North Korea's Shell Game 06/30/2010
Dude is good
How does North Korea, a small country sanctioned and surveilled by pretty much everyone in the West, continue to rake in billions from arms deals?
The folks over at Arms Control Wonk recently got their hands on the Report to the Security Council from the Panel of Experts established Pursuant to Resolution 1874. It's long and reads like the UN document it is (i.e. impeccably soporific) but provides exceptional insight into how the DPRK continues to deal:
On 11 December 2009, Government of Thailand authorities interdicted an aircraft, Ilyushin-76, carrying 35 tons of arms and related materiel. The interdicted cargo was discovered aboard a chartered aircraft operated by Air West Company, which departed from Sunan Airport in Pyongyang, DPRK, and landed at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok to refuel.33 The airway bill covering the shipment had been issued by Air Koryo, national carrier of the DPRK. It indicated the cargo as 145 crates of “mechanical parts.” However, the Thai inspection of the cargo revealed that the content consisted of some 35 tons of conventional arms and munitions including 240mm rockets, RPG-7s, TBG-7s and MANPADS surface-to-air missiles. It was also established that the shipper was Korea Mechanical Industry Co.Ltd, a DPRK entity, and that the consignee was Top Energy Institute located in Iran. A puzzling factor in this case is the numerous flight plans filed for the outbound and projected return route of the aircraft. This has raised suspicions concerning the nature of the transaction and ultimate destination of the cargo and should entail further inquiry. The aircraft used in this illicit trade is owned by a company in the United Arab Emirates and registered in the Republic of Georgia as 4LAWA. It was leased to SP Trading Limited, a shell company registered in New Zealand, and then chartered to Union Top Management Ltd (UTM), another shell company registered in Hong Kong.
Dizzying no?
Read more after the jump ---->
The folks over at Arms Control Wonk recently got their hands on the Report to the Security Council from the Panel of Experts established Pursuant to Resolution 1874. It's long and reads like the UN document it is (i.e. impeccably soporific) but provides exceptional insight into how the DPRK continues to deal:
On 11 December 2009, Government of Thailand authorities interdicted an aircraft, Ilyushin-76, carrying 35 tons of arms and related materiel. The interdicted cargo was discovered aboard a chartered aircraft operated by Air West Company, which departed from Sunan Airport in Pyongyang, DPRK, and landed at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok to refuel.33 The airway bill covering the shipment had been issued by Air Koryo, national carrier of the DPRK. It indicated the cargo as 145 crates of “mechanical parts.” However, the Thai inspection of the cargo revealed that the content consisted of some 35 tons of conventional arms and munitions including 240mm rockets, RPG-7s, TBG-7s and MANPADS surface-to-air missiles. It was also established that the shipper was Korea Mechanical Industry Co.Ltd, a DPRK entity, and that the consignee was Top Energy Institute located in Iran. A puzzling factor in this case is the numerous flight plans filed for the outbound and projected return route of the aircraft. This has raised suspicions concerning the nature of the transaction and ultimate destination of the cargo and should entail further inquiry. The aircraft used in this illicit trade is owned by a company in the United Arab Emirates and registered in the Republic of Georgia as 4LAWA. It was leased to SP Trading Limited, a shell company registered in New Zealand, and then chartered to Union Top Management Ltd (UTM), another shell company registered in Hong Kong.
Dizzying no?
Read more after the jump ---->
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Gaddafi Watch: ART [UPDATED] 06/29/2010
Striking, no?
When he isn't trying to explain the importance of his father's little green book or wax poetic on how the international political system should democratize, Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi (in PBOM parlance GaddafiLite) likes to pull out the brushes and paint.
The results? Predictable but none the less hilarious. Portraits of his father (see above), obvious political pieces ("Intifada" and "The Dead" among others) and a magic horse. I think this review from Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones sums it all up pretty well:
Saif's vision extends far further than politics, encompassing love, what it is to be an artist, and every other imaginable cliche. His paintings are extensively, I would say exhaustively, represented in the exhibition and the achievement is, in its way, breathtaking. Look for a moment at his tribute to romanticism, Bella Rosa. A real rose, red and with a straight stem, is fixed to a canvas next to a painting of the same rose. Love, as the artist comments, "is a gift from God to all men," and this is a memento of a very special person in his life. There is an even greater triumph of banality in Arab Horse. A lovely horse, glowing white, gallops towards us over fuzzy green grass in front of a brown sky. The painting remarkably reproduces in oils the look, quality and sophistication of a picture done on a pavement in chalk.
