Ex-defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa can be directly indicted over the abduction and assault of former ‘The Nation’ editor Keith Noyarh, Attorney General’s Department sources say. The CID has concluded its investigation and sent the files to the AG’s Dept.
Noyarh was kidnappned from near his home at Vaidya Road, Dehiwela on 22 May 2008. He was then tortured and assaulted, and later found abandoned.
Investigations have revealed a team of soldiers from Tripoli camp had carried out the kidnapping and assault. This team was responsible for other media repressions at the time too.
(Lanka-e-News - 15.Sep.2017, 11.55PM) Following the report of Lanka e news captioned ‘Action can be filed against MR over his open admission ! Then why wait ? Legal fraternity asks,’ two schools of thought have emerged .
Minister Rajitha Senaratne at the cabinet media briefing on 13 th said, Mahinda Rajapakse can be prosecuted on his statement, confirming our earlier report. ‘ Mahinda Rajapakse could have admitted this before and not after the court had delivered its verdict , and the accused were jailed ,’’Rajitha asserted.
Now it has been proved the wrong has been committed. Hence , even if Mahinda denies , it is he who has committed the wrong. During the trial that lasted 24 days , surely Mahinda could have come before court and made that admission . The court would have also permitted that. But Mahinda did not do that. Instead after the accused were incarcerated , when returning after visiting them in jail , he makes this admission, by saying ‘I am the one who committed the wrong.’ This demonstrates what kind of a hero he is .
Now, it is possible for another individual to file a case in court based on MR’s admission that he did it. If he is accepting the wrong , he can also be ordered to be hauled up in court , by filing a case, ‘ Rajitha explained when responding to a question posed by a journalist.
Meanwhile , a senior lawyer who was also involved in the proceedings of the case of Lalith Weeratunge and Anusha Pelpita speaking to Lanka e news expressed another opinion….
‘While the investigation was under way , it was probed whether Mahinda Rajapakse had given written instructions to his secretary to distribute Sil cloths. There were no such orders .Moreover , in the written orders issued by Weeratunge to distribute Sil cloths , nowhere was it mentioned that was on the instructions of ex president MR .Neither did Weeratunge during the court proceedings at any stage reveal he acted on the orders of MR. Hence ,filing a case based on the statements made by MR outside is difficult.
In any case , when this Sil cloth distribution was done during the run up to election , when those cloths were sent to Temples, there were a number of chief incumbents of Temples who said, ’ send those after elections’ .
It is noteworthy, not one of the treacherous monks who are today collecting funds to pay the fines of the culprits came to court then to give evidence to save Weeratunge. If they were genuine and truly wanted to save Weeratunge , they could have done that,’ the senior lawyer pointed out.
Two important announcements that surfaced following the recent court decision on Sil cloth distribution are hereunder..
Dayasiri Jayasekera who is always antagonistic to the good governance government even after grabbing a ministerial portfolio from the same government, and some others , were of the opinion that owing to the punishment meted out to State officers Weeratunge and Pelpita , the other state officers discharging official duties are disillusioned. In response to this announcement , JVP leader and chief opposition whip Anura Dissanayake made an interesting revelation….
DIG Ravi Waidyalankara and other police officers , the lawyers of the Attorney General’s department who filed the case , and the judge who delivered the verdict and responsible for meting out punishment to the two culprits , are also State officers . Therefore , how can the officers of the State get disillusioned according to what Dayasiri and the other few are alleging ? the JVP leader questioned.
Field Marsha Sarath Fonseka also made a stunning revelation : The expenditure shown for a roll of Sil cloth was dollars 50.00 whereas the actual expenditure was dollars 15.00 only. That means this Sil cloth distribution is an absolute racket . About two third of the amount of this fraud involving Rs. 600 million was misappropriated. Hence another separate investigation should be conducted to decide into whose pocket that amount was siphoned off, Fonseka insisted.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has alleged that the former Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and former Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) Anusha Pelpita had been penalised for carrying out the previous government’s instructions issued in terms of Article 9 of the Constitution to foster and protect Buddhism.
The following is the full text of the statement issued by former President: "The former Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and the former Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) Anusha Pelpita were declared guilty by the High Court under Section 386 of the Penal Code of ‘dishonestly misappropriating’ a sum of Rs. 600 million belonging to the TRC by remitting the said sum to a bank account of the Presidential Secretariat to be used for the purpose of distributing sil redi during the last Presidential elections. They have each been sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment, a fine of Rs. two million and either the payment of Rs 50 million in compensation to the TRC or a further two years of rigorous imprisonment. Many people including the media have asked me about this matter and I feel I should make my views known to the public.
