Days after bomb blasts and insurgent attacks in Iranian Baluchistan, more terror in Pakistani Baluchistan. To what extent is this a Baluch ethnic insurgency, and to what extent a Sunni fundamentalist jihad? Or is it both? One shudders to think how complex the intrigues behind this are. The Baluch militants in Pakistan are said to be backed by Iran, while Pakistan's intelligence apparatus has long quietly backed the Sunni jihadists to further Islamabad's ambitions in Kashmir and (with CIA connivance) Afghanistan. Are the Baluch being pitted against each other as have the Kurds? Maybe the Baluch are starting to shake off all such manipulators and struggle for a unified independent Baluchistan—just as there is more talk of a unified Pashtunistan straddling Pakistan and Afghanistan, after centuries of the Pashtuns serving as pawns in the Great Game. From Reuters, via the UAE's Khaleej Times, Feb. 18:

The rad left (e.g. the ever-predictable Counterpunch) loves to hate Elie Wiesel, and actually makes some strong arguments about his double standards on human suffering. But we would trust their intentions a lot more if they weren't so intent on dismissing the reality of anti-Semitism. After his attack, Wiesel told Italy's Corriere della Sera that Jew-haters and Holocaust deniers are increasing worldwide and getting bolder: "Until today they used words; now they have switched to violence. Their numbers are growing by the day." (AP, Feb. 13). The evidence for this has been mounting for some time, whatever the morally equivocal position of Wiesel and however much Jew-haters are abetted by Israel's atrocious actions. When are supposedly "progressive" anti-Semitism-deniers going to start eating crow? From the Melbourne Herald-Sun, Feb. 18:

Having last year arrested two of its own intelligence agents in the "rendition" scandal, Italy now indicts 25 CIA men. Extraordinary indeed. From AKI, Feb. 16:

MILAN - A judge in Milan ordered on Friday the former head of Italy's military intelligence to stand trial along with six Italian agents and 26 US citizens - most of them CIA agents - over the alleged abduction of an Egyptian Muslim extremist in Milan in 2003 in a US practice known as 'extraordinary rendition'. The case will be the first criminal trial over the secret transfer by Washington of terror suspects to detention centers around the world. The trial is scheduled to begin on 8 June and the US citizens are expected to be tried in absentia.

From Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network, Jan. 30:

Workers shut off Iran Sadra's Bushehr shipyard's gate
"We'll stay on strike until we achieve our goal"

Following the sacking of 38 workers at Iran Sadra's Bushehr shipyard on 30 January, 150 workers shut off the shipyard's gate. According to a report by the government-controlled ILNA, Iranian Labour News Agency, the Iran Sadra workers' representative said: "An agenda had been arranged in the [Bushehr] province governor's office, according to which if the company has orders then its workforce will be returned to work and they will sign contracts so that the problem is resolved. But not only has the problem not been resolved, but after a month has passed 38 workers have also been sacked."

From the Santa Barbara Independent, Feb. 15:

Ignoring the restrictions imposed by the mere geometry of UCSB’s curbs and sidewalks, students marching today in protest of the University of California’s involvement with military efforts stepped across the newly installed roundabout at the campus’s east entrance and walked down Highway 217 toward a cluster of California Highway Patrol vehicles. The crowd—nearly one thousand, according to event planners, though more conservative estimates place the number closer to 500—had convened initially in Isla Vista at Pardall Road, in front of a tunnel underpass through which many UCSB students ride their bikes to get to class. Part of the protest included a strike that discouraged students from attending class in symbolism of a decisive break from “business as usual.” Thus, the spot was integral for the protestors to hail passers-by to drop their daily activities in favor of joining the rally. However, the class walkout—which some students disobeyed, even if they purported to support the protest—paled in comparison to the literal walk down the principal highway leading into campus, which stopped traffic.

From Military.com, Feb. 1:

President Bush and his new military chiefs have been saying for nearly a month that they would "surge" an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq, in a last, grand push to quell the violence in Baghdad and in Anbar Province. But a new study by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says the real troop increase could be as high as 48,000 -- more than double the number the President initially said.

The House passes a non-binding resolution against the "surge"; the Senate fails to. Opponents invoke the need to "support the troops." Is anybody listening to the troops and their families? From Military Families Speak Out, Feb. 5:

Military Families Urge Congress to Vote Down Bush Request for Billions to Contine Iraq War
Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) members today called on Congress to support our troops and honor the fallen by voting against President Bush's request for a supplemental appropriation that would allow the U.S. military occupation of Iraq to continue. Military Families Speak Out, an organization of over 3,200 military families opposed to the war in Iraq, is the largest organization of military families opposing a war in the history of the United States.

Nepalese PM Girija Prasad Koirala has vowed to amend the country's constitution to meet the key demands of Madheshi protesters from the country’s southern plains, BBC News reported on Feb. 8. He pledged to introduce a federal system of governance and more representation of the southern plains in the parliament.