South East Asia

What next for Afghanistan?

The book on post-9/11 U.S. involvement in Afghanistan is still being written; though, previous chapters are now familiar to most observers. Chapter 1: How the U.S. quickly routed the Taliban, but watched the group reemerge from neighboring sanctuary through a mix of intimidation and appeal to local grievances; Chapter 2: How the U.S. made significant investments in developing Afghan institutions of governance and rule of law, but undermined said efforts by empowering unaccountable local power brokers (in Afghan parlance, “warlords”) for short-term, tactical objectives; Chapter 3: How Afghan officials were regularly cited for corruption and financial mismanagement, but how the U.S. fueled a gold-rush-like situation in a country that had known nothing but conflict and depredation for over a quarter century; and so on. This is the story of the past two decades, or at least a part of it.

Muslim Governments Are Giving China a Free Pass on Xinjiang

A chorus of condemnation has risen in recent months from Western capitals in response to China’s persecution of the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. The United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada have imposed sanctions on Chinese officials, and U.S. President Joe Biden has maintained his predecessor’s stance that Beijing is committing “genocide” in Xinjiang—a position that the Canadian and British Parliaments also back.

Biden’s Worst Move Yet: Giving U.S. Vaccine Tech to China

A TRIPs waiver will not only impede vaccine production at this moment, it will also cause long-term harm. There are two principal concerns in this regard. First, a waiver for COVID-19 vaccines will obviously decrease the incentive for companies to make vaccines for the next disease. “The recent rhetoric will not discourage us from continuing investing in science,” wrote Bourla, the Pfizer chief. “But I am not sure if the same is true for the thousands of small biotech innovators that are totally dependent on accessing capital from investors who invest only on the premise that their intellectual property will be protected.”

Is the Biden Administration an Enemy of Israel and the Free World?

Biden made no distinction between a democratic ally of the United States and a terrorist organization he did not even name. He spoke as if he did not know that the calm was broken by a terrorist organization and by no one else, and that what prevents Palestinians from having freedom, prosperity and democracy is precisely that they are ruled by terrorists and people who supports terrorism.

On April 7, a US Department of State press statement said that the Biden administration had decided to restore US financial “aid to Palestinians”, without requiring that American money not be used for terrorist purposes….

US offers reward for American woman missing in Afghanistan

The U.S. State Department says it is offering a $5 million reward for information about an American woman kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2008

The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it was offering a $5 million reward for information about an American woman kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2008.

Cydney Mizell, a humanitarian aid worker and her driver, Mohammad Hadi, were kidnapped in southern Kandahar province, where Mizell was teaching English and embroidery at a local girl’s school.

US offers $5 million reward for information on kidnapped aid worker

The US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, through its Rewards for Justice (RFJ) office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have offered a reward of up to $5 million for information concerning the kidnapping of Cydney Mizell, a humanitarian aid worker who went missing in Afghanistan in 2008.

This RFJ reward offer is for information leading to the location, recovery and return of Mizell.

Generali americani: SUA sunt în mare pericol

La scurt timp după ce zeci de generali și amirali în retragere din Franța au semnat o scrisoare deschisă în care au atras atenția asupra unui posibil război civil, a venit rândul generalilor americani să lanseze o scrisoare similară, în care fac apel la ”salvarea republicii constituționale” de atacul marxismului. Scrisoarea generalilor și amiralilor americani în retragere a avut, până acum, mult mai puțin ecou în presă.

US Must Take Responsibility in Palestinian Issue, China Says

“Instead of actively preventing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the United States is prepared to add fuel to the fire,” China’s diplomat Zhao warned.

China on Tuesday urged the United States to shoulder its due responsibility on the Palestine-Israel conflict and support the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to play its due role in promoting the easing of the situation, rebuilding trust, and political settlement.

Chinese Land-Grab In Bhutan And India: Timid Responses Won’t Work With Beijing – Analysis

The world is wiser with the emergence of documentary evidence that China discussed weaponizing the SARS virus since 2015, together with studying the effects of a biological strike including on the health-hospital infrastructure of the target country and put in place the propaganda to absolve itself of any blame before bombing the world with the “Wuhan Virus” in 2019. The installation of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as the Director-General of World Health Organization in July 2017 was part of the plan which paid off – terming the “Wuhan Virus” as Covid-19.

In Search of Peace for Afghanistan: Historical Perspectives

Last month’s announcement that all U.S and international troops will leave Afghanistan before September 11, 2021 has sparked intense debate over the country’s future after over four decades of near-continuous conflict. Deteriorating security conditions, uncertainty over the level of international engagement moving forward and political instability pose great risks to the fragile peace process and the prospects for a sustainable political settlement. Many analysts have compared the current moment to the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, an alarming parallel given the years of civil war and Taliban rule that followed.