"To say that this conviction and sentence has shocked the country would be an understatement. The judgment itself states that neither Lalith Weeratunga nor Anusha Pelpita had appropriated for their personal use any of the money used to purchase sil redi. From my point of view, they only carried out legitimate instructions issued to them by the President of the country. The verbal instructions given by me in this regard have been recorded in the form of minutes placed by Mr Weeratunga on correspondence with officials of the Presidential Secretariat. On 20 March 2014, Mr Weeratunga wrote a minute to the Senior Assistant Secretary of the Presidential Secretariat outlining eight projects that I had ordered funded through the President’s Special Development Fund during the year 2014.
"The sixth item on this list was providing ‘material aid’ to the devotees observing sil at temples on Poya days. The other projects on the list included funding for the IT section of the Kotelawala Defence University and assistance to construct houses for low income earners in the former ‘border villages’ etc. On 12 May 2014, in yet another minute to the Senior Assistant Secretary Mr Weeratunga had stated that I had given instructions that sil redi be distributed to devotees observing sil on Poya days. This was long before the declaration of the presidential election. The purpose of the President’s Special Development Fund which had an annual budget of Rs. 1,000 million and was started in 2012, was to fill the gaps left by other ministries and to meet requests made directly to the President. The Coordinating Secretary for Religious Affairs of the Presidential Secretariat Ven. Watinapaha Somananda Thera was in charge of implementing the sil redi project.
"At the latter’s request, the Economic Affairs Ministry carried out a survey through Samurdhi Niladharis to identify the requirements of sil redi at temples countrywide. The suppliers were instructed to hand over the sil redi to a main temple in each Divisional Secretariat area from where they would be distributed to other temples. This was a project implemented countrywide, involving 11,021 temples. This was aid supplied to the temples, not to voters. After the sil redi reached the temples, the Chief Incumbent monk became the sole authority who could decide when, how, and to whom the sil redi would be distributed. No time frame was imposed on the temples to carry out the distribution. They could have been distributed either immediately or even a year later at the discretion of the Chief Incumbent of the temple.
"The mode of distribution did not enable the beneficiaries to be selected on political grounds. School uniforms are also distributed towards the end of the year and cannot be withheld even if an election was on. Nobody would suggest that the receipt of school uniforms during an election would influence the result of the election. The sil redi was also general state aid distributed across the board to Buddhist devotees just like the school uniforms. In fact the suppliers of school uniforms to the government had been mobilised for the sil redi project as well. The sil redi was not meant just for adults of voting age but for daham pasal students observing sil on Poya days as well. It was stated in the judgement that the sil redi parcels contained a label which read "Mahinda Rajapaksa methithuman Mahinda Chinthana prathipaththi walata anuwa yamin karana daham pandurak". (A religious offering made by Mahinda Rajapaksa in pursuance of Mahinda Chintanaya policies.)
"This was only a label stating the provenance of the sil redi, and in any event, is not in violation of Sections 72 and 68(1)(e) of the Presidential Elections Act No:15 of 1981, which deal with the display of printed matter during elections. Section 77 of the Presidential Elections Act on ‘treating’ voters, also does not apply to this case because the sil redi was handed over to temples without any time frame for distribution and were provided to all regardless of the political affiliation of the temples and the devotees. Lalith Weeratunga and Anusha Pelpita were never charged for election related offences even though this is being portrayed as a case relating to the misuse of public property during election time. Under Section 164(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code, the charges brought against the accused have to clearly state the law under which the offence said to have been committed, is punishable.
"The reason why money had to be obtained for this project from the TRC is because on 14 October 2014, the Chief Accountant of the Presidential Secretariat sent Lalith Weeratunga a note stating that the allocation of the President’s Special Development Fund for the year 2014 was Rs. 1,000 million and that Rs. 400 million of this had to be given to a project of the Kotelawala Defence University and that there was insufficient funds for the sil redi project. Lalith Weeratunga replied to this with a minute on 15 October 2014 instructing the Chief Accountant to release the money to the Kotelawala Defence University and that the money for the sil redi project will be obtained from the TRC to be reimbursed later. Mr Weeratunga had written to the Director General of the TRC on 30 October 2014, stating that it had been decided to obtain financial patronage (mulya anugrahaya) for this project from the TRC.
