Saturday, February 4, 2017
This Week's SPIEGEL - The Pain of a Donald Trump Presidency
By Klaus Brinkbäumer
Donald Trump has now been president of the United States for two weeks. It literally pains me to write about all that has happened in these first days. The president of the U.S. is a racist. He is attempting a coup from the top; he wants to establish an illiberal democracy, or worse; he wants to undermine the balance of power.
With his style of rule -- his decrees, his appointments and his firings -- he is dividing Washington and the rest of the country. Our cover story this week, which will be published in English on Monday, describes how Trump's inner circle works and how insecurity has grown among government officials. It sheds light on the role of Stephen Bannon, the former head of the right-wing news portal Breitbart News, who has become Trump's Faust, his chief ideologue and the man pulling the strings in the White House. Bannon is also a man who loves wars -- he sees them as being thoroughly advantageous.
During the course of his reporting on the cover story, SPIEGEL Washington correspondent Gordon Repinski met with government officials who spoke of their worries and their pangs of guilt. "They are considering whether the right thing to do would be to leave the government or to put up resistance from within," says Repinski. In London, my colleague Peter Müller spoke with Ted Malloch, who is considered Trump's favorite for the post of ambassador to the European Union -- a man who has praised Brexit and predicted the collapse of the euro.
The problem will not resolve itself. German business is the opponent of American trade policy, the German democracy is the ideological opponent of Donald Trump, but even here, in the middle of Germany, right-wing extremists are trying to give him a helping hand. It is high time that we stand up for what is important: democracy, freedom, the West and its alliances. Germany, of all countries, the economically and politically dominant democracy in Europe, will have to form the alliance against Trump, because it won't otherwise take shape. It is, however, absolutely necessary.
The image for this week's cover was created by the artist Edel Rodriguez. Edel was nine years old when, in 1980, he came to the U.S. with his mother -- two refugees, like so many others. "I remember it well, and I remember the feelings and how little kids feel when they are leaving their country," he told the Washington Post on Friday night. The newspaper wrote: "This DER SPIEGEL Trump cover is stunning." It wasn't the first time Edel has drawn Trump. He usually portrays him without eyes -- you just see his angry, gaping mouth and, of course, the hair. "I don't want to live in a dictatorship," he says. "If I wanted to live in a dictatorship, I'd live in Cuba, where it's much warmer."
In other vital coverage this week, New York correspondent Philipp Oehmke met up with Dave Eggers and Wolfgang Höbel interviewed T.C. Boyle. Both American authors spoke about the issue gripping the entire world right now: Trump's America. "The world must be shaking," says Boyle.
Finally, in a SPIEGEL interview, my colleagues Horand Knaup, Markus Feldenkirchen and I asked Martin Schulz, the center-left Social Democratic Party's candidate challenging Angela Merkel in this year's chancellor race, what he thought of Trump. "Contemptible. He crosses the boundaries of every basic consensus that a democracy needs! It's staggering."
A selection of stories from the issue will be published in English this week at Spiegel.de/international.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/spiegel-this-week-the-pain-of-a-donald-trump-presidency-a-1133155.html
U.S. - Homeland Security suspends travel ban
By Laura Jarrett, Rene Marsh and Laura Koran
President Donald Trump's government moved swiftly Saturday to comply with a federal judge's order halting his immigration ban -- even as Trump denounced the judge.
The Department of Homeland Security announced it has suspended all actions to implement the immigration order and will resume standard inspections of travelers as it did prior to the signing of the travel ban. Also, a State Department official told CNN the department has reversed the cancellation of visas that were provisionally revoked following the President's executive order last week -- so long as those visas were not stamped or marked as canceled. The State Department has said fewer than 60,000 visas were revoked since the signing of the order. It was not immediately clear how many from that group will continue to be without their visas because their visas were physically canceled.
Following the judge's ruling -- and before the government's announcements Saturday morning -- the International Air Transportation Association, a leading airline industry group, wrote to its members to follow procedures "as if the executive order never existed." The whirlwind turn of events set up the nation for a second straight weekend of widespread uncertainty over the controversial ban, this time with the administration on defense.
Friday night, the White House announced the Justice Department would file an emergency motion to stop the halt, but it had yet to do so as of late Saturday morning. But Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson told CNN's Anderson Cooper Friday night that he was prepared to take his case all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. Trump's order bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries -- Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen -- from entering the US for 90 days, all refugees for 120 days and indefinitely halts refugees from Syria.