You can see more of GaddafiLite's work and the work of other modern Libyan artists on his website: www.thedesertisnotsilent.com.
Hat tip to Gavin
PS: Why does GaddafiLite's website have Google Ads? Daddy must have cut his allowance.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, many of these old links are dead. Check out this new post for pictures.
The results? Predictable but none the less hilarious. Portraits of his father (see above), obvious political pieces ("Intifada" and "The Dead" among others) and a magic horse. I think this review from Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones sums it all up pretty well:
Saif's vision extends far further than politics, encompassing love, what it is to be an artist, and every other imaginable cliche. His paintings are extensively, I would say exhaustively, represented in the exhibition and the achievement is, in its way, breathtaking. Look for a moment at his tribute to romanticism, Bella Rosa. A real rose, red and with a straight stem, is fixed to a canvas next to a painting of the same rose. Love, as the artist comments, "is a gift from God to all men," and this is a memento of a very special person in his life. There is an even greater triumph of banality in Arab Horse. A lovely horse, glowing white, gallops towards us over fuzzy green grass in front of a brown sky. The painting remarkably reproduces in oils the look, quality and sophistication of a picture done on a pavement in chalk.
You can see more of GaddafiLite's work and the work of other modern Libyan artists on his website: www.thedesertisnotsilent.com.
Hat tip to Gavin
PS: Why does GaddafiLite's website have Google Ads? Daddy must have cut his allowance.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, many of these old links are dead. Check out this new post for pictures.
Two New Khodorkovskys? 06/28/2010
Dr. Sakharov has seen this before
In 2007, Moscow’s Sakharov Center put on a showcase of previously banned artwork called ‘Forbidden Art.' Its purpose was to highlight the detrimental effects of hard-line religious orthodoxy on Russia’s intellectual climate. Unfortunately, prosecutors have come to the defense of the Orthodox Church and its patrons in the Kremlin, charging the organizers of the exhibition, Yuri Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeev, with "debasing the religious beliefs of citizens and inciting religious hatred." If they are convicted, they will face a three-year prison term.
Such a draconian prospect has evoked outrage from many Russian intellectuals, including Andrei Zorin, a leading academic at Oxford University. A money quote from his open letter to polit.ru: “There can be no doubt that a guilty verdict will dramatically change the political climate in Russia and deal a powerful, if not a mortal, blow to the much-hyped modernization plans of President Dmitri Medvedev.”
Click here to read the entire letter.
Such a draconian prospect has evoked outrage from many Russian intellectuals, including Andrei Zorin, a leading academic at Oxford University. A money quote from his open letter to polit.ru: “There can be no doubt that a guilty verdict will dramatically change the political climate in Russia and deal a powerful, if not a mortal, blow to the much-hyped modernization plans of President Dmitri Medvedev.”
Click here to read the entire letter.
The New North 06/28/2010
America's strategy in Afghanistan and the debate surrounding it has largely focused the Pashtun south while taking the northern provinces somewhat for granted. Recent developments including today's bombing in Faryab that killed four Norwegian members of the ISAF and multiple attacks against German troops in Kunduz threaten to change this.
In a new report on the resurgence of the Taliban in the across the north, veteran Afghanistan watchers Antonio Giustozzi and Christoph Reuter argue that these attacks are part of a broader strategy to threaten the ISAF's supply lines and put pressure on European members of the coalition:
The Taleban appear to have a clear strategy aimed at also destabilising northern Afghanistan. Moving north strengthens their claim to be the legitimate government of Afghanistan and to be fighting for the whole country, not just for a particular region or ethnic group. Furthermore, there is no doubt that the psychological impact of the north’s destabilisation upon Western Europe and the US would be considerable, overstretching resources as well as reducing the recruitment pool of Afghan army and police, by enabling the Taliban to intimidate the families of the volunteers.
