Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Clive Banerjee IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NEW DELHI (IDN) – In the event of the 28 NATO member nations disengaging from Afghanistan, it would be prudent to firewall the Afghanistan-Pakistan (AfPak) region from all sides with only a minimal foreign military presence inside Afghanistan, states a new study by [...]
Turning Point for Colombian Civil War
September 30, 2010 By
The Colombian military and President Jose Manuel Santos are claiming their greatest victory in the 45-year-long civil war against leftist guerillas. On Thursday, a night-time bombardment claimed the life of ‘Mono Jojoy’, military leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the largest guerilla army in the country. Forrest Hylton, professor of history and political [...]
COLOMBIA: Devastating Blow for FARC Rebels
September 24, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Constanza Vieira BOGOTA, Sep 23, 2010 (IPS) – The death of guerrilla commander Luis Suárez, aka Jorge Briceño or “Mono Jojoy”, is a “devastating blow” for Colombia’s FARC insurgents, military affairs analyst Ariel Ávila told IPS. Briceño, who was killed in a bombing raid on his camp [...]
Doubling of SOF Night Raids Backfired in Kandahar
September 15, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Gareth Porter* WASHINGTON, Sep 15, 2010 (IPS) – During a round of media interviews last month, Gen. David Petraeus released totals for the alleged results of nearly 3,000 "night raids" by Special Operations Forces (SOF) units over the 90 days from May through July: 365 "insurgent leaders", [...]
B.RAMAN: MY THOUGHTS ON 9/11
September 11, 2010 By
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR—PAPER NO. 676 Global Geopolitics & Political Economy B.RAMAN India took 19 years to prevail over the Naga and Mizo insurgents, 14 years over the Khalistani terrorists in Punjab and about 10 years plus over Al Ummah of Tamil Nadu. It has been fighting against left-wing extremists in different incarnations for nearly 40 [...]
Afghanistan Looks like Slipping Away
July 17, 2010 By
Afghanistan Looks like Slipping Away Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN Afghanistan Looks like Slipping Away An Anti-Taliban Forces fighter in Helmand Province in Afghanistan, Jan 2002. | Credit: Wikimedia Commons By Prakash Joshi IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NEW DELHI (IDN) – As the war in Afghanistan enters another summer of increasing violence, a new report [...]
Obama Says U.S. Will "Redouble" Efforts Against Al-Shabaab
July 15, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Jul 14, 2010 (IPS) – U.S. President Barack Obama has said Washington will "redouble" its efforts against the Somali Islamist group al- Shabaab (The Youth), whose deadly bombings in Kampala Sunday are likely to result in stepped-up U.S. military and other assistance to the [...]
Turks Let Kurdish Forests Burn
July 13, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Jake Hess SIRNAK, Turkey, Jul 13, 2010 (IPS) – The Turkish General Directorate of Forestry claims to devote the bulk of its resources to combating forest fires, but it is passively observing the Turkish army ignite forested areas in the country’s predominantly Kurdish southeastern region. Residents of [...]
COLOMBIA: Paramilitaries Don’t Want to Take the Blame Alone
July 11, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Constanza Vieira BOGOTÁ, Jul 11, 2010 (IPS) – The so-called para-politics, para-institutions and para-economy in Colombia "have their place in the dock" among the accused, said eight former leaders of ultra-right armed paramilitary groups, now demobilised and charged with crimes against humanity in the nation’s decades-long civil [...]
McChrystal Probe of SOF Killings Excluded Key Eyewitnesses
July 6, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Gareth Porter and Ahmad Walid Fazly* WASHINGTON, Jul 6, 2010 (IPS) – The follow-up investigation of a botched Special Operations Forces (SOF) raid in Gardez Feb. 12 that killed two government officials and three women, ordered by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal Apr. 5, was ostensibly aimed at [...]
