Washington’s Muddled Message in the South China Sea

The Obama administration deployed a destroyer to the South China Sea to send a signal to Beijing. But what signal did it send?

BY KEITH JOHNSON, DAN DE LUCE-NOVEMBER 5, 2015

After months of internal debate, the Obama administration last week finally decided to dispatch a warship to challenge China’s far-reaching territorial claims in the South China Sea. But in the days since, U.S. officials have offered conflicting accounts of the operation, potentially undermining the whole point of the symbolic mission and raising doubts about whether Washington is ready to test Beijing’s claims at all.

Washington’s Muddled Message in the South China Sea by Thavam Ratna

A VILE CRIME…BUT PRODUCTIVE

by Eric Margolis-7 November 2015

Whoever bombed the Russian airliner that was destroyed over Sinai last week must be having a hearty laugh watching the ensuing chaotic reaction of the great powers.

As of this writing, it increasingly appears that the Russian Metroliner A321-200 Airbus was indeed downed by an explosion. Curiously, no traces of explosive residues have yet been found –or at least yet reported. There remains the much smaller probability that the aircraft’s tail may have fallen off as the result of metal fatigue caused by a ground collision over a decade ago.

Egypt, whose vital tourist industry has been battered this year after bloody repression of opponents of its brutal military dictatorship, refuses to admit a bomb was involved. The crash was due to poor maintenance, claims Cairo.

Sharm el-Sheik, the Metroloiner’s departure point, is Egypt’s primary resort for low-budget travellers. An estimated 20,000 Britons and 40,000 Russians were at the isolated resort or in Cairo. Even so, Egypt’s once thriving tourist industry is down by over 50%.

Briton’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, urgently ordered all of his nation’s tourists at Sharm el-Sheik home. But the cheap charter flights to evacuate them were denied landing rights by Egypt which was eager to downplay the crisis. This mess will eventually be sorted out but the damage to Egypt’s tourist industry was done.

After refusing to admit that a bomb had downed the Russian A321, and rebuking US President Barack Obama for suggesting sabotage was involved, Russia’s president, Vlad Putin, caved in and ordered the 20,000 Russians in Egypt home. A huge airlift operation is under way – though the travellers will have to leave their luggage behind for ‘later shipment’ – ie kiss your bags goodbye.

Egypt’s dictator al-Sisi is furious at both Britain and Russia. Western media is filled with stories about Egypt’s loosey-goosey airport security. Some years ago, when my luggage didn’t show up at Cairo, I went out on the tarmac, climbed into the baggage hold of the aircraft, and actually retrieved by bag, which had been forgotten in the dark interior.

Actually Egypt is one of the world’s harshest police states with a huge army, police force and secret police, the dreaded ‘mukhabarat.’ Whipping with electrical cables and anal rape are two of its favorite techniques.

It would be hard for Cairo to further increase security.
The most likely scenario at Sharm el-Sheik was the bomb was secreted aboard the aircraft by a baggage handler or catering staff member. Sinai is in armed rebellion against the Cairo military regime, with attacks and bombings occurring almost daily. Many inhabitants of Sinai look to the local branch of Islamic State as a legitimate liberation movement against Egypt’s US and Saudi-backed military junta which has lately been also getting very chummy with Moscow.

What better way to poke the eye of Cairo, Washington, and Moscow than by downing a Russian airliner over Egypt. A terrible, despicable crime, to be certain, but effective.

Russia’s air offensive against rag-tag Islamic State forces in northern Syria is intensifying. Russian, American, French and British bombs are killing Syrian civilians, so why not give the unbelievers a taste of their own medicine?

This presents a 64,000 ruble dilemma to President Putin. He came to power by promising to “kill the Chechen terrorists in their sh*t houses.” He is the consummate no-nonsense strong man. Putin may be forced to take harder measures against IS: more bombing or shelling of its main base, Raqaa; use of Russia Spetsnaz special forces directly against IS, or even dispatch of main force army units to Syria.

Putin has made clear he does not want a wider conflict in Syria and is only trying to add punch to President Bashar Assad’s beleaguered army. But ‘mission creep’ lurks in all wars, particularly Syria where US special forces are already involved.

