US troop pullout from Afghanistan risks monitoring of billions in civilian projects

An accelerating U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan this year and next will raise the risk of ill-advised spending of billions in U.S. funds for the country’s rebuilding, the top auditor of U.S. reconstruction spending said Wednesday. John F. Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction, told the House Oversight Committee that civilians monitoring these projects are allowed to work only within a “safe zone, or bubble” limited to areas within about a 20-minute helicopter flight to a facility that can provide emergency medical care. “As our U.S. troops continue to withdraw, the amount of territory in Afghanistan that falls outside of the bubble will increase,” Sopko said. “Accordingly, the amount of programs and number of projects that can be monitored and overseen by U.S. personnel will decrease.” President Barack Obama announced Tuesday in his State of the Union speech that 34,000 U.S. troops will come home from Afghanistan over the coming year, with an unspecified additional number leaving in 2014. There currently are about 66,000 U.S. troops there. The combat mission is due to end at the end of 2014. Obama’s goal is to have Afghan forces sufficiently trained and equipped to handle security on their own by then. Sopko said $20 billion in reconstruction money appropriated by the Congress has not yet been spent. He said security issues and Afghan government corruption make it problematic that the money will be used wisely. He said his auditors already have encountered limitations on their work due to security restrictions. Recently in northern Afghanistan his organization was prevented from visiting an area because it was deemed too dangerous, he said. “As a result, 38 projects and over $72 million in U.S. taxpayer money is beyond our inspection.” Acknowledging that his organization does not have a firm grasp on the amount of U.S. money that could be at risk in the next few years in Afghanistan, Sopko said he will soon request that the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Army Corps of Engineers and other government agencies tell him the status of each of their Afghan reconstruction projects and how many more they plan to start in the months ahead. The projects that are still on the drawing board could commit billions in additional U.S. funds, Sopko said. His conversations with various agency leaders suggested to him that they are seized with a “desire to get the money pumped out before the clock runs out,” he said, referring to Obama’s timetable for ending the war. Sopko said he is concerned about the prospect for success of Washington’s two main aims in Afghanistan: transferring full responsibility for Afghan security to Afghan forces, and the simultaneous effort to improve the Afghan government’s ability to manage the country’s reconstruction during that transition and beyond. “I think it is fair to say that the success or failure of our entire 10-year engagement in Afghanistan is teetering on whether these two interrelated and very important and ambitious goals can be met,” he said.

Pakistan trip with Gulzar wasn't cut short for political reasons

Director Vishal Bhardwaj has said that his trip to Pakistan with lyricist-driector Gulzar was not truncated for political reasons. The Indian High Commission has also clarified that it had no role to play in the artistes' premature return to Mumbai. The duo had travelled to Pakistan with Mr Bhardwaj's wife, singer Rekha Bhardwaj. They were scheduled to attend the Karachi Literary Festival which starts on Friday; Gulzar was listed as the keynote speaker at the inaugural session of the three-day event. Mr Bhardwaj's press release said that the trip to Pakistan was made to record a song for his new film, 'Dedh Ishqia'. "Gulzar Saab visited the grave of his mentor, an eminent poet Ahmed Nadeem Qasimi," Mr Bhardwaj said. "After that he visited his birth place Dina in Pakistan after 70 years. He was emotionally overwhelmed and stressed and felt uncomfortable after reaching at his hotel in Lahore. So we cancelled his recording and decide to escort him back to India and discontinued his journey further. There is nothing political about it. We plan to visit Pakistan again for recording as soon as Gulzar Saab feels better." The Indian High Commission, in Islamabad said Gulzar's trip was a private one and that it " was not aware of his itinerary and no one from the mission gave him any advice regarding his return to India... the news that he has been advised to return to the India by the Indian High Commission, Islamabad is false and fabricated."

Pak court orders speedy trial in Benazir assassination case

indiatimes.com

A Pakistani court today directed an anti-terrorism court to conduct daily hearings in the 2007 Benazir Bhutto assassination case and to conclude the trial within three months. The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore high court issued the order after prosecutors from the Federal Investigation Agency complained that the trial had not been completed though five years had lapsed since Bhutto's assassination. The two-judge bench heard a petition filed by the FIA, which asked it to direct the anti-terrorism court of Judge Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman to conduct daily hearings. The FIA said Bhutto was killed in a suicide attack on December 27, 2007 and it was regrettable that the high-profile case was in court even after the lapse of five years. Special Prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali contended that under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, the anti-terrorism court is bound to hold daily hearings of cases for their speedy disposal. Ali informed the Lahore High Court that the lawyers for all the accused were using delaying tactics, which was evident from the fact that no other cases from 2007 were still pending in the anti-terrorism court. Bhutto was killed by a suicide attacker shortly after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi in December 2007. Judge Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman is also conducting the trial of seven men, including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, who have been charged with involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. That trial too has been hit by numerous delays.

Ways of Expressing Love on Valentines Day

One of the oft repeated facts about life is that it is incomplete without love. Love is one of the most beautiful and sacred emotions known to us human beings. It is an emotion that is prevalent throughout nature. It is an universal emotion. And, though most of us are not very good at expressing our heartfelt emotions like love. But, it is very important to be honest in relationships and tell someone that we love them. Occasions like Valentines day has made the 'when' part of it easy, now the only thing is 'how'. To counter this we have devised various means of conveying our feelings to the people we love. Some of these are,

Words

Whether written, spoken or communicated in any other way, words are a very powerful tool to express your innermost and heartfelt emotions. If you are someone who loves to use words as a way of communication, love letters or Valentines day cards are an excellent idea to do the same. Words as a medium can be accompanied with some other more commonly used gifts such as flowers or chocolates etc. It all depends on your nature too, you can either be a quiet and unassuming person or someone who likes to pamper your loved one by giving lots of add ons with your love message.

Art

Creativity in expression is considered very thoughtful by people in general. Love is a feeling that is an inspiration behind many art works too. Artists have produced, crafted or painted their best when they were under the influence of the varied emotions that accompany love. Some Valentine's day gift ideas which can be used to convey your love are art pieces like paintings, hand crafted figurines and decorative pieces.

Music

Music imbibes all emotions known to us. Most of us love music even if few among us understand it. There is no better way of conveying of your love than through this beautiful medium of expression. Music is poetry in action, it has the power to convey a range of feelings that can be called love. From the heady feeling of romantic love to the soulful sentimentality of motherly or brotherly love to the soothing calmness of spiritual love. Music can say it all.

Place

Planning a day or a few hours together with your loved one/ones on Valentine's day helps in creating the perfect mood for the occasion. You can choose a venue that holds a special place in your heart to say the all important words 'I Love You'. If you believe in spontaneity and simplicity while conveying your unadorned message, then too the place might become one of the reasons of the answer tilting in your favour. Love is an inborn quality in all of us. No one needs to learn to love. But, many of us have either forgotten or have never been adept at the communication part of it. Even if the other person knows, conveying the feelings of love always help in making your love grow.

