Biggest budgetary allocation for Defence Ministry

2017-09-14

The Ministry of Defence will receive the biggest budgetary allocation amounting to a massive Rs.1,583,507,600 or Rs.158.83 billion in the 2018 Budget, which would be presented in Parliament by Finance and Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera on November 9.

This amount is in addition to the budgetary allocations for the three armed forces.

Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara said the Cabinet approved the 2018 Appropriation Bill submitted by Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Tuesday.

According to the Appropriation Bill, the President’s office has been allocated Rs.487,352,500 while the Prime Minister's office an allocation of Rs.177,268,000

Minister Jayasekara told the weekly Cabinet news briefing that the government's total expenditure for 2018 would be Rs. 3,982 billion and Rs.668 billion as the capital expenditure. The recurrent expenditure for 2018 stands at Rs.1,308.9 billion, the total income on foreign grants is estimated at Rs.2,175 billion while the loans to be obtained from foreign sources is estimated at Rs.1,813 billion.

The second reading of the 2018 Budget will be held on November 10,11,13,14 and 15 while the Committee stage debate will be from November 16 with the vote on the third reading of budget fixed for December 9.

“Based on the Medium Term Budgetary Framework 2018-2020 and the policy framework of the government, the General Treasury has conducted budget discussions with the line ministries and other spending agencies. Accordingly, budgetary provisions have been made taking into consideration of the total resource envelope available in 2018,” Minister Samaraweera told the Cabinet in his memo.

"The expenditure provisions covered in the Appropriation Bill have been estimated at Rs.1,977,264 million consisting of Rs.1,308,939 million for recurrent expenditure and Rs.668,324 million for capital expenditure. In addition, provisions have been made under special laws to service public debt and payment of Widows and Orphans Pension etc, amounting to Rs.2,005,103 million. The provision requirement for Advance Account Activities is Rs.6,000 million. Hence, the total expenditure provision for 2018 without budget proposals to be introduced at the Second Reading of the budget is estimated at Rs.3,982,367 million," he said.

Minister Mangala Samaraweera has told the Cabinet, the revenue at the prevailing rate structure and foreign grants was been estimated at Rs.2,175,000 million and therefore, the total borrowing requirement from both foreign and domestic sources will be Rs.1,813,367 million.

The Appropriation Bill has been drafted by the Legal Draftsman with the Attorney General expressing the opinion that the provisions of the draft Bill are not inconsistent with the Constitution and the draft Bill is not subject to any prohibition or restriction imposed by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and therefore the Bill may be enacted by Parliament. (Sandun A Jayasekera)

Sri Lanka’s Electronic National ID carries serious risks

By M. Ratnasabapathy-Thursday, 14 September 2017

 

According to a news report, the Department for Registration of Persons (DRP) is to issue a new ‘smart ID’ within the next two months. 

 

An examination of the available information reveals that this is an electronic ID that will replace the existing NIC. The system is modelled on Pakistan’s CNIC system that was introduced to combat terrorism and which has enabled mass surveillance in Pakistan.

 

The ENIC project is far broader than a simple digitisation of the existing National Identity Cards, it is a vast identity database system granting wide powers to the Commissioner-General, his officials and other authorities to collect and record any personal details at their discretion.

 

Sri Lankans are used to identity cards and may assume that this is a more sophisticated version of the card that they already carry. There are two important differences from the old card,

1. there is a lot more information being stored and most seriously,

2. the information is held in central registry or database.

As per the regulations gazette on 22 August, the following details are to be maintained in the National Registry of Persons:

1. Name

2. Place of birth (if foreign born, details captured separately)

3. Permanent residence

4. Place of temporary residence.

5.Telephone – residence 

and mobile

6. Email

7. Profession

8. Civil status (married, widowed, divorced including divorce case ID, unmarried)

9.Details of father: Full name, date of birth, NIC no.

10.Details of mother: Full name, date of birth, NIC no.

11.Details of guardian: Full name, date of birth, NIC no.

12. Details of spouse: Full name, date of birth, NIC no.

13. Details of siblings: Full name, date of birth, NIC no. and civil status

 

In addition to the above, as per section 18 of the regulations the heads of all public institutions are obliged to provide whatever information requested to the National Registry of Persons. This will enable databases within such institutions as the Inland Revenue, Land Registry, RMV, EPF/ETF, Stock Market, Registrar of companies, etc., to be linked to the National Registry of Persons providing a comprehensive database of citizens and their families.

 

Some of the data contained in the current paper ID also rests in various Government departments but they are held separately. No one department has a complete profile of a citizen. The registrar of births has details of births and the parents/grandparents. The land registry has details of property, the RMV has details of vehicle ownership and the Inland Revenue has details of income and tax. 

 

These records are maintained within various departments for administrative purposes only. They are never issued to outsiders except by court order. 

 

Any person trying to extract a profile of a person would need to be armed with multiple court orders and spend a lot of time going from department to department collecting data. It is a very time consuming and cumbersome exercise which cannot be undertaken lightly and is subject to many checks and balances. Apart from the requirement for court orders, internal administrative procedures within each department will need to be followed before information is issued. 

 

Now details are to be held in a central database that is freely and legally accessible to a wide variety of officials with no necessity of recourse to court orders. Being automated, anyone can easily build a full profile of a person and it is not difficult to imagine the extent to which this can be misused.

 

In order to deliver improved public services, for example to improve tax compliance, the databases of different public bodies (and even private bodies) would need to be linked. For example if the Government is to enable automated filling of tax returns, the Inland Revenue IT system would need to access a person’s bank details (for interest income), his employer’s salary details, the land registry, the RMV (for details of assets), etc.

