Afghanistan: Wheel turns full circle Pakistan Observer To the contrary, it warrants far more deep attention because potentially it contains within itself seeds of same hostility and confrontation between Pakistan and Afghanistan which existed prior to Russian tanks rolled into Kabul in Dec 1979. The ... |
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Afghanistan: Wheel turns full circle - Pakistan Observer
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--The USO tour left the hotel here before dawn on a Friday and over the duration of the itinerary flew three hours on a 737 to Bagram Airbase in northern Afghanistan, went from Bagram to a pair of smaller U.S. military installations in the country by helicopter, choppered back to Bagram, by 737 from Bagram to Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, had a 45-minute layover without deplaning and, finally, from Kandahar to Dubai, where it all started.
It was a Tuesday afternoon, and it was over. Five days, thousands of miles in the air in various machines, a few more in shuttle busses that hauled them around the base in Bagram, several kidneys and a couple vertebrae donated without consent to canyons in the road some liberally, but very mistakenly, called potholes. The itinerary for retired players Sam Perkins and Caron Butler, NBA Vice President of Referee Operations Bob Delaney and Ivory Latta of the WNBAs Washington Mystics while All-Star weekend played out in New Orleans had been both exhausting and exhilarating and everything in between.
Now Perkins stood at the baggage carousel in the Dubai airport, waiting with the group to claim theirluggage before a car ride to the hotel where they had originally gathered. Some would check in for a few hours as a brief stop before catching red-eyes headed north and west, over Europe, over the Atlantic, bound for various destinations in the United States, some stayed the night.
Perkins was the one who, minutes after arriving in Afghanistan, so soon that he was still basically a 3-pointer away from the chartered 737 as troops greeted the VIPs, said, Youre just in it now. Its just surreal. When it was over, he would define the visit.
I had gone on another USO trip about five months ago, but we went on a tour. You didnt really stay in one place. We went to Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan, in the same place we just visited. We met the soldiers in different places, not only American soldiers, but Romanian soldiers as well, the Czechs. It was like more of tour. We had band members, celebrities from Hollywood and myself and my daughter. We just kind of schmoozed and got to know a lot of people in a short span of time because we were in a rush. But this time it was more of a real feel, because you got to personally know some guys and some of their stories. Its always good to have a story they would find interesting. They were interested.
It was what I expected. But with the fanfare and the events, you got to know them even more personally. You would get to know people. Thats what happened. It was a different perspective from the prior trip I took. That was more about the signing and signing autographs. This was more personal.
Its almost like the people that we got to know through this whole duration, I guess they were in a way wishing we wouldnt go. But we knew the day would come for us to depart. I think we really got close to them, got connected to them, so when you land somewhere else and leave that behind you kind of reflect a little bit about what took place.
A soldier said to me when he saw us the other day that hes had a trying time getting through this (time in Afghanistan). With us coming, he did a reset. I think that helped him a great deal, so he can now push through for another six months because the trying times and Groundhog Days and every day is the same thing. When he said that to me, that made me feel that we were there for a purpose. Whether we take it lightly or not or we think we can or cannot make a difference or not, we made a difference with one person at least.
I guess were all mentors in some way, in some aspect. Just hearing that, it makes you feel good. But knowing that this trip was important, more important than being at the All-Star Game, I think we were medicine to some. We were here for a purpose and thats what we came for. We all kind of connected with one another and made it more worthwhile for them. Just the interaction.
The basketball, the games, the coaching, laughing with the guys and women, just sitting down and having lunch or dinner with them. Just seeing us there made it more special to them. And like I said before, the importance of having somebody around just to boost your morale and confidence, it makes it all worthwhile. We dont know what outcome that may be for a person, but Im glad I came.
The realness of the soldiers will stay with me. Theyre just like you and I except, from talking to them, they all willfully signed up to come, to protect and serve the country. No one asked them to be there. No one told them to come. They came of their own conscience. Thats probably going to stand out to me as much as anything because Im grateful for what they do and what they stand for. They all have hardships while theyre serving, but at the same time they take pride.