(Full report here)
The clip above from the BBC's Dispatch series paints a vivid picture of a group of extremists based in the northern province of Baghlan struggling to build bombs, stay awake during nighttime raids and learn the Koran. Most of the footage was originally shot in 2009. It seems that these groups have improved significantly over the past year.
In a new report on the resurgence of the Taliban in the across the north, veteran Afghanistan watchers Antonio Giustozzi and Christoph Reuter argue that these attacks are part of a broader strategy to threaten the ISAF's supply lines and put pressure on European members of the coalition:
The Taleban appear to have a clear strategy aimed at also destabilising northern Afghanistan. Moving north strengthens their claim to be the legitimate government of Afghanistan and to be fighting for the whole country, not just for a particular region or ethnic group. Furthermore, there is no doubt that the psychological impact of the north’s destabilisation upon Western Europe and the US would be considerable, overstretching resources as well as reducing the recruitment pool of Afghan army and police, by enabling the Taliban to intimidate the families of the volunteers.
(Full report here)
The clip above from the BBC's Dispatch series paints a vivid picture of a group of extremists based in the northern province of Baghlan struggling to build bombs, stay awake during nighttime raids and learn the Koran. Most of the footage was originally shot in 2009. It seems that these groups have improved significantly over the past year.
McChrystal Update 06/22/2010
Michael Cohen points out that McChrystal has clearly violated Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. From the UCMJ:
Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
If Obama doesn't fire McChrystal the moment he sets foot in the White House for sheer stupidity alone I'll be surprised. Seriously dude, Rolling Stone?
Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
If Obama doesn't fire McChrystal the moment he sets foot in the White House for sheer stupidity alone I'll be surprised. Seriously dude, Rolling Stone?
General McChrystal: military expert, political novice
Read the article that is taking American politics by storm and forced Obama to recall his top general in Afghanistan for a dressing-down. This is a quick conversion of a pdf, so it's a bit choppy-- the article isn't going to be officially released until Friday.
This is a a career threatening release for McChrystal. Besides being a political disaster- McChrystal insults Obama, Biden, and France, amongst others-- it calls into question his entire strategy, too. This also could be the article that renews debate about the Afghan war in America. Money quote (on strategy, you can get the political quotes anywhere):
...“The entire COIN [counterinsurgency] strategy is a fraud perpetuated on the American people,” says Douglas Macgregor, a retired colonel and leading critic of counter-insurgency who attended West Point with McChrystal. “The idea that we are going to spend a trillion dollars to reshape the culture of the Islamic world is utter nonsense. ”In the end, however, McChrystal got almost exactly what he wanted……
Today, as McChrystal gears up for an offensive in southern Afghanistan, the prospects for any kind of success look bleak. In June, the death toll for US troops passed 1,000, and the number of IEDs has doubled. Spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the fifth poorest country on earth has failed to win over the civilian population, whose attitude toward US troops ranges from intensely wary to openly hostile. The biggest military operation of the year – a ferocious offensive that began in February to retake the southern town of Marja – continues to drag on, prompting McChrystal himself to refer to it as a “bleeding ulcer.”
In June, Afghanistan officially outpaced Vietnam as the longest war in American history – and…those who support McChrystal and his strategy of counterinsurgency know that whatever the general manages to accomplish in Afghanistan, it’s going to look more like Vietnam than Desert Storm. “It’s not going to look like a win, smell like a win or taste like a win,” says Maj. Gen. Bill Mayville, who serves as chief of operations for McChrystal. “This is going to end in an argument.”
Update: Rolling Stone rushed publication of the article, its now available here.
This is a a career threatening release for McChrystal. Besides being a political disaster- McChrystal insults Obama, Biden, and France, amongst others-- it calls into question his entire strategy, too. This also could be the article that renews debate about the Afghan war in America. Money quote (on strategy, you can get the political quotes anywhere):
...“The entire COIN [counterinsurgency] strategy is a fraud perpetuated on the American people,” says Douglas Macgregor, a retired colonel and leading critic of counter-insurgency who attended West Point with McChrystal. “The idea that we are going to spend a trillion dollars to reshape the culture of the Islamic world is utter nonsense. ”In the end, however, McChrystal got almost exactly what he wanted……
Today, as McChrystal gears up for an offensive in southern Afghanistan, the prospects for any kind of success look bleak. In June, the death toll for US troops passed 1,000, and the number of IEDs has doubled. Spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the fifth poorest country on earth has failed to win over the civilian population, whose attitude toward US troops ranges from intensely wary to openly hostile. The biggest military operation of the year – a ferocious offensive that began in February to retake the southern town of Marja – continues to drag on, prompting McChrystal himself to refer to it as a “bleeding ulcer.”