 

Just think of how many transactions need an NIC. All of this could potentially be captured, stored and accessed. The information extracted could include:

 

1. Employment details

2. EPF and ETF details

3.Details of bank transactions, credit cards

4. Savings, fixed deposits, investments

5. Income tax file numbers

6. Details of businesses registered and directorships held

7. Share market trading accounts

8. Vehicles

9. Phone numbers

10. Houses, property owned

11Travel details, airline tickets and visits to hotels

12.Bio data could include email addresses, details of adopted children

 

The potential risks with this are vast. Quite apart from unauthorised access, the data is widely accessible: to any “public officer” or authority in the interests of national security or for the prevention or detection of a crime. The term “public officer” could include most categories of public servants.

 

The term “prevention or detection of a crime” is also extremely broad; no crime needs to be committed, a mere suspicion of any potential crime, however remote or improbably linked to a person is ground to access the data. 

 

Would it be necessary for a policeman investigating a traffic offense to have access to all this information? 

 

The bill pays little attention to the handling of this sensitive data, once legitimately accessed.

 

For example a policeman investigating a suspect may extract the records connected to a person and then save the data on an unsecured desktop PC or worse, leave the printouts on a desk. Even the most secure IT system is easily undone by simple carelessness by users. The risks multiply with the number of users and since the number envisaged is large citizens may face a nightmare scenario of seeing their complete biographies and family details being circulated.  

 

Is this too far-fetched? The experience of Pakistan and India suggests that it is not. 

 

Privacy International a UK-based charity that defends and promotes the right to privacy has reported that since at least 2014, databases of Pakistani citizens have been illegally sold online containing hundreds of thousands of records with names, national ID card numbers, home addresses and phone numbers of mobile phone users.

 

The tax-related data of members of parliament was leaked in 2012, although it is not clear how. The Federal Board of Revenue (of Pakistan) informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance that the tax-related data of the parliamentarians has not been leaked by the Board as the information was reportedly obtained from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). This illustrates the problem with linking of databases – leaks could occur anywhere in the chain. 

 

WikiLeaks has reported that the US and UK were given direct access to NADRA’s (Pakistan’s central registry) records, which enabled them to access the data of Pakistani citizens stored in its system.

 

A system of linked databases also enables surveillance-of suspects-or anyone an interested party wants to track. Pakistan’s police have embraced the digital ID and commissioned several software applications to monitor people.

 

A software called “Hotel Eye” has been developed to log the check-ins and checkouts of the guests at hotels, along with CNIC numbers and personal details of visitors. It helps to track activities of hotels and their guests. This was not originally envisaged when the digital ID was rolled out but was developed later on the initiative of the Panjab police. Sri Lanka’s are used to signing registers that hotels are supposed to maintain of guests, implementing “Hotel Eye” is only a logical extension of this. 

 

Predictive Crime Intelligence Software enables the police to obtain a full profile of any person. When a “CNIC is entered into the system, it brings out all the information about the person. His/her family tree, ATM card(s), credit card(s), hotel bookings (past six months), out of country visits, call detail issued….” 

 

Another initiative is geo-fencing which uses GPS or RFID technology to create a virtual geographic boundary, enabling software to trigger a response to the local police when a mobile device enters or leaves a particular area. 

While this will undoubtedly help with policing it may well be abused to track and target people, whether political opponents or purely for personal gain.

 

Although securely digitising the existing data on national identity system has the potential to create some benefits for society, the proposed scheme are neither safe nor appropriate. It should be subject to a thorough independent technical review and proper public consultation before implementation.  

 

The UK attempted to issue compulsory ID cards in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the US but after a prolonged debate it was determined that the risks associated with such a project were too serious and the scheme was scrapped. If it was deemed too risky in the UK, should Sri Lanka venture down this path?

SLFP faithfully follows what UNP did : purging party of scoundrels begins ! Out goes Arundhati Frenando!

(Lanka-e-News- 14.Sep.2017, 11.45)  The salutary steps that were  taken to expel ex minister turncoat, cutthroat ,corrupt Wijedasa Rajapakse  from his portfolios by the UNP is now being followed by the SLFP too to the great delight and relief of the masses ! The process of the party purging of undesirables and discarded crooks and corrupt  irrespective of their ranks and status which began with the UNP is now continued by the SLFP’s leader president Maithripala Sirisena Arundhika Fernando the deputy minister of tourism and Christian affairs also nicknamed ‘Ethanol Raja’ was expelled from his portfolio by the SLFP leader  on the 12 th.

By virtue of the powers vested in the president under section 46 (3a) of the constitution this expulsion took place with effect from  12th 

Since the period of Rajapakse regime , Aundhika , a most illiterate uncivilized uncouth  politico  had been engaging in illicit Ethanol business and is well noted as an ethanol tycoon. 

 ‘Arundhikas’ the cursed barbaric scoundrels who were eager to bury  Maithripala Sirisena 6 feet underground then  , at the time of forming the consensual government came forward to support it not with honest or  sincere motives. The hidden primary motive was to escape from the numerous criminal charges already against Arundhikas  , and to somehow surreptitiously promote and propel the corrupt discarded Rajapakses, who are a by now a byword for corruption and criminalities, to re- capture power.

Though it cannot be assumed that the president was in the dark about all these aims and ambitions , following the statement made recently in public by  Arundhika he would quit the government against the government , the president took this right step and decision , at least at the belated stage. It is hoped the president would take such bold and right measures to purge his party of all the rascals and undesirables too . By such moves and measures , the president’s image is only going to be boosted,  and not  dented.
 