Afghan president welcomes withdrawal

Associated Press

The Afghan government on Wednesday welcomed President Barack Obama's decision to bring home half of the 66,000 American troops in Afghanistan within the next year, and said its forces are ready to take responsibility for the country's security. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been pressing for a faster pace in the withdrawal of foreign combat troops from Afghanistan and agreed with Obama last month to accelerate the handover of security responsibilities to his country's newly trained security forces to this spring — instead of late summer as originally planned. "Afghanistan welcomes the announcement by President Obama," Karzai's office said. "This is something Afghanistan has wanted for so long now. The withdrawal in spring of foreign forces from Afghan villages will definitely help in ensuring peace and full security in Afghanistan." The Afghan Defense Ministry said it was ready to take on the responsibility. "We are ready to fill the vacuum and we are ready to take full responsibility for security in 2013," ministry spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi told The Associated Press. Many Afghans, however, worry that a quick drawdown will destabilize a country that is still fighting a war with insurgents more than 11 years after the U.S. invasion. They also fear that the nearly 352,000 strong Afghan army and police forces are not ready to take the lead for security. Although the drawdown was widely expected, the announcement for the first time put numbers on the withdrawal plan and for many Afghans brought home the fact that foreign troops are indeed leaving. "I heard on the news this morning about the withdrawal and became very sad. This is bad news for me," said Mohammad Naim, a 45-year-old Kabul restaurant owner. "The presence of the U.S. soldiers increased the morale of the Afghan people, the country was stable. I don't believe Afghan forces can keep security. For example, you can see that there is still fighting in the provinces." He recalled the civil war that followed in the years after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, and said he was worried history would be repeated. "The U.S. lost men and women in this country and spent billions of dollars. We should never forget this. If all the troops leave, the future of the country is dark," Naim said. Obama said Tuesday in his State of the Union address that the first 34,000 troops will leave within a year and more in 2014, when all foreign combat forces are to leave the country. But he did not reveal what U.S. military presence would remain after 2014 to help advise and train the Afghan forces, and fight al-Qaida and other extremist groups. That may stem from the lack of an agreement so far on a bilateral security deal between the United States and Afghanistan that would regulate the status of those forces, including the contentious issue of immunity from prosecution under Afghan laws. If no agreement is struck, the U.S. will not retain any forces in Afghanistan after 2014, just as Washington pulled all of its troops out of Iraq at the end of 2011. No other NATO forces are expected to remain either if the Afghans don't strike a deal with the Americans. The U.S.-led NATO coalition has about 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, including the 66,000 Americans. Many countries are also expected to accelerate their own withdrawals. Britain, which has 9,000 troops here, is expected to drop to 5,200 by the end of the year — although they and the U.S. troops are expected to start the main withdrawals after the summer fighting season. Before making the announcement, Obama had briefed Karzai in a video conference. Karzai's office said the two leaders discussed the pending security agreement, strengthening and equipping the Afghan forces, and the pullout of U.S. forces. "This drawdown will continue. And by the end of next year, our war in Afghanistan will be over," Obama said, adding that al-Qaida was no longer the threat it was on Sept. 11, 2001. The U.S. invaded less than a month later to rout al-Qaida in Afghanistan and overthrow its Taliban supporters. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid also welcomed the drawdown, but said it wasn't enough. The coalition, he said, should leave immediately. "The Western governments must realize that their baseless war in Afghanistan had no benefit for them," Mujahid said in a statement. "Thousands of their soldiers were killed, disabled or faced psychological problems. Billions of dollars were spent, which affected their economies. Their people are faced with poverty and other problems. Now it is time for America and all other countries to put an end to this baseless war in Afghanistan and withdraw their troops." In some of the country's eastern provinces, where coalition forces have been fighting a resurgent Taliban with mixed success, some people were worried. Aziza Maisam, a female member of the provincial council in eastern Ghazni province, said she was worried about the fate of women if the Taliban should make a comeback. "I heard the news this morning and I was thinking of the effect it would have on women. The situation is bad and insecure in Ghazni province. It is a premature decision by Obama to withdraw the troops," she said. "The foreign troops are very necessary. The fighting is not over as President Obama said." She said it is too early for U.S. troops to leave because the country is still not safe. "My province is an example," she said. "After 5 p.m. you can't leave Ghazni city." ___

Pakistan close to an Olympic ban

Pakistan could soon join neighbours India as Olympic outcasts with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday considering suspending the country over what it said was government interference. “We might soon consider a suspension as a protective measure,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters. He said the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) and the country’s government had been invited to the IOC’s headquarters later this week to discuss a domestic dispute over the sports body’s independence. “The government of Pakistan has ignored the invitation,” Adams said. Pakistan Olympic officials claim the government has been interfering with the administration of the POA in a dispute that has been simmering for months. The IOC banned India in December over government interference in elections of the Indian Olympic Association. An Olympic ban means an effective end to funding from the IOC to the national Olympic association. No officials of that association can attend Olympic meetings and athletes of a banned nation cannot compete at the Games under their country’s flag.

Pakistan decides to continue YouTube ban

Contrary to the wishes and expectations of many among the general public, its representatives in the government have decided to continue a ban on video sharing website YouTube due to lack of cooperation, Geo.tv reported Wednesday. The decision was made during National Assembly’s standing committee on Information Technology. During the meeting, Ministries of Law and Information Technology said that complete blocking of anti-Islamic content on the website was impossible. They further added that YouTube was not willing to extend cooperation to the government of Pakistan in the matter. Pakistan had banned YouTube over clips from a sacrilegious film hosted on the website that sought to ridicule Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) on September 17, 2012. The amateurishly produced film, Innocence of Muslims, caused furore across the Muslim world precipitating into mass street protests in Egypt, Libya and in Pakistan among other Muslim countries. The site was recently blocked in Egypt over the video.

Pakistan: Balance of convenience

EDITORIAL : Daily Times

Dr Tahirul Qadri has been questioned by the Supreme Court (SC) about his locus standi as a Canadian national to file a petition against the constitutional validity of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) under Article 213 and 218 of the constitution. The hearing on Monday that was supposed to be on the formation and hence the ultimate dissolution of the ECP, as desired by Dr Qadri, ended up with Dr Qadri standing in the dock answering the three member bench of the SC as to what the contents of his oath were when he became a Canadian national. At the end of the hearing Qadri was asked to submit a concise statement admitting that he had sworn an oath of allegiance to another country and that the federal government had issued a notification allowing him to retain the citizenship of Pakistan at the same time. On Tuesday, the SC once again raised questions on Qadri’s sudden foray into the politics of Pakistan and then barging into the constitutional domain of the country, that too only a few weeks prior to the elections. The Chief Justice (CJ) was curious to know as to why Qadri would come in December, and not earlier. After all the present ECP, about which Dr Qadri has reservations, has been working for over almost a year. The CJ made clear the significance of holding elections on time. He was all praise for democracy in the country that had found its place after going through enormous miscarriages. There was a clear message that all doors to undemocratic moves have been closed, especially to martial law. The locus standi, on which Dr Qadri’s statement on Tuesday relied, had yet to be decided and the hearing was adjourned for another day. The argument by the court, that Dr Qadri being a dual national does not stand legal or for that matter moral ground to file a petition against any institution of Pakistan, stands on weak foundations. Yes, why would Dr Qadri bring into the spotlight such a sensitive issue now, when the country is giving final shape to the arrangements for the next elections, is intriguing. Seen in this context the entire argument put forth by Dr Qadri against the ECP gives leverage to the court to inquire into the intention of the petitioner. That is exactly what is being done by the SC, besides examining the admissibility of the petition. Though Tahirul Qadri has been bending his back to upset the system by his intervening in election matters, the timing does not afford either the state or the judiciary to take any chances. We are hanging in the balance. We need the elections to happen, free, fair and in time. The court could rely on the doctrine of balance of convenience to save the country from the conspiracies surrounding Dr Tahirul Qadri’s political intervention. The dissolution or any verdict on ECP could be detrimental for the elections and for democracy at the end of the day. Dr Qadri might enjoy the right to move the courts on questioning the formation of the ECP, but dismissing his demand at this time would be to the greater good.

Nawaz Sharif: ''Century’s joke''

Couldn’t this be the century’s joke? Mian Nawaz Sharif, the supremo of his own faction of The Muslim League, says that the government is not serious in creating new provinces in southern Punjab. But doesn’t this hold good for his own PML (N), too? Isn’t it that it too is not serious about this? Isn’t it a fact that the PML (N) brought up the resolution for a Bahawalpur province in the Punjab Assembly after the PPP mooted the creation of a Seraiki province at various public, political and parliamentary forums feverishly and persistently? The move was evidently intended to neutralise the PPP and cut it down from garnering votes in southern Punjab by playing this politics of province. Otherwise, could it be presumed by any stretch of imagination that either the PPP is unaware that it doesn’t have the vote to adopt a constitutional amendment by a two-thirds majority in the Punjab Assembly or the PML (N) doesn’t know that it too has not the required vote in the parliament for a constitutional amendment for the creation of a Bahawalpur province? Both are indeed playing politics, and the electoral politics at that. And with this, both are playing a cruel joke on the people. Province creation is a very serious business. It involves acute local sensitivities and passionate people’s aspirations and felt needs. And it is unpardonable to trivialise this serious business for petty politics and electoral gains. There indeed is not something quaint or new about demands for new provinces or about carving out new provinces. Countries do undergo their shaping or reshaping off and on to meet popular demands for new provinces. India has gone through this process after independence and now boasts of many more states than were there at that time. And more demands for states are being articulated presently and the political class over there is listening to them intently. And it is not unimaginable if the country sees a new state or two emerging in not too distant a future. Instances of new provinces are not rare elsewhere too. In fact, more provinces surely make for a more focused administration, more focused development and more focused fulfillment of the people’s popular yearnings for progress and advancement. Accordingly, voices are coming out in the country not just from southern Punjab or Bahawalpur to be made a province. The tribal people are crying for their province in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas to get into the national mainstream, a craving denied to them rudely since independence. The people of Hazara region in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are calling to be made a province. The Pakhtuns in Balochistan have long been demanding that the areas they dominantly inhabit should either be turned into a province or be merged with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Even the rumblings of a province are heard in the Potohar region of Punjab. In time, it is not inconceivable if the calls for province begin coming from other parts and regions of the country. One shouldn’t be shy of such demands. Rather, those should be taken in all earnestness and considered seriously. And the political parties across the spectrum would do well to put their think tanks to the task of studying and examining these demands dispassionately, objectively and sensibly. For, creation of a province isn’t just determining the geographical boundaries. It involves much more, and more importantly. Ticklish issues like resources distribution, capacity building, generation of revenues and so on come in critically. Hence, the political parties and groups must evolve their stances on the issue of provinces in the light of the studies of their think tanks and put their ideas and thoughts in their election manifestoes. And with this, they must go to the electorate in the hustings, telling unambiguously what new provinces they envisage and why. The electorate’s verdict will be the true voice of the people about the new provinces that in time should be donned with the apparel of reality by the new legislatures and the new governments. What presently is going on is a mere political circus being staged primarily by the PPP and the PML (N). It is a mere fraud. Their theatre has no substance to it. Both must take a mercy on the people and stop befooling them for their own petty politics.