In June, Afghanistan officially outpaced Vietnam as the longest war in American history – and…those who support McChrystal and his strategy of counterinsurgency know that whatever the general manages to accomplish in Afghanistan, it’s going to look more like Vietnam than Desert Storm. “It’s not going to look like a win, smell like a win or taste like a win,” says Maj. Gen. Bill Mayville, who serves as chief of operations for McChrystal. “This is going to end in an argument.”
Update: Rolling Stone rushed publication of the article, its now available here.
The Colonel's love affair with Italy continues. It's a heartwarming story really. From the Telegraph:
Gaddafi has reportedly "adopted" the tiny town of Antrodoco after discovering it by chance last year when he travelled to Italy for the G8 summit in the earthquake-hit city of L'Aquila. Nervous of driving through tunnels possibly weakened by the powerful quake on the motorway which connects Rome with L'Aquila, he instead instructed his entourage to take a winding back route through the mountains.
He stopped for a break in Antrodoco and was reportedly bowled over by the locals' hospitality and warmth. After posing for group photographs and hugging villagers, he was quoted by La Repubblica as telling them: "You have entered my heart and I won't forget you." The Libyan leader subsequently sent several envoys to the village, including his ambassador to Rome, Hafed Gaddur. [...]
Col. Gaddafi has reportedly promised to help the village by converting a historic palazzo into a luxury hotel and setting up a business bottling mineral water from a mountain spring.
Who says all colonial relationships have to end badly?
Gaddafi has reportedly "adopted" the tiny town of Antrodoco after discovering it by chance last year when he travelled to Italy for the G8 summit in the earthquake-hit city of L'Aquila. Nervous of driving through tunnels possibly weakened by the powerful quake on the motorway which connects Rome with L'Aquila, he instead instructed his entourage to take a winding back route through the mountains.
He stopped for a break in Antrodoco and was reportedly bowled over by the locals' hospitality and warmth. After posing for group photographs and hugging villagers, he was quoted by La Repubblica as telling them: "You have entered my heart and I won't forget you." The Libyan leader subsequently sent several envoys to the village, including his ambassador to Rome, Hafed Gaddur. [...]
Col. Gaddafi has reportedly promised to help the village by converting a historic palazzo into a luxury hotel and setting up a business bottling mineral water from a mountain spring.
Who says all colonial relationships have to end badly?
Der Spiegel kills.
In 1979, the Shah is driven out of office in the Islamic Revolution, and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini triumphantly assumes power in Iran. The purity of Shiite faith is at the center of his theocracy, while the purity of uranium is seen as irrelevant. Khomeini dismisses the nuclear program as a "suspicious Western innovation" that has no business in his Islamic Republic. Besides, weapons of mass destruction are haram, or forbidden, according to the teachings of Allah. Khomeini's position is astonishing.
By this time, Israel is already a nuclear power, after having built a secret nuclear reactor in the Negev Desert and functioning nuclear weapons. In 1969, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir presumably confessed to US President Richard Nixon about the existence of the bombs. In the fall of 1980, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein feels emboldened by the US government to attack his Iranian neighbors. The war will rage for eight years, claiming half a million lives. Bushehr is one of the bombing targets, and Iran's nuclear reactor there, still unfinished, is largely destroyed.
In a dramatic letter to the revolutionary leader, Mohsen Rezai, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard (and a critic of Ahmadinejad today), requests his permission for the development of nuclear weapons. He argues that this is the only way Iran can defend itself and deter its enemies. Prime Minister Hossein Mousavi (the leader of the popular resistance movement today) writes a personal appeal to support Rezai's argument in favor of the bomb.
