Target Centermass

Category: Europe

  • Looking at Today’s News

    Sex Assaults Against Women GIs Increase in War Time

    Sexual assault reports involving members of the Armed Services rose to 1,700 in 2004, up from the previous two years, according to Pentagon statistics, leading some critics to say the Department of Defense is not doing enough to prevent sexual misconduct in the military.

    There is much to be mulled over in this article, and ammunition is to be found for both sides of the women-in-combat debate and the Pentagon-isn’t-doing-enough argument. Perhaps the sanest point is as follows:

    Ret. Navy Capt. Lory Manning, a senior fellow with the Women’s Research and Education Institute in Washington, said it is unclear whether the Pentagon’s latest figures on sexual assault reflect an increase in the number of incidents or are the result of women feeling more comfortable reporting them. She added that she believes the military is doing a good job in addressing the problems.

    Two busted in Al Qaeda plot in U.S.

    The son of a former Malcolm X aide was nabbed yesterday, along with a Florida doctor, in a plot to start an Al Qaeda training camp in the U.S. – even scouting out a Long Island warehouse for a terror school, officials said last night.

    Tarik Shah, 38, a self-proclaimed martial arts expert from the Bronx, and Dr. Rafiq Sabir, 50, presented themselves as a “package deal” to help Muslim “brothers” wage jihad here and in the Middle East, said Manhattan U.S. Attorney David Kelley.

    Grant them due process. Ensure a fair trial. Destroy them if guilty.

    Hariri Bloc Sweeps Beirut Parliamentary Elections

    The Interior Ministry in charge of parliamentary elections in Lebanon announced a landslide victory for the son of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in the Beirut district. Three more rounds of voting in other regions of the country lie ahead.

    In the first vote since the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanese territory, official results are in from the first round of voting in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections. The landslide victory went to the list of candidates headed by Saad Hariri, the son of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

    The Cedar Revolution continues.

    Germany Moves Closer to First Woman Leader

    Germany’s opposition conservatives have named Angela Merkel as their candidate to challenge Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in September that could produce the country’s first woman leader.

    The last obstacle to her nomination fell when Edmund Stoiber, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)’s sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union (CSU), backed her at a meeting of the parties’ top officials.

    […]

    Opinion polls show the Christian Democrats will win, as Merkel faces off against the beleaguered Social Democratic leader who has seen his popularity plummet in the face of a stagnant economy and dissatisfaction over the direction of the country.

    This will be an interesting race to watch but I won’t shed a tear should Schroeder fall.

    Russia agrees to Pull Troops from Georgia by 2008

    Russia on Monday agreed to shut its military bases in neighboring Georgia by 2008, a decision that effectively pares Kremlin influence in the increasingly West-leaning Caucasus region.

    Russia’s bases in the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi and near the Georgian-Armenian border are holdovers from the Soviet era and house about 3,000 troops. The agreement is a major victory for Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has allied his country with the United States and Europe and aggressively pushed for the base closings.

    Earlier this month, Georgian leaders threatened to take steps to force their shutdown by Jan. 1, including a prohibition on visas for Russian soldiers slated for assignment to the bases and a ban on cargo movement to and from the bases.

    Pair this with the developments in Ukraine and we see a significant drop in Russian influence in two of its former Soviet republics, influence that is being replaced from a westward direction, albeit to a noticably lesser degree.

  • France Rejects EU Constitution

    Good for the French.

    French voters, who turned out in estimated record numbers Sunday, have rejected the proposed European Union constitution, according to early government results.

    The Interior Ministry reported that, with 83% of the votes counted, the referendum was rejected by 57.26% of the voters. The EU constitution was supported by 42.74%, officials said.

    The results of the French referendum are seen as critical because of France’s position as a key leader in the EU.

    The most recent pre-referendum poll showed that 54% of the French electorate was against the constitution, despite some last-minute lobbying by the country’s president, Jacques Chirac.

    So much for Chirac’s piss-off-the-Brits-and-Americans campaign.