'Outrageous' order
Federal Judge James Robart, a George W. Bush appointee who presides in Seattle, halted the enforcement of Trump's order Friday night, effective nationwide. Robart, ruling in a lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of Washington state and Minnesota who sought to stop the order, said the states "have met their burden of demonstrating that they face immediate and irreparable injury as a result of the signing and implementation of the Executive Order. "
He said the order adversely affects residents in areas of education, employment, education and freedom to travel. The decision was met with swift denunciation by the White House -- which originally called it "outrageous" before removing that word in a statement issued minutes later -- and Trump himself, who blasted the judge personally Saturday morning. "The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!" he tweeted.
Trump also sent out a series of tweets lamenting the ruling.
"When a country is no longer able to say who can, and who cannot, come in & out, especially for reasons of safety &.security - big trouble!" he tweeted.Robart's ruling may have stung even more for the Trump administration because it came on the heels of its first legal victory over the travel ban. Hours earlier Friday, a federal judge in Boston issued a more limited ruling that declined to renew a temporary restraining order in Massachusetts, which would have prohibited the detention or removal of foreign travelers legally authorized to come to the Boston area.
But it was the sweeping ruling from Seattle that had the federal government scrambling.
Visas to be reinstated
US Customs and Border Protection alerted airlines Friday night that the US government would quickly begin reinstating visas that were previously canceled, and it advised airlines that refugees in possession of US visas will be admitted as well, an airline executive said. CBP told major US airlines Friday night that the government is in the process of reinstating visas and is "back to business as usual" before the situation that was in place before last week's executive order, the airline executive told CNN. Airlines were expected to remove travel alerts from their websites and get messages out to customers to alert them about the change. It is possible there will be more court activity and an appeal before anyone could act on getting a visa, and it's unclear how long it would take to obtain one.
US airlines use an automated system connected to the Customs and Border Protection database to scan passports and visas to get an instant determination if the passenger can board or not. Unless the government reinstates visas and the airlines get a "board" status, the airlines still would not allow such passengers to board. Airlines were adjusting to the new developments Saturday. Qatar Airways announced it will allow nationals from the seven countries affected by Trump's travel ban and all refugees presenting a valid, unexpired US visa or green card to travel to the United States.
Refugee groups relieved
Refugee resettlement agencies across the US welcomed Robart's ruling.
"President Trump's ban against refugees and Muslims was not only un-American, but Judge Robart found it to be unconstitutional," Mark Hetfield, president and CEO of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, told CNN on Saturday. "Thanks to Judge Robert's order protecting the Constitution, thousands of refugees who were bound for the US can finally find protection -- and a warm welcome -- here." "But this won't be the end of our fight to keep America's door open to refugees," he added. Because of the logistical coordination required to organize refugee arrivals, resettlement groups reached by CNN did not expect them to resume immediately.
Once a refugee is vetted and approved for resettlement, the agencies coordinate with the International Organizations for Migration to arrange their placement with a local chapter. The UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees is involved in that process, as are the Departments of State and Homeland Security, and the government of the country from which refugees are applying. Resettlement agencies have been working with the State Department's Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration to determine when admissions can resume while local branches prepare to welcome the new arrivals. Daniel Smith, an immigration attorney in Seattle, predicted a "flood of people trying to enter the US over the next few days" due to the legal opening.
"I am advising clients who are in the country now -- don't leave," Smith said. "And any clients wanting to enter the country, it's best if you try to get in right now and then stay put if you get here."
Likely to affect Gorsuch confirmation process
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump's criticism of the judge will be cited in the Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch. "The President's attack on Judge James Robart, a Bush appointee who passed with 99 votes, shows a disdain for an independent judiciary that doesn't always bend to his wishes and a continued lack of respect for the Constitution, making it more important that the Supreme Court serve as an independent check on the administration," Schumer said in a statement. "With each action testing the Constitution, and each personal attack on a judge, President Trump raises the bar even higher for Judge Gorsuch's nomination to serve on the Supreme Court. His ability to be an independent check will be front and center throughout the confirmation process."
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Customs and Border Protection. CNN's Mary Kay Mallonee, Eli Watkins and Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.
Pakistan - Ambushing FATA reforms
By Afrasiab Khattak
A mysterious flurry of so-called jirgas (a traditional people’s assembly of tribal areas) has been witnessed during the last few weeks. The agenda of these activities seems to create confusion at a time when Pashtuns living in Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) appear to be at the verge of taking steps out of the colonial system of governance.
