NB: there are now 29 NATO members!!! Montenegro joined in 2017, despite fierce Russian diplomatic pressure (and accusations of an attempted coup against the pro-Western PM)!!!
Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts
Monday, 31 January 2022
CCEA Unit 2 info packs
Sunday, 30 January 2022
Sunday, 21 November 2021
NATO CASE STUDY: AFGHANISTAN failure
STARTER LINKS:
BBC explainer: costs of the war
BBC Afghanistan archive
Guardian Afghanistan archive
A long read: Belfer
US DRONE STRIKE THAT KILLED 7 CHILDREN WON’T BE PUNISHED (Guardian)
'No US troops or officials will face disciplinary action for a drone strike in Kabul in August that killed 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children, the Pentagon said’
How US bombings, killings radicalised many Afghans (Guardian)
'“The insurgency was not inevitable. There was a good chance for peace in 2001. Everyone, including the Taliban accepted they had been defeated. But the US and their Afghan allies persecuted and marginalised those who’d lost the war, not just Taliban but tribal and factional rivals of those who had seized power,” said Kate Clark, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network.'
Afghanistan papers reveal US public were misled about unwinnable war (Guardian Dec 2019)
Afghanistan papers reveal US public were misled about unwinnable war (Guardian Dec 2019)
Interviews with key insiders reveal damning verdict on conflict that cost 2,300 US lives
Snippet:
Hundreds of confidential interviews with key figures involved in prosecuting the 18-year US war in Afghanistan have revealed that the US public has been consistently misled about an unwinnable conflict.
Transcripts of the interviews, published by the Washington Post after a three-year legal battle, were collected for a Lessons Learned project by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar), a federal agency whose main task is eliminating corruption and inefficiency in the US war effort.
The 2,000 pages of documents reveal the bleak and unvarnished views of many insiders in a war that has cost $1tn (£760bn) and killed more than 2,300 US servicemen and women, with more than 20,000 injured. Tens of thousands of Afghan civilians have died in the conflict.
...
BBC April 2021:
The Taliban believe victory is theirs. Sitting over a cup of green tea, Haji Hekmat proclaims, "we have won the war and America has lost". The decision by US President Joe Biden to delay the withdrawal of remaining US forces to September, meaning they will remain in the country past the 1 May deadline agreed last year, has sparked a sharp reaction from the Taliban's political leadership. Nonetheless, momentum seems to be with the militants.
For the past year, there has been an apparent contradiction in the Taliban's "jihad". They stopped attacks on international forces following the signing of an agreement with the US, but continued to fight with the Afghan government. Haji Hekmat, though, insists there is no contradiction. "We want an Islamic government ruled by the Sharia. We will continue our jihad until they accept our demands."
On whether or not the Taliban would be willing to share power with other Afghan political factions, Haji Hekmat defers to the group's political leadership in Qatar. "Whatever they decide we will accept," he repeatedly says.
The Taliban don't see themselves as a mere rebel group, but as a government-in-waiting. They refer to themselves as the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," the name they used when in power from 1996 until being overthrown in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
Now, they have a sophisticated "shadow" structure, with officials in charge of overseeing everyday services in the areas they control.
Airpower, particularly that provided by the Americans, has been crucial over the years in holding back the Taliban's advance. The US already drastically cut back its military operations after signing an agreement with the Taliban last year, and many fear that following their withdrawal the Taliban will be placed to launch a military takeover of the country.
Haji Hekmat derides the Afghan government, or "Kabul administration" as the Taliban refer to it, as corrupt and un-Islamic. It's hard to see how men like him will reconcile with others in the country, unless it's on their own terms.
"This is jihad," he says, "it is worship. We don't do it for power but for Allah and His law. To bring Sharia to this country. Whoever stands against us we will fight against them."
Selected quotes:
The UK is to "drawdown" the number of troops in Afghanistan from next month, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said.
Confirming the planned departure of forces, Mr Wallace also warned any attacks on existing troops would be "met with a forceful response".
The UK military has been in Afghanistan since 2001, with more than 450 British troops dying during the conflict with the Taliban and fighters from al-Qaeda.
The US has said it will withdraw all forces by 11 September.
And Nato confirmed allies would begin withdrawing troops from 1 May.
The last UK combat troops left in 2014, but about 750 remain as part of the Nato mission to train Afghan forces.
US President Joe Biden has announced that American troops will leave Afghanistan by 11 September, saying it was "time to end America's longest war".
