China in Pakistan and Afghanistan

The Good News from Afghanistan:

'Real New Silk Road’ to turn Afghanistan into major regional transit hub

KHAAMA Press

September 10 2016

Optimisms are on the rise with the opening of the New Silk Road connecting China with the Eurasian landmass as two trains carrying dozens of containers bound for Afghanistan left China with the first consignment arriving in Hairatan port of Afghanistan earlier this month.

The initiative by China is considered is a major turnover in Afghanistan’s efforts to turn the country into a regional transit as it has been dubbed as Real New Silk Road following attempts by the then-US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to start the operations of the road in 2011 but subsequently flopped before it even got started.

According to an article published in Forbes by the magazine’s contributor Wade Shepard China is making good on this ambition by integrating Afghanistan with their Belt and Road initiative — a major part of what could be called the real New Silk Road.

At least 85 containers were transported in the first Afghanistan-bound train that ceremoniously departed from Nantong in China’s eastern Jiangsu province on 25th August.
[...]

The second train bound for Afghanistan is expected to arrive today after covering 7,500 kilometer of journey from eastern Chinese city of Yiwu to Mazar-e-Sharif city of Afghanistan, carrying over 100 containers worth of $4 million cargo.

The latest developments came as the Afghan government has been attempting to turn the country into a major regional transit hub by taking advantage of the geographical position of the country.

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani during his speech at a gathering in Kabul said Afghanistan will continue to emerge as a key player to link the region, insisting that the country will no more remain dependent on a single port, gesturing towards the Pakistani ports on which the Afghan traders have long been counting on.

[END REPORT]

The Bad News from Pakistan:

China Won't Solve Pakistan's Biggest Problem

By Panos Mourdoukoutas 

September 8, 2016

Forbes

China’s purchase of Pakistani assets, like the K-Electric Company, may cheer investors for a month or two, but it won’t solve the country’s biggest problem – corruption. On the other hand, purchase of those assets by Finland, Hong Kong, America, or even India would.

Why? Because they don’t have China’s severe corruption problem. 

K-Electric has come a long way from being a government monopoly to being a private monopoly, already changing management a few times in the process. But judging from the plethora of the comments in a previous piece I posted here, new management teams haven’t solved an old problem that is the source of inefficiencies of the company: a combination of corruption, mismanagement and poor services.

In fact, corruption isn’t confined to K-Electric. It extends throughout the Pakistani economy, as evidenced by the country’s rankings by Transparency International.

Country	Corruption Index in 2010	Corruption Index in 2015
China	78/168	83/168
Hong Kong	13	17
Pakistan	143	117
India	87	76
Finland	4	2
USA	22	16

Pakistan’s Economy At A Glance

GDP	$270 billion
GDP Growth yoy	4.24%
Unemployment	5.9%
Inflation	3.56%
Capital flows	-$1882 million
Government Debt to GDP	64.8%

Source: Tradingeconomics.com

Corruption cannot be solved by corruption, but with transparency. And China has long way to go before it brings transparency to its own economy, and then brings it to other countries. China ranks 83 in the 2015 Corruption Index, not too far behind Pakistan, which ranks 117.

Worse, China’s ranking in the Corruption Index has worsened in the last five years, as Pakistan’s ranking has improved!

By contrast, there’s Finland (as one of my renters pointed out), which ranks number 2; America, which ranks number 16; Hong Kong, which ranks 17; and even India, which ranks 76.

Simply put, handing the elecrical switch of a soundly managed electric company to a foreign owner isn’t a problem by itself. In fact it has become a common practice in a globalized world. And it can be a positive thing for all stakeholders – stockholders, labor, customers, and the society at large — provided that the new owner brings in modern management and logistics that fight bureaucracy and corruption.

But handing the electrical switch of an already badly managed like K-Electric to a state-owned company from China isn’t a positive development for all stakeholders.

Moreover, it may be a negative factor for the long-term performance of the Pakistan Exchange, as corruption is listed among the most serious constraints that holds frontier markets back.

[END REPORT]

I don't think corruption is the whole problem. Afghanistan also has a lot of corruption but Afghanis aren't lazy as sin as a matter of cultural preference; the Pakistanis who don't have to do hard labor are. It's partly the caste mentality and partly the princeling ideal.

   

********

Old School Music Saturday: The Four Tops

The Four Tops have had so many hits that to highlight just one of their songs is bound to ruffle some feathers, but I picked the one that's also among my all-time favorite songs.

How the Wikipedia author got the idea that Still Water (Love) is a "socially conscious" song is beyond me. It's about a person who doesn't wear his feelings on his sleeve but whose ability to love is steady and deep. If you're loved by someone like that you are fortunate indeed, and there are those who believe that we shouldn't look for that kind of love except from Divinity.

From all I've seen humans are capable of this kind of love, but I suspect it's not so much rooted in temperament or even character as in family influence. If you're raised in a household where you see steady love between your parents through even the most trying circumstances, then you know how to do it; you know what it takes to give that kind of love.

But it ain't easy; in fact it's a great accomplishment. A disciple once asked George Gurdjeff to give him advice on learning to love people more. Mr G replied that this was a very big thing, to love a person, so first practice on loving a dog; if the disciple could manage to care well for a dog and not beat it, then he could think about trying to love people.