The aforementioned reforms are expected to take place on the basis of a report furnished by the FATA Reforms Committee, which was appointed by the Federal Government in 2015. The Committee visited all the tribal agencies and held large meetings to ascertain the opinion of the people and prepared their recommendations on the basis of their findings. The strong vested interest representing the fiefdom like colonial rule and vast black economy was expected to put up fierce resistance against reforms, but what came as a surprise was the decision by two political groups to lend their shoulder to the forces of status quo for paving the ground to delay the change.
Interestingly both the political groups opposing the proposed merger of tribal area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as part of reform package are allied with the ruling PML-N, one in the provincial government of Balochistan and the other in the Federal Government. They didn’t see any problem with the composition of the Reform Committee when it was being formed by their senior partner, or when for the last year and a half it was working on the reform package. The excellencies have suddenly discovered the unrepresentative nature of the Committee when the recommendations have been finalised and the process of implementation has started. To subvert the reform process or at least to delay it seems to be the real objective of the recent political manoeuvring. But it’s a matter of satisfaction that majority of political parties wholeheartedly support the reform process and integration of FATA in Pakhtunkhwa. There have been popular marches and demonstrations in every political agency and the frontier region in favor of merger, unlike the two so-called Jirgas held outside FATA. It’s not surprising because FATA Political Alliance, a conglomerate of major political parties has been working on the reform program since 2011.
The case for the merger of FATA with Pakhtunkhwa not only represents the aspirations of the local people but is also based on the following very concrete historical and socio-political factors.
One, FATA was carved out in the late 19th century by the British to create an additional buffer behind the buffer state of Afghanistan. The proposed merger of the area with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will do away with the imperial policy of divide and rule. There is nothing sacred about the colonial policy of atomising their subjects.
Two, all the major mountainous passes in FATA open on the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa shaping an integrated communication system. People going from one part of FATA to another enter Pakhtunkhwa province for the purpose.
Three, during the last almost a century and a half of its existence, every FATA political agency has socio-economically and culturally integrated with the adjacent district of the province in a very fundamental way, while a similar integration hasn’t taken place among political agencies. The farmer can become a very viable foundation for further integration. The six frontier Regions are for all practical purposes the sub divisions of the adjacent districts.
Four, massive migration of the population from FATA into Pakhtunkhwa has been taking place over the years. Their absorption in the adjacent districts of the province is a success story without precedent in Pakistan. The population of most of the urban centers in the nearby districts has dramatically increased due to the aforementioned migration without any complication in demographic cohesion. This is the most remarkable testament to ethnic and cultural homogeneity of the people of two regions. At the peak of the IDP phenomena from FATA many experts believed that majority of FATA population is residing in Pakhtunkhwa. These immigrants and settlers constitute a strong demographic bridge for the future integration of the two regions.
Five, there is a precedent of FATA’s merger into another province. In 1955 when Punjabi ruling elites forced the merger of the provinces, regions and princely states in the western part of the country for countering the population weightage of the former East Pakistan by creating the so called One Unit or West Pakistan with its capital in Lahore, FATA was also merged in it.
Six, the bureaucracy of Pakhtunkhwa already operates in FATA through FATA directorates so the merger is expected to take place smoothly as there will be no need for creating new bureaucracies. Hence, no war for turf.
But to ensure a fair deal to the people of FATA and also to ensure their mainstreaming the Joint Session of Parliament needs to approve a package consisting of three things. One, FATA must have proper representation in National Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on the basis of a fresh and real census. The present figure of 4.5 or 4.8 million is bogus and is concocted by the bureaucracy. The figures coming from the IDP camps have exposed the falsehood of this figure. The actual figure is expected to be between 12 and 15 million. Correct population figure on the basis of real census is also important for FATA’s genuine share in the National Finance Commission Award. Two, a certain percentage of the developmental funds of the province should be fixed for FATA for two decades so that it can catch up in socio-economic development with the rest of the country. Three, a certain percentage of cabinet berths should be allocated for elected members of the provincial assembly from FATA at least for a decade so that the people of the politically backward area are able to take part in decision making.
