US, Seoul on edge as launch plan confirmed

(AP) sourced from The NZ Herald
4:00AM Wednesday Feb 25, 2009

SEOUL - North Korea has confirmed that it is preparing to shoot a satellite into orbit, its clearest reference yet to an impending launch that neighbours and the United States suspect will be a provocative test of a long-range missile.

The statement from the North's space technology agency comes amid growing international concern that the communist nation is gearing up to fire a version of its most advanced missile - one capable of reaching the US - within a week, in violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution.

North Korea asserted last week that it bears the right to "space development" - words the regime has used in the past to disguise a missile test. In 1998, North Korea test-fired a Taepodong-1 ballistic missile over Japan and then claimed to have put a satellite into orbit.

"Full-fledged preparations are under way to launch the pilot communications satellite Kwangmyong-song No. 2" at a launch site in Hwadae in the northeast, the North's agency said in a statement carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency. The report did not say when the launch would take place.

Intelligence officials reported brisk personnel and vehicle activity at the Hwadae launch site yesterday. However, the North has not yet placed the missile on a launch pad, the report said. After mounting the missile, it would take five to seven days to fuel the rocket, experts say.

Hwadae is believed to be the launch site for North Korea's longest-range missile, the Taepodong-2, which has the capability of reaching Alaska. Reports suggest the missile being readied for launch could be an advanced version of the Taepodong-2 with even greater range: the US West coast.

Analysts have warned for weeks that the North may fire a missile to send a strong signal to South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, who took office a year ago today with a hardline policy on North Korea, and to US President Barack Obama.

North Korea is banned from any ballistic missile activity under a UN Security Council resolution adopted after the North's first-ever nuclear test in 2006. South Korea, Japan and the United States have warned Pyongyang not to fire a missile.

Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the North to stop its "provocative actions", saying a missile test would "be very unhelpful in moving our relationship forward".

Pyongyang's efforts to make a case for a space programme could be an attempt to avoid international condemnation and sanctions.

But South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan has stressed that missiles and satellites differ only in payload, and said any launch - whether a satellite or a missile - would be a breach of the UN resolution.

PYONGYANG'S ARSENAL

Taepodong-2: North Korea's most advanced ballistic missile. Three-stage rocket with a potential range of more than 6700km. July 2006 attempt to test-fire missile failed, with rocket fizzling soon after takeoff.

Advanced Taepodong-2: North is believed to be developing advanced version of Taepodong-2 capable of striking west coast of United States. Planned satellite launch could disguise test of advanced Taepodong-2, experts say.

New missile: North Korea has fielded a new type of intermediate-range ballistic missile, according to South Korea's Defence Ministry. A Missile with range of at least 3000km would put Guam, northern Australia, most of Russia and India within striking distance.

Taepodong-1: Two-stage, long-range missile has estimated range of 2500km, twice as far as Nodong missile. North Korea is believed to have test-launched missile in August 1998, calling it a satellite. Second stage landed in the waters off Japan's east coast.

Nodong: Japan is likely target of missile with range of about 1300km.

Scud: South Korea is potential target of Scuds with range of up to 500km.

TAEPODONG-2:

POSSIBLE RANGE
* Seoul, South Korea - 195km from Pyongyang
* Beijing, China - 810km
* Tokyo, Japan - 1290km
* Bangkok, Thailand - 3740km
* New Delhi, India - 4575km
* Singapore - 4740km
* Jakarta, Indonesia - 5385km
* Darwin, Australia - 5745km
* Alaska, United States - 5995km

MISSILE MAXIMUM ESTIMATED RANGE OF 6700KM
* Perth, Australia - 7950km
* Sydney, Australia - 8515km
* Los Angeles, US - 9550km
* Auckland - 9810km

- AP

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Call to relax Guantanamo regime

BBC News Channel
Monday, 23 February 2009


A US defence department review of conditions at Guantanamo Bay detention camp has called for an easing of the isolation of prisoners there.

The Pentagon report says inmates should be allowed more social interaction and opportunities for recreation. It comes as new US Attorney General Eric Holder pays his first visit to the controversial facility in Cuba. Last month, President Barack Obama ordered the Guantanamo Bay camp to be closed within one year.

About 250 prisoners are still held there, nearly all without charge. Among them was a UK inmates, who returned from the camp to Britain earlier on Monday. Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohamed, 30, was held in Guantanamo for more than four years and says he was tortured. He became the first Guantanamo prisoner released since Barack Obama took office.

Humane treatment

The report, by Adm Patrick M Walsh, says conditions at the camp comply with the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners. However, it recommends allowing more socialisation among prisoners, many of whom are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day. Such interaction "is essential to maintain humane treatment over time", the report says. "In our opinion, the key to socialisation is providing more human-to-human contact, recreation opportunities with several detainees together, intellectual stimulation, and group prayer," AFP news agency cited the report as saying.

