Islamabad and Kabul Urged to Improve Ties | LogisticsWeek

Image via WikipediaIslamabad and Kabul Urged to Improve Ties | LogisticsWeek

Islamabad and Kabul Urged to Improve Ties

By NewsDesk

News 3 hours ago

Share

Islamabad is expected to soon ratify the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement, which promises Afghan exporters direct access to Indian markets. However, the deal is contested by Pakistani hauliers who fear losing business to Afghan competitors. President Obama’s administration hopes increasingly free trade will benefit both of the neighboring countries, and is therefore encouraging Afghanistan and Pakistan to embrace a trade deal.

Afghan President, Hamid Karzai and Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani have recently agreed on setting a bilateral trade target of $5 billion for 2015. The new regime will enable Afghan hauliers to cross the Indian boarder via Pakistan and return with goods bought in Pakistan, not India.

In return, Kabul will simplify trucking from Pakistan to Central Asia and offer a container tracking system to counter smuggling operations. According to Atiqullah Nusrat of the Afganistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the deal could triple Afghan exportsvia Pakistan, which would have a positive effect on the political relations of the two countries.

Move One has a long history of supporting transportation from Karachi, Pakistan into Afghanistan using the Southern Route and moving substantial volumes of freight using its strategically located offices throughout the country. Move One offers both standard transit routes from Karachi through Peshawar and onward movement to Kabul through the Torkham border and from Karachi through the Quetta and Chaman border to Kandahar. Our detailed geographical understanding of the area allows us to offer a wide variety of uniquely tailored services for our international clientele. We are dedicated to providing premier solutions to the ever-changing requirements of this region, including project management and the transportation of heavy and over-sized cargo.

For further information about our services in the Central Asian theater, please contact Gregory Forgrave, Regional Manager for Move One at gregory.forgrave@moveoneinc.com

Source: Move One Inc.

Related Posts:

• Afghanistan Awards First Oil Deal
• Move One Goes The Extra Mile in War-torn Afghanistan
• Move One Supports US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
• Move One success in LOGCAP IV
• Move One Success In Advanced Military Hardware Project

Related articles

• India: Afghan reconciliation must be led by Kabul (foxnews.com)
• You: US pushing Islamabad, Kabul to enhance ties (nation.com.pk)
• VP on the move - After Kabul, Biden visits Pakistan (politico.com)
• US Vice President Biden in Pakistan for talks (abclocal.go.com)
• Pakistan, Afghanistan Promote Stronger Ties in Effort to End Violence (waronterrornews.typepad.com)
• U.S. vice president in Pakistan for day of talks (ctv.ca)
• Biden tells Pakistan: 'We are not the enemy of Islam' (alternet.org)
• Deadly suicide bombing hits Kabul - Aljazeera.net (news.google.com)
• You: 8 killed, 29 injured in Kabul blast (nation.com.pk)

In Iraq, Biden Reaffirms Deadline for Troops’ Exit - NYTimes.com

Image via WikipediaIn Iraq, Biden Reaffirms Deadline for Troops’ Exit - NYTimes.com

In Iraq, Biden Reaffirms Deadline for Troops’ Exit

By JOHN LELAND

Published: January 13, 2011

• RECOMMEND
• TWITTER
• SIGN IN TO E-MAIL
• PRINT
• REPRINTS
• SHARE

BAGHDAD — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. told officials here Thursday that the United States remained committed to the agreement that calls for all American troops to leave Iraq by the end of the year.

Enlarge This Image

Ahmad Al-Rubaye/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., on Thursday with Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin on a visit to Camp Victory in Baghdad.

Notes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other areas of conflict in the post-9/11 era. Go to the Blog »

Mr. Biden was visiting Baghdad for the first time since Iraq seated its new government, and for the seventh time as President Obama’s point man on Iraq. He was a frequent presence in the country during the nine-month impasse after inconclusive national elections in March.

Even with his visit this week, after an unannounced stop in Afghanistan, much remains unresolved about Iraq’s new government and the future of the American involvement here. The re-elected prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, has yet to appoint leaders for the country’s three ministries in charge of security, instead assuming temporary control of those agencies himself.

