Early Bird summary
Tuesday’s Early Bird leads with a story from the Boston Globe, and reports that Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Obama administration must make "hard choices" on weapons spending that could include targeting specific programs, according to a draft of his testimony today to the Senate Armed Services Committee."Any changes" Congress makes to the 2010 budget "should avoid across-the-board adjustments, which inefficiently extend all programs," pushing out schedules and increasing costs, Gates said in his prepared comments on weapons acquisition.
The Wall Street Journal reports that armed private security companies are proliferating in Afghanistan -- hired in many cases to protect Afghan companies doing work for the U.S. And for the American forces who regularly encounter these armed men, it is perilously hard to discern their identities and their loyalties. Some of these guards may be linked to the militant leaders or drug traffickers who regularly battle U.S. troops.U.S. commanders and Afghan officials say there have been at least three significant firefights between American forces and Afghan guards in recent months, and a host of other violent incidents.
The Baltimore Sun reports that President Barack Obama is likely to scale back U.S. ambitions for troubled Afghanistan, redefining victory in a war that his closest military and foreign affairs advisers say cannot be won on the battlefield. Even before a planned doubling of U.S. forces in Afghanistan later this year, the new administration is lowering its sights - and expectations. Although there is general agreement that the United States will be in Afghanistan for years to come, the new focus is on how to show even small security gains and development progress quickly. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has recently suggested that the Bush administration overreached in Afghanistan, are scheduled to testify today before the Senate and House Armed Services committees.
The Financial Times reports that Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato secretary-general, said the alliance must engage with all of Afghanistan’s neighbours – including Iran – if it was to defeat the “regional network of extremists” challenging Kabul.Academics and experts have argued that the US and Nato must mount a regional diplomatic initiative over Afghanistan, building a consensus with the country’s neighbours over its future. But while the Bush administration regularly discussed Afghanistan with the governments of Pakistan, India and Russia, it regarded Iran as a threat to global security and part of the “axis of evil”.
The Washington Post reports that the re-emergence of two former Guantanamo Bay prisoners as al-Qaeda terrorists in the past week is not likely to change U.S. policy on transfers to Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said Monday.More than 100 Saudis have been repatriated from the U.S. military's prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government puts the inmates through a rehabilitation program designed to encourage them to abandon Islamic extremism and reintegrate into civilian life.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that President Barack Obama’s pledge to seek a global ban on weapons in space marks a dramatic shift in US policy while raising the tricky issue of defining whether a satellite can be a weapon.Moments after Mr. Obama’s inauguration last week, the White House website was updated to include a policy statement pledging to restore US leadership on space issues and to seek a ban on weapons that interfere with military and commercial satellites.
The Associated Press reports that Russian news agencies said Moscow could start building a naval base in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia region this year. Basing warships there could deepen Western concerns about Moscow’s growing military presence in Abkhazia, which Russia recognized as independent after the war with Georgia in August. Itar-Tass quoted a naval official as saying that work would begin on the base this year. Interfax quoted Abkhazia’s president as saying that an agreement on the plan had been reached in principle.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: It was a depressing Monday for tens of thousands of workers as several big U.S. companies announced massive job cuts that illustrate how the Great Recession is hitting almost every corner of the labor market. (Slate Magazine)
2. 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit Communicators Shoot for the Sky: Approximately 20 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit took an opportunity here this week to learn about a new tool to extend the range of deployed communications. (DVIDS News)
3. Falluja car bomb blast kills 13: Thirteen people have been killed in a car bomb attack targeting a police patrol near the western Iraqi city of Falluja, police have said. (BBC)
4. Taleban’s stranglehold brings fear to Swat: Swat Continental hotel in the town of Mingora in north-west Pakistan opened in the mid-1990s when tourism in the region was at its peak. A decade later, it is the only hotel in town which still receives guests, mainly television crews that come to cover the conflict. (BBC)
Leading newspaper headlines
It was a depressing Monday for tens of thousands of workers as several big U.S. companies announced massive job cuts that illustrate how the Great Recession is hitting almost every corner of the labor market. The Washington Post says U.S. employers cut more than 55,000 jobs in what it calls "a staggering one-day toll." The New York Times reports that more than 75,000 jobs around the world disappeared yesterday. The Los Angeles Times adds it all up and notes that 187,550 jobs have been slashed so far this month, which is more than double the number in January of last year. And the pain is far from over. USA Today highlights that "far more job cuts are likely" in the near future, and some economists expect 3 million people will lose their jobs this year.