Mr Holder is being briefed on the detainees and the charges they were facing before military trials were halted last month. The attorney general is making his visit away from the media glares, the BBC's James Coomarasamy in Washington says. It comes as the Obama administration wrestles with the legal, practical and security implications of its pledge to shut Guantanamo, he adds.

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Australia fire deaths rise to 200

BBC News Channel
Tuesday, 17 February 2009


Australia has launched its biggest ever arson investigation into the fires.

The number of people who have perished in Australia's bushfires has reached 200 and will rise further, police say. The announcement came after fire investigators discovered 11 more bodies in and around the town of Kinglake, in south-east Victoria state. More than 1,800 homes were destroyed and 7,500 people displaced by the hundreds of fires that swept the state. The updated death toll came as Disaster Victim Identification teams examined some of the areas worst-hit by fires for the first time.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said some of the victims would probably never be identified. "It is a very difficult process in some cases to actually be able to determine whether the remains are human remains or not," he was quoted by ABC as saying. "As to what the final number's going to get to I think we should wait and let it unfold over the next week or 10 days" Sunday has been announced as a national day of mourning for all victims of the bushfires.

Police suspect at least two of the fires were set deliberately, and have charged one man with arson. On Monday a Melbourne court named the suspect as Brendan Sokaluk - despite fears for his safety prompted by public fury over the blaze. Prosecutors allege that the 39-year-old deliberately set a fire in Churchill, Victoria, in which 11 people died. He is facing charges of 'arson causing death' and of intentionally starting a bushfire. He faces a maximum 25-year sentence for the first charge, and 15 years for the second.

Meanwhile, in the north of the country, major flooding caused by heavy rains has cut off towns along Australia's east coast. Parts of New South Wales were declared a natural disaster area on Tuesday after high waters isolated thousands of people. Much of Queensland state has been under water for weeks as a result of the worst flooding in three decades, with more rain forecast. Emergency officials said the cost of the damage there would exceed A$210m ($135m; £94m).

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Top Thai court ousts PM Somchai

Mr Somchai accepted the court's verdict, saying he was now "an ordinary citizen".

A Thai court has ruled that PM Somchai Wongsawat must step down over election fraud, a ruling he has accepted. His governing People Power Party (PPP) and two of its coalition partners have been ordered to disband and the parties' leaders have been barred from politics. But it is unclear if the ruling ends a months-long political crisis, since other coalition MPs have vowed to form another government under a new name.

Earlier, an anti-government protester was killed at a Bangkok airport. Local television reported that a grenade had been fired at Don Mueang airport, the capital's domestic hub, which has been occupied by the anti-government PAD since last week.

Protesters at Don Mueang and at Bangkok's main Suvarnabhumi international airport, who have brought the country's tourist industry to a standstill, cheered when they heard the news about the constitutional court's ruling.

PAD supporters accuse Mr Somchai's administration of being corrupt and hostile to the much-revered monarchy, and want the entire government to resign. They also accuse Mr Somchai of being a proxy for his brother-in-law, exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Protest leaders said they would continue their occupation until they saw the shape of the next government.

ESCALATING CONFLICT
September 2006:PM Thaksin Shinawatra ousted in military coup
February 2008: Samak Sundaravej sworn in as prime minister
September 2008:Protesters say Samak is just a proxy for Thaksin
9 September 2008:Mr Samak dismissed for corruption
September 2008:Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's relation, becomes PM
October 2008:Thaksin given a two-year jail sentence for corruption
26 November 2008:Anti-government protesters storm Bangkok Airport
2 December 2008:Thai court orders PM Somchai and his Party banned

'Political standard'
Earlier on Tuesday, a protest by hundreds of red-shirted, pro-government supporters forced the constitutional court to move its final hearing to Bangkok's administrative courthouse. After fewer than three hours in session, the head of the nine-judge panel, Chat Chonlaworn, announced that the court had found the People Power Party (PPP), the Machima Thipatai party and the Chart Thai party guilty of vote-buying, and unanimously agreed to disband them. Dozens of the PPP's executive members, including Mr Somchai, were also found guilty of personal involvement and banned from politics for five years. Judge Chat said that he hoped the ruling would "set a political standard".

Outside the court, where a large crowd of pro-government activists had gathered after learning of the relocation, there was a furious reaction. Prime Minister Somchai's supporters accused the judges of sabotaging democracy and going against the people's will . One former minister said members of the PPP who had escaped the political ban ban imposed on its leaders would regroup and form another coalition government.

"The verdict comes as no surprise to all of us," Jakrapob Penkair told the Reuters news agency. "But our members are determined to, and we will form a government again out of the majority that we believe we still have." Other PPP members said they would seek a parliamentary vote for a new prime minister on 8 December. Under the constitution, the disbanded parties are legally allowed to re-form under different names and form a new coalition, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok.

Divisions exposed
The court's ruling will provoke anger throughout the heartland of the government's supporters in the north and north-east, says our correspondent. The ruling may not appease the PAD, especially if the governing coalition reforms under a new leadership without fresh elections being held.

