Obama shakes pillars of US security

By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON - In his first National Security Strategy (NSS), President Barack Obama Thursday pledged to maintain Washington's "military superiority" but stressed that the persistence of the nation's global power will depend more on the health of its domestic economy and international cooperation. In sharp contrast to the NSS released by president George W Bush six months before the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the 52-page document underlined the limits of military power and the kind of unilateralism that characterized Bush's first term, in particular. "The burdens of a young century cannot fall on American shoulders alone - indeed, our adversaries would like to see America sap our strength by overextending our power," Obama wrote in the NSS's introduction. "We are clear-eyed about the challenge of mobilizing collective action, and the shortfalls of our international system. But America has not succeeded by stepping outside the currents of international cooperation," he went on in one of a number of many implicit criticisms of Bush's record that studded the document. At the same time, the NSS asserted, Washington will not shy from the use of military force "unilaterally if necessary to defend our nation and our interests ..." If and when it does so, however, "We will also seek to adhere to standards that govern the use of force." The NSS, which the executive branch is required to issue periodically under a 1986 law, has traditionally focused primarily on military, or "hard", power. In that respect, Obama's NSS marked a significant change in the amount of attention it devoted to the importance of both strengthening the US economy - described as "the wellspring of American strength" - and building "a just and sustainable international order" that, among other things, accommodates the ambitions of "21st century centers of influence", such as China, Russia, India, Brazil, South Africa, and Indonesia. "This really is a national security strategy in the sense that it covers a lot of ground and tries to be quite synthetic in dealing with traditional security issues, geo-economics, and the domestic sources of American power all in one fell swoop," noted Charles Kupchan of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). "The document states quite clearly that the source of American power begins at home with education, with democracy, with prosperity, with fiscal responsibility," he said. "These are all important messages." "The idea of grounding national security in a strong economy borrows a page from president [Dwight D] Eisenhower's playbook," said William Hartung, of the New America Foundation (NAF), who praised the document as a "huge improvement over the Bush approach, which advocated a 'shoot first, ask questions later' approach to foreign policy". Indeed, the new NSS differs from the two issued by Bush by stressing the increasing multipolarity of global power and the need for Washington to look beyond both its ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and what it called the "global campaign against al-Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates" in bolstering its security. "These wars - and our global efforts to successfully counter violent extremism - are only one element of our strategic environment and cannot define America's engagement with the world. Terrorism is one of many threats that are more consequential in a global age," it asserted, citing nuclear weapons, cyber-warfare, US dependence on fossil fuels, climate change, disease, and failed states among other threats. "More actors exert power and influence," according to the NSS, which noted that the administration has already helped shift the focus of global economic management from the Group of Seven Western powers to the Group of 20, which includes a number of emerging nations. "The very fluidity within the international system that breeds new challenges must be approached as an opportunity to forge new international cooperation," it said. "We must rebalance our long-term priorities so that we successfully move beyond today's wars, and focus our attention and resources on a broader set of countries and challenges." In addition to frankly recognizing the world as multi-polar, the most striking difference between the new NSS and the two issued by Bush - the more aggressive 2002 NSS, which, among other things, attempted to justify the preventive use of force and vowed to maintain military superiority against any potential adversary was softened somewhat by a 2006 edition - was its treatment of military power. "[W]hen we overuse our military might, or fail to invest in or deploy complementary tools, or act without partners, then our military is overstretched," the new NSS warned. "Americans bear a greater burden, and our leadership around the world is too narrowly identified with military force," it went on. "And we know that our enemies aim to overextend our Armed Forces and drive wedges between us and those who share our interests." Kupchan noted, "It's a refreshing antidote to the Bush years in making quite clear that military power is only one component of America's strength and could under some circumstances even prove counter-productive." At the same time, however, Obama, partially echoing Bush, pledged in his introduction that Washington "will maintain the military superiority that has secured our country, and underpinned global security, for decades". Andrew Exum, a counterinsurgency specialist at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), said he had difficulty squaring that "bold claim" with the document's "acknowledgement that the United States must address its deficit to ensure our future security". "The United States might not be able to pursue all of our national security goals as vigorously as we might like in part due to spending constraints," he said, adding that the document left him "unsure of what the administration's true priorities are heading into the rest of its term in office". "The problem is there is much in Obama's current policy that seems to contradict the document's rhetoric of restraint - from continuing increases in an already huge military budget to the reliance on a troop surge and drone attacks as central elements of US policy in Pakistan and Afghanistan," added Hartung. Jim Lobe's blog on US foreign policy can be read athttp://www.ips.org/blog/jimlobe/.

