The Week in Review
Middle East
During a meeting with journalists in the White House on August 4, President Barack Obama said he was leaving open a “pathway” to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue peacefully. He reiterated that the United States would accept a deal that allowed Tehran to pursue a civilian nuclear program, provided it gave assurance that it was not building a bomb through “confidence-building measures.” President Obama also proposed talks with Iran on Afghanistan, stating that Iran and the U.S. have a “mutual interest” in fighting the Taliban. Iran “should be a part of … and could be a constructive partner” in regional talks about stability in Afghanistan, he said. Obama’s statements came the day before the U.S. State Department released its annual report on global terrorism, which declared that Iran “remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism”—including the Taliban. The mass dumping on the Internet of 90,000 classified U.S. military documents last month also provided further evidence of extensive collusion between Iran, the Taliban and al Qaeda. America’s president, however, rejects the evidence exposing Iran as the nexus of Islamic terror and instead seeks to engage the Islamic theocracy as a “constructive partner.”
At the same time it is supporting the Taliban, Iran is also courting Afghanistan’s leader, President Hamid Karzai. On August 5, President Karzai met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, along with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, in Tehran. As Iran seeks to gain further leverage over U.S. interests in Afghanistan, its power in the broader Tehran-Washington relationship will grow.
On August 9, a senior aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran was ready to discuss its nuclear program with the U.S. “While we do not have any faith in the American government … Iran is ready for talks on its nuclear program,” Ali Akbar Velayati told reporters at a press conference in Damascus. He also said that he was confident the U.S. would depart the region soon. Watch for Tehran to continue to employ all the stalling tactics it can while continuing its nuclear program unabated.
In addition to causing a huge loss of life, homes and infrastructure, Pakistan’s floods are helping the Taliban make a comeback. Before the floods hit, the Pakistani government seemed to finally be making progress in the Swat Valley, which has been one of the areas most affected by the flooding. Army officials say that every bridge has been destroyed and that it will take months just to get the electricity back on. The Taliban is taking full advantage of the opportunity, aiming for the hearts and minds of the people. Islamist groups have been quick to respond, with a network of volunteers and donations from urban middle-class Pakistanis. “Given the circumstances, for [the government] to now act against groups who are seen to be doing a sterling job in terms of helping people will be absolutely suicidal,” said Pakistan expert at London’s Royal Institute of International Affairs, Farzana Shaikh. The government, on the other hand, is rapidly losing popularity.
Europe
The European Union is considering creating a new EU-wide tax, imposed on member states by Brussels. On August 9, EU Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski told the Financial Times Deutschland that he would unveil plans for the tax in September. “[T]he present structure of the revenue of the EU does not reflect the spirit of [EU] treaties,” said Lewandowski, adding that the current situation, where the EU is given most of its budget from member nations, “was not the intention of the founding fathers” of Europe. “If the EU had more of its own revenues, then transfers from national budgets could be reduced. I hear from several capitals, including important ones like Berlin, that they would like to reduce their contribution,” he said. The idea has already been smacked down by most of the important countries in Europe. However, according to Mary Ellen Synon of the Mail Online, these nations already gave Brussels the power to impose new taxes when they signed the Lisbon Treaty. Article 311 of the treaty states, “The Union shall provide itself with the means necessary to attain its objectives and carry through its policies.” This, according to Synon, means that it is allowed to raise its own taxes. Europe is on its way to becoming a unified superstate. The proposed European-wide taxes are just a step in this direction. These taxes may not come into force this time around. But as Europe bides its time, perhaps engineering a crisis or two to get its way, it will grow in its powers over European citizens. Direct taxation is certain to be one of these powers.
The newly appointed EU ambassador to the U.S., Joao Vale de Almeida, boasted of the powers he has in interviews with the U.S. press, August 10. “I do not wish or will impose myself on the member states’ ambassadors …. Where we have a common position, I am the one leading the show. Bilateral matters are the mandate of the 27 [EU member state] ambassadors,” he said. Henry Kissinger once asked who he would call to get a hold of Europe. “In this area code, you call me,” said de Almeida. “I’m the first new type of ambassador for the European Union anywhere in the world. Our delegations now cover a wide spectrum of issues well beyond the economic dimension, trade dimension and regulatory dimension, to cover all policies in the Union, including foreign policy and security policy.” In establishing EU embassies and ambassadors, the European Union is grabbing yet more power from member states.
