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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 5-Feb-2014
5-Feb-14 World View -- Pakistan 'peace process' collapses on first day

Web Log - February, 2014

5-Feb-14 World View -- Pakistan 'peace process' collapses on first day

Corruption in Europe matches corruption in Washington

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Pakistan 'peace process' collapses on first day
Corruption in Europe matches corruption in Washington

Pakistan 'peace process' collapses on first day

Taliban negotiators furious about being stood up on Tuesday (Reuters)

Taliban negotiators furious about being stood up on Tuesday (Reuters)

Tuesday was to be a "historic day" for Pakistan, for this was the day that Pakistan's government would open peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-e-Taliban - TTP) to end the endless bombings and other terror attacks that the TTP perpetrates almost daily.

The talks were to begin on Tuesday. The TTP representatives showed up for the meeting, but the government representatives did not. The government issued a statement to the furious TTP representatives that they had to check something out about the negotiating teams.

The question of negotiating teams has been part of the joke leading up to Tuesday's scheduled meeting. The TTP negotiators could not make any binding decisions on behalf of the TTP, so the talks were just for show from their side. But even more laughable is the fact that the TTP asked Imran Khan to be one of the negotiators on the side of the TTP. Imran Khan is a former cricket superstar who has become a vitriolically anti-American politician, whose participation as a TTP negotiator would be totally inappropriate.

Even if the TTP leaders agreed to stop terrorist attacks, their decision would not be binding on other TTP-related terrorist groups in Pakistan. Probably the worst is Lashkar-e-Janghvi (LeJ), which has publicly and firmly announced as its goal the extermination of all Shia Muslims in Pakistan, and has been methodically setting off bombs in order to achieve that goal. As recently as January 21, blew up a bus of Shia pilgrims returning from Iran, killing 24. LeJ is not going give up these attacks, even if the TTP makes some deal.

The volume of terrorist attacks in Pakistan is enormous. In January alone, terrorism resulted in at least 460 fatalities, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP). There have been at least 70 explosions in January, resulting in 167 deaths. To think that this flood of terrorist attacks will suddenly stop because of some "peace talks" with the Taliban is absurd. Many Pakistanis agree. One editorialist calls the peace talks "appeasement" and says, "The postponement of talks leads one to hope the prime minister has finally realized that the TTP is in fact playing tricks with the government." Pakistan Today and South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP - India) and BBC

Corruption in Europe matches corruption in Washington

A new "EU Anti-Corruption Report" from the European Commission paints a very bleak picture. According to the report, Europeans believe that the only way to succeed is through political connections, and that corruption is a big problem. A rising number believe that it's getting worse, especially in Greece, Spain and Italy. According to one commentator in Brussels:

"Europe's problem is not so much with small bribes on the whole. It's with the ties between the political class and industry.
There has been a failure to regulate politicians' conflicts of interest in dealing with business. The rewards for favoring companies, in allocating contracts or making changes to legislation, are positions in the private sector when they have left office rather than a bribe."

This may be what's happening in Brussels, but it's also what's happening in Washington. It's almost beyond belief that thousands of (Gen-X) bankers committed massive fraud in the 2003-8 time period, purposely creating trillions of dollar's worth of synthetic securities backed by faulty subprime mortgages, and then sold them to investors knowing that they were fraudulent. And NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON has gone to jail for those crimes. The Obama administration adamantly refuses to prosecute these criminals and criminal organizations, which, incidentally, donated millions of dollars to Obama's campaigns. And then you have the administration dispensing Obamacare favors, exemptions and dispensations to labor unions and other administration cronies, while using the IRS to target political enemies, and you have the worst corruption in my lifetime, and you have exactly what this new report says is happening in Europe. BBC and Reuters

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 5-Feb-14 World View -- Pakistan 'peace process' collapses on first day thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (5-Feb-2014) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 5-Feb-2014 5-Feb-14 World View -- Pakistan 'peace process' collapses on first day

Pakistan 'peace process' collapses on first day

Corruption in Europe matches corruption in Washington

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 5-Feb-2014
5-Feb-14 World View -- Pakistan 'peace process' collapses on first day