Let’s hope Putin’s famously steely nerves restrain larger involvement. Meanwhile, the criminals of IS must be laughing and back-slapping over just how much they have sown discord in the ranks of their infidel foes.
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copyright Eric S. Margolis 2015

Putin suspends Russian flights to Egypt

Moscow suspending passenger flights to Egypt after the Sinai air crash, just a day after suggesting Britain had acted prematurely by grounding jets.

FRIDAY 06 NOVEMBER 2015

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to the move after the head of Russia's FSB security service said flights should stop until the cause of Saturday's crash is known.

Alexander Bortnikov said: "Until we know the real reasons for what happened, I consider it expedient to stop Russian flights to Egypt. Above all, this concerns tourist routes."

Putin Suspends Russian Flights to Egypt by Thavam Ratna

PM Modi suffers defeat in Bihar election

Nitish Kumar (L), a leader of Janata Dal (United) and Chief Minister of Bihar, and Lalu Prasad Yadav, chief of Rashtriya Janata Dal, gesture after addressing a news conference in Patna, November 8, 2015.

Nitish Kumar (L), a leader of Janata Dal (United) and Chief Minister of Bihar, and Lalu Prasad Yadav, chief of Rashtriya Janata Dal, gesture after addressing a news conference in Patna, November 8, 2015.

BY ANDREW MACASKILL AND RUPAM JAIN NAIR-Sun Nov 8, 2015

Prime Minister Narendra Modi suffered a heavy defeat on Sunday in an election in Bihar, India's third most-populous state, signalling the waning power of a leader who until recently had an unrivalled reputation as a vote winner.

Modi's second straight regional election setback will galvanise opposition parties, embolden rivals in his own party and diminish his standing with foreign leaders amid concern he may not win a second term as prime minister.

"This is a clear indication that Modi's popularity may now have peaked," said Satish Misra, a political analyst at the Observer Research Foundation.

The loss in Bihar will also hamper Modi's push to pass economic reforms, because he needs to win most state elections in the next three years to gain full control of parliament.

Investors are already fretting over the speed of change in Modi's India, and worries over an additional stumbling block will likely knock financial markets on Monday.

In the most significant vote since he won power 18 months ago, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost in Bihar after running a campaign that sought to polarise voters along caste and religious lines.

It was the most expensive state election ever fought by the BJP, with more than 90 top party figures addressing 600 rallies over the last six weeks, party officials said.

"The Bihar election was a very important battle for us. We will have to analyse each and every aspect of the result," said Ram Madhav, a BJP general secretary.

"There are lessons to be learned."

An anti-Modi alliance led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was ahead in 179 seats in the 243-seat regional assembly, an overwhelming majority, tallies compiled by the election commission showed.

Modi tweeted that he had called to congratulate Kumar, whose regional "grand alliance" could now become a template for politicians seeking to prevent Modi's march towards untrammelled power under India's federal system.

The defeat could also dampen the mood as Modi heads to Britain for the first bilateral visit by an Indian leader since 2006. Modi is due to address a crowd next week at London's Wembley stadium.

GOVERN, DON'T CAMPAIGN

Modi's BJP-led alliance was ahead in 58 seats where trends were clear.

Some regional party leaders expressed bitterness over a campaign that thrust Modi into the spotlight - he addressed more than 30 rallies - turning the election into a referendum on his personal leadership.

Analysts said a prime minister has never before invested so much time in a state election.

"The role of the prime minister is to govern the country, and not become the lead campaigner in a state election," one senior BJP state leader said, asking not to be named.

Modi's campaign started with a message of economic development, then, as the race began to tighten, his party shifted to appealing to caste and religious alliances.

The slaughter of cows, an animal revered by the majority Hindu population, became a major topic. Members of Modi's party also expressed concern about the rising Muslim population.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, a leader of the opposition Congress party, said the BJP must end campaigning on issues that fracture the country along religious lines.

"This is a decisive mandate against divisiveness in favour of development," he said.

