Gazette - Weekend 1 of 2 110213

Saturday - Sunday November 2 -3 2013

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Leader Of Pakistani Taliban Killed In Drone Strike

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A U.S. drone strike killed the leader of the Pakistani Taliban Friday, intelligence officials said. The death is a major blow to the group a day after the government said it started peace talks with the militants.
Hakimullah Mehsud, who is believed to have been behind a failed car bombing in New York's Times Square as well as brazen attacks inside Pakistan, had a reputation for being particularly ruthless.
He was widely reported to have been killed in 2010, but later resurfaced. The tribal areas where the drone attacks occur are dangerous to visit, making it difficult for journalists to independently confirm information.
A senior U.S. intelligence official said the U.S. received positive confirmation Friday morning that he had been killed. Two Pakistani intelligence officials in North Waziristan also confirmed his death as did two Taliban commanders who said they had seen the remnants of the militant commander's mangled body.
The strike killed four other suspected militants, according to the two Pakistani intelligence officials.
The Taliban commanders said at least four missiles struck just after a vehicle in which Mehsud was driving entered the compound.
All the officials and the militant commanders spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The CIA and the White House declined to comment on the reported militant commander's death.

Obama: Iraq al-Qaeda 'more active'

US President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki have discussed how to counter a "more active" al-Qaeda in the country.

But following talks at the White House, nearly two years after the last US soldier left Iraq, Mr Obama did not unveil any new offer of military aid.
He stressed the importance of an inclusive and democratic Iraq.
Mr Maliki's visit to Washington DC, his first since 2011, comes as bloodshed hits a five-year high in Iraq.
'Fragile' democracy In a joint statement released by the White House after Friday's two-hour talks, both the US and Iraq said there was an "urgent" need for additional aid for Iraqi forces.

Militants bomb Iraq oil pipeline

KIRKUK: Militants bombed a major oil pipeline in northern Iraq early on Saturday, disabling it and forcing pumping to be suspended, security officials said.

Three blasts went off along the pipeline, in Nineveh province, which runs to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, according to two security officials.

They did not cause any casualties. An official with the state-owned North Oil Co in the city of Kirkuk said the suspension was caused by a technical fault, and said repairs were being carried out on the pipeline, with pumping expected to resume on Sunday.

Militants frequently attack the pipeline, which ferries a significant portion of Iraq's oil exports to international markets.

Iraq is heavily dependent on crude sales, which account for 95 percent of government revenues and an estimated two-thirds of gross domestic product, and is looking to dramatically boost them in the coming years.

Japan, Russia agree to expand defense ties 

 Japan and Russia held their first high-level defense and diplomatic talks Saturday and agreed to step up cooperation between their militaries amid regional security concerns such as North Korea and China.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, and their Russian counterparts Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu also agreed to hold joint military and anti-piracy exercises and establish a defense consultation framework. Their countries' defense ties are geared up toward peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and would not affect existing alliances, including one between Japan and the U.S., they said.
Lavrov told a news conference after Saturday's talks that upgrading defense ties between the two countries could serve their national interests in resolving terrorism and North Korea's nuclear threats, as well as other regional disputes. He welcomed the talks as a landmark development for Russia and Japan, and said that this new cooperation would not interfere with the Japan-U.S. alliance.

China Reveals Mysterious Fleet Of Nuclear Subs

For the first time in more than 40 years, China has given the rest of the world a view of its mysterious fleet of nuclear submarines.
Earlier in the week, various Chinese state media outlets ran an article touting the "exceptional" safety record of the subs, noting the "tremendous achievement" of developing such technology that many of the world's superpowers have long established.
"We are China's first nuclear submarine force, and the 42 years since our establishment have witnessed our success in avoiding nuclear accidents," Rear Admiral Gao Feng, commander of one of the People's Liberation Army navy's submarine bases, announced to reporters. State-run China Daily reports that Gao particularly noted the importance of the fleet's supposedly spotless safety record when compared to that of the United States and Russia.
State TV has touted the reveal as part of an apparent effort to boost transparency in the notoriously shrouded country. But some characterize it as a power move as China becomes increasingly confident in its economic and military capabilities.
The Diplomat's Zachary Keck, for example, called the announcement a "public show of force," noting China's longtime need for a deterrent as it continues to engage in regional disputes with Japan.
It should be noted that the submarines revealed this week are not representative of China's latest developments in its nuclear naval arsenal. According to the International Business Times, these subs launched in 1970 and are equipped with short-range missiles. China has in fact made significant strides in the past decades: earlier in the year, a report by the U.S. military's National Air and Space Intelligence Center reported that the modernized arsenal includes "nuclear warheads capable of reaching the United States."