The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with the Senate confirming Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary with a 60-34 vote. Now that Geithner is in place, the Obama administration is expected to quickly outline its plan to prop up the financial system, which is expected to have a strong focus on helping homeowners. As early as today, Geithner is expected to announce new rules to limit the influence of lobbyists and special interests in determining who will get help from Uncle Sam.
Job losses are nothing new as companies have been laying off workers for more than a year. But these losses were once concentrated in companies related to the housing and finance industries. "Now the ax is falling across large swaths of manufacturing, retailing and information technology," points out the NYT. The WP notes that 22 of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones industrial average have cut jobs since October. No other company cut more positions yesterday than Caterpillar, which announced that 15,000 jobs would be eliminated by the end of this week and 5,000 more by the end of the first quarter. Among the other companies that announced job cuts were Sprint Nextel, which shed 8,000; Home Depot, which cut 7,000; and Texas Instruments, which made 3,400 positions disappear.
And that's only part of the equation. USAT points out that while the huge numbers from big firms may hog the headlines, smaller companies are also hurting and many are also resorting to layoffs in order to stay afloat. Indeed, in a front-page story about the layoff woes at a tile factory in Ohio, the WSJ notes that "tiny firms … have an outsized role in employment." More than half of private-sector workers are employed by companies that have fewer than 500 employees.
The new round of job cuts increased the pressure on Washington to pass the economic stimulus package. "These are not just numbers on a page," President Obama said as he urged lawmakers to act quickly. "These are working men and women whose lives have been disrupted. We owe it to each of them, and to every single American, to act with a sense of urgency and common purpose." But it's becoming increasingly unclear whether even a massive stimulus would be enough to get companies to start hiring.
Economists estimate that the stimulus package would save or create somewhere around 3 to 4 million jobs within the next two years. But, as the LAT points out, 2.6 million jobs were slashed last year, and 2 million more are expected to go the same way during the first six months of the year. The package "is as much psychological, to get people to think that even if we're in a recession, it's going to be temporary so I don't have to lay people off," an economist tells the LAT. The NYT also notes that even if business does improve in the next few months, it's unlikely that companies will rush to rehire workers because layoffs often spur companies to restructure their business models. "There is nothing in the economic tea leaves that suggest someone is going to be hiring," one economist tells the WP, "every aspect of this economy is in a free-fall."
Amidst all the depressing economic developments, there was a bit of good news from the unlikeliest of places: housing. The WSJ goes high with new figures that show U.S. home sales increased 6.5 percent from November, representing the biggest one-month jump in almost seven years. But no one thinks this means the market is headed for a comeback since it seems clear that buyers are taking the plunge largely due to the sharp decline in prices as sales of foreclosed homes were partly responsible for this surge. In all, 45 percent of homes sold in December were characterized as "distressed sales."
The WP fronts a harrowing account of the Israeli attack on Zaytoun, in the Gaza Strip, where at least 29 members of one family were killed over a period of two weeks. What happened in Zaytoun has become particularly significant in the narrative of the Israeli incursion into Gaza because the Red Cross concluded that by preventing rescue efforts to reach the area for several days, Israel "failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law." Survivors say there is no way Israeli soldiers didn't know that wounded civilians were in desperate need of help. In fact, some say they tried to communicate the gravity of the situation to Israeli soldiers but were summarily ignored.
In a piece inside, the NYT says that even though the vast majority of Israelis supported the Gaza invasion, it looks like those who planned and executed the military operation aren't the ones who will benefit politically. With two weeks to go before elections, Israelis appear to have shifted "further to the right" in what appears to be a general belief that the government needs to take an even stronger stance against Hamas. Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party has kept its lead, and support has grown for the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu Party.