CIA Mouthpiece Credits “al Qaida” With “Strategic Corridor” Idea

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[For those of you who know the work of Asia Times reporter, Mr. Syed Saleem Shahzad (or his Agency counterpart, Mr. Michael Scheuer SEE: CIA Sees Dead People), you already know that he is used to introduce false narratives, the "official version" of planned events. He previously outlined the "Taliban split" psyop that introduced the official story on the TTP to the world.

Now, Syed is setting us up for the next psyop, by introducing the concept of the "strategic corridor" into the media (SEE: ‘Final Solution’ Frenzy – Part Four: Final Solution for Pakistan), only he is doing his usual job of flipping the truth, making claims that it is "al Qaida" who has plans to occupy the western corner of Balochistan, setting us up by introducing the false plot line, in order to justify pursuit by the American/international coalition.

He also turns the tale of Abdolmalek Rigi of Jundullah and his meeting with al Q. "emissary" on its head, to cover the story of the secret planned meeting at Manas Air Base (SEE: Wayne Madsen Nails Real Story of Rigi’s Arrest). His claims that India will join in America's plots is a little late. Suggestions that the US will make overtures to Iran for cooperation, perhaps on using the port facility built by India at Chabahar (even though sanctions intended to cripple the Iranian economy), are in the works, are obviously ridiculous.]

Al-Qaeda seeks a new alliance By Syed Saleem Shahzad

Asia Times Online spoke to a top ideologue, on the condition that neither the name of the man nor the location of the meeting be hinted at in the writing.

He said that al-Qaeda had already anticipated that Washington would bring Pakistan and India on board in the fight against militants, and even try to get cooperation from Iran. The aim would be to geographically isolate the militants.

But the militants, said the man, planned to occupy a strategic corridor that stretched from Nangarhar province in Afghanistan through Pakistan’s Khyber Agency and the Pakistani Balochistan area of Tutrbat all the way to Iranian Balochistan.

The militants plan to establish a new regional alliance. In this regard, Iranian Jundullah (Army of God) leader Abdul Malik Rigi is due to meet an al-Qaeda emissary in the near future near a Pakistani Balochistan coastal town to lay the foundation for joint regional operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and India.

Al-Qaeda has in the past had some reservations about the Iranian Jundullah, an insurgent Sunni Islamic organization opposed to Tehran, on suspicion it had links to US and Pakistani intelligence.
In the past three years, a few Pakistani Balochi anti-Shi’ite elements who were previously part of the Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi worked with Jundullah. They carried out joint operations against Iranians and Shi’ites in the region.

These Pakistani Balochi elements played a role in bringing al-Qaeda and Jundullah closer, making it clear that Jundullah is now an independent organization with its headquarters in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi. It has bases, though, in Pakistani Balochistan and the Iranian province of Sistan-Balochistan.

