In this issue:

Feuding Warlords of Western Afghanistan Have Agreed To Truce

Australia Plays China Card Over Taiwan Issue

U.S. Troops Will Not Destroy Afghan Poppy Fields

Australian Parliament Cttee Rejects Inquiry of LaRouche, CEC

Nepal Crisis Heading for a Showdown

Indonesian President Blames IMF for Nation's Economic Disaster

FBI Removes Evidence in Afghan Private Jail Case

Philippines Should Keep Nuclear Option Open: Perez

From Volume 3, Issue Number 34 of EIR Online, Published Aug. 24, 2004
Asia News Digest

Feuding Warlords of Western Afghanistan Have Agreed To Truce

A truce among the feuding warlords of western Afghanistan, brokered by the U.S. military commander in the area, was reached on Aug. 18. Earlier, U.S. warplanes attacked the troops of Amanullah Khan, a Pushtun warlord, whose troops had taken over the Shindand district in Herat province, and were moving into the city of Herat to oust the powerful governor, Ismail Khan, a Tajik-Afghan.

Once the fighting started again in mid-August, it became evident that Afghan interim President Hamid Karzai would not like Ismail Khan deposed by a fellow Pushtun. "The attack on Ismail Khan is being considered as an attack on central government," said Karzai's spokesman, Hamid Elmi.

It is widely acknowledged that Ismail Khan is close to Iran, and Tehran has made public its uneasiness on the developments in Herat. Ismail Khan's outright defeat would drag Iran fully into the Afghan cauldron, some analysts fear. It is likely that President Karzai, who is close to India, does not want Iran as his enemy. Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza-Assifi saying, "such incidents violate the security and peace of people in Herat and will leave negative impacts on the trend of province's reconstruction."

On the other hand, undermining of a fellow Pushtun by President Karzai hurt his chances in the Oct. 9 Presidential elections, where he will be challenged by his education minister, Younis Qanooni.

Australia Plays China Card Over Taiwan Issue

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer played the pro-China card, declaring there will be no automatic Australian support for the U.S. in a war over Taiwan, according to Australian press Aug. 18. In China on Aug. 17 as part of a trip which includes a stop on Aug. 18 in North Korea, Downer surprised one and all by the announcement, adding: "The ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand, U.S.) treaty is invoked in the event of one of our two countries, Australia or the United States, being attacked, so some other military activity elsewhere in the world, be it in Iraq or anywhere else for that matter, doesn't automatically invoke the ANZUS treaty." These comments are at odds with Washington's stated view of the alliance. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has described the alliance as an "obligation, if necessary, to fight and die for each other." In visits to Canberra in 1999 and 2001, Armitage said the U.S. would expect Australia to join it if it was drawn into conflict with China over Taiwan.

Australia is lobbying for more economic deals with China, in energy and other fields, including an effort to get a free trade pact, and recognizes that China puts high value on the political implications of economic issues.

U.S. Troops Will Not Destroy Afghan Poppy Fields

"At this point in time, U.S. troops will not be involved in counter-drug or counter-narcotics operations at all," in Afghanistan, said Maj. Gen. Eric T. Olson, the commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76 while speaking during an Aug. 14 news conference in Kandahar. His remarks contradict the impression left by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's statements during his visit to Afghanistan on Aug. 12. While Rumsfeld said that the Pentagon would be working out a "master plan" for dealing with the opium production, Olson indicated that his forces would not be going in to destroy the poppy fields. Rumsfeld "did say that the drug issue is a priority," Olson said. "But poppy eradication may not be the best way to do that." Pointing to the larger problems of any Afghan stabilization, Olson said, "right now the drug trade, sadly, has become the livelihood of some of the Afghan population. Part of the elimination of that particular evil must be providing some replacement. There has to be the substitution that will allow Afghans to make a decent living."

Australian Parliament Cttee Rejects Inquiry of LaRouche, CEC

A call for an investigation of Lyndon LaRouche's Australian associates, the Citizens Electoral Council (CEC), has been rejected by the Australian Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. Rabid Jabotinskyite Michael Danby called for the CEC to be investigated by the Committee for its funding, following a CEC advertisement in major papers in June, denouncing the Howard government's fascist anti-terrorism laws. Committee chairman Peter Georgiou wrote to the CEC on Aug. 10, stating: "I am writing to confirm that the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters is not undertaking an investigation into the CEC, nor is it proposing to do so." This is the second time Danby has been knocked back by the Committee of which he is the vice-chairman.