When UNP Radical Tide met with president , the latter had  promised that the purge would begin after the SLFP convention , Lanka e news reported. 

If president Maithripala develops the guts on the same lines to chase out corrupt scoundrels like Arundhika not only from the portfolio but also from the M.P.  as well as organizer posts , that would be most conducive to restoration of  the image of the  party which was torn into shreds by the corrupt criminal Rajapakses . That  will also enable   president Maithripala to demonstrate even though it is a trifle too late that  the SLFP is now a reformed and progressive party . Without such determination and guts to cleanse the party he cannot expect any welcome from the pro good governance masses  and law abiding citizens . A case in point is presently discarded ex minister  Wijedasa Rajapakse ….

Wijedasa has told a friend of his with deep regret  , not even a member of  his Maharagama UNP Central committee took the trouble to give him a call  to express their sorrow after he was expelled from his  ministerial   portfolios . Unbelievably, not a lawyer , not a judge , not a robed monk (even those who profited from him) had even phoned  the erstwhile minister of justice  to inquire about his plight .

This is the stark unassailable truth of  politics in Sri Lanka (SL) . The corrupt are recognized because their leader shields and safeguards the corrupt  , not because the corrupt are popular and powerful. Even Mahinda Rajapakse if he is chased out from all his posts in the SLFP , it will be the same dismal and disastrous  fate he will have to face . However,  since he has misappropriated all the funds of the State without any qualms about the desperate plight of the country ,  and has been able to hide those massive  illicit earnings somewhere and  somehow, those with him ,as long as there is that   filthy lucre would scream and shout, but they  too would finally desert him. This is inevitable  like inescapable death  even if Mahinda (nomerena miniha) going by his behavior is harboring the notion he  is deathless.

One  may be  uncorrupt but what happened to  Somawansa Amarasinghe a supposedly uncorrupt  party  leader after he was out of the party is another  good illustration .

---------------------------
by     (2017-09-14 23:52:04)

Politics and public service

- Sep 14, 2017

As elections inch closer, the appointment of public employees has resulted in headlines. Recently a school in Kurunegala received a driver even though there was no vehicle for him to drive, and as the principal could not assign other duties the employee was lucky enough to get a free salary. Hilarity aside, such oversight undermines the entire service and wastes resources that could be better used in different sectors.

Sri Lanka’s state and state-owned enterprise workers, excluding the military, grew a whopping 30% to 1.1 million from 2006 to 2016, according to a survey by the Census and Statistics Department released earlier this year. The survey, which includes the Central Government, Provincial Government, statutory bodies and state enterprises, showed that not only is the public sector inflated, but it often made recruitments to areas of little use to the people.

The Census Department report said it did not include the three services but included workers in the Ministry of Defence. According to 2015 data released by the Finance Ministry, Sri Lanka had 272,000 in various branches of the military and 84,000 policemen. Assuming the numbers were broadly unchanged, Sri Lanka could have a total public sector burden of 1,474,000 state workers compared to 1,316,863 (Finance Ministry 2015) or 1,365,820 (Central Bank 2015), indicating that the issue has not abated under the present Government.

Finance Ministry data showed that 88,000 so-called ‘Development Officers’ had been recruited to the state service between 2005 and 2015 but only managed 11,000 medical officers, 33,000 nurses and 3,579 midwives.

Politically-driven recruitment is clearly a major problem within the public service and continues to be a fiscal liability, especially since each year around 30,000 workers become pensioners. According to Finance Ministry data, the number of pensioners grew from 430,153 in 2006 to 564,472 in 2015, increasing the burden on workers.

There are also questions about their qualifications as about 17.8% of state workers or 196,128 have not passed their Ordinary Level examination. Despite successive Governments recruiting enthusiastically, there are no scientific studies to evaluate the need for and productivity of these public servants.

Almost all Sri Lankan governments have tended to be proud to proclaim that they have increased public services and employment therein, despite the fact that this was contributing to a fundamentally-flawed fiscal framework, which is now becoming increasingly unaffordable.

Economists have argued that when successive governments were unwilling or unable to introduce economic reforms that would increase private sector job creation they found the public sector to be a convenient employment creation agency.

However, the macroeconomic instability arising from the current fiscal framework calls for a radical rethink of the traditional approach to the Government being the employer of first resort. No program of public service restructuring will be sustainable in this country unless it is supplemented by a package of other reforms that generates rapid expansion of private sector activity.

In a country with a limited population, freeing up public sector workers might be the best recruitment tool for the private sector. It is also one of the best ways to control public expenditure and shore up fiscal consolidation.
- http://www.ft.lk

Unpaid Care Work: The Overlooked Barrier in Women’s Economic Empowerment

Photograph via video produced by Institute of Development Studies

ANARKALEE PERERA on 09/15/2017

There is broad consensus that women’s empowerment underpins the success of the new 2030 Agenda for Development (also known as the Sustainable Development Goals). While gender equality itself constitutes one of the seventeen development goals (Goal 5), it is widely acknowledged that the empowerment of women and girls is an important prerequisite for the realisation of all other goals, including the reduction of poverty (Goal 1), inequality (Goal 10) and the promotion of inclusive and sustainable economic growth through decent work for all (Goal 8).