While most of the attention on the young administration has focused on its plan to close down the detention center at Guantanamo, the NYT points out that Obama has another tough decision to make regarding the prison that currently holds 600 detainees at Bagram in Afghanistan. By all accounts, the living conditions at Bagram make Guantanamo look like a nice place to be. Most of the prisoners at Bagram are suspected Taliban fighters who are being held indefinitely without charge. The detainee population in Bagram has increased "nearly sixfold" over the past four years, partly because the Bush administration largely stopped sending prisoners to Guantanamo in late 2004.![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWi7NlJfsWyIKY9iO8fqimQn58FfYjbdgqUh-_mlCcNOkYsOtjT7hwYpeLxGBkeLL96DE6ZcaB0eRDCjTxGOQYD2mU3JJoqCql4a-SIROsrJNdyO6praxnVqC3Dv-SqOUt5S5Wbj40VmI/s320/Combat+SkySat+article+(US+Navy)+12+10+08.bmp)
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081203-N-4774B-113 PACIFIC
OCEAN (Dec. 3, 2008) A Marine
assigned to the 13th Marine
Expeditionary Unit (13th MEU)
releases a Combat Sky satellite
communication balloon from the
deck of the amphibious assault
ship USS Boxer (LHD 4). Boxer is
supporting the 13th Marine
Expeditionary Unit Certification
Exercise to prepare for an
upcoming deployment. (U.S. Navy
photo by Mass Communication
Specialist 2nd Class Daniel
Barker/Released)
26th Marine Expeditionary Unit Communicators Shoot for the Sky26th Marine Expeditionary Unit Public Affairs By Gy. Sgt. Bryce Piper26th Marine Expeditionary UnitCAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait - Approximately 20 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit took an opportunity here this week to learn about a new tool to extend the range of deployed communications.The Combat SkySat High Altitude Operational Payload system could allow Marines in the near future to extend the range of some communications by more than 100 times, said Arizona Air National Guard Detachment 2 Commander Lt. Col. Patty Tuttle. The Marines attended a class explaining the system, Jan. 12, and got hands-on with it during the next several days.SkySat merges modern high-tech communications equipment with technology hundreds of years old: balloons. By floating relay equipment as high as 80,000 feet on a helium balloon, SkySat can extend the range of military radios like the handheld PRC-148 from a traditional three to four miles up to 500 miles. By elevating the system by balloon, SkySat also allows communicators to overcome terrain features like mountains and valleys by changing the operator's line of sight, which could be of particular benefit to Marines in rough terrain like Afghanistan, said Tuttle."This is such a tactical mission enabler," she said. "It can really add to a commander's abilities. It can help troops on the ground, it can help pilots in the air – anyone who needs communications. We're excited to get it out and with [the Marines] and get it deployed," she said.Given the ranges SkySat makes possible, communications are little affected by wind direction, according to Tuttle. Still, the system can be somewhat directed with the use of vents and ballast. It's also portable; the entire system is mobile and fits in the bed of a pickup truck, allowing commanders to extend communications at will in almost any area.Skysat's equipment payload is expendable, according to Tuttle. After use, controllers on the ground command the balloon to release the communications equipment, which floats to the ground by parachute. No secret or classified equipment is housed in the payload, so it doesn't have to be recovered after deployment. If it is recovered, it can be sent back to the manufacturer to be reset for future use.Currently the system is used only by the Air Force. But the tactical benefits were not overlooked by 26th MEU leaders."A commander's ability to extend long-range communications on the ground is key," said 26th MEU executive officer Lt. Col. Wes Capdepon. "And this is an asset that will allow us to extend communications over nearly any terrain and distance. This is a viable means to extend comm."Increased communications will multiply the MEU's ability to perform missions with accuracy and control, Capdepon said."Clear communications is one of the most important things for leaders in the field," he stated. "But it's also important for their commanders. Without good comm, the commander's message to his Marines in the field could get lost, inferences could be lost. As such, the commander's intent could be lost.""This gives the MEU a unique capability to provide long-range communications," said Maj. Roman Vitkovitsky, the MEU's communications officer. Several of Vitkovitsky's Marines attended the course along with Marines from all the MEU's Major Subordinate Elements. With the ability to extend classified and unclassified voice and data, Vitkovitsky and his Marines agreed SkySat is a true force multiplier.
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Falluja car bomb blast 'kills 13'
Thirteen people have been killed in a car bomb attack targeting a police patrol near the western Iraqi city of Falluja, police have said.
A spokesman said the police patrol was returning to its base in the town of al-Karmah when the attack happened.
The area is a former stronghold of Sunni insurgents, and the attack comes a week before provincial elections.
Sunni Arabs mostly boycotted the election four years ago but will take part in the forthcoming poll.
December violence
The dead in Saturday's bomb attack included several police officers, police and hospital sources said.
In December two bomb attacks in Falluja killed 19 police officers.
Falluja, 40 miles (64km) west of Baghdad, is largely sealed off by checkpoints. It has been relatively peaceful in recent months although attacks have continued.