Youre a badass when youre carrying around a gun all day, so I respect that. But the women are more interesting. Ive never seen so many women take pride in doing something different, instead of worrying about being glam all the time or being about themselves. They did it for whatever reasons, but theyre doing it because of their country. They have families as well. All these people we connected with all have families and they love them to death and they want to get back to them, but they know that theres something at stake and they want to do the job with pride.
When I took the first trip, it changed me. It made me think about a lot of things. All the things that are going on in the United States, people have their own way of respecting the flag and respecting the soldiers. Theyre all doing it in a good, positive way. Some people take it in a negative, disenchanted way, but I think overall, when I get back, when I come back from these trips, it makes you think about the people you connected with. The faces. The conversations we had. What we talked about. We talked about everyday things, everyday life and perspective. We had some things in common that were able to connect.
Theyre ordinary guys and women that are over there fighting. They worry all the time. They dont, probably, show it a lot. Its all right to do that. But at the same time, they show pride in what they do. And they do it to the fullest. Ill always remember them no matter what and hopefully we can see them on the other side.
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Sam Perkins reflects on 'personal' USO trip to Afghanistan - NBA.com
The health of a mother locked up for almost a year in a notorious Iranian prison on secret charges is rapidly deteriorating according to her family.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, a British-Iranian citizen, was detained as she was trying to return to Britain with her daughter Gabriella after visiting family in Iran last April.
Since then she has been held as a political prisoner and sentenced to five years behind bars for charges which have not been made public.
The charity worker was accused of plotting to topple the Iranian regime.
An appeal made to lower her sentence was rejected in January.
Now Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes sister-in-law Rebecca Jones, who lives in Cardiff, said that while her brother Richards wife was no longer being kept in high security, she was starting to suffer physically.
Evin Prison, where she is held, is known for its severe conditions and its impact on prisoners health.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is said to have suffered dangerous weight loss, hair loss and has become virtually unable to walk.
Cwmbran GP Mrs Jones said: Nazanin is still in Evin Prison.
Shes now in a political wing so she is no longer isolated and is with other prisoners so she is starting to make friends.
Physically her health is deteriorating. She now has problems with her left shoulder, neck and left arm.
She had a visit from a neurologist who wanted her to go to hospital but every prison has rejected that, though negotiations are ongoing.
She now has more regular visits from Gabriella with her mum and dad and she gets occasional calls to Richard once or twice a month.
Richard Ratcliffe has not seen his wife or daughter since before they left for Iran, with Gabriella in the care of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes parents who live in Tehran.
Mrs Jones said: Shes still very desperate to come out as soon as possible.
Shes having a lot of panic attacks, anxiety and restless nights which are affecting her physical health as well.
In many ways things have got better for her but I think it has hit home that her release might not be imminent any time soon.
Of course she has been in prison with women who havent been released for seven or eight years.
Back in the UK, Mr Ratcliffe, of Hampstead, in north-west London, has been in contact with the UK Government to petition them to put pressure on Iranian regime to release his wife.
Mrs Jones said: I think the longer this goes on the more frustrating it is for Richard.
The whole family are bewildered why nobody high up in the Government hasnt asked for her release.
When you go back and talk to the Government and nothing much has changed, its disheartening really.
There are good days and bad days. Richard tries to be upbeat but when hes in his flat on his own he can get quite low.
Mrs Jones will be holding an event in Cardiff city centre on Sunday, March 19 to celebrate Nowruz, the traditional Iranian festival of spring, considered the start of the New Year among Iranians.
It is hoped more than 100 people will attend the event, with local Amnesty groups supporting it.
Readings will be performed including a letter from Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
After this, 30 hyacinths will be planted in the Market Garden next to St John the Baptist Church, to symbolise Nowruz.
Mrs Jones said: Were doing this to mark Nowruz which is why Nazanin went out to Iran in the first place and to show her we are still thinking of her.
When we have events like this, its uplifting to get support from people and it helps Nazanin and her family.
A spokesman from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: We are deeply concerned that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes sentence has been confirmed following an unsuccessful appeal while Iran continues to refuse the UK consular access to her.
The UKs Minister for the Middle East, Tobias Ellwood, has spoken to his Iranian opposite number to express our concerns.
The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have both previously raised this case with their counterparts.
We have been supporting Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes family since we were first made aware of her arrest.
