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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 21-Nov-2013
21-Nov-13 World View -- U.S. and Afghanistan agree on post-2014 security pact

Web Log - November, 2013

21-Nov-13 World View -- U.S. and Afghanistan agree on post-2014 security pact

China relents and sends 'Peace Ark' hospital ship to Philippines

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

U.S. and Afghanistan agree on post-2014 security pact
China relents and sends 'Peace Ark' hospital ship to Philippines
Was Tuesday's suicide bombing in Beirut Lebanon self-inflicted?

U.S. and Afghanistan agree on post-2014 security pact

Almost 100 people were killed in and around Baghdad, Iraq, on Wednesday, from ten coordinated car bomb attacks across the city and the country (CNN)

Almost 100 people were killed in and around Baghdad, Iraq, on Wednesday, from ten coordinated car bomb attacks across the city and the country (CNN)

Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that the U.S. and Afghan governments have agreed on terms for a security arrangement to allow U.S. military presence to continue in Afghanistan after the main force withdrawal in 2014. There are currently 60,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, down from a peak of about 100,000. The agreement does not specify the size of the force that will remain after 2014.

The main area of contention in negotiating the agreement is a provision that gives the U.S. military legal jurisdiction over its forces. This means that if an American soldier commits a crime, then he'll be prosecuted in American courts, rather than in Afghan courts. Iraq had refused a similar provision in its joint security agreement with the U.S., and so American forces were withdrawn completely in December 2011. Since then, al-Qaeda linked terrorist violence in Iraq has surged.

However, the Afghan agreement still must be reviewed by a "loya jirga," or tribal council, that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has convened this week in Kabul. The council could raise objections that might delay or even prevent a signing. In particular, Karzai has demanded an apology for behavior of the U.S. troops, which the Obama administration has already refused to provide. USA Today

China relents and sends 'Peace Ark' hospital ship to Philippines

International pressure is forcing China again to reluctantly relent on its stingy aid response to the Philippines after the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan. (See "19-Nov-13 World View -- Philippine typhoon disaster draws clear lines between US and China")

China's initial offer of $100,000 aid was minuscule compared to what was offered by other countries, especially the United States that provided $20 million dollars and an entire carrier task force to aid typhoon victims. An embarrassed China increased its aid donation to $1.6 million, but that amount was still criticized as being smaller than the $2.7 million that furniture maker Ikea is providing in aid to the Philippines.

Now China was forced to back down again. China has one of the largest and most modern hospital ships in the world, the "Peace Ark," but they've refused to allow it to help the Philippine people. But on Wednesday, China announced that the Peace Ark will travel to the Philippines after all. According to a government spokesman:

"We hope its mission will help ease the lack of medical services in the disaster areas in the Philippines, as a token of Chinese people's friendship to the Philippine people."

We hope that he didn't choke on the word "friendship". Xinhua

Was Tuesday's suicide bombing in Beirut Lebanon self-inflicted?

As we reported yesterday, the Mideast sectarian conflict sharply escalated on Tuesday because of a major double-suicide bombing targeting Iran's embassy in the most super-secure area of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. 25 people were killed, including a senior Iranian diplomat. The self-proclaimed perpetrators were the al-Qaeda linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades, presumably supported by Saudi Arabia, presumably taking revenge for Iran's and Hezbollah's support for the bloody actions of Syria's genocidal monster president, Bashar al-Assad.

But a report by Debka, which sometimes gets things wrong, is quoting its intelligence sources as saying that there's no such group as the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, and that the whole attack was perpetrated by Hezbollah itself, targeting the assets of its puppetmasters in Iran. According to the report, Hezbollah wanted to withdraw all its forces from Syria, having suffered hundreds of casualties in Syria so far. Thus, it continues, Hezbollah staged the terrorist attack to justify keeping its fighters home in Lebanon - to defend against further terrorist attacks. It's possible that the staged terrorist attack was more successful than planned, killing and injuring more people than intended.

This story sounds so fantastical that it's hard to know what to believe, and it comes from Israel-linked Debka, which never hesitates to show Iran and Hezbollah in as negative a light as possible. On the other hand, what are we dealing with is a terrorist group (Hezbollah), for whom slaughtering innocent civilians is an almost daily way of life. If they're willing to blow up an innocent crowd of shoppers just to create terror, why wouldn't be willing to blow up a bunch of people walking by the Iranian embassy? Blowing up innocent people is just a way of life. When you put it that way, the self-inflicted attack is really not so fantastical, after all.

If this story is true, Iran is certain to seek retribution against Hezbollah, probably by forcing Hezbollah to do its bidding and send many more thousands of Hezbollah fighters into Syria, further inflaming the Sunni jihadists. Either way, this massive attack on the Iranian embassy is going to escalate the sectarian fighting in the Mideast. Debka

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 21-Nov-13 World View -- U.S. and Afghanistan agree on post-2014 security pact thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (21-Nov-2013) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 21-Nov-2013 21-Nov-13 World View -- U.S. and Afghanistan agree on post-2014 security pact

U.S. and Afghanistan agree on post-2014 security pact

China relents and sends 'Peace Ark' hospital ship to Philippines

Was Tuesday's suicide bombing in Beirut Lebanon self-inflicted?

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 21-Nov-2013
21-Nov-13 World View -- U.S. and Afghanistan agree on post-2014 security pact