Thailand has been in political turmoil since former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a military coup in 2006. The PAD - a loose alliance of royalists, businessmen and the urban middle class - claim that the government is corrupt and hostile to the monarchy. They also accuse it of being a proxy for Mr Thaksin, who remains very popular among Thailand's rural poor. Fresh elections at the end of 2007 failed to resolve the crisis, when a party made up of former allies of Mr Thaksin returned to power.


Samak Sundaravej

Mr Somchai's predecessor as prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, was thrown out of office in September, after being found guilty of violating conflict of interest rules by appearing in a television cookery programme. Protesters occupied a central government complex for more than three months, only leaving on Monday to join the demonstrations at the airports.

Cargo flights have offering some relief to an economy that has been dealt a severe blow by the airport's closure, but at least 100,000 foreign visitors have been unable to leave. Shortly after the constitutional court's ruling on Tuesday, the government announced it was postponing a summit of the ASEAN, due for mid-December, until March.

Braveheart - Freedom Speech (1995)

Irish: The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight - it's drawn the finest people!
Lord: Where is thy salute?
William Wallace: For presenting yourselves on this battlefield, I give you thanks.
Lord: This is our army; to join it, you give homage.
William Wallace: I give homage to Scotland. And if this is your army, why does it go?
Soldier: We didn't come here to fight for them.
Soldier: Home! The English are too many.
William Wallace: Sons of Scotland, I am William Wallace...
Soldier: William Wallace is seven feet tall.

William Wallace: Yes, I've heard. Kills men by the hundreds, and if he were here, he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse! I AM William Wallace, and I see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What will you do without freedom? Will you fight?

Soldier: Against that? No, we will run, and we will live.

William Wallace: Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our FREEDOM!!!

The Korean War (1950-1953)

August 8th, 1945: Dividing Korea


At the mid-point of a century that had already seen two appallingly destructive and costly global conflicts, a savage war broke out in a small country at the extremity of the Asian landmass.

1945 - 1950: Rumblings for War
During the second world war of 1939-45, the future of the Japanese empire was decided at Allied summit meetings. In the short term, pending the return of Korean independence, Korea, a Japanese colony since 1910, was to be occupied north of the 38th parallel by Soviet Russia and in the South by the USA. It was agreed by the US and the USSR, but not the Koreans, that Korea would govern itself independently after four years of international oversight. This process was sped up because the Koreans bitterly opposed another period of foreign control after suffering under Japanese colonization for 35 years.



Predictably, both the U.S. and the USSR approved Korean-led governments in their respective halves, each of which were favorable to the occupying power’s political ideology. In the south, the chaotic political situation resulted in an American-backed administration under the presidency of anti-communist U.S.-educated strongman Syngman Rhee, a Korean who had been imprisoned by the Japanese as a young man and later fled to the United States. As president, Rhee assumed dictatorial powers even before the Korean War broke out. He allowed the internal security force to detain and torture suspected Communists and North Korean agents.



Rhee's government oversaw several massacres, the most notable one being on Jeju island in the far south in response to an uprising by leftist factions. Some elements of the population responded with violent insurrections and protests in the South and those who supported Communism were driven into hiding in the hills, where they prepared for a guerrilla war against the American-supported government. Syngman Rhee, dangerously, also openly declared the imposition of national unity by force. As a result of this stance, his American-trained army was intentionally limited by the USA to just a light arms, lacking tanks, combat aircraft and all but a small amount of field artillery - Rhee was supposed to rely on the USA for military support in the case of an attack from the North

In the Soviet-dominated North, Kim Il-sung, an anti-Japanese fighter with political skills and connections with the Soviet Union, crushed any opposition to his rule, rising to become leader of a new North Korean government by the summer of 1947. The Soviets backed Kim's Kim Il-Sung's Stalinist regime and helped him to create the North Korean Peoples' Army, equipped with Russian tanks and artillery. Both the North and South Koreans wished to unify their country once more with their own form of government - North Korea wanted communism, while South Korea wanted an independent Western Democracy.

June 25th, 1950: War Breaks Out
After several years of increasingly bloody frontier incidents along the 38th parallel, on June 25th 1950 the North Korean Peoples' Army crossed the 38th parallel, the imaginary line dividing North Korea and South Korea. South Korea were not expecting the attack and were caught completely off-guard. Despite earlier indications, the Pentagon was also caught off-guard. Because the United States had not given South Korea enough weapons (for fear of Seunmin Rhee using them to start a war) North Korean armies were easily able to invade the South.

The South Koreans panicked as the North Koreans swept south, overwhelming all opposition, the US called on the Security Council to invoke the United Nations Charter and brand the North Koreans as aggressors. The United Nations Security Council was convened within a few hours passed the UNSC Resolution 82 condemning the North Korean aggression unanimously. North Korea attacked a number of key places including Kaesŏng, Chuncheon, Uijeongbu and Ongjin, and two days later, on June 27th, Seoul, the capital of South Korea, was captured with minimal resistance.