Like everything else steadiness in love comes down to practice but that's hard if one doesn't know how it's done, if there aren't referents, examples to follow.

And frankly I think that people who've had the guidewires are able to spot others who are capable of steady love. They tend to find mates who can reciprocate steady love. Which is to say that just because one is capable of steady love doesn't mean one has to be a chump. 

Maybe that's the secret of many happy marriages, a happy village, a happy town, a happy city, and a happy nation: a lot of people who know how to spot the right mate for an enduring marriage. If that happens then a society's traditions would have as much to do with the phenomenon of steady love as family influence.    

So by a long way around Still Water might be considered a socially conscious song after all, although I never thought of it that way before.

Where was I? Old School music.  

The Four Tops started singing together in high school then sang together for more than 40 years, and they sang across a wide range of music genres that included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes, according to Wikipedia. So no one should wonder why there was so much depth to their singing and how they were able to harmonize so well. Only death and illness eventually forced changes in the group's personnel, but The Four Tops are still singing.

"Still Water (Love)" - 1970 - The Four Tops

With backup vocals by The Andantes

Written by

  Smokey Robinson and Frank Wilson

Foreign recruits plummet as Islamic State seen as screw-up

This report covers a lot of ground so I'm only going to quote from the opening paragraphs. See also the Post's report, Islamic State, losing fighters and territory, increasingly turns to child bombers.

Flow of foreign fighters plummets as Islamic State loses its edge

By Griff Witte (London Bureau Chief), Sudarsan Raghavan (Cairo Bureau Chief) and James McAuley

Raghavan reported from Cairo and McAuley from Paris. Liz Sly in Beirut, Loveday Morris in Baghdad, Karla Adam in London, Stephanie Kirchner in Berlin, Michael Birnbaum and Annabell Van den Berghe in Brussels, and Matt Zapotosky in Washington contributed to this report.

September 9 at 3:22 PM EDT
The Washington Post

"... The appeal of Islamic State rested on its strength and its winning. Now that it’s losing, it’s no longer attractive.”

LONDON — The flow of foreign fighters to the ranks of the Islamic State — once a mighty current of thousands of radicalized men and women converging on Syrian and Iraqi battlefields from nations across the globe — has been cut to a trickle this year as the group’s territory has shrunk and its ambitions have withered.

The decline, officials and experts say, has been dramatic, prolonged and geographically widespread, with the number of Europeans, Americans, North Africans and others joining up to fight and die for the idea of a revived Islamic caliphate falling as precipitously as the terrorist group’s fortunes. 

From a peak of 2,000 foreign recruits crossing the Turkish-Syrian border each month, the Islamic State and other extremist groups operating in Syria are down to as few as 50, according to U.S. intelligence assessments. 

Governments from Britain to Tunisia say their citizens are less likely than they have been in years to heed Islamic State calls for front-line volunteers, depriving the organization of needed reinforcements and further eroding its ability to cast itself as the rebirth of a vast Islamic empire.

“It’s a massive falloff,” said Peter Neumann, director of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College London. “And it’s basically because Islamic State is a failing entity now. The appeal of Islamic State rested on its strength and its winning. Now that it’s losing, it’s no longer attractive.”

 The sustained decline marks an important milestone in global efforts to defeat the Islamic State, reflecting measures ranging from a multinational military campaign to, in at least one nation, rules requiring parental permission slips before young men can leave the country.

[10 new wars that could be unleashed as a result of the one against ISIS]

But Neumann and others said the decline in Islamic State recruiting figures — which has come almost as quickly as they rose following leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s declaration of a caliphate in June 2014 — is hardly an unmitigated success for the United States and its allies.

[...]

"U.S., Russia clinch Syria deal, aim for truce from Monday"

The report below quotes such blatant propaganda by U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry that I had trouble getting through it, but I'll have to assume the Assad government agreed with the terms of the deal. 

September 9, 2016 - 8:42pm EDT
Reuters

By David Brunnstrom and Tom Miles | GENEVA

The United States and Russia hailed a breakthrough deal on Saturday to put Syria's peace process back on track, including a nationwide ceasefire effective from sundown on Monday, improved aid access and joint targeting of banned militant Islamist groups.

"Today, Sergei Lavrov and I, on behalf of our presidents and our countries call on every Syrian stakeholder to support the plan that the United States and Russia have reached, to ... bring this catastrophic conflict to the quickest possible end through a political process," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that despite continuing mistrust, the two sides had developed five documents that would enable coordination of the fight against terrorism and a revival of Syria's failed truce in an enhanced form.

"This all creates the necessary conditions for resumption of the political process which has been stalling for a long time," Lavrov told a news conference.

The deal came after marathon talks in Geneva, and several failed attempts to hammer out the details in recent weeks. Kerry, wary of getting the guarantees to make the deal work, had postponed his departure for Geneva for a day.

"The Obama administration, the United States, is going the extra mile here because we believe that Russia, and my colleague (Lavrov), have the ability to press the Assad regime to stop this conflict and to come to the table and make peace," he said.

Kerry said the "bedrock" of the deal was an agreement that the Syrian government would not fly combat missions in an agreed area, on the pretext of hunting fighters from the banned Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate in Syria.