The city was the scene of heavy fighting four years ago but the violence abated after the US military and local tribes started co-operating in 2006.
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Taleban's stranglehold brings fear to Swat
By M Ilyas Khan BBC News, Mingora
The Pakistani Taleban dispense their form of justice in much of the Swat region
Swat Continental hotel in the town of Mingora in north-west Pakistan opened in the mid-1990s when tourism in the region was at its peak.
A decade later, it is the only hotel in town which still receives guests, mainly television crews that come to cover the conflict.
For two years, the region once known for its river valleys and wooded mountains has been in the grip of a bloody insurgency by Islamic militants.
Pakistan has deployed a large number of army and paramilitary troops to try to contain them. Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting.
The past few weeks have been the worst.
Climate of fear
Amid reports that the government plans to renew talks with the militants, there has been a sudden escalation in the conflict.
Diary of a Swat schoolgirl
Swat diary: 'Taleban rule now'
First, it was the appearance of beheaded bodies in various public places in Mingora, terrorising the local population.
According to reports, more than 30 bodies were found in the town during a two-week period in December and January.
Then came the Taleban's edict banning education for girls.
Although the edict came at a time when government schools had closed for the winter holidays, some privately-owned schools still holding classes closed down after that.
At the same time, suspected militants blew up several schools in Mingora, including some boys' ones, saying the buildings were being used as camps by the army.
Various circles in Mingora believe the army has responded to this by killing militants it has been holding in its custody.
The army denies this.
Troops have also moved into several school buildings in Mingora - as well as the city's oldest college, the Post-Graduate Jehanzeb College for men - apparently to prevent the militants from blowing them up.
For the people of Mingora, all this has the makings of a timebomb that is ticking away and may blow up on or around 1 March when schools are scheduled to reopen.
This has had a visible effect on the morale of the city.
'Cleansing'
Since the insurgency began the civilian population has increasingly become a target of both sides.
The very rich and the very poor have already left Swat
Swat resident
Only guest in town's luxury hotel
The militants are "cleansing" individuals suspected of holding "liberal" views.
Swat has been a stronghold of two secular parties - the Pakistan People's Party and the Awami National Party. The militants are now bent upon weeding out their supporters.
As a result, many families have suffered attacks and beheadings by the militants.
The army, given its lack of local knowledge, has been rounding up people at random to blunt the effectiveness of the militants, often with adverse results.
Besides, it has mostly occupied public buildings in civilian areas, which have subsequently become targets for suicide bombers, with devastating repercussions for locals.
A year ago, an attack on a public library in the heart of Mingora, which the army had occupied, not only led to dozens of civilian casualties but also destroyed Swat Museum, which was located opposite the library.
The Japanese government had spent 46m yen ($500,000) in the late 1990s to renovate the museum, which contained relics from Swat's Buddhist past.
Today, it is closed to the public and most of the relics are said to have been irreparably damaged.
Few guests
In November 2007, when I last visited Mingora, the place still bustled with activity and the streets in the centre were choked with traffic. Not any more.
"The very rich and the very poor have already left Swat. The rich can afford to live in other cities of the country, and the poor would rather do the labour where it is safer," says one resident.
The middle-income segment, with business stakes or government jobs, are stuck here because their means do not allow them to have the same lifestyle elsewhere, he says.
Traffic, therefore, has thinned out and businesses face hard times.
An estate agent told me that a shop in central Mingora - which would have fetched 10m rupees (about $127,000) until six months ago - is now available at 3.5m, but there are no buyers.
And there are few officials in the government offices due to fear of attacks.
Back in 2007, Swat Continental had more than half its rooms occupied, and a staff of more than 70 people.
They are now down to six. And I am their second guest in a week -
the others are a four-member television crew.
What's more, there are no TVs in the rooms.
"We cleared the TVs from the rooms because there are hardly any guests, but we'll give you one," says the only room service member staff on duty.
But when the TV comes on, I discover that there are only two channels available - both local news channels.
When I ask the reason, the man gives me a sheepish smile. "This is all we have."
I know that they have a satellite dish on the roof top and can receive more channels. But at the same time I realise that the writ of the Taleban, who have banned satellite TV, runs deep inside Mingora.
