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WARSAW: A Polish member of the European Parliament has launched another sexist tirade, calling it a "20th-century stereotype that women have the same intellectual potential as men," and that the stereotype "must be destroyed because it is not true."

Janusz Korwin-Mikke's insults on Friday in Warsaw came two days after he told the European Parliament that "women must earn less than men because they are weaker, they are smaller, they are less intelligent."

The president of the Parliament opened an investigation Thursday into the comments, for which Korwin-Mikke could face sanctions such as a reprimand, a fine or a temporary suspension.

His latest blast came after he was challenged by female lawmakers during a visit to the Polish parliament in Warsaw. Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus, from the Modern party, accused him of offending women and said she would not allow him to do it again.

"There are more women than men in Poland, we're better educated, and I will not let you offend Polish women, European women and women all over the world. It's a disgrace," she told him.

Korwin-Mikke has a history of getting attention for outrageous comments, including comparing the European Union to the Third Reich.

In 2015, he raised his arm in a Nazi salute to make a political point in the European Parliament, the EU's elected legislative arm, forcing the centrist government in Warsaw at the time to apologize and express shame for his behavior.

Korwin-Mikke heads a small party which won just under 5 percent of the vote in Poland's last parliamentary election in 2015, failing to clear the 5 percent threshold to get any seats.

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Polish European Union lawmaker says women intellectually inferior to men - The New Indian Express

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But in the meantime the bills from Brussels keep dropping on the mat. Pricey security arrangements for MEPs are just one item, a unit of 46 bodyguards, with 12 of them assigned to protect the European Parliaments president Antonio Tajani.

It is being called a private army and this is clearly no exaggeration.

Both the guards and their drivers will also have to make a monthly round-trip to Strasbourg which will cost a further million or so euros. The profligacy is never ending.

But this extravagant outlay is simply part of a 1.7billion spending binge as the EU tries to squeeze as much as possible out of British taxpayers while it still can.

Our contribution is expected to be around 230million.

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Another expense is what we will put towards a pro-EU publicity campaign (a strong citizen-centric message) in advance of the 2019 European elections.

Britons of course will not be taking part in these elections as we will have left the EU by then.

On one hand this vast expenditure is cause for fury.

But it is also a useful indication of how much British taxpayers money is sucked into the bottomless pit that is the EU.

While any further expenditure is deeply regrettable it is a salutary reminder of the wisdom of more than 17 million British people when last June they voted to leave.

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Mrs May had a tough message for Nicola Sturgeon in her address yesterday to the Scottish Conservatives in Glasgow.

She accused the First Minister of treating politics as if it were a game and the SNP administration of tunnel-vision nationalism.

She stated forcefully that there was no economic case for breaking up the United Kingdom.

She also pointed out the failings of the Scottish government in education and health.

It was stirring stuff and brought to mind that the union of our four nations England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is precious, unique in the world and not something which we should abandon lightly.

The independence referendum showed most Scots are aware of this. Nicola Sturgeon is indeed playing a dangerous game.

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IF the Queen moves her handbag from hand to hand or places it on a table then it is a secret signal to her people that she wants to talk to someone else or is preparing to make her exit.

Mrs Thatcher was accused of handbagging but this is far more subtle.

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Express view: EU Army is reminder of why we need to leave European Union - Express.co.uk

USA TODAY 7:05 a.m. CT March 3, 2017

Army Gen. John Nicholson is commander of the U.S.-led international military force in Afghanistan.(Photo: AP)

The war in Afghanistan is not going well. At best, its a stalemate. At worst, its a war seemingly without end the longest in U.S. history that is now shifting slowly in favor of the enemy, the Taliban and other Islamic extremists.

Afghan security forces are fighting harder than ever, but an average of 20 police or soldiers are being killed each day. The government in Kabul is barely able to gather enough new recruits to make up for the mounting dead and wounded. Last month, a mother in Kabul lost three sons, all police officers, to a single attack. Territory is slipping from the governments grasp, with just 57 percent of districts nationwide controlled by Kabul, down 15 percent from November 2015.

Americans have sacrificed a lot since the war began in 2001 in retaliation for the 9/11 terror attacks plotted by al-Qaeda leaders, who had safe harbor in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Beyond the 2,247 U.S. military deaths and 20,000 wounded, the U.S. has spent more in inflation-adjusted dollars to reconstruct Afghanistan than it did to rebuild Europe after World War II, and the nation remains far from self-sustaining.

The main upside is that the U.S. has successfully prevented Afghanistan from being used as a base for another 9/11-style attack on American soil. We believe ... that our operations in Afghanistan directly protect the homeland, Army Gen. John Nicholson, commander of the U.S.-led international military force in Afghanistan, told senators last month. Other accomplishments include shrinking territory held by the Islamic States Afghan affiliate down to a few districts and, in October, killing an al-Qaeda leader who was planning an attack on the United States.

Nicholson concedes the war is a stalemate. Hed like to add perhaps 1,400 U.S. troops to the 8,400 already in Afghanistan, with maybe 2,000 more contributed from NATO and other coalition allies who already have 5,000 on the ground. The additional manpower would improve battlefield surveillance and move trained advisers further down into Afghan forces to bolster leadership.

Nicholsons request for more U.S. troops appears reasonable, but troop levels have to reflect a broader strategy. America needs to know President Trumps position on Afghanistan. More than a month into his administration, theres silence on the issue. Trump has offered conflicting views in the past, arguing against nation-building but telling Fox News last year, albeit rather reluctantly, that hed stay in Afghanistan. Trump has ordered his generals to come up with a plan to defeat radical Islamic terrorism.

President Obama was moving toward a complete withdrawal, which might have successfully pressured Kabul into assuming more responsibilities. But by announcing troops levels well into the future, divorced from the situation on the ground, he also left the Taliban and other terrorist groups to bide their time until the U.S. was gone.