There is lot of room for improvement in the implementation mechanism of the reform package. Presently the process of reform is handled by departments/institutions with strong interest in the status quo. For example the Ministry of SAFRON, which has key role will in implementation of reforms, will finish the day FATA is merged because that’s its only domain. Why should we expect it to vigorously work for dissolving itself? Similar is the case with FATA Secretariat and the Governor House. But the biggest omission is the non-inclusion of Pakhtunkhwa government in the merger so far. This is flabbergasting. The Federal Government needs to immediately create a task force consisting of representatives of the Federal Government, FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to work together on the implementation of reforms. Time is of the essence. Inclusion of FATA’s people in the elections for the Provincial Assembly in 2018 requires urgent preparations.
Intellectual dishonesty erased Quaid-e-Azam’s vision: Senator Farhatullah Babar
“We live in perilous times as not only ordinary citizens go missing and disappear without trace but even the Father of the Nation has gone missing from the collective memory of the nation as his ideas and vision have been systematically distorted and erased”.
This was stated by Senator Farhatullah Babar at the book launch of “Jinnah as a parliamentarian” compiled by eminent human rights activist I A Rehman, former Minister later Malik Muhammad Jaffar and late journalist, author and researcher Ghani Jaffar in Lok Virsa auditorium Friday evening.
The real Jinnah and his modern and liberal ideas seem to have been kidnapped by his ideological adversaries ever since his famous August 11, 1947 speech in the Constituent Assembly declaring that religion will have nothing to do with the affairs of the state and his ideals, philosophy and vision sought to be erased from the collective conscience of the people, he said.
The process of hijacking Jinnah through intellectual dishonesty was set in motion with the blackout of his August 11 speech he said and added that it was taken forward by Zia asking people to burn copies of Justice Munir’s book “From Jinnah to Zia” and surreptitiously deleting from the preamble of the Constitution the word ‘freely’ in relation to the right of the Non-Muslims to practice their religion.
Even the current book “Jinnah as a parliamentarian” which was first compiled in 70’s did not see the light of the day under Zia’s dictatorship when intellectual dishonesty and corruption reigned supreme, he said.
It is really not possible to understand Jinnah and his philosophy without reading this book. We have yet to understand Jinnah, listen to him and learn from him. While we hang his pictures on the walls the real Jinnah is missing and has joined the ranks of disappeared persons. In order to trace and recover him we have to read and understand him and this book helps exactly in doing that.
Two thoughts of Jinnah are most evident from his speeches in the Parliament. One is about freedom of expression and the other about Fair Trial and civil liberties.
His three speeches on the subject of freedom of expression, arising out of a notice served on a newspaper in Allahabad, reflect the principles and policies that he believed were immutable.
His famous quotation “If you give me the freedom of the speech I have the freedom to publish it, otherwise the privilege is useless”, highlights the principle underlying the immutable right of freedom of expression and should persuade us to reflect on freedom of expression in Pakistan, he said.
A great challenge to free expression of opinion comes from the façade of loosely defined ‘national security’. Not only information is denied under this pretext, the free expression and propagation of opinion is also curbed.
As an example he said that recently a Senate Committee did not allow media allowed to witness discussions on the National Command Authority Bill 2016 because such discussion was viewed as against national security interest.
Public interest in a publicly documented legislation was denied on grounds of ‘security interest’ in what he said must find a mention in the annals of dubious world records.
‘National security concerns’ are so all pervasive that even finds it safe to exercise unprecedented self-censorship.
Giving example he said that despite the presence of visuals of Mulla Mansoor’s assassination in May last the media kept saying that Mulla Mansoor was killed in Zabul because the deep state so desired.
It was only after President Obama’s announcement and admission by the Taliban that media came out of its mode of self-censorship. On issues of Kargil misadventure, Osama Bin Laden and nuclear proliferation also media’s self-censorship has been deafening, he said.
Freedom of expression is imperiled by a general intolerance towards the views that are contrary to the views of powerful guardian of security and the so called champions of ideology
He said while there are these declared and undeclared restrictions on expression there were no restrictions on hate speech which flourished defying ban on it, history continues to be distorted and curriculum defaced.