"That should put an end to the barrel bombs, and an end to the indiscriminate bombing, and it has the potential to change the nature of the conflict."

After a sustained period of reduced violence, Russia and the United States would work together to develop military strikes against Nusra and Islamic State, Kerry said.

"Going after Nusra is not a concession to anyone. It is profoundly in the interests of the United States to target al Qaeda, to target al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria which is Nusra.

"We must go after these terrorists. Not indiscriminately, but in a strategic, precise and judicious manner so they cannot continue to use the regime's indiscriminate bombing to rally people to their hateful crimes."

All sides in the conflict would need to adhere to the nationwide truce, Kerry said.

"This requires halting all attacks, including aerial bombardments, and any attempts to gain additional territory at the expense of the parties to the cessation. It requires unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to all of the besieged and hard-to-reach areas including Aleppo."

Both warring sides would pull back from the strategic Castello Road in Aleppo to create a demilitarized zone, while opposition and government groups would both have to provide safe and unhindered access via Ramouseh in the south of the city.

If the truce holds from Monday, Russia and the United States will begin seven days of preparatory work to set up a "joint implementation center", including some information sharing to delineate territory controlled by Nusra and opposition groups.

The United States and Russia have backed opposite sides in Syria's civil war, which has shown little sign of ending after more than five years of violence in which half the pre-war population has been uprooted.

Moscow supports President Bashar al-Assad and Washington supports the opposition, saying Assad must go.

Kerry’s proposal for military cooperation with Russia over Syria has faced resistance from U.S. defense and intelligence officials, who argue that Moscow cannot be trusted.

The United Nations said on Friday the Syrian government had effectively stopped aid convoys this month and the besieged city of Aleppo was close to running out of fuel, making the talks even more urgent.

(Editing by Larry King and Tom Brown)

[END REPORT]

Old School Music Friday - The Staple Singers

Respect Yourself - 1971 - The Staple Singers

Written By Luther Thomas Ingram and Mack Rice

Lyrics 

If you disrespect everybody that you run into
How in the world do you think anybody's supposed to respect you?

If you don't give a heck about the man with the Bible in his hand
Ya'll just get out the way and let the gentleman do his thing

You the kind of gentleman that want everything your way
Take the sheet off your face, boy, it's a brand new day

Respect yourself, respect yourself
If you don't respect yourself ain't nobody gonna give a good cahoot

Respect yourself, respect yourself

If you're walking around thinking that the world owe you something 'cause your're here
You going out the world backwards like you did when you first come here

Keep talking about the President won't stop air pollution
Put your hand over your mouth when you cough that'll help the solution

Oh you curse around womenfolk, you don't even know their name
Then you dumb enough to think that'll make you a big ol' man

Respect yourself, respect yourself
If you don't respect yourself ain't nobody gonna give a good cahoot

Respect yourself, respect yourself ... 

********

Report from Geneva: "U.S., Russia Continue Talks for Syria Cease-Fire Accord"

The reported terms the U.S. wants are not only completely unacceptable, they're also completely unserious. From The Guardian today:

In a translation of the four-page letter published by the Al-Monitor news website, Ratney, described the main points of the ceasefire deal: “That Russia will prevent regime planes from flying, and this means that there will not be bombing by the regime of areas controlled by the opposition, regardless of who is present in the area … In return, we offer Russia coordination from our side to weaken al-Qaeda in Syria. This coordination includes an understanding that there will not be bombings by the regime or random bombings by Russia.”

As a condition for the ceasefire coming into force, regime forces would have to withdraw from a key route into Aleppo, the Castello Road, and end fighting along another, the Ramouseh Road, allowing humanitarian aid to enter the city, as well as “ending all offensive attacks and operations in all parts of the country”.

Humanitarian aid is being delivered although not to the kind of people The Guardian wants it going to. But the U.S. terms, at least ones stated in the letter published by Al-Monitor, are an insult. Nonetheless, negotiations drag on:

U.S., Russia Continue Talks for Syria Cease-Fire Accord

By FELICIA SCHWARTZ

Sept. 9, 2016 4:30 a.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal

Avoiding a siege of Aleppo remains goal for Washington

GENEVA—Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are pressing ahead with talks on a nationwide cease-fire agreement in Syria that would include closer military cooperation against terrorist groups.

Officials traveling with Mr. Kerry played down expectations for the latest round of discussions aimed at curtailing violence in the more than five-year-long civil war that is estimated to have killed more than 400,000 people. The meeting follows talks earlier this week in China and last month in Geneva.

“We can’t guarantee in any way at this point that we are on the cusp of finishing,” a senior official traveling with Mr. Kerry said. The official said the remaining gaps are highly technical, though the U.S. delegation wouldn’t be in Geneva if officials didn’t think there was a chance for a deal or at least progress.

The U.S. wants to make sure that any arrangement guarantees Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will stop bombing his people and allows for humanitarian access. Russia, for its part, has said it wants to make sure that the U.S. separates terrorist groups from opposition fighters in cities like Aleppo, where regime forces and the Syrian opposition have engaged in intensified clashes in recent months. The U.S. said it wouldn’t agree to anything that allowed for a siege of Aleppo, once Syria’s largest city before the war, to continue.