This new development agenda also has an important focus on unpaid care work. Accordingly, target 5.4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls upon nations to ‘recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure, and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family’

Unpaid care work – which refers to all unpaid services provided within a household for its members, including care of persons, domestic chores and voluntary community work – is an area that has long been neglected by economists. Traditionally, this work was considered to be ‘women’s work’, performed in the ‘private sphere’, for the benefit of ‘loved ones’. Because women take on unpaid care work in their capacity as mothers, grandmothers and wives, it is assumed that their labour is motivated by factors other than financial reward. Although this analysis holds true, it ignores a more pertinent point: traditional norms and customs assign care work to women irrespective of their willingness or ability to undertake unpaid care work. This is best evidenced by the fact that women who are engaged in paid employment still bear the responsibility for taking care of the household and the family.

The inclusion of unpaid care work as a target in the 2030 Development Agenda therefore marks an important watershed in the recognition and valuation of this type of work. It has shed light on the immense economic value of unpaid care work and, more significantly, prompted an important conversation on women’s contributions to the global economy.

Globally, women bear disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care work. This is largely because prevailing gender norms define domestic work as a female prerogative. Studies reveal that over 75% of the world’s total unpaid care work is done by women. In South Asia, and Middle East and North Africa (MENA), this share is much higher, with women undertaking nearly 80-90% of total care and domestic work in the economy. Time-use data from across the world support these findings: statistics from six different countries – with varying income levels and socio-economic structures — reveal that women everywhere devote 1 to 3 more hours each day to housework than men; 2 to 10 times the amount of time a day to care (for children, elderly, and the sick), and 1 to 4 hours less a day to market activities (Figure 1). Notwithstanding minor differences, it is clear that this trend holds true in almost every region of the world (Figure 2).

Figure 1: Time Variations in Unpaid Care Work and Market Activities, by Gender

Source: World Bank (2012)

Figure 2: Time Spent on Unpaid Care Work, by Gender and Region

Source: OECD (2014), Gender, Institutions and Development Database

The gendered distribution of unpaid care work has important implications for the well-being of individuals and households, as well as for economic development in a country. It has a direct effect on labour market outcomes, particularly with respect to women’s labour force participation, wage distribution, and job quality. It also has direct, negative impacts on the health and well-being of women. It is in light of this revelation that Diane Elson, professor of Economics at the University of Essex, developed the 3R Framework, which calls on countries to Recognise, Reduce and Redistribute unpaid care work in the economy. This framework has now been widely adopted by the international development community, including the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, as an effective strategy to empower women as economic actors. However, many countries continue to exclude unpaid care work from their policy agendas.

Why Should Sri Lanka Recognise, Reduce and Redistribute Unpaid Care Work?

Sri Lanka too remains blind to all but paid, visible forms of women’s economic contribution. This has led to significant gaps in economic policymaking and governance. Outlined below are the some of the reasons why Sri Lanka should address the unequal distribution of unpaid care and domestic work in the economy.

1. Increase female labour force participation: The gender gap in unpaid care work has significant implications for women’s ability to actively participate in the labour force. Unpaid care work shapes the duration, quality, and type of paid work that women can to undertake. For every hour that a woman spends on domestic chores, she foregoes the opportunity to engage in the labour market or to invest in educational activities. In many respects, unpaid care work is the missing link that influences gender gaps in labour outcomes. Therefore, in countries like Sri Lanka, where female labour force participation is low, redistribution of care work could help to increase women’s participation in the labour force.
2. Increase women’s financial independence and access to the social protection: The opportunity cost associated with unpaid care work is the foregone potential to earn an income, to save and to accumulate assets. Statistics reveal that in countries where women spend twice as much time as men on unpaid care work, they earn 65% of what their male counterparts earn for the same job. Furthermore, women who forgo gainful employment, or spend intermittent periods of time in the labour force, lose access to vital social protection (such as pensions) in the long-run. This, in turn, places women at a much higher risk of poverty at old age.
3. Increase returns on education and reduce wage-inequalities: The gendered nature of the relationship between unpaid care work and paid work has also led to higher wage differentials in the labour market. Studies reveal that the gender wage gap is much larger among parents than among men and women who have no children. In the United States, childless women (including married and unmarried) earn 93 cents on a childless man’s dollar. On the other hand, married mothers with at least one child under age 18 earn 76 cents on a married father’s dollar. In addition, research has shown that the burden of unpaid care work has also led to lower returns on education for women. In Sri Lanka, female graduates outnumber male graduates at the tertiary level, but constitute only 35.9% of the labour force. Thus, the re-distribution of care responsibilities and domestic chores could result in greater returns on education in the country.
4. Increase women’s quality of life: Unequal care responsibilities contribute to time-poverty, limited mobility, and poor well-being among women. A robust body of evidence reveals that care and domestic responsibilities render women ‘time-poor’. This is because responsibility for care work leaves only a few hours for engaging in leisure activities that improve health and well-being. This is particularly significant for women who are engaged in the labour market full-time. Despite the fact that women spend as much time as their male partners in paid work, they are required to fulfil domestic responsibilities. As a result, women ‘work’ much longer hours than men. In fact, a recent study estimated that women perform an average of four years’ more worth of work than men – or an extra month’s worth of work per year – in order to balance their commitments to both paid and unpaid care work. Addressing the gender division of unpaid care work is therefore vital to improving women’s quality of life and standard of living.