"Thereupon, Anusha Pelpita Director General of the TRC had prepared a board paper for this purpose on the same day seeking the approval of the board, (a) to allocate Rs. 600 million to the Corporate Social Responsibility budget of the TRC as an extra budgetary allocation, (b) to approve the donation of Rs. 600 million to the President’s Special Development Fund and (c) to spend this amount from the corporate social responsibility budget of the TRC. This paper had been presented to the TRC board meeting held on 15 December 2014 and all three proposals had been unanimously approved by the Commission. The money from the TRC had been remitted to the Presidential Secretariat account on 5 December 2014. On 29 December 2014, Lalith Weeratunga sent a note to the Chief Accountant stating that the money from the TRC should be reimbursed as soon as the allocation for 2015 is received and that at least Rs. 200 million should be paid back in the first quarter of 2015.
"According to Section 22F(3) of the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Act No: 25 of 1991 as amended by Act No: 27 of 1996, the board of directors of the TRC can authorise any payment in the performance of its tasks. Sections 218, 115, 65, 66, 68, 93 and 94 of the Financial Regulations of the Government of Sri Lanka also authorises ‘Chief Accounting Officers’ (who in the case of the Presidential Secretariat was Lalith Weeratunga) to transfer money between government agencies under his authority on the basis of reimbursement. Regrettably, the written evidence presented to courts in the form of Lalith Weeratunga’s minutes giving instructions to the Chief Accountant or the Senior Assistant Secretary of the Presidential Secretariat in relation to this project have not been considered in the judgement delivered by the High Court.
"The prosecution brought 21 witnesses to prove their case against the accused. The High Court has not taken into account the evidence provided by prosecution witness No: 13 Hewage Emali Priyanthara, No: 20 Ruwani Saumya Gunaratne, No: 15 Rev. Watinapaha Somananda Thero, No: 04 Saputhanthrige Chandra Jagath, No: 14 Mallika Kanakanamlage Jayantha and prosecution witness No: 5 Amarasinghe Lekamge Don Gunaratne (the Chief Accountant of the Presidential Secretariat) on the grounds that they had worked with the accused in the Presidential Secretariat and the TRC and were also connected to the sil redi project and that they had been partial (lediyawak) or sympathetic to the accused. These were witnesses called by the prosecution - not the defence - and their evidence had been provided to courts under oath.
"This has very serious implications for state employees at all levels. If for example an employee of the Customs Department is taken to courts for allegedly violating procedure, the only way to prove or disprove that such a violation took place is through written and verbal evidence from within the Customs Department itself. If in such cases, even the testimony of witnesses brought by the prosecution is not taken into account on the grounds that they had worked with the accused and were therefore partial, the accused government servant will have no defence at all. Another matter of grave concern in the case of Lalith Weeratunga, is that the handwritten instructions given by the highest State official in the land to his subordinates have not been considered by the courts.
"If this becomes a precedent, no State employee charged in a court of law will ever be able to prove his innocence. The unanimous approval of Anusha Pelpita’s board paper by the TRC board of directors on 15 December 2014 has also not been taken into account in a situation where the authority with exclusive power to utilise the funds of the TRC is the TRC board of directors. This will have serious implications for all private sector and state sector bodies that are run by boards of directors. The severe sentence imposed on Lalith Weeratunga and Anusha Pelpita is not because they enriched themselves through corrupt means but because they carried out the instructions of the head of state to distribute sil redi to temples in pursuance of the government’s obligations under Article 9 of the Constitution to foster and protect Buddhism.
"Under our constitution, the direction and control of the government is the responsibility of the cabinet of ministers (including the President) and the public service is expected to work in good faith to achieve the policy objectives of the government. Therefore public servants who carry out lawful instructions issued to them by the President and the Cabinet should be protected if there are no serious allegations of corruption against them."
- Sep 15, 2017 The Mendis Company is involved in a massive excise tax fraud with the support of the acting excise commissioner general, according to reports reaching Sri Lanka Mirror.
The company produces 125,000 litres of toddy, or 50 barrels, a day, but it shows only 17,500 litres, or seven barrels, for tax purposes.The balance 107,500 litres, or 86 per cent of its production, go untaxed, and the figure amounts to several billions of rupees.
The company has been able to commit such a massive fraud due to the support given it by acting excise commissioner general A. Boderagama, who gets a considerable return from the company every month, reports add.
The owner of the company is Arjun Aloysius, also implicated in the Central Bank bond scam.
Israeli police arrest a member of the Shamasneh family following their eviction from their home in the Sheikh Jarrah area of occupied East Jerusalem on 5 September. Heidi LevineSipa PressBudour Youssef Hassan-15 September 2017
It was supposed to have been Nizar Shamasneh’s first day back at school.