“We need to see a situation where it’s clear within whatever is being agreed with the Russians that there won’t be a siege of Aleppo,” a second senior official traveling with Mr. Kerry said.

The officials said the talks could continue beyond Friday but wouldn’t go on indefinitely.

“If we conclude that it’s just a waste of time and that—and it’s being dragged on for no other purpose than to gain time—then there will be no purpose in us continuing,” the second official said.

U.S. officials had hoped to announce a deal in China on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit but meetings between President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as between Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov fell short.

The Syria talks are taking place amid growing tensions between Moscow and Washington. At issue other than the conflict in Syria conflict are a 2015 cease-fire reached in Ukraine that hasn’t been fully implemented and growing U.S. concern that Russian hackers are targeting U.S. electoral systems.

Under the plan Mr. Kerry put forward in July, the U.S. and Russia would share information and coordinate air attacks against the Syria Conquest Front, which was formerly known as the Nusra Front and was linked to al Qaeda. In exchange, Mr. Assad’s air force would halt all operations, and U.S. and Russian airstrikes would target only Islamic State and the Syria Conquest Front.

Since then, the diplomacy has been complicated by increased fighting in Aleppo, where members of the Syrian Conquest Front have increasingly become more mixed with moderate opposition fighters. Russia wants the U.S. to ensure that opposition fighters be separated from the terrorist groups.

The U.S. and Russia had announced a cease-fire agreement in February that has largely fallen apart. The most recent round of diplomacy is intended to repair what U.S. officials believe led to its collapse, including the Assad regime’s frequent violations of the accord without consequences and the rise of the Syrian Conquest Front, formerly the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, as the violence has continued on the ground.

President Barack Obama in China said he was skeptical that the U.S. and Russia could reach a deal, and if they did, that Mr. Putin would abide by it over the long term. The U.S. has entered into agreements with Russia on Syria and Ukraine, only to have them unravel.

[END REPORT]

Islamic State's vanishing act continues in Syria. But where's it vanishing to?

Demise of the “Caliphate”: ISIS-held territory shrinks and becomes a big pocket
By Renato Velez
September 5, 2016
AMN

The glorious days for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) are just a memory of the past. Now, the “caliphate” project seems to be approaching to its ultimate demise, as most of its rival forces are advancing on the ground, shrinking its territory and cutting its last supply lines.

[...]

ISIL Withdraws from Al-Bab City in Aleppo

September 8, 2016 -- 5:13

FARS

TEHRAN (FNA)- ISIL terrorists evacuated their headquarters in the city of al-Bab in Syria’s Aleppo province on Thursday, media reported.

“Dozens of ISIL military vehicles have left al-Bab carrying weapons and militants. They headed to the nearby town of Khafsa East of al-Bab city,” local media activist Nasim Babi told ARA News.

Informed sources in al-Bab reported that major ISIL headquarters in the city were seen empty on Thursday.

The evacuated ISIL headquarters in al-Bab included the Sharia Court, al-Hisba police department, jihadi training camps and weapons’ storage centers.

This comes as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continued their advance towards the al-Bab city in Northern Aleppo. Also, the Turkish-backed rebels of the Euphrates Shield Brigades announced readiness to fight against the ISIL in al-Bab and other areas in northern Syria.

“ISIL has been under heavy pressure in al-Bab. The decision to evacuate their headquarters comes after the SDF forces made further advance towards the key city after retaking Manbij from the radical group,” SDF officer Habun Osman said.

In the meantime, activists said that clashes may erupt between the SDF and Turkish-backed rebels if both forces tried to storm the city of al-Bab after ISIL departure.

[END REPORT]

Now where is Islamic State going after it's forced from Khafsa? Questions about where IS is headed, as it falls back from position after position in Syria, are becoming increasingly urgent.

The Case of the Missing Islamic State Terrorists

Aaron Klein, Breitbart Chief Middle East Correspondent, was on John Batchelor's radio show Wednesday to report on the search by Western, Arab and Israeli intelligence agencies for what is estimated to be 10,000 Islamic State fighters who've disappeared from Syria. From notes at the JB Show Schedule page:

Where are the 10,000 ISIS jihadists? US and Arab [and European and Israeli] intell cannot find – not traceable. [Did they go to] Turkey or to Iraq, or to Libya and aiming at Europe?

List of 1,7000 missing IS fighters [including their names] compiled by Tunisia.

[Were the rest taken as hostages?] Killed as hostages? Executed by other jihadist groups?

[Locating the whereabouts of these fighters] is not yet a critical emergency, but close to it in Arab capitals – Red Flag, Jordan Libya, Egypt ... and across Europe, esp Red Flag in Belgium and France.

I think Aaron said that some of them probably went to Sinai. That would make sense. They established a presence there at least a year ago. And he mentioned that some of them could be holed up along the Eygpt-Libya border, which is very porous..
The possibility he did not mention, although surely it's occurred to him (and intelligence agencies), is that many of these fighters were snapped up by the Saudi military and transferred to fight in Yemen.