Asia
Russia announced on Wednesday that it had deployed an S-300 advanced missile defense system in Georgia’s Moscow-backed rebel region of Abkhazia, saying it would provide anti-aircraft defense for Abkhazia and Georgia’s other Russia-supported breakaway enclave, South Ossetia. The move signals that Russian forces are bolstering involvement in the disputed area which was at the heart of the brief 2008 Russia-Georgia war, when Russia conquered Georgian forces after five days of battle and subsequently recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent. So far, only Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru have followed Moscow’s lead in recognizing the two regions as independent. On Thursday, Georgia said Russia had taken an “extremely dangerous provocative step” in deploying the missile system, and beseeched the international community to “take decisive measures to make Russia abandon its policy of military build-up on Georgia’s occupied territories and fully comply with its international commitments.” Stratfor notes that “Although the system’s official purpose is to provide air defenses for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the air defense battery’s range entails broader significance for Georgia and for Russia’s efforts to consolidate its military position in the Caucasus. … [T]his is one component of a multi-pronged Russian effort to consolidate its military control over the Caucasus.” When Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote, “Russia’s attack on Georgia … marks the beginning of a dangerous new era in history.” Moscow’s effort to shore up defenses in Georgia’s breakaway regions provides evidence that the dangers of the new era are intensifying.
Russia, China, India and Turkey have entered into trade deals that violate U.S.-led sanctions on Iran’s oil and gas sector. The sanctions were intended to rein in Iran’s nuclear program, which Washington believes is driven by Tehran’s desire to develop nuclear weaponry. Washington and the EU hoped to intensify UN sanctions against Tehran by adding their own restrictions on companies that supply fuel to Iran. Although Iran is the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter, it lacks refining capacity to meet its demands and imports up to 40 percent of its petroleum. Russian oil giant lukoil and China’s state-run company Zhuhai Zhenrong have resumed sales of gasoline to Iran, and India and Turkey are also rushing into the lucrative void left by Western nations that halted their gas supply to Iran. All four countries also have opened talks or signed deals regarding investments worth billions of dollars in Iran’s gas and oil fields. Ben Rhode, an analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that Russia, China, India and Turkey are “making it very clear they are not going to go along with the new American and European efforts to ratchet up pressure on Iran.” As the Eastern powers become stronger and more defiant, the rift between East and West will continue to broaden.
The U.S. should stay out of disputes between China and Southeast Asian nations over territories in the South China Sea, Filipino Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Monday. In recent months, China has become more aggressive in its claim on the entire 1.3 million square miles of the resource-rich South China Sea, which competes with claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Last month, the U.S. effectively rejected China’s claims to sovereignty over the entire sea, declaring that Washington would get more involved in the disputes to guarantee free trade and open navigation throughout the region. Many countries of Southeast Asia, led by Vietnam, made clear that they welcome such a U.S. role to counter China’s muscle. But the Philippines is not among them. In a stark deviation from historic allegiance, Manila said Washington should have no part in the territorial row. Emphasizing that negotiations should be conducted exclusively by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (asean) and China, Romulo said, “It’s asean and China. Can I make myself clear? It’s asean and China. Is that clear enough?” The new government of Benigno Aquino is striving to find a balance between appeasing China, the region’s mushrooming economic power, and simultaneously working with its time-tested ally the U.S.
Africa/Latin America
Zimbabwe began its first auction of diamonds from the Marange fields on August 11, after the diamonds were approved under the Kimberly Process. The Kimberly Process—which prevents the sale of conflict diamonds—suspended the sale of Zimbabwe’s Marange diamonds in November last year. In July, it ruled that the diamonds were conflict free and that Zimbabwe could export them. The diamonds from Marange could be worth up to $1.7 billion. On Wednesday, $72 million of these diamonds were up for sale. The Kimberly Process’s decision to approve the diamond sale was controversial, as there are still many accusations of violence, rape and slavery in and around the Marange field.
A car bomb outside a radio station in Bogota, Colombia, exploded, injuring nine people, on August 12. It was the first attack since Juan Manuel Santos took over the presidency on August 7. “This is a terrorist attack,” said Santos. “I believe this is a message, this is not gratuitous.” After former President Alvaro Uribe’s war on the farc terrorist group, the leftist militia is at its lowest ebb in decades. However, attacks like this show that Colombia is still vulnerable.
Anglo-America
The Associated Press reported Thursday that the $700 billion bailout program launched by the federal government benefited other countries more than those countries’ rescue packages benefited the United States. Billions of dollars in taxpayer funds ultimately deposited themselves in big French and German banks, a Congress watchdog report said. The report alleges that the government did not gather any data about where the money would go.
Jobless claims rose more than expected last week, a sign of more firings and a slower economy, Bloomberg reported. Initial jobless claims rose by 2,000 to a total of 484,000, the highest level in six months. Reacting to the news, investors grew gun-shy and U.S. stock prices fell for the third straight day.
The AP also reported on Thursday that the Federal Aviation Administration (faa) is vulnerable to cyberattack. According to the Department of Transportation inspector general, the faa’s measures to upgrade its computer systems have been only partially successful. While some air traffic control facilities have been retrofitted with better networks, the majority have not, the inspector general said. Some air traffic control support systems have been breached in the past. The Trumpet has often warned of America’s strategically vulnerable overreliance on technology as being its Achilles heel.
The Guardian reports that health workers accidentally killed three people in England and Wales in less than a year using strong painkillers. The wrong doses also caused severe harm to two other patients, and were some of more than 1,300 mistakes using pain drugs.