Mr. Maliki has also failed to define a role for his chief rival in the election campaign, Ayad Allawi, who retains support of most of the country’s Sunni minority. During the impasse, Mr. Allawi, whose bloc won more seats than Mr. Maliki’s, abandoned his bid to be prime minister only after an agreement to create a new strategic council, led by Mr. Allawi, that would limit the powers of the prime minister.

This agreement, which followed a suggestion strongly urged by Mr. Biden, allowed Mr. Maliki finally to seat a government. But nearly a month later, the council’s composition and its authority remain undefined, and many here consider it to be strictly advisory, with no more than ceremonial powers, a status that would leave many Sunnis feeling disenfranchised.

In a statement, Mr. Maliki said Mr. Biden assured him that the United States was “serious about activating the strategic framework agreement,” which includes the deadline for troop withdrawal.

Mr. Biden, who met separately with Mr. Maliki, President Jalal Talabani and other Iraqi government and American military officials, did not take questions from reporters during his trip. But at a gathering of American troops, he said, “I think we made some good progress today,” and added that the Iraqi people were “for the first time, I would argue in their history, on the verge of literally creating a country that will be democratic, sustainable and, God willing, prosperous. And it can have a dramatic impact on this entire region.”

He added that the administration was committed to ending the war “by bringing you home within a time certain, but leaving behind a country that is worthy of the sacrifices that so many of your brothers and sisters have made.”

Many obstacles remain. Mr. Maliki’s long-term antagonist, the anti-American clericMoktada al-Sadr, returned last week. Mr. Sadr’s followers emerged during the election as a political force and whose surprise support of Mr. Maliki effectively ended Mr. Allawi’s bid to be prime minister.

Mr. Sadr’s supporters have adamantly rejected any American military presence here after December.

A Sadrist lawmaker said that Mr. Biden and the Americans were trying to find “alternatives” to the withdrawal agreement, adding that his party was not open to such reconsiderations.

“They are occupiers that are taking away the wealth of Iraq,” said the lawmaker, Jawad Kadhum. “As long as there is an American soldier or any presence or any U.S. military vehicle in Iraq, it will be disturbing us and all Iraqis that are looking for their freedom.”

Mr. Biden did not publicly address the return of Mr. Sadr or the role of his supporters in the government, where they control 40 seats.

Asked why he was in Iraq, Mr. Biden said: “I’m here to help the Iraqis celebrate the progress they made. They formed a government. And that’s a good thing.” He added, “They have a long way to go.”

As if to underscore that point, three bombs exploded in Baghdad on Thursday, killing two people and wounding 12.

Duraid Adnan contributed reporting.

Related articles

• Biden Makes Unannounced Iraq Visit To Discuss Troop Exit (huffingtonpost.com)
• Biden in Iraq for talks on US troops' exit (foxnews.com)
• Biden in Iraq for talks on US troops' exit (sfgate.com)
• Biden in Iraq for talks on US troops' exit - The Associated Press (news.google.com)
• Biden in Iraq to Talk Troop Withdrawal (newser.com)
• Biden and Maliki say they are still committed to troop withdrawal by end of year - Washington Post (news.google.com)
• Biden Affirms U.S. Will Leave Iraq in 2011 (nytimes.com)
• Biden Affirms US Will Leave Iraq in 2011 - New York Times (news.google.com)
• Sadr return complicates US troop presence in Iraq (sfgate.com)
• Biden visits Iraq for talks on future relationship - Washington Post (news.google.com)

Hullabaloo

Image via WikipediaHullabaloo

Thursday, January 13, 2011

The Message

by digby

That billboard was apparently in Tucson until Monday morning and was wisely taken down.

This gun fetish is the real problem. Seriously, it's time to take a breather with this. Nobody's going to take anyone's guns. But they are dangerous weapons and there needs to be a little less waving around of these things.