Conclusion and Recommendations

While anecdotal evidence may highlight the inherent gender disparities in unpaid care and domestic work in Sri Lanka, the country lacks comprehensive data to inform policymaking. At present, Sri Lanka does not conduct any nationally representative time-use surveys, which could effectively capture the distribution of care work between men and women in the country. Collection and dissemination of data is vital to informing policies that would reduce the burden of care work on women and redistribute domestic responsibilities among men and other institutional actors in the economy. Sri Lanka should further consider the need to improve policy readiness to achieve the SDGs. If the country hopes to stay on track, it must work immediately to address the issue of unpaid care work – a target that is indispensable to the attainment of Goal 5 of the SDGs.

US-born rabbi aids East Jerusalem eviction

Israeli settler leader Arieh King observes protests against an eviction he pushed for in occupied East Jerusalem; Ben Packer supported that eviction.
 Oren ZivActiveStills

Michael F. Brown- 14 September 2017

Ben Packer, a US-born rabbi, is helping to push Palestinians out of their homes.

Last week, the Shamasneh family was evicted from a house where family members had lived for more than 50 years in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.

Packer, who runs a hostel in Jerusalem’s Old City, swiftly welcomed the eviction. Writing on Facebook, he statedthat “our guys were there to help move out the Arabs’ stuff and are now helping to guard the property.”

Packer did not respond to a request asking what he meant by the phrase “our guys” and if staff or residents in his hostel – the Jerusalem Heritage House – had assisted the eviction.

Notorious political activist Arieh King – who sits on the Israeli-run Jerusalem City Council – was instrumentalin securing the eviction. King regards Palestinians as “squatters” in Jerusalem and, backed by US donors, has been trying to force their removal. The settlement activities which he undertakes are all illegal under international law.

Applauds ethnic cleansing

Ben Packer is an enthusiastic supporter of King’s work.

Another Facebook posting shows Packer applauding Israeli settlers as he marched with them through the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem in August. Among them is Arieh King.

Both Packer and King were celebrating the placing of a new Torah in a synagogue. The synagogue is located in a building that had been seized two years ago from a Palestinian family. Proponents of the seizure argue that Jews owned the property decades ago. Israeli law, however, prohibits Palestinians who similarly own properties in West Jerusalem and elsewhere from returning to them.

This instance of dispossessing Palestinians was by no means isolated. The day after Packer posted his videos, the Israeli authorities instructed several Palestinian families in the Silwan area to collect demolition orders on their homes.

Packer is an admirer of Donald Trump, another man keen to pursue ethnic cleansing. When Trump was elected US president last year, Packer argued that Israel should “fire up the bulldozers” and build more settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Packer has claimed to be a friend of Stephen Miller, now a senior policy adviser to Trump and an instigator of the attempt to stop people from six largely Muslim countries from entering the US. A decade ago, Packer took Miller on a guided tour of Jerusalem and Hebron.

The two men – Packer and Miller – appear to have similar political views.

Miller has a history of coded racism. Many comments he has made since taking up his current job can be considered as sympathetic to white supremacists.

Soft spot for KKK?

Packer’s response to last month’s violence in his home state of Virginia suggests he may have a soft spot for the Ku Klux Klan.

His first posting on Facebook after the clashes between white supremacists and anti-fascists in Charlottesvillewas to claim that “both sides there hate Jews.” That remark was made one day after Heather Heyer was killedwhen a car was driven into a protest against the far-right demonstration.
There is no evidence that Heyer hated Jews. On the contrary, there are numerous character references indicating she was a strong proponent of equal rights for all.

In subsequent postings, Packer gave succor to white supremacists in an apparent reference to neo-Nazis and the KKK.

“These people have no real record of terrorism or anything else,” he argued.

That profoundly ignorant remark was made during a Facebook discussion prompted by Packer’s sharing an article with a headline about how one Orthodox Jew in Israel was “standing with the KKK on Charlottesville.”

Falsehood

In a further falsehood about white supremacist protesters, Packer claimed, “There was no indication of violence by the protesters, only by the counter-protesters and that does not justify preventing their ‘rally.’”

He defended his views by noting, “I’m from the South, I think I know a thing or two.”
His high school civics classes in Virginia must have been woefully inadequate or non-existent.
Any adult who has lived in the South in the last 60 years is aware of the history of racial terror spread by the Klan.

Packer’s comments bear more than a passing resemblance to those of Yair Netanyahu. A son of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, Yair alleged that the anti-fascists in Charlottesville are worse than the neo-Nazis.

The prime minister’s son thinks campaigners against fascism and activists in the Black Lives Matter are getting stronger while the neo-Nazis are “dying out.” Unrebuked by his father, Yair was unable to distinguish between groups supporting equal rights and those who prefer states led by racist supremacists.

Yair has subsequently circulated a cartoon that recycles anti-Semitic tropes. The cartoon suggested that George Soros, a Jewish billionaire, was a puppet-master of Ehud Barak, a long-time rival to Benjamin Netanyahu – and, in effect, controls the world.

The few public figures who defended Yair over the cartoon included the former KKK leader David Duke and Ben Packer. Benjamin Netanyahu, ever-quick to assign anti-Semitic motivations to leftists for speaking on behalf of Palestinian rights, has remained silent on the matter.

It is disturbing that a rabbi would endorse an attempt to score political points by approving an age-old conspiracy theory about Jewish domination.

It is equally disturbing that Packer would indulge the extremists in Charlottesville who chanted “Jews will not replace us.”

Yet the depravity of the relationship between alt-right American racists and alt-right Israeli racists is becoming clearer in the Trump/Netanyahu era with supremacists such as Richard Spencer – a Duke University friend of Miller’s – referring to his pursuit of a “sort of white Zionism.”

In a recent article for the Israeli settler publication Arutz Sheva, Packer wrote about wishing to “send a message.” Opposition to settlement activities in East Jerusalem, he argued, should be “punished” by the building of more settlements.

