Afghanistan/Pakistan, Where Empires Go to Die - II

by Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

Under the pretext of responding to the September 11, 2001 attacks in America, the United and States and Great Britain invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 under the banner of Operation Enduring Freedom. President Bush 41’ told the American people that the US strikes were,

“…designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations, and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime…we will make it more difficult for the terror network to train new recruits and coordinate their evil plans. Initially, the terrorists may burrow deeper into caves and other entrenched hiding places…At the same time, the oppressed people of Afghanistan will know the generosity of America and our allies. As we strike military targets, we will also drop food, medicine and supplies to the starving and suffering men and women and children of Afghanistan… ”

During the 2008 presidential campaign, candidate Obama promised to immediately withdraw troops from Iraq in order to bolster the forces in Afghanistan in order to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda. “It’s time to refocus our attention on the war we have to win in Afghanistan.”

I believe that this tactic was taken by the Obama team in order to placate the anti-Iraq contingent of the American electorate on the left while not leaving himself vulnerable to the “soft on defense” hawkish argument on the right. As a campaign tactic this approach proved to be successful. In reality, this may prove to be one of the greatest miscalculations President Obama has made. The real question here becomes, what’s the best tactic to accomplish this end?

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Mugabe Criticized for Lavish Birthday Party

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was celebrating his 85th birthday with a lavish all-day party Saturday despite the fact that the country is gripped by an economic and health crisis.

President Robert Mugabe and his wife, Grace, attend a cake-cutting ceremony for his birthday Saturday.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party said it raised at least $250,000 to hold the party in Mugabe's hometown of Chinhoyi, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) outside of the capital, Harare.

Critics of the president say the country is desperate for that amount of money to be spent instead on its citizens, who are suffering from a cholera outbreak, food shortages, and spiraling hyperinflation. On Friday, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai visited a hospital's closed intensive care unit that he said needed $30,000 to resume operating.

During the celebrations, Mugabe announced that his controversial land reform would not be reversed. The program is designed to have white-owned farms given to blacks, and there have been violent seizures of such farms since the program began in 2000.

He emphasized that the country's "indigenization program" -- which forces all major foreign companies operating in Zimbabwe to have at least 51 percent black ownership -- will be carried out. It began last year and hasn't been implemented yet.

Mugabe's birthday falls on February 21 but his party loyalists postponed the celebrations as they were raising money for the event.

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Technorati Tags: mugabe,zimbabwe,black news headlines,african news,black global news

Thousands of Liberians to be Deported Soon

There is a deep sense of anxiety these days in Liberian community all around the United States. About 10,000 Liberians could face deportation come march 31, this year when a temporary protection status that allows them to stay here expires unless President Obama or Congress intervenes. The U.S. government contends Liberia is now a stable country and these migrants should return home.
Liberians have lived in the U.S. since the early 1990’s under a temporary protected status. Now that the Liberian government is showing some signs of stabilization, the U.S. government is trying to lift the temporary protected status and deport many of the 20,000 Liberians who are now living in the U.S.

I watched in complete disbelief Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform on CNN talking about how "It is time for people to go back and rebuild their country,"He said for Liberians to stay when their country is at peace would be an abuse of U.S. hospitality.

"It makes a mockery of the concept of short-term temporary humanitarian protection." he went on to say.
I would like to point out to Mr Stein however,that the State department own travel advisory is warning Americans to avoid travel to the country, because of serious security concern. so my question is, if its not safe for Americans to go there, how is it safe for thousands of Liberians with their U.S born children, who are U.S citizens to go there?

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Technorati Tags: liberia deportation,africans,african americans,black news,african american news

YourBlackGlobal: Africa Aid from US Becoming More Military

U.S. aid to Africa is becoming increasingly militarized, resulting in skewed priorities and less attention to longer-term development projects that could lead to greater stability across the continent, according to a report released Thursday by the advocacy group Refugees International.

The report warns that the planned U.S. Africa Command, designed to boost America’s image and prevent terrorism, is allowing the Defense Department to usurp funds traditionally directed by the State Department and U.S. aid agencies.

A Pentagon spokesman did not return a call requesting comment. But Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warned this week against the risk of a “creeping militarization” of U.S. foreign policy and said the State Department should lead U.S. engagement with other countries.

The Pentagon, which controlled about 3 percent of official aid money a decade ago, now controls 22 percent, while the U.S. Agency for International Development’s share has declined from 65 percent to 40 percent, according to the 56-page report.

“The danger is this strategy will not achieve the security objectives of addressing the root causes of terrorism,” said Mark Malan, author of the report. “And it certainly won’t address the developmental objectives of U.S. foreign policy.”

Refugees International, based in Washington, provides aid to refugees and advocates for solutions to end conditions that create displacement.

Malan said the militarization has been driven by the U.S. focus on counterterrorism, though the trend dates to the Cold War era. The more fundamental problem, he said, is a lack of consistent, coherent U.S. foreign policy attention to Africa…

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Your Black Global: Barack Obama is in Iraq

BAGHDAD - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met Iraq’s prime minister on Monday to get a first-hand assessment of security in the country and explain his proposals for troop withdrawals.

His visit thrusts U.S. strategy in Iraq and troop levels to the center of the November election race between the first-term senator from Illinois and Republican candidate John McCain.

Obama has called for the removal of U.S. combat troops within 16 months of taking office should he win the election. There are currently more than 140,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

Iraqiya state television and witnesses said Obama met Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad. There were no further details on Obama’s visit, which has been shrouded in secrecy for security reasons.

His planned stops in the country marked the second major leg of a war zone tour that opened in Afghanistan. The contrasts in tone and message were distinct.

Obama sees the battle against the resurgent Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan as America’s most crucial fight and supports expanding troop strength to counter a sharp rise in attacks.

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