The President Obama's Challenge to Congress

Americans who have become weary of Washington’s endless battles over spending and taxes — and the stagnating economy that stalemate has produced — got a chance to hear about a different path on Tuesday night. President Obama’s message in the State of the Union address was clear: It doesn’t have to be this way. The country doesn’t have to get bogged down by demands for endless austerity and government contraction. It doesn’t have to defer investments in education and public works. The poor don’t have to remain on society’s lower rungs, and the middle class can aspire to do better. Mr. Obama said his proposals to bring about growth with government action would not have to raise the deficit. What is required to move the country forward is political will, which has been missing for too long. While many of the president’s proposals were familiar, and will probably be snuffed out by politics, his speech explained to a wide audience what could be achieved if there were even a minimal consensus in Washington. Mr. Obama called for a series of steps that would provide enormous benefit for the middle class and for those hoping to enter it: universal public preschool in every state, a tax code that encourages manufacturing, a higher minimum wage and vital repairs to infrastructure. These and other investments could be paid for by ending tax loopholes for corporations and the wealthy, the kind of tax reform that Republicans have already said they support. The effect on jobs and incomes would be significant. “Most Americans — Democrats, Republicans and independents — understand that we can’t just cut our way to prosperity,” he said. “They know that broad-based economic growth requires a balanced approach to deficit reduction, with spending cuts and revenue.” Repairing the economy was only one of the challenges the president set before Congress. If lawmakers could overcome ideology and extreme partisanship, they could make real progress on things that most Americans say they want, including immigration and an improved voting system. In the most emotional moment of the night, drawing sustained cheers, he said victims of gun violence deserve a vote on each of his gun control proposals, from background checks to a ban on assault weapons. But on virtually every one of these issues, Republicans are standing in the way. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, the Republicans’ designated responder, wielded the party’s ancient cliché that the president simply wanted more “big government.” In fact, according to the president, spending is going down, thanks to $1.4 trillion in cuts already enacted. That makes investing in programs like universal preschool more affordable. By educating children at a critical juncture in their lives, such a program could help reduce dropout rates later. The Center for American Progress estimates a similar idea would cost $200 billion over 10 years, but no investment would be more important. “Every dollar we invest in high-quality early childhood education can save more than $7 later on,” he said, “by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime.” Raising the minimum wage to $9 from $7.25, and indexing it to the cost of living, would lift many families out of poverty, though it was not clear why Mr. Obama backed down from his 2008 proposal for a $9.50 wage. Mr. Obama laid out a timetable for withdrawing 34,000 American troops from Afghanistan by this time next year; we would have preferred that all 68,000 troops be pulled out. He also made an intriguing promise of greater transparency in targeting enemy combatants, which will require clarification in the days to come. He failed to propose a strong legislative agenda to eliminate long lines at the polls, instead announcing a bipartisan commission to recommend changes, even though good bills to improve registration and early voting have already been introduced. Nonetheless, Mr. Obama’s broad second-term agenda is impressive. It is largely what won him re-election. His task now is to turn his widespread public support into a wedge to break Washington’s gridlock.

State of The Union 2013 - President Obama Speech

Obama challenges Republicans to help middle class grow

State of the Union: Obama pledges to reignite economy

President Barack Obama has pledged in his annual State of the Union speech to revive the sluggish US economy by creating "good, middle-class jobs". The Democratic president promised "smarter" rather than bigger government for "the many, and not just the few". He also called for efforts to reduce gun violence and urged bipartisan immigration reform. In the Republican response, Senator Marco Rubio will urge Mr Obama to end his "obsession" with raising taxes. 'North Star' Speaking in the House of Representatives, Mr Obama told his audience that his generation's task is "to reignite the true engine of America's economic growth - a rising, thriving middle class". Delivering growth and jobs will be the "North Star that guides our efforts", he added. But he insisted that nothing he proposes will raise the deficit "by a single dime". Mr Obama's economic blueprint has a familiar ring - he pledged during last year's election campaign to create a million manufacturing jobs during his second term. But Republicans are strongly opposed to increased government spending, amid a rancorous political divide over how to tame the US budget deficit. Mr Obama proposed reforms to reduce the cost of Medicare but argued "we can't just cut our way to prosperity". Correspondents say the president is popular and has political capital to spend after November's election victory, but that he only has about a year to push his legislative plans. Washington's attention will then turn to the mid-term elections, when the party in the White House usually sheds congressional seats. In his speech, Mr Obama also called for federal investment in infrastructure, clean energy and education. People on either side of the gun control debate, which flared up again after December's school massacre in Connecticut, watched the president speak from the gallery. First Lady Michelle Obama sat with the parents of a Chicago teenage band majorette shot and killed just days after performing at last month's presidential inauguration. Republican Representative Steve Stockman of Texas has invited musician Ted Nugent, a staunch gun-control opponent who remarked last year he would be "dead or in jail" if Mr Obama were re-elected. Conservative divisions The White House has proposed a ban on certain weapons and on high-capacity ammunition magazines, as well as universal background checks on gun buyers. But analysts say only the last of those measures stands much chance politically. In addition, Mr Obama announced the withdrawal of 34,000 US troops from Afghanistan by next year. North Korea chose to conduct an underground nuclear test less than a day before the president's showpiece annual speech. Mr Obama said the US will "lead the world in taking firm action in response to these threats". He praised bipartisan efforts to draw up an immigration bill, adding that if he is sent comprehensive reform legislation, "I will sign it right away". Mr Obama will take to the road in the coming days to push his economic recovery proposals, stopping in the US states of North Carolina and Georgia and in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Sen Rubio, a possible 2016 Republican presidential candidate, is expected to attack Mr Obama's economic policies, as he delivers his party's official riposte. The Cuban-American senator, who will make his address in English and Spanish, will refer to the pain felt by residents of the working-class neighbourhood in which he grew up. He will tell Mr Obama: "I don't oppose your plans because I want to protect the rich. I oppose your plans because I want to protect my neighbours." The Florida senator will also warn the president that the "tax increases and the deficit spending you propose will hurt middle-class families". Underscoring conservative divisions, immediately after the Rubio speech Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul will deliver the Tea Party's rebuttal to Mr Obama's address. "We are the party that embraces hard work and ingenuity, therefore we must be the party that embraces the immigrant who wants to come to America for a better future," Mr Paul will say, according to a text released in advance.

US To Halve Afghan Force In The Next Year

More than half of all American troops based in Afghanistan will be withdrawn from duty over the next 12 months. Barack Obama is set to make the announcement in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, a source familiar with his speech has confirmed. There are currently 66,000 US service members in Afghanistan. The final withdrawal of most foreign combat troops is not due until the end of 2014. There were no immediate details on how quickly the drawdown would take place. Military experts suggest it is unlikely to happen until late Autumn so as not to adversely impact the number of troops NATO will have in place to fight the Taliban after the spring thaw in Afghanistan. A residual force to train Afghan soldiers and to conduct anti-terror missions will remain behind after the formal withdrawal. Mr Obama has made ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the centrepiece of his presidency, and often declares a long decade or more of American war is almost over. The president is also likely to use Tuesday's address to Congress to expand upon his other goals for the year. They include job creation and a push for the ambitious progressive plans he outlined in his second inaugural address three weeks ago. Mr Obama hopes to encourage lawmakers to join him in reforming laws on gun ownership and immigration and boosting taxes to raise government spending power. He will also address North Korea's announcement that it successfully detonated a nuclear device earlier on Tuesday in defiance of UN warnings. The White House said the president would make the case that the nuclear program had only further isolated the impoverished nation.

