Welcome! "What's Happenin'?" is a casual community diary (a daily series, 8:30 AM Eastern on weekdays, 10 AM on weekends and holidays) where we hang out and talk about the goings on here and everywhere.
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Good Morning!
One World Trade Center. "Freedom Tower" (Photo by joanneleon. July, 2012)
If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
~ George Washington
Richie Havens 1969 Woodstock - Freedom
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News and Opinion
Military’s Own Report Card Gives Afghan Surge an F
The U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan ended last week. Conditions in Afghanistan are mostly worse than before it began.
That conclusion doesn’t come from anti-war advocates. It relies on data recently released by the NATO command in Afghanistan, known as ISAF, and acquired by Danger Room. According to most of the yardsticks chosen by the military — but not all — the surge in Afghanistan fell short of its stated goal: stopping the Taliban’s momentum.
Joint operations, NATO and Afghan troops, have been resumed one week after they were suspended but with some changes. I wonder if the resumption of operations will get as much attention in the news as the suspension did.
Whatever Pentagon Says, U.S. Patrols With Afghans Aren’t ‘Normal’ Yet
The U.S. defense chief announced on Thursday that the U.S. troops have returned to their “normal partnered operations” with their Afghan counterparts, after a recent policy shift put a big layer of bureaucracy in between Americans and Afghans. Only that policy remains in place, the Pentagon confirms.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters on Thursday that “temporary adjustments” to low-level joint U.S.-Afghan patrols, enacted in the wake of widespread protests over an anti-Islam video, had mostly come to an end. “I can now report to you that most [U.S. and allied] units have now returned to their normal partnered operations at all level,” Panetta said.
The shift was intended, as Panetta said, to “protect our forces” — not just from anger at the video, but from a broader problem. Afghan forces have killed at least 52 of their American mentors this year. The NATO military command in Afghanistan isn’t totally sure why, and blames a mix of specific Afghan grievances and Taliban infiltration. So last week, the command decreed that the two-star generals at regional headquarters have to approve all joint U.S.-Afghan operations below the battalion level — which accounts for most of them.
Insight: In U.S. soldier's death, a window into Afghan insider killings
"He talked to me in the day, which would be in the middle of his night," his father, Dan Anders, said. "He didn't sleep. He was just worried."
There were good reasons for concern. During his six-month tour, the Taliban staged a major attack at his base, a suicide bomber had killed one of his brigade's most revered leaders, and an Afghan villager threw a fire-bomb at a vehicle he was traveling in.
But what Anders may not have expected is that his killer would be an Afghan army soldier, one of those the U.S. military is supposed to be training to take over security of the country ahead of the withdrawal of most U.S. troops by the end of 2014.
In U.N. Address, WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Urges Obama Admin to End "Regime of Secrecy"
U.S. expands its secret war in Africa
President Barack Obama's "secret wars" against al-Qaida are steadily widening, most notably in Africa, with the U.S. military's Special Forces Operation Command doubling in size and the CIA's strike capabilities undergoing a radical expansion, international analysts said. ...
This marks a significant shift in the U.S.-led strategy in Afghanistan from conventional military power, as the Americans and their allies scale down forces in Afghanistan after an inconclusive 11-year-old war.
As al-Qaida's organization has broken into regional networks because of heavy losses suffered by al-Qaida Central from drone strikes in Pakistan, these groups have become independent operationally and have had some successes in North and West Africa.
The Americans' ability to wage Special Operations wars on a global scale has been strengthened by the creation of relatively small, often unobtrusive, military bases. ...
These include facilities in Kenya, Uganda, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean off East Africa. Western military sources say the Americans are seeking to establish a base in newly independent South Sudan as well.
Sheila Bair against the world
American Banker’s Donna Borak has found the juiciest bits of Sheila Bair’s book yet — and it turns out to be buried in, of all places, the chapter on Basel III. Bair’s backstory to the September 2010 Basel III announcement is full of insider gossip and score-settling, and from reading Borak’s account I’d definitely class Bair as a dubiously reliable narrator. But her story is fascinating, all the same.
For one thing, Bair reveals, Tim Geithner involved himself quite deeply in Basel III negotiations. Bair can’t stand Geithner, and ascribes malign intent to everything he does. Geithner asks questions about Basel III without explicitly saying what his own opinion is? “It wasn’t clear whether Tim was trying to build consensus among the U.S. regulators or trying to stir the pot.” Geithner agrees to push for higher capital standards — exactly what Bair wanted all along? Well, that’s just his way of trying to marginalize her:
Bair Details Inside Story of Regulatory Clash Over Basel III
WASHINGTON — Sheila Bair, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., nearly succeeded in forcing the largest banks to hold at least 10% common equity capital as part of Basel III rules, but was stymied by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
[ ... ]
While the panel attempted to hash out an agreement, Bair said Geithner unexpectedly inserted himself into the discussions, calling a meeting in spring of 2010 to discuss the U.S. position even though Treasury was not part of the Basel Committee.
During that and further meetings, which included Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and central bank Gov. Daniel Tarullo, Bair said all three regulators were "uncomfortable" with Geithner's interference
[ ... ]
"Between the U.K. and Swiss delegations, most of the arguments that needed to be said were said. I just wish more of them had come from the U.S. delegation," Bair writes.
Chart of the day: The long decline of labor
Blog Posts and Tweets of Interest
The Evening Blues - 9-27-12
News Sources About Afghanistan by Garrett
Assange Schools Obama on Free Speech
Practice What You Preach: Obama Preaches Free Speech to the UN by Jesselyn Radack
Disharmonic Convergence of Free Speech Free Fall by Jesselyn Radack
Libya Attack Casts Unwanted Spotlight on CIA and Blackwater Role in Syria by leveymg
7 Examples of a “Police State,” and How They Are Appearing in the U.S.
Calling U.S. Drone Strikes 'Surgical' Is Orwellian Propaganda
Santana - Soul Sacrifice (Live At Woodstock)
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~ Aristotle
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