That had already happened n a small scale, more than a year ago, although I can't recall for certain whether these fighters were IS, or Nusra Front or one of the other Al Qaeda fronts in Syria. But Russian and Syrian military observers would stand there with binoculars and watch fighters being loaded onto planes bound for Saudi Arabia, and then they'd photograph it. 

I'll bet those photos went over like bacon at a bar mitzvah with U.S. military intelligence.

But this large-scale disappearance was predictable. The Syrian government doesn't have the resources to jail large numbers of captured fighters, which means looking after their families as well. Many times when the SAA coalition is bearing down on a town where IS is holed up, they just tell them to get out: find a rock to crawl under and take your wives and kids with you. And many IS fighters melt away just before their location is going to fall. They leave through tunnels they've dug or high-tail it in their pickup trucks.

However, the great concern is that several of these vanished 10,000 fighters are going to pop up and attack civilian targets all around the world.

********

Do you or someone you know experience hikikomori? If so you're not alone.

Wow. This subject is entirely new to me and clearly it has complex roots; it's also very controversial (see the Amazon page I link to below), so I don't have any comment at this time. 

One thing is already very clear to me, however, from the following report. In the time since the landmark book on hikikomori was published -- 2013 -- the phenomenon has doubled among young people in Japan.

Forever Alone? More Than Half a Million Young Japanese Live as Recluses
September 9, 2016
Sputnik

In Japan some 541,000 people between the ages of 15 and 39 are recluses, according to a government survey released Wednesday.

Hikikomori is a Japanese term used to describe people who withdraw from society. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry defines hikikomori as those who have stayed at home for a minimum of six months without going to school or work, or interacting with others, according to the Japan Times.

A 2010 survey conducted by the Cabinet Office noted some 696,000 recluses in Japan. A December 2015 survey does not include people age 40 and over [see article, below], but does reveal that 35 percent of the total have remained at home for at least seven years, documenting a trend of staying homebound for longer periods. The survey also demonstrated that the number of hikikomori aged between 35-39 has doubled. [since the 2010 survey, I assume]

Some 34.7 percent have been reclusive for at least seven years, 28.6 percent for three to five years and 12.2 percent have shut themselves in for four to seven years.

According to Tamaki Saito, a Japanese psychiatrist and the country's leading expert on the hikikomori phenomenon, the hikikomori state is similar to alcoholism, and a support network is crucial. In his book Hikikomori: Adolescence without End [English translation available at Amazon], he analyzes various aspects regarding the condition.

Saito suggests that the problem is caused primarily by the relationship between parents and children, and the pressure parents exert on children in Japan, especially male. Japanese parents have high expectations of sons, often contradicting a child's aspirations. As a result, if a child fails he loses confidence and self-esteem, followed by a period of withdrawal. 

Saito offers that Japan and many other countries in which rapid post-industrialization has changed social and family structures experience the phenomenon of hikikomori.

[END REPORT]

See also:

TV takes the lazy approach on ‘hikikomori’- Special to The Japan Times by PHILIP BRASOR; April 9, 2016

One slip can sink a salary-man's career; The Japan Times, February 13, 2016:

"Mid-life crisis: A growing number of men in their mid-40s have been fleeing their careers and displaying behavior consistent with hikikomori ..."

********

Airstrike wipes out large gathering of Jaish Al-Fateh poobahs. Right on! Updated 5:50 PM EDT

Well, it was breaking news when AMN posted it.

Breaking: Airstrike targets Jaish Al-Fateh meeting in Aleppo
By Izat Charkatli
August 9, 2016
AMN

Aleppo, Syria (12:11 A.M.) – An airstrike targeted a Jabhat Fath Al-Sham (formerly Jabhat Al-Nusra) meeting in the Aleppo village of Kafar Naha moments ago.

A large number of prominent commanders were neutralized including the emir and founder of the jihadist coalition of Jaish Al-Fateh Abu Hajar Al-Homsi, the emir of the Nusra Brigades Abu Muslim Al-Shami, Abu Omar Saraqib who was a founding father and a commander of Jaish Al-Fateh, along with several other top commanders who have yet to be confirmed.

Early reports say the airstrike was carried out by a U.S warplane, however the targeted area is known to be an active airstrikes ground for Russian air force as well.

[Pundita note: The rest of the report is a couple pix of dead terrorists and a message in Arabic replete with handy Arabic translator.]

UPDATE 5:50 PM EDT

As long as I'm reporting on that airstrike, might as well toss in SouthFront's report today on yesterday's activities of the very busy Russian and Syrian air forces:

On September 8, Syrian and Russian warplanes conducted a series of air raids across the country, smashing manpower and military equipment belonging to ISIS and other terrorist groups.

Russian warplanes pounded the base of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly Al Nusra Front) near the village of Maar Dabsi in the province of Idlib. Several vehicles, weapons and munitions located at the base were destroyed. Other ten armored vehicles were destroyed by Syrian warplanes in air raids on terrorist targest at al-Taman’a, Abu Zohur and Banash in the same province.

Separately, the Russian Aerospace Forces hit the ISIS terrorist group’s positions in the province of Deir Ezzor, killing up to 15 terrorists at the Deir Ezzor Military Airport.

Air strikes were also reported in the area of Al-Sha’er Gas Fields and at the village of Arak near Palmyra in the province of Homs.

