu Bakar. He said such a law was necessary to combat piracy more effectively. "One weakness (in combating piracy) ... identified is the absence of a national law on piracy", he said in his presentation on the last day today of the two-day Kuala Lumpur International Conference on Piracy and Crimes at Sea, here. Zulkifili spoke on "Enforcement: Anti-Crime Surveillance, Intelligence and Information-Sharing in the Straits of Melaka". He said there was also a plan to establish a maritime crime investigation department to combat piracy and all other maritime crimes in a more effective way. "There is already a proposal on that to the government. I think they are looking into it seriously", he said.
On piracy and maritime robbery in the Straits of Melaka, Zulkifili said the cases had dropped very much, from 40 in 2000 to four last year, and attributed this to, among others, the effective security mechanism put in place as well as the implementation of the "Eye in the Sky" initiative. The "Eye in the Sky" is an aerial patrol undertaken by the three littoral states of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore to counter piracy and the threat of terrorism in the Straits of Melaka, a major international shipping route. This year, there has been only one case of piracy in the straits so far, which was the kidnapping of two people of a Singapore-registered tugboat in February. They were released after the payment of a ransom. Zulkifili said that besides forging good cooperation with relevant agencies in the country, MMEA also had close cooperation with agencies from other countries such as the coast guards of Singapore, Japan and the United States.
He said Indonesia was also in the process of setting up a coast guard and, once this was in place, there would be better cooperation with them. Zulkifili said the security threat in the Straits of Melaka was quite diverse, adding that besides piracy and maritime robbery, there were also threats such as smuggling of people and weapons, poaching, and dumping of waste. Meanwhile, Somalia delegate Mohamud Abdirahman, speaking at the conference, said the international community was not really looking into the issue of finding the root causes of the piracy off the coast of Somalia, which threatened global trade. He proposed that the international community form a group and work with the national unity government of Somalia and the Puntland autonomous state of Somalia to find the root and real causes of the problem, which he described as serious. "When we get to the root causes ... we can form a viable and practical solution to the piracy problem there", he said. He said sending naval ships to the affected area could only be a temporary measure, pointing out that piracy continued to occur despite the dispatch of the vessels by several countries.
The fate of captured Somali pirates has split opinion at the international conference, with some saying the bandits should be fed to the sharks while others advocated a special tribunal. There was no dispute though that the lack of a legal framework for the foreign naval patrols trying to bring order to the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden is hampering the fight against high-seas piracy. "Over 100 pirates have been caught. There have been some cases where the pirates have been returned to Somalia. This sends the wrong signal", said Pottengal Mukundan, director of the London-based International Maritime Bureau. "What may be required is an over-arching arrangement so that navy ships can hand over caught pirates for prosecution to a neighbouring country. It is important to have this plan. Pirates have to be arrested and prosecuted". Oleg Bushuev, division chief at the defence ministry of Russia, which has warships cruising the troubled region, said it was pushing for the establishment of an international court. "We have to have some international legal system to prosecute pirates", he said on the sidelines of the meeting in the Malaysian capital. "For example when we seize the pirates in the Gulf of Aden, we can impose our law. It takes two weeks to sail back to Russia, but at the same time our law states a suspect can only be detained for 48 hours". Abdul Wahid Mohamad, director of the fisheries ministry in the breakaway Somali state of Puntland, which is a major piracy hub, said pirates should not be negotiated with. "The solution is to tackle and eliminate them at sea", he told AFP. "You need to combat the pirates. The government of Puntland and its elders have endorsed the immediate execution of the pirates. You execute them on the high seas and feed them to the sharks". But it is exactly such attitude of uneducated "officials" which hamper the co-operation between Somali authorities and the international community, an analyst remarked.
The European Union is considering expanding its anti-piracy operations to the Indian Ocean, bloc officials said Monday as they released figures showing that its Atalanta mission off the coast of Somalia has already led to the arrest of 52 suspects. "The mission should be extended into the Indian Ocean ... since the pirates are extending themselves there more and more", said German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign, defence and development ministers in Brussels. Pirates operating along the Somali coastline have recently launched several attacks off the Seychelles, which are located in the Indian Ocean, some 1,500 kilometres away. Officials from the Czech presidency of the EU said talks of expanding the mission had indeed been discussed, but stressed that no decision had been reached yet. There are currently 11 ships and two patrol planes available to the EU's Atalanta mission, which has been operating off the coast of Somalia since December. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the mission had so far succeeded in escorting more than 20 World Food Programme ships, allowing 130,000 tonnes of food to be delivered. Solana also put the total number of captured pirates at 52. Of these, 51 were handed over for prosecution to the Kenyan authorities. "However, the pirates are operating in a wider area. We have to adapt our operation accordingly", Solana said. "We have reached a general agreement on the principle to extended the European Union anti-piracy operation off Somalia beyond the end of the year and to cover the Seychelles", said Bruno Le Maire, French junior minister for European Affairs. He spoke to reporters after a meeting of EU defence and foreign ministers in Brussels. Officials say armed gangs have been operating from the Seychelles against shipping. An official of the Czech presidency said there also appeared to be political agreement to extend the mission beyond the end of the year, when its mandate is due to expire, reported Reuters. French junior Defence Minister Jean-Marie Bockel said extending the area of operations would ideally require the deployment of two more ships. Currently 13 vessels and three maritime patrol aircraft are operating with the EU force.
Yemen's Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi and the German ambassador to Yemen Michael Klor-Berchtold discussed here on Monday situation in Somalia. The meeting affirmed the need to support peace efforts in Somalia to enhance peace in the region. The two officials dealt with events, which will be implemented by the embassies of both countries celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Yemen and Germany, in addition to the mutual cooperation relations.
Blackwater pirate fighting ship sidelined by its own crew It looks like the McArthur, the 183ft ex-NOAA oceanographic research ship that Blackwater bought and converted for use as a maritime security platform is no longer offering services in the anti-piracy effort, the maritime blog reports.
Life on board the McArthur was apparently not so good. Blackwater, now re-named Xe, now has three separate harassment claims from crewmembers who sailed aboard the ship on its recent voyage to the Middle East. As Virginian-Pilot reporter Bill Sizemore reports, the plan to use the McArthur as a state-of-the-art anti-piracy platform did not quite pan out as planned.
One former crew member says that on the orders of the captain, he was thrown to the deck and handcuffed in retaliation for speaking to a newspaper reporter. He is suing for false imprisonment, saying he was unlawfully detained by being ´placed in irons´.
Another crew member, who is black, says that he was subjected to racial epithets from the chief engineer and that when he complained, the captain did nothing about the harassment and retaliated by giving the seaman a poor evaluation.
A third man, the ship´s chief steward, says he was fired after he submitted a written statement to his superiors documenting the hostile work environment and racial harassment aboard the vessel. Last fall as the piracy crisis debuted, Blackwater widely advertised that the McArthur was available to provide convoy escort services and protection for ships transiting high risk areas.
Equipped with two Little Bird helicopters, several RHIBs, and a fully armed security team, it was viewed by many as an ideal solution and one that was poised to make some big bucks.
Legal papers reveal a less than ideal scenario on board however. It appears the ship did not perform the role she was intended to in the Middle East. As for the official word from the company, Sizemore writes:
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell did not comment direct on the litigation, but she said one of the employees was terminated for cause. Regarding the discrimination suit, she told Virginian-Pilot the company "does not condone and will not tolerate discrimination of any kind and takes allegations to the contrary very seriously". But she also disclosed that the company is no longer doing counter-piracy work. With the recent Maritime Security Directive issued by the Coast Guard this week, you have to wonder if Xe will be missing out on something big. The Maritime will be interested to see where the McArthur ends up next. We´ll be watching closely.
Marine ecosystem and IUU fishing
Product traceability a condition for EU market access
Guaranteeing a chain of traceability in order to ensure continued fish exports to European countries will become vital. "No other alternative exists", officials said. Regulation 1005 of the EU will soon take effect and establish a system to prevent, discourage and eliminate illegal, undeclared and unregulated (IUU) fishing, among other objectives. "He who does not comply with the regulation will not be given the export certificate nor will he be able to sell his products in 2010", officials warned. With the application of the new rule, the European authorities are looking to ensure a verifiable point of origin of the products, that is, obtained in a legal and responsible manner while fulfilling sanitary norms. The monitoring of fisheries products (fish and shellfish) will be key to fulfilling the new Community requirements. Under Europe´s fisheries product policy, tuna fish producers are required to provide a catch certificate that details where the stocks were caught and the volume, or in other words the traceability of the supplies. But unless Japan also would require such certification and would refuse the clandestine imports from e.g. Somali waters via the Indian Ocean Island states nothing will stop the decline of the Indian Ocean tuna.
The fight against IUU fishing is a top priority in the international agenda. The First World Summit on Fisheries Sustainability will be held at the World fishing Exhibition that takes place in Vigo, Spain, from the 16-19 September 2009. It is an initiative by the Minister of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, with the collaboration of the FAO and the participation of the Imperial College, London. The main objective is to define the basic guidelines that must drive the fisheries industry towards a sustainable activity from three different points of view: biological sustainability of species, financial sustainability of companies and social sustainability of the communities that make a life from fisheries. During the one day event, the administrations, environmental organizers and the fisheries industry will discuss how they will channel their respective responsibilities in order to achieve this eagerly awaited triple objective. A survey recently published by the World Bank states that, each year, the losses of financial benefits in fisheries amount to 50 billion dollars; these losses arise from the wrong management of resources and could be recovered with the correct management of the same.