A new element had been introduced into the equation; those criticizing the state policies are made to disappear followed by a smear campaign of religiously inspired hatred campaign on the social media against them and asked the civil society and conscientious citizens to give it a serious thought.
https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/2017/02/03/intellectual-dishonesty-erased-quaid-e-azams-vision-senator-farhatullah-babar/
پنجاب میں کالعدم تنظیمیں اب بھی کام کررہی ہیں، نیشنل ایکشن پلان مکمل طور پر ناکام ہو چکا ہے،بلاول
پریس بریفنگ کے دوران چیئرمین بلاول نے کہا ہے کہ پارلیمنٹ میں اپنا بھرپور کردار ادا کروں گا، پاکستان میں عوامی مفادکیلیےسب سےزیادہ کام ہم نےکیا، معاشی ترقی کے لیے عوام کو اختیار دینا ضروری ہے۔ پاکستان میں عوامی مفاد کے لیے سب سے زیادہ ہم نے کام کیا ہے۔
محدود وسائل کےساتھ مسائل حل کرنےکی کوشش کررہےہیں، پیپلزپارٹی نے18ویں ترمیم کےتحت اختیارات صوبوں کومنتقل کیے، بلدیاتی نمایندےمحدودوسائل کاکہہ کرذمےداریاں نہیں لےرہے۔
انہوں نے مزید کہا کہ بلدیاتی انتخابات کرا کر اختیارات نچلی سطح پر منتقل کیے، ہم محدود وسائل کے ساتھ مسائل حل کرنے کی کوشش کر رہے ہیں اور کراچی آپریشن کوئی مذاق نہیں تھا۔
https://ppppunjab.wordpress.com/2017/02/04/%D9%BE%D9%86%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D9%85%DB%8C%DA%BA-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%85-%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%B8%DB%8C%D9%85%DB%8C%DA%BA-%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%A8%DA%BE%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%85-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%B1/
Bilawal Bhutto - U.S. Immigration Limits Hurt Counter-Terror Work, Send ‘Wrong Message
President Donald Trump’s January 27 order banning or suspending the entry to the United States of refugees and of citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries weakens the efforts of Muslims worldwide to fight violent extremism,
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari meets with supporters. His Pakistan Peoples Party is one of the country’s two largest. Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons/Shehryar A. Malik
Bhutto Zardari spoke in his first visit to Washington since the inauguration of President Trump, and as he and other party leaders are preparing a campaign to challenge Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in national elections to be held within 20 months. Like Sharif and a range of other Pakistani leaders who have spoken at the institute in recent years, Bhutto Zardari called for a U.S.-Pakistani relationship that is consistent and more broadly focused on issues beyond counter-terrorism. U.S. and Pakistani experts who met at USIP in November debated the possible directions of relations between the countries, but agreed both should work to avoid tensions escalating into a rupture of relations.
“For my generation, as a progressive Muslim out in the world, it’s really discouraging to see countries looking, responding to fear of ‘the other.’” – Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
Internationally, “a shared vision of order and interdependence has been replaced by angry nationalism and hard, red lines that exclude” others, Bhutto Zardari said in a speech. “This ... must not be the new normal.”
The U.S. order bans the entry of refugees from Syria and suspends the entry of other refugees, and of citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Of the directive, Bhutto Zardari said: “For my generation, as a progressive Muslim out in the world, it’s really discouraging to see countries looking, responding to fear of ‘the other’ in such a way.”
Such a response, “we’ve learned through history is not the way to deal with such issues,” he said. “I know by interaction, by finding common ground, by studying in other people’s universities, by learning about their culture, a shared culture, history, we find that common ground. And a few criminals should not be allowed to spoil the situation for everyone.”
“At the same time,” Bhutto Zardari said, “I really am extremely encouraged that I’ve seen another side to America” in public protests of the order. “The outpouring of support for the people affected by this ban and some other things, I think, is a very positive message … to the world.”
U.S. Ideals
Bhutto Zardari’s mother was assassinated by a suicide bomber in 2007 as she campaigned for a new term as prime minister. Following his mother’s death, Bhutto Zardari was named chairman of the Peoples Party while a student at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. His father then led a coalition government as president from 2008 to 2013, when Prime Minister Sharif was elected.
In Pakistan, where the armed forces repeatedly have seized power and installed military governments, the 2013 transition was the “first-ever peaceful transfer of power from one elected government to another,” foreign policy analyst James Carafano, of the Heritage Foundation, noted in introducing Bhutto Zardari. “We are hopeful that this is the new norm” for Pakistani government transitions, Carafano said.
Questioners in the audience noted that the U.S. political debate over the entry restrictions has included calls for the ban to be extended to Pakistan, where al-Qaeda and other violent extremist groups are active. Asked about the effect of any such extension, Bhutto Zardari said it “would create a whole host of hostilities.” But he said it is unclear how U.S. policy will actually evolve and that he prefers to take a “wait-and-see approach.”
He urged that the United States not turn “away from those very ideals that it stood for— that shining example on the hill. It may not have been perfect all the way through, but it could stand by those ideals.”