Mr Ellwood has met her husband in London and her family in Tehran to assure them that we will continue to do all we can for her.
We are continuing to press the Iranians for consular access and for due process to be followed, and are ready to help get her daughter back safely to the UK if requested.
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Mother jailed in notorious Iran prison on mystery charges can barely walk and is losing her hair - WalesOnline
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It is a known fact that the Trump White House and Congress are weighing options of how to take action against Irans hostilities, especially the mounting belligerency of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), rendering escalated tensions between Iran and the U.S. in the Middle East to an unprecedented level.
Iran poses the greatest long-term threat to stability for this part of the world, said CENTCOM commander Gen. Joseph L. Votel at a Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.
U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley further emphasized the threat posed by Iran in the region, underscoring how Syria cannot become a safe haven for terrorists and the importance of getting Iran and their proxies out of the Levant.
At such a sensitive timing, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), known as the main Iranian opposition organization, staged a press conference on Tuesday in London exposing malign IRGC practices to cloak its efforts to continue fueling terrorism in the Middle East and expand smuggling activities.
The NCRI cited information obtained by sources affiliated with the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) inside Iran, and especially the IRGC apparatus, shedding light on the Guards owning 90 of Irans official 212 piers.
The IRGC employs these docks to transfer arms and ammunition, amongst other military ordinance, to proxy groups fighting to advance Irans interests across the Middle East. This policy of Iran procuring sensitive equipment to these groups is now a known fact considering the mullahs expanding influence.
Established in the Iranian regimes early years, the then fledgling IRGC took on the task to launch a significant network of such piers. The intended objective was to provide means for the Guards to sidestep any domestic supervision, evade customs limitations and maintain international monitoring mechanisms at bay regarding its illegal activities.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has remained loyal to this objective, tasking the IRGC under his watch to inflate the network of Bahman Docks, as they are known amongst regime institutions.
Misusing their leverage, the Guards jumped to the opportunity and established a decisive grip over the regimes economy. A large percentage of Irans imports and exports are now literally controlled by the IRGC, using this leverage to flood the countrys market with low-priced goods and inflicting huge damage on local-based factories and trade.
The Guards now are reeling in $12 billion in annual profits through various methods of illegal transactions, according to reports. This renders an obvious conclusion that large portions of such revenue is directed to fund Irans backing of worldwide terrorism, meddling in the Middle East, nuclear program, ballistic missile drive, and the ongoing campaign by Tehran to get a hold of different weapons of mass destruction.
The NCRI has listed names and images of numerous IRGC docks and shipping companies, used as cover by Tehran to keep its true intentions in the dark. The Guards have also established ownership of a number of large oil tankers, rented to foreign states to funnel in further revenue.
The Iranian opposition held yet another press conference, this time by the NCRI-US office in Washington, announcing a new publication, the Rise of the Revolutionary Guards Financial Empire: How the Supreme Leader and the IRGC Rob the People to Fund International Terror, focusing on the IRGCs rising economic empire. American experts, including Ambassador Adam Ereli, were present to emphasize how Khamenei and the Guards have expanded their sphere of influence over Irans vast economic resources.
Tensions are currently growing between Washington and Tehran, specifically following the Trump administration placing Iran on notice in response to a January 29th intermediate-range ballistic missile launch, which in a failure and humiliation for the mullahs.
The troubles have escalated as Iran tested two short-range ballistic missiles last weekend, IRGC fast-attack boats harassed a U.S. Navy surveillance vessel on Thursday and successfully launched a naval missile hitting a target at a range of 250 kilometers.
The Trump administration, busy overhauling its predecessors destructive appeasement mentality, is evaluating the possibility of blacklisting the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. New revelations made by the Iranian opposition highlight the necessity of such a move.
Despite arguments otherwise, this designation of the IRGC will in fact de-escalate tensions in the flashpoint Middle East. As written in The Washington Post, U.S. President Donald Trump should not miss the best opportunity we will have going forward to contain and defang Iran short of a war.
Shahriar Kia is an Iranian dissident and a political analyst writing about Iran and the Middle East.He is the member of the Iranian opposition and he graduated from North Texas University. He tweets at @shahriarkia.