According to the Assistant Director-General of FAO, Ichiro Nomura, the management of resources must be 'effective and efficient', especially taking into account that '20% of the animal protein intake for approximately 1.5 billion people, or at least 15% for about 3.0 billion people in our world', comes from fish. Starting from this data, and considering the exploitation level to which most of the world fisheries are subject, FAO defends the search of 'a viable balance between utilization and conservation'. 'The idea of inexhaustible fisheries must be replaced by the recognition that access to fisheries must be restricted if they are to sustainably generate wealth and to alleviate poverty' he explains. Each World Fishing Exhibition has traditionally been, apart from an international showcase of the latest technology in the fisheries industry, a forum for debate. And 2009 will be no different; the Fifth Fisheries Ministers Conference, an event that has taken place in parallel to each of the previous World Fishing Exhibitions held in Vigo, will be celebrated again at Vigo'09. The Fisheries Ministers Conference is outstanding due both to the general subject debated and the attendance of top authorities from the fisheries sector of different fisheries countries.
To follow is an extract from an interview with David Agnew, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Imperial College of London, about the First World Summit on Fisheries Sustainability: What is the reason for holding a conference focused on sustainability? Everyone, the fishing industry, environmental organisations, governments, is now concerned about the sustainability of fish stocks. Since the early 1990s there has been very little growth in the world catch of wild fish stocks; instead, we have seen increasing publicity about over-fishing and environmental damage. In recent years most of problems in the marine environment have been blamed on fishing. Clearly fishermen do not wish to have their fisheries disappear through over-fishing and have a very high interest in maintaining sustainability. But they are also sensitive to being labeled as "destroyers" of the ocean. In fact there are many fish stocks that are sustainably managed, and that produce very little environmental impact.
Equally, there are many environmental impacts on oceans that are not caused by fishing, but which will have negative impacts on fishers such as global warming, pollution, ocean acidification etc. There are many lessons to be learned from examples of sustainable fisheries management, and this conference aims to explore them. What is the reason for it being held alongside the World Fishing Exhibition? The World Fishing Exhibition is a very well-known exhibition, attracting a large number of fishery professionals fishermen, fishing companies, retailers, government, scientists and environmental organisations. It is an ideal venue for creating a dialogue between these professionals to examine the factors that influence sustainability and develop ideas for best practice that can be applied in all fisheries. When we talk about sustainability, we usually deal with biological and environmental concepts. Is it possible to talk about complete sustainability from biological, social and commercial point of views? Very much so. It is quite difficult to arrange for maximum performance for all objectives - biological, social and commercial. But it is quite possible to develop management that provides social and commercial sustainability while ensuring biological sustainability.
One way to look at this is to say that there are absolute minimum standards for biological sustainability. For the target species, we must never be in a situation where recruitment is significantly impaired. For the ecosystem, we should ensure that the system still functions - in the new jargon, it provides "ecosystem services". These ecosystem services are necessary for long-term sustainability of the ecosystem, to allow it for instance to continue to support the fish stocks upon which fishing depends and to support the other activities which society carries out at sea. Having assured ourselves of biological sustainability we can adjust our management to satisfy economic and social objectives. So far, which have been the main obstacles for the achievement of sustainable fisheries?
One of the largest obstacles is, and has been since the 1990s, overcapacity within the fishing fleet. Overcapacity does not just refer to the number of vessels, but to their fishing efficiency - in particular their size, the technology they have to find and capture fish etc. As efficiency increases vessels should become more economically efficient, but without achieving a balance between opportunities and fishing power many fishing fleets in Europe are now making only very small profits or losses. This is not a sustainable policy. We need to find mechanisms to allow the fleet to reduce its capacity and realise a positive benefit from fishing, but we need to do this while protecting vulnerable communities which are dependent upon fishing. These are some of the issues that we need to discuss at meetings of all stakeholders, such as at Vigo.
What role must the administration, scientists and industry play in order to move forward to a sustainable fishing activity? The key to moving forward is to engage, discuss, collaborate and formulate plans in a cooperative atmosphere. The Regional Advisory Councils have begun to make significant progress with this. The implication of all stakeholders is fundamental for achieving a sustainable use of marine resources but, sometimes, the fishing industry finds it hard to understand some decisions based on science due to the existence of a certain level of uncertainty in the assessments. The industry also asks for a kind of "precautionary principle" from a socioeconomic point of view. Although each species is different, generally speaking, is this uncertainty relevant for the assessment and for working towards sustainability?
Unfortunately an understanding of uncertainty is key to managing stocks in a sustainable fashion. The more uncertain our understanding, the lower risk we should take with our resources. This is often very difficult for the industry to accept, but there are things we can do about it. Firstly, there must be more collaboration between industry and science, in an open framework, so that scientific data become more reliable. Secondly, management must ensure that there are incentives for the collection of more data, rather than penalties. One very difficult issue is, for instance, the impact of fishing on marine mammals. Without good data we cannot solve these problems, but fishermen are too often penalised for providing the data. There are a number of examples around the world now which show how cooperation between industry, science and managers can be fostered so that industry does not feel that there is a disincentive to providing data that will help assessments.
When talking about sustainability in the marine ecosystems, fishing is always a main issue in all debates, but there are a lot of human activities that also have an impact in these ecosystems, both in the coast and in the high seas. Do you think that the impacts of these activities are receiving enough attention? No, and increasingly no. Key new developments are the wider impact on marine ecosystems of our activities in power generation, mineral extraction, transport and climate change. Fishing will always have a very direct impact, but the long-term impacts of climate change and pollution are likely to be more profound in the long term, both for their impacts on the environment and on fisheries. The fight against IUU fishing is a top priority in the international agenda. To which extent is this activity a threat to sustainability? In your opinion, what should be done in order to tackle IUU fishing?
There have been a very large number of initiatives on IUU fishing recently. Those most likely to work are trade measures, such as the EU regulation, and port state measures, such as that in operation in NEAFC. The fishing industry can also have an impact on IUU, primarily by ensuring that their legitimately caught product is traced through the market chain. If this is done IUU product will have no market. WFE Vigo 2003 hosted an International Conference on deep sea fisheries. Do you think the sustainability of this activity is harder to achieve due to the special characteristics of deep sea species? The problem with many deep sea stocks is that only a very small proportion of the stock - perhaps 2-3% - can be sustainably harvested each year. For shallow stocks this may be higher, in the region of 20-30% each year. Clearly there are major challenges in making any deep-sea fishery economically sustainable, since these very low catch rates are often accompanied by very high costs of fishing in deep waters.
EU Fisheries Commissioner was in Seychelles to address piracy problem [or was it to guarantee continuous fish-supply?]
Joe Borg, European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, was visiting the Seychelles to analyze with the local Government different options to fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean and other aspects of the fishing y maritime cooperation.
During his visit, which ended on Sunday, Borg met Seychelles' President James A. Michel, Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Transport Joel Morgan, Foreign Minister Joseph Nourrice and other leading government and fishing sector figures.
The European Commissioner visit included a tour of a large tuna processing plant and in addition, Commissioner Borg will take part in a discussion with ministers and officials on fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean and other maritime affairs.
For the European Commission (EC), all Europe and the international community have to tackle the threat of piracy and its root causes effectively and sustainable way.
Piracy has become a particular concern to the Seychelles' authorities and fishermen, because their waters are one of the most affected by the Somali pirates that are acting in the Aden Gulf.
It not only affects fishermen that are operating in the Indian Ocean but the maritime transport as well, pointed Borg.
The Fisheries Commissioner met with the Secretary-General of the Indian Ocean Commission (COI) Calixtte d'Offay to discuss this extremely important issue.
This Commission, in which Seychelles is part, is vital in combating illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing practices.
The regional surveillance plan has a budget of EUR 7 million over three years (2007-2010). It has two main objectives, to reduce the number of IUU vessels in this region and to contribute to the sustainable conservation and management of tuna resources.
The EU and Seychelles have a longstanding fisheries agreement since 2005, which will end in 2011.
Initially, the agreement provided licenses for 40 tuna purse seiners and 12 surface long liners in exchange of financial contribution of around EUR 4 million per year for the Seychelles islands.
In January 2007, authorities from the Spanish Ministry of Fisheries and Environment and Natural Resources from the Seychelles also signed a ministerial agreement for mutual cooperation.
This agreement allows the technological exchange between both countries, providing technical training and assistance-, promotion of bilateral commerce and private investment through specialized missions and other issues.
In April, the new Spanish commander for EUNAVFOR's Operation Atlanta , organized by the EU to fight against the Somali pirates, admitted to the limitations of the flotilla under his control in preventing this scourge from affecting international shipping lane safety. "Every time they hijack a boat, I feel as if I´ve been stabbed", said Spanish Navy Captain Garat Carame, who directs the Operation from the bridge of the Numancia frigate. But until today Operation Atalanta - or any of the other 3 armadas around Somalia - has not caught a single illegal fishing vessel in the waters off Somalia - this they obviously leave to the Somali coastguards, which often enough are mistaken for pirates and nabbed instead. Spain; Greece; Norway; Russia; Taiwan; China; France: U.K., the Philippines; Korea; and many other countries are involved in the illegal fishing piracy in Somalia, consultant Mohamed Abshir Waldo says.