Jundullah has the narrow aim of destabilizing the Iranian Shi’ite regime. Al-Qaeda wants to sell its franchise to Jundullah, with two main aims:

To destroy or disrupt operations at Chabahar port, which could be used for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) supplies going to Afghanistan. The current main route through Pakistan is under heavy attack by the Taliban.
Establish al-Qaeda’s presence in Iran to carry out operations to create a strategic balance against any Iranian role in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Final Solution Part One

Translation from Russian

From Afghanistan with love

Tariq Saeedi

In collaboration with Qasim Jan of Kandahar from Kabul Khalil Zadeh, SM Kacie from Quetta, and GN Brohi in Nushki and Dalbandin

If in 1890, Van Gogh created a canvas size of the Eurasian continent, he probably would have depicted it that today represent the United States: an impressive psychosis, destroying the normal psyche, high talent, struck the raging madness , lofty ambitions, crashing on the rocks of reality, disturbed by the genius of self-destruction.

So, as we have seen today and that will become apparent in the coming months is a plot canvas Van Gogh "the Gates of Eternity", only in the universal scale. ------- Welcome to the "final decision", made in USA.

In this series of essays we summarize the results difficult, risky journeys of our team, looking for clues and razgadok scattered throughout the land of brutal Pakistani province of Baluchistan and the surrounding landscapes of Afghanistan and Iran.

Our fabulous finds and discoveries are explained and supported by experts and sources from Moscow, Washington, Kabul and New Delhi.

Our series of essays begins with a description of what is happening in Pakistan and further information will cover events throughout Central Asia and the immediate neighboring countries.

We will tell you the terrible story, part by part, an excerpt of the excerpt.

This is the first part of our work "final decision" in this essay, we will tell you that they have found in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In subsequent essays we will give you expert opinions and explanations about our discoveries.

Compared with our previous work, these essays seem unfinished.Unable to bring a complete in all respects history, based solely on the results of research. Without evidence from sources located directly in the described location, a sketch of this kind will remain unfinished.

So please allow us to break through the web of lies, ambition, cruelty, surprise attacks and violence.

Training Camps in Afghanistan

Repeatedly there were reports that the Americans themselves contain at least two training camps, preparing a lot of terrorists.

It sounds strange: a country at war against global terrorism, she brings up the terrorists. Nevertheless, the essence of investigative journalism is that any thought, even the most ridiculous, should be the rationale.

In one of our earlier essays (Mumbai Mystery: American projects for Pakistan and India), we found that the Americans had a secret reference to the filling and ensuring jihadi groups in Pakistan. Links to the four parts of Mumbai essays are at the end of the story.

In Mumbai essay, we noted that as far as we could identify and find out first early communication between Americans and the jihadi groups have been established in August 2007 in Quetta.

With the help of our experts in Moscow, we were able to predict in our Mumbai essay that the number of bomb attacks and terrorist acts in Pakistan will rise in coming months. Our Mumbai essay was published in December 2008 and since then Pakistan can hardly be traced at least a day's respite.

We do not get pleasure from his righteousness, we do not zloradstvuem. We are only trying to discern, what the main idea of our previous work has stood the test of time.

We also said that Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and limited conflict, Michael Vickers is the author systematically occurring in Pakistan chaos. It should be recalled that Vikkres directly involved in jihadi war against the Soviet Union and has a personal relationship with all players present play.

We have stressed in Mumbai essay that probably Vikkres uses U.S. command for special operations in order to reduce the possibility of strikes on Pakistan. In this paper we will explain their case.

Based on confirmations already shown in previous studies, we began to investigate the likely presence of American terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.

During interviews with prominent individuals in Afghanistan and Pakistan, we have found out that at least one of the training camps controlled by the U.S. contractor, is located in one of the provinces of Afghanistan - in Dzhour or in Uruzgan.

From our point of view it is important not the location of the camps, but in general their presence. We will return to the topic of training camps in our subsequent essays.

Chicken as a snack before hawking

This happened in early October 2009. We were in the keels - a small village - in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, near the border with Afghanistan. We are unable to disclose our location, but it is roughly between the towns of Dalbandin and Nushki in the area Chaga Baluchistan province in Pakistan.

Chicken cooked in a hurry, was tasty, but harsh. Homemade bread was very large, round and evenly baked.