China "firmly" opposes DPRK's nuclear test; Yang summons ambassador

China "firmly" opposes the latest nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), according to a statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday. "On Feb. 12, 2013, the DPRK conducted another nuclear test in disregard of the common opposition of the international community," said the statement, adding that "the Chinese government is firmly opposed to this act." Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also summoned DPRK ambassador to China Ji Jae Ryong later on Tuesday to lodge a solemn representation. Yang said China was "strongly dissatisfied with" and "firmly opposed to" DPRK's third nuclear test, according to a press release issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The press release quoted Yang as saying, "China always supports the denuclearization on the (Korean) Peninsula in an aim to safeguard the peace and stability of the peninsula," and that China will still work to address the concerns of all the involved parties under the framework of the Six-Party talks through dialogue and consultation in a balanced way. Yang also urged the DPRK to refrain from any words and actions that may further worsen the situation and return to the right track of dialogue and consultation at an early date. The DPRK's official KCNA news agency has confirmed the nuclear test took place. "The scientific field for national defence of the DPRK succeeded in the third underground nuclear test at the site for underground nuclear test in the northern part of the DPRK on Tuesday," said the news agency. Pyongyang has already conducted similar nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. The Foreign Ministry said in the statement that it is the firm stand of the Chinese side to bring about denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, prevent nuclear proliferation and safeguard peace and stability in Northeast Asia. "We strongly urge the DPRK to honor its commitment to denuclearization and refrain from any move that may further worsen the situation. To safeguard peace and stability on the Peninsula and in Northeast Asia serves the common interests of all parties," said the statement. It added, "The Chinese government calls on all parties to respond in a cool-headed manner and persist in resolving the issue of denuclearization of the Peninsula through dialogue and consultation within the context of the Six-Party Talks." The six-party talks, a negotiation mechanism that includes the DPRK, the Republic of Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, were launched in 2003 but stalled in December 2008. The DPRK quit the talks in April 2009.

India sees Pakistani hand in North Korea’s nuclear test

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

India on Tuesday officially protested against the third nuclear test by North Korea which it sees as evidence of a clandestine proliferation network from Pakistan. Indian sources stressed that if the test was found to have been conducted with enriched uranium, it would confirm Pakistani "proliferation linkages". Criticizing North Korea for violating international commitments, New Delhi asked Pyongyang "to refrain from such actions which adversely impact on peace and stability in the region". Sources said the test revealed significantly improved technical capabilities of the North Koreans, which in itself suggested heightened proliferation activities. "If the speculation is correct that the test was carried out through enriched uranium, it would demonstrate cascading and clandestine proliferation linkages,'' a source said. After the test on Tuesday, North Korea also announced that its nuclear capabilities had diversified, fuelling more speculation that enriched uranium was used for the test. KCNA, North Korea's official news agency, said, "It was confirmed that the nuclear test that was carried out at a high level in a safe and perfect manner using a miniaturized and lighter nuclear device with greater explosive force than previously did not pose any negative impact on the surrounding ecological environment." South Korea recorded seismic activity compatible with a six-seven kiloton explosion. If this is confirmed, North Korea, officials said, could be well on its way to building a functional nuclear warhead, though its delivery systems may take a while to develop. "When you talk about any nuclear test conducted by North Korea, the role of Pakistan can never be far behind,'' a source said. Pakistan on Tuesday yet again blocked moves to facilitate negotiations for a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) in the Conference on Disarmament. Official sources said both developments were inter-related. Pakistan had transferred the technology for enriching uranium to weapon grade in exchange for the knowhow for missile development from the Communist dictatorship as part of a deal negotiated by Benazir Bhutto and Kim Jong-il. Pakistan has prevented negotiations for FMCT citing asymmetry with India in its fissile material stockpile. In its nuclear tests of 2006 and 2009, North Korea used plutonium and it was only in 2010 that it was revealed that the country had a sophisticated uranium enrichment programme. The existence of North Korea's Yongbyon centrifuge plant used for enriching uranium became public in 2010, when Pyongyang allowed foreign experts to visit the facility. Separately, the Indian assessment of the nuclear test is that it's a failure of Chinese foreign policy. The Pyongyang account has been the responsibility of Beijing, but China has failed to restrain North Korea both from going steadily down the nuclear path or persuading it to come to the negotiating table at the six-party talks. The test puts Beijing in an unenviable position. It has already supported fresh sanctions by the UN Security Council, which has piled them on North Korea. Beijing could support further sanctions, or it could take unilateral action against Pyongyang. Both ways, it risks ruining ties with one of its closest allies. Beijing-Pyongyang ties have been strained of late, In fact, last week, the Chinese government used the Global Times to warn North Korea. In an editorial, it said, "If North Korea insists on a third nuclear test despite attempts to dissuade it, it must pay a heavy price. The assistance it will be able to receive from China should be reduced. The Chinese government should make this clear beforehand to shatter any illusions Pyongyang may have." The test prompted the UN Security Council to call for an emergency meeting later on Tuesday. It is also expected to figure in US President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

Afghan Officials Admit Torturing Detainees

An Afghan presidential investigative commission has confirmed that Afghan police and security officials are torturing detainees, despite promises of reform. But the head of the commission denies statements by the United Nations that torture and ill-treatment are systematic in Afghan detention centers. Commission head Abdul Qadir Adalatkhwa acknowledges that almost half of the people they interviewed said they had been tortured and even more said they had no access to defense lawyers. He says members of the delegation confirm the existence of torture, mistreatment, beatings and threats that occurred mostly during the arrest of detainees or during interrogations. But Adalatkhwa says his commission's two-week fact-finding mission did not find evidence to support a recent U.N. report saying there were systematic, widespread abuses of conflict-related detainees in Afghan custody. The U.N. report, released in January, concluded that torture was an institutional policy or practice and not just used by a few individuals in isolated cases. It says U.N. interviewers had seen injuries, marks and scars consistent with torture and ill-treatment, including prolonged beatings, electric shocks and hangings by the wrists. Georgette Gagnon, one of the authors of the U.N. report, says the findings of the presidential commission represented the first recognition of torture in Afghan detention facilities. "Admitting there is a very serious problem is a very good first step," Gagnon noted. "But the next step is action and, in our view, prosecution of officials who are committing torture." The U.N. report also says of the 105 child detainees they interviewed, 80 of them had experienced torture or ill-treatment. During the one-year period that the United Nations conducted its investigations, it noted a decrease in the number of allegations of torture in National Directorate of Security facilities during the period. That was a period when there were fewer transfers from international military forces and increased monitoring by those same forces. But once International Security Forces in Afghanistan resumed transfers and reduced monitoring, there was an increase in torture incidents. Gagnon says human rights advocates are concerned this kind of oversight and pressure will be cut back once international forces leave in 2014. "There are concerns, certainly among Afghan communities, Afghan legal aid lawyers, Afghan women, Afghan NGOs [non-governmental organizations], also officials within the Afghan government, that without sustained international support, the gains made certainly on human rights will either diminish or certainly not be advanced," she said. President Hamid Karzai is to discuss the commission's findings with the judiciary board, his top legal advisory body, Wednesday. The United Nations says its investigation covered a one-year period from 2011 to 2012 and was based on multiple interviews of officials and detainees in 89 facilities across 30 provinces.