No real peace yet
Residents near the central town of Baladwayne said Ethiopian troops in military vehicles arrived before dawn on Tuesday. On Monday, Ethiopia said it was watching events closely but felt the situation was contained within Somalia and that there was no immediate danger that would prompt intervention.. "Some of their soldiers were on the hills. We do not know what they want. They have not spoken to anyone", local man Hussein Osman told Reuters by telephone. "We believe they are concerned about the al-Shabaab flowing into our region". Ismail Hassan, another resident, said the Ethiopian soldiers were accompanied by some former Somali government officials. "They were on the outskirts of Beletweyne", he said. Ethiopia's government denied thereafter these reports from Somali residents and denied that it had sent soldiers back into the neighbouring Horn of Africa country, where hard line Islamist rebels are battling the government. "This is a totally fabricated story. We have no plans to go into any of Somalia's territory", Wahade Belay, spokesman for Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry, told Reuters in Addis Ababa. However, counter-checks after this statement revealed eye-witness-accounts from many residents, who had seen the military convoy of the Ethiopian army. Beletweyne is just 42 km from the Somali-Ethiopian border, which is disputed since the colonial times with Somalia claiming the Ogaden to belong to Somalia. Ethiopian troops are known to never have really respected that border in the last 20 years.
Al-shabab rebels who are fighting against the Somali government said Tuesday they will continue the fighting till they take over the whole country. Sheik Ali Mohamed Hussein, the head of Banadir region of al-Shabab said they will continue the fighting in Somalia and heading to every Muslim country in the world. He also admitted that "Mujahideens" from foreign countries are fighting along them. Asked about the accusations of AU that 400 foreign fighters are fighting a long them he said millions were supporting to the fighting that is underway in Somalia and fighting along them. "What is going on in the world is fighting between infidels and Muslims and our aim is not to capture Somalia only but we are part of the Mujahideens in the Muslim world", said Sheik Ali. Somalia´s government has accused the Islamist rebels of inviting foreign fighters to the country. The information Minster of the Somali government Farhan Ali Mohamoud, said the rebels were wrecking havoc and displacing more civilians by attacking new towns in the country.
Italians Reported Among Foreign Fighters In Somalia
by Anab Mohamed for SomalilandPress
For a few days now a battle has been raging in Mogadishu between TFG [Transitional Federal Government] troops, led by the moderate Islamic Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, and Al-Shabab fundamentalist insurgents. The latter, after fierce fighting, yesterday managed to take Giohar, which lies at a distance of approximately 90 kilometers from the capital. The fundamentalists, however, suffered a serious setback because of the defection of their most committed commander, Sheikh Yusuf Mohamud Siad, known as Inda ´Adde [White Eyes], who yesterday at dawn, after a heated assembly with his clan (the habergidir/aer) elders, decided to hand over a part of his arsenal to the government. However, Inda ´Adde is no novice in terms of sudden side-changes.
International organizations (none of which has expatriate personnel in the Somali capital) put the number of dead at 200, the wounded at 500, and the homeless to at least 10,000. Saturday, for the first time, a spokesman for the Shabaab ("youth," in Arabic) admitted that there were foreign combatants in his ranks. According to Italian diplomat in Kenya there are Italians included among them. It is not known whether they are naturalized Muslims, or Italian converts to Islam.
One of the fundamentalist leaders, Sheikh Hassan Abdallah Hersi, better known as Hassan Turki, the most fundamentalist of all, transferred his militiamen to Mogadishu so as to be able to fight alongside the Shabaab. Hersi, who for the Americans is Al-Qa´idah´s man in Somalia, is the guerrilla chief who, with his men, controls Somalia´s entire southern region. His base is located in Ras Chiamboni, on the border with Kenya.
Another Shabaab leader, Sheikh Hassan Daher Aweys, instead, has been removed from the US terrorist list. Therefore, he will be allowed to take part in future peace negotiations. With this move, Washington seems to be following the Italian line, supported by [Italy's] former special envoy [to Somalia] Mario Raffaelli, according to whom peace in Somalia can be achieved only through dialogue, and not by muscle-flexing. Raffaeli remained unheeded, and no longer occupies himself with Somali matters.
It is well to recall that in 2006, current President Sheikh Sarif headed an Islamic government that had come to power by wringing it from the hands of the warlords, whereas Sheikh Hassan was house speaker.
The Bush White House had condemned them both. According to US sources, the Eritrean dictatorship, the harshest on the entire [African] continent, is helping the Islamic insurgents. A plane loaded with combat supplies coming from Asmara landed at a secondary airport (known as the "50th kilometer" airport) that belongs to Ahmed Duale Ahaf (Ahaf means "big mouth"). Eritrea has denied this, but airport guard militiamen confirmed the report.
Shabaab on the offensive in Somalia
By Bill Roggio
The newly formed Somali government is in danger of being ousted from its remaining strongholds in Mogadishu and central Somalia as Shabaab and Hizbul Islam took control of a key city.
Shabaab and Hizbul Islam seized the central town of Jowhar in Hiran province after several days of fighting with the pro-government Islamic Courts. Dozens civilians and fighters from both sides were killed as the rival Islamist groups battled for control of the region.
Shabaab, or the Somali Youth Movement, is an al Qaeda-backed Islamist terror group that has lobbied to join the international terrorist organization. Hizbul Islam was created in January of this year. The group was created by the merger of four separate Islamic groups: Hassan Aweys´ Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia-Eritrea, Jabhatul Islamiya (the Islamic Front), Mu'askar Ras Kamboni (the Ras Kamboni Brigade), and Anole. Hizbul Islam was led by Sheik Omar Iman Abu Bakar but was ousted by Aweys for being too moderate.
Shabaab is also battling the pro-government Ahlu Sunna Waljama Islamist militia in the towns of Wabho and Mahas in the central province of Galgadud. Wabho is described as a "military town" by local villagers. More than two dozen people are reported to have been wounded during the heavy fighting.
In Mogadishu, the Islamic Courts and the government security forces have been under attack by Shabaab and Hizbul Islam fighters. More than 150 civilians and fighters from all sides have been reported killed during heavy battles.
More anti-government Islamist forces are being sent to Mogadishu and thrown into the battle, according to Garowe Online. Sheikh Hassan Turki, the commander of the Ras Kamboni Brigade, is reported to have led an "armed convoy" of his fighters into the capital.
Turki was a senior leader in the Islamic Courts prior to its defeat at the hands of the Ethiopians in late 2006, as well as its predecessor, al Itihaad al Islamiyah. Turki operates military and terrorist training camps in southern Somalia and was likely the target of a US air strike in March 2008.
Somali Government suffers setbacks despite reconciliation
The Somali government has suffered major setbacks since the Djibouti wing of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia, an offshoot of the Islamic Courts led by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, reconciled with the defeated Transitional Federal Government in late January 2009. Sharif joined the government following the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces after a two-year occupation.
Ahmed was named president of Somalia and has since attempted to reconcile with the Asmara wing of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia, led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, an al Qaeda ally and a designated terrorist, and Hizbul Islam. Ahmed also lobbied for sharia, or Islamic Law, to be imposed. The Somali parliament passed the sharia bill into law this month.
But Shabaab and Hizbul Islam rejected offers to join the government and branded Ahmed and other Islamic Courts leaders as apostates and tools of the West. On May 14, the normally reclusive Shabaab leader Sheikh Muktar Abdirahman released an 11-minute audiotape railing against the government.
"The so-called government cannot be described as an Islamic government, because it was created to destroy Islamists in Somalia", Sheikh Muktar said, according to Garowe Online. "The so-called President flew to Addis Ababa [capital of Ethiopia] immediately after he was elected to ask for advice and troops to fight against what he calls 'extremists' in Somalia".
Shabaab and Hizbul Islam have continued to attack government forces and allied groups such as the Islamic Courts and the Ahlu Sunna Waljama throughout central Somalia and in Mogadishu reported. Shabaab and Hizbul Islam currently control all of the southern and many of the central provinces of Lower Jubba, Middle Jubba, Lower Shabelle, Gedo, Bay, and Bakool, as well as much of Mogadishu, where the government controls only "very little territory in Mogadishu", Garowe OnlineShabelle said the Somalia government "controls a few blocks in Mogadishu".
The central districts of Middle Shabelle, Hiran and Galgadud are considered contested, with the government and allied Islamist groups in nominal control of some areas.
Mogadishu's Chaos: Is There an End? asks Daauud Ahmed and explains two Decades of Instability in Somalia
In what seems to be a preparation for an attack on the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on May 17, the militant Al-Shebab group took control over the strategic city of Johwar, that links Mogadishu to the central part of Somalia. Mogadishu's residents have been deprived from security and proper life conditions for 18 years of constant conflicts. Daauud Ahmed writes on the recent history of Mogadishu, in an attempt to understand the current fighting...
Mogadishu is a city that has experienced, for a long time, fighting for different motives. Now, Mogadishu faces a war with a new ideology. Its roots go back to 1991 when the USC (United Somali Congress) guerrilla fighters' war on Si'ad Barre´s regime led to the collapse of the government that had plunged the country into anarchy and chaos.
The USC, which was later named "Mafio-meaning thieves", was the first frontier who claimed to have overthrown Barre's Regime, but they later split up to two parties, and divided the country into two parts, the south and the north. The division resulted in an endless vicious cycle that caused the death of thousands of people, and brought the worst drought that hit the country until the present day.