In 1979, the Shah is driven out of office in the Islamic Revolution, and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini triumphantly assumes power in Iran. The purity of Shiite faith is at the center of his theocracy, while the purity of uranium is seen as irrelevant. Khomeini dismisses the nuclear program as a "suspicious Western innovation" that has no business in his Islamic Republic. Besides, weapons of mass destruction are haram, or forbidden, according to the teachings of Allah. Khomeini's position is astonishing.
By this time, Israel is already a nuclear power, after having built a secret nuclear reactor in the Negev Desert and functioning nuclear weapons. In 1969, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir presumably confessed to US President Richard Nixon about the existence of the bombs. In the fall of 1980, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein feels emboldened by the US government to attack his Iranian neighbors. The war will rage for eight years, claiming half a million lives. Bushehr is one of the bombing targets, and Iran's nuclear reactor there, still unfinished, is largely destroyed.
In a dramatic letter to the revolutionary leader, Mohsen Rezai, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard (and a critic of Ahmadinejad today), requests his permission for the development of nuclear weapons. He argues that this is the only way Iran can defend itself and deter its enemies. Prime Minister Hossein Mousavi (the leader of the popular resistance movement today) writes a personal appeal to support Rezai's argument in favor of the bomb.
Hannah Armstrong on the Algeria's World Cup appearance and disunity in the Maghreb:
"The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), product of a cooperation treaty signed by Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, lays claim to no notable achievement since its launch more than two decades ago. Trade between North African countries remains just 1.3 percent of their foreign exchange, the lowest for any region in the world."
"The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), product of a cooperation treaty signed by Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, lays claim to no notable achievement since its launch more than two decades ago. Trade between North African countries remains just 1.3 percent of their foreign exchange, the lowest for any region in the world."
The 2010 Pew Global Attitudes Project survey is out. The US remains popular in many parts of the world with the notable exception of the Middle East:
“Ratings of America are overwhelmingly favorable in Western Europe. For example, 73% in France and 63% in Germany say they have a favorable view of the U.S. Moreover, ratings of America have improved sharply in Russia (57%), up 13 percentage points since 2009, in China (58%), up 11 points, and in Japan (66%), up 7 points. Opinions are also highly positive in other nations around the world including South Korea (79%), Poland (74%), and Brazil (62%). […] Publics of other largely Muslim countries continue to hold overwhelmingly negative views of the U.S. In both Turkey and Pakistan – where ratings for the U.S. have been consistently low in recent years – only 17% hold a positive opinion. Indeed, the new poll finds opinion of the U.S. slipping in some Muslim countries where opinion had edged up in 2009. In Egypt, America’s favorability rating dropped from 27% to 17% – the lowest percentage observed in any of the Pew Global Attitudes surveys conducted in that country since 2006.”
It’s particularly interesting to contrast changes in Russian and Egyptian views. In March 2009, Obama clumsily set out to “reset” relations with Russia but has since made significant progress working with Moscow. Obama’s flawless Cairo speech, on the other hand, was followed by a year of consternation. The lesson for the current administration seems clear: exceeding low expectations is much better than failing to reach high ones.
“Ratings of America are overwhelmingly favorable in Western Europe. For example, 73% in France and 63% in Germany say they have a favorable view of the U.S. Moreover, ratings of America have improved sharply in Russia (57%), up 13 percentage points since 2009, in China (58%), up 11 points, and in Japan (66%), up 7 points. Opinions are also highly positive in other nations around the world including South Korea (79%), Poland (74%), and Brazil (62%). […] Publics of other largely Muslim countries continue to hold overwhelmingly negative views of the U.S. In both Turkey and Pakistan – where ratings for the U.S. have been consistently low in recent years – only 17% hold a positive opinion. Indeed, the new poll finds opinion of the U.S. slipping in some Muslim countries where opinion had edged up in 2009. In Egypt, America’s favorability rating dropped from 27% to 17% – the lowest percentage observed in any of the Pew Global Attitudes surveys conducted in that country since 2006.”
It’s particularly interesting to contrast changes in Russian and Egyptian views. In March 2009, Obama clumsily set out to “reset” relations with Russia but has since made significant progress working with Moscow. Obama’s flawless Cairo speech, on the other hand, was followed by a year of consternation. The lesson for the current administration seems clear: exceeding low expectations is much better than failing to reach high ones.
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