The United States along with the United Nations decided to take a stand - if communism was allowed to spread in Korea, the UN feared it would only spread more, to close countries such as Japan. President Truman made a statement on July 27th 1950 ordering the United States air and sea forces to give South Korea support. UN Member states were called on to send in military assistance. The option of using the Atom Bomb was discussed but not considered an option now because Russia had now developed their own atomic Bomb and any nuclear attacks could lead to a nuclear war.

July 5th, 1950: US Soldiers Begin Fighting
General Douglas MacArthur was given the position of leading the Allied defense against North Korea. He ordered the American troops on occupation duties in Japan to be hurredly sent to Pusan. On July 5, the US 24th Infantry Division fought for the first time at Osan and was immediately defeated with heavy losses. The victorious North Korean forces advanced southwards, rounding up and killing civil servants as they went. The half-strength 24th Division was forced to retreat to Taejeon, which also fell to the Northern forces. Major General William F. Dean, commander of the division, was taken prisoner .



August 30th, 1950: Siege in Pusan
The North Koreans continued to advance rapidly south, aiming to take the vital port city of Pusan. By August, the South Korean forces and the U.S. Eighth Army under General Walton Walker had been driven back into a small area in the southeast corner of the Korean peninsula around the city of Pusan where they rallied and held the Pusan bridgehead as reinforcements began to arrive. Pusan, in the lower right corner of South Korea, made defense even more difficult, as anyone trying to defend South Korea would be pushed right into the sea. The 8th army kept getting trapped behind enemy territory as the North Koreans moved south at an incredible pace, causing the battles to be even more difficult. The limited number of South Korean and American forces were fighting a losing battle against a more powerful Northern Army. Less than 2 months after hostilities began, South Korea had almost entirely been lost to Kim Il Sung, with North Korea having invaded all the way down to the Nakdong River, just outside of Pusan. Only about 10 percent of the Korean peninsula was still in coalition hands. The Allied defense became a desperate battle called the Battle of Pusan Perimeter by Americans.

Eventually, North Korea found a gap in the UN lines and crossed the Nakdong river. If the UN lost this barrier at the Nakdong river, the war would be lost. All the UN had to stop the attack was a great deal of firepower but far fewer men, so General Walton Walker then famously told his troops "If I ever see you back here again, it better be in a coffin." The American forces struck back hard for the next two weeks and pushed North Korea back to gain the river barrier once more. The North Koreans failed to capture Pusan. This was the first time North Korea had really been haulted during the Korean War.

As the Americans had held back North Korea at the Nakdong River, more troops had begun to arrive from 25 countries to help defend South Korea including: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Greece, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Phillipines, South Africa, Republic of Korea, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey and the United Kingdom. These new troops were young, getting into the action for the first time as they were too young to fight in World War II. They were ready to go. Black troops arrived as well because of the high need for troops, and for the first time there were mixed units.

September 1st, 1950
Soon American air power arrived in force. Over the next 2 weeks, throughout all parts of Korea, American bombers began to knock out the main supply dumps and eliminated oil refineries and seaports that handled imports. Roads, railways and 32 bridges were all destroyed within days. By late August, America had over 500 tanks in the Pusan perimeter. The North Korean forces found themselves undermanned and with weak logistical support. On September 1, 1950, just two and a half months after hostilities began, the North Korean Army launched another huge assault on the Nakdong River barrier but couldn't hold up the attack. General MacArthur saw this was the perfect opportunity to attack - and he knew the perfect place...Incheon.



September 15th, 1950: Incheon landing
The place he had decided on was Incheon on the other side of South Korea and deep within North Korean territory. Incheon was a major supply center and was very close to Seoul. The only problem was that the attack would be almost impossible to pull off because over near Inchon, the tide had the largest shift in the World. The waters were only deep enough for boats during high tide. This posed as another problem for the attack. The only way to win the attack was to do it perfectly. MacArthur created a special 10th core unit to carry out the attack. Five days before the attack was planned, marine jets began attacking the small coastal island of Wolmi-do. Ships joined in on the attack two days before the major attack. On September 15th, during the morning high tide, the 10th core moved in on Wolmi-do, successfully taking it with ease. North Korea had been caught off guard this time. No American troops were killed. Later during the high tide at night, the main attack began. Troops landed on two beach fronts, successfully.



September 21st, 1950: Advance into North Korea
The attack went perfect. Only 20 American troops were killed, and American troops had secured Incheon, though extensive shelling and bombing destroyed much of the city. With the success of the battle for Incheon American troops were now near Seoul, and were also near Kimpo Airfield. By September 18th, Kimpo Airfield had been secured as well. American troops could now launch air attacks near Seoul. UN Troops proceded to try and take Seoul back as well, but North Korea wouldn't budge. It came down to a last man standing battle. The 8th army pushed hard with their minds set on taking North Korea back to the 38th parallel, which they did on October 1st. On September 21, only 33 marines stood at the end to celebrate victory at Seoul, but they had it.