Top of the Document
Tuesday’s Early Bird leads with a story from the Boston Globe, and reports that Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Obama administration must make "hard choices" on weapons spending that could include targeting specific programs, according to a draft of his testimony today to the Senate Armed Services Committee."Any changes" Congress makes to the 2010 budget "should avoid across-the-board adjustments, which inefficiently extend all programs," pushing out schedules and increasing costs, Gates said in his prepared comments on weapons acquisition.
The Wall Street Journal reports that armed private security companies are proliferating in Afghanistan -- hired in many cases to protect Afghan companies doing work for the U.S. And for the American forces who regularly encounter these armed men, it is perilously hard to discern their identities and their loyalties. Some of these guards may be linked to the militant leaders or drug traffickers who regularly battle U.S. troops.U.S. commanders and Afghan officials say there have been at least three significant firefights between American forces and Afghan guards in recent months, and a host of other violent incidents.
The Baltimore Sun reports that President Barack Obama is likely to scale back U.S. ambitions for troubled Afghanistan, redefining victory in a war that his closest military and foreign affairs advisers say cannot be won on the battlefield. Even before a planned doubling of U.S. forces in Afghanistan later this year, the new administration is lowering its sights - and expectations. Although there is general agreement that the United States will be in Afghanistan for years to come, the new focus is on how to show even small security gains and development progress quickly. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has recently suggested that the Bush administration overreached in Afghanistan, are scheduled to testify today before the Senate and House Armed Services committees.
The Financial Times reports that Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato secretary-general, said the alliance must engage with all of Afghanistan’s neighbours – including Iran – if it was to defeat the “regional network of extremists” challenging Kabul.Academics and experts have argued that the US and Nato must mount a regional diplomatic initiative over Afghanistan, building a consensus with the country’s neighbours over its future. But while the Bush administration regularly discussed Afghanistan with the governments of Pakistan, India and Russia, it regarded Iran as a threat to global security and part of the “axis of evil”.
The Washington Post reports that the re-emergence of two former Guantanamo Bay prisoners as al-Qaeda terrorists in the past week is not likely to change U.S. policy on transfers to Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said Monday.More than 100 Saudis have been repatriated from the U.S. military's prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government puts the inmates through a rehabilitation program designed to encourage them to abandon Islamic extremism and reintegrate into civilian life.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that President Barack Obama’s pledge to seek a global ban on weapons in space marks a dramatic shift in US policy while raising the tricky issue of defining whether a satellite can be a weapon.Moments after Mr. Obama’s inauguration last week, the White House website was updated to include a policy statement pledging to restore US leadership on space issues and to seek a ban on weapons that interfere with military and commercial satellites.
The Associated Press reports that Russian news agencies said Moscow could start building a naval base in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia region this year. Basing warships there could deepen Western concerns about Moscow’s growing military presence in Abkhazia, which Russia recognized as independent after the war with Georgia in August. Itar-Tass quoted a naval official as saying that work would begin on the base this year. Interfax quoted Abkhazia’s president as saying that an agreement on the plan had been reached in principle.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: It was a depressing Monday for tens of thousands of workers as several big U.S. companies announced massive job cuts that illustrate how the Great Recession is hitting almost every corner of the labor market. (Slate Magazine)
2. 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit Communicators Shoot for the Sky: Approximately 20 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit took an opportunity here this week to learn about a new tool to extend the range of deployed communications. (DVIDS News)
3. Falluja car bomb blast kills 13: Thirteen people have been killed in a car bomb attack targeting a police patrol near the western Iraqi city of Falluja, police have said. (BBC)
4. Taleban’s stranglehold brings fear to Swat: Swat Continental hotel in the town of Mingora in north-west Pakistan opened in the mid-1990s when tourism in the region was at its peak. A decade later, it is the only hotel in town which still receives guests, mainly television crews that come to cover the conflict. (BBC)
Leading newspaper headlines
It was a depressing Monday for tens of thousands of workers as several big U.S. companies announced massive job cuts that illustrate how the Great Recession is hitting almost every corner of the labor market. The Washington Post says U.S. employers cut more than 55,000 jobs in what it calls "a staggering one-day toll." The New York Times reports that more than 75,000 jobs around the world disappeared yesterday. The Los Angeles Times adds it all up and notes that 187,550 jobs have been slashed so far this month, which is more than double the number in January of last year. And the pain is far from over. USA Today highlights that "far more job cuts are likely" in the near future, and some economists expect 3 million people will lose their jobs this year.