Nepal Crisis Heading for a Showdown

The Nepali Maoists who now control most of rural western Nepal and have a strong presence in the nation's capital, Kathmandu, have now laid siege on the capital by putting up blockades on all roads leading to the city. Reports indicate the city of 1.5 million people has already begun to experience some food shortages.

The Nepali Maoists, who claimed their inspiration was the Sendero Luminoso terrorists, have adopted a tactic which echoes the tactics of the Peruvian terrorists. The Nepali Maoists also have ties with the Revolutionary International Movement (RIM) based in London and Chicago.

The latest developments worry Nepal's neighbor, India. The Charge d'Affaires of the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, Ashok Kumar, had meetings with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and the Nepalese Army Chief.

In Washington, the U.S. State Department has "strongly condemned" the Maoist action. The Bush Administration, like New Delhi, has provided some security assistance to the Nepalese armed forces last year. It also identified the Nepal Communist Party as a terrorist outfit.

Indonesian President Blames IMF for Nation's Economic Disaster

In her State of the Union address on Aug. 16, while facing a September Presidential election in which she appears far behind in the polls, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri ripped into the IMF, demanding that they intervene to reschedule—but not write off—even bilateral debt. "A mere admission of mistake is actually not enough, because until now, we still have to bear the consequences of that mistake in recommendation," she said. The IMF recently admitted it had erred in forcing Indonesia to shut down banks and squeeze credit during the crisis, measures which sent the country's economy into a free fall.

Megawati continued: "So far, we have listened to their suggestions and recommendations, and it is now time for them to also listen to our fair and justified complaints and do something to maintain and rehabilitate their reputation in our eyes." She asked the IMF to reschedule all Indonesia's offshore debts to free up funds for development.

FBI Removes Evidence in Afghan Private Jail Case

The trial of three Americans, "Jack" Idema, Edward Carabello and Brent Bennet, for running a private jail in Kabul, Afghanistan, has been stalled for seven days, after the FBI grabbed evidence in the midst of the ongoing trial. Idema told the Afghan court that the FBI has taken 500 pages of documents, 200 videotapes, and at least 400 photos. "Now it is at the U.S. Embassy where no one is ever going to see it," said Idema. Apparently, the FBI has returned some of the evidence. Caballero's lawyer, Michael Skibbie, questioned the Afghan judge's decision to allow the FBI to grab the evidence, saying: "Returning a substantial amount of evidence after a trial has begun constitutes an insult to the Afghan justice system."

Idema does not deny the charges, but claims that the individuals in his jail were "terrorists" and he was coordinating his "work" with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's office. Afghan police found in Idema's possession e-mail and fax addresses of a number of Pentagon officials, including that of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone, a leading Straussian in the Bush Administration neo-con cabal.

It is not clear at this point how the case will evolve. Rumsfeld, while visiting Georgia, Uzbekistan, and Russia in mid-August, stopped over unexpectedly at Kabul, ostensibly to ensure that the preparation for the Afghan Presidential election, scheduled for Oct. 9, was progressing smoothly. It is evident that the Bush Administration would pull all accessible strings to isolate Idema and his associates.

Philippines Should Keep Nuclear Option Open: Perez

Philippines Energy Minister Vincent Perez, speaking before an Economic Corporate Network forum in Manila on Aug. 18, said: "Nuclear power has been a component of countries that are energy-dependent—South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, someday Vietnam. So, it should always be an option out there."

The Philippines imports nearly all of its oil requirements and is now getting hit hard by the rising price of oil. The government had built a 600 MW light-water-reactor nuclear-power plant near Manila in the 1970s as it sought to diversify fuel sources, but the plant was never commissioned. The Philippines still pays $1.5 million a day, on a loan taken to build the power plant. Recently, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo broached the idea of converting the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) into one that runs on gas.

Perez's statement indicates a positive shift of opinion among the Philippines authorities. However, Perez also added that "politically, just as in Australia, New Zealand, or Singapore, nuclear power is not yet acceptable to public opinion."

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