Daily Report
WHY WE FIGHT
Lest we forget... From the New York Times, Jan. 26:
Woman Who Survived 9/11 Is Killed by a Car in the City
It was a beautiful morning on Sept. 11, 2001, so Florence Cioffi made a decision that helped save her life: She left her office in the World Trade Center for a coffee break and was able to flee the devastation of the terrorist attack.
Iraq: 100 years of occupation?
In a front-page story Jan. 25, "US Asking Iraq for Wide Rights in Fighting War," the New York Times writes: "With its international mandate in Iraq set to expire in 11 months, the Bush administration will insist that the government in Baghdad give the United States broad authority to conduct combat operations and guarantee civilian contractors specific legal protections from Iraqi law, according to administration and military officials... The American negotiating position for a formal military-to-military relationship, one that would replace the current United Nations mandate, is laid out in a draft proposal that was described by White House, Pentagon, State Department and military officials on ground rules of anonymity. It also includes less controversial demands that American troops be immune from Iraqi prosecution, and that they maintain the power to detain Iraqi prisoners." Meanwhile, a video posted on YouTube of a Jan. 3 appearance in Derry, NH, has presidential candidate John McCain responding to a question about whether US troops could be in Iraq 50 years: "Make it 100. We've been in Japan for 60 years, we've been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That would be fine with me."
Afghans protest US air-strikes
Hundreds of Afghans chanted anti-US slogans in Ghazni Jan. 24 to protest the deaths of nine police, including a district commander, who local officials said were killed the previous day in an anti-Taliban operation by coalition troops. The coalition denied the claims, saying four insurgents were killed and nine were detained on the mission. Faced with troop shortages, US and NATO-led forces rely increasingly on air-strikes. (AP, Jan. 24)
Turkey amends speech law, censors YouTube
Turkey's government is expected to announce a reform of Article 301, the law against insulting "Turkishness" that has been used to prosecute writers who have addressed such issues as the Armenian genocide. The moves comes as a precondition for Turkey's acceptance to the European Union. (NYT, Jan. 25) Meanwhile, Turkish authorities blocked access to YouTube for six days after a court order in response to video clips allegedly insulting the country's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. (AP, Jan. 24)
Russia signs Balkan pipeline deal with Serbia
Serbian and Russian officials have signed an energy deal they say will turn Serbia into a major hub for gas supplies to Europe and boost Russia's economic influence in the region. The deal was signed in Moscow, where Serbia's President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and other officials met President Vladimir Putin and their Russian counterparts. The agreement provides for the construction of a stretch of the South Stream gas pipeline in Serbia, including a major regional gas storage unit at Banatski Dvor. Under the deal Gazpromneft, the oil subsidiary of Russian gas monopoly, Gazprom, acquires a 51% stake in Serbia’s top oil and gas company, Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS). The deal comes a week after Bulgaria joined the South Stream project, which is to have an annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of gas. The pipeline is to carry Russian gas via Bulgaria and Serbia to Hungary, Austria and Italy.
France arrests ETA fugitive
French police Jan. 24 arrested accused ETA militant Eneko Galarraga near Bayonne. Police said Galarraga was not armed and did not resist. The Spanish news agency EFE said Galarraga, 27, has been wanted in Spain since 2002 when escaped to France after the breaking up of ETA's "Zelatu" commando. The Basque pro-amnesty organization Askatasuna denounced the "repression [of] Basque political refugees" and accused France of "backing the Spanish strategy against the Basque independence movement." (EiTB24, Jan. 24)
Pakistani militants target Barcelona?
Police in Barcelona arrested 14 men and raided several apartments, two mosques and a bakery over the weekend. Authorities said the group included 12 Pakistanis, an Indian and a Bangladeshi, and that bomb-making materials were confiscated. Spain's Interior Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba said Saturday that the detainees "belonged to a well-organized group that had gone a step beyond radicalization." He said Spanish authorities cooperated with foreign intelligence agencies in the raids, while local newspaper accounts said Madrid had been tipped off about militants leaving Pakistan to initiate a terror plot in Barcelona.
Ashura violence in India-controlled Kashmir
While the Shi'ite Ashura festivals went off peacefully in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir this year, there were riots on the Indian side of the Line of Control. Islamabad's official Associated Press of Pakistan writes Jan. 21 that "[T]he occupying Indian troops subjected hundreds of mourners to brute force in Srinagar and several other places in the held state to prevent them from taking out Ashura procession." India's NDTV reports that incidents of "stone-pelting" erupted after police tried to break up "clashes...between members of the Shia and Sunni communities...after a Shia procession was taken out in Gojwara, which is a predominantly Sunni area." The Srinagar-based Greater Kashmir News Network reports Jan. 24 that ten detainees in the city are on hunger strike to protest their failure to be brought before a magistrate.

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