At around 5:30am, a large number of Israeli police descended on the Sheikh Jarrah area in occupied East Jerusalem. They had arrived to evict the Shamasneh family.
“They took everything: my schoolbag, our clothing, my grandfather’s identity card,” Nizar, aged 15, said. “It was heartbreaking to be thrown out in the street without being able to defend yourself.”
The family were caught somewhat off-guard by the 5 September eviction.
As the family had secured a court injunction, they thought that they could remain in their home for at least another five days.
Yet on 4 September, Israeli settlers appealed successfully against the injunction. As a result, the eviction was allowed to proceed immediately.
The family was not informed that the injunction had been overturned.
“We were not ready for this,” said Fahima, Nizar’s 76-year-old grandmother. Noting that the eviction occurred just after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, she added: “They chose their timing well.”
Determined to fight
The family were forced to find accommodation in a hotel. Every day, however, members of the family visit their home and sit outside it in protest.
The Shamasneh family are determined to fight against the injustice inflicted on them and their community.
Muhammad Shamasneh, a father of six, has become a vocal campaigner against ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem.
Much has changed about him since the first eviction notice was delivered to his family in 2009.
At that time, Muhammad was too shy to speak in public. So he asked other people from the neighborhood to speak on his behalf during protests against evictions. He was reluctant to speak with the press, fearful of confronting Israeli police officers and wary of criticizing the Palestinian political leadership.
Even when complaining about how the Palestinian Authority has given him hardly any support, he would usually whisper.
Muhammad – a gardener – had until then avoided political activity as much as he could. He had to raise his children and take care of his elderly parents. Making ends meet was a daily struggle.
Since then, Muhammad – now aged 45 – has realized that everything is political in Sheikh Jarrah, even the act of remaining in your own home. The battle against eviction has seen him stand up to Israeli police, settlers and to the Palestinian Authority.
“What is going on in Sheikh Jarrah has nothing to do with property laws,” said Muhammad. “It’s not a simple conflict over real estate either. It is a long-term Israeli plan to uproot us from our neighborhood and replace us with Jewish settlers through legal gymnastics.”
Muhammad and his 23-year-old son Dirar were both arrested on the day of the eviction. They were released on bail the following day – but not before Dirar had been beaten in custody, sustaining a neck injury.
“My neck is bruised but the real pain is in the heart,” Dirar said shortly after his release. “You cannot stand idly by as settlers occupy your home, harass your neighbors and provoke your family.”
The Israeli settler movement has invoked a 1970 Israeli law to drive the Shamasneh family from their home.
That law enables Jews to make claims on property if they show it was under Jewish ownership before 1948. Known as the Legal and Administrative Matters law, it only applies to Jews. Palestinians are prevented by Israel from returning to the homes they held before the 1948 mass expulsions carried out by Zionist forces.
Arieh King, a right-wing member of the Israeli-run Jerusalem city council, has been the most prominent face of the settler movement.
King, director of an organization called the Israel Land Fund, is trying to seize Palestinian homes in Sheikh Jarrah so that they can be taken over by Jewish settlers.
The effort to evict the Shamasneh family has been spearheaded by King. By contrast, the Jewish family which has made a claim on the Shamasneh home has only appeared once in court while the case was being heard during the past eight years, according to Muhammad Shamasneh.
The Shamasneh family have lived in Sheikh Jarrah for more than five decades.
“Hurt”
Ayoub Shamasneh, Muhammad’s 84-year-old father, is originally from Qatanna, a village in the Jerusalem area. He has witnessed the mass displacements caused by Zionist forces in 1948 and by the Israeli army in 1967.
He began renting the Sheikh Jarrah home in 1964, when East Jerusalem was under Jordanian control. All of his children were born since then.
“I am hurt for what they did to my home,” Ayoub, who uses a wheelchair, said. “But what hurts more is that history continues to repeat itself and the Palestinian political class doesn’t seem to care.”
A Palestinian woman attempts to prevent the detention of her son during a protest in front of the Shamasneh family home in Sheikh Jarrah on 8 September. Oren ZivActiveStillsA few months ago, the Shamasneh family learned that their eviction was likely to take place soon. Receiving that news was “like a disaster for my father, especially because this time there was very little we could actually do to prevent or even delay it,” said Muhammad.
“My father is strongly attached to this home and he keeps saying that losing the home reminds him of defeats in 1948 and 1967,” said Rabiha Zahran, Ayoub Shamasneh’s daughter.
“My mother has been trying to lift him, to give him strength. But for both of them, the loss of this home represents a tragedy that cannot be described in words.”