    Fallout from the vote is expected to have an effect on the euro and short-term make-up of the EU.

    Expectations of a ‘no’ vote have pressured the European common currency in recent months, as a defeat of the constitution is seen as a political setback to the European project.

    The euro has already fallen from above $1.34 in early March to the $1.25 level. Analysts have said part of the fall is related to the widening interest-rate differentials between the U.S. and the eurozone, but part of the move is also tied to political instability.

    A ‘no’ vote has also weighed on Turkish equities, as a defeat would likely delay European Union ascension talks.

    Holland is also expected to reject the constitution this week. Does that mean the constitution is dead on arrival. It should but, as I’ve pointed out before, it probably doesn’t.

  • Pager-Forced Link Dump

    The oncall pager has been brutal so far this week, as demonstrated by the limited posting. Well, let’s throw it around the horn.

    Schroder has ‘No Chance’ in General Election

    The poll shows Mr Schröder’s Social Democratic party (SPD) scoring 28 per cent of the votes against 49 per cent for Angela Merkel’s opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Should the neo-communist Party of Democratic Socialism fail to make it into parliament, as his figures suggest, the centre-right CDU would command an absolute majority in the house for the first time in 48 years.

    “The CDU is in a state of euphoria right now, and its lead will soften, but not enough,” says Mr Güllner. “The SPD has no chance to win this election.”

    No sympathy. Zero, babe.

    Army Program Aims for Higher Alert for IEDs
    (Hat tip to OtB)

    American military officials have kicked off a new awareness campaign they hope will reduce deaths and injuries caused by the No. 1 killer of U.S. troops in Iraq: homemade bombs.

    Dubbed “5-and-25,” the program’s goal is, flatly, to “reduce the effectiveness of the mountain of makeshift bombs being produced by insurgents.”

    Faces of the Fallen
    PoliBlog‘s Dr. Steven Taylor visits D.C. and photoblogs an impressive tribute to those who have fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Especially touching were the notes and tokens left by loved ones at the individual portraits.

    I previously blogged more background on the display here. I’m glad to find it’s as honorable and moving as I’d hoped.

    Reports: Zarqawi Shot in Lung

    Insurgents said Wednesday in interviews and statements on the Internet that the leader of the group al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, was struggling with a gunshot wound to the lung. One of Zarqawi’s commanders said the Jordanian guerrilla was receiving oxygen, heightening suspicion that the groundwork was being laid for an announcement of his replacement or death.

    Iraqi Forces Arrest Key Zarqawi Aide

    Officials say Iraqi forces made the arrest of al-Aswadi as he tried to bribe his way through a checkpoint in the town of Balad. His vehicle was found to contain a global positioning system, multiple identification papers, a scope used to launch mortars, and U.S. currency.

    Officials say al-Aswadi served as a key aide to Iraq’s al-Qaida front man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born militant. The statement says al-Aswadi was involved in the funding of terror cells, terrorist training, and the making of car and roadside bombs.


    U.S. Forces Launch Operation in Another Western Iraqi City

    More than 1,000 U.S. troops on Wednesday swept into this city on the road to Syria to root out insurgents — including those loyal to terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — after rebels damaged the hospital, knocked out the electricity and prevented police from entering.

    Check out Hyscience and In the Bullpen for good commentary on this effort.

  • Last WWI Cavalryman Dies

    And off a brave man goes to Fiddler’s Green.

    The last surviving British cavalryman from the First World War has died at the age of 108.

    Albert Marshall lied about his age to sign up for service in the Great War and even volunteered to return to the front line after being injured and sent home to convalesce.

    In 1998, he was awarded the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest honour, in recognition of his gallantry.

    He was believed to be the second oldest man in England.

    His son, John Marshall, 73, said his father died in his sleep on Monday at his home in Ashtead, Surrey, from pneumonia and old age.

    He added: “He went to join up (in 1915) and the man behind the desk said ‘How old are you lad?”’.