What that means in practice is that Packer wants to uproot Palestinians and deny their basic rights. Is it any wonder that someone with such an extremist attitude would indulge the KKK?

Having urged supporters to help “work in the Yemenite Village (right outside the Old City),” Packer was recently asked by a Facebook correspondent: “How about you hit up the KKK? You seem to be buddies with them.”

In an unguarded moment, Packer responded: “They’d probably be more helpful than all the liberal losers out there. Let’s be honest.”

Of course, the saddest aspect of Packer’s comment is that both racists on the far right and many “liberals” – particularly in the US Congress – are doing their utmost to dispossess Palestinians.
Packer calls criticism directed at him “fake news” but he has yet to separate himself explicitly from both the racism and the anti-Semitism of the KKK. Like Trump, Packer often appears to be winking at the racist right in the US.

He claims, “Nobody that knows me at all would ever think I support Nazis or any other Jew haters.” That’s his strongest statement to date but it fails to address directly his position on the KKK and it underestimates the disturbing nature of his other posts downplaying the dangers of white supremacists.


Additional research by David Cronin

Suicide attacks on restaurants, checkpoint, kill 60 in southern Iraq

Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a bomb attack at a police checkpoint on a highway near the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya, Iraq, September 14, 2017. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani

Ahmed Rasheed, Aref Mohammed-SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Three suicide attacks claimed by Islamic State killed at least 60 people in southern Iraq on Thursday, a health official and police sources said, suggesting a shift in the ultra-hardline group’s tactics since it lost control of its stronghold in Mosul.

Iraqi and Kurdish security officials say the Sunni militants are likely to wage a guerrilla war in Iraq after their self-proclaimed caliphate in Mosul collapsed.

Islamic State is also under siege in the Syrian city of Raqqa, its operational base for attacks in the Middle East and the West.

Security officials described Thursday’s attacks as an attempt to send a message to Islamic State followers that the group is still strong and can operate in other parts of Iraq following its territorial losses.

“After losing the war in Iraq and the shrinking of its power, Daesh returned back to its old style of an insurgency, by carrying out suicide attacks, which is a clear sign that the terrorist group is retreating,” said police intelligence colonel Murtatha al-Yassiri.

IS activity is usually concentrated in western and northern Iraq. Bomb attacks in the mostly Shi‘ite south, where the bulk of the country’s oil is produced and security forces hold a tighter grip, have so far been relatively rare.

Like its predecessor in Iraq, al Qaeda, Islamic State seeks to create sectarian tensions as a way to destabilise the OPEC oil producer.

“We expect more alike terrorist operations in future. Daesh is trying to desperately pretend among followers that it’s still strong,” al-Yassiri said.

Iraqi people react at the site of a bomb attack in a restaurant in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya, Iraq, September 14, 2017. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani

Iraqi people react at the site of a bomb attack in a restaurant in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya, Iraq, September 14, 2017. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani

Daesh is an Arabic acronym for Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS.

Wearing security force uniforms and driving stolen army vehicles, the attackers targeted a police checkpoint and two restaurants on a highway near the city of Nassiriya, using car bombs and suicide vests, the sources said.

At least 100 people were injured, the police said in a statement.

Islamic State claimed responsibility in a statement on its Amaq news agency. The group said it had killed “dozens of Shi‘ites”.

The head of Nassiriya’s health directorate, Jassim al-Khalidi, said the city’s hospital had received 50 bodies and the death toll could rise because some of the wounded were in critical condition.

Hospital sources said at least 10 Iranian pilgrims, who were visiting holy Shi‘ite shrines, were among the dead.

The deadliest attack was at a restaurant west of Nassiriya. “One attacker blew up his suicide vest inside the crowded restaurant while a group of other gunmen started to throw grenades and fire at diners,” said police colonel Ali Abdul Hussain.

Police sources said some police officers had died in the checkpoint attack, but the toll from that incident remained unclear.

Security sources said forces were placed on alert in most of the southern provinces, including the oil city of Basra, in case of similar attacks.

Iran Nuclear Deal Critics Push Plan for ‘Global Economic Embargo’

Memo outlines a “21st century financial version of Kennedy’s Cuba quarantine.”

BY JANA WINTER, DAN DE LUCE-SEPTEMBER 14, 2017

Opponents of the Iran nuclear deal are pushing a proposal that calls for President Donald Trump to declare that Tehran has failed to comply with the agreement and to threaten an unprecedented economic embargo designed to rattle the regime.

The document, which has been circulating on Capitol Hill and in the White House, says the president should declare to Congress next month that the deal is no longer in the national security interest of the United States. Then the president would make clear his readiness to hit Iran with a “de-facto global economic embargo” if it failed to meet certain conditions over a 90-day period, including opening military sites to international inspectors.

“This would be a 21st century financial version of [John F.] Kennedy’s Cuba quarantine,” according to a copy of the proposal obtained by Foreign Policy. The embargo would involve reimposing sanctions lifted under the deal, as well as additional measures including restrictions on oil exports.
The unsigned memo was written by Richard Goldberg, a former Republican congressional aide who has long advocated tough action against Iran. The document has been shared with officials in the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers in Congress, sources familiar with the memo told FP.

“This is a hand grenade thrown into the middle of the Iran debate,” said a source who has discussed the proposal with congressional offices.