I was at the drug store earlier today and a couple of guys were in there with guns strapped to their legs. They were speaking very loudly (and calmly, I must say) about their politics and the view that it was unfair to blame the Arizona shooting on gun owners. That's fine. They have right to say what they want. And I guess they have a right to wear guns to buy aspirin. But let's just say the combination pretty much ensures that nobody's going to disagree with them. For some reason that doesn't strike me as particularly heroic.


.
digby 1/13/2011 05:00:00 PM Comments (81)

Just Words

by digby

Chris Kromm at the institute of Southern Studies takes up the issue of whether or not violent rhetoric in this must read piece. He notes this is not a new discussion and that there's fairly recent evidence to look at:

After a failed run for governor as a liberal, Wallace resuscitated his career by becoming a staunch opponent of integration and the "integratin', scalawaggin', carpetbaggin' liars" that favored change. His message: When it came to the federal government, "resist them to the hilt" in defending the Southern way of life.

As Howell Raines of The New York Times wrote after Wallace's death, many believe his demagoguery had deadly consequences:

On the stump, Mr. Wallace always had a ready answer for the murder epidemic that hit Alabama after his election. He personally did not condone violence. But as civil rights leaders pointed out, that begged the question of the impact Mr. Wallace's rhetorical violence had on the gross and simple minds of back-alley racists.

[...]

The evidence seems to support King and others who argue there was a connection: As Raines notes, 12 people were killed in civil rights-related slayings during Wallace's first term between 1963 and 1966 -- a product not only of Wallace's escalating rhetoric, but also his famous unwillingness to prosecute the murder suspects.

That wasn't that long ago. And this was the message:

Several commentators have noted the similarity of today's Tea Party to the Wallace campaigns. Indeed, the principles of Wallace's American Independent Party in 1968 read remarkably like a Tea Party manifesto:

A new party is urgently needed today because the leaders of the two existing parties, Democrat and Republican, have deserted the principles and traditions of our nation's founding fathers. Both of the existing parties have become the proponents of big government, crushing taxation, dictatorial federal power, waste and fiscal irresponsibility, unwholesome and disastrous internationalism, compromise with our nation's enemies, and authoritarian regimentation of the citizens of this Republic. Control of the government, under the domination of these two existing parties, has left the hands of the people our government was created to serve.

Even George Wallace's son -- a candidate for Alabama state treasurer in 2010 -- said of the Tea Party, "It does remind me of my dad's campaigns ... They are conservative, they want less government and they will make their voice known in November."

The Tea Party is only implicitly racist. Times have changed. But then that message wasn't explicitly racist either, was it?

I urge you to read the whole post. This is an old story in American life and it's foolish to pretend that it hasn't resulted in violence in the past. We fought a war over this. In recent years its been co-opted by very powerful wealthy interests who use it to advance their interests, which is a little bit new. (Economics always played a part, but it's only since the Big Business party launched the Southern Strategy that we've seen a true coalition.)

Read that manifesto for the American Independent party and tell me that it isn't pretty much a straight line from then to now. This is an All American ideology which has always been ready to take up arms. It's what they do.

Related articles

• Op-Ed Columnist: United in Horror (nytimes.com)
• Second coming of Wallace or Goldwater? (politico.com)
• The murky line between extremism and mental illness (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Andrew C: Hullabaloo: Begging For Grown-ups (digbysblog.blogspot.com)
• Palin to tea parties: 'Take over' GOP (politico.com)
• Morris W. O'Kelly: Tucson Tragedy Demands Discourse Recall (huffingtonpost.com)
• Tea Party 'Endangers Health' of American Democracy: El Pais, Spain (themoderatevoice.com)
• Andrew C: Hullabaloo: Useless Metaphors (digbysblog.blogspot.com)
• Playing politics with tragedy (theglobeandmail.com)
• "Right Wingers Defend Hate Speech While Tea Party Takes Advantage of Arizona Shooting To Raise Money" and related posts (liberalvaluesblog.com)