    “My father replied 17, but the man said ‘Would you leave the room’. He went outside then came back in after a bit and the man asked him again how old he was. ‘Eighteen,’ my father said, and was allowed to join up.

    “We as a family never knew a thing about his war experiences. We knew he was in the First World War, obviously, but it was not a subject spoken about.

    “It was only when he joined the veterans’ association and all the media attention he received after his 100th birthday that we learnt about what he did.”

    Mr Marshall, known as Smiler, was born on March 15, 1897, the year of Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee, in Elmstead Market, a small Essex village.

    He had a life-long passion for working with horses and in January 1915, aged 17, joined the Essex Yeomanry.

    His carer, Graham Stark, a volunteer from the World War One Veterans’ Association, said: “The young men that joined up didn’t think they were being brave.

    “The old Victorian values just kicked in. People didn’t put themselves first – it was a duty. We consider them heroes but they wouldn’t consider themselves in that way.”

    ‘Tis a far different story than what is so common these days.

    The soldier took part in his first major battle during the autumn of 1915 at Loos in northern France.

    Mr Marshall once said: “The cavalry’s job in winter was to hold the front line. There were three lines of trenches, mud and devastation.”

    Mr Stark said the old soldier told him he worked in small mounted units of four. One man would hold the reins of the other three horses while his comrades fought the enemy on foot.

    While serving in Flanders he was shot through the hand and spent 1917 convalescing in a Newcastle hospital but volunteered to return to the front and was back in position by spring 1918, now with the Machine Gun Corps.

    Sleep well, Albert Marshall. You’ve earned the rest.

    By the way, Fiddler’s Green is a reference to an old poem, embraced by American cavalrymen and carried on today by some tankers and scouts. It goes as follows:

    Fiddler’s Green

    Half way down the trail to Hell
    In a shady, meadow green,
    Are the souls of all dead troopers camped
    Near a good, old-time canteen,
    And this eternal resting place
    Is known as Fiddler’s Green.

    Marching past, straight through to Hell
    The Infantry are seen,
    Accompanied by the Engineers,
    Artillery, and Marines,
    For none but the shades of Cavalrymen
    Dismount at Fiddler’s Green.

    Though some go curving down the trail
    To seek a warmer scene,
    No trooper ever gets to Hell
    Ere he’s emptied his canteen.
    And so rides back to drink again
    With friends at Fiddler’s Green.

    And so when horse and man go down
    Beneath a saber keen,
    Or in a roaring charge or fierce melee
    You stop a bullet clean,
    And the hostiles come to get your scalp

    Just empty your canteen,
    And put your pistol to your head
    And go to Fiddler’s Green.

  • France’s Media Problem

    I’ve posted before that French approval of the European Union’s constitution is in jeopardy, though even a non vote will probably not stop the EU. The issue has spawned a controversy among the French about representation of the pending vote among its public media.

    The debate over the benefits and the drawbacks of the treaty has not only divided France, it has also bitterly split France’s journalists over the nature of their coverage.

    A group of journalists from French state TV and radio are so angered by what they see as one-sided propaganda campaign being broadcast on the airwaves on behalf of the government and the Yes campaign that they have set up an online petition, signed by more than 15,000 people since 1 May.

    They presented it to President Jacques Chirac, the heads of French TV and radio and to the director of the CSA French broadcasting standards authority, Dominique Baudis.

    “This is a grotesque situation,” says Jacques Cotta, a well-known TV correspondent for France 2 who is one of the leaders of the campaign for fair coverage in the lead-up to the referendum.

    “Publicly-owned media in France are broadcasting sheer propaganda to the public, and this absence of any pluralism or any attempt to represent and discuss the point of view of those who want to vote No to the Treaty is profoundly undemocratic”

    He and his colleague Jean-Marc Surcin, a documentary-maker for France 2, agree that French newspapers have been no different, with most overtly supporting the Yes campaign.

    However, it is the role of publicly-funded and publicly-accountable state broadcasters which angers them most.