Life became “hell”
The eviction of the Shamasneh family is the first to take place in Sheikh Jarrah since 2009.
The al-Kurd family were among those affected by the evictions of that year. Settlers seized the front section of the family’s home. Life became “hell,” according to one member of the family, Nabil al-Kurd.
His mother, Rifqa al-Kurd, said, “I will only agree to leave Sheikh Jarrah” if her right of return to Haifa, a city in historic Palestine, is guaranteed.
Commonly known as Umm Nabil, she had to flee her native Haifa in 1948. Like many others in East Jerusalem, her family were uprooted during the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestine around the time of Israel’s establishment.
The Shamasneh home is located in the poorest part of Sheikh Jarrah. The neighborhood feels a world apart from the five-star American Colony Hotel and the consular offices – representing governments around the world – within a few minutes’ walk.
The Shamasneh family had created a welcoming atmosphere in their dwelling. Every visitor was greeted warmly and chatted to over coffee.
In 2013, the Shamasneh family earned a temporary respite. Israel’s high court turned down their appeal against the eviction order. Yet it agreed to defer the eviction on what the Israeli media has called “humanitarian” grounds. The court cited the fact that elderly people had lived in the home for a long period.
“We refused to look for another house because the case is not simply about housing and it is not just about us,” Amal Shamasneh, Muhammad’s wife, said.
“Our home is simple and tiny but it means everything to us. We also know that evicting us will only be the start of evicting all the families who are under threat.”
Among those facing eviction threats is Amal’s brother Muhammad Zahran. Before the eviction, Zahran was also their next-door neighbor.
“The settler groups and their leader have a plan for the entire neighborhood,” Zahran said.
“I see the settlers in the Shamasneh home, raising Israeli flags over the house, provoking us every minute, and I fear that the same destiny awaits my home and many others if we don’t act.” Budour Youssef Hassan is a Palestinian writer based in Jerusalem. Blog: budourhassan.wordpress.com
Hundreds of detectives and intelligence officials were involved in the manhunt. Rowley declined to say if the suspected bomber had been on the train.
Prime Minister Theresa May returned to London to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency response committee. She called the incident a “cowardly attack” and said the national threat level had been raised a notch to its highest level, “critical”.
The Islamic State militant group, which has said it was behind several attacks on Western cities in recent years, including two attacks in London and one in Manchester this year, claimed responsibility through its news agency, Amaq.
It was impossible to verify the claim, for which Amaq offered no evidence. Western intelligence officials have questioned similar claims in the past, saying that while Islamic State’s jihadist ideology may have inspired some attackers, there is scant evidence that it has orchestrated attacks.
“It is very routine in these sort of circumstances for IS to claim responsibility, whether or not they have had any previous engagement with the individuals involved,” Rowley said.
“I SAW THIS FIREBALL”
Pictures taken at the scene showed a slightly charred white bucket with a supermarket freezer bag on the floor of one train carriage. The bucket, still intact, was in flames and there appeared to be wires coming out of the top.
“I was on second carriage from the back. I just heard a kind of ‘whoosh’. I looked up and saw the whole carriage engulfed in flames making its way towards me,” Ola Fayankinnu, who was on the train, told Reuters.
“There were phones, hats, bags all over the place and when I looked back I saw a bag with flames.”
Charlie Craven said he had just got on the train when the device exploded.
“Literally within three seconds of putting your bag down, the doors just closing, we hear a loud explosion,” he told Reuters. “I looked around and saw this massive fireball ... coming down the carriage.”
He said terrified passengers fled, fearing a second explosion or a gunman, with people being knocked to the ground and crushed in the stampede to escape.
Emergency personnel attend to a person after an incident at Parsons Green underground station in London, Britain, September 15, 2017. REUTERS/Yann Tessier
Outside the station, a woman was carried off on a stretcher with her legs covered in a foil blanket while others were led away swathed in bandages. The health service said 29 people had been treated in hospital, many suffering from flash burns.
In 2005, 52 people were killed when four British Islamists carried out suicide bomb attacks on three London underground trains and a bus, and this year Britain has suffered four attacks that killed a total of 36 people.
“Another attack in London by a loser terrorist,” U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter. “These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!”
His comment that the suspect was known to London police carried echoes of the Manchester attack in May, when British police were infuriated by U.S. authorities leaking details of the investigation, including the name of the main suspect, to media.
Asked about Trump’s tweet, May said: “I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation.”