The leaked memo is the latest bid by critics of the nuclear deal to shape the White House debate on the issue after a number of Iran hawks were forced out of the White House, including chief strategist Steve Bannon and Derek Harvey, who served on the National Security Council. Another prominent neoconservative and opponent of the Iran deal, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, opted to publish his own policy memo last month after acknowledging that he no longer had access to the Oval Office.

The memo from Goldberg, who was a senior aide to former Republican Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, is designed to “help key policymakers in the administration think outside the box and spur more creative conversations,” said a second source familiar with the discussions behind the document.
Senior officials in the Trump administration, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis, have so far advised the president to stick to the nuclear deal, even though he repeatedly denounced it as a presidential candidate and vowed to tear it up.

The 2015 Iran nuclear accord, negotiated between Tehran and world powers including the United States, imposed restrictions and inspections on the country’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of an array of crippling economic sanctions. Under a congressional law separate from the deal, the president must certify to lawmakers every 90 days whether Iran is abiding by the deal and whether lifting sanctions remains in the country’s national security interest.

Trump has previously certified that Iran was in compliance with the accord, but he did so reluctantly, complaining to aides about the options presented to him. He has signaled that he might decertify Iran at the next deadline in mid-October.

Tillerson told reporters on Thursday that the Trump administration has yet to make a decision.
“President Trump has made it clear.… We must take into account the totality of Iranian threats, not just Iran’s nuclear capabilities — that is one piece of our posture towards Iran,” he said, speaking alongside British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson from London. “In our view, Iran is clearly in default of these expectations” of the nuclear deal, he added.

Trump faced another deadline on Thursday on the nuclear accord. The president decided to continue to waive a series of economic sanctions that were lifted under the deal. The State Department said the move would allow the United States to “maintain some flexibility.” 

But speaking to reporters Thursday aboard Air Force One, Trump once again slammed the nuclear agreement and hinted at a possible change in course next month.

“You’ll see what I’m going to be doing very shortly in October,” said Trump, en route to Washington after visiting storm-hit areas in Florida.

“The Iran deal is not a fair deal to this country. It’s a deal that should not have ever been made.… We are not going to stand what they are doing with our country. They’ve violated so many different elements and they’ve also violated the spirit of that deal.”

One source who has advised the White House on the issue told FP that the president’s staffers are struggling to “thread the needle” and provide him with options that allow him to put more pressure on Iran and break with the policies of the Barack Obama administration while avoiding a precipitous withdrawal from the nuclear deal. White House and Defense Department officials are deeply concerned about the potential risks of Iranian retaliation against thousands of U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Syria who are in close proximity to Tehran-backed militias.

With more hawkish voices no longer holding senior positions in the White House and the deadline fast approaching, opponents are vying for the president’s ear, promoting their stance in the public arena.

In a speech last month, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., made the case why the administration would be justified in decertifying Iran under U.S. legislation. Haley suggested that Congress could then debate whether to reimpose sanctions on Iran. But the memo leaked Thursday calls for going a step further — by threatening a large-scale economic embargo if Iran did not open access to more nuclear sites or step back from its pursuit of ballistic missile technology.

“The President is looking for a path to ‘decertification’ that can build consensus among his national security advisers, especially those who fear the question: what next?” the memo states. “Establishing a credible threat of a total U.S. financial embargo in-waiting would enhance U.S. diplomatic leverage to curb Iranian illicit behavior and allow for a period of further evaluation at the end of the next 90-day period.”

The memo also argues that the threat of a massive economic embargo would need to persuade Iran that it would not have enough time to “break out” and build a nuclear weapon in 12 months before sanctions strangled its economy and threatened the regime’s stability.

“Iran must believe that if the U.S. pursues an immediate global sanctions embargo, the timeline of regime instability and economic collapse could be faster than nuclear ‘breakout,’” it notes.
The proposal is designed to address a “range of concerns about decertification, including the big ‘What happens next?’ question,” said the source who had discussed the memo with congressional offices. “It’s a sign that the debate is moving from whether to decertify to how to decertify.”

Meanwhile, supporters of the deal, including former senior officials and diplomats in the Obama administration, are engaged in their own political lobbying effort. They argue that international inspectors have found Iran to be complying with the nuclear agreement, and that any attempt by the Trump administration to withdraw or undermine the deal through unilateral action would have disastrous consequences and possibly lead to a military confrontation.

Colin Kahl, who served as former Vice President Joe Biden’s national security advisor, told reporters in a teleconference on Wednesday that unilateral U.S. sanctions would be opposed by European allies and would not have the same impact as those introduced with international support before the 2015 deal.

China, India, and other countries could decide to buy oil despite U.S. warnings and sanctions, and Washington could find itself in a trade war with some of the world’s biggest economies, Kahl said.
“This is precisely a scenario that the hard-liners in Iran might love,” he said. “That is, using the fact that the U.S. is out of step with the rest of the international community to drive a wedge between us and Europe, between us and the Chinese and the Russians on this issue.”

FP‘s Robbie Gramer contributed to this article.

Turkey's Russian missile deal: Part politics, part need, part US apathy

As relations with the US and the EU sour, is Nato member Ankara turning away from the West and towards Moscow?

Putin, Erdogan and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, at the G20 summit in Germany in July (AFP)

Suraj Sharma-Thursday 14 September 2017

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Stuck between a distrustful and increasingly unhelpful ally and a former foe and rival seeking to disrupt existing alliances in any way it can, Turkey has jumped at the latest carrot Moscow has offered.

The carrot came in the shape of Russia’s most sophisticated missile defence system: The S-400.

Turkey’s announcement and Moscow’s confirmation that the deal to purchase the S-400 system was making progress represents a rare recent victory for Turkish policymakers.  