Bihar is one of its biggest electoral prizes and the most pressing challenges of India prevail there, including widespread poverty, corruption and poor infrastructure. If independent, its 104 million people would be the world's 13th-largest nation, more populous than Germany.

The loss will make it harder for Modi to secure backing for reforms in parliament's upper house where his party is in a minority and seat allocations are dependent on parties' strength in the states. His government has struggled to pass laws, including the biggest overhaul of taxes since independence.

"It raises the likelihood that the opposition will use this mandate to block important bills," said Milan Vaishnav of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

This may have been Modi's last chance to win a state election before the spring of 2017. He faces five elections next year in regions where his party has failed to make inroads.

(Additional reporting by Manoj Chaurasia in Patna; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Janet Lawrence)

Aung San Suu Kyi casts vote in Myanmar's first free election for 25 years

Opposition leader and one-time political prisoner battles media scrum to reach the polling station in capital Yangon
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar opposition politician, casts her vote during the first free and fair election for decades on Sunday. Photograph: Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images

People line up to vote in a mixed Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu neighbourhood in Mandalay on Sunday. Photograph: Olivia Harris/Reuters

Oliver Holmes in Yangon-Sunday 8 November 2015

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar opposition leader, and millions of Burmese have cast their votes in what is being touted as the country’s first free election in 25 years.

The Nobel peace prize-winner’s car inched through battling news photographers outside a school building in Yangon, the city formerly named Rangoon, and her bodyguards parted the crowds to allow her to vote.

Aung San Suu Kyi Casts Vote in Myanmar's First Free Election for 25 Years by Thavam Ratna

Even the military may not be enough to protect an endangered Amazon tribe

Syroly Awá bathes with her son, Wy, in Juriti, Maranhão, Brazil on July 31. The Awá are considered among the most endangered tribes in the world. (Bonnie Jo Mount/Washington Post)

The shell of church is among the remains of Cabeca Fria, a village that was illegally constructed in the Awá Indigenous Reserve, on Aug. 2. (Bonnie Jo Mount/Washington Post)

By Dom Phillips-November 8 at 1:00 AM

AWÁ INDIGENOUS LAND, Brazil — In January 2014, the Brazilian government sent the army into this corner of the Amazon, deploying soldiers backed by bulldozers and helicopters to clear out hundreds of families living illegally on a reserve for indigenous people.
The Awá tribe lives on the eastern fringe of Brazil's Amazon rain forest. It is estimated that the population of the Awá totals just 450 people. (Dom Phillips, Bonnie Jo Mount, Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

Even the Military May Not Be Enough to Protect an Endangered Amazon Tribe by Thavam Ratna

Trudeau, Ambrose united in 'disappointment' about Keystone XL

Sonja Puzic and Josh Dehaas- Friday, November 6, 2015 

A politically diverse group of Canadian leaders is expressing disappointment that U.S. President Barack Obama has rejected the Keystone XL pipeline.

Trudeau, Ambrose United in 'Disappointment' About Keystone XL by Thavam Ratna

Quebec Assisted-Dying Law Unlikely To Be Challenged By Liberal Government: Group

By Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press-11/05/2015

Canada's newly minted Liberal government is unlikely to challenge a Quebec law allowing terminally ill patients to end their life with a doctor's help months before the federal ban on medically assisted suicide is lifted, a national advocacy group said.

Quebec was the first province to pass right-to-die legislation last year, arguing it is an extension of end-of-life care and thus a health issue, which falls under provincial jurisdiction.

The law takes effect Dec. 10, while the Supreme Court of Canada ruling that struck down the federal ban on doctor-assisted suicide has been stayed until Feb. 6 of next year.

A palliative care centre in Sherbrooke, Que., announced Tuesday it would provide the service starting Feb. 1. La Maison Aube-Lumiere said it is the first palliative care facility to adopt such a policy.

Since medically assisted suicide remains illegal until the ban is overturned, Quebec will be operating in a legal grey zone, but it is unlikely doctors will face any repercussions, said Wanda Morris, CEO of Dying With Dignity Canada.