The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with the Senate confirming Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary with a 60-34 vote. Now that Geithner is in place, the Obama administration is expected to quickly outline its plan to prop up the financial system, which is expected to have a strong focus on helping homeowners. As early as today, Geithner is expected to announce new rules to limit the influence of lobbyists and special interests in determining who will get help from Uncle Sam.
Job losses are nothing new as companies have been laying off workers for more than a year. But these losses were once concentrated in companies related to the housing and finance industries. "Now the ax is falling across large swaths of manufacturing, retailing and information technology," points out the NYT. The WP notes that 22 of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones industrial average have cut jobs since October. No other company cut more positions yesterday than Caterpillar, which announced that 15,000 jobs would be eliminated by the end of this week and 5,000 more by the end of the first quarter. Among the other companies that announced job cuts were Sprint Nextel, which shed 8,000; Home Depot, which cut 7,000; and Texas Instruments, which made 3,400 positions disappear.
And that's only part of the equation. USAT points out that while the huge numbers from big firms may hog the headlines, smaller companies are also hurting and many are also resorting to layoffs in order to stay afloat. Indeed, in a front-page story about the layoff woes at a tile factory in Ohio, the WSJ notes that "tiny firms … have an outsized role in employment." More than half of private-sector workers are employed by companies that have fewer than 500 employees.
The new round of job cuts increased the pressure on Washington to pass the economic stimulus package. "These are not just numbers on a page," President Obama said as he urged lawmakers to act quickly. "These are working men and women whose lives have been disrupted. We owe it to each of them, and to every single American, to act with a sense of urgency and common purpose." But it's becoming increasingly unclear whether even a massive stimulus would be enough to get companies to start hiring.
Economists estimate that the stimulus package would save or create somewhere around 3 to 4 million jobs within the next two years. But, as the LAT points out, 2.6 million jobs were slashed last year, and 2 million more are expected to go the same way during the first six months of the year. The package "is as much psychological, to get people to think that even if we're in a recession, it's going to be temporary so I don't have to lay people off," an economist tells the LAT. The NYT also notes that even if business does improve in the next few months, it's unlikely that companies will rush to rehire workers because layoffs often spur companies to restructure their business models. "There is nothing in the economic tea leaves that suggest someone is going to be hiring," one economist tells the WP, "every aspect of this economy is in a free-fall."
Amidst all the depressing economic developments, there was a bit of good news from the unlikeliest of places: housing. The WSJ goes high with new figures that show U.S. home sales increased 6.5 percent from November, representing the biggest one-month jump in almost seven years. But no one thinks this means the market is headed for a comeback since it seems clear that buyers are taking the plunge largely due to the sharp decline in prices as sales of foreclosed homes were partly responsible for this surge. In all, 45 percent of homes sold in December were characterized as "distressed sales."
The WP fronts a harrowing account of the Israeli attack on Zaytoun, in the Gaza Strip, where at least 29 members of one family were killed over a period of two weeks. What happened in Zaytoun has become particularly significant in the narrative of the Israeli incursion into Gaza because the Red Cross concluded that by preventing rescue efforts to reach the area for several days, Israel "failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law." Survivors say there is no way Israeli soldiers didn't know that wounded civilians were in desperate need of help. In fact, some say they tried to communicate the gravity of the situation to Israeli soldiers but were summarily ignored.
In a piece inside, the NYT says that even though the vast majority of Israelis supported the Gaza invasion, it looks like those who planned and executed the military operation aren't the ones who will benefit politically. With two weeks to go before elections, Israelis appear to have shifted "further to the right" in what appears to be a general belief that the government needs to take an even stronger stance against Hamas. Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party has kept its lead, and support has grown for the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu Party.