Germany and Brazil in UN spy draft

Germany and Brazil have asked the UN General Assembly to adopt a draft resolution calling for the right to privacy in the digital age.

The draft calls for an end to excessive electronic surveillance, noting that the illegal collection of personal data "constitutes a highly intrusive act".
Brazil and Germany have both been angered by allegations of large-scale US surveillance.
The allegations stem from revelations by US whistleblower Edward Snowden.
'Deeply concerned' The draft resolution, which does not name individual countries, will be debated by a General Assembly committee focusing on human rights.
The draft calls on the 193-member assembly to declare that it is "deeply concerned at human rights violations and abuses that may result from the conduct of any surveillance of communications".
This includes "extraterritorial surveillance of communications, their interception, as well as the collection of personal data, in particular massive surveillance, interception and data collection".

Venezuela's government seizes US-owned oil rigs 

Venezuela is quietly seizing control of two oil rigs owned by a unit of Houston-based Superior Energy Services after the company shut them down because the state oil monopoly was months behind on payments.

The seizure started Thursday after a judge in the state of Anzoategui entered a Superior depot and ordered the company to hand over the rigs to an affiliate of state-owned PDVSA. Four members of the local police and national guard are overseeing the equipment's removal.
PDVSA in a court document obtained by The Associated Press calls the expropriation essential to Venezuela's development.
Late President Hugo Chavez liked to grandstand on national television ordering troops to seize everything from supermarkets to foreign-owned oil companies. However his successor Nicolas Maduro has avoided expropriations six months into his rule.
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Behind The Lines: Assad’s North Korean connection 

Reports have emerged this week indicating the presence of North Korean military personnel in Syria. They note that 15 North Korean helicopter pilots are operating there on behalf of President Bashar Assad’s regime.
The reports have been validated by the pro-rebel but usually reliable Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
They are also not the first evidence that Pyongyang is actively involved on the ground in the Assad regime’s war effort.
Earlier this year, the Saudi-based regional newspaper Asharq al-Awsat carried eyewitness reports revealing the presence of North Korean officers among the Syrian regime’s ground forces in the city of Aleppo.
On this occasion, the Syrian Observatory was itself the source of the report.
Asharq Al-Awsat detailed the presence of between 11 and 15 North Korean officers in the city. Rami Abdul Rahman of the organization said the men were artillery officers.

 GCHQ and European spy agencies worked together on mass surveillance

Edward Snowden papers unmask close technical cooperation and loose alliance between British, German, French, Spanish and Swedish spy agencies

The German, French, Spanish and Swedish intelligence services have all developed methods of mass surveillance of internet and phone traffic over the past five years in close partnership with Britain's GCHQ eavesdropping agency.
The bulk monitoring is carried out through direct taps into fibre optic cables and the development of covert relationships with telecommunications companies. A loose but growing eavesdropping alliance has allowed intelligence agencies from one country to cultivate ties with corporations from another to facilitate the trawling of the web, according to GCHQ documents leaked by the former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.
The files also make clear that GCHQ played a leading role in advising its European counterparts how to work around national laws intended to restrict the surveillance power of intelligence agencies.
The German, French and Spanish governments have reacted angrily to reports based on National Security Agency (NSA) files leaked by Snowden since June, revealing the interception of communications by tens of millions of their citizens each month. US intelligence officials have insisted the mass monitoring was carried out by the security agencies in the countries involved and shared with the US.

China vows to silence Dalai Lama in Tibet

Beijing: China's ruling Communist Party aims to silence the voice of the Dalai Lama in his Tibetan homeland by tightening controls on media and the internet, a top official says.
The party's top-ranking official in the Tibet region, Chen Quanguo, vowed to "ensure that the voices of hostile forces and the Dalai group are not seen or heard", in an editorial published in a party journal called Qiushi.
Officials would "make sure that the voice of the party is heard and seen everywhere in this vast 120 million-square-kilometre region", Chen wrote.
China has worked for decades to control the spread of information in Tibet, but some Tibetans remain able to access non-official sources of information, including from exiles abroad by using radio, television and the internet.