"While the Criminal Code is set by the federal government, the decision whether or not to prosecute rests with the provinces' attorneys general and so if an attorney general doesn't want to prosecute, they won't," she said.

"So Quebec, looking forward, is going to have health-care legislation and presumably their attorney general will be on side not to prosecute any doctors who would perform it.

"And we also have the fact that we have a (federal) government in power who has stated their support for assisted dying and they don't really have any tools...to force Quebec to comply, so there's really no repercussions Quebec would face if they proceeded."

Morris said Quebec's law goes beyond the scope of the Supreme Court decision, in that it requires publicly funded health-care facilities to provide assisted suicide and states that patients must be given information about it and a referral.

Neither Ottawa nor the remaining provinces have regulated doctor-assisted death yet, but a federally appointed panel is looking into legislative options to govern the practice.

As a private facility, La Maison Aube-Lumiere — which provides care to those with terminal cancer — is not required under the Quebec law to give its patients access to assisted death.

Though it initially decided not to provide the service, the centre had a change of heart once the parameters of the law were made clear, its director said.

"Our mission...is to accompany a person at the end of their life, while respecting their choices, so that they have the easiest end possible," Marie Bercotte said, adding a palliative care centre is the best place to do that.

"It's an exceptional measure. In a palliative care centre, our doctors are end-of-life specialists and it's very very rare that they aren't able to alleviate suffering. When you alleviate a person's suffering, they don't want to die, they want to live for whatever time they have left."

Provincial rules state that eligible patients who have gone through the process receive a lethal injection of three medications, Bercotte said.

Very few people will be eligible for the service and Bercotte predicts the centre will only see two or three cases a year. People from outside the province cannot seek help in Quebec to end their own life, she said.

Should its doctors object on moral grounds, the centre will bring in a doctor from the nearby hospital, she said.

Government-run training sessions are being held at the end of the month and the centre is waiting until February to provide the service so that staff and volunteers have time to learn the new regulations, she said.

Patients seeking a doctor's help to die must be terminally ill and in an "advanced state of irreversible decline in capacities."

They must also demonstrate they are in constant physical and psychological pain which doctors could not treat with medications.

The attending physician would have to supervise the request, in conjunction with a hospital medical team, and patients could change their mind and withdraw or postpone the request at any time.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in February that Canadians with unbearable and irremediable suffering could be eligible to end their lives with a doctor's aid, but the justices stayed their decision until February 2016 to give Parliament time to replace the existing law if it so chooses.

Govt. has no intention of eradicating the roots of Tamil existence – Fr. Emmanuel

( November 8, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Following interview with Fr. SJ. Emmanuel, President of the Global Tamil Forum was originally published by the Suder Oli, a Colombo based newspaper published in Tamil language.

Q. Could you briefly tell us about your activism these days?

A. After my 80th Birthday in Jan 2014, I have retired from active church work in the diocese of Münster/Germany. I was by invitation a guest professor at the University of Muenster in 1983/4. Since 1997 in self/exile, I was Pastor in Horneburg for 10 years and then as assistant here in Darfeld for the last 8 years. 1999 I was again guest-Professor for one semester at the University of Frankfurt.

Govt. Has No Intention of Eradicating the Roots of Tamil Existence – Fr. Emmanuel by Thavam Ratna

JVP mulls no-confidence motion against Marapana

November 7, 2015

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) says that it is preparing to table a motion of no-confidence against Minister of Law and Order Tilak Marapana over the Avant-Garde issue.

“We are currently in the process of seeking legal advice on the matter,” JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake told reporters in Colombo. 

He claimed that the “good governance” group and the Rajapaksa group are both protecting the private security firm and that Avant-Garde has become the common candidate of both groups. 

The JVP National Organiser also said that Minister Marapana has obtained payments from the Avant-Garde company for legal advice and therefore he is bound by that. 

“The President must remove corrupt ministers in the government from their respective portfolios before the Budget,” he said, adding, that if said minister continue to remain when the budget is presented the JVP will seek a special vote on the  Law and Order Ministry’s expenditure and vote against it. 