"Restore of Hope"
The UN operation called "Restore of Hope", led by the United States, started in 1991 and brought along more than 28,000 troops from 30 countries to Mogadishu as a response to the urgent humanitarian needs. However, that operation ended in failure after Aideed's militia clashed with the American troops. The unexpected clash caused the death of 18 American soldiers, and the UN troops soon withdrew. The operation was then terminated in 1995. In the same year, another civil war broke between two sub-clans of the Hawiye main clan and forced civilians to flee from their homes.
Aideed and Atto, More Troubles
In 1996, a broad based government was established by Aideed, but his government did not obtain the recognition of many warlords. From another side, Aideed also faced severe opposition from his close relative "Isman Atto" - who was his treasurer of finance and ammunition. Aideed ordered for the capture of Atto, but the operation transformed into a huge war that resulted in the death of General Aideed in late 1997 and more sufferings for the Somali people.
Afterwards, Osman Atto signed an agreement with Omar Finish, the militia commander of Musa Suudi, a major warlord based north of Mogadishu, who used to control the Jazira airport, a small airport, located west of Mogadishu. Atto promised an attractive share for the commander. In the same time, he also was planning to open a new separate airport with another warlord "Mohamed Qanyare" in Daynile District, the stronghold of Qanyare.
The news was soon delivered to Musa which made him turn against Omar Finish over the agreement. Immediately, a fighting erupted in Medina, a district in the West Mogadishu, between the two warlords. Medina was the quickly split into two parts and the residents were the only victims of the fighting.
New Governments
In 2000, a new government, composed of mainly civil society groups was established in Djibouti but it soon faced armed oppositions from the same warlords. Shortly afterwards, another government replaced the feeble government in Kenya in 2004, after two years of talks. Interestingly, this government was made up from the main warlords of Mogadishu, to compel them to work together under one system. Suddenly, it was sabotaged by internal conflict and remained stagnant for a long time.
In 2006, Anti-terror alliance was declared in Mogadishu. Another alliance from the Union of Islamic Courts expressed opposition against this alliance. A new fighting occurred between the two, where most Mogadishu's residents extended tangible help and support for the Islamic faith giving hand to the UIC.
Unexpectedly, the warlords were driven out from Mogadishu and its surroundings and the UIC confirmed its control over the city of Mogadishu. The people felt secure and tasted life for six months under the Islamic Shari'ah. Warlordism, tribalism acts and the violent practices in Mogadishu were soon put to an end. Mogadishu was opened through and security encouraged free moving and a better life.
Ethiopian Occupation
Unfortunately, this haven was soon stolen away from the people of Mogadishu when Ethiopia, in support of the fragile government, having the legitimacy of So-called PMs, invaded the Somali land for the first time in history in December 2006.
This downhearted Somalis in and outside the country and drove them to resort to violence against the Ethiopians. Somalia went back again to a state of occupation and comprehensive campaigns of different kinds (verbal attacks, rocket attacks, etc.), started locally and internationally. Many important people and properties were lost during the war.
After two years of continuous combined struggle, plus international pressure, Ethiopians were forced to pull out the country in late January 2009. The jubilant news of withdrawal, and the hope towards the new elected president, could be seen in Mogadishu for 4 months now.
Al-Shabab Vs UIC
But now Mogadishu hosts a fierce fighting between Alshabab and UIC two former allies of Islamic courts union. A meaningless war and barbaric from ruthless minds, that will only destroy any hope of peace and present deep rooted foolishness for Somalis in the south.
What could a war between two Muslims mean to the people of Mogadishu?
Whom should they support? Is Mogadishu going back to warlordism and tribalism?
Mogadishu is hopeless now; tired and pale families are re-evacuating their homes and despite experts of war in Mogadishu say "Due to the plan-less and shortsighted of the warring parties, these clashes always end up merely in Mess and loss of life", yet none of the warring parties is ready to listen to the lessons learned from previous wars.
Daauud Ahmed is a Somali based Freelance writer and translator. He holds a BA in Business Administration and two certificates in Political science (Methods of Inquiry) and International Studies (Conflict and Development). He is also the deputy president of the Center of Peace and Research Studies.
China to Reach Out to Somalia´s Islamic Opposition
by Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
One of the most critical aspects of the Horn of Africa crisis concerns China. In fact, it has little to do with China´s merely quantitative presence in the African continent. The economic – technological presence and significance of China in Africa have already been noticed and commented, but this type of achievement, albeit important at the commercial level, has no political consequences, let alone global dimensions.
China must realize that its presence in Africa, although necessary for the country´s needs in terms of resources, exports, commercial partners, and economic penetration, has not yet reached the level of political influence, military involvement, and determinant geo-political impact.
It is essential for Beijing to understand, when it comes to China´s global presence and prevalence, that this critical affair has little to do with the volume of exports and imports and with a veto in the Security Council votes.
In Africa, China finds itself opposed to ca. 250 years of European colonialism which led to the formation of postcolonial regimes that – in order to be totally submitted to the interests, the plans, and the needs of England and France – are by nature totalitarian, racist, criminal, corrupt, and mostly inhuman.
The interaction of all these corrupt and totalitarian regimes of Africa is - in and by itself - another dimension of colonial involvement and perfidy. Below is an example:
1. England and France (plus the US, as a neophyte in the postcolonial era) are behind the support offered to the criminal state Abyssinia (that colonial English and French scholars explained to the idiotic and ignorant Amhara rulers why it should be renamed as ´Ethiopia´ in order to contribute to the performance of 14 genocides against the subjugated Kushitic and Nilo-Saharan nations).
2. England and France (plus the US) are behind the destructive work perpetrated since 1991 against the Somali Nation that does not suit the colonial plans for Eastern Africa.
3. Last but not least, England and France (plus the US) are behind the Abyssinian invasion of part of the Somali territory (in December 2006) and behind the withdrawal of the defeated Abyssinian army.
How could China outmaneuver this complot?
Rejecting the false lenses made available by Western mass media of global disinformation is a first critical step to take. China must offer itself an accurate, holistic, balanced and fair perception of the developments throughout the African continent.
Otherwise, every evaluation will hinge on false data and prefabricated images that the perfidious, criminal powers of the Colonial West have done their ingenious best to overwhelmingly diffuse and successfully ensure that their potential challenges (China, India, Russia, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Italy, the Islamic World, African Liberation movements and fronts) never get the entire picture correctly.
China and Somalia in 1900 – Equally Targeted by Perfidious, Colonial England
Demonizing rivals and targets has always been a favorable method of the colonial powers; before 100 years, in the then targeted Somalia (1899 – 1905), Mohamed Abdullah Hassan had become just the "mad mullah"; he was not "mad" and his identity of mullah represents only a minor aspect of his great personality of intellectual, mystic, Islamic theoretician, social transformer and political leader and liberator.
Chinese can understand very well why the great visionary of the Somali Nation Mohamed Abdullah Hassan, honorably called As Sayid by all the Somalis, became a "mad mullah" for the criminal colonial gangsters of England.
Because he opposed the use of khat chewing which was greatly promoted and diffused by the English in order to engulf the local populations to social decay, political decadence, religious digression, and national decomposition.
China was equally targeted by the monstrous, inhuman and criminal gangsters, the English and the French, at those days. To colonize the Chinese, the perfidious colonial powers devised several methods one of which was the diffusion, throughout China, of opium produced in occupied India. China was constrained to defend its national integrity in successive Opium wars (1839 – 42, 1856 – 60); the evil English practice triggered the overwhelming reaction of the Chinese people as evidenced in events such as the Taiping Revolution (1850 – 64) and the Boxer Revolution (1899 – 1901).
To help Somali readership be better acquainted with the English Anti-Chinese hysteria and felony, I merely state here that the aforementioned glorious event is only conventionally called "Boxer Revolution". In fact, the Boxers were called by themselves after the noble association that they had established, namely "the Righteous Harmony Society Movement" (Yihe tuan). Boxers is a pejorative term that could not have been devised but by a monstrous and criminal elite of gangsters like that of England.
Mohamed Abdullah Hassan: "Mad Mullah" or the Somali Boxer?
For both, Chinese and Somalis, to learn better the common identity of their righteous cause, I can merely say that Mohamed Abdullah Hassan (the ´mad mullah´ of the English colonial gangsters) was a …… Somali Boxer.
And the splendid ideals, the humanist goals, the peaceful mind, and the noble vision of the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in China were absolutely identical with those of the Saalihiya Order which was diffused among the Somalis by Mohamed Abdullah Hassan.
Mohamed Abdullah Hassan was criminally labeled "mad" by the English because he did not accept that evil and hypocritical "missionaries", under the pretext of "help" offered to Somali orphans at Daymoole, should be allowed to attempt to diffuse – in a most immoral, shameful and camouflaged way – their Christian faith.
In the same way, the Boxers´ rightful denunciation of the disastrous work made in China by Western missionaries was labeled by the English as ´Anti-Christian´.
For the viciously Anti-Christian, Freemasonic regime of England, which caused the greatest possible damages to Catholic Christianity (notably through their Anglican heresy), it is just ludicrous to introduce pejorative terms for other nations, parties and persons who happened to have attempted what the English did try for themselves in the first place, namely to stay apart of foreign control, foreign faith, and external influence.
This is the natural evilness of the English historiographers, intellectuals, diplomats and journalists:
If the "mad" mullah had accepted the duplicitous, concealed and criminal effort of the "missionaries" to Christianize Somalia, he would not be ….. "mad".