Russian and Syrian warplanes have also continued to bomb militant convoys along the Aleppo-Damascus highway and the Ramouseh-Khan Tuman road. However, there are no information about casualties among terrorists.

[END REPORT]

********

Old School Thursday: Archie Bell & The Drells

Were they the real 'father' of Disco music?  Some say yes, but the debates will go on about which group really started the disco dance beat. One thing everyone can agree on about AB&D: it was one of the stars of Philadelphia Soul, aka The Philly Sound:

By grafting strings and smooth horn charts to the Memphis groove, Leon Huff, Kenny Gamble, and Thom Bell created what became known as "the Philly Sound" in the 1970s, a formula that prefigured both disco (by dialing up the funk) and (once they factored in Al Green and Hi Records) contemporary urban soul.

"Let's Groove" - 1977 - Archie Bell & The Drells

********

Turkish Double Cross?

This looks to me as if Erdogan double-crossed Putin. Again. 

Russia "Gravely Concerned" About Turkish Advance in Syria
01:21 - 08.09.2016 (updated 01:22 08.09.2016)

Sputnik

The Foreign Ministry of Russia on Wednesday expressed “grave concern” regarding the movement of Turkish troops and Ankara-backed Syrian opposition groups on Syrian territory, emphasizing that the actions have not been approved by the legitimate Syrian government or the UN Security Council.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that the Turkish incursion undermines the "sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic."

The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that Turkish actions "could further complicate an already challenging military and political situation in Syria and negatively affect international efforts to devise a settlement platform that would ensure a more sustainable ceasefire, uninterrupted humanitarian access and would provide a solid foundation for conciliation and overcoming the crisis in this country.

"Russia calls on Ankara to put these objectives above immediate military and tactical aims and refrain from steps that could further destabilise the Syrian Arab Republic." Turkey launched its "Euphrates Shield" operation on August 24 in Syria. It has so far resulted in the seizure of a 56-mile corridor within Syria near the Turkish border, between the cities of Azaz and Jarabulus. Turkey plans further expansion of the zone.

According to political analyst Alexander Mercouris, who spoke on Wednesday to Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear host Brian Becker, Turkey is attempting to create a safe zone in northeastern Syria to serve as a base for jihadi groups supported by Washington and Ankara. The US has supplied Turkey with military hardware to carry out the operation. 

Mercouris observed that Russia and the US have radically different views on the future of Syria.

[...]

U.S. has offered Saudi Arabia record-breaking $115+ billion in materiel and war training

See also this discussion at Sic Semper Tyrannis.

Obama administration arms sales offers to Saudi top $115 billion: report

By Yara Bayoumy | WASHINGTON

Wed Sep 7, 2016 3:20pm EDT

Reuters

U.S. President Barack Obama's administration has offered Saudi Arabia more than $115 billion in weapons, other military equipment and training, the most of any U.S. administration in the 71-year U.S.-Saudi alliance, a report seen by Reuters has found.

The report, authored by William Hartung of the U.S.-based Center for International Policy, said the offers were made in 42 separate deals, and the majority of the equipment has yet to be delivered. Hartung told Reuters the report would be made available publicly on Sept. 8.

The report said U.S. arms offers to Saudi Arabia since Obama took office in January 2009 have included everything from small arms and ammunition to tanks, attack helicopters, air-to-ground missiles, missile defense ships, and warships. Washington also provides maintenance and training to Saudi security forces.

The Center's report is based on data from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, a Department of Defense body that provides figures on arms sales offers and Foreign Military Sales agreements. Most of the offers, which are reported to Congress, become formal agreements though some are abandoned or amended. The report did not disclose how many of the offers to Saudi Arabia were agreed.

Washington's arms sales to Riyadh recently have come under fire from rights groups and some members of Congress are disturbed by the rising number of civilian casualties in the war in Yemen, where a coalition led by Saudi Arabia is fighting Iran-allied Houthi rebels.

The conflict has killed at least 10,000 people. Last month the United Nations human rights office said that 3,799 civilians have died in the conflict, with coalition air strikes responsible for an estimated 60 percent of the deaths.

The coalition says it does not target civilians and accuses the Houthis of placing military targets in civilian areas. The coalition has created a body to investigate civilian casualties.

The outcry over those casualties has led some members of Congress to push for restrictions on arms transfers, and amid the growing outcry, the Pentagon cautioned that its support for Saudi Arabia in its Yemen campaign was not "a blank check".

The Control Arms coalition, a group that campaigns for stricter arms sales controls, said last month that Britain, France and the United States were flouting the 2014 Arms Trade treaty, which bans exports of conventional weapons that fuel human rights violations or war crimes.

Nevertheless, the Obama administration last month approved a potential $1.15 billion arms package for Saudi Arabia.

Hartung said the level of U.S. arms sales to Riyadh should give it leverage to pressure Saudi Arabia."It's time for the Obama administration to use the best leverage it has - Saudi Arabia's dependence on U.S. weapons and support - to wage the war in Yemen in the first place," Hartung told Reuters.

"Pulling back the current offer of battle tanks or freezing some of the tens of billions in weapons and services in the pipeline would send a strong signal to the Saudi leadership that they need stop their indiscriminate bombing campaign and take real steps to prevent civilian casualties."