“SO UNHELPFUL”
Others were more directly critical of Trump. “True or not - and I‘m sure he doesn’t know - this is so unhelpful from leader of our ally and intelligence partner,” May’s former chief of staff Nick Timothy tweeted.
A U.S. law enforcement official and a U.S. intelligence source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attack might have been carried out in response to recent Islamic State video messages urging would-be militants to attack trains and other public transport.
One of the officials said the device’s rudimentary design suggested the attack had not been carried out by a trained cell.
Professor Hans Michels, an explosives expert from Imperial College London, said the device appeared to have largely failed.
“The flash flame reported suggests that the ‘explosion’ was only partly successful,” he said. “I must speculate that either the mixture was not of the right composition or that the ignition system was inadequate or not properly placed.”
UK security services believe those behind some of the militant incidents in Britain this year were probably acting alone, radicalised by online material.
In March, a man drove a car into pedestrians on London’s Westminster Bridge, killing four, before he stabbed a policeman to death outside parliament.
A further 22 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester in May and the following month, three Islamist militants drove into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing people at nearby restaurants and bars, killing eight.
In June, a van was driven into worshippers near a mosque in north London, which left one man dead.
Figures released on Thursday showed there had been a record number of terrorism-related arrests in Britain in the past year.
In the three years to March this year, police foiled 13 potential attacks, Rowley said this week. But the next 17 weeks saw the four attacks in London and Manchester, while the authorities thwarted six others.
Additional reporting by Kate Holton, Mark Hosenball, Elizabeth Piper, Paul Sandle, Costas Pitas and Mitch Phillips; writing by Michael Holden; and Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Kevin Liffey
Kurdish MPs raised their hands to approve plan, during first session held by parliament since it was suspended two years ago
Iraqi Kurdish men take part in rally calling for deferment of independence referendum on 9 September 2017 (AFP)
Saturday 16 September 2017
The parliament of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region approved a plan to hold a referendum on independence on 25 September, ignoring Iraqi, Iranian and Turkish opposition as well as US and Western concerns that the vote may cause new conflicts in the region.
An overwhelming majority of Kurdish MPs raised their hands to approve the plan, during the first session held by the parliament since it was suspended two years ago.
The parliament reconvened on Friday in Erbil, the seat of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq.
The central government in Baghdad opposes the plan, as do Iraq's neighbours Iran and Turkey, which fear that an independent Kurdish state could fuel separatism among their own Kurdish populations.
Ankara has warned of the "cost" to the Iraqi Kurds, whose economy is heavily dependent on oil exports via a pipeline running through Turkey to the Mediterranean.
Washington, for its part, opposes the referendum on the grounds that it would weaken Arab-Kurdish joint military operations that have helped to send the Islamic State (IS) group into retreat in both Iraq and war-torn Syria.
The United States has proposed unspecified "alternatives" to which Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani, who set the referendum date in June, has pledged to give a rapid response.
"If they have a stronger alternative to the referendum, the Kurdish leadership will look at it, but if they want to postpone the vote with no alternatives, we won't," Barzani said on Thursday.
Analysts say the referendum plan, which has stirred Arab-Kurdish ethnic tensions, could mark the end of an era of cooperation during which Baghdad and Erbil battled IS after its seizure of swathes of northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014.
Sixteen years ago on September 11, the way the world revolved changed drastically, politically speaking. Just, a second before the terror strike on New York’s World Trade Centre at 8.46 am Eastern Time, the world was moving on a positive direction with human rights and democracy dominating the political discourse. Then it all stopped, with the then United States President George W. Bush launching a war on terror.
Exploiting a wave of sympathy following the shocking terror attacks that the world witnessed live on television, Bush vowed to “smoke ‘em out of their holes”, referring to al-Qaeda terrorists. But, instead, he implemented a neocon white paper titled the Plan for New American Century. In the face of signs that the US-scripted global order was undergoing change to the detriment of the US national interest, the plan spelt out a strategy for the US to continue its military and economic dominance of the world. The five years before 9/11 were perhaps the most enlightened period in post-World War II history, with world leaders taking many positive steps to ensure a rule-based world order in the aftermath of the horrible war crimes in Rwanda and Bosnia.
World leaders in 1998 adopted the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court to try war criminals. The same year, the European Court of Human Rights became a full time institution. During this period, hectic diplomacy was on course to make the toothless United Nations Human Rights Commission into a powerful Human Rights Council. US President Bill Clinton was close to working out a permanent peace deal between Israel and Palestine. He even signed the Kyoto protocol on climate change. On Iraq, the Clinton administration introduced the oil-for-food programme for Baghdad to sell oil to buy food and medicine, after it became clear that the US-sponsored international sanctions had killed a half a million children. The world was seemingly moving towards a fair global order, but the war on terror brought a halt to the march.