Today, this "logic" threatens Somalia, China, and the entire world. It is the same inhuman attitude displayed before 100 years in both, China and Somalia; to speak frankly, it is the paranoia of the rapist who tries to appear as possibly innocent and credibly righteous.
What about today´s English regime of Inhuman Freemasonry?
Will they accept the Somali sheikhs Hassan Dahir Aweys, Hassan Turki, and Mukhtar Robow to …… leave Somalia for a while, move to England, visit the poor, unemployed and needy English, and proselytize them to Islam "that would solve all their problems"?
Just like the "missionaries" at Daymoole, Somalia, who made the local orphans say in 1897 that "they belonged to the clan of the (Christian) Fathers", today´s impoverished English may wish to belong to the Nation of the Muslims. What about a scenario like this?
The use of the pejorative adjectives was never a matter of sparing concern among the English and the French colonials and within the circle of the world mass media that they have been customarily bribed and unreservedly corrupted.
It is certainly more convenient for them now to avoid the term "mad" and put all the stakes on adjectives and nouns like the following: "hard line", "fanatic", "radical", "extremist" and "terrorist".
China Cannot Afford Anymore the Fallacious Western Interpretations of Events
Simply, this situation cannot be afforded anymore by China. Because all the Somali "hard liners", "fanatics", "radicals", "extremists" and "terrorists", namely the sheikhs Hassan Dahir Aweys, Hassan Turki, and Mukhtar Robow, are today´s Somalia´s Righteous Harmony Society Movement.
Today´s Somalia´s Boxers Movement provides for peace, concord, serenity, national integrity, cultural authenticity, resolute commitment to Somalia´s re-edification and rehabilitation. To the full consternation of the English, French, and American colonials.
To focus on some isolated cases of literal implementation of Sharia Law in Kismayu and elsewhere is certainly purposeless.
These people suffered tremendously at the times of the Abyssinian occupation for which the evil colonial regimes of London and Washington are fully responsible.
These people saw the criminal gangster Jendayi Frazer shamelessly consider the Ogaden 2007 Genocide as an internal affair of the monstrous racist regime of Abysssinia; you cannot expect them to react like Confucius or some Greek Stoic philosophers. They view the excesses of their jurisdiction as the much needed underscoring of their opposition to the evil deeds of the Anti-Somali colonials; this is a sentimental stance, not a political approach. It will not continue for long after the so loathed AMISOM soldiers go, and the perspective of free constitutional elections comes closer.
China has many reasons – beyond a definite historical solidarity – to stretch a hand to the Somali Opposition, establish a contact with them, and thus acquire a firm basis in Eastern Africa. This I will extensively analyze in a forthcoming article.
´Let nobody witness my horrors´
Qassim Aways Saalim, a Somali asylum-seeker and journalist in Malta, speaks to Karl Stagno - Navarra
"Let no Maltese or any other European citizen witness the horrors of a lawless nation like mine, and never feel the urge of running away, not only from war, but also from certain death, where you are hunted down with guns and machetes because all you did was speak on a radio station and appeal for peace".
Qassim Aways Saalim, a young Somali migrant with humanitarian protection in Malta, speaks to me from his wind battered tent at the Hal Far tent village. 27-year-old Qassim is no ordinary refugee. He is also a journalist documenting his now one-year long stay in Malta, six months of which he spent in detention at Safi Barracks.
Qassim – formerly of Radio Simba in the Somali capital Mogadishu – shows me two plain copybooks, where he is neatly documenting his ordeal as an asylum seeker. "I am writing this because in the years to come, I want Europe to know what welcome my fellow people and myself have been given. All I know of Europe is Malta. I have lived in detention for months and lived in squalid conditions, until Allah heard my prayers and was released from my prison. After the cage, I was put in a tent".
As he flips the pages of his copybook, and recounts his traumatic story, Qassim still manages to smile, because of our common knowledge about Somalia and its capital Mogadishu. Qassim comes from an area known as Villa Italia – an old colonial building that used to house the Italian governor and subsequently warlord Siad Barre. The area is quite derelict and poverty is rife. Many Somalis consider the area as ´safe´ compared to the other parts of the completely destroyed city, however until just last week, mortars caused death and havoc among many innocent families.
In lawless Somalia, warlords and rival tribal factions have never surrendered their weapons. When the Americans abandoned Mogadishu it became a free-for-all, and hundreds of thousands of Somalis have died, or ran away.
"I worked as a radio speaker on Radio Simba broadcasting. Simba in Swahili means lion, and the radio was one of many that broadcasted appeals for peace. My radio director, my colleagues have all been killed. Others like me who managed to escape and kept up with their peace campaigns have been hunted down and been killed in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, and in places as far as Nigeria", he says, as he fidgets with a copy of the press card he held in Somalia.
"You see I am not only a journalist but also a dissident", Qassim says, as he also describes his escape on foot and by truck through the dangerous route out of Somalia into Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad and eventually into Libya where he hid in a farm for two whole months not to be caught by the Libyan police, until the day he set off on a boat towards Europe together with other Somali nationals. He was rescued by a Maltese patrol boat after spending three days stalled at sea, and he recounts his ordeal at the hands of the Maltese authorities in July of last year.
"We were whisked into a bus when we arrived to shore, and taken for fingerprinting. After that we were just dumped into a big cage. I knew I reached a European member state, I was constantly asking myself is this really it? I started to doubt it, and forgot all about it as soon as I was just kept behind bars for months, living like an animal".
Qassim has since been released into an open centre after his request for humanitarian status was upheld by the Maltese government. He was transferred to the Hal Far tent village. But time and calendars don´t even matter here. The worst is that people like Qassim and hundreds of others, have no idea of what is to happen with them. What future could they possibly have?
He spends his days sitting on his bunk-bed, writing his diary and documenting his life, and his homeland. "I need books, paper, pens, internet", he says, while I promise to relay his requests to Reporters Sans Frontiers. Before I leave, Qassim asks me to take a picture of us together. He smiles and asks me not to forget him.
Drought and continuing violence are driving Somalia´s humanitarian needs upward, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, adding that only one-third of the nearly $1 billion in funds sought for the country have been received so far. At least 3.2 million people – or 40 per cent of the Horn of Africa nation´s population – will continue to need humanitarian assistance and livelihood support through this September, with latest assessments indicating that current rains could offer short-term relief from water and pasture shortages in some areas. The food segment of the UN´s Consolidate Appeal Process (CAP) has been the best-funded so far at 42 per cent, but the World Food Programme (WFP) said that it needs an additional $60 million to cover needs for the next six months. Clashes between Government forces and insurgents in the capital, Mogadishu, between 8-14 May were the worst in recent months, claiming civilian lives and displacing 42,000 people.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), half of the uprooted have fled to Mogadishu´s neighbouring Afgooye district, which is already home to over 400,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). WFP, the UN Children´s Fund (UNICEF) and their partners are seeking how to scale up their nutritional intervention schemes to reach additional severely acute malnourished and moderately acute malnourished children, OCHA said. Last week, the Security Council demanded that extremists groups in Somalia immediately end their offensive in the capital against the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), expressing concern over the mounting death toll and worsening humanitarian situation in the capital. In a presidential statement read out by Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the rotating Council presidency for May, the 15-member body also condemned the recent surge in violence led by al-Shabaab and other groups, which it said constitutes an attempt to remove the legitimate Government by force.
Impacting reports from the global village
Dadaab: The Unacceptable Price of Asylum
"Sometimes, I think to myself that it would be better to go back to Somalia, and take the risk to face the bullets, rather than to die slowly of hunger and dehydration in this camp"
Briefing paper by the U.S. section of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
Introduction
An estimated 270,000 Somali refugees are enduring difficult living conditions at Dagahaley, Ifo, and Hagadera refugee camps located on the outskirts of Dadaab in northern Kenya. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) began providing primary health care in February 2009 at a clinic in the Dagahaley camp, which houses an estimated 91,000 refugees, including nearly 60,000 people who sought safety from the war in Somalia in 2008 alone. More than 5,000 people continue to arrive each month. In April 2009, MSF conducted health and nutrition surveys in two sectors of Dagahaley camp, and found several worrying indicators.
Although mortality rates have not reached the emergency threshold, the situation for nutrition and for water and sanitation is alarming. Severe overcrowding and congestion due to the lack of land poses health risks, while newly arrived refugees are not properly registered and have little access to food, shelter, health care services, and basic non-food items. Some refugees have become so distraught with the conditions that they consider returning to Somalia rather than continuing to endure these harsh living conditions.
Although the camps have existed since 1992, the current situation is fast becoming a new crisis. At the same time, assistance has not kept pace with the growing needs. MSF will immediately deploy additional staff and resources to try to provide more health services, and would like to draw attention to the fact that a swift expansion and better coordination of humanitarian assistance for an exhausted, war-weary population can avoid an even larger emergency.
While MSF is stepping up its assistance for refugees, it also calls upon the Kenyan authorities, international donors, the UN, and other humanitarian agencies to strengthen their efforts and to ensure assistance and protection for the refugees in Dadaab meet international standards. Additionally, the UNHCR and Kenya must urgently find options to expand the camp and improve the screening process and registration of refugees in order to enable humanitarian organizations to improve living conditions in Dadaab.