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Iran Opposition Unveils Secret IRGC Tactics | The Daily Caller - Daily Caller
The gap between the new US administration and Europe in their respective approaches to Iran is only growing wider, as events this week illustrate. Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, on Wednesday confirmed US support for the UN-led Syria peace talks, adding that it was important we get Iran and their proxies out. Also this week, it emerged that key US senators are closer to reaching a bipartisan agreement on Iran sanctions legislation to respond to Irans recurrent ballistic missile launches. While the US stepped up the pressure on Iran, Iranian media reported on the establishment of an Iranian-European bank based in Europe, seen as vital to strengthen relations between Iranian financial institutions and their European counterparts.
The US and EU states have two very different views about what coercion and constructive engagement can achieve in curbing Tehrans belligerent regional activities.
Manuel Almeida
The EU and its individual member states never made a secret of their intention to bolster trade and other ties with Iran following the nuclear deal. European business delegations have been flocking to Tehran in the hope of opportunities to set up shop, invest and find solutions to navigate the complicated local business environment. In a visit to Tehran in April last year, the EUs foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, avowed the blocs determination to again become Irans largest economic partner, as was the case at the end of the presidency of Mohammed Khatami in 2005, when the EU accounted for almost 40 percent of Iranian exports. We are the ones that used to be Irans first partner on the economic fields, on trade, investment, and we want to be back to that, Mogherini stated. Interestingly, Mogherini a left-wing politician and former communist has faced criticism for having a soft spot for both Iran and Russia.
EU, US diverge on Iran The opportunity the Iranian market represents for European companies certainly explains much of Europes Iran approach. But behind this growing disparity between Americans and Europeans on Iran are also two very different views about what coercion and constructive engagement can achieve in curbing Irans belligerent regional policy. Despite sticking half-heartedly to the nuclear deal, the Trump administration sees the legacy of President Obama on Iran as disastrous for the interests of the US and the stability of the region. Obamas reluctance for the sake of protecting the nuclear deal to pressure Iran to be more collaborative and less confrontational in various regional theaters has been interpreted by Irans hard-liners as weakness. The dominant view in Europe is that the path of sticks and no carrots has been tried before, with no results in changing Irans regional policies and curbing the influence of hard-liners in Tehran. It risks igniting tensions, even war, and further empowering the hard-liners. Plus, EU leaders and technocrats tend to be enthusiastic believers in the transformative and peaceful power of economic interdependence. That is the essence of the European project. By engaging with Tehran on trade, investment, and other areas beyond the economy Europeans expect to capitalize on years of diplomatic efforts to boost more moderate factions within Iran and find a more cooperative interlocutor on the various regional crises where Iran is involved. The European position has its merits, but its track record so far is problematic. There is little evidence that this economic opening is benefiting the private sector and the average Iranian citizen. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei criticized the nuclear deal for exactly that last year. Instead, state-owned firms many of them owned by Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps, and part of the economy of resistance are winning most of the new contracts.
Regional policy a concern This European rapprochement and its economic baggage does not also seem to have strengthened the prospects of the reformists or the more moderate factions represented by current President Hassan Rouhani. Yet it is Irans regional and security policy, still mostly dominated by hard-liners, that should warrant the greatest concern in Europe, above all regarding the issue of Syria. With the crucial military and economic support of Iran and pro-Iranian groups, Assad has burned his own country to the ground and blocked any attempts to negotiate a reasonable political solution. This makes Iranian forces one of the chief culprits in the worst human catastrophe the region and the world have witnessed in recent decades. The large-scale war crimes committed by the regime are not only a shocking violation of every basic principle, but the practical effects of it refugee waves, social tensions, radicalism and terrorism are threatening the EUs own survival. It is possible that European attempts to leverage its importance for Iran beyond economic ties are being carried out mostly behind closed doors. If this is not the case, Europe could be missing an opportunity to use the greater influence it now enjoys in Tehran to push the Iranian government to compromise on regional crises and restrain the influence of hard-liners.
Dr. Manuel Almeida is a leading political analyst, providing research and consultancy services focusing on the Middle East. He is the former editor of the English online edition of Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, and holds a PhD in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He can be reached on Twitter: @_ManuelAlmeida.
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Europe could be missing an opportunity in its Iran policy - Arab News