Such a rule-based global order is anathema to disaster capitalists. Peace will deal a death blow to the military industrial complex -- and also to the oil industry which profits from panic-driven price hikes. Looking back down 16 years, the war on terror’s biggest beneficiaries were the arms manufacturers, Big Oil, and companies dealing in construction, insurance and private security. Disaster capitalism drives the war on terror. Way back in the 1950s, George Kennan, a US State Department expert on foreign policy, would advise new diplomats before they took up their postings: “…we have about 50 per cent of the world’s wealth, but only 6.3 per cent of its population… Our real task is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity….”
Although, by the turn of this century the US share of the global wealth has declined to 26 per cent and its population accounted for 4.6 per cent of the global population, there is hardly any indication that the US has moved away from Kennan’s advice. The war on terror is a means by which the US maintains this inequality and ensures the survival of greedy capitalism that thrives on other people’s misery.
When the war started, the enemy was al-Qaeda. But later, al Qaeda has become enemy in some places friend in other places. Today, there is another enemy -- ISIS, which owes its birth to the failed US policies.
The war on terror began in Afghanistan in October 2001, ostensibly to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban, but later the war assumed different names in different places with different goals. Ostensibly, regime change was one such goal, but in hindsight, it appears that the war was for oil on behalf of Shell, Chevron, and Exxon. It was also a war to set up more US military bases all over the world – and a war to provide construction companies such as Bechtel and Halliburton, where Bush’s Vice President Dick Cheney was once the CEO, multibillion dollar contracts.
Bush’s mad war, which Barack Obama continued, has devastated Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Yemen and parts of Pakistan, among other countries. What has Syria and Libya got to do with the terrorists who took part in the 9/11 attacks? Fifteen of them were from Saudi Arabia, which, according to a New York Post article this week, had allegedly financed a dry run of the terror attack.
The twists and turns reached ludicrous heights when Washington allied itself with al-Qaeda elements to oust Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi. In a botched attempt to overthrow Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime, the US even armed and trained rebels who subsequently joined al-Qaeda and ISIS. In addition, underscoring the adage that one’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter, the US is in an open alliance with Syrian Kurdish rebels, whom Nato ally Turkey has branded terrorists.
Lies and deception is the name of the game. Bush deceitfully took the war to Iraq claiming that Saddam Hussein was possessing weapons of mass destruction and behind the 9/11 terror attacks. The American public, still recovering from the 9/11 terror shock, overwhelmingly supported Bush. Although Bush could not find a single weapon of mass destruction even after the US invasion or a single piece of evidence to show Saddam’s links with the 9/11 attacks, the American voters re-elected him for a second term, provoking the British Daily Mirror to ask in a headline, “How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?” It is a sad indictment on all Americans, though a substantial section of them were to later slam Bush for putting the country on a never-ending war that has tarnished America’s image.
Probably the same lot which elected Donald Trump in November last year reelected Bush in 2004. And perhaps to placate this neo-fascist voters that Trump has decided to send more troops to Afghanistan – a climb down from his campaign promise to end the US military role in that country. The war on terror is today being waged for anything but to combat terrorism. It has only made the world a worse place than it was before. Post-World War II Europe was a peaceful continent, but it is today caught in the grip of ISIS terror. Pakistan was a terror-free nation before 9/11. Today it is paying a huge price for joining Bush’s war, in terms of loss of lives, economic growth and opportunity costs. After more than 1.5 million civilian deaths, more than 8,000 US and Nato troop casualties in an expenditure of more than 1.7 trillion US dollars, the war on terror is far from over. Its biggest achievement was the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Its miserable failure in ridding the world of terrorism is rooted in its hidden objective of maintaining US military and economic dominance across the globe. It appears that the so-called war on terror will go on forever.
A 3D illustration of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatening to use the nation's nuclear weapons. Source: Motttive/Shutterstock
NORTH Korea’s sixth nuclear test together with its recent series of missile launches, suggests the regional powers (US, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia) are now left with two actionable but stark options in dealing with Pyongyang.
Either they accept that North Korea is a nuclear state with a missile arsenal or they respond militarily to any further nuclear tests and missile launches by the regime.
As unpalatable as it is, the regional powers must accept that the over two-decade attempt to prevent North Korea from becoming a nuclear state has failed.