    “These are broadcasters paid for by the public, and they should be reflecting both sides of the debate fairly,” Jean-Marc Surcin tells me.

    They were granted a lengthy meeting with Mr Baudis, in which the journalists pointed out that according to their figures, French TV and radio had given 71% of its time to the Yes campaigners, and devoted a mere 29% to the No campaign between 1 January and 31 March.

    Opponents have become embittered by the one-sided treatment of the debate by the government and the publicly-owned media.

    France’s best-known Eurosceptic MP, Philippe de Villiers, has warned his supporters that they face what he called an “incredible bludgeoning” by the political and media elite.

    “On the radio, in the newspapers, on the television channels, there is just one single editorial voice: in favour of the Yes,” Mr de Villiers told one rally.

    He brandished a copy of the draft constitution which has been posted to every single household in France, along with an explanatory leaflet. That leaflet, say No campaigners, is deeply biased in favour of the treaty.

    Mr de Villiers suspects a plot. “It’s unreadable, in tiny print, and that’s not an accident. People are going to say, ‘I can’t read this, I’ll just read the helpful synopsis’. It’s a trick worthy of Fidel Castro,” he claims.

    Interestingly, the story turns to how constitution opponents are succeeding to get their message out to some — blogs.

    So instead – with accusations of media bias springing up daily on all sides – the No campaigners are using the web as never before.

    This is the first major campaign in France in which the internet has become a key weapon, with bloggers and internet-users becoming the No campaign’s front-line troops – not just in terms of influencing public opinion but also in rallying the French public to attend its campaign events.

    The Socialist MP Jack Lang – spokesman for the left’s official Yes campaign – has already warned that his side is in danger of losing the “cyber-debate” because of the strength of the No campaign on the web.

    As I’ve pointed out before, a French “no” may mean little eventually to the EU, but all of the intrigue has made for interesting theater. Besides, any setback for Chirac that doesn’t harm us is a good thing.

  • France Protests End of National Holiday

    The fundamental problem of socialism and communism in a nutshell: lack of personal incentive impairs the public ability to provide. Just ask the French.

    Teachers, transport workers and much of France ignored the government’s call to sacrifice a paid holiday to raise money for the elderly Monday — causing widespread disruption on a day meant to symbolize national unity.

    Public transport in up to 90 cities and towns across France was disrupted. Many city halls and classrooms were closed, post offices scaled back services because of striking employees and many private companies gave their staff the day off. Polls showed more than half of the leisure-loving French planned to stay home.

    The national “Day of Solidarity” — an extra work day in place of the annual Pentecost holiday — was part of the government’s response to a 2003 heat wave that killed 15,000 people, mostly elderly.

    Under a new law, workers give up a holiday, while their employers pay into a government fund to improve health care for the aged and handicapped. The extra day of work was expected to reap about $2.5 billion a year in additional revenue for health care.

    Many liked the idea of sacrificing for the greater good in the aftermath of the tragic heat wave. But in recent months, opposition to the plan became intermingled with discontent on issues ranging from high unemployment to budget cuts enacted by the unpopular Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

    “On Monday, the government is going to feel the backlash from a totally unilateral measure made against the advice of unions and seen by workers as unjust, ineffective and hypocritical,” said Maryse Dumas, the No. 2 official at the communist-backed CGT union.

    […]

    As for the day of solidarity — front pages declared it a failure.

    “Pentecost: The Black Monday of Operation Solidarity,” read Le Figaro’s banner headline. The paper called the chaos a “social and political test for the government” as Chirac seeks to win a “yes” vote in France’s May 29 referendum on the EU constitution.

    Want a little more proof of the power of personal incentive?

    In Paris, bus and subway drivers were wooed to work with a special $125 bonus. It was one of few cities where the subway was running normally.

    There’s a little bit more evidence to add to the wealth history has already accumulated.

  • Grenade!

    Was this an assassination attempt, and was President Bush the intended target?