Worrying Health and Nutrition Indicators
MSF is currently conducting 150 outpatient consultations per day, and providing ante-natal care, vaccination services, and nutrition support through mobile teams and at a fixed health structure for the 25,000 residents of blocks G and H of Dagahaley camp. MSF is treating 70 children for severe acute malnutrition on an outpatient basis and provides supplemental family food rations to an additional 1,100 children with moderate malnutrition. These numbers are expected to increase based on results from a nutrition survey carried out in April that revealed seven percent severe acute malnutrition (SAM) for children under five years of age, according to the new World Health Organization growth standards, and 22.3 percent global acute malnutrition (GAM). Such levels of malnutrition are rare in refugee camp settings where a population is thoroughly dependent on outside assistance.
At the same time, a scarcity of food stocks at the World Food Program warehouse led to a 30 percent cut in rations during the last general food distribution in April. The next scheduled general food distribution in July may see a further 50 percent reduction in rations—meaning less than 1,000 calories per person per day—unless immediate action is taken.
There is a hospital in each of the camps, but each is stretched too thin. The 90-bed structure in Dagahaley camp, for example, has only 10 beds available for the maternity ward, which expects to assist with 280 deliveries per month.
Immediate reinforcement of hospital services should be a priority. Additionally, According to MSF´s survey, only 50 percent of refugees have received bed nets to prevent malaria while measles vaccination coverage is at only 70 percent.
Inadequate Water and Sanitation Services
Water and sanitation services are scarce throughout the three camps, as well as in the strained host community. The situation is especially acute for the newest arrivals in Dagahaley camp who struggle to survive on as little as three liters of water per day. There are only four boreholes for 91,000 people and each of these is working 20 to 22 hours every day. This water scarcity has led to tensions and fighting among the refugees and the host community. Several studies over the years, however, have shown that the underground aquifer holds plenty of water, so immediately digging two new boreholes in the area for new arrivals and one for the host community should be a priority.
Sanitation and waste management is also worrying. The current network of latrines is hardly maintained and there are no latrines for the new arrivals. Based on population figures, the current number of latrines in Dagahaley camp is far below the internationally accepted and minimum standard of one latrine per 20 people.
Registration, Land Allocation, and Shelter
For security reasons and despite the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Somalia, Kenya officially closed its border with Somalia in January 2007 and forced the UNHCR to close the Liboi transit/reception center. Since then, it has been impossible for refugees to be registered or receive a proper medical screening and adequate assistance in the camps. The estimated 5,000 Somalis who attempt to reach Dadaab each month and benefit from prima facie status as refugees are exposed to extortion from human smugglers as they seek safety from war-torn Somalia.
Once in Dadaab, there is no guidance for new arrivals, no orientation or support to find land, no procedure in place for proper food distribution, medical screening or vaccination. Non-food items are scarce and new arrivals can wait more than six months for basic items such as plastic sheeting, jerry cans, blankets, and cooking sets. The only thing they receive is a food ration card after waiting for five days. For these reasons, a proper transit area is urgently needed.
There has been no more land for expansion since August 2008, so finding shelter is often left to the good will of refugees already living in the camp or the host community, exacerbating the severe overcrowding and congestion that already exists. Most new arrivals simply build makeshift shelters that are easily flooded or washed away by heavy rains, or they resort to living under trees or bushes where they are exposed to the elements.
Many problems are linked to the hypothetical fourth camp that has been under discussion between the UNHCR and Kenyan authorities for more than a year. Unfortunately, improvements in the current camps have been put on hold during these negotiations. With the border officially closed and no transition camp, packing more and more refugees into the existing camps is not tenable.
The Kenyan authorities and the UNHCR, with the support of the international donor community, must urgently explore options that respond to Kenya´s security concerns, while also preserving the integrity of one of the rare safe havens for Somalis and facilitating adequate assistance for these refugees.
Singapore's President S. R. Nathan said at the opening of Parliament that Singapore will have to refine some policies and come up with new strategies to meet the challenges of a redrawn global landscape after the economic storm has cleared. As point No. 25 of 36 in his opening address titled "Building Our Future - Singapore in an Uncertain World" he stated:. "Our diplomacy must adjust to these new realities. Small as we are, we must participate actively at international forums like the UN and IMF, among others, and do our modest part in international efforts to further the common interests of nations, for example by participating in UN anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia. We must work with our partners in ASEAN, APEC and other regional forums, to foster regional cooperation and economic integration. Thus we help to keep our region peaceful, safeguard our interests, and make friends around the world".
Ethiopia rejected on Monday a U.S. government human rights report published in February that accused security forces in the Horn of Africa nation of politically motivated killings. The U.S. State Department 2008 human rights survey detailed cases of opposition members being killed and said citizens' political rights were restricted through bureaucratic obstacles, intimidation and arrests by the government and ruling party.
"The State Department report is based on hearsay and lies", Bereket Simon, the Ethiopian government's head of information told reporters. "We fully reject it". Bereket said the report was based on claims from opposition parties and charities and that the Ethiopian government had not been consulted before its publication. "We talked to Ethiopian government officials and we stand by our report", U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, Donald Yamamoto, told Reuters on Monday.
Analysts say Ethiopia has been a key U.S. ally in its fight against terrorism. The Horn of Africa's biggest military power sent troops into neighboring Somalia to topple Islamists in late 2006. The Ethiopian troops withdrew earlier this year. "This doesn't reflect any bad relationship between us and the U.S." said Bereket. "We welcome accurate information about possible abuses in our country".
Opposition parties routinely accuse the government of harassment and say candidates were intimidated during local elections in April of last year. The government denies that. Ethiopia last month jailed 46 men it accused of planning to overthrow the government through a series of assassinations and bombings. International rights groups have called on Ethiopia to name the accused and say where they are being held, Reuters reports. Ethiopia will hold national elections in July 2010.
The Drone War
By Peter Bergen, Katherine Tiedemann, New America Foundation
The drone war against Al Qaeda's leaders--and, increasingly, their Pakistani-based Taliban allies--has been waged with little public discussion or congressional investigation of its legality or efficacy, even though the offensive is essentially a program of assassination that kills not only militant leaders, but also civilians in a country that is, at least nominally, a close ally of the United States.
The drone war against Al Qaeda's leaders--and, increasingly, their Pakistani-based Taliban allies--has been waged with little public discussion or congressional investigation of its legality or efficacy, even though the offensive is essentially a program of assassination that kills not only militant leaders, but also civilians in a country that is, at least nominally, a close ally of the United States.
The Al Qaeda videotape shows a small white dog tied up inside a glass cage. A milky gas slowly filters in. An Arab man with an Egyptian accent says: "Start counting the time". Nervous, the dog starts barking and then moaning. After flailing about for some minutes, it succumbs to the poisonous gas and stops moving.
This experiment almost certainly occurred at the Derunta training camp near the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, conducted by an Egyptian with the nom de jihad of "Abu Khabab". In the late 1990s, under the direction of Al Qaeda's number two, Ayman Al Zawahiri, Abu Khabab set up the terrorist group's WMD research program, which was given the innocuous codename "Yogurt". Abu Khabab taught hundreds of militants how to deploy poisonous chemicals, such as ricin and cyanide gas. The Egyptian WMD expert also explored the possible uses of radioactive materials, writing in a 2001 memo to his superiors, "As you instructed us you will find attached a summary of the discharges from a traditional nuclear reactor, among which are radioactive elements that could be used for military operations". In the memo, Abu Khabab asked if it were possible to get more information about the matter "from our Pakistani friends who have great experience in this sphere". This was likely a reference to the retired Pakistani senior nuclear scientists who were meeting then with Osama bin Laden.
In the pandemonium following the fall of the Taliban in the winter of 2001, Abu Khabab disappeared into the badlands on the Afghan-Pakistani border. The United States put a $5 million bounty on his head and, in January 2006, attempted to kill him and Zawahiri while they were believed to be in the Pakistani hamlet of Damadola, targeting them with a missile launched by a drone aircraft.
Initial press reports said that Abu Khabab was killed in the strike, but, when the dust cleared, 25 civilians, including a half-dozen kids, were dead--and Abu Khabab was not among them. Unsurprisingly, the civilian death toll sparked protests in the region. In one, several thousand tribesmen chanted "Death to America", and the issue of innocents killed by U.S. rockets quickly became a potent Pakistani Taliban propaganda point. A couple of weeks after the botched missile strike, Zawahiri himself appeared in a videotape, saying that the Damadola strike was a "failure" and taunting President Bush as a "butcher".
More than two years later, on July 28, 2008, a U.S. drone finally killed Abu Khabab in the Pakistani tribal region of South Waziristan (along with two other militants and three boys who happened to be in the strike zone). The assassination of the WMD expert marked the beginning of a vastly ramped-up program to take out Al Qaeda's leaders using missiles launched by U.S. drones. President Obama has not only continued the drone program, he has ratcheted it up further. In 2007, there were three drone strikes in Pakistan; in 2008, there were 34; and, in the first months of 2009, the Obama administration has already authorized 16.
The drone war against Al Qaeda's leaders--and, increasingly, their Pakistani-based Taliban allies--has been waged with little public discussion or congressional investigation of its legality or efficacy, even though the offensive is essentially a program of assassination that kills not only militant leaders, but also civilians in a country that is, at least nominally, a close ally of the United States. Nor has there been a substantive debate about whether the gains of winnowing the ranks of Al Qaeda's leadership outweigh the fact that the inevitable civilian casualties are a superb recruiting tool for the Pakistani Taliban. Indeed, the drone strikes have pushed militants deeper into Pakistan and given them an excuse to strike the heartland of the country, further destabilizing the already rickety government in Islamabad. All of which raises the question of whether the drone campaign, however useful in the short term, might fatally undermine U.S. efforts to stabilize the region and to win the long-term war against Al Qaeda and its allies.