We had lunch and began planning our trip for the next few days. Much of the work, which could perform progulivayac in the vicinity, was already completed. We have begun to clarify the information that seemed to us particularly important.

First, we decided to find young people who were not Muslims. We began our journey, after they drank a very sweet black tea.

They are not Muslims

We went for an hour and reached the town almost on the border with Afghanistan. During the late afternoon prayer (Asr), we reached a small tea house.

"When I put the finger on someone eyes look just is not right and not too openly. Do not talk during the how to see anybody's side, "quietly to warn us of our guide.

We sat down on a mat on the dirty floor. After a while, he pointedly looked right away and quickly looked away. After a few seconds we looked at them quietly. These were two bearded young man dressed in dirty, loose trousers, long shirts, seemingly no different from the others. They disappeared behind a low hill to the administration of natural needs. And then came back and stood up for prayer rugs.

After ten minutes, our guide pointed out a similar gesture to another young man with a beard on a smooth face, which went on the open toilet. He is also releasing her bladder, to return stood on a prayer rug.

We have seen enough and did not need to be found here longer and thus attract unnecessary attention.

"These people came here over a year ago," said our guide.

"After the departure of their needs, they do not even wash their hands. They did not meet the necessary ablutions before prayer (wudu) after using the toilet before you embark on the mat, "said the guide, then when we were on our way to the next stop.

"They are not Muslims," he said.

Yes, we can understand that they are not Muslims. After visiting the toilet, a prerequisite to the implementation of prayer for Muslims is to commit the ritual ablutions. The only exception - is the lack of water.But now is not the case.

"Taliban"in American Helicopter

Once we saw these young men, posing as practicing Muslims and do not wish to perform ablutions required before prayer, we decided to talk with someone who could tell us about the Taliban who come here on American helicopters.

We drove the dirt road for half an hour and got to another town not far from the Afghan border. One of our guides in Afghanistan confirmed that earlier conversation he had with people - witness how the so-called Taliban were transported by American helicopters. He was waiting for us at the petrol station. In those parts crossing the border - a small business.

Our guide explained that talking with several people - eyewitnesses as an American helicopter landed young bearded men near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Based on these stories, we realized that two or three times a month at various locations near the border with Pakistan, are disembarking groups consisting of 4-10 people.

Residents of villages on the Pakistani side of the border have also confirmed that illegal border crossing - a common along the entire border area Chaga.

Then we went to look at the man who left him for dead.

Murder after prayers

In the keels (village), thirty kilometers from the Afghan border, we met with Osman (anonymous name). He was about forty years and he told us a story that is not so common in these places.

He said that two men, who introduced the Afghan traders, Nana his car for a trip along the border with Afghanistan. Since in these places can happen any, Osman took with him a comrade.

"Afghan traders have stated that they need to meet with several people at the border and possibly the journey takes more than half of the day. In a deserted place near the Afghan border, customers were asked to stop the car at the time of prayer.

Osman and his friend, also joined in prayer, led by one of the Afghans.After the prayers, an Afghan, who led a prayer, pulled a pistol from his side pocket and fired straight into another Osman. He was wounded in the shoulder and fell down as if felled.

Then he sent weapons Osman and again pulled the trigger. Osman puts wide shirt and a bullet passed through the sleeve, only lightly touched his hand. But he also fell, pretending that too overwhelmed.

Two Afghans got into a car and drove toward the border in Afghanistan.

Osman said that when the kidnappers fled, he pulled another couple of kilometers, and then he helped. His friend survived, but more than six months spent in bed.

Less than a week, it was discovered that the stolen machine is implicated in the terrorist attack in Quetta.

Unregistered vehicles

Has been reported that more than half of cars and motorcycles in the band of Baluchistan Dalbandina Naftanana to the north and from Pasni to Gwadar in southern drive without license plates.

It was easy to verify. We rode around and watched the cars to consider availability. Yes, more than half of the vehicles had no registration numbers at all.

It is difficult to explain why such mass?