Pyongyang will not negotiate away its nuclear and missile capability. They are its only “trump” cards. Although the regime can never use its weapons without inviting its own destruction, without them, North Korea would have no leverage with which to threaten the region in an attempt to extort aid and concessions.
The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!
5:47 am - 30 Aug 2017
Kim Jong Un and his cohorts preside over a kleptocratic-guerilla regime. Bullying, blackmail and extortion are hallmarks of its modus operandi. Conventional diplomacy has never worked with this regime, which has never negotiated in good faith nor ever intended to abide by its agreements.
Economic sanctions have proven to be ineffective in curbing the regime and further punitive measures are also unlikely to force Pyongyang to moderate its behaviour.
China, South Korea and Russia, each with a land border with North Korea, could work in unison to squeeze the regime economically but their leverage with the Kim regime is problematic, irrespective of American and other international calls for China especially, to “do more”.
The only language Pyongyang understands is force.
In 1994, the first North Korean nuclear crisis was diffused when the US was on the verge of launching air strikes against the regime’s nuclear facilities. Pyongyang never intended to give up its nuclear program but faced with impending strikes, it conceded to participating in talks with the US and its allies. This lead to the 1994 Agreed Framework agreement in which North Korea agreed to suspend its nuclear program and allow international inspections to verify its compliance, in exchange for energy aid from the regional powers.
Kim’s behaviour is reminiscent of school bullies and spoiled brats who dominate others through fear and intimidation. It’s only when they are physically confronted by a stronger individual or group that their “power” evaporates.
(File) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reacts during a ballistic rocket test-fire through a precision control guidance system in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) May 30, 2017. Source: Reuters/KCNA
Kim also happens to be the unchallenged authoritarian leader of a brutal and murderous regime who rules through fear and favour. It’s likely no one in his cohort is warning Kim of the possible consequences of the escalating tensions caused by his actions, fearing the loss of their privileged positions in the regime, and probably their lives too.
Knowing that Kim has murdered members of his own family for “opposing” him, it would take an unimaginable act of personal courage for anyone to question his actions.
Kim and his inner circle may be betting that for all their protestations and condemnations of his nuclear and missile programs, the regional powers ultimately won’t respond militarily against the regime.
Indeed, Kim’s gamble may off.
The regional powers may not resort to the military option but Kim is playing for keeps, the stakes are high, and miscalculation will result in the destruction of the regime.
However, if the regional powers cannot accept North Korea as a nuclear state, they cannot avoid military options to curb the regime. Pyongyang should be issued with an ultimatum: any further nuclear tests and missile launches beyond North Korean territory will be met with force.
This would entail targeting known nuclear and missile sites with cyber warfare and/or shooting down any missiles the regime launches beyond its borders. “Surgical strikes” against known nuclear and missile sites should be an option too. If Pyongyang responds by bombing Seoul or Tokyo or attempts to fire missiles at the US, it will do so knowing the Americans and their allies will counter with overwhelming force that will destroy the regime.
(File) People watch a huge screen showing the test launch of intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), July 5, 2017. Source: KCNA/via Reuters
This is a high stakes game of chicken with potentially devastating consequences for North Korea and the region but continuing along the same path since Pyongyang announced in 2002 it would no longer abide by the 1994 Agreed Framework, will likely lead to a military confrontation too.
It’s a case of “damned if we do, damned if we don’t”, but surely acting is better than reacting?
It’s also possible that, confronted with superior force, Kim will back down.
This latest nuclear test by the North Korean regime demonstrates the failure of diplomacy and sanctions in curbing its weapons program. If Pyongyang and the regional powers continue repeating the same behaviour and response – further nuclear and missile tests, followed by condemnation of these actions and the imposition of further sanctions – the impasse of the last 15 years will continue. The more the North Korean nuclear and missile crisis escalates, the greater the likelihood of a military confrontation.
The region may already be at that tipping point where the only remaining actionable options for the regional powers are to accept that North Korea will continue developing its nuclear and missile programs, or to issue the regime an ultimatum: cease the nuclear and missile tests or face a military strike that could trigger the its destruction.
** This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not reflect the views of Asian Correspondent
- Sep 15, 2017
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Exploiting a wave of sympathy following the shocking terror attacks that the world witnessed live on television, Bush vowed to “smoke ‘em out of their holes”, referring to al-Qaeda terrorists. But, instead, he implemented a neocon white paper titled the Plan for New American Century. In the face of signs that the US-scripted global order was undergoing change to the detriment of the US national interest, the plan spelt out a strategy for the US to continue its military and economic dominance of the world. 