But the party will attempt to stamp out access to such sources by creating party cells in some websites, confiscating satellite dishes and registering telephone and internet users by name, among a host of measures mentioned in the the article.
China calls exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama a "wolf in sheep's clothing", and accuses him of masterminding violent efforts to seek independence for Tibet.
The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, says he advocates greater autonomy for Tibetans, rather than independence.
Chen referred to Tibet as "a front line of the struggle against separatism" and vowed to "strengthen the role of party committees at every level, as the sole power", in the editorial.
Tensions between Tibetans and the Chinese government continue to run high, with more than 120 members of the minority setting themselves on fire in protest in recent years, leading to a security crackdown.
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Hillary Clinton Plans To Launch New Project To Empower Women

PHILADELPHIA -- PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton announced a new initiative Friday called "No Ceilings" to empower women and children around the globe. The project could serve as the basis of a recurring campaign theme if she decides to run for president again.
Clinton said the initiative, launched through the Clinton Foundation, will look at the progress made by women and chart a path toward full participation in the economy and society. The former secretary of state said at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women that too many women face ceilings "that hold back their ambitions and aspirations."
"I believe that women everywhere can be and are agents of change, drivers of progress, makers of peace," Clinton said. "All we need is a fighting chance to show what we can do in every part of life."
Polls have shown Clinton as the leading Democratic contender for president in 2016 if she decides to run. Clinton has said she plans to begin seriously considering it next year but has largely steered clear of politics since leaving the State Department, focusing on paid speeches, an upcoming book and her family's foundation.
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CLIMATE POWER GRAB: Obama uses executive order in sweeping takeover of nation's climate policies

Through the stroke of a pen, President Obama on Friday used his executive powers to elevate and take control of climate change policies in an attempt to streamline sustainability initiatives – and potentially skirt legislative oversight and push a federal agenda on states.
The executive order establishes a task force of state and local officials to advise the administration on how to respond to severe storms, wildfires, droughts and other potential impacts of climate change. The task force includes governors of seven states — all Democrats — and the Republican governor of Guam, a U.S. territory. Fourteen mayors and two other local leaders also will serve on the task force.
All but three of those appointed are Democrats. The task force will look at federal money spent on roads, bridges, flood control and other projects. It ultimately will recommend how structures can be made more resilient to the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and warming temperatures.
“We're going to need to get prepared.  And that’s why this plan will also protect critical sectors of our economy and prepare the United States for the impacts of climate change that we cannot avoid,” Obama said last June, when he first launched a Climate Action Plan.

Starbucks CEO Jumps Off Obamacare Bandwagon

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz blasted the implementation of Obamacare on Thursday, just a month after he voiced his support for the law.

The socially-conscious CEO said "what the country needs now is real honesty and transparency and truth about what’s really going on." He said Obamacare's rollout was "unfortunate" for the American people because there is a lack of trust now in the law and the website.

”Unfortunately, in this kind of situation, execution trumps strategy," Schultz said on CNBC. "It might be a great strategy, but the execution is really flawed. It’s off the rails.”
Schultz had previously said Obamacare was "a good thing for the country" in September.

Did Obama secretly plan to replace Biden with Hillary Clinton in 2012?

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama never considered the idea of dropping Vice President Joe Biden from his 2012 re-election team and replacing him with Hillary Clinton, the White House said on Friday.
"Double Down," a new book on the 2012 campaign, says Obama's top aides considered the notion but decided not to pursue it because it did not materially improve Obama's odds.
White House spokesman Jay Carney, pressed on the issue at his daily news briefing, did not deny that such an idea was floated within Obama's re-election campaign.
"Campaigns and pollsters, as part of campaigns, test a lot of things," he said. "What I can tell you without a doubt is that the president never considered that, and had anyone brought that idea to him, he would have laughed it out of the room."
Obama feels Biden has been an enormous asset through two presidential campaigns and at the White House, said Carney. Pressed on whether Obama was aware that such an idea was floating within his campaign, he said, "I'm not aware that he was aware of it."
The book, by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, is to be released on Tuesday, but the New York Times and Washington Post have reported some of its contents.
The saga is significant because both Clinton and Biden are contemplating a race for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. Biden, who would be the underdog should he and Clinton both run, can ill afford to deal with a narrative in which Obama was thinking about replacing him.
With Biden as his running mate, Obama decisively won the 2012 presidential election over Republican Mitt Romney.