New Afghan Middle Class Fears for Its Future

By GRAHAM BOWLEY

The landmarks of this capital city’s new middle class light up a once-restrained night sky — vast and glittering wedding halls with aspirational names like “Kabul-Paris,” streetlamp networks, come-hither billboards for energy drinks. After the ouster of the Taliban in 2001, thousands of Afghan families returned from abroad, or came in from the countryside, to construct urban and increasingly Westernized lives. They built homes and careers based on an influx of foreign money, expanded bureaucracies and new educational opportunities. And they are the ones most haunted by the fear that it could all just be a bubble, doomed to pop once foreign money and Western militaries stop holding it up. “We are enjoying life,” said Rasool Mohibzada, 31, a former taxi driver who sold chickpeas and balloons in Pakistan during the Taliban years, but after returning to Kabul won a job as an I.T. manager for the British Council, the cultural relations agency of the British government. Sitting in the large house he built on a $95,000 plot of land in airy western Kabul and playing with his 5-year-old daughter, he is a member of a young Afghan generation whose eyes burn with modest aspiration for what would be by outside standards an ordinary life — access to electricity, schools for his son and daughter, rule of law, security. “But I am quite afraid about the future at the moment,” he said. “If I got the chance, I would go now.” Though all of Afghanistan’s major cities have grown and changed, the biggest differences, by far, can be seen in Kabul. Its population has exploded, now more than 5 million compared with 1.2 million in 2001, and its streets, planned for 30,000 cars, are clogged with 650,000, according to the mayor, Mohammad Yunus Nawandish. He is drawing up an expanded city plan that can accommodate up to 8 million residents. The new urban elite makes up only a tiny slice of Afghan life — most of the newcomers to Kabul are impoverished migrants who now occupy terraces of rough mud houses that have splashed up onto the rocky hillsides surrounding the city. And the norm is still grinding poverty for about 70 percent of Afghans, who live in the countryside, or about 25 million people by some estimates. Taken as a whole, life expectancy for Afghans is still just 48 years, and the average annual national income per capita is about $410. That makes the contrast with the markers of the middle class all the more striking: in Kabul, there are beauty parlors, a bowling alley, new television stations, access to health care (although Afghans must travel abroad for serious treatment), restaurants like Afghan Fried Chicken and children’s birthday parties hosted at nice hotels. At the private American University of Afghanistan, privileged young adults — some of them the offspring of top officials and businessmen who have minted fortunes in the war economy — stride the five-acre Kabul campus, paying up to $6,000 a year for degrees in law and other subjects. Some in the new generation have succeeded in the private sector, like Haji Safiullah, 42, a serious, thin-faced man, who owns three pharmacies and is branching out into construction, building apartment blocks in Kabul, Jalalabad and Mazar-i-Sharif. “I am one of the people who have invested more than $1 million in different businesses,” Mr. Safiullah said. Even as the United States is deliberating how large a force, if any, will stay in Afghanistan past the 2014 end of the international combat mission, Mr. Safiullah holds to the belief that the Americans will not leave Afghanistan altogether for many years. All the same, he is clear about the shape that catastrophe will take if the world averts its gaze: a deterioration of security and an economic collapse. “To tell you the truth, I am not that worried about the future, because the international community has invested a lot in Afghanistan,” he said. “They will not let this investment fail.” However, he keeps a Kalashnikov rifle beneath his counter just in case. Others are mindful of how much could be lost if Taliban values are allowed to dominate Kabul again, particularly women like Malalai Ishaqzai, 47. She was part of a first wave of women to join Parliament, serving from 2005 to 2010, and started a business selling bottled fruit juices. She lives in an enclave of Kabul apartment blocks called the Mikrorayon, where billboards hawking energy drinks, cellphones, bodybuilding gyms, private schools and airline flights illustrate the perks of new urbanites. Ms. Ishaqzai, too, refuses to believe that the United States will abandon the Afghan Army to defend the country alone. “If the Americans leave, 100 percent I can’t live here as an ex-M.P., as a politician,” she said. Many members of this new generation that came of age in the past decade now work in government ministries or for programs run by development organizations like the World Bank, where they can earn monthly salaries as high as $5,000. But their programs, paid for by organizations like the Department of Agriculture, are gradually winding down or shifting to the Afghan government’s budget, and civil servants’ pay is being cut. The World Bank estimates that there are 5,000 staff members in the main ministries whose salaries are paid by foreign money. Some Western officials here expect some share of those people who returned from abroad in the past 10 years, from Europe, for example, or the United States, to leave once ministry salaries are reduced and when the economy inevitably slows. The richest Afghans already have second homes abroad and can leave if security worsens. But others in the middle class and below lack that option. Many families tell stories of a brother or son who has gone to India to find an illicit path abroad or who is trying another escape plan. Asylum applications by Afghans to 44 leading industrialized nations last year reached 31,780 by November, according to provisional estimates by the United Nations, only slightly below the rate of applications in 2011, when 36,247 Afghans sought asylum abroad, the highest number since 2001. Many seek to enter Europe: Afghanistan was the top country of origin for asylum seekers in the European Union in 2011, according to the European Asylum Support Office, and that trend continued last year. The American Embassy in Kabul says it has not seen an increase in nonimmigrant visa applications. But last year, the United States suspended an educational exchange program taking hundreds of Afghan high school students to America because many were failing to return to Afghanistan. Many, however, are determined to stay, and have visions of driving more change on their own terms. More than 80 prominent young Afghans recently caused waves when they announced a new independent political movement crossing ethnic lines. They are optimistic about Afghanistan’s prospects, even as they acknowledge the difficulties. “In these 10 years, the country has changed, and it can work,” said Haseeb Humayoon, who runs a business consultancy and is a founding member of the movement, called Afghanistan 1400, referring to the year 2020-21, or 1400 in the Afghan calendar. “If we want it to develop as a country, then we have to start for ourselves,” said Najlla Habibyar, the chief executive of the Export Promotion Agency and another founding member. It is at wedding celebrations, so central to Afghan culture and society, that hope is easiest, and the fears are most remote. There is comfort in some measure of freedom, and in some of the finer things, for now at the very least. At a party recently for Sami Yadgari, about 1,000 raucous male guests packed one hall of Uranus Palace, one of Kabul’s huge and dazzling wedding complexes. Mr. Yadgari’s new wife and the female guests celebrated in a separate hall. For about $12,000 for a night’s revelry, the dinner tables were lavishly supplied, the space was elegantly decked with ornate chandeliers, and armed security guards kept watch. Mr. Yadgari, who works for the Ministry of Finance, thrashed the air jubilantly in a ring of male dancers as a wedding singer blasted out a ballad hailing Afghan pride and perseverance. “This is the land of freedom,” he sang. “This is the land of high mountains. This is the land of heroes. Each stone of this country is a ruby.”

Pakistan: Taliban take a hard line on Viagra

Islamists have warned shopkeepers in Peshawar not to sell drugs which enhance the sexual potency of men. Is Islam against sexual pleasure and should such pills be banned? Many Pakistanis and religious experts say no. Shopkeepers in the Karkhano market in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar told the media on Monday, February 11, that the Taliban had warned them not to sell "Viagra-style" male potency drugs or otherwise be prepared to "face the consequences." They said that they had found handwritten pamphlets in their shops containing threats from the Islamists. "Selling sex drugs, vulgar films and obscene movies are against Shariah law," read the pamphlets distributed in by the Islamist group Tehrik-e-Taliban in Khyber. "All those involved in this business are warned to quit this occupation and start a lawful business," news agency AFP quoted the warning as saying. Khyber, a Taliban stronghold, borders Peshawar and is the capital of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The Islamists have been known to introduce strict Shariah laws in many parts of Pakistan’s northwest where they have complete or partial control.There are a number of other prominent religious clerics and scholars in Pakistan who are also against the use of sexual stamina or enhancement tablets. They use anti-West sentiment to make their cause, saying Viagra is "un-Islamic" and even "evil" as it comes from the West.

Sexual enhancement

Yet Viagra and similar alternatives are quite popular not only in Pakistan's northwestern areas but throughout the country. In nearly every city, there are shops with local hakims, herbal medicine doctors, selling miracle concoctions guaranteed to increase sexual stamina within weeks. "There seems to be a thriving industry of local hakims in Pakistan built around men's health issues. I have heard of these witchdoctors prescribing everything from ginger to opium to increase their clients' sexual stamina," said A. Hassan, a liberal poet in Karachi, adding that this was proof that most Pakistanis did not subscribe to the Taliban's views on sexuality. But there are also religious scholars, such as Muhammad Rafiq Khalil, who believe that Islam is not against the enhancement of sexual pleasure, even if medication is used. "If you have any ailment, get it treated. Islam allows sexual enhancement. But it prefers natural methods, such as almonds and nuts, herbs, and fat-rich food to increase sexual appetite," Khalil, who is based in Lahore, told DW, adding that in any case, it was best to "avoid artificial medicine." Had Islam been against sexual pleasure, Khalil noted, it would not have permitted men to have four wives at a time. "It is up to you how many times you want to sleep with your wife. Everybody has different urges," he said, adding that it was "stupid" on the part of the Taliban to ban Viagra and such pills. "If I had so many wives," Hassan commented, "I think I'd need a little Viagra pick-me-up every now and then."Liberal Pakistanis fear that their space in Pakistani society is shrinking with the increasing influence and power of Islamic extremists. They say that by banning sexual drugs, the Taliban want to impose their fundamentalist ideology on Pakistanis.