UNF heavyweights want Marapana out

2015-11-07
Several UNF MPs, including Ministers, have reportedly called for the resignation of Law and Order Minister Tilak Marapana over his stance on the controversial Avant Garde floating armoury. 

Informed sources told Daily Mirror the MPs had made this call at the UNF group meeting at Temple Trees last morning, chaired by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

The MPs had reportedly been of the opinion that an improper investigation into the Avant Garde case would have an adverse effect on the government. The issue had come up when Minister Gamini Jayawickrama Perera had stressed the need for a proper investigation into the matter. 

Deputy Minister Ajith Perera had asked why the Avant Garde investigation was moving at a lethargic pace when other cases like Wele Suda's drug dealings were being expedited. He also proposed the setting up of a special judicial system to investigate serious crimes. Minister Champika Ranawaka had charged that some Ministers were defending perpetrators of large-scale corruption. Premier Wickremesinghe had then assured the group that he would discuss the matter with President Maithripala Sirisena. (Yohan Perera) 

Muslims – an invisible minority? 

By Izeth Hussain-November 6, 2015

In 1993 the University of Western Australia published a paper of mine in a collection of papers on Sri Lanka’s ethnic problem. My paper had the title - The Sri Lankan Muslims – the Problem of a Submerged Minority. I wrote of my notion of a submerged minority as follows: "Ethnic discourse is for the most part written by majorities and by rebellious minorities. The other minorities from whom nothing much is heard are supposed to be by and large content, without any serious grievances, which may be a seriously mistaken supposition. Actually they may be seething with grievances and have intense perceptions of discrimination, which however they may find difficult to articulate for various reasons, or they may find that their articulation is noticed only in a perfunctory manner and then summarily dismissed. The ethnic discourse of such minorities will for the most part be spoken, not written. They are in reality submerged minorities".

Further on I wrote: "Some observations of Edward Said about the strategies adopted by human groups in dealing with ‘the Other’ could be relevant to our understanding of submerged minorities. He observed that human societies, at least the more advanced cultures, "have rarely offered the individual anything but imperialism, racism, and ethnocentrism for dealing with ‘other’ cultures". Said quoted Orwell’s essay Marrakkesh on the relationship between the colonial masters and the natives. The colonialist failed to notice the grim poverty of the natives. Regarding them as not quite human, not much more than a kind of undifferentiated brown stuff, and "All colonial empires are in reality founded upon that fact. ‘ The natives, apart from the neo-colonial elite, were the submerged. The relationship between the majority and the submerged minority could sometimes, not always, and to some extent, be similar to the relationship between colonial master and native.

"The natives revolted against their masters, and so could the submerged minority. The recent history of Sri Lanka provides some examples, if we regard the underprivileged castes as submerged minorities, which in fact they were. It is known that in the Tamil militant groups the underprivileged castes have had an extraordinary salience, which is probably the outcome of the failure of the politics of elite level accommodation between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. A.J. Wilson wrote, ‘In fact, as stated earlier, the Vellala dominated Ceylon Tamil leadership thought in terms of a partnership between their Sinhalese Goigama counterparts to the exclusion of the powerful Sinhalese Karava caste as well as other influential caste groups among the Sinhalese.’ The Tamil rebellion might be explained in terms of the failure of cross-ethnic accommodation between dominant castes to satisfy the rising expectations of hitherto submerged castes. The Sinhalese JVP rebellion might also be explained in terms of the outburst of hitherto submerged castes, the underprivileged Wahampura, Batgam and others. The JVP rebellion failed,, but it is doubtful that the economy of the Ruhuna, which was the backbone of the JVP, will ever again be neglected.

"It is arguable that the Eastern Province Muslims have emerged unlike the other Muslims, not so much because of the vociferousness of the SLMC, but because of their clashes with the Tamils.. The inference might be made that a submerged minority can only emerge through violence. The alternative should be realistic enough on commonsense grounds, which is that the grievances of a submerged minority should be heard, considered, corrected, not dismissed.. "

The volume containing my paper among others had a Preface from which I quote: "Hussain examines the invidious position of submerged minorities in bi-ethnic societies. It is vital, as he cogently argues, not to ignore the aspirations of submerged minorities in the resolution of the conflict between the major parties. The paper draws attention to the relative deprivation of the Muslim community in various spheres of life which, if unattended, has the potentiality of becoming another fissiparous issue in troubled Sri Lankan politics. Hussain’s paper is illustrative of the importance of perceptions of discrimination in complicating ethnic issues, and he correctly signals the necessity for effective State apparatuses to guarantee fair and equal treatment for all Sri Lankans".