Officially, the United States does not assassinate people. In the aftermath of the Church Committee investigations--which uncovered eight plots to kill Fidel Castro--Presidents Ford and Carter both signed executive orders banning assassinations. In practice, however, presidents have signed off on missions to kill political leaders who have ordered attacks on Americans. Ronald Reagan authorized air strikes on one of Muammar Qaddafi's residences in 1986, after Libyan agents bombed a German bar frequented by U.S. military personnel. And President Clinton ordered a cruise missile attack on an Al Qaeda camp after learning that the terrorist network was responsible for the 1998 bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Legally, successive administrations have justified these exceptions by arguing that the assassination ban does not apply to enemy commanders. Under this interpretation, Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders are fair game. President Bush authorized several targeted killings in the first years after the September 11 attacks. In November 2001, a drone strike near Kabul killed Mohammed Atef, Al Qaeda's military commander. Atef, whose daughter married one of Osama bin Laden's sons, was a close confidante of the Al Qaeda leader. A year later, one of the suspected planners of the 2000 attack on the USS Cole, Abu Ali Al Harethi, was killed by a drone in Yemen--the first such strike outside of Afghanistan. Also killed in the attack was Kamal Derwish, an American in cahoots with Al Qaeda and the first U.S. citizen to die in a CIA drone strike.
The relatively slow pace of drone attacks against Al Qaeda's leaders quickened dramatically in the waning months of the Bush administration after it had become clear that the terror group was reconstituting itself in Pakistan's tribal regions. In July 2007, the 16 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community released a National Intelligence Estimate assessing that Al Qaeda was resurging and warning that it "has protected or regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack capability, including a safe haven in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)".
What particularly alarmed Bush administration officials was the mounting evidence that Al Qaeda and affiliated groups were using the FATA to train Westerners for attacks on American and European targets. For instance, the masterminds of the July 7, 2005, attacks in London, which killed 52 people, had trained in the tribal regions. So too had the leaders of the summer 2006 plot to use liquid explosives to bring down seven Canadian and U.S. passenger jets leaving Heathrow. Two Germans and one Turk who were planning to bomb the U.S. Air Force base in Ramstein, Germany in 2007 had trained with an Al Qaeda affiliate in the tribal areas. And, during this period, both bin Laden and Zawahiri, who are generally presumed to be living in or around the FATA, continued to release a stream of audio- and videotapes demonstrating that the Al Qaeda leadership was very much intact.
At the same time, despite "peace agreements" that the Pakistani government had negotiated with the Taliban in 2005 and 2006, the number of attacks into Afghanistan by militants crossing the border was increasing exponentially. And the violence from the FATA-based groups began blowing back into Pakistan itself. More Pakistani citizens died in militant violence in 2007 than had died in the six previous years combined.
By early 2008, the Bush administration had tired of the Pakistani government's unwillingness or inability to take out the militants in the FATA, and in July the president authorized Special Operations forces to carry out ground assaults in the tribal regions without the prior permission of the Pakistani government. On September 3, 2008, a team of Navy SEALS based in Afghanistan crossed the Pakistani border into South Waziristan to attack a compound housing militants. Twenty of the occupants were killed, most of them women and children. The Pakistani press picked up on the attack, and the assault sparked vehement objections from Pakistani officials, who protested that it violated their national sovereignty. Army chief of staff Afshaq Parvez Kayani bluntly said that Pakistan's "territorial integrity ... will be defended at all costs", suggesting that any future insertion of American soldiers into Pakistan would be met by force.
In the face of the intense Pakistani opposition to American boots on the ground, the Bush administration chose to rely on drones to target suspected militants. Bush ordered the CIA to expand its attacks with Predator and Reaper drones, and, according to a former Bush administration official familiar with the program, the U.S. government stopped notifying Pakistani officials when strikes were imminent or obtaining their "concurrence" for the attacks. As a result, the time that it took for a target to be identified and engaged dropped from many hours to 45 minutes.
The Predators and Reapers are operated by a squadron of pilots stationed in Nevada and are equipped to drop Hellfire missiles and JDAM bombs, respectively. More than two-dozen feet in length, the drones linger over the tribal areas looking for targets. Between July 2008 and the time he left office, President Bush authorized 30 Predator and Reaper strikes on Pakistani territory, compared to the six strikes that the CIA had launched during the first half of the year, a fivefold increase.
The Taliban consistently have claimed that those killed in the attacks are civilians, while U.S. and Pakistani officials generally say that they are militants. The truth is, of course, a mix of both, but it's impossible to give an accurate breakdown of the death toll because the militants live among the civilian population and don't wear uniforms. Based on our analysis of reliable accounts in the Pakistani and U.S. press, the drone attacks have killed around 600 militants and civilians since 2006, two-thirds of them in the past two years. This figure is roughly the same as the number that Amir Mir, a well-regarded Pakistani terrorism expert, arrived at for the same time period. Mir puts the total number of deaths caused by drone attacks during the past three-and-half years at 700, although he asserts that the vast majority of casualties have been civilians, something that is, in fact, impossible to establish definitively.
It is possible to say with some certainty that since the summer of 2008 U.S. drones have killed dozens of lower-ranking militants and at least ten mid-and upper-level leaders within Al Qaeda or the Taliban. One of them was Abu Laith Al Libi, who orchestrated a 2007 suicide attack targeting Vice President Dick Cheney while he was visiting Bagram air base in Afghanistan. Al Libi was then described as the number-three man in the Al Qaeda hierarchy, perhaps the most dangerous job in the world, given that the half-dozen or so men who have occupied that position have ended up dead or in prison.
Other leading militants killed in the drone strikes include Abu Sulayman Al Jazairi, an Algerian jihadist; Abu Khabab, the WMD expert; Abdul Rehman, a Taliban commander in South Waziristan; Abu Haris, Al Qaeda's chief in Pakistan; Khalid Habib, Abu Zubair Al Masri, and Abdullah Azzam Al Saudi, all of whom were senior members of Al Qaeda; Abu Jihad Al Masri, Al Qaeda's propaganda chief; and Rashid Rauf, a British national who is a key suspect in the 2006 plot to bring down U.S. and Canadian airliners (though there is some debate about whether Rauf is actually dead).
One consistent target of the drone attacks has been the South Waziristan strongholds of Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban. American and Pakistani officials identify Mehsud as the mastermind of Benazir Bhutto's assassination in December 2007. So far, Mehsud has managed to evade death. None of the strikes has targeted bin Laden, who seems to have vanished like a wraith.
The pace of drone attacks increased further during the waning days of the Bush administration--likely a legacy-building effort to dismantle the entire Al Qaeda top leadership. Cheney seemed to acknowledge this in an interview with CNN eleven days before Obama took office, saying optimistically of efforts to kill bin Laden, "We've got a few days left yet". A week earlier, the Bush administration had received the welcome news that Osama Al Kini and his lieutenant, Sheik Ahmed Salim Swedan, had been killed by a Hellfire missile launched from a drone over Waziristan. Al Kini and Swedan played a central role in planning the 1998 bombings of the two American embassies in East Africa. In one of his many exit interviews, Bush told Larry King with a slight smirk that bin Laden would eventually be found "just like the people who allegedly were involved in the East African bombings. Couple of them were brought to justice recently".
Officials in both the Bush and Obama administrations have been leery of discussing the highly classified drone program on the record, but a window into their thinking was provided by the remarks of then-CIA director Michael Hayden on November 13, 2008, as the drone program was in full swing. "By making a safe haven feel less safe, we keep Al Qaeda guessing. We make them doubt their allies; question their methods, their plans, even their priorities", he explained. Hayden went on to say that the key outcome of the drone attacks was that "we force them to spend more time and resources on self-preservation, and that distracts them, at least partially and at least for a time, from laying the groundwork for the next attack".
This strategy seems to have worked, at least in terms of the ability of Al Qaeda and other FATA-based militant groups to plan or carry out attacks in the West. Since the summer of 2008, law-enforcement authorities have uncovered no serious plots against U.S. or European targets that have been traceable back to Pakistan's tribal regions.
Privately, American officials rave about the drone program. One former Bush administration official said that the drones had so crimped the militants' activities in FATA that they had begun discussing a move to Yemen or Somalia. Two officials familiar with the drone program point out that the number of "spies" Al Qaeda and the Taliban have killed has risen dramatically in the past year, suggesting that the militants are turning on themselves in an effort to root out the sources of the often pinpoint intelligence that has led to what those officials describe as the deaths of half of the top militant leaders in the FATA.
Daniel Byman, who runs the Security Studies program at Georgetown, has studied the effects that targeted assassinations have on terrorist groups. For years, the Israeli government has mounted assassinations against the leaders of groups like Hamas. Byman found that the dead leaders were replaced by more junior members of the group, "who are not as good; you drive down the age and experience of the leadership". A similar problem appears to be affecting Al Qaeda, according to Dennis Blair, the Director of National Intelligence. In February, he testified to Congress that "replacing the loss of key leaders, since 2008, in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas has proved difficult for Al Qaeda".