Washington has been at pains to prove to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies that it remains committed to their defense against Iran in the wake of a multinational deal last year to restrict the Iranian nuclear program. Sunni Muslim Gulf states accuse Shi'ite Iran of fomenting instability in the region, which the Islamic Republic denies.

"The more recent deals that have involved resupplying Saudi Arabia with ammunition, bombs, and tanks to replace weaponry used up or damaged in the war in Yemen are no doubt driven in part by the effort to 'reassure' the Saudis that the U.S. will not tilt towards Iran in the wake of the nuclear deal," Hartung said.

(Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by John Walcott and Diane Craft)

[END REPORT]

Old School Music Wednesday: The Dells

"The Love We Had Stays On My Mind" - 1971 - The Dells

Painkiller, anti-anxiety meds combo killing many middle-aged white U.S. women

A report in The Washington Post looked at death rates for middle-aged white women. It found women like Apgood are five times more likely to receive prescriptions for both anti-anxiety drugs and painkillers. "When we mix those two medications, a benzodiazepine and opioids, there's a huge risk for overdose" ...

I think part of what's happening is that in earlier times if a mother was in chronic pain, say from a difficult childbirth, there was a large extended family and older children in her immediate family to help her look after the smaller children and do the housework and cooking. And she didn't have to hold down a job outside the home. Today many such women are forced to function as if they're well, and the small family unit, often isolated by distance from the larger family, doesn't provide them with enough help. So they turn to doctors who prescribe incredibly powerful medications, often in combination, and with no thought to how the medications interact.....

September 7, 2016
AOL News

MURRAY, Utah (KSTU) -- Melanie Apgood, of Holladay, has two kids. Her youngest, Thomas, is 10 years old.

A decade after giving birth, she is still dealing with the impacts of what was a difficult pregnancy that had her hospitalized for three months.

"I was getting two Percocets every six hours as well as a shot of morphine every day," Apgood said.

Percocet and morphine are both opiate-based pain relievers, a class of drug that can be highly addictive.

Ten days after giving birth, her doctor took her off the medication. Though she didn't realize it at the time, she was addicted. Apgood contemplated suicide. She was depressed and questioned her own sanity.

Recognizing something was wrong, she went to her doctor.

"When I went to my primary care, he prescribed me Xanax," Apgood said.

Xanax is an anti-anxiety medication, part of the benzodiazepine class of drugs.

A report in The Washington Post looked at death rates for middle-aged white women. It found women, like Apgood, are five times more likely to receive prescriptions for both anti-anxiety drugs and painkillers.

"When we mix those two medications a benzodiazepine and opioids, there's a huge risk for overdose," said Angela Stander, the prescription drug overdose prevention coordinator for the Utah Department of Health.

The impacts are both more widespread and more profound than many people realize and they appear to have the biggest impact on middle-aged white women.

The report found a 400-percent jump in opioid overdose deaths among middle-aged white women from 1999 to 2014. It is contributing so much to that specific demographic, it's actually changing the overall death rates.

In Salt Lake County, the death rate over the same time period for the same demographic went up 9 percent. In Wayne County, the death rate jumped 65 percent for middle-aged white women.

"A lot of times these are, you know, prescribed with the best intentions and taken with the best intentions," Stander said.

The intention is to reduce pain, but the price is a higher rate of addiction and ultimately overdoses.

Last week the U.S. Surgeon General wrote a letter addressed to every doctor in America asking them to take a pledge to use greater care when prescribing opiate based medications. The care may need to focus specifically on a group, most would not stereotype as drug abusers, middle-aged white women.

"A Caucasian person like myself. A professional, somebody who has employment, we wouldn't expect them of being someone who is addicted to a drug," said Mary Jo McMiller, Director of Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness.

The Utah Health Department says the statistics show after taking painkillers for just seven days a dependence can form. It happened to Melanie Apgood and it took two years before family intervened.

Clean for eight years and raising both of her sons as a single mom, Apgood still feels the impact of addiction.

"It really is an ongoing battle and I don't think it will ever, it won't ever go away," she said.

Apgood recently had surgery to repair a problem with her large intestine. Once again, painkillers were prescribed. Not taking any chances, she set up a safety plan.

A family member has the prescription bottle, giving her only a day's dose at a time. It is a small price to pay to avoid joining a larger statistic of women dying too soon.

Opioid Addiction has reached crisis level in the US:

[...]

SEE ALSO: Warning issued as DEA announces plan to ban popular herbal supplement

[END REPORT]       

The real story of Ed Snowden's escape from Hong Kong. "We must have been crazy."

There's an old saying -- surely born in Ireland: "God looks after drunks, widows, and Irishmen."

Add Edward Snowden to the list.

Snowden and the team of lawyers in Hong Kong who helped him escape didn't know what the heck they were doing. It is a wonder MI6 didn't grab him. 

Well, Canada's National Post has an exclusive on the story -- and photos. The part that really got to me is that he wouldn't give up working on the blasted internet, even after the authorities had clearly traced the signals to a slum where he was hiding. [shaking her head] 

Luck of the Snowden.   

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Russia and China escape their lamps. Meanwhile the New Cold War lumbers on.