Navy SEALs ordered to remove ‘don’t tread on me’ Navy Jack from uniforms

The Navy Jack is the ‘don’t tread on me’ flag, one that has earned a revered place in America’s naval history and a beloved place in sailor’s hearts, through its use for over two centuries. This symbol of America’s naval ferocity has spanned our country’s entire existence, flying from the masts of the Continental Navy during the war of independence, to today’s War on Terror. In fact, an amendment to the Navy code called SECNAV Instruction 10520.6 clearly states that as of 31 May 2002 all ships are to fly the flag throughout the duration of the War on Terror.
So why would ranking SEAL commanders ban the historical symbol? Is the proverbial top bass banning the flag? Is President Obama?
Clearly the administration and sycophant “top brass” officers have degraded America’s military prestige; from hand-tying rules of engagement, to uniform regulations that make our military allegedly more compatible with foreign forces, to the banning of an awe-inspiring flag that traces its roots to the first U.S. Navy. We have a civilian-led military, but why should our ranking commanders be complicit in the administration’s war on it? Why don’t they stand up to Obama and his leftist cronies?


 

PM highlights successes, talks Senate scandal at party convention

CALGARY — Justin Trudeau is only fit to win Canadian Idol and not the next election, according to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
And given his Conservative Party convention speech was delivered here Friday under a cloud cast by the ongoing Senate expense scandal, Harper also harangued the three former Tory senators facing suspension much as he has in the House of Commons recently: They knowingly broke the rules and now should be booted from the red chamber without pay.
"While we do not know whether these actions were criminal, that is not relevant. In private life, you would be fired for doing anything resembling this," Harper said, lamenting the opposition parties aren't being fair in their criticism of him. "You've probably noticed this. Every single week, I face demands from our opponents that we immediately fire or expel people, often on the flimsiest of allegations. Then, when we decide that a case, based on the facts, requires serious sanction, our opponents immediately accuse us of being unfair, nasty and ruthless."
"I couldn't care less what they (the opposition parties) say. We will do the right thing."

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's popularity rating up despite crack video debacle

“Do not press an enemy that is cornered” -- Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is in a corner and the jackals are swirling.
But he’s not dead yet and appears to be prepared to fight on.
'Very intoxicated' Rob Ford was 'at his worst' St. Patrick's Day 2012
A new Forum Research poll shows the mayor’s approval rating post Chief Bill Blair’s confirmation of an alleged crack video gained five points from 39% to 44%.
Not so fast, those sizing up the mayor’s potentially vacant chief magistrate’s chair.
Who knows what next week’s phone call intercept revelations will show or how high an approval rating Ford will go as a result?
Few are changing the channel on this drama.
Ford is down but still holds some cards — the biggest being he is still the mayor with a mandate for one more year.
You can’t fire an elected mayor.

MORE: Release the video: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's lawyer
Not because his supporters or enemies on council believe he should be. Not because those behind a political-assassination-script are rolling it out on queue. Not because newspapers have called for his resignation.
And certainly not because the chief is “disappointed and concerned.”
Even if police end up charging Ford, they still can’t sack him.
RELATED: Cops want to talk to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
Only the voters can.
Ford could choose to fire himself by resigning.
It doesn’t look like he will take this advice he has been receiving from so many.
“The job is his life and he loves it,” his lawyer Dennis Morris said Friday. “I don’t see him giving it up.”
But who really knows where this runaway train will stop.
Maybe not even embattled Ford himself.
Perhaps it will become clearer in Sunday’s much anticipated The City radio show on Newstalk 1010. The show may be make-it-or-break-it time for the mayor, who has used up eight of his nine political cat lives.
He owes Toronto an explanation for all that has been exposed that appears to capture loutish and bizarre behaviour.
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