Their communications cut, and under heavy aerial bombardment, the North Koreans had broken and fled back north. South Korean troops moved on forward across the 38th parallel, leading the attack on North Korea, but American troops stayed behind.

This posed a big question: if America continued to follow in the attack, the Korean War would no longer be a defense against communism, but would turn into an attack on communism. Nobody knew if it was worth the risk. Also, UN troops predicted Chinese troops were in North Korea, ready for an attack. However, MacArthur decided to sieze this opportunity and along with the South Koreans, drove up the western side of Korea and advanced on P'yongyang, the North Korean capital which was eventually taken easily on October 19. The U.S. X Corps also made amphibious landings at Wonsan and Iwon. By the end of October, the North Korean Army was rapidly disintegrating, and the UN took 135,000 prisoners.

November 1, 1950: China Enters the War
By October, North Korea had almost entirely fallen to South Korea, a complete switch from the beginning of the war. In mid-October, as the victorious UN forces drew near to the Manchurian border, there were ominous signals from Peking that communist China would intervene to defend its territory. MacArthur met President Harry Truman on Wake Island in their first encounter to assure him that a massive UN offensive was about to conclude the war victoriously by Christmas. Before they could launch this attack however, the Chinese unleashed their armies. The Chinese made contact with American troops on November 1, 1950 when UN Troops were ambushed near the Yalu River and forced to retreat, thousands dying in the process. Morale dropped thousands bein killed within a few hours. General Walker decided to pull troops back rather than fight at this time figure out a new plan. The Chinese slowly disappeared just as they had appeared, waiting once more.

General MacArthur, on November 24th, again ordered the UN forces to advance, but again, this time one day later, everything suddenly changed again. Chinese troops had found a gap in the UN lines. Retreat was difficult. UN troops were now trapped from all sides and fighting for their lives. Facing complete defeat and surrender, 193 shiploads of American men and material were evacuated from Hungnam Harbor, and about 105,000 soldiers, 98,000 civilians, 17,500 vehicles, and 350,000 tons of supplies were shipped to Pusan
in orderly fashion. As they left, the American forces blew up large portions of the city to deny its use to the communists, depriving many Korean civilians of shelter during the winter,



UN troops continued retreating as North Koreans and Chinese soldiers attacked down towards the 38th parallel. They crossed the 38th parallel--again, and by January 4th, 1951, Seoul was lost to the communists again, along with Kimpo Airfield. Luckily, the communists supply lines were not strong and they could not sustain the attack long enough. They began to turn around almost mysteriously. General Ridgway (taking over from General Wilson who died in a car accident) took this opportunity to strike back. The first place recovered was Kimpo Airfield. In March, Seoul was regained for the second time. It was in utter ruins; its pre-war population of 1.5 million had dropped to 200,000, with severe food shortages. A further series of attacks slowly drove back the communist forces.

April 11th 1951: Peace Talks Begin
From here, MacArthur wanted to widen the attack – to include China aswell and even include nuclear arms but President Truman feared another Worl War and fired General McArthur for his resistance. General Ridgway took over MacArthur's job. On April 11th 1951 President Truman asked to contact North Korea to begin peace talks. The communists agreed to have the peace talks in Panmunjom. At the talks, nobody seemed to want to give in. The UN wanted a new border, while North Korea wanted it to stay at the 38th parallel. The communists wanted their prisoners back, yet they had killed nearly all of the ones they had taken, offering nothing in return. The talks kept failing, beginning a very long series of negotiations. For the next two years, talks went on with no progress. The Korean War continued. Battles were still taking place, but there were long periods of idle time on the field as well. This time was spent fortifying the ground already won. The UN needed to put more pressure on the communists.



July 25th, 1951: Stalemate
The UN turned to air attacks to put more pressure on North Korea. The US had air superiority, using new, faster, and deadlier planes. On June 23rd, fighter planes launched a large attack on hydroelectric plants. Heavy bombers razed the cities and industrial plants plants of North Korea. Continuous attacks on the transport system forced the Chinese to rely on the packhorse for much of their logistical support. Bombing also ended up knocking out 90% of North Korea's electrical power supply, yet North Korea still would not give in. A new phase of air war opened when American B-29 bombers and their fighter escorts were challenged by Russian-built Mig15 fighters flown by Chinese airmen. The Mig15's outflew first-generation American jet fighters until the introduction of the swept-wing F-86 Sabre tipped the balance. In the world's first supersonic air combats, the Americans prevailed.

The 1952 the peace talks had been going on for a long time with no success. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a popular general from World War II, ran for office. He said he would go to Korea himself if he won the election. He won in November, 1952, and gave threats of nuclear attack, which North Korea took seriously. Only a few months after the election, Chinese sent notice pleading for an end to the Korean War. It still took another 4 months to bring it to an end and sign all the papers. On July 27th, 1953, armistice papers were signed and the Korean War ended. A Demilitarised Zone or DMZ was established on the border. Both sides withdrew from their fighting positions, and a UN commission was set up to supervise the armistice. Casualties in the Korean war totaled more than 3 million.