While most of the attention on the young administration has focused on its plan to close down the detention center at Guantanamo, the NYT points out that Obama has another tough decision to make regarding the prison that currently holds 600 detainees at Bagram in Afghanistan. By all accounts, the living conditions at Bagram make Guantanamo look like a nice place to be. Most of the prisoners at Bagram are suspected Taliban fighters who are being held indefinitely without charge. The detainee population in Bagram has increased "nearly sixfold" over the past four years, partly because the Bush administration largely stopped sending prisoners to Guantanamo in late 2004.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWi7NlJfsWyIKY9iO8fqimQn58FfYjbdgqUh-_mlCcNOkYsOtjT7hwYpeLxGBkeLL96DE6ZcaB0eRDCjTxGOQYD2mU3JJoqCql4a-SIROsrJNdyO6praxnVqC3Dv-SqOUt5S5Wbj40VmI/s320/Combat+SkySat+article+(US+Navy)+12+10+08.bmp)
Top of the Document
081203-N-4774B-113 PACIFIC
OCEAN (Dec. 3, 2008) A Marine
assigned to the 13th Marine
Expeditionary Unit (13th MEU)
releases a Combat Sky satellite
communication balloon from the
deck of the amphibious assault
ship USS Boxer (LHD 4). Boxer is
supporting the 13th Marine
Expeditionary Unit Certification
Exercise to prepare for an
upcoming deployment. (U.S. Navy
photo by Mass Communication
Specialist 2nd Class Daniel
Barker/Released)
26th Marine Expeditionary Unit Communicators Shoot for the Sky26th Marine Expeditionary Unit Public Affairs By Gy. Sgt. Bryce Piper26th Marine Expeditionary UnitCAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait - Approximately 20 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit took an opportunity here this week to learn about a new tool to extend the range of deployed communications.The Combat SkySat High Altitude Operational Payload system could allow Marines in the near future to extend the range of some communications by more than 100 times, said Arizona Air National Guard Detachment 2 Commander Lt. Col. Patty Tuttle. The Marines attended a class explaining the system, Jan. 12, and got hands-on with it during the next several days.SkySat merges modern high-tech communications equipment with technology hundreds of years old: balloons. By floating relay equipment as high as 80,000 feet on a helium balloon, SkySat can extend the range of military radios like the handheld PRC-148 from a traditional three to four miles up to 500 miles. By elevating the system by balloon, SkySat also allows communicators to overcome terrain features like mountains and valleys by changing the operator's line of sight, which could be of particular benefit to Marines in rough terrain like Afghanistan, said Tuttle."This is such a tactical mission enabler," she said. "It can really add to a commander's abilities. It can help troops on the ground, it can help pilots in the air – anyone who needs communications. We're excited to get it out and with [the Marines] and get it deployed," she said.Given the ranges SkySat makes possible, communications are little affected by wind direction, according to Tuttle. Still, the system can be somewhat directed with the use of vents and ballast. It's also portable; the entire system is mobile and fits in the bed of a pickup truck, allowing commanders to extend communications at will in almost any area.Skysat's equipment payload is expendable, according to Tuttle. After use, controllers on the ground command the balloon to release the communications equipment, which floats to the ground by parachute. No secret or classified equipment is housed in the payload, so it doesn't have to be recovered after deployment. If it is recovered, it can be sent back to the manufacturer to be reset for future use.Currently the system is used only by the Air Force. But the tactical benefits were not overlooked by 26th MEU leaders."A commander's ability to extend long-range communications on the ground is key," said 26th MEU executive officer Lt. Col. Wes Capdepon. "And this is an asset that will allow us to extend communications over nearly any terrain and distance. This is a viable means to extend comm."Increased communications will multiply the MEU's ability to perform missions with accuracy and control, Capdepon said."Clear communications is one of the most important things for leaders in the field," he stated. "But it's also important for their commanders. Without good comm, the commander's message to his Marines in the field could get lost, inferences could be lost. As such, the commander's intent could be lost.""This gives the MEU a unique capability to provide long-range communications," said Maj. Roman Vitkovitsky, the MEU's communications officer. Several of Vitkovitsky's Marines attended the course along with Marines from all the MEU's Major Subordinate Elements. With the ability to extend classified and unclassified voice and data, Vitkovitsky and his Marines agreed SkySat is a true force multiplier.
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Falluja car bomb blast 'kills 13'
Thirteen people have been killed in a car bomb attack targeting a police patrol near the western Iraqi city of Falluja, police have said.
A spokesman said the police patrol was returning to its base in the town of al-Karmah when the attack happened.
The area is a former stronghold of Sunni insurgents, and the attack comes a week before provincial elections.
Sunni Arabs mostly boycotted the election four years ago but will take part in the forthcoming poll.
December violence
The dead in Saturday's bomb attack included several police officers, police and hospital sources said.
In December two bomb attacks in Falluja killed 19 police officers.
Falluja, 40 miles (64km) west of Baghdad, is largely sealed off by checkpoints. It has been relatively peaceful in recent months although attacks have continued.
The city was the scene of heavy fighting four years ago but the violence abated after the US military and local tribes started co-operating in 2006.