There's no getting these genies back in the lamp:

Russia and China have, in separate ways, now been enabled to commence implementation of their strategies to replicate the maritime powers’ control or dominance of the maritime global commons, particularly ports, straits, and choke-points. In other words, they have begun to seek command of both the land and the seas, a process likely to evolve over decades.

From "Russia and China Break Out from Three Centuries of Containment." Gregory Copley of GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs in last night's discussion with John Batchelor of the John Batchelor Show.  

What now for the emerging world order that sees diminished American influence? Gregory explains. Here's the JBS podcast of the discussion.  See also the JBS Schedule page for more quotes from Defense & Foreign Affairs on the discussion.  (September 6, Hour 3, Blocks C and D)

Earlier Tuesday night John Batchelor and Russia expert Dr Stephen F. Cohen mulled the latest moves in the New Cold War. They focused on three areas: nuclear weapons, Ukraine, and Syria. That first is the most serious; however, as the conflicts in those two nations are currently very much part of the New Cold War they fold into the issue of nukes. 

There are extensive quotes on the topics at the JBS Schedule page (Hour 2). Here is the podcast for the discussion. 

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Um, is a top Saudi cleric a polytheist?

This is a very curious story but Sputnik was so busy being outraged at the cleric's call for victory over Jews, Christians, etc. that the editor didn't notice what was remarkable about his words. Oh well, maybe it's a just a translation mistake. Or maybe we never knew before that Wahabbists are polytheists:

Video of a daily prayer service at the Saudi Arabian Masjid al-Ḥarām, the largest mosque in the world, reveals a top Saudi imam calling for the killing of Shia Muslims, Jews, and Christians. This as the West continues to send billions of dollars worth of military aid to Riyadh.

Masjid al-Ḥarām, also known as the Sacred Mosque, or the Great Mosque of Mecca, surrounds the holiest place in Islam, the Kabba, in the city of Mecca. It is the center toward which Muslims globally pray, and the primary destination for pilgrimages.

“O Allah, grant victory, dignity and empowerment to our brothers Mujahideen (Jihadists) in Yemen,” the imam sings in Arabic. “In Sham (Syria), and Iraq, and everywhere. O Lords of the Worlds grant them victory over the godless Rafidah (Shia Muslims).”

He continues on in that vein against other nonbelievers. For the Arabic speakers there is video at Sputnik of his lecture, which aired on an Egyptian TV station, and is probably plastered all over the internet by now.

But what I want to know is what Lords he's talking about -- and for that matter what worlds. I thought only the followers of Elijah Muhammad 's teachings believed the human race was from outer space, or at least that Africans were from another planet.

I wonder if MEMRI has translated the Saudi's words yet. They have really good Arabic translators. Give me a moment [taptaptaptap]  Well I don't see it but I did find a fascinating report there from French 24 TV. It's about the cottage industry of making automatic weapons and ammo in a Pakistani village. A knockoff AK-47 goes for 60 euros -- much less than a smart phone -- and took only 40 euros to make. The village and surrounding region is a hub for weapons buyers.

Private enterprise. Ain't nothing like it.

Meanwhile, Associated Press reported Saudi Arabia's top cleric says Iran's leaders 'not Muslims':

[...]
In comments to the Makkah newspaper, the top Saudi cleric was quoted as saying that Khamenei's remarks are "not surprising" because Iranians are descendants of "Majuws"— a term that refers to Zoroastrians and those who worship fire. Zoroastrianism is a monotheistic religion predating Christianity and Islam and was the dominant religion in Persia before the Arab conquest.

"We must understand they are not Muslims, for they are the descendants of Majuws, and their enmity toward Muslims, especially the Sunnis, is very old," the Saudi cleric said.

[...] 

No word from AP on whether the cleric thinks Zoroastrians are from outer space.

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World Nomad Games: Perfect vacation for the family with a spoiled brat

Lots of excitement

Great accommodations

They might even see a movie star or two

Thanks to Sputnik for the photo essay on the nomad games:

In Kyrgyzstan, 53 nations are competing in eagle hunting, stick wrestling and bone throwing.

The second World Nomad Games opened over the weekend on the shores of the alpine lake Issyk-Kul, situated near the Chinese border in Kyrgyzstan. The tournament promises to become a major international event in the country; they are designed to celebrate the nomadic heritage of the Central Asian nations.

One and all are having fun

 Visit Sputnik for more photos.  

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Old School Music Tuesday: The Spinners

This paean to the African-American mothers of yesteryear starts with a pointed remark: "In a world like today it's a rare occasion to be able to see young mothers like the ones that were around when I grew up."

The only thing those incredible women couldn't conquer was the twin scourges of the Republican Party's state-sponsored illicit drug business and the Democratic Party's welfare state. 

That's not a political statement, it's the truth, although few younger people know about the connection between America's prosecution of the Cold War and the collateral damage of a drug trade that decimated the poorest of America's communities.

But as the Welfare Mom took the place of Supermoms who'd held their families together with strength of character, boundless love, and unshakable faith in God even in the worst poverty, The Spinners looked back in a song that I believe more than any other conveys the Old School of Black American pop music.                    

"Sadie" - 1974 - The Spinners 

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