Noam Chomsky - Politics in the USA

Democrats and Republicans aren't a category. The Republicans and Democrats differ, like on the rare occasions when I vote, and they're pretty rare, sometimes I vote for Democrats, sometimes for Republicans, sometimes for somebody else. It's not a sharp split - they're two factions of the same party. We have a One-Party-State with two somewhat different factions with alot of overlap - the 'business party' has a couple of factions. You find some differences between them, I wouldn't say there's no difference on the average.

So, what should you do in that case? Well, like everything it's your own choice. Do you want to live in a democratic society or do you want to live in the society we have? Which remember is not a democratic society and is not intended to be. If you take a course in political theory here, I'm sure they'll teach you that the United States is not a democracy. It's what's called in the technical literature a 'Poliarchy'. It's the term invented by the leading democratic theorist Yale Professor Robert Dahl. But the idea is old, very - it goes way back to James Madison and the foundation of the Constitution.

A poliarchy is a system in which power resides in the hands of those who Madison called the 'wealth of the Nation', the 'responsible class of men' and the rest of the population is fragmented, distracted, allowed to participate every couple of years they are allowed to come and say "yes, thank you...why don't you continue for another 4 years". And they have a little choice among the 'responsible men - the wealth of the nation'.

Now that's the way the country was founded. It was founded on the principle explained by Madison in the Constitutional Convention, that the primary goal of the government is to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority. And then the Constitution was designed to ensure that, there's been alot of struggle about it over the years, alot of victories have been won by the public so it's not the same as it was two centuries ago...but that remains, it remains the elite ideal and it's a constant struggle, and most of the population is well aware of it.

So, for example, take the November 2000 Election. There was alot of - among intellecuals, educated people, you know university professors and people like that - there was a great deal of outrage about the 'Stolen Election' and article after article about the Supreme Court shenanigans and Florida this and that and so on. If you read through that literature, which was vast, you notice there was a constant refain - nobody could understand why the public didn't care. This is a game among intellectuals, the public just didn't care. "So ok, the election was stolen - who cares?". It was never an issue among the public.

Why wasn't it an issue? Well if you look at...this is very heavily...attitudes in the United States are very carefully monitored, business wants to know what people are thinking - and in fact there is for example at Harvard, at the Kennedy School of Government, a project called the 'Managing the Voter' project where they study closely the attitudes of people towards the government...It turns out on the eve of the election, so like, before the election, before Florida and the Supreme Court, about 75% of the pupulation didn't think there was an election going on at all. As far as they were concerned, their attitude towards the thing happening was that it's some kind of a business involving rich contributors, political leaders...and the public relations industry which is training candidates to say meaningless words that they don't understand, that they think will maybe pick up a few more votes. Well, that's only 75% of the public, so of course they didn't care very much if the Supreme Court happened to hand it over to one of them instead of the other.

In fact, most people voted against their wn interests, and consciously, because they knew it didn't matter much. They were supposed to vote on what are called 'qualities', not issues. Like, 'Do you like the guy?' 'Would you wanna meet with him?' Would you want to have a drink with him in a bar?'...or something like that. That was the issue in the Election - people didn't even know where the candidates stood on issues. And it's not because they're stupid, it was extremely hard to figure out where they stood on issues and they're trained to make it hard. And in fact most of the issues that the public cared about weren't even allowed to come up.

So the major issues, if you look at public added concerns, the major issues have to do with economic affairs, international economic affairs, what's misleadingly called 'globalisation' and the 'trade deficit' 'job security' and things like that...none of that stuff come up. You can't bring those issues up in the elections. The Free-Trade area of the Americas was coming up - there was going to be a summit of the Americas in a couple of months - issues on which the public has extremely strong opinions - but none of it could be brought up in the election and for a very simple reason.

If you look at attitudes, there's a very sharp split between elite opinion which is strongly in favour of all of this stuff, and, the public which is strongly opposed to them, and therefore it can't come up in the Election. And didn't. These issues are unmentioned. Virtually nobody knew that the free-trade area of the Americas was coming along.

So what do you do? Well, you have to decide whether you want to live in a democratic society or not. If you want to live in the kind of society say, that Madison envisioned, ok, that's a choice, but certainly not necessary. Over the last couple of hundre years there has been a very substantial extension of the right of the population, of the ability to participate and make a difference. It's not overwhelmng, and there's always a struggle to beat it back, but there's no reason why that can't continue. That's the alternative. It's not a matter of naming one party or another, but just changing the whole framework in which politics persists. Largely because of the extremely narrow concentration of economic power which removes from the public arena most decisions that belong there. There's a major effort underway right now to reduce it even further. But you don't have to acept this.

Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker

BBC
Tuesday, 18 November 2008

The Sirius Star made its maiden voyage in March of this year

Somali pirates have seized a giant Saudi-owned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean and are steering it towards Somalia, the US Navy reports. The Sirius Star is the biggest ship ever to be hijacked, with a capacity of 2,000,000 barrels - more than one-quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily output.