"The Taliban do not represent the whole of Pakistan"

"The Taliban do not represent the whole of Pakistan," said S. Siddiqui, a student in Karachi. "Pakistanis love to have fun and enjoy life to the fullest. We do not want a tribal society in Pakistan." Moazum Rauf, a writer and lecturer at the University of Lahore, thinks that male potency is naturally a big issue in the Islamic Republic because "a good Muslim has to sexually satisfy 70 hoories [nymphs] in heaven." "Actually, we should ask those hoories in the afterlife if they are happy with this kind of sexual drive. They might have a different take," Rauf joked. Liberal Pakistanis like Siddiqui say they feel threatened by the rise of the Islamists in their country. Viagra or no Viagra, they want a free life, they say. Liberal lifestyle

Obama to announce major Afghanistan troop drawdown

http://www.cbsnews.com

Eager to end a war he didn't begin, President Obama announced in January plans to speed up the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In Tuesday's State of the Union address, the president will announce a milestone in the timetable on that drawdown, a senior administration official said. "President Obama will announce that 34,000 U.S. troops will return home from Afghanistan by this time next year, decreasing by half the number of U.S. forces serving in Afghanistan," the official told CBS News. "Further reductions will continue through the end of 2014 as Afghans take full responsibility for their security." Many questions remain about the ability of Afghans to maintain their own security against repeated attacks from al Qaeda, as well as numerous insurgent groups in both their own country and from Pakistan. The White House insists, however, that their timetable will work. "Afghan forces continue to grow stronger, with 352,000 now in training or on duty," the administration official said. "Afghan forces are leading nearly 90 percent of operations across the country, and by this spring, they'll be assuming the lead across the entire country, with the United States and ISAF stepped back to a train, advise and assist role." There are an estimated 100,000 international troops still in Afghanistan, with 66,000 of those being Americans. The U.S. and its partners have said they expect all those troops to leave the country by the end of 2014. Leading the drawdown of international security forces is the recently promoted Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, who took command of the U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan on Sunday. The outgoing commander, Marine Gen. John Allen, said he told Dunford that the end won't be pretty, adding: "Our victory here will never be marked by a parade or a point in time on a calendar when victory is declared."

Pakistan: Assemblies will dissolve in a few weeks

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Tuesday said that national and provincial assemblies would be dissolved within few weeks to pave a way for holding free, fair and transparent elections in the country.

Addressing a gathering of Pakistani Diaspora at a dinner hosted by Shaukat Saleem in the honour of Prime Minister and first lady Nusrat Pervez Ashraf, the premier said that the future of Pakistan lies in impartial and fair elections and unfettered democracy. First Lady, Nusrat Pervez Ashraf, Pakistan's High commissioner to UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan, President PPP (UK) Hasan Bukhari were also present on the occasion. Eulogizing the much-needed contribution of the overseas Pakistanis in the development and prosperity of the country, the Prime Minister said that the present dispensation would again introduce a bill in the parliament to give right to Pakistani Diaspora of participation in the general elections. The Prime Minister was of the view that if overseas Pakistanis are allowed to cast their votes, they should also be permitted to seek votes in the general elections.He said that “Pakistani people, struggling abroad, are very diligent, hard working and resilient and represent the country in a graceful manner. Overseas Pakistanis from different parts and remote areas of Pakistan, struggle abroad to create respectable space and place, which is a source of pride for the country. The Prime Minister said that he was grateful to Almighty Allah for his ascent to the position of premiership. Expressing thanks to President Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for reposing their confidence in him, Raja Pervez Ashraf said that he belonged to rank and file of the party and rose to this position by the grace of Allah. The PM said that the status of “United Kingdom as the mother of parliaments was not secured over night, rather long struggle had been waged to rope in this place. Pakistan is blessed with numerous resources, a population of over 180 million people and rich cultures”. The PM said that fight against terror has changed political dynamics of the entire world. He said that it is difficult to ascertain whether being a party to a war on terror was a wise decision on part of Pakistan or not. He said that he salutes all those who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Pakistan. He said that when PPP was voted into power in 2008, all political parties within and outside the parliament was convened along with heads of armed forces to resolve the issue of terrorism. He said that all stakeholders unanimously decided that the entire nation would stand behind the armed forces against war of terror. The PM added that “in Swat where there was no writ of law, the armed forces launched an operation and laid down their lives. Normal conditions were restored and 2.5 million IDPs were repatriated back to Swat”. The PM said that Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto introduced adult franchise in 1970 and people were allowed to cast their votes to whom they wished to be in power, adding that Bhutto also laid the foundation of Pakistan’s nuclear programme. The PM said that Bhutto also initiated other important mega projects like steel mill, Karma project, Heavy Mechanical complex and self respect of common man had been restored. The Prime Minister told the overseas that Pakistan was passing through the evolutionary phase, but the common man would ultimately be reaping benefits of the democracy. Referring to the role of media in Pakistan, he celebrated that around 100 news channels were functioning freely.. The PM underscored that the present assemblies of Pakistan would be the first in history to complete their constitutional tenure. Commenting on the historical ‘power friction between the presidency andf the parliament, he said that “Asif Ali Zardari had been elected as president with an overwhelming majority, but he voluntarily returned his powers to the parliament in the supreme interest of democracy and country. The president had realized that his real strength in fact rested with the democratic system that was why, he transferred all powers to parliament and the elected prime minister.” The PM said that the present regime paved way for providing assembly to Gilgit Baltistan, renamed NWFP as KPK and demands for new provinces were gaining momentum. He said that “ small provinces could be managed administratively in a better manner, but these issues are also being politicized unnecessarily and the people should not get frustrated over such problems” The Prime Minister concluded his speech by praising the positive role of British Prime Minister David Cameron for getting access for Pakistani products in the EU markets. Pakistan's High Commissioner to UK, Wajid Shamsul Hasan also spoke on the occasion.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: ''New Governor''

MYSTERY continues to surround the removal of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor Masood Kausar — and just as confusing appears to be the appointment of Shaukatullah Khan as the new governor. Sacked on the day he completed two years in office, Mr Kausar had managed to draw the ire of many within the PPP and even the tribal MNAs and senators. The general complaint: Mr Kausar, despite being an old PPP ideologue, did little to ‘help’ his party in the province; his age and health prevented him from being very active; and, as per usual in such situations, he had spent too much time padding his own nest. If the writing was on the wall for Mr Kausar for some time, the timing of his dismissal was unexpected and President Zardari appears to have suddenly yielded to the growing chorus of complaints. Whatever the reasons for his dismissal, Mr Kausar’s governorship is unlikely to be remembered for anything significant, good or bad. The logic behind Shaukatullah Khan’s appointment appears to be just as opaque. Where Mr Kausar’s nomination was pushed by the ANP, the new governor appears to have been selected by President Zardari without any consultations with provincial allies. This much Mr Khan has going for him: he is astonishingly well-connected through marriage and other ties with many political leaders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata and he appears to be a non-controversial choice. As the first ever civilian governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from Fata — the only previous Fata native who held the governor’s office was a retired general — it would appear that President Zardari is making some attempt to reach out to Fata’s representatives, who were particularly vocal about their unhappiness with Masood Kausar. But to what end? Understanding the tribal mindset and being able to mingle with ease among its people and leaders ahead of a general election — the first ever to be contested in Fata along party lines — could provide a boost to the PPP, but few seasoned observers of Pakhtun politics appear convinced that Governor Khan can make much of a difference. Unhappily, the problem in Fata goes deeper than the appointment of a single official, however senior, can make a difference to. Integration into Pakistan proper, economic development of the region, improved basic service delivery and security are the fundamental needs of Fata. For that to happen, though, the politicians — tribal, provincial and federal — and the security forces would need to sit down and hammer out a road map, and then focus unrelentingly on its implementation. But then, neither the army nor the president appears particularly interested in doing that.

Pakistan: Abysmal performance

Sindh's Annual Development Programme has allocated 24.8 billion rupees for development projects out of a total budgetary allocation of 161 billion rupees in seven months of the current fiscal year, a Business Recorder exclusive reveals. This is alarming though not surprising. Pakistan's provincial governments as well as the federal government announce a significant allocation for development programmes, which allows them to claim that their commitment to development far outpaces that of their predecessors; however rarely, if ever, is the budgeted allocation for development actually disbursed. The fact that for Sindh disbursement so far has been only 15 percent of the total budgeted for the year should be a source of serious concern to the peoples' representatives who are going to go back to their electorates to seek a fresh mandate within the next three to four months. Failure to utilise funds earmarked for development projects is all the more dire because in today's Pakistan, with private sector activity held hostage to massive loadshedding, law and order problems and the crowding out of private sector borrowing due to heavy borrowing by the state, federal and provincial governments can increase economic activity through utilisation of development funds. This, in turn, would have raised gross national product with its positive impact on all major macroeconomic indicators and increase the number of employment opportunities. The federal finance ministry has developed a reputation for not disbursing funds for development given its failure to either check the rise in current expenditure relative to what is budgeted or indeed to generate the budgeted revenue. Thus it diverts funds budgeted for development programmes to meet current expenditure to ensure a budget deficit that is more sustainable than would have otherwise been possible. Thus one may legitimately question whether Sindh's finance department had the necessary resources to make the releases. A high-level meeting on the utilisation of development funds for various ADP projects under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah was informed that the fault for the small releases to-date lay with the relevant departments which failed to seek the release of funds allocated to them for use for identified development schemes. In this context, the question arises whether the failure to request for release of development funds earmarked for specific projects is not attributable to Pakistan's extremely low absorption rate. This may provide only part of the answer and the perception is that the appallingly poor utilisation of development funds is inexplicably an indication of a lack of political will as well as capacity to implement schemes that would not only benefit the public at large but also the political fortunes of the incumbent government. It is extremely unfortunate that provinces have not been able to meet the challenges that they vigorously fought for and succeeded in getting in terms of greater financial autonomy and devolution of critical and politically sensitive social sectors (education, health etc) in the National Finance Commission (NFC) award as well as the 18th Amendment. True that provincial capacity remains inadequate but all provinces, to a greater or lesser degree, need to urgently build the requisite capacity in terms of not only generating more revenue than they have so far been able to generate but also to utilise allocations earmarked for the appallingly and poorly performing social sectors.