UN Dispatch | United Nations News & Commentary Global News – Forum

Image via Wikipedia

UN Dispatch | United Nations News & Commentary Global News – Forum

Related articles

• Mobs in Ivory Coast Attack United Nations Vehicles - New York Times (news.google.com)
• EXCLUSIVE: U.N. Protecting Phony Treaties? (foxnews.com)
• Moron of the Day [Dispatches from the Culture Wars] (scienceblogs.com)
• Third Annual Brain Education Day at the United Nations (prweb.com)
• (12/2010) United Nations' Press: A Sign Of End Times (basilandspice.com)
• You: Third mass grave found in Ivory Coast: UN (nation.com.pk)
• 3 abducted in Sudan's volatile Darfur region (cnn.com)
• At the United Nations Security Council, Young People Speak Up (whitehouse.gov)
• With Leader Digging In, Civilians Pay the Price (nytimes.com)
• Are we partnering with any other countries to try and be more environmentally responsible? (greenanswers.com)

Hillary Clinton: Giffords Shooter an "Extremist" - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

Hillary Clinton: Giffords Shooter an "Extremist" - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

January 10, 2011 9:52 AM

Hillary Clinton: Giffords Shooter an "Extremist"

Posted by Lucy Madison 4 comments

• Share 21
• 0digg
• Share
• E-mail
• Print
• Font

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, center, is guided by Emirates' foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, left, to a meeting at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Monday Jan. 10, 2011.

(Credit: AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

In a town hall meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton decried the man who shot Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords as an "extremist" - and urged the audience not to judge his actions as representative of American ideologies.

Complete Coverage: Tragedy in Tuscon

When asked by a student why many in the United States target the entire Arab world in reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Clinton condemned "extremists and their voices," and said both countries had to work to overcome the strong influence of those voices, according to the Associated Press.

"We have extremists in my country. A wonderful, incredibly brave young woman Congress member, Congresswoman Gifford[s], was just shot by an extremist in our country," Clinton said.

Ariz. Rep. Giffords, Others Shot; At Least 4 Dead
Sarah Palin Criticized Over Gabrielle Giffords Presence on "Target List"

"The extremists and their voices, the crazy voices that sometimes get on the TV, that's not who we are, that's not who you are, and what we have to do is get through that and make it clear that that doesn't represent either American or Arab ideas or opinions," Clinton continued.

In the aftermath of the Saturday shootings in Tucson, Arizona - in which six people (including a nine-year-old girl) were killed and 14 injured - many have questioned the possible role of inflammatory rhetoric in inciting political violence.

Loughner's Lethal Message: "I Planned Ahead"
Intern Credited With Saving Rep. Giffords' Life
Giffords' Aide on How She's Doing

Jared Loughner, the 22-year-old man who is accused of opening fire outside of an Arizona supermarket, has been charged with one count of attempted assassination of a member of Congress, two counts of killing an employee of the federal government and two counts of attempting to kill a federal employee. Two of the charges carry a possible death penalty sentence.

Clinton, who will continue on to Oman and Qatar later in the week, said she hopes her trip can build understanding between the United States and the Arab world.

"We have the same kinds of problems. So rather than standing off from each other, we should work to try to prevent the extremists anywhere from being able to commit violence."

Related articles

• Secretary Clinton Calls Tucson Shooter Jared Loughner an 'Extremist' (blogs.abcnews.com)
• Clinton urges more tolerance, less extremism (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• HRC Conflates Islamic Extremism And Madness (cehwiedel.com)
• Giffords' suspect due in court as nation mourns (msnbc.msn.com)
• Jared Lee Loughner targeted Gabrielle Giffords since 2007? (fireandreamitchell.com)
• Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on Violent Rhetoric and the Giffords Shooting (mediaite.com)
• Giffords suspect due in court as nation mourns (msnbc.msn.com)
• Halloween in December? Man in Hillary Clinton Mask Robs Virginia Bank (politicsdaily.com)
• A Man Wearing Hillary Clinton Mask Robbed A Bank (freaknewsdaily.com)
• Americans Concerned about WikiLeaks Dump (cbsnews.com)