The vessel was captured on Saturday some 450 nautical miles (830km) off the Kenyan coast. Its international crew of 25, including two Britons, is said to be safe. US Navy officials said the hijacking was unprecedented and marks a fundamental shift in their capabilities.

'Holding hostages'
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the pirates were well trained. "They're very good at what they do," he told a Pentagon briefing in Washington. "Once they get to a point where they can board, it becomes very difficult to get them off, because, clearly, now they hold hostages."

The US Navy said the ship was "nearing an anchorage point" at Eyl, a port often used by pirates based in Somalia's Puntland region. War-torn Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991. News of the attack raised crude oil prices on global markets following an earlier slump, Reuters news agency reported.

The capture, south-east of Mombasa, is highly unusual both in terms of the size of the ship and the fact it was capture so far from the African coast, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says. He says that such hijackings are usually resolved peacefully through negotiations but, given the high profile of this event and the value of the cargo, there is always the possibility of some kind of military response.

Attacks on shipping off the Horn of Africa and Kenya by mainly Somali pirates seeking ransoms prompted foreign navies to send warships to the area this year. A number of vessels and their crews have been held captive for months, including the Ukrainian freighter MV Faina, seized in September.

'Crew safe'
The supertanker was heading for the US via the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, Reuters reports.


THE SIRIUS STAR
• Nearly the length of a US aircraft carrier
• Weighs more than three times as much as a carrier when loaded
• Can carry 2 million barrels of oil - more than 25% of Saudi Arabia's daily output
• Is the third tanker, and biggest vessel, to be hijacked in the region

The route around the Cape of Good Hope is a main thoroughfare for fully-laden supertankers from the Gulf. With a capacity of 318,000 dead weight tonnes, the ship is 330m (1,080ft) long and is classed as a Very Large Crude Carrier. It is about as long as a US aircraft carrier and, when loaded, weighs more than three times as much. "It's the largest ship that we've seen pirated," said Lt Christensen.

The South Korean-built Sirius Star, owned by the Saudi company Aramco, made its maiden voyage in March 2008. The ship's operator, Vela International, said that all of the crew were reported to be safe. "Vela response teams have been mobilised and are working to ensure the safe release of crew members and the vessel" it added.

Confirming that two Britons were aboard the tanker, the UK Foreign Office said it could not give any details of their role on the ship. "We are seeking more information on the incidents," a spokesman said. The other crew are said to be from Croatia, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia.

Captive vessels
Figures from the International Maritime Bureau show that attacks in the area - the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean off the African coast - have made up one-third of all piracy incidents worldwide in 2008.

In the first nine months of the year 63 incidents were reported. As of 30 September, 12 vessels remained captive and under negotiation with more than 250 crew being held hostage. Pirates remain active and regularly strike in the region.



In the past week alone:

• A Russian warship in the Gulf of Aden drove off pirates who tried to capture the Saudi Arabian merchant ship Rabih

• Pirates hijacked a Japanese cargo ship off Somalia

• A Chinese fishing boat was seized off the Kenyan coast

• A Turkish ship transporting chemicals to India was hijacked off Yemen

• The UK's Royal Navy shot dead two suspected pirates attacking a Danish cargo-ship off the coast of Yemen

To read the original article click here.

C02 Emissions up in Developed Nations

Industrialised Nations’ emissions are up since 2000, despite promised cuts

Emissions of greenhouse gases by Industrialised Nations’ rose 2.3% from 2000 to 2006, according to new figures from the UN' climate change agency. The biggest increases were in the former Soviet bloc - and Canada.

A UN spokesman said countries had to work much faster to avoid the possibility of dangerous climate change. Next month the nations of the world meet in Poland for the annual negotiations on climate change.

The new figures do not offer a great deal of optimism. They show that in 2006 emissions did actually fall by 0.1%, but the UN's climate change secretariat said that this tiny dip was statistically insignificant.

The overall underlying trend since 2000 is up, even though the countries in question had promised to cut their emissions .
The worst culprit has been Canada. Its emissions since 1990 have shot up 21.3% - they should have fallen 6%.

Recently the biggest rise was recorded by the Eastern European bloc , with emissions up 7.4% since the turn of the century. The UK is one of the few countries on track with emissions targets.

But a recent report to the British government suggested that even UK emissions were heading in the wrong direction if pollution from shipping and aviation , and the carbon embedded in the imported goods coming into the country, were counted.

To read the original article click here.

Remembering the 'Great War'

David Michael Weber (crossfire)
2008-11-11

November 11th 2008 marks 90th anniversary of WWI's end...


Trench warfare - static and deadly - became the norm for most of World War I

"Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind."
Wilfred Owen - died 1918

Ninety years ago at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month the great guns fell silent and Europe experienced a silence it had not known in years. It was the end of the "Great War," the War to end all Wars. Today, we know that was a hopeful but futile sentiment as the War to end all Wars is now known as World War I.