The White House needs to conduct a major policy review of Afghanistan, reach a fundamental decision and then make its case to the American people. The U.S. troops serving valiantly in Afghanistan deserve clarity of purpose.

The choice is whether the U.S. is staying in Afghanistan with an active counterterrorism role and assisting the governments fight against its enemies or whether it is leaving. Only when the Taliban realizes that the U.S. commitment is unwavering, and that it cannot retake Kabul, will this longest war come to a resolution.

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In Afghanistan, what's the plan? - Hattiesburg American

March 3 at 6:13 PM

Josh Rogins Feb. 27 op-ed, Selling Trump a new Afghan commitment, presented a confused and unsatisfying discussion of where we next go in the United States more-than-15-year involvement in Afghanistan. Mr. Rogin appeared to think that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. and national security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster can sell President Trump on extending and expanding our presence in Afghanistan. But there is no clear requirement for our forces to be there and no obvious positive outcome to be achieved. Mr. Rogin quotes House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Tex.) as complaining that President Barack Obama never made the case for U.S. involvement. He did not for an excellent reason: There is no compelling strategic reason for our military presence in Afghanistan.

Those who fail to see the issue from a historical perspective should acquaint themselves with the British role in Afghanistan from 1839 throughout the 19th century and the Soviet role there from 1979 to 1989. By extending our already enormous presence still further, we run the risk of being there to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the start of foreign (i.e., British) military involvement with the strong likelihood of a similar outcome. We should cut our losses, understand the realities of Afghanistan and quit the country.

Alan Neuschatz, Chevy Chase

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In Afghanistan, no one can win - Washington Post

Sarah Hauck

Marines and sailors have been facing potential worst-case scenarios as they prepare for their deployment to Afghanistan in the spring.

About 300 Marines and sailors stationed at Camp Lejeune will deploy to the Helmand Province of Afghanistan to advise Afghan Army and police force leaders. Led by Brig. Gen. Roger Turner Jr., the II Marine Expeditionary Force Marines deploying this spring with the newly created Task Force Southwest will return to Afghanistan to train and advise key leaders within the Afghan National Army 215th Corps and the 505th Zone National Police.

Mission rehearsals are about pushing Marines to their limits to assess, reevaluate and get as close to perfection as possible before they leave U.S. soil, Turner said.

We try to do in these is give as close as possible representation of circumstances we may encounter, Turner said. It will give the Marines a feel for how the whole machine is going to work.

Turner explained that the replicated situations are created in a way to crescendo it to a point of almost unrealistic, to really test the Marines and their ability to operate under pressure and in stressful situations.

Throughout the week, various movements and missions were forced upon the Marines both during the day and at night in hopes of testing their teamwork and ability to adapt.

The main mission of the taskforce is to advise Afghan forces to continue to protect their country and people. Because of that objective, a major focus of the mission rehearsal has been learning the culture of the Afghan people, Public Affairs Officer for TFS Maj. Kendra Motz said.

There are definitely some relationships that are existing there already, and we are hopeful that we can reconnect and build on those, she said.

The nature of the deployment has encouraged a higher, more senior group of Marines to deploy, Turner said previously in a recorded interview.

Most have already seen time in Afghanistan, which has proven vital when training and teaching the younger Marines.

The use of Afghan role players, who have been immersed with TFS all week, also assists in learning the culture, Turner said. Advisors have been working with the role players via translator just like they would in country to gain a better understanding of how that process works.

We have been there so long that some of our Afghan partners are used to Americans and the culture, Turner said. Working through translators and with the role players now prevents a misunderstanding or any friction that may come from the difference in cultures. It is less about if they are offended by something said because it is taken a different way and more about learning how the advising process may take longer via translator. When our advisors understand the cultural nuances it may encourage them to ask addition questions.

Motz described the importance of understanding a culture in order to accomplish the mission of advising and assisting the Afghan forces with a quote by Theodore Roosevelt: People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

For Master Gunnery Sergeants Henry Gonzalez and Samuel Swain, the mission rehearsal was a way for them to pass on knowledge they have from prior deployments as well as help the younger Marines understand what to expect when their boots hit the ground in Afghanistan.

Gonzalez has not been deployed to Afghanistan but has been deployed to Iraq in an advisor position and said the mission rehearsal is shaped to teach no matter where the real mission takes them.

Preparing for Afghanistan this time has been great for the Marines, he said, thanks to help of subject matter experts who have been able to create a more sophisticated training regiment.

This is one of the best trainings we can do, he said. It gives us a much better understanding of everybodys responsibility, and what I heed to do and where to go so everyone understands their roles.

Gonzalez, who has deployed eight times, hoped the Marines would take away advice and knowledge that didnt involve responding to explosions before deployment.

I want them to make sure they take care of yourself and your family before you deploy, he said. If you do those things you will be able to perform while on deployment, the long hours that sometimes come with deployments. It will allow you to concentrate on what you do because that could save not only your life, but others as well.

Swain was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010-11 and said the training for this deployment is similar, and should be. The mission rehearsals provide a platform for experienced Marines like himself to educate on more than just tactics.

Passing on knowledge to them (is important), Swain said. We can share with them what to expect and what it is really like, not the Hollywood (version), including the processes they are going to go through day in and day out.

TFS will be replacing Army Task Force Forge. Groups will be spread across Helmand Province, each tasked to work with the various groups like the 215th Corps and 505th Zone, as well as headquarters and other pieces that make up a task force, Turner said.

The Marines and sailors will be working with Afghan security forces throughout the area, including at the Camp Leatherneck location used during operations years ago.

The deployment is expected to last nine months.

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Task force prepares for Afghanistan deployment - Jacksonville Daily News