    U.S. officials are investigating a report that an apparent hand grenade landed about 100 feet from where President Bush was speaking Tuesday in Tblisi, the capital of Georgia, a Secret Service spokesman said.

    The Secret Service has not yet confirmed whether the object was a real grenade and if so, whether the pin had been pulled, said spokesman Jim Mackin.

    “We have not seen the reported device,” he said.

    No explosion was reported.

    Mackin said Georgian officials alerted their U.S. counterparts about the incident several hours after Bush departed the former Soviet republic, where he received an enthusiastic welcome in a public square in the capital.

    I reckon it’s a safe bet we’ll hear more about this unfinished tale.

  • Panel Urges Slow Return of Troops

    And so the fight on the latest round of base closures slowly stirs to a simmer.

    A congressionally chartered panel of military experts said Monday the Pentagon should slow its withdrawal of troops from Europe and Asia and should keep in Germany one of the two heavy armored units currently scheduled to return to the United States.

    “We’re saying slow this down, step back, take a breath,” said Al Cornella, chairman of the Overseas Basing Commission, whose report includes findings the Pentagon strongly disputes. “Let’s look at it and determine how” to accommodate the troops who are brought home, he said.

    The commission also said it believes the Pentagon has underestimated the cost of repositioning U.S. forces abroad. It’s likely to cost closer to $20 billion than the $8 billion to $12 billion estimated by the Pentagon, the panel said in its report to Congress and President Bush.

    Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said arrangements are in place to build housing and other facilities required for the return of an estimated 70,000 troops and 100,000 family members. Most of those are returning from Germany, but some also will come home from South Korea.

    Whitman said that while the Pentagon appreciates the commission’s work, “the analysis has significant flaws and suffers from inaccuracies in its findings.”

    He said the commission was wrong to conclude that the Pentagon has not adequately coordinated with other government agencies and with members of Congress, and he disputed the panel’s finding that overseas changes should await decisions on domestic military base closures.

    Whitman said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s recommendations on which domestic bases to close or realign – to be disclosed no later than May 16 and possibly later this week – have taken into account the need to accommodate the 70,000 troops returning from overseas.

    “We have plans, we know where they’re going to go” once they get to the United States, and the Pentagon has determined where additional facilities will be built to accommodate them, Whitman said.

    […]

    The Overseas Basing Commission did not focus on the specifics of domestic base closings, but addressed instead the Pentagon’s plan for repositioning U.S. forces overseas – to include the plan to bring home 70,000 troops from Asia and Europe.

    Cornella told a news conference Monday that the commission recommends keeping in Europe a 4,000-soldier heavy combat brigade that is scheduled for return to the United States. He and other commission members said this would provide a security hedge against unexpected threats in the European region, as well as enhance cooperation with NATO allies.

    Please tell me any situation in Europe that could currently feasibly be anticipated that would demand the constant presence of an American heavy brigade. I see nothing presently on the horizon in Europe or the Middle East that would not allow for the difference in build-up time of Europe- or U.S.-based units. We’re not guarding the Fulda Gap against the ever-threatening Red Horde anymore, folks.

    If I had to choose between leaving troops overseas in Germany or Korea, I would opt for Korea. That would leave us closer to expected hot spots where a heavy brigade would actually be needed on a must-be-there-yesterday basis. That said, bringing that brigade stateside from Europe would actually bring them to an easier Asian deployment.

    And then there’s Iran. Should that little powderkeg blow up into a ground war, a brigade in Germany buys us little or none. A major deployment would be needed, and troops quickly shuttled in from Eastern Europe and the states, along with a heaping helping of air power, could certainly buy the time the deployment would require.

    As an added plus to a withdrawal from Germany and its cohorts in Old Europe, maybe they would once again feel a need to contribute significantly to their own defense. Daddy can’t always be there for them every moment of the day — it’s time for them to face the full obligations of their current martial stability. Yeah, I feel a degree of ingratitude these days.

  • Domino Theory, Terrorist Style

    Tip a big domino.

    Watch the result.