I must now make a clarification about the terminology I have been using. In 1993 I used the term "submerged minority’ about the Muslims, but sometime later I took to using the term "invisible minority" about them. I cannot recall my rationalization for the change at that time. It was probably partly the result of my reading Ralph Ellison’s famous novel in which he used the metaphor of invisibility about the blacks in the US, and the fact that the implications of Orwell’s essay had sunk in fully by that time. The term "submerged" can be used factually and neutrally without implying any value judgment, as when one says that a log is submerged in water. "Invisibility", on the other hand, can be made to carry a powerful emotional charge. The French masters in Orwell’s essay failed to notice the economic misery of the Moroccan natives because they did not want anything to disturb the complacent enjoyment of their power as the master race, and all imperialism is based on the same strategy. And so, I would argue, is the majority ethnic domination over the ethnic minorities.

I am now wondering whether invisibility might be more complex than was imagined by Orwell. True, the French masters did not want their complacent enjoyment of power to be disturbed by the economic misery of the natives, but the Moroccan elite of that time were complicit with that complacency because they did not make an issue of that misery. In Sri Lanka the Muslims have been an invisible minority .until very recently. That certainly suited the serene enjoyment of power by the ethnic majority. But that was made possible by the failure of the Muslim politicians to properly represent the Muslim people. However, the times they are a-changing. The Muslims are becoming visible and – unbelievable though it may seem – some Muslim politicians have been actually speaking up for the Muslim people.

(To be continued).

A quagmire that could have been avoided

The recent police-university students clash need not have happened. Perhaps there were deeper unseen motives behind the violence

2015-11-06

The recent student-police clash in Colombo raised many concerns and questions with regard to the nuances of good governance. The main accused party was the police that came under heavy criticism and condemnation from various quarters of society. But in overall context the government handled the issue well by swiftly responding in a professional manner. 

A Quagmire That Could Have Been Avoided by Thavam Ratna

An Appeal To Minister Champika Ranawaka

By Ratna Bala –November 7, 2015

Dr Ratna Bala

Honourable Minister Mr. Patali Champika Ranawaka,

Media have recently reported that you have had expressed significant objection for giving common presidential pardon to release all Tamil prisoners arrested under PTA. Hence I would like to make this appeal to reconsider your decision regarding these prisoners.

We are talking about prisoners who have been detained for many years without appropriate and timely legal proceedings for crime of innocence to involving in crimes under LTTE leaders orders. These prisoners for one reason or the other get caught in this ordeal have spend important part of their lives in jail. Their family members who have not committed any crimes have also suffered enormous hardship. They possibly have wasted significant amount of time, money and other resources to get their children released might have failed miserably in their life too.

With the end of war our people are struggling to come together in every way including in emotional and spiritual senses to forget the past and/or learn lessons and move on for a collective srilankan identity with consensus and cooperation while promoting and protecting valuable diversity. This can only be done by winning hearts and minds of people with greater mutual trust. Only very courageous initiatives with trust will take us in this new path.

You have placed yourself as the epitome of this difficult but desperately essential path. After winning the war our previous president took a wrong path which fail to make any dividends of peace to ordinary people. (I do appreciate him for releasing more than 10,000 taken into custody without undue delay after rehabilitation). By joining the new government you have selected to stay in the correct path to keep the country in the democratic world.

Now we need bold measures to move forward. Strategic interest of West/US, India, China and Russia in the region make our country more vulnerable to significant foreign manipulation. We can resist their self interest doing any harm only by all srilankan people remain united and determined to protect our country. I believe in your heart you have genuine interest in protecting our country and its people. You can play a leading role to unite the country with consensus and cooperation.Read More