Lahore: Unhappy residents

EDITORIAL : Daily Times The residents of Model Town, Lahore, are fuming. It appears the Punjab government, Model Town Society and City District Government Lahore have chalked out a plan to ‘commercialise’ Model Town by building theme parks, restaurants and shopping arcades in place of the lush green parks and green belts that Model Town is well known for. More than 1,000 residents of Model Town held a protest demonstration on Sunday from Central Park to Ferozepur Road, holding up placards under the banner of ‘Movement to Save Parks’. These residents are infuriated that their home, which is one of the few societies in Lahore to be blessed with green areas and recreational parks, is being despoiled in the name of progress. It is obvious that the Model Town Society has a huge part to play in this entire affair. There seem to be a few individuals in this society who have failed to follow procedural norms such as consulting Model Town’s residents, addressing their concerns, planning and strategising how to most effectively go about this sort of ‘development’. Such haste can only spell one conclusion: there seems to be plenty of money to be made when it comes to projects such as these and, for a few elements within Model Town Society, this seems to be the prime reason behind pushing forward with this venture instead of sitting down with the residents of Model Town and coming up with an agreed plan. Now the residents are angry. They feel cheated and deprived of the right to make informed decisions about where they live, which this is their right. They should be allowed to have a say in what happens to their neighbourhood/society. Lahore has already been a maze of dug up roads and inefficient alternative routes, and the citizens have been subjected to extreme inconvenience for the last one year due to the construction of the Metro Bus Service. Now Model Town is about to go the same way. The concerns of the residents of Model Town must be addressed and, if any objections arise, carefully looked into. If Model Town Society fails to reach a consensus with those who live there, it is advised that all plans for this commercialisation be dropped. There is a huge probability that if such ill-advised plans are allowed to go ahead, the residents could take their grievances to court and, if recent cases are anything to go by, the superior courts are inclined towards protecting the environment from dastardly plans to ruin it. There has to be some appropriate urban planning, with the citizens fully consulted and made to feel as though they matter. Model Town Society should remember this.

Bilawal: PPP will continue its struggle for strengthening democracy

Radio Pakistan

The Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party‚ Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that PPP will continue its struggle for strengthening democracy in the country. He was talking during meeting with delegations of party parliamentarians in Lahore on Tuesday. He said that there is no ambiguity about the time to hold next general election. Information Minister‚ Qamar Zaman Kaira led the delegation from Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin while Federal Minister for National Regulation‚ Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan led the delegation from Sialkot and Narowal. During the meeting‚ party's organizational issues in the concerned districts were discussed.

Super Funny Valentine's Day Song

Malala Gets Nominated For 2013 Nobel Peace Prize

While Malala Yousufzai has already created buzz after the teen was shot by Talibans, reports confirm that she has got nomination for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. She has nearly missed death before she went through emergency skull reconstruction surgery and later was made to receive specialized medical care in Britain. Though she managed to survive, the reason why she was treated as a threat is still reverberated by media. The girl promotes girls' education, and perhaps that's what has not gone down well with the Tahreek-e-Taliban', which after few hours of attack proudly claimed the responsibility. The attack has been condemned internationally, and showcases how Taliban can't allow any rising voice for women rights. The brave girl, after releasing from hospital, is all set to continue spreading the same message despite all odds. "Malala doesn't just represent one young woman, she speaks out for all those who are denied an education purely on the basis of their gender", said Shahida Choudhary, who has been leading a campaign to nominate Yousufzai for the nominate Yousufzai, in a statement issued by global petition platform Change. org. It has been reported that the call made to Prime Minister David Cameron and other senior government officials has been supported by tens of thousands of Britons.

Global financial crunch

Bangladesh to be hard hit

Collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage system resulting in global financial crises has not only engulfed the entire US and European financial and banking system but also affected the global economy. The crux of the problem is that banks and financial institutions have, for many different reasons, gone bankrupt and had to be bailed out by States such as the US government pumping in US$ 700 million into the system and the UK government nationalizing banks and other financial institutions. Other countries like Russia are bailing out their banks through guarantees of millions of dollars and atleast one country, Iceland has gone bankrupt and has to take credits of millions from Russia to survive. The effect of banks and financial institutions going bankrupt is that there is no money available as credits or loans to run businesses and so businesses in all the major economies in USA, Europe and Russia are either closing down altogether or retrenching leading to massive job losses and unemployment. The common people in all these economies long habituated to consumerism that is, buying everything from food to houses, on credit are now forced to return the money which they cannot do because they have lived way beyond their incomes. Incomes too have either decreased or are unavailable as businesses, factories and manufacturing have closed down or retrenched. Many things. For one, our exports of garments and all the other consumer goods are going to slow down drastically as USA and Europe who are the major importers of these goods will not import as much as they did because now their consumers do not have enough cash or credit to buy these goods. So our industries too will have to retrench leading to job losses. Since imports will reduce, so government will have less revenue and less money to push into "development and social safety" resulting in an increase in poverty. Banks and financial institutions too will have less money to give as credits to businesses, factories and manufacturing, if they at all want this money. Next, remittances will also reduce drastically as expatriate Bangladeshis will be the first ones to get the chop in the foreign countries where they are working particularly in the Middle-eastern countries whose economies are entirely dependent on oil exports, the price of which is falling drastically. Again, international financial institutions and development agencies such as the World Bank, the IMF and ADB, the UN will not dole out credits and grants like they did in the past because their major financiers in USA, Europe, Japan and Middle-east are all either going bankrupt or are bailing out their own economies. So, the global financial crisis is going to have a severe impact on Bangladesh sooner rather than later and the global financial crisis is here to stay for at least the next 5 years. Our governments and politicians need to take stock of this immediately and take steps at the earliest.

Celine Dion sings in Mandarin for state TV's New Year Gala show

SEAL Team 6 commando who killed Osama bin Laden describes terrorist's last breath