The deal can mean whatever the vested parties want it to mean.

Read more ►

The Putinisation of Erdogan

It satisfies those who view it as a bargaining tool being used by Ankara to extract concessions from Washington. It satisfies those who see it as Ankara stepping up to address its own security needs without being hostage to the US government.

And it could potentially provide the nudge for the US Congress to reconsider its reluctance to sell weaponry to its ally by refocusing on longer-term strategic interests.    

For Moscow, the sale of its S-400 system to Turkey - despite fears that the technology and details on its real capabilities could find its way into Nato hands - represents a major coup.

Win-win for Moscow

Traditional reasons alone make it a win-win situation for Moscow.

Nato member Turkey has the alliance’s second-largest army and is in close proximity to Russia. Nato nuclear warheads are believed to be stockpiled at the Incirlik airbase. And Russia’s shipping access to the Mediterranean is through the Turkish straits. Turkey has always been Nato’s southern bulwark against Russia.

Turkey has been clear for years that what it wants is technology transfer and its final goal is indigenous production

- Nursin Guney, expert on Turkish-Russian ties

Moscow will consider it a victory even if the S-400 deal manages to only create turbulent times for the alliance and Turkey, especially given its own rapid downturn in ties with the United States.

As far as Ankara is concerned, such a deal would address what it sees as a primary and urgent security concern. A bonus result would be if it results in increased US willingness regarding weapons systems transfers to Turkey.

Nursin Guney, the dean at Bahcesehir Cyprus University and an expert on Turkish-Russian ties, told Middle East Eye the S-400 deal should be seen as an “intermediate” solution.

Nato nuclear warheads are believed to be stockpiled at the Incirlik airbase (AFP)

“Turkey has been clear for years that what it wants is technology transfer and its final goal is indigenous production. That is a long-term process and it has had to suffice with the S-400 in the interim,” she said.

“Ankara didn’t seek out Russia to rile its Western allies. For years it held such talks with firms from allied countries such as Italy and France. Their reluctance to agree to a technology transfer led to this deal,” said Guney.

Ahmet Kasim Han, a professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University, told MEE that among the myriad reasons behind such a move, Washington’s apathy and lack of strategic vision figured highly.

“The US has ignored all of what Turkey sees as vital issues and the reason for it is a lack of strategy and foresight,” said Han.

“I wouldn’t call Turkey-US relations a road wreck but there is a lot of rubble out there. The peculiar situation with the governments in both capitals has resulted in a difficult situation where maintaining dialogue is vital even if such calls have become stale through repetition.”  

US mismanagement?

Han said the S-400 deal - which perhaps started as a bluff - ended up being very real due to US mismanagement of the situation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday took aim at Turkey’s allies for their criticism of the S-400 deal.

“They went crazy because we made the S-400 agreement. What were we supposed to do, wait for you? We are taking and will take all our measures on the security front,” said Erdogan.

The US has ignored all of what Turkey sees as vital issues and the reason for it is a lack of strategy and foresight

- Ahmet Kasim Han, professor of international relations 

The Pentagon had previously said that "generally it's a good idea" for Nato allies to buy inter-operable equipment.

The troubled US-Turkish relationship does not mean that Turkey is no longer making military deals with its Nato partners. Evidence of this came when, on the same day that progress on the S-400 deal was mentioned, the Turkish military also announced the delivery and introduction into service of six military transport Chinook helicopters from Boeing.   

According to Guney, threat perceptions and security-related procurements need to be made with worst-case scenarios in mind, and Ankara sees a security gap that needed an urgent solution.

Parts of the S-400 missile defence system on display at a military parade in Moscow (AFP)

She said Iran was a neighbouring country with a large ballistic missile inventory whose nuclear deal - which doesn’t cover ballistic missiles – was at risk under the presidency of Donald Trump.

“I am not saying there is a risk of attack from Iran but you need measures in place. After all, Nato’s advance warning radars are installed in Kurecik, Malatya, and Iran views that as a direct threat,” she said.

She added that the same radar system was also a sign of continuing Nato cooperation and that the S-400 deal didn’t mean taking a side for Turkey.

Guney also pointed to the new threats from Syria and said the current Nato Patriot missile defence batteries deployed came with too many conditions attached to provide a real deterrent.

“It was fine when the only threat was the regime’s stock of Scud missiles. Now you have the PYD and Daesh with their own projectile weapons,” she said, referring to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party in Syria and the Islamic State group.

Read more ►

Erdogan and Putin: The odd couple's alliance grows

“The deployment of Patriots and limitations imposed regarding who they can be used against means they don’t meet Turkey’s needs,” she said.

In Han’s view, Turkey’s aim to change the country’s economic narrative also links into its decision to go for the S-400 system.

“Turkey has been looking to make the military-industrial sector the centrepiece of its economic engine for quite a while now. It wants these deals including technology transfer clauses to develop its own industry and create value added products,” he said.

Turkey has been looking to make the military-industrial sector the centre piece of its economic engine for quite a while now

- Ahmet Kasim Han, professor of international relations 

Another key, and often overlooked factor, is Israel and its own threat perceptions and how Turkey within Nato in part offers some protection.

Han said although the Israeli factor in no way would have been part of the S-400 decision, it could have an influence in the longer term, particularly if US-Turkish relations worsen.

“The current Turkish government’s feelings towards Israel are no secret. But a Turkey anchored to the United States puts Israel in a stronger regional position. So it might use its lobbying power in Washington to smooth ties.”