BaKhabar, April 2010, Page-9

better light a candle than curse the darkness

Views on News

- continued from Page-8

Astonishing number of birth defects reported in Fallujah

Doctors are investigating reports of a very high rate of birth defects in a city of Iraq that was often the scene of heavy fighting involving U.S. troops. The BBC reported the residents of Fallujah are seeing birth defects, including heart problems, at a rate of 95 in every 1,000 births. The report said that represented 13 times the number of similar birth defects in Europe. A doctor told the BBC she is seeing two or three cases every day of birth defects, including paralysis, brain damage and cardiac problems. Data indicate prior to 2003, doctors would have seen perhaps one such case every two months. Local officials have advised woman in Fallujah not to have children, the BBC said. Residents link the timing of the surge in defects with about a year after a U.S. military-led offensive in Fallujah in 2004 and suggest armaments used in the fight may be to blame for their children's problems. Military officials told the BBC they had received no official reports of an increase in birth defects in the area but that exploded ordnance is a "recognized hazard." One researcher said she had seen "footage of babies with an eye in the middle of the forehead, the nose on the forehead."

That was a war council in Damascus

The three-party meeting that took place in Damascus on Friday gathering the Syrian president Bashar al Assad, the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was a war council to devise counterattack plans and assign tasks in the event of an Israeli offensive on one or all parties, wrote Abdelbari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of the pan-Arab newspaper Al Quds al Arabi. "The timing of the meeting, the way it was undertaken and the ensuing press conference that was held at its conclusion, all point to a strategic coalition being reinforced. This is the build-up of a new front that will spearhead the confrontation with the US-Israeli alliance and whichever Arab countries that may, expressly or implicitly, be affiliated with it." The Iranian president said he expects war to break out somewhere between spring and summer of this year.
Ensure Pakistan does not use military aid against us: India

Raising concern over the reported decision of the United States to supply sophisticated arms to Pakistan, New Delhi on Thursday said Washington should ensure that the military aid was not used against India. Defence Minister A.K. Antony expressed concern over the move to supply a whole array of sophisticated laser guided bomb kits, surveillance drones and latest-model F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. In a statement here, Mr. Antony said: "Given our bitter past experience of how Islamabad used such aid against India, Washington should ensure that the latest tranche of military aid is used only for the purpose of countering al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists and not against India." Pentagon also decided to refurbish and expand the F-16 fighter jets Pakistan has been using since the 1980s. It also has got Cobra attack helicopters and C 130 transport aircraft from the U.S. Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama administration was expanding weapon sales to India and Pakistan "in a bid to forge closer ties with each country, while creating new opportunities for American defence firms." It said that while India paid for its own weapons, Islamabad used American grants to fund most of its arms purchases. During the visit of U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates to Pakistan, there were reports of Pentagon willing to offer surveillance drones to Islamabad, now used in the frontier areas. The U.S. annual military aid to Pakistan is now around $3 billion.

Turkey warns Israel against striking Iran

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned of an Israeli strike in Iran, saying it would lead to a "disaster in the entire region." In an interview to Spanish newspaper El Pais published on Monday, the Turkish PM responded to a question on the results of a pre-emptive Israeli strike in the Islamic Republic saying, "this would have unforeseeable consequences that I would not even want to imagine." He stressed that the dispute between the West and Iran over the latter's nuclear program must be resolved through diplomatic channels, and added that economic sanctions would also have an impact on the entire region. "Don't leave the negotiations table until the end of the process," he said. In the past, Turkey has offered to mediate in talks, but the Iranians objected.
However, Israel is concerned about Turkey's rapprochement with Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "There are three strong countries in the Middle East that are not Arab," he said. "Israel has always been rooted in the West. Iran was once Western but is currently the leader of radical Islam. The third is Turkey, which used to be close to the West but in recent years has begun to look eastward, towards Iran, and that is why its systematic glide east should worry us."

U.S. plans for possible delay in Iraq withdrawal

The U.S. military has prepared contingency plans to delay the planned withdrawal of all combat forces in Iraq, citing the prospects for political instability and increased violence as Iraqis hold national elections next month. Under a deadline set by President Obama, all combat forces are slated to withdraw from Iraq by the end of August, and there remains heavy political pressure in Washington and Baghdad to stick to that schedule. But Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Monday that he had briefed officials in Washington in the past week about possible contingency plans. Odierno declined to describe the plans in detail and said he was optimistic they would not be necessary. But he said he was prepared to make the changes "if we run into problems" in the coming months. Under Obama's plan, about 50,000 troops will remain in the country through 2011 to train Iraqi forces, perform counterterrorism operations and help with civilian projects.
The United States has signed a legal agreement with the Iraqi government to withdraw all forces by the end of 2011. U.S. commanders have already reduced the presence in Iraq to about 96,000 military personnel, Odierno said - the first time since the 2003 invasion that fewer than 100,000 U.S. troops have been in the country. The U.S. military presence reached a peak of 166,000 troops in October 2007. "Right now, our plan is to be at 50,000 by the 1st of September," he said. "And if you ask me today, I'm fully committed and I believe that's the right course of action."
Pakistan received $18 billion for siding with America's war against Islam

Pakistan received nearly $18 billion as aid from the United States, including $11.5 billion as military assistance, according to Congressional documents. A Congressional compilation of the US aid to Pakistan says Islamabad has received $6 billion in civilian aid after the September 11 attack in New York. The Obama Administration, in its latest annual budget, has proposed $1.6 billion in military assistance and about $1.4 billion as civilian assistance to Pakistan. This takes the total US aid to Pakistan to more than $20.7 billion post 9/11, according to the data compiled from information received from the Departments of Defence, State and Agriculture and US Agency for International Development. Of the military assistance, the maximum amount $7.345 billion has gone to Pakistan as Coalition Support Fund (CSF), which many do not consider as foreign assistance as this is reimbursement that Pakistan receives for its support of the US military operations in Afghanistan. This is followed by $2.164 billion as Foreign Military Assistance. After coming to power, the Obama Administration has so far provided $1.1 billion ($400 million in 2009 and $700 million in 2010) for Pakistan Counterinsurgency Fund/Counterinsurgency Capability Fund. For the year 2011, Obama has proposed to the US Congress $1.2 billion for Pakistan under this category. Non-military assistance to Pakistan has increased considerably under the Obama Administration, which is mainly attributable to the Kerry-Lugar- Berman bill, which grants $7.5 billion to Pakistan in five years beginning 2009.

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