One way of measuring the pain that the drone program has inflicted on Al Qaeda is the number of audio-and videotapes that the terrorist group has released through its propaganda arm, As Sahab ("the clouds" in Arabic). Al Qaeda takes its propaganda operations seriously; bin Laden has observed that 90 percent of his battle is waged in the media, and Zawahiri has made similar comments. In 2007, As Sahab had a banner year, releasing almost 100 tapes. But the number of releases dropped by half in 2008, indicating that the group's leaders were more concerned with survival than public relations. However, since the beginning of 2009, Al Qaeda is on track to produce a record number of tapes, suggesting that its media arm has moved from the FATA deeper into Pakistan, likely to cities such as Peshawar.
Such a move would be something of a reverse migration. Between 2002 and 2004, Al Qaeda leaders generally preferred the perceived safety of Pakistan's teeming, anonymous cities. In fact, typical urban activities like making cell phone calls or dialing up Internet connections provided many important clues to the whereabouts of Al Qaeda operatives, according to Pakistani intelligence officials. As a result, in the first three years after September 11, key Al Qaeda operatives were captured in cities such as Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Gujrat, and Rawalpindi. Following those arrests, the Al Qaeda leadership largely migrated to the relative safe haven of FATA. Now that haven is safe no more.
While there is little doubt that the strikes have disrupted Al Qaeda's operations, the larger question is to what extent they may have increased the appeal of militant groups and undermined the fragile Pakistani state. Such an outcome would be ultimately a lot more worrisome than anything that could happen in Afghanistan, given that Pakistan has dozens of nuclear weapons and will soon be the fifth most populous country in the world. A militantly anti-American Pakistan would be a major strategic problem for the United States and the West in general.
There is little doubt that the drone program is deeply unpopular among Pakistanis, who see it as an infringement on their sovereignty and who are, in any case, generally anti-American. Today, the United States is viewed favorably by fewer than one in five Pakistanis, and a poll released last year found that 52 percent of respondents blamed the United States for the violence in their country, while only 8 percent blamed Al Qaeda. The militants have actually used the drone attacks as an excuse to strike the Punjabi heartland of the country. In taking credit for the March attack on a Lahore police academy that killed 18 people, Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, said it was "in retaliation for the continued drone strikes by the U.S. in collaboration with Pakistan on our people".
The one place the drone strikes do seem popular is in the FATA itself. The Aryana Institute for Regional Research and Advocacy, a Pakistani think tank that does work in the tribal regions, found that more than half the people it polled in the FATA say the drone strikes are accurate and are damaging the militant organizations. Fewer than half said that anti-American sentiment in the area had increased due to the drone attacks. This is perhaps less surprising than it might initially seem; if a bunch of heavily armed religious nutcases took over your neighborhood, you too might not mind if occasionally they were whacked by mysterious missiles falling from the sky, whatever their provenance.
Pakistani officials, however, conscious of how unpopular the drone attacks are among the general population, have been at pains to distance themselves from them. In New York last November, President Asif Ali Zardari protested, "It's undermining my sovereignty, and it's not helping win the war on the hearts and minds of people". And, in January, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told CNN that there was no agreement between his government and the Americans to allow the strikes. The next month, though, Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is privy to the most sensitive briefings as head of the intelligence committee, inadvertently let the inconvenient truth out of the bag when she said of the drones, "As I understand it, these are flown out of a Pakistani base".
For Pakistani politicians, the drone program is a dream come true. They get to posture to their constituents about the perfidious Americans even as they reap the benefits from the U.S. strikes. They are well-aware that neither the Pakistani Army's ineffective military operations nor the various peace agreements with the militants have done anything to halt the steady Talibanization of their country, while the U.S. drones are the one surefire way to put significant pressure on the leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. This is called getting to have your chapati and eat it too.
Just three days into his presidency, Obama authorized a near-simultaneous pair of drone strikes against targets in North and South Waziristan. Since he took office, there have been a total of 16 air strikes, or roughly one per week. Our analysis shows that these attacks have killed some 170 people, but only one has killed an important Al Qaeda or Taliban leader, presumably because many of them have decamped from the tribal areas. The ramped-up drone program seems to have hit the point of diminishing returns.
There has been some speculation in the press that the CIA might extend the drone attacks to other parts of Pakistan, in particular the southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan where the Afghan Taliban is headquartered, but this seems unlikely. The western tribal regions, which have lived under their own legal and social codes for centuries, have never fully been part of Pakistan proper. In fact, the Urdu word for the tribal regions is ilaqa ghair, or "foreign area". By contrast, Baluchistan is part and parcel of the Pakistani state. U.S. drone attacks there would almost certainly provoke the same fierce Pakistani pushback that the SEALS' ground incursion into the tribal regions did last year. Shuja Nawaz, the author of Crossed Swords, the authoritative history of the Pakistani military, says, "Any drone attack in provinces outside of the tribal regions would be disastrous, totally destroying the American relationship with the army".
There is widespread consensus among national security experts that the drone program is the least bad available option to pressure the Al Qaeda leadership and its Taliban allies. This is because the Pakistani government--divided between a barely functional civilian arm and a strong but unelected army--has wavered between ineffective punitive expeditions against the extremists and appeasement. Neither the military nor the political establishment has articulated an effective plan to rid the country of its jihadist militants. And so, for the moment, the drones are the only game in town.
But the drone program is a tactic, not a strategy. Bruce Hoffman, a professor at Georgetown widely regarded as the dean of terrorism studies, says, "We are deluding ourselves if we think in and of itself the drone program is going to be the answer", pointing out that the 2006 U.S. air strike which killed the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, did not exactly shut down the organization. Following Zarqawi's death, violence in Iraq actually accelerated.
And militant organizations like Al Qaeda are not like an organized crime family, which can be put out of business if most or all of the members of the family are captured or killed. Al Qaeda has sustained and can continue to sustain enormous blows that would put other organizations out of business because the members of the group firmly believe that they are doing God's work.
Effectively challenging the militants will require a sea change in the views of Pakistani citizens and their leaders, who have been conditioned by decades of war and tension with India to believe that the real danger lies to their east instead of their west. Fortunately, if there is a silver lining to the militant atrocities that have plagued Pakistan in the past year and a half, it may be that such a change has begun. The Taliban's assassination of Benazir Bhutto; Al Qaeda's bombing of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad; the attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore; the widely circulated video images of the Taliban flogging a 17-year-old girl; a cell phone video recording of militants executing a couple for supposed adultery--each of these has provoked real revulsion among the Pakistani public, which is, in the main, utterly opposed to the militants.
In fact, future historians may record the Taliban's decision to move from the Swat Valley into Buner District, only 60 miles from Islamabad, as the tipping point that finally galvanized the sclerotic Pakistani state to confront the fact that the jihadist monster it had spawned was now trying to swallow its creator. Indeed, lost in all the disturbing pictures of the Taliban advancing on Islamabad are three seismic shifts in the Pakistani political landscape whose importance is rarely discussed today in the U.S. press. First is the lawyers' movement, which lies outside of the control of Pakistan's traditional hidebound party system and was instrumental in pushing dictator General Pervez Musharraf out of power last year. Second is the explosion in independent Pakistani TV stations, which are largely pro-democratic and secular. Third, the alliance of pro-Taliban religious parties known as the MMA was trounced in the 2008 election, earning a miserable 2 percent of the vote, while support for suicide bombing among Pakistanis has plummeted from 33 percent in 2002 to 5 percent in 2008.
Although the political will necessary to wipe out the Taliban is beginning to emerge in both the public and the political establishment, the Pakistani army remains mired in conventional approaches to this unconventional conflict. The fact that hundreds of thousands of refugees have streamed out of Buner and Swat as the army engages the Taliban with artillery and air power indicates that the Pakistani military still lacks the capability and doctrine for successful counterinsurgency operations. Until that changes, U.S. drone operations will likely continue in Pakistan for the foreseeable future because building the capacity for robust counterinsurgency operations takes years, as the U.S. military found to its cost in Iraq. In the meantime, the civilized world can take solace in the fact that Abu Khabab and some of his peers are no longer with us.
"U.S.-American House approves $96.7 billion to fund wars"
by Mike Palecek
These people. These people have everything on their minds but public service.
My impression is they have power and the keeping of that power on their minds. We imagine that people who seek public office want to work for the social welfare and would naturally want to know the truth, but so often and for so many years we have been disappointed by putting our faith in our political leaders.
We have a semblance of representation, but not in reality.
Nobody asks you if you want to build more prisons. Nobody asks you if you want to bomb children in Iraq. Nobody asks you if you want your money to go to the poor, to schools, to roads.
Nobody ever asks.
So sometimes, sometimes you just have to tell them.
Every year we are asked to pay our taxes, send in our forms, pay for the bullets, the bombs that kill the children, the men and women.
We are given no choice.
Just as we were given no choice as children whether or not to rise before class and say the pledge of allegiance to America's wars.
We're not children any more.
Our acquiescence has real consequence.
We pay to have people killed so that America and America's businesses may expand influence and market area.
I don't want to believe that.
I want to rather believe in the America I believed in when I walked alone into Mrs. Steele's kindergarten class and saw written across the giant blackboard in gigantic white chalk letters: President John F. Kennedy.
But.
They killed Kennedy and America has never been the same since.
But the ideal remains.
The dream of a good and just America remains.
We may never get there, but we must try.
We must try.
Note:
Read also Howard Zinn on http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22639.htm
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Picture: Sheikh Sharif
From: http://www.allgedo.com/Galged/wm%20feb3096%20news.htm
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