    More al-Qaida suspects seized in terror raids across Pakistan

    Pakistani soldiers swooped on two dozen suspected al-Qaida fighters after interrogating the man believed to be the terror network’s third in command, officials said yesterday.

    Abu Faraj al-Libbi, captured this week, is thought to be al-Qaida’s operations chief, and security forces in Pakistan said he could also provide leads to the whereabouts of the network’s leader, Osama bin Laden, and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri. Both are believed to slip frequently between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

    Yesterday, raids in Lahore, the capital of the eastern province of Punjab, Peshawar, capital of North-West Frontier Province, and the Bajaur tribal area, resulted in the arrest of more than 20 other al-Qaida suspects, as well as the seizure of guns and grenades.

    Analysts said the success of the operations justified Pakistan’s assertion that it was winning the war against terrorism. “From the arrests it looks as if Pakistan has been quite successful in containing al-Qaida activity on its own soil,” said Khalid Mahmud of the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad.

    Bin Laden aide had ten-strong British network

    Al-Qaeda’S third-in-command, being interrogated after his capture in Pakistan, was in close contact with ten militants working for him in Britain, according to investigators.

    So far Abu Farj al-Libbi has refused to reveal the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and his key accomplices.

    His British cell is said to include a radical cleric and a terror suspect awaiting trial but the eight other men are still at large.

    Their role was allegedly to carry cash around the world for the network using a number of aliases. Counter-terror officials are not certain of the identity of the eight suspects, who are said to be of Pakistani and North African origin. British officials hope that they will eventually be allowed to question al-Libbi.

    Let’s hope the dominoes keep falling.

  • War on Terror Update for Y’all

    First, our allies.

    Italy has chosen to dispute the U.S. report on the checkpoint incident that cost the life of Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari. The Italians have apparently been heavily influenced by popular support for the “hostage” rescued, communist and anti-American journalist Giuliana Sgrena, she of the ever–changing story.

    Still, in retrospect, Italy looks brave compared to the Philippines and Spain.

    Despite these poor examples of supposed allies, let’s take a look at what’s going on in those nations cold-chillin’ on the sidelines. Chad at In the Bullpen brings truly ugly news: countries are paying tribute to al-Quida for temporary local peace.

    I’m not sure which is more disturbing; information that Qatar is paying off Al Qaida to prevent attacks or that a Qatari official says this is happening in other countries as well.

    No good news on any of these fronts today. No, not really.

    Meanwhile, in Iraq, the terrorists continue trying for another Tet, the model for a military failure and media succuss that I said repeatedly was their new goal. Now, they are threatening to get the media play that would enable them to achieve it. Check out these headlines currently on Google News:

    Iraq Violence Unabated as 23 More Die
    Iraqi Leaders Seek Deal Amid Bloodshed
    New Iraq leaders face violent surge
    2nd Day of Deadly New Iraq Mayhem
    Death toll rises as Iraq insurgents strike at will

    This is certainly bad. However, this ain’t 1968 and, hopefully, the true state of affairs can get past leftist and leftist-leaning media manipulation.

    Along with this, while the U.S. may have recruiting issues of its own, apparently so do the terrorists in Iraq. Dr. Rusty Shackleford at the Jawa Report blogs on the heinous motivation that may be driving some of these suicide bombers — terrorist blackmail based on kidnapping of wives and children.

    So, let me get this straight. Zarqawi is now capturing women and children, and then telling the fathers that if they don’t blow themselves and a few infidels up then he’s going to chop their heads off?

    Well, that certainly makes the American recruiting issue seem like a small matter. The Islamist bastards seem to be running short of volunteering explosive cannon fodder, so they’ll use foul terror to generate their own martyrs. Somehow, I doubt this is within the teachings of the so-called religion of peace.

    See if that little sick tidbit gets any ink anytime soon. If any news like this takes hold among the Arab people, all the previous bad news means nothing. The terrorists’ desperation for Tet may just prevent their own Tet as the ways of the evil operations come to light.