That would coincide with the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the US in 2001.
Mr Biden said while the US "will not stay involved in Afghanistan militarily", its "diplomatic and humanitarian work" would continue.
Our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale says the UK, like most Nato allies, relies on the US's infrastructure, logistics and support in Afghanistan.
The US has some 2,500 troops in the country as part of a 9,600-strong Nato mission.
At the height of the war, Nato had more than 130,000 troops from 50 nations in Afghanistan. The UK had 9,500 personnel and 137 bases in Helmand province alone.
The speaker of the Afghan parliament, Mir Rahman Rahmani, has warned the withdrawal of foreign forces in the current circumstances will lead to civil war.
In February 2020, the US and the Taliban agreed a deal that would see the US and Nato allies withdraw all troops within 14 months if the Taliban upheld its promises, including not allowing al-Qaeda or other militants to operate in areas it controlled and proceeding with national peace talks.
Although the group stopped attacks on international forces as part of the agreement, it has continued to fight the Afghan government.
Last month, the Taliban threatened to resume hostilities against foreign troops still in the country on 1 May.
MORE BBC LINKS:
Sunday, 14 November 2021
UN CASE STUDY: BOSNIA failure
tbc
SEE ALSO: post on BANNING BOSNIA GENOCIDE DENIAL
Dec 2020
Bosnian/Croat split blocked Mostar election for 12 years until a case went to European Court of Human Rights for denying the right to vote. The EU, US and UK ambassadors subsequently brokered a deal for elections held this week. Guardian.
Like the GFA, the Daytona Agreement fudged some conflict points.
'[High Representative, 'international community envoy'] Schmidt’s position is under diplomatic pressure. Moscow opposed his appointment and does not recognise his authority. Russia and China both insisted that every mention of the high representative was stripped from a recent UN security council resolution on Bosnia. [Bosnian Serb premier] Dodik has refused to meet him, questioning his legitimacy.'
The story continues... 'In an interview with the Guardian, Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of the tripartite leadership of Bosnia-Herzegovina, said he would not be deterred by the outcry from London, Washington, Berlin and Brussels.' He's signalled he expects Russia and China (who both blocked any mention of the High Representative from a recent UN report) to make up any finance lost from Western sanctions. Dodik is the Serb part of the 3-member Bosnian leadership:
'Dodik has been widely condemned in recent weeks over his stated intention to withdraw the Serbian part of Bosnia-Herzegovina from state-level institutions, such as the tax administration, judiciary, intelligence agency and even the national army, in order to create a Serb force.
The proposal has been described in a report to the UN as tantamount to “secession”, and a dangerous risk to the 1995 Dayton peace accord, which ended the civil war that cost about 100,000 lives after the breakup of Yugoslavia.
That peace deal established a state, Bosnia-Herzegovina, made up of two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, consisting predominantly of Bosniak Muslims and Croats, and the Serbian Republika Srpska. Bosnia’s three-member presidency is held by representatives of those three main ethnic groups.
Under the so-called Bonn powers of 1997, substantial powers of law-making were also granted to the office of the high representative (OHR) in charge of implementing the deal. Those powers were used extensively by the former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown, during his time as high representative, to centralise the administration of the country.
Most recently, Valentin Inzko, who left the post this summer, used the office to outlaw the denial of genocide, in response to attempts by some people to play down the scope of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. This led Dodik in July to pull Republika Srpska representatives out of central institutions, and in October to propose taking back powers and transferring land owned by the central state.'
Dodik paints both the High Representative and the 3 judges appointed by the EU court of human rights as undemocratic and outside interference, and refuses to accept that the Serbs committed genocide in Sbrenica, and:
'Since 2017 Dodik has been banned from travelling to the US, or accessing to assets under its jurisdiction, after he defied Bosnia’s constitutional court by staging a referendum on celebrating Republika Srpska Day, marking the date in 1992 when Bosnian Serbs declared their own state in Bosnia.'
He says he still wants EU membership but that everyone knows enlargement is basically off the table, with France/Holland repeatedly blocking Bosnia's application to join Croatia inside the EU (he's almost certainly correct in that, which boosts his willingness to turn to Russia/China for backing)
Friday, 23 July 2021
BOSNIA GENOCIDE DENIAL OUTLAWED
Guardian:
The top international official in Bosnia has outlawed denial of genocide in the Balkan country to counter attempts by Bosnia’s Serbs to deny the scope of the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica, Europe’s only post-second world war genocide.