The special forces commando who brought down Osama bin Laden said he had no choice but to kill the terrorist kingpin, fearing he had a gun or suicide explosives close at hand. The Navy SEAL team member, identified only as “The Shooter” by Esquire magazine, describes the three shots that delivered sudden justice to the world’s most despised man. Bin Laden appeared to push his youngest wife toward the advancing SEALs before the fatal bullets were fired inside his safe house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011.“He's got a gun on a shelf right there, the short AK he's famous for. And he's moving forward,” the shooter said. “I don't know if she's got a vest and she's being pushed to martyr them both. He's got a gun within reach. He's a threat. I need to get a head shot so he won't have a chance to clack himself off [blow himself up].” In that fateful moment, the shooter told the mag he knew what needed to be done. “In that second, I shot him, two times in the forehead. Bap! Bap! The second time as he's going down. He crumpled onto the floor in front of his bed and I hit him again, Bap! same place,” he said. “That time I used my EOTech red-dot holo sight. He was dead. Not moving. His tongue was out. I watched him take his last breaths, just a reflex breath.” The shooter’s clean shot at bin Laden was made possible by a fellow SEAL who brilliantly lured out and killed the terrorist’s son — and last line of defense. The shooter was about five people in back of a line, following their point man who had spotted bin Laden’s armed, 23-year-old son was just ahead. “I heard him whisper, 'Khalid... come here' in Arabic, then in Pashto. He used his name. That confused Khalid. He's probably thinking, 'I just heard s----y Arabic and s----y Pashto. Who the f--k is this?’ He leaned out, armed with an AK, and he got blasted by the point man,” the shooter said in the interview. “That call-out was one of the best combat moves I've ever seen. Khalid had on a white T-shirt and, like, white pajama pants. He was the last line of security.” Seconds after killing bin Laden -- and in the high of that moment -- the shooter said he had an understandable mix of emotions. “And I remember as I watched him breathe out the last part of air, I thought: 'Is this the best thing I've ever done, or the worst thing I've ever done?’ ” the shooter said. “This is real and that's him. Holy s--t.” The shooter explained the months of preparation and dry runs in a model of bin Laden’s safe house built in North Carolina.During that training, the shooter said he and other SEALs would fall back on dark humor to break the tension of their incredibly serious task. “I was usually the guy to joke around when we were planning these things — we all d--k around a lot,” he said. “But I was like, 'Hey guys, we have to take this f--king serious. There's a 90-percent chance this is a one-way mission. We're gonna die, so let's do this right.’" Members of SEAL Team 6 understood there was a great chance they’d die or be captured in this harrowing mission. The Pentagon even developed a plan if the SEALs were approached by Pakistani forces, who were not told of the mission.“We would surrender. The original plan was to have Vice President Biden fly to Islamabad and negotiate our release with Pakistan's president,” the shooter said. “This is hearsay, but I understand Obama said, 'Hell no. My guys are not surrendering. What do we need to rain hell on the Pakistani military?' That was the one time in my life I was thinking, I am f--king voting for this guy. I had a picture of him lying in bed at night, thinking, 'You're not f--king with my guys.’ Like, he's thinking about us.” Once they bagged bin Laden’s body and returned to base, the shooter met up with the female CIA analyst who had devoted her life to finding the 9/11 mastermind. That CIA operative told SEALs she was absolutely sure they’d find bin Laden — code name “Pacer” — in his third-floor bedroom. That’s exactly where he was. “While they were still checking the body, I brought the agency woman over. I still had all my stuff on. We looked down and I asked, 'Is that your guy?’ She was crying,” he said. “That's when I took my magazine out of my gun and gave it to her as a souvenir. Twenty-seven bullets left in it. 'I hope you have room in your backpack for this.’ That was the last time I saw her.” The shooter has since seen the movie “Zero Dark Thirty,” Hollywood’s take on the famed bin Laden raid. He had minor beefs with the flick, but said he appreciated how director Kathryn Bigelow and actress Jessica Chastain portrayed CIA operative “Maya.” "They made her a tough woman, which she is,” he said. The Esquire piece focused heavily on the shocking lack of economic safeguards built in for exiting SEALs. The shooter, a 16-year Navy veteran, said he hasn’t figured out how he’ll handle life with no healthcare insurance or a pension. The shooter would have been eligible for a meager pension had he struck around for 20 years. Healthcare was only picked up for 180 days after he left the Navy, the shooter said. "I asked if there was some transition from my Tricare to Blue Cross Blue Shield. They said 'no,' " the shooter said. "'You're out of the service, your coverage is over. Thanks for your 16 years. Go f--k yourself.'" The brutal stress of life inside ST6 also took a huge toll on the shooter’s marriage. He and his wife are legally separated but still live together to cut costs and raise their kids. Amazingly, the shooter and his wife both said they still love each other, but believe marriage isn’t for them right now. "Our marriage was definitely a casualty of his career," said the shooter's wife. "Somewhere along the line we lost track of each other." They still live in fear that his leading role in bin Laden’s killing could bring reprisals, even on US soil. "We're actually looking into changing my name," the wife said. "Changing the kids' names, taking my husband's name off the house, paying off our cars. Essentially deleting him from our lives, but for safety reasons. We still love each other."

Boy Invades Obama's Podium

China should not fear NK disputes

Global Times | 2013-2-6

It's widely predicted that North Korea will soon conduct another nuclear test. Sino-North Korean relations now face a new challenge. It's unlikely China would punish North Korea as harshly as countries like the US, Japan and South Korea would prefer, and the friendship between the two sides is not going to end. The West should understand this clearly. However, if North Korea insists on a third nuclear test despite attempts to dissuade it, it must pay a heavy price. The assistance it will be able to receive from China should be reduced. The Chinese government should make this clear beforehand to shatter any illusions Pyongyang may have. Some Chinese scholars believe that China will face a diplomatic challenge if North Korea carries out a third nuclear test. They worry that Pyongyang will turn against China because of China's participation in some international sanctions against it. In the worst case scenario, the rupture that occurred in relations between China and the Soviet Union will be repeated. Such concerns are driven by a lack of confidence in China's national strength, and they exaggerate North Korea's diplomatic irrationality. The nuclear issue complicates Sino-North Korean relations, adding strategic difficulties to China in Northeast Asia. China has many misgivings when handling relations with Pyongyang, but there is a general principle: China is never afraid of Pyongyang. Pyongyang's diplomacy is characterized with toughness. But if Pyongyang gets tough with China, China should strike back hard, even at the cost of deteriorating bilateral relations. Some believe the US, Japan and South Korea are attempting to foment discord between China and North Korea. Such a trap may be real, but China shouldn't be taken hostage by North Korea's extreme actions in order to avoid such a trap. Pyongyang is important to China, but not important enough to make China give up its diplomatic principles. China maintains that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is necessary and insists relevant parties solve problems through negotiations. China is willing to maintain the Sino-North Korean friendship, but Pyongyang should do the same. The two should have same concerns over the possibility the relationship might break down, which would be of no benefit to Pyongyang. North Korea would face an even worse situation, but China could find some ways to compensate for geopolitical losses. Some worry Pyongyang would completely turn to the US if it fell out with China. Such concerns are unfounded. The political gap between Washington and Pyongyang is impassable. Even if the whole Korean Peninsula moved closer to the US, there would be no serious ramifications. With China's increasing strength, being close to the US doesn't equal being hostile to China. We are not advocating giving up the Sino-North Korean friendship. Instead, we believe the strategic significance of a friendly relationship is special. But Pyongyang shouldn't misread China. China won't put its relations with Pyongyang above other strategic interests. China must not fear disputes with Pyongyang if it is to maintain the traditional bonds of friendship.

Sexual harassment gets worse in post-uprising Egypt

Sexual harassment has become a more explicit phenomenon afflicting the Egyptian society after the country's 2011 upheaval due to constant protests and deteriorating security. Women are deemed inferior to men in Egypt's male-dominated culture, said feminists and human rights activists, stressing that the state is responsible for sexual harassment due to general passivity toward the issue and the lack of security, lack of awareness of women's rights and lack of deterrent laws against harassers. Mervat al-Tallawi, chairwoman of the National Council for Women said at a press conference on Sunday that the state was responsible for the phenomenon, particularly the prevailing group sexual harassment and rape. She noted that the Council has filed a lawsuit against such an "organized crime" against Egyptian women, adding that "the law alone is not enough to combat such an issue." "If all forces unite, including the people, the interior ministry, the education ministry, the Muslim mosques and Christian churches, the phenomenon can be minimized," Tallawi told Xinhua, adding that changes need time. Tallawi criticized the country's political leadership in this regard, urging executive institutions, schools and the media to cooperate in enhancing awareness and changing cultural blemishes that led to such "a dangerous phenomenon." Feminists and activists said the phenomenon of sexual harassment was always there even before the uprising in 2011, but it shamelessly prevailed afterward and led to a new phenomenon - "the group sexual harassment." "We do not have accurate statistic about sexual harassments in Egypt, but we made a survey during the previous Muslim feast and we found out that two out of each three girls are sexually harassed," Azza Kamel, head of Appropriate Communication Techniques (ACT) Center for Development, told Xinhua, warning it was an extremely high rate. Human rights activists said that women in Egypt might experience various types of harassment by males, from teens, young men to men and even aged men. They do not care about the female's age and harass them with shameless verbal comments, grope, assault or even rape. "The boys walk around recklessly, feeling there are no limits to their behaviors in the streets," a woman in the street told Xinhua. "I don't want to tell you what they do and say in public. We wish this would stop." For his part, Fathy Farid, a researcher at ACT center and coordinator of "I Saw Harassment" initiative, blamed the government and the interior ministry in particular for the growing issue, arguing that police officers reportedly looked down upon females who dared to report sexual harassment cases and sided with the harassers or gropers. "The police officer who arrests a harasser does not believe that the man is wrong and he sexually abused the victim," Farid told Xinhua. "If the culture of Egyptian police does not change, the girl will remain the victim, and she will have to find a different way to defend herself against harassers such as using violence." The government said it will draft laws to reinforce the punishment on sexual harassment, but the activists doubt it. "What's the use of a law that will not be actually in effect?" Farid wondered, noting that all the country's institutions, including the legislative, executive and judiciary authorities, the ministries of interior, education and culture as well as the Muslim and Christian religious institutions, should unite to combat the phenomenon. The interior ministry, however, blamed the country's political turmoil for the issue, arguing that if there was political stability and there were no constant chaotic protests, security would gradually be restored on the streets. "Political turmoil leads to security disorder," police officer Hossam Ahmed told Xinhua. "When the country gets more stable, not only sexual harassment but also robbery, carjacking and relevant crimes will gradually vanish." Ahmed denied claims that the police mistreat harassed women, stressing they just had to verify the case as most of the time they got false reports for personal reasons. Despite efforts, conferences and awareness campaigns, sexual harassment has grown to an alarming issue threatening social peace in Egypt particularly after the uprising, representing a real problem for women who think twice before going out alone or coming home a little bit late.