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Taleban's stranglehold brings fear to Swat
By M Ilyas Khan BBC News, Mingora
The Pakistani Taleban dispense their form of justice in much of the Swat region
Swat Continental hotel in the town of Mingora in north-west Pakistan opened in the mid-1990s when tourism in the region was at its peak.
A decade later, it is the only hotel in town which still receives guests, mainly television crews that come to cover the conflict.
For two years, the region once known for its river valleys and wooded mountains has been in the grip of a bloody insurgency by Islamic militants.
Pakistan has deployed a large number of army and paramilitary troops to try to contain them. Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting.
The past few weeks have been the worst.
Climate of fear
Amid reports that the government plans to renew talks with the militants, there has been a sudden escalation in the conflict.
Diary of a Swat schoolgirl
Swat diary: 'Taleban rule now'
First, it was the appearance of beheaded bodies in various public places in Mingora, terrorising the local population.
According to reports, more than 30 bodies were found in the town during a two-week period in December and January.
Then came the Taleban's edict banning education for girls.
Although the edict came at a time when government schools had closed for the winter holidays, some privately-owned schools still holding classes closed down after that.
At the same time, suspected militants blew up several schools in Mingora, including some boys' ones, saying the buildings were being used as camps by the army.
Various circles in Mingora believe the army has responded to this by killing militants it has been holding in its custody.
The army denies this.
Troops have also moved into several school buildings in Mingora - as well as the city's oldest college, the Post-Graduate Jehanzeb College for men - apparently to prevent the militants from blowing them up.
For the people of Mingora, all this has the makings of a timebomb that is ticking away and may blow up on or around 1 March when schools are scheduled to reopen.
This has had a visible effect on the morale of the city.
'Cleansing'
Since the insurgency began the civilian population has increasingly become a target of both sides.
The very rich and the very poor have already left Swat
Swat resident
Only guest in town's luxury hotel
The militants are "cleansing" individuals suspected of holding "liberal" views.
Swat has been a stronghold of two secular parties - the Pakistan People's Party and the Awami National Party. The militants are now bent upon weeding out their supporters.
As a result, many families have suffered attacks and beheadings by the militants.
The army, given its lack of local knowledge, has been rounding up people at random to blunt the effectiveness of the militants, often with adverse results.
Besides, it has mostly occupied public buildings in civilian areas, which have subsequently become targets for suicide bombers, with devastating repercussions for locals.
A year ago, an attack on a public library in the heart of Mingora, which the army had occupied, not only led to dozens of civilian casualties but also destroyed Swat Museum, which was located opposite the library.
The Japanese government had spent 46m yen ($500,000) in the late 1990s to renovate the museum, which contained relics from Swat's Buddhist past.
Today, it is closed to the public and most of the relics are said to have been irreparably damaged.
Few guests
In November 2007, when I last visited Mingora, the place still bustled with activity and the streets in the centre were choked with traffic. Not any more.
"The very rich and the very poor have already left Swat. The rich can afford to live in other cities of the country, and the poor would rather do the labour where it is safer," says one resident.
The middle-income segment, with business stakes or government jobs, are stuck here because their means do not allow them to have the same lifestyle elsewhere, he says.
Traffic, therefore, has thinned out and businesses face hard times.
An estate agent told me that a shop in central Mingora - which would have fetched 10m rupees (about $127,000) until six months ago - is now available at 3.5m, but there are no buyers.
And there are few officials in the government offices due to fear of attacks.
Back in 2007, Swat Continental had more than half its rooms occupied, and a staff of more than 70 people.
They are now down to six. And I am their second guest in a week -
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8Ha_-BQlQPxKjxrNNf0heErnto6rny9M-jWjoJMXXxdZ0jUuvShusYOArjpdI3TrAQF7_ZafGevffcB2rvXhg07yACJdFDplJNYq9LXX0XTUmQTIB_ikC0gm6R7j1kPGVUzIGBYcRUs/s200/_45414362_talebanap466.jpg)
What's more, there are no TVs in the rooms.
"We cleared the TVs from the rooms because there are hardly any guests, but we'll give you one," says the only room service member staff on duty.
But when the TV comes on, I discover that there are only two channels available - both local news channels.
When I ask the reason, the man gives me a sheepish smile. "This is all we have."
I know that they have a satellite dish on the roof top and can receive more channels. But at the same time I realise that the writ of the Taleban, who have banned satellite TV, runs deep inside Mingora.
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