Valentin Inzko, the outgoing head of Bosnia’s Office of the High Representative, or OHR, introduced the changes to the country’s criminal code on Friday, bringing in prison
sentences of up to five years for genocide denial and for the glorification of war criminals, including naming of streets or public institutions after them.
sentences of up to five years for genocide denial and for the glorification of war criminals, including naming of streets or public institutions after them.
The OHR is the top international body overseeing implementation of the peace agreement that ended Bosnia’s 1992-95 war. It has the authority to impose decisions or dismiss officials who undermine the post-war ethnic balance and reconciliation efforts among the Bosniaks, who are mostly Muslim, Bosnia’s Serbs and Croats.
...
Inzko said he decided to use his powers after waiting for years for Bosnia’s politicians to act. He cited a refusal by the Bosnian Serb assembly to withdraw decorations awarded to three convicted war criminals.
“The situation has gotten worse and is now getting out of hand,” he said, warning that lack of acknowledgment was “sowing the seeds” for new conflicts. “Therefore, I believe that it is now necessary to regulate this matter with legal solutions.”
The genocide in Srebrenica happened after Bosnian Serbs took control over the eastern enclave in July 1995. They executed Bosniak men and boys and dumped their remains into mass graves which were later dug out and reburied to cover the crime. The victims’ remains are still being unearthed and identified.
...
The UN security council on Thursday rejected a resolution put forward by Serb allies Russia and China that would have immediately stripped the powers of the OHR in Bosnia.
...
...the top politician in the Serb entity called Republika Srpska ... Dodik threatened to launch a process of “dissolution” of Bosnia
Bosnian Serbs also have honoured their wartime leader Radovan Karadžić and military commander Ratko Mladić as heroes, although both have been convicted of genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Hague-based tribunal
Friday, 9 July 2021
UN snippets
---TBC: I'LL GATHER SOME LATER POSTS HERE TOO FOR SIMPLICITY---
Somewhat shocking or simply realpolitik?
Russia was pressured into agreeing to a UN motion to deliver aid into Syria without the government's permission at the time it was invading the Crimea and hosting the Sochi Olympic Games. Now it has used it's Vero to block 3 of 4 routes agreed in the UN, with the last up for a security council vote next week - and likely to be vetoed, possibly causing mass starvation. (Guardian)
Perhaps an example of the UN at its most AND least effective? Are the vetoes the problem? The USA routinely uses its veto, and diplomatic threats/pressure, to block resolutions favourable to Palestine or critical of Israel (and for many green policies). It's seen as a failure of diplomacy when countries use their veto; many votes are scrapped when it's clear this will happen, though equally some are forced to cause diplomatic embarrassment to the vetoing power.
Here's a useful Wiki on the veto. This is a decent summary:
The veto power is controversial. Supporters regard it as a promoter of international stability,[2] a check against military interventions,[3] and a critical safeguard against US domination.[4] Critics say that the veto is the most undemocratic element of the UN,[5] as well as the main cause of inaction on war crimes and crimes against humanity, as it effectively prevents UN action against the permanent members and their allies.[6]
Friday, 5 February 2021
UN: ICC International Criminal Court
2021
SET TO INVESTIGATE WAR CRIMES IN PALESTINE DESPITE ISRAELI PROTESTS
The US often blocks censure and condemnation of Israeli action in the Occupied Territories of Palestine, but the Palestinian Authority 'used its UN observer state status, gained in 2012, to join the ICC and call for an investigation into Israeli actions'.
The Biden administration has expressed "serious concerns" over the move but hasn't tried to block it, a perhaps unexpected shift from Trump given long-term largely uncritical support for Israel's actions, including illegal settlements, part of the war crimes investigation potentially alongside the deaths of protesting schoolchildren.
'While Israel has not signed up to the international treaty, the ICC’s mandate is to prosecute people, not countries, including those from states that are not signatories.
Netanyahu has previously called for sanctions against the court and people who work for it. Donald Trump’s administration used a similar tactic to block a separate abandoned ICC investigation into the conduct of US troops in Afghanistan.' Guardian.
Netanyahu has previously called for sanctions against the court and people who work for it. Donald Trump’s administration used a similar tactic to block a separate abandoned ICC investigation into the conduct of US troops in Afghanistan.' Guardian.
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