Two bullets and a lost driver set off a powder keg whose explosion engulfed Europe. In the summer of 1914, a driver made a wrong turn and ended up in the path of a young assassin who had actually given up and was just finishing off a sandwich. The young assassin was a Serbian belonging to a radical group known as the Black Hand. Their target was the Arch-Duke Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire who was touring Sarajevo. They had tried earlier that day to assassinate him but failed. Now Fate through the hands of a lost driver delivered the Arch-Duke into one of the assassin's hands who took full advantage of his good luck and fired his pistol killing Ferdinand.

The assasination caused the collapse of the house of cards that were the national alliances of the day. Austria-Hungary with German support declared war on Serbia. Russia was allied with Serbia so they entered the war. France was allied with Russia and so they entered the war. Germany (who hated France) in order to swiftly attack France violated Belgium's borders by crossing it with their troops. Britain had an alliance with Belgium and so they entered the war. Eventually other nations would enter the war as well including the USA.

World War I in many ways was the "War to end all Wars" in that it was every war past and future rolled up into one. There were Napoleonic charges, aerial bombardment, a few misguided cavalry charges with actual horses, tanks, machine guns, artillery barrages, air combat, poison gas attacks, flamethrowers, submarine warfare, and primitive hand-to-hand fighting that came down to knives, sharpened spades, and clubs.


Soldiers dehumanized by their gas masks

While fighting took place in Africa, the Middle East, the Balkans, Russia, and the borders of Italy and Austria, the bulk of the fighting took place in the area known as the Western Front. The Western Front was a long series of extensive trenches where most of the intensive fighting of the war took place. So many men died in such a concentrated place.

While WWII had a far higher casualty rate, this was widespread throughout the globe. The majority of WWI casualties, however, occurred along the several hundred kilometers of the Western Front from the North Sea to the Swiss border. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the British lost over 50,000 in dead and wounded in the space of a few kilometers.


Stretcher-bearers trudge through the mud with a wounded victim

The trenches were hell on earth - mud, water, snipers, artillery barrages, barbed wire , machine gun fire, and the rotting corpses of those who fell in No-Man's Land, the deadly area between the opposing armies' trenches. Plus there was rampant disease, lice, and rats grown fat from feeding off of corpses.

"In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again."
Siegfried Sassoon - 1918

The Second World War often gets more attention in the popular imagination. Countless movies, books, comic books, documentaries, TV shows, magazines and so on focus on the many aspects of the war. Battles, generals, strategies, policies, ideologies get constantly battered about from academic circles to office water coolers. It's a subject many have some knowledge of whereas World War I only brings to mind to some (particularly Americans) the Red Baron, the imaginary nemesis of the Peanut's comic strip character, Snoopy.


Manfred von Richthofen - the Red Baron - Germany's Flying Ace

And there's a good reason for that. With World War II there was a clear reason to fight. For the Allies, it was to defeat the conquering Nazis and Imperialist Japanese. For the Germans, it was to revenge their humiliation with the Treaty of Versailles at the end of the First World War. For the Japanese, it was believed they were saving Asia (though they didn't bother to ask the rest of Asia). It is easier for modern day audiences to understand the rationales and motivations of those who fought in that war.

The reasons for fighting the First World War, however, are rather vague. The motivations for the soldiers fighting are also vague. It's hard to understand the patriotic fever which led to so many men signing up to fight a war that appeared to have been fought for the sheer hell of it and no other reason. In modern academia, the "isms" of nationalism, militarism, imperialism are blamed for causing the war.

For war enthusiasts, World War I is a hard one to get enthusiastic about. Most of the literature and films on the subject have been anti-war save for a few on WWI pilots and Sergeant York released when America was entering WWII.

Then there's strategy. With WWII battles there was often a lot of planning and logistics that went into major battles on both sides. Armchair military historians can easily while away the hours discussing the many strategems of WWII generals.

The battles of WWI on the other hand appear to have been planned by generals who were either appallingly stupid or monstrously callous to causalities that their battles produced. At the Battle of the Somme, soldiers were ordered to advance at a walking pace. This was to keep the lines orderly and lower the chances of friendly fire - it also made the British soldiers perfect targets for German machine gunners.


Soldiers make their way on catwalks over flooded trenches

The whole war in retrospect seems a comic-tragedy of epic proportions. Men died in the thousands for a few yards of earth. The British comedy series Black Adder brilliantly showed the insanity of WWI strategy in its fourth season - "Black Adder Goes Forth." In one episode, a general is looking at a scale map of the last battle and asks his aide for the scale. His aide answers "one to one, sir!" and the general shows no surprise but is glad that 17 square feet of mud is no longer in German hands.

The Great War ended 90 years ago but the consequences still live with us to this day. The war changed the maps, changed class systems, changed the way wars are fought, and changed technology. Iraq is one of those changes having been created out of the territory of the old Ottoman Empire.

Ultimately, Nov. 11 is a bittersweet day to remember the end of a terrible war and all those who died in it. Nov. 11 is also a day to reflect on the futile hope of the time that there would be no other wars to follow.

To read the original article click here.